《MAZE - The Endless Quest》 01 - Prologue - Broken Dreams Just like she expected, it was raining. Hera had just finished her shift in the bookstore where she worked. Now she was in front of the store, pondering if it was worth it to keep going in this rain or if she should go back and wait it out. She glanced inside the store, knowing that her boss would tell her to organize the shelves since she didn''t want to go home. Hera held an umbrella in one hand while her small bag was on the other, pressed against her chest. She was still debating if she should face the rain or not when a man came out of the bookstore. He wore a Bordeaux trench-coat, a pair of mirrored glasses, and a pink Mohawk. Even with all that, the most eye-catching thing about him wasn''t his looks. It was the fact that as soon as he walked into the rain, the water started to evaporate before touching him. Hera knew what that meant. He was an explorer. She kept staring at him until he was out of her field of view. She then grabbed a small card that was issued to everyone on their 18th birthday. In that card, she could see her name and by the side an indicator "Level 1". She sighed and opened her umbrella, starting to walk towards the train station. Five years, it''s been five years since the system crushed her only dream. When she turned 18, she was excited and went rushing to the guild alone. She knew her parents would be worried and wouldn''t let her become an explorer. But she was so sure her stats would be amazing, and her skill would be so incredible that there was no way she could be anything else. Hera was walking through the street. The rain pouring down, she could feel her socks completely drenched, at least the boots were still holding together, she couldn''t afford to buy new ones right now. She waited for the traffic to stop while looking at her boots, happy that at the very least, something was working in her life, but too distracted to notice the car approaching. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. SPLASH! The driver moved the car intending to soak the most amount of people he could. It was so evident that every single person waiting for the light to turn red had more than enough time to walk back and get away from the splash zone, everyone but Hera. She was completely drenched. The bag she was carefully holding to avoid the rain now had become a soggy mess. She was shivering because of the cold water and for the thought of what had become of her bag. No one warned her, no one tried to drag her aside, and what hurt the most, no one laughed or even acknowledged that she was there. The system had decided that she was nothing, and now the universe seems to follow its lead. The light turned green for the pedestrians, and they started walking. Hera was still frozen in shock about the situation when someone bumped into her and kept walking without even apologizing. That was it. The tears that she was holding ever since her boss screamed at her when she was leaving came rolling down her face. The rain was still pouring and combined with the sound of the cars. It was more than enough to hide her sobbing. Or at least that''s what Hera thought. She walked to a place covered by a small canopy to check the damage on her belongings. Still crying with her big brown eyes already swollen, she managed to look and see that her cellphone and wallet were still dry. Thankfully, she remembered to put them inside a plastic bag before leaving the store. At least one thing worked out today. "Excuse me?" Hera snapped her head to the side while taking a step back the other way due to the surprise. She saw a woman looking back at her. A beautiful woman with dark skin, curly hair, and almond eyes that seem to glow faintly in the light. She was wearing what appeared to be a barmaid outfit, the same kind you would see someone wearing in a tavern in the movies. "Oh, sorry, I didn''t mean to scare you." Hera fidgeted a little, trying to cover her crying face, "It''s fine. What can I help you with?" she unconsciously went to her customer-service mode. Even managing to give a soft smile instantly, stopping her sobbing. The woman seemed to respond well to that, but her eyes seemed to be full of pain for some reason. "No honey, I''m the one that wants to help you, please come in we have showers in the gym and I can even make you some hot coffee." Hera looked at the woman, confused as to where she could work. There were no gyms around the area. Hera looked back to the place the woman was pointing at. Of course, the one person who noticed worked at the one place she wanted to avoid the most. The Explorers Guild. "No, thank you. I don''t want to give you any trouble," Hera replied. The woman stared at Hera and then grabbed her hand. "Nonsense, it would be more trouble if you didn''t come. I would be worried sick about you," and with that phrase pulled Hera towards the entrance. 02 - Someone sees you "Since the beginning, people would gather in places of power for the young ones to get their first level up. And then they would start training and growing. The strong and brave ones would go into journeys inside the MAZE. Few ever returned from these explorations." "To lessen the lethality of those explorations groups started to form in order to train and grow together." "In little time, small organizations started to form around the entrances of the MAZE spread around the world, and eventually, they started to interact with each other." "Because of that, there was a need to make a universal system where all groups could understand each other. With that, we created the roles. Fighter, Mage, Healer, Hunter, Controller, Assassin, Crafter, Researcher, Civilian, and Explorer. Each role represents what their skill and status were able to provide to the organization. As time went by, it became clear that the most dangerous and useful role of all was that of the Explorer. Being able to travel deeper into the MAZE and being the best option to discover new information about what they encountered. Since ancient times, people call any adventurer that dared to enter the MAZE an explorer, even though the ones with that role were very few." "800 years ago, after the great invasion, the world realized that having many small organizations was far from being the best way to increase our strength." "And so, the Explorers Guild was created, unifying all the information and strength available under the same place. Of course, that would mean the new organization would be indifferent to political matters, and it has been like that since our foundation." "Unfortunately, that was not the last MAZE related problem humanity had to deal with, a little over 200 years ago the Great Devil Hunt reduced the number of Explorers to a quarter of what it once was. Due to the heavy casualties, the Guild decided to increase the requirements to enter its ranks. It was a decision made with a heavy heart. Even if they desperately needed more Explorers, no one was willing to put the life of their members at risk for not being strong enough to deal with the dangers of the MAZE." "Thankfully, that dark past is gone! Today we have more explorers than at any other moment in history. We wish to make our great heroes proud, Undine the Fire Bringer, Khan the Wall Breaker, and our greatest hero Cyrus the Golden. Today we care to make sure that each member is able to deal with the dangers of the MAZE. We are not just a Guild. We are a family. Come join our family today!" Hera had watched that video more than a thousand times when she was little. But not once since they rejected her. "Since the beginning, people would gather¡­." It was the third time the video looped while she was waiting. The woman had brought her to the gym area to take a shower and dry her clothes. However, since she was not a member, she had to wait in the reception hallway. Thankfully, they had a few tracksuits, so she was at least not naked in the middle of the room. Still, it was very uncomfortable to be without her underwear in a strange place. The video kept playing, and Hera was done with it. If she heard another mention about the Guild being a family, she would snap. She wanted to be a part of them, and they rejected her. She walked along the hall until she noticed an archway. That was new. As much as she hated this place, she still remembered every part of it. But not this one. She looked inside and saw the most beautiful stained glass art she had ever seen. It was a simple image of the three heroes. On the left, there was Undine in her blue robes and a tight ponytail with flames surrounding her in a mix of red, yellow, and orange. In the right, Kahn could be seen as if he was breaking through the glass and walking forward, with his long beard, reaching his chest and a bald head. Along with a heavy-looking brown and grey winter coat with a green sash around his waist. And in the middle, the great hero Cyrus, wearing black armor and holding his white sword with both hands pointed down. Around him, there was this golden aura and mixed in that aura there were dozens of banners, and weapons raised to the sky. She could hate the Guild for rejecting her, but the heroes were always with her. She grew up reading about them and never let go of their teachings. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Hera bent down onto one knee, placing one hand on the ground and the other on her chest, making sure never to lower her head. This salute was not one of servitude or obedience. It was one of respect and wonder. She knew that and refused to do it wrong. They fought for people like her. They died so the next generation could live. Even if the whole world would ignore her, these three still deserved her utmost respect. "I don''t remember the last time I saw someone doing the Salute so well." Hera Jumped up, turning around as fast as she could. She only did that because she thought no one was watching. Now that she knew that wasn''t true, the only thing she wanted to do was to dig a grave and lie there. "Sorry, I.. I thought I was alone." The woman that brought her here was leaning against the archway with a soft smile on her face, holding a few folded clothes. "There is no need to apologize, dear. I shouldn''t have interrupted your moment." She walked a bit closer to Hera while looking at the stained glass. "That feeling you get when looking at them is not just the beauty of it. They all have been infused with energy from the heroes." Hera looked at the woman in shock, wondering if she was saying the Heroes were alive, or if something was being done to their corpses. Realizing the reaction, the woman chuckled softly. "Sorry, I should have explained better. Each of the heroes left an energy crystal. Those crystals are symbols of their power. Since the energy is always there, we can just take a drop of it to enchant the crafter''s tool that was used to make these." "Oh," Hera felt stupid for even considering other options. It was well known that strong explorers left energy crystals in places they wanted to protect. The woman smiled and gave Hera her clothes. "You can change in the locker room or the bathroom if you want a bit more privacy, some of our explorers are using the showers now." Hera grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom at the end of the hall. The last thing she needed was to deal with other people. A few minutes later, she was walking back to the entrance where the woman was. She needed to do something to thank her for all the help. Maybe she could wash the tracksuit or bring a cake later. "Thanks for all the help." Hera was a bit nervous. She was very grateful. Especially since taking the train with wet clothes would be awful, but at the same time, she didn''t want to talk about why she was crying. "Is there anything I can do to repay you? I mean, I don''t think there is anything I can do to help an explorer, but if there is anything, please tell me." The woman gave a warm smile. "Actually, there is. I lost a bet with the receptionists and have to wear this stupid costume until I can beat the record on the raffle sales for a day. Could you help me?" Hera was caught off guard, a raffle? Her luck was terrible, and the last thing she wanted was to waste money on something like that. Still, it was the least she could do. "Sure, and how many do you need? I don''t have a lot of money, but if it''s not too expensive, I can buy a few." The woman grabbed her hand. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. It''s just five bucks each. I need three more in the next ten minutes to beat the record." Fifteen gold was not cheap, but it wouldn''t be enough to give Hera problems to pay rent, maybe just a couple of extra days making food at home. "Sure, I''ll take three then." The woman gave a big smile and rushed Hera to the counter. "Thank you so much, this costume was fun on the first couple of days, but after a week it gets really annoying." Hera smiled and remembered the day she had to wear a cat costume for work. It wasn''t something she wanted to do again. The woman took the money and gave 3 golden coins to Hera. "Now, all you have to do is put them in the candy machine and see what comes out. There is no candy, by the way, sorry for that." For the first time in the day, Hera laughed a bit. It was a shame she''s not even going to get some candy. She put the coin in the machine and twisted the lever, making the first prize drop, and she did it two more times. Each prize was inside a round capsule that didn''t let anyone see what was inside. "Ok, ok, now open. Let''s see if it''s your lucky day!" The woman seemed excited, but Hera was not. She knew what all of them were, nothing. The first capsule is open, and inside there is a piece of paper that says. - No prize, sorry :( - The second one has another piece of paper. - You can''t get lucky every time! - Or any time, Hera thought. The woman seemed to be a bit down and gave a sad smile towards her savior. Hera let out a sigh and opened the last one. It took a moment for her to realize what she was looking at. It was a coin that looked like some sort of rainbow crystal was inside the capsule. The woman opened a big smile and started to jump behind the counter. "You won. You won!" "I¡­ What?" The woman practically jumped over the counter and gave Hera a big hug. "I''m so happy you won! Since I essentially extorted you into buying the raffle, I was worried you wouldn''t get a single thing. Boy, was I wrong. You won the Jackpot!" Hera came out of her stupor and blinked a bit, looking at the rainbow coin in her hand before asking. "Ok, but what did I win?" She looked down as soon as she asked. It seemed stupid to have bought the raffle without even knowing what the prize was. "So, you were buying it just for me?" the woman gave Hera another big hug that only made her more uncomfortable, "You just got a level up sweety." Hera looked at the woman with wide eyes. "I got what?" 03 - Hidden talents Hera was once again sitting on a bench waiting for the woman, who went off, saying she needed to get some paperwork done before the level up. Still trying to process everything, Hera pinched herself to make sure it wasn''t a dream. Anyone above the age of 18 could do the first level up. However, they needed to either become an explorer or pay a hefty sum. Last time she checked, it was around 500 thousand gold. A price she would never be able to afford. When someone got out of level one, they would start getting experience points by doing pretty much anything. Of course, hunting inside the MAZE was one of the most efficient ways of increasing your exp. Still, that was only the fastest way to do it. Some civilians reached level 30 without ever stepping inside a MAZE. Hera was holding her bag close to her chest. She knew that there was a chance that even with the level up, she wouldn''t meet the requirements to join the Explorers guild. She also knew that if that was the case, she could try again on level 3, and level 4, and level 5, and keep going until she meets the requirements. Being an explorer was her dream, her only dream. Yet, she couldn''t help but feel anxious. What if she got rejected again? It didn''t matter if it was temporary, the guild could still say that she wasn''t good enough even after reaching level 2. She shook her head, trying to block those thoughts. All the money she earned went to a savings account, an account that had a single goal. Buy her a level up. Hera was aware of the stupidity of it. It would take at least another 30 years to save enough, and the money could be used to pay for an enormous house or to start a business or even buy a few cars. Spending that much time and money hoping to become an explorer was widely seen as the most stupid thing someone could do. But now, she could start her leveling process just five years late. That was doable. Many explorers began in their late 20s, and she was only 23. If her stats didn''t allow to get in right now, she would train, and raise them as much as she could. In her mind, she could see herself spending another five years practicing and raising her level, or even more. That was her dream. She would do whatever she needed to make it real. The woman came back, holding a tablet. "Ok, sorry for the wait. I just needed to get this to set you up." Hera quickly wiped the tears that were trying to get out of her eyes and raised her head, smiling a little. "It''s okay, sweety. You can be emotional after winning a prize like this. Can you tell me your name so I can get your file? I''m Helena, by the way." Hera felt stupid, this woman had just changed her life, and she didn''t even ask for her name. She lowered her eyes. "Hi, I''m Hera" "I''m gonna need a last name, sweety," Helena said in a soft tone that only made Hera feel more embarrassed. "Kingsley, Hera Kingsley," she shuffled trough her bag and picked her status card, giving it to Helena. "You even have your card with you? That''s rare for a civilian. This is gonna help a lot!" With a smile, Helena picked the card and scanned it using the tablet. A few seconds later, she handed the card back to Hera. "All done, just follow me to the leveling room." Following Helena, she entered the leveling room for the first time. It was a big round room with white walls and a small altar in the center. Hovering above the platform lay a glowing sphere the size of a basketball. Hera cautiously walked inside, and after a couple of steps, she noticed that the floor was soft. It was almost like walking over a bed. "Weird, right? Everyone thinks that the leveling room is a chamber full of things. No one thinks it''s almost empty." Helena was walking with the girl she found crying in the rain, happy that the crying and swollen face had been replaced by the face of a child going to the zoo for the first time. Helena also had a big smile on her face, happy she managed to improve the girl''s mood. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Even though Helena was trying not to stare, Hera noticed her and lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. "Don''t worry about it. I was like that too the first time I saw this. Now, in order to start the process, just place one of your hands in the glowing orb. It''s gonna tingle a little bit, and then you can distribute your stat points for the next level. If you have any..." Before Helena was able to finish the sentence, a man appeared at the entrance of the chamber. "Lena, the boss is calling you, he says is urgent. Something about the last batch of recruits." Helena huffed and looked back. By the expression in the man''s face, her boss was being troublesome like always. "Hera, I''m sorry, but I have to check this. My boss can be a bit too anxious sometimes." Hera smiled. She understood how bosses could be. "It''s fine. I can come back another time," she turned around and started walking with Helena. "What? Nonsense girl, you stay here and level up. I can imagine how excited you must be. I''ll leave Michael here to help you if you have any doubts. He''s gonna be outside since sometimes an area of effect skill is activated when you level. It''s just a safety measure, but don''t worry. Your own awakening can never harm you." Hera fidgeted a bit. Another person would be involved in this, and it was more work she was making them do. Helena gave Michael a look that he recognized. "Don''t worry about it. We are here for this. And who knows, I might be able to brag that I helped one of the top explorers in the world to level up." Hera didn''t want that. All she wanted was to explore the MAZE. Being a famous explorer seemed like a lot of trouble. But she was too anxious about her future to wait. "If it''s not a problem, I would like to level up now." She looked at the two attendants, trying her hardest not to look away. Helena gave Hera a big hug before leaving. Michael asked her to walk towards the sphere and give him a signal when she was ready, and when she did, he gave her the last instructions. "Okay, I''m closing the door, when you touch the sphere, your status will be displayed in front of you. Check where you want and distribute your skill points. There is a counter that tells you how many points you can use. Just be completely sure of your decision before pressing confirm. You can''t change them after that. Feel free to take your time. If you need a refresher on what each stat does, just touch the name of the stat, and the info will appear. You have 30 minutes to finish the process, and if you have any questions just ask, I can hear you, and you can hear me through the speakers in the room." Michael explained. "Ok, thank you, Michael." Hera took a deep breath while he closed the door. After a few moments, she heard his voice through the speakers. "We are all ready, any time you want Hera." She raised her hand and put it on the glowing sphere. She felt a tingle in her hand, and it spread to her arm, then chest, then everywhere. It wasn''t that uncomfortable. The feeling reminded her of when she sat in an electric massage chair. Like her whole body was vibrating ever so slightly. When the feeling passed a window popped up in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role : Civilian Level: 2 Stats: Strength : 6 - + Endurance: 13 - + Agility: 7 - + Charisma: 7 - + Intelligence: 8 - + Luck: 10 - + Attribute Points Available: 3 + 3(bonus) Total: 6 Skills: Stats Reallocation (Hidden) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Her eyes widen. She had a skill? And a Hidden one at that. She knew that having a skill was not that uncommon, but hidden skills were scarce and very powerful. She took a deep breath and touched the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stats Relocation: Allows the user to change the distribution of the stats. Increasing or decreasing any attribute as long as the user has the required attribute points available. This effect is only valid for the first time the user level up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read it a few more times to make sure she was right. It seemed like she could change how her stats were distributed. If that was the case, she could reach the required 10 points in each stat even sooner! "Michael?" she asked sheepishly. "I''m here, Hera. Is everything alright?" the voice echoed a bit, but it was clearer than she expected. "Yeah, I... I got a skill. It''s called Stats Relocation. Have you ever heard of it?" she swallowed, worried she might have made a mistake in telling him. "Wow, really? Congratulations! It''s a pretty rare skill. Let me confirm one thing," a few seconds went by, "Yeah, that skill lets you change all your stats, it doesn''t have any restrictions aside from it not being able to go lower than 1 in any stat. You can pretty much make you perfect for the job you want! Tell me if you are not sure about what would be the best stat for a job, and I can look it up to you." Her hands were trembling. If that was the case, maybe she could achieve her dream right now. "Michael, what is the requirement to join the guild? As an explorer, I mean." There were a few moments of silence before his voice came from the speakers again. "For a level two, it''s a 10 average on the stats with one of them going past 14, the higher the average, the lower the high stat needs to be. If the average is 12, you can join, but I have never seen a level 2 with a 12 average score. If your skill was different, it could be lower, but since it''s not a skill that would give you any benefit in the field, it can''t be counted." Hera looked at her stats. Even with the level up points, she wouldn''t be able to join right now, but it would be really close. If she could increase one of her stats, she might be able to do it on level 3 or maybe even sooner. She looked at her skill and pressed the minus symbol by Endurance. The stat went down by one, but her attribute points went up by 2. "So... maybe the higher the stat, the more they are worth?" She thought. "Only one way to find out." 04 - Sometimes things go wrong Hera was looking at her stats. She had set them all to 1 to see how many points she would have left. Her math was right. She could make all her stats be at 10. This meant that if she got a few bonus points or increased her stats in some other way by level 3, she could become an explorer. Her endurance was at the 4 mark when she pressed the subtraction symbol, and nothing happened. Hera gave a few more tries before wondering if the skill had a limit. Maybe she couldn''t have over 50 attribute points to distribute. However, the skill never said anything about it. If there was a cap, it should show in the information, right? Hera was still thinking about it when she heard the door open. Did she take too long? Michael said nothing about being close to half an hour. She looked back and saw four men walking inside. Two of them were wearing a black suit and tie and sunglasses like the ones you see bodyguards in movies using. Walking with them, there was a man with a pink Mohawk that she recognized as being the same one that passed by her earlier that day. That seemed to be so long ago. In the middle there was a kid, he might be older, but his face looked fifteen, he wore a long blue coat with fur on its edge, black pants with a golden suspender and a white dress shirt. Most strange of it all was the fact that he was wearing a golden crown atop his black hair. Behind them, Michael was looking at her with a worried expression on his face. The kid approached her and gave her an up-down look. "Why is there such a useless one making me waste my time?" Hera looked down. Maybe she took too long, and now she was using someone else time in the leveling chamber. "I''m sorry," she mumbled. "What? I can''t hear trash," the kid put one hand in his ear while talking, trying to ridicule Hera. Hera looked down and walked towards the exit. "Not good enough. Bruiser, do your job," the kid commanded. The pink-haired man walked behind her and whispered. "Sorry, it''s just a job," before making a small explosion appear in her back. The blast flung Hera towards the exit of the chamber. She fell on the ground, feeling the impact face first, followed by a sharp pain through her entire body. She never got attacked by someone high level before. The pain was excruciating. She felt her skin burning and even the impact on the ground hurt much more than what she was expecting. Hera forced herself to get up, the tears rolling down her face as she heard some noise coming from the chamber. Then a voice finally reached her. "I''m so sorry. I had no idea they would... I''m gonna call someone," Michael fretted. Hera shook her head, "It''s fine, I took to long, I'' will be going now." She heard Michael saying something else, but she wasn''t able to understand it. Forcing herself to move and doing her best to hold back the tears, she grabbed her bag and walked towards the exit. The only phrase she understood was. "You should feel the effects of your level up by tomorrow." She nodded and went to the exit. She was holding her bag as tightly as she could while she walked into the street towards the train station. Unable to hold back anymore, the tears from the pain rolled down her face before she got to the station. By the time the train had arrived, she had sat on the ground, weeping for the second time today. ########################## It took a while, but Helena had managed to calm down her boss. He was worried the last recruits would be too weak. Only when she said that Greyson would be the trainer that he settled down.After all, having one of the top 500 Fighters to train the recruits was enough to settle anyone. She rushed past the reception towards the leveling chamber. Hera should still be there, and she wanted to be the first to congratulate her. For some reason, her salute left a powerful impression on Helena. "We need more explorers like that," Helena said to herself. This day and age, most new members of the guild are greedy and only care about glory. Helena knows that their job is a noble one. They fight to protect and help people. Fame is not the aim. It should be just a side effect. She was reaching the leveling chamber when she saw Michael in the console outside. However, as soon as he saw her, his face darkened. Helena approached carefully. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Michael, is everything ok?" she asked. She looked at him then at the monitor, noticing the group that was inside. "Why are there four men inside there? And where is Hera?" Michael explained the situation, ashamed of how he dealt with it. He told Helena that the Kid is the son of the prime minister, and he didn''t know what to do to avoid making problems for the guild. "I understand, now can I please see the recordings from when Hera was there? I want to make sure she is okay." Helena said. Michael put the recording in the monitor and stepped back. After watching, Helena turned around, moved closer to the attendant. "Michael, dear," Helena''s voice was soft, and she held his face like a caring mother, "I know it''s you are new here. But do we have any ties with the government?" He shook his head. "They why did you let that prick do whatever he wanted?" She screamed at him while pulling his ears as if she was punishing her child. "I don''t know, he had a level 20 with him, and I was afraid. I''m sorry." Helena let him go "That''s fine sweety, now go to the gym and tell Rebbeca you are there for the drill, a few dozen laps will do you good to remember that we don''t let any harm come to anyone in here." His face turned a bit pale before walking towards the gym. Helena wanted to do worse, but it was his first month, and he never dealt with people like this one. The leveling process had already begun. There was nothing that she could do about that. Helena glanced at the kid¡¯s file. -- Seraphin Kelgyn, Age:18 -- Job desired: Explorer "We will see about that," she said with a smile. ############################ Hera finally got home. The day seemed to have lasted a week. She took everything out of her bag and put it on the table, hoping her wallet and cellphone were not too damaged because of the rain. She looked at the fridge, but her stomach was still turning after the explosion. She went straight for the shower. Taking off her clothes, she glanced at the mirror. The shock made her freeze for a second. Deep wounds and burns covered her body. She could barely see her normal skin. Everything was a mess of purple and green. Turning around, she saw a burn mark covering most of her back. Darker where the explosion hit. She felt her eyes water, but she took a deep breath and remembered that she had leveled up. She could become an explorer. All she needed was time and effort. Soon after thinking about it, she remembered what she was doing before it all happened. Her hands shook violently. "Status," she said with a weak voice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Civilian Level:2 Stats: Strength: 1 Endurance: 0 Agility: 1 Charisma: 1 Intelligence: 1 Luck: 1 Attribute Points Available: 54 + 1(bonus) Total: 55 Skills: Stats Reallocation (Expired) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera started to cry after seeing her status, with no one around she could wail without holding back. She had one chance to change her attributes. But now the symbols to increase were gone. That meant that only when she reached level 3, she would be able to use her attribute points. Some explorers kept the bonus points for a level or two, trying to get a higher increase in later levels. But the reason for her reaction was Endurance, the strongest stat she had, was now 0. Sitting in her shower, she tapped Endurance to read its information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Endurance: Increases the resistance of the user. That includes physical and elemental damage. It also helps the user to ward off poison and diseases. Current damage reduction: - 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having her endurance at zero meant she could easily get sick, and that any bruise or cut she suffered could be fatal. Right now, she was as sturdy as a porcelain doll. That does not even account for the fact that a 0 stat shouldn''t be possible. Hera had her dreams crushed once. Now she saw a ray of hope only to show that she probably would not live to see where it lead. She finished her shower and crawled up to her bed. Finally, clearing her head, she searched the net for information on what her stats meant. Some websites said that she would die, but most of them always said stuff like thatanyway. Going past that, she found some support groups for people with low stats and even an organization that offered help giving out medication and helping find jobs for someone with an attribute disability. That seemed to be her future. She kept reading about this organization until she finally fell asleep. Hera was too tired to dream, but what she had was far from a peaceful night. Her body changed even while she slept. Her skin seemed to burn, and her bones to shift. The feeling should be more than enough to wake her, but somehow she was still in such a deep sleep that even her alarms or the calls from her boss were not able to disturb her. When she finally woke up, it was well over noon. Hera sat up on the bed, looking in front of her. She still was unaware of the time. Her focus now was on something else. A screen was in front of her and under it her stats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level up outside the allowed parameters. Stat under the accepted value located. Bonus attribute points redistributed evenly to correct value Bonus points earned for evolving a hidden skill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Civilian Level: 2 Stats: Increase all Strength: 10 + Endurance: 10 + Agility: 10 + Charisma: 10 + Intelligence: 10 + Luck: 10 + Attribute Points Available: 0 + 6 (bonus) Total: 6 Skills: Exponential Growth (Evolved from Status Reallocation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exponential Growth: While all attributes have the same value, the user can increase all the attributes by 1 at once. Cost changes with the value of the attributes Current attribute point cost to use the skill: 3 points ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 05 - Not this time Hera was staring at the translucent window in front of her. She had read everything ten times, but it seemed impossible. Not her stats, it was well known that every now and then someone did something and the system had to change whatever it was to a more acceptable outcome. She remembered a level four baseball player that stacked a few skills, making his fastball break not only the bat that it hit but also the arm of the batter who was level ten. Soon after that, his skills changed, and he couldn''t use that powerful throw anymore. What made her speechless was the skill. Hidden skills were rare, but a hidden skill that can evolve is absurdly rare. No rule said that hidden skills could not change, but at the same time, she wasn''t aware of anyone who had seen one. She read the skill description more time and took a deep breath before hitting the increase all button. Just like that, all her stats went from 10 to 11. Now, she had 3 bonus points. What Michael had said the night before rang in her head, "If you have an average 12 on your stats, you can join." If this was really happening, she could be an explorer today. Not after her next level up. She pressed the button once more and saw the numbers change. Now she meets the requirement to get in even without a skill. But maybe this evolved skill would count. After all, it would increase her stats by a lot. Hera pinched her arm to make sure it wasn''t just a dream. "Ouch!" She was surprised by how much that hurt, although it made sense, her strength had almost doubled, her brain need some time before being able to adjust. For a while, she would have to be very careful. She got up and started walking towards the bathroom to take a shower. Her sheets were drenched because of the process, most likely. The body probably used a lot of energy to change someone after they level up, and energy generates heat, so the body needs to sweat to cool off. Hera stopped. How did she reach that conclusion so fast? She was not a dumb person, but her mind always seemed to take some time to get to the result she wanted. Maybe... her intelligence attribute? It increased by 4 points. Hera opened her stats and tapped on the attribute to read its description. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Intelligence: increases the mental ability of the user. The higher the attribute, the faster the stored data, can be accessed. It also increases the strength of magic based skills. Current modifier: +2% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera knew this by heart, even if she had spent the last five years trying to forget this knowledge. However, she still was surprised the increase had such a powerful effect. She took a shower to clean all the sweat and tears that covered her from the previous night. The pressure of the water was relaxing. For the first time in years, Hera felt truly happy. Looking to the side, she saw the creams and moisturizers that a friend had given her a few months back, and for the first time, she decided to use them. One hour later, Hera came out of the shower, feeling refreshed she looked in the mirror. Her face was still hers, but different. Her skin seemed smoother, and her long blond hair replaced its split ends and greasy look with a cleaner and silkier feel. Even while she brushed it like she always did, the feeling was different. "This must be the Charisma attribute. It improves our looks and what else again?" she thought to herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charisma: Increases the attractiveness of the user. Due to its subjective nature, the attribute is based on what the user finds attractive. It also increases the friendliness of intelligent creatures in the MAZE. Current modifier: + 2% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The last line was new. Hera was sure of that. She knew the descriptions by heart, and there was no mention of creatures in the MAZE. She reread it to be sure her mind wasn''t playing tricks on her. Intelligent life inside the MAZE. That was something Hera never considered, but it made sense. Such a big place was bound to have created some sort of intelligent life. She took her phone and saw the twenty-three missed calls from her boss, including a few texts threatening to fire her. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "That''s fine," she thought. Before going to the Guild, Hera wanted to quit. Her future is as an explorer. There was no reason to keep any other job available. To her, there was no other option, not anymore. Hera put on her dark grey jeans, a light blue hoodie, and her black combat boots. She always felt more comfortable with practical clothing. Now that she would be an explorer, people would stop saying things like, "You should dress up more." She took her keys and bag and went outside her small studio apartment towards the train station. It was time to start her dream. Quitting her job was the first step, thankfully her boss wasn''t there. Today the manager Amelia was in charge. She was a sweet older woman that always tried to help the employees, even when the boss was harassing them. Hera didn''t give a reason to quit. She didn''t want to be bombarded with questions about it. She just wanted to leave this place. Amelia tried to make Hera stay, but she knew it was for the best. Hera was a timid, and sweet girl, and the boss took advantage of it, everyone knew. She was happy to see Hera going somewhere else, especially since she had a spark in her eye. It''s been a few hours since Hera left home, and she was about to change her life. Or at least that''s what she expected to happen. After taking a few deep breaths, she walked through the front door of the guild. She looked around. The guild was bustling, young people who seemed to be excited were sitting in one of the benches. A group of kids wearing the same uniform seemed to receive a tour from one of the attendants. Hera''s eye seemed to gravitate towards a strong-looking man with suntanned skin and thick grey chops walking towards the locker room. The man gave a powerful impression on Hera. She wondered why no one else seemed to pay any mind to him. Brushing that aside, she walked toward the counter. "Excuse me." A dark-haired woman was sitting on the other side of the counter. She gave Hera a big smile. "Hello! Welcome to the Explorers Guild, I''m Carol, what can I help you with?" Hera always got surprised when someone treated her so well, even if it was part of the job. "Oh, hi, I''m Hera... I''m here to join the guild," she said, trying her best to show some confidence. "That''s great Hera, do you have your card? I can check the system for your information with it," Carol got up from the chair so she wouldn''t have to speak so loudly. Hera gave her card to the attendant and kept looking around, seeing the guild with a different light. Since she found out her stats, this place seemed to be dreadful and scary. It was the source of her worst memories. The moment her life went wrong. But now it seemed warm, happy, and full of hope. She chuckled, thinking about how she was too young to be thinking like that when Carol said. "I''m sorry, but we don''t have any job openings available at the moment, but I can put you on the waiting list," The attendant smiled and handed the card back to Hera. "Ah, No.. I mean, I''m here to become an explorer," Hera said, embarrassed for not making things clear. "Oh, sorry, but according to our file, your level 1 stats don''t meet the criteria to become an explorer. Since the Devil Hunt, we need to have some minimum requirements in order to have safer conditions," Carol gave a soft smile. She was used to turning people down like that. "But... I''m level 2." Hera said, activating her card. The cards only show any info for its owner unless they are activated. It was just the basic information, the name, level, and job. Most people would have it as a civilian. Carol frowned. The system said that Hera Kingsley was level 1, and she could only change that for the first time in a guild. However, there was no record of her ever doing a level up, and the guild never got that part wrong. Today was a terrible day. She had been dealing with problems since the beginning of her shift. Apparently, there was at least one more to deal with. "I''m sorry, but there is no record of you increasing your level. If you wish to pay for a level up, you must come back after making the appointment online." Hera blinked a few times. Her level was 2. The card said it. "But, I''m level 2." Carol gave her a stern look. "Hera, I understand that you must really want this, but we need to trust the people that become explorers, we can''t have someone that would change the information that shows in the card just to get in." Hera never heard about being able to change what the cards said. And she leveled up. It wasn''t her fault the guild records were missing. "But I..." She started talking, but Carol cut her off, raising her hand. "Look, you can make an appointment to level up, you can leave, or they can escort you out. I apologize for being rude, but we have a full day today, and I don''t have time to deal with stubbornness." While she spoke, two burly men approached Hera by the sides. They looked like bouncers from clubs and escorted her to the exit. Because of their presence, she felt too intimidated to say anything. However, when Hera saw the big open doors get closer, she stopped walking. "I''m not going," she said. The two men looked at each other, and with a sigh, the one on the right spoke. "Look, miss. It''s better if you go, we don''t want to make a scene." Her hands were shaking. It would be the third time she left the guild being robbed of her dream. And this time, it would be unfair. She met the requirements and had a skill. It was her right to apply to be an explorer. "I''m. Not. Going. Let me talk to Helena," she said. With the mention of the name, Carol got up and was about to call the security back, but the following events happened too fast. The man that spoke to Hera grabbed her arm and started to push her towards the exit. Hera, being pushed, focused her entire body into pushing the man back, slamming her feet in the ground as hard as she could. She felt a tingling sensation covering every part of her and then focusing on her legs. She intended to push back, to stop the man from taking her outside. But something else happened. The moment her feet slammed into the ground, she was launched towards him. After the impact, he went flying backward with her. Both hit the ground and slid towards the counter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hidden skill unlocked: All In (Active) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 06 - More surprises ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ouch." Hera''s shoulder had slammed against the bouncer, and now it hurts a lot. Carol stood up and rushed to the two that were on the floor. "Are you okay?" her eyes were switching from Hera to the security. "Yeah, this miss pack a bigger punch than I was expecting," the other bouncer was running towards them with an angry look and ready to attack. Seeing that reaction, Carol screamed at him. "Peter, Stop!" The man slowed down but still got close to Hera, trying to make sure she didn''t try anything else. "Peter, for fuck''s sake, calm down." Hera got surprised by that. Guild attendants usually were very polite, especially since they worked directly with the customers. Carol helped the cause of all this trouble to get up, while Peter helped his partner. He was still staring at who had thrown him into the ground. At this moment, a dark-skinned woman came from the hallway, walking towards the desk. "What is going on here? I heard that noise from the break room" As soon as Helena saw Hera, she gave a big smile and rushed towards her with a shout. Almost tackling her new friend when she hugged her, "Hera! I''m so glad you are here." "Ah.. me too.." Still shocked about the situation, Hera could only follow Helena''s lead. "Hey Carol, what happened?" Letting go of the hug, she turned to her coworker. "Well..." Carol explained everything, being interrupted a few times by Hera apologizing to the security guards and to her. Even Peter, who is the stubborn one, couldn''t help but feel bad and apologize to her as well. "Ok, I got it, but since no one got hurt, we can brush this off, right?" Before even receiving an answer Helena grabbed Hera''s hand and guided to the hallway "I''m gonna take care of her in the back, don''t worry about the paperwork I''ll deal with it too." Carol could only sigh. That was how Helena was. She would bulldoze through a situation, and there was hardly anything left to do by the end. The attendant looked around and apologized to the other visitors, who only nodded and grumbled a bit. One of the kids pulled the teacher''s coat before asking, "Teacher, what is fuck?" The teacher glared at Carol, who could only turn pale while looking at the children. ########################## "Again, I''m so sorry, Michael should have known better. And I should have stayed." Helena was apologizing for what happened the previous night for the fifth time. Hera was fine. If things worked out differently, she could have been angry. Now she felt like she owed the man who tossed her out of the leveling chamber a thank you. "Don''t worry. I told you, I''m fine, and everything worked out." She gave a soft smile that almost made Helena cry. It was such a pure smile that only a baby should be able to do it. "Okay then, to finish your registration let''s see how your stats are looking then." Helena picked a pale green orb and put it on the desk. There was a cable attached to the back, and the sphere seemed to have some milky liquid inside. "Just put your hand here. That way, I can see your stats through the monitor. You need this to show your stats unless you become an explorer. After that, you only need to show your card with your level." Hera nodded and placed her hand on the orb. It was warm, but not too much. After a few seconds, she felt her hair standing. Helena scratched her head and put a mirror in front of Hera. "Right, sorry about that, sometimes it gets a bit of static, and well, you get a bit pointy," Hera laughed a bit while the orb was doing its job. With a ''ping'', the screen in front of them flashed, and Hera''s status were displayed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Civilian Level: 2 Stats: Increase all Strength: 12 Endurance: 11(12) Agility: 11(12) Charisma: 11(12) Intelligence: 11(12) Luck: 11(12) Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Active: All in ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exponential Growth: While all attributes have the same value, the user can increase all the attributes by 1 at once. Cost changes with the value of the attributes Current attribute point cost to use the skill: 3 points ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.All In (Rank 1): The user can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action, as if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute. The attribute will have bonus increments and, at the same time, reduce all other attributes to 11 (10 + level - 1) for 5 hours. Value of attribute when the skill is used: 14,5 Cooldown: 36 hours Remaining (35:48:35) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ohhh, that''s amazing!" Helena was reading Heras''s status. Impressed with a level 2 with 12 average points. Hera, on the other hand, was staring at her skill. Not only it was an active skill that would make one of her attributes stronger, but it was also a rank 1 skill. That meant in higher ranks, the skill could have more potent effects, or a lower cooldown and debuff. How much was the bonus increment? If it followed the regular stats rule, it would be around 50%, since she would need 8 points to increase a single stat from 10 to 14. Skills that had a rank would increase its power with each rank. In theory, the next rank could increase her stats even more, or lower the cooldown. There were many possibilities, and Hera was running trough a few of them in her mind, wondering if she could direct this evolution until she felt someone poke her arm. Startled, she pulled the arm back. Helena was looking at her with a kind expression. "Are you okay, you stayed there for a couple of minutes without answering." Helena gave a warm smile that only made Hera feel guilty for ignoring her. "Yes... sorry. After yesterday my mind is just... different." Hera lowered her head, trying not to look at Helena. "Oh, that''s okay, you must have changed your Intelligence attribute. It does that to you, especially in the first few days. Let me check one thing...Wait... What? Hera, what did you do to change your stats so much? You even lowered the endurance." It was the first time Helena saw something like that. According to the file Hera had some pretty crappy stats, but now they were higher than they should be. Even if she could redistribute her points as Michael had said, there are twelve extra attribute points in the middle. "Yeah, when I woke up, my Stats Relocation skill evolved into Exponential growth, and then I could use my points to increase them all at once." Helena''s eyes widen, and she quickly tapped on the skill Hera just mentioned. Even before she finished reading the description, her jaw had already dropped. This skill was incredible. Sure, it meant that using this would mean you would never excel at one thing. But you would never have a weakness either. It was perfect for anyone who wanted to cover all their bases. And probably the best skill someone who would have the explorer role could wish for. She grabbed the recruit by the hand and looked deep into her eyes. "Hera, please tell me everything that happened before your skill evolved." "Okay... " Hera was staring a bit worried by the look on Helena''s face, but she started to recount what happened the night before, skipping the part about the crying since she felt too embarrassed to share it. "Right, I got it... maybe. I need to put on a requisition really quickly. Just give me a second." Helena started to type, with a serious expression. Looking at the woman, Hera could see how beautiful she was. A sharp jawline and tiny nose with her curls flowing to the side of her head. She had an intense look in her eyes that only made the hazel color more vibrant. Her skin even seemed to be glowing ever so slightly, and there was also a reddish spot near her jawline. Hera started to wonder what was Helena Charisma at. "Hera, you are staring, dear." Hera quickly looked away, getting red with embarrassment before saying softly, "Sorry." "It''s okay. Now, let me give you a quick advanced lesson. Very few skills can''t be acquired by other people. Actually, as far as we know, the only type of skill that can''t be learned by someone else would be innate skills. Those are skills that you get when you level up for the first time, or that you always had. But they are not exclusive. For instance, other people had your Stats Relocation. The skills will always work the same way, if they have the same name, that is. So your skill is just like the skill anyone else could have. Are you following so far?" Helena stopped typing for a bit and looked at Hera, who responded by nodding. "Right. That also means that any change in one skill can be used by anyone else that has it. So if we can replicate the condition, other people could evolve their skill just like you did." That meant that Hera wasn''t special or chosen by the system. She was just lucky, which was fine since she was able to discover this and become an explorer was special enough. Even though she still felt like the system still owned her a bit. "What I''m doing right now is making a quest to test the conditions of the skill evolution. That way, if we managed to confirm it, we can add to our database, and all explorers that have the skill can know of the possibility and even look for other possibilities with it." Hera stared at Helena. She never heard about a skill database or something like that. "This is a trade secret. All explorers know about it, but no one is allowed to tell civilians. We do this so that no one tries to upgrade a skill before leveling up. That can be very dangerous for both the person and whoever is around them. You would probably only hear about this in a couple of weeks since the basic training takes a while to get there. But I felt like it was fair for you to know since you helped find this out. And of course, that way you can have a bit of an easier time in class when you get to this subject." Hera looked at Helena without understanding those last few sentences. "What class?" Hera asked. Helena gave Hera a big smile before answering. "Your explorer class silly, you have the best average stats I ever have seen, two absurdly strong skills to boot and wanted to be an explorer. Do you think I''m letting such a prime specimen of recruit escape? Now there is a class next month for the new recruits, but honestly, I don''t want to wait two whole months to see what type of explorer you will be. Soooo I can pull a few strings and make you join the class that starts today. It will be easy. All I have to do is click this button. But the choice is one hundred percent yours. If you need some time to process and talk to someone, you are free to do so for as long as you want." Helena stopped talking so fast, looked at Hera with a calm expression, and started speaking a bit more slowly. "I Don''t mean to pressure you. Sometimes I just get a bit too excited. This is a big decision, and even if you say you changed your mind, it will be okay. You can even come back in a few months or years, wanting to join again, and we will welcome you with open arms." Hera was overwhelmed by all that information. Yesterday at this hour, she was still a clerk in a bookstore with no hopes of having a happy life. And now, she could start the training to become an explorer today. She took a few deep breaths trying to avoid a panic attack, and Helena was giving her some space while placing a glass of water in front of her and pushed towards the potential recruit. Hera took a big sip of water. After calming down, she looked back at the woman who changed her life. "So, Hera Kingsley, should I click this button?" Hera looked back at Helena, who saw the fire in her eyes. She had a sixth sense about which recruits would do well as explorers, and to her, Hera seemed to be one of them. That spark was all the confirmation she needed. "Yes, please!" Hera answered. Helena gave a big smile and then clicked the button, getting up and taking Hera by the hand. "Great, now follow me. You are already late for the first class." 07 - Returning to class Hera was following Helena to the elevator. The classrooms were on the third floor of the guild. One day, it was all it took to her life to change completely. Yesterday she worked in the bookstore, woke up feeling depressed, and would cry herself to sleep almost daily. Now, she was worried she would seem like a fool who smiled all the time. All this because of the woman who was waiting for the elevator with her. Wondering why Helena was helping her so much, Hera kept looking at her with admiration and awe. She seemed to be so together, like her whole life was already figured out. How can someone who seems so young be so mature? "Hera dear, you are staring again," Helena said, giving Hera a smile and a side glance. Hera looked down, embarrassed about being caught staring at Helena another time. Seeing her like that, the attendant couldn''t help but chuckle a bit. "You seem to have something on your mind. You know you can ask me anything, right? You are a part of our family now." Blushing a bit, Hera thought about what she should ask but felt like all questions would be stupid or troublesome to Helena. "No, I.. I don''t have anything to ask". "Hera, sweety. You are an explorer now. You need to be more assertive. If you are not, then I''m gonna have to tell you my full life story, and that will be dreadfully boring." That made Hera laugh a bit. To her, that seemed impossible. There was no way that someone as confident and amazing as Helena would have a boring story. While she was thinking about this, the elevator arrived. "Finally, I have no clue why it''s taking so long," Helena walked in first, but then saw a piece of paper that was in the notice board of the elevator, "Oh right, they are doing maintenance. Honestly, why can''t we have a magic lift like most of the other guilds have," with a sigh, she waited for Hera to join her inside. "Ok, just ask me something to break the ice, anything. What I had for dinner last night or whatever." Hera looked around and then said with a soft voice while getting inside the elevator. "What did you have for dinner last night?" Helena stopped and stared at her for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Hera started blushing, feeling ridiculous for asking that. "I wasn''t expecting you to be so literal," Helena wiped a tear that was forming in her eye, "I had a salad, some pasta and a piece of apple pie for dessert. I had a huge craving for the last few days." The doors started to close slowly. Hera was feeling a bit better about her question, so she kept going. "Did you make the pie?" Catching her breath, Helena managed to stop her outburst. "Nope, I can''t cook to save my life. I got it all in a restaurant near my home. Try a more personal question. It''s okay. I won''t mind." Hera thought for a moment. It was stupid, but she felt a bit more comfortable now. After all, she was a good cook. Trying to think if there were any other things she wanted to know, she realized all the questions in her mind had been about the same subject. "What... what is your level?" Helena gave a big smile towards Hera. "Now we are talking! We explorers only have one thing in our minds. I''m level 18. And I''m a mage." Hera''s eyes widen. A level 18 mage? She never imagined that a high-level explorer would be working as a clerk. She just assumed they would be in the maze exploring and leveling up. "And why..." Hera stopped talking before the question came out of her mouth. It was probably a personal reason, and she didn''t want to intrude. Helena, already figuring out the question, answered it anyway. "Why I''m working as a clerk? I got homesick. After spending a few years in the MAZE, I wanted to come home to my family and friends." Hera just stared at Helena. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "How many years were you there? And how old are you?" Realizing that it was rude to ask that, she quickly added, "Nevermind, you don''t have to answer it." The elevator opened, arriving on the third floor. Both of them walked out just after the question. "I''m minding if you don''t let me answer. I was there for five years, I got way too distracted with research, the city I was at, and everything else. So I never went too far deep in the MAZE. And I''m 32, by the way." "And you don''t know how to cook?" Hera asked as a reaction. Only to become pale, realizing she could be offending Helena. "Hey! I can do other stuff, you know. I just never got around to cooking," She pouted. Hera couldn''t help but giggle at the reaction. She could be an adult, but right now, Helena looked like a teenager. Seeing Hera comfortable around her, Helena couldn''t help but smile. However, they had just arrived in the classroom. "Okay, this is where you will be. Let me just introduce you to the teacher." She knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, a man opened the door. Hera recognized him. He was the one that she saw in the reception area with suntanned skin, and long grey chops. "What?" the man asked sharply in a deep coarse voice. "Pipe down Calvin, I have one last student for your class. We had some issues with her registration. That''s why we are late." Helena took a step to the side so the man could look at Hera. He gave her a long stare. At first, it wasn''t a problem, but he took so long to say anything that made her uncomfortable. "Umm... Sorry to be late, Mr. Calvin," Hera said sheepishly. He stared at her even harder. "Lassie, in my class, ye call me Mr. Greyson. Ye don''t have the right to use my first name until ye can beat me in the field." It took Hera all that she had not to turn and run away. His presence was intimidating, and the way he spoke only made him scarier. However, when she looked at Helena, she realized one thing. "Did you beat him?" she asked, looking at the clerk that only answered by putting one finger in her lips and smiling. "That''s enough, lassie. Get in or go home." Greyson walked out of the door, giving space for Hera to come in. Helena then whispered something in his direction, and afterward, Hera only heard him mumble, "Bloody mages." Before she sat down in the last empty seat in the middle of the room, she got a text on her cell. It was a message from Helena wishing good luck and saying for her to go to the hall of heroes after the class. There were still a few things they had to do. With a smile, Hera put her phone on do not disturb, and looked to the teacher excited about the training. Mr. Greyson walked towards the front of the class and continued the lecture. "Like Ah was saying, the maze is not what ye think. It is not a place filled with walls with one exit. It is actually divided into many rooms." He drew a square on the blackboard. "Imagine this is a room. Anything can be inside it. A town, a tower, a field, even an ocean. It''s called a MAZE for each room connected with another by a doorway." He then made another four squares around the first and connected them all with a line. "The doorway can be in any place inside the room, up or down, hidden or in plain sight. The rooms can also vary in size. They can be a few hundred meters to miles ''n'' miles." He looked at the board and made a couple more shapes connecting to the other. But this time mixing circles, triangles, lines, and even some weird squiggly lines. "The room can also be in any shape, and the end is not always clear. Ye can be running through a field and hit an invisible wall." Mr. Greyson rambled talking about all the times he found the edge of the room by accident. Although Hera was interested in the subject, she couldn''t help but look around. There were twelve people in the room, not counting her and the teacher. Most of them seemed to be eighteen, but a couple looked a bit older, which made her relax a bit. She still was the oldest, but at least more people started a bit later. "The running into a wall thing happened to me once too, and Ah broke my nose in two different places. Never got back to the way it was." A boy who was sitting in front of Hera approached the girl in front of him and tried to whisper. "So, that''s why he has such an ugly face." He barely finished the sentence when Mr. Greyson grabbed his shoulder with one hand pushing him down into the chair. "Oy laddie, ye better show some respect to yer elders." The phrase came out calmly, but one look at the teacher''s face, and you would see that he was angry. Everyone noticed that, and even the air in the room seemed to try to escape. After a few moments with the man staring at the boy, Hera could see the other students feeling physically uncomfortable, and the boy sweating almost like he had a fever. Not sure what to do, she could only think about the angry customers that she dealt with in the bookstore. Feeling too much anxiety because of the situation, Hera decided to try one of her tricks to distract the teacher. "Mr. Greyson?" She said softly. The teacher looked towards her without letting the boy go. "Aye?" "... You said the wall can be anywhere. How was the first time you saw one?" It was a risky trick. She knew that. But usually, if they take the bait, the customers would talk about themselves and cool their heads enough so she could do her job. "The first time? It was a waterfall. Ah fell in a river and was being dragged towards it. Just before the fall, Ah hit the wall. That day Ah decided to learn how to swim." Mr. Greyson walked back to the front of the class to continue the lecture. The boy he had just released looked back to Hera and mouthed a ''Thank you.'' She answered with a smile before going back to what the teacher was explaining. "In recent years we found a skill that lets ye see the map of the room yer, in. If yer good with it, ye can even see where the walls are. That is one of the skills we teach ye in this class." One of the older ones in the back then asked. "Mr. Greyson, Sir. Does that mean we can learn skills through other people?" It was a question that didn''t cross Hera''s mind. Everyone knew about skills and that you can get them as you level up. But no one talks about how to learn them. Why is that? "Aye, we have a rule about not talking about this with people who are level 1. But ye can learn new skills in various ways. That''s gonna be tomorrow''s class. Now, we go to the gym. Ah want to see what ye can do." 08 - Running Start "What are ye waiting for? Let''s go." Before the students could realize what was going on, Mr. Greyson had already opened the door and left the room. A girl in the front seat looked back at the class. "Do we follow him?" The students stared at each other, trying to figure out what to do when they heard yelling coming from outside. "If ah have to wait for more than ten minutes, ye all are running the drill instead of training." "What is the drill?" One of the boys asked. One of the older ones got up and started walking to the door. "I have no idea, but I really don''t want to find out." As if agreeing with him, all the students got up and rushed through the door. The first student to leave the room saw the teacher looking back and going down the stairs. "We need to go down!" he said before following Mr.Greyson. Hera got up and followed the group, but she stayed at the back, afraid of stopping and hurting someone. At her side, a girl was running at the same pace. "Hey, it was a nice thing you did to help that guy. Even if it was an accident," the girl said. She had her long blue hair set in a ponytail and bangs that resembled a bit how the Hero Undine did her hair, albeit shorter. "Oh.. thank you... I... he... The teacher just reminded me of a customer I had and making him talk about something else made him cool off." Hera avoided eye contact, worried Mr. Greyson would be angry if he knew what she did. The girl started laughing at the same time they went down the stairs. "You treated Mr. Greyson as a rude customer? Oh my god, that is amazing." Hera''s eyes widen, "Please don''t tell him." The girl shook her head, "Don''t worry, that was incredible. I need to think about how my work can help me here, the previous work I mean. What''s your name?" The group was going down the second flight of stairs. Hera noticed that even though they were almost running, she wasn''t feeling tired at all. Yesterday this light jog would have exhausted her. "I''m Hera." "Hey Hera, I''m Pamella, but you can call me Blue." Hera tilted her head. Nicknames usually are part of the name, right? That was an odd one. "Why Blue?" Pamella pointed to her hair. "Oh, right," Hera felt embarrassed. The reason for the nickname was literally in the girl''s face. "I''m just kidding, my last name is Blunt, and since in my class, there were two other girls called Pamella. People started calling me Blue since Blunt seemed a bit too formal." Hera smiled at her. She knew it was just a joke, but that still made her feel uncomfortable, even if Pamella was just trying to be friendly. At the same time, she wondered if she wasn''t being made fun of. Following the group one more flight of stairs, Hera realized that they were going towards the basement since they had just passed the ground floor. She stopped before going down and looked around. Hera took the guild tour so many times that she still remembered the layout. This hallway leads to the training room. Why would they be going down? "What''s wrong?" Pamella stopped in the middle of the stairway, looking worried at her new classmate. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "This seems wrong. The training room is that way. Why would Mr. Greyson take us to the basement?" Pamella looked down at the rest of the group, "Maybe he has a different place in mind." "I don''t know... I think he would take us to where they train. I''m going to take a look." Hera started dashing through the hallway towards the cloth while she heard Pamella yelling. "If you are late, we are all running the Drill!" Hera wasn''t sure of what the Drill was, but she was sure there was nothing underground. The basement was a storage and research area, nothing more. Why would a teacher take his students there on the first day? Reaching the fork in the hallway, Hera looked around, trying to remember how to get to the training room. To her right, there was something in the back that seemed to glow. She started sprinting toward the light, but halfway through it, she saw the solid stone wall changing to a glass one. Through the glass wall, Hera saw a big room filled with equipment and a running field. Some people were training there. Hera assumed they were explorers since the training seemed to be almost impossible for an average human. Scanning the room, she finally saw an area with a few training dummies and one big sun-tanned man standing in front of them looking towards her. ############################# Mr. Greyson smiled at his student. She was the first to get there, but he had seen her in the back of the group. That fresh batch of recruits seemed to be too green even for the standard of a beginner course. He was glad at least one of them seemed to have some brains. He waved at her, but that caused her to run back the way she came. That surprised Greyson. Sure, he was harsh, and his personality wasn''t very welcoming, but running away after seeing him hurt a bit. He scratched his chin, wondering if the beard was contributing to the bad look. If it came to people running from him, maybe he should consider changing his style, even if he was very fond of it. Still pondering what he could do to be more friendly towards other people, he saw the girl running through the hallway toward the training ground. She was halfway through the door when another girl showed up, the one with the blue hair that seemed to be a bit too into the Heroes. The first girl, the one that arrived late, stopped in front of him at the same time he saw the rest of the class running through the hall. ############################# "Would ye look at that," Mr. Greyson said. The teacher was staring at Hera, who now was catching her breath. The jogging through the stairway was fine. But the sprint towards the training room and back, and to it again, was enough to tire her. Still, she had a wide grin on her face. She was fast. She was faster than ever before, and she could go at her full speed for more than just a few seconds, and she still had some energy. Part of her wanted the class to fail, and run through the Drill, whatever that was. She wanted to test her strength, test what her body could do now. Pamella joined her after a few seconds, nowhere near as tired at Hera, but she also was taking deep breaths. The rest of the class soon got behind them. Most were breathing heavily, but a few seemed to be okay with the marathon. "Very well, ye all made it in time, so none of ye will run the Drill today." Mr. Greyson walked toward one of the training dummies. "Now, ye all need to show me what ye can do. We made this dummy for this. It can take a beating, and it won''t break," the teacher said as he walked towards one of the silver dummies. "Ye will use the wooden ones if you get a higher level you need to swap for a more resistant one like this," With a swift movement, he slammed his fist in the dummy''s head, making a ''clang'' noise that startled even the other explorers in the room. Above the dummy, a screen showed a score of 183 points. "Each one of them is linked to a computer. So they can give you an idea of how powerful yer attack was. Even if ye are a mage, ye need some strength to fight, and Ah need to know what ye can do so Ah can teach ye." The students mumbled a bit until the man who left the class first stepped forward. "Can I go first?" he said confidently. It surprised Hera that he could ask something like that without any hesitation. "Very good laddie, ah like who takes the initiative. Take one of the weapons in the wall and give it a good whack, also what''s yer name?" The man walked towards the wall and put his hand on a wooden spear, letting out a long sigh before answering, "It''s Leonidas." Mr. Greyson gave a resounding laugh after hearing the name, "And ye know how to use a spear, my boy? Yer parents never gave ye a chance." "No, they didn''t." Leonidas walked in front of a dummy and took a deep breath. His entire presence shifted from someone confident and joyful to a cold and centered person. Hera was taken aback. It was the first time she ever saw someone with a bit of combat experience get ready to attack. A few seconds passed before he pulled the spear to the side with one hand while aiming it with the hand in the back. With a thrust, he hit the center of the dummy, making a loud noise as if a shelf had just fallen into the ground. Leonidas took a step back, staring at the spear and then at the dummy with a surprised face. "Ah told ye laddie, that dummy is a tough nut to crack," Mr. Greyson said with a smile before pointing towards the monitor. In big blue letters, Leonidas'' score appeared. 23 Points. "That is the strength of yer attack. It is the same as if yer strength score was a 23. When ye strike, the skill behind it also makes it stronger than yer own score. Very good for a recruit boy, Ye may make yer name justice one day." Leonidas smiled and put the spear back in the wall before walking towards the group. The teacher clapped his hands once and asked. "So, who is next?" 09 - Hit that dummy All the students were looking at each other. Leonidas'' display was impressive, especially since most of them had no actual combat training. Noticing the impatience of Mr. Greyson, Hera took deep breaths, trying to muster the courage to step forward. However, someone beat her to it. "I''m next!" Pamella took a few steps forward, staring at the dummy. "Very good lassie, tell us yer name and show what ye can do," Pamella kept looking towards the dummy, and with a frown said "I''m Pamella, but my friends call me Blue, and teach I have a problem. What I know how to do is based on grapples and throws. I don''t know if it will work against something that doesn''t move." Mr. Greyson nodded and pressed something in a tablet near the wall. The dummy in front of Pamella took two steps forward and threw a punch towards her. Then it reset its arm and punched again. On the third punch, it was clear the dummy was making the same motion over and over again. Pamella, who was a few steps away from the dummy, gave a cocky smile before looking at the teacher. "That will work. Thanks!" Mr. Greyson just gave a smile and a nod and watched as she was getting ready to attack. She had one foot to the back and one to the front, holding both of her hands in front of her in different heights. It looked like something out of a kung fu movie, but at the same time, the way she moved her legs reminded Hera of boxers. Pamella moved closer to the dummy, gauging the distance between her and her target. She was taking her time, making sure not to make any mistakes. Hera saw her arms tense just before she started to move. In a flash, Pamella grabbed the wrist of the dummy with her left hand, turned her body while positioning her shoulder under the attacker''s arm, making her back press to its chest. With a loud scream, she pulled the dummy arm, using its weight to throw the target on the ground. The dummy hit the floor, making a noise louder than what the spear had just made. The mannequin then got up from the ground and moved back to the position it was before starting to punch the air once again as if nothing had happened. "Very good, lassie, 20 points. That''s no small feat for a counter," Pamella was panting a bit, Hera wasn''t sure if it was the pressure of the moment or the move that she just did, but that seemed to take a lot out of the girl. "Thanks, I guess double my strength is pretty good," That remark made Mr. Grayson laugh once again. "Pretty good? Yer a goddamn monster lassie, even ah can only increase by a bit over half of my strength, without a skill." "But she was just kidding, right? Your strength is not 10, is it?" The boy who had made the teacher angry asked. "Yes, it is, and I can show it to the teacher to confirm it," Pamella said, staring at the boy. "No need, lassie, I read all yer files," Mr. Greyson looked at Hera, "Well, almost all of them." Hera felt the rest of the class staring at her. She just realized that the way she showed up made it seem like she was getting special treatment. Which in a way she was, but not like they would think. "Now, who of ye will go next?" The students hesitated once again. How could they follow these two monsters? Hera was still thinking about how she could clear any misunderstandings when she heard Mr. Greyson calling her. "Hera, how about ye show us yer moves?" She came out of her daze and stared at the teacher. But it was clear she had no other choice. Walking towards the wall, Hera looked at all the weapons there. There was almost any weapon you can think, swords, shields, whips, gauntlets, sickle, even what looked like a battering ram. She looked at them and approached Mr. Greyson. "I.. I never used any weapons before, and I can''t do it with my hands," Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The teacher stared at her and then turned to talk to the class. "Miss Hera never used a weapon before. But that hardly means anything. This class will give ye some basics in using many weapons inside the MAZE. Try them all and look for the one that suits ye," He looked back to Hera, "This is the first opportunity to do it, so just pick something ye think ye might like." She nodded and walked towards the wall once again, spears and lances seemed too big to control, Daggers too short. She had no idea how to use a bow, and a shield was something to protect, not to attack. Hera looked at the axes. Big two-handed ones seemed really cool, but she would look ridiculous using them. She looked at a handaxe. It was smaller than the two-handed ones but big enough to have some reach. She grabbed it and made swinging motions a couple of times. It feels right, but she then looked at the wooden blade and realized that there was a high chance she would miss the point where she wanted to hit, so she put the weapon back in the wall. Then she went for the swords. They always looked reliable and straightforward. You just swing and hit with any part of it. Looking at the swords, she didn''t feel any of them being the right fit. Too small, or too big, and even too fragile looking. She was about to move towards the more unique weapons when her feet knocked down a sword. She picked it up and could see a layer of dust that had gathered on the wooden blade. That weapon seemed worn out and forgotten. She could even see some light dents all over the edges. For some reason, she felt bad about it. For a sword that had seen so much use to be just left there, and no one even cared about, all its hard work so far just... Ignored. She dusted the sword off and went to one of the dummies that weren''t moving. Thinking about the movies she saw when she was little. The training and studying she did while waiting for her first level up. Memories that were once locked away all came flooding into her head. She put one foot in front of the other, mimicking the stance used in kendo since they also use wooden swords. Mr. Greyson waited patiently for Hera to pick her weapon. Since she had never used one, she needed to look at them carefully. It was the same for the rest of the class. But he didn''t mind. This was the part of the training he knew. Not the part where they needed to be in a stuffy classroom explaining how the world works to a bunch of greenhorns. The girl had chosen an old and beat up sword. The thing looked like it could snap if you pressed too hard. But his student seemed to use it well for someone who never held one before. He watched as she got into her stance. It was honestly a mess. Her weight was on the wrong foot, her arms too stiff, and her breathing was all over the place. Yet, her eyes were right, really right. The room was noisy, and it was easy to get distracted, but her focus shifted to the dummy. She was concentrating on the point where she wants to strike, even with the loud bangs around them. Greyson himself needed some effort to be focused like that. After a few moments, she took a step forward and hit the dummy in the neck with a slashing motion. The impact made a small tud sound, but at the same time, the entire class heard a loud crack. Hera looked at the sword in her hand, starting to panic. The wooden blade had cracked, and it looked about to split. She looked around, and the teacher was walking towards her. Taking a step back, she tried to hide the sword behind the dummy, not letting go of it. "It needs work, but ye have potential lassie. 14 points is pretty good for the first try, even if that is yer strength," he stopped in front of her, "And why are ye hiding the sword?" Hera didn''t want to think about what would happen since she broke a sword. Her bank account was in the single digits, and the gear explorers use is very expensive. "My strength is 12, actually. Maybe 11, I forgot to check." Hera didn''t know if there was a way to check her debuff aside from opening the status screen. But doing so while talking to someone is considered rude. The teacher tilted its head. It was an odd thing to say. The scores were only affected by buffs or debuffs, but he was sure she didn''t use any skills to attack. "All right, Ah can check yer file later. Now tell me why ye are trying to hide the sword?" Hera looked down and showed the sword to Mr. Greyson. She couldn''t look him in the eyes. What if they kicked her out for damaging the guild property, hit her hand trembling the teacher picked up a sword and let out a long sigh. "I.. I broke the sword. But please don''t kick me out! I can''t pay the guild back yet, but I can work as a clerk or a janitor or whatever just please let me stay here." Without realizing her eyes were filling up with tears. The fear of being so close only to be kicked out again overcame her. Greyson was a callous man, but even he was taken aback for her reaction. If anyone was at fault, here is who let a crappy sword stay in the training room. He put a hand on Hera''s shoulder, trying to comfort her. "It is okay, Lassie. The sword was old and not enchanted the way it should. No one is getting kicked out for it," he gave a soft smile, and for one moment, all his students saw his imposing figure change to that of a caring person. That didn''t last long. Seeing the class change the way they were looking towards him, Mr. Greyson bounced back to his usual posture. "Now go back to the group," he guided her with his hand on her back, "and you, go next!" He pointed to the middle of the group, just waiting for any of the students to take the bait. "Me?" one of the girls in the middle asked. The teacher held back a smile. This trick always worked. "Aye ye lassie, c''mon we don''t have all day." The girl went to the wall to choose her weapon, but Hera was too distracted to pay attention. Her eyes were still watery, and she was trying to calm herself down. Pamella walked over to her. "Hey, are you ok?" Her voice was soft, and Hera could see that she was reaching with her hand but stopped midway. That made her feel more comfortable. It was nice being near people who understand that sometimes we need space. "Yeah, I just got worried." Hera looked around and saw a water cooler in the back of the room. "I''m just gonna drink some water," Hera said. Hera walked away from the group, not realizing that the whole exchange witnessed by a man with a bright pink mohawk. 10 - Unexpected rematch All students had made their demonstrations to Mr. Greyson. Aside from Pamella and Leonidas, only one other person got a score above 16, and even the man who managed that only did it because his strength was at 15. "Very well, ye will have a few tests during the training. One of them is to beat the score you just got. It can be with a different weapon, but you need to do better than this. Even you two," The teacher said, pointing at the two students who got a score above all the others, "Work to be stronger by the end of the training." Leonidas just gave Mr. Greyson a nod, while Pamella started to complain to Hera. "Is he crazy? I got double my strength D O U B L E. How am I supposed to beat that?" Hera looked at her and, with a smile, said, "Maybe being angry will help." Pamella scoffed at her, "Well if that helps, I should do it right now. I''m really pissed." "All right, now ye all should have a feel for the weapons. Each of ye pick a weapon ye never used and hit the dummy. Try to see if ye find something ye like." That''s how the recruits spent the rest of the day. Trying out all the weapons they could to see if they would find the one that suited them the best. Even Pamella and Leonidas were testing new options, but they started close to what they knew. Using a lance, the trainee that held the top score made a move that could only be described as barefoot jousting. That gave him a score of just 13 before changing back to other types of spears and glaives. By the end of the day, he even had tested a scythe which was extremely clunky. Pamella was no different. She started testing out arm guards, moving on to shields, and even trying out whips. After the third time, she almost hit someone else. Mr. Greyson told her to choose the weapon as part of her practice in the next weeks, but to keep it in the wall for now. When the class ended, she was closer to what she knew, using a pair of glove claws, which were essentially gloves with pointy fingers. That seemed to work well with her grapple based combat since it could hold her opponent better and give a bit of damage in the process. Hera tried most swords, daggers, and maces. None of them felt right. Then she moved to shields. They were all too big. It made her movements feel awkward. She looked back at the big weapons, picking up one of the double-bladed heavy axes. It had a nice movement, but it wasn''t a quick weapon. She would have to be sure to strike at the right time since it would take too much time to go for a second strike. Putting the weapon back on the wall, she went for the bastard sword. It wasn''t as heavy, and maybe the swing would be better. It was also a common weapon for cartoons and movies. Because of that, Hera had a few ideas on how to wield it. Sadly, it was just an idea. After hitting the dummy a few times, she realized that the weapon was weird. Its reach was smaller than that of a two-handed weapon, and its weight was too much to use it with one hand. Then she noticed a Chakram, a circular blade with a handle in the middle. It was the weapon that the hero used in her favorite TV show. She picked the Chakram up and tried a few times, swinging it and getting ready to throw it at the dummy. But before she made her attack, one of the boys in the class said. "Hey, look at the warrior princess over there." That caused a few of the other students to laugh and snicker. Hera decided not to bother even testing the weapon. She had already received special treatment from the guild. The last thing she wanted was to give the other students any more reason to pick on her. The last weapon she tested was the hand axe. It had a powerful impact, and the speed wasn''t that bad. But even though she managed to hit the wooden blade on the target most of the time, she realized that it was something she needed to keep in mind while fighting. Since a big part of the weapon was just the handle, if she got distracted, she would end up missing the blade. Against a target that would not fight back, there was no problem, but if it was an actual monster, she would probably have gotten badly hurt. Hera felt comfortable with the axe, even if it was a bit trickier to use. But at the end of the day, she went back to the sword. It was easier to learn something that most explorers used. Leonidas gave some tips to Hera during the practice, mainly about letting her body loose. It didn''t take long for Pamella to do the same regarding the movement of her feet. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Hera thought she should have felt bad about disrupting their training, but for the first time in a long time, she just thanked the duo for their help. "Okay, yer all done for today. Grab whatever ye left in the class and go home. Tomorrow ah want all of ye here at seven." "But Mr. Greyson, It''s past ten, and I take a couple of hours to get here." One student said. The teacher stared at her, "So, ye better get moving, lassie. Explorers might need to spend a few weeks with almost no sleep. It will be good training for ye." Hera looked at the girl, feeling sorry for her. She remembered what it was like to work two hours away from home. Right now, she felt glad to have found a home just one hour away from the guild. With the class dismissed, Pamella walked beside Hera towards the classroom, talking about the weapons they tried. "There is nothing for me to use. Maybe I should get a spiked armor to hit the monsters when I''m throwing them." "Wouldn''t the monster get stuck? And if they didn''t, you will be showered with their insides. Imagine what the blood would do to your hair, it might even turn purple," Hera said. Pamella stopped walking and just stared at Hera, looking horrified. "How can you even say that? Not my beautiful hair." She started stroking her hair like it was a puppy who just got hurt. "Girls and hair, that is one relationship I will never understand," Leonidas said after he slowed his pace for the two of them to catch up. "Don''t even try to, we can lose our life but never our hair." Pamella still was pouting after imagining the scene Hera described. "Are all of you like that?" Leonidas was rolling his eyes which made Hera laughed before answering "I can''t say for all of us, but I would gladly lose my hair to save my life," she looked back at Pamella "Sorry," With a look of shock, Blue chanted, "Heresy, treason, blasphemy." The trio giggled and kept discussing the weapons they tried and how each felt. It was just like Helena had said that once you become an explorer. It is hard to think about anything else. When they reached the classroom, Hera saw the students picking up a bag that had the guild symbol in the front. "Humm... Pamella? Where did you buy that one?" She said, pointing at the bag. "You mean the bag? It was in the care package we all got when we enrolled in the class. Didn''t you get one?" Hera froze. She just realized Helena asked to meet her after the class, and she was making her wait. "I have to go. I need to go talk to someone." Before even getting an answer, she was walking back to the reception. Picking up her cellphone, she quickly typed. "I''m so so sorry, I forgot we still had things to do, are you still in the guild?" She went to the stairway, almost jumping the steps, before seeing a new message pop on her phone. "You forgot about little old me? Ohhh Hera, I thought you liked me T.T JK!! Don''t worry, sweetie. I''m still here dealing with some paperwork. Meet you at the Heroes Hall in 15." Seeing the text, Hera relaxed a bit and stopped running. She didn''t want to make Helena wait, even if it wasn''t something she knew it would happen. Hera felt she owed Helena everything. She even laughed at herself for being so dramatic. It was just the second day after she had a life-changing event. Stepping on the ground floor, Hera noticed she still had over ten minutes to kill, so she decided to go to the training area. She wanted to see how real explorers trained. She walked towards the big glass wall and saw that the training area was far from empty, although it wasn''t exactly crowded either. A couple was sparring near the dummies they used during class. The man used a two-handed sword while his partner used a pair of rapiers. They seemed to be training a specific move. The sword wielder repeated the same attack, an overhead swing, while the other man tried to parry it, using the rapiers in various ways. Hera was looking at both, trying to see how their body moved with each attack. Where they were putting the weight of their body, and the point where they were focusing, trying her best to absorb some of the technique. Until in one parry, a loud clang rang, and the two-handed sword has pushed back, making the men holding it spin around. Both of them looked at each other with a big smile and repeated the same move a couple more times. After the fifth time in a row that the sword was pushed back, both men laughed and gave each other a high five. That turned into a hug and then a kiss. Hera looked away at that point. She never had a problem with public displays of affection, but it wasn''t like she enjoyed watching it. Hera started walking towards the Heroes Hall when she turned the corner she almost bumped into a man wearing mirrored sunglasses, a long burgundy trench coat, and a bright pink Mohawk. She froze for a second. It was the same man that tossed her out of the leveling chamber. He stretched out his hand towards her, and instinctively she ran. The ground floor had many hallways. She knew it wouldn''t be impossible to get to where Helena would meet her if she went another way, and that was exactly what she did. Not even looking back, Hera sprinted as fast as she could towards the Heroes hall, making a few people look at her wandering. ''Why would that girl be running like that?'' When she finally arrived at her destination, she looked around, but Helena was still nowhere to be seen. Hera walked towards the back of the room, panting a bit, but before she could relax, she saw the man with the pink mohawk walk in the hall. Hera stepped back, panicking until her back hit the wall under the stained-glass picture of Cyrus. She saw the man getting closer and raising his hand towards her and then... Darkness... 11 - You have a hero Hera had her eyes closed, waiting for whatever the man was going to do. She held her breath, hoping her new endurance stat would be enough for her to survive another explosion. "Get the hell away from her, Ashe. I told you it wasn''t the time." That was a voice Hera recognized. Carefully opening her eyes, she saw Helena in front of her, with a dark smoke enveloping both her and the guild clerk. "But I want to apologize to her!" The dark smoke seemed to lash out towards the man like whips, Hera could see Helena''s hair changing color. Becoming darker and darker, a few of her curls also seemed to ooze out the smoke that stretched and expanded from her head. "I do not care what you want! You attacked a civilian. The guild job is to protect the people outside the MAZE, not to harm them! The second you did that you lost any rights you had to ask for something. Now get out of here, you are still suspended for the next six months." Ashe tried to speak again, but very few would dare to anger Helena. Her level was higher than his. He knew that. He also knew that she''s famous for fighting against monsters almost ten levels stronger than her without a problem. Hera just hid behind Helena until the man left. Her back wasn''t hurting, and even the scar seemed to be gone after the level up, but the pain and fear were still with her. Like a claw grasping her throat, she was even having trouble breathing. A few moments later, Ashe had left the Hall of Heroes. Helena turned around to check on Hera''s condition. "Are you okay? Did he do something to you?" Her voice was trembling, but Hera couldn''t tell if it was panic or anger. "I''m... I''m okay." Hera had to take a deep breath before answering. Just now realizing that she was shaking. "No, you are not Okay, you can say when something is wrong sweetie." Helena placed her hand on Hera''s shoulder. Hera forced herself to stop shaking. She didn''t realize how terrified she was of the man after the previous day, but it all made sense. During her hurry to get out of the guild, she didn''t even consider asking for someone to check her injuries. She was already in the best place to look for help with that. But the only thing she was thinking was to run back home. Once again, she felt stupid. She was better than that. Her intelligence could be lower at the time, but that wasn''t an excuse for that level of stupidity. She is now an explorer. She can be better than that. She has to be better. "Hera? Sweetie? Please say something. We can go after a healer if you like. They have skills to help you calm down." Hera shook her head, "No, thank you. I''m ... I''m going to be okay," she gave a weak smile. For a high-level explorer like her, what happened to Hera was nothing more than a bad day hunting. However, for a civilian who had just got their first level up, an attack like the one Ashe did, would be the same as taking a direct hit from a dungeon Boss twice your level. Many explorers would quit or take an extended leave when faced with a situation like that one. And there was this girl, facing the same boss two days in a row. She was still shaking, obviously terrified, but she refused to let that pull her down. The fire in her eyes was still burning. Helena gave Hera a big smile, "Okay, but I want you to promise me you will talk to me if you feel like it''s too much. Pinky promise," She raised her hand while holding her pinky out. Hera laughed a bit. How can someone change from being strong and mature to acting like a preteen so quickly? She linked her pinky with Helena''s. "Pinky promise," she said while linking their pinkies together. "Great, now let''s go to the office. I still have some things to give you." Helena walked towards the door, holding Hera''s hand. But stopped and looked around, making sure Ashe wasn''t in the hallway before continuing towards the office. It wasn''t a long walk, and soon both of them were sitting down on the same desk they were earlier that day. Hera felt weird. It seemed like it''s been more than a week since she sat there. Hera almost slapped herself. It was the second time today she stopped to ponder about the past, and how things changed. She had to stop doing that, or she would become an annoying old lady before her thirties. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "So, Hera, I got all your data now I just need to give you your pre... Post first day information. First, the class starts at 8 A.M. and ends at 6 P.M. This can change depending on the teacher, but most follow that schedule. If you get sick, our healers can help you, so you don''t miss any classes. At the end of the course, you will all have a test to ensure you can deal with the MAZE exploration. If you pass, you are a full-fledged explorer. If not, you can retake the class in six months. In the meantime, we will hire you as a clerk in the guild. If the problem was just the final test, you could try the makeup test two times. After that, you need to retake the class," Helena explained. "Now about the pay, when you become an explorer, it''s going to be about contributions, and items and a lot more variables so I won''t get into that until you pass the test. As a recruit, you have a 2 000 gold allowance for the month. This should be enough to live comfortably, and if you become a clerk, that will be your monthly wage. You also get this care package," Helena continued placing a black bag with the guild logo in the middle. "Here you have a guild tablet, a holster for it, a set of training clothes on your size, a patch that you can put in any clothing to show you are a guild trainee and a bracelet. This is essentially a human black box. It tracks your vitals and location inside the MAZE, it can only see the area you are in, but it still can be helpful if needed. When you use the tablet, you can also set your biosignature. For now, that will only be used for the tablet, but after you pass the test, that will be your guild access." Hera was taking in all the information. The biggest surprise was the payment. She knew explorers made a lot of money, but if even recruits to get 2 000 gold. How much a level 18 would be able to make? "Oh, right! Before I forget, you also get a 500 gold bonus for each skill you discovered. If we can confirm it''s a skill anyone that meets the requirements can evolve the skill, you will get an extra 500, and another 250 if you find any other information on how the skill works. If you figure out how one can awaken your second skill, that will be another 500 and the same 250 for any new information you can give us about that skill." Hera was looking at Helena with disbelief. Her wage as a bookseller was only 750 gold. And now she was getting 3 000 in one go? Either an explorer gets way overpaid, or her last job was worse than she thought. Seeing her face, Helena let out a sigh. "I know you are getting way underpaid for the skills, but that is a guild rule. The prices of skills vary depending on several factors. The strength, the method of acquiring it, the number of people who would have access to it. Just because your skills seem to require a rare innate skill, they gave the lowest pay to it. Even though it''s an overpowered skill." Hera shook her head. "No, no, no, it wasn''t a complaint. It''s just... this is three times my previous salary. Does an explorer really make that much money?" Helena giggled, "Not at all. This much money a level 5 explorer can make in a bad week of hunting. A terrible one actually, maybe killing around 10 low tier monsters a day." "Really?" Hera was in shock. When she got to level 5, would she be making that much money every week? "Really, after level 10, almost everything you buy, aside from food, will be a few thousand, or a few K like we say. After that, explorers deal with platinum, which is worth 100 thousand gold each." "So, do I have to change my money then?" Hera was already considering the problem that would be if she had to carry thousands and thousands of bills around. "Well, if you want sure, but since almost everything is digital, these days, you don''t have to worry about it. Your money will go straight to your bracelet, and when you reach a safe point, it will go to the guild bank. It''s all automatic, so that helps a lot." Hera picked the bracelet and looked at it, it was a deep black color, and it had some runes inscribed around it. "When you put on the bracelet, it will be bound to you. You can shower and swim with it all you want, it won''t break. And if you remove it and walk away, it will teleport back to your wrist. And my favorite feature." Helena tapped on the tablet in front of her, and her bracelet appeared on her wrist. It was three metal chains spiraling around each other, a gold, a silver and a black one. They seemed to be individual, but when Helena moved one, all three moved in sync. "You can customize or make it disappear as you wish. It just takes a bit of time to make a more intricate design. Since it needs to be drawn by hand in the tablet." Hera was more impressed with the bracelet Helena had than with the possibilities. It was such a delicate work. "Did you make that one?" she asked without taking her eyes out of the metal chains. "Sort of, I made the idea and created a basic drawing. Then I asked a crafter friend of mine to make it. Honestly, my drawings are not that good, and crafters seem to have skills that help with this." She remembered all the failed attempts that made her get used to the bracelet being invisible, "You can also make it disappear." Helena tapped again on the tablet, and the bracelet vanished. "Can you show me how to do that?" Hera asked, looking at her own wrist. "Of course!" Helena was glad Hera asked for something. It was the first time she heard the girl doing that, even though it was something really simple. A couple of minutes later, Hera was able to toy with the wristband. There were two options to change the bracelet. A drawing or a 3D model. Most people would use a picture since it was easier to make, and the system would extrapolate the rest. But Hera always liked the 3D classes at school. She could very well give it a go later. "Ok, ok, ok, let''s not get carried away here, if you want to make your own design let me finish what I need first." Helena passed a few contracts to Hera sign, standard explorer things. A life insurance, authorization to make the knowledge of the skills available to all, and a Nondisclosure agreement that says she is not allowed to give information about the MAZE or the explorers to any civilian unless it is a life and death situation. This was just to make sure no civilian would try to do something that would put them in danger. Hera gave no mind to it since it was common knowledge that the explorers wouldn''t talk about the MAZE to civilians. "Okay, now we are done, do you have any other questions, sweetie?" Hera thought for a second. "Just one, what are monster tiers?" Helena gave a big smile. "That, my dear, is for Calvin to tell you in your class." 12 - New Toy When Hera finally got home, it was around 11 PM, she wanted to talk more with Helena, but she was just too tired. Hitting a wooden dummy for a few hours would do that to you. She wasn''t hungry, but there was some leftover pasta in her fridge. If she didn''t eat it soon, it would go bad. Hera also needed food. Even as an explorer, some basic needs wouldn''t change. Placing the pasta inside the microwave, she turned it on for three minutes. It would be scalding hot, and that was just how she liked it, especially since it would melt the grated cheese she used for seasoning. While she waited, Hera picked up the guild tablet and opened the bracelet customization. She toyed with the 2d version of it, but it wasn''t for her. The 3d, on the other hand, was right up her alley. Realizing it would be hard to make something good with the touch screen. She placed the tablet on a desk in her room and plugged in her mouse and keyboard. With the set up ready, Hera picked her dinner from the microwave and started to eat while she worked. Thinking back to Helena''s bracelet, she picked a basic model from the menu. Some slides showed up that helped you with the customization. She could change for pure modeling work at any moment, so Hera looked for a good starting point. She scrolled through the models and found a braided version. Using a slider, she increased the gap between each braid until the bracelet looked like a strand of DNA. She raised the thickness of the sides and changed the colors. Hera wanted to make the bracelet look a bit more sturdy, even though it couldn''t break. For the colors, she picked dull silver as a base and changed the color of each strand. One had a shade of red and the other a shade of green. That would be her nod to the heroes. She still wanted to put something in the middle of each loop, and that part would be golden, the same color as Cyrus'' aura. Hera was staring at the model, thinking about what she could place in the empty spots. She didn''t find an option to do it in the pre-made models, so she would need to make them herself. Animals were hard, and symbols seemed too bland. She was good at making objects, but what would she make? A chair? A lamp? A can? A fork? She smiled, a fork was stupid, but a knife on the other hand. She could make weapons. They were objects, after all. Thinking about the wall in the training hall, Hera considered which weapons would be good to make. Flails, maces, and things with a complex form would take a long time, so she brushed them aside. Swords were a must, easy and simple. She also wanted to do an axe, and a Chakram, on a side that is pointing inside so no one would see it easily. For the rest, she was just going to make what looked cool. When she decided what type of weapon she will use, she can swap the ones in the bracelet. The weapons seemed a bit odd being in all the shades of gold she tried. Remembering the stained glass, she made the top of each weapon to be a deep metallic black. But the sides would be golden. That made the whole design get together in a way she wasn''t expecting. The shimmering golden aura around the weapons would reflect off the red and green strands, making the whole bracelet look like it was glowing, even if there was no light coming from it. With a smile, she gave a last look at her work and hit the apply button. The bracelet didn''t change right away. Instead, it showed the progress of the rendering while the bracelet changed. It seemed fair. It was a fantastic piece of technology, but even so, it still had some constraints. She placed the bracelet on the desk beside the tablet and went to the shower. She felt sticky after the workout during class. She really needed one. Before walking to the bathroom, she placed her now empty plate in the sink. The work consumed her in a way she didn''t even realize she had eaten. Less than twenty minutes later, she was done, and so was the bracelet. She picked it up excitedly and admired her work. It was beautiful. Even some parts she didn''t consider making were added to make it symmetrical. What mainly surprised was that the bracelet wasn''t just a projection like she was expecting. The actual form of the bracelet shifted to what she made. Hera looked at the time and realized it was past 1 AM. She put the bracelet on the desk again and went to bed, excited about what else she was going to learn the next day. She kept moving around in bed, too eager to sleep, but her tiredness overcame, and she fell asleep. It was barely 5 AM when Hera walked into the training room at the guild. She woke up early and was ready to start. However, she was the second person to get there. Leonidas was already in front of a training dummy, practicing with his spear while wearing the tracksuit the guild provided. Hera was surprised, but at the same time, she had the same idea. Her bag was in one of the lockers, and she was already dressed for training. Moving to a dummy near Leonidas, she watched him for a few moments. He was making the same move over and over again. Or at least that''s what it seemed. After watching Hera noticed, his attacks were slightly different every time. The position of his hands shifted, as did the weight he was applying to his front leg. Most hits gave the same score, but now and then, he did something that changed that. Hera understood what was happening. It was a way to perfect his movements. There wasn''t any way to do this type of training outside the guild. After a few minutes, Leonidas had increased his score by one point consistently. Hera gave a soft smile and walked towards the wall filled with weapons. "Oh, Hey Hera, is it time for class already?" Leonidas asked, noticing he wasn''t alone for the first time. "Not yet, I just couldn''t sleep." Hera looked at the spot where the sword she broke the day before previously was. Now it was just an empty place. She felt a bit sad about breaking a weapon that must have had such a busy life. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "I understand you. There is too much going on for me to sleep." Leonidas was looking at the girl, curious about what weapon she would pick. The moment she pulled a long sword from the wall, he let out a surprised gasp. "... What?..." Hera asked sheepishly. "Nothing, I just pictured you using something with less weight to it," He said, scratching his cheek. It was rude of him to react like that when she did something unexpected. "I''m not sure what I''m going to use. My strength stat increased a lot because of my level up, so I need to get used to what I can do. I just thought that a heavy sword could help with that." Leonidas was taken aback. How much her stats had changed? "Sorry to ask, but did you really have an increase so big that you need to get used to your own body?" Hera lowered her head. It wasn''t about getting used to her body. She knew that ship had sailed. It was about understanding what it could do. "Yeah... I... I got a skill that let me redistribute my attributes. I Used to have a 6 strength. Now it''s at 12." Well, 11, Hera thought, but she wasn''t going to explain another of her skills now. "Oh, ok. That makes more sense, although I''m not sure you should have used all your stats in strength. I mean, it''s better to increase what you already excel at first and then take care of your weakness." Hera swung the long sword without hitting the dummy, getting used to its weight. "I don''t think I should say much about it, but strength is my lowest and highest attribute right now." She swung the sword horizontally, hitting the dummy''s side. A 13 appeared in the monitor behind it. "Wait, does that mean all your stats are at 12? By the Heroes, how OP were your base stats?" Hera knew Leonidas wasn''t trying to make fun of her. But the way he said it made her remember all the times the people at her school teased her when she found her stats. It was stupid to feel bad about that now, Hera was aware of that. After all, she was going to be an explorer. And she had one of the highest average stats possible. However, it wasn''t enough. Hera felt the tears start to form in her eyes and got angry. Angry at the people that teased her, mad at the system for taking so long, angry at herself for being so ungrateful. She put all her feeling in her arms and, with a big swing, hit the dummy in the head. A score of 18 appeared on the monitor. "They sucked. If I wasn''t lucky to get a skill and some bonus points, I could never become an explorer." She took a deep breath and kept hitting the dummy. Leonidas noticed her eyes watering and decided not to pry anymore. "I''m glad it all worked out. I have a feeling the class wouldn''t be the same without you here. For one, Mark would have probably quit after Mr. Greyson grabbed his shoulder yesterday." They both laughed. Hera was glad he understood it was a tough subject. She also appreciated the change in the subject. Most people tend to keep digging when someone is uncomfortable. Or at least that was her experience with people. The duo kept training. When it had been about one hour, they took a small break. Even with a few idle minutes, they still had plenty of time to train some more and take a shower before going to class. Hera sat at one of the benches with her back to the glass wall. Leonidas was lying on the floor with both arms spread wide. Hera giggled, seeing the man like that. "Is that part of your training?" "Oh Yes, fair maiden, a knight must always lay on the floor after a good workout. The fact that both my arms hurt more than when I first started to go to the gym has nothing to do with that." He laughed, making sure not to move his arms. "They might have healers that can help with that, you know." Hera drank half of her water bottle after speaking. "Nah, I want to feel it. If we are deep in the maze, we might not have healers to help. I need to be sure I can still function even like this." Hera tilted her head, "Wouldn''t be lying on the floor kind of defeat the propose then? You are supposed to be moving around." Leonidas laughed, but before he could answer, the duo heard a loud voice coming from the door. "HEY! Not Fair!" Pamella was walking towards them, wearing a tennis band on her forehead, the guild tracksuit, and a hand towel around her neck. "If you guys made plans to train, you should have invited me!" she huffed. "Sorry Pamella, we didn''t talk about this, we just had the same idea, if we had talked we would have definitely invited you," Hera said, giving the girl a heartfelt smile. "That''s fine, I guess, but I told you to call me Blue, or Pam, or anything really. Hearing you say Pamella makes me feel like I''m getting scolded by my mom." Hera twisted her nose a bit. She wasn''t that older than Pamella. "Oh, c''mon Blue, no one is getting scolded, aside from me for being on the floor." Leonidas tried to jump back up, but his arms gave, and he ended asking for help to get up. "Now that the three of us are here, we can train together unless the two of you are too tired to keep up with little young me," Pamella said while she walked to a free dummy, trying to taunt the two other students. "Honestly, Hera is just one year older than you, and I''m 20 how can you be the young one?" Hera just laughed at the banter and went to her dummy. For the next 30 minutes, the trio was practicing and trading suggestions on how to improve. Hera felt like she was the one who was barely contributing to help the other two, but she noticed a few habits that seemed to be hindering the two. "Leonidas, when you go to attack, you use the same leg that holds your weight to step forward, kind of like a small skip. Could that be taking away a bit of power from your blow?" "Oh, I know, that skip is a step up for the rest of the movement. It''s a trade-off to make the next attack quicker and more accurate. It took me a while to get this skip right. Let me show you." The spearman showed the full movement, taking a step forward and then a few rapid stabs at the dummy. Without the skip, he would need more time to prepare for that flurry, or it would be too far to hit all the attacks. Hera nodded, feeling frustrated. She wanted to help them but wasn''t sure why. "Don''t feel bad, Hera. You tried to help. Try me, what do I do that seems odd?" Pamella said, excited. "Well... When you throw the dummy, your free hand always goes to your chin. I''m not sure if that''s part of the movement, but if you use both hands, wouldn''t the power be stronger?" Pamella nodded. "Yeah, but if I use both hands, I lose my balance. My free hand helps me keep my center of gravity. When I throw someone, it changes from being my center to the center of both our bodies. It''s tricky to find out the right place to focus." "Oh.. yeah, I guess it is. And it''s not like you can control where the center of mass would be right." Pamela stared at Hera for a moment and started to try something different in her attacks. Her move consisted of adapting to the enemy weight, but controlling its distribution could lead to something. Hera saw the woman focus on her new idea and went back to her own training. After some time, she looked at the clock and realized they had gone a bit past the time they wanted. "Guys, the class starts in 20 minutes, we should go." 13 - Understanding Skills Hera was already in her seat. The trio arrived five minutes before seven. A few other students were already in class, including Mark, who was behind a girl in the front seat. Everyone was talking, Hera felt like she was in High school again, but this time without the bad memories. The second Mr. Greyson walked through the door, the whole class went quiet. "Good, ye are here already. Aside from a few stragglers, all seem to be here." As if they were waiting for their cue, two men and two women walked through the door, just before the clock hit 7. "Ok, ye all are here then. Ah guess no one gave up after the first day," The teacher looked at Mike, who recoiled with the stare. "I planned to make ye lot run a few laps before coming back here to hear me talk. But someone told me that Ah should talk first, and then tire ye in the training room. Since there was a chance some of ye would end up sleeping after the training, and if that happens, ye are going to be the dummy Ah hit." The whole class got quiet after that remark. Mr. Greyson had punched a silver dummy and got almost 200 points. A hit like that in one of the students would send them to the hospital, and that is if they are lucky. "Relax kids, Ah won''t be fighting ye at full strength. But don''t expect me to be playing around." The students were not as relieved as the teacher expected, but they seemed to be a bit less scared of the idea. Little did they know that a match against him was a part of Mr. Greyson''s lesson plan for the next week. "All right now, to start the class. Can any of ye tell me what skills are?" A blond girl with twin tails, dark skin, and long sparkly nails raised her hand. "Skills are special abilities that the system gives us. They can vary from physical like a strength or resistance boost to magical like being able to shoot fire or lightning from your hands." Mr. Greyson nodded, "Ye are half right, lassi. I mean..." He stopped to look at his tablet. "Ye are half right, Bonnie. But it isn''t the system that gives the skill. It just helps us use it. We need to learn it on or own." Most of the students nodded. It seemed right the system never gave anything, not really, even if some people say they have been blessed by the system it was always their own accomplishments. Saying that the system gave or took something was the same as finding excuses for why that happened. Hera agreed with that, even if she had spent years blaming the system for not letting her be an explorer. "But Mr. Greyson..." Bonnie had a confused expression of her face, " if the system doesn''t give any skills, how do we learn magic? I mean, even civilians that level-up can''t cast any spells. It doesn''t matter how hard they try to learn it." Hera stopped for a second. The girl was right. Magic was not used by anyone that wasn''t an explorer. Even high-level civilians had no access to it. "Aye, that''s because we can only learn magic inside the MAZE. The air there is different than out here. It''s full of energy. Inside, ye can start to learn how that energy behaves, and little by little change that into what ye want." "So, mages take a long time to learn how to use spells?" Hera was wondering how much time it took for Helena to be able to use magic. "Yes and no, if ye choose a role that deals with magic ye will manage to use spells quicker than ye expect. There is sort of an explanation for that, but it''s a subject for another class. The MAZE and the system are still full of wonder and mysteries, so it''s better if we don''t change the topic at hand for now. That way, none of ye get confused." The teacher walked to the board and started to write. He made two columns and put a type in each of them. "We have two types of skills, the ones ye can learn, and the ones ye can teach. A skill ye can learn is any skill ye can train and practice until you manage to unlock it on your own. A skill ye can teach is any that requires a specific thing that ye can show other people so they can learn too." "Let''s try an example," Mr. Greyson wrote Punch in the learn column, "Ye can punch enough to learn that skill, but if someone teaches ye a fighting style ye might get a boxing skill." He finished his sentence by placing boxing in the teaching column. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Now, can anyone give me another example?" Pamella raised her hand, and the teacher nodded so she could give her an answer. "Sooo... a skill you can learn would be Dancing, but doing the waltz or salsa or samba would be a skill you can teach?" "That''s a weird one, but aye those would be right." "Mr. Greyson, what about magic? Is there any type of magic we can learn? Or any that you can teach us?" Bonnie asked. Hera noticed her expression. The face of someone who desperately wants something. For some reason, she got a bit worried, but it was probably just her bad memories trying to come back. "Aye, there is. Both magic ye can learn and magic ye can teach, but what they actually are, I can''t tell ye. Ah''m a fighter, not a mage. Don''t worry. Ye will be able to talk to a dam good wizard during this training." Hera instantly thought about Helena, but she doubted it would be her. She didn''t seem to be interested in teaching a bunch of recruits. Looking at the board, Hera noticed that there wasn''t a mention of skills that you were born with, like her redistribution. She raised her hand and waited for Mr. Greyson to notice it. "Sir, what about the skills you are born with? I heard people calling them Innate skills." The teacher nodded. "Aye, some skills you have since birth. Even if ye can''t see them right away, the system is stingy with information. It only tells ye what ye are able to use, never what ye can one day use. Some explorers only discover those skills when they are very old or very strong." As much as it bothered her, she knew about how the system behaved. If she had known before about her skill, she would have had hope. But it doesn''t work like that. "Do we have any other types of skills?" Leonidas was writing everything Mr. Greyson was saying on his tablet. He even made a copy of the drawing on the board. "Aye, aside from innate skills, there are also quest skills, and something called legacy skills. Quest skills ye can get after completing a specific mission inside the MAZE. They mostly work like a skill ye can teach, but the teacher is the system and not someone else." Mr. Greyson sat in his desk and let out a deep sigh before continuing. "Legacy skills are a tricky bunch. These skills can be passed from one explorer to another. But doing some makes ye lose the skill. If an explorer dies with a skill like that, the legacy either goes to the monster that killed it or to the room where it died. The system turns a dungeon or an area into a trial for that skill. Those places are more dangerous than most monsters ye will find in the MAZE. And if it''s a monster who inherited the skill just run, those things can rip ye apart like cotton candy. I say this, so ye know what ye are getting into if ye find a place like that. Explorers stronger than me have tried to get these legacies and died in the process. They are not to be taken lightly." The way Mr. Grayson spoke made the whole class take a moment to absorb what he had just said. A skill that changes even the MAZE should be powerful and, at the same time, would easily kill who tried to recover it. "Okay, that''s just weird. Why are we calling them skills, you can learn and skills you can teach? If you can learn something, you can tell everyone how to get that skill too. The naming sense is just weird, especially since there are skills that have a simpler category. I mean, you say Innate or legacy, and you know what to expect. Shouldn''t we change to basic and advanced skills? Or complex or anything that isn''t so... odd to explain?" The whole class looked a Mark who had just started to ramble, the tension that had just settled in everyone was lifted. Mr. Greyson walked to his side. "Laddie, if ye think the names we use since Ah was a wee baby are a problem. THEN COME UP WITH BETTER ONES." The teacher started speaking calmly but suddenly put his face as close as it could to Mark''s and yelled the last sentence. "Sorry!" Mak yelped, jumping back into his chair. His reaction was probably the same as anyone else would have when a seasoned fighter would yell so at them while being so close to their face. The whole exchange took less than five seconds, and by the sixth, the entire class was laughing. Mark''s face got red instantly, and he seemed to try to burrow in his chair. "Don''t worry, Mark. Any of us would have the same reaction," Pamella said, trying to comfort him. "I wouldn''t say the same. Honestly, I think I would pee a little," Leonidas followed the comment. Pamella, Hera, and Bonnie, the only girls who listened to that, replied with an "Ewwwww" in sync. "What, the dude could beat us with his pinky. I wouldn''t be able to control that," Leonidas seemed to enjoy teasing them. "No, no more talking for you, you are in a time out until we leave class," Pamella interrupted whatever he was going to say next. "Sorry, but I agree, that was too much," Hera said while laughing. Mr. Greyson looked at the class. That was the type of people he liked. Who could understand a serious situation but would start to joke around the second it was over. Taking this teacher job might not have been the worst thing he did. With a loud clap, he settled his students. "Alright, now. Ah''m teaching you the first skill ye will ever learn." He walked to his desk and picked a few notepads, giving one to each recruit, along with three pencils, one black, one blue, and one green. Then using his tablet, he pressed a few buttons, and a map was displayed on the board. "Crap, hang on," he quickly erased what was on the board, making it clear for the map. "Ok, now what Ah want you to do, is to look at this map and copy it in the notebook. Use the three colors to make it more precise." A girl in the back raised her hand, "We should use each color for what?" Mr. Greyson sighed. Maybe this was the worst thing he could do. "Blue is for water. Green is for forest and black for everything else. You don''t need to have a 20 in intelligence to figure that out, lassie." Hera twisted her nose a bit. Sure, it was obvious, but not for everyone. One thing would be being rude to a student that disrupts the class, but that one just seemed uncalled. "Now, start drawing, make it precise and not pretty in 10 minutes, I''m changing the map. We will be doing that for the next few hours, so try to keep up." Apparently, she didn''t have time to worry about the teacher''s behavior. She had a long day ahead. 14 - Drawing Maps Hera was drawing her eighth map. This time she got the whole landmass, the rivers, and towns. All that was left was to do was the forest. Thankfully, this map only had a small forest near the edge, but before she could even put down the first tree, the teacher changed the image on the board. "All right, next one." Mr. Greyson was looking at his tablet. Every ten minutes on the dot, he would change the map that was showing without even looking to the students. When the ninth map showed up, the whole class groaned. It was an ocean map, and in the middle of it, there was a vast archipelago with dozens of small islands. The instructor had alternated between large-scale maps and regional ones. According to him, it was to help us develop the skill faster. But he never said what the skill was or what it would do. Hera had guessed this was the map skill he mentioned the day before, and so did most of the class. Five minutes passed, and Hera was still struggling with the islands when Bonnie raised her hand. "Mr. Greyson? I just learned a skill," The teacher looked up from his tablet for the first time since this activity had started. "Really? What''s its name?" "It''s just called Mapping, is it right?" Bonnie asked, looking a bit troubled. "Aye, the system has a bad naming sense. Ye can keep drawing to practice or just rest until the rest of the class got the skill." With that, he went back to his tablet, and Bonnie gave a satisfied smile. Hera looked back to her map and kept drawing, managing to finish the first set of islands when something clicked. "Mr. Greyson, if we keep practicing, will the skill improve?" The teacher gave a soft smile. "Ye got a good brain lassie. Aye, even if a skill doesn''t have a rank, it can have a better performance if ye practice it and even an evolution. When all of ye get the skill, Ah''ll show how ye can check what might be improved." The whole class got excited about that. Having a map skill could help a lot when exploring the MAZE, and Hera thought about the possibilities. Maybe there was even a way to make the map show where the monsters were, or where dungeons and hidden mysteries would be. The games she played when she was little were taking over her thoughts a bit, but her mind was still racing with ideas. About half an hour later, a couple more students had unlocked the mapping skill. Including Leonidas. Who had his tablet in front of him, showing a different map. "Leo, what are you doing?" Pamella leaned over to see his work. "Well. I finished this one is just a bit over five minutes ago, instead of waiting for the next one I got a random map from somewhere in the world and I''m doing that one too," he said without stopping his hand. "Well, excuse me, Mr. Overachiever, I can barely do this one in ten minutes," The teacher changed the map on the board once again, and Pamella grunted, "See I still had to make the woods." "I was really close, maybe I can still finish this one," Hera said to herself, doing her best to remember what the map looked like. When she finished the drawing, a notification showed up in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Mapping Mapping: Allows you to create a map of a place you have been before. The more you know about the place, the more accurate the map will be. Requirements: Drawing space, knowledge of the area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey, I got the skill, too," Hera said with a smile. "Oh no, I''m not gonna be left behind." Pamella focused on her drawing with all her might. Hera wanted to keep drawing, to strengthen her skill even more. But her mind still wandered to the possibilities. Little by little, the other students got their skill, and by the time they had reached the 20th map, there was only one person left to get the skill, the same girl who asked about the pencils. Hera got a bit worried if she was having trouble because of Mr. Greyson''s response to her question. But there wasn''t much she could do about that. "Mr. Greyson, how can we check what can be improved?" Bonnie asked. Being the first who got the skill, she was the most anxious one to discover how to make the skill even stronger. "Not yet, Bonnie, only when all of ye get the skill" That remark made most of the class stare at the girl in the back. Her face seemed a bit desperate. Hera noticed the group of 4 who got late whispering something and then laughing. Just like the girls did to her during Highschool. Most of the time, Hera would do what everyone did, ignore other people''s problems, but seeing that girl she couldn''t help herself. She got up from her seat and kneeled in front of her. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Hi, I''m Hera, sorry I don''t know your name," The girl sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Hi, I''m Alex," For the first time, Hera really looked at the girl. She had silky brown hair covering a bit of her face going all the way to her shoulder. A Strong and angular jaw, and thick eyebrows. A small pointy nose and thin lips. Looking closely, it was hard to tell if the face was feminine or masculine. "Are you ok?" Alex nodded, "I''m fine," but her hands were still shaking. Hera held the girl''s hand, "Someone very strong told me that it''s okay to say if you are not ok, you can tell me. It''s gonna be just between us." Alex took a deep breath and whispered: "I don''t want to hold anyone back." Her eyes never left the map she was drawing. "Why do you think you would hold anyone back?" Hera looked at the map. It seemed a great one, although the color was off. Alex seemed to have swapped colors in the middle of a line, so it suddenly went from black to green. The girl looked at the group that was laughing and whispered in an even softer voice, "I can''t see colors." Hera looked at the map once again. It made sense. The three pencils had a similar shade. It also explained the question she asked earlier. Alex would need to know which color was which in order to draw. She looked at the girl who was still struggling and started to think. After a few moments, Hera considered what they were doing. The class wasn''t about making a good map, but about unlocking a skill. Maybe Alex didn''t need to be using the colors. Hera took the green and black pencils that were on the table. "Ok, forget about those two. You need to make a map you can understand with only one color." Alex looked at the woman in front of her. She got in late on the first day and seemed so shy and meek, but it was the second day, and the second time she went out of her way to help someone else in the class. "But.. how? Everything would look the same," she didn''t know what to do, and if she started to make the trees with more details, she would never finish a map in time. "Don''t think about the color or the shape. You can see darker and lighter colors, right? Use that. The water would be lighter or darker?" Alex took a few seconds to answer. "Lighter, the woods would be the darker one," Hera smiled. "Great, now the mid-tone one would be the land. You need to understand the map. I think that''s the whole point." Alex smiled back and drew using the blue pencil. Everything was blue, just in different shades, but it was enough to understand. Seeing the girl so focused, Hera walked back to her desk. Leonidas gave her an approving nod while Pamella gave a big thumbs up. Five more maps passed when Alex yelled excitedly, jumping up in the chair, "I got the skill!" "Way to go, Alex!" Pamella yelled back and started clapping. Most of the recruits joined in, which made Alex''s cheeks get red while she quickly sat down. "All right then, let me tell ye how can ye see what can be improved in the skill. First, open yer status and tap the skill, then try to pull down the window where the skill is." The class seemed a bit doubtful. Most people had tried similar things when they were little, but you couldn''t touch the windows that came from the system. Even when tapping something, your finger would just go through it. "C''mon, hurry it up, we don''t have all day" Mr. Greyson seemed to be annoyed by the lack of faith his students showed. Hera opened the skill and tried to drag the window down. To her surprise, it expanded and showed extra information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mapping: Allows you to create a map of a place you have been before. The more you know about the place, the more accurate the map will be. Requirements: Drawing space, knowledge of the area. To improve the skill, it must create or enhance existing maps. The tools used in the process may affect the result. Current status - Improving the precision of the map. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While Hera was reading the description, she noticed Leonidas grab his tablet and draw even more maps as fast as possible, with a soft smile on his face. On the other side, Bonnie was drawing a map very carefully. She was taking a considerable amount of time in each part of her drawing. "Well, it''s close to midday, ye should be getting hungry. Let''s stay here for one more hour, and we will have a lunch break. At 1 P.M. we meet in the training room ye all were yesterday," The class nodded, but after a few minutes, most of them had slowed down on the drawings. Leonidas, Bonnie, and Alex were the only ones that seemed to be still drawing as fast as they could. Hera looked at the maps she had made, "Mr. Greyson, are we allowed to keep these drawings?" "Aye, but since they are all real maps of rooms in the MAZE, ye can find them in the guild database after the test." Hera smiled and picked up one of the MAZE maps. She looked at it, thinking about what could be in each place. Where could she find a nice view or something that seemed interesting? Some maps had a valley or a river that would spiral with another before reaching the sea. Those areas could be amazing, and Hera wanted to see them. She was distracted thinking about the fantastic places she wanted to go but was brought back when Leonidas said, "Wow." Hera looked at him as she came out of a trance, "What happened?" "My skill.. it changed its name. Now it''s called Atlas," he was staring at a blank space, but Hera assumed it was at the skill window. "Really? Mine changed to Cartography," Bonnie said on the other side. The teacher heard both comments and stepped in. "Aye, some skills can change and evolve. How ye use them will decide what the skill will turn to. Atlas is a version that gives ye more general knowledge of the place. But all pretty basic, it''s great to plan yer travels. Cartography is the best skill for a really detailed map. With it, ye can even draw the placement of the moss in a rock on the path. What it says on the skill window after ye expanded it tells ye what the path you skill is taking." Hera opened her status once again and went for the mapping skill. If she was right, it could be something close to cartography in the future. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mapping: Allows you to create a map of a place you have been before. The more you know about the place, the more accurate the map will be. Requirements: Drawing space, knowledge of the area To improve the skill it must create or enhance existing maps The tools used in the process may affect the result. Current status - Localizing points of interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera got excited. The system really did what it could to help you with what you wanted. They still had around half an hour before lunch, so she kept looking for interesting places. But before she saw any changes in the skill, Pamella touched her arm. "Hey, It''s noon, let''s eat, I''m starving," Hera sighed and got up. Sadly, her skill still was mapping. But she hoped that would change soon. 15 - Where do we eat? "Do you guys wanna try to go to the cafeteria or try someplace else?" Pamella was standing between Hera and Leonidas, waiting for the two of them. "Well, I know nothing about the neighborhood. So unless one of you is a tour guide, I think we should go to the cafeteria. Maybe they have pasta. I would love some lasagna," Leonidas grabbed his wallet from the bag and got up. "You say pasta, but I would really go for a burger right now," Pamella said "We could go to the strip mall, is just a couple of blocks away." Both of them looked at Hera, "I worked near here, I know a few places to eat," She smiled. "All settled, Hera will guide us to the strip mall," Pamella made a gesture like she was pointing with a sword as if she was a knight. "Could... could I go too?" Alex was standing a bit behind the group. Leonidas gave her a soft smile and was about to say something when Pamella put her hand in front of him. "That depends on one thing," She stared at Alex with a serious expression. Hera looked at the blue-haired girl, not understanding her reaction. "Can you tell me what you do to make your hair so silky?" Alex blushed a bit, "Oh, I use a papaya conditioner that comes in a bamboo bottle. It''s not that expensive, just hard to find. It''s called Fuzzy Panda." "I think they sell those in a market nearby. I remember seeing the bottle. The logo is a baby panda is taking a bath, right?" Hera thought about buying that one last time she went to the market but ended up getting her same old brand. "Yeah, that''s the one. Most people think they are for kids, but they are actually pretty good." Just after Alex finished talking, Pamella clapped her hands together. "Okay, new plan, we go to the market and then to the strip mall. Don''t even try it, Leo. You don''t want to be between a girl and her hair." "Well... I wouldn''t mind if we ate first," Pamella looked at Hera in shock. "And you call yourself a woman? Just because your charisma is higher than mine doesn''t mean you don''t need to take care of yourself." Hera looked away. She never used beauty products. The only reason she was different now was her stat change, which wasn''t even that high. She was sure Pamella, Alex, and every other recruit had a Higher Charisma. "Pam, drop it. You don''t have to be mean," Leonidas told her with a stern voice. Pamella seeing Hera''s reaction looked at her with a guilty expression. "I''m Sorry, Hera. I crossed a line there. It was supposed to be just a joke." Hera shook her head, "It''s fine, Pamella... I mean Pam. But.. why do you think my Charisma is higher than yours?" All three looked at Hera, surprised. "You are joking, right?" Alex asked after a few seconds. "No.. Why would I be?" Hera felt uncomfortable with the stares. "Ok, I''m sorry if I''m being mean again, but do you have a mirror? You are flipping gorgeous," Pamella huffed while rolling her eyes. "I''m not. It got better after I leveled up, but I''m far from being pretty." Leonidas got up and stood between Hera and the girls. "Yeah, no, you are pretty, Hera. But let''s change the subject before Blue loses it." "Oh, no, you don''t," Pamella shoved Leonidas aside, "You are infuriatingly pretty Hera and never forget that. You look like your charisma could be way above 30." Bot Leonidas and Alex looked at Blue, twisting their noses. "Pamella, I know you are trying to help, but that''s a stretch, and it doesn''t help. Hera is beautiful, but saying her stat is at 30 is like saying she above those supermodels. Not that you are not really pretty Hera, but they are just... on a different realm than the rest of us," Alex said. Hera nodded, "Don''t worry. I agree those models are something entirely different. Can we even call them humans? Maybe angels?" models earned a lot of money, so it wouldn''t be a surprise if they could level up and spend all the points available in charisma. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Some we can call skeletons. They look like they never eat," Leo joked, and the group laughed. "Ok, but I''m not done with this. Hera, what''s your Charisma? I want numbers," Pamella seemed to be in a better mood but still went back to the subject. "Well, it''s 12," Hera wasn''t sure if she should mention that she had a skill that lowered her stats. Most explorers seemed to hide what their skills truly did. It felt like an unspoken rule. "See, it''s not that high, I''m at 12 too," Alex said, smiling to Pamella. "And I''m at 13. The difference is not that high," Leonidas smiled, which only made Pamella take a big step back. "That''s really not fair. I''m the only one here that''s under 10?" She lowered her head, looking at the floor before jolting it back up, looking straight at Alex, "We are going shopping NOW," she grabbed her by the hand and started to drag the girl to the outside. Leonidas looked at Hera, both still in the classroom, "How long do you think it will take for her to realize you are the only one that knows where they sell the conditioner around here?" Hera laughed a bit, "Honestly, I don''t know, maybe a few mi..." before she could finish her sentence, a cry came from the hallway. "Heraaaaaaa, we neeeeed youuuu," Pamella yelled. "Guess we didn''t give her enough credit," Leonidas laughed while the two of them walked out of class. ########################################## Greyson was in a lounge for high-level explorers at the guild. He had ordered a meatloaf from a nearby restaurant. For most people, that was a weird order. Especially since it was a cheap one, and he was a very successful explorer. But that wasn''t the point. Greyson truly enjoyed the dish. It was simple, and it reminded him of his home and his grandmother. He was sitting on a table and getting ready to eat. First placing the dish on his plate and then a napkin on his lap. It was an odd sight, that burly callous man having such table manners, but it was how he learned, and he wouldn''t change the way he was raised. The meatloaf was wrapped in bacon, and it had a steamed veggie filling. Greyson cut the first slice and smelled it. The crispy bacon smell mixed with the veggies, and the meat was enough to make his mouth water. He cut a slice and moved it towards his mouth when a heavy hand slapped him in the back, making the slice fall back into his plate. "Calvin! Still teaching, or did they kick you out for beating up a recruit?" The man frowned and looked back to a big muscular woman, with pale skin and long deep blue hair that was braided and pulled back, making one single braid at the back of her neck. "Can''t a man eat his meal in peace?" he said, knowing she was the only one who would greet him like that. "Don''t be so stingy I know you would be bored out of your mind with no one to talk to about the training," the woman sat on the table across from him and started to eat an apple. "Fine, ye are not wrong. The recruits are green, very green, most don''t even know how to pick up a sword. But there are some hidden gems around," the man said before taking the first bite of his meal. The woman raised one eyebrow, "Oh, really? For you to be saying that they must be really special. Did they get a good score in your first trial?" she said the last sentence, mocking Greyson, who just rolled his eyes in response. "Aye, at least two of them. A girl doubled her strength in a counter, and there is a boy that seems to have some experience using a spear," he took a bite out of his meatloaf. "Ok, so there are two gems? That''s a pretty decent amount for one group," the woman cut another slice of the apple with a knife. "Actually, there might be four... Ok, three gems and one interesting one," He mumbled while cutting another slice of his meatloaf. "You got to give me more than that, Calvin," the woman said with a big smile on her face. Greyson let out a long sigh and slumped a bit in his chair. "Fine, Janna, Ah have two powerful warriors, a grappler, and the spearman. A Girl who got the map skill in just a little over one hour. And the interesting one is someone who tried to become an explorer five years ago. Ah never see any recruit who can focus as much as her. She also has a good brain in her head, asking the right questions. And she has an average stat of 12," that piqued Janna''s interest. "And why is she not a gem? An average stat of 12 is something really rare in a recruit. The way you spoke of her. It seems like she is the most promising one," she took another slice of the apple. "She''s too green, can barely hold a sword the right way. If the other three are gems, she is just a lump of coal," Grayson cut off another big slice of his meatloaf, leaving two slices in the plate. "Thanks, Calvin. If you can just give me their names when the test is over, you won''t owe me anything else," she winked at him. "Honestly, Janna, why did ye take this job as a headhunter? Ye''re Frostbite, for fuck''s sake," Janna waved and got up, having just finished her apple. "A job is a job, Greyson. I don''t intend to die in the MAZE. Also, it''s a great way to meet interesting people," she said as she walked away from the table. "Can I still count on you next week?" Greyson called out while she heads towards the door. Without stopping, she looked back and answered with a smile. "Of course, Calvin. It will be a great way to see those gems for myself," Greyson looked back at his plate and finished his lunch. Even if the taste had turned bitter. ########################################### The recruits had arrived at the training area. Hera ended up getting not only the conditioner in the bamboo bottle but a few other beauty products. Pamella refused to let her leave the store until she got them. Hera didn''t mind. It would be the first time she honestly wanted to take care of herself. Even if she didn''t think anything would change. Her thoughts stopped roaming around and focused on the teacher as soon as he walked in, dragging a big black box. Mr. Greyson was in a sour mood, and no one could understand why. "All right, ye lot need to know how to handle any type of weapon before choosing yer own," he placed his hand in the black box and opened it. "Here we have swords, that''s the lesson for today. Ah''m gonna show you how to handle this without ye taking off yer own eye." The teacher grabbed one of the swords. It was a plain wooden one, but it had a weird feeling to it. As if the surrounding air was thinner. Hera took a deep breath to calm down. She was going to learn how to fight. 16 - How to hit a dummy "To start, Ah''m gonna teach you about the most basic weapon there is. The sword." He made a couple of moves with the wooden blade, simple swings and stabs. "Now, Ah say it''s basic, but that only means to start using it. No weapon is easy to master. The sword only needs to hit with any part of the blade to deal some damage, and that''s why it''s a good starting point." The teacher made more complicated moves, all of them holding the sword in one hand. "As ye become more familiar with the sword, ye can use more difficult moves and techniques to increase yer power or make it more difficult for your target to evade or parry." He started moving even faster, doing some flourishes, and using some footwork to spin around an invisible target. He did it in a way that even the recruits could understand where the phantom enemy was. "If ye ever master the sword or any other weapon ye can even place own yer will in the weapon, making it even stronger." Mr. Greyson then turned to a golden dummy and slashed with all his might. Hera did her best to focus on the movement, but the slight glow that the sword gave caught her attention. The glow seemed to have a form now. It was sharp and jagged, like it was a saw. Hera watched as the sword hit the dummy, and a score of 250 popped in the screen behind it. The whole class and even a few other Explorers who were training clapped. Mr. Greyson fidgeted a bit after that, Hera recognized that reaction to the same one she has when someone praised her and couldn''t help but smile. Even a seasoned warrior like him could be embarrassed. "Now then, what ye need to understand is how to strike with it, gauge the distance, and aim. So everyone grab a sword and stay in front of a target." Everyone seemed to be excited to start combat training. It took a bit over a minute for all the students to be in front of a dummy with a sword in hand. "Very good, now first Ah want ye all to measure the distance between the target and yerself. Touch the tip of the sword in the dummy chest and move as far back as ye can. Then take another step back and swing a few times to understand how much strength ye can put in each attack." Hera did as he asked. Placing the tip of the sword in the dummy and walking back as far as she could while still maintaining the contact between the sword and the target. When her arm was as stretched as it could be, she took a step back. A couple of students misunderstood the idea and were balancing themselves on one foot, trying to be farther away from the dummy. The teacher gave one of them a small scolding, and quickly, the rest understood that they needed to keep their footing while moving away. After that, everyone swung their weapons. Leonidas seemed to be used to this type of drill, although his movements weren''t as effortless as when he used the spear. Pamella was having some trouble. She was constantly walking closer to the dummy and had to step back. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to have a good grasp of the training. She wasn''t moving one inch while doing the same overhead swing over and over. Hera did the same. She kept attacking the air with her sword, trying to pay attention to her form and how her body moved. Her mind was trying to figure out which muscle was being used and how to use them more efficiently. It was a weird feeling to analyze herself in such a way. Even stranger was the fact that the idea seemed to be in her head already, as if she didn''t need to think about it. Wondering if the reason for that was her increased Intelligence stat, she kept swinging. Ten minutes had passed since the recruits started the drill when Mr. Greyson gave the next instruction. "All right, now the most basic move is an overhead swing. The same some of ye are doing, use one or both hands to raise the sword above yer head and swipe it down, aiming for the head or neck. " He showed the move in the air a few times so everyone could see it being done properly. Hera noticed that he didn''t shift his weight when doing so, even though in all his other attacks, she had seen had some sort of footwork. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Mr. Greyson, should we keep our legs still doing that?" She asked after raising her hand. "Aye, but just for this exercise. In a fight, the place where yer weight is keeps shifting. So ye must move yer legs to be sure not to fall. But for now, Ah want ye all to understand how ye strike properly before we move on to footwork. Can''t have any of ye poking an eye out on the first day of training." Hera nodded as much as she wanted to try some other moves. Moving around with a sword in hand was a recipe for disaster, especially if she was surrounded by people doing the same. The teacher showed a couple more attacks, a slash from side to side, and an upward strike close to what an uppercut would look. All the recruits mirrored the movements, but after twenty minutes without stopping, it was hard to maintain their concentration. Hera''s mind wandered off the same way it did when she had to organize the shelves in her old job. However, unlike the way it was back then, her thoughts weren''t about what she could do if she were an explorer, but about what will she do when she travels inside the MAZE. Hera had to constantly bring herself back from her daydreams and focus on the exercise. It didn''t take long for her to realize that the more she focused on the movement, the easier it was to get distracted. So, she focused on the target instead, where she should strike and trying to figure out a way to replicate what Mr. Greyson had done with the energy of his sword. The first step was to make sure she was hitting the target where she wanted. She aimed at the neck with the overhead swing, under the armpit with the uppercut and a bit above the hips with the side swings. It took a few tries, but after a while, Hera was striking the same spot with almost every hit. Just like a lumberjack has to focus on a single place. She also needed to do that. Or at least that is what she believed at that moment. After one hour of this exercise, Mr. Greyson decided the class was familiar enough to move around. "Next, ye are going to attack and move around. Do an attack, step in any direction, and do another, don''t try to attack while moving ye need to be familiar with the range of the weapon." He then gave a demonstration, making one of the attacks he taught the class, taking a step to the side, and making another attack. Then another step and a strike. He kept going like this for a few seconds to be sure everyone understood what he was expecting. "But Mr. Greyson, sir, if we see the sword like an extension of ourselves, we will be able to know the range better, won''t we?" Mark had asked, Hera felt a little bad for him. He already was on Mr. Greyson''s bad side, and she doubted that question would help with that. The teacher rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Yes laddie, if ye can do something that even the great masters take decades to figure out ye can certainly do it. Now, if ye don''t have a clue on how to swing a sword, then just do the damn training." Mark lowered his head and gave a weak, "Yes sir," before turning around and start his practice. Hera could understand him. Movies and comics always talked about how a sword should be an extension of the wielder. Even if it never made sense to her, Mr. Greyson seemed to confirm that as truth. Still, mastering the sword wasn''t high in her priority list, so making it an extension of her arm seemed just a cheesy line. They kept going with this exercise for another hour. It was easier to keep her focus when she had to move around thinking about where she was going next. Hera started to get a good rhythm, not spending over ten seconds in the same place before moving. Leonidas was even better. He was taking a step every five seconds, Pamella was still having trouble not to move while attacking, but her movements were bigger and wider. Alex took some time between each strike, but her attacks hit the same spot every time, even if her position was different every time. Then the teacher showed a parry to the class and activated the dummies to attack at random intervals so the recruits could learn proper timing. Hera felt that it was a bit odd. They had almost no training with the sword, and they were already supposed to defend? It was common knowledge that defending was more difficult than attacking. Still, she wanted to try, mainly because Pamella was right beside her, and she could see the girl was good at defending. Unlike when they were attacking Pamella was steady. She waited to move when the dummy was going to strike, making sure the chop impacted with the sword at the right time to send the dummy''s arm back. That was a real parry. What the rest of the class was doing was barely a block. Hera did her best to copy Pamella, but she still wasn''t able to do a proper parry. The times she got close, the dummy ended up hitting her head. Even though the attack didn''t have much force behind it, it still hurt. It was five o''clock, one hour before the ending of the class, when Mr. Greyson spoke to the recruits again. "Very well, now ye have to do it all at once, the dummy will attack and spin. Ye must hit it from the front and block its attacks. This is the closest that we have to a real monster, so be careful. In the screen behind it, there will be a score, each hit and block ye do, will increase it by the strength or skill of it. If ye can''t beat the score in the next hour, ye will be here running laps around the training room for two hours after class. Good luck." 17 - Combat Training As soon as the teacher finished his speech, a few dummies tried to hit the recruits. Most managed to step back in time, but a couple got hit by the unexpected attack. "Ah forgot to mention, every time ye get hit, the score ye currently have will lower," Mr. Greyson pointed at the screen behind Mark, one of the few who didn''t dodge the dummy''s attack. The screen showed in white letters the word ''Target'' and under it 2500. In the bottom half of the screen, another word ''Score'' and right below it, the number showing was -25 in glowing red letters. "One other thing, the dummy will use three types of moves. So watch out for that," he was finishing his sentence when the training dummy in front of Hera started to move. She wasn''t expecting it and noticed a bit too late, but it soon enough for her to jump back and barely evade the uppercut aimed at her. At this distance, the dummy wasn''t able to hit her. She understood that there was a point where she could stay in order to rest. Not only that, but she could also see the attacks that it would use without getting hit. Hera heard a few other recruits starting their attacks. The room quickly got filled with yells and noises of people fighting the dummies. Looking at the target in front of her, Hera waited to see its moves. The first is an overhead swing with one hand. It was hard to see when it would start this move, so she would need to be very careful. The second attack, a side hook that was excessively telegraphed. The dummy''s entire body would spin backward before striking. Even if she got distracted, she probably would have five seconds to get away from it. It seemed a small window, but for a fight, even Hera knew it was a lot. The last move is the uppercut, the same move that almost hit her. It is a middle point between the other two. It would give a few indications that it was coming, but they would be very subtle and very fast. Hera had to pay close attention to it. Five minutes had passed when Hera decided she had enough information to attack. She never was one to rush in into things, even if the last few days would say otherwise. Waiting until the dummy did one of its hooks, Hera wanted to try an idea on how to rack up some points. The three moves that Mr. Greyson had shown could be incorporated in a combo. He had demonstrated that himself. Even though Hera believed that there was no way to move so effortlessly as the teacher, she would get points more easily if she tried to connect the attacks. With a quick glance, Hera looked at the other recruits'' progress. Most of them reached around 200 points already. The majority started to attack as soon as the teacher said. Pamella is already closing into 300, and Leonidas already passed the 350 mark. Getting that many hits in less than five minutes seemed insane. Her dummy finally did its hook attack, hitting the air in front of Hera. Not wasting any time, she lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest. The sword went downward, scraping the dummy. Taking advantage of the position, Hera did an uppercut with her sword. When the weapon reached its peak, she tried to pull down with an overhead swing as fast as she could. The impact was stronger than she expected, and her sword went flying backward. Hera quickly jumped, getting away from the dummy before running to get her sword. A few explorers laughed at the scene, not trying to tease her, but because most of them had done the same at some point. Grabbing the sword, she raised her head and looked at her score. 48 Those three attacks got her almost 50 points. That meant that each strike was worth at least 15 points. With a big smile, she went back to the dummy. ################################ Greyson watched his students. Although there weren''t any big surprises, he felt happy. Everything seemed to be going above his expectations even if, just by a small amount. Looking at the scores, Leonidas would coast through this challenge quickly, but being used to weapons, it was expected. Pamella ended up being excellent at defense. Most of the points she gained were by blocking or parrying the dummy. The only reason she was behind the spearman was that she had to wait for the dummy to strike, and that could take a while. Mark, Alex, and Bonnie were getting the score he expected. Simultaneously, the rest of the class had just a couple dozen points over what he imagined. Hera was the only one that made him worry at first. Seeing the girl standing still at the beginning of the training, he half expected to have to talk to her. But after her little combo, he relaxed. She wasn''t afraid or worried. She was actually studying her enemy. Greyson wasn''t someone who would do that when he fought. Still, it was something he respected. He knew many explorers who would spend days learning about their enemy to make sure they wouldn''t have any surprises. If he was being honest, it was probably the right thing to do, but he never cared for it. It was too much work. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He saw Hera doing another combo and her score going to 99. Two sets of combos and she was close to a hundred. If she kept going like this, reaching the 2500 points would take a bit over half an hour, and that was taking her exhaustion into account. She stopped attacking and talked to the other recruits. Alex, Leonidas, Pamella, Mark and even Bonnie were listening to her. Greyson thought about walk forward and scold them for wasting time, but seeing as she was showing how to link the moves, he let them be. That was the explorers'' way. ################################ Hera kept doing her combo for twenty minutes. She already had over 1300 points, but she was getting worried. If she kept going like this, she could reach the goal, but that depended on the dummy. As long as it would keep doing its hook, she could get more points. However, the dummy was taking too long to make that attack. According to Mr. Greyson, the moves used were all random, so there is a possibility that she won''t have enough opportunities to do her combo. Even though she wouldn''t mind staying late to practice more, she wanted to clear this challenge. Looking at the dummy''s movements, she focused her mind on the uppercut. The action was quick, but she could see it happening. The target would lower one of its arms, and the other would stay completely still while doing so. She waited for another uppercut, but the dummy started to do a hook before trying her new idea. Unfortunately, Hera wasn''t ready to follow up on the attack. She hastily lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest, and was about to follow up with an uppercut. However, the dummy had already finished its move, and an overhead chop aimed at her head was coming down. There was not enough time for her to step back. That attack would definitively hit her. Without letting go of the sword, she tried to block the attack. Even if she intended to block, it looked more like she was just trying to cover her face to everyone else, with her head down and both her arms trying to form a barrier in front of her. Greyson watched the scene. The second she attacked, he knew that it would be too late. If you lose the chance to attack, the best thing to do is wait for the next one. Trying to strike in a hurry can only put you in a bad spot. Raising both her hands, Hera also ducked a bit to the side, trying to make the chop to avoid her face. To an experienced explorer, that was probably the only good move she had made during that exchange. An attack to the head could not only hinder your sight but leave you disoriented for a few seconds. Even with all the wrong decisions that were a natural part of the training process, Hera was still gripping the sword even in her panicked state. That was her saving grace. The chop struck the base of the sword as it was rising. The force of the impact sent the dummy''s hand back while making Hera fall into the ground. If it were intentional, that would be a beautiful parry, but in this case, it was just a fluke. Sitting on the floor, Hera looked at the monitor, worried she would have lost some points. However, above her current score, there was a big 35 showing. That small exchange was enough to give her just a bit under 10 points less than her full three-hit combo. Before she could understand what just happened, the dummy started attacking again, Hitting Hera in the jaw with an uppercut, making her look up with the impact. It wasn''t a strong move, but it still hurt. She quickly moved back to get away from the dummy range and saw 20 points deducted from her total score. "Hera! Are you okay?" Pamella just asked, moving away from her dummy and towards Hera. "Yeah, I''m fine. It was my mistake," her chin was sore, and talking hurt a bit, but she wasn''t angry. Not at the dummy, at least. It was a machine, and Hera knew it was her fault for not being careful. She wanted to try again quickly. Taking a few steps towards the dummy, she waited for her chance. "Hera, you should step back," Pamella was looking at the girl. Hera always seemed calm and patient, but anyone would get angry after getting hit. What Blue saw right now was something else, not just anger. Her movements were stiff and violent at the same time. Each time Hera moved forward, it looked more like she was stomping her feet than just walking. Insider her mind, Hera was angry at herself. She was careless. She got way too excited about something and made a mistake. Sure right now, it wasn''t much, but what if that happens during the trial, or at one moment she could not miss? She needed to be better. She was better. Her stats were higher now. Her body could move faster, and her attacks hit harder. Life had shown again and again that every time she got excited, bad things happened. First, when she turned 18, then when she got her level up. And even the first day of class. Hera needed to be serious. She needed to be focused. She got ready to strike at the dummy when a hoarse voice rang behind her. "Hera, come here," Mr. Greyson watched everything, and each time a student got hit, he would be sure they were fine. Even if the dummies were weak, the recruits could need a healer if they got hit in the wrong way. Hera stepped back and moved towards the teacher, still holding the sword at her side. "Gimme yer sword and go drink some water," Mr. Greyson held out his hand with a severe expression on his face. "But I''m not thirsty," Hera may have been hit, but other recruits had been struck many times. Why was she the only one that the teacher was interfering with? Was she really that bad? "Doesn''t matter, go drink some water." She placed the sword in the teacher''s hand and started walking towards the water cooler while clenching her fist. Was she really so much worse than the rest? Could the boy who kicked her out of the leveling room be right? Was she really just trash? Her mind was filled with questions about what just happened. The rush of thoughts only stopped when she picked a paper cup and noticed the palms of her hands. There were deep marks there, almost deep enough to draw blood. She could see a few red spots under her skin. Hera closed her fist, and the patterns matched the exact place her nails would dig. Since when was she clenching her fist so tight? 18 - First Win Taking a step back, Hera noticed a slight pain in her ankles. It was the same pain she would have after a long day of carrying boxes and boxes of books from the storage in her old job. But her strength is higher now, even if she carries that much weight, it shouldn¡¯t hurt her. She drank some more water and looked around while trying to understand how she got hurt. The training room was busier than usual. Many explorers were either using the small arenas to fight against each other, or the training equipment to work out. If it wasn¡¯t for the half-dozen people training with weapons, this would look like a gym. There was even a group doing yoga in the room¡¯s corner. Emptying the cup, Hera realized that she was very thirsty. She poured more water into it and kept drinking. Wondering why she was the only one coming here, she turned her attention to the recruits. No one seemed to have gone outside their small arenas. Could they have a higher resistance to thirst? Or maybe she wasn¡¯t able to get a skill she was supposed to. Only when she saw Bonnie moving away from the dummy and picking up something in the ground she understood. ¡°Water bottles, not everything is a skill Hera,¡± she told herself. Forgetting even something so basic, Hera felt even worse than before. Finishing her water, she walked back towards the teacher who still held her sword. ¡°Feeling better lassie?¡± Mr. Greyson said while looking at the group fighting the dummies. ¡°Yes, thank you I didn¡¯t realize I was a bit dehydrated.¡± The teacher stared at her. ¡°Ah didn¡¯t call ye because of that,¡± Hera responded with a puzzled look. ¡°Am I doing that badly?¡± Mr. Greyson nodded. ¡°Aye, yer horrible.¡± She felt her eyes beginning to water. Was that it? Taking a deep breath, she raised her head and tried to ask as calmly as she could. ¡°Am I getting kicked out?¡± Her voice was cracking, but her face had a serious expression. If she was going to lose a chance at her dream again, she wouldn¡¯t go out crying like last time. ¡°Lassie, why do you keep thinking yer getting kicked out? Ah read yer file and know ye tried to be an explorer once before but couldn¡¯t. Is that why?¡± He was looking at Hera with a serious expression. He even stopped watching the rest of the class. Having someone focus so much on her was more than enough to make her nervous. ¡°Yes, I know the guild only needs the best, and if you can¡¯t reach the standard, the door is the only place for you.¡± The ways she spoke, without missing a beat, surprised Greyson. There wasn¡¯t a shred of doubt in her words. ¡°Lassie, look yer getting us all wrong. Yes, we ask a minimum to join but that''s just because the fat cats are too scared to let people get stronger inside the MAZE. Yer already doing the training yer one of us for life. Unless you kill a civilian for no goddamm reason, no one is kicking ye out.¡± That shocked Hera, yes the guild was nice, but to her, that¡¯s just for civilians. For explorers, she always expected that the guild was a ruthless place ¡®But.. you said I was bad.¡±. The teacher gestured to the rest of the class. ¡°Aside from Leo and Blue yer all fucking terrible. That¡®s the whole bloody point of this month. By the end of it Ah hope Ah can make ye less awful.¡± Hera smiled and nodded. For the teacher, it could seem just a clarification, but to Hera, knowing that she was an explorer for life lifted a huge weight she had on her chest. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Greyson. I hope to be less awful by the end of the month too.¡± She then pointed at her sword. ¡°Can I get it back?¡± ¡°Not until ye tell me why are ye so angry.¡± He pulled back the sword, still staring at the girl. ¡°I¡­ I got hit..¡± she lowered her head. Mr. Greyson let out a long sigh. ¡°Just for that? Ye got angry because the dummy hit ye? That¡¯s why ye looked like ye wanted to rip the thing out with yer bare hands? Honestly, lassie, It¡¯s a dummy ye don''t need to be angry at it.¡± ¡°But I wasn¡¯t¡± Hera almost shouted. The teacher raised one eyebrow, and that was enough to make her speak in a lower voice. ¡°I was angry at me, I messed up. I should have been more careful. If I¡¯m in the MAZE, I can¡¯t make mistakes like that¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Aye, yer right. But here is the thing. This ain¡¯t the MAZE. This is the only place ye can make mistakes, so Ah hope ye make them. Do a wrong move, try a new weapon, give the bloody dummy a hug but use all that to figure out what ye can do when yer inside. And even then, don¡¯t let yer mistakes eat ye up like that. Being angry in a fight only makes it harder for ye. Trust me Ah know.¡± He gave the sword back to Hera ¡°And for the System''s sake, don¡¯t be so high strung. Even if it¡¯s dangerous yer allowed to have fun.¡± Hera picked the sword and went back to her dummy. Still digesting what the teacher said, he seemed right in almost everything. Aside from thinking she wasn''t having fun. This was the most fun she ever had. She was once again in last place. There was around half an hour to go, and she still needed 1200 points. This time however she waited for the hook. She planned to do a few of her combos to get in the zone again. A few seconds passed before the dummy did the move she expected. Dashing forward, she once again did her combo. The attacks connected just like she wanted and it seemed even though she stopped for a bit, the movements were still fresh in her memory. Pamella looked back and noticed Hera attacking again. Her movements were the same, but they had a few differences. They seemed to connect a little better. Instead of just being three separated strikes jumbled up in one. But the biggest difference was on Hera¡¯s face. Her serious expression had been replaced by a large grin. Mr. Greyson kept watching his students. It was a depressing sight. Almost all of them had terrible stances and absolutely no footwork whatsoever. The only good thing he could say about this group is that no one was complaining. Still, he was sure that would change, it was just the first day of training. By the end of the week, he expected all of them to be crying for their mothers. The class kept attacking the dummies, Leonidas was the first to reach the 2500 points mark, followed by Pamella. Reaching the goal, they stopped attacking and sat down to rest and talk. It didn¡¯t take long for more people to join them. Soon Alex, Mark and the rest of the recruits were all sitting by the small arenas chatting about the training and the moves. The only ones who still needed more points to reach the goal were Hera and Bonnie. The deadline was still ten minutes away and Hera was only two hundred points short. She had tried a few times to strike while the dummy did a different attack, but realized that she should focus on her combo. This was a training ground. The best way to improve is to focus on one thing before moving on to the next. In a short time, she had the chance to perform two of her combos. She needed one or two more hits to reach 2500 points. Instead of walking back and waiting for the attack, Hera moved around the dummy, hitting it by the sides. It was something close to what Leonidas was doing. Instead of a big combo, it was several smaller attacks. After the third strike, she jumped back, almost falling on the floor again to avoid getting hit by one dummy''s overhead chops. She looked at the screen that showed her current score. 2506 Unlike her combo to get her final 30 points, it took her 3 attacks, but they were quicker and less impactful, which allowed her to retreat faster. That type of attack was in her mind for a while, but the time constraint was holding her back. Since now she was confident she could reach the 2500 points even if she got hit once Hera tried it. It was an interesting way of doing it, although she felt it required more than her combo. Speed was the most important part of it, and it was more tiresome than waiting for the right moment. Still, Hera was happy she pulled it off. Moving towards the rest of the class, she noticed Bonnie panting heavily, and holding herself up with both hands on her knees. Her hair stuck to her face and you could see the sweat dripping on the ground. Hera looked up to the screen, checking Bonnie¡¯s score. She was 100 points short of the goal, but the girls just stood with her sword on the side. Hera knew how it would feel to be the only one left out. Bonnie also seemed to be someone who would be very hard on herself if she failed a test like this. Wanting to help the girl Hera was thinking about what could she do, there wasn¡¯t enough time to talk about strategy or to ask her to rest. She was still deep in thought when Pamella¡¯s voice rang. ¡°C¡¯ mom Bonnie! You can do it!¡± The blue haired girl started to clap her hands and cheer, making a motion for the rest of the recruits to join her. In just a few seconds Hera saw most of the class get up and join in the cheer, even a few explorers who were training chimed in. ¡°You are almost there!¡± ¡°Keep it going!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Bonnie!¡± Hera joined in with the cheering after seeing Bonnie¡¯s lips curling up in a soft smile. Bonnie then dashed towards the dummy, avoiding an uppercut and striking it twice in the chest. She stepped to the right and attacked two more times before the dummy started to wind up a hook. Taking a step back she managed to avoid getting hit and then attacked as quickly as she could on the fourth strike she heard the crowd celebrating. She walked backward almost getting hit by a chop and looked at her score. 2503 Seeing that she raised a hand in the air to celebrate and looked at the recruits only to see a blue streak coming her way. Pamella tackled her and both fell to the ground. The whole training room started to laugh and celebrate even Mr. Greyson couldn¡¯t help but smile. Outside the training room, two women were watching the new recruits. ¡°I guess all recruits are the same in the end. It doesn¡¯t matter what age they are, during the training, they turn into a bunch of kids¡± With a laugh, the dark skinned woman said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you weren¡¯t like that Frostbite.¡± The muscular woman smiled ¡°Of course I was, in my training, I¡¯m the one who started most of the tackles, what about you Helena?¡± ¡°I was the one being cheered on. To me, the physical training was the worst part. But I guess most of the mages would say the same.¡± Frostbite nodded and looked inside the training room, analyzing the recruits. ¡°I gotta say, I¡¯m excited for next week.¡± Helena gave a big smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you are not the only one.¡± 19 - Class Dismissed It took the recruits about 10 minutes to calm down. The whole class celebrated not only Bonnie''s accomplishment but all of them reaching the goal. Even the explorers in the room joined in celebrating at the beginning, but it didn''t take long for them to go back to what they were doing. Mr. Greyson let the recruits enjoy the small victory after all the next challenge would be even harder. When they finally settled down, the teacher approached them. "Very good, been a while since a full class managed to pass this challenge." All the recruits had a soft smile on their faces. "Now, go hit the showers and then yer all dismissed for the day. Tomorrow we start at 7 sharp." Hera was sweating buckets. She looked at a clock on the wall. It was past 6 PM! They have been training for five hours without taking any breaks. It was no wonder most of the class was still lying on the floor. "Do you think we are going to train like that every day?" Alex asked, still lying on the floor looking to the ceiling. "I don''t know, but I hope not. My hands have been numb for the past hour." Leonidas chimed in while still sitting on the ground. "If even the golden boy is tired imagine how we mere mortals feel. I think I could sleep for a month." Pamella teased Leonidas, she was on a bench close to Hera. "Well, that would explain how much you ate during lunch. Honestly, where did all that food go?" Leonidas answered. Blue tried to push him with her feet but she was too far away, and too tired to get up. "That is called a healthy appetite. And I''m not gonna apologize for it" Hera laughed at Pamella''s response. "She''s right Leo, we are spending a lot of energy here, maybe we should eat more" Hera stepped in to defend Blue. Alex raised her head looking at the two girls on the bench "Are you sure you''re not just saying that as an excuse to get another ice cream?" Hera pouted, "I like ice cream, is that so wrong?" Pamella put her arm around Hera, "Of course not, they are just a pair of food snobs. We should go out to dinner and eat as much as we want. And leave both of them here" That made Hera feel uncomfortable, she liked the girls but physical contact wasn''t exactly her forte. "Maybe some other time, I''m exhausted. And you don''t seem to be so energetic either." Pamella quickly got up from the bench "What do you mean? I''m great" She started to walk around but it took only a few steps for her whole body to start to hurt. Anyone who watched her could tell she was having problems moving around. "See, I''m fine" Pamella smiled. "Blue, you flinch each time you step, you are far from fine. We are all pretty banged up" Leonidas got up looking like an old man, even placing one hand on his back. "Yes, we should all go home and rest. I''ll be going to the showers first." Bonnie walked by the group. At first glance, she seemed to be fine but before she even got out of the training room she had to stop and catch her breath. "She''s right you know, we can hang out after the training. Right now we all need to rest and be ready for tomorrow." Hera said while getting up. a few other recruits were already heading towards the locker rooms. "Fine, I need my beauty sleep. But we are stopping by the class first, I want to use my new conditioner." Leo rolled his eyes and helped Alex up. The group left the training room while a few Explorers watched the scene. "I feel bad for them," A man who was lifting weights said. "Me too, having Greyson as your trainer is just hellish." Another explorer said. "The dude is a freaking spartan, I bet 5 gold at least three of them drop out" "Just three? I bet five run away." While a few explorers were laughing a man with a bright pink mohawk walked in the room carrying a mop and a bucket filled with water. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "What about you Ashe, 10 gold only 3 recruits survive Grayson''s training" A woman who practiced her swordsmanship laughed "You shouldn''t ask him, he''s making less than a civilian now. That''s what you get for going against the guild rules. " The group snickered at Ashe, who just lowered his head and proceeded to clean up the floor where the recruits were training. ############################ Hera stopped in a small grocery store near her home. She picked a few fruits, some premade pasta and a few pieces of candy. Unlike her usual purchases, these were all branded products. She knew that it had almost no different than her usual generic brands, but she already received the payment for the skills. She could afford to be a bit more lavish. Even if it was just for a day. After choosing what she wanted, Hera walked towards the register. Today the owner''s granddaughter was working the night shift. She was a nice girl, or at the very least she was polite, even if a bit sarcastic at times. "Good evening Hera" The girl gave a soft smile while she started to check out the products. "Hi, Amanda, how are you?" Hera did her best to check in with the owners of the grocery store now and then. This had been her first job, she only left because the store started to have some problems and they couldn''t afford her. Hera never felt bad about that. The owners were a sweet couple that let her work here without any experience. They even rented her a back room in their house when she first moved here. She knew that if it wasn''t because of them a girl fresh out of high school would never be able to survive in the city. "I''m fine, just tired. At least we are closing soon. Grandma won''t work today and I can''t stay late on a school night." Amanda yawned, she felt more comfortable around Hera, since she had been trained by her. "Why is she not working today? Is your grandmother ok?" Hera took a step forward, leaning into the counter. "Yeah, she''s fine. It was their anniversary on Monday and they went on a week-long trip. Grandpa wanted to go skiing. I hope I will have their energy when I''m that old" Both of them laughed. Mr. and Ms. Kahele always had young souls. Last year both of them went skydiving on their anniversary. The image of an 80 year old couple jumping off a plane was incredible, to say the least. "Hum, Hera, I think you got the wrong oranges," Amanda said noticing the final price of the purchase. Even if with the pricy items, there was no way that this purchase would cost more than 35 gold. However, the final price was over 58 gold. Looking at the list of products she noticed that the bag with a dozen oranges cost a whooping 28 gold, and that price already had a discount applied to it. "No, I got the right ones. I always wanted to try these New Dawn Farm products. And since I... " Hera realized that she haven''t told anyone about her new job. Looking at Amanda she decides not to tell her just yet. There were two people that Hera wanted to be the firsts to know. "Since I got a bonus at work I''m giving myself a treat." Amanda gave a warm smile "Good for you, I honestly don''t remember the last time I heard you talk about doing something for yourself. Please do that more often you deserve it. And don''t let the fact that I''m a kid stop you from following my advice." Hera giggled "Oh, so you are a kid? " Hera placed her card in the machine paying for the purchase. At the same time, Amanda''s expression darkened. "I''m not 18, am I?" She asked rolling her eyes. "You are right. Thank you very much for your advice. I will keep it in mind." Hera grabbed her groceries and walked towards the door. Before she left the store, Amanda asked in a soft voice. "Don''t tell them I said that." Hera looked back and answered with a smile "Your secret is safe with me." Less than twenty minutes later, Hera opened her front door. It was still her old studio apartment, with a tacky flowered wallpaper and a moss green carpet covering the whole place. Leaving only the kitchen and the bathroom with dirty tan tiles. To her, this place had always been the only depressing dump she could afford. But now it was the home she had when her life changed. Realizing how hungry she was, Hera quickly put away the groceries and started to make her dinner. Tonight''s dish, chicken ravioli with veggies. Since the pasta was pre-made and the veggies already cut it was an easy meal to make. After a couple of minutes, the pots were boiling and she just had to wait for everything to be done. Hera picked up the bag of oranges and looked at the label. The logo was a small holographic design of a sun rising on the horizon by a field. New Dawn Farm Magically Enhanced Organic Oranges The ingredients for a better life. New Dawn was a company famous for dealing with magical items. It is well known that they buy those items from explorers, and then use them to produce or improve other products. Hera wasn''t sure how that worked. The guild would buy the products from explorers and resell them, or would the negotiation be made directly with who found the item? Still, the company is among the most successful ones out there. A bit over a month ago an article in a magazine said that the New Dawn company was worth more than a few countries. Their products would range from pharmaceutical to textile, the farms were a new branch of the company that started to sell products a little over six months ago. According to what she had read, any food that they sell has magical proprieties that not only improve the flavor but also can make someone healthier. That last part always bugged Hera. Why would a company make a product that competes with itself? Picking three of those oranges she made a glass of orange juice to drink with her dinner. Before grabbing the sugar she took a sip of the juice curious about the natural flavor. Drinking the juice Hera was overwhelmed by a sweet citric flavor, it refreshed her in a way that seemed impossible. The flavor kept going and seemed to even expand past her body. Surprised she placed the cup in the counter and waited for her food to get ready. If it was that good she wanted to enjoy it fully with a meal. Less than ten minutes later Hera was sitting on her desk with her dinner in front of her. She opened her tablet and looked for something interesting to watch while she ate. She decided to pick an old favorite. The warrior princess. Its been a while since she watched it and now, as an explorer she would see everything with a new light. Before the show started there was a small advertisement for the Olympics. Hera had completely forgotten about that, the opening show would be on Sunday. Maybe this time she could watch it live. 20 - Good Morning world Hera woke up at 5 A.M. She wanted to train before class again, but her body still was very sore. She got up, feeling her muscles complain about the movement and walked to her kitchen. Looking through her fridge she stared at the New Dawn Oranges. It seemed a waste to eat them all quickly. She picked a few other fruits to make a fruit salad. Ready to eat her breakfast Hera went to her phone and sent two texts. One to her grandmother and the other to her father. Both were essentially the same. She just said that she would try to drop by in a couple of weeks and that she had some good and exciting news to share. After that, she replied to a few texts from her friends who still worked at the bookstore. They were worried and just wanted to be sure she was ok. With a soft smile, she texted back saying that she was great, that she quit because she got a new job and that the next weeks will be a bit crazy because of it. She wanted to tell them the good news. But for some reason, she felt like it would be unfair to not tell her family first. It sounded a bit stupid when she thought about it, still, that seemed like the best idea. Finishing her meal Hera went to do the dishes that she had left soaking. She wasn''t sure how the training would go, so doing them at night was not an option. After everything was done, she still had over half an hour before she needed to leave. Opening the fridge again she stared at the oranges. "You know, Amanda was right. I should spoil myself sometimes" She picked 3 of the oranges and made a glass of juice. Drinking it the same feeling she had the night before took hold of her body. That delicious flavor and the familiar electricity that ran through her arms. Finishing the glass in just a few seconds she placed it in the skin and looked again at the refrigerator. "No, only one per day. I still need to have some restraint." Looking at the clock Hera went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "Argh!!" She quickly spat out the toothpaste. She completely forgot the only rule about orange juice. Even the magical oranges tasted awful when paired up with toothpaste. Luckily she managed to endure the taste long enough to finish brushing her teeth. And now, she was ready to go. It took her less than forty minutes to arrive at the guild. With half an hour to spare Hera went to the training room. However this time she wanted to watch the seasoned explorers practicing. Looking through the glass walls Hera failed to notice a guild clerk approaching. "Excuse me, Hera?" She looked to the side and saw Carol, the attendant that Hera meet early this week. With her customer service smile, she answered. "Oh hi, Carol is it? Can I help you?" Carol approached, Hera noticed that one of her nails seemed to be shorter than the others. "I wanted to apologize, I didn''t know about your level up and should have done a better job checking. I was having a really crappy day and a lot of weird people started to show up only to give me more trouble. Even so, none of that is your fault and you deserve to be treated better than that." The apology surprised Hera, even if she felt wronged at the time, the matter wasn''t enough to warrant an apology. "Don''t worry about it. Any work can be troublesome. Besides, everything worked out. I''m okay now, actually, I''m great! really really great!" Carol raised one eyebrow, the girl was acting weird. Even in that small exchange, she seemed to have trouble focusing on one thing. But her biggest concern was Hera''s eyes. They were wide in an almost unnatural way. "Thank you, I was really worried about how you were feeling. By the way, did Helena find you? She was asking around if you had arrived already." Hera looked around " No, I still haven''t seen her. Do you know what she wants? Is something urgent? Is something bad? Is she ok? " The girl is talking too fast, there is something wrong. Carol had no doubt about it. "I don''t know. She probably is in our breakroom. Come with me, I''ll take you there" Hera gave her a big smile. "Sure" The two of them walked side by side, Hera kept looking everywhere. Carol started to get worried. Before long the two of them arrived at the breakroom. Helena was sitting on a couch with a book in hand. "Hey Carol, and Hera! What brings you here?" Carol grabbed Hera''s hand and pulled her towards the couch. "You need to take a look at her now! Something feels wrong." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Helena frowned. There were very few times were Carol had this type of reaction, and none of them were good. "Okay, Hera, sit here dear." Helena got up and pointed at the middle of the couch. "Okay, but I''m fine, I''m great actually" She answered with a smile, letting her body fall on the couch making a bit of noise with the impact. Carol and Helena glanced at each other. "Hera, sweety, did you do anything different these days?" Helena kneeled in front of her as stared deep into her eyes. "Well, I started the explorer training, but I felt Like I didn''t belong there since I''m older than the rest. Then I learned a map skill, it seems pretty useful but here it''s just better if I use the map app on my phone. My skill is still not as good. Then trained with swords, they are fun but I still wanna try another weapon. Mr. Greyson told me I was already an explorer and you wouldn''t kick me out unless I did something really bad. Since then I''m feeling lighter than ever. Well after that and the oranges. I also went by a grocery store near my home to treat myself and then I got here, that''s all I did differently these days, aside from the level up of course but you know that part, Helena." Hera said everything in a single breath. Carol was glad she had found the girl, there was something very wrong with her. As Hera spoke, Helena who was staring at her grew darker, her hair started to change to an impossibly deep black, and her hair started to move around flowing towards Hera. "What oranges sweety?" Helena''s voice felt cold and distant as if it came from another room. Hera still had her eyes locked with Helena''s. "Oh those New Dawn Farm ones, I always wanted to try. They are amazing, do you want to try one? I can rush home to pick one up I think it will be enough time. Or if you can wait I''ll go after the class. I really don''t want to be late for Mr. Greyson''s lecture. Helena''s eyes turned pitch black and her hair started to leak around her, the shadows in the room grew more intense and the light seemed to try to run away. At this moment Hera was mesmerized. She could see small streaks of blue, purple, white and red running through the darkness. The colors had different appearances. The blue light ran as if it was inside a vein, spreading and looping. The red streaks seemed to be small flys buzzing around leaving trails as if they were airplanes in the sky. The white glow seemed to come from under the darkness as if it was trying to seep through cracks in a glass window. The purple sparkles were like fireworks that danced around Helena''s face. "Now Hera, I''m sorry sweety but this is for your own good" Hera realized that there was one more thing moving around that area, and that was the darkness, it looked like a mix of smoke and shadow and it started to wrap around her hands and torso. But her attention went back to the light show around Helena''s face. She started to feel a bit light-headed, the lights began to vanish and her mind to focus. Shaking her head she looked again at Helena, only her face was visible, and her eyes were completely black. Looking at them was the same as looking at the darkness behind her. Hera swallowed her saliva too scared to do anything. Feeling a soft pain where the shadows had wrapped her body Hera bit her tongue so she wouldn''t say anything. It took over a minute for the shadows to retreat and go back inside Helena, but for Hera, it seemed much more time had passed. Carol watched the room grow dark making Hera vanish in the shadows. When she reappeared, the darkness was still wrapped around her body. Carol knew that was just Helena''s magic, but it was still a frightening sight to behold. The light came back to the room, the shadows turned back to normal. Helena blinked her eyes a few times before they regained its natural color. She got up and sat down on a chair, breathing heavily and rubbing her eyes. "Helena, are you ok?" Carol gave her a glass of water. "Yeah, I''m fine, it''s just a bit tiring, how about you Hera?" After being released from the shadows Hera''s whole body felt heavy and she had a splitting headache. She looked at Helena and Carol but the bright light in the ceiling made her close her eyes. "I''m... tired, and my head is killing me." She answered with a weak voice. Carol went to a cabinet on the wall and grabbed some medicine, along with a glass of water. "Here, drink this. It will help." Hera thanked the clerk. "What just happened?" Helena stared at her "You didn''t listen to the warnings on the label. That''s what happened." Hera looked back at her "What label? " "The New Daw Farm products are filled with mana, and in the package, there is a warning telling people that they shouldn''t consume more than a specific quantity every 24h unless their level is high. You didn''t even see it, did you?" Hera looked to the ground, she never even considered side effects, they were oranges. Who would read the label in something like this? "I''m... I''m sorry" Once again Helena had to step in and save her. She already felt like she owed her a lot. This was just one more thing for the tab. "It is okay sweety, you didn''t know. For future reference, magic rich food can help you a lot but it can also make you a bit crazy. For someone at level one, the effect is close to a drug." Helena explained in a soft tone that made Hera feel more comfortable with the situation. The information shocked Hera. How was it possible that a company that big would be seeling something like this with no problems? "But... if it is a drug why are people letting them sell it? It should be wrong right?" "It definitely should. But it''s easier said than done. New Dawn is a powerful company. And they just argue that their fruits and vegetables are just like medicine, one should not go over the recommended dose. And that is enough for them to get away with it" Helena huffed. "Well anyways, thank you for accepting my apology Hera. I hope to see your graduation soon." Since Hera was looking better, and Helena was around. Carol felt comfortable with going back to work. A few moments after Carol left, feeling better Hera stared at Helena, trying to see if those glowing lights would show up near her again. "Hera, you are staring dear" Helena chuckled. "Sorry. I''m trying to see if those glowing lights were just a part of the high." She looked away but it didn''t take long for her to try again. "What glowing lights?" Helena raised one eyebrow. "They were around you while you were... doing something with your magic. There was a blue, a red, a white and a purple one but I can''t remember where they were." Helena adjusted herself in the chair. "Hera, please, tell me exactly what you remember." Surprised, Hera described, to the best of her abilities, what each color did and when she saw it, with Helena asking a few specific questions during the process. After she was done questioning Hera, Helena got up and sat down beside the recruit before giving her a big hug. For some reason, it didn''t bother Hera when she was hugged by Helena. She wasn''t sure why but it felt more natural than what Blue did. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that helped" Helena said without letting the girl go. "Sure, but what did I do?" Hera asked unsure of what had just happened. "You just gave me the information I needed for my research. It''s a bit too technical and I still need to analyze things but I think you just told me my elemental affinities." 21 - New Skill "And... what are elemental affinities?" Hera asked letting go of the hug. With a laugh, Helena replied "Once again I''m giving you an advanced lesson. Elemental affinities are what we call the types of magic that work well with your mana. As you may have guessed I have shadow mana." Hera''s face was that of a deer in the headlights. "Ok, maybe that was a bit too far. When you go inside the maze you are going to feel that energy you felt when you ate the oranges but to a smaller degree. With time you will be able to learn magic." Helena made a small light appear in her hand. It kept shifting in different colors as if Hera was looking at a diamond. "This is raw magic, with time you can focus the type of mana in your body to a specific element or attribute. Mine is darkness, but some people have fire, water, earth, and even more complex things like gravity, technology or healing." The light shifted again now turning into darkness as if Helena was holding a ball of shadows. "Now, if you are a mage you should have better control of this and can you make your whole mana turn into the element you want. But that comes with a price, you lose the ability to use some elements, for instance, I can''t use light." Hera looked at her confused. "But, you just made a light." Helena nodded "Yes, I made a light, but it wasn''t a light element skill. Raw magic still allows us to do some basic stuff that looks like a specific element. Now, not only you lose some elements when you focus your mana, but it becomes really hard to do some advanced spells with other elements. For instance, I have a short-range teleport skill. It''s called Shadow Chase, I used it to get between you and Ashe the other day." Helena paused, worried Hera would be uncomfortable with the mention of that name. But to her surprise, the girl seemed too enthralled by the explanation to be bothered by that. "If I were to use a fire type teleport it would be much more taxing, and much weaker than if I used the Shadow Chase. What I was researching was a way to diminish that problem. I wanted to find out if other elements could benefit from one type of mana. For instance, if my dark mana could be used to fuel a different spell, could it change the spell and make it more powerful? That is my whole research. The main problem was to find out what elements and attributes could work well with it." Realizing how much she could have helped Hera gave a big smile. "That is amazing Helena! You are doing such a big thing I''m glad I helped even if it was just a little." "A little? Hera this is a major breakthrough. You have no idea how much that helped. What you described is what mages know as fire mana for the comet, water mana for the blue one, since it''s a body of water. Probably particle or gravity attribute or the purple one, and the white I have to check. It''s not light since it''s opposite of my mana but it can be either an element or an attribute." Hera smiled at the mage, Helena''s face made her look like she was a kid on Christmas day. "You know, usually a mage wouldn''t talk about their research. Not to anyone at least." Helena looked in Hera''s eyes. "Then... why are you telling me?" Hera had a puzzled look in her face. "Simple, I want you as my apprentice. You clearly have a way of identifying the elements that one spell uses. It would be stupid of me not to try to get you to help me." Hera blushed a bit, she knew some explorers would look for apprentices, but that was a rare thing. "Shouldn''t you look for a mage to help you? I mean, I''m still level 2 and I barely know anything about magic." Hera felt she would drag Helena down. After all, how could a brand new recruit help an experienced mage in any way? "True, but at the same time, we mages are a prideful bunch. Not only it is really hard to hear a mage asking for help we all get suspicious of anyone who knows about our research. So, even if another mage is looking for the same thing I am we wouldn''t trade notes. Honestly, I even get a bit paranoid in telling you about this. But if you can see the mana like that when you become a mage it will be a great help for my research. It''s a decision that seems to have more pros than cons" Hera listened to her explanation without interrupting. But at the same time, a lot of what she said didn''t add up. That made Hera cautious, even if it was about the woman who changed her life. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "I don''t mean to be rude.. but why me Helena? You could get another explorer, a mage or look for anyone else who ate the oranges and saw those lights. Why would you trust me with information about your research?" Helena stared at Hera for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh. "You know, being that smart is not always a good thing. You want to know why I''m asking you? Fine. Every group of recruits is scouted by different organizations, some are within the guild and some are private. I am a part of one of those organizations, and no I''m not telling you anything more than that for now. We look for talent, recruits that have potential and can help us explore the maze and the system. You can consider this my elevator pitch if you will. " Helena leaned back on the couch grabbing her cup of coffee from the table at the side. "Yes, I could look for a stronger mage to help. And yes there may be some other explorers that can see the affinities in magic. Even if they usually need skills or items to do so. Don''t get me wrong, you would still be a valuable asset, just not a unique one. But honestly, I''m just trusting so much in you because I saw something in you. The salute you made was so intense. I don''t know when was the last time I saw one of those. I picked you because my intuition is saying to bet on you, and I''m hardly ever wrong about these things." Helena gave a warm smile and was about to take a skip from her coffee when she said. "Also, I put a spell on you that will make you lose the ability to talk if you try to share my research without my permission." Hera''s eyes went wide. She wasn''t thinking about sharing Helena''s research but what if she said something by accident. Seeing her reaction Helena giggled. "Relax, that last part was just a joke. Or was it?" Hera wasn''t able to get a read on the dark-skinned woman but at the same time, she believed Helena wouldn''t hurt her. The two of them talked for a few more minutes, mostly about how Hera was faring in the training and before they realized it was time for Hera''s class. "Thanks again Helena, I don''t know what would have happened without you," Hera said when she got up. "It wouldn''t be that bad dear, you would just get really hungover after a few hours. Oh and I forgot to mention, but being my apprentice only works if you become a mage. If not I still can scout you for my group. Who will remain nameless until the end of the training." Hera nodded, she wanted to ask about the name of the group but was shut down as soon as she opened her mouth. With a smile, she left the breakroom and went straight to her class. Going to the second floor was quick enough, but Hera realized that she never went to the classroom by herself, the second floor of the guild was made of several hallways with doors on the sides. It looked like a school without lockers. Getting out the elevator Hera looked to the sides, both hallways here empty and had no distinction from each other. She picked her phone and looked at the time. 6:55 The guild had a really big area if she wanted to go through every hallway it would take at least twenty minutes. Hera tried to hear any noise coming from one of the rooms but everything was quiet. She was starting to get worried about being late when an idea popped in her head. She picked the tablet and opened the map icon. Unlike on her cellphone, this map was the one her skill made. She looked around and found that only one of the rooms on that floor was completely mapped. I hope I''m right. Hera thought before walking towards the room that showed up on her tablet. 2 minutes before 7 Hera arrived at the room and saw the whole class, including Mr. Greyson there. "Sorry, I''m late," She said while walking towards her usual seat. While the recruits stared at her. "Shame, we were looking forward to seeing someone running the Drill for being late." A dark-haired woman with very defined eyebrows, chestnut skin, and a red bindi between her eyes said with a mocking tone. The other three around her giggled with her remark. "Maybe ye should be the first one to try it Anaya." Mr. Greyson said without missing a beat. His reply made the girl shrink in her chair. Hera quickly sat down and said hi to her friends. She also noticed a large saucer on the teacher''s desk. Not only it was large it was also very tall, making it almost seem like an altar of sorts. "Settle down ye lot." Mr. Greyson closed the door now that everyone was inside. Then he used his tablet to activate something and the light of the room dimmed. "Now, today ye are going to learn a very important skill. It''s a skill ye will use every day, be it in the MAZE or outside of it. Yer life will never be the same after learning this skill. Yer friends, yer family, even yer clothes will be different after ye learn this." He pressed something in his tablet and above the saucer, an empty glass of wine appeared. For a moment Hera thought the altar was a teleportation device. However, looking closely she realized the object was more seethrough than it should. "The skill is called Observe, it helps you be sure of what yer seeing. For instance, this glass is not here. But is it a hologram or an illusion?" Hera stared at the glass, trying to see if there was a way to be sure what the glass was. She looked for lines moving, small jagged lines on the edge of the glass, even the affinities she had seen around Helena. But even with all her effort, nothing seemed to work. A little part of her wondered if the oranges could help her now. But she brushed off that thought as quickly as it came. She didn''t want to depend on something to pass the training. "Mr. Greyson, is there something that shows us if this is an illusion or not?" Bonnie asked as she had a frustrated look on her face. The same one Hera had. "As far as Ah know, there are two ways. One if touching it, if ye know how mana feels ye can tell when ye touch it. The other one is with the skill I''m teaching ye. Now, everybody grab yer tablet. To get the skill all ye need to do is write down the name of the object and if it''s an illusion or a hologram. Now any questions? Good, let''s begin" 22 - Rushing is bad for you Hera rubbed her eyes. This exercise seemed to be easier than the last one, but in reality, it is way more taxing. There have been so many objects to identify that she had lost count. For three hours the recruits kept marking in their tablets the objects as illusions or holograms, as well as their names. Hera wasn''t able to name a few objects. After all, who knows the name of the plastic part of a shoelace or the name of the metal part at the end of a pencil. They only had around two minutes before the object in the saucer would change. The only noise that could be heard was that of fingers taping away in the tablets. "Yes! I got the skill!" Blue shouted getting up from her seat "I''m the first one right? Did anyone else get it?" She looked around for a reply. But before she could get an answer, Mr. Greyson commanded. "Blue! Sit down, ye still have work to do." Immediately the girl sat back on her chair, but she still had a big grin on her face. The class kept going for another hour without any changes. It was close to 11 A.M and Hera''s stomach was already grumbling. Maybe eating only a fruit salad for breakfast wasn''t the best idea. She blinked a few times realizing that she got distracted and tried to focus on the task, looking at the object at the teacher''s desk. It was a small light green dumbbell, weighing 50 kilograms, and an illusion. She typed the answer, but her finger stopped before confirming it. How did she know the weight and that it was an illusion? Looking back at the dumbbell it seemed too small to be that heavy. As she focused more and more at the object a small blue window showed up above it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dumbbell 50 KG (Illusion) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera blinked a few times, there was no notification, so she shouldn''t have gotten the skill yet. She quickly opened her status to make sure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Civilian Level: 2 Stats: Strength: 12 Endurance: 12 Agility: 12 Charisma: 12 Intelligence: 12 Luck: 12 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Mapping Observe Active: All in ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera found it odd, why did the skill show up there without her knowing. Tapping the skill the information appeared in a new window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Observe (Rank 2) Allows the user to see the basic information of the target. The information available is limited by the rank of the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking at the skill Hera was surprised by how simple it seemed. As long as she could see the object the system would give her more information on it. It was simple but extremely helpful. Imagine if this skill can tell if a mushroom is poisonous. Or if a fridge is broken or malfunctioning. "Mr. Greyson, My skill showed up at rank 2, and I don''t remember ever having it at rank 1." The teacher nodded "Aye, yer supposed to get this one at rank 2, the rank 1 version ye are using since ye were born. Just being able to see is the first rank of the observe skill. A rank up don¡¯t make a notification pop in most cases" "So.. does that mean everything we do is a potential skill?" The whole class got quiet. Was Hera right? "Short answer, yes, but not really. Everything we do has the potential of being a skill, but the more common the thing is the harder it is to increase the rank. Walking, for example, many tried to increase its rank, and Ah haven''t seen anyone who succeeded. The same with breathing or thinking. Skills tend to be more specific, they require certain conditions to improve. So ye can try to get a skill, and ye might even get one but it''s as hard as creating a new skill." "We can create new skills?" Mark asked interrupting the teacher. Mr. Greysons''s face darkened and for a second the whole class was ready to see his wrath. However, as quickly as his face changed, it also softened. "Aya laddie, many skills ye use today were created at some point. Some are more obvious, like a martial style. While others seem to be skills we were given but in reality, were created like climbing or swimming. "Swimming was created?" Leonidas asked, but the question was in the mind of most of the recruits. "Aye, a bit of a history lesson. But before we had swimming styles, like freestyle or breaststroke. No one had a swimming skill. Only after we perfected it that a skill was born." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The class remained silent for a while. It was a lot to process. To Hera, the system always seemed to be an omnipotent and absolute presence. But if anyone was able to create a skill maybe the system was more flexible than she imagined. "Sir, what''s the difference between ranking up a skill and evolving it?" The teacher got up from his seat and went to the board. "Well, when a skill evolves or ranks up it gets stronger. The difference is in how it gets stronger. Ranking up means that the skill will work the same way it does now, but it will be stronger or have an extra something. Like the observer skill. It''s just how ye look around ye, but now it can also give some information. On the other hand, think about the map skill Leo and Bonnie got. Atlas, unlike the basic mapping skill, already gives you a much bigger area, and also some information like where roads and reference points are. The mapping skill most of ye have, only show what ye have seen." While talking Mr. Greyson made a circle with an arrow in the middle and drew a simple map. To the side of it, he made a much bigger area, almost twice as large, and placed many roads and points of interest on it. "Now let''s talk about Bonnie''s Cartography skill. It can give ye around the same area that yer mapping skill gives. But it will place all the differences in the terrain, the location of the trees, lakes, and hills. It will even give ye an exact format and shape of a river or tree." He proceeded to draw a third circle with an arrow in the middle and gave more detail to the map inside it. "If we are thinking about regular terms, mapping is the same as remembering the place. Atlas is having someone who knows the area draw it and give ye directions. Cartography would be a satellite image of the location ye want. All three of them have the same function but they are vastly different in the execution." Even if the concept was relatively simple it still baffled Hera. A single skill could change so much. Yes, the basic function would still be there, but knowing that even simple skill had that many ramifications made her wonder. Could her Stats Reallocation change in something other than her Exponential Growth? Thinking about this possibility, an idea popped into Hera''s mind. "Mr. Greyson, can a skill evolve more than once?" Hearing the question the teacher let out a resounding laugh. "A greenhorn already asking for a second evolution? Leave some for the rest of us!" Hera looked down, feeling embarrassed for the laugh. She wasn''t trying to rush anything, just to know if it was possible. "Aye lassie, skills can evolve a second time. But the ones we know of are very few, and the requirements are very hard. Now if ye gonna ask me if they can evolve even a third time. I don''t know, never heard anyone even talking about it." The teacher gave a soft smile to the class. "Alright, let''s get back to work. Most of ye still need to get the skill" But before the class continued the exercise, Alex still had one doubt "Mr. Greyson, sorry but is it possible for a skill to evolve if it already has ranked up?" "Ye mean for a skill that is above rank 1 to evolve into something?" He paused for a while furrowing his brows "Ah honestly don''t know. Ah can''t remember if any of my skills were like that, much less the skills of anyone that Ah know. Ah''m gonna check it and give ye an answer in tomorrow''s class ok." Alex nodded and the class continued with the exercise. Around half an hour later a few other recruits had gotten their skills. Including Mark, Alex, and Leonidas. Hera kept looking towards Bonnie. She was worried the girl would be feeling bad but her face seemed focused. Unlike the face, she had during the last few minutes of training the day before. Another half an hour went by, the number of recruits without the skill grew smaller. Hera glanced at Bonnie who was just staring at the air with a serious expression. With a smile, Hera turned back to her tablet. Bonnie probably was reading about the skill, her worries were for nothing. "Mr. Greyson, I got a different skill." Bonnie said. The whole class stopped after she spoke. "What''s the name of the skill Bonnie?" The teacher asked with a serious tone. "It''s called Inspect." The reply made Mr. Greyson start to rub his forehead. "Godammit Bonnie, there is a reason we do things in order." His reaction was surprising for most of the class. It wasn''t a stern complain, it sounded more like someone complaining because their coworker messed up. "I''m sorry, but what did I do wrong? Isn''t it a good thing to get a new skill? Or is it just because I''m the only one who got it" Bonnie was a bit flustered, but at the same time, she got a new skill all on her own. She would have an edge when she finally went inside the MAZE. "Yer the only one who got that skill today. That is tomorrows lesson. We teach Observe first because Inspect gets in the way when yer trying to learn it. Ye weren''t just telling the name and if it was an illusion or a hologram were ye?" Bonnie looked down and started to pull on the sleeves of her sweater a bit. "No, I was trying to look at it with more details. Marking how the objects should be made if they were real to see if any information in the middle of that could help." Mr. Greyson let out a long sigh "Fine, try to do the right exercise for now. I''m gonna have to think of something else for you tomorrow." "But isn''t it just the same? You said Observe helps to see what something is if I have inspected that is even better right?" Bonnie huffed. It was her achievement and no one was going to take it away from her. "Ye think so? Then Inspect this thing" Mr.Greyson ripped a page from a notebook in his desk and made a paper ball. The class watched as Bonnie focused on the object and start to read something they couldn''t see. At the same time, the teacher lightly tossed the paper ball to the girl. To a class who had to dodge the dummies attacks the day before, the paper ball moved like a snail. Any recruit could have caught that throw. But Bonnie wasn''t even looking at the projectile going towards her. When the paper ball was almost at her face she jumped back, but it was too late. The toss hit her square in the face. A group of students in the back laughed. and Mr. Greyson let out a long sigh. "That''s why ye need Observe. Inspect takes too much space in front of ye, if ye are in a dangerous situation even one second of distraction can be enough to be yer doom." Bonnie nodded, still a bit flustered about the situation. "Now get back to work. Ye still have combat training in the afternoon" 23 - Special place "Blue, if you stop one more time to observe something I''m eating without you." It was the fifth time Pamella stopped to use her new skill, and the group had yet to leave the guild block. "Let''s just leave her, I don''t want to be late." Bonnie said while she walked towards the strip mall. She gave a side glance to Blue, angry about her showing off her new skill. To Bonnie it wasn''t her fault that she got a different skill, the teacher was the one who gave her the assignment wrong. If he had specified what she shouldn''t do she would never have gotten the wrong skill. Hera walked with her group, wondering if there was something she could do to help. She had tried talking to Bonnie about the skill, and about what she could do to get it but everything just seemed to make her even angrier. "Bonnie, do you have any suggestions on where we could eat?" Alex asked in a casual tone. "What? Do you need me to choose the place? Can''t figure out yourselves?" Hera twisted her nose. They invited her to try to cheer her up, she didn''t have to be rude. Leo rolled his eyes and replied to Bonnie while Blue stared daggers at her. "We had this discussion yesterday, there are a lot of options, and the strip mall doesn''t have that many tables. So it''s better if we eat in the same place. Yesterday I picked the restaurant, today I think you should choose." The group nodded in agreement, to which Bonnie just scoffed. They went past the first stoplight in silence, even with Leo having to poke Blue''s arm every time she stopped to observe something. After crossing the road Bonnie had made up her mind. "Look, I really want a burger, a greasy oily burger with onions and bacon." With a big smile, Blue walked toward the girl and put her arm around her. "You see this, this is the type of woman I want to be when I grow up. Someone who has the best ideas." Leo put his hand on his face and let out a loud groan. "Blue, I''m going to tell you this one more time. You are older than most of us." The man had said something along those lines a few times already and that was starting to annoy him. "You are no fun." The girl answered before sticking out her tongue. Bonnie took advantage of her distraction and removed Blue''s arm from around her taking a few steps away from the girl. "Yeah, don''t do that. I don''t like people being over-friendly with me." She then looked at Hera "You know the area around here right? Any recommendations?" Hera thought for a second before opening a big smile. "I know a good place. But I hope you all like cats." The group stared at her for a while before being led to a different path by the woman. Hera walked a bit faster than usual, happy she would be able to go back to a place she loved so much. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. "I honestly don''t know what I was expecting. But it wasn''t this" Alex commented now that the group was in front of a building. The words "Cat made Heaven" were written above the door in beautiful calligraphy. "Please, tell me this isn''t one of those costume places. Those freak me out." Blue shivered remembering the last encounter she had with someone in a full cat costume. Hera giggled," No no, there is just a bunch of cats walking around. They are very well trained so don''t worry about one of them walking through the table." Bonnie stared at her with wide eyes. "Are you telling me that the cats are just roaming around the whole restaurant?" "Not really, they never go to the kitchen or the bathrooms. If I''m remembering correctly, the doors are enchanted with a cat barrier of sorts. At least that''s what one of the staff told me." Leo was looking through a window inside, a black cat was sitting on a bench staring at him. "Yeah... am I the only one who thinks cats want to kill us?" All four girls answered at the same time. "Yes, you are!" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And started to laugh together while they entered the cafe, Leo let out a long sigh and walked inside after the rest of the group. ####################################### "C''mon lassie, don''t make me say it." With a smirk, Helena leaned back in her chair. "You know that''s not how it works sweetie, you know what you have to do." Greyson clenched his fist. It already was bad enough to be wrong, and now she wanted him to do this? That''s why he hates these kinds of jobs. "Please lassie, I thought we were past that." "Me too, but I was rejected in such a way that my maiden heart will never recover" Helena was moving like a kid in a highschool play being overly dramatic. "Oh for f..." Greyson started to speak but held back. After taking a deep breath he started again. "Helena, A''m sorry for refusing yer help. Ye were right and Ah was wrong. The old method is not always better. Now can ye please help me so the girl can learn Observe?" Helena gave the man a big smile "Was that so hard?" "Ye already shoved a knife in my gut, are ye going to twist it too?" Helena could see a vein in Greyson''s forehead ready to pop. She laughed. "Ok ok I accept your apology, now it was Bonnie right?" Helena checked her file in the guild system "Humm, Yeah I know how to make it work. But you need to cut her some slack on the afternoon training deal?" Knowing he was already defeated. "Deal." "Great! Now tell her that tomorrow she will be coming with me to the underground training room. Don''t worry, I promise to give your recruit back in one piece." Helena kept tapping in her tablet making sure everything would be ready for the special training session she had in mind. At the same time, Greyson left the staff breakroom. "One more time, Ah just need to do this one more bloody time. Focus on that Calvin, focus on that." He kept mumbling to himself while he went towards the cafeteria. ######################################### "Oh Bonnie, don''t be sad. The owner said you could go back there any time you want." Blue tried to cheer the girl up. "It was just so cute. I wanted to bring him home with me." Bonnie said while pouting. "Well, at least he is in a good home, and you can go see him every time you get back from the MAZE. It should be dangerous to take a house cat with you, even if you have some taming skils." Leo tried to reassure her while putting his wallet in the bag he had left inside the classroom. "I suppose you are right" Bonnie seemed to agree with them even if she was still sad about not being able to take one of the cats from the cafe home. Hera just smiled at the interaction, Bonnie wasn''t angry anymore, or at least she wasn''t showing that. Her plan to help the girl forget what happened with the skill worked. This time she was able to help her. "So, what do you think we are learning now? A new skill? More weapon training?" Alex said with a big smile. It was visible how much she enjoyed to be here, there was even a spark in her eyes. Hera started to think if she should be more open with her feelings as well when a few other recruits started to arrive. In less than five minutes the whole class was there, waiting for the teacher. They were talking and joking around just like a bunch of high schoolers. But the second Mr. Greyson walked through the door the room got quiet. Seeing the man, all the recruits felt a primal instinct that told them one single thing. Danger. The teacher scanned the class and said only two words. "Training. Now." Then he walked back and towards the stairs. There was a moment when a few recruits looked at each other trying to understand what to do. But Leo got up and started to follow Mr. Greyson without missing a beat. With him at the lead, the rest of the class joined in. A few moments later all of the recruits were in the training room. They walked without making a sound. For some reason, none of them even considered relaxing after seeing the teacher. Mr.Greyson was standing in front of the dummies with a big black box by its side, just like the day before. He opened the box and picked a pair of wooden daggers. "Today Ah''m gonna teach ye how not to poke yer eye when using a weapon." He stared at the class for a few seconds "So, what ye are all waiting for? Grab yer bloody daggers already." All of the recruits were surprised by the reaction. Mr. Greyson was a stern and grumpy man but even this seemed like too much. Hera couldn''t help to compare his bad mood with the one he had the day before. It was like comparing a hill with a mountain. What happened that made him so angry? Less than one minute after his order. All the recruits were holding their daggers in the small arenas they used yesterday. "Ye know how to hit something. Now ye need to learn how to move around while attacking." He raised his arms to show everyone how he was holding the daggers "Later ye can test to see how ye like to hold this. But for now, point the daggers at yer elbows. The way A''m teaching is closer to a fistfight than it is to use a sword. A''m doing this way so ye can''t end up hurting yerself too much." Mr. Grenson then proceeded to show a few moves. Again creating that invisible target in his mind, the teacher moved around it in a circle. Then he would take a step in and throw a punch to the side moving his wrist so the dagger would be sticking out like a spike. After the punch instead of walking back, he moved forward. Using the momentum of the attack to reposition himself. His first few moves were slow, but they started to pick up speed. Each punch was aimed far enough away from the main target so it would never be stopped by its body. Leaving only the dagger to do the damage. After a few seconds, the recruits weren''t able to see Mr. Greyson''s attacks. His arms were just a blur while his body would spin around this phantom target. He finally reached the end of his attacks when he stepped in and threw a jab that went by the side of where the target''s face should be, the dagger still pointing towards his elbow. He then pulled his arm back intending to stab the phantom target. Even if nothing was being attacked the image was visceral. Hera''s eyes were wide in shock, not only by the violent attack but by the speed the teacher had achieved. It should be impossible for the human body to move that fast. How much would the attributes change that? 24 - The price of a skill Hera was still shocked by Mr. Greyson''s speed. A few other students were trying to understand what had just happened. Hera did her best to mimic the teacher''s attack, but it didn''t take long for her to realize that it was a complicated move. If she started the attack with the dagger sticking out, it became harder to correct the trajectory of the punch. On the other hand, if she tried to flick her wrist at the last moment, several other problems showed up. First, it required a considerable amount of strength to move the dagger against the air pressure. Second, she needed to be conscious of her movement, and of how close she was to the target. The worst part was doing all that while moving around. It would be one thing to attack and reset. But she needed to attack already planning her next move. "Mr. Greyson, I couldn''t see the moves very well. Could you do them again? Maybe even a bit slower?" Alex asked the teacher. A few recruits stared at her with surprised expressions. They also wanted a better look at the attacks, but none was willing to become a possible target for the teacher''s wrath. However, to their surprise, Mr. Greyson only nodded. "Aye, Ah''m doing this slower. Pay attention." He walked towards a silver dummy that all the recruits could see and proceeded to show the attacks. He even stopped at certain moments to explain when they should try to change the direction of the dagger or when to be careful not to lose your balance. After a few minutes of explanations, the teacher stopped and turned around to his students. "Now, A''m attacking as I did before. But Ah won''t hold back my speed. See how long ye can keep up." Mr. Greyson began attacking the dummy, doing small variations on the same moves he had just shown the class. Little by little, his attacks began to speed up. Even a few explorers joined in to watch his performance. As the warrior speed up, it became harder to follow his movements. It reached a point where even the new explorers were having trouble seeing all the attacks. Hera did her best to focus as much as she could in his movements. But not only his arm and hand, but his hips and legs as well. During the training on the previous day, she started to realize that each attack required more than just an arm swing. The moves were, in reality, an intricate connection of small twitches across the whole body. As she concentrated on watching the teacher, the time around her seemed to slow down. Mr. Greyson''s movements were clearer and more distinct. She could see his arm moving and how he used the back leg to give him some impulse while moving forward. Making his attacks not only faster but also giving them more weight. That lasted for ten seconds, and as soon as the movements regained their speed, Hera felt a sharp pain in her eyes. The pain was so intense that she stumbled back and fell on her knees. Blue, the only person who noticed Hera''s fall, rushed towards her. "Hera, what''s wrong? Are you ok?" She kneeled beside Hera and reached out with one hand, trying to help the woman to have some footing. "I''m ok. I just got a sharp pain in my eyes." Hera blinked a couple of times and tried to open her eyes again. Everything was blurry, everything besides a small blue box in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera stared at the notification, while the rest of the world was coming back into focus. She never tried to use her skill, did she? "What what Hera? Talk to me. you are really freaking me out here." Blue spoke in a louder volume, without even realizing it. That made a few of the recruits, and the explorers, to move closer to the girls. They all looked curious about what happened. "I... I think I used a skill, and for some reason, the skill hurt me." Blue stared at her, not knowing what to say. Mr. Greyson approached the two of them. The girls didn''t even realize that the teacher was aware of what happened. "What''s wrong, Hera?" "Sorry, Mr. Greyson. I''m not sure. I was watching you and, then I felt a sharp pain behind my eye." He kneeled and looked at her eyes. "Is that all? Did something happened before ye felt the pain?" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Hera shakes her head "No, I was watching your movements when you slowed down, but when you speeded up the pain hit me." Blue leaned her head to the side. "But... he never slowed down, not after he began to move faster." "She''s right lassie. Did something else happen? Or Ah just seemed slow for you?" Hera looked at the teacher a bit panicked. "No, I never said you were slow. You just showed the moves slower at one point. Then the pain came and a notification about a skill that I have showed up. " The teacher raised one eyebrow. "A skill ye have? Ye mean the All In one?" Hera nodded. Mr. Greyson got up and turned to the rest of the class "Ye all just watched how to move, now get yer daggers and start practicing." He then turned back to Hera. "Come with me, Hera." Being helped by both the teacher and Blue made Hera feel uncomfortable. She didn''t want to bother anyone or get in the way of the training. She followed Mr. Greyson to the water cooler in the back of the training room. He filled up a cup of water and gave it to her. "To respect recruits'' privacy we only have the name of the skill and some general idea of how it works. Could you tell me exactly what is the description of yer skill? I promise this will only be between the two of us." Not sure of what is happening, Hera just nodded and pulled her status and went straight for the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All In (Rank 1): The user can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action, As if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute, The attribute will have bonus increments and, at the same time, reduce all other attributes to 11 (10 + level - 1) for 5 hours. Value of attribute when the skill is used: 14.5 Cooldown: 36 hours Remaining (35:56:22) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the description out loud to the teacher. She had read the description so many times by now that she knew it by heart. However, since Mr. Greyson had such a serious expression, it seemed like a better idea to read the description instead of just quoting it. After hearing what the skill really did, the teacher got silent for a few moments. "Ah get the gist of it. How many times have ye used this skill?" "Only once, I guess twice now." He nodded. "Aye, tell me. What do you think yer skill does?" Hera looked at the man with a confused expression and started to quote the description. "Well... can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action, as if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute." Before she could continue, Mr. Greyson raised one hand, signaling her to stop. "No lassie, not what the skill says it does. What do you think it does?" Hera took a while to understand the question, and even longer to come up with an answer. "It makes me able to do things that I normally can''t." "Give me some examples" Hera thought for a moment. "Like, lifting a heavy box, or running faster than I can. Or maybe even making sure I don''t hurt myself so much if I fall from a high place." Mr. Greyson just stared at the girl. "Then why did ye used the skill now?" Hera looked at the teacher "Because I couldn''t see you." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her eyes widened. "Aye, it never said that this only works with big things. Ye might even use the skill if ye want to eat more than ye could. " The teacher started laughing and Hera joined in. Imagining how strange was the idea of a skill that would help you eat more. After a few moments, they stopped. "Now, ye need to be careful lassie. If ye try to use the skill with something that ye can''t handle without it ye might have some problems." Hera nodded, that thought had crossed her mind a few times. If she was carrying something too heavy and the skill turned off, she could hurt herself very badly. "Good, now let''s get back. Even if yer attributes are lower ye still need to train." Both of them walked back to the small arenas where the rest of the recruits were. Blue gave Hera a concerned look, and she just replied whit a smile and a thumb up. "Alright, now A''m gonna set up yer training arenas." Mr. Greyson picked his tablet and started to tap. It took him a couple of minutes and many grunts, but he finally managed to activate the arenas. A soft blue glow appeared at the edge of each arena where the recruits were. Shortly after a few white spheres appeared in the air inside the arenas. "The first step, hit the spheres, they are all far apart, ye have to move to get them all. Also, if ye take too long to hit them all, they turn red. If they turn red, ye failed the attack." Mark raised his hand before asking "Sorry Mr. Greyson, but I''m not sure I''ve understood. We need to hit them quickly when they show up?" "No, laddie. When ye hit the first one a timer starts if ye take too long to hit them all, they turn red. If not, they just vanish and another set shows up." Hearing what the teacher said, Hera started to move around the arena. Thinking about the ways she should attack. She counted how many steps the spheres were from one another, trying to figure out what would be the best route to take. While she was still planing her move Mr. Greyson said "What yer all waiting for? Go hit the dam things" The recruits started attacking. Most of them went straight for the closest one without considering the full picture. Leo also had some trouble hitting all of the spheres before they turned red. Only one of the recruits managed to hit all of the targets without any of them turning red. When all three spheres disappeared from Alex arena, Hera couldn''t help but smile. It was good to know that all of her friends had something special. At the same time, she felt a bit self-conscious. Could she end up holding them back? The last this she wanted was to be the reason why someone couldn''t achieve their goals. Taking a deep breath she focused on her targets picturing the steps she needed to take to optimize her time. Feeling she was ready, she slashed towards the first sphere. 25 - Plans that dont go well For over one hour, the recruits kept attacking the spheres. Most of them kept attacking until they were too tired to continue. Then they would sit down and rest for a few minutes before going back to the training. Hera was not one of those recruits. Her method was less strenuous, even if that meant she would hit fewer spheres. Before each attack, she analyzed the position of each target, the distance between them, and the best way to link her moves together. After the first minutes of the training, Alex noticed what Hera was doing. It seemed so much easier to move after knowing where you should go that Alex was shocked how the idea hadn''t crossed her mind. Following the older recruit''s cue, Alex started to plan her attacks before striking the first sphere. For the two girls, they were hitting fewer targets than the other recruits. However, for Mr. Greyson, who watched as they all trained, the two of them had the best record so far. Yes, they hit fewer spheres in total, but the number of times they got the timing wrong was vastly lower than the rest. This type of quick attack seemed to be made out of desperation, but in reality, it required much more planning. The recruits kept doing that exercise for around 80 minutes when Mr. Greyson finally stopped them. "All right, everybody rest." He turned off the projections, making a few recruits swing at the air. Even though they were not hitting something solid, the sudden disappearance made a few stumble and fall. The recruits where panting, even Alex and Hera with a more contained approach were already drenched in sweat. Leo was in his usual starfish position looking at the ceiling, while Blue was lying face down on the ground. Hera, one of the few who were still moving, grabbed her water bottle. She needed a refill. "Anyone else needs it?" She was too tired to form any more words. Almost all recruits raised her hands, with hopes of not needing to get up. Knowing she wouldn''t rest if she picked all of the bottles, Hera just sighed. "Sorry, two hands." And then walked over and grabbed the closest bottle she could see. It was Blue''s, the girl also looked worse than most of them. As soon as her bottle was full Hera stepped to the side of the cooler and started to drink. In a few seconds, she had emptied the whole bottle. She proceeded to refill it once more, followed by Blue''s bottle. "Leave some from the rest of us." A honeyed voice rang from behind her. Hera stopped filling the bottle and looked back. The dark-haired woman with chestnut skin stood behind Hera, Holding four bottles by the strap. "Oh sorry, please go ahead." Hera stepped aside and gave way for the woman. She placed one of the bottles under the tap and started to fill it up. "I don''t think we''ve been introduced. I''m Anaya" She said with a soft smile. Hera felt weird, that smiled seemed strange. It looked like the fake smile someone used to take advantage of the others. Brushing that thought aside Hera smiled back. "I''m Hera, a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner." Anaya kept filling up the bottles without looking towards Hera. "Don''t worry, special people rarely have time for us common folk." Even though her words weren''t directly rude, her sarcastic tone was infuriating. Hera twisted her nose, part of her wanted to complain about the woman''s attitude. At the same time, she knew that the best way to deal with those types of comments was to ignore them. So Hera did just that, moving her attention to the other explorers. Anaya gave her another weirdly natural fake smile. "There are some cute ones here, but I''m guessing the one in the back is more your type. The one wearing a golden chain." Hera blushed a bit and looked away before answering the woman "My type? No... I''m not interested in anyone. I was just looking at how they train." Anaya finished filling up the last bottle and walked back toward the recruits while saying. "Oh don''t worry. I''m just messing with you. I know you already have the teacher." Hera stared at the woman, not understanding what she meant by that. She then proceeded to finish filling up Blue''s bottle before going back. "What took you so long? I was dying here, dying!" Blue said before gulping down most of the water. "Sorry, Anaya wanted to fill her bottles too." Hera explained while she sat down near the girl. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Oh," Blue looked toward Anaya and her group. "I don''t like her." "Why?" Hera didn''t understand the reason. As far as she knew the two of them never talked. "She''s just snobby. Her introduction was so ''I''m better than all of you'' that made me sick." Seeing Hera''s confused expression Blue simplified "She just has a face I want to punch." Before laughing. That only confused Hera more. Anaya had been nice to her. Odd, but nice. Before she was able to wrap her head around the whole situation, Mr. Greyson clapped his hands. "All rested? Good now back to yer arenas." In a few moments, all the recruits were in position. Tapping on the tablet a sphere appeared in front of the students. But before the teacher said anything, the target moved towards the recruits at a fast speed. Some tried to dodge them while others just stood still, then the spheres started to bounce around the arenas. "God f*****g dammit." The teacher grunted. Then the spheres started to multiply filling up the arenas completely. Their light was almost blinding to the recruits inside. "For f**k sake." Mr. Greyson''s voice was angrier. Hera did her best to hold her laughter. In her mind, there was an image of the teacher, as an old man, having trouble turning on his computer. A few moments later, he had finally managed to return the arenas to normal. With a single bright sphere in the middle of each of them. "Ok, this will be different, when ye attack. The sphere will disappear and the next one will show up around you. Ye have to attack and react quickly to get the next one. Ready? Begin" As if trying not to give any chance for any jokes, Mr. Greyson said the instructions in a single breath. Before anyone could even enjoy his clumsiness, they were already in a new exercise. Hera frowned when she heard the explanation, her experience with thinking before acting would be useless with this setup. Before rushing in, she stabbed the first sphere. Immediately the target lost its glow and a second sphere appeared a few steps to the right. Without rushing, Hera walked towards the second one and stabbed it. The third target materialized in front of her and a bit to the left. If she were to make a line connecting the 3 spheres, it would make a triangle. Before she even started to move, the sphere glowed red and vanished. At the same time, the sphere in the middle regained its bright glow. Hera walked toward the center of the arena and stabbed the target. This time, however, the next sphere appeared in front of her, in a different place than both previous spheres. "Well, it was worth a shot." For the next ten minutes, Hera stabbed the sphere and watched where the next one would appear. With this, she figured out a few things. First, the second sphere would never be closer than one step away. Second, when a sphere showed up it would never take more than two steps to reach it. Third, the sphere would always show up within her line of sight. If not the sphere would appear behind directly her head, but it would always be in the same position relative to her head, and it would be brighter than a normal target. With that in mind, Hera took a deep breath and started to attack. During the previous part of the training, Hera tried holding the daggers in different ways. Although the movements seemed more precise if she was holding them pointing to her elbow. It was easier to move if she held them like small swords. She slashed the first sphere making the second one appear in front of her. Taking one step forward, she straightened her arm to stab it. Sadly, it wasn''t close enough. Hera had to take another step and attack the target. The third one only appeared to glow red and disappear. "That''s just annoying." Hera mumbled to herself. The way the last target disappeared made her remember the times she would be close to beating a level in a video game, and died just before the ending. After taking a deep breath, she charged at the sphere in the center of the arena. It took Hera five tries before she was able to hit the third sphere. But her happiness was short-lived. The moment her dagger hit the target, a fourth sphere appeared, instantly turning red before vanishing again. Hera let out a long sigh and looked around. Most of the other recruits were having the same types of problems. Blue struggled to get the third target. While Bonnie could barely get the second one in time. Leo seemed to be doing better than most. The man was able to hit the fourth target three times out of five. To Hera that was impressive, to Mr. Greyson that was a sorry excuse for an explorer. The teacher was having a hard time holding back. He planned to use the dummies for this exercise. But after the problems with Bonnie''s skill, Helena made him promise to use the updated version of the training. Seeing the students swing their daggers at the air annoyed him. What was the point? There was no weight in the attack, no bounce, no impact to feel. This was supposed to help them train for real combat, but they just looked like a bunch of kids playing with sticks. Taking some time to observe the other recruits, Hera noticed that the fourth target didn''t appear every time. But she wasn''t able to tell if there was a reason for it or it was just random. Still, her biggest surprise was Alex, the girl was able to consistently hit the third and fourth spheres. Only missing one in every ten tries. She left her arena and walked over where Alex was. There Hera waited for a good moment to talk, so she wouldn''t disturb the girl''s attempt. "Alex, sorry to bother you, but can I ask a question?" Alex turned around, her hair stuck to her face and most of her shirt covered in a dark wet shadow. "Sure, what''s up?" Alex opened a big smile seeing Hera. "How are you doing so well? Is it just instinct or is there a trick to it?" "Well... I wouldn''t call it a trick. And honestly, I''m not sure if it''s actually a thing. After a few tries, I realized that before even finishing my attack, I looked around to see where the next one was. I thought about how would that work in a real fight. Mr. Greyson said that we should never take our eyes off the enemy. So I tried that." Alex took a sip of her water and continued. "I''m not sure if I''m crazy, or if the exercise is making me see things, but right when I''m about to hit the sphere, there is a flicker where the next one is showing up. Then I kind of do a leap of faith. Moving before the target even appears." Hera considered what Alex had just explained. She was doing the same, her eyes would look for the next sphere before even finishing her attack. After thanking the girl for her advice, Hera went back to her arena. Her eyes locked in the glowing sphere in front of her, and after taking a few deep breaths she attacked. 26 - The demon awakens Hera was doing her best to keep her eyes on the glowing sphere. Still, it was harder than she anticipated. During the first part of the training, she would hit the target, and before finishing her attack, move her eyes to the next one. That felt natural. It came easy with the movement and the flow of the attacks. Now, having to make a conscious decision of looking at the sphere until it vanished, the rest of the attack felt strange and unnatural. It was a feeling close to wearing someone else''s clothes. Even if the way she moved hadn''t changed. She stopped and walked to the edge of the arena, where her water bottle was. Taking a few sips, Hera thought about how Alex explained the concept. Maybe she was overthinking. Maybe she should trust her body more. Moving back to the middle of the arena, Hera focused on the sphere. She remembered how Mr. Greyson started his attacks. They could hardly be called slashes. It was more of a fistfight where you focused on missing by a hair. With that, the teacher''s face would be really close to his target. Maybe that was the secret, seeing it up close. Hera believed this was a bad idea. If this was a real fight, positioning her head so close to the enemy would be suicidal. Then again, as Mr. Greyson had said. This wasn''t a real fight. She looked to the sphere and locked her eyes on it. Hera even moved around a bit to make sure she could keep looking at the target while attacking. Feeling she was ready, she lunged. It took her a few tries but after a while, Hera managed to focus her eyes completely on the target until it vanished. Even doing that, she wasn''t able to see any flicker as Alex said. However, this was only her first try. It might take a while before she can identify that. In the next minutes, the times her eyes left the target became almost nonexistent. Her body started to be comfortable moving like this. Repeating the same attack over and over, Hera even tried to hold the dagger as Mr. Greyson had shown. During one of those attempts, a few moments before the attack hit, Hera felt an odd heat passing near her. Getting distracted, she looked at the direction the warmth was coming from. To her surprise, the second the dagger hit the sphere, a new one appeared right where she was looking at. Shocked with the feeling, Hera just stared at the target until it glowed red and vanished. Taking a step back, Hera prepared another attack, but this time focusing on that warmth. It took her a few tries, but after a while, that feeling returned. This time, Hera was ready and before even finishing the attack, she positioned herself for the follow-up. Hitting the first sphere, she didn''t even look at the position of the next one. Slashing with her dagger where she could feel the heat. For the first time since starting this exercise, she was able to predict where the sphere would appear. Sadly, she was too excited. Not even trying to hit the third sphere before it disappeared. With a renewed drive, Hera tackled the exercise with all she got. Mr. Greyson couldn''t help but feel annoyed. To him, this training was just a way to show off the technology to the recruits. There was no real value to it. They should be using the mobile dummies, trying to hit them would give the recruits a good feeling for combat. However, to his unfortunate surprise, all of his students were doing well above his expectations. He figured the good warriors, like Leo and Tiffany, would be able to hit the second target, maybe the third, but never the fourth. And yet, both of them hit the third sphere at least half the time. Hitting the forth once every five tries or so. Some students like Mark and Bonnie were supposed to barely hit the second target. But somehow, both of them only missed the second attack once in a while. There was even a couple of times they hit the third one. Blue still had some trouble. Thankfully one of his predictions was right, he wasn''t completely out of touch just yet. The girl was struggling to hit the second target, but that was normal for a tank. Her strength would only show in other types of training. His biggest surprises were Alex and Anaya. Both girls were hitting almost all the targets. He even made a fifth appear for them and they got it. The rest of the class was just slightly above his evaluation. At least until Hera went to talk to Alex. When the girl came back to her arena, her progress became much faster. Why the hell is a training with dancing lights so goddamn effective? Mr. Greyson looked at the clock. He still had the recruits for another two hours. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Fine, let''s see if ye all can deal with today''s challenge." The teacher then deactivated the arena, most students slashed the air where their target was. But this time, no one lost their balance. "Ten-minute break, then ye all will have the challenge for the day." The recruits once again collapsed on the floor. This time, no one even tried to get up. Not only they were tired from the exercise. It was also really mentally taxing to look for new targets all the time. Among the Guild instructors, Greyson was one of the most brutal ones. His recruits were not only pushed to the edge but also forced to go past that. He was also extremely careful with their physical condition. It was common for a recruit to have a few visits to the healers before their training was over. The exercises were brutal and having leveled up it wasn''t unusual for someone to be reckless and bite more than they can chew. Yet Greyson''s recruits seldom needed to see the healers. Even so, after every graduation, the recruits had fond memories of their instructor. That wasn''t the truth for many of Greyson''s former students. Only a few of them would think back about the training with a smile. The majority would call him spartan, heartless and even demon. The two biggest differences between Greyson''s way of teaching were what he demanded from the recruits and how he made sure they would always be taken care of during his exercises. Only after an excessively hard test most instructors would give food, water or anything to the recruits. Yet now, Mr. Greyson proceeded to pick all the student''s water bottles and refill them. He even had put aside two spare bottles for each. This unexpected kindness was well received by almost all the recruits. "Leo? What''s wrong?" Hera asked, the man''s face was pale and his eyes wide. "He is being nice. Too nice. That''s not good." Blue and Alex stared at him, confused. "Leo, stop being paranoid." Bonnie said while she stretched her arms. "No no no, you guys don''t understand. My master is a beast with our training. Every time he did something nice for us it was followed by hell. And Mr. Greyson is even worse." Blue just waved him off. "Yeah yeah, don''t try to pull us to your PTSD, the teacher is a nice guy. He recognizes our hard work." Leo didn''t answer, but he was shaking his head. "The time to rest is over, now for today''s challenge." Mr. Greyson gave a soft smile that made the hair in Hera''s neck stand up. "Ye will do the same thing ye were just doing. Each target ye hit will give ye points. This time, there won''t be an ending, each time ye hit a target a new one will show up. The more ye hit the more points ye get. If a target blinks red, ye lose a few points. But don''t worry, the bigger the chain the less point ye will lose." The recruits got up, excited about the challenge. The exercise was doable, and everyone was confident about their chances. Mr. Greyson tapped a few keys in the tablet and the spheres appeared in the middle of the arenas. Hera felt this was too easy. Last time he made a full combat simulation as the challenge. Why would this time be the same as the exercise? She looked around and saw Mark going to attack his target. The first hit got him a single point, while the second sphere gave two. He even managed to hit the third sphere, that one gave him four points. Giving him a total of seven points. Each successful hit gave double the points of the last one. When the fourth sphere appeared he wasn''t fast enough, and the target blinked red before vanishing. At the same time, a red minus 20 showed up on the screen in front of his arena. Hera''s eyes widened. Twenty points, missing the fourth sphere shaved 20 points from him. They would need to hit at least 5 targets to get a positive score. "Right, Ah forgot one last thing." Mr. Greyson said before tapping a button on his tablet. In response to his command, all the spheres started to move erratically. They would glide around for a few seconds and then dart to the other side of the arena, moving up, down and in every direction. All of the recruits were shocked by the development. Leo was shaking his head. "I knew it. I knew it." "And remember if ye can''t beat the score ye will be running laps after class." Mr. Greyson said in a playful tone. Hera looked at the screen in front of her arena. Current Score 0 Target Score 5000 That was too much! How was she supposed to reach 5000 points? Even if she hit the fourth target she would lose five points. Hitting the fifth would give her eleven points. But that was just a pipe dream, she was already having trouble hitting the third sphere, much less the fifth one. "Don''t worry, Ah know it seems hard. But this time ye all have half an hour extra to reach the goal." Mr. Greyson was clearly taunting them. Hera held her daggers harder in frustration and dove toward the sphere. It took her three minutes to make any of her attacks connect to the first target. Focusing on that warm feeling she jumped to the next one, but before she reached it, the heat started to move upwards. What confused Hera was the fact that the main body of the warmth was still there, but now there was a trail going up. When the sphere appeared it jumped up at an extremely high speed. The same direction the heat went, although much faster. Before she could do anything else the sphere blinked red and disappeared. "Ok, so that also works? But how can I know the speed it''s going to move?" Talking to herself Hera was trying to see if there was a way to tell how fast it would move. While she looked for a solution Bonnie let out a loud gasp. "14? That many?" Many of the recruits turned around and stared at the girl, a few even missed their attacks because of her. Looking around Bonnie gave an awkward smile. "Sorry, I just realized that if we hit 14 in a row we can reach the goal. But if we can hit 7 our points will be above 100." Some recruits just grunted at her. They would be lucky to hit three targets, much less seven or fourteen. On the other hand, a few others realized what that meant. They could mess up as much as they wanted, there was a way to get a lot of points at once. Hera looked at her score. -39 "14 is too much. Let''s start going for the 7." With a smile, Hera jumped at the target in her arena. 27 - Not all shall pass For twenty minutes, Hera did her best to hit as many targets as she could. Yet her score was still in the negatives. The only thing making her feel a bit better about herself was that among the recruits, her score was still in the top 5. Current score -175 Score Goal 5000 Mr. Greyson was really ruthless. So far, none of the recruits managed to get a positive score. The closest ones were Alex and Anaya, having - 23 and - 56, respectively. Both of them only got so close to zero because they could sometimes hit the fifth target. Hera even got a glimpse of Anaya missing the sixth one by a second. On the other hand, Blue and Mark were bringing up the rear. Mark had gone past the -500 points, and Blue somehow was sitting at -760. As much as Hera was dazzled with the two recruits at the top, she had to admit Blue''s score was more impressive. Just... the wrong kind of impressive. Despite all that, Hera was still enjoying the challenge. She wanted to be able to beat them all, but seeing as the whole class was in the same boat made her feel like it was okay to fail this one. It was one thing to fail alone, another to fail as a group. Most of all, she really felt she was improving, unlike the previous day. Fighting the dummy felt like memorizing the pattern of a video game boss. If you can figure out when you can abuse the enemy, it''s easy to beat it. This exercise, however, is more random. It forces her to improve, to adapt, to grow. Mr. Greyson had a smug smile on his face. He was glad his prediction was correct this time. He assumed one or two would be able to have a positive score at most. Now every one of them was in the negatives. Even if a couple were close to reaching zero, it was still more than enough to make the teacher happy with his evaluation. However, a bit after they reached one hour since the beginning of the challenge, he frowned while looking at Alex''s Arena. In the past few attempts, Alex was able to hit the fifth sphere consistently. Now each time she aimed for the sixth target, she got closer to hit than her last try. To Mr. Greyson, no recruit would be able to hit six spheres in a row. Not with the target moving around so much. Hera had almost hit her fourth sphere in a row. But while her arm was swinging towards it, the target blinked red and disappeared. Letting out a long sigh, she walked toward the middle of the arena to start again. While walking, she noticed that Alex was moving faster than before. Hera stopped for a second and started to watch her friend. Alex hit two spheres almost at the same time. One arm aimed at the target that was glowing and the other aimed at the air. As soon as the first dagger hit, the second target appeared right where her second dagger was moving towards. The girl proceeded to do the same with the third and fourth targets. Even before the fifth target appeared, Alex was already twisting her body and stabbing her dagger in the air, and when it did show up, the target moved in the direction Alex was aiming. Hera''s eyes went wide. Not only did Alex predicted the position where the sphere would be, but even the direction it would move towards. How was that even possible? However, Hera had no time to be surprised. With her focus still on Alex, she watched as the girl hit the fifth target and followed up by slashing at the sixth. There was no way Alex would be able to hit six targets in a row. The sphere would glow right before it got hit, Hera was sure of it. Yet, to her surprise, Alex slashed at the sixth target and, not losing her focus, aimed at the seventh. That, however, was too much. She was halfway towards the sphere when it''s glow turned red and it vanished. After looking at her score, and seeing the 63 points being added to her total. Alex started to jump up and down celebrating. Her score was finally positive. A few other recruits started to clap and cheer, hearing that Alex''s face turned red and she stopped jumping. Going back to her challenge. Still in shock, Hera looked around to make sure more people had watched and it wasn''t just an illusion. Aside from the recruits that were clapping, she saw Anaya. The girl had a serious expression, with a cold glint in her eyes. Realizing that Hera was watching her, Anaya waved at the girl and went back to her training. Hera found that reaction weird, but right now, she had other things to worry about. She drank some more water and attacked her sphere again. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. With twenty minutes left for the exercise, Mr. Greyson was irritated. No one was supposed to get close to the goal he had set, and yet Alex an Anaya needed just a bit over 1000 points to complete the challenge. He wanted to say it was because of her talents, that they were special. But the girls had no fundaments, the attacks were a mess. If someone was supposed to be doing well, it would be Leo. The man had formal training. He knew the proper stance and movement for his attacks. Even if it wasn''t his usual weapon, he should be able to use some of his fundamentals. Now, not only he had two recruits getting close to completing the challenge, most o the rest had a few hundred points. His predictions were wrong, and the only variable that had changed was the training method. Could this be better than the old ways? The man shook his head, it was too soon to tell. They still can fail. Some recruits were feeling extremely pressured. Hearing Mr. Greyson''s mumble, they weren''t able to understand all he was saying. They could only hear a few words "useless", "failure" and "mistake". Along with a few curses every now and then, that broke both their concentration and spirit. The worst part was when the teacher would grunt and walk away. They were not sure if that was a good or a bad thing. In the following minutes, due to Alex''s success, the recruit''s drive was renewed. Having someone get so close to beating the challenge showed that it wasn''t an impossible task. With five minutes left on the challenge, Mr. Greyson was feeling on edge. Alex and Anaya were just a bit over two hundred points short of achieving the goal. Part of his job was to train these recruits so that can count as a good thing. But at the same time, his prediction was wrong, all because of this weird exercise. A small part of him was impressed with the effectiveness of it. But the rest refused to believe that this modern way can be so much better. Among the recruits, very few were still trying to reach the goal. Most of them had given up and were now resting in the edges of the arena. The first ones who did this were scolded by the teacher. But during the last ten minutes or so he seemed to ignore them. With that, most of the recruits who gave up watched the ones that were still struggling. Even giving some advice towards them. Hera wasn''t in the mood to give up. She had a positive score, but there was no way to reach more than 5000 points in the few minutes left. She stepped away to drink some more water and watched Alex again. Now, the girl was able to hit the sixth target with some consistency. Each successful attempt making her get closer to the seventh. Inch by inch, the distance between her dagger and the seventh target decreased. In this attempt, Alex saw the flicker of the seventh target, but her body was in an odd position to attack it. Spinning around to try to reach a better position she saw her dagger about to reach the target, and then the flicker. That only happened when she would hit the sphere. Alex''s heart started to pound even harder. The flicker indicated that the next target was going to appear behind her. Without stopping her spin, Alex slashed at the seventh target. As soon as the glowing sphere vanished, the girl flipped her head around. Not only the eighth target was too far for her to reach, but it was also moving away in a straight line. She wanted to hit it. Just once she wanted to try to move up two steps at a time. Alex finished her spin and threw the dagger at the target. The dagger cut through the air. Alex, the recruits, and even a few explorers watching held their breaths. Like it was in slow motion Hera watched the dagger spin toward the target. The sphere started to lose some light, but one second before it changed to red. The target was struck by the dagger, vanishing and making a new one appear. No one minded the ninth target that was just materialized. The training room reverberated with the yells from the recruits and many of the explorers watching. Blue jumped in Alex''s arms giving her a big hug while the rest of the recruits cheered. Hera wanted to go there and join in, after all, Alex had just beat the challenge, but there was still a few minutes left. There was enough time to congratulate her later. During that celebration, Anaya was able to reach the goal as well. Jumping back to the exercise Hera managed to reach 154 points having, at most, hit the fifth target, even if it was just once. Leo had around 300 points, most of them got during the last half an hour of the exercise. Blue, on the other hand, was close to reaching -3000. She never managed to get a single positive chain. After a few minutes of celebrating the recruits were interrupted by a clapping coming from Mr.Greyson. "Congratulations, Alex, Anaya. The two of ye are the only ones to ever beat this challenge." In response to that, Alex gave a warm smile toward Anaya, who just replied with a cold stare. "The two of ye can go home, the rest start running some laps, Ah reckon 30 kilometers would be fair giving yer accomplishments. After that, ye can go home." He said with an evil grin. "You want us to run 30km? Mr. Greyson that''s insane!" Mark gasped hearing how much work they still had for the day. "Yer right laddie, maybe Ah should increase it to 45." The second he said that many recruits stared daggers at Mark. "If ye don''t have any more complaints start running." "Ah, man." Mark started to run following the track painted on the floor. "What the hell ye think yer doing?" Mr.Greyson asked when he saw the man running. Mark didn''t stop running while he replied. "I''m running my laps." "For f**k sake, that''s a figure of speech. We have treadmills goddamit. Other people are training here." Mark stopped running and looked back, only to see all the recruits walking towards the treadmills on the side of the room. Lowering his head he walked towards then, wanting to bury himself in a hole. 28 - The results are in Greyson was in the breakroom, staring at his tablet with a frown on his face. The arena generated an extensive analysis of each recruit. It included the number of successful attacks, the time between them, and even the angles that were most used to strike. It was an impressive report. While looking at that document, he noticed a second file. It was the same type of report but for the previous day. Opening it, the instructor started to compare the results. It was clear that today''s report was much more extensive. Apparently, the dummy training could only gather a certain amount of data. Greyson kept reading both analyses, looking for the differences between them. If they were just a bunch of useless information, he could still vouch for the old ways. To his dismay, in today''s report, the information was much more useful. It wasn''t solely the number of attacks or the percentage of success. In the document, he could see the intervals between each attack, the times each recruit was hit. To make it all worse, it even showed where each student should focus their training on. Sure, the report gave some general ideas on what to do, and it could be wrong from time to time. Greyson even saw a few suggestions that were simply terrible. Why would he tell Pamella to focus on magic? The girl was a tank. Of course, her score would be bad in an exercise focused on aggression. Greyson was sitting in one of the armchairs on the left side of the room. His frown made most of the staff either leave or to move to the other side of the room. He never asked or complained about sharing space. In reality, despite all appearances, Greyson was very considerate of the people around him. He would always make sure not to be using more space than he should, and he took care not to disturb anyone nearby. Sadly, the man was well known for being ruthless and irritable. His reputation alone was more than enough to drive away even the most friendly among the guild staff. Helena walked in the breakroom, seeing the scene she couldn''t help but chuckle. Twelve people crammed in a small table while one man sat alone in an armchair, surrounded by couches and other chairs. She waved at the group in the table and walked towards Greyson. "Hey Greyson, why are you so cross?" Helena asked while she sat on the couch beside the instructor. Greyson raised his eyes and stared at her. "Cross? What are ye talking about?" Helena rolled her eyes. "It means angry. You seriously never heard that expression? Anyways, you are always grumpy but this time, it seems to be something else. What''s wrong?" "Ah''ve heard it, just misunderstood what yer were saying." The man grunted. "And Ah''m not angry, it''s just this bloody report." "If you''re not angry, can you tell me why the rest of the staff is too scared to come near you?" Helena replied before peeking at what he was looking at. "Oh, you found the analysis already? I was coming to tell you about it." Greyson started to have his tablet with one hand. "Can ye tell me why no one ever told me about this? There is even a report about yesterday''s class. All this time, Ah''ve been taking notes by myself like a tube." Helena scoffed. "Oh please, you really think we were just messing with you? The system upgrade on the dummies only finished yesterday and I only found out about it today. If you have a report about yesterday just be happy about it and stop complaining." The attendant crossed her arms while staring at Greyson. Helena could tease him some times, but she would never be unprofessional about it. Letting out a long sigh, the instructor slumped in his chair. "Yer right, sorry. I''m just upset the old ways fell so far behind." Helena gave a soft smile. "Oh, so you used the new system?" Greyson snorted. "Of course Ah did! Ah''m not gonna let the girl have problems in the training just because Ah can be stubborn at times." The attendant couldn''t help but chuckle. "Greyson, do you really think I wouldn''t help a recruit? Even if you had stuck with your usual training, tomorrow I would be ready for Bonnie." Greyson put his hand in front of his eyes, holding his head to the side. "Why are ye such a headache lassie?" Helena relaxed on the couch, taking off her shoes. "I told you before we fought. I was going to hit you so hard that your head would hurt every time you looked at me." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The instructor just shook his head, with a soft smile on his face. "By the way, did you check how they were seeing the spheres?" Greyson let go of his head and stared at Helena. "Ah did what?" Rolling her eyes, Helena pressed a few buttons on the tablet and a list showed up. "Here, now you can see not only wich sense the recruits used to find the spheres, but also a grade evaluating how well they used said sense." Helena explained in a mechanical tone as if she had done this a thousand times before. Greyson started to look through the list. Name Sense Grade Mark Sight C+ Alex Perception B+ Bonnie Magic B- Percy Smell D+ Hera Mana B- Pamella Reflex A Leonidas Intuition B- Anaya Perception A- Tifanny Sight B Kenjiro Touch C+ Carlos Smell B+ Isabel Magic C+ Wallace Sight D- "Mind explaining something to me lassie?" Greyson asked without looking away from the tablet. "Sure, what do you need?" Helena leaned forward again to see the information on the display. "If this is about sense, why do so many of them have things that are not one of the five senses?" Helena opened a smile seeing the list. "We call it senses, but it''s actually more like what they used to locate the target. The arena produces various types of stimuli, giving them the chance to find the sense they are more likely to use. That''s why even smell and perception are there." "Ah see... but what in the blazes do those things smell like?" Greyson asked while scratching his chin. "Well, it is programmed to be an iron-like smell, but if we want we can make it smell like jasmine and raspberries." She approached the man and said in a hushed voice, "Or rose and sandalwood." "That''s bloody it!" Greyson yelled while getting up, "Ah want a rematch, now!" With a smile, Helena replied "Now? Are you sure? You know I''ve leveled up since last time right?" Greyson''s face was starting to get red. "Ye bet yer ass Ah''m sure, this time yer the one who''s gonna be in the ground." Helena got up and stretched her arms. "Is your work done for the day? I don''t want you to be late because you fainted," she said with a grin. With that, both of them walked toward the basement where the high-level arenas. Followed by a group of staff members who were already placing bets. ############################################ Hera had finally got home, she had to spend over 3 hours to run the whole 30km. By the end of it, her legs felt heavier than lead. Thankfully, she had grabbed something to eat on the way. Stopping by a hot dog stand to have dinner before coming home. Now, all she wanted was to sleep. Walking towards her bed, Hera took off her clothes just tossing them on the floor. Less than one minute after arriving she was already laying in bed under a blanket. Before going to sleep she picked her cellphone and looked at the messages she got through the day. Her work friends had sent congratulation messages. They wanted to schedule a day where they could all go out to celebrate. Her grandmother replied, saying that she was happy to hear from her and that she would look forward to hearing the news. There were quite a few typos in the text but that only meant that grandma wrote herself. She is still not very used to the new phone she got. Her dad gave a longer reply. It said how much he missed her, how he was happy that she had some good news and that he hoped she could join them to watch the opening for the Olympics. That was one of the few traditions her family had. During any big event, they would gather and watch it together. The rest of the text was just about catching her up to what happened to him and the family. His job was doing great after all wooden furniture was a luxury in this day and age. As a carpenter, he was making a lot of money. Her cousins are doing well, most of them got in big universities and are following their dreams. The only mention of her mother was that she would be there on Sunday. Her dad knew that they weren''t in the best of terms and she appreciated him being so considerate. She replied to all the texts, telling her friends she wanted to celebrate after her training period and her dad and grandma that she would be there Sunday. After answering the last text Hera was too tired to even move, she just locked her phone and drifted to sleep. Hera woke up with a jump, her alarm going off. Looking at the time she realized it wasn''t even the first alarm she had set up. She picked the first clean set of clothes she saw and put them on, running to the door. The alarm that woke her was the last one she had set. The one that meant she was already late. She dashed through the street towards the train station. It was already 6:30. And she took at least forty minutes to get to the guild. Each step made her legs scream in pain. It was one thing to walk, but running after the exercise from the previous day was too much. Still, Hera only stopped when she arrived at the station. The train wasn''t there, and a monitor showed that the next one was five minutes away. Hera kept fidgeting, doing her best not to be annoyed with the wait. She knew that there was nothing she could do to change that part. Still, it was hard knowing that at least part of her delay would be her fault. When the train finally arrived Hera rushed in, lucky the rush hour was just starting, this time there was still some space inside the train, but nowhere to sit. Standing still wasn''t as hard as running but it still took some tool on her legs. Before long, the train had finally arrived at Hera''s destination. Looking at the clocks it was already 7:05, she sprinted through the crowd and towards the guild. She rushed through the reception, not even stopping to greet Carol who was at the front desk. Reaching the elevator she pressed the button and took a deep breath. 7:18, she was almost twenty minutes late. Before the door closed she heard a voice coming from the hallway. "Hold the elevator!" She quickly pressed the open door button, she was already late. Being mean to someone wouldn''t change that. A man with short black hair walked in, Hera recognized him as one of the recruits who were always sitting with Anaya. "Thanks, you really saved me." The man was gasping for air and he pushed his back against the wall to help him stand up. "Hey, I know you...Hera right?" She nodded. "Yeah, and sorry I don''t think I know your name." He gave a soft smile. "I''m Kenjiro, nice to meet ya." As if under an unspoken agreement both of the just nodded and focused on breathing. By the look of it, Kenjiro was running to get here too. The elevator doors opened and the pair walked through the hallway towards the classroom. When they got close to the door, both of them did their best to listen to what was happening inside, but there was only silence. With a smile, Kenjiro opened the door while saying. "Maybe we got lucky and the teacher is late too. He doesn''t seem like a morning per..." Before finishing the phrase, Kenjiro looked inside and saw Mr. Greyson, with a serious expression staring at the pair who just opened the door. 29 - Late Breakfast Hera''s eyes went wide the second she saw the teacher. Both of them froze the second Mr. Greyson''s gaze fell upon them. Hera looked at the teacher, trying to find a moment to apologize for being late. However, the first thing she noticed was that the teacher had a split lip and a few bruises on his arms. "Are ye gonna stay there or ye going to get in and sit down?" Mr. Greyson asked in a harsh tone. Hera lowered her head while Kojiro apologized before going inside the classroom. To their surprise, most of the seats were empty. The only ones who were here already were Alex, Anaya, and Bonnie. Alex gave Hera a soft smile, followed by a confused look. She didn''t understand why the class was so empty. "Ah''m asking ye two the same thing I asked Bonnie. Why ye are late?" Hera wanted to answer, but she felt ashamed. It wasn''t right to say she woke up later than she should. She is the oldest among the recruits. How could she be so irresponsible? Kenjiro, on the other hand, answered without missing a beat. "My alarm didn''t go off, sir. Or it did, but I didn''t wake up." Mr. Greyson mumbled a few words that the recruits weren''t able to hear. Hera took a deep breath. "Me too, Mr. Greyson. I''m sorry." "Honestly, and ye all want to be explorers? If ye can''t even wake up on time after some light workout. What are ye all doing here? Ah even gave ye an enchanted energy bar to help ye rest." Bonnie, Hera, and Kenjiro looked at each other with a confused expression. "Hera, did you really woke up late even after all that?" Alex whispered to her. Hera nodded and replied with a quiet voice. "I did, but he never gave me any energy bar." Unfortunately, the class was so empty that everyone heard the exchange. "What do ye mean Ah never gave you the energy bar? Of course, Ah bloody did." Hera looked down. She never got any energy bars from the teacher. She was sure of it. "Teacher, the only thing you distributed yesterday were the water bottles. No one got anything else from you." Bonnie chimed in, Hera could see large sweat stains in her blouse, and even the girl''s voice seemed to be weak. "Even ye Bonnie? Fine! A''m gonna prove ye all that I gave you the bloody bars." Mr. Greyson huffed and stormed off from the classroom. The five recruits were speechless at the scene. Since when was the teacher so childlike? "Ok, what the hell happened yesterday?" Alex asked Hera. Hera told what happened. The ones who had to run spent at least three hours to finish the 30km. At first, they even talked a bit, but Mr. Greyson would scold anyone who was walking instead of running. Less than half an hour in, they were all in silence. To their luck, a few explorers who were training turned on the music. So they at least had something to distract them. At first, Hera wanted to wait for Leo and Blue. When she was finally done, both were still a few kilometers short. She was too tired to wait, so she went home. The only thing Mr. Greyson did, aside from scolding, was to look at something in his tablet. As they talked, more recruits started to arrive, all of them sweating and with panic in their faces. The last one was Mark, accompanied by Mr.Greyson, who carried a large cooler. After the recruit sat in the last empty seat, Blue leaned in to ask something to him. "Oh crap!" Blue gasped before placing both hands in front of her mouth, holding her laughter. Hera looked at the girl and asked what happened. "The teacher held the elevator door to Mark. Can you imagine how that ride was?" Blue explained. Picturing the scene, all recruits who heard her couldn''t help but giggle. "Are ye all done?" Mr. Greyson asked the class, silencing them all in an instant. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Now, as Ah was told by the first ones to arrive. Ah didn''t give ye the energy bars that would help ye rest. They were right." Mr. Greyson opened the cooler revealing 13 energy bars. "These bars are enchanted with a regeneration boost spell. The spell increases the natural recovery of yer body. It''s not just very useful for long fights or missions. If ye eat one before ye sleep, ye will be much more well-rested, even in a day ye ran a marathon." He picked the cooler with one hand and proceeded to distribute the bars among the recruits. "Ah apologize for not giving this to ye all yesterday. There is no excuse for it." After all, students had one of the bars, Mr. Greyson stood in front of the class. "As an apology Ah''ll get ye all some coffee. We will wait for class to start at 8." Even when Mr.Greyson was apologizing, Hera couldn''t help but feel intimidated by the man. The way he spoke made it all seem more like an order than an honest ''I''m sorry''. The teacher started to walk out the door but stopped midway. "Someone come with me, Ah can''t carry it all by myself." Hera wanted to help, after all, Mr. Greyson was being nice with the class. But her legs were still sore from all the running. Before she could muster the courage to get up, Alex interrupted her. "I''ll go, most of the class needs to rest a bit." Giving Hera a soft smile, Alex walked off with the teacher. A part of Hera felt bad for letting her friend do the work, but at the same time, she was very grateful for the chance to rest. A few moments after Mr. Greyson left the class, the recruits started to talk. Mostly about what had just happened. "I bet this is the first time he ever apologized to his students." Blue said with her head still resting in the table. "I don''t think so. I mean even someone like him would have messed up in his first class." Leo replied without raising his head. "I''m more worried about his face, where do you think he got those bruises?" Hera had already opened the energy bar and started eating. "Well, I''m not sure, maybe he went training after... Are you eating it?" Bonnie stared at Hera. "Well.. yeah, I''m hungry." She replied cleaning a bit of grain that stuck to her face. With a jolt, Blue raised her head." Wait, we can eat it already?" Hera looked at the girl with a confused expression. "Why can''t we?" "Well, Mr.Greyson said that this helped us sleep better, so maybe, he gave us thinking about tonight?" Leo explained his reasoning, still not moving in his seat. Hera froze mid-bite, she never considered this could be something for the end of the day. If it was, how much would it cost to buy another one? Could she even eat two in one day? "We should follow Hera''s lead. After all, she knows what the teacher likes. Besides, he said this would increase our recovery speed. I doubt anyone of you will be ready for class in just half an hour." Anaya said from the back, making Carlos and Tiffany giggle. While Kojiro just scoffed. "Hey, what do you mean by that?" Blue confronted Anaya while standing up. It would have been much more intimidating if she didn''t look like an old lady with back problems right now. "I''m just saying Hera has the right idea, I don''t see what''s the problem with that." She replied with a smile that made Blue''s blood boil. "Blue, let it go. Never feed the trolls." Leo said not even looking back. "But.." Blue protested, but gave up shortly after, she knew he was right. Hera kept looking back and forth not sure of what was going on. She only stopped worrying when her friend sat down and started to gobble up the energy bar. "You know, this is better than I was expecting. Usually, these power bars taste so bland." Blue kept eating her bar with a smile. The recruits kept laughing and talking until Mr. Greyson came back with Alex. They were carrying two plates filled with bread, cheeses and even some fruits. The teacher also carried a large thermic bottle with the label "Coffee". The two of them set up the plates at the teacher''s desk. It was a really nice spread, you could see something like this only in famous hotels. The whole class was just staring at the plates. Not believing their demon of a teacher had gotten such a beautiful breakfast. "Well? Stop waiting and come eat. But eat the bars Ah gave ye all beforehand. It will help ye through the day." Relieved, Hera went to grab a cup of coffee. She always enjoyed coffee a bit too much, that''s why she was trying to cut back. But today was special. The atmosphere in the classroom became that of a party. Even Mr. Greyson mingled a bit with the students, talking about the various kinds of foods he found inside the MAZE. Hera was enthralled by his descriptions, looking at the teacher with a spar in her eyes. With that, the half-hour went by quickly, and it was time for class to start. "All right, everyone back to yer seats. time to start" With his usual clap, Mr. Greyson silenced the whole class. They all went back to their seats, while Hera walked towards the table to throw away the trash. "What ye doing lassie?" The teacher asked seeing Hera going for his desk. "I''m helping with the cleanup." Hera said sheepishly, the way Mr. Greyson spoke made it seem like she was being scolded. "No need, we will be using that." The instructor''s words confused the whole class. "Right, Ah''m gonna give each of ye one of the items in the table. What Ah need ye to do right now is to look at whatever you get and write it down everything you know about the item. Shape, size, weight, ingredients, vitamins any detail ye know." He started to pass around the bread, cheese, and fruit that was left on the table. A few pieces even had some bites on them. "Bonnie, not ye. Go to the front desk of the guild and ask for Helena, she has a special training for you. Since the skill ye got yesterday is the one they are getting today." Bonnie nodded and left the classroom. Hera couldn''t help but wonder what would be a training session with Helena. A big part of her wanted to mess up so she could have the woman as her teacher. But at the same time, Mr. Greyson was helping her a lot. It would be weird to have a new teacher right now. Coming back to reality Hera stared at the chocolate-covered bagel Mr. Greyson had just placed on her table. She had to describe it? "Alright, since we have one hour less, Ah''m giving ye all fifteen minutes with each object. Use yer tablet, a notebook or yer own sweat for all, Ah care but ye need to write it down. It doesn''t work if ye don''t. And Blue" He stared at the girl with about to bite down on a croissant filled with chocolate "Don''t eat the bloody items." Blue put down the croissant pouting a little. Hera giggled and stared at her bagel, it looked delicious but what could she write about it? 30 - Pastries and Fruits Deciding to start easy, Hera began writing. --- Chocolate covered bagel. It is a bread-based sweet. It has a circular shape with a hole in the middle. The chocolate covers most of the top of the bagel, leaving only the bottom exposed. Usually, it''s eaten hot or room temperature. The chocolate has a dark brown color that shines in the light. The dough has a tan color, with a light beige line around the midsection of the bagel. The bottom has a few dark tan lines that are crisp to touch. It can be ascertained that the bagel was made in a baking rack, due to the format of said lines. --- Hera kept staring at the texts, wondering what else she could write about this. Most of the recruits had the same problem. Shortly after they started writing, there was nothing else to say about their items. They would add a line here and there, but the amount of information they could give was extremely limited. Seeing the student''s reaction, Mr. Greyson walked toward the board. "Think about more than just appearance. What do ye know about the item? The taste, how to make them, where they are from, where ye can find them," he wrote all of the topics down as he talked, "use what ye know, yer own experiences with each item. If ye don''t have any, just use the internet. Just remember, it''s easier to get the skill if ye take something from yer personal knowledge." After hearing what the teacher had just said, Hera gave a soft smile. She used to help her grandmother bake when she was little. The way you would need to be careful while making the dough, and how the smell could fill the whole room were among her favorite memories. Hera quickly looked for a recipe online. After reading it, something felt off. Bonnie got this skill earlier by looking at a nail polish bottle. Even considering how smart the girl was, Hera doubted she would be well versed in the production of acrylic bottles. Maybe the step by step guide is not the way to go. She looked back at her description and started to think about the days she helped her grandma. --- To make a bagel, you need bread flour, brown sugar, and yeast for the dough. For the chocolate, you will need powdered or melted chocolate, milk, vanilla, and butter. It''s needed to prepare the chocolate so the flavor can harmonize better with the dough. It''s also important to leave the dough resting before baking. That is part of the process, and it cannot be rushed. After the dough is finished, you need to shape it in circular formats before placing them in the oven. Ideally, you should start baking at a low temperature and only increase it in order to turn the bagel golden brown. After that, you can glaze the bagel with the chocolate mix. Beware, the smell of a fresh batch is irresistible for most people. Be ready to face the horde of hungry family members. --- Hera giggled after writing the last line. It seemed stupid, but it was what her grandmother always told her. She kept staring at the bagel, complementing her description here and there with any information she could think of. A few minutes passed when Mr. Greyson told the class to swap items. Hera gave the bagel to Blue and picked half an apple from Leo. Taking a deep breath, she proceeded to write her description, trying to focus on her own experience with it. The hours went by quickly. The exercise could be simple, but it required a lot of concentration. The only noise that could be heard was the fingers tapping away at the tablets. Swapping the items among themselves, Hera had described fruits, pastries, cheeses, and even some jam. She was getting tired and really hungry. When she was about to swap out the banana that was in front of her, Hera noticed a skill pop up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Inspect Inspect: Allows you to read the information available of the target. This information can come from general knowledge or your own experiences If a new piece of information about the target becomes available it will be added to its description. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, it seems useful. Especially if I need to forage for food or look for a specific plant." Hera mumbled to herself. Picking the banana in front of her, she activated the new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Banana Flora - Berry - Edible A sweet fruit, rich in vitamin B6, vitamin C, and with moderate amounts of manganese. Commonly known as being rich in potassium, this only applies to cooking bananas, also called plantains. Bananas that are made to be eaten raw, such as this, only contains a moderate amount of potassium. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. This type of banana can be considered the first food that was bioengineered. Wild bananas are filled with seeds, along with having a smaller size. It is believed that this species of banana was created more than 10,000 years ago, by hybridization between different species. When the banana is born it has a green color, it turns yellow when it''s ripe and darkens as it gets older. It is possible to eat the banana before it ripens, however it will have an astringent taste. The banana is used mostly as a raw dish, it can be seasoned with chocolate or cinnamon, among other things. It can also be used to make bread and is famous for being served with ice cream. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This skill surprised Hera in many ways. Starting with the size of the screen that appeared. It was bigger than her status screen, and there was even a picture of the banana spinning slowly at the side. Hera compared the image shown on the screen with the banana in front of her. They were different, the real version had a few marks and dark spots. The one showing by the description was a perfectly yellow banana. The type you would only see in a drawing. The information that was being displayed was also impressive. Not only it had some details about its origin, but also nutritional values and uses for the banana. Sure, it wasn''t anything she didn''t know, but if that would be the same for any item she inspected, it would be amazing. Still, the biggest surprise was that nothing in the display was a new piece of information to her. She had learned about bananas in one of her school projects. It wasn''t the type of knowledge she remembered, even if she tried. And yet, here it was. "Hera?" Leo called while holding the apple with one hand. She blinked and looked at the man. "Sorry, what can I help you with?" confused, he just made a motion toward the apple in his hand, "Oh, right, sorry." Hera shook her head and went back to the inspect window. Not even moving her arm to pick the apple. The skill description said the information came from general knowledge or personal experience. Would that mean each person would see a different description? "Hellooo, Earth to Hera.", looking up, Hera saw Blue holding her hand out towards her. "Hum? What happened?", replied Hera. "The banana, can I have it? You also need to pick the apple Leo is trying to give you." "Oh, right," she replied and mechanically gave the banana to Blue. "Are you ok, Hera? You seem really off right now." Leo chimed in, clearly worried about the girl. Hera nodded, "Yeah, sorry. I''m just trying to understand how the skill works." "Wait, you got the skill?" Blue said with a big smile. "Yeah, sorry I should have told you," Hera just realized she''s been ignoring her friends these past moments, "The skill is called inspect, and it seems to give you any information about that item, as long as you learned that once." Mr.Greyson was listening to their conversation. He nodded and decided it was time for an explanation. "That''s right lassie, Inspect is a skill that tells ye everything ye know about the item ye are looking at. The more ye learn about an item the more the skill can tell ye. Not only that, but ye can also buy information that is put directly into the skill. Ye can also share the info, but unless ye want to share yer whole database ye can do it only one item at a time." The skill was more useful than Hera imagined. Being able to buy and share the information could be a lifesaver. Not only in the MAZE but in the day to day life as well. "Mr. Greyson, so we can only buy information on one item at a time?" Alex asked. "No, ye can buy these miniature books called compendiums. Some old researcher figured out how to make the information have a solid form a few centuries ago. That became the standard for info sharing. These days, there are even rumors about getting one of those from monsters." "How does that work? You ask please and the monster just gives you the contenium or whatever you called it?" The second Mark started speaking, most recruits looked towards him with pity in their eyes. The man already seemed to be on Mr. Greyson''s bad side, and his ramblings wouldn''t help with that. "Aye, that is one way to get it. At least according to the rumors, another would be killing the thing and getting it as a drop." Hearing that Hera stared at the teacher, monsters in the MAZE had drops? "Wait, monsters have drops? That''s not just some videogame bullshit to get items?" Carlos, one of the men who sat with Anaya asked in a loud voice. "Where do ye think video games got that from? Just don''t expect to see that happening with every monster, inside the MAZE some die and become corpses and others die and go back to the room." The room burst with questions from the recruits, but the teacher answered none of them. "We will have a class for that, today ye all have to get the Inspect skill. The only one who got it so far was Hera. The rest of ye, stop messing around and get back to work." Little by little the recruits got the skill. After hearing about items the could come from monsters, their excitement only grew. With twenty minutes left for the class, all the recruits had the inspect skill. "If ye are all done ye can eat the items, Ah don''t want to carry all that back downstairs." As if waiting for that order Blue quickly went after the croissant she had started eating. Hera looked around and saw Anaya, eating the bagel she had started with. With a frown, she turned to Alex. "You are picking lunch today, right? Any ideas?" The girl thought for a second. "How do you feel about sushi?" 31 - New Training "Honestly, how can anyone like that?" Blue brushed her tongue with a candy bar. "You could have gotten something else, you know, they had Ramen and Yakisoba," said Alex. "Don''t even bother, Alex. it''s a refined taste. I wouldn''t expect a troglodyte would understand." Bonnie chimed in. "That''s rich coming from someone who looked like she was falling the whole time. It amazes me how you can even walk without face planting in the ground," Blue replied with a sharp tone. "At least I didn''t look like a dog with my tongue sticking out." Bonnie turned her head towards Blue. "And I have the decency of eating my food, not doing whatever you are trying to do." "I''m removing the awful taste of fish from my mouth. Some of us care about having bad breath." Blue rolled her eyes. "Are you implying I have bad breath?" Bonnie was staring daggers at the girl. "Not implying, I''m straight up telling you. Toothbrush, ever heard of it?" "You little..." Alex, Leo, and Hera walked behind the two girls watching the fight. "Soo... when did that start?" Alex asked, looking towards Hera. "I can''t say for sure. But I think it was around the second hour of running. They teased each other a bit, but it turned into... well... that." Pointing at the girls, Hera gave a soft smile. "I''m kind of sad I missed it." Alex realized that by not having to do the punishment, she lost a chance to be closer to her friends. "Don''t worry about it. Mr. Greyson is worse than my teacher. You will have many other chances. Just picturing it makes me shiver, " Leo said while hugging himself. "At least you guys know what to expect. If I fail, it will be my first time." Alex said. Hera stared at Alex. "Please, tell me you''re being sarcastic right now. If you are serious, I can''t even look at you." Hera said. Alex replied with a smirk. In sync, both Leo and Hera rolled their eyes. "Fine, Then I bet I can beat your score today! The loser buys the winner lunch tomorrow," Blue yelled. The fight was still going on, apparently. "Deal!" Bonnie said, before putting out her hand. The girls shook on it and kept arguing. "You know, if I didn''t know any better, I''d say they were sisters." As soon as Leo finished his sentence, Bonnie turned around. "Don''t you dare say I''m related to this primate!" With a big grin on her face, Blue started taunting the girl. "Ha! Little miss Big Brain doesn''t even realize that she is also a primate." "Of course I know, you buffoon!" "You only know because I just told you." "I knew it before you said anything." The duo kept going. The three in the back were hardly believing in the scene. "This really looks like a middle school fight doesn''t it?" Leo was flabbergasted. He could see this behavior coming from Blue, but not from Bonnie. "Yeah, it''s kind of amazing." Alex was staring at them as if she saw a pair of dolphins in the middle of the city. "Yeah, but Bonnie was wrong," Hera said. Hearing that, Bonnie spun around and fixed her eyes on Hera. "And why, pray tell, I was wrong?" Hera was taken aback, she wasn''t expecting the girl to listen to her ramblings. Looking down, she replied in a weak voice. "Well... troglodytes didn''t have tools, right? They probably ate the fish they catch raw." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Her sentence was followed by a long silence. The whole group staring at Hera. The longer it took for anyone to reply, the more Hera felt uncomfortable, was what she said that stupid? With a resounding laughter, Blue was the first one to break the ice. "Oh my lord, Hera, only you would take this so seriously." The rest of the group joined laughing, and even Hera gave a weak smile. "Sorry, my mind just goes there," Hera said. "Don''t worry, and you are right. At the time Troglodytes were around they used very basic tools, they probably didn''t have fire," trying to help the girl, Bonnie expanded on her thoughts," you don''t need to say sorry. After all, you also made me win a free lunch." "Oh, you think you can beat me?" Blue was just about to start arguing again when Leo jumped between the two of them. "Ok, you two already had enough for today. No more fighting. leave that energy for the training, please. I don''t think I have medicine for the migraine you are giving me." "I have some aspirin if you need." The second Hera finished talking, the group looked back at her with shocked expressions. "I know that one was a joke. I''m just saying if any of you have a headache I have some aspirin okay?" That annoyed Hera a bit, she wasn''t that thick. "That''s good. If even that one went over your head I would be worried." Alex teased the girl. "Just because they stopped fighting you want to start?" replied Hera with a playful smile. Leo and Blue started to chant, "Fight, Fight, Fight." Laughing, the group went back to the Guild. In a bit over ten minutes, Hera was already in the training room ready to start. For some reason, it felt natural to work out after lunch. Today, however, there was a difference. The teacher wasn''t here yet. Hera looked around and saw Mr. Greyson talking to Helena. Unlike the way he spoke to the recruits, he seemed more carefree around her. It made sense, after all, it was hard not to be feel comfortable around Helena. Staring at the clerk, Hera activated her skill [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Helena - Human - Mage 32 years - Level 18 A mage who decided to come back home after staying inside the MAZE for a long time. Friendly and outgoing, she does her best to help others. Can''t cook. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned. It only showed the information she knew. Could it be because Helena was from the guild? At the sushi place, she was able to see the name, job, and even some information about the clothes of the waiter. Looking at the screen, Hera noticed that even the picture that was supposed to be there was missing. Pondering if her skill was too weak or if the difference in levels was affecting the result, Hera didn''t notice when Helena approached her. "Hello sweetie, how are you today?" coming back from her daze, Hera gave a soft smile towards the mage. "Hi, Helena, I''m o... I''m good, and you?" Helena winked at the recruit. "Good to see you''re learning! I''m fine, I just had some trouble sleeping, but it was my fault for eating a greasy burger just before going bed," she giggled. Hera smiled back, she knew Helena was a terrible cook, but maybe her eating habits were also a problem. "So, whatcha doin''?" Helena had an odd smile on her face. "I''m waiting for class to start..." Hera stared at the mage, the way she asked felt weird. "Is that all? You didn''t try to inspect me just now?" Hera''s eyes went wide. How did she know? "I... I did..." Hera looked away, for some reason it felt like she was doing something wrong, "I''m sorry." Helena let out a sigh. "It''s ok. By the looks of this, Calvin forgot to tell you guys to be careful when inspecting people. Many skills and items can show you when someone is being nosy. It is also considered rude to inspect someone without them knowing." Hera nodded, the last thing she wanted to do was to be rude to Helena or anyone else. "It won''t happen again, I promise." Helena patted Hera on the back, "Don''t make promises you are not able to keep. Inside the MAZE it is common for explorers to inspect each other. We are just more sneaky about it." Not being sure of what Helena meant by that, Hera had a puzzled expression on her face. "Ok, I know that look. Since your teacher is going to be back soon, you can ask only one question about this." Helena gave Hera a playful smile. She enjoyed seeing the recruit learn, it reminded her of when she was just getting to know how the MAZE worked. Hera stared at the woman in front of her. There was so much she wanted to ask. How could she tell she was being inspected? Why would explorers hide when they are inspecting each other. Why the information that the skill gives seems limited at times? How can I improve the skill? Why is she so nice to me? Considering her options, Hera realized that there was only one question she absolutely needed to ask. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Helena was taken aback, she would never guess Hera would use her question like that. With a big smile, she hugged the recruit. "You are too sweet you know that? There are many things you can help me with, but for now, focus on the training. I promise that when you are a full-fledged explorer, I''m asking you a bunch of favors." Hera hugged back, even if she wasn''t fond of physical contact. Helena had a calming aura around her. "Ok, now I need to go. And your teacher seems to be ready for class. Good luck! Try not to break anything." With that advice, Helena left the training room. Not a minute later, Mr. Greyson showed up dragging a blue box that was bigger than the ones he brought in the days before. "Today, yer not swinging at a target. Today ye all will be the dummy." The teacher opened the box, revealing its contents. Inside of it, there were various sets of protective gear, along with shields and even some longsword scabbards. "Each of ye come here and pick a set of armor and one shield of each type." Mark sheepishly raised his hand. "Mr. Greyson, why there are scabbards there? Are they considered shields?" With an approving nod, the teacher explained. "Aye, there are many ways to defend from attacks. I want ye all to experiment with this and figure out what ye like. Some may already know, but it doesn''t hurt to try new things." He said the last line staring directly at Blue, who had a big smile on her face. The recruits grabbed the gear and started to wear the armor. It was a complicated task. The body armor resembled what knights would wear. Alex and Hera were helping each other to strap on a few pieces of the gear. To their side, Blue geared up extremely quickly. She was so giddy that she was jumping in place. "What''s gotten into you?" Leo asked, he already was used to this type of gear. Although he wasn''t as proficient as Blue in putting it on. "Nothing, it just seems I got my free lunch," she said while looking at Bonnie. Bonnie looked at her confused when it dawned on her. There was no way she could beat Blue''s score today. 32 - How to take a hit. All geared up, the recruits were lead to a door in the back of the training room. Hera had noticed this door before, but she imagined it would only lead to another set of training equipment and small arenas. To her surprise, the area in front of her was very different. She could see large arenas to the left, some sort of batting cages to the right, and a large area the size of an olympic pool in the back. In the big arenas, groups of explorers trained with a single dummy. Hera tried to watch one of the parties, but Mr. Greyson rushed the recruits towards the cages. "C''mon, we don''t have all day." In less than a minute, each recruit was inside one cage. Before any of them could take in their surroundings, the teacher explained. "Like Ah said, today we learn how to defend. Defending can be both blocking or dodging. Blocking is easier, but it takes more control. Yer first instinct will be to jump away. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn''t." Mr. Greyson pressed a button on his tablet, making one of the walls in each cage to give off a soft glow. In the middle of the wall, a large white ring, big enough to pass a person, appeared. "The first step is simple. Block or dodge the incoming attacks. If ye get hit, the attack will stop coming out of the circle until you get back in the middle of the cage. There is an X on the ground to mark the middle. A warning, they pack a punch." Pressing another button, the teacher started the training. The circles glowed red and fired the first attack. Hera watched as a white energy bolt came out of the circle and towards her. It wasn''t a fast attack, but both the circle and the bolt had the same color. Hera raised her shield to where she believed the bolt would hit. However, just before the attack hit her. Hera felt every part of her body pulling her away. Trying not to give in to those impulses, she shifted her body slightly. It was just enough so that the attack wouldn''t hit directly her. Almost in sync, all the recruits blocked the bolt. Hera wasn''t expecting the force behind such a slow attack. After blocking, she fell to the ground and let go of the shield. It stunned her, not only she failed to gauge the strength of the bolt, but she also failed to hold her equipment. If this were a real fight, she would get very hurt. Looking around, she saw a few other recruits on the ground. Others were pushed back to the edge of the cage. Leo and Kenjiro seemed to be the ones who were less affected by the attack. Blue, on the other hand, didn''t even budge. She blocked the first attack and parried the next one. Hera smiled. It was good to see the girl in her element. The previous training seemed to be hard for her. Hera stood up, grabbing her shield, and watched Blue for a while. Looking at the way the girl moved and how she would position herself, Hera tried to mimic her defense. It took a while but after some time, Hera was able not only to block a few attacks in a row but also parry one or two. She was still far from being on the same level as Blue, who only had gotten hit twice since the training started. Still, she was happy. It was an improvement, and this felt easier than hitting the spheres the previous day. One hour after the training began. Mr. Greyson activated the second ring. This time to the side of the first one. "Be ready, after a ring fires ten shots it will change places. It will only go from side to side, for now, so don''t worry about yer back." Even with the increased difficulty, Hera could still block a few attacks at a time. At one moment, a bolt flew from the ring at her side, but Hera wasn''t ready for it. She spun around trying to catch the attack with her shield and redirected it to the side. Making the bolt hit another one that was coming closer. Before she could realize what she had done, the next two attacks hit her square in the chest. The impact not only sent her tumbling to the side of the cage but also made her gasp for air. Those attacks were getting stronger. "Hey, we can do that? Cool, that''s gonna be way easier," Blue said with a smile. Hera watched as the girl blocked and redirected the attacks. 1 in 3 times she would make the bolts hit each other, giving her some breathing room. Hera let out a sigh, Blue was the only one capable of doing that. The other recruits didn''t even bother to try. A few more minutes passed before Mr. Greyson activated the rest of the walls. Now four attacks would come at the recruits at once. It took Hera all she had to block and dodge just one set of attacks. She even held a scabbard in her right hand, trying to use it as an extra way to protect herself. The worst part was even if she got hit, the rings would only stop firing. The bolts that had already been shot would still fly at her. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Every time she got hit, it became harder to block the next bolt. Each impact would harm her differently. Some would make it harder to breathe, while others made part of her body numb. The worst one was when she got hit on the head. It would make the entire world flash, as if she was having one terrible migraine for a few seconds. To top it all off, aside from when she got hit in the head, there was no way to know what each bolt would do. Even if she got hit in the same spot, each attack would affect her differently. The silver lining was that she wasn''t the only one having trouble. Even Blue had a serious expression right now. Although, the girl was still miles ahead of the rest. Even after being bombarded with attacks from all sides, Blue only got hit every once in a while. The surprising part was that she could block the next attack even after getting hit. On one of the moments Blue got hit, Hera took the chance to talk to the girl. "Blue, do you have any tips? I''m having a hard time keeping up." The girl turned to Hera with a serious expression. Her eyes were narrow, and her jaw was clenched. Her movements seemed strange and mechanic. For a moment, Hera thought she was talking with someone else. Blue blinked a few times, and her face went back to her usual self. "Wow, this is getting hard," Blue laughed. "You want some tips. Honestly, I suck at teaching. Why don''t you tell me what you feel is the problem? Then I can see what I can help you with." "Well, I''m not sure..." Hera did her best to explain her struggle. Her biggest problem was the time it took for her to see the next attack, and move towards it. There was also the fact that each block would make her lose her balance. "Ok, two things. First, why are you trying to block every single hit? Mr. Greyson said we could dodge. I only block because I know how to do it. Second, isn''t that shield a bit too big for you? That one is called an Aspis. Since it covers half your body, you lose some mobility. It is great if you are strong and slow, but your stats are more balanced, right? Try a smaller one. Or follow Alex, she is using only the scabbard." Hera thanked her friend for the advice. Leaving the cage afterward to look for a smaller shield. Sadly, the only ones available were bigger. "What are you looking for?" Leo asked. He had left his cage to refill his water bottle. "Hey, I''m looking for a smaller shield. Blue suggested one with more mobility since my stats are not focused on strength." Leo nodded, "She is right. A big shield works better if you are really strong and can hold your ground." "Yeah, but I won''t be able to check it right now. The only shields left are bigger than this one." Hera gestured with her current shield. "Well, if you want, we can trade shields," Leo suggested. "The one I got is a bit too small for me. I keep getting hit, thinking the shield is covering me." Hera looked at Leo and then back at her shield. "Are you sure? You know how that is going to look, right?" She couldn''t help but smile. The great Leonidas would use his signature shield. "Yeah, yeah, do you want to trade or not?" Hera was about to tease him a little more when Leo grabbed the shield he was using. "One word coming out of you and I take this one back." he said while shoving the shield in her hands. "Thanks, Leo," she replied. Both of them went back to the cages to continue the training. After a few minutes, Hera heard Mr. Greyson laughing. "Oy, laddie! Do ye want me to paint a V on the shield to complete the look?" Hera bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Even with the noise the rest of the recruits were making, she heard Leo say with a sigh. "I hate my life." Feeling a bit bad, she offered to trade shield again. But the man simply shook his head and went back to training. Having a bit over one hour for the end of the class, Mr. Greyson turned off the cages. "All right, now, for the challenge. Each attack ye block or dodge will give ye a point. If ye get hit, ye lose a point. Pretty simple. Just watch yer heads, the attacks can come from above now." He activated the last stage of the training. Five white rings appeared, one in each wall and one in the cage''s ceiling. "Last thing, the rings move now. Have fun," As soon as he finished talking, the rings started to move around in each wall. They would bounce around the edges, making the pattern even more unpredictable. The only thing that made Hera happy about all this was that the ring on the ceiling fired the bolt way less frequently than the rest. Hera did her best to block them all. She defended against 8 bolts before she got hit for the first time in this exercise. Sadly, because of the effect of the hit, three more bolts hit her before the attacks stopped. She looked at a small screen in the edge of the cage showing her points. Target points 1 000 Current points 4 With a frown, she kept going. The teacher was a sly one. He told them they would lose a point when they got hit. But failed to mention that each bolt would remove one point. So they needed to either block many attacks at once or block some even after getting hit. It was that, or losing the points they worked so hard to get. Hera struggled for more than half an hour, only reaching 400 points. She could have gotten a higher score. But every few tries, she needed to stop and rest. This training was mentally taxing. The effects of each hit would linger. If she kept trying, it would only result in more failures. Most recruits grasped that same concept after a few tries. The only one who kept going nonstop was Blue. Hera looked at the girl''s score and fell backward. Blue was already at 1 100 points. They still had half an hour to go, and she was already done. Yet the girl kept going. By the end of the challenge, Hera reached 950 points. It was close, and yet. Anaya was the one kicking herself. The girl had reached 993 points when the time was up. Failing by just seven points was just mean. Blue, Leo, Kenjiro, and Carlos were the only ones who complete the challenge. "Now, since Ah forgot to give ye all the energy bars yesterday, ye won''t have to do anything too tiresome. All ye need is to clean the weapons in storage." Mr. Greyson led the recruits that failed to a room in the back. Most of the students were feeling comfortable with the task. It was annoying, but at least it wasn''t as tiresome. However, the second he opened the door the recruits heart sank. It was a large storage area with at least one hundred of those big boxes the teacher would show at the beginning of the training. "What are ye all waiting for? Grab a cloth and start cleaning." 33 - Hide and seek Hera arrived at the guild early on the next day. The punishment had been tiresome, but it was something she was used to. This time, however, she didn''t do it alone. If it was her old job, not only she would need to clean up all the shelves by herself, but she also set up the displays to boost sales. Lucky her life was different now. Looking at the time, it was too late to try to train before class. Still, she stopped by the training room, hoping to find one of her friends. Leo and Blue were already there practicing with the dummies. "Hey, Hera!" Blue called out. Hera greeted them and sat on a bench behind the two. Blue and Leo seemed to train in their usual styles. Leo with his spear and Blue with her grappling. Looking at the two, Hera couldn''t help but wonder when would they be learning an actual combat style. The training seemed to be helping her get used to her stats. However, since they had yet to fight a real opponent, she had no way to know how effective it would be in real life. She wanted to believe it would be useful, but then again, at some point, she also believed geometry would be useful in her day-to-day life. "Yer already here? Good. Stay here. Today''s class will be in the back room. Ah'' will grab the rest of ye and be right back." Out of nowhere, Mr. Grayson seemed to appear near the three recruits. Hera almost jumped in her seat. She was just thinking about how the class could be better, and the teacher was working hard to help them. She should be more grateful. About ten minutes later, the teacher walked in with the rest of the recruits. Hera followed him, accompanied by Leo and Blue. The group was lead toward the big open space in the back of the room. Hera could see the same markings on the edge of this space, as the markings in the small arenas they fought the dummies. In reality, this large space should be an arena. A really big arena. "Today, ye will learn one of the skills that will save yer life. [Hide]. " Hera wasn''t expecting to learn a skill like that. Not today, at least. Some other recruits seemed to be surprised in the same way. "Mr. Greyson. It''s cool that we are learning a new skill and all. But is that one really a lifesaver? Sure it works if you are weak, but I don''t run from a fight." Carlos said. He was one of the men who always sat near Anaya. Hera couldn''t help but frown at his question. How can someone be so cocky? They are a bunch of level 2s, basically, everything inside the MAZE was stronger than them. "Is that so, laddie? Ye won''t back down no matter what?" Mr. Greyson replied in an unusually calm manner. "Yeah, I''m not a coward. If something wants to fight me, I''ll fight it." The teacher kept his cold expression. That surprised many of the recruits. They expected the teacher to lash out and call him in for a fight. Mark kept moving his head back and forth between Mr. Greyson and Carlos, making sure his eyes were not deceiving him. "Ah''m gonna ask ye again, laddie. Are ye sure you won''t back down from a fight no matter what, or who yer facing?" The teacher made an obviously long pause after who, trying to make sure the recruit understood what he was saying. "I... I don''t know." Carlos lowered his head. Cleary embarrassed for being confronted in this way. "That''s exactly the point. Ye never know what ye may find in the MAZE. What if ye find a monster too strong for you? Or ye are hunting easily scared prey. A skill that helps ye hide will be just as useful as the skills ye all learned this week." Mark glared at Carlos. "Why I''m the only one who gets crap from the teacher?" he mumbled. Hera heard his comment, and she had to agree. This interaction was simply weird. Since when was the teacher someone so level-headed? "To get this skill, first Ah''m gonna send ye all a map. It will give ye yer position and tell where ye need to go. Ye all must do that without being seen by me." Mr. Greyson pressed a few keys on his tablet and all the recruits received the map. Looking at it, Hera realized it looked like the arena they were in. However, there were walls and windows spread around on the map. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Now, go to yer starting positions." said the teacher. On her map, a red dot showed up near the top edge of the arena. The recruits hesitated for a second before moving towards the markers on the map. Where were they supposed to hide? There was nothing there. Hera reached her position and kept looking around for some answer. She noticed a few recruits around her. Including Bonnie, a bit to her left, and Anaya right beside her. "What''s the matter? Didn''t get any tips for this one?" Anaya said with a smile. "Tips? No, nothing more than what Mr. Greyson just told us. Do you have any idea how are we supposed to hide?" Hera replied, still confused about the training. "If you don''t know, how can little old me have any idea? Why didn''t you get a hint this time? Trouble in paradise?" Anaya''s tone hadn''t changed, but something in the way she spoke made Hera remember highschool. "I don''t get what you''re saying. What paradise?" Anaya looked at Hera with pity in her eyes. "Such a shame, even when you''ve been found out, you still pretend nothing happened. And here I was thinking we could be friends." Getting even more confused, Hera asked. "I''m sorry... But can you explain to me what you are saying? I''m having a hard time understanding it." Anaya gave Hera a look that made her feel like she had just lost her puppy. "Poor Hera, so simple-minded." Before she could reply, Mr. Greyson pressed another button on his tablet and the arena changed. Instead of the open area, various walls and boxes covered the place. A wall materialized between Hera and Anaya as if it was being made of sand. Looking at the walls and then at the map, Hera imagined that now the map was correct. Or, at least, the surrounding area was correct. She could still look up and see the training room ceiling. That meant they didn''t move. "For this exercise, all of ye need to keep moving from yer position to the target on the map. Ah''ll be walking around. Make sure not to be seen by me. Right now, Ah''m in the center of the labyrinth. That is just so all of ye know where I start. If I see ye, the map will buzz and ye will need to go back to yer starting point before trying again. Now Begin!" He finished the instructions at the same time the first target appeared on the recruit''s map. Hera looked at her first objective. It would be on the bottom left edge of the arena. Part of her wanted to keep talking to Anaya, to understand what the girl was talking about. But the training came first. Hera walked out of the small room she was in. Looking around she could see Bonnie, Tiffany, and Percy. Each going in a different direction. Hera''s objective was to the left. Looking at the map, she could either go in the same direction Bonnie was going or go to the left towards Percy. Not wanting to take too long to decide, she turned left. Both directions were close enough to the middle that Mr. Greyson could be there. But staying still wasn''t an option. She walked carefully, reaching an intersection. Able to see one side of the makeshift hallway, Hera poked her head out of the corner to see if the teacher was there. Before she could even see anything, her tablet buzzed. "Hera, when ye try to peek on a corner try moving yer head sideways and not poking the top of yer head first. Especially if ye are a blonde surrounded by grey walls." Mr. Greyson said. He was walking slowly, in a really nonchalant pace. He looked almost relaxed. Then he raised his voice a bit. "That goes for ye too Blue, watch out for yer hair. It''s a dead giveaway here." "Got it! Thanks, Mr. G," Blue said, but followed it up with a yell, "Hey! You can''t see me, why did my tablet buzz?" The teacher laughed. "Ye think I only see with my eyes? Yer hearing is just as good to find someone as yer sight." Blue groaned, which resulted in a few recruits giggling and almost getting caught. Hera rushed back to her starting point. If she follows the path Bonnie took there is no way for the teacher to find her right now. She dashed through the passageway, but in a few moments, her tablet buzzed again. This time she had made too much noise. Taking a deep breath and trying to learn with her mistakes, she gave it another try. It took her five attempts to reach the first objective. This wasn''t a challenge, just a way to get a skill. But it still annoyed her that it had taken so much time to do this. After a while, Hera understood how to reach the goal. She had to be patient, if she moved too fast it would warn the teacher. And if she sprinted to reach a goal, what was the point? She would be caught anyway. They were hiding for over four hours when she finally saw the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Hide Hide: Improves your ability to erase your presence and blend with your surroundings. The more your appearance harmonizes with the place you are in, the more effective this skill becomes. Requirements: Not being in the line of sight of your target/ hiding place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reading the description, Hera got excited. She crouched down and focused her mind on the skill. [Hide] At first, Hera thought nothing had happened. But when she looked at her hands, she noticed it was hard to focus her eyes on her body. Almost as if they didn''t want to see what was there. She saw Kenjiro turning at the corner. To test it, she waved at the man. He didn''t even look at her. Hera''s face turned to a sad smile. "Maybe, I always had a skill like this." she mumbled to herself. She kept training until the end of the class. Her skill hadn''t changed, but she felt more proficient with it. She roughly knew the limits of the skill and how much she could push it. When the class was finally over, Mr. Greyson gave the recruits a warning. "Today ye will learn how to use a bow, try not to walk too far. Most people don''t realize how much work it is to stand still during the training." The recruits left to eat lunch, Hera was waiting for her friends to gather. "Soooo, Hera. What is a nice place to eat around here? After all, today is Bonnie''s treat." Blue said, opening a big grin while looking at Bonnie. "Blue, bite me." That was the only reply Bonnie could give. The recruits laughed and walked towards a nice restaurant. Or at least as nice as a restaurant in a strip mall could be. 34 - The test "Ok, despite having to pay for Blue''s lunch. It was a really nice place." Bonnie said as they walked in the guild. "Yeah, what was that thing with black beans and pork? That was amazing," Leo commented, rubbing his stomach like an old man. "I''m not sure. It''s a bean stew that came from Brazil. Since it''s Friday, I thought we could try something different," Hera said. "Can we go there again? There were a few dishes I wanted to try?" It was hard to believe that Blue said that. The girl ate four dishes, and they were all big. "Seriously. Where the food goes to? You eat way too much for being that skinny," Alex chimed in. "I''m not skinny, look at this." Blue grabbed her belly through her clothes to show the size of her gut, "I''m fat!" "C''mon Blue, you might be a bit overweight, but saying that you are fat is just like Hera when she said she wasn''t pretty," Alex countered. "Hey! What do I have to do with this?" Hera protested. She was the one who told them about the restaurant. There was no need to put her in the middle of it. "Wait. You said you weren''t pretty?" Bonnie stared at Hera in shock. "We will be late for class, let''s go." Hera walked away towards the training area. The group still tried to get an answer from her, but to no avail. In a few moments, they had arrived at the training room. They had to wait a few minutes before class started. Thankfully, Alex had changed the subject, and no one was pestering Hera about her appearance. Looking around, Hera saw that all the recruits were already waiting for the teacher, including Anaya. She wanted to finish her conversation with the girl. What she said was odd, and Hera wasn''t able to wrap her head around the meaning of what she said. Hera kept trying to find an opening to talk to her. However, before she could find one, the teacher arrived. "Ye''r already here? Good, let''s start." The teacher opened a big white box. This one was more wide than tall. Taking a bow, he tested the string and nodded before calling the recruits to pick their weapons. When all the recruits were back in line, the teacher asked. "How many of ye ever used a bow and actually hit something before? Raise yer hands." To everyone''s surprise, the only one who raised his hand was Mark. Feeling the gaze of the recruits, Mark scoffed. "What? I always liked movies about archers, so I took some lessons." He crossed his arms, not letting go of the bow. "Very well, then show us how it''s done, laddie." Mr. Greyson pressed a key in his tablet, and the wooden dummies moved towards the arenas. Mark picked one of the arrows he got from the box and took a deep breath. Getting into position, he raised his elbow high. It was an odd sight, the arm he was using to hold the arrow was in a weird angle. After a few seconds, Mark fired the arrow, hitting the dummy straight in the chest. The screen behind it showed a score of 12. "Very Good. Master archers can only hit a 15 with those bows." The teacher complimented the recruit for the first time. Tiffany gasped, "Are you saying Mark is almost a master? That Mark?" "Are you daft lassie? Of course not. Bows work differently than other weapons. With a sword or a spear, ye can use yer own stat to increase the force of the attack. Using a bow, it''s harder to do that. Ye need to switch the materials used to make the weapon to show yer true strength," Mr. Greyson explained. "Is that why explorers don''t use guns? The stats don''t translate well to it?" Bonnie asked while she tried to copy Mark''s stance. "Exactly. If ye try to use a gun, sure it will work in lower level creatures. But as they start to become stronger, the bullets stay the same. It doesn''t matter if ye have a 10 or a 10 000 in strength. Shooting from a gun will always have the same effect. Some explorers use guns. But they are very few. Ye need to enchant the weapon to increase its power. That gets very expensive, very fast." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Hera nodded, hearing the explanation. She always wondered why people even bothered creating guns. After all, explorers were always a thing. A high level explorer can withstand being hit by a car. A gun should barely tickle them. The teacher showed how to use the bow for the rest of the class. Explaining that they should always have the bow pointed down, only raise it when they were going to shoot. He also talked about stance and aiming, going as far as correcting each recruit''s form before the beginning of the practice. This was the first time Hera felt she was actually being taught how to fight. Still, it felt weird. The teacher was acting weird. He was never this hands-on. Thinking about what this meant made Hera feel a chill. She chose to ignore it for now and focus on the training. After the first couple of minutes, Mr. Greyson made a change in the training. Every five minutes or so, he would tell the recruits to pick up the arrows they shot. He did this after the second time someone almost got shoot while tried to pick the arrows from the ground. Hera kept shooting, little by little her aim, and handle of the bow seemed to improve. She went from barely making the arrow leave the bow, to reaching halfway to the dummy. One lucky shot even hit the edge of its body. The class kept going. The teacher did his best to help the recruits improve. When the time where the teacher normally issued his challenge came, all the recruits could hit at least once every ten shots. Mark, on the other hand, was only missing one in three shots. It was genuinely impressive. Still, the biggest worry of the recruits was the lack of a challenge. This was odd behavior for the teacher. Ten minutes before the class was over, Mr. Greyson asked everyone to stop and gather near him. All the recruits were tense. The teacher had a serious expression that none of them had ever seen. "As ye know, we have class on Saturdays. But it is different than our usual lessons. Ye need to be here by 10, and we will probably be done by 2. Ye all can plan yer weekends accordingly. Just one more thing, don''t come in with a full stomach. That might be a problem for the test ye will do tomorrow." The second he finished explaining, a few recruits started to ask questions. Wanting to know more about the tests. "Pipe down! Tomorrow ye will learn more about the test. Don''t worry, it''s not something that ye can study for. Just come in and do yer best. For today, ye are all dismissed." Ending the class early, Mr. Greyson left the training room. The situation confused most recruits, and it took a while for them to leave the guild. Hera and her friends went looking for a place to eat. At this hour, there were a few food trucks near the station. They chose to go there. Not only because it was on the way, but also, Hera and Blue were craving junk food. "Any ideas about what this test is going to be?" Leo asked between bites of his hotdog. "No clue, maybe it''s the one where we have to beat our first score," Blue said, after finishing her taco. "I don''t know, it seems too soon for it, right? Just one week." Alex commented. She just finished putting ketchup on her fries. "It doesn''t matter what the test is. I will not fail," Bonnie said with a veggie wrap in her hand. The whole group turned and stared at her for a few moments. When Hera finally finished chewing her burger she said. "Bonnie, no one wants to fail. That''s a given." "No, no, little miss perfect is already telling that she will pass the test. Without even knowing what it is," Blue snickered. "At least I''m confident enough in my skills to say that. Not like you, who only won the bet by sheer luck," Bonnie countered. With that, the two women started bickering once again. The rest of the group sighed and finished their meals while speculating about the test. Hera let herself wake up late in the morning or, at least, later than she was waking up. Sleeping until 8 differed greatly from having to get up at 5:30. She took her time to get to the guild, and yet she arrived well over one hour before class was supposed to start. The idea of a test made her too anxious to wait around someplace else. Hera wasn''t the only one. Most of the recruits were already there when she arrived. By 9:30, the whole class was present. As time went by, the tension in the classroom grew. At one point, any small noise coming from the hallway was enough to silence the recruits. It wasn''t simply because of the test, Mr. Greyson''s actions on the previous day were also disturbing. Why would he act so differently just because of a test? At exactly 10 A.M. Mr. Greyson walked through the door. "Yer all here already? Good. Follow me. Ye can bring yer stuff with ye." He barely took one step inside before giving his command. Soon the whole class was following him to the elevator. He beeped his bracelet on a scanner and the elevator went down. "As ye may know. They build the guild around the place where ye can unlock yer level up. But what is less known, is that the building was also built around an entrance to the MAZE. Since the great war, when Cyrus led the armies of men to push back the monsters, it was decided it would be built like this. Today if a really strong monster tries to pass through we can collapse the building to prevent it from reaching the outside." The teacher looked at the recruits. All had different expressions, but it was clear that they were all worried. "Don''t worry, ye are not going inside the MAZE today." The elevator door opened, showing a big hallway. Being led by the teacher, the recruits quickly arrived at an auditorium with a big white doorway in the middle. The doorway had a pearl frame that seemed to be filled with small glowing lights. Almost as if it was covered in a thin layer of glitter. Just enough to make it seem like you were looking at the night sky. Above it, there was a circle with an extremely intricate design. Various lines would twist and turn, spiraling with each other. In the center of the circle, there was the image of a blank card. The same type of card everyone older than 18 had. "Today, ye will go to a simulation. It''s an artificial room that was created to give you an experience close to the ones ye will have inside the maze." 35 - What you find in the dark The recruits stared at the doorway. They would finally get a taste of how it was like inside the MAZE. A mix of excitement and fear washed over Hera. She wanted to go inside, but what if she failed? "Ok, before ye all go in, let me explain a few things. First, this ain''t the MAZE. It is a simulation, much like the one ye will go in for the final test. This one is just smaller and more simple. Even though it''s a simulation, ye still can get hurt. So before going in, each of ye will receive an escape button. If ye are in trouble, just press it and the simulation will stop." Mr. Greyson explained while distributing a small key chain with a red button on it. "Inside think about yerself. Don''t rush in and try not to bite more than what ye can chew. This is not a game. Ye don''t get second chances. If ye mess up, ye can lose everything. Still, this is a simulation. Some things will be less intense, and more forgiving." The teacher then walked toward the doorway and stood in front of it. "Now, form a line in front of me. To enter the room, place the hand that has yer bracelet in the middle of the door. It will open and ye can get in. Only after it''s fully closed, the next one can go." He showed the motion using the arm that didn''t have a bracelet. "Mr. Greyson, does that mean we need to wait for each of us to finish the test before the next one goes in?" Mark asked. "No, laddie. Ye only need to wait for the door to close. This room can have more than 50 people inside at once and each of ye will be alone in yer private simulation. So, don''t worry about it." Having finished his explanation, the recruits formed the line. Hera wasn''t sure if she wanted to be in the front or not. Thanks to her friends, she didn''t have to worry too much about it. They pulled her to the line, staying around the middle of the group. One by one, the recruits entered the simulation. After the door opened, they could only see a bright white light inside. When the next recruit opened the door, there was no one else inside. Hera''s heart started to beat faster with each step she took. Even if this was a simulation, this would be the first time she would enter a room. Leo was in front of her. The man gave her a nod and a smile before walking through the doorway. In her turn, Hera took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Don''t worry, you can do it." Blue said. The girl was behind Hera. It helped to hear a friendly voice. But Hera knew this was something she had to do alone. She placed her right hand on the center of the doorway. The bracelet on her wrist seemed to tighten, and then the door opened. Inside, there was a completely white room. It was even hard to differentiate the floor from the walls. Hera gingerly stepped in, making sure there was something under her. Little by little her eyes adjusted to the room. That allowed her to walk normally. The door closed behind her, making a small thud sound before disappearing. Hera looked around. The room seemed to be endless. There were no walls, no ceiling, and no objects around. Only an infinite white space. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to the preparation room. Please choose your weapons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the notification. That one felt odd. First it wasn''t directly in front of her, but above. System notifications never made you move your head around to see it. Second, it didn''t follow her movements. If she turned her head, the notification would stay still. That wasn''t right. Yet, the weirdest part was, it was polite. The system was never polite, it only gave you information. Never she had seen a ''please'', or a ''thank you'' in any notifications. Looking under the notification, Hera could see a series of weapon racks. Much like the wall in the training room. She scanned through them, looking for something she could use. Reaching the swords, it felt like the best option, after all, it was the weapon she had more practice with. She picked a short sword that she could wield with one hand. Since nothing changed, Hera looked for a shield. The notification said nothing about being able to pick only one. She wanted to be ready for anything. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Before reaching the shields, Hera went past the axes. There was a small handaxe that caught her attention. It was close to the one she tried on the first day of training. She had a better grasp of how to move with a weapon now. Maybe this time it would feel right. She picked the handaxe and placed it on her belt. Only then she noticed that her clothes had changed. She was wearing something similar to the training armor, but it looked like it was made of leather, with combat boot and armguards. This could be just part of the simulation. But the idea of something changing her clothes without her knowing bothered her. With her sword and axe at hand, Hera looked past the weapon racks where a new notification had appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please use your bracelet to open the door to the simulation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under that message, there was a pedestal with a small tablet on top. It looked like a large fingerprint scanner. Hera walked towards it and placed her hand with the bracelet on the scanner. A door appeared in front of her. This one, however, seemed to be made out of wood, with large rusted iron rings as handles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please proceed to the next area to begin the simulation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pushed the door, opening it. Instead of just walking in, she froze for a moment. Her whole body seemed to vibrate as if she was in one of those massage chairs. It was an odd feeling, and when it was over the door and the room had vanished. She was now in a dark cave, with only some small torchlights in the path. She realized it wasn''t the room that vanished, but she had been transported to a different place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beginning the simulation. To complete it, defeat the monster leader at the end of the cave. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Behind her, there was only a solid dirt wall. There was only one path forward. Thinking about the games she used to play. Hera crouched down and activated her [Hide] skill. She had no idea what was in front of her, and there was no way she could simply run through here. Hera kept walking through the cavern. The torches on the wall were spread meticulously. One of the left, 50 steps later, one to the right. Too precise to be made by a living thing. That was the only thing that made Hera believe she was in a simulation. Everything else was too real. The feeling of the rocks on the wall, the stale warm air she was breathing, even the light echoing sounds. Every part of her body told her that his place was real. She needed to constantly remind herself that this was a simulation to calm her nerves. She had been walking for almost an hour when she finally noticed something different. A few meters in front of her, the path split. Hera stopped and tried to find any indications on where she should go. There were no markings, no air, and no noise coming from the tunnels. How was she supposed to know? Guessing? Was she missing some obvious clue? Hera stepped back and tried to use two other skills [Observe] and [Inspect] but to no avail. She looked at the tunnels and back towards where she came. The path she took had some twists, but no hard turns. She could see five torches behind her. All of them following the same pattern right then left. Looking back to the split tunnel, she searched for torches in the two paths. Both of them had torches inside. One in the left of the tunnel, and the other in the right. Hera looked back and saw that the last torch was on the right. To keep the pattern, she would need to go to the tunnel with the torch on the left. Before rushing in, she considered if there was anything else. Looking at her tablet, the map only showed the path she took, and the torches had no distinguishing marks that she could see. Feeling that this could be the only answer. She activated her [Hide] skill again and walked towards the tunnel that had the torch on the left. She kept walking for another twenty minutes until the tunnel changed into a large open room. Carefully, she peeked out of the tunnel. The first thing she noticed is that this room had different lighting. Instead of the torches, round glowing rocks stuck to the ceiling as if they were lamps. That gave the whole area a light blue glow. The tunnel led to a large coliseum like area. With some holes in the walls protected by thick iron bars. In the middle of the room, there was a small humanoid creature. It had the face of a dog, thick grey fur, but small arms and legs. It also held a wooden shield and a mace. Hera activated [Observe] while looking at the creature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She remembered reading about those creatures. They were intelligent and had a tribal society. Vicious when in groups but easily scared when alone. There was also something else. She remembered that those creatures had something to do with fire. Hera tried to move a bit closer without getting out of her hiding spot in the tunnel and activated [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) Humanoid - Canine - Manufactured A humanoid dog that lives inside the MAZE. They travel in packs and have a tribal society where the strongest one is the leader. Sharing traits with wolfs, the elders lead the tribe, but the alpha has the final say in its decision. Aggressive when cornered or starved, these creatures show signs of higher intelligence and willingness to work with humans. They have a deep hatred for fire. The simulated version shares the instinct of its real counterpart, but not its intelligence. The version created by the simulation is weaker than the ones that live inside the MAZE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera wasn''t able to finish reading the information her skill gave her. When she was about halfway through it she heard a growl coming from the monster. Quickly dismissing the window, Hera saw the Kobold running towards her, waving its mace. She glanced back at the tunnel. If she ran it would lead to a dead end. Having no other choice, Hera charged toward the monster. 36 - Struggle Charging at the kobold, Hera hit its shield with her shoulder, trying to push it back. At the same time, she raised her sword to block the mace. To her surprise, the creature didn''t budge with her tackle. The mace hit the sword, making it flying off Hera''s hand. The impact was strong enough to make her fall to the side. Not missing a beat, the monster swung down its mace, aiming for the recruit''s head. Hera rolled to the side, hitting the wall of the arena. The mace struck the ground, making a loud sound. Hera tried to get up while grabbing her handaxe. Using her back leg to push herself away from the wall, Hera slashed at the kobold. The creature raised its shield to block the attack. Splinters went flying off after the impact, but the shield was still in one piece. Ducking to the left, Hera went to pick up her sword while the monster still had the shield blocking his vision. She grabbed the sword and ran past the kobold, reaching the center of the area. She looked around, searching for another way out, but there was only the tunnel she came from. The creature barked at Hera, saliva flying off its mouth. All its teeth looked sharp. If she got bitten, it would be bad. But the kobold didn''t charge at the woman. It just stared at her. Hera took this opportunity to try to come up with a plan. She had only one skill that might help in a fight, but it was a Hail Mary. This wasn''t the time to use it. She looked at the creature. The mace was in its left hand, while the shield was in its right hand. The shield was also big, it covered almost half of the creature. Even if it protected the monster, it would still be tough to move around with something like that. Walking to the side, Hera tried to gauge the speed in which the kobold could turn. She started slowing and then speeded up. The monster had some trouble turning. Not too much, but at least some that could give her a chance. Hera dashed to the right and tried to move towards its blind spot. It seemed to have some trouble to follow her. With a smile, Hera moved closer to strike it. When she was in range to strike, the creature dropped the shield, showing it already had the mace mid-swing. Hera''s eyes went wide. She tried to stop her movement to evade, but it was too late. Before she could move away, the mace struck her on the shoulder, sending the woman tumbling to the side. It hurt so much Hera couldn''t think. She blinked a few times, trying to focus her eyes. The kobold wasn''t leaving any time for her to rest. Charging again towards the woman, it barked nonstop. Seeing the creature run towards her, Hera panicked. She crawled away, trying to flee. It took more effort than she was expecting to get up. Her arm was still numb from the pain. The sword was on the ground, but she couldn''t care less about that right now. Finally getting up, Hera ran to the side. Closely followed by the kobold. She grabbed her handaxe with both hands and stopped abruptly. With a batter stance, she waited for the kobold to get closer. The monster crouched down and lunged at the recruit with its mouth wide open. Hera swung the handaxe hoping to hit the kobold. The creature had no way to maneuver in the air and it was hit on the side of its head. Hera''s balance was off during the attack. The creature fell on top of her, making her collapse to the ground. She pushed the monster away and, for the first time, noticed the blood coming out of its wound. Hera stared at the pool of blood forming by the creature''s head. The blood was covering small rocks and pebbles that made it look like there was vermin swimming in the blood. She wanted to turn away, but before that she saw the kobold''s eye. It was almost halfway out of the creature''s skull, the yellow of it mixing with the red, giving it a sickly pus-filled orange tint, that reminded her of a rotting punpking. Hera quickly turned away from it, throwing up on the wall. She had killed something. That thing was alive, and she killed it. She had taken the life of a living thing. Through the corner of her eye, she saw a small flicker coming from the tunnel. Hera turned her head and stared at the torch that was inside the path. The torches that always follow the same pattern. This wasn''t real. It was just a simulation. But... As an explorer, she would have to kill things. Even if she decides to be a crafter or a researcher. Killing monsters is part of the job. She had to get used to it. Hera kneeled beside the monster and forced herself to look at the wound on the side of its head. Seeing part of the bone exposed, she turned her head away. "No... Hera, you need to get used to it." She told herself and stared at the wound again. Fighting the urge to vomit again, she engraved the slash in her mind. There was a reason she was here, she needed to get over this. When she finally had enough, she turned her head away once again. Thinking about what she was doing here, Hera realized one thing. She had beaten the boss of the cave, right? The test was over. Looking around for a notification, Hera failed to notice the kobold move. In a quick motion, it pushed itself from the ground and bit down on the recruit''s wrist. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Hera screamed in pain and started to punch and kick the monster, trying to make it stop. The creature, however, seemed to not be bothered by the attacks. Its jaws tightening even more around Hera''s arm. Feeling a warm liquid wrap around the bite, Hera fumbled after her handaxe and hit the kobold''s neck with the blade over and over. More blood came gushing out of it. Only when the axe cut through half of its neck, the creature finally stopped moving. Hera still had to pry its jaws open to remove her arm from it. When she was finally done, she could see that her left hand was completely covered in blood. Feeling a bit dizzy, Hera tried to cut a piece of her clothing, trying to tie up her arm so she wouldn''t bleed out. She sat down, farther aways from the kobold''s corpse than she was before, and tried to rest a bit. This time the test had to be over. Maybe there was a problem or something with the simulation. Hera picked the key chain that Mr. Greyson gave to all of them and stared at it for a while. Maybe the test wasn''t over, and if she pressed it now, she would have failed. But maybe she would risk herself too much by staying here. Mr. Greyson said that we could get really hurt. Before she could reach a decision, the bars in one of the holes on the wall started to move. Surprised, Hera kept staring in shock at what she was seeing. Five kobolds exited the hole. Four had the same features as the one she just fought. But the last one was bigger, it was taller than her. It also had a thick black fur, red eyes, muscular body and held a rusted longsword in one hand. Instinctively Hera activated [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Young Kobold (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold Trainer - Leader (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She had to kill that?! Hera instantly pressed the button on the key chain. But nothing happened. She kept pressing the button desperately while the kobolds looked at their fallen brethren. They howled in pain, and the faces snapped at Hera, growling loudly. Hera looked at the tunnel she had come from and ran towards it. The kobolds barking in pursuit. Hera kept running with everything she had. Hearing the loud noises the creatures were making getting closer and closer. She saw the tunnel get wider, and she remembered that the path had split before this part. She bolted towards the larger area and made a U-turn, diving in the tunnel she hadn''t taken. The creatures kept barking, still close at her heel. Hera kept running, hoping there was something that she could do to save herself. She stepped forward, and her foot sank deeper into the ground. A small clank sound coming from her right followed that. She looked at that direction in time to see a small flash of metal heading towards her. A dozen arrows fired from the wall. Four ended up hitting Hera in her chest, arm and leg. She fell to the ground in pain. Having trouble catching her breath, Hera looked down and saw that one of the arrows sank deep where her lungs would be. The other one was sticking out of her stomach. The kobolds were still running towards her. Hera tried to crawl away. Tears running down her face. "I don''t wanna die, I don''t wanna die." She kept saying those words over and over while pushing the button desperately. The kobold stopped barking and moved closer, making a circle around Hera. The leader gave Hera a malicious grin and all the monsters opened their mouths. "I don''t wanna die." Before closing her eyes, the last thing Hera saw, were the kobolds about to devour her. She kept waiting to feel the bites, but nothing happened. Opening her eyes slowly, Hera noticed she wasn''t in the cave anymore. She was back in the white room, her wounds were gone and she was in her normal clothing. She looked around, searching for something that confirmed the cave was real when she saw a notification above a doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Test over, please exit the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stumbled over towards the doorway, still trying to understand what had just happened. When the door opened, she was back in the auditorium. A few other recruits seemed to be back already. Percy was sitting on the corner staring at the air. Isabel was hugging her legs, and Wallace sobbed quietly. Mr. Greyson stared at Hera and said softly "Take a seat lassie, when everyone is back Ah have a few things to say." Hera sat down, still trying to understand. Was that all a simulation? But the pain felt so real. She stared at her arm, the one the kobold had bitten. There were no markings, no scars, and no lingering pain. After some time, other recruits exited the simulation. Alex was pale and kept rubbing her neck. Bonnie had a serious expression, but her eyes were red and swollen. Anaya seemed to be fine, but when her friends reached out she snapped at them. Leo was one of the last ones to leave the simulation. He seemed to be fine, just angry. He sat down beside Hera without saying a word. The last recruit to leave the simulation was Blue. The girl stepped out, saw the class, turned to the teacher and said. "Can I try again?" Mr. Greyson shook his head. "Not today, lassie, have a seat." Hera kept staring at the girl. Why would someone be willing to go through that again? The teacher deactivated the doorway, making it vanish. The whole room seemed to be more relaxed after that. "The reason I gave ye all this test, was to show ye that the MAZE is not a game. When ye go there, fighting for yer life will be a regular thing. It doesn''t matter the role ye choose. Ah want ye all to understand that. It''s no shame to be scared to lose yer life." The teacher came down from the stage and sat on its edge, staying closer to the recruits. "Ye must have heard that today, the guild has more explorers than ever. But that''s a bunch of bull crap. Our numbers are even smaller than after the Devil Hunt. Our world is too comfortable, very few people are willing to risk yer life to explore someplace like the MAZE. If after the test ye still want to be an explorer that''s fine, and if ye are afraid." The teacher stared at the recruits, focusing on the ones that seemed to have a harder time dealing with the test. "That''s ok too. No one is forcing ye to be an explorer. If ye want to give up now, ye can still work in the guild. There are many jobs, maybe one will be to yer liking. Ye don''t have to make a choice now, but those who already chose not to enter the MAZE are free to go." Mr. Greyson barely finished his sentence when Mark got up and left the auditorium without saying a word. A few moments later Wallace and Isabel did the same. "If ye still haven''t decided, take yer time. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and rest. If ye give up now, but change yer mind later, ye can start the training again, although I think there is a fee in that case. But nothing too pricey. Go home, rest and think about what ye want to do with yer life. If ye come to class on Monday, we keep going with the training. If not, no hard feeling and Ah wish ye all the best." The class stayed silent for a while. The recruits taking in what the teacher had just said. Suddenly the door opened, and Mark walked in. Seeing the whole room stare at him, he said. "Sorry, I really needed to go to the bathroom. What did I miss?" Cutting the tension that way made even the teacher start laughing. "Goddamnit, laddie. Do you have a hidden skill for that?" 37 - Homecoming After the test, none of the recruits were in the mood to talk. Even Blue who was the one who seemed less affected, understood that they all needed time. Hera was on the train, thinking about the test. Two images kept popping in her head. The bloody kobold lying motionless on the floor, and the Leader with an evil grin. She shook her head. What she needed right now was to take some time and process everything. The MAZE was a dangerous place. She knew that. But knowing and feeling it on her skin were two things very different. She was heading to her parent''s house. It would be just for the weekend, or at least that was the original plan. Now, she wasn''t sure she would return to the guild. Not on Monday, at least. Was she truly ready to put her life on the line every day? Thinking about her future, she nodded off with her head against the window. Hera was on the train, heading to her hometown. It wasn''t far from the capital where she was living, just a four-hour trip. She was going there mainly to see her father and grandmother. They were the only ones who always believed in her, no matter what. Hera woke up, almost jumping from her seat. She stared outside, trying to figure out where she was. It was already getting dark out. That means she should be close, or that she had missed the station. Looking around, she saw a screen that read ''Weshurst''. She was still two stations away. Hera grew up in a town called Burtois. It was a small town with just over 10 000 people there. Even with a population like that, it felt like everyone knew each other. Hera dozed off again, before shaking her head quickly. She didn''t want to miss the station, even if it would still take about one hour to get there. She picked her tablet and scrolled through her digital books. She preferred to read the physical versions, but tablets were extremely handy on long trips. Looking through her books, she stopped at one about the Three Heroes. It was one of her favorites when she was younger. It had been a while since she read it, but right now it felt weird. She knew how dangerous that life was. She kept scrolling and found a mellow book she had yet to read. It was about a boy and a girl who would change bodies at random. It was a book she had seen many people asking about, that''s why she bought it. She knew that there was nothing about the MAZE in the book and seeing as this was as good of a time as any to start, Hera opened the file. The rest of the trip went by fast. As she arrived at the station, Hera picked her phone and sent a text to her dad. It was a simple text just to let him know she was in town and would take the bus to get home. As she walked through the platform, Hera noticed a van parked just outside the station. It was a brown van that had a paint job to look like it was made of wood. On the side of it, in big golden letters, it reads. KINGS LAY in our WOODWORK It was her dad''s van, the one he used to make deliveries. The Kingsley name was in a fancy font that made the A look like an E and the ¡®in our¡¯ part was in small letters. Hera remembered how excited her dad was when he updated the logo. Saying it would be a new era for Kingsley Woodwork. Sitting on the driver''s seat, a big burly man looked around the station searching for someone. Feeling a bit nostalgic, Hera activated her [Hide] skill before leaving the station. It was already dark out. She could probably stay hidden even in open spaces. She quickly moved through the parking lot and towards the van. Circling around it, Hera walked past the passenger door and to the back. She tapped her fingers in the rhythm of the ¡®happy birthday'' song on the back door. "What?" A loud voice came from inside the van. With a smile, Hera crouched and tapped her fingers again. This time on the right side of the van, following the same rhythm as before. "Who''s there?" the voice said. Hera crept closer, now tapping the song nonstop. "If that is a joke it ain''t funny!" Holding back her giggle, Hera couldn''t believe this still worked. She tapped on the driver''s door and kept watching out for some movement. Last time she did this, she got hit in the face by the door. "Someone better tell me what is going on, or I start swinging," the voice said in a demanding tone. Hera tapped a few more times and jumped, screaming. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!" What followed was the noise of a large man jumping towards the other seat while cursing life itself. Hera started laughing, and when the man finally calmed down, he said. "I come here to be nice and you pull this crap? Why did it have to be the song from that movie? How could you be such a cruel daughter¡± Hera''s dad opened the passenger door and walked towards her. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Maybe it was those times you woke me up using a hose." Hera walked towards him and gave her dad a big hug. "I missed you goldilocks." Hera giggled, she hadn''t heard that nickname in a long time. "And I missed you grumpy bear," she said. When they finally let go of the hug, the duo got in the van. "You know, I kind of miss being called papa bear," Eridan said. Hera laughed, "C''mon dad. You know that sounds weird. Especially after that valentines day." "I''ve told you, your mother was just trying something." The man blushed while he drove off. "Yeah, yeah. I don''t care. My parent''s love life is the last thing I want to know about." Hera cut him off quickly. "Ok, fine. New topic. What''s the news you have to tell me? Did you get promoted? Changed jobs? Is it a boy? Are you engaged? Let me see that hand!" Eridan moved closer to Hera, trying to look at her fingers. She quickly jumped to hold the steering wheel. "Dad! Watch the road!" The road was empty, and the car had barely changed course with all that. But it still made Hera nervous. Eridan had been in a car crash when she was little. The car got hit by the side and ended up upside down. Lucky her dad wasn''t very hurt, just some light bruises, and a broken rib. But the sight of him in the hospital was something she never wanted to see again. "I''m watching, I''m watching. You worry too much. Now tell me what''s going on," her dad said. Hera let out a sigh. "Can we stop by grandma? I want to tell you both. You know how she will get if you hear it first." Eridan shivered, he loved his mother. But by the system, the woman knew how to make you feel guilty. "Ok, we''ll stop by before going home. Just call her to give a head up." Hera nodded, and they started talking, Eridan telling her how much business was blooming and how well things were going ever since he bought the land he wanted. "Hera, thank you again for lending me some money. I know how hard you were working to save that much. But without that tree grower, I don''t know what would''ve happened. Give me just a few months to stabilize things and I''ll pay you back." Hera gave him a soft smile. There was no reason to thank her. Kingsley woodwork was a party of the family. "Don''t worry, dad. Consider the money an early birthday gift." "Hera, don''t even joke about that. It''s too much money." Eridan stared at his daughter, feeling guilty for having to rely on her. "Maybe, but it''s worth seeing you like this. I don''t remember the last time you were so happy." Eridan blushed a bit. He really was acting like an excited kid these last weeks. Around fifteen minutes later, they arrived at her grandmother''s house. Hera rang the doorbell, and a few moments later an elderly woman opened the door. She had thin white hair, a pair of glasses resting on her nose. She wore a light blue handmade sweater and a pair of beige pants. With the pink bunny slippers, Hera had given her for christmas. "Hera! Sweetheart it''s been too long." The woman said before pulling her granddaughter for a hug. "I know grandma Triss. I''m sorry about that." Hera said, hugging her back. "Come, come. Get in, you must be hungry." Grandma Triss pulled Hera inside. "Actually, mom, we are going to have dinner later," Eridan protested. "Shush. You are not stopping me from feeding my granddaughter. If you want, you can go home and Hera eats the whole chicken pot pie," the elderly woman said. "You... you made chicken pot pie?" Eridan stuttered before coming inside his mother''s house. Hera couldn''t help but giggle. It was a mean move, making his favorite dish. She had never seen her dad say no to a chicken pot pie. It was barely seven o''clock, and they were already eating dinner. Grandma Triss was a genius in the kitchen, and she didn''t even have any skills. She never got her level up. They talked about the old times, sharing a few stories that Hera would rather forget. When they started to eat dessert, a chocolate cake with strawberry jam and sprinkles, grandma Triss asked a question. "So dear, what was the big news you had for us?" Hera swallowed the bite she was chewing. "Well... it was just something to tell. But after today I want your advice too." Eridan and Triss stopped eating, feeling the situation could be more serious than they expected. "To start... well.." Hera picked her status card and showed to them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley Level 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I won a raffle. The jackpot was a level up and well, I got it," she explained. Hera immediately saw both her dad and grandmother faces light up. "Hera! That is amazing! I''m so happy for you, you can try to become an explorer now. I missed that spark you had before you... you know," Eridan said. Grandma Triss agreed, saying that she even looked happier now. Even if it would take a while for her to be an explorer. "Here is the thing, grandma. It won''t take that long." Hera told them what happened in the last week. From meeting Helena and discovering her skills all the way through the test she had today. Her grandmother listened quietly, while her dad kept complaining about how Mr. Greyson was a bad teacher and how that test would just traumatize the students. "Now, I''m not sure what to do. Being an explorer was everything I''ve dreamed of since I don''t know when. But, can I do this? Risk my life every day, kill monsters and whatever else happens inside the MAZE." Hera looked at the two people she loved the most. "What do you guys think?" she asked. Eridan scratched the back of his head before speaking ¡°Look, honey. It''s kind of hard for me to tell you what I think. I mean, you are asking if my daughter should have a job where she could die at any moment. It''s not something I can wholeheartedly say.¡± Grandma Triss slapped his arm. "Since when did I raise such a selfish fool as my son?" That reaction shocked both Hera and her dad. Before any of the two could say a word, Grandma Triss started speaking. "Hera, darling. Your father might be right. But what we feel shouldn''t matter. Now, if you are asking if I believe you have what it takes to be an explorer. Then my answer is yes. Since you were a little girl, I saw you climbing trees, fighting the boys in the playground, and trying to find hidden places around town. There is no doubt in my mind that you would be a wonderful explorer. But most of all, can you think about another thing you want to do as much?" Hera kept looking at her grandmother''s eyes. They were old, wise and full of wrinkles. She had a long and happy life, Hera knew that. "I''m scared I won''t have as much time as you grandma, not if I become an explorer," Hera said. Finally admitting to herself that fear. "If it''s just because of fear, we all will die someday. And you already have your grandfather waiting on the other side, so you won''t be alone there. But let me tell you this. The things that scared me the most, are the ones that made me happier. Like marrying your grandfather or giving birth to your father. After all, thanks to him I have you," grandma Triss replied. "Hey! I''m still here, you know," Eridan complained. The three of them laughed and finished the dessert. Hera kept thinking about what her grandmother said. She had to make a decision. Could she live knowing she gave up on her dream? Could she be happy doing anything else? Did she have what it takes to be an explorer? 38 - The olympics When Hera and her dad finally got home, it was already late. Her mother was taking a bath and Hera took the chance to go to the bedroom, saying she was tired from the long day. Hera wasn''t sleepy. So she took her time to read the book she started on the trip, waiting for the drowsiness to beat her. However, that mellow book made a complete 180. The soft romantic comedy ended up having time travel, deals with gods, and an earthquake that destroyed a city. It was past 1 a.m. when she finished the book. Hera tried to go to sleep, but she felt restless. Getting up, she walked to the kitchen to grab a warm glass of milk. When she arrived, her mother was leaning on the counter with a cup of tea in her hand. "Hello, sweetheart. Sorry I wasn''t here when you arrived. I wasn''t expecting you two to get home so late," she said with a smile. "Don''t worry, mom. Sorry I went straight to bed. I had a long day yesterday," Hera said, opening the fridge to look for milk. "Long day at that little bookstore you work at?" her mother said between sips. "Something like that," Hera mumbled. "Honey, you should speak up when you talk. If you don''t, people won''t know you are there," her mother replied with a sigh. Hera didn''t even bother saying it again. She had given up on that a long time ago. It didn''t matter how much she followed her mother''s advice. There was always something else to fix. "Sorry, I just asked where is the milk. I''m not seeing it here," she said, changing the subject. "Milk? No no no, It''s much too late for that. If you drink it now, not only will you have a bad night of sleep, it will also go straight to your thighs." her mother said pushing Hera aways from the fridge. "Here, if you are having trouble to sleep drink this," she passed Hera a cup of tea, "it has chamomile, kale, cucumber, green tea, rose water and spinach. It will knock you right out." Hera grabbed the cup and stared at the green liquid inside. This would probably knock her out just by smelling it. "Thanks, mom," Hera replied weakly. "Now, I''m going to bed. We have a big day tomorrow, your cousins are coming from school. Ah, look at me still talking like they are kids. They are in college now. Maybe you can ask how it''s like there. Who knows, you might be inspired to do something with your life." Stella placed her cup on the sink and walked past her daughter. "And honey, try not to sleep with makeup on. I''m glad you are finally taking care of yourself, but you need to be careful. Not only it''s bad for your skin, but it will stain the sheets." Stella said, rubbing Hera''s cheek. "But I''m not wearing any makeup." Hera protested. "Hera, you are much too old to be embarrassed about those things. In the guest bathroom, there are some tissues that are perfect for cleaning this up. Just let me know if you use them all so I can put it on the shopping list." Not leaving any chance for Hera to reply, Stella walked back to her bedroom. Feeling like she was in highschool again, Hera waited to hear the sound of the door closing before dumping the tea on the sink. Giving up on the milk, Hera went back to her bedroom hoping she would be able to sleep. When the morning finally came, Hera was still tired. She barely had any sleep. The image of the kobold trainer kept popping in her head through the night. Hera left the guest bedroom around 6 a.m. The first thing she heard was her mother complaining about how much she needed to do for lunch. Fearing her mom would ask for help, Hera quickly went out, saying she would buy something for breakfast. That way, Stella would have more time to do what she needed to do. Hera left before her mom could answer. She knew that if she stayed around, Stella would ask her to help in the kitchen. The problem wasn''t helping out, but anything she did would be wrong. She already had too much on her mind without having to deal with a scolding for doing things differently. Hera greeted a few people she recognized on the way to a bakery close by. Arriving at the store, Hera had no idea what to order. She couldn''t decide if it was better to ask just for bread or get something fancier. It was weird. She never had any problems with ordering food. Even as a kid, she never took long to decide what she wanted. After almost half an hour staring at the display filled with different pastries. Hera realized she would never leave like this, and finally, she ordered. "Hi, could you get me one of each?" Hera said to the attendant. "Sure thing! One of each of what?" the attendant asked. "Everything in the display, please," Hera replied, not giving it much thought. "You want one of each thing that is in the display?" the attendant tried to hide his shock. "Yeah, is that a problem?" Hera asked, absent-minded. "Not at all, I was just confirming your order," the attendant blurted out. Knowing that he should never talk a customer out of a purchase. It took another ten minutes of waiting before all that she purchased was ready to go. In the meantime, Hera paid 137 gold for the pastries. With everything ready, Hera took the five bags filled with food and walked back home. To anyone watching, that was an odd sight. That small woman was carrying five heavy bags without a problem. If it was any other person, they could just assume they were high level. But most people in the neighborhood knew Hera was still level one. How was she doing that? Hera was oblivious about the situation. Her focus was on the decision she had to make. The test was terrifying, but that was the whole point, she understood that now. It wasn''t about completing it or teaching them a new skill. Mr. Greyson wanted to know if she could fail while facing something very dangerous and keep going. The MAZE is more like a survival game than with the stories people write about. But the question remained, could she go there knowing she could die at any moment? Before she knew, Hera was already back at her parent''s house. She opened the door and placed the bags on the table, calling her mom to eat. Looking at the time, her dad would probably still be sleeping. Letting out a long sigh, she sat down and searched for something that looked tasty. "Thank you for the help, sweetheart. Did you remembered to get those..." Stella stopped talking the second she saw the bags on the table, "Why did you get so much food?" Hera bit her lip. Since many people were coming, she thought it was ok to buy a lot of food. However, she forgot to account for Stella''s reaction. Stolen novel; please report. "I just tried to help, I know how much hard work is to put these gatherings together and I wanted to give you a break," Hera answered knowing it wouldn''t work. "How can you be so self-centered? Did it occur to you that I already bought a lot of food for this? Now, what am I supposed to do? Just make it all and let it go bad?" Stella was already trembling, the same way she did every time she got angry. "I just wanted to do something nice for the family. Since everyone is coming over, we could make some of the food you bought and if we have leftovers, we can let them take home." Hera was looking down, trying to seem like she was sorry. In reality, after many years, she figured out that, that was the quickest way to make her mom stop complaining. "I didn''t raise you to be this selfish! You are only thinking about yourself and not even considering others. Your cousins were away from home for a long time. They probably want homemade food, and I already planned the whole meal. How much did you pay in all that?" Stella rummaged through the bags. Hera stopped for a second. She couldn''t remember where she put the receipt. If she forgot to get it, or if it was in her pocket, she would be fine. "Hera! How could you spend so much money on this?" Stella gasped. Of course, Hera wasn''t even sure why she got hopeful. Things always worked like that with her mom. "When your dad wakes up, we are going to have a long talk about financial responsibility missy!" Stella said before stomping back to the kitchen. Hera sighed and started to look for something to eat again. She was thinking about a sandwich, but now, she needed something sweet. When her dad woke up, there was more scolding. Eridan didn''t want to tell Stella about the money he borrowed. Hera knew that and stayed silent during most of it. Only saying ''I''m sorry'' now and then. After that, the three set up the table for the whole family. The homemade dishes stayed in the center with the pastries functioning as a decoration to cover the spots with no food. When they were done, it looked like a gaudy banquet, but Stella had a big approving smile on her face. After that a song came up on the television. Eridan and Stella hugged and started to slow dance to the song. It was the song they had their first dance to. Hera watched them for a while. Eridan had thick arms, and a big belly, but it was mostly brawn. Working in the wood shop and cutting the trees himself would do that to anyone¡¯s physique. His short golden hair was already starting to grey, but he still had his charm and that big smile that made everything be ok. Stella used to be very thin but had put on some weight after having Hera. Unlike most people, she embraced that. Her long brown hair was curled up today, giving her look a vintage feel. She had beautiful blue eyes that turned grey at the edges. Hera¡¯s mom would always wear clothing that exposed some skin, be it in the chest, arms, or legs. She was truly beautiful, and the couple made each other extremely happy. Little by little the guests arrived, and shortly after 1 p.m., the whole family was there. Hera never ceased to be surprised by how many people would come to these gatherings. Counting the partners of a few family members, there were 42 people inside the two-story house. Thankfully, most of the family was fawning over her two cousins and left Hera alone. Even she went to congratulate them. Amelia was in a university famous for its medical program. Arthur, on the other hand, had just been accepted to a very prestigious college on an engineer scholarship. Hera was genuinely happy for her cousins, she knew how hard they worked for it. She used her employee discount a few times, buying books to help them study for the enrollment test. Not only that, she always got happy when someone close to her would step towards their dream. The day went by, and soon the opening ceremony of the olympics began. Part of her family kept talking the whole way through it. But Hera simple tunedof the noise and focused on the presentation. It was beautiful. Each country would go inside in two groups, the level ones, and the level tens. Because of the attribute difference, they only allowed civilians to take part in the competition. A few years back, the organizers thought it the competition was getting boring in comparison with what explorers could do, so they added the level 10 division. It really increases the appeal to watch the event. A level one civilian, in the 55kg class that trained his whole life, could lift almost 300kg, while the world record for a level ten was half a tonne. But there were very strict rules about it all, skills were shared or banned, the attributes couldn''t go over a certain number. To Hera, the whole system was a mess. Still, it was entertaining to watch. The ceremony kept going, with a dance accompanied by a magic show made by two famous explorers. It was a singing duo called Bright Night and Dark Star. The duo would make the dancers appear and disappear. They turned the stage upside down and even made the dusk be followed by dawn, creating a new star in the sky. Hera tried to use her [Observe] but only the information for the television appeared. She really wanted to know if that was illusion magic or a magic light. For the finale, Dark Star made all the lights in the arena go out. A shot from a helicopter showed the whole city covered in darkness. The camera focused on the sky. The stars danced around each other, spiraling towards the stage where Bright Night was. They gathered in a ball in front of her, when the sky was completely dark. All the starts on the stage flew out towards the crowd and stopped just by their chest. With a flourish, Bright Night sent all the stars back to the sky, giving back the light for the whole city. Hera was mesmerized. It was already impressive when she had no idea how they did it. But now, she had a silly smile on her face just by thinking about the elemental affinities the duo could have. With the presentation over, the president of Jamaica, where the olympics where happening, gave a speech as it was costumery. Hera kept eating, and talking with her family, her aunt Silvia was annoying her. She kept saying how Hera was lagging behind and soon she would be stuck in a dead-end job. "She must be so proud of her non-dead-end job as a receptionist for 25 years," Hera thought to herself. When the guests finally left, it was well past 9 p.m. The last train would leave at 11, and Hera still wasn''t sure if she should be in it. Helping with the cleanup, Hera was doing the dishes while thinking about her decision. She was leaning towards giving up, at least for now. Mr. Greyson said that if she wanted, she could try again after some time. That could be a good idea. "You need to pay more attention, this one is still dirty," her mom said placing a plate inside the half-full sink. Eridan was bringing some leftover food to the fridge when Stella asked him to stay. "Hera, I want to talk to you. You can keep doing the dishes if you want, but pay attention," her mom demanded. Hera wasn''t in the mood to talk, but right now there wasn''t a way out. "Sure, what do you want to talk about, mom?" she asked, not moving her eyes from the dishes. "About you, look I know you had a dream, and that didn''t work. But you need to do something with your life. You can''t stay forever in that bookstore. Are you looking for something else?" Stella said. "No mom, I''m not. But I..." Hera replied but was cut off. "See, why aren''t you looking? You can''t honestly be thinking that the bookstore is a good place to work. You need to do something, you need to act or even react to anything. Hera, you need to stop being such of a pushover. Like today. How many times did you got up to fill other people''s glasses?" her mom was raising her voice. She always did that in those long speeches. Hera always hated it. Being loud wouldn''t help get your point across. "I was just being polite like you taught me," Hera replied, still scrubbing a plate. "There is polite and then there is being a maid. You really need to start saying no. Doing what you want. Why don''t you? Are you afraid of what people will say? C''mon, aren''t you too old for that?" Hera scrubbed harder, her fingers almost cracking the plate. "My love, aren''t you being too harsh on her?" Eridan asked. "No no, she needs a wake-up call. Everything in life is scary now? Are you afraid you will be let down again? Well, get over it! Life is hard, is pain, and is hardship. You have to pull through all that in order to find happiness. If you don''t change now, you will be miserable for the rest of your life." Stella paused. It took Hera everything she had not to snap back at her mom. She was the one always complaining and putting her down. She was the one who made her worrya bout what other people think. She was the one who kicked her when she was down on her 18th birthday. "Well? Aren''t you going to say something? Honestly, Hera, you need to do something, anything! Just stop being so plain!" Stella yelled. Before Eridan could even call his wife out, Hera tossed the last plate in the sink, shattering it by accident "Fine! Since you want me to do something. I''m going back home!" Hera said angrily. "What are you talking about? This is your home," Stella scoffed. "No, it''s not, my home is in Brilansis, my friends, my job and my apartment are all there. This is just where I come to listen to you complain." Hera stormed off, heading towards the guest bedroom. Quickly grabbing her things, she walked to the door. "Hera, wait! Where are you going?" Eridan asked, rushing towards her. "Home, dad. I have training in the morning." Hera said without looking back. She knew she would cry the second she saw her dad''s face. "So, you are actually doing it?" Eridan asked. "I am, and I''m going to prove to her that I don''t need to change to become an explorer," Hera said putting her bag over her shoulder, "don''t worry. I''m calling a cab. I can''t be near either of you right now." She walked to the door of the room before realizing what she just said. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean it like that," she said in a soft voice. "Don''t worry, I know. Give them hell, my Fourth Hero," Eridan said with a smile. Hera looked back, twisting her nose. "Dad, be serious. That was only cute when I was little." Eridan laughed, Hera left the house and called a cab. She waited ten minutes outside before it arrived. After asking for the driver to take her to the train station, the tears she was holding in came pouring out. This was the last time her mom would make her cry. 39 - Brand new day Greyson arrived early for his class. He knew that the test would take a toll on the recruits and wanted to comfort them. What he had done was brutal. No one questioned that. However, after what happened with that kid, Greyson didn''t want to take any chances. He was deep in thought when the first recruit arrived. To his surprise, it was Mark. He greeted the man and looked at the clock. It was 6:49. Only one recruit stayed so far, but there was still time. Greyson tried to keep himself busy. He kept looking at his tablet, confirming everything would be ready for today. At 6:53 more recruits arrived. Anaya first, then Tiffany and Kenjiro. The three of them seemed to be fine. But Carlos, the fourth member of the group, was nowhere to be seen. "Che, don''t run away from a fight my ass," Greyson thought to himself. A couple of minutes later, Alex, Leo, and Blue walked through the door. Greyson tried to seem calm, but he was worried. Bonnie had gotten two evolved skills in the first days of training. She had a lot of potential. Then there was Percy. The man seemed to be very meticulous in his work. He had the makings of a great crafter. The last recruit he was worrying about was Hera. Aside from her skills, there wasn''t much special about the woman. But she had a fire Greyson hadn''t seen in a long time. At 7 sharp, Bonnie walked through the door. She still looked a bit scared, but she was here. Before starting class, Greyson gave her a few moments to settle in. "All right, I hope ye all had time to think about what ye want to do. If ye still have any questions, now is the time. The training will be different from now on," Greyson said. Almost as a reflex, Bonnie raised her hand. The teacher gave her a nod, confirming she could ask her question. "Mr. Greyson, sorry. I have two questions. First... are we going inside that room again?" Bonnie asked. The whole class got silent, even their breathing seemed to stop. The idea of going there again was terrifying for most recruits. "No, ye don''t have to go there again," he said before turning to blue, "unless ye want to. In that case, I can pull some strings." The tension in the air dissipated a little. The recruits were still on edge, but now they seemed a bit more relaxed. "The second question... If I keep doing the training, can I drop out before the final exam?" Bonnie asked. The question surprised Greyson. Bonnie was really smart, and to come back here she was already brave enough to go inside the MAZE. The teacher considered the question for a few moments. "I believe ye can, yes. No rule says ye can''t drop out just before the final test. But are ye sure ye want to waste a whole month doing this?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He knew that if she pushed herself too hard, it would end badly. Bonnie nodded. "Yes, if I''m confident by the end of the training, I''ll do the final test." "Fair enough," Greyson said with a smile. He answered a few more questions about the test afterward and started to explain his plans for the day. A few seasoned explorers were coming over to show a few things about the roles. That way the recruits could know more about what they can do before choosing their role. Halfway through his explanation, there was a knock on the door. He frowned and went to the door, opening it. It was Hera. She was panting and covered in sweat. "I''m sorry, I got home really late. My alarm didn''t wake me up." Hera said after catching her breath. "Yer lucky lassie. Today''s class will be different. Go to yer seat," Greyson said with a serious face. In reality, he was quite happy. It has been a long time since he had so many recruits stick around after the test. Mr. Greyson explained that each role got a special set of skills exclusive to the role itself. It was a way for explorers to have more specific jobs inside the MAZE. Some were simple, for instance, Healers would heal and help others recover from wounds. Some roles had more complicated functions, researchers could look for new skills, or new ways to learn a skill, they could improve equipment and even create potions or meals that would improve attributes. They were essentially scientists inside the MAZE. That wouldn''t mean the roles limited what you could do. A mage could heal, and a fighter could research new skills, but they wouldn''t have the role-specific skills linked to that task. "Mr. Greyson, in the video the guild keeps playing it said that it wasn''t always like that. Why is that? Did it take long to find the skills, or it was something else?" Bonnie asked. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Hera was a bit surprised. It seemed obvious that they probably took a while to find out about the role skills. That''s just how skills work. Mr. Greyson smiled before answering. "No one ever found these skills, we created them," the teacher said, shocking the whole class. "Before the roles, explorers would just group up asking about each other''s skills. That required a long discussion to figure out where each individual would fit in a team. After all, they had to talk about most of their skills in the process. It was also difficult to keep track of it during fights." Mr. Greyson sat in his chair. "After a while, a few groups started to form. Each would have only explorers that were good at one specific job. The idea behind it was to share skills and training exercises to make them better at what they needed. No one knows exactly what happened. One day the system changed and each of these groups got assigned a role. Some skills they had even evolved and become part of the roles." The teacher had barely stopped talking when Tiffany asked. "Hang on, are you saying the system changed? It can do that?" Mr. Greyson just nodded. "Funny right? We all think the system was always there the way it is today. But if ye think about it, it makes sense. A long time ago we didn''t have written language, yet now the system shows up as text. Computers and tablets were human creations. Today the system connects to them to share its information. It makes ye wonder how it will look like in the future, doesn''t it?" Having finished his explanation, the class was awestruck. With such a basic knowledge being changed at a fundamental level, the recruits were rendered speechless. Taking advantage of the moment, the teacher guided them back to the elevator. The class would be in one of the underground training rooms. They were more durable and private. Arriving at the underground floor, the group was greeted by Helena, who informed them of a change in the room they had reserved. Shortly after, they arrived at the biggest room available. Helena turned to the recruits. "Welcome everyone, for those who don''t know me, I''m Helena. The attendant in charge of your class, nice to meet you. This is probably your first time coming into one of these rooms. They are called advanced training rooms or ATR. They are very special because of a few things. First, they almost indestructible. Well, I say that, but some high-level explorers can make a mess of this place. Second, this place uses our most state-of-the-art training simulations. It can teach from basic martial arts to special skills. You can also increase or decrease the mana density inside here. Although, for now, you won''t feel the difference, in the future this might come in handy." Helena explained, keeping a tour guide persona. Hera couldn''t help but find it weird. She wasn''t used to seeing the woman like this. "Wow, if this room is so amazing why were we wasting time with the dummies?" Mark said while thinking out loud. Most recruits were thinking about the same thing. "Watch it, laddie. Ye don''t wanna start something ye can''t finish," Mr. Greyson snarled. "Now, now. Be nice Calvin," Helena intervened, "the ATRs use condensed mana to function, so using it is a bit expensive. That''s why only part of the training is done here. After that, to use one of these you have to rent it. The basic ones are not too expensive, and this one.. well It''s better not to think about it for now." Before the class could ask more questions, the door opened and seven people came in. They were all wearing explorer gear and carried their weapons. A big muscular woman also carried a long sword in her hand. "Looks like they are all here already. These are the explorers who will help us today. With all of us here, we will tell ye about the nine roles." A couple of recruits were surprised by the number of people. They never considered the guild clerk to be a seasoned explorer. "Well, Ah guess, Ah should start. Some of ye might already know, but Ah''m a fighter. The main skill we get is called [Fury]. With it, Ah can strengthen my attacks or give them other effects. It can also increase the power of some skills." Greyson pressed a button on his tablet, and a golden dummy appeared in the room. He grabbed the sword from the strong woman and attacked the dummy twice. The first time it looked like a normal overhead swing. The second time, however, reddish energy swirled violently around the blade of his sword. When he struck the dummy, the whole room seemed to shake with the impact. " [Fury] works a bit differently for each person. To me, the angrier Ah get the harder Ah hit," Greyson finished his explanation, and without a pause added, "And the first one to make a superhero joke gets smacked. Who is next?" He asked, turning to the explorers. Helena stepped forward. "Let me do it, it''s been a while since I let off some steam." She walked towards the dummy and turned to face the recruits. "I am a mage, the skill we get is called [Synch]. The skill makes our mana, or magical energy, merge with the element you use. Allowing you to use stronger versions of spells from your element. Magic is a bit tricky, you need to use a specific formula to use it. Each mage uses it in a different way. I, for one, find it better to picture my mana as thread while I weave it to form the spell I want. With that, I can do this." Helena made a glowing sphere that looked like it was made of diamonds, refracting the light that passed through it. "My [Synch] turned half of my mana into shadow mana. And If I use that in this spell." The sphere darkened almost instantly and started to ooze out shadows. The light in the room seemed to try to run away from it. Helena then closed her hand, and the spell dissipated. Immediately after, she conjured two shadow spears above the dummy. The first seemed to be a smooth spike, the second looked like a halberd that dripped shadows from its edge. With a flick of her hand, the spike hit the dummy, vanishing after the impact. On the halberds turn, the impact created a small explosion, covering part of the room with a thin layer of dark smoke on the ground. As if someone had just poured hot water on dry ice. "Unlike [Fury], [Synch] has one drawback. When your mana changes to a specific element, your ability to use its polar opposite gets hindered. For instance, since my element is shadow. I have a hard time using light. Undine, the Third Hero, was a fire mage. She probably had problems with using water. Some mages focus her spells in a specific element to control this change in mana. There are even a few who managed to have ''pure mana''. That means mana that is not bound by any element. But I''m already getting too much into specifics. If any of you decide to become a mage, feel free to ask me for some pointers." Helena winked at Hera after saying that, which made the recruit smile. Hera looked at the other explorers. So far, being a mage seemed to be the most interesting role of them all. Wondering what the other roles could do, she stared at a man with a grey beanie. He seemed to be the less imposing of the bunch. He had a necklace with what looked like a small watch as the pendant, a brown shirt that looked wrinkled and he seemed to carry a short sword on each side of his hip. Among all the explorers, he seemed to be the most carefree of the bunch. For some reason Hera couldn¡¯t stop looking at him. 40 - What is a role? "Who''s next?" Mr. Greyson asked the group of explorers. There was a small pause. The explorers looked at each other like kids during a high school presentation. The strong woman who was carrying Mr. Greyson''s sword stepped away from the group while saying. "By the system, people. We are just here to show the recruits, there is no need to be nervous." She turned to the recruits, "Hi there, I am.." "Janna Ivanova! Also, know as Frostbite," Blue said cutting the woman off, "I''m sorry, it''s just... I''m a huge fan!" All the recruits stared at the girl. Janna just watched the scene with a big smile on her face. "And who is that?" Tiffany asked. "Are you kidding? Janna Ivanova is one of the best explorers in the world! She is ranking 73 among the controllers. She gained the title Frostbite when she held down a passageway for two days on her own against a horde of fire breathing monsters. When the backup finally arrived, they say even the flames had frozen around her." Blue replied excitedly. "Two days? Ha, those rumors really get out of hand." Mr. Greyson commented. "You really are a killjoy. Aren''t you, Calvin?" Janna replied. Blue stared at her with a worried expression. Were the stories she heard really a lie? "What is your name?" Janna asked Blue. "Pamella Blunt, but you can call me Blue," she replied almost giving the explorer a salute. "Well, Blue. The stories you heard are a bit exaggerated. First, I didn''t freeze any fire. I froze a few monsters before they could use their fire breath. Second, it wasn''t two days, but eight hours. If it was more than that I probably would have died there. Last, even though it is a good story. It only happened because I didn''t have any other choice. The monsters were going towards a city inside the room, if they got there they would destroy everything and kill everyone." Janna explained. The recruits were amazed by what she had done. She risked her life just to save a city. "Did you really risked your life just to save a city?" Anaya asked. Janna replied with a smile. "Sometimes you have to take a big risk to protect those who can''t protect themselves." Most of the recruits looked at the explorer with new eyes. They were in the presence of a bona fide hero. Hera felt guilty looking at Janna. She was worried about hurting herself inside the MAZE. But that woman was willing to go to such a length to protect someone else. Looking around, Hera noticed that Helena was frowning while staring at Janna. But before she could even consider the reason, the controller continued with her explanation. "Back to the subject in question. Controllers, like the name say, can control the battlefield. The [Control] skill does nothing by itself. But you can use other skills with it to change how the combat will play out. We are split into magic and physical types. Magic types can use effects like slowing down monsters or creating magic walls to change the landscape itself. Physical types, like myself, can control the target of the monster and make the attacks aimed at us be weaker. Like it is with all roles, each person can do it differently. My [Control] skill, lets me encapsulate myself in a layer of ice, that not only forcers my enemies to target me but also freezes anything that gets too close." Janna walked in front of the dummy and turned back to the group. "Calvin, Helena. Can you help me with the demonstration? Just hit me with the attacks you did before. Don''t worry, I can take it." Frostbite said with a cocky smile on her face. Mr. Greyson grabbed his sword and gathered that reddish energy on the blade. While that was happening, Helena raised one hand and five halberds dripping out shadows appeared above her. Seeing the two getting ready to attack, Janna flexed her arms, and an armor made of ice appeared covering her body. A sight like that was already weird enough. Still, the oddest part was how the ice was moving. It would bend without breaking while Frostbite moved, as if it was part of her. "I''m ready," Janna called out. A few seconds passed, and Helena brought her hand down. The halberds flew towards the controller, followed by Mr. Greyson. The red energy of his blade seemed to gather the shadows dripping from the magical weapons. The spell struck frostbite, creating that small smoke explosion, followed by Mr. Greyson''s jumping swing. The impact was so strong that Hera, Bonnie, and Mark fell to the ground. While the other recruits had forced themselves to hold their ground. When the smoke cleared out, Janna was holding Mr. Greyson''s sword with one hand, while the other was covering her face. There were three dark spots on her forearm, on the places the halberds hit. Even with such strong attacks, the armor had barely cracked. The biggest damage seemed to be around the hand she used to block the sword. Janna smiled and walked back to the recruits with her armor still activated. "This is a type of block skill that I learned thanks to my controller role. It has some elemental magic on it because as I''m sure you all know, the skills you learn are not limited to the role you pick." Hera was impressed by the display. However, being a controller meant either thinking about the places you were and acting fast with the changes or putting herself in risk at all times. That role seemed to be a bad fit for her. Blue, on the other hand, seemed to have found her calling. Her eyes were sparkling so much they could probably turn off the lights in the room. "That pumped me, I''ll go next if I can try to hit you, Ms. Ivanova." A short-haired woman wearing a black hoodie stepped forward. She was also wearing a black pair of pants and carried two daggers on her hip. Hera also noticed that the woman had a small piercing on her eyebrow. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Sure, It''s been a while since I practiced blocking. Anyone who wants can try to hit me," Janna said while walking towards the dummy. The short-haired woman turned to the recruits. "I''m Mona Al Ley, an Assassin. My skill is called [Assassinate] and it improves both attack skills, hiding skills, and any skill you would use on an assassination attempt. The better I hide, the stronger my attack becomes. Even though the name sound ominous, the skill is focused on dealing with your enemy without being seen, and then moving back. It''s not just about killing." She turned towards Janna, who gave Mona a nod. The assassin vanished in thin air. They were in a big open room, but none of the recruits were able to see her. A few moments later Janna turned around and blocked a dagger coming towards her left shoulder. Mona had just appeared in front of the controller. The assassin stepped back and disappeared once again. This time, however, Janna seemed less relaxed. She looked around, searching for her assailant. Suddenly, Frostbite spun around and blocked a dagger aimed at her neck with her forearms. "Damn, I thought I had you," Mona complained. "It was close, but I heard the dagger coming," Janna replied with an approving nod. The two of them walked back towards the recruits and showed the damage to Janna''s armor. The first strike had made a small dent on the ice, but the second managed to cut almost halfway through the arm guard. "As I explained. If your target can''t notice you, [Assassinate] gives a big boost to your skills." Mona finished her explanation. "Now that the flashy group is done, I think it''s my turn." A dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and thick glasses walked forward. "I''m Darrel Fowler. A researcher. Our skill is called [Learn] it helps you to learn about things. You have a handy database of everything you''ve already learned about the subject you are looking at and some tips on what is missing based on your own knowledge. You might think that is useless since things like math or physics are large subjects. But the skill can break the subject down to smaller parts. And not only studies. Equipment, skills, monsters, [Learn] Can help us improve our knowledge of anything. Although not as glamourous as other jobs, researchers created or discovered most of the skills we know of today. We are also the role most suited to use magic, aside from the mage itself." It wasn''t an exciting explanation, but Hera understood the value of the role. In fact, if she became a researcher she probably could help Helena a lot more than if she was a mage. Seeing that no one had any questions. Darrel felt satisfied with his explanation and walked back to the explorers. "Ok, I''ll go next." A man with a thick beard, wearing a white thawb and a trucker''s hat walked forward. "Bros and brodettes listen up. Jasper Alloways here and I''m a crafter. That means that I make things. The skill we learn is called [Blueprint]. Basically, it lets you break stuff down and put your own spin on it. The better you get with that skill the more crazy shit you can pull with it. A buddy of mine is already at a point where he can do some really freaky stuff. He made this staff that if you spin it, two blades come from the edges. If you tap it, it turns into a big ass nunchuck and there is even a button that makes a straw pop out so you can drink some water. Really boss stuff. If you all ever need a commission, hit me up and I''ll put you two in contact. Or just gimme a call if you wanna hang, cool?" Hera was a bit taken aback by the explorer. She wasn''t expecting someone so informal to be talking about the skills. "Bro, does the blueprint tell you about how to make it, and what material you need? Or it''s just like this is how the thing is, deal with it?" Mark asked. He seemed oddly comfortable talking to Jared. "Nice question, man. It gives you, like, the full cake recipe. What you need, how to make each part, and then how to put them together. After you get good at it, you can check other stuff you find for the compatibility to the blueprint you want. Like, if you make an iron sword, you can check on how well it would turn out if it was made of gold. After that you can even add more stuff to make it your own, you dig?" Mark was nodding with enthusiasm. Hera never expected him to be interested in crafting. Having finished his explanation, Jared walked back. A woman in a green tunic and brown pants walked forward. "Hello, I am Shi Cheng. I''m a hunter. Our skill is called [Hunt]. It lets you learn more about your enemy before fighting it. The more you learn, the stronger your attacks will be. Not as strong as a controller who marked their target. But they only do this with one creature at a time, [Hunt] lets you learn about the species as a whole. You will be able to recognized tracks, markings, and signals of a species you already found easily. It also helps you discover its weaknesses and strengths. Most hunters use a bow or some ranged weapon, but that is just personal preference." The huntress showed her compound bow. It looked like it was made of something other than metal, but the movement it made was the same. "Does [Hunt] affects your skills too? Or is it more of a passive effect?" Leo asked. "Both, some skills gain bonuses from [Hunt]. Not only attacks, but things like [Mapping] and [Hide] too. But your attacks, even without a skill can deal more damage to creatures you already have a good understanding of," Shi Cheng replied. Leo seemed to be deep in thought. Hera always pictured him as a fighter, but a hunter could suit him well too. A man with a grey shirt filled with red stains approached the group. He had messy hair and an unkempt stubble with a few holes spread around his chin. He also had large bags under his eyes. "I''m G¨¦rard and I''m a Healer. We heal people. [Sight] is a skill that shows us how badly wounded something is, and the worst off the person is the more we can heal them. If you think that is nice you are wrong. You can end up being able to see how close to death everyone is. I can even tell you how close you are. Do you wanna know? Can you handle knowing how close the grim reaper is from you and from everyone you love?" The man started his speech slowly but got angrier with each sentence. By the end, he was yelling at the recruits. Helena cut him off, placing her hand on his shoulder. "G¨¦rard, sweetie, I think you should visit the healers. They can help you rest for a while. I''ll drop by later to see if I can do something for you, ok?" The healer just gave a weak nod and left the room. The recruits were all disturbed by his reaction. "Don''t think Healers are all like that. He just got a very strong skill and is having some trouble adjusting to it. Don''t worry, seeing death is not something anyone can do. He just sees each person''s health. And when you live in a world where almost everyone has some kind of disease is hard to not be overwhelmed. Now, I think we just need to hear from Omar." Helena explained the situation for the recruits, trying not only to calm them but also not letting G¨¦rard''s reaction affect their mind about the healer role. "Aye aye, miss. The name is Omar Deeb, and my role is explorer. If you know about the story of the roles, you might understand that they were created when groups trained together. The thing is, not everyone wanted to do that. Some just wanted to keep exploring and learning everything. When the roles appeared, the ones that didn''t fit into any of them got nothing. No new skills, no changes to the ones they already had, not even a change in their role. Everyone thought they got the short end of the straw, but it wasn''t like that. After a while, every explorer that went looking for role skills figured out that we can learn all of them." Saying that, Omar activated a skill similar to Janna''s. A soft glow covered his body like armor. It wasn''t nearly as impressive as the full-body ice armor, and there were a lot of places there weren''t covered by light. After that, he disappeared. The recruits kept looking around for him while the explorers followed an invisible man walking around. Omar reappeared behind the recruits. "The thing is, our role skills can never be as strong as the original ones. And the more we learn, the harder it is to learn new ones. I have four, [Assassinate], [Control], [Synch] and [Fury]. And I honestly don''t know if I can learn a new one. I mean, I can, it''s just going to take a lot of time and resources to do it. We also get one last thing. An item tailor made to help us. Even if some are similar no two explorers will have the same item. Mine is this compass, it shows me a type of radar around me. It can tell me where some enemies, where my allies are, and now it even shows me the general direction of whatever I''m searching for. As long as I have an idea of the place. It''s not omnipotent. Usually, the item we get is the thing that will help us the most." Omar finished his explanation before going back to the group. Hera was intrigued. Being an explorer seemed very interesting. Her stats were all the same so that could even help her. But that meant she would take more time to repay Helena. However, the thing that she was most curious about was the item. If she became an explorer. What item would she get? 41 - Crossing the ts When all the presentations were over, Mr. Greyson walked towards the recruits. "Now that ye know what each role does. Let me tell ye how the rest of the month will go. Ah will teach ye some basic survival skills, how to make a tent, or a campfire. What types of fruits ye can look for and things like that. Ye will also learn more about the MAZE. Things like monsters tiers, explorer equipment, room effects, and more. We will keep the same pattern we have today, In the morning we hit the classroom. And in the afternoon we come here, so ye all can learn a proper fighting style, or improve yer own." When the teacher finished speaking, Janna gasped. "Did I hear it right? Calving Greyson is going to use the ATR to teach a class?" The woman said it overly dramatically, like a character from a terrible movie. The only thing missing was a fan in her hand. "Oh, bite me, Janna," the teacher replied. "Is that an invitation?" Frostbite replied with a mischievous smile. Mr. Greyson became flustered. He mumbled something that none of the recruits could hear. But soon he came back to his usual self. "Moving on, today this group of explorers was kind enough to be available to clear any doubts ye might have on the roles. Then, after lunch, we can stay in the ATR until the end of the day, thanks to Ms. Ivanova." The recruits became even more impressed with Frostbite. She was a hero who was willing to pay an expensive training facility for a bunch of recruits she never even met. "One last thing. Ye will choose yer role in the final test, and part of the test is to get the role skill. As ye all know, the system never gives anything. Ye need to earn it. The test is also the first mission the system will give ye. For the next few hours, ye can still talk, so ask more questions about the roles to help ye with yer decision. But if none of ye are interested in a specific role, let me know. That way we can let these fine people go back to their day," the teacher finished his explanation while the explorers spread around the room. After that, the recruits went around asking more about the roles. Hera wanted to talk to Helena, but first, she wanted to know more about the explorer and the researcher''s roles. Moving toward Omar, Hera and Kenjiro asked him a few questions. The explorer told the two that to learn a role skill they would need to do another test and that the difficulty increased with each role skill they had. The main reason explorers wouldn''t get all the role skills was the difficulty of the test. He also said that the item they get depends on the grade they receive at the test and that it would always help them uncover secrets about the MAZE. He ended up getting just a passing grade, but some who got perfect scores would get even more amazing rewards. Satisfied with the information, Hera thanked the man and left Kenjiro alone with Omar. The recruit seemed to have a lot more questions, mainly about fighting inside the MAZE. She moved toward Darrell, the researcher. Bonnie was already there talking with him. It took Hera a while to figure out what they were saying. Both of them seemed to be invested in a discussion about ways to learn and teach skills and how to improve them. When Darrell finally realized the recent arrival, he stopped the discussion and went back to answering questions. Hera was mainly interested in how the skill would work in someone else''s research. Apparently, first, she would need to understand the research. The skill would make it easier because it would tell her if she had any gaps in the knowledge she needed to understand it. Then she could collaborate and even share what [Learn] told her. She asked a few more questions about how the skill worked and what were its limits. However, when Hera asked if [Learn] could tell her things about a room inside the MAZE, Darrell wasn''t able to answer. He never tried, but it was possible, in theory. Talking some more, Darrell told the recruits that researchers were also an excellent combat class. The ability to learn skills at a fundamental level allowed them to change the skill to strengthen it or target more enemies. It was even easier for a beginner researcher to learn magic than for a beginner mage. Hera thanked him and walked towards Helena, however on the way Mark asked her to show Jasper, the crafter, her bracelet. She showed it to him. It impressed the man. He said that very few recruits had her talents and that being a crafter meant she could make anything she wanted. Her weapons could be tailor made to hunt down the creatures she was after, or she could just sell jewelry that increases the wearer''s power. It was an interesting idea, but she wasn''t as excited as Mark with the prospect. She worked with sales for a long time. It wasn''t something she was keen to go back to. Thanking Jasper, Hera finally arrived where Helena was. She had just finished talking with Alex and Tiffany. Both seemed to be interested in the ways of magic. "Hello sweetie, how are you feeling today?" Helena asked with a smile. "Is overwhelmed an option? The test and then this. It''s a lot to process," Hera replied. "I know. Usually, that test is given in the last week of training. But Greyson thinks it''s better to get rid of the ''weak-willed'' first. Honestly, I think he just gets annoyed when dealing with large classes." They both laughed, Helena could be right. Or at least it would be on brand with the teacher''s personality. "Anyway, I have some questions. I was talking with the other explorers, and I''m not sure what would help you the most. Maybe a researcher would be good, but an explorer might have a better mix of abilities. Being a crafter could help too, since I could make your tools, Or I could be a mage like you said and help you that way. What role do you want for me to help you?" Hera asked, still deep in thought about the role she could pick. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Helena stared at the recruit for a moment. "Hera, what do you want?" she asked, "Forget about what you think will help me, this is a decision about your life. You can''t change that later on. I will ask for your help no matter what role you ch0ose, but first, you need to figure out what do you want to do." Hera was taken aback. She didn''t expect Helena to ignore her questions, she only wanted to help her. Still, after thinking for a moment, Hera realized the mage was right. If she chooses a role because of someone else she could end up missing on something she wanted to do. "I''m not sure. I always wanted to be an explorer, to have adventures inside the MAZE, discover new things and places. But apparently, all roles can do that." Hera finally said. "You are right, all can do that. Which roles you are thinking about?" the mage asked. "Well, explorer seems nice. But I guess it will depend on the item I get. Since they don''t have a role skill to start I imagine they have a hard time early on. Research seems interesting, being able to change how skills behave can be really useful. I thought crafters would have a peaceful life, but after seeing Jasper I''m not so sure anymore." They both laughed at Hera''s comment. "Yeah, he really is something," Helena agreed "Another thing, why did you frown when Frostbite talked about that story?" Hera asked. "Oh... keep this between us, but Janna is not quite what she seems. What she failed to mention was that she had earned a sizeable sum of money to protect the town. Also, her Plan B was to blow up the valley. This seems a good plan until you know that the blast would hit part of the town. She acts all noble and fair, but she was willing to throw many people under the bus to save herself and her paycheck. Don''t get me wrong. It was impressive, just not... Hero like." Hera was surprised. Janna seemed to be so honest. However, Hera knew that some people here good at hiding their true intentions. Even if she could never tell when someone was like that. ¡°Changing the subject, I noticed you said nothing about being a mage. Is that such a terrible concept?¡± Helena pouted. Hera could tell the woman was just teasing her. "Well, I don''t know, why don''t you clear some doubts I have about such a dreadful role." Without realizing, Hera replied in a fake British accent. That reaction only amused Helena even more. It was good seeing the recruit joke around. They talked about what mages could do, but Helena avoided talking about affinities even when asked. It was better to learn the basics before delving into the advanced stuff. A while later Bonnie joined in asking about how spells were made and how could she start training magic. Last, Hera went towards the hunter. She had a tendency to overthink and overanalyze a situation and the [Hunt] skill could be a perfect fit for that. As time went by the explorers left one by one. Aside from the teacher and Helena, Janna was the last one to leave, but only after Blue got three autographs. "Since we still have an hour before lunch, let''s make good use of the time we have. Everyone spread out, Ah''m gonna figure out how to start this bloody thing." The teacher moved to the back of the room with Helena, asking about how to operate the ATR''s systems. The recruits spread around, Hera leaned on the wall while drinking some water. She was still exhausted from the night before. Thinking about the unique roles, a voice, coming from the side, spooked her. "It seems like you lost your edge," Anaya said. "What do you mean?" Hera asked between sips. "C''mon, Hera. That ditzy attitude stopped being funny a while ago. I''m talking about Frostbite and Mr. Greyson. Seems like you lost your beau, and to an older model at that." The woman said the words without looking directly at Hera, but she wasn''t trying to hide the smirk on her face. Hera stared at Anaya for a moment, before the realization finally dawned upon her. Making her choke with the water she was drinking. "Wait. Do you think Mr. Greyson and I are... together?" Hera''s eyes were still watery from the coughing. "Of course. Why else would you get so much special treatment? Get in late on the first day without a problem, and them all the attention you''ve been getting from him. It would only be expected for you to be.. taking care of him in exchange," Anaya said. Hera''s eyes went wide as she blushed. "No, no, of course not. He gave me some advice, but that''s just because I messed up, and the first-day thing was all thanks to Helena." Before she could continue, Anaya interrupted her. "Oh, so you swing that way? I''m not one to judge, but it will be harder for you to stay with a woman like her. You need to take care of yourself to be on her level." Hera twisted her nose. Hearing that she needed to take care of herself reminded her of her mother. She took a deep breath and tried once again to explain. "Anaya, you are getting this all wrong. I won the raffle the guild was having. The next day when I came here, the class was already starting and Helena had to do the paperwork before I joined in. I''m not with anyone nor do I want to be, ok?" Anaya gave Hera a warm smile. "Oh, that makes so much more sense. I''m sorry for getting it all wrong. You are a charity case, of course. The guild has to treat you well. It must be great for marketing. The story of the talentless recruit who dropped out because it was too hard. I can see them spinning this as how only the worthy can be explorers. That will be great." Hera clenched her fist tightly. She wasn''t useless, and why would this woman be saying all this? It was one thing to hear it from her mother, but Anaya had no right to say any of that. She was only kind to others. However, it was the comment about ''only the worthy'' that made her snap. "Anaya, I don''t know what bug bit you and made you so bitter, but you don''t know the first thing about me. So just keep your opinions to yourself. And don''t you think you are too old for this mean girl attitude? You are not in high school anymore." Hera turned around and stormed off away from the woman. Who just stared at Hera angrily. Hera looked around and saw her friends all looking at her with smiles on their faces. "Well, I was going to ask you what role were you thinking about, but after that. I''m guessing fighter. You have some [Fury] inside of you," Leo commented, clapping his hands slowly. "I think you are wrong, she''s gonna be an assassin. We just witnessed her first murder," Blue said, putting way too much emphasis on murder. "Guys, you are overdoing it again," Alex chimed in, "you can''t be supportive if you are that over the top. But I have to say. Well done. That girl was getting on my nerves." "I know, right? She does that with anyone who gets more attention than her. You should have heard what she said to me after I got the [Cartography] skill." Bonnie talked about the what Anaya said to her, and all of her friends seemed to be the target for her contempt at some point during the last week. Hera felt bad for not realizing it. If she had, she could have tried to help them. "Yeah, yeah, she sucks. Now for the important part, before Mr. Greyson figures out how to deal with the ATR. What roles are you guys thinking about?" Blue changed the subject. Hera smiled at her friend. It was nice knowing she wasn''t the only one who couldn¡¯t think about anything else. She looked at the group and started talking. "I have a few ideas...." 42 - Dotting the is When Mr. Greyson finally figured out how to use the ATR, it was already noon. All the recruits were hungry at that point. The teacher agreed, and everyone left for lunch. Hera and her friends went to the food court in the strip mall. The group was discussing the roles the whole time. Leo considered being a fighter, but after hearing about how the [Hunt] skill can affect other skills, he was really interested in being a hunter. Bonnie was split between researcher and mage. Her goal was to use magic even if she had to be in the front lines, but she never imagined that there was a role less dangerous that allowed her to learn about magic even faster. Alex liked the idea of being a mage as well, but she also liked the assassin role. Hiding in plain sight and dealing a lot of damage seemed to be really interesting. She was just worried that being colorblind could give her some trouble when ambushing creatures. Hera was still divided. There were many interesting roles to choose from. Her friends agreed that if she wanted to do many, she could just become an explorer and learn the other roles. The idea seemed nice, but she was still worried about having trouble early on. Blue, however, was the only one 100% sure of the role she wanted. A controller, of course. After seeing Frostbite, she was enthralled with the idea of following her footsteps. Hera wanted to tell the girl the full story, but she had promised Helena not to tell anyone. For now, it didn''t seem to be a problem, but later on, Hera might need to have a serious talk with her friend. Coming back to the guild, with their bellies full and their wallets thinner, the group went straight for the ATR. When they arrived a set of 10 white silhouettes were standing in the room. The teacher was already there, with a satisfied expression on his face. They waited for a bit until all the recruits arrived. "Now that this bloody thing is doing what Ah want, we can start. These things yer seeing in the room are yer new trainers. In the back, I got some training weapons for ye to use. Choose the one ye want to learn and walk toward one silhouette. Show yer bracelet to it and the trainer will register its data in you. Then... Hang on a second," Mr. Greyson cut his explanation short and looked for something in his tablet. The man seemed to read something, Hera could see his lips moving. "Right, after the data is registered, any ATR ye use in the guild will have the same trainer. They all share the same... databale?... no database, yeah that''s right. Ye can also use yer tablet to change its appearance and voice too. Whatever that means. These trainers can teach you how to fight with any of the weapons we have here in the guild. If ye want to use something else, ye need to see if there is a trainer for that. One last thing, because we are in the deluxe ATR... Why this bloody name?... Since we are in the deluxe ATR, the trainers also will put a spell on you to improve yer concentration. That will help ye to learn faster." The teacher stopped staring at the tablet and looked to the recruits. "I advise ye to focus on a single weapon, if ye manage to get a fighting skill then ye can try another one. If ye can''t do it today, don''t worry. Ye will be using the basic ATRs once a day, it just won¡¯t have that spell, and we won''t be here the full day." Finishing his explanation, Mr. Greyson told the recruits to train. Hera walked towards the weapons looking for something she could use. She was already having trouble to decide what role she would take, and now she had to pick a weapon. Swords didn''t fit her very well, and her wrists ache just by looking at the daggers. She noticed a chakram in the mix. She never did tried them out. However, she felt like this wasn''t the right moment for it. She should grab something less complicated, that way she can take advantage of the ATR she was using right now. Finally, she saw a hand axe. When she tried, she got a bit confused with the reach, but aside from that the movement was very comfortable. It was also the first weapon she used to kill something, even if it was just a simulation. She looked back towards the silhouettes. Only Anaya and Kenjiro had chosen their trainers. Hera made a point of choosing the area farthest away from the woman as she could. After she had realized what Anaya thought of her, Hera noticed that the previous conversations between the two of them had very different meanings. She already had to deal with a mother that kept judging her, she didn''t have to deal with another random person doing the same. Arriving in front of her trainer, Hera moved the bracelet towards it and a system message appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for choosing this trainer. Please choose the starting appearance and personality of it. Gender [Male] [Female] [Androgynous] Personality [Warrior] [Sensei] [Personal trainer] [Drill Sergeant] Appearance [Athlete] [Adventurer] [Sergeant] If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.[P.E. Teacher] [Kung-fu Master] Exotics [Elemental Spirit] [Angel] [Devil] [Monster] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera wasn''t expecting that many options. She thought about what type of trainer she would want. However, she caught a glimpse of other recruits already training. She didn''t have time to experiment with its appearance. She quickly tapped a few options, barely looking at them, just making sure not to choose drill sergeant as the personality. The result was an androgynous spirit with a personal trainer personality. Confirming her choice, the silhouette shifted. It became an orange creature with flowing hair and big eyes that had no iris, just a yellow glow coming from it. It seemed to wear fire in the place of clothes. The appearance surprised Hera. She didn''t expect the trainer to look so different, even with an odd appearance. It looked so real. The trainer looked at the handaxe and materialized the same weapon in its hand. It showed Hera a simple attack. Starting with the stem of the axe pressed on its hip and the leg on the opposite side forward. The movement was simple, a quick horizontal slash and then moving back to the starting position. When Hera tried the first time, an overlay appeared around her, showing the movement she made, and the places where her posture was wrong. The trainer also gave her some pointers in a weird mechanical voice. It took Hera a few tries, but after she managed to do the attack without leaving the surrounding boundary a few times, then the trainer showed the next step on the move. Instead of using the axe, she would use her off-hand to push her enemy away while resetting her stance. As weird as it felt, doing it like this would make the enemy always be far away enough to be struck by the axe''s blade. The recruits kept practicing for the entire day. At one point, Mr. Greyson went towards the 9th silhouette and activated his trainer. Even the teacher seemed curious about the effectiveness of the deluxe ATR. When the day was almost over, Hera got a new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hand axe Combat (Rank1) Improves your ability to use hand axes during combat. Techniques that you already learned can be used with muscle memory alone. However, using a technique like this lowers the effectiveness of it. This skill also improves the user''s ability to learn new handaxe techniques and skills. Hand-axe effectiveness increase: 5% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reading the skill Hera was surprised. This skill seemed too strong for being a rank 1, but thinking about it, it wasn''t strange. The skill would only be useful during combat, and if she stopped focusing on her movement, the attack would be weaker. She gave it a go, and it wasn''t as odd as she expected. Moving without thinking about it felt just like walking. She just needed to have the right intention. The second she stopped thinking about the movements, however, the trainer stopped. Apparently, the trainer would only teach if she was doing it consciously. When the class was over Hera and the rest of the recruits were impressed with the results they got from the ATR. All of them got combat skills, and the ones that already had them felt they were genuinely improving. The rest of the training month went by quickly. Hera kept updating her grandma and dad about the new things she was learning, but she never went back to visit during the training. She finally told a few friends about her new job and promised to go out with them to celebrate when she passed the test. When they reached the third week, part of the training became sparring matches with other recruits. Since they only trained with one partner each day, Hera managed to avoid fighting Anaya altogether. Although Blue ended up giving the woman a good beating on their first match. In the week before the final test, Mr. Greyson asked the entire class to focus on the skills [Dodge] [Block] and [Run]. Hera only got [Dodge] and [Run] sadly, she wasn''t used to blocking and founding out that to her, evading an attack was easier. In that week Hera also got the skill [Improved Stamina]. At the end of the month, Hera learned a second combat skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chakram Combat (Rank1) Improves your ability to use chakrams during combat. Techniques that you already learned can be used with muscle memory alone. However, using a technique like this lowers the strength of the attacks. This skill also improves the user''s ability to learn new chakram techniques and skills. chakram effectiveness increase: 5% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After some incentive from her friends, Hera tried it out. It was an incredibly versatile weapon, with a grip in the middle she could use it like a dagger at close quarters and still throw it if she needed to hit something at the range. The problem was having to go after it again. But that would be only a last resort thing. Mr. Greyson talked about being able to imprint your mana into an item so it would show it on the map her skill created, that way she could try to recover it. Before she knew, it was already the Sunday of the final test. Hera got dressed in an outfit that could help move around. All ready to leave, Hera opened her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Civilian Level: 2 Stats: Increase all Strength: 12 Endurance: 12 Agility: 12 Charisma: 12 Intelligence: 12 Luck: 12 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Chakram Combat, Hand axe Combat Improved Stamina Mapping, Observe Active: All in Inspect Hide, Dodge, Run ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Run (Rank 1): Increases the speed and the coordination of the user while running at the expense of increased stamina consumption ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dodge (Rank 1): Increases the judgment of the user when dodging, decreasing the strain placed in the body while doing so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Improved Stamina (Rank 1): Increases the stamina of the user as well as its regeneration. The effect increases when the user is less active or more relaxed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All In (Rank 1): The user can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action. As if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute, The attribute will have bonus increments and at the same time, reduce all other attributes to 11 (10 + level - 1) for 5 hours. Value of attribute when the skill is used: 14,5 Cooldown: 36 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Checking her skills again, Hera felt confident. She had made sure to not waste her [All in] in the last few days, she might need it for the test. Taking a deep breath, Hera looked back to her studio apartment. The next time she came here, she would be an explorer. 43 - The explorers test The recruits were all waiting nervously inside the classroom. No one even tried to make small talk. They were excited, nervous, worried, and anxious. This was the last step. The last thing they needed to do before becoming full-fledged explorers. When the teacher walked into the room, the recruits held their breaths. The man carried a stack of paper. "Good morning to ye all, and welcome to yer last day as recruits. This final test is split into three parts. First, we will do a written exam. Then a small quest inside the maze. Last, learning yer role skill. Well, get into the details of the last two later, for now, grab a sheet and pass the rest along. Ye all have three hours to finish this. If you finish earlier go to the classroom on the other side of the hall and wait there." The teacher gave one small stack to each of the recruits in front of the class. It was an oddly familiar feeling. All the recruits had to take these types of tests during their school years. This, however, was more specific. Hera read a few questions. They were all about survival or dangers they could encounter inside the MAZE. The only problem was the number of questions. She had to answer over 50 questions. Most of them were basic, but some asked very about very specific things like asking which of the rare plants was edible. The recruits stayed silent during the test. When Mark complained about a question, Mr. Greyson''s stare was enough to make them all understand. They shouldn''t be talking during the exam. Bonnie was the first one to finish, followed by Anaya, Kenjiro, and Alex. Mark and Hera finished almost at the same time and left toward the other classroom. "Finally, what took you two so long?" Bonnie asked when Hera walked in. "Sorry, the ones about specific knowledge gave me some trouble," Hera replied. "Ignore her, she''s just testy because she thinks she got a few questions wrong," Alex intervened. "Which ones? I have a few that really messed me up. Like, what is the name of the place where you can find more than a hundred doorways? I can''t remember if it was in the city of Kalidor or Andron," Mark complained. "I think you got it wrong. The name of the city wasn''t Ianua?" Alex replied. "You are both wrong. Ianua is the name of the building, the city is called the City of Dzviery," Bonnie said with absolute confidence in the answer. "What about you Hera, what was your answer?" Alex asked after rolling her eyes at Bonnie. "I... I thought it was more of a philosophical question... I answered ''inside the MAZE''," she replied, lowering her head. During the test, she completely forgot about that city. "Well... you are not wrong... But it''s kinda like saying that the main reason for divorce is marriage," Mark said. The three girls stared at him for a moment before laughing. "Mark, honestly, how do you do that?" Alex asked. "It''s a skill," he replied, scratching his cheek. "No, seriously. That is amazing. I wish I could do that on my family dinners." Bonnie stopped laughing, trying to compose herself. "When I figure out how I got the skill I''ll let you know." He sat down on a chair beside them while he spoke. It seemed like another joke, but Mark''s face seemed a bit more serious than that. "Mark. Do you really have a skill for that?" Hera asked. The recruit only gave a weak nod in response. "Wow, skills can even do that?" Hera was impressed. It was one thing to have a skill that improved her strength. Having one that changes something like how funny she is, just seemed unreal. Sometime later, the rest of the recruits finished the test. With Blue being the last one to arrive. "Wasn''t part of the idea of being an explorer not having to worry about exams?" Blue complained as soon as she saw her friends. "That''s just wishful thinking. There are a lot of things we need to know. Of course, there would be a written exam," Bonnie scoffed. "Oh, bite me. Not everyone gets horny just by seeing books like you," Blue replied, rolling her eyes. "Well, maybe you should. That way you can be more than just a meathead," Bonnie said while getting up from her chair. Alex quickly moved in front of the two girls and pushed them back "Stop bickering for one day, the test is still not over." With a commanding tone, she stopped the two of them from fighting. Inadvertently, that line also made the recruits feel tense. She was right. It was still far from over. A few minutes later, Mr. Greyson opened the door. "Alright, Ah'' can''t grade yer tests right now. It''s too much work to be done quickly. Follow me, yer starting with the second part while Ah finish grading this." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As quickly as he walked in, the teacher walked away moving towards the elevator. During the last month, the recruits got used to this behavior, and they were ready to follow. When the entire class was inside the elevator, Mr. Greyson placed his bracelet on the scanner. With a blip sound, the screen that showed the floor they were heading to, changed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAZE Doorway ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The recruits got excited, looking at each other eagerly to arrive. They could tell the elevator was going down, but it took quite a while for them to arrive. They were going deep underground. When the door opened, they weren''t in a small hallway. But a big open space that looked like a reception. The walls were decorated with light green paint and many weapons, armors, and statues of unique types of creatures spread around in shelves. The room had one hallway on each side and in the middle of it a circular reception desk. If they paid attention, the recruits would be able to hear the sound of a large hammer hitting a steel plate coming from the left hallway. However, their attention was on someplace else. In front of the elevator, on the other side of the room, there was a large 7 meters tall doorway. With a pearl frame that seemed to be filled with small glowing lights. On top of it an intricate design, with a seedling sprout in the middle, and its roots growing and spiraling until they created a circle around it. In the middle of the doorway, there was a heavy-looking set of wooden doors with large iron rings in front of it. "This is the doorway to the MAZE. If ye ever visit another guild, it will look the same, but it will take ye to a different room. This one leads to a room called Brinefront but that won''t be the place yer all going today." The teacher explained while they walked towards the reception desk. "Today, yer are going inside another simulation. But this time, is one made inside the MAZE, not just based on it. Yer also will get yer first quest made by the guild so ye can understand the procedure. Helena, here will help with that." Mr. Greyson pointed at the guild clerk when he finished talking. Helena opened her best greeting smile. "Welcome to the doorway to Brinefront explorers. I hope we can count on you in the future." Being called an explorer made Hera''s heart beat faster. It was finally happening. She was so close to going inside the MAZE. Helena then continued. "After you passed the test, you are free to enter the MAZE as you please. This room is where we gather the materials, items, and anything you choose to bring with you when you come out. We can appraise everything for its value and buy the materials from you. But if you want to sell to someplace else, you are free to do so. If what you want to take away from here is dangerous, we will just ask for either a small transport fee or for you to buy a safe container. But that''s a talk for some other time," Helena said, winking at the recruits. She then activated a screen behind her by tapping on a keyboard. "What you need to know is about the quests. Aside from the quests that the system will give you, you can also take one from the guild. These are always posted by a client who is a civilian or an explorer, and the requirements vary wildly. Some ask for basic things like collecting items or killing monsters. While others may ask to discover secrets and even find ancient artifacts long forgotten. Of course, the harder and more complicated the task, the better the pay is. Some even offer specific rewards along with a sum of gold. The one you guys are getting today is this one." Helena selected the quest and send it to the recruits. They all got a notification on their tablets. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Exam. Client - Explorer''s Guild Find and retrieve a golden chalice inside the simulation. Reward: Passage to the last part of the exam. Do you accept this quest? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You always have the choice of accepting a quest or not. Well... I say always, but there were two cases of mandatory quests. The Great Invasion and the Devil Hunt. According to our records, all explorers received those two quests when they showed up. But those were very complicated circumstances. Anyway, I''m rambling." Helena shook her head and tapped a few more keys on the keyboard. ¡°Back to the main subject. The second part of the test is a group effort. All of you will go to the same place and you need to find the chalices, there is at least one for each of you inside. When you get it, you can go to the next part of the exam,¡± Helena explained while the screen behind her showed a picture of a gem-encrusted golden chalice. "The last part of the test is about learning your role skill. Or getting your item if you are trying to be an explorer. You will go alone on that part. And you also will receive a grade based on your performance. The better the grade, the better the reward you get. I say reward but consider it a bonus on your next paycheck. Don''t expect much, even an A grade will only give you 1 000 gold or so. There are many other ways to get that money." Helena smiled looking at Hera. The skills the recruit found were already enough to surpass that amount. "One last thing. Do any of you have any pets that need feeding while you''re gone?" Helena asked the group. "I have a goldfish, but my parents help me feed it. But why? Are we going home that late?" Bonnie asked. "Well... not quite. The group dungeon will be done in just a few hours, but learning your role skill has a time limit of one week. And trust me, you will need at least five days to get it," Helena replied with a smile, trying not to discourage the recruits. Sadly, it wasn''t very effective. The group complained, but the teacher quickly silenced them. In the next minutes, they received the last instructions about how to operate the doorway and what to do in case something went wrong, as well as giving information on any pets that would need tending during the test. With everything ready, the recruits were lead towards the doorway. The other explorers in the room gathered around to watch them enter. Before starting, Mr. Greyson said had a few words for his students. "Ye spent a month training, and years hoping to become an explorer. This is yer shot. But it won''t be yer only shot. The MAZE is a dangerous place, monsters, traps, and sometimes even rooms will try to kill you. At the same time, ye will find places, creatures, and people that make life worth living. Ah don''t know a single explorer who regrets becoming one. But remember, yer just starting out. Don''t bite more than what ye can chew and don''t waste yer life doing something pointless. Whatever the result, know that Ah''m proud of what ye all achieved this month." Hera felt like she was about to go skydiving. Mr. Greyson''s speech calmed her a bit, but at the same time made her even more worried. The teacher pressed a key on his tablet, and a secondary doorway appeared inside the main one. It had the same blank card as the kobold simulation, but the surrounding design mirrored the one at the top of the big doorway. The smaller door opened, and the teacher stared at the recruits. ¡°Give them hell. Next week we are all going out to drink, my treat,¡± Mr. Greyson said with a smile. The explorers in the back clapped and cheered. "Not you lot! Bunch of vultures. That''s just for my recruits," The teacher quickly replied. Being answered only by boos and groans. Hera looked back and saw Helena giving her a thumbs up and a big smile. The recruits walked inside the doorway and vanished into the white light. The second the door closed, a short man with a long mustache started speaking. ¡°Ok, you all know the drill. Lena throws the recruit''s feed on the big screen. I''m betting 100 that we have two criers and one who forgot to go to the bathroom, who else?¡± The seasoned explores started to bet on various things, while Helena sends the live feed to a big screen on the side of the reception. She wasn''t a fan of the betting, but she really wanted to know how much Hera had improved. 44 - Searching for a path When the door closed, the recruits were teleported to a white room with weapon racks. Much like the room they saw during the kobold test. The notification banner was also there ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to the explorer''s exam! Please choose your weapons. When all participants arrive at the designated area, the next door will unlock. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under the banner, there was a big glowing ring, with a door on the edge. It was obvious that it was the designated area. Hera walked towards the hand axes, picking the one she used during the training. Unlike most of the axes, the blade was a bit wider than the head of the axe. Making it easier for her to hit her target. Even if her aim had improved quite a bit, she was still worried about missing during a crucial moment. After that, she walked towards the chackrams. She looked for one with a handle in the middle, that way she could use it in close quarters. It wasn''t hard to find that one. She was the only recruit who wanted a weapon like that. Ready to go, Hera walked toward the area she had to be in. In just a couple minutes all recruits had chosen their weapons. Leo, as expected, was carrying a spear and a buckler. Blue picked a pair of dark grey armguards that seemed to be very thin in the area around her hands. Bonnie had been practicing with a wooden quarterstaff after getting some advice from Helena. Alex chose a pair of short swords. She wasn''t too comfortable with how close she needed to be for using daggers. Mark picked a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and a short sword, just in case. Tiffany carried a large broadsword on her shoulder that received a few displeased stares from the recruits. She had hit them by accident a few times during the last month, at least it was only when she was walking, and not when she attacked. Anaya carried a glaive with the blade pointed down on her right hand. She also had a pair of daggers on her belt. Kenjiro picked a scimitar, he seemed to have some experience using a Katana, but with the scimitar, his movements were more flexible. With all the recruits ready, and inside the glowing circle, the door opened. All the recruits froze for a second. That vibrating tingly sensation covered Hera''s body. She felt forced to close her eyes. When she finally could move again, they were already in an unfamiliar place. They seemed to be underground once more, but this time, inside some sort of building. The walls were made of thick grey bricks, the same bricks that were used to make the archways around the room. The place was humid and cold. Aside from the noise of the recruits shuffling around, they could hear a continuous dripping sound. "Ok, this is weird, any ideas where are we?" Leo asked ######################## "Oh man, that''s just poor luck," a woman dressed in a long purple robe said. "I know right, that''s one of the hardest exams, I think it only loses for the bees," a man said while holding his bow at the side. "The bees? Are you kidding? Just burn everything up. The hard one is the octopus," a short blond man said. ¡°That''s just because you can''t swim. The octopus is almost a free win,¡± a short-haired girl said while pushing him slightly. "Debate that all you want. I''m betting 500 that the blue-haired chick is the first to quit. Did you see that? She didn''t even pick a weapon," a man with spiked hair said while leaning back on the chair. He then turned to Helena, "Lena, can we order food and drinks here? It''s gonna be boring with nothing to eat." Helena gave him her business smile. "Sure, the kitchen is already up and running. But you can''t buy alcohol here. No one wants to clean up your mess again." Some explorers started to laugh at the man, remembering what happened last time. Helena gave them a few seconds to joke before speaking again. "And I''ll take that bet. 500 the woman with Blue hair will not only finish this test but will be one of the first ones to get her role skill. Can you mark that up, Rot?" The short man with a mustache that was tallying up all the bets just gave her a nod. "C''mon Lena, you are way too confident on that one. Do you have some insider information?" The woman with the long purple robes asked. "I wouldn''t call it insider information since all you had to do was ask. But our little Blue beat the kobold simulation all on her own," Helena replied, pretending to be busy with some paperwork. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The room went silent for a second, before bursting on people wanting to join in the bet. The man who started the bet just stared at the screen defeated, he knew he had just lost 500 gold. ######################## The recruits gathered and explored the room they were in. It was about the size of the training area back in the guild, with two exits, one in the front and one in the back. It took them a while to explore everything since they all had their [Hide] skills active. "Alright, where should we go? Front or back?" Leo asked. They debated a bit, but after a few minutes, it was clear no one could reach a decision. They feared choosing the wrong one and end up failing the test. "Ok, fine," Leo grabbed a pebble and put both his hand on his back. Then he extended both his arms towards the rest of the group, " Someone picks if the pebble means front or back and someone else picks the arm. That way no one is responsible. It was all dumb luck." Tifanny said that the pebble would mean the front, and Mark chose the arm. With that, the recruits walked towards the back of the room. With a silent nod, all the recruits walked in a group, Leo and Blue taking the lead. They had a couple of lessons on group tactics, but it was all theory. This was the first time they would put it in practice. The recruits spent half an hour walking through the path. It seemed to be some sort of prison. |In each new room they found various cells spread around it. With big rusted and decayed metal bars in front of them. The group kept moving until they reached a taller room. It looked like a prison block, with various floors of cells all leading towards a central open area. Leo stood in his fighting stance and was about to move forward when Anaya''s hand grabbed his shoulder. "Wait! Look at the sides, tell me if that doesn''t look like motion sensors," Anaya said while pointing to the wall between the cells in the middle of the room. Embedded into the stone wall there was a small grey device that seemed to resemble the top of a flashlight. Looking to the other side, a similar device was directly in front of it. But this one seemed to have a pair of small lenses. "Nice eyes," Leo thanked her, "Guys, it seems we have some traps here, be careful. Don''t go past the second cell until we figure out what we can do here." The recruits nodded, Leo became the unofficial leader of the party. That eased some of Hera''s tension. It was nice having someone take the lead. Investigating the first set of cells, they noticed that, unlike the other ones, these weren''t empty. Inside each cell, there were various bones and old cloth spread around. At first glance, it looked like a bunch of animal bones, but when Kenjiro pulled one of the pieces of cloth, he revealed a human skull. "Eeek!" Tifanny screamed while jumping back. The recruits scrambled towards the woman only to see the freshly uncovered skull. "You know, the guild has some really messed up sense of humor," Alex said. "Maybe, but this is not fresh, they been picked clean of any meat. Since we are underground and there are no insects or other critters here. That thing should be there for many years, maybe even a decade," Bonnie explained. "Or maybe this is a simulation, and they put the skeletons here just to mess with us," Kenjiro said, covering the skull with the cloth again. Bonnie looked down, she was flustered for forgetting they were inside a simulation. That happened with a few other recruits as well. It was easy to confuse this place as being real. After a few minutes of searching, the group wasn''t able to figure out a way to deactivate the motion sensor. "Shouldn''t we just trigger it?" Blue suggested. "What?" Bonnie asked. "Just trigger it. What''s the worst that might happen?" "We could die, someone could be killed and pretty much anything that ends with someone dying," Mark replied. "Oh, you guys are too scared. I don''t think they would place such a deadly trap in a simulation like this. Or at least they would make it obvious, not hide as they did with this one." Blue kept talking while she walked towards the trap. Some recruits tried to dash towards the door, but Blue activated the sensor before they could reach it. With a loud clank sound, heavy metal bars closed the door the recruits used to get inside the room. Hera quickly spun around, getting ready to be attacked or to run, and so did the other recruits. After a few seconds, nothing else happened. "What was that Blue!" Leo yelled at the woman. "What? No one was doing anything, it was that or going back to the other door, and we''ve already wasted half an hour just to get here," Blue huffed rolling her eyes. "So what? We need to be patient. This is not a game, people can get hurt here." Leo replied. The two of them argued, most recruits joining in with Leo to scold the grappler. Hera was also upset. Not everyone was as sure of themselves as Blue. She was about to move towards Blue to reprimand her as well when a scraping sound coming from above caught her attention. Hera looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. The yelling and complaining were too loud, she couldn''t figure out where the noise was coming from. But it was erratic, and it echoed through the big room. "Guys?" Hera called out. None of the recruits seemed to have heard her call. The scraping sound got louder, and now it was followed by a soft metal clank. "Guys!" Hera called once again. The noise seemed to multiply, Hera could only tell that it was coming from somewhere above the third floor. The recruits still badgering Blue. "Everybody quiet!" Hera yelled at the group. The recruits''s head snapped at her, ready to change the target of their yelling. But once their voices stopped, they all heard the noise. As if waiting for an opportunity, twelve shadows jumped down from the upper floor, falling around the recruits. Hera moved back, wanting to be close to the rest of the group. Looking closely, they could see that something had thrown skeletons from above. The recruits scrambled, Leo and Anaya each stayed at one side of the group. Mark notched an arrow and pointed up, looking for a target. Still staring at the skeletons, Hera couldn''t help but feel there was something wrong. If the idea was to mess with their heads, whatever is up there would throw the skeletons one at a time, and not all at once. Hera focused on the corpse closest to her and the [Observe] window appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skeleton Prisoner (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She stared at the name for a moment, when it dawned on her. It wasn''t the skeleton of a prisoner. The skeletons were the prisoners. Before she could say that to the group. The skeleton in front of her placed one hand on the ground and stood up. 45 - Surprise Undead As the first skeleton rose, the other eleven followed its cue. Soon the recruits were surrounded by the undead. Hera glanced around. It was a terrible spot for them to be. More skeletons could fall from the upper floor at any moment. They needed to get back to a wall, that way at least they could see all the enemies coming. She started to move towards the door they came from when the undead in front of her lunged, the bony hands clawing away at her. Hera pressed both feet on the ground and placed her handaxe on her waist, taking the stance from the first move she learned in the ATR. When the skeleton was in range, Hera slashed at its ribcage with her axe. The impact made some bones break, throwing a few splinters on the ground. The creature lost its footing and fell on the floor. With a satisfied smile, Hera looked around. Alex was at her side, fighting one skeleton. She had spun the creature''s arms around in a way that they became stuck in its clavicle. On the other side, Tiffany had just smashed a skeleton with her broadsword. She swung it on the side, making it look more like a baseball bat than a blade. The undead flew across the room, hitting the bars in one of the closed cells. She split the skull from the rest of the body, hitting the far back wall near a pile of cloth. Hera was impressed, and a little scared of the woman. Getting hit by a swing of that sword would easily knock someone out. Suddenly, a hand grabbed Hera''s ankles. The skeleton she had pushed away was still moving. It clawed at her leg, slashing her calf. Hera screamed in pain and slashed at the creature using both of her weapons. Lucky, she remembered that the fundamental idea was to push the target away before attacking. Using her chakram she started to hit the skeleton''s skull, trying to get a good angle to attack with her axe. The skeleton stopped Hera''s attacks by biting the chakram. Hera tried to pull it back, worried she might lose her weapon, but the skeleton wouldn''t let go of the blade. Seeing an opening, Hera pulled the chakram as high as she could and aimed at the undead''s neck with her axe. In one swift motion, she decapitated the skeleton, making its body fall limp on the floor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap," she thought to herself. Unconsciously she ended up activating her [All In] skill in the first monster she found. Now the rest of the test will be harder since it lowered her stats. Hera shook the skull off of her chakram and stared at the pile of bones, waiting to see if it was still moving. A couple of seconds passed and nothing seemed to happen with the bones, but Hera still wasn''t convinced. She took a step towards the skeleton when she felt someone pushing her. Looking back, she saw Bonnie walking backward while defending against a skeleton with her quarterstaff. Hera was so focused on her own fight that she forgot about the rest of the group. She twirled around, dropping her chakram and placing her free hand on Bonnie''s back, hoping to help the woman recover her balance. Hera then moved a bit to the side and attacked the skeleton with her axe, aiming at its neck. But the creature raised one arm and blocked her attack. Even so, the slash was enough to cut halfway through its forearm, snapping the ulna in half. Taking advantage of the attack, Bonnie pushed the creature back, making it take a few steps backward. Following up, the woman raised her staff above her head and struck the skull of the undead with all her might. A loud crack accompanied the impact, the top of the skeleton''s skull shattered leaving only its face remaining. However, the creature fell limp on the ground. Hera looked back towards the one she had defeated, making sure it would not attack her again. The remains of the skeleton were still spread around motionless. "Aim for the head, they stop moving without the skull!" Hera yelled at the group, trying to convey the new information. "Yeah, no shit. It''s basic undead knowledge that you should aim for the head," Kenjiro replied while finished off his opponent. "That''s only for zombies. Not all undead are the same, you racist!" Mark cried out after an arrow flew past Blue hitting a skeleton in the eye. "Are you really calling me a racist because of that?" Kenjiro asked while he jumped towards the one attacking Alex. "They are a race, and you are grouping them all up in the same stereotype. That''s racism," Mark replied with a playful smile. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Less talking, more fighting. We are not out of the woods yet," Leo intervened, shutting the two men up. That minor exchange was enough to lift some tension around the group. Having people joke around during a fight gave the impression that the situation wasn''t so dire. ############################## "That laddie will be a good party leader someday," Greyson said. He was watching the group with the other explorers, although he wasn''t taking part in the betting. "Someday? To me, he is already doing a pretty good job," Helena commented. "He wasn''t able to stop Blue. And during the fight, he only talked once. A good leader would change formations and strategies. Not just focusing on his own fight," Greyson explained. "Honestly Calvin, you are too strict. They are doing fine, no one got badly injured and they are all in the room together. You know that most times they split up, and that always goes badly." Helena had watched many groups doing this test. It was one of the hardest ones, not because of the strength of the monsters. But because of the number of traps and gimmicks that the simulation had. "Ah guess yer right. It also helps that Blue is carrying the group. She dealt with three skeletons on her own." Greyson watched the Blue haired woman toss one skeleton into the other. The move made the bone stuck together. When that was done, she quickly popped their heads out of the socket like she was playing with a toy. With that move, the last of the skeletons were defeated. The recruits seemed to celebrate, but the explorers watching only shook their heads. "Ah guess we can see what they are made of now," Greyson said while staring at one of the cells on the screen. ############################## "Blue, you are terrifying you know that?" Alex said, still staring at the woman. "Why?" Blue asked while holding a skull. "That''s why. No normal person would be doing that," Bonnie intervened while pointing at the skull. "Oh, stop being such a baby. It''s a simulation nothing here is real, and even if it was, everyone here has one of these inside their head," Blue replied moving the jaw of the skull as if it was the one talking. "Yeah, that''s a bit too grim Blue," Leo pointed out while staring at the girl. "You guys are no fun," Blue rolled her eyes, tossing the skull inside one of the cells. "Spread around, see if that opened an exit or something." With Leo back at his leader persona, the group spread around looking for anything that had changed. Hera did her best to focus on the task at hand. But something was bugging her. The noise she heard before the attack wasn''t just bone. There was a metal sound in the mix, and none of the skeletons carried any weapons. She was looking at the door they came in from when she saw a chain hidden behind a grating. Even in the low light, coming from seemly nowhere, Hera could follow the path the grating took. It would go up to the ceiling and then towards the sides of the room, as well as towards a closed wooden door in the back of the room. Hera followed the chain with her eyes until it disappeared right above the motion sensor. She leaned into the wall, trying to see where the chain stopped. The chain vanished behind the grating two meters above the ground. Using the cell bars as footing, Hera tried to climb part of the wall to see where the chain would go. "Hera? Whatcha doin''?" Blue asked while placing her hand on Hera''s back, giving the woman a better footing. "There is a chain in the door, it seems to be connected somewhere around here," Hera replied, doing her best to climb to see the chain. "Where?" Blue asked, looking around. A few moments later she noticed the glimmer of metal coming from above the door, "Oh, I see it. Wow, how did you notice that?" "I''m not sure, I just ..." before she could reply, Hera placed one foot in the wall. However, the rock shifted, making Hera lose balance. If it wasn''t for Blue helping wouldn''t be able to keep her footing. When the rock became loose, Hera and Blue looked at each other with big smiles. They quickly pulled the rock, trying to remove it. Noticing something was happening, the rest of the group joined in the efforts to remove the rock. When they took the rock out of the wall, they revealed a large iron chain behind it. Carefully, the group tried to pull the chain. It took four recruits to pull it. Leo, Blue, Tiffany, and Kenjiro, the ones with the highest strength stat. When the chain began to move, not only did it move the two doors to the room, but all cell doors started to move as well. The group let go of the chain to think of a plan before going forward. "We can push the rock under the door, that way it will hold it open," Anaya suggested. "Yeah, that can work. But that thing is heavy, we need to place it fast," Leo said. "The three of us can do it. Me, Kenji, and Tif. I can focus on positioning it while the two of them can push it quickly to avoid any problems." Leo considered for a moment. Six people could be enough to pull the chain. Placing the loose rock under the door quickly was the best option. "Ok, let''s do it." The group helped move the rock as close to the wooden door as they could. Then, leaving Anaya, Kenjiro, and Tifanny near the rock, the rest of the recruits moved towards the chain. "Everyone ready?" Leo yelled. In response, Mark let go of the chain. "C''mon, do it right," He said with a smile. Blue started laughing. "Yeah Leo, how can we know who is supposed to be ready?" "If you do it, I buy you a drink after this," Alex said. Leo turned to Hera, hoping the woman would help him. "Sorry Leo, but they are right. You need to do this the proper way," Hera said with a playful smile. "Traitor!" Leo gasped. Letting out a lengthy sigh, he then yelled. "Spartans! Are you ready?" "Yes, sir!" the group replied, already laughing. "Now stop joking around and pull!" Leo yelled once again before everyone started pulling the chain. It took a while, but little by little the door rose. After a few moments, the door was high enough to be held by the rock. Hera looked towards Anaya''s team just in time to see the three of them running under the door without setting the rock to hold it. Inside the room, she could also see a golden glimmer coming from something on a table. "Anaya, are you done?" Leo yelled. "They are inside!" Hera replied. "What the hell, Anaya?!" Leo shouted towards the door. The group let go of the chain, making the door close once again. The last thing Hera saw inside that room was Anaya picking up the golden object. 46 - The first to go Before any of the recruits could take another step towards the wooden door. A gigantic skeleton hand opened the cell door in front of the recruits. The skeleton that left that cell was twice as big as the other ones, it had three arms and more bones in the legs than it should. Two deformed skulls seemed to share a spot at the end of its spine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skeleton Aberration (Simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the crap is that?" Bonnie gasped. "I have no idea. Blue?" Leo asked. "I just know I Wanna fight it," Blue said before charging at the beast. "Blue, wait!" Hera yelled, trying to stop the woman. The two-headed skeleton swiped with its weirdly shaped claw towards her. Followed by a second attack with its right hand making a fist. Blue redirected the swipe and moved closer to the aberration. She was ready to dislocate a few bones when the creature''s third arm came crashing down. Worried for her friend, Hera rushed towards Blue, hoping she could help her in some way. Having the same thought in mind, Leo dashed with Hera. Together, they struck the third arm, delaying it just enough so that Blue could move out of the way. Unlike Leo, Hera had to step on the creature''s claw to reach the arm aimed at Blue. One of the skulls turned towards Hera, it''s empty sockets staring down at the woman. Following that, one finger of the claw that Hera had just stepped on, bent backward and struck her like a whip square in the chest. Hera fell on the ground, gasping in pain. Alex rushed towards the fallen recruit and pulled her back, while Leo, Blue, and Mark kept attacking the monster. Passing Hera to Bonnie, Alex jumped back in the fight, carving the creature''s right arm with her short swords. "Hera, try taking a deep breath," Bonnie said, right before an arrow fly past her aimed at the creature. The woman was panicking, but she did her best to seem calm for her friend. While the other five kept fighting the aberration. ######################## "Yes! I told you, someone always betrays the group. Now give me the gold," the woman in a purple robe said. "Seriously, Kat? Why do you always make that bet?" the short blond man said. "It''s human nature, we care more about ourselves than about others. It takes a lot of willpower to fight that. I''m just playing the odds. So far I got quite a sum just with this type of bet. You need to be less na?ve, Cicero," the woman shrugged. "Fine. It¡¯s still a dick move, both from you and form the three that ran. I wouldn''t want to party up with someone like that," Cicero fixed his blond hair and crossed his arms, staring at the screen. "And yet, that is exactly the type of thing that some jobs require. Producing results, no matter the consequences," Frostbite chimed in. She arrived with no one taking notice. They were all too focused on the recruits. However, one look at the controller was enough to understand why she was here. Janna wore a navy suit and tie, with golden embroidery of a sun rising on the horizon on her chest. Everyone in the room knew what that meant. She wasn''t here as an explorer but as a headhunter for the New Dawn. "So, did I miss anything else or things have just begun?" Frostbite asked. "Ye lost them walking around. Anaya pulling that crap is the only unexpected thing," Greyson replied without looking at her. Janna just nodded and stared at the screen. She was used to being treated like this by the more traditional explorers. They failed to see how the backing of an enormous company was a powerful tool. Looking at the recruits. Blue, Leo, and Alex were fighting well on their own. Even with the trio attacking the same target, each one of them was doing their own thing. More than once, Janna saw the lancer almost hit Blue or Alex. When Blue redirected the attacks aimed at her, the other two had to step away. That would make them lose momentum and never be able to stagger the creature. Still, there was some potential there. ######################## It took a while, but Hera caught her breath once again. After getting up, she stared at the monstrous undead in front of her. Blue was keeping two of its arms busy while Leo took care of the third. Alex kept attacking it, chipping away at the bones. And Mark kept shooting arrows, aiming for its head. Hera waited for an opening where she wouldn''t get in the way of her friends and lunged toward the creature. She planned to attack the joints, and hopefully, make some bones fall off from the skeleton. Jumping to the side, Hera made a point of being in the opposite direction of Alex. Between her and Leo. That way, if the lancer was going to hit her friend, Hera could do something. The five kept attacking the creature, not having any luck in dismantling it. But the undead seemed to become more frantic as time went by. Even if the monster still had all its bones, multiple strikes against it were dealing with some damage. When the creature attacked Blue with both hands at once, Hera saw an opportunity to strike at the creature''s neck. The same way she had done with the skeleton she fought. She dashed towards the creature, ready to jump on its back when Bonnie yelled. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "No! Get away!" The yelling distracted the group. They looked back towards Bonnie and saw a skeleton holding a large rusty sword approaching her. The aberration took advantage of the situation. With a swipe it sent Hera, Alex, and Leo flying towards the wooden door. Forcing herself to get up quickly, Hera saw the aberration in front of her. Bonnie was on the other side of the room, terrified of the newly arrived skeleton. Hera tried to pass the giant skeleton, but it lashed out, blocking her path. "Blue, help Bonnie. We take care of the big guy!" Leo yelled. "Are you sure?" Blue asked, still staring at the aberration. ¡°Yes, Just go!¡± Leo replied while he blocked the creature''s claw. Hera looked at Leo. She wasn''t sure the three of them could fight that creature. And yet, they had no other choice. It took Hera everything she had just to block or evade the undead''s attacks. She wasn''t doing any damage to it, but at least it the hits she was taking were manageable. "Leo, make it raise its claw," Alex yelled. The man wasn''t sure what she wanted to do, but any idea was welcome. There was no way to win a battle of attrition against a creature like that. Leo jumped and attacked the skeleton, but its claw blocked the spear. At the same time, Alex dove under the claw, heading towards the creature''s torso. Hera saw one hand moving towards Alex and jumped in front of it. Using all her strength, she redirected the attack away from her friends, but that made an opening for the third arm that came swinging down on her. She was able to move away fast enough not to be crushed by the attack, but the impact was still strong enough to smack her into the wall. Having hit her head on the stone, Hera took a few moments to get back on her feet. During that time, she could have sworn that the creature had swallowed Alex whole. Hera shook her head and looked again. Alex had crawled inside the skeleton ribcage and was climbing towards its head. The undead seemed to be very displeased with the situation. Its third arm was trying to grab Alex. Luckily, the arm was too big to fit inside the ribcage. Mark stopped shooting arrows at the sword-wielding skeleton that Blue was holding off and shot at the aberration. The arrows barely did any damage, but when Mark hit one skull, it was just enough to distract it from Leo''s attack. Hera jumped in, focusing on the creature''s claw. It was the only part of it that seemed to be able to harm Alex inside the ribcage. That was just Hera''s assumption, but she didn''t want to have any confirmation on the matter. When Alex reached the base of the creature''s neck, she placed her short swords inside both skulls. Pulling them down, trying to use her weight as leverage. When she gave a push, placing her feet near the makeshift clavicle of the creature, Alex felt her swords were about to break. With a sickening crack, the left skull''s neck snapped first. Making one of the creature''s head fall to the ground. The undead roared and thrashed around. Hera and Leo had to jump back not to get hit by its arms. Alex held on to the ribs of the creature, trying not to be caught in the frantic attacks. It took less than ten seconds for the aberration to stop and fall into its knees, losing some control it had over its body. Seeing the creature on the ground, Leo charged towards it, hitting the second skull and piercing it with his spear. Without both heads, the creature crumbled into a pile of loose bones. Alex crawled from under the pile of rubble while Leo stopped to catch his breath. Hera ran past the remains of the skeleton. Bonnie and Blue were still fighting an undead. However, by the time she got there, the fight was over. The skeleton had lost both its arms and one leg. Blue was holding it in place while Bonnie seemed to get ready to attack. "Let them be, Blue is helping Bonnie lose some of her fear," Mark said when Hera got close. "She could have helped us," Hera replied, a bit annoyed with the woman''s attitude. "Before you guys popped one of the heads, Blue only broke the arm it had the sword in. When it was clear, you had thing under control she did that," Mark explained pointing at the helpless skeleton grappled by the recruit. Hera understood why Blue did that. Bonnie was brilliant, but fighting wasn''t her forte. A few minutes later, Bonnie destroyed the skeleton Blue was holding. Then, the group tried to pull the chain once again. To their surprise, the chain was much lighter than before. Mark noticed that only the entrance and the wooden door seemed to move. Leo and Blue embedded the skeleton¡¯s sword on the floor to use it as a spike then, the group pulled the chain with ease. Wrapping it on the rusted sword. With both the doors open, they placed the bolder under the wooden door as a safety measure and went inside the room Anaya and her group had disappeared into. It was a small room, with an old square table in the center, and four chairs around it. But what caught the eyes of the recruits was the gem-encrusted golden chalice in front of one seat. "This is the one we need, right?" Blue asked. "It looks like it. And by the dust rings in the table, there were three others here. I''ll give you one chance to guess what happened to them," Alex replied, pointing at one mark on the table. Blue kicked a chair with all her strength. "That pretentious, nosy, backstabbing, bitch." "Blue, let it go," Hera said. "What? Are you telling me to forget what she did? Those three could have helped a lot back there," Blue huffed, staring at Hera. "I''m not telling you to forget it. But right now we have no way of doing anything about that. We need to focus on finishing the test, then we can think about confronting her." Hera hated confrontation, but Anaya had just put her friends in a dangerous situation. That is something she can''t forgive. "Tsk. Fine," Blue said turning her attention back to the chalice, "after last room we all agree on who should take this one right?" "No arguments here. It''s pretty obvious," Alex said. "I kind of wanted it, but I know it shouldn''t be me," Mark chimed in. "It''s the one who deserves the most after all," Leo nodded. "Do you even have to ask?" Hera replied with a smile. "Yeah Blue. Without you, we couldn''t pass that room. I probably would have failed. Thank you for helping me. You should take it," Bonnie said. She tried her best to seem confident, but recent events had shaken her. The group stared at Bonnie with puzzled expressions. "What are you talking about?" Leo asked "Yeah, why would this one go to Blue?" Alex stared at Bonnie. "Oh. My. God. This is amazing. Miss perfect, can''t even read the room," Blue teased the woman. "What do you mean?" Bonnie asked weakly. Blue rolled her eyes. "Just come here take your chalice." "What?" Bonnie''s eyes went wide. That one was hers? "Bonnie, you helped us study. Without you, we probably would fail the written test. Also, we all know you are not much of a fighter. Take the chalice, and show us what you can do as a researcher," Hera said. Bonnie looked up and all her friends had approving nods. "T... Thank you," she replied while walking towards the chalice. Before picking it up, Bonnie gave Blue a big hug. "I owe you guys a drink after this." She said before picking the chalice, a tear rolling down her face. "A drink? Oh no, miss brainiac. Any time we need a researcher we are going straight to you. And you better give us the family discount," Blue said just before an egg-shaped light covered Bonnie. A few moments later, the light disappeared taking the recruit with it. 47 - The road not taken "Ok, that was weird," Blue said, staring at where Bonnie was a second ago. "Yeah, shouldn''t that thing be brighter?" Leo asked. "Really? That''s your problem with that? Not the fact that it was like inverted hatching," Mark huffed. Hera stared at Mark for a moment. "Holy crap, you are right. It looked like she was going back to the egg!" she exclaimed. The group laughed a bit and took a few minutes to rest. They used the table to block the hallway and made it sure to be sitting facing outside. Resting, they tried to talk about something to ease the tension. But each noise coming from the hallway made them even tenser. "You know. If this were a movie, we would be the guys in the intro that seem to survive but die when something comes from the walls or something like that," Mark commented. The rest of the group stared at him for a second and quickly got up, moving towards the exit. "Nope, nope, nope. After that I''m not staying here," Alex said, pushing the table out of the way. "That''s worse than saying ''at least it can''t get any worse''. What is the matter with you?" Blue asked, moving towards the door. "Mark, even if you have a skill you really need to tone it down," Hera said, staying right behind Blue. "I''m just talking about movies!" Mark said. While they passed the corpse of the skeletons Hera couldn''t help but stare at the pile that once was the aberration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skeleton Aberration (Simulation) - Remains ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Did anyone try to inspect these?" Hera asked, pointing towards the bones. The group shook their heads. "I didn''t have time to stop and inspect them. Do you think that could have helped?" Leo asked. "I don''t know, but I don''t think it hurts to try," Hera said. She stared at one of the skulls and activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skeleton Aberration (Simulation) Humanoid - Undead - Manufactured A malformed amalgamation of bones that came together due to long exposure to the elements. It can also have been handmade in a laboratory. Its claw is used to cut and maim its enemies while the arms are used to crush them. These creatures are created by a powerful being and will follow its commands unless the core of the creature is destroyed. If the creator is dead, the creature will wander around aimlessly attacking anything in sight. A skeleton without a master is little more than a feral beast. But in the presence of a leader, it becomes a cunning enemy. Weak to blunt attacks and magic attacks that have the opposite element of its creator. The version created by the simulation is weaker than the ones that exist inside the MAZE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera told her friends what the skill said. "Ok, if that thing was smarter we would have been dead. Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean," Leo said, surprised with the information. "The other ones are pretty much the same, aside from the created in a lab part," Mark said. The group had run out of options in this place. They had no way to go to the upper floors, and aside from the wooden door that leads to the chalice room, there was only the path they took to get here. It took them a bit less than twenty minutes to go back. Knowing the path and having a smaller party helped a lot. Reaching the room they started at, the recruits investigated the remaining path. After a corridor with the same dark and appearance there was a small stone door. When they opened it the connected hallway had a completely different feeling. Unlike the one they took before, it was wide, and well kept. It didn''t look like the corridor of a prison but the hallway of a castle. "Quick question, if those things were the prisoners. Does that mean that whatever put them there can be stronger?" Hera asked. The group stared at her for a moment before understanding the meaning of what the woman just asked. "Crap, we should have a full party here, right?" Blue asked. "Probably, but we''ll have to make do. Stay low and don''t make any noise," Leo commanded. The five nodded and activated their [Hide] skill. Moving slowly through the hallway, Hera kept looking around. She noticed the tapestries on the wall picturing open flower fields and blue shores. A few candelabra were embedded on the walls, and the candles lit. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "This is too weird. Why would undead be in a place like this?" Hera asked, "I know, right? This is too nice." Blue replied, staring at the tapestry. "Guys, be quiet," Leo said. They kept going through different hallways, each of them had a beautiful tapestry of a landscape. Forests, mountains, meadows, beaches, and lakes. Each one was more ornate and detailed than the last. "OK, what the actual hell? We''ve been walking for almost half an hour and we only see these things. No markings, no noise, just tapestry. It''s starting to freak me out," Mark said. "I know it''s all so weird. Do you think the undead weren''t supposed to be here?" Leo asked. "I don''t know, but honestly. This is getting boring," Blue commented. "Blue, I get that, but what if this was the real deal? We could die at any moment," Hera said. "But it''s not. Why pretend it is real?" Blue scoffed. The group kept talking while explored the area. Hera kept noticing a symbol on the edge of the tapestries. It was a pair of waves crashing into each other, forming a shape that resembled a crown. It''s placement varied, but it was always in one corner. Hera was trying to find any sort of hint about what they needed to do through the tapestries since they were the only thing that changed. In one of them, Hera noticed that the symbol seemed different. It blended with the background in a way that an olive branch split the middle of the makeshift crown. After about one hour of walking, the group reached a large entrance. Double doors went all the way to the 5 meters ceiling adorned with ocean-themed carvings and a pair of sea turtles in the middle. The last thing the recruits noticed was that the door had a small opening. The group stared at the door, and before anyone could say anything. Alex activated her [Hide] skill and quietly moved towards the opening. She peeked her head inside and saw twenty skeletons in the middle of a large hall that looked like a ballroom. Some torches flickered with a low light, giving the entire area an orange hue. However, the biggest problem was the skeleton sitting on the floor on the other side of the room. Even while sitting, the creature almost hit the ceiling, but she wasn''t able to see its face. A pair of big brass chandeliers were in the way. The skeleton also had some sort of heavy silver armor. Behind it, there was a long dinner table, and Alex was able to see a few golden glimmers coming from it. Explaining the situation for the group, Alex suggested that they each took turns looking inside to understand what was going on. One by one the recruits looked inside the room, each of them coming back with a grim expression with Hera being the last one to go. When Hera peeked inside, she saw the same twenty or so undead, and the big one in the back. Activating her [Observe] the 20 skeletons all had the same name as the one she fought before. However, the one in the back caught her attention. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ King Gwendelan (Illusion) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The king was not a skeleton, nor it was appearing as a simulation. Could that be just a decoy? She shuffled back to the group. "¡­ if we do a hit and run, I think we can drag this fight all the way back to when the hallway gets smaller," Leo suggested. "But it''s going to take a while to get there, we will run like hell for a long time. Shouldn''t we find a closer place?" Mark asked. "The problem is the big guy, if he can''t pass these doors we will be fine. But what if it can?" Blue said. "There is one other thing if the big guy is a leader, wouldn''t that make the skeletons stronger?" Alex asked. The group stared at her for a moment. Before letting out a lengthy sigh. They had completely forgotten about that. "Guys, I''m not sure the big skeleton is a thing," Hera chimed in. The group stared at her with puzzled expressions. "Didn''t your observe show the name? It says nothing about being a skeleton or a simulation. It is calling it an illusion." "Wait, your observe could reach that far?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I''ve been practicing it since we got it. I think the range increased, but it''s still rank two. Anyway, the big guy has a different name, and it''s marked as an illusion. The little guys are the problem, but maybe we can use the chandeliers," Hera suggested. "How?" Mark asked. Explaining her plan, the group reluctantly agreed to it. It all came down to the big guy being a fake. If it wasn''t, they would have a colossal problem on their hands. But Hera made a convincing argument about the test having to be beatable. The guild wouldn''t make something impossible to finish for a bunch of recruits. Hera and Alex activated their [Hide] skill and went inside the ballroom first. While the other three stayed right by the door, waiting to hear the signal. Hera pointed to the chandeliers and then to the chain holding them in place. They would need to split up to break them at the same time. The skeletons in the middle of the room were all staring at the big one, unmoving. The recruits walked quietly towards the sides of the room. Being careful not to make any noise or sudden movements. The chains weren''t exactly in the middle of the room as Hera hoped. To reach them, the two would need to pass the skeletons a bit. That was risky, Hera had no idea how wide their vision was, or if they even could see. She got closer to the chain, moving as quietly as she could. Reaching her target, Hera looked back, trying to see if Alex was ready to go. The woman was already there. They gave each other a signal and proceeded to remove the chains. The chains were wrapped around a big metal clasp. To remove it, Hera had to unwrap it without making any noise. The two recruits carefully worked on the chain, being mindful of the noise not to attract the skeleton''s attention. After some time, the chain Hera was working on weighed heavily on her hands. It was getting harder and harder to hold it in place. She was almost done when the chain escaped her grasp and fell to the ground, making a loud noise with the impact. Shocked, Hera looked at the skeletons, all of them facing her at the moment. Panicked, she keeps trying to remove the rest of the chain but it got jumbled up on the floor making it harder to move it around. Looking back, she saw the skeletons slowly advancing. Hera focused on the chain, trying to remove it when an even louder noise comes from the middle of the room. Terrified the big one was moving, Hera turned her head towards the skeletons and saw that a chandelier had just fallen in the middle of the group. Destroying almost half of the skeletons with the impact. With the noise, Leo, Blue, and Mark rushed inside. Some skeletons noticed the movement and walked towards the recent arrivals. Grabbing the bundle for chain, Hera freed the second chandelier, making it fall into the ground. Sadly, because of the timing, the impact only destroyed four skeletons. Leaving the remaining seven for the group to deal with. Hera rushed back to her group. Being surrounded by enemies wasn''t a good idea. Luckily, in a big open room, they could maneuver around the skeletons. In a few minutes, the five recruits had defeated the surviving monsters. The giant skeleton remained still during the entire time. They walked towards the tables in the back of the room. Hera and her friends stared at the big skeleton, being careful with each step they took. The giant had some cracks on its skull and a crown that looked like a pair of waves crashing at each other. The armor was adorned with a sea themed ornaments, including a pair of sea turtles on the shoulders. When they got closet to the giant skeleton a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hidden task completed Gwendelan''s mission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 48 - Choosing a Role "Did everyone get that?" Mark asked. "I did, What about you guys?" Blue replied. The whole group had gotten the notification. Hera tapped on it to read more about that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gwendelan''s mission When his kingdom''s soldiers turned into undead, the kind king sacrificed himself. Using an ancient holy ritual, he became the ruler of those undead. Unable to kill his fallen soldiers, he waited for a group of heroes strong enough to destroy all the undead inside his castle. As a thank you, the king bestowed upon the heroes a gift. Each member of the group can open one chest behind the fallen king to receive your reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the...? Why would he turn into an undead just because some soldiers turned?" Alex asked. "And why didn''t he just kill them himself? This mission is too weird," Leo chimed in. "I''m more concerned that guild didn''t tell us about this," Hera said. "Yeah, I wonder why no one mentioned it," Blue said. While they talked, the giant skeleton started to become translucent. It was getting harder to see it with each passing moment. In less than half a minute, the giant had disappeared. Fifteen chests were revealed, all of them were under the illusion. "Oh, we got a nice prize!" Mark beamed. "If we split them, it''s three each, that''s a nice haul," Leo said. "Not gonna happen," Blue said already in front of a chest, "the message says we can only pick one each." That was a bit of a letdown, but they still could take the contents of one chest. That was more than what the other recruits got. "So... any idea of how to choose?" Hera asked. The group stared at chests. They all looked the same, wooden with old iron locks. They seemed to have some sort of painting around them that was faded. The only thing that seemed to be well kept was a seashell ornament above the lock of each chest. "I don''t know, I''m just going to pick one," Blue said. The woman walked towards the closest chest. When she reached for it, a notification appeared. She pressed, and the chest opened on its own. Inside there was a single bronze seashell. "So... is it good?" Mark asked. "No clue, it just says to bring it back to the guild," Blue replied. Alex and Mark chose the chest they wanted and picked a seashell precisely like the one Blue got, but the one they got was silver. Hera opened a chest and found a silver one as well. Leo, the last to pick, got one made of wood. "Why did I get the worst one?" he groaned. "Maybe that one is the best. Since it''s made of something more natural, and this place is all about the sea," Hera said, trying to cheer him up. The man just waved her off. Hera got curious about these seashells and activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gwendelan''s Favor (Simulation) Grade: Silver A token of gratitude from Gwendelan. It represents the friendship of the king. The item generated by the simulation has no value inside the MAZE. To receive a reward for finding this item, contact the Explorer''s Guild. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do you guys think this Gwendelan dude is real?" Blue asked. "Well, I''m not sure. It seems too elaborate for a test. Maybe it''s a way for the guild to show us a bit of what is actually inside the MAZE," Leo replied. "They could just be showing how the missions inside the MAZE are. Mr. Greyson said that each room is its own pocket world," Hera chimed in. "Yeah, but is it that far? Like with kingdoms, kings, heroes and villains, and everything else?" Mark asked. "Why not? We know that there are people who live inside the MAZE and that some creatures are intelligent. What if the explorers taught the creatures about our society and they just made their own," Alex said. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "What about the first contact protocol? We shouldn''t interfere with growing civilizations," Mark exclaimed. "That''s just something you see in movies. There isn''t a law about that," Blue said. "Shouldn''t we worry about that later? We still have a part of the test to finish," Hera interrupted. The group moved towards the table at the back of the room. It was a long wooden table, with twenty-one chairs around it. One of those chairs was grander than the others and had another seashell design. It was clearly the king''s seat. Around the table, the recruits saw fifteen gem-encrusted golden chalices. "I guess this was the intended path," Alex mumbled. "Yeah..." the group replied, staring at the chalices. Hera took a deep breath. This was the moment she worked so hard for. After taking this chalice, she would be on the last part of the test. Finishing that, she will become an explorer. She could feel her hands shaking. Thoughts that she managed to push away came running back. Was she good enough? Could her mother be right when she said she wasn''t strong enough to live like this? Shaking her head, Hera stopped the questions. It was her dream. She had come this far and she sure as hell would not give up now. The rest of the group had hesitated for a moment, but not as long as Hera. However, seeing the turmoil in the woman''s face, they gave her some time before doing anything. When she looked calmer, Leo asked. "Everyone ready?" The group nodded in agreement. "See you guys on the other side, the last one to get out owes the rest a round of drinks," Alex said. "Forget that I want a slice of cake," Blue replied. "I''ll take a double cheeseburger," Hera said. "This is not a restaurant If I''m the last one you guys are getting drinks," Alex cried. They laughed for a moment before reaching for the chalice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chalice retrieved Moving to the completion area ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A soft light enveloped Hera''s vision, forming a cocoon around her. The light began to grow brighter and brighter. Making Hera close her eyes. She felt warmth around her. Thinking about the reverse hatching commenting, she couldn''t help but laugh. "Am I going back inside the chicken?" she said to herself. A few moments passed, and the light faded. When Hera opened her eyes, she was in a big white room, just like the one she got her weapons at. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congratulations on completing the test of the Undead King Please deposit your weapons on the indicated area and proceed to the blackboard to see your results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned. She was supposed to leave her weapons here? That seemed weird. She wasn''t sure if there weren''t going to be any more battles ahead. She placed her handaxe and her chakram on the marked white table. The weapons seemed to dissolve in the sand and vanish from her sight right after she set them. Hera jumped back, worried that it was a trap of some sort. But after a few seconds, nothing else happened. Looking around, Hera saw a blackboard and walked towards it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Results Trial: Test of the Undead King Mission accomplished Hidden mission: Completed Role compatibility: Fighter: D+ Mage: A Assassin: C- Hunter: C+ Researcher: B+ Crafter: D- Healer: F Controller: C- Explorer: B- Please walk through the door corresponding to the role you wish to take. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the board for a moment. It was nice to see her compatibility. But she wondered how the simulation got that information. None of the recruits used magic or tried to make something. How could it talk about being a mage or a crafter? After a couple of minutes thinking about that, she realized that this wasn''t the moment to do so. She was still in the middle of the test and had one week to complete it. She looked around and saw nine pearl white doors around her. Each of them had a symbol and a name tag on it. Hera spent the last month thinking about what role to choose. Even now, she was still divided. She wanted to use magic, but being a researcher seemed even better. She could learn so much searching for ruins and things no one else saw. If she became a crafter, she could spend her days making jewelry and other trinkets. It was a hobby she had ever since she was little. Being a hunter and even a controller could also work very well. She liked the idea of knowing her enemies as well as controlling the battlefield and helping the group. In reality, there were too many options, and that made it easy. Even if it wasn¡¯t the best match to her compatibility. Since she didn''t know what to pick, she could simply choose them all. Hera looked towards the door with a compass above it. She walked towards it and placed her hand on the frame. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to choose [Explorer] as your role? Yes No ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes and walked through the door. ################################## "So... No dropouts, that''s a bit rare," Cicero said. "Not in my class, it ain''t. If they can''t even beat this, Ah won''t bother teaching them," Greyson claimed. "Yeah, right. I''m sure even the great Greyson had a few dropouts," the woman in the long purple robes, said. "If ye like Ah can show ye my graduates, Katrina. Never a recruit that made it to the last test dropped out with me as their teacher," Greyson said. "As much as I hate to give his ego room to grow. That''s true," Helena chimed in. A few explorers stared at Greyson. It was an impressive feat. Even if the man was known for being ruthless. "Fine, but what were those chests at the end? I''ve never seen those in a test," Cicero asked. "Really? Those are part of the secret mission, every test has at least one," Katrina replied. "What? Seriously? My class barely complete the test, and you are telling me that there was more?" The man cried. While the two explorers talked about the test, and the rest were busy with the bets. Greyson approached Frostbite. "So, did ye get what ye came for?" he asked. "Yes, there are some up-and-coming candidates. And don''t worry, Calvin. I''ll talk to them during graduation, not before," she replied with a smile. "Great, so that means we are even. Don''t come asking me for this kind of crap again," the instructor barked. Janna just gave him a nod, which made the man walk away. It was a shame he couldn''t see the value of working for a big company. Even worse was having to use one of her owed debts like this. But a job is a job. Since New Dawn wanted some fresh recruits to groom, she could only do as they wanted. Luckily, aside from Blue, who already was a fantastic controller even without the skill, Anaya had the type of personality they asked for. Someone who will complete their task at any cost. Janna walked away from the reception and towards the elevator. Now she just had to wait and see who would be able to complete the last part of the test. Then she could start recruiting them. 49 - What to explore? When Hera walked through the door, her body froze. That numbing tingly sensation covered her once again, and her eyes were closed shut. A few moments later, she regained control of her body, Hera had just arrived in what looked like a forest, with large green trees all around her. The smell of grass and flowers, the singing of the birds, and the sunlight that would shine between the trees, that gave the entire area a fairytale-like atmosphere. Before Hera started walking, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role test: Explorer The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test. This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities. Current discovery progress 0% []????????????? []????????????? []????????????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the words. It was an excessively broad mission. There was nothing to give her a direction on how to start. What if there was something hidden under a rock she needed to find? Or if a specific tree had a specific marking that needed to be deciphered? She let out a lengthy sigh. Hera never expected the explorer''s test to be easy, but this seemed unreasonable. On the other hand, she was in the middle of a forest that came right out of the books she read when she was little. A small part of her was happy that she had the chance to explore the entire area. Before starting to move, Hera tried to understand her surroundings a bit better. There was a constant bird chipper, but no noise from the trees. That was odd. The noise reminded her of wind and small critters moving about. But nothing was moving in the forest. No small animal was walking about, no wind rustling the branches, not even bugs zooming around. Unsure if this weirdness was part of a room or just of the simulation, Hera started walking. She had no idea where she should go, but standing around wouldn''t help. Doing her best to find any hint of the path she should take, Hera heard an unfamiliar noise. She kept walking towards this new noise, not recognizing it at first. After a few moments, she realized it was the sound of a river. For the first time since she began the exam, Hera realized how thirsty she was and dashed towards the sound. The trees were still the same even here, but soon the earth soil gave way to a rocky area, with a clear water creek running in the middle of it. Hera walked close to the riverside and was about to grab some water with her hands when she stopped. "Calm down, Hera. Remember what you learn. Every time you find a source of water, you need to check it before drinking it." She grabbed a small rock and tossed into the river, seeing if anything would come out. She waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing came to the surface, and the stone she tossed was lying still at the bottom of the brook. The second step was to see if any animals drank that water. Hera looked around, trying to find any markings or tracks that could show that animals came here, but to no avail. She followed the creek, hoping she could find some sign of life near its headwaters. Her throat was dry, and she was feeling lightheaded. Still, Hera pressed on, wanting to make sure if that water was drinkable. After hiking for a few minutes, Hera saw a larger rock sticking out of the riverbank. On top of it, there was something that looked like a giant green apple. "Is that a real apple?" she mumbled to herself. If it was, she could not only quench her thirst but also eat something. But it was too obvious. It felt like a trap. Hera picked a tree branch and approached the rock. When the thing was in range, Hera poked it with the stick. It was surprisingly soft, almost as if she was poking a pillow. She gave a harder push, trying to topple it. Suddenly a hole appeared, spinning around and closed around the tree branch. Snatching it from Hera''s hand and throwing it in the river. "What the hell do you think you''re doing!" Hera''s eyes went wide in shock. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.The apple was... speaking? A pair of big blue eyes appeared above the hole. That now, Hera could see it was actually a mouth. "So? Why the hell are you poking me with a goddam stick?" the apple yelled in an unexpectedly deep voice. "I''m... sorry?" Hera replied weakly. "You better be! I was having a nice long nap, and you wake me up like that? What is the matter with you?" "I just.. Thought you were an apple. The stick was to make sure it wasn''t a trap or something like that," Hera said. The apple opened its mouth a few times as if trying to find the words to reply. "Why, for the system''s sake, would anyone put a trap in the middle of a forest?" the green apple asked. "Well, this is a test, right? I don''t know what to expect. I''m thirsty and hungry, and you kind of looked tasty," Hera replied. "If you are thirsty, just drink water from the river. And hungry, just eat some bark or whatever you humans eat. What do I have to do with any of that?" The apple jumped up and down, spinning in place to face Hera more easily. "Can I drink that water? I wasn''t sure I could, so I was trying to see if any animals were drinking from it." "Oh, for the love of... Don''t tell me you are here without even having the observer or inspect skills," the apple rolled its eyes. Hera needed a moment to process that phrase. Seeing an apple talk and roll its eyes was offputting. When she gathered her thoughts, she realized. Using [Inspect] or [Observe] never even crossed her mind. She looked down, blushing a bit before replying. "I... forgot I could." "You, forgot...." the apple shook its body like a disapproving teacher, "Kid, you need to step up your game if you wanna get through this. Otherwise, you''re screwed." "I''ll keep that in mind. Thank you," Hera replied. She stared at the apple creature for a while, still trying to figure out how it could be alive. "What?" the apple asked. "Nothing, sorry... do you have a name?" Hera asked. "Yes, I have a name. Do you think only humans can have names?" the apple creature huffed. "No, I didn''t mean like that. You are just the first talking mons... creature I''ve ever seen, so I''m not sure how this all works. Can we start over? I''m Hera nice to meet you," She attempted to hold out her hand but changed her mind midway giving the apple a slight bow. "Oh, that was creepy. Do you always go around bowing to people?" the creature asked. "Well, no. But you are not actually people," Hera replied with a smile. The apple squinted while staring at the recruit. "Touch¨¦, maybe you are not as slow as it seemed. I''m Peaches. Nice to meet you." "Peaches? But you look like an a..." "I LOOK LIKE WHAT?" Before Hera could finish the sentence, Peaches yelled towards her. Hera was taken aback, not only by the reaction but by the fact that even without a nose or eyebrows, peaches seemed to be frowning. "Like an... an... adorable teddy bear. Calling you a fruit seems unfair," she finally said. Peaches squinted even harder at Hera. "You know, I don''t like you. Too flattery, too absent-minded. Get lost so I can go back to my nap," the creature said while looking back towards the creek. Hera frowned, why Peaches was so mean to her? She did nothing to deserve that. All she did was poke him with a stick... Wake him from his nap... Treat him like a monster¡­ Said she wanted to eat him¡­ And called him an apple... Realizing she was in the wrong, Hera agreed that it was better to leave him alone. The problem remained, she needed some information. "I''m sorry for disturbing you, Peaches. And I don''t want to cause you any more trouble, but can you tell me what''s around here?" she asked. Letting out a lengthy sigh, Peaches turned around again. "Around here? There is a forest, then trees, then forest, then trees, more forest over there, and more trees that way, a bunch of wood through there and more forest here. What else do you expect to find in a place like this?" While talking, Peaches tilted his head towards various directions, Hera paid attention to where he pointed. It almost formed a compass rose. She picked her tablet and quickly made a note about it on the map, along with marking the point where he mentioned wood. It could be nothing, but it was a weird way to talk about trees. "Thank you. I''m just going to drink some water and be on my way then," she said. "Why are you telling me? Just do whatever you want," he grumbled. Hera kneeled near the water and activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mineral Water H20 - Polar inorganic compound Title - Universal solvent Water from a mineral spring. This drinkable water is rich in calcium and magnesium. It is considered hard water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There weren''t any apparent problems, so Hera drank some water. It was colder than she expected, and it had a distinct flavor very different from the water she would buy in a store. It was more refreshing in a way. Hera looked at Peaches, who was still with his eyes open, looking at the forest. She wanted to know what type of creature he was. However, remembering what happened when she used that skill on Helena, she thought it was better not to invade his privacy. Before getting up, Hera washed her face with the water. "Thank you for your help. I will be going now," She said, unsure if that was the right thing to do. Peaches just looked at her before closing his eyes. Hera started walking in the direction he said there was wood. For some reason, his phrasing was bugging her. She moved closer to the first tree before looking back at the river. That giant talking green apple was there, unmoving as an old man resting by the river. Before leaving, she quickly activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peaches ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She let out a sigh. "Well, I guess it was too much to ask." Turning around, she kept going in the direction of ''wood'', hoping she would find some sort of clue about what to do next. As she left, the giant talking apple opened his eyes and saw a notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Target by low level [Observe] [Disguise] in effect ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Honestly, this new batch has no manners," Peaches mumbled. 50 - New set of quests Hera walked for half an hour towards the direction of what Peaches called wood. Looking at the trees, she groaned loudly. She had noticed a while back the trees seemed to be stuck in a loop. After a few meters, they would all repeat the same pattern. From the positioning of the roots to the leaves in the branches. It was like someone copied one picture and pasted it all over the forest. This pattern was messing with Hera''s head. She felt like she was walking in place. Thankfully, her [Mapping] skill was expanding the map on her tablet. That was the only thing that gave her some confirmation that she was moving. She found no landmarks, nothing different or unique, and no living creatures. Not since she had left Peaches near the creek. "Ok, the wood idea was crap. Maybe I should go back," she said. "No, I mean, it''s still just a 30 minutes walk. Let''s go for an hour. If I find nothing, I''ll go back," Hera said as her walk became more motivated. "Good Idea, Hera. You need to be willing to do the hard work in order to pass this test. But also be careful, you know, don''t push yourself more than you should." "No, you need to dedicate yourself to this, that is the only option." "What is the point if you end up hurt? Do your best, but keep your limits in mind." "Oh, and who do you think you are to tell me what to do?" "Who? I''m you!" Hera stopped for a moment. She spent the last five minutes, not just talking to herself. But having an argument on her own. "If I find nothing else here, I''m going to go crazy. I mean, crazier." She kept moving and talking. As weird as it sounded, at least it was some noise. It was better than hearing the wind making the same sound over and over again. When Hera was about 45 minutes away from the creek, the trees gave way to a small open field. In the center of it, there were a few houses surrounded by a low wooden fence. There was also an archway with a big wooden slab that read "Woodland." She stopped for a moment, staring at the name. All the houses seemed to be made from wood. Hera couldn''t find a single glimmer of metal around the cottages. "Honestly, the system''s naming sense is awful," she said before walking towards the village''s entrance. Seeing it closely, Hera could say that this place looked more like a homestead than a village. There were only five houses inside the fence. Not only that, but there were also four people standing around in front of the houses. An old man in a farmer overall with a large straw hat, a young girl wearing a medieval peasant dress, a strong, tanned woman, dirty with what looked like soot. Near the entrance, there was also a person wearing leather armor with a green hood that covered their face. Hera approached the entrance, activating her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Heyden the hunter (simulation) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, he does look the part," she mumbled to herself. As she got closer, the hunter raised his hand towards her. "Halt, who goes there?" he said. "Hi, I''m Hera. I''m here for the explorer''s test." Hayden withdrew his hand in a mechanical motion. "Greetings, fellow traveler. I hope you find what you are searching for in our small town," he said in a monotone voice. "... Thanks? Can you tell me something about this place?" Hera asked. "This is the town of Woodland. It''s not much, but it is home. We live simple lives here, but these past weeks there''s been some trouble." "Wait, didn''t you call me a fellow traveler? But you live here?" Hera asked. "Woodland is my home. I''ve always lived here," Hayden replied. "Ok... and what is the trouble you mentioned," Hera asked. The hunter gave her an odd feeling. His face being covered by the hood didn''t help with that. "Quite a few problems appeared in the last month. Farmer Frank lost his trusty rake. Betty, the blacksmith, is having trouble getting materials for the tools she makes. And Little Florence can''t find any more flowers to sell. There are also a few monsters who keep trying to invade the town. Something is making them more aggressive, but I can''t go look for the cause, or the town will be defenseless. Say, you look like a seasoned warrior, would you be willing to deal with the monsters?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Triggered: Monster attack Hayden, the hunter, needs help to stop the monster attacks. Discover the cause of this behavior and put an end to the monster''s incursions. Reward: If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.Information on a secret of the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That was... easy," Hera mumbled. She would need to fight some monsters, but at least that would let her find a secret. She still needed a weapon, though. Maybe she could get one with the blacksmith. "Hayden, I can help you. But is it ok if I talk to the others first?" "Thank you, traveler. I hope you find what is causing the monsters to act like that. Please, come in and talk to the other residents." "But I just asked... Nevermind, thank you." It was weird talking to the hunter. He seemed off somehow. His words were mechanical and cold. There was no feeling behind it. Hera walked inside the homestead and went to talk to other residents. Farmer Frank and Florence, the flower girl, gave Hera the same eerie feeling. It was like hearing a computer say a phrase, and their faces were always with the same expression. Florence looked like she was sad even when she talked about how much she loved the flowers. Frank never lost his satisfied expression, even when he said that without the rake, there would be no food in the city. At least she had gotten two new quests. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lost Rake Frank, the farmer, lost his rake while picking water from the creek. Find and retrieve the rake near the water spring. Reward: Information on a secret of the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flowers no more Florence, the flower girl, can''t find flowers anymore. Discover a new place where she can harvest the flowers near Woodland. Reward: Information on a secret of the forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With that, Hera could finish the mission. After all, there were only three secrets in the forest. "Let me double-check," she said to herself. Opening her tablet and looking for the first quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role test: Explorer The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test. This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities. Current discovery progress 20% [X] Discovered Woodland [X] Found Peaches [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess not," she sighed. There were more options now, and since she already discovered two of them, maybe the other options could have a more significant completion rate. If so, it would be easier to finish it. If not, she would need to find 8 more secrets to complete the mission. "This is why they give us a week then. Just walking from the creek and back will take a couple of hours." Hera closed the mission and looked towards the blacksmith. The woman was staring at her with an annoyed expression. "So that''s the only face she makes, I guess," Hera said. Walking towards the woman, Hera opened a big smile. "Hello, I''m Hera. Hayden said you might be in some trouble. Could you tell me what is going on? Maybe I can help you with something." "Finally, I''ve been waiting for you to come here, you know," Betty huffed. Hera was surprised. Not only she had a more natural way of talking, but Betty''s expression changed as she spoke. It felt more natural than talking with the other residents. "Sorry, I didn''t know you were waiting for me," Hera apologized. "It''s fine. I just need some help to get some materials to make the tools Frank asked. My problem right now is that to make the shears he wants, I need a lighter metal that can only be found when you kill monsters around here." Betty said. "Ok, what type of metal you need?" "We call it liquid metal. You can find it when you defeat the same type of monster that is trying to attack the town. For some reason, the ones coming here don''t drop the metal," the blacksmith explained. "Ok, and what monsters are attacking. I have no weapons on me, so I need as much information as you can give me," Hera said. "They are some awful creatures. With wide, unblinking eyes, a thick goo oozing out of them. They slither through the ground and devour everything in their path. Honestly, those things give me nightmares," Betty shivered. "Ok... that seems really bad, I''ll see if I can find one before trying to fight it. Do you have any weapons or things that I can use? I''m not confident in going against them, barehanded." Hera asked. "Oh, I have a few weapons in stock. It''s kind of boring just to do farm tools, so I practice doing other stuff. What kind do you want?" "I really enjoy using a handaxe and a chakram. Do you have anything like that?" Betty stopped for a moment and thought while scratching her chin with one hand. "Yeah, I think I do. But I''m gonna need it back when you finish killing the monsters, ok?" Berry finally said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Triggered: The blacksmith''s plea Betty, the blacksmith, needs a material that is dropped by monsters. Retrieve 10 pieces of the material and give it to Betty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the mission. Why was there no mention of a reward? Maybe this was just so she could have a weapon here. It was a bit of a letdown not to have more information into the secrets of the forest, but it seemed fair. "Sure, I''ll help you. Can you tell me where the monsters live?" While Hera spoke, a loud growl came from her stomach. Betty smiled, hearing that noise. "Sure, but do you want to eat first? I was just about to have a late lunch." "That would be nice, thanks." Hera thanked her. The two of them got inside the blacksmith''s house and ate a veggie stew Betty had prepared. Inside the house, Hera could see a small forge and the weapons she talked about on a table. The dinner table was already set, and they quickly started to eat. The food was more delicious than Hera was expecting. Although it was a simple stew, it had a rich flavor and even some spiciness to it. During the lunch, Hera tried to ask as much as she could about the place they were in. Sadly, Betty only seemed to know things about the town. Most of her answers end up going back to the same patter ending with, "I don''t go out much, my bad." Despite Betty having a more natural reaction to everything, it was clear the woman was also part of the simulation. Hera''s [Observe] confirmed that. When they finished eating, Betty took Hera outside and pointed to a house next to them. "If you get tired, you can sleep over there, it is an old house that no one uses, but it has everything you need. A bed, a bathroom, a table, and a chair. Oh, and before I forget, here is a pouch and a waterskin. You are going to need those if you are going to walk around here," Hera thanked the blacksmith and went inside the house. She wasn¡¯t going to sleep yet, but she really needed to use the restroom. Looking around, it was a simple wooden cabin with one bed that covered the back wall''s length and a wooden table in the middle and a secondary door with the letter W.C. engraved on it. Hera tossed the pouch and her weapons on the table and rushed to the bathroom. When she opened the door, she almost forgot she needed to go. The bathroom was a standard bathroom. With ceramic tiles, a toilet, a sink, a mirror, and even toilet paper. It gave off a completely different feeling from the rest of the homestead. By all accounts, it was a bathroom she could use in the outside world. Before doing what she needed to do, Hera picked a square of toilet paper and tried to leave the bathroom with it. The second it passed through the threshold of the door, the toilet paper dissolved in her hand. A few minutes later, Hera walked out of the house, ready to explore this strange forest. She thanked Betty once again and left the tiny village towards the southeast. According to the blacksmith, that was the best place to find the slimy, slithery monsters. 51 - Time to Hunt During the last two hours, Hera only saw the same tree pattern over and over again. If it wasn''t for her [Mapping] skill, she would have no way of knowing where she was. Betty had said that the monsters lived southeast of the town, but she never mentioned the distance. Hera looked at the shadows from the trees. They never changed. The light in the sky was the same too, even though Hera couldn''t see the sun. After spending a few hours walking around, this place had lost its charm. Sure, it was still beautiful, but there were many problems with the area. The repetitiveness of it, the lack of sun, the sound that didn''t match what was going on around her. The more Hera looked around, the more she found things to nitpick about. "Look, that branch there. It''s completely different from the others. Instead of some natural jagged shape, it''s almost like a curved line. And why is it bent to the side? There is no wind to do that," She said to herself. Hera had embraced the idea of talking to herself. Not only did it help her organize her own thoughts, but it was also a nice change from the constant wind sound she kept hearing in a loop. With her tablet in hand, she opened the map once again, to make sure she wasn''t deviating from her path. If the creek followed a straight line south, she would be meeting it soon. "Maybe Peaches took a stroll, and we end up meeting down here. Peaches was the one... Person?... Creature? Let''s go with NPC. The one NPC who seemed more natural. Betty had a lot of expressions, but what she could say was limited. Peaches, on the other hand, was very lifelike, at least for a talking green apple. I swear that is the only reason I wanted to talk to him again. Not because he is so cute," Hera said. Distracted by her thoughts, she failed to notice a yellow puddle in front of her. She slipped on the yellow liquid, making her do a one-legged split on top of the puddle. "Ewww, please tell me this is not pee," Hera groaned after seeing the color of the liquid. While getting up, it only took her a moment to realize that there was something wrong. The liquid had a dark yellow color, and it was viscous, it felt almost like honey. She rubbed the goo between her fingers, trying to understand what it was when she felt a burning sensation covering her hand. She quickly got up, shaking her hand hoping to remove the liquid from it, when she realized that the thick sludge was still stuck to the puddle, and now to her legs as well. Using her nails, she scraped the goo from her body. The burning sensation was increasing with each passing moment. She grabbed the thick strand of the sludge going from her hand to her legs and tried to pull it out with all her strength. While doing so, she felt something hard in her palm. Suddenly, the goo started to move. It let go of her arm and legs and wrapped around the hand that had just started pulling it. The sludge burned Hera''s skin even more. The feeling before was comparable to being in the sun for too long, but now it was like holding out her hand above an open flame. Hera jerked her hand back and shook it with all she had, but the liquid seemed to grasp her even harder. She made a swinging motion, trying to make the sludge drop to the floor. As Hera thrashed her arm around, part of the goo hit the floor and splattered away. At the same time, the grip it held in her hand loosened. Realizing that, Hera whacked her hand into a tree. It hurt to do so, but with each strike, the sludge seemed weaker, and the pain became more tolerable. "Get. Off. Me," Hera yelled while hitting the goo into the tree. Her hand was hurting. She wasn''t sure if it was by the impact against the bark or by the burning of the goo. But she couldn''t stop. Each swing had to be stronger than the last, or that sludge would end up burning her hand off. After a few moments, that hard object inside her hand seemed to crack, and the goo lost all viscosity, falling into the ground as if it was nothing more than water. Unsure of what just happened, Hera stepped away from the liquid. The sludge dissolved in thin air, leaving only a wet spot where it landed. She looked at her hand. There were some light burns and scaring, and a few of the hairs she had on her arm were gone. She also had that thing inside her hand. It was a round shell with some fissures. It looked just like a hazelnut seed, but it had a bright yellow color. Staring at it, Hera activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Broken slime core (Simulation) Type: Yellow The core of a slime creature. It controls how the rest of the body moves. In most cases, the core stays in the center of the slime''s mass, even when it changes shape. The quickest way of defeating a slime is to destroy its core. Yellow cores come from a highly acidic slime. All slimes break down their prey inside their body to absorb the nutrients. However, yellow ones can do it at an accelerated rate. The simulated version shares the instinct of its real counterpart. The version created by the simulation is weaker than the ones that live inside the MAZE. Stolen novel; please report.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the core for a moment. That thing wasn''t burning her. It was trying to dissolve. The thought made Hera shiver. Being melted down by gastric fluids would be nightmarish. "Are those the monsters Betty talked about?" She looked back towards the wet spot on the ground, where the sludge had dissolved. "They are slimy, slithery, and can easily give haunt someone¡¯s dreams. I guess it matches the description," Hera said. Looking around, she scanned the area for more of those creatures. First looking for more puddles, she wasn''t able to find any of them. Then Hera looked for other places where the slimes could be hidden. She found nothing on the ground or in the bushes. Even the trunks of the trees seemed to be empty. Only when Hera looked above, towards the leaves of the trees, that she found what she was looking for. Sitting in one of the twigs, lay a large green blob. It even had some jagged parts that made it look like part of the foliage. Hera slowly stepped away from it, worried that the creature would jump on her. Realizing that the slimes camouflaged themselves in the environment, she looked around once again. To her dismay, she found half a dozen slimes spread around the forest. Hera moved back to the path she took, always searching for the slimes. She quickly grabbed her tablet and marked the point where the slimes appeared. She was close to where the creek should be, and since the slimes were liquid, maybe the water could help her. But at the same time, it could also make things worse. What if the water made them bigger and stronger? She decided to go to the creek and try to see if there were any slimes around. She also wanted to wash her hand. There was not only a sticky feeling on it, but it still hurt from the acid. Hera activated her [Hide] skill and started walking towards the creek. Luckily, the stream was exactly where she expected. It seemed to make a straight line south. She looked around, searching for the monsters, but found nothing. Feeling a bit more relaxed, she proceeded to wash her hands. The water stung her hand, but it was refreshing. Hera noticed a small stream of red leaving one of her fingers. The slime ended up hurting her more than she realized, or it happened when she bashed her hand repeatedly against the tree. For a moment, her eyes went wide, thinking about what would happen if there were more slimes on the tree she hit. Hera brushed off those thoughts and finished cleaning herself. She grabbed the handaxe and the chakram and walked toward the forest where the slimes were. It didn''t take long to find the creatures. Now that she understood how they hid, she could focus on that. The first one she found was a green slime on the edge of some bushes. Getting ready to attack, she stopped and activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Slime (Simulation) Type: Green A sentient gelatinous goo. It hunts by trapping its prey inside its body and slowly breaking it down with its digestive juices. It is a slow creature that use the environment in order to hunt. The green variety secrets a fluid that puts its prey to sleep while it is being eaten. The simulated version shares the instinct of its real counterpart. The version created by the simulation is weaker than the ones that live inside the MAZE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Great, so each one will do something different," Hera sighed. She walked closer to the slime, trying to find its core. It was hard to see inside the creature. Hera had to get closer to even understand its full shape. Unable to find the core by looking at it, she remembered what the description said about it staying in the center of mass. With no other option in her mind, Hera took a chance. Holding her handaxe tightly, she slashed the slime aiming at its middle. Almost half of the slime fell to the side, motionless. The rest of it bounced off to the side at a speed that Hera wasn''t expecting. She quickly took a step back and stared at the creature. It went back to its motionless state, but Hera could have sworn it was staring at her. She moved quickly towards the slime, ready to strike it once more. The monster was ready for the attack. When Hera got close, the slime pulled itself back and lunged like a snake. Surprised, Hera smacked the creature to the side using the chakram. This time only a small piece of its body was severed from it. Stepping back, Hera circled the creature before striking again. However, she was meet with the same response. It was nearly impossible to see where the slime was looking at. "Maybe it''s not about sight," she thought. Without looking away from her prey, Hera searched for a rock in the ground. At that moment, she felt something wet. Before she could react, a second green slime snapped at her hand. Hera smashed the slime into the ground and hacked away at it, trying to hit its core. "That will not work a second time!" She kept hacking away at the slime, pulling it apart with each slash of the handaxe. The first slime started to move towards her. Hera''s eyes kept darting back and forth between the slimes. Cutting enough of the slime off her hand, Hera pulled her arm away from it. The creature seemed to have problems with keeping its shape. It was almost like a puddle, with a moss green pebble in the middle of it. The small stone seemed to spin, pulling some of the liquid to cover itself. Hera quickly attacked the slime''s core. It took her a few tries, but she broke it before the first slime reached her. She turned around and prepared for her attack. She charged, using her chakram as a feint. When the slime lunged at her, she stepped to the side and slashed the creature with her handaxe, cutting another good chunk of it. She repeated the process a few times until the slime lost the ability to maintain its form. With a cold smile, Hera stared at the creature. "I won," she said just before slashing the core. Her back was already starting to hurt. Fighting a creature that moves so close to the floor was troublesome. She looked at the wet spots that showed where the creatures died. "I guess I went a bit overboard," Hera said. She picked the cores, one of them was cut in two pieces, while the other had cut in the middle, but it was still a single piece. Placing both cores inside her satchel, Hera noticed a slight silver glow on the ground. It was smaller than a leaf, and it seemed thinner. Hera picked it up, and it felt like holding a piece of a plastic bag. It stuck to her hand and wrapped around her fingers. Worried that was another slime, she quickly activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Liquid metal Biomineral A compound generated by a slime that ate many minerals. Blacksmiths use it to make lightweight equipment. It can also be used to produce electronic components due to its high conductivity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, so this is the metal Betty needs," Hera looked back at the forest. So far, it had a one in three chance to drop. It wasn''t so bad. "Ok, Let''s do this, maybe I can finish it all before nightfall. Well... if there is night here." 52 - Slime Frenzy Hera''s satchel was getting full. She spent the last hour hunting slimes. Aside from the green ones, she also found a few yellows and a brown that released a dizzying stench. She tried stomping them, but it only made the slime crawl up to her leg, leaving her with the unfortunate task of using a blade to defeat the creatures. By the end of the hour, her back was killing her. Right now, Hera was going back towards the creek. She did that every so often, worried about going too deep inside the slime territory. The creatures seemed to reappear as soon as she left, although that helped her get the metal. It could be a problem if she needed to go through the forest and back. Arriving at the creek, she washed the slime gunk off her hands and splashed her face with water. She was feeling tired, way too tired from being this early. "Actually, what time is it?" She picked her tabled and looked at the clock. Her eyes went wide. Was her tablet working? How could it be past 7 pm? She looked up. The sky was still as blue as always, without a hint of dusk. Quickly getting up, she opened her Map and made her way back to the city. Hayden had mentioned that the slimes were attacking the city at night if even the village wasn''t safe. What would happen to her in the middle of the forest? It took her two hours to get here. Maybe if she ran part of the way back, she could shorten that time. Hera kept moving as fast as she could without wearing herself out. The last thing she needed was to be exhausted when the creatures attacked. After one hour of running, Hera was getting close to the village. According to her map, it would only take her around half an hour to get there if she kept going at that pace. Sadly, when she was only fifteen minutes away from the village, the sun disappeared. It wasn''t like it had set, the way the light vanished made it look like someone had flipped a switch and then it was night. The only good part of it was that there was something that looked like moonlight covering the forest, even with nothing in the sky. Hera looked back towards the path leading to the slimes. Even if they were coming, there was no way they would be here quickly. It took her a long time to get here. It seemed like she could move a bit slower. Hera stopped running. She was exhausted. Thinking about why she ran, Hera felt silly. It made no sense. The slimes are so slow that it would probably take them all night to get to the town. They still had to make all the way back too. That thought lingered in Hera''s mind for a while. They have to go back, and she didn''t saw any slimes on the path towards their area. If they were coming from there, there was no way they all would die in front of the town. Even if this was a simulation, some slimes would still run away. Right? As if replying to Hera''s questions, she heard the sound of a water balloon hitting the ground near her. She looked towards it and saw a slime on the dirt. That creature wasn''t like the ones she saw. It was red, and it was giving off a soft glow, almost like it was a glow in the dark sticker. The slime jumped towards a tree, using part of its body as a vine, then it swung to another branch closer to Hera. After seeing the creature, Hera booked towards the town. If there was one of those around, there could be more. She wasn''t sure if the slime wanted to attack her, or if it was just heading to the village, but she didn''t want to stop and find out. While running, Hera kept looking back. The slime was getting closer, and now more of them appeared. All of them had different colors than the ones she fought earlier that day. Afraid of being swarmed by the creatures, she refused to stop moving, looking back and forth between her path and the slimes approaching so she wouldn''t receive a surprise attack. As she looked back, Hera saw a light in the corner of her eye, coming from between the trees. That slight distraction was enough to make her trip in one of the roots in the ground, falling face-first in the dirt. She tried to get up quickly, but a large shapeless creature landed on her back. Hera rolled to the side, trying to squash it with her weight. But that only made the slime spread around her back. She saw a few other creatures approaching, and some that had swung past her seemed to turn back. Not wanting to be cornered by the monsters, Hera got up and ran towards the light she had seen. At the same time, she kept hitting her back with the side of the handaxe, trying to find the slime''s core. Soon, she arrived at a big flower field that seemed to be glowing with white light. She looked back at the slimes that were chasing her. It was hard to see them moving between the trees, even with the soft glow they gave. But in the middle of that field, not only would they lose the ability to swing in the trees, but the light could help her see them coming. Hera rushed towards the center of the field, still trying to remove the slime at her back. However, the creature simply let her go and went back to the forest just as Hera was about to cross into the flowerbed. Not sure of what was going on, Hera kept going towards the middle of the flower field. Reaching a point where she believed it was safe, Hera spun around, grabbing her handaxe, ready to defend herself against the slimes. To her surprise, the slimes weren''t following her. Looking around, she could see the shadows moving among the trees, but when they started to get close to the flower field, they changed directions. Unsure of the reason. Hera stepped gingerly through the flowers. One of the possible explanations was that there was something even more dangerous around here. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. She tried to put some more distance between her and the trees. When she was comfortable enough, she looked at the flower and activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moonlight Guardian Flora - Shrub A close cousin of the Cestrum nocturnum, also known as Night-Blooming Jasmine. During the day, the flower was a greenish-white color, but at night they change to bioluminescent ivory coloration. Unlike the Night-Blooming Jasmine, this flower releases a scent that repels weak monsters, emulating the presence of a stronger predator. When ingested, its toxicity level is several times higher than that of the Night-Blooming Jasmine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the description for a moment. "Really? Isn''t this a bit too useful?" she mumbled. She couldn''t smell anything coming from the flowers, but according to the description, that was expected. Still, that was the first time she ever heard about this plant, and she wasn''t familiar with the name Night-Blooming Jasmine. She would need to look it up later. Hera walked toward the edge of the flowerbed, being careful not to attract any slimes. She took a couple of the flowers and tossed them deeper into the forest. This time, the slimes didn''t seem to be bothered by the smell. The flowers also lost its glow the moment Hera plucked them. "Ok. Should I just wait here for sunrise? But what if something else shows up? And what about the town?" Hera stayed in the field for a few minutes, thinking about her options. It seemed safe to be in the area, but at the same time, she had no idea what else could be around. The town was also in danger. Sure, they were all part of the simulation, but could she let them get hurt? Even if they were odd, they still talked to her, asked for her help. Betty even invited her for a late lunch. "It doesn''t matter what they are. They need my help. Besides, what if the machines take over and see that I abandoned an AI?" Hera stopped for a moment after saying those words. "I''m spending too much time around Mark," she sighed. Looking at the map, Hera walked as close as she could to the town without leaving the flowerbed. By the distance, it should be a ten-minute walk. She crouched down towards the flowers and tried to scoop the dirt under them. That way, the roots would still be intact. It took her a couple of tries, but she eventually grabbed a piece of dirt with a considerable amount of the flowers still glowing. It broke her heart to see the mess she had just made. This was a beautiful place, and it wasn''t fair to destroy it like this. She didn''t have time to be sad. She needed to get to the village as fast as possible. Holding the flower, she started to walk, her eyes darting around the area, looking for slimes. This idea was great in theory, but she had no clue if it would actually work. After a couple of minutes, she saw one of the slimes coming towards her. Hera braced herself if this didn''t work, she would have to grab her weapons quickly to fight it. The monster approached, but before it got too close, change directions and circled Hera. Moving past her and towards the city. Hera let out a long sigh of relief and kept walking. She wanted to reach the town quickly. The closer she got, the more slimes appeared. When she finally left the forest and saw the wooden cabins, an arrow when flying past her head. She looked back and saw that the arrow stuck a slime to a tree. Less than a second later, the creature dissolved. In front of the town, Hayden was notching another arrow in its bow, and aiming towards another incoming slime. The second arrow flew and hit the core of the monster. Hera kept walking toward the city. Another ten slimes fell during that time Hayden used a single arrow to kill each of them. His aim was terrifying. Hera understood that it was probably part of the simulation, but it was still an incredible sight. Arriving at the homestead, Hera started burying the flowers around the fence. She wouldn''t have enough to cover everything, but at least she could try to make sure that the slimes only came from a single side. It took her another ten minutes to finish the half circle around the village. She quickly went inside, telling Hayden about the flowers on the way. "Great, that means we are safe. Tomorrow we need to finish encircling the town. Ask Florence to help you with that. But we still need to know why those slimes are like this. So I''m counting on you," the hunter said, without ever stopping his arrows. By the time he finished speaking, another six slimes had fallen. Hera nodded and stood beside Hayden, ready to attack the incoming slimes. "I appreciate your help traveler, but you must rest and recover your strength. I can deal with the slimes," he said. Hera looked at him, "Are you sure? Don''t you need to rest?" she asked. "I appreciate your help traveler, but you must rest and recover your strength. I can deal with the slimes," he repeated. "Okay..." Hera hesitantly walked into the village, worried if Hayden really didn''t need any help. The villagers were all in front of their houses, the same way they were when Hera left. It was eerie. The town was being attacked, but they didn''t seem to mind. Hera talked to Florence, explaining about the flowers. The little girl said she could help to replant some of the flowers. She just needed the wheelbarrow from farmer Frank. Talking to Frank, he agreed not only to let them use the wheelbarrow but also help and said that they might need more muscle. Understanding what the point of all this was, Hera went to ask Betty for help. Being already there, she gave the liquid metal to complete her quest. "Thanks for the help. That is going to all I need to make the tools. Now say, you are still helping Hayden, right? Keep the weapons until you are done. And if you find some more metal, I can even make you your own set. And as a thanks, here." Betty gave Hera a basked full of fruits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest completed The blacksmith''s plea Rewards: Basket of fruit Betty will make you a new set of weapons if you bring her the materials ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They won''t last long, but at least you can eat for a couple of days." Hera thanked the blacksmith and talked about the flowers and the plans for the next day. Betty agreed to help and Hera went back to the vacant cottage. She really wanted to rest. And since they would only grab the flowers in the morning, she could have a night of sleep. She used the bathroom and cleaned herself up as best as she could using the sink. Feeling somewhat refreshed, Hera sat on the bed, leaving her pants to dry, and started eating the fruits. She would need to look for food soon, but she had a meal, at least for today. Grabbing her tablet, she checked the missions. She found only one change among them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role test: Explorer The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test. This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities. Current discovery progress 30% [X] Discovered Woodland [X] Found Peaches [X] Discovered a way to protect the village from monsters [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 53 - New kind of lost Early in the next morning, Hera was already with the villagers once again at the flower field. She tried to talk to them during the trip, but all she got was the same repetitive answers. Even Betty seemed to have less to say here. "At least everything is going smoothly," Hera mumbled. After she woke up, Hera looked for Heyden, but apparently, the hunter was resting. Hera understood that this was part of the simulation, but it was still odd since the rest of the villagers could stay the whole night outside without a problem. Most of the morning was spent going back and forth between the village. Hera and Betty took turns carrying the dirt while Frank dug around the flowers, and Florence planted them back in the town. According to them, the few flowers Hera left around the fence would not be enough to scare away the slimes. They would need a much larger ring. Florence also wanted to make a small flower garden at the center of the homestead. Hera wasn''t in the mood for doing some landscaping. After all, she still had many quests to complete. But since no one seemed to mind the girl''s request, she went along with it. It took almost all morning to finish transporting the plants. With everything done, Hera talked to Florence to complete her quest, having found a place where she could go flower picking anytime she wanted. It seemed good enough for the mission. However, the girl said that since this was a defense measure, she couldn''t use those. She also said that she wanted a few with more colors to make everything pretty. Annoyed by the request, Hera focused on farmer Frank for the day. His quest already had a few directions to it, so she at least had somewhere to start. She wasn''t very keen on walking through the forest for hours on end. Leaving the town, Hera picked a few fruits that Betty had given her. She would have enough for dinner, but nothing for tomorrow. Making a mental note to look for any fruits or berries, Hera walked towards the creek to look for the rake Frank had lost. Almost one hour later, Hera arrived at the place she met Peaches. Looking around, she found the tall rock where the green apple was, but no one was sitting on it today. She pouted. Peaches was the closest thing to a normal person she found here. For some reason, it was easier to talk to him than to the villagers. Maybe because he was an apple, and that gave Hera the feeling of talking with a stuffed animal. She searched the area for any markings or traces to find the path the little apple took. After a few minutes without any results, Hera gave up and started to follow the brook back to its source. According to the quest, the rake was near the water spring. Following the stream, Hera was glad that this time she could see her surroundings changing. Or at least, she could see those changes around the stream. The forest still had the same repetitive pattern over and over again. It took Hera almost two hours to reach the end of the creek. It looked like a small puddle with a moss-filled rock on top of it. But the water was flowing from under the rock, making the puddle overflow and spill towards the incline. For the first time since she came here, Hera saw a different type of forest. The trees surrounding this place had a less vibrant color, but they would move slightly as if being swayed by the wind. The soft sound of the water flowing, with the trees rustling noise, gave a peaceful feel to this place. Hera sat near the small pond. She knew she had a quest to complete, but it felt wrong to not enjoy the scenery a bit. This was one of the reasons she wanted to be an explorer. She wanted to find places like this. Beautiful and amazing places that seemed to be painted, although this particular spot probably was a painting someone made. She spent half an hour sitting on the grass, relaxing by the creek. Meditating for a while, Hera couldn''t help but wonder what other places she would find as an explorer. It was nice to start with something like this, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Ever since she read stories about cities in the sky and mountains that would pierce the clouds, Hera dreamt about going to those places. Feeling that she wasted enough time, Hera got up and started to search for Frank''s Rake. First, she looked for any footprints or markings that could show where the farmer went. Not finding anything, she looked for places where someone could lose a rake in. Behind trees, near the creek, she even went deeper into the woods. Yet, despite all her efforts, the farmer''s rake was nowhere to be seen. "Did I miss something?" she thought to herself. She went back to the water spring and found that the water had stopped flowing. Unsure of what that meant, Hera approached the rock where the water was coming from, thinking it could have something to do with her quest. She carefully reached inside the small opening that was gushing out water before. Part of her knew this was a bad idea, but, at the same time, the guild wouldn''t make the test deadly would they? She had most of her forearm inside the crack when she felt something soft touching her fingertips. She tried her best to examine it by touch, but it felt almost like a beach ball. She grabbed the soft object and tried to pull it out. It was hard to do so. Not only was there no way to have a firm grasp in it, the object kept shifting because of the water that was trying to come out. After a few tries, Hera gave one big pull and managed to remove the object from the hole. Following the release, a stronger stream of water came out, splashing Hera''s face. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Moving away from the creek, Hera looked at her hand to figure out what was holding back the water. It was a giant green apple. "Peaches?" she asked. "Yeah, it''s me," he mumbled. "Are you ok?" "I''m fine." "Ok.. but what were you doing there? Actually, how did you get there?" Hera asked. Peaches let out a lengthy sigh. "I''m a heavy sleeper." "What?" "I said that I am a heavy sleeper," peaches snarled. "I heard you, but what does that have to do with being stuck there?" "Since when do I have to explain myself to you?" he retorted. "Since I got you out of there," Hera replied, annoyed with his attitude. "Fine... Just... put me down, please." Hera placed the giant apple by the creek, away from the spring. "Ok, here you are, now can you tell me what is going on?" she asked. "I''ll tell you, just don''t... don''t tell anyone, ok?" Peaches looked at Hera with a pleading expression. "Sure, it will be our secret," she said, unsure what to expect. "The thing just before dawn, or what passes as dawn in this place, the creek has a low tide moment. It pulls the water around the puddle, and then it spills back up," Peaches explained, pointing at the rock with its head. "Ok, but what does that have to do with you being stuck there?" "If you let me finish, maybe you can find out!" he exclaimed. "Sorry." "Now. Like I was saying. I came up here last night and started floating in the water. It was nice, almost like being in a cradle, and I fell asleep. I only woke up after I was already down there. I tried to squiggle my way out, but when I was near the opening, I got stuck. And that''s what happened," Hera stared at Peaches for a moment. That story wasn''t something she ever expected to hear without a tragic ending. "So... how can you breathe down there?" she asked. "What? Look at me. In what world do you think I have lungs? I''m a slime for system''s sake." "Well, bugs and fish don''t have lungs either. But they still need air. How can I know what you need?" Peaches was about to say something, but he stopped and looked down while furrowing his brow. "You know, I think I liked you better when you had no comebacks." "Well, I guess I''m growing," Hera said with a playful smile. "Yeah, good for you. But what are you doing here?" Hera explained about the quest and how she needed to find the rake, and the flowerbed, and still find the reason for the slimes to be acting up. "Speaking of which, you said you are a slime, right? Do you know anything about that?" "HA, are you really comparing me with those mindless blobs? We may share a species, but I''m vastly superior to them. I honestly think we should be a different species altogether. But the system decides the name, and I can''t do anything about that," he complained, jumping up and down while huffing. "Sorry for mixing you with them Peaches, but do you know what is going on? Why are they attacking the town?" Hera asked. "I know, but I can''t tell you. That''s part of the test." "Yeah, I kind of figured. Can I ask you something else?" "You just did, but sure. You just helped out of a pretty bad situation. I can answer a few questions." "Are you part of the simulation? I mean, you are just so lifelike, more so than the villagers. Talking to you feels... normal. And..." Hera stopped before asking about his description. She wasn''t sure how he would react, knowing she tried to look at his information. "And you used [Observe] on me and it didn''t show the simulation tag. Is that what you were going to say?" Hera went pale. She didn''t want to offend him, and according to Helena, inspecting someone was really rude. Maybe [Observe] would be just as bad. "Yeah, I can tell when someone is doing that to me. It''s a skill that is a bit hard to get, but it is worth it. Anyway, try to be more careful in the future, ok? Some people might not take it as kindly as I did. And to answer your question. I''m not like the villagers. You can consider me the supervisor of the test. I''m here to make sure no kind of cheating happens," Peaches explained. "Oh, got it. I guess that''s why you can''t help me. Sorry to bother you, I''m just stupid, maybe my mother is right, I''m not cut out for this," Hera said. "Why do you say that?" "Well... Yesterday I got here, and a few hours, I already got three quests and 20% of my test done. By the end of it, I had 30%, and one of them was done. I just thought that today would be the same. I would get another quick 20% and end the day with 60. But I didn''t get anything done so far. I just wanted to do a short mission and feel good about myself. Prove that I can do this." "Kid, things hardly ever come easy for anyone. It takes hard work, and you can''t just give up because of a bad day," Peaches said. "I know, or at least I should know that. But I spent my whole life wanting to be an explorer. And when I got rejected, it felt like all the hard work I put into learning was wasted. So, like my mother used to say, I stopped living in my childhood fantasy." "What did you learn as a practice?" Peaches asked after moving around, trying to get a bit cozier near the creek. "Well, I was never good at sports or any martial arts. But I spent my time reading about exploration and how explorers used to navigate through the jungle. I even got lost on purpose in a national park near my home and tried to make my way back once. I got a really bad scolding from my dad," Hera chuckled, "but that was just a kid playing pretend. I got rejected, so I had to forget all of that." "It was a nice plan. Knowing how to find yourself is a handy skill." "Yeah, too bad, it was just a kid messing around," Hera said, hugging her legs. "You still haven''t got it," Peaches said, letting out a long sigh. "Got what?" Hera asked. "This ain''t pretend anymore, kid. It''s the real deal. All that playing pretend is not playing anymore. It is you getting ready." Hera stared at Peaches, letting his words sink in. The useless things she forced herself to forget. How to find herself, how to mark a route, the patterns she could look for, everything that her mother judged her for learning. All that was now relevant, useful. "So, Kid. What would the young Hera do to find something in the forest?" Peaches asked. Hera thought for a moment. She spent so much time forcing those experiences away from her mind that it felt weird to search for them. "She would.. look around the area for any tracks first," she said. "And then?" "Then... if there was nothing. She would change her point of view. Look for a different perspective, but since she was a bit too literal. She would climb the tallest tree she could find," Hera said as she started to look around. "So? What are you waiting for, that is the tallest tree around. Get to climbing," Peaches said, pointing to a tree behind Hera. "No, that is a bad one. The branches are too thin. I need something more sturdy... Like that one!" Hera got up and dashed towards a tree on the other side of the water spring. She had a smile on her face, remembering all the fun she had while exploring the parks near her childhood home. As she ran, Peaches just stared at her. "I guess the new batch is not so bad." 54 - Past experiences Hera had reached the highest point on the tree or, at least, the highest that could stand her weight. The forest differed from what she expected from this angle. The area surrounding the water spring had many different types of trees, from pine to chestnut, and even the large oak she had climbed. It was almost like someone tried to make this place a greenhouse for trees. Hera could see a vast expanse from her vantage point. Even from this point of view, she could see the repetitiveness of the place. Scanning the area, she noticed one spot where the pattern changed. Balancing herself in the tree, she quickly made a note on the map to explore it later. She climbed down a branch to look at the other side. She could see not only Peaches and the spring but also a few patches where the tree pattern stopped. She figured one of them should be the town and another the flowerbed. But there was still a third one, smaller than the others. Marking it on the map, Hera started to look for the rake. It only took her a few moments to notice something odd. On the top of a spruce, the rake was balancing in a branch. It would be one thing if it was laying in several branches at once, but the rake was being held by with its metal claws in a single branch. "What the...?" Hera kept staring at it. How did that thing got stuck there? Hera looked around a bit more, just to be sure if she wasn''t missing anything else. Feeling confident she wouldn''t be able to find anything else here, Hera climbed down the tree. "Any luck?" Peaches yelled as she reached the ground. "Yeah, there are some places that seem interesting. And the rake is stuck in a tree here," Hera replied. "On a tree? Well, the farmer really is something," Hera stopped and stared at peaches. "Say, you didn''t give me that tip on purpose, did you?" Hera asked. "I have no idea what you are talking about, kid. You are the one that said that you would climb up trees," he replied with a smile. Hera squinted her eyes at him. It seemed a bit too convenient that the first thing she tried after talking to him led her to the rake. At the same time, it was her idea, Peaches never said anything about climbing trees or changing the perspective. "Ok, but how did Frank''s rake get there?" she asked. "Kid, c''mon. This is a test, but it is also trying to teach you somethings. What could those things be?" Hera thought for a moment. "Well... Finding the flowers was related to the monster attacks. Maybe it was about having more than a single solution for a problem? Or go the extra mile, since the assaults started once they could start again. Spreading the flowers is a long-term solution. Finding the metal for Betty seems like just a way to show that monsters can drop items. This one... would be to make us look into other directions? People tend to focus on what is happening in front of them or look down, It''s rare to see someone who has a habit of looking up," "That... Is almost completely right, damn kid, I underestimated you." "And I thought you were a fruit, can we call it even?" she said, moving back towards the trees. "Sure." Walking towards the spruce where the rake was, Hera considered her options. The tree seemed too weak for her to climb. If she had something big to throw, she could make the rake fall. "Peaches, do you mind me helping a little bit?" she asked. "Depend on what help you need. I can''t tell you anything about the test." "That''s fine. I just need something big to throw at the rake," Hera said. "Well, there are some big rocks around here, but they are kind of heavy. You need to pick a lighter one," Peaches replied. "Don''t worry about it. Just come here. I want to throw a green apple at it." "What green... HEY! YOU WANT TO THROW ME!?" Peaches snarled at Hera. Hera laughed and looked at the slime, walking towards the spring. "I''m just kidding, you are way too cute to be treated like that," she said. "Cute, she says, just after pulling that crap. Being saved by you was worse than being stuck there for the rest of the week." "I was just teasing, don''t be so grumpy," Peaches just clicked his tongue and looked away as a reply. Hera giggled and grabbed a few rocks from the creek. Her aim was terrible. It would be a miracle to get it on the first try. Yet, the first rock she threw hit the rake''s shaft, making it swing for a few seconds before stopping. Hera twisted her nose. "That''s just mean," she mumbled before throwing the next one. It took her almost twenty minutes to make the rake fall. During that time, one of the rocks even ricocheted into a lower branch and hit her in the head. That made Peaches laugh loudly and tease her for a few minutes. With Frank''s tool in hand, Hera looked at the time. It was still 3 o''clock. It seemed a waste to go back now, and she wanted to explore that area up north, where the pattern changed. "Say, Peaches. Do you think Farmer Frank would mind if I took a bit longer to give his rake back?" Hera asked. "Considering he is not really alive or has any sense of time. I don''t see why he would mind," Peaches replied. Hera was a bit surprised by the bluntness of the reply. Sure, the villagers were not real, but they were still so lifelike. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "That was pretty heartless of you to say. Don''t you kind of live here with them?" "Yeah, but when you spend so much time with a company that can only reply a few pre-made phrases, it gets boring fast. To me, they are more like those animatronics things you would see in a theme park," Peaches explained. "Oh¡­ yeah, with time that might happen. But how long are you here with them?" Hera asked. "Longer than anyone should. And that''s the best answer you are getting." Understanding she shouldn''t press the subject, Hera changed the subject. "Ok. Peaches, I''m going north, there is an area that seems to be different from the rest, and since I''m already here, I might as well check it out," "You don''t have to tell me what you are going to do. Just go do it, kid," he replied. "I know, but it seems rude to leave without saying goodbye. Try not to get stuck again, I can''t come here every day to save you," Hera said as she walked towards the trees leading north. "Fair point, good luck, kid. Maybe we will see each other again before you finish the test," he said with a smile. "Of course, I need to say my goodbyes," she replied, entering the forest with the rake in hand. Traveling through the forest, Hera kept looking at her map to ensure she wasn''t moving in the wrong direction. It reached a point where she would spend more time looking at the map than at her surroundings. "Wait, since I have the map and I won''t get lost, I can polish some old skills, can''t I?" she mumbled. Hera walked towards a tree and started to dig near its trunk. When she was little, she used to carve some marks on the trees to make sure she wasn''t moving in circles. After some time, her dad explained to her that she should avoid making those types of marks. It hurt the tree, and some could last forever. Hera kept digging near the roots until her fingers could feel the moisture in the ground. She smeared the dirt into the trunk, creating a light brown mark on it. It wasn''t very distinct from the rest of the tree, but she could recognize the markings if she looked at the right spot. Using her waterskin, Hera made the dirt a bit wetter trying to get a better color. It needed a few drops, but she turned the light brown dirt into a reddish dirty one. Using that the mark was more obvious. She kept walking for another hour, stopping every few minutes to mark a new tree. If she had found any types of berries or fruits, it would have been easier to make the signs, but she only had dirt and water to work with. At the end of the hour, Hera saw the trees changing. From the same repetitive pattern to a beautiful orchard. Just by glancing about, she could see oranges, apples, grapes, bananas, and many bushes filled with berries. Looking around, she noticed that right near a strawberry bush, there was a papaya tree. Hera was never too interested in gardening, but she knew enough to tell that this shouldn''t be possible. Strawberries need a colder climate to grow, while papaya can''t grow fruit without warm conditions. It would be one thing if the trees were here, but only some of them had fruits. Yet, the orchard was filled with amazing looking fruit. Just by looking at the juicy red apples, Hera''s mouth started to water. Before doing anything else, she inspected the trees, just to be sure. All the descriptions seemed to be fine, only talking about the tree and the type of fruit they had. "Might as well stock up," she said to herself. Using the rake, Hera started to grab various fruits. She prioritized things that she could easily take back like apples, oranges, bananas, and avocados. She stared at the peach tree for a moment. Even though eating it could be weird, they looked delicious, and the smell was intoxicating. She quickly grabbed a few and tossed into her satchel. Scanning the area, she also saw a green apple tree, which she decided to ignore. That would be too close to a certain slime. After filling up her satchel, Hera picked some fruit to eat right now. Strawberries and more delicate fruits would be very troublesome to carry around. On the other hand, the watermelon and the pineapple would be too cumbersome. But she could have a quick bite around here. As she walked, Hera found the center of the orchard. It was a wider open area, almost like a small town square. In the center of it, there was a beautiful cherry blossom in full bloom. Before walking into the area, she activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever-blooming cherry blossom Flora - Prunus - Prunus serrulata As the name suggests, the ever-blooming cherry blossom, or ever-blooming sakura tree, is always blooming. The flowers grow daily and fall during the night. Only to regrow before the next morning. Many ever-blooming trees can be found inside the MAZE, and it is considered a sign of good luck to find one by accident. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled at the notification. It was a perfect spot for an afternoon snack. She grabbed a few fruits and sat down under the cherry blossom. While she ate, Hera wasn''t able to stop smiling. This place was beautiful, more so than any story or painting she ever saw. This is what she always wanted. To find a place where she could feel like she was in a different world and, even if just for a moment, be the only one there. 55 - Finishing an errand Hera got up quickly, trying to wake herself up. After she ate under the cherry blossom, a lethargic feeling took over her making her want to take a nap. It wasn''t an unusual feeling. She had that every time she would eat her grandma''s cooking. She walked around the tree a few times, shaking herself awake. It was a bad idea to sleep outside the village. What if she took too long to go back and has to fight the slimes again? That was the last thing she wanted right now. Grabbing her things, Hera went back towards the village. She would take three hours or so to get back. If the slimes appeared at the same time, she would be cutting a bit close, but at least she had an idea of when it might happen. She hurried back, looking for the markings she had made on the trees. It was better to improve her own skills, and who knows, maybe that will influence the way her [Mapping] grows. Yet, after she spent ten minutes without seeing any markings, Hera opened the map. She went too far left if she kept going in this direction she could reach the homestead, but not the water spring as she wanted. "If I fix this, I might end up in the middle of the slimes again." Giving up on the idea of following her own tracks, Hera used the map to guide herself through the woods. She got so used to the repetitive patter that she could tell how many steps it would take before the pattern entered the next loop. After a couple of hours, Hera was not only getting close to the village but to the new open area she had seen. It would be a big detour if she wanted to look for it. Right now, it was close to seven again. The slimes didn''t appear until almost an hour later. She had the time to search for the area. Hera kept looking at the trees, hoping to find one that seemed strong enough to hold her. The problem was that those were all linden trees. They were sturdy at the base, but at the top, they were extremely brittle. Even if she tried to climb one of those, she would only be able to reach half the height she wanted. Looking at the map, the open area should be northwest of the village, or at least that what it seemed. Since the mission was to let Florence know of a good place, it was understandable that it wouldn''t be a place far away from the village. However, that would only be true if it was a real scenario. In this test, Hera had no idea what could reasonable. Maybe she could use the orchard as a way to finish her quest. After all, fruits come from flowers, and that place was really colorful. Still, it felt wrong to make a kid walk three hours just to get some flowers. Hera picked her tablet to check the map. "That''s weird." According to it, she had passed the area she saw. Turning around, Hera went back to the path she took, paying close attention to her surroundings, looking for something different between the trees. She even stopped playing around with the rake. During the travel, she had gotten quite good at making it stand on her hand. She had realized that it was useful to have something like that on her. After the test, she would search for a pocket staff or something to bring along when she enters the MAZE. It was hard to focus on looking for something in this place. Hera knew she was moving and that things around her could be hidden. But after seeing the same scenery so many times, it felt like she already saw everything the area had to show. "You know what, I still have five days, I''ll deal with this tomorrow," she said to herself. Picking the tablet to look at the map, she noticed the time. It was almost 8 p.m. Quickly confirming the direction she needed to go, Hera sprinted towards the village. "Crap, crap, crap," she kept saying. Since there was no dusk here, it was easy to lose track of time. That''s precisely what happened to her. Hera didn''t realize she had taken so long searching for the new area. A few moments after she started running, the night suddenly arrived. Just like the dawn before, it was like someone had snuffed out the sun if there was a sun here, to begin with. Hera kept running towards the village. Unsure of when the slimes would appear. When she finally saw the wooden houses, she let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, she failed to notice a blue slime swinging towards her. The slime''s tentacle hit Hera''s neck, making her lose her footing and fall to the ground. She managed to roll forward and get up without losing too much of her speed. Looking back, Hera saw the slime approaching for another attack. She grabbed the rake and used it as a bat, sending the creature flying towards a tree. With a satisfied smile, Hera turned around and kept running towards the town. She managed to arrive before the slimes, who kept moving in circles around the village. Hayden was still keeping guard near the entrance, but the hunter had yet to fire a single arrow. "Thank you for the flowers, traveler. With that, I can just keep guard instead of killing the slimes. But we still need to find what is causing this behavior." The hunter thanked her in the usual mechanical tone. "I''ts fline, I''ll do i thwomorrows," Hera said. She didn''t realize before, but her head was spinning, the words came out garbled, and the entire world seemed to be moving too quickly, or she was moving too slowly. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "You don''t look good traveler," Hayden said, approaching her, "Oh, it seems a blue slime hit you. Be careful, they let out a poison that messes with your head. It''s a good thing that the poison is not dangerous by itself. One good night of sleep is all you need to be back in shape." Hera tried to thank the hunter, but only an unrecognizable noise came out of her. She forced herself to walk towards the house she was staying, using the rake as a cane. None of the villagers tried to help her. They only stood there, waiting for her to interact with them. Hera knew that this was just a part of the test, it wasn''t that they were ignoring her, but they just weren''t able to do anything unless she talked to them. Still, that hurt. She imagined that no one would treat her like that after becoming an explorer, people would at least acknowledge her¡­ Suddenly, Hera woke up. She couldn''t tell how she got inside the house, much less when she fell asleep. The memories she had about the previous night stopped right after she arrived at the village when Hayden said something about poison. Trying to gather her thoughts, Hera went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She still felt a bit woozy, but she couldn''t find anything else wrong with her. She ended up sleeping with clothes on, and right now, they were a mess. There were still stained spots from where the slimes hit her not to talk about the smell. She would need to throw these clothes away after the test. Leaving the house, Hera saw the rake lying on the floor. At least she wouldn''t have to go all the way back to the water spring today. Talking to Frank, Hera finished the quest. "Thank you very much. I don''t know what I would do if without the rake. I went up there looking for an orchard I planted a few years ago, but I ended up forgetting where it was," the farmer said. "Oh, I''ve found it. It is a beautiful place. I even got some fruit there. Which are yours, I guess? I can give them to you," Hera said. "No need. I''m just happy that small field grew into something lasting." Frank had a soft smile on his face. Hera tried to talk more about the orchard, but he went back to the repetitive replies. Hera walked back to the center of the village and opened her quests. She still had to find the reason for the attacks at night and find the flower field for Florence. Thinking about what to do, she looked around the homestead, for some reason, looking at these people was annoying her. She couldn''t tell why, but seeing them just standing around bugged her. Looking back at the quests, she considered her options. Dealing with the flower field could take some time, but it could end up being something quick. Going after the slimes gave her at least a couple of hours away from them, and she would be able to let out some steam. During the last month, she realized how relaxing was hitting things. Out of curiosity, she opened the test quest to check her progress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role test: Explorer The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test. This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities. Current discovery progress 60% [X] Discovered Woodland [X] Found Peaches [X] Found the materials for Betty, the blacksmith [X] Discovered a way to protect the village from attacks [X] Gazed upon the ever blooming tree [X] Retrieved farmer Frank''s rake [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? Requirements achieved. [Press to end the test] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the quest for a moment. Her finger was hovering over the button on the screen. She could finish it already? Her heart started to beat faster and faster. If she finished the test right now, she could go back and become officially become an explorer. She could come back, talk to her friends, thank Helena, and start getting ready to explore the MAZE. She could also take a shower and eat some real food. Fruits were fine and all, but it didn''t beat a triple cheeseburger filled with bacon. As she was about to press it, she remembered what Omar said during the explanation of the role. He had gotten just a passing grade and got a radar as a reward. What would be the reward for a higher grade on the test? Could she get an item too? Maybe a pet or a skill? What if she could get a legacy here? She closed the quest. It was just a passing grade, and she could look for at least two things right now. The reason for the slimes behavior and the flower field for Florence. She grabbed some fruits and got ready to leave the village. If she dealt with the slimes, she could look for the flowers even at night. She made a quick stop at the creek to fill her waterskin and headed towards the slime den. Moving by the stream was more relaxing than through the forest. The only downside was that she needed to stop to relieve herself a couple of extra times. "I can''t believe flowing water has this effect on me, although I am drinking more water since I can refill it all the time. I just hope peaches don''t show up when I''m doing this," she said to herself. It was already uncomfortable to do this in the open, but having a talking apple around would be horrifying. Finally, reaching the area where the slimes lived, Hera traveled even deeper in their territory. She had to fight a couple of monsters, but she did her best to avoid tiring herself. It would be a wrong move to spend all her energy early on. She needed to be focused and ready for greater threats. Hera kept going for another hour in the slime area. During that time, she only fought about a dozen slimes. One trick that helped her a lot was using fruit as bait. If she threw a slice or a berry near them, the slimes would be too preoccupied with the food to notice her getting close. A couple of times, she even managed to strike fast enough to save the bait. That meant she could do it a few more times. After all, she didn''t want to use all her food just to kill the monsters. At the end of the hour, Hera saw the forest give way to a vast grassland. She tried to approach it, but her hand was stopped in the air as if she was pressing against a sheet of glass. This seemed to be a wall, like the ones Mr. Greyson talked about in the first week of training. The weirdest part of this wasn''t just being stopped by something she couldn''t see, but the wall was warm. Not enough to heat anything. It was colder than her hand, but it felt like an empty cup of coffee that was sitting out for a while. Hera kept walking along the wall, staring at the open field before her. The grass kept going all the way to the horizon. She could probably see for a few kilometers. There wasn''t any place like this in the real world. The closest to it would be the desert or the arctic, but never a grassland. Distracted by the view, she only stopped when a large rock was in her way. The boulder seemed to be pressed against the wall. Hera walked around it, trying to understand what she was seeing. Since she got close to the wall, no slimes appeared, so this should be something different. But the grey rock looked just like that, a grey rock. Unsure if it really was something Hera activated her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Apex Slime (Simulation) Type: Ruler A slime that grew to abnormal size due to its feeding habits. Devouring everything in its path, even rocks, the slime developed a unique trait, turning its body into a liquid that can change densities. It hunts by overwhelming its prey with its size and weight, or covering the prey with its viscous fluids and increasing the density until it cannot move. Species not present inside the MAZE, created exclusively for the test. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was only able to read the name of the creature before the slime crashed down on her like a wave. 56 - Between a rock and a hard place Helena had just teleported to the doorway floor. Michael just sent her an SOS message. This couldn''t be good. She had to arrive at the end of a long hallway. After this point, no magic was allowed to not interfere with the equipment in the monitoring room. Helena dashed through the corridor, wondering if this rule was just like the no cellphones in airplanes one although she knew that on airplanes, cellphones could interfere with the pilots communicating with the ground. All this was just a way to distract herself. A quirk she had picked up while researching magic on the fourth layer of the MAZE. Every time she could only wait for a reply or a result, she would flood her mind with random facts about whatever. Opening the monitoring room door, she saw the numerous screens showing the names of every explorer registered in this branch of the guild. This was the room where all the data from the bracelets was gathered. In the middle of it, Michael was sitting in front of a smaller screen split into nine parts. "That was quick," he said. "Do you expect me to take my time after you send an SOS? Now, what is going on?" Helena replied. "Yeah, right. Sorry. It might be nothing, but you did say to call you if anything happened. This was... I mean, I guess this can be something..."Michael started to explain before he was interrupted. "Michael! Stop blabbering and tell me what is going on," Helena reprimanded. "Right, this," he moved to the side and pointed to the vitals of one of the recruits, "Those are not normal, are they?" Helena stared at the screen. When she became a clerk, she got some basic training to do these readings. This was also a work she enjoyed doing. It felt very close to research, and sometimes she could even find something new. Reading the vitals, she could see the heart rate and the vitals increasing quickly, but the respiration rate had fallen to zero, and the temperature kept rising. "Michael, go get a healer and ask him to be on standby near the doorway. We might need to take a recruit out of the test, do it quickly," Helena said calmly. "Yes, ma''am," he replied and rushed outside the room. Helena could have a calm tone, but her face said otherwise. As the man left, Helena kept staring at the vitals of the recruit. She pressed her bracelet on a scanner, and a big red button labeled ''stop'' appeared beside the recruit''s name. "Why did you have to choose the one test that can be that dangerous, Hera?" she said to herself. #################################### The only thing Hera could see right now was the slime''s description. She felt as if she was buried under sand, and each passing second made it harder for her to move. She couldn''t even close the notification or breath. The grey slimy goo was covering her entire body. Thankfully, she could still see the sunlight. The slime wasn''t completely opaque. She did her best to move around, trying to find a way to escape from the creature''s grasp. As she managed to push one of her hands outwards, the creature shifted its body, making Hera lose any ground she had gained. She tried to move downward, attempting to reach solid ground. But the slime stretched herself up, making Hera stay even farther away from the floor. The creature unintendedly made its body more flexible as it changed shape, giving Hera the chance to move around. Trying to reach out, she did her best to feel any indication of where she could go. A small warm feeling near her back caught Hera''s attention. It felt almost like the spheres she used during the evade training. Spinning inside the creature was closer to swimming than to moving on the ground. It took Hera longer than she was expecting to face that heat. She was starting to feel dizzy. It''s been too long since she had to hold her breath. Looking down, she could see a shape, a circular shape around the size of a baseball. She reached towards it, and the creature shifted, stretching even higher. Hera felt it was easier moving around. She tried to seize the object once more, and the slime stretched yet again. To anyone outside, the apex slime was now taller than the trees. Feeling like she could move more freely, Hera pretended like the liquid was as dense as always and pushed her hand closer to what she believed to be the slime''s core. The moment she felt it was close enough to grasp it, Hera snapped her arm towards it. As she grasped the core with the tip of her fingers, the slime started to spasm wildly. It contracted and stretched in various directions, Hera felt like she was being crushed. At the same time that the liquid gave more room for her to move. She pressed the core as tightly as she could, trying to reach her chakram with the other hand. For a moment, the slime shifted in a way that a small hole led some air towards Hera. She breathed in as much as she could at the same time that her off-hand grasped the handle of the chakram. Pushing the liquid away, Hera tried to aim the chakram to strike the slime''s core. However, the moment the chakram passed through part of the sludge in front of her, the creature compressed back into the size of a boulder and spat Hera out. Hera hit the ground and tumbled back, coughing and wheezing as she gasped for air. The slime was still having some spasms, but they started to get weaker. After a few moments, Hera managed to get back up and stare at the creature. Her body hurt, she could see black bruises around her arms, but the adrenalin pumping through her veins was enough to turn the pain into a slight discomfort. As she got up, the slime stopped moving around and started approaching her, several tendrils of sludge raised above it, pointing towards the recruit. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Hera wanted to run. This creature was too much for her to fight alone. But could she? What would happen if she tried to run, and the slime attacked her? It was too risky, even if every inch of her body wanted to flee, but she had to wait for the right time. The slime attacked with one of its tentacles, the same way one would attack using a spear. Hera dodged to the side and slashed the tendril with the chakram, cutting it away from the rest of the body. The part that she removed fell into the ground and started to dissolve. Hera glanced at it and saw that it was taking more time than the other slimes to disappear. The creature attacked again. Two more tendrils flew towards Hera. She dodged the first, but the second hit her right shoulder. The hit wasn''t strong enough to make Hera fall, but it took away her chance of attacking one of the tendrils. Looking around, Hera could see the grassland to her left. She was too close to the wall. The tendrils were assailing Hera while she kept dodging most of them. Being grazed by a few and cutting off others. She was trying to move away from the wall, not only so she wouldn''t end up being blocked by it, but also to increase her chances of escaping. As she fought, one of the tendrils hit one part that was cut off from the slime. The moment it did that, the motionless liquid started to move and came back to the slime with the tentacle. Seeing that, Hera frowned. She planned to keep cutting the creature into pieces so it wouldn''t be able to reach her as she ran. The tendrils kept attacking, but now, the slime was with its back against the wall. Hera took a step back with each dodge, cutting the tentacles at every opportunity she had. Until one of the slime''s attacks stopped before reaching her. That was the chance she was expecting. She waited for one more round of attacks, and they all missed, stopping a few centimeters short of reaching her. Before the tendrils even returned to the slime, Hera turned around and started to run. She knew that the MAZE was a dangerous place, but she also knew that running away would always be an option. The test is over. She can just finish it right now. She didn''t try to do it before because she usually would freeze during the teleportation. If the slime was still moving, it could easily kill her. She needed to find a safe place. Somewhere she could stop and end the test. Hera glanced back and saw the slime reaching its tendrils to several trees. In a way, it almost looked like a slingshot. Coming with that realization, Hera dove down at the same time the slime catapulted itself towards her. The monster flew past Hera and landed in front of her, blocking her path. "Seriously? I just wanna finish the test!" she yelled. The tendrils raised once again as Hera grasped her weapons tightly. If that thing wasn''t going to let her pass, she would have to finish it. It took Hera almost half an hour, but now the creature had been reduced to the size of a large dog. Comparing with the boulder it was before, right now, it was much less menacing. Hera was feeling sore, sweat dripped from her face, but the creature was relentless in its attacks. It almost seemed like it had infinite stamina, even after being reduced to this size. Right now, Hera probably would be able to run from it. Yet, she spent so much time dealing with the creature that it felt a waste to run now. She needed to finish this. She dashed towards the monster and aimed her handaxe towards where she felt the creature''s core. The slime tried to grab her arm, but Hera used the chakram to cut away another piece of the monster. She kept slashing at the slime, and the slime attacked her back. There was no technique or skill in this fight. It looked like two beasts trying to kill each other before they were killed. A few moments later, Hera finally made a cut deep enough to reach the core. The slime shivered and started to spasm out wildly. Its body changing its density quickly and randomly. It even created spikes that pierced Hera''s arms and shoulder. But she didn''t care. She wanted to kill this monster. Hera hit the core once again, and the spams only became more savage. On the third strike, the slime lost part of its form, becoming little more than a puddle on the ground. Having a clearer shot, Hera slashed the core with all her strength, making the handaxe lodge itself deep into the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The core broke in half, and the rest of the slime dissolved in an instant. Even the pieces spread around the area disappeared. Now, the broken slime core was floating in a puddle of dark purple liquid. Worried it might be something else, Hera stepped back and activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Broken Apex slime core ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Liquid metal - Purple ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the names, Hera relaxed. The slime was dead. Picking her satchel, she noticed that the monster partially ate the fruits inside it. Even her waterskin was dirty. She threw away the contents of the bag and placed the metal inside of it. It was a piece much larger than the ones she got from the regular slimes. Maybe this would be enough for Betty to make a weapon. Activating her [Inspect], she tried to get more information about the objects. The metal had only one line saying that the metal can change its color and proprieties, depending on the monster that generated it. The core, on the other hand, had more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Broken slime core (Simulation) Type: Apex Slime The core of a slime creature. It controls how the rest of the body moves. In most cases, the core stays in the center of the slime''s mass, even when it changes shape. The quickest way of defeating a slime is to destroy its core. A creature with an apex core becomes the unofficial leader of the species in that area. In situations where the species have a leader, it is typical to see the monsters becoming more aggressive and presenting odd behaviors. Species not present inside the MAZE, created exclusively for the test. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess I finished this one too," she said with a smile. Reaching for the core and the liquid metal, Hera felt a sharp pain through her body. Looking at her arms, she was covered in bruises and small cuts. Grabbing her tablet, she opened the test quest. Sadly, it was still at 60%. She probably would need to talk to Hayden before completing this quest. She picked her drops and moved towards the creek to wash herself, and then walked back to Woodland. It took her longer than she wanted, but she wasn''t in the best shape right now. When she arrived, Hayden was at the entrance of the village. She talked to the hunter, who thanked her for the job, completing her quest. He also said something about the legend of a slime that walked like a human, but Hera was too tired to pay attention. She walked towards Betty, asking about the weapon. Confirming that the blacksmith had everything that she needed, Hera asked for a handaxe. Betty said she could do it, but she would need one day. Hera nodded and went to the house she was using. She didn''t care if it was still light out. She needed a long night of sleep after that fight. She sat on the bed and stared at the tablet. "Maybe I should finish the test now. It doesn''t matter if I can''t go past 60%," she mumbled. "Are you sure about that?" Hera looked up. In the middle of the table, there was a familiar giant green apple looking at her. "Peaches?" 57 - Hard choices "That''s my name, kid," Peaches said. He was near some of the fruits that Hera had brought back from the orchard. It was easy to miss him, even though he was much bigger than the other apples, he blended well in the arrangement. "Yeah, I know, but what are you doing here?" Hera asked. "Well, I came here to congratulate you on beating the slime. But looking at you right now, I''m not sure who won that fight." "Very funny, I''m still learning how to fight, ok," she snarled. "Ok, ok, calm down. I was just checking up on you." Hera let out a lengthy sigh, "Yeah, Sorry. The pain is getting to me." "The apex slime really did a number on you, but you managed to finish the quest." Hera stared at the slime. "How did you know that?" she asked. "I''m the supervisor for the test, remember? I know when you complete a quest. Because of that, I know that even if you finish the test now, it won''t be at 60% anymore," he explained. Hera picked the tablet and looked at the quest. He was right. The quest was now at 70%. The objective completed was ''fixed the slime''s odd behavior.'' "Well, I''m above the minimum now. But I''m not sure I can keep going," she said. "Why is that?" Peaches asked. "I think I have a couple of broken ribs. It hurts to breathe and to move my right arm. I don''t want to stop like this, but it might be too reckless to continue," As she talked, Hera lowered her head. She worked so hard to get here. She wanted to explore more, find the damn flowers for Florence, and explore the other side of the creek. There was so much to do here, and yet because she failed to use the skills she has at the right time, she had to stop. Hera felt her eyes watering while she clenched her fist. "Kid, you''re too hard on yourself. Most recruits that do this test choose to end it as soon as they can. Most complain about the lack of bathrooms around the forest, or that is too hard to find everything. You did pretty well so far. It took you only three days to get 70% of the test. Your performance is already way above average," Peaches said. "But I could''ve done better. I can be better," Hera said in a weak voice. "Kid, this is a test to see how you deal with the role. Knowing when you are out of your league is part of it. Explorers are the first ones to enter a new room, the ones that travel to uncharted territories. Being able to tell when you reached your limit is probably the skill that will keep you alive," "So you are telling me that I should finish the test now?" she asked. "I''m not telling you anything. I''m explaining how the role works. You can make whatever conclusion you want from it," Peaches said, winking at the recruit. That made Hera laugh, but the movement only increased the pain. "Ouch," she said as she stopped laughing, "Thanks, Peaches. I guess you are right. Even if I don''t get the full reward, I''m still going to be an explorer." "Exactly, and it''s not like you can''t get the..." Peaches stopped speaking abruptly, "Nevermind." " It''s not like you can''t what?" Hera asked. "No, not saying, forget about that." "Aww, c''mon you beautiful slime, you can tell me." "Zip it. You''re gonna make me lose my job," he grunted. "Fine, but you are breaking my heart," "That wasn''t me. It was the apex slime," Peaches laughed. Hera smiled and picked her tablet, "Do you have any idea how long it will take Betty to finish my handaxe?" "Oh, you got some materials? It usually takes a day or two, depending on what she''s doing." "Two days..." Hera stared at her chest, "I''m not sure if this would be an emergency or not, what do you think?" "Well, if you were a slime, I could tell you. But I don''t know how you humans work. I can say that your right side seems a bit bigger than the left." "I don''t think I should risk it. I got cut a few times, I tried to clean them, but I''m worried it might get infected." "That''s a good plan, kid. Getting a high grade here won''t matter if you end up dying just after finishing the test." "Wow, way to be grim," Hera said as she picked the tablet, "Thank you for everything, Peaches. I hope I can see you again someday." "Anytime, it''s been a pleasure, Hera." Hera smiled and pressed the button to end the test, closing her eyes afterward. She didn''t want to be blinded by that light again. A few moments passed, and Hera felt no change. There was no tingling sensation, no change in the lighting, nothing. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was Peaches with a smug smile on his face. "Why is this not working?" she asked. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Who said it''s not? Look behind you." Hera turned her head and saw that the wall behind her had vanished. She could see the village and the forest she traveled through during the last few days. The sky suddenly turned white, and the trees started to collapse as if they were made of sand. In less than one minute, Hera found herself in a familiar white room. The only things that were still here were the table that Peaches was using, the bed she was sitting on, and the door of the house. "Peaches, what is going on?" she asked. "As I said, I''m the supervisor of the test. And I''m also the one who tally ups your score," he explained. "They why didn''t you tell me?" "Well, I couldn¡¯t, part of the rules. Also, I would miss that look on your face." Hera scoffed while peaches closed his eyes. They spent a few moments like that before Hera finally asking. "So, what now?" "Just give me a minute, I''m finishing up something." Hera stopped talking and waited, looking around she couldn''t tell if this room was as big as the area she was in or if it was a different place altogether. A knock on the door interrupted Hera''s thoughts. Peaches made a motion with his head, and the door opened. Betty walked in and placed a handaxe beside Hera. Without saying anything, she turned around and left through the door. "Sorry about that. If you end the test before an item is ready, we speed up the time inside the blacksmith''s house so you can have it. It wouldn''t be very fair to take away something you worked so hard for." Hera nodded without taking away her eyes from the weapon. It had a long dark grey handle that was about the size of her forearms and bent backward a bit. The blade had a dark purple tint. It was so well polished that she could see her reflection on it, and when the light hit it in the right angle, she could see a rainbow on the blade. The head of the axe looked like a Francisca, but as it reached the edge, it became longer resembling more a broad axe. She reached out to the weapon but stopped, activating her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nameless handaxe Rarity: Uncommon A handaxe created by Betty the Blacksmith using a purple liquid metal that came from an apex slime. The proprieties of the slime were imbued into the weapon, changing the weapon''s weight to be little more than 500 grams. The material used also gives the weapon increased durability. Attribute scaling: Strength x 1.1 Additional effect: When in contact with water, the handaxe can function as a floating device. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As she read the description, Hera remembered the class about equipment. Most weapons that were found inside the maze could increase one attack''s strength when used with a specific attribute. In this case, if her strength was at 10, strikes with the weapon would consider her stat to be 11. The additional effect was an odd one, though. But it was her first equipment, and she was lucky enough to get something that scaled with her stats. She reached out for the axe, and the moment her hand touched it, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to name the nameless handaxe? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why is it asking me to name it?" she mumbled. "Because Betty is technically a machine. So the naming right would be to the one who looked for the materials." Peaches explained. "Oh... ok." Hera thought for a moment. When she was little, she had a stuffed bunny that she pretended to be her companion. She called it Iris. it seemed silly, but her first weapon might as well have the same name. She pressed yes and typed the name and pressed ok. The description immediately changed the name of the handaxe. Hera picked the handaxe. Not only was it light, but it was also very comfortable to hold. She gave it a couple of swings. It felt right. The weapon was different than the ones she used before. It was almost like the axe was helping with the movement. "Kid, I know you just got a new toy, but can we wrap this up? After you recover, I''m sure you will have plenty of opportunities to test it out," Peaches said. "Oh, sorry. Please, what do I need to do?" "Nothing, Let''s just see here." A notification appeared behind peaches, showing Hera''s quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role test: Explorer The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test. This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities. Current discovery progress 75% [X] Discovered Woodland [X] Found Peaches [X] Found the materials for Betty, the blacksmith [X] Discovered a way to protect the village from attacks [X] Gazed upon the ever-blooming tree [X] Retrieved farmer Frank''s rake [X] Fixed the slime''s odd behavior. [ ]????????????? [ ]????????????? [/] Received a weapon from betty made from a rare material ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You did quite well, only missed two things. But you just got the rare material for the weapon, not the unique one, so that''s only a half complete." Peaches explained. "Was I close to getting the unique material?" Hera asked. "Not really, there were a couple of times that you were kind of going in the right direction, but you were still really far from it." Hera looked down. She wasn''t able to find anything about that material. And she barely ever explored the area across the creek. There was still so much to explore. "Hey, now, don''t be sad. We talked about this," Peaches said, "Your result is... that you passed with a good grade if we say it in a letter, the system gave you a C, but I would give you a B-, C+ if I''m being stingy." Hera looked up. She was used to getting Cs. This whole training really felt like high school, aside from the monsters, magic, and almost being eaten alive. "Congratulations! Now for your first reward. I think you are going to enjoy that. Just for the record, the system makes those. I have no say in the matter, but I can explain to you how it works." As Peaches spoke a small platform raised beside Hera with what looked like a black lighter on top of it. She picked the object and opened its lid. Inside there was a thread positioned in a way that reminded her of dental floss. "Is this your way of saying that my breath stinks?" she asked. "To be fair, your whole body stinks right now." Hera stared daggers at Peaches and then activated her [Inspect] on the object. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm. Passive effects: Returning string If an object is tied to the string when thrown, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string. Current maximum distance: 10 Meters Danger sense When the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can only detect monsters that are not hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Current range: 5 meters. Active effect: Dowsing rod By letting the string loose and pointing it down, you can ask about a location, item, or creature. The string will point towards the direction where the query is located. The accuracy of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Cooldown: 168 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the description a few times. It seemed underwhelming, especially compared to the radar that Omar had. Seeing her frown, Peaches intervened. "Don''t feel bad. Most explorers get something weird that seems weak at first. But the system created that item just for you, thinking about your strengths and shortcomings. If you have any questions about how that works, feel free to ask. The system gave me a rundown." Asking a few questions, Hera got the gist of how that the item worked. She had to admit that the returning string seemed really useful. That way, she could have some range in her attacks. "Ok, now for the second reward, this one has a few rules," Peaches said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The test supervisor approves your result. Explorer role skill [Local Guide] acquired. Local Guide It allows you to summon the guide of the room you are in. The guide will stay for five minutes and answer any questions you have about the room. You can summon the guide only once per room. Information about this skill can only be shared with explorers who have the skill. Information about a specific guide can only be shared with explorers who have met said guide. If these rules are broken three times, the skill will be removed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 58 - Unexpected skill "Am I seeing this right? Why is this an explorer role skill?" Hera asked. "Because every role gets one, that''s how the system made it," Peaches answered. Hera stared at him, confused. "But explorers don''t have a role skill. They never choose something to focus on. That''s why they were left with nothing." "That''s half right. The thing is, explorers, focused on exploring. Then, the system gave them a skill that would help with that. But unlike the other ones, this skill won''t evolve or affect other skills. To balance it out, the system created the custom gear you get," Peaches explained. "That doesn''t make much sense. Why give a skill like that and not something like the other roles? And what is this about losing the skill if I tell someone about it?" she asked. "Well, complain to the system if you want, but I doubt you will get any replies. I have no clue why it chose the skill to be like that. You losing the skill is sort of a punishment because of something that happened long ago. Some explorers used to set traps for the guides, and when they started to get close to succeeding, the skill had that change. The first change was that if a guide was about to be attacked, it would vanish. Now we also have someone who will evaluate the test deciding if the explorer is trustworthy enough to use the skill responsibly," Peaches said. Hera stopped for a moment, "So does that mean that that you trust me?" "Yeah, I trust you." "Is this because I saved you from being stuck inside the water spring?" Hera snickered. Peaches coughed, "Maybe... Now anyway, back to the skill. You can''t talk to people about it. And I mean can''t, not shouldn''t. If you try, the system will freeze you, like when you are going through a doorway." "So... how can I know If I can talk about it?" Hera asked "That''s up to you. Ask questions around the subject, but avoid saying it outright. Even mentioning that the skill exists is forbidden. I think the worst part is that if you are talking with someone that has the skill, the system won''t tell you even if a question would be off-limits otherwise." "What do you mean?" "Like, If you ask me, ''Did you see a talking green apple in the test?'' That would be a question that would count as you breaking the rules once. But if I have the skill, nothing will happen. But you don''t know if the question would give you a strike or not." "So, it''s kind of like a game of charades that you lose if you give a wrong answer?" Hera asked. "I would say Pictionary where you can''t draw what it is, but sure." "That doesn''t make any sense, how can I draw things that are not the word?" Hera sneered. "That''s how I played, don''t like it, don''t join in." Peaches scoffed as he turned around. "Awww don''t be like that," Hera said. "Nope, you lost your invitation. Better luck next time," Peaches replied. "So there is going to be a next time?" Hera asked with a smile. "Maybe, that''s up to you, kid." "How?" she asked. "Just keep being an explorer, I can''t say much right now. If you play your cards right, we might meet again." Hera looked at her new friend. He had done so much. It was nice knowing that they could meet again. Yet, she didn''t know how long it would take. Getting teary-eyed, she rubbed her face. "Yeah, you really need to go, kid. You must be in a lot of pain." Hera shook her head, "It''s not that. I''m just going to miss you." Peaches turned away, his cheeks turning a bit brown. "I''m gonna miss you too, kid." A few moments passed, with Hera smiling at Peaches while the slime got increasingly more embarrassed. "Well, your test is done, you can go back and finish the paperwork to be a fully-fledged explorer." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role Test: Explorer Quest completed The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Return to the Explorer''s Guild to receive your reward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as the notification appeared, a pearl white doorway materialized behind Peaches. Hera got up and started walking towards the door, stopping by the table and giving Peaches a big hug. "I''m not hugging you back because, you know, no arms. But consider yourself hugged kid," Peaches said. Hera laughed, "Ok, Thanks for everything, Peaches." "Anytime, Hera." She walked towards the doorway, looking back to the slime. He was sitting on the table, smiling at her. She touched the door, and her body froze. A tingling sensation was covering her limbs. At the moment, a thought crossed her mind. What was going to happen to Peaches? Would he be alone there until someone else showed up? Or would he go some place else? Before she could reach a conclusion, the light changed as she heard the bustling sounds of the MAZE reception inside the guild. "Yo, a recruit came out!" a tall man said. "Hey, congratulati.... what the hell happened to you?" a burly man asked. "Are you ok? Oh, girl, you need a shower," a woman wearing a leather jacket said. "Ok, ok, all of you give her some space. Hera, right? I''m Bianca, one of the attendants, could you come with me, please?" A woman with short dark hair and glasses approached Hera. She was wearing the guild uniform, a vest with a dress shirt, and black pants. As she walked, her heels made a loud clack noise. "Hi, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Hera put out a hand, but the pain on her abdomen made her recoil. "Can you walk? Do you need a wheelchair?" Bianca asked. "I can walk," Hera replied weakly. She felt as if it was harder to breathe in here. Her body felt heavier. "Ok, come with me. We will find you a healer first. Then we do the rest." Hera just nodded as she walked beside the attendant. They moved through a hallway towards a room that looked like an infirmary. There were various beds spread around and curtains that could be used to give someone more privacy. Only one of the beds seemed to be occupied, and a man was sitting in a chair near the door wearing light green scrubs. "G¨¦rard, can you do an emergency check on her?" Bianca asked. The man had big bags under his eyes and a vacant expression. He stared at Hera for a moment and got up, walking towards a bed. "Sit here." The man seemed off. His mind seemed to be somewhere else. It was like looking at someone who just quit their job but has to work for one more day. Hera looked back at the clerk, who just gave her a confirming nod. She sat on the bed with some difficulty. Her ribs seemed to move around as she walked. "Stay still," G¨¦rard said. He closed his eyes, and a light green glow covered his eyelids. He moved around as if he was looking at Hera with his eyes closed. The man pressed his fingers on her ribs, making Hera flinch. "Sorry, you seem to have fractured a couple of ribs. Your femur and tibia are also cracked, and there are some lesser tears in your arms. It looks like the injuries you see in people who were found in collapsed buildings. Those puncture wounds are not very deep, but we need to clean them. Can you take off your shirt?" G¨¦rard asked. Hera''s face turned red. She spent the last few days without taking a bath or changing clothes. Take off her shirt in front of a strange man was among the last things she wanted to do. G¨¦rard let out a lengthy sigh. "Bianca, could you call the little one?" The man asked. The attendant nodded and left the room while the man walked towards a cabinet and started to prepare something. "Should I do something?" Hera asked. "Just stay there for a moment, avoid any abrupt movements," the man replied without even looking in Hera''s direction. Hera stayed there, with Yarnball in her hand and Iris resting on her belt. It was strange. Walking around with a handaxe felt more natural now. Although the weight was different than what she was used to, holding Yarnball, on the other hand, felt familiar. Like she used to do it all the time. Hera never smoked or carried a case of floss around, but this small black container felt like part of her. Distracted by her new relic, Hera failed to notice when a short chubby woman was approaching. The woman closed the drapes around the bed, making a loud noise, snapping Hera out of her meandering. "Mr. Kaplan, what do I need to do with this one?" the woman asked. She had long brown hair, with braids coming from each side of her head, she wore light green scrubs as well and had a ring on her nose. "Clean her wounds, be careful with her ribs. If she moves too much, they might get even more out of place." "Aye aye, captain." "Stop playing pirate and get to work," G¨¦rard said. The woman pouted and proceeded to check Hera''s wound. "Wow, something got you really bad, huh? Do you think you can raise your arms, or is it better to cut off the shirt?" "I think raising my arms will be too much. And honestly, I''m going to throw this shirt away. It'' too dirty." Hera replied. "Good call, I wasn''t going to say anything, but this one seems like a goner." The woman grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the back of Hera''s shirt. Looking down, Hera could see a large dark purple mark on the side of her body. The pain she was feeling increased, making her feel dizzy. "No, no, no, stay with me, honey. If you pass out now, it''s going to be harder to do our job. What''s your name? I''m Enrica." "I''m Hera," she replied weakly. The woman kept asking various questions while she cleaned Hera''s wounds to distract her from the pain. Luckily it didn''t take too long. When she was done, Enrica helped Hera to take off her pants and gave her a hospital gown. She then placed all of Hera''s belongings inside a nightstand by the bed and locked it using the recruit''s bracelet. "Doc, she''s ready for you," Enrica said. "I''m a healer, not a doctor," Ger¨¢s replied as he approached Hera with a syringe filled with a neon green liquid, "Listen, this will hurt for a moment, but then I can place your bones in the right spots and start the healing. You need to be awake because I need you to tell me if the pain gets too strong. Some people have a strong reaction to this potion, but it''s the best one for broken bones." Hera nodded, and the healer stuck the needle near her clavicle. She felt a burning sensation flooding her chest. It felt like someone had spilled hot coffee inside of her. But the pain wasn''t too severe. Little by little, the burning sensation started to move inside her. First towards her ribs, and then it split and reached her legs and arms. Hera looked at G¨¦rard. The man had a focused expression, and his eyes had a green glow. He seemed to be staring at the parts of the heat that were moving. After some time, when most of her body was covered with that burning sensation. The healer stopped and sat beside her. "If you want, you can sleep now. We can even help with that," G¨¦rard said. "Yes, please. I''m tired," Hera replied. The healer gave a nod to Enrica, who started to sing a lullaby. His voice was soft and melodic. It reminded Hera of when her grandma would sing her to her as a child. In just a few moments, Hera began to sleep. 59 - Interview Hera woke up a few hours later. She was feeling much better. Looking at her wounds, most of the cuts and nicks she had were closed, with just the deeper ones still bandaged. Her arms and legs were fine. She wasn''t feeling any pain even when moving them around. Her ribs were still sore, and there was still a large purple spot on her side. But it was much smaller than when she arrived. She pushed herself up, trying to sit on the bed, groaning a bit as she moved. With the noise, Enrica opened the curtain. "Wow, what are you doing? You can''t get up now." "Sorry, I was just trying to sit. What time is it? Actually, what day is it?" Hera asked. "You were sleeping for a good ten hours. Don''t worry, it''s a normal reaction to the treatment we gave you. Today Wednesday and it''s about 7:40 AM," Enrica talked as she helped Hera to adjust herself. "10 hours? Are you sure? I could have sworn that I left the test room in the middle of the afternoon," Hera said. "Pretty sure. I''m on call with G¨¦rard today, and we have a 15-hour shift. We wouldn''t mess up the time it will take before we can go home," the assistant laughed. Hera stayed a few more hours under observation. G¨¦rard showed up and used a different potion to help her heal. This time she was supposed to drink it while he used his magic to clear out her bruises. By the time their shift had come to an end, Hera was discharged from the infirmary. She was wearing a tracksuit from the guild since her clothes were unusable. They say she shouldn''t go inside the MAZE for a week and give her some medicine to improve her natural healing. She walked toward the reception in front of the doorway and saw Carol. They exchanged greetings, and Hera completed the mission. "Great! Congratulations on finishing your first mission. Let me see here. You are all good. Completing the quest and getting a passing grade on the written exam, you are all set to be an explorer. There are just two things we need to do. Some paperwork and the interview," Carol said. "What interview?" Hera asked. "Greyson didn''t tell you?" Hera shook her head. "Fucking hell, ok. The interview is something that we use, so anyone interested in forming a party with you or any group that is interested in hiring can get a glimpse of who you are. Don''t worry. It''s nothing complicated. Just some general questions like why did you become an explorer, what are your strengths and values, stuff like that. Since your role is explorer, let me call one to talk to you. That way, someone who knows what is expected of you can ask the right questions," the clerk explained. A few minutes later, Carol sent Hera to a small office on the second floor of the guild. Apparently, the only explorer available for the interview was the Guild Master''s assistant. Hera stood in front of the door, nervous about making someone so important waste time with her. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Come in," a voice said from inside. "Excuse me," Hera said as she opened the door. Contrary to her expectation, the assistant was an older man. He had long black hair with grey stripes and a full beard that grew to a point reaching his chest. He was wearing a green dress shirt with a teal overcoat. Oddly enough, the man was using a quill to write while he was using a calculator with his right hand. "Please, have a seat. I will be with you in a moment," the man said. Hera sat on the chair in front of him. He had a solemn voice, but it wasn''t as imposing as his looks implied. The man worked fast. His fingers never stopped pressing buttons on the calculator, and the quill was moving continuously. Curious about what he was doing, Hera glanced over and saw a long spreadsheet filled with numbers. It looked like when her dad was checking his store''s finances. "Ms. Kingsley," as the man spoke, Hera jolted in her chairs, straightening her posture, "I apologize for making you wait. I wasn''t expecting to perform an interview today." "No, I''m sorry. I had no idea I would cause so much trouble. If you are too busy, I can come back another time Mr....." Hera froze. She had no idea what his name was. "Morgan, and no mister, please. It makes me feel older than I already am." Hera nodded, trying to be polite to the man she was disturbing, but her eyes kept shifting to the quill. It was such an odd thing to see these days. And there were no ink bottles on the table. The quill itself was beautiful. It was a long white feather that curled at the end. It had such elegance to it that it seemed to be a relic from an old kingdom. "I see this piqued your interest. It was a gift from the guild master. This quill never runs out of ink, well to be more accurate, it turns mana into ink. Even after all these years, I''m still amazed by what we the crafters can do," The man said while staring at the quill. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "I know, right? Sometimes I feel like a kid, but there are so many amazing things that we can do because of magic and the maze. Even everyday stuff like the bracelets or the lamps on the street." Seeing Morgan''s expression, Hera felt like that she was too eager. She wasn''t here to make small talk. "Sorry, I know we are not here for this," she said. "Don''t worry. This is good for the interview. It is not simply about your qualifications, but also about what type of person you are. As I''m sure you are aware, this will be used for parties and organizations that are recruiting. For the second group, it won''t matter as much. But when forming a party, they need to know about your personality, although this is more relevant later on. Explorers that are just starting usually either go in alone or form parties among their class." Hera realized that she never considered if she would go with someone. She always thought about doing everything on her own. After fighting with the apex slime, she felt it could be a good idea to have someone with her. However, she quickly became worried about the concept. What if she wanted to explore on her own, or if she wanted to use her [Local Guide] skill? Having people around her could be a problem. Morgan asked her about the skills she had and how the test went, as well as her hopes and dreams for the future. Hera answered the questions one after another, even stating that she just wanted to explore and didn''t have any bigger goals than that. At least, not right now. Morgan asked about the role skills she wanted to learn, but Hera wasn''t able to make up her mind. She wanted to learn five of them, but [Learn] [Blueprint] and [Assassinate] were the ones that interested her the most. "Why, Assassinate? You don''t give me a very assassin feeling," Morgan asked. "The test showed me how valuable it is to be able to sneak around unnoticed. I was not successful in doing so, but I was attacked by monsters who were good at it. I think that learning Assassinate will improve my knowledge of how to hide effectively, and If I know how to hide. I know what to search for to see if something is hiding around me," she explained. Morgan sat back in his chair, placing two fingers in front of his lips as Hera talked. "By that logic, wouldn''t Hunt be a better choice of skill? Our best trackers are hunters," Morgan said. "I imagine they are, but I was told that an explorer can''t get all the skills. If I have to prioritize, I will be better at hiding than finding hidden enemies. Besides, my relic has a proximity alarm of sorts. I think that will be enough for now." "Is not that an explorer can''t get all the skills. It is just hard to do so, and the results are not as great as one would expect. I know of a couple of explorers who have all the role skills, but they regret wasting so much time learning them all. It''s not a good idea to spread yourself too thin. But having Hunt as a fourth skill is a good idea," Morgan said. "Actually, it would be my fifth. I want Synch as my fourth." Morgan simply nodded at the reply. It was almost impossible to find an explorer that didn''t pick Synch as one of their role skills. All children had dreams of being a powerful mage at some point. It wasn''t an unexpected result. He also asked about her relic, and what it could help her accomplish. Morgan made it clear that it should be just a general idea and that the actual specifics are private information so they wouldn''t put it on the interview. Hera kept answering questions until Morgan started asking about the people she met inside the test. The way he was phrasing the questions made it seem like he wanted to know about Peaches, but Hera was never entirely sure if it was that or if it was someone checking if the test is working as it should. After a few minutes of back and forth, Morgan let out a sigh. "Just one moment if you will," he said as he picked a golden coin from his pocket. He typed something on his tablet and kept staring at the coin. After a few moments, he flipped the coin and looked at the result. Hera glanced at it and saw the image of a skull on the coin. "Very well, I guess I can miss another one if needed," Morgan whispered, "Let me be blunt Hera, did the guide gave you a skill?" he asked. Hera''s eyes went wide. Did he really ask that? What if she didn''t know? Why would he risk something like that for a recruit who didn''t get his hints? "Considering I didn''t freeze, I''m going to take that as a yes. Before you think I had someone spying on you, let me explain. My relic allows me to ask a question, and it will reply with a simple yes or no. Like it was with you. The specifics are private information, so let''s just leave it at that," he explained. "Ok... I''m sorry for making you use the relic. I wasn''t sure if your questions were about the skill or about how the test is working," Hera said. Morgan made a surprise expression before chuckling a bit. "My apologies, I didn''t expect you to think that. But I can''t blame you either. Now, you do have the Local Guide skill, yes?" "Yes, I have it. Peaches gave it to me," Hera replied. "Peaches, so that is the one you meet. Very well, I will make a note on your interview with a code we use. If you need to confirm if an explorer has this skill, ask them this. Have you found the viridescent malus sieversii? If they reply, it was atop of its rivulet obelisk under the solis. They have the skill. It''s a mouthful, I know. But that way we can avoid any problems. Also, be careful, very few explorers have that skill." Hera felt some of her worries go away. When she read the skill, she kept thinking about ways she could mess up the questions. Having a password of sorts made all those problems disappear. "Thank you very much, Morgan." "I thank you. It''s been almost a year since the last time I shared this code. In the future, I hope we can count on you to perform this interview with other recruits. For obvious reasons, we try to have explorers with that skill doing these. I''m not asking for you to lose your last chance, of course. But if you still have all three, would you be willing to help?" Hera thought for a moment. She was terrible at that. But it was the least she could do, even if it cost her one of her three chances. "I can try. I''m just not very good with this type of thing." "That is not a problem. We have a series of control questions. Although, as you proved now, sometimes they don''t work. Now, your interview is over, and it is already in our system. The last thing you need is some paperwork. There is someone outside that will help you with that. You can go now, I apologize for the rush, but I still have many errands to deal with." Morgan said, gesturing at the door. Hera thanked him again and left the office. Before even closing the door, someone hugged her. "Congratulations, sweetie! I knew you would pass the test on the first try." Helena said. 60 - New card "Okay, the last thing we need is... Oh, right. This is a bit grim, but in the event that you meet an unfortunate end. Who is the next of kin we should contact?" Helena asked. "I guess it would be my dad. Eridan Kingsley, he lives in Burtois," Hera said. "All done then. Do you have any questions?" Hera thought for a moment. "Yeah, a few. The healthcare plan you mentioned, it will last for how long?" "Three months, or until you go to the second layer of the MAZE. During that time, feel free to visit any guild infirmaries to get healed or do a check-up. Although you can use only basic service from healers. If you want to go to the doctor, then you need to come outside. In that case you can pay with your own money and the healthcare will refund part of the expenses. Other plans can take care of everything, but it''s better to think about it when you come back," Helena explained. Hera just nodded. It was like the healthcare she had in the bookstore. Since her paycheck wouldn''t be consistent like it was before, she needed to earn money first, and then think about where to spend. She used her tablet to check her bank account. It would be tight, but she saved enough money to pay this month''s rent. "Good thing I saved some gold," she mumbled. "Oh! That''s right. You¡¯re renting your place, right? Send this month''s rent to the guild. We will take care of that," Helena said. "The guild is going to pay my rent?" Hera asked. "Yes, but you are going to have to pay us back. We know that new explorers might be tight on gold when they are just starting. So we pay your rent so you won''t have to pay the late fee. But we deduct that payment from your first few missions until you pay back the money you borrowed." "Can I pay part of the rent back right away? I could pay the rent myself, but it could help to have some gold on hand," Hera asked. "Of course you can, sweetie. I was about to suggest that. You might want to buy potions, gear, and even some rations in Brinefront. Since it''s the first layer, the city has a pretty good variety of shops," Helena said. "Do you recommend any specific?" "I do, but we''ll talk about that later. We still need to update your card," Hera picked her card and gave it to Helena. The card would work as a sort of badge that she could use to prove she was an explorer. Outside it didn''t have much use, but inside the MAZE, it was really helpful. She could get discounts in shops, accept quests from the guild, and use it to enter en exit cities that had a more strict policy. Helena took the card and placed it inside a square case. A soft red light started to emanate from inside it. "Helena, how do you deal with the time changes? I''m still feeling a bit off. We learned that each room has its own time zone, but I didn''t expect the change to affect me so much," Hera asked. "First of all, I told you to call me Lena. Helena is too formal. Second, I think the test messes you up a bit more than the other rooms. When you finished the group part and chose your role, the place you were in started its day at 8 AM. Usually, the time difference between rooms is smaller, not the 7 hours you experienced. What I do is keep my clock always in the time zone of the real world. With a secondary one in the tablet in sync with the room I''m in." Hera nodded, maybe that would help. It was weird jumping so many time zones at once. It was barely noon right now, but she felt like she needed to go to bed. A few moments later, the case stopped glowing. Helena took Hera''s card from it. The previous white plain frame turned to a shiny bronze, and the guild''s symbol was engraved on the back. Hera stared at it for a moment. It was a doorway with the doors open and the skyline of a city inside of it. The design was simplistic but elegant. She picked the card and turned it to the other side. Her name was engraved, as well as her role. To the left side, her level was on display. Helena gave the girl a moment. It was clear that this was a big thing for Hera. The attendant could understand why. She had heard the whole story during the last month. It seemed so mean. Hera wanted this her whole life just for the guild to reject her. It wasn''t fair, the status rule could be there to protect people, but it turned the guild into an elitist group. Still, there wasn''t much she could do about it. "Hera, did Calvin explain why the cards are bronze?" Helena asked. Coming back of her moment, Hera replied. "Yeah, he said that it shows how good and strong of an explorer you are." Helena rolled her eyes. "C''mon, Calvin. You are better than that,¡± Helena complained, ¡°This means how much the can guild trust you. As you complete missions and prove that we can trust in you, the guild will start offering more important quests. When we trust you enough, you can change your card to a silver one and then gold. With that, you can get quests that are more rewarding but might require more finesse. For instance, a bronze mission might kill some monsters. A silver one might be, protect crops from a monster attack. A gold one would be escorting a caravan filled with medical supplies." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hera stared at Helena, "I''m not sure I understand." "Killing a monster is not something urgent, we might need to control the population, or just some gather materials. It is not something vital. When protecting crops, we need someone who wouldn''t run away at first sight of danger. We need that food, it''s not something that we can just ask anyone, and if they fail, we will have some problems but nothing unmanageable. Now, the medical supplies can be worth more than the mission reward itself. Imagine if there is a hospital in dire need of equipment and we send someone who will steal the goods and sell them wanting to make more money. That is why we have this rating. Sure, gold card holders usually are stronger, but that''s because of the number of missions they completed." "Got it, so it''s more like your clearance level," Hera said, "Yes, although we are not a spy agency." "Are you sure? We know things most people don''t know. We have an underground lab, and most of our work is done away from public eyes," Hera replied with a playful smile. Helena stared at her friend for a moment. "Holy crap, are we spies? No... but we even have codenames... Are we spies?!" Helena gasped. "I guess we need to order a martini to confirm," Hera said. They both stared at each other for a moment and said at the same time, "Shaken, not stirred," before laughing. "All joking aside, there is one more tier of cards, the custom ones. If you are not only trusted by the guild but have a fantastic accomplishment, the guild might issue you a custom card. They will ask for your input and make something extraordinary. Undine had a flaming red card with a ring of fire around it. Sure it was just an illusion, but it is sooo pretty. Today, most of the top explorers have one," Helena explained. "Do you have one?" Hera asked. "Not yet, maybe someday, although scholars tend to have more difficulty to get one." "Why is that?" "Well, it is harder for the guild to consider research something extraordinary. Most explorers that have the custom cards saved a town or stopped a landslide or something brainless like that. For researchers, they won''t discuss the accomplishment unless you make something that will affect the world on a larger scale. My research, for instance, is not considered valuable, even though it would help all explorers become stronger." As Helena spoke, Hera could see she was bitter about the guild''s decision. It was understandable. Very few scientists were given the acknowledgment they deserve. Almost no one could name the person who discovered antibiotics, but everyone knew at least one famous boxer. "Anyway, you are all set. But you need to wait until your graduation next Sunday before going inside the MAZE," Helena said. "We are graduating?" "Of course, sweetie. The guild loves its traditions. We have a small ceremony celebrating your success and the final registration in front of the doorway. Then a small gathering with a few scouts for the groups and companies to meet you all. It''s just a way to introduce you all to the rest of the explorer''s world. I promise you, it is not as dull as it sounds, and there will be free food." Hera smiled, "Ok. Since there is going to be food, I''ll go." "Great! Even if you didn''t have a choice in the matter. Now, the ceremony starts at 4 PM. If you get here around 10 in the morning, we will have more than enough time." "Time for what?" Hera asked. "For my gift to you, silly. You don''t expect me to let such a big moment pass without giving you something to celebrate, right?" Helena said with a big smile. Hera tried to refuse any gifts, but the attendant was adamant. With the paperwork done, the former recruit went home. Stopping by a dinner on the way home, Hera ordered some takeout. She wasn''t in the mood to cook or to eat out. She wanted to rest, but first, she needed to talk to her dad. Sending a text to both him and her grandma, she also attached a picture of her brand new card. Before waiting for their reply, Hera went to the bathroom to take a well-deserved shower. She was going to pamper herself today. Using the papaya conditioner that Alex had recommended earlier that month. She was in the middle of the bath when her phone rang. Quickly washing the soap from her eyes, Hera wrapped herself in a towel and saw the caller ID. It was her dad. "Hey, dad! I did it!" she said, picking up the phone. "Did it? Did what young lady? Spent an absurd amount of money that could have helped your father''s business? What were you thinking? Do you think you will ever work enough to make that money back?" Hera''s mood changed the second her mother''s voice came out of the speaker. ¡°It was a prize, I didn¡¯t pay for the level up. And I''m an explorer, mom. I''ll make more money," she replied. "What? You are going inside the MAZE? Stop daydreaming, that little card might say you are an explorer, but we both know that you are too scared to be doing something like this. I bet that if anything doesn''t go your way, you will be home crying just like on your 18th birthday." "Stella!" Eridan''s voice rang in the background. Hera was clenching her fist. The only reason she cried so much that day was because her mother was the first one to start teasing her about her stats. She heard her parents arguing about something before her dad picked the phone. "Hey, goldilocks. Ignore what your mother just said. I''m really proud of you even if I''m terrified of you getting hurt." "Thanks, grumpy bear," she said as she loosened the grip on her hand. "Listen, I''m going to try to calm your mother. You can ignore what she said. I know you will do great. You are the strongest person that I know. And promise me that you will call me before going on any adventures, ok?" "Ok, I will. Thanks," Hera said, being cut off in the middle of the sentence as her dad turned off the phone. Hera kept staring at the screen. This was how it always went. Eridan always acted like her mom was the one suffering. What about her? She was the one always hearing mean thing being said to her. Stella was even the one who started the whole ''OP girl'' nickname. Feeling the soap drip near her eyes, Hera went back to the shower. She felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "It''s just the soap," she told herself. After leaving the shower, her grandma had replied to the text, asking Hera to call her. She did it right away, unlike her parents, grandma Triss was really excited. She always loved adventures. Hearing her granddaughter tell the tales of her exploits was more interesting than any movie. Hera told everything about the test, from the skeletons to the giant slime she fought. She was about to talk about Peaches when she realized that it could count as her breaking the rules. Apologizing to her grandma she said there were a few things she couldn¡¯t talk about. By the end of it, they had spent two hours talking. Looking at her texts, she noticed that Bonnie had left her test as well. The girl was now a researcher. During the next few days, Hera decided to be on holiday. She talked to her friends, went out for a few drinks, and stayed home watching TV and reading. Before she realized, Sunday arrived. 61 - Ready for prom Hera arrived at the guild early. She didn''t want to come so soon, but Helena was unyielding in the subject. It didn''t matter. If the gift was too much, she would refuse it or give Helena something just as pricey. Since she wanted to be like that, Hera would beat her in her own game. Helena had told Hera to meet her at 10 am sharp. It was already 10:15. Helena wasn''t one to be late, but she could be doing some work. There was no reason for Hera to be worried. Besides, it was a hot day, and the AC in the guild reception was lovely. A few minutes later, Helena walked in. "Hera! I''m so sorry for being late. I overslept." "That''s rare for you," she replied. "Yeah, I ended up watching a show before bed to relax, but it got exciting." "What''s the show about?" "It''s called Alazar the Last Wind Shaper, it''s a cartoon about a world with elemental based countries. But there is a war going on because the flame shapers attacked. It started in a really mellow tone, but by the second season, it became so much better. Anyway, let''s go. Your present is not here." Hera got up and left the guild with her friend. They kept talking about the shows they liked and comparing notes and theories about a few that they both enjoyed. It was the first time Hera went out with Helena. She felt happy knowing that they could meet like this, just as friends. About ten minutes after they left the guild, Helena stopped. "And here we are," she said, pointing to a window. "Where... No Lena, please don''t do this," Hera pleaded. "It''s a big day." "Yeah, but don''t make me do this. Please," Helena stared at Hera''s eyes. "We are doing this, and you are choosing it," Helena started to drag Hera inside the store while the explorer groaned loudly. The people walking through the street wondered why someone would be so upset about going to a boutique. What followed was among the longest two hours of Hera''s life. Helena made her try on almost every single dress in the store. From simple black gowns to weird pink fluffy dresses filled with ribbons. "That one is great. All you need is a cane and a sheep," Helena laughed. "Oh, bite me. I would love to see you pull this one off," Hera grumbled. Helena got up, grabbed the same dress in her size, and a wide black hat. After a few moments, she left the dressing room. The dress was still silly, but the way she moved reminded Hera of a model. Even in the weirdest of outfits, they can still show how beautiful they are. "That''s not fair," Hera mumbled. "And why is that?" Helena said as she sat in a chair with both hands on one knee. Somehow, that made her even more elegant. "Because of that. It has to be a skill. Even using that ridiculous dress, you can look good," Hera huffed. Helena stared at her for a moment. She was analyzing the woman in front of her. Her long blond hair was naturally wavy, and her eyes had such a beautiful blue color. And yet she wasn''t aware of just how pretty she was. Maybe she could give her an extra push. "Well, it is a skill, but more akin to cooking a dish than to an actual skill the system gave you." "What do you mean?" Hera asked. "I guess your All in is a good example. You know how you can focus your strength on a single point? Like when you are throwing a punch." Hera nodded. "There are ways to do that with all attributes. Well, I say all, but I have no idea how to do this with luck. Now, back to the main topic. With agility would be running or moving fast, intelligence is focusing on something mentally taxing, but did you ever wonder what it would be to focus on your charisma?" Hera shook her head, "I can''t say I have." "Well, it''s hard to explain, but it is like focusing on your presence, like trying to appear regal and dignified and make everyone see it." Hera kept staring at Helena. It was like hearing those cliche things that people say in movies, stuff like ki, bloodlust, or killing intent. All of that just sounded like fantasy things. If she had said it was a spell, it would make more sense. "Sorry, but I still don''t get it." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "I know. It took me a long time to do so too. My teacher was the one who actually told me about this. The best way to practice this feeling is to pretend like you are doing it," Helena explained. "Lena, are you asking me to play pretend?" The mage giggled, "I guess I am. Try another dress, and when you come out, pretend like you are a queen from ancient times." After some convincing, Hera tried Helena''s suggestion. She remembered the movies and shows about royalty. Most acted like the world was there to serve them, but a few were different. They were respectful to all and very attentive. At the same time, they would only grab the spotlight when needed. If not, they would be in the background. She always liked those characters. Since she was going to pretend, she might as well pretend to be a character she liked. As she left the dressing room, Hera scanned the area, trying to see everyone in the room. She was wearing a dark purple long dress with a belt in the middle. There were buttons on the top of the dress that made it look like the dress was actually a skirt and a dress shirt. Helena watched Hera. She was moving more slowly and carefully. She had a serious expression in her eyes that was a mix of discomfort and interest. Probably due to it being something unnatural to her. Yet, it seemed like a step in the right direction. "Keep practicing it, if your skill activates, you know you are on the right track." Hera knew that Helena was trying to be supportive, but she felt silly. Even though she like the dress. "Now, about the dress..." Hera flinched, could the mage read minds? "I loved it. It is so cute. I love how the purple looks with your hair." "Thanks, I think I''m going to get this one. I really liked it," Hera looked at the price tag. 85 gold? For a dress? "On second thought, I''m gonna look for something else." "No you are not, you just want to look for something cheaper. How much is it?" Helena got up and looked at the price, "That''s it? Sweetie, that is really cheap. And you know that I''m paying. What''s the problem." "Lena, that is too much for a dress. I can eat for two weeks with that money." "You are an explorer now, a day''s work you give you three times that. Trust me when I say that this will be nothing." After some convincing, Hera finally gave in and let Helena buy the dress even if she promised herself to buy something amazing to the mage after returning from the MAZE. As the two of them left the store, Helena said. "Now, we have one last stop. Should we go to the Hair Salon or lunch first?" "Didn''t you get a haircut last week?" "I''m not the one getting a haircut," Helena said with a smile. "Helena. Please, the dress is enough." Hera stopped walking. She was already uncomfortable about letting Helena pay for the dress. The last thing she needed was to try out a new look for a party. Helena only needed one look to understand how nervous Hera was. "Ok, one step at a time. But you should consider having a shorter haircut when you enter the maze. Long hair can be a problem when fighting." Hera promised to consider it, and the two of them looked for a place to eat. A few hours later, they stopped by Helena''s home to get ready. She had a small flat just a few minutes from the guild. They got ready and kept talking about various things before it was time to go back to the guild. They arrived half an hour early for the graduation. As they were arriving, Hera noticed a familiar blue-haired woman in the reception. "Blue?" "Hera!" she said as she got up to hug the explorer, "Wow, you look so pretty." "Thanks, you look amazing too." Blue was wearing a sleeveless white dress that went to her knees. It was fitted so it would show her curves. In another person, it would highlight their breasts or waist. But what popped on Blue were her arms. She was very muscular. "Damn, girl. Those are some nice guns." They looked back and saw Alex arriving wearing a grey pantsuit with a black shirt underneath. "What did you expect from the future best controller in the world?" Blue said as she flexed her arms. Helena left to prepare the final touches of the ceremony. And the trio kept talking. They discussed the test and what had happened during those days. Alex finished her Assassin test in five days, while Blue only took three to learn the control skill. As time went by, the rest of the class arrived. Leo was happy about becoming a Hunter, and Bonnie, the researcher, brought a bag of cupcakes to thank the group for giving her the chalice. Tiffany and Kenji came in but sat on the other side of the reception, but Anaya was nowhere to be seen. Mark ended up being the last to arrive. "Hey, Mark. Why the long face?" Blue asked as the man walked in. "Hey, guys. I just... don''t know why I''m here." "Why do you say that?" Hera asked. "I failed the test. I want to be a crafter, and I was so close to getting the skill. But time ran out," He explained while staring at the ground. Hera felt a knot form in her stomach. She knew how much it hurt to fail in something like this. "Oh, man. I''m sorry about that. What is going to happen now?" Leo asked while placing his hand on Mark''s shoulder. "I get a new chance next week. Jasper pulled a few strings. But I have to do it all again, the written test, the group one, and the role test. You know what it sucks? I almost had it. To get the skill, I had to memorize the materials and production of three items. A belt, a potion, and an arrow. The potion is what screwd me. I was never a good chemist, and it kept asking to figure out the right temperature, but I had no tools for it. So I spend a while coming up with a way to check the temperature of the mix. When I finally got it, I showed it to the dumbass AI just to be told that they had a thermometer. They didn''t give me because I didn''t ask for it," he explained. "That sucks Mark. I''m sorry," Alex said. "Yeah, it''s fine. I can finish the whole thing in a day now. I''m going to the bathroom, be right back," Mark said as he walked away. The mood changed. It was hard seeing one of their friends failing like that. Hera glanced at Tiffany, and the frustration turned into anger. If Anaya hadn''t left them alone, they could have finished the group test sooner. Maybe that would be enough for Mark to get his role. "I know it sounds bad, but I''m just gonna say it. Only Mark could do something so funny," Blue sneered. "Blue!" Hera said. "I know, I know. But seriously. In a few months, we will be laughing our asses off inside the MAZE about this." "Maybe, but that is way too soon," Alex condemned. "Please don''t say that near Mark," Leo begged. They stayed in silence for a few moments and then started talking about the party. Mark came back from the bathroom and joined in. A few minutes later, Helena came back to escort the group to where the graduation would take place. Following Helena to the elevator, she pressed the button for the roof. "Oh, Just a quick tip for you. When these doors open, you will meet all the people who showed an interest in recruiting you. No pressure, but remember that this is kind like a job interview," Helena said. "Sure, I can be really chill after hearing that," Leo said, rolling his eyes. With a ding, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened. 62 - Recruitment Mixer On the roof, there was a small zen garden filled with sand, as well as a few trees in each corner. The floor was built like a deck made out of black walnut. There were tables set at both sides of the area. Some of them were empty, while others had a few different groups of people. Near the railings, there was a small platform just enough for three people. The ceremony itself was a bit bland. The guild leader, who was supposed to give a speech, was a no show. Because of that, Morgan had to step up. Hera did her best not to seem too bored. They weren''t hearing a rousing speech of a general. It seemed more like the principal of a school congratulating the senior class. Blue had to be kept in check by Hera and Leo. Otherwise, the controller would start talking and disrupting Morgan. "As you know, you were all graded during your final test. I will call you to come up to the stage in order of the highest grade to the lowest. You will also receive a token that you can redeem, along with any other tokens you received during your test, for gold or equipment from the armory," Morgan explained. Alex was the first one to be called. Morgan congratulated her on getting an A on the evaluation and being the top of the class. Blue was the second one. She also got an A, but apparently, the written test was the tiebreaker. They were followed by Leo, Hera, and Bonnie, all of them got a B. Anaya, and Kenjiro were the last two, both getting Cs. The token was just an envelope, and your grade inside it on a piece of paper. The only thing that made the thing unique was a wax seal on the bottom of the envelope. It seemed a waste. The seal wasn''t actually stopping anyone from opening the letter. It couldn''t even be called a seal. It was just a wax stain. Hera twisted her nose when he called Anaya''s name. She hoped that the woman had failed her test. It would be karmic justice if she had to redo the training. At least she had gotten a bad grade. Hera wondered when Anaya had arrived. The first time she saw her was when she got up on the stage. "Now, for those who failed to get your roles skills. Don''t worry. You can try it again on the makeup test. If I''m not mistaken, we have one spot available for the one taking place next week. If you fail again, we have another makeup test next month," Morgan explained. Hera looked at Mark, who was sitting on one of the tables. She tried to give him a thumb up to support him, but the man just replied with a sad smile. "Excuse me," Tiffany, who was sitting at the same table as Mark, asked, raising her hand. "Yes?" Morgan replied. "Do we have to pick the same role in the makeup test? I think I''m not made to be a fighter." "You may choose a different role if you wish. However, the tests for each role are unique. Don''t expect to have an easier time because of what you already saw in this test," Morgan explained. Tiffany thanked him, confirming her interest in changing her choice. "Very well, any more questions?" the speaker asked. After a small pause, a man who was sitting in one of the tables near Helena yelled. "Yeah, when can we eat?" That was followed by the laughs of a few other people who were sitting around. They all seemed relaxed as if this was a daily event. "As long as you don''t take the trays like last time, you can start eating," Morgan Heckled, "As for you, young explorers. Let me congratulate you all on becoming official members of our guild. Every single one of us started just like you, as a greenhorn who was completely lost. But we pressed on, and today, we are all proud of calling ourselves, explorers. I hope you will be in our shoes someday." There was another pause. Morgan was just staring at the former recruits. They looked at each other, trying to understand what was happening until the speaker cleared his throat. "Well, that is it. Enjoy the party and try to know the groups that went out of their way to come here. Thank you." Morgan stepped out of the platform, going towards a table where Frostbite was with a few other people. "That''s odd," Alex said. "Yeah, why the pause?" Blue asked. "Do you guys think he was waiting for claps?" Leo suggested. The group stared at Morgan. The man was the guild master''s assistant. He wouldn''t have a wait for claps cue in his speech, would he? After checking on Mark, the group then split off to meet the people who came to their graduation. One hour later, Hera finally was able to get a plate of food. She sat on a table at the corner of the roof, looking at the rest of the party. She managed to talk to quite a few people, and according to what she gathered, she had met all the groups present. The companies here were the New Dawn, represented by Frostbite. Sprite Technologies, one of New Dawn''s competitors. They sent an uptight businessman called Levi Gilbert, who seemed wildly out of his element here. Yet he offered her an interview. They would have to perform a few tests, but she could get a starting position earning 5 000 gold a month. She would need to do a certain amount of quests per month and share any information that interested the company free of charge. The problem is she would have to share 40% of the pay she would get if she took a quest from another company or even the guild itself. Not only that, but the wording on the contract Levi showed her was vague. The little she knew about law told her that they could even ask for whatever the quest reward was, even if it was an item or something else. The final nail in the coffin was knowing that any materials she brought back were supposed to be sold to the company at a set value. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Chiefbite was the third company. They were part of the food industry, and apparently, quite a few ingredients can only be found or grown inside the MAZE. A friendly man called Adam Eymann gave his card to Hera, asking her, the explorer, to contact him if she found any exotic ingredients or dishes. His company was even open to working with her as a freelancer. That was quite different from the exclusivity offer from Sprite. Hera listened to Frostbite''s offer with Blue. To an explorer, the contract would be almost as bad as the one Levi offered. But to Blue, she was willing not only to wave the fee when she took quests from the outside but also to fund her completely until she reached level 10. She would also have a monthly payment of 10 000 gold plus bonuses depending on the number of quests she completed. It seemed too good to be true. Hera was worried that her friend would sign the contract right there. Luckily, Anaya approached them, thanking Frostibe for the generous offer and asking if they would be willing to fund her until level 15 if she only took quests from the company. The way she spoke made clear that it wasn''t the first time the two talked about it. Frostbite said she would have to confirm it with her superiors but that there was a good chance of agreeing with her counter offer. That was enough to push Blue away. She decided to talk to other groups before making any decisions. Aside from the companies, there were a few groups of explorers. They called themselves with various names. Factions, divisions, alliances, cabals, coalitions, but they were mostly the same. Groups of explorers who shared knowledge and help each other grow and deal with hard quests. To Hera, those groups seemed much more interesting than working with a company. They didn''t offer any regular pay, but they could give her information about quests, items, and places, which seemed much more valuable to an explorer. They also shared databases among the groups, and even equipment was available as long as you show your contribution to the party. "So, what you think about the groups here?" Helena sat down in front of Hera with a big plate of cheeses and quiches on her hand. "Well, the companies kind of suck. They treat each of us in one way. Anaya even got a deal much better than I did from New Dawn," Hera said as she ate the pigs in a blanket she had on her plate. "Yep, unless you are one of the gems, as they call it, they only give you a crappy starter contract." "Gems?" Hera asked. "Very talented people. People who they assume are good enough to be a candidate for a Hero." "That seems like a bad move. They probably only have people who peaked early working for them." Hera bit down on another appetizer. Hearing that Anaya might be on the path of a Hero really annoyed her. "Yeah, but that''s just one company. But what I really want to know is, what did you think about the other groups?" Helena asked as she leaned in towards Hera. "They seem nice. The Phantoms of Fortune seem really interesting. They focus on finding treasure. That looks like a good fit for me. I want to be able to explore many places inside the MAZE. But I feel like they are a bit too greedy. Maybe there is some drama every time someone finds a really expensive thing." "True, there were some really bad fallouts in that group, but they are good people. What else?" Helena asked. "The Forge Shifters are kind of weird. They freaked out about my bracelet since I made it as a recruit. Jasper is one of them, so it would be nice to have a friendly face. And they seem to be the most... inclusive ones. Like they don''t care about your role as long as you can contribute. But I''m not so keen on the idea of having a fixed base as they seem to have." "Oh, but their city is amazing. I spent quite a few years there during my younger years." "Like you are so old," Hera mocked, "Moving on. There are also the Shark Fin soldiers." "Souldiers," Helena said. "What?" "Is Shark Fin Souldiers, Like Soul but with a dier at the end." "You are kidding me," Hera doubted. Helena just shook her head. "Ok.. they seem less fun now. But they focus on fighting, right? Always in the front lines, looking for the next big enemy. It looks like a great place to improve my combat skills. I''m just no to keen on the militaristic aspect of it. They kept calling each other by rank and not names. And now, that Souldier thing seems too cringe." "I guess you are right," Helena said, "But aren''t you forgetting a group?" Hera stared at Helena. There was one other group she met, but the woman didn''t talk about anything aside from the name. "Well, there is another one. I think it was called the Velvet Veil, but the woman only said its name and that she wasn''t here to recruit someone. So I have no clue what it is all about." "Did you just said, Velvet Veil?" Helena asked. "Yeah, why?" "That''s the guild commander-in-chief''s group. For someone to talk about it so casually, they must be a higher up. Who told you that?" Hera looked around but didn''t find the woman that said she was from that group. "It was a blond woman, really tall, and she seemed very strong. She had a long feather earring and a tribal tattoo on the side of her head." Helena picked her phone and pulled up a picture of the same woman, wearing a longsword on her waist and a big grey fur cape. "Is this the one?" the mage asked. "Yeah, that''s her." "Holy crap, Hera. You just met the leader of the guild. Leliana Mihafrey. I knew the guild master had a meeting with a bigshot, but I had no idea it was that big of a shot." Hera kept staring at the picture, playing their interaction again in her head. Was she rude is anyway, or did she say something that could have offended her? What if she had done something unforgivable to someone so powerful? Helena noticed that Hera was white as a sheet. "Hey, Hey, Sweetie. Calm down, what''s wrong?" Hera explained her fear, but Helena reassured her that one of the guild leaders wouldn''t do anything to her just for saying something rude. Seeing as the explorer was still distraught, Helena tried a different angle. "In any case, I think you forgot one group," the mage said. "Which one?" Hera asked. "Well, my group, of course. We are a group that focuses on improving the whole explorer community. It doesn''t matter the role. We tend to be a more independent bunch. One of our members is even the creator of the ATFs we have in the guild. He is an amazing crafter. Now what we ask is just to help out when you can, and sometimes one of the members can post a quest when they need something to help them. I already have quite a few that I intend to give to you should you choose to join." "That seems nice, and I was already thinking about joining your group. Even though you took so long to talk to me about it that I thought you had given up on me. What''s the group''s name?" "We are called The Order of the Lost Court." 63 - Gear Up "Ok, so far, I like our group even if it has a longer name. But do you mind if I ask what exactly we get when joining a group? Mr. Greyson only said that it was a good way to meet like-minded people and get some help when needed," Hera asked. "He... I''m going to have a long talk with him later. What he said just scratches the surface. Being part of an organization means you can take quests from that organization, access databases, and exchange contribution points to items and weapons. Later on, we can start receiving monthly contributions for your work or get a sort of grant for any work you want to do. In my order, some people opened shops with the support of our members. Others went on a year-long pilgrimage to train. I got a sizable grant that allowed me to spend a couple of years on my research. If it weren''t for them, I would need to split my focus between my work and a side job to make money," Helena explained. "Oh, wow. Yeah, that seems much better than just a group to help you out. But why would you take new explorers?" "Well, a few reasons. First, we might see something in them. Maybe a skill or a drive that seems to be beneficial to our group. Second, it''s common to need something from the lower layers of the maze. Be it materials from monsters, items we find in shops, and even information sometimes. It''s much cheaper to hire someone in the lower layers than to pay the travel expenses." "Do you have to pay the travel expenses when you make a quest?" Hera asked. "Not really, but why would someone take the quest if they might end up losing money in the process. It''s kind of a hidden agreement that the quest reward must include possible travel expenses if you posted it in a different room." Hera nodded, in class, they learned that quests could be posted from anywhere. All you need is a branch from the guild and you can set up different rewards for different rooms. "I have just a few more questions. Do you guys have a rule about accepting quests from other organizations or companies? And can I work with people from other organizations?" Hera asked. "Yes, and yes. Although there have been times when a company or an organization was shunned for a while, those were not specific to our organization, but a decision from the whole guild. That only happens when someone messes up big time. I''m talking like international problem big. The last time that happened was because a party stole another party''s loot from a dungeon. The problem is, the party that lost the loot from was part of the US military. They played it as a direct attack and demanded the loot back. It was a whole thing that ended with an apology, their loot back, and the guild punishing the entire Night Cats alliance for a year. I think that was uncalled for, but we all had to abide by the guild ruling in that case, even if it was just about politics. And the Night Cats were fine. They enjoyed the notoriety even though I agree that what they did was wrong," Helena grunted. "Yeah, I mean, they were in the wrong, but the government saying it was an attack seems too much." "Anyway, any other questions?" "Just one, where do I apply?" Hera said. Helena quickly sent her a link where she could apply. Since the mage had a high rank inside the alliance, she could approve Hera right away. This wasn''t something so unusual since headhunters could recruit someone anywhere and speed up the approval process. "For the first couple of months, you are considered in the trial period. So try no to cause any international incidents, ok?" Helena joked. "Sure, I''ll wait for the third month before targeting the military," Hera said. They laughed and kept enjoying the party. Helena told Hera a bit more about her new faction. She was explaining how to request something from their armory or ask for help. She also showed the explorer a few pictures of the higher-ups, just in case. After a few more hours, people started to leave, and Hera looked for her friends. There was one last thing she wanted to do today. After a few minutes, she found Leo and Blue talking near the food table. "Hey guys, have you been recruited already?" Hera asked. "Nah, my master told me of a few organizations, but none of them are here. I''ll apply through their website later. The ones here feel a bit too specific," Leo said. "Me neither. I wanted to work with Frostbite, but after seeing that she made an offer to Anaya, I''m not sure anymore. I''m positive they would make us work together, and I don''t need to say why I hate that idea," Blue explained. Hera and Leo nodded. Working with Anaya was the last thing any of them wanted to do. "What about you?" Blue asked. "I joined the Order of the Lost Court," Hera said with a big smile. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "What''s that one?" Alex asked. The trio jumped. They failed to notice the woman approaching them. "Oh, sorry. I''m not used to the role just yet," Alex said. "Which role? Ghost?" Blue Bleated. "Assassin. It upgraded my hide, so now it has a passive effect," Alex explained. "If you keep doing that, I''m getting you a bell. I don''t need this stress here," Leo said. The group talked a bit more, Hera told them about the order and said she could check with Helena if any of them wanted to join. Blue, Alex, and Leo said they wanted to look at some other groups first but Bonnie, who caught the end of their conversation, was very interested in the idea. Hera asked them when they would go to the MAZE. They wanted to go soon, but Bonnie and Leo had a few things to take care of before going. They agreed to meet up on Wednesday to go in together. But before that, they were all excited about the rewards. Not only they had the token from the guild, but aside from Bonnie, they also had Gwendelan¡¯s token. The group waited for an opportunity and moved to the elevator. Going straight down towards the guild armory on the same floor as the doorway. They got some directions from a guild clerk and proceeded to the left hallway, following the sound of metal hitting metal. Walking through the hallway, the group reached a large glass wall. Inside it, there was a big workshop where a few people were hammering away at different types of metals. Just by glancing at it, Hera could see one of the forgers sharpening a spear. "I never knew we had a forge in here," Alex said. "I know, right? Do you think they use magic to keep the smoke away?" Blue asked. "Maybe, but good old engineering could do that too," Leo answered. Past the forge, there was a door that leads to what looked like a gear shop. There was a large balcony with various weapons, armors, and accessories in the display. Near the register, there were a few flasks with a variety of liquids inside. Above the register, there was a small sign that read ''The Armory.'' On the other side of the counter, there was a thin man with an uneven chin beard doing something with his tablet. "Hi, we are here to get our gear. We got a token for graduating," Blue said as she approached the counter. The man let out a long sigh and got up, placing his tablet on a desk behind him. "All of you?" he asked. "Yeah, all of us. We have a token from the quest too. They told us that we should redeem it here," Blue said. "Fine. Show me the tokens, and I''ll see what you can get." The group looked at each other. Some of their excitement had toned down after talking with the man. One by one, they showed the letters and tokens. The grades gave them a certain amount of store credit to shop, while the tokens gave them a pass for a few hours in the basic ATRs. The bronze one gave Blue a 5-hour coupon. She could use it for a couple of hours and then use the rest of the time at a later date. Alex and Hera got a 10-hour coupon. While Leo had the wooden token and got a 5-hour coupon for the advanced ATR, the same one they used when they learned about the roles. The man also said that any unused credit from the store would go to waste, so they could either go over the credit and pay the difference or use it up by buying a bunch of rations and miscellanea. The group started browsing. Hera didn''t need a weapon since she already had Iris, who was on her bed at home. But she could use a chakram, maybe tying it with the Yarnball could give her a ranged attack until she figured out something better. After around half an hour, all the recruits got everything that they wanted. Leo had a spear and a set of moss green and brown clothes that could mix well with a forest. Alex picked a couple of daggers, an enchanted cloak, and a pair of boots that made her steps even quieter. Blue took the longest to decided and ended up picking a full set of kevlar armor. When trying it, she looked like a superhero. Bonnie got a hat that channeled mana and an orb that increased her magical capabilities. Even if the girl was yet to learn magic, she was already getting ready for it. Hera picked a set of waterproof clothes, a belt with various satchels around it, a pair of boots made for heavy impact exercise. She also got a spring cane about her hand''s size, but at the press of a button, it turned into a 2-meter tall metal rod. To put it away, all she had to do was twist the ends, and the rod would go back to its pocket size. By the end of it, she still had 150 gold in credit. She was thinking about spending it all in potions for the group when she noticed a dark iron chakram in the wall. It had a grip on the base instead of the middle like the ones she used before. The blade had a simple design for the most part, but spikes that looked like wings would curl up, forming a backward flow to it. The weapon was marked as being on sale. But it was still 350 gold. Even if she used the credit, it would still cost her 200 gold. She checked the status of the weapon, just to be sure it was worth it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mayura''s feather (Chakram) Rarity: Uncommon A chakram created by a blacksmith''s apprentice. Crafted from the feathers of a dusk peacock. Due to the technique used on its conception, the feather changed the color of the iron instead of strengthening it. Attribute scaling: Agility x 1.07 Additional effect: Increased magical compatibility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing its stats, Hera couldn''t understand why it was on sale. The weapon was technically a failure since it received the wrong attribute from the feather. But the additional effect seemed really good. When asking the man in the shop, he just asked, "Would you rather pay the full price?" that shot down any other questions she had about the weapon. Having her friends incentivizing her, Hera bought the weapon. "When we go inside, we will help you make that money back," Blue promised. The group left the store after paying for the equipment and were about to get into the elevator when an attendant stopped them. She explained that they couldn''t walk around with weapons and such and lead them all to separate locker rooms where they could keep their adventuring gear. Those were very different than the ones near the gym on the ground floor. Each locker was a small walk-in closet. The area they had to move around was about the size of a bathtub. There was one cabinet embedded into the wall with a couple of coat hangers inside. They could not only leave their belonging there but also change into their new clothes. Hera told the clerk about Iris, worried that she might get in trouble, but the clerk simply told her to bring the weapon in a bag next time. After making sure their new gear was safe, the group agreed to wait until Wednesday to go inside the MAZE together. As Hera made her way back home, she wondered if she would be able to sleep in the next couple of days. 64 - Entering the MAZE During the next couple of Days, Hera did her best to keep herself busy. She used the time coupon for the ATR, trying to improve her combat ability by focusing on the throwing aspect of the chakram. She wanted a boomerang-like effect using Yarnball, but according to the AI trainer, the closest thing would be the Japanese kusarigama. Not wishing to overwork herself, Hera spent half of her 10 hour time practicing on Monday. That was just enough to understand the basics of the idea. The chakram would work as the weight while the handaxe acted like the hook. The key difference from the traditional weapon would be her ability to swap between the different techniques each weapon offered. When her five-hour period came to an end, she felt that with some training, this could work. But at the moment, using the chakram that way would be deadly to her. She had several bruises from the wooden weapon she used during the training. As she left the guild, Helena sent her a text about the rest of her graduation gift. The mage still wanted to take Hera to a hair salon. If that had come up yesterday, Hera would have said no. However, after the training she just went through, the idea of having shorter hair seemed appealing. More than once, Yarnball ended up tangling with her hair. It wasn''t something too difficult to fix, but if that happened in the middle of a fight, she would have a lot of problems. Hera accepted Helena''s invitation as long as she could pay for herself. Even after buying her new weapon, she still had some money, and Helena wouldn''t take her to a place too expensive if she was the one paying. Helena accepted the terms and asked Hera to meet her in the guild later that day. Seeing that she had some time to kill, Hera took a stroll through the street mall. It was supposed to be just a way to kill time, but she ended up finding a pop-up store selling some culinary books. One title caught her attention. Quick and easy recipes for camping. Since she was going inside the MAZE, this could come in handy. The title even came with an ebook code to download. She bought the book and when it was time, went back to the guild. When the two of them met, Helena took Hera towards a parking lot near the guild where the mage''s car was parked. The drive wasn''t too long but still took Hera to a part of the town she never saw before. After some time, they finally arrived in a small windowless store in front of a park. Inside the store, there was an elegant beauty parlor with light blue patterns across the white wall, five sets of chairs, and a long red couch in the back. Every piece of furniture, aside from the sofa and the chairs, seemed to be made of diamonds. They sparkled and glittered, making the whole room feel like it was being seen through a glow filter. "Hera, this is Quinn, the best hairdresser in the world," Helena announced. Beside her stood a short woman with flaming red hair that would stop just above her shoulders. She had large blue eyes that popped even more due to the glittery purple eyeshadow she was wearing. She opened a big smile that showed her canine teeth to be a bit more pointy than usual. "It''s so nice to meet you. Lena has been talking about you for the whole month," Quinn said. "Hey, don''t sell me out," Helena complained. "Don''t be late for girls'' night next time then," Quinn retorted. Quinn showed Hera where she could sit and gave her a small crystal tablet. Telling her, she could tap the various hairstyles on the screen and get a preview in the mirror. It wasn''t a perfect simulation, but it did get quite close. Hera browsed through the styles. She needed to choose a short one, so she didn''t even try to look at the longer ones. It would only make her want to keep her long hair. She looked through them, trying to find something that suited her. Mohawks and buzzcuts were out of the picture. She would look weird with those. A pixie cut was also a no go. Last time she tried it, she felt like a child. After a while, she stopped at a style with shaved sides, and a longer middle pulled back, making a backward wave. It was gorgeous, but she could never pull it off. She looked for another one, close to the one she saw. With the length of a pixie cut on the sides and the top would be wavy and messy being longer in the front. That one seemed long enough so she could still do some less daring styles. The one on display would be mostly for when she needed to fight. Letting Quinn know she had made a decision, the hairdresser quickly started her work. First, washing Hera''s hair and then starting to cut. Quinn wasn''t talking much aside from asking questions about how Hera wanted the style. It was relaxing having someone take such good care of her hair. Looking at the mirror, Hera could see a satisfied smile on Quinn''s face. The hairdresser also kept humming a soft tune under her breath. In a situation like that, it was hard not to fall asleep. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Luckily for Hera, the haircut didn''t take long. In a bit over thirty minutes, Quinn spun Hera around to see the finished product. The explorer took a moment to realize what she was seeing. Her blonde hair looked like it was dancing with itself before reaching the front, where it fell softly on her forehead. Not only that, but it also had some volume. Enough for her to let the hair fell to the sides if she wished to change the style. "I have to say. It''s been a while since I worked with such pretty hair. Most blondes that come here are not natural, so the hair is a bit damaged. I can see you treat yours with a great deal of care," Quinn said as she placed the finishing touches. "Thank you. I don''t know how you made me look so pretty," Hera said, still staring at her reflection. "Let me tell you a secret," Quinn put her face beside Hera''s looking at the explorer through the mirror, "I only made your hair different. The pretty part is all you." The hairdresser gave such an honest smile that Hera couldn''t help but smile back, even if she didn''t agree with what Quinn said. She could pretend it was true for a few moments. "One last thing. Let me send you a quick tutorial. It''s a simple 5 step way to turn this into a pulled-back style, that way you can do it inside the MAZE. It also has a step by step in how to make this style. It won''t be exactly the same as it looks right now, but that''s just because I''m amazing," Quinn said, puffing her chest. "You really are, thank you so much," Hera said. "Now, as I promised. You can pay, this one is just 50 gold," Helena chimed in. "Can you please not give my price to my customers? But yes, you get a friend discount, Hera. It''s going to be 50 gold," Quinn explained. "Thank you." Hera wanted to protest, but it was hard to argue with Quinn. She made Hera feel so comfortable. "So let''s go. Pay the bill so the three of us can have dinner. It''s my treat," Helena said. "Lena!" Hera protested. "What? I only said that I would let you pay for the haircut. I never said a thing about dinner," Helena answered with a playful smile. The trio went to an all you can eat pizzeria. At first, Hera felt a bit awkward. She was a heavy eater, and being with someone new, even if it was Helena''s friend, made her worried about her eating habits. However, as the slices started to come, she realized her worries were unfounded. Quinn gobbled slice after slice, barely stopping to breathe. Hera soon started to follow her lead. Helena stared at those two kind and gentle souls in front of her. They were so sweet, so lovely, and yet both were already on the seventh slice. "That''s just cheating. If I eat like that, it will all go to my hips," she thought to herself. The trio spent the whole night eating, drinking, and talking. Hera was amazed at how much Quinn had done. Backpacking through Asia, the scholarship on a culinary institute on France, dropping out of the institute to learn cosmetology, helping build an animal shelter. She was amazing. When they left, Helena called a taxi for everyone. She was in no shape to drive. Hera woke up the next day with a nasty hangover. Still, she had worse. Since it was still Tuesday, she took the day to rest and make the world stop spinning. Using her usual cure, she made a large pot of black coffee, ate a glass of black and green olives, and ordered in the biggest greasiest hamburger she could find. At the end of the day, she called her grandma to tell her about going inside the MAZE. She also sent a few texts to some friends, just to let them know she might be unavailable. She knew that in some places inside the MAZE, she still could use the internet, but cellphones were a no go. She also sent a text to her dad, Hera still didn''t want to talk to him after what happened last week. When Wednesday came, her whole group woke up early and agreed to go straight for the guild. Hera stopped to thank Helena for everything before going down to the doorway floor and changing her clothes. When she was ready, she looked in the mirror. She was wearing a pair of black jeans pants, the belt with a few satchels, a grey long-sleeved shirt that fit her body, and a dark brown leather jacket. It would look like she was going to a rock concert if it weren''t for the chakram and the handaxe on her belt. Hera left the locker with her backpack. She had stopped to buy a few bottles of water, a first aid kit, and a few power bars. Walking towards the doorway to wait for the rest of the group, she noticed a few stares aimed at her. After scanning the area, she realized that no one else had a backpack as she did. Sometime later, the rest of the group arrived, and to Hera''s relief, Bonnie and Leo had their own backpacks. "You two are not taking backpacks?" Bonnie asked. "I have a satchel, a backpack can be a problem for my role," Alex answered. "Everything I need is in my pockets or my belt. Water, food, a change of underwear. I''m good," Blue said. "I hope I brought enough. I have three bras and four panties," Bonnie said. "I guess it''s fine. We can probably figure out a way to wash them there. Even if that means waiting for it to dry later," Hera said. "You guys... brought underwear?" Leo asked. The four girls stared at Leo. "Leonidas, shut up. I don''t want to hear a single thing you have to say on the subject," Blue demanded as she walked towards the doorway. Helena was there waiting for the group. She gave them a quest to introduce themselves to the guild in Brinefront. She also told the group a few ground rules and what to expect inside the MAZE. When they regained their senses, they should move first and look around later. Crossing the doorway was close to being at the end of an escalator. She also gave Hera a big hug, sent her the basic database from the Order and told her to check the quest board in the guild before heading out to explore. The five thanked Helena and walked towards the doorway. They waited in line to get in. There was just a single group in front of them at the moment. Hera started to feel her stomach flutter. She was finally going inside the MAZE. Not a simulation, not a test. This time it was the real deal. They stopped in front of the doorway and looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. Nodding to her friends, Hera reached out and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Brinefront - 1st Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The group looked at the notification and counted down together. 3... 2... 1... In synch, they all pressed yes. 65 - Brinefront As soon as she pressed Yes on the notification, Hera''s body froze. However, unlike previous times, it wasn''t something abrupt. She felt as if her limbs got gradually heavier and then stopped moving. A warm feeling started to cover her body. It was almost like taking a dip in a heated pool. She could feel her body relaxing during the transfer. Her eyes closed instinctively in that small moment of tranquility. After 30 seconds, little by little, her body began to tingle. As a reaction, Hera tried to move around. It wasn''t hard to move, but it felt like she was walking through water. There was a thickness to the surrounding air. Hera opened her eyes and saw a white glowing tunnel moving around her, leading to an open area where she could only see a purple glow coming from it. The area approached, and the tunnel came to an end in what it felt like a natural way. It was supposed to end like that. Now able to move around like she was used to, Hera took a few steps forward. The first thing that caught her attention was a large tree in front of her. It looked like a maple tree, but it was purple. The leaves had a vibrant magenta color while the trunk shared the same color as an eggplant. As she got closer, Hera realized that it wasn''t only the leaves that were purple. The grass was purple too! "Hey, watch it!" Blue yelled. Hera looked back and saw that the controller had stopped in front of the doorway. That made the next group tumble on her when they arrived. "Helena told us to move. It''s your fault for staying there," Bonnie said. "Well, sorry. But how can you not stop and look? Everything is purple." "Not everything," Alex said, looking to the side. Hera walked towards the assassin. She was standing beside the doorway, looking towards what looked like an enormous lake. As Hera got closer, she could see that they were atop a hill. Under it, there was a sizeable town. The buildings seemed to be mostly made of wood and brick. It didn''t look like a modern city in any way. She was looking at a place that came straight out of a fantasy book. The wall encircling the city had a soft yellow tone that made the purple foliage pop even more. The streets had a stronger yellow color that reminded Hera of the famous yellow brick road. On the edge of the town, all the houses had the same color pallet of red and white, but as it reached the center, they started to vary from oranges to greens and even blues. The one building that stood out was a three stories high reddish-orange brick tower. However, it was large, larger than any other buildings in the town. At the top of the building, there was a symbol. It was a doorway with the doors open and the skyline of a city inside of it, the symbol of the guild. Her eyes kept scanning the city until it reached a port, small boats were docked while a few others seemed to be leaving towards the lake. Hera looked towards the horizon, following the water. It seemed endless. The lake kept going and it would vanish behind a hill before she could see the other side of its shore. Another thing she noticed is that it seemed like all the vegetation in this room was predominantly purple. "Holy crap, are those pillars?" Leo asked. Following the eyes of the man, Hera saw a large stone pillar that was raising up to the sky until it vanished into the clouds. Not only that, but there was no actual sky. Above the clouds, there was a grey stone ceiling. This whole place seemed to be inside a cave, a ridiculously vast cave. "We really are not in our world anymore, are we?" Bonnie asked. "You are wrong," Hera said, "We are finally in our world." The group smiled at the comment. She was right. They saw the group that arrived after them going down a path that seemed to curl around the hill and lead towards the town. Following the trail, they left the doorway, heading towards the guild to figure out their next step. Most people would take around 20 minutes to walk from the doorway to the guild. Yet, Hera and her friends took almost one hour. They stopped to look at each tree, each house, and each shop. Hera and Blue also wanted to eat something in one of the restaurants that were around here. After some convincing, they agreed to wait to do it after they went to the guild. The town could look like something from a fantasy setting. However, the technology was still present. Screens showing different products, electronic cashiers, and all sorts of daily appliances were easy to spot. It gave Hera the feeling of being in a theme park. After some time, they arrived at the guild. The brick tower was even more imposing up close. The front door was a white entrance that raised to the symbol at the top. Many people were walking inside the guild. A few were lounging in the small bar. Others were looking at the various boards spread around the ground floor. There was also a big counter in the back of the room with a couple of people dressed in a familiar clerk uniform. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The group approached the counter, introducing themselves to the attendant. "Welcome, it is always good to see new explorers. Although, to be honest, we were expecting you on Monday. I got worried only those two had passed the test this time. Oh, and I''m Gemma, nice to meet ya." Blue groaned. Hera didn''t need to ask why. None of them were happy that Anaya and Kenjiro were already around. "Now, let''s finish the introduction quest, and... All done. You can now take new quests from any of the boards. The boards are split by the type of client. In the front, you can see the ones from companies in the outside. The ones on the right are from shops and locals, and those on the left are from the groups and private clients. We also have a set of introductory quests if you guys are a bit lost," Gemma explained. "Do we have a limit on the number of quests we can take?" Alex asked. "Well, not really, but we advise new explorers to keep it under three quests at once. Newbies tend to get distracted easily, and it''s a bit of a problem if you accept a quest and take too long to finish it," Gemma said. "Where is the library? I''m looking for books about spells and magic," Bonnie jumped in front of the group. "It is towards the doorway, look for a corner store that sells flowers, and turn left. It''s the building that looks like a mansion. We have a quest that asks you to do a small tour of the city as part of the introductory quests that I mentioned. If you finish it, you get a voucher for borrowing two books from the library if you are interested." Bonnie took the quest on the spot, and the group agreed that it was a good idea to do those starter quests. They would need to deliver letters for a few people, which would give them an idea of the town''s layout. There was also a hunting quest, a gathering one, and a quest specific for each role. The one available for Hera was discovering the three legends of the town. "Oh, and Hera. You have another one. This was sent specifically for you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First task - Client: Helena Ditrro Hello, sweetie. I know you must be excited to start doing your own thing, but don''t forget about little old me. I still want your help with my research. Before being able to help me, you need to learn a few things. For starters, learn a spell! Any will do, you just need to unlock your mana stat. Don''t worry about the time. Do it at your own pace. Buuuuuuttt Magic is amazing. It can help you so much. If I were you, I would put learning a spell as a priority. P.S. Did you know that the contribution points that this quest gives you are enough to trade for the compendium for a skill in the order? Rewards: Baby''s first spellbook 50 Contribution points with the Order of the Lost Court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the quest with a smile. Helena could be really silly at times. This could help her a lot, but she wondered what the baby''s first spellbook was. She thanked Gemma and left the guild with her friends. "So we start with the tour and then go hunt?" Leo suggested. "You guys can go. I''m staying at the library," Bonnie said. "Why? We can wait for you," Alex intervened. "You can''t. I''m staying there until I learn how to use magic." "Oh, live a little. You worked so hard to get here, and the first thing you do is go back to a library?" Blue asked. "I''m going precisely because I want to live," Bonnie said. The researcher then let out a lengthy sigh, "Look, I''m not good with weapons like you all. I''m not strong like you Blue, proficient like Leo, quick like Alex, or crafty as Hera. If we go out now, I''m going to be in the way. I know it, and you guys know it too. But with magic, I have a fighting chance, or at least I hope I do." "Are you sure?" Hera asked. "Yes, please go, hunt, explore. Do your thing. You can find me in the library. Also, we need to figure out where we are going to sleep, or you guys want to go back home every day?" Bonnie asked. Hera completely forgot about that. They were close enough to go back and forth from the real world, but that idea bothered Hera. She didn''t want to commute to the maze every day. Even if it would be almost like going to the guild like she had done the past month. She was inside the MAZE, and she wanted to be here. "Maybe they have hotels, or someplace we can stay for a while. Did anyone check with the guild?" Hera asked. The group shook their heads. "Well, we have the tour quest, let''s check it out, and then we can ask them," Leo suggested. "Why would we.... Give me a minute," Alex said as she walked toward the counter. A few moments later, she returned, "Ok, so part of the tour will take us to the housing bureau. They can help us find a place to stay." They started their tour right away. It asked them to visit a few places with the basics they would need. The first stop was a shop in the middle of a street filled with restaurants, markets, and cafes. Then, an armorsmith in the area where all the exploring gear was sold. They also stopped by the library and had to drag Bonnie away from it. She could come back after finishing this quest. Then to the healing center, the guards'' barracks, the mayor''s house, and ending it in the housing bureau. Talking to the bureau, the group discovered that explorers with the quest could take rooms in a hotel for up to a week. They only needed to pay on the last day, which gave them plenty of time to earn some money. The price was 50 gold a day, it wasn''t a five-star hotel by any means, but the price was manageable, especially if they split the rooms. "I get that I''m the one who will be taking a single room, but this feels unfair," Leo complained. "Have menstrual cramps, then we''ll talk," Blue mocked. Going back to the guild after going to the rooms they rented, the group received the reward for the tour. A voucher for borrowing two books in the library, one small health potion, and the map of the city and its surrounding areas. Thankfully, the rewards were individual. The moment Bonnie got her rewards, she sprinted out of the guild towards the library. "I guess we see her at dinner," Alex said. "I bet 5 gold she sleeps in the library," Blue added. "I''ll take that. She is not sleeping tonight," Hera stated. "Let her do her thing. You guys ready to hunt some frogs?" Leo asked. "Ugh, I hate slimy things," Alex said as they walked towards the town''s exit. 66 - The explorer and the toad "Ok, you are done eating. Can we please go?" Leo asked. "Dude, I still have some fries left. Why are you in such a rush?" Blue replied. "I''m not int a rush. I''m excited. We are in the MAZE. Let''s go explore and do something," he said. "Leo, I''m excited too. But we need to eat. If we went out now, we would need to come back to eat in just a few minutes. Using our supplies because of that seems a waste," Hera said. "You know, it''s hard to see your point when you have frosting on your nose. How many cupcakes did you eat?" the man asked. "Just two..." Hera looked away. "Lies, that''s your fourth. But I can understand why. These purple chocolate cupcakes are amazing," Alex said. "It doesn''t matter, can we just go?" Leo asked. They were in a diner at the edge of the Lepidolite district, where the city had most of its restaurants and simple stores. There were a few other customers inside the diner that stared at the man urging the three women to go. "Leo, can you sit? Please? We are almost done, I promise," Hera said. The man grumbled and sat back in the free chair. He looked away while the rest of the group finished their meal. Hera tried to ask what was wrong and why he was in such a rush, but got no answer. Ten minutes later, they left the diner and were already heading towards the city gate. Leo was walking at a fast pace, fast enough to make Hera and Blue regret having such a big lunch. As they reached the gate, they noticed a couple of guards with metal helmets armed with spears by the entrance. They seemed to be watching everyone who was passing by. Out of curiosity, Hera activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stanley ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Timothy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She only focused on the guards, but two explorers who arrived in the town stared daggers at her. Hera blushed, seeing their reaction. She had forgotten that there were people who could tell when they were being observed. She was still intrigued by the guards. Could they be people from the outside working here? Or would they be denizens of the MAZE? They passed through the guards and walked towards the path that leads deeper into the purple forest around the city. In the road they used, there were a few groups that looked like explorers. Not only did the weapons seem to have designs that they had seen around the guild, but most of them carried the guild issued tablet in a holster. The forest was incredible. Not like the one Hera saw during her test. Every tree here was unique, even if they were all the same type. Young trees, old trees, trees that grew in odd ways, trees that grew around rocks, trees that swayed with the wind and trees that seemed to be as sturdy as a wall. Hera could also hear life, not just the leaves rustling in the wind but small bugs and critters moving about. "Hera, can you move? Every few seconds you stop to look around, we have stuff to do," Leo complained. Hera apologized and focused on the path, not wanting to delay the group, but Blue rebuked her. "Don''t you dare apologize, Hera. We are all enjoying this. And Leo, can you just take that stick out off your ass?" The man argued for a while, but they never stopped walking. After twenty minutes of walking, they reached the area where they would find the frogs. Hera had her tablet open on the map and quickly checked the quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introductory mission Frog hunting Kill giant frogs in the forest outside of town. Due to its fast respawn, if not kept in check, the frogs can spread its territory, which causes problems for Brinefront. Hunting has a set reward. However, in most cases, the target monster also has valuable materials that can be sold at the guild. The frog has three well sought out materials by the guild. The value of said material varies depending on the state they are delivered. Pair of legs - up to 20 gold Tongue - up to 28 gold Eyes - up to 10 gold each Objective: Hunt 10 frogs for each member of your party: 0/40 Reward: 50 gold Giant frog basic compendium ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s a shame we don''t get the compendium before hunting them," Hera said. "Yeah, but my guess is that this is a bit of training they are giving us. We won''t have information on everything we fight," Alex said. "That''s true. If it were something really dangerous, I doubt they would hold back information," Hera asserted. "Hera is right. After a certain level, every mission that involves hunting monsters gives us a compendium about the target. And the basic versions usually are pretty cheap, so there is no reason not to buy them," Blue explained. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "How do you know that?" Alex asked. "What do you mean, how? Mr. Greyson told us that during class." After thinking for a moment, Hera exclaimed, "She''s right. I completely forgot about that," "Bonnie is not going to believe this. Blue remembered something from class," Alex heckled. "HEY!" Blue complained. The three girls laughed but were cut off by Leo, shushing them and pointing forward. After a few bushes, there was a large frog, about the size of a poodle. Its back was black, almost as if it was covered in tar, but its belly had a light green color. "Ok, this must be the frogs. We should check if there are any more around. Just to be safe," Hera said. Before the explorer finished speaking, Leo jumped forward and stabbed the frog with its spear. Piercing through its stomach, the man pulled his weapon back and stuck again, this time aiming for the frog''s head. With the creature clearly dead, Leo grabbed his tablet and started to look for something. "What the hell, Leo?" Blue yelled. Leo just waved her off and kept doing something on his tablet. "Leo!" Hera called. "Leo!" Alex followed. "What?" he said, annoyed by the yelling. "RUN!" the three women yelled. Leo looked back and saw a giant frog coming out of the bushes. It looked just like the one he had just killed, but it was the size of a Great Dane. Even while standing on all fours, it could easily reach Hera''s shoulders. Just as the hunter started to run back to his group, the frog opened its mouth, and the sound of a whip snapping roared in the forest. Leo tumbled forward. The frog''s tongue hit his back and started to pull his cloak. Seeing her friend fall, Hera froze. She wasn''t expecting the frog to be so big. At her side, Alex looked at the creature in shock, her hands shaking at the sight of it. Blue charged in, grabbing Leo and helping him get up. The frog kept trying to pull its prey back. "Hera, Alex, help me out here!" Blue yelled. Coming out of their stupor, Hera jumped forward in Leo''s rescue. She went past the man and used the handaxe to slash at the frog''s tongue. The blade slid across the thin muscle, making the frog let go of the cloak. The tip of its tongue dangling outside its mouth with blood coming out of it. Hera wasn''t expecting the attack to be that strong. She glanced at the weapon and mumbled, "Thanks, Iris," before helping Leo move towards Alex. The frog didn''t attack right away. Blue kept glancing over her shoulder to watch out for any attacks, but he was just staring at the group. She tossed Leo over the bush at the same time the frog let out a loud croak. Spinning around, the controller got ready to defend against any attack that was coming her way, but the frog just kept staring at her. Hera helped Leo to hide behind a tree before turning to the assassin. "Alex. Help, Leo!" Alex shook her head and looked at Hera and Leo. "G.. got it. Go help Blue. I''ll be right there." Hera rushed back just in time to see other two frogs coming out of the bushes. Thankfully, these were about half the size of the one they were already fighting, but their underside was light blue instead of light green. "Blue..." "I don''t think we can run. Can you distract one of the small ones? I''ll manage the other two," Blue said. "Ok, just try to hold them off. When I''m done, I''ll help you." In synch, the two jumped towards their targets. Hera aimed at the smaller frog on the right while Blue went straight for the big one. Hera tried to move around the blue frog, hoping it would have problems turning around. Before she was able to get out of the creature''s line of sight, the monster opened its mouth, and with a crack, its tongue went flying off towards the explorer. When the frog started to open its mouth, Hera ducked and swung her chakram up. She felt the creature''s whip-like tongue brush her cheek at the same time that her slash connected. The frog recoiled, giving Hera an opening to move to the side of the creature. The frog had to jump at an angle to start to reposition itself, but Hera was faster. She took another step, making a circle and slashed at the monster legs, trying to hinder its movement. The handaxe hit the joint and made the frog lose part of its foot. Trying to keep the momentum, Hera aimed the chakram at the creature''s throat. But instead of cutting it, she ended up shoving the weapon inside the frog''s mouth. Having the monster stuck to her, she raised her handaxe, aiming at the neck of the beast. As she brought down her weapon, she heard Alex screaming on the other side. "You disgusting, slimy, useless, piece of garbage! Just fucking die already!" The yelling was enough to distract Hera, messing with her aim. She heard a loud clang noise when Iris hit the edge of Mayura''s feather, removing the top of the frog''s head. She quickly pulled her weapons back and saw a small mark on the chakram. Making a mental note to fix it, she turned to help her friends. Alex was mounting on the blue frog, slashing at its back even with the creature clearly dead. Blue, on the other hand, seemed to be in a tug of war against the big frog who had grabbed the controller''s wrist with its tongue. Unsure of how the frog was able to attack like that again, Hera quickly scanned the area. Only to find that the tip of its tongue had grown back while the part she cut was sitting on the floor at the frog''s feet. Thinking about how to deal with a monster that could regrow its limbs, she saw a thick twig on the ground. Quickly grabbing it, she wrapped the branch with Yarnball and tied the string around a nearby tree. Hoping her relic was strong enough, she dashed towards Blue and stabbed the twig in the middle of the frog''s tongue. The creature let out a loud croak, different from the one it used before, and retracted its tongue, but it was stopped midway by the twig embedded in it. As the beast pulled back its tongue, the twig was making it rip in half. A large flow of blood was coming out of the hole made by the makeshift stake. "Nice work, Hera!" Blue complimented. "It''s not dead yet," Hera said as she ran towards the beast. Unable to run or to use its primary form of attack, the frog was killed quickly by the explorers. After confirming the creature was dead, Hera rushed back to the tree where she left Yarnball. "I''m so, so sorry. I''ll try never to let go of you again," Hera said as she untied the string. "Are you really talking to your gear?" Blue asked. Hera put Yarnball back on her belt after cleaning it up. "Yeah... why?" Seeing the look on Hera''s face, Blue just said, "Nothing. It''s cute." Alex was still stabbing at the corpse of the blue frog. "Alex? Are you ok?" Hera asked. The woman jerked her head up; her eyes were wide and bloodshot, but she seemed to calm down after seeing her friends. "Yeah... sorry. I just hate frogs." "Noted, are you going to be able to deal with this quest? We can see if there is something we can do," Blue said. "Yeah... I have to do this. Shock therapy, right?" Alex said. "Ok, but if you need to stop, let us know, ok," Hera asked. Alex just nodded as they saw Leo getting up and rubbing his shoulder. He tried to carry his lance on the should hit, but it was clearly not able to hold it very well. "Where are they? Are you ok?" he asked. "Perfect, we need to talk to you. Actually, does anyone want to take this, or can I do it?" Blue asked. In response to the question, Alex stomped towards Leo and grabbed him by the collar. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" she yelled at him. Blue and Hera glanced at each other. "I think Leo awoke something in her," Blue said. "I guess so," Hera said as she looked towards Leo, who seemed even more shocked than the two of them. 67 - A hunters plea "So... how long do you think she is going to keep going?" Hera asked. "I honestly don''t know. It has been a solid two minutes. She does not even stop to catch her breath. I''m genuinely impressed," Blue answered. The two were watching Alex scold Leo for a couple of minutes already. Blue turned to Hera and looked for something in her pockets. "Come here," the controller said. Hera walked closer to her, "What''s up?" Blue then grabbed a small bottle of water and put some of it on Hera''s cheek. "Ouch." "Oh, stop complaining. Your face got cut, and we need to clean the wound. This is just soap water," Blue said as she grabbed a small piece of cloth to remove any excess water. With the cut clean, she placed a small bandage on the explorer''s cheek. "Thanks, Blue. I wasn''t expecting you to be that worried about cuts," Hera said. "After the fourth time I had to take antibiotics for not cleaning a wound properly, I learned my lesson. It was so bad that I ended up being hospitalized for a week." Hera stared at her friend. How bad must have been the infection for her to stay that long in the hospital? It was no wonder she was so cautious about it. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Blue asked "My hand is a bit numb, but that''s all. I guess I was holding the chakram a bit too tightly," Hera said. Blue nodded and looked towards the frog corpses behind them. "I guess we could check the frogs. We might get some gold with the parts," Hera said as she turned around. "Yeah, Alex doesn''t seem to be losing steam," Blue said, staring at the assassin who was making even broader gestures at the moment. Hera and Blue walked towards the frogs. Before touching them, they activated the [Inspect] skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Dichromatic Frog Type: Blue A type of frog common in the first layer. Know for its rapid reproduction period in less than one month, a female of the species can lay over 200 eggs. In another month, the 200 frogs will already have reached maturity. The blue variation is known for its tongue strength, being able to pull targets over double its weight with ease. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Dichromatic Frog Type: Green A type of frog common in the first layer. Know for its rapid reproduction period in less than one month, a female of the species can lay over 200 eggs. In another month, the 200 frogs will already have reached maturity. The green variation''s tongue has anesthetic properties, making whatever it touches numb and sluggish. The toxin is accumulated at the tip of its tongue before it strikes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, so that''s why," Hera exclaimed, staring at her hand. "Maybe Leo fell because of this, but why it didn''t affect me?" Blue asked. "Well... your kevlar bodysuit is thicker than Leo''s clothes. Or maybe your role has something to do with it. Since you can control the battlefield, you might have some resistance to effects that would do the same," Hera said. "Well, that''s true. Anyway, we need legs, eyes, and tongues, right?" "Yeah, but how are we going to carry it back? Can we make something, or should we carry it by hand?" Hera asked. "I mean, we are still close to the town, carrying it wouldn''t be that bad. I can take the big legs, you and Alex the little ones, and Leo can take the tongues," Agreeing with the idea, the two of them started to harvest the parts they needed. "What do you think we should do with the rest? Just leave it here?" Hera asked while cutting one of the blue frog''s legs. "Yeah, I mean, what else can we do? Give it a burial?" For the ten minutes or so that they kept working on the blue frogs, Alex was still scolding Leo. When she finally finished, she turned around only to let out a loud yell. "What the hell are you two doing?" Blue and Hera stared at each other and then to the assassin. "We are just grabbing some parts we can sell. We need money," Blue said. "But how are you? ... That is sooo grosss," The woman shook her head and looked back. Hera stared at Blue, they were a bit covered in blood, but it was the frogs, and the inspect said nothing about it being poisonous. "What''s the matter? It''s just like cooking a fish," Blue said. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Yeah, or making a barbecue. Sometimes the meat is a bit bloody," Hera chimed in. Leo took a step back while Alex walked away from the duo. "I agree with Alex, that is too much. I''m out," the man said. "Like hell you are, we are in this mess because of you. Since Alex is clearly out, you are carrying some legs," Blue said. Leo wanted to protest, but he knew she was right. He was the one that made this all happen. After half an hour, they managed to grab the six back legs and three of the eyes. The other ones were destroyed during the fight or in the attempt to harvest them. Since Leo was still a bit numb and they had no way of transporting the materials, the group decided to go back to the city. Alex walked in front of them, aways from the frog bodyparts. "Ok, now spill it, Leo. What the hell was that?" Blue asked. "I got too excited and jumped in. It was my mistake," he replied. "Bullshit. Your test was all about observing your prey and finding its weakness. There is no way in hell you jumped in because you were excited," Alex yelled from the front. "Its... nothing," Leo said. "Leo, look, we like you. You know that, but we need to know if you are going to do something like that. Unless we understand why you did it, we can''t say for sure it won''t happen again," Hera said. "It''s stupid," Leo replied. "I sure hope so. You were stupid!" Alex said. He tried to change the subject a few times, but the three women were adamant. Seeing he had no other choice, he started to talk. "Look, when we finished the tour, I got a message that the group I want to join will be recruiting new members at the end of the week. The thing is, they only accept applications that have completed at least 10 quests and four of them have to be hunts." "Ok, I get it. But why the rush? Do they take a long time to get new applicants or something?" Blue asked. "Well, a bit. Usually, they recruit people once every six months or so. There have been times where they stopped recruiting for a year," he said. "Ok, I get that you want to join now, but it''s not like everything is over. You can still join them even if it takes a while," Hera said. "I just don''t want to wait. They are a bit strict about being a part of other groups. You can party with others, but you can only be part of their group." Hera nodded. She understood how it was like to keep waiting for an opportunity better than most. "I''m not buying it. You are hiding something. Why do you need to be a part of this particular group?" Alex asked. "My uncle¡­ he helped raise me when I was little. My parents were always working in the museum, and I was angry all the time. When my parents got a grant for a big excavation that would last a few years, my uncle came to live with me. He showed me how to control my anger and to focus it on something else. He is the one that taught me how to use a spear. He was... he is a fighter, and he was a part of the Crimson Coalition, that''s the name of the group. Five years ago, he came to the MAZE and disappeared. Apparently, his bracelet is still sending a signal, but it doesn''t send the coordinates. I know it''s stupid, but I came here to find him," Leo explained. The three women glanced at each other. "Alex, can you do me this favor? My hands are full," Blue asked. "My pleasure," she replied just before smacking Leo in the back of the head. "What the hell was that for?" the man yelled. "That''s from your uncle and from us. You can''t find him if you are dead. So tell your friends what is going on," Alex said. "Yeah! Yarnball can even help with that, but we need to be in the room he was in at least," Hera chimed in. "I can''t ask you guys to go out of your way to help me. This is my aim. I need to do it," Leo said. "Ok, first of all, do you think you can stop the three of us from going? Second, you didn''t ask. We are telling you we will help," Blue said. Leo tried to tell them not to worry, but the women ignored him. As he talked the three started to discuss the plans for hunting the frogs. "The good part is that now we know what the different frogs do. The green one has poison on its tongue, and the blue one can pull you back, so basically avoid the tongue," Hera said. "What do you mean, blue and green frogs? They were the same color, right?" Alex asked. "Oh crap, what color did you see?" Blue asked. "Well, the color I see it''s... well, I guess you call it blue? It looks like a pool, but with less vivid colors. All three frogs were like that." "Did anyone try to observe them?" Leo asked. "Yeah, but the names were just Giant Dichromatic Frog on all of them," Blue said. The group discussed other differences, trying to find something that Alex could use to distinguish them. After some time walking, Hera picked the eyes she had taken from the monsters and showed to Alex. The ones from the blue frog were yellow and snake-like while the eyes from the green one were whitish and had some squiggly lines to it. Thankfully, the assassin could see those differences. They figured that out close to the city. A few explorers stared at the group who was carrying six giant frog legs around. Moving straight to the guild, they circled to the back after being instructed by the guards at the entrance. There were a few people in a line waiting to sell the materials, yet none of them was carrying such a big haul. After around ten minutes, it was finally their turn. "What do you have?" A gruff voice rang behind the counter. It belonged to a very short man with a spiky ginger beard. He had a movable monocle in his right eye and a heavy metal gauntlet on his left hand. Blue stared at the man for a moment before asking. "Are you a dwarf?" "Blue!" the rest of the group barked. The man let out a resounding laugh. "Yes, I am. Well, half-dwarf on my father''s side." "That is soooo cool. You are the first non-human we saw here," Blue said. ¡°I doubt it, we run most of the shops here. Most just hide their features not to scare away new customers. Why do you think most uniforms have hats?" the dwarf said. Hera was a bit surprised, Mr. Greyson told them that the people born inside the MAZE were the origin for fantasy stories. Elfs, dwarfs, gnomes, devils, beastfolk, and many more were a common sight, especially as you went to deeper layers. Just like humans, they could also become explorers or do various jobs. The only issue is that they weren¡¯t able to leave the MAZE. Hera didn''t expect to meet one so soon. "Now, stop gawking and show me what you got," the dwarf said. They placed the frog legs and eyes on the counter and let the man evaluate it. He started with the eyes, making a few notes on a piece of paper. Proceeding to the legs, the man seemed a bit more excited about them. "This is some nice work, well-done boy," he said, nodding at Leo. "It wasn''t me. It was those two," Leo pointed at Hera and Blue. "My mistake, most new girls don''t have the stomach to do this work. How long did it take?" the dwarf asked. "Between us two, around half an hour, right?" Blue asked. "Yeah, we took some time to figure out how to start and if it was safe to do it," Hera replied. "Not bad, not bad at all. For the haul, I''ll give you 88 gold. 40 for the two green legs, 32 for the four blue legs, 14 for the two eyes of the green one, and 2 for the one eye of the blue." "We''ll take it!" Alex cheered. "I''m never letting you negotiate," Leo said, staring at the assassin. "If you don''t mind me asking, where did you learn to disassemble these things so well?" the dwarf asked. "My dad is a butcher. I helped him out at the store sometimes. At first, just as a cashier, but when I got older, I started to help to cut the meat," Blue replied. "In my great uncle''s farm. I spent my summers there and helped take care of the animals, or make meals out of them," Hera said. Leo and Alex stared at each other. "Did you know that?" Alex asked. "I had no idea, but it kind of makes sense, right? Not so much Hera but for Blue," Leo said. "Hey!" the controller yelled. "Before you start killing each other here, let me ask. Do you guys have a partner?" 68 - A better way The group walked towards the district where people who traded materials stayed. It was closer to the port, spreading from a bit after the center of the city all the way to the edge of the town. The housing bureau was also there. According to the map, it was called the Taaffeite district. The dwarf had told them that merchants were always looking for people who could supply them with good materials. If they get a partner, they could have an easier time transporting the materials. "What was his name?" Blue asked. "Durgan, why?" Alex replied. "No, not the guy in the guild. The merchant," Blue said. "Oh, then is the owner of the store called For Cod''s Sake. His name was Edmund something," Hera said. "Avington, Edmund Avington. Or at least that''s what I wrote down," Leo chimed in. Asking for directions, they were pointed towards a store with an extravagant golden entrance. Inside they could see that all the furniture was a mix of gold, silver, and rose gold. "Please, tell me this ain''t it," Alex said. "I could, but that would be a lie. Look at the name," Leo said. Above the entrance, there was a giant golden chain with a plaque that read ''For Cod''s Sake''. The group stared at each other, pausing in front of the store. Hera wanted to go away. She didn''t feel comfortable dealing with people that were that showy. "I know this is bad, but maybe we can check it out. We are already here, you know," Blue said. "Yeah, and if we can get someone to help us take the monster parts, we can hunt faster," Leo said. The two entered the store, with Hera and Alex following behind. The interior was so bright that it made you want to wear sunglasses. The light was reflecting and bouncing around everywhere. Luckily the shop had a big open area in the middle, and most products seemed to be behind the counters. Otherwise, people would easily trip over the displays. Blue approached one of the clerks and showed a letter that Durgan gave them. A few moments later, the attendant called someone, and a weird man came out of the backroom. He was wearing a red bucket hat, a pink v-neck sweater, puffy pants with one leg tucked inside a red sock, and the other leg folded over the knee. He also had a pair of tan sandals and a golden chain with a large gold coin in the middle. Leo walked towards the man, "Mr. Avington. It''s a pleasure to meet you. Durgan sent us here," he said, putting out his hand. The man shook Leo''s hand, vigorously. ¡°Listen man, Mr. Avington was my pops. Call me Mondy. They mentioned a letter, let me take a look at it, "The man said. He read the letter, and after a few moments, he opened a big smile. "Hey, can someone grab a bottle of bubbly and bring it to my office?" he said towards the staff, "Now you four, follow me." Mondy walked towards a door in the back of the store. The group following him. "Leo, how did you know it was him?" Hera whispered. "Only the boss can wear something like that at work and not get yelled at," he replied. Hera couldn''t help but giggle. The man had a point. They walked by a hallway as pretentious as the storefront. It was filled with tapestries and ornate golden decorations until they reached a small white door with golden details with a golden engraving that read ''Janitor closet 1''. Mondy opened the door and walked in. Inside it was a big office, but much more simple than the rest of the store. The walls had no paint. It was all bare brick. There was an old beat-up couch in the corner with a TV in front of it, a whiteboard with some ink stains that seemed to be permanent. In the back of the room, there was a round felt table with markings for playing poker, as well as eight chairs around it. "Come, sit, relax," Mondy said, walking towards the poker table. The group sat at the table, still looking around, surprised by the office they were using. Not only that, but the man had a much more relaxed posture than any of the clerks. "So, before we start, do you have any questions?" Mondy asked. "If you don''t mind me saying. This is not what we were expecting, especially with that store," Alex said as Leo stared daggers at her. "I hear you, I hear you. But outside, it''s good for business. People want to think they have something grand, something that they can show off. A big house, jewelry, weapons, armor, or whatever. I just show them what they want, but I rather have a real talk in my home turf," Mondy said. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Hera nodded. It was part of the reason her dad had a successful business. People wanted to show off their custom made furniture. "What do you sell here? I was too distracted with the store to look," Leo said. "C'' mon boy, you can''t let some shine take your eyes away from the prize. I sell a bit of everything, but my main products are monster based gear, from accessories to tea sets. Some help explorers and some are just to look nice on your shelf. That''s only the store part. I also buy and sell materials. Import and export, that''s how you make big money. And that is why you are all here," Mondy said. "Yes, Durgan told us about having a partner. But I''m not so sure about how that would work," Hera said. "Oh, it''s easy. Instead of selling to the guild, you sell the things you get to me. You let me know what monster you are hunting, and I''ll tell you what I can use. Some of them can do so much that it is just easier to buy the whole body." "Sure, but how does that work? Do you pay by pieces like the guild or what? Also, how can you help us bring the materials back?" Leo asked. "Chill dude, one thing at the time. I pay for piece, but unlike the guild, it''s a fixed rate unless you send something really special. For instance, frog legs are 10 gold each, well giant frog legs I say, there is a minimum weight to it. But that is the starting value after I sell you guys get 10% of the profits. If I get a good deal, one frog leg might give you 30 gold." Mondy said as he started to play with a gold coin. "That''s really low. If we sell it to the guild, we will make double that, and the commission won''t make up for it." Leo said. "But you would have to carry the pieced back. I offer you a way to sell it on site. Besides, I''m not offering you a contract. If you wanna sell something to the guild, you are free to do so. I''m just giving you an alternative, so you won''t have to come back to the city every five minutes." "And how can you help with that?" Blue asked. "Drones baby, drones. I have a delivery and retrieval service set up. I''ll register you as users, and you can call in a drone to pick up your materials on site," Mondy said as he pointed towards a drone in the corner of the room. The merchant explained how it worked. The group would install an app on the tablet, creating an overlay on the map. It would show the areas where the drones can reach safely. All they needed to do was to send a signal, and the drone would go there. It could carry up to 50 kilograms, and they would fly towards a distribution tower. The drones had to be protected when under a specific altitude. Any damage to the drone during that time would be discounted from the payment for the materials. To Hera, it seemed like a good deal. They weren''t chaining themselves to Mondy, but at the same time, they had a way to make some quick money. Even if they earned just half of what the guild would pay, they could get more money like that. Between going out, killing the three frogs, and coming back, it took almost two hours. Being able to hunt and sell without coming back would let them make a lot of money. However, it would be better if they harvested the materials themselves. If they send in a full frog, for instance, there was a disassembly fee to be deducted from the pay. "So, how about it. Let''s give this deal a chance?" Mondy asked. The explorers looked at each other and asked for a moment to discuss the deal. "I don''t like it. We lose too much money with this," Leo said. "Yeah, but we can focus more on hunting like that. It would help to make some money while we help your missions," Hera said. "That''s true, but I still don''t like it," the man said. "Why is that?" Alex asked. "He seems shifty. I don''t trust him," "Why?" Blue asked. "He''s just weird," Leo said. "Wow, way to be judgmental. Look at his store. Even if he is shifty, he is doing something right. Besides, we are new here, and he is making an offer with no string attached. I say that is a good deal for us," Alex said. "I''m not, is just..." Leo looked towards Mondy, "he is rubbing me the wrong way," "What about this? We accept the offer, and only one of us uses the app thing. After we are done with your ten mission, we look for someone else to sell the materials to. He mentioned towers, and I doubt he owns them. So that means that more people should have similar ways to retrieving monster parts," Hera said. The man agreed with her suggestion but stated that he would be fine if they went looking for someone else right now. The women knew that it was a lie. He''s been fidgeting ever since Mondy started talking. If it weren''t for them, the hunter would probably be running towards the frogs. Turning back to Mondy, the group accepted his offer. He thanked them and created an order for them. Orders, unlike quests, are tasks that are always available. They are jobs that don''t have a limit or a goal you can keep doing them as long as the client keeps the posting of it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Order: Giant Dichromatic Frog materials Leg (at least 500 grams) - 10 gold each Tongue (at least 800 grams) - 11 gold each Eye - 6 gold each Heart (unharmed) - 12 gold each Spleen (unharmed) - 8 gold each Liver (unharmed) - 5 gold each This order gives you access to the Ofbator delivery drone (Max capacity 50 kilograms, container area 2 m3) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera accepted the order on behalf of her group and installed the app on her tablet. Leo was worried about that overlay, but the app was registered in the official guild catalog. Thanking Mondy for his time, the group left the store. It was still the middle of the afternoon, even with all they had done. Hera wanted to explore the town to try to find the legends, but Leo kept pacing around looking towards the town gate. She opened the map to check the area that the drones could reach. They had a surprisingly big range, and it took them only ten minutes to reach the edge of it. When Hera showed the drone range for the group, Leo said they could go back to where they had found the frogs and start there. After all, it was in the middle of the drone range. Leaving the city once again, Hera saw the guards changing. Stanley and Timothy, the ones she saw before, were being replaced. As they left their post, Stanley, a tall man with a sun-tanned skin and golden eyes, removed his helmet and revealing his long blond hair and a pair of dog ears that fell on his head. The ears'' position was higher than what it would be on humans, but they dropped, covering the place where human ears would be. As Hera stared at the guard, their eyes meet, and the man waved to her as he smiled. Hera smiled back but looked away, embarrassed about being caught staring at the man''s ears. It was the first time she saw something like that, and she wasn''t sure if staring at it would be rude. The group left the town, and in a little over half an hour, they were back in the area where they could hunt for frogs. "Leo, this time, we do it the right way, ok?" Blue asked. "I''ll behave, I promise," he replied. "Ok, so I think me and Alex should go in front, we can move around more freely. When we find something, we give you a signal and check the surroundings," "Sounds like a plan," Alex said, "But I''m not helping with the gutting and cutting and... I think I''m gonna be sick," "Just don''t think about it, you can protect us while we do the dirty work," Hera said, "Now, let''s go. I don''t like the idea of staying here after sunset." 69 - Tiny Threat "Nice!" Blue said. "Yeah, I wasn''t expecting to get a transfer right away," Hera said, looking at her tablet. After calling the drone, they had placed the materials of eight frogs in the container. They were still far from the 50 kg that the drone could carry, but that small haul was enough to give them 357 gold. The biggest problem was getting the organs from the frogs. Not only was it hard to keep them intact during the fight, but they also were tricky to remove. Still, for just a bit over one hour of work, it was a really nice pay. "Hey, am I doing the math wrong, or if we do this for two days, we can get more than a thousand gold each?" Alex asked. "What? No, you can''t be right," Hera said. "Hang on," Leo said. He grabbed his tablet and opened the calculator. A few moments later, he looked up from the screen. "Oh crap, she''s right. If we keep this pace, we can get almost 700 gold per day," "Wow... this is really on another level," Blue said. Hera agreed, as she stared at the drone that flew away with the latest haul. Money shouldn''t be a problem anymore. She looked at the time. It was almost 5 P.M. "So, I have no idea at what time the sun sets in here. If it''s anything close to the real world, it will set soon. So what do you guys think? We hunt more or go back?" Hera asked. "I say we hunt," Leo voted. "You know me too. I hate those things, but... well... Hunting is fun, is that too weird to say?" Alex asked. "Oh good, I thought I was the only one. I mean sure we are in danger and it''s risky. But it is a thrill, right? Like skydiving," Blue said. "Exactly!" Alex exclaimed. "I can''t say completely agree, but there is something beautiful about planning your attacks," Hera said. "Yeah, yeah, it''s an art like dancing or music now can we find more frogs?" Leo Grumbled. The group found a shallow lake where a dozen frogs rested after following more tracks. After discussing the best plan, they decided to spread around the lake and try to kill the ones closer to the edge. Then make their way towards the big one in the center. Leo passed a dagger to Blue. That way, she could do a quick stealth kill and not the headlock mess she tried before. They spread out and started to move towards the frogs. Careful not to make too much noise, Hera walked close to a green frog on the edge of the lake. The monster had its eyes closed, but as she approached, the creature got up. Hera held her breath as the frog spun around with its eyes still closed. The creature finished adjusting itself, allowing Hera to relax. When all the explorers were in position, they all tacked the frogs, aiming at the base of the neck. With a soft thud, the ones Alex, Hera, and Leo attack all fell to the ground. Blue, on the other hand, was not as successful. The frog that Blue attacked survived the first strike, trashing around as a response. Splashing around in the water, the other eight frogs started to awake. Hera and Alex rushed to the closest monster and tried to perform a secondary kill. The assassin killed her target, but Hera only wounded hers. Seeing the monster spin around, Hera jumped to the side, trying to stay in its blind spot. At the same time, a loud croak came from the one Blue was fighting. The sound snapped the army of frogs out of their sleepy state. They started to move around, looking for targets. Before the frogs could focus on someone, Blue let out a primal scream like a wounded beast''s roar. That made all the surviving frogs turn towards the controller. Hera took advantage of the opportunity to strike at the wounded frog twice with her handaxe, killing it on the second attack. "Aim for the backs, stab in an angle," Leo said as he jumped towards a blue frog. Hera tried to follow the man''s lead, but she had no stabbing weapons. Changing strategies, she aimed at the joints, trying to disable the monsters. Hearing the cries of the frog being attacked by the explorer, a green frog broke free from the taunt and turned to face Hera. She saw the frog opening its mouth, but before it could attack. Alex appeared on top of it, shoving her dagger deep into its skull. Hera tried to thank her friend, but the assassin had already disappeared once again. Leo was helping Blue to stop her from being overwhelmed. He kept stabbing at the frog''s back. A few strikes would leave a red circular mark on the monsters. Unsure of what it was, Blue felt the urge to hit the targets. To her surprise, when she attacked the red spots, the frogs would not only be damage but stagger for a moment. It was as if she was striking an exposed nerve. With Blue and Leo keeping the frog''s attention, Alex and Hera cleaned up the rest of them in just a few minutes. The group looked back at the result of their assault. The shallow lake, filled with corpses of frogs, was now tainted red. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "This is... gruesome," Hera said. "Yeah... I said that I enjoy fighting, but this is... a lot," Blue nodded. "At least we are quick. It''s better than if we were making them suffer," Leo said, walking towards a green frog carcass in front of him. "I guess..." Hera said. They harvested as much as they could from the frogs. It was already getting late, and the sun was setting in the east. "Oh, Leo, what was that red mark?" Blue asked. "It''s part of my role. I got a skill during the test. After I get some understanding of the monster, my attacks have a chance of exposing some weak points. I imagined it would take some time to trigger it, but cutting the monster up seems to increase my knowledge of it." "That is pretty cool, but I think that Alex appearing on top of the frogs is more badass," Hera said. "Oh, please, I have a skill that strengthens my attacks if my target is unaware of my presence. What about you? Going in mano a mano without even a skill to help you. That takes balls, girl," Alex said. Hera blushed and looked away. She wasn''t that brave. Was she? "Yeah, you are all great. I guess my taunt is not worth mentioning," Blue pouted. "Don''t say that your taunt is the core of the entire strategy. We couldn''t take groups this big without you," Alex said. "Yeah, I mean, you can hold back five frogs on your own. If two swarm one of us, we have to run away," Hera agreed. "It''s pretty obvious we can''t do this without you, Ms. Controller, or are you just fishing for some compliments?" Leo teased. Before Blue''s reply, the group heard a loud squeak sound. Hera and Alex looked around, searching for the noise. Leo got up and grabbed his spear. After a second squeak, he approached the pond. Stepping in carefully, he scanned the area. In the middle of the lake, there was a frog smaller than those they were just fighting. It was also very round, almost like a watermelon with legs. The frog opened its mouth and let out another loud squeak sound, staring at the approaching men. "Hey guys, check it out. It looks like a squeaky toy," Leo said, pointing at the frog. Hera and the other got up to see it. The frog was mostly grey, with a few white spots around it. Its eyes had a brass-like color with a single dark line in the middle of it. It kept doing its squeak, seemingly having some difficulty to remain standing. "Oh, it''s so cute. What''s your name, little one?" Blue said as she approached the frog. "Blue, that''s not a good idea, maybe you should..." Before Hera finished talking, the small frog dashed towards the controller at an incredible speed. Headbutting the woman in the stomach. Blue tumbled back, and the creature slid across the lake while it repositioned itself. "What the fuck is that?" Blue asked while standing up. "Even the small ones are awful," Alex groaned. "Blue, get up! We need to fight that thing," Leo shouted. Hearing that, Hera activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Rain Frog (Procyon gallaris) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This one is weird guys, it has a secondary name," Hera shouted while flanking the creature. The frog dashed once again, Blue was quick enough to block it, but she still fell backward while the frog landed a few meters behind her. The controller got up once again and retreated, keeping her back faced towards a tree. The frog shifted its eyes towards Leo and Alex, who were closest to it. It tackled Leo, making the man spin around and fall face first in the water. Seeing that her plan of making the frog hit the tree had failed, Blue dashed towards the creature to stop it from attacking anyone. The frog wasn''t fast enough, and Blue grabbed its hind legs. The creature thrashed around, trying to free itself from the controller''s grasp. "Hera, swing!" Blue yelled, seeing the explorer get close. Hera approached the frog and got in a batting position, while Blue spun around, still holding the creature. Hera swing Iris and split the top half of the frog in half, falling back with the impact. "Is everyone ok?" Blue asked, still holding the frog. "I bit bruised, but I''m fine. Why did it have to hit my right shoulder again?" Leo moaned. "So you remember not to rush in by yourself again," Alex barked. "I think you hurt me more than the frog," Hera said, getting up. "Sorry, this thing is just annoying," Blue said. "Yeah, what is that?" Alex asked. Quickly activating her [Inspect], Hera took a better look at the creature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Rain Frog Type: Procyon gallaris A rare breed of giant frog that only is born out of 10 million eggs. A proficient digger that can''t jump as most frogs do. However, its legs can propel the frog forward at high speeds. It''s high-pitched squeak, it''s a singular battle cry. After some time, the squeak has the ability to harm those that hear it, disorienting them. The species can grow up to 2 meters tall, fully grown Giant Rain Frogs can break down reinforced iron walls with a tackle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, it''s a good thing we got this one while it was young," Alex said. "Yeah, If a 2 meters tall can brake down an iron wall, I guess a 1 meter tall can break us without a problem," Hera said, thinking about what would happen if that one frog was bigger. "We can finish the rest and call the drone, but that one we should take to the guild," Leo said. "I agree, we might get some good money with it," Blue agreed. "Oh, yeah. That too," Leo mumbled. "What did you think we could do?" Hera asked. "Well... maybe they have a quest for it, I could cross one out if that were the case," Leo answered. "That''s a good Idea since this thing is probably rare or dangerous if left alone. But let''s focus, we need to finish those frogs. The sun is already setting. Alex, do you think you can help us? Just do the legs, pretend it''s chicken," Hera asked. "I can try, but no promises," the assassin mumbled. "That''s fine. Just do what you can. No one is trying to force you, ok?" Blue said. "I know, but I did nothing in that last fight. I feel like I owe something," Alex replied. "You don''t, but thanks for trying," Leo said. The group finished butchering the twelve frogs they had killed before, focusing more on the legs and eyes since it was the easier parts to harvest. When they only had two frogs to go, Hera called the drone. The time it took for it to get there was enough for them to finish the work. The drone left ten minutes before the sunset. They would have just enough time to run back to the road before it got completely dark. When night came, the trail was lit up by a series of flying globules of light. Various metal discs were buried through that path. Those discs created spheres of light when the night came. Half an hour later, they arrived in the city. Hera wanted to eat, but they needed to check with the guild first. Alex said she needed to take a shower before doing anything else. Looking at her clothes, Hera had to agree. A bath was an excellent idea. Stopping by the guild, Leo found a quest that asked to deliver the body of a Giant Rain Frog. The quest reward was 150 gold that he split between the party and a compendium about the frog. Since his skill made him stronger, the more he knew about the target, they all agreed that he should be using it. They went back to their hotel and took a shower before getting ready to see the city''s nightlife. 70 - The first night Hera sat in her room, looking at the dent in her chakram. She needed to see how to get it fixed. Things like that were bound to happen. It might be a good idea to learn proper care of her weapons instead of paying for someone to do this all the time. It was still 7 P.M. She hoped that some stores would still be open. Hera opened the internet and looked for some information. The guild tablet had access to a secondary browser that only explorers could use. There she could find almost anything she wanted about the MAZE, although some information she had to be bought before accessing it. Just like the internet in the real world, she could access a map of the town and see its stores'' information. Luckily, most of them only closed after 8 P.M., and some stayed open until 10. To her surprise, there were even a few clubs in the city and a spa. As she searched the map for stores that could sell supplies for taking care of her weapons, a text came through her tablet. Alex had just finished her shower, and she was ready to go. "Blue, Alex is done. Let''s go," Hera said. "Awww man, I''m so comfy. This bed feels like heaven," Blue grumbled. "Ok, stay there. I''m going to eat," Hera said, walking towards the door. Blue jumped up and followed the explorer. Food was not something that she would ever pass on. A few minutes later, they met Leo and Alex in the inn''s reception. Before going to look for a place to eat, Hera wanted to stop by the Taaffeite district. She was really worried about her chakram. Most shops were still open, and the streets were bustling. The town that reminded Hera of the suburbs during the day now looked like a metropolis. Various explorers were walking around haggling prices and selling materials. Hera was surprised about the situation and uncomfortable for being in the middle of so many people. Blue, on the other hand, seemed to be well in her element. They walked around, looking for a weapon shop that wasn''t too busy. Some seemed interesting, but as they got close, a long line in the door turned them away. After a few minutes, they reached a store with a sign that read ''Mr. Smith''. Inside, there was a long corridor with various weapons and armors in display at the sides. The only piece of furniture was the steel counter, with several dents and scratches, in the back of the room. Behind it, there was a man with his back turned to the door. He seemed to be working on something. "Hi, there!" Blue called. The man jumped up and slammed his hands on the counter. "Hello there! Welcome to Mr. Smith. I''m Ordy, Ordy Smith. What can I do for you?" The first thing Hera noticed about the man was the yellow crocodile-like eyes. He also had some scales spread around his arms. "That is so cool," Blue said, staring at the man. "First time seeing a half lamia I take," Ordy said. "Yeah, sorry. We just got here," Alex said, pulling Blue away from the man. "That''s fine. It is rare to find new arrivals that don''t freak out when they see me. What do you guys need today?" Ordy asked. "I ended up damaging my weapon. I wanted a way to take care of it myself," Hera explained. Seeing the damage, Ordy explained that to fix that. He would need to recast part of the weapon or grind the rest of it to make it all seamless. The small mark wouldn''t be enough to break the chakram, and most blades had worse dents than the one she showed. Hera agreed that she shouldn''t mess with the blade since it was an aesthetic problem and not something to do with the usability. She asked for some way to take care of her weapons in the field. He showed a small bag with two whetstones, one for grinding off chips on the edge of the blade and the other to sharpen it. There was also a jeweler''s loop so she could see the small markings along the blade and few oils. "Even with that, you still should bring your weapons for regular maintenance. There is only so much you can do without proper equipment. Try to do it once every month or more if you hunt all the time," Ordy said. Hera thanked him and gave the 20 gold for the kit. The group also got a butcher''s knife for each. It was better than using their weapons to get the materials. Hera paid for everything since she forgot to send everyone their money. Before leaving the store, she rectified that mistake. Sending her friends their earnings for the day, minus the amount for the knives. Thanking Ordy the group left the store, looking for a place to eat. Finding a restaurant wasn''t hard. Deciding what they would have was another thing entirely. Finally deciding on an Italian place, the group sat down for their meal. "What are you guys doing after this?" Alex asked. "Well... I''m going to the guild. They have a few quests that I might be able to do tonight. All within the city, I promise," Leo said. "Lame, you need to have more fun. I''m thinking about hitting a club. I wanna go dancing. Care to join me, Hera?" Blue asked. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Not really. I was never a fan of clubs. I''m thinking about going to the hotel to rest for a bit. The day took a lot out of me," Hera replied. "Awww, what about you, Alex? Are you letting me a weak and frail maiden go alone?" Blue pouted. "It''s hard to think of you as being weak after seeing you put a giant frog in a headlock. But I''ll go, I''m curious how a club would be in here," Alex said. "So eat up, try to at least drink in a full stomach," Hera said. "You don''t have to ask me twice," Blue answered, stabbing her fork in the lasagna she ordered. The group finished their meals and went their separate ways. Hera went straight to the inn. She wanted to take care of Iris and her chakram. Looking at the dent in Mayura''s feather, she remembered the old beat up the sword she used on the first day of class. Her weapons would never become that poorly cared for. That was a promise. When Hera got to the inn''s reception, she saw Bonnie sitting in a chair in the bar with her head down. "Bonnie? Are you okay?" Hera asked. "Hi, yeah, I''m fine," Bonnie replied. "I know that fine. What''s wrong?" "The library..." "What happened there?" Hera sat down beside her friend. The girl seemed so sad. Could something terrible have happened to her? "It closed," Bonnie replied. "What? Were they having money problems? I mean, we did get the coupons. Usually, stores that are doing well don''t do this thing. It''s a shame. I wanted to go there this week," Hera said. "What are you talking about? You can still go," Bonnie mumbled. "But you said it was closed," "Yeah, for the day. They kicked me out because it was closing time. I had so much to do," Hera rolled her eyes. "Really, Bonnie? You''re sad because of that? The people who work there need to sleep, and you do too. Who was the one that said that a good night of rest before a test is the best way to improve your grades?" Hera asked. "I did...But I wanted to keep studying. Magic is fascinating," Bonnie replied. "Yeah, but you have your notes, don''t you? Better yet. Teach me. I want to learn magic too. Teaching a subject to someone else always helped me in school." Bonnie got excited about the idea. That way, she could review her work and find gaps in her knowledge. The two quickly went back to Hera''s room. The researcher started to set up notes, flashcards, and slides on her tablet, getting ready to teach. Hera used that time to send a text to Blue, asking her to sleep in Alex''s room tonight since they would get home really late. Her reply was just a ''Yesssss gurrllllll,'' which lead Hera to send a text to Alex asking them to sleep in the same room for tonight. Seeing that Bonnie still needed some time to prepare, Hera opened a video about weapon maintenance. Her first instinct was to sharpen the blades daily. But according to the video, that was a bad idea. If she did that, the edge would be worn out quickly. The best thing to do was to sharpen the blade only when she felt it wasn''t able to cut like it was supposed to anymore. For now, Hera just used some oil on the chakram as Ordy had recommended. That would make the metal more resistant to rust. When Hera was halfway done with Mayura''s feather, Bonnie announced that she was ready for her presentation. She started explaining that mana is essentially a type of fuel. Cars use gas or electricity, and houses can use solar power spells to use mana. They are all energy. Because of that, mana shares some laws of physics that energy has. First, the law of conservation of energy. It means that energy can never be created or destroyed, only transferred or changed. That''s why they can use mana crystals as batteries for electronics. They are changing mana into electricity. According to Bonnie, it is theoretically possible to do the opposite. Turn electricity into mana, but she has no clue how to do that. Second, energy quality. Mana is in everything, from people to animals, from water to rocks. Each thing has a different form of mana, and each form can flow and transform uniquely. That''s why its easier to use certain objects to control mana. It is all about how high the quality of the mana is. Third, energy transformation. Each type of energy can transform into another at different rates. Types and qualities of mana have their own conversion rate to other types. 10 points of fire mana can turn into 8 points of wind mana or 2 points of water mana. The last part reminded Hera of Helena''s research. That was probably the reason people couldn''t go in the opposite direction of their mana. It was too costly to use a spell on the same level as their affinity. Bonnie explained a simple exercise she had found to start sensing mana around her. She had to focus on the feelings outside of her body. Bonnie was very close to feeling something. She had to picture a second skin hovering just above her own. That seemed to be the best way to go for now. As the researcher spoke, Hera couldn''t help but feel like what she was describing was strangely familiar. After the lecture, it was already 11 P.M. Bonnie quickly went to sleep. She wanted to be in the library first thing in the morning. Hera turned back to her weapons to finish what she was doing. Being a repetitive movement, she tried to feel the surrounding mana, just like Bonnie explained. Hera spent around half an hour before being too tired to stay awake. Placing Iris under her pillow, she failed to notice a small warm spot where she held her handaxe before. When she woke up, Bonnie had already left. It wasn''t much of a surprise, but Hera wouldn''t mind if the girl had said goodbye first. She got dressed and went to Alex''s room to invite them for breakfast. Knocking on the door, Hera waited for her friend to open. After a few minutes, Alex opened the door. She was still wearing the same clothes as she had yesterday, and she looked awful. Her hair was a mess, she had a stain on her shirt, and a strong alcohol smell came from her. "You look like crap," Hera said. "I''ll take as a compliment. I feel like shit," Alex replied. Looking inside the room, Hera could see Blue starfishing on the bed with the head under a pillow. "I''ll take it, you guys overdid it," Hera said. "Noooooo, do you really think that? We are fiiiineeee," Alex said, rolling her eyes. Hera just stared at the assassin for a moment. "Sorry, I hate hangovers," Alex said. "That''s fine, take the day off. I''ll talk to Leo and explain. Hopefully, the two of us can do some smaller quests," Hera said. "Fuck, Leo. I completely forgot. Tell him I''m sorry. I promise I''ll find a way to help him with all his quests." "Ok, I''m going to eat. Feel better soon," Hera stepped towards the hallway but stopped before leaving the door, "Oh, one last thing." She slapped the door a few times in quick succession, making a loud echoing noise as she yelled. "Wakey Wakey, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing!" Her two hungover friends yelled at her to stop, which only made their heads ring louder. Leaving the room, Hera texted Leo, and the two meet in the inn''s reception. Telling the hunter about the situation, the man laughed and explained that he could take a few other quests in the city. If he worked fast, he could finish three before the end of the day. Adding to the two, he completed the day before he would be well on his way to get the 10 quests he needed. They agreed to split up for the day. Hera was glad that the binge drinking of her companions wouldn''t harm Leo''s chances. Not that they would know about that so soon. With the day all to herself, Hera left the inn wondering what to do. 71 - Breadcrumbs Sitting in a cafe, Hera was thinking about what she would do today. Being by herself was freeing in its own way, but she also felt a bit lost. She opened the quest she already had. Aside from the frog hunt, there was also the one about the legends of the city. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Legends of Brinefront Explorer exclusive quest Brinefront has many legends that were created through time. Discover the three central points of its mythology. Type the name of the central figure of the legend in the box to confirm your discovery. [ ]???????????? [ ]???????????? [ ]???????????? [_________Enter text here_________] Reward: Information on a low-rank skill of your choosing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was the first time she saw a quest like that. It was something given by the guild and not the system, so she had to input her discovery manually. There was something comforting about the guild not being able to tell when she found something. If she discovered something that was best kept hidden, she could just pretend it never happened. That was a new line of thinking. After meeting Peaches and getting the guide skill, Hera changed. What if, at some point, she found something that should be protected? Maybe an item, or a tribe, or even the place where the guides live. Not only that, but she also had to consider that other people could do the same. They could find things and keep it to themselves. It wouldn''t be a surprise if someone found a good place to gather some resources and didn''t share the location. No one would announce that they found a gold mine unless they could profit from that. It was the sad reality of the world. "Dude, I''m telling you. That was Frostbite." Hera snapped out of her trance, hearing that name. To her left, a pair of men talked while drinking coffee. She adjusted herself in the chair, trying not to be too obvious about listening to their conversation. "Yeah, right. What would she be doing here?" a man with a bow resting on his legs said. "I dunno, maybe she needs to do a job around here," a man with a pair of daggers on his waist replied. "I doubt it. Someone like her wouldn''t be wasting her time here. She probably got a boat to go to the next layer. You said she was heading towards the docks." "No, I said that she took a right before reaching the guild. That leads to the docks, but she could do something else. Aw man, I should have asked her for an autograph." Hera opened the map app on her tablet, trying to see where Frostbite could be going. Looking around, she noticed that the inn she was staying was between the guild and the docks. Could the controller be here to try to recruit Blue again? Maybe she should warn Blue, but what if the girl went looking for Frostbite? Perhaps she should pretend nothing happened. But, if Blue was really being scouted, knowing she did nothing to stop would weigh heavily on Hera''s conscience. She finished eating, still struggling to make a decision. As Hera left the cafe, she sent a text to Blue. "Hey, I have something to tell you. Can we talk later? Just don''t join any groups before our talk, please." Right after that, she sent a message to Helena, asking her if Blue would be a good fit for her the order. Feeling a bit better about the whole situation, Hera made her way towards the library. If there was a good place to start her search, it would be there. It didn''t take long for Hera to arrive at her destination. The library was a huge three stories building with soft yellow walls and a green roof. She entered the place and talked to the librarian in the reception. It wasn''t hard to find a few books about Brinefront and its story. The first book told about the rulers of the town, how it was once a kingdom, but with time it changed to a democracy. It went to talk about political matters and economics, nothing that Hera felt the need to learn right now. The next book talked about the geography of the land. The whole layer was inside the cave. The only way to get out of it was by boat, but the room wall would stop anyone from getting too far from the cave. The most interesting part of that was that people talked like it was a lake, but it was closer to the ocean. Outside the cave there was a vast expanse of salt water. Inside the cave, it was mostly forest and grassland, but going towards the west, things got darker since the trees and pillars blocked more of the sun rays. Aside from the room wall in the east, the other directions seemed to have natural rock walls. There was even a footnote about a mining expedition to excavate the rock, but Hera could not find any more information about that. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! She found a book that seemed to have a more fantastic ring to it. It looked like various tales to tell children, not that she had seen any children here. A story about a hero who defeated an evil duke. The tale of a fisherman who caught the heart of an underwater city. The adventures of the first dog the MAZE ever saw. One of the most interesting stories was about a great invasion that came from the water. It told the tale of a tribe of giants from the upper layers and tried to conquer the town. They came from the doorway near the edge of the cave. It was only accessible by boat, but the giant could simply walk towards the city. Along with the explorers, the guard rallied under the banner of a commander to defend the city. After three days of fighting, the town seemed to be lost, when the largest troupe of giant shrimp anyone had ever seen appeared and attacked the giants inside the lake. They called the shrimps giant, but they weren''t bigger than a cat. With their help, the city was saved, and the giants defeated. After that, the town changed its name to honor the grand battle. "So that''s where Brinefront comes from, they could have made a better name. Maybe Prawn Bay or Barnacle city, or even Shrimptown... Ok, I suck at this," Hera sighed. Thinking about that story, maybe it was grand enough to be a legend. She typed Brinefront in the quest''s text field, but a message saying ''that is not one of the legends'' appeared. She tried giants, the name of the commander, explorers, and battle, but all with no luck. "Wait... could it be?" she mumbled. Typing shrimp, the quest was updated. One of the sets of question marks now read, ''The miracle of the shrimp.'' "I know this is a legend, and it probably happened. But the name is just...." Hera said. She read the rest of the book, trying to place any names or groups as the answer. Sadly, nothing else triggered a change in the quest. Reading through all the tales, she only had found three possible leads. There was the monument of the first dog near the docks, a hidden grotto by the water. Her last option was the ruins of a fallen tower deep into the woods to the west. Looking at the quest, Hera considered going online and asking for some help. But that felt like cheating. She knew she should ask for help when she was in trouble, but this quest was supposed to teach how to perform your role. She opened the map and deactivated all the markers. Looking around the topography of the region, Hera tried to discern where there could be ruins. Since it was a tower, she needed to find a place where it would be advantageous. She found a few places that seemed interesting, but they were blocked by a close by pillar. In another spot, the tower would have been build in a depression. She marked it as a possibility, although that would mean the tower wouldn''t get as high as possible. There was a last spot that seemed interesting. It was farther away from the town than the others. In the middle of a forest, there was this clearing. If the tower was ancient, the vegetation could have hidden it from the pictures she was seeing. Feeling she had gotten everything she could from here, Hera left the library. She thought about looking for Bonnie, but the girl was probably knee-deep in books. It was better to let her study. Heading to the docks, Hera kept trying to feel the surrounding mana. It was hard, but now and then, she felt a tingle around her. Some times she would pass by someone holding a staff or some item, and the tingle would be stronger. Maybe being near things with high mana quality could help with the exercise. After a few minutes, Hera arrived on the docks. Asking around, it wasn''t hard to find out the monument''s location. The memorial was in the middle of a small square. It seemed to be the central part of the docks, even if the place was towards the south of the town. The statue itself was a large dog house with a short-haired Yorkshire sitting on top with his ears standing up. The house under it was not just a sculpture. Some dogs were lying inside it. There was a water fountain to the side and a food dispenser. It looked like the monument was also a shelter for the dogs in the city. Inspecting the dogs, Hera could see that they all had names. Not only that, but the dogs were really friendly. The workers in the docks all greeted one or another. She turned her attention towards the statue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Statue of the first dog Creator: Unknown A statue carved out of stone. It represents the happiness and love that the first dog brought to the MAZE. It is unknown if the dog came from the outside world or if the MAZE spawned it. After the first dog''s appearance in the city of Brinefront, other dogs appeared in different layers. This monument was upgraded to become a shelter for all dogs that might wander inside the MAZE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While Hera was reading the description, she heard a bark from a dog near her leg. Looking down, there was a Yorkshire, much like the one in the statue. Unintentionally Hera had the inspect skill active, and the dog''s information appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trickle Breed: Yorkshire Terrier A breed that is known for its lustrous fur and small size. They are recommended for people with allergies, for its coat being closer to human hair than to fur. Trickle was born in Brinefront and never had a single owner. Instead, most of the fishermen treat him as their own. [An unique specimen, being a direct descendant of the first dog. Not only they have similar appearances, but they also share the same name.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That notification surprised Hera. Not only the notification popped on its own, but the last paragraph seemed odd. Instead of the usual white text, it was a light yellow. Before trying to figure out why that happened, Hera sat on a bench and opened the quest since this dog shared the same name as the first one that could be the answer to the quest. Typing ''trickle'' in the text box, the second set of question marks changed to ''Trickle the first dog.'' Hera opened a big smile. She wasn''t expecting to get two of the legends in a single day. But the extra information was still bothering her. Scratching the dog''s head, Hera picked the tablet. She searched for additional details in the inspect window. It didn''t take very long. A few articles were talking about that. According to them, it was something that only those with the explorer role could see. Not everything would have some additional information, though. That''s why most explorers had the habit of inspecting everything they could find. It was something Hera considered doing, but she didn''t want to be rude to others. Although... animals and objects would count, right? She could inspect them as much as she wanted without having problems. Stretching herself, Hera got ready to leave when Trickle jumped into her lap. "Well, I can''t leave now, can I?" She said with a smile, scratching the dog''s belly. 72 - Magic Training Hera stood in front of the guild. She had spent some time with Trickle, but now she had other things to do. One thing has been in her mind for a while. Could the guild here have an ATR? She walked toward the counter and found a familiar face. "Hi Gemma," Hera said. "Hi! Its... Hera, right?" "Yeah, I was wondering. Do you have ATRs here? Or is that something that''s only available on the outside?" "We have them here too, although the prices vary from layer to layer." "And how much is it?" Hera asked. "The basic version is 20 gold per hour. The intermediary would be 100 gold per hour and the deluxe 1 000 gold per hour. In this layer, we don''t have role-specific ATRs, that is something you can only find deeper in the MAZE." "Could I use one now?" "If you want the basic one, we have quite a few free rooms, but if you wish to use the intermediary or the deluxe, you have to make a reservation. For the intermediary, you just need to wait a couple of hours, maybe a day. The deluxe has a waiting list of a week or so." "And can I use a voucher I got outside? Or that only works there?" "Most coupons issued by the guild outside can be used here. But that''s not a universal truth. We just have a close relationship with that branch since we are basically linked," Gemma explained. "Ok, last question. Can the trainers help with magic?" Hera asked. "Well, sort of. They can''t help you make any new spells or improve the design of the ones you are using. It is too user driven for them. But they can help with the aim, the speed you make the spell, point out any glaring mistakes in it, and the mana efficiency. If you are struggling to unlock your mana stat, it can help a lot too." Happy with the information, Hera showed the voucher and confirmed that she could use it in this guild. Before renting one of the rooms, she sent a text to Bonnie. Telling about the ATR and offering to pay for a couple of hours for the two of them. After yesterday''s hunt, she had some money, and having magic-user would help a lot. It didn''t take long for Bonnie to reply. The girl had no idea they had ATRs and that they could be used to unlock the mana stat. A few minutes later, Bonnie came rushing in. She sprinted all the way from the library. "I''m ready. Let''s go!" Bonnie said while gasping for air. "Yeah, No. Sit down for a moment, drink something. It''s a bad idea for us to go while you are still like that. We should be in good shape before going in," Hera said. Bonnie wanted to complain, but she knew the explorer was right. Hera grabbed three bottles of water and sat beside the researcher. One of the bottles they could drink right now, but the other two were for the ATR. The two women talked about magic, and what else Bonnie had found. After getting the mana stat, you had to start working on spells. There were various ways of creating a spell. One could make a formula much like a mathematical equation, but the numbers would be a mix of mana and commands. Others used a concept close to programming, creating conditions, and instructions on how to behave. None of those options seemed good to Hera. Math wasn''t her best subject, and she never learned to program. Thankfully, those weren''t the only options. Some people took a more artistic approach, creating spells out of a picture of the result. There were a few problems with that method. People usually had to create each spell themselves since there was no set formula for it. There were also a few problems with the amount of mana spells like that needed. It was hard to optimize the consumption, and different casts of the same spells could require different amounts of mana. That happened because the caster''s imagination changed after seeing the result of the spell. It was also harder to turn a spell into a skill. Before that happened, you had to make the spell manually each time it was cast. Despite all that, people who took this subjective approach had an easier time creating new spells. Mainly because they didn''t have to follow a set of instructions before creating the spell. With enough mana and imagination, they had the potential of making anything happen. After Bonnie rested enough, Hera asked Gemma for two spots in the basic ATRs for two hours each. She could use the voucher for her 2 hours but had to pay for Bonnie since the coupon is nontransferable. Paying for both would be too much, but she could cover the fee for a single person. They were lead to an elevator that went a few floors underground. There, Hera saw a setting similar to the guild outside the MAZE. Big white hallways with many doors on each side. The clerk walked with them and showed the ATR they would be using. It was a large room with five small arenas. Right now, the room was empty, so the two girls chose to be close to each other. That way, they could compare notes during this training. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Hera''s spirit like trainer appeared as she activated the arena. After choosing the mana training in the first option menu, the spirit held Hera''s hands and closed its eyes. Following its lead, the explorer did the same. She started to feel a warmth around her hands as if her fingers were under the sun. The feeling started to spread. It expanded as it moved around her arms. It flooded her torso, and then, the warmth moved towards her legs before dissipating in the air. A few seconds passed, and the feeling began in her hands once again. Hera couldn''t shake the feeling that this wasn''t the first time she felt something like that. Not the warmth, but the way it moved through her body. After the fifth time that the heat reached her legs, Hera remembered when she felt like that. The day she ate too many oranges from the New Dawn Farm. The way the flavor seemed to overflow and leave her body was very similar to how this warmth was leaving through her legs. Focusing on the feeling, Hera tried to predict its movement, much like what she did when she was training with the spheres in the guild. Little by little, she managed to follow the path of the warmth by herself. When the flow became faster, she kept going. Each loop made her feel more comfortable with the feeling. She was taking closer to a minute to make the heat go from her hands and out through her legs. Hera was about halfway through another loop when a loud noise made her open her eyes. In the arena at her side, Bonnie was standing up with a hand raised forward. The researcher had a big smile on her face. "What happened?" Hera asked. "Let me show you," Bonnie said. The woman closed her eyes, and a small ball of light formed in her hand. It was similar to the non-elemental Light that Helena had show Hera a while back. Various colorful particles were spinning around and glistening as if it was light going through a prism. But the particles were moving too fast. It wasn''t the continuous dance that Helena made, but a turbulent whirlwind. The small lights seemed to be clashing at each other violently. Before Hera could say anything, the light sphere exploded in Bonnie''s hand, making the same noise she had heard before. Bonnie stepped back, shaking her hand. Hera could see that the researcher''s hand had deep red markings and some cuts that seemed to be dripping with blood. "Crap, but I got closer. Let me try again," Bonnie said as she raised her hand. "Bonnie, wait!" Hera yelled. Hera got up and rushed towards the girl. The energy was even wilder than before. Bonnie seemed to be trying to overcome her issue by merely pumping more mana into the spell. Before Hera could close the distance, the light ball grew in size and exploded. The force of the explosion pushed Hera, making her fall into the ground with a heavy impact. Bonnie flew back, hitting the floor behind the arena. Hera dashed towards her friend, worried about what might have happened. Seeing that Bonnie was still breathing, but she was unconscious, Hera ran outside the room and called for help. She had some basic first aid knowledge and knew that moving Bonnie around could be dangerous. There was a healer on call at the guild who rushed towards the room. She saw the state Bonnie was in and called for a stretcher while she applied some emergency healing. When her helpers arrived, they quickly immobilized Bonnie''s neck and took her to the infirmary. The whole ordeal took less than 10 minutes. The healing staff here was incredibly efficient. Hera followed the healer, explaining what happened and stayed in a waiting room while they took care of Bonnie. It was akin to stay in a waiting room in a hospital, but even more unnerving. Hera knew that healers were supposed to be better than doctors in certain circumstances, especially if the injury had something to do with magic. Yet, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she had to idle around while they tried to help her friend. Luckily, she only had to wait half an hour before the healer allowed her to stay by Bonnie as a visitor. Cassandra, the healer, explained to Hera what happened. Bonnie wasn''t able to control the spell she was creating, and since she kept holding it while pumping more mana, it bottlenecked and exploded. That was a common mistake for newbies, but the researcher had more control than most. That''s what caused such a big explosion. When Hera saw the spell, she imagined that it was something like that. She asked Cassandra about the lights, but she didn''t know what the explorer was talking about. The healer warned her that Bonnie might take a day to wake up, but Hera didn''t like the idea of leaving her friend alone here. While she waited, she searched the net for the lights she saw in the spell, but Hera didn''t find any information about that. Trying to find something about the subject, she looked for elemental affinities. Aside from what Helena had explained to her, she didn''t see much else about them. However, she found a list of all the known affinities. The list showed the rarity of the element, what would the element change in your skills if used. If it was a primary affinity, secondary or tertiary affinity. Apparently, a few affinities could be either primary or secondary, but the tertiary ones could only be that. Each affinity also had a rank of strength, going from S to D. There was also a link that would explain how to get said synergy, but that was behind a paywall. There were various types of affinities, from elemental ones like fire, air, and darkness, to mechanical ones like shatter, gravity, and pressure those were the primary or secondary affinities. The tertiary were more conceptual, like softness, pointy, or puppet. The list went on and on, but one name caught Hera''s attention. It was the mana affinity. It was a tertiary affinity that seemed to be among the rare ones to get. According to the website, it would give a tiny boost to the user''s skills but had no other effects. That seemed odd. Why would something that was everywhere had such a minor impact? If mana was in all things, wouldn''t that mean that an affinity like that would be powerful? Why was it ranked D? She searched for more information on that affinity, but aside from the basic information she found on the list, all the rest was hidden behind a paywall. Giving up on the search, Hera sent another text to Helena asking about that affinity. The mage still hadn''t replied to her previous text. It must be a busy day. Hera looked at Bonnie, who was lying in bed beside her. The girl had a pale complexion, and her usual carefully put makeup was rushed and uneven. What had happened for the girl to be like that? With no way to answer that question, Hera tried to make the heat she felt inside the ATR loop around her body once again while she waited for Bonnie to wake up. 73 - Reason to fight Bonnie groaned and tried to move, a sharp pain on her hand made her jolt up. "Ouch!" she cried. "If you feel your hand, you got lucky," Hera said. The explorer was sitting on a chair by Bonnie''s bed. She had her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "You got trigger-happy. You figured out how to do something with mana and overdid it. They checked the logs. Your trainer gave you a warning about what you were doing. Why didn''t you listened to it?" Hera scolded. "I... thought I could do it." "Since when did you not listen to warnings. Bonnie, you don''t even cross the street outside the crosswalk. Explain why you ignored the warning of a trainer while you were using magic." "I... I just have to use magic," Bonnie mumbled. "Why? Seriously, why? We just had to deal with Leo almost getting us killed because of something he had to do. At least he had an explanation, not that it changed the fact that he messed up. Please, give me one explanation, even if it is a crappy one." "It was my mistake. It won''t happen again," Bonnie said, clutching the sheets. Hera rolled her eyes. Her friend could have gotten seriously hurt just because she was too eager to do something, just like Leo. Hera understood better than anyone what it was like to be excited about something, but nothing good would happen if they end up hurting themselves. "I hope it doesn''t. It was a stupid mistake, and you are not stupid, are you?" Bonnie started to tremble, tears rushing down her face. "Sorry, sorry. I''m sorry. Please don''t be mad, please don''t be mad, father," she wailed. Hera looked at her friend, spooked with the reaction. She wanted to scold Bonnie, but not to make her feel that bad. She sat down on her bed, hugging the woman while she cried on her chest. They stayed like that for a few moments, Hera''s shirt was wet with the researcher''s tears. A few minutes later, Bonnie finally stopped sobbing. "I''m sorry I went too far. I was just worried about you. This time I was near you, but what if I wasn''t? We were alone in that ATR. You could end up bleeding out there," Hera said, trying to justify herself. "I know, sorry. It''s not your fault. I just... It was my mistake," Bonnie said. "I''m not going to say it wasn''t, but I could have handled things differently. But I saw a friend falling to the ground a second time within two days. It freaked me out a little," Hera explained. "Really? What happened?" Bonnie asked. Hera explained the whole situation with Leo, avoiding going too much into details about his uncle. "Oh... sorry to make you go through that," Bonnie said. "And I''m sorry for making you cry... but what happened?" Hera asked. Bonnie looked away and let go of the hug. Understanding she needed some space, Hera left the bed and went back to the chair. "Look, if you don''t want to talk about it, it''s ok. But I need to know if I have to be worried about you," Hera said. "I need money, a lot of money, and fast. I can''t hunt right now, but if I have magic, I can start going with you guys," Bonnie said. "Why? You know we can cover for you for a while. Not only that, we already have enough to pay for this week''s lodging. Why such a rush," Hera asked. "It''s because of my father... He always demanded that I would be the perfect daughter. If I got an A in class, I was punished for not getting an A+," ¡°Oh, Bonnie, did he ever hit you?" ¡°No¡­ well once, but that''s when my mom stepped in and left him. It was in the middle of my sophomore year. I spent a week barely sleeping to get a good grade on my midterms. The school ranked the student''s grades, and I got the 15th place. The day the results came in, I was so tired, and I ended up sleeping in class. They were very strict and suspended me for it. When my father heard about that, he scolded me and started to go through my things. It was my birthday, and one of my friends gave me a makeup kit, it was still in my bag. He saw that and got even angrier, saying awful things and calling me stupid. I tried to say it was a gift, and he slapped me," Bonnie took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. Hera held her friend''s shoulder. "You don''t need to talk about it if you don''t want to," Hera said "No... I have to. My therapist said it helps. We left the house and went to live with my aunt. I thought that we were done whit him. But a couple of days ago he sent a lawyer, saying that since the investment he made in me was worthless we had to pay back all the money he spent or I had to go back and do my job as his daughter. That means not only working for him, but also living with him. In the contract, he showed us there was even a clause saying that I could be part of acquisitions via family ties. It basically meant that he could marry me off to some random guy just to make a quick buck. My mom refused him and said that we would pay it all back. But it is a lot of money. My mom started working double shifts and looking for another job, but she already did so much for me. I can''t let her get all that money by herself, especially if I can make that money here," Bonnie said. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Hera wasn''t sure how to respond, the whole thing seemed like something out of a middle ages movie. Then again, she had no idea how was the life of the rich. The world is a big place and there are many people out there, maybe something this messed up could actually happen, even if the thought of a parent treating his daughter like that made her stomach turn. After pausing for a few moments, she chose to focus on what she could do to help her friend. "I get it, I mean, not really, but I understand... sort of... Just tell me this. If you end up dying because you were reckless, is that going to clear the debt?" "No, it would go to my mom since she also had some benefits with my upbringing." "Then don''t kill yourself for it. You need to be alive and well to help her," Hera said. "I know, it''s just a lot of interest, even if the monthly payments won''t be that high initially." "How much is it going to be?" "Five thousand for the first month, then double that every next month until it reaches 40 000 gold per month. Then 100 000 when it reaches 1 year, and double that in another year, after that. I don''t even know." "Oh, crap. That is a lot," Hera exclaimed. "Tell me about it. He says the total debt is around 10 million. The MAZE is the only shot I have at paying it. I know that," Bonnie said. "Good thing we can already make the first payment in a bit over a week." "What?" Bonnie asked. "We managed to get a deal with a merchant. We can get around 1 200 gold every two days if we hunt for eight hours. That''s just me, Blue, Leo and Alex. If we add a mage to the mix, and another one butchering the frogs we can make even more," Hera explained the deal and what they were doing to Bonnie. She talked about Mondy and how much they got from the guild, as well as the frogs they faced. "You got a crappy deal. Do you know that? The profit margin is too broad of a term. He can give you absurd fees for the drone and the tax, and you can''t do much about it," Bonnie said. "Maybe, but it''s not like we have other choices. No one else made an offer. Not that we searched for a better one, and it''s not a binding deal. I can just stop using his drones and leave it at that. Leo is doing his quests, and he needs to get in that group," Hera explained. "I guess you are right and Hera... Thanks. I''m sorry for worrying you." "Don''t be, just don''t do it again. We are already in a place filled with monsters and things that can kill us. I don''t want to add yourself to the mix," Hera said. The two waited for a while before the Cassandra discharged Bonnie. She had to do a few tests and gave a stern lecture about the dangers of using magic. The damage to her hand was worse than the rest, because of that she should come back in the next day so Cassandra could improve the healing time. With everything done, they left the guild. It was already evening, and just a few stores were still open. "How long was I out?" Bonnie asked. "A few hours, it''s almost 10. We are stopping by a restaurant to get some takeout," Hera replied. Hera looked at her tablet. There was a text from Helena saying that Blue was an attractive candidate for the order, but the order might not give what the controller wants. She also sent a file with some information about the mana affinity that she already had. It wasn''t much, but it might help Hera. Grabbing dinner for all her friends, Hera and Bonnie went back to the hotel. The explorer had asked them all to meet her in her room. The group gathered and talked about their day. Leo had completed four quests, two of them this afternoon. It was mostly some low paying side gigs, but the group he wanted to join had no restriction on what quests you completed. Blue and Alex spent most of the day nursing their hangover and watching TV in their room. They still had the same channels and options they would have outside. Hera told them about the legends and the place she thought the last one could be in the woods. She also talked about what happened to Bonnie, who said she was in debt, and that was why she needed to rush. "Guys, we know what Leo wants to do. But I think we need to talk about our plans. Bonnie and Leo got a time-sensitive problem that leads them to make a mistake. I believe that if we talk about what we want and what we need, we can figure out a way to help everybody," Hera said. "That is a good point. If someone has a goal that will make them mess up as I did, it can be a problem," Leo agreed. "It makes sense, and since you brought it up. You should start Hera," Blue said. They all stared at the explorer. Fidgeting a bit, Hera cleaned her throat and took a large gulp of her drink. "I have no idea what I want. My only goal was to become an explorer now... Well, I''m a bit lost," Bonnie stared at her before speaking, "Well, I can relate before I was aware of the debt I just wanted to use magic. I never considered what comes next," "Really? You didn''t have a plan?" Blue snickered. "No, I did not." The two started a staring contest, making the whole room tense. "Anyway, you know my goal. Hera and Bonnie told us theirs. What about you two?" Leo asked. "Well, I want to help my mom. We have a comfortable life, but there are many bad diseases that run in my family. My grandmother had Alzheimer''s and even went blind and deaf before dying. She also had diabetes and a bunch of other stuff. My mom is fine for now, but I''m worried about the future. I want to make enough money to support her and to be able to heal anything she might get. My goal is a long-term one, so I don''t need to rush," Alex explained. "Aw man, now I feel kind of bad. The three of you have some real goals, and even if Hera is still figuring it out, she just got her dream. Mine sounds silly now," Blue said. "C''mon Blue, we all talked about what we want," Alex said. "Exactly, or are you afraid of saying? I imagine it must be something stupid, like eating the biggest pie in the MAZE," Bonnie taunted. "Bite me, bookworm," Blue barked. "Settle down, you two. Bonnie, be nice," Hera said, looking towards the researcher, "Now Blue, you can tell us. We are your friends." Blue crossed her arms and slumped in the chair, "Fine... I want to be the fourth Hero," There was a moment of silence before Bonnie bursting into laugher. "That is too good," she said while laughing. "Bonnie, stop that," Leo said, trying to hide a smile. "You guys suck," Blue said. "Sorry," Hera said, starting to laugh, "But it''s hard to picture you as a hero when you have ketchup all over your face." Blue pouted and cleaned up her face. "Oh, sorry, Blue. I just wasn''t expecting you to be so pure. If you want to be a Hero, I''ll do my best to help you," Hera said. "Sure, I''ll pray for a catastrophe for you to fix too," Bonnie said. "I''ll help you with what I can. I mean, being in the Hero''s party can give me some leverage," Leo said. "And it''s a great way to make money," Alex chimed in. "Thanks, but you all still suck," Blue said. 74 - Routine Hera was having some trouble sleeping. She was in her room with Bonnie on the other bed. Blue and Alex wanted to finish watching a series they found in the afternoon. The explorer rolled around in the bed, trying not to make too much noise and disturb her roommate. After some time, she sat up on the bed. Hera''s mind was too active to sleep right now. The talk they had during dinner made her realize something. During her entire life, she had one goal, to be an explorer. Now that she accomplished that, she felt lost. As if something was missing. Not having an objective for the first time in 23 years felt wrong. As if there was a hole inside of her. Hera made a mental list of the things she wanted to do. Find unusual and beautiful places, but that felt too vague. She would end up roaming around aimlessly. Learn magic, but that was just so she could help Helena. Not that she didn''t want to use magic, but if it weren''t for the mage, she wouldn''t be focused on that right now. Helping her friends was nice and all, but it wasn''t something for her. She wanted to find her own thing, her drive, her quest in life. Something that she would be willing to work her ass off for, but it didn''t matter how much she tried. Nothing came to mind. Realizing it was a dead-end, Hera tried to do something else to make her sleepy, the training she did in the ATR. It made her feel somewhat comfortable. She closed her eyes and started the exercise once again. According to the trainer, this was a way to make the body get used to mana. Cycling the heat through her body, Hera started to feel like she could not just move the warmth, but reshape it. Instead of making it pass, she tried to cover herself with the energy. It was harder than she initially thought. The feeling seemed to push away from her body, like trying to press two magnets together. That gave Hera an idea. What if she tried to turn the magnet around? Since she had no clue how to do that, it took Hera some time to make the heat be pulled in instead of pushed out. After several tries, she finally did it. The energy came through her hands and was drawn towards her chest. The moment the heat reached her heart, Hera''s body throbbed. She shivered while her temperature started to rise. Even with the discomfort, Hera pushed through. It felt weird, but right at the same time. As if she was taking a hot shower after being outside in the rain for too long. The warmth in her chest started to spread, covering her entire body. The moment the feeling covered the last part of her body, the discomfort vanished. An unusual tranquility replaced it. The air around her felt almost nostalgic, the bed softer, and the sheets warmer. Hera opened her eyes. In front of her, there was a notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana attribute unlocked Mana is the type of energy used in spells. By unlocking this attribute, you gain the ability to create and use spells. Unlike other attributes, mana can only be increased by training. Starting mana: 100 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera opened a big smile upon seeing the notification. She was one step closer to being able to use spells. She checked Helena''s quest, confirming if she had completed it. However, the wording on it confused her. It said she needed to unlock the mana stat, but also said she needed to learn a spell. Unsure of what was the condition to complete the quest, Hera looked around. Even in the dark, she could still see some furniture''s outlines, but they had a colored edge to it. Instinctively, Hera understood that this was the object''s mana. The color seemed to be related to the material of the object. The wooden table had a brown outline, while the one on the television had a dark tone. Glancing towards Bonnie, Hera saw a more noticeable outline filled with dancing colors. Unlike the furniture, the one in the researcher was moving, following the woman''s breathing. With the tablet in hand, Hera went to the bathroom. She opened the file Helena had sent her and started reading about the mana affinity. There wasn''t much information on it. It mostly talked about how this affinity was very useful for detection, but not many uses for combat had been found. To get it, one needed to have a natural disposition for it, and it would only manifest in a supporting role. It explained a bit of how some spells could be used to perceive the mana around the caster. After that information, Helena had some notes on it. She heard rumors of people who have that affinity as the central part of their ability. They were easily confused with non-elemental mages. That''s why no one thought they existed. Helena had a theory about the use of that affinity. If the spellcaster was able to control the surrounding mana, they could even use the environment mana to cast spells. Lessening the burden they had in their own mana pool. Hera read the document a couple of times, trying to absorb all its information. Staring at the bathroom door, she tried to sense the mana in the other room. She saw these weird effects in magic. It made sense for her to have a mana affinity, right? She spent close to an hour trying to perceive the mana in the other room, but to no avail. Finally feeling tired, she walked back into the room and went to bed. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ############################# "Our little girl is growing up so fast," Helena said with a smile on her face. "Don''t put me in the middle of that. I don''t intend to have kids," Quinn said. "Loosen up, will you? I''m talking about Hera," Helena said, sitting back in the chair. "Oh, what about her?" Quinn asked after ordering more drinks. "She is asking for some really advanced information about affinities." "Something you weren''t expecting?" Quinn asked. "Maybe. I had a hunch she might have the affinity she talked about, but I wasn''t expecting her to talk about it so soon," Helena explained. "I see," Quinn said before eating some fries. "Are you not going to ask about it?" Helena bellowed. "Not really. You know I think you are doing something amazing, But I''m not really interested in the process of it all." Helena let out a lengthy sigh," I know, I just wanted to talk to someone about it." "Aren''t you going to the wall next week? You can find some people to talk about that there." "I guess, but I can''t say too much. Even in the order, we keep some information a secret," Helena said. "Sucks to be you. By the way, how are you going to get there?" Quinn asked. "I could go to another guild and take a faster route. But I think I''m leaving on Friday and going through Brinefront. I want to see if I can peek at my new intern," Helena said, almost giggling. "It''s been a while since I saw you so attached, you are not going for the teacher-student route are you?" Quinn teased. "Very funny, no, I''m not. But... she kind of reminds me of Avery." Quinn widened her eyes, "Holy crap, she really does! How could I have missed that?" "Beats me, but that''s just another reason why that is not happening. You know how that ended," Helena said, downing her drink. "Yeah, but I also remember how it started. What did the doctor say during that first week? Stretch before doing anything like that again," Quinn snickered. "Alright, alright, Let''s change the subject. And even if I wanted, I couldn''t do that again. I''m not that limber anymore, and I don''t even remember how it was, to be honest." Quinn waited for Helena to start drinking again before saying, "I still have a picture if you want it." Helena choked on her drink and started coughing, trying to cuss at her friend. Quinn just watched the scene, laughing and fiddling with her phone to taunt the mage. ############################# For the next few days, Hera and her friends figure out a routine of sorts. In the morning, Leo would do some easy quest in the city while the rest trained or studied. They would meet up to eat and then go outside the city to hunt. They had already completed three hunts, Leo tried to get several frog hunts at once, but apparently, quests that required only to kill monsters could only be taken one at a time for species. Hunts were mostly for population control, taking more than one for the same type of monster would lead to completing quests without getting the desired results. The hunter was taking the quests on his own. That way, the number of frogs he had to kill was smaller. The only problem was that he needed to be the one to deal with the killing blow, which reduced the group''s speed. The rest of the group would be training or running some smaller errands in the morning and hunting in the afternoon. The evening was free time, with each doing their own thing. Friday night, Bonnie called all of them to an arena in the guild to show off her first spell. She was in front of a training dummy made for practicing magic. It had a light purple glow around it, and it seemed to be made of crystals. Bonnie placed two hands in front of her chest with the palms down. Hera could see the energy being gathered under her hands. A few light blue particles started to form in the spell. Unlike the last time, the lights moved together, rotating and spinning, creating a blue web inside the energy. Bonnie pumped some more mana into the spell and hurled it towards the dummy. The attack wasn''t fast. It took a couple of seconds to reach the target, but when it did, a gust of cold air covered the room. The dummy was now covered in a thin layer of ice. "That is my first spell. It reduces the temperature in an area when it makes contact. According to what I found, it can slow down monsters and make some objects more brittle," "That is amazing, Bonnie!" Hera exclaimed. "Yeah, if you can hit a clumped up group, we can get rid of them really quickly," Leo agreed. "There is a problem, though. You take a bit of time to make that spell, and I''m guessing it can hit us too. So it''s like a one and done. What if something comes at you after it?" Alex asked. Bonnie replied with a cocky smile, "Well, I can also do this," The researcher spun around and raised her arm. Instead of having the hand out like Hera saw the day Bonnie got hurt, she had the fingers pointed at the target, making a cup with her palm. Before the explorer could see the energy gathering, a high-pitched sound of the wind going through a small opening echoed from Bonnie''s hand. Following that, something that broke most of the ice on it hit the chest of the dummy. On the screen, behind the target, a large 50 appeared. "I retract my criticism," Alex said, staring at the dummy. "Did you really just used two spells?" Blue asked. "Sure did, the first one is called Cold Bomb, and this one is Air Fist. Just a warning, Cold Bomb doesn''t seem to any damage by itself, and Air Fist just give a score of 20 when I use it by itself," Bonnie explained. "Still, that is impressive," Leo said. "Not really. I bought the compendium for the Air Fist. When I figured out how it worked, I toyed with it. Luckily, my learn skill helped me fill up some gaps," Bonnie said. "No, it is really impressive, Bonnie. You took less than one week to get your mana stat, learn a spell, and create one all by yourself. Don''t play this down, you are amazing!" Hera said. "Even I have to admit, that was badass," Blue said. "Thanks, guys. Now you still have to complete one Hunt right Leo? Let''s go, I want to put these spells to the test, and I also need to get some money since the compendium wasn''t that cheap." "How much was it?" Alex asked as they left the training room. "250 gold. That''s the last of the money the guild gave me," Bonnie said. "Ouch, that''s expensive," Leo commented "Yeah, but with her help, I think we can give her a full refund after today," Hera said as they walked towards the city gates. 75 - Group Fight "But how do you use an equation for it?" Hera asked. "You need to consider the variables as the amount and type of mana you are using," Bonnie explained. "I got that part, but how can I use that type and amount of mana?" "You think about the values and the spell works," Bonnie said. "That doesn''t make any sense. Thinking about an equation is not going to make me use magic," Blue cried. "I have to agree if I think ''5 mana'' nothing happens. I can''t feel the mana moving or doing anything at all," Hera said. "Because you need the whole spell. Like the Air Fist, it actually looks like this." Bonnie pulled up the spell equation on her tablet. It was a long and complicated mix of letters, numbers and symbols. "This first part is the type of mana. Then you add the second equation that tells the spell how to behave. Multiply that by this last part that shows the expected result to finish it. Don''t forget to divide the first part by the amount of mana you wan to use. Otherwise, it would be the most basic version of it or spend all your mana at once." Hera kept staring at the equation, trying to understand how to make that work. Blue started to listen to the explanation but gave up halfway through. "Does that really make sense to you?" Blue asked. "Yeah, I know this looks weird. The first time I saw this one, I almost gave up, but the more I tried, the more I got it. Still, I can just activate the skill instead of making the whole spell now, but then I can''t control its strength. I also read in more than a few places that relying on the skill to use a spell makes it harder to increase your mastery. High-level mages can trigger spells faster by themselves than if they were relying on skills," Bonnie said. "Girls, sorry to interrupt, but we found a group," Leo said. They were walking through the forest, looking for frogs to hunt. Leo''s skill lets him track them with more ease, because of that, he and Alex were the scouts while the other 3 stayed back. They had found five giant blue frogs sitting close to each other. Trying to make as little noise as possible, the group approached their targets while Leo gave everyone the instructions. ¡°Bonnie, wait for my signal and sent out your spell. Blue and I will be in front of you. Alex and Hera will circle around to stop them from behind. If someone gets in the way of your spell and you can''t stop, just toss it in the air, and we''ll deal with that later." With a silent nod, the group got in position. Hera got used to the hunt in the last few days. Although she didn''t enjoy it as much as Alex and Blue, she could understand the rush the two of them felt. Hera moved, flanking the frogs with Alex on the other side. This way, they would be sure that none of them would try to run and call for backup. They made that mistake on the second day, and it was horrible. What Hera was most excited to see was how the spell would affect the frogs. Being cold-blooded creatures, could it simply lower their body temperature enough to kill them? Bonnie started to cast the Cold Bomb. Seeing it from a different angle, Hera got worried the spell attracted too much attention. She could see the leaves around her rustling, and there was a soft light coming out of her hands. One of the frogs rose its head, turning towards the researcher. Hera''s heart started to beat faster. It was the first time Bonnie saw one of those creatures. What if she freaked out like Alex? The frog stared at the light for a moment, but before it could start to croak. Bonnie''s spell triggered. A small ball of pale blue light moved towards the frog. As it got closer, the frog stepped back, and before the Cold Bomb reached it, the frog lashed out with its tongue. The spell was hit and activated, covering the frog''s tongue and part of its mouth with a thin layer of ice. One of the frogs closer to the center of the spell had part of its left front leg covered in the same ice layer. Not leaving a chance for the frog to move, Bonnie followed it up with an Air Fist. The wind attack hit the creature in the ice covering its chin. The monster fell to the ground, shivering. It was still moving, but it seemed stunned by the attack. Hera and the rest jumped into the fight, following the same patter they perfected during the last week. Hera and Alex focused on the ones in the back, taking them out quickly before they could fight back. Leo and Blue rushed in, attacking the two frogs in front. Bonnie stayed back, sending spells towards the monster on the ground. A frog lashed out towards Blue and hit her in the chest with its tongue. Taking a step back, the controller lessened the impact, but it wasn''t enough to allow her to rebuke. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Sidestepping, she flanked the frog and got ready to strike. However, after losing its target, the frog saw Bonnie in front of him and rushed towards the researcher. "Shit," Blue exclaimed while running towards the frog. Bonnie sent an air fist toward the incoming creature, but it did little to frazzle it. Hera rushed to the frog, managing to slash the monster''s back. It recoiled, but the creature didn''t stop its charge. Bonnie jumped to the side, trying to avoid the beast. The frog was faster than the researcher and managed to hit her legs, making the woman fall to the ground. The frog opened its mouth, but before it was able to do anything, Blue jumped on top of trying to hold its throat. Hera arrived right before her, slashing at the creature once more. With their combined efforts, the frog finally fell. Blue went to help Bonnie get up while Hera turned around to face the other creatures, only to find that Leo and Alex had finished them off. "How many did you get?" Hera asked. "Two, the one on the ground couldn''t move very well, so Alex didn''t have to step in," Leo explained. "Yeah, having a mage really changes the dynamic of it all. We basically got a freebie," Alex said. Hera nodded and turned around. Blue was looking at Bonnie''s legs. There was a slight bruise on them. Luckily, it was mostly on her legs. The ankles seemed fine. "Can you move?" Blue asked. "Yeah, it hurts, but I can walk," Bonnie said while holding out her hand, "help me up." Blue took the researcher''s hand and raised her, "Sorry about that," she said without letting go. "About what? I was the one who didn''t step aside. But I wanted to see if the spell was enough to stop it." "No, it was my fault. Leo and I were supposed to cover you, and I left my position," Blue said. "Blue..." Hera started but was cut off by Bonnie. "Yeah, you''re right. I could have died. I think you owe me big time now, right? Let''s see... how about you pay my debt? Nah, you can never make that much money. What about paying for a new set of equipment?" "Bonnie, that''s too much," Alex said. "No, no, she''s the one who said it was her fault. Oh, I know! Carry me around. I don''t want to tire my feet. And try not to drop me with those noodle arms." "What the hell?! I''m trying to apologize here, Why do you have to be so irritating?" Blue yelled. "Why do you have to be so ridiculous, you muscle head? We all know what we signed up for, we need to fight, and we might get hit. I''m the one who needs to take care of me, not you!" Bonnie shouted back. "Hey, hey, take it easy, you two," Hera said, stepping between them. "I''m calm, and I know she''s right. It is just not a very hero like thing to put your friends in danger," Blue said. The group stared at the controller for a moment, before Bonnie bursting into laughter. "How can you be so dumb? Do you think the Heroes started out already amazing?" "No... I mean, I don''t know. None of the books I read said anything about that," Blue mumbled. "Try reading a history book instead of one with mostly pictures. They will tell you about how they failed at first. Kahn was a low-level porter for quite a while. Undine took years to learn magic, and Cyrus ran away with his group from the first raid they ever participated in. No one is born a hero," Bonnie said. "I know.. I just felt bad, ok?" "If you really felt bad, I wouldn''t be standing right now," Bonnie teased. Blue stepped towards the girl, pushing Hera aside, and picked the researcher up in a princess carry. "What the hell are you doing?" Bonnie yelled. "Carrying you," "Get off!" Bonnie started to flail around, hitting her elbow in Blue''s head. The two almost fell and started fighting once again. "You know, we could just stay here and wait for another group to find us because of the noise," Alex suggested. "That is an interesting plan, but today is the last day I have to finish the quest. We can try this after the recruitment," Leo said. "Am I the only one worried?" Hera asked. "Yes," Leo and Alex replied. Letting out a sigh, Hera started harvesting the frogs. It didn''t take long for Bonnie to notice that and start helping. In just a bit over twenty minutes, the group sent back the first batch of materials through the drone. Having a fourth butcher helped a lot with their speed. After finishing the delivery, the group started looking for more frogs. Leo and Alex were in the front, scouting the area. This time, however, Blue and Bonnie weren''t talking, the mood was still sour. Hera wanted to talk and make sure the two could still work together without problems, but it was risky to do so right now. If they start fighting again, it could be a problem for the hunt. Hera took that opportunity to circle the mana inside of her. It was an extension of the training she had learned. She would pull the energy from her heart and make it flow as if it was following her bloodstream. Quickly checking her stats, Hera saw that her mana was already at 148. Doing the training while walking or moving was much more effective. This time, however, it was different. She could somewhat sense Bonnie at her side. Even without looking, she could more or less feel where the researcher was. Taking a few steps away from her friend, Hera tried to gauge the maximum distance. At most, she could feel the researcher if she was three meters away or so. It was an interesting effect, but if she could only sense something that close, it was better to trust Yarnball since its range was five meters. Hera tried to move farther away and attempt to feel Bonnie''s mana. She tried to expand her own mana to reach her friend, but to no avail. Thinking back to the spells the researcher was using, Hera attempted to create a similar effect with her own mana. She gathered the energy in front of her while trying to figure out the result she wanted. Hera wasn''t good with formulas. Her best bet was to use the subjective way to make spells. She needed something that allowed her to see what was around her. Like a minimap or an area she could feel. Hera''s mind went back to the first time she ever saw an explorer''s relic. Omar''s relic was essentially a radar. That would be a great way to cover her ground. She let go of the mana, thinking about the effect, the mana spread out from her. However, it wasn''t a continuous stream as Hera expected. It was a single streak, like a ripple in a pond. But everything that the ripple touched, Hera could feel. She could understand how many trees were around them, where Blue and Bonnie were, and the mana kept going. It only stopped after reaching Leo, who was in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Pulse Rank: Beginner Send a mana pulse that gives the user information about everything in its area of effect. The more mana used on the spell, the wider the radius is. The increase in mana cost is not linear. This spell can not detect everything. Base radius: 10 meters Base mana cost: 10 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I... I just got a spell!" Hera exclaimed. 76 - Prize After Hera got her spell, the group found a trio of frogs who were quickly dispatched. They disassembled the new haul, while Bonnie kept badgering the explorer with questions. "How did you control the ring?" "I honestly can''t say. I''m not good with formulas, so I just think about what I want to happen. I never considered it to be a ring. I only pictured a radar of sorts going to a single place," Hera explained. "Ok, and the ring, did you do something different with the mana?" Bonnie asked. "Not really, at least I don''t think I did. The weird thing is that it didn''t register me in the area. It was like the mana came out of my entire body, not just from my hands. It was a weird feeling." "I think I understand. It''s like sketching before going for the full drawing, right? You need to have an idea of how that works and then just do it," Blue said. "Yeah, that''s a way to look at it," Hera said. "For you, I have no idea. Do you mind letting me know when you are going to use the spell again? I would love to try to figure out its formula," Bonnie said. "Sure, but can you do it?" Hera asked. "Yeah, that seems something too advanced even for you," Blue commented. Hera and Bonnie stared at the controller. "Look, I don''t mean anything bad by it. You just learned how to use spells, Bonnie. Reverse engineering something you see will be really hard. It''s like you just figured out how to make instant noodles, and now you are trying to figure out how a five-star restaurant makes its dishes," Bleu explained. "Don''t worry. You have a point, but that is a skill that would help me a lot. If I can figure out the equation used in a spell like that, I can learn other ways to fight and live honestly just by watching people training," Bonnie said. "It''s a good idea, but be careful. Helena told me that mages are very private with their spells and research. Try not to make anyone angry with that," Hera said. "I''ll be careful. I promise." A little part of Hera had some doubts about the researcher''s statement. Choosing to focus on the task at hand, she went back to the harvesting. It took just a bit over ten minutes to get all the frog parts, but they were outside the drones'' range. Carrying guts and pieces around wasn''t a very appealing idea. Yet, leaving the bodies here felt like wasting money, none of them were willing to do so. They kept hunting through the afternoon. The group was feeling comfortable with the setup they had. Hera and Alex would take an assassin role, while Leo and Blue were the vanguard and Bonnie as a ranged attacker. It was a good thing that the frogs were predictable too. Their attack pattern was mostly the same. Starting with a tongue strike, then either a tackle or a bite, depending on how close its target was. By the end of the day, they had made close to 1 000 gold each. Going back to the guild so that Leo could finish the last quest he needed, they decided to take a day off. Bonnie protested, but unlike the rest, she only hunted for a day. The others spent most of the week fighting the frogs. Even if they managed not to get hurt, it still took its toll. "If you want, I can practice my pulse spell with you tomorrow," Hera said. Begrudgingly, Bonnie accepted. She knew it was for the best. Having some time to practice her own spells could be even better, and she owed Hera a couple of hours in an ATR. Leo completed the quest and told the group he was going home for the night. The recruitment was in Brilansis, but not in the guild they received their training. It would be in a small arena near it. He wanted to be rested and ready. Maybe he could even get some information about his uncle. As the hunter left, Hera completed the quest Helena had given to her. Along with the contribution points, there was also a large parcel as a reward. Hera was about to open it when Gemma said that it was best to open rewards like that in a private place. Since she wasn''t aware of the contents, it could bring the wrong kind of attention to her, depending on what it was. The group left the guild and walked back to the inn, discussing their plans for the next day. Blue and Alex wanted to try to unlock their mana stat and asked Bonnie for help. Excited, the researcher suggested that they rented an ATR to train together. Having a first-hand experience with it, the woman knew how much help the trainers were. Hera agreed with the idea but said she might join them later. She was very curious about the other side of the cave. She planned to see if she could find a boat that was going to the edge of the room and back. Arriving at the inn, Hera and Blue went to their room. The controller walked straight to the shower while Hera sat on a chair and opened her reward. Inside the parcel, there was a book and a small letter. The letter had a website, a username, and password. It was a website for the Order of the Lost Court, and that was her access to login. There she could find information, check quests, and buy things with the contribution points. Any items she purchased would have a delivery fee to be paid in gold. But aside from that, all the prices were in the order points. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. There were a multitude of items, from weapons and armor to potions and odd devices. A spyglass that revealed invisible creatures, a hairpin that paralyzed your hair, making it unable to move. The items all seemed solutions for specific problems. She could also buy books, food, even mercenary contracts for a while, and skills. Opening that option, Hera saw hundreds of different skills for sale. According to the description, each skill was actually a compendium that you could teach you how to acquire and use the skill. The prices varied wildly, from a couple of hundred gold to millions. Out of curiosity, Hera filtered the prices looking for the most expensive one. It was a spell called Elemental Typhoon. According to its description, it created a swirling mass of energy that made the elements clash and collide with each other. It had an area of effect of one kilometer, and it had a warning that it would destroy anything in the area. It was valued at 1 950 platinum or 195 million gold, but you could buy it using 100 million contribution points. That seemed absurd, not only for the price but for the amount of points needed. Even if Hera worked her entire life, she could never get that much money. Or at least, that is how things were before. Now, maybe she could reach millions and millions someday. Before losing herself in the skills she could buy, Hera checked the rest of the reward. The book looked like a travel journal. It had a leather cover and a string that you could use to wrap around a small clasp in front of the book. Hera opened it and saw that the first few pages were inside a plastic envelope a bit larger than the pages behind. Inside them, there were a few handwritten notes. The first one had the words ''Baby First Spellbook'' in large stylized letters. Under them, in the same place where an author would put its name, there was a familiar signature. Helena Ditrro Hera read what the notes said. They were an explanation of how mages kept their spellbooks. It was all beautifully written with drawings and patterns decoration the sides. The pages were clearly made by someone who enjoyed arts and crafts. According to Helena, even with skills, it was good to have a place where you saved the information about how to use your spells. As time went by, your repertoire would increase, and memorizing how to use all your spells would become quite complicated. Not only would it help to have a list of everything you can do, but the spellbook could help someone develop theories about new spells and improve existing ones. In the next pages, Helena described a few ways to write down the spells. Using equations, you should specify what each part of the calculation did and make notes on the places where it would appear in other spells. As a code, it was very similar, with each function having a commentary explaining what it did. For the subjective approach, it could vary wildly. Some people wrote down feelings, other lyrics, poems, and drawings. It was all about figuring out what worked best for each individual. The last pages in the plastic folders talked about how Hera should consider developing a code for the book. If someone else steals or finds your spellbook, they might use it to learn the spells she worked hard to get. There were a few suggestions in front, from making a new alphabet and a simple cipher to creating something more complex like the Japanese kanji. But ultimately, it was Hera''s choice to make. One thing that Hera noticed, what that the examples all seemed to be for the same spell. The poem talked about revealing the secrets hidden in plain sight, the lyric about casting out the darkness, and the drawing was a lit candle. It seemed to be a light spell, much like the one Helena showed her almost a month ago. Hera gave it a try, following the ideas that were showing in the book. She focused her mana on coming towards her hand and moving toward her finger. Making the mental image of a flame coming from her finger, she started to push her mana to the construct. Every time she did that, the mana would gush out instead of keeping its shape. Even before Blue left the shower, Hera had spent all her mana trying to make the light. Since she had to wait, Hera looked through the rest of the book. After five more pages with the plastic folder, the rest of the thick tome was blank. Hera wanted to write about her pulse spell, but she didn''t have a pen on her. Sending a text to Blue, letting her know she would be out for a few minutes, Hera left the room. As she was heading towards the stairs, Bonnie approached her. "Hey, I was just going to ask if you guys wanted takeout." "Oh, thanks. I''m heading out. I need to find an office supplies store. Send me a text with the place you are going, and I''ll tell you my order," Hera said. "Why do you need office supplies?" Bonnie asked. Hera explained to the researcher about her reward, and that she needed some pens and pencils. Bonnie''s eyes started to shine when she heard about spellbooks, and the woman asked to take a look at the book. Unsure if she should share something Helena made, Hera asked for some time before showing, explaining that she wasn''t sure if she could share information that came from her Order. She sent a text to Helena, asking if she could tell Bonnie about the book. Bonnie agreed but asked to join her in the supply run. That way, not only the researcher could buy something to make her own spellbook but also have some help while bringing the food back. The two left the inn after sending a group text asking about what everyone wanted to eat. It didn''t take long to find a few stores that could sell spellbooks. On the map, even a couple of shops specialized in those items showed up, but they were all closed. They ended up in a general store where Bonnie found a simple small notebook that she could carry around even while hunting. Hera picked a few different colored pens and some tabs to use on her spellbook as well as a pencil case, and a book cover that she could place it all in and strap it on herself. It was an impulse buy, but one day she might not have a safe place to leave the book. As they went back to the inn, Hera received Helena''s reply. "Hello, sweetie. If you want, you can share that information with anyone. It is part of the basics of being a mage, although it would be hard to find it in such a compact and easy-to-read format. Buuuuuuuttttt This seems like a great chance to recruit someone with potential. Bonnie is very talented, and you mentioned that she made a spell? That is proof that she will be a great asset. Still, that''s up to you. If you want to invite her, tell her about the order and see if she is interested. If the answer is positive, let me know, and I''ll talk to her soon." Hera smiled, seeing the text. Having one of her friends in the order would make it feel less daunting. "Say, Bonnie. Have you ever heard about the Order of the Lost Court?" Hera asked. 77 - Leos result Hera woke up late the next day. Blue, Alex, and Bonnie were already in the ATRs, according to the text on her phone. Apparently, the researcher had dragged them there early in the morning. Feeling her stomach rumble, Hera left the inn looking for a nice place to have breakfast. Because of the time, a few places had started serving brunch. Hera chose a nice little restaurant with a view of the bay. She still had yet to check the skills she could buy from the Order. While she waited for her meal, Hera opened the website went for the marketplace to purchase skills. Even having only 50 contribution points to spend, there were many choices. There were things like fishing, foraging, meditating, and weaving. Hera scrolled through the skills. They all were a basic rank and didn''t seem to do much. For instance, the fishing one wouldn''t teach you to fish. It would just increase your ability to catch fish. It wasn''t like a movie where you got the compendium and could say ''I know kung fu.'' Some skills gave a glimpse of what they could become in the future. Meditating could become a skill that cleared your mind in any situation. Others were the starting points of more advanced skills. For instance, mining could lead to metallurgy and blacksmithing. As Hera read through the list, one caught her eye. The skill was called etching, and it could later on become runic enchantment. That could let her change and improve the attributes of her weapons and gear. This was the skill that interested Hera the most so far. Before choosing, she gave another look at the list of skills. Among them, there was another called weapon maintenance. Thinking about how she had already got some supplies to care for her weapons, Hera opened the description. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon Maintenance (Rank 1) Improves your ability to care and maintain your weapons. The more careful you are with the process, the better the results will be. Increased durability: 1% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under the description, there was a line saying that as the rank increased, other effects would also be applied. Things like increased sharpness and handle. Hera also remembered that during the training, Mr. Greyson told the class that weapons that were well taken care of could even facilitate the leveling of skills. Hera wanted to get both skills, but she only had contribution points for a single one. Even though etching could be interesting, she had no idea how to increase the skill. If she got the weapon maintenance, it would have a more practical effect. She bought that skill, and it showed a message asking her to get the compendium at the guild. After finishing her meal, Hera went to pick up her new skill. The compendium would only tell her the easiest way to get a skill. In this case, it was to take a few quests from blacksmiths. If she wanted to do it by herself, it could take some time. Another suggestion was to care for the weapons of other people in her party. Considering she never saw Leo or Alex doing any type of maintenance on their weapons, this could work. She also got the information on a few basic techniques that she could perform to clean and polish the gear. Leaving the guild, Hera went towards the port area. She was looking for a ship that was going to the end of the room. It took her a while to find a vessel with that destination. Most ships were going to a village halfway through the cave. However, she finally found one that would go to the edge of the room. They were willing to take her along for the ride for 50 gold, 20 if she helped around the ship. But it would be a two-day journey since it took almost a full day just to reach the exit of the cave. Hera thanked them and left. There was much to do around here before staying two days in the water. She also had some new information. There was another village in this layer. Going back to the guild, Hera stopped by a weapons store and bought a couple of supplies for the new techniques she got in the compendium. In the guild, she asked if there was a place she could use for taking care of weapons. The clerk at the front desk pointed her towards the second floor, where some tables were available for multi-purpose use. Hera spent the rest of the morning taking care of her chakram. After making the dent a few days back, she noticed that the area around it seemed to be cleaner in a way. Using a cleaning product called ''rust and grime B gone'', she scrubbed the weapon with a sponge. Little by little, the dark layer of dirt was removed from the chakram. Mayura''s Feather had an opaque dark grey color, but after cleaning, Hera could see that the blade could become shining like Iris. Still, it would be something that she couldn¡¯t do in a single day. Since this was the first time she tried it, Hera avoided scrubbing too hard, afraid of damaging the blade. The small details would also be a problem. Unlike her handaxe that was a flat piece of metal, the chakram had some crevices and patterns that made cleaning it much harder. After some time, Hera got a text. Her friends asked if she wanted to eat lunch with them or if she was already in a boat. Hera wasn''t particularly hungry since she just had brunch, but since she would train with them later, it was better if they were together. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The day went by with the four women training in an ATR, Blue and Alex were doing something similar to what Hera did, circling the mana in their bodies to unlock the stat. Hera and Bonnie kept swapping notes about the spells they had. Hera could use her pulse a few times before having to recover her mana. If she did nothing, it would take 1 minute to recover a single point of mana, but if she circled the mana in her body, she could recover 4 points per minute. The problem was that she needed to focus on moving the energy in her body, so it wasn''t something she could do and stay alert at the same time. As the day went by, Hera asked Bonnie if she had made a decision. The Order could help the researcher a great deal but Hera had made it clear that she would share the spellbook''s contents even if the woman didn''t join. Bonnie was interested, but she wanted to know some things that Hera couldn''t answer. She sent a text to Helena, who just asked for them to wait. She would talk to Bonnie soon about everything. Blue and Alex made some progress with their mana, but not enough to unlock it. Bonnie and Hera didn''t get any significant breakthrough, but they felt that using their spells was more natural. Hera also took some time to improve her mana circling ability if she could use it while fighting or moving around, she could use her pulse spell more often. At dinner, Leo sent a text to the group, telling them that he would be back the next day. He managed to become a part of the Crimson Coalition and would talk more about that when he returned. When morning came, Hera and her friends agreed to wait for Leo in front of the doorway. Walking up the hill, they could see the whole town once again. It didn''t matter how long they have been here. The sight of the purple forest was still breathtaking. They had bought a couple of pastries and had breakfast in front of the exit, watching the groups come and go. Hera was surprised at how many people were using the doorway. She never realized that the traffic here was so heavy. It wasn''t like a busy train station or something like it, but every ten minutes or so, a group of three or four would pass by. When Leo arrived, he greeted the group and sat down beside them. "Hey guys, missed me?" he asked. "Not really, it was good not to have to give away my kills," Alex taunted. "You went hunting without me? I''m hurt," Leo said, placing one hand on his chest. "Stop being dramatic. We took a day off. Now tell us what happened. Was it easy?" Blue asked. "Not at all, they had a battery of tests, we were split up in groups by our levels. There was an obstacle course, a capture the flag game and then a tournament. People got eliminated at each step. I got lucky with my team in the game. We had some pretty decent teamwork. In the competition, I only had to win the preliminary round, and I''ll be invited, but there were prizes for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places. Everyone was from level one to five in my category. I ended up getting the fourth place," he explained. "Hey, way to go! Who won? A level five, I guess," Hera said. "Nope, it was a level 2, and he was a monster. It didn''t matter how much I tried. I could barely see him moving. His punches were faster than the frog''s tongue. The weirdest part. He is a controller, but he moved like an assassin. The recruiters loved that. Not only they used that to show that levels are not as important as what you do with it, but they also got a really strong recruit. I just felt a bit bad for the healers that went there. They had to heal a set number of people, and there wasn''t enough for everyone. Some of them started fighting. It got really ugly." "Wow, why would people go that far?" Bonnie asked. "The coalition is pretty big, and the perks are excellent. If I reach my quota of missions for them, they pay me 5 000 gold a month. Plus, the rewards of each quest. In lower layers, that is about it. But as you go deeper in the MAZE, you can find sponsored shops that give you discounts for being a member. If you go to the 8th layer, you can find their headquarters. It is in a room called... something with an X that I can''t remember, but everyone knows that room by the Astral Garrison. That''s the name of the city they built." "They have a whole city?" Alex gasped. "Yep, anyone who is a member can go there anytime they want. If not, you have to pay an entry fee, and you will be taxed on almost everything there. They, I mean, we basically control that room," Leo said. "And the guild is ok with that?" Hera asked. "There is not much they can do. We build the city as private property. First, we bought the land, then the resources, and the people just started gathering there. We are not stopping anyone from moving around in the room or leaving it. The city as just built in the most convenient place possible and made a lot of things much more accessible. It''s kind of like the deal we have with Mondy. We are losing a lot of money, but we get much more than if we didn''t have his help." Hera stared at the hunter for a moment. The image she had of the MAZE was changing fast. She always imagined that the worst problem she would face were the monsters. But apparently, people could be just as troublesome. "And what about your uncle?" Blue asked. "I got a small piece of information. One of his old subordinates was there. The last time he saw my uncle, he was in the Astral Garrison heading to the next layer. So I guess that''s my first step. Reach the garrison." "Sure, that seems easy. All you have to do is level up like crazy," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "Well, it''s just a first lead, right? It doesn''t mean I won''t be searching for him now, but I know a place I can get more information. Probably," Leo said. "So now what we need is to level up fast," Blue said. "And make a lot of money. Sorry, I know it doesn''t help you, Leo. But I still have to deal with my things," Bonnie said. "It''s ok, Bonnie. I understand, we all have our goals. Any ideas on where to start? I finished all those quests and didn''t get a new level. Weren''t they supposed to help?" Leo asked. "I don''t know, maybe its only system quests that give experience," Alex said. "I''m not sure if it would help. But there were the ruins I found on the map. It''s a bit of a long shot, but we might find something valuable there or a quest," Hera chimed in. "Where was it again?" Bonnie asked. Hera showed her map on the tablet. The ruins were to the west of the city, just a couple of hours away. "I''m in. Worst-case scenario, we come back killing frogs," Blue said. "It sounds like something to do, to be honest, I still have some trouble dealing with the frogs," Alex sighed. "I guess it could work, but if we don''t get anything, can we please farm for a few days? It would take weight out of my should to have at least the first payment at hand," Bonnie said with a worried face. "Of course, Bonnie, we all want to help you," Hera said. "Yeah, all jokes aside, you are our friend. We got you," Blue agreed. "Thanks, guys," Bonnie beamed. "Ok, then, to the ruins!" Leo announced while getting up. 78 - What lies within the ruins "We should be getting close, I think more ten minutes, or so then we can go inside the forest," Hera said while looking at her map. They had been walking for some time already. Before heading out, the group bought some food rations and a few potions. Each of them had a simple recovery potion that could be useful in dealing with any cuts and bruises. Hera also got a general antidote for various poisons and a pseudo flame tongue oil that could cause minor burns to the enemy when applied to a weapon. She wasn''t sure if the oil would actually help, but they needed something to get an extra potion with the purchase. "Right here, if we go to the right, we should reach the ruins," Hera said, walking inside the forest. "Are you sure? We haven''t heard any creature for a while," Blue said. "According to the map, yes, if the map is wrong or not, I can''t say." "Besides, if there really are ruins here, we should be happy that there aren''t any monsters around," Alex said, following Hera. "You are just happy there aren''t any more frogs here," Leo taunted. "Can you blame me? I hate those things." Alex shivered at the mention of the frogs. Hera couldn''t help but admire the assassin. Even while dealing with a creature she hated that much, she was able to kill them with no hesitation. Twenty minutes later, they reached the edge of a large crater. Hera initially thought that this was a depression, but the area looked like the site of a meteor strike. "Wow, is this the right place?" Blue asked. "Yeah... I think so," Hera replied. "Did someone or something do this? Or do you think it was always like that?" Bonnie asked. Hera scanned the area, seeing the vast expanse that was quickly 500 meters wide. The edges of the crater had a sharp fall, but heading to the middle, it turned into a slope. In the middle of it, Hera could see purple grass growing over something that once was a building. "Maybe. I mean, the area seems real enough to be an impact crater. But it''s the MAZE. We are around purple trees. It could be like this since the beginning." "Wait, how do you know what a crater should look like?" Leo asked. "I always liked those natural landmarks. Waterfalls, canyons, mountain ranges, volcanos, pretty much anything that was created naturally. I started talking about being an explorer because of things like that. It''s incredible to think about how the universe molds itself. Like this crater, the edges seem rough and uneven, the middle is all broken and tattered, but the slope seems soft and gentle. Where else could you find something so beautiful?" Hera asked. "Wow, Hera, I never looked at it that way. You''re right. This is amazing in its own way," Alex said, looking at the crater. The group stared at the area for a few moments. Hera had a large smile on her face. Feeling tears starting to form in her eyes, she shook herself and started to go down the slope. "Let''s go. I want to see the ruins," Hera said, already sliding toward the center of the crater. ¡°I never seen Hera take the lead like this before," Bonnie said. "Yeah, I didn''t want to ruin the moment saying anything, but it''s the first time I see her with a smile like that," Blue said before jumping down. Being the first to reach the middle, Hera used her Pulse to check if there were any creatures around. The middle part of the crater was much smaller. It should be just a bit over 50 meters wide. As the mana ring moved, Hera started to feel the area. Aside from the grass and the debris, there was nothing here. But the broken down walls were filled with mana. Weirdly, Hera could feel the stone glowing. She approached the closest part of the ruins and activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcanist Tower Ruins What is left of a great tower, used by a powerful arcanist in the past. The tower was constructed with research in mind. The walls were reinforced with mana to protect its structure from powerful magic. The information about who the mage was and why the tower was destroyed was lost to the ages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What did you find?" Alex asked, arriving at the center of the crater "This used to be an arcanist''s tower. The walls seem to be filled with mana." "Wow, really?" Bonnie said as she tripped in a piece of the ruins falling into the ground. "Did you spend so long reading books that you forgot how to walk?" Blue asked. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Bonnie just rolled her eyes and walked towards one of the walls. Hera kept walking around the area, using her Pulse now and then to check for anything hidden or dangerous. The ruins were old, incredibly old. Most of the structure seemed to be buried underground. Hera wasn''t sure how that could have happened. Maybe the rain carried dirt, and little by little, it was covered. Still, the stones were clean. They even had that white color, as if they were brand new. This could be the effect of the mana density they had. Although, that was just a guess. "Hera, come here!" Bonnie yelled. Hera rushed back, worried about the researcher''s reaction. When she reached her, the woman had both hands placed in a part of the broken tower and a smile on her face. "What happened?" Hera asked. "Put your hand into the wall and cycle your mana," Bonnie said. Unsure of what to expect, Hera mirrored Bonnie and placed both hands on the wall. When she started to cycle her mana, the wall seemed to be pushing the mana inside it to Hera. The explorer quickly stepped back, spooked by the reaction. "What is that?" "I''m not sure. But doing this for a few seconds increased my mana by five points," Bonnie explained. "Wait. What?" Blue asked. "Are you serious? Could this help us get our mana stat too?" Alex asked. "Maybe, give it a try," Bonnie said. "What is this about the mana stat?" Leo asked. Hera explained it to the hunter, teaching him the process to cycle his mana. Soon the whole group was with their hands on the walls doing the exercise. As helpful as having more mana would be Hera was too excited to focus on the training. She kept walking around the area, trying to find something more about the ruins. She looked around, using her Pulse every time she reached the edge of her last cast. At one point, she felt something different in the ground. The wall was still glowing, but there was a mark that seemed unusual. Digging a bit, she found the archway she was searching for. In red letters, it was written ''The Arcane Lookout.'' As she read that, a notification popped in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Treasure map (Evolved from Mapping) Allows you to create a map of a place you have been before. The more you know about the area, the more accurate the map will be. The map can identify possible secrets and points of interest. Their discovery will increase the information available about the area. Requirements: Drawing space, knowledge of the area. To improve the skill, find secrets and points of interest before they are shown on the map. The tools used in the process may affect the result. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the description a few times. This was exactly the type of thing she wanted. Something that helped her find interesting places. Not only that, but the skill would also improve as long as she kept searching for good spots herself. "That is amazing!" she cheered. Opening her map, Hera tried to see if there was any other information available about this location. The first thing she noticed was that the map had a new option. Along with the wireframe, topographic, and planimetric view, there was a treasure hunter''s chart. In the chart, the map seemed more hand-drawn. It looked like the type of map someone would see in a video game. In the middle of the crater, there was an exclamation mark with the word ''new'' by its side. As Hera tapped in the area, a drawing appeared representing the ruins. Under it, there was a banner that read ''Arcanist Tower Ruins''. As Hera zoomed in into the ruins, a small text box appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcanist Tower Ruins Status: Disabled The ruins are mana filled debris that lay on top of the entrance to the tower. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera raised one eyebrow. "Entrance?" She walked around the area, activating her Pulse, trying to focus on the ground beneath her feet. On the third cast of the spell, Hera thought she felt something that could be a door, but it was on the edge of her range, and she was out of mana. Walking closer to the point where she felt that object, Hera placed her hands in the ruins and started to cycle her mana with the stone''s help. She wanted to recover enough to use the spell a few more times in order to find the entrance. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard Blue yelling from a distance. "I got it! I got my mana!" Hera smiled. She wasn''t entirely sure how the controller would use mana, but it would help the group. She did not doubt that. Focusing again on her mana, Hera started to pull the energy from the stone. She could feel the heat flowing through her at an incredible speed. It took a bit over twenty seconds for it to complete a cycle. Hera stopped and checked her mana. She had recovered five points! Focusing even more on the recovery, Hera stood there for a couple of minutes, trying to refill her mana. When she was half full, she stepped away from the stone and looked for the place she felt the door. Before using her pulse spell, Hera realized that Bonnie should be at full mana right now. There was no reason for her to be using the walls to recover. She opened her status to check if there was any change and realized that her maximum mana, in those few minutes, increased by one. Bonnie probably figured that out and was trying to grind some status. Hera used her Pulse spell a couple more times and managed to find the door she was looking for. It was buried in a spot clear of any debris. She stood above the area and used the spell one more time. There was a pocket of empty space in front of the door, and after it, there was a corridor leading down. "Guys, I found something," Hera yelled to her friends. After a few moments, the rest of the group joined the explorer. She told them about the map evolution and that she saw the doorway with a corridor. Excited with the possibility of entering the tower, they all started to dig towards the empty pocket that Hera saw. It didn''t take very long before they broke through the layer of earth. When Blue managed to make a small opening, allowing her to see a stairway and the door that Hera found, she let her friends know. "I got it!" Bonnie rushed towards her, thinking about what would be inside a mage tower. "Let me see," the researcher said, pushing Blue aside from the opening. With the extra weight, the ground gave in, making the two of them fall inside the hole, hitting the stone staircase underground. "Are you guys ok?" Hera asked, looking down. "I''m not," Blue said, shoving Bonnie away from her, "The genius over here fell on top of me." "Sorry, I got excited," Bonnie said, getting up. Hera jumped down to the freshly unearthed tunnel and inspected the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arcanist tower entrance Area type: Dungeon A door that leads to the remains of the arcanist tower. Over time, the leftover experiments that happened inside the tower changed and transformed into dangers that protect the surviving structure of the tower. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Guys, we found a dungeon," Hera said with a smile. 79 - The Arcanists Lookout Hera''s group was sitting in the middle of the crater by the hole they had just create. They were sitting in a circle, comparing notes they had on the tablets. "Let me say what I have from class first. If anyone has something else, we add to our notes," Alex said, looking at the group, "Dungeons are similar to rooms, in the way that we pass through transportation to enter them. However, unlike rooms, they have their own rules and structures. In contrast, the rooms follow the laws of the world more closely. An example would be that we can''t breathe underwater, but inside a dungeon, we might." "Most dungeons are private areas. Even if two groups enter, they will be sent to different places. The dungeon will be the same, but with no other group to interfere. In some cases, various groups can join the same area. Those are called shared dungeons, raids, or battlefields, depending on the specifics. This doesn''t seem to be the case here. If it were, the area type would be different," Leo added. "Inside a dungeon, it''s common to find traps and hazards made to stop people from advancing. There will also be monsters and other creatures. If we kill them, they don''t respawn, but if we leave the dungeon, the whole area resets," Bonnie said. "There is more. The dungeons are always controlled by something. It can be a creature, an object, or even a skill. There is no rule for that, but to beat the dungeon, we need to either defeat its ruler or complete whatever task it gives us," Blue chimed in. "There is also the story," Hera said. "Story?" Leo asked. "Yeah, all dungeons have a story, a reason why they are there, and why everything inside it is there, like the group test. We were inside a castle with the remains of the king''s army. They were inside the castle because the king was holding them there. If we can understand the what and why of the place, we might have an easier time going through it," Hera explained. The group nodded. Aside from Bonnie, they all had witnessed the figure of the skeleton king. If there was a story here, it could have a hidden reward as well. "Ok, and how about the loot? Dungeons are said to be amazing places to find items and make money. How are we splitting that?" Bonnie asked. "I guess the gold we can split it evenly. And items we don''t want, we just sell and split the money later. The problem is the things we may want," Leo said. "What if we do a finder''s keepers rule?" Blue suggested. "Bad idea, if we find something too valuable or too interesting, someone might try to get it in the middle of a fight," Alex said. "We could draw straws or something random like using dice," Leo said. "I don''t like that idea. My luck is terrible," Bonnie said. "What if we do an auction?" Hera suggested. "Like between us?" Blue asked. "Yeah, like the one who wants the item buys from the rest of the group. I used to do that in a game when I was younger." After thinking for a moment, the group nodded, approving her suggestion. "I wasn''t expecting you to be a gamer, Hera," Alex said. "I''m not one, not really. I played a bit because I could look around the maps. It''s been a few years since the last time I used a controller." "Ok, but before we go in, I think we should eat. Also, Alex and Leo, keep cycling your mana with the walls, try to unlock your stat," Bonnie said, picking up some of the rations she had brought. "That''s a good idea. We are going into a place that used to belong to a mage. I''m guessing that mana will be used a lot down there," Hera said. "But couldn''t mana be a problem too? What if there are traps that only trigger if you have mana," Blue asked. "Well, then we have to deal with the traps. I mean getting the mana stat is something we all need, I''m not sure if staling for one dungeon would be worth it," Bonnie replied. The group ate and spent another 30 minutes using the walls to increase their mana. During that time, Alex unlocked the stat. Going down to the entrance, Hera went in first, spearheading the group. They descended a long dark stairway. Luckily, Bonnie had figured out how to use the light spell that Helena sent to Hera. If it weren''t for that, they would need to use torches or flashlights. Hera thanked her friend for using the spell. Even if it had a low consumption rate, it wasn''t small enough not to matter. Hera knew that the more the researcher stayed with the light on, the fewer attacks she would be able to do. After walking down a few minutes, Hera started to worry that there was a different way to get inside the dungeon, and they were wasting their time. Almost as a reply, a system notification popped in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.You have entered the Arcanist¡¯s Lookout Dungeon Quest: The magic used for experiments mutated with time. It grows stronger every day, leading to unpredictable results. Find the reason for the mutation and deactivated it. First completion rewards: 5 000 gold, basic arcanist lookout compendium ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Did you guys get that?" Blue asked. They all confirmed and looked forward. There was a small glint of light a few meters down. Taking a deep breath, Hera moved towards the light, chuckling a bit with the notion. "What''s the matter?" Alex asked. "We are literally going to the light at the end of the tunnel." "Oh, god, really?" Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. Blue started giggling with her friend. "Guys, we need to say quiet," Leo said, holding back a smile. They stopped laughing and kept moving toward the newly discovered hallway. The area after the stairway opened in a large circular room, with small globules of blue light floating near the 5 meter high ceiling. The floors were made with the same light grey stone that they saw outside. The main difference was the spiral pattern that was under their feet. With various shapes and lengths, the rocks were likely carved out to form this odd shape that reminded Hera of a whirlpool. As they got closer to the center of the room, Hera could see four other doors around the chamber. Not only that, but with each step she took toward the middle, the globules of light lowered. She made a motion for her friends to stop. The closer she got from the center of the room, the closer the light would be to the doors, but if she took a step back, the glowing spheres would go back up. However, moving from the sides didn''t change the height of the dancing lights. "Ok, I have no idea if going in the middle of the room is a good or bad idea," Hera said. "Me neither, it could help. But it could trigger an alarm or something," Bonnie said. "Leo, try walking, maybe its mana sensitive," Blue suggested. The man walked by Hera, but the effects were the same. "Should we just go back and try to buy a compendium for this place?" Alex said. The group nodded. There was no reason to risk themselves like this. They walked back towards the door they had just left, but an invisible wall blocked Alex, who was in the rear. "Crap." "What''s the matter?" Bonnie asked. "There is a wall here. We can go out but.. check it for yourselves." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to leave the Arcanist Lookout By leaving the dungeon, you will forfeit the first completion rewards. Additionally, you will face a higher challenge the next time you enter. [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bonnie let out a sigh, "So, not only we lose gold, but we also would have more problems if we want to come back here?" ¡°What do you guys think? I want to see what''s around here. If we get hurt or we see it''s too dangerous, we can leave. But I don''t want to run away without even trying," Alex said. "Same here. If we don''t know what might happen, we just avoid it," Blue said, agreeing with her friend. "Hera? What about you?" Bonnie asked. "What? Sorry, my mind was someplace else." Leo looked at Hera with a confused expression, "Really? How can you think about something else right now?" "My bad. I was just thinking. Could this be a way to trigger a hard mode?" Blue waved away the notification, "Hard mode, is that a thing?" "Yeah, in class, Mr. Greyson mentioned it at passing, and I asked Helena about it later. Some dungeons have a harder version. As fas as I know, the rewards are at least five times better, but the difficulty rises a lot. The first struggle is to find how to trigger it. Some require you to finish the quest in a specific time, while others ask you to trigger certain events. Since we are just in the first layer, this could be more straightforward." Bonnie''s eyes were glowing with the information, "Five times? Like 25 000 gold? Should we go for it?" Hera shook her head, "I don''t think that is a good idea. We have no way of knowing how hard it will be. We should try to keep going here. Even with a smaller reward, we might find a lot of exciting things here. After all, it was an arcanist tower." After thinking for a moment, Bonnie gave up the notion of pushing for the hard difficulty. Not only they weren¡¯t sure if that would lead to a hard mode, but they also had no idea what to expect inside this dungeon. Hera tried to use her [Observe] in the room. The only things with names were the lights called floating lights. Sadly, her [Inspect] gave no information about them. The explorer told the group to split up and look at the doors, before deciding where they should go. The door all looked the same. They were wooden with iron handles and no windows. As Hera looked at the disposition, something clicked in her mind. "Bonnie, doesn''t this look like a pentagram? If we make a line connecting the doors." The researcher looked around, confirming what Hera said. She then picked her tablet and started to go through her notes. "Yeah, it looks like a pentacle. In magic, they use it for energy gathering, and to represent the five primal elements Water, fire, earth, air, and spirit. There is even a specific order. The north point would be spirit or magic, the east water, the southeast fire, the southwest earth, and the west air." "Ok, so we came from the point. So that''s spirit. What is this door then?" Blue asked, pointing at the door in front of her. Bonnie rubbed her eyes. "If what you say is right, that would be fire, but the pentagram can be in any orientation. We might have come from the earth''s point since it was underground." "Since this was built before, wouldn''t that be earth? Since it leads to the underground?" Leo asked. "Or maybe air, because the exit was built before it turned into ruins," Alex approached the exit, trying to feel the wind. "It can also be water because of the lake or fire because of whatever reason. We don''t have enough information to figure out," Bonnie huffed. Silence fell to the group. They had no idea the entrance of a dungeon would already give them trouble deciding where to go. Hera looked around, trying to see if there were any markings on the floor or around the area. Sadly, there was none. "Since we have no way to figure it out, does it matter which one we choose?" The whole group stared at Blue, who just spoke. "What? I mean seriously. Does it matter? Like Hera said, this is the first layer. Yes, it is dangerous, and yes, we can get hurt, but remember what Mr. Greyson said?" Blue raised one finger and started speaking in a bad Scottish accent. "When ye go to the first layer of the MAZE, ye will find dangers, but the place is more of a beginner area. Ye have some leeway to fail without getting too hurt. Later on even opening a wrong door can get ye killed," she dropped the accent, "So like, what is the point of bashing our heads in the wall to figure out what''s what? Let''s just go, and we will find out." The group stared at each other for a moment. "Fine, as much as I hate to admit the muscle head right. Sometimes overthinking is bad. Someone just pick a door, and we will go." Hera got worried when she saw Bonnie''s expression. Agreeing with Blue made it look like the researcher was taking some bad medicine. Hera wondered if the two would ever stop fighting so much. "If no one wants, can I pick the door then?" Alex said. The group stared at the assassin and agreed to her suggestion. It seemed like a big decision, and they were glad to have someone pick for them. "Ok, so let''s go through the one Bonnie is in front of," she said, walking towards the researcher. 80 - The halls of the tower Hera walked through the 500-meter long hallway. There were other floating lights in the area, but those stayed still in a single place. The corridor itself wasn''t much different from the center room. It was made of the same pale grey stone that seemed to be carved into odd shapes. After a few minutes of walking, the group finally reached the end of the hallway where they could see a doorway leading to the right. Getting closer, Hera could see that there was no actual door there, just the frame. Inside it, there was a large rectangular room with several books and tables spread around. Walking inside, they saw no creatures or traps. The place looked like a library. Excited, Bonnie rushed in and picked up one of the books on the table. As she grabbed the book, it turned to ash in her hands. Alex approached the researcher and grabbed her by the arm. "Bonnie! Stop doing that. This could have been a trap!" "But it wasn''t. Everything is fine," Bonnie replied. "That is not the point, Bonnie! I know you are excited or whatever, but you need to be careful. I don''t want to have to carry you to the healers again because you were stu...." Hera paused her phrase, remembering what happened when the researcher woke up in the infirmary, "Just because you are reckless. Let''s make sure we can touch those things before you go picking it up." Bonnie looked down, "You are right, this was a mistake, and it won''t happen again. I''ll make sure not to put the group in danger." Blue rolled her eyes, "Yeah, she''s still dense as a brick. We are more worried about you getting hurt than anything else." Bonnie stared at the controller, then at the rest of the group, her face turning red. "Sorry, I''m just not used to this. Thanks." The group started to look around the room. Large bookshelf covered the walls. All of them had white tomes and books. In the set of tables, some of the books were open, and there was parchment, quills, and dried up ink bottles enough to stock a small store. In the back of the room, there was an ornate desk with a larger blueprint. It looked like the design to create something large that would cover the entire tower. Sadly, it was written in a language that no one in the group could understand. Even the alphabet was different. After some time, they agreed that the room was trap free and proceeded to check the books. They weren''t able to read a single one, aside from the fact that they were all in a different language and when they tried to pick them, the books turned into ash. The ones on the shelves were different. Instead of vanishing, they were extremely heavy. Even with the whole group trying, they weren''t able to make it budge. They only tried a couple of books before giving up. There were way too many for them to check every single one. Hera was tempted to use Yarnball, just to make sure that they really couldn''t get a single book. But it was too soon to use it. If she did, it would take days before she could activate her relic''s ability once again. Making sure they weren''t missing anything. The group looked to the door in the back of the room. It was a heavy steel door with various deadbolts and an iron wheel in the middle that seemed to push two blocks of white stone into the wall. Curious about what demanded such a secure door, Blue approached and started to open it. At the same time, Hera and the others stood by the door''s side, ready to face whatever was inside. Blue unlocked the deadbolts and started to spin the wheel. When the two pieces of white rock became loose, the door opened abruptly. The controller jumped out of the way and let the iron hatch slam into the wall. However, since Blue was now facing the doorway, she felt a powerful gust of wind coming towards her. It was almost like being near a hurricane. The howling sound of the wind was making it difficult even to think. She sidestepped once more to be away from the door. The wind pushed the books and the papers that were on the tables, making all of them turn to dust. The group started to have trouble breathing through the amount of paper in the air. "Go through the door, we need to get away from the ash," Bonnie yelled. Leo went in first, but he only managed to take a few steps. The wind was so strong that was making his feet slide through the floor. Blue grabbed him by the waist and started pushing. Seeing her friend, Hera did the same with the controller. Soon they were in a single file, all pushing the one in front of them. Luckily, Leo was the biggest one in the group. That way, he could block more of the wind going to the women. Step by step, the group pushed through this new hallway, walking steadily towards another circular room. "When we get to the room, I''ll stay in the middle until Bonnie can go to the wall," Leo tried to tell his friends of the plan, but the sound of the wind was so loud that it seemed like they were skydiving. The corridor barely had 20 meters, yet it took almost ten minutes to reach the end. The moment Leo stepped inside the circular room, he stopped, feeling the wind. He looked back and saw Blue still being pushed back by the gust. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her towards him. As soon as her head crossed the threshold of the room, Leo yelled. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Grab Hera''s hand, or she will go flying back!" The controller took another step and spun around, grabbing Hera''s wrist and pulling her. Giving the same command to the rest soon, they were all inside this new area. "Ok, any idea what is going on here, Bonnie?" Leo asked. The researcher looked around and put one hand in the hallway they just left. "This wind is only affecting the corridor. Maybe it''s a way to keep people out." "So we just beat our first trap? All Right!" Blue cheered. The group stared at her for a moment and proceeded to look around the room. This area was very similar to the entrance, but there were a few carvings around the walls. Not simple marks but a full blow wall to wall piece of art. Above the door they had just came through, there was a mage in long white robes with both arms raised, one to each side of the room. Following that, there was what looked like a representation of wind blowing. It started with a few leaves being carried, but as the carving continued, the wind became stronger and more violent. Trees falling, houses being torn apart, animals being carried by the wind. Until, directly in front of the mage, there was a massive tornado ripping apart a castle. "That is not ominous at all," Alex said, staring at the castle. "Is it just me, or that thing seem to have eyes?" Hera asked, pointing to the top of the tornado," Right there, above the tower, the engraving is deeper, or am I going crazy." "You know what, I think you''re right. But it''s creepy. It''s like staring into a storm," Leo said. Bonni walked closer to the carving, "That can be a problem. I read about things like that. Apparently, there are some creatures who are like the condensed form of the elements. Not like a fire-lizard of a wind bird, but sentient fire or wind. Those creatures are said to be very strong and easily require a mid-level party to deal with a single one." "But, this is the first layer, there wouldn''t be something like that here. Would there?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. According to one of the town''s legends, there was once a giant invasion here. The devil hunt was also something that went past layers, not to mention the great war," Hera said. "One thing is being careful, but now you guys are just silly. This is not an invasion, much less something that leads to another layer. It''s a dungeon, and being so close to the town, I doubt we are the first ones here. Can we stop worrying so much and keep going? If one of those sentient things shows up, we fight or run away," Blue said, crossing her arms. Even though Hera was worried about what could happen, she had to agree with the controller. They were taking too much time to decide what to do. During her test, most of her decisions were quicker, and she was alone. "Blue has a point. So don''t think, just answer. Do we go through that door? Yes or no?" Hera said, moving closer to the center of the room. After a moment, the group agreed to keep going. They had already reached this far. Running away just because of a creepy drawing seemed like a waste. Hera opened the door leading to the next room and opened it, jumping to the side to avoid any possible wind. However, nothing happened. The door was open, and the path seemed clear. Walking in carefully, Hera moved towards the new room. For a moment, she thought she entered the wrong place. There was nothing magical in the area. Rows and rows of clothes, drapes, and wrappers that were left hanging to dry filled the room. There wasn''t a single tome, a single spellbook, a single table. To all effects, this was simply a laundry room. "Is this for real? All that for a place to dry some clothes?" Bonnie asked, looking around. "Does anyone have a coin?" Alex asked. "A coin?" Blue replied. Alex smiled, "Yeah, we need coins to use the laundromat, right?" "Oh no, Hera is starting to rub off on you," Blue rolled her eyes. "Hey! I can hear you," Hera complained. "Guys, shut up. I think I heard something," Bonnie was walking toward the middle of the room looking to the clothes. Hera looked around, trying to see if there was anything in the room. Suddenly, she felt something wrapping around her legs and pulling her up, making the explorer fall face-first on the ground. Hera quickly spun around, grabbing Iris to face her assailant. Hovering a few meters above her, there was a long white and green scarf. When Hera managed to understand what she was seeing, the cloth jolted towards Alex, warping around her head. Blue and Leo hurried towards the assassin, helping her remove the thing from her head. While they separated the creature and Alex, Hera activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Wind Elemental (Prototype) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s a monster!" Hera yelled. The elemental let go of Alex and started hovering above the group once again. Hera warped Yarnball into her Chakram and tried to hit it, using the string to pull her weapon back. At the same time, Bonnie started lobbing spells towards it. The rest kept trying to hit it with whatever they could. Bonnie rushed towards the front of the room and started to cast her Cold Bomb. "Distract it. If I can freeze it, maybe it will drop!" The group split off and did what they could to keep the monster near Bonnie. After a couple of seconds, she launched the spell towards it. The elemental was fast, but the Cold Bomb was large enough to hit part of it. With part of its form frozen, the creature wasn''t able to hold its height. It descended into the ground, and the group went towards it, ripping it apart until it stopped moving. Hera was on the other side of the room and, instead of going towards the creature, used her [Observe] once again. All pieces of clothing in the area had the same name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Wind Elemental (Failed - Prototype) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ However, near the back of the room, there was something that looked different. Hera approached a drying rack with a beautiful green sash with a white border and runes inscribed on it. The name was also different from the rest. Hera quickly activated her [Inspect] to be sure it wasn''t another creature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spring''s Breeze Rarity: Uncommon A sash enchanted by the forgotten Arcanist as a byproduct of her research. The sash, imbued with air mana, can lower the wind resistance that affects the user, the lower the resistance, the higher the effect. Attribute scaling: Agility x 1.09 Additional effect: Raises the user awareness of the wind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Guys! I found something," Hera yelled, picking the sash and moving towards her friends. However, as she reached them, Hera noticed a grim expression on their faces. Looking back, she saw another five pieces of clothing hovering towards her. 81 - Elementals The five flying cloths were pushing back Hera and her friends. Even after she had placed the sash, she found back in the drying rack. The elementals would zoom around the group and hit them like a whip, but the most dangerous part was when they attempted to wrap someone''s head. That led the group of adventurers to stay in a tight formation. "Bonnie, how many times can you use the Cold Bomb?" Leo slashed at the incoming elemental, missing it altogether. "I have three more casts before I run out of mana. Should I do it now?" Bonnie was unsure when was the best moment to strike. Her spell could help, but the monsters were too slippery. "Let''s go to the round room. It''s smaller, and it doesn''t have anything. You won''t hit a rack there," Alex said, walking back towards the door, without taking her eyes off the creatures. Carefully, the group left the room. Blocking and defending against the elementals assault. As they crossed the threshold, there was a slight respite in the attacks. However, that didn''t last long. Before they reached the middle of the room, the creatures flew towards the room and circled the group. "Bonnie, if you can, try to hit more than one," Leo said as he got in his stance. It was the first time he ought those types of creatures. Because of that, his [Hunt] skill would do little to help in this fight. The researcher gathered mana and aimed at the targets. The spell flew out of her hand, but the elementals changed course and stayed away from the attack''s area of effect. "Crap!" Bonnie cursed. The cloths were not only faster than the first one they fought but also smarter. If she kept throwing her spells like that, she would end up missing them all. "We need to distract them somehow," Alex said as she tried to slash the elemental that just flew by her head. "Easy for you to say. I can''t grab those things," Blue kept trying to reach them as if she was swatting a fly. Hera threw her chakram up, but one of the creatures wrapped around the handle and started pulling it away. She quickly grabbed Yarnball''s string and pulled the weapon back. The cloth wasn''t strong enough to fight back, and the chakram fell. Hera pulled the cord, raising her arm. The weapon scrapped on the ground and moved behind the explorer, making a pendulum motion. Remembering the small training she had done with the chakram before coming to Brinefront, Hera split off from the group, spinning Mayra''s feather through the string. "Hera, come back!" Blue yelled. "I''ll distract them. Bonnie aim for when they are coming to hit me," Hera changed the way she was spinning, now it was almost like a helicopter rotor. With that, the elementals weren''t able to get too close to the explorer. When they tried, Hera changed the way she spun the chakram and managed to ward them off. Seeing the explorer, Bonnie started to cast the Cold Bomb once again. This time, however, she waited for the best moment to strike. Giving time for the elementals to be in a path she could predict. As one of the cloths went towards Hera, Bonnie send her spell. The Cold Bomb hit the elemental, making it fall to the ground. Alex jumped towards it and cut it apart with her daggers before it could recover. As she did that, two other monsters went for the assassin. Bonnie used the Cold Bomb again, using it like a skill. She managed to hit both elementals before they reached Alex. However, because she had used the system version of the spell, her mana consumption was too big. She could only use the Air Fist right now. With only two creatures remaining, Hera stopped spinning her chakram and stood by Alex, resuming her usual stance. The two were ready to get the elemental coming their way. At the same time, Leo and Blue prepared to take down the second one. It took a few tries, but Hera and Alex finally managed to hit the cloth. After it got a rip, it became much easier to finish the job. Blue and Leo didn''t struggle as much since Bonnie was able to hit an Air Fist in the creature at the right time. "Ok, this was more than what I was expecting. Is anyone hurt?" Leo sat on the floor, already sweating. "I''m ok. The part that hurt me the most was when the first one tripped me," Hera walked towards the door, making sure there wasn''t any elemental around. "I don''t think they were very dangerous. Aside from asphyxiating us, they didn''t do much else," Blue walked behind Hera just in case. "I think they were supposed to be part of something more, like an alarm system or something. The question is, is there someone to answer that alarm now?" Bonnie paced around the room, thinking about the possibilities, "Anyway, let me try one thing." She approached a wall and started to cycle her mana. A few moments later, Hera and Blue left the circular room to pick up the sash. The explorer grabbed the item and started to walk back when Blue said. "Hey, what if more of those things show up every time you pick that up?" Hera looked at her friend with wide eyes. A sudden realization dawned on both of them. Bolting towards the circular room, they didn''t even bother looking back. Only when they had reached the rest of the group did they stop and spun around, ready to face the enemies. But this time, there was nothing following them. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "What are you two doing?" Leo asked. Explaining what happened, Hera showed the sash to the group. "Can I take it?" Alex asked. "Are you sure? It doesn''t seem like it will be very helpful." Bonnie said. Alex shook her head, "Aside from the attribute bonus being the same attribute my weapons give me. If the effect is stronger, the slower you move, imagine how it will be when I''m sneaking around. Also, since we might find things with a keen sense of smell, understanding the wind better will help a lot." Bonnie agreed, she failed to consider all the possibilities. Since no one seemed to want the item, Alex equipped it. Hera looked around the room, searching for the fallen elementals. She wanted to inspect one to understand it a bit more, but they were all gone. "Apparently things in here disappear after they die. But they did leave some loot," Leo raised his hand and gave a coin to Blue and one to Hera. They were gold coins, lighter than one might expect with a large number 10 engraved on it. "Put it on your bracelet," Leo said. Hera placed the coin on top of the bracelet, and the coin disappeared. She quickly grabbed her tablet and checked her virtual wallet. There was an extra 10 gold there. "Ok, this is really handy," she said. "Did they drop something else?" Blue asked. Alex shook her head, "Nope, that was all. I feel a bit cheated since the frogs would give way more money. But I guess if you have a ranged attacker in the group, it will be faster." "What will probably make us some money here will be the treasures we find, and the quest rewards," Leo said. While the group waited for Bonnie to finish recharging, Hera went inside the room once again and activated her Pulse spell a few times. She wanted to be sure they were not missing anything. Sadly, the walls had too much mana inside them, so Hera wasn''t able to tell if there was anything hidden past them. With nothing else to find here. They went back to the entrance. Passing through the hallway where the air current pushed them away was tricky. It was one thing to fight back the wind, let it push you without falling to the ground was very different. Hera said that it was better if they closed the door, just to be safe. So the group spent a few extra minutes pushing the steel door and locking it. Seeing the hatch up close, Hera noticed that the iron bar in the middle didn''t function as a lock, but it would push out the secondary frame around the door. That was the reason why they couldn¡¯t hear the wind with the door closed. Moving back to the center room, they found it almost as they had left it. The only difference was that the light in front of the door they came from was now a soft green. "So, if this is a pentagram. That was the air room, right?" Blue asked. Bonni gave a node and then pointed to the door at their left, "Yeah, and that one would be earth or spirit. It depends on if this was made from looking up or down. If it were built from above, it would be akin to looking at it through a mirror." "And... What would be the other one?" Alex asked. Bonnie replied after thinking for a moment, "Either fire or water if my notes are correct." "I vote we go there," Leo said, without missing a beat. "I agree, although I''m not as excited with the idea as Leo apparently," Blue stared at the hunter. He was way too eager to choose a different door. They followed through the corridor, reaching a room, much like the book room after the air door. The main difference was that here all the tomes had a red cover. Looking around, they found no traps again, but all the books turned to dust as they touched them. In one of the tables, there was a large blueprint for a stone furnace. In the back of the room, there was a large door, but this one was made of stone instead of iron. Opening that door revealed steel passageway, with iron gratings on the floor spread around in set intervals. Not only that, but a breath of hot air came rushing out. It was almost enough to burn Leo, who opened the door. After a few moments looking at the inside, large flames came out of the grating, hitting the low ceiling and spreading like a backward waterfall. "You are kidding me," Bonnie gasped. "Any ideas? Or we give up this room?" Leo asked. Hera kept watching the flames. The moment it stopped, she counted the seconds until they raised again. They had thirty seconds. It could be enough to run through the hallway, but it would be close. She waited for the flames to appear again, confirming that it was a uniform pattern. Alex pointed towards the middle of the hall, "There seems to be a larger gap there. Do you think we could stay crouched and not get hurt?" "Maybe, but it would be a bit tight. Leo, for instance, might have some problems with his spear," Bonnie said. "Hang on a second," Blue said, getting a piece of jerky from her pocket, "Leo, hand me your spear." She put the jerky on the tip of the spear and held it like she was going to barbecue the meat. She waited for the fire to burst once again and stuck the beef inside it. After a few seconds, the flames receded, and the jerky was still in one piece. Blue tried to touch it but recoiled, shaking her hand. "Yeah, it''s really hot, but it didn''t turn into ash," the controller said. "So, this is a low heat flame?" Bonnie asked. "I think so. I mean, it probably will still hurt if it gets us, like spilling hot soup on your lap. We can get very hurt, but it won''t turn us to ash," Blue said while eating her freshly cooked jerky. "Hang on then," Alex walked towards one of the desks and pulled a chair, placing its legs above the grating. A few moments later, the flames rose again. When the fire stopped, the legs of the chair were still there, they were glowing with the heat, but they didn''t catch on fire," I think this is much more manageable than I thought." The group agreed to give it a shot, setting a timer in synch with the fire. Blue went in first, crossing the entire hallway in one go. Leo and Alex were next, doing the same. When Hera was about to go, Bonnie held her arm. "Can I go before you? I''m not sure I''ll have the guts to go if I''m alone." "Sure, not that I''m not freaking out here. Running through hot coal seems less stressful." Bonnie gave the explorer a small smile and got ready to run. The flames were still raging inside the corridor. "Remember, if you can''t pass the middle before we count to 14 stop in that open area and crouch." Bonnie nodded and waited for the flames to go out. The second they did, she dashed as fast as she could. The rest of the group began counting in synch. When she was around a quarter of the way, the researcher tripped in one of the grates making her fall to the ground. Trying to scramble up, Bonnie realized that her foot was stuck in the grating. She pulled a couple of times and managed to free her shoes, but it was too late to run to the other side. Hera watched the whole thing. Unsure if she should rush in and help her friend. The problem was the safe zone. It was too small for two people. She had to trust Bonnie, or they both could get really hurt. Suddenly, Hera''s sight was blocked by the roaring flames. The worst part. She couldn''t tell if Bonnie had reached the safe zone. 82 - Someone left the oven on Hera counted the seconds ever since Bonnie disappeared behind the flames. She couldn''t hear anything aside from the roaring fire. That could be a good thing, and Bonnie could be safe, but at the same time. It could mean that there was nothing left to scream. She shook her head. She had to trust her friend. Bonnie was okay. She had to be. After what felt like an eternity, the flames subsided. Hera''s heart was beating fast. The first thing she saw was the worried expression of her friend on the other side. Then, she saw a golden hair, attached to the head of a dark-skinned girl. She was crouched inside the safe area. When the fire vanished completely, Bonnie looked around with wide eyes and smiled at her friends. "What are you doing? Go!" Hera yelled, waving her off with her hands. The researcher came out of her daze and dashed to the other side. She reached Leo''s group without an issue this time. The flames came up, and then it was Hera''s turn. She was careful not to get stuck in any of the grates and still crossed the hallway with five seconds to spare. "You guys make it look so easy," Bonnie said, looking at the explorer. Blue snickered, "It helps if you don''t trip in your own feet." "It was the grating, not my feet," Bonnie stared daggers at the controller. Hera gave Bonnie a big hug, "I''m so glad you''re safe." she couldn''t imagine what it was like to be in the middle of those flames. Even if she was safe, it must have been terrifying. Bonnie hugged her friend back and replied in a weak voice, "Thanks." After a few moments, Blue joined the hug, breaking the accumulated tension in the room, "Of course she''s fine. Do you think something will stop our little bookworm? All she has to do is think about all the books she has yet to read." Breaking off from the hug, the group looked around the circular room. There was a similar carving to the one in the air door. The mage was above the door that they just came through, and a small flame came out of both her hands. The fire would grow from a small ember to a candle, then a campfire, then a huge forest fire, and finally, to a volcano on the other door. However, the flaming mountain seemed less alive than the image in the air room. "So, the patter is pretty close. My guess is that there will be some sort of creature in that room," Bonnie said after investigating the area. "Just like those air elemental prototypes?" Blue asked. Bonnie nodded, "Yeah. Something like that. I just don''t know why this would be repeating. The system is a bit lazy at times." "I don''t think so. To me, it took a lot of effort to craft a place more realistic," as Hera spoke, the rest of the group stared at her, "It''s all about the story. This was an arcanist tower. So she probably made this place to have a secure location to do some research. She split this up to make various subjects. Like different classes in college." Bonnie looked around, "You are right. If I think about this place as a research lab, it makes a lot of sense. Well, aside from the traps, they are a weird case." "How so?" Leo asked, moving towards the volcano door. "It''s one thing to make a trap to stop people from coming in, another to stop things inside from coming out. To stop both at once, she should''ve made the traps in the opposite element." "If the story is right, then it''s not weird. She didn''t know that things would come alive. The quest said so. The magic mutated with time," Alex said. "Fair point. It would also be easier to use fire in a place built to withstand it," Bonnie concluded. The group walked towards the door under the volcano engraving and carefully opened it. If it were just like the previous room, they would find some creature here too. After opening the door, they looked inside. The room was filled with various stone ovens and small furnaces. They were all made of red firebricks. Not only that, but the fire under them was lit. "Ok, so what is going on here? Are the ovens going to come to life or something?" Blue asked after looking around. "If that is the case, we should run away. I can''t take one of those," Leo stood by one of the ovens measuring its height. Hera took a step back after hearing this. If those things started moving around, she wanted to be far away from it. In the corner of her eyes, she noticed a small flicker of light moving behind one of the furnaces. "There was something over there!" Hera announced. The group quickly moved back and walked carefully towards the place Hera mentioned. With Leo in front, the group jumped behind the furnace, but there was nothing there. Alex noticed something on the other side, "Over there." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Rushing to the other side, the group found a small ember moving around near one of the furnaces. "Is that thing... alive?" Blue asked. Hera approached the ember that was moving around like a bug on the floor. With her [Observe], she managed to see what it actually was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Elemental Ember (Prototype) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is an elemental!" Hera exclaimed. "What?" Leo asked just before a loud noise came from the furnaces. The group looked back towards the noise and saw a series of large iron plates opening, followed by dozens of small embers that moved as if they were cockroaches. The flaming bugs started to cover the floor. Some went straight towards the flames in the oven. Bonnie jumped into one of the stoves to be clear of the path while the rest kept stomping their feet, trying to get rid of the creatures. "Bonnie, use the Cold Bomb," Alex yelled as a group of the embers started to climb her legs. The researcher started to charge her spell, tweaking the formula so it would trade temperature for the area of effect. Hera was having some trouble keeping the embers away. Not only were they very fast, but their movement was erratic. There was also the problem that she couldn''t use her weapons against it. The targets were too small. It would be like using a sword to kill a fly. Blue, on the other hand, was doing just fine. The controller would spin around and move backward while stomping in the bugs that got too close. After a few moments, Bonnie finished the spell and threw it in the middle of the room. "Watch out, It''s gonna get cold!" the researcher yelled. The spell arrived at its destination, and the entire room was covered in a thin layer of chilly water. The Cold Bomb snuffed out most embers, turning them into dark specks of dust. The ones remaining were quickly taken care of by the rest of the group. Although, a few rushed towards the ovens and jumped into the flames. With the creatures gone, Hera could look around again. Maybe there would be a treasure here too. Before she started to search the room, Alex called the spearman. "Leo, what just happened? Are you ok?" Hera looked to the assassin, "Did something happen?" "Leo was glowing. It was just for a moment, but I''m sure of what I saw.¡± Leo turned around with a massive smile on his face, "I''m fine. I just leveled up." "Congratulations!" Hera cheered. "No fair, why only you? Bonnie was the one who killed those things," Blue stomped her feet into another runaway ember. "I have no idea. But I''m happy. I got quite a few bonus points." Bonnie came down from one of the ovens, "How many?" "Five and four basic points," Leo replied. "I wonder if you leveled up because of the quests you kept doing. I mean, Mr. Greyson told us that the more quests you do, the easier is to level up," Hera said. "If that is the case, you owe us some quests. You only completed that much because we gave you the last kill on the frogs," Blue stopped talking for a moment, " Oh no, did you steal the experience from the frogs too?" "If he did, it wasn''t on purpose. No one knows how much exp we get for fighting monsters. It''s actually a subject of debate in the guild. Some say it is about the contribution to the damage, other than the last hit gives more," Alex explained. As her friends kept discussing Leo''s level up, Hera walked around the room. She used her pulse a couple of times, but due to the high concentration of mana in the stone and bricks, it was hard to see anything with the spell. All of the sudden, a series of clangs filled the room. It looked almost like someone had just won in a slot machine. Hera looked to the ground, and the embers were vanishing, being replaced by small golden coins. Just doing a quick glance, the explorer could see more than 200 golden coins spread around the room. "I guess this is part of how we make money," Hera mumbled. Gathering all the coins, the group counted 237 coins. In a quick discussion, they agreed that they should get 40 each, while Bonnie should get 77 coins. She was the one who killed the most embers, and without her spell, they would take way too long to get them all. Searching the room, the group also found a stove in the back of the room with a closed pot on top of it. Leo used his spear to open the lid from a safe distance, but nothing jumped out from it. Inside there was a glowing orange liquid. It looked almost like liquid fire, but it was cold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Essence - Fire The condensed energy of fire. It can be used as a catalyst for the creation of fire golems. Or be used to give weapons and items temporary fire attributes. Depending on the item it was applied to, the effect of this essence will change. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blue tested out it her dagger. She only used it to butcher frogs, so if it broke or something, it wouldn''t be a problem. The blade changed, its edge turned into a bright orange. Reading the description, Hera saw that it was enchanted to deal a portion of its damage as fire for the next hour. Leo, Hera, and Alex applied the essence to their weapons. Not only the portion of the damage was higher, but the effects lasted for two hours. Her chakram was even more surprising, 25% of its damage would have the fire attribute, and the effect would last for 2 and a half hours. The feathers changed from the now less dull grey to a bright red, Hera could even see a small eye-like design in orange and yellow on the edge of it. The chakram blade now looked even more to be made from a peacock''s feathers. After one more round of searching, the group understood that there was nothing else in here for them. They went back to the center room. Luckily, the flaming corridor seemed weaker now. Instead of 30 seconds intervals, the flames only appeared once every five minutes. The center room now had one difference. The light sphere hovering in front of the fire door now had a red hue to it. At Leo''s request, the group went towards the earth''s room. The book room inside it was just like the others, and it had several drawings of small clay dolls with hollow eyes and big smiles. "That is cute," Hera said, looking at one of the drawings. "To me, that''s just creepy," Leo said. "Why? They are just dolls, or are you scared of them too?" Blue asked. "I''m not scared. They are just weird." "Would it be better if they had porcelain masks?" Alex asked with a playful smile. "That''s it. Let''s go through the door," Leo marched towards the closed door in the back of the room. "That was just mean," Hera said, laughing at the situation. Unlike the others, this door didn''t have any special lock. It was a simple iron door with two heavy deadbolts. Opening the door, the group heard a loud crashing noise coming from the hallway. The corridor had several large tiles on the ground. Periodically, they would raise and smash into the ceiling in sequence, but only a row at a time. This seemed more daunting, but it was quite easy to get through. As long as the group stayed one tile behind the one who just smashed, they could pass through it without an issue. As they reached the circular room with the carving, Leo stopped moving, making the group push him forward. "Oh, no. Please, no," the hunter cried. Hera looked towards what the hunter was seeing. In the middle of the room, there was a small brown clay doll with hollow eyes and mouth. The doll looked at the group and opened a smile that reached all the way to the sides of its head. 83 - Weird Room The small clay doll rushed towards the back room, away from the party, and closed the door behind him. "Did we scare him?" Blue asked. "Maybe, I''m not sure," Hera just shrugged. The thing moved so fast that she wasn''t even able to trigger her [Observe]. The group walked towards the door and tried to open it. It wasn''t locked, but it seemed like something was holding the door. They kept pushing and slamming at the door. When they finally busted the door open, several clay dolls fell from behind the door. The puppets scrambled away and hid behind various wooden dollhouses. Careful, Hera and her friends stepped inside the room. Ready to fight the creatures. As they crossed the threshold to the door, one of the dolls appeared in front of the group. Leo froze, his eyes stuck to the small creature. Hera took this time to use her [Observe] on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Earth Elemental - Clayman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The clayman took out a flower from behind his back and pointed towards Blue, who was in front. The controller opened a big smile and kneeled down to receive the flower. "Blue! What are you doing?" Leo gasped, looking at her. She just waved him off, "Relax. I''m they are adorable," she reached out and took the flower, "Thank you, little one. You are really cute. You know that?" As she spoke, the clayman jumped and started waving his arms. Soon about twenty other small claymen appeared on top of the dollhouses. Unsure of what would happen, Hera stepped in front of Bonnie to protect the researcher from any attacks. The claymen all started shuffling in place, stomping their feet on the roofs of the houses. Suddenly, a series of trapdoors in the ceiling flung open, and the group was showered in flower petals. A line of small earth elementals came marching towards Blue, carrying a large necklace made of flowers, and presented it to the controller. "What is that?" Blue asked. "It looks like those necklaces we get when we go to a paradise island. If I remember correctly, it means friendship," Bonnie replied, still unsure of what to expect. Blue took a moment looking at the necklace, having the same expression anyone would have while using their [Inspect], "It seems harmless. In the description, it even says that it is a gift of friendship," Blue said, picking the necklaces and placing around her neck. "What if that''s a trap? Or if there is some type of poison in it?" Leo gasped. "But it seems fine, and they don''t seem hostile," Alex said. "Hera, you have a thing that shows when there is danger nearby, right? What do you feel?" Leo had his eyes open wide, with a small glint of panic on his face. "Not quite, it tells me when monsters are closer than 5 meters away from me. Yeah, right now it''s going off like crazy, but it doesn''t mean that they are bad." "But these dolls are possessed, how can that be ok?" The hunter cried. A few of the claymen looked at each other with worried expressions. "Leo, did you check their name? They are not dolls, much less they are possessed. They are earth elementals," Alex said, placing her hand on the man''s shoulder. "What?" "You didn''t even check it?" Hera asked, raising one eyebrow. Leo looked down, then towards one of the clayman atop a house, " My bad. For a moment I thought this was the spirit room," "Dude, are you really that terrified of spirits?" Blue asked while she gave head pats to the claymen around her. Leo rolled his eyes, "Oh, sorry for not liking the idea of something that can enter my body and make me do things I wouldn''t do." "I think you are seeing too many movies. Spirits don''t do that. Not down here, at least. Some spirits are capable of possessing people, but they are only seen after the 12th layer. Even then, they can at most just keep talking to you and be a bit annoying, nothing life-threatening," Bonnie explained as she started to play with a few cleymen. Leo kept mumbling while the rest of the group interacted with the elementals. They were very friendly, not only they offered flower necklaces for everyone, but they showed their houses and the garden they tended to. Hera felt like she was interacting with a village of enthusiastic children. Looking around, it didn''t seem like there was anything controlling tower''s magic or making it change. The elementals lead the group to a set of stools and even proceeded to massage them using their tiny arms. Leo still protested the idea, but that only lasted until they started. The small hands were perfect for the job. After around one hour, the group said their goodbyes to the elementals. Not only feeling refreshed but having received a buff from the claymen. They went back to the center room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cleymen''s Boon The massage of the cleymen helps your body relax. Due to the magical nature of the elementals, it also reduces the amount of energy you spend by doing physical tasks and improves your natural stamina recovery. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Bonus Recovery + 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The room now had another different lighting. The one in front of the earth door now had a yellowish-brown hue. Not only two lights remained blue, the one from the entrance and the one from the spirit door. Leo tried to check the exit, but it seemed that they still haven''t completed the quest. "Leo, do you want to stay in the middle of the group?" Alex asked. Blue held out her hand, "You can even hold my hand, we won''t laugh. It''s just like Alex and the frogs." He thanked them and accepted the offer. Entering the spirit door, they reached the familiar book room. This one had some type of crystal designs, but they couldn''t tell what it would do. After a few minutes, they confirmed that all the books had the same problem, like those in the other libraries. If they touched them, they would turn to dust. Hera walked toward the back of the room and found a simple wooden door. However, the door had several white runes along its frame. Hera tried to open it, and the door was unlocked. In front of her, there was a hallway with several tiles making a path. The floor wasn''t a straight line, but a labyrinth-like a trail that would lead to the other side. Besides the tiles, there were holes that seemed to lead to an infinite abyss. Picking a piece of a power bar, Hera tossed it into the chasm and tried to hear when it hit the ground. Sadly, there was no sound. Still, the path was simple enough. It shouldn''t be hard to cross it without falling. She took one step towards the hallway, and as soon as she crossed the threshold of the door, the tiles vanished. Hera had taken one step forward, and she still could feel the floor beneath her feet. But looking down, she only saw the dark abyss. Showing the problem to the group, they decided to use Leo''s spear as a cane to feel the path ahead. Going on a single file, Blue was in front, followed by Alex, Leo, Bonnie, and Hera. They were moving carefully, but around the halfway point, Blue couldn''t find a path forward. Before making any decisions, Hera tried using her [Pulse] as her mana expanded. She could feel the invisible floor with a different type of energy. Moving carefully, she started to lead the group to the secondary path, avoiding any route that would lead to a dead end. She had to use the spell several times before reaching the end, almost depleting her mana. But they arrived at the circular room with the carvings on the wall. This time, it was a mage, in the same pose as the others, with some energy coming off her hands. The energy turned into a sword, then a skeleton, and above the other door, there was a picture of the Grim Reaper. "That''s not ominous at all," Blue said as she felt Leo tightening the grasp on her hand. "Are you ok?" Alex asked. "I''m fine. Let''s finish this soon," the hunter replied. They stopped for a few moments so Hera could replenish her mana, then the group walked into the room. It was utterly dark, but as they moved away from the door, a set of torches lit up with a pale green light. After a few moments, other light spheres in a similar light started to appear from the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ignis Fatuus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell is that?" Leo gasped, getting ready to attack with his spear. "Those are will''o''wisps, ghost lights. They are harmless, but some folklore says that they help spirits find their way," Bonnie said, getting ready to fling some spells. As if waiting for their cue, a group of eleven spirits came through the wall. They were very large and moved as if they were covered in a white sheet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Artificial Poltergeist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, those are ghosts," Bonnie started to create a Cold Bomb in front of her. As the creatures approached, Leo got increasingly agitated. When one poltergeist moved quickly towards the group, the hunter stabbed it with his spear. The apparition showed a deep red gash in the middle of its form and started to shiver and shake violently. As if resonating with the wounded one, the rest of them began to have the same reaction. The torches around the room shook and fell to the ground without losing their light. With a loud wailing noise, the ghosts rushed towards the group. Bonnie flung her spell, but after the small explosion, the creatures showed no signs of slowing down. Hera and Alex slashed at the ones approaching, creating more red marks. The smell of burnt hair quickly filled the room. "Oh god, this is awful," Alex said as she slashed once again at the creature. She couldn''t feel anything while her dagger passed through it. However, the reddish-orange glow in her blade turned brighter when it cut the monster. Hera was having a similar experience when she used Iris to attack the ghosts got lightly burned. Her chakram, on the other hand, was different. They would not merely burn, but the slash would catch on fire and spread a bit before stopping. Leo was being less than helpful. Every time a phantom would come close, he flailed around wildly, almost hitting his friends. Blue, who had to duck down to avoid his strike, grabbed his spear. "Gimme that. You are freaking out too much to be helpful," Using the spear, the controller finally had a way to deal with the ghosts. The dagger she had was too small to be used in a fight. Bonnie used the Air Fist several times, but it only pushed the creatures back slightly. It wasn''t much, but if she timed it right, she could help the group avoid the attacks. The ghosts seemed to be showing some wear and tear, but it didn¡¯t stop them from advancing towards the group. The spirits had an odd way of fighting. They would try to do something close to a body slam to hit their enemies. However, there was no contact. When they passed through someone, they would feel as if an arctic wind hit them. Moving forward, Blue was pushing two of the ghosts away. Alex managed to push back one. Seeing the other eight closings in, Hera attached the chakram to Yarnball and threw it in a line, hitting three approaching spirits. They started to burn as the explorer pulled the chakram back, blocking others with her axe. Even so, it wasn''t enough to deal with all the ghosts. A couple managed to pass by at attack Hera and the group. One of the spirits didn''t pass through like the others. It latched onto Hera, keeping her inside it. Hera started to feel colder and colder, as if she was in the middle of a blizzard. Her body seemed to stiffen up, and she began to shiver. Not only that, but her arms felt heavy like they were underwater. Alex slashed the ghost on top of Hera a couple of times and managed to make it go away. "We should go to the door, that way they only have one way of coming through!" Blue yelled as she stabbed a ghost. "They pass through walls if we do that, they can appear out of nowhere!" Leo gasped Worried there might be another ghost coming from beneath them, Hera activated her Pulse. She was unable to feel anything past the grey rock around her, but the spirits had a line of mana going towards the torches and the will''o''wisps. She turned around and threw the chakram towards the closest Ignis Fatuus that vanished along with one of the creatures. "Aim for the torches and the other things. They are sharing mana," Hera shouted. The group scrambled towards the lights and hit them with their weapons, finally making the other spirits disappear. However, during that time, two of the poltergeists latched on to Hera. By the time they were gone, she had fallen to the ground, shivering with cold. 84 - The secret of the tower Blue rushed towards Hera, seeing her friend shivering on the ground, but Bonnie stopped her. "Wait, we don''t know if that can affect someone else. Hera open your status, see if there is anything out of order." Hera nodded, opening her status page while rubbing her arm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley ¡ª Role: Explorer ¡ª Level: 2 Mana: 126/126 Active effects: Cleymen''s Boon Ghastly Presence x 5 Stats: Increase all Strength: 12 Endurance: 12 Agility: 12 Charisma: 12 Intelligence: 12 Luck: 12 Skills: Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat Dodge, Run ,Improved Stamina Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ghastly Presence A presence from the beyond has touched you. Your body heat was stolen by it in an attempt to return to the world of the living. The more stacks of this effect you receive, the more body heat will be lost. Current stacks: 5 Duration: 29:12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "M-M-My body he-he-heat is g-g-gone," Hera said after reading the notification. "Does it spread?" Bonnie asked. Hera shook her head, "I-It doesn''t sa-sa-say." "Ok, so what does it say?" Bonnie asked. "Screw that! She''s shivering like crazy," Blue said, picking Hera up, "Leo, lead the way through the hallway. We need to take her to the fire room." "N-No, i-it just ta-ta-takes half a ho-ho-hour," Hera said, not wanting to make the group go through all that just for her. "Shut up! We are going," Blue scolded, already walking to the corridor. Hera tried to use her [Pulse] and help with the invisible bridge, but was scolded by Blue once again. In a few minutes, they arrived at the fire book room. The controller sat by the open door that leads to the flame trapped hallway. It was already much warmer here, even with the fire only appearing once every several minutes. The temperature allowed Hera to feel a bit more comfortable, and the debuff had lost one stack, only 23 minutes now. While recovering, Hera paid attention to what the group was discussing. "Ok, so they dropped 120 gold in total, and this ghost light rock," Alex showed the drops to the group. "So 24 gold each. Does the rock do anything?" Leo asked. "It says it can light reveal the spirits, lighting its path. Maybe it could be used to show the bridge," Alex kept tossing the rock from one hand to another. "Well, this would have been much more useful sooner," Blue replied. "Yeah, I should have checked. My bad." "Don''t worry, we had other priorities," Bonnie said, looking at Hera. The explorer was getting some color back on her face, and her lips were no longer purple. "Sorry, I should have been more careful," Hera was nested on Blue''s lap. As odd as it felt, the controller''s heat was very comforting. "Don''t be. You figured out how to beat them," Leo smiled at Hera. But Blue slapped the back of the explorer''s head. "Don''t compliment her! She was reckless and too eager to put herself in danger because of us," Blue snapped at Leo and turned to face Hera, "You should have been more patient or told us to clear a path. We are a team, are we not?" Hera looked away, "Yeah, I didn''t think. It was a reflex." "That''s a crappy reflex. Seriously, what is the matter with all of you? Am I the only one who remembers what we learned? I''m sick of being the mom friend. I didn''t have fun making you lot to have to be responsible for you all." Blue kept ranting, Hera couldn''t help to agree. Aside from the controller, they all had taken stupid risks. It was too big of a burden to leave on her shoulders. Alex couldn''t hold anymore and let out a giggle. "I''m serious here, Alex!" Blue yelled. "No, I know. And you make a valid point. It''s just.." she started laughing, "It''s kind of hard not to think of you as the mom friend when you are literally cradling Hera." Realizing the situation, the rest of the group couldn''t help but laugh with the assassin. Even Blue joined in. "Listen here, Hera. I''m not letting you go because you are still cold. But the second you ask for a change, I''m tossing you in the fire." The group waited for Hera''s debuff to end and walked back to the center room. It hadn''t changed, there were still two blue lights, one green, one red and one yellowish-brown one. "I guess we missed something," Bonnie was staring at the light in front of the spirit door. "Why do you say that? Couldn''t the color be the same?" Leo asked. "Well, I guess. But the quest didn''t show up saying it was over, right? I''m assuming it would be like our role quests." Alex walked towards the exit and placed her hand on the invisible wall, " Yeah, the message about giving up is still here." "But what did we miss? Was there anything else in the room?" Hera asked. "I''m not sure. We rushed away because of you," Leo replied, still staring at the lights. Hera looked away. She should have been more careful. "Wait, no, I didn''t mean like that," Realizing how it sounds, the hunter rubbed the back of his neck, "We had to leave because you went down. Like we need to put you in a safe place. I mean, we didn''t have time to look for anything else." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Interrupting him, Bonnie started to talk, " What he means is that we were more worried about you than about whatever we could find in there." Leo thanked the researcher with his eyes. "It''s fine, I understand," Hera turned towards the spirit door, "Alex, you still have the light thing, right? Let''s see if the path shows up with that.¡° The group crossed the spirit door one by one. Bonnie, who was in the back, saw that when Alex went through the door, the green light turned back to blue. "Wait!" Bonnie commanded. She did a few tests and confirmed that the green light only showed up when Alex was in the room. Asking people to move one by one, she also confirmed that the yellowish-brown light would appear as long as someone was inside the room. However, the researcher was the only one who didn''t make the red light appear. It would only do so when one of the others was in the room. "Ok, so with all that, we can assume that we have something in us that triggers the change of light. It wasn''t something we did inside the rooms. I would say that the buff from the claymen triggers the yellow light, since is the only thing we all share. The fire element in your weapons, the red. I''m the only one who doesn''t have a weapon enchanted by it. The green light is being affected by the sash that Alex is using," Bonnie concluded. "Then why the spirit light is not working? We have the ghost light," Alex asked. Bonnie thought for a few moments, "Maybe the ghost light doesn''t actually use any spirit magic. It can be just something like an illusion. If we need the elements to trigger this, then it makes sense." "Then all we need is to get something that has a spirit element in there, right? Maybe the torches?" Blue said. "Maybe, we should inspect the things to figure out for sure. Oh, by the way. Does anyone have a bottle or something you are not using? It just dawned on me that we could save the red liquid to use outside," Hera said as she checked her belongings. Checking everything, no one had a free bottle, but Bonnie suggested using her waterskin. As long as someone shared their water, she should be fine. The group went back to the fire room, grabbing more of the liquid while Bonnie stayed in the fire library and then back to the spirit room. The ghost light helped the group cross the bridge. Leo and Bonnie decided to stay behind since the hunter was too scared to go into the room again. After a few minutes, the group returned with one of the torches. It was the only thing that they could find in the room, and according to the inspection, the torches were douses with spirit energy. While they waited, Bonnie and Leo kept trying to understand the blueprint, but it was difficult since they weren''t able to understand the language. The only thing the researcher was able to guess was that the crystal was either an energy storage or part of a generator. The design reminded her of the magic generators that are used in the outside world. When the rest of the group arrived, they all walked back to the central room. This time the sphere in front of the spirit door changed color to a pale white. The light seemed to try to overpower the other colors, turning anything near it into black and white. "Ok, it worked, now what?" Blue asked, holding the unlit torch. "I have no idea. I thought that having it all changing colors it would work," Bonnie was looking around, already searching for a new clue. After several minutes, the group was still unable to find anything else in the circular room. "There is only one thing we haven''t tried yet," Hera said, looking at the center of the room. "I guess so. I just don''t like the idea of triggering something without knowing what it is," Bonnie was staring at the lights. "Ok then, I''ll do it," Blue started walking towards the middle of the room, where the spiral started. "Are you sure?" Alex asked while the lights moved towards the floor. "Yep, my turn to be reckless. Besides, I''m the sturdiest one among us. If anyone can survive a trap here, it''s me." As Blue got closer to the middle, the lights hit the floor sooner than everyone was expecting. Yet, nothing happened. When the controller took another step, the lights seeped into the ground''s crevices, following the spiral path towards the middle. The closer Blue got to the center of the room, the more the lights spread. When she finally stepped into the center of the spiral, all the glowing cracks shone brighter, and a rainbow light took the place of the colored glow. The light grew brighter and brighter. Suddenly it turned back to a soft glow. A clanging noise echoed in the chamber, and a circular area near Blue started to descend. Leo, Bonnie, and Alex were already on the platform. Realizing she would be left behind, Hera rushed toward the elevator and jumped to it. Leo and Blue saw her coming and helped the explorer not to fall from the edge. Now that they were going down, she could see how high the floors were. They could easily be on the fifth floor of a building. The only source of light they had was the glow from the platform. Yet, it was enough to make them see an enormous blue crystal in the back of the room. It was easily three meters tall. Around it, there were four other crystals, one red, one green, one white and one yellow, all in the same disposition as the doors on the other floor. "We just have to break this, right?" Leo asked. "Really? You see something you don''t understand, and your first instinct is to break it?" Bonnie asked. "What, it was the quest. Find whatever is making this place go nuts and destroy it." Hera shook her head, "Not quite. The quest said we needed to deactivate it. Yes, destroying could be an option, but we don''t have to." The platform reached its destination, connecting perfectly in a hole in the middle of the room. After a small noise, the lights on the platform spread around and covered the entire floor. "Ok then, what should we do?" Alex asked. "Let''s look around first. Then we can make a decision," Hera suggested. Searching around, the group didn''t find any door or anything aside from the crystals until Alex used the ghost light in one of the jewels. "Guys over here!" The group rushed to the assassin and saw an intricate magic circle around not only each of the crystals but also a larger one that encompassed them. After analyzing the array, Bonnie grabbed her tabled and scrolled through her notes. "Here, this one looks like the one we found in the fire room. It has the same pattern in the blueprint." "Ok, what does that mean?" Blue asked. "A spell that requires this kind of setup lives and dies by the magic circle. If it is broken, then the spell fades," the researcher explained. "But can''t explode or something?" Alex asked. "It depends on the amount of mana that the spell uses," Bonnie turned to Hera," Can you check with you pulse how much mana is around us?" Hera nodded and used the spell. She felt very little mana coming from the magic circles. But the crystals were something different. The small ones seemed to be gathering mana from the area and then sending it to the big one. When her pulse reached the blue crystal, Hera was taken aback. The gem felt like a water bottle of sorts. It was filled to the brim with mana, and the mana inside it was weird. It didn''t feel normal, almost as if it was changing all the time. She wasn''t able to tell the type of mana that was inside it. Explaining what she saw, Bonnie nodded and asked for Blue''s dagger. "Ok, so if I''m right, this magic circle is just here to direct the mana. If we break the connection, it should just stop." "What if it lets the mana out? Won''t we be in danger?" Hera asked. "I don''t think it would let it out, not all at once, at least. If that is the same type of crystal used in generators, the mana will start to leave it as if it was a wet towel put out to dry." Alex stared at the researcher with a puzzled expression, "How do you know that?" Bonnie took a deep breath and replied without looking up, "My father''s company makes industrial-grade magic generators. I had to learn how they worked. That was my summer camp." Hera asked if Bonnie was sure about that. The amount of mana she felt inside the crystal was staggering. "Not completely, but it is the best idea I had. If anyone has another suggestion, I''m all ears. As long as it is not hitting that," she replied, looking at Leo. Having no other ideas, the group just nodded and stood by her while Bonnie broke the mana circle. According to her, this wasn''t difficult. The array had been drawn on top of the grey stone, so it was away from its protective barrier. This was apparent since Hera could feel the circle. Bonnie scratched the outer layer of the magic circle and proceeded to remove the first set of runes, making a line towards the central crystal. When she reached the first internal circle, the entire array shone with a soft sparkling light and faded now revealed even without the ghost light. At the same time, a bright multicolored glow covered Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Hera. That was followed by a notification that appeared in front of every member of the party. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest inside the Arcanist Lookout. By deactivating the mana gathering array, the mutation will stop without harming the tower. Rewards: 5 000 gold Basic Arcanist Lookout compendium Bonus Rewards: Minor Elemental Essence Select ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 85 - Quest Complete Leo kept looking at the women, "Did you all just leveled up?" "Yeah, baby! Sweet sweety level 3," Blue celebrated as she looked at her status. "What about the compendium? How do we access it?" Alex asked. "Check your tablet. There is a compendium app. I guess it''s already there. When I bought one, it was downloaded to the app. We need to see who got it," Hera replied, already opening her compendium to confirm it. There was a dungeon tab on the app and the information about the Arcanist''s Lookout, "Oh, I think I''m the one who got it." "I got it too," Alex was staring at her tablet. "What? Really?" Hera asked. "Yeah. What about you, guys?" Alex turned toward the rest of the group. Leo and Blue nodded, Bonnie, on the other hand, was looking at her tablet with wide eyes. "What''s the matter?" Leo asked. "Check your wallets!" Bonnie gasped with a large smile. The group opened the virtual wallets, all of them had an extra 5 000 gold. Looking at the tablet, Hera also noticed a chest icon with a notification mark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pending rewards Minor Elemental Essence Select ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choosing the essence, select another window opened, asking what element she wanted. She could choose between fire, earth, wind, water, and spirit. Each essence could be used to enchant an item or as a catalyst for various magic devices. Unsure of what to pick, Hera just locked the tablet and opened her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley ¡ª Role: Explorer ¡ª Level: 3 Mana: 126/126 Stats: Increase all Strength: 12 + Endurance: 12 + Agility: 12 + Charisma: 12 + Intelligence: 12 + Luck: 12 + Attribute Points Available: 4 + 6(bonus) Total: 10 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat Dodge, Run ,Improved Stamina Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She used the increase all three times, having all her status at 15 now. Just to be safe, Hera checked if there were any changes in the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exponential Growth: While all attributes have the same value, the user can increase all the attributes by 1 at once. Cost changes with the value of the attributes Current attribute point cost to use the skill: 4 points ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So after 5 points, it increases the cost. And I guess I have an extra point for the next level," she mumbled to herself. "The effect seems so weak. I can''t feel anything," Blue huffed. "Yeah, we need to sleep, remember? The effect only fully triggers after you rest," Alex explained. "Oh, that''s right. I''m gonna wake up swollen," Blue stared to make poses as if she was a bodybuilder. "Everything on strength, why am I not surprised?" Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. Blue huffed and kept looking at her stats. "Why did you increase strength? If I remember it right, it was at 10. The way you fight, wouldn''t it be better endurance or agility?" Leo asked. "Yeah, but I need some more strength to throw the things. I can''t do it with the frogs, not just for the size but because they are too heavy. I''m going to raise it for a while, just to be sure my opponent''s weight won''t hinder me. And it wasn''t all the points in strength, by the way. I just raised it by two." "That is actually a smart move. Then again, you can teach sign language to a gorilla so that it''s not surprising," Bonnie finished speaking and saw the angry expression of the group staring at her, "Sorry, that went over the line," she looked down avoiding their gaze. "It''s fine. Without you, this dungeon would have been much harder to complete. You get this free pass, but next time you won''t be so lucky," Blue waved off the researcher. The group spent a few minutes talking about their stats and decided to leave the dungeon. Going into the platform, it started to rise towards the next floor as soon as someone stepped in the center of the spiral. Looking towards the ceiling, Hera saw a dense layer of fog. It looked like the big crystal was letting out some sort of steam. As they got closer, she used her pulse and confirmed that the fog was made of mana. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The few seconds they stayed inside the fog was enough to recover all the mana that Hera had spent, but it also made the group start coughing. Thankfully, when the elevator reached the next floor, it sealed off the room below. Before heading out, the group spent an hour revisiting the rooms they left, making sure they didn''t miss anything. All the traps had stopped working, and inside the rooms, there was nothing they hadn''t seen before. The one odd thing is that everything seemed strangely quiet. Even the claymen were gone. Deciding to leave, the group walked towards the exit. This time, there was no invisible wall blocking their path. Going up the staircase, the group made a single file once again. After a few minutes, they started hearing voices coming from above. Unsure what to expect, Hera grabber her handaxe. As they got closer, they met another group going down towards the dungeon. It was four people, and the one leading them was wearing what looked like a plate mail and carried a longsword on his waist. "Oh, Hello there. Are you guys the ones who opened the entrance this time?" the man asked. "Yep, that was us. What do you mean about this time?" Blue replied. Leo turned around to the controller, "Can you not go around telling everyone what we did? We have no idea who they are and what they want!" he turned towards the man, "No offense, but we don''t know you." "None taken. Although it''s pretty hard for someone to try something this close to the city, or in the first layer for that matter, you do need to be careful," the man said with a warm smile. He looked towards Hera''s group and made a motion for his party to go back, "Since we are close to the entrance, it''s easier to go up. This seems a bit too tight for two sets of people." Going back to the entrance, the groups introduced themselves. The man in plate armor was called Ryan. He had dark hair, a goatee stubble, and he was a fighter. The mage behind him was a beautiful Japanese woman with long black hair with blue tips. She wore a dark blue overcoat with a simple design and a pair of knee-high boots. Her name was Jane. To the mage''s side, there was a tall man with dark bags under his green eyes. His name was Peter, and he wore a grey hoddie filled with several colored stains. He was clearly annoyed with the introduction. Behind them, an archer was wearing a green cloak and leather armor. Looking at her was the same as looking at a fantasy book. She introduced herself as Felicity but never took off the hood of the cloak, the only thing Hera could see of her appearance was the sun-bleached curly hair. "If you don''t mind me asking. Are you new here, or did you came to do a quest?" Ryan asked. "We were doing the dungeon quest, but here in Brinefront we are new, why?" Alex replied, raising one eyebrow. "Oh, sorry. It''s part of our quest, you see. We were tasked to search the books here and bring back pictures of the blueprints and the things we find inside there," Ryan replied. "Pictures?!" Bonnie shouted with wide eyes. "Yeah, why?" Jane crossed her arms while staring at Bonnie. "No, sorry... we could have taken pictures. Why didn''t I think of that?" the researcher mumbled to herself. "Ignore her. She is freaking out for not thinking about something so obvious," she turned towards Bonnie, "If you want, we can go back there and take pictures. I wouldn''t mind finishing the quest again." "Well, you can, but not today. This dungeon has a daily limit," Ryan said. "What?" Leo asked. "Yeah, that''s why not many people come here. Aside from being a big place with a lot of backtracking, you can do this dungeon only once a day, and three times a week. Then you have to wait for the reset. You guys got lucky. Usually, the first run after a reset receives a bonus reward, something like 1 000 extra gold in this case." "You said come here, is there another dungeon people go to?" Blue asked. "Oh yeah, there is the Frog Valley to the south or the Ant Burrow to the north. Both are way more efficient places to farm levels." "How so?" Leo asked. "Well, for one, they are quicker. You took what? Two or three hours to finish this one? A first-time party can complete the Ant Burrow in one hour at most. A group that is used to it can do it in half an hour, and they get at least 1 000 gold per run just for the reward. You can also do 20 runs on it before the daily reset," Ryan explained. "Really? Where is that one again?" Bonnie asked. "To the north of the city, you can either use the main gate or ask permission to use the north guard exit. You should buy a dungeon map. They are a bit pricey, but it is better than running around searching for the dungeons." "Thanks! I''ll try to get one," Bonnie replied. "Unless all of your group can use spells or deal elemental damage. You should stay away from the Burrow. The ants are nearly impossible to kill with physical attacks. Go to the frog valley. You can only do it five times a day, but its much safer, and the rewards are not so bad," Jane said. Hera nodded, "We''ll keep that in mind, thank you." "No problems, the Ruby Dragons are always here to help," Ryan said proudly, showing a red dragon painted in his armor. "Is that your organization?" Alex asked. "No, we are all from different ones. This is just the name of our party. Don''t you guys have a party name?" Hera and her friends shook her head. "Oh, well, you should! That way your group can start having some renown. People might even begin to request you guys for quests. That''s how we got this one," Ryan opened a big smile, but the rest of his group seemed less enthusiastic about the name. Saying their farewells, Ryan and his group left towards the dungeon. Hera and the group decided to rest a bit before going back to town. They spent almost five hours inside there, and there was still a two-hour walk back. Before anything Bonnie went down towards the dungeon, she came back a few minutes later confirming that she wasn''t able to enter the dungeon. They grabbed the ration they had bought and had a meal while looking at the area, Leo kept cycling his mana using the ruins and rest kept discussing spell ideas, after around half an hour they wanted to go to the town. However, Leo felt he was close to something, so they waited around some more. They all cycled their mana, taking advantage of the surrounding area. Another hour passed before Leo gasped, saying he had unlocked his mana stat. Now all they needed to do was start working on some spells. Getting ready to leave, the group climbed out of the crater, heading towards the road. The moment they left the forest, a honeyed voice came from the path. "Oh, it seems even you found this place." Looking towards who was speaking, Hera saw a familiar dark-haired woman with chestnut skin and a red bindi between her eyes. "Anaya, you bitch!" Blue yelled, walking towards the woman. 86 - Moving foward Blue stomped towards Ayana, trying to grab her by the collar, but her target was quick on her feet, sidestepping and moving back, almost toying with the controller. "Now, is that a way to greet a friend?" Anaya said with a smile. "Since when are we friends? You left us to die in the test!" Blue yelled, trying to grab Anaya once more. Anaya kept dodging Blue while talking, "You were never going to die. At most, you would have failed the test. Besides, you are already here. So you passed even without my help." "Help? You are the reason Bonnie had to leave. Your little stunt could have made us seriously hurt!" Alex moved towards Anaya to help Blue but was stopped by Leo. "It''s not worth it, Alex. Blue, you too, let it go." The controller turned around to face Leo," Are you seriously telling me to forgive her?" "Of course not, but what is done is done. All we can hope for is never to see her again." Blue clicked her tongue, "Fine, get the hell out of our way before I strangle you," she said to Anaya. "Oh? Is that a threat? You do know how serious the guild takes death threats, don''t you? Maybe I should report this and be sure to have your license revoked. We can''t have people who would harm others in here now, can we?" Blue stared at her. Even after everything Anaya had done, she still wanted to play the victim? "Now, I could be more lenient towards that, as long as you apologize, of course," Anaya smiled in a way that made Hera''s blood boil. "Dream on, you snake," Blue barked. "You say like I''m asking you to do something horrible," Anaya replied, walking past the group. "It is horrible. I rather go back to the city doing a handstand and licking the floor than apologize to you," Blue kept looking at Anaya the entire time, ready for anything she might try. "It''s a shame. Apparently, we can never work together. Janna had some interesting ideas for us. She will be very disappointed with this.¡± Blue huffed and stormed off towards the city. Leo and Alex quickly followed her, but Bonnie and Hera walked more carefully, still wary of Anaya. "Bye. I see you around the town," Anaya said as they were leaving. The group spent some time walking in silence. Trying to break the tension, Hera asked, "Is that thing about threats real?" "Kind of, I don''t think just her word against ours would do anything. But the guild takes threats very seriously. They say it''s because we have ways of actually following through with it. I mean, we are killing things all the time, and we are strong enough to do it," Alex said. "Yeah, but there is a whole process. You need evidence, interrogations, and a complete investigation of the threats. What happened there wouldn''t mean anything," Leo chimed in. "I wouldn''t be surprised if she already had part of the investigation done. That bitch looks like the type that has dirt on everyone, even if its all forged," Blue mumbled. "Don''t be like that. We are all on your side. If she starts something, we can call for backup," Hera tried to cheer up the controller. "Yeah, who would help us?" Blue replied. "Well, for starters, we can ask the people who watched our test. You know they had cameras seeing us. That''s how the organization could see our talents. We can also ask Mr. Greyson, Helena, and maybe even Tiffany to talk about her. Worst-case scenario, we can go to her school and see what people think about her. Since she''s like this now, I doubt it is something new. After getting some information, we can use it to fight back and then even press Frostbite and the New Dawn corporation to cut ties with her," as Alex spoke the rest of the group stared at her with wide eyes. "Holy crap. That was a lot," Hera said. "Seriously, remind me never to be on your bad side," Leo said, taking a step away from the explorer. "Yeah, how long have you been thinking about that?" Bonnie asked. "Well... ever since the test, to be honest. It felt like we could need to have a way to deal with her. But it''s just an idea. I haven''t searched for anyone or anything like that," Alex explained. "Still, that is a lot, and it''s a good idea. Next time I''m looking for some help to get someone off my back, I''m coming straight to you," Hera laughed. With a lighter tone, the group walked back to the city, arriving a few minutes before sundown. Before going to the guild, they looked for something to eat. It was early for dinner, but having power bars for lunch could hardly be considered a meal. After eating, they went to the guild wanting to buy a map of the dungeons. Unlike the general map, they had in their tablets. They needed to buy more specific and detailed maps. The options varied, from maps with localization of resources and creatures to charts that showed the flow of mana or maps that could help with quests. Among the ones about dungeons, they could buy three types. A basic one that just said the localization of the dungeons around the city. That would go for 200 gold. The second option was a map with all the dungeons within a 30 km radius of the town, along with some information about the common monsters and dangers inside each dungeon. There were five dungeons in total looking at this map, but it would cost 2 000 gold. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The last one was a map with all the dungeons in the room, a total of 15 dungeons, and not just the basic information on each one. The monsters, their weakness, the traps, the quest, and how to beat it, even the possible item drops. It was an extensive in-depth guide. But it would cost 20 000 gold. They also had the option of getting that guide for a single dungeon, but that would vary from 1 000 to 2 000 gold, and the value of the pack wouldn''t change even if they already had some information. "This is all too expensive. Maybe we should just ask around online," Blue suggested. "We can, but what guarantee will we have that the information is correct? What if someone doesn''t know what they are talking about or just wants to reduce the number of explorers around?" Bonnie said. "Yeah, I don''t mean to be a downer, but we shouldn''t trust everything that we see online, and since this can affect our wellbeing. We should get the information from a reliable source, even if it''s more expensive," Leo said. Although the price was a bit much, the group agreed to buy the 2 000 gold map and the complete information about the frog valley. Gemma explained that the information could be downloaded for up to ten people. It would be linked to their bracelet, so even if they changed tablets at some point, they could still get the maps. Because of the steep price, most groups bought one and shared among themselves. Thanking Gemma, Hera and her friends went back to the hotel. Even though it was still early, the group felt their legs heavy. It would be nice to rest for the evening. The first thing Hera wanted to do was take a shower. This time she got in first before Blue had the chance to flood the bathroom. After the shower, Hera lay down on the bed and turned on the TV. Her streaming service still worked inside the MAZE. Picking a show she already had watched a thousand times before, Hera opened the map on her tablet and started to read about the dungeons. The Ant Burrow was a day''s travel to the north. As the name implied, they would have to face ants, from workers to soldiers, then the queen and her guards. The place was rich in minerals, and it was classified as a small dungeon. Hera found it odd since anthills were supposed to be huge, but maybe the system tone it down to make it more manageable. The Frog Valley was in a direct line to the south. They could reach it in around four hours. It was a place where the old habitants of Brinefront would go to worship the frogs, who were considered the guardians of the city. Aside from the types of frogs she had already seen, there were also a few different ones and a frog king. The quest was about getting rid of the poisonous frogs that were destroying the valley''s balance. Glancing at the Arcanist¡¯s Lookout, Hera found nothing new about it. Since they had completed the dungeon already, they had more information than this map. There were two other dungeons on the map. The underwater temple was created to praise the shrimp that saved the city. The quest was about getting rid of invaders in the temple and dealing with the fungus that grew there. The last one was a new dungeon. Someone discovered it less than twenty years ago. It was called the Floating Lake, and apparently, it was on the ceiling of the cave. To reach it, they would need to go to the northwest until they found a pathway on the cavern''s stone walls. Then climb all the way to the top and take the sky bridge towards the entrance. Both of these dungeons were marked as not suitable for beginners. Hera wasn''t even sure they needed that warning. Cleaning fungus off a temple should be very complicated, and they would need special gear for it. If regular mold was already dangerous, she could only imagine how magic filled fungi could be. The floating lake seemed like too much work just to get there. They would have to climb the entire wall and then move just under the ceiling. Hera never had any problems with height, but the image of her climbing the cave walls made her shiver. Having read all the information about the dungeons, Hera opened the browser on her tablet. She wanted more information about her Treasure map, and about the elemental essence select. Before she could get too deep into her research, Leo asked to meet her through a text. Curious about what the hunter could want, Hera quickly went to his room and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Leo''s voice rang from the room. "It''s Cygnus the golden. Or it could be the person who you just asked to come here," Hera joked. "Crap, hang on," Some noises came from the room, and a few moments later, he opened the door. "Were you seriously not expecting me?" Hera asked. "You didn''t reply. I thought you were taking a shower," Leo had clearly got dressed in a hurry. His shirt was inside out, and his fly was open. "My bad, but for the record, if you called me here for this, the answer is no. I don''t crap where I eat," Hera said. "What are you talking about?" Leo asked, Hera simply pointed down, showing the hunter the situation in his pants, "No, not that. Never that," he turned around and closed the zipper. "I know that I said it first, but you don''t have to be that insulted with the idea," Hera rolled her eyes, holding back a smile. It was fun to tease the hunter. "No, I mean, you are gorgeous. I just will never think about dating you. No, wait, I mean, you are like an older sister. Not that I''m calling you old or anything. I mean, you are, but I don''t mean it like that." Hera couldn''t hold back her smile anymore, "You do realize that we are all doing this on purpose, right?" Leo let out a defeated sigh, "Yeah, honestly, Mark needs to come soon. I don''t know how much more I can take." "I''ll ask the girls to tone it down. Now, why did you call me?" Hera said, giggling. "Right, come in," Leo walked in and sat by the bed. Hera grabbed a chair in front of him, "So, remember the tournament that I was in to join the coalition?" Hera nodded. "Yeah, I got in fourth place, and they gave me a choice of skills to pick. I chose a taming skill. And I wanted to see if you can help me find one of those small squeaky frogs. I need to tame something to get the skill, and then I can have a partner for my hunts. I wanted to ask you because of your explorer item. I think it would help a lot, but I know it has a long cooldown." Leo explained. "Oh, that''s all? Sure, I''ll help. To be honest, I''m having some trouble using Yarnball for that. I keep thinking that I''m going to waste it and end up never using it. We can get the girls and go look for it tomorrow." "Actually, would you mind if it was just us? Alex might freak out if she sees that I''m getting a frog, and Bonnie has to make money. Blue... well, I''m not sure she can stay still long enough for me to do my thing." "Ok, but that is a surprise. I didn''t expect you to want to hunt with pets, Leo." "To be honest, me neither. But when I went to check my status for the first time, it showed up a rare skill. I always thought it was useless, but maybe I was wrong." "What skill?" "It''s called unwavering command. It can increase the attributes of my allies by 50% for a minute. But the catch is, it only works if I have the absolute trust of my partners. I tried using it with my family, even with you guys, but it never worked. Then when I read the taming skill, I realized that it might work. Among the skills related to it, there is one that increases the trust between the pet and the master. So that might work." "Well, maybe. Just don''t be sad if you can''t use it right away. Do you wanna try it tomorrow?" Hera asked. "I don''t know. Let''s see what everyone want''s to do tomorrow first." Hera nodded just as a text came on her tablet. Blue was asking if anyone wanted to go out for drinks. It had been a while since Hera went to a bar. Replying yes, she and Leo left to meet the rest of the group. 87 - The wall Hera had to admit Blue had a knack for finding good spots. The bar she picked was not only in a lovely place near the guild, but the smell coming from the kitchen was otherworldly. The pub was called the Lying Apple, and being true to the name, most dishes and drinks looked as if apples were among their ingredients, but it was all just a trick. There were a great number of people in the establishment. Luckily, the group found a table just for them. It didn''t take long for the waiter to bring the first round of drinks. Hera kept talking to her friends, discussing what happened in the tower, and the conversation spiraled into how much they were annoyed with Anaya. During that time, more and more people entered the bar, most of them looked at the large TV expectantly. As the waiter brought the third round of drinks and a plate of fries, Leo asked. "Hey, is something going on? There seems to be a lot of people here." The waiter looked at the hunter with a puzzled expression, "You guys don''t know? They are preparing to break the next wall. Today there will be the start of the coverage." "Really? They actually televise that?" Blue gasped. "Yeah, only to the MAZE, though. The strength that people show on those things can cause a panic outside," the waiter explained. Suddenly, the bar erupted in loud cheers, followed by a few people telling everyone to quiet down. The television showed the guild emblem, the familiar doorway with a city inside of it. The camera then panned towards the door and flashes of different places appeared on the screen. First, an urban city, then a castle, a volcano, a desert, an island, and it ended with a wide shot of one of the guild branches. The screen went dark and then a woman with pale blue hair, brown eyes, and large white rings painted on the side of her face appeared on the screen . "Hello Everyone, this is Becca Swan coming at you live from the Queeroni Wilds, where the preparations for the wall breaking are underway." The camera panned to the side, showing hundreds of tents and people walking around. The camera was clearly in a good advantage point. In the back, Hera could see a few hundred meters of an open field followed by a thick and lush jungle. "This is just the crew that came to set everything up, thankfully we are being protected by a few of the best among us. Later this week, I will have the honor of interviewing them. But today, I want to show you all the stars of our show!" Becca made a motion to her left, and the camera panned to what she was pointing. The field suddenly stopped, and an impossibly large wall was in front of it. It rose from the bottom to the top of the room and streched to both sides, completely blocking the passage. The barrier was mostly smooth, with a few dents here and there. There was a particular big gash right in the middle of the screen. The camera didn''t stay long on that shot, and Becca quickly stepped in the frame. "As you all know, when you travel deeper into new layers, we find this wall from time to time. To be able to travel even further, we need to break this barrier, doing so will unlock new rooms, new layers, and, of course, new treasures for us all!" The complete bar cheered at the comment. "Now, each new wall that we find is harder than the last one. The first wall was destroyed by a single man, Khan, the Wall Breaker. Sadly, no one is able to do the same today. Now we need a huge number of powerful individuals to take this barrier down." The camera panned to the camp once more and focused on a group walking towards the vantage point. At the same time, Becca kept talking. "Our protectors will also be a part of the effort to break the wall. You can see the ones already here. Toxic Rain, the deadly hunter with a heart of gold. Iron Heart, the great defender. Wildborn, the healer with a soul and, of course, the best hunter in the entire world. Azure chain!" People cheered even harder as she introduced the explorers. They were a bit too far away to be able to see too many details, the only thing that Hera could see was someone clad in blue with a chain floating around his arms. "Dam, they even got Iron Heart to help. The kid hardly ever makes an appearance," A man from another table said. "Yeah, but I''m more surprised Wildborn is there. The dude is insane," another patron spoke. "I wonder who is leading the assault. Or do you think it will just be a ready, set, go thing?" a woman asked. The camera went back to Becca with the wall behind her. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since a group like this was gathered to break a wall. At the time, we weren''t strong enough to breakthrough. That''s why the guild increased the level of requirements for the operation. Every single one of two hundred explorers who will be a part of the attack will be over level 85." "Damn, that is a lot. I had no idea there were so many people on that level already," Leo gasped. "Really? I think it''s rather low. Think about it. People spend their entire lives here. I imagined the levels would be over a hundred already," Alex said. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Sure, but you are forgetting the age problem. I believe that the oldest explorer in the front line is just 43. Everyone older than that tends to stay away from places that are too unpredictable. Trying to raise your level in places below your level is too ineffective," Bonnie explained. "Wait, isn''t that layer 25? That already a big gap on the levels," Blue said. "Layers are not levels. Each room has its own level range, although you need a high level observe to see it. Brinefrot range is from 2 to 6. When you move through the same layer, the difference is not that big. But when you go from the first to the second layer, for instance. It''s not impossible to see a 10 level gap among the rooms. Mr. Greyson told us that during training," Bonnie concluded. "Now, everyone. Pay close attention to what is about to happen. You won''t want to miss it!" Becca twirled around like the host of a carnival presenting the next attraction. The wall suddenly was engulfed in flames. The fire covered the barrier all at once. After a few moments, the fire started to change colors, from orange to red, then yellow and becoming darker and darker. At one point, looking at the barrier was like looking into the darkness, no light, no movement, just an endless dark abyss. Not a single sound came from the patrons at the bar. Just as quickly as the flames began, they were snuffed out, and the wall remained in place, unscathed. The small dents and the gashes on the wall vanished with the flames. The wall was perfectly smooth now. "This, ladies and gentlemen, was the wall reset. It happens once every 45 minutes. If we can''t break down the wall during that time, it will regenerate completely. Now, as I asked you to send me your questions about the operation via Chipper, so let''s see here," Becca picked her tablet and started to scroll through the messages. She then pressed something on the tablet, and a picture with the chiip appeared on the screen. "@ladyrat asks, who am I most excited to interview. The true answer to that is still a secret. We are still making some arrangements to see if it will work out. But among the ones I can tell you about, it would be Iron Heart. It is so rare for him to agree to interviews. I can''t wait to get to know him better." Hera kept watching Becca. Her eyes seemed to shine when she answered the questions. She couldn''t help but notice that the reporter seemed very comfortable with what she was doing. She would play with the camera, joke with the questions. It all felt very natural and fun to watch. "@loney_narwhal_72 asks, why only 200 will be part of the attack? Shouldn''t the guild send everyone?" Becca tapped on her tablet once more, and a picture of a different wall appeared. This one seemed to be in a beach area, "We had another 50 questions like this one. I will do my best to explain why we limit the number of people. Each wall has different attributes. They can vary from magic or physical resistance. Those attributes will also increase depending on the number of people that are attacking it at once. Not only that, but there is a threshold for when those attributes increase even more." Becca made a pause, looking beyond the camera, " Well, if my crew''s expression is anything to go by. This made no sense," she laughed, "Lets put it in numbers. Let''s say that each member of the attack group would increase the wall strength by 10. If the number of people attacking goes over the limit, the increase would turn into 100 per person," she looked back at the crew, "Is that better, guys?" Some laughs came out of the crew and the people in the bar. Becca kept explaining about how they figured out the limit for this particular wall, and that in some cases, they could only have a little over 20 people attacking at once. Becca continued to answer various questions while the bar returned to normal. People went back to order food and drinks. Some were still paying attention to the television, but not nearly as invested as before. "Do you guys think anyone we know is going to be there?" Blue asked. "Yeah, sure we, who have been explorers for less than a month, already know the strongest people in the entire world," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Well, who knows, we saw a bunch of people in the guild. Nothing stops them from being strong. But this is the first time I hear about that wall. When did they find it?" Hera asked. "It was around 50 years ago. For a while, they tried once a year, but when it became clear, they didn''t have enough people, they sent a message for everyone to level up. I heard they got the required numbers to try just last week." The group turned around to the voice. A familiar face met them, wearing one of the waiters'' uniforms and picking up the empty glasses from the table. "Kenji? What are you doing here?" Hera asked. "Working, I had some issues to find a party. And I''m not about to group up with Anaya after what she did. I mean, it''s one thing to go for the gold, another to toss your party to the wolves while you do it," Kenjiro finished picking up the dirty dished from the table, "I''m sorry for what happened. I thought she had found a lever or something. When I realized it was too late. I should have waited or something, but I messed up. Your next round is on me. It is the least I can do." "Oh... thanks," Leo wasn''t expecting that type of apology. He never gave too much thought about Kenji or Tiffany, for that matter. He was sure it was all Anaya''s fault. "Why couldn''t you find a party?" Blue asked. "Nothing much. I didn''t want to be in a group with Anaya, and no low-level parties were recruiting. I''m going to wait for Tiffany so we can at least be a duo. I tried to hunt alone, but it takes too much time to find a frog alone. Anyway, I''ll be right back with your orders and another round," Kenjiro said as he left the table. "I guess he wasn''t to blame in the end," Leo mumbled. "I''m not sure. I mean, if you commit a crime by accident, it is still a crime," Alex said. "That''s a bit harsh considering what he did. It wasn''t a crime," Hera said. "It still was wrong, and I''m with Alex on this," Blue huffed as she bit the last piece bacon left on the table. Kenji came back with their orders and a round of beer. He apologized once more and kept working. Hera and her friends kept drinking and eating until late at night. Near the closing time of the bar, they returned to the hotel. "So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Bonnie asked. "Drinking some more!" Blue shouted, raising an invisible glass. "I''m guessing she''s going to nurse another hangover," Leo was strolling with his head tilted back, feeling the breeze on his face. "Probably, and you want to find the thing, right?" Hera asked. "Yep, and you two?" Leo turned to Bonnie and Alex. "I wanted to go back to the lookout, but I think I should look for a new spell first. I have some ideas. Either way, I hoped we could make some money this week. I''m just 4 000 gold away from the 10 000 I need for the first installment of my debt," Bonnie said. "I want to deal with a role quest in the morning. But I''m free in the afternoon if you guys want to hunt," Alex stretched, raising her arms to the sky. "Stop being a buzzkill, we think about what to do tomorrow," Blue jumped on Hera''s back, almost making the explorer fall. "Fine, fine. You are so gonna regret drinking this much," Hera said, laughing. 88 - Taming a Toad Hera woke up to a text from Leo, asking if they could go after the frog he wanted to tame. She got dressed in the bathroom to avoid waking Blue up. When she was ready, she sent a text to Leo, letting him know she would meet him downstairs. However, before Hera left the room, someone started to bang loudly on her door. "Ok, Hera, I''ll meet you downstairs. Be careful not to wake Blue up, ok?" Leo yelled as he kept hitting the door. Blue groaned and pulled a pillow over her head, "Whyyyyy?" Hera giggled and went to the door to stop the hunter. "Oh, hi, Hera. Take your time, there is no rush," Leo said as she opened the door. "I have a feeling that if I let you keep going, someone is going to get hurt. Besides, we are not the only ones in the hotel. I doubt everyone is fine with you screaming like that," she replied, closing the door. "Fair point, I already sent a text to Bonnie and Alex, letting them know we are going out. If everything goes well, we can meet them for lunch." "Sure. Let''s just stop by a bakery or something. I want to grab something to eat on the road." Agreeing with the suggestion, the two of them got some pastries, and in less than one hour, they were heading towards the city gate. There were more people than they were expecting at this time in the morning. It wasn''t even ten, and various groups were leaving or arriving in the town. Hera wondered if there was something that only happened in the morning or if it was just a way to use the sunlight. Among the groups that were arriving, a few looked very tired and worn out. It wouldn''t be a surprise if they spent the entire night traveling to the city. "Do you have any idea what is to west of here?" Leo asked. "No clue. I never looked too much into the map to the far west, but now I''m curious too. When we come back, I''ll take a look," Hera replied. Leaving the city, they spent half an hour walking through the road. "Ok, so first of all. Tell me how you are going to get the skill," Hera asked. "According to the compendium, I have to befriend a monster or animal. It says the easiest way is to find a stray dog or something and then let them go when I come to the MAZE, but that feels mean. The idea is to create an emotional connection. Most advice that the compendium gave was about creating threats and saving the monster or something like that. That''s just wrong. I mean, I get it, that is the most effective way, but still." Hera nodded, "Yeah, doing that to an animal is not ok. But the idea of using dogs and cats is a good one. You know they are a thing back in Brinefront, right? I told you guys about the statue." Leo scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. But there are two problems. First, dogs don''t grow to be very strong. I mean that from a MAZE standpoint. At most, I''ll have what a wolf? In later layers, they would be just cannon fodder. And I refuse to do that. The second issue is... well... I''m not a dog person. They are too agitated and loud. I prefer cats." "I can''t say I relate to that last part. I like both cats and dogs. But I understand your concern. You don''t want a simple pet. You want a partner, right?" "Exactly! That''s why I thought about the small frog. I did some research, and they never stop growing even if they reach the maximum height. I could try one of the regular frogs, but the rain frog seems way more helpful." "Ok, then. I think I know what we should look for." Hera pulled Yarnball''s string and held it in front of her. With a long strand dangling on the other side of her hand. Focusing for a moment, she considered how to phrase the question. Nothing said that she couldn''t be specific when using the dowsing rod, "Show us the closest giant rain frog that is alone and can be tamed by Leo." For a moment, nothing happened. Hera looked at the thread, worried she might have done something wrong. Then she felt like Yarnball was pulling her mana, slowly at first, but then it became hungrier. She felt all her mana leave her body, and then she felt tired and lethargic. Yarnball felt almost like a leech sucking out everything inside of her. Finally, the thread moved and pointed towards the northeast. Hera quickly made a line in the ground using her foot before the string went limp in her hand. "Hera? Are you ok?" Leo asked, seeing the explorer''s face. She was pale, very pale, and her eyes were bloodshot. If he hadn''t watched it all happen, he wouldn''t believe she was fine just a few moments ago. "I''m not sure. I''m very tired. I guess I overdid it a little. It was the first time I used this ability, and I wasn''t expecting this," she replied, trying to smile. "Sit down. We can deal with this later. You need to rest," Leo held Hera''s arm, helping her to walk. "First, let me get the map. I need to mark the direction," Hera picked her tablet and drew a line, doing her best to follow the direction Yarnball gave her. Leo gave Hera some rations he had brought. She refused at first, but a growl from her stomach made her realize how hungry she was. After around half an hour, Hera had eaten all the power bars she had, and most of her water was gone, but she was feeling well enough to keep going. They walked towards the direction Hera had marked. Focusing on the surrounding area to see if they would find the rain frog that Leo wanted. A couple of times, they had to duck down and go around a large group of frogs. It was one thing if they had the entire party here, but fighting 6 frogs with just the two of them wasn''t a good idea. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. After passing through the third large group of frogs, Leo turned to Hera, worried, "Can you tell me what happened back there? When you used your item." Hera looked down, "I honestly don''t know. It was the first time I ever used that part of Yarnball. I wasn''t expecting it to do that to me. The description said that the effect depends on the user''s strength. I figured it meant that it would work better as I leveled up, but it felt almost like a parasite eating away my energy." "That''s creepy, to say the least." "You have no idea how it felt. It was even creepier. It was like being a battery for something. I''m just not sure if it was a regular thing or just because of what I asked it to find." Leo nodded, " Yeah, it was really specific. Maybe that has something to do with it. " "Maybe, I''ll ask Bonnie what she thinks about it later, and Helena." They kept looking for a giant rain frog for some time. Hera was still worried about Yarnball''s effect. It had caught her completely off guard. What if she had used the ability in a more serious situation? She was deep in thought, considering what she could do to avoid those types of scenarios when a loud squeaky noise stopped Leo. "Did you hear that?" the hunter asked. "No, what?" a few moments passed, and another squeaky sound came from their left. They looked at each other and quietly moved towards the noise. They found a small cliff, just five meters tall. At the bottom of it, there was a small pond and a single rain frog about the size of a bulldog. "That one is bigger than the last, isn''t it?" Hera asked. "I''m not sure. It looks less bulky, but a bit taller." The frog they saw had a deep green pattern around its back. It also was a bit more elongated than the first one. Giving it a close look, the frog was limping and having trouble getting inside the pond. "So, what''s the plan now?" Hera whispered to Leo. "Stay here. I''ll go down there and try to befriend him." Hera stared at the hunter for a moment, "That''s the plan? Just go there and say ''will you be my friend?''" "Well, I''m going to offer it food. I got some bait in the town. Then I''m going to try to show that I''m not a threat and make it feel comfortable around me." "So kind like meeting a wild dog?" "Yeah, close to it." "Ok, it looks hurt, so here," Hera gave her first aid kit to Leo, "If you can try to fix its leg. I''ll be up here looking if something else shows up. Or if it starts to attack you." "Deal, but try not to jump if it attacks me, only if I call for help." "Yeah, not gonna happen. We are all being way too reckless. The moment that thing becomes aggressive, I''m jumping in." The hunter attempted to persuade Hera with no success. After giving up, he walked to the side and went down the cliff. He approached the rain frog carefully, who noticed the hunter rather quickly. The frog squeaked once more, staring at Leo. The hunter stopped and stayed completely still. A few minutes passed while the two kept staring at each other. The first to break the tension was the frog when it looked around after some wind rustled the leaves of the trees. Hera watched this little dance between the hunter and the frog. Every time Leo took a step closer to the creature, it would turn around, squeak loudly and prepare to attack. Leo would place another piece of the bait near him and wait until the beast relaxed. It didn''t take long for Hera to get bored watching that and started to focus on other things. She read a bit about the valley of frogs, trying to get ready for when they were going to challenge the dungeon. Hera kept glancing out of the tablet from time to time, making sure nothing was coming closer to Leo. Hera started to practice the light spell once more. She felt like she was getting closer to do it, but there was still something missing. After several tries, with her mana already at half, Hera looked down to the cliff again. Leo was now around five meters away from the frog. He was still leaving a trail of bait as he got closer. Hera looked behind her and was caught off guard by the sunlight directly in her eye. She turned around and blinked, activating her [Pulse] to be sure nothing was coming closer. Thankfully, there was no creature in her range. She moved toward the shadows, and something clicked inside her head. She was thinking about the result as if it would be a lightbulb or a spotlight. But the way Bonnie and Helena had used it was more like a ball of light, something closer to the sun. Once again, trying with the new image in her mind, Hera wanted to mimic the effect the sun would have. An omnidirectional light that could light up everything it touched. Focusing on her finger, a small glimmer appeared. She pumped more mana into it, and suddenly, the light turned into a blinding flash. It became so bright that it looked like someone had turned on a floodlight. Just as quickly as it began, the light disappeared. "Hera! What the hell?" Leo yelled. "Sorry, sorry. My bad," Hera was still blinking, unable to see a thing at the moment. "What happened?" "I was trying a spell. I guess I overdid it." "Just don''t do it again, I was close to it, but now the frog is scared. I''m going to have to start all over." "Sorry again," Hera said. It took ten minutes for the explorer to recover her sight. And another hour to Leo get back the progress he had lost. During that time, Hera focused on recovering her mana, even though she wanted to attempt to use the light spell again, it was better to wait. Another hour went by, Hera was glad they weren''t too far from the city. At least she could keep browsing through the internet. A notification popped up, showing a text from Helena. "Hello, Sweetie. I have some news. On Friday afternoon I''m stopping by Brinefront, and I want to talk to you about how you can help me. Later, I can talk to Bonnie about the order and recruit her if she''s up for it. If you can''t be in the city on Friday, let me know. Hope you are having fun. kisses" Hera smiled. She wasn''t able to get any quests from the order these past few days. Every quest available was for different layers or to harvest creatures she had yet to find. There were other quests on the guild, but they were mostly about hunting frogs or delivering goods. However, she had yet to look for dungeon related quests. Thinking about the contribution points and what she could use them with, Hera almost didn''t hear Leo shouting for help. "Hera, come here quickly." Hera looked towards Leo and saw him holding the frog is his arms, he had a worried expression, and the frog seemed to be bleeding from its mouth. She quickly went down the cliff and tried to inspect the frog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Rain Frog (Poisoned) Type: Procyon gallaris A rare breed of giant frog that only is born out of 10 million eggs. A proficient digger that can''t jump as most frogs do. However, its legs can propel the frog forward at high speeds. It''s high-pitched squeak, It''s a singular battle cry. After some time, the squeak has the ability to harm those that hear it, disorienting them. The species can grow up to 2 meters tall, fully grown Giant Rain Frogs can break down reinforced iron walls with a tackle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It is poisoned!" Hera gasped. "How can you tell?" "Use your inspect." Leo stared at the frog, "Crap, do you think they would let us go into the town with it?" "I have no idea, but there are no better options. Let''s hurry, he? She? it seems really bad." Leo nodded, and the pair rushed towards the town gate. 89 - I need a healer Hera and Leo reached the city gates in around half an hour. The rain frog had attempted to flee a couple of times, but it was too weakened to escape. As they were crossing over the entrance, the guards stopped the duo. "What do you think you are doing?" The guards blocked the entrance using their spears. "We need to take him to a healer," Leo showed the frog in his arms. "Is that thing tamed?" the guard asked. "Not yet, I''m taming it right now." "No dice, you can''t come in here with a wild monster." "But we need to get help! We don''t know how to heal him," Hera pleaded. "You are not getting a wild monster inside the city. There is no discussion about it," The guard shook his head. Leo was pacing around, and by his expression, Hera could tell he was considering something bad. "Leo, stay here. I''ll run to the guild and grab some help." The hunter nodded, and Hera dashed towards the center of the town. It took her less than ten minutes to reach the guild. Hera arrived at the counter and asked for someone who could heal a monster. The clerk told her that she could post a quest for it, and any healer that was willing could help. But there were some procedures to take care of before she could post the quest. "Healers? OK, Thanks," Hera walked away from the desk and towards the middle of the room, " I''ll pay 500 gold for a healer who can cleanse poisons and help heal a frog," she yelled. Leo would own her a refund for this. "Miss, you can''t do that. If you have a request, you need to do it through the right channels," the clerk said. "I''ll do it later. It''s an emergency." Seeing her reaction, the clerk grabbed a tablet and asked her to place her bracelet on it. It was a way to create an emergency quest that could be filled out later. She only needed to say the reward and who she needed. Before even finishing the registration, two healers were waiting to take the quest. Explaining once again what she needed a healer, one of them gave up the quest. She didn''t have any emergency heals. The man who accepted the quest introduced himself as Runir. Hera thanked him, and they dashed towards the front gate. Less than half an hour after leaving Leo there, she was already back with the healer. The hunter was in a shouting match with the guard. Hera was surprised at how much Leo seemed to care about the rain frog. Maybe he bonded with it more than she imagined. When he saw her, he stopped yelling, and Runir approached the frog. "He''s a healer. I hired him to heal the frog," Hera said. Leo held the frog in place while Runir examined it, "Thanks, Hera." "No need for thanks, I also expect you to pay me back what I''m paying him." Leo nodded, "Sure, it was what? 100 gold?" "500," Hera replied with a smile. "WHAT?" "That was to get someone here fast." Leo looked at the healer, "Can''t we negotiate this?" The man chuckled, "She already created the quest, boss. We can only negotiate the extras now." Leo cursed under his breath, but at the same time, he couldn''t help but smile. It was a lot of money, but that only proved how much Hera trusted him. Runir kept using his spells to remove the poison and heal the rain frog. In around 15 minutes the frog was sleeping in Leo''s arms, seemingly out of danger. "There you go, boss man, all done," the healer turned towards Hera, "He is out of danger, and I don''t think I can do anymore for him. Can we consider the quest complete?" Hera looked at Leo, who gave an approving nod, "Sure, let me transfer you the money. Sorry for the freakout back there." "No worries, we all get a bit crazy when our pets are hurt. I got five tickets at once when my dog got hurt last year. But who has time to stop for red lights when your little pupper is crying?" Runir said. Hera laughed, she could understand that, even if she never had pets herself. After that, she transferred the money to the healer and thanked him once again. Only now taking a moment to look at him. Runir was a tall man with a tribal pattern buzzcut, dark brown eyes, and plump lips with a small ring piercing on the side. He had beige skin that leaned towards a sepia tone. He wore a long sleeveless vest and a padded shirt underneath it. He also had a necklace with an interesting pattern. It was almost like a big hourglass with two smaller ones in the middle of it. "Listen, you guys paid a lot of money for something this simple. I know that for us, this is like three days of work, at least. Here is my contact info, if anything else happens with the little guy, call me. When I return to the city, I''ll see if I can help," Runir said. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Leo nodded, but he still was cradling the frog. Hera smiled, "Thanks, do you go out to hunt a lot?" "Yeah, I could be working in the guild or as a healer in the city, but that is very boring. I rather be in the field, unlike most healers," he said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, we have a researcher in our group and as much as she loves to study. I think she''s enjoying our hunts. Mostly because she is using a lot of magic, but still," Hera chuckled. "Oh? You guys have a researcher in your party? That''s rare." "We got close during the training. It just felt natural to join forces." Runir scratched his shin, "Yeah, I guess so. I wonder if that would have happened to me if I got my role skill on the first try too." "Did it take long for you to get it?" "A little, I missed the first few tries and had to work in the guild for a few months before trying again. Luckily I figured out that the role I was aiming for wasn''t for me." "We had a girl do the same. She changed from a fighter to something else." Hera said. The two of them talked for a little while, and Runir left, heading towards the guild. Hera checked on Leo, who was still with the frog in his arms. "His breath seems to be more regular now," the hunter said. "That''s good. Maybe he just needs some rest." Leo nodded and kept staring at the frog, stroking its back gently. "If you don''t mind me asking. How come you are so attached to it?" Leo raised his head to look at Hera. The hunter''s eyes seemed full of pain. He rubbed them with his arm. "Yeah, I guess the situation reminded me of when I was little. I had this cat, and one day I ended up giving him food that made it sick. My parents were busy with some new exhibits and couldn''t get home to him to the vet. I was 13 at the time, I had no money for a cab and there was no one that I could call, so I ran with the cat in my arms towards a vet. But I wasn''t very sure how to get there. I ended up taking too long, and by the time I got there, my cat had to go to intensive care. The worst came later. He had an allergic reaction to the medicine, and that triggered a bunch of problems. Two months later, he died. I blame myself to this day. I guess that triggers some memories." Hera sat down beside the hunter and put her arms around him, "You didn''t mean that to happen. I''m sure you were just trying to make your cat happy." "Yeah, I didn''t know cats couldn''t eat chocolate. I thought it was just dogs," the hunter said, touching his head with Hera''s. "It was a kid''s mistake. A dumb kid mistake, but still just a kid''s mistake. You can''t blame yourself forever." "I won''t, just until I die," the hunter chuckled. Hera poked him with her elbow as a reply. The two spent a couple of hours sitting beside the city gates. That attracted the stares of a few people passing by, not so much for the two sitting outside the walls but the small rain frog on the man''s lap. The guards kept a close eye on the frog, worried about the monster waking up and rampaging near the gate. After some time, the frog started to move once again. It woke up and stared at Leo for a moment. Then it nuzzled in his arms once again. The hunter chuckled, "Hey there, Tiger," He turned to Hera, "I guess I got my pet." "Really?" Hera asked, looking at the frog. "Yeah, I just got a notification. I got the skill, and I could use it on him. It also came with a couple of other skills, I can see where he is on the map, and he can understand me better." Hera looked at the rain frog and activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tiger (tamed) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Did you really name him Tiger?" Hera asked. "Yeah, I was thinking about my old cat." "Still... Tiger?" "I was a kid, ok?" Leo shrugged "I''m fine with that. But you have to introduce him to Blue and Alex later." The hunter''s eyes went wide, "Oh no." The two of them walked toward the gate. Showing the tamed frog to the guards, they were allowed to pass. However, Leo had to stop by the guild to register Tiger as his pet. He also wanted to search around for a bed and some supplies for his new companion. Hera went to guild to finish registering the quest. Runir had already marked it as completed, and then she gathered the rest of the party. Sometime later, the group met up for lunch. Leo introduced Tiger to the rest of the team. Alex wanted the beast to be far away from her. She wasn''t comfortable near frogs yet. Bonnie kept badgering Leo with questions about how the skill worked and what the frog could do to help. "Please tell me you didn''t try to kiss him. You know that those are just fairy tales, right? The frog is not going to turn into a princess," Blue teased. "It''s a he ok. He''s male," Leo replied. "Ok, sorry. I just never took you for the damsel in distress type, hoping the prince come to your rescue," Blue replied. The group laughed and discussed their plans. According to the information they got for the Frog Valley, the dungeon itself could take around five hours to finish since it was a search based quest. And another four hours to travel to it. Thankfully, there was a small encampment near it to have a relatively safe place to rest. Leo also didn''t want to go too far while he was still getting used to Tiger. He needed to train him before he was useful in actual combat. They decided to hunt as a party of four for the next few days while Leo trained his pet. Bonnie also wanted to make some money, and if the rest of the week went well, she might have enough for the first payment she had to do. Hera also made it clear she wanted to be in the city by Friday to meet with Helena, and that the mage wanted to talk to Bonnie. Blue was also on the fence about joining the order but asked if she could speak to Helena to get some more information. Before long, the week had ended with the group training in the morning, hunting frogs in the afternoon, and resting in the evening. Their speed also increased thanks to their level up and the sash Alex had. By Wednesday, Bonnie had gathered the 10 000 gold she needed. Every night they would gather in a bar or a diner to watch Becca interviewing the high ranking explorers. Wildborn was a muscular man with a long wild beard connected to his hair, but he had a bald spot on top of his head. The healer was very enthusiastic and exaggerated. Everything he did seemed over the top, but somehow it seemed natural to him. He demonstrated one of his abilities, roaring at a group that was injured from the hunt, healing their bruises almost instantly. Toxic Rain was a weird person. She was like a caring grandmother, always asking if everyone was ok and if they needed something. She would even carry around some adhesive bandages with flower patterns and would give it to anyone who had small scrapes. Yet, her fighting style was to poison her enemies and stalk her prey until they died. Iron Heart wasn''t just shy. He had trouble speaking with other people and always wore full steel armor, including a helmet. The armor was a bit odd since it had to be made for someone skinny. During the interview, Becca asked why he agreed to the meeting, and the man revealed that he was a big fan of hers. He even asked for an autograph. It was a lovely moment, and the crowd watching on the diner cheered for the man. Hera could even see the people rooting for a new couple to be formed. The interview with Azure Chain was cut short when a monster attacked the camp. Luckily no one was hurt, but they had to stop the interviews until more people arrived after that. Friday morning, Hera was waiting for Helena in front of the doorway, excited to see her friend. It was 11:15 when the mage arrived through the doorway, opening a big smile when she saw Hera waiting for her, "Hello, sweetie." 90 - Helenas Assistant Helena walked towards Hera and gave the explorer a big hug. "Lena! It''s so good to see you," Hera hugged the mage back. "Tell me about it. It looks like we haven''t seen each other in a month." Hera was surprised by Helena''s appearance. She only ever saw the mage in her clerk uniform, even when they went out for drinks. She wore a pair of tall armored black boots, black pants, and a skirt that was long on the back but short in the front. There was a long cloak on her side, falling to her knee. The mantle had a grey smoke pattern covering it. Underneath it all, there was a light grey shirt with sleeves just after her elbows. Helena also had her curly hair put up with a grey headband. "Wow, Lena, you look amazing," Hera gasped. "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself." "Yeah, but you already saw me like this. What''s new here is you all geared up." The two of them laughed and headed towards the city. Helena knew a small coffee shop where they could get a private room. As they headed towards it, Hera couldn''t help but ask. "So why did you come back to the MAZE?" "Well, the guild master called me to help with the wall." Hera stopped walking with her eyes fixed on Helena. "What?" Helena asked. "Isn''t you level too low to go there? You are just level 20, aren¡¯t you?" "I''m level 18, but I''m not taking part in the actual assault. I''m going there as a supporter. I''ll explain to you a bit better when we get to a more private place," Helena explained. A few minutes later, they arrived at a small little place with just a couple of tables on the outside and a small door at the side of the counter. Helena talked to the attendant, and the two were guided to the second floor of the building. There was a large central area with a few tables. On the outer ring of the floor, there was a series of closed rooms for people who wanted more privacy. They entered one of those rooms. In there, any order they made would be delivered through a small lift in the corner of the room. "They also have a soundproofing enchantment on the walls. So we can talk without worry," Helena explained. The duo ordered some food and had a nice brunch together. Hera told Helena all about her adventures, from fighting frogs to finding the dungeon and learning about the legends of the city. Helena told Hera about her work on the guild and how Greyson was acting up since there was a new instructor. The fighter acted like a kid, angry because someone else took a toy he wasn''t playing. After a while, Helena talked about her plans. "I''m going to the wall, and then I think I''m going back to my research. I spent some time with my family, and now I want to get back to my work." "And where is that exactly?" "It''s on the 8th layer, in a room called Charring Wastes. There I still have my lab and my research waiting for me. It''s a bit dangerous since the average level of the creatures is 22, but it has everything I need for my work." Helena told Hera about the room where her lab was located. It was a vast wasteland surrounded by a chain of active volcanos. The soil was very rich, but due to the high temperature and constant rain of ash, it was nearly impossible to grow something there. Despite the problems, it was a place rich in mana. The eruptions would spew out almost every type of mana there was, and various rare materials and crystals were easily acquired in there. "Wow, it sounds kind of awful, but useful," Hera chuckled, "But tell me, why a level 18 mage is going to the wall?" Helena took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the taste before answering, "I have an enchantment spell that can help. You know how we can give temporary buffs to equipment, right? But usually, we are limited to one buff per piece of equipment. The spell I made lets you place two different buffs in one part of the gear. When I made the spell, I was so excited, but it didn''t take long to find out that other people had similar spells. It''s still rare to find people with this particular skill, and mine doesn''t affect the power of the buffs. If I use that spell in a weapon, someone at a higher level can use two strong enchantments at full strength." Hera was surprised by the concept, but as Helena told her. The spell was too complicated for her to learn right now, and she needed to be able to apply some buffs before being able to use that spell. "Ok, now for the main part of my visit," Helena started to rummage through her bag, "Oh, don''t tell Bonnie she wasn''t the main part of the visit. It was the main reason as a member of the order, just not on a personal level." Hera chuckled, "Don''t worry, I won''t say a word." This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Helena took a small notebook from her bag, "Great, now before I give you this. Can you accept the order I just sent you?" Hera picked her tablet and saw a notification for a new order. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Helena''s assistant Sweetie, this is an easier way for us to work together. I can ask for various things, and each will have their own rewards. By accepting this order, you enter an NDA with me. You are not allowed to share any information about my research unless I give you permission to do so. Requests # Monster affinity # Area affinity # Item affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the order, but she got worried about one thing. "Lena, before I accept. Can you clarify one thing about the NDA?" "Sure, I mean, it''s not something I''m willing to remove. I told you that we mages are very paranoid with our research. If that was the question." "No, I understand. But what is considered sharing the information about your research? Like if I find out that a monster is weak to fire, I''m not allowed to tell anyone? Or I can''t even mention that I''m working for you?" Helena gave Hera a smirk, "I''m a bit impressed. I didn''t expect you to think that far ahead. So, the basics. Yes, you can tell you are working for me, and yes, you can tell if you need to do something specific for me. Even telling what you need to figure out is fine, but you can''t say what''s my objective. If it comes to that, say you don''t know." Helena took a small bite of one of the cupcakes they ordered, "The information you find out about the affinities of places and items you are free to share, of course. Just don''t go posting them online for free. We might be able to make some money updating some compendiums and making our own. I''ll share the profits with you if it comes to that. I ask for you not to share any spells or information that I give you about my research. If you want to help your friends with some information that I gave you, ask me first. I need to be sure it''s not something too sensitive. Aside from that, if you want to talk about something but have some doubts, just ask me." The mage took another sip of her coffee and looked Hera deep into her eyes, "I trust you, Hera, I really do. If I didn''t, I wouldn''t even ask you to help me. But I need to be careful. Some people already tried to steal my work, and I don''t want that to happen, especially now that I have you to help me." Hera nodded, "I understand, you are just trying to be safe. I just don''t want to end up breaking this by accident, or if I''m in danger and sharing something would help." "Oh no, of course not," Helena grabbed Hera''s hand, "Sweetie, if you are ever in a situation where your life in on the line. Don''t worry about this. Do what you can to survive." Hera held her friend''s hand. She couldn''t remember the last time she felt someone seemed to care so much, aside from her grandma. Her eyes teared up a bit, "Thanks, Lena." "Don''t you start crying now, or I''m going to cry too," Helena laughed, trying to change the subject. "I''m not," Hera accepted the order and showed it to Helena, "Here, but shouldn''t we be on the guild to do this?" "Consider it my last task as a clerk," Helena laughed and passed the notebook to Hera, "Now, here there is a spell that I developed using my research. It is a way to get information on the primary affinity of something. It works as a buff for your inspect or observe. Not only I''ll ask you for getting that information for various monsters, but sometimes I might need materials from creatures with specific affinities." After reading through the notebook, Hera saw how to use the spell and some examples of what she should see. Before spending too much time reading the notebook, Helena cut her off and asked about the skills the explorer had bought. Hera told her about the pulse spell she figured out, the weapon maintenance, and the etching skills that she wasn''t able to get yet. Helena made a few recommendations to get the skills quicker. For the weapon maintenance, the best way was to work as a blacksmith or in the guild as a sharpener for a while. The etching was an interesting skill. Helena got it when she wanted to become an enchanter. The trick she found was to carve a word in her food, bite the carving out, and repeat it. After she got the skill, she could use the right tools to buff her weapons and gear. After a couple more hours talking, they left the coffee shop. Helena still had to talk with Bonnie and Blue, and then she would head towards the 5th layer to meet the group that would take her to the wall. Hera asked her friends to come to her room in the inn so they could talk to Helena. The mage explained how the order worked, Bonnie seemed really interested, but she asked for a couple of days to think. Blue, on the other hand, was still on the fence. Only after Helena explained that she could join any other group since the order was a small organization that the controller agreed to join. Alex was still looking for a different group, and since Leo was in the Crimson Coalition, he couldn''t be a part of any other orders. After that, Hera walked Helena towards the docks. She needed to take a boat to reach her next doorway. Hera thanked Helena once again for everything she did for her. "Sweetie, I only did what anyone would do. You don''t need to thank me for it." Hera shook her head and held Helena''s hand, "You were the only one willing to help a crying girl in the middle of the rain. You saw me, Lena, I can never thank you enough for it." "I told you not me make me cry," Helena gave Hera a big hug. They stayed like that for a few moments and let go. "Oh, I almost forgot. Quinn sent you this," Helena picked two small bottles from her bag, "It''s a cleansing cream to remove all the dirt from your face, the other one is a moisturizer. You apply it after cleaning your face. I recommend you use both before sleeping." Hera nodded, "Will do, and do you have her number? I forgot to get when we meet." Helena gave Hera Quinn''s number, "Oh, and after Blue''s application is complete, I''ll send you the recruitment bonus." "What bonus?" "You get some contribution points. It will be something like 100 points since she level 3. When you get those points, save it for a while. There is a buff skill that might be very good for you, but you need 500 points and some knowledge on elemental magic for it. I''ll send you some books later to give you a hand," Helena explained. The ship gave a signal that was about to leave, and Helena said her goodbyes. Hera went back to the inn to talk to her friends. Each of them had a different plan for the weekend. Bonnie wanted to talk to her mom about the pay she had to do. Alex wanted to go home and see her family. Leo intended to keep training with Tiger, Blue and Hera were the only ones who didn''t have any big ideas. They all agreed to take the weekend off and leave for the Frog Valley on Thursday. On Monday, the high-level explorers would try to break through the wall, and they didn''t want to miss the transmission. With everything already set up, Alex and Bonnie left the MAZE while Leo went towards the guild for another training session. "So, what do we do now?" Hera asked, turning towards Blue. "Wanna hit the gym?" 91 - Weekend Off Hera was sitting on a bench while Blue kept lifting weights. She wasn''t used to working out as the controller. Even though her strength was higher, the repetition was more tiresome than she expected. She watched Blue work out while trying to regain the feeling in her arms. It felt strange to feel so tired. Hera had leveled up a few days ago. Her stamina should be higher. "I guess I still need to practice," she mumbled to herself. After a while, it became clear that Blue was far from tired. Hera called her friend to see if she wanted to eat. They left for lunch, and after some time, returned to the guild. Blue rented an ATR for the day while Hera looked for quests to get her weapon maintenance skill. She was working for about three hours when a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Weapon Maintenance (Rank 1) Weapon Maintenance (Rank 1) Improves your ability to care and maintain your weapons. The more careful you are with the process, the better the results will be. Increased durability: 1% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With a smile, Hera kept working. Not only would that give her some extra experience for the skill, but now she received a slightly bigger pay for each weapon she performed the maintenance. On the breaks, she would be carving her initials in some fruits and taking bites out of them. When the night finally came, Hera had earned 235 gold for the work. After texting Leo and Blue, the trio went to the pub to watch the coverage of the assault on the wall. This time they were talking about the previous assaults. From the first wall on the 8th layer, all the way to the last one on layer 22. Apparently, there wasn''t a specific pattern for the walls. They could appear after a few layers or take some time to do so. This was the 7th wall. There was a lot of speculation about how many they were and why they existed. One of the most accepted theories was that it was a way barrier placed by an ancient civilization inside the MAZE. The main reason for that was that the wall didn''t trigger any quests or notifications. At the same time, the wall spread through all the rooms in the same layer, which lead some to believe that it was something created by the maze. Several scholars were contacted through video calls to discuss the possibilities, with Becca being a sort of moderator for the discussion. At one point, it became such a huge mess that the host had to cut off everyone''s audio. She joked that it was too much information for the connection and proceeded to divide the group into two different segments. The next day Hera spent trying to figure out the spell Helena had given to her. Just like the mage said, it was a buff that improved her perception of the elements. If using it in combination with the [Observe] or [Inspect] skills, they could show the target''s primary affinity. The general idea of the spell was to increase your sensitivity to mana, and then she had to discern the difference between the types. Helena had a few explanations about how the elements felt to her. Fire was like a comet, leaving a trail of mana behind. Water felt like a river most of the time, but it could change depending on the target. Wind felt like a fog or a cloud, and earth felt grainy like sand or dirt. There were other elements in the list light and dark, thunder, and lightning. There were even a couple of odd ones, like gravity, that just seemed to attract the mana around to the center of the target. Hera considered going to the arcanist lookout to train the ability, but it was a bit too dangerous. She looked around a few shops and found a few minor items that had elemental buffs. An orb that worked as a night lamp, a pair of heated socks, and a waterskin that kept the water inside it cold. All these items cost 450 gold. It was a lot of money, but Hera had made almost a year''s worth of her previous salary in just a couple of weeks. She couldn''t believe how much money explorers make. Spending most of the afternoon trying to understand the spell, Hera used her [Pulse] to see if she could see anything helpful. Sadly, her the spell only showed that the objects had denser mana than the rest of her hotel room. Thinking she might need an actual spell to perceive the mana better, Hera started to practice the light spell. It took her 40 minutes to make it work again, and another 30 to create the light with some consistency. By the end of the afternoon, completed her goal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Light Rank: Beginner Create a small light around you. The mana cost is spent each second the spell is active. The intensity and radius of the light will affect the mana cost. Base Radius: 10 meters Base mana cost per second: 2 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I wonder if I can make that flash once again," Hera said to herself. Pumping all her mana to the spell, the light flashed as if someone just turned on a floodlight. Hera spent a few moments blinded by the light. When her vision returned, she was sad that no other notification appeared. "I guess I need to tweak it a bit more before it becomes a spell." Leaving her room, Hera went to the guild to meet Leo and Blue and watch the next part of the wall coverage. This time, it was a competition among the ones who were already there. Each participant would spend half an hour doing their best to damage the wall. There was a camera focused on the wall showing the damage. The videos were shortened to just under a minute. Wildborn was the first contestant. The healer wailed on the wall with his battleaxe. At the end of the video, there were several gashes on the barrier. Even without knowing the structure''s actual strength, the fact that he had managed to slash solid stone was incredible. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Azure chain came next. His name came from the chain that was wrapped around his arms. When attacking, it would split into several smaller chains with blades at the edges. His display was more flashy but less effective. The blades twirled around and slashed a larger part of the wall, but the damage seemed much more superficial. The next contestant was actually a pair. The same two singers Hera had seen during the opening of the olympics. Bright Night and Dark Star. The two flung spell after spell towards the wall. A mix of light and dark magic blasted the barrier again and again. In the end, there was a small pause, and the two sang a small verse of one of their songs. In sync with the music, the two cast a joint spell, creating what looked like a black hole with a ring of light around it. When it hit the wall, there was a chunk of about two meters deep that was just gone. Everyone in the bar cheered and clapped. Becca thanked the two but said that they were not contestants for first prize, but her efforts should be recognized not only as buffers for the team but for being able to do that much damage being just level 60. Another mage attempted to break it. He used a mix of lighting and ice to attack. There wasn''t much damage, since its attacks should be more effective in a biological enemy. The last entry was from Toxic Rain. Her attempt consisted of a few seconds with nothing happening, and then five arrows shot towards the wall. Several bright green veins spread around from each bolt. When most of what the camera was seeing was covered in the green threads, one last arrow blasted through the middle of the wall. After the dust settled, it showed a five-meter deep hole in the wall. Some of the toxic strands were still spreading from the edges of the tunnel. Everyone in the bar was speechless by the demonstration. No one expected the hunter to do that much damage. There was a small award ceremony where Toxic Rain received a prize from Becca, but she also became the first name in the official guild merch. The screen showed t-shirts, jackets, bags, and other goodies with a stylized version of the explorers'' names who participated in the contest. The one with Dark Star and Bright Night was actually the same style that the duo used for their presentations, which explained why they participated in the test. "Now, dear viewers, I''m incredibly excited to let you all know that tomorrow we are going to have a very special interview, the strongest explorer in the entire world. Insomniac." There was a loud cheer in the bar. Every explorer knew who that man was, the highest level person on the planet, the man that hunt dragons as a pastime. "How high do you think his level is?" one of the patrons asked. "I''m guessing 89. There is no way he''s past that," the woman beside him replied. "Is it true he made a chasm with a swing of his sword?" a man asked behind Hera. "Where did you heard that? The dude is a superhero, not a natural disaster," someone replied. On Sunday, Hera focused on trying to figure out the spell Helena gave her. Using her light spell, she could sense something a bit different around the light, but she was having trouble activating her [Pulse] without losing focus on [Light]. During her breaks, she would eat some fruit and practice the etching skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired Etching (Rank 1) Improves your ability to create engravings. By using specific tools and materials, the etching can create various effects on the targets. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was surprised when she saw the notification. Looking back at the apple on her hand, she gasped, "This was an amazing tip!" She kept trying to get the buff, but when the time came to head to the pub, she still wasn''t able to get it. Shrugging, Hera decided to meet her friends. If even Bonnie, with the learn skill, took a while to get a new spell, it wasn''t a surprise for her to take some time to get one. The pub was more crowded than Hera was expecting, but considering the person who was going to be interviewed, it was understandable. The moment Becca appeared on screen, not a single noise could be heard from the people in the bar. "Hello, everyone. I''m Becca Swan, and here with me, we have the strongest person alive. The fighter known as Insomniac." The camera split, having Becca on the right and the man on the left. He had long black hair, but it was clear the fighter''s last haircut was a long time ago. A stubble covered his tanned chin, and he had big dark bags under his eyes. "First of all, thank you so much for agreeing with the interview. I understand you are a very busy man." "It''s no problem. I had a day to kill here, anyway." "For the first question and please only answer it if you feel comfortable sharing that information. What level are you?" The man tilted his head to the side, "Why would that be a problem? That information is available with the guild. Right now, I''m level 93." Loud gasps came from people on the bar. How could he be so strong already? "That is impressive. I believe the closest person to you is still level 88," Becca said. "89 as of yesterday. She leveled up here." "Oh good, that can help with the assault. But let''s get back to you. What is your secret? Do you have a particular farming spot or some trick to it?" "If it was a farming spot, I wouldn''t share while I''m using it. But it is actually a skill from my legacy," Insomniac said. Becca gave the man a warm smile, "Could you tell us more about that skill?" "Because of my legacy, I can''t sleep like a normal person. To rest, I need to be fighting. It''s kind of like sleepwalking." "I see, so your famous grumpiness is just you being tired? I''m so sorry for that. It must be tough to deal with it." The man replied with a soft smile, "Thank you. And I apologize for that grumpiness, it is not intentional. But to be at my best condition for the operation, I had to stay awake for a few days." "Could you elaborate?" "Just a bit. One of my skills gets stronger, the longer I spend without going to sleep. Because of the legacy, I can stay longer than a regular person without sleeping." "And how long has been since you had a night of ''rest''?" Becca asked, with a worried expression. "Today... 13 days. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks. I''ve tested that before, and that is how I can be at peak condition." "And how long have you been with that legacy?" "It''s been... 12 years now." "Did you have trouble getting used to those abilities?" "At first, but I already had some problems sleeping, so the difference wasn''t that big initially." As the interview went on, Hera got distracted by other things. She wasn''t as interested in the man''s life story as his skills. He mentioned a couple of his skills and how he had placed the report of how he got the legacy as a freely available resource in the guild. That made a few people leave the bar saying that they wanted to get a copy. Hera made a note to get one later. After around 40 minutes, the interview came to an end, "Insomniac, thank you for your time, and I hope I wasn''t too invasive with the questions." "Not at all, I enjoyed it." "I''m glad to hear it! Now for our dear viewers. Tomorrow we will begin the assault at 3 PM. Our coverage starts at noon with all the preparation for the attack. I hope you all join me in this historic event!" Becca signed off, and the television went back to the music channel. Hera stayed for a while on the bar with her friends. They were enjoying their free time. Even after returning to the hotel, Hera wasn''t sure she would be able to sleep. Watching the wall break would be something extraordinary. It would be like seeing the legacy of the first hero. "I hope Helena is safe," she mumbled to herself while lying in bed. 92 - The assault on the wall Hera woke up early in the morning, she tried to go back to sleep, but she was too anxious to calm her mind. Giving up, she looked at the time. It was only 5:30 AM. Trying to quiet her mind, she returned to her attempts to figure out Helena''s spell. After a while, the noise she was making was enough to wake up Blue. Hera apologized, but the controller had already gotten up. It was 7 AM when the duo left the hotel, grabbing some fruits to eat and heading towards the guild. Blue wanted to spend some time in an ATR. She felt like she was close to something. Just after they rented the rooms, Hera received a message from Bonnie saying she was on her way back. Hera told her where they were so they could meet up. Inside the training room, Hera asked her trainer to show different types of spells. She had to buy the training program for each of the spells. That was a feature that only people who used spells with the concept used, and they were very costly. She had asked for three spells. A fire arrow to see an attack spell. A bark skin buff so she could see a continuous effect. Lastly, she asked for a healing spell. Hera was curious about how it would actually work and interact with her own mana. Just those 3 programs on her trainer would cost her 750 gold, but at least it was a one time fee. After confirming the purchase, Hera realized that she had just spent almost 1 000 gold in just three days like it was nothing. Previously, any large purchases had to be planned with months in advance. Making a promise to herself that she would be more careful with her spending, Hera focused on understanding the mana. The fire arrow was weirder than she expected. The mana appeared very quickly and vanished even before the spell hit the target. She didn''t see a trail or something like that, just a lingering feeling where the arrow hit. The other two spells had such a different usage of mana that Hera couldn''t even understand it. She spent most of her time focusing on the fire arrow. She had almost given up for the day when Blue started celebrating. "I got a buff!" "Nice! What is it?" Hera asked. Blue showed the effect to her friend. When she activated the buff, almost nothing changed aside from strands of her hair standing up. The spell covered her body in static electricity. The more she moved around, the more it would charge, and after she attacked, a small electrical current would pass through her target, giving a puny paralyzing effect. "The skill says the paralysis duration varies according to my strength. My trainer says that a person at my level will be numb for around two seconds. It seems weak, but two seconds in a fight can make a huge difference. Besides, while I''m moving around, the electricity creates a repulsion effect, and that can give me more room to move. Here, try to hit me." Hera threw a punch, aimed at Blue''s arm. Just before she was going to hit it, she felt as if there was a plastic bag on the way. Nothing that would lower the impact. It was more of a weird feeling. Hera could understand how that buff could become stronger. It was just an inconvenience at the time, but if the effect was amplified, it could work almost like an armor. Blue explained that the spell integrated with her control skill as soon as she got it. They went back to their training, but Hera wasn''t able to get anything out of it. Soon Bonnie arrived at the guild, and the three meet up. "So, how was everything at home?" Hera asked. "Weird... I figured out some things that I''m not sure I wanted to know." "Care to elaborate?" Blue asked after waiting a moment, Bonnie still had a faraway stare. Bonnie blinked and looked at the controller with a weird expression, as if she had just realized that someone was talking to her, "Oh.. Yeah... You know the debt I told you guys?" "Yes, we are aware that your dad sucks, and you have a lot of debt. You talk a lot about it despite the saying you don''t want to share that with anyone," Blue regretted the comment immediately. Not for Bonnie''s reaction, but for the look that Hera gave her. "Sorry about that. But in the end, it was all a lie. That contract, the debt that I have, my mom. Everything just... lies." "Bonnie, what happened?" Hera leaned towards Bonnie. "My mom was paid to have me. My father gave her 100 thousand gold for her to have his baby." "That''s disgusting," Blue twisted her nose. "What? Oh no. They never had sex. It was through artificial insemination. After that, my mom received a salary to take care of me. Her own daughter. I guess that makes her more a nanny than a mother," Bonnie chuckled, but her eyes proved that she didn''t find the notion amusing. Hera and Blue looked at each other. The entire situation was proof that the truth was stranger than fiction. "But that doesn''t mean she doesn''t love you. I mean, she left your father because he was pushing you too far, right?" Blue said after thinking for a while. "I guess... anyway, can we talk about something else? I need time to figure all that out." "Sure, we can talk about how Blue figured out how to use a buff." "Really?" Bonnie perked up a bit. It seems like the topic of magic was the best way to distract the woman. They talked for a while and later were joined in by Leo and Alex, who had just returned. All gathered, the group looked for a good place to have lunch and watch the assault on the wall. ######################################## Becca was walking around one of the tents in the back. Her equipment and crew were all in the protected area, together with the lower-level explorers who came to help. She understood why she was here. She was just level 47, and even Bright Night and Dark Star were inside the protected area. Outside of it was a place that only the strongest could inhabit. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Her first few hours of work for the day was all about the support crew. The brave explorers that came to places far beyond their levels risked their lives for the assault''s success. Among them, there was a woman just level 18, but she had an exceedingly strong enchantment skill. Becca already had made a round of interviews with all the supports. Now she was helping to do a headcount of all of them before the beginning of the assault. Some of them had buffs that only lasted half an hour. In order to make the best of it, they were ordered to wait until five minutes before the assault and then rush towards the protected area. After they arrived, Becca would run towards her vantage point to broadcast the assault. She would go alone since the rest of her crew was under her level. After the last mage entered the tent, Becca gave a thumbs up to her crew and dashed off to the vantage point. She had a small floating camera following her. It was a piece of enchanted equipment that could lock to her position and follow her around. She would use it for more dangerous shootings, but the video''s quality wasn''t the best. Activating her skills, she managed to zoom through the area, pointing the camera towards the wall. "This, my dear viewers, is the formation that will be used. The 20 melee warriors in front will focus on opening a path close to the ground, while the mages and archers will aim for the wall''s upper layer." She knew most people wouldn''t be able to see what was going on at the time. Running at max speed with her [Fury] activated, Becca could reach 30km/h. If needed, she could go even faster, but the camera feed would be awful. In less than a minute, she arrived at her vantage point. With a big smile, positioned the camera to see her profile, "This is it, everyone, a moment to go down in history. It''s been 62 years since the last wall was broken. Now we are reaching a once in a lifetime event. Are you ready to become legends?" The assault team roared as the camera panned towards them, some already activating buffs. "Remember, we need to break an entire collum. If any part of the wall is still connected to the other side by the time the reset starts the wall will fix herself. If that happens, anyone in the middle of the wall needs to rush back if you stay there, you will die. We choose this room exactly because of its shorter height. It''s only ten meters up, let''s tear it down!" Becca looked to the sides and saw the fire starting on the walls, "Here it comes. The moment the fire is gone, you all attack. I''ll be timing the assault, if it gets too close to the reset, I''ll warn you." The wall light up, the flames licking the roof of the room. It changed colors, turning once again to the dark flames from before. Suddenly, the flames were extinguished. "NOW!!" Becca yelled. What followed was absolute mayhem. The warriors jumped forward and started to tear down the stone using their weapons, hands, and anything they could use. Above them could only be described as a warzone. Explosions of fire, ice, and rock resonated with each other, creating larger blast. Arrows flew from the back line. Some hit with the impact of a ballista, destroying large chunks of the wall, Others were closer to what Toxic Rain had done before. Small arrows that corroded and weakened the structure. Little by little, the explosions began to disappear in the opening created on the wall. Becca tried to get a better angle at the action, moving more to the side. It helped a bit, but not enough to show everything. After ten minutes of the assault, Becca cast a spell that she had created. A small magic camera appeared in front of her, and she sent it towards the wall gap. She picked her tablet and stared at it. A few moments later, she frowned and cast the spell once again. This time giving more mana to the construct to increase the invulnerability time. With a nod, Becca showed the image on her tablet to the screen while speaking, "Here we go guys, 10 minutes in we dug 10 meters of the wall. We still have 35 minutes to break the other 40 meters. Time your berserker skills right." Becca finished speaking and then showed a small earpiece from where she was giving information to the rest. During the next minutes, some shouts came from the backline. A few of the attackers showed visible differences. Some had an aura around them, while others seemed to wear the elements they were using as armor. The blasts became louder and more violent. Becca tried to play it off as if it wasn''t a dangerous thing, but she couldn''t be confident while talking to the melee fighters in the middle of the tunnel. Becca kept giving updates about their progress the entire time, as if she was narrating horserace. When the timer reached the 38 mark, there was a huge shout coming from the wall. Mages stopped firing, and after a few moments, the fighters appeared leaving the gap. Becca rushed towards it and saw the opening that was created. She activated the camera spell once again while the team watched her expectantly. "Unless the wall has some weird tricks. We did it!" Some cheered, but others still kept analyzing the opening, making sure there was no part connecting the two pieces of the wall. After a few moments, the fire began once again. However, instead of becoming a black flame, the fire turned white. When it vanished, the wall was no more. There was a moment of silence, followed by a loud cheer from all the assault team members. People were jumping, hugging each other, and celebrating in their own ways. Becca was tossed up by Wildborn, who appeared out of nowhere and then left after placing her on the ground. Becca turned around to see the new area that was revealed for the first time. "We did it. We did..." she stopped talking when she noticed what was beyond the wall. Hundreds of moss-covered veiny pulsating eggs seemed to be spread around the other side of the now gone barrier. "What the hell is that?" Azure Chain asked. "Hold up. Some are hatching," Toxic Rain yelled. Becca looked towards where the hunter pointed. One of the eggs opened like flowers, and a weird creature came out of it. It looked like a hairless monkey, with pointed ears and red eyes. Its skin was completely white, aside from the edge of the fingers where big red claws meet the flesh. Seeing the creature sent a shiver to Becca''s spine. They seemed wrong. More eggs started hatching. Other types of monkeys were joined by wolves, rats, and taller and spindly creatures, all with the same color and claws. In a short time, hundreds of those creatures had been born. The explorers could be tired, but they were a team of High-level individuals. In a few seconds, they were already setting up a defense perimeter, ready to face the creatures. Without warning, the monsters dashed towards the encampment covering the 100 meter distance between them and the explorers in just 3 seconds. At first, the team managed to hold the creatures back. But their numbers were staggering. For each monster that was killed, ten more would take its place. Becca was sent to the back, being told to run to the protected area. However, the woman refused to go and just stood in the back, not wanting to miss the action. With each passing moment, the explorers were pushed back. One of the ice mages was caught alone in, and a group of creatures ripped him apart. Not only that, but the monsters started to eat the man. A few fighters tried to reach him, but the horde of monsters refused to let them pass. Becca couldn''t look away, the camera following her eyes. She activated her [Observe] trying to get some information about the creatures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo (Newborn) Level - ?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The monsters finished their meals and started to shiver. Sickening cracks and rips came from the creatures as if their body was crushing itself. When the sounds stopped, the creatures raised, showing large ice spices coming out of their knees and elbows. As they roared, Becca could see their cold breath forming in front of them. She turned and started to run towards the protected area. Before she reached it, screams came out of the tent as a group of white hairless wolves looking monsters ripped through the side of the tent and started their feast. One of the monsters lunged at Becca, who pushed him away, the camera being smashed into the ground in the process. Becca looked around, seeing all the carnage around her. She noticed a few members of her crew running towards the jungle and dashed towards them, hoping she would reach her friends before the bloodthirsty hairless monkey that was closing in. 93 - Reaction Hera was watching the coverage in the coffee shop she went with Helena. There was a small set up with a couple of dozen people there. All eyes glued to the screen. They yelled when the attack began, talked about the spells, and while the tunnel opened and cheered when the wall disappeared. However, when the first of the creatures appeared, the entire shop went quiet. Even the waiters stopped working and just stared at the screen. Watching not only the 200 members of the attack team but the other 300 explorers, all near level 80, being overwhelmed filled the viewers with dread. It was a brutal reminder that life inside the MAZE was like walking on a tightrope. One false step and they would forever be in death''s icy embrace. They watched as the creatures devoured a mage and seemed to absorb part of its power. The screen showed Becca being hit and the camera falling to the ground, the lens cracking in the process. Only small parts of the screen showed clear images. Hera watched as Becca rushed towards a group in the back, and a white hairless wolf jumped onto her. People were leaving the protected tent, rushing towards the jungle. Becca got back up, apparently holding her arm, and the image went dark. No one in the coffee shop made a sound. They were all still processing what just had happened before they could understand anything. The screen blinked, and the guild logo appeared. "Hello, everyone. I am Leliana Mihafrey, the current chairwoman of the guild. I understand that the images that we just saw were disturbing. I ask you all to remain calm. There is no indication that anyone that is outside of the Queeroni Wilds is in danger. All explorers in the 25th layer, please report to the guild and stay inside the doorway cities while we assess the situation. If you have friends or family participating in the assault head to a guild branch, we will get your contact info and let you know as soon as we have more information. I''m also issuing a set of quests for all high-level explorers. We need people to fortify defenses, patrol areas, and search parties for our missing members. For now, that will be all and don''t forget. We fight together, we win together, and we survive together." Leliana''s voice was strong and confident. It helped to dissolve some of the tension lingering in the air. The shop started to return to life. People talked about what they just witnessed in hushed tones as if talking about it would attract the monsters. Hera kept staring at the screen, her head already spinning. Helena was supposed to be in the protection tent, the same place invaded by the four-legged beasts. Did she manage to get out? Hera couldn''t see if she was in the group that ran after the camera fell. Blue stared at Hera, worried. The explorer''s face was white, and she had a weird look. "Hera? Are you ok? Do you need some water?" Hera didn''t take her eyes out of the screen, "I have to go." "Go where?" "I have to go," Hera said again and got up, rushing towards the exit. "Wait, Hera," Blue ran after her friend. Hera went down the stairs 3 steps at a time, almost falling more than once. Helena had saved her life. The woman gave her the chance to follow her dreams. Now she was alone in a place filled with monsters. She had to do something to help her. She needed to help her. "Hera!" Blue yelled already in the street, seeing the explorer head towards the docks. The controller ran towards her friend and grabbed her arm, "What are you doing? Where are you going?" "I need to help Helena," Hera''s eyes were already watering. "Hera, no. We can''t do anything. You will die before even getting there." "Blue, let me go. I have to help her!" Hera kept walking, dragging Blue with her. The controller wasn''t able to pull her back since her strength stat was lower, but she had to stop Hera. Blue stepped to the side, still holding Hera''s arm. Placing a foot between her legs, she pulled the explorer back and threw her on the ground. Climbing on top of her friend and holding her down; "HERA, STOP! Think about what you are trying to do." Hera starred at Blue, tears starting to run down her face, "I can''t let her die. She saved my life." Blue hugged her friend. A few moments later, the rest of the group arrived at the scene. Hera was sitting with Blue on top of her, the two women holding each other while the explorer sobbed. The group returned to the hotel. Hera wanted to pass by the guild, but there were too many people in there. They all gathered in Blue''s room. "Hera, we understand that you are worried. But you can''t do anything to help her right now," Leo said. "That''s not entirely true," the whole group stared at Alex. "How?" Hera said, already getting up. "Sit back down. It''s not something you can do running around. But you are in the Order of something something right? That''s a network you can use. Talk to the people there. See if anyone is willing to rescue Helena. She is a member. I''m sure they are worried as well," Alex explained. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I could. I mean I can, it''s not much, and I can see about posting a quest on the guild too. Worst-case scenario, I get a loan and work to pay it off," Hera was already getting her tablet and accessing the Order''s website. "Focus on the order first. We can check the quest thing later, ok?" Bonnie said. It wasn''t hard to figure out if anyone was willing to help Helena. The order wasn''t a big organization, having just a bit over 2 000 members, and Helena was very well known among them. Before even Hera got in the forums, there was a fixed thread about what happened. There was a list of 3 people who were called to help with the assault. Helena, the level 18 mage as a buffer, Korey a level 45 crafter to perform maintenance on weapons and Samera the level 75 assassin as part of the guard team. They still had no information on their whereabouts, but someone had confirmed that their bracelets were still sending life signs. There were also a few people volunteering to find the three. Someone with the username ''The_Ancient_Gran_Mage'' had created the thread, and the person also said that they would post an Order quest for the rescue mission. There was also a small form to register and receive any updates about the situation. Hera filled the form and wrote a reply on the thread, saying that Helena had saved her life, and even though she was very weak, she was willing to do anything to help. Only after the first few replies came in telling her not to worry and that no one would let little Lena get hurt that she looked back to her friends. "Thanks, Alex. Someone already confirmed that her bracelet is still sending signals, and some people are already setting up a search party." The assassin smiled, "See, you have good connections, use them. Now, what do you think about it?" Hera tilted her head, "About what?" "What we were just talking about, were you even listening?" Leo asked. "No, sorry." Leo let out a sigh, "We were talking about putting the frog valley dungeon on the backburner since it might be a good idea if we stay close to the city for a while." "Oh, that''s a good idea. I want to be close to the city to get any updates. That way we can also get more information about those things, we still don''t know if they can go through doorways." The group stared at Hera. "What?" "Do you think those things can move rooms?" Blue asked. "No idea, but it''s not unheard of. There was the invasion, the devil hunt, and even smaller things like the giants who invaded this room." "Are we safe here?" Bonnie asked the group. "Probably, we pretty far from the layer they showed up. Even if they can cross the doorways, it would still take quite some time to get here," Hera said. "Are you sure?" "Not at all, but that''s part of the point of staying close to the city, right?" Hera asked. "Yeah, I guess," Leo replied. There was a palpable tension in the room. The group was taking in what happened and what that could mean for them. Hera, on the other hand, kept browsing the net, looking for ways to help Helena. She found out that the requirements for any of the emergency quests were way too high for her. Reading through different websites and on Chipper, she looked for the price to hire a high-level explorer. Sadly, even basic delivery missions would cost her hundreds of thousands. In the end, every angle she tried gave the same result. Hera wasn''t powerful enough to do anything. Be it in actual strength or monetary power. Trying something different, Hera looked for quick ways to level up. There were some sketchy looking websites about magical pills or drinks that would increase your experience gain, but they all asked for money, and it felt like those fake lose fat quick products. She found some people talking about how their leveling speed was better since they didn''t have a party or hunt stronger enemies. Some suggested being power leveled by other high-level explorers, but that was a different can of worms. From being too risky to not actually working, people had dozens of reasons why that was a bad idea. If Hera wanted to level up faster, she needed to start hunting on her own. Yet, she needed to do some things before being able to be efficient about that. First, she needed a way to heal herself. It would all be for nothing if she ended up dying. Potions could work, but after seeing Runir, she understood how much healing magic could help. Second, she needed an offensive spell. Bonnie''s magic was a game-changer during the hunts, and she heard about monsters that are strong against physical attacks. Third, she wanted to find a good place to farm. A place with a lot of monsters spread out that respawned quickly. However, that was just basic preparation. She needed more. As Hera was thinking about what she lacked, Blue let out a loud grunt, breaking the explorer''s concentration. "That''s it. I''m going to train. I can''t stand being around moping like that. Anyone coming?" Hera got up, "Yeah, it will be good to take my mind away from this. I want to get some new spells." Agreeing that it was better than sitting around sulking, the group headed to the ATRs on the guild. Apparently, most people had the same idea, and there were a limited number of rooms available. Leo picked the last spot in a shared room, Alex and Bonnie were in the same room but not at each other''s side. Blue made a point of being close to Hera, still worried about her friend. Hera looked through the list of spells that were available for the trainer. She had already picked a fire spell, but she didn''t like the idea of using fire. It was too easy to make a mistake and cause some irreparable damage. Blue was already using lighting, and even though Hera wanted to hunt alone, she rather pick something that her team lacked. Reading through the list, there was one spell that caught her attention, poison spray. The skills that Toxic Rain showed left a big impression on Hera. If she could do something similar, it would be amazing. She could hit her target and hide until it died. Picking that spell, Hera focused on learning it. The appearance was a bit different from what she expected. Instead of an actual spray, the spell functioned more like a short-range ray. Trying to mimic the effect, Hera attempted to make her mana go forth in a line. It wasn''t as hard as she expected, but nothing happened when she hit a target. Even though she was trying to focus, there was too much going on in her head to make a breakthrough. Hera spent a couple of hours trying to make the spell work when something clicked inside her head. Not about her current endeavor, but about what she could do to level up faster. Or better yet, who she could ask about it. "Blue, I''m heading to the hotel. But I want to be alone for a while. Can you kill time somewhere?" Blue gave Hera a worried look, " I can spend some more time here or in the gym, but promise you won''t do anything stupid." "I won''t. I just want to do something, and I need to be alone for that." Blue stared at her friend for a while, "Oh, right. Of course. My bad," she got closer to Hera, "The store in the corner sells batteries if you need and try to keep your voice down. I overdid it a few days ago and got some complaints." Hera blushed a bit. She wasn''t going to do that yet, but it could be good to pretend like she was. After all, she needed the privacy. "I''ll keep that in mind, thanks." Hera left the guild and headed straight to the hotel. She had been saving the skill for a long time now. If anyone knew the best ways to get stronger, it would be a guide. 94 - Brinefronts Guide Hera walked into her room and locked the door behind her, placing a chair on the handle to prevent anyone from entering. She stepped inside the bathroom and turned on the shower and the sink. She took a moment to consider if that was a good idea. As far as Hera knew, there was no water shortage in the MAZE, or at least, not in this room. She would try to be careful later. Right now, her main concern was not to be heard by anyone. Hera even turned the TV on to have more noise coming from the room. Feeling safe enough, she sat on the toilet and opened the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Local Guide It allows you to summon the guide of the room you are in. The guide will stay for five minutes and answer any questions you have about the room. You can summon the guide only once per room. Information about this skill can only be shared with explorers who have the skill. Information about a specific guide can only be shared with explorers who have met said guide. If these rules are broken three times, the skill will be removed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thinking back to how Peaches told her to activate the skill, Hera took a deep breath. "I call upon the Guide of Brinefront. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." A notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to summon the room''s guide? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed the yes button. Almost instantly, a small crack in the air appeared in front of her. It was almost as if reality itself had opened. From the opening, Hera heard something moving. A few moments later, something fell from the hole. It was white with several small black dots, two fin-like protrusions in a dark brown color. There was a clump of similar fin-looking parts on its back in a way that it made it look like a bunny tail. This clearly wasn''t like the monsters that appeared after the wall was broken, but Hera wanted to make sure of it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ?????????? - Brinefront Guide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Letting out a breath of relief, Hera adjusted herself and looked at the guide. Just now realizing why she thought the appearance was familiar. It was just like a bunny slug, aside from being the size of a cantaloupe. As she stared at it, two black beady eyes appeared in front of its face. "Forgive me, miss. I was not expecting to be called. It has been quite a while since I was summoned," the guide spoke without showing its mouth. Its voice was surprisingly deep, and it had a noble quality to it. "Don''t worry. I''m sorry for disturbing you." "There is no need for you to apologize. It is my duty, and I will perform it with all my heart." Hera smiled at the creature, "Thank you. Is there a way to how much time I still have? I don''t want to be rude, but I need to know to think about the questions." "Of course, miss, when the questions start, the clock shall appear above my head. However, I am of the belief that we should introduce each other before starting the procedures, even if not all my brethren would feel the same," the bunny slug raised its body then lowered its head doing what looked like a bow, "My name is Grand Duke Berthellemy, but you may call me Berthellemy, or Duke if you wish to save time." "Thank you, Berthellemy. My name is Hera, no title for now. Would it be ok if I call you Bert? Calling you, Duke seems weird." "You may do as you wish, miss," Berthellemy went back to his resting position. "Thanks, Berty!" The guide flinched when it heard the name, "If you must, please just call me Bert." Hera nodded, worried she might have offended the creature. "Shall we begin?" the guide asked as a timer appeared 30 centimeters above its head. "Please. What is the quickest way to get stronger in this room?" As Hera started to make a question, the five minutes above Berthellemy''s head began to count down. "That is a rather basic question, miss. You can complete quests, finish dungeons, fight against other creatures. Successfully completing tasks that are above your current level is a quick way to increase your strength. Procuring better equipment is also a good way to do so, and since you are an explorer, you can learn a new role skill. That usually gives a sizeable boost to your overall strength." Hera''s eyes kept going between Berthellemy and the timer. That one question shaved off almost 30 seconds of total time. She needed to be more specific. "Where are the strongest monsters in this room?" "If you had asked that question before, I would say in the dungeon at the cave''s entrance. However, now a more powerful beast roams the west wall of the room." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "When did that change?" The guide shook its head, "I am unable to tell you that, miss. I can only say what is currently happening." Hera nodded. She would think about what that all meant later, "Is there an item that could boost my power considerably that I can get in this room?" "All dungeons have items that can increase your power. However, none of them would be relevant in other layers. Not to say they are weak, but you could easily find better items, the deeper you go inside the MAZE." It was a reply that Hera was expecting, but not exactly what she had in mind. "If I get a Legacy, can I get stronger quickly?" Berthellemy''s fin-like ears moved a bit. Hera saw his eyes going to the ground for a moment before meeting her gaze. "It is hard to say. Legacies come in various shapes and forms. Some can give you an incredible boost right away, while others take a considerable amount of time to show it''s true value. Some can even make you weaker for a long time." "Is there any way to gain levels faster, aside from what you told me?" Berthellemy shook its head, "I am unable to answer that question." "Why?" "You don''t have enough time remaining." Hera nodded, looking at the time she saw that less than 2 and a half minutes remained. She needed to make more close-ended questions. "Please answer with yes or no unless I ask to elaborate," Berthellemy nodded, agreeing with Hera''s request, "Is there a place in this room that no one ever went to?" "Yes." "Can people go there?" "No." "Is the creature in the west wall dangerous?" "Yes, very." "Would killing it boost my level?" "Yes." Two minutes remaining, Hera could go after a role skill, but which one? "Wich role skill would be the best one to fight enemies much stronger than myself? You can elaborate," "That would be a matter of opinion and synergy. Every role skill can help you fight stronger enemies. It is about what you do with the skill." Hera nodded, "I understand. But I''m asking for your opinion." Berthellemy stared at Hera for a while. Hera looked him in the eye, but his stare started to linger for too long. Hera looked at the timer, worried, but it had stopped at 1:39. "That is a delightful surprise. I do not remember the last time an explorer asked my opinion. I believe that the best options are Synch, Assassinate, and Control. Mages are incredibly versatile and can exploit the weakness of their enemies. Assassins can move around undetected and deal more damage if they are hidden Controllers are incredibly proficient in messing with their enemies'' attacks and movement, or the surrounding terrain." Hera considered his suggestion for a moment. She was considering [Synch] and [Assassinate] for a while, the second one more for the ability to improve her [hide]. "Shall we continue, miss?" Berthellemy gave her a moment. But he still had to complete his job. "Yes, sure. I have a few other questions, but I''m not sure if the time will allow me." "Then, we keep going until the time stops." "Ok, back to the yes or no then. Can you tell me things about other layers?" "Yes." "Could you tell me if a mage is alive?" "No." "Is there an element that most creatures are weak against?" "No." "Is there an element that most creatures are not resistant to?" "Yes." "Please, tell me what they are." Berthellemy closed its eyes for a moment while Hera watched the time go down. When only 30 seconds were remaining on the timer, the guide opened its eyes, "It is rare to see a monster with some sort of resistance to mental attacks. Wind is also something difficult to create a resistance to. And, as it is expected in nature, pathogens can easily wipe out a species. Of course, you need a particularly wicked pathogen to do so. But a single creature can easily die if infected by a potent virus." "So poison?" "Actually, it would be disease, miss." With that, the timer reached 0. It disappeared after a moment. However, Berthellemy was still on the bathroom floor in front of her. "I guess that is it. Thanks for answering my questions, and sorry if I was being rude Berthellemy." The guide shook its head, "No need to apologize, miss. I understand that you were in a time-sensitive situation. But if you allow me to be so bold. Could I ask you some questions? It has been some time since someone called me." "Sure, you helped me so much." Hera smiled at the guide. He asked questions about the world and the current situations of the MAZE. Hera explained what she could, telling him about the wall and the creatures that came after it. Sadly, Berthellemy didn''t know anything about the monsters. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Hera asked, worried about offending the guide. "You may, but I am not able to answer anything that is related to the MAZE. For such is the agreement that the skill forces upon us." Hera nodded, "Do all the guides know each other? Like, can you interact with other guides, or are you all alone?" "We have our homes, yes. But if we so wish we can gather, be it in our own houses or a common space. Nothing that is connected to the same places you can reach, so we are safe." "Right, that''s good. It would be kind of sad if you were all alone. With no one around to help you if you need," Hera started to think about Helena. Was she safe? Could she be in danger and all alone? Feeling her eyes water, she cleaned them with her arm and turned back to Berthellemy. "I must say it would be, some of the guides are very interesting. I would miss talking to then, even though some might be a bit too crass for my taste." "I see, and do you know Peaches?" Berthellemy nodded, "I do, although I can''t tell you anything about the other guiders." "I see. I just wanted to know if he was doing ok. You can''t even tell me that?" "My apologies, miss. I am unable to share any information about other guides. Even something as simple as their well being." Hera gave Berthellemy a sad smile, "I understand. If you can, just tell him I said hey. And that the kid is doing fine, despite everything." The guide nodded, "I will do miss. Peaches has a tendency to be too chatty when everything is going well, and it''s been a while since I saw him quiet," Berthellemy winked at Hera. "It seems like him," Hera smiled. Berthellemy said it was time for him to go, and a second crack in reality appeared at its side. The guide said its farewells and walked into the opening. Hera sat there for a few moments, still considering what she had learned. Turning down the faucet, she took a shower, trying to relax. During the next few days, Hera and her group hunted a bit in the afternoon, although not as much as they used to, and focused on training. Hera would check up on the thread about Helena almost every hour. The only update was about how the rescue team had already reached the Qeeroni Wilds. Hera focused on learning the spells to start her solo hunting. In just three days, she had managed to get the 3 she wanted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Spray Rank: Beginner Creates a line of poisonous mana. Creatures struck by that line can become poisoned. The more mana used, the stronger the poison effect. Range: 15 meters Base mana cost: 25 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mend Rank: Beginner Improves the recovery of wounds. The bigger the injury, the more mana the skill needs for a full recovery. Base mana cost: 50 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bark Skin Rank: Beginner Strengthen your skin, making it harder to be pierced and more resistant to damage. Base mana cost: 30 per minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having all three spells and a small stock of mana and health potions, Hera sneaked out of her room at night towards the city''s exit. It was time for her to hunt. 95 - Solo Hunt Hera had left the hotel a bit after sundown. She told her friends that she needed to do a role quest around the city. To avoid making them worry or Blue telling her, she wanted to come along, Hera had to hide the fact that she wanted to hunt. For the first day, she only wanted to get the feeling for it. Before crossing the city gates, Hera checked the thread about Helena once more. The last update was that the rescue team had left the doorway city in the Qeeroni Wilds in the afternoon. They mentioned that it was a day''s walk until the camp where the assault took place, but it still made Hera anxious. Trying to focus on the task at hand, Hera left the city. The guards warned her about being dangerous at night, but that wasn''t much of a surprise. A forest being more perilous during the dark was expected. Hera walked for a few minutes, just to be far enough from the wall for the frogs to be around. Activating her [Hide], she started to move through the forest. Her biggest worry was overusing her [Pulse] and having no mana left for the other spells. It would be tricky to do this type of resource management, but it was part of getting stronger. Moving around in the woods, Hera was careful not to go where the forest grew thicker. It was very dark outside the city. Only some of the moonlight was able to reach the area. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to find a frog who seemed to be in a deep slumber. Approaching the creature with her handaxe at the ready, Hera saw another dozen of frogs around it. She stopped for a moment. If she failed to kill it without a sound and in a single blow, the situation would go south rather quickly. She moved away from the group and back to her search. Another half an hour passed while she looked for a frog on its own. Sadly, they were all sleeping in groups. The smaller army of frogs she found had just three members, all of the Blue variation. They were quicker, and their tongue was stronger, but still, if she managed to kill one of them quickly, dealing with two at once could be possible. Like a tiger stalking its prey, Hera crouched down, moving towards the frogs. Being careful not to make any noise, she stepped gingerly through the grass. Getting closer to the larger frog among the three, Hera aimed at the creature''s neck and swung with all her strength. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ''Crap,'' she thought to herself. The skill was supposed to be a hail mary, not an opening move. The strike was enough to decapitate the frog, but its head fell to the ground with a thud. Hera froze, looking at the remaining frogs. One of them shuffled a bit and went back to sleep. The other was still unmoving. Keeping her eyes on the creatures, Hera circled the dead body. As she got close to her next prey, she failed to notice a loose branch in the way. Hera stepped on it, and it rolled away, making the explorer lose her balance. Hera leaned forward and tried to fall without making too much noise, but her handaxe hit the frog''s feet. Before she was even able to understand what happened, the creature let out a loud croak. It''s companion waking up with the noise and already moving towards the intruder. Hera quickly got up, slashing at the side of the frog she already hit, trying to cripple it even more. The other frog lashed out with its tongue, aiming at the explorer. Moving at the last moment, Hera dodged the attack steeping behind the frog she already injured. Holding her chakram tightly, she attacked the frog once more, making an X shaped cut on its back. The frog jumped forward, removing Hera''s cover while the second frog lashed out once more. The explorer spun around, trying to evade the attack while she raised her handaxe, aiming at its tongue. She had fought enough of those creatures to know that their combat power would decrease drastically by injuring its tongue. Without missing a beat, she lunged forward, reaching the already injured frog. Hera jumped on its back and aimed another slash at the base of the beast''s neck. Her attack made a large gash on the frog, blood spilling towards the ground. The frog jumped once more. Hera attempted to grab on to the creature, reaching for its fresh wound, but its flesh gave in with her weight. Dropping to the floor, she recovered her footing and looked at the mostly unharmed frog. Circling the creature, she raised her hand and aimed at it. A mana construct was created, and Hera focused on increasing the strength of her attack. In less than five seconds, she sent her Poison spray spell aiming at the frog''s eyes. She had used almost double of required mana, but seeing the beast shiver and trash its head around confirmed that it was effective. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hera rushed towards the one that was already in bad shape. Jumping on its back once again, she struck the same spot on the creature''s neck. This time, the frog fell to the ground and stopped moving. Hera hit the neck once more to be sure it wasn''t just a trick and jumped off the beast already facing the remaining frog. The frog was turning around, still shaking its head. The eye where Hera had hit was dripping pus and fluid. It was also cloudy and red in some places. Hera felt a bit bad for the creature. Even though she wanted to kill them for the experience, she didn''t want them to suffer. However, she wasn''t even sure that those creatures were alive. Their bodies would disappear if left in the forest. Yet Leo had rescued one of them who acted just like a pet. A croak snapped Hera out of her philosophical meandering. The frog was about to jump towards her. She dodged to the side and attacked its stomach. Hitting the chakram in the undamaged eye, Hera spun around the creature and slashed at his limbs. She was having trouble seeing an opening to attack the neck since the frog kept thrashing around. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The beast was getting slower by the second. Hera could plainly see that each movement was taxing for it. She kept dodging and slashing until the creature seemed lost strength in one of its legs, falling to the ground as it tried to move. The explorer quickly jumped on top of it and started slashing at the frog''s neck. She needed a few strikes but ultimately killed the third frog. "Ok, this wasn''t as bad as I thought," Hera said, trying to catch her breath. The explorer was very tired from the combat. She managed not to get hit, but only because she didn''t stop moving for a second. She would need some time to rest before going for another group. Hera was looking for a place to rest. She had never seen any dangerous birds or bugs in this room. Because of that, a tree seemed like the best spot for a rest. Climbing a larger tree, she felt safe enough to take a few minutes to rest and recover her mana. Hera looked at her stats to confirm how long it would take to recover completely. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 3 Stats: Strength: 15 Endurance: 15 Agility: 15 Charisma: 15 Intelligence: 15 Luck: 15 Mana: 109/153 Remaining attribute points: 1 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat Dodge, Run ,Improved Stamina Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She only needed about 40 minutes to recover all of her mana, 20 if she used the cycling technique. But right now, she only needed about six minutes to be at full mana. Yet, Hera wanted to rest for about 15 minutes before continuing the hunt. It didn''t matter how much she wished to get stronger and find a way to help Helena. If she wasn''t careful, she would die before being able to do a thing. Hera kept cycling her mana not only to recover faster but possibly increase her maximum mana. It didn''t take long for her to feel her magic replenished. However, she was restless. Maybe 15 minutes was too much wasted time. Ten minutes after sitting down, she came down from the branch and started to look for another group of frogs. This time, it didn''t take long for her to find a good target. Only two of the creatures were around, but they were facing each other. Hera ducked down and started to move towards the frog. Moving slowly, she got close to its back and jumped on top of it, striking with her handaxe at the same time. The cut went straight to the monster''s neck, and its body fell limp under her. As Hera looked towards the second frog, she got hit on the shoulder by the creature''s tongue. She flew backward, landing back first into the ground. The impact made her lose her breath for a few moments. Hera was still trying to gather herself when a large shadow appeared on top of her. Rolling to the side, the explorer got most of her body away from the spot she was just in. With a sickening crunch, the monster landed on Hera''s leg. The explorer screamed with the pain and started to slash away at the frog, trying to get the creature off of her. The beast moved its head towards her and sent out its tongue once again. When the creature faced Hera, she activated her bark skin, bracing herself for the impact. She managed to avoid being hit on the face, but the creature''s tongue grabbed her armor and pulled her to its mouth. Hera let out another scream as she the pressure on her leg raised. She felt like the pull would rip her apart. The frog shifted its position, freeing Hera''s foot. At the same time, she was pulled even faster towards the monster''s maw. Trying to attack with her free hands, Hera couldn''t cut the tongue that stuck to her in time, and the frog bit down on the explorer. She screamed once again as she felt the monster''s teeth sink a few centimeters into her back. Hera was trying to open the monster''s mouth by slashing at it repeatedly. That only made the frog to apply more pressure on its prey. Seeing that her attacks weren''t working, she let go of her handaxe and pushed one hand inside the mouth, trying to use it to create some leverage. The inside of the creature''s mouth was too slippery to grab, and the smell was making Hera dizzy. She raised her hand, aiming deeper into the beast, and pushed most of her mana to a spell. The poison spray slammed on the frog''s throat, and the sickly orange glow dripped down to its stomach. Hera didn''t stop pushing away and hitting it with her chakram that was outside the creature''s mouth. After a few moments, the pressure was alleviated. The teeth she felt on her back were moving away. With all the trashing and slashing, the frog was already having trouble to devour its prey. Now it was even feeling a burning sensation in its stomach. The beast opened its mouth and retched, making Hera fall onto the ground covered in whatever the monster had eaten for dinner. The creature coughed and shook its head, the eyes aiming at the small human that had caused it to vomit. Hera picked Iris from the ground and attempted to run, but her foot hurt so much that she couldn''t stand properly. She looked back to the monster, who stared her down with fury in its eyes. The creature got ready to jump, while Hera prepared to roll away. Just as the frog left the ground, its back legs were caught by something else. Something bigger that easily reached the branches of the trees. Hera saw the look in the frog''s eyes, and for a moment she could have sworn it was afraid. The second monster opened its maw and quickly closed it back, putting even more of the frog inside it. For the first time, she was able to see what the monster was. A three-meter tall warty toad with red eyes and black skin was standing in front of her, eating the creature that was close to killing her. Hera stayed still, hoping that the monster wouldn''t be interested in a dessert. She placed one hand on her foot and used the mend spell, spending the rest of her mana. The spell helped somewhat. It wasn''t enough to completely take away the pain, but now she could move it a bit. Luckily, the crunching noise from before wasn''t the sound of her foot breaking. She raised her head once again and saw the toad staring back at her. The frog was already completely inside its mouth. The toad took a step towards Hera, its mouth twisted in what could be described as a grin with saliva dripping from the side. Hera glanced at the side and saw that the forest grew thicker, maybe even too thick for the creature to follow. Mustering all her courage, and hoping the toad wasn''t able to use its tongue, Hera dashed towards the woods. The toad followed, moving much faster than the frogs she was facing. It tried to lash out with its tongue, but its current meal was in the way. Hera kept running, looking back only to be sure to avoid any incoming attacks. She dashed through the trees, heading deeper and deeper into the forest. When she had a chance, she started to gulp down the health and mana potions she had brought. The potions would act in her entire body, so it would take a long time to trigger the effect on her leg. She kept running, activating her Pulse after her mana was back to see if the toad was still following her. She found no trace of the creature this deep into the forest, but there was a hollow tree nearby. She hoped the toad didn''t have a good sense of smell and climbed into the tree. She needed some time to recover and rest. Breathing heavily, Hera almost failed to notice the noise of something big landing near her. She tried to go deeper into the hollow tree and stayed utterly still, as the toad kept jumping around her. 96 - Goliath Toad Hera stayed inside the hollow tree, listening to the toad jumping around near her. She was in the thicker part of the woods, but there were some gaps, large enough for the toad to jump into. A couple of times, Hera saw the creature jump over some trees. As time went by, the noises became less frequent until it finally stopped. Hera waited some time to be sure the creature wasn''t moving around anymore. When she felt it was enough, she used her pulse, hoping she would be able to feel things beyond the bark around her. The mana spread out from her and hit the wood. A less intense amount kept going, allowing Hera to feel some of the area around her. There were a few trees, some bushes, and the giant toad a few meters behind her. As the mana passed through the creature, Hera could feel it moving. The last bit of mana allowed the explorer to sense the toad opening its mouth while facing the tree she was in. She felt the tongue coming out of its mouth, heading straight for her. Hera let her body fall deeper into the tree just before the toad''s tongue splintered part of the bark hitting the middle of the tree. Hera held back a gasp. She had to stay quiet so the monster wouldn''t see her. The toad struck two more times, aiming at different heights. Luckily, none of the attacks got close to hitting Hera. The beast jumped once more and hit the top of the hollow tree, breaking its top and making the tree fall down. Hera activated her bark skin once more, trying to protect herself from the fall. Looking through the opening in the tree, Hera saw the massive frame of the toad. The creature was moving slowly, and it seemed to be panting. The toad moved to face the now fallen hollow tree and lashed out with its tongue towards the hole in the middle. Hera tried to move down to the second exit, but it was clear it wouldn''t be fast enough. Raising both her chakram and her handaxe, she got ready to be hit by the attack. The tongue hit the weapons, making the toad recoil. The impact shoved Hera closer to the exit. Moving quickly, she reached the other side and got ready to defend against the creature. Thankfully, she was able to mostly heal her foot during the time she was hidden. It still stung, but the pain was much more manageable. The toad, on the other hand, seemed to be in bad shape. It was shivering, and it appeared confused. Still, it was staring at Hera intently. The explorer got ready with another poison spray and sent it towards the toad. The creature attempted to dodge, but it wasn''t fast enough to move away. Hera missed the eye she targeted, but the poison spray hit part of the skin on the monster''s back. The toad jumped towards the explorer, but it fell atop the hollow tree, splintering the log. Hera rushed to the side and slashed at the creature. Its skin was much tougher than what she expected. Thankfully, the toad had the same problem with turning as the frogs. Considering that and the sluggish movement the creature had now, Hera could finally see a way to fight the monster. She dashed around it, sending blasts of poison spray every time there was an opening. The toad kept moving around, trying to slap this annoying prey that kept hiding and running. It landed more than a few hits. The monster''s attacks felt like someone was hitting Hera with a chair. Even so, she kept attacking, feeling she was close to killing the creature on her own. After a couple of minutes, Hera was starting to feel very tired. She didn''t have enough time to rest, and her foot was still a problem. But she still felt confident about her odds. The toad had vomited once more, allowing Hera to hit a poison spray directly in its eye. She had given up cutting the creature''s skin. It was too tough, and it left her too open for a counter-attack. She had to gulp down the last of the mana potions she had brought before the toad finally fell into the ground and stopped moving. Hera activated her [Observe] From a safe distance to be sure it wasn''t just faking it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Goliath Cane Toad (Corpse) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feeling more confident with the situation, Hera activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Goliath Cane Toad (Corpse) A nocturnal toad that roams the woods of Brinefront. It is a carnivorous species commonly know to devour other frogs whole. Its skin is very resistant to slashes and cuts. It can lash out its tongue as a projectile through great distances. They become stronger and more powerful as they turn into the goliath variation. The toad passes through a secondary hatching process where its muscles are remade. Goliaths grow up to five meters tall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Five meters?!" Hera exclaimed, looking at the toad. She already had a lot of trouble dealing with the three-meter version of it. If there were even bigger creatures like that one, she would die for sure. She looked once again at the monster. It was a waste to leave the carcass there. If she managed to bring it to the guild, she would probably make some good money. Looking at the map on her tablet, Hera could see that she wasn''t that far from the city. She could even connect to the internet. There were a few messages from Blue, asking where she was. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Hera replied, telling her friend she was in the forest and she needed her help. She sent a similar text to Leo since the two were the strongest ones among the group. While waiting, Hera tried to push the toad towards the road. It was a complicated thing to do, especially since she was surrounded by trees. About fifteen minutes later, Hera had moved the corpse only a few meters when she heard a familiar voice. "Hera! Where are you?" Recognizing her friend''s voice, Hera called to her, "I''m over here, Blue. And don''t shout." Hera used the light spell to give away her location, even if that could be a bit dangerous. If another toad showed up, she wouldn''t be alone this time. "Found her!" Leo had just peeked through a tree behind Hera, "What are you doi.... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" "Stop yelling. There are a lot of frogs in the woods. And this is a thing that tried to kill me. I need some help to take it to the guild," Hera was trying to push the creature between two large trunks. That was the only path she could find to take the monster out of the dense woods. "A toad?" Leo approached the corpse, "Holy shit, Hera, are you crazy?" "No, I''m not, I was working on leveling up. It''s more effective if you hunt alone." "Hera, I''m here! Are you ok?" Blue rushed towards Leo, followed by Bonnie and Alex. "Yeah, I''m fine. I just need help to haul this back to the guild." "What is that?" Blue pointed at the monster. "A monster that tried to eat me, but I killed it first. The one it ate got closer to having me as a meal than this one," Hera said, puffing up her chest a bit, still trying to make the toad pass through the gap between the trees. "And why in the fuck are you alone here in the middle of the night?" Blue yelled. Hera frowned and stopped pushing the creature, "Because I need to level up faster. That way, I can make more money." Alex, who was looking away from the creature, turned to the side, "Oh, man. Are you gonna tell us you have debt too? Honestly, this is getting ridiculous." Bonnie stared at the assassin but said nothing about her remark. "No, I don''t, but high-level explorers are expensive, especially after those things that showed up. Are you going to help or not?" "Why do you need high-level explorers?" Leo was still staring at the creature. "Oh, Hera. Is this still about Helena?" Blue approached the explorer. "Of course, it is! The rescue team just got in the Qeeroni Wilds. She''s been there for days, hiding and scared. If I had money, I could send people there. Or if by some miracle I can get high level enough to go, I''ll find her myself," Hera turned to the toad and started pushing it through the gap, "And right now. I need your help." As she finished speaking, the toad finally went through the trees, making Hera fall to the ground. "Oh, this better give some good money," Hera mumbled while walking towards her trophy. Leo looked at Blue, who just nodded and approached the explorer, "Hera, you need to calm down. I get that you really like Helena, but you can''t end up dying because you can''t help her." "No, you don''t get it!" Hera barked at Blue. She turned around and kept shoving the toad forward, "I don''t just like her. She saved my life. And I''m not trying to pay her back. I''m being greedy. Possessive and selfish. She is one of the few people who were kind to me in this damn world. One of the few who didn''t want anything in return. She saw me for who I am and not what the system says I am. I''m not losing someone like that. I don''t give a crap what it takes." The explorer kept shoving the frog, managing to cover a considerable distance. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, but not tears of sadness. Those were tears of anger and frustration. She hated that she couldn''t do anything to help Helena. She hated that she took so long to become an explorer. She hated that all that someone needed to do to make her that dependent on the person was to be kind to her. And she hated that she was willing to risk herself so much just for that. "Hera, we are all here for you. Even if she dies there, we are still around. Or do you think we don''t treat you well?" Blue said, getting closer to Hera. The notion of her friends not being kind to her made Hera forget her burst of anger. Had she never told them how much did they mean to her? "What? No, of course, you do. You guys are the best friends I ever had. But you only knew me as a recruit. She found me before all that. When my hair was greasy and messy, and I was crying in the rain." "So just because she knew you first, she gets special treatment?" Leo stepped closer to the toad. "Can you two stop putting words in my mouth and help? I never complained about how you guys treat me or said that I wouldn''t be like this if it was one of you." "Well, would you?! Be this crazed if it was one of us lost in a different layer?!" Bonnie stomped towards Hera, getting close enough to smell the dried up vomit on the explorer. The explorer stopped for a moment, "No, I probably wouldn''t be this crazed. Since there is no reason for one of you to go somewhere I couldn''t go, I would be searching for you guys day in day out. It probably would be worse because I could do something more tangible than just try to get stronger." The group stared at Hera. Yes, she was acting crazy, but her eyes steady. Whatever she had chosen to do, it wasn''t a spur of the moment decision. This was the path she wanted to tread. Bonnie put one hand on her head and grabbed some of her hair, "You are infuriating, you know that? I''m supposed to be dealing with my own shit right now." Bonnie walked in front of the toad, looking over the carcass. "You three, what is your strength at?" the researcher asked. "Who are you asking?" Leo looked at the rest of the group. "You, Blue, and the mad dog that brought us here. I''m not gonna tell Alex to carry this thing." "Oh, right. I''m at 14," The hunter replied. "12 for me," Blue raised her hand. "Mine is 15," Hera said. "Ok, so you two raise the body and Hera, you go under it. Then let the thing rest on your back, and the other two can help carry it. Alex, can you be in front guiding us?" The assassin nodded, already moving ahead. Bonnie turned to the rest of the group, "Well? Chop chop, I still haven''t eaten because we were waiting for you." "Oh, sorry," Hera moved towards the toad, and following Bonnie''s directions, the group started to walk back towards the city. They made the first half of the trip in silence. Only Bonnie and Alex spoke, giving the group directions on how to proceed. However, after reaching the road, Leo asked about the fight and how it was to hunt on her own. Hera told them all about her hunt, the frog that almost ate her, and how the poison spell she had made the fight easier. After around forty minutes, they reached the guild. The clerk working at the guild wasn''t as surprised as Hera expected. Apparently, the toad was unusual, but not exactly a rare sight. While the group waited for the clerk to confirm the value of the body they had brought, Hera remembered the texts she got from Blue. "Oh, right. You texted me you wanted to share some news with me. What was it?" Hera said to the group, who was standing a few meters away to avoid her smell. "Yeah, Leo got a text. Mark is coming tomorrow," Blue replied just before the remains of the frog that the toad ate came out of the corpse''s stomach making even the clerk feel nauseous. 97 - Mark joins the battle The group met up in the morning. They wanted to give Mark a warm welcome. Hera also needed to stop by the dry cleaners to get her armor. She had found a place that was open 24h, and they had experience removing the smell of frog vomit from equipment. It was expensive, but the amount she got from the toad the day before was more than enough to cover it, even after giving some to the rest of the group for helping her carry it. In total, she had made 237 gold with the toad. Almost everything was because of its skin. She could easily make over 500 gold if she hadn''t used poison to kill the creature. That made its meat unusable for cooking. The frog that was inside it was completely wasted. Not only it was partially digested, the bits that could be salvaged were also filled with poison. Hera had to remember that she would need to hold back the poison spells if she wanted to make money. The group met up and headed towards the dry cleaners, Hera was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that she got the day before when Blue refused to let her get inside their room with the smelly armor. To Hera''s luck, she wasn''t the only one in similar attire. A couple of people seemed to have encountered the same type of issue and were waiting to get their gear with the cleaners. Hera picked up her equipment and used one of the changing rooms in the dry cleaners to put it on. The group left and headed towards the doorway. Mark would arrive soon, and they wanted to be there. Even with the good news, there was still some tension in the air. Blue was angry at Hera for being so reckless. Bonnie was still trying to piece her family together, and Alex was annoyed at Leo for bringing his pet frog to the meeting. Not wanting to cause any more problems, Hera just kept looking through the various threads about what was going on in the Qeeroni Wilds. The people were safe inside the cities. The creatures only roamed the actual jungle. They had been identified as Wendigos, but the actual level was still open to discussion. Some would say they were level 80 while others that they could reach 85. There was also some discussion about the actual abilities of the creatures. Most of them behaved like crazed animals and were not too much of a problem if found in small groups. Yet, some people claimed that the creatures had various skills, from shooting thorns out of their bodies, to breathing fire or camouflaging themselves. "Hera," the explorer raised her head from the tablet to find Blue staring at her. "What''s up?" Hera smiled, trying not to anger her friend even more. "Any news about Helena?" "I only checked when we left the inn. They found the camp during the night, or at least night for us. Now they are following some tracks of people who managed to run from there." Blue let out a sigh, "Look. I know you are worried. But can you please don''t do anything crazy like that again? If you want to hunt alone, it''s fine, but do it during the day. And let us be hunting nearby, just in case." "Well... I can''t promise I won''t do anything crazy. But I''ll be careful, and I''ll stick to fighting during the day for now. As fun as it was, I''m not sure I can take another toad like that," Hera didn''t want to lie. She had no idea if something else would happen and make her go crazy. "Did you really think that was fun?" Blue asked, raising one eyebrow. Hera looked away and nodded, "Yeah. I mean, I almost died but the feeling that I could beat a monster like that during the fight. I felt strong and being able to forget about everything else was... liberating in a way." Blue kept staring at Hera for a few moments, "Hey, Alex!" The assassin looked at her, "Hera is one of us now." "What do you mean?" Alex asked, getting closer. "I mean she is a battle maniac like us. Even after almost dying last night, she still says it was fun." Alex laughed, "Good for you, Hera! Hunting is going to be an entirely different thing now." The three kept talking about how much they enjoyed fighting, getting some eye rolls from Bonnie until Mark came through the doorway, followed by Tiffany and a few others. "Mark!" Leo shouted and rushed towards him. "Wow, calm down, dude. I honestly wasn''t expecting this welcome," he said raising his hand and clasping it with Leo''s "You have no idea how much I wanted you here. I couldn''t stand being the only man in the group anymore." Mark rolled his eyes, "Yeah, fighting together with four beautiful women must have been awful." The rest of the group joined in, and Mark introduced the people he did the test with. He already had gotten his role a couple of days ago, but they all promised to go inside the MAZE together. Some of them already formed a group. Mark had a standing invitation to join, but he wanted to talk to his previous teammates first. After the group started to leave, Tiffany approached Hera and her friends and apologized for what happened during their test. Before the group could reply, Kenji appeared, and Tiffany dashed to his arms, giving the man a big hug followed by a kiss. Hera noticed that a few members of the group that came with Mark seemed upset with the sight. "Did any of you know about them?" Blue asked. "Yeah, she told me, they started going out just before the test," Mark said. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Well. I honestly didn''t consider that. But what about you?" Alex asked. "The position of my girlfriend is still open. Interested?" Mark said, raising his eyebrows repeatedly like a cheesy character in a movie. "Not what I''m talking about. Are you ok? Don''t you want to go with them?" Mark shook his head, "Nah, they are fun and all. But there was no teamwork during the test. If there were an Anaya in the mix, we would all have failed. I''d rather be with someone I trust to have my back." Leo nodded, "Welcome to the team, then." "What do you mean, welcome? He was always a part of it," Blue said, slapping Mark''s back. "Ouch. That was stronger than usual. And why did that make my hair stand up?" The crafter complained. "Oh, my bad. I''m practicing a buff. It is just some static electricity, nothing harmful," "Wait, is that a skill?" "Nope. Magic," Blue made a motion with her hand, moving her fingers quickly. "Do you all have magic already?" Mark asked. The group nodded. Every one of them had learned a spell. "Ah, less than a month, and I''m already this far behind?" "Should we tell him we leveled up too?" Alex asked with a playful smile. "Awww, maaann!" Mark groaned. "I guess you just did," Hera chuckled. The group left the doorway and headed towards the guild. Mark had to do the welcome quest and get set up in a room. Leo was using a single bed one, so they wouldn''t share a room for now. After giving the crafter a tour, the group picked a place to eat since the walking around took most of the morning. As they waited for their food, Hera picked up her tablet to check if there was any news about Helena. The last update was still the same, but she saw a new thread talking about the guild''s latest announcement. Checking it, she was redirected to the main guild website, where there was an article and a video from the chairwoman herself. "Guys, look at this," the group gathered to watch the small video. As Hera pressed play, Leliana Mihafrey appeared on-screen sitting on a desk with the Qeeroni Wilds in the window behind her. "Hello, everyone. As you know, a few days ago, we broke through the wall on the 25th layer. That triggered an event that caused the death of several explorers. Monsters called Wendigos appeared after the wall came down and attacked every living creature in sight. We can confirm that these creatures are at least level 80. We can also confirm that these same creatures are appearing in all rooms in the 25th layer. However, we do not believe them to be able to cross through doorways." As Leliana spoke, several graphs and pictures of the monsters appeared at her side. They had found three more variations to the Wendigos aside from the wolf, the monkey, and the rat. One was large and muscular, looking almost like a hairless bear. The other was smaller, and aside from the discolored skin, red eyes and bones coming out of its joints was clearly a sphinx cat. "We also have identified a few abilities that the monsters posses. Number one, they multiply quickly. Some nests were found, and in a matter of days, the fully grown creatures hatched. Number two, they can absorb the attributes of whatever they eat. The video from the broadcast gave us a small glimpse of it. However, they are not limited to a single absorption. Teams that are fighting the Wendigos must only fight them if they are confident of their success. With each loss we have, more the monsters will grow." The graphics showed some variations, Wendigos using light, fire, ice. Some had wings, others had long spindly members. One even had grown a second head. The graphics vanished as Leliana finished speaking. "Lastly, we have managed to find a few of our members that were at the campsite. Becca Swan and her team were rescued and are now recovering from their ordeal. We still have many people missing, and we won''t stop searching for them while we still have hope they are alive. This happened because of my failure to predict this possible outcome, and for that, I apologize. When this crisis is over, I will be submitting my letter of resignation as chairwoman of the guild. Until then, I hope I can still count on your support. Don''t forget. We fight together, we win together, and we survive together." The video ended with Leliana leaving the office, but the camera stayed in place. Then, the guild''s logo appeared atop of the chair she was sitting. "Is she really stepping down? I mean, no one could predict that?" Alex was still staring at the screen. "Maybe she feels guilty," Bonnie suggested. "I don''t know. When we come inside the MAZE, we are already accepting that we can get very hurt and even die here. I don''t think it''s just for that," Blue said. "My guess is some political pressure from the rest of the board. My uncle told me a few stories about how that happened inside the coalition more than a few times." Leo was already eating again. "Or maybe she just got tired of sitting behind a desk. Did you see those guns? I bet she is itching to go after those things," Mark said, biting down on his frog hamburger. "Really?" Blue asked and rewound the video. When Leliana got up, they could see her arms. She had massive biceps, not as big as Frostbite, but much more defined. It was almost as if they were looking at a granite sculpture. "Daaaammmm," Alex gasped. "Tell me about it. I wanna look like that one day," Blue said. "Keep pumping your strength, and that will work," Hera said, going back to her plate. The group finished eating and headed towards the shop district. Mark had to introduce himself to someone from a workshop. He had been recruited by Jasper to the Forgeshifters, and part of his work would be done here. After that, the group left to hunt. They wanted to test the new dynamic with everyone being able to use spells, Leo''s new pet, and now Mark in the mix. Before leaving the city, they discussed strategies. Blue had her electricity buff, but no one had something that could boost its effect. Alex had learned a wind enchantment for her weapons. It would make her attacks cut even deeper, and Hera could follow up, hitting the poison spray on the open wounds. That would only be a last resort since they still wanted to butcher the frogs to make some money. Bonnie had tweaked her cold bomb and now could make an area slowly drop the temperature over time. Since they were dealing with cold-blooded creatures, this could be a fantastic tool to kill them without even fighting. Leo had an odd spell. It didn''t affect his actual ability at first, but if he managed to pierce his target, he could make thorns shoot out of it or make the victim be wrapped in vines. Apparently, those were two different spells but with the same condition. Tiger, the dog-sized rain frog, also had a new skill. He could squeak to disorient a monster. It wasn''t a strong effect, but much like Blue''s buff, it could give the group some priceless seconds to avoid an attack. Mark would be near Bonnie, sending arrows at the creatures while the rest of the group kited them around. The man was a bit nervous about the possibility of hitting his teammates, but they promised to give him some time to practice. Just before leaving the city, Hera checked the thread one last time. Someone had updated the fixed post. The rescue team had found Helena and Samera, the assassin. The team would grab the two and head back to the doorway city before searching for Korey, the crafter. But communications had been cut short when the Wendigos attacked the group. That had happened just a few minutes ago. Hera''s eyes started to water. Helena was alive, and someone had found her. She still wasn''t out of danger, but at least the odds seemed much better now. Knowing that if she waited for the next update, she would go mad, Hera rubbed her eyes to clean the forming tears and moved to the woods with her group. Right now, she needed a way to distract herself. To be lost in the moment and forget about the rest. She needed a good fight. 98 - Fighting with a full party The group did a round of showing off. Each of them killed a frog on their own in demonstration of their skills. Bonnie''s new spell would take around 15 minutes and all the researcher''s mana to make the frog go into a hibernating state. It was useful but very inefficient. If they hunted normally, they could have killed at least five frogs and already be halfway through the harvesting. Leo''s skill was a bit odd. The spikes that shoot out of his prey harmed more the area than the actual frog. It looked like the spikes were created after the muscles, near the monster''s skin. The holes were very superficial, but the thorns shot out fast. A tree nearby the fight got holes almost halfway through the trunk. Alex had swapped one of her daggers for a longer one with a curved blade. It was close to a cutlass, but shorter, just about the size of her forearms. Using the wind enchantment, it increased the sharpness of her weapon by quite a bit. Now she could cut deep into the frog''s skin and even make a considerable gash on the bone. Blue was more effective than expected. The more she moved, the stronger the electrical current became. Since she was always spinning around, dodging, and blocking, it didn''t take long for the electricity to be enough to stun the frog for a few moments. The fact that the monsters were always wet also helped a great deal. Hera showed how the poison spray worked. She put a considerable amount of mana in the spell to make sure it would kill it fast. In just three minutes, the frog was too weak to fight back. In another five, it finally died. The last to show off was Mark. He was already a decent shot, but his aim improved a lot during the previous couple of weeks. "Since I already was in the guild, I kept practicing every day. They even let me use one of the ATRs because of the tokens we found during our test," Mark explained as he removed one arrow from a frog''s eye, "The one issue is going to be having to carry the arrows. Jasper gave me a blueprint for them as a graduation gift, worst-case scenario I can make some arrows on the fly, since I have the materials. But the ones I make in the city will be much better," he tapped on one of the pouches he carried as he was talking. For the first time, Hera took a moment to look at Mark''s gear. He was wearing a small green hood that seemed to be a separate part of his outfit. Boots with a knee guard and baggy parachute pants tucked inside them. A beige short-sleeved T-shirt and two different belts, one on his waist and one going from the hip to his shoulder. The straps were filled with small satchels, and on his back, attached to his waist belt, was the quiver filled with a dozen arrows. "The only problem with all that is that you can only shoot 12 times. Can you protect yourself if someone gets closer?" Leo asked. "Yep, this bow can function as a quarterstaff. I practiced a bit with it too. The only problem is that I have to break the string to use it properly. I can fix it later, but I would be at close range for that fight," Mark showed the brown longbow to the group. It looked like a classic fantasy weapon. Two long and slightly curved pieced of wood and in the middle a dark handle, all connected by a string on the edges. Confident in each other''s abilities, the group decided to look for some frogs to hunt together. If they wanted to work well as a unit, they needed to practice. Initially, they found a couple of small groups with just four to six frogs. Using the familiar method, Hera and Alex circled around the monsters and quickly killed the ones farther away. Mark shot two arrows at the front frog, and Leo finished dispatched it with one swift strike in the middle of the eyes. Blue held the last one back while Bonnie hit it with a few air fists. They could finish the creature off by themselves, but it would still take some time. Hera and Leo attacked the beast from behind, delivering the killing blow. Leo looked at Tiger, who wasn''t able to help during the fight, "Sorry, buddy, It''s kind of hard to give you room with this many people," he turned to the group, "Say, can we go after a bigger army? This is a bit too easy." They had to agree. The fight was way too easy, and it wouldn''t have been different, even without Mark. They had figured out a nice rhythm for the battles. As a group, the frogs were hardly a challenge. They took five times longer harvesting the parts they needed for Mondy than actually fighting. "Guys, I know that we still need money, especially Mark, since he just got here. But could we just hunt for a while?" Hera asked. While she fought, she could forget her thoughts, but doing something less intense like butchering the frogs allowed her mind to wander. "Honestly. I''m in. I can get some pretty decent pay if I work in the forge. And it helps a lot with my role too," Mark was the first to reply. They all agreed with the idea. Bonnie wasn''t worried about money anymore, and the rest wanted to test their limits. Searching the woods, they found an army of frogs big enough to be a challenge. A dozen frogs were sitting near a pond, with a large green one in the middle. It was almost as big as the toad Hera had fought the night before. Stolen novel; please report. Agreeing to use the same tactics, Hera and Alex spread out and went after the ones on the edges of the group. Bonnie started to create the cold bomb while Mark notched an arrow. When an opportunity arrived, Leo sent the signal for the group to start. Hera rushed towards the frog in front of her, getting ready to attack the creature''s head. Before she hit it, Bonnie''s cold bomb hit the front group of frogs. That made all the monster turn towards the researcher. The movement made Hera miss her first strike, with her chakram she quickly slashed the frog''s leg to stop it from going away. With a follow-up move, her handaxe sunk into the monster''s back. Hera took advantage of that and used her weapon''s leverage to swing around the frog''s face and open its neck with her chakram. The frog still took a few steps before the loss of blood made it fall onto the ground. At the same time, Blue and Leo intercepted the frogs coming towards Bonnie and Mark. Surprisingly, Tiger, the small rain frog, held back one of the frogs on its own. The small creature would do some hit-and-run tactics, spinning around in the air to hit with its back instead of its head. Before Hera finished her frog, Mark had already shot four arrows towards the largest one of the group, hitting the monster in one eye. Two other arrows sunk deep into the frog''s face, but the last one was broken by its tongue when the creature lashed out, aiming at Leo. The hunter took a quick step to the side and lunged at the frog in front of him, his spear piercing the creature''s mouth. Leo pushed the monster towards the larger green frog in the middle of the group, and several thorns flew out of the one he stabbed. Four frogs were showered in spikes. At the same time, Blue grabbed a frog and tossed it over her shoulder, making the monster hit a large rock head first. She kicked the creature to the side and dashed towards the next one. Her static buff already making her hair stand up. Mark kept flinging arrow after arrow towards the fray. He aimed at the ones farther away from the group to avoid hitting anyone in the middle. Yet, one of the arrows flew by just a few centimeters over Alex''s head, as she appeared behind a frog stabbing its head, killing the monster in a single blow. Bonnie kept using her Air Fist spell to attack any frog that got close, giving room for her and Mark to change positions. In a little over five minutes, the only frog remaining was the big green one in the middle. Leo and Tiger were spinning around the creature, taking turns attacking it. Mark was busy taking back the arrows when Blue called to him. "Mark, keep shooting. We''ll get your arrows later." "Nah, let Leo practice with his pet," Mark waved off. "Honestly, you need more practice than them." Alex rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously telling me that I need more practice than the frog?" "Well, the frog didn''t almost hit me!" Mark opened his mouth a couple of times trying to come up with a response, but gave up and started to shoot the giant green frog, mumbling under his breath the entire time. The last frog finally died a few moments later. After a few minutes, the group was discussing what they could do better next time. "I think you need a way to give us a warning when you are using that skill, Leo. The thorns almost got me," Blue commented. "Ok, but how? If I scream or just say, watch out, it might scare away the monsters." "What if you say the name of the spell you are using?" Hera suggested. "Yes please, Let me get a video from it too. Are you going to scream while you charge up too?" Mark was already grabbing his tablet from the holster. "Yeah, not gonna happen. Not only because of that," Leo pointed at Mark," But because if I have to scream, the monsters might be alerted. Not to mention that when we fight things that can understand us, that would give us many other problems." "Ok, then what?" Alex asked. "What if you call the name of someone who is not in the group? Like ''Eddie, behind you?'' It would still be a loud noise, but the tone seems less aggressive," Bonnie suggested. "Maybe... It still feels weird. I wish I could get the coms that the coalition use," Leo scratched his head. "Why? What do they do?" Bonnie asked. "They work as an overlay when you connect various communicators together. It¡¯s a visor with an earpiece. The basic one can already track your group''s position, and you can use it as a walkie talkie. The ones that are only available for the higher ranks can show the silhouette of your group even through walls, link your compendium to the display and even show how long your buffs and skills can last. It turns the combat into something from MMO." Hera watched as Bonnie and Mark got more and more excited hearing the description. Their eyes were glimmering by the end of Leo''s explanation. Hera had to admit that is seemed very useful, especially the part of linking with the compendium. "We can check the stores in the city later for something like that. I doubt something that useful is exclusive to Leo''s group," Alex suggested. The group agreed with the idea and went back to hunting. The next few armies of frogs were dispatched relatively quickly. But Mark was feeling down for being the only one without magic. Seeing how much it bothered him, they all agreed to go to the Arcanist Lookout so he could learn how to feel mana with the ruins. According to Bonnie, she could help him more than the trainers in the ATRs. At the Lookout, most of the group stayed near the ruins to increase their mana. Hera and Alex were the only two that wanted to keep hunting. Leaving the group, the two women kept killing the frogs in the surrounding area. After about three hours of hunting, Hera noticed that Alex seldom needed a second strike to kill one of the frogs. "Do you have a skill to increase your damage?" Hera asked. "Sort of, its part of my role skill. My hide got a buff. If my target doesn''t notice me, I can deal more damage with my attacks. It increased one rank since we came here, so now I deal about 30% more damage if my enemy doesn''t see me, but they take 70% less damage if they find me while I''m hiding." Hera considered that for a moment. As Berthellemy said, Assassins could be much more effective when hunting on their own. But the penalty for being discovered was rather significant. Although even without the advanced [Hide], no frog was able to detect her before she attacked. Not only that, if she could hide well, she would also be able to go to dangerous places without much of an issue. Thinking back on what she had learned about how to get a new role skill, Hera had no idea how to start learning it. Turning to her friend, she asked. "Do you mind telling me how your role test was?" 99 - Team findings The group stayed in the ruins until sundown. Mark managed to unlock his mana stat, and Bonnie was trying to explain to him how to use spells. The crafter was having some trouble understanding how to transform the formulas into magic. Hera was talking to Alex about her role and how the assassin skills worked. It was a bit different from what Hera expected. The hide buff wasn''t about making the skill more effective, but about making your body move in a way that would cause less noise. After she got the skill, she became more aware of the sounds that followed her steps and movement. The damage part was about knowing where to strike. When hitting a weak spot on the target, a skill would trigger increasing the damage dealt as long as the creature wasn''t aware of her presence. Alex also said that she wasn''t sure how that would work with attack spells. She knew that projectiles gained the same benefits as her weapons, but that was all. While explaining the concept, Alex and Hera also came up with a few ideas to allow the assassin to do multiple strikes before being discovered. They would attack the same creature together, but Hera would be in a more visible position. That way, the monster would think that the attack came from only one person, and Alex could attack again. It was a crude concept, and it would put Hera in a precarious position, but it could be an interesting approach if Hera would be a vanguard. Leo and Blue kept talking about how the vanguard could work, now that they had one more person to protect and one more four-legged member in the front lines. Hera noticed how everyone was busy thinking about how to get stronger. It was nice seeing that even after coming to the MAZE, the group was still the same. Helping each other improve and having their little study sessions. "Bonnie, how the hell do you put Y mana into something?" Mark groaned. "What do you mean? You just do it. You say that this is Y mana and put into the equation," the researcher replied. "Can anyone else teach me? This is too much math for me." Blue turned toward Mark, "Are you better with logic? I use the programming method." "Wait, your spells are programmed?" Bonnie gasped. "Yeah, I might suck at studying, but I can understand logic. It''s even better if I don''t have to deal with weird languages and can just say. Hey, if this happens, do that." Blue started to explain how Mark could use magic with a different method, and even Leo joined in to watch the lecture. They reached the city when Mark was starting to understand what to do. The first thing Hera did when they got inside the town was check the thread. Even after a full day, there was nothing new about the rescue team. However, there was an update about the current state of the missing people. Korey''s bracelet wasn''t sending any more signals, which meant the crafter had perished. Samera, the assassin still was fine, but Helena''s was irregular. Someone had posted an explanation for the reading. Being in areas with a high concentration of magic, or being affected by some odd effect, could interfere with the readings, but as long as the signal wasn''t completely flat, it meant that Helena was still alive. Hera''s eyes were watering as Leo called her, "Hera, we are going to look for those coms that I talked about... Are you ok?" "Yeah, sorry. There was some news about Lena." "Bad news?" Blue asked. "Just news. She might be having some trouble, but she might be fine. It''s hard to tell right now," Hera cleaned up the tears that were forming in her eyes, "I need to wait and distract myself for now. You were saying something about coms?" Leo nodded, "Yeah, we are going to see if we find some version of the visor I was talking about around here." Agreeing to go for a shopping trip, the group headed towards the Taaffeite district, where most of the commerce for exploring gear was made. They spent about two hours looking for equipment. A few shops knew about what they meant but didn''t have any in stock. Apparently, it was something that was mostly used on deeper layers. After some time, they gave up on finding it in a local shop. Going online, they found a few models being sold on a few different websites. The cheapest model, the one that only had a walkie talkie function and the direction indicator for other linked communicators, was a whopping 7 000 gold. Giving up on the idea of getting the visor, the group went to a restaurant to eat. As they were eating, Leo got a message from the Crimson Coalition. They had scheduled a training program for a new group of recruits during the next day. It was a mandatory thing, and it only took so long for him to be a part of one because there were not enough members before. It would be a one-week program, and he would be instructed in combat tactics and maneuvers. By the end of it, he would be assigned to a battalion. He still had his freedom to do what he wanted, but from time to time his battalion would be called for drills and quests. Mark told the group that he needed to work in the workshop. It was part of being one of the Forgershifters. He needed to put some time into working at one of their forges every month. Bonnie also wanted to tweak her spells and see if she can learn new ones. She had a few quests for the Order that she could do right now, mostly research. In the end, Alex, Blue, and Hera were the only ones without any urgent tasks. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. During dinner, Hera tried to look for information about how to get her a new role skill. Talking to a few people online and seeing some articles about it, she was able to get some clues. Apparently, she needed to perform the same task one would perform while doing the role test they wanted. If she wanted to get the crafter role skill, she needed to learn how to craft. If it was the synch, she needed to change how her mana behaved. The best way to do it was to ask someone that had the role to explain how they passed the test. "Alex, do you mind talking to me about your role test? I want to see if I can get assassin as my second role skill." "Sure, I mean, what do you want to know?" As they ate, Hera asked about how her test was, what she did, and the requirements for completing it. According do Alex. Her test was about not being seen and killing specific targets. During the first few days, she had to pass through a hallway without triggering the noise-sensitive alarms. Then she had to sneak by several scenarios and kill her targets in a single move. There were a few monsters like wolves, monkeys, and such. The last test was about making her way through a cave filled to the brim with giant spiders that spread their threads everywhere. She didn''t have anyone to talk about the quest, only a video with a shadow figure explaining the task and demonstrating what to do. But between each quest, there was a side room with some food and water, and a bed for her to rest. In that room, there were also a few screens showing a few monsters and their weak spots. Hera couldn''t help to compare with her own test. The explorer''s role was about finding everything. She wondered what the differences were for other tests. Could fighters need to be angry to complete the quest? "Could you do that training with me tomorrow? I want to learn the assassin role skill," the table went silent with Hera''s request. She looked around to her friends, "What?" "You want to learn the assassin role? You? Hera? You?" Blue asked. "Yeah, I, Hera. What is the problem?" The group stared at each other, trying to see if someone else would say anything. Bonnie was the one that finally broke the silence. "Well, you are too... well... let''s say kind." "Yeah, you are too nice to be an assassin," Blue chimed in. "Exactly, It''s hard to picture you as a cold-blooded killer," Leo joined in the conversation. "What? I fight just like all of you. I already go for the one-hit-kill just like Alex. Why is the idea of me being an assassin such a stretch?" "Well. You are always helping us, and you try to be mindful of everyone. You are more like a deer than a shark," Alex said. "I killed the toad on my own! No one helped me. That makes me a shark." Hera crossed her arms, sitting back in her chair. "If you are a shark, you are small cute baby one, trying to nibble at someone''s feet," Mark said. Hera squinted at the group, "I can take any of you," she huffed. Blue laughed, "Probably, but that doesn''t change the fact that you are just a kitty." "Only more reason for me to get the assassinate skills. It''s time for the kitty to get its claws," Hera said before ordering a second dessert. "Awww, don''t be like that. Come here, kitten," Blue went for a hug, but Hera held her back, turning the controller''s face with one hand while wrestling with her arms with the other one. "And this is the third reason. This thing is my roommate. After today I need to be able to hide from that," Hera pushed her friend away, "Can you teach me, Alex?" "Sure, we can go tomorrow. It might be good for me to focus on increasing my hide skill." "Can I go too? I know that I''m part of the vanguard, but knowing how to hide better can help sometimes," Blue asked. Hera turned towards the controller, "Are you sure you are not saying that just because you would be the only one alone?" "I don''t wanna stay the whole day in the gym again. It''s boring to be alone," Blue pouted. "Don''t worry, Blue. You can join us," Alex said. "As long as you stop with the kitten thing. It''s way too creepy," Hera stared at Blue. Agreeing with her terms, Blue joined the hiding training. Finishing their meals, the group went back to the hotel to rest. Hera and Blue spent the last couple of nights watching old shows while they talked. As it had become her routine, Hera checked the thread about Helena as soon as she entered her room. There was a new update. The rescue team had made its way towards the doorway city in the Qeeroni Wilds with Helena and Samera. Both were injured but alive. Tears started to flow from Hera''s eyes while she read. Helena was alive. She wasn''t alone in the middle of those monsters anymore. "Hera? What''s wrong?" Blue asked as she left the bathroom. "They found her! They found Helena! She is injured but alive." Blue jumped over the bed and gave Hera a big hug. This time, the explorer didn''t push her away. She had been so worried ever since the broadcast. Still, Hera knew it would take a few days before she could see Helena. Not only would she probably be with the healers for a while, but it would also take a few days before she could travel all the way to the outside. "Is she ok? What happened? Did they say anything else?" Blue asked, letting Hera go. As they read through the thread, they found a reply from the leader of the rescue team. Helena, Samera and a few other survivors were holed up inside a giant hollow tree. Samera was hunting for supplies like food and water while Helena used her magic to hide the place. When the team arrived in the area, they fought a few of the monsters. During the fight, the tree was broken, and the team found the survivors. However, they were still dealing with a considerable group of wendigos. During the fight, they had to flee with the survivors. Samera was already wounded, and she wasn''t able to help too much at the time. Helena used her spells to hinder the monsters. Taking away their senses, but one of the creatures managed to attack her before being affected. Yet, they managed to grab the entire group of survivors and bring them back to the doorway city. Helena was with the healers for some first aid, but she would soon be sent to a hospital on the 10th layer. The guild had this protocol set up for every survivor of the attack. They wanted to make sure to give the best care available to the people involved and make sure there weren''t dangers involving contact with the creatures. Hera understood that it would take some time for her to be able to see Helena, but at least she knew that her friend was alive. "Do you still want to be an assassin? Wasn''t the whole point for you rushing to be strong to help her?" Blue asked. "Yeah, I still do. This just proves that I need to be strong to take care of my friends. And if it''s one of you guys in trouble next time, I want to be able to help. I honestly hate how useless I felt." Blue nodded, "I get that. Honestly, I would get a bit crazy if that happened with my family. If it were one of you guys, I would be in a frenzy, but maybe not as crazy." "You just called me crazy like three times in a row," Hera pouted. "It was just two and you fought a two-meter tall toad on your own, so the description is accurate." Hera poked Blue with her elbow and laughed for the first time since the assault on the wall. All the weight she was feeling on her shoulds simply vanished. They kept talking and watching some shows until they finally fell asleep. 100 - Hide Hera woke up late. For the first time in a while, she had an excellent night of sleep. Blue had sent her a text letting her know that she would be in Alex''s room. It was after 11 A.M., Hera was already feeling a bit hungry. Getting up, she left the room and headed towards where her friends were. Apparently, Bonnie, Leo, and Mark had already left for their errands. After meeting her friends, the trio grabbed a bite to eat and some supplies for the day. Hera checked her tablet to see if Helena had replied to the text she had sent to her the night before, but there was no reply. There was a decent chance that she would take some time to recover. Since Helena got hit by a creature more than 60 levels above her, it was nothing short of a miracle that she was alive. Seeing that there was nothing she could do but wait, Hera left the city heading towards the woods. Alex assumed the teacher''s role and started to explain what she had learned in her role quest. Every movement they made had the potential of giving away their position. They could not only create noise but change the smell of the area, or the temperature, or a myriad of things that a monster could use to discover her. The assassin made it clear that she was far from being a master at hiding, but she was improving at not making noise at first. Alex talked about a few of the tests of her role quest. While hiding from wolves, she had to cover herself in mud to avoid their sense of smell. So they needed to be mindful of their smell. Avoiding scented soaps and looking more for things that helped make their scent as neutral as possible. The best way to hide from something was to understand what senses their target would use to perceive the area around it. It was a bit surprising. Being an assassin felt similar to being a hunter. At least that was the impression that Hera was having. Although, all roles would benefit from having knowledge of their target. Alex kept explaining the different hiding strategies, but at the moment, most of them were unnecessary. The frogs used their sight to locate their targets. Their sense of smell and hearing wasn''t that advanced. For the day, they had to focus on not being seen and killing the monsters in one attack. Alex explained that the frog''s weak spot would be at the base of the skull on the edge of the eyes. The skeleton was thinner on the neck and hollow in the eye sockets. Using the eye approach, they would need to sink their weapons deep to make a one-hit kill, but if they went for the neck, they needed a good strike to disable the creatures. They agreed to attack only groups with three frogs so everyone could improve the skill. It didn''t take long for them to find the first group. Hera and Alex were already familiar with the process, but this was a new thing for Blue. They had to explain the concept and give her a few trials runs where she tried to sneak up on them before feeling confident enough to do the same with the frogs. The first few tries were less than successful. Blue ended up making too much noise, either by moving too quickly or not paying attention to her surroundings. The first army of frogs found them before even Alex got close. The second, Hera and Alex managed to kill their respective frogs, but Blue ended up tripping in a tree root and falling on top of her target. When they started to get tired, they would harvest the frogs and send it to Mondy to make some money. By the end of the day, Hera felt she had improved slightly, and Blue could hide from the frogs with some consistency. At the end of the first day, Hera looked for ways to improve her hide more quickly. According to a few articles, the best way was to hide from creatures that were good at perceiving threats. The harder it is to hide from a creature, the better would be the result. Another option would be to hide from a person, but that method required multiple people. Talking with the group, they agreed to try that method the next day. It was good for both hiding and finding things that were hidden, so it would be a nice two for one deal. At night they met up with Mark and Bonnie. The two talked about what they had done that day. Bonnie was really excited about the research she was making. She couldn''t say much about it, aside from being something about items that had links to certain places. Mark told them how it was in the workshop. It was a lot of work, but he enjoyed the work. It was satisfying to create something with his bare hands. Watching the two so happy about what they were doing made Hera realize that she was missing something. As much as it was fun to fight, it wasn''t the same as when she found the cherry tree during her trial. She still wanted to get her new role skill, but after that, Hera was considering exploring the room for a while. Maybe someone wanted to come with her, but that was something she would worry about some other time. During the next day, Hera, Blue, and Alex spent time in the woods trying the new training method. They took turns hiding from each other and trying to find them. The tracker would stay 10 minutes trying to find the other two. After that, the ones hidden had to get close and touch the tracker. Hiding from Blue wasn''t much of a challenge. Only after she started to use her static buff, she managed to catch Hera before she tapped on her. Alex was still way too quiet to be seen by her. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Alex was able to catch both Hera and Blue without much trouble. She could notice where the two were hiding before they even left the trees. Hera had some trouble to hide as she should. She wasn''t that aware of what her body was doing all the time. More than one time, she ended rustling some bushes or stepping on a loose branch. But after a while, she started to get the hang of it. She needed to do more than simply try to be sneaky. It was about trying to move with the environment. The concept was much more straightforward than actually doing it. There were too many variables to consider. If she paid too much attention to where Alex was, it was easy to forget about her surroundings. If she was focused on the environment, it was easy to lose track of Alex. At one point, Blue suggested that they work together to reach the assassin, but that would defeat the purpose of the training, so they let go of the idea for the moment. When Blue and Alex were the ones hiding, Hera would try to catch the hints of where they''ve been to find their tracks. She wasn''t finding a good way to do that. Her pulse spell was useful, but it required some luck to hit one of them at the right time. She kept trying to figure out how they were moving around and tested to see if there was more to the tracks. There was no smell. Although some branches and footprints here and there, Hera wasn''t a tracker, and she could only tell the directions of a few of the markings. Around the third time, she was the one tracking, Hera remembered about Helena''s spell. The one that would allow her to see the affinities of the target. Since Blue was using her electricity buff most of the time, and Alex had the wind sash, it was possible that she would find some trace of their mana. By the end of the day, Hera was able to feel some distortion in the area where her friends stopped. She even managed to distinguish the signals from both of them. Alex mana was calm, and it blended with the environment very well. It was hard to feel it. It was like looking for an out-of-place shimmer in the air. Blue made the mana more violent. It flowed oddly, almost like it was following circuits on a board. As Hera watched Blue''s mana in one of the last times she was the tracker. The violent mana started to shift, and little by little, the mana shifted, turning to clouds. It looked like heavy thunder clouds with some small flashes inside them. Even with the grandiose look, it was hard to notice the mana. The cloud was smaller than a grape. If Hera weren''t looking at it when it formed, she would''ve missed it. She was distracted, looking at the clouds, when both Alex and Blue took advantage of the situation and tapped Hera on the shoulder. She jumped away, spooked with the touch. Blue laughed, "You can''t say you were not expecting that," Hera shrugged, "Not both of you at once." "What happened? You seemed so close to being able to catch both of us," Alex asked. Hera didn''t answer. She was looking at the notification that had just appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Affinity Sight Allows the user to understand the elemental affinities of the target. The more mana used on the spell, the more sensitive the sight will be. Base mana cost: 50 per minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She didn''t expect to be able to get this spell today. After the assault on the wall, it became hard to think about being Helena''s assistant. But now, even though she still was worried, Hera was able to focus long enough to learn the spell. Now she could start to help Helena. "Hera?" Alex was staring at her friend. "Sorry, I was reading the spell I got. It''s something Helena gave me, so I can''t talk about it. But it can help us a lot," Hera rubbed her eyes and opened a big smile. "Oh, I thought it was the hide level up. I was surprised with the new text, although it could have been because of my role," Alex said. "Wait, your hide is already rank 2?" Blue gasped. "Yeah, it leveled up when I finished my role quest." "That explains a lot, actually. I figured you had a talent for hiding," Hera said. "Well, I can''t say I do, but I did have fun in my test," Alex gave an odd smile to Hera. Seeing the sun setting, the trio went back to the city. None of them was willing to deal with the giant toads. They spent the next day doing the same drill, although they hunted a few frogs to get some money for the week. Eating out every day was starting to make a dent in their savings. By the end of the day, Hera managed to level up her [Hide] skill to rank 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hide (Rank 2): Improves your ability to erase your presence and blend with your surroundings. The more your appearance harmonizes with the place you are in, the more effective this skill becomes. Reduces the noise caused by your movement while interacting with yourself Requirements: Not being in the line of sight of your target/ hiding place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Asking Alex about the noise reduction, the assassin explained that it meant that her clothes would make less noise. Not by magic, but she would move instinctively in a way to minimize the noise. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Triggered: Explorer''s quest - Assassin Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of an assassin. You may attempt the assassin role test to unlock the assassin related skills. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the test area will appear. Restriction: Quest must be completed within 24 hours of arriving in the test area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the notification a few times. The test would be in a different area, probably something similar to what the explorer''s test was. What worried her was the restriction. She would only have one day to finish something that took Alex close to a week to do. Not only that, but she also needed to figure out a day where everyone would be okay without her. Finishing the day of training, they went back to the city. As they were having dinner in a local restaurant, Hera received a text from Helena. 100 CHAPTER CELEBRATION Blue: Hera hurry up, we need to finish this soon! Hera: Hang on, I need to make this banner just right. Helena: He''s coming. Everyone hide! The sound of keys came from the hallway, followed by the door closing. Perizou: Hey, everyone, I had an idea for the next arc. I''m thinking Hera could end up going to He is interrupted by a group of people jumping from behind the furniture. Everyone: Surprise! Congratulations on 100 chapters! Perizou: AHGFZJK... he stumbles back, and the groceries falls on top of him Blue: Oh shit. Sorry! Hera: Peri! are you ok? Hera rushes to Perizou, trying to help him. Greyson: What is the matter with you, laddie? Ye need to be ready for any attacks. Perizou: Dude, this is my home, and I left the keys with Hera. I wasn''t expecting to be jumped by anyone in my own house! Helena: Well, you can''t expect us not to celebrate this now, can you? Perizou grabs the groceries with Hera. Perizou: Yeah, fair point. And this was a lot. I was only away for two hours. How many balloons is that? Bonnie: 150, it was supposed to be 100, but we didn''t find the bags with 50, only 75. Leo: And we had a competition. I was going well, or so I thought. Leo stared at Mark Mark: Hey, you are the one who suggested the race. Not my fault you have the lungs of a squirrel. Perizou: Don''t worry, guys. I loved it. But we are going to need more food. I only bought enough for three people. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The doorbell rings and Hera opens the door, Runir is on the other side with a pile of pizzas on hand. Runir: You guys needed someone to save your asses, right? Blue: Yep. Thanks for helping, sorry for calling you so late we weren''t sure if it was going on today. Thomas: And I have arrived. Thank you, noble squire, for bringing me here. Thomas pats Runir on the back and places a 50 gold bill on his pocket. Thomas: Now that the main character has arrived, the party shall start. A large muscular hand grabs cover Thomas''s mouth and pull him to the hallway. Frostbite: Sorry about that, Perizou. He wasn''t supposed to be here yet. Perizou: Tell me about it. Just thinking about him at this party is giving me a headache. Try to come after you deal with him. Frostbite: Nah, some people here are not too fond of me, and I''m not one for big displays. Congratulations, though, and try to remember my retirement plan. Preizou rolls his eyes. Perizou: Will do. And thanks. They set up the food in the tables and put on the party hats. Hera: So? Is everyone ready? She receives a nod from the group. Blue: Peri if you will. Perizou: Oh? Me? Bonnie and Leo: Of course! Perizou: Ok, on 3. 1...2..3. Everyone turns around and looks at you, dear reader. The whole crew: THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT! The silly string starts flying around, covering everyone. Hera: Thank you all for reading my story. I wasn''t sure if it would be interesting. Blue: And for keeping up with our highs and lows. We try our best to make it fun, but sometimes we get lost in our mess. Leo: Thank you for putting up with our recklessness and obsessions. We will get better someday... right? Leo looks at Perizou, who pretends he is not listening. Bonnie: And sorry for any weird things. There is a lot we end up misunderstanding. Mark: And a lot that Peri has no idea what he is talking about. Perizou: HEY! Mark: Am I wrong? Perizou: No but you don''t have to rub it on my face. Helena: Don''t worry, sweetie. We know you are doing your best, even when you toss us in dangerous situations. Greyson: But next time, don''t forget about me. It''s been a while since A''h had a good fight. Runir: If we are asking favors, can you give me more screen time? Tiffany: Oh, I want that too! Me and my honey, please! Perizou: When did this turn into a make a wish? This is about the 100 chapters, focus everyone. Perizou turns back to you. Perizou: One more time. Thank you so much for reading this weird little story that came out of my head. Mark and Greyson: He means ass. Perizou: Can you please let me do my thing? This is already longer than I expected! Hera: Doesn''t that happen every single chapter? Perizou: No.. well... maybe... I mean... Shut up. Perizou clears his throat and turns once more to you. Perizou: Like I was saying. Your support means the world to me, knowing that there are people out that reading and enjoying this drives me to keep it going. I still have a lot of plans and many many characters for you to meet. I can''t thank you enough for being a part of this story. As the title of this story says, this is only the beginning. Thank you for the 100 chapters, and here is to the next 100! Everyone raises their glasses in a loud cheer. 101 - New Role ''Hello, sweetie. Thank you for worrying about me. I''m almost fine. I think. There were some weird results with the tests they did here in the hospital, so I''ll be here for a while longer. I''m sorry for not setting up Blue''s admission with the order before everything happened. I''ll get on it as soon as I can have a moment. I hope the MAZE is treating you well. Hope we can see each other soon.'' Hera felt tears rushing down her cheeks midway through the text. Helena was well enough to be using her phone. This time it wasn''t someone else telling her that Helena was fine. It came directly from her friend. Cleaning her tears, Hera sent a reply. ''Lena, don''t worry about Blue. Take care of yourself, and if you need anything, please let me know. Things are going well here. I managed to hunt a giant toad on my own, and I can attempt the assassin role test too. Also, I figured out the spell you gave me. I just did it, but I''ll start to catalog the monsters that I see around here starting tomorrow. I hope the tests don''t come back with anything bad. And I''m really happy you are safe.'' Hera told her group about the text and how Helena was already up and about, but still needed some time before she could leave the hospital. "That''s great, Hera! Are you going to start your assistant job?" Blue asked. "I''m starting to get ready, but I''ll wait for Helena to get out of the hospital before asking about the jobs she wants," Hera said. "Oh, but do you have something to do right now, or are you just waiting?" Alex asked for the check. Today it was only the three of them having dinner together. Mark was dealing with a big order, and Bonnie was knee-deep in books. "Well, I want to get the assassin role, and that is going to take a full day. I want to explore around the room too. Not to find anything specific, just to see what out there. But that has no hurry. I checked, and the role thing doesn''t have an expiration date to start." "So, tomorrow, do you want to keep going with the training?" Blue asked. Her eyes were deep, and Hera had noticed the woman rubbing her eyes during most of the meal. "Your call. I got what I needed, but I''m not going to just go do my thing if you want to keep going," Hera finished her drink. "Well, I don''t feel like it''s doing much for me. It''s helping more with the repetition and letting me think more about how I move than actually hiding from something. I think I could train the same way on my own or in an ATR," Alex explained while fidgeting with the salt and pepper shaker on the table. "Really?" Blue asked, the assassin just nodded in reply, "Oh please, let''s stop then. This training is very boring, and I''m not sure I''m getting anything out of it." They talked some more. Blue was feeling a bit too tired and wanted to take a day to rest. Not only was she going to the gym in the mornings, but she was also doing the hide training. It was a lot of work for just a single person. Alex, on the other hand, wanted to look around the city a bit. She wasn''t a part of any groups, and now that she had some experience, she wanted to find an organization or a place for her. Since everyone was doing their own thing, Hera decided to go for the assassin test the next day. She needed to do it alone, anyway. It was a good idea to take advantage of a day where everyone was doing something else. Hera talked some more with Helena in the morning. The mage was feeling restless. Apparently, the doctors had found something odd with the results and were trying to figure out what it was. The main issue was that they were leaving her in the dark. Hera did her best to comfort her friend, but she wasn''t sure if it was effective. Part of her wanted to stay talking to Helena, but when she said she would do another battery of tests, the mage told Hera to get her new role skill. Unsure of what she would face in the test, Hera grabbed her gear, including the pocket staff that she had forgotten in her dresser. She picked a waterskin and some of the bandages from the first aid kit. She told Blue and Alex where she was going and headed to the doorway. When she touched the portal, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role quest identified. Do you wish to begin the [Assassin] Role test? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes, and a familiar feeling of being submerged in hot water covered her body as she froze in place. The bright light was blinding, and she had to close her eyes. A few moments later, the light dissipated, and was able to look around. Hera found herself in a reception room, filled with screens on the sides and a large steel door on the back. Behind her, there was a secondary door, but that one was clearly painted on the wall. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Before she took another step, a notification popped in front of her ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s quest - Assassin Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of an assassin. You may attempt the assassin role test to unlock the assassin related skills. Hide from the monsters and kill the targets in each room to complete the test. If you are caught by any of the creatures in the test, you will be sent back to the reception of the room. Rewards: Assassin role skill ??????????? Failure: The quest will be lost. To attempt the test one more time, unlock the next tier of related skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? Really? So this is why people say it''s even harder on later levels?" Hera stopped to think for a moment. Even being that hard, it shouldn''t be that difficult to get all the role skills. Why it became harder when she got more skills? Before she was able to think too much, the monitors turned on with a message scrolling through the screen. ''The test requires you to kill the targets in each room before you can move on to the next. You must stay hidden during the entire time. If you are discovered, you will be attacked and transported back to the test''s starting point.'' "Ok, so If I fail, I have to start the room again. That''s on par with what Alex told me," Hera said to herself. "Not exactly, kid," A familiar voice came from behind her. Hera spun around, looking for the source of the voice. Her eyes meet a small green apple sitting on a desk. "Peaches!" Hera rushed to it, "How are you?" "I''m good, kid. A bit bored, but good. How about you?" "I''m ok. Some stuff happened, but things seem to be ok now." Peaches tilted its body, "Wanna talk about it? I can''t stop the timer just to warn you." "Ah, no. I mean, talking won''t help. A friend of mine was a part of the team that broke through a wall, and things got crazy." Peaches nodded, "Tell me about it. Those wendigos are scary things." Hera raised her eyebrows, "Do you know about them?" "A little. Not more than what you humans know. I just watched the broadcast and talked to the Qeeroni guide." Hera stopped for a moment, "Wait... How can you talk about other guides?" "There is no rule stopping me from talking about them right now. Besides, I''ve only said that they exist. That was something you could figure out by yourself," Peaches raised its body in a way that could be considered a shrug. "Oh, so can you tell me about them? Is there one that I should try to meet?" Hera sat on a chair by the desk. "I can, but I won''t. That''s not why I''m here." Hera nodded, "And why are you here?" "To do my job. Helping explorers get their skills." "Oh? Really? I thought you would be only in the first test." Peaches stared at Hera for a moment, "That''s on you, kid. You never asked if I would be in another test. And I did say we could meet again." Hera chuckled, "Yeah, but you were very cryptic." "Well, you were the one who looked like death." Hera nodded, remembering how hurt she was after the fight against the giant slime and how much Peaches had helped her during the test. After a few moments in silence, Peaches cleared its throat, "As I said before. You got something wrong in your assessment. If you get spotted, you won''t go back to the beginning of the room. You will be sent back here to the beginning of the test." "What?" Hera''s eyes went wide, " But Alex, an assassin friend of mine, said she would come back just to the previous checkpoint." "Yeah, that is the assassin test. For explorers, you need to do it all in one go." Hera frowned, "This seems unfair." "You already got a role, kid. Not only that, but you also got a pretty good relic. Everything past that is just you being greedy. Besides, you are just level 3. The challenges you face here will be very straightforward." Hera sighed, "Yeah, I guess you have a point. Any idea what I should do here?" Peaches nodded to the screens, and a video started to play. In the video, a shadow humanoid figure opened the reception doors and was met with a dense jungle. The figure began to dash and hide behind trees, bushes, and vines. Some other creatures appeared on the screen, but Hera wasn''t able to identify them. After around five minutes of the figure running through the trees, it found a larger shadow. Again, Hera was unable to figure out what it was, but the humanoid figure made a stabbing motion, and the screen went dark. After that, all the screens turned on once more. This time, however, they had several animals and monsters. There were a few pictures, a skeleton, and a description talking about their weak spots. "All of those things will be there?" Hera asked. "Not really. Just some. It''s up to you to figure out what''s your target," Peaches was looking around. "Could I just go find it and then get attacked so I can come back and figure out?" "You can do whatever you want, kid. But remember, you have a deadline. And we already wasted some time just talking. Not to mention the fact that you will have to go through each room again when you fail." "Right, this is a valid point. Let me see what the screens say," Hera nodded before turning to the information around her. There was a wide variety of creatures showing on the screens. From wolves and monkeys to salamanders and pixies. In the middle, there was even a chimera and a vampire. "Peaches, is this information correct? I mean for the MAZE and not just the test," Hera asked. "As far as I''m aware, yes. The information is correct. But the strength of whatever you find here will be scaled to your level. A few of those things can kill you before you even realize what happened if they are in their normal levels." Peaches replied. Hera started to type everything that she could in her tablet. Trying not to waste too much time but still get all the information she could use, even if the creature wouldn''t be her target. After about ten minutes of writing, she was ready to make her first attempt. "Ok, then. If I pass this, will I still be able to see you?" Hera turned towards the green apple. "Yep, I''ll be in every reception you pass through. I''m also going to be watching you through the cameras. And if you need to rest or eat something, we have a room with a bed, a bathroom, and some fruit here," Peaches made a motion to the side where a small ¡®employee¡¯s only¡¯ door was. "Ok, thanks again, Peaches! I''ll see you soon." Hera opened the door, activating her [Hide] skill, and with her tablet in hand, started to move through the jungle. Peaches waited for the explorer to be far enough away and said in a whisper, "Sooner than you think, kid." 102 - The diference between tests Hera walked forward carefully. She was walking for around five minutes in the jungle. Finally, she found something moving. It looked like a short, hairy humanoid creature. Hera picked her tablet to look for any types of monkeys that were among her notes. The moment the tablet screen came to light, a loud roar echoed through the jungle. Hera looked around and saw the monkeys rushing towards her. She turned around and ran, but every place she tried to hide or to run to was filled with more of the creatures. Less than seven minutes after Hera left the reception, she was teleported back. "Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches asked with a playful smile. "Do you know anything?" Hera asked as she got up from the floor. "Maybe. Do you have any questions?" "Yeah, why did everything come at me the second I went to look at my tablet?" "Because it''s a test of your skills. Not what you can write down." Hera squinted while staring at Peaches, "So I can''t use my tablet?" "Not inside there, kid." "What about other things?" "Like?" "Bandages, waterskin, weapons, my relic." "Those you can, a weapon is needed, of course. Water and bandages are fine too. Your relic is part of the reason why the test is harder," Peaches explained. "Right, and how can I tell what my target is? There were so many monkeys, but I couldn''t see anything different in any of them." "That''s because there isn''t anything unique among them. The creature you need to find is the only one that is from another kind." Hera considered it for a moment. The shadow that was killed in the video was different than the rest. It was good that she needed only to worry about two types of monsters. "Oh yeah, another thing. Why do people say it gets harder? If I rush to get the role skills, I could get them all right?" Hera asked. "In theory, yeah. But there are some restrictions. First, you can''t get more than one extra role skill at the same level. You, for instance, need to reach level four before getting a new quest. Second, the related skill needs to be higher than the last skill you used to get the quest." "You lost me there. What do you mean?" Hera asked. "What skill triggered your quest?" "Hide, it reached rank 2, and then I got the quest." "So the next role-related skill needs to be at least at rank 3 for the quest to trigger. So if your hide ranks to 4, the other skill needs to get to 5." "Ok... so that only applies to the last role that I got? So if after this I get fury or something, only the fury will be the limiter?" "That''s right, kid. Don''t ask me why, but that is how it works." Hera nodded, considering those restrictions. It made sense that people never got too many of the skills. The only way to do it would be to get the skills and ignore it to make it lower level. But that seemed very wasteful. "Ok, so no tablet. I have to rely on my memory. Let''s try this again," Hera cleaned the small amount of dirt and leaves out of her clothes and walked to the door, "See you in the next reception," she told peaches before leaving the room once more. "Whatever you say, kid," Peaches chuckled. Hera left the reception, going once more through the woods. Moving a bit faster this time, Hera already knew she was dealing with a jungle filled with baboons. According to the screens'' information, they were creatures that used most of their senses at once, much like humans. That also meant that their senses weren''t particularly sharp. She could take advantage of that. Hiding in the bushes and behind trees, Hera made her way through the jungle, trying to find the shadow that matched her target. It wasn''t as hard as she imagined to avoid the monkeys, but more than once, she had to jump into a large bush and wait for the creatures to move away. After around twenty minutes, Hera found a creature much larger than the others. A two-meter tall silverback gorilla was sitting in front of a fallen tree. The beast seemed distracted. Hera took advantage of that and sneaked towards it. She was trying to remember where was its weak spot. Unsure, Hera went back to the same routine she had while fighting the frogs. A swift strike in the back of the head. She got closer to the creature and swung her handaxe towards her target. The weapon impacted the monster''s skull, and in response, the gorilla swung its arm around, hitting Hera on the side of her body. She went flying to the side with the impact and hit her back on the reception walls. "Back again?" Peaches asked. "That.. really... hurt," Hera coughed, trying to catch the air that escaped her lungs after the impact. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Yeah, you need to do it in one go, kid. Or be quick enough to avoid everything else." After a few moments, Hera got up, "So I can still pass even if I don''t kill in one strike?" "Not all assassinations are done in a single move. Sometimes things go wrong." "Fair enough. Let me try again," Hera took a moment to analyze the gorilla''s information, to understand its weakness. According to the screen, it would be hard to kill it through a strike on the head. The skull was too thick to be pierced by her handaxe. Her best bet would be to make it bleed out. Feeling a bit more confident, Hera went through the doors once more. She followed the same path that she did the last time, hoping her target would still be in the same place. Hera had to avoid more baboons than the last time. A few groups seemed to be patrolling more intensely, but after 10 minutes, she arrived at the place where she found the silverback gorilla. The beast was still there, sitting in the same position he was before. The cut on its head now was gone. Hera moved closer, trying to get a good angle on the beast''s neck. However, the monster raised both its arms and fell backward, rolling around for a few moments while making loud noises. With the monster lying on its back, Hera rushed towards it and slashed at the creature''s neck, hoping to cut an artery. The gorilla attempted to move away, but he wasn''t fast enough. The handaxe cut clean through the side of its neck. Yet, this wasn''t enough to kill the creature. It raised from the ground and dashed towards Hera, who dodged and ran back into the jungle. She could see the red stream covering the monster''s torso, but the creature was in a frenzy. Its noise was attracting the baboons from the area. Hera needed to be careful not to get ambushed by them. She dove behind a tree and started moving around, doing her best not to make any noise. She attempted to hide once more. She climbed up a tree and hid between the branches. The silverback was too focused on the floor. If she managed to be long enough without anything hitting her, the monster would die. The gorilla kept flaying around on the ground, swinging its arms towards everything. The monster started to get closer to the tree where Hera was. She looked around and attempted to jump to a different tree. However, she failed to see the three baboons that were hidden among the branches. When she landed on the tree, the baboons jumped on Hera. She let go of the branch before they could reach her, but as she fell to the ground, the gorilla turned towards her. The creature seemed to be moving slower, and it was struggling to stay awake. The silverback rushed towards Hera, but it fainted before it was able to attack. Its body fell toward Hera. She tried to dodge, but the tree was in the way. Unfortunately, the silverback''s body crashed on Hera, sending her back to the reception. "Shit!" "Made a mistake, kid?" Peaches asked, seeing the explorer on the floor once more. "Yeah¡­ sorry for the outburst. I managed to kill it, but the body fell on top of me this time," Hera explained, lying down on the floor. "Don''t worry about it, kid. The last explorer I helped cursed like a sailor. Although, I''m not sure if that saying still holds true. And you got really close, nicely done." "Close would mean I''m dead. I need to get it right," Hera let out a long sigh, "Oh, and the thing about the sailors is still a saying. Not sure if it''s true, but people still say that." "Good, I''m not that old then," Peaches smiled. "How old are you, by the way?" Peaches stared at Hera, "It''s rude to ask a guide about their age." "Oh, sorry. I didn''t know," Hera looked down. Peaches started laughing, "I''m just messing with you, kid. I honestly have no idea. We don''t keep track." "So, you don''t celebrate birthdays?" "Kid, you only have 24 hours here. Actually, it''s closing into 23 now. Are you sure you want to discuss that?" Peaches asked. "Well, I have no idea when I''ll see you again. So yeah, I kind of do." Peaches chuckled, "Fair enough. I''ll be quick. We don''t celebrate birthdays, but we have a small party every time someone calls us. Well... most of us. I get mine when I give the skill to someone. Some guides thought it was a good incentive to have more explorers. In the end, nothing changed. They don''t get how I need to be careful." "Oh, so it really is up to you?" "100%, kid. I''m the judge and jury. But honestly, my rule is just don''t be a greedy dick. You would be surprised how many people fail on that." Hera nodded, "Honestly, I think I get it. Most people suck." "I''m surprised to hear you say that. You seemed more open during your explorer quest." "I like you, and the simulations were simulations. Why would I be mean to them?" Hera explained. "So, you would act like that with everyone that is not people?" "Probably, until they show that they suck just as much." Peaches laughed, "Fair point. More people should live by those rules. Now stop wasting time and get out of here." Hera laughed and moved towards the door, headed out. Once more, after the silverback gorilla. This time the monster wasn''t at the same stop. Hera spent another ten minutes walking around looking for trackings or marks until she found the beast. This time Hera didn''t wait as long. She sneaked up behind the gorilla and jumped at its back, slashing its neck at the same time. The cut went deep, and a river or red covered its torso. The monster started to gasp for air while Hera held it in place. This time, she managed to open a large gash on its throat. In a few moments, the silverback went limp. Hera let go of the beast, and when the body hit the floor, it turned into shadows and vanished. Right in front of her, a door appeared. It wasn''t connected to anything, and even if Hera looked behind it, she could only see the doorframe. Opening it, she found a reception almost precisely like the one before. The one difference was the color. The first entrance was painted in a soft blue. This had a light yellow tone. "Hey, kid. Congratulations on passing the first part," Peaches was sitting on the desk the same way Hera left him in the first reception. "Thanks, how many are there?" Hera walked to the door on the back, the one that leads to the bathroom. "I can''t tell you that. But I''ll let you know when you are done." "Well, I hope so. It would be really mean to let me keep going while I was already done," Hera walked in the rest area, drank some water, and used the bathroom before going back and checking the screens. This time, she would be in a sprawling cavern. Several small shadows hid on the walls and ceiling, but the target was a long creature, almost like a snake. Hera looked at the screens and attempted to memorize all the information about the monsters. Feeling confident in her information, Hera opened the door and headed inside the cave. Even with her hide active, her footsteps echoed through the tunnels. The only way to stop the noise was to crawl on all fours, but that would make her waste too much time. After a couple of moments, Hera kicked a pebble by accident. The noise echoed through the cavern. Hera held her breath, hoping it wasn''t enough to warn the monsters. A few seconds passed, and nothing seemed to be coming towards her. As she started to move once again, she noticed that the wind seemed to be picking up. It didn''t take long for her to realize that the sound wasn''t the wind, but the sound of dozens of tiny wings approaching. Hera tried to hide as best as she could in the open tunnel, but soon she was swarmed by bats. Hera crouched down, waiting to be attacked, and suddenly the noise stopped. Raising her head, she was once again in the blue reception, with Peaches sitting on the desk. ¡°Hey, kid. Bad luck?¡± Peaches asked with a playful smile. 103 - Rinse and repeat "Fuck!" Hera yelled, after arriving once again in the blue reception room. "Hey, kid. Bad luck?" Peaches asked with a playful smile. "Can you please not say that every time I get here? It''s freaking me out," Hera got up, cleaning the dirt out of her clothes. "What do you mean, kid? It''s the first time you get here." "What?!" Hera stared at the guide with wide eyes. Peaches started laughing, "Sorry, but your face was priceless, kid." "Don''t joke like that! Those things freak me out." "I''ll keep that in mind," the guide said, still laughing. Hera huffed and walked inside the resting area. It''s been 8 hours since she started the test. So far, she had managed to pass through four different rooms. The first was the area with the monkeys. It wasn''t as difficult as she expected. The annoying part was killing the silverback in a single strike, but she still ended up being hit by the baboons more than a couple of times during her attempts. The second area was a cave filled with bats and a giant red centipede as a target. The problem was the noise. Any small disturbance would make them go insane, and the centipede was very noisy. Not only that, but the only way to one-shot it was by hitting it between the eyes. That was a huge problem. Hera''s best trick was to use her light spell as a flashbang before going in for the kill. The third room was a snowy mountain with a heavy wind blowing. Several wolves were running around that would rush to her the moment they got her scent. She needed not only to anticipate the changes in the wind but be careful not to sweat too much. The target this time was a white arctic fox. Killing it was easy, but getting close enough was the problem. The best way to do it was by either throwing her chakram or using the poison spray spell. However, using that second option required her to stay around and dodge the fox for about twenty minutes. If the situation wasn''t as time-sensitive, it would be fine. The fourth room was a swamp, and several flies patrolled the area. Hera needed to be very careful to be hidden from them. If they looked at her in the open, she would be spotted. The first few times Hera got in there, she was immediately attacked by the flies. It was a scary situation, the flies were just the size of an orange, but they were still much larger than what she was used to. The target this time was a snake. It was incredibly big, but nothing that didn''t exist outside the MAZE. It was still a big creature, and it was very hard to find the green snake in the middle of the swamp. Hera managed to find it twice, the first time she was caught by the beast, and they both fell in the water. The second time she was about to hit it, but one of the flies hit her arm before she was able to strike the target. The explorer was taking a moment to eat some fruit, drink water, use the bathroom, and rest for around half an hour. "Soo, what have you learned?" Peaches asked while Hera was lying in bed. "Bugs suck," she replied. "And why is that?" "Because they can sneak up on me while I''m about to hit the bloody snake." "Try again, Kid." Hera let out a long sigh, "Bugs, or at least the bugs in here, have a very keen sight. They can notice even small movements." "And?" "And..." Hera picked the tablet and read through the information, "And they are not very good at noticing differences in colors and such." "So? What is the best way to deal with them?" "Just hide? No, that doesn''t seem to work," Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Maybe I should try to camouflage myself?" "Like the snake?" Peaches asked. "Yeah, I should learn from it, try to make its strength as my own." Peaches nodded with a satisfied smile. He wouldn''t give her the answer to the questions. But nothing was stopping the guide from giving her a little nudge in the right direction. "Was that the only thing you could use?" Peaches asked. "What do you mean?" Hera asked without getting up. "Was the snake the only one who could teach you something?" Hera considered what Peaches had just said. The snake was the only one that helped her in some way, right? Thinking for a moment, she tried to figure out what the other targets could show her. After some time, she sat up on the bed, staring at the guide. "Holy crap, the system is really smart," Hera gasped. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Peaches nodded its head, "It can be, sometimes." "Ok, but help me out here. The centipede was about distributing my weight to minimize noise, or at least that''s what I think. If I can spread my weight better, even going on all fours, the noise should be minimal. The fox was about using nature to my benefit. If I stay against the wind it''s easier to sneak up on it. But what the hell is the gorilla about?" Peaches smiled. This was the right question, and she managed to pass by the first test with some consistency. It wouldn''t do any harm to answer that one, "Maybe about knowing when you can try a slow approach, and when you need to go for the sure kill." "Oh, yeah, that makes sense. When I don''t kill it in one blow, I end up back here." Hera was still thinking about everything while Peaches just watched the gears turning inside her head. After finishing her rest, the explorer got up, ready to try again. It took her five attempts to reach the fourth reception. This one had lavender walls. Hera read once more the information about her targets. The snake wasn''t venomous, but its body strength was enough to crush bones. It was also a very patient hunter and could stay in one position for hours. They were also very sensitive to heat. That could be used to lure them. Hera also wanted to be sure she could finish it in one single strike. She waited for a moment, thinking about what she could do to improve her chances. Hera looked at Peaches, "Tell me, does this place have some whetstones? I forgot to bring mine." "Check the bottom drawer on the rest area. I think there is one there." Hera went to the room and found what she needed. Taking a few minutes to sharpen both her handaxe and her chakram, she got the 1% buff to their durability. The blades also felt much sharper, even taking care of the weapons daily, they still showed some signals of wear and tear. "Wish me luck," Hera said to Peaches while moving towards the door. "Go get them, kid." Hera left the reception and moved through the swamp. As she walked, she made sure to spread some mud and water in her clothes. The smell was far from pleasant, but it allowed Hera to blend better with her surroundings. She took ten minutes to feel comfortable with the amount of camouflage she put on herself. It was the weirdest make up she ever tried. After some time, Hera returned to her search for the snake. Even with the dirt and mud on top of her, she still was being careful. Moving slowly, she spent twenty minutes sneaking around before finally finding the snake''s trail. The mud had some markings, only something slithering around could make that. She followed the tracks for ten minutes, moving through a large part of the swamp. Only after that, she noticed some similarities in the area. The tracks were making a loop, Hera had just spent the last ten minutes walking in circles. The explorer frowned. Was the snake that smart? Could it be toying with her? Hera looked around, trying to see if any flies or the snake were around. Some of the mosquitoes were a bit farther away to her left, but no sign of the snake. The explorer ducked down and tried to focus on her hearing. There had to be some signal of what was going on. After a few moments hearing the buzzing and the noises of the swamp, Hera listened to a different noise coming from a tree on her left. She turned around and saw the snake dangling from a branch, staring at her. Hera stared back. For a moment, she could swear the creature was smiling. She picked her handaxe and started walking towards the tree, still staring at the snake. If the creature was smart enough to do this trap, Hera wouldn''t be able to hide from it. Her best option was a frontal assault. Moving closer, she felt like she was in the middle of a game of chicken against the snake. Hera stopped moving for a moment while a couple of flies passed nearby, not taking her eyes out of her target. As the explorer got closer, the snake retracted to the branch, getting ready to lunge at the incoming human. Hera knew that she would only get a single chance to kill it. If she failed, the snake or the bugs would hit her, and she would be back in the first reception. Inch by inch, Hera got closer to the snake. She needed to wait for the beast to move first. Step by step, the explorer approached until the snake lunged at her with her mouth open. Hera took a step to the side, but her feet were caught on a tree root. Unable to dodge, she held her handaxe and attempted to block the attack. The snake went straight into the blade of the axe, ripping the beast in two. Hera held her breath, already waiting to appear on the blue reception once more. Yet she didn''t change locations. Looking down, she could see the snake''s fang hitting the leather armor in her chest. The impact with the handaxe was barely enough to take away the creature''s momentum and save her from the attack. "This was way too close," Hera mumbled while walking to the door that just appeared. "Hey, kid. Nice job, but you need a shower," Peaches said as Hera walked into the room with light pink walls. "Ha ha. Very funny," Hera rolled her eyes. "Not a joke, kid. You reek. My nose is burning just by being near you." "Since when do you have a nose?" ¡°Since always. Not my fault you can''t appreciate its beauty.¡± Hera stared at Peaches. Aside from the eyes and mouth, there was nothing else on his face. She was sure of it. The explorer grabbed some water in the rest area and played the video for the next room. According to Alex, after dealing with rooms dedicated to specific senses, she had to deal with a room with something different. The spiders and their web. In the video, the shadow figure opened the door and dove into a large body of water. It spent some time swimming in the waters, hiding from large fish creatures until it found its target in the middle of a reef. After that, she focused on the screens. All the information this time was about aquatic creatures, from whales and dolphins to jellyfish and shrimp. So far all the tests had been against different creatures than the ones Alex had to deal with. However, this was the first time that the variation was so big. "Sooo... Am I supposed to get a scuba suit somewhere?" Hera asked. Peaches chuckled, "Well, if you have, you can use it. But you can breathe in that water." "Really?" "Yeah, Kid. Perks of the MAZE. Some rooms have breathable water." "This is going to be weird," Hera said. "Weirder than talking to a green apple?" "Maybe not, but what about my tablet? Can I leave it here?" "Yeah, anything you leave here will show up in the next reception, or the previous one. The next one, you show up in." "Ok, I''m leaving my tablet here then. The guild says this is waterproof, but I''m not too keen on putting it to the test in the ocean." Peaches nodded, "Fair point. And are you going like that?" Hera looked down. She was still covered in mud and dirt, and some snake blood now. "Yeah, no. There are sharks on the screens. I''m gonna wash this out since I''m already getting wet anyway," Hera walked to the rest area and took a shower with her clothes on to clean everything up. She made sure to clean every piece of clothing and leave no blood, dirt, or soap on her body. That could be used to track her. Half an hour later, she was standing in front of the door. She glanced at the timer that was on one of the screens. She was closing in the 10 hour mark, and she was already feeling a bit sleepy. "Let''s hope this is the last one," she mumbled before diving in the ocean waters. 104 - Underwater The restless shadows streamed through the night As we prayed to the heavens to bring on the light With a cackling laugh, the witch took flight basking in joy, seeing our plight ''You thought I was the one to fright, now you all shall perish in this undead blight'' Irene Guillan - The march of the hollow ################################## Hera needed some time to get used to her surroundings. First, it was the fact that she was in an ocean and had to swim to move. Second, the notion that she could breathe underwater. Instinctively she would hold her breath, and during the first ten minutes, she kept hurrying to the surface when she was running low on air. Moving around in the water was a problem of its own. Hera wasn''t able to move as freely as she was used to. Before rushing in, she spent around twenty minutes swimming around the entrance before she was confident enough to look for her target. A good thing about the room was that the water was always clear. Hera could see the ocean floor even from the surface. This wouldn''t be possible in an actual ocean, but it seemed to be another MAZE trick. She started to move, looking for something that could give her a hint. After some time, she saw dark shadows moving around. She dove deeper into the ocean, trying to hide on the ocean''s floor. As she got close, Hera noticed a coral reef to the side. It wasn''t big, but it could be enough to protect her from whatever was coming. The shadow got closer and closer, and Hera could see that it was a large hammerhead shark. The beast moved above Hera, who held her breath until it passed through. "Great, if those things find me, I''m done," Hera thought. She kept swimming close to the bottom. Luckily, there were few of those creatures moving around. Hera spent another twenty minutes swimming and looking for the target. Thinking about the video, she remembered that the target seemed to be hidden on the floor. She used her pulse to see if something would appear, but to no avail. She kept thinking about what could be the target and how she could find it, but it was getting more and more difficult to move around. The sharks were passing by more frequently. Hera stayed as hidden as she could, trying to figure out if the sharks had somehow found her. Hera started to go through everything that she did up to this point, trying to see if there was anything that could have given her location away. The more time passed, the more the sharks closed in on her location. Hera started to get more and more worried, watching the shadows pass by her. There was no way they had seen her, was there? She looked to the side and saw a manta ray emerging from the sand in the ground and stopping a few meters in front of her. Hera looked back up to the shadows and to the creature on the ocean floor. She could try to rush it. If the sharks took a bit too long to notice her, it would be enough to reach it. She looked up once more and saw two sharks making a B line towards her. Her heart started to beat faster, and Hera moved as fast as she could towards the manta ray. All the ten sharks rushed towards Hera. Before she even was able to cover half the distance towards her target, the sharks reached her. Biting down on her arms and legs and sending Hera back to the first reception. Hera coughed up the water in her lungs and kept lying down. "Are you ok there, kid?" Peaches asked. "Yeah, I just wanna stay here for a while," Hera said with her face still on the floor. "What went wrong?" "No clue, the sharks started to get close to me even though I did a pretty good job at hiding." "Were you bleeding or something?" "Nope. I was fine." "What the information said?" Peaches asked. "Pass me my tablet. I''m not getting up yet." Peaches shoved Hera''s tablet towards the explorer. She moved quickly to grab the tablet before it fell on the ground and started to look through her notes. "It says they are experts in detecting the smell of blood in the water," Hera said. "What else?" "They are fast, can''t stop moving. Ferocious and lethal. And they have some sort of electromagnetic detection, whatever that means." "And what does that last thing do?" "It can make the sharks perceive the magnetic fields of the earth." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "And?" Hera read more of her notes, "Differentiate between animals and plants because of the electrical current on the brain," she got up quickly, "Wait, those sharks can use it to find me? How am I supposed to hide from that?" "You have to find that out." "Ok.. is there a way to lower that current?" "I honestly don''t know. Sorry about that, kid." Hera stayed a couple more minutes sitting on the floor, trying to see if she missed anything else about the monsters she had encountered. It seemed like there was nothing new, and in another ten minutes, Hera got up, ready to try again. One thing she noticed was that her clothes were dry at the moment. According to Peaches, every time she got teleported out, anything that she didn''t bring to the test would vanish. Setting out once more, Hera took another 2 hours to reach the ocean stage again. She kept being hit by the flies or the snake. The reptile was more intelligent than she expected. It would create traps and ambushes to get her. During the entire time she completed the rooms, Hera kept considering what she could do to avoid the sharks. She believed there were only two options. She could either move fast enough so the sharks wouldn''t swarm her. Or she could find a way to reduce the electrical current on her brain. The problem with the first option was that it relied too much on luck. The issue with the second option was that Hera had no idea on how to do that. The only thing she could think of was to use a spell or to think less. But her movements would trigger the electrical current, anyway. She was already fighting nonstop for close to twelve hours, and the fatigue was getting to her. Hera took a deep breath to calm herself before jumping in the ocean. The cold water helped to keep her awake, even with the sound of the sea around her having a calming effect. Hera went straight to the ocean floor and started to look for any signals of the manta ray. It was a difficult thing to do. The only things that could give Hera some semblance of position were the small coral reefs spread around the area. Even so, it all looked the same. She wasn''t able to use it to position herself in the room. Hera focused on the sharks moving around her. Several times she had to hide from the creatures under the reef. At one point, she noticed a shadow approaching by the corner of her eye. She twisted her body, trying to swing her handaxe toward the incoming creature. As she moved, the shadow vanished as if it was never there. Hera kept looking from side to side, trying to find the beast that was coming, but to no avail. She felt something by her legs and stomped, trying to stop whatever it was from grabbing her. The manta ray, who had just passed the explorer, turned around and attacked Hera with its stinger. Appearing once more in the blue reception, Hera was still trying to understand what happened. "Hey, kid. Bad luck?" "I don''t know. But I need to try again," she said, leaving the reception before peaches could even say anything else. Less than five minutes later, Hera appeared once more in the first reception. "Do you know the definition of crazy, kid?" Peaches asked. "I do, but you are going to tell me anyway," Hera was sitting on the floor, looking at her hands. "You are right. Crazy is someone who spends more than 12 hours fighting without rest." "But I only have more 12 hours to beat this. If not.." "If not, you can try again later. Besides, you humans only need 6 to 8 hours of sleep, right? Maybe 10 since you are so tired. It still gives you quite a bit of time to keep trying," Peaches cut Hera off. "I guess. But I need to figure out," Hera let out a long yawn, "How to beat the test." "Kid, you need sleep. Go rest. I''ll wake you up in six hours. Deal?" Hera wanted to disagree, but she was too tired to argue. She got some water and ate something before crashing on the bed. "You really need to stop pushing yourself so much, kid," Peaches said while Hera started snoring. ######################### "Do you have someone to talk about this?" the doctor asked. Helena was staring at the result of her exams. The little knowledge about medicine she had was enough to understand what was going on. "Miss Dittro?" the doctor asked again. "Sorry, I was distracted. What was the question?" Helena asked. "Do you have someone to talk about this?" the man in front of her asked once more. Helena gave the man her professional smile, "As you said, doctor. My issue is very unique. I don''t think I know someone who could relate to this. But yes, I have people who will at least listen to me." "That''s good. This is not something you should deal with on your own," the man nodded and avoided her gaze. Helena knew that giving this sort of news wasn''t easy, and since he was the one taking care of her, he felt guilty for the result. "Do I still need to be here?" Helena asked. The doctor shook his head, "No, not at the moment at the very least," he took one of his business cards from the desk and wrote down his contact information, "This is my personal cellphone and email. Any changes, please let me know. If we have any developments on our end, I will contact you. We will just do one last basic check-up and discharge you." Helena kept looking at the doctor. She knew he was a powerful healer but not even with magic and enchanted tools, they were able to find a solution. "I''ll contact the guild. They will escort you back home and talk about what is going to happen moving forward," the doctor said. Helena nodded, "Can I go back to my room? I want to be alone for a moment." "Of course, but just to let you know, we will be monitoring your vitals. Just a precaution in case you attempt to harm yourself." "You don''t have to worry about that, but I appreciate the warning." Helena left the doctor''s office and headed to the room she was staying in the hospital. A few people stared at her while she walked, but Helena didn''t notice it. She had too much on her mind. Arriving in the room, Helena sat on the bed and focused on her hands. A few moments later, tears started to fill her eyes. ######################### "Kid," Hera didn''t move an inch. "Kid?" the explorer moved a bit, getting more comfortable on the bed. "KID!" Peaches jumped on top of Hera, hitting her stomach. Hera got up with a jolt, spooked by the sudden attack. "What, what?" she fumbled for her weapons, "Are the sharks coming?" "Really, kid? You were even dreaming about that?" Peaches turned around in the bed after being tossed away from the explorer, "No, they are not coming. You slept for 7 hours. I tried to wake you an hour ago, but not even jumping on your head was enough." Hera rubbed her eyes, still a bit sluggish, "Ok, so I have.. 4 hours remaining?" "5 actually. Splash some water on your face to wake up. You still have time, but It''s better if you don''t wait around too much." "Ok, thanks," Hera walked to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, she returned to have a small breakfast. With everything, ready Hera walked towards the door that leads to the jungle. Before stepping out, she looked to the clock. "Five hours, you can do this, Hera." "Yes, you can, kid. Just don''t rush it." Hera nodded and walked out of the room. She still needed to start with the silverback, but her goal was to kill the manta ray. 105 - Growth It took Hera forty minutes to get back in the ocean. It was much easier this time. Not only she was well rested, but her muscle memory also helped a lot to move around the way she should. The centipede was turning into the easiest of the bunch. Her flashbang trick made the creatures stop moving completely while she killed it. To deal with the sea creatures, her plan was simple. Move fast and hide. Hera realized that the longer she stayed underwater, the faster the sharks would come after her. Hera kept swimming fast, not staying long in the same spot. Even a few times, when the sharks were close, she moved from one reef to another, trying to find the manta ray. After ten minutes, she still wasn''t able to find her target. The sharks were already closing in or her location. Hera looked towards the circle that the beasts were making, and in the middle of it was the manta ray, swimming without a care in the world. She clenched her fist and pressed her legs on the ocean''s floor. Her only option right now was to avoid the creatures and go for her target. Activating her [All In], the explorer shot up towards the shark whirlpool. The first four took too long to move, allowing Hera to pass by. The next three rushed towards her but failed to connect with their bites. Hera could see her target, and she was ready to attack the manta ray. Three more sharks were closing in, coming from the sides. She still had a chance. All she needed was to be faster than them. However, when the two sharks came from above the manta ray, she knew it was over. She got bitten by the two sharks at once and appeared once more in the blue reception room. "Bad luck, kid?" Peaches asked. "Can you please stop asking that?" "Sorry, old habits." Hera took a moment to rest, "I even used my skill on that." Peaches asked what happened, and Hera told about where the target was, "Oh, kid. That was bad luck. Some rooms have creatures that work together." Hera started in the jungle room one more time. A couple of failures later, she was back at the reception with light pink walls. This attempt was much shorter than the previous ones. Hera ended up in an area without reefs big enough to hide. Just thirty minutes after leaving the first reception, she was teleported back. At least her time was improving. In her next attempt, Hera managed to get to the ocean in one go. This time Hera dove into the water right away. She was feeling pumped and ready to begin. Instead of staying close to the floor, Hera took a risk and stayed near the surface. A few sharks were roaming with their fins out of the water. That allowed Hera to have a better idea of where the creatures were. Five minutes after entering the room, she found the manta ray. Looking around to be sure no sharks were coming, Hera dove towards her target. The creature would change positions and bury itself in the sand. If she wasn''t looking straight at it when it burrowed, there was no way she could find it. Hera moved closer to the creature, waiting for it to be completely hidden. She looked to the sides and noticed a couple of sharks heading her way. She wouldn''t be able to wait for too long before attacking. Closing in the manta ray, Hera got her handaxe ready. She stood behind her target, trying not to block the light coming from the surface, and slashed at the manta ray''s midsection, hitting the sand under it. Hera pulled her handaxe back, splitting the back side of the creature. The sharks were still approaching. Hera looked around, trying to find the door. Near a reef, the door frame appeared. She rushed towards it, worried the sharks could still get her. She managed to reach the door, but pushing it was weird. It took a lot of effort to make it move even a little. Shoving both her legs into the sand, Hera opened the door. She looked back and saw a shark approaching quickly. Grabbing the doorframe, Hera pulled herself towards the reception. Hera closed the door in a hurry, afraid the sharks could still reach her. "You don''t have to do that, kid. They can''t come in here," Peaches said. "Well, I''m not taking any chances. It took a lot of me to get here." "But you can do it again, kid. It Is that or passing the next room on your first try." Hera''s shoulders slumped, "There is more?" "That''s up to you." Hera frowned, "You know that cryptic thing you do is a bit annoying." Peaches chuckled, "Sorry about that, kid. I got used to being like that in the other test. This can be the end of your test. Or you can try one more room." Hera stared at the guide for a moment, "What is the catch?" Peaches smiled, "If you finish now, you get the skill and the perks that come with it. If you beat this next room, your relic will receive an upgrade." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hera squinted at the green apple, "But?" "You are catching on quick. But you only have one chance. If you fail, that''s it." "If I fail, I fail the whole test?" "Oh no, my mistake. I meant that this last room is a one chance thing. If you fail, you will go back to the beginning of the test. Then you need to pass the ocean one more time." Hera looked at the timer, "I still have around three hours. I think I can do it. It''s not going to be a huge room like the one on the explorer''s test, right?" "Nah, It''s much smaller. But it will be harder for you. Well, maybe not." "Why?" "Are you doing it? I can''t tell you if you are not." Hera looked again at the timer. Even if she wasted two hours there, she could still come back and have a chance at beating this test. "I hope I don''t regret this. But I''m in. Should I go through that door?" Hera pointed at the door on the other side of the grey-colored reception. "Not yet," Peaches looked at Hera. A second later, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Updated: Explorer''s quest - Assassin Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of an assassin. You may attempt the assassin role test to unlock the assassin related skills. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the test area will appear. Hidden goal: Complete the mission responsible for creating the assassin role. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What is this about the creation of the role?" Hera asked. "As an explorer, you can discover the history of things. Not that other people can''t, but you have a special knack for it. Well, it would be more like the MAZE will give you more information about the history of things." "This seems more than just giving information," Hera said. "True, from time to time, you will find things like that. Places that the MAZE doesn''t simply give you a hint, but just slaps you with the information," Peaches laughed. "The MAZE gets weirder by the second," Hera sighed. "You have no idea, kid." The screens flickered around the room, and several images appeared. They were all paintings, tapestries, and other artistic representations from the middle ages. "Well, since this is my job, let me tell you a story," Peaches said, "A long time ago. In the ages of kings and nobles, it was very common for powerful people to employ their own force of assassins. Wars would start and end by their hands, kingdoms would fall, and empires crumble. All that was needed was a single well placed poison or one well executed ambush. That was also true inside the MAZE. A good assassin could change the tide of battle, hiding in the shadows and taking out the monsters in a single strike." Peaches pointed Hera towards the screens with the part of the story he was telling. It started with a tapestry of a king, then a painting of a shadowed figure looking at a burning city. "The ultimate proof of the role''s worth was when an empire in the MAZE plotted to conquer all the rooms. The emperor had used magic to create an army of undead soldiers under his command. Each enemy that fell by the undead''s hand would rise and become a part of the emperor''s army," The guide pointed towards a picture of a skeletal army with one human in the middle. "A king, saddened and angry after seeing his soldiers'' sacrifice perverted like that, went after the emperor on his own. The king was not a warrior nor a commander. He was raised to perform the role of a killer, and only by an unfortunate disease that fell upon his family that he came to bear the crown." The painting showed an imposing figure with a silver armor filled with sea-themed ornaments. The crown on his head gave Hera the impression of two waves crashing at each other. For some reason, Hera felt that the figure was familiar somehow, but she wasn''t sure where she had seen it. "The king invaded the emperor''s palace alone. He avoided all his guards and patrols and reached the emperor''s bed chambers. Thanks to the emperor''s hubris, king Gwendelan was able to slit the mad ruler''s throat while he slept. However, his success was not without a price. By killing the emperor, he inherited the ability to control the undead army, but he would not be able to harm them or to dispel the magic. To protect everyone, Gwendelan, the first assassin, called all his troops to the castle and sealed it off. He made sure that nothing would break the seal, not as long as he was still around." The last few paintings showed the king sneaking in the castle, killing the emperor, and controlling the undead. The final piece, however, was a tapestry of king Gwendelan as an undead. There was a small symbol on the corner of it, a pair of waves crashing at each other and an olive branch in the middle. "This was the moment the system ruled that assassins would be a part of the roles, although the actual roles still took some time to appear." Hera stared at peaches, "Wait, so the system figured out the roles but waited before giving them to us?" Peaches nodded, "Yeah, don''t ask me why. Maybe it wanted to cover all the bases before making the change." "This is too much for my head," Hera said. "Don''t focus on the reason. Just listen to the story. Now, for the actual test," the screens shifted, showing a couple of skeletons and humans as well as several blueprints of the emperor''s palace, "You will have access to everything Gwendelan had. All you need to do is recreate his mission. You don''t need to move the same way he did. In all honesty, you can''t even get close to his skill right now, but you need to accomplish the same result. And don''t worry, this still is scaled to your level." "Ok... can I use my tablet this time? Memorizing all those blueprints will be very tricky," Hera asked. "No, if you do, it will be just like with the monkeys." "Fine, let me see where to start." Hera began to formulate her plan. Gwendelan had a very thorough report, from the change in shifts to what the soldiers would eat and even their fears or allergies. The blueprints also had notes about places that could creak or give away his position as he walked by. "Did king Gwendelan really found out all this?" Hera asked. "Yeah, he and his spy network. Many lives were lost to gather that intel." Hera nodded. The fact that many people had died to get this was all but surprising. As she kept going through the report, a thought occurred to her. "Peaches, will I have to kill humans in there?" "They will be simulations of humans, but yeah. As the name of the role implies, it was created to kill people. Even if humans seem less gung-ho about killing each other now, I doubt that the need for assassins will ever disappear." Hera kept staring at the screen that showed the emperor. According to the information, he was as evil as it gets. He killed most of his people to turn them into undead. He would use peasants and children as meat shields for its army, and he was terrible even before getting that power. To become the emperor, he killed his entire family, including his mother and his infant brother. Even with all that, killing a person was something Hera had never considered. Not like this. If it were self-defense, it would be one thing, but killing someone in cold blood was different. Could she do it? Peaches stayed quiet while Hera formulated her plan, but he was still keeping track of the time. She was reading the intel for half an hour already. The guide didn''t want to rush her, but he still couldn''t help but give a push. "So, kid. Ready to try?" 106 - Infiltrating the palace The reception door sent Hera to what looked like a pantry. Several bags with grains and spices covered the walls of the room. This was the point that king Gwendelan used to infiltrate the palace. Under one of the bags, there was a loose stone that lead to an underground tunnel. This was part of the emperor''s escape route, and none of the soldiers knew about it. According to the intel, there would be a human guard in the corridor outside the door, but he would go for a shift change in two minutes. That gave Hera a one minute window to leave the pantry. Following that, she would head towards the balcony to climb to the next floor from the outside. Hera pressed her ear against the door, listening to the guard''s footsteps. After a few moments, she heard the noise echoing through the corridor. It was the sound of heavy metal greaves rattling against each other. Hera held her breath as the noise got closer and passed through the door. Vanishing on the other side of the hallway. When the footfalls were far enough away, Hera left the room, making sure to close the door behind her, and sneaked to the other side of the corridor. She went towards a window beside the balcony. Hera focused on the surrounding sounds. Getting close to a door, she heard something being dragged inside the room. Using what she had learned in the cave room, Hera crouched down and spread her weight to minimize the noise she was making. According to the map in the report, the door would lead to a storage room for the undead. After passing through it, Hera walked onto the balcony. The view was breathtaking. A massive city in beautiful red and gold tones covered the entire landscape. Even in the dark of night, the lanterns gave the town a mystic look. Hera shook her head. This wasn''t the time to be sightseeing. She walked to the edge of the balcony and grabbed on to the ledge of the building. Climbing the outer wall, she headed towards the window two floors up. The emperor was in the central room on the top floor of the palace. So far, Hera was mirroring what king Gwendelan did. This was the easy part. After the second window, the number of patrols would increase drastically, both human and undead. Grabbing the edge of the window, Hera pulled herself up to see the next floor. Right away, she could see a pair of undead walking side by side away from the window. She waited for the patrol to be far enough away and entered through the window, already heading to the side near a long drapery on the corner of the floor. Here things started to be different. King Gwendelan reached the top floor by parkouring outside the castle. He would hide among the shadows and climb until the emperor''s room. Luckily for Hera, that was just one of his many plans. There were routes going from A to F in the intel, and she would take the path C. It was among the longest ones, but it was safer than the rest. She would deal with mostly undead creatures that could only rely on sight to identify threats. The main issue with this route was that it made her go around the palace a couple of times. The servant only stairs were placed on opposite edges of the building. The emperor had a private spiral staircase that was enchanted with magic. It would work like an escalator and drop him off on any floor he wished. Hera had to stay behind the undead duo. Never moving too quickly and staying hidden most of the time. Because of their slow speed, it took her twenty minutes just to reach the first set of stairs. ''Only two more to go,'' she thought to herself as she reached the next floor. This time, she had to be more careful. There were two sets of patrols on each corridor, one undead and one human. According to the intel, the undead would keep moving around. But the humans would stop on windows to inspect the outside. That was her chance. She would wait for the humans to be distracted and rush to one of the doors on the floor. She waited by the stair for the first set of humans to pass, and the moment they stopped by the window, Hera rushed towards the closest door. She was trying not to make too much noise, but the door was stuck. Hera looked back at the two humans looking through the windows. She had already taken too long to open this door, and they would soon start moving again. If they did, nothing was stopping them from turning towards her. If that wasn''t bad enough, there was also an undead patrol about to reach the corner of the floor. Hera''s heart was beating fast. Maybe the door that was in front of her was actually locked and not just stuck. Not wanting to be caught, she rushed towards the next door. This one opened easily, and Hera closed it right behind her. Her relief was short lived. A moment after closing the door, Hera heard snoring coming from the room. She turned around and gave a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Only when she was finally able to see the rows of bed that Hera realized where she was. One floor below the emperor''s chamber was the elite guard barracks, where the emperor''s strongest warriors lived. Hera held her breath while she thought of her next step. If she remembered correctly, the barracks had two doors, both of them would lead directly to the servant staircase. If she managed to go through this room without waking anyone up, she could reach the last floor, bypassing some of the patrols. She crouched down and started to walk on all fours. The elite guard had very sharp senses. If even one of them woke up, Hera would be in deep trouble. Hera made sure to pay attention to her surroundings, not to hit anything by accident. At one point, there was a creak in one of the beds, and all the guards shifted. Hera held her breath, worried about making any more noise. She waited for a while, happy that none of her friends were around to see her crawling on all fours. When she felt that her movements wouldn''t mess with the guards sleep, she moved towards the door on the other side of the room. Even with all the stopping and waiting, she managed to reach the door in just fifteen minutes. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Looking through the keyhole, Hera waited for the human patrol to pass by. Listening to their footsteps, the explorer waited for them to stop before opening the door. Not only were the guards distracted, looking through a window, but the stairs to the next floor were right in front of her. Being careful not to make any noise, she left the barracks and headed towards the emperor''s floor. However, as soon as she arrived on said floor, her heart sank. There was an entire battalion of undead on the floor. They were all looking towards the stairs in the same position. The image made Hera remember the stone warriors that were found in China a long time ago. Hera already was expecting the monsters to attack her, but they were utterly still. She poked her head out of the stairs, ready to run away if they attacked her, but nothing happened. The undead seemed to be in stasis. Looking around, Hera searched for her next step. There was a door on the back of the great hall, the only door in the entire floor. That was clearly the entrance to the emperor''s chamber, but the undead were so close to each other that Hera couldn''t pass through without touching them. She had watched enough movies to know that touching an unmoving creature would be a bad idea. She could try to climb the walls and move above the creatures, but she would have many problems traversing the hall, and going under the undead''s legs felt like suicide. Her remaining option was to circle the hall through the outside, doing something similar to what king Gwendelan had done. Hera walked towards the closest window, away from the undead horde, and started to make her way towards where she believed the emperor was. Little by little, she grabbed the ledges and jumped around until she finally reached the emperor''s balcony. ''Holy shit, I''m never doing that again,'' she thought, looking at her hands. They were red and sore, the path was very irregular, and the constant fear of falling made her even tenser. Her only comfort was the belief that if she ended up plummeting down, she wouldn''t get hurt. After all, this was just a test. Hera entered the emperor''s room, heading straight to the king-size bed. The leader of the undead army was sleeping soundly. Yet it was an odd view. The emperor wore a nightcap, socks with a point that made Hera remember a jester''s shoes. The entire bed was covered in silk. It was amazing how someone could stay still on top of it. Wanting to be sure of who was in bed, Hera activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Xu Jiayi - Emperor of the Undead ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ''Ok, it''s really him,'' Hera thought. She grabbed her handaxe and kept staring at the emperor. Could she do it? This was a simulation, so the man in front of her wasn''t real. Still, it was so real. It was one thing if it was a monster or someone trying to kill her. But killing someone who was just sleeping seemed wrong. Yet, Hera had done that before. She killed the frogs while they slept. Feeling guilty right now was hypocritical of her. She raised her weapon, ready to strike, but couldn''t do it. Lowering her handaxe, she took a step away from the bed when she noticed something odd. In the middle of the bedroom, there was a figure clad in black, holding an ornate dagger decorated with two waves crashing at each other on the crossguard. Aside from the person in front of her, the rest of the world was completely frozen in place. "I understand. I had the same issue with that decision during my training. Was it right killing someone who never harmed me directly?" The assassin walked towards the bed, "Even now, as I killed someone who is truly a monster, I don''t regret my decisions. You see, many years ago, I was tasked to kill the previous emperor. He was a benevolent and wise ruler, and I refused my mission. I believed that the world was a better place with him in it. An assassin should always complete a contract. Alas, I violated that rule. If I had killed my mark, his family would have perished during a coup, and this man would never become emperor. The blood of all the people he killed is in my hands. Killing him won''t change that." The assassin removed his mask, revealing the face of king Gwendelan, "Yet, as much as I regret my decisions. I still believe it was what I should have done, not for the good of the world, but myself. If I had killed his father, I would be betraying what I considered to be just and fair. We can never know the ramification of our actions, and it is up to us to decide what to do." Gwendelan walked towards Hera, stopping at her side, "This was my burden to bear, not yours. You have finished your test, and you have proven that your skills are enough to learn the role given by the system. If you believe that this man should live, or that by killing him, you will go against yourself, you are free to go." A door appeared behind Hera, away from the emperor. The explorer stared at the deep green eyes of the king. They were deep, tired, and full of sadness, "If I leave now, and what will happen to you?" Hera asked. "Nothing. I am but a simulation of what once was." "And him?" Hera pointed at the sleeping emperor. "Also, nothing. Everything here is part of a construct, something that was real once, but no more. Aside from you." "What if it wasn''t? What if this was all real, and no one killed the emperor on this day? What would have happened?" Gwendelan shook his head, "I am unable to tell you that. This is how the event unfolded. I can say that I believe I did the right thing, even if it cost me an eternity of suffering. To me, keeping him alive would only lead to the suffering of even more people. This was my one chance of stopping that once and for all. Yet, you must understand, this was not an act of rage. This was a calculated decision. An assassin must do its best to keep our emotions separated from their work." Hera let the words spoken by the king sink in. What would she do in his place? If her family, if her friends were the ones being turned into undead. Could she let a man live knowing the pain he caused? Could she kill someone without anger? She looked at the door. Her test was over, she could go now, but something was holding her back. Something that Gwendelan had said. Walking towards the emperor, Hera pretended to be in a video game. A very real and lifelike videogame. She took a deep breath and raised Iris, her handaxe. With a single strike emperor''s head was detached from its body. Gwendelan was staring at her with a puzzled expression, "Why did you choose to kill him?" Hera walked towards the door behind him, "Something you said, an assassin must always finish their contracts. And he is a simulation. If I''m not able to even finish this job, I wouldn''t be able to finish the next one, with a real target." Gwendelan smiled at Hera, "Thank you for sharing my burden. I hope that you never find yourself in a situation like this. With this, you also have completed the room. Please, head towards the next reception and receive your rewards." Hera nodded and walked through the door, arriving in a reception with white walls. Her hands were shaking. "So, kid. How did it go?" Peaches asked. Hera felt the tears rushing down her face, "Tell me he wasn''t real. Please tell me he wasn''t real," she said as she fell on her knees. 107 - Assassin Skill Hera cried for fifteen minutes. Now she was hugging her legs while staring at her handaxe. Peaches did its best to calm the explorer, but whatever happened in the simulation shook her. "Talk to me, kid. What happened? Everything inside there was a simulation." Hera sniffed, "I still killed him." "He was already dead, kid. Whatever you did, there did not affect that." Hera didn''t take her eyes out of her handaxe, "Still, I killed a sleeping man. What does that say about me?" "Nothing, you just did what the system asked you to." "Great, so I would kill someone as long as something tells me to." Peaches shook his head, "Kid, listen to me. That was a part of a quest, just like the ones from the explorer''s test. Everything inside here is fake." "I still killed someone in cold blood. I''m a monster, just like him." "Oh, for the system''s sake, you are not a monster kid. You killed a guy in a simulation, and now you are freaking out like you had to put down a puppy. If anything, you are too sensitive for the MAZE," Peaches huffed. "I guess you are right. I shouldn''t have come here. I''m not strong enough to be in the MAZE." Peaches jumped down from the counter and bounced towards Hera. "Kid, look at me," Hera kept staring at her handaxe, "Look. At. Me," Peaches insisted. Hera''s gaze shifted towards the guide. "Being like this means you have a heart. You are this upset by killing a monster in a video game. That sicko would find this too boring. I''m sure of it. The fact that you fight every day and still are worried about not crossing that line is what proves your strength." Hera didn''t reply. She just kept staring at her handaxe. "Look, kid. I wish I could give you some time to figure this all out, but the timer is still going." "How long do I have?" "A bit over twenty minutes. The problem is that I can only clear any questions you have about the skills during that time." "There is no notification about the quest," Hera replied. "Yeah, because I''m holding it back. Can I let it continue? You got the skill, and your relic will get an upgrade because of what you did in the last room." "Can I refuse the skill?" Hera asked. "Kid, think very carefully about this. Are you telling me you want to give up all that you did here? Even if you say yes, it won''t erase the past hours. Do you really want to get out of here feeling like crap and without any new skills?" Hera hugged her legs even tighter, shoving her face in her knees. She couldn''t help but worry that something bad would happen with one of her friends, and she would be powerless to help again, "No. I need the skill." "Okay, good. I honestly don''t even know If I could not give you the skill," Peaches said. "Then why did you ask?" "Because I''m worried about you. I wasn''t expecting you to take this so hard." "Me neither. She was right. I''m just a plain girl who knows nothing about the world." Peaches stared at Hera," Who said that?" "My mom." "Your mom?! I knew some humans could be harsh, but what kind of bitch would say that to their child? I know monsters that treat their spawn better," Peaches looked at Hera with a worried expression, "Sorry, I didn''t mean to offend your mother," Hera smiled, "It''s fine. You are not wrong." "Is that a smile? Are you able to smile again?" "It was involuntary. It doesn''t mean that I''m okay with what I did." Peaches nodded, "That is ok, kid. You don''t have to be fine with that. You just can''t let it eat you from the inside." "I''ll try," Hera said, cleaning the tears from her face, "Can you wait for me to use the bathroom?" "Sure, kid." Hera got up and headed to the rest area. Peaches noticed that the explorer made a point of not bringing her weapon. Hera splashed water on her face a few times. Her eyes were still red and swollen. She wasn''t sure if she wanted to talk about what happened. Although, maybe Alex and Bonnie would like to know the origins of the role. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the sleeping emperor and her handaxe heading towards its throat. Hera went to the room on the side and drank some water to calm herself down. But the guilt still remains. She needed to distract herself somehow. Maybe she could go hunting when she got back. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Moving back to the reception, she found Peaches standing beside her, handaxe, "I''m ready." "Ok, kid. Firsts things first. Pick up your weapon. It wasn''t the blade that gave you bad memories." Hera stared at Iris for a moment. She knew Peaches was right, but still, just looking at the handaxe made everything much more real. After a few moments, she picked it up and placed it on her belt. She couldn''t keep fighting with her chakram alone. "Very good, kid. Now for the skill." A notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Explorer''s quest - Assassin Skill. By completing the bonus room, your relic will receive an upgrade. Rewards: Explorer''s Assassinate Skill Relic Upgrade Hide skill rank up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Assassinate Role Skill Increases your ability to move undetected and the strength of attacks when your target is unaware of your presence. Some spells and skills also gain benefits from this effect. If you get discovered before attacking your target, you will suffer a penalty to your damage. Hide effectiveness increase: + 15% Bonus damage when hidden: + 15% Penalty to damage when discovered: - 35% Penalty duration: 300 seconds Skills and spells related to the Assassin role can be affected or changed by this skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skills affected: Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Hide, Inspect, Observe Spells affected: Pulse Spell Discovered: Poison Spray -> Poison Needle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hide (Rank 3) Improves your ability to erase your presence and blend with your surroundings. The more your appearance harmonizes with the place you are in, the more effective this skill becomes. Requirements: Not being in the line of sight of your target/ hiding place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, that is a lot," Hera read through the list of things that were affected by the role. "You may say that, but your role ends up affecting just some skills. A real assassin will have those benefits in everything." Before checking Yarnball, Hera took a look at the changes in the skills. [Dodge], [Run], and [Improved Stamina] just got a small buff. They would be 15% more effective when she was hidden. [Hide] description stayed the same, but according to Peaches, Hera would have a better instinct of how to move and remain hidden. [Inspect] would also give information on the target''s primary sense. If it was a creature that focuses on smell, hearing, sight, or something else. As the skill got stronger, more information would be available. [Observe] now showed a small eye indicator when Hera was hidden. The eye could let her know if the target was alert or not, but the skill wouldn''t be able to tell what Hera didn¡¯t know. If something were just pretending to sleep or using smell or sound to track her but not showing any signs of it, the indicator would show the target as unaware. For the spells, Pulse would spend more mana when used while hiding, but it would be harder to notice by other creatures. The Poison Spray still appeared to her, but now there was a different option. If she changed the spell''s shape for a concentrated smaller attack, it would be a Poison Needle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Needle Rank: Beginner Creates a piercing projectile of poisonous mana. Creatures struck by that projectile can become poisoned. However, no impact damage would be dealt. The more mana used, the stronger the poison effect. Range: 10 meters Base mana cost: 35 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What surprised Hera the most was that the Poison Spray apparently had impact damage. It was just like spraying someone with deodorant. She never considered the hit to do anything aside from poisoning. There was only one more thing to check. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm. Passive effects: Returning string If an object is tied to the string when thrown, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string. Current maximum distance: 10 Meters Danger sense When the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can only detect some monsters that are hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Current range: 5 meters. Range while hidden: 10 meters Active effect: Dowsing rod By letting the string loose and pointing it down, you can ask about a location, item, or creature. The string will point towards the direction where the query is located. The accuracy of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Cooldown: 120 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not only she got a range buff, but she could even detect some hidden monsters. And the dowsing rod ability had a nice cooldown reduction. Peaches explained to her what the skill would do. If Hera''s target was unaware of her presence, the damage would be increased. But if her target discovered her, she would deal less damage to it for five minutes. That would only affect the target she attacked, so if other creatures saw her but Hera didn''t attack them, the debuff won''t trigger if they see her. It was basically what Alex told her. But it was nice to have someone to clear any doubts. The two talked some more about both the skills and what Hera learned during the test. When the timer had only 5 minutes remaining, they agreed it was time for the explorer to leave. "Before I go. Can I ask you one thing, Peaches?" "Sure, kid. Not like you held back so far," the guide laughed. "If I hadn''t killed the Emperor, would I get the upgrade?" Peaches shook his head, "No, the test was about recreating what happened. If you had walked away, you would have failed." "Then why give the option?" "I think you know why. Not everyone can stomach the idea of killing a human, even a virtual one." Hera nodded, "Guess I''m living proof of that, right?" "Not really, you finished it. Many explorers weren''t able to do that. Most didn''t even get the chance. They didn''t feel confident enough to beat the test a second time in case they failed. To be fair, your time was better than the average too." "Really? I thought more people would want the upgrade." "Oh, they do. Trust me. But they fear failing the test even more. I do get it. It will probably be a while before you can get a new role skill after this." "Yeah, I need a skill at rank 3, not sure when I''ll get it," Hera said. "Any idea what role you want to get next?" "I have some ideas, but I would rather see what I¡¯m going to need." "It''s rare to see someone without a plan. Just be careful, that doesn''t always work out," Peaches said. "I will. Thanks," Hera stared at the guide for a moment, before smiling at him, "It was really nice seeing you again, Peaches." Peaches noticed that the smile wasn''t as energetic as the one she had before the last room. The test still weighted heavily on Hera''s mind, "It was nice seeing you again too, Hera. I hope we can meet again." Hera nodded and left the reception through the last door. A notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Test Completed Do you wish to return to [Brinefront] [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes and felt the feeling of warm water covering her. In a few moments, she was back in Brinefront. 108 - Divide The creature gaze upon the pass its body silently slither it smiled as it saw the brass finally, it was time to make it wither Unknown - Recovered after the fire of 1753 ###################################### Hera had arrived in the inn that she was staying with her friends. After getting out of the test room, she received a few texts. Apparently, inside the skill trial, she couldn''t communicate with anyone outside. Blue said she needed to talk to Hera as soon as she left her test. Leo sent a similar message to the group text. But he would only talk to everyone later that day. Helena sent a text letting Hera know that she would arrive in Brilansis on the weekend and wanted to meet on Monday. Eridan, her dad, sent a reminder about grandma Triss''s birthday. The party would be on Sunday. Hera had completely forgotten about that. If it were someone else''s party, Hera would consider not going. But it was Grandma Triss. Hera also needed to check her flat in Brilansis. It''s been a while since she went back to her place. She could leave on Saturday. That way, she had a day to deal with anything, before she could take the train to her hometown. Hera went straight to her room, finding Blue lying on the bed while watching TV. "Hey! Back already?" the controller was holding a spoon and eating ice cream. "Yep, I only had 24 hours to do it, unlike Alex. But I got the skill." "Nicely done, killer. The kitty got her claws," Blue raised a hand, waiting for a high five. Hera did her best to muster a smile and tap on Blue''s hand. But the killer comment really hurt, "Thanks, but please don''t call me killer, or assassin, or stuff like that. Some stuff happened." Blue stared at her friend with a serious expression, "Is everything ok?" "Not really, but it will be. Don''t worry. I need to deal with this on my own." Blue just nodded and took another scoop of ice cream, "If you ever need to talk, I''m here. And If you don''t," she offered the sweet to Hera, " You can always drown your sorrows with this." Hera chuckled, "Thanks. I''m not sure if it would work, but it never hurts to try." She picked a spoon and took a large scoop, sitting on the bed by Blue. "So, what is the big thing you wanted to talk about?" Hera asked. "Well, I''m going to need to talk to everyone about it. But I''m taking a break from adventuring. My family had this big trip planned for almost a year now. And my dad finally managed to set everything up to take a vacation from his butchery. We are going to Brazil for a couple of weeks. The flight we got is next Wednesday. The tickets were on sale for a red-eye flight." Hera took another scoop, "That is awesome! But, you don''t seem excited. Why is that?" "I am excited, but I''m not very good at letting people down. Or abandoning them." "Who are you abandoning?" Hera asked. "You guys. I know you need me to be the tank." Hera poked Blue with her elbow, "Way to call us useless." "That is not what I meant." "I know, but you are not abandoning anyone. You are going on a trip with your family. No one will blame you for it. Well... Maybe Bonnie." Blue chuckled, "That is true." The two of them kept talking until the bowl of ice cream was empty. Hera needed that, something to occupy her mind. It was still the middle of the day, and Leo would only arrive late in the afternoon. Sometime later, Alex joined the two of them. She was excited about Hera finishing the test, but she understood that it wasn''t the best moment to talk about it after seeing her reaction. Little by little, the rest of the party got to the hotel. Leo was the last one to arrive. He wanted to take a shower before heading out to eat. A bit after the sunset, they were already in a restaurant ordering their food. As the waiter left, there was a moment of silence on the table. No one knew who would speak first. Both Leo and Blue were clearly worried about what they needed to say. "Ok, since you are all quiet, let me start," to everyone''s surprise, Bonnie was the one that broke the silence, "I''ve been reading a lot this past week. I can''t say much about what I was working on because it was a quest from the order. However, I can share with you guys a bit of it." The researcher sent a file to the group chat. They all went to check it. It was called ''Skills we should have.'' The file contained a lengthy explanation of several skills and how to learn them, from improved perception to heat and cold resistances. "The research I''m doing is about skills. Part of it was to go through the skills that the guild shares freely. There is a lot of stuff there like tasting, basic resistances, even fishing, and plowing." Blue and Mark chuckled with the last name, "I mean. It''s nice the Guild worries about teaching us some good plowing techniques," the controller said. Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Would you grow up? The skill is about farming. Or preparing the ground to receive a seed," she barely finished speaking when she realized how that sounded. The whole table started laughing, "Fine, you perverts. I''ll stop talking." "No, Bonnie. C''mon, we are just joking. We really are interested in what you have to say," Alex was trying not to laugh too much and let the researcher talk. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Just let me finish before making jokes." Blue covered her mouth with her hands, doing her best not to laugh out loud, but tears were already forming in her eyes. "Blue, stop that. It''s rude not to let someone finish," Hera tried to help, but Blue only started laughing more, "Oh no. Is this contagious?" "I think they might sell a salve for that in the drugstore," Mark said, joining in the laugh. Bonnie slumped on the chair, "Just finish what you are doing so I can have my turn." The table spent another ten minutes making bad puns, and even Bonnie gave up and joined in the jokes. A few tables around enjoyed the shenanigans while others were bothered by it. The group had to hold back not to disturb the other customers too much. "Anyway, like I was saying. Try to get those skills. They are not hard to learn, and we can do it at any time. The benefits we can get in the long run are amazing, like heat resistance. It won''t make us take less damage from a fire attack, but you can have a much easier time when we need to travel through a desert," Bonnie explained. "So, this is not like fire or ice resistance?" Mark asked. "Yes, but also no. We can get a minor effect when receiving damage. But those skills stack with other resistances. The heat resistance skill makes us 15% more resilient against hot weather, but it gives us only 1% of fire damage mitigation. According to my research, resistance skills cannot nullify a type of damage, just to make it less effective. Even if somehow we reach 100% resistance or even more than that." "Got it, and those skills are just general things, right? Like for everyone. Did you find any skills that are useful for our classes?" Leo asked. "I did, but if you want to know that information, you better be willing to pay for my services," Bonnie sat straight on the chair. Right now, Hera had the impression of talking to a business owner and not her friend. That change happened incredibly quickly. "Seriously? You are charging for this?" Leo gasped. "Of course. Nothing in life is free. Besides, information can save a life here," Bonnie reply was quick, almost as if she was already expecting that question. "Damn, Bonnie. I thought we were friends," Leo stared at the researcher with his arms crossed. "C''mon Leo, that''s not fair. This is what her role does. Researchers find ways to make our lives easier. Saying she has to give that information for free is like telling me to make you a weapon without charging," Mark said while eating the mozzarella sticks they ordered for the table. "He does have a point, Leo," Alex chimed in, "Besides, she already gave us a lot of information for free. I imagine it would take us ages to get all this on our own." "Honestly, I''m more than happy to pay someone to do the book reading for me, unless it is a nice fantasy story," Blue turned to Bonnie, " How much for the information for our skills? I hope we still have the friends and family discount." Bonnie was staring at the group with a surprised expression, "Now, I feel bad. You guys are being more supportive than I expected. I wasn''t going to ask for money. A secondary part of the quest I have entails knowing how long it takes to get the skills and if something weird happens after you get them. I was just going to ask you guys to let me know about that." Leo stared at Bonnie for a moment, "And you did that whole, business woman routine just to ask that?" "Well, yeah... I mean, this was a job, so I just assumed you guys would be against it." "Now I am," Leo huffed. "You really didn''t have to do all that," Alex said. "Yeah, we would help you, regardless," Mark nodded. "Honestly, no. After being all serious and making us defend you, now I''m only doing it if you give us the skills," Blue said, crossing her arms like Leo. Hera laughed, " Yeah. We were already tense, don''t make it worse." "Hey, that is not on me. Those two are the ones who were being all serious." Bonnie pointed at Blue and Leo. "Yeah, but I was just going to say that I''m going on a family vacation," Blue said. Realizing that she had just revealed that she would abandon the group, the controller looked down and told everyone about the trip. "Oh, that is all? It''s not that serious. Just bring us some souvenirs," Alex said. "Yeah, right. In two weeks, you guys are the ones who need to get me souvenirs," Blue took a bite of her steak. "Well, this is actually close to what I wanted to talk about," Leo placed the knife and fork on his plate, "I''ve been recruited by a platoon. It''s a thing from the Crimson Coalition. I''ve told you guys that it worked kind of like an army, right? Well, each high-ranking officer has their own legion. The legion is split into brigades and the brigades into..." Leo saw the faraway stares from the group, "Sorry, I know you guys don''t care about that. What I mean is after I''ve been recruited, I was kind of a lone merc, and now a mid-level official recruited me for his platoon. That means that I''ll have more responsibilities with the coalition and have to work in a group with them for a while. I''m still considered a recruit for them, and until I raise a couple of rankings, I don''t have that much freedom." Leo, who spent the entire time looking at his plate while he spoke, raised his eyes to look at the group, "Until I get that freedom, I''m going to stay with the coalition. I''m heading to the next layer on Monday. I know I''m a low level to be there, but we will be in a big group. And my squad leader is a level 10 healer. It should be enough to keep us alive." There were a few moments of silence after Leo finished speaking. The group needed some time to process that. "How long?" Hera asked, "How long do you think it will take before you get that freedom back?" "I honestly don''t know. My uncle got it in just a few weeks. For others, it can take months, even years. And look, when I say freedom, I don''t mean like I''m going to be in a cell or something. I can still text, drink, go out at night. It''s like a job. We work 5 to 6 days a week. Sometimes there is overtime, but most of the quest rewards will go to us, and we have holidays. It''s like working in a research station or as a forest guard," Leo let out a long sigh, "I really like you guys, and it''s not like I''m saying that we can never see each other again. But I have to do this. That is the only way I can hope to find my uncle." Hera stared at the Hunter for a moment, "I get it. I mean, I understand, at least. And It''s not like I''m not supporting you, Leo. But it''s sad, you know. Blue is going on a trip. You are going to do your thing. It feels like that moment after graduation when you and your friends go their separate ways." "I don''t want to pile in, but I was talking to Bonnie yesterday, and apparently crafters and researchers don''t need to hunt to get experience. If we do things related to our roles, we also can level up just fine. You guys know that I''m not much of a fighter," Mark scratched the back of his head. Hera turned towards Bonnie, worried she might lose another two members of the group. "Yeah, he is right. I thought I would be too behind if I didn''t fight. And it''s not like hunting didn''t have its fun moments. Yet, I''d rather be doing my thing, finding new spells, and ways to use magic, than actually fighting for my life every day." After yet another moment of silence, Alex looked around, "So this is it? We won''t be a party anymore?" "Don''t say that. I very much expect to join you guys as soon as I''m back. It will be just a couple of weeks. At most, I''ll be one level behind." Blue said before wiping a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. "Are you crying?" Bonnie asked. "No! You are crying!" Blue replied. The group finished their meals and left the restaurant. The lingering feeling of an ending was in the air around them. Hera looked to the ceiling of the cave. There were so many things they still haven''t done here. She stopped walking in the front of the group, still looking up, "We are all still here until Friday, right?" they all nodded, confirming that, "So what if we go to the frog valley? We bought the compendium, and Mark never went to a dungeon. It could be our farewell party for everyone." "Well... going to a dungeon does seem fun. And you guys got some cool items there, right? I''ve finished the time I need to stay in the workshop for this month," Mark said. "Yeah, I still hate frogs, and doing a whole dungeon related to them is not at the top of my list. But it could be fun," Alex nodded. "You know, I do have some field research for the quest. It could help a lot," Bonnie looked through her tablet, already marking what she could do in the dungeon. "Yeah, I want to fight something big before going on the trip," Blue slapped Hera''s shoulder. "So let''s do it. We can get everything ready and head out tomorrow. If I recall it correctly, we could do a few runs on the dungeon. Well, if everyone is up for it," Leo said. "Yeah, if we stay together long enough, we can get sick of each other by Friday. That way, we won''t miss anyone," Blue joked. They all stared at her for a moment. "Yeah, let''s leave her here. We can do it ourselves," Bonnie said, heading towards the inn. The rest of the group followed her, smiling but not saying a word. "Hold up, guys. It was a joke, c''mon let me go too," Blue followed them while the rest laughed. 109 - The Frog Valley "Is that the tower they told us about?" Mark asked, pointing to the tall metal structure. "I guess so. How did we miss that?" Blue was looking at the structure. "Maybe is because it''s behind the pillar?" Leo suggested. Hera looked at the tower. It was a three-sided solid structure, with a large satellite dish on top. These towers were spread around several rooms. They functioned as hotspots, allowing people who were far away from the city to connect their tablets to the internet. Hera learned about those during the training, but it was her first time seeing one of them. The materials to make these structures weren''t exactly cheap. So the guild only builds them in places where there was a lot of traffic, especially near dungeons or other popular farming locations. The group had left the city over five hours ago. They got some supplies, got the quests related to the Frog Valley from the guild, and headed out. They weren''t worried about camping out since there was a hotel near the dungeon. An alarm sounded on Blue''s tablet, "Ok, now it''s a half-hour run," she said, already stretching. "C''mon, we''ve been walking for hours. Give us a break," Mark cried. "No dice, we need the running skill. You saw what it does. With it, we can run and recover stamina at the same time," Blue said, already doing some high knees to warm up. "Yeah, guys. We are trying to help Bonnie. The sooner we get the skills, the sooner she completes the bonus quest," Leo said, already joining in with the exercise. "Have your fun. I''m not going to run right now. I''ve been going to the guild gym every day to run on the treadmill," Bonnie said. "I''m out too. We''ve been walking for hours. If I run, someone will have to carry me," Hera said. In the end, only Blue and Leo went running. They would spend twenty minutes running forward, and then ten running back to meet the group. In another hour, the group arrived at the hotspot. There was a large area around it that was covered in a wooden wall. Inside it, the buildings were all made of the same purple wood as the walls. The whole area had a summer camp vibe. The first thing they did was to head to the hotel and grab a room. Unfortunately, they only had a single large room available. "Well... we did say we wanted to be close," Hera said, trying to seem excited about the idea. "At least it has two bathrooms. And on the other side of the road, there is a hot spring," Mark pointed to a large building after the tower. "Wow, I have never been to one," Hera''s eyes were shining while she looked at the building. "We could go there before going inside the dungeon. If they have room, I mean," Blue suggested. They set up in their room and took some time to rest. It was late, and they were all tired. Since it was the first time they would attempt the dungeon, the group agreed to wait until the next day. The first thing Hera wanted was to head to the hot springs. They could buy swimsuits in the shop there. The explorer stayed for close to one hour in the hot springs. The hot water came from the dungeon that was just a few minutes away from the city. A couple of hours later, the group was back in the hotel just after they ordered dinner as the room service. "After all that, did you get the heat resistance skill?" Bonnie asked. "Not yet. But I''m more than willing to stay there until I get it. It was so relaxing," Hera stretched herself in bed. "Yeah, don''t do that. You were already dizzy when you got here," Blue said. Hera ignored the comment and stayed in bed. The food was still not there. She could take a moment to enjoy the comfortable mattress. "Right, So let''s recap what we know about the dungeon, shall we? Everyone open your compendiums," Leo grabbed his tablet, "In the Frog Valley, we will find many frogs, lizards, and snakes. The area is also filled with poison and large pools of water." "The poison is mostly in liquid form. But in a few areas, it is airborne. Usually, we can see the poison in the air but be careful if you are near a foggy place," Alex added. "Yeah, the quest will be about saving the frogs and destroying the source of all the poison," Leo said as he read the information again. "The frogs and other creatures in there are weak to poison and use brute force to attack. There is not much of a trick to them, just avoid the attacks and kill them. The main problem is the boss," Bonnie said, showing a few of the monsters they could find. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "The boss is a weird bloated creature that is stuck into a big pool of poison. We need first to neutralize the poison around it before attacking. There are a few ways to do that according to the information we have, but it only says that killing everything works and can give us some nice loot," Blue went to the door. The room service had just arrived. They all grabbed their food and sat around a small coffee table in the middle of the room. "Before I forget, there is one more thing. The quest says that we need to clear the conflict in the valley. Yes, killing everything is an option. But we might want to try other routes. Maybe saving one of the species and or even helping the poison to cover everything," the group stared at Hera after that last remark, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I think the rewards can be different depending on the route we take. Since the quest is that open-ended, my guess is that helping the poison can give us something good." "Or activate the hard mode," Alex said. Hera nodded, "That too. But I asked Gemma before we left. When we trigger the hard mode, we still can choose not to do it. It will show up when we try to go inside the dungeon." The group discussed strategy during dinner. In the end, their fighting style wouldn''t change as much. The main difference would be against the boss. They talked and joked around until they all went to sleep. When morning came, everyone got ready and headed out towards the dungeon. It was located on the cave wall. There was a massive chasm covered in smoke, and in front of it, a large wooden gate. As they got close to it, Hera saw a few groups getting ready to tackle the dungeon. A few people seemed more seasoned than others, while a couple seemed to be nervous about entering the dungeon. In the middle of all that, she noticed a familiar man with a tribal pattern buzzcut. The man saw her and waved before approaching. "Hey! Hera, right?" the healer asked. "Yeah. How are you? ... Runir?" she replied, unsure if she remembered the right name. "That''s me," He kneeled to greet Tiger, "And hey little guy. I''m glad no one had to call me because of you." The frog stared at the man and got in its battle stance before Leo picked it up," Tiger, no. He''s a friend," he turned to Runir, "Sorry about that. I guess he doesn''t remember you." "No worries, boss. He was in a really bad shape. I didn''t expect him to remember me. Glad to see you tamed him. It would be a shame to let all that work and money go to waste." "Oh, right, that reminds me. You never paid me back for that, Leo," Hera said, staring at the hunter. "I guess I forgot. Can we do this later?" Leo asked. "Sure. But I want interest now," Hera said with a smile. Runir laughed, "It''s nice seeing people who can joke about money. During my last few jobs, people were very stingy," someone in a group called the healer, "Be right there... Sorry, duty calls. It''s nice to see you guys again. Talk to you later." The healer left, and Mark asked, "So, who is the dude?" "It''s Runir. He''s a healer that helped Tiger when Leo found him," Hera told the entire story, and Mark just nodded. "It would be nice to have a healer in the group," Bonnie said. "It would be nice to have him in the group," Blue said. "So that''s your type?" Alex asked. Blue groaned, "I hate that. Why do I need to have a type? Can''t I just find people hot?" "Sure, you can. There is nothing wrong with that. But I did picture you with someone more muscular, kind of like the guild''s chairwoman," Hera said. Blue stared at her for a moment before shaking her head, "Ok, let''s change the subject before I get too distracted. We are here for the dungeon." Heading towards the gate, they waited in line for their turn to enter the dungeon. One by one, the groups went towards the wooden gate. After a moment, the gate would open, allowing the party to enter, closing behind them. Even before they passed through the gate, a couple of other groups joined in the line. When Runir and his party was heading towards the entrance, a group of four came from beyond the gate. There was an awkward moment when the two parties almost ran into each other, but they soon headed towards the tower. According to what Hera heard, people would usually take a break between runs. There was even a place around the towers specialized in fast cleaning services. It was a bit expensive, but you could have your entire equipment clean in just half an hour. When their turn came, Hera and her friends walked towards the gate, using the [Inspect] on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frog Valley Entrance Area type: Dungeon A gate leading to the fabled valley of frogs. An intense poison is slowly taking over the area, posing a threat to any creature inside the valley. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Let''s go, guys," Leo said, pushing the gate open. There was a thick layer of fog behind the gate. Hera push through it, being careful with each step, unsure what to expect. After a few moments, the mist grew thinner, and they finally could the inside of the dungeon. It was a massive place, with the room walls going all the way to the ceiling. The valley seemed to be very long, but the mist still lingered in the air, making them unable to see its end. However, there were parts of the fog that already showed a purple hue. Those were the parts where the poison was stronger. Aside from that, there were several large pools of water and some vegetation around. Not as dense as the one around Brinefront, but still big enough to hide a couple of creatures among its patches. "Guys, be careful. We have three vials of antidote each and another ten with Bonnie. Still, don''t waste them," Leo said to the group. He was more commanding after returning from his training. "The poison resistance spray we will only use to fight the boss. I have it on me right now, but it is only good for four doses. When we get to it, Leo and I will use the spray so we can tank better," Blue said, pointing to a small pouch on her waist. They started walking deeper into the valley when the noise a something large hitting the ground caught their attention. Coming from the side, a large frog, almost two meters tall, emerged from the trees. The creature had a sickly grey color, and there was a thick purple sludge dripping from its mouth. Hera quickly used the spell Helena had given to her and activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesser Poison Frog (Poison affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She rolled her eyes, "Great. I just wasted mana," she mumbled before yelling. "Careful, it uses poison." "Well, duh," Blue said as she already rushed towards the creature''s side, activating her buff. Mark sent two arrows flying towards the frog''s eyes while Bonni hit its face with an Air fist that seemed much stronger than before. The creature fell to the ground while Blue started punching its side, small sparks of electricity coming from her fists. Hera rushed towards the beast, stepping onto its front legs to reach its back. With a quick strike, the frog went limp on the floor. "Well, this wasn''t so bad," Blue said, stepping away from the creature. As she walked, the frog''s body started to dissolve into the sand and vanished where it lay, leaving two gold coins on the floor. 110 - What shines in the pond Leo dashed forward, piercing a poisonous frog in its stomach. The creature fell to the ground, lifeless. A few moments later, it vanished, leaving a small pearl and a gold coin behind. "Hey, this is new," Blue said as she got close to the pearl. "The drop rate in these dungeons is pretty good," Mark walked towards the coin. "I think they vary. The lookout wasn''t that good. Although there were less monsters for us to fight," Alex said. "Less? Are you forgetting the ember bugs? I''m pretty sure just that room had more monsters than this whole valley," Hera said. "Well, it depends if there are tadpoles or underground caverns. If not, then you are probably right," Bonnie said after a moment. "Really? I kind of want to go there later," Mark said. "Wow, guys, check this out. I guess this is how we clear the poison pool in the boss," Blue said, holding the pearl towards the group. Hera activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Purifying Pearl Consumable A pearl that is created inside the heart of some creatures contaminated with poison. The pearl works as a cleansing device, filtering the poison flowing through the blood vessels, allowing the creature to survive. Can be used to cleanse poison in an area. Only usable inside the Frog Valley. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, crap. That''s awesome," Mark gasped. "I know, right? With this, we can clear the poison in the pools," Hera said. "Maybe even use it on us if someone gets covered in poison," Bonnie said. "What? No, I mean cool and all, but I''m talking about the gold. This one is worth twenty," Mark was almost dancing while picking the coin. "That''s great and all, but we will get more from the quest," Leo said. "I''m not so sure we will be able to find those items. Besides, the quest we got in the guild only gives what? 2 000 gold per item? We are not getting enough for all of us," Mark replied. "No, not that one. I mean the dungeon quest," Leo said. "Speaking of which. Where is the quest? I didn''t get it," Alex was looking at the tablet, making sure she didn''t miss anything. "We still didn''t get it. Maybe we need something to trigger it first. Did it say anything in the compendium?" Hera asked. "No, maybe it''s something obvious that we missed," Bonnie said. "Or maybe we get it later. I mean, the path so far is very linear. We are not even out of this entrance and already faced a few frogs. If we move away from this path, we find a wall not far from here," Alex said. Agreeing to move a bit further, the group headed deeper into the valley, killing a couple more frogs until they reached a large wooden archway. Beyond it, there was another poison frog, but it was different than the other ones. It still was drooling that purple sludge, but its grey skin gave way to tears dripping with the same ooze, and there were several cracks on its skin showing purple flesh under it. There was a small lizard, moving backward in front of the frog while staring at the massive grey beast. As much as it was small, it still was much bigger than a regular lizard, being the size of a husky. Hera activated the Affinity sight once more and used [Observe] on the two creatures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Frog (Poison Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valley Lizard (Water Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Should we save it? Or kill them both?" Leo asked. "Let''s deal with the big one first. Otherwise, it''s gonna kill the lizard before we have a chance to decide," Alex said, already activating her [Hide] and moving to the frog''s back. Hera followed her cue. A double hit from two assassinates could be enough to kill the beast. When they were far enough away from the group, Leo and Blue rushed towards the frog. As long as it was focused on them, it shouldn''t notice the duo moving to strike it. Tiger let out a squeak that seemed to catch the attention of the lizard who skittered back, trying to move away from the now pair of frogs. Hera and Alex got closer to the grey monster, and as soon as Bonnie launched an Air Fist towards the creature, the two jumped towards the frog, hitting its back with their weapons. The gashes made by the blades showed that the frog''s skin was flaccid and loose in places. Underneath it, its muscles were all purple, just like the sludge coming out of its mouth. Leo rushed at the frog, telling Tiger to distract the monster but avoid the sludge. Typically, such a complicated order wouldn''t work in an animal, but Leo had learned a few taming skills and spells that made the communication easier. The rain frog slammed its body on the side of the monster, rushing back towards Leo right after. That was the way they fought. Leo would be the main tank while Tiger would use its speed to distract and damage their target. It was surprisingly effective, especially against frogs, since they had trouble spinning around. Tiger had the same issue, but Leo trained him to dash while turning its body in the air. That way, he could be ready to change his direction before landing. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Hera and Alex kept doing hit and run tactics, worried that the blood coming out of the monster could be harmful to them. Blue was attacking in a similar way but without moving away from the frog''s sight. She was still the tank, after all. Mark kept sending arrow after arrow towards it. He had a considerable amount of ammo on him, and about two times that in small arrowheads that he could use to make more. The poison frog held its own for a while, but the assault from the party''s six members was too much for it. In less than two minutes, the creature fell limp on the floor. As they turned their attention towards the lizard, a window popped up in front of them all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered the Frog Valley''s conflict Dungeon Quest: The Frog Valley is a place filled with conflict. The poison creatures are trying to overtake the valley by spreading their poisonous mana, while the other creatures defend their territory. Solve the conflict inside the valley. First completion rewards: 5 000 gold, minor mana stone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Duuudeee, we get mana stones here?" Mark gasped. "I guess so. Why is that so exciting?" Blue asked. "You are kidding, right? Mana stones are used in the generators. We can use it to make some self-sustaining enchantments. Or we can use it as a backup mana source," Mark explained. "They are also very expensive. I think that a medium-sized one can go for like 50 000," Alex said. "Yeah! There are some specialized ones too, like mana stones for fire mana or water mana. They are more expensive and more effective in certain situations, but worse in others," Mark seemed really giddy with the idea of getting a mana stone. "Before we get the stone, we need to figure out what to do with the quest. What do you guys think? Team poison, team lizard, or team kill them all?" Blue asked. "I vote team lizard. The idea is to do a few runs here, right? We can try the other options later," Hera said. "I kind of agree with that. We can feel like the good guys for a while," Bonnie nodded. "Why good guys? They are all monsters, and they don''t even leave a body. Killing them all or some of them won''t make us good or bad guys," Alex rolled her eyes. "Still, it''s better than killing those cute lizards," Blue was approaching the creature as if it was a dog. "Talking about killing, what did that big one drop?" Leo turned towards where the body of the giant frog was. In place of a corpse, there were four golden coins and a pearl. This one was larger than the other one they had found, but the description stayed the same. Their best guess was that the bigger one could cleanse a larger area, but they couldn''t test it right now. During that time, the lizard was watching the group. The creature had a light green skin with two white stripes on its sides and a blue diamond shape mark on its forehead. As the group tried to approach it, the lizard vanished between the bushes at the side. With no other option, they kept heading further into the valley. A few regular-sized frogs started to appear around the area, and they saw a couple of places where the poison was already spreading and noticed a small purple water pool and an area where the trees were dripping with the purple sludge. Hera and Bonnie were marking those places on their maps, trying to figure out where the poison was coming from. Even if they were inside the MAZE, things still followed some sort of logic. There had to be a source for it all. The more they walked, the bigger the critters became. Soon even Tiger was smaller than the rest of the frogs. Finally, they reached a larger open area. The trees and bushes gave way to dozens of small hot springs with a very large one in the middle of them all. They moved carefully through the area, making sure not to end up falling inside the pools. Hera kept watching the one in the middle. When they were close enough, she activated her Pulse spell. Inside the smaller banks, several small frogs were swimming in the thermal waters. However, in the large one, there was a massive creature, almost big enough to cover the entire pool. As they got closer, the creature raised from the depths, splashing the hot water to the smaller pools. The beast was a massive light brown frog that glistened as the water dripped from its body. "Watch out!" Alex cried as she jumped back, moving away from the larger pool. Hera got her handaxe and chakram on hand and got ready for a fight, already activating her [Observe] and using the Affinity Sight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Garjat - Elder Frog (Lightning Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That one uses thunder!" Hera warned. Tha massive frog, towering over the party, took a few moments to open its eyes. When it saw the group of people in front of it, the frog jerked back, smashing his back on the edge of the pool. His face was odd, its eyes were wide, and its mouth partially open. It kept pushing itself backward in an almost cartoonish way. "Is it just me, or does it look scared?" Alex asked. "It kind of does," Blue said, standing in front of the creature. The frog dove once more under the pool of water. Most of its body was mostly submerged, but a small part of its back still appeared after all the water it splashed away. It was clear that the monster was shivering. The group gathered once more around the pool and watched the creature. Hera could see that the water rose once more, although it would take some time before completely covering the frog. "Still feel we are not the good guys?" Blue turned to Alex with a smile. The assassin shrugged, "I''m not saying I wouldn''t feel kind of bad for attacking it, but something that size wouldn''t go down without a fight." Hera nodded, but still fighting a creature that was so afraid wouldn''t be her first option. At that moment, Hera remembered the slumbering emperor and felt a knot in her stomach. Was she even allowed to worry about such a thing anymore? Hera was in a daze when Blue approached her, "Hey. Are you ok?" The explorer shook her head, "Yeah, sorry. Just dealing with some stuff. You don''t happen to have icecream on you?" Blue shook her head with a weak smile, and they kept walking towards the other side of the hot springs. After a few moments of walking, the group reached another pool of poison. Hera and Bonnie approached it, trying to see if there was any other hint about the source of all the poison, when three creatures jumped out of the pool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesser Poison Frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesser Poison Frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesser Poison Frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera and Bonnie rushed back towards the group as a fourth shape emerged from the poison pool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Watch out, guys. Don''t let that sludge hit you," Leo said as he got ready for the fight. 111 - Snakes, Frogs and Lizards The three lesser frogs jumped towards the group, Hera and Alex jumped to the side. Each of them dealt with one of the creatures. Leo was holding back the third one while Blue distracted the big one coming from the pond. Bonnie and Mark were moving back, flinging spells and arrows towards the smaller ones. Luckily, fighting the lesser frogs was very similar to the frogs they were used to fighting. They only had to be more careful with their tongues. Every time one of the creatures opened its mouth, more of that sludge fell to the ground, spreading even more poison around. Blue was punching the larger frog, sparks crackling around the two. Hera''s eyes went towards her friend. She needed to deal with the small one quickly to help Blue. With a sidestep, Hera was able to cut the frog twice on the back of its neck. Still, it wasn''t enough to kill it. Two arrows hit the frog''s face, and Hera took that chance to hit it once more on the neck, trying to cleave its head off. The frog was in bad shape but still endured the assault. Luckily enough, its wounds didn''t splatter more of the sludge. Only the liquid coming out of its mouth seemed to be part of the poison. It took Hera four more strikes before she was able to kill the monster in front of her. A few to the face and head, with the last one opening up its stomach. With the lesser poison frog on the ground, Hera rushed to help Blue. Apparently, that was the same idea that Leo had. The hunter was already dashing towards the giant frog to help the controller. The loose skin of the poison frog was proving to be a problem for Blue. Her fists would sometimes lose its power as the skin was pulled to the side. Blunt strikes seemed to be far from optimal while fighting that creature. As Leo arrived, his spear pierced the frog''s stomach, making some of its blood and some small amounts of sludge spill in the pool. Blue had to dodge away from it. It was hard to fight the creature without jumping in the water. When Hera joined the fray, she had her chakram tied to Yarnball. Having a mid-range weapon could help a lot to deal with the frogs without getting close enough to be splashed by the poison. It was a shame she still had yet to learn any new attack spells. The poison spray and needle would probably be wasted in this area. Soon after that, Bonnie started to throw spells at the poison frog. The beast sent its tongue towards Mark and Bonnie. Hera tried to hit it with her chakram but could only make a small cut on the tongue. Alex followed up with an upward strike, making part of the tongue to fall to the ground. Hera turned back to aim at the frog''s head. She kept spinning her chakram, aiming at its eyes. Leo was split between stabbing the creature and telling Tiger to stay back. The rain frog wanted to help in the fight, but there was no way to attack the poison frog without Tiger falling in the water. Because of the difficult terrain, the fight took longer than expected. It was hard for Blue to keep the frog''s attention while she couldn''t attack it as often. Finally, after five minutes, the frog died, its corpse being submerged inside the pool. "Crap! Are you going to die?" Mark gasped. "Stop with the drama, it''s just a bit of poison," Bonnie pushed the man who was looking at her arm away. There was some sludge covering the cloth atop her right bicep. "Sorry! I should have kept its attention on me," Blue said as she rushed towards the researcher. "Don''t worry. We have the pearls. Everyone ok with me using one here?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah, but can we use two? The frog dropped something different," Leo said. Bonnie, who was holding a pearl near her arm, stopped her hand and walked over to the pond. In the middle of it, there were a few coins, a pearl, and something that looked like a brick. The researcher stared at the pearl for a moment and kneeled by the water. "Hera, hold this," Bonnie gave the pearl to her friend. "What are you... Bonnie!" Hera watched as the researcher placed her hand in the contaminated water. "Now give me the pearl. I''m not sure if we need to break it or just touch the poison for it to work," Bonnie said. Hera just gave the pearl back, still in shock from the situation. "What are you doing?" Leo yelled. "I''m testing how this pearl thing works. It never said anything about the range. Maybe one pearl is enough to cleanse both the water and my arm. Worst-case scenario, we use two here," she explained. "We didn''t even agree if we were going to use two," Leo rebutted. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Sorry, I wanted to test this fast. I can feel the poison starting to seep into my arm." Bonnie said as she dropped the pearl into the water. She did it with her other hand, ready to catch the pearl in case it didn''t work. As the pearl hit the poison, it melted into the water. A light pearlescent glow started to cover the area, spreading through all the pond and beyond. Bonnie was bathed in the light as well as Hera, who was near her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been cleansed by a [Purifying Pearl] Poison immunity granted for the next 3 seconds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the light vanished, Hera and Bonnie stared at each other. "Did you get that notification?" Hera asked. "Yeah, this thing is way too strong. Look how big is the area it affected," Bonnie looked around. Even a tree that was by the bond was clear of all poison. "I''m not talking about that, Bonnie. The three seconds," Hera said with a smile. "What are you..." Bonnie suddenly jolted up with a big smile, "You think that would nullify attacks?" "Yep, it said immunity to poison, not resistance. So if something spits poison or uses a strong poison spell, this could save everyone. Or at least I think it would. We still need to make sure of it," Hera explained. "What are you two talking about?" Alex asked. They explained about the notification and how it could potentially save them from a big attack. After that, they checked the loot from the monsters. In total, they got 50 gold, another large pearl, and something that looked like a block of clay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Impermeable Clay Consumable When applied to a surface, this clay created an area that cannot get wet. If used inside the Frog Valley, the clay becomes a layer of protection against any environmental poison in liquid form. Duration 1 hour ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nice! With this, I can jump in the water and actually fight," Blue said as she read the description. "Yeah, although I''m still weirded out about where the frogs came from. Look," Alex jumped into the small pond, that was now clear of poison, and walked to the middle of it. The water never got higher than her thighs, "Its weird, right?" "Well.. things inside dungeons do disappear in a less natural way. And we know they appear like that too. I think it was called... spaning," Bonnie said. "It''s actually spawning," everyone stared at Mark, who just corrected Bonnie, "What? It''s a gaming term. When a monster appears out of thin air, they are spawning. Spawn kill is actually a widespread tactic in games." Hera nodded, hearing his explanation remind her of the term, even though it was a long time since she played a game. The group finished their looting and kept heading to the other side of the valley. Blue was excited about using the clay, but she agreed that it was better if she waited to get closer to an area they would actually need it before wasting it. By the amount, it also seemed like they could use it on multiple people, especially if they only covered part of their bodies. They moved through the valley, being careful of any possible ambushes. As they walked, the small frogs gave way to tiny snakes. When the two species met, they seemed wary of each other, almost like in the middle of a cold war. They fought a few more of the lesser poison frogs on the way, but since the group was staying clear of the poison pools, none of the bigger ones appeared. After crossing to the snake territory, the poison frogs stopped appearing. Instead, odd bloated grey snakes started to assault the group. They weren''t very agile, and a few weren''t even able to move their heads properly. Yet they came in larger numbers. At one point, Blue was dealing with three of them while each member of the party dealt with another snake, even Tiger had to hold one of them back on his own. At least the snakes would drop some pearls. They found one item every ten or so snakes. Gold was still dropped by most of them but in much smaller quantities. Even after killing more than twenty snakes, they only got 18 gold and a couple of pearls. After some time, the normal snakes were considerably big. A few were already large enough to eat Tiger whole. The group was moving in a tighter formation. Seeing giant frogs was one thing, but seeing giant snakes was terrifying. A regular snake was already enough to swallow a person. A snake that reached their waist without even raising their heads was something out of a nightmare. Their luck was that none of those snakes weren''t attacking them. The group reached an area where the walls of the valley closed in. There was a large cavern in the wall with some large stones protruding from the ground creating secondary entrances on the left side. Coming out of the holes, several snakes were watching something. Hera followed their eyes and saw a gigantic viper fighting with a purple and black giant lizard. The two monsters were almost as tall as the trees around them. The two beasts were throwing each other to the sides, slamming its massive frames on the walls. Hera and her party were all shocked by the display. This was a real fight between monsters. The ground rumbled with each impact between the titans in front of them. The viper was not only biting but also using its tail as a whip. With a strike of its claws, the lizard made some deep gashes in the viper''s skin. In response, the viper went to bite the lizard. It had a clear shot at the lizard''s neck, but the bite stopped short, spraying a liquid on the creature''s side. The lizard''s skin started to fizzle and boil as if it was hit by burning oil. The beast roared and jumped towards the viper, pinning it to the ground with one of its legs and clawing away at it with the other. The viper looked helpless, but just for a moment. It took advantage of the position of its body and wrapped itself around the lizard. They both struggled for a moment, Hera unconsciously held her breath as if she was watching a wildlife documentary. Then, with a sickening crunch, the lizard went limp. The viper let go of the creature and raised its head in a silent roar. When it finally lower its head, Hera came out of her daze and activated the Affinity Sight and her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chu''a - Elder Snake (Acid Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greater Poison Lizard (Corpse) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That one uses acid, can we do anything about that?" Hera asked. "I''m not sure, you think the clay could work?" Blue suggested. "I don''t think so. It talks specifically about poison," Bonnie replied. "Guys," Leo called. They all turned their heads to where Leo was looking. In front of them, the giant viper was staring at the group through its red eyes. 112 - Valleys end The viper moved towards the cave, not taking its eyes out of the group. Hera was trying her best to stay completely still. The last thing she wanted was to be devoured by something like that. The creature should be thirty meters long, and its head alone was the height of a tree. Hera had seen its mouth open. If the beast wanted, it could easily swallow most of the party in one bite. Yet, the viper seemed just to be watching the group as it went back to the front of the cave. Oddly, it felt like the creature was protecting the smaller snakes. After a few moments, the beast stopped moving. It curled up in the entrance of the apparent nest. The viper was mostly white with red eyes, but a few of its scales formed a golden spiral coursing through its body and reaching its tail. There were also a few cuts on its skin where the lizard had attacked. Those were already purple, and it seemed to be spreading. "I have a bad idea," Blue said. "What?" Hera asked. "Can I use one of the pearls on the snake?" Blue scratched her neck and looked to the group. "What?" Alex was staring at her with wide eyes. "I mean. I feel bad. The mommy was just trying to protect her babies. If we leave her like that, it will die," Blue said. "Ok, first of all. How do you know it is a she? It could be a male. Second, why would you do that? You are going to waste a pearl on something that is not technically here," Leo said. "I feel bad, and I want to help, that''s all. Besides, how can you say for sure it''s not really here. No one knows how the MAZE makes dungeons. We could be in the past, in an alternate timeline, or even in another dimension," Blue scoffed, crossing her arms. "Not really. There has been some extensive research about dungeons. Even if we still don''t know what they are, we know that they share our reality, and there is no time travel involved. We also ruled out simulations because we can take things from here to the outside," Bonnie explained. "Wasn''t there a thing about a lady getting pregnant inside a dungeon? And the father was one of the people that were part of the dungeon?" Mark asked. "You are reading too many tabloids. There is no story like that. None that is real, at least," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine. I just want to help it because I feel bad. I don''t want to think about the snake when I go to sleep and feel guilty for not helping," Blue said. Hera understood that. As much as she tried to play it off as everything being normal, the emperor was in her mind all the time. Sure it wouldn''t be as bad, but she didn''t want her friend to feel that way. "I''m fine with that. Just be careful," the explorer said. "You know, dungeons are weird. We might get nothing, but we might get something out of it. I say go for it," Alex said. "I''m kind of curious about what the snake would do. So yeah, I''m fine with that," Bonnie said. "Seriously?" Leo asked. Having enough people supporting her, Blue took one of the pearls and carefully walked towards the viper. She made sure to keep both hands up and seem as unthreatening as possible. "Do you think there is a snake charmer skill?" Mark asked as they watched Blue get closer to the viper. "Really? Now?" Bonnie stared at Mark, who just shrugged. As Blue approached, the viper didn''t take its eyes off of her. Following the woman with its head. "Easy, Easy. I don''t want to hurt you. I just want to clear that poison in your back. Ok?" Blue showed it the pearl and approached the side of its body. The viper shifted, making a barrier in front of the cave with its tail. Aside from that, its eyes didn''t seem to be angry. Blue raised the pearl towards one of the gashes in the beast midsection and placed it gingerly in the purple area. In response, a pearlescent glow covered both the creature and the controller. Hera, who was watching about 10 meters away, couldn''t help but take a step forward. She focused on her hearing. If any weird noise appeared, she would rush towards the light. While the light was still spreading, she could swear she started to hear Blue''s heartbeat. In less than ten seconds, the light vanished, both the viper and the controller were still in the same position. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera waved off the notification, too worried to be bothered by it at the moment. Blue nodded to the viper who nodded back, moving its head towards a part of its body still in the curl it had created. The beast seemed to bite down on its own flesh and carry part of its skin towards Blue, dropping it on the floor in front of her. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "For me?" Blue asked before picking the skin up, "Thanks!" She turned around and headed back to the group without a care in the world, while the others freaked out about her turning her back to the monster. "What the hell?" Leo gasped as she approached. "What?" Blue looked back," Oh relax, if it was going to kill me, it would have done it before, not after it gave me a gift. And check it out." Blue held the skin in front of the group. It had both the white and the golden scales on it, but its size wasn''t as big as it seemed. Everyone activated their [Inspect], curious about what was the viper''s gift. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chu''a''s skin The skin of the elder snake, Chu¡¯a. Hardened by years of combat, the skin is not only light but incredibly resistant to cuts. However, due to the life of Chu''a, the skin only boasts elemental resistance to acid. It can be used to craft items with the acid attribute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark stared at the skin for a moment, "It''s a shame its such a small piece. With that, you could at most make some boots or a hood, but nothing else. Honestly, I would love to try to work with that." "Really? Have any good ideas?" Blue asked. "Maybe, but it''s yours. Next time I''ll get mine," Mark said. "You could have this one. I want to check the price first, but it''s all yours if it''s not a fortune," Blue said. The group agreed to leave the skin with Mark as long as it wasn''t too expensive. Having befriended the snake, the group headed towards the other side of the valley. Now they were finally able to see the wall on the other side. They could also see that everything to the sides was covered in the purple fog. Bonnie wanted to test how badly the fog would affect them, but no one liked the idea of jumping in the mist just for a test. They agreed to test if they found a large group of enemies, but aside from that, they didn''t want to waste the pearls. Walking through the path, they saw more and more poison monsters. A few would try to attack the group but were quickly dealt with. Lesser poison lizard started to appear. They looked like grey iguanas. The first group was just a bit bigger than Tiger, but they began to grow bigger as the group got closer to the valley¡¯ back wall. Fighting those creatures was different. They moved quicker than the frogs or snakes. They didn''t drool poison or seemed to be hurt by it like the others. Instead, the poison mana seemed to empower the creatures, making them stronger and faster. Alone, the lizard took advantage of its surroundings, hiding in the bushes, climbing the trees, and attacking in unpredictable ways. The group was struggling to the point where just four lizards were able to keep Hera and her friends on the defensive. The lizards were employing guerrilla tactics, hitting the adventures and rushing back to the safety of the poison mist where the humans dared not to venture. The creatures would swap between attacking in groups and sending one of them as a distraction. They communicated in a way that Hera couldn''t perceive. She triggered her Pulse spell a few times, trying to find the beast. Not only could she feel their poisonous mana, but there was also a small mana link between them. Maybe that was how they talked to each other to move so well in a group. Luckily, Yarnball would vibrate every time one of the lizards came out of cover. Thanks to that, Hera was able to warn her friends when something was coming. When the first regular Poison Lizard appeared, they saw something different. Instead of the loose skin or bloated form, the lizard''s grey skin had patches of purple. Its claws also had a deep purple color and would spread the poison on any place they touched. The creatures were still smaller than a large dog, but they looked menacing. The only advantage was that these lizards were easier to spot and hit. The lesser version of the creature was much more annoying, albeit less dangerous. At one point, most of the group had some cuts and bruises on their bodies, and they were all poisoned. Before using the pearl, Bonnie walked into the mist and took a deep breath. Hera did the same. She already had a few poison skills. Getting a resistance could be useful. After a few moments, they checked their status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poisoned by the Mist The fog around you has entered your body. You are more susceptible to poisons, and any damage you take by poison mana will be amplified. Duration: 10:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The duration would increase with each breath they took. That mist also gave Hera an idea. Maybe her poison spells could not only be useful but be stronger, even if she wasn''t able to poison the creatures. With the two still in the mist, the group gathered and spent one of their pearls to cleanse the area. Soon all the poison had vanished, and the valley had a new safe place, even if it was a small one. Looking at the path, Hera noticed that soon they would find a place where the poison pools would become a problem. Thankfully, during the way here, they had found another block of clay. It was finally time to put it into use. "Finally, this thing was weighing on me," Blue said, taking the brick of clay out of her pouch. In a few moments, they were all covered with a thin layer of clay up to their waist. Tiger, however, was covered entirely Only its eyes and nose were left without any of the substance. Leo was the one who did that, so Tiger would be able to see and breathe. They moved towards the pools and soon reached an open area, much like the one the massive frog was in. Several pools of poison were spreading, creating a ring-like structure around them. After the pools, they would reach the end wall of the valley. Before reaching the larger one in the middle, a purple snake with black stripes on its side, and a purple frog with the same black stripes rose from the front pools that were just five meters away. They were taller than the other poison monsters they fought, but luckily not as tall as the greater poison lizard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greater Poison Frog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greater Poison Snake ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bodies of the creatures were glistening with the poison from the pools. "What are the chances they are going to let us pass?" Mark asked. "I would say zero," Leo replied. "I take the snake, you take the frog," Blue said to the hunter. Hera and Alex looked at each other and, with a nod, agreed to do the same. It would be easier to split the fight than to throw everyone in the same melee. Besides, it was just a frog and a snake. After dealing with the lizards, how bad could it be? 113- Dungeon Boss Blue dashed towards the Greater Poison Snake, hitting it a couple of times before rushing to the side. The creature started chasing the controller, and the frog turned around to do the same. Seeing what was happening, Leo jumped in front of the monster, stabbing it a few times for good measure, before rushing to the opposite side that Blue ran towards. The frog jumped after Leo, who was followed by Alex and Mark, while Bonnie and Hera went after the snake. Blue kept running through the pools of poison, splashing the liquid as her feet hit the ground. The hot poison mist moving past her. Everything happened so fast that they didn''t have a chance to talk strategy. Because of that, Blue wasn''t sure how far away she needed to be. Her best estimate was at least five pools away. She could hear the snake approaching, and beyond it, other splashes on the water that she hoped came from her friends. She could be the tank, but this creature was too much for her to deal on her own. "Watch out!" Bonnie yelled just when the snake recoiled for a lunge. Blue looked back and dove to the side, tumbling over the poison. The snake''s attack sent its body forward, landing besides the blue-haired woman. The snake turned around, ready to strike again as Blue got up, flaring up her buff once more. At the same time, Bonnie started to charge up a frost bomb. Hera moved to the side, activating her [Hide] when she was out of the snake''s line of sight. She walked through the pools, being careful not to make any noise, trying to reach the creature''s back. While she moved, Bonnie was helping blue deflect the monster''s attack using her Air Fist. When Hera was finally close enough to strike, the snake quickly turned around and went towards the explorer with its mouth open. "I''m here!" Blue yelled, trying to distract the snake. The monster didn''t bother and focused on its target. Hera jumped through the snake''s tail and rolled in the poison on the other side as the creature hit the ground, getting a mouthful of poison. Blue rushed towards the monster, hitting it while it was still in the water. Even Hera felt a small shock through the water, not enough to hurt her, but it showed how strong the controller''s buff was. Yet, the snake didn''t seem to be bothered by it. The creature was drinking the poison, allowing the three women to wail on it. Hera kept slashing at the creature''s body with her handaxe. To her surprise, the attack wasn''t even able to draw blood. She was expecting to deal some damage, but the debuff for being seen while hidden was taking it''s toll. She kept attacking, and with each strike, the impact seemed to lessen. Hera was starting to worry, but she noticed that Blue also seemed to be having some trouble dealing damage. As the snake kept drinking, its scales became harder, and its wounds started to close. When it was finally done, it raised its head in a deafening roar. The creature was already fast, but now the adventurers barely could keep up with its movement. Blue and Hera were giving their all just to avoid the attacks by a hair. The snake made one sideways motion with its mouth open, getting Blue stuck between its jaws. The controller was still able to hold on and avoid getting hit by the fangs, but all that she could do at the moment was hold the snake''s mouth open. Seeing that, Bonnie quickly grabbed one of the pearls and tossed it towards the creature. When the projectile made contact with the snake''s skin, the pearlescent glow covered a small area, cleaning the pool of poison they were in as well as Hera, Blue, and the creature. Before the light faded, there was a large splash in the now clear water. The snake had fallen into the pool and was spasming uncontrollably. Part of its skin was turning grey, and the black stripes were thinner. Hera and Blue looked at each other for a moment and started to wail on the creature, their attacks doing considerably more damage. Bonnie aimed her Frost Bomb directly into the snake''s mouth, trying to make its fangs turn brittle. The monster recoiled with the attack, seeming to be more bothered by the cold than by Hera and Blue''s assault. The snake turned towards Bonnie, spitting some poison towards the researcher. She rushed to the side to avoid the spray and sent two air fists at the monster. Hera managed to cut off the tip of the snake''s tail, making it stop focusing on Bonnie and turning towards the explorer. Blue climbed on the creature''s body and started punching it, "I said, I''m here. Come get me, you asshole." Hera wasn''t sure of what the controller was doing, but she didn''t have the time to figure out. She dashed forward, swinging her handaxe towards the black stripes of the snake, trying to damage the creature. "Use a pearl to make it weaker!" Bonnie yelled to the other group while moving away from the snake, trying to get in a better position. The beast opened its mouth once more and went straight for Blue, who ducked down and used the snake''s body to push herself away from the attack. The monster stopped before biting its own flesh and swung its head at Blue, sending her flying back to the edge of the pool. The snake followed it with a bite towards the controller. It didn''t seem like Blue was going to be able to evade the attack. The impact had taken away her breath. Hera raised her hand and sent a Poison Spray towards the snake''s face. She changed the spell, trying to make it deal more damage with the impact than with the poison. The orange spray hit the creature in the left eye, diverting its course enough to miss Blue. The snake''s skin sizzled with the spell, making the creature turns angrily towards Hera. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Oh crap," the explorer thought before running to the side, trying to make some distance between her and the snake. Blue held onto the beast and once more started to punch it with all her might. As the snake moved, the controller noticed one of the cuts that Hera had made. Jumping towards the wound, Blue dug deep with both her hands, trying to open the gash even more. Even with that, the snake didn''t change targets. Hera was running toward the area with the smaller poisonous pools, hoping that it would be enough to mess with the snake''s movement. Bonnie sent a cold bomb towards the pool. The moment the spell hit, part of the water froze, but the monster moved too fast. Its body rammed into the ice, making large shards fly to various directions. Hera had to avoid a couple of them, but the last one hit her arm. She tumbled to the side and felt something near in her waist. It was the spring cane she had bought on the day of her graduation. That small moment of distraction was enough for the snake. Before Hera realized, the creature had gotten so close that she could feel the saliva hitting her face. Hera grabbed the cane and put her hand forward, activating it. Hoping it would be sturdy enough to block the monster''s advance. Yet, what happened was a surprise for her. The two-meter long cane stabbed the inside of the snake''s mouth, which recoiled with the pain. Now, it was lodged in its maw, making it unable to use its main attack. "Keep it up. We can do this!" Bonnie yelled as she sent an air fist towards a wound near the tail of the snake. Blue kept working on the wound she was ripping, now she could grab the flesh with both hands. That left Hera with the job of avoiding the attacks. Thanks to the cane, it was a bit easier. The monster was disoriented and would still try to bite her instinctively, only to be stopped by the pain of the iron rod digging even deeper into its mouth. Little by little, the explorer understood the creature''s rhythm and became able to attack as she evaded. In just a small amount of time, the snake¡¯s maw became mangled and bloody. The monster was getting more and more sluggish. It stopped charging at Hera and looked around, searching for something. Bonnie saw the creature rush towards one of the poison pools that weren''t affected by the pearls. It dove towards the purple liquid, trying to drink it to recover. Seeing that happen, Bonnie threw another one of the pearls. The glow covered a large area while Bonnie cursed under her breath, realizing she threw one of the big pearls. The snake started to spasm while Blue and Hera worked on the open wound Blue was ripping open. Together, the two of them managed to get halfway through the creature before it stopped spasming, a strong smell of rot and bile flooding their noses. Blue rushed to the creature''s head and attempted to hold it down. Hera was doing a much better job at cutting the beast open than her fists. Bonnie was helping Blue, maintaining the monster''s attention away from Hera as best as she could. That only lasted a moment. The snake quickly turned around and jerked its body, making the explorer jump away. The movement was enough to make the wound open up, even more, almost doubling its size. The beast gave a pained roar, making its body move even slower. Hera took advantage of that and put all her weight into a slash. The attack went through part of the snake and ended on the ground. Even if it was just a small cut to the side, it was already a significant amount of progress. After all that, the snake was in bad shape. It was bleeding from several places, and it seemed to be stuck in the same spot, unable to move too much. With the monster on the defensive, it became harder to deal any damage to it. The snake would only move when it was sure that it would hit someone, and the party only wanted to attack when the creature was distracted. Looking at the blood covering the pool, Hera considered the snake to be at a disadvantage. It was still bleeding, and if given enough time, that would kill it. However, as time went by, the blood stopped flowing. The purple sludge was forming a thick layer around the snake''s wounds. Seeing that the situation wouldn''t change, Bonnie approached the monster and threw another purifying pearl at it. As soon as the glow started, the snake began to spasm. The movements made the wound in the middle of its body worsen until its skin couldn''t hold on due to its massive weight. Before the pearlescent glow vanished, a ripping sound echoed through the area, followed by a spray of blood as the snake''s tail flew to the side. As the light vanished, Hera could see that the snake kept bashing its head against the floor in agony. After a few moments, the snake was lying on the ground, motionless. Hera, Bonnie, and Blue took a moment to breathe. They still had to go help the rest of the group deal with the giant frog. However, Leo and Alex were already rushing toward them. "Oh, you got it. Good." Leo stopped running as he saw the snake''s corpse. "Yeah, you got yours?" Blue asked. "We did. But those poison clouds were annoying. Mostly to make the thing get away from it," Alex explained. "Why didn''t you use the pearls to clear that?" Bonnie asked. "We were saving them, right?" Mark replied. "For when we need it. I say that is part of it. We used like four here," Blue said. "What? Why did you waste it?" Leo started badgering the two for the use of the pearls. While the hunter was complaining about the items, Hera looked towards the bodies of the beasts they just fought. They were already dissolving into the odd sand that all the creatures seemed to turn to inside the dungeon. Hera walked towards the place where the snake was, but something caught her attention in the larger pond of poison. Raising from the 150-meter wide pool was a gigantic creature. It almost looked like the water itself was rising up. "Guys," Hera called the group. The rising figure broke through the water, showing glowing purple spikes on its deep violet back. "Guys!" Hera called once more. The creature revealed itself, showing its large face with a mouth big enough to swallow trees whole, the black eyes with purple irises locked with Hera''s. "GUYS!" Hera yelled, finally getting the group''s attention. "What the hell is that?" Mark gasped. The gigantic lizard roared, the sound echoing through the entire valley. Hera quickly activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tanika - Bringer of Poison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 114 - Tanika "Holy crap! How big is that thing?" Blue asked, staring at the gigantic lizard. "Can we use the pearls now, oh, great leader?" Bonnie stared at Leo with an angry expression. "Scold me later, toss the things. Clear that pool," Leo yelled, grabbing one of the pearls with him. The group threw a couple of pearls, cleansing about a third of the pool. The glows were unable to cover the creature completely, much less the pond. They would need to go around it to reach the areas that still had poison. The lizard still had its eyes locked with Hera''s. Even as she moved around, the glowing purple eyes kept following her even as the other got closer. She took a step back, staying within the monster''s sight. The clean water was starting to become contaminated once more. Not only the poison from the areas where the glow didn''t reach was coming towards the clean areas, but the giant lizard appeared to make poison out of its body. Without breaking eye contact, Tanika, the giant lizard, opened its mouth and regurgitated a set of two poison frogs and a poison snake. Hera wasn''t sure what was the most upsetting part. Seeing three creatures leaving the giant''s mouth and start moving around, or the fact that the giant lizard didn''t even blink while vomiting the creatures. Even though her [Observe] identified the monsters'' name, they were smaller than those she fought before. They were almost a middle point between the lesser and the regular versions. "Blue! I''m going to need some help here," Hera yelled, seeing the three smaller creatures heading towards her. The controller, seeing what was going on, dashed towards the explorer. Mark, who was still behind Hera, started to send arrow after arrow towards the poison frogs. Just the three creatures wouldn''t be much of a problem. The issue was the looming threat of the behemoth behind them. After throwing up the creatures, Tanika was back to just staring at Hera. The trio quickly finished off the frogs and moved towards the bloated snake. At that moment, another glow appeared behind the frog. Someone had managed to activate another pearl. Blue wasn''t able to notice it since she had just placed the bloated snake into a headlock. With Blue holding down the snake, Hera was able to chop its head off. Mark held its bow aimed towards the giant lizard. "Should I shoot it?" he asked. "It''s not actually attacking. Just standing there," Hera said. Tanika started convulsing, and the poison in the water crawled up its skin being absorbed by the lizard. The liquid was seeping into the cracks between its scales. Its spikes glowed with a vivid purple, and the behemoth threw up three poison frogs and a poison lizard. "Aw, c''mon," Blue groaned, seeing the smaller creatures moving towards her. "We need to clear all the poison!" Bonnie yelled from the side of the large pool. In response, another glow appeared on the opposite side of the first one. By Hera''s guess, there was only the area in the back missing now. Mark was already flinging arrow after arrow towards the incoming frogs. They were the ones he had to make on the spot. The lack of a proper finish made the projectiles fly in the odd trajectories, making it harder for Mark to hit the creatures. Hera and Blue had less trouble. The frogs that were coming could be stronger than the lesser version, but they were just as hardy. It only took the two a few moves to kill each one of them. The lizard was a bit more complicated, not because of its strength but for its speed. It kept dashing and dodging. It was like trying to swat a fly. Another glow appeared behind the creature, cleansing most of the pool, followed by Bonnie''s voice, "There is still poison around. I''m going to use a big pearl!" The researcher was moving back towards Blue and Hera. She grabbed the largest pearl they found and aimed at the giant''s mouth. When the poison lizard died, Tanika opened its mouth while the spikes on its back flared up once more. At that moment, Bonnie tossed the pearl, hoping to cleanse the creature''s poison from the inside. The glow this time was barely enough to cover the entire creature. Bonnie yelled to everyone to throw a couple of pearls, cleaning the remaining poison from the pool. When the light vanished, Tanika was still in the same position. It started to shiver, and the water raised once more towards it, seeping between its scales. It kept pulling more and more water while the spikes grew brighter until the last spike on its back exploded, causing a large scorch mark on the creature''s body. Tanika appeared to lose its front legs'' strength and made an odd high-pitched sound that seemed almost like a wail. In response to that, several lesser poison creatures emerged from the smaller poison pools in the area. They started marching towards Tanika, ignoring the humans altogether. "What the hell is this?" Blue asked, looking around. "I have no idea. Should we just kill them?" Mark asked. "No clue. Bonnie, what do you think?" Hera called the researcher, who was still a bit far from them. "Part of me says to see what is going to happen. But the other part says it''s a bad idea to let whatever they are doing to happen," she replied, looking at the creatures. "Soo... let''s wait for Alex and Leo, at least we can regroup," Blue suggested. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. No one was confident that waiting was a good idea, but Hera had to admit that she was curious about what the creatures were doing. They watched as the lesser snakes, frogs, and lizards walked towards Tanika and climbed into its mouth. The beast didn''t stop its wail, even while the smaller ones were deep into its throat. Alex and Leo arrived just as the last few poison critters were arriving at Tanika''s maw. "What the hell is that?" Leo asked. Hera quickly explained what was going on. "I get why you are waiting, but that is a bad idea. What if that thing uses a big skill now?" Alex said. Before any of them could reply, Tanika retched, and two poison snakes came out among its bile, together with three poison lizards. "I guess with the lack of poison around it. It uses the creatures as fuel to make more," Bonnie said. "Think about it later. We need to kill that thing. Blue lets focus on the ones coming from its mouth. Alex, try to attack the big thing," Leo commanded. Hera joined in the group against the smaller creatures. Something about the idea of approaching the reptile didn''t sit well with her, especially since the beast had yet to move her eyes away from her. The snakes and lizards were quickly dispatched. Hera taking care of two while Leo and Blue took one each. Just as the explorer dealt the final blow on the last snake, Alex yelled. "Shit!" the assassin rushed back to the group while covered in a thick glowing purple sludge, "gimme a pearl, gimme a pearl," she begged. Bonnie tossed a pearl to her, and the glow covered the group. Alex''s face was burnt in a few places where the liquid splashed her. "That thing freaking hurts!" she gasped. "Ok, then. Going close range is a no go. What the hell do we do?" Leo asked. Tanika started shivering once again, the water crawling up its body. After a moment, the loud wail began, followed by the army of lesser poison creatures rising from the pools. "Oh, no, you don''t!" Hera turned towards the lesser monsters and started to kill them before reaching its master, "I have no idea what is going on, but that last batch seemed bigger. We can''t let them go in again." Bonnie nodded and started to attack the monsters. She didn''t see the firsts groups, but Hera could be right. It would make sense for the difficulty to keep increasing. The group quickly spread and started to kill all the monsters who were marching to be devoured. The critters weren''t fighting back. This was not a fight but just a slaughter, one way or another, they would die. They were also only walking, which made it even easier to deal a killing blow. Hera kept slashing away, but she couldn''t help but to feel her stomach-turning. The situation felt wrong. She was just killing a bunch of harmless creatures, and for what? So that she wouldn''t have to fight stronger creatures? She was just a coward, no better than the emperor. Hera shook her head. She couldn''t let herself go there. This was a fight for her life, just like any other inside the maze. She needed to be strong and survive, even if she had to do something like this. Hera cut another frog''s head and stopped. Could this be what the emperor felt? How can she say she''s better than him if she is willing to kill innocent creatures just to survive? An explosion broke Hera''s train of thought. Looking back, she saw one of the large spikes on Tanika''s back had exploded, making another large scorch mark around its body. Hera looked around and saw that the area was clear of any small poison creatures. "This is the gimmick!" Bonnie yelled, "We need to make the rest of the spikes blow up. Don''t let anything get into its mouth." Hera looked around, trying to see if any other creatures were coming. Everything seemed quiet, and without the lizard''s noise, it could almost be seen as peaceful. A moment passed, and Tanika started its wail once more, this time in a higher pitch. The change in tone made the noise a bit annoying, but nothing that would disturb the group. The lesser poison creatures raised up once more and marched towards the giant. However, they were moving faster, but it still wasn''t an issue. It took a bit longer to kill them all. The previous wave took less than a minute. This one almost went past two. When no more creatures remained, one of the spikes on Tanika''s back started glowing and then exploded, showing not only a larger gash on its back but a few cuts on the sides. There were still five more spikes on its back. The wail began, and the group fought off the creatures once more. Each wave would move faster and be more numerous than the last. It would also last longer than the previous one. What started as something close to a minute of fighting turned into almost ten minutes of fighting nonstop. Even if the creatures weren''t fighting back, just running around catching them was very troublesome. As the spikes blew up, more wound appeared on the creature''s back. One of them was large enough to show what looked like a purple stone embedded deep into Tanika''s flesh. When only a single spike remained, the monsters that came out of the pools were a bit bigger but less numerous. The issue was that they were smarter. The creatures now were fighting back. They would try to avoid being caught and even sacrifice themselves so that the others could reach Tanika. The group struggled to kill the creatures. They all fought as one. Hera used her pulse and confirmed that all the small monsters had a thin mana link connecting them all. Even with all their efforts, a couple of the poison creatures managed to jump inside Tanika''s mouth. Hera and the others rushed together, trying to get in some semblance of a combat formation. "Careful guys, this could be a big one," Bonnie said as she started charging a spell. The last spike on Tanika''s back started to glow, becoming even brighter than before. The lizard closed its mouth and lowered its head, showing an odd formation of horns on its forehead. They were glowing in the same light. Suddenly, a purple glow came out of all its wounds, while sparks of energy started coming out of the horns. "That''s not good," Mark said as he notched another arrow and sent towards the spikes. Bonnie joined in, sending a couple of cold bombs to the formation on Tanika''s forehead. The arrows were vaporized by the condensed energy, and the spells seemed to have little to no effect. The glow grew brighter as the power charged up. "We need to move!" Leo yelled. Hera noticed that the energy on Tanika¡¯s forehead was enveloped by a mist that seemed to degrade the area around it. It was a sight very similar to when she used one of her poison spells. "No, we don''t!" Hera said as she grabbed the cane, that she had recovered from the Greater Poison Snake''s body. She placed a pearl in its damaged tip and held it pointing towards the giant lizard. "Hera, are you sure?" Bonnie asked. "Yes, I am." the explorer replied. Tanika finished charging up the spell and fired a concentrated beam of poison mana towards the group. The moment the purple laser hit the cane, a pearlescent glow covered the area. "Are we dead? Are we dead? Are we dead?" Mark kept asking the same question while the glow covered their eyes. After a few moments, the light vanished and showed Tanika charging up for another attack. However, this time, before the group could even react, the monster''s core exploded, killing the creature. "Holy crap, Hera. How did you know that would work?" Blue gasped. Before Hera was able to reply, a notification appeared in front of each member of the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest inside The Frog Valley. By destroying the creature responsible for generating the poison, the Valley returned to a peaceful state. Rewards: 5 000 gold Minor Mana Stone Select ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The mana had a poison feel to it. But to be honest, I was only like 80% sure," Hera laughed. "Are you serious?" Leo gasped. Tanika''s body started to glow. Simultaneously, a small lizard, about the size of a husky, appeared on top of its head. 115 - Veterans Advice ¡°Is that¡­ a lizard?" Blue asked. "I''m not sure, but it seems familiar, doesn''t it?" Mark said. The small lizard had light green skin with two white stripes on its sides and a little blue diamond shape mark on its forehead. "Wait, isn''t that the lizard we saved in the beginning?" Hera asked. She was sure it was the same creature, not only that, the patter on its sides were very similar to the one on Tanika''s body. The explorer activated her [Observe] to confirm her suspicion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tanika''s Soul ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The lizard started to glow and become translucent. When the massive corpse turned into the small particles, the small lizard crumbled as well, giving the group a nod and a smile before its face vanishing. "Oh, so I guess that thing still had some good in it," Leo said. "Yeah, it''s kind of nice that we managed to help it. Still think we are not the good guys?" Blue turned to Alex. "Meh, a fight is a fight. I''m not going to be cruel for shits and giggles, but I''m not going to be bothered by whatever this is," the assassin replied. "Yeah, but where is the mana stone?" Mark asked, looking around. "Check your tablet. There is a rewards thing. But you should wait for us to get out of here before getting it," Bonnie explained. The sound of Hera vomiting stopped the conversation. She had kneeled by one of the pools and was in the process of returning her lunch to the wilds. "Hera? Are you ok?" Blue rushed towards her friend. "I''m fi.." she threw up once more. She had just killed a kind creature. If the soul was still there, there could be a way to save Tanika. Yet, she chose to take the easy way out and kill the creature. A creature that was so caring that it wished to die in order not to hurt anything. And she had killed it. How could she say she was any better than the emperor? She killed him for power, and now she killed the lizard for money. "Gimme a pearl. The poison must have gotten to her," Blue commanded. "No, it''s not. Sorry," Hera raised her head. A few tears had streamed down her face. "What do you mean, fine? You just threw up," Blue placed a pearl on Hera''s arm, hoping to trigger it. The pearl did nothing. "I told you, it''s not the poison," Hera used the clean water of another pool to clean her mouth. "Ok, but what the hell just happened?" Leo asked. "I... I don''t want to talk about it," Hera said, avoiding the hunter''s gaze. "Are you pregnant or something?" Mark asked. Hera chuckled, "If I am, I''m starting a religion." "Ok, but what happened?" Blue asked once more. "I... Can we talk about it later?" Hera slumped her shoulders and looked away. There was a long pause before Blue, letting out a long sigh, "Fine, but we are talking before the next run." The group now had a chance to see the drops from the monsters. In total, they found 1 450 gold, another block of clay, a few more pearls as well as one pearl the size of a bowling ball at the largest pool. Touching, it generated a prompt asking if they wanted to activate the pearl. After discussing a bit, they decided to trigger the effect. The sphere started glowing, and the light began to spread. In front of them, a wide shot of the valley appeared as a notification, showing the view from the entrance. The live feed showed the glow coming from the other side and quickly covered the entire screen. A few moments later, the light vanished, and the image showed a valley completely free of poison. Even the purple fog above had vanished. The group had spent 4 hours inside the dungeon. Even if they spent a couple of hours resting, they still had enough time to try another run. The first few times a creature showed up, as they made the walk back to the entrance, put them on edge. However, neither the frogs nor the snakes were aggressive towards them. With that, the group relaxed and started talking as if they were strolling through the woods. "Hey, Bonnie. Are you good to say what the hell was that whole contract thing?" Leo asked. "Oh... Yeah, I guess I never explained to you," Bonnie let out a sigh, "Ok, first. The thing about me being married off was my mistake. The contract had a bunch of technical law terms, and I completely misunderstood. It was about companies and my role in them. So forget about all that. The entire contract was bogus. My father attempted to pressure my mother into telling me about my birth. She was worried about how I would react after knowing the truth. My parents are not in a loving relationship. I mean, I knew that, but still, my birth was a business transaction. My father wanted someone with good genes to give him an heir. So he paid 100 thousand gold to my mom to be artificially inseminated and then raise me as her daughter. In the end, he is asking for that money back." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "That is... messed up," Blue said. "Is it?" Alex said, "I mean, People do worse for less. And there was nothing bad going on. Also, it gave us you, didn''t it?" Bonnie smiled, "Yeah. And I know my mom loves me, but the whole thing is just so weird. It''s hard to talk to her right now." "Still don''t be too hard on her, show you still care. Take that from someone who has a long road to fix family relationships," Mark said. There was a moment of silence before Blue finally asking," Do you want to talk about it?" "Not even a little," Mark said, grabbing his tablet. They changed the subject to spells and what they could use in this place, and in just around fifteen minutes, they reached the entrance, leaving the dungeon. Outside it, there was the line of people waiting to get into the dungeon. Hera''s group had agreed to rest a couple of hours in the city before coming back. They headed away from the wooden gate and towards the tower. On the way, Hera noticed Runir and his group walking towards the dungeon. They greeted each other, but both parties wanted to keep doing their own thing. In a few minutes, they arrived back in the small village around the tower. The first thing Hera wanted to do was take a shower. The mud and water from the dungeon wasn''t exactly clean. The village also had a quick cleaning service. It was expensive, but they could clean all their gear in just half an hour. Hera wanted to take a bath, a long steamy bath in the hot springs. They agreed to spend a couple of hours resting before going to the dungeon again. They stopped by the hotel, buying some simple clothes at the gift shop before going to the cleaners to wash their gear. "I want to buy some more clothes. We''ve been doing everything with our armor. I forgot how comfortable regular clothes were," Blue said. Hera had to agree. Even if she wasn''t using a hard armor like the controller, the leather pieces were not the most comfortable things to wear. "We could go buy some clothes after we get back... or when you get back from your trip," Alex suggested, but it was clear the assassin wasn''t very excited about Blue''s trip. "I''ll bring you guys some seashells bikinis then," Blue laughed. "I pass, seashells don''t go well with my eyes," Bonnie replied. Hera was around that conversation, but she wasn''t hearing. Her mind went back to the dungeon boss and the emperor. She understood that both events were supposed to happen like that. Tanika even seemed to thank the group for killing her, but she couldn''t shake the feeling that she was going on a path that would crush her soul. They went to the hot springs first, taking a shower and then going to the heated pools of water. The girls kept talking, but Hera wasn''t a good company. They loudly discussed the dungeon and what happened inside it. They were even getting a few stares from other women that were relaxing in the heated waters. A woman with long black hair approached the group, "Ladies, I understand your excitement, but please be mindful of others." "I apologize, we will tone it down," Bonnie said. "Yeah, sorry. We didn''t intend to bother anyone," Blue joined. "Not a problem. It was kind of refreshing to see people talking about the dungeon like that. After a while, it turns into a routine," the woman said, "Mind if I join?" "Not at all," Alex moved a bit to the side. "Thanks, I''m Cassandra, by the way," she sat at the by the group. "It''s a pleasure. I''m Bonnie, and these are Blue, Alex, and Hera." "The pleasure is all mine," Cassandra nodded towards them, "Was this the first dungeon you ever did?" "No, we did the Arcanist Lookout already, but it was the first time we did the Frog Valley," Alex said. "Oh, the lookout is to the south, right? I''ve never done that one. People say it''s only worth it if you get the first run after the reset," Cassandra shifted, getting a bit more comfortable. "We got the first run by accident. It was fun, but there were some tricky parts. Although, I think the valley is harder," Blue replied. "Oh, I can imagine. The first time I did the valley, we had to run away. Only a few runs later, we realized that if you toss pearls in all the pools, in the end, the boss just glows and blows up without spawning the other things," "Really?" Alex gasped. "Yeah, did you guys beat the boss without that?" Cassandra asked. "Yeah, well... sort of. We cleaned a few pools, but not all," Bonnie said. "Oh, so you had to deal with the spawns? That is hard. But if you let the giant lizard eat every one of them, you can get some good money with the things it... births," Cassandra explained. They kept asking about the dungeon and strategies. Cass gave some hints, including that they should give up on trying the hard mode. To trigger it, you had to kill all the poison things and the snakes, but the boss would be a powered up version of the scared frog. It would not only be the size of the lizard boss, but the frog had lightning magic. Since they would fight around water, it was a deadly combination. Around half an hour later, they had a lot more information about the dungeon. "Thank you for all the advice, Cassandra," Bonnie said. "No worries, we explorers have to help each other," she replied. "Hey, Hera! She is an explorer too," Blue turned towards her friend, trying to cheer her up. "I meant in a more general way, like we are all explorers. But yeah, I''m an explorer too. It''s weird to have a role that doesn''t have a name," Cassandra chuckled. "Oh, did you get another role skill?" Hera asked. "Yep. I was between explorer and mage, so as soon as I could, I got the explorer''s sync." "Oh, did you get any other role skills?" Hera asked. "Not yet. Why?" Cassandra asked. "Nothing. I just wanted to talk about something that happened on my assassin role skill test." "What was it? Was the bonus round weird?" Cass asked. "Do you know about the bonus round?" Hera turned towards the woman. "Yeah, I got one in the sync test and asked around. Apparently, all have a bonus round, but the difficulty in finding it varies," Cass said. "Oh, did you..." Hera was about to ask about peaches. Thankfully, she stopped herself before saying anything in front of her friends, " How did you get the bonus round?" "Well... I had to do the test well. Then I had to find a few things. But what exactly you are going to have to figure out. We are explorers. It''s all about finding things," Cassandra said. Hera nodded. She wanted the help and did not understand why Cass said no, but she wasn¡¯t in the mood to argue. They stayed in the hot springs for a while longer before they left. Meeting up with Leo and Mark, the group went towards the hotel to grab something to eat. They still had one more run to do for today. 116 - Farming the valley The group was in front of the gate once more. There were several parties already in line and a couple of others in a rest area. Hera and her friend were off to the side, discussing what they had learned with Cassandra. "OK, so when we are traveling, we can go through the poison fog to fight more things and get more loot. None of the lesser and basic poison creatures use any type of poison mana, and if we get hit by that sludge, we would need to cleanse ourselves anyway," Blue explained. "As I told you, we need to confirm that first. It''s fine to be trusting, but we should be careful nonetheless," Bonnie said. "So, we are not trying the thing with the lizard?" Mark asked. "Oh, we are, and we are going to need you for that," Bonnie said. "I''m really not confident I can shoot it in the middle of the fight," Mark scratched the back of his head. "Worst case, we run back," Bonnie replied. "Ok, you are all careful about the poison, and now you are all gung ho about attacking the Greater Lizard. Why?" Leo asked. "Because I''m not sure about the poison thing, but the lizard thing makes much more sense. The snake seems relatively friendly towards us, and the thing about monsters not dropping loot if they die without our interference was explained to us during training. Besides, if the snake comes after us, we can kill it," the researcher explained. "Your priorities are weird. You know that?" Alex said. Bonnie just shrugged and kept talking about the strategies. After a few minutes, the group had some new strategies to clear the dungeon. While they were ironing out the last details, Blue sat beside Hera. "Hey, I don''t want to put you in the spot or anything. But what happened back there?" the controller was speaking in a soft voice, enough for only Hera to hear. "I''m worried this place will change me into something awful," Hera explained. "Why?" Hera took a deep breath and explained the entire situation. About the bonus room, the emperor, and the talk she had with the king. She avoided talking about Peaches, unsure of how mentioning that would affect the Guide skill. By the end, the explorer''s grip on her handaxe tightened while she held back the tears that wanted to form on her face. "I don''t want to turn into a monster, Blue." "Oh, Hera... you are not going to be a monster. Far from it. You are the kindest person I know. If you were going that path, you wouldn''t feel this bad by all of this," Blue placed her arm around Hera. "Yeah, he said the same thing," Hera replied, leaning into Blue''s shoulder. "Who did?" Hera panicked, had she just made a mistake? There was no notification, so maybe she didn''t say anything that would directly reveal the guide. Hera sniffed. She had made too long of a pause already. "The king. I freaked out in front of him after killing the emperor." "You''re wrong," Blue replied bluntly. "What?" "You didn''t kill the emperor. You hit a training dummy." Hera stared at her friend, "What do you mean?" "Did you feel bad when you killed the kobolds in the simulation? Or the slimes on your test?" Blue asked. "No, they were attacking me. It was a survival instinct," Hera replied after pondering for a moment. "You are focusing on the wrong thing. They were there for you to train, just like the emperor. The system made all that so you could get stronger. It was the same during training when we fought the dummies. Besides, if all the monsters were like you, the world would be a much better place," both of them chuckled with the comment. Blue turned to face Hera, "And look. Even if you someday turn into a cold-blooded killer, which you are not going to. But if you end up like that, I promise I''ll still like you. Or beat the bad out of you if that''s what you want." "I don''t think a beating would fix that. But I''ll take that offer," Hera said, getting off Blue''s shoulder, "Thanks, Blue. I''m not sure when I''ll be ok with all that, but thank you for being here for me." "Anytime. Well... not for the next couple of weeks, but after that anytime," Blue said with a smile. The group noticed that the two were having a moment and let them talk without interrupting. When they got up, they got in line to go on their next run. It was easier than the first time. They knew the monsters'' patterns, and with the tips from Cassandra, the party managed to gather 2 453 gold and another two bricks of clay. They failed to make the Greater Poison Lizard drop anything, and the Giant Snake didn''t give anything after they healed it. The rest of the dungeon was just more of the slugfest against the poison creatures. Cleaning all the poison pools around the boss made Tanika just keep charging and blow up all the spikes after a few moments. The hardest part was the Greater Snake and Frog, just before the final boss. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The only problem was the reward. Now it gave no items and just 750 gold. Apparently, the 5 000 was just for the first time you beat it. The first group to complete the quest after the weekly reset would get 3 000 gold. After the second run, the group was too tired to do anything else. The small bursts of action followed by a long walk was a great exercise, but one that would exhaust you after some time. They were glad that the pearl strategy worked on the boss. None of them was entirely sure if they could fight several waves of enemies again. During the night, Hera checked the mana stone reward. She had still yet to use the elemental essence that she got from the Arcanist Lookout. She was still unsure which she would choose. The most expensive one was the earth essence, but the spirit one could be more interesting if she wanted to use it for an enchantment. The mana stone also had a few options. It could be lightning, acid, or poison. According to Mark, who already had picked a lightning mana stone, one of the things she could do is to use the stone as a spell battery. That way, she could be less stingy with her spells. The lightning stone was small, just about the size of an eraser, so carrying it around wouldn''t be a problem. The crafter even offered to fashion a small accessory to make using the mana stone easier. Hera decided to pick the poison mana stone since it would allow her to use her mana for buffs and recovery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Poison Mana Stone A stone capable of storing poison mana. It can also be charged using pure mana at a lower rate of 2:1. The mana inside it will be converted to poison mana regardless of the type used for the charge. The mana inside it can only be used to power poison mana related effects. Poison Mana Stored 0/500 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The stone was oval and white, much like stones one would find by a river, and just a bit bigger than a strawberry. Hera started to send her mana to the rock, and little by little, it changed color to bright orange. The same color as her poison spray. Charging the stone was easy, but using it was odd. She had to make the conscious decision of pulling the mana from the rock and not from herself. It would take a while to get used to doing that. During the second run, she used her spells much more. Even though the poison needle was still useless against the poison creatures, but her poison spray was surprisingly effective against the monsters inside the fog. Having the poison mana stone also allowed her to be a bit of a healer with the Mend spell and take some more damage with her Bark Skin. They spent the week doing that routine, a run in the morning, and another one in the afternoon. One day before they needed to head back to the city, Hera gained a level reaching level 4. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 4 Stats: Strength: 17 Endurance: 17 Agility: 17 Charisma: 17 Intelligence: 17 Luck: 17 Mana: 213/213 Remaining attribute points: 1 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She got enough attribute points to increase her stats by two. She got only 3 bonus points this time. She wasn''t sure why, but in hindsight, she spent much longer at level 2. There were probably more opportunities for her to get more points. Mark also gained a level, reaching level 3 like the others. On the last run, Alex also gained a level, reaching level 4. Leo kept complaining about how that was unfair since they were all fighting together. However, as it was her role''s nature, sometimes Alex could kill the monsters on her own. After seeing Hera hunt on her own, the assassin started to pick off creatures that had strayed too far from the pack. They managed to get another piece of the snake''s skin and more clay, as well as a considerable amount of gold to each of them. They only got a single rare drop, a poison core from the boss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Core The crystallized essence of an old poison creature. The core works as internal storage for mana and can be activated to increase a poison attack power. It can also absorb the surrounding mana to create poison mana. Unusable in its current state, the core needs to be treated and attached to something before working. It can also be infused in a piece of equipment to give it strong poison properties. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They checked the price of the core, and it was pretty expensive. If the group sold it, they could get almost 1 000 gold each. However, since Hera was using poison spells, the group agreed to let her buy out the item. It was considerably big, about the size of a basketball but not very heavy. Before confirming she would take the core, Hera sent a text to Helena asking her opinion on the subject. Worst-case scenario, she wouldn''t reply in time. During the night of their last day, the group went to a bar close to the inn, celebrating their haul and the moments they shared. They laughed and joke around late into the night before heading back to the inn. In the morning, they headed back to Brinnefront. Leo had to get ready to meet his battalion, and Blue needed to go home to pack for her trip. Hera also wanted to leave the MAZE, she needed to check on her flat, and her grandmother''s birthday would be on the weekend. When they arrived in the city, Helena replied to Hera about the core. According to the mage, the item was hard to come by, and many scholars would want to use it for their research. However, if Hera wanted to keep it, she could fashion some gear with either resistance or increased damage. Another option would be to combine the core with a mana stone to make a self-sustaining mana battery. Although the actual amount of mana it would recover would vary depending on the mana stone''s size and quality. Hera was also discussing the possibilities with Mark, and he had some interesting ideas about how to use the core. She decided to take the item. Even after paying the rest of the group, she still had over 15 000 gold on her account. In one month, she made more than she would have in an entire year. Before heading out with Blue, Hera looked for a gift for her grandmother. After finding something grandma Triss would love, she left the MAZE together with her friend, heading toward her flat for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. 117 - Back Home When Hera walked into her flat, it was like coming back home after a vacation. There was a thick layer of dust on everything, and the air in the apartment was stale. Thankfully, the guild had taken care of the rent. She already paid them back when she left the MAZE. Her weapons had to stay in the guild since they couldn''t allow people to walk with swords and spears in the middle of the city. The items she could have brought, but the guild had a storage available for everyone. It was a good way to leave the items some place safe and built to store odd things. The first thing she had to do was a thorough cleanup. However, she wasn''t sure if she would stay in this place for much longer. Hera was already at level 4, as far as she knew, the first layer only had creatures up to level 5. She also had made quite a bit of money. Maybe renting a place in Brinefront could be a good idea. Better than spending every night in a hotel, at least. As Hera was changing the sheets, she realized that getting her own place would mean either doing chores in the house or paying someone to do that. One of the main reasons she was considering renting was to have a safe place to leave her belongings. For now, aside from some rations and a first aid kit, she didn''t have to carry anything around. That wouldn''t last long. It was already clear that as time went by, she would have more and more items. The guild has a storage service, but it wasn''t the same as having her own place. After a couple of hours, she finished cleaning her flat. This wasn''t how she pictured spending her first day back, but it wasn''t all bad. She had forgotten about the books she was reading and took some time to read a bit. Still, she was anxious. It would be the first time her family would see her now that she was an explorer. She was sure grandma Triss would be over the moon. The problem was her mother. The last time they spoke was before the test. They were never on good terms, but storming out like that was new. She dreaded her mother''s reaction. The last time they had a big fight, Hera left the house for good. But Stella wouldn''t cause a scene on Triss''s birthday, would she? Her tablet buzzed. Blue was asking for her opinion on the clothes she was packing. It was a welcome distraction. Hera spent a couple of hours talking with the controller and helping her remember to pack everything. She also received a text from Helena, just letting her know that she was already in the city but that she would have some stuff to do during the weekend. On Monday, they could meet and talk. On Sunday, Hera went to her hometown in the morning. This time she didn''t ask her father to pick her up at the station. She was still uncomfortable talking to him. Taking a cab, she arrived at her grandmother''s house in the afternoon. The party was a barbecue, and Hera was sure that the party was already going. Her family was fond of gatherings that lasted the whole day. She stopped at the door, taking a deep breath before ringing the bell. Hera could hear the noise coming from the house. Loud music, people yelling while they talked. It was a nostalgic feeling, even though the yelling bothered her a bit. After a few moments, she heard the steps of someone approaching. The door opened, and a thin girl with brown hair was on the other side, "Hera!" the girl gave Hera a tight hug. "Hey, Amelia! How are you?" it was nice seeing her cousin. While Hera helped her study for the college entrance exams, the two got close. "I''m great. School is awesome. But I was worried about you. What''s this about you being an explorer now?" Amelia asked. "Yeah. A lot happened. Let me talk to grandma Triss and I''ll tell you all about it." As Hera walked into the house, everyone stopped talking and stared at her. Even Amelia seemed uncomfortable with the scene. "There she is, my beautiful daughter," Stella came out of the kitchen and headed towards Hera, giving her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, "So brave, so strong. Come, come. Sit down and tell us all about the MAZE." Hera wasn''t sure how to react. Her mom never was this supportive. Stella guided her daughter to the couch, sitting by her side and holding her hands. Everyone was still staring at her, with an expression that Hera couldn''t decipher. "Humm...Hi everyone. Where is grandma Triss? I got a gift for her," Hera tried to break the silence. "I''m here. Hang on. The old legs are not as fast as they used to be," grandma Triss came from the kitchen with her cane. It has been a while since she started to have some difficulty walking around. Hera remembered that she once asked her dad to look for the price of healers to fix her legs, but it was too expensive for them. Hera got up and helped her grandmother sit on her favorite chair, "Here grandma," she gave a small box to Triss. "Hera, you didn''t need to get me anything," the elderly woman kissed Hera on the cheek. "You deserve even more. Now open it." Triss opened the small box showing a transparent plaque with a single white circle on the edge, "Just touch that circle," Hera explained. Her grandmother touched the circle, and above the plaque, a scene appeared. There was a lion cub, a boar, and a weasel walking through a tree trunk, with the moon behind them. The three were bobbing its heads in the same rhythm, and as they moved, the cub grew larger until it became a fully grown lion with a red mane. "Hera..." Triss''s eye''s started to water. "I know how much you love that movie, and that this was grandpa¡¯s favorite part. You would be surprised how quickly they made this one. The plaque can work anywhere, but there is a base that you need to plug in an outlet to recharge it. But it recharges really quickly and can last 10 hours of playing if I''m not mistaken." Triss gave Hera a big hug, tears rushing down her face, "This is amazing. Thank you so much, dear." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "What happened, grandma?" Michael, one of Hera''s little cousins, asked. Triss didn''t let Hera go right away. But after a few moments, she released her granddaughter and turned to little Michael. "Grandma is just happy," she pressed the button, activating the illusion, "This scene was your grandfather''s favorite bit. Every time I see it, I remember his goofy smile when he sang the song," she turned towards Michael. "I''m sorry you weren''t able to meet him." The party kept going. Everyone seemed both excited and careful around Hera. The kids were in awe about talking to a real-life explorer, and even the younger side of the family seemed interested in her stories. However, Hera noticed two very odd things. First, Silvia, her aunt, seemed very conscious of what she talked about near Hera. Second, her mom was being very nice, way too nice. She grabbed food or drinks for Hera on multiple occasions and wouldn''t stop singing her praises. She even went as far as saying that the two were so close that sometimes it felt like having a little sister. That gained some stares from Silvia, her actual younger sister. The party kept going until some people started to leave. Hera still had to take a train before going home, and she had the meeting with Helena in the morning. Before leaving, she looked for her grandmother to say her goodbyes. "Grandma, I''m going now. I have some things to do tomorrow." "That''s ok, dear. Thank you so much for the lovely gift. I wasn''t expecting something so beautiful," Triss replied, getting up to hug Hera. Watching her grandmother have so much trouble just to walk those few steps broke Hera''s heart. "Grandma, do you remember how much was the healer to help with your legs?" the explorer asked. "I''m not sure, dear. I think it was 15 000 gold or something. Why do you ask?" "Well, I know I just gave you a birthday gift, but I can give you another," Hera smiled. "Hera, you don''t need to do that. I''m fine, just as I am. I don''t want you saving every gold you make for years to waste on me," Triss said. Hera picked at her tablet and opened her bank account. "What if I told you it would be just another month?" The older woman looked at the tablet, she blinked a few times and even put on her glasses before sighing, "I knew explorers made a lot of money, but this is just unfair," grandma Triss pouted. "Well, it''s a good thing you have a very caring granddaughter that can pamper you," Hera chuckled. Grandma Triss hugged her once more before letting her leave. Hera walked away and told her goodbyes to everyone. Stella was a bit dramatic about her daughter not staying the night, but it was very different from her usual behavior. Eridan offered to give her a ride to the station, Hera accepted that. She had been avoiding her dad, but it was time to change that. Sometime after midnight, she was back in her flat. The day wasn''t as bad as she thought it would be, and tomorrow she would meet Helena. Not only had Hera missed her friend, but she was also worried about what happened with the mage. Helena was too cryptic about the entire situation, and that was bugging her. Hera did her best to try to sleep early, giving up after a couple of hours. She opted by watching TV until she passes out. Even after sleeping late, Hera woke up early the next morning. The first thing she did was send a text to Helena, letting her know that she would be ready to talk whenever then Hera went to take a shower and get her breakfast ready. After leaving her bath, Hera saw Helena''s reply. The mage was also anxious about their discussion and wanted to get out of her house. Apparently, some family came to visit her, and she needed a break. She asked if she could go to Hera''s place. The discussion had to be in a more private location. Hera quickly replied with her address and a couple of directions before realizing that she had nothing to eat in her place. She rushed quickly to the grocery store to buy some food and coffee for the two. In less than fifteen minutes, Hera had her basket full and was waiting in line to pay. She got some fruit, bread, jam, some pre-cut vegetables, cheese, coffee, and a bottle of wine. The store still sold the new dawn oranges, but Hera wanted to stay clear of that. "Next in line, please!" Amanda, the teen who was working as a cashier, called. Hera placed the basket on the counter, "Hi Amanda." "Hey, Hera! Long time no see. I''m great. What about you? Oh, silly of me to ask, you are probably amazing being an explorer and all. How was it inside the MAZE? I bet it was awesome. What brings you back?" Amanda spoke in a single breath. The girl was never that energetic before, and the way she talked was frantic. Hera stared at Amanda. There was some weird translucent, shiny smoke coming out of her body. Almost like she was sweating glitter. "Amanda, what did you eat today?" "That''s a weird question. What did I eat? Oh no, is my breath bad? Or can you tell me what I ate now that you are an explorer? That is soo cool. Or Brilliant, as the British would say. At least that''s how they speak in shows. Do you think they are right? The tv shows I mean. It''s so fun! Ace, Cheers, Blimey," Once more, the girl spoke in a single breath. It looked like she was having trouble focusing on a single thing. Hera knew some people were like that, but a change happening this fast was weird. The explorer asked to see Mrs. Kahele, Amelia''s grandmother, with the excuse that it was just to catch up. Amelia could be very stubborn when something was wrong. While she waited for the elderly woman to come to the shop, Helena sent a text letting Hera know that she had just arrived. Hera asked her to come to the store just before Mrs. Kahele arrived. She asked about Amelia''s eating habits and found out that the girl had been eating new dawn oranges. According to what Hera remembered, they shouldn''t affect people at level 1, and Amelia was still 17. She couldn''t be above that. While Hera was talking to Mrs. Kahele, Helena walked into the store. "Lena! Great to see you, but first. Amelia here could use some help," Hera said, trying not to agitate the girl. She didn''t know how she would react to any bad news at the moment. "Hello, sweetie. I can help, sure, but what is going on?" Hera explained the situation, and Helena quickly called for an ambulance. "Can''t you do the thing you did with me?" Hera asked, confused about Helena''s reaction. "I can''t. The best thing I can do is call the right kind of emergency. Those symptoms are from mana overdose. It''s when our body consumes more mana than we can handle and has no way of letting it go. We need someone who can take that away. What level is she?" Helena asked. "Level 1, she is 17," Mrs. Kahele replied. Amelia, who was talking nonstop since Helena arrived, stopped making a sound, but her mouth was still moving even faster than before. Her nose started to bleed while her eyes rolled back. "Hera, quick! Grab her wrists and focus your mana. You know how to cycle it, right? Do that, but with the mana inside her body. Like you were using a mana stone," Helena commanded. Hera grabbed Amelia''s wrist but paused before starting to use the girl''s mana, "Isn''t this dangerous? What you did to me seemed hard." "It was, but just because you were already level 2 and had your own mana. She doesn''t have it. You can just pull everything that is there, and it won''t affect her growth. Even if it ends up happening, is that or risk her dying." Hela took a deep breath and started to pull the mana towards her. She activated all her buffs and kept using pulse after pulse to spend the mana. It was much different than using a mana stone. The energy wasn''t still and would just come as she asked. It was like a rushing river that would try to flood her and escape her grasp. In less than ten minutes, an ambulance had arrived as well as a couple of healers from the guild. They took over the situation and put Amelia inside the vehicle before driving off to the nearest hospital. Hera and Helena stayed for a few minutes in the store until Mr. Kahele arrived. He thanked the two and checked Hera''s purchase out before closing the shop and heading to the hospital. "Lena, what is going on?" Hera asked while carrying the groceries in front of the store, still unsure of what just happened. "Let''s go to your place. We need to talk." 118 - Serious Talk Hera and Helena walked back to Hera''s flat. The explorer made some coffee and set up the food on her small table. "Here, I forgot to get milk, sorry," Hera gave a cup to Helena. "Don''t worry. I like it black." Hera chuckled, "Really? With all the sweetie, I thought you liked more sugary things." Helena smiled, "Not on my coffee. But if you have some cake, I won''t say no." "Crap, I forgot the cake," Hera sighed. "Don''t worry. You got more than what we needed. Sit down, let''s talk." Hera sat down on her bed. She only had a single chair, and Helena was using it. The mage had a serious expression. She took a deep breath and looked back at Hera. "What happened, Lena? Why couldn''t you help Amanda back there?" Hera asked. "Ok... I''m sorry for taking so long to talk to you about this. Here is what happened in the Qeeroni Wilds. I got hit by one of those wendigos, but it was an odd version. They managed to hunt it and figured out that the monster ate a curse mage with a bug on its stomach. By that, I mean, she was sick. She had a tapeworm, but it was in the early stages. The only reason why they found out about that was due to the wendigo eating her bracelet. Anyway, the tapeworm made the monster change too. Its claws became coated in a weird slime that was filled with eggs from the new version of the parasite the wendigo had created." Helena raised her shirt, showing a large black scar on the side of her body contrasting with her dark skin, "The monster got me good. I was close to dying for a while there. They did their best to heal me and increase my natural recovery, but no one expected the parasites. They changed, and like the wendigos, they can become stronger the more they eat." "Shit, Lena. Are you going to die?" Hera asked. "No, not yet anyway," Helena shook her head and looked at Hera, "Sorry, I didn''t mean like I have six months to live or something, I mean that we are all dying someday." "Oh, ok. Just be more careful, please, I was almost crying already," Hera said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Sorry, sweetie. I''ll try to be less dramatic." "No, I didn''t mean it like that. I''m just worried. Please, you can talk to me without worrying," Hera grabbed Helena''s hand. "Ok, I will then," Helena took a bite of her apple, "Continuing, the mage focused on leech spells. Spells that drain the target''s mana and life sending it back to the user, it''s a bit finicky, but it is a powerful type of spell. That affected both the wendigos and the parasites. When I reached the hospital, a part of them was eating my life away. The other part was eating at my mana, but no one noticed because mana parasites are not a thing. Well... were not a thing." "So whatever happened is the guild''s fault?" Hera asked. "What? No, of course not. It''s no one''s fault, really. I took a risk and got hurt because of it. Think of it like this. Is the person who discovered cancer to blame for finding it?" Helena did her best to keep a calm expression, but Hera could see her hands shaking slightly. "No, they are not, but the patient still had to deal with that disease," Hera replied. "Ok, let me summarize the rest. The mana parasites turned too strong after eating all the healing and magic that they poured into me. Now, every time I recover some mana, the parasites eat it up. The doctors say that the creatures are now embedded in me. The only options they had to take them away would give me, at most, a 5% chance of surviving. With those odds, no one is willing to try the treatment. Not even me, to be honest." Hera held Helen''s hand tighter, "So what does that mean?" "I can''t use magic. Since my level is so low compared to the wendigos, my mana regenerates slower than the parasites eat it. If my level was higher, the treatment would have a better chance of working without killing me. But as I am right now, they have no idea how to fix me," A tear came down Helena''s face. "Lena. You are not broken, far from it. You are still here, and we will figure this out. Somehow," even Hera wasn''t very confident in her words. She cleaned her throat, "What now?" Helena brushed the tears away from her face, "Now, in order to not make the parasites grow too much, I''m wearing mana suppression equipment that reduces the amount of mana that I recover to 1 point every hour. I also have weekly checkups in the guild. The guild is also supporting me in whatever I''m doing. They will subsidize my lab and give me some money every month as compensation. I can basically retire or go back to work at the guild. If they ever find a way to cure me, they will let me know. Honestly, I''m not sure I even want to keep my research now. I mean, what''s the point? Maybe I should just go live by the beach or something." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "But you love magic so much. Are you really going to let it go?" Hera asked. "Do I have other options? Or should I just wait for a miracle?" Helena replied. Hera looked away. She knew the mage wasn''t mad at her, but she wanted to help. This woman had saved her from her rock bottom. All that Hera wanted was to help. Her eyes glanced at her bag, the one with the mana stone inside. "Do you have any poison spells? Or spells that use poison mana?" Hera asked. "I have a poison resistance spell. Why does that matter?" Helena asked. "I have a mana stone. Did you try using one?" Hera went to her bag and showed the charged stone to the mage. "We considered it. But since the parasites eat mana, we were worried that using a mana stone would infect it," Helena explained. "Ok, so try this. If it gets infected, we just give it to the guild so they can have some more samples to study," Hera held the stone towards Helena. The mage stared at the mana stone for a while, hesitating to reach for it, "Honestly, Hera, there is another reason I haven''t tried that yet. What if it doesn''t work? This could be a way to use magic again, but if it fails, this is it. I have no other options. Besides, if I''m contagious, the guild would probably ship me off to a place far away from everything." Hera sat in front of Helena, "Lena. When we met, I felt like the entire universe was ignoring me. I was afraid of everything and thought I didn''t deserve to dream anymore. I''m not going to say I''m 100% right now, but I''m much braver than I was. If this doesn''t work, we can still look for something else. You can train a fighting style and become a vanguard or get some arrows and be in the back. We can get your tools and gear made so that you can keep your doing your research. We can even try to find a legacy that allows you to use the mana around you or that lets you change sweat to spells. I don''t know those things are weird. I''m sure we can find one that will help you. And if you are contagious, I won''t say a word. I mean, we probably need to figure out a way to make it safe to be around you. Maybe some long gloves and a facemask. I honestly think you can rock the goth look." Helena chuckled, "Thanks, but I don''t think I could take wearing black all the time. I always like brighter colors. And you are right. I still have other options to try. I''m not sure how I would keep my research or find the legacy, though." "Stop saying I, I told you. We can find it. I''m your assistant, and it will take much more than some level 80 parasite to chase me away. Whatever you need, I''m here," Hera said, placing the mana stone on Helena''s hand. "Hera... you don''t need to do that." "You are absolutely right. I don''t need to help you. I want to help, and I''m not taking a no for an answer. Besides, without magic, I doubt you could chase me away even if you tried it," Hera scoffed. "Wow, that was low. Is that how you treat someone injured?" Helena stared at the explorer. "No, that''s how I treat my friends when they refuse to let me help them. Now try to use the mana stone." Helena smiled at Hera and stared at the stone. It was nice seeing the explorer being so assertive. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tapped into the mana inside the orange gem. Hera held her breath, watching her friend while she activated the elemental sight. Aside from the dark smoke around the mage, some odd particles were floating around like they were molecules of something. Little by little, a small layer of orange fog covered Helena. Hera looked at the mage''s eyes and saw tears rushing down her face. "It worked, didn''t it?" Hera asked with a big smile. "Yeah, it takes a bit more mana than normal, but it worked," Helena wiped the tears, "And I''m glad you are that sensitive to mana. That can be very useful." "I''ve been using the Mana Sight spell. It''s a shame it doesn''t update the compendium automatically. I forgot to update one a couple of times and had to go after the monster again," Hera said. "Yeah, sorry about that. I still haven''t figured out how to make the system update it automatically. The spell is a work in progress," Helena explained. "Don''t worry about it. Now that you know how to use magic again. What are you going to do?" Hera ate a piece of cheese, already feeling a bit more relaxed. Helena crossed her arms while she thought, "First, I need to talk to the guild. They did say they would support me to the best of their abilities. Maybe I can get a couple of simple mana stones and someplace to charge it. I think the main issue would be the layer I''m in. High-capacity mana stones are either very big or insanely expensive. But before anything, I need to talk to the guild and confirm the limits of what I can ask." "Can I go with you?" "I don''t see why not. I mean, it''s nice to have someone else to bounce ideas off." "It''s also for them to know you are not going to be alone. I''m going to help you with everything that I can," Hera said while staring at Helena. "Hera, I can''t ask you to put your life on hold to help me. You need to do your own thing." "Lena. Again, you are not asking. What I want to do is get stronger and find more interesting things. Being your assistant will be more than enough for that. Besides, I''ll be looking for a way to cure you, so that can get me to some weird places. I''m also counting on you still giving me quests for the order. Those contributions points can get me some pretty nice things." Helena chuckled, "Fine, I guess you can help me for a while, but when you find something else you want to do, you are free to go. This is not supposed to be a shackle or something." Hera rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because working with you will be just like a prison sentence." Helena laughed, "Oh, but you are working for me, not with me. I hope you are ready to do some really long hours." "Lena, I worked at retail. You can''t scare me with that," Hera chuckled. The two kept talking and agreed to go to the guild after their meal. They would have a lot of things to figure out. 119 - Moving in "Where do you want this box of books?" Hera asked. "Put in in the basement. I''ll organize the library later," Hera nodded at Helena''s reply and headed downstairs. It had been five days since Helena figured out she could use mana stones to keep using magic. The two had talked to the guild about the possibilities. Helena could basically walk all over the guild at the moment. She was one of the few people who were called to the assault on the wall by name. Because of that, the guild felt responsible for what happened to her. She also had a unique condition, and the guild was invested in figuring out a cure. After some negotiation, Helena managed to get several perks. First, they would supply her with a few mana stones. A couple of small ones that she could carry around and five large ones that would be installed inside her house. Since Hera would be working with Helena, they would get the house in the first layer. If they needed to go to another layer, they could move after 30 days, but they would need to pay 1 month''s worth of rent plus the moving expenses. Helena would still receive monthly payments, although it would be lessened since she was already getting the house rent-free. They would also set up a system where people could recharge Helena''s mana stones as a training mechanism. Doing that was a good way of increasing the maximum mana so there would be a constant mana supply. Hera and Helena had discussed their plans. They would stay in another city in Brinefront called Hazelpond. It was a village built above a large body of water. The buildings there were more modern, and the residential area was to the back of the town, away from the waters. The two would stay there until Hera was strong enough to go to the third layer. The next room, in the second layer, barely had enough houses for those who lived there and there were no plans to expanding the living area. To accommodate the mana stones and Helena''s temporary laboratory, the guild gave them a moderately big house. It was two stories tall, with purple walls and round windows. The laboratory would be in the basement while the kitchen, bathrooms, living room and one storage room would make up the ground floor. There were four more rooms after a flight of stairs. They could use them as guest rooms or have more people living there. Helena suggested asking Hera''s friends, but the explorer said that she wanted to finish setting up everything before talking to them. She also felt like having her friends move in would be imposing too much on Helena since she was already going to be living in the house. Hera finished placing the last book box in the basement and stretched, feeling her back hurt a bit, "Lena. Can I ask you something about the attack?" Helena stared at her for a moment, "Sure. I''m not sure if I can answer, though. Parts of it are a bit... harder to talk about." "No problem. If you don''t want to, you don''t have to answer. But can what happened to you happen with someone else?" Helena stared at the notebook in her hand for a moment, "Maybe. I know that the wendigo that hit me is dead, and its body was burned. But I guess that having another monster eat the right things and create more parasites is a possibility. I guess this is why they are so interested in my case. They want to have a cure before anyone else gets affected," She looked at a box on her desk, "Oh, and by the way. Here your poison mana stone. They did some tests and confirmed that this is parasite free." Hera walked towards it and picked up the now white stone," That''s good. The whole idea of having people charging your mana stones will work, then. Do you know when they will send them?" Helena shook her head, "No clue. But It should be in the next couple of days," Helena placed a pile of books on the ground and started to sort them, "By the way. Did you managed to get in touch with your friends?" Hera nodded, "Yeah, Blue is on vacation. She is having a blast in Brazil. Bonnie is still in Brinefront researching a bunch of things. Mark is also there, but he is learning how to be a better crafter. Leo went to the next layer. And his training seems to be going well. Alex joined a party as a freelancer. She paired up with a healer we met a few times, and they are doing dungeons or just odd works. I told them that they should consider coming here, but Bonnie and Mark need a specific place to work." Helena nodded, and the two finished unpacking what the guild had sent. A big part of Helena''s laboratory was sent here, although a few equipment pieces were still on the 8th layer. They were too big or too delicate to survive the journey. Still, most of her books and notes were all here. A couple of members of the order were in charge of packaging everything in the lab, and the guild took care of the delivery. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. It took the two a couple of hours to finish setting everything up. By the end of it, it was already dinner time. They headed out to eat something. Hera suggested a small restaurant with a simple menu, but Helena shook her head. "Sweetie, the guild is paying us. We might as well go for a little celebration," Helena said before heading towards a restaurant with an oceanside view. The establishment was called ''The Golden Carp.'' It was a place famous for its seafood and lavish design. The furniture was simple and elegant, but the dishes were all made in a way that they looked more like jewels than food. The secret was a finely grounded gem powder that was used to coat the dishes. Hera looked through the menu and was floored by the prices. The cheapest dish was over 200 gold, "Lena, shouldn''t we go somewhere else? The prices are a bit steep." "Don''t worry about it, sweetie. The guild gave me a lot of money as an apology, and the amount I get every month is based on the income of someone in the 8th layer. Besides, these dishes would be very expensive if we were in another layer. The gems they use come from the room directly connected to this town. Some monsters have those gems on their backs, and they actually are pretty nutritious." Hera was still weirded out by the prices, so she picked a dish in the lower range of prices. It was supposed to be a basic pan-seared halibut with lemon caper sauce. Yet the dish came in a glistening golden plate. The fish had a metallic red and green color. The entire set up reflected so much light that Hera felt like she needed sunglasses to look at it. "This is a bit too much," Helena said, looking at her plate of salmon shining in silver and pink in a way that was even more lavish than Hera''s food, "Give me a moment." Helena''s eyes suddenly became coated in a black veil, and the light reflected from both plates diminished. "Lena, was that a good idea?" Hera asked. "Well, we only have half an hour before I have to cast it again, and the mana stone that I have on me only has half a charge now. But we are celebrating it is worth it. As long as you help me charge it later." Hera smiled, "Sure, it''s my job, after all. And it helps me to increase my maximum mana, right?" "Exactly, it''s a win-win situation." The two enjoyed their dinner, Helena had to use her magic to reduce the light coming from their plates one more time. That ended up being enough to the mana stone that she had on her. Hera was surprised by the amount of mana that simple spell spent. The mana stone on Helena''s earring could store 5 000 points of mana. There was still another earring with the same amount of storage. Helena herself bought those accessories. The stones that the guild supplied were much larger and less elegant. Helena had explained that mana stones had all shapes and forms, and each stone also had a grade of sorts. The higher the quality, the more mana it could hold. The size also would influence the capacity. As a general rule of thumb, the bigger the stone, the more mana it could contain. Yet some high-grade stones could be smaller and more appropriate for accessories. Some people could also shape a mana stone without making it lose capacity. However, since the process was extremely difficult, it was hard to find someone to do that. Going back to their home, Hera received a text from Mark. He was telling her how the clay they got from the guild had sold in the auction and that he would send her cut. The clay was the item the guild request for a quest, but Mark wanted to check for how much it would sell through other means first. He found out that each block of clay could be sold at a starting price of 2 200 gold even more if he placed it in an auction house. The group agreed to sell some of the clay they got, but Blue still held on to one of the bricks. They got 2 000 gold each for selling the 5 bricks. It was the same as doing the quest, but they got an extra clay block for their troubles. "Hera, how is your role quest going?" Helena asked after they arrived at their house. "My role quest? I think I have to turn one in," Hera picked her tablet and took a look at her quests, "Oh no, I still have to finish that one." "How many did you finish already?" "Many? There is more than one?" "You are kidding, right? You didn''t complete a single one?" Hera shook her head, "No, I had one to find the legends of the room, but I''m still one short." "Hera, did no one told you about the role quests? Between the training and the one who gave you the quest, someone must have said something." "No one said anything. Why? Did I do something wrong?" "Not wrong, but just a waste. You get one role quest from the guild, and then the system starts to give you follow-up quests. The quest itself is not that hard, and you always get some interesting rewards. But the main thing is that the quest kind of teaches you how to be better at your role. For instance, mine asked to hunt a few monsters that used different elements. Another quest asked me to kill a monster that hunted by tricking its prey. It would toy with its senses, making smells and noises come from odd places. That was how I figured out my specialty. Not that the quest made me do it. But I really liked the concept," Helena explained. "Really? Wow, I need to do it soon then. I''m not gonna lie. I''m a bit lost in what to focus on. I liked the poison, but it was useless in the frog valley," Hera was staring at her role quest. "That happens with everyone that focuses on one thing. A fire mage will always feel useless when facing a fire monster. Don''t let this one dungeon turn you off from poison. It can be very strong. Toxic Rain is the living proof of that. In any case, take the next few days to finish that and get used to the monsters around this town. You won''t be facing frogs near here," Helena sat on the couch with a book in her hand. "Ok, will do. But let me know if you need anything. I''ll stay close to the city." Helena rolled her eyes, "Don''t worry about it. Until they bring the mana stones, I''m not able to do much with my research." Hera nodded and opened the browser on her tablet and started searching. Since she was going to look for the legends, she might as well try to find some hints about it. 120 - Drunken Sailor Hera woke up early the next day. She had found the name and some hints on how to finish her role quest. The legend was called ''The Lost Sailor,'' and the best way to find it was to walk through the coast between Brinefront and Hazelpond. She had to look for a small cove, and inside there, she would find the information about the legend. Even after putting the name in the quest, it didn''t complete it. According to some people, the role quest required you to find the information without using the internet. The system would only accept it if you had passed through a specific area or touched a specific book. That was more information than she wanted, but she saw a page where people were giving a step-by-step tutorial when searching. If she walked towards Brinefront, it would take her two days to make the journey. Instead of going blind, she wanted to get a complete map of the room before searching for it. If she could mark the places where her goal could be, it would be easier to look for the legend. Luckily, the places where the cove seemed to be were all close to Hazelpond. The farthest one would be on the other side of the cavern. A ferry would help people cross the waters a few times per day. That was the best way to go to the other side. Since it would also depend on others and a time frame, Hera decided to leave that option for last. She had two coves on the same side she was already in, and as long as it wouldn''t be a dungeon or something too long, she could reach both of them in a single day. This town was much more populated than Brinefront, or at least, that''s what it felt like. Hazelpond was about half the size of Brinefront, but it leads to the next layer. A lot of people would stay here but actually hunt in the next room. The streets felt stuffy, and the fact that most of the town was built in walkways above the lake made going anywhere feel like a chore. Hera stopped by a store to get a few supplies. She would only need the necessary stuff for today, some rations, water, and a flashlight just in case. While looking at the forums, some people said they found the legend inside a cave. Hera could use the light spell, but it wasn''t very sustainable. Besides, there was no reason to depend so heavily on mana all the time. While waiting in line, Hera looked around the store. It had some camping gear that could help if she had to look for a place to sleep in the wild. The tents could help, although they would be very cumbersome. What caught Hera''s attention was a set of stones that she could place in a fire to ward off monsters. It wasn''t expensive, but she didn''t want to go back to the house before heading out. Leaving the stones in the store, Hera paid for her supplies and left towards the city''s west exit. Hera noticed that there were more guards in this town. Some were human, but there were several dwarfs and a few beastmen as well. She held on to the urge to use [Observe] on them since she was already aware that most people would be offended by being openly observed. The area around Hazelpond was vastly different from the surroundings of Brinefront. Instead of a forest that wasn''t particularly dense, Hera was now in a large swamp. The trees were bent to the side, reminding her of palm trees. She could hear the dull splash of water under her feet as she stepped in the mud Hera kept following the path to the west, checking her map for the location of the cove. After a couple of hours of walking, she got close to the first location. Hera looked to the side and saw a rock formation on the swamp''s edge, making a clear division between the ocean and the land. A couple of hundred meters to the front, the rocks went deeper into the landmass, forming the first cove that she was looking for. Hera walked to the formation, climbing it to see what was inside the area. In the cove, she saw a small stone platform that would lead to a cave. As the waves crashed into the rocks, Hera started to get worried. She didn''t see anyone talking about high tide in the room, but at the same time, no one said that she didn''t have to worry about it. She watched for a few minutes to see if there was any difference with the waves, but they seemed to be reaching the same height all the time. Feeling more confident she wouldn''t end up drowning, Hera looked around to see a path to reach the cave. In the center of the rock formation, there was a path that leads to the other side. She would need to climb down the last part, but it was the only way she could reach the cave. Hera turned around and dropped from the rocks. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks hiding the noise of a large four-legged creature rushed towards her. She dove to the side, and the monster slammed against the rocks. It''s tail trashed around, hitting the explorer''s left arm. Hera stumbled back and looked at her assailant. It looked almost like a crocodile but with smoother skin, less pointy teeth, and larger limbs. In a way, it reminded Hera of a less agile salamander. It was clear that the creature wasn''t able to twist its body with ease as it moved. Hera quickly activated her Affinity Sight and [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Petite Crocodile (Mud Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera gasped, reading the name. How could that be a petite crocodile? The thing looked like it was about her size. If those were the small ones, what would a big one be? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Before the creature got back into its attacking position, Hera threw a poison needle towards it trying to give it as much power as she could. She had yet test it on a real monster. The spell hit the crocodile''s snout, and it seemed to have no effect. The beast jumped towards Hera, turning its head to the side and opening its mouth. The explorer dodged to the side and slashed the creature''s back. Before it could move again, she attacked two more times, creating gashes on its hide. Much like with the frogs, it was easy not to be hit as long as she stayed spinning around the creature. As she went back to old habits, the crocodile slammed its tail on Hera''s stomach making her need to catch her breath. The monster turned around and lunged towards its meal one more time. Hera gritted her teeth and slammed Iris on the creature''s jaw, shutting it close with one swing. "Get lost!" Hera cursed while she went for another strike. The crocodile tried to get up, but it lost strength on its legs. Foam formed on its mouth while trying to get up once more, but to no avail. Seeing the creature that debilitated, Hera slashed the back of its head a few times, trying to put it out of its misery. It took Hera five swings, but she was finally able to cut through the monster''s thick skin. With the monster on the ground, Hera checked her status. That one spell drained 200 of her mana. She attempted to make a concentrated dose, but it was still much more costly than she expected. At the same time, the strength of the poison was surprising. It took less than a minute for the crocodile to be incapable of fighting back. She wasn''t sure if that was just the creature''s nature that increased the poison''s effectiveness or if the spell really was that strong. Hera made a mental note to look for the compendium for those crocodiles as she headed towards the path leading to the cave. Worried she would be attacked again, Hera activated her [Hide] while moving towards the gap on the rocks. She noticed some movement to the side, but whatever it was wasn''t moving towards her. In just a few moments, Hera was climbing down towards the cave. The wet rocks made this seemingly small obstacle much more complicated than she would have imagined. She was having a hard time to get some footing, and her hands kept slipping from the stones. It took her about ten minutes to get down from the five-meter high rock wall. She could have jumped down, but the platform was made of uneven rocks. It wasn''t worth it to risk herself like that just to move a bit quicker. In the last part, Hera had to drop down from her path. As she landed, a wave crashed on her legs, making Hera stumble to the side. She almost fell, but managed to grab onto the rocks on the sides of the cove. Having finally arrived at her destination, she took a look at the place. A thin layer of water covered almost the entire floor of the cave. Due to the low light, it became hard to walk since, mixed in the ground, there were some larger holes, and she didn''t want to test how deep those areas were. Thankfully, her Pulse spell was able to identify those small pitfalls since there were only around 2 centimeters of water covering the stones she was walking on. Heading deeper into the cave, she noticed how seawater gathered in the middle of the tunnel, where a small stream formed as the path started to head down. This happened because there was a depression towards the center of the cave, possibly created by the years of constant water being tossed here. Hera continued walking with just the soles of her boots being covered by the ocean. She chuckled to herself, thinking about how this was almost like walking on water. That thought only lasted for a few moments as the stream became too deep, and she had to move to the sides of the cave where the water was only up to her ankles. Hera could hear movement above ground. Heavy footsteps and some trashing, almost like two monsters were fighting. She stopped with the sound, worried that whatever was outside could cause the cave to crumble, but the impacts didn''t move a single pebble inside the area. She had walked for almost ten minutes when she arrived in a larger open area. The ground was elevated and dry, with a broken wooden boat in the middle of the room. Hera carefully walked closer to it, using her pulse once more to check for any danger. There weren''t any living things around, but inside the boat, something had mana. Walking closer to it, she saw a journal. It looked pretty beat up. She reached towards it but stopped herself. Before touching anything here, she wanted to be sure no traps or monsters were lurking around. She spent fifteen minutes investigating the room. She found some empty bottles without any labels and one thing that once could have been a bedroll, but it was too degraded even for her [Observe]. To the side of the elevated platform, there was an odd formation of rocks. With her pulse, she noticed a bit of residual mana under it. Hera started to move the stones carefully, worried that she could trigger a trap. Hidden under it was set of golden coins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dead Man''s Gold A set of five golden coins with skulls engraved in the middle. You can keep the coins as they are or turn them into currency. Value: 1 000 gold Do you wish to turn it into currency? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera considered her options for a moment. At the moment, the gold wouldn''t be much. Yet, there was no guarantee that she could make the exchange later. Still, it was something that she only found because of her quest. Maybe if she kept the coins, an opportunity to use them could appear later on. After putting the coins in her pouch, she headed towards the journal. That was the last thing she could find in here. As she touched it, a notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have acquired the Last Sailor''s compendium. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She tried to move the notebook, but it was stuck to the boat. Hera picked her tablet and checked the compendium. The Last Sailor was a legend about how one day, a small boat appeared from beyond the sea. The ship had several dead crewmen and one survivor. The sailor said that they were attacked by a creature that looked like madness incarnated. He helped bury his mates and started drinking nonstop. His behavior got more and more erratic, until he disappeared, never to be seen again. There were records of a weird shanty in the compendium that the sailor kept humming to himself on the last days he was seen. Hera grabbed her tablet and went to the quest, placing the name of the legend on the box. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the quest Legends of Brinefront Reward: Low-rank skill compendium ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Acquired Hidden treasure ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 121 - Picking the Rewards Please, good doctor forget the water Please don''t remind me Of my daughter I still see her face in horror I still see how it tore her The Shanty of the Last Sailor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera went to her rewards screen on her tablet right away to look for the compendium. She knew that she could choose the skill, but the list surprised her. It had over a dozen options, and they all seemed interesting. From basic resistances to combat techniques and even something called ''camp finder.'' Before getting lost in the possibilities, Hera looked at the quest that she received. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hidden treasures Explorer exclusive quests The MAZE is filled with hidden items, places, and secrets. Find one of such treasures. Rewards: Map skill upgrade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The quest confused Hera. What would be considered a hidden treasure? Could this place be a secret? And the quest said nothing about Brinefront. Would it still work even if she was in a different room? The reward also worried her. She already got an upgrade to her map skill. Would she get something else or even a higher upgrade? She needed to talk to someone about this. Maybe Helena could clarify her doubts, even though this was more geared towards an explorer. Either way, she needed to get out of the cave. She stayed here for less than one hour, but being inside something that could flood at any minute wasn''t very relaxing. She marked the location on her map. Then a drawing of a broken boat and a bottle with a scroll inside appeared above the marker she placed. Hera stared at the new icon for a moment. "You know, this is kind of annoying. It''s not enough to make us stronger, control all the MAZE, and even make the guides. But the system has to be good at drawing too?" Hera sighed. She walked back to the entrance of the cave. The platforms still had a thin layer of water. Nothing that could allude to a high tide had appeared. Climbing out of the cove was much easier than getting down from it. In just a couple of minutes, she was already back on the solid yet muddy ground. Hera looked at the clock on her tablet. It was still early afternoon. It felt like a waste to go back to the city right now. She could try to look for secrets here, or just hunt a bit to get used to the crocodiles. Picking her tablet, Hera checked what was the area that Mondy''s drones could reach. She had yet to see if this city was in range. Checking the map, she found that the drones could reach Hazelpond''s surroundings, but they had a much smaller coverage area than Brinefront. There was also a higher cut from the pay. Instead of 10% of participation in the profits, she would have only 7%. The parts she could sell were also different. He would buy legs, the heart and liver, the tail, and the skin. But the skin had to be at least one square meter, and it couldn''t be damaged. They pay wasn''t that different from the frogs, aside from profits. The main issue was butchering one of those creatures. It seemed like too much work for Hera to do alone. She decided to hunt the crocodiles. Even if she wasn''t going to make any money, she could get the experience for fighting alone. Hera also wanted to test her [Explorer''s Assassinate] together with her spells. Walking around the swamp, it didn''t take long for Hera to find her prey, a crocodile a bit smaller than the one that rushed her. She quickly activated her [Hide] and approached the creature. Using her poison mana stone, she sent a poison needle towards the monster. The bright orange spike hit the back of the beast, but the crocodile didn''t seem to notice it. Hera waited for a moment before attacking again. She knew that the spell had no initial damage. Only the actual poison would hurt the monster. Since last time it took less than a minute and a few strikes, Hera decided to wait two minutes before changing tactics. She kept following the crocodile, but the creature didn''t show any signs of being hurt. Hera frowned. Could it be that the poison wouldn''t take effect every time? Or maybe the place she hit wasn''t a good target to poison the monster. Being stubborn for a moment, Hera prepared another poison needle. This time, she used the base version of the spell. She wanted to aim for its mouth or eyes, but going towards its face was too risky. She turned her attention to the tail. Hera wasn''t entirely sure how the nervous system of a creature inside the MAZE would work, but the tail should have some veins connecting directly to the heart. She aimed at the middle of the crocodile''s tail and sent the poison needle. This time the monster seemed to feel something. The creature turned around while Hera ducked to the side, trying to blend in with the area. The crocodile looked around for some time but returned to its walk. Hera followed it for another couple of minutes. She started to notice some changes in the creature. Its movement started to become frantic, and sometimes it would slam its body on the side of a rock or tree. Hera''s stomach started to turn. She was glad that the poison seemed to be taking effect but seeing the creature agonize like that wasn''t sitting well with her. She deactivated her [Hide] and rushed towards it. Her handaxe in hand. The crocodile noticed the movement but was too weak to turn quickly enough. Hera aimed at its head and slashed its skull with all her strength. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The attack splitt the monster''s skull. The impact was much stronger than she imagined. After making sure the creature wasn¡¯t moving anymore. She opened her status and looked at the [All In] skill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All In (Rank 1): The user can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action as if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute. The attribute will have bonus increments and, at the same time, reduce all other attributes to 13 (10 + level - 1) for 5 hours. Value of attribute when the skill is used: 22 Cooldown: 36 hours Remaining(35:58:24) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the skill was triggered, the attribute she was using would jump five points. She had forgotten about the debuff that would be with her for a few hours. Continue hunting like that could be dangerous. Sure, her attributes would be only four points lower, but it was still better to get used to falling back when she had a debuff on her. Later on, the gap between her attributes could be too big to ignore. She moved away from the crocodile''s corpse and headed back to the city. While walking, Hera thought about her skill. The attribute raise to 22 meant that the skill still considered an increase of one to be worth two attribute points, and it had an increase to three points when it reached 20. This meant that the [All In] still followed the same rules about attributes as everyone else. Every 10 points, the cost would go up by one. Arriving in the city, Hera stopped by a restaurant to get some takeout, just a burger and fries. They sold crocodile burgers, but she was still feeling guilty for hurting the monster so much. Picking a regular chicken burger, she went back to the house. To avoid the big crowd, she took the long way around the lake. She noticed that quite a few people were walking around with pickaxes and other types of mining gear. They were all heading to a large building embedded in the wall of the cavern. She made a mental note to ask Helena about it. Arriving at the house, Hera took off her boots before walking in. They were covered in mud, and she didn''t want to make the entire house dirty. "Lena, I''m back," Hera called. "Hey, sweetie. Welcome home!" Helena walked out of the kitchen, wearing a maid outfit. Hera blinked a few times, staring at the mage, "I think... I hope that something messed with my head," she rubbed her eyes, casting her mend spell. But Helena was still wearing the costume, "Why are you dressed like that?" "Like what?" Helena looked down, "Oh! Sorry!" The mage snapped her fingers, and the maid uniform disappeared. She was now back in her blue jeans and a baggy t-shirt. "I was talking to Quinn. I forgot about this. If you do an illusion spell on yourself, it''s kind of hard to remember. Especially since my mage gear also has gloves," Helena said. "Oh. No, don''t worry. It''s your house, after all. But we might need a signal. Like a sock on the door or something," Hera suggested. Helena stared at Hera for a moment, "What are you talk... OH! NO! Heavens, no!" the mage shook her head vigorously, "Quinn is my cousin, this was just a bet that I lost. It''s a stupid thing we do. We bet things, and the loser has to take some compromising pictures." "Oh, that''s weird. And you never told me she was your cousin." "Well, family is weird. And she doesn''t have a good relationship with her parents, or with anyone in our family, to be honest. Aside from me, of course. Because of that, she always says that friends are more important than family, and she calls me her friend exactly because of that. She says that I mean more to her than her family." "I get it... I guess. Anyway, it is good to know that I have a contact that can give me some dirt on my boss now," Hera said, walking to the laundry room. "Careful with that, Miss Kingsley, your boss is very powerful. You wouldn''t want to angrer the person who can use all the hot water before you shower," Helena chuckled. "True. Good thing our shower is powered by mana, and we don''t have to worry about that," Hera replied. "You''re no fun," Helena scoffed while heading to the kitchen. Hera cleaned her boots and went to take a shower. Sometime later, she was back in the living room, drinking coffee with Helena. They talked about Hera''s quest and how it was to hunt around this area. Helena agreed that it was a good idea to keep the Dead Man''s coins. There were several quests, secrets, and situations that required a rare item, or something very specific. There was no guarantee that she would ever find what asked for the coins, but it couldn''t hurt to have them on her. "Oh, and what skill do you think I should get? I also have an elemental essence from the Arcanist Lookout. Any suggestions?" "The skill depends on what you want to do. Think about your shortcomings. What do you need to improve? The essences, what are your options? You can''t actually use them by themselves, but you could use it to strengthen your weapons. If you get something that can interact with your skills can be good." Hera stopped for a moment, thinking about her possibilities. She felt like she lacked some long-distance capabilities. Among the skills, there was a combat form called Wire Trap style. It was a mid-range technique that focused on the use of a chain to keep the enemies at bay. Hera was searching the net about every skill that she found interesting. The style also allowed the use of chains with something attached to the end which could work with her chakram. The main issue with the other skills was that they would only show how to acquire it. But if Hera picked a fighting style, she would get a compendium that she could use in one of the ATRs. That would make getting the skill much easier. She took a look at the camp finder skill, and it was a bit underwhelming. The skill simply marked spots on the map that were good places for camping in the wild. Sure, it helped when she was in a hurry, but it seemed like the type of skill that you would get naturally when staying away from cities. "Lena, what could combo well with spirit? That one seems to be less common," Hera asked after choosing the Wire Trap Style. "Oh, want to go for the road less traveled, are we? That can be good, but you will have to figure out things on your own. Either way, spirit can combo well with fire creating soul fire. It makes the body burn from the inside. Wind and water are not that compatible, but some people like the idea of going for a river of the dead theme. Earth can make some strong golems if you use spirit, but that is a bit more advanced. I have no idea how that mixes with poison. Either way, you need first to figure out where you want to use the essence. If you are slapping it in a weapon, spirit won''t increase the damage, but it will make your enemy less... energetic," Helena explained. Hera nodded. She looked for some ideas online, even asking Blue and the others for their opinions. In the end, she picked the spirit essence. Ghost monsters existed, and it would be good to have a weapon that could target the immaterial. Using the spirit essence, she could make Mayura''s Feather a stronger weapon. 122 - Improvement Hera spent the rest of the day helping Helena set up her lab. There were still several boxes to unpack, and the mage was very particular about the organization of her equipment. She wanted to use an ATR and try to get her new combat style, but the training rooms in Hazelpond were all currently occupied. She made an appointment to spend most of the next day using a private ATR. That should be enough time to learn the skill with the help of the trainer. At night, she went looking for a crafter that could combine the spirit essence with her chakram. She did ask Mark about it, but he wasn''t sure he could do a good job, and it would take a day of travel by boat just to deliver the weapon. Sadly, Helena didn''t know any blacksmith in this city. Her advice was for Hera to go to the next room. It was called Carpon Caverns, a room much smaller than Brinefront. It had a mine and a sprawling tunnel network. The mine was almost like an open-air dungeon. People could harvest the minerals, and once a week, the area would reset. Hera found it odd that so many people were needed to work there. Since it was so close to the outside, it made sense that someone had set up heavy machinery to speed up the operation. However, according to Helena, the minerals in the area behaved a bit like monsters in a dungeon. Mining it could lead to rare drops aside from the guaranteed mineral. If they used heavy machinery, those drops wouldn''t happen. Aside from that, the city inside the Carpon Caverns had few houses but many forges and shops. Since it was a place rich in minerals, various crafters would stay there to perfect their craft. Hera could go there at any moment and come back on the same day. The only restriction was that she couldn''t go through more than three doorways a day. That was a safety measure. Some would get disoriented and nauseous with the transfer. But the biggest reason was forthat limit was the danger of getting a debuff that would stop you from moving between rooms for some time. The duration of that debuff would vary, going from just a few hours to even years. The actual specifics were a mystery. No one was willing to risk being stuck in a room just to get more information. Late in the afternoon, Hera headed towards the doorway. The traffic was still heavy, but more people were coming back than going to the Caverns. She had to wait in line for around ten minutes before she could go to the next room. Arriving in front of the familiar white doorway, she noticed it was almost like a copy-paste version of the one near Brinefront and the one in the guild. The only difference was the symbol above it. Instead of the seedling sprout, there was an image of a rock surrounded by several jagged stones. She approached the doorway, and as her hand touched the white glow in the middle of it, a notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Carpon Caverns - 2nd Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, the familiar light followed by the feeling of being submerged in warm water washed over her. In a few moments, that comfort gave way to the smell of iron and stone and a stuffy heat that seemed to come from all directions. Much like the entrance she just used, this doorway was embedded on the cavern''s brown wall. People were moving around, holding their mining tools, and loud banging noises echoed through the area. "Don''t stop the line. Keep going. Keep going," A tall man wearing a miner''s heat was ushering the flow like a shepherd. Hera hurried along, trying not to cause trouble in the line, and headed towards the city. There was a line of people walking towards a small crevice along the walls. Following them, Hera found the entrance to the only town in this room. The gate was hidden in a crack on the wall, but the city itself was carved inside the stone. It looked like a massive bunker. To the left, there was only the stone wall of the room. To the right, five floors filled with buildings carved from the rocks revealed the city. Even though she was underground, it was surprisingly open. The area was made in a way that pushed any claustrophobic feeling away. Hera needed to go to the top floors, that''s where the forges were. She passed through the mine carts and the people hauling the ores and walked the five flights of stairs. There was an elevator, but there was a long line to take it, and it seemed to be used mostly to carry the ores to the upper levels. It was an intense workout, but now it wasn''t much of a problem to Hera. Reaching the forges, she asked around for the best place to enchant a weapon with an elemental essence. She was directed to a couple of places. The best crafter had a long line on its shop and was only available to take a request in a couple of months. Most of the other ones also had long lines of waiting before being able to do commissioned work. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Hera ended up in a less know forge. An older man with only one arm seemed to be managing the front of the store, "Hello, what can I help you with?" "Hi, I''m looking for a place that could enchant a weapon with an elemental essence. Some people recommended this place," Hera said, trying not to stare at the man''s arm. "We can do that work here. Although I must say that the standards of our shop are not what they used to be. My grandson is still learning his craft," the man explained. "This is not a very good way to make a sale. You know that, right?" Hera asked, confused about the business practice of the man. He chuckled, "I know, but I don''t want anyone to badmouth my grandson just because he is still learning. What do you want to be enchanted?" Hera placed her chakram on the counter together with the spirit elemental essence., "This weapon, with this essence. But I want to know prices and the time required before anything." The man inspected the materials, taking a long time looking at the chakram. After a while, he nodded, "One second. Let me fetch my grandson." Hera nodded and waited in the store. The weapons displayed seemed to be well made, although there were some noticeable flaws. Some had dents in odd places, others had a lousy finishing, but the blades and edges all seemed perfect. Above the counter, two weapons caught her eye. A large spear with a red iron blade and a scimitar with a blue handle that gave off a weird feeling. She activated her Elemental Sight and observed the weapons. The spear was called ''Montain''s Rage'' and had a fire affinity, the scimitar was called ''Lost Tear'' and had an ice affinity. Both weapons seemed to be very well crafted, almost as if another person made them. "Sorry for the delay. Here is my grandson," the man came out from the back of the shop, followed by a kid who looked 16. Scrawny arms, a thin beard that grew only in a few patches, "Introduce yourself," the man pushed his grandkid towards Hera. "Yeah, sorry, pops. I''m Ronan, Ronan Weller. Nice to meet you," he put out his hand for Hera to shake it. "Hi, I''m Hera Kingsley," She shook the boy''s hand. She felt the calluses on his hand. It was like shaking the hand of someone who worked with heavy tools for years. Touching his hand and looking at his face gave very different impressions. "So, what can I help you with?" Ronan asked. Hera explained what she wanted, showing the materials to him. He started to make some notes on a small pad he grabbed from the counter. That made Hera much more comfortable asking him. She was a bit worried about asking someone who was still learning, but it showed he really cared about the craft. The state of his hand also reassured her. "To get a better result, we should use a second essence. This weapon has a lot of surface area and using just one might not be enough to cover it all. That essence is not that hard to get, so we could get another for about 2 500 gold. Plus, the price for the actual enchantment we can set at 4 000 gold for everything. And I can get it ready in... two days. Just to be safe." "Two days?" Hera asked, impressed by the speed. "Yeah, I know that some people can do it in under a day, but I prefer to take my time and be sure not to make any mistakes," Ronan replied. "Don''t worry. The time is not an issue," Hera said. She considered the price. It was expensive, but at the same time, she would be paying more for the elemental essence than for the actual enchantment. She didn''t have to worry about rent at the moment. It was already paid off until the end of her lease in five months. Even with that, she still had over 10 000 gold at the moment. Spending this much on an upgrade seemed like a good idea. "Ok, I''ll take it. Do you guys have any other chakrams for me to use while you work on this one? Something cheap, please. It''s just for training." "We can rent you one while we work on yours. If something happens, you have to pay 75 gold, since it would be its price. If not, consider part of the price of the enchantment," the older man said. "Oh, that''s great. Thanks, Mr. Weller," Hera smiled at him. "Please, call me Clayton. And this is all part of our customer service," the old man said. Hera thanked the two and got her receipt. She would pay the materials plus half the cost now, and the rest on pickup. She left the shop and headed back to the doorway. As curious as Hera was about this room, she didn''t want to explore a new layer without her friends. Being here alone felt almost like going to a party when you knew no one there. Going back to Hazelpond, Hera had to wait for about half an hour before crossing the doorway once more. Not for any restriction, just because there were many people in the line trying to get back. She wanted to use the ATR to learn the fighting style that she picked. If she had the time, she would also use it to learn some other basic spells. She headed back to the house and spent the rest of the night helping Helena. The following day, she went to the ATR early in the morning and started to train the Wire Trap style. Using her borrowed chakram, Hera started to learn how to use it while tied to Yarnball. She already had some experience with it, but it wasn''t an actual fighting style. The style was very different than what she expected. By the name, she imagined it would be a defensive approach with a few mid-range attacks. In reality, most of the movements were offensive, made in a way that the attacks would either hit her target or trap them with the chain. Throwing the chakram in a pendulum motion increased the damage dealt by the blade. If she got closer, the same attack would make the weapon spin around the target, wrapping it in the string. The main difference was that she was using Yarnball instead of an actual chain. Hera had yet to see the string snap, so using it for fighting didn''t seem like a bad idea. Especially because of its return function. By the end of the day, it became clear that she would need more time before getting the skill. However, some of the movements were already engraved in her mind, even if they were far from perfect. As she left the ATR, Hera spent another 800 gold to use the training room the next day. 123 - Upgrades When Hera came back, she still wanted to train, however using the moves from the Wire Trap style inside the house was a recipe for disaster. Seeing that, Helena gave the explorer the information on another spell. It was something called Mana Reinforcement. That was the base for most elemental buffs that could be applied to weapons and armor. The mage did her best to explain how to use it, but since Hera used the conceptual approach to magic, she couldn''t give the explorer a good example. Hera thanked her for the spell and went back to the ATR when the time for her reservation got close. Hera kept working with her trainer, doing her best to memorize the forms used in the Wire Trap style. One specific attack was giving her a lot of trouble. She had to swing the chakram sideways and let it go. The idea was to either hit the target or make the chakram wrap around the target''s side. After a few hours, Hera felt like she was going nowhere. Her weapon would never wrap around the dummy. It would either hit it or just try to spin but flop around on the other side. She asked the trainer to show her the fire arrow once more. That was the one spell she had yet to figure out. Taking some time to study magic seemed like a good way to rest her body. Hera tried using her Elemental Sight to understand the spell better. The mana was much less violent than she expected. Instead of several explosions like she imagined. She saw the magic pulling the air around it like someone was gathering leaves. Before the arrow formed, a small ball of fire mana appeared in front of the trainer''s hand. Then, in a flash, the fire changed its shape and propelled itself forward, pushing the flaming leaves back. The movement made Hera remember of fireworks launching or how bottle rockets took off. She tried to replicate it a few times, getting closer to the desired result with each attempt. However, the mana in front of her behaved differently. Instead of a peaceful gathering, it was a violent grouping. The magic seemed to pull everything around towards it, devouring all that got close. When she tried to release it, the mana would consume itself so quickly that it couldn''t gather more fuel to keep going. Hera kept practicing both the spell and the combat style. At the end of the day, she managed to unlock the skill and add the spell to her spellbook. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wire Trap Style - Beginner A fighting style that focuses on using a chain with a weight attached to the end of it to hit and trap your target. The skill allows you to use moves from that style using muscle memory. However, attacks performed with the aid of the skill won''t increase the mastery of the style. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fire Arrow Rank: Beginner Creates a flaming arrow made of mana and sends it to the target. Base mana cost: 25 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As she left the ATR, she got a text from Ronan letting her know that her weapon was ready and that the shop would stay open for a couple more hours. She looked at the time, it was late afternoon, but she still had time to pick up her improved weapon. She quickly headed towards the doorway. Getting a new weapon made her excited, especially now that she knew the Wire Trap style. In less than twenty minutes, she was back in the forge talking to Clayton. "Welcome back. Glad you could make it today. Ronan was a bit anxious to see your reaction to the result." "I''m excited too. It''s the first time I''m getting equipment enchanted," Hera smiled at the man. "Really? I couldn''t tell. You seemed very sure of what you wanted," Clayton said. "I got some help from a friend. If I were going to decide here, I probably would have stayed the entire day thinking." Clayton chuckled, "Fair enough. Let me go get Ronan." Hera heard some noise coming from the back. Something heavy seemed to have hit the ground, followed by a few grunts and Ronan leaving the backroom while shaking his hand and carrying a box under his arm. "Sorry about that, an armor that I was working on toppled. Anyway, that doesn''t matter. Here." The crafter placed the box on the counter and opened it towards Hera. Inside it, her chakram was placed on top of a red velvet pillow. The weapon still had the same shape, with the handle in the middle and the three sets of blades going out, making the wing-like pattern. But now, instead of the dark grey color, it had a lighter tone. The handle was now the darkest part of the weapon. Going towards the wings, the blade changed to a light spectral green shade. It was a color similar to the ghosts that Hera has seen in the Arcanist Lookout. She activated her [Inspect] to see if there were any changes in the attributes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mayura''s Spirit (Chakram) Rarity: Uncommon A chakram enchanted by a crafter''s apprentice. Crafted from the feathers of a dusk peacock. Due to the technique used on its conception, the feather changed the color of the iron instead of strengthening it. However, when imbued with a spirit essence, the feathers converted to the related element. Attribute scaling: Agility x 1.06 Intelligence x1.03 Type of damage: 35% Spirit 65% Physical Additional effect: Any other elemental effect applied to the weapon will also increase the spirit damage. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera kept reading the description, thinking about the possibilities. If she managed to get that mana reinforcement, it could increase the elemental damage even more. Although, she wasn''t sure if raw mana would count as another element. She knew about the ant burrow, a place where the monsters would have a high physical defense. There was no doubt in her mind that many other creatures like that existed inside the MAZE. Ronan kept looking at the explorer. He was trying to read her expression. As she frowned, he began to feel even more restless, "Look, I apologize if this wasn''t what you were looking for. I did my best, I really did." "Ronan," Clayton said, trying to silence his grandson. "I''m not trying to make excuses here, Pops. This was the best I could do. Enchantments are hard, and I know I''m still missing some practice. I''m sure that if you made it, you could turn the chakram into a rare one. Still, a job is a job, and we can''t afford not to be paid," Ronan kept going. Hera was a bit surprised by how defensive the crafter was. This was fantastic work. Why would anyone complain about these results? "No, don''t worry. I love it! It''s more than I hoped for. Honestly, I thought it would just end up being a catalyst that could increase the power of my spells. Or if I was lucky, it could give some elemental damage. This was much better than I could ever hope," Hera said. It wasn''t a lie. She was genuinely impressed with the result. However, she noticed something familiar in Ronan. A desire to please and to show his worth. And if what he said was right, his grandfather was a very accomplished crafter. That meant that in the future, Ronan would be able to create amazing things. It would be nice to keep a good relationship with the two. "Oh, thanks," Ronan was taken aback by the compliment. "Thank you, Hera," Clayton said with a smile. Hera discussed a few things with Ronan in order to clarify some doubts she had about the weapon. The extra spirit damage would be based on the strength of the effect applied. He explained that spirit damage was something that wouldn''t leave a visible mark, but people with high sensibility could see the impact in the target''s mana. With all her doubts cleared, Hera paid the rest of the enchantment cost and headed back to Hazelpond. It was late, and Helena had already ordered some food. Heading back to the house, Hera had to wait another hour in line before crossing the doorway. By the end, she just wanted to take a shower. The Carpon Caverns were always so hot that she was sweating just by standing while waiting her turn. Reaching the house, Hera opened the door, "Lena, I''m back. Please don''t show up in another weird costume." "Hey! My costumes are always great," the mage yelled from the kitchen, "You really should treat the one who kept the food warm for you better." Hera chuckled, "Sorry. I just don''t want that to be a pattern. The clothes were great, but I don''t need to know what you do when you are alone with your computer." Helena rolled her eyes, "Fine, can I grab the food now? I''m hungry too." "Wait. Were you waiting for me?" Hera stopped midway to her room. "Well, yeah. I wanted to wait for my lovely assistant," Helena walked out of the kitchen, "But I''m guessing that you want to take a shower first." Hera was drenched. Her clothes had dried and got wet again a few times during the day, but the worst part was waiting to leave the caverns. "Do you mind? I''ll take a quick one just to clean up," Hera asked. "Sure, I''ll wait," Helena walked to the dining room. Hera took a quick shower. She usually would spend half an hour relaxing under the hot water, but since Helena had waited for her to start eating, Hera wanted to be quick. In just over ten minutes, she was back and ready for dinner. The explorer showed off her new weapon after their meal. Helena was surprised by the result. She didn''t expect the material to work so well with the spirit essence. "So, Lena. Your turn. Tell me about your research," Hera said after she put the chakram away. "Well, what do you want to know?" Helena asked. "I know what you are trying to do. Figure out a way to see your secondary affinities so everyone can have an easier time using magic. But why is that?" "Why?" "Yeah. Why did you decide to research this?" Hera asked. "Oh.. wow, I don''t remember the last time someone asked me that. Honestly, it wasn''t a grand reason like ''I wanted to help the world,'' I got pissed because I spent a long time training some elements that ended up being terrible for me. When I started, I wanted to be a light and dark mage. My idea was to turn half my mana into dark and then the other half into light. The problem is, synch works differently than I thought. The skills say that when most of your mana turns to a specific element, all the mana becomes that element. I assumed that I could turn 50% of my mana pool into dark mana and then the other 50% into light mana. The issue was since I already had some other elements in the mix, like water and fire. So when my mana became close to 50% dark, it all changed to dark, and then all the time I spent working in the light spells was wasted." "So, you don''t have to change your mana completely to trigger the conversion?" Hera asked. "Exactly, it doesn''t consider your entire mana pool, just the biggest shareholder, so to speak," Helena said. "Got it, and how do you figure out the secondary affinity?" "Well, first, we need to have some case studies. That''s why I''m asking you to find the affinities of several monsters. We can cross-reference their elements and try to figure out some patterns. My hope is that the spell I taught you will start to show more information as its rank increases. Even my version is still at the beginner level. But since you seem to have a high mana affinity, maybe you can see more using the buff." "What do you mean, I have mana affinity?" Hera asked. "I''m just assuming here. But some of the things you told me about your spells and how you see magic makes me think that you do not see one element but the actual raw mana working and changing. For instance, the fire arrow spell. You said it''s like seeing something pull leaves towards a pile, right?" Helena explained. Hera nodded, "Yeah, like something being gathered in a ball." "Ok, so that is not how I see fire mana. To me is much more like an actual flame burning its surrounding area. You already were sensitive to mana even before getting the actual mana stat. I''m guessing that why you can see magic differently." "Well, but everyone sees spells in their own way, right? It''s not like fire mana is the same for everyone," Hera said. "True, but most people get something close to the actual element. Fire would be flames, explosions, or embers. I asked around, and I got in touch with a mage who managed to synch with raw mana, and his description of spells is much closer to yours than anyone else." Hera considered that for a moment, Helena had told her that she was able to feel mana even during the training. Even though people could control their elemental affinities to a degree, it wasn''t uncommon for someone who never used any form of magic to have one or two affinities already. "Ok, and how can I help right now?" Hera asked. "Well, you know I won''t talk about the more technical aspect of my research until you can help me with it. But for now, we need a bigger sample range. I need you to go out and start taking notes of the monsters and their affinities. If you can, try to write down the types of skills and spells they use. The more information, the better," Helena said with a smile. "Ok, but I''ll start tomorrow. I''m beat." Helena chuckled, and the two watched a movie before going to bed. Hera was both tired and excited. It was time to actually be a mage''s assistant. 124 - Assistant Job "So, all I have to do is to look for different monsters and use the elemental sight on them? I say all, but I know I have to do the full report. You need just skills or habits, diet and things like that too?" Hera asked as she finished getting ready to leave. "Just their affinity and the skills they use. If you stumble upon more information, it can help, but you don''t have to go out of your way to figure out its mating habits or that wildlife documentary stuff," Helena was writing something in a notebook. She had several books open in the living room and was crossing references with them. "Ok then, I''m going to hunt around the city, maybe try to see if I find a different crocodile or something else. See you at night," Hera turned towards the door but was stopped by Helena calling her. "Actually, if you don''t mind. I had an idea. This room is a giant cave, as you know. But near the entrance of the cave, there are some monsters that use different skills. Do you mind going there to see if there is any elemental change? I know it''s far, but I''ll buy the supplies and the camping gear, and your party is not going to gather for a few days, right?" Hera checked her tablet, "Yeah, Blue should be back in four days or so. She wants a couple of days to rest after the trip. Alex is finishing a mercenary contract. There are a few more days before she can come here." "So, what do you say, sweetie?" Helena smiled. "Whatever you want, boss," Hera smiled back. They left the house and stopped by a store specialized in camping equipment. Helena explained that there were several campsites through the MAZE. Usually, you could leave your camping gear in those spots, and no one would mess with it. But the entrance of the cave in this room didn''t have any of those. There were few reasons for anyone to go there, the monsters didn''t drop anything special, and they were more unpredictable than other creatures. People did hunt them for materials, but since they didn''t follow a pattern, it was hard to know which was more valuable. "Ok, so It''s better to find a place that is somewhat safe for me to get back to and focus on either attacking or running from them, right? But what is out there?" Hera asked. Helena placed the basket with the air bedroll, the monster repellent fire, the supplies, and other things that Hera needed on the counter, "Have you ever seen a pangolin?" "Pangolin? Those things that look like an armadillo but with longer legs? They are so cute." "Well... I hope you don''t find them cute when they charge at you." "No... Lena. No... I''m going to have to fight them?" Hera pouted. "Well, yeah. I mean, you don''t have to, but they are aggressive. And the ones here don''t have the same cute face. It''s more pointy and... thooty. Besides, you need to be ready to attack anything. There are some deadly monsters in the MAZE hidden behind cute faces," Helena said. "Fine, I guess. But why don''t people hunt them? Even the regular pangolin scales are kind of hard. I imagine that getting one from the MAZE would make a great armor." "Well... you are not wrong. But they live in a very complicated place to get. You need to reach the cave entrance and follow a path to the side that leads to the outside. You will reach a rocky plateau where the creatures live. The closest place where people have a foothold is about a day and a half away. And if you try to toss the bodies to the ocean, there are several whirlpools under the area. It''s too much work to get something that will be replaced in a couple of weeks since, in the next room, you can get much better quality minerals." "Why is that place so far away from any other settlement? I mean, there are a lot of people over level 50. Couldn''t someone just go there clear the monsters?" "Yeah, but the terrain is difficult. After a while, the forest turns very dense, and there are very few places to make a campfire, much less an actual house. The guild could do some terraforming, but what''s the point? Money? It makes ten times what the pangolins would sell for with a regular easy to catch the monster in the 10th layer. I do understand that at some point, it could have been worth it. But right now, it''s just a waste of time unless you have a specific reason to go there," Helena explained. "You really need to improve your salesmanship. A bit more of that speech, and even I would say no to go there," Hera chuckled. "Excuse me," the cashier interrupted the two, "Your total is 350 gold, and please refrain from holding the line. I hope you can be considerate of other customers." Hera and Helena looked back. There was a line of five people staring at them with annoyed expressions. They quickly paid for the supplies, and headed out of the store, apologized to the cashier on the way out. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "I really don''t remember the last time I got so distracted while shopping," Helena laughed. "I feel awful. I hated dealing with customers like us." "Aww, don''t be. We didn''t do it on purpose, besides we did apologize." They headed back to the house, grabbing some food on the way. Since Hera was going to stay away for a while, she wanted to have a delicious meal first. The plan was for Hera to go near the cave entrance by boat, which would take only a bit over a day. From there, there was a small shore that she could use to climb up towards the woods and then head to the plateau. On her way back, Hera could check some other monsters that were in the room. But her main goal was to see the affinities of the pangolins, who all had unique patterns on its scales. They headed towards the docks. There were several fishing boats, as well as a couple of passenger barges that would travel back and forth to the city of Brinefront. Hera was still surprised by how many people chose to do more mundane jobs inside the MAZE. Shop clerks, cooks, janitors, and such were all a common sight, and quite a few seemed to be human. However, different races were also present. Hera had seen beastmen and dwarfs already, and here close to the next room, those sightings were more frequent. "Lena, can I ask you something that might sound bad?" "As long as you are not asking me if I gained weight, sure," Helena replied. Hera spoke in a hushed tone, " The people from different races. Like the dwarfs and the beastmen. Where do they come from?" Helena looked to the sides and pulled Hera towards a less crowded area. "You should have learned that in class. Did Greyson never explained?" Hera shook her head, "Not really, he just said that they were a thing. I kind of imagined that it was only types of monsters for us to fight." "Dammit, Calvin," Helena rubbed her eyes, "Ok, I''m going to have to send a text to your class later. Those different races are part of the MAZE, yes, but they are alive just like you and me. They can grow old, have children, create cities, and have thriving civilizations. Part of the reason our technology became so advance was due to the help of dwarven ingenuity. Unlike people outside, everyone here can level up when they reach adulthood. That varies from race to race. I think dwarfs can go to level 2 after they are... 35 maybe. I have no clue about the beastman age. But there are other races. Wildfolk, Fey, Elfs, Anima, the list goes on and on and on. And we probably have many more races to find out there." "They don''t need to do anything to start leveling up? That seems unfair. Do they have roles too?" Hera was thinking about all the work she put into saving money to level up. "Well, sure, but were raised here. We were born in a safe place. They had to deal with monsters since they were kids. Imagine what it would be like to see those giant frogs or crocodiles since you were young. Those who grew up here had dangerous lives, even if they were in a city. They have to deal with incursions, potential attacks, and of course, kids being kids and going outside the city. And the roles, yes, they have the same roles as we do. And a very similar test." Helena explained as they got closer to the docks. "Yeah, but I didn''t see any children here. Are they all in a boarding school somewhere?" Hera asked. Helena chuckled, "Sort of. It''s been, I don''t know how many decades when the guild figured out the best rooms to raise children in. Some are large open spaces. Others are rooms that are mostly towns and dungeons with few monsters. Brinefront is not one of those. A place where frogs are big enough to swallow babies is far from being childproof." "Right, but what happens if someone gets pregnant somewhere else? I mean, someone could have a baby here, right?" Hera asked. "It''s kind of like maternity leave. When someone finds out that they are expecting, they receive a list of rooms they can go to, and the guild even pays for the transport if they don''t have the money. While there, the parents get assigned jobs and a place to live. Of course, that is only if they want to stay in the MAZE. If they are from the outside, they can go back and have their child there. However, if they have a child inside the MAZE, the kid can''t go outside until they reach level 2," Helena waved to someone in a ship that was getting closer to the docks. "Why is that?" Hera asked. "The MAZE won''t allow anyone at level 1 to go through a doorway. Oddly enough, children from other races don''t have that limitation, but they can''t leave the MAZE. Go figure," Helena shrugged. Hera kept thinking about what it would be like growing up inside the MAZE. Could that change the type of skills she got? Helena introduced the captain of the ship to her assistant. She had already set up where Hera would need to be dropped off. The crew was part of a class that had graduated from the training half a year ago. Most of them knew Helena as a helpful clerk and were more than willing to give her a hand. They discussed the best place to drop Hera off, and when they reached an agreement, Helena paid the travel fee. They still had to wait a couple of hours since the boat was still unloading its cargo and getting supplies. It was a fishing boat, and it needed to replace some nets that were damaged. Talking to the sailors, Hera tried to figure out why someone would become a fisherman inside the MAZE. "We get 5 000 gold a month doing this job. It''s much less dangerous than fishing outside, and we can stay with our families at the weekend. Why would we need anything more? Or even better, why would we risk our lives fighting monsters if we can live comfortably like this?" Hera never thought like that. To her, anyone inside the MAZE would be trying to get stronger and make even more money. They kept talking until the ship had been restocked with all it needed. With everything ready, they said their goodbyes. "Ok, sweetie, you are all set up. Be careful out there. If you get into a tight spot, don''t be afraid to run away," Helena gave Hera a long hug. "Thanks, Lena. Don''t worry. I''ll be back soon with what you need." Hera boarded the ship and looked towards the entrance of the giant cave. It was nice having someone care so much about her as Helena did, but right now the only thought in her mind was how the sky would look inside a room. 125 - Going off the deep end Hera started her trip trying to talk with the sailors, but they were already busy shortly after leaving the docks. With little else to do, she looked for a quiet spot and kept trying to figure out the Mana Reinforcement. She used the chakram as a test subject since it had a higher affinity to mana before the enchantment. Thinking that it could help her understand the spell better. She placed both her hands on the weapon, trying to make her mana cycle not only through her body but to the blade as well. Feeling the spirit mana in the chakram, little by little, she pushed her mana into it. The problem now was making the mana stay there. After she stopped cycling her mana, what was left in her weapon just dispersed. According to Helena, to use the spell, the magic had to stay inside the chakram. Hera picked her tablet and looked at the digital version of her spellbook that she had made. -------------------- Mana Reinforcement This spell can strengthen the item in which it is applied. It works by imbuing the object with mana and using it to increase the desired propriety. The item can gain an attack or resistance to the desired element by coating it in different mana types. The quantity and quality(?) of the mana will affect the power of the effect. The mana in the item is more solid than usual, forming a crystal-like structure around it. When another element is added, the design remains the same, but it changes both color and edges. With dark mana, the crystal becomes cloudy, and its shine disappears. Some thin black strings appear from the edges and change depending on the target of the reinforcement. For defense/durability, they form small springs around the object. For attack/sharpness, they form either omnidirectional spikes, or they all gather in a single point, forming a large needle. For Agility/speed, For Sound/Stealth, For For For -------------------- Since there was a lot she wasn''t sure about, Hera had created a pattern that she could fill out as she discovered more information. Helena gave her a couple of examples but left the others out so Hera could practice figuring out how spells worked. If it took too long or she became stuck, Helena would help her some more. That was the only way Helena knew how to help someone who took the subjective route. Hera agreed that it was good not to rely only on help to figure out things. But at the moment, the problem was how to make the mana inside the chakram turn to that diamond shape pattern. Letting out a long sigh, Hera looked away. It was tiring, staring at the same thing for long periods. Her mana was being spent even while she cycled it, since it was all vanishing in the blade. While distracted, she saw a couple of crewmen walking around with the nets they had bought in Hazelpond. They would use the net to catch the fish and shrimp that lived in the waters. It was kind of amazing how something so small that could be carried by a single person could become so large when it was full. Staring at the pattern on the net gave Hera an idea. She was trying to fill the chakram with mana, but maybe she should focus on creating a structure before anything else. Trying once more, Hera weaved her mana, almost like she was making a cover for the weapon. It was harder to control mana like that. Making it follow a specific pattern without overflowing seemed impossible. Yet, little by little, Hera was able to start making her mana follow her instructions. It was a bizarre feeling, a mix between controlling strands of hair and the liquid inside her stomach. Sometimes it felt like a muscle contracting and expanding as she willed it. Others, it would seem like saliva, always being created and moving around in response to any shifts. This technique felt right. Hera could feel her growth, yet she was able to cover just 1/10th of her chakram with the mana net. It even spent much less mana than her previous attempts, but it was not enough. She needed more mana and a way to speed up her recovery. The new feeling of the mana gave her a few ideas on how to increase her recovery. She could try to spread the mana and then compress it. That was the closest thing to muscle training that Hera could think of. She could also try to gather mana as if she was gathering spit, but she had no clue how to do that. During most of the trip, Hera stayed on the deck, training her spells. A bit before sunset, they arrived at the place where she would disembark. They lowered a small boat on the left side of the ship and took the explorer to the right side of the cave, in a small area where she could reach the woods. "Wow, Helena wasn''t kidding when she said the forest gets dense. Can I even fit through there?" Hera mumbled. "Not there. Behind it is a rock wall. You need to climb this side and go through the trees," The first mate said. "Oh, right, Thanks," Hera looked away. Taking a closer look at the grass in front of her made it clear that it was just vegetation growing in the wall. "No problem and give my thanks to Helena later. Without the reference book she showed me, I would have bombed in the written test." "Will do," Hera replied as the man rowed away in the boat. Hera climbed the small barrier and reached the forest. The purple leaves made the entire area even darker than she was expecting. "Ok, careful now, Hera. You don''t know what''s around here," Hera stepped into the forest, making some noise as a few branches split under her feet, "Why didn''t I ask about what kind of monster I could see here?" Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She activated her Hide and started moving through the forest, trying to listen to anything that could be getting close. It was difficult doing so since the noise of the waves crashing against the rocks was overpowering the rest. She activated her pulse, but even the spell had some trouble going through all the foliage. Her range was reduced to just over half the usual. Using the Wire Trap style here would also be very complicated. There were too many obstacles in her way. Hera kept walking towards the entrance of the cave. According to Helena, she should avoid sleeping in the dense part of the woods, and a good place to sleep was on the path to the plateau. Doing her best to take advantage of the little sunlight that broke through the canopy, Hera kept walking towards the east. Deactivating her [Hide], she proceeded to move at a faster pace. She still had a considerable amount of ground to cover. The area wasn''t far enough away from the sea to deafen the noise of the waves. Hera had to keep her eyes peeled for whatever could be around. She also kept using her pulse spell at regular intervals. Several times, she could have sworn that she saw something moving among the trees. Part of her wanted to go after whatever it was, but she knew that there would be a better moment for that. She could see the sun starting to set, and staying in these woods at night seemed like a terrible idea. Hera still had a nagging feeling that something was watching her, but every time she looked around, all she could see was the dense woods. She activated her [Hide] once more and rushed forward, looking for a tree she could climb. A few meters in front of her, there was a large and sturdy oak that seemed big enough to withstand her weight. She bolted for it and started climbing the tree. She hid among the branches and began to scan the area for movement. However, it was too dark for her to see anything clearly. The problem wasn''t only the lack of light. The purple hue that tinted the vegetation in the entire room made things even more complicated. After a while, Hera noticed that something seemed to be approaching. Some leaves and bushes kept moving in ways that didn''t match the direction of the wind. Yet, she wasn''t able to see whatever it was. "Maybe I should try the light spell? No, bad idea, that would give my position to everything around here," Hera reached for her pouch, "What if I use the flashlight?" Hera looked towards the sun. The light was shining right behind her. She grabbed the flashlight and pointed towards the last place she saw some movement. She saw a reflection from behind the trees, a pair of yellow eyes staring back at her. "There you are," Hera activated her [Observe], but whatever was watching her was too far away for the skill to trigger, "Crap, what are you?" The two stared at each other for a few moments. Hera turned the light off, her eyes fixed on the place where the creature was. She managed to roughly see it''s shape as it moved once more. It seemed quadrupedal and not as long as the crocodiles. She couldn''t see a tail, but she assumed that the face was the smaller part that was pointed at the direction it was headed. Hera turned the flashlight on once more. The creature was hidden behind one of the large trees, and only one of its eyes was visible right now. Hera saw the beast a bit better. It seemed to be some sort of panther. The monster took a step back, and she was able to see more of its body. The massive frame wasn''t just a visual trick created by its fur. No, this being was almost naked, revealing its leathery skin. Hera was in awe by the muscular form of the monster. The small glimpse she was able to catch before the creature hid again made it almost look like it was one of those edited pictures of buff animals she could find on the internet. The panther took a step back and disappeared within the foliage. Hera started to get worried. If there were more of those creatures around, she would have a lot of problems. She kept looking for the monster once more. Maybe she could hit it with one of her poison needles. She waited for a while longer, making sure to keep her [Hide] active. The sun was already going down. If she waited too long, she would have to fight that creature in the night. That felt like the worst outcome of this scenario. Taking a deep breath, Hera jumped off the tree and started running towards the cave entrance. It didn''t take long for her to hear something approaching. She glanced back and saw the large panther rushing towards her. Activating her [Observe] and her elemental sight, she tried to gather any information about the monster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ??????? (????? Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit!" Hera put all her strength into her legs. Seeing that thing made every cell on Hera''s body scream for her to run away. There was only one reason for a monster to have question marks with an [Observe]. It meant it had a powerful concealing ability. Too powerful to be something from the first layer. "I hope I''m wrong, and that is the only thing it''s good at," she said to herself. Hera tried to move between trees, zig-zagging to confuse the beast. The noise was getting closer, but the movement seemed to help the explorer. A couple of times, she heard the growl of the monster as it attempted to bite her. If it wasn''t for her sidesteps, the panther would''ve gotten her. She finally was able to see the end of the forest after almost twenty minutes of running and dodging. She pushed her body even harder, wanting to leave the forest to see her assailant. As the trees became more sparse, the beast lunged at Hera. The growl warned Hera of the attack, who managed to turn around and block its claws with her axe at the last moment. The explorer fell, rolling in the ground to get up faster. The panther was already rushing at her for the next attack. Hera deflected it once more, being pushed back by the impact. Her arms were shaking after defending. Hera could see the monster more clearly now. It had a deep purple skin, almost like the trunks of the surrounding trees. Its head was that of a panther, but it had four sets of large sharp teeth in place of the canines. Its body looked like that of a bull, the muscles framing its head. The beast moved towards the trees, camouflaging itself with the environment. Fighting in the woods was a bad idea. And it was already getting too dark to see. Hera used her pulse, trying to find the monster once more, but to no avail. Even the magic wasn''t able to see it. The creature seemed comfortable with the dark. Maybe she could use that. Hera got a spell ready, focusing on her hearing. The sound of leather tightening caught her attention coming from her right. She waited a moment, and when the panther jumped from its hiding, she activated her Light spell with all the strength she could, making the floodlight effect once more. At the same time, she dove forward to avoid the attack. The monster fell, growling while it flailed around the spot where it landed. Hera took this opportunity and dashed towards the entrance. If she wanted to have a chance of fighting the monster, she needed to be in an open area. Before the creature was able to see again, Hera left the forest, reaching a rocky open area. She turned around, grabbing her chakram. She already had her weapon tied to Yarnball. Getting into her stance, Hera got ready to face the panther. The monster moved towards her but stopped before leaving the treeline. It just stared at Hera for a long moment before walking back to the dense area, without breaking eye contact. "Was... That it?" Hera said, still looking at the place where she stopped seeing the panther. She kept looking at the woods for a few minutes, but nothing seemed to be moving. Feeling safe, she turned around and moved towards the rocky path that led up and to the right, leaving the cave of Brinefront. 126 - Pangolins Hera walked through the path that crested over the cave entrance. It was already dark, and if it weren''t for the moonlight, she wouldn''t be able to see a thing. Looking at the sky, Hera couldn''t believe she was inside a room. The stars were so bright, and even the milky way was there. The only time Hera saw the sky so bright was when she went camping by a mountain during a field trip. Part of her wanted to keep going and look for the pangolins. However, she knew that it was a bad idea. The moonlight wasn''t enough to give her a clear view of the area. Going now would be incredibly reckless. She looked for a wider area on the path, a place big enough to set up her bed and the perimeter alarm that she had. It was a set of twelve small spikes that she could place it in the ground. If anything crossed the boundary, a loud noise would ring inside the perimeter. That and the monster repellent fire should be enough to keep her safe during the night. Not that she would be able to sleep very soundly. It was one thing to fight monsters during the day and go back to the city at night. Sleeping in the middle of the wild was very different. Hera grabbed the air mattress that came with a mana powered pump. It had enough charge for a single use. Then it would need to be charged again, but at least she wouldn''t need to tire herself inflating her bed. It took her less than thirty minutes to have her small campsite ready. The only thing missing was to light up the fire. She opened the pack and realized that she would also need some wood to keep the fire going. The only thing that came with the package was a set of six green lighters. The instructions said that after light, the repellent would burn for 1 hour, and each 100grams of wood could make it burn for an extra hour to a maximum duration of 12 hours. "I really should have read the instructions earlier," Hera sighed. She looked back to the path. She wasn''t sure if she should go back to look for branches. She didn''t need a lot of wood, but getting near the woods could be a risk. Looking through her belongings, Hera tried to find something that could work as a substitute. The only thing that could potentially burn was the rations that she got. "Crap, it''s either that or sleeping without the repellent," Hera got up, "Screw it. Let me light it, so nothing comes close to the camp, and then I go grab more wood." Hera placed one of the green lighter disks on the ground towards the edge of the cliff and lit it. A green flame formed on the top of the lighter. Hera waited for a moment, expecting something else to happen, but everything stayed the same. It was almost like she had lit up a candle. She headed back to the woods with the flashlight in her hand. When the moonlight stopped helping, she activated her pulse spell before walking forward. There seemed to be nothing around, but she wasn''t sure how much she could trust the spell right now. The panther never showed up in the mana ring. She avoided going deep into the forest and looked for broken branches or easy to grab pieces of wood. Instead of carrying it all at once, Hera made a small pile a few meters away from the trees. It would take longer, but it was safer than having a bunch of twigs on her hand if something charged at her. There was no way to weight the amount of wood she had, but after grabbing a few twigs, Hera couldn''t find any more branches on the ground. Holding her handaxe, she looked for a tree with low enough arms that she could cut it without having to climb. She had to go a bit deeper into the woods. On the edge of the forest, the trees had tall branches, and she wasn''t too keen on taking down an entire tree just for a bonfire. When she finally found one low enough, she started cutting the branch. Hera was halfway through when Yarnball started to vibrate. She touched the relic, "Why are you..." realizing that it was the Danger Sense triggering, Hera activated her Pulse and managed to see something flying towards the back of her head. Ducking, she turned around and looked for her assailant, but there was nothing there. She activated her Pulse once more. The mana wave that came out of her only hit the trees and foliage. There was no creature there. Or was there? At the edge of her spell, there was an odd formation in the tree. She knew that the trunks were never perfectly cylindrical. They all had their wounds and bumps. Yet, there was a shape that didn''t seem to fit the trees behind her. It was almost like a set of claws of a creature that was hugging the tree. Hera flashed her light towards that direction to make sure she wasn''t going crazy. The claw-like formation had the exact same color as the trees, even following the pattern on the trunk. Still, that was bothering Hera. If the panther were strong enough to hide its name, making an illusion to match the area wouldn''t be impossible. If that really were the monster, it would be better to strike first, "And since you showed me your ranged attack, allow me to reply in kind," Hera thought as she prepared a fire arrow. As the spell went flying towards the formation, she realized the danger of what she just did. If that was really a tree, it could start a wildfire. She held her breath, watching the arrow impact the odd protrusion on the trees. To her surprise, the claw-like shape moved, and something fell behind the trunk. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Hera rushed towards it, with her axe in one hand and the flashlight in the other. The creature was purple, with the same pattern as the trees, and it was as big as a pig. When the light hit its face, Hera saw that it could move its eyes individually. Not only that, but its legs were not changing shade and pattern. Instead of the deep purple bark, they were turning into violet, just like the leaves on the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Chameleon (Illusion Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera froze for a moment. It wasn''t the panther. Did it really leave? Or was it still lurking around? She looked to the sides, trying to find the monster that chased her. With its prey distracted, the chameleon attacked with its tongue once more, hitting Hera''s stomach and pulling her towards it. The explorer tumbled forward, using her hand to fight back the pull of the monster. "What is with you lot trying to eat me!" Hera yelled as her axe came down on the monster''s tongue. The impact cut the creature, freeing Hera while it recoiled from the pain. She jumped towards it and gave a few more strikes on the monster''s head, killing the chameleon. "What? That''s it?" Hera stared at the corpse, "I was expecting more." She finished cutting the branch that she needed and dragged the dead chameleon to the place where she left all her twigs. Since she was already there, she could get some meat for dinner. That way, she could save up on rations. But carrying the entire body was a bit much. She cut some fatty bits and stuck it into a smaller twig. Leaving the corpse there, Hera headed back to her camp with what she hoped to be enough wood for the bonfire. As she got close, she saw that the repellent was still burning, and nothing had been disturbed, "Well. Either it works, or nothing came close." She crossed the perimeter set up by the stakes, and a loud high-pitched noise started to ring. "Crap, I forgot about that," she hurriedly placed the wood near her bed and went towards the stakes. Taking one of them out made the noise only grow louder. She hurried to the area where she had left the package and started reading through the instructions. The noise was making it hard to understand what was written. Hera rushed to outside the perimeter, and the noise stopped as she crossed the threshold. Now she could read the instructions. The stakes would make a loud noise to alert the people inside it and confuse any monster entering the area. If a stake were taken out, the noise would increase. To deactivate it, she had to pump some mana inside the one stake and then do the same to the stake on the opposite side in less than a minute. Taking a deep breath, she rushed inside the perimeter once more and deactivated the stakes. She set up the bonfire, hoping it would last ten hours and placed the stakes once more, trying to activate them, but the small light that showed they were on never blinked. Reading the instructions once more, she realized that a two-hour cooldown period was required for the stakes to be used again. With a sigh, Hera prepared her food and stayed up practicing the Mana Reinforcement while waiting for the stakes to be ready for use again. As morning came, the sunrise woke Hera up. The green fire was still burning, and the stakes were all in place. During the night, she got closer to completing the Mana Reinforcement spell, but there was still a long way to go. Hera got up and put away all her camping gear. The air bed would take some time, but after she took all the air out, it was about the size of a deodorant can. The pump was just as small. She already knew how to deactivate the spikes, and according to the instructions, to put out the monster repellent fire, all she needed to do was hit it with her mana. The fire would react with human energy and be snuffed out. She raised one hand, pointing at the bonfire, and sent a fire arrow towards it. The spell impacted the logs, and the green flames started to move more violently until it spews out red and yellow embers towards the sky. "I never expected that fighting fire with fire would make a firework," even the waves that repeatedly crashed against the entrance of the cave seemed to be silent after that phrase, "Fine, Mark is better at it than me. I won''t try to be funny again. Are you happy?" Hera huffed before walking up towards the rocky plateau. It took her another fifteen minutes of waking up before the path became less steep, and another twenty before she could see the plateau. The ground opened to the side, going a long way until reaching the stone surrounding the cave. "Could there be a dungeon around here?" Hera looked around, trying to see anything that could be an entrance, but to no avail. What she did notice were the several creatures that were roaming around. They had thick long legs and thinner arms, a face that reminded Hera of a hairless possum. They varied in size, from small ones about the size of a cat to a massive one walking in the distance, about the size of a horse. Yet, the most incredible thing about them were the scales covering each of their bodies. Each of them had a unique color and pattern. The closest to Hera had orange scales with green stripes. Even with the beauty of it, it seemed a simple design compared to the larger ones. The larger one had such a tapestry on its scales that Hera thought she was staring at a kaleidoscope. She activated her [Observe], but the big one was too far for it to work. "I really need to figure out a way to increase the range," Hera mumbled. She turned her attention to the orange one close to her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prism Pangolin (Earth-Grass Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell does that mean?" Hera gasped. It was the first time she ever heard of something with double affinity. Getting her tablet ready, she activated her [Hide] and started to observe the behavior of the creatures. 127 - Field Research Hera took a bite of her protein bar. Just watching the pangolins was really dull. They weren''t fighting or doing anything aside from walking around and collecting rocks. The behavior reminded Hera of penguins, who collected rocks to make their nests. Even when one of them would steal the stones from another pangolin, they would only snarl and growl at each other, but it didn''t lead to any fights. "Maybe I should fight one of them. At least to figure out what kind of skill they can use. Although... it seems a bit mean just to attack them." Looking at one of the rock piles, Hera decided to check why those specific stones were so attractive to the pangolins. They didn¡¯t seem to be any different from rubble. She waited for the monster to leave, looking for a new rock before heading to the pile. Inspecting the stones, Hera realized why the beasts picked those specific pieces of rubble. Each of them had a small gemstone embedded inside. In this group, there were only blue, red, and green gems. The same colors that the Prism Pangolin that was gathering them had on its scales. "Maybe this is their food or something," Hera mumbled before activating her [Inspect] in one of the green gems. After seeing the result, she used her Affinity Sight spell to see if it would help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Residue Stone (Nature Affinity) A piece of rock present in mana rich environments. The exposure to magic created a small deposit of elemental mana inside it. The mana can be used as nourishment for creatures or to power spells. However, the process will consume the stone. Mana points: 15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, this is barely any mana. It would take a lot of those even to cast a spell. Maybe that''s why they need a lot. And it''s not like they have other choices. Not all animals eat their kind. But this rock, I wonder if all the rocks give the same amount of mana, or if they have a weird element." Among the rocks, she found more nature, fire and water affinities, and they all had slight variations in the amount of mana they had. While Hera was analyzing the rest of the pile, the pangolin returned and started growling at her. "Wow, calm there, buddy. I didn''t take any. They are all here," Hera stepped away from the pile, but the monster kept snarling at her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prism Pangolin (Fire - Nature Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The beast charged at her. Its scales glowed brighter as small embers raised from its body. Hera jumped to the side, avoiding the pangolin''s charge. The monster stopped after passing through her. It turned to the side and spun its tail. Large green thorns were appearing on it, forming a mace. Hera raised her handaxe, trying to block the attack. It was better than getting hit head-on, but the thorns still managed to go through her defense, stabbing her arm. Yet the impact was much weaker than what she expected. She pictured that a creature like that would be stronger, but the panther she faced the previous day was much more powerful. One lunge was enough to push her half a meter back, yet this attack barely disturbed her footing. Her armor blocked some of the damage, but she felt something warm covering her arm. She looked at the wound and noticed a small stream of blood running through her arm. The pangolin attempted to headbutt her as the explorer was distracted, but Hera spun around, avoiding the tackle. "Look, this is your last chance. Your stones are all there. Stop this, and we both go our separate ways," Hera was staring down the pangolin. The monster rushed towards her once more, the thorns on its tail growing even larger. Hera gritted her teeth and sidestepped, grabbing the base of the pangolin''s tail. She pulled it back with all her might, making the monster fall ass first in the ground. Taking advantage of the sitting position the creature was in, Hera swung her handaxe straight in the creature''s neck. The attack wasn''t enough to decapitate the pangolin, but she felt the spine breaking with her blade. The only thing that survived the impact was the armored back of the creature. "Sorry," Hera said while looking at the monster. She took one of its scales. They were gorgeous, and it felt wrong to leave the body there. Using her [Inspect], she realized that she might need more than just one scale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prism Scale (Fire Affinity) The scale of a Prism Pangolin, it works as a storage for the elemental mana accumulated by the creature. It can be used to strengthen spells of the matching element. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Helena is going to love those. Especially if I can get one with double affinity," Hera made sure to get one scale of each color from the pangolin she had just killed. As she turned around, she saw several other pangolins scavenging the pile of stones that belonged to the one she just killed. She still wanted to look at all the types of mana residue stone that the creature had gathered, but fighting a dozen scavengers wasn''t on top of her list. It was better to look for another pile. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She moved away from the mayhem that had ensued and started looking for another unattended pile of stones. However, a loud growl caught her attention. The kaleidoscope pangolin had joined the brawl. With a single roar, all the other creatures stopped grabbing the stones. They were still hovering around and howling at the big one, but it didn''t seem to mind. Hera took the opportunity to use her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carbuncle - Prism Pangolin (Elemental Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, now you are just being weird. What the hell is elemental affinity? All elements?" Hera said to herself. Still, Carbuncle was a name that was she believed she had heard before. She just wasn''t sure when or where. Hera kept watching the creature move. It was clearly the tyrant ruler of the plateau. All other monsters made sure to be far away from it, but at the same time had no qualms about showing their objection to its rule. Hera watched Carbuncle go through the pile of stones, but it left holding only two rocks. "Why those two? What''s so special about them?" Hera kept staring at Carbuncle. She wanted to see the pile of stones it was making. She followed from a distance. Luckily, as long as she didn''t bother the other pangolins, they didn''t seem to mind her. As she went deeper into the plateau, she noticed that the creatures had even more complex patterns on their scales. There was one that even had a flower design inside each scale that looked like it was hand drawn by an artist. Hera changed her focus back to Carbuncle. It was still walking to the other side of the area, towards a pile of rubble about twice its size. "Holy crap, is that its pile?" Hera saw a few glimmers in the middle of the rubble. The creature placed the stones on the stack and started to move the rocks. One of the stones in the top fell and hit an invisible wall behind the rubble before rolling away from the pile, stopping a few meters behind Carbuncle. The creature seemed too interested in whatever it was looking for to notice the stone that had fallen. Hera activated her [Hide] and walked towards it. There had to be something special about those rocks. She took a while to get to the stone. Every step was taken very carefully, not to make any noise. She had seen that the pangolins had sharp hearings and would confront anyone trying to sneak close to their hoard. Reaching the rock, she crouched and picked it up, moving one foot back to start getting away. At that moment, a pair of pangolins began growling at each other in the distance. By the sound, it was a couple of the larger ones, not as big as Carbuncle, but big enough to be compared to a pony. Hera snapped back towards Carbuncle, worried that it might have seen her in her moment of distraction. The creature was still gleefully messing with its stones. The explorer went away from the pile of rubble and hid behind one of the large rocks in the plateau. She wanted to know why that specific rock was so interesting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Residue Stone (Light - Shadow Affinity) A piece of rock present in mana rich environments. The exposure to magic created a small deposit of elemental mana inside it. The mana can be used as nourishment for creatures or to power spells. However, the process will consume the stone. Mana points: 45 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wasn''t this supposed to be impossible? Light and shadow were opposed, right? Maybe I''m confusing things. Helena wanted to be a light-shadow mage. So that should have been possible," Hera looked back at Carbuncle, ¡°Do all stones there have dual affinities?" "If I want to check, I need to knock out Carbuncle, at least. I doubt it will be very keen on letting me rummage through its stuff. I''m also not sure if I should kill it. Helena might want to come here later," Hera looked to the sky, the clouds forming various shapes just like they did outside the MAZE, "If I weren''t surrounded by monsters, this would be a great place for a picnic." Hera looked at Carbuncle one more time. She had an idea on how to neutralize it for a while, but it was a really bad idea. She tapped on Yarnball, "You never let me down, don''t start now, please." Hera grabbed her chakram and walked towards the monster, "Hey!" Carbuncle turned with an angry expression and saw a human holding one of its stones. Hera saw the monster''s face distorting, its eyes turned red, large veins started to pulsate, and even the teeth grew sharper as the creature rushed towards her. Hera jumped to the side, avoiding the initial attack, "Ok, maybe the stone was a bit much," she threw the chakram, already tied up on Yarnball, towards the monster''s legs. She had to pretend that this was a rodeo of sorts. Carbuncle jumped, moving away from the string and the blade. Unlike what Hera had seen, the creature was very agile. It had never moved like that while roaming the area. Then again, it didn''t have to. No one was brave or stupid enough to challenge it. Not until Hera showed up. The monster opened its mouth, and a stream of fire and lightning came rushing towards the explorer. She ran to the side, staying a few centimeters ahead of the flames. Seeing a large rock on the path, Hera jumped behind it to wait out the attack. It took some time, but Carbuncle finally ran out of breath. Hera took that chance and came out of her hiding spot, sending a fire arrow towards it. There wasn''t a doubt in her mind that the spell do little to no damage, but it would be a good distraction. She went for the sideswipe once more as the arrow hit the creature''s head. This time, it caught its right leg. Hera pulled back the string to avoid wrapping it around the beast. The last thing she needed was to get her chakram stuck. Carbuncle rushed at her once more. Large bony protrusions appeared around its carapace. Hera rushed to the side, but she wasn''t fast enough. The bones hit the back of her shoulder, creating a large gash on her back. She turned around and hit the monster''s tail with her handaxe, but its scales were too strong for the blade. Grabbing her chakram, Hera tossed it towards the legs of the beast one more time, pulling the string as the monster skidded to the side, trying to stop its momentum. The weapon wrapped around the creature as the chakram dug deep into its thighs. When Carbuncle tried to move, Hera felt as if someone was pulling her hair. The string made by her relic was directly connected to her, and now, she could feel how it was straining to hold this monster. The creature tried to jump towards Hera, but one tug was enough to make it lose balance and fall sideways to the ground. Hera rushed towards it and hit the side of its head using the blunt part of her handaxe. Carbuncle snarled while its front claw scratched Hera''s leg. She jumped over it and started hitting its head repeatedly. After a few moments, the creature stopped moving. Hera checked if it had any response when she poked it and quickly wrapped more of the thread on its arms, making sure it wouldn''t be able to move easily. Feeling a bit safer about the creature, Hera turned her attention to the pile of rubble. "What am I going to find here?" 128 - Collecting Samples The Carbuncle was still unconscious while Hera rummage through its hoard. All the stones on the pile had double affinities, from opposites like fire and water to complementary like fire and wind. There were also several affinities unknown to Hera, such as storm, sand, night. Even some that should be minor affinities were in the mix like illusion, wave, brittle, and connect. She made a few notes on her tablet. A few of the affinities seemed interesting or dangerous. Hera needed to understand them and know how to counter-attack if she ever found a monster with one of them. Among the rocks, there were also a few scales from the Carbuncle. Hera grabbed the stones that she considered to be the more interesting, mostly the opposite elements and the unique ones. Aside from that, she just tossed a bunch of rocks and scales in one of her pouches. Thankfully, the stones weren''t very big, so Hera was able to get a handful of them. The Carbuncle made some noise, and Hera quickly took off her chakram from its legs, untying it before running away from the monster. As she ran by, the smaller pangolins rushed towards the pile of stones that the tyrant had made. She was about halfway through the plateau when a loud roar came from the back. The Carbuncle was back on its feet, and it was angry. Hera could hear the cries of the pangolins as they ran away from the creature. Hera ran towards the path, trying to leave the plateau to ensure that the monster wouldn''t follow her. She ran past the pangolins, even as some attempted to grab her pouch full of rocks. She just slammed her handaxe on its back, pushing the monster away. Yet, they didn''t fight back as hard as the one had fought before. It seemed like they were more vicious when protecting their piles than when trying to steal the stones. Not wanting to have the rocks stolen, Hera kept running towards the path that leads back to the cave. She managed to avoid the small monsters, hitting a couple of pangolins on the way. After leaving the plateau, she walked for another ten minutes before stopping. There were no monsters following her, and now she could do some inventory. She had twenty stones in her pouch. Most had double affinities, but three of them had a single affinity. The number of mana points in them was also very different. Unlike the 40 to 60 points of the others, each of those three had 150 points of mana on them. "I''m guessing it''s just about the mana amount? Or do they have something else special? Let''s see, they have fire, lighting, and piercing affinities. But they don''t seem to be any different from the rest," Hera spent a few moments pondering what it could all mean. Unable to figure anything out, she shrugged and turned her attention to the plateau once more, "I think I should get more scales. They might be useful to put this all together." Hera fixed her belongings, making sure that the pouch with the rocks was in a difficult to reach area. As she shifted her bags around, something stung on her back. She reached for the area and noticed the large gash that the Carbuncle had made. Instead of going after the scales, Hera decided to take a break. She needed to use her mend spell to at least help her wounds. Now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping, she felt sore in several places, and she still had to take a look at her arm. Her shoulder had a few cuts. The thorns from the first pangolin she faced had done a number on her arm. The blood had dried up, and she needed to clean it using her water. She still had a couple of bottles, but it would be better to head to the ocean to fill up her filter. It looked like a regular bottle, but a small mana fueled tube in the middle could turn seawater into drinkable water in just a couple of minutes. The problem was the mana inside the filter. Hera could only fill the bottle twice before having to recharge it, and she needed a thousand mana to refill the filter. It took over one hour of constant mana cycling to restore it completely. "I think it''s better if I go there to refill the bottle before sunset. But not right now," Hera kept focusing on the mend spell to fix both her arm and her back. It was hard to concentrate on the spell in a place where she couldn''t see, yet she felt it working. Hera took a break, taking a moment to eat another protein bar. At the same time, she kept practicing the new way of moving her mana while adding the cycle technique to her muscle like the concept. It was an odd situation. She had one part of her mana contracting and expanding while the other gathered on her hands before traveling to her feet. When the two parts of the mana touched each other, Hera could feel more mana being pulled towards the center. However, she had no idea where the mana was coming from. It wasn''t as if she was pulling her mana to a specific point like the cycling required. The mana was just... appearing. Hera did a couple of tests to figure out how much she was recovering and if it was possible to move around while doing that. Her regeneration had increased significantly, from the 16 points per minute while cycling her mana. It jumped to 25 using the two techniques combined. However, it required too much concentration to combine them, and it made it nearly impossible to do it while moving. "Still, I can recharge my mana in under ten minutes. That''s a big help. I need just two minutes to use the mend spell again." Hera waited for another half an hour while eating and practicing this new way to recover her mana. Feeling more rested and with the wound on her back not stinging so much, she went back to the plateau. She wanted to grab a few scales that had similar elements to the stones on her pouch. The pangolins in the entrance were the smaller and had mostly primary colors. Some had one combination of shades, but nothing too complicated. Compared to the Carbuncle fight, the other ones were much easier, even with the unpredictable abilities. Some had considerably weaker breath attacks. Others could harden their scales and make their claws longer. Hera started the fights thinking about knocking the monsters out so she could look for loose scales, but that was taking too long, and she got hit a couple of times while fighting one of the smaller ones. Getting annoyed with the situation, Hera stopped trying to leave them alive. They were monsters. She had to stop caring about killing them. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it As she walked deeper into the area, the pangolin''s patterns became more complex. She managed to kill a couple of them to gather the scales, but these monsters had more unique skills. One of them even was able to lock her in place while their shadows were connected. Another could create mirror images of itself while it moved. After crossing most of the area, she noticed one pangolin with a single crystal scale on its forehead. Hera got closer to it, but before she was able to do anything, a familiar roar came to the side. The Carbuncle was staring at her. Its eyes becoming bloodshot as the veins bulged on its face. "Oh shit," Hera gasped before turning away and running back to the path. The Carbuncle stomped its feet on the ground, and a large rock went flying towards Hera. She heard the projectile coming towards her and dove to the side. The attack hit her arm, making her tumble to the side. She quickly got up and made sure her rocks hadn''t fallen before using her light spell to make a floodlight once more and bolt towards that path that led her here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Blinding Flash Rank: Beginner It creates an extremely bright light source to disturb the sight of those who see it. The more mana used on the spell, the stronger the light will be. Base mana cost: 75 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera waved off the notification that popped up. She didn''t have time to read it. Zigzagging through the area, she did her best to lose the Carbuncle before heading to the path. She assumed the monster wouldn''t chase her too far from its hoard, since that would create another frenzy from the nearby pangolins. Still, she didn''t want to give it a chance to follow her to the path. That was her only safe spot at the moment. After being sure that the beast had given up on her, Hera went back looking for the pangolin with the crystal scale. This time, Hera made sure to be on the lookout for the Carbuncle. Before even reaching the place where she saw the pangolin with a crystal scale, she had to hide from the plateau''s tyrant a couple of times. She had to search for the pangolin once more. The creature wasn''t as large as the ones around the area, and it seemed much more sneaky. The first time Hera saw it, it growled in a way that lured the Carbuncle to the area. Then the monster vanished inside its own shadow. After a while, Hera had to run back to the entrance to avoid the tyrant once more. On her fifth attempt, she managed to sneak up on the pangolin. Using her poison needle a few times, Hera hindered it enough to allow her to kill the monster. It was odd that she could never find its pile, and the creature didn''t seem to care about the rocks. The fight was much easier than the other ones. Poisoning the monsters was much more effective than she expected. The pangolin didn¡¯t have any special name, and all its scales were brown with no affinity, aside from the single one on its head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crystal Prism Scale (Mana Affinity) The scale of Prism Pangolin that was crystallized due to a mutation. It can amplify a spell or a magical effect when used through the scale. The crystal can only sustain a certain amount of magical power before shattering. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera grabbed a few more scales and headed back to the path. It was already getting late, and she wanted to get some more water before setting up camp. Around one hour later, she was back in the spot where she camped the first night. This time, she remembered to grab some wood for the bonfire. She practiced her new mana technique some more and wrote down all the notes she made about the creatures before getting ready to sleep. It took her some time to charge up all her camping gear, and she would be with little to no mana while doing that. "I''m glad I have a safe place here, but if I''m in an area with more monsters, it might be better to keep half my mana with me just in case," Hera mumbled after getting her bed ready. Hours later, a loud hip-pitched beeping noise woke Hera from her slumber. The Carbuncle had trespassed the perimeter of her camp. Hera jumped up, but the beast saw her movement. It seemed somewhat disoriented, not only by the noise, but it was avoiding the flames. Hera could even see some large drops of sweat forming on its face. The monster dashed towards Hera, who had to dive to the side, getting not only closer to the flames but also the edge of the cliff. Fighting in this situation was very stressful. One wrong move and she could meet her end in the whirlpool infested waters. "Fine, take the rocks. They are there," Hera pointed at the bag with the stones by the bed. The monster kept staring at her while walking towards the bags. It rummaged through them and only stopped after finding the crystal scale. The Carbuncle moved it with its nose as if it was trying to make it move. When it had no response, it let out a pained cry before turning to Hera. Its face was turning a deep shade of red together with its scales. The monster ran towards Hera, who dashed to the other side of the fire. The creature stopped and moved to the other side, still keeping some distance from the green flames. Hera sent two poison needles towards it, hoping that the toxin would hinder its movement. The two of them started to do a weird dance around the bonfire. Hera kept jumping from side to side while the Carbuncle attempted to get a clear shot at her. The monster started getting more and more impatient, sending rocks, thorns, and even using its fire breathing attack. When the flames hit the green fire, the repellent grew strongest, scaring away the monster enough to allow Hera to jump away from the edge of the cliff. She sent a few poison sprays towards the creature, hoping it would be enough to push it back. The Carbuncle ran towards her and struck Hera with its body. It was moving several times faster than before. Getting angry with the situation, Hera sent her chakram to its legs once more. Not to warp it. This time she wanted to hurt it. At the same time, she walked back to the green fire, not letting the monster out of her sight. The Carbuncle rushed at her, lowering its head. Hera waited for it to get closer and jumped to the side, hitting the monster''s head with her handaxe. There was no damage since she just hit the scales, but it was enough to make the creature take a step to the side and hit the bonfire. It tumbled forward and started trashing while walking away from the flames. Hera saw one of its back legs dangerously close to the edge and rushed towards the Carbuncle. She jumped at the last moment and hit the monster''s side with both her legs, pushing it from the cliff. Hera looked off the precipice and saw the Carbuncle spinning in the air before falling into the water. The monster was instantly caught in one of the whirlpools and pulled underwater. Feeling safer and with the perimeter alarm still buzzing in her ears, Hera lay down, looking at the sky. "This is what I get for trying to be nice." 129 - Lurking Hera finished packing her camp, even if she wasn''t sure if that was a waste. Her bed was destroyed during the fight, but the mana pump was still intact. All in all, she didn''t lose too much. One of her pouches was ripped, and the other had a hole, but using the sewing kit that was part of her emergency pack, she managed to salvage the less damaged one. She only stayed here for a day, but it already felt like she had enough to bring to Helena. Besides, she had a long way back. Hera walked down the path towards the woods once more. She had noticed this the night before, but the chameleon''s corpse was no longer there. Yet, she didn''t see any trail of blood, but she wasn''t sure she would be able to see one. It would be much harder to see the red stains in purple grass. Before stepping into the woods, Hera took a deep breath. She knew that this place had the chameleons, and the panther was probably still lurking around. Her main issue was that she wasn''t in perfect condition at the moment. Her arm was wounded, and the tackle from the Carbuncle created a sizeable purple bruise covering half her torso that made some movements hurt. Even constantly using her Mending spell, the recovery was very slow. Yet, she didn¡¯t have a choice. She had to go back somehow. Making sure to be ready, she walked into the forest. The first part of her journey wasn''t as troublesome as she had expected. No monsters were around, and the path wasn''t difficult to traverse. She only needed to be careful with some random roots growing in odd angles. As the hours went by, Hera was feeling restless. She had to be constantly looking at her map to be sure she was making progress. Walking around confused her a lot. The trees started to look too similar to each other. She also had to keep looking for monsters constantly. At one point, the forest became thicker than a jungle, slowing her travel speed. Since it was so dark in the area, Hera had to use her flashlight to move, which gave away her position. It didn''t take long for her to start hearing monsters coming her way. Using her Pulse, she managed to spot one chameleon approach. Not wanting to give it a chance to attack, Hera rushed towards sending a poison needle as a greeting. The monster wasn''t as quick as the frogs, and as long as she struck it before it was able to camouflage itself, it didn''t pose much of a threat. Chameleons tended to use the stealth approach, but they would resort to headbutts when confronted directly. This meant they were only an actual danger when you were caught off guard. It took only a couple of strikes to kill the monster. After that, Hera kept going, hoping that the creature''s corpse would be enough of a distraction for the incoming beasts. She kept going for another hour, fighting a few chameleons on the way. Hera made sure not to use her poison spells on the last one. She was getting hungry, and eating meat was much better than stuffing herself with protein bars. She took a branch from one of a tree and shot a fire arrow at it, making it burst into flames. With her makeshift torch, she cut up a few pieces of meat and looked for a place where she could have her meal. Finding a small clearing, Hera sat down and started to eat. The meat wasn''t seasoned, but it was still better than the alternative. She had to grab some salt and basic seasoning next time she went somewhere far away. She was distracted with her meal when a growl came from the left. She jumped up, staring at the direction of the noise. Between the tres, there was a large creature staring at her. The beast had a bulky muscular body with a smaller head and deep purple skin. "You again?" Hera stared at it, grabbing her handaxe once more. The panther growled at Hera and started walking towards her. She got ready to block it, waving the flaming brach towards it. The monster didn''t seem to mind the fire and kept walking towards the explorer. Hera got ready for the attack. The panther started to circle around the explorer. It spent a few minutes moving and headed back to the woods, without breaking eye contact. Hera waited a moment, using her Pulse repeatedly to find where the monster was, but to no avail. After a few minutes, she wasn''t able to see the beast anymore. Unsure of what was going on, Hera decided to keep going. Moving through the woods once more, she had to be even more careful. She had no idea when the creature could appear again. A few hours later Hera reached an open area, with one large tree in the middle of it. She walked towards it as one tongue flew towards her head. She leaned back, falling to the ground. The tongue flew above her head, almost hitting her face. Hera jumped up and ran towards the tree since there was where the attack came from. Getting close to the trunk, Hera noticed a large creature in the middle of it. It was a Chameleon different from the others. A pair of large horns changed colors with the rest of the body in its head. Hera slashed across the monster''s neck, but it raised its head, blocking the handaxe with its horns. She jumped to the side and used her chakram to attack, but the chameleon opened its mouth and lashed out with its tongue again. The attack hit her side, pulling her towards the monster. Hera slashed the creature''s side and tried to pull away from the beast. While they struggled, Hera heard a growl coming from the forest. Looking to the side, she saw the panther heading towards her. Stolen story; please report. "Shit, shit, shit," Hera tried to pull the chameleon to the side, trying to make the panther get in her sight. She threw a poison needle at each of the monsters, hoping it would help her fight. The panther moved quickly through the area, trying to move behind Hera. The explorer kept moving around the tree, trying to maintain the panther in her sight. The chameleon wasn''t very fond of the situation. It pulled its tongue, trying to stop Hera from moving away. Tha panther lunged at Hera, trying to claw her back. She managed to dodge part of the attack, but the strike still cut her left leg. The chameleon took that chance to lash out it''s tongue at Hera''s arm while she was distracted by the panther. The fight barely had started, and Hera was already at a massive disadvantage. The first problem was the chameleon''s tongue was still stuck on her, which hindered her movement. Hera pulled the tongue back and slashed it repeatedly until she was able to cut it. At the same time, the panther tried to hit her once more, but the chameleon got in the way with a headbutt directed at Hera. The explorer took a few steps back, staying in a triangle with the two monsters. The panther seemed more interested in Hera. The chameleon, on the other hand, seemed to be torn. It kept staring at the explorer, but it was angry with the panther for attempting to steal its prey. The area was large enough for Hera to use her chakram as a medium-range weapon, and the Wire Trap style had some attacks made to deal with groups of enemies. She had yet to try it out, but now seemed like she had her chance. The panther got closer to the ground and was about to jump when the chameleon sent the remains of its tongue towards it. The panther jumped to the side, avoiding the attack, and growled at the monsters, who hissed back. While the two kept staring at each other, Hera saw a chance for her to flee. She took a step back, but the panther lunged towards her. Seeing that, the chameleon struck the purple-skinned beast with its horns, changing its course. Hera jumped back, avoiding the panther, and saw as it turned around to attack the chameleon. With the two starting their brawl, she activated her [Hide] and ran away. She didn''t forget that the panther showed up as a question mark with her [Observe], and she wasn''t too keen on figuring out why. She focused on her ears to be sure that the monster wasn''t about to chase her. Luckily, the only thing she heard was the sounds of the fight between the two creatures. She kept running for close to half an hour. She didn''t want to stop even long after she stopped hearing them fight, but if she wears herself out while the panther was on her heels, it would be much worse. Hera stopped running, but she didn''t stop moving. It was already getting late, and according to what she had seen on the map, a few kilometers in front of her, there was a large open area that she could use to set up camp. The area wasn''t directly ahead. She needed to diverge from the path she was taking. She also made sure to clean possible tracks and roll around in the mud. Hera hoped that along with her [Hide], this would be enough to lose anyone who could be tracking her. Arriving at the large clearing, Hera quickly set up the bonfire and the perimeter steaks. She had lost her bed, but she could still use the remains of the air mattress as a pillow. Hera took a look at her supplies. She was still fine with food, but water would be a problem soon. She only had one more full bottle. The other three were empty. She would need to take a trip to the waters the next day. Looking at the map, she noticed a light blue mark that spread through a few kilometers ahead of her. According to Helena, that area was a place with a small submerged platform, much like the one Hera used when she found the sailor''s cove. It would destroy any boat that got close, but she could move while being by the water if she walked there. That was one option. The second one was going to a lake about twenty kilometers west. Unsure of what to do, Hera picked another power bar for her dinner while going back to practice the mana reinforcement. "When I get back to the city, I want a burger. And a steak, and some chicken, and cake, I can''t forget the ice cream. Anything juicy and seasoned," as much as Hera wanted to focus on the spell, her stomach wasn''t allowing her to do so. She wasn''t hungry. It was more the desire to eat something different from the protein bars. After a couple of hours of practice and reading, Hera went to sleep. However, her rest was abruptly interrupted by a loud high-pitched noise. Hera jumped up and looked around. Before she was able to identify what invaded the camp, she heard a growl coming to the side towards her. Hera swung her handaxe in a large arch, trying to hit the monster. The panther ducked under the blade and jumped towards the explorer. The delay gave enough time for Hera to step away and avoid the monster''s initial attack. She went towards the green fire, hoping it would have the same effect on the beast as it had on the Carbuncle. With the light of the flames, Hera was able to see the panther more clearly. Its massive body had a few cuts on the side, and two small protrusions seemed to be growing from its forehead. The monster growled once more and dashed towards Hera. She waited for it to get close enough and jumped to the side, swinging her chakram to the side, creating a cut on the monster''s side. The beast snarled at Hera and ran to the side, leaving the camp and going back to the woods. Hera stood there, with the noise ringing in her ears, staring at the place where the beast ran off to for a few minutes before believing the panther wouldn''t come back. She looked back at the stakes, "Now I have to wait for them to recharge," she sighed, " Thanks for ruining my sleep," Hera said while staring at the place the panther had run off to. 130 - The Panther Hera was barely able to sleep. She practiced her spells while waiting two hours for the stakes to be usable again and went to sleep, only to be awoken by the alarm once more as the panther crossed the perimeter. Hera had to fight it again, but after striking the monster, it ran away again. The pattern kept repeating through the night until the first rays of the sun flooded the room. "Stupid monster, bothering my sleep. Next time I see it. I''m sending a poison needle with all the mana inside the stone," Hera kept grumbling while packing her things. Before grabbing the first stake, she turned towards the woods and started yelling, "Are you still here? Come get me! Come on!" A few moments passed, but there was no reply. She grabbed the stakes and put them in her bag. Before leaving, she considered her options. She needed water, and the two sources were in opposite places. One was to the right, where she would reach the ocean and go along the beach. The other was to head to the left for a long time and get to the lake by the end of the day. The better option seemed to be the ocean. It was an area where she could cover some ground, and it could be safer from the panther. Then again, animals usually had a nonviolence treaty when in places where the water was scarce. But Hera had no way of knowing if the panther would act the same way the animals outside the MAZE did. The better option seemed to be heading towards the ocean. She would be in an open space, and maybe the water could be enough to make the panther lose her trail. Hera went to the right. She wanted to be able to relax, and the area by the sea seemed to be the best place for it. Checking the map for her route, she left the camp, activating her [Hide] to avoid facing even more monsters. She ran through the woods, trying to keep a jogging pace while using her Pulse spell sporadically. A couple of times, she could sense a chameleon on her range, but the creatures were either too distracted or too slow to catch her. When the trees became less dense, Hera could hear the noise of something in the distance. She focused on her hearing, and to her left, she was able to detect something moving at her pace. "Is that you?" she asked the noise without stopping. For a while, the only thing that could be heard in the forest was the sound of two creatures moving at a fast speed. "I guess if you replied, I would be even more worried," she sighed, "Maybe It''s just my echo, and I''m going crazy." The noise continued through the hour. It stopped when she did and sped up when she ran faster. By all accounts, the noise only existed while she was making noise. Hera wasn¡¯t sure if the monster would be smart enough to do that, much less replicate her movements so precisely. Distracted with her thoughts, Hera failed to notice a tongue flying towards her. The attack hit her leg and made her roll on the ground, scraping her arms with the impact. Before she could get up, a growl came from the side as the panther jumped on top of Hera. The explorer barely had time to put up her handaxe to hold back the monster. The beast snarled at Hera, trying to bite her. If Hera weren''t running with her weapon in hand, she wouldn''t have been able to block it. As the beast attempted to bite the explorer, it opened its mouth, and its tongue went flying towards Hera''s face. She managed to avoid it at the last moment, but at the cost of her ear. The tongue was smaller than the one from the chameleons, but it was sharper and stronger. Hera screamed and pushed the panther away, throwing a Poison Spray at it, using all the mana she had inside the mana stone. At the same time, she started using the Mend spell to stop the bleeding. After being thrown, the monster got hit with the vibrant orange liquid. The attack hit its torso, going all the way to the lower legs before the panther even hit the ground. Hera followed up the spell with a fire arrow that lit up the orange liquid, engulfing the creature in flames. The monster started rolling around on the ground, trying to put out the fire. But the flames were relentless, the poison that was still stuck to it fueled the blaze. The panther bolted to the side and vanished into the woods. "Shit, shit, shit," Hera kept cursing while holding her ear. Tears of pain starting to form in her eyes. The blood wasn''t stopping, and the mend spell was doing almost nothing to stop it. She couldn''t remember if someone could bleed out by having a piece of her ear cut off. Hera looked around and found a broken branch. Biting down on it, she placed one hand by her ear and used a fire arrow to cauterize the bleeding. The spell hit part of her head, burning a chunk of her hair and skin, but that was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her ear. She poured water in the wound, only to realize that the suffering became even worse as the air hit the wound. Hera howled with the pain and held her ear as if it was going to fall off. She looked at the ground and saw a piece of the top of her outer ear. Gingerly touching her ear, she realized that there was an entire thumb sized piece missing from the top. She looked around for the panther but wasn''t able to find it. However, she did find its trail. Part of her wanted to go after it. It was wounded and burning. Now was the best moment to fight it, but she held herself back. The monster was strong and smart. It could have been running just to lure her into a trap. "Next time, you won''t be so lucky," Hera barked while looking at the panther footprint. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She used her pulse spell and saw the chameleon that caused all her trouble on a nearby tree and rushed at it. If she couldn''t kill the panther, she was going to make sure nothing would try to attack her again. It only took her a couple of strikes to deal with the monster, and in less than five minutes, she was heading towards the ocean once more. She kept using her Pulse, and every time she found a monster on her path, she would take a detour to kill it. The chameleons were very bad at dealing with surprise attacks. As long as Hera got into their blind spots, it was an easy fight. It didn''t take too long before she arrived at the edge of the woods. There, she could see the sea. Although, from her point of view, it looked more like a saltwater river. By the cliff, there was a path just a few centimeters underwater, much like the one she had seen by the Sailor''s cove. To get there, Hera could only see one option. She needed to climb down the rocky wall. She could also try to jump towards the water, but letting her pack get wet was a terrible idea. Hera started climbing down towards the water-filled path. Now that the adrenaline had left her system, she realized how hurt she was. The wounds from the pangolins were far from recovered, and the claws of the panther had created large gashes around her legs. It would take some time before she could get help. Even if she kept going at top speed, she would only reach a settlement tomorrow afternoon. She could try to push for the night and make it in the morning, but it would be the second day without proper sleep. Yet, if the panther was still following her, it wouldn''t let her rest anyway. Walking through this path was the first time since going inside the woods that Hera felt genuinely safe. Not as safe as she would be inside a town but safe nonetheless. The path would spread for a few kilometers, and it gave her the chance to refill her water bottles. Yet, after walking for about an hour, she was feeling restless. "I think there is something wrong with me. Why in blazes am I bored? I''m alone by a monster-infested forest and having to fight against the small waves that crash here. This place is beautiful and amazing, and I''m complaining that It''s not exciting enough? Seriously, since when did I turned into an adrenaline junkie?" Hera sighed and took a bite from her protein bar, "Maybe I should see if they have a shrink in here. I think I might need one." After a few minutes of monologuing to herself, Hera stopped walking, "And why the hell I''m talking to myself!? Since when was that a thing? During the test, at least, I talked with my weapon that was better, right?" She asked Iris, her handaxe, "I''m definitely going crazy. Or the wounds are infected, and I''m delirious. Well, at least you are not replying. The moment you do is when I lose it completely." Hera finally reached the end of the platform. There was a small drop on the cliff, giving way to a path she could use to climb back up to the woods. Hera climbed up, struggling a bit with the slippery rocks and the wound on her back, stopping her from using all her strength. Hera kept going towards the settlement. Thankfully, the forest here became less dense, and even with the sun starting to set, she still had enough light to keep going. She kept using her Pulse to find out monsters nearby, but the place seemed free of threats. When the sun went down, she kept going for another hour, using the flashlight to move. Hera wanted to keep going for longer, but the batteries of her light had run out. She could use the spell, but if something came after her while she was low on mana, it could be a big problem. Hera found a tree in the middle of a clearing and set up her camp there. The perimeter had to be smaller, but she still could use the monster repellent fire and climb the tree to sleep among the branches. That way, if something came after her, she wouldn''t be caught off guard. The only issue was how to avoid falling from the tree while she slept. She used the air mattress remains to build a makeshift net, and after making sure it wouldn''t tear with her weight, she got ready to sleep. She slept with her pack and pouches strapped to her chest. It wasn''t very comfortable, but if she had to run, it would be easier. In the middle of the night, the alarm triggered, waking Hera up again. She carefully looked down towards the camp and saw the panther. Its legs still showed signs of burning, and the wound on its side was in the process of healing. Hera tried not to move too much and give away her location since the monster seemed not to know where she was. She grabbed her pack, but doing so made its contents shift, creating a small noise. Hera stopped breathing while holding the bag close, hoping the panther didn''t hear that. Almost as a reply, the monster jumped up, climbing the trunk of the tree, and sent out its tongue towards the black net between two branches, making the air mattress that Hera was using as a bed to rip. The explorer fell from the tree, doing her best not to hurt herself too much with the impact. She rolled just as she hit the ground and spun around to face the panther again. The wound on her back was acting up, and she felt that the fall worsened the situation on her legs. The monster jumped from the tree, stumbling as it hit the ground. It wasn''t in good shape, either. The panther growled and rushed towards Hera. She was waiting for it to get closer, but suddenly, it opened its mouth and the tongue went flying towards her. The attack hit her shoulder with a force several times stronger than any frog or chameleon she faced before. The monster followed up by jumping to the side as she tried to run to at the last moment, lunging at her. She raised her handaxe to block the claws, and the two rolled into the ground. Hera pushed the monster with both her legs and tossed it to the side. The panther fell on the bonfire and roared as the green flames licked its body. Hera sent another full powered poison spray towards it. The moment the orange spray hit the fire, it started burning as if it was alcohol. The panther was once more engulfed in flames and started thrashing around, trying to put out the fire. Hera turned back and started running, leaving the stakes behind. The monster seemed more intelligent. The strength of its attack was also different. The only thing she knew that could grow like that were the wendigos that appeared after the wall fell. If that thing was one of them, fighting it was suicidal. The problem was, this creature kept chasing after her for a long time. It waited as she hunted the pangolin and lurked as she tried to return home. It was very likely that the monster wouldn''t let her go like this. But, if she was supposed to fight to the death, it would be on her own terms. 131 - Lured to a trap Hera kept running through the woods. Since the panther had no intention of letting her rest, she might as well try to reach the settlement earlier. Usually, she would need some time after waking up before being able to do anything, but being woken up by an attack was more effective than a cup of black coffee. Even though she was running and there was no noise coming from behind her, Hera had a nagging feeling that the panther was right behind her. She had given up the monster letting her go. It''s been close to a week since they first faced each other, and the creature showed no signs of giving up the chase. Her mind was in overdrive, thinking of ways to stop it or to have a chance of fighting back. She couldn''t be counting on her luck anymore. The first time, she only was able to run away from it because it was weaker. Then she had to use other monsters as a distraction, or the discovery that her poison spray is flammable. Even so, it was clear that the creature wouldn''t die just by being set on fire. She had to figure out a plan, something that could give her an edge, anything. Her first thought was the crystal scale, but that was a long shot at best. She had no idea how much it would increase the power of a spell or if it would be enough for killing the panther. She was starting to get tired and would have to stop sprinting soon. She needed a plan fast. ''Ok, Hera. Think, what do you know about it? It''s strong and intelligent, so any obvious traps would be useless. Trying to hide is a bad idea. Predators tend to have sharp senses. The thing is chasing after me, so it''s angry? Maybe I hurt its pride. Pride... can I use that? ... no, it''s a monster. Even if I try, there is no guarantee that it would work. But it is chasing me, so I can try to be the bait. But what about the trap? What do I have?'' Hera made a mental inventory of everything she had on her. The stones could only serve as batteries. The water bottles were useless for a fight. It was the same with the rations. The only things that could be used for a fight were her weapons, spells, and relic. ''Yarnball can give me 10 meters of string that takes its strength after me. If I find a good place with a single entrance, I could make a tripwire.'' She grabbed her relic and asked, "Where can I find a place with a single entrance large enough for me to fight the panther?" Hera felt some of her mana leave her body, and the string pointed to her left. She pivoted her body and ran towards the direction Yarnball told her. Hoping it wouldn''t be a place too far away. She pushed herself to run for another twenty minutes until she finally found a small ravine in the cave wall. Right in front of it, there was a tree on one side and a large rock on the other. Hera placed her pack deeper into the ravine and ripped part of her sleeve, putting it in the middle of the path inside the gorge. She hoped that would be enough of her scent to distract the creature. Hera then quickly used Yarnball''s string and made a tripwire at the entrance of the ravine. She tried to spread the thread to avoid being easily seen and hid behind the rock, activating her [Hide]. The monster wouldn''t be able to jump over the tree, and if it jumped over the rock, she could have a free shot at it. While waiting, Hera tried to recover both her mana and the mana in the stone. She was going to need every point she had for the fight. The new method got much easier with practice. Every time she had to recharge her camping gear, she would use it to recover. She still kept her ears peeled for any movement coming towards her. When she was halfway through charging the mana stone, a notification popped in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Mana Recovery (Rank 1) Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery. By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you become unable to recover mana for 30 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique. Passive Recovery: 15 mana per minute Active Recovery: 20 mana per minute Mastery: 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera glanced through the skill and decided not to try its active effect right now. It would still give her less mana than doing the cycling on her own, and losing the mana recovery would be terrible. She tried to use the basic cycling technique and was surprised with the result. Just by using it, her mana recovery went to 25 points per minute. She could cycle and move, even if at a slower pace. Now she would be able to keep a light spell for much longer, although it still wasn''t enough to be sustainable. Hera shook her head and focused on the area once again. When she got home, she could test this as much as she wanted, but now there were more pressing matters. Hera was already feeling more rested when she heard a twig being broken in the forest. Activating her Pulse, she was able to sense the panther on the edge of its range. The monster started rushing towards the ravine and jumped over the rock, avoiding the tripwire. As the creature flew above her, Hera was able to see the extent of the damage the fire had made. Its entire lower body was covered in burns and blisters. She took the opportunity and swung her handaxe upwards, trying to hit its stomach. The attack hit the panther, but its movement worked against the impact. . The monster tumbled to the side and quickly got back up on its feet. It growled at Hera as she held her weapons close to her body. She took Yarnball out of her waist and pulled the tread, making her relic retract, unmaking the tripwire she had set up. The noise made the panther jump to the side as if it was evading an attack. Hera took the opportunity to send a poison needle at the creature. She didn''t place too much mana on it since she didn''t want to be with no mana for the fight. The monster''s hesitation was enough for Yarnball to finish retracing, and Hera clip it to her belt once more. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The panther started to move to the side. Hera took a few steps forward since she didn''t want to be stuck in the corner while fighting. The two kept moving around, staring at each other. Hera could only hear the sound of the footsteps she was making, eyes locked with the beast. She noticed the creature''s back legs tensing and jumped forward at the same time the monster did. She tried to slash its face using her handaxe, but the panther sidestepped. Simultaneously, she threw her chakram to the side, making it hit the monster''s face. That created a small cut above the beast''s eye. The panther did something similar, sending its tongue at the same time, making a cut on Hera''s cheek. The monster zigzagged towards the explorer who took a step back, pulling the chakram back to her hand using the string. The weapons'' movement confused the panther. It jumped back not to be hit by the attack. Hera sent another poison needle towards the creature and saw the spell hitting the burned part of the monster''s torso. The panther ran towards the explorer, closing the distance in a flash and trying to bite her legs, Hera stepped to the side, but it was too late. The monster''s fangs dug into her ankle. She started attacking the monster''s face and neck with both her weapons until it finally let go. As the monster moved back, Hera threw the chakram in front of it. The attack was a feint, and just as the blade seemed to miss the creature, she jerked it back in the opposite direction, making the weapon dig deep into her target''s front leg. The panther ran towards her once more, zigzagging and jumping at the explorer''s head. Hera dove under it and pulled back her chakram, causing the creature to fall to the ground on its side. This time, Hera went into the offensive, jumping on top of the monster and slammed her handaxe on its stomach before it could get up again. Simultaneously, she used her chakram as a fist weapon hitting it repeatedly at the creature. The monster tried to get away from the attack, clawing Hera with all its four legs. In between strikes, Hera kept sending fire arrows and poison needles at the panther. The creature''s claws kept digging into Hera''s skin. She could feel the blood coming out of her body and the sharp pain that went with each impact. However, she also noticed that each strike hurt less than the previous one. At first, she thought that her body was too mangled to feel, but the strength behind each claw was also fading. After what felt like an eternity, the monsters finally stopped moving. Hera kept hitting it for a few moments, not realizing that her prey had fallen. What made her snap out of it was the notification that popped while she was attacking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When she realized that the panther was dead, she let out a long scream in a mix of pain and celebration. Before anything, Hera started using her mend spell on her body. She didn''t want to cauterize any wounds again, but that was still an option. She crawled to her pack and took one of the water bottles out. Using part of the water to clean her wounds, she drank the other part and placed the bottle inside the bag again. She looked back to the panther and saw the creature unmoving as well as the trail of blood that she had made. "What the hell is that thing?" she asked as she activated her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo Remains A creature that grows as it devours its prey. It can absorb part of the abilities of whatever it eats. This specimen had an advanced hiding skill, minor camouflage capabilities, and reptile-like characteristics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera started laughing, "I''m a fucking idiot." For a moment, she suspected that the creature was a Wendigo, but she was sure it couldn''t be since they were only supposed to exist on the 25th layer. She adjusted herself by the wall, feeling the tiredness wash over her body. This was a secluded place, and there were no monsters around. "I can close my eyes just a little bit, right?" Hera mumbled to herself self, letting the exhaustion take over. "NO!" Hera jolted up, "I''ve bled a lot, and I don''t know if there are monsters around here. I need to go to the settlement. It''s Just a few more hours west." She got up and got her pack once more. Before leaving the ravine, she looked back at the Wendigo. "Shit. You might help Helena," Hera turned around and grabbed the creature''s leg. It would take longer to reach her destination, but the monster''s body could give some clues to healing Helena. It wasn''t something she could just leave here. Since there were no guarantees that another beast wouldn¡¯t show up and eat it. ################# It was close to noon on the settlement by the turtle dungeon. The area had a few places for tents and a small shop that sold food and supplies. The dungeon wasn''t difficult, just annoying to deal with since it required people to protect the baby turtles as they went to the ocean. The entire settlement had the feeling of a campsite. People laughed and told stories as they waited for their meals, while others came back from the dungeon, celebrating a rare drop. It was an area where monsters were scarce, and any who got close just became barbecue for the campers. "Hey, what''s that?" a man pointed towards a figure that was emerging from the woods. It was a blonde woman, covered in dry blood and with a burn on the side of her head. There were several wounds on her legs and arms, and she seemed to be dragging something behind. A few people gathered to see what was going on as the woman got closer. "Is there a healer around?" the woman asked. The man who noticed her looked back at his group and received a nod from their healer. "Yeah, we have one here," he shouted as the woman nodded and approached him. He led her to the healer who immediately started casting spells. "What the hell happened to you? Did you fight a Wendigo or something?" the man asked the woman who needed help even to sit down. "Yeah, actually," Hera replied. ¡°Haha, funny joke," the healer replied. "Don''t believe me? There is the proof." Hera said, pointing towards the corpse she was dragging. The people who were around all used their [Inspect], and the silence washed over the settlement. "By the system. Those things are here?" the healer gasped as her spells started to work on Hera''s wounds. 132 - The guild thanks you for your service "Would you like some coffee, Peter?" Helena asked. "No thanks, this shouldn''t take long," the man from the guild replied, turning his attention to Hera, who was sitting in front of him. "I''ll take one, please." Hera turned to Helena with a smile. It''s been two days since she returned, but seeing her friend still calmed her heart. For a moment, Hera honestly thought she would never see anyone else again. "Ms. Kingsley, Can I proceed?" Peter asked. "Hera is fine," she replied. "Very well. First, I would like to thank you for your discovery once again. If we didn''t have the information that Wendigos could appear in any layer, I''m afraid many people would die." "You are accepting this rather quickly, aren''t you?" Helena asked. "Yes, there have been reports of monsters that could grow, but we were not able to confirm if they were real or not. The corpse that Ms. King-Hera brought us is all the proof we need to confirm those reports," Peter replied in a cold mechanical voice. Hera couldn''t help but notice that the usually calm and caring Helena was giving off a menacing aura every time she looked at him. "I''m glad I was able to help. Fighting one of those things is not easy," Hera attempted to break the tension. "Nor should it be done on your own. The main reason for our problems on the 25th layer is for Wendigos that devoured explorers and now possess their skills. You should not have fought this creature but run away from it. If you had perished, others would have paid the price," Peter''s eyes shimmered with a cold, pale light before he looked down to his tablet. "And I''m sure she could have just run away. Oh wait, she did! Hera spent three days running from the creature before being cornered. Or didn''t you even read the report?" Helena scoffed. "I am aware of the circumstances that led to the fight, yes. This is simply a conjecture about what could have happened in case her plan wasn''t successful," his eyes meet Hera''s once more, "However, I do hope you consider this possibility if you find another of those creatures in the future." Hera nodded, "You don''t even have to ask. Fighting another one of those on my own is not on my to-do list." Peter nodded, "Very well. The guild will also like to reward you for your service. Aside from the payment for the creature''s corpse, the guild would like to offer you an upgrade. You will no longer have a bronze card, but a silver one instead, as long as you are willing to participate in a small ceremony." "Why does she need to participate in anything? Since when is that a requirement for a silver card?" Helena asked. "Helena, I understand that she is your protege, but she is a grown woman who can take care of herself. She doesn''t need you to be a helicopter guardian. If you are going to keep interrupting me like that, it would be better if you waited in another room." Peter stared dagger at Helena, who replied in kind. Hera smiled at her friend, "That''s ok, Lena. I got this," Helena nodded and headed to the kitchen of their house. Hera turned back towards Peter, "Right, now. Why do I need to participate in anything? Since when is that a requirement for a silver card?" Hera could hear Helena laughing in the kitchen after her question. Peter just stared at her for a moment. "I''m afraid I don''t know. I''m just the messenger here. Your rewards were decided by the people above me. They want to set up an award ceremony and an interview with you." Hera considered for a moment. A silver card was a sign of trust from the guild. With it, she could take some quests that were only available for silver explorers and higher. But aside from that, she didn¡¯t know if there were any benefits for her. "I''m not very interested in doing the interview, or the award ceremony for that matter. I fought to stay alive, not to help anyone else. The only reason I dragged the corpse was in hopes that studying it could lead to a way of curing Helena." Peter nodded, "I understand. You never asked for any of this, but the fact of the matter is that now you are here, and as a result of your actions, the guild feels the need to award you accordingly. The interview is a way to reassure other explorers that these monsters are not invincible and having an explorer with less than two months of experience talking about the fight will help with that. You can also use that opportunity to talk about Helena and how you fought to assist her. It would be a good opportunity to spread the word and have more people on the lookout for possible ways to help. Even if it is a lost cause." Hera looked towards the kitchen, bothered by the man''s comment, "I need some time to think about that. I never wanted to be famous, just to live my own life and waste my time doing helpless things," the words came sharp out of her mouth. "Very well, but we need a reply by the end of the day in order to organize everything quickly," Peter reached for the pocket inside his suit, "You are also receiving this. It''s a voucher worth a tailor-made 10 000 gold worth set of armor. You can make the request at the guild and talk to a very skilled crafter for the specifics of your request. If, by any chance, what your request goes over that value, you can call me. As long as it''s nothing too unreasonable, we can cover the expense." Peter gave the small card to Hera. It looked like a regular gift card from any store. The fact that something like that was worth 10 000 gold sent a little shiver through her spine. "Now the value of the corpse. I ask you to be patient while we are evaluating the actual worth of the materials, be it for crafting or as a research subject," Peter explained. "Wouldn''t it be the same price as one from the 25th layer?" Hera asked. "Nope, the ones there are much stronger. Your weapons wouldn''t even make a dent on their hide. Also, if they gave someone on the first layer the amount of gold that people in the Qeeroni Wilds make, it would break the economy and send everyone in a mad search for the Wendigos," Helena yelled from the kitchen. "But wouldn''t that be a good thing? If more people are after it, they won''t have the chance to grow too much," Hera replied. "The guild is already setting up a quest for tracking down the wendigos and then to kill them, just as they did in the Qeeroni Wilds. But if people think they can become rich in one go, they might try to hunt them on their own and die in the process," Helena explained. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "If you are going to keep listening in to the conversation, you might as well stay in the room," Peter sighed. "Not at all. You asked her to leave. It would be impolite to disrespect your wishes like that," Hera said with a cold smile. "Very well. Do you have any more questions?" Peter asked. "No, I don''t." Peter took a business card from his pocket, "If you do, feel free to contact me through this number. I''ll message later about the interview. The guild wishes to have it ready before the announcement of the Wendigos. Let me remind you. This is a time-sensitive issue, as I''m sure you understand." As Hera nodded, Peter got up and headed to the door. Helena rushed right behind him to see him out. Hera adjusted herself. Her legs were still aching. After she reached the settlement, she got in a truck heading to the barge and only arrived back in Hazelpond in the evening. The first aid she received back there helped a lot, but even the guild''s healers could do so much. Her legs were in bad shape, and now to heal it properly, she was supposed to avoid moving them so much. They even gave her a cane. Not that it would help that much since both her arms were also injured. The wound on her back was the worst one. It was too large, and it started healing wrong. To fix it, they had to reopen the gash and set it up properly. Yet, what was bothering Hera the most was her ear. Very few healers had the ability to regenerate a lost limb. Healing spells used the body''s natural recovery as a blueprint to fix wounds, but growing an appendage back was completely different. The guild didn''t have anyone on call for it, and the price just to get her ear back would be over 100 thousand gold. "At least it''s just the tip. The rest is still there," Hera mumbled while rubbing her ear. Helena sat on the couch by Hera and hugged her. "I''m so sorry, sweetie. This is all my fault." "Why? Did you put Wendigo bait in my bag?" Hera chuckled. "If I didn''t send you there, nothing would''ve happened. Hell, if I didn''t help to break the wall, all the Wendigos could still be in stasis." Hera hugged Helena back, "Lena. This is not your fault, none of this. The wall would go down if not that day than later. You may be amazing. But I highly doubt that your support would make or break the assault." "You are terrible at cheering people up. You know that?" Helena said. "Sorry, what was that? I couldn''t hear it," Hera turned her head, making her wounded ear face Helena. "HERA!" Helena cried. The duo laughed and stayed in each other''s arms for a while. As much as Hera was trying to play it cool, her wounds were still a problem. Luckily, the guild had also sent a healer to take care of her. He was coming from the 13th layer and would only arrive in the evening. But he would be making some house calls for a couple of days in order to heal all her wounds. Or at least that¡¯s what Peter had told her. ¡°Did something happen between you and that guy?¡± Hera asked, letting go of the hug. ¡°We worked together a while back. He¡¯s just an ass. He thinks that other people are beneath him and treats everyone as being too dumb to know all the information. They offered me his job before he got it and I think he still resent¡¯s me for that,¡± Helena replied as she went to the kitchen to grab Hera¡¯s coffee. Helena went back to her lab, asking Hera to call her if she needed anything. Thanks to the information and materials that Hera acquired during her journey, Helena felt close to a breakthrough in her research. Not only that, but she had been studying and developing new theories during the time she was working as a guild clerk. Hera understood her excitement, and it was nice being left alone. The last thing she wanted was to be treated as a sick patient. Hera was safe in the city and could rest for a while, even if it was incredibly boring. Watching tv, reading, listening to music, everything felt dull and mundane. With something playing on the TV, Hera looked through the medical coverage that the guild offered. She was still finding her reaction odd. No one should miss the feeling of fighting for their lives, right? Hera felt glad when she heard the doorbell ring, at least that was something to distract her. She was about to get up, but a yell came from the basement, "Don''t you dare get up, Hera! I''m coming." Helena quickly went up the stairs and headed to the door. The healers who treated Hera all said that she should be off her feet, or her wounds could reopen. She had been scolded so many times by Helena already that Hera stopped trying to move around. "Hera, you have visitors," Helena said as she walked back to the living room with Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Mark following her. Hera rolled her eyes, "Can you not phrase like I''m in the hospital?" "I''ll do that when you can raise your arms above your head," Helena replied with a playful smile. Hera squinted and attempted to raise her arms, but a sharp pain in her back stopped her from completing the motion. Blue rushed towards her, "Hera! Stop, are you ok?" "I''m fine." "No offense, but I''ve seen zombies that looked less like death," Mark said as he sat on the couch in front of her. "You can''t talk to a girl like this and then complain you''re single," Hera replied. "It''s a free MAZE, of course, I can," he replied. "That is really not the point," Alex shook her head. "It doesn''t matter. What happened?" Bonnie sat beside Hera. The explorer recounted the tale of her adventure to her friends. Talking about the pangolins, the Carbuncle and the one with a crystal scale, and then about the three-day fight with the panther. She avoided commenting about her feelings of boredom, not to seem weird to her friends. She wanted to talk to someone about this, to understand what it was. "Wait, so you leveled up?" Alex asked. "Yep, I''m level five now," Hera replied. "I kind of want to be angry since you didn''t wait for me," Blue pouted. "Did you get anything special for the level up? I mean, five is a milestone, right?" Mark asked. "Not really, just my regular stat up. My mana got a big boost since I kept cycling it to stay awake after the fight." "Really? What is it now?" Bonnie asked. Hera opened her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 5 Stats: Strength: 20 Endurance: 20 Agility: 20 Charisma: 20 Intelligence: 20 Luck: 20 Mana: 311/311 Remaining attribute points: 1 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina Mana Recovery Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s at 311," Hera replied with a smile. 133 - The Ceremony "Hera, sweetie. Are you sure you want to do this?" Helena asked as they were walking towards the doorway in Brinefront that led to the outside. "Not really. But Peter had a point. If I talk about what happened to you, maybe someone will have an idea. That''s why I set up the email," Hera replied. She was still hurt, but after the treatment she received from Cameron, the high-level healer, she felt much better. Even so, the wound on her back and her right leg were still a problem. She also had a couple of small cuts on her face and the burn on her ear, that according to all the staff that took care of her, it wasn''t worth fixing now since they should focus on the more significant wounds. "If you get too nervous, focus on us, ok? That is a trick that my dad taught me. Focus on a single person in the audience," Blue said. They all had come along with here. Helena had invited the group to stay at their house, living with them. All but Mark had accepted the offer, his workshop was in Brinefront, and the commute would be too much. Bonnie got very excited by the idea of helping Helena with her research, but to her dismay, Helena only allowed Hera inside her lab. Hera spent a lot of time thinking if she would accept the card. Silver cardholders were the majority among the guild. Most people who went past the 5th layer would eventually get it. Helena explained that she would also get a few perks. Discounted services from the guild, priority crossing on any doorway that had a checkpoint set up. And she would even have priorities if she wanted to rent an ATR. Lower layers didn''t have the training rooms exclusive for silver or gold members, but if she was waiting for a reservation and someone canceled theirs. The guild would let her know about it. There were also more crucial quests that would be available to her, but then again, those were rare to come by on lower layers. The main reason she agreed to the ceremony was so she could talk about Helena''s situation. The mage agreed to talk about it. That way, they could have a more extensive network of people with potential leads. No one was expecting much on the subject of actual treatments. But people might have clues about items or skills that could help. People could also share information about legacies, but that was very unlikely. No one was willing to give up the chance of getting one of those skills. As they entered the guild, the group was led to the terrace where their graduation party took place. They were received by a woman with a light tan, long chestnut hair, and thick glasses, wearing a salmon-colored skirt going to her ankles and a flower stamp t-shirt. "Oh, hi! Wow, that''s a big group," she looked around the new arrivals, "Hera must be... you right? I mean, the bruises give it away a bit." Hera nodded, "Yeah, that''s me. Sorry for this. I''m not much of a fan of makeup." "What? Oh no! No, no, no, I didn''t mean it like that. You look great. It''s just. You are the only one that seems to have been fighting to the death recently," the woman tried to explain. "Don''t worry. I get what you mean... Sorry, I didn''t catch your name," Hera said, turning on her customer service switch. When she worked in the bookstore, a few shoppers had similar reactions when talking to new people. Because of that, Hera was their regular attendant. "Oh, I didn''t say it, my fault, not yours. I''m Livia, Livia Erhis. Nice to meet you," Hera shook Livia''s hand, "Ok, so we were supposed to do the ceremony and then the interview. But there was a small change, and we are going to swap that. Is that ok?" Livia asked. "Sure. I''m not exactly excited for either. We can do it in any order," Hera said as Helena sighed. "I know, right? These things are so stuffy. I just want to get it over quickly. Having to dress up is really annoying. I wish I could go like this. But you look great!" Hera was wearing a long grey coat and a purple shirt with jeans and boots. Helena and Blue tried to convince her to use the dress she wore to their graduation, but she refused. Hera was already doing something that made her uncomfortable. The last thing she needed was an outfit that made it worse. "Thanks. So are we ready, or do we have to wait?" Hera asked. ¡°We are all ready. Let me introduce you to the interviewer," she led Hera to the back of the patio. Just before the stage, there was a setup with a few cameras and two chairs. There was a woman with pale blue hair and large white rings painted around her eyes that she recognized in one of them, "Hera, this is Becca Swan." "Hi, I recognize you from the assault. Did you manage to save your crew?" Hera asked while greeting Becca. "Well... save is a strong word. I helped them run away and held back one of the creatures before the cavalry arrived. It was mostly due to luck that we all get back." Hera nodded, "I can relate." Becca smiled, "I''m sure you do. Are you ready to start?" "Not really, but let''s go." Becca chuckled, "I said the same thing during my first broadcast. Now we are just gonna give you some basic makeup for the camera." Hera sat on the chair across from Becca, and the makeup artist came along. A few minutes later, the interview started. Most of the questions were very basic. What was the creature? Where did she find it? How was the fight? Things that Hera had answered more than a few times over the last few days. Then, Becca asked about her origins, where she came from, and how she became an explorer. This was the only question that Hera already knew about. It was also her cue to talk about Helena and the email address. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I know she will say I''m wrong. But I do feel like I owe everything to Helena. Without her, I wouldn''t be here, and the guild might not have this information. That''s why I set up that email, and I hope anyone who has any clues could reach out," Hera turned to the camera when asking for help and said the email address, following Becca''s directions. "That is a very noble thing you are doing. I hope you know that. Not only are you willing to risk your life for your friend, but you are also even reaching out. I think we can all take some inspiration from your selflessness," Becca shifted on the chair, "But now, you brought up an interesting point. Do you believe that the guild should remove the stat restriction for new recruits? You said it yourself if it wasn''t for Helena and some luck, you wouldn''t be here. Some people could have died if it wasn''t for you." The question surprised Hera. She wasn''t expecting something so political to be brought up. Removing the restriction was something that she never thought about. If the question were asked before getting her level up, she would''ve said yes in a heartbeat. But now, after that fight and know how dangerous the MAZE could be, she wasn''t sure. Hera started mumbling something in a low voice while trying to think. "It''s ok. Take your time. This is not live. We can cut to your answer," Becca said. Hera took a deep breath and organized her thoughts. When she was ready, she started speaking, "I don''t know. I don''t believe I''m experienced enough to give my opinion on the matter. It''s been less than three months since I started my life as an explorer. I can understand why the restriction is there, but I also know what it is like to be rejected by the guild. Yet, now I can''t say if they are right or wrong." Becca smiled, "Even high-level explorers would have trouble to give such a level-headed answer. Thank you for that. Now, let''s change the topic for a moment. What is it like to be the fastest silver cardholder that the guild ever had?" It was hard to get used to Becca''s way of interviewing. She would ask simple questions and follow it up with more heavy and complex topics. Hera wondered if that was a trick to make people drop their guard or let something slip. "Honestly, I''m not sure. By all accounts, it doesn''t make any sense. I didn''t hunt down the wendigo or went after a rumor. It was a coincidence, and I had to fight to survive. I still don''t know why they gave me the upgrade," Hera replied honestly. Becca turned to her crew and made a motion for them to cut the cameras, "I''m going to say this off the record because I hate when people are used without realizing. I think this is all a publicity stunt. The public''s view of the guild plummeted after the attack on the wall. Very few people actually trust the leadership now. They want to use you for a few things. First, to show that Wendigos are not the boogeymen, since even someone who barely started could beat them. Second, to have something to celebrate. The best way to make people forget a bad thing is to flood the news with other things. Third, they still need to show that Wendigos are not to be toyed with. I say that is even the reason for not healing fully before the interview and why they asked to have your wounded ear on camera." "But it''s the wrong side. The camera is only getting my left ear," Hera said. "Oops, I must have forgotten about their request. Oh, well. We have too much footage to redo the interview. They are going to have to deal with it," Becca waved her hand. Hera chuckled, "Thanks. For the advice too. But is it ok for you to say this here? And how can you be so sure they are doing that?" "Just a professional tip, but avoid asking more than one question at once. It''s easier for them to dodge it. And don''t worry. I trust my crew, and I''m guessing you trust your friends too. Even if someone here reports to a big shot. I¡¯ll be fine. Now, you can keep that reply, and maybe the guild will give you some trouble in the future. Or you can rephrase it and ask the questions without appearing so... aggressive." "And how can you be so sure about all that? I mean about the publicity stunt," Hera replied after considering her options. "I can''t say I''m sure, but I''ve been working with the guild long enough to understand how they think. I''m not just a reporter, but part of the PR team. If you end up doing something that might hinder what they want to achieve, the guild might retaliate. Then again, it won''t be like they will put a hit on you or something. It''s more like being in their good graces or not. For a situation like this, it seems a waste not to take advantage of it." Hera looked at her friends and nodded. Helena already had enough problems. She didn''t need to add the guild''s wrath to the list. "Let me try answering the question again," Hera said after putting some thought on the matter. Becca nodded and made a motion for the crew and spoke as if the interview had never stopped, "Even high-level explorers would have trouble to give such a level-headed answer. Thank you for that. Now, let''s change the topic for a moment. What is it like to be the fastest silver cardholder that the guild ever had? " "I''m not sure that it sank in yet. I mean, it''s a great honor, but am I worthy of it? I did what I did to survive, but at the same time, it helped the guild. I can only hope to prove that I truly deserve the silver card in the future." Becca smiled and asked a few more questions, mostly about her skills and dreams. Hera was focused on helping Helena, and she admitted that in the interview. Having enough content, Becca thanked her for her time and reassured Hera that her first answer wouldn''t be a part of the broadcast. After that, Livia returned wearing a black fitted suit with a white shirt and a black tie. It was like looking at someone else entirely. They set up for the ceremony, and as it was about to start, Livia took the podium. "Today, we are here to honor a member of our guild for her exemplary effort to help us all. As the guild master of the branch responsible for her training, it''s hard to put in words how proud I am of our graduate. She fought and defeated a Wendigo on her own. The creature was found in the first layer, and its body recovered, confirming reports that those monsters are not exclusive to the 25th layer. Yet, we must not forget the sacrifice that was made when these creatures first surfaced, and we must remain steadfast against their attacks...." Her speech lasted another half an hour. She was mostly talking about what the guild was doing to protect people against the Wendigos. At the end of it. Hera received her silver guild card. It had the same design and engravings, but now, her name was glowing. Even with all the weirdness of it all, Hera couldn''t help but feel emotional. Six months ago, her life was awful, and she could only pray for things to get better. Now, just three months after her level up. She was recognized as an honored explorer. 134 - Afterparty After the long ceremony, Hera went back to her friends. Helena was sitting on a chair with a satisfied expression. Alex and Bonnie listened to the speech in silence, but Mark was doing something on his tablet while Blue had dozed off and was now sleeping on Alex''s shoulders. Hera chuckled at the sight and woke her friend up. "Blue, Bluuuee, time to wake up," she said in a soft voice. "But I''m already in makeup," Blue mumbled as she awoke, "What happened? Is it starting?" "It just ended. We were lucky you didn''t start snoring," Bonnie said. "I don''t snore!" Blue turned around to face her. "Yeah, you do. But only when you drink," Hera, being the one who shared a room with the controller for a while, knew her sleeping habits. "So, what now? Can the real party get started?" Mark asked, putting away his tablet. "What party?" Hera looked at him with a puzzled expression. The group smiled, "You just got a silver card, sweetie. You think we are going to let that pass by?" Helena said. They dragged Hera downstairs and left the guild. In front of the building, waiting for them, was a black limo. Quinn was leaning against it wearing an open back, light blue dress. She rushed towards Hera as soon as the group arrived and gave her a big hug. "Congratulations! I''m so glad you''re ok," tears were forming in Quinn''s eyes. "Thanks, Quinn. I''m ok," Hera let go of the hug after a moment and saw Quinn''s mascara starting to run, "What''s wrong? Are you hurt?" "Of course not. I''m just terrified. Lena told me how banged up you were. You guys might be used to this, but I''m not," her voice was trembling. Helena walked towards Quinn and gave her a hug, pulling Hera to join her, "I''m sorry. Sometimes I forget how hard that can be for civilians. I''ll be more careful when talking about these things next time." Quinn shoved her head between the two, "You better. Or I''m posting all the pictures I have of you." Helena chuckled, "Deal." Bonnie and the rest were watching the scene. It felt like an intimate moment, and they still had no idea who the woman in the blue dress was. She turned to the side and saw Blue''s and Mark''s expression. "Do you two need help to close your jaws?" Bonnie stared at them. "I''m about to turn into a wolf cartoon, gimme a minute," Mark replied. Blue didn''t even acknowledge the commentary. It was the first time she had seen someone so beautiful. "I think we lost her," Alex said while looking at her friend. A few moments later, Hera turned around and introduced Quinn to the group," These are Alex, Mark, Blue, and Bonnie. They are part of my class and my current party." "It''s a pleasure to meet you all. Sorry for this scene. These two made me very worried the past few weeks," Quinn greeted the group while trying to fix up her running makeup. "Don''t worry, we understand. Hera had a similar reaction when Helena went missing," Alex said. "Hey! I wasn''t crying," Hera protested. "Yes, you were," Blue and Bonnie replied together. Hera tried to come up with a reply, but her mind was a blank. She turned to Quinn, "Anyway, where are we going?" looking at the limo, Hera started to turn pale, "Oh no. Please don''t tell me we have to change?" "Don''t worry. I''m the only one who dressed up. After all, I''m the only civilian in the group. I need to work more to stand out," Quinn replied while playing with her dress. "Oh, please. Like you need an excuse to dress up," Helena rolled her eyes. "Shush, This is not about me," Quinn grabbed Hera''s hand, pulling her to the limo, "Now let''s go." "Go where?" Hera asked, but no one replied. ################################### A man in a suit opened the door to a large office on the top floor of the building. In the middle of the office, there was a single desk with a stack of paper on one side and a bald man with ebony skin sitting on the other side, rubbing his eyes. The vast skyline of the country''s biggest city could be seen behind him through a glass wall. "Excuse me, sir. The latest report just arrived," the man said while walking towards the desk. "Have you read it?" The man stopped walking. He knew his boss enough to recognize his annoyed voice. "Yes, I have, sir." "Summarize it for me, please. I''m tired of translating that scientist''s jargon." The man gulped. His words might seem polite, but he knew that it wasn''t a request. Yet, he barely understood what the report said. The language was complicated, and most of it talked about things that were previously agreed upon or sent to someone. He had no idea how to explain it. "Yes, of course. The report said that...¡± he started fumbling through the pages, ¡°after extensive testing, they increased the control group as presented by team A. The results from lab 4 were underwhelming, but they led to a breakthrough in lab 2. Team F reports that the first batch shows promising results, and in the coming months, they will be able to confirm if their system works," the man explained while looking at the file, trying to make sense of all the data. As he raised his eyes, he was met with the cold stare of his boss. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Is that all?" He fumbled through the pages, making sure he didn''t forget anything, "Team F also requested an increase of 15% on their emergency fund. There were more complications than expected with the development." "Very well, leave the report. And you can go." "Yes, sir," he placed the report on the side of the desk, not to disturb the rest of the paperwork, and headed to the door. "Turner." The man froze and turned around slowly. His boss was staring at the paperwork in front of him. "I hope you can improve your presentation skills. If not, we might need to discuss a change in your career at this company." Turner felt his palms sweating. He could only pray that the report didn''t get wet, "I''m sorry, sir. I will do better next time." "Very well. There won''t be a third." The bald man waited for his assistant to leave before pressing a button under his desk. It locked the doors and triggered a soundproof barrier around the room. He got up from his chair and looked to the view. There was a number already dialed on his phone. All it needed was for him to press a button. Staring out of the window, he enjoyed the skyline for a moment before completing the call. "Isn''t it a bit late for a call, Morgan?" the voice on the other side asked. "Not for this. The project seems to be going well. I need you to speed up things on your end. It needs to be done by the end of the month." "Ah, sure. Do you want some coffee while I''m at it? Or maybe I should go to your office and give you a lap dance. Better yet, I can bring some vaseline and you can¡­" There was a moment of silence. Morgan watched a plane that was taking off from the airport. Maybe he should pay his associate a visit. Some people needed to be reminded of who placed them where they are now. "I''m sorry, Morgan. That crossed a line." "At least you still admit your mistakes, Romeo." "But still, Morgan.." Morgan cut him off before the voice on the phone could finish his sentence, "Romeo, I called you as a friend, but after that lack of respect, I would rather continue this discussion as a business partner. Please, refrain from addressing me so casually." There was another pause, "I''m sorry, Mr. Waaberi." "No matter. Now, I will say this only once. We need to change our timeline. We will have results that need to be followed up in the next month. I expect that you will be there to protect our interests." "But sir..." Romeo wanted to protest, but he already had angered Morgan too much. "If you have a valid concern, speak your mind. This is a partnership. Your thoughts on the matter must be considered," Morgan said. Romeo knew that those were just empty words. The only thoughts that matter were Morgan''s, still. It wasn''t the right time, "Mr. Waaberi, sir. This is too soon. We already used the wall to cover one thing. If we put another under it, people might connect the dots." "That''s why we need you in a position where you can scramble the lines that connect to me." "But, Mr. Waaberi..." The voice was cut off once more, "Romeo, this is not a request." There was another moment of silence before the reply came, "I''ll get it done, sir." Morgan hung up the phone. He walked back to his desk and opened the last drawer. Removing the fake bottom, there were a dozen brand new cellphones, all made by his company. He picked one of them and placed it in the charger. Raising the other hand, the phone that he just used to make a call started to float, and then to be crushed by its own gravity, turning into a perfectly smooth and round ball, about the size of a bottle cap. He placed the marble on the top of a small pyramid made of magnets that decorated his desk and went back to his paperwork. ################################### "Man, I forgot how funny that movie was," Alex said as they left the theater. "Me too, ''Just a flesh wound,'' must be the best line in cinema history," Bonnie laughed. "I had no idea you could rent an entire movie theater. This was awesome, guys, thanks," Hera before tripping and having to catch herself. "I had no idea Mai Tais were so gooood. I had like twelve," Mark''s voice was slurped, albeit no one was much better. "I forgot how much I liked popcorn. We need to get some when we are back home," Helena said as she stuffed herself with the leftovers. "YEAH, Let''s get a popcorn machine! What do you think, Blue?" Alex cheered and turned around, "Blue?" "Where is she?" Hera asked. "And where is Quinn?" Mark started looking around. Alex walked back towards the movie theater and suddenly stopped before a small alley. She turned to the group and made a motion for them to stay quiet. They all gathered behind Alex and looked at where she was pointing. Quinn was pressing Blue against the wall in the alley while the two were in a heavy make-out session. Quinn, who was at least 20 centimeters shorter than Blue, and much less muscular, seemed to be taking the reins, while Blue just looked like a toy in her arms. "Oh, no. Not again," Helena sighed, "Sorry, guys. I need to stop this, or we are taking a trip to the police station." Helena walked towards the couple who didn''t notice her presence. Using her cellphone flashlight, she flashed both her eyes and made her voice a couple of levels lower. "Stop doing that in the middle of the street, or I''m taking you in." Quinn quickly let Blue go, "Sorry, officer. We got a bit heated up. It won''t happen again." "Sorry, miss, but you are coming with me. A night in a cell will put out your fire," Helena continued. Blue didn''t understand what was going on. The person holding the light was clearly Helena. She looked back and saw the rest of the group calling her and holding back their laughter. Carefully sneaking out, she joined her friends. "Please office. It won''t happen again, I swear," Quinn begged. "That''s what you said during Mardi gras, New year''s eve, and during your teacher''s farewell party," Helena broke character in the middle of the sentence, letting a small chuckle escape. "How do you..." Quinn blocked the light with her hand, "LENA!" The group started laughing, watching the scene. Even Blue, who was a bit lost, joined in. The two in the alley went back to the group as they walked through the night. After a few moments, Helena and Quinn talked behind the group while Hera pulled Blue to the front. "Hey, are you sure about this? I mean, you are not too drunk to make decisions are you?" Hera asked. "Nah, I''m good. I''m more worried about Mark. He''s a step away from a blackout." "Don''t change the subject. Are you sure? She is much older than you. You know that?" Hera pressed on the matter. "I know. And relax, we talked about this. It''s going to be just a casual thing." Alex, who was walking just a few steps behind them, jumped towards and placed one arm around each of them, "Be honest. Is this just because of the Brazilian chick who gave you blue balls?" Blue let out a sigh, "It''s not. But you know what. I deserve to let out some steam. Being this pent up is probably bad for my health." Hera laughed, "Fine, you are both adults. Just let me say one thing. If you hurt her, the fastest silver cardholder will beat you up." "Hey! What''s with that? I met you first, and you are defending her? I''m a catch! I''m the one you should be worried about," Blue pushed her friend away, laughing. "Oh, I am, and that''s why I''m telling Quinn the exact same thing," Hera spun around and went to the back of the group to talk to Quinn. She had no problems if her friends decided to hook up, but the first one to mess up would have to answer to her. 135 - Boredom Blue and Alex were heading out of Helena''s house on Hazelpond. During Hera''s recovery, the two of them moved in. Bonnie could also come and share a room, but she had too much work to do in the library, and without access to Helena''s laboratory, it was hard for her to do the quests that she got. Helena only said that they would try to get a house near a place closer to a main branch of the guild. Hera watched her friends leave the house. They were going to spend the day hunting around the city with Runir. He and Alex had gotten closer during the time they were working as mercenaries, and the man was starting to get annoyed by how some people would treat him. Unlike how it was in games, Healer couldn''t simply fix any wound. That was something that would only become available later on. Runirs''s abilities consisted of removing status effects like poison, increasing the defense of someone for a few seconds, or creating barriers that could reduce the power of an attack. His actual healing abilities were very simple, much like Hera''s Mend spell. It would work as first aid, but even with the spell''s constant use, the recovery would take a few days, depending on its severity. Hera wanted to go with them, but her wounds still weren''t completely healed. Cameron was still treating her, and according to him, Hera still needed two days to be back in fighting shape. It was to be expected. To let an injury like that heal naturally would take months and leave a permanent scar on her back. Thanks to the guild and Cameron, it would only take a bit over a week for her to be able to hunt again. She was trying to appreciate what everyone had done for her, but staying inside and not being able to train was boring. It gave her too much time with her own thoughts. She spent most of her days practicing spells. Mostly the mana reinforcement, but she still wasn''t quite there. She could cover an entire weapon with the diamond-shaped construct, but every time she tried to close the structure, the energy would break away. Hera asked Helena for some advice, but she only said that Hera should try to understand the spell. Worst-case scenario, she would explain what was going on, but the spell was good practice for the future. She tried it a few more times, and with each attempt, the time needed to cover the weapons reduced. The first time she reached the point where it broke, took Hera ten minutes to make the construct. Now, in two minutes, she was able to cover the weapon as she wanted. The only thing missing was the connection at the edge. During several attempts, she had tried various solutions. Creating a separate bridge and then attaching it to close the gap, placing two strands of mana side by side. Now she wanted to see if there was a way to intertwine the mana, it would break the idea of the overall construct, but she had to try something. Yet when the two pieces of mana touched each other, the entire structure broke apart once more. "Argh, why does this keep happening?" Hera dropped her chakram on the couch. She looked at her tablet and saw a couple of notifications. One was from Mark. He was about to finish a gift he wanted to give her for getting the silver card and asked if he could come by tomorrow to give it to her. Hera replied that she would be around the house the entire day. She was bothered by not being able to move too much, and walking around the town was complicated due to the number of people on the streets. The second message was from the guild. It was a reminder that her first session with a shrink was scheduled to start in one hour. There weren''t a lot of psychiatrists in the MAZE. Because of that, the guild had set up a few rooms in each branch that worked as large-scale video conferences. A screen on the back of the room would transmit the image from the doctor''s office while the patient could stay on the other side. That way, there was no need to employ psychiatrists in every room. Oddly enough, Hera was able to set up an appointment quickly. According to the clerk that helped her with it, not many people would look for the doctors. That seemed insane for Hera. She always had the philosophy that everyone should take care of their mental health. Ignoring that, especially in a place where death was a constant threat, was just plain stupid. When she talked about the appointment, her friends understood that she needed to speak to someone about what happened, but aside from Bonnie, no one seemed interested in the idea. Still, there wasn''t much she could do. Maybe if it helped her enough, they would change their minds. "Lena, I''m heading to the guild. I''ll be back later." "Don''t try to use an ATR. I asked the people there to bar you from renting one," the voice came from the closed basement door. "I''m not going to. I have the session today," Hera replied. "Oh, right. I hope it helps." By the sound of her voice, Hera was sure that Helena was already diving back into her work before even finishing the sentence. The speed at which the mage was able to fall back into high concentration mode was staggering. Hera had to ask if that was an actual skill or just her way of working. Hera left, heading towards the guild. It didn''t take long for her to reach the building, but the crowded streets made her restless. The wound on her back was very delicate right now, and she had no way of protecting the area. She was wearing a leather jacket borrowed from Alex, but still wasn''t enough. She wanted to be wearing armor. Using regular clothes inside the MAZE made her feel like she was naked. She still had time before the session. It would be a good idea to check the voucher. After all, she still had to order and wait for it to be made before actually using it. She talked to the clerk. He explained how to contact the blacksmith. The guild had set up a terminal where she could browse through the crafters'' portfolio and look for someone who matched the style and attributes that she wanted. After that, she could send a message directly to the person asking about whatever she wanted. That was available to anyone, and people could order armor there at any moment. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. She headed to the terminal and started browsing. The first thing she noticed was the over five million results, and those were only the crafters that worked with commissions for the guild. People who were starting off or were private contractors weren''t on the list. Usually those crafters had specific abilities, or better prices than the ones working for the guild. Not that they were better or worse, it was simply the difference between online shopping and going out to a store. Out of curiosity, she looked at the most expensive armors available. The same person made the top four. They were armors that seemed to come straight out of superhero comic books. They had several moving parts, a guidance system inside it, as well as several defensive and offensive mechanisms. It wouldn''t be weird to call them vehicles instead of armors. When she noticed the price, she almost fell back. Just a single one of those armors, without any added capabilities, would cost 10 million platinum. That was 1 trillion gold! Who could have so much money? Looking at the materials, Hera kind of understood why they were so expensive. Aside from several electronics that had to be custom made by a large company, the ores and substances needed to create the armor all had rare sounding names. 50 Sky dragon emperor''s hearts. 80 square meter of skins of eternal mammoths. 10 souls of the ocean. 1 vial of blood of the unspeakable. The list went on, quoting another 200 different materials. There was also a note saying that each material provided would reduce the cost by the appropriate amount. If someone could provide all the materials, the price would drop to around 50 billion gold. It was still an absurd amount. To top it all off, after buying the armor, the order would be put on a waitlist, and when it was its turn, the production would take another six months. She stopped looking at something so absurd and changed the filters to match her budget. Aside from the 10 000 gold voucher, she also got 8 500 gold from the wendigo''s corpse. It was supposed to be over 15 000, but after checking its condition, they noticed that her poison destroyed parts that could be used for research. Her chakram also made the price lower. As she fought, the blade broke down the mana circulation of places that it hit. That created the necessity of repairing the connections before using the skin and muscle of the beast. She didn''t want to use all her money in a single purchase, but after facing the Carbuncle and the Wendigo, it became clear that she needed to prioritize her armor. Considering she already a fair amount of money saved up, Hera set her budget to 15 000 gold. That should allow her to get an armor strong enough to last a while. She knew that it wouldn''t be something that would stay with her for a long time. But unlike a game, when it didn''t matter if she saved up for gear at later levels, she couldn''t be stingy when talking about her own life. She set up the filter to match her budget and started searching for her new gear. Scrolling through the options, Hera started to notice some patterns. Every armor had a defense rating, an ability rating, and an overall rating. Among the ones that she could buy, none had an overall rating above D, but a few had C ranked defense. Two things seemed to inflate the prices, the defense rating, and the abilities. Another thing that increased the price was attribute scaling. Armors that could become stronger as the one wearing them grew were a must later on, but now, not all had that option. Buying one with the scaling seemed like a good idea, even if it could be a problem later on. All her statues were at 19, and even someone focusing on a single attribute like Alex only had her agility at 22. In the future, that would be a big issue since her stats would be more balanced. Although she might be able to use armors that scale with multiple attributes, it still wouldn''t be enough to cover the difference in stats. Hera spent almost half an hour looking at the options. They all seemed interesting, but it was hard to decide. She noticed that some armors had a high defense rating and even attribute scaling, but were much cheaper than others. Seeing the options, she understood what happened. Those armors had terrible synergy. One had a skill that would increase the power of spells, but scaled with strength. Another could create a barrier around the user based on its endurance but had charisma scaling. Those felt like armors that someone who had money problems would get since they couldn''t afford anything better or fit only people who had less conventional builds. She wondered for a moment why people would make armor like that. It didn''t take long for her to remember a conversation with Mark. According to him, when a crafter created something new, the results wouldn''t always be what they wanted. Even in those cases, the blueprint would still be saved by the skill. Hera kept looking for something that fit her, but nothing felt right. She had only twenty minutes before her appointment and was about to give up for now when she saw a different armor among the works of one particular crafter. The gear had scaled with Intelligence and Agility. Its defense rating was D+, and when hit, the armor would let out an energy blast as a counter-attack. She could toggle the skill on and off, and while on, the burst would happen with any impact that crossed a certain threshold. If she had that, the carbuncle wouldn''t have made such a large gash on her back. The only thing that bothered Hera about the armor was its design. The chest and legs were in a single piece. It was tight fitting and had a skirt with a large opening in the middle on both sides. The armor also covered the neck, leaving just a small gap that started just above the collarbone. The arms would go just above the elbow, having some loose on the edges, and there was a pair of armguards that accompanied it. The crafter would also throw in boots to match, but they had no special effects, just like the armguards. The price was only 13 000 gold. She could use it and still have some left. Hera sent a message to the crafter asking about the strength of the energy blast considering her attribute and if he would be able to make the boots or the armguards have some special effect while staying under her budget. She also asked if there was a way to change the color of the armor. In the picture, it was bright gold and blue that would be too easy to spot in the wild. She left the terminal after sending the message, already heading to her doctor''s appointment. While she was in the waiting room, the crafter replied. To Hera, the blast would be as strong as the bounce of a basketball. It wouldn''t harm anyone, but it could push them away. He couldn''t make the boots or armguards better, but he could make them easier to enchant, which would raise the price by 1 000. Changing the color would also cost between 500 to 750 gold, depending on her choice. He attached a list of colors available and told her that he could have it done in two days and another day to deliver since it was a guild commission. Hera agreed to the terms and would create the order as soon as she returned to the guild. She remembered that she could reach out to Peter to get more funds, but she rather pay herself than to owe that obnoxious man anything. "Hera Kingsley, please come in," a voice came from the doctor''s office. 136 - Home Cooking Hera left her session feeling a bit better. According to the psychiatrist, the feeling of boredom she had wasn''t that uncommon, especially among people who spent years inside the MAZE. For beginners, it was less common, but it also happened. Hera was someone who spent years dreaming about being an explorer. Because of that, doing anything that could be considered part of a civilian''s life made her feel like she was wasting time. It wasn''t something serious, but it was good that she sought help. Before leaving the guild, she stopped by the commission terminal and requested her new armor. Unlike the shop she visited in the Carpon Caverns, the payment had to be made in full as she completed the order. It didn''t bother her as much since it was all guaranteed by the guild. If something happened, she would be reimbursed, or they would commission a new armor following her request. The order also required a full-body scan. Luckily for Hera, she had made a few of those during the last few days of treatment. Even if she had to do it again, it wouldn''t be a problem. This branch of the guild had only a single one of those machines, but people used it mostly to request armors and sometimes as part of a medical procedure so the wait to use it wasn¡¯t very long. As Hera left the guild, she sent a text to Blue and Alex, asking what they wanted for dinner. She would stop by somewhere and pick it up on the way back. It didn''t take long for them to reply, and Hera headed to the market. She had to kill time somehow. Cooking might not be something she excelled at, but at least it was fun, and more importantly, it was a way to stay busy and not thinking about hunting. Hera picked a basket and started gathering the ingredients for spaghetti with meatballs. Since Blue asked for pasta and Alex just wanted some meat, it was a fitting choice. She grabbed some noodles, veggies, and the grounded meat that she was going to use. She splurged a bit and got the cow meat for the meal. It had to be imported from the outside in this room, so the price was steeper than frog meat. Still, she deserved some luxury. Even after all her spending, she still had over 5 000 gold in her account. Buying some meat wouldn''t put her on the red. As she waited in line to pay, Helena sent her a text asking if she could buy food for Runir too, Alex wanted to invite him for dinner, but she asked Helena''s permission first. She was next in line but had to leave to get more ingredients. The amount in her basket wasn''t enough for five people. She grabbed more ingredients, got back in line, and arrived at her home in less than 40 minutes. "Are they here yet?" Hera asked as she walked in. "No, but they should be close. What did you get me?" Helena asked from the basement. "Nothing yet. I''m making spaghetti and meatballs." There was a moment of silence, followed by hurried steps coming from the lab. Helena slammed the door open. "Wait, are you cooking?" she asked as she arrived in the kitchen. "Yeah... I mean, we can order in, but I was in the mood. Is that a problem?" Hera was already setting up the pans on the stove. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we have people coming." Hera stared at Helena, "Lena, I can cook. I''m not a grand chef, but I can make some dishes. Why are you so worried?" "No... I know. I mean, you told me... But... The last roommate I had was Quinn, and let''s just say that we could create some pretty deadly bioweapons." Hera chuckled, "Relax. Let me do my thing. I promise no one is going to get sick. Unless it''s because of an allergy that I don''t know about. Actually, let me check." She sent a text to Blue, who confirmed that the only one with any allergies was Runir. He couldn''t eat shellfish. Since it wasn''t going to matter for the dish she was making, Hera got back to preparing their meal. She was about halfway through when her friends arrived. The meatballs were already in the oven, the pasta was in the pan, and she was making the sauce. "Hey. We''re back!" Blue announced as she walked in with Alex and Runir, "Where did you get the food?" "Nowhere. I''m making it right now. Give me, like, 15 minutes, and it will be done," Hera said, adding garlic, onions, and oregano to the chopped tomato in the pan. "Hold up. You are cooking?" Alex rushed to the kitchen. "Yep. I was in the mood, and the shrink suggested making myself busy while I can''t go hunting." "That''s awesome. What are we having?" Blue asked. "Spaghetti with Meatball surprise," Hera replied, puffing her chest. "What''s the surprise?" Runir asked. "It wouldn''t be fun if I told you guys. But relax, there is no shellfish in the recipe. I promise," Hera was already heating the sauce. "No worries. Even if there was, I''m pretty sure I can keep myself alive until I reach the guild or get a shot." "Let''s not put that to the test today, shall we? I just stopped worrying about her. I don''t want to worry about someone else right now," Helena started setting up the table. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The group kept talking by the kitchen door while Hera was cooking. Runir asked a few questions about the Wendigo that Hera fought. He had seen her interview and was curious about a few details. After a few minutes, the food was done, and they all headed to the dinner table. "Holy crap, Hera. This looks amazing!" Blue was already getting her serving. "Wow, it really does. Much better than the charcoal I make," Helena started serving the drinks. "Ok, and what is the surprise?" Alex placed a meatball on her plate and started to cut it. "Don''t do it like that. They are not that big, you can just take a bite out of them," Hera complained since Alex was about to spoil the surprise. Alex squinted at Hera for a moment and put the meatball in her mouth without breaking eye contact. Her expression changed from skepticism to wonder in just a moment, "Is this... Wow, it''s incredible!" "I''m glad you liked," Hera sat down, waiting for her turn to put food on her plate. They all tried the meatballs almost instantly. Hera cut some potatoes in small cubes, fried them, then wrapped it in bacon and cheese, and stuffed the meatballs with them. The result was a golden outside with layers of soft and crispy in the middle. Meatballs were a dish that Hera always enjoyed making. It allowed her to experiment with different flavors without ruining the taste. They kept talking while eating, joking around, and having fun. Hera was interested in the ways the group was fighting the crocodiles around the city. Finishing the meal, the group headed to the living room to talk. Hera had forgotten to make a dessert, but they still had a stash of chocolate and various candies. "Ms. Dittro, do you mind if I ask you a question about leveling?" Runir turned to Helena. She looked around and noticed that he was staring at her, "Do I have something in my teeth?" "No, Runir is just asking if you can answer a question," Blue said, unsure why Helena reacted like that. "Wait. I''m Misterio?" Helena looked confused. "No. I said, Ms. Dittro," Runir explained, embarrassed by the situation. "OH! Sorry. I think you are the first person to call me Ms. Ditrro since... Ever. What was the question?" "I just got a spell that is classified as a battle heal. Do you know if that is something exclusive for healers?" "Not really. I have a couple, but healers have an easier time not going over the residual mana," Helena replied. Hera, Blue, and Alex stared at each other. They had no idea what the two were talking about. "What is a battle heal?" Alex asked. "You know that spell I used during the last fight? To heal the cut that Blue got on her face?" Runir asked. "Yeah, what about it?" "That is a battle heal. A spell that uses the residual mana from an attack to recover. From what I can understand, it uses the mana that the attack left on you, plus my mana, to replicate the cells on your body. But it needs to be used right after the attack hits. Mine has only a three second window," Runir explained. Hera thought about it for a moment, "And isn''t that what happens with regular heals?" "Not quite, sweetie. Regular heals make your body trigger its natural regeneration at an accelerated pace, fuelled by the magic poured in the wound. It''s like giving your cells twenty shots of expresso," Helena said, taking a piece of white chocolate. "Can anyone learn those?" Hera asked. "Yep, but it''s hard. Spells like that require a deep knowledge of anatomy. If I''m not mistaken, part of the healer''s test is to memorize all the bones in the human body, right?" Helena turned to Runir. "Not all, but we need to memorize about two-thirds. And some anatomy lessons for organs, muscles and everything else. That''s part of the reason I failed the first time. I spent the next week studying like crazy," Runir grabbed a few gummy bears and was throwing them up to catch with his mouth. "Don''t feel frustrated. 40% of the recruits fail the test the first time. The number goes up to 75% for healers. We wanted to make a better way to prepare the students for the role they want, but since the first part of the test gives you a bit of career advice, it''s hard to prepare you guys for it." "Yeah, my entire class failed their role tests, but after we passed the test in the second try, they all were recruited by a company and headed to another branch. I wasn''t too keen on being a goon for a corporation, and a friend of mine is already here in the Carpon Caverns, waiting for me," Runir sat back on the couch. "Speaking of that. When are we going to the next room?" Blue asked. "Blue, we are still level 4. And Hera is out of commission for the next few days," Alex replied. "But we are awesome. You can kill those crocodiles on your own without a problem, and we have Runir. When Hera is clear to go, we might as well try." "Blue, I''m not sure if that is a good idea. The things there will be much stronger," Hera placed one hand on Blue''s shoulder. "Actually, you guys might be fine there. You''ve been working together for a while. And not many parties would have a healer, not to count Runir''s friend. I''m guessing he''s been there a while, right?" Helena asked. "Yeah, he just got to level 7, apparently." "So, you guys might be able to handle there. Just don''t go in a dungeon right away. Fight some monsters that roam the caverns as a test run. If they are too much, you can come back and train more before going there again," Helena finished eating her chocolate bar. "I''m game," Blue said. "Honestly, me too. This place is too slimy. Everything here keeps reminding me of the frogs," Alex joined in. "I''m fine too. Honestly, this past week working with you, Alex was much better than being a merc. I was wondering if I could join your party," Runir admitted. "I have no objections," Blue said. "Me neither," said Hera. "Welcome aboard then," Alex toasted to the new member. "All right, tomorrow we head to the next room!" Blue shouted, throwing a fist into the air. "I''m still prohibited from fighting for the next two days, and my armor only arrives after that," Hera said without getting up. "Aw man," Blue slumped back in the chair. "Are you guys always this rowdy?" Runir asked. "That''s mostly Blue. We are the ones who have to pull her back from the clouds," Alex took a sip of her wine. "Hey!" Blue protested. Helena just laughed at the situation, "I might need to install a noise-canceling field in my lab." "It''s a good idea," Hera chuckled. She knew that there were still some days before she could hunt again, but now there was one more reason to be excited. 137 - A gift The doorbell rang as Hera was in the middle of doing the dishes. "I''ll be right there!" she shouted before washing away the soap on her hands. Heading to the door, Hera heard some noises coming from the basement. The first time that happened, she rushed downstairs, but now, Hera was used to the noises Helena made while working. She arrived at the door and opened to see who the visitor was. "Hey, Hera. Glad to see you walking in a straight line again," Mark smiled. "Hi, Mark. It''s nice being able to understand you again. How bad was your hangover?" Hera asked as the two entered the house. "I spent the day cursing and vowing never to drink again. I really need to learn a spell to cure hangovers." "Alex has one. It''s called Bloody Mary, but it didn''t work that well with me," Hera said as they arrived in the living room. "Oh, Mary. How sweet is your taste and how devilish is your grin," Mark joked as he sat on the couch. "Since when are you so poetic?" "Just trying something new. Does it fit me?" "Not in the slightest. Do you want some coffee?" ¡°Can you give me some water? I never liked coffee." ¡°We went to a coffee shop almost every day during training and now you tell me that?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°Well, they had other drinks. Not my fault no one noticed that I never got coffee,¡± Hera nodded and went to the kitchen. She returned with a cup of water for mark and coffee for her, "How is life as a crafter? We didn''t talk about that during the party." "Honestly, it''s pretty fun. I like working with my hands, and I''m thinking about focusing on accessories. Armors and weapons are fun to make, but I enjoy the delicate work," Mark smiled while he spoke. "I''m glad. Honestly, I still think about the crafter role skill. But I need to get the mage one first," Hera said, staring at her coffee. "Is something going on?" Mark asked. "No, well yeah, but nothing serious. I''m having trouble figuring a spell out," Hera admitted. She felt like she was stuck with the mana reinforcement, but Helena still wasn''t willing to give her the solution. "I''m not Bonnie, but if you want some help, I''m here. I mean, I got a couple of spells, although they are more useful in a forge." "Really? What spells?" Hera asked. Mark raised one hand, making a small fire appeared on his palm, "This one is just called flame. I use it to maintain the temperature of the metal. It doesn''t do the same as the forge, but it helps. And the other is kind like Bonnie''s frost bomb, but just a gust of cold air." "And how did you learn those spells? You got a formula or..." "I use formulas. It''s funny cause I always sucked at math, but using it for spells makes a lot of sense." "Oh, I use the subjective approach. I picture the spell and make it work. It''s much harder than it seems. For instance, the mana reinforcement that I''m trying to get. I need to cover the weapon in a diamond-shaped structure. But when I make the last connection, it all breaks apart," Hera grabbed a piece of paper and made a rudimentary drawing of what she saw while trying to use the spell. The mana wasn''t visible. It was something she had to feel. "I see," Mark thought for a moment, "I can''t say why, but it reminds me of Prince Rupert''s Drop." "What''s that?" "It''s when you drip liquid glass in water. It creates a tadpole-like thing that is close to impossible to be smashed. Even a hydraulic press has some trouble to shatter it. But if you just grab some nail clippers and try to cut the tail, the entire thing explodes. Basically, the pressure inside it is too strong and makes the structure that resilient, but the whole thing collapses if you hit a weak spot. Maybe it''s something like that. The connection is the weak spot." Hera considered it for a moment, it was a way to look at it, but she still felt like something was missing, "Thanks. I''ll try something later. It''s a shame I can''t use formulas for my spells. That flame one would be great for when I''m away from the city. And I wouldn''t need to burn my head to fix my ear," Hera laughed. "Speaking of which. Here is your present," Mark picked a small black velvet box from his bag. "Is that jewelry? Are you coming on to me, Mark?" Hera gave him a playful smile. "Yeah, wanna grab dinner sometime?" Mark replied, looking Hera in her eyes. Hera instantly turned red. She looked to the side, feeling embarrassed. Mark was a good looking man. His messy black hair framed well his face, and his light brown eyes were very beautiful. But it was Mark. Hera didn''t have any romantic feelings for him. "Mark... I''m sorry, I..." Hera started but was interrupted by a laugh. "Oh, man, you should have seen your face," Mark smirked. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Hera took a moment to understand it was just a joke, "That was a low blow, man," she sat back on the chair and crossed her arms. "Oh, c''mon, you guys always tease me. Let me have this one," Mark placed the velvet box in front of Hera, "Now seriously. Take a look. I promise it is not a gag." Hera squinted at him and picked the box. Inside it, there were a pair of earrings. However, they were supposed to be attached to the top of the ear, almost like armor for the cartilage. They were made in a silver metal plate with several engravings of weapons. As she picked them up, Hera noticed that one of the earrings was heavier. It was a solid piece instead of a clip-on. If she wore both, it would be impossible to see the missing piece on her ear. She felt tears forming in her eyes, "Mark..." He just smiled, "I may be oblivious to most things, but I doubt you were as chill with that as you appeared. You don''t have to use it, and I honestly hope it comes to a point where you don''t want to. Until then, you have a way to at least pretend and avoid weird stares." Hera brushed away the tears, "You know. My shrink just told me that I should stop running from my problems. But thanks. Let me go put them on," she got up and headed to the bathroom. As Mark was sitting on the couch, he let out a long sigh, "At least now I know that this a one-sided crush. I hope it won''t take too long for me to move one," he mumbled. A few minutes later, Hera came back, "How do I look?" "Badass, you look like those rocker chicks. Or an explorer that has seen some shit." Hera chuckled, "That''s not wrong." Mark got up and walked to her side, "May I take a look? I wanna be sure it fits properly, and it won''t hurt you." "Sure," Hera moved to the side, letting the light hit her ear. Mark checked the structure of the earrings. He was worried about it being too heavy for the ear, but it seems like making it hollow was the right move. The clips on the side would be enough to hold it in place, and the part that connected to the bottom would make it hard for it to fall off. As he touched her ear, Hera confirmed that she had no romantic feelings for him. She felt a bit awkward, but not embarrassed during the entire time. Her heart also kept a steady beat. "Yeah, I guess this will be ok. If anything happens, please let me know," Mark said. "Will do. And I didn''t check it, but do they have any properties?" Hera asked. "No, sorry. I did try to make something special, but I''m not good enough to do that just yet." "Don''t worry. It''s amazing!" Hera kept touching the earrings. The two talked for some time before Mark leaving. He still wanted to head back to Brinefront today. Hera gave him a big hug and thanked him one more time. She even walked him to the docks so that he wouldn''t be alone for a long time. After going back home, Hera remembered to inspect the earrings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera''s Earguards Created by a beginner crafter, the earings are made to protect both the ear as well as the appearance of someone who has a missing piece on the ear. The materials used have a slight magical affinity, but no effect was created due to the crafter''s lack of experience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°He even named them after me,¡± Hera smiled as she stared at the earrings, ¡°I¡¯m definitively going to pay him back.¡± During the next few days, Hera kept working on her spells. She had increased her regeneration mastery by 1% and tested her Blinding Flash a few times. She also tried to practice her etching, but she had to be careful not to increase the skill too much since she wanted to get her synch. On the day she was waiting for her armor, the last day she had to wait before hunting again, Hera went to one ATR. She felt rusty after spending so long waiting for her recovery and desperately needed to practice. She rented a room for most of the day. Cameron had given her the all clear to go back to heavy workouts, as long as she stopped if she felt anything wrong. Typically, even with the heals, she would need to stay a few more days resting and doing some light workouts, but this was a perk of having a high-level healer taking care of her. Hera just kept practicing both the Wire Trap style, as well as fighting using her handaxe. She noticed that during most fights, she was relying too much on the chakram attached to Yarnball. When the monsters got close, her movements started to get more frantic and aimless. She had to either figure out a way to make her weapons work together or find a skill to help her do it. Sadly, she only thought about it in the middle of her training, and she had no intention of stopping to do a skill search at the moment. She kept thinking about ways she could use her weapons. There had to be something she was missing. Hera played back all the advice she got during her training, where to aim, her footwork, how to look for openings. Having her trainer as a sparring partner also helped a lot. It would mirror her style to a degree, allowing Hera to notice any big mistakes she was making. When she threw her chakram, her body became too open, but she had to avoid moving around to keep the direction of her throw. That was a problem she had to figure out. Hera shook her head. She was spreading herself too thin. It was better to focus on one thing and improve it than to try to increase all her skills at once. She chuckled with the notion, "Says the girl who is going for an all-rounder build." Hera went back to thinking about how to improve the movements with her handaxe. Even if she couldn''t move, as long as she could make a range of protection around her, it wouldn'' be too much trouble. Thinking about the first training session, Hera kept hearing Mr. Greyson''s voice in her head. ''Don''t forget yer footwork, lassie. Ye need to know the reach of yer weapon. Then you can picture yer moves.'' She remembered the cheese line of ''letting the weapon be an extension of yourself,'' that Mark used during the first days of training. It was at that moment that something clicked in her head. She was treating the mana reinforcement as something detached from, but it was a continuous buff. If it was a persistent effect, she needed to keep giving it mana, just like it was with her Bark Skin or the Affinity Sight. Both spells required her mana to move in different ways. Hera sat down in the training room and started weaving the construct on her handaxe. Instead of making a single structure that gathers at the top, Hera tried to wrap her mana around it, making a loop that would start in her hand. It took her a few times to make the spell the way she wanted. She was going a bit too fast, and the construct broke apart before completing it. Taking a deep breath, she tried once more, carefully knitting the mana around Iris. She made the loop and started to bring the mana around. The energy started to move faster than she wanted, and Hera had to stop it before progressing. Doing the spell this way would make her spend more mana since the mana constantly kept being pushed off her body, but Hera didn''t mind. She pushed herself not to lose her concentration as she placed the final connection in her hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Mana Reinforcement Rank: Beginner By coating an item with mana, you can increase its properties. Controlling the mana allows you to focus on the increase of the desired property. Using different types of mana can lead to unique results. The size of the object can affect the cost. Base offensive increase: 10% Base defensive increase: 20% Base mana cost: 10 mana per second ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "YES!" Hera got up celebrating. It was a skill she spent the last week trying to make it work. Seeing all that practice pay off was incredible. Even so, she wasn''t sure why Helena didn''t just give her a solution. All it required was some out of the box thinking. Hera practiced a bit with the spell activated. Her chakram would spend the 10 mana per second, but using her handaxe would bump it to 12. For now, the best option would be to practice activating it quickly. If she used the spell just before attacking or defending, Hera could avoid wasting any mana. Now all she needed to feel safe while hunting was her armor. 138 - New armor Hera''s time inside the ATR was mostly to stall for when her new armor would arrive. At first, she considered it just a necessary purchase, but now it was the only thing stopping her from hunting. The last hour of training seemed to drag for hours. Hera had yet to receive the message from the guild, letting her know that her order had arrived. The distraction made her movements more sloppy, and the control of her mana was all over the place. With 15 minutes still remaining for her time in the ATR, a message came on her tablet. She rushed out of the training room and headed to the counter where she could pick up her order. Her sudden arrival surprised the clerk working there. He had just confirmed her order less than five minutes ago. Hera opened the package and saw her armor. It was a one-piece jumpsuit, with the zipper starting on the right side of the waist and coming up towards the left shoulder. The sleeves would stop before the elbow, just like the legs that stopped before her ankles. The entire thing was made of metal shaped like small scales to give flexibility and protection. According to the crafter, one could even do ballet while wearing the armor. It was also a beautiful shade of purple, getting very close to black. She paid extra to change the color like that. She needed something that would blend well with the shadows. The mineral used in the armor was silver by nature, and this shade of purple was the darkest option available. The armor had shoulder guards that looked like maple leaves in an opaque lavender shade. The same type of ornament was in the middle of the chest, just before the opening by her neck, and following the zipper, the leaf pattern would hide the seams in the armor. She noticed that inside the armor, several parts had thicker padding. The knee, shoulder, waist, and between the legs all had that extra cushioning. Hera touched the inside of the armor. It was soft as a T-shirt, but as she rubbed the cloth together, she noticed that she could feel the metal scales in her fingers. In places where the fabric wouldn''t bend, she would never notice, but it could be a problem in places with a wider range of movement. She looked to the outside of the armor once more. Behind the knee and under the arms, the scales were much smaller than in other places. Those could be weak spots created to give more mobility. "Excuse, miss?" the clerk asked. "Yeah, sorry. I was distracted," Hera snapped out of her trance. "Is everything ok with your order?" "Oh, hang on." She looked at all the pieces. The armor seemed fine, and the boots and armguards were also there, "Everything seems to be here." "Ok, then I''ll mark it as a complete delivery. If you want to try now, you can use the locker rooms. If not, you have a day to let us know if any adjustments will be needed. If you could just place your card here to verify that you received the parcel," he pointed to a scanner to the side. Hera took out her silver guild card. Every time she looked at it, she had to hold back a smile. The clerk noticed the silver glow of her card, and instantly his expression changed. As Hera confirmed the delivery, he spoke. "Actually, if you need more time. I''m sure we can send it back for adjustments a couple of days from now." Hera shook her head, "No need. If I need to send it back, I''ll come back today. But thank you," she picked the plastic box that her armor came in and headed back to her home. She wanted to try the armor right now, but she was sweaty and dirty. If she was going to wear it for the first time, she at least wanted to be clean. She came home like a hurricane, dashing towards the shower. In less than ten minutes, she was already drying herself in her room with the armor lying in her bed. Now she could see the rest with more clarity. The skirt was made with the same metal, but it was attached to the waist. For some reason, Hera thought that it would be a separate piece. The metal on the skirt was different. Instead of several small scales, there were large plates on the sides with some scales in the mix to help with flexibility. Oddly enough, this armor focused on protecting the lower side of the body. Hera used her [Inspect] to confirm its attributes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Autumn''s Reflection (Reflect Affinity) Rarity: Uncommon An armor created by an exemplary blacksmith. The mix of materials used to craft something this resilient and flexible normally doesn''t work well together. However, due to the effort and mastery of the crafter, this armor was produced=. Defense ratio: D+ Attribute Scaling: Agility x 1.2 Intelligence x 1.25 Armor Skill: Repulsion blast Triggers an energy burst as a response to impacts in the armor. This effect can be turned on or off by the user. The potency of the blast is based on the user''s charisma. Attribute Scaling Charisma x 1.4 Mana cost: 25 mana Cooldown: 10 seconds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Autumn Armguards (Metal Affinity) Rarity: Common Armguards created by an exemplary blacksmith. The materials used are excellent magical conductors. Additional effect: Increased magical compatibility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Autumn Boots (Metal Affinity) Rarity: Common Boots created by an exemplary blacksmith. The materials used are excellent magical conductors. Additional effect: Increased enchanting effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She wasn''t expecting the scaling to be that high. According to the crafter, the base value of the scaling would be 1.2. The increase wasn''t that big, even if it looked like it. Hera''s point of view was that of a beginner. For an experienced crafter, a decimal increase would barely be considered a success. The work put in during the production of the item could affect the item''s effects, but the description of the items they sold was always the same, meaning that it wouldn''t go lower unless they messed up during the production. It wasn''t uncommon for crafters to increase the price if an item had extraordinary results. The boots seemed to be made of the same material, but instead of the scale mail, it had large metal plates. The only engravings were the maple leaves around the tip of the boots. They were clearly made for function instead of appearance. Still, it fitted well with the rest of the armor. The armguards had the same style. Instead of the scale mail, it was the same plates that were used on the boots. However, unlike the boots, they had some decorations. The metal was forged to look like the same maple leaves that decorated the rest of the armor. They were lying on top of each other, making the bracers look like they were made exclusively of those metal leaves. Hera started getting dressed. She was going to wear a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants. As much as she hated wearing those, it was better to wear a tight outfit under the armor. Wearing nothing wasn''t a good option. Even with the cloth that was weaved inside it, everyone recommended the use of proper clothing beneath it all. Hera had bought those two pieces to use with the armor. There were several high-end fabrics, and even some enchanted ones to lower the temperature and such, but for now, she just bought a basic, comfortable outfit. Hera had already spent too much on the armor. She still wanted to save some money, just in case. Getting dressed in the armor, Hera took a look at herself in the mirror. The armor fitted really well. It wrapped around her body without an issue. The only problem was that the armor was tight. Not to an uncomfortable degree, but it showed too much of her body. Hera always made a point of wearing baggy or less revealing clothes, but now, even wearing metal armor, she felt a bit exposed. The armor followed her curves so perfectly that it had little difference compared to wearing a diving suit. At the very least, she was showing very little skin. Only her hands and neck could be seen. Staring at the mirror, Hera had to admit. As long as she could ignore the fact that she was the one wearing it, the armor looked amazing. Her previous armor gave off a feeling of being a ranger or a hunter. This one, however, made her look like a warrior. Hera rushed off downstairs. She wanted to put the armor to the test, but before she was able to leave the house, Helena was already waiting on the living room. "Wow, that armor looks amazing!" Helena rushed towards Hera, "This color looks great on you, and how is the movement? Do you feel restricted in any way?" "Not yet, but I''m going to hunt now to figure out." "Are you crazy? No, no, no. You don''t test that during a fight. What if you need to move to avoid an attack and the armor gets in the way? Try moving around now," Helena commanded. Hera started walking, waving her arms around. The movements felt smooth, and the only restriction was how much she could twist her body. "Ok, now do some side steps and kicks. Make sure the skirt won''t get in the way." Hera followed Helena''s instructions. She could feel the skirt hitting her legs, but it never hurt. Raising her leg, she was able to keep it straight until it reached the height of her chest before not being able to continue. Not because the armor got in the way, but because she wasn''t flexible enough. "Everything seems fine," Hera said after finishing all the tests. "Hang on, let me see one thing," Helena kneeled by Hera and raised the side of her skirt. Although she was wearing pants underneath it, the motion made Hera feel embarrassed, "Here, inside the skirt, there is a strap. You can put your leg inside it, and the skirt won''t be flying everywhere." Hera looked at it. The strap was just above her calf. She placed both legs in the band and moved around. It felt much better. Yet, she wouldn''t be able to say that there were any problems before tying it like this. "Thanks, Lena. I didn''t even notice that." Helena got up and was inspecting the rest of the armor. "Don''t worry. I can imagine how excited you were. And you were lucky you got the armor with an experienced crafter. Most people overlook how a skirt can get in your way. I know that from experience. Anyway, I think you are all set. Did you call Blue and Alex?" "I texted them, but they didn''t get the message yet. I think they are out of range." "I know I won''t be able to stop you from trying the armor out. Just be careful, ok," Helena said with a sigh. "I will. Promise." Hera left the house and went straight towards the swamp. She still had a couple of hours of sunlight. After fighting the toad, Hera understood how dangerous it was to travel at night, and she didn''t want to fight something that dangerous on her own again. It was one thing to be bored, another to be actively chasing monsters that could kill her. Hera was itching to test her armor, but she wasn''t suicidal. Walking outside the city, she found one of the smooth crocodiles. It wasn''t very big, about the size of a fox. Hera watched it for a moment and decided that it would be a great guinea pig. Looking down, she patted her armor and whispered, "Let''s see what you can do.¡± 139 - Carpon Caverns "This is sooo annoying. Why is the line so long?" Blue kept complaining while they were waiting to go to the next room. Hera and her friends had decided to go to the Carpon Caverns early the next day. Sadly, due to the high influx of miners, they were already waiting in line to cross over for 15 minutes. Blue wasn''t the only one who was restless. Alex, Hera, and even Runir were trying to distract themselves somehow. "Blue, we are all bored here. You complaining only will make it worse for other people," Alex said, raising her eyes from the tablet. "I know, but still." "Make yourself busy, practice spells, or help us look for information about the Caverns," Runir said. He spoke in a way that made it clear he was already feeling more comfortable around the controller. "I don''t have enough mana to keep practicing, and research is even more boring than waiting here," Blue complained. "I think I can hear Bonnie screaming right now," Hera chuckled, "Watch a video or something. Treat this like the commute to go to the guild." Hera went back to her tablet. She had already seen the area and focused on trying to get more information about it. According to the guild website, the Carpon Caverns was several times smaller than Brinnefront. It would take only 18 hours to walk from one edge of the room to the other. Considering that it would take weeks for someone to do the same in Brinnefront, the difference was massive. However, since it was a place made of several tunnels that could go both up and down, it wasn''t impossible to get lost for several days in there. Their first stop should be the guild. Hera didn''t want to walk around without a full map of a place like that. Spread around the room, there were several mines. Most of them were close to both the city and the entrance, but some were hidden away in the edges of the room. Each one of those mines was considered a pseudo dungeon. Every week they would be affected by a reset that respawned the minerals inside it. However, the number of minerals would vary from week to week. People who mined in there could also receive extra rewards. Breaking an iron vein could create some rare mineral, almost like killing a monster inside a dungeon. But since there was no entrance or quest, the mines were not actual dungeons. There were only 3 dungeons inside the Carpo Caverns. The Underground Forest, a place with several fungi and inhabited by fireflies and golems. It was a standard dungeon where the goal was to kill a boss monster. The Secret Tunnel was an escape from the labyrinth situation. Every party that entered it would appear in a random place inside that network of tunnels had to find the exit to complete the mission. There was a warning on that dungeon letting people know to prepare supplies for 3 to 5 days while attempting the dungeon. The last one was called The Flood. It was a dungeon that would lead to the exit of the caverns. The quest was about stopping the flow of water that threatened to flood the entire network. Hera skimmed through that information. That wasn''t the focus today. They had to hunt monsters around the caverns first to make sure they were up to the task. There were three types of creatures that they could find. First, there were giant moles. They could go from the size of an alligator to the size of a small car. There was also a blind variant that was considered stronger, but they were easily identified. If a mole had a star-shaped nose, it would be the blind variant. Second, bats. The smaller ones could be the size of an adult dalmatian, while the giant version could reach 2 meters tall. Hera pictured a bat bigger than her flying in her direction. That was a terrifying sight. The last type of creature was called ''Digger Elephant.'' However, unlike the other monsters she had seen, they would be the size of a horse. To Hera, it was the first instance of finding a creature smaller than its regular version inside the MAZE. She really wanted to see them, but apparently, they had small numbers and kept roaming around the room. It was likely that her fight would be against the moles or the bats. The group discussed the information they got when it was finally their turn to pass through the doorway. "See you on the other side," Blue said. The warm glow covered them, and the smell of the sea was replaced by the scent of still air and dirt. "Oh, wow, that''s awful," Alex complained. "I don''t know. It kind of reminds me of my home," Runir took a deep breath. "I''m so sorry," Blue replied. "Don''t be rude. Anyway, where is your friend?" Hera asked as they left the doorway. The noise here echoed through the cave. Several men and women were carrying around large pickaxes and wheelbarrows going towards the mines. The reset had just happened, and people were frantic to take the best spots. "He''ll meet us at the guild. And before we get there," Runir made a motion for the group to stay by the side of the open cave, "Look, his name is Thomas, and he is... A lot. But he is a good guy, even though he is a bit weird. We met in high school, and he was one year ahead of me, but we still got close. Some things happened, and I trust him with my life. But... well, it''s hard to describe. If you guys think he is too much, we can part ways at any moment. No hard feelings, but I''m staying with him." "Is he gonna keep hitting on us? Or be violent in some way?" Alex asked. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "What? No, of course not! He is a good guy. He''s just... Really into knights," Runir tried to explain. "Why is that a problem?" Hera stared at him with a puzzled expression. "Yeah, knights are cool. Cyrus was a knight," Blue chimed in. "Just... Keep an open mind," Runir said with a sigh. "Don''t worry. Even if we end up splitting up, everything will be fine. We might even meet Leo, the owner of the frog you healed," Hera said, trying to reassure the healer. "Not really. He texted me a few days ago. The room where he is staying is not this one. It''s still on the third layer, but kind of... to the side. We can get there, but it would take a couple of days of moving through doorways," Blue replied. "Still, it will be fine," Hera said. "Yeah, don''t worry. Everything works out in the end," Alex nodded. The group headed to the guild. The first thing they wanted was a map of the area, then the compendium for the monsters. When Hera went after the pangolins, she forgot to get the information for them. Facing monsters without any information wasn''t something she was keen on doing again. They bought the map, but before getting the compendium, a voice rang behind the group. "Runir!" Hera turned around and saw Runir walking towards a man in heavy armor with open arms, "Thomas. How have you been, man?" "Very well, very well. Even better now that I once again am reunited with my brother in arms," the man replied with a smile. Runir let go of the hug and turned towards the rest of the group, "Now, Thomas. These are Alex, Blue, and Hera. Guys, this is Thomas." The man bowed to the three women, "It''s a pleasure to meet you, my Ladies. You have my utmost gratitude for all the aid that was provided to my noble squire." "Hey! Since when I''m your squire?" Runir shoved Thomas to the side, laughing. Thomas was a tall man with dark hair that curled on the tips. Very well kept eyebrows that went well with his dark brown eyes and a chiseled jawline. He was wearing a bronze breastplate with golden engravings. There were a pair of pants with metal plates in front, but its backside was more open, covered only by the straps. There was a beautifully made silver rapier with a pair of lions chasing each other around the guard by his waist. Just like the rest of his armor, all the details and decorations were golden. "Hi, nice to meet ya," Blue put out her hand. "It''s my pleasure," Thomas shook her hand, "I shall say, that is a mighty grip. Your enemies will crumble in your grasp." "Thanks... I guess," Blue said, unsure if that was a compliment. "Not a worry, I would be most grateful if we could have a friendly duel in the future. Nothing is better to know the strength of those by your side than a friendly spar," Thomas turned to Hera, "Especially with you, my Lady. The incredible warrior that bested the fearsome Wendigo." "It was mostly luck and bad decisions," Hera replied. The way Thomas spoke was putting her off. Seeing the reaction of the women, Runir stepped in, "So, let''s go fight some things?" Hera snapped out of her daze, "Oh yeah, let me just get the compendium." "No need, my Lady. I bestow upon you the knowledge gathered by yours truly," Thomas picked his tablet and shared the compendium information about the monsters with the group. "Are you sure? I mean, those are expensive," Alex said. "But of course. You are all Runir''s retainers. I must reward you for your service," Thomas wave his hand while pointing his nose up. "Dude, stop that. No one is my retainer," Runir complained. "What''s a retainer?" Blue asked. Runir stared at her for a moment, "Anyway, we have the compendium. Let''s get going." Hera walked with them, unsure what he meant by retainer, while Alex kept staring daggers at Thomas. They left the guild and headed towards the tunnels. It didn''t take long for them to realize that flashlights would be a necessity. Thomas made a few movements with his sword and started chanting, "May the spirits of light guide my path. Come forth, Floating Lamps!" A set of two small globules of pale yellow light appeared around the man. Hera kept staring at him. Why did he need to chant? Was that spell so difficult that it required it? To her side, a noise caught her attention. Runir had just facepalmed and was now holding his head with one hand while groaning. "Is he always like that?" Hera asked. "Yeah, he is. But I promise he is a good guy and strong too. He won a few fencing competitions in high school," Runir tried to explain. "Have you ever talked to him about that?" "I did, I really did. But he said that it was wrong for a knight to act in any other way," Runir replied with a sigh. "Did... something happened to him?" Hera asked. "Not that I''m aware. His dad says it all started when he was a kid and read about King Arthur." Runir said. "Oh, please tell me he doesn''t believe knights are supposed to be like that. Sir Balin blew up a kingdom with a freaking lance," Hera replied. "How do you know the name of the knights?" Runir squinted at Hera. "I like stories about knights too, and I worked in a bookstore. Now is he that far gone?" Hera pressed. "I wouldn''t say far gone. He never pretended to be the reincarnation of Sir whatever, so at least he still is with his feet on the ground. But Tom is... obsessed with the idea of being a knight." "Well... that is harmless. I mean, still weird, but harmless," Hera said. As they walked, Hera noticed a large shadow moving in the tunnel. When Thomas''s light revealed the creature, they could see the large body covered in thick black fur. The monster seemed to have no eyes and large claws in place of its hands. "A ha! We have found our quarry. Now observe my brethren. I shall demonstrate how to defeat this mighty beast," Thomas said as he stared down the giant mole. Before anyone could say anything, he dashed towards the creature. Thomas took a step to the side, stabbing the mole on the nose. The monster recoiled and pushed itself back, but Thomas was faster. He was already by its side. With another two stabs on the beast''s head, the mole stopped moving. "And that is how it is done. Any questions?" Thomas said as he cleaned the blood out of his rapier with a cloth. 140 - Fight like a Knight "Blue, watch out!" Alex yelled. The mole was clawing towards the controller. Alex, who was on the back, was the first one that noticed the movement. The creature didn''t even change its position. It merely raised its arm and slashed. Blue managed to duck at the last moment, almost falling backward. The attack made a large gash on the ground, showing the strength of the creature. "Careful with the claw. Taking the beast head-on is the most dangerous of tasks," Thomas was watching the group fight. He wanted them to show their abilities while fighting. "I know, just let me work!" Blue shouted before punching the creature''s nose twice. Alex jumped above the mole and slashed her daggers at its back twice. The thick fur lowered the attack''s speed, making what should be a fearsome strike leave just a superficial cut. "Focus on stabbing attacks. The beast''s mighty hide is resistant to slashing attacks," Thomas gave the duo yet another hint. "My daggers are made for cutting, not stabbing" Alex tried to stab her weapon on the mole''s neck, but the blade wasn''t able to pierce deep enough to cause any lasting damage. "Fear not, my Lady. Your weapons are but a part of your craft. Show me your strength," Thomas proclaimed with a big smile. "Stop calling me your Lady! I''m not yours, and I''m not a fucking Lady," Alex snapped and body-slammed the mole. Blue took advantage of the momentum and made the creature spin around, falling to its back while holding the monster''s nose under her arms. The creature started flailing around, trying to reorient itself, but Blue''s nose lock kept it at bay. Alex kept stabbing the monster, trying to hit its neck. In a few moments, the mole stopped moving. Alex was breathing heavily with some blood on her armor. "Are you ok?" Blue asked. "No, I''m not ok! What are we doing here? This was supposed to be a trip to figure out if we could hunt here, not a damn spartan training," she turned to Thomas, "And you. What the hell is this? We fought five of those creatures on our own for what? What kind of sick game are you playing here? And don''t you fucking dare to give me that knight crap." "This may have been a challenging ordeal, but my Lady, you must understand..." Thomas was cut off by Alex, "Call me, my Lady one more time, and I''ll feed you your eyeballs," Hera and Blue instinctively stepped closer to Alex and shared a look. Her reaction was too strange from her usual demeanor. If she truly snapped, they might need to step in and stop her. "Apologies, Alex. To me, calling you that is a sign of respect. Alas, I understand that it might make you uncomfortable, and I should have been more aware of your displeasure with it," Thomas replied in a calm tone. Hera couldn''t help but admire that. She had no idea how she would react if someone made that kind of threat to her. "It''s fine. I should have said something sooner. Just... don''t do it again," Alex said. "I won''t, knight''s honor," Thomas replied. "That only works if you are an actual knight," Runir replied with a sigh. "Being a knight is a mindset. Knighthood will come eventually for those who are truly worth it," Thomas scoffed. "Yeah, Yeah, fine. You are a knight and all, but what the hell was that. Why did we have to fight five of those things, and not even let us use skill or spells?" Blue complained. "It was to prove your mettle. If you fought in perfect conditions, you would never see if you could survive a vicious attack at your weakest. With that knowledge, you can fight much more confidently when all your skills are available." "That''s... kind of smart," Alex said. "Yeah, I''m surprised," Blue agreed. "I''ve told you guys, Tom knows what he''s doing," Runir said. "Yeah, I''m impressed," Hera said. "Thank you, my...," Tom started speaking to Hera but stared at Alex behind him, "Thank you for your kind words, Hera. But now it''s time we confirm your strength. You shall fight the same way as your brethren. Four of the beast, the first with all your capabilities, the second with only skills. The third with only spells, then one with only your bravery. It will be you and Runir fighting this time." "But I''m a healer. I stay in the back line," Runir protested. "Exactly, I need to know the abilities you bring to our cause," Thomas replied. After some protest, Hera and Runir finally agreed to the terms. Thomas wouldn''t tell them, but if anything happened, he would step in to help. It didn''t take long for them to find another giant mole. The first one was on the smaller side of the moles, which took minimal effort. Runir, although being a healer, was trained into hand to hand combat and took the part of a diversion before starting. Hera hid in the shadows and stuck her handaxe in the monster''s head. At the same time, she activated the Mana Reinforcement spell, and her [All In] cutting the mole''s head clean in half. "That is a mighty blow. Can you do that repeatedly?" Thomas asked. "Once every day and a half or so," Hera replied. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "It''s a shame, but it is a mighty killing blow when required. Onto the next one," Thomas started to head deeper into the tunnels. While using the spells, Hera focused on keeping the mole''s attention while her poison needle took effect. Runir barely did anything during that fight. He only walked around, throwing a barrier when Hera got close to getting hit, but not a single attack from the mole connected. The third fight started with Hera throwing her chakram. The movement made the mole turn, but it worked as a small distraction only. Hera tried to focus on the monster''s nose since trying to flank it by herself was very complicated. Hera chose guerrilla tactics, going for an attack before retreating. Runir kept feeling more and more useless as the fight went on. Hera was proficient in evading strikes aimed at her, and the opportunities for him to use barriers or heals were nonexistent. Hera rushed toward the beast, striking twice towards its head. Unfortunately, the first attack made the mole take a step back, and with the follow-up, she was too close to be able to run before the next strike. The mole swung its claws at her. Before the impact, Runir sent one of its barriers towards Hera. The attack hit her arm, but the combination of the repulsion blast and the protection from the Healer not only sent the claw back but only pushed Hera half a meter to the side. "Thanks!" she yelled as she turned away to retreat. Seeing its prey move, the mole lunged forward, opening its mouth, revealing four large, yellow teeth. The bite hit Hera''s back, and she rolled forward, away from the mole. Runir used his only battle heal right away, but he felt no effect. "Are you dead?" he asked as Hera finished her tumble. "I''m still not a zombie, so no," she replied, getting back up and turning around, "How big is the damage?" Hera kept facing the mole. She had to know how much she could move around. "It... hit you, right?" Runir asked, staring at her back. "Yeah, can the armor still hold?" "There is... nothing," "What? One strike ripped a 12k armor?" Hera looked around, searching for the missing pieces of armor. "No, I mean, the armor is fine. Not a single scratch. What about you?" Runir asked. "A bit sore, but I can still do it," Hera replied before dashing at the monster again. Frustrated with the situation, Runir flanked the creature and attacked its legs. Since his heals and barriers were close to useless, he might as well do something. In a bit over three minutes, the mole was defeated. "Very good, Runir. You show incredible bravery by jumping into the fray, and Hera, a knight, is nothing without her armor. Yours is truly a work of art," Thomas applauded the duo. "I wasn''t expecting it to be so strong, honestly," Hera was trying to touch her back to confirm any damage. "And I wasn''t expecting to be so useless. I mean, I did nothing in most of those fights," Runir sighed. "Don''t be like that. It was a bad matchup. Your barriers help me so much when we fight," Blue tried to cheer him up. "Yeah, and Hera and I are better at taking turns to hide and attack. Our groups were the worst possible combos," Alex said. Hera turned towards Thomas, "Was that planned?" "I would love to be praised for such an exemplary tactic. Alas, it was but a pleasant coincidence. Yet, I must say that your protests did give me a sign that it was an unfamiliar grouping," Thomas explained. "By the way, do we have a way of carrying the monster back?" Blue asked. "We are able to rent some carts in the Guild. However, they must be pulled by hand," Thomas replied before starting to chant once more and recast the floating lamp that was about to vanish. "What about drones? Can we use them to pick up the bodies?" Hera asked. "Unfortunately, that is not possible. The bats that inhabit the area tend to roam around. Any object that crosses a certain height would be a pray for the beasts. The secondary tunnels are much smaller." Blue turned to Thomas, "Ok, so this is fine and all, but can we go eat? I didn''t bring any food." "Yeah, I agree. I''m hungry," Hera said. "Very well. We had not prepared enough supplies for a long journey. Let us return," Thomas spun around and started walking back towards where the group came from. They headed back to the city and looked for places to eat. Thomas had a few suggestions. Among them was a barbecue place that had mostly mole and bat meat that made Blue interested. They headed to the restaurant. After the meal, Runir said he wanted to get some extra spells, and he would go to the Guild to use an ATR to learn them. Blue and Alex decided to search the shops for better gear. Blue wanted better armor, and Alex looked for something that would be better to use for stabbing. Hera wanted to talk to Alex, but it was hard to have a moment alone with her friend. She made a mental note to ask about her snap later. Hera suggested the shop where she got her chakram enchanted, but Thomas said that if they were looking for new equipment, it was better to go to one of the bigger stores. The group spent most of the afternoon looking for new gear. Hera looked for a new axe, but she was surprised by how all the weapons she found were either barely an improvement or excessively expensive. The ones in the display were also several times heavier than Iris. If Hera used one of them, her attacks would be much slower. Thomas was incredibly helpful while they were looking for equipment. He made suggestions both for usability and style, but he also talked about maintenance and even offered to help Alex and Hera sharpen their weapons. Alex accepted the help, but Hera wanted to do it herself. She was trying to increase her weapon maintenance skill and taking care of her own gear was the best way to do it. They met Runir a few hours later. He managed to get two more spells, one that increased the target''s strength by 20% for a minute and another that would increase the damage that an enemy received by 10% for a few seconds. With that, he could play a more active role in the fights. They discussed going to look for a group of bats when Helena sent a text in the house group chat. ''Hey, guys, just a head''s up. A rampage is starting to happen in the room. Everyone is gathering up to defend the cities, and they locked the doorways to leave. You guys might want to stay around there for a couple of days. I''m heading to the Guild, and I''ll be there until it passes. Does anyone want me to take anything from the house just in case?'' Hera turned to the group, "What is a rampage?" "A rampage, you say? Oh, that is the most thrilling of challenges. Hundreds and thousands of monsters rush through a room, destroying everything in its path. Months past, we had to face one of such calamities here. We fought for days until the beasts were finally defeated.¡± Hera stared at Alex and Blue, "I have to go back," "Hang on, are the monsters stronger in any way during a rampage?" Alex asked. "I can''t say they are, the numbers are a problem, but with several people fighting as one, they were just an incredible treasure. After all, unlike conventional monsters, during a rampage, they disappear as they are defeated, leaving valuable loot behind." "Ok, then we are going," Blue said. "Yeah, Runir, Thomas. We''ll talk to you guys later. We have to go," Hera said. "Nonsense, I''m not one to shy away from a fight. If a rampage is happening, it''s a perfect opportunity to show my valor to all of you," Thomas replied. "Yeah, I''ve never been a part of a large-scale fight. And your house is there, right? It''s right to defend it." Hera nodded, and the group ran towards the doorway. 141 - Monster Rampage Hera''s group rushed towards the doorway. A couple of people from the Guild talked with the people who wanted to go back, while others seemed to be setting up camps by the portal. One man stepped above a rock wearing the Guild uniform. As he started speaking, his voice echoed as if it was going through a megaphone. "Everyone, listen, Brinefront is in the middle of a monster rampage. Anyone who goes there won''t be able to leave until it ends. We can''t tell how long that will last. It can be half a day or a couple of weeks. Anyone willing to help can take a quest from the Guild and be rewarded according to your contribution. Before you get all excited, remember. Rampages are unpredictable. We can''t tell if something stronger than the regular monsters will appear. If you know about the giant invasion, that was also a part of a rampage." "We already know that. What''s the reward?" A voice came from the crowd. "5 000 gold for protecting the cities or camps during the attack. Any place that gets destroyed will deduct the pay for everyone. Plus, 30 to 100 gold per monster defeated. The type of monster will change the value of the kill. Also, you get to keep any loot you get, and any item found by the recovery teams after the rampage will be auctioned to those who took part in the defenses." "How many can we expect to get?" Another voice asked. "On the last rampage, 14 months ago, the average reward was 8 000 gold. And among the loot, there was a neckless that increases your mana regeneration by 30% and a Legacy map," the man above the rock said. There was some murmuring around as Hera and her group tried to reach the doorway. "Are you stupid? Why should we go there? If people can''t come in, we can easily make 10k this week," a voice shouted to the side. "You can decide later, but those who wish to stay can use the campsite here since we don''t have enough rooms in the hotels in the city. We will have guards protecting the camps, meals, and any other basic necessities. You can use the showers in the Guild and for laundry..." The man kept talking as most of the crowd headed to the side, wanting to get good spots in the camp. Several people headed out towards Brinefront. Hera and her group arrived at the line, and in a few minutes, a different guild clerk approached. "Were you here during the announcement? A monster rampage is going on." "Yeah, we heard. We want to help." Hera said. The waiting was making her anxious. Helena was a mage with no mana. How would she protect herself there? "Ok, be careful, and don''t bite more than you can chew. Stay close to the city and fall back to the Guild if needed. Well, they''ll give you all the details there. Good luck and stay safe," the clerk said his farewells and moved to the next group. "Are you guys really coming?" Hera asked the others. "Of course, a knight never cowers while the people are in danger," Thomas replied, placing a hand on his chest. "I''m a Merc. I always work for good pay," Runir snickered. "I live there. I don''t wanna lose my low rent house," Alex joked. "You are not the only one worried about Lena, you know. Besides, Quinn would kill me if I didn''t help," Blue said. "Oh, so that is still a thing?" Alex poked Blue with her elbow. "Maybe, maybe not. I''m not one to kiss and tell," Blue chuckled. "Right. Making out in an alleyway by a trash can is much more classy," Alex rolled her eyes. "We weren¡¯t by the trash!" Blue protested. "You actually were," Hera laughed, "Thank you guys," she said as they headed towards the doorway. Hazelpond was in a much different state. The streets were less populated, and instead of people shuffling from one place to another, everyone was in a rush. People were yelling orders, carrying stone and wood around, and reinforcing the town''s defenses. Hera sent a text to Helena asking where she was before heading towards their home. Runir and Thomas split up to head to the Guild and gather information and the protection quest. As Hera was arriving at the house, Helena sent a text saying she was already inside the Guild and would be there until the end of the rampage. Since they were already close, Hera, Blue, and Alex headed to their home to make sure they wouldn''t need anything from there. From what Hera understood, the preparation for a rampage was similar to preparing for a natural disaster. People would evacuate their homes and head to a safe location with a few of their belongings. Depending on the city, people wouldn''t even need to evacuate, but since Hazlepond was just a settlement, it didn''t have the same solid structure as a major city like Brinefront. That created a greater need to reinforce the defenses. The walls were already sturdy and wide enough, but people were preparing traps around the city. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. In less than half an hour, the trio was back at the Guild, each carrying a small bag with a few clothes and some food. As they arrived, the first thing Hera did was to look for Helena. She was already with Runir and Thomas, discussing what they could do to help. "Hera! I told you to stay there. Why are you here?" Helena complained as she saw her assistant. "Last time you were in trouble, I did nothing to help. That won''t happen again," Hera replied, staring Helena in her eyes. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you?" Helena huffed. "Well, for now nothing. We are here, and until the rampage is over, we can''t leave. That''s how it works, right?" Blue stepped in. "Yeah, no use crying over spilled milk," Helena sighed, "Go to the reception and get the quest. See if they have anything urgent and set up your group as a team. That way, the Guild knows where to send you guys. The warning wave is over, and now we have just a couple of hours to get everything ready." "First wave?" Alex asked. "Right, it''s your first time. A rampage always starts with a small wave of a hundred or so monsters attacking the various cities and camps around the room. The bigger the city, the more monsters are attracted to it. After that, we have around 3 hours to prepare, and then the rampage truly starts. We have to fend off constant waves of monsters for some time. The assault will continue around the clock, so we need to work in shifts," Helena explained. Hera nodded, and they went toward the counter to get the quest. The clerk was dealing with a few groups. When it got to their turn, she quickly explained what they needed. The Guild was frantic, but no one seemed scared or worried. It was almost like the preparation for a festival. "Ok, so take the quest and go to one of the defense positions. Please don''t chase the monsters. Wait for them to come to you. If you see a flare, fall back to the second line of defense. It probably won''t happen, but keep it in mind." "So, it''s not dangerous?" Hera asked. "Well, it is. I mean, monsters will be attacking, but everyone here can fend for themselves, and if it gets too dangerous, we can call the cavalry. On deeper layers, rampages are much scarier, but here we can expect just a nice haul. And if we need reinforcements, they are really close," the clerk replied. "Since this happens frequently, why don''t we have traps already?" Blue asked. "Mostly for safety. We place the traps everywhere, and now everyone knows we fill the place with traps. Later, we will have to clean everything up so no one gets hurt by the traps. The reinforcement for the walls is just troublesome to keep after this, so we just keep it in storage. Anyway, you guys go here, at defense point H," the clerk pointed to the map of the city. Point H was to the east, in the road that followed the ocean, "You will have more people there, and someone will be in charge of the flares. If things go south, you shoot it and retreat to the point H2." "Right, and the quest?" Runir asked. "Oh sure, my bad. It''s been a while since people asked about this. Here you go," the clerk sent a file with the quest and the map of the city to everyone''s table. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Brinefront Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward for all participants. Rewards: 5 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Giant Frog - 20 gold Giant Toad - 25 gold Petite Crocodile - 30 gold Giant Chameleon - 45 gold Prism Pangolin - 50 gold Giant Newt - 60 gold Giant Crested Newt - 70 gold Giant Snapping turtle - 100 gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, there are a lot more monsters than I expected," Blue said. "Tell me about it. Those turtles are nasty," Runir sighed. "Very well, then. With the preparations completed, let us go to our fort and ready our defenses," Thomas said. The group headed to the area marked as H on the map. According to the clerk, they had a bit over one hour before the rampage would start. Hera kept thinking about the people near dungeons. "Hey, Thomas. What happens with the people in the settlements? Like near dungeons and stuff? And what about people who are out in the wild?" Hera asked. "I have no knowledge of how things work here. But in the Carpon Caverns, the monsters ignored those away from settlements. By the dungeons, they also had to defend against the villainous monsters that targeted the areas." "So, the monsters only go after places where people live or stay?" Alex asked. "Exactly. From the tales that I''ve been told. If you are out in the wild, the monsters that are a part of the rampage will ignore you completely, but the other will still be as dangerous as you expected," Thomas explained. "What if you try to get to a city?" Blue asked. "At some point, the monsters will turn towards you. Alas, I believe someone with a keen mind would be able to reach a keep before being swarmed by the beasts," Thomas said. As they arrived at the designated spot, they meet the other people who would be a part of their squad. Two hunters, one using a bow and another with a two-handed sword. A couple of mages and a few fighters, as well as one controller, one crafter, and one healer. In total, there were 15 people in the group, counting with Hera¡¯s group. Looking around, they found the leader of the team. "Hey, girls. You are here for the party?" Cassandra said to the group. "Hey Cass, you are the head honcho here?" Alex smiled. "The one and only. Good thing. My spells are mostly long range. That way, I do my job and help the front lines," Cass called a man over, "This is Kenny. He will be the leader of the vanguard. If you are going to fight at close range, you listen to what he says, ok?" The group nodded. They started to hear about the strategy. Anyone with long-range spells would either be by the wooden walls or above on a few wooden platforms put on the top. Along the walls a couple of floodlights had been set up, it would help greatly during the night. People who would be in melee combat had to stay behind the traps. Cass recommended Alex not focus on her hide skills. Since there were many monsters coming around, it would be easy for her to be discovered and be affected by the debuff. They set up everything. Blue and Thomas were part of the vanguard that would focus on attracting the attention of the monsters. Alex and Hera would stay in the back with the ones focused on dealing damage. Runir was near the wall with the mages, the crafter, and the other healer. Even with the veterans feeling excited by the rampage, Hera had no idea what to expect. With a resounding roar, coming from dozens of creatures, Cass yelled from the back, "Everyone get ready. They are coming!" Hera gripped her weapons as the horde of monsters rushed from the treeline. 142 - Monster waves Hera slashed at a frog, cutting its back wide open. She saw Alex moving to the side, kicking the creature''s leg, and stabbing her new dagger in its head. With a swift motion, the duo went after their next target. Kenny slammed the side of his broadsword in an incoming pangolin, sending the creature flying to the side and hitting the water of the ocean. Blue spun an applicator a few times and tossed it in the spike traps. A lightning bolt crossed the battlefield, parting the wave of monsters in two. "Do not falter. The beast are many, but we stand as one," Thomas pierced a toad and a chameleon in quick succession. "This should be over soon. Hang on," Kenny yelled as more monsters crossed the trees in the distance. Hera sent a few of her poison needles to the group. Since she didn''t have to worry about the condition of the body, she could use the spell as much as she wanted. She wasn''t the only one who had that idea. The mages in the back, as well as the archer, kept firing all the spells and attacks they could non stop. Several of the monsters were barely recognizable after the assault. The sky was quickly being covered in fire, lightning, and arrows. Hera looked around. They spent the last 50 minutes fighting off the constant assault of creatures. Their group was not the only one. All teams around Hazelpond were defending the city at the moment. According to Cass, even though the rampage was something constant, the pattern would change every hour. The first one would be a heavy assault, then smaller groups would appear, and after the second hour, the heavy assault would begin once more. The plan was for some to rest during the less populated waves and switch 15 minutes before the heavy assault. That way, they would be able to keep the momentum without having the entire team exhausted. "Get ready for the first switch. I need six people still fighting. Runir and Mika, one of you has to rest. I want a healer in each team," Cass commanded. "I''m still good," Blue had just snapped the neck of a chameleon and was moving towards a pangolin. "My spirit will not falter in front of these beasts," Thomas pushed yet another frog to the pile of corpses that he was making before one of the pits that were dug out as a trap. Alex, Hera, and Runir shared the same feeling. The combat wasn''t enough to tire them out just yet. "Very well. Bolton, they lack some cover fire. Can you stay with them?" Cass asked a mage that was in the ramparts with her. "Aye, aye captain," he made a small salute. "Oh, for fuck''s sake. We already have a knight. Don''t you start with the pirate crap," Kenny sliced an alligator that jumped at him. "Can''t you take a joke?" Bolton asked as he prepared another spell, "everyone duck!" He shouted and sent off a fire wave that covered most of the entrance they were protecting. Even with the warning, Blue and Thomas were a bit late to the draw. The roaring fire licked the top of their heads. If it weren''t for the barriers placed by Runir and Mika, they would have some nasty burns. The attack was relentless. Every creature that died was replaced by another one. The bright side was that none of them were particularly strong. It was clear that the issue was the numbers. In one hour, Thomas had killed 36 monsters, Hera and Alex got around 18 each, and Blue got 15. In total, the team killed over 200 monsters. They kept fighting until the monster''s bodies dissolved, signaling the end of a wave. The pile that Thomas made vanished into several pieces of skin, teeth, and gold. Hera realized his plan. Not only was it a way to blockade a path, but it made collecting the loot much easier. Hera and Alex tried to scramble to gather their haul, but the monsters were still coming. Kenny took the job of picking the drops in front while the other team members did the same with the creatures that died closer to the entrance. "Don''t worry about the loot. We''ll split it later. If you guys focus on that right now, we are doomed," Cass said as she helped to get the valuables to a small camp, they made a few meters behind the city walls, "everyone is getting the same share, I promise." Hera wasn''t very worried about that. She was more concerned with the possibility of another wendigo showing up. Even if she didn''t get any of the loot, they would still get a lot of money from the quest. Before she could even consider the options, a large toad jumped from the surrounding bog. Bolton sent five fire arrows in sequence, and Hera used her poison spray, trying to cover the creature with her spell. When most of the toad''s body was painted in the bright orange from the spell, Bolton sent another fire arrow that ignited the beast. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Alex was using a new spell called wind cutter. It would surround her dagger and send blades of wind flying as she slashed the air. The toad was sturdy and dangerous when it got close. The assassin seemed to remember that. Blue, on the other hand, seemed to be worried about the idea of fighting barehanded against something that was engulfed in flames. Runir and Tom, were already fighting another monster that popped out. It was a chameleon, and its slow movements weren''t very suited for an offensive assault. The knight only needed a couple of strikes, and a buff from Runir, to dispatch the monster. It quickly became apparent why this wave of the rampage was considered weaker. Instead of the half a dozen monsters that would spawn every minute, they were fighting one at a time. Being able to fight as a group instead of on their own was much less taxing. Hera and her friends kept killing the creatures that rushed towards the city. Some weren''t even able to go past the traps, giving the defenders even more time to rest. "Tom, what kind of spells do you have?" Alex asked after a giant frog fell into a spike trap. "I do not possess spells that deviate from knighthood. My sorcery is focused on strengthening myself," Thomas explained. "Right, but what kind? Do you get like harder armor or what?" Alex used her Wind Cutter once more to kill the frog that attempted to climb up from the hole. "Both, my spells are able to make my attacks true and my enemies to falter. I can also challenge a creature to duel me," Thomas said. "A forced duel? Can you give me the code? I''ll pay you," Blue asked since she was listening to the conversation. "Code? Apologies, brave fighter, but magic comes to me in a more natural way. As long as I can picture how to use it, the sorcery is formed to aid me," Thomas explained. "Oh, you use the subjective approach?" Hera was surprised by the information. It was the first time she met someone who used the same method as she did. "Ah, yes. I believe some call it that. I prefer to call an innate ability," Tom chuckled. "Can we talk about how you feel the magic later? I''m not sure if I''m doing the right thing. Maybe I can even share with you a long-range spell," Hera asked. "Of course, We can discuss the battle tactics later. Now we have a duty to fulfill," Tom cut the conversation as another monster arrived. He was right. It wasn''t time for a training session. The monsters were still a threat, and they couldn''t let a couple of easy kills make them drop their guard. As time went by, Hera started to wonder if the monsters were getting stronger or if their power was random. The first few were either killed or injured by the traps, but then, the beasts stopped falling into the pits. Could they be getting smarter? Was that the danger of a rampage? She wanted to ask about it, but it didn''t feel like the right moment. It was too much of a distraction right now. Some of the monsters listed in the quest were a mystery to Hera. If one of them appeared, she had to be sharp, especially since the snapping turtle seemed to be a problem. The minutes went by slowly. Facing a single monster as a group was hardly exciting, and thanks to Thomas and Bolton, the fights lasted less than a minute. Blue kept trying to hit the creatures before the veterans had a chance to strike, but as she began to move closer to the traps, the group scolded her for being reckless. They had to stay before the pitfalls, not after. If they were too advanced, it was easy to be overwhelmed. "You guys are worrying too much. We are facing a single monster at a time. There is no way I''m biting more than I can chew," Blue protested. "Boundless bravery is nothing but folly. The monsters can be attacking with fewer numbers, but nothing stops those numbers from growing suddenly. During the Carpon Caves'' rampage, there were several moments when the waves of monsters grew at a moment''s notice. Many could have died if they didn''t follow the commander''s orders," Thomas spoke in a stern tone. Surprised by the unexpected seriousness, Blue gave up the idea of charging at the monsters and stayed with the rest of the group. Hera admired Thomas, Blue could be exceedingly stubborn when she wanted, but the knight could make her understand the situation quickly and without even defending her initial idea. After forty minutes, Cass and the rest of the team came from the camp to trade places. They would have twenty minutes to rest, eat, and do what they needed. After that, the wave would change once more, increasing the number of monsters that appeared at once. As the group changed, Cass walked back to show the base camp to everyone. It was just a couple of large tents spread out in the middle of the street with a small campfire in the middle, a couple of beach chairs to the side, and a large pot with some kind of stew inside it. "There are four beds, two in each tent. If you need, lie down for a moment, but be ready to come back. Try to eat something but avoid stuffing yourself. The last thing we need is someone throwing up in the middle of a fight. In the back, we have some chemical toilets if you need them. The guild delivered them after you got here. We will keep doing these turns for 8 hours. Then another team will come to swap with us. We are closing in the second hour, and the rampage is always weaker at the start," Cass explained. "How long is it going to last?" Blue asked. "We have no idea. Every morning there will be some clouds in the sky. The color of those clouds will tell us if it''s the last day or not. If they are yellow, we keep fighting. The signal for the last 24 hours is when it turns red," Cass said as she grabbed a water bottle. "Is the last day a problem?" Hera asked. "It''s a final push. The last day will be much harder than the rest. There is no wave change. The monsters just keep coming at us non-stop," Cass said before heading back to the entrance. Her group was missing a Mage since she was explaining things to everyone. "I believe I should inform you of one more thing," Thomas sat by the fire and picked a bowl of stew, "If the morning clouds turn black. That''s when we evacuate the room." 143 - First Shift "Blue, toss that one to me," Kenny shouted. Blue grabbed the chameleon by the tail and spun it around before throwing it towards the vanguard. Kenny used his sword like a bat and split the creature clean in half. While that happened, Hera was focusing on her spells. The monster rampage felt like an excellent way to increase her mastery. She joined the vanguard to hit with the poison needle as soon as possible. It took her a few attempts before she found the sweet spot that would kill a monster before it reached the rest of the vanguard. If she hid, the spell would need 50 mana to become deadly enough, but the problem was not triggering the debuff. When any monster saw her, it would roar or make a noise to alert the others. When she used the spell without being hidden, it would take 75 mana to kill the monsters in time. With her passive mana recovery, it was sustainable to use one spell every four minutes. Hera made a point of not letting her mana be at maximum capacity. If her recovery were not being used, it would be a waste. "We have a lot of them incoming. Hera, fall back," Cass shouted from the ramparts. Hera moved away from the vanguard, joining Alex in the back line once more. It was the fourth large wave they faced, and the monsters seemed to be getting stronger, although they were still weaker than the regular creatures that roamed the room. "Did it work?" Alex asked as she returned from killing another crocodile. "Maybe. It''s hard to tell after just one round. I do feel like it''s getting easier to make the spell," Hera flung a fire arrow towards an incoming frog. "Weren''t you practicing the poison needle?" Alex activated the wind cutter, slashing the legs of a toad that Blue was fighting. "Yeah, but what''s the point now? We need raw damage, not something that will kill them eventually," Hera said as she blocked a pangolin from passing by her. "Ladies, focus on the monsters. Don''t get distracted. We still have 10 minutes for this wave," Cass commanded from the rampart. "Yes, Ma''am!" the duo replied and focused on the fight. It didn''t take long for them to understand the leader''s worries. The number of monsters was much more significant than it was previously. There were already 10 creatures engaged with the team, and another one would pop out of the forest every five seconds. Instead of dealing with the creatures alone, the team now fought together. The vanguard would distract them, while the back line would help them finish off the beasts. The ones with long-range spells would aim at the monsters that had yet to cross the traps, thinning their numbers for the melee combatants. Runir''s new spells were helping a lot, even with their low durations. He was mostly focused on the vanguards and the archer, but when Hera got surrounded by four frogs, she received the buff. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Will of Power activated 10% increase in strength for the next minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attributes diverge from the necessary conditions. The following skills have been deactivated: Exponential Growth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera''s eyes went wide. Did she lose all her stats? Her heart started to beat faster. She was surrounded by monsters. How could she face them with her attributes at 1? A frog sent out its tongue towards her, and Hera dodged to the side. She slashed a second frog, trying to create an opening to run away, but the monsters blocked her once more. Another tongue came lashing out, only to hit her armor and be flung back by the repulsion blast. She shoved her forearm in a frog''s mouth and started to push it towards the city walls. At the same time, she kept hitting her chakram at the monster''s head. By the time she reached the wooden barrier, the frog was already dead. Hera spun around and saw the other three frogs being killed by the rest of the team and quickly opened her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 5 Stats: Strength: 19 (21) Endurance: 19 Agility: 19 Charisma: 19 Intelligence: 19 Luck: 19 Mana: 413/413 Remaining attribute points: 3 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth (Inactive) Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina Mana Recovery Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera let out a relieved sigh. Her stats were still there. Of course they were. The buff wouldn''t affect her stat distribution. It was stupid to think otherwise. That was the first time she received a buff that would change a specific attribute. It was good to know that her [All In] wasn¡¯t affected by it. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Are you ok?" Runir asked with a worried expression. "Yeah, sorry. I had a weird notification and freaked out," Hera replied. "Are you sure? Do you need a heal?" "Nah, I''m good," she turned back to the monsters coming towards the entrance. The fight kept going, and a minute after Hera received the buff, another notification popped. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attributes achieve the necessary conditions. The following skills have been activated: Exponential Growth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera just waved the notification off and kept fighting. That only meant that her buff had expired. The last bit of her worry about her stats vanished with the window. Hera cut the throat of another pangolin a few moments after the buff expired. She was restricted to using spells and close-range attacks during the fight. If she used the Wire Trap style, her team could be hit by the spinning chakram. "Turtle incoming!" a voice rang from the ramparts. Hera looked towards the forest. A massive turtle, about four meters tall, had just broken through the treeline. The monster''s head was large enough to swallow a person whole. As if it was showing its power, the turtle bit a nearby tree and ripped it from the ground, throwing the trunk towards the team. The projectile met a fire spell mid-air, creating a massive explosion. The force was enough the send the blazing tree back towards the monster who just stomped in the trunk, breaking it apart. A rain of arrows and spells went towards the turtle. The entire team understood that if the beast got too close, they would be in trouble. Hera charged a poison needle with half the mana from her poison mana stone. It took a lot of time to recharge it, but it was for this type of situation that she saved the mana. The turtle kept walking even with the barrage of attacks, almost as if they were having no effect, but just as it crossed the traps, it felt to the ground, motionless. The team cheered the death of the monster, but their celebration was short-lived. The turtle''s body was now serving as a bridge for the other creatures to avoid the traps. It has been around half an hour since most of the pitfalls were filled with bodies, reducing the damage it dealt to monsters by a tenfold. Now, the creatures would only be stalled by them. Yet, those few seconds that the team was gaining were more than welcomed. With the turtle''s body there, they lost even that small edge. "Cass, how long?" Kenny tumbled away from a toad that attempted to crush it. "Five more minutes!" Cass kept flinging her spells, "Bolton, your group is resting first. Don''t hold back." "You got it, captain," the man replied as he started to move his hands, almost as if he was practicing tai chi, "May the flames block the path and keep my enemies at bay!" Bolton said, and a few moments later a large wall of fire covered the path that led to the city. The fire began just behind the turtle¡¯s corpse, reducing the area that the team could use. The monsters kept charging, but the flames destroyed most of them. The few that crossed the barrier were heavily wounded, and it took only a few attacks to finish them off. Hera looked back at Bolton, the man who had created the impressive spell. He was with both hands up and looked to be in deep concentration, not moving a muscle. A spell that large seemed to take a lot out of him. "How long can you keep it?" Cass asked from the other side of the ramparts. "If I don''t mess up. Five minutes." "Keep your ears peeled, the fire is too high, and we can''t see the other side. If the spell drops before the end, we won''t know what''s coming," Cass commanded. The tension grew during the next minutes. No one was sure if Bolton would be able to keep the spell until the end of the wave. With only 20 seconds remaining, the fire wall disappeared, and they could see another thirty monsters running towards them. Luckily, they were mostly frogs and chameleons, the easiest monsters to deal with. The monsters died, and the bodies disappeared, signaling the end of the wave. Hera''s group rushed to grab some loot and headed back to camp. They would take the first 40 minutes of rest. The group arrived at the camp, dropping the loot inside a large wooden box. Cass came with them since she was the only one who had the key for the crate. They had gotten a lot of loot already. The box was close to full with both gold and materials that dropped from the monsters. The one issue was the large jawbone that the giant snapping turtle dropped. There was no way that it could fit inside the box, so they just let it rest on top of it. "Do these materials have anything special? Or are they just like the ones we harvest normally?" Blue asked. "A bit of both, mostly ordinary materials, but we can get lucky and get something special. But the drop rate is very low. At least during the first day, the longer the rampage lasts, the better the drops become," Cass said as she waited for everyone to place the loot inside it. Blue immediately went towards one of the beds while Alex sat in one of the chairs. Everyone was tired after fighting for close to 8 hours. Thomas was the only one that still had a pep in his step, while Burton needed help even to walk around. Holding the fire wall for such a long time took more than just mana from him. He lay down in one of the beds, and before anyone was back with water, he was already sleeping. "Don''t worry. He''s just sleeping," Runir said after checking in on the mage. "I guess his spell drained his energy," Hera said. "Can that happen?" Blue''s muffled voice came from a tent. "I guess so. My relic did the same with me once. I guess spells can work like that," Hera started getting the stew ready once more. The ingredients were in a bag provided by the guild. "Let me take care of our supper, brave warrior. You have fought valiantly and deserve some rest," Tom said as he grabbed the ingredients. "How are you barely sweating?" Alex asked. "It is but a skill, one that I''m sure you also possess. My Improved Stamina is at rank 5," Tom replied. "Rank 5?! Isn''t that a lot for a year?" Runir gasped. "Mayhap my noble squire. The Rampage in the Carpon Caverns helped me increase my skill by a rank. I expect that all of you, my brethren, will have the skill increased by one or two ranks by the end of this one," Tom said. The group rested for 40 minutes. There wasn''t much talk at first, but even Bolton jolted up after a large explosion came from the entrance. When the time came, they relieved the other team so they could rest. This low wave wasn''t that much different from the first one they fought. Monsters would come in a single file, and the team could deal with them with ease. After fifteen minutes, Cass arrived with another 18 people who came to relieve the team. Their shift was over. Now they could head back to the guild and rest. They headed back, carrying all the loot that they had gathered. Hera was excited to see Helena. It felt like a week since the two had seen each other. 144 - Research Result Hera and her team arrived in the guild. The first thing she wanted to do was take a shower. Sadly, she wasn''t the only one. The shower lines were so long that the guild had to set up a number queue system. Hera''s number was 45, and there were only 10 showers, so it would take some time before she was able to properly clean herself. Having to wait, Hera went back to Cass to make sure there weren''t any issues with the team. The mage was talking to a group of people. When she noticed Hera approaching, Cass waved at Hera. "Hey, is everything ok?" "Yeah, just wondering if you need any help." "Don''t worry, girl, everything is fine. We gave the chest to the guild, and we''ll have the full list soon. When we get it, I''ll call the team, and we can see what we want to do," Cass said as the other people around her kept staring at Hera. "Ok, sorry to disturb you. Call me if you need anything," Hera quickly replied and left her team leader. The way people stared at her made it seem like she was interrupting something important. Unsure what to do, Hera checked the shower line. It was still at 17. With a sigh, she started looking for Helena. It didn''t take long to find her. She was working with the clerks to organize everything and setting up the supply chain around the city. When Helena saw Hera, her eyes went wide for a moment. Her assistant was covered in dried blood and sweat Helena clenched her fist, trying to compose herself before talking, "Hey, sweetie. How was your first day?" Hera noticed how Helena''s voice cracked as she spoke. And the way she greeted her felt more professional than personal. "Hey, Lena. It was fine. I got few bruises, but Runir and Mika, the healers, were able to help. I''m going to take a shower. Then I''ll head to the infirmary for a checkup." "That''s good. That''s good. And did you have fun?" Helena glanced at Hera but kept working. "I wouldn''t say fun. But it was good. I managed to practice some of my spells. We had to fight a five-meter tall snapping turtle, and the ones that hit me were mostly frogs. Oh, I completely forgot to use the affinity sight, sorry." Helena flinched slightly when Hera talked about the turtle but returned to her regular expression in an instant, "Not so loud, sweetie. That is still a secret. If you can use it, it would be great, but focus on surviving, ok." Hera felt like Helena was odd. Maybe she was scared that she was in a place where a rampage was going on with no magic to help her, "Lena, do you need to talk?" "I''m fine, sweetie. There is just a lot of work to be done," Helena looked around and waved to someone, "Sorry, but I have to run. We''ll talk later, ok," she rushed off before Hera could reply. Hera went toward the infirmary. She had taken some hits during the defense. Even with the heals and care from Runir and Mika, she still wanted to make sure there weren''t any serious wounds. Another long line was in front of the clinic. However, this one moved much quicker. Most of the people there were doing the same as Hera, just doing a small checkup to ensure they were still in peak condition. In one of the beds, there was a man with several blood-soaked bandages warping around his torso. By the look of it, he wouldn''t be fighting for any time soon. The rampage had taken out its first explorer. As she walked to the back of the line, Hera saw Alex, Blue, and the rest of the team waiting to get a checkup. They greeted each other, but Hera had to stay in the end. In less than twenty minutes, it was her turn. She had a few cuts and bruised, but a quick heal from the on-call healers was more than enough to patch her up. As she left, Hera met Blue and the other members of the team. They talked about the fight and looked for a place to rest. A while later, after Hera had gotten her shower, the group headed to a large hall that was being used as a cafeteria. They started to eat, but Hera kept searching for Helena. She was worried that the mage was overworking too much. After eating, Hera left the group before going to the training room that was being used as a dormitory. Asking around, she found out that Helena was in one of the laboratories that the guild had. It didn''t take long for her to find the right room and knock on the door. "Lena, are you there?" A moment passed before Helena opened the door, "Hey sweetie, is everything ok?" Hera nodded, "Yeah. I''m worried about you. Weren''t you going to eat with us?" "Oh, right. Sorry, I''m kind of busy right now. We can talk later, ok?" Helena tried to close the door, but Hera stopped her. "Lena. What is going on? You are really weird today." "I''m fin..." Helena started but was quickly cut off. "No, you are not. You can say when something is wrong, Lena." Helena stared at Hera for a moment before letting out a long sigh, "I hate when you use my words against me, you know that?" "I do. That''s why I''m saying it right now." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Helena moved away from the door to allow Hera to enter. She paced around the lab for a moment while the explorer looked at equipment. There were several types of scanners, as well as flasks and some chemical compounds all over the room, and a bag with several rocks and the pangolin scales that Hera had brought was lying on the table. She wanted to ask about what Helena had found, but she was still pacing, restless. "If you keep walking like that, we are going to have to pay for a new floor for the guild," Hera said. "Well, what do you expect me to do?" Helena stopped to face Hera. "Talk to me." "Talk about what? How about how I''m taking advantage of you because I know you feel like you owe me something? Or maybe how I almost got you killed for some stupid research. Even better, how about how you came here and are putting yourself in harm''s way for me one more time?" Helena snapped. Hera saw her raise her voice for the first time. "Lena..." "Don''t you Lena me, and don''t you dare tell me I''m wrong. If it weren''t for me, the wendigo wouldn''t have found you. Hell, the damn thing maybe wouldn''t even be around, and the people in the wall could still be alive. How the hell am I supposed to face Quinn or your friends after putting you through all that? How am I supposed to face you?" Helena''s eyes started to water. Hera got up and hugged Helena. "Hera, stop," Helena tried to push Hera away, but the explorer wouldn''t let go. "Lena, what happened to me wasn''t your fault. And no one is blaming you for the wall. If you weren''t there, the guild would still manage to break it," Hera said. "Oh, please. Fine, the guild would do that, but if it weren''t for me, you would..." Hera cut her off quickly, "If it weren''t for you, I would find a way to be in an even worse place. Maybe I would be in the middle of the forest while the rampage was going on, Or I wouldn''t have the camping gear, and the Panther would eat me alive in the middle of the night." "You still wouldn''t be here," Helena said, still holding her arms to the side, not hugging Hera back. "Yeah, I would. This is a great way to make money and to train skills. I never knew this type of thing happened. Besides, I have a silver card. I have to be a good example." "What do you mean you never knew? This is part of the basic training," Helena said. "Well, I never heard about it. Not that I remember, at least." "Dammit, Calvin," Helena sighed. "Yeah, he was better at teaching combat than... well, everything else." "You can say that again," Helena paused and put her arms around Hera, "I''m sorry for letting you get hurt." "You are not letting me get hurt. It''s part of the job," Hera said. Helena took a deep breath, "I don''t want to lose a friend again." "So help me get stronger. Strong enough so that nothing can kill me," Hera replied. "You say like that''s easy," Helena chuckled. "Well, for a genius mage, it can be." "Genius. Yeah, right," Helena rolled her eyes. The two stayed like that for some time. Hera could feel Helena trembling in her arms. She must have been dealing with some of that for a long time. Hera felt ashamed. How could she have been so oblivious to Helena''s feelings? She had to get out of her own head and be more conscious of the people around her. Helena let go of the hug and wiped away her tears. "I''m supposed to be the grown-up here. You know that, right?" Helena said. "That doesn''t mean you can''t be scared. Just promise you''ll talk to me, ok. I''m not doing anything just for you. I needed a goal, and you gave me one. I''m not doing anything without thinking about it first, ok? The rampage is on the first layer, so we obviously can take it. The MAZE might be ruthless, but it is always fair, wasn''t that part of the training?" "Well.. yeah, but as you said, it still is ruthless. You need to be careful." "I will," Hera said. She stared at Helena for a moment, wanting to ask about the friend she had lost, but it felt like a bad moment to do so. She looked back to the table, "So, did you find anything interesting?" "I actually did. The rocks can be used to focus your mana. If you grab the fire stone and pass your mana through it enough times, your own mana can start turning into fire mana," Helena walked towards the table. "Wasn''t changing your mana something that only mages could do?" Hera asked. "Not quite. Most roles can have 20% of their total mana as elemental mana, but that doesn''t lock. So you can keep using fire mana and one day change it to ice. It''s just much harder to use that specific mana, while for mages and explorers with the mage skill, the system just does it for you," Helena grabbed a few rocks and put them in a row. "And how is that different from a mana stone? I have the poison one on me. Can''t I just use that to make poison mana?" Hera walked closer to the table. "Nope, mana stones take mana to change it into something else. These rocks make the mana you pass through them change. If you want, I can teach you how to focus on the type of mana you want, and we can try to figure out the type of mana you have. It will probably be poison," Helena started to look for a specific rock. "Sure, just promise you are going to eat after this," Hera sat on a chair by the desk. "I promise," Helena said while she was setting everything up. "Lena, can I ask you a question about the rampage?" "Sure, shoot." "What happens if the clouds turn black? Thomas, Runir''s friend, said that we should evacuate, but even he wasn''t very sure why." "Oh, when the clouds go black, it means that something from another room came here. Not like people, but monsters or even a dungeon. Most people don''t even know about that because it''s so rare, and it already happened in Brinefront. No one knows if it can happen multiple times in the same room. We are probably ok, but... if that happens, we are all running to the doorway." Hera nodded and kept watching Helena work. After a few moments, she asked one more question, "Lena, if you were that worried about me. Why did you stay in the room when the rampage started? I know they block the doorways so the monsters won''t cross over, but they give some time for people who don''t want to be here. Don¡¯t they?" Helena stopped moving the rocks and kept staring at the table, "I... was busy." "Didn''t you get the message on the tablet? I know you like to listen to music during the research, but the notification makes some noise." "Not in that... I was in the bathroom. When I finally got out, they had already closed the doorways." "You didn''t leave because you were taking a dump?" "I had spicy food for lunch, ok?" Helena gasped while Hera started laughing 145 - Day 2 My children, who were playing around, We told them not to make a sound the streets were covered in red dye That¡¯s what we told them Beneath our bodies rumbled the ground as we looked up to the black sky Our movements stopped when we saw the hound in silence, I pray Why didn¡¯t we ran away? Excerpt from Victims of the Black Cloud (adapted) - 1236 _______________________________________ Hera spent a few hours with Helena in the lab, learning how to pull specific parts of her mana to a spell. She had some trouble trying to find the mana, and it was even more challenging to fuel a spell with that specific mana. Yet, the biggest issue was Helena trying to teach it. Since she was a mage, she never had to worry about manually separating the mana, so all her knowledge was secondhand. Yet by the time the two headed towards the dormitory, Hera was able to grasp the concept of the skill. It was far from being useful in an actual fight, but during the slow waves, Hera could practice that and see the difference in effect. According to the tests, 10% of Hera''s mana had converted to poison, 4% to whatever element her pulse spell was, and 2% to light. With this amount of mana, she could use one poison needle with pure poison mana. And a few pulses. When using the right kind of mana, the spells seemed to be strengthened. She wasn''t sure what the poison needle would do since she didn''t have a target to test it on, but using the 10 points of specific mana for the pulse spell made the range increase by 20%, to 12 meters. If the poison needle would work the same way, the damage it would deal was much higher than when using her regular mana. It should match to when she used the poison mana crystal to fuel her spells. Another thing that Helena showed Hera were the scales that she had brought. Each of them could increase the power of spells that matched its element, and since the affinity sight spell allowed them to see the element that the scale had, they could actually use it. During her tests, Helena gathered that the scales could increase the power of a spell by 7 to 14%, and they were able to withstand around 500 to 1000 mana passing through them. The crystal one still required more testing. Helena managed to use a spell with close to double its strength, but the next few attempts gave underwhelming results, even weakening the spell''s power. Helena ended up sharing the room with Hera, Blue, and the other women of their team. They had a spare bed, but no one wanted to be alone in a group with strangers. During the night, Cass explained what was the current situation with the other teams. Most were doing fine. The team that was in the northwest entrance was the only one who had some trouble. Most of its members were relatively new explorers. They were around for just half a year and were all part of the same party before the rampage. During the assault, one of the pangolins managed to hit a man''s torso with its spiked tail. He was the one that was in the infirmary all bandaged up. Because of that, they would change the teams a bit. Besides teams A through H, they had two backup units, with fewer people than the rest who would keep patrolling the areas and helping any team with some issues. Now they would have only a single group as backup, but the unit would have more members. They were also responsible for taking care of any stragglers that attempted to break the walls instead of going through the entrances. Team H1 wouldn''t see any changes. They were able to hold back the waves without relying on anyone else. "How many people are fighting here? In this room, I mean," Hera asked. "Well, we have around 450 that will fight, plus the 50 people manning the guild. My guess is close to double that in Brinefront, so maybe, 2 000 to 2 500. The outposts near dungeons will have a much easier time defending. The rampage is attracted by big settlements. The one near the frog valley should have maybe 250 people, if that, and it will be more than enough. There is one to the west that is more of a campground with a single store. That one will need like 100 people at most," Cass explained. "Oh, so there are people from the MAZE there?" Blue asked. "That too, but some people just want to live close to home. I know a guy that is staying there because he fell in love with a civilian. It''s actually a cute story how they..." the women kept talking during a large part of the night. The set up made Hera feel like she was traveling with her friends from the school, and the mood felt just like it. No one seemed to be very worried about the situation, and that gave her some comfort, even if she had to stay alert so nothing would go wrong. In the morning, while they were eating breakfast. One of the clerks sent the list of items they had gotten during the defense. There were several materials, including a hefty price of 100 gold for the turtle jawbone. But none of them had any unique properties. Still, for the first day, they got 12 000 gold to split between the team. Cass said that all the earnings would be divided equally, and if someone wanted a material, they could pay the same price that the guild was giving them. No one was interested in the materials, so they all got 800 gold just for the first day. According to Thomas, if this lasted for another week, they would easily get more from the loot than from the rewards. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Before leaving, Helena gave Hera, Blue, and Alex a pangolins scale for their elements. Lightning for Blue, Wind for Alex, and Poison for Hera. She explained how to use the scales and asked them to use it only when needed since there was a limit on how much they could do before being burned out. Before thanking Helena, Hera said that maybe someone had found some scales as a drop. If so, they could buy and have more materials for the research. The second day of fighting was close to a repeat of the first one. The monsters were somewhat stronger, but only by the last wave did they feel like regular monsters from the room. They fought two of the snapping turtles this time, but neither of them was able to even reach the vanguard. The entire shift felt much less taxing than the previous one. Yet, by the end of the day, Hera managed to rank up one of her skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Improved Stamina (Rank 2): Increases the stamina of the user as well as its regeneration. The effect moderately increases when the user is less active or more relaxed. The effect has a minor increase when standing still. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, is that why Tom stays still when there is no monster around?" Hera said to herself. "Have you called upon me, noble explorer?" Tom walked closer to her while they headed back to the guild. "Yeah. My Improved Stamina increased rank. I just saw that if I stand still, I can recover a bit." "Ah, yes. The skill that increases our fighting spirit. You are correct. The more it grows, the easier it gets for you to rest. Yet, we carry a heavy burden on our shoulders. For all our skills, make us even more tired as we grow. If not for the recovery granted by it, I would fail to use my gallant moves more than a few times," Tom explained. "I see. When our other skills get stronger, they also become more taxing to use. Good to know, thanks. I had no idea that the other skills would become even more tiring," Hera smiled as they walked through the empty streets. If that wasn''t enough to give an eerie feeling to the town, the noise that came from the teams made it seem like they were hiding in the middle of a war. The roar of beasts was constant even as they got closer to the guild. Looking around, as Hera could see the light and sparks created by large spells, she couldn''t help but worry. Were they really safe in here? Could a black cloud appear? Or a wendigo? She shrugged those thoughts away and focused on her current plans. She wanted a shower again and to eat something other than stew, maybe some chocolate. Hera grabbed her number for the shower. Today she was at 65, so it would take even longer for her turn. Dropping by the infirmary, she saw another five people in rough states. No one was as bad as the man from the first day, but they still seemed to be out of the fight. Hera had a large cut on the back of her hand. Because of that, they placed a couple of adhesive stitches, and she had a twenty-minute session with a healer just to be sure the pain wouldn''t be a problem during the next day. The adhesive helped keep the wound closed while the healer triggered an accelerated recovery. By the end of it, Hera only felt a slight discomfort in some movements, but holding her handaxe wasn''t among them. Being all patched up, Hera went for the room they were using, but someone else had already taken their beds. Since there weren''t enough rooms for everyone, it was on a first-come, first-served basis. Worst-case scenario, they could head to one of the gyms and use the tents in there. Luckily, Cass predicted that they might have some trouble and sent Martel, who usually worked as a scout, and Tisha, the archer, ahead. Thanks to that, the group was still able to get a single room for the team, although Helena wouldn''t be able to join them by the number of beds. That wasn''t much of an issue since she had a shared bedroom with the people working in the guild to maintain everything working. The team ate and discussed some strategies for the next day. After that, everyone started to do some maintenance on their equipment. Hera went to do so in Helena''s lab. That way, they could keep working together on the research. Even if Hera was more or less a guinea pig, it was still worth it. She could feel her control of magic getting better, and if by the end, she found out a new skill. It was all the better. "Lena, how do you make a mana reinforcement with an element?" Hera asked as she was sharpening her handaxe. "There are two ways, one simple, one complicated. The simple one is to pull the type of mana you want for the spell. Of course, that only works if part of your mana is from an element. The complicated one is to finish the spell and then change all the mana inside it to the element you want," Helena replied without looking away from the rocks. She would place each of them atop a solution and wait for the reaction before making notes on her tablet. "Ok... I don''t think I have enough elemental mana to make the spell for too long, so how do I change the mana inside it?" Helena stopped moving and looked at Hera, "Sorry, I really don''t know." "Oh, the perks of being a mage. Not even having to worry about such mundane things," Hera made an overly dramatic gesture, teasing Helena. "Hey! It''s not like that, you know. I know how I do it. There is a long equation to change one type of mana into another. I just don''t know how you should do it." "Oh, right. Sorry, I forget that I''m the weird one that sees magic as a result and not a bunch of numbers," Hera scoffed. "Yeah, if you used math, I could teach you so much. But now I have to keep asking around for ideas on how to help you, and honestly, most of the time, they don''t make a lick of sense," Helena got up and walked to the side, where she had a bottle of water. "Wait, is that why you told me to figure things out myself with the mana reinforcement?" Hera asked. "Yeah, I have no idea what the tips other mages gave me meant. So I took the most basic advice and passed along. What the hell does ''wrap the weapon in a cozy mana blanket'' means?" Helena scoffed. "I agree. It''s more like placing the weapon inside a mana cast," Hera said. "See, right there. If I heard someone talking like that, I would have them committed," Helena said. The two kept working while Hera kept trying to make her Mana reinforcement have poison mana. When it became late, they headed out going to their bedrooms, and soon the time for Hera''s third shift had arrived. 146 - New concept During the first wave of the third day, Hera already felt the difference in the monsters'' strength. According to the previous team, the creatures seemed to be in their normal state. Yet, they still were weaker than what Hera was expecting. She didn''t fight the frogs since she was level 3 and her skills and gear were stronger now. That led to a misconception from Hera. She expected to have the same trouble as she had at the start of her journey. In reality, her experience and abilities are showing her worth. What was before a serious threat was now is just a fair fight. Especially for someone who became used to fighting against creatures stronger than herself. To Hera, they seemed like just weak enemies. During their first break, Hera tried once more to activate the mana reinforcement with poison mana, using the poison mana crystal. With a couple of tries, she managed to activate the spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Mana Reinforcement - Poison Rank: Beginner By coating an item with mana, you can increase its properties. Controlling the mana allows you to focus on the increase of the desired property. The poison mana can seep into the target, damaging it from the inside. The mana can corrode the area where it hit if it''s unable to seep into the target, reducing the target''s defense. The size of the object can affect the cost. Base offensive increase: 7% Base defensive increase: 17% Base corrosion: 5% These values double if the target is weak against poison. Base mana cost: 100 mana per second ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera gasped while reading about the spell. The mana cost was too high. She could only keep the spell up for 4 seconds with her mana. Hera tried to use the poison mana from the mana crystal, and the cost was reduced to 50 mana per second. It was much more cost effective but still too pricy to cast. If she could use her own mana, it would be even better, since to charge the crystal, she had to spend 50% more mana than it could store. On the third wave, a glow covered Alex after she killed a giant orange newt. It was a well known glow, showing that she had just leveled up. Now Blue was the one with the lowest level in the team. The controller kept grumbling about how it wasn''t fair, but that didn''t stop her from fighting. Now she had one more reason to push even harder. During the fourth wave, half of what they needed to defend against, Hera saw a pangolin quickly running towards the entrance. She aimed a few poison needles at it, but the monster dodged the projectiles. Burton was helping the vanguard, and Hera was the only one not engaged with anything. Still, it was just a pangolin. For someone who defeated the Carbuncle, it didn''t look like a threat. She blocked its advance by stepping in front of it and pushed it back, swinging her handaxe at its face. The pangolin jumped back, evading the attack, and tried to pass by her once more. She grabbed its tail and spun around, sending the creature back. With a growl, the pangolin tried to headbutt her but missed as Hera sidestepped. She took a couple of swings at its back, but the scales were too strong to break with her handaxe. Hera activated the Mana Reinforcement and struck again, creating a large gash on the creature''s armor. The attack wasn''t enough to be deadly or even pierce the scales completely, but it was enough to make it angry. The pangolin jumped away and started to shake. Scales fell from its body and began to rotate around it, creating what looked like a moveable barrier. Hera tried to attack once more, but the rotating scales blocked her advances. Getting closer, she noticed that the armor around the pangolin wasn''t missing a single piece, and the barrier was almost translucent. The barrier seemed to have a life of its own every time Hera moved towards the monster. It would shift to block her attacks. "Hera, are you ok?" Runir asked from the back. "I''m fine. This one is just annoying," she replied. "Hang on. I''ll help you," Alex shouted from the other side of the road. "No need. I got this," Hera replied without taking her eyes out of the pangolin. She sent a poison needle towards it, and as the monster dodged to the side, Hera aimed a slash at its legs. The attack created a large cut on the beast. As a reply, the scales flew towards her, hitting part of her armor and making a cut on her face. "Tsk," Hera clicked her tongue. The scales were already annoying when they were just a defense measure, but they could attack too? She had to kill this monster quickly. To the side, Thomas watched the fight. Blue and Kenny were able to hold down the entrance on their own against the small number of monsters that came. He saw Alex, who finished her fight, move towards Hera, but stopped her. "This seems like a foe she wants to fight by herself. We should honor their duel," he said to the assassin. Alex looked at Hera, and it was true. It took only a look at her face to see how focused she was. There was also a smile on her face, "Fine, but I''m staying put. The second she seems in danger, I''m jumping in." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Very well. I leave her in your capable hands. Oh, brave soldier. Fear not, for no beast shall disturb their bout," Tom said as he joined Blue at the front. Alex kept watching. She wanted to understand why that creature had triggered such a reaction from her friend. Hera moved to the side, trying to hit the pangolin flank once more. Yet, the floating scales were in the way. How do those things move? Could it be mana, or was it something else? She triggered her Affinity Sight in hopes of getting a glimpse of what was actually going on. Her vision didn''t change, and nothing was connecting the scales with the body. Or maybe it was too far for her to see. Hera rushed at the monster, trying to get as close as possible from the floating scales. The monster didn''t let the opportunity pass and tried to hit Hera with its tail. She blocked it with her skirt and leg as the repulsion blast was triggered. The scales moved to attack once more, getting in a spear-like formation as they moved to slash her. Hera raised her handaxe to block, but the impact made part of the scales to detach themselves and keep going. The five projectiles that hit her chest were heavy, almost like being hit point-blank by a paintball. Hera had to take a moment to catch her breath as the pangolin went forward to headbutt her. Hera failed to see the attack coming and fell backward with the impact. As she hit the ground, the creature kept running past her. Alex jumped to the fight when Hera got hit by the scales and was already on top of the pangolin as it tried to reach the city. The scales proved to be an issue even for her, and the two fell to the side, tumbling on the ground before Alex managed to toss it back towards Hera. The pangolin felt cornered. One human was already a problem, but now there were two. It shook its body, making even more scales fall, this time showing large gaps on its plate. Alex attacked with her cutting wind, while Hera grabbed her chakram and tossed under it. When the creature passed by her head, she saw small strands of mana connecting the scales with the body. If her idea was right, she could do the same with her chakram. When she threw her weapon, Hera kept Yarnball''s thread on her hand, trying to cover it with mana. As the chakram got under the pangolin, Hera tried to pull back the mana, hoping that the motion would be enough to send her blade up. The chakram hit the creature''s belly and bounced off. The attack was far from being strong enough to cut the beast''s hide, but it was enough to give an opening for Alex, who stabbed the monster''s jaw, killing it at once. "Are you ok?" she asked. "I''m great!" Hera replied with a huge smile. It worked. Now she could control her chakram using her mana! She pulled her weapon back and threw it to the other side, away from the fight, doing the same thing she had done before as she pulled the mana towards her to make her chakram go up. There was a moment where Hera just kept staring at the chakram on the ground with a large smile. But as the seconds went by, her face turned into a frown. Why was it not working? "Did you hit your head or something? Or is there a monster over there?" Alex asked. "No... I was just... trying to move the chakram," Hera said. "But you are not touching it," Alex replied. Hera had even let go of the thread. "I mean, with my mana." "Either way, we don''t have time for that right now. The monsters are coming," Alex pointed to the treeline that was illuminated by the floodlights. There were a set of four newts coming towards them. "Right, sorry I got caught up in this," Hera replied as she turned around and threw her poison needles. "It''s okay. I got you," Alex winked at Hera and prepared her wind cutter. As they focused on the attack, the rest of the shift went by quickly. To Hera, that was a good thing. She wanted to practice moving the chakram with her mana. It was such a simple concept, and she was amazed by how she didn''t think of it before. Moving back to the guild, the entire vanguard went straight to the infirmary. They all got hit a few times, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Hera had some large purple bruises on her chest and arm, the places where the scales hit her. There was also a cut on her face and several smaller bruises covering her body. Kenny scolded her when she had to stay for a long time to get treated. She was too reckless during the fights. If it weren''t for the armor, she would be in a much worse shape. According to him, Hera got greedy several times, being hit by attacks that she could have avoided. She listened to the complaints in silence. Kenny was right. In hindsight, many of her fights today were unnecessarily taxing. She wasn''t being smart and kept rushing towards the monsters as they crossed the traps. Her armor made her rash. Not feeling the impact as much impaired her judgment. Just because she had a strong protection, it didn''t mean that she could stop caring about being hit. Her armor should be the last line of defense, not the first one. Since they rushed to the infirmary, the team was able to get only a single of the training rooms to sleep. The men would need to sleep in tents. The situation still felt weird to Hera. They had specific times to sleep and had to wait for the previous group to leave the dormitories before going there. To get a room they had to talk to one of the clerks and they would see which room was available. Considering that every team had a different number of people, Hera imagined that assigning rooms for all the teams could be a lot of work, and considering that there were a lot of things to do, the staff didn¡¯t have time to make those arrangements. Still, they had 4 hours before ''bedtime'' and then another 4 hours to get ready for their next shift. It was the third day, but spirits were still high. No one seemed worried about the waves or the fighting. In total, only seven people were out of commission from all teams and shifts, and they were either new recruits or people who were not used to fight. They were also getting a significant amount of money from the materials. The second day netted each member of the team 1 100 gold, and the third day 1 300. It was over 1 000 gold a day. Sure, it was the same as the 1 000 she would get if she were hunting frogs and selling them to Mond. But here, she could train her skills, increase her combat experience, and work in a team instead of alone. Hera left the shower and started to look for Helena. She wanted to talk about the new idea she had. There was a commotion coming from the main hall. People were speaking loudly while others shushed them. The large screens in the lobby all had the same image, and the audio was transmitted through the speaker system. A tall, muscular blonde woman was in front of a podium with the symbol of the guild. "I will keep this brief. After the assault on the wall, we faced a threat like no other, and we were not ready for it. I''m not going to talk about what I could or should have done. The loss we suffered by the wendigos was my fault. Because of that, I''m stepping down as chairperson of the guild." Leliana took a step to the side and kept talking while leaving a space in front of the podium, and spoke in a bland tone, "Please welcome our next leader and the man who will bring the guild to the future, Romeo Ballester." 147 - Changes Romeo Ballester walked up to the podium. He had short red hair with a big receding line, a long braided beard under a large plump nose. His big green doe-eyes seemed to sparkle with the lights of the camera. "Hello everyone, I''m Romeo Ballester. First of all. I want to thank Leliana Mihafrey for her years of service as the leader of the guild. She has done commendable work during all the time acting as chairperson. Even when facing an unimaginable situation, she not only rose to the occasion but even surpassed all of our expectations. It''s with a sad heart that I..." As his speech kept going, Alex called Hera to join her, Helena, and the rest of the team. They were all sitting on the side, watching the announcement. "Hey, sweetie. Did you miss much?" Helena asked. "I got here around the time Leliana was stepping down." "Oh, so just the pre-show," Cass joked. "Yeah, I remember that she said she would step down after dealing with the Wendigos. Is that over?" Hera asked. "Yeah, the predictions were that it would take around six months to deal with all the monsters from the room we know. Leliana managed to hunt them all down in less than half that time. I don''t know why she is stepping down," Kenny said. Some people were shushing the group, and they stopped talking. The image was still the same, with Romeo doing his speech. Leliana was also in the frame, while the new chairman kept singing praises for his predecessor. Some of his stories were moving, while others seemed more like those of a fan meeting his idol. "... if that is not proof that even the strongest of us is powerless against the power of the Boba drink, I don''t know that is," he laughed. Having him in charge might be interesting, although Hera wasn''t sure what the chairman could do. Every time she saw Leliana, she had this imposing presence that seemed like a mountain that would never move. Romeo, on the other hand, seemed open and almost... jolly. "When his beard turns white, the only thing missing will be the hat," Hera''s loud though gained some laughs from the people around her. "Now. As an organization, I understand that we have a long tradition, and I intend to uphold it with all my strength. At the same time, some of our rules must be revised and updated. Much like the laws from the middle ages were changed as society became more civilized. But now is not the moment for that. I understand that a great number of people won''t care too much about what I have to say and will just read the summarized version that the press will put out. And that is 100% fine by me. In all honesty, there were several of those announcements where I completely ignored the video and just read what I wanted. I just need to be careful not to skim email anymore. Last time I got the dates confused and almost missed the vote for this position," Romeo laughed. His reaction made some people look around, worried. "Can we count on him to lead us?" Tisha asked. "Who cares who the boss is? Nothing that the guild ever did actually affected us. In five years, the first thing that could affect me was the Wendigo that Hera fought," Bolton snickered. "Oh, right! You were the one. I knew I had seen you somewhere. How was the fight?" Martel asked Hera, only to be shushed by the people around them. "We''ll talk later," Hera replied quietly before focusing on the screen once more. There was a small ceremony where Leliana passed the leadership to Romeo. She picked a banner with the guild''s symbol engraved in a flag and passed on to him as a gesture of transferring the position. Then he walked to the side and made an oath in front of a stained glass portrait of the three heroes. Placing the standard to the side, Romeo picked a pair of chairs and put them in the frame under the three heroes. "Is it good here?" he asked someone off-camera, "two more steps? Ok, what about that one? Ok, hang on." "Mr. Ballester, we have people to do that," a quiet voice came from behind the camera. "Oh right, now I have people to do this kind of thing, right? Sorry, I''m not used to it. What''s done is done. Are we good?" Romeo looked around and sat on the right chair with a satisfied smile, "Very well. Now, if you rather wait for the overview, please don''t stick around and come back in like a couple of hours. I''m sure we will be done by then. For those who like watching the videos, we have today one of the best reporters from the guild and someone I''m a fan of. Miss Becca Swan," he clapped and got up from the chair to shake her hand while Becca walked into the frame. She wore a red and green outfit with golden details that made it impossible not to compare with the stained glass in the back. "Mr. Ballester, thank you for inviting me. It''s not often that my scoops reach out to me," she sat on the opposite chair. The scene felt far from a serious interview. It looked like more of a talk show than anything else. They started talking about Romeo''s origins and how he climbed the ranks of the guild. Most people were uninterested in that, and the mood in the hall changed. A few even got up and left. Team H stayed around while Hera divided her attention between the talking about the wendigo fight and the interview. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Let''s get into the main topic. What are your plans for the future of the guild?" Becca asked. "Well, I have a few ideas, for starters. I''m reaching out to the new dawn group so we can upgrade our facilities throughout the MAZE. With the Wendigos appearing in all layers, we need some way to contact help at any point. The towers we use are good, but with a little investment, the New Daw can make them have a much larger coverage. I''ve been in talks with a few of scientists, and they showed me some fantastic things. One tower can cover over 300 kilometers, even in mana rich environments," Romeo said. "This is unusual. I''m sure you are aware that the New Dawn is not well seen by the majority of explorers. Why reach out for a partnership with them?" Becca had a serious expression. She seemed to be among the ones that had issues with the New Dawn. "I understand your point. Many explorers feel that New Dawn has predatory tendencies. But let me ask you this. Have we ever given them a chance to be different?" Romeo stared at Becca for a few moments. Even the people in the great hall around Hera were silent. "I''m not old enough to say," Becca finally answered. "Well, I am. And I''m sure many others can say that they remember when the New Dawn wasn''t a thing. Not like today, at least. Ever since day one, no one gave New Dawn a fair chance. We were all too set in our ways to allow for a new corporation to be a sponsor. People took jobs from them, got funded, and then sold the results to the highest bidder. New Dawn couldn''t do much since they were still a small fish in the middle of the ocean. We ended up abusing them, and well. That tiny baby company grew up to abuse others. I''m not saying to forgive and forget everything, just to give everyone a chance to make things right. Besides, they have some spectacular advances in electronics, farming, and magic engineering. I see an alliance as a major benefit." Becca replied with a cold smile, "Forgive me for saying this, Mr. Ballester, but it seems like you are giving some free advertisement for them. If I dig into your finances will I find any money trail connecting you and the New Dawn?" "Yeah, there are a few. I had to make a few donations to get in touch with the scientists. Some galas and fundraisers, stuff like that. But I don''t make any money from them if that''s what you''re suggesting. I genuinely believe in their values," Romeo replied without missing a beat. "Where does that belief comes from? Or is it just from the goodness of your heart?" Becca pressed. "Oh, not at all. I''m not that naive. I''ll try to keep it short. As a child, I lived in a small city in Spain. One day, a landslide destroyed most of the town and buried my family and me. We only had food and water for five days, and on the second day, I hear my father saying that if by the fourth day there was no sign of help, he would make the ultimate sacrifice so that my mother and I could have a better chance. The next day we were rescued by people from the New Dawn. They came to negotiate lands for a few farms, but when they saw what happened stopped to help. The New Dawn helped us rebuild the city and even paid more than they should for the lands they wanted. It wasn''t for the current produce they were making now. They needed the place to test sustainable practices, fertilizer, and mana based farming techniques. And I know what you are going to say, ''they caused the landslide.'' No, they didn''t. There was an earthquake in the middle of a storm. As far as I''m aware, no one can make either of those things. Not on the scale that happened. The storm covered most of western Spain, and the earthquake was felt for almost 100 kilometers," Romeo explained. Becca nodded and changed her demeanor, "I see, and I understand your point of view. Still, it will take some time for others to see that," she was already setting up an article about his finances on her mind. If Romeo Ballester would receive a single gold from the New Dawn because of this, Becca would find out. "I''m fully aware of that. I don''t intend to push everything at once. We will do some testing and see if everyone is up for it. And, of course, the contract will be conditional. The New Dawn will have to respect our way of working. But that is something for the future. There are other changes that I intend to make sooner," Romeo shifted on the chair, placing one leg on top of the other. Becca smiled after Romeo''s pause, "You can''t say something like that and stop talking. What are the changes?" "I intend to share the information we have about the MAZE and what happens inside to civilians. Basically, I''m lifting the ban on information sharing effectively immediately." People started talking around Hera. "So we can start posting things from inside here?" "What? Are you going to be an influencer now?" "I got suspended for posting a picture I took inside here, and now they are letting it go? That''s bullshit!" "Now I can show my niece the monsters we see here." "Great parenting, bro. You''ll give her nightmares for life." There was another wave of shushing as the interview was still going. "That... is big. Although, as a journalist, I like the idea of sharing as much information as possible. What¡¯s the reason for this?" Becca asked. ¡°We spend too much time and resources trying to hide what we do here, and for what? So people won¡¯t get scared? All the governments of the world already see us as a potential threat, and keeping everything hidden will only increase the suspicion. If we share what we can, they will have less reason to suspect us. Besides, it will be nice to talk about other races outside without people staring at you like you are crazy. Also, the guild is fully aware that people still find ways of sharing information about the MAZE. Instead of working towards silencing them, it is easier, and cheaper, to just destroy their demand.¡± ¡°You mentioned resources. Is the guild having financial troubles?¡± Becca asked. "What? Oh no, not at all. I mean, I don¡¯t think so. None of the preliminary reports I have access to say anything about it. If there are any issues, I¡¯ll let you know in our next interview," Romeo scratched his head while thinking, "When I say resources, I mean people. With the wendigos appearing in all layers, we need to have more eyes in the rooms. Most people that have those jobs are high level, and I rather have them in rooms than sitting behind desks. Of course, if they don¡¯t want to we¡¯ll find other places for them to work. That also ties in with my other immediate change." Romeo paused once more, enjoying the tension, "I''m removing the stat restriction for new recruits." As the words came out of his mouth, the great hall roared in questions. "Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be for protection?" "What the hell? How can we work here if people start flooding in?" Hera kept staring at the screen. Was that why Becca asked about the restriction? 148 - Unfair "Hera, are you ok?" Helena asked. "What?" Hera snapped out of her daze. "Are you ok, sweetie?" "I... I think so," she replied, still staring at the screen. How was that fair? She spent years trying to become an explorer, studying, making money, participating in contests, and now, everyone would be able to join? Hera could feel her heart beating faster and a buzzing noise in her ear. Wasn''t the raffle an apology from the system? That was the only little thing that made her special, and now everyone would be just like her. Becca was also taken aback by the statement. It took a few seconds for her to compose herself and follow it up, "I''m sorry, Mr. Ballestar, but can you repeat that. You are removing the restriction? So everyone will be able to become an explorer, even if they have bad attributes?" "Oh, no, sorry. English is not my first language. I don''t mean everyone. I meant that..." Romeo started to snap his finger while trying to find the right word, "Lessen, that was the word. I intend to lessen the attribute requirements. The ultimate goal is to allow anyone to become an explorer, but for now, that''s just a dream." "We are going to need a bit more than that," Becca smiled, "What exactly is your plan?" Romeo smiled, "Ok, let me break it down. All the guild chapters outside the MAZE will have a waiting list. In that list, there will be the people who fell short of becoming an explorer. We''ll start with an average of 11 points and no skills. Each batch of recruits will have one person from that list. I want the next classes to have that extra person already. The first group will be a test run. If everything works out, we can expand it with time." "Why now? Why make the change now that we have a more serious situation with the wendigos?" Becca asked. "It might seem ruthless of me, but it is precisely because of this situation. We need more eyes in the MAZE. There are places where no one goes for months, maybe even years. We can''t have that anymore, not if a wendigo could be hiding there. The guild set up quests across all the rooms to patrol every nook and cranny of the MAZE. And we don''t have the workforce to do that in a reasonable frequency," Romeo''s eyes avoided both the camera and Becca. He spoke while staring at the ground the entire time. "The entire point of the restriction is to avoid unnecessary deaths. Are you going back on that sentiment?" Becca was staring at Romeo with cold eyes. Her question was on most of the viewers'' minds. They knew how the MAZE could be dangerous. How could someone expect to face that if they didn''t have the right attributes? Especially if someone had less than 10 points in a single stat, the debuff would be ruthless. "No, for fu..." Romeo looked at the camera, ''..dge sake, no. The plan is to add some information for the classes and restrictions for those people. Not to send them to hunt for wendigos on day one. They will have to party up with an assigned member for a while and have a sort of intensive training. I''m considering the long game. They will be in a trial period. Only after it they will be able to join patrols. Besides, we have proof that those who we rejected can be a great asset. Hera Kingsley, the fastest silver card holder, was someone that didn''t have enough stats to become an explorer. Yet now, she is the first explorer to find and kill a wendigo away from the 25th layer. Not just that, even after her rejection, she participated in every single workshop, every class, every event that we offered to civilians. How many of us can say that we did that? How many of us have that same devotion? Imagine the number of people who would be dedicated to this job that we are missing because of that restriction. Our job is not safe. Every single one of us knows that. Those who come will also be aware of it, even if their attributes are not as high as some." Hera clenched her fists. He was using her as an excuse to change the rules. Wasn¡¯t that an even bigger slap on the face? And the events he talked about, none of them were useful, none of them gave her any hope of becoming an explorer, they were just how to be a better civilian using mana crystals and MAZE materials. He even talks like there were many. There were only three in the five years since she got her stats checked for the first time. Hera could feel tears forming in her eyes. "So what will they do?" Becca asked. "Whatever they want. We won''t policy them that closely. The only caveat will be that before they get the clear from who is in charge of them, they can''t leave the city without supervision. But after that, we can increase the number of explorers that we have. There is so much for us to find. Having people searching the rooms will allow us to see more rooms, more treasures, more skills, more legacies, just more," this time, Romeo looked into Becca''s eyes. Helena took Hera''s hand, "Sweetie?" Hera snapped her neck towards her, tears rushing through her face. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Are you crying?" Kenny asked. "She just changed the world, of course, she is," Cass said. Helena got up and pulled Hera by the arm, "Come with me sweetie, Let''s get some ice, or your eyes will be swollen tomorrow." Helena didn''t say a word and pulled Hera all the way to her lab, closing the door behind them. Giving the shaken explorer some water, Helena sat in front of her and said, "Talk to me." Hera bit her lip. She was trying to calm herself, "I... just think it''s not fair." "Why?" "Because what about me?" Hera stopped when she heard herself. This sounded incredibly selfish. "Stop holding back and say what you want to say," Helena said with a stern expression. "I spent five years crying almost every night for being rejected, and now they say, ''Oh, we were wrong, let''s let everyone be a part of it.'' What the hell is that? And they use me as an excuse? And the events, they were just propaganda, the guild does jack shit for civilians, and he has the gall to call others predatory?" the more Hera spoke, the louder her and more frantic her voice became, "How is this fair? I''m not saying that everyone has to suffer just like me, but why now?" Helena listened to Hera, trying not to seem judgmental, she gave her assistant a glass of water to help her calm down, "Hera, are you really angry because of this? Remember what your doctor said, you need to find the real cause of your feelings." Hera stared at Helena for a while until she slumped back on the chair, "I thought I was special." "What do you mean?" "I mean meeting you, the raffle, finding the poison crystal, the Pangolins, even the Wendigo. I thought it was a way for the system to say that I''m important and special in some way. It was like an apology for making me wait for five years before letting me go back to my dream." "Hera..." Helena reached towards Hera. "No, stop. I know it''s stupid. I know it''s just a coincidence, and it''s not like that. I know it''s silly, and this is just a child''s dream. Still, it was mine," Hera got up before Helena could reach her. "Tell me this, will they do what you did? Will they find me, the Wendigo, and the items you have?" Helena asked. "I don''t know." "Even if they do, until they get here, you will have found more things. Fought more monsters, discovered more secrets. You will be even more incredible than you already are. And it doesn''t matter who gets here. I doubt one of them will be the fastest silver cardholder," Helena got up and hugged Hera. Hera didn''t reply for a while, accepting the hug but not hugging back, "Still stings that he used me to make that change." "I''m guessing they planned that even before you got the card. The whole ceremony was to make you the poster girl for this move," Helena was stroking Hera''s hairs. "Politics sucks," Hera said. "Politicians suck more," Helena replied. The two stood there for a few minutes, without speaking. Hera was still angry, but her frenzy had stopped. She filled up her water once more and downed it in a single gulp. "Better?" "Not really, but we should go. I''m hungry," Hera replied. In reality, she just wanted to do something to forget her anger. "Thank you. I''m starving!" Helena said as the two left the lab. Outside, Blue and Alex were waiting for them. "Hera, are you ok?" Blue rushed towards her. "We saw how shaken you were by all that. How are you feeling?" Alex said. "Oh, thanks, guys. It''s just.." "Moronic," Blue replied, cutting Hera off, "They use you as an example but don''t consider all the work you put in and how everyone helped you grow. It''s like they are considering you to be the average when you are clearly above it." Hera chuckled, "Yeah, right." "No, no, no, I''m with her this time. You are amazing, Hera. I mean, look at the pangolin you fought today. I doubt anyone would be able to find a spell in the middle of a rampage," Alex said. "Stop joking. I''m sure anyone could have done that," Hera said as they headed towards the cafeteria. "Think again, sweetie. Even high-level mages have trouble doing that," Helena said. "Sorry, but everything you said to me right now will just sound like an excuse. I''m still pissed." "Yeah, using you like that is just low," Blue said. "Not that, I don''t care if they use me. I just feel like I''ve been cheated. Like they stole everything that I did so far." "Why?" Alex asked. "Because I spent years trying to become an explorer, and now everyone will be able to? How is that fair?" "That''s.. stupid," Blue said. Hera stared at her with an angry expression, "Be mad all you want, but that is like being mad for buying something, and then it goes on sale a week later. Sure it feels terrible, but what can you do?" "Besides, it''s not like you would be able to be an explorer on day one. Your stats wouldn''t reach the 11 average, right? You would have to wait for all this workout, and they open for everyone. Even then, you need to put your name on the list, and it would take a long time before they call you, I''m sure of it. Just enjoy the glory and see if you can get some perks for it," Alex said. "I guess," Hera''s reply was weak as they arrived in the cafeteria. As they ate, she talked to Helena and her group about the idea of controlling her chakram with mana, and together they found some ideas on how she could achieve it. After that, they headed out to the training room they would use as a dormitory. Helena said her goodnights, even though the sun was just rising, and went to the room she had as a guild worker. Hera had some trouble sleeping. As much as she was trying her best to forget everything about the announcement, she still felt betrayed. Six hours after they entered the room, a clerk came rushing in, waking them up. "Up, up, up. You all need to get up now! Is Hera Kingsley here?" "Yeah, she''s in that top bunk... What is this?!" Cass gasped. "Hera, did you tp the guild?" Blue asked, still half asleep. "Of course not, what''s the matter with you?" the pillow on her face muffled Hera''s voice. "Get up now!" Cass shouted, making everyone get up at once. "What is going... on?" As Hera opened her eyes, a notification was floating in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Wendigo''s Assault - Hazelpond Three Wendigos are mixed with the monsters that are attacking the city. If left unchecked, the monsters can become strong enough to destroy the entire town. Kill them to ensure the success of the Rampage''s defense. The amount of damage you inflict on the wendigos will determine your reward. Rewards ???????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 149 - The Last Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Wendigo''s Assault - Hazelpond Three Wendigos are mixed with the monsters that are attacking the city. If left unchecked, the monsters can become strong enough to destroy the entire town. Kill them to ensure the success of the Rampage''s defense. The amount of damage you inflict on the wendigos will determine your reward. Rewards ???????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera kept staring at the notification. Why had the wendigos appeared? Was that going to be a regular occurrence now? "Hera, please come with me. Cassandra, you too. The rest of the team, get ready to leave. The clouds turned red. We are on the last day of the Rampage." The team members hurried to get ready, Blue and Alex just followed their lead, but Hera and Cass were only allowed to change into casual clothes before heading out. "We just got reports that a similar quest appeared in Brinefront. Since you are the only one who ever fought a Wendigo here, we need you to give us all a briefing on what to expect," the clerk spoke as they walked through the hall. "Wait, what do you mean?" Hera stopped walking. The clerk moved back and grabbed Hera''s arm, pulling her toward the conference room, "We don''t have time for stage fright. Let''s go." "No, wait. Why me?" Hera asked. "I''ve just told you. You are the only one with first-hand knowledge of fighting those things. We don''t have time to read through all the reports to figure out how to fight them." "Wait," Hera gasped. "We don''t have time to wait. We need the intel now!" the clerk kept pulling Hera''s arm. "I''m not the only one who fought those things," as Hera said those words, the man who was pulling her arm finally stopped. "What? Who else fought them?" "Helena was in the Qeeroni Wilds. She spent a week fighting those things," Hera explained, pulling her arm away. "Why isn''t she fighting then?" the clerk asked. "We have no time to discuss that. She was in one of the rooms that you guys are using. Call her to the meeting. She will have much better intel," Hera huffed. The clerk scoffed and called someone on his tablet, asking to bring Helena to the conference room. Hera walked inside the room and saw 50 people spread around in the tight area. There was a small podium on the other end of the room with a large screen behind it. She was guided towards the front, and they placed her behind the stand. "Quiet, everyone. Hera is here, and she will tell us what she can about the wendigos," another clerk said and gesture for Hera to start. She felt her heart thumping and her hands starting to sweat. She always hated to do presentations in front of a crowd. She tried to push through and remember what she knew about the monsters. "Hum... Hi, everyone. I''m Hera and Hum... The wendigos are strong and quick. Hum... They get stronger if they.., hum, eat other things..." "We don''t have time to listen to a greenhorn. This is the middle of the last day, and that kid won''t give us anything important. All we need to know is that they can be killed," A man with a large black coat said. "He''s right. Let''s not waste time here," another man wearing heavy armor got up and moved towards the entrance. "Now, hold on. Please, everyone, we need to be careful with those things," the clerks tried to stop the group from leaving. "If they want to leave and to be eaten alive, let them. We are the ones who will need to fix their mistakes," Helena said as she walked into the room. "Who are you to say we are making a mistake?" the man in a long coat asked. "I''m someone who survived one week in the Queeroni Wilds after those things appeared. If you want to live and not make your team die with you, sit down and listen," Helena didn''t even look at him. She just walked towards Hera, "Take a deep breath, sweetie, you can have a panic attack later." Hera nodded as Helena took the podium. The mage explained the wendigo''s behavior. Unlike how they appeared after the wall break, they were a scavenging species. Unless in a group large enough to overwhelm their enemies, they would run around looking for bodies they could eat and grow their strength before attacking someone on their own. They all started as pure white creatures with some blood-red markings, but even their skin could shift as they ate. The wendigos could go through three types of evolution. The minor one would make them stall for two seconds and assimilate whatever power they got. Those mostly were basic characteristics, like increased senses or increasing their strength. The medium one would make them stop for 5 seconds to a minute, but it wasn''t instant. They could control when that change would start. Those could give them more skills and make minor physical changes. The last one was when they would have a significant difference in their abilities and physical form. However, to change like that, they needed from one hour to a few days, and they would create a pupa like a shell before changing. They would be very vulnerable during that time, but the cocoon is several times tougher than the creature itself. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Remember, the most dangerous part of those creatures are the abilities they consume. Since we won''t know what to expect, everyone needs to be ready for everything. After that, the biggest issue is their strength, even a Wendigo that devoured only agility based creatures will be incredibly strong," Helena finished explaining. "I disagree," Hera said. The entire room looked at her. "I mean. I don''t think strength is the second biggest issue. The one I fought was smart. Too smart. It waited for me to sleep before attacking and took advantage of another monster''s attack to catch me off guard," Hera explained. "That''s not new. Many monsters would do the same," the man in heavy armor said. "Just stay quiet and let someone with experience talk, girl," the one with a long coat snickered. "The wendigo could tell the difference between an attack and a feint, and it matched my footsteps so I wouldn''t hear it following me," Hera stared at the man with the long coat, "Does that count as experience?" "Hera was able to kill one of them. I only ran. Thanks to my magic, I was able to conceal my hideout from the Wendigos. My information is based on watching those who walked by. Not first-hand combat. We would do well to follow Hera''s advice. And what she saws does make sense. I¡¯m talking from the perspective of someone under leveled for the area. The strength I saw can be just my own bias," Helena said. "Did the wendigo showed any abilities that the monsters in this room didn''t have?" a voice came from the speakers. Only now, Hera noticed the cameras set up on the back. They were transmitting the meeting to Brinefront since a similar quest appeared for the people there. "No, not really, at least. It was more muscular than any monster here, but that could be just the accumulation of strength from several kills," Hera replied after considering it for a moment. "Do you have any suggestions?" the man in heavy armor asked. There was a long pause. Hera''s mind went into overdrive, trying to come up with a plan, "Yeah. We need to be careful with the corpses. We, I mean our team, fought while using the monsters'' bodies as barricades, and we killed many before they would even reach the traps. If we leave them like this, the wendigo''s will have a feast without us even seeing them. As bad as it sounds, we should let the normal monsters get closer so we can stop them from eating, and we absolutely can''t let them eat the pangolins. If they do, we won''t know the type of skill the Wendigos will have since the pangolins have random abilities. I''m not sure what to do with the monsters that are not from the Rampage and with the pile of bodies. Do they still vanish after one hour?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yeah, but the wave won''t stop," Cass said. The group inside the conference room thanked the two who spoke about the wendigos and started to discuss strategies. Cass approached Hera, who discretely waved the notification away, "Go eat and change into your gear. We are heading to point H in half an hour.¡± Hera nodded and left the room, followed by Helena. The two walked in silence for a moment, leaving the noise of the conference room behind. "Lena, thanks for the help back there. I don''t know what... Are you ok?" Helena was trembling, and she kept looking around. "No... just.. be safe ok sweetie?" her voice cracked several times during that small sentence. Hera hugged Helena, "I will, and I promise that not a single monster is going to get close to you, ok?" Helena nodded, "I know, it''s just.." "Hard. I can tell. Stay inside the guild, and if we end up having to leave, I''m the one taking you to the doorway. I promise nothing will hurt you," Hera didn''t let go of the hug for a while. It was Helena who broke the embrace. "I''m ok, eat. You need to get ready for the fight," Helena kissed Hera''s cheek and walked away. She was going to keep herself busy until everything was over. Hera watched her friend walk away. She wanted to be with her at this time, but it would be for nothing. Even if she were able to comfort Helena, she would still be scared. The best way to help her was to kill the Wendigos as fast as possible. She rushed to get ready and eat before leaving the guild. Looking to the sky, Hera could see the ominous red clouds covering the entire roof of the cave from the moment she stepped outside. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the light of the sun that lit the clouds gave the entire area an eerie crimson glow. 40 minutes after leaving the guild, Hera and the team arrived at the point H, the road by the ocean that led outside the city. Since it was the last day of the Rampage, all the teams would fight together. However, the team that came after them had just returned and had to rest before coming back. After all, they were already fighting for 8 hours. The team protecting the entrance was fighting alone for close to one hour and would need to take a break soon. Hera was surprised when she saw the other team fighting. They were all working together against the monsters. The wave was much larger, as well. Just at a glance, Hera could count about twenty monsters engaged in the front line, and at least double that coming from the bog. This team had only one mage and one healer, but four archers aside from the vanguard. The ones in the melee were hard to identify, and aside from the healer, she could only tell what they were using to attack, not their roles. Still, the twelve people either worked together for a long time or were experts at teamwork. "Jessica, we are here. Wanna switch now?" Cass yelled as her team approached. "We''ll stay until the bodies disappear. Hera is in your team, right?" the woman who was creating barriers on her team asked without looking away from the fight. "Yep, she''s right here. She''s the blonde with the purple full body armor," Cass said, winking at Hera. "We are following your idea. We stopped focusing on the ones coming from the trees and only kill them after they pass through the traps. The ones in the walls keep an eye out for the Wendigos or any monster behaving in a way it shouldn''t. If you think about anything else, let us know," Jess created two barriers and slowed a monster while talking. "Will do," Hera said as they jumped into the fight. The set up that both teams used was similar. There was the vanguard in front, blocking and distracting the monsters, a line of damage dealers responsible for killing the creatures. The healers stayed in front of the entrance and the ones capable of long-range attacks on the ramparts. Hera looked around the area. The monsters kept coming without stopping, and even with both teams fighting, they still were outnumbered. She helped clean up the ones that had passed the traps and looked towards the treeline, only to see another thirty creatures coming from the swamp at once. 150 - Rampage Quest Hera could feel her sweat dripping from her face. If what they fought during the previous days were waves, this time it was a tsunami that was always crashing. Hera barely had time to kill a monster before having to switch to the next one. Blue and Kenny were dealing with three creatures at a time, while Cass, Bolton, and Tisha would kill them from the wooden wall. The damage dealers were doing their best to finish the beasts off in as few strikes as possible. They were fighting for over one hour. Their team was defending on their own right now, with the second team resting on the camp. After that, the breaks would be as needed, with smaller groups resting at a time so the teams would have more people in the combat. When the third team arrived, more people could rest at a time. Hera had lost the count of how many monsters she had killed. She, Alex, and Martel ran around behind the vanguard to kill all the monsters that went through the five people in front. Another frog jumped over Kenny, and Hera dove towards it. She slashed its head with her handaxe, buffed by the mana reinforcement. The attack split the monster''s skull in half, and Hera pushed the body towards the entrance. As she looked back toward the horde, another five frogs had run past the vanguard. Alex jumped towards one while Martel managed to pull two to combat. Hera sent a poison needle to one of the remaining ones and attacked the other with her handaxe. She tried the same move and was able to break the monster''s spine. The frog who got hit by the spell kept moving towards the entrance, but Alex sent a wind cutter towards it, finishing it off before reaching the Healers. Looking to the walls, Hera couldn''t believe how many corpses were reinforcing the barriers. A few of the piles were twice her size. "Hera, duck!" Runir yelled. She lowered her body, going almost completely flat on the ground as a Giant Crested Newt flew by her head. Hera quickly got up to attack the monster''s tail, trying to distract it from its objective. The creature didn''t seem to mind and kept running towards the entrance. Hera jumped on top of it. Holding the large fin-like protrusion on its back and started to hack at its body. Each strike slowed the beast until it finally stopped moving. Before Hera could get off from the monster, its body dissolved into the ground, together with all the bodies that were spread around. Several materials fell into small piles, some in the middle of the area they were using to fight, others by the walls. Apart from those atop the walls, everyone scrambled to grab the materials and toss it towards the piles by the walls. It wasn''t about the loot''s value, but about making sure that there was nothing on the ground that could hinder the combat. During the previous days, when a wave ended, the monsters would take a minute to reach the traps again, yet now, it took only ten seconds before the first pangolin passed through them. Hera and Alex were panting while Martel was leaning on the wall to catch his breath. "Alex, Hera, Martel, go take a break. You are the ones that seem most tired. Take a break," Cass commanded as the other team arrived. "Take some of the loot if you can," Jessica said as the other team got into position. Hera just nodded and started walking towards the camp. She picked a handful of materials, not even sure what was what. Martel flopped into one of the beds inside the tents while Alex collapsed into a chair. The guild had set up a hose to wash the blood and dirt from their gear.. Hera took off her armguards and opened her armor. She took off only the top part of it and turned the hose on. Leaning forward, she let the water fall to the back of her neck to cool herself off. Her armor was amazing, but after some time, it got very hot inside it. She was careful not to let the water inside her armor. The last thing Hera needed right now was to fight in a wet suit. "Hera, are you done?" Alex asked. "Yeah, do you want to use the hose?" Hera asked while the water fell on her neck. "Not really. I just want to ask you something, and it''s kind of weird to talk to your ass." Hera got up quickly, her face turning red with the comment. She didn''t realize that her butt was sticking out. "Sorry," Hera walked towards the chairs and sat down, avoiding Alex''s eyes, "What''s up?" "I know this is not the time to be worrying about this but, are you and Bonnie, ok? I mean, did you two had a fight or something?" Alex grabbed a second bottle of water. The first one was already empty by her side. "What? No, we are good, at least I think so. Why?" "Well, she said it''d been a while since you stopped replying to her messages. I said it was probably just you being busy and not replying to anyone, but I wanted to make sure since apparently, she sent you a couple of messages that you didn''t reply." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "What? No, she hasn''t," Hera picked her tablet and went to the chat app. There was no notification, but as she opened it, several unread messages appeared, "What the hell!?" she gasped. "What happened?" "The messaging app bugged. It didn''t show a single notification," Hera kept looking through the messages, "Crap, there are things here from the day the rampage started even Leo asked about it." "Wow, really? You should let the guild know." "Wait. Seriously?" Hera sighed, "Apparently, I removed the notification for the app.." "Does the granny need help with technology?" Alex laughed. "Bite me," Hera replied with a smile. "Don''t say that here. The monsters might hear you," Martel said from the tent. "Dude, this is a private conversation!" Alex tossed the empty bottle at him. "I got here first," he replied. "Anyway. Can you reply, Bonnie? She''s kind of worried," Alex asked. "Doing it right now. She left the room when the rampage started. On the other hand, Mark is working as a repairman in Brinefront," Hera said as she caught up with her texts. "Yeah, I know. They told me about it the day this all started," Alex picked her tablet to distract herself while resting. The trio stayed there in silence for close to twenty minutes before Alex spoke again, "By the way. How many monsters did you kill?" "One moment," there was a message from Ms. Kahele, thanking Hera and saying that Amanda had woken up. She was feeling better, and the doctors said that she could leave the hospital soon. It was a good thing. Amanda''s birthday was getting close and spending it in a hospital bed would be awful. Hera replied that she would visit as soon as she could and opened the quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Brinnefront Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 5 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Giant Frog - 53 kills Giant Toad - 22 kills Petite Crocodile - 31 kills Giant Chameleon - 24 kills Prism Pangolin - 12 kills Giant Newt - 13 kills Giant Crested Newt - 10 kills Giant Snapping Turtle - 6 kills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Here, take a look. The list is too long," she passed her tablet to Alex. "Hum.. yeah, I have 6 turtles on mine too. I''m guessing that it counts if you hit them even once." "I don''t think so. I''m positive I fought more than 10 crested newts. But most of them reach me already pretty banged up," Hera replied. "It''s about contribution," Martel left the tent, grabbing a bottle of water. "Like, how much damage we deal to them?" Hera asked. "Sort of. The guild sets the quest up in a way that the system identifies if you helped with the kill or not. So like, if your attack helps to finish the monster off, it counts, but if the thing is already on death''s door and has no way of recovering, it doesn''t count," Martel explained while he opened the pan of stew, taking a look inside. "How do they do that?" Alex asked. "I have no idea. Try to ask the guild. I''m sure they have people trying to figure out what the system is," Martel picked a bowl and served himself a reasonable amount of stew. "How are you still hungry? You went back for seconds and thirds," Hera stared at the bowl. "Don''t judge me. We are spending a lot of energy here. Besides..." "WENDIGO!" the shout came from the entrance. The three dropped everything and ran towards the entrance. Hera felt her heart racing. A part of her hoped that the Wendigos never appeared here and would be dealt with by the other teams. "Where is it?" Cass''s voice rang. "Oceanside, by the rocks on the side. It looks like a white frog but moves much faster," someone replied. "I see it!" Tisha sent a couple of arrows towards the monster. "It''s on the road. Light it up!" Bolton yelled. The sounds of spells hitting something roared through the area. The noise kept going even after Hera had arrived in the area. She looked around, trying to see the Wendigo from between the horde of monsters in the front. The Wendigo looked like a giant rain frog but had blood-red eyes and pale white skin. Only its legs had some color, with some hints of black and purple. The monster kept jumping to the sides, avoiding most of the attacks. It tried to retreat a couple of times, but a large flaming explosion cut off its path. "Alex, cover me," Hera said as she moved to the side to get a better angle. Even at the edge of the traps, she couldn''t find a good position to hit the monster. She looked towards the side. No creatures were trying to move to the walls at the moment, which gave her a clear path. Hera jumped over the traps and kept running to the side, making sure that no monster followed her. "Hera, wait!" Alex yelled. She ran past the area until she was able to see the side of the Wendigo. Stopping, she charged a poison needle and aimed at the creature. The small spell flew towards it at high speed, but the monster looked at it and jumped to the side, being hit by three arrows in the process. Hera frowned. Her spell was supposed to be a stealth thing. No monster ever noticed the projectile before. For a moment, she could swear that the Wendigo was staring at her. Getting another spell ready, Hera waited for it to evade other attacks before launching it. When the Rainfrog Wendigo was about to dash to the side, Hera pulled the trigger. The poison needle flew through the air and hit the Wendigo''s head. She prepared yet another spell to keep the assault, but the Wendigo turned around in the air and jumped through the flames behind it, vanishing in the bog. "Hera, we have to go back!" Alex pulled Hera''s arm. Some monsters were starting to converge on their position. The two ran toward the entrance, with part of the team giving them some cover. "That was very stupid, but your distraction gave us the chance for a few hits. Good work," Cass yelled from the ramparts. "What about the Wendigo?" Hera asked. "It''s gone. It vanished into the swamp, but I think we gave it a good thrashing," Tisha replied. "We still have to deal with the rest of the monsters, look alive people!" Jessica shouted as the team got back into formation. Hera stared at the bog that was spawning the monsters, trying to find the Wendigo there. Yet, this time, she didn''t feel any eyes staring back. 151 - Things just keep coming Despite the easy fight, after facing the Wendigo, the entire group was on edge. They all had heard the stories about the monsters would grow stronger with time, and if it encountered a prey that it couldn''t kill, it would start bearing a grudge. Hera had to forget the idea of controlling her chakram for a while. This was no time for testing things out. She got distracted for a moment with that when a giant newt jumped at her, trying to bite her arm. With no time to dodge, Hera tightened the grasp on her handaxe and braced for the impact. Just before it hit her, a soft yellow light covered her arms and shoulder. Runir had just placed a barrier on her. As the monster attacked, and the shield did its work at first, but it didn''t take long for the barrier to break, making her armor block the rest of the blow. The repulsion blast triggered, pushing the monster away. Hera followed it up with two strikes at the creature, making it tumble back. Before she could deliver the killing blow, an arrow flew through the air, hitting the monster between its eyes. The creature stopped moving. Hera looked up and nodded towards one of the archers that she didn''t know before looking towards the entrance. Runir was breathing heavily and sweating a lot. "Runir, go take a break," Hera said as she turned around to face an incoming toad. "I''m fine!" he replied. "Dude, you can barely stand. Go, rest!" Alex shouted. "My friend, your strength has left you. You should retire for a moment," Thomas killed another chameleon, "As a matter of fact, I shall accompany you if that is ok with our brave leaders." "Yeah, I''m taking a break too. Out of mana. Is that ok with you, Jess?" Cassandra said from the top of the walls. "Go for it. We can afford to let someone else rest too. Is anyone feeling tired?" Jessica replied. "Yeah, can I take a break?" Blue asked. "I''ll go next then," Kenny shoved a monster towards a trap. "Hera, help me get some loot that is in the middle of the area," Cassandra said as she got down from the ramparts. Hera quickly grabbed everything she could, tossing a few materials towards the walls. Cass joined in, but she didn''t throw anything to the side. The two quickly moved back towards the camp, carrying a lot of materials in their arms. "Hera, just one thing. Even though I praised you earlier, I want to know what was going through your head there. Why did you leave the trap area to attack the Wendigo?" Cass asked. Hera looked at the mage, "I wanted to get a better angle. We were having trouble hitting it, and I thought that maybe a pincer attack could help." "Is that all?" "Yeah. I know how dangerous those things can be first hand. I wanted to find a way to kill it before it had a chance to escape, and since there were no monsters around the walls, it felt less dangerous in a way. It just didn''t work," Hera continued. They arrived at the camp and placed the materials inside the box. Even without the piles that were by the wall, they had already completely filled one of the crates available. "Oh, good. I was worried it was something else." "Like what?" "Revenge? Rage? I don''t know, some reckless impulse decision. But since it was a reckless calculated decision, everything is fine. Now go, you have to get back there. You just had your break," Cass said. "Sir, yes, sir," Hera saluted Cass before running back. "Why do you all keep treating me like different things? Pick one and go with it!" Cass complained as Hera walked off. Going back to the entrance, Hera saw a different scene. Instead of the several explosions, there were lightning bolts, wind blades, and icicles flying everywhere. Without Cass''s flashy fire spells, the magic wasn''t hidden behind the flames. The monsters kept moving towards the entrance. No one could count how many they had already killed, but the rampage didn''t care. Half an hour later, two giant snapping turtles emerged from the swamp. It was the first time that these species appeared in a group, and the one in the back of them was much larger than the other. Hera started charging a poison needle. At the same time, a couple of spells hit the first turtle. "Don''t kill it before it gets close!" Jessica yelled from the back as she used a spell to make the second turtle even slower. The monsters hid behind the large three-meter tall creature. That created a problem for the group since they couldn''t see the beasts coming and prepare in advance. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "This is just annoying. The turtle is just walking at us menacingly, and it''s already messing up with our entire strategy," Alex said as she and Hera killed a pangolin together. It was easier to kill the creatures in a group than fighting on their own. "Yeah, but it''s not like we have other options," Hera said, throwing a poison needle at a chameleon that had latched on to Kenny. "Wait for my signal!" Jessica yelled. The turtles started to get closer and closer. More and more monsters seemed to flood from behind them. As the first turtle crossed the traps, came the command, "Fire!" Ironically, the first thing that hit the turtle was a giant icicle that became embedded in a part of its shell. The lighting spells were aimed at the massive ice spike to help to penetrate the creature''s defense. The arrows were aimed at its eyes while the vanguard worked on the legs. The turtle was very sluggish, but the force behind it was massive. Each step made the ground shake, and with a stomp, it felt like a small earthquake. Luckily, the number of spells and attacks aimed at its face was enough to kill it before it managed to hit anyone. The other turtle kept walking towards the entrance but moved more to the side, standing directly behind the corpse of the first one. It was still too far to start hitting it, and Jessica commanded everyone to wait before attacking. The turtle''s corpse was in the middle of the area, making the vanguard and the damage dealers split into two groups. On the one hand, that set up helped since the monsters would come in a line. On the other one, the agglomeration of people made the healer''s job harder. Hera and Alex stayed on the left. It was harder to use spells with so many people around, so the two focused on using their weapons to kill the incoming monsters. A group of three pangolins came running from behind the second turtle. The two on the edges started to spark with flames and lightning, while the one in the middle just stared at the defenders. As they got close, the two on the edges slammed against the vanguard, while the one in the middle jumped over the front line, parkouring through part of the turtle''s body. A few arrows flew at it with the monster in the air, but its scales blocked the projectiles. Hera jumped up and tried to hit it, but only managed to make the monster miss a step and fall from the turtle''s shell. The pangolin dropped to the ground and head-butted Hera before trying to rush at the entrance once more. The only ones blocking the monster now were the healers. Mika jumped in front of the creature as Jessica triggered her slow spell. That was enough for one of the fighters from the second team to intercept it, slamming the pangolin into the wall. Before the monster fell to the ground, Alex''s body slammed it and shoved her daggers on its torso, killing the beast. Hera focused on the monsters coming. The second turtle was close to the point where they could attack it. The giant monster adjusted itself, placing its head directly behind the first turtle''s corpse, almost as if it was using it as a shield. The turtle moved its head and bit down on the corpse''s shell. The body rose a few centimeters from the ground, and the turtle swung its head, using the first one''s body as a club, tossing it to the side. Most people who were on the left side were flung to the side. Hera got hit and stumbled back, falling into one of the traps on the ground. Luckily for her, the hole was filled with bodies from different monsters, which allowed her to avoid the sharp wooden spikes at the bottom. The turtle''s body fell over fifty meters away from the entrance, hindering close to half of the defenders. The mages sent several spells towards the turtle, while the people on the ground kept attacking its legs. Hera did her best to get up from the trap, but even with the bodies, it required some climbing, and the impact hurt her arm. "Watch out!" a voice rang, followed by a scream. Hera recognized the second voice. It was Alex''s. She grabbed the ledge and climbed back up, despite her wounded arm. The turtle was very close to the entrance, but it was too large to go through the gates. Alex was on the ground to the side of the walls, she was struggling to get up. Hera escaped the trap and rushed towards her. On the way, she flung a poison needle at the turtle pumped with 200 mana from the mana crystal. If it managed to infect the monster, that attack would deal a lot of damage. The beast didn''t notice the attack and kept walking towards the gate. Hera took that chance to grab Alex and pull her to the side, so the turtle''s movement wouldn''t hit her. After making sure that she was in a safe spot, Hera turned around, sending a poison spray on the monster''s front leg. When the orange liquid covered most of her target, she sent a fire arrow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Grease Fire Rank: Novice Creates a spray of flaming grease. The liquid can adhere to some surfaces, creating a continuous damaging effect without an extra mana cost. Range: 5 meters Base mana cost: 35 mana per second. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera waved the notification off and focused on the monster. She got closer to it, aiming at its face, and was about to use the new spell to cover the creature in the grease, but before she was able to do so, the barrage of attacks that the beast was receiving since it crossed the line, proved to be deadly. She turned back to Alex and helped the assassin to reach the healers. With her safe, Hera started to help the rest of the members who were tossed to the side. Halfway through rescuing the people hurt, the third team arrived. Seeing the situation, they took over the vanguard while the now four healers helped everyone who was injured. In total, four people got hurt and had to take a break to tend to their wounds, and another three were out of commission. Kenny took the brunt of the attack and ended up with a broken arm. Hera got lucky and only had a dislocated shoulder aside from some minor bruises accumulated over the day. It hurt like hell to put her arm in place, but Mika had a spell to lessen the pain. Blue, Runir, Thomas, and Cassandra had joined into the fight once more. Alex just needed a quick first aid, and she back in the fray as well. The battle continued for a couple of hours. The extra 14 people helped alleviate the pressure that the group was feeling. The issue now was mostly space. The area was large, but not large enough for all the 20 melee warriors to have a comfortable room to fight. Another hour went by, and the eerie crimson glow coming from the clouds became more intense. Even the dark purple trees started to look red with the light. "Keep it up, everyone! We are getting close to the end," Cass yelled from the ramparts. Hera smiled. The extra people were helping a lot. With them, defending the city felt almost a sure thing. 152 - Lets try it again With the three teams responsible for the defense of point H fighting together, more people could rest at a time, and they needed less time to feel rested. The clouds turning redder was a sign that the rampage was coming to an end. Now, the glow painted over the entire room, making it harder to distinguish the scenario. They turned the floodlights on, and it helped to see the monsters moving. But with time, the intense light started to make the area hotter, and the number of people walking around didn''t help. No one knew precisely how long the rampage would still last. After the red clouds appeared, the last day started, and when the red became brighter, it meant that it was close to an end. However, the time from the increase in the glow to the end of the wave could go from a couple of minutes to the rest of the 24 hours since the red clouds first appeared. Worst-case scenario, they would still have over 12 hours of fighting before the end of the rampage. Time went by, and the battle never had the same intensity. The high number of people changed the dynamic of the entire defense. The vanguard now consisted of two rows of people, one facing the monsters and another facing the entrance. While the ones blocking the monsters still worked to stop them, they would let some pass by for the second row, who would distract the monsters for the damage dealers to kill them. The ones who managed to pass all that still had to face another row of people specialized in killing the beasts. All that with the constant spell and arrows coming from the ramparts. Even when another turtle showed up, no one was seriously injured. The vanguard did suffer some minor cuts and bruises, but all in all, they had a much easier time than when the previous two appeared. It helped that the turtles only came in ones and not as a pair again. Hera just finished killing one toad when a loud squeaky noise came from the bog, alerting all the defenders. Alex, Blue, and Hera stared at each other. "What''s that, the cry of a rain frog?" Alex asked. "Yeah, it''s kind of hard to forget that sound," Blue replied after tossing a newt to the ground. "So that must mean.." Hera started to speak, but a yell interrupted her. "WENDIGO!" The entire team looked towards the swamp. Emerging from the trees, there was a massive rain frog. It had black skin, red eyes that moved independently, and a deep green spiked shell, much like a snapping turtle''s back. The Wendigo let out another squeak, even louder than the one before. Some of the defenders even placed their hands in their ears due to the high pitch of the sound. The creature started to walk towards the entrance, squeaking a couple more times in the process. At the same time, the number of monsters was reduced. It seemed like even they feared the Wendigo. The squeak became deeper and turned into something close to a ship''s horn. The noise became so loud that it caused everyone''s ears to ring. Hera stared at the monster when she was able to recover from the quick stun. She could have sworn the Wendigo was smiling. It dashed towards the vanguard, spinning in the air and landing a meter before them when its feet touched the ground. A wave of rocks formed under it, creating a jagged barrier through the entire road. "We can''t see it!" an archer yelled from the ramparts. "Look to the edges. If you see it, shoot," Cass said. As the defender scrambled to move around and try to find the monster, the Wendigo jumped towards the middle of the group. Everyone was surprised by the move. The creature put itself in a disadvantageous position. It seemed smarter than that. As if to reply to everyone''s thoughts, the monster let out another cry, twice as high as the previous one, making those directly in front of it fall to the ground holding their heads. Hera was on the edge of the area and wasn''t hit as badly as those in the middle. Still, the sound was enough to make her ears ring for a while. The frog dashed towards one of the vanguards on the ground, slamming her into the sharp rocks it had created. Some arrows flew, but the monster dodged by going behind the people on the ground. Not only was it smart enough to change a situation to its advantage, but it also could use its enemies as meat shields. The Wendigo had grown too much. Hera prepared a poison needle and hoped flung in front of it. Trying to catch it in the middle of a dash, but just before the spell hit, a gust of wind raised the creature, making it do a flip on the air then landing between Blue and Thomas. The monster withdrew its legs into its body and started spinning. With another gust of wind, the spinning shell flew towards Hera. Thomas attempted to stop it, but his rapier wasn''t strong enough to do anything against the spiked carapace. Hera dove to the side, avoiding the initial strike as the rest of the team was jumping to join the fight. Alex used her wind spell, trying to counteract the wind that was moving the creature. It had some effect, but nowhere near enough to stop the spin. One of the vanguards moved to the side and slammed its shield, creating a large hexagonal barrier with only the monster and him inside. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. At that moment, the spells and arrows coming from the ramparts rained down in that area. The man who created the arena went down on one knee and placed his tower shield covering him from the blasts. The Wendigo charged at the barrier but was pushed back. The spinning shell started to ricochet around the arena, almost like it was inside a pinball machine. Every time it would hit the shield or the barrier, the man flinched. The skill seemed to direct any damage to the barriers towards him. Inside the area, there was a storm of fire, lightning, ice, light, and thorns. That lasted for only 30 seconds before the vanguard wasn''t able to keep the barrier up anymore. The Wendigo flew away from the now broken arena and hurled at other defense team members. Ten people got slammed by the spinning shell before Tom, Blue, and another three vanguard members managed to stop it from moving around. The Wendigo put its limbs back into the ground, removing them from inside its body, and let out a gurgling croak that created several wind blades around it and sent them flying in random directions. Hera saw a few people evading an unseen attack and jumped to the side. The spell hit the spot where she was, raising a large cloud of dust that clouded the view of anyone behind her. She looked back at the monster who now was kicking and headbutting the group while being attacked by the defenders. The scene felt like something from a movie. People screamed and assaulted a creature that stood at their chest''s height while it not only fought back but looked like it was enjoying the situation. Hera moved to the side, trying to get a better angle, when she noticed the rock formation that the monster had created. "Alex, come with me," she said as she rushed towards the rocks. The duo ran around the formation, killing a couple of regular giant frogs in the way, and jumped on top of the rocks. Up there, they had a better angle at the creature being attacked by the vanguards, and since all the spells they had didn''t have a large area of effect, they could hit the Wendigo without hurting the defenders if they were careful. Hera and Alex started working on the monster, sending spell after spell aimed at it. Seeing her positioning, other members of the ground team followed their idea, while the ones with no long range capabilities pulled the people who got hurt towards the healers. For the first time since the Wendigo appeared, the fight seemed to be going to the defender''s side. The creature had a tough time hitting anyone and was mostly being tossed around in the circle of people around it. "Don''t be greedy. If you feel tired or hurt, swap with someone on the outside the ring," Jess commanded from the entrance. The Wendigo retracted once more, staying motionless on the ground. Unlike an actual turtle, it only had a shell on its back, leaving its belly and sides mostly exposed. People started kicking it or using swords and spears to hit the places where the shell didn''t protect. That lasted almost a minute. Pools of blood were forming around the monster. Suddenly, the creature jumped so high that even the walls of the city were under it. The wind picked up once more, and the Wendigo started spinning before flying towards the ramparts at high speed. "Like hell, you are!" Cass yelled and raised both her hands, pointing at it. A soft purple glow covered the Wendigo and Cass''s hands, and she moved as if she was catching the shell mid-air, even though the monster was still ten meters away. She stopped the creature two meters before reaching the ramparts. It kept trying to spin, but it was like a gear that was stuck trying to repeat the same impossible motion over and over again. "FIRE!" Cass yelled, gritting her teeth. Her voice was showing the struggle she was having with the monster. All mages and archers started firing everything they had, joined by the people on the ground that had ways of hitting it. "There are still monsters coming. If you can''t help with the Wendigo, stop watching and fight!" Jess shouted as she had to push away one pangolin who went by the defenders. Hera sent a poison needle with all the remaining mana on her crystal towards the Wendigo before turning around to the incoming monsters. In the back of her mind, Hera didn''t want to leave the beast alone while Blue was still fighting it. She was the one who knew how it was to fight those things. If someone close to her got hurt because she wasn''t there, Hera wouldn''t be able to forgive herself. Now that her friend wouldn¡¯t be able to be engaged it with, she felt somewhat relieved. It was considerably easier to face the monsters that were coming now. The waves reminded Hera of the first day where the entire team was fighting. Having the advantage of a higher ground while still in the frontline also helped to see what was coming. The most unnerving thing was the loud noise that came from behind her. It was the sound of the spells hitting the Wendigo. More creatures appeared, and the barrage of attacks kept going. Hera kicked a toad away while Alex stabbed its head. She saw a crocodile charging towards her and hear a voice coming from the ramparts. "Clear the rocks!" Hera looked back and saw the people waving for everyone to get out of the way. She jumped to the side, dropping from the makeshift platform. Right after she got down, a loud noise came from the edge of the rocks. Looking at the source of the noise, Hera saw that the Wendigo was slammed against the formation, being impaled by the sharp stones. The monster pushed itself off the edge and struggled to stand up again. Alex jumped towards it, slamming one of her daggers against the monster''s throat. She pulled down, managing to create a sizeable gash on the monster''s neck. A few other defenders joined in attacking the creature. Moments later, the Wendigo went limp on top of a pool of its own blood. People stared at it for a moment, worried that it could be a trap. "Are you all brain dead? The waves are still going! Clear a path so the healers can tell if that thing is dead," Joseph, the third team''s leader, commanded as he pushed away a couple of people. Jess ran towards the Wendigo, and after a moment, she raised her hand," It''s dead! We are all clear." "Hera, you fought one of those on your own?" Thomas asked. "Yeah, but this one is way stronger," she replied. The people who heard the discussion looked at her in awe. Fighting a monster like that alone meant that you were either incredibly brave, very stupid or extremely unlucky. "Stop staring. The monsters are picking up again!" Tisha yelled from the ramparts. Hera thanked her for making people stop staring and focused once more on the incoming monsters. 153 - Crimson Sky The red glow coming from the clouds became so intense that no other color could be seen. The light was bright enough that it was hard to look at any surface. Instead of facing the monsters head-on, the defenders had to focus on the moving shadows and ascertain their position and nature from there. Everyone was surprised by the glow since it never turned so intense, even during previous rampages. It was like the MAZE itself was warning them of something. Hera could feel her stomach turning, imagining if the light would vanish and the clouds turn black. To their luck, the floodlights around the area helped the group to see what was going on. When the monsters got closer, everyone was able to see them moving. The ones who had more problems were the archers who aimed at the creatures that were far away. After the death of the Wendigo, they all had started attacking monsters farther away from the traps. The team leaders checked with the other teams, and the other wendigos had appeared on the west and north sides of town. Still, they weren''t shooting the ones that just left the swamp. Only after the monsters were far enough away for the bodies to be in clear sight that the arrows flew from the bows. A Giant Crested Newt rushed towards Hera, trying to whip its tail at her. She took a step to the side and cut the monster''s back with her chakram, following it up with her handaxe aimed right at its head. With the monster dead, she looked to the side. The Wendigo''s corpse was still there, even after the other corpses had vanished. Could this be a new one instead of the one that came with the rampage? It''s been three hours since they defeated the Wendigo. Blue had leveled up after the kill, and sometime later, Hera''s stamina skill increased its rank once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Improved Stamina (Rank 3): Increases the stamina of the user as well as its regeneration. The effect moderately increases when the user is less active or more relaxed. The effect has a minor increase when standing still and a slight increase while moving at a slow pace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was breathing heavily. She was one of the few who didn''t stop ever since the Wendigo fight. Alex, Blue, and Thomas were just the same. Even with the skill increase, it was hard for them to keep fighting nonstop. They were waiting for one of the wounded groups to come back so they could take a break. "Hera, Tom, Blue, Alex, Jess, Ed, Al, and Kat. Your turn to rest," Cass called from the wall. "Finally," Blue gasped. "I must say, this constant struggle is quite tiring. I do hope that Runir is taking care of himself," Thomas said as he left the vanguard. "Me too. He seemed to be taking this a bit hard," Hera replied while cleaning her handaxe. Blue looked around and saw Alex fighting one of the giant toads, "Hey, do you need help?" "I got this!" Alex replied as she moved to the side and stabbed the monster five times in quick succession. Then a small whirling formed on her daggers, followed by two slashes on the back of the creature. The attack went through the toad, creating slash marks on the floor. As the monster fell to the ground, a light blue glow covered her. "Hey, you leveled up for killing a frog. They are not so bad after all," Blue said. "YES, THEY ARE!" "What is the matter with our dear companion?" Thomas watched as Alex stomped towards the city. "She hates frogs," Hera explained. "I see." Tom stared at Alex as they walked towards the camp. The camp was a mess. There was no stew left, and the water bottles had to be refiled with a hose. They sat down to rest while everyone checked if they were too hurt. Runir was sitting in one of the chairs and barely noticed them arriving. He had been helping treat the ones wounded for the last hours and had finished his last patient a few minutes ago, depleating his mana yet again. "My friend, are you ok?" Tom asked. "What? Yeah, I''m fine," Runir replied, yet he seemed down. "Are you sure? You don''t seem your usual self," Alex sat on the chair by his side. "It''s just weird. I never had to hold back on healing or placing barriers before. My job is to make sure no one gets hurt and fix the ones who do. What kind of doctor would let sick people suffer while he does nothing?" he said. "ER doctors," Hera said, "Doctors know that sometimes it''s better to be on standby for something big than to treat every single cold that shows up. It''s the same thing." "You have a good heart, my friend. Yet, asking so much of yourself will lead to nothing. Hera is correct. This fight was unlike everything we ever faced," Thomas said, placing one hand on Runir''s shoulder. "When you put it that way..." Runir said with a sigh. They all sat down to rest. They were too tired to talk, so the entire group, including the three who Hera didn''t know, were just sitting there fiddling with their tablets. "Hey, Tom, since we have some time. Can we talk about magic?" Hera asked. "I would be delighted to have a conversation with someone who understands the true nature of magic as I do," Tom pulled his chair closer to Hera. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The two started talking about how they created spells. Hera explained how she saw the spells and the two trade notes on the subject. Thomas used the chant to give directions for the mana, telling it what to do and what he expected. His magic would then form after the mana left his body, unlike Hera, who would create the spell on her hands almost like she was shaping clay. All spells he had were buffs or debuffs or something that could bring utility like the dancing light, and they all followed that structure, a chant that would guide the mana to the desired effect. The issue was finding the right wording for the spell. He couldn''t say something like ''Create a light that follows me.'' He had to create a chant that would make his mana respond. They attempted to use a spell following the other''s direction but were unable to activate it. Still, Hera felt that it was a productive talk. She had no idea that the subjective approach could be so broad and considering things from a different angle could help her figure out some things. "Tom, if you don''t mind me asking. What happened with the way you speak? It seems less... medieval now," Hera asked. "Apologies, noble warrior. When I face a battle as difficult as this one, my mind becomes cloudy, and to follow the proper language of a knight takes some concentration," Thomas replied. "Then why do it at all? I mean, just now, it was much easier to talk to you than normal. Don''t take this the wrong way, but when you speak like a knight, it takes some effort to understand what the hell you want to say." "I wish not to give an improper impression to those around me. When I feel that I''m among my peers, I tend not to worry about such things." "Oh, so you trust me already? Isn''t that a bit soon?" Hera chuckled. "You have proven your bravery during this combat, not just that. I must believe in the hero who fought a fearsome Wendigo on her own," Thomas replied. "Yeah, no. Go back to the casual way, please. I''m too tired to translate," Hera waved her hand. Thomas laughed, "Very well, I''ll do my very best to avoid addressing you with such formalities." Before Hera could reply, the glow coming from the clouds vanished, giving way for a dark sky. Everyone in the camp froze. The clouds were still there, but they were dark. Hera jumped up, "We need to take Helena out of..." She was interrupted by a notification that appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Complete Wendigo''s Assault - Hazelpond The three wendigos are no more. The defenders managed to stop their advance. With the death of the last one, the Rampage has come to an end. The contribution of all those involved in the fight has been tallied. Your reward will be proportional to your contribution. Rewards 10th place - Rare weapon enchantment material ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a few moments, no one said a word. "Did we win?" Blue asked. Loud cheers came from the entrance. "I guess we did," Alex said. "We won!" Kat, a tanned fighter, yelled as she hugged Ed. "We did it... We really did it..." Al started laughing on his own. They started celebrating, but it didn''t take long before a voice came from the entrance, "Guys, come help us get the loot," Cass asked. At that moment, their hearts sunk. The piles of materials almost formed a second wall by the entrance. If they were going to bring all that to the guild, it would take ages. Before the resting group went towards the gate, Tisha, Martel, and a few other scouts ran past them, heading to the guild. "Hey, no fair!" Blue gasped. Martel was among the ones who had just rested. "Relax, they are probably going to the guild to get some carts. We could leave it all there for the recovery teams, but this is a way to make sure we all get what''s ours, and to help to get everything back to normal," Jess replied. They started hauling the mountain of loot towards the camp. In reality, it wasn''t as big as they pictured. It was still a considerable haul, but a single cart would be enough to bring it all back to the guild. What happened was that as people tossed the materials towards the back, some of the larger bones got stuck in odd angles. That led to the piles to appear much bigger than they actually were. As they returned, Hera and her friends talked about the rewards they received from the quest. They made a small ranking of who got a higher spot among them. Runir 35th Alex 75th Thomas 136th Blue 139th Hearing their ranks, Hera got confused. Why did she get such a better placement than the rest of the group? She and Alex did close to the same amount of damage to the creature. "Well done, everyone. You got really nice places," Cass said as she walked by. "Thanks! What was your position?" Blue picked a piece of leather that fell from the cart and placed it on the box she was carrying. "I got 6th place," Cass smiled. "That''s amazing!" Alex gasped. "Do you know how those things are calculated?" Hera asked. "More or less. It counts the damage you deal to it and how much what you did affect the fight. For instance, Erick, the vanguard who made the shield at the beginning, got 12th place. He barely dealt any damage to it, but thanks to him, we all managed to wail on the Wendigo," Cass explained. "Still, my rank doesn''t make sense," Hera mumbled. "Oh yeah, you never said it. What''s your rank?" Blue asked. "I got 10th place." "I expected nothing less from the fearsome Wendigo hunter," Runir said. "Shut up, Tom!" Hera snarled. "Apologies, my friend, but it wasn''t I who just spoke," Tom chuckled. "I think you two are spending too much time together," Blue stared at Runir, who was laughing to the side. As they arrived in the guild, Hera placed the materials she had on hand in a spot designated for the H teams. Since everyone fought, they all would share the spoils. Even with the third team not being there for the entire fight, no one complained about they getting their cut. Not only their help was invaluable, but it would be too much work to figure out the split. Hera walked towards the showers, wanting to take off her armor and clean the sweat, blood, and dirt off her when coming out of nowhere, Helena jumped and hugged Hera. "I''m so glad you''re ok." "Lena, stop. I''m a mess. Let me take a shower first." "Shut up and stay there. I don''t care about the smell." "I smell!?" "Like trash that stayed a day under the sun, now quiet." Hera wanted to complain, but she had no more strength, and Helena''s assessment was probably right. An entire day of fighting nonstop left her in a disgusting state. After a couple of minutes, Helena finally let go. "Now I need a shower too. But before that. What rank did you get?" Helena asked. "I got 10th," Hera smiled. Helena pouted, "Oh, really..." "What''s wrong?" "I got 20th, I was going to show off, but you beat me to it." "Wait. Did you fight?" Hera''s eyes went wide. "Of course not, sweetie. It is probably because of the meeting we had before the fight. Our information helped everyone fight the Wendigos. I bet that if the quest were for the entire room, we would be first and second in the rankings," Helena said. She was holding Hera''s hand ever since they let go of the hug. A commotion started to form at the guild''s entrance, with several gasps and a couple of yells. Hera gave up on her shower, for now, worried that it could mean that the clouds had turned black. As she and Helena got close to the entrance, they saw one of the teams carrying stretchers, all of them with someone under a white sheet. Blue noticed the arrival of the duo and walked closer to them. "What happened?" Hera asked. "Team C got hit hard. Some people died." "How many?" Helena asked. "Twelve in total and five are in critical condition," Blue replied. 154 - Heavy Price The guild''s mood made a complete 180, while before everyone was celebrating the defense, drinking, and preparing a party. Now everyone moved quietly. Some even helped Team C recover their loot. Life in the MAZE was dangerous, and everyone was aware of that. Two people would die in Brinefront every year during their adventures, be it due to an accident or for biting more than they could chew. However, no one could remember when something in the first layer killed twelve people at once, especially when over thirty explorers were fighting it. Hera considered helping, but there were already more than enough people lending a hand. The only thing she could do was carry the loot from their defensive position, and that was a long walk. She was still exhausted, especially since her group only rested for ten minutes before the rampage ended. Unsure what to do, she asked if Cass needed some help. Receiving a negative answer, she headed to the showers to get in line. Unlike the other days, where they had to hose down their weapons and armor, today, the guild offered a full clean up service for everyone''s gear. Hera wanted to put her gear there soon since she had no idea how long it would take to clean all the blood and grime that got stuck between her armor''s metal scales. But before that, she wanted to take a shower and change. There were only two people in front of her to use the showers, and Hera and her group decided to wait there for their turn. Twenty minutes later, they had already cleaned up and were dropping off their armor to be washed. Hera would take care of her weapons on her own. Helena was helping out the guild with the situation, trying to calm people down and prepare a small ceremony for the deceased. The guild would still keep the room locked for up to a day while they recovered all the loot, dismantled the traps, and did any needed emergency repairs. But for those who lived there, they were free to return to their homes. Blue and Alex grabbed their things while Hera went to the lab that Helena was using to pack up. She grabbed what she could, but Helena was the one who would be sure that there wasn''t anything left behind. Still, it was a way to do some heavy lifting. They headed out of the guild, going back to their home. The area around the house was intact. It was close to the walls but in the middle of two entrances. Hera walked in, feeling as if she came back from a trip. Blue looked around the kitchen and prepared some instant noodles for everyone. Alex and Hera placed everything in their rooms and headed back to the living room, sitting down to rest. The three talked about the rewards they received during this small break. Blue got a common elemental material, a piece of a snapping turtle''s shell with high electricity affinity. Alex got an uncommon material, a chameleon hide that could camouflage itself to a lesser degree. Hera received the poison crest of a crested newt. It was close to a fin or the back scales of a stegosaur. Not only the crest could give poison properties, but also it could increase the regeneration of poison mana. They all had to figure out how they would use those materials, selling was also an option, but the rewards seemed to be somewhat tailor-made for them, or at least, for how they fought right now. "I think I''m selling mine," Blue said. "Why?" "The shell is not enough to make armor or something. I think, at most. I could make some knuckles, which are kind of useless for me. I''m also thinking about getting other types of spells. Focusing on lighting doesn''t seem like a good fit for how I fight. I mean, in a battle like this one, my spells did jack shit." "That''s not..." Hera started. "Yeah, it is. My buffs were up every time I had mana, and they did nothing. It is a good thing for a battle of attrition, but let''s face it. The monsters that took a long time to kill were the turtles, and it''s not like I could be on melee with them." "I guess that''s valid, and it''s early enough to change styles without much issue. Any ideas where you want to do?" Alex put down the fork, having finished her noodles. "No clue. I want to ask Helena for some ideas later." "That''s a good call. I think I have to see if I want to keep going this poison route," Hera kept fiddling with her last noodle. "Well, we can experiment. Might as well. Besides, we are probably going to get quite a lot of money from this last haul. It was what? 6k for the last few days," Alex nodded. "Yeah, plus the 5k from the quest, that''s already more than we made in the frog valley, right?" Hera said. "I think so, well that''s without the penalty for the damages. But we still have to wait for that," Blue said. They finished eating and rest for a while before heading back to the guild. Helena had sent a text about the small ceremony for the deceased. It was a rush job, but that would be mostly for the explorers. The bodies would be sent back to the outside and sent to their families. Arriving on the guild, Hera was stopped by a man in heavy armor that she recognized. It was the team C leader and one of the men who almost walked off during the Wendigo meeting. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Excuse me, Hera, right?" the man asked. "Hi, yeah, that''s me..." Hera replied, worried about why he would be coming towards her. "My name is Joseph. I am... was the leader of team C3. I want to apologize for my behavior during the meeting. Your ideas and suggestions were invaluable for our defense. The fact that you faced one of those creatures on your own is unbelievable. You have my utmost respect," he said, and put out his hand for Hera to shake. "Oh, you really don''t have to be so formal. I just did the best I could to help," she shook his hand and looked at the line of people walking towards the great hall, "I wish I could have done more." "You''ve done more than enough, and if we had faced a single Wendigo, everything would have worked out," Joseph replied. "You guys fought two of them?!" Hera gasped. "Yes, we killed the one we saw from the beginning, but the second one came from another entrance. A team who didn''t finish the job, nor took your advice seriously." "That''s a pretty heavy accusation, Joseph. Can you prove it?" a man with a long black coat approached. Hera recognized that it was the other man who complained during the meeting. "I can prove that you and your team are a bunch of fucking cowards," Joseph stared the man down, clenching his fist so hard that the veins in his arm popped. "How are you going to do that, exactly? This was a very unpredictable situation. We all did our best," the man in a long coat replied, not breaking eye contact. "Fuck you, George! I''m sure you pushed that thing away just to save your own ass." George shrugged, "We were all doing what we could to survive. Don''t blame me for being a better leader than you." Joseph grabbed George by the collar, "My team would have survived if you had done your fucking job and killed the fucking Wendigo! Their blood is in your hands!" George didn''t even flinch as the burly man got close to his face, " No, it wasn''t. If you want to blame someone, blame the Wendigo, or yourself. I had nothing to do with it." Hera understood what George meant. If a monster kills someone, it''s not the fault of the person who let the creature live, even if it was a Wendigo. Still, it was hard to agree with him when looking at him. He had a cocky attitude and a smirk on his face. It felt like he was taunting Joseph with the entire situation. "You son of a..." Joseph pulled back and was about to punch him when a male voice came from behind him. "What is going on here?" ten of the team leaders were standing behind the two men. "Joseph, this is not the time. We should respect the deceased," a man in front of the group stared at him. "Tell that to this little shit," Joseph looked back at George. Cass was in the middle of the group with the leader, made a sign to Hera for her to move away. She quietly moved back, not wanting to be in the middle of a situation like that. "It''s better if you go. This might get messy quickly," Cass whispered to Hera as she walked by. Hera nodded and headed to the great hall. The actual bodies of the fallen explorers weren''t there. Every guild branch had a small morgue for situations like this. There was a table with a piece of equipment from each deceased in the middle of the hall. It was just a symbolic thing to represent them. The gear would be either sold or passed along to their family, as long as there was an explorer among them. If not, the money from the sales would go to the families, plus the life insurance payout. Helena was by the side, along with Blue and the rest. Hera imagined that most people were here to show solidarity. But in reality, about 1/5 of the people in the hall knew someone among the fallen. To her surprise, even Runir and Alex were familiar with one of them. "That double axe is... was Timmy''s right?" Alex asked. "Yeah... he loved that thing," Runir replied, staring at the table. "Where you guys close?" Hera asked. "Not really. We did a few missions together. He was a good guy, even if a bit reckless," Runir said, turning to face Hera. "And loud. Don''t forget that," Alex chuckled. "Yeah, but that''s because he was born in Italy. He said that his entire family was loud," Runir said. "Isn''t that just a stereotype?" Blue asked. "Well, in this case, it was true," Alex said. The ceremony began. It was much like a funeral service. Joseph, as the leader of team C, spoke a few words. Very few, actually. When he went to the front and faced the audience, he could only muster an ''I''m sorry.'' No one complained or thought he was in the wrong. Rumors about what happened were already circling. Apparently, the second Wendigo appeared after they killed the first one, taking advantage of the small celebration. It started by pulling one of the archers from the ramparts with its frog-like tongue. The archer who fell broke his neck with the fall. He was Joseph''s oldest friend, someone who was a veteran of the first layer. Yet, the Wendigo was able to hide from everyone''s sight. The rest of the fight was just as chaotic as the start. They only were able to kill the creature when it tried to eat the dead Wendigo, giving Joseph an opening to deliver the finishing blow. All twelve people died because of the second Wendigo. After the service, Helena went to the lab to grab the last of her belongings while Hera and her group took a quest to help clean up the traps from around the city. It was a way to distract themselves from the thoughts that were creeping on their minds. What if they were the ones who fought the second Wendigo? A few hours later, they had not only finished the quest, but Cass sent a message letting them know that the guild had finished the inventory of the materials and they could get their cut and the rewards for the defense. The list of materials was enormous, and most of the items had some special properties. Hera chose not to buy anything. Not just because she was able to upgrade all of her gear, but she could pay for the healer to take care of Grandma Triss if she got all the money. In total, the rampage quest would give 4 230 gold as the base reward and another 7 380 for the monster kills. While the materials from all the five days were worth 9 250. That was over 20k gold, just for five days of work. A very stressful and dangerous work, but still. Very few people would be able to get that money during the same amount of time outside the MAZE. "Guys, after this. We deserve a weekend, right?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I think so." Runir replied, looking at his earning. "It has been quite a while since I last visited my household," Tom nodded. "Are you saying this just because you wanna see Quinn?" Alex smirked. Blue stared at her for a long moment before turning back to the group," So we can take the weekend off?" Hera nodded. She might as well visit her grandma and see if they can get her legs checked out. 155 - Down Time With the group agreeing on taking a small break, Hera sent a text to her grandma asking if she would be free during the weekend. Having a positive reply, Hera would go to their hometown to pick up Grandma Triss before taking her to a hospital specialized in healing civilians. Hera managed to set up an appointment beforehand, and thanks to her silver guild card, she was able to get enough of a discount to get an even better healer for her grandmother. Hera rang Triss''s doorbell early in the morning, and her grandmother was ready to go. It''s been a few years since she went to Brilansis, where Hera lived, and she was excited to see the big city once more. They took the express train to the town, cutting the travel time in half. The tickets were a bit expensive, but it was better for Triss. A couple of hours later, they arrived at the hospital. As much as Triss wanted to look around the city, she struggled to walk. Hera considered that and made the appointment early. That way, they wouldn''t have much time to walk around. The healer was already waiting for them. His name was Ian, and he was a short man in his forties, with brown hair and chestnut eyes. He greeted his patients and got a wheelchair for Triss, leading her to a body scanner so he could see her situation. Hera and the healer were in the room beside the scanner behind thick glass while the machine worked. "Don''t worry. You know how healers work. I can see that she isn''t close to death," Ian said as the machine worked. "Well, I hope so. I mean, healers can only see people who are about to die, right?" Ian chuckled, "At first, yes. But since I''m also a doctor, my skill changed a bit. I can tell if they have any terminal conditions or diseases that would end their life. I still can''t say when someone will die of old age or because of an accident, but your grandmother is a healthy 80-year-old." "Thanks. I''m glad to hear that," Hera smiled at Grandma Triss, who smiled back. "Also, if you don''t mind. I just want to say. You are incredible." Hera froze for a moment. The healer was a nice man, but that felt weird. Still, she had to be polite. After all, he was still going to treat her grandmother. She cleaned her throat and asked with a smile, "Sorry, what do you mean?" "I saw your interview about how you faced the Wendigo. It was incredibly brave of you to fight that monster, especially being so new at all this." Hera was relieved when she heard him speak. However, it still felt weird to be recognized by a random person, "It wasn''t bravery, more like desperation. The monster was following me and didn''t want to let me go." "Still, the ones that appeared after the wall were terrifying. Even someone who is used to deal with gruesome things like me felt that it was a hard thing to watch. I can only imagine how it was to fight it, not to mention the pictures from the Brinefront rampage. The area was a mess," Ian leaned towards one of the monitors and pushed a button under the microphone, "Triss, we are heading to the next step. You might feel a small tingle on your finger. If there is anything other than that, let me know." "Will do," Triss replied. Hera waited for the healer to let go of the microphone before going back to the subject, "Sorry, but what pictures?" "The guild published some pictures along with the information they have about the Wendigos. There was a large hole in the wall of Brinefront. A weird rock formation in Hazelpond and a tunnel under the Frog Valley campsite, if I''m not mistaken." "Shit, they were even in the campsite? I hoped it was just the cities," Hera said. "Oh, you were there? Damn, you fought one and wanted more?" Ian laughed. "Not really, but a friend of mine was stuck in the room during the rampage. I wasn''t about to let her be there alone." "That''s even more impressive. I know many people who were glad they ran after hearing about the Wendigo." Hera thanked him again and looked back at her grandmother. There were more problems with the rampage than she realized. It was weird because Brinefront seemed fine when she got there, but people might have prioritized fixing the hole, maybe even calling some high-level crafters to do it. The exam ended, and Ian led Hera and Triss towards his office to discuss the result. As they walked through the hall, Hera noticed a door that had a tag with a familiar name. Amanda Kahele "Oh," she gasped. "What''s wrong?" Triss asked. "Nothing, I just have a friend here," Hera said, walking by the wheelchair. "Do you want to stop?" Ian asked. "I have to get permission for a visit, right?" Hera looked around, searching for a reception of sorts. "Yeah, but that can be arranged. If you want, I''ll help you later. Let''s check the results first," Ian said as they kept walking. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Checking the exam, Ian confirmed Triss''s diagnosis, "Ok, it''s not bad. There are quite a few issues, but they are all caused by your arthritis that triggers tendonitis and other muscle pain. There are also some small issues with your eyes, nothing major, but we can have that taken care of. Now, we can set up a date for the treatment, or we can do it today." "Today?" Triss asked. "Yes, the treatment will take a couple of hours, but since we are dealing with a silver explorer, I cleared my schedule for the day," Ian smiled while speaking to Triss. "My, my. You are moving up quickly in the world," Triss held Hera''s hand and leaned on her shoulder. "Only because you have my back. Now, do you want to do the treatment today, or are you busy?" Hera asked. "Will it hurt?" Triss turned to Ian. "Not at all. You might feel a bit woozy, but we can give you some painkillers if you would like. It helps you if you are awake, but it won''t be a problem if you sleep," Ian proceeded to explain the procedure. He would use his mana to help Triss''s body to regain some of its ability to regenerate. Then Ian would guide the magic to the places where the disease was stronger and remove the ailment. For Hera, he explained that the room would have a few mana crystals to fuel the spell for the duration. "If you want, we can set up a television or an audiobook for you as long as you are ok with using headphones. Too much noise might be a distraction for the procedure." "Can I be there with her?" Hera asked. "Yes, but if you want to be holding her hand. I''ll give you some gloves that block mana. Having another mana source touching the patient can create some disturbances with the spell." "Oh, don''t worry. You can visit your friend while I''m here. I''ll be in the good hands of the handsome doctor," Triss winked at Ian, who responded with a chuckle. "If you would like, I''ll show you the room where I''ll be treating her, so you know where to find us after checking up on your friend," Ian offered. "Well, if you are ok with this, grandma." "Of course," Triss turned to Ian, "One more thing. How is the recovery? Will I have to be committed?" "Not really. We will do another exam after the procedure to see if everything is ok. I expect that you will feel much better after the treatments and will be ready to move around. Although, I do recommend light exercise for the first few weeks since your muscles won''t be as strong as they used to." Ian reinforced that he used the word treatment because the disease would be significantly reduced almost to a point where it wouldn''t be there but, in the future, it could return. It wasn''t a complete cure or a vaccine, but he expected an improvement of at least 80%. After a couple of minutes of talking, Triss decided she would do the treatment today. The room where Triss would stay wasn''t like a surgery room, or a hospital room, for that matter. It looked much more like a shrink''s office. There was a very comfortable-looking chair in the middle, some paintings on the sides, a television, a cucumber water jug and some and a small fountain on the side. Ian explained that if Triss wanted water or to go to the bathroom, it was just to let him know. There was no problem stopping it in the middle, but she would only feel the effects after completing the procedure. Hera stayed there until the spell started, and after some insistence from grandma Triss, she headed out to meet Amanda. The girl was feeling better. She got afflicted by mana overload because of the New Daw Oranges. The healers had to keep pulling mana from her body for a few days since she couldn''t control it. When it stabilized, she would still need to drop by the hospital to have the mana drained every few days. That would last only until her birthday, a couple of weeks from now when the New Dawn would pay for her level up even if she didn''t want to be an explorer. At level 2, she could get her mana stat, and the issue would solve itself, just giving her an increased starter mana pool. The New Dawn was also willing to pay for any degree she wanted to pursue or to fund her early years as an explorer, no strings attached. She could even start working for one of their competitors. This was all a way to apologize for what happened to her. "Speaking of which, what happened?" Hera asked. "I don''t know. They said that a product from an R&D lab ended up mixing with the products for sale. It was supposed to be a part of an experimental crop that could grow anywhere or something like that. But one of the crates ended up being taken to the farm distribution center, and some bags had these oranges with way too much mana," Amanda replied while eating her jelly. "Wait, a full crate? Doesn''t that mean that a lot of people got sick?" "I have no idea. I wasn''t exactly looking for other people who got infected. I can say that I''m the only case here in the hospital. Or at least that''s what they told me. Not that they would tell me the truth anyway," Amanda replied. Hera chuckled, "I''m glad to see you''re still the same." Amanda laughed, "What, you expect me to change just for that? C''mon I''m not that impressionable," there was a moment of pause, "Hera. Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Do you regret becoming an explorer?" "No," Hera replied in a heartbeat. "Really? I mean, it''s much more dangerous than I imagined. Like, the guild lifted the ban on info, right? I saw a video about the assault on a wall or something. And after it, these weird white monsters appeared and started eating everyone. It was terrifying." "Oh, tell me about it. If I had figured out the one I fought was a Wendigo before killing it, I would have frozen. I guess it is like they say, ignorance is bliss." Amanda''s eyes went wide as she stared at Hera, "You fought one of those things?" "Two actually, one on my own and another as a group. But here is the thing. What you saw was on the 25th Layer. It''s like very deep inside the MAZE. These monsters, called Wendigos, are appearing everywhere, but their strength matches the layer they are on. So if you just started, you won''t face something as quick as the ones in the video," Hera explained. "So... it''s not that dangerous?" Amanda asked. "It is. Very much so. A few days ago, twelve people died during a quest. Most of the time, I''m fighting for my life, but honestly. I can''t imagine doing anything else. I know it sounds crazy, but being there, exploring, finding new things. It makes me feel... alive." "You sound like my grandma," Amanda said with a smile. "Well, I can finally understand her. Although, I''m still not interested in jumping from a plane, even with a parachute," Hera chuckled. The two spent some more time talking until Hera decided that it was better to stay with her grandma. As she was about the leave, Amanda stopped her one more time. "Hera... Do you think I would be a good explorer?" "You know how your grandpa always says that you act like your grandma?" Hera said after thinking for a moment. "Yeah," Amanda replied. "If he is right, you will be great. Just be careful. If you need anything, I''m just a text away, ok?" "Ok, thanks," with the reply, Hera went back to Triss, wondering if it was normal to be so excited about being in the MAZE even after everything she went through. 156 - Back to the main topic After the treatment, grandma Triss was feeling much better. The two had a day out in the city, but it was cut short since Triss started to feel tired, and they still had a long trip back to her place. On the next days, Triss kept sending videos to show off to Hera how she could get down the stairs, go for long walks, and even dance a little. Her grandmother wasn''t a sad person, but seeing her with that child-like smile warmed Hera''s heart. The next day Hera was already back at Hazelpond. It didn''t feel right to stay in her flat, not when she had a big house waiting for her inside the MAZE, even if she had to take the last boat of the day leaving Brinefront. Hera was worried about her skills. Improved stamina was rank 3, just like her hide skill that ranked up when the assassin''s role quest was over. If she weren''t careful, the skill would improve once more and trigger a new role quest. Stamina sounded like something that a fighter would need, but it could be what she needed for the controller role. Still, none of those sounded interesting for now. With her focus on spells and Helena''s work, Hera wanted to get either the mage role or the researcher one. Now, with the increase in the skill, she had to focus on something else before it was too late. If not, she would end up with a role that she wasn''t too keen on getting. At the same time, ignoring the quest seemed counterproductive. Even if she refused the new role, she would still need to increase another skill to rank 4 before getting another role skill. Her only skill that could trigger the mage role was mana recovery. She had confirmed that with other explorers in the order of the lost court. The easiest other options would be acquiring an elemental damage boost or resistance, and the magic sensitivity skill, which helped her notice magic around her. Other skills that could trigger the mage role quest were more complicated to get and could take years to reach rank 4. Talking to Helena, she understood that mana recovery would increase its rank as the mastery increased. So it was something she could actively see growing. Unlike how it was with spells, Helena was able to help Hera with the skill. There was no formula or code for them. It was all about the flow of mana through their bodies. There were just two issues. First, Helena reached a barrier, her mana recovery was stuck at rank 4 for a few years already. Second, not being able to use magic at the moment made it so she had to take everything from memory. Still, Helena did her best. She explained how mana wasn''t supposed to stop being gathered, even after her mana was full. She had to keep the mana in constant motion, almost like it was a blood flow. This was another thing. The human body wasn''t supposed to fill up with mana like a glass of water, but to take the mana inside your organs and veins. Just like in physics, two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Mana wasn''t above that. With Helena''s guidance, Hera was able to increase her mastery by 1%. It seemed little, but considering that she could barely grasp the concepts, it was a significant improvement. Not just that, but that 1% increase was enough to make the skill rank up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Recovery (Rank 2) Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery. By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you become unable to recover mana for 25 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique. Passive Recovery: 30 mana per minute Active Recovery: 39 mana per minute Mastery: 11% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There seemed to be no change in the actual skill aside from the reduced penalty if the concentration was broken and the difference in her maximum mana. During the rampage, her mana had increased by over 100 points, now sitting at 435. Helena explained that the skill worked like that. Unlike others who just grew as they were used, the mana regeneration was something that people had to learn and figure out. It was closer to the development of fighting styles. Only after becoming more proficient with the moves and understanding how it worked, would the skill would increase. The two had the house all for themselves. But Helena didn''t want to leave her research, and now that the rampage was over, she could actually focus. It was a shame that Hera had forgotten to use her elemental sight during the defense, but at the same time, she wasn''t in a position to be thinking about other things. Hera practiced the mana recovery for a few hours when Helena emerged from the basement. "Want some tea, sweetie?" "Sure," Hera said as she walked towards the kitchen. Helena placed a kettle on the stove, "You said you wanted to ask me about something else, right? Something about a monster that you saw doing something." "Oh, right. This pangolin was controlling its scales with strands of mana. Do you know the name of a spell that can do that? I forgot to check the guild or the order store," Hera replied, getting the teacups and the infuser. "Give me more details. How did the scales move? Where did they come from? What you described is too broad," Helena said. Hera explained, trying to remember every detail that she could about that fight, "... then I tried to make my mana pull the chakram. My idea was to make it move around without pulling the string. It jumped up, but I can''t do it again." "Humm... there are a few ways. You can have an elemental manipulation spell and use another to coat the scale with that element. Telekinesis works, but it''s very mana heavy. But the mana connection being as small as a strand of hair... Maybe the scales themselves were part of the spell. That is a thing. You can invoke elemental objects and control them with your mana. It takes a lot of concentration and a quick mind, but it works almost as if you have some backup, even without anyone around. Those are called elemental projections. If you search for that in the guild or a store, you should find it." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Hera considered the possibilities. More interesting than having some sort of telekinesis, having a magic weapon following her would be incredible. Of course, a spell like that should take a lot of mana, but if she could increase her mana regeneration enough, it could work. "By the way, how was the effect of the scales?" Helena asked after a few moments where Hera was quietly contemplating her options. "Sorry, what?" "The scales, sweetie? How the spells behaved going through them?" "Oh... I didn''t use it," Hera looked away. "Seriously? That was supposed to help with the defense!" Helena gasped. "There was too much going on. I completely forgot about that," Hera tried to explain herself. "Look at this girl. She used to be so kind, now she even talks back to me," Helena clicked her tongue. "Sorry, Ms. Ditrro. It won''t happen again," Hera said with a serious expression. Helena rolled her eyes, "You are no fun, you know that?" "It¡¯s hard to be fun when you are about to burn our tea," Hera chuckled. Helena looked back and saw the string of the tea bag catching on fire. She quickly put it out, tossing the bag in the sink and opening the faucet. After a few moments with the water still running, Hera asked, "Do you want me to make the tea?¡±. Helena didn''t even look back, "Yes, please." During the afternoon, Hera looked for the spells that Helena mentioned. As she said, telekinesis was very costly. It would take 10 mana to lift a single gram for one second, which means that just raising her handaxe for a second would cost almost 14 thousand mana each second. That was a no go. The elemental manipulation was more cost-effective. To control one element, she would need from 10 to 100 mana per second, and it was more about size than weight. A rock the size of her fist would cost only 10 mana per second, while a person''s life-sized statue would be 50 mana per second. This was just to move it around, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to raise it too far from the ground, and to use it as an attack required much more mana. Yet to control her chakram as she wanted, it would require a solid element. She wouldn''t be able to use fire, lightning, or poison. It had to be rock, wood, ice, or something like it. Wind and water could work, but it would be less about moving the blade around than tossing it from one place to another. She looked at her last option, the elemental projection. As Helena said, it was very different than the rest. Using this spell, she would be creating a new weapon or object to move around instead of using something she already had. Hera looked at the mana projection to understand the core of it. Reading the description, it was a relatively straightforward spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Projection Rank: Novice Gives a form to your mana. The size and shape affect the cost of mana to maintain the projection. The projection can affect the world to an extent, and it can have different properties. The user can give simple commands to the projection. With an increased rank, the projection can acquire more complex and unique characteristics. Range: 2 meters Base mana cost per second: 10 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mana cost was minimal. She could be able to make the projection last over seven minutes. That was already a significant amount of time for a fight. The problem was the cost. She was using the guild store, and a training module for this spell costs 35 000 gold. She tried the Order store, where she could trade contribution points for spells, and found the mana projection for just 8 000 points. It was still expensive, but much more manageable than gold. Yet, right now, for the few jobs she did for the Order of the Lost Court, she only had 300 points. Thinking for a moment, Hera realized that she never got her reward for the scales. With her being attacked by the Wendigo and everything, she completely forgot about that. Heading down to the basement, Hera called Helena. "Lena, how is the best boss in the world doing?" Helena raised her head from her notes and stared at Hera dead in the eye, "What did you do? Or what do you want? No one is that nice without a reason." "I''m hurt. Do you honestly think that I wouldn''t say nice things about you?" "You would, just not like that. What is it?" Helena replied. "Fine. What''s the reward I''m getting for the scales and the data I brought you from the pangolins?" Hera asked. Helena stared at her for a moment before her eyes went wide, "I''m soooo sorry. I completely forgot about that. Let me check it." She grabbed her tablet and made a few notes, "For the scales, all the data and everything, hum... Can I give you tomorrow? I have to do some math." "Sure. Any chance it will be 8 000 points for the order?" "What?" Helena stopped, "Why that many?" "I found the mana projection for sale there. I could get from the guild, but that''s 35k. It''s cheaper if I get from the order," Hera explained. "Do you have the store opened in the tablet?" Helena asked. "Yeah, here," Hera showed the page. Helena read something," Forget it. This one is only for the formula." "What?" Hera looked at the page. In the description of the product, it did state that it was a formula for the spell. The code would cost 12 000 points, and the compendium for a trainer 28 000 points, "Oh, man." "Sorry, sweetie and the mana cost of that one is sneaky. It says only 10 mana, but that is to make a leaf. If you want to make something like a sword or a shield, the cost increases by tenfold. Besides, there is no reason for you ever to buy those things. Your biggest advantage is being able to figure out spells on your own. Just try to make it work," Helena turned back to her research. "What do you mean?" "C''mon, sweetie. All your spells come from you trying to make something happen. You think about the effect, which triggers it, just like the grease fire you learned. Stop thinking about getting the spell through other people. Just figure out. Conceptual mages have that edge above everyone else. You should try to use that advantage on purpose instead of by luck." Hera had to admit, Helena was right. People always said that her way of learning spells was all about creativity, and the talk she had with Tom confirmed that. It sucked that she wasn¡¯t able to learn new spells through other people like Helena or Bonnie, but if she could master the ability to create spells, it could work really well. Maybe it was time to figure out how to start that. 157 - Once more, with feeling After having the weekend off, the group met up with Runir and Thomas once more in the Carpon Caverns. The two were sharing a hotel room for a while until they found a more permanent residence. Before heading out, Blue and Alex wanted to stop by a store to see if they could get something with the rewards they got from the rampage. Alex wanted to make a cloak with the chameleon skin, while Blue was looking for a wind armor. Since Blue wasn''t thrilled with her choice of spells, Helena suggested that she could try wind. It was a fairly common element for people who focused on grapples, and among other options, several gap closers were relatively cheap. The three women first headed into the city, in the Carpon Caverns. Hera suggested the store where she got her chakram upgraded. Blue wanted to look at some armors, but her main focus was the new spell she got. As they arrived at Ronan''s smithy, Hera greeted Clayton, who was operating the store''s front once more. After a few minutes, Alex agreed to leave the hide so Ronan could make her a cloak with it. While looking around, Blue found a pair of shoulder guards that seemed very interesting. It was very flexible, and it could activate a unique effect that would make her arms look like smoke when activated. That would be very useful to confuse her enemies. It also had agility scaling, and for a while now, that had become Blue''s second-highest attribute, only losing to endurance. Paying 15 000 for the shoulder guards after trying them on to be sure they didn''t restrain her movements. Alex and Blue thanked Hera for the suggestion. The small shop had no lines, and the crafter looked very worried about what they wanted. Ronan even offered to make some small adjustments for Blue''s old gear that was starting to feel a bit tight. After the moment of shopping, the three headed to the guild to meet up with the rest of their party. Before heading out, they all talked about what had changed after the rampage. Alex was now level 5, just like Hera. She got two rank ups for the [Improved Stamina] and one for a skill called [Pinpoint Weak Spot] that helped Alex to find weakness on her enemies'' bodies. Her cutting wind also increases in rank, from beginner to novice. Blue was level 4. She leveled up on day 3. Her skills got some upgrades, including a [Taunt] that could make a monster target her. It wasn''t like Thomas forced duel spell, but thanks to her controller role, it had some special effects. She also had an increase with the [Improved Stamina] but only to rank 2, unlike Hera and Alex. Runir was level 6. He got a level up on the second day of the rampage. His shields spells increased in rank to novice as well, and the skills he had to perceive danger and increase the effect of barriers and heals also improved. His buff spells could now target two people at once, the same with the debuffs. Thomas shared his status for the first time. The only thing they knew was that his [Improved Stamina] was rank 5. He was level 8, and most of his skills were at least rank 3. The fighter spent most of the year focusing on training his abilities instead of leveling up. As he said before, he only had buff spells, all in the novice rank as well. They could only be self-applied but could increase his strength, defense, and accuracy. Aside from some other small spells like the dancing light and a small stream of water that he could create to clean his armor. He also had a spell called ''Duel,'' where he would force a monster to focus on him. This was an intermediate spell that could affect most creatures on the Carpon Caverns. Only some named monsters could resist its effect. Hera expected him to be strong, but the information surprised her. The way he fought made it seem like he was over level 10 already, but in reality, the source of his strength was the skills and his gear. That was the second rampage he ever participated in, and a year hunting on the second layer would mean that he should have a lot of money to spend. "Before we advance in our noble hunt. Let me inquire. What are your goals? What do you wish to accomplish?" Tom asked the group while they were eating in a small restaurant. "I want to help Helena. I told you about the parasites. I want to find a way to get rid of them," Hera replied. "I want to be the fourth hero. I know I''m kind of asking for a crisis in the world, but yeah. That¡¯s my dream," Blue said. Tom scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression, "Apologies. I should have been clearer. My question was about more immediate desires. Not that thy goals are not noble. Yet, what I wish to know is what do you want to do at the moment? Are we hunting just for gold and glory or looking for something specific?" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Oh... I don''t know. I mean, the only quest I have is my role quest right now," Blue said. "Same, I have that and Helena''s tasks, but those are more to the side of ''go out and find some stuff.'' I do have my role quest too, but I have no idea how to do it," Hera looked at her tablet to confirm her role quest. Where would she find a secret? "Mine is a bit tricky. I need to find and kill a named monster before it is able to notice me," Alex explained. "I''m already halfway through mine. I need to heal and protect a number of people. You would think that the rampage gave me a nice boost, but it didn''t even give me half of what I need," Runir took a sip of his drink. "Does each person only counts once?" Hera asked. "Nope, but it only counts if they are hurt, or I stopped them from getting hurt." "That''s not so far from mine. I need to change the battlefield a set number of times. Whatever that means," Blue scoffed. "Very well. We all have short-term goals, and only two of those have specific requirements. I suggest that we face some beasts as one to familiarize ourselves with our peers'' combat style. I believe that during the rampage, we all were unable to focus our attention on the fight of others," Tom suggested. It was an interesting idea, giving Alex''s cloak a chance to be ready. Runir and Tom were also waiting for orders they had placed during the last few days. Runir had ordered some accessories that would give him minor buffs to his barriers and his mana regeneration. Thomas was waiting for a new rapier. He got frustrated that his current weapon wasn''t strong enough to pierce the Wendigo''s shell and wanted to rectify that. The group left and went hunting once more. Hera and Alex checked with the guild if they had any quests to hunt and gather small materials from the monsters. They had quests for both, but the rewards were pretty low compared to the quests that asked for the hide and monsters'' meat. But carrying all that back would be too much trouble. None of them had any intention of doing that, and with just the rewards from the hunting quests, it would be more than enough to get by. While hunting, Hera felt much more confident in what she was doing. After fighting nonstop for almost a week, facing a single monster wasn''t much of a threat. Now Hera, Blue, and Alex started to focus on the fight in a different way. They could not just react to the monster and try to find an opening, but focus on their own movements and see where they were making mistakes. Their teamwork had improved a lot, especially between Hera and Alex. The two fought together for most of the rampage, so it wasn''t much of a surprise. Blue became much more proficient in holding back the monsters. Now the creatures would hardly ever change their focus when she started fighting them, allowing the rest of the group to focus on dealing damage. Her shoulder guards also helped a lot. Even the moles who focused more on smell than sight had a hard time seeing her arms through the smoke cloud that wrapped her arms. Runir''s timing with his barriers was incredible. He was able to cast it just as they were about to be hit. On the other hand, It was hard to gauge Tom''s improvement since they didn''t see much of his abilities before the rampage. They spent two days fighting around the city in the Caverns. During that time, Hera kept trying to figure out how to make the mana projection. It was hard to make an object out of thin air. The mana kept dispersing since it had nothing to hold it together. She tried to coat her weapons with the mana and then split it, but the shape would break just the same. However, while covering her chakram with mana and trying to pull it away, she managed to pull it to the side using only her mana. She started to test that idea while the weapon had the mana reinforcement buff. After several tries, Hera figured out a way to make her mana work almost like a propulsion system. Making small bursts, as if she was emptying an oxygen tank in space, she could move the chakram around. That would increase mana cost of the buff by a lot, but as she practiced it, it became clear that she would be able to use the wire trap style without having to control the thread directly. After a couple of days, Hera had some information to share with Helena. The moles had smell, earth, and blind affinities, which seemed to vary even among the same types of moles. The only difference that Hera noticed was in the skills that they used. The ones with blind affinity were more perceptive than others at close range, while the ones with smell affinity were more elusive. The ones with the earth affinity had stronger hide and claws. After everyone got their gear and took it for a spin, the group talked about what they could do and since Hera wanted to find one of the MAZE''s secrets while Alex had to kill a named monster. Thomas had one suggestion. "We could attempt one of the dungeons in this room. I am familiar with one that might have what two among us are searching for." "What''s the dungeon like?" Blue asked. "It is a cave, as one is to expect. It is a place filled with fungi and elemental spirits. They are sneaky little creatures that are very difficult to hit. That is a great tool to increase our accuracy. In there, I know of both a named monster that our silent assassin can attempt to kill at once and a secret that could help our brave adventurer." "Ok, I''m in. Is there anything else we need to be on the lookout for while there?" Alex asked. "Our maps will not work until the boss has fallen. The glowing mushrooms lit up the entire area, and as they change colors, the paths are hidden or revealed. Not just that, but the lights make seeing the spirits something very difficult. People tend to refer to this dungeon by a different name because of this," Thomas explained. "Stop being cryptic, man. What name?" Runir asked. "The proper name is Underground Forest, but it is more commonly known as Mushroom Rave," Tom said with a smile. 158 - Underground Forest The three dungeons in the Carpon Caves were all close to the city. The Flood was located thirty minutes to the left when leaving the city by the end of the room. The Secret Tunnel was to the right. It would take about 1 hour to reach the entrance since it required to go through a small tunnel that headed down. To reach the Underground Forest, which was the group''s destination, they had to circle the city''s entrance and walk up a path on the side of a large wall. At the top, a tunnel with mossy ground around it would signal the dungeon''s entrance. It took around one hour to arrive but just 30 to 40 minutes to go back. The climb was very long and steep, making most groups stop by the entrance before heading in. There was a small procession of people climbing the path. In the platform above, several benches were carved from the stone walls where people were resting before entering the dungeon. Even though most people in this room worked in the mines or the forges, there was still a considerable amount going for the dungeons. According to Tom, the Flood was the most popular dungeon. Since it was very straightforward and with a few strong earth spells, it was easy to complete the quest with minimal effort by just blocking out the area they had to protect. Then it was the Underground Forest. People didn''t run it that much because of the difficulty of hitting the small spirits. The secret tunnel was the less populated dungeon, despite being the one with the best rewards. Since people would appear randomly inside the labyrinth, anyone who challenged it would need to be prepared to sleep inside the dungeon and to face something unpredictable right from the start. At the same time, it was the favorite place for people who liked to gamble. If they got lucky, they could appear right by the entrance, allowing them to finish the quest in minutes. The unlucky ones could be stuck inside the labyrinth for days. "Is there anything else we need to know before going inside?" Hera asked. "I do not believe so. The monsters we are about to face are not much of a threat. Just watch out for the tendrils. In the moments where other information becomes relevant, we shall stop and discuss strategy," Tom explained. They nodded and headed inside the moss-covered tunnel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Underground Forest Entrance Area type: Dungeon A tunnel leading to the underground mushroom forest. The extreme elemental forces inside the forest destroyed all the flora inside, which allowed the fungi to grow with the elements. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before stepping inside, Tom turned around, "I need to confirm one thing. Is there someone prone to seizures among us?" They all shook their heads and entered the dungeon. They walked for about five minutes before reaching a loose curve. The first thing Hera noticed about it was a shifting light going slowly from neon pink to neon green. As they stepped outside the tunnel, Hera saw an enormous expanse filled with mushrooms. Their sizes varied wildly, from small ones that could fit in her hand to massive ones going up five meters and only stopping at the ceiling. The most strange thing about them was that all the mushrooms glowed in different colors. Some had a static hue, while others would shift slowly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a mutation triggered by elemental forces. Dungeon Quest: The Fungi around the forest have mutated and acquired bioluminescence proprieties. This effect has disturbed ancient elemental spirits that were resting in the forest. Appease the spirits and return them to their slumber. First completion rewards: Rewards: 7 000 gold, Elemental Accessory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Tom, what kind of accessory we get here?" Hera asked after seeing the rewards. It was the first time the system was giving an actual piece of equipment. "The system allows us to choose the type of adornment we want, but the element is restricted to those we see inside the dungeon," Tom explained. "Ok, but what it does?" "It allows your spells or attacks to be imbued with damage that matches the element." "So. What element did you get?" Runir asked. "I chose the light element, for a shining knight is a beacon of hope. Alas, it was but a foolish endeavor. While chasing the icon of a knight blessed by the light, I overlooked the basics of knighthood and became too reliant on its power. To correct my misgivings, I sold the amulet and trained my fundamentals," Tom looked away while he spoke. "Hold up. Why did you sell that? Couldn''t you keep it around until you trained enough?" Blue asked. Thomas gave Blue a sad smile, "An addict will always relapse while its stash is around." Hera and Alex looked at each other, Runir seemed not to be bothered by the comment, but it was clearly a sore spot for Thomas. "Ok, so what type of monster can we expect here? And these mushrooms, are they edible? Do we need to be careful with spores or something?" Alex tried to change the subject. "The denizens of the forest are the small elemental spirits, called sprites. They are small light globes with wings. Not all are aggressive. However, they are easily disturbed. A change in the color of a mushroom or a loud noise can send them into a frenzy. I suggest that we first conclude our mission and, on a subsequent attempt, we chase your quests," Tom gestured to both Hera and Alex. It was a good idea. Not only would they be able to understand how the dungeon worked but also they would have the accessory after completing the quest. "The fungi present in this forest are not proper for consumption. Spores are not an existing issue, but I recommend a check-up when we return, just as a way to calm our minds," Tom concluded before the group headed deeper into the forest. Entering the mushroom forest was a bizarre experience. It was easy to see why people called this the rave dungeon. All the colors had a neon hue, while the only difference was their intensity. Hera felt lucky her gear didn''t have any bright colors. At least she wouldn''t be a beacon in the middle of this area. Alex''s cloak was having trouble adjusting to the surroundings. Instead of triggering a chameleon''s camouflage effect, the colors started to mix, creating a kaleidoscope on her back. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Blue triggered her shoulder guards, creating the white smoke around her arms. The lights made it look like her arms were clouds from an alien planet. Even Tom was having fun with the lights, moving his new rapier around, making it shine in different hues. Walking around, they went deeper into the forest, still not seeing anything aside from glowing mushrooms until the forest started to open more, now showing three different tunnels for them to go through. "Where to now?" Runir asked. "The quickest path would be to the right. But the one where we face the least trials is the one through the middle. However, the route will be longer," Tom said. "Should we go to the middle then? Since it''s about seeing how this works." Alex suggested. "If we want to see how this works, wouldn''t it be better to go to the left then? So we can explore everything," Blue walked towards the left tunnel. "It''s better if we make sure we can finish the entire dungeon before exploring other branches. That way, even if we can''t beat everything, we can at least complete the quest," Hera replied. "Why worry? The monsters in the room are easy. We can beat them without even getting hurt," Blue scoffed. "Yeah, it''s not like a frog could headbutt you and make you fall to the ground. Right?" Alex replied, rolling her eyes. "That was during the rampage! I''m much better now," Blue protested. "I admire your bravery, Blue. But do not allow your hubris to be your downfall. Monsters are dangerous creatures. It doesn''t matter if you are strong or used to fighting them. We must always stay vigilant," Tom said. The entire group was staring at Blue with a serious expression. Even with the improvement, they all understood the dangers of fighting these creatures. "I think you guys are overreacting, but fine. We can do it the safe way." Hera sighed as they walked towards the middle tunnel. Blue was already showing some signals of being careless since the rampage, but Hera didn''t have a chance to talk to her about it. Hopefully, it won''t be long before Hera could speak to her friend about that. According to Thomas, the right path would take around 25 to 40 minutes, but there would be many monsters and twisting paths. It had been some time since he attempted this dungeon, and he didn''t remember the correct route to arrive at the boss. The middle path would take about one hour to cross, but the walk would have fewer creatures, and they would be less clumped together, allowing the group to fight with more ease. They walked for five minutes in the middle tunnel when the lights coming from the mushrooms started to blink faster. As if they were dancing with the beat, ten small globules of shifting lights, about the size of a tennis ball, circled one of the smaller fungi in the middle of the tunnel. Hera triggered her [Observe] as well as the elemental sight spell while watching the monsters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Fire affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Water affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Wind affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Earth affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Grass affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Light affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Lightning affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Psychic affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Ground affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Sprite (Ice affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Even though all monsters had the exact same appearance, their affinities varied. Among all 10, not a single one shared an affinity. Hera warned everyone about the elements present among the monsters before they started to approach. "It is best to dispose of these creatures before we arrive at the boss. They can, at times, follow us and help their leader when we are in combat," Tom explained. The group nodded and approached the monsters. Hera felt bad for attacking creatures that seemed to be harmless. However, as they got close, the small balls of light started to spread tendrils around their bodies, starting to look like glowing jellyfishes. As Thomas moved closer, the tendrils lashed out towards his armor, sparks of fire and lightning flying with the impact. As the monsters attacked, all of Hera''s worries vanished. When she was little, she got stung by a jellyfish, and the pain was still vivid in her memory. Tom took charge of holding a couple of the Sprites back. Blue taunted a couple of the other ones while Alex and Hera attacked the remaining Sprites. The monsters moved around like flies, and using their weapons to hit the creatures was very difficult. Spells also missed the target frequently. Hera considered using the Grease Fire spell, but since she was in a forest, even one made out of mushrooms, it seemed like a bad idea. The tendrils kept moving, lashing out at anyone who got close, even the other sprites. Hera and Alex worked together, pushing the monsters close to each other while trying to attack them. Tom had a much easier time to hit the creatures. He had spent a fair amount of time here, practicing his aim here, and had the skills to prove it. When the two monsters that Hera and Alex were pushing together finally died. The explorer turned her attention to one chasing Runir. Using her chakram to attack, Hera activated the mana reinforcement and used the makeshift propulsion system to correct the direction of the strike. Tossing the weapon while holding the thread allowed the bursts to be used only to change directions instead of spending all that mana to move it around. When the monster moved to the side, her chakram went above it, pushing the elemental to dodge down. Hera followed up with a strong burst of mana that made the chakram crash down on the sprite. Alex overwhelmed her opponent with her speed, slashing around it so quickly that the monster couldn''t dodge. A couple of minutes later, all ten sprites were dead. In total, that small group gave 150 gold and two small white mushrooms. Blue grabbed the drops and started laughing after reading the description. "What is going on?" Hera asked. Blue cracked one of the mushrooms and shook it in her hand, making the fungus start to glow in a bright neon green light. "They drop glowsticks!" Alex started laughing, "Sure you can call them that. But they look like something very different for me." Hera joined in in the laughter "Yeah. Boys, if yours ever start glowing like that, please go see a doctor." Blue gasped and dropped the mushroom, turning instantly red as she got the joke. Thomas turned to Runir, "You have found quite an entourage, my friend. I can see no day will be dull." "I just want to meet some normal people," Runir sighed. When the laughter died down, they started walking towards the boss once more. 159 - Tendrils everywhere Hera was feeling her head pound. At first, the glowing lights made for a fun environment, but as the forest grew denser. The constant bright light started to affect the group. Not just that, but the sprites mirrored the surrounding lights, making it even harder to see them floating. "Does anyone have an aspirin?" Hera asked. "Don''t have one. But, like we have a healer, you know," Alex replied. "Yeah... I don''t know how to fix a headache. I would need to figure out the cause first and then trigger the healing of the affected part, and honestly? I have no intention of touching on a brain with a five-foot pole," Runir said. "You measure a pole in how many feet are in it? How does that work?" Blue turned around. "Nah, that''s an old expression I learned with my mom. When she was little, they used foot, yards, and miles to measure distance," Runir explained. "That is true. If I recall correctly, a foot was about 30 centimeters," Tom added. "What''s the point of that? It feels like they are being weird for no reason," Blue scoffed. "Well, you are not wrong with that. I think the US was the last place in the world to adopt the metric system," Runir said. "Yeah, but what''s with the saying?" Alex asked. "My mom used to say it when she meant that she would never do something. It''s one of those old sayings that never translated after the change. Saying ''I wouldn''t touch it with a 3-meter pole'' doesn''t have the same ring to it." "So no cure for a headache?" Hera asked. Runir cleared his throat, "No, sorry." "Ok, Can we keep going? These lights are messing with my head," Hera asked. She didn''t want to seem cranky, but it was hard to have fun when the lights kept blinking. "Do you wish to return? It will not be an issue if we leave the dungeon now to challenge it at a later time," Thomas said. "No. We are close to the boss, right?" "We should arrive in around fifteen minutes." "Then let''s keep going. It''s not hurting that bad. But before we do this again, I need some aspirin, and maybe some sunglasses," Hera said as they kept walking. As Thomas had said, the middle path was far from difficult. It was mostly a stroll through the forest. During the entire forty minutes or so they spent walking, the group only found 30 sprites, including the first group they''ve met. The only slightly complicated part was when they reached what looked like a dead-end, but the path was hidden behind one of the large mushrooms. Tom reminisced as they arrived at the dead end. Apparently, several parties he was a part of when doing the dungeon were unaware of this hidden path, and only after some time, he discovered its existence. Thanks to that discovery, he could bring a much smaller group to the dungeon and even fight alone in it as long as he left before triggering the boss. After five minutes of walking, the group arrived at an area where blinking stopped. It was a constant soft yellow tint covering the entire group. The light was still bright, but much less overbearing than the neon glow coming from most mushrooms they passed through. Hera asked for a moment, so her head would stop splitting while Thomas took this chance to talk about the boss. "Are you well enough to talk strategy, Hera?" he asked, receiving a nod as a reply, "Very well. The ruler of this land can appear in one of three different forms. First, it would be a gigantic sprite, like the ones we already faced. That beast will have multiple tentacles instead of those tendrils, be careful, for they are not merely glowing lights but scorching to the touch. That is the only attack it possesses, but the many tentacles can pose a difficult battle. The second monster is a powerful light spirit, angry at seeing its brethren stolen by the fungi. It will cast light spells around the area, trying to blind and damage us. Avoid staying in the same place for long, and if you see a floating light, look away as not to be overwhelmed by a bright flash." "Ok, which one is the strongest?" Blue asked. "That would be the light elemental. Its spells are unpredictable and have a minimal delay before activating. If we feel the challenge to be too difficult, we can run away, and it will be unable to come out of its nest. That is applied to all three elementals," Thom continued. "And what is the last one? You only talked about two," Hera asked while rubbing her head. "The last one is somewhat of a tricky situation. It is the spirit of a tree, who once lived here. It can be reasoned with, and as long as we are able to fulfill its request. The wood spirit will be soothed. If not, the beast will attack, and we must fight it. It attacks by creating small plants to assail us. We must destroy all of them, so the main body appears. It will be a large tree that uses its roots and branches to attack us. We shall aim our efforts at its core, located by the base near the roots. Depending on the request, this can be the easiest or hardest boss." "The fight is that difficult?" Alex asked. "Not quite. The request might be something like killing all the sprites or making all the mushrooms turn the same color using magic or something it gives us," Tom concluded. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "In that case, isn''t it better for us to just kill it?" Alex asked. "We can receive some rewards from the request aside from what the dungeon gives. Sadly, I can''t say what they are. The only time I''ve received one such request, the team was unable to fulfill it." Tom kept talking about the times he challenged the dungeon, discussing how each team he came with faced the monsters. Hera tried her best to pay attention, but her headache was still a problem. She would need something to protect her from the light if they were going to rerun the dungeon. Or some aspirin, at least. She knew that right now, the group was only waiting around because of her. None of them was tired. She took another gulp of water got up. "I''m feeling better. Let''s go," she said. "Are you sure?" Runir asked, staring at her. "Yeah. Not 100%, but I don''t think I can get to that point right now. It''s better if we finish this and head back to the city to find something that could help." The group nodded and got up, heading deeper into the path. It didn''t take long for the lights start to blink once more, this time even more rapidly than before. They faced another group of sprites, this time with 12 of them, but Hera wasn''t even able to trigger her affinity sight spell. It required too much concentration, and she was already using most of it to keep on fighting. It took five minutes to kill all the monsters and continue to the last chamber. Hera was already sweating with the pain and feeling restless. Part of her wanted to give up and go back right now. But it would still take another hour and a half to reach the city, not to mention going all the way back through the mushroom forest again. According to Thomas, after the boss was defeated, all the lights would dim and stop blinking. The best thing she could do right now was to finish the dungeon. The boss chamber was very different from the rest. Instead of the large mushrooms, there were several greenstone pillars spread around a circular arena. At a glance, the room was large enough to accommodate several basketball courts inside, with another set of four in the middle of the stone circle. As they entered, a small sprite appeared from behind one of the pillars and moved to the center of the chamber. The light started gathering around it from all directions, as if thousands of tiny sprites were converging together. Looking back, Hera saw that the mushrooms stopped blinking and were now losing some of their glow. The sprite in the middle started to expand. In just a couple of seconds, the monster, which started the size of a cotton ball, had already gone past a watermelon''s size. "Shouldn''t we start hitting it?" Alex yelled over the crackling noise coming from the monster. "Not yet. If we don''t wait for it to finish its growth, another will be created with the rest of the sprites," Tom replied. "Wait, are we fighting all the sprites inside here gathered in one?" Hera asked. "Yes, but not the ones that moved around. We are facing the sprites that took residence inside the mushrooms!" "And that is the easiest boss?!" Blue shouted as the sprite became a meter tall sphere and was still growing. "Don''t be afraid of its size, noble warrior. Its attacks are simple and easy to dodge. Unlike the other rulers, the sprite only has its tentacles to fend off invaders." "Those tentacles?" Alex gasped. The sprite was the size of a hippo already, and the small tendrils had turned into a dozen of larger tentacles, each the size of a palm tree. Unlike the small ones, who only had the tendrils to the sides of its body, the tentacles came from all around. The lights stopped gathering, and the monster shivered, lashing out with all its limbs making that could reach the pillars of stone from the center of the chamber. Hera activated her affinity sight. Even with Tom''s strategy, any information she could get could help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sprite Amalgamation (Eart...Fir...Wate...Win... Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The element kept switching. Whatever that creature was, it could change its affinity. Or maybe it didn''t have a fixed one since it was made of several different sprites. "I can''t see its element. It keeps changing!" Hera warned the group. The tentacles slammed into the ground, making the giant spite float up. Alex used her wind cutter to slash at it from a distance. Hera flung a poison needle at it, hoping the poison would affect the creature. Blue triggered her [Taunt], making the monster go down towards her as two tentacles stabbed towards the controller aiming at her legs. The strength of each attack was massive. The creature was able to dig deep into the ground with each attack, but Blue was faster, taking a step back and hitting the tentacles twice. "Hot, hot, hot, hot," Blue shook her hands after hitting it. "The beast is covered by a scorching heat. Careful with your strikes," Tom said. "How am I supposed to hit it then?" Blue asked. Runir placed two barriers, one of each of her hands, "Try again." Blue punched the tentacles two more times. The heat was still there, but she could manage to touch them without burning her hands. "Yeah, that helps, but I really need to find smaller monsters to fight," Blue kept moving from side to side, avoiding the tentacles that tried to stab and slam her. Hera jumped away from one of the limbs that aimed at her, making it slam against one of the pillars in the area, cracking it with the impact. She moved behind it, throwing another poison needle at the creature. She still wanted to use the grease fire spell, but since Blue was so close to the monster, it still wasn''t a good time to do so. As she hid behind the pillar, two tentacles tried to hit her, slamming the sides of the rock, cracking it even more. Hera took a few steps back to get away from the monster''s range. She tried to push the pillar towards the gigantic sprite, hoping that it would be smashed under it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Even using her [All In] skill, it wasn''t enough to topple the rock column. Changing tactics, Hera threw her chakram, tied up in Yarnball. Activating the poison reinforcement, Hera''s weapon flew under the Giant Sprite before a burst of mana launched it upwards. The blade cut deep into the monster''s underbelly, making it spasm uncontrollably and bounce around the pillars while its glow grew brighter than any of the mushrooms they had seen in the forest. The sudden increase made Hera''s headache grew stronger, making it harder for her to keep her eyes open. The monster¡¯s reaction surprised Hera, who just watched in awe as the giant creature crashed against the pillars. Her attack wasn''t supposed to deal that much damage. The monster slammed against the cracked column that she was hiding behind, but Hera had to close her eyes because of the bright light coming from the sprite. "Hera!" "Watch out!" "Move!" Hera forced her eyes to open, only to be greeted by the falling green stone pillar about to crush her. 160 - The Fall The green rock pillar was about to hit Hera. Her eyes were closed before it broke, and the moment she saw the stone falling towards her, there was a brief moment of shock. That hesitation was enough to take away her chance to dodge the impact. Hera¡¯s arms were moving up in an effort to at least protect her head from the impact, but even that movement wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. She was about to feel the blow when something pushed into the side of her torso. Hera flew to the side, tumbling on the floor with another body on top of her. "Are you ok?" Alex was the one who tackled her, saving Hera from the falling rock. She was now on top of Hera, blocking some of the light coming from the sprite. "I am, how about y..." Before Hera could finish the question, one of the tentacles came crashing down on Alex, slamming the two of them into the ground. "Shit," Hera coughed as she helped Alex tumble to the side and looked up to see Blue pulling the sprite away, lightly burning her hands in the process even with Runir''s barrier. Hera got up and sent a fire arrow at the monster, worried that using poison could trigger another weird reaction. "Hera..." Alex mumbled. "Blue, lead it to the middle. We don''t want another pillar falling," Runir said while maintaining the barrier. Hera grabbed her chakram and tossed it once more, aiming at the side of the monster. Before it was far enough away, one of the tentacles lashed out at her. Hera rose her handaxe blocking the limb. As the blade sank into the glowing appendage, a sliver of red liquid shone with the light. The creature retracted its tentacle in pain while Hera stared at her handaxe, trying to understand how her weapon got smeared with blood if the sprites didn''t bleed. "Hera.." Alex mumbled once more. Hera looked back and saw Alex holding the side of her stomach, a small puddle of red forming under her. "RUNIR!" Hera yelled as she moved towards the assassin, helping her apply pressure to the wound. "What''s wrong?" Runir started moving towards them, maintaining the barriers on Blue''s hands. "Alex is hurt. She''s bleeding." "What happened?" Blue asked. She was worried about her friend, but the monster didn''t allow her to move away. "I don''t know. She was fine after saving me from the pillar. Then the monster hit us, and then..." Hera started mumbling. She could feel her eyes beginning to water. "Hera, forget this folly. We must defeat the beast. Only then can we focus on giving first aid to our brethren." Tom said as he helped Blue control the sprite. "Say it in fucking English, Tom!" Hera snapped at him. "Help Alex. Kill monster. Cry later," Tom replied. Runir finally reached the two and jumped to the side. He asked Hera to carry Alex towards the chamber entrance while he worked to stop the bleeding. Hera obeyed and did her best not to shake Alex too much, knowing that any movement could make the situation worse. Runir grabbed a small bottle from his pouch and drank the powder blue liquid inside it. Tossing the vial back into his pocket and returning to heal Alex. She placed her friend on the ground outside the area, in a place where they weren''t able to see the giant sprite. Runir tossed some water on the wound to clean it and kept using his spells to trigger the regeneration. Hera could see in Alex''s stomach a familiar shape. The same type of cut that her handaxe would make against the monsters. The blade must have sunk into her when the tentacle hit them. That thing made Hera hurt her friend. She gritted her teeth and turned to Runir, "You got this?" He nodded, "Yeah, go help them." Hera got up and rushed back inside. She rubbed her eyes against her armor, scratching the sides of her face with the scales, but it was enough to clear her vision. She pushed the headache aside. All the pain turning into anger. That thing made her hurt Alex. It made her hurt someone dear to her. That monster had to die. Hera rushed back inside and saw the sprite in the middle of the room. Blue and Tom were flanking, trying to attack, but the two were having trouble dealing damage while evading six tentacles each. Taking advantage of the monster''s distractions, Hera ran under it while tossing her chakram up. When she passed through the sprite, she activated her poison reinforcement on both her weapons, slashing upwards with her handaxe while making the chakram jump towards the monster. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The sprite shook violently and dropped down, making Hera''s axe carve deeper into its body. It tried to pull up, but Blue, with her electric buff and the cloud sleeves active, pulled two of the tentacles and held the monster down, giving a chance for Thomas and Hera to wail at the creature. Their attack was relentless, even as the tentacles tried to hit them. The three dodged around, Blue making as few movements as she could, and kept striking the monster in various locations. Tom stabbed around one of the tentacles until he managed to cut it, leaving a large gash in the sprite''s body that leaked a milky liquid that reflected a rainbow of colors. "Hera, aim here!" Tom said as he stepped to the side. Blue was screaming in pain. The heat had finally broken through the barrier. Hera pumped all her mana in a grease fire spell and shoved her hand inside the monster''s open wound. Oddly enough, only the outer layer was scorching. Inside, the creature was hot, but not enough to burn her. The liquid fire spread inside the monster, which started shivering. The liquid that came out of it mirrored the glow that came from its owner. "Blue, let go!" Tom shouted. She hit the sprite with a punch and jumped back. The three moved away from the center of the chamber. They hid behind the pillars while the monster thrashed around wildly. Hera kept a close eye on the base of the column she was near. The fear of one of them crashing on top of her was able to break through her anger. This time the impact wasn''t enough to crack the stones once more. Until finally, the monster stopped its trashing. "Kill it!" Blue yelled, dashing towards the sprite. Hera and Tom followed her in just a moment, getting their weapons ready. Hera was out of mana, but Blue and Tom still had their spell active. They started their attack once more. The grease fire still seemed to burn inside the monster''s body, not just that, but its size was now considerably smaller. Hera avoided attacking the bottom of the monster since it would lead to more thrashing. Blue triggered her electric buff and the cloud sleeves and tried to hold the sprite in its place so Hera and Tom could kill it. The buffs did help with the heat, but without Runir''s barrier, it was clear that she wouldn''t last long. Thomas stood still for a few moments, gathering his energy into the sword. One of his spells was able to increase his damage, and the more mana he put into the spell, the more the damage would increase. The one restriction was that he wasn''t able to move while gathering the energy, and his next movement had to be an attack, or the power would dissipate. Hera kept dashing around, using the wire trap style to hit the areas far away from her. Every time she got close to the base of a tentacle, she aimed a strike at it, trying to carve the appendage away just like Tom. Having to face one less limb made things much more manageable. The battle dragged on, and the sprite grew smaller with each attack it received. Runir and Alex were still nowhere to be seen, making Hera more worried by the second. She had to finish it soon and take Alex back to the city to have the proper care. When one of the tentacles reached out to her, Hera blocked it with her armguards. Unlike Blue, she could barely feel the heat through her armor. The sprite was starting to move faster, and Tom was still gathering energy. If she wanted to finish this soon, his attack was the best option. "Tom, tell me when. I''ll make sure you can hit it," Hera ducked under one of the tentacles, cutting it off as a response to the attack. Tom nodded and waited a few more moments. He had already faced this monster a few times and knew how much mana he had to fuel to the spell to make it deadly. It was an attack he could only do with people he could trust to keep the creature at bay, and after the rampage, he knew these people fit the bill. Hera cut another two tentacles, leaving the monster with only eight, and now the sprite had the circumference of a hula hoop. After the monster lost its fourth limb, Tom shouted, "Hold it down!" Blue grabbed two of the tentacles and pulled down, while Hera gave the monster a bear hug, making sure to keep her hands from touching it. The sprite tried to move but to no avail. It wasn''t strong enough to push back against the two. Tom closed his eye, taking a deep breath, and lunged forward, stabbing his rapier in the middle of the creature. The attack impacted with a bang, creating even a shock wave that almost pushed Hera and Blue off the sprite. The monster now had a large hole in the middle of its body, about the size of a bowling ball, going all the way through the other side. The monster fell to the ground and dissolved, leaving behind a pure white pair of pants. Hera ignored the drop and the notification that appeared in front of her and headed outside the chamber. Runir was still using his healing spells on Alex. Five empty bottles were on the ground beside him. Hera could see that he managed to stop the bleeding, but Alex was still pale and seemed in pain. Some bandages around her waist still had some red in them. At least she was sleeping. "How is she?" Hera kneeled beside Runir. "Stable...ish, she lost a lot of blood, but the cut didn''t go too deep. As far as I can tell, there were some superficial cuts to her small intestines. Kind of like a paper cut, but since the intestinal wall is very thin, it can still be dangerous. That''s why I''m focusing the healing on the inside after I stopped the bleeding." "Can we move her?" "Give me two more minutes. Then someone needs to carry her, but it won''t be good if we keep switching who carries, so whoever picks her up has to bring her back to the guild." "I''ll do it," Blue said as she arrived. "What''s your strength?" Hera asked. "17." "Tom, and you?" Hera saw him approaching after Blue. "Mine is at 29," he replied. "Can you do it? You are stronger than all of us, and your stamina is better." Tom nodded, "Fear not, we shall give our brethren all the aid possible," he kneeled by Alex, "Runir. How should I take her?" "Ideally on a stretcher. But since we don''t have that, we need to keep the wound steady. If you do a princess carry, the wound would be too low. Can you carry her on your back? That way, the blood can keep flowing to the legs, and hopefully, it won''t press on the wound." Thomas nodded and asked for some help from the group. Alex woke up while placing her on Tom''s back just enough to help them adjust her well. Since she wouldn''t be able to hold on, Runir took some bandages and wrapped the two together at the height of Alex''s chest, hoping that it would somehow help to keep her steady. The group moved back to the entrance of the dungeon. Blue rushed back to grab the drop from the boss, and they walked together. Runir was by Alex''s side, continuously applying his healing spells. They had at least two hours before reaching the guild, two hours with Alex in this state. Hera could only hope that her friend could hold on. She had to hold on. 161 - Handbook Leaving the dungeon wasn''t much of an issue. It just took time. Even after all the fighting, Thomas didn''t seem tired. Runir still had a few potions, but now he was trying to pace himself. It was better to be ready for any emergencies. Thanks to his [Sight], he could see if her wounds were getting worse. Alex still seemed stable, but that also meant that she wasn''t improving, and the accelerated regeneration wasn''t taking effect. When they exited the dungeon, a few people just gave them a nod, while others noticed the bandages and asked if they needed some help. A couple of healers checked on Alex, but they couldn''t do more than what Runir already did. Before they headed down, a mage offered to make a stone stretcher to help them carry Alex, while another created some vines to help keep her steady. Hera took one of the sides of the stretcher, and they all moved down the cliff. Alex seemed much better on the stone slab. Her complexion was improving, and her breath became steadier. It took them only half an hour to arrive in the city. The guild was on the 2nd floor, but since they had someone wounded, it was better to use the elevator instead of the staircase. Arriving at the guild, they were rushed to the infirmary. The on-call healer started to examine Alex while her assistant praised Runir for his first aid. Alex would stay unconscious for some time, especially now that a sleep spell was placed on her. Hera wanted to stay there until she woke up, but after some insistence, the rest of the group convinced her that they should do something else. Staying there was pointless, and it would only stress her. They headed out and found a restaurant nearby with private rooms that they could use to rest. Even though none of them was in the mood for a meal, it was the only place they could have a private conversation. After sitting down, they ordered some coffee and water to the server''s dismay. They just stood there, in silence. Hera stared at the glass of water in front of her. "Ahem," Thomas cleared his throat, "If no one is willing to talk. Let me raise a glass for a successful, albeit not flawless, venture," he raised his glass for a toast. Hera just stared at him, "Are you fucking serious right now?" Blue grabbed her arm, "Hera, calm down," she turned back to Tom, "That wasn''t cool, man. This wasn''t a success." "And why, pray tell, it wasn''t a success?" "Alex almost died!" Hera shouted, getting up from the table. Even the noise from the rest of the restaurant stopped with her yelling. "You are correct, but she wasn''t the only one. We all had close calls during that fight. Blue could have become a baked good if the tentacles wrapped around her. The sprite could have sent me to the sky, or ceiling in this case, while it thrashed. And you could have become a paste under the stone pillar. We all had close calls. Such is the nature of our job." "That''s not the same. None of us got seriously hurt," Hera replied. "Only by skill and luck. The same is applied to Alex," Tom stared at Hera, not changing his calm expression. "So she just got hurt because she is unlucky?" "Not at all. She got hurt because she is skilled enough to save you from the pillar, but not quite capable enough to notice the incoming attack while she was worried about you. This is not a complaint about her abilities. Many would find it difficult to save you without getting hurt, and even fewer would be willing to rise to the occasion," Tom took a sip of his coffee. "So in the end, Alex got hurt because of me," Hera said. "No, Hera. I''m the one who messed up. I should have kept the monster on me." Blue took Hera''s hand. "None of this would if I realized that I needed a battle heal sooner. When I got to her, it was already too late to use it," Runir tightened the grip on his cup. "Or your barriers could''ve made a difference. Or Blue could be the one who hid behind the pillar. Or we could have killed it sooner. The list of actions that could have been different is longer than any of us can imagine. The fact of the matter is, we survived and completed the dungeon quest. Yes, Alex was wounded during the combat, but I take a day among the healers over a trip to the morgue every single time," Tom said with a stern tone. "You are all saying things we could''ve done differently. I''m the one who wasn''t feeling well, and because of that, Alex got hurt," Hera dropped down in the chair. "We were all aware of that. Still, it was a group decision to press on. Nothing was barring us from returning at any point. Besides, I''m at fault here as well. During the rush of battle, I overlooked the fact that we could flee from the boss, and probably should have done so," Tom looked down for the first time. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "I would still need to apply the first aid. And Hera would have to deal with the lights once more. If her headache turned to a migraine, there would be no one to help her," Runir said. "I could take it. Alex was the most important thing in there," Hera protested. "STOP!" Blue''s shout made the group stare at her, surprised by the outburst, "We can stay the rest of the year talking about what we should have done. Or things we forgot. That won''t help. How about we stop wallowing in our pain and talk about what we can do so these things never happen again?" They all nodded and discussed strategy. For starters, when someone got hurt, Runir would be in charge of saying if they should retreat. The decision was entirely up to him, and no one would protest. It didn''t matter the situation. If the monster changed its target from Blue to someone else, that person should run towards the controller. That way, it would be easier for her to taunt it once more. They all would update their first aid kits to have aspirins, something for allergies, and any mundane medicine that affected something inside their bodies. Runir was only in charge of wounds that could happen during whatever they were doing, not of every stomach ache they had. Lastly, during any fight, be it big or small, Thomas would stop with the knight''s speech. They couldn''t afford to take the time to understand what he was saying in the heat of a battle. Blue, the one taking notes and creating a handbook for the team, looked up from her tablet, "Are we all good with this? We can add or remove things at any time. Nothing here is set in stone." "I think this is a good plan. Far from perfect, but it''s a good start," Hera said, looking over Blue''s shoulder. "Yeah. I''m not sure if I''m the best one to say if we should run or not, but I''m willing to give it a go," Runir nodded. "I must say. You have the makings of a Hero. You might become the fifth Hero one day. Although to be forthright, I do hope there is never a need for another one," Tom complimented Blue''s work. "Why fifth? We only have three right now," Blue stared at Tom. "I shall be the fourth. You can have your go next," Thomas replied with a smirk. "Bring it on, knight boy," Blue smiled, laying back on her chair, only to move around and take off a pair of pants that was tied into her pack, "Oh, I totally forgot about this. We got it from the boss." The group moved inspected the white pair of pants. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sprite''s trousers (Uncommon) Defense rating D Leather pants that spent centuries inside the underground forest, battered by elemental energy. When someone lost these trousers, the fungi grew over them, allowing the leather to absorb some of its proprieties. It can receive elemental energy and change its outside appearance according to the element that coursed through it. This effect can only happen once. Scaling: Endurance x 0.15 Intelligence x 0.2 [Scorching Touch] By triggering this effect, the pants become scorching hot to the touch. The wearer is not affected by this effect, nor does it feel an increase in the Sprite''s Trousers temperature when the skill is active. Mana cost: 5 per second ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok¡­ so who does it fit?" Blue asked. "Is this the first time you ever got an equipment dropped from a dungeon?" Thomas turned to her. "Yeah." "It can fit anyone. However, only the first person who tries to wear it. After that, the size will remain the same," Tom explained. "Really? That seems a bit too convenient," Hera said. "Indeed, it is. I am unable to tell you the reason why this happens. I imagine that the first time someone wears the clothing, the system applies a spell for it to fit. Alas, it is not a perfect fit by any means. A tailor-made armor is still much more comfortable. The system does something akin to picking a size in a store." "Why? Isn''t the system all-powerful? Why not make a perfect fit since it''s already using magic?" Hera asked. "Maybe it''s because of us," the group turned to Runir, "The system created the roles after watching us, right? Maybe it''s the same with equipment. It sees that we don''t have tailor-made clothing all the time, and it created its own version of sizes. When someone puts mana into it, the system already has your size, so it just mirrors it." They all started discussing theories on why the system acted the way it does. With the improved mood, they ordered some food. It was only a light meal since they weren''t celebrating, but the trip and the stress made them use a lot of energy. Hera noticed that the dungeon quest''s notification was still showing on her tablet, but it felt wrong to get the rewards without Alex and they all agreed to wait. She also found it weird that there was no information about the compendium for the dungeon, but according to Tom, they would only get that after defeating all three bosses. The group left the restaurant, leaving a generous tip to the servers. They headed to the guild once more, wanting to check up on Alex. She was still sleeping, but the healers reassured them that she was fine and should be up in a few hours. However, she would need a couple of days before any intense workout. They thanked the healers and waited by the guild. While waiting, Runir and Blue looked for new spells. Runir wanted more heals and a way to make stretchers, splints, and other helpful first aid tools. Blue looked for spells that could force a monster to focus on her, and that would allow her to move around faster or even to change positions with someone. The latter was too expensive, both in gold for the code and mana cost. Hera and Tom went to an ATR. There was a double room available, and they didn''t want to stand around doing nothing. Tom went to practice his swordsmanship while Hera focused on her mana regeneration. She wanted to get her Mage skill soon, and the skill was already at 14% mastery. After the talk with Helena, she was improving at a steady pace. After a few hours of practice, Hera managed to increase the mastery to 15%. If she managed to keep that pace, she could trigger her quest in a couple of weeks. They left the ATR and found Blue and Runir talking in the guild''s lounge. Sometime later, a clerk came to let them know that Alex had woken up. 162 - Missing one "How are you feeling?" Hera asked. "I feel greeeaat," Alex had a goofy smile on her face. "Damn, they gave you some good stuff," Blue chuckled. "Only the besh for explores," Alex replied. "Wow, that is really strong. I wonder if that''s a spell. Imagine if I can use it in a monster," Runir said. "You can check with the healers later. The important part is that she''s fine," Hera turned towards Alex, "I''m really sorry for all this." Alex stared at Hera, frowning and shaking her head. Moving her hand sloppily, she tried to slap Hera. "No! You did nothi.. nothin.. nothing wong. I was justloooowww," Alex started giggling. Hera chuckled, "Sure. Just rest for now, ok?¡± Alex wasn¡¯t in the state to discuss what happened. Alex nodded and shuffled in the bed, falling asleep once more. "Why did they call us if she was this woozy?" Blue asked. "Possibly to ease our worries. I''m sure the staff noticed our distress. We are in luck that there no one else needed immediate assistance," Tom replied. They had to agree that it was a possibility. All of them kept asking about Alex every time they saw one of the clerks. It reached a point where a couple of the workers replied before they even asked. The group left the guild to walk around the town. Alex still needed a few hours before being able to move, and if they stayed in the guild, it was likely that they would have been kicked out. They had no idea what to do. Hunting was out of the question, and going to a store seemed wrong, even after knowing that Alex was fine. They''ve ended up walking aimlessly for some time before heading to Runir''s and Tom''s room in the hotel. Hera and Blue could go back to Hazelpond, but they didn''t want to leave Alex alone here, even if the rest of the group was around. In the end, they spent a few hours talking about the MAZE, their lives, and how much had changed since they became explorers. When Alex was finally better, they took her back to their house. Before leaving the room, Alex insisted that they all checked the rewards they got from the quest. Picking her tablet, Hera looked at the pending notification. It was amazing how the guild had created something that was able to store the system''s notifications, even if their version didn¡¯t pop in front of them like the system actually did. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest inside the Underground Forest. By destroying the errant elemental sprites, you have restored the balance inside the forest. Rewards: 7 000 gold, Elemental Accessory Select ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They could choose between all the elements that were present inside the forest: fire, water, wind, earth, grass, light, lightning, psychic, ground, and ice. After some deliberation, Blue decided to get the earth accessory, Alex wind, Runir grass, and Hera psychic. She hoped to be able to inflict the same kind of headache she had on her enemies. Tom didn''t get the Accessory, but he did get 4 000 gold for the first time he completed the dungeon this week. Unlike what everyone expected, the accessories weren''t earrings or necklaces. But small decorations that they could easily attach to weapons. For Hera, it was like a cellphone strap. Purple string wrapping around a silver oval ring. The string''s color matched Hera''s handaxe, and that left little doubt on where she should place it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Psychic Weapon Accessory This accessory increases your damage by adding Psychic damage to your attacks. When the Psychic damage reaches the target''s threshold, an ailment might be applied. Psychic damage: +5% of total damage. Ailment probability: 2% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was surprised with the stats. She expected that it would be a split, just like when she upgraded her Chakram, but in the end, it was a direct increase with no penalty. The idea of giving an ailment was also interesting, although the vagueness of it made her worry. Since it didn''t say that it was a headache, maybe it could trigger something else. If a monster became confused or frenzied, it could become something problematic. Still, it was a 2% chance after crossing the threshold, whatever that meant. In comparison, Hera''s accessory had a low damage increase, but she wasn''t alone in that. The wind and grass version had the same high value, going to a 10% increase in damage, but no special effects. Blue''s earth accessory had a 5% increase in damage and a 10% increase in the weapon¡¯s weight, which could be a problem at some point, but Blue seemed really excited with the idea. After confirming all the rewards, they also decided that Blue should get the pants. Alex didn''t want to use an item that could increase her temperature. Part of her assassin training was about using the environment to blend in and having the same temperature as her surroundings was a part of it. Runir was worried about the color. Just like Alex, he didn''t want something that would make him a target. If the pants stayed white, it would be easy to see him during a fight. Tom refused since his armor had a scaling that fit his attributes more, and Hera''s armor was a one piece. If she were going to change, she would need to change everything. By elimination, Blue was the one who could use the pants. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The last option would be to sell it, but according to Tom, it was rare to get some items from bosses, especially the ones with extra abilities. They agreed that Blue was the one who should have it since it would increase the party¡¯s strength. After putting some of her lightning mana in the trouser, it changed to a vibrant blue color, just a few shades darker than its new owner''s hair. The group spent most of its day waiting for Alex, and now they agreed that it was time to rest. They were all mentally exhausted. While Alex was still recovering, they decided to hunt around Hazelpond. The Carpon Caverns was more profitable, but staying in a well-ventilated place was much more comfortable. During the next days, Hera kept focusing on her mana regeneration, as well as testing what ailment her accessory could trigger. The problem was figuring out if they became afflicted. Just like her poison, she had no way of telling if a creature was affected or not. She kept using [Observe], again and again, trying to see if there were any changes. It was late afternoon on the second day when she was facing another monster on her own to test her accessory. The crocodile she was observing stopped moving and started shaking its head. It seemed to be having trouble focusing on anything. Hera activated her [Observe] once more, thankful that it didn''t require any mana, only her concentration. Yet, a surprise came along. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Petite Crocodile - level 3 - Dazed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She smiled and tried to poison the monster, but after a couple of tries there was no change and she had to finish the fight. After killing the monster, Hera opened her status to check if anything had changed. Her level was the same. Her mana improved slightly during the past days, but what made her see the creature''s condition was the [Observe] skill as she expected. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Observe (Rank 3) Allows the user to see the information of the target. The rank of the skill limits the information available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just like when her skill increased during class, it didn''t have any changes in the description. Yet, the difference was clear as day. Now she could see the level of the creatures, but also their conditions. "Hey Tom, why did you never told us the levels of the monsters?" Hera asked. "For I do not know that information, brave warrior." "What? You just have to observe. Rank 3 already tells it. Actually, it also tells the conditions. Why were you guessing what was going on?" Hera asked, confused. "Forgive me, for my observe had yet to reach said rank. I do not find fruitful to use it repeatedly on creatures that I already know," Tom explained. "What? Why? It''s good to make sure you are not fighting something weird or to know what they can do." "Not all of us are able to gather more information with that skill. Especially that ability to identify what manner of magic they are able to use. To some of us, using the observe skill repeatedly is just a misuse of energy," Tom shrugged. "Yeah, man, sorry, but you are wrong. It''s very useful to know what you are facing. Like in the frog valley, sometimes two monsters were exactly the same, but one of them was a lesser version. If it weren''t for the observe skill, we would have no idea that one of them could do more than the other," Runir joined the conversation. "C''mon, we don''t need to know the name of every single monster. If you see a cockroach in your house, are you going to stop to see what species it is? As long as we kill it, everything is fine," Blue scoffed. "A cockroach won''t kill me. At least I hope not. And that''s beside the point. We have to be safe here, and the more information we have, the better," Hera said. "Exactly, alas, it is pointless to attempt to gather new information where there is none. Why should we waste our time using a skill that will give no result? As I recall, that is the exact definition of madness," Tom said. Hera stared at Tom for a moment and turned to Blue, "Is he calling me mad?" she turned back to Tom, "Are you calling me mad?" "Not at all. I''m just illustrating why I would be the mad one for doing that," Tom replied. "Fine, but I''m telling you that it can be better. You should focus on it," Hera said, giving up on the conversation. "Eventually, I will also have the skill in its next rank. Yet, I shall not force it to evolve. A true knight is always ready for unpredictable situations and relies not on intel about its quarry." "I''m with Tom. When it happens, it happens. I have other things to focus on," Blue nodded in agreement. "But it''s just looking. It barely takes a second," Hera pleaded. "Meh, I can never remember. It''s better to focus on the monster, not the name," Blue replied, while Tomas nodded. The two walked away and went back to hunting the crocodiles, leaving Hera still shellshocked. "Is being that stubborn a requirement for being a Hero?" she asked. "Maybe. If it is, those two are already halfway there," Runir sighed. Feeling defeated, Hera went back to her crocodile Hunt. Aside from Runir, everyone was facing the monsters on their own. Compared to the sprites and the moles, these creatures were much more predictable. Having to focus on three different combats also helped Runir''s ability to analyze the battlefield. Hera was using her [Observe] on every monster. Sadly, the rank up did not affect the affinity sight, but it still helped her figure out what her accessory could do. It was also interesting to notice that even among the same species in the same area, the creatures could have different levels. After getting the rank 3 [Observe] only five of the crocodiles were afflicted by an effect triggered by her accessory, and among those five, only three different afflictions appeared. First, a dazed state, where the creature wouldn''t be able to focus on anything. Second, a confused state where the monster could try to attack the air or even hurt itself by slamming against the environment. Lastly, it was a hallucinating state, where the target would start attacking targets that didn''t exist. Hera left one of the crocodiles in that state for quite some time, hoping that the idea of the mind controlling the body could even make some wounds start to appear on the creature. But the effect ended before anything happened. Hera wasn''t sure if those were the only effects that would trigger, but it was still good to know. The problem was just the frequency. She had to fight over twenty crocodiles to make the aliment activate. And only after she started making weak attacks that only grazed the creatures that it seemed to work. They spent three days hunting around Hazelpond and focusing on their training. During that time, Alex also added another clause to their group handbook. No one would ever blame anyone in the group for someone getting hurt. They could only discuss what happened and see how to fix any problems, but never point fingers at each other. After the third day, they agreed to go back to the Underground Forest. Alex wanted to pay back what the sprite had done to her, and she still had to complete her role quest. In the morning, when the three women were about to leave, Hera received a text on her tablet. As she read the contents, her expression turned grim. "Hera? What''s wrong?" Alex turned towards her. "Bonnie just texted me. Mark is missing," Hera replied, showing the text to the others. 163 - Where is he? "Bonnie, what happened?" Hera just connected a call to Bonnie. Blue and Alex were by her side, all three of them showing up on the camera. "I don''t know. Since Mark and I are working in Brinefront, we talk a lot and even go out for drinks now and then. A few days ago, he said he was going to gather materials for a big order his workshop got. It was supposed to be just a four-day job, but it''s been over a week. He left just after the rampage. The people who work with him lost contact with his group and set up a search quest, but no one is taking it. The reward is too small, and after the rampage, everyone is worried about Wendigos," Bonnie spoke in a hurry. "Do you know where he went? Or if he was alone?" Hera asked, trying to remain calm, not to freak out Bonnie even more. "He went with another two crafters. They headed west, towards a place where they can find some turtles," Bonnie explained. Hera stopped for a moment. Berthellemy, Brinefront''s guide, had told her that there was a powerful monster to the west that could help her level up. She assumed he was talking about the wendigo that came after her, but what if it wasn''t? What if there was another monster even stronger than the wendigo she faced? "How far to the west?" Hera asked. If she was going to bring that up, she had to find a way to hide her source. She couldn''t say that Berthellemy had told her about the monster. "The people in the workshop said that it was close to the end of the room, in the snapping turtle territory. Why?" That was the place where the monster was supposed to be. Hera had to warn them somehow, "It may be nothing. But I heard a rumor a while back that a powerful monster was lurking near the end of the room to the west." "How long ago? Can you trust that information?" Bonnie''s voice cracked as she spoke. Hera didn''t want to lie to her friends, but she didn''t have a choice. The guide skill would stop her from saying anything about it or about how she found those things out, "A month? Maybe more, it was before Mark came here. The source is reliable, I think. I got in a Discourse group for explorers, and someone talked about that. They also talked about other things that turned out to be true, like the chameleons on the east and a path I could take on the way back from the pangolins. I can''t show the chat since I left the server a while back. It was too distracting." They stopped talking for a moment, all taking in that information. It was just a rumor, but still, it could be true. "So we are going, right?" Blue asked. "Yeah," Hera and Alex replied at the same time. "Bonnie, hold on. Gather more information about where they are, get the quest if that helps, and wait for us. We''ll be there in¡­" Blue picked her tablet to search for when they could take a boat back to Brinefront. "Three hours and a half. There is a ship leaving in 20," Alex had just checked the ship''s schedule on her tablet. "Blue, send a message to Runir and Tom, let them know we won''t be joining them for a while. I''m going to check with Helena if she has any camping gear that we can borrow," Hera said before getting up, with Bonnie still on her tablet¡¯s screen. "I can buy those things here," Bonnie said, "That way, I have something to do instead of just staying around waiting." Hera nodded, "Ok, I''ll text you a list of what we need as soon as I can. Try to get some information about the area we are going to. If they have any towers or campsites, the monsters around it, and if the environment can do something to help or hinder us. Anything can help," Hera said, already knocking on the basement door. "Oh, and tell us if you got any new spells or skills for fighting. Also, how''s your armor? If you''re still wearing the same ones, go to a blacksmith. I''ll pay if you don''t have the money as long as you pay me back later," Alex appeared behind Hera and started speaking. Bonnie just stared at them while Hera called out to Helena, "Since when did you guys turn into the special forces? I mean, holy crap, there is less planning in spy movies." "I''m coming," Helena yelled from the basement. "I mean, we were part of a rampage. Alex almost died, and we started working with a guy that acts like a knight and thinks that information is overrated. Call this an overcorrection," Hera said. "Guys. Runir and Tom said they are coming with. Tom said, and I''m quoting here, ''The noblest of quests is the rescue of a missing ally. You shall have my outmost support during such endeavor.''" "I mean, you really didn''t have to say you were quoting him on that one. No one else talks like that," Alex rolled her eyes. "Wait, someone actually talks like that?" Bonnie asked. "You are in for a treat," Hera replied. Stolen novel; please report. Helena got out of her lab and asked what was going on. Hera told her everything, and the mage picked a few scales from the pangolins, including one that had healing mana for Runir and one with cold mana for Bonnie. Hera thanked her, and the group headed towards the docks. There, they met the rest of their team before boarding the boat heading towards Brinefront. With some help from Helena and Tom, Hera made a list of supplies they would need for the journey, adding some extra medicine since they had no idea what state they would find Mark. "Guys, I can see you are worried, but let me just say this. You should be prepared for the worst," Runir was sitting on a bench on the boat with the rest of the group, while Blue kept pacing in front of them. "Are you saying Mark is dead?" Alex stared at him. "I hope not. I really do, but it is a possibility, and if the monster thing is true, we might find something bad. Team C level bad," Runir replied. Seeing the 12 bodies covered by white sheets wasn''t something that any of them wanted to remember. Yet, they all knew that Runir was right. They could be happy and carefree at times, but life in the MAZE was dangerous, and it didn''t take a Wendigo to kill someone. Hera glanced at Alex, thinking about how she got hurt during the last dungeon. Sure, it was in the 2nd layer, and this was the 1st, but the difference wasn¡¯t that big. On the boat, they only had any reception on their tablets at certain intervals. During those, Bonnie sent them all the information she gathered about the place where they were going. It was the giant snapping turtles'' habitat, but according to her, their sizes would vary from 60 centimeters to 2 meters long. After reading that, the entire team let out a relieved sigh. None of them was confident enough to face another of the three-meter-tall snapping turtle without some serious backup. The area was also filled with large ponds where the monsters lived. Behind them, there were several small caves where some of the larger turtles would stay. Aside from the turtles, the group would cross frog, toad, and newt territories. According to the intel, these monsters would have similar abilities and appearances as those on the rampage. It would take a day and a half to reach the area, and there was an open area perfect for camping on the way. Hera was amazed by the detailed information that Bonnie gathered in the couple of hours since they talked. She didn¡¯t send just a paragraph of text but a file with detailed maps, even specifying the area''s elevation, pages with the habits and skills of each species of monster, as well as some variations. If this was a school paper, no teacher would give her less than an A. Bonnie also told Alex that the only armor she found that fitted her and it was better than the one she was wearing was 5 000 gold, and she wouldn''t get something so expensive. Alex instantly sent her the money, plus another 1 000 for her to buy the camping supplies. Hera and Blue insisted on splitting the cost of both the armor and the supplies. They could get money more easily now, but it was still a lot of money to spend by herself on something that they all were doing. The three didn''t mention that to Runir or Tom. They were already being kind enough to help. The least they could do was to take care of the bill. Three and a half hours later, they got off in Brinefront. Bonnie was waiting for them by the docks, wearing her new leather armor, made with crocodile skin, and carrying all the supplies they would need for camping. After a quick introduction, the now complete party headed to the west gate. Everything could be fine with Mark, and he just got lost, or the gathering took longer than expected. However, in the worst-case scenario, this could be a race against the clock making every second count. Ten minutes after they had left the city, Bonnie asked, "Shouldn''t we be running?" Hera shook her head, "That''s a bad idea. If we run, we will have more breaks and will take longer to reach Mark. We need to keep a steady pace. Besides, I think you would be the first one to get tired and ask us to stop." Bonnie frowned, "And why is that? Are you all investing in endurance or something?" "Not really, but our improved stamina increased two ranks or one in Blue''s case," Alex explained. "What? Really? All of you?" Bonnie looked around. "Yes, noble scholar. They all have achieved a higher rank of endurance," Tom said. "How about you?" Bonnie asked. "He''s our cheat. A level 8 fighter who has over a year of experience in here, his improved stamina is at rank 5 already," Blue added. "Really? And how did you meet him?" "It was all thanks to Runir. They''ve met in middle school, right?" Alex turned to Runir. "Yep. He was one year ahead of me, but we got close because of some dude that kept trying to beat me up. I never had any trouble to deal with him on my own, but when he brought his friends, Tom joined in to make this fair," Runir gave Tom a fist bump. "That I didn''t know. How the hell did you end up as a healer?" Blue asked. "Blue!" Bonnie stared daggers at her. "What?" "Relax, I knew how to fight because of my mom. She insisted that I took some self-defense classes growing up. Not gonna lie. They came in handy. But in reality, I always wanted to help people. My mom is a doctor/shaman. She travels to various tribes around America to practice both medicine and spiritual healing," Runir noticed Tom''s stare, "Yeah, yeah. I know you don''t believe in that stuff. I''m not sure if I believe that myself, but it helps people. Most of the time..." There was a slight pause before Alex asked, "So you want to follow your mom''s footsteps?" "More or less. Sometimes I helped her out, and I gotta say. That was good for the soul." "Ok. And you Tom why are you still here? Shouldn''t you be deeper in the MAZE? Don''t get me wrong, I''m happy you are here, but I want to know who I''m working with," Bonnie turned to Thomas. Tom let out a loud laugh, "You have not lied to me. This one is a scholar to the core," he cleaned his throat, "As my dear squire said. We became quite close during our young years. We both had decided to take the noble duty of an explorer during highschool. Since I became one a year sooner than Runir, I decided to wait for him before venturing deep into this labyrinth. My initial objective was to stay here, in Brinefront. Alas, the challenge became too little for my abilities, and I craved for more. After a talk with him, we agreed that I should wait for him in the next room. Since he also desired to take his first steps on his own." "That''s only part of the reason. I was making sure he didn''t waste too much time for nothing here. I mean, we had no idea if I could be an explorer. Not to mention that he was doing some dumb shit and calling it training," Runir added. "My friend, you hurt me. My training was far from idiotic, and it yielded incredible results." "I''ll give you the idea of using your left hand to hold the sword. But fighting blindfolded was just stupid." "Sharpening one''s senses is never a foolish endeavor," Tom replied. "Dude! You were doing that on your own! How many times you texted me that you ended up in the infirmary?" "That is not ..." "Guys, sorry to interrupt, but we have company," Hera cut them off when a group of five frogs jumped out of the forest and rushed at them. 164 - Camping is Easy The first day of travel went without much issue. A few packs of stray monsters appeared on the road, and that was it. The group spent most of the time talking, both so the new members would know each other and to take their minds away from Mark. The only minor problem was Bonnie''s stamina. The rest of the group could walk and talk for hours, but Bonnie was different. She wasn''t used to an extraneous workout, even if she still kept going to the guild''s gym. That was the difference in skill ranks. They stopped a few times during the journey to the campsite. Even with the group resting and never judging Bonnie, she felt restless. She was why they were taking the breaks, which pushed her to work even harder to keep up. Bonnie kept saying that they could walk past a campsite that was on the way and spend the night in a secondary area with all the same benefits. However, when they arrived at the camp, she was too tired to keep going. "Bonnie, It''s ok," Hera tried to comfort her. "No, it''s not," Bonnie was still having trouble catching her breath, "How can I help Mark like this?" "You are already helping. You brought us here, didn''t you? Besides, what''s the point of getting there just to be too tired to help?" Hera passed a bottle of water to her. "But I''m not doing anything to help," Bonnie replied after drinking half the bottle. "For fuck''s sake. Aren''t you a researcher? Why the hell are you complaining about not being fit enough for the field?" Blue asked. "Because I want to help my friend!" Bonnie snarled. "Calling us, giving us all the information you could, and coming here isn''t helping?" Blue barked back. "I¡­ Just¡­" Bonnie shoved her face in her arms. "Hold up. Are you and Mark a thing? Is that why you are that freaked out?" Alex asked. "What?" Blue and Hera gasped at the same time. "NO! It''s not like that. I mean, I don''t think it is¡­" Bonnie scratched her head, "Why are you all so chill about that. He''s our friend, and he could be in trouble!" "Yeah, but like so could Leo," Blue replied, "Not to mention everyone else we know here. I mean, you weren''t here for the rampage. Many people died on our end, but it''s not like worrying could do anything about that. We have to just live our best lives and hope everything works out." Bonnie froze for a moment, "Ok, since when did the muscle head became all wise and profound? Did she hit her head during the rampage or something?" "No, no. That''s new," Hera stared at Blue in shock, "I mean. It makes a lot of sense, and we kind of been doing that for a while. Even my shrink told me something similar. But since when did you realize all that?" Blue scoffed while crossing her arms, "You all take me for just a pretty face but fail to realize the true depth of a hero." "That line would have been much more impressive If it wasn''t for the water bottle you are spilling," Alex pointed at Blue''s left hand that was holding an open bottle of water. "Crap!" Blue quickly closed the cap, only saving about a third of the water. Tom and Runir were setting up the tents while they watched the girls talk. "That came from you, right?" Runir asked. "You are a true friend. Able to identify my words even after being changed in such a way." The two laughed and finished setting up the tent they would use. It didn''t take long for Hera and Bonnie to set up the other tent while Alex took care of the perimeter, using the same type of stake that Hera used when she traveled to the edge of the room. The campsite, on the other hand, was a completely different world. Near the pangolins, Hera was lucky to find clearings where she would be able to lie down and set up a fire comfortably. Now the area was easily 200 meters wide. The violet grass was smooth and soft, and the surrounding trees looked like saplings compared to the large purple oaks in the denser parts of the forest. Even the moonlight that covered the ceiling of the cave could reach them here, all the way near the back of the cave. They prepared a bonfire and hunted a giant newt nearby to have dinner. Bonnie had brought some rations that could last about three days, but they all agreed that it was better to hunt if they had the chance. Leaving the rations for emergencies was standard practice among veterans, not to mention that Mark and his group could need the food. As they grilled the meat in the fire, Runir asked, "Bonnie. Do you mind explaining again where your friend is supposed to be?" "Sure. According to the people who work with him in the workshop, he and two other crafters, Ryan and Bill, went to the west wall of the room. They are looking for snapping turtle eggshells for an order they received. They were supposed to just catch the leftover shells from recently born turtles, so they didn''t risk being targeted by the mothers. The nests are deep into their territory. The biggest ones would be in small caves by the back wall. They should all be on the floor level, but I read some reports saying that there are some caves above. Not sure why." Bonnie explained while the meat cooked. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Right, and where do you think Mark would be?" Alex asked, opening her map on the tablet. "Probably around here," Bonnie pointed to the end of the map, on a wall to the left side of the cave, "This area is well known for having a lot of nests. If you are going to look for eggshells, this is the spot. But if they are smart, they will try to reach the caves in the wall. It¡¯s a more defensible position." "Right, and what should we do with the turtles? Can we make noise, or will that be a problem?" Hera asked. "We need to be careful with the mothers if we are near the babies. Aside from that, noise shouldn''t make them angry. But they eat meat. If they are hungry, we might look like a nice snack." "Well, even if they are big, we shouldn''t look just like snacks. Like there are some frogs bigger than those things, and they still don''t see us as free food," Blue said. "More or less, the turtles are more aggressive. Even frogs and newts stay away from their territory. They might be wary of us, but unlike the frogs, they should attack even if they are not starving," Bonnie explained. She proceeded to give a small lecture about the turtles'' behaviors and how they could fight them. They had problems to turn around and would always open their mouth wide before biting. Another point was that the turtle''s shell wasn''t large enough to hide entirely inside it. Unlike what they all assume, the shell wasn''t a defense mechanism but a way to control their body temperature since they are cold-blooded creatures. Because of that fire and cold spells could have a good effect even when hitting the shell. "I think I''m not forgetting anything, so that''s it. I''m Bonnie and thank you for coming to my MED talk." Hera chuckled while Blue groaned and started discussing strategy. Aside from Bonnie, they all had fought with much larger turtles than the ones they were going to face. That created some problems since they weren''t entirely aware of the monsters¡¯ speed. Still, they were able to develop some strategies. Bonnie and Runir would stay behind the group, along with Hera, who would be protecting them and focusing on magic. The rest would remain in the vanguard, with Blue being the one to spearhead the fights. Bonnie had a couple of new spells. Now her range of elemental fists had increased. She could make them as ice, water, earth, mud, fire, and the air fist that Hera already saw. Unfortunately, her cold bomb wasn''t the same. According to Bonnie, the only new option was a water bomb, which would be an excellent firefighting tool, but not much else. They finished their meal and decided to sleep. Even though the sun had set only a few hours ago, the sooner they rested, the sooner they could leave. "I know we have the stake perimeter, but I''m staying as a lookout for a while. Who''s after me?" Hera asked. "Why? The stakes and the repellent fire should be enough, right?" Alex asked. "The last time I camped outside like this, I woke up with a Wendigo coming after me," Hera''s reply gave little room for discussion. "I''ll take the second shift," Runir said. "I''m the last one then," Alex joined. "I can be with someone. We should have two per turn, right?" Bonnie said. Blue stared at her, "You need to rest. We could have covered more ground if it wasn''t for you," Hera slapped Blue''s shoulder, "What? I''m not trying to be mean here, but it''s not like we can afford to take our time tomorrow. She really should rest." "That was a really bad way to put it, but she''s not wrong," Alex said. Bonnie huffed and went to bed, grumbling. They gave her a couple of minutes alone before Alex and Blue joined in. They had 2 tents, one was a large size enough for 4 people and had a deep purple color made to blend with trees in the room. The smaller one had the same color, but it came with an air mattress embedded on the floor. Hera stood alone outside by the fire, looking away from the flames to keep her eyes used to the dark. Sure, they had quite a distance before any monster got close, but the green bonfire was a beacon in the middle of the night. Hera took advantage of the time to practice her mana regeneration. She felt like the idea of keeping the mana in constant motion was getting better. Hera was using her own movements to make the energy inside of her to shift. The problem was that she had to be moving to do that. Standing still wasn''t the best way to practice that. Or maybe it was. The human body is never completely still. Even If the limbs are not moving, her heart will always beat, and her lungs are still taking in the air. She focused on her breathing since feeling her heartbeat wasn''t exactly easy. With each breath, as her chest raised, Hera pushed the mana inside her body away, to her extremities. As the air left her lungs, the mana came back, almost like it was a pool of water being disturbed by something. It wasn''t easy to focus on that and on looking around at the same time, but it was also part of the training. Ultimately, Hera wanted to have her active recovery always engaged. That wasn''t the only issue with her lookout. Even though she was focused on the skill, it also made her sleepy. It was close to meditating, and Hera was never good with that. Several times, she gave up on standing still and walked around the fire, looking at the edges of the surrounding forest. At one point, she saw a crested newt leaving the treeline and slowly approaching. It''s eye glued on her. Hera took a few steps towards it, gathering her mana in her fingers, and flung a poison needle that depleted over half her energy. The monster didn''t notice the small orange projectile in the air or the moment when it hit it. Hera stared down the creature and activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Crested Newt ¨C Level 2 ¨C Poisoned ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera just watched the monster move around the edges of the campsite before collapsing to the ground. A few moments later her [Observe] confirmed that the monster had died. The rest of her shift was peaceful. No monster appeared, letting her focus on her training. Seeing the three hours of her lookout end, she called Runir to take over and went to bed. It wasn''t hard to fall asleep. They spent the entire day walking, and even with the increased stamina, she was still drained. Hera felt like she barely rested her head on the mattress when the sunlight woke her. She was alone in the tent, and the smell of frog meat was making her stomach grumble. Hera got up and headed to the campfire. "Hey, come eat. After that, we can head out," Bonnie offered a plate with some freshly cooked meat. 165 - Turtle Arriving at the turtles'' territory, the group started looking for clues. It took them about four hours to get there, but they still had some time before getting close to the nests. But there could be tracks or signs of the missing crafters. Hera, Bonnie, and Alex took charge to look for anything that could help them find their target. With the various ponds spread around the area, it made finding any tracks harder. Surprisingly, the turtles that were walking around paid no mind to the group. It was peaceful in a way. Walking by those giant creatures as if they all lived together. During their search, two of the turtles started fighting. That allowed the group to watch and learn more about the monster''s abilities. Unlike the massive ones that they faced during the rampage, these creatures moved faster, or at least that is what it seemed. After analyzing the match for some time, they understood that these were, in fact, slower. However, the attacks were less telegraphed. The ones they faced during the rampage had long wound up movements before an attack, while the turtles they watched could snap back and forth at a speed that would make it hard to evade. Hera activated her [Observe] to gather more information from the turtles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Snapping Turtle ¨C Level 3 (Water affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giant Snapping Turtle ¨C Level 3 (Ground affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Those two have different affinities. The left one is water while the one on the right is¡­was ground," in the middle of her explanation, the turtle on the left bit down its opponent''s neck, breaking it in one swift motion. They watched as the winning turtle walked away, leaving the dead body behind. Looking around, Hera noticed a smaller monster to the side. It was a snapping turtle like the other two, but the only apparent difference was its tail''s size, being shorter than the winner of the fight. Bonnie, who noticed the same thing that Hera did, turned to the group, "They must have been fighting for a mate." "Or maybe territory," Blue said. Bonnie stared at her, "Stop that, you are freaking me out." Blue shrugged as they kept going deeper into the turtle''s territory. It took them a couple of hours to reach the nests. They could have arrived sooner, but their travel pace was reduced considerably as they had to stop and look for clues. Finally reaching the area where they could see eggs, the group had to be very careful not to anger any of the turtles. In here, they became much more hostile and territorial. A couple of times, they got too close, and the monsters attacked. However, it wasn''t a difficult fight. Aside from Bonnie, they all had experience facing those creatures. They would try to bite and claw at them, and to evade, all the group had to do was to circle around the turtles, and they would have a fair amount of time to attack. "Guys, look at this," Alex pointed at a tree by the pond. There was a scrap of grey cloth stuck to a bush. Bonnie grabbed the cloth, "It doesn''t seem to be that old. They could be near." Moving closer together, they looked around the area for any more tracks. Hera kept using her pulse, trying to expand the range of their search. After another half an hour, they were getting close to the walls and had to be even more careful. The turtles inside the caves were much larger than the ones they saw in the ponds. Instead of the turtles that reached just above their knees, now they saw some that would get to their chest. They made sure to keep one eye on any of the turtles inside the caves while walking by. The grottos were farther away from the ponds covering the area, which gave the group more opportunities to find any tracks. One of the larger turtles attacked Alex as she got too close, but as she ran away from it, the monster didn''t give chase. "Its babies must be close to being born," Bonnie said. "Really? Didn''t turtles kind of abandon their kids? We have an entire dungeon here about that," Blue asked. "That is true for most turtles outside, but inside the MAZE some animals have different behaviors. Mostly about how they care about their offspring. These ones are like that, too, according to my research." "Hey, guys!" Runir called from the side, "I found something." He was by a broken tree stump with large drag marks on the ground around it. The markings headed north towards one of the corners of the room. Following the tracks, the group arrived in an area clear of trees, with an oddly colored turtle sleeping by a rock. Its shell was deep blue with some large patches of green spread in odds formations. As they got closer, Hera noticed that the monster''s shell was almost like a world map, but not her world. There were more continents, and they were smaller than the ones outside. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Her eyes drifted up towards where the face of the creature was supposed to be. In front of it, there was a large cave. Several wooden logs were set up as a barricade that looked almost like a beaver dam, with several spikes that seemed to be carved out of rocks in the mix. "Are you seeing that?" Hera whispered while pointing to the cave. "Yeah, I guess they had to huddle up to avoid that thing," Alex nodded. "So, what do we do? Fight it?" Blue asked. "But of course, our allies are in front of us. We must aid them," Tom replied. "Ok, then. Bonnie, consider that it''s a new species. Any ideas?" Runir asked. Bonnie thought for a moment, "There is no way to tell what it can do just by looking at it. But since they had to make all that, I''m guessing it''s stronger than any we saw here. I can''t tell what type of skills it could have. Maybe water and grass, for the colors in the shell." "Oh, hold on," Hera turned back to the monster and activated her [Observe] with the affinity sight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tiny Tu''nia ¨C Level 8 ¨C Sleeping (Gravity Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit," Hera mumbled while staring at the monster. Being sure that this was the monster that Berthellemy told her about. Of course, that thing would be able to make her level up, but killing it was another thing entirely. It also had gravity affinity. What was that supposed to mean? Could it make itself lighter or heavier or pull things towards it? "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "That thing is level 8. It''s called Tiny Tu''nia," seeing the group''s expression, Hera nodded, "Yeah, level 8, and that thing has tiny in its name. It also can use gravity. I''m not sure if it''s just in itself or to affect things around it." "Level 8¡­ that''s a lot¡­" Runir said. "Fret not, my dear companions. For I am sure, we will be able to defeat that mighty beast if we fight as one." "Anyone has any plans?" Blue asked. They workshopped some ideas, and after agreeing with a strategy, they moved slowly towards Tu''nia. Hera got a poison needle ready. They would start the attack trying to poison it. Since it was a spell that didn''t have any impact damage, Hera would be able to attack it a few times if needed. Then Bonnie would start using her cold bomb to make the turtle lethargic while the rest attacked. Activating her [Hide] Hera got closer to the monster and flung the needle towards it, already preparing the second one. The bright orange spike flew through the air and closed in Tu''nia at high speed when the monster''s tail got out of the shell and slapped the projectile away. From the other side, a long neck appeared. The turtle''s face was different than what they expected. It still had the same leathery look, but its structure resembled that of a duck. Even the beak was duck-like, forming what looked like a central fang on its tip that would close over the rest of its mandible. Tu''nia looked to the group with angry eyes and tucked itself back into the shell. The head appeared once more in less than a second, but this time from the same place where its tail was just a moment ago. Hera, who was the one closest to the beast, quickly ran back towards the group. "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "It noticed my spell and turned around," Hera was still flabbergasted by the situation. Even the Wendigos could only dodge that spell. "Talk later," Blue shouted. The monster started moving towards them. It was slow at first, but it seemed to be doing that on purpose. Looking around, Tu''nia had more intelligence in its eyes than any monster Hera had ever seen. It was almost like looking at the king''s eyes in the assassin''s test. Bonnie kept the next part of the plan and sent a water bomb aimed at the turtle''s shell, following it up with a frost bomb to freeze the water. After the second bomb exploded, Tu''nia looked at its back and closed its eyes. In a matter of seconds, steam started to rise from its body, the thin layer of frost evaporating somehow. Blue rushed forward and tried to grab the monster''s neck, but the turtle proved to be faster than expected. It jumped to the side, avoiding the grapple. Blue tried again, but the results were the same. The two danced around each other. Tu''nia managed to keep up with Blue''s speed. However, it didn''t seem like it was just joking around. There was a certain weight to its movements showing that it required some concentration to keep up with its assailant. Still, Hera felt lucky. The monster''s feet didn''t have any claws and were clearly that of a tortoise and not of a snapping turtle. That was a detail she was aware of thanks to the information that Bonnie had sent them. Hera glanced at Alex. If the monster was already struggling to keep up with Blue, it had no chance against the assassin. Almost as if she heard Hera''s thoughts, Alex jumped into the fray. Moving quickly to the turtle''s side, she tried to slash the monster''s legs. A loud clang echoed through the forest as Alex''s dagger went flying back, embedding itself in one of the trees near the group. She dashed away from the turtle to recover her weapon. "That thing is harder than it seems. Be careful," she shouted at the group. Tom and Hera got closer to the turtle. Hera activated her poison reinforcement, trying to slash the beast with her handaxe. At the same time, Thomas tried to pierce the monster''s neck. Both attacks were deflected by Tu''nia''s skin, making the two unable to even scratch it. Hera considered that the turtle should have an incredible physical defense. Trying her poison needle spell once more, the turtle dodged the projectile once more. "Anyone else has poison attacks?" Hera asked. "Not me," Alex tried her wind cutter to damage the beast. "I don''t," Bonnie said, throwing a fire fist at the turtle. "Just you," Blue stepped away from the monster triggering her electric buff, "Bonnie, toss the water again!" A water bomb exploded above the turtle. Blue followed it up with a punch, making electricity course through the creature''s body. Yet, it didn''t even flinch with the attack. The group surrounded Tu''nia and started attacking it repeatedly. The beast seemed cornered, but the attacks still were completely neutralized by its hide. Hera aimed at the shell and sent a grease fire towards it. Covering the top of its carapace with the flaming liquid. Tu''nia looked at its back once more and stomped its clawless feet into the ground. A wave of pressure pulsed from it, almost like the shock wave of an explosion, and sent the group flying. The only two who managed to hold their ground were Runir and Bonnie, who were far away from the group. Even the fire on the monster''s shell was tossed to the air, being extinguished in the process. Hera and Alex were tossed towards the cave, stopping just before the sharp rocks that formed part of the barricade. They sat up slowly, seeing that Tu''nia focused on Blue once more when a voice came from the back. "I think I was the one who should be kissing the ground you stand on, but I''ll take it if you guys are doing it?" Poking through the top of the barrier, they saw Mark with a massive smile on his dirt-covered face. 166 - Rescue Mission Mark opened a part of the barricade to allow his friend to walk in. The first thing that Hera noticed was the smell. It made her eyes water instantly and her nose to burn. The stench was so overpowering that she wasn''t able to identify it. Alex was having the same issue, and the two quickly grabbed some pieces of cloth that were among their first aid kits to fashion something to cover their mouths and noses. "Sorry for the mess. We weren''t expecting visitors," Mark looked away from the two, avoiding eye contact. The cave where they had created this bunker was much smaller than what Hera expected. They were in a room that was less than five meters deep and only three meters wide. To make things worse, the back of the room was unusable. That corner was used as a bathroom, and the crafters didn''t even dig a hole to keep their waste buried. Yet, Hera wasn''t sure if the smell came from that area or from the body lying on the air mattress that occupied the middle of the room. Aside from the apparent corpse and Mark, there was another man in the bunker. He had thick brown hair, a patchy beard. "Are you guys, ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah, sure, just peachy. Bill is dying, a crazy turtle is hunting us down, and Mr. I-wanna-be-the-boss over there keeps barking orders," the man behind Mark yelled. "Ryan, can you stop talking for five minutes? And lower your fucking voice. The turtle might know we are here, but we don''t need to keep giving away our position," Mark pushed him to the side. Alex stepped to the side, inspecting the barricade, worried that the turtle might try to charge in here. Somehow they had created a two-meter thick wooden wall. The turtle had some gravity powers, and just stacking the wood wouldn''t do much. But they had fortified the structure by planting some logs as support beams. It was an impressive work, especially considering that they must have done it in a hurry. "Ok, what happened? And¡­ is he¡­?" Hera pointed at the body in the mattress. "That''s Bill. He''s sleeping, but he''s in really bad shape. The turtle bit his stomach. We did our best to bandage him up, but he kept getting worse. He mostly woke up just to bring the trees here, and now it''s been¡­ two days since he last woke up. But he has a pulse. I checked not long ago," Mark explained. He was covered in dirt and soot. Hera also saw the large bags under his red eyes. "I''m not sure if I can do much, but let me check," Hera walked towards Bill. The man was deathly pale, his lips were cracked, and his clothes were covered in blood. Lifting up his shirt to take a look at the wound, a foul smell rushed to her nose even with the mask covering her face. She managed to look at the injury before the stench became too much. There were some bloodied bandages with yellow pus formed outside the dressing and getting stuck to his shirt. "Hey Alex, I know you are doing your thing. But do you have any water on you? Ours ran out in the morning," Mark said. "Of course," Alex quickly passed her waterskin to Mark. Before he managed to drink it, Ryan grabbed his hand. "Give me that. You drank the last bottle." "Dude, there is enough for both. Hold on," the two crafters struggled, trying to drink water. "Stop that, you two!" Hera called, moving away from Bill. Alex sent a gust of wind towards the two crafters, who dropped the waterskin, spilling all the water, "Knock that shit off. We don''t have time to deal with this." "Sorry, it''s just¡­ This asshole is really getting to me," Mark rubbed his eyes. "What did you just call me?" Ryan got closer to Mark''s face. "ENOUGH!" Alex yelled, "We are getting out of here and back to the city. After that, you two don''t even need to look at each other''s face again," she turned to Hera and gestured to Bill, "How is he?" "Bad. The wound is infected, and I don''t think we should move him around. We can try, but that can make it worse," she turned to Mark, "letting him run around to gather wood was a bad idea." "He never left the cave. He has a short-range teleport tool. He marked the trees and kept sending them here when he had enough mana. I''m not sure how that works, but if it wasn''t for him, we would have died," Mark explained. Hera nodded, "We need to get Runir. He can make sure it''s safe to move him." "He''s gone. We should just leave him here and run. We can''t deal with that thing," Ryan said. Mark grabbed him by his already loose collar, "He''s the one who saved your ass, and now you want to leave him?" "It''s better to leave him behind than to have the turtle kill all of us," Ryan replied, staring down at Mark. "No one is getting left behind. The rest of our team is distracting the turtle. Grab your things. We''ll get to the healer and bring him here to check on Bill before moving," Alex commanded. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. They stopped fighting and quickly grabbed their belongings, leaving only a bag that belonged to Bill behind. Alex walked off first, followed by Mark, Ryan, and then Hera on the rear guard. Outside, Blue and Tom were doing their best to keep the turtle busy, but it was clear that something had changed. Before Blue could push the turtle back on her own, but now both were struggling just to keep it at bay. They were still going towards the corner of the area, surrounded by the cave walls. It didn''t seem like a good idea since it would make the group have trouble running away, but leading the monster in the opposite direction would put Runir and Bonnie in harm''s way. Alex moved quickly towards the trees where Runir and Bonnie were. They were still helping with the fight, flinging spells as they could, but Bonnie seemed more focused on the people coming from the cave than helping against Tu''nia. Hera and her group were about halfway towards the tree line when Ryan stopped moving quietly and just bolted towards the forest. His movement made a lot of noise, especially when he slipped on a stone and gasped loudly. The sound caught the attention of the turtle, who tucked itself into its shell and switched positions. Now facing away from the corner, towards the group who just left the cave. Tu''nia dashed towards them, leaving Tom and Blue behind. Hera and Alex quickly moved to intercept the monster. Hera flung a poison needle towards the beast, hoping that it would make it stop to dodge it once more. Tu''nia rotated to the side and evaded the spell without changing trajectory. Alex aimed a wind cutter into its head, and the attack hit the turtle''s eye. Tu''nia toppled and rolled on the ground. Surprisingly, it had no trouble to tumble on its back and get back up. It opened its mouth, and the air started to gather around a ball in front of its face. The monster made an odd sound, it was close to a squeal, but it had a deeper note. Following the noise, the ball shot out of its mouth towards Hera and Alex, who were approaching. The two ducked to the side, avoiding the attack, but Mark wasn''t fast enough. He jumped forward, evading part of the attack, but his right foot was caught in the blast. Causing him to stumble and struggle to keep moving. "Hera, get Mark," Alex yelled and ran towards the turtle. Sending another wind slash towards its eyes. The attack was enough to make the creature change its focus, now aiming at Alex, who kept moving around it, not allowing the beast to have a clear shot. Hera rushed towards Mark and helped him move towards the trees. Bonnie joined in to help carry the crafter while Runir was doing some first aid on Ryan. "Why is that thing after you?" Bonnie asked. "We don''t know. We found its nest, but after seeing that it had eggs, we moved away. Ryan here said we should get them, and I was worried he ended up stealing the eggs, but I checked his stuff. He''s clear," Mark was placed with his back on a tree, facing the fight. If anything happened, he would at least know he should move. "I should''ve got those damn eggs. Even without them, we are going through all this shit." Ryan finished drinking the water Runir gave him. Runir quickly went towards Mark and asked about the third crafter. Hera explained the situation, detailing the wound as much as she could. "Shit, that''s bad. We need to get him to the city quickly. He probably needs some antibiotics, but I don''t have any," Runir said while healing Mark. "I have some in my bag," The group stared at Bonnie, "I''m a little hypochondriac. I have a lot of medicine with me all the time." "That''s not what that means, but thanks, it might help. We''ll need to get him out of there first. We need to call one of them over here," Runir pointed to the fight with his head, "I can''t carry the stretcher and heal him at the same time." "I''ll go," Mark tried to get up, but the attack sprained his ankle, and he was having trouble putting weight on it. "Yeah, like you are going to be any help. I''ll go," Mark stared at Ryan in disbelief, "I might be a dick sometimes, but I only talked about leaving Tom because we didn''t have any other options. They are a new option. We might be able to save him." "If you are coming, you don''t pull that crap again. You walk with us and don''t go running off alone.¡± Mark kept staring at him but gave up. He wouldn''t be able to run if they needed to. Bonnie was going to stay with him. She wasn''t strong enough to help carry someone, and they needed a good lookout. Hera took point and led the two men towards the entrance of the cave. With Alex, Tom, and Blue fighting the turtle, the rescue group had no problems walking back into the cave. Hera warned Runir about the smell, and he made a cloth mask as a precaution. Arriving inside, Ryan started gathering the rest of their belongings while Runir and Hera checked up on Bill. "You guys didn''t even clean or change his bandages, did you?" Runir asked. "Sure, we were going to spend the little water we had cleaning his wound instead of you know to survive," Ryan scoffed while grabbing the remaining bag. "Urine works. It sucks, but it''s better than nothing. And on that note. Next time dig a hole and piss in it. Leaving it there in the open, it''s the same as begging to get sick. We need to move him out of here first before I can clean and dress his wound. I don''t want to expose it even more here," Runir said to Hera. "Right, and the stretcher? Should we make it here or outside? I don''t know how big it is and if it would pass through the opening," Hera said. "I''m not sure¡­ HEY! Where do you think you''re going?" Runir got up and grabbed Ryan, who was about to leave the cave. "She said it herself, we can''t take him. We should go," Ryan replied, clutching Bill''s bag. "Did you come here only to get this?" Runir pulled the bag. The two struggled for a moment before ripping the satchel open, spilling its contents. Hera noticed a few round shapes, about the size of a billiards ball, with a blue and green pattern over it. Quickly activating her [Observe], she looked at the objects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tu''nia''s egg ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She looked back up towards Ryan, and the crafter jumped behind Runir, grabbing him in a neck hold. "Don''t say anything. Put the eggs in a bag and give it here. Baldy here and I are going to leave this place, don''t follow us, or he gets it," Ryan said, staring at Hera. "You should let him go. No one needs to get hurt," Hera said, slowly getting up. "Shut up, you bitch! Grab the fucking eggs and put them in a bag." "This will end up badly. Don''t do anything stupid," Hera said once more. "Grab the fucking eggs and put them in a fucking ba... kheukc." Before Ryan finished speaking, Runir headbutted him on his broken nose, twisted the arm holding his neck, and tossed the crafter to the ground, slamming his head in the process, knocking him out. "Runir! I told you not to do anything stupid," Hera approached the two. "Relax, he''s still alive. He''s just out," Runir replied, still gritting his teeth. Hera looked back to the area. The contents of Bill''s bag all spread around the room with three of those round eggs in the middle. Now, with only Runir and Hera, they had no way of taking Bill out on the stretcher, not to mention the problem of dealing with Ryan. "What do we do now?" Hera asked no one in particular. 167 - Turtle Eggs Ryan was passed out on the ground. Bill was still as a corpse in the air mattress. Hera and Runir were looking around the room, trying to figure out what to do. "I mean, we can''t like, leave that here, can we?" Runir asked, pointing at Ryan. "I don''t think it''s a good idea. If we leave him alone, I bet he will use Bill as a hostage," Hera replied. "Great, now what do we do?" Runir huffed. Hera stared at the eggs. If the turtle was fighting them because of those, maybe they could give it back, and the creature would let them go. However, it was just a monster. There was no way to be sure that it would work. "But it''s eyes¡­" Hera mumbled. "His eyes have something weird?" Runir looked at Bill. "Not, not him. The turtle. It seemed really smart, like smarter than a normal monster. I''m wondering if we can negotiate with it," Hera explained. "You mean, we give you the eggs, and it let us go?" "Yeah, more like. We give it the eggs and stop being aggressive, and it understands that we don''t need to kill each other." Runir considered it for a moment, "That''s risky. How can we show that?" Hera looked back at the eggs, "I have an idea, but it''s a really bad one." "Do you wanna share it with the rest of the class?" "Are you going to stop me?" "Probably." "Then, no. Just stay here to make sure Ryan doesn''t act like an ass anymore," Hera grabbed the three turtle eggs on the floor, keeping them in one of her arms by her chest. "I''ll stay by the entrance. That way, if you get in trouble, I can do something," Runir said. "If? Not when?" Hera chuckled. "I''m trying to be positive here. Give me a break." Hera walked out of the bunker with the eggs in hand. Runir stood by the entrance, where he could see both her and the two inside the cave. She walked carefully, not to hurt the eggs. Moving towards the combat, she called out to the group. "Guys, fall back for a bit." "What?" Blue asked, dodging a bite. "Stop fighting for a moment." "Are you crazy?" Alex shouted. "Maybe. We''ll see," Hera turned to the turtle, "Hey, I got your eggs here." Tu''nia tried to attack Blue once more, but the attack went wide as she jumped back. The turtle''s nostrils started to flare as it sniffed the area and turned to face Hera. The explorer was with one hand up and the eggs resting on her left arm. "It''s ok. Your babies are fine. We don''t have to fight anymore," Hera walked slowly towards the turtle, ready to run if things went south. The turtle moved towards her, staring her down with its mouth open. The two stopped when they were about five meters away from each other. Tu''nia looked back at the rest of the group and then to Hera, furrowing its brown the best it could. "Guys, walk back to the trees slowly. And don''t get between us," Hera said without breaking eye contact with the monster. "But.."Blue started. "Blue, let''s go," Alex said. Hera''s idea was crazy, but it seemed to be working, or at least doing something. They made a wide arc and moved towards the tree line. All staying far behind Hera but still ready to come back to the fight. The turtle stared them down, but its gaze kept going back and forth between them and the eggs. Hera could feel her heart beating fast. Her entire plan was based on the idea that the monster would either forgive them after getting the eggs or that it would be too worried about its babies to keep fighting. The rest of the team members took a long time to move away from the turtle. They were trying not to make any sudden moves, and Alex''s back was almost reaching the wall in the edge of the room. In reality, it took less than two minutes for her to get through the treeline, but the tension in the air made it seem much longer for all of those watching. Runir started to get restless when the noise of the combat stopped. He couldn''t see Hera from the entrance of the bunker, and if that turtle attacked her, there was no way to put up a barrier. He looked back at Ryan, who was still unconscious. He had hit him pretty hard, and he was already in bad shape. He should be out for a few minutes, at least. Leaving the cave, Runir got an angle to what was going on. Hera and Tu''nia were staring at each other just a few meters apart, while Tom and the rest watched from the back. Hera lowered her body, kneeling to the ground, and carefully picked one of the eggs. She only glanced towards the turtle when she touched them. The monster puffed its nostrils even more, but kept staring her down. The light reflected by the clouds made it seem like Hera was looking up towards a dinosaur. She placed the first egg on the ground, making sure it wouldn''t even move after releasing the baby. The last thing she needed now was the turtle getting mad for her clumsiness. One by one, the eggs left her arms and were placed on the earth beneath the turtle''s feet. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. After placing the third and final egg, Hera raised both her hands and stared back at the turtle, "They are all here. I''m very sorry that they stole them from you." Tu''nia approached Hera, but as the explorer tried to walk back, the turtle snapped its jaws towards her. Runir and the others flinched but quickly realized that it wasn''t an attack but a warning. Hera held her breath with the turtle''s movement, thankful it was still too far to reach her. Tu''nia took a couple more steps forward and sniffed the eggs, then it started smelling Hera. The large beak-like mandible getting dangerously close to her face. Hera focused her strength on her legs. If that thing made one wrong move, she would use [All in] to jump back. Yet, the attack didn''t come. The massive head of the turtle was inches from Hera¡¯s. Its thick leathery skin wrinkled around the large black beady eye. Tu''nia moved its head down and took the three eggs into its mouth. The monster stood up and started at Hera. They exchanged a look for a moment before it lowered its head in a bow like motion. Only then it started walking past the human in front of it, heading towards the forest. There was silence for a long time while the group watched Tu''nia walk away. Only when the monster was out of their view was that Hera lost all her strength in her legs, falling to her knees. "Holy shit, are you ok?" Blue was the first to run towards her. "Not really. I think I need to check my underwear," Hera smiled with her eyes still wide open. "Not just you, trust me." "How did you know that thing wouldn''t attack you?" Alex asked. "I didn''t, but it seemed smarter than most monsters. When we fought, it looked around to understand its surroundings rather than as a reaction to movement. I don''t think mindless monsters would act like that," Hera explained. "Ok, that''s a nice theory, but when did you test it?" Bonnie asked. "Just now." Tom let out a resounding laugh, "I believe that proves that you are the bravest among us all." "You spelled out stupid wrong Tom," Alex stared at Hera. "Well, people say that stupidity and bravery walk side by side, don''t they?" Blue replied. The group helped Hera up and walked towards Mark. Now that the danger had passed, Hera and Runir explained what happened and how the eggs were in Bill''s bag and how Ryan attacked them as he tried to flee. Mark slammed his fist against a tree, "That little shit must have hidden the egg in Bill''s bag." "Are you sure Bill wasn''t the one who took them?" Alex asked. "There is no way. Bill is the most stand-up guy in the workshop. He''s been working there for years, and everyone loves him," Mark shook his head and looked towards where Tu''nia headed, "Next time I''m here, I''m bringing bags of straws." The entire group stared at him with horrified expressions. "DUDE!" Blue gasped. "That''s really messed up," Hera nodded in agreement. "You need some therapy," Alex took a step away from him. "Well, it''s not like it would work, anyway. The straws are for sea turtles. Tortoises should be cans of soda or something that they would eat by mistake and get sick," the collective stare of the group turned to Bonnie. "Why do you know so much about that?" Alex asked. "We just meet, but that sounds like you were planning something. Should we call someone?" "No, no, no. That was just part of my research!" Bonnie defended herself. "Right, your ''research,''" Blue managed to say the line holding back her laughter. Free of the tension of the last moments, the group felt much more relaxed. Sure, they were still in a place filled with monsters, but unlike Tu''nia, those would take damage when they fought. Hera got up and walked over to the cave and Runir to make sure Ryan didn''t wake up, and the man was still passed out. They dismantled part of the barricade, allowing Runir to create a stretcher out of rock and take Bill out of the bunker. He struggled a bit to change the bandages on the crafter. Needing to stop and look away several times to avoid throwing up. "You do have a weak stomach," Alex teased. "Shut up. The smell is getting to me, and to all of you, or you wouldn''t be that far away." Everyone looked away. The smell coming from Bill wasn''t something they could easily deal with. Not just because of the wound, but the man had soiled himself a couple of time. Runir could have cleaned him using one of his spells, but it would take too much mana, so he focused on cleaning the wound. A full body wiping would have to come later. The healer was able to dress the wound with clean bandages and remove part of the pus that has oozed from it, but it was emergency care at best. The infection had spread in a way that it was impossible to treat it on site. Not to mention that Bill looked awful. He lost a lot of blood, and his breathing was way too slow. He asked the group to set him up on the stretcher while he took care of Mark''s ankle. They already had to carry two people. Having a third one wasn''t an option. During the treatment, Ryan woke up in a frenzy, searching for the eggs. However, it took but a moment to make him stop complaining. He was heavily outnumbered, and no one was willing to fight Tu''nia for the eggs. If he chose to fight, there was not much he could do against a party consisting of most roles as a crafter if he couldn''t even neutralize the healer. Despite the obvious hostility, the group had to bring Ryan back. It was part of the quest they got, and even Mark was against leaving him behind. They would take turns carrying Bill while Runir would walk by him using his heals to hold back the infection. Luckily for them, they still could reach the campsite before dark, even if getting back to Brinefront in a single day was impossible. Mark was too tired to make the trip and carrying someone wasn''t an easy task. Even so, the group was still lively. They talked to Mark about what they had seen in the Carpon Caves, and Hera even showed off her armor. She wore the ear guards he gifted her every day, and that made Mark smile. It was a good thing that something he created was being so helpful. Arriving at the campsite, they set up camp. This time, 2 people would stay as a lookout at a time. However, they didn''t have the numbers for that. Runir would need to keep waking up sporadically to check on Bill, so one shift would be made alone. The night went without a hitch, but when morning came, the group discovered the Ryan had left the camp while they slept. No one blamed Tom, who was the one that took the solo shift. They spent the early morning searching for him, but his tracks were leading towards the path to Brinefront. "I bet he¡¯s going first to spin a whole story about how we are the ones that stole the egg," Mark scoffed when they found the tracks. "It¡¯s not like it will make a difference. I mean, we have seven testimonials against one," Hera tried to cheer him up. Most of the next day was spent on the road. A couple of stray monsters appeared to be a nuisance, but nothing that the group couldn''t easily deal with. What once was a fight to the death had become little more than training. That was proof of their experience. A couple of hours before the sunset, Hera finally saw the large walls that surrounded Brinefront. Bill and Mark were both still alive. Even if in bad shapes. In the end, they had completed their rescue quest. 168 - Reason After seeing the situation, the guild healers rushed Bill to the intensive care unit. The wound wasn''t much of a problem for them. After a couple of days receiving healing spells, he would be good as new. The infection, on the other hand, was an issue. It was a specialized kind of healing, and there was no one proficient with that around. The treatment would have to be with modern medicine, but he should be fine. Once again, Mark thanked the group as they headed to the workshop to report back to the quest client. It was just a last formality before receiving the reward. They would get a measly 600 gold in total plus free maintenance repair for their gear for rescuing the crafters. That was all the other members of the workshop could muster to pay. Most of them worked in the MAZE but had families outside. Being a part of a workshop meant that they had a way to steadily raise their skills and levels, but the pay was far smaller than what they could make hunting. It was still much better than most jobs outside, but the difference wasn''t as big as it was for Hera. Ryan had already stopped by the building. According to Camilla, the crafter in charge of the workshop, he came in a hurry to grab something and left right away. Mark told her what happened, but there wasn''t much she could do. In reality, she was just a supervisor. There was no actual power in her position, and since the gathering was something that the crafters did in their free time, there was nothing she could do about it. Mark argued that they were only there to complete the order for a client, but that order was made as a side deal where the people involved would be working after hours to make the items. In the end, the only thing that would happen with Ryan was a cut on his vacation days for the days he was missing from the job. The same would apply to Mark and Bill. The latter could have some days compensated after he got discharged by the healers, but that was it. He gave her the eggshells since they were still needed for the order, even if they had lost the bonus pay for quick delivery. Mark could still help make the items, but he would get a share nonetheless. Bill would get his share too, but after hearing that Ryan was to blame for the delay and the entire situation, Camilla kicked him out of the project. Mark still needed some time to rest and recover. He should have stayed with the healers, but he wanted to let his co-workers know what Ryan had done. They escorted him back to the guild, despite his protest, and talked about what to do next. It was late, and they were tired. One option would be to take the last boat back, but no one was in the mood for another long journey before resting. They decided to grab some hotel rooms in Brinefront and stay until the next day. After taking a shower, Hera sent a text to Leo, wanting to make sure he was ok since it''d been a while they talked. Grandma Triss had sent another video. This time one of Hera''s cousins recorded her while she was on a treadmill. The text also spoke about how, if things kept improving like that, Triss would start dancing classes. Hera loved that idea. Not just for the exercise, but now maybe her grandmother could get more friends. She''s been alone for too long. While Blue was still in the shower, Bonnie asked Hera to meet her in a pub nearby. She wanted to talk. It didn''t take long for the two to find each other and order some drinks. After some small talk about the rooms and the showers'' water pressure, Hera asked. "Ok. What did you want to talk about? It sounded serious." Bonnie downed her drink, "Look, I''m not good talking about this stuff. But you know when you guys started teasing me about liking Mark?" "Yeah, were we right?" "Not really. I mean, I do like him. He''s a good friend. But I don''t like like him," Bonnie rubbed her eyes while groaning, "I sound like a middle schooler. Look, I don''t want to date him. He''s a nice guy, and if he wants, I even can set him up with a friend of mine. She would love him," she shook his head, "That''s beside the point. What I mean to say is. I think I know why I was so desperate when he went missing." A server came with another round of drinks and some fries. Hera waited for Bonnie to continue, but after a while, it seemed like she wasn''t going to speak, "Ok, and what was the reason?" Bonnie looked away and mumbled her reply. The noise of the bar covering her words. "Sorry I didn''t catch that." "I felt like you guys abandoned me," Bonnie replied a bit louder. "What?" that surprised Hera. "I felt like you guys abandoned me!" Bonnie said loud enough for the people at the surrounding tables to look around. She instantly regretted raising her voice. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Bonnie¡­" "I know it''s just in my head. We are friends, and no one has to stay close to me. But having you all stay in Hazelpond while I''m here on my own made me feel lonely." "But you could have stayed with us. I mean, we offered you a room. Someone would have to share it, but still, you could have stayed there." "I know. But I thought I should keep doing jobs for the order. And that I should keep researching since I''m a researcher." "Your role doesn''t force you to do anything. I mean, there are even healers that end up more than fighters than as anything else," Hera held Bonnie''s hand. "Tell me one healer that doesn''t focus on healing," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Wildborn. Remember the one that showed up on the wall assault? I got curious and checked the information about him. He is a healer, yes, but he mostly fights in the frontline. He has some good buffs and area heals, but he focused much more on fighting. As a healer, he is ranked 300 and something, but he is on the low double digits as an explorer. All because he fights better than he heals." "Really? That''s impressive. Still, I think I made a mistake. I should have stuck with being a mage," Bonnie kept staring at the light pink drink in front of her. "Yeah, I never asked. Why did you change? Before the test, you had already decided to be a mage." "Because of the results. It said I had an A+ compatibility to researcher but only a C- as a mage. I kept hearing my father''s voice, ''anything below an A is unacceptable.'' Then I picked the one with the best rating." ¡°Having the shadow of your parents changing the way you behave is something I can understand very well. But what can a mage do that you can''t?" Hera asked. Bonnie stared at Hera with a confused expression, "They can fight better. Use magic more easily, right?" "You already know how to use magic and change it. You said it yourself. The variation of the fist spells were all developed by you." "Yeah, I took a look at how the formulas worked and how I could change the element. My learning skill helped me to figure out some things." "So you have an easier time using magic because of your skill. The only difference is the lack of elemental mana, and honestly, sometimes synch feels more like a handicap than something to help. I mean, sure, you can hardly focus on one element. But if you fight something resistant to it, you are pretty much screwed," Hera ate a few of the fries they ordered. "Still. A mage would be much better in a fight. I felt useless back there," Bonnie replied. "That has nothing to do with roles. It''s all about what you do." "What do you mean?" "How was your last week? What did you do during it?" "I spent most of my days in the library using the books and the internet to do some research for the order. I worked out for a few hours every day too, and practiced my spells and mana regeneration," Bonnie went back to staring at her glass, "It must sound boring." "It sounds peaceful but not boring. I bet you figured out some stuff, but what I wanted to say is - my week started off with me going back home and taking my grandma to the doctor," seeing Bonnie''s expression, Hera added, "She''s fine. Don''t worry. I took her to a healer to fix her leg. Then I had a day just to rest and train my spells. Followed by two days hunting monsters in the Carpon Caves and learning how to operate as a team. Then we did a dungeon run, where I almost got killed, but Alex saved me, nearly dying in the process. Then another few days where we would hunt monsters to train. Do you see the difference?" "Yeah, you guys can fight. I can''t." "For fuck''s sake, Bonnie," Hera noticed the surprised expression of her friend, "The difference is what we focused on. You did research. We fought. We''ve been hunting almost daily ever since we went to Hazelpond. I probably trained even more than Blue and Alex, and both of them are still much better fighters than me. It''s like complaining you can''t draw but never practicing it. If you want to fight, come with us." "Can I?" Bonnie asked. "We''ll have to ask the rest of the group, but I doubt they would complain. Blue and Alex already like you, and Tom seems to be on board too. He loved it when you started talking about knights. The only wild card could be Runir, but he''s very chill." "How do you deal with the fear? I mean, you almost died again. That is what? The second time ever since you came here?" "I kind of don''t. I mean, I''m scared, yeah, but when I start fighting, the adrenaline takes over, and I don''t feel afraid," Hera took a look at her tablet. There was a message from Blue asking where she was. "You don''t get afraid?" "I mean, I do. But it''s like getting afraid of getting hit by a car. Like I know, I have to be careful when I cross the street, and if a car comes in my direction, I have to jump away. Still, I can go to the other side of the sidewalk when I want to, even if a car is coming," another message came from Blue. She was asking one more time where Hera was. "Even when you faced the wendigo?" "Even when I fought the wendigo. I was terrified but had to run, and don''t get me wrong, the attacks hurt like hell. But if I stopped there, I wouldn''t have seen my grandma dance or a forest of giant glowing mushrooms. Even if those things gave me a massive headache." "Even if I go past the fear. Can I even join you guys? You are already in the next layer, and all of you have better skills than mine." "That''s a fair point. I don''t know. I mean, the caverns don''t feel to be that harder. But at the same time, we are stronger. Maybe we can do a test or something. Do you mind if I call the rest of the team? Blue is already freaking out, apparently." "Sure, I mean. Just don''t mention¡­" "I won''t. I promise." "Thanks," Bonnie gave a weak smile. Hera sent a text to the team, and in a few minutes, they had all arrived. Bonnie explained that she wanted to go back hunting but was worried about fighting in a place more dangerous. They understood her fear, but Tom was the only one with an idea on how to help. "Say, noble scholar. What are your thoughts about a mock battle?" 169 - Mock Battle Hera woke up late the next morning. They all agreed to the mock battle for the middle of the afternoon. Thomas wanted to talk to Bonnie before the fight and asked everyone to meet them in the guild at 2 PM. Blue was still sleeping, and so was Alex. They ended up staying up late at the bar. With a snore, Blue shifted on her bed. Hera looked towards the window. The sunlight created light shafts that hit the side of her bed. She slowly raised her hand and started playing with the shadows it made. The small dust particles danced around her fingers, reflecting the light back at her. It was almost like the sprites from the underground forest. "It would be nice if my light spell worked like that," Hera mumbled to herself. She looked back at Blue and lowered her hand. She triggered her light spell, trying to make it as dim as possible. A small light appeared in her hand. Hera moved her arm around to make the spell dance with the dust. She yawned and kept staring at the particles. It was a small but beautiful scene. The particles danced around her light as the shadows created a scenery out of this world. Hera played with the dust and light until the drowsiness overtook her. About one hour later, Hera woke up. In front of her, there was a notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Dancing Light Rank: Novice Creates a small light around you. The light can move at your command and follow specific patterns. The mana cost is spent each second the spell is active. The intensity and radius of the light will affect the mana cost. Range: 5 meters Base Radius: 10 meters Base mana cost: 10 mana per second. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera blinked a couple of times, trying to focus her eyes and read the notification. "How did I got a spell sleeping?" "What?" Blue asked from the bathroom. "Nothing, I''m talking to myself," Hera replied while scratching her head. She remembered seeing the light and playing around with a spell. There was a moment when she thought that the light was moving on its own, without her moving her arm, but she just assumed it was an illusion since she was almost sleeping again. Thinking about that, Hera realized that she had no idea where her spells came from. Poison spray was a reward, so was the poison needle. She got fire arrow, mend, and bark skin using the trainer. Grease fire, dancing lights, and blinding flash were evolutions from other spells, and all she got by accident. Affinity sight was something she got from Helena. The only spells she actually created herself were pulse and light. If she wanted to focus more on her magic, she had to understand how that worked. Hera opened the grimoire app she had on her tablet. It was there since Helena gave her the spellbook, but she barely ever used it. Instead of a straight text file, she could place images, tables, drawings, and even tag each spell. Part of her wanted to have a physical book, but she had left her spellbook back in Hazelpond. Still, this was the best next thing. She spent the next hours writing down not just each spell''s description, But also how the mana in each spell felt and how she unlocked them. While she was writing, Blue, Alex, and Runir took her out to eat, but she focused on the app and not the conversation during their meal. By the time they had to meet Tom and Bonnie at the guild, Hera managed to write down all of her spells. She was still nowhere closer to understand how all that worked. This was just her first step, but Bonnie and Helena should be able to give her some direction. Arriving at the guild, Tom was already waiting for the group. "It''s good to see you all. I hope you feel rested from your slumber," Thomas smiled at the group. "I had a good night of sleep, and having spells for a hangover helped a lot," Runir said. "Same here," Blue nodded. "Yeah. But I still like my hangover cure," Hera joined in. "Most excellent. Now, Hera. Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the reception? I''m afraid I require your aid in a matter." "Sure. What do you need?" Hera walked towards the reception. "I wish to take advantage of your position as a silver cardholder." Hera raised her eyebrow, "How?" "Explain to the clerk about our battle and that you wish to rent an arena for it." "Sure, but why do you need me for?" "As a silver cardholder, you are able to do a certain amount of mock battles a month free of charge. If not, payment shall be required. Of course, I am not trying to force you to do so. Please, if you wish not to use it with us, we can pay for it." "No, no. Don''t worry, I''ll help if I can," Hera replied. It wasn''t like she had an interest in fighting other people regularly. Talking with the guild attendant, Hera understood why Tom asked for her help. To rent an arena, they would need to pay 10 000 gold, plus another 1 000 for the equipment they would wear in there. But because of her silver card. Hera could rent the arena for free once a month, and she could take up to three people along with her in there. Using her silver card made the fee for using the arena drop from 16 000 gold to just 2 000, which Tom paid instantly. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. They all moved to the underground floors. The arenas were one floor below the ATRs. In there, Tom explained why they had to come here for the battle. They had to change their equipment to the wooden training ones that were available in the arena. These weapons had an enchantment placed on them that would lessen the physical damage, but increase the power against barriers. A shield generator in the ceiling would synchronize with their bracelets and levels, creating a shield around each participant that could absorb all damage. When the damage reached a certain threshold, the shield would turn red, and that would signal that the combatant was out of the battle. The barrier also took into account the armor of each of them when applying the damage. Some places had a stronger shield where the combatants could use their own weapons. Sadly, the one in Brinefront had just the most basic functions. If they wanted a place with a better arena, the closest one would be on the 4th layer. They all gathered on the elevator and headed down. The arena wasn''t much different from one of the ATRs. The entire room was white, made with several plates of some couched material. The main difference was the size. Instead of the rectangular shape, the room was a square, with an octagonal ring in its middle about half a meter from the ground. On the wall by the door, there was a small closet with several weapons. After getting geared up, Tom walked to the middle of the room. "Very well. Now that we are all here, allow me to share the rules of our training bout. Since we have a full hour here, we shall fight inside the ring. If you fall off, you are disqualified. The same is true if the barrier turns crimson. For starters, the teams shall be Bonnie and me against the four of you." "Four versus two? That doesn''t seem fair," Blue said. "True, it''s not like you guys pose much of a threat," Bonnie replied with a smirk. "Say what now?" Blue turned to the researcher. "You heard me, or are you scared?" Blue stared at Bonnie. Her eye even started twitching. "Ok, ok, calm down. Don''t pop anything, Blue," Hera jumped between the two, "Are you sure about that?" she asked Bonnie. "Yeah. You guys have no chance," Bonnie tried to play it cool, but Hera could see she was just putting up a front. "Ok, then. Let''s do this!" Alex jumped to the ring. "Are you sure?" Runir turned to Tom. "Trust me, this battle will help us all." Everyone took their positions while Tom activated the barrier. Blue light emanated from the middle of the ceiling, covering all present inside the room. Jumping into the arena, he stepped in front of Bonnie, facing the rest of the team. "Shall we have a countdown?" "Sure," Blue replied, still staring daggers at Bonnie. Everyone started to count together. 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Go! Alex was the first to move, dashing to the side of the group, trying to move around Tom. Bonnie noticed the movement and sent two frost bombs to the sides. They exploded about halfway between the two parties and covered the floor with a thin layer of ice and water. Alex started the combat with a full sprint, but the speed made her slip on the frost and lose her balance, falling outside of the arena. She attempted to hold on, grabbing the corner of the platform and pulling her body up, but the tip of her feet touched the ground before she could climb back up. Blue didn''t notice what happened with the assassin since she rushed towards Tom as soon as the fight began. They had fought side by side during the rampage, and the two were very aware of how each other fought. Tom would make small movements to dodge while waiting for an opening to strike. When fighting monsters, Blue would do something similar, moving around and counter-attacking any aggression that came from the monsters. However, it had been a long time since she fought against something that allowed her to use her grappling techniques. She started her attack by punching Tom, leaving a big opening on her side. The fighter easily dodged the attack and responded with a stab. Blue twisted her body, getting closer to him and grabbing his arm. Tom was surprised by the movement. That small hesitation was all that Blue needed. She put her weight under Tom and tossed him into the air, making him fly towards the ice-covered edge of the arena. At the same time, Hera and Runir were heading towards Bonnie. Both of them already passing through Blue and Tom. Yet Bonnie didn''t waver. This was all part of the plan. She launched an air bomb towards the two, staring Hera down in the process. It was such an obvious attack that Hera didn''t know if there was a trick to it. They easily dodged the spell, but something felt wrong. Bonnie could have activated the explosion between them to send them to the sides. Why she didn''t do it? Instinctively, Hera dropped to the ground, covering her head to avoid an attack. Runir only had time to look towards her, confused, before the air bomb exploded in the center of the arena. The spell was much more powerful than anyone expected. It sent not just Runir but Blue and Tom flying off the octagonal platform. Hera raised her head and saw that Bonnie''s legs were frozen in place. She must have thrown two spells in quick succession when the fight started to make sure she wouldn''t be blasted by her air bomb. Hera quickly got up and looked around. They were the only two remaining in the arena. "Who came up with that plan?" Hera asked. "I did, but Tom helped," Bonnie replied. "Nice work, but do you have a follow-up?" "I do, but it kind of needed Tom to hold someone back until I get out of the ice." Hera looked at her weapons. She only had an axe right now. The arena didn''t have a training chakram, so using her wire trap style was out of the question. "Tell you what. I''ll help you get off the ice, but you don''t use the air bomb again. I kind of wanna see how you fight one on one," Hera said with a smile. "Just the air bomb? Everything else is fair game?" "Yeah. I mean, I already have a pretty big handicap here. I''m missing one weapon, and I''m not sure if poison would work. Not just because of the barrier, but I don''t want to poison anyone here. So the only spells I can use are light and fire arrow." "And you don''t want to use grease fire because it''s hard to contain it?" "Exactly," Hera replied. The rest of the group just watched the scene. Blue was punching a wall for being tossed out of the arena so soon. "Ok, deal. But walk back to the start." "No dice. You said the back-up plan was just for Tom to allow you to move," Hera said. "But you are two levels higher than me!" "So? You just took out three people who are at the same level as me." Bonnie and Hera stared at each other for a moment. "Fine, stay there," Bonnie started to break the ice around her feet. Hera even helped with a couple of fire arrows, "Tom, can you give us a countdown?" 3.. 2.. 1.. Go! When he finished the count, Hera dodged to the side. She had noticed that Bonnie was preparing a spell even before asking. An ice fist flew through the area she was standing on. Hera rushed towards Bonnie, sending two fire arrows aimed at her head. Hera knew that the barrier would block most of the damage, but even so, she made the spell only hot enough to singe Bonnie''s eyebrows. Bonnie ducked and started to rapid-fire her fist spells one after another. They were much weaker than the previous one, but the first to hit Hera already packed a punch. Hera ducked low and used a blinding flash to try to disorient her opponent. It worked to a certain degree, but Bonnie didn''t stop her barrage of attacks even without sight. Hera got closer, but her foot slipped on ice. Bonnie created an area of frost around her, using the water from her frozen feet. Hera smiled. If she tried to stop, she would fall, but she couldn''t let her friend win on her own against all of them. Not only would that be a problem for everyone''s ego, but Blue would flip out. Pushing forward, Hera''s body slammed Bonnie making the two fall off the platform. "And we have a tie!" Alex yelled as the two hit the ground. 170 - So? What do you think? They rented the arena for one hour. The first fight barely took five minutes, plus another five to calm Blue down after getting tossed out of the ring so quickly. They still had 50 minutes to spend there, to make the most use of it, they choose to fight one on one. That was also some training since most of the time, they were fighting as a group. Luckily, even the basic arenas had setups to split the ring. Runir and Blue were fighting each other, while Bonnie and Alex took the other half of the arena. That left Hera and Tom waiting for their turn. "So, was the mock battle just a test? Or were you trying to make something else happen?" Hera asked. "What could I possibly be trying to accomplish?" Tom replied with a smirk. "I don''t know. Maybe giving someone a boost of confidence while making sure others don''t let the success go over their heads." "If I had done such a thing, it would be incredibly devious, albeit a brilliant move," Tom said. "That is true. It''s a shame we don''t have anyone that smart in our group," Hera teased. "We might have one, as long as our noble scholar decides to join in." Hera chuckled as the two watched the fights. Blue and Runir were both trained in hand to hand combat. Seeing the two fight was much like seeing a martial arts movie, even if they were far from being masters at the craft. Runir''s style focused on quick punches with low kicks. It reminded Hera of karate in some ways, but the footwork was closer to boxing. Blue''s, on the other hand, didn''t have any similarities with anything that Hera knew. According to her, it was a mixed art that took movements from several grappling styles mixed with a school of Chinese martial arts that focused on moving around the opponent. Alex and Bonnie''s fight was something completely different. Bonnie was changing the environment to counter Alex''s speed while trying to dodge the ranged attacks. As impressive as the battle was, it didn''t last long. Bonnie''s strategy required Alex to move around and fall for the traps that were placed around the arena. That left her at a big disadvantage since Alex was training as a scout. Even if Bonnie managed to prepare an air bomb, it wouldn''t be strong enough to blow the assassin away. She needed time to prepare a spell that big again. The elemental fists were unable to hit her target. Alex was too quick, even with the limited footing she had. In the end, Bonnie''s barrier turned red while facing the barrage of wind blades coming from Alex. "Way to go, Alex!" Hera cheered. Alex was breathing heavily, "Thanks. Honestly, I couldn''t keep that up for much longer." "Really? It didn''t show," Bonnie was rubbing her arms. The barrier might protect them from the pain of the impacts, but she still felt the pressure and weight behind them. The constant attacks were enough to make her arms numb. "The problem was using the spells. I need to attack the air with all my strength to make the slashes fly faster. I think I should practice that some more," Alex replied between breaths. Next up, it was Hera and Tom. The rest of the group was watching to the side, resting before their next bout. The fight wasn''t something they all expected, but it would be interesting to see the difference between the levels. They got into the ring. To make things fair, it would still be set up with the division in the middle. Tom stood still with his rapier in front of his face. Hera took a deep breath. She knew that there was a very slim chance of winning. She had one less weapon than usual, and most of her spells were a no go. Not to mention she was fighting someone who spent a year focusing on improving his combat skills. Looking at him, Hera couldn''t see a single opening in his stance. Everywhere she looked seemed like a death trap. To make any advances, she would need to be creative. Bonnie used her spells to give her an edge, and Hera had to do something similar. The main issue was that Tom knew everything she could throw at him. All her spells and even the all in skill, he knew them all. The only thing he was unaware of was her dancing lights. Its range was five meters. She would need to take a few steps before triggering it. She slowly moved closer to Tom, making sure he wouldn''t strike her as she closed the distance. When he got in range, she activated two of her dancing lights behind the fighter and a third light on her hand as a distraction. Tom just raised one of his eyebrows while she approached. The two lights moved around, flanking Tom''s head. Hera could''ve sworn that he smiled as the shining globules appeared. Taking another step, she tightened her grip on her axe before lunging forward. Instead of going for a wide arc, she attempted an upwards swing. Tom dodged to the side and stabbed Hera twice on her back. She turned around with a slash, but Tom stepped back, moving away from the attack. Hera swept Tom''s leg, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. She rolled around, trying to get on top of him, yet Tom was quicker. He moved to the side and jumped up, hitting Hera two more times, one on the back of the neck. She got up to her feet and looked for another way to attack, but as her eyes met with Tom''s, he mumbled a few words. In response, her legs moved almost as a reflex heading towards him. She still had control over the top of her body, and as long as she moved in his direction, she could still direct her legs to move the way she wanted. Even with Hera''s best effort, Tom was still able to dodge her attacks with ease. With a few strikes, he turned her barrier red. Signaling the end of the fight. Stolen novel; please report. "Good try, Hera," Alex tried to be supportive. "Yeah, it was a close one," Bonnie added. "You guys are lying, but thanks," Hera dropped from the arena, still feeling frustrated. The spell he used, in the end, wasn''t something she was expecting. "Fret not, noble warrior. You had unique ideas, and if you had access to your entire repertoire of attacks, I would have much trouble facing you," Tom patted Hera''s back. "Yeah, sure you would. In the end, was that the forced duel thing?" Hera asked. "Indeed, it was. Why? Do you still feel its effects?" Tom had a worried expression. "Not really, it was just weird. I mean, it forced me to move, but I still had some control over my body. I don''t like the idea of something being able to do more than that," Hera confessed. Out of curiosity, the rest of the group asked to feel the effects. Blue and Alex didn''t feel like the duel would affect too much if they were in combat, but Bonnie and Runir agreed that being the target of something like that could be devastating. The effect wasn''t merely to keep attacking, but they were forced to move closer to Tom while under the forced duel. Still having a lot of time to spend in the arena, the group went back to the duels. Ideally, they would fight each other at least once, but that would be only if the group''s time and energy allowed. A battle against a person was much more tiring than facing a monster. The creatures inside the MAZE had specific patterns of attacks and somewhat predictable movements. Even if they were odd monsters, like the sprites or the pangolins. They spent around 40 minutes to fight against everyone. It could have been much less, but they had breaks between matches to recover their stamina and mana for those who relied on spells. Tom was the undefeated champion. No one was able to beat him one on one, even though Blue got very close to it. Aside from that, Blue only lost to Alex, who moved too fast for her to catch. Bonnie was able to win against Runir and Hera, and, surprisingly, Alex lost her match against Runir when he managed to toss her outside the ring. Hera ended up being the only one without a win. Having only 15 minutes left in the arena, they agreed to rest for a moment and have a rematch of their 4v2 battle. Hera spent that time asking Bonnie about her mana regeneration. They had mostly the same process to increase their recovery speed, but Bonnie had noticed something different. Each part of their bodies could absorb external mana at a different rate. She was still unsure where she had the best absorption since her control was still lacking, but it was something that Hera had yet to notice. Even while knowing that, she couldn''t tell if the mana was better absorbed through her fingers or through her nose. Before the two could get too deep into the conversation, they were stopped to discuss strategy. The two teams split off, each going to a corner of the room. They had little time to think of a plan, but Blue and Alex already had some ideas. To stop Bonnie''s air bomb, someone would have to face it head-on. If the spell hit them sooner, they could be more prepared for the impact. Hera agreed to be the one that took the blow. Runir would stay in the back this time, focusing on buffs and barriers. Blue would still be going after Thomas, but this time she would need to be more careful since he was aware of her combat style. With 10 minutes remaining, they jumped back into the ring, ready for the rematch. Blue dashed towards Tom while Hera and Alex were right behind her. Bonnie didn''t use the frost bombs on the side, but moving like this, Blue could protect the rest of the team. Tom responded by moving forward to meet them in the middle of the ring. With the first clash between the two vanguards. Hera and Alex jumped to the side, rushing towards Bonnie, but she wasn''t just waiting around. Three ice fists, each the size of watermelons, were floating in front of her. With a movement from her hand, the spells flew towards the incoming assailants. "Duck!" Hera yelled. She had talked to Bonnie about magic and knew that three spells that size were probably using over half of Bonnie''s mana. They also spoke about how the fists type of spells would move in a straight line after being activated. Bonnie was trying to figure out a way to move them around but still couldn''t do so. Alex responded immediately, going lower to the ground. Blue wasn''t as quick on the draw as her partners. Tom made sure to stay in her way even as the spell was flying towards his back. "Tom!" Bonnie yelled when the giant ice fist was just a few centimeters away. Tom moved to the side as if they had rehearsed, allowing the attack to strike Blue''s chest. He followed up with a stab in her leg and was about to continue with a flurry when his movements became sluggish as if moving through water. Looking up, he saw Runir pointing his hand at him. A debuff had just taken effect. Blue managed to recover her footing and went in for a throw, but Tom was already expecting it. Even with the reduced speed, he was able to pull back before his arm was grabbed. Blue stepped forward and elbowed the man in the stomach. In a typical situation, the recoil would be so bad that an attack like that wasn''t worth it. But they had the barrier protecting them from pain. The impact put enough pressure on Tom''s abdomen to make him lose his breath. Taking advantage of that, Blue went forward and placed him in an armlock. During that, Hera and Alex moved to flank Bonnie. A few spells were tossed towards them, but the researcher seemed keener on dodging than fighting back. Hera took advantage of that and pressed on. Trying to reduce the area her target had to move around. As Hera got closer, an ice fist came flying from the ground, hitting her square in the jaw. Hera toppled to the side and fell off the ring. Alex sent two wind slashes at Bonnie''s feet, making her fall on the ground, and kicked her out of the arena, turning back to help Blue against Tom. The debuff was already making it hard for him to move around, and now with another person joining in the fight, it became much more troublesome. Blue was still holding Tom''s arm, but he was able to move her around just enough to hinder Alex''s advances. Blue kept pulling him towards the edge of the ring while he pushed back, trying to stay in the center. Runir joined in the struggle, trying to push him off. The situation stopped being a fight and turned into a tug of war. The only reason why Tom was able to hold on for so long was that he kept moving his body in ways to avoid being pushed. Even someone at level 8 wasn''t enough to win against three people at level 5. Runir body slammed the fighter, pushing him and Blue out of the ring. Only Alex was still standing in the octagon. They laughed about the situation, and as they got ready to leave, Hera turned to Bonnie, "So, feeling more confident about joining?" 171 - New arrangements Hera was meditating on her bed. Ever since she and Bonnie talked about the mana regeneration, she was eager to find where she had a higher absorption rate and if that would allow her to rank up the skill. Following Bonnie''s instructions, Hera focused on gathering mana at a single point of her body first. Only after mastering that she could test around to see where the absorption rate was better. It had been just two days since she talked with Bonnie about it. During that time, Hera learned how to feel where the mana was coming from, but blocking it from entering through other areas was still an issue. "Hera, breakfast is ready," Helena called from the kitchen. "She means she just finished setting up the table, don''t worry, it''s all store brought," Blue followed up. In her meditative state, Hera could''ve sworn that she heard the sound of someone getting slapped. She opened her eye and checked her mana regeneration skill. During the last couple of days, this had been her main focus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Mana Recovery (Rank 3) Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery. By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you become unable to recover mana for 25 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique. Passive Recovery: 33 mana per minute Active Recovery: 46 mana per minute Mastery: 21% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yes!" Hera celebrated. Having broken through the 20% mastery, she was able to increase the skill''s rank by 1. Now she was even closer to getting the mage role quest. Satisfied with the results of the day, Hera headed downstairs to join the others. After their mock battle, the group formally invited Bonnie to join. She agreed to it, but she had to finish a couple of quests before joining them in Hazelpond. Initially, she was going to find a hotel, but after hearing that she would join Hera''s party, Helena insisted on inviting her to stay in the house. They drew straws, and Blue was the one who was supposed to share her room. However, they all agreed that letting the two be roommates would be asking for a crime to happen, so Hera ended up being the one who shared. Alex protested since it was mostly Helena and Hera''s place, but in the end, there was no changing the explorer''s mind. In reality, Hera was excited to have a roommate. The only time she shared a room with someone was when she and Blue were in the hotel. Bonnie had the same feeling. She lived her entire life as someone who had all the space in the world, but she became used to sharing a room when she left her father. Having too much space for herself reminded her of the times she got scolded for not performing as her father expected. The group spent those two days training and workshopping some different tactics. Now that they had someone to take care of the backline they could explore more possibilities. Both Hera and Alex were usually shifting positions, but none of them could fit the role of a ranged attacker. Having Bonnie around would change that. Even if she wasn''t there yet, they could already try to consider how the flow of battle would change. The idea would be for Bonnie to help control the field, but they had to talk to her before making any final decision. Bonnie was coming to Hazelpond today. Hera had already set up her room. She didn''t have many clothes, and the second bed came in from the outside on the day before. Bonnie arrived during the afternoon. It didn''t take long for her to get set up in her new room. The two had a similar taste, but Bonnie had one thing that Hera always wanted to have. A big collection of books. She had even more outside the MAZE. The ones she brought were just the ones she got after becoming a researcher. After setting everything up, Bonnie and Hera went to the living room, but Helena stopped them on the way. "Hey, is everything ok?" "Yeah, we just finished setting everything up," Bonnie replied. "Oh, good. Do you need anything else?" "Yeah, do we have any more blankets? I only have a thin one right now," Hera said. "I''ll check. But before that. Can I talk to you for a moment, Hera? Downstairs," Helena asked. "Sure. Is everything ok?" "Just come with me," Helena walked down to the lab, followed by Hera. There were several of the stones on a table and a training dummy on the side. Hera noticed that the number of stones was much higher than she remembered. She had only brought a pouch of the rocks, but there was even a crate full of them on the side of the room. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Am I getting fired?" Hera asked. "What? Of course not," Helena looked at the rocks, "There is no need to send my ace explorer to collect something that we already know is there. Let''s leave the grunt work for other people. Besides, since no one wants those rocks, I can buy them for cheap, and we can sell them for high prices later. Items that increase the power of spells are hard to come by on this layer. Those are considered a luxury even deeper in the MAZE." "I see¡­" Hera kept staring at the rocks. Even though it was much more than she could have brought, it still felt weird to have someone else getting what Helena needed. "Don''t worry about it. You help me much more than just by getting resources. In fact, I got a new spell for you," Helena picked up a sheet of paper, "Now. I have no idea how you are going to get it. So I set up the code and the formula here, but I also put all my thought processes into how the spell works. I want you to try it out. If it works like I expect it to, we can even share it with your party." "Ok¡­ why are you so mysterious? What kind of spell is it? If I''m turning into a frog, you are the one breaking the news to Alex." Helena placed one hand on her chest, "I''m hurt! How could you compare me with a witch?" Hera pointed to a pot on the desk, "You do have a cauldron here." "I''m taking the dirt out of the elemental rocks. If I boil them with some herbs, most of it comes out, then I can just clean the rest out. That can make the effect stronger. I''m even trying to figure out if there is a potion or a salve that can make this faster," Helena defended. Hera smiled, "Do you hear yourself?" Helena paused for a moment, "Shut up. Do you want the spell or not?" "I mean, it''s kind of hard to want something that you still haven''t explained." "Oh, right. It''s a lesser version of the pangolin scales. According to my tests, the scales can give a 15% boost to a spell. But this¡­ let''s call it enchantment, can give a 5% boost to spells and doesn''t use as much mana as it would take to give that increase. I''m hoping that with time and practice, the buff is increased." "Wait, how does that work? You talk as if it''s not just a buff." "It''s not. Here let me show you," Helena pointed to one of the pages with the magic formula, "So I used the fire arrow spell you have as an example. The idea is to make this be part of the spell kind of modular. I never managed to do it before because I had no idea how I could increase its potency, but the scales gave me an idea. Instead of having the part of the spell that changes the mana into some element, I put the increased potency part. That finally worked, but you have to use it with the right type of mana." "Ok, so it¡¯s kind of an attachment? Like a cover for your cellphone." "Exactly. The problem is, I have no idea if that works. Mages get that increase in potency as we get a complete affinity. And it seems like doubling down on it doesn''t work. I mean I have the spell, it just doesn¡¯t have any effect on my magic. Soooo, think you can figure out a way to use it?" "I have no idea, but I can try. Let me pass those notes to my spellbook," Hera sit down by the desk and started to transcribe everything on her tablet. "Look at you, having a spellbook always on hand. Are you finally taking magic seriously?" "It''s not like I wasn''t. I just had no idea what to do. I need to figure out how to make things work. I realized that I don''t know how to make new spells on my own. They just sort of happened." "I see, well if you need any help you know you can call me. Even though I don''t understand how your spells work." "I will, and if you don''t mind me asking this. If you ask around, can you give me all the suggestions that other people talk about? Last time some of the tips would have helped a lot." "Yeah, don''t worry. I learned my lesson," Helena opened her tablet, "By the way. We got an email that might help me. I''m thinking about trying what they suggested." Hera looked up, "Really? I was thinking about deleting that email account. We didn''t get a single useful idea, and it''s mostly just¡­ Men being annoying." "I know, but something useful finally came through," Helena showed Hera the email. It talked about a medicine that could cleanse the body and remove impurities. It was called ''a drop of honey'' due to the amber-colored circle in the middle of the concoction. The problem was the price since it required high-level materials and its demand wasn''t particularly high. Parasite monsters were rare and easy to remove on-site since it took them a while to enter the body. Ordering one would cost them 50 thousand gold, and that was just to make it. To gather the materials, they should be looking at another 200 thousand. Helena would try to make the order with the guild since, after all, they still owed her, but it was a long shot. Still, getting that much money would just take some time. Hera would chip in to pay for it as well, but that was a conversation for another day. "You know what we need?" Hera turned to Helena. "A potion of eternal youth and a big pile of platinum?" "No... well, yes. But we need a chemist, someone to make some potions that could help you." "I think there are a couple of people in the order who can fit that bill. I''ll talk to them and see if anyone needs a guinea pig." "Pigs, plural. Don''t even think about leaving me out of it. Not to mention that they might need to test potions in combat situations," Hera replied instantly. Helena rolled her eyes, "It''s my problem." "And you are my friend. C''mon Lena, we''ve been over this. I''m part of the drug trials, and that''s final." "If my earings weren''t recharging, I would blind you right now." "Not my fault. You are the one that called me here," Hera replied with a smirk. "Whatever," Helena scoffed, "Try to figure out that spell. If it works, we can discuss sharing with the rest of your party." Hera nodded and kept writing down the notes on her spellbook. When she was done, Helena was polishing one of the elemental stones, "Why are you doing that? Do they get better when clean?" "Not really, but we can''t sell these if they are not pretty. Or at least we can charge more if they look better," Helena replied. "You intend to sell those?" "Maybe. I have a contact, and she''ll take a look at a few to figure out a price. It''s the first time that I''ve seen something that can directly change your mana. Maybe we can make some good money with these since we are the only ones that can tell each element," Helena explained while polishing one of the green rocks. "Just don''t spend the money willy nilly ok. That''s going for the potion fund," Hera replied. "Yes, mother," Helena giggled. "Was that payback for the witch comment?" Hera stared at Helena. "Maybe." "Well, good luck. I''m going to hunt something to vent after that one," Hera got up and left the basement in a huff. Helena kept calling her out, but she quickly left the house. The rest of her party went after her, hoping she wouldn''t do something stupid out of anger. 172 - Possible Path "I just can''t believe she would say that!" Hera bit down on another piece of her steak. "Hera, it''s ok. You know she didn''t mean it," Blue motioned to Alex and Bonnie, asking them for help. "Yeah, it''s just a joke," Alex said Hera shook her head, "I know, and I know that she didn''t mean anything bad. You guys are saying that for the past hour. I got it. It just sucks. I feel like she''s comparing me with my mother," she was angrily cutting the last piece of the meat on her place, "I need a shower, with bleach." After leaving the house in a huff, Hera wanted to hunt, but the group convinced her to stay in the guild gym. She wasn''t exactly in the right state to do something dangerous. She took out her frustration on the weights and in a punching bag. She had left without eating breakfast, and by noon Hera was starving. "Hera, you should talk to her. If not, you might bottle that up and explode someday. Just say you didn''t like it," Alex placed one hand on Hera''s shoulder. Hera took a sip from her soda, "I will. Sorry for the freakout. It''s just been a while since I thought about my mother, and it just made me angry. I''ll talk to her after this." With the improved mood, Bonnie changed the subject, "On a side note. Mark is asking about crafting positions around here. It seems there were some issues with the workshop where he''s working, not that this comes as a surprise. Do you guys know any place where he could try to get a job?" "Not here in Hazelpond, but he might find something in the caverns. I mean, there are a lot of shops there," Blue said. "Yeah, maybe that small one that you showed us, Hera. There was just one guy working there, right? And his grandpa," Alex took a bite of her chicken. "I''m not sure. That place is really small. Maybe they don''t even have space for another crafter," Hera had finished the steak and was now attacking the fries. "Anyway, tell him to drop by when he can. We can show him around the caverns, and worst-case scenario, he can work as a miner if he really wants to leave there. I mean, the work should be kind of the same," Blue said. "Mining and crafting? I think they are way too different," Alex shook her head. "Why? Both involve doing the same thing over and over in a stuffy place around a bunch of sweaty people covered in dirt. I mean, he won''t be raising his skills, but at least he would have a way to leave that place," Blue replied. "I''m still not used to you making sense, you know," Bonnie sighed. "Your loss. I''ve always been smart. You just didn''t get me." "Yeah, the first one to get you was Quinn, right?" Alex teased. "That''s right. You started to change after the two of you hooked up," Hera nodded. "Well¡­ she''s smart, and I don''t want to look like a chimpanzee when we are going out," Blue started to blush. "Awwww, that''s so sweet. She makes you want to be a better person," Alex pinched Blue''s cheek. "Bite me!" Blue pushed her back. "Isn''t that something you should ask Quinn?" Hera asked. Blue groaned and left the table for the bathroom. The three kept laughing at her reaction, but Hera was happy. Quinn seemed to make Blue push herself in a good direction. She seemed more centered and more careful about her comments and was taking more interest in strategy and tactics. It was still all about fighting, but it was nice seeing someone she cared for so much broadening her horizons. "By the way, are you sure you are ok?" Alex turned to Hera. "I''m still annoyed with Helena, but yeah. I''m fine." "I wasn''t talking about that. I mean the mock battle. You were the only one that didn''t win a single match." "Alex! Don''t rub salt on the wound," Bonnie chimed in. "You can rub all the salt you want. There is no wound. I''m fine. I know you guys liked the mock battle a lot, especially Blue and Runir, but I just wasn''t feeling it. I don''t want to hit my friends or participate in fighting tournaments. I rather find new things, get stronger, kill some strong monsters. Mock battles feel¡­ bland. There is no thrill," Hera explained. Bonnie stared at her, "You are an adrenaline junkie, you know that?" "Yep. My shrink agrees and keeps telling me to be careful until we can fix that." They kept talking and joking around. Sometime later, they returned home. Helena had ordered a cake as an apology and was waiting by the living room. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "We''ll give you two some time to talk," Alex patted Hera on the back before heading to her room, followed by Blue and Bonnie. Hera walked to a chair and sat down in front of Helena. "Hey, sweetie." "Hey. Do you mind if I talk first?" Helena shook her head as a reply to Hera''s question, "Ok, look. I shouldn''t have stormed off like that. The girls helped me see that. Instead of avoiding it, I''m just going to say it point-blank. I hate that you called me mother. I don''t care if it was a joke or whatever, but I''ve told you about some of the problems with my family," Helena was about to say something, but Hera made a motion for her to stop, "Hold on, let me finish. What I told you was just the tip of the iceberg. My mom was the one that told the people in my school that I spent two days crying after my 18th birthday. She gave me makeup every birthday and Christmas so I could, ''Finally, be a pretty girl.'' Anyway, the point is calling me a mother, a mom friend, or anything related to being a parental figure freaks me the hell out. Please, never do it again. If you need, call me a grandma, that''s fine." Hera looked to the kitchen behind Helena the entire time. It was close enough to the mage¡¯s head not to seem rude, or at least that¡¯s what she hoped. Confrontations made her uncomfortable. Saying something like that to Helena felt awful, but the girls were right. She loved living here, and if she let that one slide, more could come in the future, and she could end up having to move to feel at home again. "Sweetie¡­" Helena cleaned a tear forming on her left eye and moved closer to Hera, holding her hand, "I''m very, very sorry about this. It was never my intention to hurt you. I don''t know how much your mom hurt you, but I can guarantee you are nothing like her." "Say, mother, It''s stupid, but a mom is supposed to be warm and loving. Mine was, well. Closer to mother dearest." Helena gave Hera a hug, "I''m sorry. I''m sorry for what I said, I''m sorry for the mother you have, I''m sorry for not being a better friend. I''m sorry for everything." "Lena, you don''t have to be sorry for anything. Aside from what you said, I''ll take that. But the rest is not your fault. Why are you the one apologizing?" Hera patted Helena''s head. "It''s not fair. You are so kind. You didn''t deserve to be treated that way." "It''s fine. I''ve been out of that place for a few years already. You don''t need to worry. I''m fine now," Hera kept consoling Helena, but the irony of the situation didn''t escape her. She was the one who got hurt, and now the mighty shadow mage was the one bawling her eyes out. The two stood like that for a while until Helena calmed down. Hera tried to distract her by changing the subject to the shadow spells she used. The trick worked, and soon Helena stopped crying, even if she was still sad about Hera''s childhood. Inadvertently, the discussion gave Hera some insight into what type of mage she could become. Helena used shadow magic to remove a target''s senses and then restrain them. There were fell spells she used to deal actual damage, and even though they were simple, they were made to be deadly. One would deal more damage if the target wasn''t moving. Another would have an increased effect if the spell hit a target afflicted by an ailment, the more ailments it had, the stronger it would be. Sadly, not all spells that Helena used to take away someone''s senses were considered afflictions, but the idea seemed very interesting. She already had a couple of ways to create some conditions. If she managed to use a similar spell, she could improve her combat ability by a lot. In games, things like being poisoned or paralyzed always felt underwhelming, but there was a reason why so much medicinal knowledge was about treatment and not cure. Removing poison from the body is nearly impossible. All we can do is to help the body fight back and wait for it to take its course. Helena got excited when Hera made her suggestion. Being someone who could specialize in ailments had a lot of potential and, although neither of the two spoke these words, it could lead to a solution for the parasites inside Helena. The two went deep into research mode, talking about the type of spells that could synergize with afflictions. Helena had a deep understanding of the subject since she spent years perfecting her current capabilities. Even if she wasn''t able to perform as well as she could before the assault on the wall, the knowledge she gained from that was still on her mind. About two hours after the group had arrived back at home, Blue, Alex, and Bonnie emerged from their rooms, worried about the conversation that Hera and Helena were having. "Is everything ok?" Bonnie asked. Hera and Helena were so focused on their conversation that they didn''t even hear the call. "I guess so," Blue noticed how the two had large smiles on their faces. "Maybe the smell of coffee can snap them out of¡­ whatever that is," Alex headed to the kitchen. "¡­ So if we think about afflictions as conditions that stay inside the body and not just to meddle with the outside. Some debuffs could also be counted," Helena said. "I see. So maybe even debuffs that target the bones or organs could be considered, just like the confusion effect," Hera added. Bonnie rushed to the couch, "You guys are talking spells? Can I join?" "Sweet mother of Troy! Where did you come from?" Helena gasped. "I was just in the hallway, but I heard you talking about spells. Can I join?" Bonnie repeated. "Well. That is up to Hera," Helena said. "Are you ok sharing that? I mean, isn''t that part of your research?" Hera asked. "Not really. It has nothing to do with my research, and all to do with your possible future. Besides, when can I brag about knowing a lot about status effects?" "Ok then," Hera nodded, "I was thinking about focusing more on status effects. I already can do some damage with my weapons, so maybe the spells can work as a support. You see, Helena has a spell that¡­." Blue walked towards the kitchen and leaned on the counter next to Alex, "I don''t get how they can be so excited when discussing theories about magic." "Wouldn''t you get like that when talking about fighting?" Alex placed the coffee in the machine. "I would, but fighting is one thing, theory crafting a build is another." "Aren¡¯t you looking for a new build? Wouldn¡¯t it help to join them?" "I don¡¯t want to get in the middle of their discussion." "C''mon, you never theory crafted a build in a game? Is the same thing," Alex nudged Blue with her shoulder. "I was never that into games. I usually build whatever people tell me to just to be part of the group." "What about now? Are you going to just do whatever people tell you to? " ¡°No, but I''m stuck,¡° Blue rested her face on the counter. "So talk to me. Maybe I can help. What are you thinking about?" Alex turned to Blue, " You shouldn''t put your face there. I just spilled some ground beans." "Awww, man," Blue got up quickly, cleaning her hair with her hands, "I washed my hair today." "Who places their head in the kitchen counter?" "Who leaves the kitchen counter dirty?" "I''m using this. When I''m done, I''ll clean it," Alex started to help Blue take the ground coffee beans from her hair. Blue looked back at the three in the living room. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, even if they were doing something boring. She might as well try it. "Ok, here is the thing. When I fight, I feel like¡­" 173 - Back to the rave During that week, Hera also spent a couple of hours a day in the ATRs trying to get new spells. She bought the compendium for a paralysis spell and for a fear spell. The first one was easy to get. Hera just needed to create a projectile that would discharge an electrical current on the target to lock its muscles in place, almost like throwing a charged battery. The spell wasn''t very effective when facing against something like the sprites or an elemental, but against beasts, it had a high success rate. The fear spell was something different. It wasn''t a projectile, but an area of effect spell. Hera never created something like that. The only spell that could get close to what her trainer used was her pulse. But the concepts clashed. When active, the pulse was supposed to be something that would send her back information about her surroundings. The fear would hit all the targets in an area and then apply the effect as if it was coming from her. Not only did it feel much more complicated to do an area of effect ailment, but she also was worried about her party. If they were in the way of the spell, they could become afraid of her, which would lead to problems. Her attention was also divided between the fear spell and the attachment spell that Helena showed her. Inside an ATR, it was easier to create new spells. She never realized it before, but the structure of the training room made it so mana would become less erratic. Still, trying to change just a small piece of a spell wasn''t easy for those who used formulas or codes, much less for a conceptual caster. By the end of the week, Hera still wasn''t sure how she could change just the beginning of her poison spray and her party had other plans. The group was once more in front of the underground forest entrance. They spent a week hunting bats and moles around the Carpon Caverns and felt confident with the new member. Bonnie had even leveled up once during that. She was still the lowest level member, being at level 4, but no one could say she couldn''t hold her ground. "We faced this challenge before and emerged victorious. I trust we can do it once more," Tom slammed his fist on his chest plate. "I mean, I almost got my guts spilled out, but sure, let''s call it a victory," Alex smirked. "I''m so sorry about that, Alex. I should''ve been more careful," Hera stared at the armor covering the assassin''s stomach. "Don''t you start with that. I already told you, again and again, to stop trying to make up to me. It wasn''t your fault." "But¡­" Blue pushed Hera to the side before she could finish speaking. "Stop that. If you want to feel bad, do it after. Keep your head in the game." Hera pushed Blue back but stopped talking. She knew her friend was right. "Is everyone ready?" Runir asked. Receiving a positive nod, they all walked into the forest. Since Bonnie would be doing it for the first time, they agreed to move straight to the boss. Only after they felt comfortable enough, they would go after Hera''s and Alex''s quests. The start of the dungeon was much like what they expected. Thanks to Bonnie''s ranged attacks, it was easier to deal with the quick-moving sprites. Even when they evaded the spells, someone could follow it up with an attack, taking advantage of the more predictable movement. In just 35 minutes, they had reached the middle of the dungeon and their first rest area. "How are you doing?" Hera turned to Bonnie. "I''m ok. I think. The lights are just annoying. I get why they gave you a migraine," Bonnie rubbed her eyes. "Speaking of which, let me take something for headaches," Hera pulled her first aid kit and took one of the pills. "This is the only one you took today?" Runir asked. "Yeah, my head started to hurt about five minutes ago. It''s better to take it now, right?" Runir nodded, "Yeah. These are over-the-counter medicine but still, try not to take more than eight a day. If you can, keep the doses 6 hours apart, but worst-case scenario, don''t take more than two every two hours. The pills are pretty weak, but they can have some side effects, not to mention letting you grow resistant to them." "Will do. Thanks, doc," Hera smiled. Runir just nodded back. He seemed down since earlier that day, but before she could ask anything about it, Tom started to discuss strategies that they could use against the sprites. After the short 10 minutes break, they got up again and moved towards the boss room. Before the final rest area a few minutes from the boss, they had to face a large force of sprites. They would come from all directions, even above the giant mushrooms. Last time, they had run to the cavern''s corridor to create a funnel where only two people could be in melee range at a time. Since they had Bonnie this time, it would be faster, but Tom still wanted to attempt fighting in the open. Waiting for the sprites to come towards the tunnel could take a long time. Bonnie could also have some trouble using spells in such a narrow space. The area was one of the brightest rooms inside the dungeon. Hundreds of mushrooms spread around the floor with over a dozen giant ones that glowed almost like strobe lights. The sprites emerged from their hiding spots and moved towards the group. There was more than last time, but Tom had warned them that this could happen. It was possible to lure the monsters by using mana and having another member who focused on spells could bring more enemies in certain areas. It was hard to see the small glowing spheres approaching, but by using her Pulse, Hera figured out a way to target them as they got closer. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Bonnie used her frost bomb, trying to make the sprites too heavy to float. The plan didn''t work, but an unexpected result came with the attack. The glowing spheres grew dimmer, turning into shadowed spots contrasting with the bright background. "Why is cold so useful?" Blue gasped as she noticed the monsters approaching. "Because I think ahead. Of course, cold would help against light-based monsters. Light generates heat," Bonnie replied, throwing a couple more cold bombs around the area. More and more sprites appeared. Doing a quick count, Hera could see fourteen of the monsters and their small tendrils heading towards the group. Trying her new Paralyze spell for the first time against something other than an animal, Hera flung the small green projectile. Unlike her poison needle, this one was larger and had a cylindrical shape. The spell flew towards one of the sprites, and when it hit, the back of the mana construct opened. Several streaks of what looked like electric sparks covered the small monster, making it fall to the ground. Hera targeted a close enough creature for her to attack, and as it hit the floor, her handaxe came crashing down on top of it. Trying the same thing once more, Hera aimed at another sprite. The spell hit them without an issue, but the projectile fell off when the electricity was supposed to activate. It looked as if it wasn''t able to stick into the monster. She had seen that happen before. There were two moments where the paralyze spell could miss. The first was when the slug she sent wasn''t able to take hold of the target. The second was when the target resisted the electricity that came with the attack. Hera knew that there wasn''t much she could do about the resistance aside from trying it again, but when the spell fell like that, it hurt her pride. She was able to make a copy of what the trainer had shown, but the simulation never had that problem. She had to be missing something. "Hera, duck!" Alex shouted. Hera replied by instantly dropping to the floor while two wind cutters hit something just above her head. The sprite got pushed back, and Hera got up, trying to hit it with her handaxe. Even after the impact, the monster was able to dodge her attack. Pulling up her chakram, Hera tossed it to the side, pulling it up towards the sprite. At the same time, she pushed forward, trying to hit it with her handaxe. The monster dodged the attack once more, but the chakram was able to nick it on the side. Twisting her body, Hera was able to slam the side of her handaxe into the sprite, sending it flying to the side and slamming it against one of the large mushrooms. She followed it up with another attack, cutting the monster in half and opening a large gash on the mushroom. The cut was deep enough to make some of the mana inside the glowing fungus leak out. The hazy colorful smoke seemed to attract a few of the other sprites, allowing the group to quickly dispatch them. In those few moments, the 15 creatures were reduced to 5. Tom stopped moving for a moment and stabbed through the center of two of the remaining monsters. Blue grabbed one with both her hands and spiked it into the ground. Alex used her wind cutters to restrain a sprite''s movements and finished it off with one stab. Bonnie created several small fist type spells and flung them towards the last one, overwhelming it with the sheer number of attacks. In the middle of the barrage, Hera noticed one yellow-colored fist that had a more pointy appearance to it. With all the monsters dead, they checked their loot. Aside from the oddly shaped glowsticks, they got about 100 gold in total as drops from the sprites. If they sold it all, it could easily reach 300 gold. The stores in the city could use the glowsticks as materials for other items. Torches and flashlights, accessories, and glowing paint could be made from the glowing mushrooms that the sprites could drop. Before leaving the room, Hera whispered to Bonnie, "Hey, is that cold thing true? Did you know it would help?" "Don''t tell Blue, but no. I guessed it would help against frogs, but I had no idea it would work here." Hera chuckled as they walked towards another tunnel, "Your secret is safe with me." Although it was much smaller, they dealt with one more group and finally reached the last rest area before the boss. Tom explained once more about how the bosses worked. Bonnie would face one for the first time. Hera and Alex made sure to tell her what to watch out for if they found the giant sprite. They waited a while to recover their mana and stamina before heading to the boss'' room. Bonnie was still worried about the fight, but they all assured her that they could just run away if things took a wrong turn. She took a deep breath before the group stepped inside the chamber with the large green pillars. Once they entered the arena, the columns started to glow, turning into what looked like giant pieces of jade. The radiance went beyond the pillars and dripped up towards the ceiling. The trickle of light changed into a stream and then a river. Looking up, it was like staring at a waterfall made of pure white and gold light. Blue took out her tablet and took a few pictures. Her family wouldn''t believe her otherwise, and now she could share it with them. Hera stared at the scenery with tears forming around her eyes. She didn''t care how many people had been here. This was the type of thing that made her want to be an explorer. The tales of impossibly beautiful places that defy all logic or reason. Now she knew they were not just fiction. The middle of the ceiling became covered in a fog, and little by little, three shapes emerged from it, upside-down pyramids that seemed to be solid forms of the liquid that flooded from the pillars. As the creatures descended more and more, it became clear that it was, in fact, a single being. The pyramids merged as they touched, and above them, there was an elongated round shape, almost like the top of an egg. The creature came down and started hovering just above the ground. It was taller than anyone in the group, but not by much, and almost as wide as the stone pillars. The form shifted, and a pair of golden and silver wings appeared from its back. The wings looked off. It was as if they were made of metal to fit an ivory sculpture, but by a different artist. They had several lines that would be parallel from each other, connected by thin strings of light. The creature flapped its wings, showing even more of its mechanical appearance. They had no flexibility, only moving forward and back, each like a door being moved around. Hera used her [Observe] before it moved or attacked the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Light of the forest (Light affinity) - Level 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Kind of obvious, but it has light affinity," Hera said in a hushed tone not to trigger the combat. "Tom? Should we strike now?" Runir asked. "Hold steady, my friend. If we attempt to attack it before the creature notices its brethren trapped inside the fungi, it will have a much better tactical mind. Anger shall cloud its judgment." The light spirit started to move from one side to another, almost as if it was dancing. Little by little, the movements became more frantic until it finally turned towards the room''s entrance. There was a pause followed by a deafening roar as the creature jumped towards the ceiling, slamming against the remains of the pool of light and falling to the ground. The moment it hit the roof, Tom shouted, "Now!" 174 - The light of the Forest As soon as the light spirit started falling to the ground, Tom gave the order to attack. Hera and Alex rushed towards the center of the room to be ready to attack the monster. Bonnie flung an ice fist towards it, but before it reached the target, the ice started to melt because of the spirit''s light. Yet, its body wasn''t scorching like the giant sprite. What caused the change in temperature was the light coming from it that refracted inside the ice and created a beam of concentrated heat that even burned the floor. Runir pulled Bonnie to the side, making her avoid the heat ray. "Don''t use ice again," he stared at Bonnie for a moment. "Yeah, ice is a bad idea." The monster didn''t get to hit the floor. When its metallic wing was about to touch the ground, it started hovering once more. Hera and Alex were the only ones fast enough to reach the light spirit before it started moving. A dagger and a handaxe slashed at the creature as it shifted back to its standing position. The attacks connected, Hera was sure of it, but there was no reaction or signs of it being hurt. "Fall back. The beast shall use its¡­" Tom started speaking. "English, Tom!" Hera yelled. "The monster is going to start its spells. Get away and don''t stop moving!" Hera and Alex moved away, getting out of the stone circle, as a wave of light covered the area near the spirit. The soft yellow glow turned reddish, and several large beams of light covered the room. They were all coming from the tips of the monster''s wings. "The spells won''t get close to each other, but they can track us," Tom warned as he moved to the side. Hera dodged the first beam, but the following one was aimed at her new position as if it was chasing her. She wanted to throw her chakram at the monster, but with her movement, the string would end up being entangled in the columns. Not wanting to get in a situation where the pillars were an issue once more, Hera jumped back inside the stone circle and tossed her chakram at the monster, using the wire trap style to give the attack a stronger impact. At the same time, Bonnie flung a mud fist at the spirit while Blue tried to get closer to attack it. Alex was having some issues to stay away from the beams. Normally, she ran around her target to catch it off guard, but her speed became a problem. Moving too quickly would make her reach the range of a second beam. Now, she focused on understanding how fast she could move without putting herself in a bad position. Tom was doing something similar to Alex, but instead of running around the stone circle, he was looping a single pillar. He got closer to the boss and stabbed it with a flurry before running back, leading the beam away from the monster before doing the same thing again. Blue wasn''t having the best time. If she stayed too close to the monster, it was easy to get in the range from another of its light rays. But staying far away would make her useless. She had yet to find something to help her have some ranged capabilities. At most, she could dash to punch the light spirit a single time before running away. Runir and Bonnie were using the stone pillars to hide and block the attacks as they darted back into positions to help with the fight. As Hera moved around the arena, she noticed that the pillars receiving the light rays were starting to melt, "Guys, the pillars can melt, watch out," she called before preparing a paralyze spell using about a quarter of her mana. She launched the spell when it was ready, and a projectile the size of a soda can flew through the air hitting the light spirit on its apparent head. The electricity was deployed. The green streaks covered the monster''s body just as the yellow spiked fist hit the creature. That seemed to amplify Hera''s spell, generating more lightning streaks covering the spirit. The Light of the Forest started to shake. The electricity seemed to be hurting it the more it tried to move. Even the wings got stuck as they tried to flap. Unsure what that meant, Hera activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Light of the forest (Light affinity) ¨C Level 7 ¨C Shocked ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell does shocked mean?" Hera gasped. "What?" Bonnie shouted from the other side. "We''ll talk later," Hera moved closer to the monster and threw her chakram once more. Following it up with a poison needle using her mana stone. Tom stood in front of the light spirit, preparing his charged attack. At the same time, Alex tossed one of her daggers to the other side of the creature and held out her hand. When the blade went over the monster, it stopped, and as if it was being pulled by a powerful magnet, the weapon went back to Alex''s hand, passing through the middle of the spirit. The moment the dagger returned to its owner, the monster broke free from the electricity coursing through its body, still showing no signs of the attacks on its form. The beams stopped being fired while the monster was hindered. Now that the light spirit had recovered, the group moved away, waiting for the return of the attack, but it didn''t come. Instead, six stars appeared around the creature and started to orbit it. Hera got a bad feeling about that and moved even farther away. The orbs began to trickle down a liquid light that sizzled and burned as it hit the ground. To make things worse, they began following the group. Each had their own personal star. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Blue tried to evade the attack with small movements, but it didn''t take long for her to step into a puddle made of the liquid light. Her foot burned with the contact, but her quick movement was enough to avoid losing her shoes. Yet, the surprise of the wet patch was enough to allow the star to drip the light on her shoulder. It wasn''t enough to break through her shoulder guards, but some liquid spilled over her face, burning like she had spilled a hot bowl of soup. Oddly enough, the light had the smell of a freshly cleaned pool. Runir healed the small damage that Blue received as he moved around to evade the dripping liquid. "How can we stop this, Tom?" Hera asked. "I don''t know. It''s the first time I''ve seen this!" he dashed towards the monster and stabbed it a few times before the dripping light reached his position. Tom jumped to the side and back towards the arena''s outer ring, the trail of liquid light following each of his steps. It had barely been a minute since the stars appeared, and about 20% of the floor was already covered in small puddles of the silvered gold liquid. To make matters worse, the trickles were increasing, just as they did in the jade pillars. If it followed the same pattern soon, they would be drowned in the light. Tom wasn''t the only one who noticed that. Bonnie looked around, trying to find a solution for the situation, but there was nothing. She saw Hera and Alex on the other side of the arena moving on a collision course, "Alex! Hera! Spread out. You are going towards each other." Hera looked back, but she was zigzagging to avoid spreading the liquid around. She couldn''t turn back. Alex approached, moving back to the arena''s inner circle, but even so, the liquid cut off Hera''s path. The puddles weren''t massive, but it still could be dangerous to try to jump over them. What if she slipped and fell face first in the light? Not having much else of an option, she jumped over the golden trail left by Alex''s pursuer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap!" Hera gasped. Her jump was much more powerful than she expected. She slammed against the side of one of the stone pillars and fell to the ground. Blue was running from her star and passed right by the explorer. Hera had to squeeze herself by the column so she wouldn''t get hit by the liquid coming from Blue''s star. Hera dashed away from the pillar as soon as she could, trying to flee from her own pursuer. The Light of the Forest was standing still during this entire time. The whole group was doing its best to attack it while running away from the stars, but they were faster than the beams. It gave them very few opportunities to attack. Hera prepared another paralyze. The first one was enough to stop the monster''s spells for a moment. Maybe it could work again. Still running around, she threw the spell at the light spirit, but the projectile bounced off its body. She tried once more, but the effect was the same. "Hera! Look at the pillar you just passed," Bonnie shouted. The liquid light seemed to be sucked by the pillar, pulling even some nearby puddles. "I see," Tom gasped, "Lure the stars towards the pillars. Let the light fuel the waterfall once more." "What?" Blue asked. "The beast was trying to return from where it came. We must open the passage once more," Tom said as he ran towards the closest column. "Aren''t we supposed to kill that thing?" Alex asked. "Some dungeons have more than one way to deal with a boss. That might work!" Runir said as he rushed towards the closest pillar. "Fine," Blue turned to the side, moving towards another of the columns. In total, there were 8 stones. Alex and Hera were the most mobile and took advantage of it to move between two of the targets, bathing them in the light coming from the stars chasing them. The Light of the Forest started to move, doing its weird dance once more. As the stones absorbed the golden liquid, they turned to a bright jade color once more, the light seeping into the cracks and moving up. Four of the pillars filled up quickly, and the stream of light started to flow towards the ceiling. Hera and Alex''s ones took longer to get to that point, and the monster''s dance started to become more erratic. Much like when the combat started. Tom rushed towards one of the pillars, trying to assist with the pillars before it was too late. The light spirit danced faster and faster. Just as the streams from all the stones became waterfalls, it jumped towards the lake of light disappearing in the fog under it. For a few moments, the light kept flowing up, but nothing happened. "So¡­ did we get it?" Blue asked. "I think so, but we should have a notification, right?" Alex looked around. "Yeah, my quest is still marked as ongoing. Maybe we missed some¡­" before Bonnie could end her train of thought, the entire cave started to rumble. A bright light came from the entrance of the boss'' room. "I think we should head to the other side," Hera moved away from the door. They all followed her as the rumbling became louder. Suddenly, thousands of pure white sprites came flooding into the chamber. Before anyone could react, the stampede moved up toward the lake of light, and all the shining globules entered the fog cloud. It took two minutes for all the sprites to enter the portal, but all the lights in the underground forest vanished when the last one crossed. In front of them, just a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the hidden Dungeon Quest inside the Underground Forest. By helping to placate the Light of the Forest and reopening its portal, you allowed the spirit to take all the light of the forest back to where it belongs. Rewards: Access to Underground Forest hard mode, Mushroom Sunglasses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Did everyone get this?" Hera asked. They all nodded in confirmation. "Oh man, these glasses are awesome. Too bad they just work here," Blue said as she put on the glasses with mushroom-shaped lenses. Hera retrieved it from the rewards screen on her tablet and inspected the pair with green-colored lenses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mushroom Sunglasses ¨C Uncommon These sunglasses can protect the wearer from the harmful lights inside the Underground Forest. Outside the specified dungeon, they can block a small amount of ultraviolet radiation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Does anyone want to trade? Pink is not my color," Runir said, staring at his pair. "Sure, I don''t think green works well with my gear," Hera gave him the sunglasses. "So, did the boss drop something, or we just have the hard mode, and that''s it?" Blue asked. Tom was in the middle of the room, right below where the Light of the Forest had vanished from, "Worry not, my brave companion. The mighty foe has left us the spoils," he picked something up from the ground and turned to the group holding two gold coins, "For our efforts we shall receive 500 gold, to be split among us," Tom sighed. 175 - Photoshoot After the sprites left the cave, all the mushrooms lost their glow. It wasn''t like after they defeated the Sprite Amalgamation, then the lights were just reduced to a bearable brightness. Now the entire forest was in pitch-black darkness. If it wasn''t for the light spell that Hera, Bonnie, and Tom were using, they wouldn''t even be able to see the ground under their feet. "So... do all dungeons change like this when we trigger the hard mode?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. It''s the first time I activated one," Runir stumbled on a small mushroom but managed to catch himself before falling. "Don''t get too excited," Blue joked. "It''s these damn mushrooms. I didn''t notice there were so many of them around the floor." "What about you, Tom?" Hera asked from the back. "I was a part of expeditions into two separated dungeons where our foes had increased strength. It was a harrowing experience. Thankfully, we prevailed. The innocent turtles were reunited with their bloodline." Bonnie moved closer to Hera, "What did he just say?" "I think he''s talking about that dungeon where you save the baby turtles back in Brinefront and that he beat the hard mode," Hera replied with confidence but turned to Runir for a confirmation. "That''s what he said. You are getting good at that," Runir nodded. Tom frowned, "I do not appreciate being treated as a being from beyond the stars." "I mean, you kind of ask for it. You can''t complain when you are a breath away from speaking a lost language," Blue said. When they completed the dungeon, there was nothing left to do inside of it. According to Tom, hidden paths would become blocked if they were not discovered before completing the quest. It was a shame since Hera couldn''t see the secret that Tom knew about. "So what is the plan? Are we trying to beat the Hard mode?" Blue asked. "I''m not sure if it''s a good idea. I mean, they are supposed to be very hard, right?" Hera said. "Yeah, like the angel said. We shouldn''t rush things," Alex nodded. "Angel?" Hera asked. Without looking back, Alex just pointed up. Hera had placed her light spell above her head as they walked. That way, no one would block the light as they moved around. One odd thing she noticed was that now her spell had a slight golden tint to it. Close to the color of the Light of the Forest''s body. The change resulted in a single side effect. Now Hera was constantly bathed in a golden light. "You know, she''s not wrong," Bonnie said after taking a few steps to the side, getting a better look. "Haha, very funny," Hera rolled her eyes. "No, no, we are right," Alex poked Blue with her elbow, "do the thing with your arms and make some smoke around her." "Yeah! Can anyone make some wings?" Bonnie said. "C''mon guys, cut it out," Hera started walking again. "Awww, don''t be like that. When are we going to have such a perfect moment for a photo? Let me take that one, pleeeeaaaseee," Alex pulled Hera''s arm. After some insistence, Hera gave in, and the group mounted a photoshoot. Tom and Runir seemed to be less interested in the idea, but even they helped out. After around 20 minutes and countless pictures taken, it became too much for Hera. "Ok, we are done. Let''s get the hell out of this place!" she commanded and started walking once more towards the entrance. "I must agree. As much as I enjoyed the photographs, we must move on, or we won''t have enough time for another attempt to clear the dungeon," Tom followed Hera''s lead. "Ok, ok. Let me send the photos to the group app. I''ll put some effects on them later," Alex kept her tablet on hand while the group walked. Hera had to deactivate her light since she was almost out of mana, but with Tom''s and Bonnie''s, it was still more than enough to see the path they were taking. Hera kept walking in a huff. She never enjoyed taking pictures of herself and being used as a prop didn''t help. Still, they were her friends, and she knew they weren''t trying to make fun of her. After ten minutes or so, Hera''s mood improved. Bonnie was running out of mana, so the two swapped positions. Hera placed the light above her shoulder this time. If there was some shadow, she couldn''t do anything about it, but it was better than having people calling her an angel again. "Tom, can you keep the light there while we all gather here?" Bonnie asked, making them all stop. "I am able to do so, yes. But may I inquire the reason?" "I want to take a picture." "Another one? Don''t you guys get tired?" Hera sighed. "I wanted a group photo. The light is amazing here, and it''s more fun to have a dungeon in the background." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Hera accepted the idea even though she couldn''t stand taking another picture. They gathered in front of Tom''s dancing lights and let them be in the background while Hera''s light spell bathed them all in the slightly golden light. She had to recast the spell to get a better position, but it wasn''t much of an issue. Bonnie made an ice fist on the ground and used it as a stand for her tablet while setting up the timer. Blue walked closer to Hera and whispered. "Sorry for the pictures. I know you hate that, but you looked so cool." Hera sighed, "It''s fine. When it became too much, I walked off. I can do something that I don''t like as long as I''m with friends." "Does that mean you would come to a club with us?" Blue asked with a smile. "Don''t push it¡­ but maybe." "All set!" Bonnie rushed towards the group. A few moments passed, and the camera took two pictures, one with a flash and one without it. As Bonnie picked up her tablet to show the picture to everyone, Hera kept staring at the ice fist on the ground. "I think I''m forgetting something¡­" she mumbled. Bonnie showed the picture to everyone. Hera''s light worked as a spotlight illuminating the group and their armor, while Tom''s revealed the mushrooms in the background. It wasn''t a professionally lit photo, but the result was excellent. Hera noticed that the dancing lights made the green tones of the mushrooms pop. "That''s it!" Hera gasped, "Bonnie. That spiky fist that you sometimes make, what is its element?" "It''s electric. Why?" Bonnie stared at Hera with a confused expression. "Do you have any idea why two or even three people would have the same element appearing in different colors?" Hera asked. "I don''t. Why? Is that paralyze thing electric?" "Yeah. I was trying to figure out why it looks different. If it''s just because of the user or the color has something to do with something." Bonnie passed her tablet to the rest of the group while she and Hera talked, "Do you have any idea what it could be? What could change?" "Not really. But for instance, my poison spells come out orange, while others are green. When I was trying to get the paralyze spell, the trainer''s version was yellow too. Blue also has a spell that deals with electricity, but it is well¡­ blue." "I''m going to need to look that up. Someone else must have realized this. But yeah, it is weird. Can I see the spell? Maybe there is something that gives us a hint." "Sure," Hera pulled up her spellbook app and opened the description of the spell she transcribed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Paralyze Creates a projectile that can paralyze a living target for a few moments. The time of the paralysis is based on the amount of mana spent and the target''s resistance. Range: 5 meters Base mana cost: 55 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So aside from not working on undead or constructs, the description doesn''t help with that," Bonnie said. "It probably wouldn''t affect robots, too," Hera said. "Well, it''s not like we can test it on one," Bonnie replied. The rest of the group walked slowly to leave room for the two to talk. Tom and Alex didn''t care about why the spells were different, while Runir and Blue had nothing to contribute to the conversation. After another 20 minutes, they finally reached the exit of the dungeon. "Man, if the dungeons had exits by the boss, it would help a lot," Blue said as they emerged from the underground forest. Seeing the other dozen groups resting around the entrance. "There are those dungeons that allow us to return more quickly. It is a shame this is not among them," Tom said as the group walked towards one of the free benches by the side of the entrance. "So, what''s next? We are doing this again, or you guys have other ideas?" Bonnie sat down on the floor. "I think we can try this again. It''s not like we had that much trouble beating the quest," Alex said. "And that''s exactly why we should try the hard mode. This one was too easy," Blue chimed in. "Blue, I almost killed Alex here. And we didn''t even clear the entire dungeon. I think the hard mode is way too much for us," Hera said. "Not to mention, we didn''t even kill or damage the boss. We just made it run away," Alex said. "I must agree. When we enter a dungeon''s hard mode, it quickly becomes apparent the challenge it presents. At most, we would be able to face the first few groups before retreating," Tom turned to Alex, "A small correction, we were dealing damage to our foe. That creature is not able to bleed or show wounds that we can see," Tom explained. "Let''s not push it too much. Tom might be level 8, but the rest of us are level 5," Runir finished drinking from his water bottle, "Either way, we might need to head back. I''m almost out of water already." ¡°I have some more," Bonnie passed one of her spare bottles to Runir, ¡°And a small correction. I¡¯m still level 4.¡± "Besides, Hera and I still have a quest to do here," Alex said. "That''s true. I completely forgot about that. Think we can do it next time?" Hera turned to Tom. "I would prefer if we hold on before challenging the named creature. It is not as strong as one of the bosses, but I can''t say I know everything it is capable of. What I do know is that it can summon the other sprites from the dungeon. It is best to clear all the other creatures before heading towards it," Tom explained. "So, what if we try to clear the other path? The one with a lot of monsters," Hera suggested. Tom nodded, "It is a good way to confirm if we can face it and to neutralize that sprite''s skill." "Ok then, let''s do it one more time!" Blue got up. "Easy there, we should take a half-hour break at least. That is a really long walk," Runir said. "But I''m¡­" before Blue could finish the sentence, she noticed that Bonnie had taken her boots off. They might have been fine with the constant march, but she was clearly not at the same pace. Blue cleared her throat, "Yeah, we should go in top condition." The group rested, talking about the fight and celebrating that they were able to fight without getting seriously hurt. Half an hour later, they felt ready to try it once more, going through the shorter path. As Tom said, the number of sprites on the way was several times greater than through the longer path. Instead of several groups, there was just a massive cluster that extended through the entire route. The group was continually fighting the monsters, pushing through step by step only when they cleared an entire area. About fifteen minutes later and close to 70 sprites destroyed, the group saw the path clearing with only some stragglers spread around the mushroom covered tunnel. Another twenty minutes later, they were already in the rest area just before the boss. Their time was much better than when going through the central route. This time, the Sprite Amalgamation appeared. Being one boss that they all already had faced, they had a much better strategy for it. For one, Hera would avoid using her poison since it could trigger that thrashing that almost killed her. Forty minutes later, the group emerged from the dungeon. They didn''t have many issues during the fight, only a few minor bruises, and singes that could easily be treated by Runir in a few minutes. "Ok, can we go back to the city? I''m starving," Blue said. "Me too," Hera agreed as the indistinguishable smell of French fries hit her nose, "Hang on. What''s that?" Tom opened a big smile, "But, of course! I had completely forgotten about this grandiose venture," he walked closer to the edge of the cliff and gestured downward, "Let me present you the Traveling Stove." Hera looked out of the cliff. Below the path, there was a large truck, almost the size of a trailer, with a line of people in front of it. There were a few picnic tables in front of it with a few people sitting down. Yet, what caught everyone''s attention was the smell of junk food coming from it. "Shall we have a meal?" Tom said as he went down the path. 176 - Hidden Knowledge Since there weren''t that many groups doing the dungeon, the line moved quickly. Not only did the Traveling Stove offer food, but it also had a free water refill with every purchase. The menu was that of a standard burger joint, with milkshakes, fries, sandwiches, and of course, various burgers. The decoration was very simple. There was no flair or gimmick. The only two things noteworthy were the stone stove decal slapped on the side of the trailer and the lack of an actual truck in front of it. A large boulder was wrapped around in chains with a tall seat behind it in place of the engine. The driver had a spell that would rotate the rock and move the rest of the restaurant alongside it. It was a smart way to get around the idea of making a car inside the MAZE. People could still make full vehicles, but it would require either building it by hand or importing the individual pieces since a full car wouldn''t go through the doorways back in Brinefront. Hera and her group were already at a table with their food in front of them. This restaurant offered food that could help people doing intensive workouts. The fries were made with no oil, and the buns were all whole-wheat. The meat, however, broke that formula a bit. They had low protein options, but it wasn''t a best seller. People who did dungeons tended to have time to rest up before going inside, so eating something that would take more energy to digest wasn''t the end of the world. "I can''t believe you never told us about this, Tom," Blue said between bites of her barbecue burger. "Apologies, I was a patron of this fine establishment only a single time in the past. I''m afraid I had forgotten its location," Tom cleaned his mouth of the ranch dressing. "Well, it''s no surprise. They only work for a few hours every day, but they have four trucks, one in each dungeon and one in the mine currently used. According to the cashier, they are staying here until they are out of food, then they close shop and head back to town," Bonnie was eating her fries using her chocolate milkshake as a dipping sauce. "So it''s just like a pop up store?" Hera was already about halfway through her chicken burger. "Yeah. It''s a really good business idea. They can bump the prices a lot, and we still are going to pay. I mean, it''s 75 gold for the combo, and it saves us like three hours," Bonnie took her tablet out and started doing some math, "They already should have around 100 to 110% more profit than the restaurants in the city. Since their prices are about 60% higher and the materials should be the same. I would say more, but they need to consider the cost of coming here and making the product on site. We make around 300 gold per dungeon run, counting just by raw gold we can get from the reward and the drops. So even if they increase the combo to 100 gold, people would still consider this a better cost-benefit. And that''s just for the food. They probably make a killing with the candy and stuff. They always overprice it in places like this. That bar of chocolate is what, 3 gold outside? How much did you pay for it, Blue?" Blue looked at her, feeling a bit uncomfortable since the entire group was staring, "15 gold¡­ It was just a craving." "Yeah, but I bet they get 10 gold of pure profit, even if we take the import fees into account." "I believe whatever you say. Business is something I never got," Alex focused back on her food. "Oh.. right. Sorry. Old habits," Bonnie stopped eating. "Hey, it''s ok. Every time someone asks me for directions, I fall back into customer service mode," Hera bumped Bonnie''s shoulder. When their plates finally became empty, the entire group had a satisfied expression. Having such a good meal by a dungeon wasn''t something anyone expected, which resulted in an increase in the group''s morale. "So, let''s go back? Think we can take the named monster?" Blue asked as they left the table. "I believe so, yes. However, be warned. Facing the monster won''t be easy, and we will waste a considerable amount of time while moving back and forth inside the dungeon. The best route would be to cross the rightmost path, return by the center, and then follow to the left. Only after that we shall return to the Boss room and face their leader," Tom explained. "Wouldn''t it be better if we leave and enter again? To reset the dungeon," Alex asked. "If we wish to face more monsters, yes. However, if we desire to earn more coin, we should focus on the mission given to us by the dungeon." "Yeah, even if we take the quickest route, we only got what, 50 gold from the close to 100 sprites? The quest gives us 300. Going away seems like a waste," Bonnie said. "Let''s just go, and we see how we feel by the end," Hera suggested as they started to make the journey back to the top of the cliff. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Clearing the first two tunnels was easy, even if it took them close to two hours. The sprites had very predictable patterns and having more than one person attacking them would make it easy to hit them even as they tried to dodge. If they could kill them with area of effect spells, it would be much easier, but only Tom had something strong enough to one-shot them. Even so, it still required a very specific condition to hit more than one at a time. By the end of the second hour, the group was already in the path leading to the named monster and the secret. "Alex, quick question. Do bosses count? Like could you go after a low-level boss and kill it in a single move?" Blue asked. "I guess they do, but it''s not like I can one-shot a boss. I mean, where would I do that? Here? In the frog valley? The arcanist''s tower didn''t even have a boss." "That''s a weird requirement too. Why do you have to one-shot it? Wouldn''t it count if you killed it on your own?" Runir said. "I guess this is about the sneak attack skill. It increased the damage I deal if my target doesn''t know I''m there. I heard about a skill that makes my attacks deal more damage as an opener, but I don''t know how to get it," Alex stretched herself, getting ready for a fight. "Could it be something we get from the role quests?" Hera looked towards Tom. He smiled as a reply, "I felt it would be better to allow you all to reach that conclusion yourselves. That is correct. Those quests can give you not simply a way to perform on your role, but also skills to help you with." "And here I thought that the skill I got had nothing to do with the quest," Hera sighed. "Really? What skill did you get?" Runir asked. "Treasure map, it shows on my map places of interest and gives me more information about it. I still haven''t found much use for it since it only updates after I figure out what it is," Hera explained and turned to Tom, "What about you? What was the first skill the role quest gave you?" "The first was one that allowed me to shape the fury to what I desired. Now, instead of relying on anger, I choose to rely on my nobility as a knight." "You can change a skill to that degree? Is that permanent?" Runir asked. "It is not. However, if I decide to alter the skill in any way, not only will it reset to rank 1, but it is required to go through a small test," Tom explained. "Do you have any restrictions on the tests? Like, how many you can take or if you need to rank up a skill before doing the test again?" Hera asked. "The only restriction is to do it only once every 6 months. Aside from that, we are able to do the test as many times as we desire." "That''s unfair," Hera scoffed. She had to go through all kinds of hoops to trigger her role quests. "C''mon, you can get all the roles. Let us have some perks too," Blue laughed. "Settle down, our foe is close," Tom commanded. The group stopped talking and moved quietly with Alex at the back as a precaution. Even if the monster noticed them, there was a chance that she could still be hidden from its senses. They arrived in an open area with only 3 mushrooms, one on each side of the cave and one at the back. In the middle of the expanse, there was a single sprite playing jump rope with its tendrils. The only thing different about it was that instead of the white glow, it had a red and green mix. "Oh man, that''s not fair. That thing is cute," Blue gasped, only to be met with a shush from Bonnie. "Don''t make noise! Alex needs to be hidden," Bonnie said in a whisper. "Quiet guys," Alex said, "How do we know where that thing is looking at?" "Maybe that orange-brown spot is its face," Hera pointed at a part of it that was on the side, right where the red and green parts met. "I have a plan. Hera, could you please help me with this?" Tom explained his idea. "Ok, we can try that, but I need to get closer," Hera said. Tom nodded, and five of his dancing lights appeared around him. They kept moving as if they were following the beat of a song. The lights slowly passed by the sprite who stopped jumping rope, and the orange spot on its middle move around, following the dancing spheres. Hera moved close enough for her own lights to reach it and created five more who joined in the performance, coming from under the sprite. The monster moved up and down a few times and started to mimic the pattern of the lights. Tom looked back at Alex and nodded towards the creature. While Alex approached, Hera triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Party Sprite (Light affinity) ¨C Level 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was much weaker than what Hera imagined. Maybe that was the reason it had such an overpowered skill to call all its friends. Alex sneaked behind the sprite with her dagger in hand. A light blue strap was wrapped around the weapon''s hilt and dangling under it a circle with an icicle draw inside it. The assassin got into striking distance with the monster and stopped. Hera didn''t understand why, but Tom was making a motion for her to wait. After about 30 seconds, Alex pulled up her weapon in an uppercut. The attack seemed stronger than normal. Hera could have sworn that something was moving around the dagger. The strike cut the monster into two pieces, leaving the red and green sides, each falling to one side. The sprite dissolved into the ground, leaving two pieces of gold on the floor. "I got it!" Alex shouted. "Well done, noble assassin. The new spell you''ve acquired has shown its worth," Tom complimented her. "Thanks, I''m not sure if I''m going to use it often, though," Alex said. "What spell?" Blue asked from the back. "I got the charged spell that Tom has. It''s called Charged Attack. The more mana and the longer you stay still, the more powerful it gets." Hera walked over, "Is the quest done too?" Alex nodded in response, "Ok, so where is the secret, Tom?" "Check the mushroom at the back." Hera stared at the large mushroom at the back of the room. It was larger than any other she had seen inside the dungeon, but a few were taller. She looked around, trying to find what secret it would be. She knew that asking Tom was an option, but at the same time, she wanted to at least find part of it on her own. There was nothing behind it or something that looked to be buried. After a few minutes, Hera noticed an odd marking on the right side of the mushroom. It was too perfectly cut to be something natural. Pushing the area with a bit of strength made part of the structure fall inside the mushroom, revealing a hollowed area filled with carvings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the hidden history of the Underground Forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 177 - Forest Origin Hera was so enthralled by the carvings inside the mushroom that she didn''t notice the notification. They looked ancient. The drawings reminded her of those found inside a pyramid, although there was no way to tell if it had the same age. The mural had a spiral pattern starting about half a meter from the ground and then moving upwards until above Hera''s head. The first picture depicted what looked like the light spirit they had faced as the room''s boss. In the first few carvings, it was flying alone, surrounded by darkness, then talking to a second larger creature seemingly made up of vines and flowers. The next image was of the two creating something with both their energies. As she kept looking through the pictures, a story started to be narrated inside her mind. ''The Light of the Forest is a being that travels between rooms, always making sure that the trees and grass receive enough of its light to grow. One day, it reached a room completely devoid of any vegetation and light. The Light knew that some places were part of other spirits'' domains, but this one didn''t have any blessing placed upon it. The room was barren, wasted, forgotten. Heartbroken by the situation, the Light decided to put a plan in motion. It called to the Tree Mother, asking for help to create a lush forest inside that dark cavern. They discussed possibilities and attempted many different paths, but sadly, no vegetation could survive such a dark place. The Tree Mother understood that this place was meant for someone else and left the room with a heavy heart. The Light refused to give up such a place and kept working by itself. After many eons, it finally discovered a way to maintain a forest inside the caverns. Using a unique type of fungus and giving them the blessing of his light, they could act as a sun and bathe the forest in light. Excited, the Light of the Forest went back to the Tree Mother once more, asking for its help. The Mother knew well how its children acted and warned the Light about the greed that came with the specific fungi species needed for this plan. They would devour all the nutrients and keep wanting more even when they were full. The Light was adamant and believed that its light would satiate the mushrooms. Feeling the sincerity inside the Light, the Tree Mother agreed to help once more. The experiment was a success, and in this small cave on top of a cliff, the two spirits created a verdant and beautiful forest. Filled with not just trees and light, but mushrooms and flowers. The Tree Mother warned the Light not to leave the room unattended for too long. The mushrooms had helped, but they required constant supervision not to damage the forest. Worried about such a result, the Light called upon its spirits, small globules of light called Sprites, to become the gardeners of the woods. The Light of the Forest left the room, alongside the Tree Mother going back to their respective jobs, leaving the forest and the sprites behind. As dedicated as they were, the sprites didn''t notice when the mushrooms started to grow bigger. With time the fungi even learned how to lure the light globules inside them to absorb their eternal light. Millennia passed as the once verdant forest shifted into a place overrun by fungi until it was discovered by Humans. The invaders were met with resistance from the sprites, even creating a bigger version of themselves by joining their bodies in sacrifice. However, that wasn''t enough, and the humans managed to defeat the amalgamation. That warned The Light of the Forest and the Tree Mother, who visited this place once more and saw the results of their desertion. The Light of the Forest, mad with anger and regret, pulled all its spirits back towards its realm, vowing never to meddle with the affair of rooms not given to it by the MAZE. The Tree Mother stayed behind to take care of its children since even the greedy ones were worthy of her love. She asked the humans to remove those who had become distorted and allow the fungi forest to grow following the natural order of their kind. As a result of these events, the Underground Forest dungeon was created.'' "Hera?" Blue called, snapping Hera out of her daze. "I''m here. Everything is fine," Hera replied. Looking at the carvings gave her a weird feeling. It was as if the drawings were moving while the tale they depicted came to her. For some reason, there wasn''t a doubt in her mind that she was right and that this story she came up with was what really happened. As she looked around, Hera finally saw the notifications in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the hidden history of the Underground Forest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the quest: Legends of Brinefront Reward: Explorer''s map ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest acquired Common mysteries ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Common Mysteries Explorer exclusive quest Discoveries are not just hidden treasures or forgotten lands. At times, someone might need help finding a lost pet or discovering a reason for their constant tiredness. Solve a mystery The rewards will be calculated after considering the difficulty of the mystery you solve. Rewards: ???????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired Explorer''s map Allows you to use your map in any situation. By activating the skill, a window will appear with the map of the current area. This map has the same function as your mapping skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap, that''s a lot," Hera started to wave the notifications off. She wanted to check the skill, but the group was still waiting for her, and she had no idea how long she spent inside there. The rest of the group was waiting inside the room. Bonnie was looking at the mushrooms while the others were sitting on the floor talking about something. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Hey, are you all done?" Alex asked. "Yeah. How long was I in there?" Hera nodded, looking around. "About 10 minutes or so. I went inside, but you were in a weird trance looking at those carvings. It didn''t feel dangerous, so I just left," Blue said. "Thanks for giving me some space. But that was weird. I figured out how the dungeon was created." Bonnie turned around, "Really? Tell me all about it!" Hera explained what she found out, doing her best to remember the story that the carvings told her. "How can you be sure that''s what those things meant?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. There was just something telling what everything meant. It was weird like the information was coming straight to my head as if a thought that was mine and wasn''t. I also got something called Explorer''s Map," Hera said. "You got an actual map? Wasn''t the reward a skill upgrade?" Alex asked. "No, not really. It''s a skill that allows me to pull up a map of any place where we are in." "Don''t you already have the map skill? What''s the point?" Runir asked. "It''s a map that doesn''t require our tablet. I can pull it up just by calling the skill. I think most of the time, it will just be something practical, but if we are in a tight spot, it might help a lot. Actually, let me test it first." Hera tried to activate the skill a couple of times, but it was only when she said its name out loud that it worked, making a window with the dungeon''s map appear. There were several marks inside it, one on the boss room, another in front of each of the three tunnels at the dungeon''s start. The first drawing of the carvings showed the location of the hollow mushroom. It was more in-depth than the map she already had. "Oh, that''s cool. Can you guys see something in front of me?" she asked. "Nope," Alex said. "Shame, I can see the entire dungeon. The paths, where each path leads to, where the boss room is and what is here," she tapped on the carvings on the map, and it opened a secondary window with the story she just learned, "Oh, I can even see the story." Hera shared everything her new map function could do, although she wasn''t entirely aware if it would be the same in a new dungeon or if it would show something that she had yet to discover. Aside from the information on the area, Hera could check the info on each enemy and even the bosses through her map. Although, only the things she had seen or known about appeared. Alex explained the new quest and skill she got as well. The skill was called [First Strike]. It was a passive increase to the damage she dealt against a creature that wasn''t hurt. The increase stacked with her [Sneak Attack] and her charged attack spell. There was a lot of potential to it, which led Hera to get curious about learning those skills since she had the assassin role. That wasn''t something she could find out right now, but it was a good idea to keep that in mind. After leaving the room with the party sprite, they walked over to the boss, taking one hour to reach it. They were facing the amalgamation one more time. Since the monster wouldn''t do much before it was attacked, Alex took the opportunity to test her new skill. Using her charged attack by standing close to the giant sprite for over a minute until she ran out of mana. Her dagger cut the monster in two, but it was quickly reassembled in a smaller form. They knew that the more damage the creature took, the smaller it would get, and with that one attack, it seemed like the sprite lost 20% of its size. It was a massive increase in damage, even if it was a charged attack. It would take the entire group several strikes to do the same. However, this was still a fight. They didn''t have time to be impressed as the sprite amalgamation started to attack. During the last few days, Bonnie had talked to Helena and got a version of her bomb spell made out of shadows. The new spell was much more effective against the boss. It was able to deal a considerable amount of damage and daze the sprite for about ten seconds, leaving the rest of the group with enough time to hit the monster with several attacks. By the time its daze ended, the boss wasn''t bigger than a watermelon. Moments later, when the boss was defeated, a blue glow covered Hera''s body. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level up Current Level: 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Congratulations!" Blue said as they took a look at the boss drops. Instead of gold or equipment, this time, they got a glowing sphere. It was about the size of a baseball but much lighter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor Light Core A source of light from a spirit. It can be used during the crafting of various items to imbue them with Light proprieties. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Any idea how much this goes for?" Bonnie asked. "I''m not sure, but we can check when we return to the city," Runir was making sure no one had any wounds he needed to take care of. "Well, it''s not like we need money right now. Just today, we got what? 1 200 gold?" Alex waved off the notification of the quest complete. "1 750 if we count the items the sprites dropped," Bonnie said. "I have a proposition for all of you," Tom looked at the group, waving a notification off. At the same time, a blue glow covered his body, "Oh, that is unexpected." "Well done, man. Level 9 now?" Runir patted him on the back. "Indeed, it is. I shall increase my attributes after our discussion. As I was saying, my proposition is for us to attempt the labyrinth dungeon since now we have a map that might aid us in our endeavor," he gestured towards Hera. "I''m not sure if that''s a good idea. I mean, we don''t know how Hera''s map will act in a different dungeon. We don''t even know how it will act outside this one, and you said that no map works inside the labyrinth, right? People tend to make hand draw versions to navigate," Bonnie said. "Yeah, I still haven''t been able to change the map to someplace else. I think it only works for the area I''m in. I get why you think it''s a good idea, but there are way too many questions to assume that this would work. What if the dungeon doesn''t let me keep the map or resets just like the rest of it? Maybe it saves the points of interest, but only after we find it." "I agree, by what you said, that one is very dangerous even for experienced explorers. Isn''t there like, traps that can kill us in one go?" Blue asked. "There are, but I''m confident that we can overcome it with no issue," Tom scratched his neck. "Any reason why you want to go there?" Runir asked. "I can never lie to you, my friend. In that dungeon, one of its most dangerous denizens is a mighty minotaur. In a previous attempt, the creature bested me, and I wish to challenge it once more." "I can kind of get that. But can we hold off that discussion at least until we find the last of the three bosses? I want to see what the compendium will do to my map," Hera said. "Very well. Shall we complete this dungeon one more time for the day?" Tom replied with a sigh. "I think we have one more run in us," Alex nodded, walking towards the exit. 178 - Skills and Rest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 6 Stats: Strength: 23 Endurance: 23 Agility: 23 Charisma: 23 Intelligence: 23 Luck: 23 Mana: 511/511 Remaining attribute points: 0 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina Mana Recovery Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before leaving the dungeon, Hera increased her attributes. She gained 7 bonus attribute points, plus the 7 she got from her level up and the 1 left from the previous level made her total a whooping 15 attribute points to spend. That allowed her to increase all her stats by 3 points. It could have been more, but the [Exponential Growth] cost increased to 5 points when her attributes reached the 20 mark. Now she was one point behind Alex''s agility. "I guess that''s why they say ''A jack of all trades is a master of none,''" Hera sighed. "You know that''s not the full saying, right?" Runir said. "It''s not?" "No, the full saying is ''a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one,'' It was originally a compliment," Runir explained. "Really? I never heard that last part." "Me neither," Bonnie appeared behind Hera, who jumped to the side in response. "Don''t sneak up on me like that!" "Hey, don''t blame me for spacing out. We are in a dungeon. You should be ready for anything." "We just beat this. Nothing is going on here." "You never know," Bonnie shrugged. They left the dungeon and ran it one more time, facing another sprite amalgamation. After completing it for the 5th time of the day, they were tired and decided to head back to town. Tom kept trying to make the group excited about going to the labyrinth, talking about the rewards and treasure inside, but nothing sounded worth the trouble. Sure there were some possible accessories and weapons if they found a gilded chest, but the odds of seeing one were abysmal, much less to get some of the rarer items. When putting on the scale that they had to deal with traps that could kill them, gas chambers, falling rocks, and paths that could crumble under their weight, the group agreed that they would only attempt it after getting much stronger and more experienced, to Tom''s dismay. During the next week, the group kept doing repeated runs in the underground forest, but they only faced the Sprite Amalgamation and the Light of the Forest. That showed how rare the third boss really was. Their time was always improving, and by the end of the 6th day, it only took 80 minutes to kill the boss and return. Thanks to Bonnie, who kept track of the Traveling Stove''s schedule, they could optimize their time and do 6 runs each day without getting too tired on the way back as they did in the first few days. On average, they made 1 800 gold each day of work, and the disparity with the salary outside the MAZE became even more evident. Hera considered that this was all due to the high risk of their work, but the people working the mines could make at least 2 000 gold every day working about the same amount of time. If they found something rarer or a large ore vein, their earning would skyrocket. This was just the 2nd layer, and the difference was already this big. Suddenly that armor priced at billions seemed less exorbitant even if it wasn''t something she ever intended to buy. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. After the weekend, they decided to take a three-day break. Most of them were still excited about fighting, but Bonnie and Runir wanted to take some time to look up a few things. Hera enjoyed the day off. She still had to figure out the fear spell and the module that Helena had given her. She spent most of the first day inside an ATR trying to learn the spells taking advantage of the mana''s less erratic behavior inside the training rooms. Looking carefully at the spells and how the energy behaved in each of them, trying to find some hint, some glimpse into how the mana shifted from one element to another, was much more complicated than Hera expected. She could see how the mana came out of her body when she attempted to form a new spell or use her mana reinforcement. Still, when using a spell such as a fire arrow or something that had a specific type of mana already embedded into it, she found that there was no transition, no moment when the energy would shift from one state to another. It felt like the mana was already going out as its required element. In order to understand the module spell that Helena gave her, Hera had to improve her understanding of mana itself. How it moved around the air, how it reacted to an external force. How it could change from one element to another effortlessly. By following the mana around her, almost in a meditative state, Hera started to notice not just the magic she was using but also the magic that surrounded her trainer. Unlike what she felt inside herself, the mana around the trainer moved harmoniously with the rest of its body. She kept trying to mirror her own magic with what she felt coming from her trainer, but the task proved to be exceedingly difficult. Making her mana follow her commands by itself seemed like making a river change its course by asking it nicely. Hera could tell that there was a fundamental gap in her knowledge, but what was it? There was a buzzing noise informing Hera that her time inside the ATR had run out. She opened her eyes with a sigh and was met with a notification ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Mana Sense Mana Sense: Allows you to feel the mana in your surroundings more easily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The description was simple, but the possibilities were numerous. The first idea that popped into her mind was to use the skill as a radar around herself. With that, dodging spells would be much easier, or at least there was a way to see them coming and brace herself for the impact. Hera was sure that there were more options, but these were only her initial thoughts. Another thing to do was to talk to Helena about the skill. The mage should have some insight into how to use the skill effectively. After leaving the ATR, Hera went back to her home. Bonnie had sent a text to let her know that Mark was coming by the next day. He had finished everything in the workshop and wanted to find another place as soon as possible. It felt a bit weird, but it was better to ask about his reasons in person. When Hera walked inside the house, the sound of rocks banging against metal was coming from the basement. There was also the noise of someone moving books and tossing paper around coming from her bedroom. Knowing how Helena got when she was deep into her research, Hera wanted to make some tea and maybe a snack to bring her friend, but first, she needed a shower. Even though mana training wasn''t as intense as combat training, it still was enough to make her drenched in sweat. Using mana was nothing like using a muscle, but at the same time, the concentration required to maintain the flow of it was just as intense as doing a cardio workout. Hera opened the door to her room and saw Bonnie sitting on the floor, surrounded by several pieces of paper and notebooks. Some of the pages on the floor looked old, as if they were from a binder that spent way too much time hidden away in a closet. By the trash, there were a couple of cans of energy drinks and some candy wrappings. If it wasn''t for the view of a purple swamp through the window, this scene would look like it was from a college dorm with someone cramming for finals. Bonnie even had some marker caps stuck to her hair. "Are you ok?" Hera walked over the notebooks towards her dresser. "Fine. Working. Close to a thing," Bonnie''s voice was mechanical and emotionless. Her eyes were still glued to the pages. Hera took a peek at the writing on the notebook by the dresser and saw an extensive chemical formula followed by graphs and odd drawings of what looked like blueprints for something. Just looking at it gave Hera a headache. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the shower, giving up on understanding what was going through Bonnie''s head. Blue and Alex were going to the only club in Hazelpond and would come home late, and considering the state that Bonnie and Helena were in, Hera could take advantage of the bathtub and relax for some time. After leaving her parents'' house, she never had a chance to take an actual bath. It was a small pleasure that could make even the hardest of days softer. Taking one of the bath bombs she bought, Hera filled up the tub and jumped in the water. After getting out of the bathroom, she went downstairs to prepare some tea. Bonnie and Helena probably had skipped lunch and would realize how hungry they were the moment their research stopped. While the water was heating up, Hera ordered some food for dinner using an old order to ensure that everyone had something they liked. She gave them the tea and stayed in the living room watching some movies while waiting for the food. The television wasn''t enough to keep her mind from wandering back to her skills. Now that she was outside a dungeon, she could see how the explorer''s map worked in a different place. Usually, when using a map, one would have to manually input any notes and descriptions. With the skill, the information was added instantly. There were a few different filters that could show the monster''s habitat, the approximate strength of each area, and other options. Hera could read through each monster''s compendium and any extra information that was discovered on a side menu. Thinking objectively, this wasn''t something special. Anyone could have access to the same information. The benefits were only the convenience of having it all gather automatically and the ability to search for a specific term. On a small search bar, she could, for instance, search for poison, and a list with all the things related to poison that she could find on the current map would appear. The list could vary from monsters and items to fruits, locations, and even shops. Not that she could access the store''s inventory, but when searching for medicine, the location of any drugstores known by her would appear. There was one more thing that was bothering her about the skill. The map was divided into areas. They could be towns, settlements, forests, swamps, caves, and each had its distinct names even if there were things like ''Brinefront west forest.'' Following each name, on the corner of the map, there was a completion rate. Places like Hazelpond or the Frog Valley Camp were marked as 100% complete, but areas like Brinefront and even the lost sailor cave had different rates. At first, she thought that those numbers were about map completion. How much of an area she had discovered, but both Brinefront and the sailor cave had complete maps. After half an hour trying to figure out why the rates were different, Hera gave up on finding it alone. She opened the website for the Order of Lost Court and went to the explorer''s forum. After a quick search, it was evident that no post had been made on the subject, although a few mentioned the skill. Basically, the explorer''s map could take advantage of any other skill or spell that gave them information about an area. Trackers could see the direction of the tracks they found, scouts could mark the location of enemies. In theory, if someone had a strong enough detection ability, the map could work as a real-time satellite picture. This was just speculative, but some were able to track movements in an area of 50 meters and have that information displayed on the map. Hera created a post about the completion rate, asking if it could have anything to do with the treasure map skill, and put her tablet away, trying once more to focus on the television. After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. Her food had arrived. She set up the table before calling the pair of workaholics. "Guys! Dinner is ready. Come eat while it''s hot!" 179 - Meeting the Crafters Bonnie and Hera were by the docks, waiting for Mark''s arrival. The two would chaperone him to the Carpon Caverns. Alex and Blue had returned almost at sunrise, and by the smell of booze on their clothing, they would sleep for a long time. "¡­ it behaved like mercury, but its heat conductivity was much better than it. So I used it as a base to try to come up with a formula. I tried to add some of caesium''s properties too to try to balance out the heat, but.." "Bonnie," Hera cut her off, "I want to know what you were doing. I really do, but you gotta help me out here. I have no idea what caesium is, and when you say mercury, I think about a planet. Dumb it down a bit for me, please." "Oh, sorry, I just got excited. How can I put this¡­" Bonnie looked away for a moment, "You know how that liquid light hit the ground? It didn''t splatter, almost like it was attracted to itself." "Now that you mention, yeah. What about it?" "So liquid metals are like that. They have a harder time breaking apart. It''s not like water that one drop spills everywhere. It still is not like the liquid light, but I thought it was a good starting point." "Oh, so that''s what all those formulas were?" Hera asked. "Exactly, they were the formulas for all the known metals that behave more or less like that. My idea is to add them to a spell and try to make elements that don''t have a physical shape turn into liquid." "Wait, what? That''s your idea?" Hera frowned. "Yeah, why?" Bonnie was taken aback by the reaction. It seemed like such a great idea. She could make bottles filled with an element and use them as a weapon. "Why are you adding metal to it?" "I''m not adding metal. I''m just using the same structure to give the magic a vessel." "Yeah, but in the end, it will be metal with magic in it. If you want to change the way the element behaves, you need to change it, not put something else around it. Like my grease fire spell." Bonnie scoffed, "The name itself is already a giveaway. Grease fire. You are not turning fire into a liquid but using something else to fuel it." "How is that any different from making liquid metal mixed with some element?" Bonnie stared at Hera, the excitement in her eyes vanishing little by little, "It''s not. Crap, you are right. I''m doing the same thing." "Hey, don''t feel bad. It was a good idea, and it can still lead to something. Maybe you can make mines or something with some weird chemical reactions like a papier-mach¨¦ volcano," Hera tried to cheer her up. "I guess," Bonnie started to think, "caesium can make an explosion when in contact with cold water, so there could be something there¡­" she mumbled to herself. "Make a note to look it up later. The ship is here," Hera nodded towards the harbor. It was the same ship they all used every time they went back to Brinefront, and Mark was one of the first ones to disembark. He gave a big hug to the two girls, and they headed towards the doorway to the Caverns. It was the first time Mark went deeper into the MAZE, and it showed in his actions. He was pacing around in line and kept asking how long they had to wait. It was very similar to how Blue acted the first time they went to the next layer. "Hey, Mark. Now that we have some time. What happened? Why are you so desperate to find a new place to work?" Hera asked. "Oh, it because of the whole turtle egg thing. I hate that Ryan just vanished with little more than a slap on the wrist. To make things worse, Bill kept complaining, saying I shouldn''t have given all the eggs back. He said that since he was already fucked he might as well get something out of it. I was trying to save his ass, and he comes out with that attitude. It pissed me off. He even kicked me out as his apprentice. It was such a dick move." "So you got fired. That''s why you are so desperate," Bonnie said. "Not from the workshop. They have a mentorship program, and he gave me up for saving his life. Go figure." "People have messed up priorities, and he''s probably just angry at something else and taking it out on you," Hera tried to comfort him. "It still sucks," Mark said. "Let''s just find you a new place. Worst case scenario, you can work as a miner," Bonnie said. "Miner?" Hera explained to Mark how the Carpon Caverns worked. The mines, the city with its many workshops, and the creatures that lived in the outskirts. After hearing everything, he relaxed a bit. The main concern on his mind was about the monsters he could face. Mark was, by no means, a good fighter. Shooting arrows was the best he had to offer, and after encountering Tu''nia, the idea of dealing with stronger monsters was enough to scare him. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it After crossing the doorway, the trio headed towards the city. Hera wanted to go straight to the store where she got her weapon enchanted, but Bonnie insisted that a bigger shop could give Mark more opportunities to grow. That led them to spend most of the morning waiting in line to get information or meet with one of the crafters. In the end, every single workshop was either full or had requirements that Mark wasn''t able to meet in order to be hired. They stopped by a restaurant to have lunch since it was well after 2 PM. After eating, they headed to the store called Weller''s Smithy, where Hera ordered her chakram to be enchanted. "Excuse me," Hera said as she entered the store. Clayton, the older man missing one arm, was handling the register today as well. "Hello, miss Hera. What can I do for you today?" Clayton said with a smile. "This is the crafter?" Mark whispered. "Yes, it might seem small, but they are good. I promise," Hera turned to Clayton, "Actually, this is Mark. He is a crafter friend of mine, and he''s looking for a place to work." "Hi," Mark waved. "Hello, young man. You are looking for work? Are you sure this is a place you would want to work at? Unlike the big workshops, we don''t have many customers, and we can''t pay you an actual salary. It would be more like a shared store," Clayton was sizing up the applicant the entire time he spoke. Mark looked around the store. It had mainly weapons and armors but close to no accessories. The shelves were more or less full, but there was very little dust around the items. Either someone was very diligent with cleaning the place, or the sales were not as bad as Clayton said. "How would that work? I would sell my things here and pay a monthly fee, or you guys get a cut from each sale?" "A little of both, I believe. We need to pay for the expenses we have here, not to count the materials, but we can work something out. Maybe set an amount that if you make with the sales, we can consider the rent paid," Clayton explained. "Pops!" Ronan came out of the backroom, "Can you not hire random people without talking to me?" "You were busy. I was just asking a few questions." Ronan scoffed and turned to Mark, "What''s your specialty and how much experience you got?" "I''m not sure yet. It''s been¡­ two months and a little since I''ve passed the test to be an explorer, and I spent two weeks hunting with these guys. But I''m good with making small items. I even made Hera''s ear guards," Mark gestured Hera to come closer. Hera walked towards the two and showed the earrings, making sure to hide her ears with her hair as she placed them into Ronan''s hands. He looked at the items and moved them around his hands, placing them under a lamp to see them better. "This is really well made. The weapon pattern on the outside is very impressive, but why is only one hollow?" Ronan turned back to Mark. "Customer request. I don''t know why and didn''t ask," he replied quickly, glancing at Hera. "Very well. You do have some good skills. Come with me. Let''s have a proper interview," Ronan said as he walked to the back room. "Sure," Mark turned back to Hera and Bonnie, "You guys can head out and do¡­ whatever. I''ll text you when I''m done." "Ok, have fun in the interview," Bonnie said as Mark followed Ronan to the back room. "I hope he''ll be ok," Hera said. "He will be fine. You know how he''s like. One bad joke and everyone starts liking him," Bonnie waved Hera off. The two thanked Clayton and headed out. They didn''t want to head back to Hazelpond since it would take too long. A caf¨¦ was also an unappealing idea since they had eaten less than held an hour ago. In the end, the guild was the best option. In there, the two found a more or less quiet spot in the library and discussed Bonnie''s spell some more. At the same time, Hera shared what she knew about her new skill, [Mana Sense]. According to Helena, people coveted that skill more to improve their spells than to notice their surroundings. There were several ways to improve a spell. Most required a complete overhaul of the entire process, but by using [Mana Sense], the problematic parts would be much more evident. By following the mana, she could notice leaks and areas where the flow would bottleneck or even stop. Helena had a lot of trouble getting the skill since her perception of mana was never particularly strong. Bonnie wasn''t able to help with that, but talking with someone helped organize Hera''s thoughts. On the other hand, she helped a lot with Bonnie''s new spell. They discussed the formulas that could create a liquid, arriving at the phase change formula. The idea was to add it to the spell in order to recreate the conditions required to change something from gas to liquid. Yet, that wasn''t enough. Bonnie wasn''t able to make the math work. "Could it be because of the state mana is in?" Hera asked. "What do you mean?" "It''s not a gas. If you blow on it, nothing happens. It''s not liquid, much less solid. Maybe mana is not in one of the three phases." "You mean four," Bonnie corrected. "Four?" "Yeah, everyone forgets plasma," seeing Hera''s expression Bonnie added an explanation, "It''s a state where gas becomes more solid. Like lightning or neon. They are not liquids or solids, but they still have a shape." "Oh, ok. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Maybe mana is in a fifth state." "Maybe, but then what is the formula for it?" Bonnie scratched her head. "I can''t help you with that. Try looking it up online. Speaking of which, let me check my thread," Hera opened the Order forum and headed to her post. There were a couple of replies already. One of them just said how lucky she was for getting a treasure map skill and asking for more details about how she unlocked it. The next reply reminded the previous one that information on skills was sold and not given away and told Hera that she might have missed something to unlock on the map. According to Mister_L@Z3R, the completion rate was about how much of the area she had seen, but since he didn''t have the treasure map skill, it could be the reason why she had something missing. The landmarks might be part of the completion rate. Hera considered replying with a thanks, but it had been only a day since she posted, and people tended to ignore a thread if it looked like the question already had an answer. Closing the browser, she went back to her training with the mana sense until they got a text from Mark. Not only he got the job, but Clayton would even teach him some of the basics of enchanting. Apparently, they really needed someone to do more delicate work, and Ronan was far from being good at it. Mark wanted to buy them dinner to celebrate, but first, he had to look for a place to live. Hera talked with the girls about letting him move in with them first, but with five people sharing two bathrooms, the house was already getting crowded. The better option would be for him to look for apartments he could rent or stay long term in a hotel. After meeting up with him, they left the guild and did a different type of hunt than what they were used to. Apartment hunting. 180 - The New Dawn project Despite all their efforts, Mark ended up getting a Hotel room in Hazelpond. After he found his place, they still had one day to rest. Hera had her psychiatrist appointment in the morning, but during the afternoon, she forced everyone to stop training and actually relax, even Helena. Now, Hera and her team were heading up towards the underground forest once more. They had agreed to keep doing the dungeon until they found the third boss. It wouldn''t take that long, would it? ########################################################### "Thank you for coming today, Becca," Romeo said as they entered the elevator. "It''s kind of hard to say no to your boss," Becca smiled. "Don''t be like that. I''d rather we have a more personal relationship than a strictly professional one." Becca raised one eyebrow, "Sir, what exactly do you mean by that?" Romeo frowned, but his eye quickly went wide as he understood what she asked, "No, no, no, no. For the love of the system, no. I didn''t mean that. I mean, you are b¡­ I can''t say that. I just hope you can see me as a friend. Someone you can talk about random stuff like shows and books or just complain about life. Well, maybe not complain about your boss, but still." "I thought it was that, but I had to be sure. I''m over the days of overlooking small comments like that." "That is a good way to deal with a crappy situation. Please let me know if ever there is anything I can do to help." "I''m a big girl, Mr. Ballester. I can take care of myself. But I appreciate the offer." "Don''t worry, but please, call me Romeo. What I said still stands. I would very much like for us to be friends. That way, we can be more honest with each other." "If you want honesty si¡­ Romeo. Let me say this. I don''t like what you are doing here." Romeo looked at the panel by the door. They were still on the 14th floor. The conference room was on the 45th, there was still time, "Care to elaborate before we start?" "I don''t trust the New Dawn as far as I can throw it, and I mean the building. Countless businesses went bankrupt because of them. People had to accept crappy settlements, not to mention the amount of secret research they have. It''s all too sketchy. Last month there was even the whole orange debacle. How can someone mix an experimental product from a lab with a product for sale? Not to mention they were too quick to take care of it. They even swept it under the rug in less than three days. It was almost like they were expecting it to happen. Trust me, I know how hard it is to make something not become news. Now, you want us to work with them and leave our entire infrastructure in their hands. To me, this all seems like a bad idea. The guild is supposed to be neutral, not just some company''s bitch," Becca explained. "I get that. I really do, but let''s face it. We are too old fashioned. Our policies haven''t been updated since the Devil Hunt. That was in 2634. It''s been over three hundred and twenty years, and we are just stuck in time. I mean, have you seen the mess that is the rooms where we get the signals for the bracelets? It looks like one of those old telephone switchboards we see in black and white pictures." "So we should upgrade ourselves, not just pay someone to do it. What if they make a backdoor or something?" "We don''t have the manpower to do something like that. If we want to upgrade before the next century, we need more people involved. Besides, even if they show thousands of reports, I''m still going to have our people check every single piece of equipment they send us. I asked you to come here exactly because of that. I need someone who can smell bullshit from a mile away before closing this deal," Romeo looked at the panel once more. They were already n the 38th floor. "And I''m guessing I''m the one who has to make the public feel like this is a good thing?" Becca said. "Only if it works. Before that, make some notes about what you think is suspicious. We can have some people following it up later." The elevator door opened with a ding revealing the 45th floor. It had a sizeable reception desk and a couple of large waiting areas with complimentary coffee machines and pastries. The receptionist told them that Mr. Waaberi was running a bit late but would be available shortly and asked them to wait by the couch. Becca took a glass of water while Romeo got some coffee and started to eat the mini croissants on the table. Around 20 minutes later, a tall black man in a fitted grey suit appeared from the hallway. It was close to impossible to not recognize the CEO of the New Dawn group, Morgan Waaberi. By his side, a man was wearing a black suit with a white shirt, hair pulled back and covered in gel. He had a large burn mark on his neck and a small scar on the middle of his forehead. The two laughed like old friends while Morgan accompanied him to the elevator. Curious about the situation, Becca used her [Fury] to increase her hearing. "Hey, thanks again for the present. My little boy is in love with the pup, and I''m pretty fond of it myself, not gonna lie," the man with a scar said. "Don''t worry. That''s what business partners are for, and I''m glad we could put that unpleasant situation behind us. Now, if you''ll excuse me, I do have another meeting, and I''m afraid they must be waiting for a while already," Morgan replied. "Of course, of course. But hey, sorry again for last time, Mr. Waaberi." "C''mon Romeo, that''s water under the bridge. Let''s not dwell in the past, and you know you can call me Morgan." They gave their farewells, and Morgan walked over to Becca and Romeo. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Apologies for the delay. I was just finishing some business with a partner. Curiously enough, his name is also Romeo," Morgan put out his hand towards Romeo, "I''m Morgan Waaberi, CEO of the New Dawn group." "Of course. It is a pleasure. I''m Romeo Ballester, chairman of the Explorer''s Guild, and this is Becca Swan, chief of our PR department." "It''s a pleasure, Mr. Waaberi," Becca shook his hand after Romeo. "PR? Should I be worried?" Morgan asked. "Oh¡­ Well.." Romeo scratched his neck. Seeing the reaction, Morgan laughed, "Don''t worry, Mr. Ballester. I''m well aware of how the New Dawn is perceived by the explorers. If I''m to guess, I would say that Ms. Swan is here to start preparing ways to improve our reputation among your members." "That is correct, sir. Although we won''t be doing an interview today, I hope you can answer some questions to help prepare the narrative," Becca replied. "Of course. I would expect no less from the best reporter inside the MAZE. After the lift of the information ban, I watched some of your work, and I must say, you are an impressive journalist Ms. Swan. It''s a shame I didn''t discover your talents before the guild. However, I do hope you can keep the prices of what you are about to see a secret. " Becca smiled, "Thank you, but you just gave us an example of why the explorers have a hard time trusting New Dawn. And don''t worry, I signed the NDA. For now, any articles I write will require your approval." "I appreciate that and hope that you give me an opportunity to change that bad impression. Now shall we head to the conference room?" Morgan turned around and walked towards the hallway. "Mr. Waaberi, sir. Errm... If you don''t mind me asking. Who was the man you were just talking to?" Romeo asked. Becca elbowed him on the side of his body and whispered, "Don''t ask about his business and stop stuttering. Show some confidence. You are the chairman of the guild!" "I don''t mind. His name is Romeo Capri, he works with security. We already signed everything, so now I can talk about it. He ordered some gear from us. Body armor, vehicles. Things to help them survive inside the MAZE." "Weapons as well?" Becca asked. "He wanted it, but the New Dawn has a strict no weapons research policy. I''m more than happy to create tools to help with one''s survival but not something that can kill. Although technically, cars or anything can be used to kill. I try not to focus on that," Morgan replied. They entered a large conference room where Morgan quickly started his presentation. First, he talked about the issues with the infrastructure inside the MAZE. Romeo had already explained what they were looking for, but Morgan expanded on that. He performed a survey among the explorers who worked for the New Dawn to see any complaints that missed the guild leadership. Aside from the limited internet connection with low speeds in places far away from cities, the explorers had many issues with transportation. It took a long time for them to traverse large rooms, and they had no reliable way to carry back the monsters they slew. There were also complaints about the guild''s lack of better equipment, such as the visors that tracked buffs and other information. Lastly, most of the explorers working for the New Dawn and using the gear they provided agreed that the guild had several out of date facilities. He followed it up by pulling specifications of the towers and other parts of the guild''s infrastructure and compared them with the options he had to offer. Even the cheapest tower would have close to triple the range and speed of the towers currently being used by the guild. He proceeded to show other items he could offer. Communicators, visors, tablets that could fold, beacons that would trigger an SOS warning, modular vehicles, busses, and railway systems that could be placed virtually anywhere. Even the ATRs, which were a point of pride in the guild, looked like a phone from two years ago in comparison with the Mana Training System the New Dawn had developed. Becca had to admit that the guild looked like something from the middle ages after watching the presentation. The next part was about the offers he was putting out. Romeo had already told her about the budget and how much they were looking to spend, so she wouldn''t get shell-shocked by the values, but it was still astonishing. Not just that, the offers were better than she expected. Morgan showed four plans. The proposals were all dependent on the success of the initial project. The New Dawn would update the towers, starting with 10 rooms already chosen due to their various conditions as a test run and then scaling up if it worked. The proposals started with just basic communication tower upgrades, going up to a full overhaul of the guild''s buildings and offering communicators and new tablets to every explorer. That would require some time, and it would be done in waves, but the projection was to take less than a year to distribute all the equipment. To make Becca''s job even harder, the prices were competitive. It didn''t look like Morgan was just giving everything away. She had researched the cost of New Dawn''s products, and everything seemed to be on par with what she knew about it. There was also an option to buy the production methods of all the items they offered, on the condition that none of those would be resold. After that, Morgan took them to another room and showed them all the products he would be offering. Both Romeo and Becca already had experiences with those kinds of products, but seeing the top of the line was still impressive. "It''s a shame we can''t test the towers here," Becca said. That was the highest selling point, and they had yet to see them working. Morgan smiled at the comment, "Have you been using the internet here?" "I have." "Look out of the window," Morgan pointed towards the horizon. Beyond the city, there was a massive tower that looked to be a single piece of dark blue metal that was taller than the mountains behind it. It was the same structure that appeared during the presentation, the New Dawn Communication Tower. "How far is that one?" Romeo asked. "It''s about 30 kilometers from our position. It can still give a strong signal to about ten times that distance. Everything in its radius is using the tower to connect to the internet. However, this is just the prototype, and the scale is not something we can copy inside the MAZE. That tower is over 500 meters tall. The versions we will be installing for the guild are smaller and have less range," Morgan explained. "How tall will the towers be? I don''t believe we ever talked about that during our discussions," Romeo asked. "They will vary according to the size of the room. We want to make them at least five meters tall to ensure optimal performance, but if we have access and permission to build in higher areas, that can be changed. According to our estimates, each half a meter we add can increase the range by 10 kilometers. Of course, it also increases the amount of space needed for a stable base." "Do you mind if I ask the million, or in this case possibly trillion gold question?" Becca turned to Morgan. "Of course not. Please, ask away." "What''s in it for you?" Morgan raised one of his eyebrows and opened a big smile as he chuckled, "You answered your own question. This deal has the potential to make my company trillions. Explorers might have other ways to make money, but for people like me, business is how we make money. I also have a great deal of respect for the explorers and hope to change how they see my company. I believe that if we work together, the brave people inside the MAZE might be safer, even if just by a little," Morgan said. "I see¡­" Becca still wasn''t convinced. Her gut was telling her that she was missing something. Some part of the bigger picture that she wasn''t able to notice. "Now, would you join me on a tour of our factory? That''s the place where some of the core components of the tower and the other tech you saw here are made," Morgan said as he led them to the elevator. 181 - How many runs dos it take? "How many does that make?" Blue was starfishing on the ground. "I lost count a week ago," Bonnie looked up and saw another party getting close to them heading to the dungeon''s entrance, "At least put your arms by your body. You are bothering people like that." "Yes, mom," Blue moved closer to the bench. "Are you sure there is a third Boss?" Alex turned to Tom. "That I am. My memory never failed me when the subject is a dangerous foe," Tom took a sip of his water, "If you all wish for a change of scenery, may I suggest the labyrinth?" "No, dude. You may not. You talk about that place every day. Honestly, even if I wanted to go there, I wouldn''t go now out of spite," Runir stared at Tom. "I didn''t expect anything else from the master of malice," Tom scoffed. "Let it go, man. I told you I didn''t see the note until I was doing the dishes." "Then you might need to have your vision checked for damage, my friend. For the note was in front of the fridge. That was the last piece of pie my sister made. She only makes said pie¡­" Tom kept waving his finger towards Runir as if he was scolding a child but got interrupted mid-sentence. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. She only makes the pie once a year during her daughter''s birthday. It''s a special treat made with cinnamon-sugar crust, brown butter filling, and cranberry glaze that reminds you of a simpler time where everything was candy, sugar, and fucking rainbows. You told me that fifty times already. Change the tune. That one is old," Runir scoffed. "And you have yet to apologize for such heinous transgression." "I told you I''m sorry!" "Your words mean nothing. Prove your feeling through your actions." "What? Do you want me to bake the damn thing?" The duo kept bickering. It wasn''t just the pie. The group spent the last three weeks coming to the dungeon every day to face the Underground Forest''s third boss, but had no luck so far. They became more and more interested as Hera and Bonnie discussed what the Light of the Forest and the Tree Mother mentioned in the story could be. If beings existed that helped create the MAZE, could they be a hint to discover what the MAZE actually is? That was a question that every single person on the planet had thought about at some point in their lives. Having some actual clue gave the entire team a rush. The harder it got to find the boss, the more they believed that to be true, and the more frustrated they became. "Should we stop them?" Alex turned to Hera, who didn''t reply, "Hera?" "Oh, what? Sorry. I was reading a text," She replied. Runir got up and stormed off towards the chemical toilet on the side of the cliff. Thankfully, unlike the standard version, they had a mana fueled self-cleaning system. As long as someone was willing to charge it up now and then, everyone going to the dungeon could use it without fear of finding a mess. Recharging it was something all were willing to do. After camping outside, small luxuries such as an actual toilet became much more impressive. "Nevermind," Alex replied, "What''s the text about?" "Remember Amanda?" Hera asked. Alex thought for a moment, "The girl who got sick with the oranges?" "That''s the one. She turned 18 a while back but went to the guild last week. Apparently, she has a very rare skill called ''Condense Mana,'' it''s like she has two storages of mana inside her body, and the condensed version can make stronger effects. Anyway, she got accepted into the guild and just started her training. She texts me about any doubts she has or just to say how cool something is," Hera explained with a soft smile. It was nice seeing Amanda doing well, especially after seeing her almost overdose because of the bad oranges filled with mana. "Oh, are we going to have a new member?" Blue asked without getting up. "I doubt it. Amanda was always very independent, but I might give her some pointers and help out once in a while. Besides, we can barely take care of ourselves," Hera locked the tablet and placed it in the holster by her waist, "So, what was going on?" "Tom and Runir are fighting over the pie again," Alex replied. "It''s not just some pie. It is the most delicious and exquisite delicacy of all time, and that rapscallion took it from me," Tom interjected. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "So basically, you two are fighting because you are both bad roommates?" Bonnie''s tone made it seem like that wasn''t a question. "How could you accuse me of such a thing?" "Yesterday, Runir was complaining how you never do the dishes and leaves your dirty clothes lying on the floor, making the entire room smell. The way I see it, both of you are to blame." All of Bonnie''s words were the truth, leaving Tom with no room to argue. A couple of minutes later, Runir returned with a cooler head. He took his roommate to the side and spent about fifteen minutes talking before returning to the group. "Ok, so two things. First, sorry for the last run, everyone. I messed up more barriers than I should have," Runir said. "Our constant squabbling also was a severe distraction for both you and ourselves. I apologize for that as well," Tom added. "We all have off days. Everything is fine. Besides, we''ve been doing this for so long that we can do the dungeon blindfolded," Alex said, trying to improve the mood, but her remark only reminded them all how unsuccessful they were. "I kind of feel bad for making you all keep doing this. I know everyone is frustrated," Hera said. "It wasn''t just your idea. Everyone agreed to it, and we are all curious about what those spirits are," Blue replied. "Yeah, but we might not even get more information, actually, after thinking about it. I''m sure there will be nothing else to discover here. If that was something easy to find out, people would know about it already," Hera explained. "What if this is the kind of secret that people protect? Like, they know if more people find out it would be bad?" Alex suggested. "Could be, or no one could have any clue, or it could be nothing. Just a story created by the system to make the dungeons seem more alive. Either way, I think we might have spent too much time on this. Bonnie was talking about a dungeon room nearby that I think might be a nice change of pace for us," Hera said. "You mean the kobold room? Yeah, that does seem interesting. The entire room is made of only a small settlement by a mountain and the dungeon. The best thing is that there is an actual sky and fresh air too. It can rain, and we can even see the stars. Its doorway is right here too." "It does sound nice. I miss the sky, the actual sky," Runir said. "So, here is my idea. We finish today''s runs since we are already here. Then, finding the boss or not, we go to the next room tomorrow," Hera suggested. "Would that work? I mean, we are not going over the number of doorways we can cross each day, are we?" Blue asked. "No, we are hitting the limit. We can cross four times before risking getting the locked debuff. But that won''t be an issue. The dungeon is supposed to take two days to complete," Bonnie confirmed. "So we sleep inside the dungeon?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I didn''t get a full compendium for it, but from what I gather, the dungeon is like a big battle, and we can sleep inside the camp of an army. A lot of people were recommending that dungeon if you are low on cash. There we can have a safe place to sleep and three meals during the day." "May I suggest we attempt the labyrinth before heading towards this new place?" Tom suggested. "No! You may fucking not. I told you I''m not doing that one. You want to face the damn minotaur go alone for all I care," Runir replied. "Ok, kids, you just made up, let''s not forget that," Alex stopped the two, "How about this, we can check the new room and maybe after we can do the labyrinth, ok?" "Fine," Runir crossed his arms. "Ok, so let''s do this one for the rest of the day. We can take the money we made here to upgrade our gear before heading to the other room. It will be in the third layer, right?" Hera turned to Bonnie. "Actually, no. It''s still going to be in the second layer. It''s like we are moving sideways and not forward." "Oh, that''s even better. It means we are already set up for it, but we should see if there are any things we could improve anyway," Runir nodded. "I like that idea. Staying inside a cave was starting to get to me," Blue said. "Same here. I really want to stop having to wear these mushroom sunglasses," Alex took off her glasses. "Is it still giving you trouble?" Hera asked. "It''s not something that goes away with time," Alex sighed. There was a moment of pause before Blue got up, slapping her tights, "Ok then. Are we finishing the day or going back to take a break?" "I''m up for doing a few more runs today and heading to the other room after a break," Alex got up, following Blue''s example "Same here," Runir nodded. "I agree. Giving up now would feel like we are running away. Let''s at least finish the day," Bonnie said. Having agreed with a course of action, the entire group headed back to the dungeon. During the last weeks, Runir reached level 7 while Alex and Blue had reached level 6. Bonnie still had the lowest level, but now, at level 5, the difference between her strength and the monsters they faced was close to nonexistent. The team now had a much better understanding of each other''s abilities. Thanks to that, each run felt much easier. Although there were still some cuts and bruises. During a fight against the Light of the Forest, Blue got splattered in the liquid light. The heat was enough to give her some burns, but thanks to Runir''s quick healing and the barrier, there weren''t any lasting effects, aside from singed eyebrows that had yet to fully grow back. After counting their expenses with food and mana potions for Runir and Bonnie, they had each gathered around 20 thousand gold during those three weeks. During a run where both Alex and Tom got severe burns on their arms from being hit by the rays that the Light of the Forest used, they all agreed to share the potions'' cost. Hera had already given up on being surprised by the amount of money she made. She knew it would only get crazier in the future. During the day, they faced the Light of the Forest two more times and the Amalgamation once. Sadly, there was no sign of the third and last boss. Still, they all agreed that repeating this dungeon over and over while not getting what they wanted was too frustrating. Even Hera was a bit snippy during the last few days. Before heading back home, they split up to look for better gear. Now they could spend some actual money. They even could, if they wanted, order the same armor that Hera was using. This made her realize two things. First, the reward from the Wendigo she hunted alone wasn''t as incredible as she first thought. Second, she could be looser with her money. If she could make so much in less than a month, she could afford to spend more, both on her equipment and with herself. The shops only closed at ten, and she could still make an order in the guild, although it would take some days. Having decided what she was looking for, Hera and the girls entered the first workshop. It was time to find a new weapon. 182 - Kobold Field ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Victorious Odd Handaxe Rarity: Uncommon A handaxe created by a crafter named Victor. Using the hardened claw of a giant blind mole with tempered minerals from the mines, the weapon received a sizeable increase in its hardiness and weight. Attribute scaling: Agility x 1.1 Intelligence x 1.15 Additional Skill: Miner''s Soul: There will be close to no damage to the weapon when using it as a mining tool Weapon Skill: Rock Wall By hitting solid ground with the weapon, it creates a rock wall in front of the user. The wall can be small, medium, or large. The large version will generate a semi-circle covering the user''s flanks. Mana cost: 25 ¨C Small, 50 ¨C Medium, 150 ¨C large Cooldown: 10 Minutes ¨C Small, 30 Minutes ¨C Medium, 2 Hours ¨C Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last Autumn Boots (Metal Affinity) Rarity: Uncommon Armguards that were created by an exemplary blacksmith and later enchanted by a novice. The materials used are excellent magical conductors. An essence of wind was added to improve its effect. Attribute scaling: Agility x 1.02 Additional effect: When the user is in a life or death situation, their running speed will increase by 20% Cooldown: 24 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alfen Communicator A set of items consisting of an earpiece and a necklace. By synchronizing the communicator with other sets, the Alfen Communicator can create a private radio network allowing for quick communication with no need to strain one''s voice. The sensors are capable of picking up signals in areas under a certain threshold of mana. Effective range: 500 meters. Maximum mana threshold: 1 billion / mm3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera splurged a bit and spent the entire 20 thousand gold she made during the last three weeks. Close to half of that was just for the communicator. Their next dungeon seemed to be in a larger area, and Bonnie suggested getting a set of them. They would eventually need something like it, and since they wouldn''t be spending so much on food and lodging, everyone agreed. According to the clerk who took care of their order, the communicators would only stop working if they faced something that used massive amounts of mana. Even a simple spell, like a fire arrow, could only reach a density of a few thousand mana per cubic millimeter, and that was inside the spell itself. The surrounding area would barely reach a thousand, so unless they faced something capable of massive spells, there was nothing to worry about. Everyone got some new pieces of gear, and Runir decided to use a shield. Since he was already close to Bonnie most of the time, he would act as both healer and a tank if things headed towards her. Alex and Blue went with Hera to the Weller''s Smithy and saw that Mark was already making some small accessories, although they still had no enchantments. Now they were all inside the Carpon Caverns, heading towards the east of the city. The doorway was by a caved-in tunnel. There was a decent number of people heading that way, but the road was more dangerous than the one leading to the Underground Forest. A couple of times, a cauldron of bats flew by but was quickly dispatched by the parties on the road. As they walked, Bonnie explained what she found out about the dungeon, "So, it''s called the Kobold Field, and it''s actually two dungeons, not just one. We can pick between two sides of a conflict, the troops of the Dragon Kin and the Wolves of the Night. From what I could gather, the objective is mostly the same deal with the kobold threat, but how to get there is different. If we go with the Dragon Kin, we have more tools and traps to place before a large battle. By taking the Wolves of the Night''s side, we have to sabotage the kobold''s structures and food supply, dealing a heavy blow before the combat. After that, we just need to protect the leader of the army while they fight it off. The quest should be over after the battle. This dungeon also has a ripcord, so to speak. At any moment, if we want to get out of there, we can rip a letter that we get when we start the quest. If we do, we will be teleported out, but we won''t be able to go in again until the weekly reset." "That is a lot of information, nice work!" Blue patted Bonnie on her back. "It''s part of my job. I''m still not sure who the armies are." "Kobolds¡­ aren''t those the things that we fought during that test?" Hera looked to the ground. "I think so, or at least they have the same name. I wasn''t able to get any images from it. Guess people are still not taking too many pictures of the monsters," Bonnie added. "Hey, don''t worry. We are much stronger now. I''m sure we could beat that test without any issue," Blue lightly bumped Hera with her shoulder. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "I hope so. It''s still a bad memory." "Oh right, you guys had Greyson as your teacher. That man is brutal," Runir said. "Tell me about it. Even here, we don''t get as sore as we did during the training," Alex rubbed her shoulder, remembering all the times she failed one of his challenges. They kept talking until reaching the doorway. Unlike the others that were at least five meters tall, this one was just a bit over two and a half meters, but the width remained the same. It didn''t look like the entrance to a different room. It was more like the door of a mall or a hospital. Above the doorway, there were the faces of a wolf and a dragon staring angrily at each other, surrounded by what looked like several swords and spears. "That''s not ominous at all," Alex said as they got closer. "What? Are you scared now?" Blue joked. "Of course not. Let''s go," Alex was the first to enter the doorway. One by one, the group crossed over. Before Hera''s turn, she used her [Observe] on the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold Field Doorway ¨C Layer 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She thought that her rank 2 [Observe] could give more information, but sadly it wasn''t the case. Taking a deep breath, she took another step, and the notification asking if she wanted to be taken to the new room appeared. She pressed yes and was bathed in a warm light. After 30 seconds, the glow became even brighter, and she could feel something heating up her skin. Only then she noticed the voices around her and opened her eyes. She was in a large open field with several small buildings, and tents spread around the area. The short grass mixed with reddish earth patches reminded her of the farm she used to go to as a kid. She could see a large wooden wall a few hundred meters in front of her and some trees poking from the other side. Behind her, aside from the doorway, there was a massive grey mountain overlooking the settlement. Yet, the most incredible thing was the sky. It was such a beautiful baby blue that it even seemed to sparkle like a jewel. Some clouds brushed the space, and Hera could even notice a few different shapes. She kept smiling and walking forward, not realizing that her friends had stopped moving. Hera bumped into Alex, "Oh, sorry." "Don''t worry. Hey, that cloud looks like an elephant, or am I crazy?" Alex pointed towards the left. "No, no. That one is clearly a giraffe," Blue said. The group spent the next ten minutes trying to find shapes on the clouds and enjoying the sun. Until Bonnie took something out of her bag and passed it to Hera. "Here, we spent too long underground. It''s better to use some sunscreen." "Oh, thanks. I didn''t even think about that," she looked at the bottle and noticed the SPF 25 on the label, "Any chance you have an SPF 50 with you?" "No, sorry." "That''s ok. Thanks," Hera spread the sunscreen on the areas that were not covered by the armor and passed it along. After taking in the sights, they walked around the settlement. There was a store with essential commodities and supplies such as potions and arrows, a restaurant, and a barbecue place that would grill the meat out in the open. On the other side, there were a few houses and a hostel where parties could share a room. Looking back towards the mountain, there was another entrance with a different doorway inside it. Those were the two exits of the room. Heading towards the wooden wall, they found the guild. It was much smaller than the other branches they had seen. It was a two-story tall building with an area on the side where people could wash their armor and weapons. One side was filled with locker rooms and showers, the top floor for women and the bottom for men. The infirmary was on the other side of the bottom floor, and the terminals along with some conference rooms were above it. The dungeon entrance was by the walls. There were two sets of gates with a ten-meter gap between them. They were mostly identical, made of the same wood as the wall, with large metal rings that could be pulled as doorknobs. On top of each door, there was a banner. One red with the head of a copper dragon facing right, and the other with the head of a silver wolf with a deep blue background facing left towards the other gate. Surrounding the two doors, there was an arch, making it seem like the entire structure was a single gateway once upon a time. There was a set of lookout towers with stairs heading down on the sides of the apparently larger entrance. Asking around, they found out that the actual room would end a few hundred meters beyond the wall and that during a rampage, creatures would appear from the woods and charge towards the fortification. However, both for the room''s small size and the guild''s already advantageous position, the rampages here were never particularly dangerous. As they stared at the entrance, Blue asked, "Hey, it''s called kobold fields, and apparently there is nothing but kobolds here, right? Does that mean we are going to work with them as well?" Hera stared at Blue for a moment, "No, it can''t be. I mean, we are helping an army. Kobolds can''t be that smart and organized¡­ Right?" "Well, maybe. I mean, we consider them monsters, but some folklore and books talk about kobolds as tribal societies. What if some of them inside the MAZE just kept developing? It wouldn''t be a surprise to have them making armies and even wars, but why two? Are we facing two different tribes?" Bonnie started to create some theories out loud. "I don''t know, and instead of wasting time trying to figure it out, shouldn''t we just head in?" Alex suggested. "Hang on. Let''s check if there is anything we need to buy, like tents or anti-venom," Runir said, and they headed towards the guild. Half an hour later, they were back in front of the entrance. Runir bought the compendium for the red side dungeon and shared it with everyone. In there, it explained that the quest was divided into steps. First, they had to report to the camp''s general, and that would trigger the quest. They would be facing kobolds much like the ones that Hera fought during the first test Mr. Greyson gave them. They could be simple footmen that would use various weapons, leaders that could increase the power of those around them, and kobold mages and other higher tier occupations such as assassin, sniper, or champion. Aside from the Kobold Chieftain, who was the dungeon''s boss, the most dangerous creatures were those with Feral in their names. They would keep attacking nonstop, even when wounded. The Feral weren''t simply beasts, but monsters driven mad by some ritual. Compendiums never had opinions or strategies for dealing with monsters. They only talked about the creature''s behaviors and attacks, but there was a warning by the Ferals: Avoid fighting alone and be sure the monster is dead after it has fallen. It also talked about the map, it was a field about 3 kilometers long. There was a camp surrounded by trees and a creek about 200 meters behind the camp on each side. If you split it in the middle, the area was almost a perfect mirror. The only difference was the disposition of the camps. One was surrounded by wooden walls and trenches, while the other was hidden deeper into the woods. "Ok, guys, we have the communicators now. Try to stay in range when possible. Hera, since it''s a large area, I think we are going to lean into your map. It''s easier than to pick up our tablets. This is supposed to be a battle in a large-scale war, so we need to be careful. Our quests shouldn''t put us in the thick of it, but still," Bonnie paused, making sure everyone understood, "All ready?" 183 - Kobold General As the group entered the dungeon, the door opened to the field. The grass was even greener than what was inside the settlement, and the air seemed cleaner. In the sky, there was the copper dragon banner floating above some structure on the left, according to the compendium, that indicated where they should go. "Do you think we could go to the other camp and kill everything before even starting?" Alex asked as they headed towards the red banner. "I do not believe we are capable of such a feat, but others might be able to be successful in the venture," Tom said. "Why? I mean, we are a good team. I''m sure we can put up a fight," Blue flexed her arms. They were already very toned, but her muscles were not swelling up even with the constant fighting. "Did you skip the table at the beginning of the compendium? There are about 2 thousand kobolds in there," Hera pulled up the information on her tablet and showed it to Blue. "Oh¡­ yeah.. 2 thousand is a bit too much," the controller scratched her head. "Yeah, if it was like 19 hundred, I''m sure it would be much different," Bonnie laughed. Blue rolled her eyes as they kept moving. It took them about fifteen minutes walking to reach the army''s camp. Large wooden walls covered the area, and several trenches were being dug up. Small red flags were spread around marking places where traps were already set, while blue flags seemed to indicate places where traps would be placed later. Hera only assumed that because of a large hole being dug up by a spot with a blue flag. She couldn''t tell who was working there, but dirt kept being tossed upwards from inside it. As they got closer, Hera noticed the voices coming from various places. They were shrill and scratchy, but with time, she began to understand what they were saying. "Wrong, wrong. This the wrong place. Move there, there! You wrong. I Right!" "You stupid. If here, nothing work. Need to be high, not low!" What followed were sounds of punches being thrown and yells of pain, but the second voice spoke when the noise stopped. "You lose. This stay." "Lovely, these people can''t even form complete sentences," Bonnie sighed. "Maybe they are still developing language," Hera said. "If that''s the case, what are they going to do with Tom?" Alex looked back at the man with shiny silver armor. "I am sure we will find a way to understand one another. For speech is what separates us from mere beasts." Blue and Hera stared at each other. "They''re going to arrest him, aren''t they?" Hera said. "Or maybe just straight up kill him," Blue replied. "You wound me! How could you even say such a thing!" Tom gasped. "Just¡­ stay quiet until we get the ripcord that Bonnie told us about, ok? I don''t want to have to break you out from jail," Runir patted Tom''s back. As they got closer to the large open gate, the group saw several small creatures moving about. They looked like humanoid giant lizards, with thin limbs and long tails and a dark red skin, but they were all small. Even the tallest ones could only reach Hera''s waist, and each of them was dressed differently. Some had long tunics, robes, or skirts with capes, while others had armor made of leather, steel, and even wood. A few also had horn-like protrusions on the top of their heads, but that trait seemed to be exclusive for some, although it didn''t show any impact on their interactions. When the creatures started to notice the humans approaching, most of them stopped and stared. Soon, their walk towards the red banner in the sky became something close to a parade. Hera couldn''t help but feel that those creatures were familiar, and looking at a small group, she activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold (Lizard) ¨C Level 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold (Lizard) ¨C Level 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold (Lizard) ¨C Level 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They are Kobolds!" Hera gasped. Hearing that, the creatures nodded with smiles on their faces. "They are not like the ones I remember," Blue said. "We have both types in our culture. The lizard type is mostly associated with the western version while the wolf type with the eastern," Bonnie had already figured out what they were when they saw the creatures. "Ok¡­ so who came first?" Alex asked. "We did! Dog bastards stole name!" one of the kobolds yelled. "He right!" others joined in. "Mayhap we shall face the other version of those creatures during the quest," Tom said. "That''s a possibility. Kind of funny how the MAZE mirrors our culture, or our culture mirrors the MAZE," Bonnie added. They kept heading towards what looked like the command center of the army, and as they got closer to it, Hera noticed the Kobolds were getting bigger. They also had more intricate designs on their clothing. Some even had full sets of armor, while other had hats or other accessories covering their heads. Checking their status, they were able to see that those larger and more adorned kobolds had a higher level than the smaller and simpler ones, but at most, they were level 7. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The group entered the command tent and was greeted by a large table with a map of the area, along with several small items all placed on top of it: half red and the other half blue. Surrounding it were the 12 largest kobolds they saw in this camp, although even the biggest one among them could only reach Hera''s chest. "Welcome, you must be backup we asked," the kobold in the middle of the table said with a smile. She walked around the map, showing her large and muscular frame. She wore a chain shirt and brass armor on her legs, with two sets of horns, one on each side of her head, and all were pierced or wrapped in a ring. There were also five different necklaces all with clashing colors around her neck, and as she got closer, they noticed that the kobold was wearing makeup. Not only did she have a purple eyeshadow around her eyes, but her lips had a moss green color that seemed to be from lipstick. "I Zudra, General of army. Thank you for come," the kobold replied, putting one hand out towards Blue, "You be leader, yes?" Blue puffed her chest and shook her hand, "Yes, I am," the rest of the group rolled their eyes, but no one said anything. It was just a construct of the dungeon. There was no need to complain. "Good, good. Come, look at map," Zudra gestured towards the group. Now that they approached the table, Hera could tell that the red and blue pieces seemed to represent the position of the troops of both armies. Aside from the lack of an actual pattern in pieces, it was an impressively well-organized strategy table. Their information network seemed to be in good shape, and several blue pieces were spread around the middle of the field and one even behind the red camp. "Each is enemy group," Zudra explained excitedly, "Dumb dogs gave warning. They attack tomorrow when shadows from sun don''t appear. Stupid mutts. We prepare, make traps here, here, and here and over here. When they attack, most die before barricade." There was a resounding laugh from all the Kobolds around the table. "That is a good plan. But how can you tell they are coming here?" Bonnie asked. "Worthless dogs are dumb. They send warning and let know battle plan. They idiots. Always do what say the way say," Another Kobold with several golden rings and chains all over his body said. "They always do what?" Blue asked. Zudra slapped the kobold who spoke on the back of the head, "Stupid Snuck. Speak right. They don''t understand you if not," she turned back to the group, "Sorry. He strong but bad with words. Stupid mutts give plan and say how going to attack. They always follow plan. Say it''s fair to do that. Morons think they better than us, say we too weak and need help. We prove we stronger, we prove we true kobold." "What do you mean, true kobold?" Hera asked. Zudra looked at Hera for the first time. She stared at her hair and snarled, "Of course, you light fur don''t know. Worthless dogs stole our name. We true kobolds. The dragon voice gave us the name. They stole it! Thieving cowards. They make name dirty. Kobold is not dog with flea, kobold is dragonkin!" Zudra''s voice became angrier as her speech went on, getting closer and closer to Hera. The rest of the party stepped forward, worried that the creature might suddenly attack the explorer. In the end, no attack came, even as the kobold leader was so close that Hera could kiss her. "I''m sorry. I didn''t know," Hera said, looking to the floor and taking a step back. "Don''t need sorry. Light fur means you dumb, just like stupid mutt chief, but you came help. Maybe you smarter," Zudra snapped her fingers, and a kobold wearing a green jacket with yellow on the edges of it and large puffy shorts approached with a silver platter, "Here, your mission. We don''t need help to fight, but humans smart. Help us with this list, and you get pay." On the platter, there were six letters sealed with the dragon head emblem. The group picked one each, and as they opened it, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have received a request from the Kobold General Dungeon Quest. The Lizard Kobolds are fighting against the Canine Kobolds. Reinforce their defenses and gather the resources needed for the army. When the Lizard Kobolds emerge victorious, the quest will be completed. Talking with the Kobold Officers will give you missions to complete that improve the structure of the base. The reward will be based on how much your help has contributed to the improvements. Random events might appear during the quest. Victory conditions: Defeat the Canine Kobold Chieftain. Have more than 20 surviving Lizard Kobolds. The Kobold General must survive. First-time completion rewards: 15 000 gold, kobold supplies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking at the quest, it gave very little information about what they should do. According to Zudra, the battle would occur the next day, so they had one full day to complete as many missions as they could. Inside the envelope, there was just a piece of paper with the symbol of the room - the dragon and the wolf facing each other, surrounded by swords and spears. Using her [Inspect], Hera targeted the paper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold field certificate - Lizard A certificate proving your allegiance to the lizard Kobold tribe. By showing it to any lizard kobold, you prove to be an ally to its kind. If the certificate is ripped, it will teleport whoever ripped it back to the dungeon entrance. By leaving the dungeon that way, the bearer will be unable to attempt the dungeon again before the weekly reset. Can only exist inside Kobold Field''s dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So¡­ where do we start?" Alex asked. "We busy now. Talk to Galva," Zudra spoke, waving its hand to the group to leave. They walked outside, not wanting to disturb the meeting anymore. During the entire conversation, most of the kobolds inside stared at the group with angry expressions, leaving them very uncomfortable. Outside there was a group of kobolds walking towards what looked to be a training area. Runir stopped them and asked, "Hey, can you guys tell us where to find Galva?" The kobolds scoffed at him. One even spit on the ground, "Why pink skin want Galva?" Runir showed them the certificate, "We came to help. Zudra told us to talk to him, or her, I''m not sure." "Oh, you pink skin we hire?" the kobold looked to the group, "Arh, light fur," he said when his eye met with Hera''s, "Fine, Galva on food tent. There, where smoke come from," he pointed to the side of the camp. A large tent was close to the walls, with a long line of kobolds of all sizes holding bowls. "Thank you, friend," Runir said. "We no friends. Show you strong first. Then we talk, friend," the kobold replied and walked away. "Is it just me, or they seem very hostile?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I''m not so sure I want to keep doing this one," Hera said with a sigh. Being criticized for her hair reminded her of high school. The worst part is that the color of her hair was one of the few parts that she always liked. Not knowing why they hated that color so much only made things worse. The group walked over to the tent and were received by a small Kobold wearing an apron that read, ''My food good, you tongue bad.'' "Hi, are you Galva?" Blue asked. The kobold turned around, showing an oversized chef hat on its head, "Who ask?" Blue quickly showed the certificate, "Zudra sent us. She said we could help." "You? Help me?" Galva started shaking, his nostrils flaring up and teeth grinding, "Finally!" he jumped in excitement. A kobold said something about waiting, and Galva just tossed an entire fish at its face, "Eat that, if don''t like. Leave!" he turned to the party, "Come, come. Hungry?" Blue and Hera nodded. They just had some fruit before heading out in the morning. The rest of the party was too worried about the boiling pot with brown sludge to consider the food. "Good. Come, eat. We talk help after." 184 - Helping Galva The group had finished the meal, and now they were waiting for Galva to return with something. Staring at her plate, Hera had to admit, the brown soup was weird, but it tasted good. Nothing extraordinary, still, it was far more appealing than its appearance. After finishing the plates, Galva went towards a storage to look for something they would need to help him. "Chicken porridge!" Runir announced. "What?" Hera stared at him. "That''s what the dish tasted like, chicken porridge." "What are you¡­. Holy crap, you are right. It tasted just like it." "You two are crazy. How can it taste like chicken porridge? There was meat inside it," Blue shook her head. "Ok, then. What did it taste like?" Runir asked. "It felt like¡­ rice, carrots, potatoes, maybe something like celery and¡­" Blue looked away. "And?" Runir pressed. "Chicken¡­ It tasted like chicken. But it was meat! It had the texture of beef," she said. "Well, so? Frogs taste like chicken too. Maybe what they say is true. Everything tastes like chicken," Runir said. They kept discussing the flavors until Galva returned with four large wheelbarrows with two oversized barrels on top of each tied with ropes. Each cask was large enough to fit two humans inside. Eight small kobolds were struggling to help move the carts. "Put here. Thanks. I give more meat later," Galva waved off his eight helpers. He was a good 10 centimeters taller than the ones that helped him move the barrows. Out of curiosity, Hera triggered her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Galva ¨C Kobold Chef ¨C Level 8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, he''s level 8," she whispered to the group. "All that? What level was Zudra then?" Runir asked. "I forgot to check. I''ll do it when I get a chance," Hera said. "Friends. Here, what help. Water low, need more. Quick, quick, no time left," Galva pointed at the wheelbarrows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Refill the water supply ¨C Galva''s request. Galva asks you to refill the water reserves of the camp. Fill up the barrels with clean drinkable water. The more barrels you fill, the higher the increase in the camp''s morale. Failure condition, return less than 2 barrels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Would two barrels be enough for the entire camp? How many kobolds are here?" Blue asked. "500 according to the compendium," Bonnie replied while inspecting the barrels. "500?! We need to kill 2 thousand with just 500?" Blue gasped. "Yeah, I''m worried too, but I hope the traps do most of the work. Or at least I''m trying to focus on that," Bonnie replied. "How are you all so chill with all this?" Blue turned to the rest of the group. "I mean, we probably faced more than that amount during the rampage. As long as we have some traps and a defensive position, we are good. Besides, it''s not like we even need to fight the army. We are just here to support," Alex said. "I guess¡­ but now I''m worried." Hera patted her on the back and turned to Runir, "Can you make that water thing to fill the casks?" "The water I make is not for drinking. It has some weird things to help clean the armors and stuff," Runir explained. "Ok, how about your cold spells, Bonnie?" "It can help, but I don''t think I can fill all the barrels. Maybe if I had the entire day to focus on this, but we need to do more things, right? Also, isn''t there a river behind the camp?" Bonnie turned to Galva. "Yes, yes. River behind camp. You talk too much. Can''t speak. We need many to go and back. If barrel full, can only carry one. You long leg. Move faster, carry more," Galva explained. "Ok, so we just need to go to the river and fill this up? What if there is fish? We take them off?" Runir asked. "Leave it. Fish good food. I make dinner." Hera opened her map, "Right, if we move through the forest, we can reach the river. It''s that one you''re talking about, Galva?" "Yes, yes. You smart! I take many hour to fill all barrel. Legs short. Arms weak. You strong, smart, tall. Move faster, bring water faster." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "I think we can do that," Blue nodded, testing out the wheelbarrow. "Ok, then we will be right back," Runir walked towards another of the carts. "Tom, grab the last one. Hera, you guide us, and Bonnie can be the lookout." Having four people to move the wheelbarrows, they left the camp through a side entrance and headed towards the forest behind it. A large area was filled with stumps and even a few kobolds by the trees, cutting them down. By the looks of it, this was where all the wood in the camp came from. "Everyone, keep your eyes and ears peeled. There was a single blue thing on the map we saw with Zudra behind the camp," Alex said. "Indeed, we must remain vigilant in order not to suffer any ambushed from the enemy," Tom said. "Are you ok, Tom?" Hera asked. "I feel the excitement that comes with battle. I could not be better. Why do you ask, oh noble explorer?" "You''ve just been quiet for a while," Hera said. "Ah, I must confess that what you all said left an impression, especially after Zudra chastised her companion for his words. I abstained from speaking to avoid any confrontation since their language seems less developed than ours." "Oh man, I didn''t want to make you feel like you had to hide. Just speak normally," Runir said. "I can do so in the heat of battle, but to speak casually as we discuss strategy is something I have trouble with. I decided that it would be better for our adventuring party if I took a less active role during the conversation with our new allies." "We appreciate, but you really don''t have to do that. We are a team. If they can''t accept you, they can''t accept any of us," Alex said. Hera smiled and looked at the map once more. They were still about 100 meters away from the river, but she heard something beyond the bushes. Making a motion for the group to stop, Hera tried to focus on her hearing. To the right, heading upstream, she could hear some odd noises, almost like something sniffing. Hera remembered the sound well. It was the same sound that the kobold she faced during the test made when it noticed her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed her choker, activating the transmission of the communicator, and whispered, "We got company." Hearing her voice through the earpiece, they all exchanged a glance and quietly let go of the wheelbarrows. With Hera an the front, since she was the only one who heard the noise, the group moved through the forest. Hera moved her map to the side and kept using her pulse. After a few tests, she realized that even though the range was exceedingly short, the spell could work as a radar, and when a creature was close by, it would appear on the map. Her only worry was that some monsters were sensitive enough to feel when the pulse made contact. She already suspected that when facing the toad a long time ago, and Helena had confirmed her theory. Not knowing what would be around, she decided to focus more on her eyes and ears than the spell. The sound of the river was the first thing they noticed. Not long after it, everyone heard the sniffs and small growls coming from their heading. The forest was very dense. Aside from the path they were using to reach the river, there was no place where they could travel with the wheelbarrows. Alex and Hera could move around the forest without making too much noise, but the rest of the group wasn''t as well versed in stealth as the two. The biggest problem was Tom. His metal armor would rattle too much if a loose branch or something hard got in his way. To minimize the possibilities of that happening, Hera and Alex flanked the fighter to assist his movement. Around five minutes passed as they crossed the forest at a snail''s pace. The noise became louder, and when the thick greenery finally gave way, the group saw five small humanoid creatures covered in light brown fur. They had wolf-like faces and long, fluffy tails. Hera whispered for the group to stop and took a few steps forward to assess the situation. Of the five creatures, two had daggers on their waists, one had a short staff, and two had bows and arrows. The one with the staff was drawing something on a large rock. "Careful, don''t make the engraving too big. We must not let the lizard kin find out," a surprisingly deep voice came from one of the creatures who had daggers. "I know, brother. However, magic must be treated with care. There are rules I must obey," the one with the staff replied in a similar voice. "This is not right. We should face them in battle and not resort to such petty trickery," one of the archers said. "Facing lizard kin in battle would be like fighting children. If a cub makes a mistake, we must teach them a lesson and not beat it senseless," the one with the staff replied. "They are not cubs, but¡­" "Silence!" the one with daggers that had not spoken cut them off and started sniffing the air. "They got us, two archers and a mage in the back," Hera whispered in the communicator. She had activated her [Observe] while the creatures talked. They were all level 4 canine kobolds, except the one drawing in the stone. He was a kobold mage level 5. They had numbers, but most of them were two levels behind her. Hera rushed out of the woods with no time to waste, flinging two poison needles aimed at the archers. They were already on alert, but the surprise attack was enough to make the projectiles hit. She tossed her chakram to the side and pulled the thread. The two carrying daggers easily dodged the blade, but the target was the mage. Using the mana reinforcement on the weapon, a burst of mana made the chakram move even faster and slammed into the mage''s staff, breaking it apart. The two archers sent out their arrows, but one of the projectiles was met with a gust of wind so strong that it splintered the wood. Alex followed the wind with her new daggers already in hand. A kobold rushed at Hera, pulling both his blades from the belt, and started to attack. She defended with her handaxe, having trouble moving the weapon as quickly as before. The new axe was 1.5 kilograms, being three times heavier than what she was used to. Even after training with it for almost a day, she wasn''t used to the weight. She pushed the monster back and slashed at the kobold, who blocked with both his daggers. The new weight helped Hera''s strike breakthrough the creature''s defense, creating a large gash in the middle of its body. The kobold fell to its knees at the same time that the chakram returned to Hera''s hand. Taking advantage of the momentum, she pulled the weapon towards the monster, slitting its throat in one swift motion. Alex managed to intercept the second dagger user, defeating it without much trouble, but the archers were in the back, firing at the rest of the group coming from the forest. The mage was still drawing on the rock, now even more dedicated to his task. Hera ran towards him but was stopped by an arrow that flew by her head, hitting one of her ear guards. Bonnie threw two fire fists at the archers, and Blue used her taunt on the mage, making it stop drawing long enough for Runir to activate one of his debuffs. The archers were slippery, but with the attacks of Hera and Blue on one, and Tom and Alex on the other, they fell without dealing any damage to the group. The mage watched his friends hit the floor and placed both his hands on the ground. Sparks of lighting started to gather around him. At the same time, a small storm cloud appeared in the sky. Hera looked up and saw the same pattern of electricity appear inside the cloud. "Stay behind me!" she yelled, moving to the front of the group. A massive lightning bolt came crashing down from the sky. Bonnie and Runir jumped behind some trees, and the last thing they saw was Hera moving one hand to the ground. 185 - Helping around the camp When the flash of the lightning vanished, a smell of burnt flesh covered the area. Bonnie and Runir poked out of the trees. Hera and the others were all hiding behind a crescent-shaped rock formation. "Is everyone ok?" Bonnie rushed from behind the tree. She yelled, but no one heard. The thunder was so loud that everyone''s ears were ringing. Hera started coughing. The spell had created a large dust cloud from the point of impact. Even the stone barrier that she made with her weapon was damaged by the force of the lightning. There were large cracks in the formation, and parts of the rocks on the top were blown away. All this destruction was the result of the secondary damage. The kobold mage''s body, where the main impact occurred, had almost been completely reduced to ashes. Only a small piece of its skull and some ribs remained. The other kobolds'' bodies were still around, but the spell''s force sent them flying in different directions. Oddly enough, they didn''t dissolve like monsters inside a dungeon normally would. "Is anyone hurt?" Runir asked, but no one could hear. He typed the question on his tablet and poked the group who were still recovering from the scare. They shook their heads, but that didn''t stop Runir from trying to heal their ears to recover everyone''s hearing. His spells had some effect, but it still would take several minutes before the ringing stopped. While their hearing had yet to return, the group communicating by text. They didn''t understand why the corpses were still there, and there was no loot drop. Another issue they were trying to understand was what the kobolds were doing here. Why making a spell in a rock was such an important task? And why would the mage be willing to kill themselves for it? Bonnie did her best to identify the magic, but it was built in a way that she couldn''t understand. The engravings were not a formula but a complex language that was based on drawings. Even with their combined efforts, no one was well versed enough in linguistics to even begin to understand what was going on in the carving. There was a silver lining in all that. Hera heard part of their conversation, allowing the group to come to some conclusions. First, the Wolves of the Night had a higher mastery of speech than the lizard kobolds. Second, they seem to have some sort of code of conduct but, at the same time, were doing something that went against it. Third, they appeared to be heavily underestimating the Dragon Kin, even comparing them with children. Hera''s group had spent around ten minutes discussing the possibilities when the corpses that still lingered started to liquefy and dissolve back to the ground, leaving behind some fur and a few arrows. The mage didn''t drop any loot, maybe because of the spell it used or just by bad luck. There was no way to know for sure in these conditions. They moved back to where they had left the wheelbarrows as their hearing started to return. "Was that one of the random events?" Blue asked. "There was no system notification, but I don''t know," Hera yelled in response. "We have no way of knowing if those events happened now. Maybe when we finish the quest," Bonnie shouted from the back. "You guys should stop talking. We can barely hear, but I can tell you are all yelling. What if there are more kobolds around?" Alex warned. With that, the group went silent. Hera would only make hand motions to warn if something was in the way, mostly large rocks or holes that they had to maneuver around. In close to five minutes, they were already by the river filling the barrels with water. Even at the creek''s deepest part, it was only enough to cover their ankles, meaning that each barrel could only be filled to half by using the stream. They could quickly fill the rest but had to use another cask to top off the previous one. Even with six people, it took them about thirty minutes to finish all eight barrels. The last one being the most tiresome, since they had to use other ways to put water inside it after placing it up. It was only when Bonnie thought about using her ice fist as a bowl that the process became somewhat smoother. Heading back to the camp took longer than expected. Controlling the wheelbarrows with the casks filled with water was an ordeal. Not just for the muscles, but for their patience as well. The barrels could spill the water or even tip over and fall down if moving too fast, but moving too slow made it impossible for anyone''s arms to hold on. This time, even Bonnie and Hera took turns pushing the carts, and after what felt like an eternity, they reached the Dragon Kin camp once more. "You back. Good good. How many fill?" Galva inspected the barrels, "Many thanks. Much more than expect!" the small kobold moved around the group, shaking everyone''s hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Complete Refill the water supply ¨C Galva''s Request If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. You have filled up seven barrels out of eight with water for the camp. You have foiled the Wolves of the Night sabotage plans. High increase to camp''s morale + 30% to Dragon Kin Kobold attributes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What do you mean seven?" Blue huffed and opened the barrels. Although they had been filled to the brim, all the casks lost some water during the travel, leaving the total amount enough for about seven barrels. "Yeah, I kind of figured," Bonnie sighed, turning to Galva, "Do you know anyone else who might need help?" "Everyone, we at war. Much to do. Traps to make, tosser to build, weapon to sharpen. Ask around. And when you get hungry, come find Galva. I give special dish as thanks." Galva waved to a few other kobolds, who grabbed the casks and moved to the kitchen tent. The group offered to help, but the creatures didn''t reply. "Ok, so who we try to help now?" Runir asked. "It might be wise to move individually for the moment. Gather more information before deciding what to do," Tom suggested. "I agree. And if we find something to do inside here, we should do it, even if we are alone," Bonnie said. "Why?" Alex turned to Bonnie. "The quest reward. Let''s say a kobold has 10 strength. The buff will make it be 13, but what if the other quests give similar buffs? We are facing 2 thousand. If we can make each kobold three times as strong as the ones coming, we have a much better shot at completing this dungeon. Not to mention we might get other things. Maybe the buff will be to the traps, or someone has a way to make the enemy weaker. I think the more quests we complete here, the better." "Ok, but I''m going to stay away from the command tent. Don''t want anyone calling me light fur again," Hera said. "Tom and I can check that area. If we get a quest to leave the camp, we ignore it for now." The group nodded and split off. Hera headed towards the gate and found the barracks where most of the smaller kobolds were training and running errands. Unlike the commanders, they were more curious and didn''t mind her eyes. It didn''t take long for her to find a frustrated captain who couldn''t teach his soldiers any group combat tactics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Teach a combat maneuver ¨C Kobold Captain''s Request A group of kobolds is struggling to understand how to fight as a team. Teach them a way to work together. The effectiveness of the strategy will affect the reward. Time limit: Two hours. Failure condition, not teaching a proper way to fight as a group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before accepting the quest, Hera called her friends using the communicator and asked if she could stay away for 2 hours. They all agreed. Bonnie was discussing how to improve the design of the catapults the kobolds had made, Runir was in the healer''s tent helping the wounded, Blue was talking with a kobold alchemist, and it would take some time to help him. Outside the city, Alex was taking care of hiding the traps, and Tom was in the command tent giving public speech lessons to the commanders of the army. They all found quests that would take some time. Feeling better about staying that long here doing this quest, Hera read the notification again. It was a weird quest, and Hera had very little knowledge of warfare. What they did during the rampage wouldn''t work for these creatures, and there were too many to mirror any strategy that her party used. Thinking about big wars and stories she read, her mind wandered towards Leo. He worked for a more militaristic organization and would undoubtedly have an excellent way to deal with this. Still, his name gave her an idea. Hera showed them how to create a shield wall. Since the kobolds were very small, each of them would have a job. Some would carry shields and hold back anything that tried to break the formation, while others used spears supported by the shields to face any incoming threats. For the next two hours, Hera practiced the formation with the kobolds. She didn''t teach just how to hold it but also how to create the formation and what to do if attacked by arrows. The spear bearers would have smaller shields on their back and use them to make a roof on the formation if arrows were coming. They were smart and quick to learn, and it was a good thing that her strategy consisted of them being stationary because Hera had no idea how to move a shield wall formation. By the end of the training drill, the team of 20 kobolds made a shield wall strong enough that not even Hera and the Kobold Captain working together could breakthrough. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a quest Teach a combat maneuver ¨C Kobold Captain''s Request The kobolds under your tutelage have learned how to make a shield wall. Small morale increase +80% to Dragon Kin Kobold attributes while performing a shield wall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera barely finished reading the notification when Bonnie''s voice came through her earpiece. "Who completed that one?" "I did. Why?" Hera asked. "You taught the kobolds how to make a shield wall?" Bonnie sounded surprised. "Yeah. They are fast learners. I honestly expected to fail." "Did you do something else? That buff is amazing!" Blue gasped. "Not really. I just did what I could. But I think the buff only works for the team I trained." "I''m more curious about what the morale will do. Did anyone find something out?" Runir asked. "No." "Not me." "I have yet to discover something." "I got nothing, but I guess we will find out later. If no one needs any help, I''m going to look for more quests," Hera replied. Leaving the training grounds, Hera stopped by the armory with a kobold working alone to sharpen the weapons. "I''m skilled with weapon maintenance, can I help you?" she asked. "You help? Yes yes. Too much to do alone," the kobold replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon Maintenance ¨C Dragon Kin Kobold Help to prepare the weapons for the Dragon Kin army. The more weapons you prepare, the better the reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera sat by the kobold and started to work. By her side, the creature began to talk about its life, saying it was born in a cave and wanted to become a tailor but never had enough time to practice since the war started. It was weird to hear that type of thing from a kobold and even stranger from a creature inside a dungeon, but it helped to have someone to talk to while working. After a while, the kobold even asked about Hera''s life, and she replied without a worry. It was oddly comforting to talk with someone who wouldn''t remember a thing. 186 - Night shift "Instead of trying to remember everything, it''s much easier to write it down," Bonnie just got back from the bathroom and heard the group discussing if they have forgotten any quests. Hera pulled up her tablet, "Ok, first we had Galva''s thing. That was a 30% buff for the kobolds. The next one was the formation thing. It gave an 80% buff but only for the ones doing the shield wall." "Then we had Alex fixing the traps. It was a 50% buff to the spikes and stuff," Blue sat up on the bed. "Right, then Tom did the speech thing, and that is a 20% increase to the kobolds. Mine was another 20. Then¡­ it was Blue or Bonnie?" Runir asked. "Both, we got it almost at the same time. Mine was a 50% increase in the number of catapults. They wasted so much wood building those things," Bonnie sighed. "Then it was me with the alchemist. There was no buff but a new wildfire trap. It''s essentially a Molotov cocktail. But, if a kobold sees the trap triggering, it will get another 40% buff." "The one who missed our supper had the last quest of the day. If I may say, I believe it to be quite an impressive result¡ªa 10% buff to all structures and gear is nothing to scoff at, especially if that also applies to traps." "Ok, so what''s the total?" Blue asked. Hera added everything, "The kobolds have a 70% buff, 40% if they see the traps, and 80% if they are doing the shield wall. The structures and stuff have a 10% buff, and the traps 50% if we count the 10% of everything." "Right¡­ and is that good?" Blue turned to Bonnie. "I don''t know¡­" "It''s kind of hard to gauge that since we don''t know how the quest will go. There was no hint in the compendium," Alex said. There was a moment of pause. The group was now in a tent given by the kobolds where they could sleep, and the entire camp was silent. According to what they were told, the canine kobolds would not attack during the night, meaning that there was no need to even have lookouts, and the entire army could sleep. That was only what the Dragon Kin said. The compendium informed about the possibility of attacks during the night. "Honestly, there is nothing we can do. We should just rest and do our best tomorrow. Worst case scenario, we pull the ripcord," Bonnie said. They nodded and set up the shifts. First, it would be Alex and Runir, then Bonnie and Tom, while Hera and Blue would take the last one. Hera appreciated not taking the first shift and being able to sleep for a long time. Despite not having to do any intense work, she was exhausted. They had woken up early to come to this room, and by going by the clock on her tablet, the dungeon had a different time zone. The sun went down three hours later than it should, and there were so many weapons to take care of that she couldn''t leave the kobold who was working with her alone without feeling bad. Now, all that she wanted was a nice soft pillow where she could rest. Galva had even stopped by the armory to give her a plate after dinner since she never showed up. Still, she managed to take care of every single weapon in the arsenal. She wasn''t sure if the results would be that good if she didn''t finish everything. With nothing left to do, Hera just lay down on the bed, falling asleep in just a few moments. Blue, Bonnie, and Tom were tired but felt it was too early to sleep. They talked for a few hours, discussing strategy for the next day. "Changing the subject, did you find anything you want to try, Blue?" Bonnie asked. "Not yet. I want something that can work as a gap closer. That''s why I got the lightning spell. I thought I could either increase my speed or maybe even do a small blink. You know how there are those types of things in games. But now I''m thinking about a way to use my grappling on large creatures. Maybe something that works as another limb, but I don''t know what." "I see.." Bonnie looked away. "What?" Blue noticed her motion. "No, no, nothing. I don''t want to give you bad news." "Now I have to know. Wha''s wrong?" "Buffs for speed like that are costly. You are going to need a lot of mana to use them. Phantom limbs are even worse, at least according to what I know," Bonnie replied. "Can you share what you know about those types of spells?" "Would it be a problem if I joined the conversation? Both types of spells seem quite interesting," Tom said. "Sure. Let''s start with the easier ones, and please, take all I say with a grain of salt. I''m not that experienced with those spells¡­." Bonnie explained what she knew, and they discussed the possibilities through the beginning of the night, all while Hera was sound asleep. A couple of hours later, they joined in her slumber. Runir and Alex patrolled the camp. There was a single lookout tower by the entrance and all the Dragon Kin were sleeping. They had absolute trust that the Wolves of the Night wouldn''t attack during their rest. Even when the group tried to make the kobolds help patrol, no one would do a thing without Zudra''s orders. Alex started in the tower, while Runir would walk around the area, making sure no one was sneaking inside. It was hard to cover the entire camp with only two people, but it was the only thing they could do. After finishing one lap around the camp, Runir swapped with Alex, staying in the tower while walking around. The two avoided talking at first, but as time went by and there was no sign of anything happening, the two started chatting via the communicators not to disturb anyone. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. After their three-hour shift, they headed back to the tent and swapped with Bonnie and Tom. Hera was so tired that she hadn''t even moved since falling asleep. They did the same thing that Alex and Runir had done, taking turns staying in the watchtower. They spent half an hour patrolling when a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Event ¨C Canine Invasion The Wolves of the Night sent teams to sabotage and kill the Dragon Kin. Protect the camp and its inhabitants. Creatures capable of giving quests are more likely to be targeted. If Zudra is killed, the Dungeon quest will fail. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tom and Bonnie left their stations right away. They had to find where the canine kobold where. Luckily, Runir was having trouble sleeping and saw the notification as soon as it popped up. He woke everyone up, Hera still feeling lethargic and wanting to keep sleeping. She was feeling sore, and her eyes stung as if she had opened them under the sea. "Why the fuck are those fucking things showing up now?" Hera mumbled while getting up. Blue and Alex exchanged a glance. They never heard her cursing twice in the same sentence. It was the first time the two of them saw Hera genuinely angry. The group put on the communicators and called Bonnie and Tom. "We''re up. Did you guys find anything?" Blue asked. "Not yet, at least on the ground. How about from the tower, Tom?" "I do not have the same keen eyes that our assassin possesses, but I believe there are a few heading to the front gate," Tom was watching some shadows cross the field in front of the camp. The road that led outside the wooden walls was still free of traps. Only in the morning would the kobolds prepare them. "I''ll meet you there," Alex said, already leaving the tent. "We should split up. The quest said teams, so there could be more than just that group. We should check the kobolds that gave us the quests," Blue headed to the alchemist cabin. "Right, I''ll take the infirmary," Runir said. "I''m close to it. I''ll meet you there, then we can check the catapults," Bonnie replied using the comms. "I''ll check on the armory," Hera was still trying to wake up properly. "Alex and I will be close to the barracks. Allow us to protect them from our foes. Someone needs to safeguard the friendly chef, and our general," Tom was still on the tower trying to see if the kobolds would split off. "Right, I''ll do it then," Hera replied. She was the only one left in the tent and walked outside, mumbling. The bed wasn''t as soft as she expected. To make things worse, she slept in an odd position and now felt her muscles cramp up. She ran towards the tent where Galva worked, but it was all the way on the other side of the camp. Hera tried to shake off the muscle pain, but to no avail. As she passed by the command center, another notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold Captain slain Medium morale decrease -10% Dragon Kin kobolds attributes. Soldiers in his platoon receive -20% attributes. Shield wall effectiveness -20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera clenched her fists. Her friends had warned Zudra that there could be an attack, but she ignored them. Now the captain was dead. They didn''t talk much during the training, but it was easy to tell that he cared a lot about his troops. While Zudra was more worried about speaking properly than taking care of her own people. She had stopped moving when she saw the notification, and the turmoil inside her mind was enough to distract her. Sneaking from behind, three figures jumped on Hera and held her down on the ground. She struggled to get up but was unable to do so. Even if each of the creatures was individually weaker than her, they could still pin her to the ground if working together. One of them got off her back and moved closer to Hera''s head. "You have chosen the wrong side, pink skin." It pulled Hera''s hair back, exposing her throat, and moved a dagger closer to her neck. Hera tried to shake off the other two, but her body still hurt, making her unable to muster her strength. Unsure what to do to escape, she created a blinding flash on her hand. However, the two kobolds were on top of her hands, holding them down. Any spell she tried to cast would only hit the ground. The only thing she could try now would be using the grease fire and hoping that they would be startled long enough for her to do something, even so, that would burn her hand, leaving her in a bad situation to fight the three. The kobold pressed his dagger against her throat. Hera could feel some of her blood starting to come out of the superficial cut. Flashes of the kobold leader she faced during the test appeared in her head. The claws and fangs ripping her apart. She would not let one of those creatures kill her. Pulling all her mana towards her mouth, Hera prepared a large grease fire spell. It would be the first time she tried to use a spell that didn''t originate in her hands, and worst-case scenario, her mouth could be covered in third-degree burns. But so would that damn kobold''s face, and it was better than dying by his hands. "What are your final words?" the kobold asked. "Fuck you!" at the end of the sentence, the grease fire was triggered. The spell came out as if it was a flamethrower. She could feel some weird sour liquid inside her mouth, but the fire only started after her lips, almost like it was being ignited by them. The spell spilled out from her face, covering the kobold in flaming oil. The monster screamed and tumbled back. Hera took advantage of the situation and looked to the side, trying to hit one of the two still holding her down with the remainder of the spell. She managed to hit the one on her right, but the magic fizzled out before reaching the last one. The kobold who tried to cut her neck was now silent, parts of the bone already appearing through the flesh. Hera stared at the last one holding her. Grabbing his wrist, she slammed her handaxe in its face, splitting it open in one fell swoop. She turned to the last one standing, who was rolling on the ground to put out the fire on its fur. Walking towards it, Hera grabbed his head and said. "No last words for you assholes." Before the kobold even realized what just happened, Hera cut open its throat the same way they tried to do it with her. 187 - The Wolves Attack Hera was breathing heavily. The corpses of the three kobolds were still on the ground. Although the fight was quick, it was more than enough to wake her up completely. She used her mend spell to fix the wound on her neck and started cursing again. It was bad enough that they looked like recolored versions of the ones she fought during the test, but being that ruthless only made things worse. She was one step away from dying, and what about her friends? "Is everyone ok?" Hera called on the comms. "I''m fine. Kriss is fine, and so are his wildfire bombs. I''m not sure if I should leave here, though," Blue said. "They got the captain, sorry. We didn''t make it in time, but Tom just finished the last one from this group. They are not that strong," Alex said in a saddened voice. "Runir? Bonnie? If you can hear me fucking answer! Shoot up a spell, do something!" Hera yelled. "We are here. Everything is fine, don''t worry," Bonnie said. "Why are you so worried? Did you forget where everyone was?" Runir asked. "Those fuckers almost slit my throat, but don''t worry. Next time, I won''t check on you," Hera was still shouting through the comms. "Sorry¡­" Runir replied like a puppy who just got scolded. "Are you ok? Are they dead?" Blue asked. "No, no. I told them I wanted to talk to my friends, and they are very polite and waiting for us to finish before pushing the dagger in my neck," Hera took a deep breath, "Sorry. I''m in a crappy mood today. I''m fine. Got a small cut, but the three are dead." "Who make noise? Zudra can''t sleep. Shut up and go away," Zudra''s voice came from the command tent. "Shut up, you overgrown lizard, this mess is all your fucking fault!" Hera shouted. "Hera, calm down," Blue said through the comms. "Ha, stupid light fur, too afraid to sleep. Go back to tent and let the brave ones rest. We fight tomorrow. "We are fighting now, you idiot! Three kobolds almost killed me, and I bet you were next on their list," Hera shouted one more time. "Light fur seeing things. So stupid that can''t tell dream from awake. Should run under mother legs if that scared." "I what?!" Hera stomped towards the command tent. "Hera? Hera? What are you doing?" Alex asked. The entire group heard what she was saying, but Zudra''s side of the conversation was lost to them. "Teaching some manners to a lizard. Worst-case scenario, we fail the quest and do it again," Hera said, walking inside the tent and deactivating her comms. Zudra was wearing a large velvet robe and her various necklaces in front of a large glass pitcher filled with water. "What stupid light fur want? Can''t see I trying to sleep?" "So stop fucking sleeping and look around. Your army is being attacked!" Hera shouted, getting closer to the general. "No attack. You see dream, go back to tent," Zudra waved Hera off. "This is not a damn dream. They almost killed me, and one of your captains is dead!" "Stupid light fur speak lie. Go back," Zudra turned around, moving back to her bed with an ornate glass filled with water in her hand. Hera felt her blood boiling and pulled the necklaces, choking the kobold while dragging her out of the tent. "Stop¡­ stop... kehuk¡­ can''t¡­ breath.." Zudra protested. Even with her higher level, she couldn''t break away from the human without breaking her accessories or the cup she was carrying. Hera dragged Zudra outside and tossed her onto the ground by the bodies of the two kobolds who weren''t burnt to a crisp. "Tell me it''s a fucking dream again. C''mon, tell me!" Hera shouted. Zudra looked around and saw the corpses as well as some of the grease fire that was still burning on the third kobold. She moved the bodies, opening their mouths and pulling their skins. "It''s¡­ not trick? They real?" she asked. "For the love of¡­ Of course, they are real! You fucking touched them. Now do something aside from sitting on your scaly ass and warn the army. We are under attack," Hera looked up and saw the kitchen tent where Galva should be sleeping. She kicked the kobold that Zudra was touching and ran towards her next destination, leaving the Dragon Kin general on the ground. The kobold wearing a green jacket and large puffy shorts walked to Zudra and helped her get up, "Light fur say true, general. Dogs attacking." "How you know?" "Saw the fight. Dogs jumped light fur. She hit ground, can''t move. Then fire breath kill that one," the lizard kobold pointed to the charred remains of a canine kobold. "Light fur breath fire?" Zudra asked with wide eyes. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "Yes. Maybe not light fur." Zudra nodded, "Maybe fire heart. Maybe she true dragon in pink skin." Hera didn''t hear any of that conversation. She had deactivated the earpiece, but her voice still transmitted to the group while she confronted Zudra. Blue and Alex were impressed while Bonnie congratulated her for standing up for herself. She knew how much Hera struggled with that. She thanked them, but they had to focus on the quest. If the wolves were already so deep inside the camp, who knows where they could strike next. Arriving at the kitchen tent, Hera saw all the pans and food tossed around, Galva''s bed was ripped to shreds, but it all looked more ransacked than actually being the result of a fight. Scanning the area, Hera wasn''t able to find any tracks that could lead to anything. Inside the tent, several footprints were spread around, but outside it, nothing. It was like whoever walked in there vanished the moment it stepped outside. Hera tried to move around some tables and chairs to find any clues. When she picked up the large pot that held the brown stew, a small kobold jumped from under it and tried to headbutt Hera. "Galva not die like this. I take you with me," Galva tried to slash and claw away at Hera but was quickly stopped by her. "It''s ok. They are gone," Hera held Galva''s hands to stop him from hurting her. "Oh, it you," Galva looked around before turning back to Hera and seeing the blood and burnt fur stuck to her armor, "You fight? They dead?" "Yeah, some, but I don''t think they are the ones that came here. These seem different," Hera stared at one of the footprints that were even bigger than hers. She instantly remembered the kobold trainer she faced during the test all those months ago. "This bad. Why dogs lie?" "This is war, Galva. This is what people do. They lie and cheat, all to get any advantage. At least, that''s how my kind wage wars," Hera replied, still looking for more invaders. There was some movement coming from the corner of the camp. She started walking towards that area when she felt a tug on her chain skirt. Looking down, Galva had a frightened expression, "What''s wrong?" "Do others war like you kind?" the kobold asked. Hera could feel the fear in his voice and took a knee by Galva''s side, "You don''t have to worry about that, ok? Everything will be fine," for a moment, Hera forgot she was inside a dungeon. The kobold''s reaction was so lifelike, as if watching someone understand that misery of war for the first time. Galva seemed to be tranquilized by Hera''s presence, but a loud clang spooked him once more. Hera got up and pulled out her weapons, and without looking away from the direction of the noise, she said, "Galva, run towards the command tent. Don''t make a sound, and if a dog appears, yell." With a nod, the kobold ran towards a safe location while Hera activated her [Hide] and moved towards the camp''s corner. Going behind one of the supply tents, she crouched down, trying to hear what was moving nearby. "Worthless lizards, why do they insist on challenging us? The lesser should bow down and accept our ruling." Hera stopped moving when she heard the sounds of the creature. "I do not like this. They are children pretending to be adults. We should not resort to such underhanded methods. Much less to bring those things here." "They are still part of our tribe, brother. It would do you well to remember that." "Our tribe is made of honorable kobolds, not rabid dogs. Those things are nothing but animals. We should keep them in their cages!" The sound of a fist hitting someone came from the corner. Hera took that as a cue and dashed out of her hiding. Between the tents, there were two kobolds. One was on the ground holding his jaw while the other was staring him down. Taking advantage of the position, Hera jumped to the one standing, wrapping her arm around the kobold and lifting it from the ground. At the same time, she put her handaxe towards its throat. "How many of you came here?" she asked. "I will not tell you a thing. If you want to kill me, then do it!" the kobold barked and struggled, trying to push away from her. "I wasn''t talking to you," Hera turned to the kobold on the ground, "Are you answering or watching your brother die?" The kobold on the ground tumbled to the side and jumped towards Hera, brandishing a dagger. Hera moved in tandem, trying to use the one in her arms to block the attack. The blade sunk into the kobold''s stomach, going through and hitting Hera''s chest. Thankfully, her armor and the body in front of her were enough to turn the attack into a slight poke. She moved her axe, finishing the kobold in her arms off, and tossed it towards the remaining one. The kobold moved to the side, avoiding the body, but Hera''s chakram was right behind it. The kobold dodged the attack and rolled to the side once more, trying to hit her again. She pulled back, hitting the wooden wall with her back, and flung a paralyze towards the monster. The creature wasn''t expecting a long-range attack and slammed into the projectile head first. The makeshift claw grabbed the kobold and sent a green electric current through its body, leaving the monster paralyzed. Hera checked to see the creature''s status and confirmed that the status effect had triggered and that the kobolds didn''t have an advanced title. They all were just named kobold. Hera slammed her handaxe on the neck of the creature, killing it on the spot. She pressed the communicator right away, "I got two by the wall. They said something about bringing the ones in cages. Am I the only one who thinks that''s about the feral?" "It does make sense. Did anyone noticed something like that around?" Bonnie said. "Nothing here," Alex replied. "I might have some of those around," Blue said. "Where are you?" Hera rushed away from the tents, wanting to help her friend. "I''m in the alchemist cabin. It''s the secluded place on the left side of the camp. I can''t say what is coming, only that they are big. But they don''t seem to notice us just yet." "Stay hidden. I''m on my way." "I''m heading there now," Hera and Alex replied at the same time. As the two ran towards Blue, bells started to ring around the camp, with the kobolds getting up and getting ready for a fight. Tom and Bonnie, who were fighting close to the entrance, saw the hundreds of small humanoid lizards getting out of their barracks and chasing away the two dozen or so invaders. If they ignored the current threat to their lives, the scene would be almost comic. Hera navigated through the literal wave of kobolds, leaving the tents looking like clown cars. Even during the day, the number of creatures inside the camp was several times smaller. Yet, as she got closer to the cabin, the army vanished, almost like they avoided the area. As she got closer and was about to step into an open field, Hera felt someone grabbing her arm and pulling her back. She quickly grabbed her axe and turned towards her attacker, only to see Alex with wide eyes and a single finger in front of her lips, indicating for her to be quiet. Hera nodded and looked to the cabin. Alex pointed at a few shadows circling the wooden building. Three kobolds with pitch-black fur and silver fangs kept sniffing the ground, trying to find a scent. Hera and Alex moved to the side, hiding behind one of the barricades in the area. They waited, trying to learn what they could about the monsters before facing them. One of the creatures made a wider arc around the cabin, getting close enough to allow Hera to use her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feral Kobold Warrior ¨C Level 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera swallowed her saliva and made a motion to Alex, informing her of their levels. There were three of them, meaning that each would have to fight one in order to protect the cabin and save Blue. Alex pointed at her earpiece and received a nod from Hera. She went flat on the ground and covered her mouth with her hands while Hera kept watching the monsters, "Guys, we need help. Blue is¡­" Before Alex finished her sentence, the three Feral Kobolds snapped their necks to where the two were hidden and barked while running towards the barricade. Hera pulled Alex up and got ready to face the incoming beasts. 188 - Feral Kobolds The first feral kobold that arrived slammed the wooden barricade with its claws, breaking it apart and splitting Hera and Alex up. The other two creatures were already lunging towards them, making the duo get even further away. Hera threw a paralyze bolt, hoping to at least hinder one of the monsters, but the feral kobold dodged the spell with ease and kept chasing her. Now that they were closer, she could see the kobolds better. They had pitch-black fur, but it turned to a marine blue with a single white line marking the division of colors in the middle of their chest. The fangs seemed to be made out of metal by the glimmer of the reflected moonlight. After dashing away, two feral kobolds turned towards Hera. She didn''t stop running. One of those monsters could break a wooden barricade as if it was made of twigs. She could only shudder to think about what it could do to her. As she moved, Bonnie, Runir, and Tom said that they were coming over, but it would take some time before they arrived at the cabin. Knowing that now she had to stall, Hera kept running, trying to lead them away from Alex. It didn''t take long for her to feel pressured by her pursuers. They started to get closer, and Hera used her grease fire to create a barrier behind her, making a line in front of both monsters. Even with the fire starting to spread, the feral kobolds jumped over it and kept running at Hera. Understanding that it would take some time for the flames to grow large enough to hinder the creatures, she aimed the spell a few meters in front of her, hoping it would be enough to hide her for a moment. The flames rose and started to spread through the grass. Thankfully, the greenery was only present in part of the plain. It was a barren ground around the tents and the alchemist cabin, most likely to prevent any possible fire from spreading from tent to tent. She jumped over the flames and took a hard turn to the left, heading towards the wooden house. Blue was supposed to be there, and at least with two people, they would have a better chance of fighting the feral kobolds. "Hera, do a few wide laps around the house. We are almost ready," Blue''s voice came through her earpiece. Hera didn''t reply, worried that her voice could warn her pursuers, but they already had picked up her tracks. The flames she created served only as a momentary distraction. Knowing that they were still after her, Hera asked. "How many? I don''t know how long I can keep them away," the monsters were faster than Hera, even if not by much. She looked down at her boots, but the unique effect of increasing her speed had yet to occur. She had no idea what it took to activate. If this wasn''t a life or death situation, what was? "Three, maybe four," Blue replied in a whisper not to warn the kobolds of her location. "Shit!" Hera gasped and created another line of fire in front of her without stopping. Just as she crossed the flames, she looked back and flung a paralyze bolt to where she thought the kobold''s legs would be. The spell missed, hitting the ground before the creature crossed the fire. She wanted to try again right away, but if the monsters realized what she was trying to do, it would be harder to hit them with the spell. Making her way towards the back of the cabin, she saw Alex fighting the third feral kobold. Instead of running, she stood her ground and dodged the creature''s attacks while trying to hit it herself. The monster''s strikes didn''t seem as heavy as she assumed they were. Maybe only its lunging attack had the strength to break the wooden barrier. Hera had to keep running. If she tried to help Alex, it could create a 3v2 situation, which sounded like a bad idea. She thought about using her grease fire once more, but with each line of fire she created, her mana plummeted, and she still wasn''t able to recover all the mana she spent during the first fight of the night. There was no need to open her status. She was able to discern to a certain extent how much mana she still had. Right now, she could use the grease fire twice and the paralyze spell a couple of times before being tapped out. It wouldn''t be enough to stop both feral kobolds. Her best option was to circle and cross the already existing flames on her way back, even if that would be dangerous. As she got closer to the fire that she had created a few moments earlier, the flames were already spreading. Luckily, it still wasn''t enough to be a danger to the camp''s structure, but it would take a large jump to cross over. Clenching her fist, she took the chance and went for the fire created by her spell, jumping over it. The flames licked her armor, increasing its temperature, and even her hair was burnt in a few places. She turned around one and flung another paralyze bolt. Again she missed, but only for aiming at the wrong leg. When the green-blue energy hit the ground, the kobold''s left foot was right by it. She didn''t stop moving for a second and headed to her next destination. There was still another line of fire ahead. It was the first one she created, and it was away from the cabin. Maybe, since the fire was already spreading, it could finally manage to damage the creatures. She did the same thing as before, but as she tried to jump the flames, it quickly became clear that Hera had miscalculated the distance. She had to take a step in the middle of the fire and jump over, rolling on the ground as soon as she exited to put out any potential flames. Hera flung one more paralyze bolt, aiming for the kobold''s waist, worried that the delay made her miss the opportunity. There was a small yelp coming from the fire, and the large body of a feral kobold fell face-first into the ground, with its lower half still engulfed in flames. The second one used its companion as a stepping stool and lunged at Hera with its claws out. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Hera ducked under the attack and quickly got up, rushing towards the side of the cabin. There was an open area before the next line of fire she had created. In her mind, that was the best place to fight the creature. There would be a clear line of sight to the fallen kobold, and the light would help her see the other one, removing her disadvantage of fighting in the dark. Arriving in a place far enough from the fire she just passed, she threw her chakram, already pulling the thread from Yarnball to catch the incoming beast. The attack wasn''t able to land. The feral kobold simply sidestepped, avoiding the weapon entirely. Hera pulled the string while tumbling under the monster''s claw and put her chakram back on her belt. The wire trap style wasn''t that good against such a nimble creature. It was made to confuse her opponent and take advantage of its survival instinct, tricking it into perceiving a threat where there would be none. The feral kobolds ignored that instinct entirely. For them, there was only their prey. Nothing else mattered. The monster turned to Hera, trying to bite her head. However, she moved to the side, raising her handaxe in an uppercut. With a smack, the monster stumbled backward, dazed by the strength of the impact, but the cut was nowhere as deep as Hera pictured. With a roar, the kobold charged once more at her. Its claws and fangs snapped around her in a frenzy. Hera did her best to dodge the attack, but even with her speed, some of the strikes landed on her armor. The claws weren''t strong enough to break through the metal, but the strength that came with each impact could effortlessly toss her around, making the fight even harder as she constantly lost her footing. As the kobold''s right claw came towards her face, Hera raised her handaxe and blocked it with the hilt, dragging the weapon forward and cutting off the creature''s thumb. The feral kobold howled in pain, making the one who faced Alex change its target and the one still in the flames break free from the paralyzing spell. Hera didn''t notice that right away and kept fighting the one in front of her. The more the creature flailed around, the more she began to understand how to read its movements. It was better to focus on its body than its face since the creature''s eyes didn''t follow the same point where it was trying to strike. "Hera, run!" Alex''s shout came from both the comms and herself. Hera looked towards the sound and saw the kobold Alex had been fighting running towards her. Simultaneously, the one who stopped in the fire was now getting closer, even with the extensive burns and melted flesh of its legs. Hera ducked under one of the kobold''s claws and turned around to keep running. As she was about to go through another patch of flaming grass, Blue rushed out of the cabin and hurled a couple of small flasks towards the beasts. At the same time, a small lizard kobold appeared behind her and tossed a pair of similar flasks, but these were tied together with a rope. The single flasks spun in the air and hit the ground around the half-burnt kobold, creating a large orange flame explosion. Blue tossed one more, after cutting its retreat path, aimed at the monster''s face. The tied flask wrapped around the feral kobold in front of Hera, breaking apart as it smashed against the creature''s chest, creating another fiery explosion. The flames didn''t carry the same shock wave that an explosive charge had. It seems like the detonation only worked as a way to spread the fire. Hera considered them to be versions of her grease fire for a moment, but it took only a few seconds for the attack to melt away the kobold''s flesh and bones. She hurried to move away from the flames, terrified of having the same fate. As she struggled to turn and run, her feet seemed lighter and her legs stronger. She was able to move much faster than usual. The effects of her boots had triggered. That was the only possible explanation. The third feral kobold kept dashing towards her, ignoring his fallen brethren. Its eyes were bloodshot, and the wounds created by Alex spilled blood while it moved. Hera kept running, trying to kite the creature around Blue and the alchemist so they could hit it with another of those flesh melting flasks. She started to make donuts around the front of the cabin, but no flasks were thrown even after two laps. "What are you waiting for?" Hers shouted as she passed through Blue. "I don''t have a shot! This may not hurt you as it does with the dog kobold, but if I get you, it will hurt!" "I''m giving you a shot. Don''t waste it!" Hera started another lap. She had seen Alex get really close and knew that even if Blue missed, they could fight the monster. Hera did an arc and ran straight toward the cabin, with the feral kobold still in tow. Blue freaked out for a moment, thinking that Hera wanted to crash the monster into the house, but then her voice rang out. "Wait till I''m closer and toss the thing at me." It was a stupid, dangerous plan, but the feral kobold would get a face full of wildfire if it worked. Blue prepared her pitch, staring at Hera the entire time. She had to be fast enough to hit the monster, but not too fast to hit her friend. She was never much for baseball, but Blue trusted her arm. Hera started to get closer 20 meters, then 15, 12, 10, 9, 8 When she was just six meters away, Blue nodded to Hera and threw the flask as hard as she could. Hera dove, skidding along the ground as the projectile flew over her head. The kobold was trying to bite the explorer and caught the flask with its mouth, making it explode in flames with the contact. It wasn''t even able to take two more steps before falling to the ground motionless. Some of the liquid fell in Hera''s face, burning her forehead. She didn''t notice that the flames were covering a large part of her body with the panic. She started to pat down her forehead, only making the fire spread to her hands. The kobold alchemist appeared in front of her and threw a bucket of green water on her, extinguishing all the flames around her body instantly. "Worry not. Wildfire deadly for mutts. For others, just hurt," the kobold announced proudly. Hera wiped the liquid from her face and looked back at the feral kobold. Half of its skull had melted away while the fire kept raging. Alex arrived and saw the three dead monsters. Turning to Hera, she asked with a smirk, "So, are you up now?" 189 - Life is a stage The kobold alchemist used the green liquid to put out the fire created by its wildfire bombs, but he didn''t have enough water to clear the fires that Hera had started. She didn''t have any way to deal with the flames, neither did Blue nor Alex. In the end, the best option was to wait for Bonnie or Runir, who could do something using their spells. It didn''t take long for the team to arrive at the cabin, and less than five minutes after that, the feral kobold''s corpses dissolved, leaving some of their claws behind. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Event ¨C Canine Invasion The Wolves of the Night have failed in their attempts to deal a crushing blow to the Dragon Kin Army Large morale increase Dragon Kin Kobolds deal 30% more damage to Wolves of the Night Kobolds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So I guess that''s that," Bonnie said. "Yeah. We can relax for now, but I say we keep the shifts," Blue nodded. "I''m fine with that. If I sleep now, I''m not going to function later," Hera said. "It seems you guys will have company," Runir pointed towards the lookout tower. There was a torch and two kobolds in there. "Good. At least Zudra finally did something," Hera scoffed. "Is this new Hera a permanent thing or just for today?" Alex asked. "Not sure. Ask me again after I have a good night of rest." "Do what you will. I must say that I''m tired after the day''s trials," Tom said before heading back to their tent. Hera and Blue started their patrol that remained uneventful throughout the night. When the sun came out, life in the camp quickly returned. A large group of kobolds was already outside the gates, setting up traps and barricades. The field was very different than what it was during the night before. The patches of freshly dug up ground were not just covered but even had grass on top of them. A small trench circled the area filled with a light brown liquid that could easily be confused with mud, and several spiked barricades were spread around the site in a checkered pattern, interspaced with the traps. Galva was already up and serving breakfast, and he even asked a few other kobolds to bring Hera and Blue some jerky. "Guys, we are all awake. Can you come by the tent? We have a situation," Bonnie''s voice came through their comms. "Sure. We''ll be there in a minute. Is everything ok?" Hera noticed the worried tone in her friend''s voice. "I''m not sure. Just come, and we''ll figure it out," Bonnie replied. As they arrived, Zudra was waiting in front of the tent. Alex and the rest were standing in front with serious expressions. Hera leaned towards Blue while picking up the letter that could work as a ripcord, "Do you think they have a court-martial here?" "I really hope they don''t," Blue activated her communicator and whispered, "keep the ripcord on hand, guys." The group turned towards them and nodded. Hera could tell that they were all hiding one of their hands. "She arrived! Come, come. I have question," Zudra made a motion for Hera to come closer. "This is far enough. What can I help you with, general?" Hera asked, stopping closer to her group. "I know secret you have. We talk private, yes?" "I have no secrets with my group. Whatever you want to say to me, you can say it in front of them," Hera was adamant against getting too close to the kobold. "They all know you dragon?" Zudra asked with a smirk. "You are what?!" the entire group asked all at once. "I''m what now?" "You dragon. I know. I see during night." Hera looked at her party, "Is she making sense to any of you?" "Not really," Alex turned to Zudra, "Excuse me, general. What did you see exactly?" "Don''t believe? Fine, it is hard to agree. Light fur show dragon strength while protect Zudra." "Did you summon a dragon with magic or something?" Blue asked. "Yeah, sure, I can''t even figure out a fear spell, but I can summon a dragon. No, I didn''t call a dragon or the illusion of one, for that matter," Hera replied, still trying to understand what was going on. "No no, you are dragon. I see you breath fire," Zudra replied. "You weren''t even there! You were still inside the tent doing nothing while those damn things almost killed me!" Hera''s shout made Zudra shudder and take a step back. "I make big mistake," the kobold general started at the ground, "My help saw you fight and tell me. I should listen to you before. Forgive me, great one," the general lowered her head. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Hera didn''t know how to respond. Zudra always treated her badly, but now, she was even bowing to her. A few moments passed where no one said anything, but a few kobolds walking around noticed the movement and stopped to watch from a distance. "Hang on. Did you breathe fire, Hera?" Bonnie said. "Not really. It was magic." "But it came out of your mouth?" "Yes. Why?" "One moment," Bonnie turned to Zudra, "general, I''m sorry, but could you give us a moment. We didn''t know that we had such a great being in our midst and would like to apologize properly for any rude behavior." "What are you¡­," Hera started to speak, but Tom held her arm, shaking his head. Zudra stared at Bonnie for a moment and then looked at Hera, "I can wait, yes. But not long. I need dragon help." "I understand. We will talk and meet you back in your tent in¡­ 30 minutes?" Bonnie replied. Zudra nodded and left the area, heading back to the command tent. Bonnie grabbed Hera and pushed her inside their tent. "Bonnie, what are you doing?" "Didn''t you hear her? They think you are a dragon! How did you make fire come out of your mouth?" she asked. "I used the grease fire spell. All I had to do was change the point where it would gather. I can probably do the same with any other spell I have," Hera replied, still confused. "Great! We can use that." "Use what? Bonnie, you are not making any sense," Blue asked. "They are named the Dragon Kin. In some parts of pop culture, some kobolds worship dragons as gods and considering the way Zudra was acting, I bet it''s the same for them. We can use that to our advantage. Get more quests, or even being able to command the army," Bonnie explained. "How is that a good idea? What good would that do to us? Besides, what if they ask Hera to turn into a dragon and fly? " Alex asked. "Hera can say she is living as a human to help our people, or that she made a vow not to turn back until a debt has been paid. I don''t know. We can figure that out. But we can ask them to bring all the quests, and we pick the ones we can do." "That is an incredibly devious and cunning plan. I like it!" Tom announced. "I like it too. We can figure out a lot of things with this. Not to mention that if it works, we can use it again during other runs," Runir said. "I don''t like it," Alex said. "Me neither, it puts Hera in a dangerous position. Those types of lies always get caught," Blue shook her head. "No, they don''t. You have no idea how many CEOs play the good guy part but are actual psychopaths," Bonnie scoffed. "It doesn''t matter. I think Hera should have the final say in this. She''s the one who will be in the center of it all," Alex said. They all agreed to leave the decision to her since she would be the one who would face any potential danger. Hera thought for a moment and turned to the group, "We have half an hour, right? If we can come up with a good plan, a good story about why I can''t turn into a dragon, and a good exit strategy, I''m in." It was a tall order. Hera was asking for a fail-proof plan. It could be mean, but she would have to be in the spotlight, and that wasn''t exactly a place she wanted to be. Still, if they could come up with a good enough idea, she would do it. Bonnie smiled and pulled up her tablet, "Ok then. Here is my suggestion¡­" Half an hour later, they were in the command tent in front of Zudra. Hera was doing her best to keep a regal expression. "Great one. Thank for be here. I sorry for how treated you and for not realizing you dragon," the general bowed once more. "It is ok. I had to be able to fool even our own kin so the canines wouldn''t recognize me," Hera replied using the story they had created. Zudra looked up, "Can you kill all mutts?" Hera shook her head, "Unfortunately, no. I must remain hidden to complete my task. But I can protect the camp as a human would." "What task?" Zudra''s eyes were full of wonder. Hera didn''t expect such a child-like expression from the general. It was almost like a kid seeing Santa for the first time. "The canines have imprisoned our kin. My task is to rescue those who were dragged into their city. It pains to say that this is not the only place where they exist, and I must journey towards the very heart of their civilization to save our own. To keep me hidden, I must suppress my powers," Hera replied, pausing after a sentence every time she forgot the lines Tom had written. Bonnie said that part of the reason the kobolds were so keen on learning how to speak properly was likely because of the dragons. They still didn''t know if that was the truth, but Zudra responded positively to the way Hera was talking. "You truly great one. Risk so much for low kobold," Zudra bowed once more. Seeing Zudra act like that reminded Hera of herself, always being too strict with her actions and putting herself down. She placed one hand on the general''s shoulder, "Never speak that way again," Zudra rose her head with wide eyes, "You are not lowly kobold. You are mighty and powerful, just young. I hope to see the day where you will be standing shoulder to shoulder with us." Bonnie stared at that the two, clenching her fist. The plan was to show that the dragon Hera was strong and kind, but saying the kobold could one day be as strong as a dragon was a stretch. They had no idea how the Dragon Kin would react to that concept. Zudra''s eyes started to water, and she rushed to give Hera a hug, "Thank you, thank you. We grow, we get stronger. Zudra will not let down." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have given a renewed hope for the general Troops under Zudra''s direct command receive a 50% bonus to their attributes Zudra''s attributes increased by 100% Medium morale increase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked back to her group while the general still held her in her arms and smiled with a shrug. Bonnie smiled back and walked towards her. "General, forgive me for interrupting, but I would like to make a request to the great one," Zudra let go of Hera and stared at Bonnie, waiting for her to speak, "Oh mighty dragon. I know your task requires stealth, and your presence must be kept secret, but please, oh great one, bestow upon the troops your boon even if just to a select few. Give them strength and courage to face the incoming enemy," Bonnie took a knee, facing away from the general. Hera took a moment, trying to understand what Bonnie was doing. She had no spells to buff anyone. Yet Bonnie seemed to have a plan. Hera had to find a way to talk to her in private. After a few tense seconds, she looked back at Zudra, "Would you give my companions and me a minute to talk? If I am to do such a thing, I must warn them about the perils that the rest of our journey will bring." Zudra nodded, "Yes, yes. I go out. You stay, drink and eat anything," she bowed to Hera once more and left the tent. "What''s the big idea?" Blue asked, getting closer to Bonnie. "You saw the notification, right? Did you use any type of spell?" Bonnie turned to Hera. "No, I just talked. I didn''t want them to be saying they suck when Galva, the captain, and the troops work so hard." "Ok, so what if we put on a little show for the entire army? Don''t you think the same effect will trigger?" "Well... Maybe, but that is a long shot," Alex said. "That''s fine. We can say something like, only those who are worthy can receive the dragon''s boon, and Runir can buff a few kobolds if nothing happens," Bonnie explained. "Ok, but how can we make them believe Hera is a dragon? They saw her fighting yesterday. What if they put two and two together and realized that the ''fire breath'' was just a spell?" Runir said. "That''s where this comes in," Bonnie created a pair of earth fists and changed their shape to resemble wings, "I was toying with the spell and figured this out. I can make you a pair of fire wings," she moved her fingers, and the earth shapes started to move as if they were made of feathers rustling with the wind. 190 - The dragon descends Bonnie was outside helping set up a small stage for their presentation while Hera paced inside the command tent. She always hated those things during school. Standing in front of the entire class and talking while everyone stared at her was much more terrifying than any monster she fought. Alex was the only one inside the tent with her. All the others had left to help prepare the show. "Do you want a glass of water? To help calm your nerves," Alex asked. "No thanks, I needed something stronger." "Zudra must have something here. Let me check," Alex started to open the cabins and trunks, searching for anything that looked like alcohol. "Why did I have to be the dragon?" Hera sighed. "Probably because you are the only one with a flamethrower, and I don''t think anyone else could pull off a dragon''s wrath as you did last night." "That''s going to haunt me for a while, isn''t it?" "I don''t see why it should. No offense, but you are a bit of a pushover. It''s good to know you can stand up for yourself at times. I just hope it doesn''t take sleep deprivation for you to do that every time," Alex opened a cabinet by the bed, finding what looked like scotch. She opened it and took a whiff. It was the right smell, but whatever was inside it seemed to be really strong, "Hey, I found this. Not sure what it is though." Hera used her [Inspect] on the bottle before taking it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fiery Dragon Juice An alcoholic beverage created by the lizard kobolds. It shares the same production process as whisky, but with a slightly more robust flavor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That works. It''s whisky," Hera grabbed the bottle and took a big gulp. The liquid burned her throat as it went down, making her cough with the sensation. "How can you tell?" Alex asked. "We can inspect things. You guys keep forgetting about that," Hera''s voice turned husky for a moment as she passed the bottle. "Oh right, I barely use that skill," Alex shrugged, taking the Dragon Juice and pouring two glasses, "By your reaction, I''m assuming this is a sipping whisky." Hera just nodded and took one glass. "Ok, now a serious question," Alex sat down by the map table, "What''s worse? Fighting a Wendigo, or doing something like this?" "This," Hera replied without missing a beat, "I''ll take fighting a Wendigo over this any day of the week." "Really? You hate this that much?" "Yeah. I don''t mind doing something to help clear the dungeon, but holy crap, I hate this. It''s too much pressure, and everyone is going to watch me mess up." "But you know we won''t mind. If things go south, it happens. It''s not the end of the world, and we can try again later," Alex took a sip and started coughing, "This shit is strong!" "I know, and I wouldn''t be freaking out so much if it was just for you guys. Well¡­ more you, Blue, and Bonnie than Tom and Runir, but still." "Still what? Are you worried about the kobolds? They are not real. It''s just a bunch of things made by the system." "I know, but also I don''t. Like, you saw the emotions Zudra had when she saw me for the first time, and how it changed. How can we say they are not real? I mean, they have feelings. They laugh, cry, get angry and afraid. I don''t want to get all philosophical here, but this dungeon is very different than any other we saw," Hera sat down by Alex. "I see your point. When I was helping to make the traps, the kobolds were¡­ alive. I can''t explain it in any other way," Alex took another sip of her drink. "Exactly. To be honest, I''m not sure if I want to keep doing these types of dungeons in the future. I think I''d rather just fight mindless monsters," Hera said. Bonnie walked inside the tent, interrupting the conversation, "So is our star ready?" "No," Hera downed the Dragon Juice and had to take a moment for the burn to stop before getting up, "now I am. Kind of.." "Ok, remember the plan, if you want me to cast the wings, touch your pinky with your thumb. Tom will give you the lines through the comms, and if there is no area buff, Runir will use his spells to buff three kobolds. Pick some leaders and a random one just to make it seem like anyone could get the blessing," Bonnie explained. "I know. You seem awfully comfortable with all this," Hera noticed the researcher was holding her tablet like a clipboard. "In school, I was in the drama club, but only as a stage manager. It started as training for dealing with high-pressure situations and people, but I ended up having a lot of fun." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "I''m sure the fact that you controlled everything had nothing to do with that," Hera rolled her eyes. Bonnie ignored the comment and opened part of the tent, "You see that hole in front of the stage, aim the grease fire there. It will trigger the wildfire around the camp." "What?" Alex rushed out of her seat, "We are using that now? We should use it to cut off the army, not waste it in a presentation." "It''s not the main trap. I asked Zudra to make some fire pits around the camp and connect them all to that hole. It was easier than you think. Those kobolds are incredible diggers," Bonnie turned to Hera, "When you breathe fire there, it will light up the fire pits all across the camp." Hera took a deep breath, "Ok, let''s just do this." Bonnie told Zudra to start and walked off towards the crowd. She would stay by the sides to use and control the fake fire wings when Hera gave the signal. Alex followed right behind, wishing Hera good luck. "True kobold, I ask to stay quiet. A great one is here. She want to talk before battle." Hera took another deep breath and left the command tent, heading towards Zudra on a small platform. The almost 500 kobolds were staring at their general and the pink skin that addressed them. Hera instantly felt her breakfast trying to come back out, but managed to hold it down. "Dragon Kin, you now face a threat like no other. The canines are after everything you possess, even your very name. We must not let that happen, for they are not true kobold," Tom instructed Hera to stop and wait for some cheers, but the kobolds remained silent. Hera cleared her throat and continued, "I know you are afraid, but fear not, for once the battle starts, you shall know that I am with you. Together, we shall fight side by side to defeat the canines." One of the kobolds in the crowd sneezed, the sound echoing through the camp. "Hera, do the thing. This is not working," Blue''s voice came through the earpiece. "I suppose most of you don''t understand why I''m the one speaking. Allow me to show you," Hera touched her pinky and her thumb while holding her palms towards the crowd. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she prepared the grease fire. Bonnie changed her fire fist''s shape to match wings and made them appear on Hera''s back. When the explorer felt the heat on her back, she jerked her head forward and opened her mouth. The grease fire roared out as the flaming wing spread. The spell hit the hole, making a two-meter wide large pillar of fire rise from the ground. "Keep up the spell. We need to make it seem like you are the one that caused the other fires," Bonnie said through the comms. Hera forced the spell to keep going, feeling her mana drop at a rapid pace. She thought it would be a one and done situation and made it so the flames would be stronger than usual, but that decision quickly came back to bite her. Her mana would last less than 30 seconds. She tried to pull mana from the poison crystal, but it didn''t work. Hera was so worried about this that she didn''t notice the gasps coming from the crowd. When she had enough mana to last only 4 more seconds, the four pillars of fire on the edges of the camp appeared. "We got it. You can stop now," Bonnie said. Hera finished the spell, taking a deep breath afterward, and looked up. The entire army was staring at her with wide eyes. Tom quickly gave her the new lines as he noticed her freezing up. "Apologies, doing such a spell in this form takes a certain tool. I am a dragon. For reasons that I must keep secret, I have a human''s visage, but now remember that I am among you. A dragon shall fight by your side," Hera stared at the army, Tom wasn''t giving her any more lines, but the speech still felt incomplete in a way. Not sure if it would help, she tried to keep going, "I won''t be able to be in the front lines, but I have your back. Fight to protect your name, fight to protect your kind. Fight to grow stronger, strong enough to stand proudly by our side. You are Dragon Kin. Act like it!" There was another pause, Hera looked towards Bonnie, trying to get some idea of what to do, but the researcher seemed to be panicking as well. Tom scratched his head while looking at his tablet and back to the army with a confused expression. Before any of them understood why the speech didn''t work as intended, Zudra stepped in to speak. "You heard Hera, the mighty dragon. We all Dragon Kin! Mighty one give me blessing," Zudra lifted her fist, and with a swift motion, punched a rock about her size by the stage, splitting it in half, "Now she offer same for you. Show you stronger than mutts, show you true kobolds!" The army roared, calling for Zudra, Dragon, and Hera. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your actions have inspired the Dragon Kin army Dragon Kin Army''s troops receive a 25% bonus to their attributes Massive morale increase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The armies have completed their preparation. The battle will start in 30:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your deeds have been tallied The Dragon Kin army will receive a buff equals to the current morale Morale: 324 / 500 Dragon Kin army received a 324% bonus to their attributes Dragon Kin traps and fortifications will be 324% more effective ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera waved the notifications off. However, the one saying when the battle would start was still there. She didn''t focus on that and just pulled it to the side, thinking about saying something else, but the army was already heading towards their positions in the entrance. About 300 kobolds would hold the gates, while the rest would stay on top of the walls. There were only about 18 captains and 5 commanders aside from Zudra. Even Galva and the alchemist were among the army, going towards their stations. The general started walking towards the ramparts on the wall. She gestured for Hera and her friends to follow. "Today, we finish this. Mutts or Dragon Kin. The battle decide who is true kobold," Zudra stopped at the top of the stairs, "Look. Dogs talk honor and fair fight, but attack during night and come with numbers. There is no fair. It is just war." Hera walked up and saw the two thousand canine kobolds spread in several battalions. Unlike the Dragon Kin, the Wolves of the night all had the same type of armor. Dark blue cloth with leather straps spread around their body. They moved in a rhythmic march, guided by the sound of drums. Some even carried large banners with their flag. In the center of the army, a kobold, bigger than the ferals they saw, walked alone surrounded by its soldiers. Hera understood why they kept calling her light fur. The creature had the same color as her hair and was several shades lighter than any member of its army. The Wolves marched until they were about 200 meters away from the camp. Looking at the notification, they still had 20 minutes before the start of the battle. According to the compendium, if they attacked before that, nothing would happen. Both armies would be indestructible while the timer went down. Blue grabbed her hand, looking at the army with fear in her eyes. Hera could understand Blue''s reaction. It was one thing to fight in a rampage where mindless monsters kept coming. Seeing an actual army preparing to attack was something else entirely. 191 - Sound the drums of war The sound of drums from the Wolves of the Night changed from a rhythmic marching tune to what sounded more like a drum solo from a rock show. The canine kobolds howled to the sky and started dashing towards the Dragon Kin camp. Some were running on all fours while others run like humans. On a closer inspection, Hera realized that the group of 50 or so running like dogs were made entirely of feral kobolds. They jumped over the barricades, stepping on the places where the hidden traps were, instantly falling to their deaths. Each hole was five meters deep and covered in sharp metal spikes. When the first kobold died, a notification appeared in front of the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Protect the general during the battle The Dragon Kin and the Wolves of the Night began their battle You must protect the general from any attacks during the fight If the general is killed, the dungeon quest will fail Attacks and spells are 324% more effective when you are within 10 meters of Zudra Attacks and spells against you are 324% less effective ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is broken," Blue read the notification once more. "I know. I wonder what our spells can do," Bonnie walked by the ramparts and created a fire fist launching it towards the Wolves'' army. The spell was supposed to be just the basic version, with no changes, but the flaming hand was two times bigger than usual and moved several times faster. It flew through the sky, leaving an orange trail and even warping the surrounding area with the heat. When the spell hit the ground, an explosion covered a three-meter wide area around it. "You gave boon to her. A strong one too," Zudra smiled at Hera. Hera nodded and looked back at Bonnie, "How much mana did you put in that?" "Just 40, the base cost of the spell." "You are joking, right?" Blue asked. "I''m dead serious." "Actually, I think they are the ones seriously dead," Alex said, pointing towards the point of impact, where kobolds rested motionless in the ground. Zudra laughed, "Dumb dogs serious dead," she did her best to repeat the joke while slapping her knee. Blue turned to Alex, "Really? That''s the best you got?" "Think you can do better?" Blue pulled out her mushroom sunglasses, "I guess they were too¡­" putting the glasses on, she finished, "fired up." Zudra snorted, laughing even harder while the canine kobolds fell to more traps. "Oh no, gimme that," Hera snatched the sunglasses, "You are on time out. Go stay in the corner." "What corner?" Blue gasped. "Find one!" "Guys, focus!" Bonnie barked as she saw the archer battalion start to get in range. The Dragon Kin didn''t use any bows and arrows, their bodies were too small to use them properly, but they had crossbows. They had a range disadvantage, but when the canines got closer, it would be a slaughter. The wolves knew that and were keeping a safe distance. Yet, there were only two platoons of archers. If they died, the dog kobolds would have no option but to try to cross the minefield. "Zudra, we need to find cover," Runir tried to push her towards a place where the arrows wouldn''t hit her. "Dumb dogs can''t hit me. If they do I kill all!" Zudra roared. "No, you won''t. If they hit you, you will die. We need to find cover. Tell that to the others too," Hera said with a stern voice. Zudra stopped, staring at Hera. After a moment, she nodded, "Dragon is wiser," she turned back to the troops, "Anyone who is up, stay hidden. Appear, shoot, hide!" With her orders, the kobolds who were on the ramparts all ducked behind the camp''s wooden walls. Zudra herself walked over to one of the higher columns to hide away from the arrows but was stopped by Hera. "We should be on the ground. As much as you can help here, staying with the bulk of the troops will give them courage," that was only part of the reason. What she truly wanted was to keep Zudra in a safer place. If a mage or an explosion hit the wall, it could easily make her plummet to her death. Zudra stopped for a moment but nodded and headed down the stairs with the group. On the ramparts, there were already four captains and one commander. There was no need for her to be there as well. As they all went down, Hera saw the catapults flinging flaming boulders over the walls. Loud crunching noises could be heard amid the screams of both kobold armies. A large blast hit the side of the wall. Looking up, they could see the wood burnt and charred, almost as if it was struck by lightning. Yet the Dragon Kin near it were still moving. Whatever the attack was, it wasn''t enough to kill them. The lizards got right back up and started shooting with their crossbows. The ballista, however, didn''t survive the attack. It was splintered into thousands of pieces, rendering the weapon completely unusable. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The group reached the ground floor as the battalions started to cross the first layer of traps. The alchemist rushed towards the side and tossed a torch into a small brick chimney. Three seconds later, a plume of smoke came out of the construction, followed by a fire line crossing the field in front of the camp, cutting the Wolves'' army in two. Many canines fell victim to the unexpected flames, being burnt to a crisp in just less than three seconds. The wildfire seemed to have benefited from the morale boost. A few feral kobolds jumped over the barricades and rushed towards the gates after coming out of the traps on the ground. They ran towards a small group of a dozen smaller kobolds, but when they were about to reach the lizard creatures, they pulled shields and spears, creating a shield wall, killing two of the feral instantly. "Those are my boys!" Hera shouted. "You train them?" Zudra asked. Hera cleared her throat, "Yes, I did. Unfortunately, only one group participated in the training." Zudra stared at the kobolds forming the shield wall, "Next time. Call Zudra." Hera nodded and turned back towards the incoming army. Next time Zudra wouldn''t remember her. The Wolves of the Night seemed endless. For each one that fell to the traps or arrows, another two would take its place. To make things worse, the barrage of arrows wouldn''t stop. Most of the Dragon Kin army by the gate had to take cover. Only the squad using the shield wall held their ground. The wildfire barrier took care of a large number of enemies, but soon their bodies started to be used as bridges, protecting their allies from being struck by the deadly flames. Lightning bolts started to hit the ramparts. It was a sign that the mage platoon had arrived. The Dragon Kin didn''t have any magic to help the fight, but they had siege weapons, unlike the Wolves of the Night. When the last boulder flew from a catapult, they swapped strategies and started using wildfire bombs as ammo. Bonnie saw what they were doing and quickly rushed towards the firing teams. If the bombs collided in the air, they could burn up the entire camp. The only safe way to do that was using one of the flasks at a time and not the four or five they started shooting. Runir was using his heals and buffs on the kobolds by the gate. Right now, a single heal could close up a wound completely. He felt as if a battle heal could make someone regrow an arm. He turned to Hera and used a heal on the cut she had in her neck, but the effect was just the same as it would be without the buffs. Seeing his frustrated expression, Alex asked what happened. "When I healed a Kobold, it was much stronger, but when used on us, the spell still has the same effect," he explained. "That''s a shame. Maybe it''s because of the morale effect. You know, that makes spells less effective against us," Hera replied. After seeing Bonnie''s spell, she considered the idea of bringing Helena here to remove the parasites, but if healing spells didn''t have the buff, it would be useless. To make sure, she tried to cast her mend spell, but the result was just as Runir said. It only had the same effect as it would without any buff. When stepping away from Zudra, the spell became even worse. She barely could feel the mana trying the close up the wound. Hera prepared a poison needle and flung it towards the incoming army. The impact hit a kobold holding a shield. It fell to the ground, immediately coughing and wheezing. In less than five seconds, it stopped moving, with some blood coming out of its mouth. "Damn, that is really strong!" Alex gasped and drew her daggers. Taking advantage of their slightly higher position, she aimed a wind cutter at the kobold line crossing the flames. Instead of sending the wind blade in a vertical orientation as she usually did, she made it on a horizontal to catch more enemies and avoid the Dragon Kin kobold in front of her. Unlike Hera and Bonnie, she put a lot of mana into the spell. Usually, Alex''s wind cutter was close to an invisible blade of air. The only one who would feel its effects was the target. It would be as if being hit by a concentrated gust of high-speed wind. Because of that, she was always cautious not to aim the spell when a party member could get hit. This time, the spell was completely different. A massive five-meter wide blade of green mana shot out of her dagger. The wind swirled around the magic, creating small pocket hurricanes, pulling everything towards its path. The spell hit part of the camp''s wooden wall, making part of it tumble forward and kept traveling towards the wildfire wall. When it impacted, dust, dirt, and blood went flying everywhere, as well as the corpses of a dozen canine kobold who were in the way of the blade. At first, it seemed like a good result, but the spell covered up some of the wildfire, creating a large gap in the fire barrier right in front of the gate. "Shit!" Alex cursed, throwing another wind blade with less mana towards the incoming kobold horde. Hera only had the grease fire or the poison spray as spells that could hit multiple targets. Both would be terrible right now since they would hit whoever was in front of her as well. She wanted to help thin out the enemies, but now the only option she had would be using her poison needle or her fire arrow. Since she had the poison mana stone, it was better to use the mana inside it first. After a couple of attacks, it became clear that killing a single monster at a time would do little to help. She tried to create multiple needles at once to toss them all together to have a more significant effect on the fight. That didn''t work. Looking up, she saw Alex sending more spells towards the incoming monsters. Hera knew that Alex couldn''t keep that up for long. Her mana pool wasn''t large enough to keep using that spell for long. Hera focused on her attempt once more. Instead of creating several needles at once, she focused on making one at a time. Only then would she send them all out together. Blue and Tom were just watching. They had no long-range spells, which meant that there was very little they could do at the moment. When Hera got 5 needles, she tried to send them all flying, but she only could throw them one at a time. She tried again, creating more needles. To her luck, after making the projectile, she didn''t have to spend any more mana to keep the spell active, and she could send them at any moment after it. Again, she wasn''t able to send all the needles together. On her third attempt, instead of aiming at specific monsters, she just targeted an area and tried to send all the poison needles towards it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell Acquired Poison Shower Rank: Novice Creates a series of piercing projectiles of poisonous mana. Creatures struck by the projectiles can become poisoned. The spell causes little damage with the impact, and the poison will be diluted when comparing with a single target spell. Range: 30 meters Base area of effect: 5 meters Base mana cost: 50 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera tried her spell right away, and it was exactly what she was looking for. Now she and Alex could take turns clearing the incoming kobolds. When Bonnie came back, they would have even more options to deal with those things. Using just the 50 mana, an area about 50 meters wide was covered in what looked like bright orange rain, but in reality, it was hundreds of small poison needles falling from the sky. Hera and Alex started their rotation, with Bonnie joining in after just a minute. They kept doing that for about ten minutes and were starting to feel very comfortable with the situation. Blue and Tom were even bored, having nothing to contribute during this last part of the quest. Alex threw another wind cutter towards that spot, but a massive hand grabbed the air blade in the air and shattered it. A creature with thick blond fur and a golden mane crossed the wildfire barrier. It would be easy to call it a lion if it wasn''t for the wolf-like face. It howled, making the rest of the army frenzy and push even harder towards the camp. The massive creature took another step with its eyes locked on Zudra. The canine chieftain was heading their way. 192 - Kobold vs Kobold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold Chieftain ¨C Light Fur ¨C Level 13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s level 13!" Hera gasped. "Light it up!" Bonnie started throwing spell after spell at it. Alex joined in, using the stronger version of her air cutters. Hera used a supercharged poison needle with over 100 mana on it. The spell seemed to hit. She even confirmed that the chieftain was, in fact, poisoned, but it didn''t seem fazed. It evaded Bonnie''s and Alex''s spells, only being hit by a couple, but it kept walking towards Zudra. Blue and Tom tried to pull the general away, but she was adamant against moving. "If dumb light fur want fight, it will have one!" "The thing can squash you with its foot. Why aren''t you running?" Hera pleaded. "This is not time to run. I have to fight. Hope great one won''t be mad," Zudra smiled at Hera, turning back to Light Fur and getting into a fighting stance. Apparently, she was proficient in martial arts, moving her feet away from each other and crouching slightly. The chieftain got even closer and swung its large club, which was basically a tree ripped from the forest, towards Zudra. Hera and the rest quickly moved away, but the general held her ground. As the blunt weapon was about to hit her, Zudra kicked up, doing a standing split and sending the club flying back. Light Fur almost lost its grip on the trunk and stumbled backward. Blue just stared at Zudra, amazed by the attack. It was much cleaner than she expected. Unlike what her build showed, her movements weren''t wasteful or unnecessary. It was almost like seeing a machine practicing martial arts. "I guess the system wouldn''t make something that''s not efficient," Blue mumbled to herself and tried to grab the Light Fur''s. If she could make it topple, they would have an advantage in the fight. Even with the buffs, trying to move the giant kobold was like trying to push away a mountain. It didn''t matter how much strength she put into it. It wouldn''t budge. Even with Bonnie and Alex trying to help her using spells, it was to no avail. Their attacks seemed to be doing little more than bothering the kobold. Zudra jumped to the side and used Light Fur''s thighs as a stepping stone, going high into the air while doing a spinning kick aimed at the kobold''s shoulder. With a loud bang, the attack pushed the chieftain a few steps back. Hera couldn''t believe that the small kobold was strong enough to push a level 13 creature. She activated her [Observe] again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zudra ¨C Dragon Kin General ¨C Level 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She remembered that on the day before, Zudra was only level 7. In just a day, her level increased too much. "Tom, Blue, stay away from that fight! Alex, Bonnie use only spells to support, and Runir, focus on healing and buffing Zudra!" "Why?" Blue was about to try to copy what Zudra had just done. "Those two are ten levels above us. One wrong hit and we are toast!" "But I can dodge any attack!" just as Blue finished the sentence, the primitive club slammed into the ground creating a 50-centimeter deep groove on the dirt. She stared at the impact and turned to Tom, "We should stay away!" Hera wanted to help Zudra, but the rest of the Wolves'' army was still charging towards the gate. Staying inside the 10-meter radius that would give her a buff, Hera kept using the new poison shower spell to keep the invaders at bay. It was a shame that the spell would last only a few seconds. It wasn''t a continuous downpour of poison needles. Only a handful would be created and fall down in the area she targeted. The two kobold leaders continued their fight. Zudra jumped around, hitting the giant canine at every chance she got. Light Fur kept trying to hit her, but the general was too fast. With a swing of its tree club, Blue, who was out of position, went flying to one of the tents. "Blue!" Hera, Alex, and Runir called at the same time. "I''m ok," Blue jumped up and dashed towards the group. "How?" Bonnie asked. "No clue. The club was just like a catapult. The landing hurt more than the attack," Blue shouted as she ran. "Maybe it because of what the notification said, attacks will be less effective," Alex threw another spell. "And your spells are not doing anything, right?" Hera asked. "Barely anything. Why?" Bonnie turned to her. "Switch with me. I can try to afflict it with some mental effects," Hera said, already heading towards Light Fur. Alex and Bonnie took one look at the gate and understood what she meant. The invasion did not stop, and the Dragon Kin were outnumbered three to one. The two went back to their rotations, sending one spell at a time since it was all it took to kill the canine kobolds. Blue and Tom joined Hera in the attack. Since the trunk swings wouldn''t hurt them so much, they could try to at least damage the chieftain. Hera was aiming at the ankles of the canine kobold, trying to cut its tendons. However, its hide was extremely tough. Even when using all her strength, she could barely nick its legs. To deal any significant damage, she had to use mana reinforcement on her handaxe. She didn''t even try using her chakram since the weapon would have less weight to its attacks. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Tom understood what she was doing and tried the same thing. His attacks were stronger than Hera''s, but even so, he barely dealt damage. Blue was running around Light Fur, trying to distract it with her lightning buff charging up. All the while, the three still had to make sure to avoid the chieftain''s attacks and not to get in Zudra''s way. "Clear!" after about a minute, Blue jumped towards the giant kobold and punched its leg, unleashing the electricity created by her buff. Light Fur was covered in blue lightning, but instead of shocking it, the blue sparks kept coursing through its body, slowly changing to yellow. With a howl that made the entire group hold their ears, the electricity changed. It was no longer an attack but now something that the chieftain seemed to be able to control. The trunk it was using as a club started to crackle, and from inside it, a yellow glow appeared, almost as if it was a reactor. Blue took a step back, "This was a bad idea¡­" Light Fur brought its club down, slamming the ground and calling a lightning bolt from the sky. The thunderbolt was pulled to Hera and Tom, the two who wore heavy metal armor and sent them flying. Even with the defense buff, Hera felt her entire body become numb. It wasn''t a deadly dose of electricity, but it was more than enough to burn her skin. Runir quickly activated his battle heal on them. Hera could feel the burning sensation become more bearable but not go away. The giant kobold seemed to be stunned for a moment. The electricity coursed through its body, making it shiver. Hera confirmed that the creature was paralyzed and rushed at it, slashing madly at any piece of flesh she could find. She didn''t want to leave that attack unpunished. Tom tried to join in, but his armor was stuck to his body by the burnt flesh. Runir quickly went towards him and started to heal as much as he could. Zudra turned to Hera, "Mighty one. Give me a boon!" Hera snapped out of her frenzy and rushed towards Zudra. "How?" "Like you did with friend," she pointed at Bonnie. Hera stopped. She didn''t do a thing for Bonnie to get stronger. It was all the system and the dungeon. She looked around, trying to ask Runir, but he was focused on healing Tom, who seemed to be in bad shape. She turned to Bonnie and Alex, but the two didn''t have any buffs that could help in that situation. Light Fur seemed to be recovering from its condition and started to get back on its feet. If she was going to do something, it had to be now. Looking back at Zudra, Hera noticed the rings on her hands. At that moment, a thought came to her. She could not have a buff, but she had a reinforcement. She never tried doing that for someone else, but in theory, it could work. There was nothing in the spell description saying that the mana had to be connected or had to be touching her. Even when using it on her chakram tied with Yarnball, she only reinforced the weapon, not the string. She grabbed Zudra''s hands and used the mana reinforcement spell. The idea was to do it only on the rings, but the mana covered the rest of the claws. Zudra''s eyes sparkled as she felt the energy coat her hands. "Mighty one too kind to Zudra," she said and turned towards Light Fur. The giant was trying to push the last bit of the paralysis away. Zudra took a step and vanished. Her body turning into little more than a blur, leaving deep footprints on the ground. She jumped towards Light Fur with both claws out and dove into its chest. Hera swore that she vanished inside the creature''s thick golden mane, but soon a river of blood came out of its midsection. Hera saw the giant kobold stumble forward and fall face-first on the ground. On the other side, Zudra held with both hands a heart about the size of a watermelon. She dug her claws inside the fleshy organ and ripped it to shreds, her necklaces and clothes now covered in blood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zudra has defeated the Wolves of the Night Chieftain Dragon Kin Kobolds will have their attributes tripled until the end of the war Wolves of the Night Kobolds will have their attributes reduced by half until the end of the war ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The fight was already going in their favor. With that extra buff, killing the canine kobolds was just a matter of time. Each Dragon Kin kobold was almost five times stronger than normal after considering all the buffs, and that was if none of them would multiply each other. Hera shuddered to think how strong Zudra would be if this last notification meant the Dragon Kin''s current attributes had tripled after applying all the buffs. "Guys!" Runir shouted through the comms. "What''s wrong?" Alex rushed over. "Tom is not doing well. We are going to use the letters," Runir said without stopping his healing. "Can''t he hold it? We are almost done," Blue asked. "His skin is fused with the armor! No, he can''t hold it!" Runir shouted. "Shit. Fine, let''s go," Blue said. "No, you guys stay. We are just by the guild, and I can keep him stable." Hera arrived where Runir was. Tom was unconscious, but he had a peaceful expression. "I knocked him out with a sleep spell. It''s just for situations like this," Runir explained. ¡°Oh¡­ the smell," Bonnie had just arrived. "I know. His skin is stuck to the armor. I told him we should have waited for a padded one, but nooo he wanted to feel the damn metal on his skin," Runir sighed while placing the letter on Tom''s hands. He turned to Hera, "If I''m the one who teleports out, I''m letting go of the spell. Make him rip a letter! Don''t let him stay here. The longer we take to fix this, the worse it will get." Hera nodded, and Runir pulled the paper using Tom''s hands. The knight in burnt armor vanished instantly, with the healer following right behind. "We should go too, right?" Hera asked. "I''m not sure. I mean, he told us to stay, and he has the final say in these emergency situations, right?" Bonnie said. "Are they already gone?" Alex reached their position. "Yeah," Hera nodded. "Oh man, I wonder if I missed any clues about the lightning thing," Blue scratched her head. "You missed the fucking compendium! Didn''t you read that the chieftain got empowered by lightning?" Bonnie shouted. "What? No, there wasn''t anything like that," Blue took a step back. "Yes, there was! I told you several times to read the entire thing. I don''t care if you think it''s boring," Bonnie started to stomp towards Blue, but Hera held her back. "Calm down. I saw her doing the spell and forgot about that too. I honestly thought it would only work if it was another kobold''s lightning," Hera said. "Doesn''t matter. You are not the one with a spell that can make our enemy stronger!" Bonnie kept shouting. Blue drew her tablet and looked for the compendium. In a few moments, her face turned pale, "I''m sorry. I''m sorry." "Sorry won''t make Tom better! You could have killed someone!" Bonnie yelled. "That''s enough!" Alex pulled her to the side, "This kind of thing happens. Today was Blue hurting Tom, yesterday was Hera hurting me, tomorrow might be you hurting Runir, or Mark, or someone else! Now we have to finish this dungeon. You said it yourself, Runir is the one with the final say, and he told us to stay and complete this." "I agree," Hera turned to Blue, "Feel bad later, you will have plenty of time, and we will talk about this, but focus on the quest now," she looked back to the gate, seeing the Dragon Kin going on the offensive and rush outside to clear out the army. If they wanted to finish this quickly, they might as well help. 193 - Dragon Kin Victory It took them another hour to kill all the Wolves of the Night. According to the compendium, the quest would only register as finished after the last of the enemy kobolds died. It was a good thing that they wouldn''t try to run away or hide, but it still took quite some time to kill them all. When the last canine kobold drew its final breath, a large banner with the Dragon Kin flag appeared in the sky. It was the same marker indicating where they could pick up their dungeon quest, and it seemed to be in the exact same position. Hera and the girls headed towards the banner, arriving at the command tent with Zudra already waiting outside. "Friends! Mighty One! We thank for the help. Without you, we lose war! Many thanks from all us!" After the general finished speaking, the entire remaining army cheered, thanking the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the General''s request The Dragon Kin army emerged victorious from the attack You will receive a reward based on your completion rate Number of quests completed: 9/15 Number of extra events completed: 3 Morale: 324/500 Remaining Kobolds: 456/500 Final Grade: B First completion rewards: 15 000 gold, Random Kobold Supplies(B) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, we managed to save quite a lot of them, right?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I honestly thought we would lose half of the army," Hera nodded. "I think your speech and the dragon show made the difference, and we killed the chieftain pretty soon too," Bonnie said. "And what about those kobold supplies, any ideas what they might be?" Alex mumbled. Bonnie thought for a moment, "No clue, we can check them before leaving, but if they are big, it would be an issue." "What do you mean big?" Alex turned to Bonnie. "I mean, what does the system consider as supplies? Food and water? Armor and weapons? Casks of booze? A catapult?" "Oh, I see your point¡­ I don''t think it would be a catapult, but a cask of something, maybe." "Even you, Bonnie?" Hera sighed and pulled her tablet. She looked for the chest icon and read the description of the reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Random Kobold Supplies(B) Use this to receive a random piece of gear or an item from the kobold army. You can acquire weapons, armor, accessories, gadgets, and blueprints. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We can read what it says, people. Just like we can inspect things. You guys really need to remember that," Hera said. "Oh, right. So I guess we can open it now," Bonnie pulled her tablet. "Can we do it later? I want to check on Tom," Blue stopped her. "Yeah, that''s a good idea," Hera nodded. Even though they were still in the camp, now it had lost all its life. The kobolds were just staring at them like statues, not even blinking. It gave an eerie feeling, making Hera want to leave there soon. It took just half an hour to arrive back at the entrance of the dungeon. The entire battlefield had been reset and now looked like the grassland that existed when they first entered the area. There wasn''t a single drop of blood or a lonely trap anywhere. It was as if the war that just occurred never took place. Before crossing the gate leading back outside the dungeon, Hera took one look back at the plains. She wasn''t able to see Galva, the ones she trained, or the kobold who helped her take care of the army''s equipment. Even though they were just simulations, she wanted to at least say goodbye. As they left the dungeon, there was a small group in front of the entrance. They had the guild uniform and were setting up a perimeter around the gate with the silver wolf banner. "What''s going on?" Alex asked one of the clerks. "We are setting up the battlefield." "The what?" "Battlefield. Never saw one before?" "Not really, I remember something about that in class, but I''ve never seen one in person." "Oh, ok. It''s kind of the hard mode of this dungeon. The two dungeons will meld into one, and we can participate in a large-scale fight. Instead of just 2 thousand against five hundred, it will be 20 thousand Wolves of the Night against 5 thousand Dragon Kin. The number of explorers there changes too. We''ll have about 50 people each doing their own tasks. The battle lasts about a week, but the conditions are very similar. We are not supposed to do much in the actual fighting. Our job is to reinforce the faction we are helping and sabotage the enemies. There are only a couple moments when we will be active during the large battles. This month we will be joining the Wolves of the Night. To do that, we need to complete a certain number of runs in the Dragon Kin dungeon while no one helps the Wolves. The reset starts tomorrow, so we will have a week to trigger the battlefield. Until then, no one is allowed to do the Wolves side of the dungeon. If you guys have any time-sensitive quests, put a request with the guild. Depending on the situation, you might get special permission to do this side." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Wouldn''t that make you guys miss a week?" Alex asked. "Not quite, but it would increase the number of runs needed to trigger the battlefield. We need 35 runs in a week now. If someone has to do the Wolves, the Dragon Kin quest must be completed an extra 50 times for the battlefield to trigger. We have about 25 parties doing this dungeon regularly, so that''s 50 to 75 runs in a week. If we push it a bit, we can still make it." "I see, don''t worry. I was just curious. We don''t have any quests inside that dungeon right now," Alex replied. "No worries. If you want to participate in the battlefield, we have a signup sheet back in the guild. It''s mostly to split the groups with the right amount of people. The dungeon can be tricky if you don''t have a certain number of people in the group." "We''ll talk later and sign up if we decide to join. Thanks!" Alex smiled and rushed to the group that was already heading towards the guild. She explained what the battlefield was and what they were doing there. Bonnie got really interested in the idea of participating in such a large event. On the other hand, Hera was unsure if she wanted to aid the Wolves of the Night. Besides, she already knew how it was like to fight in a large battle. In her mind, a battlefield would be no different from a rampage. Not to mention, they had no idea how Tom''s wounds were and if he would be up for a dungeon like that in just a week. Asking the clerk in charge, they quickly figure out where Runir and Tom were. This room wasn''t very crowded, but since it had a battlefield, there could be a large influx of wounded people. That was the reason for a large number of beds, even private rooms in the infirmary. Tom was in the second room on the left, with Runir waiting on a chair outside. "Hey, how is he looking?" Alex asked. "Not great, but he''s not in danger. The healers here are doing the best they can, and he woke up long enough to ask for a high-level healer to come to take care of him. He''s spending a big chunk of his savings to pay for someone to make sure he doesn''t have any scars and that he can function as normal," Runir explained without looking up. "Is he up now?" Hera asked. "Not anymore. He was up for just a few minutes, then they put him under a sleep spell again. The healer is supposed to arrive in a couple of hours. I''m going to stay here to explain what happened," Runir clenched his fists, "We couldn''t even take off his armor. If we force it, it would be like skinning him alive." "I''m so sorry," Blue said. "You should be! This is all your fault!" Runir snapped. "Wow, calm down. Blue messed up, yes, but she wasn''t the one who hurt Tom," Bonnie stepped between them. "Of course she was! If she wasn''t brain dead and read the compendium, the boss wouldn''t have used that skill." Hera pushed Blue back, standing in front of Runir, "If Tom wouldn''t keep up knight crap, maybe, just maybe, he would have a proper armor instead of a damn toaster." "You are going to blame the sick now?" Runir yelled. "Since you are tossing blame around, I might as well!" Hera yelled back. One of the healers came from a room in the back of the hallway, "Get out, all of you! We might have only two patients now, but that doesn''t mean you can keep yelling and disrupting their rest." "But I''m waiting for someone," Runir protested. "Wait somewhere else. Out, now!" The healer kicked the group out of the hallway, making them stay in the guild''s lounge. Runir instantly turned to Hera, "Look what you''ve done!" "You are the one who started yelling. Besides, Tom will be fine. You said so yourself," Hera yelled back. "He could have died in that fight!" "So could any of us! It''s part of the job! Why are you that worked up? Alex was in a worse shape when I stabbed her by accident." "Because I don''t care about that. I care about Tom!" Runir yelled back. Hera stared at him for a moment, "So it''s like that? Screw us, as long as you and Tom are ok, you are fine?" Runir scratched his head, "I didn''t mean it like that." "You said enough. Tell Tom I hope he feels better soon," Hera stormed off from the guild. Bonnie rushed after her right away, leaving Blue and Alex behind. "I''m really sorry about all this. I never meant any of that to happen," Blue said, still looking down. "It doesn''t matter what you meant," Runir refused to look at them, making the controller leave after Hera. Alex took a deep breath before looking at the healer, "I don''t know what happened for you to be so worried about him, but I expected more after the months we spent working as a team. I never expected you not to play favorites, which you do. Tom is always getting buffs and heals before anyone else," Runir kept his gaze towards the infirmary hallway, "And you don''t care. That''s fine. Good luck." Alex walked off towards Hera and the rest. They were already heading to the doorway, but it didn''t take long for the group to get together. "Don''t you think that was a bit much?" Blue asked. "Not at all," Hera replied bluntly. "But it is my fault." "I know, and I still want to scold you for it, but let me calm down first. I don''t want to overdo it," Hera explained. "Oh, ok¡­" Blue still felt terrible for the entire situation, but at the same time, she felt relieved that no one would blame her right now. "So if you guys want to start, be my guest. I''ll take the last round," Hera looked at Bonnie and Alex. Blue saw their angry gazes and shuddered, just thinking about what they could do to punish her mistake. A couple hours later, they arrived at their home. It felt like a week since they left. Because of the hour, the group stopped to eat something before heading back. To Blue''s dismay, this was the first part of her punishment. One week on a strict vegetarian diet with no hot food, only salads, and room temperature wraps. For any of the others, that wouldn''t be much of an issue, but for Blue, who never had a meal without some sort of meat, it was torture. Arriving at the house, Helena welcomed the group, asking about how the dungeon went. They told her everything, including what Runir said and what happened to Tom. "I mean, you can''t exactly blame him. Not to say he wasn''t in the wrong at that last part, but they''ve known each other for years. Tom even waited around for him before going deeper into the MAZE. It is expected for him to be more worried about him than you guys," Helena said. "I know, it just hurt," Hera said. Helena pushed on, and after some discussion, they all agreed to call Runir and apologize later. It wasn''t worth it to break the party up just for this. Even if they had to address his favoritism at some point. "Lena, can I ask you one thing?" Hera asked. "Sure." "Why is that picture framed?" Hera pointed toward a picture on the wall where she had a halo around her head and several mushrooms in the background. "You looked so pretty. I wanted to show you off," Helena replied with a mischievous smile. "Take that down. Now," Hera stared her down. "We are a democracy. So what does everyone say? Should we take it off?" Helena asked the rest of the group. "No." "Nope." "Not a chance." "Why am I the one being punished!" Hera gasped, knowing it was a losing battle. 194 - Kobold supplies The group called Runir to apologize later that night. He seemed less frazzled and agreed that he went too far. He asked them to meet him in the Carpon Caverns the next day to talk in person. He also let everyone know what would happen with Tom. He would be in the Kobold Field until the next day, then head outside to go to a proper hospital. In the best-case scenario, he would spend two weeks recovering and would be back in the MAZE, but the healer said to expect at least 2 weeks of healing and some time of physical therapy. He couldn''t tell a more precise estimate until they removed his armor, and since they didn''t have the right equipment for doing so, it was better to leave it there until they left the MAZE. They agreed to meet Runir in the morning before he headed back to the Kobold Field. Tom would only be moved around 11 A.M. to match with the schedule of the ships heading to Brinefront. Hera and the girls discussed what they could do. Fighting without a healer was a problem, and having two fewer members in the party was worrying. In the end, they all agreed to wait one more day to decide anything. If Tom really needed just a couple of weeks, they could take a small break while he recovered. If not, they would discuss it again. Helena pulled Hera aside and asked about her progress and the affinities of the kobolds inside the dungeon. Using humanoid specimens could give her some new insight into her research. Hera completely forgot about that while helping the army. It has been close to a month since she last wrote any further information about that. Helena understood but put it as an actual request for her assistant. She had to bring the affinities of 100 Dragon Kin kobolds and 500 Wolves of the Night. Aside from that, she also wanted the affinities of Zudra and Light Fur. During their talk, Hera also asked about the spell module. She still wasn''t able to figure out a way to make it work. They spent some time in the lab, trying to make a breakthrough in that project, but to no avail. Before heading to bed, Helena let Hera know that she had found a buyer for the pangolin scales and the raw mana stones. It was a well-known crafter who was also a part of the order, and they would get a great deal, as long as they could prove it worked. He would drop by in the next few days to finish the transaction. The idea would be using him as a middleman to push the product, so he would have a 20% cut. Helena wanted Hera to have 50% while she had 30% since all she did was clean them up and make the items presentable. Hera refused and said they should split evenly, 40% each. After all, they would only get anything out of it due to Helena''s spell. Just before turning in for the night, Hera checked her messages. One from the guild was informing her that another person had unlocked the hidden skills [Exponential Growth] and [All-in]. Now that they confirmed the conditions matched with what she said, there would be a 1 000 gold bonus for each. For now, only people who had their first level up could get the skill. Higher-level people weren''t able to unlock the skills even when making all their attributes identical, but there were still some tests to go through. She could stop by any branch to get her money. Hera couldn''t help but chuckle at that. When she first got the skill, the extra thousand gold she made by selling the information was more money than she imagined. Now, the two thousand they would give her felt cheap, especially since she just made 15 thousand in a single dungeon. She locked the tablet and placed it to the side, finally going to sleep. The next day, the group arrived at Runir''s place. It was a small room in one of the buildings on the second floor of the Carpon Cavern''s city. Hera had already stopped by the guild to receive her rewards. They were all inside the flat, sitting around a table. Runir had to push the couch towards it so everyone would have a place to sit. There was a long moment of awkward silence after they all sat down. The tension in the air was so heavy that it felt like mud. "Can I start by saying I''m very sorry about what happened?" Blue broke the silence. "I appreciate that, but sorry is not good enough. I don''t want this to happen again," Runir took a few moments to reply. "It won''t. I''ll read the entire compendium before the dungeons. I promise." "Good. I''ll quiz you before that," Runir nodded. There was another pause, and after it went on for too long, Bonnie spoke up. "So? What about you?" she was staring at Runir. "I¡­ I''m sorry." When it became clear that this was all he would say, Hera asked, "Is that all? Seriously? That''s not a great apology." "What do you want from me? Do I have to kneel before the mighty one? That thing changed you, you know," Runir scoffed. "Don''t change the subject. You basically said that you don''t care if we live or die," Hera stared him down. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I never said that!" Runir gasped. "Not with those words, but it was pretty close." "Hera, c''mon. It wasn''t like that," Alex said. "It sure felt like it," Hera replied "It wasn''t my intention. Of course, I care about you guys. I just got freaked out when I saw the state Tom was in. I couldn''t get a good look inside the dungeon." "So tell us that." "I just did!" "Say it as an apology, not an explanation," Hera scoffed. "Ok, what is going on with you?" Alex asked, "It was one thing the confident Hera dealing with Zudra. Now you are just being an asshole." "I don''t like when people talk crap about my friends. Even if it''s coming from one of my friends," Hera explained. "Tone it down a bit, ok? This is an uncomfortable situation, and that is not helping." Hera crossed her arms, "Fine. Sorry for being an asshole." "I''ll deal with you later," Alex sighed and turned to Runir, "Ok, we accept your apology, right?" the group nodded, "Right, and we need to see if everyone still wants to be a party." "I still like you guys and trust you to have my back," Runir said. "Same, we make a good team," Bonnie added. "I agree," Blue smiled. "Yeah, me too," Hera sighed. "Then it''s decided. Well, unless Tom has issues with continuing. I kind of doubt that," Alex chuckled. The group had to agree. It was hard to imagine that Tom could be angry about what happened. He probably would want to jump back in there and fight Light Fur as soon as he could. They all left Runir''s house and headed towards the Kobold Field. Tom would still be transferred to a hospital outside. They would take him in a wheelchair, but he would be under a sleep spell since he still was in too much pain. Runir would go with him the entire time, and the girls wouldn''t have a chance to talk to him before he left. Seeing the state Tom was in, Hera and her group decided to talk about what they would do next. It didn''t look like those wounds would heal quickly, and the smell of burnt flesh still lingered. "Before we talk about what to do, what did you guys get in the kobold supplies thing?" Blue asked. "I got a sword. It wasn''t anything special, but it was uncommon, so I put it aside to check if Tom wanted it. If not, I think I''m selling it or just giving it to Mark for him to practice," Bonnie said. "I got some bracers. They apparently increase the damage I deal to canine kobolds. They are kind of ugly and hot, so I didn''t bring them today," Alex explained. "Now I don''t feel that bad. I got something kind of crappy too," Hera said. "What did you get?" Bonnie asked. "One of Zudra''s rings. It gives me 10% extra charisma when I''m doing a speech." "Oh¡­ that''s kind of good," Alex said. "For anyone but me," Hera replied. "What about you, Blue?" Bonnie turned to the controller. "I got a blueprint for the pitfall traps. If I use it, I can get a spell that turns the materials into the traps, but I''m thinking about selling to a crafter. They might be able to reverse engineer it or something," Blue showed the blueprint in the tablet. "Oh, that''s a good idea. But check the pricing before selling it. Who knows if that is rare," Bonnie said. Hera looked at her ring in her bag and activated the [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ring of speech A ring worn by the Kobold General Zudra. It increases the ability of those who perform speeches for crowds. Although it cannot change the meaning of the words, it allows the wearer to become more interesting. +10% Charisma attribute when doing a speech for more than 10 people. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The main issue Hera had with the ring was that it only activated while speaking to a lot of people. There was no use in actual combat unless she started talking nonstop during a fight. It could help in situations like the dragon show they put together, but those would be very rare. Since they were already in the Kobold Fields, the group stopped by the guild to check the information about the battlefield that would open in a few days. 12 parties had already registered to participate, giving it a total of 43 people registered. Each group would have at least 10 people, and every party would stay together. Worst-case scenario, the groups doing the battlefield would be larger. Talking with the clerk in charge, he explained that battlefields had a system just like a rampage. At the end of the dungeon, it would tally the individual contributions and give the according rewards. After getting more information, the entire group was interested in participating, even Hera. They would have to help the Wolves of the Night, but the rewards were considerably better. For a regular clear, they would get 10 thousand gold. Doing it for the first time would net them 30 thousand, just as the clear reward, and another set of random supplies. However, they could be elite supplies depending on the rank they got. The only problem was that the rewards would go from rank B supplies to S rank elite supplies, so even doing the same completion grade as they had for the Dragon Kin dungeon could mean they would get a lower tier of elite supplies. To get an S rank reward, they would need to complete all quests, keep every one of the 20 thousand Wolves of the Night alive, and make the Dragon Kin morale hit the lowest possible value. It was almost impossible to do that on a first try. The only time it happened was when a few high-level explorers who never did the dungeon came by. Still, they had the issue of having fewer members in their party. Bonnie suggested for them to attempt the kobold dungeon, just the four of them. There would be the ripcord in the Dragon Kin dungeon if things got tricky, but during the battlefield, they wouldn''t have that option. Besides, starting the quest with Hera''s dragon thing could give them more time to enjoy the benefits. Agreeing that it was a good idea, the group would still wait a day to get Tom''s situation before confirming anything. If they didn''t join this battlefield, there always was the next one. 195 - Getting Ready for the battle In the end, Tom would need at least a month to get back on his feet. His wounds were worse than any of the healers expected. The burn on his chest managed to destroy some of the muscle, and the nerve damage was extensive. The guild would already cover a big part of the expenses since it was a wound that happened inside a dungeon. Still, after seeing the exams, they had to fly in a specialist in muscular reconstruction. The punishment Bonnie was giving Blue was in the form of a bunch of tests. The subjects were the various compendiums the group already had. Hera just gave her a long scolding, and even Helena joined in. Despite it all, it was clear that the one who was the toughest with Blue was Blue herself. She made sure to read up about every skill and spell the group had and even created more strategies that she put in their handbook as in the testing phase. As much as Hera agreed that this was a good idea, she warned Blue not to overwork too much. When trying to make something become a habit, it was important not to over-exert at the beginning. Knowing that Tom and Runir would stay away for a while, the group decided to apply for the battlefield. But first, they did another run in the Dragon Kin dungeon with just the four of them. They had to be sure that they could finish that with a smaller party. Having Hera show up as a dragon right from the get-go was very helpful. They managed to grab several quests that weren''t available last time, or at least that they didn''t find, and close to half the army was present for the shield wall training. During the day, a small group of Canine Kobolds tried to attack the alchemist''s cabin, but thanks to Blue, nothing big happened. Only a small localized fire by the wooden wall that was quickly put out. Zudra was easily convinced that she would need to set up night shifts that warded off any nocturnal attacks. The group managed to start the final day with 430 morale, almost 100 more than their first attempt. Blue also decided to use the blueprint she got, and thanks to it, they had set up close to twice as many traps, including a couple of massive ones in front of the gate, created with Light Fur in mind. Fighting the horde wasn''t very different. They mostly stood by, flinging spells while Blue took the job of commanding the troops, changing positions, and increasing defenses when needed. When Light Fur appeared, Hera used her mana reinforcement to buff Zudra, and they let the two fight, while being sure to stay around the area of the buff and to support Zudra as needed. However, much like the first time, the kobold general didn''t need any help to defeat the giant canine. They had more casualties, even with all the buffs. Without Runir to heal the wounded kobolds and buff their attributes, around 150 Dragon Kin ended up falling to the Wolves'' attacks. Bonnie and Blue decided to buy some healing spells to help that kind of situation in the future. Not just that, the run showed how much they started relying on Runir. If something happened and he wasn''t around, they had to be able to heal themselves. Alex said she would look into ways of making potions and salves with whatever she could find around the MAZE. It was nice having spells, but she wanted something different, just in case. When the dungeon ended, they got 15 hundred gold but no extra rewards. Even if they sold the drops, they would get only an extra two hundred gold or so. The main benefit was the number of creatures they killed. It still wasn''t enough to make anyone level up, but they imagined it would happen soon. Hera also remembered to register the affinities of all the kobolds she could. Oddly enough, Light Fur had a Lunar affinity, while Zudra had a Draconic one. The group agreed that participating on the battlefield was a good idea. Even though it was a hard mode, the monsters inside wouldn''t be stronger. There would just be more of them, and since they would be helping the Wolves of the Night, their side would have a massive numeric advantage. As long as they were careful, nothing should go wrong. There were still 3 days before the battlefield would trigger, and now the number of registered parties grew to 24. That amounted to a total of 85 people in several different roles. Since their group registered late, it was probable that they would be among the last teams to enter. The guild would send them a text informing them of the team and time they were assigned. The guild was expecting to reach 100 before it all started. The quest for the battlefield lasted 5 days. To avoid any issues with the healers, each group would have a schedule to enter the dungeon. Each team would wait four hours before heading inside. Hopefully, that would allow the healers to take care of any emergency treatments before the next group left the dungeon. The guild had also called a few extra hands to work in the infirmary, both as nurses and medics. Even with all the planning, it was very likely that the groups would finish the quest at different times and overlap their exit. However, that was the best method the guild had found to give room for the healers. After registering, they headed back home. Taking advantage of the small break, they prepared and studied the compendium. It was much more expensive than the one for a single dungeon, but since they split the cost, it wasn''t that big of an issue. Not to mention that the reward for the first time clearing the battlefield would be more than enough to cover the fee. Hera spent most of her days in one of the ATRs, trying to get the fear spell, Helena''s spell module, and a better healing spell. Even if it would work only on her, it was better than using the simple mend. She also felt she could use some buffs, but there was already a lot on her plate. It would be better to focus on one or two things instead of branching out too much and ending up with nothing to show for it. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. On Sunday, the group received a message informing them that they were scheduled to enter the battlefield at 6 PM on Monday. It was earlier than they expected, but apparently, that way, the team would have 10 people as required. There was already another group of 4 and a small party of 2 that had registered early, leaving 4 free spots. Hera''s hard work had paid off. Before getting the text, she managed to get the fear spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fear Rank: Novice Allows the user to create a threatening aura that triggers a primal response in those who see it. The more mana used in the spell, the stronger the aura becomes. Range: 15 meters Base mana cost: 40 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After some tests, Hera realized that it didn''t matter how much mana she put into the spell. The range would stay the same. However, by using Blue as a guinea pig, Hera figured out how to shape that aura in a way. Not so much the area of effect, but the reason for triggering that fear response. She could mirror the presence of a snake, a wendigo, and a kobold, although the last one could be easily confused with a dragon if she added some pretend fire breath. Hera also found out that the grease fire spell was no longer just a novice spell but had changed to an intermediary one. Not that there were any changes in the mana cost or range. Even the appearance of the flaming liquid didn''t change. To Hera''s knowledge, the only thing different was her ability to use it from whatever place in her body she wanted. She could make it come out of her ears or nostrils, her feet or hands, even from the middle of her stomach or her elbows. The other constraints were still in effect. If she was hit by the liquid, she would get hurt. Still, having the spell behave like that was amazing. If she ended up in a situation like when the three kobolds almost killed her again, there were many more escape options. Even if in that particular scenario, her reaction would remain the same. Talking to Helena, Hera understood what happened. Spells had 7 ranks, beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, expert, master, and grandmaster. Each rank was about not just how complex the spell was, but how well one could use it. A beginner spell such as Hera''s pulse could one day become a grandmaster spell. However, it was possible to buy the formulas or codes for spells up to the advanced level. Because complexity was also a defining trait of these early classifications, people had a tendency to make overly intricate spells to either brag or try to sell for high prices, even if the actual usability would be the same as a novice or intermediary spell. After advanced, all ranks could be attained by using the spell and improving your knowledge of it. That didn''t mean that an advanced spell would reach expert quicker. In reality, it was easier to become proficient in a spell that you ranked up all the way from beginner than to get a new advanced spell and become an expert on it. The more comfortable and seamless the spell''s use became, the closer it would be to grandmaster rank. Now that Hera managed to change the starting point of the spell at will, it had improved her understanding of it, and since the spell was already a combination of her poison spray and the fire arrow, its complexity was relatively high. Helena did a mockup of what the formula could look like that made Hera gasp. The formula should be three times bigger than the novice version. Now that she could change the spell''s origin, several variables would have to be taken into account before the effect could occur. There was another rank beyond that called Timeless spells. Those would be spells where the user had developed them to absolute perfection. Using that spell became more natural than a heartbeat, but there were no possibilities to increase its power or efficacy. The spell would have reached the absolute peak of its capabilities. No one, be it in the past, present, or even future, would be able to improve it. Very few were able to get a spell to Timeless rank. The amount of work required in a single spell was so massive that it was more feasible to receive a spell of that rank from a high-level dungeon or a quest from the MAZE than to actually practice one. About 50 years ago, someone received a tome for a Timeless Water Arrow spell from a dungeon. Since then, people have tried all they could to receive a similar reward, but to no avail. Part of the reason the guild was so excited about unlocking new layers after the wall came down was to find more dungeons that could give such rewards. When Monday arrived, Hera and her group headed to the kobold field. Blue, Bonnie, and Alex had used part of the money to get another set of upgrades for their equipment, and they all agreed to get some fire resistance, including Hera, who wanted to save some money. They had seen firsthand how deadly the wildfire could be, and no one wanted to get hit by one of those bombs. Arriving at the guild, they met up with the rest of their team. The leaders would be the two highest-level explorers of the group: Alan and Rose, a healer and a crafter. Both of them were level 8 and had participated in various battlefields here. The group of four consisted of Peter, a Hunter, Chloe, a mage, and two familiar faces, Kenjiro and Tiffany. "Hey, guys. Fancy meeting you here," Tiffany smiled at the group. "Hey, Tiff. I really didn''t expect to meet you two here," Blue replied. "I could say the same, but then again, nothing beats Hera showing up in the news for killing a wendigo," Kenji said. "That was an accident and a lot of luck," Hera shrugged. "So what? You got your lucky break. Enjoy it!" Tiffany said. "Guys, I can see that you have a lot of catching up to do, but can we do the briefing for the battlefield first? We should have some time after it," Alan interrupted. Rose chuckled, "He''s just saying that because we had a similar situation on our first battlefield. We spent so much time talking that we couldn''t get around to all the questions people had. The first day ended up being a mess. Don''t worry, since we are helping the Wolves, we are going to have a lot of time to talk in there." 196 - Entering the Battlefield The briefing really didn''t take long. Even though Hera''s group was the only one who had yet to do the Wolves side of the dungeon, they understood what happened inside well enough to catch on quickly. Each day inside the battlefield would be split into three parts. In the morning, they would prepare for the combat. In the afternoon, there would be a large battle between the armies, and in the night, they would have the chance to sabotage the Dragon Kin camp. Unlike what it was when they helped Zudra and the lizard kobolds, assisting the Wolves of the Night was about hindering their enemies, reducing their morale and defenses. The quest they completed would give a debuff for the Dragon Kin and their army. Each day would bring a change to the dungeon. The first day would have clear skies and sunshine, the second rain, during the third day, a storm would cover the area, and in the fourth, an earthquake would open a deep abyss on the left flank of the army. The last day would have no environmental effects, but the battle would be fierce. To avoid overwhelming everyone and letting them forget about some dangers, the briefing only covered the bullet points. They would give a more in-depth explanation during the preparation phase of the day. After all the questions, mostly asked by Bonnie, had been answered, the team decided to get a table in the barbecue restaurant and get to know each other. They would be together for a few days and understanding what everyone was capable of would benefit them. Alan was a dark-skinned healer with short hair and a goatee who specialized in lasting barriers. His spells could stay with someone for a few hours and even perform small heals as they got hurt. The notion of pre healing a wound was odd, but according to his partner, very effective. Rose was a crafter from Mexico, which she proudly announced using a thick accent, but her skills and spells were mostly combat-oriented. She could create arrows, bullets, and other projectiles out of her surrounding environment using a spell and then fling them using either her slingshot or another type of magic. Spells that could create traps, from pitfalls to tripwires and nets, were also part of her repertoire. If she had a couple of minutes, she even could make a cage trap using magic and dirt. Rose would be the vanguard leader in any situation where they had to fight, while Alan would stay in the back line. The Hunter, Peter, was essentially a sniper. He would stay in the back line and give both cover fire and kill any creatures that might be out of range. Since his group had done the Wolves'' quest many times, he had a passive increase in the damage dealt to Dragon Kin kobolds and even a skill that allowed him to share part of the buff with the team. Kenji and Tiffany vouched for his archery skills, affirming that he could hit a fast-moving target from over 200 meters away. Peter acknowledged that his biggest flaw at the moment was a long time to aim, especially if his allies were also fighting the same target. While he talked, Hera couldn''t figure out where his accent was from. It wasn''t strong, but some of the words he shortened felt like it should be recognizable. To her luck, she wasn''t the only one having trouble identifying it. After he finished explained what he could do, Alex asked, "Sorry, but I have to ask, or this will be killing me, and I won''t be able to focus. Where is your accent from?" "Oh. It''s Australian. I moved here a couple years back, so it''s mostly faded." "OK, thanks. Sorry I didn''t mean to put you on the spot. It was just driving me nuts," Alex replied before they continued. Chloe was a ginger mage with long curly hair that was focusing on water spells. She could create water barriers and geysers to hinder and protect, but lacked any spells to deliver a swift killing blow. The most effective way she had to kill a creature was to surround it with water and wait for it to drown, which usually took a bit too long to be useful in a fight. Her proudest accomplishment was a spell that created a miniature volcano that spewed out water balls. It was an attempt to copy Undine''s Volcanic Eruption spell, but with a more ''appropriate'' element for the hero''s name. That argument sparked a heated discussion between her and Blue. It devolved into who knew more about Undine instead of if her fire spells were appropriate to her name in just a few moments. After about five minutes, Rose gave up on waiting for the two to stop their little competition and stepped in, "Girls, you are going to have a lot of time to see whose tits are bigger. Can we focus on knowing everyone first?" The comment received an uncomfortable look from Kenji and Peter, while Alan just sighed as he was used to that kind of thing. The rest of the girls didn''t mind at all. Tiffany even chuckled with the phrase. She took that as a cue and started talking. Just like Kenji, she was a fighter. They still used anger to fuel the [Fury] skill and had great teamwork. Tifanny wielded a heavy two-handed sword with slow movements but a lot of weight behind each attack, while Kenji used a katana to parry and deliver quicker strikes. Their style consisted of setting up each other''s attacks while giving space for the back line to help. After that, it was Hera''s group''s turn. They each explained what they did and how they fought, adding that they all had some sort of healing spell, nothing that would compare to a dedicated healer, but it could help in a pinch. When Hera finished explaining her part, Rose said, "So you are the explorer? You have the map skill, right?" Hera nodded, "Great, I''m the one that asked for one in our team. I want you to do a couple of missions every day, which will be your top priority. It''s mostly just some legwork, so don''t worry, sweet cheeks." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Hera didn''t know how to respond to the sweet cheeks comment and tried to brush it off, "Sure, but why?" "If you complete these quests, you can follow the army movement using the map. If needed, we could carry a tablet, but having someone with a floating window is much better," Rose explained. "Oh, I see. Yeah, it can help," Hera looked back at her plate and mumbled, "Sweet cheeks?" "Well, you do have a nice ass," Blue whispered. "What? You stare at my ass?" Hera gasped, trying not to speak loudly. "I don''t stare, but we live and train together. Sometimes it''s just there, and yeah, it''s nice. Quinn''s is better, though." Hera rolled her eyes, "Of course you would think that. You can use her''s as a pillow, now stop talking about my ass!" They kept talking and eating for some time. The restaurant wasn''t empty, but it was far from crowded, and everyone seemed to know each other. It gave a nice small-town feel to it. After about half an hour, one thing became clear about the team. Aside from Hera, Bonnie and Alex, everyone else was in a relationship. Alan and Rose were together for a couple of years already, while Chloe and Peter were dating for a few months, just like Tiffany and Kenji. Blue was the odd one out, not exactly in a relationship but having a regular fling every time she would leave the MAZE. Still, even with all the couples, no one felt uncomfortable. The team talked and joked around while waiting for the time to go to the battlefield. Despite the meal''s lighthearted feel, Alan and Rose kept an eye out for any possible problems. They noticed that Blue and Chloe could easily get into heated discussions while ignoring everything else. Bonnie had a similar issue, but only when something would pique her interest. Hera and Peter were the quiet types. That wasn''t necessarily bad, but they would need to pay attention to how they behaved inside a dungeon. It was one thing to be shy, another to not talk in a serious situation. Aside from that, nothing triggered red flags for the veterans, but it was something they would need to pay attention to in the first couple of days. After about one hour and a half, a clerk appeared to let them all know that they were clear to enter the dungeon, but it wasn''t something they had to rush to do. They had a 30 minute window to enter without messing up the entire schedule. Rose took care of the bill for the group, and they took a quick bathroom break before one last final check on all their equipment. Alan made sure everyone had some basic necessities: some water, food, deodorant, and a pack of wet wipes. The Wolves were not a tribe that valued daily showers. They could try to wash in the river behind the forest, but it was likely that they wouldn''t have the opportunity to do so. The entire team had a moment of realization. They would be spending a week in the midst of dogs who would get dirty and wet and didn''t like showers. It would be a challenge for their noses, and going by Alan''s reaction at the mention, they were right to be worried. Having their gear set up, the group headed towards the dungeon entrance. The two doors had changed. Now the Dragon Kin flag was nowhere to be seen, and a large Wolves of the Night banner had taken a spot in the arch between the two doors. At a closer inspection, one could see that there was, in fact, only one massive double door instead of the two they had seen before. This was the indication that the battlefield had started. The entrance itself had changed to mirror the scale of the fight in front of them. The team made a countdown and entered the dungeon. The notification window was different than usual. It wasn''t the familiar light blue windows that appeared as they got skills and entered other dungeons, but a light grey screen with a black line framing its contents. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Kobold Battlefield The conflict between the Wolves of the Night and the Dragon Kin has escalated and now involves most tribes from both factions. Any chance of a peaceful resolution was destroyed when Golden Moon, the eldest son of the Wolves of the Night''s previous chieftain, was killed by Zudra. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As they entered, Hera noticed the difference in the size of the area they were in. There was a large expanse of open field to her left, where the Dragon Kin camp should be. She could see some wooden constructions on the horizon, but they were too far to actually discern any details. Her best estimate was that the camp was about 10 kilometers away from their current position. To her right, there was a forest with several tents hidden between the trees. Above it, there was a large spectral banner with the Wolves'' flag, just like during the Dragon Kin quest. They seemed to be much closer to the forest this time, but since the forest itself was much bigger, it took them twenty minutes to arrive at the banner. Walking across the Wolves'' camp gave a much different feeling. Unlike the relaxed and laid-back feel that the Dragon Kin passed, here there was a heavy tension in the air. The kobolds stared at the team. Some even snarled at them just for staring. There was very little talk, and the small bits and pieces that could be heard were all orders about the upcoming battle. "Remember, they are on edge. Don''t expect them to treat us well unless what we are trying to do works. They will keep that attitude until the second or third day," Alan said to the group. Reaching the largest tent localized in a small clearing, the team saw a massive wolf-like kobold sitting on a log while sharpening his axe. He had thick grey and white fur, with several scars across his chest and arms. One of his fangs seemed to be broken, and his left eye was glazed over. He looked like an old man in many ways, but the pressure coming from him was staggering. Hera was having trouble even stopping her legs from shaking just by being in his presence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ferunir ¨C Ancient Kobold Chieftain ¨C Level 20 ¨C Silver affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The creature turned towards the team and snarled, slamming the handle of its axe into the ground, making it stand up like a three-meter-high flag. Its thundering voice came in a low tone, but it was still strong enough to make Hera feel her body shake, "Who are you to enter my camp unannounced?" 197 - Greeting a wolf During the briefing, Alan and Rose explained that in a normal run, the kobolds would be hostile to the humans at first and treat them as a bother after joining the army. Only after the second day would their disposition change. That was only considering they reported to any kobold and were led towards the command tent. However, the team was now in the ancient chieftain''s private quarters. This was a trick that Alan learned from an explorer a few months ago. However, it was a risky move. If they didn''t say the right things, it would only increase Ferunir''s ire and make the kobolds hostile during the entire dungeon. Alan bowed to the chieftain, "I''m sorry for arriving unannounced. We are from a human settlement nearby. Some time ago, we came looking for Golden Moon." At the mention of that name, Ferunir grabbed his axe but did not move it around. He just stood there watching the humans with his piercing grey eyes, "And why have you sought my eldest child?" The entire team was in a cold sweat. Even if the kobold leader would never directly harm the explorers, being this close to someone so strong and angry was a harrowing experience. Alan continued, making sure not to stutter or miss any words like he did the first time, "We heard rumors about the conflict between your tribe and the Dragon Kin. Since we had some knowledge of how your enemies behaved, we came forward to aid the Wolves of the Night. Golden Moon was kind enough to receive us himself, and we explained our ideas and the services we could offer. He refused our help since it would not befit a kobold to use such underhanded methods. Yet, he asked about tools to care for the sick and the elderly. We had a pleasant conversation that afternoon as we discussed ways to improve the life of his tribe after the war. He was especially concerned about those families who could lose their children in the battle. A phrase of his resonated a lot with us. When the son is no longer among us, the tribe must help the father." When Ferunir heard that final line, the anger in his eyes vanished, being replaced by pain, "His greatest desire was to diminish the suffering that one family would go through after losing a child to war," there was a long pause while Ferunir stared at the ground, "But that does not explain why have you come here." "We heard about his passing and came to join the army. Before reporting, we wanted to pay our respects to his memory. We didn''t know you would be here, and I''m sorry for that." Ferunir nodded and sat down, "I thank you for your kindness. It warms my old heart that even moments before his end, Golden Moon was still gathering new allies. Come, sit with me. Lend your ears to an old wolf reminiscing about his son." The group sat down on the logs in front of the large tent around a small campfire and listened to the stories about Golden Moon. They didn''t even need to contribute much. Just an impressed gasp here and there was more than enough to keep Ferunir going. He told them how Golden Moon found the lost son of a giant and took him back to his village alone, the time when he went on an expedition to search for a ship that had gone missing, saving an entire crew, and many others. The last story was how he wanted to refuse the chieftain''s role to not rob his brothers and sisters of their chance, but before he could refuse, the rest of his family all withdrew their claim, leaving him as the only possible option. This was all because of their love for their big brother and the belief that Golden Moon would be the one who led the Wolves of the Night into the future. Ferunir shed a single tear when he ended his stories. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes before getting up and picking his axe, "Thank you for humoring me. I apologize if the stories were too boring." "Not at all. They were incredible. It only proves how amazing Golden Moon was," Rose replied with a smile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a hidden event Confort the Ancient Chieftain By showing your appreciation for his late son, Ferunir was able to open his heart for the first time since he became aware of Golden Moon''s passing. Wolves of the Night kobolds will view you in a friendly light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the notification pop out, Alan turned to the group and nodded with a large smile. Ferunir looked up to the sky and got up, "There is a meeting with the Alphas. Follow me. I''ll introduce you to the other clans and get you set up in a tent." The Wolves of the Night didn''t have a regular command chain. Instead, they had Alphas and Betas. Alphas would be the leaders and Betas the vice leaders. It was a bit odd because while an Alpha could be the leader of an entire clan, it could also be the leader of just a small group of five. The best way to understand their standing was to pay attention to the title that accompanied it. According to the briefing, they would have things like Windchaser Battalion 3 Alpha, which would be a mouthful, but it worked to inform their position in the command chain. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. After walking for about ten minutes, the team arrived at an area with a massive tarp roof tied in the middle of several trees. It was like the tent was a part of the forest. Underneath it, a table and several chairs were spread around, with twelve kobolds sitting in a large circle. They were the leaders of the 12 kobold clans. All had the same stature as a human, unlike the chieftain. Ferunir gave everyone a quick introduction and asked them to join for the early part of the conversation before heading towards their tent to set up. There were some small pleasantries and condolences before they started to talk business. Ferunir was the one who changed the subject first, "My brethren, these humans came to our aid. They are well versed in the treachery displayed by the Dragon Kin. They shall take the day to assess the battlefield. I believe they might take the lead to guide our Omega teams in their new positions." Omega teams were something new for the kobolds. During their briefing, Alan explained that it would be a group created to perform jobs that no one else was willing to do. Sabotage, assassination, anything that could be considered trickery by the kobolds. Those who became a part of that group would be exiled from their clans, forming a new community that would work from the shadows. "Father, are you insisting on such a dishonorable strategy? We are kobold. We must not allow ourselves to become the same as those heinous lizards!" a kobold with brown fur and braided hair spoke up. She was called Azura, the alpha of the Thunderfury clan. "I agree, chief. The creation of the Omegas is not something we should do. We must fight those creatures who stole our name!" Gustav, the alpha of the Steelclaw clan, voiced his protest. He had thin blue fur and a large scar on the right side of his mouth, leaving one of his canines perpetually exposed. Ferunir sighed, "I care not for the name. Right now, I''m just a father wanting to get revenge for the death of my son. The decisions and strategies that will be used by the Omegas are all my responsibility. All the volunteers have agreed, when this war is over, we will be exiled from the tribe," loud gasps accompanied the announcement. "Father! We can''t let you do that. You must stop this madness. To fight these creatures, we must maintain our honor. Using the same underhanded methods as they do is beneath us!" Azura protested once more. "Enough!" Ferunir slammed his fist against a trunk on the ground, splintering it instantly, "Even Golden Moon fell for their schemes. Yes, this is not noble, but it is a way to survive. I will not live to see another one of my children die for our hubris." There was a long pause. According to the compendium, Golden Moon was the strongest kobold of their clan, even stronger than Ferunir himself. If traps and such were enough to bring him down, no one else could argue about the strength of such tools. "Father, have you chosen an Alpha for the Omegas?" one of the betas, a skinny kobold with black fur and heterochromatic eyes called Shilo, spoke up. "I have not my child. I intended to be the alpha when this is over," Ferunir replied. "Then allow me to become the alpha during the war. After it, I will become your beta in exile." "Are you leaving us?" Azura asked. "I''m sorry, sister, but you know I''m not suited for noble wars. Thank you for all the effort you put into teaching me the honorable ways, but I still can see the value and strength of underhanded tactics." Azura gave him a hug, "I understand, brother. I''m happy that you finally found something that could be your purpose," she turned to Ferunir, "chieftain, as alpha of the Windchaser clan, I accept Shilo''s resolve and relinquish him to your command." "Isn''t this a bit too fast? I mean, she went from I hate this idea to I''m happy for you in a heartbeat," Blue whispered. "Don''t let it bother you. This is just the MAZE doing its best to make a compelling story. It can''t make a 10-hour series explaining everything," Chloe replied. "I''m not so sure. Aren''t dungeons supposed to be created because of events that actually happened? Maybe it''s just trying to give us a more concise version of history." Hera said, but Chloe just shrugged in response. Not many people were interested in the origins of the dungeon or what the MAZE and, by extension, the system actually were. It was the kind of thing that philosophers or scientists would waste time trying to figure out. "I accept your claim Shilo, you are now the alpha of the Omegas. Gather your new clan and join us in our new quarters. The humans will go with you to share some of their knowledge. I shall join you after we are done here." Shilo gave a bow and moved towards the human team, "It is my pleasure to know you all. Follow me, please." The team followed the new alpha and was led to a similar tent, although darker and with the same tarp making walls to hide whatever happened inside. About forty different wolf kobolds were inside, all waiting for their new leader. Shilo gave a brief speech explaining the situation and passed the ball to the humans. Alan and Rose took charge and described the traps, siege weapons, and tools used by the Dragon Kin, even having Blue use her trap spell to showcase the spike trap. This was all part of the plan. The more information they gave the Wolves, the better the entire army would deal with their enemies. After this meeting, the team was led to the tent they would be using during the war. They spent about one hour and a half just walking around and listening to other people talk. They all wanted a break from it. Yet, there was still the strategy meeting for the explorers waiting for them. Once more, Alan and Rose took the floor to explain what they should be doing today. Luckily, that only took 30 minutes since they had already explained how the dungeon worked. When they finished the explanation, Rose walked out of the tent and called Hera. "I asked Shilo to get us some way to move quickly around the camp. Come with me. We have to get your map set up," she headed outside where a large wolf, bigger than a lion, was waiting for them with a saddle on its back. "So, wolf kobolds have wolves as mounts? Seriously?" Hera asked. "Yep, sometimes there is just no creativity. Now hop on, sweet cheeks, we have to make our rounds," Rose jumped in the saddle and gestured for Hera to sit in the back, "By the way, if you ever rode a horse, this is nothing like it." The wolf moved forward. At first, it seemed to be a smooth ride, but that was only until the wolf started running. It quickly became clear that the barbecue they ate might come back to say hi. 198 - Before the storm Hera and Rose stopped by every single clan, and by the end, Hera never wanted to ride a wolf again. The high speed and weird movement of its body made her feel nauseous. Riding a horse could be bumpy, but at least it was a constant motion. The wolf would keep shifting the way it ran. At times it would be as smooth as a car, and others, it was worse than being in a boat during a storm. "Do we need to do this every day?" she turned to Rose. "Yep, if not, we don''t get the update on the army status." "And do we have to use the wolf?" "We don''t have to, but if we don''t, it''s going to take three times as long to make all the rounds." "I''m not sure if my stomach can handle that every day," Hera sighed. "Yeah, if you learn how to ride it by yourself, it''s a bit smoother. These wolves are not made to carry humans, much less two of us. I can teach you during the evening. Shilo gave us this wolf for anything we need. If someone had pets, we could probably even use it during fights, but for now, maybe just for scouting trips," Rose suggested. "I''ll take those lessons. We have more free time in the night, right?" "Yep, we still can do some quests, but they are smaller or are not supposed to be completed, like repairing their gear." "We can''t complete that? I was thinking about doing that one." "It''s still a good idea, but there are way too many weapons to repair. We are talking about a 20 thousand strong army, after all. I don''t think even a full team of crafters could fix all their weapons every day." "Oh, yeah, that''s a valid point. But is it worth it doing that one?" "Well, if you take care of a good amount of gear, it is, but you need to repair at least 100 pieces per hour for it to be worth it. That''s just if you don''t have a skill. If you have, it''s worth it to do it just for the practice. That''s what I''m going to do at least." "I do have a weapons maintenance skill. So you might have company." "Oh, even better. I have a way to rebalance weapons, but I can only use that one if they were just repaired. We can make a factory line of sorts. I never had the chance to practice it with so many supplies," Rose seemed really excited about that idea. They arrived at their tent, but no one was there. They all had spread out to do some quests. Hera and Rose were just the first ones to return. Now they had time to kill before the start of the battle. There were several quests they still could do, but those would take too long and hinder their ability to help during the war. Alan had explained that even though they could help with many things in the morning, their contribution during the actual battles was much more valuable. Hera lay down in one of the hammocks set up for them and opened her map. There were hundreds of small blue dots surrounding her. As she zoomed out, those dots became larger, but their position shifted. Instead of each blue marker representing a single kobold, they represented 10, then 100, and lastly, 500. When seeing a bigger scale, the dots were not moving and just showed their overall position, but their movements would be tracked almost perfectly at a small scale. "This is just cheating," she mumbled. "Not so much. It''s just our allies. If the Dragon Kin would send some assassins or something, we could have some troubles, but they won''t, so at most, we can find some traps if we use the information correctly," Rose was putting some grass, moss, and dirt in small pouches, tying them on her waist when each became full. She noticed Hera staring at what she was doing and approached her, "This is what I can do." Rose made a small flourish with her wrist and used two fingers to call something from the pouches. A small stream of grass and dirt followed her motion, each coming from a different colored sack and gathered in the palm of her hand. The materials started to gather and turned into a little green and brown ball in just a second. "This one is called Vine Hold. When I hit something with it, small vines will try to wrap around the area where it hit. This one only has a small effect, and at most, could annoy someone, but I can make them bigger. The effect will always depend on the materials I have available, so I try to stock up." "I see. Can you do something with poison? Or water?" Hera asked. "Yes, and no. Water is too fickle. Every time I try to use it, it ends up just nullifying the rest. Poison is good, but it''s hard to get a constant supply." "What if you use magic?" "I mean, I already am using a spell. Adding poison to it might up the cost too much." "No, no. Like this," Hera walked to a corner of the tent where there was no grass and used her poison spray on the ground, letting the orange liquid soak in the dirt. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Oh, I didn''t know there were poison spells like that. All the ones I found and had enough mana for were projectiles or gas." "Really? This is the first one I found. The only one, actually." "Weird, anyway, can you sell me the code? Or is it a formula? If so, Alan can help me translate it." "Oh, sorry. I''m a conceptual mage." Rose slumped back into a chair, "Of course you are. It''s just my luck," She looked back at the poison-soaked dirt, "How long does the liquid last?" "Honestly? I don''t know. I never stuck around to check." "Well, let''s test it," Rose grabbed another pouch made of plastic and placed the poisoned dirt inside it, "I''ll check every half an hour or so. If it lasts for a while, do you mind making some more before the fights? My poison bombs can do some damage." "Sure. I''ll do what I can." A few minutes later, Tiffany''s group arrived. They had set up some barriers around the camp and marked a few lines on the ground so the kobolds could see when they were in the range of the Dragon Kin artillery. Blue and the girls spend the morning helping carry the armor and weapons around the clans and tell them the orders Ferunir gave. Alan was the last to arrive. He was once more with the clan alphas, discussing strategy and what they should expect from the enemy. When he finally arrived, he came with a basket full of fruits and baked potatoes, "Hey guys, I brought lunch if anyone is hungry." "We should eat a little something. Especially the bananas. They help us with our stamina," Rose replied, already heading towards the basket. Alan slapped Rose''s hand away, "Don''t you dare take all the strawberries like last time." "Ouch! You were not that violent when we started dating," Rose shook her hand. "And you were not such a glutton. Leave some for the kids," Alan scoffed, placing the basket on a table. "Fine, can I at least give you your present first?" Rose put out her closed hand in front of him. "You got me a gift? What is it?" Alan got his face closer to her hand. She opened it, and a plume of black smoke jumped towards Alan''s head. He started coughing and trying to wave it off while Rose grabbed five strawberries and dashed out of the tent. "The happy face of your beautiful girlfriend after she eats her favorite fruit," Rose chuckled as she left. "Come back here, you little," Alan dashed after her with a big smile on his face. Bonnie watched that display in awe, "Aren''t they¡­ supposed to be older than us? Why are they behaving like teenagers?" "Leave them be. Sometimes it''s nice to act like a kid with someone you feel comfortable with," Chloe said while looking at Peter. At the same time, Kenji and Tiffany shared a glance. Alex didn''t wait around, quickly headed to the basket, grabbing some fruit while leaving, "I''m going to find someplace to eat this, maybe there''s a palm tree around, and I''ll get lucky enough for a coconut or something fall in my head and knock me out." Hera looked back and decided to leave as well, with Bonnie and Blue following right behind. Alex had found a tree to the side and was eating an apple. "Hey, are you ok?" Hera sat down beside her. "I''m fine. I just don''t want to stay close to people who are all lovey-dovey today," Alex bit down on the apple. "Did something happen?" Blue asked. Alex kept eating in silence, but after three more bites, she finally replied, "My ex texted me just before we came inside. No, I don''t want to talk about it. Yes, I''m fine. No, not really." "Ok, just don''t do anything reckless, please?" Hera passed the only strawberry she got to Alex. "Thanks. I won''t," Alex took the fruit. Understanding that it was better not to press the subject any further, they just talked and waited for the fight to start. After about 40 minutes, the sound of horns resonated throughout the forest. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The war between the Wolves of the Night and the Dragon Kin has begun. Battlefield Quest Aid the Wolves of the Night''s advance while hindering the Dragon Kin strategy. The more quests you complete, the less effective the Dragon Kin tools will be. Talking with the alphas and betas can give you missions that will reduce the Dragon Kin strength. Victory conditions: Defeat every Dragon Kin kobold. Have more than 1 000 surviving canine kobolds. Ferunir must survive Four clan alphas must survive First-time completion rewards: 25 000 gold, Random Advanced Kobolds Supplies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Guys, it''s time! Let''s go," Rose yelled. Everyone gathered quickly and headed to the fields. They watched as the thousands of kobolds marched to the sound of drums. It was an impressive sight and being on the opposing side would be terrifying. The team headed to their position at the left flank of the army. This is where the traps were most numerous, and the ballistas would be set up on that side. Their job now was to intercept the squad bringing that equipment. Shilo had sent a small detachment of Omegas to help them with the endeavor. Among them was a kobold mage that could create an illusion to hide them from the Dragon Kin army. They met up behind the Thunderfury clan and meet with both Azura and the Omegas that would accompany them. With that, there were two new quests for them to deal with. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Azura''s first request Thunderfury''s alpha requested your assistance in identifying the traps created by the Dragon Kin. Localize the traps before her clan suffers too many casualties. Expose 50 traps Failure conditions: Lose three battalions to the traps before completing the quest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sabotage tools of war 1 The Omega squad has to attack and destroy the ballistas set up by the Dragon Kin, aid them before the weapons can fire 5 times. Destroy or sabotage 3 ballistaes Failure conditions: allowing the ballistas to fire a total of 25 combined shots ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, now we split up. Alex, Kenji, Tiffany, Hera, and Blue, you are with me. The rest stay with Rose and finds the traps," Alan said. They all nodded and headed out. Bonnie had spells that could make a lot of impact, unlike Hera and the others. Her fist type of spells would be more than enough to make the fake ground collapse. The same could be said for Peter and Chloe. On the other hand, those who would venture deep into enemy territory had to be sturdy or good at hiding. Hence, the fighters and assassins would be the best bet for the job. The mage created an illusory wall in front of the group, showing a still image of the area they were passing. They made a wide arc with the distraction set up, moving away from the main army so they wouldn''t be caught in the crossfire. About halfway through their crossing, another horn blew. With a roar, arrows and spells started to rain across the battlefield, covering the clear sky with a deadly cloud of iron. 199 - Sabotage Arrows fell from the sky, pelting the land with their iron edges. Thunder and lightning crackled through the sky, covering the cries of the wounded warriors. Small fiery explosions covered the ground, leaving patches of flaming land that could melt a kobold in an instant. The Dragon Kin crossbows had a much smaller range than the Wolves of the Night''s longbows. That forced them to stay behind cover while the Wolves rushed through the battlefield. The canines started to move forward while raising shields to stop incoming bolts. Before one of the kobolds stepped forward, a stone fist flew towards the ground, destroying the cover and revealing a trap where the creature was about to step in. Rose, Chloe, and Peter were doing the same, attacking different spots to reveal the pitfalls. They couldn''t find one with every single attack, but their accuracy wasn''t half bad. Every three attacks would show at least one trap. That was only when counting the newbies. Rose could create a sort of cluster bomb that could impact a large area. Even if the attack wouldn''t deal much damage, it was enough to break the cover open. Hera and her group were still heading towards the ballistas. They had to slow down as they got closer not to disturb the illusion. The Omegas accompanying them were only in charge of the cover and would keep them up even after the attack began. They were here to watch and learn and not to interfere with the sabotage. After crossing the barricade line, Alan told them all to stop. The first ballista was already in sight, with a small group of lizard kobolds working on reloading the bolt that was almost like a tree trunk. None of the shots managed to reach the Wolves, but they were getting closer. "Alex, Hera. Can you two get close to that without being seen?" Alan asked. "I think so. Or at least without been seen by them, not sure if anyone behind would notice," Alex said after analyzing the field. "Do you think you could make a smaller-scale version of that illusion just on us?" Hera asked the Omegas. "We cannot. The image can only be shown in close proximity to us. If we follow you, even the Dragon Kin will be able to sense the spell in action." "I got you," Alan said, placing his hands on Hera''s and Alex''s shoulders. He cast a barrier covering them in soft light at first, but their skin and clothes quickly started to change colors. It was an effect close to a chameleon cloak, but less effective. The colors wouldn''t match what they touched, but they did change. If they were invading a place where everyone was on high alert, this would do nothing to help, but it could be just enough to keep them hidden in the heat of war. "OK, should we just sabotage the thing or try to break it completely?" Alex asked. "Kill the kobolds, but leave the ballista intact. The plan is to use it to destroy the others," Alan replied. "Right, I spaced out, sorry." "No worries, now get ready. They are preparing the second strike. Try to get close to them and use the noise of the second wave of shots to kill the kobolds," two of the five Omegas huffed at Alan''s comment but didn''t say a word. Alex and Hera activated their [Hide] skill and started moving towards the first ballista. It was an ugly thing. They used a piece of metal with odd edges to make the arms, which were already all battered and scratched. The body wasn''t a single well-constructed piece. Instead, there were several scraps of wood all smashed and hammered together like a hurried job at closing holes in a leaky boat. There were no wheels or supports in front. They were using the wooden barricades to angle the weapon and to change the height. They had to place more wood under the blockade. It was by no means the elegant design that Hera had seen during the war against Light Fur. These seemed even worse than the version that Bonnie helped improve. The arrows were even weirder. It was like someone just slapped a metal tip in the top of a tree and sent it flying. Some had not only the bark surrounding their bodies, but even branches that would splinter as they were fired. There were only five kobolds around the ballista, and the siege weapons had quite a distance between each other. Hera quickly activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kobold ¨C Lizard ¨C Level 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the kobolds had the same level, and they were relatively small. Four had to work together to place the massive arrow in the ballista before they all set up the angle. The way they were organized was much more complicated than it had to be. The creatures started arguing, making the time between shots get even further apart. Hera and Alex took that opportunity to get even closer, but now they had to leave the cover of the barricades. Since they would be using the structure as a support, it could break down as the ballista fired. The kobolds finally managed to set everything up and were ready to fire. At the same time, Hera and Alex were like two wolves on the prowl, hiding in plain sight and waiting to strike. "Now! Now! Fire!" a shrill voice came from beyond the first ballista. All the kobolds started firing the weapons. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Alex dashed straight to the kobold in front of the firing mechanism, ignoring the others in her path. Hera followed right behind her but aimed at the one closest to them. Alex pulled her dagger in a swift motion and cut open the creature''s throat, blood spraying all over the ballista. She moved so quickly that the others couldn''t react to the attack in time, but now, they turned to her, already snarling. Hera took advantage of the distraction and slash the closest kobold''s head, splitting its skull with relative ease. Alex turned towards the remaining three and jumped towards them, daggers slashing the creatures wildly, carving their flesh in a storm of cuts. Hera went for the one that managed to avoid the strike, grabbing its mouth to prevent it from calling for help. "Enemy! Here! Help!" For a moment, Hera got confused. She held the kobold''s mouth shut, but it was still speaking. Only after the last cry, she realized that the sound came from behind her. Although Alex''s attack was effective and the creatures wouldn''t survive the onslaught, it allowed them to scream for help. Knowing there could be backup, Hera quickly dispatched the monster she held and looked around, searching for any incoming backup. Some Dragon Kin were rushing towards the cries for help. They came from the back of the army, while others from the ballistas groups responded to the call. Hera used her Poison shower to block a path and pulled her chakram. Since the enemies wouldn''t be at close range, using the tripwire style in an open area would be very effective. Alex finished the two kobolds and tumbled over the ballista, already sending her ranged spell towards the creatures. Hera noticed that something was different with the wind cutter. Instead of the slightly green blade of wind, it now had a silver form with green energy surrounding it. Before she could even consider what she had seen, the first kobold got in her range. Tossing the chakram in an arc, she pulled the string so the blade would hit the creature''s back. Hera avoided using mana reinforcement to control the trajectory. During the briefing, Alan and Rose warned them to save their mana when possible. Since they had no way of knowing how long the fights would take, the best option was to always keep enough mana for an emergency escape. Looking to the side, Alex didn''t seem to be thinking about that. The silver blades flew off her daggers one after another. Whatever spell she was using it was clearly more powerful than the wind cutter, which also meant it was more costly. "Alex, stop! Save your mana," Hera pulled her chakram back. "I just wanna kill those things!" Alex yelled. "We have the entire week. Don''t waste it all now," Hera glanced to the side and saw the kobolds that came from the army getting very close, "Switch sides with me and take care of those." Without waiting for a reply, Hera moved behind Alex and closer to the spiked barricades, tossing her chakram once more. She wanted to use her poison needle to start damaging the kobolds in the other groups, but for some reason, she couldn''t use that spell while the poison shower was still active. For now, zoning out the group coming from the main army seemed more important. "Great work, girls!" Alan shouted as he and the rest of the group arrived, "Tiff, Blue, help me turn this thing, aim at the other ballistas. Kenji, grab some wood and set up support. It doesn''t need to be high, just enough to lift the arms of the ground." They quickly set up the ballista while Alex, and Hera kept the incoming kobolds at bay. The other siege weapons were still aiming at the Wolves of the Night. Even with the human attack, they wouldn''t stop their barrage. Fortunately, they were very slow. Before even a single bolt was loaded in the ballista to the side, Alan fired the ballista he hijacked. The bolt flew towards the second weapon, hitting its side and breaking in right in the middle. The projectile kept going and smashed against a third ballista, but it only made it topple. Hera had to pull back her chakram not to get in the way of the arrows being fired. Alex was already intercepting the reinforcements coming from the back of the army. She moved quickly between the kobolds, cutting them open in just a few moves. At the same time, the broken blades of the Dragon Kin were cutting through her arms and torso. Alan''s barrier was clearly working overtime, healing each slash as it happened. Hera moved around, placing another shower spray in front of the stolen ballista, and headed towards Alex. The assassin was too far away from the rest of the group which worried Hera. If she got swarmed, it would be hard to pull her out. Alex was relentless. Each attack she received was paid back in double. There was a trail of dead kobolds behind her that could compete with the damage the ballista was doing. Before she could reach her friend, Hera noticed that the barrier couldn''t keep up with the damage being dealt. Small cuts appeared around the exposed parts of her body, but they didn''t even make her flinch. Hera ignored the kobolds and dashed towards Alex. "Stop! You are in too deep!" Hera yelled, but Alex didn''t seem to hear. Trying to grab her arm was a bad move. It was likely that Hera would be the one ending up getting stabbed. Her idea was a weird one, but it was the best she had. Pulling her mana to her hands, Hera flung a few fire arrows around the assassin, trying to get her attention. It took nine arrows before Alex turned around. "Watch where you are throwing those things!" "Stop running! You are too far away from the rest of the group!" Hera pointed back to the ballista. They were already about fifty meters away. Alex turned around and killed another kobold before heading back to the ballista. With the entire group together, they kept firing shot after shot towards the remaining siege weapons. Hera, Alex, and Kenji took care of the kobolds while the rest reloaded the ballista and fired again and again. Even after breaking all the other ballistas, they kept firing until all the bolts were gone. Only then they headed back towards the place where the Omegas were. Hera used her grease fire to burn up the ballista they were using before leaving. Just as they arrived behind the illusion, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest complete Sabotage the tools of war 1 The ballistas have been destroyed. It will take a large effort to rebuild them. The Dragon Kin will have 20% fewer ballistas during the next day. Each ballista will have 20% less range and reload speed. Each ballista has a 1% chance of breaking after firing, making it unusable during the rest of the war. Dragon Kin morale -100 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 200 - Restless Giant The group avoided talking while retreating from their attack. Hera was taking up the rear with the Omega mages. She was worried about what Alex could end up doing. She was way too aggressive when fighting the kobolds. It was clear that she wasn''t in the right mood to be fighting. They moved towards the rest of the Wolves of the Night. Looking to the side, Hera could see the canine kobolds rushing towards the Dragon Kin army. They weren''t able to move forward while the ballistas were still functional, but now they could attack. Several traps were already exposed, all thanks to Rose''s team. Unfortunately, some kobolds ended up falling into pitfalls that were yet to be revealed. Most were just wounded and could jump out of the holes in just a moment, but a few weren''t so lucky. When Hera and her group were getting close to the Thunderfury''s army, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a quest Azura''s first request The Wolves of the Night''s ability to identify traps has increased after you helped localize all the pitfall traps before too many casualties. 20% of Dragon Kin traps will be revealed for everyone. Dragon Kin morale -300 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rose''s team wasn''t the only one involved in revealing the traps. Some were found by the attacking kobolds, but they counted for the quest nonetheless. The two groups got together. Alan quickly made sure that everyone was in good shape with no significant injuries. At the same time, the Omegas thanked the group and ran off to report to their alpha. Azura came close right after they left. "Thank you for your assistance. We were genuinely unprepared to face such a foe. Even though I still don''t approve of the Omegas'' creation, their value is more apparent after this, so is yours." "We appreciate the kind words. Do you have anything else that you need help with?" Rose asked. "As a matter of fact, I do. This is not a request coming from the Thunderfury''s alpha but from myself. Go to my father, Ferunir. Stay by him during the day and make sure that he doesn''t take any unnecessary risks. There will come a time for our mighty chieftain to join the battle, but it is not today." Alan nodded, "Of course, we can stay by him and help with anything. We''ll keep him safe, don''t worry." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have received a quest. Azura''s second request. The second daughter of Ferunir tasks you to take care of her father during the first day of the war. Protect Ferunir Failure condition: Allowing Ferunir to be wounded by the Dragon Kin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alan turned around, "Let''s go, guys. He should be in the back of the army." Everyone nodded and headed off. That would be the last quest for the day. They would basically stay as bodyguards. It was likely that nothing would happen, but the Dragon Kin could try an attack. On the first day, that was very rare, especially since they had to break through the two strongest clans in the middle of the army. While they walked, Hera pulled Alex aside, "What the hell happened back there?" "What do you mean?" "Don''t play with me. You know what." "I just needed to let out some steam." "That was much more than just steam. You told me you wouldn''t do anything stupid." "I¡­ I''m sorry. The text messed with me more than it should have," Alex looked away. "If you are going to let that affect you this way, I''m going to have to ask. What did he say?" Hera pressed. "It''s nothing, don''t worry about it." "It''s clearly something, and I''m already worried. Letting things fester is never a good idea. What happened?" Alex sighed before pulling her tablet, opening the text, and passed it to Hera. She took a quick glance at the conversation. It''s been a year since the previous message, and now Gerald sent a picture of him wearing a trucker hat, large chains around his neck, and baggy shorts with a girl in a bright pink tube top and a face filled with heavy makeup. It was such a stereotypical party girl that just by looking at the image made Hera smell the bubblegum lipstick. Underneath it, there was a single phrase. ''I finally found a real girl to be with.'' "Oh, please. Tell me you are not bothered by this brain-dead cantaloupe fucker being with a girl who was gullible enough to fall for his talk?" Hera gave back the tablet. "I don''t care about him. What bothered me is what he said." "What? The real girl thing?" Alex shrugged, making Hera let out a long sight, "Alex, don''t let that bother you. I mean, c''mon, you are an amazing woman." "Am I? I never liked makeup, never dressed girly, always liked assassins and swords instead of dolls or cute animals. The girliest thing about me is my fear of frogs." "So what? Don''t start with that girls need to like pink and ribbons thing. The only person I know that actually likes pink is Quinn, and trust me, even dolls are not as girly as she is." "It''s not that. No one ever thought of me as a girl. I mean, seriously, he was my boyfriend and gave me a strap-on as a gag joke once. Even my family say that I didn''t act like a little lady, whatever that means," Alex said. "That strap-on thing says much more about him than about you, and family never knows who we are. They just toss their expectations at us and complain if we do anything outside of them." Hera took a look at the rest of the group. They noticed that they were having a serious discussion and gave them enough space not to be in earshot. Blue saw her look and made a motion asking if everything was ok. Hera just nodded and gestured them to stay there. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Ok then, so what are you saying? Do you think you might have the wrong body?" Hera asked. "I don''t know. Maybe everyone is right. Since I''m not a lady, I should be a guy." "Are you listening to yourself right now? Are you really saying that you are thinking about that because of others? If you do something like that because of other people, you will end up hating yourself for it." "I''m not. I''m just not sure what I mean," Alex said. Hera rubbed her eyes, "Alex, sweetie¡­" she even stopped walking, realizing that she sounded exactly like Helena. Looking back at Alex with wide eyes, Hera said, "I never said that word. I never sounded like that. This never happened. Never. You guys already give me enough crap, saying that I''ll end up like a blonde version of her." Alex just nodded in response, trying to hide a smile. "Anyway. I''m saying that you can''t let other people''s opinions dictate your life like that. If you really think that your body is¡­ not yours, it''s one thing. Doing that just to follow what other people say is another thing entirely," Hera continued. "You have a point. But I still need to figure out some stuff." "That''s kind of a given, but yeah. Just focus on what you want and think, not what others say. And if anyone else tells you you are not a real girl, just remember that nothing is hotter than a woman with a dark assassin aesthetic, and you are one face mask away from it," Hera said. "I had no idea that was your thing," Alex laughed, "Thanks, Hera. Oh my bad, I mean, thanks, Lena." "Don''t you start!" Hera rolled her eyes. The two kept walking away from the group for a few moments before heading back. Alex wasn''t exactly better, but her mind was a bit clearer. About five minutes later, they arrived at Ferunir''s position. Alan said they came to stay by him just in case. "Ha, you don''t have to lie to me, my friend. I''m sure this is a request from my daughter. She can be ruthless in battle, but at the same time, she has a very soft heart," Ferunir laughed. The group spread around and waited. It was a very dull mission. Ferunir was the one in charge of sending orders and such. He would ask for opinions on strategy every now and then, but either his plan was too perfect, or the flaw was so evident that anyone could tell him what was wrong and how to fix it. In one instance, he asked how he could break through a fortified position where the Dragon Kin had hunkered down with five platoons of archers. His plan was to push through with swordsmen, but he also had five battalions of archers, who had more range than the Dragon Kin, and two teams of mages who could easily break down their barricades at his disposal. Every time they gave a satisfactory answer, a notification appeared, showing a minor reduction to the Dragon Kin morale. Yet, their biggest problem was making sure Ferunir stayed put. He kept trying to move to the front or to walk around the back of the army while Alan insisted that he, as the leader, had to be in the same place so the clans could find him if needed. The hours passed as the battle continued. When the sun started to come down, all the fighting stopped at once, and the two factions headed back to their camps. Ferunir headed straight to the command tent, thanking the humans once more as the army marched back. Alan explained that they would have about half an hour to rest when they got back to the camp. After that, the first-night quest would be available. He would be talking to the alphas once more to discuss strategy, check their numbers, and Bonnie asked to join. She wanted to learn about the tactics and how she could complete those quests in the future. Hera and the rest headed back to their tent, refilling their water and taking a small break. They weren''t particularly tired, but they had to take advantage of those little moments. The quests now would be mostly about either helping carry supplies to the different clans, taking care of their equipment, the wounded, and lifting up their spirits. Hera and Rose left towards the main armory, where about 20 kobolds worked quickly to repair the broken weapons. "Hi there, we know how to deal with weapons. Mind if we help?" Rose asked. "You are the humans that knew Golden Moon, correct?" a short-haired kobold with white fur asked. "Yep, that''s us." "We appreciate all help we can get. I''m also rather curious about the different techniques that you might employ," the kobold replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest acquired Support from the back 1 Assist the kobolds who are repairing the equipment used by the army. The more weapons you repair, the better the results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I don''t think we are much different in that subject, but sure," Rose smiled as the kobold led them towards a workbench. They would have to share the space, but it had all the tools they needed. They would be left alone there for a while until everyone had reached their quota, "Sit here, we can start to work. Let''s focus on finishing some weapons first, then I start balancing them out." "How does that work? I mean, it''s not like you can reforge this, right? That''s the only way that it should be possible to change the balance of a weapon," Hera asked. "It''s a skill that lets me move the mana to change where the weight of the weapon is. It works just like a buff, but unlike a spell, I don''t use mana to do it. What the skill does is change where the mana is inside the weapon to give it a little oomph," Rose explained. "Can you teach me later?" "Usually you have to pay for some lessons, but since you are going to help me train it, I''ll consider that your pay. It also depends a lot on how sensitive you are to mana, but that comes later. Take care of a few weapons just so I can tell if you can help with that," Rose pointed to the side. There was a large pile between their workbench and another. Most weapons there seemed fine and just needed some sharpening. The spears and bows would be a problem since Hera never tried to fix that type of weapon. She picked a sword and started working on it while Rose did the same. The two had very different speeds. When Hera finished her first sword, Rose was already halfway through the second piece of equipment. Even so, it was comfortable doing this type of thing. Hera was already used to doing mechanical tasks from the time she worked in the bookstore, and without a boss yelling in her ear, it was even therapeutic. She finished the fourth sword, placing it on the side when a notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh," Hera gasped. "What?" Rose asked without looking away from the spear in her hands. "I just leveled up." "For repairing weapons?" Rose laughed, "I guess everything we do can give us experience." Hera chuckled and distributed her new attributes before going back to work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 7 Stats: Strength: 25 Endurance: 25 Agility: 25 Charisma: 25 Intelligence: 25 Luck: 25 Mana: 642/642 Remaining attribute points: 5 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina Mana Recovery Active: All in Inspect Hide Local Guide Weapon Maintenance Etching Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera increased all her stats by 3, spending all attribute points to do so. She reached 25, which meant that it would cost more to increase all of them at once. She was trying to be positive, but the number of attribute points seemed low. She spent almost a month fighting in a dungeon every day, not to mention getting new spells, improved the rank of one, and even pretended to be a dragon, but only got 7 extra points. At least her mana was increasing at a steady pace. She closed the window and went back to the repairs. She wanted to improve her [Weapon Maintenance] skill, but only to level 3. Getting the mage role was still something she wanted to do soon. 201 - Ups and Downs Hera''s skills didn''t increase during the first day, and even with Rose''s help, she wasn''t able to figure out the rebalance skill. When dinner time came, Hera had sharpened 78 weapons, while Rose got 94 rebalanced. That increased the effectiveness of the entire army while reducing some of the Dragon Kin morale. It was funny how even small things would affect morale. It was understandable that breaking siege weapons and revealing the traps had some effect, but sharpening weapons? Would the Dragon Kin have such keen eyesight that they would notice the weapons'' condition? Alan had checked the casualties with the clan leaders. Apparently, they had lost over 2 000 warriors while the Dragon Kin only lost 150 or so. It was what they expected, but it was still a surprising number. Especially since the team that attacked the ballistas was responsible for about 50 of said kills. Blue, Alex, and the others helped around in the kitchen, the infirmary, and the overall supply chain. Since it was just the first day, there weren''t many interesting quests they could take. It was all mostly just a way for the team to acclimate with their surroundings. Dinner was a bit different from lunch. They still had fruit, but also soup and salads. Oddly enough, there was no meat on the menu. Blue was devastated by that, but according to the other kobolds, this was a ritual they undertook during wars. No one would eat meat until the fighting was over, which made them more ferocious during the combat. Unexpectedly, Blue''s savior was Bonnie, who brought some beef jerky from the barbecue shop so the group could have some meat. Although she understood the cultural significance of this specific fasting, she also knew that the lack of meat could pose a problem for humans who were not used to a vegetarian diet. They all grabbed a bowl of soup and found a nice place to eat. Unlike the Dragon Kin, the Wolves only had a kitchen tent without tables. Everyone was free to find their own place to eat. Hera was the first one of the group to grab her meal and found a tree with large roots that worked as a bench. A few moments later, Alex joined her. "Hey, I just want to say. Thanks again for the talk this afternoon. You were right. I had to get that out off my chest." "I kind of figured. I''m a pro in letting things fester so I can see the signs," Hera replied while trying the soup. It was incredible, rich, and well-spiced with complementing flavors. The fact that they had such a meal in a war camp made her wonder what would a banquet made by the Wolves look like. "You ok there?" Alex asked. "Yeah, this is just really good." Alex tried, "Oh, it really is!" she took another couple of spoon fulls of soup, "Anyway, before everyone gets here. If I need to talk to anyone about¡­ what we talked about earlier. Can I ask you to talk to me about it? It might help to say things out loud.¡± Hera looked up from her bowl with a confused expression, "Are you serious? Are you asking if you can ask about talking?" she chuckled, "Just skip the asking and come talk to me. Anytime you want, ok?" Alex smiled, but the rest of the group joined before they could continue that conversation. During the night, they had nothing to do aside from sleep. The Dragon Kin wouldn''t attack, and although the Omegas could make some assaults on the enemy camp, it was too risky to do so. Alan confirmed that unless they had at least three assassins with rank 3 hide or higher, it was a bad idea to even attempt that. The second day was much similar to the first one, strategy meetings and receiving scout reports, but now a constant rain fell through the entire battlefield. Their quest remained the same, sabotage the ballistas and reveal the traps. This time there would be more siege weapons around the field, but the Omegas would have small squads working to undermine the Dragon Kin structure. Since they flanked the right side of the army, the group dealt with another clan. After the results of the first day, they all had recognized the human''s value. Splitting into the same groups, they headed out and achieved similar results. Completing both quests allowed more traps to be revealed and fewer ballistas to be around. The rain proved to be somewhat of an issue, but nothing that created much trouble. In the end, the team came back with just some cuts and bruises that were healed by Alan. There was one slightly annoying quest during the night, but that reduced the Dragon Kin morale by a lot. They had to patch up holes in the Wolves'' tents. During the third day, the catapults came into play. That shifted the advantage of the battle to the Dragon Kin. The weapons had a much bigger range than a ballista and were safely guarded at the back of the army. The only way they had to defend against the massive boulders being flung around was by using the spell-casters magic. To their luck, the catapults were together on the right side of the army, and the storm increased the power of the lightning the mages used. According to Alan, this was the reason for the earthquake that would happen the next day. The same catapults would still be there while a few others were spread around the army. As a result, too much magic would be focused on the same place, weakening the area and making the mana shift the ground. The storm and the increased power of the thunder spells only made that worse. It was too windy to use any arrows, but the ballistas and the catapults still worked without a problem. On this day, not a single Dragon Kin died, while many Wolves fell to their attacks. It was an awful feeling, but Alan and Rose had told them things would go down like that. Only on the fourth and fifth days could they turn it around. It wasn''t like there weren''t quests to do, but they were all too risky for the team they had. They could fight in small skirmishes with groups that would try to invade or make pincer attacks, but nothing near as big as the battles happening between the two armies. Tiffany made a suggestion for the Omegas that night, they could have a team howling during the night to disturb the Dragon Kin sleep. If they were loud enough and far enough away from the Wolves¡¯ camp, they could make their enemies be sleep-deprived during the next fight. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. They liked the idea and decided to try it. The issue would be how close they had to be to the Dragon Kin camp to not disturb the Wolves'' army in the process. She got the idea from a comic where one army did the same while laying siege to a fortress. It took them a few tries, but in the end, the mission was a success, and the Dragon Kin morale was reduced even further. During that night, Hera got not just her [Weapon Maintenance] to rank 2 but also a new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon Maintenance (Rank 2) Improves your ability to care for and maintain your weapons. The more careful you are with the process, the better the results will be. Increased durability: 2% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon Rebalance You can control the mana inside a weapon to change the distribution of weight. To do so, a weapon must have been recently cared for by someone who applied mana during the process. The more familiar one is with the type of weapon, the better the results. This effect lasts for up to 24 hours. The more the weapon is used, the more the duration is reduced. A weapon can only receive this effect once every 24 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There wasn''t an actual buff like the durability making the skill seem less useful at first glance, but in reality, it could help much more than the [Weapon Maintenance] skill. Unless it was a weapon made by a master blacksmith, they all had small imbalances that could affect their handling. If the pommel of a sword was too heavy, it would usualy take away the strength of the attack, while if the tip was the heaviest part, it could make it hard to connect different swings. Hera''s skill allowed her to test out different balances to find how she preferred her weapons to feel, although actual experimentation would only happen after the dungeon. She didn''t want to mess up her handaxe or chakram in the middle of a war. When the fourth day dawned, the team woke up and started their work. There was an odd feeling to the air, almost like walking through a thick fog. Bonnie tried to use her communicator, but her voice came out all broken with some static behind it. "Guys, we have a problem. Our comms aren''t working," she let them all know. "Yeah, those things won''t work today. They are too weak. Too many spells were cast during the storm. It created a mana whirlpool that will last until the night," Alan said. "But I thought that was just by the place where the fissure would appear," Bonnie replied. "I might have explained it the wrong way. That was yesterday. Anything sensitive to mana would stop working there. Today the effect is spread around most of the dungeon, but spells work just fine," Alan explained. "More than fine, actually. If you can recover mana by pulling from the air, that effect will be a lot stronger now," Rose was sitting down in a meditative position. "Is that what you are doing?" Chloe asked. "Yep. This type of environment helps us increase our maximum mana, and I intend to take advantage of that." Bonnie, Alex, Chloe, and Peter joined the meditation. Hera wanted to do the same, but she still had to get the clans'' reports. She made sure to hurry. Having all the information was too helpful to ignore. Luckily, she already had learned how to ride a wolf on her own. She couldn''t participate in a race or an obstacle course, but running in a more or less straight line wasn''t an issue. Kenji, Tiffany, and Blue did some quests but soon joined the group in their mana training. Hera and Alan were the last ones to join the meditation group. They had a couple of hours to train, and in just that short time, Hera increased her mana by 26 points, reaching 671. It would take most of a day of full training to achieve the same results. The time came for them to eat and get ready for the next day of battles. Today, there were several things they could do. Most of the Dragon Kin army would be on the right flank, leaving the left exposed for pincer attacks. The humans, the Omegas, and a couple of squads from other clans would invade the Dragon Kin position to destroy as many siege weapons as possible. Today, they had to reduce 1 thousand points of their morale or the alchemist would create enough wildfire to fill barrels and use them as ammo for the catapults. This was a hidden event, and they would receive a notification as soon as they reached the required morale. That also meant that they had to keep going until that appeared. It shouldn''t be too difficult since they had a solid front line. Blue, Tiffany, and Kenji could mow through the monsters with the ranged support. Alex and Hera could move more freely, taking advantage of the openings created by the team to destroy the siege weapons. After the group finished their meal composed of fruits, Shilo arrived with another twenty Omegas. "We have some news. The Dragon Kin have created even more of those so-called siege weapons and spread them around the battlefield. However, the bulk of their forces is focused on the right flank in an attempt to break through our mages. We have decided to gather a team and attempt something called a pincer attack," Shilo looked to Alan for confirmation, receiving a nod as a reply, "Yes. Some other clans might join us, but at the moment, it would be just us. This is a high-priority mission, and I hope we can count on your assistance ." "You can count on ours as well," an older kobold with one completely white eye walked forward. He was Hegir, the Lightwalkers'' alpha and a member of the oldest generation of leaders. Behind him, there were another fifteen or so kobolds. Rose smiled seeing him arrive, "We got lucky. Although there are fewer members than expected, Hegir and his clan are the strongest kobolds in the army." The Lightwalkers had an imposing presence. All of them looked like seasoned warriors. It seemed like the attack would go without a hitch, but for some reason, Hera still felt uncomfortable. When everyone got up and started heading towards the battlefield, she did the same, chalking up the odd feeling to the dense mana in the air. 202 - The chasm The storm had finally passed, although dark clouds still covered the sky. The Wolves'' army had a significant number of casualties, but their desire to fight didn''t falter. With each fallen member of the clans, the rage that drove them was only pushed further. This wasn''t a war about honor, or justice, or even territory. What compelled them to attack was pure hatred, an unrelenting desire for revenge. Hera was on the left side of the army, together with her team and the group of kobolds. This time, they would forgo all the illusion and just focus on moving quickly. Ferunir already gave them the thumbs up for the operation. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal to indicate the time for their attack. The drums echoed through the plains as the armies rushed at each other once more. Large flaming boulders crossed the skies, only to be intercepted by powerful lightning bolts capable of turning the rocks into little more than rubble. This time, the Dragon Kin also sent a few battalions to meet the Wolves in the field. They rushed towards the swarm of canine kobolds heading towards them and set up defensive formations. The wolves were great warriors on their own, but they had serious issues when fighting as a group despite all the talk about strength and strategy. A simple phalanx was already enough to hold them back. Still, the wolves kept attacking, trying to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers. More than half of the Dragon Kin''s army was on the right flank, leaving only some small groups of archers and siege weapons spread around the rest of the area. Combined with the crossbows, those weapons were more than enough to hold the Wolves'' army at bay. The small patches where the projectiles couldn''t hit were filled with warriors from both sides facing against each other. The troops to the left were much closer together than on the right, allowing them to cross most of the expanse in under a minute. On the right side, the walk could easily take 30 minutes. Suddenly, lights illuminated the clouds in a blinding flash. A massive bolt of lightning came crashing down in the middle of the battlefield. Before Alan could even say anything, the entire team, as well as the kobolds that came along, dashed through the field. This was their window to cross the plains, and no one wanted to let it go by. The Dragon Kin were distracted by the loud noise. It could be just for fear of the attack or because the thunder could be misunderstood as the roar of a beast. Either way, they were distracted for enough time for Hera and the rest to start their attack. Even though they had longer legs, the humans started to lag behind. They were about halfway through the field when a lizard kobold noticed the movement. It yelled, and soon, several crossbows were pointed at them. The bolts started to fly quickly, but aiming at a fast-moving group at an angle wasn''t the Dragon Kin specialty. They were more proficient in firing against targets coming in a straight line. Hera was amazed by how excessive the weakness that both sides had seemed. The Wolves of the Night couldn''t fight as a team and were easily deceived even by the most obvious traps, while the Dragon Kin had several tools but could barely use them properly. Even the ballistas took five to six shots before they could hit anything. Rose and Alan warned everyone to stay away from the area where the ground would open. Not only would the earthquake create a seemingly endless abyss, but after a few moments, lava would fill the chasm. It wouldn''t come without warning though, there would be a small quake first, then sometime after that, a larger one that cracked the earth. 5 minutes after the crack, the last earthquake would happen. It would be massive, making both armies stop fighting while the abyss appeared. It would then take some time for the lava to fill the hole, but it shouldn''t be more than half an hour. The time between the first and second quakes would vary, depending on how many spells and how much mana was used during the battle. Unfortunately, it wasn''t something they were able to predict, much less control. In each run, the strength of the Wolves'' mages would vary. They could have anything from a large group of apprentices to a massive group of masters, or anything in between. Their power was something very confusing as well. Each clan would praise their own mages as the strongest of them, making it nearly impossible to get a definitive answer. Shilo and a few of the Omegas were the first ones to arrive at the other side. They proceeded to attack the small teams of crossbowmen, stopping the arrows from going towards the rest of the incoming group. Soon the other Wolves'' joined the battle. Even though the Dragon Kin present were mostly levels 4 and 5, they were able to push back the canine kobolds as if they had the same strength. This was all because of the dungeon. Before the last day, when the morale debuff was activated, each Dragon Kin would have a buff making them sturdy enough to face 4 Wolves on their own. Their offensive capabilities were still just as low as expected, making the fights turn into a battle of attrition. However, that was only true when the kobolds faced each other. Humans could deal damage as usual to the Dragon Kin since they were not affected by the dungeon constraints. When Hera and her team arrived at the battle, the tide quickly turned. Among the 30 Wolves of the Night, ten were already injured, and one had perished. This all happened while fighting the first group of 20 Dragon Kin, who suffered no combat losses. Alex flung a single wind blade, a spell that was a step up from the wind cutter, and formed the silver shape that Hera had seen since the first day. The attack was enough to decapitate two Dragon Kin, making the lizard kobolds around them panic. Peter started to fling arrow after arrow, while Chloe wrapped the enemy forces with water and ice so the archer could have static targets. Tiff and Kenji rushed to the front, their large swords carving through the Dragon Kin. Blue followed right behind them with her electric buff already charged. Each punch was supposed to send out a small electric current, but instead, each strike created a little lightning bolt that was enough to knock someone out. Even with someone else having to deal a lethal strike on the target, it already was a massive improvement. Little by little, the assault team pushed forward, reaching one of the catapults. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Alex and Hera were keeping to the back, helping everyone out with spells. When most of the Dragon Kin who were working the siege weapon left their post to block the attackers, they moved back and around the fight heading towards the catapult. In contrast with the ballista, this weapon had a much more elegant design. Boulders worked as wheels, giving them much higher maneuverability than the versions used during medieval times. Thanks to that, it was easy to see where they could destroy to make the weapon unusable. It had just fired a bolder, and the arm was still up. Alex cut the rope, making it impossible to bring it down, while Hera used her grease fire to burn down the structure. It was a bit of overkill, but that way, they made sure to destroy their target. While rushing back to the group, a kobold managed to cut Hera''s hand. She slammed her handaxe on its neck as a response. Alan''s barrier had run out. Arriving back at the group, they asked for a new healing barrier just in case. The catapults were a bit far from each other, which gave them some room to breathe, but at the same time, there was a constant stream of Dragon Kin attacking the group as they moved. There were about 25 siege weapons spread around the field. Between killing the Dragon Kin and moving around, it took approximately 10 minutes to destroy a catapult and 8 to break a ballista. That was only counting the ones away from the main bulk of the army. In that area, there were another 75 catapults, all being blocked by the mages. After doing some quick math, Bonnie let everyone know that it would take about four to five hours to destroy all the siege weapons. Considering that the battle would take about seven hours, it was more than enough time to complete the quest, as long as nothing weird happened. "Let''s stop here for a moment and rest. We need a break, and going back is not an option," Alan was panting. The group destroyed 15 siege weapons, losing 23 kobolds during the process. Although the humans were never severely injured, they were all tired and running out of mana. The notification about the alchemist had yet to appear. According to Rose, it would depend on how low the Dragon Kin morale was. The best group she was a part of only got the notification after 19 siege weapons had been destroyed, and the worst one took 35. At that time, they had to advance towards the main army. They were lucky to have some strong mages that could burn the catapults at a distance, but it was a difficult task nonetheless. She believed the group to be in better shape since they had done more quests. Still, they likely needed to destroy almost all the ones away from the main force. They left a catapult standing just to provide some cover while they rested. No one believed that the Dragon Kin wouldn''t know their position, so it wasn''t exactly a hiding spot. Two minutes into their rest, something pushed the catapult, making it spin around. Hera and her group dodged the siege weapon, but Shilo got hit and went flying back a few meters. The culprit behind the attack was a large lizard kobold with green skin and no shirt. The creature had one fist out as if he managed to push the catapult by punching it. Hera quickly activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ruvna ¨C Dragon Kin Commander ¨C Level 10 (Physical Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It is level 10, and it''s good at close range," Hera yelled. The kobold stepped forward, staying in a martial arts stance. Behind him, another 50 Dragon Kin approached with swords, spears, and shields. Hera''s group was grossly outnumbered, but that wasn''t an issue. The problem was the Commander. If he was strong enough to punch the catapult away, fighting him wouldn''t be easy. Both sides started to measure each other, getting ready for the fight, when suddenly the ground began to shake. All kobolds looked around, not understanding what was going on. Most of the human team seemed less frazzled, but for the majority, it was a first. Hera already knew the feeling. When she was little, she lived by the coast where earthquakes were not that uncommon. She saw Blue trying to hold on to the catapult to stay up and quickly pulled her away from it. The last thing they needed was someone getting hurt because of falling debris. The vibrations stopped after a few seconds, and only a couple of Dragon Kin ended up losing their footing. Ruvna was the first one to move. He quickly dashed towards Hera and Blue at an incredible speed, punching them both at once. It took less than 2 seconds for him to cross the distance. They were distracted after the earthquake and failed to see the incoming attack. The impact was so strong that it sent them flying back to land inside the arm of the catapult that was ready to fire. Hera looked up and saw Alex moving her arms, about to send a wind blade towards Ruvna. "Don''t!" Hera yelled in a panic after realizing the trajectory the spell would take, but it was too late. Alex sent off the attack. The silver blade surrounded by wind flew towards the kobold. Ruvna simply crouched, allowing the spell to hit the catapult behind him and cut the rope responsible for holding the arm back, making the siege weapon fire with both Blue and Hera still inside it. 203 - One way out It all happened too fast. Hera saw the wind blade leaving Alex''s dagger, and the next moment, she was already flying through the air. The next thing she remembered was waking up on the ground, with her entire body aching. She tried to get up when a loud thunder roared above her, making Hera cover her ears with her hands. The movement made her palms sting. Some cuts and scratches were covering her hands, but they seemed to be slowly healing. It seemed like Alan had placed a new barrier on her before they were tossed by the catapult. Looking up, Hera saw a boulder flying through the sky only to be obliterated by lightning, creating a large dust cloud that covered the area she was in. The loud noise of the impact only made it worse for her to gather her thoughts. Realizing she might have a concussion, Hera searched for Blue. An eye test could help to know if she needed urgent medical attention, but she couldn''t do it alone. Looking around, there were several rocks spread around the field and a thick dust cloud, almost as if she was by a demolition site. She crawled around, hiding her head with each thunder, still unsure why the mages were fighting so far away from the catapults. Lightning fell from the sky to her left, illuminating the Dragon Kin army and revealing 10 catapults close together. Hera stared at those shadows in disbelief. The only place that had that many siege weapons side by side was where the chasm would appear. "Shit! Shit!" she scrambled forward, trying to find Blue. She thought about calling out to her, but if the wrong kobold noticed her, it would be like painting a target on her back. A bit to her right, she saw the shadow of a large boulder. If she managed to get there, at least she would have some cover. It was a crappy hiding spot, but it still was the best option she had. As Hera got closer, the dust started to settle, and she was able to see another shape lying against the rock. "Blue!" Hera rushed to her friend, still on all fours, trying to remain hidden. Blue was in a sort of sitting position with her legs twisted in an odd way. Nothing seemed to be broken, but it was far from comfortable. Her eyes were closed, and there was a large cut on her forehead. Hera waited for a moment, but the cut didn''t seem to be healing. The barrier that Alan placed on Blue must have run out. "Oh, no, no, no. C''mon, Blue, talk to me," she tried to wake Blue up, but to no avail. The controller was out cold. Carefully Hera pulled Blue''s head forward, trying to make sure she wasn''t bleeding through the back of her head. Luckily, there weren''t any cuts. It wasn''t all good news. Since Blue was unconscious, there was no way to tell how badly injured she was. The healing spell was still working, so with time, she should wake up. Hera started using her Mend on Blue, cursing herself for not being able to get a better healing spell while they prepared for the battlefield. While healing Blue, Hera heard some yells coming from the Dragon Kin. "Fire! All! Now!" Suddenly, all 10 catapults started to move at once. In a panic, Hera pushed Blue behind the boulder and slammed her handaxe into the ground, creating a rock wall in a crescent shape. She didn''t know if the Wolves would still be attacking, and if she was unlucky, the boulders could crash against her cover and roll towards them. As the skill took effect, a loud rumbling echoed through the plains, signaling the second earthquake. Hera saw a crack appear on the ground in the middle of her hiding spot. She quickly pulled up her map. "Fuck!" Hera cursed as she saw her location. They were in the worst possible position, right in the middle of where the chasm would appear. To make things worse, even if she ran at full speed, it would be hard to leave the area in the five minutes she had left. Doing that while carrying Blue was simply impossible. She tried her comms, but they were not working due to the area''s high mana density. She started thinking about ways to survive this, but every idea would only work if she had something else available. Staring at Blue, one thought crossed her mind. Using her [All In], she could probably outrun the abyss on her own. Hera quickly shook that notion off. Even if she did survive alone, she would never forgive herself for abandoning a friend. Hera opened her status screen, trying to find any skill that could help, but there was nothing. All she had were ways to fight or hide. There was nothing that could allow her to run. Yet, her eyes stopped at a skill she hadn''t used in a while. [Local Guide] She had never used in a dungeon, and Blue was right there. It could count as her breaking the rules, but what was the point of having the skill if she died. "I call upon the Guide of the Kobold Fields. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure," she recited the incantation to activate the skill. There was a scratching noise, and a hole appeared in the boulder. From it, two small versions of the kobolds came out. Even when standing up, they could barely reach Hera''s knees. One was a lizard kobold with red scales wearing silver parachute pants, a bright yellow crop top, and a black bucket hat. The canine version wore white leg warmers, white high-waisted dance shorts with a long sleeve fitted t-shirt, and a red bomber jacket. Her fur was completely dark, and she had red eyes, the same color as the lizard''s scales. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Hey, hey, hey. I''m Talpa," the canine kobold made a small dance move and pointed towards the lizard. "And I''m Nina. Together we are," the lizard made a similar move and stood with her back against the canine. "The Kobold sisters, don''t forget," they spoke at the same time while winking at Hera. Hera was surprised by the situation. She didn''t expect two guides to show up, much less two who seemed ready to go to a hip hop dance club. However, her panic won. "Hi, I''m Hera. You two look amazing, and I would love to talk more, but there is no time. Less than that," she pointed at the countdown that appeared in the boulder, "Is there a way to stop the earthquake?" "Sorry, sis, there is nothing you can do about that now. To stop it, it had to be done before it started," Nina replied in an equally rushed way. "And the chasm? If I fall down there, do I die?" Hera asked. "Yep, if the fall doesn''t kill you, the lava will," Talpa said. "Is there any way to survive this while carrying my friend?" Hera asked. Talpa and Nina were looking around the entire time. They only stared directly at Hera when they were summoned. "Look. I know where you are going with this. So let''s do it differently," Nina snapped her fingers, making the timer hit 0. Seeing that, Hera''s heart sank. Did the guides realize she would die and just abandoned her? "You have one chance to survive this with your unconscious friend over there." Hera looked up with hope in her eyes. The switch was so quick that she didn''t even have a chance to cry. "C''mon Nina, she has more than one chance," Talpa looked over Hera''s shoulder, staring directly at her status window, "Yeah, no, you were right. Girl, you really need to get something for a quick getaway." "What do I do?" Hera asked. "First, you need to walk here," Nina touched the map window, and a red flag appeared. "Then, find a crack shaped like this," Talpa drew a crack that looked like a K inside a circle. "After that, go left, towards the Dragon Kin army. When the ground opens, there will be a path heading down. If you were helping them instead of the Wolves, the path would be on the other side," Nina continued. "Right. When you are there, head down until the cave, then you need to go right, left, right, the third on the right¡­ You might wanna write this down," Talpa said. "Right," Hera quickly pulled the map on her tablet and wrote the directions as Talpa spoke. "¡­ and finally, third on the left. There you will find a doorway." "A doorway?" Hera asked. "Yeah. It''s a hidden one," Nina replied. "Has anyone ever gone there?" "Yeah, of course. Not many, but yeah." "How many came back?" "None," Talpa replied. "What? Am I trading one death for another?" Hera gasped. "Look, you don''t have time for more questions, and you still need to find the crack. We can''t say if you are going to die there, but you will die if you stay here," Nina replied. Hera nodded and tried to put Blue on her back, "Can you guys help me get in a good position with her?" Talpa nodded, "Sure, dancing is much more of a workout than you''d think. We can probably lift you both." They helped Hera get a good handle on Blue and even tied Yarnball''s string around them to secure the controller. Hera thanked them once more and walked out of her little bunker, heading towards the red flag on her map. She had only two minutes before the abyss would appear. To make things worse, she still had to be mindful of the boulders exploding above her. After the first few steps she took, it became clear that moving carefully wouldn''t help. It wouldn''t matter if she survived the rocks but died to the quake. Hera straightened her body and started moving quickly, with her map still open. Luckily the red flag wasn''t far away, but she still had to move towards the Dragon Kin army before she was in the clear. It was one thing to fight in a group against 20 or even 50 kobolds. It was another thing entirely to fight alone against an army of thousands. Not to mention the commanders, who were clearly stronger than her. She shook those thoughts off. The last thing she needed right now was to get cold feet. It took her close to a minute to find the crack, and that was only because she had the red marker on her map. If it wasn''t for that, she doubted anyone would be able to discern the location of the K-shaped crack. Turning to the left, Hera pushed forward towards the Dragon Kin. With only a minute to spare, she ignored all her instincts telling her to get away, and started running at them. It was far enough away that she couldn''t see any specific shapes aside from the large catapults, but watching a formless shadow squirm and move was terrifying, maybe even more than seeing the actual faces of the lizard kobolds. Hera didn''t stop running, and it wasn''t an easy thing to do while carrying someone as bulky as Blue. She might''ve been slim, but she had toned muscles beneath her armor. To keep her mind distracted from the panic, Hera was counting down the seconds to the next earthquake. With 40 seconds left, she heard in the distance. "There! Human! Aim at that!" "Shit, shit, shit, shit," Hera wanted to start zigzagging, but that could make her fall into the chasm. She hoped that Alan''s barrier was still active on her and kept running, activating her [All In] to cover more ground. When her count reached 6, only some crossbows had fired at Hera. Most missed, but a few managed to hit her. None was strong enough to break through her armor, but the impact still hurt. At that moment, the ground started to shake. It gradually became stronger until even the armies were screaming in panic. With a sound that made it seem like the sky was falling down, the Earth started to move. Large chunks of the ground dropped to a seemingly endless hole. Hera tried to keep walking, but it was impossible to step forward with how much the ground was shaking. Looking to the side, she saw an area opening up and revealing a path heading deeper into the abyss. Hera jumped to the side, belly-flopping into the trail. She slammed her handaxe on the ground to have something to grab on. When the earthquake finally stopped, Hera struggled to get up with Blue still on her back. She only had time to stand up before a strong smell of sulfur reached her nose. Looking down, she saw a small glow at the bottom of the abyss. The lava was already coming up. She had to hurry. 204 - The path leads to... Hera didn''t know how long she would last. She could already feel the heat increasing together with the awful smell of sulfur that burned her nose, not to mention the exhaustion trying to take over. It had been close to fifteen minutes since she has been following the twisting path. Her legs were barely keeping up, but stopping wasn''t an option. Looking up, she realized that the wall by her left was already 13 meters tall. Even if she decided to run away now, there was no coming back. She looked towards the path and noticed a hole. After it, another winding path seemed to move up and vanish from sight after making a curve to the left. With a renewed hope, Hera pushed forward. The map was still open, and Talpa''s directions were scribbled in the middle of it. Without even stopping for a moment, she entered the cave. Moving quickly through the hallways, Hera did her best to follow the path. The cave was confusing, all the entrances looked the same, and there were no distinct markings anywhere. After arriving in a long hallway, she looked at the instructions once more. According to Talpa, she had to turn on the second left to keep going. A small glimmer of light caught her eye, making Hera look back. An eerie orange glow was coming from the path she took, and the smell of sulfur started to get more intense. When a small stream of lava poked through the hallway, she turned around and started running once more. There was supposed to be more time. When she entered the cave, the lava was still far away. Because of that, Hera was trying to save her strength. Now there was nothing in her mind aside from moving fast. She kept looking around, trying to find the paths that she had to take while a scorching heat licked the back of her legs. Blue''s body was starting to feel warmer, signaling that the lava could already be burning her. Hera pressed forward without stopping. She was focused on the path ahead and did her best to ignore the entrances that wouldn''t lead her to the doorway. Still, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a room with something on the wall and another filled with gold. It seemed like this path was made as a trap. If anyone got distracted in those rooms, they would be caught by the incoming magma. Hera took the final left turn and kept running for a minute, then two, then five, then ten. She went on for so long that the dancing light she created to show her path consumed all her remaining mana. The only thing allowing her to see what was in front of her was the glow coming from the lava behind her. After another five minutes of running, Hera started to panic even more. She was feeling tired, too tired, and there was still no sign of the doorway. Maybe she made a mistake. Maybe she took a wrong turn or missed one of the paths, and now she was in a dead-end. Or was it an endless corridor, much like the ones you see during a nightmare? The only thing that gave her a glimmer of hope was that guides cannot lie. She was starting to see spots and lights in front of her eyes. Even with her improved stamina, her current state was proving to be too much for her body. Hera blinked to get rid of the spots and noticed that one of the lights was still there. It was soft, white, and inviting in a way. Looking around, she noticed that the light wasn''t following her eyes but staying in a specific spot. Pushing on, she arrived at a corner. Beyond it, there was a large doorway with the symbol of a mountain with a pair of wings on top. The emblem was enveloped in what looked like a snowstorm with heavy clouds creating the frame. With no time to appreciate its beauty, Hera quickly went towards the doorway, placing one hand on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Boothudurn Peaks ¨C 3rd Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes without even reading the rest, and another notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unique situation identified Unconscious being detected, the question will be asked to its subconscious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera didn''t understand what was going on, only that she was still inside the cave, and the menacing orange glow was getting closer. She kept looking back and forth, yelling for Blue to wake up. She remembered that unconscious people can''t cross doorways. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unique situation resolved, initiating transfer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What about Blue? Is she coming too?" Hera asked the doorway but got no response as the warm glow covered her body, robbing her of any feelings in her hands. Realizing that she couldn''t feel her friend''s body pressed against her back, Hera tried to move, but she was already paralyzed. What once was a comfortable and cozy feeling became a dreadful experience that seemed to last forever. ######################################################## There was a loud knock on the door. A voice came from the end of a hallway filled with different types of rugs and a few pictures on the walls. "Come in. The door is open!" A feminine voice replied, "Aren''t you going to be polite and open it for us?" "I have no arms. The best thing I can offer is slamming the door against your head." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "For someone who scolds us for being rude, you really have no manners," a second feminine voice replied. "What the hell do you want from me, kid? I bounce around to move. It''s gonna take five minutes just to get there. Stop complaining and come in." The footsteps approached the living room. In a beanbag chair, there was a giant green apple watching television. "Hey Peach!" the two kobolds said at once. "Can you not forget the S? It''s part of my name, you know," Peaches turned around towards Talpa and Nina, "Hi, girls. It''s been a while since you stopped by. Is everything ok?" "Everything is fine. We just got called by an explorer," Talpa dropped on the same bean bag that Peaches was using, making him bounce with the motion. "That''s rare. How long has it been since you two were called?" "About half an hour," Nina replied from the kitchen. "Haha, very funny. Can you answer? And leave the cake alone. Betty made it for my birthday," Peaches yelled from the couch. "Can I take just a slice?" Nina asked. "No! Last year you two ate half my birthday cake!" "It wasn''t half," Talpa protested. "It sure as hell felt like it. Take the pie if you want," Peaches scoffed. "What''s the flavor?" Nina asked. "Pecan." "Argh. I hate nuts." "Grab me a slice then, sis," Talpa asked. A few moments later, Nina sat down on the other side of the same bean bag with two slices of pie, one for Talpa and one for Peaches. "Do you two have to stay in the same chair that I''m using?" Peaches asked. "Aww, c''mon. We did that when we were little," Talpa leaned her head on Peaches. "You two were never little. We don''t grow," Peaches rolled his eyes. "Fine, when we were young. It''s still comfortable," Talpa replied. "Yeah. I can''t deny that," Peaches smiled while closing his eyes. A few moments passed before Nina broke the silence, "So, what are you watching?" "Some old human movie about a kid who travels back in time with a car. It''s fun, but the whole thing with his mother is weird." "I think I saw that one before. The younger version of the mother has a crush on her future son, right?" Talpa asked. "Yeah. I really hope that is not common among humans," Nina kept eating her pie. "What? Time travel?" Talpa asked. "Yes, Talpa. I''m talking about magic machines that can travel through time," Nina scoffed. Peaches laughed, "Now this feels like the old days, but anyway. You guys came for some reason or just to drop by?" "A bit of both. Do you remember a blond girl who used a handaxe? She should have stopped by a couple of months ago." Nina said. "Maybe less. Considering the situation she was in, it wouldn''t be a surprise if someone was Powerleveling her," Talpa added. "Hum¡­ I mean, there are quite a few. You guys know I deal with tests from everywhere." "This one got the guide skill, and she was in our room, so maybe she came from Brinefront. She has those big doe eyes and an ''I''m too nice to a fault'' attitude," Talpa explained. "Yeah, I mean, she was about to die and still took the time to say we looked good. Not that she could help it, we look amazing today," Nina said proudly. "I think there was someone like that¡­ her name was¡­. Something with an H¡­" Peaches closed his eyes, trying to remember. "Hera?" Talpa asked. "Yeah! Hera, she''s a nice girl. Had some trouble when she got the assassin role. I half expected her to give up life in the MAZE after that." "Really? Why?" Nina finished her slice of pie. "During the test, she had to kill a human. A simulation, but it was still a human. She took that pretty hard. Then again, she even cared for the fake people inside her explorer''s test." "Oh, those are rare. Although it''s still hypocritical like the rest. I mean, killing animals or monsters is fine, but when it''s a human, they freak out?" Talpa scoffed. "True, but you can''t exactly blame them. Their society and even the system drills those ideas in their mind from birth. I mean, the MAZE pushes them to be stronger and even started the rampages when they became too complacent," Peaches explained. "That''s fair, but still," Nina got up to place her dirty plate in the sink "Still nothing. I''m sure that if we had that freedom, we would do the same," Peaches said, taking the first bite of his pie. "Honestly, I like our life better. Sure we have our jobs, but aside from that, we can do whatever we want. I mean, in those shows, humans always have to struggle with money and finding their purpose. We don''t need money, we just think, and the MAZE creates for us, and we are given the meaning of our life since birth. Aside from that, we can just do whatever," Talpa replied. "Not everyone got so lucky. I have to toil away almost every day while you have to work what, Once every decade?" "Five years, actually, but don''t complain. You have plenty of time to be here watching TV," Nina replied "It''s an offseason. I work my ass off one week a month and then just drop by occasionally," Peaches shrugged. "Oh, you must have been working for a long time," Talpa giggled. "Yeah, your ass is completely gone already," Nina finished the joke. "Hey, hey! Watch it, you two," Peaches sighed, "Anyway, what were you talking about, Hera? Is she ok?" "She was in a tough spot. You know the earthquake that happens on the battlefield, right?" Talpa asked. "Not really. I remember there is a battlefield but not what happened inside it." "Peaches! I thought that you cared about us," Nina gasped. "I care about you, not your job. I never missed one of your recitals, and what are you doing there? We don''t have to do the dishes. Just think, and they will be clean." "I know, but I find it relaxing," Nina replied. "Yeah, I never figured out that about her either. Anyway. When it happens, the earthquake opens a chasm. She was right in the middle of it. The only way she could get away safely was to go through a hidden path towards the hidden doorway," Talpa explained "Did she got out?" Peaches asked. Talpa closed her eye for a moment, "Yeah, about 10 minutes ago." "Oh good, and where did she end up?" "Boothudurn Peaks," Nina replied, coming back from the kitchen. "Boothudurn¡­ that''s Capri''s room, right?" Peaches asked. "Yeah," Nina gave a weak smile. "She''ll have some trouble if she calls him," Talpa nodded. "I think it will be an issue for all of us," Peaches sighed. The three kept watching the movie until the end when Talpa and Nina got up to leave. "Bye, Peaches. Can you make it to our presentation on the weekend?" Nina asked. "Save me a front row seat. I''ll be there," Peaches replied, just as a notification appeared in front of him. It was time to get to work 205 - Boothudurn Peaks Hera suddenly felt cold. The disparity from the warm glow of the transfer was like jumping into the ocean right after a hot bath. Before anything, she looked back, trying to see if Blue came along. The controller was still there, just as she was before the transfer. Passed out, but still alive. Right now, even the heat coming from her body had vanished. Hera understood she was in yet another cave with a quick glance, but pale sunlight came from a corner. Hera crouched on the ground to avoid hurting Blue, leaning her friend against the cave wall before taking off the string that wrapped them both together. Now that she had a moment, Hera examined Blue once more. She had some bruises around her arms and an open wound on her forehead. Applying some first aid using the kit Hera had on the inner side of her metal skirt, she cleaned the wound and made a small bandage. There wasn''t much else she could do with an unconscious patient. The last thing to do was to put Blue on the floor so she could rest properly. If she ended up moving and falling down, there was a chance to worsen her injuries. Now, nothing else could be done until Blue woke up. Or at least, there was nothing Hera could do. To make herself busy, she looked around the cave. The doorway was on the very back of it and walking towards the sunlight, one could easily find the exit, but it was too bright to see outside. Glancing towards Blue, Hera confirmed she hadn''t moved and stepped outside the cave. She closed her eyes while entering the open area due to the bright sunlight. After opening them, Hera was greeted by a large expanse filled with snow-covered mountains. Even with the sun, it was cold enough to keep the snow intact. It seemed like they were very high up, but there was no issue with the air even at such height. Looking up, she confirmed that they were far away from the top, with large snowbanks looming from above. She had to be very careful not to make too much noise and end up causing an avalanche. There was a large path in front of the cave, big enough for a carriage, entirely covered in fresh snow. Hera pulled her handaxe and used the handle to measure how deep it was, but her worries were for naught. The handle barely sunk 3 centimeters before hitting solid ground. A small part of her wanted to play around in the snow. It''s been a long time since she saw such a pretty place, but she knew it wasn''t the right moment for that. Now that the adrenaline ran out and her body was cooling off, she noticed how cold the place was. Leaving Blue to recover in that temperature was a recipe for disaster. With a quick look around, Hera saw the top of what looked like a pine tree. She slowly moved down the path and towards a small clump of saplings. Breaking a few branches, she gathered enough wood for a fire and climbed back towards the cave. Making campfires was something she knew well. When she arrived, the doorway had stopped glowing. The structure was still there, but the white light was gone. She tried touching it, but there was no response. Thinking for a moment, it made some sort of sense. The doorways could never lead someone to a dangerous place, or at least not to a place where the environment could kill them just by being there. If the lava had already covered the entire room where the doorway was, it would take someone incredibly strong to survive the heat, and if the magma covered the whole cave, it would burn anyone there. If they survived all that by some miracle, it was likely that they would suffocate before finding the exit. Focusing back on the campfire, she started working. Less than five minutes after she returned, there was already a small setup ready. All she had to do was light it. Some people would say that using a spell to start the fire was cheating. Then again, this wasn''t a competition. Hera heated herself up by the flames while trying to send some texts through her tablet, but there was no connection there. All the messages and emails were stuck in her outbox, and any page or app requiring the internet was unusable. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to Blue. How long would it take for her to wake up? Even if they did get thrown around, Blue wouldn''t be out for days, would she? Now that any imminent danger seemed to be gone, Hera could think more clearly. In hindsight, maybe she could have carried Blue towards the Wolves'' army and screamed for help. Ferreira was around that area, and by his size, he probably could sweep in and carry them both to safety. Still, the kobold sisters told her she had only one chance, so maybe that was the right move. After about twenty minutes of staring at the flames while thinking about what she could have done differently, Hera finally snapped out of it. She walked outside, grabbed some snow, and shoved it in her face, hoping that the shock would pump her up. "Focus, Hera. What is done is done. Think about how to survive now," going back to Blue, she rummaged through her armor and started making an inventory of all they had. There was her first aid kit, with some bandages, painkillers, and other basic meds and needs. She had her water bottle with a filter, while Blue had one without it. They could melt the snow and filter out the water, so that wasn''t much of an issue. Her main concern was food. Together, they had 3 protein bars and a pouch with a few berries from lunch. Realistically, that wasn''t enough for a single meal, much less for the two to share, but there was a forest here, or at least some trees. Maybe there was some food. Hera couldn''t remember if pinecones were edible, but she could use her [Observe] to check. Stolen novel; please report. She got up, ready to scavenge, but stopped before even taking a step. If Blue woke up alone and called for help, things could go wrong very fast. Hera placed the painkillers on the ground and carved a message on the wall, directly in front of Blue. ''Hi, a lot of things happened. DO NOT SCREAM; IT COULD CAUSE AN AVALANCHE. I''ll be back soon, H.'' For some reason, she didn''t want to write down her full name. What if someone complained about how she marked a place like this, or people in this room would find this offensive. In reality, those were just excuses. She was just tired, and carving a message in stone wasn''t exactly easy, even with a handaxe that was supposed to be good for mining. Hera left the cave and headed down the path towards the small group of trees. In the first group, there was nothing that could be food. Even the tree leaves seemed inedible, or at least very dangerous to eat. It has some barb-like protrusions that were abrasive even when rubbing against the skin. Just thinking about how it would feel to swallow one of those things gave Hera chills. It''s been only ten minutes since she left Blue. Confident that it wasn''t long enough to be an issue, Hera went for another group of trees further down the path. She made a few markings on the mountain as she walked to be sure not to lose where the cave was. This was also something that most survival books talked about. When you found a safe place, you should always keep track of how to return to that location. The only situation where that wasn''t a good idea was when intelligent monsters or other creatures were a part of the equation, but there were no signs of people walking around. After another fifteen minutes, Hera arrived at the next batch of trees. She started looking around, but the area was dark, despite the sun still being high in the sky. She finally found a few pinecones using the dancing lights spell. Quickly confirming that they were edible using her [Inspect], Hera began climbing the trees, grabbing as many of the seeds as possible. When she finally got what seemed to be enough, Hera left the small forest. She had spent almost a full hour climbing trees. Worried about Blue, Hera rushed back towards the cave. Inside, Blue was sitting down, leaning against the wall. "Blue! Are you ok?" "Don''t yell. My head is killing me," Blue replied. "Sorry, how are you feeling?" "Sore, cold, and hungry. I thought I had a power bar with me, but I must have lost it somewhere." "You did have one. I picked it up and forgot to leave it here. My bad," Hera took the power bar out of her bag and gave it to Blue. "Thanks! Do you have some water?" "Sure, here," Hera passed her bottle of water towards Blue. After downing the bottle, Blue gasped and looked around, "Also, where is here?" Hera took a deep breath and explained where they were. She made sure not to talk about the guides while explaining everything. "So, how do we get back?" "I don''t know," Hera replied. "You don''t? So what? We are stuck here?" "In this room, yeah, but not the cave. We are high up in a mountain, and there is a path heading up or down. We can follow it when you feel better." "How did you find this place?" Blue asked. "I got lucky." "Bullshit, you had to go through a literal labyrinth while carrying me and running from lava, and you want me to believe that you got that on the first try? Tell me how the hell did you find this place." "I can''t," Hera looked away. "Why not?" "I can''t say that either. I have a way of finding things, and that''s all I can tell you." "And you expect me to accept that? You got us stuck in some random place and can''t even tell me how?" "I had to do something to save you. I could have run away alone and saved my ass just fine, but you were unconscious, and this was the only way." "How can you tell this was the only way?" Blue yelled, trying to move her body but flinching in pain. "The same way I knew the path to take, and no, I can''t tell you anything else about that. I mean, I saved your life here. You could be a little more grateful." "I am grateful, I really am, but how can I be happy knowing I''m stuck in a room with no way out?" Blue sighed. "Ok, you are the only one talking about being stuck. The doorway is still here, and you know that every room has at least two connections. I''m betting temporary ones don''t even count. We just have to find another one." Blue shook her head, "Yeah, you are right. Sorry, it''s just the idea of getting stuck somewhere where I can''t contact my family. I''m getting no signal on the tablet." "I get that¡­ in a way. But can you wait to yell at me untill we figure out if we are stuck or not?" Blue nodded, "Sure." "Ok then, can you walk?" "Not very well. I tried to get up but couldn''t hold my weight. I think my foot is broken." "Well, there are some trees around. I can try to make a sled or something to drag you along the snow. The problem is knowing if we need to go up or down," Hera said. "Can''t you do whatever you did to find the path here?" Hera nodded, "Yeah, I can. But it''s a one-off thing. If I do it now, I can''t do it again." "Never?" "Not here, and let''s leave it at that," Hera replied. "So do it." "Ok, I''ll be right back. I have to be alone to do it." Blue squinted, "The more you talk about that, the shadier this gets, you know that, right?" "Yeah, I know. I''ll be right back." Hera left the cave, making sure to fill up her water bottle with snow before anything else. She stared at both paths and decided to head up. Since she was going to use the Guide skill once more, she might as well have a great view on the way. 206 - Capri Hera walked up for around 10 minutes. She stopped a few times and tried to speak to test the echo, but had to give up and look for a better spot. The excessive carefulness was all in fear that an avalanche would happen during her talk with the guide. After arriving at an area with another group of trees, Hera called out to Blue, testing the echo and if the controller could hear her. A few moments passed, she received no reply, and there was no sound coming from the mountain. Hera took a deep breath and opened her map again. She forgot the name of the room she was in, but it would show in the window even if nothing else was written on it for now. Hera was thinking about the questions she wanted to ask during her walk. Her main focus was on how to return to the Kobold Fields or any other room. "Right, let''s do this," Hera took a deep breath, "I call upon the Guide of the Boothudurn Peaks. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." After waiting for a moment, nothing seemed to appear. Hera started to look around, but there was no tear or portal from where the guide could come. Suddenly, she felt something on her foot. Looking down, there was what looked like a giant snowball by her side. Pushing it to the side with her feet, the ball started to shiver. A pair of fluffy white wings spread from it, revealing the body of a sheep. "I have descended!" the sheep spoke in a deep voice. Hera couldn''t see its head since the creature had it''s back towards her, "Hum... Hello?" The sheep turned around, revealing its light gray face with long ears. However, instead of a mouth, it had a blue toucan beak. "You, you are the one that suimoned the great me, are you not?" the sheep asked. "Yes. I mean, If you are the guide, yes." "I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Hera. You may call me Capri the great. No, Capri the mighty. No, Capri the magnificent. Which sounds better?" Hera just stared at the sheep for a moment, still surprised by the situation. Despite everything, something felt off about this guide. "Hello? Can you hear me? What name sounds better?" Capri asked. Snapping out of her daze, Hera thought for a moment before replying, "Honestly, none of them." Capri stared daggers at her, "Are you saying I''m not great?" "No, I don''t mean it like that. It''s just that titles don''t roll off the tongue very well. Like, when an explorer gets a title, they basically give up their names and stay with just the title. Otherwise, it''s hard to remember the whole thing. It''s better if it''s something that can easily roll off the tongue. Besides, those are all kind of common. We have like 4 or 5 emperors or kings with ''the great'' as their title," Hera explained. "I see," Capri seemed deep in thought for a moment. Hera let the guide think, but after a minute, she started to get restless. It was way too cold outside. When she was moving around, it didn''t bother her as much. Now, under the shadow of the trees and standing still, Hera started to shiver. "Hum, Capri. Do you mind if we start? It''s freezing here," Hera said. "Oh, right. Of course. Give me a moment," Capri pulled his wings close to his body and spread them out towards Hera. A spectral coat of wool came out and enveloped the explorer, instantly warming her up, "There, now we can have a proper chat. As I said before. I am Capri, Boothudurn Peaks'' guide." "Nice to meet you. I''m Hera. Sorry for calling you in such a cold place, but I guess it doesn''t bother you that much." "Indeed, it doesn''t, but the feeling is different than I''m used to. I assume it''s because I''ve been summoned," Capri''s voice increased its pitch. Now it felt like it suited the guide more. "You assume?" "Yeah. In all honesty, this is my first time being summoned." "Really? Haven''t you guys been around for like forever?" Hera asked. "Not all of us. We only are born when the room is created. This room is not that old in comparison, and well. It''s not exactly easy to get here. So no one called me before." "So, no other explorer came here?" "Hang on. This is in the question territory. Let me start the clock," Capri looked up for a moment and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, a clock appeared on top of his head. It took a bit longer than usual for the timer to show up, "ok, ready to start?" Hera nodded, and the clock started ticking. "For starters, how can we get out of this room?" "You can''t. The room is locked. The doorway you used is a one-way entrance. It glows just to show if it is still active on the other side," Capri replied. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Hera freaked out with that response, but she did her best to focus on the questions, "Is there another doorway?" "Of course, no room is a dead end." "And I can''t use it?" "Not at the moment. It is locked for now." "How can I unlock it then?" "It''s complicated, but to simplify, you need the key. The problem is, the key is inside a dungeon that is locked by another key. So you actually need two keys," Capri gesticulated with his wings while talking. "And where is that key?" "It''s inside the room. That''s all I can say." Hera thought for a moment, "Ok, so that''s one doorway. What about the others? Each room is always connected to at least two rooms, right?" "There is one more, but it is inactive. It can only be activated after you unlock the room and beat one specific hard mode dungeon." The first minute of her time was gone. She still had time and could gather some information. "Ok, what''s the level range of the monsters here?" "From 5 to 15." Hera''s eyes went wide. Something even stronger than Zudra was here? "How many at level 15? Is it in an area or something? Can you mark it on my map?" Capri scratched his head using his wing, "That was a lot, and one of those requires me to cut some time, so hang on. Let me see how this works." Looking up, the guide stopped the clock. He took 30 seconds off, leaving the times with 3 minutes and 18 seconds, before turning back to Hera. "Right. So I can''t mark the map, but the level 15 is just for one. It is in a specific area, but you will eventually figure it out." Hera scratched her head, "Ok, so it''s like a boss monster that is on the open field?" "Exactly." "What type of creature is it?" "I can''t tell you the specifics, just that it is big and it can fly. Kind of a necessity to move around easily here," Capri replied with a smile. "Ok, next topic. How big is the room? There are several mountains around. Are they all part of it?" "Oh, no. That is just something to give the place a better view. The actual room is only this mountain, from the very top all the way to the base. Although the wall cuts the path if you try to head down through its outside," Capri looked to the side, "Oh, crap. Sorry, that information is worth some seconds. I''m going to have to take more time away." Hera looked up to the clock and saw that it was still showing 3:18, "I think you forgot to start the clock after you stopped." "What?" Capri looked up, "Shit! Hang on¡­. How long did we spend talking after I stopped the clock?" "Not much, maybe¡­ 20¡ª30 seconds?" Hera replied after thinking about it. She never timed her conversations, so she wasn''t sure how to gauge it. "Ok, this would be another 30 seconds. So, I''m taking a minute off." Hera nodded. Now the clock was at 2:18. Even though she felt it wasn''t exactly fair, arguing about it could be a bad idea. Worst-case scenario, the guide could remove her skill, and she still had to figure out how to take Blue to a safe spot. "I''m really sorry about this. I have no clue how other guides can shave off time without stopping the clock. It''s really hard, but I''ll try to make it up to you somehow," Capri said. "It''s ok. I know how hard it is to do things in a new job." "It''s not a new job. I''ve been a guide for over 12 hundred years," Capri gasped. "But I''m still the first person who you''ve actually guided, am I not?" Hera asked. Capri squinted, "Touch¨¦, anyway. Now we can go back to the questions." The timer was now between Hera and Capri, in a position where both could see it ticking. Hera waited for the numbers to start to change before continuing her inquiries. "Is there a place where someone injured can be cured? Or a fruit that can help heal wounds here?" "No fruit, and no place, but you can head to the city to find some shamans who can heal." "There is a city here?" Hera gasped. How was there a city located inside a room where no one entered before? "Yep, it''s kind of the reason this room was created." "Who lives there?" "People. Who else? They had some trouble with their previous home and ended up here." "How many people live here?" "A few thousand. I can give you an exact number, but that''s gonna cost more time," Capri replied. "No need. Are they friendly? I mean, would they be friendly with someone who invaded their room?" Capri nodded with a big smile, "Oh yeah! They are awesome. Even when the others showed up, they were always excited. Well, to be fair, there are a few who can be a bit more¡­ grumpy, but not to the point where they would attack you out of nowhere. Unless you throw the first punch, they won''t take a beating and not fight back." "And how can I get to the city? Actually, is there a way to get there with someone in a sled?" "You mean for your friend?" Capri asked. "Yeah. How can I get there while carrying her?" "You have to take the long way around. Head down the path and follow the trail between the trees. The problem is, the snow is covering most of the markings. The best I can offer is to set it up on your map, but then, that''s it. All the time will be over." "Can I ask you one thing before doing that?" "Depends on the question." "What happened with the other people that came here? I know I''m not the first." "There were four people. One died due to his injuries minutes after he arrived. His body is somewhere on the mountain. Two others died while trying to find a way out, but they lived for a few months here before that happened. The last one spent the rest of his life in the city. He became a part of their clan and was very loved until his last breath. They even have a holiday for his memory." Hera smiled, so at least this wasn''t a death sentence, "Ok then, can you put the path on my map?" "Of course," Capri zeroed out the clock and asked Hera to open her Map window. He tapped his wing in a few points, and a trail appeared. She would have to go down the mountain and go mostly around it until reaching a large entrance. "Thanks, Capri," Hera smiled, knowing the guide would have to go back. "Thank you too. Since you called me, I''m finally having a workday party." "A workday party?" Hera asked. "Yeah. It''s a celebration of the first day we were called by an explorer." "What if you are never called?" "We don''t get a party to ourselves. We share a day to celebrate our eternal vacation." "But don''t you have to wait for another explorer to call you to work again?" Hera asked. "We have some other stuff to do after we are called. I''m not going to bother you with the details. Besides, It''s time for me to go." "Right, thanks for everything." Capri smiled and started batting its wings, "One last thing. Consider this my apology for messing up the time," Capri looked to the side, "Really? Do I have to say it like that? Fine, it''s not like I can go against the system," he rolled his eyes, "Hera, when you find the storm, focus on the eggs." "Am I supposed to understand what that means?" Hera asked. "Not at the moment, but if you want to leave this room, you will understand it," Capra turned around and flew high up, leaving the tree area and vanishing among the clouds in the sky. A few moments later, the wool covering Hera disappeared. "Bye, I guess¡­ How the hell am I going to tell all this to Blue now?" Hera sighed, moving back through the woods, heading back to the cave. 207 - The city under the mountain It took close to half an hour for Hera to return to the cave. She kept looking around for things to make a sled. There were plenty of branches and twigs for her to grab, but nothing that could be used to tie them up together. Hera also had no clue on how to make an actual sled with the materials at hand. Since that wasn''t an option, her second-best idea was making something to immobilize Blue''s foot. Together with a large, sturdy branch. Maybe it would be enough for her to walk, even if very slowly. "Are you ok?" Blue asked as soon as Hera appeared. "I''m fine, just cold. Why?" "It''s been almost an hour since you left. I thought you died." "Sorry, it took longer than I expected to find strong branches. By the way, do you know how to make a sled with this?" Hera asked. "I have no idea. I thought you knew how to since you mentioned it." "Yeah, I don''t know either. But I know how to make a splint to make sure you can''t move your foot. I got a stick that you can use too," Hera dropped the large stack of branches on the ground. "Let''s try the splint. If I can''t walk with that, we can figure something else." Hera nodded and started to break the branches to immobilize Blue''s foot. She was taking her time, making sure to cut the twigs in the proper size. "So? Did you find something with your thing?" Blue asked. "I did. Again, can''t say how I got it, but I can guarantee that it''s all true." "Sure, it''s not like I have much of a choice but to believe in you here." Hera sighed, "I know you have no reason to trust me on that, but have I ever lied to you? Well, aside from that time you asked if you snore." "That''s true, but it''s still hard to trust you when you are not telling me everything. I mean, I know we fought together, and I can trust you to have my back, but this feels different. You are hiding something from me." "I know. But if it helps, it''s not just you. I can''t explain this to anyone. And to help you trust in me, think about what I could gain by lying to you. We are friends and are in a place with no access to the guild or any supplies. It is us against the people who live here. Not to mention the monsters that can reach level 15," Hera said. "Wow, wow, wow. Back up. There are people here, but we are stuck? What did you find out?" Hera explained all that the guide told her. Not mentioning how she got the information. She also left Capri''s last line out of it. She had no idea what the storm, and the egg were, and adding such a random piece of advice could only make Blue doubt her more. "So we are stuck here," Blue stared at the campfire. "Yeah. You can start yelling, and I''m really sorry for this." "I''m not going to yell. I freaked out when I realized that we might be stuck somewhere and took it out on you. You did all you could, and honestly, I''m not entirely sure I would risk my life to save you the same way you did. To be fair, I wouldn''t know how to find the path, anyway." "Honestly. It wasn''t just a selfless act. I did think about leaving you there, but then I thought about how I would feel later. I think the guilty would drive me mad. As you guys say, I''m too nice sometimes. I mean, I''m the only one who was worried about the people from our role tests." "Still, it doesn''t change the fact that you might have been able to survive on your own. Thanks for not abandoning me," Blue said. "Don''t worry. I would do it again in a heartbeat," Hera opened her armor and cut a part of her t-shirt to wrap around Blue''s foot, "I think I''m done. Ready to try walking?" "Help me up." Blue used the large branch as a crutch, but after a few steps, the splint unraveled. Hera asked her to sit down and tried once again. The second attempt was better, but Blue still felt the wood moving around and hitting her foot. Hera managed to make the splint tight enough not to break away as they walked on the third try. Blue would still feel pain, but unless they got a wheelchair, there wasn''t a way to make the journey painless. Feeling secure, Hera and Blue walked outside. Hera noticed that the sun was still rising during her time in the open, meaning it was still morning in this place. She had no idea how long it would take to reach the gate Capri marked, but being on a mountain at night felt like a recipe for disaster. The hours went by as they traveled through the mountain. Aside from their location on the map which would only complete itself after they passed through an area, the only indication they had of progress was how far away the peak seemed to be. The sun was already hidden by the mountain''s shadow, and Blue wasn''t doing so hot. The pain was increasing, and she had to keep popping painkillers just to keep it bearable. Hera only got some minor, over-the-counter meds. There was nothing to help with the pain of a broken foot. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Oddly enough, they didn''t see any monsters or fauna aside from the small patches of trees. Hera tried to distract Blue by talking. The subject was irrelevant. It was mostly a way to lessen the pain. When they were making a big circle around the side of the mountain, a loud cry echoed throughout the entire room. It was hard to identify what type of creature could make such noise. The sound was distorted by the echo. Hera and Blue glanced at each other and started moving faster. The cry seemed to come from far away. They weren''t even able to see the creature, but if it was loud enough for them to hear, it would be loud enough to cause an avalanche. "Hold on," Hera said as she lifted Blue off the ground and started running through the snow. Both of them knew how much of a bad idea this was, but it was much better than being buried alive in snow. Hera skidded a couple of times but managed to recover her footing. After about three minutes, they left this small group of trees, seeing a path clear of any snow and frost ahead. It was still rocky and uneven, but now it was much easier to see where they were stepping. "I think you can stop running," Blue said, still on Hera''s back. "Are you crazy?" Hera gasped. "No, but there is no sign of movement up there," Blue pointed to the mountain. "Are you sure?" "Not really, but you are barely hanging on," Blue replied. She could see how tired Hera was. The explorer didn''t stop ever since they got launched from the catapult. Now, the constant moving around was taking its toll. "It''s not like we have much of a choice here. You can''t walk without my help and I''m the one who got us stuck here, and it''s getting dark. We have to keep moving," Hera replied between breaths. "Fine, but at least let me walk. If you pass out here, we are both screwed." Hera nodded and carefully dropped Blue. They walked for another fifteen minutes until they reached what looked like a large entrance carved into the side of the mountain. It was about three meters high and five meters wide. It all had an Art Deco feel to it: sharp edges and simple forms joining together to make beautiful patterns. The columns on the side were shaped as if several stone slabs were placed, one behind the other in alternating sides, almost like a deck of cards being shuffled, but each card was slightly bigger than the previous one. The door had the same pattern, but in thinner layers. Despite the craftsmanship, this entrance seemed to be almost abandoned. Several parts of the structure were cracked and dusty. It looked more like ruins than an actual city. "Is this it?" Blue asked. "That''s the information I got," Hera walked towards the door. Knocking had no results. It was just like hitting solid stone. To the side, almost hidden behind one of the columns, a small rope seemed newer than the rest of the structure. It was connected to a hole above the door, "Should I pull this?" "What''s the worse thing that could happen?" "A trap, a horde of monsters, an old man streaking, I don''t know." "Did you have to put that image in my head?" "I didn''t have to, but I wasn''t going to be the only one thinking about that," Hera chuckled. "I hate you," Blue sighed. "No, you don''t. Now I honestly don''t see any other way. I''m going to pull the cord." Blue leaned on her good foot and raised the stick, "Ok, whatever happens, I''m with you." Taking a deep breath, Hera pulled the cord. Suddenly a thumping started to ring. It seemed like it was coming from inside the doors. "Can you hear that?" Hera asked. "Yeah. What is it?" The two pressed their ears against the door and noticed the thumping had a rhythm. "Is that¡­ jazz?" Blue asked. "I think so, but it''s not a very good song," Hera replied. They kept listening to the sound when a different thumping started. It was louder, and it reminded them of the sound one would hear inside a mine. It was the sound of metal breaking rock, and it wasn''t only sound either. Now they could feel the door vibrating. The two took a few steps back and waited. After a few minutes, the vibration grew stronger, and the door started to shift to the side. It opened just half a meter before a dwarf wearing some loose clothes with a golden badge on his shoulder popped out. "What in the mountain''s name are you doing there? Get inside quickly before the sky ruler appears!" the dwarf said in a hushed voice. Hera and Blue looked at each other and walked towards him. Hera didn''t pull up her handaxe but got ready in case he attacked them. As they entered the cave, another ten dwarves were inside. They started shutting the door the moment the humans crossed over. "What is the rush?" Blue asked. "What do you mean, what''s the rush? The sky king can come and¡­" one of the female dwarves started talking but stopped after looking at the newcomers, "Are you¡­ human?" "Yeah, we are. Is that a problem?" Hera asked, already getting ready for a fight. "They are human!" another dwarf gasped. "Stop messing around and close the gate!" "Yes, sir!" all the dwarves replied at once and went back to pushing the door. "Sorry about that. We haven''t seen a human around in a few generations. May I ask your names, or is that considered rude?" the dwarf with a golden badge asked. "It''s not rude at all. I''m Hera, and this is Blue. Do you mind if I ask what''s your name?" "I''m Wothur Mesca, a pleasure to meet you," he put out his hand for Hera to shake. "The pleasure is all mine," Hera replied while shaking the man''s hand. Wothur turned around to Blue and greeted her as well. While doing so, he noticed her complexion and the splint, "You two must have gone through some trouble. Our king will want to meet you, but let''s get you to the shaman''s hut. The meeting can wait until you are feeling better." "I appreciate it, I''m beat, and Hera is even more so," Blue smiled. "What are you talking about? I''m fine," Hera tried to play it off, but her entire body felt 3 times heavier. Even taking a single step was an ordeal. "Don''t worry. According to the stories, you two are in much better shape than the last one who showed up." Wothur led the two deeper inside the cave. They walked together with the other dwarves that were just staring at the two in wonder. They were like kids seeing snow for the first time. The group passed through a path that curved around something. The first thing Hera noticed was the sound. It wasn''t music, but the sound of a bustling city. People talking, laughing, and moving around. Paying attention, she could even see that there was, in fact, some music mixed in the noise. When the wall to their left finally opened, they were greeted by a large city. Hundreds, if not thousands, of buildings were spread around in this massive cave, and each had a unique design. Some followed the Art Deco of the gate, while others went in different directions. It was as if every house was made by a different architect trying to make something unique. On the opposite end of the cave, there was a palace. It was made of several tall round towers with a few smaller ones around the main building. To the left, there was a lake, and they could see people swimming. To the right, it turned into farmland where they were growing something with an odd shade of green. Wothur turned to the humans, "Hera, Blue, allow me to be the first to welcome you into the kingdom of Boothudurn." 208 - Healers Hut Hera and Blue were led to a stone hut close to the farmlands. In all respects, it looked like the house of a witch from a fairy tale. The roof was crooked, and the stone on top curled like a witch''s hat. The hut was covered in different colored moss with some glow-in-the-dark mushrooms spread around it. Wothur opened the door, "Risli! Where are you, woman?" Hera stared at the dwarf, hoping this was not the type of treatment that they would receive. "What the hell do you want, you useless drunk?" a shrill voice came from inside. "I''m sober. And get your bony ass here. You have people to take care of," Wothur turned around to Hera and Blue, "Please come in, just watch your head." Hera nodded and helped Blue inside, "Excuse us." Although the door was so small that the humans had to lower their heads to cross, the actual house was tall enough for them to stand without trouble. They still had to dodge away from lights and anything hanging from the ceiling, but wouldn''t have to be in uncomfortable positions. Inside, it looked like a living room, a round table with a couple of stone ornaments on top of it and a set of five chairs circling it. To one side, there was a door leading to a kitchen. On the other side, a set of long white drapes seemed to lead to a different room, but the cloth was blocking anyone from seeing the other side. "What is it now? Another drunk who fell from the table they were dancing on?" a wrinkly old dwarf, wearing moss-covered robes and leather shoes with a slight curl on the tip, came through a door on the side, "You are tall. I haven''t seen you two before, and your arms are strange." "Don''t say anything. Give her a minute," Wothur said. Risli smacked Wothur''s chin with a stick that was leaning by the table, "Don''t treat me like I''m going senile, you fool. My mind is better than yours will ever be." "That hurt! When will you stop treating me like that?" "When are you going to stop passing out drunk on my porch?" Risli turned back to Hera and Blue, "And you two. How did humans end up here?" "It was mostly an accident. We ended up in a place where we had to run. Well, I had to run while carrying her, and the only place we could go to was here," Hera explained. "That seems to be the only reason you show up here. Well, it doesn''t matter. It''s your loss if you don''t want to meet us," Risli scoffed. "It''s not that we don''t want to. It''s just tough to find the entrance here. I had to go through a labyrinth just to find the doorway to this room," Hera said. "What do you mean doorway?" Wothur asked. Hera looked at Blue, who turned towards the dwarf, "You don''t know about the doorways?" "I know about those," Wothur pointed towards the door in the entrance. "What about the system? Do you guys have levels and roles?" Blue gasped. "We have levels, but what is the system?" Wothur asked. "What gives you the levels, the blue windows? Everything!" "You mean the voice of the mountain?" Wothur looked confused. "Stop it, you two! You are injured, and you are stinking up the place. Go take a shower for once in your life," Risli kicked Wothur of the house and turned to the Humans, "You two, follow me. You are going to have plenty of time to talk about whatever later." "Hang on, I want to understand what is going on," Hera said. "There is nothing to hang here. You look like you are about to collapse," Risli turned to Blue, "and if you keep staying on that foot, I''m going to have to cut it off. Even I wouldn''t be able to make it grow back. Come quickly!" Risli pushed Hera towards the drapes, with Blue following behind them. The next room looked like a large infirmary with eight beds spread around in a circle. The light in this room was much better than the rest of the house, and a warm yellow glow radiated from a rock on the ceiling. While they walked towards this hut, Hera and Blue noticed the lack of technology in the city. Street lamps were glowing rocks. Cars, televisions, phones, even fridges were missing. It was like the kingdom was still stuck in the Middle Ages. The fact that they had such a clean and well-lit infirmary gave Hera some hope. Historically, people took a lot of time to realize the value of having clean spaces. Seeing that this healer''s hut showed more knowledge made her wonder if the disparity between common sense wasn''t that big. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Now, you sit here," Risli said to Blue, "And you lie down there and go to sleep. I''ve seen enough people dying from overwork for a lifetime," she said to Hera. "But I''m dirty, and I need to make sure Blue is ok." Risli waved her hand, and suddenly, Hera''s clothes became spotless, "There. You are not dirty anymore. Now take off that armor and go to sleep." "Oh, thanks. But I still can''t just go to sleep." "Why in the name of the sky you can''t?" "I have no idea what you are going to do with us! What if this is all a trap?" Risli nodded, "You have a good head, child. Yes, people can be wicked, and you must always keep your guard up in strange places. However, one must trust when people are sincere. I''m a healer, and taking care of people is my calling. Nothing will come to harm you while you are under my care. I can promise you that." "Thanks, but I''m not sleeping," Hera said. "For the love of.." Risli turned to Blue, "Can I make her sleep?" Blue looked at Hera. She was pale, and even small movements made her stop to catch her breath. She also asked the same questions several times to Wothur as they walked and would ask about things that were not there. Blue remembered that those could be symptoms of exhaustion, "Honestly, I trust you, but I don''t think you can convince her to sleep when she''s like that. If you want to try, sure, go ahead." "Yeah, that''s what I wanted." Risli turned to Hera and opened her hand about 20 centimeters away from the explorer''s face. An invisible energy came out, making Hera feel woozy. "What did you do?" she tried to ask, but her words came out slurred and weird. Blue watched as Hera''s eyes rolled back, and she was about to fall on the ground but was caught by the bed which started moving. Risli lifted both the mattress and the pillow with magic to allow Hera to lie down without hurting herself. "Is she ok?" Blue asked. "She will be in the morning. What she needs right now is a long night of rest," Risli moved her fingers, and a few bottles and tools came out of a cabin on the other room. "How are you doing that?" Blue watched the dancing objects float around the dwarf while she sat down in front of her. "A simple spell. The voice of the mountain calls it telekinesis." "Wothur said that before. What is the voice of the mountain?" "Let me finish your treatment first. If you are not in too much pain to talk after it, I can share a bit of what I know," Risli started taking off the splint and Blue''s boot, "This wasn''t a bad idea, but the execution could have been better." The exam lasted for around 30 minutes. The bones in Blue''s foot had shifted and now had to be put back in place before immobilizing it once more to heal properly. It was a painful ordeal, and about halfway through, Blue asked to be put to sleep. It was stupid to feel the pain when she had another option. Risli finished her work on her own, placing the patient on the bed using her telekinesis. She left the two in the infirmary and headed back to her room. Crouching down by her bookshelf, she pulled up an old stone box. With a spell, she opened it and retrieved the sizeable leather-bound tome from inside. Tapping a stone by her bed activated the magic inside the rock, making it give a warm white glow. Risli flipped through the pages of the book. It was a diary passed through the generations of healers. It had recollections of several important events since the creation of the city. She found the page she was looking for, where it talked about the last days of the human who once lived here. Risli knew that her master was the only person who heard the human''s dying words. ''I pray to the mountain that no other humans come here. You don''t deserve to be tainted by my people.'' Risli sighed, reading those words, "I really hope your fears were unfounded, Weston." The following day, Hera woke up well past noon. Blue was sitting on her bed eating a meal prepared by Risli. Hera looked around. Her weapons were to the side, on a small table, but she was still wearing her armor. However, she was still completely clean. With a groan, she sat up on the bed. Her body was sore, but it didn''t seem to be from her sleeping position. It felt more like the day after she started going to the gym. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Blue was eating what looked like chicken porridge. "Morning. I''m not sure. It feels like I just slept," noise came from the other room, making Hera grab her weapons. "Could you calm down? Risli is cool," Blue sighed. "How can you tell?" "Because we were both unconscious and wounded, if anyone wanted to hurt us, they would''ve done it already. I also talked with Risli. Apparently, much of their culture today is all thanks to the last human that came here and showed them some things. Jazz is part of it," Blue explained. "But why would they take human culture?" "Because we lost ours," Risli came from the living room, "Here. It''s an old recipe, but it''s delicious." The shaman gave Hera a bowl with the same porridge Blue was eating. "Thanks, and I''m sorry if I offended you. It wasn''t my intention." "There is nothing to apologize for, child. You are correct in being defensive. As I said before, you must always be wary of your surroundings," Risli sat by Blue and examined her foot. Hera tried the porridge, and it reminded her of her grandmother''s cooking. Maybe it was because Risli seemed to be very old, or just her presence being similar. She ate most of her food while the shaman continued her treatment. Hera still had questions but didn''t want to disturb her work. After a couple of minutes, the bandages on Blue''s foot were changed, and a new stone splint was there instead of the wooden one that Hera made. "Now, it''s still going to be swollen for a day, and it will take about a week for you to be able to move around. Until then, I have a moving chair for you to use." "A moving chair?" Blue asked. "Yes," Risli moved her finger, and a stone wheelchair moved from the side and stopped in front of Blue. "Cool, does the chair move on its own all the time?" "What? No. I''m moving it with magic. When you are on it, push the wheels to make it move," Risli shook her head. "Oh, so it''s just a wheelchair?" Blue slumped. "What''s a wheelchair?" Risli asked. "That, a chair with wheels." "A chair with wheels that you can move around, so it''s a moving chair." Hera started laughing, "It''s good to know that having a crappy name sense is not something exclusive to humans." 209 - Meeting with a King Since it would take at least one week for Blue to get better and the humans had no place to stay in the city, Risli offered them to stay in the infirmary. At least while there were enough free beds, if, at some point, many injured people arrived, she would have to use the space. The news of humans arriving in the city spread like wildfire, and in front of the shaman''s hut, there always were at least two dozen dwarves trying to take a peek at the visitors. Risli explained why it was such a big deal. 12 hundred years ago, their people lived under a different mountain. However, a great fire started spreading, and they had to flee through tunnels that were yet to be explored. The ground shook, and all the survivors crossed a doorway that crumbled when the last dwarf went through. During their escape, no one was able to bring any of their belongings. With that, they lost all their culture. Only the knowledge inside each individual was retained, but sadly, the elderly and the scholars perished in the fire. The survivors struggled to reform society and renew their culture, and it took them close to 100 years to have a more or less functional city. After another 50 years, life began to have some resemblance to what it once was. Some dwarves were responsible for building, while others farmed above the ground or would go inside the dungeons for supplies. However, that was just a way to survive. Few people remembered how to tell stories, play instruments, and create something unique. In that period, things like that were a waste of time, and the knowledge was lost. Then, disaster struck again when the sky ruler appeared. A ferocious creature that would kill and destroy every single dwarf that was in its path. That forced them to abandon the surface and hide below ground. It was thanks to the system, or as they called it, the voice of the mountain, that the dwarves knew that fighting against the sky ruler was pointless. Anyone who tried to attack it received a message telling them that all attacks were useless. They were forced to abandon the sun and remain hidden for decades. It wasn''t much of a surprise when society started to crumble. People stopped trying to live and just sat around staring at the walls of their prison. It was then that two humans appeared, a man and a woman. They gave new hope for the kingdom by sharing their culture, telling the dwarves stories about life in other rooms and about the two heroes, Khan and Cyrus. The kingdom remembered what it was like to laugh, to learn to be happy, and culture started again. However, the humans wished to return to their home and tried to face the sky ruler only to be killed by the creature. In their memory, the dwarves searched for new ways to live, and little by little, their culture returned. However, after hundreds of years, all their stories began to sound the same, and the music never changed. The kingdom had a culture, but everything was derived from the small piece left by the humans long ago. There was nothing new, nothing they could call their own. In the midst of that frustration, a human named Weston came along. He was wounded and had lost most of his right leg to molten rock. He roamed the mountain for two days before finding an entrance that led to the lake. The dwarves rescued him and treated the man nonstop for a week before he was out of danger, but his leg was lost forever. The magic that could make someone regrow a limb was lost ever since the fire. Contrary to what everyone expected, he accepted his fate, showing no desire to return. He spent his next 70 years living as a citizen of the kingdom until he passed. During his life, Weston taught the dwarves how to create music, how to play games, make stories and create paintings. The human was an artist at heart and was always happy to help aspiring creators develop their craft. The first two humans gave the dwarves culture, but Weston showed them how to build their own. "He must have been an amazing man. It''s a shame only a few were around while he was here," Hera said. "I agree, but I''m happy I was able to meet him," Risli smiled. "Wait, didn''t you say that he was here like 3 hundred years ago? How old are you?" Blue gasped. Risli stared at Blue, "I''m not sure where you are from, but here it''s rude to ask a lady about her age." "Sorry, it''s just that If we had met him, we would be dust by now," Blue looked away. "I know, you humans live only 70 years. Dwarves can reach 400 if they keep a healthy lifestyle," Risli got up from the table they were sitting at and started putting their meal away. This was just the second day of Blue''s treatment, but using the wheelchair, they could eat at a proper table. "We actually can reach 90 now, even with bad diets. Healthy people can reach 120 without much trouble," Hera said. "You have improved so much? How?" Risli asked. "Medicine and magic. We have doctors, our version of shamans that can take care of us very well. But they don''t focus as much on magic when dealing with diseases and other things." "Could you tell me more about that?" the shaman''s eyes sparkled when she asked. "I''m not very good at that, but I think I have some medical books in my library," Hera pulled up her tablet. "You keep medicine books in there?" Blue gasped. "Well, yeah. I was trying to get a better healing spell, and it''s not like it takes too much space," Hera shrugged. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "What are those black rocks you have? And how can you carry your library around?" Risli leaned over the table to look at the strange object. "Right, these weren''t a thing 300 years ago. Tablets are computers¡­ no, libraries that we can keep in our pockets. Imagine if it''s a rock that can show you the contents of several books as long as you put them inside it." "Can I see it?" "Sure," Hera pulled up her book''s folder and explained how to use it. She added that there were more functions to the tablet, and if anything appeared that Risli didn''t understand, it was better to show it to her. Before Risli started reading, Hera asked, "Can you explain to me one thing? Wothur said he didn''t know what a doorway was, but you talked about the doorways in your story. Why is that?" "A few of us passed down the story of our people to the younger generations. Others decided that some things were best being forgotten. Understanding that, Weston made a point never to mention the doorways unless someone else talked about it first," Risli explained. "And you hide that information?" Blue asked. "We don''t hide it. We just don''t feel the need to tell them. What is the point of talking about something we have no way of finding? I assure you, there is no doorway inside the cave. We have checked every path and stone. If a path to a different place exists, it''s out there, on the mountain. It''s like knowing that a poison plant lives in a place far away. Why should we bother people with that knowledge if it can''t affect them? I believe you had a saying. Ignorance is a benefit." "Ignorance is bliss," Hera corrected. "Is that the saying? It does sound better," Risli said. The shaman had to prepare more medicine and do a few house calls, so any more questions would have to wait. Blue and Hera went back to the infirmary. They discussed what to do. Hera knew that there was a locked doorway, and since no one knew where it was, they would have to go hiking to find it. The problem was how to do that while the sky ruler was around. It was a boss monster, and that would mean it was strong. "Worst case scenario. How long would it take for us to reach the same level as it?" Blue asked. "I have no idea. I mean, Helena is level 18, and it took 12 years for her to reach that." "Are we going to be stuck here for 12 years?" Blue gasped. "No, we won''t. You heard Risli. There is a dungeon here. If we keep doing that one over and over, we should reach that level in¡­ well. Sooner. Lena focused more on her research than leveling up," Hera sighed. There was a moment of silence between the two. The realization that they might be here for a long time here dawning upon them. There was a knock on the door, and a few different voices talked outside. Following that, Risli entered the infirmary. "Listen, children. Although I asked them to wait, the king came to see you. I wanted to stay with you, but Olinna just went into labor. She is my granddaughter, and I can''t abandon her now," Risli''s explanation made Hera and Blue uneasy. They trusted her, but that wasn''t the same for the rest of the dwarves. No one else had proven that they meant no harm. Both Hera and Blue knew enough about history to tell that the odd ones tended to be the most exploited. Risli saw the worry in the humans'' eyes, "Now, now. Don''t worry. I made him promise not to do anything to you. Even the king wouldn''t dare to lie to someone who changed his diapers. I will be back as soon as I can." With that, Risli got up and left the infirmary. Hera quickly picked up her weapons and moved towards Blue, sitting by her side on the bed while ensuring that her handaxe and chakram were hidden from sight. A few moments passed, and three dwarves entered. On the right, there was an older man with long grey hair and a braided beard. He wore a long dark blue robe and was walking with the help of a long staff made of wood with a glowing green gem floating on top of it. To the left, a woman clad in armor. She had black hair with a few streaks of white, her equipment seemed to be copper, but the details and engravings were all gold. The armor didn''t seem to have a specific image, only patterns like those in the gate. On her waist, there was a sword with a curved blade. In the middle, a man wearing a red suit and black tie had a big smile on his face. He had a well-kept brown beard and big expressive eyes. His hair was hidden by a hat that had the same color as the suit. It was hard to tell if he looked more like an old-timey gangster or a cheesy gameshow host. "Hello, I wish I could have been the first to welcome you two to our kingdom, but then again, guarding the gate is dreadfully dull. My name is Rutigan Berlon, and I''m the king of Boothudurn," Rutigan pointed to the old man beside him, "This is Ogryn, a member of the kingdom''s high council and my mentor, and this," he gestured towards the woman, "Is Naka, the captain of the guard. Many others wish to know you, but we agreed that it would be better if a smaller party came to greet you. As to not overwhelm anyone. Now¡­ You know what, it feels weird to be standing up while you are sitting. Let me get a chair." The king left the infirmary, leaving the guard captain and his mentor behind. Ogryn had a soft and warm expression, but Naka kept staring at Hera, barely even blinking. "There we go," Rutigan came back with a chair. He placed it near the bed, but Naka stopped him before he could sit. "My liege, that is too close," "Enough. These are visitors, and one of them is wounded. I highly doubt that they will try to harm me. Even if they do, that''s a risk I''m willing to take," he sat down on the chair and opened his mouth but was interrupted once more. "If your right arm even twitches. Your head will be on the floor before you can even get up," Naka said to Hera. Hera tightened the grip on her handaxe, "And if you try to reach your sword, his head will hit the floor before you reach me," Hera nodded towards Rutigan. Naka''s eyes went wide, and a vein started to pop on her forehead. However, before anything could happen, the king started laughing. "I don''t recall the last time someone confronted Naka like that," he looked at Hera, "I like you, my dear. Don''t worry, she won''t do a thing. Naka, take a few steps back, and you may not interfere in this conversation or attack them during this even if they kill me. This is a royal command." The vein on her head seemed to be ready to burst at any moment, but Naka stepped back and replied between her teeth, "Yes, my liege." "Now, I apologize for this unpleasantry. Let''s try this again, shall we? I''m Rutigan, king of Boothudurn, and you are?" "I''m Hera." "And I''m Blue," "I''m delighted to meet you both. I''m positive you have many questions, and so do I, but first, how did you get here?" Hera sighed, understanding that they would have to tell that story several times before people stopped asking. She looked to Blue, who seemed less on edge than her, and took a deep breath before recounting the events that led them to the mountain, making sure to leave the guides out of it. 210 - Blues recovery Rutigan listened to the entire story. Naka kept staring angrily at the humans the entire time while Ogryn listened to their tale intently, asking about certain details now and then. When the story was over, Rutigan turned to his old mentor, who nodded in reply. "Their story is very similar to Weston''s. There doesn''t seem to be anything off with it. Although, the fact that she went up the mountain and survived is nothing short of a miracle. Not that I can detect any lies in what they said. It is just surprising that the sky ruler was forgiving," Ogryn said. "They are a blessing from the mountain, that''s why," Rutigan gave a warm smile to Hera and Blue, "Now. I imagine you have a plan for when you are healed, correct?" "We want to get back home," Blue replied. Hera stared at her friend before rolling her eyes, "We don''t mean anything bad for that. We just have friends and family back home. Risli mentioned that there is no way out of here, but we know for a fact that there is. It is a rule of the MA.. of the world. There are always ways to go to a different place. I imagine that there is a doorway that could lead us back home." "I understand. I would have the same desire in your situation, and¡­" Rutigan turned to Ogryn, "Can you do what we discussed?" "Of course, my king," the old dwarf hit his staff on the ground twice, making the green gem glow while a dome started to form around the group. Hera and Blue looked at it with worried expressions, but Ogryn began to speak, "Fear not, this is just a spell to block any prying ears from hearing our conversation." It took 30 seconds for the dome to finish being created. A soft green glow started emanating from it, indicating that the boundary of the spell. Naka stepped forward, "My liege, you are not considering revealing that to them, are you?" "I''m not considering anything. I already have decided to tell them about it." "But¡­!" The king raised his hand, signaling the captain to stop, "I understand your worries, but how can we ask them to trust us if we don''t trust them? Not to mention that the best way to know if you can trust someone or not is giving them an opportunity to betray you." Rutigan took off his hat while looking down, adjusting his suit. The man had short brown hair with a receding hairline and a small bald spot on the back of his head. However, Hera was more focused on his words. It could seem like he was showing his trust, but it also made it clear that they still didn''t trust the newcomers. "You are right," the king finally said after fixing his clothes. "About?" Hera asked. "You said that there was a doorway here. You are indeed correct, and I know where it is. The doorway is locked and can only be opened by a key that can''t be found at the moment. At least, that''s what the voice of the mountain told me. I also understand that this is just a room inside the place called MAZE. This is something that was shared with us by Weston, although it is something that very few are aware of," Rutigan explained. "And why is that? Why are you hiding that information?" Blue asked. "Because the key is not inside the caverns. We had 12 hundred years to find it. The only place where it might be is outside, but we cannot go out while the sky ruler exists. We don''t share this information to avoid anyone thinking that they are special enough to survive the monster''s attack." "Why don''t you kill it?" Hera asked. "Because we can''t damage it!" Naka barked, receiving a stern look from the king. "My captain is correct. Our attacks do nothing against it. The voice of the mountain told us that. We can''t even enter its nest." "That''s just your kind?" to Hera. It seemed like a very specific condition. "Yes, the first humans that came here were able to wound it but ultimately were killed by the creature." "I see," Blue looked down. The small hope she had about going back soon was crushed. Hera didn''t know what to say and just stood there, holding her hand. "This is a lot to take in. I''ll leave it at that while you recover. Naka will station a guard nearby. If you two need anything, just tell him, and I''ll make the necessary arrangements. When you are feeling better, we can have a meeting to discuss where you will stay and how we can help each other. The entire high council will participate, but you already know two other members. Naka and Ogryn. Also, I have a small request, not as a king but as a person. Would you mind if I came by to talk about your society? I grew up hearing stories about Weston, but he already had passed away." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "I don''t see a problem. As long as Risli doesn''t mind. This is her home, after all," Hera said. The king thanked them and left with his group. Naka was the last one to go, not even glancing back at Hera before exiting the infirmary. The humans discussed what was going on and what they could do. First, they had to wait for Blue to get better, but in the end, it seemed like the plan was to kill the sky ruler. "By the way, what type of creature do you think the sky ruler is? We never got a description," Blue asked. "I''m not sure. Maybe an eagle or something. What type of birds live in the mountains?" Hera tried to remember the nature documentaries she saw. "Owls, maybe? I think geese can stay in cold climates too. Or maybe it''s a flying penguin." "If it''s penguins or owls, we can win, but a goose? I don''t know. Those things are nasty," the joke wasn''t enough to break the tension, but it helped. Hera and Blue stayed in Risli''s hut for the rest of the week. During that time, Hera helped clean the house and started learning how to use some shaman''s herbs. Since she had yet to discover a better healing spell, it was a good idea to at least know how to make some medicine. Risli didn''t mind sharing her knowledge now that Hera had shown her some of the medical advances they had. "Risli, what level are you? Back home, fixing a broken foot takes at least two weeks unless you are a very high-level healer." "Level 72. I''ve been doing this for a very long time." "Wow, that''s incredible. You would be at a high level even among the humans." "It''s incredible that people with such short lives can reach those levels," Risli replied. "We are very¡­ driven. We also keep chasing stronger monsters and enemies. I''m sure people would go nuts over the idea of killing the sky ruler," Hera said. "You guys are weird. Why do you chase death?" "Honestly¡­ I can''t say. We just want to get stronger." Risli shrugged, and they continued to work with the herb. Every day, Rutigan would visit the humans to ask about their society. At the same time, Hera and Blue asked about how things worked in the kingdom. They had an utopic community, in a way. 5 thousand people were living in the kingdom. Close to 4 thousand could live their lives however they wanted, but they would work on the farms. Only 160 people would take care of the crops, meaning everyone had to work once every 24 days. The other thousand were split between those who cook, those who took care of the few children, those who heal people, and the guard. They called it guards, but in reality, they were mainly responsible for going inside the dungeon and retrieving meat for the city. Then there were another 20 to 30 people who worked in the administration together with the king. Oddly enough, the type of clothing that was given to them by Weston was mainly tunics and robes. It wasn''t the Victorian style for nobles, but the style that commoners used. The people inside here developed their own outfits, and they ended up in a very similar design to the one used in suits today. Although the color scheme seemed to be from the disco era. There were a few other odd differences. They didn''t have a weekly calendar, and once a month, a festival happened where people could share their new pieces of culture, from paintings and music to clothes and plays. They also had a firm belief in knowing the entire process of anything they made. If someone wanted to make a tunic, they had to first learn how to grow the fiber and turn it into yarn and fabric before making the clothing. After doing that once, they could go straight into the last part of the process. People didn''t have to spend gold to get anything. As long as they had done their work on the farm and could share whatever they worked on, it was enough to get almost anything they needed. Although they could get gold from the dungeon, they didn''t use it in their day-to-day life. Hera found it interesting, but at the same time, she couldn''t understand how that worked. Where did the materials come from? And how could they be sure that no one was taking more than they needed? But apparently, that was never an issue. Everyone knew how to share. It sounded almost alien when comparing with humans. Rutigan was especially interested in the internet, but Hera and Blue didn''t know it well enough to explain how to set it up. Unless they managed to unlock the room, there was no way to create a network like that with the knowledge they had. One option put on the table was to allow them to open their tablets to reverse engineer them. That idea was quickly shut down. Neither Hera nor Blue was willing to lose their tablets for an experiment. There wasn''t a doubt in their minds that the dwarves wouldn''t be able to create anything that advanced. After all, they didn''t even have computers. Blue''s foot finally got healed. On that day, they had a meeting with all the high council. It was called that, but there was no minor council. Their meeting would be with the six people responsible for the city, the king, his counselor, the duke of agriculture, the guard captain, the shaman chief, and the duchess of culture. A couple of guards came to escort them to the palace. Their travel felt almost like a parade that the entire city was watching. Hundreds of people were creating a path to see the humans pass by. Hera kept looking around. Seeing the faces of all those people staring made her feel on edge. She started breathing heavily, and her hand was shaking. "Are you ok?" Blue noticed her reaction and held her hand. "It''s just a lot of people staring," Hera lowered her head and kept looking at the ground. This felt like when she got her status and everyone at school figured out. The eyes followed her, sizing up everything she did, judging her. Hera felt like a teenager again, just after her entire world crumbled. The one thing stopping her from spiraling out of control was the warmth of Blue''s hand. This time, she at least had someone by her side. After arriving at the palace, she asked for some water before going to the meeting. The guards nodded and took them to the kitchen before leading the two to the meeting hall. Being away from the horde of people allowed Hera to calm down. Then they headed to where the council was gathered. Before entering, Hera put on her Ring of Speech. She knew it was only effective when talking to 10 people or more, but if any guards were present, they could count and give her a slight boost to charisma. Even if Rutigan was very friendly, they still could use any advantage they got. 211 - What will the humans do? The meeting was long and drawn out. There were a lot of formalities and pointless pleasantries. In a way, it felt almost like watching one of those political dramas about lords and ladies. Apparently, Rutigan had pushed the human situation to be the last thing on their schedule. It was an attempt to show them how they worked as a society and what they could expect from the kingdom. However, that backfired. Hera and Blue only felt that this was worse than the outside world politics, or at least in the same level of excessive red tape. Every single subject brought up came with an extensive explanation on why that was useful or needed. Hera got bored easily and checked everyone''s level. Rutigan was level 43, and Ogryn was level 75. Unfortunately, the meeting was just for the high council and the humans, so the ring Hera was wearing wouldn''t do a thing. Lural, the duke of agriculture, was level 54 and was short even by dwarven standards. He wore brown overalls and had a long ginger beard. He explained his plans to change part of the crops from lettuce to beets. Since there was no sunlight here, it took much longer for them to grow. Just to say that he took over 30 minutes. Going on a lengthy explanation about each and every crop that was currently on the field and the benefits that each type of vegetable could give. By the looks of it, it wasn''t something they were doing just because of the humans. It was how those meetings usually went. Fethy, the duchess of culture, rambled on and on about how the creations were brought up to her were amazing, revolutionary, progressive, or some combination of the three. She would talk about a piece but trail off to another without finishing a thought. A few times, she pulled up a painting or a dress and showed them around, but it seemed more like she was on a walkway showing off her clothes. To her credit, it was a gorgeous cream ball gown with no sleeves and some embroidery in the chest, but her twirls and bows were just unnecessary. She made a point of showing it closer to the humans with a large smile. Clearly proud of what she was showing off. Fethy was level 25. The chief shaman was level 46 and called Telanz. His report was much more straightforward. He told them how their stock of herbs and fungi for potions and salves required resupply, and how many people got hurt during the last month. Telanz also added that this was only for the shamans he was responsible for. He couldn''t say the numbers for Risli and what the humans used. He was mostly bald and had a thick curly mustache framing his long goatee. Naka went on to talk about the meat supplies and the training of the new members of the guard while completely ignoring the humans. The captain was level 67 and the second-youngest member of the council, losing only to Fethy. With the training being the last subject, Rutigan took advantage of that to change the subject. "In the matter of training. How do you all feel about having our new guests training along with the guard?" "My liege. I don''t think this is a good idea. They already proved to be willing to harm you," Naka protested. "I agree my king. Despite being humans, they show no manners and even check our levels without our consent," Telanz added, giving Hera a stern look. "My friends, we cannot judge them for being on edge. Put yourself in their place. You are alone in a city with thousands of members of a different race. It is expected to be wary. Weston himself took a few months before he truly felt comfortable here." "They still threatened you," Naka replied. "You threatened them first. Wouldn''t you do the same?" Rutigan asked. Naka looked away. She knew the king was right. "And Telanz, my old friend. They are level 7. Can you blame them for assessing the situation? I''m sure any ideas they had to harm us went out of the window when they saw our levels," Rutigan turned towards the humans, "Still before we talk about anything, let me ask. What do you want to do?" The entire room stared at the two guests. They never considered doing anything against the dwarves, but Hera understood that it was another warning. She and Blue had discussed what they wanted to do during the week. Blue was worried about talking with the council. Being in front of power figures was intimidating, and she could say something that would offend them or create a bad situation for them. What happened with Tom still cast a shadow on her mind. That left Hera to talk to the council, to her dismay. Hera took a deep breath and turned to Telanz, "First of all, I apologize for being rude. It doesn''t justify it, but I just wanted to know if we had any chance against you if we became targets. What we want to do is go back home. It''s not that we don''t think this is a nice place, but we have friends and family waiting for us," she turned to Rutigan, "We want to train, level up, and fight the sky ruler so we can search the mountain for some way to go back. And if you are worried that we might do something, training with us is a great way to know our strength. Not that any of you should be concerned about it," Hera finished speaking while staring at Naka. Both of them knew that the threat made by Hera was meaningless. There was no way that a level 7 could be faster than a level 67. The captain kept staring at them for a long time before scoffing, "Fine, they can join the hunt group. I''ll still keep an eye on them, though." "Shouldn''t we ask about the doorway?" Blue whispered. Hera nodded and turned back to Rutigan, "Can we talk about that subject here?" "Which one?" "The one we talked about on the first day. When your counselor did the thing with the staff." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Oh, yes, you can. The doorway is something everyone in this room knows about. We are the only ones who know about that, and I ask you to keep it that way. Well, we and Risli, but I want to see anyone trying to keep something from her," Rutigan chuckled, but Hera noticed Telanz''s expression changing at the mention of the shaman. "Right, can we look at it? We''ve seen a few different doorways. Maybe we can get a different point of view," Hera suggested. "In the future, we can arrange that, but you will be blinded not to know its actual location. I may trust you, but letting you know how to access our kingdom''s only secret is too much of a leap. I hope you understand," Rutigan replied. Blue frowned, but Hera nodded, "Baby steps, we hope you can trust us more in the future and that we can trust you more too." Rutigan opened a large smile, "Exactly. Trust should go both ways. Now, for the next order of business. Ogryn?" The old dwarf nodded, "Of course. I am also responsible for the housing of our people. When someone wishes to move to a different place or remodel, they all have to come to me. Since that is my responsibility, I was also in charge of setting up a place for you to live. Even Risli''s infirmary is made so humans would fit. Other houses don''t have the same dimensions, so we had to build a new one." "You built a house for us?" Blue gasped. "We did. We can''t leave you two sleeping in an infirmary. If we have any emergencies or someone has a disease that can start spreading, we might have problems," Rutigan said. "Precisely. Not to mention my workers were all itching to build a new house. It''s been a few years since the last one. The house is located in a small area between here and Risli''s hut. You would technically be Weston''s neighbor, but no one uses his house these days," Ogryn smiled. "We will show it to you after the meeting. I''ll also have a few guards to work as your escorts and explain anything you want to know about our society or life here," Rutigan added. "Our tailors are also very excited about the idea of making clothes for you two. Even if you use armor, it is good to have some casual clothes. We just need to take some measurements, and it would be great if we do it before we leave." Fethy said. "We are spending so many resources with humans who have yet to prove themselves. How can we do so much for them when they have yet to do a single thing for us?" Telanz asked. "That is precisely what we are discussing here, Telanz," Rutigal turned to Hera and Blue, "So you want to go home. Can we leave you with Naka to train and fight the sky ruler?" Hera and Blue nodded. They had already decided to do whatever it took to go back home. Naka begrudgingly agreed to have them as part of her guard. That way, she could train the humans and understand their strengths. At the same time, they could level up in a dungeon called the Wooly Plains. They would discuss more about that later, but it was a place where they could hunt various kinds of sheep and receive their meat as drops. However, that was something only for the next day. For now, Fethy called a couple of tailors to take the girls measurements so the other dwarves could start making some garments for them. "If you don''t mind. I have a request," Hera said to Fethy as they were being measured. "Of course. Just say the word, my dear." "Don''t make any dresses for me. I hate wearing those things. Skirts too. Even if they are as beautiful as the one you are wearing," Hera thought it was better to compliment the dwarf''s dress to lessen the blow. Fethy was clearly very interested in tailoring. Fethy stopped and stared at the explorer with an expression of pure shock. After around a minute of uncomfortable silence, she sighed, "I understand. We shall have tunics, pants, and easy-to-move clothes for you, Lady Hera. How about you, Lady Blue?" "Oh, I want dresses, but if possible, things that are easy to move in and sturdy. I''m a brawler, so if the dress is too fragile, it will rip easily. And you don''t have to call me lady. Just Blue is fine." That seemed to perk up Fethy a bit, but she only regained her excitement when the girls asked about underwear. They were both wearing sports bras, but Blue had an open tab for some lingerie that she wanted to buy that was still saved in the tablet''s cache. Luckily, that was enough to make Fethy focus on something else. Her constant stare made Hera uncomfortable. Not so much for being sized up, but because tailor-made clothes are supposed to be very expensive. With Fethy''s presence, it was almost like receiving clothes handmade by a well know designer. Although, to be fair, she probably could afford it now. After getting all their measurements taken, the two were led to what it would be their new house. It was a single-floor building, but it was very tall. The walls outside were made of grey stone, and even the black stone door was massive. Hera could lift Blue on her shoulders and still enter without a problem. The house itself had a single floor with a kitchen, a living room, and a large bathroom with a round stone tub in the middle of it. There were several magic rocks spread around that could be activated by using mana. Most people had to touch them to trigger, but some could do that from far away. There was a small stone oven that used a crystal to heat up any food, but no fridge. When asking about it, the best they could muster was to make a stone box and have someone create ice for them. That would need to be refilled daily, and it would be a lot of work to clean the box properly every time. Blue and Hera agreed that it was best for them to figure out an ice spell on their own if they wanted to have cold drinks. The furniture was all made of stone, but the place was cozy despite the high ceilings. To the right there were two doors leading to their bedrooms. There was a wardrobe, a nightstand and small stone desk. Their beds were surprisingly soft. It was almost like laying down in a cloud. According to Naka, the materials came from the dungeon. There was a rare creature in there that could drop something called cloud wool. It was incredibly soft, and depending on the crafter, they could even receive benefits from sleeping in those beds. Sadly, the material was so rare, and the success rate of those benefits was so low that only a handful of those beds existed. Making the beds for them cleared out the stock. Hera felt guilty for receiving such a fantastic thing before the people who lived there, but everyone already had a cloud wool bed and pillow. The material was used only in attempts to create a mattress that could buff someone. After the tour and the entire explanation, Rutigan and the high council left the humans at their home. There was a welcome basket with some vegetables, meat, pastries, and some water and wine at the kitchen table, enough to last for the rest of the day. Blue sat down by the table, sighing and opening the wine, "They actually made a house for us. We are really stuck here, aren''t we?" "Yeah¡­" Hera was still looking around the house. Blue poured two glasses and stared at them for a while, "Hey, Hera?" "Yeah?" "Am I going to see my family again?" Blue''s voice cracked. Hera turned around and saw the tears coming out of Blue''s eyes. She quickly rushed towards her, holding the controller in her arms. They''ve been fighting for so long that she had forgotten that Blue was still 22. She was barely an adult. "You will. I promise," Hera wanted to comfort her friend, but they both knew that those words could be a lie. They just stood there, in this strange grey house, far away from their friends and family, with Blue''s crying echoing in the stone. 212 - First day on the job Blue cried herself to sleep. She took a small break to eat, but even during the meal, her tears didn''t stop. Hera slept in the same bed with her, but she was the first to wake up. Not wanting to disturb Blue, she slowly got up and headed to the kitchen. The bed was incredibly soft, but the height of the ceiling was odd. The dwarves had houses that were close to double their size, but for humans, that made houses way too big. It was still very early in the morning. Hera checked the food they got in the previous night. There was still enough for a good breakfast but no meat. Later on, they would receive a delivery from the guard with food for the rest of the day. They could ask for morning deliveries later and receive some pastries and eggs in the morning if they wanted to. Another option that many people in the city preferred was to visit the storage street where some people would choose their own food for the day. Hera didn''t want to leave Blue alone, and there was already food there. Besides, the kingdom seemed to be very preoccupied with wasting food. Rutigan kept talking about getting only what they needed and not tossing food out. Among the people who took care of the farms, there were those who were responsible for keeping the food fresh with magic. From what Hera understood, there was a specific spell that could be used to do that. It would be nice if she managed to learn it. That way, taking different types of food when she left a city wouldn''t be that much of a problem. Pushing that idea aside, she looked at the basket. There were some fruit, bread, and a few eggs. Her first thought was to make jam, but it wouldn''t work without sugar and a lot of spare time. She could at least make some eggs. Maybe even a sweet fruit omelet. She started cooking, and in just a few minutes, there was a nice breakfast ready, but before she could take the first bite, there was a knock on the door. Hera went towards the entrance and called. "Who is it?" "It''s Risli." Hera opened the door, "Hey, is everything ok?" Risli nodded while she came inside, "It is. I''m just stopping by to check on Blue. I brought some food for you two, but it seems like I didn''t have to worry." "King Rutigan gave us some food yesterday, enough for today as well. Have you eaten already? I can make you something with what you brought," Hera suggested. "Sure, I never tasted human cooking before." "Have you ever had an omelet?" "Yes, that was one of the things Wendel taught us." Hera thought for a moment. Among the fruit and bacon that Risli brought, there was also a jar of milk, "What about a smoothie?" "What is that?" "Oh, you are going to love it¡­. Actually, can you make any ice?" "I can''t make ice, but I can lower the temperature of things. It''s good to help with a fever," Risli explained. "Great, can you do that with this cup?" Hera passed a stone cup to Risli and started cutting the fruits. She picked a small watermelon and some strawberries and mixed them all with the milk. It was a shame that she didn''t have a blender, but there were enough tools to make it work. In a few minutes, she made enough smoothies for three people and a sweet fruit omelet for Risli. The shaman seemed to enjoy the food, adding that she never considered mixing fruits with the omelet. "Risli, do you mind if I ask something?" Hera took a sip of her drink. Her food was already gone, and Risli was about halfway finished. "I need to know the question first, child." "Do you and Telanz have a problem?" Risli took a bite of her omelet, "It would be more accurate to say that Telanz has a problem with me." "Why is that?" Hera asked. "Do you know what a legacy is?" "Yeah." "We both trained under the same shaman. However, my master chose me to pass on his legacy." "You both trained together? He didn''t seem that old," Hera gasped. "He came in much later, but he learned fast. At the time, my master was the chief shaman and taught all the current generation, and I was working under him for more than 150 years. I was his substitute, but Telanz felt it was unfair. He said that I was only going to receive the legacy because I was there longer." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Well, duh. I mean, you want to pass those things on to the best one there. You had a century of experience. Why would he pass the legacy to someone else? And what''s the legacy name?" "It''s called shaman. Telanz was called a genius ever since a young age. He felt that it was his right to receive a legacy since he was the smartest healer around. He felt like he should be the shaman, not some old coot. In part he is not wrong, he is much better suited for the chief shaman position," Risli explained. "I see. To be honest, he does seem to have a stick up his ass," Hera shook her head. "He was injured?" "Oh, no. It''s an expression. It means he is always angry and annoyed by everything." "That seems¡­ appropriate," Risli nodded. They talked some more before Blue woke up. Her eyes were still red and puffy. She walked towards the table and sat down, already drinking her smoothie. Hera quickly started making the omelet while Risli got up and walked towards Blue. "Hey, Risli. Wait, what are you doing?" Blue moved back as Risli tried to touch her head. "I''m fixing your eyes. I''m sure you don''t want to go out looking like that." Blue nodded, "Thanks¡­ you are not going to ask?" "If you want to tell me, then yes. If not, I don''t want to know." "Thanks," Blue said but didn''t follow up with anything else. Risli finished the spell, and Hera placed the omelet in front of Blue. The three talked for a while. Risli told them about the baby she delivered. Blue asked about the sky ruler, but Risli had no idea what type of creature it was. After a couple of hours, the shaman left their house. The humans would only join the guard later for their afternoon training, so they could still get some proper rest. Hera took advantage of that to take a bath. She was only able to take some bucket showers during her stay with Risli, and Blue wanted to be alone for a moment. Later that day, a guard dropped by some food for them. It was enough for both lunch and dinner, with meat protected by a spell to avoid making it spoil. Hera prepared some bacon and stuffed potatoes for their meal. She tried to make something to comfort Blue. She did her best, but the controller''s mood wasn''t improving. It was expected, but Hera hoped that at least her friend knew she was there for her. After eating, they headed out and met the guard that was stationed by their house. Hera still felt it weird to have someone at their beck and call. Then again, it might as well be their warden, someone to keep track of their movements. The guard led them to the barracks that worked as the central hub for the guard. Every member of the guard had to go there before their shift started to clock in and see what they were assigned to do that day. The guards were responsible for gathering meat from the dungeon, delivering daily supplies for those who ask for that, patrolling the gate and the path leading to the top of the mountain. Even being a lifeguard by the lake was part of their duties. The guards were basically responsible for most of the infrastructure workforce for the city. The guard HQ was a tall building made with some sort of red stone. Aside from the palace, it was one of the few places with multiple floors. The main building was three stories tall with a large bell in the top one. Around it, there were several smaller passageways with a large dirt arena in the middle where the guard would train. To the side, there was another large structure where their equipment was stored, and beyond it a blacksmith who was responsible for the weapons and armor of the entire guard. They were led inside through the main door, crossing a small reception area that looked like the entrance of a hotel. There were two couches before the counter with coffee tables and a small ornament made of glowing moss. No one was at the reception desk, but there was a cord that people could pull to call for someone. Hera and Blue were brought up to the side, taking the stone staircase up. On the way, they saw a small room with some first aid supplies, like a nurse''s office in a school, another room with several desks where a few guards were writing stuff down, and a hallway that led towards the training area. Most rooms were closed off on the second floor, but there were some signs indicating meeting rooms and break rooms. It was much more like an office building than a place where you would find the police force. Finally, the two reached a large wooden door with several carvings and designs spread around it. All following the Art Deco feel from the decorations that the main city buildings seemed to have. With a golden plate that read ''Captain Naka.'' Naka was waiting for them in her office. As the two entered, she kept writing down reports for a few moments, "I don''t like you. Let me make this clear. However, since our king asked me to train you, I shall do my very best to make you stronger. So know that me being strict is not about my personal grievances," she got up and walked towards the door, "Follow me, and just as a note if any of you try to hurt the kingdom or the people inside it, I will throw you in jail." "You guys have a jail in here?" Blue asked. "We do. We use it to keep drunks who get too rowdy, but I would love to use it for a better purpose," Naka kept moving towards the training grounds, "You two will fight me. Throw everything you got. I want to see what you can do." "Do we have any healers around? I have some spells that are based on poison, but I don''t have a way to remove the poison," Hera explained. Naka stopped walking and turned towards Hera, "Are you serious? How can you meddle with poison and not focus on an antidote? What if you hit someone?" "That never happened. I take care not to hit my friends," Hera replied. "So? Just because you are careful, it doesn''t mean you won''t miss," Naka sighed, "You can use it during our fight. I want to know what you can do. However, after that, you are not allowed to use those spells until you get a way to remove the poison from other people." "I focus on afflictions. If I don''t use that, I lose about half of my abilities," Hera said. "I don''t care. I''m not going to risk you injuring one of my guards in the heat of the moment. Either figure out a way to stop the poison or find something else to use. We have a healer here, but that might not be true inside the dungeon. This will be the only fight you can use those spells. What are your roles?" "I''m a controller. Hera is an explorer," Blue said. "Explorer?" Naka scoffed, "Great, very useful." Hera frowned at that comment. Being an explorer saved her life. Just because everyone was stuck under the mountain here, it didn''t mean that having various role skills would be bad. They all entered a large arena where some guards were practicing. Naka asked them to give them all some space. She picked up a wooden staff, removed part of her armor, and turned back to the humans. "Come, let''s see what you got." 213 - Difference in strength Naka was standing in the middle of the guard''s training grounds. All dwarves present gathered to watch the combat. It was a rare occasion to have the captain facing someone in battle. Hera looked around, searching for training equipment, but only saw stone staffs like the one Naka was using or stone swords. There was no handaxe or chakram for her to use. "Do you guys have training axes here?" Hera asked, not wanting to hurt the captain by accident during the duel. Naka had taken off her armor, making it much easier for a stray attack to result in a serious injury. "We do, but it doesn''t matter. You two need all the handicap I could give. Maybe I should even use only a single hand," Naka replied. Hera and Blue exchanged a glance. It was one thing to treat them as dangerous people, but now she crossed a line. There was no need to be that much of an ass towards them. They jumped into the arena, ready to fight. Even though Naka was level 67, Hera still believed they could at least land a hit if they worked together. Naka took a wide stance, holding her staff to the side while facing the humans. Hera pulled out her chakram, already setting up her poison enchant on it, while Blue''s shoulder guard created the smoke blocking her arms from sight with tiny blue sparks appearing around her. They started to flank the dwarf, Blue going towards her back. She had ways to grapple someone from behind that could neutralize someone without much trouble. Hera tossed her chakram, aiming at Naka''s body that was only covered by a grey shirt. The dwarf moved her staff to intercept the attack, but Hera changed the path with a burst of mana, making the blade shift towards Naka''s face. "Oh?" The move surprised the captain, but she was still fast enough to turn her staff and block the chakram. Just as the impact happened, Blue closed the gap, trying to lock Naka''s arms and head. The dwarf just pushed her staff back, hitting the controller''s foot and making her trip forward. Hera sent a poison needle flying towards Naka, making sure to steer it away from Blue''s path. The captain was with her back turned towards Hera, but she dodged away from the almost invisible projectile even without looking. Blue rolled away from the dwarf. At the same time, Hera used her grease fire, aiming to the side to corner Naka. She didn''t want to attack the captain directly with a spell like that. Blue jumped up and delivered a flurry of punches while trying to find an opening to grab Naka. Hera pulled back her chakram and entered the melee. Having a bladed circlet waving around wasn''t helpful when a friend was close to her target. She took advantage of a moment where Naka used the staff to block Blue and cut the stone weapon in two with her handaxe. The captain tossed the two pieces of rock aside and used her fists to defend against the assault. Hera spun her handaxe around her and attempted an overhead swing. If it hit, it would be a blunt strike with the back of the weapon. Seeing the attack, Naka grabbed Hera''s wrists and pulled her to the side, tossing her like a doll. Blue was about to use her electric buff to throw a charged punch, but the captain was already moving away from the hit. Hera had a bad idea, but she still decided to do it. Pushing her arm towards Blue''s fist, Hera let herself be hit by the electric punch. The current coursed through her armor and straight into Naka''s hand. Hera knew that Blue''s buff didn''t create enough energy to actually hurt, only to make the target spasm or lock up for a moment. Her plan seemed to have worked. Naka didn''t let go of her wrist and seemed to be stuck, even if for a moment. Blue was surprised by Hera''s movement, but she didn''t stop her assault. With a spin, she threw her foot towards Naka''s chest. Before the attack could hit, the captain pulled Hera back and used her like a bat, slamming the humans together and sending them both flying off the arena, crashing into the spectating guards. "Weak, sloppy, and stupid. It''s like neither of you two had proper combat training. Not to mention you seemed too scared to hit your opponent. You had options to hurt me but chose to use the fire to trap me and the backside of your axe that was not made to deliver an effective impact," Naka said as she turned her hand and put out the fire using sand from a spell, "Still, there was some ingenuity in the attacks. The moving circle thing was interesting, and the last move was surprising, even if desperate. With some years of training, you might even be able to land a solid hit on me." Hera and Blue struggled to get up, even with the guard''s help. They wanted to protest, but at the same time, there was nothing they could say. Especially now that they realized that Naka didn''t take a single step during the entire fight. They quickly became the talk of the entire guard. Not for their overwhelming defeat, but to have received such high praise from the captain. "I don''t remember the last time I saw the captain smiling after a fight," Lerynn, the on-call healer, said. "I didn''t see her smile," Hera replied as he fixed her bruised arm. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Well, it''s hard to notice those things when you are getting your ass handed to you," Lerynn noticed Blue''s expression, "Sorry, but you two got slammed." "He''s not wrong. I just hoped we could at least make her move," Hera sighed. "Don''t feel that bad. Naka does a single bout with every single new recruit. You two lasted more than most. Usually, she just finishes it in a single strike. Even being two of you, the results are impressive, especially for your level." "I mean, she did finish us off in one move, and it wasn''t even an attack," Blue said. "Well, yeah, but you two were still good," Lerynn finished checking the duo. Hera and Blue looked at each other. It was hard to tell if he was telling the truth or if he was just trying to butter them up. While they were being treated, other guards went back to their practice. Fighting against each other to improve their skills. For about half an hour, ten different guards faced each other. The combats were quick, taking at most five minutes with one bout ending in just 30 seconds. "Everyone who just fought, come to the center," Naka looked at Hera and Blue, who were watching by the sides, "The humans too." Twelve guards rushed to the arena, staying in three lines. Hera and Blue took place in the back of the group. They were at least half a meter taller than even the tallest of dwarves, so staying in front was not just unnecessary but just plain rude. Naka sized up every single guard. She was carrying a staff in her hand and a wooden sword on her waist. "I''ll start with the one who made the most mistakes. Gekas, you were too open, and the way you used a staff is wrong. A weapon like this is not a spear. You shouldn''t focus on stabbing and using its reach. Yes, the impact will be strong, but that leads to long attacks and longer recovery in case you mess up," Naka showed an example of how Gekas used the staff, holding close to the edge and attacking. She then shifted the position of her hands, placing them close to the center of the weapon, "Keep it close to your body. With this, your attacks will be swift, and you can always change the movement to block any incoming blows." The captain kept pointing out the mistakes of the group. After two lessons about the staff and three about swords, she turned towards Hera and Blue. "Now for you two. The axe user," Naka snapped her fingers, trying to remember the name, "Hebe?" "Hera." "Right, that. Your close combat is lacking. There was no structure to your attacks. You were just flailing around the axe, hoping to connect a hit. Another thing, never break a weapon like a staff. Yes, it can disturb your opponent, but then," Naka broke the staff on her knee, "Now you have to deal with someone who is wielding two weapons that can move independently. The staff''s greatest advantage is its predictability. If you focus on the tip, you can know where the other side is going, but that is also its greatest flaw for those who know how to use it to their benefit. Last thing, stop being afraid to hurt your enemy. I told you to come at me with everything you''ve got. Not only did you not use the so-called poison spells, but you aimed the fire towards the ground and not me. Do you want to defeat the sky ruler without hurting it?" Hera didn''t reply. She wanted to defend herself, but no one talked back to the captain. She didn''t want to make things even harder for her and Blue. Naka turned toward Blue, staring at her hair for a moment before speaking, "Blue¡­ your punches are not that hard. They seem to be more fitting as grabs, and your footwork is all over the place. What did you want? Get closer when you were already in arm''s reach? You need to fix that, and both of you need to practice not getting into each other''s way. Hera couldn''t use her spells and her disc because you got closer. At the same time, Blue should always be in the melee range. She can''t hold back because you can''t do anything without hitting her." "I don''t know if you guys have this here, but I''m a grappler. I work using grabs, throws, and locks. That''s why my punches come out weird, and my footwork is odd," as Blue explained. The other guards stared at her in disbelief. No one ever talked back to the captain. Naka just listened, "Interesting, show it on me." Blue walked up and explained how she could do an arm lock. The captain put her arm out and allowed the controller to make her move. Even being close to 50 centimeters smaller, it was still enough for the lock. They both were on the floor. Blue''s legs were wrapped around the captain''s arm and chest. "I see, and the intention is to hold the opponent''s arm back to neutralize it, correct?" "Yeah. If I apply some pressure with my waist, I can also break your arm," Blue explained. "Do it," Naka said. "What?" "Break my arm. You are confident in this move, so finish it." "But¡­." "Do it! Or are you too afraid to hurt me like your friend? Are you both incapable of dealing with the sky ruler?" Blue snarled and pulled on Naka''s arm, trying to break her elbow, but the arm wouldn''t budge. The captain started to stand, holding the human up with a single arm. "Is that all? You humans can do only that? How can you beat a monster like the sky ruler like that? You must really like it here since you don''t seem to want to leave. What? Is your family so awful that you are glad to get rid of them?" Naka said as she got up. Blue yelled and slammed her foot into the captain''s face, pulling the arm even harder. Naka''s arm started to bend slightly. She swung it towards the side, sending Blue flying. Naka smiled and wiped the dirt from her face, "Now that''s more like it. I was wondering if either of you two had some backbone." Hera frowned. How could she say that when their first interaction was the two threatening each other? Naka kept going with her observation until all the guards received some tips. No one mentioned Blue''s kick, but the guards stared at her with a different expression. After finishing, Naka assigned the duos that would be training together. Hera and Blue were the last ones, "I want you to start practicing some better ways to fight. Blue, you will train with Sevaris. He uses his fists to attack. Your styles might be similar. And¡­. Hema? You stay with Silah. She has some practice when using a mace. See if you two can learn something together. Next week I''ll take you to the dungeon." 214 - Training Partner Ever since she was a little kid, Silah was considered strong. Growing up in a house filled with blacksmiths, she held up her first hammer before taking her first step. The techniques of her family were passed down to her, and at the age of 12, she made her first sword. When she was 16, she could make a breastplate with her eyes closed. However, despite being called a genius and the master of a generation, Silah had other plans. Living in a city where no one could leave meant that everyone knew each other. If something happened, it wouldn''t take long for everyone to know. Yet, people still recounted the same tales over and over. When a couple was formed during a festival, she would spend the next month hearing that story from different sources. No one seemed to mind, but to Silah, that was maddening. As time went by, she noticed the repetition that came with everything in the city. In the workshop, she would hammer away the same piece of metal over and over. The food was always the same. Even new stories or songs would be told and played again and again until she got sick of them. There had to be something that wasn''t so repetitive, something that wouldn''t make her feel like she was stuck reliving the same day every day. Silah''s father noticed her struggle but chalked it off to not having interesting enough work to do on the forge. After all, she had already become a crafter. To improve her mood, he asked Naka, the captain of the guard, to hire Silah as their official blacksmith. Even if he didn''t understand the root of the problem, his idea was ultimately successful. Working with the guard allowed Silah to hear stories about the dungeon. One day, a herd of sheep came running down a mountain with a stampede, another day where a ram flew around and started chasing one of the recruits. Now, every day there were different tales and different things to talk about. However, Silah was still not satisfied. She wanted to be among those who had unique experiences. Her family was the first to push back the idea, and even the king tried to keep her as a blacksmith, but her determination didn''t waver. Naka sided with Silah, seeing the potential in the girl''s work. It was rare to have crafters inside a dungeon, and having someone who could repair or fix a weapon quickly could decrease the time it took to gather the supplies. It was a rare occasion for someone to be denied the job they wanted, but at the same time, the entire city would feel the loss of a genius blacksmith. After years of constant begging and complaints, both sides compromised. Silah could become a guard, but she had to work in the workshop as much as she worked in the dungeon. It''s been just three years since Silah had joined the guard, and in hindsight, she appreciated the deal. Forging and repairing weapons could be repetitive, but it was unique in its own way. Not to mention, she had done it for so long that it became something that helped when she was anxious. In the past year, that has been something that happened a lot. Silah started to notice the repetitive patterns, even in something as random as a dungeon. The stampedes would only come from specific areas, and they all moved in the same direction. The flying sheep would only go after you when someone stepped into its food. It took a mistake for something weird to happen, but in a place where people could die, she couldn''t force those mistakes. This made her increasingly worried. Could her boring life with nothing new catch up to her even while being a part of the guard? Yet, the mountain gave her one more piece of hope. Humans, the first to come by in her lifetime. They would bring stories and knowledge and more exciting things to talk about. Silah hoped she could meet with the humans once they were settled in. There was no doubt that she wasn''t the only one thinking about that. Most of the city was dying to see them. For a moment, she thought it would take years before she could talk to them, but when the captain told the guard that the new guests would be joining in the dungeon, Silah''s hopes were renewed. Maybe in a couple of weeks, they would have the same schedule, and she could approach the humans. But now, one day after they were told about the humans joining, one of them was her new training partner. Not just that. The human was beautiful. Golden hair and big brown eyes with a slender figure wrapped in some sort of dark purple metal shaped in small scales. Even with the heavy armor, she had a feminine aura. The line of metal leaves that went from her shoulder to her waist reminded her of a painting that Weston made with a beautiful woman sleeping by a tree. Not to mention she was powerful. Silah was level 15, but even when she and two guard members went against Naka, they couldn''t land a hit. Yet, these two humans at level 7 got close, really close, and if she considered the electric attack, it would have been a hit. "It''s Hera, by the way," the human spoke in a soft voice. "What?" Silah snapped out of her surprise. "My name. It''s Hera, not Hema." "Oh, right. Nice to meet you. I''m Silah, part-time guard, part-time blacksmith." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Nice to meet you," Hera was still annoyed with Naka. It felt like she was saying her name wrong out of spite. Hera looked around, observing what the guards were doing and how they trained. Silah, on the other hand, stared at Hera in awe. There was so much to ask, so much to say, so much hope in that interaction that she didn''t know how to start. To their side, Blue and Sevaris already started training. The dwarf was less bulky than most, and he was tall by their standards, reaching almost 1,6 meters. He had short hair that was put into a tiny mohawk in the middle of his head and a short black beard. No one was wearing heavy armor for the training, but they had some padded protection that was almost like the ones used in gyms outside the MAZE. Although the colors were much more plain. She watched them fight for a while before turning her attention to her new partner. Silah looked to be in her mid-twenties, not that Hera could tell for sure. If a dwarf lived for 300 years, they could age slower. She had strong arms with tattoos on her bulky biceps and reddish-brown hair that went all the way to her waist. Her hair was completely braided, there wasn''t a single loose strand, and all the braids ended in thick golden rings. Oddly enough, the woman was the only dwarf that looked tanned. All others that Hera met had the pale complexion of someone who never saw the sun. She had thick plump lips and those emerald green eyes that seemed to sparkle with the light coming from the glowing stones. Silah was staring at Hera''s eyes the entire time, and that made the human feel uncomfortable. "Hum.. can we start? Or do you need to check something?" Hera scratched the back of her head. "Oh, right. No, no, we are ready," Silah looked around, trying to focus, "So, Sevaris is our only puncher. That''s why the captain asked him to help your friend. I''m not entirely sure why she asked me to help you. We have other axe wielders. But they use the two-handed version." "What weapon do you use?" Hera asked. "Me?" Silah could feel her cheeks burning. Did someone light up the forge? "I use a mace. In hindsight, I think that''s the closest thing we have to a handaxe here. Well¡­ that is if we are not counting the senior guards, but they never train with the newbies." "That seems wrong. If they are the experts, shouldn''t they be training you guys?" "Well.. they have to be ready to face the boss, and they tend to kill more things than us. So they are always tired," Silah replied. "That''s exactly why they should train you. If you guys get stronger, they don''t have to push themselves so hard." "That.. actually makes a lot of sense." "Well, if the captain ever gets my name right, I might suggest it," Hera huffed. "Oh, I''m sure she didn''t mean anything bad by that." "Right, and what are we going to do? They are already starting out," Hera pointed at Blue and Sevaris, who were already covered in dirt from being tossed into the ground. "Oh, sorry," Silah looked around, "Hum... what do you want to do? Just start fighting?" "You are supposed to be the trainer, aren''t you?" As soon as Hera spoke, she realized how rude that sounded, "I''m sorry. I don''t mean to be this bitchy. Naka is just getting to me. I know it doesn''t justify the way I''m acting," Hera took a deep breath, "Let me try again. I use a handaxe and the chakram tied to my relic. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to improve?" "Well¡­ I''m not entirely sure. The captain is the one with a good eye for this stuff," Silah replied after thinking for a moment. "And how do you fight? Since you use a mace, it''s kind of similar," Hera smiled. "Well.. not really. Maces are about blunt strikes, breaking and smashing everything. A handaxe can do the same, but it''s more about cutting." "So, should we ask Naka?" Hera asked. "Well. Let me show you how I fight. I don''t wanna bother the captain, and maybe there is something that can help you." Silah pulled one of the training dummies from the back and set it in the arena. She then got ready with a stance similar to the one Naka used, legs far away from each other and knees bent almost in a horse stance. With her iron mace in hand, Silah took a deep breath before attacking. The strikes were quick, hitting specific points in the dummy. Her attacks became faster and stronger, but they were always aimed at the same odd areas. One to the left side under the ribs, another on the right side of the hips, followed by a hit on the chin, and another on the back of the head as Silah rotated around the dummy. There was something oddly familiar with the move set she was using, but Hera couldn''t wrap her head around it. "Can you do it again?" Hera asked. "Sure," Silah unleashed her flurry once more, hitting some of the same areas but adding elbow and stomach as her targets. "Wait, why did you move your mace down before hitting the jaw?" "This technique is made to disrupt the opponent''s attacks. By threatening the legs, the target should step back to dodge and give you enough room to return the attack on its shin. If you hit it right, you can make someone dizzy enough to fall down," Silah explained. "So it''s something based on trickery? Making your opponent corner themselves?" Silah stared at Hera for a moment before nodding, "I guess so. This is called Subtle Strike. The idea behind every move is to either hit the target in places where it will hurt more or cause problems for their next move," Silah touched the spots where she aimed, "So liver, hips, jaw, and head. You can add knee and elbow, but there is a risk of messing their attack in a way that is detrimental to you." "I see. Can you teach me that?" Hera asked. The martial art seemed to complement her Wire Trap style very well. If she had multiple ways to mess with her enemies and added poison or other ailments, she could be one of the most annoying explorers to fight against. 215 - Giving up a dungeon "So, did you find anything out today?" Hera asked. "Just that people here don''t talk about their relationships openly. I asked if Sevaris was dating anyone, and he got all weirded out when I asked. Later he asked me to join him in the break room, and there he told me he is courting someone but didn''t give any more details. Well.. details about him. At least," Blue sighed, "These people are going to love reality TV. He spent half an hour gossiping about everyone. Who is dating who, where people are sneaking to hook up, and the couples who broke up. He also said that we shouldn''t ask about those kinds of things. That subject is supposed to be kept in private." "Why is that? Is there a law or something?" "No, nothing like that. They just get uncomfortable, kind of like asking how much is your paycheck but more intense. By the looks of it, even couples don''t show affection when outside. Seriously, they don''t even hold hands." Hera stopped to think for a moment, "You know, I had a weird feeling when we walk around. It was like something was missing. I guess that''s it. The people here are friendly, but they don''t show physical affection. Seriously, have you seen anyone even shaking hands?" "Wow, you are right. The only time I see two people touching is when they are fighting. Even kids stay away from each other," Blue took a sip from the ale they had gotten for dinner, "Oh, this is kind of good." "Yeah, I wasn''t expecting that fungi beer was this good," Hera nodded. "Right and did you find anything?" "Nothing useful. To get their roles, they go to the entrance of the Wooly Plains, then they get the role test. It wasn''t in the doorway like we hoped. Silah doesn''t know much about the sky ruler either, only that it has a sharp cry and wings," Hera explained. "So, nothing that can help us. Great," Blue got up to refill her cup but stopped midway, sitting back on the chair and closing her eyes in pain. "Are you ok? Want me to call Risli?" Hera quickly got up, getting closer to Blue. "I''m fine. Just some cramps. It''s been a while since I had one this bad." "Are you going to be ok? Tomorrow we were supposed to go to the dungeon, but if you are not feeling well, I can ask Naka to postpone it." "Yeah, I''m sure she''s going to love that." "If she doesn''t like it, it''s her problem. I''m not going without you, and if your cramps are that bad, I don''t want you near anything dangerous. You have my permission to skip training," Hera refilled Blue''s cup. "Thanks, mom," Blue chuckled, receiving a stern look from Hera, "Oh, don''t look at me like that. You are a nice mom friend. Not all mothers suck like yours." "Yeah, yeah. Thank the system for that," Hera rolled her eyes. They ate and headed to bed. Blue took one of the painkiller potions that Risli left her for her foot before going to sleep. Hera entered her room and checked her tablet. She started writing a journal with all the info they gathered about the room, but it was still nowhere near enough to give them a glimpse of where they could find the key for the doorway. At least the week wasn''t entirely wasted. Both Blue and her managed to learn a skill for the martial arts that the guards taught them. Silah was an incredible teacher. She understood the moveset that Hera already knew and used that as a base for showing how the Subtle Strike would work. For Blue, it didn''t take any incredible insight. The controller already had some knowledge of martial arts, and the instructions given by Sevaris were everything she needed to unlock the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subtle Strike ¨C Beginner A fighting style that focuses on interrupting the opponent''s movements. It requires knowledge not only about the anatomy of your enemy but its attack patterns as well in order to be effective. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was simple, but at the same time, it required a lot of work to make it useful. Hera thought that it could be incredible when doing a dungeon to train. If she used this fighting style in the Underground Forest, there was a good chance she could take advantage of the skills she learned. It also seemed like an excellent thing to pair up with the hunter role skill. Maybe she could consider that one after getting her mage role. The following day, Hera woke up and prepared some breakfast. It didn''t take long for Blue to come out of her bedroom, but her cramps got worse. As they discussed during the previous day, Blue would stay in the house, and Hera would tell Naka that they had to delay their dungeon mission. Before going to the guard, Hera stopped by Risli and asked her to check on Blue later. Arriving at the guard headquarters, the group who would head to the dungeon was already getting ready to leave. Silah was by the armory checking everyone''s equipment while Naka gave instructions to the group. Hera took a deep breath and approached the captain, "Excuse me, captain." Naka raised her hand, signaling for Hera to wait, and kept talking with the group. She was just making sure their supplies and bags were ready for the trip. It wasn''t a common occurrence for the captain to participate in the dungeon. They had shifts every week, with 15 people going for supply runs. Among the 15 people, 3 would be senior guards who were above level 30. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. After finishing her discussion, Naka turned to Hera, "What do you want?" "Blue and I will be out of this dungeon," Hera replied. "Why? Are you afraid? Are you telling me that all that resolve you two had is already gone?" Hera frowned, "Are you going to let me explain the reason?" "Sure, tell me your excuse." "Blue is having menstrual cramps, and I''m not going without her." Naka stopped for a moment, "I see. It is unfortunate but understandable. Tell her to rest for the next couple of weeks. I assume your cycle doesn''t last more than 21 days, correct?" "What? 21 days? No, she''ll be fine tomorrow or the day after. Why would she take weeks off because of this?" Hera asked. "A cycle lasts for 14 to 21 days. You are a woman. How do you not know that?" Naka scoffed. "Hold up. You spend three weeks having your period? We spend 3 to maybe 7 days if we are unlucky. Blue''s started yesterday, but it wasn''t as bad as today," Hera explained. "She was training during her cycle? That''s¡­ impressive," Naka said. "Wait, seriously? Was that why her punches were harder yesterday?" Silah asked. "She was stronger during the cycle?" Naka''s eyes went wide. "Sevaris kept complaining that she had some sudden bursts of strength," Silah nodded to the dwarf behind them. "I did see Lerynn treating him yesterday. You are telling me that not only she did she manage to fight the entire day but even injured someone several levels stronger?" Naka asked. "Yeah. We can''t just drop everything for a few days every month. Sometimes it gets worse, and we have to take a break like Blue is doing today, but that''s rare." "Wow, that''s amazing! We can''t move around that well during our cycle, but what do you mean every month? It''s not a yearly thing for you?" Silah gasped. Other female guards were joining in the conversation, asking about the differences and what the humans used not to bleed everywhere. Hera explained how things were for her during that time of the month as best she could. She also noticed that the women talked about it very openly, more than what she was used to. It had been some years since human women started to be more open about their needs, but it seemed like that was never an issue here. Still, the men had the same reaction as she expected. They got uncomfortable, embarrassed, and quickly left the area. Naka let the group talk for a while. Even she was interested in knowing how the humans dealt with her periods, but that didn''t take long. The captain ushered everyone to get their things and head to the dungeon. "Silah, you can stay behind if you want. Since your training partner is not going to join us, you two might as well keep sparring." "I''ll do that," Silah replied. It was the first time they would be alone together, and she had some questions about life outside the city. This was the first time Hera arrived so early at the headquarters, so she didn''t know how intense the preparation for the dungeon was. They had carts with several weapons and hundreds of metal baskets used to carry the meat and supplies they got from the monsters. It was like the preparation for a massive camping trip, but apparently, they would do that every day, leaving the building mostly empty for the entire morning. Only a couple of guards stayed there, dealing with paperwork and with anyone that showed up asking for assistance. Silah and Hera waited for everyone to leave the arena and organized the things left behind. In just a couple of minutes, they were already sparring once more. Both of them understood each other''s strength, and although Hera had yet to win a single bout, she could feel the improvement in her technique. Since they had more space to move around, Silah told Hera to use her Wire Trap style along with the Subtle Strike. They had yet to test how both the martial arts worked together. The result was good, even if a bit clumsy. Hera couldn''t make a natural change between the two styles, and her stance for the Subtle Strike was still too stiff. They dueled until it was time for lunch. Hera was still unable to win a single bout, but now she was able to hit Silah''s armor a couple of times. It was to be expected. Not only was the dwarf 8 levels higher, but she also had the Subtle Strike skill at an intermediary level. One thing Hera found interesting was how the skill changed the way she moved. Before getting it, she couldn''t tell if a move was correct or not, but now it was like the system was guiding her. Every time she strayed from the position her body should be in, there was this intense feeling of doing something wrong. According to Silah, the more the skill increased, the smaller the range of the movement would be before getting that feeling, creating attacks with less and less wasted energy. However, at higher ranks, the feeling would disappear completely, allowing one to tweak and change the style according to the situation. Learning new moves on your own was possible, but very complicated. You had to get into a stance and search for positions that felt natural and then try to follow that path. It was much easier to have someone who is already well versed in the martial art to show the attacks. At lunchtime, Silah invited Hera to eat with her. The two humans would always arrive, eat and leave together. This could be one of the few opportunities she had to interact with her outside the training. Hera was worried about Blue, but there wasn''t anything she could do to help. Her mend spell would barely do something and could even make it worse. Still, it was better to make sure. Hera picked her communicator and tried to reach Blue, but got no response. It wasn''t much of a surprise. Even if they knew it was still working, they hadn''t tested while inside the city, not for long distances at least. "Sure, is there a restaurant nearby, or we need to pick food from the storage?" Hera asked. "There is a lovely place a few streets down. There is another place in the corner, but it''s always full of guards and is very noisy. I thought we could take a froster place," Silah looked at Hera, "Did I say it right?" "Close, it''s chiller, not froster, and you should say a more chill place," Hera replied with a smile. They were heading out of the building when a guard called Silah. "Hey, did something happen yesterday?" the guard asked. "Not really. Why?" Silah replied. "You never showed up for your shift in the forge. There are a lot of boxes of equipment that need some maintenance. Can you do it today? I don''t think the dungeon team will have a place to leave their weapons later." "Oh no! I completely forgot about that. I''ll be right on it," Silah turned to Hera, "I''m really sorry. I have to clean that place up before the captain, and the rest arrive. Since we''ve been training, I forgot about the forge. It must be a mess there. Can we leave lunch for another day?" "Sure, it''s not like I''m going anywhere so soon," Hera nodded, and Silah rushed outside to the building to the side of the headquarters. Hera watched her run towards the forge and mumbled, "So, where do I eat now?" 216 - Lunch break Hera took a peek at the restaurant near the headquarters. Just like Silah said, the place was very loud and full of people. The moment someone noticed her, everyone stopped to stare at the human. That made Hera almost run away. "I guess I''m still news for everyone here. Maybe I should just go home," Hera mumbled. She walked through the street, heading back to her place, but a loud clanging noise distracted her. Looking to the side, she noticed the forge with a dozen boxes all spread around the building. The sound came from inside where Silah was working. It felt weird to leave her training partner alone while she had so much to do. Even if Hera wasn''t a crafter like her, maybe she could help. Silah would always forget to drink water or go to the bathroom, only going when Hera said she needed a break. Grabbing some food was the best option right now. "Do they have takeout here?" she asked herself before going to the restaurant that Silah talked about. Unfortunately, that particular restaurant didn''t have any food to go. There were only a handful of places that prepared food for people who wanted to eat someplace else. One of the bistros was on the other side of the town, but one close could make various types of sandwiches. Some could even be grilled. This was mainly for people who wanted to stay by the lake during the day, but Hera considered it an excellent food for someone working. Helena used to love getting those types of things as a meal. It allowed her to have small breaks while doing her research without having to worry about starving. Hera headed there, and after around 20 minutes of hearing the owner talk about all the different variations of sandwiches he had, she managed to order. The odd thing was that she didn''t have to pay anything. All she did was ask about the flavors, and the shop owner got them ready for her. She tried to ask about how did that worked. Using something without using money was very odd. Unfortunately, he wasn''t very helpful in that regard. All Hera found out was that he would grab some food early morning and give any leftovers back in the evening. With a stone basket covered with some cloth in hand and a jug of juice, Hera went back towards the forge. The shop owner didn''t sell any drinks, but after Hera asked, he offered his personal ceramic jar and didn''t take no for an answer. Going back to the forge, she saw Silah outside, carrying one of the large boxes filled with equipment to the headquarters. Hera arrived just as the box hit the ground. "I have to say, you don''t seem that strong when we are fighting. Are you holding back on me?" "What? Oh, hi! Erm... Hello," Silah looked at the box, "A little bit, but it was the captain''s orders. She said that if I used all my strength, I could hurt you because of the level difference. It''s not that I wasn''t taking anything seriously, I promise, and I''m really, really sorry!" Silah spoke so quickly that it was even hard for Hera to follow, "Hey, hey. It''s ok. I get why you held back. I already get enough bruises during our training. If you went all out, I would probably have broken a few things." "I would never do that! No, I can never hurt you like that, and you are amazing, you know. I''m not sure anyone ever got the Subtle Strike skill so fast." "C''mon, I''m sure someone else got it. If not, it''s probably because I''m used to fighting. I''m nowhere near that impressive. Blue got her skill in what, two days?" "You can''t compare yourself with other people. Take some credit for what you do." Hera tilted her head, "Weren''t you the one comparing me?" Silah opened her mouth, then looked towards the box, "Anyway. What brings you back here?" "I had a feeling you were the type to forget about lunch. So I got us some sandwiches," Hera showed the basket. "Oh, you didn''t have to. I was going to eat later." "Later when?" "¡­ at dinner." "Yeah, no. Let''s eat something now. Is there a good place around here?" "We can sit by the forge wall.There is a nice view of the lake and the headquarters here," Silah pointed to a place. They walked over and started eating. Hera had no idea what Silah liked to eat, so she got a nice spread of sandwiches. Silah picked one with lettuce and carrots while Hera took a BLT. As they ate, Silah asked various questions about life outside the city. How the cities were, the things that Hera had seen, and the places she''d been. Hera did her best to answer the questions while being careful. There were a few things that the king had asked her not to mention, and the last thing she needed was to lose the little trust they had gained. However, the stories quickly became depressing. Remembering that she was stuck in this room wasn''t exactly her definition of fun. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "So, let''s talk about you now. What are you doing here? Just sharpening things?" Hera asked. "That''s part of it. I need to fix any bends in the weapons too. Once a week, I forge a couple of new weapons or armor for anyone who is using one for too long. Sometimes I also have to drop by the mine for materials." "The mine? There is still ore there? I figured 12 hundred years would be enough to clean it out." "What? The mine is replenished once a month. The mountain makes the ore grow again, and its voice warns us when it is about to happen. Why would it ever run out?" "Oh, back home, there are mines that don''t refill. If you take a piece of ore, it will never show up again." Silah stopped in the middle of a bite, "Are you serious?" she asked with a mouth full. "What?" Silah finished chewing, "Sorry, are you serious?" "Yeah, some places don''t have unlimited resources, and others¡­" Hera thought for a moment. How could she explain that part without mentioning other rooms and the MAZE? "Other places don''t have respawnable materials. " "I guess they don''t have the blessing of the mountain," Silah said. "It might be. Outs¡­. In other places, people don''t talk about the voice of the mountain." "Really? People don''t see its sky blue messages?" "We do see them, but we call it by a different name. I can''t say where the name comes from, but we just call it ''The System.''" Hera explained. "The System?" "Yeah, weird, right? It was a name created a long time ago, but we don''t treat it as well as you guys. Those small shrines you have in your homes to thank the mountain is not something we tend to do. Well¡­ there is a religion that worships the System, but not many people are a part of it. We take the System for granted since even if someone doesn''t do anything special, they still can use it." "But it''s not about getting something in return. It''s about thanking for what we are given. Even if we don''t have anything to ask for, we pray to the mountain to thank it for everything it provides us," Silah explained. Hera nodded, "Yeah, I get that. It''s a nice sentiment, but no one back home does that," Hera looked to the basket, "Do you want the last one?" "It''s all yours. If I eat more, I''ll be sleepy, and I still have a lot of work to do." "Can I help?" Hera took a bite of the last sandwich. "Well, do you know how to repair weapons and armor?" Hera nodded and showed her handaxe as an example of her work. Silah instantly went to her work mode, noticing how she had sharpened it and the places where she used too much strength. She also realized that the balance of the weapon was weird. Just by staring at the metal, the genius blacksmith could tell its weight distribution, but this handaxe didn''t match how it was supposed to be. Silah could tell if there was any enchantment that changed how the mana would be inside the weapon, but even that felt wrong. "What did you do with this weapon? Do all humans have weapons like this?" Silah asked. "What do you mean?" "The balance is all wrong. I mean, it''s not bad, but it''s not right." "Oh no, that''s something I did. I learned how to do that with Rose, another crafter. We can shift the mana inside a weapon to change its weight. Now I was just trying out a few things to see how I can handle it better." "Really? Can you show me? I''ve tried doing that before, but it always messes up with the enchantment placed in the weapon." "Only if I can help you finish your work. I can''t help with armor, but am I good enough for weapons?" "Yeah, yeah. Of course. Even if there are a few mistakes, I can fix them quickly. With you here, I might get home for dinner." "Let''s go then. If we have time, I can show you how that skill works." They headed towards the forge and started working. Thanks to Hera''s help, Silah finished all the work that had piled up during the week in one afternoon. They spent most of the time talking while repairing the weapons. During small breaks, Hera tried to explain how the Weapon Rebalance skill worked. During their second break, Silah got the skill already at the novice rank. A little after 8 P.M., they were done with all the gear that needed repairs. Silah thanked Hera, saying there was no way she could''ve done all that without her. In reality, without Hera, the blacksmith would take only a couple of extra hours to finish the work, but she was genuinely thankful for all the help. Silah offered to get Hera dinner as thanks, but she refused. Blue was still at home, and Hera was worried. Risli gave Blue some ointments and a couple of potions for the pain, and now she was feeling much better. By her estimates, it would still be a couple of days before she was dungeon ready, but she could at least train the next day thanks to the medicine. The next morning, Hera decided to stop by Risli''s before going to the guard. She asked the guard before leaving, and she didn''t have to go early in the morning to the guard. Her reason to go to the hut was to ask Risli to teach her any spells to remove poison and any healing spells. Risli wasn''t much fond of the idea of having a student, but since Hera just wanted to learn a few spells and not the entire craft, Risli accepted her as a temporary student, after all, the human wasn''t that bad of a company. The shifts for the dungeon for the next few days were already decided by Naka. Hera and Blue and their training partners, as well as the captain, were all scheduled to enter the Wooly Plains in 5 days. Luckily for Hera, that was enough time to figure out a poison control spell. Risli was actually trying to teach her how to remove poison by pulling it away from the body, but the spell Hera got was a bit different. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Control Rank: Intermediate Allows the user to control the behavior of poisons. If the poison was not created by the user, there is a chance that the user won''t be able to control it. The amount of mana used will depend on the change desired. Base mana cost to Nullify the poison: 1x the amount used to create the poison Base mana cost to Boost the poison: 2x the amount used to create the poison Base mana cost to Change the poison''s effect: 4x the amount used to create the poison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 217 - Wooly Plains "You know one thing that I was thinking about?" Blue ate another strip of bacon. "What?" Hera asked. They were having breakfast before heading to the guard. Today was the day they would finally go inside the dungeon. Hera wanted to understand how long it would take for them to be ready to fight the Sky Ruler. There wasn''t much they could do to figure out how much experience they got with each run. Bonnie once had started working on an algorithm that took into account how many monsters were inside and their levels. If Hera did something similar, it could be possible to have at least some sort of idea of how long it would take for them to reach level 15. "Why the system gave the Sky Ruler immunity against dwarves?" "What do you mean?" "That''s what they say, right? If they see it and try to fight it, their attacks won''t work, and they can''t even enter its lair. Why all those restrictions?" Blue asked. "I don''t know... I don''t think I ever heard anything about that. Could there be some sort of rule about all this?" "Can''t you do your thing and figure it out?" "I told you, I can''t. Not right now." "Why?" "Blue, you have to stop asking about it. I can''t explain how that works, and¡­" Hera took a deep breath, hoping it wouldn''t be enough information to break the rules of the skill, "If I talk about it, I can lose what allows me to do that." "Really? That seems unfair. Why make a skill that has to be kept hidden?" "Why a monster has immunity against the people who live in its room? Or why is there a doorway in the middle of a dungeon? Why are roles a thing? I have no clue," Hera shrugged. Blue nodded, finishing her breakfast. Less than half an hour later, she and Hera were arriving at the guard headquarters. This time they wanted to help with the preparations for the dungeon. So far, they only had been taking the resources away from the city and not giving anything back. However, Naka had other plans. They would be in a small briefing explaining how the dungeon worked. By the information that Hera and Blue got, it was a pretty standard mission. Go inside and kill the boss monster. It would be roaming around, so the team had to split off to search for it. They had 1 hour to find and kill the boss. Otherwise, they would all have to run away. Leaving the boss alive for too long would awaken the Sky Ruler, and its children would start swooping in to attack. Just like the real version, the dwarves wouldn''t be able to harm the creatures. "Oh, and what is that Sky Ruler? What does it look like?" Blue asked. "No one alive ever saw it, but its children are four-legged birds with long red legs with black claws, bodies with red and green feathers and long feathery tails. Its beak is long and jagged, capable of biting through rocks, and even the children have some control over the wind," Naka explained. "That description¡­ It sounds like they are griffons, right?" Hera turned to Blue. "I guess so. They are basically eagles with 4 legs and wings, right?" Blue asked. "Yeah. But I only read stories about those things. I have no idea if the information I have is real or not." "What do you know?" Blue asked. "It doesn''t matter. We are not facing the ruler''s spawn. After the Sky Ruler''s cry, we have 10 minutes to run away from there. You are not to stall and attempt to fight the creatures, are we clear?" Naka cut them off. "Yeah, yeah," Hera rolled her eyes. "I don''t want to hear a yeah. You two are not to do anything that goes against my orders. If you do, so help me Mountain, I''ll make sure neither of you ever enters a dungeon again," Naka stared them down. "But we need to check if we can fight those things," Hera protested. "Not my problem." "Hang on. Captain," Silah chimed in, "Can''t we make the Sky Ruler''s spawn come down even after killing the boss?" "It is possible, yes. But that requires us to kill all the sheep inside it. As you are aware, that is not an easy task. Some of the monsters are very dangerous." "We can take them," Blue said. "You don''t even know what they are," Naka scoffed. "We still can try that. Even if not on the first run, maybe on the last. We gather all teams for the last run and clear everyone out," Silah suggested. Hera nodded to Silah, mentally thanking her for her support, "Can we trap one of the monsters close to the entrance? That way, we can take everyone out of the dungeon before triggering the spawn. Blue and I will stay behind to see if we can damage them." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "That is a possibility, but again, killing all the sheep inside is difficult. The creatures are good at hiding and running away," Naka thought for a moment, "We can trap one of the weaker monsters by the entrance. If we root out all the monsters within our time frame, I''ll allow you to try, but you still are to obey my orders. Are we clear?" "Yes, ma''am," they all replied. The next order of business was to explain the species present inside the dungeon. Hera and Blue got a hefty tome from Naka. It was the compendium they had for the Wooly Plains. The moment the humans touched the book, it glowed to everyone''s surprise, and the information was transferred to their tablets. Hera explained what happened, but she didn''t know why the physical copy was still there. Naka explained that this compendium was passed down from the first generation of guards. Most of the monsters inside were called Wooly Sheep. Their attack patterns were much like a horse, either kicking, stomping, or head-butting their enemies. If they meet a Wooly Ram, they would have to be even more careful against tackles or headbutts. Their horns were incredibly sharp and hard, almost like stone spikes. Those species could vary in size, going from the size of a pig to the size of a cow. Another two varieties were the Mountain Sheep and the Mountain Ram. Their wool was much more like leather, and they could curl up in a ball and deliver some rolling attacks. Aside from that, those creatures weren''t much of an issue. They were slower and could easily be kited around. The Cloud Sheep was the last enemy they could find. It could walk around in the air and was the monster who could drop the coveted Cloud Wool, but it was rare to find them. The boss was called simply Plains Sheep. It looked like a giant sheep, being 2 meters high when on all fours, and it could use its wool to both attack and defend. There weren''t any specific patterns or anything like that, but the wool acted like a tentacle. At most, it could have two appendages at once. The monster moved slowly, but it was sturdy. However, they wouldn''t have to worry about that one. Naka was the one in charge of killing that monster. Hera and Blue protested, but there wasn''t any way to change the captain''s mind. Killing the boss was the responsibility of the senior guards. "Why? Why can''t we fight the boss?" Blue asked. "Because you are weak. The senior guard is strong enough to survive the encounter. I''m not letting anyone take unnecessary risks. If you wish to fight it, level up," Naka replied. "How are we supposed to do that if you don''t allow us to fight?" Hera protested. "The same way we all do. Fight against the smaller ones, and in a few decades, you will be strong enough to deal with the boss." "Decades?" Blue gasped, "How long do you expect us to wait before fighting the Sky Ruler?" "Maybe a couple of decades, 50 if you get lazy." "50 years? Are you crazy?" Blue said. "A sixth of your life seems a small price to pay to defeat a creature like that." "It''s half our life, not a sixth!" Hera yelled, "We are not going to wait 50 years to fight that monster!" "You will wait as long as I tell you to! I don''t care if the king himself asks me otherwise, and lower your voice when you speak to me!" Naka yelled back. Silah pulled on Hera''s armor, trying to make her settle down, and even Blue was trying to calm her friend down. After a few moments in silence, Hera sat down, and Naka continued her explanation. The monsters would drop meat and wool for them to take, and on some rare occasions, horns could also be found. Each run would have 15 people, and they would be split into 3 teams of 5. Naka would follow Hera and Blue, as well as Silah and Sevaris. She would be responsible for carrying the supplies they got. At least until they found the boss. Even with the tension, the guards finished preparing, and they all left towards the dungeon. It was all the way in the back of the farming area. There was this stairway leading to a half-broken doorway that functioned as the entrance to the dungeon. It looked like it led to a small collapsed tunnel, but it would change to a path leading towards the surface when someone tried to cross it. Three groups were doing the rounds today, meaning that 45 people would be going inside the dungeon. They would be doing that repeatedly, with breaks between each run. There was a set amount of meat they had to get, but according to Naka, each team would have to complete the dungeon three or four times to get enough meat for the day. Outside there would be a healer, just in case anyone got hurt. Hera''s group was the last one to enter. Naka warned the other dwarves not to follow her team. She knew that most of them were curious about how the humans would fare in the dungeon. When they walked inside the broken doorway, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Wooly Plains Dungeon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The tunnel continued for a few meters, going up until it reached an opening that led outside the mountain. Naka, Silah, Sevaris, and the humans stepped outside the tunnel and stopped. They all looked up with big smiles on their faces. Hera and Blue followed behind. The dungeon was, in fact, an extensive grassland at the foot of a mountain with some small hills and bushes spread around. The plains were completely surrounded by several mountains, with the largest one being the one they just came out of. Sunlight caressed the faces of the team, coming from a beautiful blue sky without a single cloud in sight. "This never gets old," Silah smiled. "I wish I could see this sky every day," Sevaris said. "That''s enough. Let''s get to work," Naka said after a few moments basking under the sun, "Team 2 go north, team three go south. Team 1, we go east." As they started walking, a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Wooly Plains Dungeon Quest Find and defeat the king of the Wooly Plains. First-time rewards: Random Wool, 10 000 gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s not a bad amount of gold," Blue said. "Yeah. I mean, it''s not great, but it''s not bad either," Hera nodded. "Avoid making noise. The sheep are easily startled," Naka commanded. The group walked for a few minutes, taking in the sights and the sun. The smell of grass and morning dew filled their noses. When the first sheep appeared, Hera activated her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wooly Sheep ¨C Level 6 ¨C (Wool Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s just level 6, and it has wool affinity," Hera said. "Affinity? What is that?" Silah asked. "It''s what type of magic or element they can use," Hera explained. "Those don''t have any kind of magic," Naka said. "It''s not necessarily magic. It can be just what its attacks or defense lean towards," Hera explained. "Yeah yeah, sure. How about we leave that one to you two then," Naka rolled her eyes. "Fine. Ready Blue?" Hera asked. "Yeah, I''m itching to fight these things," Blue started walking towards the Wooly Sheep. Naka turned to Silah and Sevaris, "We stay behind. Let''s see what they can do." 218 - Wool Everywhere Blue walked towards the cow-sized sheep. The monster was looking to the side, munching on some grass without a care in the world. Hera pulled her chakram and activated her [Hide]. It''s not like it wouldn''t help her just because there was nothing to hide behind. As long as her target didn''t see her, the bonus effects would still work. She gathered a poison needle in her hand but let it fade before tossing it. She wasn''t sure if using poison against the monsters could affect the meat they dropped. "Why are you so worried? We just have to kill that thing," Blue chuckled as she approached. "BAAAAAAA!!" the sheep yelled and darted off running. "What? No! Get back here!" Blue tried to catch up, but the monster was too fast. Naka started laughing, "Well done. You scared the easiest monster you''ll find." "Blue! Don''t run too far," Sevaris warned. Blue gave up the chase and went back to the group. "Sorry. I didn''t know how it would run like that," Blue replied. "What did you expect? They are sheep. They won''t stay still while someone strange gets closer," Naka shook her head. "They are monsters. I expected them to fight me," Blue crossed her arms. "That''s why you follow my orders. These creatures are intelligent. Unless they have their flock, don''t expect them to stay and fight," Naka headed to the direction the sheep run to. The monster had just gone over a hill, "Come. It will lead us to others." "I forgot to ask. Can I use poison on those creatures? Does it affect the drop?" Hera walked towards the group. "Do you have a way to remove the poison if it hits one of your allies?" Naka didn''t even look at Hera while talking. "Yes, I do. I just need to keep an eye on my mana." "Very well. Poisoning the monsters won''t affect the drops." Hera nodded, but an idea popped into her mind, "The sky ruler''s spawn. They come here to just fight everything, or do they hunt the sheep as well?" "I''m not sure, but I believe they come to hunt the sheep. As I have said before, we cannot harm those creatures, and I believe what you are thinking about has been tried with no results. I can confirm it at a later date. Now stay quiet. We don''t want to spook the other sheep," Naka replied. Hera nodded and walked with the rest. As they reached the top of the hill, they were greeted by what looked like a completely white fog. "Did a cloud fell down here?" Blue asked. Sevaris laughed, "Look again, Blue." Paying more attention, she could see the countless sheep spread around the area, all of them munching on the grass just like the one they had chased. "So¡­ If we hit one, the rest comes after us?" Hera asked. "Not really, but if they start to stumble into each other, they might," Silah gestured to the area that would come after them. "We must either pull some of them towards us or kill them quickly. If we start fighting them in the group, we will have to kill them all at once," Naka explained. "Ok then, captain. What is the plan?" Blue turned to Naka. "Are you waiting for my orders this time?" Naka side-eyed Blue. "You were the one who told us to fight the first one." "Fair enough. Start with that one," Naka pointed to a sheep in front of them, "Try not to push it away while fighting. Only after it dies, you move on to the next one. If another sheep tries to attack, move back to lure it away from the flock. You four will fight while I stay behind. Remember to follow any orders I give." Everyone nodded, but Hera raised her hand, "Can I try something first?" "What?" "I have a spell that doesn''t deal any impact damage. Maybe it can affect them without making them charge us. I want to try it on our target before we start." "By all means, if you anger one of the sheep, we at least will have one fight without worrying about the rest," Naka gestured for Hera to go. "And don''t you have spells that can pull something away?" Blue asked. "We do, but only one at a time. If we are going to do that here, it will take way too long. The captain has some other things, but if she uses it, all the sheep will be wiped out," Silah explained. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "And by doing so, it will take longer for you to level up," Naka added. Blue nodded and looked at the sheep. Hera started moving down the hill and prepared a poison needle. She wanted to know how far a single needle would go. Still, she activated her [Hide] before sending the projectile towards a sheep in front of the group. She saw the projectile vanishing within the fluffy wool of the monster. Hera waited a couple of seconds to let the spell take hold and felt an odd sensation. It was almost like something was going through her hair. It wasn''t a pull, or a push, just wind hitting a single strand. Hera She activated her [Observe] to confirm her suspicion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wooly Sheep ¨C Level 5 ¨C Poisoned (Wool Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It seemed that now with her new poison control spell, she could tell when a creature was under the effects of her poison. "Why I had to get a spell specific for that? It would be much easier if I could just feel it from the get-go," Hera mumbled. "Hera? Did you get it?" Blue''s voice came through their coms. They agreed that it was better to have them always on during dungeons. "It worked, but I''m not sure how long it will take to kill them," Hera moved back up, "So, here is my idea. While you three fight the first sheep, I send a few poison needles towards the middle of the group. If we are lucky, some of the sheep might die before we even reach them." "Would that work? I mean, it''s amazing. But can your poison kill those sheep?" Silah asked. "It should be able to. I haven''t seen anything immune to poison, although some monsters can brush it off after a while. If we had time, I would ask for us to wait awhile for that one to die," Hera explained. "We don''t have time for that, but the idea is decent. If you can do that and join the rest in the melee, you can try it. Now go, we already wasted enough time," Naka replied. Blue, Silah, and Sevaris walked towards the poisoned sheep. At the same time. Hera started throwing poison in the air towards the middle of the flock. After 10 needles, her poison crystal was already at half capacity. Even if she had a good idea, using that spell took way too much mana to deal with a large number of enemies. Another unexpected problem was the weird feeling created by the poison. Having that strand of connection was oddly unsettling, especially since she could feel more or less how far away it was. For better or for worse, only 8 of the sheep she hit got poisoned. Hera rushed down to help the rest of the team, but before she arrived, the first sheep was already dissolving on the ground. It left behind something wrapped around in grey paper. She wanted to take a look at it, but two other sheep were already going after them. Hera jumped to the side, slamming her handaxe on the monster Silah was facing. Her weapon cut through half the wool, but it didn''t seem to hit its actual body. "Aim for the exposed parts," Silah said as her mace came crashing down on the sheep''s head, breaking its skull with the strike. Blue and Sevaris were punching another monster, but their attacks made the sheep recoil. Seeing that, Naka intervened "Split the groups. Silah you and Sevaris take one. The humans another." Sevaris left his target and rushed towards Silah, leaving Hera and Blue to fight together. Having someone who could deal the killing blow more efficiently in each team made all the difference. Sevaris and Blue could distract the monsters while Hera and Silah finished them off. With each creature that fell, another bundle wrapped in a grey paper appeared. Naka yelled more orders, telling them to move back or change targets. "If she''s yelling, why did we have to be quiet?" Blue pushed a sheep towards Hera while evading a tackle from a second one. "We didn''t. They only got scared by proximity," Sevaris punched a sheep''s head, making it stumble to the side and get in Silah''s range. The sheep weren''t that strong. Their attacks were enough to push Hera or Blue away, but not enough to make them seriously injured. However, they had to be very careful not to leave their feet in the way of the monster''s hooves. They could have weak headbutts, but each stomp left deep marks on the ground. The duos were engaging in hit-and-run tactics, focusing on luring the sheep into a position where they could easily deal a killing blow without getting other members of the flock involved. It worked to a point, but even so, the constant moving around alerted a few more enemies than expected. The situation could escalate quickly, but Naka kept giving commands, letting each team member know how to move and what to do next. Thanks to her guidance, there were little to no issues. The most dangerous thing was when a sheep pushed Blue against Silah in the middle of her swing. The blacksmith almost crushed Blue''s arm with her mace, but was able to stop it midway. After about 10 minutes of fighting, Hera noticed one of the strands of poison vanishing. She tried to remember if she felt it close or not, but couldn''t be sure. She kept killing the sheep while trying to pay attention to the distance of the other strands. One minute later, another one vanished, but it was too close, and the timing matched the one that Silah had just finished off. Before Hera could even complain about that, she felt the fourth strand of mana vanishing. This one, she was sure it was far away. "Captain. Can you see any new holes in the flock? Where we still haven''t gotten to," Hera shouted. After a quick glance, Naka nodded, "There is one. Five meters in front of your position." Hera smiled as they continued their slaughter. A few minutes later, the flock of 50 sheep turned into 32 bundles of wool and 18 objects wrapped around that grey paper. They gathered everything and placed it inside one of the baskets Naka was carrying. Opening the paper, you could see several cuts of meat. There were pieces that were sirloin, tenderloin, ribs, briskets, and the paper was actually butcher''s paper, much like the one humans used a while back. The 18 pieces of meat amounted to 40kg. Each piece was at least 2kg, with some getting close to 3kg. If every team got at least that same amount, it made sense that they could feed the entire city with meat. "Baaaaa," Just as the group finished gathering their loot, a ram appeared from behind them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wooly Ram ¨C Level 8 (Stone and Wool Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Aim for its legs. Don''t let the horn get you. Try to kill it if you have a chance. Go!" Naka commanded as her team quickly moved towards the creature. Naka''s order carried some magic with it, making her subordinates understand what she meant right away. That made the combat much easier with her around. The ram dashed towards the group who scattered in different directions, but Naka held her ground. "I guess this works too," she mumbled as the creature ran at her with her head down. Naka simply slapped the monster''s head, making it fly off into the distance. The rest of the body dissolved before even reaching her, "Not even enough for a warm-up." Hera and Blue exchanged a glance. It was one thing to see someone''s level, but seeing them in action was very different. They both understood how hard was the sheep''s skin and to be able to decapitate it with a slap was something terrifying. Before anything else could happen, what looked like a firework exploded in the sky. "That''s the boss. Let''s head there," Naka turned towards the firework and headed off with the group. 219 - How dwarves level up It took just 10 minutes to arrive at the location of the firework. A couple of Wooly Rams appeared during that time, but not one of the mountain variations showed up. According to Sevaris, this was normal, the two types of sheep would rarely be seen together, and the rams even fought against each other. Since the other team already had cleaned up the area, the monsters were nowhere to be seen. When they meet up with the other team, Naka quickly got a report. The Plains Sheep was waiting on the other side of a hill. It was possible to see some of its wool moving in the distance. Now they still had to wait for the other team to arrive. Although the captain was responsible for killing the boss, everyone would attack it once to get some share of the experience. Hera wasn''t sure if that worked. When people were power leveled, they usually went for high-level dungeons and just completed the quest, or they captured and completely restrained monsters before letting the lower level one kill it. Having everyone share the experience by hitting a monster once didn''t seem to have a very good result. Then again, she wasn''t going to complain about their culture. After another five minutes, the other team arrived. Naka walked in front of everyone, "You all know how this goes, but I''ll say it again for the humans. I''ll attack the boss''s attention and hold it in place. You can use whatever you have to deal some damage to the creature. Ranged attacks only. If you have none, get a throwing knife from Mirvia. When everyone got a hit in, give me the signal so I can finish the fight," she turned to Hera and Blue, "Are you going to need a knife?" "I''m not, but Blue is," Hera said. "Yeah. I really have to figure out some ranged spells or something," Blue sighted. A short-haired dwarf with a slender build walked towards Blue. She wore tight-fitted armor that complimented her curves with purple lipstick and black eyeliner. She handed one throwing knife to Blue, "Here, just remember to give me back later, ok? As late as you want," she winked. "Keep it in your pants, Mirvia," Naka said. They all moved towards the hill. Beyond it, there was a massive 2-meter tall sheep with so much wool around that it looked like a cloud with legs. You couldn''t even see its face between all the wool. The 15 members of the group gathered in a line and prepared whatever spell or long-range attack they had. "Can you hit it?" Hera turned to Blue. "I think so. It''s too big for me to miss." "If you need any tips, go ask Mirvia." "I rather not. She''s¡­ too forward." "I thought you liked that. Or is she missing some muscle?" Hera joked. The two stopped talking and got ready to strike. Naka jumped towards the sheep, taking her longsword out of her back. Slamming it against her armor created a bell-like sound that made the Plain Sheep move towards her. "What''s Naka''s role again?" Blue asked. "She''s a fighter, but all the captains learn some spells and skills to help control the battlefield. That thing she just did is one of those skills. It makes any monster that hears the noise focus its attacks on her," Sevaris explained. "Oh, I have a skill like that too, but I have to yell," Blue looked back at the captain who was dodging the tackles of the sheep with ease, "When do we attack?" "We wait for her signal. She has to neutralize the wool tentacles first," Silah replied. They kept watching the fight. Naka hit the monster a couple of times with the side of her sword, not to cut it but to slam it. The sheep needed to feel threatened before using its wool as a defense mechanism. It took only two hits before the two tentacles appeared from the monster''s side. It slammed against Naka like a whip, but the dwarf didn''t even flinch. She parried the first strike, sending the wool back against the sheep''s body. The second attack went towards her legs and was blocked by the sword, cutting the tentacle in two. The pieces that were cut instantly stopped moving, and the wool started to return to the monster. Naka dashed forward, slamming her fist against what looked to be the sheep''s head. "Now!" the captain yelled. Everyone started attacking. Silah used a fire spell while Sevaris seemed to punch the air, sending light blue energy towards the sheep. The other guards all used different spells, aside from Mirvia, who just threw one of her knives. Blue did the same, and her attack barely hit. Hera threw a paralyze spell, hoping it would help Naka during her fight. The green projectile hit and triggered the claws that grabbed the sheep and sent off the electricity through its body. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Plains Sheep ¨C Level 10 ¨C Paralyzed (Wool Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled, seeing that it had worked. The spell could miss its effects sometimes. Still, every single attack could barely make a dent in the wool. The ricochet from a couple of the hits created large marks around the area, marks much bigger than those produced by the wool attacks. The Plains Sheep was clearly a monster focused on defense. Hera gauged that even she could take those small whip attacks, and they weren''t as fast as it seemed. Seeing them coming was easy and avoiding didn''t seem that hard. If considering only how to dodge and evade the strikes, it was possible that even Blue and her could beat the boss. Naka pulled up her sword and started attacking. Her movements were quick and effortless, almost like cleaving through a cloud. Each strike removed part of the wool from the sheep. That didn''t hurt the monster, but it got frantic. It tried to move closer to pieces of wool on the ground, but Naka didn''t let it. She jumped in front of the beast every time it would reach for its missing parts. Not satisfied with doing just that, she even cut off another piece of wool with each step. Hera couldn''t tell if the paralysis made any difference for the combat. The two continued their dance, with Naka taking the lead until the sheep was completely naked. Its body had a sort of grey-blue color with several black spots around. It was almost like seeing a giant dalmatian. Naka took a wide stance, and with a single slash, cut the monster in half. It was a good thing that the creatures inside a dungeon dissolved. Otherwise, they would see all the sheep''s organs spilling out. Before the sides even hit the ground, they all turned granular and vanished, leaving behind a massive grey package. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest inside the Wooly Plains By killing the king of the plains, you have restored order to the area. Rewards: 10 000 gold, Cloud Wool ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the same time that the notification appeared, Silah and another dwarf glowed in a familiar blue light. Unlike what Hera and Blue were used to, the rewards appeared in front of them right away. There was a bag of 10 thousand gold pieces on the ground and a massive bundle of wool. Despite being almost as tall as she was, the wool was very light. She could lift it in a single finger, although balancing it was another thing entirely. Blue got a similar bundle, but her wool was glowing slightly. "Wow! You got enchanted Cloud Wool!" Silah gasped. "Enchanted?" Blue asked. "Yeah! It almost guarantees that whatever is made with that will be enchanted," Silah explained. ¡°Oh, that''s nice. And congratulations on the level up," Blue said. "Thanks, I''ll talk to the captain about the attributes I should Increase." "You guys need the captain''s permission to increase your attributes?" Hera asked. "We don''t need her permission, but we take her advice. It''s better to listen to someone that knows better," Silah explained. "Hey, Blue. Mind getting my knives back?" Mirvia interrupted the conversation. "Sure," Blue walked over the battlefield and picked the two throwing knives that she and Mirvia used. When she returned, Naka was by her side, carrying the large bundle of meat. "Now, we leave the dungeon and get ready for the next attempt," the captain commanded. Everyone nodded and helped gather the drops. The entire team got in total close to 80 kg of meat. As they walked, Hera turned to Naka, "Can we try to call the ruler''s spawn? " "Not right now. We are on a tight schedule. Wait for the end of the day. If we have enough time, we can give it a chance," Naka replied. It didn''t take long for the group to leave the dungeon. They were the first ones to finish the dungeon run, and before diving back into another one, they had a 30-minute break. The teams gathered a little over 100kg of meat. Ideally, they would get between 5 to 7 hundred kilograms before the end of the day. The breaks were almost like company parties, minus the alcohol. People would laugh and talk, have a barbecue with the freshly dropped meat. There were some drinks, but nothing too strong or that could cause any stomach problems. Silah had a job to fix any weapon that had been damaged. There were only a couple right now, but in the next runs, more would appear. Hera offered to help, but there was no need for that at the moment. The second run was very similar. Hera''s group fought against 40 sheep, and about 5 rams and another team found the boss. The fight was the same, with Naka shaving off the wool before delivering the finishing blow. Talking with the other guards, Hera learned that there was a reason for that. The captain could kill the monster in a single strike, but it would require a very powerful skill that would cause a large crater to appear. If she used that skill near the other guard members, she would put them in danger. Doing this dungeon felt much less intense than doing the Kobold Field one or the Underground Forest. It was more akin to an average hunt in a room. Fighting the sheep was easy, and even the rams weren''t much of a problem with Naka''s commands. During the 3rd run, Hera noticed that the captain''s orders weren''t just a way to control the guards but also to teach them how to fight against the creatures. Naka wouldn''t give straight commands like ''move back'' or ''go to the left,'' instead, she would tell them their mistakes and how to fix them. They found the Cloud Sheep and killed it on the 4th run, but it only dropped more meat and not the cloud wool. During their breaks, Hera started to help Silah since there were too many pieces of gear to fix. By the end of the first day of dungeon running. Hera and Blue had an idea of what it would be like to level up here. Despite their differences, Naka was a great trainer, and the skills they were learning with the dwarves were strong. Hera also wanted to get more of Risli''s teachings. Now that they didn''t have a healer on the team, one of them had to heal their wounds. Another unexpected result was that they now had fewer things to do during their free time. With no books or televisions around, it let them focus even more on training. Blue was learning how to be a better controller, and Hera wanted to increase her mana regeneration. She already had the skill at rank 3. One more, and she could get the mage role skill that would boost her abilities and maybe have a chance to talk to Peaches. All in all, there were several ways to get stronger in the city of Boothudurn. If they managed to keep that pace up, it might not take too long before facing the Sky Ruler. 220 - Hope Lost Time seemed to slow down. The dust fell like snow through the field. A green gust of wind flew towards its target, and then a snap. Two bodies moved through the air. They flailed around almost like ragdolls. When the large brown eyes meet with Alex''s, the time seemed to speed up once more. "Hera!" the assassin cried. Ruvna laughed, "Next time, use humans and not rocks. They fly funny," the kobold commander said to his troops. "Fucking asshole!" Alex dashed towards the kobold. He was the reason she attacked. He was the reason Hera and Blue fell inside the catapult. "Alex, wait!" Rose yelled, but the assassin was already getting close to the creature. Moving her daggers quickly, Alex attacked Ruvna, but each strike was dodged by the commander. Getting even angrier with the apparent smirk of the kobold, Alex started casting her Wind Blade but held the spell within her weapons, giving a longer reach to her daggers. That helped to hit Ruvna, but only to make some superficial cuts. "Get away from him!" Bonnie aimed a cold bomb behind the monster. Since there was a high chance that Alex wouldn''t retreat, she had to toss the spell on a spot that wouldn''t hit her. In theory, kobolds are cold-blooded creatures, meaning that sudden temperature drops could hinder their movement. The spell hit most of the other kobolds, but the commander wasn''t affected. "Alex, duck!" Rose yelled. The command went through the rage-filled assassin. As she moved away, a green projectile flew through the air, hitting Ruvna''s face. A plume of green smoke covered his head, and the kobold started coughing. Alex took advantage of that and slashed the monster''s stomach, cutting it open and triggering the spell with the dagger still inside it. The wind blade blew through the creature, ripping its back open. Even with a hole in the middle of its body, Ruvna was still alive and trying to hit Alex, but two arrows were embedded in its eyes before it managed to hit her. Seeing the kobold fall to the ground, Alex turned to the side and dashed towards the direction Hera and Blue were launched towards. Alan grabbed her arm, "What are you doing?" "What do you think? I''m going after them," Alex replied while trying to pull her arm away. "They are in the middle of the crossfire. If you go there, we are going to lose one more member." "Are you saying we should abandon them already? Are you out of your damn mind?" "Listen to me! Rushing in like that will just make things worse. We need a plan to rescue them," Alan replied. Alex yanked her arm out of his grasp, "Fine, but make it quick." "Girl, you better watch that attitude. We are not the ones who cut the rope holding the catapult in place," Rose scoffed. "Don''t you think I know!" Alex yelled. "Then stop making this worse!" Chloe said. Alex clenched her fist and stopped talking. The Wolves of the Night and the rest of the group finished the remaining Dragon Kin off. With no more immediate threats, Bonnie opened the map on her tablet and walked over to the catapult. At the same time, Peter and Tiffany were trying to find any signals of their missing companions. "I can''t see where they landed. I managed to follow their path until the dust cloud," Peter wasn''t as calm as he seemed. His voice already showed some hints of panic. "Me neither¡­ Fuck, there is no sign of them," Tiffany said. "We need to get to another catapult!" Bonnie yelled. "What? Why?" Kenji asked. "I''ve written down the direction they went, but I need more information to calculate where they landed. We either fix this thing or go to another so I can run some tests." "We don''t have time for tests! We need to go after them now!" Alex cried. "I agree. Testing will take too long. We only have some time before the chasm shows up," Rose turned to Peter, "They vanished in the dust cloud, right?" "Yeah." "Then we need to push forward. They are probably close to where the ground will split, and moving around there is very dangerous. If we can reach the cluster of catapults, maybe we can distract the Dragon Kin for long enough for them to get to a safe location," Rose turned to the rest of the group who was watching her, "Let''s go people, we don''t have time to stand around. Kill what''s in our path and ignore the siege weapons. We are going to have the Wolves break them." Siloh nodded in response, and the group headed towards the next catapult. They managed to clear another 2 groups before the ground shook once more. "Shit. Rose, we need to move faster," Alan said when the rumbling stopped. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "I know. We only have five minutes," Rose grabbed a few pellets from a pouch and turned to the group, "Does anyone have any fire spells?" "I do. Why?" Bonnie replied. "Burn these pellets. I could do it myself, but I''m going to spend most of my mana to do what I want." Bonnie picked the ammo and used a small fire fist to burn them, turning the brown balls black. "Thanks," Rose picked the ammo back and took aim with her slingshot, "Shit, we''re too far away. We need to get closer." They pressed forward, killing a few more kobolds while Rose kept trying to aim her slingshot at the cluster of siege weapons. However, the ground shook once more before getting in range for her attack. "No, no, no, no, no," Alex started shaking her head. The earthquake was so strong that some of the catapults ended up collapsing, triggering the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By destroying several siege weapons, the kobold Alchemist was called to repair the weapons for the next day of battle. Dragon Kin morale ¨C200 Wildfire will not appear during the battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The quake lasted for what felt like forever. The entire group fell to the ground. They stared at each other in awe at the magnitude of the earthquake. Only Rose and Alan seemed to be less fazed by it, but they still had worried expressions on their faces. When it was over, the group continued their advance. After a few minutes, they could already see the massive hole created in the middle of the field. Alex felt a cold sweat wash over her body and see the slight smell of sulfur only made it worse. "Please be ok, please don''t die because of me," Alex mumbled while running. They kept fighting for half an hour. Now the lava had already covered the entire chasm. There was another large horn signaling the end of the battle, and every member of both armies stopped fighting and headed back to the camps. The group kept searching for some time after the battle, but it didn''t matter how much they called for Hera and Blue. There was no response. "Alex, we should go back. We can leave the dungeon and check if they are still getting signals from the bracelet in the guild," Rose suggested. "And then what? If they are getting signals, we can''t come back here to help them," Alex waited to hear another idea, but no one had any suggestions. She turned back to her search, "Hera! Blue! Where are you?" "Shouldn''t we finish the dungeon?" as Tiffany spoke, she immediately got an angry stare from Bonnie, "I don''t mean to give up. I never want to do what we did in the test again, but tomorrow there will still be a fight. If they are missing or are prisoners inside the Dragon Kin army, finishing the dungeon is the best option." Rose nodded, "I get what you mean. After the dungeon is over, the kobolds will just vanish, and we can search without having to worry about fighting." "That''s a good idea. We need to rest for tonight. Everyone is exhausted from the fight," Peter added. "You can go back. I''ll keep searching," Alex didn''t even look at the rest of the group. Seeing the stares of the group, Bonnie turned to the leaders, "You guys go back. I''ll stay with Alex. If worse comes to worst, can you guys do the last day by yourselves?" Rose and Alan nodded. The last day was the easiest because of the morale debuff. Considering everything they had done, it was possible that the humans wouldn''t even need to participate. Alex and Bonnie kept searching until late at night. At one point, Bonnie went back to the camp and asked Siloh for help, but even with the Omegas, their friends were nowhere to be seen. Alex searched during the entire night, not stopping to sleep, eat or even use the bathroom. Bonnie tried her best to stop her friend, even going as far as sharing the theory that Blue and Hera fell into the abyss when it opened, but the assassin refused to listen to reason. In the morning, the kobolds found Alex passed out by the cooled lava and brought her back to the camp. Before the fight, Rose asked Bonnie to stay behind with Alex. If the assassin decided to go back in her search during the battle, there would be another team casualty. "So you are already counting them as dead?" Bonnie asked. Rose sighed, "Bonnie, you are a very smart and logical person. Can you tell me the odds that they fell into the chasm?" Bonnie looked away. According to the trajectory of the catapult, they could have ended up in the middle of the chasm. They could also have dropped before or even after it, but the odds were slim. Rose left their tent and headed to the battle. Alex woke up a few hours later, and only after a lengthy discussion she agreed to not go searching for Hera and Blue during the fight. At the end of the day, they received the notification about the completion of the dungeon quest. Alex didn''t even bother with it. She just bolted off the tent and started yelling for her friends once more. The rest of the group helped, but after five hours of search, they had already cleared out a large part of the battlefield and the Dragon Kin camp in case they had become prisoners. Rose and the other agreed they had to go back to the guild and report about the two possible casualties, but Alex decided to stay behind. She wasn''t about to leave the dungeon before searching every single centimeter of the dungeon. Bonnie stayed with her, worried about how Alex would act if she was alone. Bonnie gather enough food and water for them to last another day. At around 10 pm, all the creatures inside the dungeon vanished. Leaving only Bonnie and Alex inside. In a place like this, nothing would force them out. The two spent another day inside the dungeon, searching for both Hera and Blue without even sleeping. Alex didn''t stop for a moment. Bonnie was the one who had to force her to eat and drink water. "Alex, we have to go. They are not here," Bonnie said after the sun had set once more. "I have to find them. They have to be alive," Alex kept walking. They were already walking through the same area for the third time. "Alex, they are gone. Please, we need to tell people, her family, Leo, Mark, Lena." "No, they are not! I didn''t kill them!" "No one is blaming you. It was an accident." Alex stared at the ground, "I can''t lose them." "I lost them too!" Bonnie snapped, "Why are you acting like you are the only one who cares?" "Bonnie¡­" Alex looked at her friend for the first time in the day. "I don''t wanna hear it. I''ve been holding everything since you started freaking out. Can you stop so I can fucking cry?" Bonnie couldn''t hold back the tears anymore. "I''m¡­ I''m sorry," Alex felt her own tears coming through. The two hugged each other as they wept in the empty field. After half an hour, they headed out of the dungeon. Their first stop was the guild. They asked about Hera and Blue''s bracelet, and the information was already available. They stopped receiving a signal two days earlier. Blue had a steady heartbeat the entire time, but Hera''s oscillated. Bonnie knew what that could mean. Hera was awake before her last moments. She knew what was about to happen. They headed back to Brinefront, still crying for their lost friends. When they arrived back home, the two sat down on the floor, dropping Hera''s and Blue''s bags to the side. "Hey, girls. How was the battlefield?... What''s wrong? Where are Hera and Blue?" Helena asked. 221 - How we enter the dungeon "Hera, can I sleep with you?" Blue''s voice came from the door. "That nightmare again?" "Yeah¡­" "Grab a blanket from the chest and come to bed," Hera said without even opening her eyes. "Why?" "You''re a cover hog. I don''t want to wake up freezing in the middle of the night again." "Oh.." Blue walked over the chest by the foot of the bed and picked another blanket before laying down beside Hera. The explorer took one arm out of the covers and hugged her friend. "It''s just a dream. Your parents are fine." "You don''t know that." "True, but I seriously doubt that they are being held hostage by a black and white cartoon who tied them up on train tracks." Blue huffed, "I only dreamt that once. This time was the building." Hera opened her eyes. Thanks to the light coming from the street, she could see Blue''s face. Her eyes were puffy and wet. It wouldn''t be a surprise if she cried for a while before coming. "Tomorrow, we try to sneak in the dungeon. If things work, we can start talking about killing the griffon. We are getting out of here, and you are seeing them again. I promise." "Thanks." Hera kissed Blue''s forehead, "Now go to sleep, and if you take my blanket again, I''m kicking you out of bed." It''s been two months since they started going to the dungeon with the guard. At their request, the humans would be a part of the hunting parties 6 days a week. It wasn''t hard to find dwarves who were willing to give up their positions. Unlike the explorers from the guild, the people of Boothudurn were more than happy to take safer jobs. No one among them liked the idea of getting stronger by putting themselves in danger. Naka could be the only exception to the rule, but the captain wasn''t someone who would be open to talk about her feelings. Hera and Blue had been participating in the dungeons as much as possible. Their days were split into training in the morning and hunting sheep in the afternoon. That was completely different from the majority of dwarves, who would only work 6 hours a day. They even managed to level up once more, both being at level 8. Hera had her attributes at 28, while Blue already had over 35 Endurance. The controller could already take hits even from the mountain rams and keep fighting, even if she needed some healing after the fight. Yet, Naka never allowed them to wait out for the Sky Ruler''s spawn to appear during those two months. Despite that, they had come up with a plan to go around her orders. Among the senior guard, there was one man called Bairen, who was very friendly. He always talked about how one of his ancestors was best friends with Weston and that he should be able to understand the humans better than most. He was a very nice guy, and every time they were in the same shift, he would give them the freedom to train and kill more monsters. It reached a point where he even let them kill an entire flock of sheep on their own. Tomorrow was the day he was responsible for the dungeon. If they pushed a little, it was more than likely that they could convince him to let them enter the dungeon on their own. If he did, they could finally see what type of creature the sky ruler was and if they could actually damage it. Having that information would be a small strand of hope or reveal that they had to think of a different plan to leave the room. When the morning came, Hera was the first to wake up as usual. She sneaked out of bed, glad that she had asked Blue to take another blanket. It was freezing today. She walked to the entrance door and picked the basket of food they had delivered. It was a service offered by the guard to those who didn''t want to head to the warehouse. Hera started to heat up some water for tea, wishing she could make some hot cocoa, but there was no milk here, much less chocolate. While waiting for the water to heat up, she double-checked her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 8 Stats: Strength: 28 Endurance: 28 Agility: 28 Charisma: 28 Intelligence: 28 Luck: 28 Mana: 1230/1230 Remaining attribute points: 5 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style, Subtle Strike Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Flee Mana Recovery Improved Regeneration Active: All in Inspect If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hide, Sneak Attack Local Guide Weapon Maintenance, Weapons Rebalance Etching Medical Reference Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Her mana grew a lot during the past two months, and she had a few new skills to boot. [Medical Reference] made it so that she could compare wounds, diseases, and herbs with the knowledge she had. It was almost like a cheat sheet for any medical-related thing, but it would only work if she understood what she was dealing with and could identify it. If she saw a herb or a type of wound for the first time, the skill would give her nothing. The skill wasn''t omnipotent either. If she misidentified something, the reference wouldn''t correct her. Thanks to [Observe] and [Inspect], herbs and medicine wouldn''t be a problem since it would be nearly impossible for her to confuse what she saw, but injuries were another thing entirely. [Improved regeneration] was a simple boost to the ability of her own body to fix itself. If a wound would take 1 week to close by itself, now it would take 5 or 6 days instead. It wasn''t that exciting for now, but it could be amazing if she increases its rank. That also matched with Risli idea of her being a healer. The need for one was becoming more and more evident, and the shaman could see some potential on Hera. [Flee] would allow her to increase her speed if she wanted to run away from something. The skill didn''t have a number for the increase, but after some testing, Hera figured out that it was a 10% boost to her running speed. There was also an odd secondary effect. It gave her some instinct on the best place to run to. The effect wouldn''t reveal hidden passages or shortcuts. Then again, it was only at rank 1. Who knows what it could do when it ranked up. Her spells also got a bit of an upgrade. Mend, Pulse, Fear, and Paralyze all had reached the novice rank, allowing her to pull more power when using them. She also got some new additions to her repertoire. Close Wounds was a battle heal. It was much more effective than her Mend, but it only worked on recent wounds. It took the residual mana from the attack to boost the spell effectiveness. Her other new addition was called Flaming Poison Rain. It was a version of her Poison Shower, with a tiny change. The spell''s point of origin had a spark of fire mana that would ignite all the poison. The spell could both burn and poison the targets. Blue got some upgrades as well, but unlike Hera, she focused on a single aspect. The dwarves helped her to learn a new spell. A buff that worked in a similar way to her Static Cover. Instead of creating a protective layer, it would allow her to move faster. She could use both buffs at once, but she would lose both effects if she used the electricity for an attack. The dwarves had a different way of using spells. Instead of math or a code, they used runes to tell how the mana would act. Blue took a single look at the written form of their magic and gave up. On the other hand, Hera was trying to learn it, not to use the same type of magic but to understand magic better as a whole. After eating, the two left their house for the guard. There was still a training session with Silah and Sevaris before their dungeon run. The dwarves had become dependable friends during the past months. Sevaris could be stern and have an odd sense of humor, but he was always helpful and open to answering any questions the humans had. Silah was their unofficial guide. When not helping them out, she and Hera would work in the forge at times and just talk about life. Aside from Blue, Silah quickly became the person she trusted the most in Boothudurn. Today''s training was cut short since Silah was also going to be a part of the dungeon group. Sevaris wasn''t going to join them, but he helped everyone with the preparation. Hera and Blue used the excuse of wanting to chat with Silah and Bairen to join the group. After arriving at the dungeon, they waited for everyone to start getting ready and pulled Bairen aside. "Say, Bairen. You trust us, right?" Hera asked. Bairen turned towards her, "No one who ever asked that question wants to do something good." "Aww, c''mon. We would never do anything bad." "Aside from making the captain angry during every single interaction you have, and who was the one that started the whole prank idea?" Bairen stared at Blue. "Wow, wow, wow. You guys asked what we did to let out some steam and don''t pretend like you are not enjoying that. I''ve seen you messing with the people in the squad," Blue waved her hands. "It''s fine when it''s with others. I don''t like it when they prank my food," Bairen huffed. "Then tell them. We told you guys that those things are supposed to be only for friends and people who agreed to join. You can set your own rules like food is off-limits or something," Hera suggested. "I suppose. Anyway, what do you guys want?" "You know how we miss our friends and family, right? So we need to find a way to go back home, but to do that, we need to search the mountain for a path. We can''t do that because¡­" Blue was cut off by Bairen. "Because of the sky ruler. I know that part. Cut to the chase, will you? You are getting worse than the council." Blue put a hand on her chest and stared at him with a shocked expression, "Rude! I am offended. You have sullied my honor, sir. The only way I could possibly forgive you is by receiving your aid in our request." "Again, I have no idea what you want. And please never do that again. I almost thought you were Fethy for a second." Blue gasped, but Hera nodded, "You have to admit, she would talk like that," Hera turned back to Bairen, "Moving on. We want to see if we can damage the sky ruler''s spawn." "Are you kidding me? I''m not letting my people get involved in that," Bairen replied. "No, no, we are not talking about taking anyone with us. Just let us get inside there on our own." "You can''t beat the dungeon. Why do you humans insist on trying to die?" Bairen shook his head. "We are not going to beat the dungeon. All we need is to wait one hour until the spawn shows up and then punch them, see if they can bleed, and come back," Hera explained. "You are asking way too much." "Why? Do you have any reason to stop us from going? Did Naka order you not to let us go?" Hera asked. "Well¡­ not really. She just asked for us to keep an eye out," Bairen explained. "You are going to see us enter and leave. Don''t you wanna know if we can hit those things? If we do, killing the Sky Ruler is on the table. Imagine taking your wife outside to see the sky," Blue said. "I do¡­ I mean... Oh, she would love to see the sun, but¡­" "So, let us go there. It''s going to take just an hour and a bit." Bairen stopped to think for a moment, "One hit. You guys land one hit on those things and come back and let me distract the rest. I''m the only one who will know about this." "Deal!" Hera and Blue replied at once. Bairen called the guard to the side. As he spoke to them, Hera and Blue sneaked towards the broken doorway. Silah noticed the two heading inside. She had helped Hera come up with that plan and just smiled as the humans entered the dungeon. They would have to wait around for an hour before the Sky Ruler''s Spawn would appear. Since they had time, they might as well keep training. King Rutigan wasn''t very happy with the busy schedule of the humans. He hoped that after acclimating, they would join him for dinner at least a couple of times each week. Having them spent 6 days a week working, one day more than any other dwarf, made him feel guilty to take up their only day of rest to humor his wishes. There was, at least, a bi-weekly meeting with the council where they could talk about human society and inventions. Sadly, the idea of getting close to the humans didn''t seem possible with such few opportunities to interact with them. His current plan was to head to the dungeon. He had received a report that the humans were there on their day off. He could use a fake inspection for a reason to be there. Then, seeing the humans, he would invite them for an afternoon tea back in the palace. It was the perfect plan. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. 222 - Are griffons birds? "One sheep, two sheep, three sheep¡­" "For the love of the system, please stop. I''m already dozing off," Hera asked. "Sorry, I just didn''t expect this waiting to be so boring." "Me neither. I can''t even focus on mana training." "Nervous?" Blue asked. "A little. I mean, we are going to fight some weird monster that no one else ever fought." "I get that. I''m nervous too. If this doesn''t work, we are going to be stuck here forever." "Hey, don''t talk like that. This is gonna work, and if things go well, we can start training here. I mean, fighting its children is the best way to figure out what it can do, right?" Hera said. "Yeah, I guess," Blue walked around the entrance. They were right in front of the cave leading back to the city to avoid getting tired and have an option to make a quick getaway. It was rare for sheep to wander in this direction, meaning it was the best place for them to wait safely. "Anyway. What''s going on with you and Silah?" Blue asked after walking in circles for some time. "What do you mean?" "You know what I mean. You two seem very chummy these past few weeks and didn''t you have a picnic by the lake?" "We are friends. It''s easier to talk to her than with the other people from the city. She''s more open-minded and actually question things instead of just accepting everything." "Are you sure? I mean, you noticed how she looks at you, right?" "I mean, I noticed a few looks, but isn''t that just how the dwarves look at us?" Hera asked. "Well¡­ maybe, maybe not. Her look seems different. It doesn''t seem to be just out of admiration." "Maybe I should ask her about it." "Just try to be careful. I don''t want to lose a friend." "I will. It''s just¡­" before Hera could finish her sentence, there was a sharp cry coming from the top of the mountain. "Finally, this was driving me nuts," Blue activated her buffs and kept on walking to build up static electricity. "Get ready to run if things go bad, ok?" "Ok, but the plan is to fight them, right? We are not just hitting and running." Hera smiled at Blue, "Of course. I wanna see what they can do and what they drop. I''m dying for some fried chicken." "Ohhh, fried chicken. I want that, but are they birds?" "Honestly, I don''t know." Hera looked back up. Now there was a small dark cloud coming down from the mountain. The cloud was made of dozens of winged creatures, almost like a cauldron of bats. "Blue, let''s enter the tunnel. We can let the griffons pass by and then chase after them." Blue nodded, and they hid inside the cave. The noise of the flapping wings started to grow louder. The monster''s shadow became large enough to cover the sunlight illuminating the cave, but it wasn''t a solid shadow. Hera could see the movement of wings and other body parts. Their cries sounded like higher pitch versions of the one that made them come down. Less than a minute after the sunlight was hidden by the monsters, the light returned, and the noise lessened. It was enough to let them know that the creatures were already far away from the entrance. "Ok, are you ready?" Hera asked. "Yeah, let me just grab the basket," Blue picked the stone basket that the dwarves used to store their loot. "Are you sure that thing is not going to get in the way?" "If it does, I''ll just toss it to the side." Hera nodded, and they left the tunnel. The area was much different now. Although the green plains and the mountains were the same. The sky was now cloudy, as if a storm was brewing. The cries of both the griffons and the sheep could be heard in the distance, and some areas already had claw marks on the ground. One different thing was the presence of several brown feathers spread around the field. Blue tried to pick one up, but when she did, the feather dissolved in her hand. It didn''t take long for them to find a lonely griffon. Unlike what Naka had told them, the creature had brown feathers with some black mixed among them. Its claws were yellow, like that of a chicken, and so was its beak. The beast was the size of a Doberman. Seeing the monster, Hera activated her [Observe] right away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Rejected Sky Ruler Spawn ¨C Level 5 (Wind affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, what an ass," Hera mumbled. "What''s wrong?" "Use your observe. Apparently, the Sky Ruler rejected those." "Maybe that''s why they don''t match Naka''s description." "Maybe," Hera looked around, there was no other monster nearby, "Let''s keep the plan. One fight without it being affected by anything. We go focus raw damage." Blue nodded, "Should I taunt it, or we try a sneaky approach?" "Taunt it. It''s just level 5. Let''s see what it can do, but don''t be careless. If things go south, we run." Blue moved towards the griffon and called out to him using her taunt skill. She was careful not to yell but speak at a normal volume. The last thing they needed was to be swarmed by the creatures. The monster turned around and almost seemed to snarl at the controller. Blue made a come and get me motion with her hand, and the griffon replied with a tackle. It opened its wing, jumping towards her with its claws out. The attack was surprisingly quick. Even with Blue''s electric buff, she couldn''t evade it entirely, but the attack was also very weak. The talons didn''t pierce the armor on her arm, and the creature didn''t seem to have enough strength to pull her from the ground. "Let go," Blue said, throwing a punch at the monster''s face. The creature tumbled to the side. Some blood was already dripping from its face. "How hard was that punch?" Hera gasped. "Like.. 70, maybe 80%? I really didn''t expect that much damage." The griffon screeched and jumped towards Blue again. Hera saw that coming and threw her chakram to intercept the creature. The blade went under it, and with a burst of mana, jumped towards the monster''s stomach, taking advantage of the speed of its target movement to not just sink in it but rip through the griffon''s underside. Before the beast was able to reach Blue, it was already dead. "¡­ That was¡­ Underwhelming," Blue said. "Yeah¡­ I mean, did it even hurt?" "The claw didn''t pierce the armor, but the grip was tight, really tight. If it hit an exposed area, it could''ve been bad." "And it couldn''t pull you up? I saw it trying," Hera asked. "No. Well, maybe if I let it. I was trying to pull it back, not that it would make much difference." "It can help. Since you changed your center of gravity, it might have been harder to pull you up. Still, we should be careful. If two of those things try to lift us, I don''t see what we can do to stop." "Yeah, but what did it drop?" Blue looked over towards where the griffon body was before dissolving. On the floor, there was a light pink piece of paper with something inside it. "Is that¡­ butcher''s paper?" Hera walked over and opened the package. Inside it, there was what looked like a 2kg piece of chicken, "Hey, Blue. Chicken is back on the menu." "Yes! I''ve been dying for some wings." "This looks like chicken breast. Or something like it, at least. Maybe we can get wings as a different cut." "Well, it still counts," Blue looked up to one of the griffons that were flying, "Do you think they would drop the legs? I always wanted to eat a giant drumstick." "Like one of those things in old cartoons? Me too," Hera chuckled. Blue picked the package and put it in the stone basket, "Let''s go. There are still a lot of those things around." "Yeah, if we find another one alone, let me start the fight." They walked around for a few minutes and found a group of Rejected Spawns attacking the sheep. They flew around, shaving off the sheep''s wool and using gusts of wind to push it away in order to expose the body. After that, three of the griffons would sink their claws into the sheep and fly up before dropping their prey into the ground. At times, it took more than a single trip to kill the sheep, but the impact was enough to make it impossible to run away. When one of the wooly creatures died, the griffon swarmed around the meat until it dropped, ripping the grey paper while the meat flailed around in the air. "Why are they eating here? Aren''t they supposed to be monsters from the dungeon?" "Yeah, but the kobolds ate, and every dungeon is something that actually happened. Maybe this is just part of the story." "What''s the story here?" "I don''t know. Maybe, the circle of life?" Hera suggested. "Great story," Blue rolled her eyes, "So, let''s look at some other place. There are too many here." Hera agreed. Jumping into the mayhem between the griffon and the sheep was an awful idea. They circled around the plain, looking for either a griffon alone or a smaller group. All they had to do was to follow the area with less noise, and after passing by another group fighting against a mountain ram, they found a pair of griffons eating a meal. Without speaking anything, Hera crouched and activated her [Hide]. Moving closer to the monsters, she pulled her handaxe. At the same time, she prepared a poison needle. The griffons were still busy eating their haul. Hera threw the spell at the one on the left while jumping to the one on the right. They were a little smaller than deer, and that made her feel more confident with the idea. With a strike aimed at the monster''s neck, she brought down her handaxe, but a strong gust of wind messed up her balance. The attack wasn''t enough to decapitate the creature, but the slash opened a large gash on the griffon''s neck, exposing the bone. The one to the side was already staring at her with an angry expression. The wind intensified and tossed her from the back of the wounded monster. "Hera!" Blue rushed over. Hera tumbled to the ground, evading the incoming claws, and quickly got back on her feet. The griffon she had slashed was bleeding profusely, but it still tried to attack her. Its partner jumped over the two to stop Hera from running away and let out a massive screech. Before it was done, Blue reached the wounded griffon and, with a heavy punch, broke the creature''s neck. Hera turned around, using her grease fire aimed at the remaining monster. Who stabbed her arm with its beak. The impact was enough to pierce through her armor, making her arm bleed. Luckily, it wasn''t a deep wound, and the spell still activated, dowsing the monster in fire and grease. The griffon let out a frantic screech as it tried to fly away from the flames, but the flaming liquid was embedded into its feathers. Its screech became more and more desperate until the creature finally stopped moving its wings and started falling. Before reaching the ground, it dissolved into a bundle of feathers that gently fell, spreading into a large area. The other corpse turned into a long package wrapped in pink butcher''s paper. Hera grabbed a couple of feathers falling from the sky while Blue checked the cut of meat they got. "Hera!" "What?" Hera rushed over after getting three brown feathers. "Please tell me you know how to make chicken wings." "I might have a recipe on my tablet. Why?" "Look at this," Blue showed the drop. It was a pair of wings, each being 750 grams and almost the size of Blue''s forearms. "Oh, man. We are going to need to figure it out. I wonder if we can make some buffalo wings." "Don''t you even start it. I''m getting hungry already." They put the meat in the basket around the same time as the sound of wings flapping started to grow stronger. It seemed like the screech was a call for help, and now the rest of the griffons was heading towards them. "Hit and run tactics?" Blue asked. "Yep. Head to the tunnel while we are at it. Maybe we can bring some more chicken," Hera replied, already preparing some poison needles for the incoming horde. 223 - Chicken Dinner "Can you keep going?" Blue asked. "I''m not sure. Those things are starting to hurt," Hera was covered in wounds and cuts. The griffons weren''t able to deal any significant damage to the humans, but the dozens of monsters were finally overwhelming them. A storm of talons and beaks targeted every part of their bodies. Hera did her best to heal the wounds, but it quickly became clear that she didn''t have enough mana to heal all the cuts. Gusts of winds tried to hinder their movement, and the more griffons were around, the stronger the wind got. At the moment, Hera felt like she was near a tornado. The wind was so strong that they were having trouble moving around. "This might be bad, but get ready to run," Hera looked back to the group of griffons. Taking advantage of the wind, she sent out a grease fire spell focusing on its spread. Five of the monsters were instantly covered in flames. The gust pushed the fire farther away, managing to hinder their ability to control the wind. Hera and Blue took the opportunity and ran as fast as they could towards the tunnel. At first, Hera got a lead, but Blue''s electric buff recharged enough to make her faster. They fought the griffons for about twenty minutes and gathered over 15kg of chicken meat and five bundles of feathers. Each monster dropped more meat than a sheep and died quicker, and each battle had more enemies than the last. From the two that Hera and Blue killed, they went to fight three, then four, then the last five, clearing out all the flying monsters. However, a second wave came from the mountain with more griffons than the first. This was the problem they were facing. Since the two were too far away from the tunnel, the rejected spawns had a clear line of sight to their new prey, completely ignoring the sheep that still roamed the dungeon. The first wave only gave them a few cuts and bruises, but the 30 or so griffons of the second wave came all at once, swarming the humans and increasing their wounds by tenfold. They couldn''t last much longer, but luckily the tunnel was already getting closer. "Keep going, Blue!" Hera shouted. Another blast of wind flew by, missing the two runners and slamming against the mountain. The impact shook the tunnel, dislodging some rocks. These spells wouldn''t be rapid-fired. It took all the griffons to prepare an attack strong enough to create this sort of result, but they could get seriously injured if it hit someone. Blue arrived at the tunnel just as when a second wind spell hit the side of the mountain. A large rock was dislodged and fell into her path, making her trip. Hera pushed further, almost reaching the tunnel when another spell came from behind. She jumped forward, rolling inside the cave and using her flaming poison rain, aiming at the entrance. The entire tunnel became clogged with the burning orange rain, but it moved sideways instead of up and down. "C''mon, that won''t keep them away forever," Hera helped Blue up. "Ow, ow, ow. Wait!" Blue cried while limping. "Don''t tell me you broke your foot again." "I didn''t. I just twisted my ankle." Hera put Blue''s arm around her shoulder to help her move, "This whole damsel in distress thing really doesn''t suit you." "How is that my fault?" Blue gasped. "You really need to look to where you are going," Hera chuckled, taking a quick glance back. The flaming poison rain ended up creating an amazing roadblock. Any griffon that tried to come inside the tunnel would be hit with the spell. The attack would take some time to kill them, but igniting the creatures made them flail around, blocking the path. Hera and Blue kept moving until they reached the broken doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are leaving the dungeon. The quest was not completed. You cannot reenter the dungeon for 5 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, we are done for today anyway," Hera sighed as they emerged from the entrance. Bairen rushed towards them. He was waiting by the entrance, "What took you so long? And what happened with you two? Did¡­ did the Sky Ruler''s Spawn did that to you?" "Yeah, we got what? 15? But when the second group came all at once, we couldn''t beat them," Blue explained. "You defeated the Sky Ruler''s Spawn?" King Rutigan asked. He was waiting for the humans ever since he arrived. Bairen could try to hide Hera and Blue''s location from Naka, but there was nothing he could do when the king asked about their whereabouts. "We did. We got some meat from them too, but is Lerynn around? We could use some healing," Hera said. They could be safe, but there were still several cut all over their bodies. Not to mention that their armor was in dire need of repairs. "Of course, of course. Where is Lerynn?" Rutigan turned around, looking for the healer. "Lerynn, come here quick!" Bairen yelled. The healer quickly rushed over, and as soon as he saw the state the two were in, he started panicking. Their entire body was covered in blood, and by the looks of it, they coughed it up. However, as he treated Blue, who seemed to be in a worse shape, he realized that they weren''t that bad. There were no internal wounds, and nothing was broken. Blue''s ankle was the most worrisome injury, but at the same it, it just required some healing and rest. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "You need to explain to me how your armor got this bloodied. It is yours?" Lerynn asked Hera. Hera looked down, only now noticing the dried-up blood that covered most of her armor. The way it spread was very deceiving. It was like someone put blood in a spray bottle then aimed it at her, making most of her purple armor have small red droplets. "It is mine, but it''s not as bad as it seems. The griffons use wind magic, and I think the blood from our cuts ended up spreading that much. And all this only happened in the last 5 minutes. There were like 30 of them coming at us all at once. At least we managed not to be grabbed by them and keep the drops," Hera was looking around, inspecting the damage on her armor. "You¡­ you managed to even gather the drops?" Rutigan asked. "Ouch! Careful," Blue gasped as Lerynn cleaned one of the cuts in her face, "Sorry. Yeah, we only had one basket, so we had to pick the meat or the feathers. We picked the meat. It''s chicken!" "What is.. chicken?" Bairen asked. Hera looked around and saw a few of the guards preparing some food by a grill, "It''s a type of meat. We are used to eating meat like the ones we get from sheep, meat from birds and other animals with wings, and meat from animals who live in the water. We call them fish." "We are aware of creatures that live underwater. Generations ago, one could find those animals in the lake, but for some reason, they have vanished," Rutigan nodded. "Right, so this is chicken meat," Hera picked one of the pink packages and opened it, revealing the chicken breast inside it. She got up and walked over to the grill, "Mind if I use this?" "Sure, go ahead," the guard replied, but Ogryn stopped Hera. He inspected the chicken, and only after confirming that it really was edible, he allowed her to proceed. Hera used some water to clean her hands, and Lerynn helped by using a cleaning spell, "It''s similar to prepare, but unlike sheep meat, it can be rare or medium-rare. If you don''t cook it properly, you can get sick." Hera was about to place the chicken on the grill when Blue yelled, "Hera, wait! Cross-contamination." "Don''t worry. As long as the grill is hot enough, any bacteria will die, but that is something we have to be wary of," Hera turned back to the dwarves, "Chicken can make people sick if not stored and prepared correctly, and it must be kept away from other meat. If we store them together, people can get sick. I say that because that''s how it''s like back home. I have no idea if that will be an issue here as well." Hera cut the 2kg piece of chicken into small slices and placed them on the grill after using some spices they had on hand. "Can I finish healing you now?" Lerynn scoffed. "Oh, sure. Sorry." Lerynn continued healing her wounds now that Blue already had some immediate care. A group of guards left the dungeon, but no one went to help them with the baskets. Everyone was focused on the new smell that came from the grill. "How long does it take?" Rutigan asked. "For pieces this size, I think it''s about the same to make a well-done steak." "My king, I''m sorry, but that''s not the most pressing matter. How did you fight the Sky Ruler''s Spawn?" Bairen asked. Hera and Blue talked about how the fight went. How the monsters were much weaker than they expected, and just the two could kill all the creatures. Or at least all the griffons from the first wave. They told them about the levels they saw and the types of attacks that the monsters had, and their behaviors. Hera also mentioned how the way they fought against the sheep reminded her of Naka''s strategy. "It does look like what she taught us. Maybe the Sky Ruler''s Spawn are more intelligent than we think. Also, what is a griffon?" Bairen seemed to be having some trouble focusing on their discussion. The smell was too distracting for him. "Oh, right. We have stories about creatures like the Sky Ruler, but to us, they are called griffons. They are mostly connected to royalty and honor and not just terrorizing a city, but I guess that could vary from species to species," Hera cut one of the pieces of chicken to check if it was done, "It''s ready, everyone. There is a piece for each of you." Hera had cut the 2kg into several bite-size pieces so it would be enough for all the guards, including the ones who had yet to return from the dungeon. But she left two larger pieces, one for the king and one for Bairen, as a thanks for the help. She put the chicken on a large plate and passed around. It didn''t take long for someone to take the stone slab out of her hands. Her first instinct was to stop them, but the dwarves excelled in sharing, so there wasn''t much to worry about. There was a small plate with three pieces that Hera picked up and took to Blue and Silah. The two were talking about the griffons and how the fight went while Silah inspected Blue''s armor. "Hey, I got us a piece. And I''m gonna try to keep the wing at least," Hera looked at the basket. "Thanks. Try this, Silah, you''re gonna love it," Blue picked her chicken bite and passed the plate to the dwarf. "The smell is amazing. Let''s see how it tastes," Silah ate the chicken, closing her eyes while chewing, "This is¡­ incredible. It almost melts in my mouth. How can it be so good?" "Maybe it''s the secret ingredient," Blue said. "What secret ingredient?" Silah was confused. She didn''t see Hera putting anything different in the grill, aside from the chicken. "Love," Blue smiled. Silah''s face instantly became red. She sneaked a glance at Hera, who was too focused on one of the feathers to notice. "Hey, check this out," Hera noticed Silah''s expression, "Is everything ok? Are you having a bad reaction to it?" "No, no," Silah cleared her throat and looked at Blue before turning back to Hera, "I''m fine. What do you want to show us?" "This, inspect this feather." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rejected Sky Ruler''s Spawn''s Feather A feather from the Sky Ruler''s children that were unable to receive its blessings. It is imbued with wind magic to help with movement and the use of wind spells. If the feather is tossed up while inside the Wooly Plains dungeon, it will trigger the Rejected Sky Ruler''s Spawn''s descent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Does that mean what I think it means?" Blue said. "I think so. We can call the griffons without having to wait around for an hour," Hera replied. "How many of those do you still have?" "About five, all have the same description. Maybe there is another type that''s special." "And maybe this has something to do with the hard mode. Didn''t they say that no one ever figured out how to trigger it?" Blue said. "That''s right. We only know about the hard mode because of the voice of the mountain, but no one ever found a way to activate it," Silah confirmed. "My friends. I must say that this is quite a delicacy," Rutigan approached the group, "May I ask you to prepare this for the council? I understand that we have a limited quantity of this... chicken, but I wish to discuss some possibilities with the other council members, especially with Naka and Ogryn." "You''re going to tell Naka about this?" Blue asked. "But of course. You have proven it is possible to kill the Sky Ruler''s Spawn. We must discuss this new development." Hera and Blue stared at each other. They were sure that the captain would scold them for going alone into the dungeon. It didn''t matter the results. Then again, if they could get permission to keep doing the dungeon like this, it would be much better to level up instead of sharing the experience with several people at once. 224 - A mages suggestion "I don''t want to be rude, but can you please take a few steps back?" Hera turned to the royal chef. "Sorry, I just want to know how to make that dish." "And I''m teaching you, but I need some space to work. It already sucks that I have to work on my knees. You stepping over my legs doesn''t help." "You are the first human to ever use the kitchen. It''s not my fault you are struggling," the chef crossed his arms. Hera smiled, "That''s fine, but unless you want to try cooking chicken on your own and risk making the king sick, help me out here." The chef huffed but took a step back, giving her more space. After leaving the dungeon and giving some chicken to the guard working there, Hera and Blue went back to their home to clean up and change. Silah accompanied them to analyze how badly their armor was damaged and if she could do anything to repair them. Hera took a shower first, taking advantage of the bath they have to check her wounds. Even with the healing, some marks and scars were covering most of her body. They were superficial, but she got worried that they wouldn''t go away. While washing herself, she considered that Risli might have some insight into fixing that. Most of the dwarves didn''t seem that bothered by scars, but the shaman showed care when treating Blue''s foot. Hera did her best to take a quick shower, but she was tired. Even though the battle itself wasn''t that bad, dealing with Rutigan was mentally exhausting. The worst part was knowing that it wasn''t the end. The king was preparing an unscheduled dinner with the council, where they could both show the chicken meat and talk about how they could assist the humans while hunting the griffons in the dungeon. Blue took Hera''s place in the bath as soon as she could. Silah had already finished her early assessment, and to their luck, it was possible to fix the armors, but it would take some time. "Are you sure you want to keep this one? It''s beautiful, but the attributes are garbage. I mean, sure, agility can help, but if you are focusing on intelligence, you should have cloth or some type of thread. Minerals interrupt the flow of mana, even if you make them into scale mail. Mana needs a material that can breathe. And don''t get me started in the charisma scaling ability. Why would something like a shield have that scaling?" "Actually, I managed to get a great deal in that armor because of that. With the money I had at the time, this was much better than if I got something more standard," Hera picked her armor with a smile. It seemed like she had it for a lifetime already. "Really? Can you take advantage of the attributes? I mean, intelligence and agility make sense considering how you fight, and well¡­ you are gorgeous, so I guess charisma makes sense too," realizing what she just said, Silah turned away and almost shoved Blue''s armor on her face, "A-a-anyway, I already told her, but this armor needs some work too. I think it will take a few days to fix everything." "Thanks, and sorry for giving you more work." "Don''t worry. It''s nice to see what those things can do. I can prepare some things to protect you guys better." Blue should take some time before coming back. This was as good of a chance to talk with Silah alone as any, "So¡­ Do you mind if I ask you something?" "Not at all." Hera stopped for a moment. What if asking about her feelings made things get weird between them? Maybe it was better to pretend to be oblivious. Besides, how was she supposed to ask? "Erm¡­ What if I wanted to ask you to make some new armor?" Hera gave up on asking about her feelings. "Well, new pieces can only be commissioned by the captain. Besides, I''m not the best blacksmith around. People say I show promise, but I can tell that my work still has a long way to go. We could talk to my parents, they would love to make you a set of gear. Or we could try our luck with Kahala. She''s the best armorsmith we have," Silah explained. "Really? I thought your family had the best blacksmiths." "My family is the most consistent. We don''t take too long to make things, and it always has a good result. I love my parents, but they are not very creative when making something. They specialize in silverware and tools for day-to-day lives, not in weapons or armor." "So, Kahala? Any idea if she would be willing to make new armor for me?" "No idea. She''s a very private person, but it may be worth a shot." As they were discussing, someone knocked on the door. It was a guard letting them know at what time the dinner would start. Only Blue and Hera were invited for the meal. Silah wouldn''t be a part of it. Hera thanked the guard, and they went back to talk about armor. Sometime after Blue left the bathroom, Silah left, taking the armors with her. Even though it was late, she wanted to get started on the repairs. Sometime later, the humans got ready and left their house. As they arrived in the palace, Rutigan asked Hera to prepare some chicken for the council. The royal chef didn''t enjoy that idea. He knew how to cook. There was no need for a human to take his place. Hera prepared a chicken salad, some fried chicken, and grilled chicken. The idea was to make an entire chicken course, and those were the dishes she was most comfortable making. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She did her best to teach the head chef how to cook like her, but she wasn''t exactly a professional, and the dwarf''s attitude wasn''t helping. Neither of them was excited about the idea of sharing the kitchen. Still, Hera rather be here than be in Blue''s shoes. Her friend was with the king who wished to hear the tales of how they fought the griffons for the 4th time before the dinner. After a little over one hour, the meal was done, and the council members had arrived. Hera was called to the dining room so they could discuss what happened before the dinner. Being the last one to arrive, she noticed the stares coming from Naka. "Ah, welcome, Hera. I hope everything is ready with our surprise," Rutigan asked. "It is. When you say the word, they can bring it," Hera quickly walked over to a free seat by Blue''s side. "Is everything ok?" Blue whispered. "I think so. I never cooked for royalty before, so the chef will dress the plates. My first attempt was awful. How about you?" "I''m just tired. I had to tell the same story another two times, and I bet there is at least one more coming." While the two humans talked, Rutigan exchanged some pleasantries with the other council members while asking about any new developments in their work. Fethy talked about paintings or whatever people were creating, all of which were incredible, according to the duchess. Lural warned the king that they would need to increase the meat supply next month since the crops were struggling to keep up with the demand. "Funny you should mention that. Lerynn made an interesting report today. Apparently, our new companions sneaked inside the dungeon and faced the Sky Ruler''s Spawn," Telanz said. Naka stared at Hera and Blue with the same angry expression as if waiting for their reply. "That is correct. Our brave warriors have fought against the Sky Rulers inside the dungeon and emerged more or less victorious," Rutigan said. "You have? How did you manage such a feat?" Fethy asked. "It wasn''t that difficult. The monsters hurt, but they are around the same level as the sheep. If it wasn''t for the weird barrier that stops you from dealing damage to it, I think any of the guards could defeat them," Hera explained. "Still, my dear. It must have been a harrowing experience. You must tell us about it," Fethy pressed. "Yes. Please. Tell us the story of how you sneaked by the guards and entered a dungeon with no backup," Naka''s voice was sharp and cold. "Well¡­ we wanted to know if the plan of fighting the Sky Ruler could work. If we can''t even beat the Spawns, how could we hope to beat the real thing?" Blue defended. "Exactly, we understand that you guys have a way of doing things, but we can''t wait 50 years to get out of here. I''ve told you before, captain. That time might not be too long for you, but for us is a lifetime. Back home, I have a grandmother. She is old and wrinkly like Risli. If I''m being honest, I won''t have another 10 years with her, much less 50," Hera explained. "Not to mention our parents. Mine are close to 40. In 50 years, they might have passed already. You are used to taking things easy and being careful. That''s not what we humans do. We jump in headfirst and deal with the consequences. I know that this sounds odd, but that''s how life is for us. We don''t have the luxury to fight in the same dungeon until the monsters inside can''t damage us. Not if we wish to get to your level one day, captain," Blue added. "So you ask us to risk ours lives so you may come back? I''m not putting my men in danger just so you can go back to your mommy." "Now, now, captain. There is no need for hostility. I''m sure you understand what it is like to miss one''s parents. Besides, no one is talking about putting the guards in unnecessary danger," there was a long pause while Naka seemed to calm down a little before the king continued, "I believe that our new priority should be killing the Sky Ruler so we may open the locked doorway." Aside from Ogryn, the entire council was shocked by the declaration. They all wanted to be rid of the Sky Ruler''s threat, but proclaiming it to be a priority was something else. Naka completely stopped paying attention to the humans and focused solely on Rutigan. "My king. Forgive me for being blunt, but I don''t believe you understand the implications of what you are saying," the captain said. "I understand. I will be asking for some of our brothers and sisters to risk their lives. I can see that this is a selfish request, but denying the request of a loving couple to have children is something I wish to stop doing," Rutigan replied while staring at his wineglass. "People have to ask permission to have children here?" Hera asked. Rutigan nodded, "They do. A long time ago, before our generation, we understood that we must make sacrifices to guarantee our survival. At the moment, we are dangerously close to our max capacity. I, like my father, prefer to work below our limit, just in case. So, as morbid as it sounds, I can''t allow anyone to have children unless someone dies. This is something I really wish I could stop doing." No one had any arguments against that. It was rare to see someone who hadn''t, at some point, been refused to increase their family. Even to move out of their parents'' house, they had to put their names on a list and wait for a vacancy. Rutigan called the chef and asked for the meal, "Now, while we eat, Hera, Blue. Would you be so kind as to tell us how was the fight against the Sky Rulers?" They started talking, explaining the griffons'' attack patterns and what they found out during the dungeon. Hera also showed the feathers, which made Fethy very excited, but she was quickly shut down after understanding what the feathers could be used for. All members of the council asked about different details about the fight. Surprisingly, Naka was the one who asked the most questions. Despite all her protests, she seemed to be genuinely considering the different tactics that could be used. There was a pause in their discussion when dinner was served. The council had a very similar reaction to the chicken as the guards had earlier that day. Hera did her best to explain the food and the issues that could come up with it. She shared more ideas of dishes, but some, like the buffalo wings, would take some experimenting to make. After that, they returned to the discussion about the combat. When that part of the conversation was over, Ogryn spoke, "My mages and I have a few ideas to help Hera and Blue during those fights. We may not be able to damage the Sky Ruler''s spawn. However, it doesn''t mean we can''t increase the capabilities of those who can." "And if that works, we can show them the path to the nest," Rutigan said with a smile. "Absolutely not!" Naka slammed her fists against the table, making the massive stone''s surface shake, "They are too weak to face the Sky Ruler. Before even thinking about going there, they have to train." "We can discuss that at a later date, and I believe it will take some time before they are able to go inside the dungeon again," Rutigan turned to Hera and Blue, "Do you have any idea how long it will take to fix your armor?" "Silah said it will take a few days," Blue replied. "Good, during that time, I can show you what happens to those who go behind their captain''s back," Hera and Blue felt a chill as Naka took another bite of her chicken. 225 - Strategy Meeting "Just one more lap," Naka said. "C''mon! That''s the third time you say that!" Blue could barely feel her legs. She and Hera had been running around the city for almost five hours. At least Blue managed to increase her improved stamina to rank 4. Hera got really worried that her skill would do the same, but luckily it didn''t. "Let us¡­ take a break¡­ just for a few minutes," Hera spoke between breaths. "I told you to wait for my permission to fight the Sky Ruler Spawn. You didn''t, so you need to be punished. Be grateful I''m helping you train instead of something else. Honestly, I figured after three days, you already understood how this worked. Now keep running," Naka said. Hera and Blue pushed themselves to keep running, but they were far from going at full speed even with all their strength. Their route was to do a lap around the guard and then head to the palace. For the past days, this had been their routine., a run around the city for hours, then muscle training and sparring against Naka during the rest of the day. The entire running course would take them to the farming district, the entrance gate, the lake, and finally back to the guard. The muscle training was basically doing push-ups and sit-ups non-stop for hours on end, and the sparring was just an excuse for the captain to smack them around. As they started to move around the guard headquarters, Ogryn and three other dwarves wearing long robes arrived. They were all mages who studied the arcane arts in the rune circle, that was the building created for the mages to develop new spells and improve their magic. "I see you are putting them through the wringer," Ogryn said. "They went against my orders. This is the bare minimum they should go through," Naka replied with a smirk. "Fair enough. Just remember, when training a horse, you must use the carrot as well as the stick." Naka stared at Ogryn with a confused expression, "What is a horse?" "I have no idea. Weston said that, and Rutigan''s father used the phrase as a base for his life. It means that we must punish mistakes but also praise success. You can''t deny that defeated the Sky Ruler Spawn is an incredible accomplishment." "It is. I have to admit. I wish I could do the same," Naka sighed. Blue and Hera had just reached the road and were heading to the farming district. "Say, how long it will take for them to finish this lap?" Ogryn asked. "At this pace? About 40 minutes." "Any chance you could call them back? Not that we are under a time schedule or anything, we are just excited about the ideas that we have come up with," Ogryn explained. "Sure, my strategies also depend on what you have to offer," Naka looked back to the humans, "Just give them a minute." Ogryn chuckled, "Fair enough." Naka waited for Hera and Blue to get a few meters away before they were out of earshot and only then called them back, "Blue¡­ Herynin, come back. We have a change of plans." Hera stopped running, "It''s Hera!" she wanted to yell, but her voice came out a little louder than a whisper. "She did that on purpose, didn''t she?" Blue asked. "Yeah, she always messes up my name but gets yours. I don''t know why." "I meant the calling us back thing, but yeah. That too," Blue started walking back, "Do you think it is because you threatened Rutigan?" "Don''t know," Hera replied. She wanted to keep talking, but she was too tired to do so. Arriving back at the headquarters, Hera and Blue were led to a conference room. There, only the people who participated in the fight against the griffons were allowed to enter. This level of secrecy was out of worry. Naka believed that if the group''s strategies ended up in the hands of other members of the guards, they could have ideas of trying to fight the monsters on their own. Even though it was known that the dwarves couldn''t hit the griffons, this was only due to reports and stories passed down from earlier generations. Finding someone who actually saw their attacks being nullified was impossible. Naka sent word to a few guards to join the meeting. Silah was among them. Hera and Blue knew how much she wanted to see new things, and the captain agreed that if the blacksmith knew the enemy, she could prepare better tools to counter them. After a few minutes, all ten members of the team were there. "Now, Before we start, I believe introductions are in order," Ogryn spoke, "These are three of the best mages in the circle. Pyrrick, Totrak, and Lija. We had quite a few interested in the prospect of helping with this endeavor, but their ideas were the ones I thought to be the most promising." Pyrrick wore long grey robes with a wall-like pattern. He had a long brown beard that almost camouflaged itself against his clothing. His eyes were sunken and nearly black, creating a contrast with his pale complexion. The man looked like he needed a month of sleep, and his frazzled hair supported that theory, but there was an odd glow in his eyes that gave a different impression. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Totrak had golden flowing hair that was pulled back to reveal a cheerful face. His beady ember eyes set elegantly within their sockets, giving the man an almost regal look. He wore a large smile and seemed very excited to be there. Hera noticed some color on his hand that appeared to be from a tattoo, but she couldn''t identify what it was. Lija seemed to be the most laid back of the three. When they walked in, she even tried to rest her feet on the table, but a slap from Ogryn made her sit properly. She had grey hair pulled back in a short ponytail, dark makeup on her face with purple lipstick, and big wing-shaped earrings. If it wasn''t for the wrinkles on her face, Hera could have sworn she was looking at an angst teenager. On the guard''s side, they would have Naka, Sevaris, and Ganek, one of the senior guards. Silah and Lerynn were also there, and Hera and Blue, completing the team of 10 that would be a part of the expeditions. The captain introduced everyone, leaving Silah and Lerynn, the support team, for last. "Now, Lerynn, I asked you to be here since you already dealt with the wounds the Sky Ruler Spawn''s can create. However, any report you make to Telanz needs to get my approval first. I don''t want any unnecessary information to go out." "Sure, captain, but why? I understand the need to avoid having others try to fight those creatures, but my master would never do such a thing." "I know how much you care about him, but I know him better. Or, at least, I know a side of him that you don''t. Just trust me. The less temptation in front of him, the better," Naka replied. There was an odd moment of silence after her explanation, but Ogryn quickly changed the subject "Very well. Now that we are all acquainted, let''s begin. Hera, Blue, would you be so kind as to tell us how the griffons fight again?" Blue nodded, "Sure, it''s kind of obvious, but they are flying creatures." "Ah, before I forget," Ogryn waved his hand. On the edge of the table, towards the empty side, a glowing white rectangle appeared. On top of it, there were the words ''Strategy meeting against the Sky Ruler Spawn." "Ogryn, you don''t have to do that. There is a blackboard right behind that illusion. We can just write it in chalk," Naka sighed. "No need. This is easier, and no one needs to remember to erase the information. Isn''t secrecy supposed to be a priority?" Ogryn replied with a smile. Naka shrugged and looked towards the white form floating in the air. Hera stared at Ogryn for a moment. He always seemed quiet and reserved during the council meetings, but his personality might be very different. Hera and Blue explained for what seemed like the thousandth time how the griffons behaved and the types of attacks they used. Naka also added some knowledge that was passed down from previous generations. Ogryn made each of the behaviors appear on his illusory whiteboard. When they finally finished, there were about a dozen of attacks and movements to be wary of. From the simple ''talons and beaks are sharp'' to the strategy of grabbing an enemy and flying it up into the sky before dropping it, leaving the damage to gravity. All the moves they had seen were there. "Let''s start with the easy ones, shall we?" Ogryn gestured to Totrak. "Of course, Runemaster. These Sky Rulers are fast, right? Their beaks and talons only hurt that much because of the speed they come at you. So we can slow them down," Totrak said. "So a slow spell? Yeah, that could work," Hera said. "Not quite. You said that they come in large numbers. A slow spell, although effective, would cost too much mana, and it has a chance of failing, meaning we would have to use it again and waste more mana. Not to mention we don''t know how to trigger an acceptable effect. What we can do, however, is make it harder for them to move." "Go on," Naka perked up. "Do you all know the concept of viscosity?" Totrak asked. Everyone but Blue and Ganek nodded. "Viscosity is like. How heavy something is, or in this case, I''m assuming how hard it is to move through something," Hera explained. "Precisely. Think of water and mud. It''s easier to move through water than mud because mud is more viscous. The spell I developed allows me to change the viscosity of an area," Totrak announced proudly. "How much?" Naka asked. Totrak made a motion with his hand, and a small pebble appeared, "Runemaster, could you create a cube in front of me?" Ogryn nodded, and a transparent cube appeared in front of his student. "Normally, this is what happens when something moves through the air," Totrak dropped the pebble on top of the illusory cube and caught it with his other hand, "Now, allow me to use the spell," he mumbled a few words and dropped the stone again. This time, as it hit the cube, the stone started to move much slower, almost like it was sinking in the water. When it reached the edge of the illusion, its speed went back to normal. The mages all looked at the result with proud expressions. Hera also had to admit, this was an incredible feat. She would never consider creating a spell like that. "How viscous can you make the area? And how do you expect someone to fight inside it?" Naka asked. "Ah, yes. Let me increase the power of the spell," Totrak mumbled once more and dropped the pebble on the cube. This time, it was almost like it had hit a solid surface. The gravel was moving so slowly through the viscous air that it took 30 seconds to be entirely inside the illusion, "And as for your second question," Totrak showed a second pebble, this one with a small mark, and dropped it into the cube. The stone passed through without an issue, as if not affected by the viscous air. "I can mark creatures that won''t be affected by it. This mark takes 10 minutes to prepare and, after activating, lasts for half an hour. If I need to cast the spell once more, that won''t be an issue. The mark itself lasts until removed. So I can refresh the effect as needed. Talking about range, I can make an area about 20 meters wide to be affected by this spell." The spell seemed helpful, but again it all depended on the reaction of the griffons. The discussion about the issues that part of the idea could face lasted for another hour, with everyone pitching in scenarios and ideas. Hera couldn''t help but chuckle at the situation. "What''s so funny?" Blue whispered. "I was just thinking how much Bonnie would enjoy being a part of this," Hera had a sad smile on her face. Blue held Hera''s hand tightly. She could understand what she was feeling. "Are we boring you?" Naka noticed the distraction. Hera wiped away a tear that was starting to form in her eye, "Sorry, captain. I just remembered how we used to do things like this with our previous party." After a pause, Ogryn turned to Hera, "Do you need a moment?" "No, no, I''m fine. We can keep going," Hera turned her attention back to the illusory board. 226 - Master Armorsmith The meeting went on for the entire afternoon. After Totrak''s density suggestion, Lija explained her spell. She had developed two ways to help during the combat. The first was a stone barrier that would have a sharp point to block the wind spells and move them away from the group. The second was called silk fall and would allow anyone who was falling to move at a slower pace, avoiding any fall damage. Hera had heard about a similar spell, but they called it feather fall. In a place where almost no one knew what a feather was, the name must have changed. Pyrrick was the last one to talk. His contribution was the most straightforward, being an expert in buffs and debuffs. He explained that most spells made to increase one''s capabilities could easily clash with one another. If a spell would increase someone''s strength and agility, then another that focused solely on agility was cast. Only the higher of the two effects would be applied. Not just that, but depending on the way the magic was formulated, the second spell could even remove the strength boost given by the first. There was even the slight risk of two spells having such an adverse reaction to one another that part of its effect would change to a debuff. Thus, most buffs were created as something to be used on their own or made with their pairs in mind. This also applied when talking about debuffs. Hence, there was a need for someone specialized in the subject to create spells that would not just work well together but even complement one another. Pyrrick already had developed two spells that could boost five attributes in total, leaving only charisma unaffected and a debuff focusing on agility and strength. He also was well versed in several different elemental buffs that could increase one''s damage. As a trial run, he cast the spells in both Hera and Blue, and their attributes almost doubled. However, such a high increase was only possible for a short amount of time. Those buffs would last only ten minutes before needing to be cast again, and his mana would allow for about a dozen casts. Meaning that each would have, at the most, one hour of this buff. He could tone the effect down so it would last longer, but everyone agreed that it was better to have a massive increase for a short amount of time. Besides, Totrak and Lija would also be able to cast the buffs to help in less dangerous situations. After the meeting, they all went back home. Sometime later, after taking a shower and resting for a couple of hours, Hera and Silah were walking down the street towards a quaint little house by the lake. At first glance, the building seemed to be made out of wood, but after a closer inspection, Hera saw that they were massive stones shaped as tree logs in reality. The attention to detail was incredible. One could even see the grooves and rings of the makeshift trees. There seemed to be a single floor with four windows in the house and a small chimney on the back. To the side, there was another building. It was round and had a much larger chimney on the side. "So, this is where Kahala lives?" Hera asked. "Yeah, she doesn''t go out much. People see her maybe once a month in the market," Silah replied. "Did something happen, or was she always like that?" "I only know the stories. Apparently, after her husband passed away out of old age, she started to shut off. People said that he was her heart, and she was his mind. He¡­ wasn''t exactly the sharpest pick in the mine. Oh, that means he wasn''t very smart. But people said he had a big heart." Hera chuckled, "It''s funny that you guys have that expression. We say not the sharpest tool in the shed." Silah giggled, "Yeah, that one makes sense too. Anyway, Kahala was always moody, but her husband brought her good side to light. When he passed away, she went back to her old grumpy self." "Maybe she''s just lonely," Hera looked at the house. "I doubt that every week one blacksmith or another comes to ask for her advice. She chases most away, but every now and then, she takes a look at what they are showing and gives them a harsh opinion," the way Silah spoke made it seem like it was from personal experience. "Do you want to talk about it?" Hera asked. Silah stared at Hera, surprised that she had figured out, "Do you mind if we don''t? If you really want to know, that''s ok, but I rather not go into details right now." "Don''t worry, but if you ever want to talk about that, I''m here." "I''ll keep that in mind, thanks." Hera looked back at the house, "What''s the plan then? Do we knock and ask right away or stop to get some wine? I brought a chicken sandwich as a bribe just in case." "What''s a bribe?" Silah asked. "Oh¡­" Hera stared at Silah''s innocent eyes. In a society where everyone had access to food, water, and supplies, bribing someone to get their way must have never crossed their minds, "Nevermind that. This is just a gift. Maybe after a meal, her mood improves." "So humans call gifts bribes? I''ll have to remember that." For the first time, Hera considered what it meant to expose the dwarves to her society. Humans were greedy, money-driven locusts. When their societies clashed, Silah and the others would be exposed to all kinds of nasty behaviors. Stolen story; please report. "Please don''t. A bribe is another thing entirely. I''ll explain to you later," Hera tried to quickly change the subject. "Ok¡­ why are you being weird?" Silah asked. "Don''t worry about that. What are we going to do?" "Well, I hope that seeing you makes her interested. If not, I have your armor here. Maybe seeing the craftsmanship of a different society will perk her up," Silah explained. They walked up to the house and knocked on the door. After a long time waiting, no one seemed to be home, but Silah knocked again. More time when by before Hera said, "Maybe she''s not home?" "Oh no, she is. We just have to annoy her enough before she shows up. The last time I did this, I spent two hours knocking." "Two hours? Are we going to be here that long?" Hera gasped. "I doubt it. It''s late, and rumors say that Kahala likes to sleep early since she''s so old." "You people should stop talking about me behind my back!" Kahala slammed the door open, almost hitting Hera and Silah. The armorsmith was a bit shorter than Silah, not that it made too much of a difference for Hera. All dwarves were short, and unless they were right next to each other, she couldn''t tell who was taller. Kahala was wearing what looked like her pajamas, a long-sleeved shirt stained and beaten up, and a pair of wool pants. Her hair was mostly white and oily, as if it hadn''t been washed in weeks, and her face was bony and wrinkled. Silah had told her that the armorsmith was 280 years old, but she looked much older than Risli, who was getting very close to her 300. "No one is talking about you. I just knew that you would complain about that, you old hag." "Bah, it had to be the so-called genius blacksmith. Have you figured out how to melt iron yet?" Kahala scoffed. Silah was about to say something back, but she stopped and took a deep breath, "I''m not here to talk about me. This is Hera, one of the humans who arrived in the city a while ago. I''m sure you know about that." "Yeah, yeah. I heard about you. Where is your friend with blue hair? I heard you two practically wore the same pair of pants," Kahala took a long look at Hera, "You''re tall. Unnecessarily tall." "And you are old. Unnecessarily old," Silah replied. Kahala turned back to the dwarf, "I know why you are here, and the answer is no. I don''t care for who it is. I''m not making a set of armor." "Then help me fix the one they have. It''s made by humans, and I''m not sure how they did it," Silah pulled Hera''s armor from the basket she was carrying. Kahala glanced at the armor without interest, but that quickly changed. She pulled the armor and started analyzing the scales. Without saying a thing, she walked inside her house with the scale mail still in her hand. Hera got a bit worried about losing her armor, but Silah walked inside with a satisfied expression. "Come in. She''s interested," Silah smiled. The house wasn''t that tall, and Hera had to bend down a bit or risk getting a neck sprain. It was a small place with a single bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The furniture was also very simple, just some chairs and a desk, no decorations or anything like that. However, there were piles and piles of ores and ingots spread around the entire place. In the corner of the living room, behind the couch, a massive pile of gold ores was going halfway to the ceiling. Hera half expected a small dragon to appear from it. Doing a closer inspection, all the rubble and metal on the floor had a thick layer of dust and dirt covering them. It looked like they were there for a long time. "This is a mess," Hera mumbled, thanking her height for being far away from the dust. "Bothered by a little dust human?" Kahala scoffed, but her eyes were still glued to the armor. "A little? No, but this is more than I can take." "Humans seem to be really weak, maybe you should¡­" Kahala stopped talking to sneeze and cleaned her nose with an old grey rag, "¡­ should spend less time prancing about and make sure you have strong bodies." Hera stared at the dwarf, "You just sneezed. You do realize that all this dust is making it worse, right?" "Dirt won''t make me sneeze. I''ve been in the mines for longer than you breathe air," Kahala scoffed. "Not dirt. Dust," Hera passed her finger through one of the ingots close by, removing a layer of dust, "This! I know you depend a lot on healing spells, but basic hygiene is still a thing you know. If you clean this place up, you will stop sneezing, I guarantee it." "I''ll get Ogryn to clean this up later. He''s been bugging me to do that for months. Now can you stop complaining about my house and sit down," for the first time, Kahala moved her attention away from the armor. "Sorry," Hera moved over and sat on a chair by the table where her armor was on display. "How did you do this?" Kahala asked, pointing at one of the scales. "I don''t know. I wasn''t the one who made it." "Bah, you are no help." "What''s so interesting about this Kahala? I mean, the craftsmanship is not that amazing," Silah asked. "That''s why you are no genius. Look at these scales. What do you see?" Silah inspected the scales for a moment but couldn''t grasp anything out of the ordinary, "Nothing special. They are all the same." "Exactly the same." "So?" "By the mountain, child. Can you not be dense for five minutes? How can someone make two identical scales? It doesn''t matter how you forge it. There will always be slight differences, places where the swing of the hammer was a fraction too strong or where the metal cooled off a bit too much. I could understand if one or two scales looked very similar, but all of them are the same," Kahala showed the armor again. "You¡­ you are right! How is this even possible?" Silah gasped. "Oh, he probably cast those scales," Hera said. "He used a spell? Is that why the enchantment in this armor is such a mess?" Kahala asked. "No, not a spell. He used a mold to make the scales." "Stop talking nonsense and explain properly, Heka," Kahala slammed her hands on the table. "Listen, lady. I''m trying to be polite with you, but you only complained ever since we got here, and I even brought you a chicken sandwich. That''s meat from the Sky Rulers," Hera tossed the sandwich on the table, "But I''m sick of people with some power treating me like crap, asking me to do this and that but still can''t remember my damn name. I''m fine with explaining what casting is, but one, stop giving me attitude, two, if you don''t understand something I said, ask about it nicely, and three, call me by my name. It''s Hera." That reaction caught even Hera off guard. She didn''t know that she had all that bubbling up under the surface. Hera glanced at Silah, who stared back with wide eyes and then towards Kahala, who started laughing after a moment. "Now that I like. I''m tired of people kissing my ass all the time. I see a little of me in you now, the anger, bravery, and stupidity of talking like that with someone who can snap you like a twig," Kahala picked up the sandwich and took a bite, "Start from the beginning. What is that casting thing, and why are fungus involved?" Hera sighed, "It''s not fungus. Molds are like¡­ hollow shapes. Do you have an apple or something? It''s easier if I show you." 227 - Ready, set .... It didn''t take long for Kahala and Silah to understand what casting was. Hera did her best to explain what she knew about it and how people used heat-resistant metals to create the molds, but the blacksmiths knew better. Instead of having a mold made of another type of metal, it was better to make them out of clay or some specific types of stone to avoid deforming the product. After a few minutes, it became clear that even without doing something like that, Kahala and Silah were much better equipped to discuss the process than Hera. The human was more of a sounding board, while Silah and Kahala talked about how to use this new method. At one point during the night, they headed to the forge behind the house and started preparing a mold for the scales. To do so, they had to take a couple of the scales off and use them as the base for the shapes they needed. The blacksmiths spent around one hour trying different ideas and molds, but they would only be ready to use after some time. While the two talked, Hera dozed off in the corner. Naka''s punishment was tiring her a lot. A while after she started her nap, Hera shifted in her seat and started falling. Waking up with the scare, Hera slammed her hands against some of the tools on the wall, making them fall to the ground. "Careful with that, girl. I''m not in the mood to make new tools," Kahala said. "Sorry. I''m just tired. Do you guys still need me for something?" Hera rubbed her eyes. "You can go home, but come back in two days, and bring your blue-haired friend, just in case," Kahala replied. "Why?" "Just do what I say," Kahala huffed and went back to the molds she was making. Hera got up and yawned as she left the forge. Silah rushed right behind her, "Hey, are you ok?" "I''m fine. I''m just tired," Hera was still feeling woozy. She was more tired than she realized. "Do you need me to take you home?" "No, no, don''t worry. Stay, you seem to be having the time of your life," Hera smiled. "Is it that obvious?" Silah scratched her neck. "A little bit. But don''t worry, it''s cute seeing you like that. Anyway, stay here. I can get home without a problem," Hera gave Silah a kiss on the cheek and left Kahala''s forge. If anyone was paying attention, they would notice Silah turning red, but that wasn''t the case for Hera. In her tired state, she said goodbye to her friend the same way she would do it to Blue or Helena. Hera walked back home and, after a quick talk to Blue explaining what happened, she went to bed. The next day they returned to their training. However, their runs were now had an actual set amount of laps. Then, they had to focus on combat training with the captain, and late afternoon, after the rest of the guard went home, they would practice teamwork with the mages. Hera tried to talk to Silah, but her friend kept rushing from one place to another. Figuring out she must be busy, she thought it was better to give her some space. Later that night, Hera and Blue took the time to review their new skills and spells, already thinking about how to fight the griffons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flaming Poison Rain Rank: Intermediate Creates a series of piercing projectiles of burning poisonous mana. Creatures struck by the projectiles can become poisoned or start burning. The spell causes significant damage with the impact, and the poison will be diluted when comparing with a single target spell. Range: 20 meters Base area of effect: 7 meters Base mana cost: 150 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Close Wounds Rank: Novice Allows the user to assist in the regeneration of wounds. The spell utilizes residual mana from the attack to improve its effects. If the residual mana is no longer present, this spell has no effects. Range: 5 meters Base cost: 50 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So, the heal works for how long? After the attack lands, I mean," Blue asked. "I haven''t tested all the possibilities out, but if I use it more than a minute after the hit, it barely has any effect." "Like, nothing? Or it just loses the boost?" "Nothing, or at least so little that it doesn''t even make a difference," Hera shrugged. "And your all in thing? How does it work again?" "I can give a massive buff to a single action. Like running or jumping, but it''s a single move, and it has a cooldown of a day and a half." "You still haven''t ranked that one up?" "it''s kind of hard to level up a skill that I can only use once every other day. Besides, I save that one for emergencies." "That''s¡­ not the best idea," Blue saw Hera''s reaction and continued, "I''m not saying it''s not good to have it available for big things, but how can you level that up if you don''t use it?" "Well¡­ I guess you''re right. The thing is, I always get worried that I might end up not having the skill when I really need it. Like when we first got here. If I had used the skill to fight that kobold commander, I couldn''t use it to run away from the lava." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Fair point, but what about when we are doing something predictable? Like doing dungeon runs or training. You can use the skill now to practice, and since it''s a hidden skill, it might be something good when it ranks up." Hera nodded, "That''s a good point. I''ll keep that in mind. Oh, and before I forget. Tomorrow we need to go to Kahala''s place." "The armorsmith? Silah took my armor to her too, but why do we have to go there?" "I''m not sure. She has my armor and asked me to bring you, just in case. Maybe we''ll get lucky, and she''s actually making us some new gear," Hera wasn''t much hopeful about that. Even Naka was denied an armor made by Kahala. She hoped that, at least, they got their armor fixed. The next day was just the same. Training for most of the day and late afternoon, they trained with the mages again. After just two days, the new team was already starting to work well together. Since Hera and Blue were the ones who would be in the front line, they would fight each other while trying to hit the mages on the back. Sevaris and Ganek had to protect Totrak and Lija, respectively. At the same time, the humans had another objective. They had to steal a ball that Pyrrick was holding on the side of the arena. The mage would use various spells to avoid Hera and Blue. To make things worse, Naka would be protecting him as well. This training was to improve their decision-making skills and learn how to pay attention to several things at once. To evaluate things better, the captain had come up with a scorings system. Landing an attack against one of the guards would give them 1 point. Hitting one of the mages was 3 points. Blocking or evading one of Naka''s attacks would give them 5 points, and getting the ball that Pyrrick was protecting would give them 10 points. Another possibility was to land an attack on Naka herself. If they managed to do that, they would get 30 points. That last option wouldn''t be possible, and everyone knew that. It was just a way to show that chasing a treasure wasn''t always a good idea. Despite what they expected, the training was very helpful. Hera half expected to be a waste since it seemed like a lot, but it felt like playing something like dodgeball. So far, she and Blue focused on trying to beat each other and attack the mages. Dealing with Naka was not only challenging, but it would leave their mage open. Not that the guards would have any trouble to block the attacks, but it felt wrong to let themselves open like that. During the training, Blue ended up winning their ''match'' by a large margin. Hera only got 8 points, all for hitting Sevaris, while Blue got 18 points. She not only managed to hit Ganek, the senior guard, but also Lija. "You are only winning because of your grapple," Hera huffed as they walked towards Kahala''s place. "Stop whining. I won because I''m better," Blue puffed her chest. "Better at tossing people around. I still can''t believe you threw me at Naka!" "That one was my bad. Sorry," Blue scratched her head. "It''s fine. It just didn''t help," Hera sighed. "At some point, she''s going to treat you better. She has to, right?" Blue said. "I don''t know. She''s not all buddy-buddy with you, but at least she doesn''t give you crap all the time." "It''s not like she doesn''t give me some harsh feedback." "Yeah, but it feels different, you know. She always remembers your name. I''m always Heryn, Heka, Hebe, He anything but ra." Blue didn''t know what to say. It was odd how the captain treated them differently. They walked for some time until reaching the makeshift wooden cabin. Behind it, the forge was already puffing up smoke from the chimney. Hera guided them to the entrance and found Silah finishing up the last touches on Blue''s armor. "Oh hey, How was training?" Silah asked. "It was fun," Blue smiled. Ever since she got an increase on her [Improved Stamina], she was always energetic. "I bet. Sorry for not being around these past few days. I was busy working with Kahala." "Don''t worry. It must be great to work with someone you admire. How is it going?" Hera asked. Silah turned her head back to the armor, avoiding Hera''s gaze, "It''s fun. Your armor is over there," she pointed to a basket on the side, "Give me ten-fifteen minutes that yours will be done, Blue." Blue turned to Hera and mouthed, "Did something happen?" "I don''t know," Hera replied without making a sound. Before, she imagined that Silah was just busy, but now it seemed like she was avoiding her. Still, it wasn''t the right moment to talk about that. The blacksmith was busy finishing Blue''s armor. Hera walked over to the basket on the side, where her armor was. Kahala was by the forge heating some metal until it turned liquid. Hera called her out, but the dwarf didn''t even acknowledge her presence. With a shrug, she picked her repaired armor. It looked great, all the scales were in the right places, and the scratches on the leaf-shaped plates were all gone. However, after holding it, she felt something odd. The armor gave off a different feeling now. She used her [Inspect] on it just to make sure it was still her armor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Autumn''s Pristine Reflection (Reflect Affinity) Rarity: Rare An armor created by an exemplary blacksmith and later improved by Kahala, the master armorsmith. The mix of materials used to craft something this resilient and flexible don''t work well together. However, due to the knowledge and technique used during its repairs, the balance was fixed, creating a synergy between the materials. Defense ratio: C+ Attribute Scaling: Agility x 1.5 Intelligence x 1.6 Armor Skill: Repulsion Triggers an energy burst as a response to impacts in the armor. This effect can be turned on or off by the user. The potency of the blast is based on the user''s charisma. When the effect is turned off, the impact damage will be stored in the armor and later can be used as an attack. The accumulated damage lasts for up to 3 hours and cannot exceed a certain threshold. Attribute Scaling Charisma x 2 Mana cost: 300 mana Cooldown: 5 seconds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bronze Leaf Armguards (Metal Affinity) Rarity: Rare Armguards created by an exemplary blacksmith and later improved by Kahala, the master armorsmith. By extracting impurities from the original material, the armguards became much more resilient and capable of strengthening the user. Defense ratio: B Attribute Scaling: Intelligence x 2.4 Agility x 2.7 Armor Skill: Autumn''s Grip: Improve the handling of weapons by sharing their weight with the armguards. The skill also improves any magical enchantment the user placed on the weapon. Attribute scaling: Intelligence x 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? This is my armor?" Hera gasped with wide eyes. "Silah told me your level, so don''t complain. This was the best I could do without putting any restrictions on the armor. I have to admit, the materials you humans have are something. I never imagined that metal could behave like wood after heating up," Kahala explained while removing a layer of melted silver from the furnace. "I''m not complaining. This is amazing! It''s more than two times stronger. I think I should''ve left the boots here too," Hera replied. "Bah, stop being greedy. That is all you are getting from me. I have still have work to be done," Kahala replied as she continued shaping the heated metal. "Hera, take a look at this!" Blue yelled over Silah''s shoulder. "Is something wrong?" "No, no. Look at my armor!" Hera walked over. Blue''s armor was also much better than before, even if the change wasn''t as significant as the one Hera had. The shoulder guards now could cover her entire body in a mist, and her armor would be even stronger when electricity was coursing through it. With this new gear, they would have a much easier time fighting the griffons. "Do you guys mind giving me some space? I''m still not done," Silah huffed. "Oh, sorry," Blue took a few steps back. "Our bad, but hey, can we talk after you''re done?" Hera asked. Silah kept avoiding her gaze but nodded in response. 228 - Unexpected Result Hera and Blue waited around for half an hour. It came to a point where they were sure Silah was just stalling, trying to see if they would leave before Hera could talk to her. However, they were just patiently waiting around. "Girl, it''s time for you to go. If you keep cleaning that armor, you will rip out the enchantment," Kahala said. "I¡­ I just don''t know what to say," Silah could feel her face getting hotter. "Did I ask why you were waiting? I don''t care. Just go. Your work is done here." "Seriously?" Silah turned towards the armorsmith, "I thought we got closer these past days." "I may be willing to teach you a thing or two, but that doesn''t mean I care about your personal life. Besides, I was never a fan of that teenager who likes who thing." "I''m not a teenager," Silah huffed. "Then stop acting like one and go talk to whoever you want to talk to, or don''t. Either way, get out of my forge," Kahala was still working and kept her eyes focused on the melting metal. Silah cleaned Blue''s armor from the excess oils and cleaning products she used and put it in a basket. After taking a deep breath, she left the forge and walked over to the bench by the lake where the humans were. "Hey, Blue. Sorry for the delay. Here''s your armor. Try to clean and dry it every day. Once every other day, you should apply a thin layer of oil to it. That way, the metal will always be in good shape. If you want, I can show you how to do it. We can drop by the guard to get some supplies and¡­" "Thanks, Silah. I really appreciate everything you guys did. But I think you and Hera need to talk. Even I can see some weird tension between you two," Blue picked her armor and walked away from the bench. Silah just stood there for a while, avoiding Hera''s eyes. Unsure of what was going on, Hera decided to be careful, "Hey. How are you?" "Oh¡­ Hi¡­ erm¡­ Hey, I''m ok," Silah replied. "Do you want to sit down?" "Well¡­ sure," Silah sighed and sat down on the bench. "So¡­ how is working with the master armorsmith?" Hera asked. "It''s¡­ different from what I expected." "How so?" "I don''t want to badmouth her, but she''s so rude! I mean, if I ask for advice about anything that is not forging, she either ignores me or just complains about me asking. Not to mention that she keeps teasing me about basic things." "Well, I don''t see her as rude. Just blunt. She might not want to talk about other things, and instead of being polite, she goes, ''I''m not interested.'' But what basic things she teases you about?" "Remember when she asked if I already knew how to melt iron? She kept saying that over and over and asking if I even knew how to use a hammer. I''ve been holding a hammer since I was two. Of course, I know how to use it! She''s just picking on me," Silah crossed her arms in a huff. "Are you sure?" "Of course, I''m sure I know how to use a hammer!" Silah gasped. "No, no. I mean, are you sure that she''s just picking on you? Maybe she''s trying to teach you something." "But I know how to melt iron and how to use a hammer." "You know one way to do that. Maybe there are other, better ways to do the same thing. Like when using the subtle strike. You can block an attack by directing it elsewhere or by hitting the opponent''s arm before they can do the swing. Both give the same results but have different moments to be used," Hera explained. "So, she might be trying to tell me a different way to melt metal and to swing the hammer?" "Maybe. I can''t say for sure, but you can try to see things from a different perspective." Silah stopped to consider that for a moment, "That may be true. I noticed she pays much more attention to the ingot while it''s melting than I do when I''m doing something." "So try that. Worst-case scenario, you just lose a few days. Best case, you might find something new." "Yeah, you''re right. I might be too set in my ways to realize other options. Like the mold thing you taught us, it''s so simple. I''m amazed no one ever thought about it before." "Most people end up too focused on their own perspective to find something new. That''s why people who think outside the box tend to be the best inventors," seeing Silah''s expression, Hera chuckled, "Thinking outside the box means to think in a way that doesn''t follow regular rules and traditions." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I see. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, actually. Thanks for the tip." "No worries. I''m here anytime you need me. And¡­ does that mean we are good?" Hera asked. Silah looked at Hera and started getting red, "Yeah, we are. Sorry for being weird. I just wasn''t expecting you to kiss me like that. I guess it''s a society thing. Here we tend to talk about things first and then date. By the end of the date, if things worked out, then we kiss. Starting off with that threw me off. It was a bit much, but I liked it. I mean, you''re hot. By the mountain, you are hot. So, do you mind if we start things my way? Can we start with a date, maybe having dinner?" Hera kept staring at Silah without understanding what was going on, "Silah, I''m sorry. But when did I kiss you?" "What do you mean? You kissed me on the cheek a couple of days ago after you fell asleep in Kahala''s workshop. You really don''t remember?" "No, I mean. I remember giving you a kiss goodbye, but that is like a greeting. You do it with any friend that you are close enough, like Blue and the rest of the people at my party," Hera felt guilty for misleading her friend. Silah was beautiful, easy to talk to, and made her feel safe. There was no need to try to impress her or something like that. She didn''t want to hurt her friend, and if she was honest to herself, the blacksmith was incredibly attractive. If circumstances were different, there was no way Hera would give up on the chance of dating her. The issue was the possibility of losing her friend in case things don''t work out. "Oh¡­ I see. So... you don''t like me that way. It was all in my head," Silah''s response made Hera feel even worse. "Silah. Look, it''s not like that. I mean, I like you, and you are beautiful, but that''s not the issue here. I mean, what if we break up? I don''t want to lose you as a friend," Hera explained. Silah stared at Hera with a confused expression, "Are you serious? Is that how humans think about relationships? You guys go in already thinking about what will happen when you break up? Not even saying if, but already assuming it''s a certainty? " Hera didn''t have a reply for that. It was true that everyone would think first about the end of a relationship before thinking of anything else. She never realized how odd that was until now, "I honestly never thought about it that way. This is just how we tend to see things." "Well. Even if we do break up, what''s the matter? Why would you lose our friendship?" "I mean, what if we end our relationship on bad terms." "Why would we? I don''t think you would do anything to hurt me on purpose, and if it was an accident, why would I hold a grudge? And again, if we break up, that doesn''t mean we can''t talk anymore. We are just not a good couple." "I guess you''re right. You are very mature, you know that?" Hera chuckled. "I don''t think I am. This is just how we are raised. Everyone understands that being with someone should be good for both." Hera nodded, "I guess that living in such a small place makes you want to keep everyone on good terms." "Well, yeah. Is that different where you are from?" Silah asked. "Most couples that break up just never talk to each other again." "Wow, that sucks. And isn''t it weird when they meet each other?" "They don''t. People mostly go their separate ways and almost never see each other again." "How can they do that? Do they use a spell to avoid each other?" "They don''t need to. There are a lot of people where I''m from. Like millions, and you could walk in a straight line for months and see something different every day," Hera said. "Wow, that seems amazing." "It kind of is, now that I think about it," Hera smiled and looked to the lake. The two stayed there for a few moments until Hera finally broke the silence, "Is that invitation still up?" "What invitation?" "About going on a date. Even though we misunderstood each other, I want to be with you. It''s just like you said, I shouldn''t go in something like this already thinking it''s going to end," Hera said. "Are you sure?" Hera could see Silah''s ears turning red. "Yeah. I told you, you are beautiful, and I''m fine with taking things your way. Well¡­ actually, I have a weird question beforehand." "What''s the question?" Silah asked with a big smile. Hera leaned over and whispered, "Do you guys have any rules about sex? Like you won''t do it until marriage or something?" Silha instantly looked away, becoming redder than ever, "N-n-no. We do that when we feel comfortable¡­ Th-the-there is no rule about waiting for marriage. Is that bad?" "Oh, no don''t worry. I asked so the goodbye kiss thing wouldn''t happen again. I''m ok if you say that it''s not something you want to do or if there are any other rules. I just wanted to know." Silah nodded, "Ok, just¡­ don''t talk about that in a place so open. That''s the kind of thing that we only talk in private." "I will keep that in mind, and I just have one more question," Silah turned to look at Hera, "Where are you taking me for our date?" "I''m taking you?" "It''s your city. I don''t know much about where we could go," Hera replied. "I have a few ideas, but let me surprise you, ok?" Silah reached out and held Hera''s hand. "That''s fine. It would be nice if we could wait for our day off. That way, I won''t fall asleep randomly," Hera chuckled. "I like that idea. It will give me time to set things up." "I''ll look forward to it. It''s been a while since I''ve been on a date," Hera gently squeezed Silah''s hand. They kept talking, changing the subject to the training they had during the day. Later, Hera went back to her house and told Blue about her date. The controller was very excited for her, and even if it would take a while, they already started discussing Hera''s outfit. During the next day, Hera and Blue woke up early as usual and headed to the guard. They still had to do two laps around the city before their training. Halfway through the second lap, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quests Triggered Explorer''s quest ¨C Controller Skill Explorer''s quest ¨C Fighter Skill Explorer''s quest ¨C Hunter Skill You have acquired the abilities needed for one of the roles above. You may attempt one of the quests to unlock the related role skill. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the desired test will appear. Restriction: Quest must be completed within 24 hours of arriving in the test area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? No, no, no. What the hell just happened?" Hera stopped running and opened her status, trying to figure out what skill ended up leveling up. "What happened?" Blue asked, still running in place. "Some random skill I have got to fucking rank 4," Hera kept looking, "Shit, it was the improved stamina." "Isn''t that a good thing?" "No! Now I got a quest for the Controller, Fighter, or Hunter roles. I wanted to get the mage one." "And can''t you like, give it up?" "If I do that, I need to increase the skill to rank 5 before getting the test. Or I do it now and should get the improved stamina to rank 5 already. At least that''s how it worked with the assassin role," Hera sighed. "So, what are you going to do?" Blue asked. "Honestly, I don''t know. I think I''m going to ask Naka and everyone else their opinions first, but I might need to take one of those. We need all the help we can get to kill the Sky Ruler." 229 - Before the Test "Why is this still a discussion? Fighter is clearly the best option. They need all the strength they can to face the Sky Ruler Spawn," Sevaris said. "Yeah, sure. Because everything is always solved with your fists," Lija scoffed, "She needs to be smart at it. Her spells already about ailments and interruptions. She should go for the controller skill." "The hunter skill is better," Ganek said. "Tell me, why the hunter skill is better?" Sevaris asked. "Just is," Ganek replied. "I know you have that silent and mysterious thing going on, but you can''t join the discussion if you don''t explain your point," Lija rolled her eyes. Hera was sitting on a chair while rubbing her forehead. She had waited to ask about the quest after training, but she didn''t expect it to devolve into a 40 minute discussion about what role was the best. In the end, aside from the mages, everyone was suggesting their own roles. Even the captain was pushing for the fighter role. Hera tried to leave that conversation a few times, but to no avail. She didn''t want to be rude to anyone. After another half an hour, the team finally finished their discussion. Everyone went back home. The following day, Sevaris would train some advanced skills with Blue, and Hera had to complete her role quest. Naka gave her the day off just for that. "So, did all that help?" Blue asked as they walked. "Not really. I mean, all the skills seem to be able to help," Hera sighed. "Is there one that you didn''t like?" Silah asked. "I''m not much fond of fighter. I mean, I get why people like it, but it really doesn''t fit with how I fight." "How about the controller? We might be able to do some fun combos using our skills. Maybe we can keep chaining taunts and make the griffons fly back and forth," Blue seemed excited about that idea. "Maybe, but I think that it would take too long for us to get to that point. Not to mention my skills are like, half of what yours will be, and that''s not counting with the ranks. If I try to taunt a monster you already taunted, I doubt I can get its attention." "That''s a fair point," Blue replied. "So what''s left is the hunter skill?" Silah asked. "I guess so. I really wanted to get the mage skill, though. I was practicing my mana regeneration every day to get it," Hera sighed. "Well, at least you got something, and you can get the mage next," Silah tried to cheer Hera up. "Yeah. With the hunter skill, I can learn more about the griffons. I think Leo had a thing that made his damage increase the more monsters of the same type he killed. He could even share that effect to some degree." "Oh right, he had something like that. He could even make some red marks that meant ''hit here,''" Blue added. "Who''s Leo?" Silah asked. "He''s an old party member we had. We split up because he joined an organization and had to go away to work with them. He had a giant frog as a pet, it was cute, but that almost drove Alex nuts," Hera laughed. "I hope I can meet him someday and know what''s a frog." "That I can help you with. I have a few pictures on my tablet. You should come to our place. If you guys want, I can just lock myself in my room so you two can have your date," Blue poked Hera''s side with her elbow. "Blue! I told you not to say anything," Hera turned to her friend. She was starting to understand how private the dwarves were and didn''t want to scare her first date in years. "It''s ok. We tell our friends about that stuff," Silah turned to Blue, "We just don''t talk about it in the middle of the street." "My bad," Blue replied. Arriving at their place, Hera started cooking while Blue showed the pictures she had on her tablet. Unfortunately, the chicken was already gone, and the buffalo wings'' attempt was¡­ less than successful. They didn''t have a recipe, and none of them was exactly an experienced chef. To make things worse, there was nothing aside from black pepper in the farms. Without making some hot sauce, they had no clue how to make proper buffalo wings. During all their tests, they ran out of chicken, and since they were still training before fighting the griffons, the meal would have to be made with meat. "Wait, wait. Is Hera wearing a dress here?" Silah asked. "Oh, yeah. This was our graduation. She looks great, doesn''t she? It''s a waste that she doesn''t like to take pictures," Blue sighed. "I can hear you, you know?" Hera said while in the kitchen. "I know. You''re supposed to." "You do look amazing, and you must really like purple," Silah added. "I honestly don''t have any strong feelings for it, but I do look good in purple," Hera chuckled. She didn''t know when she became the ''purple girl,'' but most of the clothes and even blankets she had now were in shades of purple. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Not just in purple," Silah replied. Blue rolled her eyes, "Can you two wait to flirt after dinner?" "Can''t you wait till we are inside to talk about my dating life?" Silah teased. Blue stared at Silah for a long moment, "I made a huge mistake helping you two get together, didn''t I?" Hera walked over with two glasses of ale and gave one to each of her friends, "Probably. I at least have no intention of letting you off so easy for meddling with my love life." "Wow, can you do this again?" Silah asked after seeing a picture. "This what?" Hera looked over. It was the picture they took during the underground forest, with her using her light spell as a halo of sorts. "If we move some lights around, I think it can work," Blue suggested. "Really? I''m in the middle of making dinner," Hera sighed. "Can I see you like that? Please," Silah asked. "I''m not gonna stop cooking, so you two figure out a way to set it up," Hera walked back to the stove. "We are going to need a light," Blue got up quickly and started moving some of the glowing rocks they used as lamps around. Hera sighed and created her light spell on the spot Blue asked. The last thing she wanted was to have another photoshoot. She focused back on the food. After some tests, she managed to create something similar to pasta. It was basically just flour, salt, and water. The flavor was still a bit off, but it was tasty. Since they had tomatoes and other spices, Hera prepared a batch of noodles and was boiling them. At the same time, she was making a simple steak with potatoes. Blue and Silah tested a few things around and managed to recreate the effect. "Hera, can I make a picture of me with your light?" Silah asked. "Of course, feel free. I just don''t like taking pictures of myself," Hera replied. "No, I mean. Can you make the picture?" "Oh¡­ sure, and we say take a picture, not make a picture, ok? It''s because we are not the ones actually making the image. It is the tablet," Hera smiled and walked over to the makeshift studio. "Is it really because of that?" Blue asked. "I don''t know, but it makes sense, right?" Hera and Blue helped Silah get into a good position, making suggestions on places she could be and changing the height of the lights. " Ready?" Hera asked. Silah nodded. "Ok, then. Smile." Hera took a couple of pictures. Among them, one was fantastic. The tablet tried to refocus, and the background became blurry, leaving Silah basked in the white light from Hera''s spell and the warm glow from the stones. Her tanned skin became even more tan, and at the same time, it looked as if the light came from herself. Blue was holding up one of the light stones. Its reflection appeared in Silah''s eyes like an otherworldly glimmer. The entire composition gave a mystic feel to the picture. "Damn, that one looks great," Blue gasped. "Can I see it?" Silah walked over. "Of course, here," Hera gave her the tablet. "Is this.. me?" "Yeah, girl. You look beautiful," Blue nodded. "She always does," Hera looked at Silah, who instantly turned red. Blue downed her drink and walked over to the table, "You guys decided to date yesterday. How the hell are you so lovey-dovey already?" "That''s me when I''m dating someone. Not everyone shares your idea of romance. I mean, my first makeout session won''t be beside a dumpster," Hera chuckled. "Hey! She''s the one the dragged me there," Blue gasped. "Like you didn''t love it." "What''s a dumpster?" Silah asked. Blue stared at Hera, "Don''t you dare tell her." "I can''t start a relationship with secrets, Blue. I have to tell her," Hera gave her friend a devilish smile. "I hate you," Blue drank another glass of ale. The evening went on, with the three drinking, eating, and talking. Blue was the first one to head to bed, leaving Hera and Silah on their own. Although it wasn''t an actual date, being together like that was nice. They avoided talking about the dungeons or the guard and just tried to know each other better. Hera told Silah about her family, her dreams as a kid, and how her life was before she started exploring. She did her best to avoid mentions about other rooms, as King Rutigan had asked, but she figured out it was better to just ask Silah not to talk or ask about those things after a couple of slip-ups. The blacksmith agreed to that, as long as Hera promised to explain what she meant when she could. Silah also told Hera about her past, her friends, previous relationships, and childhood. "Hang on, Velen? Your best friend is the same boy that asked you to marry him when you both were five?" Hera asked. "That''s the one. We go way back. I''ve wanted to introduce you two, but it just never seemed like the right time, and I didn''t know how you would react." "I would love to meet him, but do I have to pass a friend test or something? If he doesn''t like me, are we going to stop dating?" Hera joked. "What? No. Why would his opinion of you decided if we could be together?" Silah asked. "Oh, never mind. It was just a joke." "Humans have a weird sense of humor." Hera nodded in agreement, but after that, there was a long uncomfortable silence. Considering the situation, if Silah was a human, Hera would lean in for a kiss. However, she was worried about moving too fast since even a kiss on the cheek seemed to trigger a very different reaction than she expected. Without any idea what to say, she glanced at the door and saw her armor boots. "I know we agreed not to talk about work and training. But can I ask you a question about crafting?" Hera turned back to Silah. "Of course." "Kahala mentioned that she couldn''t make my armor stronger without placing restrictions. What are those?" "Oh? We have a skill that makes armor stronger if we place some requirements. You might not be able to use it without a certain level or if an attribute is lower than the armor asks. The harsher the restriction, the stronger the other effects will get. The skill has some limits too. For instance, mine only lets me create things from level 20 to 30. Kahala''s can go all the way to 60. If we don''t use the skill, we can make whatever, but the results are not that great." "And there is no way to make for lower levels?" Hera asked. "Not as far as I know. The lowest level I ever saw someone making was 20." "It''s a shame. We could use some stronger things," Hera sighed. "Yeah. And I''m feeling a bit tired. Is it ok if I go?" Silah asked. Hera giggled, "I get asking for permission for coming inside, but do you have to ask to leave too?" "I''m a polite person. We dwarves are not barbarians like humans," Silah laughed. "Fair enough, and thanks." "For what?" "This, I''m glad you told me how you feel. Even if it was by mistake. I already thought we were close, but now it''s¡­ something more, you know." Silah nodded, "Yeah. I feel the same way," she looked back at the door, "Say, I know this is not the date I had in mind, but can we consider this our first official date?" Hera shrugged, "You still own me a date then, but sure." "Great," Silah pulled Hera''s neck towards her and gave her a long kiss, "I''ve wanted to do this for the past hour, but like I said, it was only for the end of the date." Silah quickly got up from the couch and headed to the door. With a wave, she said goodbye and left the human''s house, with Hera still shellshocked. "Weren''t you supposed to be all coy and move slow? By the system, Silah," Hera mumbled before getting up. She cleaned up the plates they used for dinner and checked in on Blue, hoping she would still be up and they could talk. To Hera''s dismay, the controller was sound asleep already. Her mind was still rushing, and to relax, she decided to take a bath and then sleep. Despite her thoughts that kept coming back to Silah, she had to rest. After all, tomorrow, she would get her new role skill. 230 - Role Test "Dude, crap, or get out of the toilet already!" Blue was tired of waiting for Hera to enter her test. They''ve been standing in front of the broken doorway that led to the dungeon for 20 minutes. "I''m still not sure what role I should get," Hera replied. "Didn''t you decide that already? You said you don''t like fighter, controller may not help, so hunter is what you''re left with." "Yeah, but controller makes sense for me. I mean, poison, paralyze, and even the psychic effect from the strap that''s on my handaxe are all things that control the battlefield," Hera sighed. "Oh, right, you still have that strap thing. I don''t remember the last time that did anything." "What strap?" Silah asked. "This," Hera showed the purple strap dangling from the bottom of her handaxe, "It makes my attacks deal extra psychic damage, and after some attacks, it can even cause some debuffs like confusion, daze, and hallucinations." "Oh, that seems helpful. But what did Blue meant?" "Well, the last time any of those effects triggered was during the underground forest dungeon. The one where I took that picture you saw last night. Since then, we spent almost a month in other places, and the effects never triggered," Hera explained. "Do you know why?" "Take a look," Hera held out her handaxe, "It says that there is a damage threshold to trigger the effect. So I need to keep hitting a monster until it trigger, but most die before that happens," Hera was staring at the strap. There were some scratches on the silver ring, but the purple thread was still in perfect condition, just a bit dirty, "I think I need to wash this." "You never washed it? It''s a thread. You probably sweat a lot on top of it. The monsters dying before you can use that effect just means you are stronger than your enemy. That''s good," Silah smiled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are an all-powerful warrior that can''t even decide her role, which, by the way, you can pick another later," Blue was tapping her foot. "I know, but it''s a big decision. I''m worried about picking the wrong one," Hera huffed. "I''m leaving. It''s seven in the morning, and I''m still sleepy," Blue turned around. "You didn''t have to come. I told you I was fine coming alone." "Oh, forgive me for caring about you." "What''s to care? Nothing bad will happen in the city. Don''t you see how nice these people are?" "I''m not talking about that. I''m worried you won''t come back. Last time you almost got eaten by a shark!," Blue yelled. "No, I didn''t. " "You told me you did," Blue stared Hera down. "No, I told you I got bitten by sharks, and giant centipedes, and snakes and mauled by a gorilla. But nothing there could kill me. You can''t die during the tests. It just hurts like hell, but the only danger is for my mental health," Hera explained. "Seriously? I was worried for nothing?" Blue asked. "Seems like it. Why didn''t you ask me about that?" "You already were freaking out. I didn''t want to make this worse." "Yeah, cause this is helping a lot," Hera rolled her eyes. "Both of you, stop!" Silah stepped in, "Blue, I''m sure you are just frustrated with this whole thing. Hera, can''t you be a bit more understanding? Your friend was worried about you." Hera took a deep breath, "You''re right. Sorry, it''s just that ever since we got here, things simply stopped working out. Well, aside from meeting you," Hera turned to Blue, "Sorry, and thanks for worrying about me." "It''s fine, and sorry too. I thought this would be much more dangerous, and I''m grumpy when I wake up too early," Blue replied. "Ok, now hug to make peace," Silah received annoyed looks from both humans and started laughing, "Sorry, my mom used to say that to me. It helps to break the tension thought. Anyway, did you pick what test you are going to do?" "I''ll go with hunter. I can take controller later if I still want to." "Are you doing that just because I annoyed you?" Blue asked. Hera smiled, "I kind of want to say yes, but no. I remember what you told me about your test. You had to change the layout of an area and stop some monsters from going through, right?" "Yeah, I just started breaking everything and digging around the area. It took me almost a week, but it worked." "You¡­ dug?" Silah asked. "Yeah, why?" "I mean, the controllers that I know used taunts, spells and changed the area by using water and stacking rocks. I never heard about someone digging with their bare hands," Silah looked impressed. "Yeah, so. I have only a day. If I was going to follow what you did, I''m screwed. What Leo did during his test, on the other hand, seems more doable. He had to learn about monsters and answer some questions. I always liked to study animals." "That''s true. You got a bit crazy during shark week," Blue nodded. Hera turned around to the broken gateway and touched it again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Role quest identified. Select the role test you wish to challenge [Controller] [Fighter] [Hunter] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I''m going then, guys. Thanks for coming here with me," Hera looked back. "Of course I would come," Silah smiled and held Hera''s hand after making sure no one was around. "Same, be careful, and I see you tomorrow," Blue replied. "You too. Oh, and explain to Silah what''s shark week, please?" Blue nodded, and Hera pressed the hunter button. She expected the familiar feeling of being soaked in hot water, but a cold sensation covered her body. It was like jumping in a pool in the middle of winter. Simultaneously, small streams of scalding hot water hit her in different places, but the heat was quickly replaced by the cold as the jets vanished. After what felt like an eternity, the feeling stopped, and she was in a reception room, filled with screens on the sides and a large steel door on the back. Behind her, there was a secondary door, but that one was only painted on the wall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Quest ¨C Hunter Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of a Hunter. You may attempt the Hunter role test to unlock Hunter related skills. Learn the habit, personalities, and weaknesses of the monsters in the enclosures. While you watch them, questions and tasks will show up periodically. If you fail one, you will be sent back to the reception of the room. Rewards: Hunter role skill ???????????? Failure: The quest will be lost. To attempt the test one more time, unlock the next tier of related skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yeah, still have to do a perfect run," Hera sighed. "What, expected things to be easier now that you leveled up?" A deep voice came from a green apple on top of the reception desk. "Peaches!" Hera rushed over. "Hey, kid. How are you?" "Kind of a mess, actually. I got stuck in a room with no way out." "I heard. Thanks for that, by the way. Capri is unbearable ever since you called him," Peaches sighed. "How so?" "It''s a guide thing. We celebrate our workday. It''s like you celebrate a birthday, but instead of being the day we were born is the day we were first called to our room. He didn''t have one because no one ever called him." "That''s so sad. So there are guides out there who never had birthdays?" Hera asked. "Yeah, but not really. The ones who haven''t been called get a party once a year." "Wait, didn''t you say they didn''t have birthdays?" "Not a birthday party. It''s a party for all of them at once. It gets big, really big." "Wow, I can imagine. It''s a party for how many?" Peaches smiled, "Nice try, kid. I''m not gonna talk about other guides." Hera chuckled, "Well, you seemed so chatty today. I thought I could get something out of you." "Fair enough. Maybe if you have some extra time here, we can talk," Peaches turned to the screens, "Want me to play the video?" "One thing first. Can I ask you to send a message to someone?" Hera asked. "Who?" "Anyone doing the explorer''s test." "Can''t do that, kid. If it was a guide, that''s fine. But we can''t work as pigeons to deliver messages," Peaches shook his head. "It''s ok. I knew it was a long shot. I just want to let my friends know that I''m alive." "I understand. Sorry, I can''t help." Hera rubbed her eyes. Despite knowing that it was very unlikely that this idea would work, she still felt sad about it. "Sorry, it''s been tough," Hera said. "Don''t worry. I understand how you feel. Do you need some water?" Peaches moved its body, pointing towards the bedroom and kitchen that was behind the reception desk. "No, no. I''m ok. So, can we start the test?" "Sure, kid." As Peaches finished speaking, the monitors all turned on. The same room they were in appeared on the screens, with the white wall, monitors, and the door on the other side. A humanoid silhouette was standing in the middle of the room. It walked towards the door and exited into a long hallway filled with black tinted windows. There was a holographic plaque with some question marks under each window, and between them, there was a different colored door. The figure walked over to the first door, which was blue, and entered. Hera half expected to be an enclosure like that of a zoo, but it was much similar to the assassin''s test, where it was like going through a portal to a different room. It showed a forest and another three shadows that were clearly monsters. The silhouette started chasing them, with the video now going into a time-lapse. It showed the figure observing the creatures, and, at times, a notification appeared in front of it. Following that, the humanoid would either change locations or prepare some traps. After some time, it left the room and touched the black window. Several windows appeared, much like the one from her map, and the figure started moving its arms, pulling something from one window and placing it in another. When it was done, the large plaque changed, and now several words appeared. It was almost like seeing one of those information signs that one would see in the zoo. The screens turned black and now showed Peaches and Hera''s reflection. "So¡­ that''s it? That''s all the explanation I get?" Hera asked. Peaches sighed, "I feel bad for who has to figure things out with this alone." "Same, it makes sense that it gets harder if the explanation is this crappy. I have no clue what I''m supposed to do." "Let me clear it up for you. Outside this room, you''ll find that hallway. Behind each door is a different biome. You have to go inside and find the target monster," Peaches explained. "The target monster? So there is more than one type inside each room?" Hera asked. "In some, yeah. How many, that''s up to you to figure out." "Ok, how do I know if I got the right one?" "A notification will pop up. It will give you a new task. Things like, figure out what they eat or where do they live. After a while, you will get more active things such as, making a trap or lure one away. When you finish the last task, you have to come back out and place what you''ve learned in the plaque in front of the window. Then you do that three more times," Peaches explained. "Just three? This one doesn''t have a secret stage after it?" Peaches shrugged, "That''s for you to find out." "Ok then. I guess I should get started then." "The clock is already ticking. You have 23 hours and 43 minutes." Hera smiled at the guide and opened the door, but before taking a step into the corridor, she turned back, "I forgot a few things. First, do I have to do this in a specific order?" "Not really, and the difficulty is random. Or, at least, what''s behind each door is random. The first might be the worst one and the last the easiest." "Ok, can I come out if I''m tired or something?" "Yeah, just come back to the door. Since you have the map skill, it will be easy to find." "What if I fail the tasks?" "You can''t fail the tasks inside the rooms, but if you make a mistake in the plaque, you will have to go through the biome again." "Oh, well, that''s easy. I just go in and do the same things again." "That would be true if the monsters inside stayed the same," Peaches smirked. "They change?" Hera gasped. "Of course, kid. During the assassin''s test, any mistakes would make you fall back to the beginning. Did you really think this would be more forgiving?" "It already seems like it is. I mean, if I make a mistake in one, I don''t have to redo any of the others that I''ve already completed, right?" "True, but if you fail, the next set of monsters will be stronger." Hera looked back to the corridor, "Last question. Can I die here?" "No, don''t worry. You are safe, but you won''t come back here if you get hit, unlike the assassin''s test. That only happens if you are about to be killed," Peaches said. "OK¡­ but if I get seriously hurt, what happens?" "Just like if you are about to be killed, if you are about to bleed out or something, you come here, and that room is considered a failure. If you walk out through the door and enter this reception, your wound will close up in an instant." "Really?" Hera looked back at her handaxe. She knew that some people would hurt themselves to get some resistance skills. This might be a good place to do that. "I know that look, kid. No, you can''t use this place to get new skills. During the tests, you can''t learn new skills or increase their ranks. You can''t even make progress towards that. If you are to get a new skill, it''s going to be a reward from the test, and that''s it." Hera nodded. The system wouldn''t allow anyone to cheat like that. She turned around and walked over to the first door. Since the difficulty was random, there was no reason to be picky, "Well, I''m off. Wish me luck." "I won''t. Don''t worry. You got this, kid," Peaches winked just before Hera opened the door to the first biome. 231 - Desert Biome After opening the door, the first thing Hera noticed was how strong the light was. She already was in a bright location, but this was much worse. It took her well over 30 seconds for her eyes to adjust and see the sand dunes reaching the horizon. Hera closed the door and turned back to the reception. "Giving up already, kid?" Peaches asked. "Nope, I want to see if there is a water bottle or something here. If I''m staying in the middle of the desert in this armor, I need water." "Smart move. Check under the sink." As peaches said, a small water bottle with a strap that she could wrap on her waist was under the sink. The bottle was empty, but there was a water purifier on the wall where she could fill it up. "Peaches, do you have any idea if it''s bad to drink cold water in the desert?" "No clue, Kid. My kind doesn''t have to drink anything. We do it just for fun." "Really? What''s your favorite drink?" Hera asked while waiting for her bottle to fill up. "Humans made one thing called appletini. It''s delicious." Hera laughed, "No, but seriously. What''s your favorite drink?" "¡­ That is my favorite drink. Why is that so funny?" "C''mon, you have to see the irony in that." "Meh, you changed. It was more fun to tease you last time. Anyway, it took me a long time to try that drink because of that irony," Peaches replied. "I can pretend to be flustered," Hera walked towards the door, with the full bottle already on her waist. "That takes the joy out of it," Peaches sighed. "Sorry, but things change. Being stuck in a place with a strange civilization makes you see things differently." "Can''t say I relate. Now stop stalling and go do your test." "Sir, yes, sir!" Hera marched towards the door and jumped into the desert. The heat was scorching. She took five steps away from the door and already could feel the sweat forming in her forehead. Opening her map, Hera confirmed that the door she just used was marked. It was a relief knowing that she wouldn''t get lost. Using a set of heavy armor wasn''t a good idea in a place like this, and she was used to the cold of Boothudurn. Since there were no hints or signs of monsters around, she started walking in a random direction. The entire area was made only of sand dunes without any glaring landmarks. Even the door had the same color as the sand, making it blend with the environment. "I think I should do this one in stages. I mean, Peaches said that if I left through the door, my progress wouldn''t go away. Maybe I can do something else while I cool off." Hera walked for half an hour, trying to find any tracks or anything that could hint at the existence of monsters. Yet, despite her best efforts and the constant use of her pulse spell, there was nothing. Frustrated, she started digging the sand with her weapons. Maybe the monsters were underground, and she had to find a cave. That seemed to be working for a while, but the dunes started to crumble, and the sand refilled the hole. Angrily, Hera picked her chakram and tossed it at the top of the dune, from where the sand was collapsing, and pulled it back with the string from Yarnball. She pulled her weapon back when an idea dawned on her. It''s been a long time since she had used the dowsing rod ability of her relic. Still, what if she had to use it later? "No!" Hera shook her head, "Blue was right. I''ve been too precious with my skills. I have them, so let''s use them." She untied her chakram and held let the thread dangling from her hand. After taking a deep breath, she asked her question. "Where is the nearest monster?" She could feel some of her mana being drained, and the thread pointed towards her left. Hera quickly opened her map to mark the direction, but there was an arrow already in place, to her surprise. She walked around, but the arrow was still in the same spot where she used the skill. Apparently, the dowsing rod skill also made the mark on the map. That made things much easier. Following that direction, she took another sip of her water. There was only about a third of water left, and she had yet to even see a monster inside this biome. Instead of just walking around, Hera also paid more attention to the sand, hoping to find any tracks. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty. She already had wasted a full hour inside the place without finding anything or getting a single notification. Just as she was about to give up and try another door, she noticed a small trail in the sand. It was so tiny that she could cover it with just the tip of her foot. The only reason she saw it was because of the shadow created inside the small holes. She followed the tracks with her eyes. One side came from the top of a dune, and the other headed back down. Just as Hera wondered where the monster was going, a notification appeared in front of her. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desert Biome ¨C 1st task You have found the tracks of the lonely creature of the desert. Follow the tracks and locate the beast. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked in both directions one more time and decided to head to the top of the dune. Having a higher vantage point could help to find whatever the monster was. From the top, she could see an area where the tracks seemed to end near the top of the next dune. Rushing towards it, Hera''s heart sank when she found the end of the trail. There was nothing there. This must have been the place where the creature spawned. Turning back, she followed the tracks, being careful not to step on them. At least there was no wind to blow the trial away. Another ten minutes passed, and Hera finally saw movement. There was a small creature halfway through climbing the next dune. Whatever it was had almost the same color as the surrounding sand. Only one thing made it stand out against the orange background, the blacks spot that seemed to follow behind it. Hera activated her [Hide] and moved slowly towards the monster. As she got closer, the type of creature she was following became more apparent. It had 8 tiny legs and three large pincers, a long body for its size, and the black spot was actually a tail that split into three spikes that could move independently from each other. The entire creature was about the size of Hera''s finger. She got closer and used her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three Needle Scorpion ¨C Level ??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Desert Biome 1st task Desert Biome - 2nd task. The Three Needle Scorpion can spend days without food and water. However, it uses something to acquire the necessary sustenance. Discover what that is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So¡­ I have to chase it until it feeds or something?" Hera sighed. Considering she had only a day to complete all the biomes, waiting around for an animal to do something made her worry. Still, the tests were all supposed to be beatable. Then again, having to complete through a near-perfect execution could be considered beatable. While she was distracted by the possibilities, the scorpion kept moving and went over the sand dune. Hera followed and saw the creature changing directions. Instead of heading back down, it was now following along the dune, moving towards the higher part of the sand. Since it seemed to be moving with intention and not just roaming around, Hera decided to follow it for a while. According to her map, she wasn''t that far away from the door. The only problem was that the creature moved very slowly. Just walking behind it was boring, and to make sure she was ready for the plaque, Hera kept analyzing everything she could about the creature. Although the scorpion''s progress was slow, it was only due to its size and not the speed of its movement. Its legs moved frantically and had a minimal effect in the sand. It was also able to balance itself without any issues. Even at points where it was practically walking sideways, the creature moved around as if nothing had changed. Hera slipped in the dunes a couple of times as she followed it, making her fall all the way back to the bottom. Even with her struggle, the scorpion didn''t seem to notice anything. It kept walking to its destination, whatever it might be. After another twenty minutes, the scorpion reached the tallest rune around. Hera only saw a couple of other places that could be this high up. The scorpion rose its three pincers and three tails and started to spin them around, almost like spinning a lasso. Hera tried to focus on what it was doing, but the small creature was too far away. Not wanting to miss whatever the monster was doing, she activated her Pulse spell, hoping it would at least show her something. However, after casting it for the first time, she felt something odd. When the mana from her spell got close to the scorpion, it fizzled out. It wasn''t hitting a wall or a barrier. Since her mana would spread in a ring, she was having trouble understanding what was going on. She cast the spell a few more times. There wasn''t a way to move around the dunes without tumbling over, and Hera couldn''t risk missing whatever it was doing. After a few casts, she realized that it was more as if the mana was being sucked into a whirlpool instead of hitting a barrier. Thinking that was odd, she created a dancing light on her side and sent it towards the scorpion. As the orb of light got closer, the mana was devoured by the scorpion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Desert Biome 2nd task Desert Biome - 3rd task The Three Needle Scorpion is a hermit creature. It uses any holes big enough to take cover from the sun as its nest. If there is none around, they dig a small tunnel every time they need to rest. They tend to look for a place to sleep after they had a meal. Create a nest the scorpion can use and capture it alive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the notification appeared, a long plastic case emerged from the sand by Hera''s foot. "So I have to catch it now?" Hera sighed, "Ok, first things first, where is it going?" Looking up to the monster, it kept doing its swirls, with its head up. Hera looked around, and right in front of the creature, a small dune seemed to be sturdy enough to support a small nest. She walked over there while the monster still absorbed the mana in the air. She dug a small hole and placed the container inside it, leaving the lid on her hand. "I hope this is enough. It said nothing about how to lure the monster here, but maybe I can help it a bit." She used another dancing light and left it above the tunnel, revealing the shadow it cast. Hera walked away, trying not to get in the line of sight of the scorpion. A few more minutes passed, with the creature having its mana meal until its pincers and tail stopped spinning. Trying to hide behind the dunes, Hera laid on the ground, watching the monster. The scorpion looked around, and it seemed to notice the hole. It started coming down the top of the dune and head towards what it thought was an empty nest. Hera celebrated in her mind while waiting for it to reach her trap. It took quite a while for the tiny monster to make its way towards the container. While it moved, Hera kept watching the beast, trying to learn more about it. It seemed to use its pincers to balance itself as it moved, and the two frontal legs were more to hold itself up than to actually move around. She couldn''t see much more aside from it being that far away, but maybe when it entered the trap, she could get a better look at it. The scorpion arrived in the hole and spent a few moments looking around, testing the waters before entering. When it went inside the container, Hera got up quickly but waited for a few moments before closing her trap. She got closer and took a deep breath before putting on the lid and twisting it, closing the container. She pulled it from the sand and looked inside. The scorpion was still there, but now it was slamming against the lid, trying to escape. Suddenly, the top of the container turned dark, and she could see the scorpion''s exoskeleton. It was almost like looking at a live X-ray, but it only had a few green lights instead of showing organs, one inside the tail, by the black needles on top, and another in each of the pincers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Desert Biome 3rd task Desert Biome ¨C 4th task The Three Needle Scorpion has a potent poison capable of paralyzing large creatures for days. The poison is created on its tail, and poison sacks on the pincers can deliver a less concentrated dose to its enemies. To make the scorpion safe for consumption, it is necessary to remove the poison sacks and drain any remaining poison from its body. Eat the scorpion after removing all its poison. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "WHAT?! No, no, no, no, no," Hera kept staring at the scorpion in horror. 232 - The first plaque Hera slammed the reception door open. "Hey, kid¡­." Peaches started speaking, but Hera rushed towards the resting area with one hand over her mouth, "What happened? Did you got bitten by something?" he jumped after her. Hera started throwing up in the bathroom, "ARGH, there is a fucking leg stuck to my teeth!" "Oh, you got that far already? Well done," Peaches smiled. "It''s still twitching! I need floss, a toothbrush, something thin and sharp," Hera gasped while Peaches started laughing, "HELP ME!?" She had completed the 4th task. The first thing she had to do was kill the scorpion. However, the creature was in a frenzy. It kept attacking the container without stopping. Hera knew that some scorpions could burrow underground. Vanishing in the sand shouldn''t be too difficult for it. She considered using her own poison, but that could make it even harder to remove the poison from it. Fire could be an issue as well. If its poison had the same reaction to a flame as her poison spells, the creature could be carbonized, and she might fail her task. "Maybe I should just shake it until it dies?" Hera considered that idea for just a moment before shrugging it off. Doing that felt like picking the legs of a spider. It was unnecessarily cruel. Having another idea, Hera slowly twisted the cap, making sure not to let the scorpion escape. The creature tried to hit her, but from the small gap she created, it couldn''t even squeeze its tails through it. She wanted to use her paralyze spell, but the projectile was too big to enter the container. She made the spell smaller, but it was still too big to go through the opening she created. She closed the container, flipped it, and shook it to make the scorpion fall to the bottom. Since it was a long object made of plastic, the scorpion seemed to have trouble climbing up. Hera quickly removed the cap and threw a paralyze spell down the makeshift test tube. The projectile hit, but the scorpion was still moving around. It took five shots for it to finally be paralyzed. Hera quickly removed the monster from the container and cut it in half with her handaxe. She then put it back inside the case and waited. Some types of bugs could still move around even after they died, and she had no clue if her spell would still affect a corpse. After five minutes, she felt it was safe to take the scorpion again. The creature wasn''t moving, but the x-ray still showed the places where the poison was. Hera carefully cut off the pincers and the tails, doing her best to remove the poison sack. Even though she wasn''t afraid or grossed out by bugs, moving the small creature made her squeamish. She was sitting in one of the dunes, and although there was nothing else around, she felt like there were dozens of small scorpions crawling on her. It took her a while, but she finally managed to cut off the appendages with the poison sacks from the bug. She placed the two pieces of the body back inside the container, but the x-ray still showed some poison inside it. Her first idea was holding it up and letting the blood drip down, but it quickly became apparent that it wouldn''t work. If the monster had any blood, it wasn''t moving inside its corpse. "I haven''t tried this yet, but let''s see," Hera mumbled before casting her poison control spell. After using the spell, nothing happened. She couldn''t feel any poison around or any way to remove the poison from inside the creature''s body. "Maybe it came out, and I didn''t see it," Hera put the scorpion''s body back inside the container and used the x-ray. The poison was still there in the same location it was before. Hera sighed and used the poison control once more. This time, however, she felt something. It was a slight sensation, almost like someone was looking at her, but it came from the scorpion''s corpse. Focusing on that feeling, she somehow understood that it came from the poison. Concentrating on the spell, she used the option to change how a poison behaved and made it so it would get away from the monster, like two magnets with the same polarity getting close to each other. She felt most of her mana be drained. Even her poison mana crystal that she kept on her belt lost close to half its mana, but her idea worked. The small light showing in the x-ray shot out from the scorpion body and fell to the sides. Hera took out the body from the container and rinsed it with a little bit of water to make sure there wasn''t any poison on it. She made sure to save enough to help to swallow the creature. After all, this was her current objective. "Can I at least cook this thing?" Hera asked the air but got no response. With a sigh, she picked the back half of the scorpion. It was smaller than the front, and it was all she had to eat. The only good part of all of this was that the scorpion was minuscule. With luck, she might not even feel it going down her throat. Hera gulped and put the half scorpion in her mouth, taking a big swig of water to help it get down. Swallowing it whole. She waited a while, looking around for the notification, but nothing appeared. "You are kidding me! Do I have to eat the other half?" Hera yelled. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She looked at the front half of the scorpion. Its face and eyes were still there. She took a deep breath and put it in her mouth, going for the water again. Unfortunately, she didn''t have enough to help push her meal down. She looked around and started running towards the door, with the scorpion still in her mouth, but the feel of the legs rubbing against her tongue made her gag. She closed her eyes and started chewing, running as fast as she could towards the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Desert Biome 4th task Desert Biome ¨C 5th task You have enough information about the Three Needle Scorpion. Return to the plaque and set up the data as it is required. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "C''mon, kid. It''s not that bad," Peaches said. Hera was vigorously brushing her teeth. There were some hygiene products in the bathroom cabinet. She spat out some of the water, "Have you ever eaten one of those things?" "Why would I? I don''t need to eat, remember?" "Then don''t say it''s not that bad!" Hera started brushing again. "Fine, fine, I can''t say how that feels, but you really need to tone it down a bit. If you keep brushing like that, your teeth are going to fall off." "As long as I can get rid of that feeling, I''m fine with that," Hera huffed with the toothbrush in her mouth. "The feeling? The taste wasn''t the worst part?" She spat out the toothpaste once more, "Oddly, no. It was kind of like beef jerky with some hints of fish. Like weird, but not awful. The worst part was the tiny legs in my mouth. I could almost feel them moving around," Hera stopped talking, "I''m gonna be sick again." "Well, hunters exist to find food, and food comes in many forms. Ants, worms, spiders, cockroaches, there are all kinds of bugs that people eat." "Please, shut up," Hera was leaning against the toilet once more, feeling her stomach turn. About ten minutes later, she got out of the bathroom, but just as she stepped inside the reception room, the sick feeling went away in an instant. "Wow. The effect is that strong?" Hera turned to Peaches. "Well, I saw someone regrow an arm during a test, so yeah." "Really?" Hera gasped. "Yeah, but I''m not sure if it is a heal. The man had a tattoo on his arm, and it was still there when it came back. Another guy had a wound on his arm when he arrived, but that wound never got healed." "So it''s more like it will bring me back to the same spot I was when I got here." "Can''t say I know for sure, but it does seem like it," Peaches shrugged. Hera nodded and waited a few minutes. Although the sickness had gone away, the memory still made her lose focus too easily. Before going back to her test, she wanted to have a clear head. The timer by the door was showing she still had a little under 23 hours to spare. Finding the scorpion and completing all the tasks took around 1 hour and a half. If things kept going like this, she would finish this with a lot of time to spare. "Catching your breath?" Peaches asked after a while. "Yeah. Even if this place healed me. Throwing up still makes me weird." "And what did you find?" "Don''t you know?" "I know some of the monsters people can see here, but not all, and not the one you found," Peaches explained. "It was a scorpion called Three Needle Scorpion." "Wow. Congratulations. That one is on the lower side of the hard ones to deal with in the test." "Hard? Seriously?" Hera asked. "Yeah, kid. That thing is hard to find, easy to catch, but if you make a mistake, its poison can make you paralyzed for the rest of the test." "What? Wouldn''t I be sent back here?" "You wouldn''t die, just get stuck for a few hours. Because of your size, the scorpion would run away from you." "How many hours? For it to make me fail the test, it has to be at least 24." "It''s 32, but since the test would be over, you would be sent back here," Peaches replied. Hera stared at him for a moment. It made sense why the desert could be considered a hard biome if the bug could cause her to fail the entire test just by hitting her with its stinger. Not to mention she only found it because of her relic. There were a couple of moments where the scorpion could easily have stung her, and she wasn''t particularly careful while removing the poison from the body. She saw that it could paralyze her, but she figured that just a tiny amount would make her mouth a bit numb and not make her collapse to the ground. "Don''t worry about it, kid. You''ve finished that one. You don''t have to keep thinking about the what-ifs." "I guess you''re right, but I still have to do the plaque thing," Hera looked towards the hallway. She had left the reception door open and could see the plaque from the couch she was on. "So go for it. You may have some time, but it doesn''t mean you can waste it." "Fine," Hera rolled her eyes but got up with a smile. Having Peaches push her felt different from being scolded by a teacher. It was a warmer feeling. She understood that this was his job, but he seemed to honestly care about her. She walked over to the plaque and touched the hologram. Three windows appeared in front of her. In the first, to the right, several boxes showed different pieces of information about the Three Needle Scorpion. However, some appeared to be wrong. One of the boxes said that the scorpion''s size could be between 20 centimeters to 4 meters in length. She wasn''t sure what size the monster could get to, but there wasn''t a sliver of doubt in her mind that the one she saw was smaller than 20 centimeters long. It could''ve been 10 at most. Looking to the left window, there were some text and graphs and three pictures of the scorpion. One with a top view, one with a side view, and the last was a more natural shot of the creature on top of a sand dune. Looking at the text, it was easy to notice that it was incomplete. It started talking about the scorpion, but at points, it was blank. When it started talking about some specific information, the gaps would appear. In the middle, there was a simple notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desert Biome ¨C Final Task You have acquired all the information about the Three Needle Scorpion. Complete the information present in the plaque window. You may manually input the information or utilize the information boxes available to complete the report. However, not all boxes will have the correct data. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I feel like I''m in school again," Hera sighed. She looked over and started checking the boxes, trying to first find the wrong ones. Then she would focus on trying to complete the information herself while using the boxes as a reference. There should be something to gain by doing it all by hand. 233 - Next Hunt "Hey, Peaches?" Hera called. "Yeah, kid?" "If I leave the plaque, will I fail the task? Or will my progress be erased?" "It won''t. After you hit the finish button, the plaque will check your answers, and even if you leave or enter another biome, the progress will be there." "Great," Hera rushed back to the reception, "I really need to go to the bathroom." "Is that why you''ve been shuffling around for the past five minutes?" "Yep," Hera replied just before closing the bathroom door. After coming out, she felt refreshed. Most of the plaque was already complete. She placed all the information in the blank slots and even the creature''s size and data in the graphs. There was only a single thing missing, and she had no idea how to complete that blank spot. "Can you give me a hint?" Hera turned to Peaches after leaving the bathroom. "Before I answer that, answer my question first. Did you wash your hands?" "Of course! What do you take me for?" Hera gasped. "Good, and no, I can''t give you anymore hints." "C''mon. How am I supposed to know if the poison can paralyze an elephant for 17 hours or a camel for 27? Both seem right." Peaches shrugged, "Then just pick one." "Yeah, then I get it wrong and have to do it all again." "Then write something else. The information has to be correct. It doesn''t have to be what''s there." "But how can I¡­" realizing what he meant, Hera opened a big smile, "You are amazing, you know that?" "I have no idea what you''re talking about," Peaches turned around. It would be easier for him to hide his smirk if his body wasn''t see through. Hera walked back to the plaque, and in the place where it talked about the strength of the poison, she added the ending of the sentence. ''The poison it has can paralyze a regular human for 36 hours.'' She reviewed the rest of the information she had added to be sure she didn''t make any mistakes. She had to talk about how it could sustain itself with mana for a while and how it could easily move around in the sand. About its hermit tendencies and how it would steal nests after meals. Everything seemed to be correct. Taking a deep breath, Hera pressed the confirm button at the end of the window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desert Biome ¨C Final Task Completed The information you provided about the Three Needle Scorpion was correct. The desert biome was completed. If you complete the current role test, the Three Needle Scorpion will already be part of your [Hunter''s Catalogue] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yes!" Hera cheered. "Nice going, kid. Just two more to go," Peaches said. "Thanks! By the way, how can you tell I finished the task? Do you get the notifications too?" "Not a notification, but I just know when you finish a task. Even inside there." Hera stared at him for a moment, "That''s creepy." "Tell me about it, but it''s not like I''m the one who decided that." "So, this was something the system did?" Hera asked. "Can''t say for sure. It''s always been like that for me. It''s like asking if having to breathe air is something the system did for you," Peaches replied. "Oh, yeah, I guess I can''t answer that either." "We can have a more philosophical discussion later. Now you still have work to do, kid. You may have plenty of time, but that doesn''t mean you can waste it now." "Alright, alright. I''m going," Hera double-checked her water bottle and all her gear. After being sure there wasn''t anything missing, she headed out to the second door. This one was light green, with the last one being yellow. She opened it and was faced with a large mountain range. There was no snow at least, but there was no vegetation either. With a quick glance, she noticed that to traverse this area, she would have to climb and move in a very tricky terrain. "You know. I was never too fond of green," she mumbled to herself while walking towards the last door in the corridor. She knew that even if she fell, there wouldn''t be any big risks, but the idea of plummeting to her death wasn''t the most attractive. The yellow door opened to a thick jungle. The air was damp and hot but not unbearable when by the shade. She could smell a scent much like that of a greenhouse. There were so many different types of flowers and trees that her nose couldn''t even distinguish them. Unlike what she was used to in Brinnefront, everything in here was green. It felt like a genuine rainforest and not something that came out of a psychedelic trip like the purple woods she spent so much time in. Walking around this place would be a nice change of pace. As soon as she took one step inside that biome, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jungle Biome - 1st Task You invaded the nest of a creature. This specific type of beast is extremely territorial and aggressive against unknown invaders. Exit their territory or find a good place to hide before one of the creatures finds you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Say what now?" Hera asked the air while staring at the notification. Wasn''t the hunter test supposed to be about finding food? Why did she have to run away now? She stopped wondering about all that and looked around. She could hear bugs flying around and things moving in the jungle. It was clear that she wasn''t alone. On the other hand, all the noise seemed to be moving away from her. Maybe this area, in particular, was a place where most creatures wouldn''t approach. Hera activated her [Hide] and started walking around the area, looking for tracks or markings that could lead her to the monster she was running from. Even if she understood that picking a direction and running towards it could be a solution, she wanted to first learn about her enemy before doing anything reckless. Besides, there was a very real possibility that she would end up finding the main part of their nest. Considering everything that happened to her during her entire life, from not being an explorer even though she had the right skills and stats to meet the qualifications after her level up, all the way to finding a roaming wendigo and getting stuck in Boothudurn, Hera didn''t expect her luck to be particularly good. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She walked slowly for around ten minutes, and while she kept listening to the insistent sound of bugs, they seemed to be hiding. Finally, she found a massive yellow dotted python climbing a tree. The snake moved without a care in the world, meaning that, at the moment, it wasn''t threatened by anything. Then again, this could be only because whatever was around wouldn''t do anything to it. Just because it was relaxed, it didn''t mean that Hera could do the same. Just in case, Hera triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesser Great Python - Level ???? - Tamed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the ''tamed'' on its name, Hera moved away from the snake. She was worried about two things. First, what had tamed that creature. The test was supposed to have only monsters inside it, or at least, that''s what she assumed. Second, she remembered that some snake species were able to jump from trees to get their prey, and by the size of that one, it could easily reach her location from the tree. Hera kept looking around, but all creatures she found had the same ''tamed'' tag. From small insects like flies and caterpillars to larger animals like jungle cats and boars. They all were under something''s thumb. She was already worried before, and now this all seemed much worse. Whatever controlled these animals was without a doubt considered the king of the jungle. The only good thing about all that was that they didn''t seem to bother her or rush to warn whoever was their leader. A couple of times, she came out of a bush only to find a boar or a snake staring right at her, but the creatures kept going about their life and didn''t seem to care about the human moving around. Another half an hour went by, and Hera was still walking in a straight line. She ended up getting lost a couple of times, but after keeping her explorer''s map open all the time, that stopped. She was starting to feel a bit tired when a large grey ape appeared from behind a tree. It had red hands and feet and a blood-red face with long sharp fangs on both sides of its mouth. Its ears reminded her of those from a deer, but they were much hairier. It was walking together with two smaller versions of itself. All three snarling and yelling at each other. Hera froze for a moment, trying not to make any noise that could attract their attention, and used her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darikon Orangutang - Level ??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as Hera used the skill, the bigger ape started moving around, sniffing the air and yelling. The smaller ones followed suit, and suddenly all three locked eyes with Hera''s. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jungle Biome - Alternative 1st task. You have been found by the territorial Darikon Orangutans. They will chase and kill any unknown intruders in their territory. Escape or neutralize the ones chasing you without leading them to the door you came through. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit!" Hera gasped, already turning away to run. The orangutans yelled and started chasing the invader. The yell seemed to warn other animals of the chase. Boars started grunting, and snakes hissed in response, almost as if they were rallying under the same battle cry. Hera kept running with some bugs flying around her, trying to sting her, but since only her face and hands were not covered in armor, she managed to swat them away. The snakes came from all sides. Biting at her heels and dropping from trees, but Yarnball would vibrate every time something got too close. Thanks to her relic, she had a small window to try to avoid anything. She looked back and saw the three orangutans running a few meters behind her. If it wasn''t for her flee skill, they would''ve been gaining on her. Trying to thin their numbers, Hera started to send poison needle after poison needle towards them. She had managed to charge a little of her mana stone, but not enough to top it off. She tried to evade them by turning towards areas where the jungle was denser, but the creatures were much more proficient in moving through the trees than her. She started hearing the sound of rushing water. If her memory was right, monkeys and apes didn''t know how to swim. There were some exceptions, but right now, she didn''t have the luxury to consider them. Aiming for what she hoped to be the river, Hera used her poison shower to zone them away from the easier path. That allowed her to put some distance between them. The sounds of rushing water became louder and louder, and without even seeing the source, she was sure it could only be from a waterfall. Hera looked back, but now, she didn''t have much choice. Pushing through, she hoped that at least there was a river she could cross before reaching the fall. The monkeys were relentless, but the other animals would only intervene as she crossed them. If she got too far away, they would ignore her. It felt almost like they were just putting on a show for their bosses while they were around. Hera tripped on some roots and tumbled forward, trying her best not to lose too much of her speed. Unfortunately, the small break was enough for one of the smaller orangutans who was moving through the canopy to jump on top of her. She struggled to push it away, and with a swing of her chakram, the monster lost one of its arms. It howled in pain, but Hera followed it up with her handaxe, slamming it against the monster''s head. Only two monkeys remained, but the death of their friend enraged them even more. Their grey fur turned whiter, and their blood-red arms started to glow with a weird, fur-like energy that made it seem like their hands were now made out of hair. The largest orangutan slammed his fist against a fallen tree in his way, turning part of the trunk into dust in one swing. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of that attack, Hera ran towards the sound of rushing water. It took less than five minutes to arrive at the river, and although there was a waterfall there, it wasn''t that high. The fall seemed to have just a bit over 5 meters, and the river was shallow. It was just enough to cover her ankles. The water was so clear that anything moving through it would be easily spotted. This meant that jumping down to run away might not be the best option. The monkeys could easily follow her through the trees on the sides. At least it was an open area. Here she wouldn''t have to worry about sneak attacks. She quickly pulled her chakram and placed a poison reinforcement on it. When the first of the monkeys broke through the jungle, she tossed her chakram aiming at its side. The monster dodged, but with a burst of mana, the blade sunk deep into the creature''s neck. It stumbled and fell in the water, roaring in pain. The orangutan tried to get up and flee, but it tripped over the wet rocks in his frenzy, only causing the bleeding to worsen. It took only a few moments to fall to the ground, motionless as a stream of red spread through the river. Only the big one was still alive. It jumped over most of the river and landed behind Hera''s back. It tried to hit her with one of the glowing fists, but she managed to turn around and evade the first strike. Hera swung her handaxe, hoping to defeat it just as quickly as she did the other two. The strike hit the monster''s arm, but instead of cutting it clean off, her weapon got stuck before it even reached the bone. The orangutan took advantage of the proximity and struck Hera''s chest twice with its glowing fist. She felt the air trying to leave her lungs, but her armor blocked most of the blow even though the impact was massive. Now that she was away from the trees, Hera placed one hand on the monkey''s chest and cast a grease fire, hoping to make the flames spread around its body. She was worried about using that in the jungle since there was a risk of causing a wildfire, but she had some leeway in the middle of the river. Her plan worked, and the flames quickly engulfed the orangutan. The monster started to beat its arms around, trying to put out the fire. As it moved in a frenzy, it got closer and closer to the edge of the waterfall. Hera took advantage of that and swung her handaxe towards its back, creating a large gash just by the monster''s spine. She slammed the weapon down again and again, and only after hearing a crack coming from the exposed bone, she stopped. The creature fell to its knees, having lost all the movement in its legs, and Hera struck at the back of its neck, sending the body tumbling down the waterfall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Jungle Biome - Alternative 1st task Jungle Biome - 2nd task The Darikon Orangutans are gluttonous and greedy. They will attack any traveler and expand their territory beyond the jungle. Animals that refuse their rule are killed or chased away. Find a way to halt their advance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 234 - Dealing with the monkeys Hera was thinking by the waterfall. It was a large open area, and she could see any monsters coming for her. She also hoped that the water would be enough to mask her to some degree. This was a great spot for a breather and to organize her thoughts. She was still staring at the notification that appeared in front of her. How was she supposed to stop an entire species from expanding their territory? As far as she knew, animals could change their territories and maybe even expand them as their populations grew, but she never heard about an animal that was greedy about it. Humans were the only species that would try to increase their domain, even without needing it. "How am I supposed to stop that? Maybe there is something they are afraid of," Hera turned to the corpse of the smaller one that was still near the river. She looked around, trying to find something that could help her. There wasn''t anything in the body that gave her an idea of what to do. Activating her [Inspect], she looked at the body again, although it was the first time she saw this type of creature, maybe because it was a test, she would have some luck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juvenile Darikon Orangutan The Darikon Orangutan is a humanoid monster. They are extremely greedy and able to tame other creatures to do their bidding. This relationship is not symbiotic, and the tamed creatures tend to hold grudges against their new masters. When angered, they can use a spell to increase their strength. This creates energy shaped like red fur to cover their limbs. As they grow older, their muscles become strong enough to stop a blade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This¡­. Doesn''t help me much," Hera sighed. She had to figure out something to push the monsters away. Maybe she could find something that would fight them and scare them off or something they can''t cross. The only idea she currently had was to wipe out the entire congress of orangutans, but genocide wasn''t that high up on Hera''s list. After a few minutes, she left the river to look for more clues. Staying here wouldn''t help her figure out anything. She opened her map, and now there was a large area marked in a grey border that showed the Darikon Orangutans territory. The doorway she came through was on the northern side of that area. It seemed like the territory would be shown even in places where her map was still blank. Maybe this was part of the hunter''s skill. Hera decided to check the area around their territory to see if she could find anything they might be avoiding. Now that she wasn''t worried about being seen and failing the task, she could move much quicker through the jungle. During the next hour, Hera spent time walking around the northern perimeter of the orangutans'' territory. She noticed that every animal inside it was tamed, but the ones on the outside weren''t. Still, there wasn''t anything that seemed to be strong enough to contest the monkey''s supremacy. In fact, the monsters outside the Darikon Orangutans'' territory were smaller, and some were even malnourished to the point where they could barely move. There were a couple of moments where she had to hide from what looked like monkey patrols. One of those even stared directly at her hiding spot, but they just kept walking. Maybe it was because they didn''t see her or because she was outside their territory, even if just by a few meters. She made notes about what was around the area while walking. The jungle was actually in the middle of a valley, with tall mountains on both sides. It was hard to see it from the river which cut through the middle of the forest, and most of the orangutans'' territory was in the larger expanse of trees. However, when she walked by the edges of the grey area on her map, she could easily see the mountainside. On the east side of the jungle, a waterfall was coming from high up in the mountain, but Hera noticed something odd in how the water was falling. It wasn''t a constant stream, but more like if someone was throwing buckets of water from high up. Going down from where the sad waterfall was located, there was a large stone path a few meters deeper into the ground than the rest of the forest. As if this was, once upon a time, a river that cut the jungle in half. If there was a way to increase the stream of water, this could be enough to stop the orangutans from moving around. She climbed a nearby tree, looking for a better vantage point. From the tree, she could see blockage made out of wood, stopping the water flow. However, if this was simply a lazy river, the monkeys could be able to cross it by jumping over or swimming. She knew that most primates had trouble moving around in the water, but she didn''t know if that would apply to this particular species. Hera followed the river, trying to see where it would lead. She didn''t want to waste time trying to figure out a way to break that dam just to have her plan failing. It took around twenty minutes to cross the entire length of the river. It could''ve been less, but several orangutans were walking around, which made her have to hide and wait. The river was still on the north side of their territory, but it would snake around the jungle, reaching an area closer to the middle of the monster''s habitat. When she finally got to the other side, she saw a small lake by the mountain walls. It was a bit weird because it seemed like the water was going inside the mountain. Looking around the space, she noticed a series of rocks that appeared to have been from a collapsed entrance under the lake. After inspecting the area, she noticed a small gap between one of the rocks. It was just enough to allow her to see a glimmer of something behind it. At a specific angle, the light from the area was reflected in something far away from the apparent entrance. Hera cast a dancing light and sent it through the gap. The small globule of light squeezed into the hole. Behind the rubble, there was a large expanse. She could see the ceiling of a cave, but not the floor. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Hera cut a long branch from one of the nearby trees and started poking the stones. With her strength, she could feel them shifting slightly, but not enough to breakthrough. The lake itself wasn''t that deep. Even after walking into the lake, the water only reached her shoulders. Still, going inside to push against the rocks was a bad idea. If she managed to open that passage, the water could force her inside, and she had no way of knowing where it would lead to or even if it wouldn''t simply be another waterfall. "Should I just break the dam and either flood the jungle or hope this breaks?" Hera mumbled. Although flooding everything could be a plan, she had to admit that having a rushing river would be much better. That way, the orangutans wouldn''t risk themselves trying to cross over. While a flood might actually make them spread out and even turn the one congress into two, making the problem much worse. Hera stood there for a moment with her [Hide] still active, not to be disturbed, thinking about what she could do to reopen that passage under the lake. Her spells lacked the explosive power to force the rocks to shift, and it wasn''t like she knew how to make a bomb out of grass and wood. She had an idea that would take some work, but it was the best one she had. Moving out of the river, Hera found a tree that was just a bit taller than her and started cutting it with her handaxe. She didn''t want to use something too big since it would be impossible for her to move the trunk on her own. It took her about ten minutes to cut it down. She could''ve done it quicker, but she was trying to be as quiet as possible. Even aiming for the tree to fall towards the mountainside. The tree proved to be less resistant than she expected. As she cut it with her axe, it tumbled to the side of the jungle, making a loud noise as the tree hit the ground. Hera quickly looked for a place to hide, staying completely still under a large bush nearby. She waited for a few minutes, worried that the noise could''ve attracted any of the monsters in the jungle, but nothing seemed to be getting closer. "I guess they don''t care," Hera mumbled as she got up from her hiding spot. She dragged the tree trunk she just cut and pushed it into the lake. Her goal was to jam it between the rocks and to reopen that passage. It took her a few tries before she managed to loosen enough of the rubble to begin draining the lake. As the water passed through, more of the blockage was pushed inside, and the passage was mostly cleared. "Great. Now I have to figure out a way to break the dam. I just hope this works, and I didn''t lose all this time for nothing," Hera sighed and turned back towards the other side of the river. Another fifteen minutes went by as she hid and tried to evade the monsters who would be roaming the jungle, but she finally returned to the area with the odd waterfall. She got up on one of the trees again, trying to see the dam better. It was too high up to climb, and the rocks by the side of the valley were too smooth for her to find some footing. With that idea out the window, she tried to figure out if any spells could help her situation. The only things she could think of were her fire spells, but against the wet wood of a dam, it was very unlikely that it would work. "It''s worth a shot, I guess." Hera cast a fire arrow and aimed above the dam. It was the first time she fired at something so high up and far away, and the spell fizzled out before hitting the target. She tried it a couple more times, but the mana she was putting in the spell wasn''t enough to make it reach the dam. On her fifth attempt, she managed to hit the wooden blockage, but the fire barely did anything. Grease fire didn''t have enough range to reach that, and even if it did, it was too risky to use something like a flamethrower in the middle of a forest. Her only remaining option was to use the flaming poison rain. She never considered using that spell in such a long range, but if it worked, it had potential. The projectiles would spread poison that would be ignited by the flames, making it more likely to burn down the dam. This time, it took only two attempts for the spell to hit her target. Hera kept the spell going for as long as she could without running out of mana, and by the end of it, the dam burned enough to start breaking apart. Hera quickly left the river area, trying to stay on the north bank, and found a sturdy enough tree that didn''t seem that could be swept by any incoming waves. She was halfway up that tree when the sound of something large hitting the ground echoed through the valley. The dam had collapsed, and all the stuck water flowed once more. In a moment, the area surrounding the river was flooded. Waves crashed from the sides, covering a large area of the jungle in water. Hera could see the river now starting to fill from her position, and just as she hoped, the flow was anything but calm. The rapids swiftly covered the dried-up river. The noise attracted some of the orangutans, but they just started yelling and shouting. Hera saw a couple of them on her side of the river trying to cross over. One managed to do so, but the other was swept away by the current. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Jungle Biome - 2nd task Jungle Biome ¨C 3rd task You have created a barrier in the Darikon Orangutans'' territory. Now, they will be unable to grow their domain beyond the river. Due to their high reproduction rate, if any stragglers are still on the northern bank of the river, their territory might start expanding again. Hunt down any Darikon Orangutans on the northern bank of the river. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "At least it worked. I just hope that there are not too many of them here," Hera mumbled as she got down from the tree. Just as her feet hit the ground, she heard a roar from the side. Four of the orangutans started approaching with their fists already glowing. 235 - Jungle Biome Hera had spent the last half an hour fighting the orangutans. They came one after another, trying to get revenge on the person that destroyed their home and split them from the rest of the congress. The monsters were ruthless and proficient in fighting as a group. However, Hera didn''t give them a chance to work together. Still, they kept cornering Hera again and again, trying to keep her between them and the river, but that started after the first couple of orangutans died. Her first attacker wasn''t an adult just yet and was killed in one swing. The second, which was already fully grown, tried to tackle her, but suddenly countless orange droplets flew towards it. At first, it didn''t seem to mind, but the more its body was covered in the orange liquid, the more sluggish its movements became. That wasn''t enough to stop the orangutan who kept moving towards Hera, but before it reached her, the monster suddenly spat out blood from his mouth and ears and fell to the ground. That was Hera''s control poison spell. She spent a lot of mana to turn her weak poison into a deadly version of it, changing from something that would eat the target away slowly to a toxin that could push out the blood from the body. She hoped that the poison shower would hit any hidden orangutan, but unfortunately, that didn''t happen. There was only a single monster in the area where her spell hit. Still, killing the creature in such a way created an unexpected result. Now all the other monkeys were cautious in approaching her. Thanks to their worry, Hera started to pick off the monsters one by one. She focused on running by the river and killing those who got far away from the group, either attacking them with her chakram or using her poison needle. The only issue was that she couldn''t get too close to the river. The water moved too fast. If she fell, there wasn''t a doubt in her mind that she would be swept away to the empty cave. She looked back, and now there were only four Darikon Orangutans after her. They were split into two big and two small ones. One of the bigger ones was to the side, allowing Hera to get a clear shot with her poison needle. She let the spell do its thing and focused on the other ones. Running around for so long was already starting to make her exhausted. On the other hand, the monkeys didn''t seem to be feeling tired. They kept yelling and roaring towards Hera while they chased her around. Hera did a U-turn and tried to bomb rush the bigger ape. She had both her chakram and her handaxe in her hand, ready to strike at the creature. The orangutan saw the attack coming and dodged to the side while the smaller one dove towards her, baring its fangs. Hera swung her chakram, making a large cut on the monkey''s stomach, and turned around. The monster punched her twice with its glowing red hands, causing the human to tumble back. At the same time, the last orangutan jumped towards her. Hera quickly created a fear spell and let it loose. The creatures weren''t expecting that and yelled as they jumped backward. She took the opportunity to get up and run away from them, but not without sending another three poison needles to the remaining creatures. One of the orangutans managed to dodge the spell, and Hera only felt her poison taking hold in one of the remaining two. To her luck, it was the last of the bigger ones. With that last skirmish, Hera was now able to run towards the jungle. Although the open area of the river made it harder for the monsters to attempt any sneak attacks, the constant fear of falling into the river was getting in her way. In the jungle, the orangutans had the advantage, but at least she wouldn''t be hindered during combat. Suddenly, one of her poisons seemed to fade. She couldn''t tell if the monster was dead or not or if it was close or far away. Still, it was useful to know when her magic faded away. Hera didn''t want to use her poison control spell because of the steep mana cost. She only had a bit over a third of her mana, and even her mana crystal was close to empty. One of the smaller orangutans appeared in front of her. The creature jumped from branch to branch and managed to get in front of the human. Hera didn''t stop running and tackled the monster, slamming it against a tree. She had stuck out her chakram from the side of her body, and the weapon sank deep into the orangutan''s stomach. Following up with an attack from her handaxe, she managed to cut its face, breaking the monster''s jaw. It tried to claw her, but Hera grabbed the orangutan''s head and slammed it against the tree a couple of times. With a crack, the creature finally stopped moving, but before Hera could turn around, two large fists hit her back. She smashed against the tree and the body of the monkey she just killed. Hera instinctively activated the repulsion blast from her armor. The orangutan that just assaulted her went flying back and was impaled by a branch, but she felt her mana be completely drained with the attack. In a rush, she forgot that her armor''s skill now costs 300 mana. One of the big orangutans came rushing. The glows from its arms were so intense that she couldn''t even tell where its body was. It was like looking directly into headlights so bright that it hurt. Hera closed her eyes, but even with that, she could still see the crimson light. This was still better than looking at it directly. At least she wouldn''t feel the instinct to look away. Suddenly, the light became stronger, and she felt a fist hitting her chest. The impact pushed her back and something cracked with a loud sound. There was no time to check what she had just broken. The light became weaker and then stronger from her right side. She did an uppercut, not aiming to hit the monster but to use one of the techniques of the subtle strike style. She was using an attack to intercept the punch coming her way. She felt something hitting her weapon, and the light shifted enough for her to dodge to the left. She heard the sound of wood splintering right by her ear. Not wanting to leave time for the orangutan to strike again. Hera put a poison mana reinforcement on her chakram, emptying her mana stone, and did an uppercut, hoping she would hit the monster''s neck. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The attack hit something, and the bright red light faded away. She opened her eyes and saw that her chakram was embedded into the monster''s head. The blade was behind the orangutan''s chin, splitting part of his jaw from the rest of his body. Hera felt the warm blood covering her hand and pulled the weapon back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Jungle Biome ¨C 3rd task Jungle Biome ¨C 4th task You have enough information about the Darikon Orangutans. Return to the plaque and set up the data as it is required. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the notification, Hera smiled. She was almost out of mana and needed to take a break. If there was another task to complete here, she would have to find a place to recharge her batteries before continuing. Looking at the map to find the door, Hera saw that she was still a bit far away, and the other monsters in the forest could still be around. Before starting to move, she checked what happened in her back. She wasn''t feeling any sharp pain, and unlike her expectation, it looked like she didn''t break anything. Looking at the tree and the orangutan''s body behind her, she saw that its neck was damaged at an odd angle. "Was this the noise that I heard?" Hera asked herself. She walked away, still trying to hide from the monsters, and in around twenty minutes, she left the jungle. In total, Hera spent a bit under four hours in that biome. She still had over 18 hours to finish a single room. Even if she decided to sleep for a full 8 hours, there should be more than enough time to complete both the mountain biome and the hidden quest if there was one. "You look pretty banged up," Peaches said as Hera emerged from the biome. "Yeah, those monkeys were not fun to deal with," Hera could feel some pain on the sides of her body. The hits she took were hurting now that her body had cooled down. She still had to finish the plaque, but first, she wanted to take a small break and recover some of her mana. As soon as she walked inside the reception, she felt a warmth much like the one she would feel when crossing a doorway. The bruises stopped hurting, and the pain she felt from walking around and holding on to her weapons vanished. "Oh, damn! This healing is strong," Hera gasped. "The system can do some nice things when it wants, but you''ll still need to rest, eat, and everything else." "Yeah, is there any fruit in the back again?" "There''s probably something. Check the cabinets." It didn''t take long for Hera to find some food. She also wanted to take a shower. The system might have fixed her wounds, but it did nothing with all the blood, sweat, and other types of jungle dirt that covered her body. 40 minutes later, she went back towards the plaque in front of the jungle window. To her luck, this time, there weren''t any tricky questions. All the information missing was either on the pre-made lines or she had seen during her hunt. That didn''t mean that it was easy or quick. Hera spent half an hour setting everything up and double-checking her work not to make any mistakes. When she pressed confirm, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jungle Biome ¨C Final Task Completed The information you provided about the Darikon Orangutan was correct. The jungle biome was completed. If you complete the current role test, the Darikon Orangutan will already be part of your [Hunter''s Catalogue] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Two down, one more to go," Hera announced proudly. "Nice going, kid. Are you taking a break now?" Peaches asked. "I want to keep the momentum. I''m not as tired as I thought," Hera replied as she walked over the door leading to the mountains. "Ok, then. Just be careful. A mountain range is not exactly the easiest place to traverse." "I will be, thanks," Hera replied as she walked inside the green door. The mountain range seemed to cover a large expanse. Looking down, Hera could see some clouds covering what she thought was the foot of the mountain. At the same time, this didn''t seem to be as steep as the mountains above Boothudurn. Hera looked around for a moment and heard a loud cry. Flying through the sky, there was a bird. It was mostly white, but its head was completely black, and it seemed to be about the size of an eagle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mountain Biome ¨C 1st Task You have found a creature of the mountain range. It can fly at high speeds and spend hours flying without rest. However, it will never land away from its nest Locate the creature''s nest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera nodded and started following the bird. She had to climb the mountain to move, but it didn''t seem to be that hard of a climb. Most of the area was on a smooth high incline instead of a straight wall up. She walked for about 10 minutes without any issue. "If the climb is just this, I won''t have any problems. It''s just gonna take a while and do a number on my legs. Maybe I should head back and rest first," Hera felt a burning pain in her calves. Even with the healing from the reception, she still could feel as If she had just run a marathon, "Yeah, let''s rest, then we come back." Hera turned around and started to move back down. However, moving this way was much more complicated. She took a step too big and slipped. Despite her best efforts, Hera kept falling and gaining speed until she reached the clouds. From there, she plummeted straight down while still inside the cloud. Hera was yelling the entire fall, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain covering her whole body. That only lasted for a moment, and then she could feel the hard ground on her back. "I told you to be careful, kid," Peaches sighed. "Wha- what happened?" Hera asked while looking around. She noticed a notification on her side, but she was still panicking. "You failed the task. I told you to be careful." "But I was falling, and I think I hit something," Hera said. "Yeah, if that was a real thing, you would''ve died. Since it''s not, you just came back here." Hera was still shell-shocked, but she managed to read the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have failed the Mountain Biome tasks The mountain Biome was reset, and the monsters inside it have been changed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So¡­ I''m not dead?" "No, kid. But you could use some water," Peaches nodded, and the door to the resting area opened. Hera nodded and decided to rest for a while before doing anything. 236 - New Attempt Hera slept for five hours. Even though it wasn''t the equivalent of a full night of rest, when she woke up, she was feeling great. She took a quick bite and got ready to leave, but as she left the rest area, Hera noticed that Peaches was nowhere to be found. "Peaches? Are you here?" even after calling the guide didn''t reply. Looking back at the clock, she still had over 14 hours to finish the test. It should be more than enough, but waiting around wasn''t something she was keen on doing. Peaches should be just doing something else. She couldn''t expect him to be waiting for her to wake up like a butler. Hera walked over to the green door and entered it once more. She looked around, but this time, there was nothing in the air. Looking towards the slope that she climbed the day before made her remember the feeling of free-falling through the clouds. That wasn''t something Hera wanted to experience again. Looking to the other side, there was a tall wall to climb, but above it, there seemed to be something close to a path. It would still be very hard to climb, but at least if she fell, she would hit solid ground and not fall from the mountain. She started climbing, and in a few minutes, she was already on the trail above. Looking around, she noticed a small rodent looking in the distance, sitting on top of a large rock. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mountain Biome ¨C 1st task The creature that lives in the mountain is very shy and fearful of others. When threatened, it will do anything it can to avoid the danger. Capture the monster or follow it to its nest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera activated her [Hide] and moved closer to the creature. Since she had to capture it, her paralyze spell could be perfect. However, if she missed, the monster would run away. In that case, she wanted to be close enough to try to catch it. She moved while crouching until she was about 5 meters away. She got ready to fling her spell, but as she aimed, her handaxe scraped against the rock, causing a loud sound. The monster turned around. Now that Hera was closer, she could see that the creature was a grey chinchilla with blue eyes and a yellow circle in the middle of its forehead. The moment the creature saw the human, its entire body froze up, and it fell backward. "What? No, no, no, no, no." Hera tried to catch it, but the chinchilla was already falling towards the clouds. A few seconds later, there was a loud thud noise, and another notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have failed the Mountain Biome tasks Leave the mountain Biome in order for it to reset and change the monsters inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Really?" Hera kicked some rocks, "What the hell was I supposed to do?" Hera left the biome, still feeling like she was cheated. The creature jumped off a cliff after it saw her. There was nothing she could have done to stop that. Well, maybe using her paralyze spell sooner, but she could miss, the affliction could not take hold, or the rodent could''ve fallen in the same direction, anyway. It was like the entire biome was already set up to be against her. "Bad luck again, kid?" Peaches asked. "Yeah, but that one was mean. It wasn''t even my fault," Hera walked back to the reception to drink some water and cool off before heading in. She had learned while playing games that retrying a level she had just failed while frustrated would only make things worse. "Sometimes things are like that, and that task is among the hardest ones I ever saw," Peaches replied. "Really?" "Yep. As you saw, the monster is so easily scared that it can even have a heart attack and die if you spook it." "That sounds like a really miserable life," Hera replied. "Well, you guys have to do things you don''t want to get a piece of paper to buy food. I have to talk to explorers all the time, but even if I like one, I can''t talk to them again even if I want to. I think we are all a bit miserable. It''s about being happy despite that," Peaches replied. "I guess so. You can be very wise sometimes, you know that?" Peaches chuckled, "You don''t have to tell me. Anyway, ready to go back in?" "I want a few more minutes to cool off. Mind if we chat some more?" "I don''t see the problem. What do you want to talk about?" "Where were you? I mean, I don''t imagine you can stay here all the time, but you vanished without saying anything," Hera sat on the couch. "I actually stay here until you are done. This was a special occasion, I guess," Peaches explained. "How so?" "Well¡­ I got called by the system." "What? Really? Does that happen often?" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "First time it ever happened. It had to tell me something." "Just you? The other guides weren''t there?" "No, no. Everyone was there, even the Scouts." "Scouts?" Hera asked. "Pretend I never said anything about that." "Oh, c''mon. You can''t leave me hanging like that. Who are the scouts?" "Not gonna happen." "Pleaaaaaseee." "Stop pushing." "You do know that''s really annoying when you start something and don''t finish, right?" Hera asked. "Fine, let''s make a bet then. If you finish the entire role test with more than two hours remaining on the clock, I''ll tell you. If not, I''ll take one of your strikes from the guide skill," Peaches suggested. "I''m not gonna risk one of my strikes. Do you think I value you guys that little?" Hera huffed. "Ok, I bet you can''t finish with five hours remaining on the clock. If I win, you have to bring me a cake the next time you come to a test." "What kind of cake?" "Triple layered chocolate with sprinkles, strawberries, and peppermint whipped cream." Hera stared at peaches for a moment, "That''s oddly specific." "It''s my favorite cake. Do we have a deal?" "Deal, as long as the strike thing is out of the picture." "Deal," Peaches pointed its body towards Hera and asked her to shake his head. That was the closest thing to a handshake he could do. "Well then, I''m going. I can''t waste too much time," Hera got up and headed to the green door, and as soon as she got inside the biome, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mountain Biome ¨C 1st task A monster capable of changing the landscape lives in the mountain. Find the monster that changes the area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok. This is different," Hera looked around. At least the mountain range still looked the same. The entrance was also the same as it had been the last two times she came here. Meaning that to her left, there was a wall to climb and head to the side trail. Despite her previous failed attempt, that path still felt like the best way to go about it. In a few minutes, she had already passed the point where the chinchilla fell to its death, but whatever was her target was still nowhere to be seen. She followed the trail for some time. As she expected, there were several moments where the path was interrupted by walls and areas she had to climb. However, it felt much safer to move around here. None of the walls or slopes seemed to lead directly to the abyss, and standing just by the edge was unnerving. Hera looked up towards the peaks of the mountains. They still were very far away, but she noticed a smaller piece of rock that seemed to be moving around. She placed a finger in front of it and waited with one eye closed. After a few moments, that small stalagmite in the distance appeared from behind her thumb. The movement didn''t seem to be coming from a landslide or something natural. "Maybe that''s the monster I need to be looking for. I mean, some crustaceans live in seashells, right?" Hera started to look for a way to reach the moving rock. She couldn''t see a trail leading to it, but she would at least avoid any slopes if she began to climb. Although there was one area that already seemed very tricky to traverse. It was a point she would have to move horizontally while grabbing the wall, and under it, there were several jagged rocks. Hera trusted herself to cross that, but she still wanted to make sure there weren''t any better ways to reach that area. While she considered her options, the moving rock changed directions and started getting farther away. Not wanting to lose her target, Hera began to climb through the only path she saw. She went up several walls, doing her best to not rush and end up screwing up her footing. When reaching the jagged rock area, instead of following the route she considered, Hera kept moving straight to where she had last seen the moving rock. At this point, the monster was already gone, and the place where it had vanished from was hard to keep track of. Moving in a straight line proved to be less complicated than she expected. After climbing for a bit, Hera was starting to understand how to move through the mountains. At first glance, it was a treacherous place, but when paying attention, it wasn''t much different from going to a rock-climbing wall. While that made Hera happy, she also felt it was unnatural. A real mountain wouldn''t have that kind of pattern. It was like this part of the mountain had never seen a single drop of rain. "It must be something just for the test. I can''t get used to mountains being like that." Hera kept climbing, and in twenty minutes, she arrived at the area where she saw the moving rock. It didn''t take long for her to find a trail leading deeper into the mountains. After following the tracks, she arrived at what seemed to be a valley leading to the other side of the highlands. In the distance, she could see that it didn''t go all the way through. However, the mountain at the end of the valley seemed to be shifting at the same time. The trail was heading inside the canyon. Hera kept going until she found the moving rock. It was a massive creature, almost the size of a suburban house. As she suspected, the boulder seemed to be working as its shell, but it didn''t look like any animal she has ever seen. It had five purple spider-like legs and several tentacles coming out of the giant boulder on its back. She still didn''t know where the monster''s head was, or even if it had one, but before anything, she triggered her [Observe] and, at the same time, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Talaruk ¨C Level ??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Mountain Biome ¨C 1st task Mountain Biome ¨C 2nd task You have discovered the creature responsible for changing the landscape of the mountain. Watch the creature to learn how it is able to modify the environment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, that''s neat!" Hera gasped when she saw the notification. Hearing the noise, the Talaruk spun around and faced Hera. It had eyes like that of a spider and a long beak that resembled a parrot, but several spiral rows of teeth were revealed when the creature opened it. Hera gulped, ready to run away, but the monster made a small bow to her, closing all of its eyes. Unsure what was going on, Hera did the same in response and started to back away. The monster got up and opened its beak in a way that almost looked like a smile and turned around, going back to its work. It was like it greeted Hera as she appeared in its office. As the Talaruk moved its tentacles, the surrounding rocks shifted and opened a path. It was almost as if it was parting a sea of stone. It made a circular motion with its appendages mirroring how one would mold clay. Hera watched it work for a few minutes before trying to use her pulse to read its mana. She could feel another five dozen mana tentacles coming out of each of its limbs. Each of those magic appendages seemed to be responsible for something. They were shifting the mountains, pulling them apart, holding the pieces in place, and melding them back together in another location. In a way, it was almost like a well-choreographed dance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Mountain Biome ¨C 2nd task Mountain Biome ¨C 3rd task The Talaruk uses mana to move the stones around and create a new path for them to travel. Create a spell using what you''ve learned ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera gasped while staring at the notification. 237 - Moving mountain Hera used her pulse spell one more time, trying to figure out how the Talaruk was shaping the mountain. She was there for half an hour already, but aside from the odd movements of the creature''s magic, she still didn''t know what it was doing to shape the rocks. She tried to make her mana mirror what the tentacles were doing, but the task was too mana-consuming. Creating two 5 centimeters tentacles was already enough to make her spend 50 mana per second. Frustrated, Hera tried to physically change how the mountain looked while she waited for her mana to recharge. Talaruk was still working on its path, but the noise caught its attention. The monster turned around and saw Hera trying to dig with her own hands. The explorer didn''t realize she was being watched, and after a few moments, a large tentacle appeared above her. It carved through the rock almost like it was butter, and then, using another tentacle, Talaruk picked the stone and moved it to the side. A third tentacle appeared, and it almost looked like it was petting the rock. Hera stepped aside to give the creature more space. From the side, she could see that Talaruk was touching the mountain and the boulder. As it moved its appendage, the stones melded together almost like they were made of clay. However, the process was much slower than Hera had previously thought. Each time the tentacle moved from one side to another, a small layer of the stone was melded back into the mountain. After five minutes of making the same motion, Talaruk stared at Hera and nodded towards the rock it was using. "You want me to do that?" Talaruk nodded and took a step back. Hera kept staring at it. The monster was much smarter than any creature she had ever seen before, not to mention friendlier. It was the first time she had an interaction with a non-humanoid creature that seemed capable of some form of communication. Not counting the guides, of course, but they were a special case. After pondering for a moment, Hera stepped forward and placed her hand on the rock. It was already mostly stuck to the wall. All that was left to do was to make it smooth like the rest of the path. She first made a similar motion as the one Talaruk made, trying to understand the concept before trying anything else. The rock felt wet, not drenched, but as if it was in a place with a lot of moisture. That was odd. The area wasn''t dry, but there wasn''t enough water in the air to create that feeling. It could be some sort of liquid from Talaruk, but the tentacles didn''t look slimy at all. "Maybe it uses water?" Hera mumbled to herself. She didn''t have any water spells, but she took a pottery class once upon a time. It wasn''t very fun, but she remembered that to mold the clay, she had to use water. Instead of making some water and then using it on the rock, Hera picked her water bottle and wet her hands. She followed that by placing one hand into the stone and made the same motion Talaruk did while focusing her mana into making the mountain behaving like clay. As her hand moved, a small clump of rock formed in her hands. Hera kept going, excited that her idea had worked so well. She wasn''t the only one. Talaruk also seemed excited. It let out a cry and did a little dance while moving side to side. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Stone Clay Rank: Advanced Allows you to shape stone as if it was clay. Magic imbued rocks will be more difficult to shape. This spell can be used by multiple casters to increase its effects. Base duration: 1 minute Base cost: 100 mana Base cost with water as a catalyst: 30 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I thought I couldn''t get any spells here," Hera said before another notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Mountain Biome ¨C 3rd task Mountain Biome ¨C 4th task The Talarak uses mana to create new paths near its lair. By creating shortcuts in the area, it can live more comfortably. Help the Talarak to complete its new path across the mountain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey buddy, can I help you finish this?" Hera turned to the creature that just taught her a new spell. The Talaruk nodded and turned back to its path. Looking up, Hera could tell that it shouldn''t take that long to finish. They were already past the mountain peak. As the two started working together, Hera kept using water to save up mana. Thanks to her mana regeneration skill, she could maintain that spell up as long as she had water. Going to work, the human and the creature continued to open a path. Even though Hera had just acquired the spell, it already made a big difference in their speed. The human could remove larger chunks of stone now that she worked in the same area as the creature. If she was alone, this would take days, but Talaruk was much more proficient than her. Just by having another caster using the same spell, its speed nearly doubled. Hera understood why that happened. Her mana could seep deeper into the rock. It seemed that the stone became less resistant, while more than one person used that spell at the same time. "I wonder if that''s how the dwarves make their houses. I know they use a spell." Hera kept thinking about that while she and Talaruk worked. She didn''t have to use much water for it to work as a catalyst. However, she had to reapply the water every time the spell ran out. She tried to use more water for a longer duration, but that didn''t work. Instead of just spending 60 mana for 2 minutes, she spent over 150 to make it last that long. Her water lasted for just half an hour. If she used it anymore, she wouldn''t have enough to drink while working. Despite seeming like it wouldn''t take that long, she kept working for three hours, having to take breaks every 8 minutes when she ran out of mana. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Finally, they arrived on the other side of the mountain, then a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Mountain Biome ¨C 4th task Mountain Biome ¨C Final Task You have enough information about the Talaruk Return to the plaque and set up the data as it is required. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled, but as soon as she looked back, her heart sank. She had to go all the way back to the door and climb back down. With a sigh, she turned back to Talaruk, "Thanks for all the help, buddy. Now I have to go." The creature looked at her and shook its head. It pointed its tentacles towards a path to the side and looked back at Hera. "You want me to follow you?" Hera kept staring at the creature that nodded in response. Despite its odd appearance, Talaruk reminded her of a dog. A very big dog with a boulder as a shell, but a dog still, "Ok, but I can''t be long." The creature walked over to the cave, stopping at times and waving at Hera to follow it. She did what it was asking, but halfway through it, a thought popped in her head. What if the creature was luring her to a trap? It didn''t seem hostile, but it was still a monster. Then again, it could have attacked her during their work. She ran out of mana several times. Talaruk had more than its fair share of opportunities where she wouldn''t be in her peak condition. She heard some noise coming from the cave. It was almost like dozens of legs moving through rocks. Hera pulled her handaxe and got ready for a fight. She didn''t want to waste all the work she had put in this biome, and having to restart this would mean she would lose the bet. Talaruk seemed excited and rushed inside the cave. There were some loud noises of several legs moving about until the source of the sound appeared. The Talaruk walked out of the cave, and about a dozen smaller versions of it were all on top of its shell. Each had a different size, going from tiny creatures that could stay in the palm of her hands to bigger ones that were about the size of a football. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Infant Talaruk ¨C Level ??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, are these your babies?" Hera asked. Talaruk nodded and stretched one of its tentacles towards Hera. A tiny version of it walked over the appendage and reached out to Hera. Unlike the one Hera worked with, the infant could easily stay inside her hand. Even a hamster would be bigger than it. It was incredible thinking about how a creature this small could end up being bigger than a house. "They are adorable," Hera gasped as the one who reached out to her rubbed its shell against her finger. Talaruk danced again and gestured for Hera to go inside the cave. "Oh, sorry. I really need to get out of here." Talaruk shuffled and started creating something in the cave''s wall. There was a very realistic recreation of a door in front of the creature in less than a minute. It pointed to the door and then towards the cave. "What, there is a door in the cave?" Talaruk nodded and walked inside. Hera sighed, "Well, I''m already here, and it''s not like I would die." She followed Talaruk inside. As they walked, the smaller ones all rushed to the end of the tunnel. Hera was still on edge and tried to use her pulse spell to scan ahead, but the cave was too deep for her spell to reach. The babies were also gone, leaving her and the big one to walk together. It wasn''t the most chatty of strolls, but it was fun. Talaruk would look back and do a little dance when it saw she was still there. Oddly enough, even though there was no light inside the cave, she could see the path with no issues. The tunnel seemed to be basked in moonlight coming from above, but the cave didn''t have any holes from where the light could peek through. After walking for around fifteen minutes, they arrived in the area where the small Talaruks were. They were all in a frenzy, doing the same type of magic its parent had used to create a path in the mountain. The only difference was the scale of it all. Instead of being a passage large enough for the big Talaruk to go through, it was a much smaller tunnel, just enough for Hera to pass. She was a bit worried about going inside that passage, but suddenly, light broke through. It wasn''t simply the weird moonlight she had seen before, but proper sunlight that seemed to come from the other side of the tunnel. Hera opened her map and could see that she was very close to the door that lead back to the reception''s corridor. The path the small Talaruks were making should drop her right in the area she had arrived in. Hera turned back to the giant Talaruk once more. "Did you make this path for me?" The creature nodded and pointed towards the smaller tunnel once more. The smaller ones had just finished and were scurrying away from the light. "Thank you so much," Hera patted the Talaruks'' shell and walked towards the exit. Taking one more look back, she saw the family gathered in the small opening waving at her. She waved back, "You guys are way too cute." She walked back to the green door and came out in the corridor. As much as she wanted to thank the Talaruks, they were just like dungeon monsters. She couldn''t hang out while doing her test. She had a lot of time to win the bet with peaches, but if there was a hidden quest like the assassin''s test, she had to spend her time wisely. "Hey, kid. How did things go?" Peaches asked from the reception. "It went well, but I got a new spell. Didn''t you say I couldn''t get new skills here?" Hera was going to the rest area to wash up and get some water. "You can''t get skills in the reception. Inside the biomes is another thing, and no, going there hurting yourself and coming here won''t work. Besides, I said nothing about spells," Peaches replied. "Ok, but the way you phrased it before was very sketchy." "Well, sue me, but it''s not like I lied." "Fair enough, and you''re about to lose a bet, anyway. So, I''ll let that slide." Peaches chuckled, "We''ll see about that kid. You still have the plaque to worry about." "I''m good with tests. Especially if it''s a subject that I like. The Talaruks were adorable, and I paid as much attention to them as I could." "Then put your money where your mouth is kid, let''s see you finish that plaque." "Give me ten minutes. I want to take a shower real quick. I sweated a lot there." "Take all the time you want. No rush," Peaches replied. "Haha, really funny," Hera rolled her eyes before closing the door of the rest area. 238 - Hunter Biome "Ok... I think this is right." "All done, kid?" Peaches asked. "Yeah. I triple-checked. Everything seems to be correct," Hera replied. "So, why are you not confirming your answers?" "You are not going to kick me out of here just to avoid paying your bet, are you?" "Of course not! What do you take me for? A deal is a deal. Besides, I can''t kick anyone out. Only the system can," Peaches scoffed. "Oh, I thought you controlled this." "I don''t control anything. Well¡­ maybe the monitors, but it''s more of an on, off, and rewind thing." "So you are not all that powerful?" Peaches squinted at Hera, "Wanna try me, kid? I have more than a few thousand years under my belt." "I''m just joking. There is no need to be that serious," Hera chuckled. She turned back to the plaque and confirmed her answers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mountain Biome ¨C Final Task Completed The information you provided about the Taraluk was correct. The mountain biome was completed. If you complete the current role test, the Taraluk will already be part of your [Hunter''s Catalogue] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "All done. Now pay up, what are the scouts?" Hera announced proudly as she came back to the reception. "Well done, but you still haven''t won the bet." "Why?" Peaches smirked, "Because of this." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Updated: Explorer''s Quest - Hunter Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of a Hunter. You may attempt the Hunter role test to unlock Hunter related skills. Learn the habit, personalities, and weaknesses of the monsters in the enclosures. While you watch them, questions and tasks will show up periodically. If you fail one, you will be sent back to the reception of the room. Hidden Goal: Understand the role of a hunter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This feels like cheating," Hera said. "Not my fault. You are the one who triggered it. I just¡­ held it back for a moment." "You waited to rub that in my face?" "Not really, I just wanted to show it with a flair," Peaches smiled. Hera chuckled, "Fair enough. So do I get a task or something?" "Look at the hallway. There is a black door on the other side. Go through there. You have a different type of test to complete." "What kind of test?" "Like the assassin one, it''s more of an origin story," Peaches explained. Hera looked up towards the clock. She still had a little over seven hours. It should be enough time to win the bet, but she had to move fast. After thanking Peaches, she rushed to the black door. Inside it, there was a vast desert made completely out of sand dunes that stretched all the way to the horizon, much like the one in the first biome. However, this time a small caravan with a few people frozen in place was behind the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter Biome ¨C 1st task You have the opportunity to discover more about the hunter role. Use your knowledge to identify who was the first to hunt the Three Needle Scorpion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "How the hell am I supposed to find that out?" Hera walked over to the caravan. She had no idea how to identify who among them would hunt the scorpion. Her first thought was that the person should be desperate to do something like that. Then again, these people seemed to be native to the desert. They wore long clothes and had camels to pull some small skiffs filled with boxes and packages. Hera didn''t know enough about their culture to know if scorpions could be considered delicacies or not. Then again, could a first hunt be related to it being a delicacy? Maybe despite any cultural differences, the reason someone would eat a monster for the first time was always the same. Looking at the people, most were similarly dressed. Long cloaks made with light and breathable clothes covered most of their bodies, leaving only their faces exposed. They all seemed healthy and more or less happy. Some had tired expressions, but it was expected if they were traveling for a long time. Only one person had a distinct set of clothes. It was a smaller kid who had a long torn-up cloak covered in several red stains. Unlike everyone else, the kid didn''t have any shoes and maybe not even pants. They used the cloak to cover up their body, but their bony arms were still exposed and burned by the sun. To make things worse, their skin was pulled back on their face, and their lips were cracked. Showing clear signs of starvation and dehydration. Looking at the rest of the group, Hera realized that only one person seemed to be in a situation desperate enough to risk being poisoned by a scorpion. She approached the kid and said. "You are the hunter. Now, how can I give my answer?" The kid was covered in a yellow glow, and a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to confirm your answer? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.[Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, ok then," Hera said as she pressed the yes button. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Hunter Biome ¨C 1st task Your answer is correct. The child is the first person to ever hunt a Three Needle Scorpion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As soon as the notification went away, the people in the caravan started moving. Hera didn''t notice it until one man walked through her. They weren''t physical beings but holograms, and they were moving fast. It was just like watching a sped-up video. Hera didn''t even have to move. The entire scenario shifted to keep the caravan in her sights. The people were walking for a long time, and the kid lagged behind. The man pulled a whip from his waist and whipped the kid a few times. The child fell to the ground as they was being punished, blood streaming out of their wounds. Hera stared at the scene in horror. How could someone do such a thing to a kid? After a few more whippings, another person stopped the man and pulled him to the side. A brief discussion took place before the caravan kept going, leaving the kid behind. The shadows shifted, showing that time was moving even faster. A couple of hours seemed to pass for the holograms, with the kid still motionless on the ground. A three needle scorpion appeared from the side and got closer to the child''s face. The child grabbed the monster and bit its tail off in a burst of strength, spitting it to the side. Following that up, the kid ripped its pincers apart and ate the rest of the creature, then they fell back to the ground. The time sped up even more, and when the sun was setting, the child started moving again. They looked around and started walking south, diverging from the path the caravan had taken. Time kept going at an accelerated pace as they kept moving, tripping in the sand and struggling to get up. "The life of a slave is filled with hardship. We all reach a point where even getting lost in the desert seems like a better option," a childish voice appeared beside Hera. She looked to the side and saw the same kid that was walking in the sand. However, the tattered cloak seemed cleaned, and the child was no longer malnourished. There was some meat on their bones, and their face was no longer sunken and pale. "I''m sorry for what you had to go through. It doesn''t matter what or who you are. No one deserves to be treated like that," Hera replied. "It matters not. What matters is what happened and the wounds that pushed me to escape. Despite not being successful and having encountered death in this desert, I have no regrets." Hera just stared at them in silence. There was nothing she could say. She couldn''t fathom the idea of suffering so much that starving in the desert seemed like a better option. "Now, one last question remains, and you have only one chance to reply. Why did I hunt the scorpion?" the child asked. The question seemed too obvious. They were hungry, and they needed food. It was that simple, but could it be a trick question? Hera looked back at the kid stumbling through the dunes. If she was in their place, the only thing she would look for was food and water. "You wanted to eat," Hera replied with little confidence. The kid nodded, and time sped up again. The sun went down, and the desert became dark, completely dark. Hera couldn''t even see her own hands. A few moments passed, and the light came back. However, the entire landscape had changed. Instead of a sandy desert, Hera found herself in a deep jungle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter Biome ¨C 2nd task You have the opportunity to discover more about the hunter role. Use your knowledge to identify who was responsible for the decision of hunting the Darikon Orangutans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "For the decision? Why so specific?" Hera sighed. This bonus round was more troublesome than she expected. Looking behind her, she saw the same area where she arrived when entering the jungle biome, but instead of more jungle, there was a small village. About a dozen wooden houses were spread around, and about 20 people scattered around. Some looked wounded, while others were frozen in a running motion. The closest group to her seemed to be building a wooden wall around the village''s perimeter. Hera walked over, studying each person. Most of the ones on the streets were muscular men and women. They had several scars, and all had toned bodies. The ones making the walls had some minor wounds, but a few were lying on the ground with more severe injuries. Among them, there was even someone who was missing an arm. The man seemed to have just been dragged out of hell. He was completely bloodied, and there was even a piece of bone sticking out of his right leg. The wooden houses weren''t safe from the scars either. Large claw marks covered most of the walls, and a few of them were partially collapsed. The village was in ruins. It was almost like walking through a war zone. Inside one of the few houses that were still in one piece, Hera saw a group of children huddled together with two older couples in front of them, trying to calm the group. On the side, a pregnant woman was lying in bed, and a teenage girl by her side, holding her hand. By the size of her belly, she shouldn''t be in labor, but both had pained expressions. Hera left the house and walked around once more. She noticed that one house had a large hole in its side, and it was easy to tell what caused it. The destruction had the same pattern as the trunk that she saw one of the darikon orangutans punching with its red mana fist. Doing another lap around the village, Hera still didn''t know who was the instigator of the hunt. They had some crops on the back that seemed to be more than enough to feed everyone, and even the surrounding trees that were cut down to make the houses were being replanted. They seemed to have a great deal of respect for nature. Yet, all the people in the village had reasons to want the orangutans gone, and if the creatures weren''t around, it meant that they managed to push them away. It wasn''t like they were fighting some boogeyman that they never saw before. She spent half an hour trying to look for any clues but couldn''t find anything that could help. "Hang on. I might be thinking about this in the wrong way. Why is this happening?" Hera thought for a moment, "It''s probably because of the orangutans, right? It looks like the village was doing what it could to give back what they had taken. In the future, this might prove to be a problem, but right now, it still seems to be working." She opened her map, hoping that the information she got from the biome would still work. Everything was still there, and she could see that this area was right on the edge of the orangutan''s territory. Or at least it would be if she hadn''t created the river cutting the middle of the jungle. "Ok, so I''m right. This has to be the orangutan''s fault. They are the ones that attacked, and this was to defend themselves. This is my answer. The orangutans are responsible for the decision," Hera said out loud. The confirmation appeared in front of her again, and Hera pressed yes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Hunter Biome ¨C 2nd task Your answer is correct. The Darikon Orangutans pushed the village to look for ways to get rid of the monsters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to the notification, time flowed again. She saw a group of orangutans approaching the village while the humans building the walls stopped to get their weapons. There was a moment where both groups just stared at each other intently. With a roar, the orangutans dashed out of the jungle towards the village. Just as both armies were about to clash, time froze again. "This drove us to kill each other. We started as a group of farmers trying to live inside a jungle," an old voice came from behind Hera. It was one of the older women who was hiding inside the house. She was wrinkly and had thin white hair. One of her eyes was glazed over, and she had a cane to help her stay up. "What happened after this?" Hera asked. "We fought for months. We fought until one side was extinct. The village of farmers became the village of hunters. Hunters who didn''t stop until all the orangutans were gone from this place." Hera looked back at the frozen scene. There was fear in the humans'' eyes, but some already had a spark of rage. Hunting wasn''t always for food, sometimes it could be for revenge. "So, tell me. Why did we change our ways?" the crone asked. "You wanted to protect your people and avenge the ones you lost." The old woman nodded, and time started moving slowly. Hera watched as each of the monsters got closer to the village. The first arrow was let loose, and just as it was about to hit an orangutan in the eye, a blinding flash of light covered the entire area. When she opened her eyes, everything was dark. Hera patiently waited until she could see something again. This time, she was in a small camp by the side of a mountain peak. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter Biome ¨C 3rd task You have the opportunity to discover more about the hunter role. Use your knowledge to identify the reason the expedition went after the Talaruk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, this might be the last one. Let''s do this!" Hera shouted excitedly. 239 - Reason to hunt The first thing that Hera did was look around in the camp. She was in the same location where she had first entered the mountain biome. It was a small path, with a large slope to one side and the wall to the other. However, the tunnel made by the Talaruk and its babies was nowhere to be seen. Instead of the opening by the wall, there was a small campsite with four people around. Two of them, who seemed to be seasoned explorers, were preparing a tent. Another man was preparing a meal in a large pot with a map of its size, and a woman was writing something in a notebook. Hera looked at the journal, but it was in a language she didn''t understand. The woman seemed thrilled with whatever she was doing, while the others had more serious expressions. The ones taking care of the tent had nothing to help her, leaving only the man making food to give Hera something to go off of. She walked over and saw he was holding a locket in his hand. There was a small picture of a woman holding a baby inside the locket, and the man had a pained expression. Looking at the map, Hera could see two cities with a large mountain range in the middle. There was a road connecting the towns, but it went all the way down, going around the massive alps. That path went through a large river, then a gigantic forest, and what seemed like a wasteland. In red, there was a second line going straight through the mountain. "Oh, this one is easy then. They came here to either learn the spells or make a tunnel with the Talaruk''s help. That''s my answer," Hera announced. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Hunter Biome ¨C 3rd task Your answer is correct. People searched for the Talaruk in order to learn from it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time started moving quick. The group walked around the mountain while Hera watched. They found the Talaruk and approached it much like she had done so. Only the woman with the notebook was interacting with the creature, while the rest just watched from a distance. She did the same thing that Hera had done during her test and helped open a path on the top of the mountain, reuniting the Talaruk with its babies. "We came here in search of knowledge," A feminine voice appeared from behind Hera, "We heard tales about a creature that could shape the mountain. It was our hope that we could learn from it." "You wanted to know how it did that so you could connect the cities. The journey around the mountain seems too long and dangerous," Hera replied to the scholar who was now behind her. Unlike the peppy expression that she had while working with the Talaruk, this version was gloomy and saddened. "Yes. That''s why we tracked it. My goal was to share the knowledge I gained with others and eventually create a new road. However, others among my group had a different plan," as the woman spoke, the Talaruk finished creating the path and showed its nest to the humans. They all went inside, and a few moments later, the hunter that had the locket left the cave holding a net filled with the Talaruk''s babies. Another of the hunters followed the first, pulling the Talaruk with a rope. The last one was carrying an unconscious scholar on her shoulder. "Leave him alone!" Hera yelled. "That was the same reaction I had, and you can see how well that went." "Why are they doing that?" "Like I said, they had other plans." The group dragged the Talaruk down the mountain and forced it to create a tunnel to the other city. The humans threatened it by using its babies and didn''t even allow the creature to sleep. The hunter who had the locket grabbed one of the babies and hit it in front of the Talaruk every time it seemed to rest. Three days passed, and the tunnel was completed. Instead of letting it go, the hunters killed the Talaruk and all the babies. The one with the locket walked over to a house and came out with a small kid in his arms. The child had a pained expression and seemed to have a fever. He gave a kiss on her forehead and walked inside the tunnel. "What were you doing all that time?" Hera asked, furious about what she had just seen. "I was a prisoner. They locked me inside a house until the tunnel was finished. When I tried to escape, they accused me of trying to kill the chief''s daughter. She was sick and needed medical attention, but the medicine she needed came from the city you saw on the map," the scholar replied. "Am I supposed to feel bad for him? There was no need to be that cruel. The Talaruk would be happy to help if you had just asked!" "I''m not here to tell you how to feel. I''m simply telling a story," the scholar replied without changing her expression. "How can you say that? Even king Gwendelan felt sorry for killing another human. Are you telling me you didn''t feel a thing about that?" Hera scoffed. "Me, no I didn''t. I''m not alive, nor I was at the time. The scholar left the city after this, but I''m not her. Despite my appearance." "Fine, then ask your damn question so I can get going. I don''t want to stay here." "You already answered. The question was why we wanted to learn from the Talaruk." "What now, then?" "Now, you have one last question to answer," a familiar childish voice came from her left. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As Hera looked over, the slave kid from the desert biome was standing in the middle of an empty room. Hera herself was in the same room, and the mountainside had vanished. "And because you managed to complete two of the biomes without failing, you have two chances to answer," the old crone from the jungle biome was on her right. "The question is simple," the scholar said. "Why do we hunt?" all three asked at once. "What kind of question is that? Each of you had a different reason to hunt," Hera scoffed. "I am referring to the collective we and not the individual us. Now answer," the kid spoke. "Why do we hunt?" all three asked once more. Hera stared at the three figures. Each of them had a specific reason for hunting monsters. The kid needed food, the crone and the villagers wanted to protect their people, and the scholar wanted to learn something. The reasons were too different, and Hera couldn''t see the connection. Not between all three, at least, the crone and the scholar had a very similar motive. "You wanted to protect someone," Hera replied. "That is incorrect. Although that could apply to some of us, not all would hunt for protection," the crone shook her head. Hera stopped to think for a moment. She was still angry about what they did with the Talaruk. Trying to cool off, she took a big gulp of water from her bottle. "Ok, let me think." What was the kid doing? Why was it hunting scorpions? They were hungry. It was all because of food. The crone and the villagers wanted to live in peace, but the orangutans wouldn''t allow it while they were around. It was a kill or be killed situation. The scholar just wanted to learn something to get stronger or help her city. The chief, on the other hand, wanted to save his daughter. Everyone wanted to save someone. However, things were different to the kid. They were just trying to stay alive. That gave Hera an idea that she could only hope was right. "You hunt to survive. Be it by getting food, protecting yourself, or making things easier for you and your people," Hera replied. The three figures smiled, and the kid started speaking, "That is correct. Humans are a hunting species. Ever since the first humans walked on Earth, we hunt." "Even after we acquired technology and grew our own food, we still hunt. Be it land, knowledge, money, or whatever else we desire," the scholar added. The crone took a step back, "And we will keep hunting for our entire existence. We hunt experiences and new ways to extend our lives. We hunt for partners and companions to spend the rest of our days and even hunt for a grander meaning for what we do. Humans were born as hunters, and we shall die as hunters." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter Biome ¨C Final Task Completed You have understood the reason for the creation of the hunter role. You will receive an increased reward upon completion of the role test. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera waved off the notification, and the three figures had vanished. Now she was alone in an empty white room with a singular black door behind her. "Was that it? All that show and tell just for a random ass question? Why the hell did they show me the Talaruk being hurt then? Wasn''t there a better way to give me the lesson? What kind of sick fuck thinks it''s ok to show a puppy being tortured?" Hera yelled, but there was no one to reply to her. She just stood there, angry about how they attacked the Talaruk and frustrated about how people treated the kid. The jungle was the only place that didn''t have any awful behavior. It sucked that they were at war with the orangutans, but the people at least were taking care of each other. "This is bullshit," Hera yelled as she headed towards the door. "Hey, kid. How did it go?" Peaches asked. "Humans suck!" "Not all, but I agree that some of you do suck." "Seriously, is every test going to be this messed up?" Hera asked. "Not all. Some have less jarring situations as their origin." "Which ones?" "I can''t say, kid. That''s part of the rules." "I hate those rules." "I can''t do much about that, unfortunately," Peaches shrugged. "Don''t worry. I''m not blaming you," Hera sighed and looked up to the timer. There were only 4 hours and 58 minutes remaining, "Aw fuck. Really? Two minutes?" "If I''m honest, you completed the quest 9 seconds before the clock hit 5 hours. So¡­ yeah, you won the bet." "Really?" Hera opened a big smile. "You stopped being upset really quick," Peaches squinted at her. "Well, everything sucked, but those are just history lessons. It''s like being angry because of a war hundreds of years ago. It''s fine if I''m upset, but I can''t change a thing. What I can do is make sure not to let those kinds of things happened ever again," Hera explained. "I mean, that''s a good way to see things, but you still changed your mood way too quickly." "Yeah, I killed a guy in the last test, and after everything that happened with me, I decided to wait to deal with my emotions when I have a moment to stop and breathe." "I''m not sure if that''s a healthy way to go about it, but at the same time, it sounds like a good idea." "Well, it''s what I''m doing to cope. Can''t say if that''s a good idea or not, but it''s not like I can actually talk to my shrink right now," Hera sighed. "Right, you are stuck in Capri''s room. Don''t worry, kid, I believe in you. You''ll find a way to go back home," Peaches smiled. "Thanks. It''s hard sometimes. If it wasn''t for Blue, there would be no one who understands what I''m going through." "I can''t say I understand but know that I''m rooting for you. Even after you get out of here." "Well, that won''t happen for the next few hours. We still have some time to hang out," Hera winked. "True, wanna talk about something? Or should I pull up something for us to watch?" "Can you do that?" "As long as it is not the news or something like that, yeah. In here, I can only pull up movies or TV shows you guys stream." Peaches said. "Oh. Really? Can you pull talk shows or something like that?" "It''s kind of finicky. I can only play works of fiction that wouldn''t give you any knowledge that could affect the test or any new knowledge from Earth. So, anything that gives information about mountains, jungles, or deserts is off-limits. Then again, it depends. If it''s just a scene where the characters are racing through the desert or a mountainside, it''s fine. Talk shows and things like that I can only show if they aired at least a year before the last time you last exited the MAZE." "What about mafia? There was this show about a mobster who goes back to his home country to get a hidden stash of diamonds under a building, but I ended up in Boothudurn before the last episode came out," Hera asked. "Oh, that one I can do, but do you mind if we watch the second to last episode too? I haven''t watched that one yet." "No problem. As long as we can keep talking, and you tell me what the scouts are." "Sure, let me pull up the show. Oh, and grab the popcorn and sodas from the rest area, please," Peaches asked as the biggest screen in the reception turned on and played the intro for a streaming service that Hera didn''t know. It was called Guide Watch, and there were three profiles, one for Peaches and one for each of the Kobold sisters. "Don''t start without me. Let me just use the bathroom real quick," Hera got up and headed to the reception. 240 - Watch Party "I still don''t get why the younger brother is in charge of the company. Don''t you humans have that whole firstborn priority thing?" Peaches asked before eating some more popcorn. "We do, but c''mon. Not to be mean, but the older brother is kind of a moron. I wouldn''t trust him to get groceries, much less take care of a multi-billion dollar company," Hera took a swig of her grape soda. "Well¡­ that''s fair, but it''s not like he can learn if no one gives him a chance." "Yeah, but most humans in the father''s position would be more interested in keeping their money than being a good dad." "But the father is dead. Why does he need money?" "It''s about his legacy, and I don''t mean the skill type. People put way too much value into making sure their accomplishments would still exist even after they die. Thinking about their family''s mental and emotional health is very rare for rich people. At least that''s how I see it. My family was never rich, but even we had some of that crap," "I thought that was only in movies," Peaches said. "I wish it was," Hera sighed, "Ok, my turn now. What are the scouts?" "You are really not letting this go, are you?" "Nope. I understand if it''s not something you can talk about, but I''m still curious." "No, no. A bet is a bet. Let me see¡­ how can I explain them¡­" Peaches thought for a moment, "Scouts are¡­ well, scouts. Each guide is supposed to take care of their own room. Write anomalies down and any places that might end up being dungeons or doorways in the future. We have a kind of sixth sense for those things. The closest thing you can compare to would be feeling mana in the air, but a specific type of mana." "Ok¡­ but that still doesn''t explain the scouts, and can''t the system just know all that?" "It can, but it can''t exactly predict the behavior of animals, monsters, and people. I mean, it can, but not perfectly. Hence it created us, wardens of the rooms who could give a more¡­ human understanding of what could happen. The scouts are basically the same, but they focus on individuals and not the room as a whole. So let''s say the system needs to figure out something about a specific human. Instead of guides sharing information and compiling everything, a scout will follow that human around and gather all the data. Scouts were also the ones responsible for gathering the information to create the roles. Oh, by the way, if you talk to anyone about the scouts, that will count as a strike for your skill, even if they know about it. Scouts are bigger secrets than us guides," Peaches explained. "Oh, I always wondered about that. The system feels very mechanical sometimes, and it created the roles with more nuances. People say the system made them after watching us, but that always felt a bit off. And don''t worry, I won''t talk about them." "I see where you''re coming from, but no, the scouts just watched you, humans. Who decided what the roles would be was the system. The scouts can also find where each connection should lead to and if something from one room will affect another. That was the first job they got, nowadays they have more things to do. Instead of leaving the guides to look for areas to create doorways and new rooms, the scouts do that since they can move between rooms. We just flag the location, and they have to deal with it. It''s more practical to have someone capable of taking care of that on their own instead of having debates between guides." "So¡­ the guides are older than the roles? I thought it created you after," Hera said. "We''ve been around for much longer than you think, kid." "So¡­ what was your job before this? I mean, the tests only came up after the roles, right?" "Yeah. My job was to explain the first wall to people who tried to break it. I only showed up to people who had a shot of succeeding, so it was a very boring job. After that soft-hearted bonehead broke the wall, he told everyone about what I taught him, and you guys did such a good job of passing the information along that I became useless. So I was out of a job for a while." "Wait up. You''ve met Kahn?" Hera gasped. A gunshot came from the TV, "What the crap! Why did he shoot her?" "She found out about the diamonds, and he didn''t want to share. Now tell me about Kahn," Hera said. "Oh yeah. He was way too soft. After he found out about me, he started showing up every week to pretend he would break the wall just to talk with me. You kind of remind me of him at that point. You both are way too nice for your own good," Peaches explained without taking his eyes away from the monitor. Hera felt her cheeks burning up. No one had ever said something that nice to her. It was embarrassing to even consider that she was anywhere near one of the Heroes. "You can''t be serious. I thought they were going to be a couple," Peaches gasped. "Not every show needs to have a couple. Besides, despite everything he did, I think that she and the CEO would be a better match," Hera replied, but she wasn''t paying attention to the show anymore. "The CEO? She''s way too smart for him." "Not the older brother. The younger one. Yeah, he''s a psycho, but they make a cuter couple." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Peaches stared at Hera, "You are just wrong." "We all have our tastes. Don''t judge. Now going back to Kahn, what was he like?" Hera asked. "What? I don''t know. Two arms, two legs, bald head, and annoying. Why is he going to the hospital? He''s not gonna kill his mother, is he?" "But like, his personality. Was he heroic, brave, was he a cat or a dog person?" Hera pressed. "It''s been a long time, kid. I''m going to have to think about it, and I want to pay attention to the show. Ask me later." "Ok. Can I still ask questions, or should I shut up?" Hera huffed. "You can ask. Just don''t ask about things that happened almost 4 thousand years ago." "That''s fair. What did the system call you for? You said all the guides were there." "Oh, there was some new information it had to give us. Some changes might come up in the future, and it was giving us an update." "What kind of changes?" "I can''t say, kid," Peaches replied, "Just know that your world might be different when you come back." "That''s not ominous at all," Hera rolled her eyes. Peaches chuckled, "It wasn''t the intention. Just be ready." "And why did it have to call all the guides and scouts?" "Conservation of energy. It takes less effort to give that information all at once in a single place than to split between several rooms. If it sent that to every scout and guide, it would have to do it in waves. So not everyone would know it at once. " "So¡­ the system was just being lazy?" Peaches started laughing and almost choked on his drink, "That''s the first time I heard someone calling the system lazy." "Am I wrong?" Hera asked. "I can''t say you are," Peaches chuckled. They kept watching the show for a few minutes, but Hera wasn''t paying attention to it. She had seen the episode before, and the information that Peaches told her was a lot to unpack. The change would be worrisome. If it was something like the wendigos, things could be really badly in other rooms. She could only hope that it wasn''t another monster that could grow and appear in any layer. There were also the scouts, creatures whose jobs are to look for issues and problems, but, if they were around, how come no one ever saw them? "Hey, Peaches." "Yeah, kid?" "You said the scouts walk around the rooms, right? How they do that undetected? Shouldn''t people stumble on them at some point?" "They walk around in a phantom version of the rooms. It''s like¡­ are you familiar with image editing?" Peaches asked. "A little bit." "OK, so imagine that we all are in the top layer. The scouts work in the background layer. They can see everything that is going on in the other layers, but you can''t see them." "So they don''t interact with anyone?" "Not any human. We can talk to them without a problem. Most scouts have eight to ten hours shifts like you humans." "Just ten hours? Must be nice," Hera chuckled, thinking about the number of times she had to work twelve-hour shifts. "You had some nasty jobs, kid," Peaches snickered. "You have no idea," Hera sighed. They kept watching the show, and when the last episode came around, both stopped talking about different subjects and focused on the series. Unfortunately, the final episode wasn''t as exciting as they hoped. The entire plot was resolved by the first twenty minutes, leaving the rest half an hour to show how the minor characters went on with their lives and a small bittersweet moment in the end where the main character said goodbye to his mother, who was terminally ill. "I mean¡­ it''s not bad, but I don''t know," Peaches said. "Yeah, it wasn''t that exciting." "I feel like they could have made the previous episode a bit longer and wrap it up there." "I agree. Shows like this should make us exhausted but satisfied after the last episode. It''s almost like a workout. This one was more like¡­ catching up with an old friend," Peaches explained. "I agree, but do you even work out?" Hera chuckled, "It''s a shame, but the show was still good. I would watch it again." "Oh, me too, but maybe I will skip the last episode." "Or at least the last half of it," Hera nodded, "Thanks for watching it with me. It''s nice to see that my world is still out there." "Boothudurn is still part of your world, kid. Don''t forget that." "I know. I just miss my friends, but this place is Silah''s hometown, so I''m not gonna complain that much." "Who''s Silah?" "My¡­ girlfriend? Date? Hookup? I''m not sure what label she wants to use, but she lives in Boothudurn, and we''re dating." "Oh? Tell me more. How did you two meet?" "I''ll tell you, but do you mind telling me some stories about Kahn?" "Sure. I have a lot of them, nothing actually useful, but I have some stories." Hera started talking about her new relationship with Peaches. They spent the next hours chatting about her life, Kahn, and Peaches himself. Despite her curiosity, Hera tried to avoid talking about the system or asking about how things worked. She felt like the scout thing was already more information than she could''ve asked for. When the timer had only 40 minutes remaining for Hera''s 24-hour deadline, Peaches turned to her, "Listen, kid. Can I give you your test rewards? We can wait out the clock, but I still want to leave some time for any questions you might have about the skill or the upgrades." "Sure, can I just ask you one last question about the scouts?" "You can ask. I can''t say I''ll answer." "Do they ever talk to people? Or they just talk to guides and scouts?" "If I''m not mistaken, there were a couple of times where they talked to an explorer asking for help with a situation or another. The last time that happened was during the demon hunt, I think, but it had no relation with the fight." "What kind of help?" "That I don''t know, sorry. Do you mind if I give you the rewards now?" Peaches asked. "Yeah. Sorry, I just got curious." "That''s ok." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Explorer''s quest ¨C Hunter Skill By completing the bonus room, your relic will receive an upgrade Rewards: Explorer''s Hunt Skill Hunter''s Catalogue Skill Relic Upgrade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Hunt Role Skill The more you know about a creature, the better equipped you are to hunt that creature. You receive a 5% increase in effectiveness when doing something related to a creature that is not registered in the [Hunter''s Catalogue]. You receive an increase in effectiveness when doing something related to a creature registered in the [Hunter''s Catalogue]. The increase is based on your knowledge of the beast. You can check each individual buff on the target''s respective page in the [Hunter''s Catalogue]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter''s Catalogue Role Skill You can access a list containing all the creatures you ever hunted. All information you have about the monster will be saved inside their individual pages. The more information you have about a specific beast, the more effective you will be while hunting it. The catalogue takes after your knowledge. If you learn something that is false, the information will be added to the skill until the falsehood is discovered. Having false information will not increase the bonus given by the [Hunt] skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skills affected: Inspect, Observe Spells affected: Pulse, Fear, Poison Spell Discovered: Pinpoint Weak spot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That is a lot!" Hera gasped. "That''s why I set some time to clear any doubts," Peaches replied. "Ok. Let me just read all this and see if I''m missing anything." 241 - Hunter Skill "So the skills are pretty simple. When I use observe or inspect, the bonus damage I deal will appear," Hera said after reading through all the notifications and changes in her abilities. "Sort of, it''s not damage is effectiveness. It means that it is not just for combat, also remember that the max bonus you can gain is 100% extra effectiveness. Even so, that doesn''t mean you found out everything you could about the monster," Peaches said. "100%? I thought my version would be weaker than from a normal hunter." "It is. They don''t have a limit. Although it takes a long time for a hunter to get over 200% for a specific monster, it is possible. You also get less increase for the same amount of information. Let''s say you and a hunter share the exact same intel, and for him, it would be a 10% increase. For you, that would be 7%." "So I need to reach 130% of what a pure hunter would get to reach my 100%?" "135% or so probably. The last push from 99 to 100 is harder to get for everyone," Peaches explained. "Ok, then that extra effectiveness also translates to my spells. Poison spells will be stronger, the pulse will give more information when it''s a monster that I''m familiar with, and the fear spell will be more effective if I know what the target is afraid of." "Exactly, and remember to think outside the box. You are not limited to using a predator to scare another monster. Some can be scared of water, snakes, or maybe even music," Peaches nodded. "Really? So as long as they fear something, I can make the fear stronger? Can''t I just consider that everything is afraid of a dinosaur or death?" Hera asked. Peaches shook his head, "It doesn''t work like that. You can''t use something the monster doesn''t know. Not every creature will know what a T-Rex is. And the concept of death is too abstract to function with the spell. Not to mention that you won''t be the one deciding what the spell looks like at your level." "I''m not? I only figured out the spell when I used a bear''s roar as a base." "That might work to get the spell, but it''s not how it actually works. When you get that spell in an advanced rank, you might change some of its intentions. Now, if you already found out what scared the monster, the hunt skill will make the spell mirror whatever they fear." "So, it works even if I never saw what they fear?" "How would you know that they fear something that they never saw? You need some information for that to work. Even if it''s just a roar or a smell. Of course, the more you know about it, the better you can mirror it," Peaches explained. "I guess that makes sense. Can I share information with other hunters?" "Yes, and no. You can share information and have it saved in your catalogue, but you won''t get the buff until the information is confirmed." "So, if someone tells me that a monster is weak against fire and that''s a 1% increase, I won''t get that until I hit the monster with fire?" Hera asked. "Exactly. Some things are easier to share and count as benefits, like their appearance or hunting grounds. By the time you find the monster, you would get the benefits." Hera nodded and opened the new spell she got. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pinpoint Weak spot Rank: Novice Creates a marker on the target''s weak spot. The more knowledgeable you are about your target, the stronger the effect is. By attacking the weak spot, the target will receive more damage. Using this skill allows you to share a quarter of the effects you receive from your [Explorer''s Hunt] skill with anyone who hits the marker. Range 20 meters Mana cost: 20 mana Duration: 1 minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So, this pinpoint weak spots spell allows other people to share the extra damage, right? When it gets stronger, does the amount I share increase?" Hera asked. "No, this is another limitation of your version of the skill. Regular hunters can share half its effects. An interesting benefit is that both these effects can overlap. So if an explorer and a hunter are working together, and both have a 100% bonus, and each uses their own pinpoint weak spots spells, the total buff they share can be equivalent to three quarters." "That''s a long-winded way of saying that we can stack the buff," Hera chuckled. "I''m being thorough here. Stop complaining," Peaches scoffed. "I''m not complaining. Now, let me see the relic first." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm. Passive effects: Returning string If an object is tied to the string when thrown, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.Current maximum distance: 15 Meters Danger sense When the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can detect monsters that are hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Current range: 10 meters Range while hidden: 15 meters Active effect: Dowsing rod By letting the string loose and pointing it down, you can ask about a location, item, or creature. The string will point towards the direction where the query is located. The accuracy of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. Cooldown: 120 hours If this effect is used to find a living creature, the cooldown is reduced to 50 hours Lose thread You can cut off thread from Yarnball. During the first 24 hours, you can feel the thread as if it was part of your own mana. The string can be easily imbued with different mana for various effects. Every 4 hours, 1 meter of thread will be generated, up to a maximum of 10 meters. You can insert 50% of your maximum mana inside Yarnball to speed up the creation of 1 meter of thread. Current thread available: 10 meters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s a big window," Hera gasped. "You have no idea, kid. Some relics end up almost being a magazine." "Really? Do they have multiple pages?" "It''s up to the owner. Some let it have other pages. Others just have this giant window," Peaches explained. "Do people remember everything their relic can do? I mean, I try to keep in mind, but I always forget the danger sense. The vibration is too weak for me to notice when I''m focused on something else." "But you used that one during the jungle biome, didn''t you?" "Yeah, but I was focused on feeling if they were throwing anything at me. Normally that wouldn''t happen." "Well. You''re not all wrong. Most explorers tend to forget one or two functions early on. But the more they use it, the better they get at handling their relic. High-level explorers use their relics fully. Even if they only started doing that after a few upgrades." "That''s what I heard. I really need to meet another explorer and talk about all this. I''m a bit lost," Hera started thinking if there would be anyone available. The only high-level explorer she knew was Morgan, the guild master''s assistant. The problem was that having a moment to talk to him should be very hard. "Kid, I can see you are thinking about something, but can we talk about the catalogue?" Peaches interrupted Hera. "Oh, sorry. Sure, it works kind of like the explorer''s map, right?" "That''s right. Try to pull it up." Hera mentally called the skill, and instead of a window, an old leather-bound tome appeared in her lap. "This is the skill?" "Oh, you are more old school than I expected, kid. The skill takes the form that you ask it to." "I didn''t ask for this. I mean, it''s very pretty, and it looks like something that was passed down through generations, but how can I find anything inside? Will I have to go through each page looking for a specific monster?" Hera opened the book. The title ''Hunter''s Catalogue'' in beautiful handwriting was on the first page, and right under it, an out-of-place search bar. To the sides, several tabs split the book. The tabs all had the layer numbers, but there was an indicator on the top left that would change the categories of the tabs as she pressed. When touching the search bar, a virtual keyboard would appear, and although it was odd to type in the air, she was a bit used to that since her map skill was the same. There was an autocomplete function on the search bar, and she could even type just characteristics, and the skill would cross-reference them with the monsters she had registered. "Are you still going to complain?" Peaches saw Hera''s expression change as she started looking through the catalogue. "No... this is incredible. I wonder if the learn skill from researches is similar." "Maybe one day you can find out." "You are not going to give me anything?" "Nope. You already had enough." "Fine," Hera rolled her eyes with a smile. They ironed out some details about the upgrades, and the clock finally got to its last three minutes. "Well, kid, this is it." "Yeah, thanks for everything. It was really good seeing you again." "It really was, kid. Between the explorers I know, you are among my favorites," Peaches said. "I''m flattered. Oh, and tell¡­. The kobold sisters, thanks for everything. I wish I had more time to get to know them better. They seem awesome." "They really are. I''ll let them know," Peaches smiled. "Well. I''m going. Thanks again." Hera took a step towards the door but stopped. Turning back, she picked Peaches and gave him a big hug. "Argh, that''s too sappy," despite his complaint, Peaches was smiling. Going through the door leading outside, Hera began the transfer and was received by a cold water bath. The frost was so intense that it hurt. It felt like she had just jumped inside a frozen river. Her entire body froze up, but it wasn''t without reprieve. A few small streams of scalding water hit her body in random places. It was a minor comfort in the middle of the cold. After what felt like hours, she finally emerged from the broken doorway, once more inside the mountain of Boothudurn. "By the system, that''s cold," Hera rubbed her arms, trying to heat up. When she arrived inside the reception, the feeling from the transfer vanished in an instant, "Maybe it was the healing that came from that place." Hera kept rubbing her shoulders and chest while walking back towards her house. Since she spent 24 hours inside the test, it would mean that Blue should still be sound asleep. Silah wasn''t around either, not like Hera was expecting her to be. The city didn''t have any explorers. People would always pick other roles, assuming that being an explorer was about roaming around and didn''t have any other special abilities. According to Silah and the others, there wasn''t any explanation about the roles, so they all had to count on the information passed down from their ancestors. It took about twenty minutes, but she finally arrived back in her place. After sitting on the couch, Hera felt all the exhaustion of the previous day wash over her. Only now she realized she had barely slept, not to mention she was hungry. "First things first, I need food," Hera got up and prepared her mix of breakfast and lunch. She just made some BLTs and some hot milk. While eating, she opened her [Hunter''s Catalogue] and checked the page that was talking about the griffons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter''s catalogue Sky ruler''s spawn ¨C Level range: 5 - 8 Winged Beast ¨C Wind affinity Bonus effects: 15% A griffon-like creature that is native of the Boothudurn peaks. It has powerful wings, and it can control the air. Their legs are strong enough to lift over 50 kilograms. They hunt in packs and focus on one target before moving to another. With their cries, they can call for help. They are nimble in open spaces but have issues moving in tight areas. The sky ruler''s spawn enjoy high places and live high up in the mountains. Their hunting grounds tend to be the fields under their nests. Their diet is made mostly of sheep meat, but they will turn to alternative meat sources when food is scarce. A barrier protects the Sky Ruler and its spawn from any effects that might originate from native Boothudurn dwarves. The origin of this barrier is unknown. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were more details such as height, weight, wingspan, and several other small pieces of information. Hera kept reading through it while she ate, hoping that it would give her any hints on how to deal with the griffons. Hera didn''t even notice when she fell asleep, much less when Blue picked her up and put her on the bed. 242 - Boothudurn Doorway It took a while for Hera to wake up. There was a note from Blue letting her know they were invited to have dinner with the king. She also had told Naka that after the assassin''s test, she spent the entire day sleeping, so Hera could enjoy another day off. Hera smiled while reading the note. Especially when she saw a line in the bottom that said, ''I''m glad you came back in one piece. I know there was no danger, but still. I was worried, not as much as Silah though, good luck.'' Hera took advantage of that and spent the rest of the morning lazying around. She woke up near 11 A. M, but only got up after noon. Since she was pretending to be sleeping for most of the day, going outside was out of the picture. She also had to be careful with any loud noises. The last thing she needed was to get another scolding from Naka. Despite that, having an extra day to rest was amazing. Hera still felt sore from all the running around in the test. When she finally got out of bed, the first thing Hera did was prepare a bath. Not so much to clean herself up, but just to feel refreshed. She pulled up a book on her tablet and spent over one hour inside the tub reading. After that, Hera used some of the skincare products that Fethy and Risli gave to them. She was going to treat herself to a spa day, and no one could do anything about that. That''s how she spent most of the afternoon. Taking care of herself and relaxing. Despite that, she also spent most of the time reading about the various monsters in her catalogue. Monster like the frogs from Brinefront and the Sprites from the Underground Forest already had their buffs giving over 70% efficacy. They also had a much more extensive description. She could read up on their attack patterns, skill set, elemental weakness, and resistances. She could also check what materials she could get from each creature and how much each piece was worth, be it a drop from a monster inside the dungeon or something she would have to harvest from a corpse. The price wasn''t updated via the internet or something like it. Instead, it took from the knowledge she had from selling the materials. That''s why things like the sheep meat and wool didn''t have a value attached to them. One thing that was unique to Hera''s catalogue was the classification of the monster''s affinities. She only had that information thanks to Helena''s affinity sight spell. Curious about one thing, she checked the information about the boss monsters. Just like the others, they still showed up in the catalogue, but not only was there a more in-depth explanation of their attack patterns and phases, but also a list of items that could be dropped from them. It didn''t say any odds, but there were things like how rare the drop was. That didn''t mean the item itself was rare, but the boss monster would rarely drop that item. That''s why, for instance, the Light of the Forest, from the Underground Forest, had money listed as a rare drop despite never giving over 100 gold during their runs. During the afternoon, Hera realized she had no idea if the dwarves'' hunt could affect the griffons. If they could use the pinpoint weak spot, it was an even bigger boost to their attacks. But she couldn''t remember if there was a hunter among the team who would fight the Sky Ruler''s Spawns. Hera found herself working out or practicing her spells, despite her initial idea of having a day off to rest. By the time Blue was supposed to be getting back, Hera prepared a small snack for her and her friend. She wanted to check up on her and tell about her new skills. Blue wasn''t the only one that came home after her shift. Silah came along before even heading home. When the two arrived, Hera had already set up a small tea party with some pastries. The one thing that was missing from the afternoon was actual tea. Instead, she had set up a wine bottle and two glasses. "Hey! You are finally up," Blue cheered as she entered the house. "Yeah, thanks for putting me on the bed, by the way. If I slept at the dinner table, I''m sure my neck would be killing me." "No worries, I had a lot of nights sleeping on a desk before a test," Blue walked over the table, making a signal for Silah to join her. "Hold up. Are you implying that you studied the entire night?" Hera picked another glass for Silah from the cupboard. "I did. I don''t know what''s so surprising," Blue huffed. "I mean... I''ve seen your grades." "Well, I had to cram all my studies in a single night before the test. It''s a perfectly legitimate way of studying." "Fine, fine," Hera walked over to Silah, "It''s good to see you." "It''s good to see you, too. Are you ok? Do you need to see a shaman?" Silah started looking over Hera, searching for any wounds. "I''m ok, don''t worry. I told you guys that I can''t die in there. The room healed any wounds I got in there. Even with that, I didn''t get hurt in there. Not really. I mean, a monkey used my body to break another monkey''s skull, but the armor took the brunt of it." "What?" Silah gasped, grabbing Hera''s hands "Hey, hey, Don''t worry. Everything is ok. I''m fine. Besides, those dozens of monkeys were nowhere near the worst thing I ever fought." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "What is your top five then?" Blue asked. "The wendigo takes first place, no doubt about it. The second, I think, would be Light Fur. Imagine fighting him without Zudra," Hera replied without missing a beat. "I''ll pass. That thing was a real monster. Not to mention I still have nightmares about Tom''s smell that day." "Oh yeah, that was rough. Are the nightmares frequent?" "Not really. It''s just part of other things. Anyway, who got the last three spots?" Blue quickly changed the subject. "I don''t know. It falls off pretty hard. Those two were the only ones that made me feel like a squirrel in front of a snake. The Light of the Forest was annoying but never felt¡­ unreasonably strong, and even the Carbuncle. That pangolin that I fought outside the cave in Brinefront. It was strong but nothing overwhelming." The more the two talked about the different monsters, the more Silah sighed, "I''m still not sure how you two can be so cavalier about being killed, but I''m glad you are ok Hera. Blue said that last time you had a test like this, you came back in a really bad shape." "Blue! You shouldn''t have scared her. You know why the assassin''s test was so tough." "But I told her you were physically fine. You just had a small breakdown." "Oh gee, thanks. That''s much better," Hera rolled her eyes and turned back to Silah, "I don''t think I ever told you about what happened in that test. It''s a bit of a long story. Do you have time?" "I do, but I don''t think you guys have," Silah nodded towards two packages on the couch, "The king asked you two to try those clothes for your dinner with him." "Is that normal? The king says he wants to have dinner with us, and that''s that? He even sends us clothes? He''s not going to try something, is he?" Hera asked. "If you have a good reason not to go, you can say so, but if not, he might be hurt. For the trying something part, I''m not sure what you mean about it," Silah replied. "If we don''t go and it''s not a damn good reason, Naka will skin us alive tomorrow. Besides, these are from Fethy. She had a couple of people working with those and used the dinner as an excuse to give us," Blue added. "Yeah, I kind of figured," Hera stared at the packages, "Do you guys know if one of those is a dress?" "I think one of them is, but that''s mine. At least that''s what Fethy told me," Blue walked over and opened the packages. In one of them, there was a long-sleeved dress made entirely of what looked like blue silk. It had some white fluff on the arms, making it seem like the effect of Blue triggering her shoulder guards. The dress had a long skirt, but its back was open, and there was a deep blue shawl to accompany it. "This is beautiful," Blue gasped, "It''s a shame I don''t have any shoes to go with it." "Wow, it really is," Hera walked over and touched the dress. It felt soft and smooth, not to mention surprisingly warm. On second thought, she realized it wasn''t unexpected. Boothudurn was a cold room. Even inside the mountain, the temperature from the outside still took hold. It was much better than how it felt when she was in the snow, but it wasn''t a place that had a warm climate in any way. "How about the other package?" Silah asked. Hera opened what should be her clothes and found a pair of black leather pants with a white short-sleeved blouse with a black rim all around it, and a deep red tailcoat with what looked like a corset in the middle. "Holy crap. I''m kind of jealous," Blue said. "Yeah, I still feel like this was a way for Fethy to go around my no dresses or skirts policies but this is still amazing." "Fair point. Can you help me get into this thing? I know Quinn loves these dresses, but I have no clue how to tie this on my back," Blue asked. "Sure," Hera turned to Silah, "This might take a while. Do you want to go home and get ready?" "Ready for what? I''m not invited to dinner." "Oh¡­ sorry. I just¡­" "Don''t worry. I didn''t expect to be invited. Do you guys mind if I wait here? I want to see you two all dressed up." Blue stared at Silah for a moment, "Sure, but don''t make us late because you two were making out." "Don''t worry. There is no dumpster around," Silah replied with a smile. Hera started laughing while Blue huffed and went towards the bedroom to get dressed. Hera took that chance to give Silah a quick kiss before heading after her friend. If she had learned anything, it was that Blue took ages to get dressed when she was going out to a party. It took them around one hour. Hera was done in just over 15 minutes, but Blue still had to put on makeup and do her hair. After a lot of insistence from Silah, Hera agreed to put some makeup on. There was one thing Hera had to admit. The clothes were amazing. Using this tailcoat made her feel like a character in a fantasy novel. The half skirt would flow as she walked, and the whole get-up was beautiful. The only thing missing was some knee-high boots. They helped Blue get ready, and the time to head to the palace arrived. Silah accompanied them for a while, but she headed back home as they got closer to the castle. No one would stop her from entering, but since the King didn''t invite her, she had nothing to do there. A couple of royal guards escorted the humans towards an office where Rutigan was waiting for them. "Ah, welcome, my dear friends. I apologize for the rushed invite, but a meeting I had was canceled, and I wanted to discuss the new endeavor you are working on," Rutigan got up from his desk and walked towards the two to greet them. "Don''t worry. We appreciate the invitation. I hope the discussion is nothing serious," Hera replied. "Not at all. I just wish to discuss our future, but first, I must keep a promise," Rutigan smiled, "Please, follow me." "Where are we going?" Blue asked. Rutigan led them through the palace. He went past the room where the council would appear and then to the throne room. He kept going towards what looked like a dead end. There, he used a spell, and on the side, a part of the wall shifted, giving way to a small hallway. "Do either of you have any light spells? I''m not very proficient in that specific type of magic, and well. Leaving this passage open is not something I''m keen to do," Rutigan asked. "Sure," Hera created a dancing light to follow them inside the tunnel. Rutigan thanked her and closed off the entrance. The corridor was short, and in the end, he used the same spell once more to shift the wall. Now, they were in a massive tunnel with an entrance to the palace behind them. This specific gate wasn''t very well kept, and they could see several cracks all over the stones. There were two additional paths, one heading in the same direction as the door and another to the side that was blocked off by a smooth stone wall. "This is the path to the doorway. We closed it generations ago to avoid giving our people any ideas of fighting the Sky Ruler." "Why would people have that idea?" Hera asked. "You will understand when we arrive," Rutigan replied as he kept heading deeper inside the tunnel. 243 - Sky Rulers Spawn Hera, Blue, and King Rutigan walked through the tunnel for fifteen minutes before seeing a path to the right. "This path leads to a locked dungeon, but we have no idea how to unlock it. The voice of the mountain tells us that a key is required, but no one has ever found such a key," Rutigan explained. Hera and Blue stared at each other. They were supposed to defeat the sky ruler to get a key for a dungeon that would allow them to unlock the room. Hera assumed the dungeon was on the mountain somewhere, but now this could be it. Another ten minutes went by with the group staying in the central tunnel when they finally arrived at a massive 5-meter tall doorway with the symbol of a wolf and a dragon staring at each other on top. "This leads to the Kobold Field!" Hera gasped. "What is that?" Rutigan turned to her. "It''s another room. That''s where we came from," Hera explained. "I see¡­ I must confess, although the idea of rooms is not new to me, the concept still escapes me." "It''s¡­ Kind of like each room is a dungeon, but there is no time limit, and the monsters and people inside don''t vanish as they die. They are also connected, so going through this one can lead you to another room, and another and so on." As Hera spoke to the king, Blue walked over to the doorway and put her hand in the frame, "Shit!" "What''s wrong?" Hera turned around quickly. "I had some hopes that we could cross it already, but it''s really locked," Blue sighed. Hera put one hand on her friend''s shoulder, "We are going to go back, don''t worry." "I''m sorry for interrupting this moment, but may I ask you one question about these rooms?" Rutigan walked closer to Hera. "Sure." "How can you know where the doorway leads to? Or do you just go in blind?" "When they are open the system¡­ sorry, I mean the voice of the mountain will tell you about the room you are going. The symbol above the doorway will also tell a little about the place," Hera explained. "The surrounding area will also be similar. Like, if we are in a cave, this will lead to another cave or a place where you could leave a cave. If it''s in the middle of a forest, you will show up near some groups of trees, at least," Blue added. Hera stared at her friend for a moment, just now realizing that all the rooms she went through were connected in some way, "Holy crap, you''re right! That''s an amazing thing to notice, Blue!" "I didn''t notice. We learned that in class, don''t you remember?" "Really? I don''t remember that." "I guess I wasn''t the only one zoning out at times," Blue chuckled. Seeing that her friend felt better, Hera walked over to the doorway and placed her hand on the frame, trying to activate it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Doorway locked To unlock the doorway, follow these steps. - Retrieve the key from the strongest monster in the room. - ??????????? - ??????????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, at least it tells us what we have to do. But I understand what you mean, King Rutigan. Only one monster comes to mind when we say the strongest in the room," Hera sighed. "Precisely, and please. You can call me Rutigan. There is no need to add king to it. Anyway, the earlier generations lost some people who were searching for a way to leave. After it became clear that chasing this string of hope was too dangerous, the king at the time blocked off this path," Rutigan turned around, "Now then, shall we return?" Hera and Blue nodded, and the trio made the journey back to the palace. After crossing the tunnel that headed to the locked dungeon. Blue spoke up, "What else do you want to talk about? You mentioned something about the future." "I suppose there is no need for us to wait to begin this discussion. Let me ask you this. How different do you feel that our society is from yours?" Rutigan asked. "Oh¡­ Very. Like, there are so many differences that I don''t know where to begin," Blue replied. "Exactly. In order to join your world, I must first understand what changes would be needed. I''ve asked you about your culture, habits, and technology, but I''ve gathered no information about more mundane things. For one, I understand you use gold to acquire different items, but who is responsible for deciding how much gold something would be worth? And gold can purchase what type of item? Also, where do you get food? Do you have a specific street like we do, or are the storages more spread out? Do you have a limitation on how much produce one could take home, or your supplies are vast enough not to worry about that?" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Ok, one thing at a time. We have several stores in our cities where you can buy food. We call them supermarkets. The price of something is decided by whoever is selling it. There is a thing called market value that I think it''s an unspoken agreement about the pricing of items, but I have no idea how that works," Blue replied. "Going a bit deeper in that whole thing. You can set the price of something by considering how much it costs to make. Like, let''s say you are making a sword, there is the price of the ore, the fuel for the forge, your tools, and then you also add how much your experience is worth. Then you decide the price," Hera added. "Oh.. that seems very¡­ overpriced. Wouldn''t that mean you can get new tools with every sale?" Rutigan had a confused expression. "No, you don''t put the full value of the tools in each product. It''s more like a piece of it," Hera and Blue explained what they could about the most basic notions of human society. It quickly became clear that the gaps in knowledge were much wider than all of them initially thought. For one, Rutigan couldn''t understand how humans put a price on basic things like food, water, and housing. It was one thing to ask someone to pay for a cake or some pastries, but raw and uncooked food should be available to everyone in his mind. Despite agreeing with him, Hera and Blue focused on the subject. If the situation devolved into a rant about the unfairness of capitalism, not only things wouldn''t progress, but the king could have some issues when dealing with human society. They spent the entire dinner discussing those basic notions, from electronic money to democracy and education. Even after five hours, Hera felt they had only scratched the surface. What they knew was very limited, and they were far from being trained to explain these types of things. There should be someone working with the guild that could do a better job than them. However, Hera was worried that they could take advantage of Rutigan and the dwarves. The last thing she wanted was to open Pandora''s box when leaving the room. She knew it was a hopeless dream. Letting humans come to this room was the same as sending conquerors to indigenous tribes. And history had told her how things would end up. Thinking about that from a different angle, the dwarves wouldn''t be so helpless. Naka alone should be able to hold off many explorers on her own, and the rest of the guard would give the humans who roamed the first layers a run for their money. Silah was the weakest of the group, with the majority being over level 30. Not to mention they had an excellent defensive position. If Ogryn and his mages changed the tunnel a bit, it would be almost impossible for anyone to invade this room. Then again, this all could just be Hera, being a pessimist. Humanity wasn''t at war with anyone aside from themselves. As far as she knew, all races native to the MAZE lived in harmony, even if some were more detached than others. When the dinner was about to end, Fethy arrived, saying she had an emergency to discuss with the king. No one believed that line, and the moment the dwarf saw Hera and Blue wearing the clothes she sent, the ''emergency'' was completely forgotten. She admired the tall figures of the humans and made some notes about places where she could improve the designs. Blue took advantage of the opportunity and asked about shoes. Hera also mentioned the knee-high boots and made Fethy even more excited with the idea. The next morning, it was back to training for the humans. Hera asked the team and found that Ganek, the second-highest level member of the group, was also a hunter. She shared everything that she had in her catalogue about the Sky Ruler''s Spawn, hoping his pinpoint weak spots could add to her own. To everyone''s surprise, Naka suggested they should fight the griffons the following day. According to her, since they only had Hera and Blue''s experience to go on, most of their strategies were purely theoretical. They had no clue what would happen when the griffons saw the dwarves or if there would be any odd behaviors coming from the monsters. As weird as the suggestion was, no one seemed to be against it. The dwarves all trusted Naka enough to believe in her decision. Hera couldn''t help but think that there was something out of place with the captain''s suggestion. But since it ultimately helped her goals, the explorer said nothing. The team ironed out a few details and trained during the rest of the day, focusing on two different formations. One would be a way to attack, with Hera and Blue in front while the rest concentrated on defense, and another to retreat, with the dwarves in the middle and the humans on the flanks fighting off any griffon that went in their direction. They all gathered in the guardhouse early the next morning. Before heading inside the dungeon, they had one more strategy meeting to remind everyone what their jobs would be. Lija would be in front of the other two mages. Since her spells were more defensive, she was the one who needed a clearer view of the battlefield. Totrak and Pyrrick would stay behind her, focusing on buffing the humans and debuffing the monsters. Leryn would also be with them, but he was supposed to stay between Lija and the other two mages. A healer should be in the back, but he shouldn''t be too vulnerable to sneak attacks from behind. After the casters, Ganek and Sevaris would take the flanks, with Naka spearheading the group. If they could actually attack the griffons, they would have some people focused on archery or other forms of long-range combat, but since it was a group made only to protect the mages, it was better to have melee combatants. Hera and Blue were supposed to focus on killing the monsters, and they were the ones who would call all the shots. Where the group would go and which creature to focus on, it was all up to them. However, if the situation became dire, Naka could call for a retreat. That would be the only type of order she would give. Aside from that, the leadership was entirely in the Human''s hands. If the sheep attacked the group, Naka and the other guards could finish them off. The last thing they would need was to be caught in the middle of various monsters at once. Silah would accompany them, but unlike the rest, she would stay outside the dungeon. She was there only to provide on-site repairs and support. Naka agreed that having someone repair their gear and understand how to make armor and weapons to fight against the griffons was a good idea. Still, before putting her in a dangerous situation, the captain wanted to confirm they weren''t biting more than they could chew. After making sure everyone understood the plan, the group headed towards the dungeon. 244 - Cloud Barrier The team entered the Wooly Plains and stood inside the tunnel. Hera walked outside and tossed one feather she got from the first time they came to hunt the griffons to the sky. The feather went up and kept going, much farther than it should, considering the strength she placed in the throw. After a few moments, the quill vanished in a plume of smoke, and a loud cry came from the top of the mountain. Hera quickly rushed back inside the tunnel. "They are coming. We should wait for them to land before going outside," Hera joined the rest of the team. The dwarves all seemed nervous. Even Naka''s usually stoic expression showed some signs of worry. "We should do things the same way we did before," Blue said, "We stay close to the tunnel and lure one of them to the entrance. If things go south, we run away." "I agree. What do you think, captain?" Hera asked, trying to change the mood inside the tunnel. "Yes. It is a good idea, but can you lure only one of them?" "Leave that to me," Hera replied. Naka nodded and returned to her usual demeanor. That seemed to calm the rest of the team, who little by little shaved off some of their worries. Unfortunately, when the cloud of griffons covered the sunlight coming from the cave''s entrance, all the anxiety the dwarves had lost returned in a rush. Hera gave up on changing the mood right now. That would only be possible after they saw the griffons being defeated. After a minute, the shadows gave way to the sunlight, and the constant flapping of wings stopped. If one were to pay attention, they still could hear feathers ruffling and the griffons cries, but would all be coming from far away. The team carefully walked closer to the entrance, with Hera and Blue in the front. Just a couple of meters outside the cavern, a Sky Ruler Spawn was eating some meat from a grey package. The monsters worked fast. Maybe a sheep was unlucky enough to be passing by just as the entire flock came down from the mountain. "Wait here and don''t leave the tunnel. I''m going to bring it here so you guys can see it. Let''s use this chance to do some tests for our plans. We''ll do it one by one to be sure of what works, and Lija, you will be the last one since your part is pretty much guaranteed to work. But if it tries to call for help, I''m finishing it off," Hera told the rest of the team. They all nodded in agreement. Lija was the only that already showed how her spells would work during the fight. Other guards and mages had their air spells blocked by her barriers, and to test the silk fall, they only had to jump from a high place. The mage understood and just nodded in response. Hera gestured for Blue to move out with her, "Blue, stay close to the tunnel, in front of the door but a bit far away. Are you confident you can kite it around?¡± "One moment. Pyrrick, can you buff us? For now, I think it''s better to be safe than sorry," Blue asked. "Of course," the mage waved his hands in the air, and the Humans'' attributes increased by 90% for the next ten minutes. Hera couldn''t get enough of that feeling. It was as if each cell in her body had just eaten a bowl of ground coffee. She wanted to run and plow through the griffons but held herself back, turning towards the mage with golden hair, "Ok, Totrak, let''s try yours first. Then we can see how effective Pyrrick''s debuffs are." "After that, can I try to hit it?" Lija asked. "I thought you couldn''t hit them," Blue turned to the dwarf. "That''s what our ancestors tell us, but no one knows what actually happens. This would be a good time to experiment." "Sure. Just be careful and don''t come out of the tunnel. Lerryn, get ready to heal her if anything goes wrong, ok? Who knows if they reflect the spell back or something," Hera replied. "Ready?" Blue turned to Hera. Hera nodded with a smile, and the two left the cave. She avoided using her [Hide] since it wouldn''t help get the Sky Ruler Spawn''s attention. Before attacking, she triggered the [Observe] to see how monsters would appear now that she had the bonus from the hunter skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Spawn ¨C Level 5 ¨C 15% (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It wasn''t as bad as she thought. The window was still small, and it didn''t block her vision. Thankfully, it wasn''t like her Relic''s window that was getting ridiculous. Focusing back on the situation, Hera pulled back her chakram and tossed it towards the griffon. Despite all their training, there was one thing they forgot to practice, which was fighting while under the effects of the buffs. Her weapon went much faster than she expected and only nicked the griffon''s legs. The creature roared and jumped towards Hera. Thanks to the buff, all she had to do was jump backward to avoid the attack. Her movement was so quick that it could be compared to when she used her [All In]. With the monster chasing her, Hera quickly rushed towards Blue, letting the controller get the creature''s attention. To be sure that the griffon wouldn''t reach the dwarves, Hera stood by the tunnel entrance. If worst came to worst, she would kill it before anything happened. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Go for it, guys, and feel free to take your time. This oversized bird can''t hit me now," Blue said with a smile. Thanks to Pyrrick''s buffs and her own electric buff, she could even toy with the monster without worrying about getting hit. Totrak understood that this was his cue and activated the spell that would make the air more viscous. A spell he had named ''Solid Air.'' Hera and Blue already had the marks that would allow them to move around freely while inside the spell area. The griffon, on the other hand, was having trouble. Not only could it not move very well, but when it tried to jump around, the creature would instinctively use its wings to get more height. While inside the solid air area, it couldn''t apply enough force with its wings to give a boost to its jump, making it seem like it was a newborn trying to fly. After about a minute, Totrak stopped the spell, allowing the griffon to move freely once again. Even with the air returning to its natural state, the creature was already tired. Trying to move in an area under the effects of that spell made everything harder. The simplest of things, such as breathing, became a struggle that took most of your strength. The entire team had felt that effect on their skin during the training. "Pyrrick, you''re up," Hera commanded as the monster regained some of its mobility. The older dwarf took a step forward and pointed at the Sky Ruler''s Spawn. Hera could see how his hands were shaking. Despite Totrak''s success, it was clear that they were still scared of the monsters. Fighting against the griffons was the same as fighting against the boogeyman or the monsters under a kid¡¯s bed. They would hear stories about how the Sky Ruler is terrifying and could kill any dwarf ever since they were kids. Facing their fears was never something easy, and if the roles were reversed, Hera had no idea if she would be willing to do the same for strangers. The dwarves could want to open the doors to their kingdom. But they were only here because of her, and she knew that. Pyrrick quickly finished the spell, creating several glowing lines that wrapped around the griffon''s body. The debuff hit, affecting not just the creature''s speed but its strength, and it even seemed to have more trouble seeing where Blue was. Some of her punches that should''ve been easily evaded hit their mark, making the monster tumble to the side. Hera activated her [Observe] to make sure the debuff took hold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Spawn ¨C Level 5 ¨C 20% - Weakened (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, that one works too. Lija, let''s see your attack," Hera said. She didn''t even have to check on Blue. Her friend had a large smile on her face and was even dancing around the monster. Lija gulped and nodded. She rose both of her hands, creating a large earth spike in front of her chest out of thin air. She pumped more and more mana into the spell, and the construct became large enough to impale the entire griffon. "Blue! This thing is going to be massive. On my signal, jump towards the mountain but don''t get in front of the tunnel. Lija, when I call Blue away, count to two, then let it fly," Hera called out, and after making sure both had understood the plan, she waited for Blue to get a clear escape route and yelled, "Now!" The blue-haired woman jumped back, with streaks of lightning wrapping around her body. The griffon was too tired and weakened to keep up. After counting down, Lija sent off her spell at a breakneck speed. Seeing that giant, pointy rock shoot out of the tunnel, Hera couldn''t imagine how anything could survive an attack like that. As the spike got closer to the Sky Ruler''s Spawn, a spinning cloud appeared around the creature. The fog spun so fast that it shredded the rock to pieces as if it had just hit a titanium wall. When there was nothing left from the spell, the cloud vanished with the griffon now staring straight at the tunnel. The creature roared, making some of its feathers around its neck glow with white light, and started rushing towards the cave. Blue pivoted and dashed towards the creature. Naka and the guards stepped in front of the mages and braced for impact while Hera moved over to the entrance, taking steady steps forward while tightening her grip on her handaxe. When the griffon got close enough, Hera swung her weapon in an uppercut. Her strike split the Sky Ruler''s Spawn head in half, even cutting a large part of its neck. The rest of the body tumbled forward, but Hera didn''t budge. She stopped the corpse, using her own body as a bumper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After being sure the monster had actually perished, Hera turned back to the dwarves. "Is everyone ok?" The mages were still shellshocked by the situation, but the guards just nodded. "That was a risky move," Naka said. "I know, but even without the buffs, I could stop one of them. With the buffs and it being weakened, I was positive I could block the body," Hera explained. "So this was an informed decision? Well done," for the first time, Naka seemed impressed with the human. Blue rushed over and checked on everyone. None of the dwarves were hurt during the attack, and now they were walking over to the corpse of the Sky Ruler''s Spawn. "Did you really kill it?" Sevaris asked. "We killed him. Without the mage''s help, we wouldn''t have finished it off so easily," Hera replied. "This means that our plan worked. Even though we cannot harm the monsters, we can help these who can. We finally have a way of killing those damn things," Naka had a large smile on her face. "Yeah. We just missed one thing. We still don''t know if Ganek can share his hunter bonus, but the buffs already are a big help," Hera nodded. "We can test that on the next one. This time we won''t be in the tunnel. Have you seen any other monsters around?" Naka asked. "I didn''t, but last time there were several of them spread around the plains. Most were in groups of at least two, but there were a couple of loners moving around," Blue replied. "Very well. Are you all ready to go?" Naka turned to the team. They all nodded, now with a much brighter disposition. The mages even had a spark in their eyes. "Question, do you think I could create a stone wall to block them as they attack you two, or would make them attack us instead?" Lija asked. "I think that is too dangerous. If you incur their wrath again, this might not simply put us in danger but also disturb Blue''s and ... Hekaria¡®s flow in combat," Naka replied. "Seriously?" Hera huffed. "What?" Naka turned to the explorer with a confused expression. "You know what? Forget it. Let''s just move," Hera walked away from the tunnel, frustrated that not even after praising her, the captain didn''t stop with that immature thing of calling her the wrong name. 245 - The frenzy Thanks to the support Hera and Blue were getting from the dwarves, the hunt went on without a hitch. Ganek''s pinpoint weak spots spell could also affect the griffons without an issue to make things even better. Their working theory was that the cloud barrier would only appear when the dwarves would attack the monsters or get too close. Spells and skills that dealt no damage worked just fine. As they walked towards the next group of Sky Ruler''s Spawn, Lija brought up a point. "What if we paralyze them while they fly?" "They should be paralyzed and fall down. Why?" Blue replied. "Yeah, but will they take damage from hitting the ground? Or will the barrier stop that?" "I have no clue, but I assume someone tried that when they first started appearing," Hera replied. "They have. There are multiple passages about what you suggested with spells that would put one to sleep and even nets among the records. If the Sky Ruler''s Spawn falls from any height that could damage them because of us, the cloud barrier will appear, and it will trigger the frenzy," Naka explained. "And the frenzy is when where their feathers glowed with a white light, right?" Sevaris asked. "I believe so. Although the description in the records is inconsistent. Some describe a red glow in their eyes, others that the wind picks up and creates a barrier around them. One particular passage even talks about how the cloud turns into a set of armor. I believe it would be better to avoid triggering that effect as much as possible. I don''t like the idea of seeing those reactions first hand," Naka continued. Ever since they entered the dungeon, ten griffons had perished, and not a single one of them got even close to the dwarves. With the buffs and the effects hindering the griffons, the earlier fights took less than a few attacks to end. However, things were getting harder. The remaining Sky Ruler''s Spawn were grouping up, and the larger pack was circling the biggest flock of sheep inside the dungeon to make things worse. It would be one thing to fight against the griffons, but if they had to deal with the Wooly Sheep and Ram as well, things would get very complicated. Naka was there, and she could kill all the bovinae without an issue, but that could expose her and the remaining dwarfs to the Sky Ruler Spawn. There were still a couple of smaller groups to fight, and that''s where Hera and the team were heading right now. Before leaving for the guardhouse earlier that day, Blue and Hera had discussed the dungeon, and both agreed that dealing with the griffons should be the way to trigger the hard mode. Following what they knew about how to activate that, the most obvious way was to kill all the Sky Ruler Spawn. If that didn''t work, they would start looking for alternatives. They were very interested in the idea since hard mode dungeons were supposed to make you level up a lot faster, not just from the quest, but also from the monsters inside. Not to mention the benefits one would gain if they were the first to complete it. If they could trigger and take part in that version of the dungeon, their leveling speed would skyrocket. Despite being comfortable inside the city, both of them missed people, and the sooner they opened the room, the better. Finding the next group, there were only 4 griffons. It was one more than the largest number they had faced so far, but the smaller groups were all gone. The dwarves got into their position while the humans approached the monsters. Hera used her [Hide] and sent a couple of poison needles before starting their attack. If the poison took hold, it didn''t take long for them to die. Since the buff Pyrrick applied increased all stats aside from charisma, her poisons also became stronger. Adding that with the bonus she got from the hunting skill, her orange needles became a force to be reckoned with. The four griffons turned around as Blue got close and all jumped towards her. But the solid air was already in effect. Unlike what Totrack had just done, Pyrrick''s debuff would only be used against a monster in the worst case scenario. It had the same cost as the buff he was applying to the humans, but it lasted only while the creature was alive. Since it took each creature, at most, one minute to be killed, it was a massive waste of mana to debuff all monsters they saw. The Sky Ruler Spawn flocked around Blue, but she could dodge all the attacks thanks to all the effects in play. However, it was getting close. She had a very small breathing room while dealing with four of them at once. The intense battle didn''t last long. Hera tossed her chakram under one monster and opened its stomach, making it fall to the ground. Even if the creature was still alive, it would bleed out in a few moments. The second to fall received several punches in its head. Blue''s gauntlets were now bloodied after cracking the monster''s skull. With only two remaining, they stopped worrying so much, but that was a bad move. A pair of Wooly Rams came out of nowhere and dashed towards the humans. "Watch out!" Totrak cried, but it was a moment too late. The rams slammed against Blue and pushed her towards the griffons that took advantage of the situation and started clawing at her. Some small air blades flowed around the monster, trying to rip the human apart, but were blocked by Lerynn¡¯s barrier. Hera dove towards the monsters while Naka broke the formation, aiming for the rams. Blue pushed one griffon away and slammed her fist against one of its claws, smashing it against the ground. The Sky Ruler Spawn cried and moved back. It landed right in the range of Hera''s handaxe, which chopped off its hind legs. Naka impaled the ram with her long sword and spun around, but an unbreakable wall stopped her in her tracks. Her sword had just hit the cloud barrier of the last griffon. The monster roared as red smoke came out of its body. Naka also saw that the creature had red, glowing eyes. The captain braced herself for an attack, but the Sky Ruler Spawn jumped and flew high in the air and cried once more. However, the sound it made differed from anything else the group had heard. The griffons spread around the plains. All made a similar cry and converged towards the cry for help, right above the team. Naka swiftly killed the ram to avoid dealing with it. "Run back to the tunnel!" Hera yelled. If the dwarves weren''t around, her idea would be to kite the monsters and let her poison spells deal with them. Then again, this would only be applied if she still had the buff. Blue rushed over to the dwarves, not wanting to leave them unprotected. The sparks of electricity moved violently through her body. This wasn''t simply the effects of the buff, but Blue''s own progress. Her static energy spell had a low cost to maintain, thanks to her control skill, and her total mana also had improved a lot during the past months. During this fight, she focused on dodging and increasing the spell''s effects. This violent blue lightning resulted from keeping the same spell up for almost twenty minutes without using it to raise her attack power. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Try to make them form a line!" Blue yelled. "If we do that, someone might get caught. It''s better if we keep a tight formation," Naka yelled back. The noise coming from the griffons was too loud and made communication more difficult. "Not you, the monsters. Make them form a line," Blue replied as she got closer. Hera never saw Blue stay with that spell up for such a long time, but she remembered a couple of times where her friend tried to push her limits. The resulting attack was like throwing a spear made of electricity. The spell could already kill a Dragon Kin Kobold after a minute of charging. Hera could only imagine how powerful it would be right now. The dwarves moved much faster than the humans. Despite their shorter legs, most of them had more agility than Hera or Blue, and that was already counting with the buffs. Only Lerynn moved at the same pace as Hera or Blue. This meant that it was even easier for them to run away from the griffons. To help make the monsters stay in a single file line, Lija created a few walls that could work as a funnel for the Sky Ruler Spawn moving close to the ground. There wasn''t much anyone could do about the ones flying high in the sky, but the rock path helped a lot. Hera was still running by the side of the group, while Blue took up the rear. The controller prepared an electrically charged punch. She waited for one griffon to get closer before attacking. The spear effect would only trigger if she hit something first. It was a risky maneuver, but there were already fewer griffons than last time she came here with Hera. When the fastest Sky Ruler Spawn reached Blue, she punched its face with all her might. The sparks around her body coalesced in her hand and shot out with a massive thunder. The sound was so loud that the stone walls created by Lija shook. Hera could hear her ears ringing, and she wasn''t the only one. Even the dwarves seemed disoriented because of the blast. The lightning pierced through the first four monsters and spread out to the rest behind them, killing them and the next two and heavily wounding the last three. The five in the air spread out in cries of pain, shaking their heads while trying to keep their height. Despite not being hit by the electricity directly, the sound was enough to disrupt their flight. "Holy crap!" Blue gasped, seeing the four griffons with gaping holes in their bodies. "Now that''s a spell! Well done," the ringing muffled Lija''s voice, but they were all still able to understand it. "Keep moving! There will be another wave of griffons after this one," Hera yelled. "Why are you all yelling?" Blue asked. "What?" Sevaris turned back. "Why are you all yelling?" "What are we selling?" Lija asked. "Keep moving!" Hera commanded as the group started to lag. She knew that after killing all the griffons, more would come down from the mountain. There was no way to tell if a set amount of Sky Ruler Spawn would appear or how many waves they had to face. She didn''t like the idea of being in an open space while the monsters first appeared. It took a little while for the remaining griffons to go back to their chase. The wounded ones couldn''t even fly anymore, leaving the creatures to run on the ground. Hera waited until everyone was out of the stone path created by Lija and activated a flaming poison rain to block off the exit. The three wounded griffons could be slow, but they were still getting close to the group, close enough to be engulfed in the flaming orange projectiles that covered the exit. Not a single one of them was able to exit the rock path. The ones flying around were having trouble hitting the dwarves while they traveled between the stone walls. The space was too small to allow the griffons to get close, and Naka and the other guards blocked their spells. However, now that they were out of that area, the monsters had a clear shot. Hera intercepted one of the five Sky Ruler Spawn that dove towards the dwarves. She blocked it with her handaxe and slashed the creature''s neck with her chakram. With a follow-up, she aimed a fire arrow straight at the beast''s eyes, making it screech in pain. Things seemed to be going well until the other griffons started diving. Blue blocked two of them, but the guards blocked the remaining two. Each time the dwarven weapons were about to hit, the cloud barrier appeared once more, which triggered some sort of effect on the monsters. From increasing their strength to making their spells more powerful. That made the combat much harder, but thankfully, even with the frenzy, the griffons were unable to hit the dwarves. Naka and the other guards were able to push the monsters away, even if they couldn''t damage them. It was a type of standoff where no side could defeat the other. Before they reached the tunnel, Hera and Blue managed to kill all the griffons but one, "Blue, don''t kill that one." "Why? And are you done being angry with me?" "If we kill all of them, the next wave comes down, and I wasn''t angry," Hera was confused by the angry comment, but she tossed a paralyze spell into the monster, hoping to stop it on its tracks. "You were yelling at me!" Blue gasped as the spell hit. The griffon was still moving around, and Hera sent the spell once more. "I couldn''t hear anyone. Your lightning made us all go deaf!" Hera sent a third paralyze spell. This time it finally took hold of the griffon. "What? It barely made any sound. You guys are weak," Blue scoffed. "Less talking and more running!" Naka commanded. A few minutes later, they all arrived at the tunnel. The paralyze spell had lasted only one minute, but that was more than enough to allow them to reach their destination with a lot of time to spare. "I think we should leave now and regroup," Hera suggested. "But why? There is only one left," Totrack said. "That was just the first wave. There is at least one more, but we don''t know how many in total there will be," Blue explained. "Well, let''s finish that one. You said that there were fewer Sky Ruler Spawn last time you were here. We need to confirm if there is another wave or not," Naka said. "Ok," Hera walked outside and saw the monster heading towards them. She gathered a quarter of her remaining mana in a poison needle and sent it flying to the creature. The griffon didn''t stop running, but her [Observe] confirmed that it was poisoned. Using the rest of her mana, she triggered the poison control to make it several times more powerful. The monster instantly tumbled forward and started spewing out blood and its innards. It convulsed so hard that it coughed out its lungs. The entire team watched that happen in awe, and when the monster finally stopped moving, they all slowly turned to Hera. "You''re a psycho," Blue said. "I wasn''t expecting that much. I wanted just to push its blood out, not its organs," Hera replied in shock. "That¡­ isn''t better," Lija kept staring at the monster. "It is excessive, but it did its job. And where is the second wave you mentioned?" Naka asked. As if they were waiting for her call, another cry came from the mountain, and the second wave of griffons started coming down, "Very well. Let''s follow our temporary commander and exit the dungeon. We will be locked out for an hour, but we can return after that." The team left with an almost empty basket. They weren''t that worried about gathering the drops. Despite everything, everyone was happy with the situation. Naka and the others were the first living dwarves to ever defeat the griffons. Hera thought it could be hard to convince the captain to return here, but seeing how excited they all were, she realized she wouldn''t be the only one asking to come back. 246 - Hidden Boss After leaving the dungeon, all the guards on their regular shift swiftly swarmed the team. They bombarded Ganek and Sevaris with questions about what happened and how things went inside the dungeon. Even with the secrecy surrounding their objective, a special team with mages and Naka was such a big event that everyone among the guard already had a different idea of what was going on. "I asked you guys to keep the fact that we would fight the Sky Ruler Spawn a secret, did I not?" Naka side-eyed the two guards. "You fought the Sky Rulers?" Whotur gasped. "I told you that''s what they were doing!" another guard said. "Who would believe such a crazy idea?" "So you are calling the captain crazy?" "What? No! I would never!" "Shut up. I wanna hear what they have to say." Naka sighed, "I guess there is no point in keeping it a secret anymore. Yes, we have fought against the Sky Ruler Spawn. That''s the name of the monsters that come from the mountain in the dungeon, and we defeated a large number of them. However, that was only possible due to the help of the humans. Without them, we are unable to even touch the creatures." "How strong were they?" "They were weaker than expected. However, since they can damage us and we cannot damage them, any one of us would be ultimately killed if left to fight one of them on our own. Not just that, but they seem to get stronger when fighting against one of us." Naka continued, "No one else is to attempt fighting those creatures. We survived because of our planning and, most importantly, the humans. If any of you stalls to see the Sky Ruler Spawns during your shift, you will wish they had killed you. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, ma''am!" The entire guard cried at one. Even Sevaris and Ganek joined. Silah pushed through the group and saw how neither Hera nor Blue was hurt. There were some minor cuts and bruises, but nothing like what happened with Hera''s armor after the first time they fought against the griffons. She got closer to Hera and smiled, just to let her know she was there. Even if people knew they were together, public displays of affection were still off the table. The guard kept asking question after question, and Naka did her best to reply to all of them, but at one point, she couldn''t take it anymore, "Enough, this is still not over, and we have much to do. Return to your posts. You can ask more about this later. For the members of the team, follow me." Despite their curiosity, everyone moved away from the captain. Hera and the others walked over to a more secluded area. Pyrrick created a soundproof barrier, much like the one Ogryn had deployed the first time Rutigan met with the humans. Again, this was just a safety measure, so the other guard members wouldn''t eavesdrop and get any ideas. Hera was having trouble understanding why the need for this degree of secrecy, but she wasn''t going to be the one to object, especially not now that things seemed to be going smoothly. The first thing they did was show Silah all their weapons and armor, or at least all that had any direct contact with the griffons. Ganek didn''t have any scratches on his armor, and Sevaris never managed to hit a Sky Ruler Spawn and trigger its barrier. Naka''s armor was still spotless. It was the last piece of equipment Rutigan convinced Kahala to make before she stopped taking requests. According to Silah, Naka was very private about the attributes even if she never understood why. Still, it had the highest the defense rating she ever saw, adding that with the captain''s skills, that would increase her defense, and it was almost impossible for something to break through it. Naka''s sword, however, had a few issues. Apparently, whatever she hit had corrosive properties that shaved away the edge of the blade. The same could be said for Ganek''s battleaxe. That was only present in the weapons that struck the cloud barrier. Hera and Blue''s weapons had no issues whatsoever. They discussed what worked and improved their strategy to fight the griffons. Now that everyone was aware of what could happen when one of the dwarves hit the monsters, it was easier to avoid dangerous situations. After one hour had gone by, they entered the dungeon again. This time, Silah would go inside to see what could happen with their weapons and help carry the drops. They would always leave one Sky Ruler Spawn alive until the end and run back to the cave before finishing the wave. Hera and Blue shared their idea that this could lead to the hard mode dungeon, and explained what that would mean for the guard. Naka was worried at first since that could mean the other dwarves would be able to enter a dangerous place, but after they explained that you could only enter the hard mode if you unlocked it yourself and that you had to do that once per week, she relaxed. Hera''s argument for using the hard mode had to do with increased leveling speed and the enemies they would find. If it was a harder version of the current Sky Ruler''s Spawn, it would go a long way in preparing the humans for their eventual challenge against the version outside. She also said that the dungeon could have more sheep for them to face and that those creatures would have different types of drops, maybe even better wool or meat. Stolen novel; please report. "This hard mode might be beneficial, I agree. However, if we discover it, only those who are willing will go. I''m not forcing anyone to follow us. That includes you too, Lerynn," Naka said. "Really?" Lerryn''s face lit up. Everyone knew he wasn''t that happy about the current situation. He was only there because he was the best healer in the entire guard, but he mostly stayed outside the dungeon, only helping the wounded outside. "Really, but I still maintain what I told you earlier. If your aim is to become stronger, this should be the best place to do so. Just like it will be for the humans." Lerynn nodded, but he didn''t seem to be all that worried about leveling up, even with Naka''s encouragement. Still, he agreed to at least wait to know what would be inside the hard mode before deciding if he would take part or not. Hera understood his worries. She never participated in a hard mode dungeon, and what everyone said was that these places could be several times harder than the normal mode. When the locked period ended, the team headed back to the dungeon. They might not have gathered a decent amount of loot, but feathers were something everyone was conscious of. They knew the alternative would make them waste too much time, and despite not having speed as a focus, no one wanted to spend over one hour waiting around for something to happen. Their next attempt went smoother, but they still could not clear the second wave. After killing the last griffon from the first wave, they headed back to the tunnel, but the monsters were faster. The second wave was more aggressive and more focused on hunting whatever was moving. They would attack random spots on the ground with their spells, and when one of them found the team, it gave a rallying cry that made the entire flock of griffons rush over. The team was close to the tunnel but not close enough to reach a safer location before the Sky Ruler Spawn came crashing down. During their attack, the spells wounded most of the team. Naka got hit with a gust of wind that sent her flying to the side of the mountain. It wasn''t enough to injury the captain, but seeing her gasping for air made everyone worried. Not wanting to take any chances, they left the dungeon again hauling 10kg of chicken and another 200g worth of feathers. It wouldn''t be enough to make a full dress as Fethy said she wanted, but it was a nice start. This would also give them more than enough attempts to finish the waves. During the third attempt, they beat the first, second, and third waves. The dwarves assumed the number of monsters was because of the dungeon, but Hera and Blue got worried. They knew a dungeon would mirror the situation that created it. If there were this many Sky Ruler''s Spawn, that meant the number of griffons on the mountain could be much larger than they expected. On the fourth attempt, they killed all the griffons in the third and fourth waves. However, nothing else came around after it. Hera and Blue explained that some hard mode dungeons could have very complicated requirements to unlock. Fighting off the waves was just the most straightforward idea. It took little convincing for the dwarves to agree to help find the proper method of unlocking the hard mode. After all, none of them had even heard about a hard mode in a dungeon. Unlocking it could bring more benefits to the city. It was an oddly familiar situation. Both Hera and Blue had met people filled with patriotism, willing to spend their entire lives helping their country. This was the same for the dwarves, although it wasn''t about helping the kingdom, but about helping its people. If they left the dungeon now, there would not be enough time to do another run, but the boss and a small flock of sheep were still alive after all the waves. Despite the lack of success in finding the hard mode, they all agreed that they should do their best to fight the sky rulers. The mages had their first taste of chicken during one of their breaks, and now wanted to share the food with everyone. Even though they already had gathered about 70 kg of chicken, it wasn''t anywhere near enough for the entire city. Chasing the last sheep didn''t take that long, and Naka, who received Pyrrick''s buff, swiftly killed the boss just to see how things would fare. Her blade became strong enough to cut the Plains Sheep like butter, even before shaving off its wool. The effect surprised everyone, including the captain. She never got such a big buff during the dungeon, since there was never a need for the captain to get stronger during the regular runs. When the boss died, Hera leaned over to Blue. "Did you get the notification?" "What notification?" Blue looked at Hera with a confused expression. "The one about clearing the dungeon." Blue''s eye went wide, "I didn''t! What does that mean?" "I think the waves change the requirements to end the dungeon." "We should tell everyone." "I''m going to," Hera called the group as they gathered a large piece of meat dropped from the boss, "Guys, I think this is not over." "What do you mean?" Sevaris asked. "We didn''t get a notification, the sy¡­ I mean, the voice of the mountain didn''t say we finished the dungeon. It always does that." Naka, Sevaris, and Ganek looked at each other and swiftly gathered around the mages, preparing for battle. "So? How does that mean there is something else to do?" Lija asked. "This never happened. Not once. Every time we finish the dungeon, the voice of the mountain tells us so. I''m so used to seeing its words that I don''t pay attention anymore, but she is right. This isn''t how the dungeon is supposed to end," Naka explained. "What are we missing, then?" Totrak asked. A loud cry echoed through the plains. It was like the same sound that signaled the start of a new wave but a hundred times louder. The sunlight vanished as massive, dark clouds covered the sky. The cry rang once more. This time it was closer, but more bearable. An enormous 3-meter tall griffon came from above. Its wingspan could easily reach 7 meters. It had reddish arms and legs, and some of its feathers seemed to be between yellow and white, but most of its body was discolored in odds shades of grey and brown. The monster had an exhausted expression, and much of the muscle the other griffons had was gone. It landed in front of the team and roared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starved Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 1% (Cloud affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s the Sky Ruler!" Lija yelled in a panic. The dwarves started running away, with Naka barely managing to make them all run in the same direction. Hera and Blue shared a quick glance and dove towards the fight. 247 - Starved Ruler When the Starved Ruler arrived, Hera rushed towards the Plains Sheep''s drops. Her first idea was to distract the creature with some food. If the name was anything to go by, it would surely be more interested in meat than fighting them. Blue didn''t understand why her friend seemed to follow the dwarves, but she trusted her enough not to worry. Hera wouldn¡¯t flee, leaving her to fight the monster alone. Triggering her shoulder guards, Blue circled the monster. She had no idea what it was capable of, and rushing towards it was a dangerous move. For now, the Starved Ruler was still staring at everyone, trying to find what seemed to be the weakest prey. It first looked at the dwarves, but snarled and turned to Blue, who was the closest. Then it turned to Hera, who saw a notification appearing to her side. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your information was revealed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She waved the notification off, but made a mental note to ask around what it meant. The Starved Ruler jumped towards Hera, who dodged, reaching the sheep meat. She grabbed the 5kg piece of tenderloin with a quick motion and chucked it to the side with all her strength. While the meat was still in the air, she flung a fire arrow at it, hoping that the smell of cooked food would be too enticing for the creature to pass. Her plan worked perfectly. The Starved Ruler started smelling the air and chased the half-burnt steak. "Totrak, Pyrrick. Use your spells and keep running," Hera yelled, hoping they would hear. By the look of the creature, it should be a boss or something similar. No monster inside a dungeon would have such an extravagant entrance for no reason. If that was the case, she wanted all the help she could get while fighting it. The dwarves understood her request and cast their spells while they ran. This time, Pyrrick cast not just Hera and Blue''s buff but also placed the debuff on the monster, while Totrak created the strongest version he could of the Solid Air while still affecting a large area. The humans felt their attributes soar, while the Starved Ruler felt its strength leave its body, the solid air making it tumble while it ran. The griffon got so close to the meat before the spell hit that it was almost mean. It cried and struggled to get closer to its meal. Before it could reach it, Blue jumped to its side and sent off another lightning punch. She had charged the spell for half an hour, but, during the last 10 minutes, about half of the energy dissipated since she wasn''t moving around so much anymore. The attack was powerful enough to burn the griffon''s side and singe a few feathers. It was a considerable amount damage, but not enough to defeat it. Hera followed the attack and used her chakram to cut its wings. Those things were too big. If the Starved Ruler did a simple swipe with them, it should be enough to hurt them, even with all the buff and debuffs in effect. Hera knew that something so big would require a lot of strength and energy, and she didn''t want anything to do with that. Despite all the attacks, the monster still chased its meal. Its hunger was so strong that it even overwhelmed its survival instincts. Or maybe it was that instinct that pushed it forward. This was Hera''s train of thought while she was carving out one wing from the monster''s body. Despite the attacks, the creature didn''t stop chasing the meat, that is, until the wing was ripped from its torso. That proved to be the final straw. With a twist, the monster cried once more, and the lightning that was on the clouds above came crashing down around the area. "It really didn''t like that!" Blue yelled. "Would you?" Hera pulled back her chakram, tossing it once more. The Starved Ruler flapped its remaining wing, and a torrent of arrow-like feathers went towards Hera and Blue. In response, Hera jumped in front of Blue and slammed her handaxe on the ground, creating a stone wall in front of the two. "I forgot you could do that. Thanks," Blue ducked behind the barrier. "There were very few opportunities to use this since we got here, and¡­" before Hera finished her sentence, the Starved Ruler howled and rushed towards its assailants. They jumped away and took the chance to hit the monster''s side in quick succession. Hera flung a couple of poison needles at it, using the mana from her mana stone, and triggered her [Observe] to check if the poison took hold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starved Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 16% ¨C Poisoned (Cloud affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s good enough," she mumbled to herself before activating the Pinpoint Weak spot spell. Three red bullseyes appeared on the monster, one on its head, one on the wound from its missing wing, and the last was in its chest, right under the griffon''s heart, "Hit those places, you''ll get a boost." ¡°I know how they work!" Blue jumped and landed a punch where the missing wing once connected to the rest of its body. The ruler cried and tried to move away, but the controller didn''t allow it to run. She chased the monster, hitting it again whenever she had the chance. Hera activated a flaming poison rain in front of the Starved Ruler. She wanted to stop the monster so they could deal some damage to it without having to run around. The spell hit the monster¡¯s head, making it tumble on its back. Blue took advantage of the situation, slamming her fist repeatedly into the griffon¡¯s throat. Hera jumped over and hacked away at the creature with her handaxe. The monster thrashed around, trying to get back up, but some of its feathers were still burning, causing it to recoil in pain. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. With the fight going so well, Hera got excited. Maybe the buffs would be enough to carry them through the hard mode. Suddenly, the clouds from the sky fell towards the Starved Ruler. They enveloped the monster, lifting it up, and covered it like a set of armor. Hera and Blue tried to keep up their attacks, but the clouds didn¡¯t allow them to hit the creature. After a few seconds, the previously bony and malnourished griffon regained a regal form. It was mostly made of smoke and air, but the wind seemed to move to hold its shape. Even the wing that the Starved Ruler had lost was now present in its form, being made of clouds like the rest of its armor. "This is bad, isn''t it?" Blue stared at the monster. "Yeah¡­ Run or fight?" Hera asked. "Do you even have to ask? Fight, always," Blue replied with a smile. "Crazy battle freak," Hera chuckled, but she shared the same feeling. This was the first really dangerous fight she had had in a long time. She knew it was a bad thing, but the rush she felt when risking her life was something she couldn''t get enough of. The Starved Ruler roared, making the wind pick up as a thin fog came out of its body. Hera and Blue split up and flanked the monster. The best option they had was to make the creature focus on only one of them, leaving the other to deal some damage. That''s how they always fought and the strategy they were most comfortable using. Blue yelled at the monster, trying to taunt it. It didn''t take long for it to attack the controller. She dodged the claws and ducked under most spells. However, a couple of cloud feathers that the griffon created hit her armor and make her lose her footing. Thankfully, her years of training grappling techniques taught her how to roll without losing momentum. The smoke coming from her shoulder guards seemed to be strengthened by the fog covering the ground, turning Blue into a moving cloud. That confused the griffon, and Hera took advantage of the situation to activate her [Hide] before sending a few poison needles towards pieces of the monster''s body that were exposed. The last thing she wanted was to waste mana hitting the creature''s new armor. Hera already knew it was poisoned, and right now, she could feel the poison that was already in the griffon getting stronger, thanks to her recent attacks. Instead of trying to go for an explosive approach, she went for something more basic. Her poison became three times stronger thanks to her poison control skill. A creature that size would be able to keep moving for a while, but her goal wasn''t to kill. She wanted to hinder the monster to study its attack patterns in a less dangerous situation. After doing that, she started using her paralyze spell. It took eight shots for the green claw-like projectile to grasp the monster and freeze it for a few moments. "Blue, hit my spell with lightning!" "Where?" "Right side, behind the back leg," Hera yelled, and Blue dove to the side, "Your right, not mine! Turn around." "Now I''m already on this side. I''ll go around it." Hera got worried that the spell wouldn''t last long enough for her to reach it, but she underestimated her own magic. The Sky Ruler stayed paralyzed while Blue moved around, even after the controller tripped over a rock hidden by the fog and took a few moments to get up. Blue reached the green claw and punched it, letting her static electricity loose. The impact made the Starved Ruler break free from the paralysis. But now, streaks of blue lightning covered its body. Every now and then, these streaks would crackle, making the monster spasm for just a moment. It was a small window, but that would allow them to evade most attacks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starved Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 16% ¨C Poisoned ¨C Shocked (Cloud affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The humans started their assault once more, Blue punching the monster through its cloud armor while Hera hacked away its exposed parts with her handaxe. They continued their dance around the griffon for some time. Each side only making superficial cuts and bruises to the other side. After five minutes, both Hera and Blue were bleeding a lot due to the small cuts made by the wind and glancing blows from the griffon''s claws. The Starved Ruler didn''t fare much better. One of its front legs was bleeding profusely while the other was swollen from the number of hits Blue delivered. The griffon turned to Hera and dove at her with its mouth open, but it missed by a long shot and attacked the ground. Even after she was long gone from that position, the monster kept attacking the ground as if it saw something. Unsure of what was going on, Hera used her [Observe] one more time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starved Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 18% ¨C Poisoned ¨C Shocked ¨C Hallucinating (Cloud affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera had even forgotten that this was a possibility. Thanks to the strap on her handaxe, the monster had a psychic-based affliction. This would make things even better since they could now just stop fighting and watch as the creature struggled to hit the air. Hera tried to pull Blue away to study the griffon, but the monster didn''t allow them to leave. Despite the hallucination, it was still aware of the two. When Hera tried to move out, the creature flapped its wings, and several cloud feathers went flying towards them. They dodged most of the projectiles, but some hit and cut their faces and arms. Trying to make the griffon leave them alone, Hera waited for it to be staring directly at her and used her fear spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Ailment Mastery Ailment Mastery Increases the effect of your ailments based on the number of unique conditions that you applied to your target. When three or more different ailments are present, their effects will receive a bonus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Starved Ruler ailment bonus effects x 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the notifications appeared, the griffon roared and started moving back. It flailed around uncontrollably, and blood began to come out of its mouth and eyes. Before Hera could even explain to Blue what was going on, the Starved Ruler fell to the ground, motionless. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a hidden dungeon quest inside the Wooly Plains. You have defeated the Starved Ruler, who was forced to come down after losing its food source and its children. Rewards: Access to Woolly Plains Hard mode Griffon Whistle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 248 - Boon from the clouds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Griffon Whistle A small whistle made out of crystalized wind. Anyone within 10 meters of the whistle when it is blown receives a 10% increase in their running speed for the next hour. This effect cannot overlap with other whistles. Additional effects: When used inside the Wooly Plains, it can call the next wave of griffons from the mountain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Neat. We don''t have to worry about the feathers anymore," Blue said as she looked at her whistle. It was mostly white while Hera''s had a light shade of green, but aside from that, both seemed to have the same effects. Even the shape was exactly the same. "Fethy is going to love that, especially since we don''t have to hog the feathers anymore. Should we tell her what a feather boa is?" Hera chuckled. "Oh yes! Can you imagine how much she is going to annoy everyone with one of those?" "I bet Telanz is the first to yell at her to stop twirling it." "My bet is Lural. He''s quiet but when he pops off, stay clear from the splash zone." "Loser does the dishes for a month, be it here or outside," Hera put out her hand for Blue to shake. "Deal!" Blue sealed the bet. The two were laughing when Totrak yelled from a distance, "Is it safe?" "Yeah, you can come back. We killed it," Blue yelled back. While the group gathered, the Starved Ruler''s body dissolved, leaving behind a pile of yellow and white feathers and a spherical object with something swirling around inside it. "So no gold?" Blue asked. "I guess not, but it''s not like we would need it here," Hera replied. "Yeah, but what about when the room opens? People still need to make money." "There''s still the sheep. They drop gold sometimes, and there is the dungeon quest too." "I guess," Blue shrugged while looking over the feathers, "What''s that thing?" Hera was still staring at the globe. Inside, there was some sort of smoke swirling around. It was almost like watching a storm from above. It didn''t matter how much she spun it in her hands. The eye of the storm was always in the center. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Storm Core A mana core capable of storing and generating wind mana. Wind Mana storage 10 000/ 10 000 Wind Mana generation: 10/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With a single glance, Hera could tell that this was something very valuable. Just by the regeneration alone, using it would be more than enough to fuel most of her continuous spells. If she could use this during combat, her mana would stop being an issue. Well, at least her mana reinforcement would stop being an issue. Even so, it wouldn''t work. The globe was the size of a watermelon. Moving around with something that size would be way too cumbersome to make it worth her while. Any hopes she had about using it in a fight went out of the window when the mages arrived. They all got extremely excited the second they saw the core and started discussing possibilities on how to use it even before they finished picking up all the loot. It was the first time they saw something that could not simply store mana but generate it by itself. While they started gathering the items, Lerynn kept healing the humans. They might have won, but it wasn''t an easy fight. Hera and Blue were covered in cuts and had lost a considerable amount of blood. Before moving around, he wanted to make sure the worst wounds were already taken care of. He also gave them a small cookie of sorts that was enchanted to help people suffering from blood loss. The pastry tasted awful. It was like a dirt-flavored power bar, not to mention it was dry. Just a bite made both Hera and Blue beg for water. It took each of them half a bottle before they finally ate the last piece. Unfortunately, there was only so much that Lerynn''s spells could do. The only person in the city that could do something about blood loss with her magic was Risli. For the rest, helping the patient''s body increase its own recovery capabilities was the best they could do. "Perhaps we can use this in a staff. There are a few people who could benefit from such an item," Pyrrick suggested while staring at the storm core. "Really? You want to leave this for only one person to use? I''m sure we can think of something better. Maybe as a training device for who uses wind spells," Totrak said. "Yeah, but that doesn''t seem fair. We would be the only ones benefiting from that," Lija replied. "Don''t you guys have trouble with the cold killing some of the crops? Maybe you can use it to offset that," Hera was thinking about how an air conditioning unit worked. Maybe a hot air spell being fueled by the storm core would give a similar effect. Pyrrick nodded, "It is a possibility, but we first need to find someone who could use it effectively." "Why not make a machine?" Blue was picking up the feathers. It should easily have over 3kg of them. "A machine?" Lija asked. "Yeah, we have a lot of those back home. Most use mana stones, but one with a mana core can stay on indefinitely. I''m not sure how you would build one though." "I''m pretty sure you build them just like any other thing with a mana stone. You just have to tweak the amount of mana it uses to avoid making it run out," Hera said. "That¡­ is incredible. Yes, if we adapt our runes to restrict the amount of mana they use and make it function like a sinkhole, we can make this work," Pyrrick was giddy with the idea. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Yeah, then ask for a crafter to make something to help with whatever you want, and you can get a better effect for a smaller amount of mana," Hera said. "Yes, yes, of course. But first, we must think about what we can do with such an item," Totrak said. "Well, that''s up to you guys. Ask Ogryn for help. I''m sure he might have some ideas. If not, I can only think about making carbonated drinks or something to keep food cold," Blue picked the last feathers from the ground. The basket that Silah was carrying was already full, leaving the remaining loot to be taken by hand. "Why would we want to keep food cold?" Lija asked. "You guys have no idea what ice cream can do to your mental health. It just sucks that we don''t know how to make it," Blue sighed. She and Hera had tried a few times to make something closer to ice cream, but all their ideas ended up tasting wrong. Most foods inside the room were savory, and what was sweet wouldn''t work that well for ice cream. At least not a homemade one with the ingredients at hand. As everyone started walking towards the exit, Silah pulled Hera to the back of the group, "Are you ok? Did you get hurt?" "No, I''m ok. I mean, I got a bit beaten up, but nothing too extreme. Lerynn''s heal helped me out a lot. Besides, I got a new skill. Now, if I stack ailments, they get stronger!" Hera replied excitedly. "Honestly, I can''t understand that. You could''ve died," Silah sighed while grabbing Hera''s hand, "I don''t want to lose you out of nowhere like that." Hera looked at her, "Silah¡­ I understand what you are saying, but that can happen even if we are in the city the entire time. I can get a heart attack, something can fall on me, I can eat something and choke. We can die at any moment, and I can''t just stay inside a bubble." "I''m not saying you have to, but do you have to chase death like that?" "It''s not like that. I''m not trying to get myself killed. I''m just trying to live. Fighting these monsters, it''s part of my life. Besides, I''m not going after things that I don''t think I can beat. That one was level 8. We were on the same level, literally. Blue and I also had all the buffs to help. I was sure we could beat it, and we did." "But how can you tell? How can you be sure a monster won''t be too strong and kill you?" "Experience. The more I know about various creatures, the more I know what to expect. Outside we have so many people working together to gather information about the different monsters that it is hard to see a monster for the first time and not know what to expect. Another thing we learn is to always have a plan to escape," Hera caressed Silah''s hand, trying to comfort her. "And what was your plan?" "I would use a fear spell to make it move away and run around the plains until you guys reached the tunnel. Then I would follow you outside." Silah stared at Hera, "So even in your escape plan, you would try to save us first?" "Well, yeah. I mean, don''t get me wrong, if I thought there was no way to save you guys and I tried everything that I''d could, I would run away, but that wasn''t the case." Silah looked to the rest of the team before pulling Hera close and giving her a kiss, "You are amazing, you know that?" "I''m not, but thanks," Hera smiled. The team walked outside and discussed their next step. Despite having agreed to do one more run, no one had expected to fight the Starved Ruler. The mages forgot that fact after seeing the storm core, but the guards were still on edge. Seeing that creature filled all of them with dread. As they talked about what to do next, Totrak spoke up. "Another thing this proves is that the humans are more than capable of defeating the original creature. If Pyrrick uses his buff on them right before the fight, they should be able to defeat the true Sky Ruler without an issue." "You think so? I mean, the fight was a bit longer than I liked, but it wasn''t that bad," Blue replied. "Yeah, but that new skill I got can be extremely helpful. You saw what it did when it triggered," Hera nodded. "The ailment one? Yes, it might help, but having only four types of afflictions limits your capabilities. You should try to increase your options as much as possible," Pyrrick said. "They are not ready. If we send them to fight against the actual Sky Ruler, it would be like sending a child to live outside the mountain, " Naka interrupted. "What? Why?" Hera asked. Although she agreed, since the Sky Ruler should be level 15, the way Naka spoke annoyed her. "You don''t know how dangerous the Sky Ruler is. Not to mention, the track up the mountain would surely kill you two," Naka didn''t even look at Hera while answering. "Why don''t they use the passage in the mines? Doesn''t that lead directly to the nest?" Lija asked. Naka''s eyes almost pierced through the mage''s head, "How do you know about that?" "I heard master Ogryn talking about that with the king," Lija looked to the ground like a kid being scolded by her parents. "I''m sure Ogryn will be glad to know how one of his ace students spends more time spying on him than actually working," Naka kept staring at Lija. "That''s not fair. You don''t know she was spying. Ogryn might have just been careless. Not everyone is as obsessed with secrets as you are," Hera protested, "Besides, if you have a safe way to take us to the nest, you should have said so! We could go there to get some intel on the monster." "You already pushed your luck enough today, and we still have the so-called hard mode for you to train for. Be thankful for what you got, and stop complaining," Naka turned around to the rest of the group, "This will be the end of the day, but first, give me the whistles you gained during the dungeon. I don''t want anyone getting ideas about going there with other people." She picked up the baskets with chicken and feathers and opened the fourth one for them to place their whistles inside. Despite not participating in the fight, all the dwarves also received a Griffon Whistle. They were all different shades of white and green, with the one Ganek got looking like it was made of jade. Hera didn''t like the idea of giving her loot to the captain, neither did Blue, but they didn''t want to anger her and make her give up going to the hard mode. Begrudgingly, they turned over the whistles. "Don''t worry. I''ll return them to you when you need them. Be it during training or whatever you require. Now everyone is dismissed. We shall meet in the guard tomorrow at 8, then we can verify what that hard mode dungeon is. I''ll take the loot to the king. He''ll know how to distribute it," Naka picked up the baskets and walked away. Everyone left the area and went to their homes. Hera invited Silah over, but she refused. She said she was tired and could only imagine how much Hera wanted to rest. Despite not being that exhausted, Hera understood that it might not be only because of that. Silah was quiet ever since they talked on the way back. She didn''t seem to be dealing with Hera''s attitude about risking her life that well. After splitting up with the rest of the team, Hera and Blue walked back to their house. "So¡­ any ideas what is going to happen in the hard mode dungeon?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. I mean. They are supposed to be kind of parallel timelines," Hera replied after thinking for a moment. "How so?" "Like, you know the Frog Valley? What happened there was what we saw. The whole poison lizard thing and how we defeated them. That''s how things went down when the dungeon was created. The hard mode is what would''ve happened if things went differently. Or at least that''s how most of them are." "Most? So it might be something else?" "Yeah, like the kobold battlefield. You know how we only have some idea of how dungeons appear. I have no idea what else can happen?" Hera sighed. "Are you saying we might not fight the griffons?" "Maybe. Maybe we fight a bunch of sheep or even the dwarves." "That would be¡­ complicated," Blue said. "Yeah," Hera nodded. The dwarves only knew about dungeons that had monsters inside. Finding some sort of intelligent life inside a dungeon would give them a big culture shock. Still, there was nothing they could do right now. Figuring that all out would have to wait until tomorrow. Now Hera only wanted to rest. 249 - Hard Mode Dungeon Hera had a weird dream that night. It started off with her going through the Wooly Plains entrance, but she was inside the arcanist lookout instead of arriving in the open field. That room with a pentagram drawn on the floor. On each point of the star, there was a door leading to a different dungeon. She could see the Frog Valley, The Underground, both versions of the Kobold Battlefield, but the door she came through led back to Earth and not to Boothudurn. Suddenly, she was walking through one of the doors. This one led to the Underground Forest, and now Hera wasn''t a human anymore. She was a sprite, moving around and floating in the air. She flew through a mushroom and, with a blinding light, appeared in the Kobold Battlefield as a cloud watching over the fight. Water came pouring down from above, and as she looked up, she saw steam and not clouds. Looking around, she was now in one of the thermal pools of the Frog Valley. She swam around for a while and felt sleepy. With a yawn, the warm feeling vanished, and she felt something in her mouth. Now Hera had large purple claws and was feasting on a giant, horned chameleon from Brinefront. She spat out whatever was in her mouth and started running away on all fours, trying to escape the wendigo she had become. Suddenly, a cliff appeared, and she began to fall. Looking over the cliff, she saw herself, and she was now the Carbuncle falling towards the whirlpools. As she was about to hit the water, Hera woke up with a jump. She rubbed her eyes and turned over, trying to sleep again, but a bright light was disturbing her. Slowly opening her eyes, Hera saw a notification floating in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Stop joking," Hera waved the notification off and went back to her dreams. A few hours later, her alarm rang out. She got up and headed to the bathroom, trying to wake up properly, still thinking about that weird dream she had, "There was even a level-up notification," she mumbled while brushing her teeth. Most of her dream felt out of place and eerie, but that last part was so real. Blue knocked on the door, "Hera, are you done there? I need to use the can." Hera left the bathroom with her toothbrush still in her mouth, "Sure, I''ll finish later." It was nice that the dwarves cared about personal hygiene. They already had basic concepts like brushing their teeth and taking showers regularly. For being a civilization that lived underground, it was a bit surprising. As Hera walked out of the bathroom, she still was thinking about the dream. Why did that last part feel so real? "Why the hell I''m wasting my time with this? I can just check," Hera''s mind finally woke up enough for her to think properly as she opened her status window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 9 Stats: Strength: 28 Endurance: 28 Agility: 28 Charisma: 28 Intelligence: 28 Luck: 28 Mana: 1347/1347 Remaining attribute points: 23 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style, Subtle Strike Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Flee Mana Recovery Improved Regeneration Ailment Mastery Active: All in Inspect Hide, Sneak Attack Local Guide Weapon Maintenance, Weapons Rebalance Etching Medical Reference Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue Explorer''s Hunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait, what?" Hera gasped. She didn''t level up during the dungeon. She was sure of that. Even before going to bed, she checked her status to read up on the new skill again. Did she actually level up while sleeping? She also got a lot of attribute points. It was enough for her to increase her attributes by 3 using the [Exponential Growth] skill. After making the changes, every single stat was at 31. Still, this didn''t feel like a milestone. For some reason, it wasn''t like she had reached 50 or 100. The bonus she got because of that wasn''t that special either. It was just a 20% increase to what each stat affected. "Hey, I''m done. Sorry for barging in, "Blue came out of the bathroom and saw Hera moving her hands around the air, clearly looking at a system window, "Is everything ok?" "Yeah¡­ I guess. I mean, I kind of leveled up," Hera spoke, trying to keep the toothpaste inside her mouth. "Oh, you leveled up yesterday? Nice!" Hera shook her head and headed inside the bathroom. She finished brushing her teeth and came out to reply, "No¡­ it was during the night." "Did you have trouble falling asleep? Working out does help," Blue said. "No. I slept like a baby. When I got up, there was a notification. Well, I did have a weird dream, but I don''t think that it has any relation to this," Hera explained. Blue stopped and took a moment before finding the words, "You¡­ you leveled up while sleeping? Are you fucking kidding me? You get spells without worrying about the code, you can increase all your stats at once, and to top it all off, you can level up when you sleep? And people say the system is fair. That''s bullshit!" Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "Wow, calm down. You know how people can level up by walking around or just breathing. You don''t have to get snippy with me." "I''m not. It just feels unfair. We started at the same time, but you get more skills, spells, and levels. You even got a girlfriend while I''m here alone." "Oh, so that''s what ithis is all about? You miss Quinn?" Hera smiled. "Well, yeah. I miss her. I miss everyone, but sometimes I miss her more." "Oh¡­ well, the walls are thick. I don''t think you are going to bother me if you need to take some me-time." "It''s not the same. I want to be with someone." "Is there anyone who caught your eye here?" "Well, yeah, but like just people who I think are hot, not anyone who I actually wanted to hook up with." "Let me guess. Naka is on the top of your list?" Blue stared at Hera for a moment before crossing her arms, "I feel attacked." "Am I wrong?" "No, that''s why I feel attacked. But you have to admit, she''s hot." "I mean¡­ I can see she''s pretty, but her attitude is too much of a turnoff for me. And I don''t have that much of the ''I want someone who can crush me with their biceps'' thing like you." "Says the girl who is dating a blacksmith whose arms are the size of my legs, "Blue scoffed, "Anyway, where are your stats at? 29?" "31, actually. I got a good amount of points this time." "Damn, all at 31? I only have two stats around that," Blue said. "Which ones?" "Not counting with my endurance which is already at 45, my agility reached 32, and my strength is at 29, the third place, well fourth actually, is charisma at 23. I didn''t put any points in the rest." Hera started counting the number of points that would take to get to those numbers, "I think you got more points than I did overall." "Really?" "I think so, yeah, but unless you want to double-check my math, let''s leave it at that," Hera replied. "Yeah, I''ll take your word for it, "Blue walked over to the kitchen, "Do we have any food?" "I think you can still make some sandwiches, but since we are going to the dungeon, they won''t deliver food now." "I''m gonna make a couple. Do you want one?" "Sure, there should be enough bread for each of us to get two. I''m going to take a quick shower. I think I sweated a bit during the night. I''m all sticky." About one hour later, they were heading to the guard headquarters. While they were passing by the palace, Blue said, "Ok, now I feel bad." "Why?" "I just leveled up." Hera started laughing, "I guess the system heard your complaints. How many points do you have to spend?" "15, I think I''m bumping my agility. The faster I am, the better." "It''s a good plan. You can''t get hurt if they can''t hit you." The team gathered in the headquarters and discussed their ideas. Lerryn decided to join in the hard mode. Despite not liking the idea of being in danger, he was worried that someone might get hurt and there would be no one around to heal them. Just like the first time, Silah wouldn''t join the fight. Naka still felt that the blacksmith wasn''t strong enough to risk herself in a dungeon that they knew nothing about. In their next attempt, if the captain deemed appropriate, Silah could join them. The team walked over to the entrance of the dungeon when a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conditions met for Wooly Plains hard mode Choose the version of the dungeon you wish to enter [Normal Mode] [Hard Mode] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Before we enter, let me ask you one more time. Does anyone want to give up? There is no shame in that," Naka asked the team. They all glanced at Lerynn, but the healer stepped forward. "Unless Hera or Blue give up, I''m going. At least to see what this all about." "We are going too. If the rewards are anywhere near what we got last time, I can only imagine how much it would benefit the city," Totrak replied in the name of the mages. "We follow you, captain. Wherever you may go," Sevaris said. "Do you even have to ask? We are the ones pushing to go here," Blue poked Hera with her elbow. "Very well. Let''s go," Naka turned back to the notification and stopped for a moment, "How do we do it?" "Oh, Press the hard mode option, and then we just walk inside. Or at least that''s how it''s supposed to work," Hera explained. "Aren''t you familiar with this?" Naka turned to the explorer. "I know the theory, but I never went inside a hard mode dungeon. We unlocked one once, but we weren''t confident of beating it," Hera replied. Naka sighed, "Very well. Let us go." They walked into the tunnel. It was exactly like it was in the normal dungeon, and for a moment, Hera even got worried that she forgotten something about how to enter the dungeon. Thankfully, as soon as they got close to the exit, it became clear things were different now. The Wooly Plains was always a sunny place with occasional clouds, but now, the skies were covered in dark clouds, and a heavy wind swirled around the area. Even the smell was strange. Instead of the scent of freshly cut grass, there was an odd, stale smell, almost like opening a wardrobe that had been closed for years. The fact that this was an open area only made the situation even stranger. Just as the group left the tunnel, three notifications appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wooly Plains ¨C Alternate Timeline The Wooly Plains was a peaceful place. The Sky Ruler spawn would only come down from the mountain to feed once a month, leaving enough time for the Wooly Sheep to reproduce and refill their numbers. However, after being left unchecked for so long, the number of griffons grew, making their hunting trips more frequent. This resulted in the eventual extinction of the sheep. When the situation became desperate enough, the Sky Ruler gave up its life to save its children, leaving its body behind as food. This desperate measure resulted in the remaining Sky Ruler Spawn developing a taste for their own flesh. Generations passed with small groups being formed who would employ different tactics to hunt their brethren. Now, only a few descendants of the Sky Ruler remain, all fighting for their own survival. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest Find and defeat the strongest Griffon in the Wooly Plains First-time rewards: Random Wind Spell Random Cloud Feather Item Box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first to ever enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: Advanced Griffon Whistle + 1 Level These rewards are forfeited if you leave the dungeon without this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap. They ate each other?" Blue gasped. "What is this item box?" Totrak asked. "It''s a box that will give a random item. It can be something small, like a mana stone or a piece of equipment, or even another storm core. Usually, how well we perform can affect the rewards," Blue explained. "Is this a joke?" Naka asked. "What?" Hera turned to the captain. "The voice of the mountain is telling us we can gain a level if we complete this quest. Is it talking about a level for the whistle or for us? Or is this just a trick of the Sky Ruler?" Hera read the notification. It felt like it was talking about giving them a level, but she had never heard anything about that. Could a dungeon really give a full level as a reward? "I¡­ don''t know. I never heard anything about that, but I doubt it''s a trick. The voice of the mountain never lies, and you know that," Hera replied. "Very well. It''s no use to stay here imagining the results. Let''s face this dungeon, and we shall see what the voice of the mountain meant as a reward," Naka walked into the plains. 250 - Bloodbeak The team spent ten minutes walking through the plains without seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary. There was only the sound of the wind and the little sunlight that came through the dark clouds. If this was the regular version of the dungeon, they should have seen a few sheep or at least heard their cries. "Do you think we have to use the whistle?" Sevaris asked. "Why? We didn''t even look everywhere," Lija replied. "Yes, but what if this is like the normal dungeon, and we have to wait one hour to find the Sky Ruler''s Spawn?" "Could that happen?" Lija turned to Hera. "I''m not sure. I mean, it''s possible. Each dungeon has its own way of working," Hera replied. "That is an option, but let''s keep it as a last resort for now. We still have yet to perform a proper survey of our surroundings," Naka cut them off. They kept walking, heading to one area where a large flock of sheep should be. When they got close, odd shrills echoed as a winged figure appeared going up from the ground. It had long arms and a short legs. Although the proportions seemed twisted, it was almost human like but still moved like a monster. That made Hera worried. She expected to face more griffons here, but that creature didn''t look like one of them. It seemed closer to a gargoyle, but it had reddish skin, and the only feathers present were on its wings. Everyone ducked down and tried their best to blend with the ground while they watched the monsters. "What are those things?" Blue whispered. "Griffons, maybe?" Hera replied. "They don''t look like Sky Ruler Spawns," Lija said. "Ganek, can you observe them?" Naka asked. "Can''t. Too far." "We need to get closer, then. Pyrrick, it''s better if the humans already have the buffs," Naka said. The mage activated the spells, and they all moved closer. They saw more of those creatures, one larger and one smaller one, on the ground. They were howling at each other with a sound that almost hid in the wind. Ganek and Hera were trying to see the monster''s name with each inch as they moved closer. The creatures were taller than a human, but not by that much. Each should be around 2 to 3 meters tall. As they crawled on the ground, one of the smaller monsters flew up and moved away from the group. With only two monsters remaining, the team moved faster. Fighting against three creatures could be an issue, but against two, Hera and Blue could take one each. Getting close enough to activate her skill, Hera finally managed to use her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bloodbeak ¨C Level 8 ¨C 1% (No Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bloodbeak ¨C Level 9 ¨C 1% (No Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Bloodbeak?" Hera mumbled just as the two monsters turned to the group. They roared and started running towards the fresh meat that had just appeared before them. Not wanting to leave the dwarves in a bad position, Hera and Blue rushed out to meet the creatures. Up close, they were even uglier than expected. Their heads were covered with small horns, their bodies had scales that seemed more like scabs. Their claws had a sickly yellow shade and seemed to ooze out some sort of pus. Their mouths were open, and their long tongues dangled, reaching halfway towards their chest. The Bloodbeaks didn''t fly towards the invaders, but they ran using all four limbs. It was a bit clumsy since their arms were about two times the size of their back legs. Hera didn''t wait and sent off a flaming poison rain towards the two monsters. The spell hit the level nine one, but the second monster was protected by its companion''s body. The Bloodbeak roared and jumped forward, trying to get away from the fire. Blue rushed to the creature, hitting its elbow, trying to break its arm. In response, it roared and slashed at her, sending pus flying out of its hands. The dwarves jumped back, trying to protect themselves. Lija made a wall appear to block the liquid, but as the discharge hit it, it burned the stone as if acid hit it. On the other side, Hera was slashing the Bloodbeak''s arms with her weapons. Each strike made some of the scales fall off, exposing part of its pinkish skin. Underneath it all, the monster looked like it had just rolled around a bed of poison ivy. Its body was leathery and cracked, with some blood spilling from the skin even in places where she had yet to hit. Hera stayed very close to the monster. Things with long arms usually had trouble attacking someone in such a short-range. Blue grabbed the monster''s arm and, with a scream, tossed the creature to the ground. The Bloodbeak went down with a heavy impact. The sound of cracking bone echoed through the plains. Blue tried to slam her fist into the monster''s head, but it moved quickly and rushed toward the dwarves, breaking the stone wall with its own body. Naka stepped forward and instinctively attacked with her two-handed sword. "Shit!" the captain cursed, with her blade already in motion. She knew that this should trigger another barrier, but her weapon was moving too fast for her to stop. The attack hit the Bloodbeak''s left arm and cut it clean in half. Not just that, but the impact also pushed the monster to the side, making it stumble and fall. The dwarves were surprised by the situation. They were supposed to be unable to hit the Sky Rulers. Then again, this monster seemed to be something different, and it looked nothing like the Sky Ruler. Comparing those with the griffons they had seen before was like comparing a dog with a Rhino. Before the creature got back up, Naka stabbed her sword in the Bloodbeak''s heart, killing it instantly. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Seeing that the captain could hit the monster, Lija threw a rock bullet towards the one Hera was still fighting. The projectile wasn''t that big, but it was long, and it embedded itself in the monster''s neck. The Bloodbeak pushed the bullet out with a roar, opening the wound even more, and turned to the dwarves. Hera wouldn''t allow it to move away and slammed her handaxe on the fresh-cut, using that area to make slitting the monster''s throat easier. It tried to push Hera away, but she was too quick. With a swift movement, her blade opened the creature up, making it fall to the ground. "You guys can hit those things now?" Hera asked, moving away from the corpse of the creature that she confirmed to be dead. "It seems like it. I don''t know why though," Lija said. "No longer Sky Ruler," Ganek replied. "What?" Blue asked. Ganek turned to Hera, "Look at your catalogue." Hera quickly activated the skill and pulled up the page about the Bloodbeak. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter''s catalogue Bloodbeak ¨C Level range ¨C 8-9 Winged monster ¨C No affinity Bonus effects: 9% A descendant of the Sky Ruler who gave up most of its griffon traits to survive in a hostile environment. Its skin and body evolved into a natural weapon to ward off predators. Its claws secrete acidic pus that can paralyze its target, and its scales can be shaved off to mitigate the damage caused by impacts. As a secondary defense measure, the Bloodbeak''s skin is dry and cracked, giving it a sickly and contagious appearance. Its long limbs are beneficial when dealing with smaller targets than they are, but its flying capabilities were reduced because of its larger frame. However, this creates a weakness when they fight against a smaller creature. By staying very close to a Bloodbeak, it renders them unable to fight at full strength. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So it''s no longer a griffon," Hera said. "Really?" Sevaris asked. "Humm¡­ I guess it makes sense. Like, griffons have four legs, and these Bloodbeak things seem to have arms and legs instead," Blue said. "Do you think we can hit the rest, too?" Lija asked. "That is a possibility, but we must be prudent with the testing," Naka turned back to the bodies, "Why are these bodies not vanishing?" "I don''t know. This is odd. Inside a dungeon, they always vanish," Hera got closer to the monsters and tried to cut them to provoke a reaction, but even as she cut the Bloodbeak apart, there wasn''t a single twitch coming from it, proving that it was dead. "Maybe we should move away. Aren''t the things here like, starving? The bodies here might attract them," Blue said. "That''s a good point. Let''s back away," Hera started walking back to the middle of the plains with the rest of the team in tow. Even if they were wrong about that, the drops would still be there later, but things could prove very complicated if that didn''t happen. They would have to butcher the monsters themselves, and with creatures like those, she had no idea how to do it safely. After walking for a couple of minutes, a shrill cry came from their left. The third Bloodbeak was running on the ground, and behind it, three different griffons were chasing it through the air. The red monster with large arms seemed to be hurt and wounded, and it repeatedly cried, calling for its friends. The ones flying were much like the griffons Hera knew, but they had a face similar to an exotic bird from the rainforest. Red and white feathers circled their eyes, and the claws were long enough that they couldn''t seem to land properly on solid ground. One griffon made a sound similar to that of a parrot, and half a dozen wind feathers appeared around it. It made a motion with its wings, making the feathers fly towards the Bloodbeak. Three of the projectiles hit, but that didn''t stop the lonely creature''s sprint. As the monsters moved, they got close enough for Hera to activate her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wind Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 5% (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wind Ruler ¨C Level 9 ¨C 5% (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wind Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 5% (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "These are called rulers, too. Wind Ruler, this time," Hera whispered. "They should be closer to the Sky Ruler. It''s better if we don''t attack them," Naka replied. That minor exchange lasted enough time for the Wind Rulers to finish the Bloodbeak off and start feasting on its body. Seeing that, Hera glanced at Blue, making a motion for her to wait before activating her [Hide] and going back towards the remaining corpses. Naka started following, but Blue stopped her. She might not know what Hera was going to do, but she knew that it was better for her to go alone. Even if the captain joined, it would only make things harder. If the cloud barrier still appeared, the weird effect on the griffons could be even worse than before. Hera saw the monsters eating the corpse and remembered the first time she saw a black toad in Brinefront. She had just poisoned a frog, and the creature ate it, getting poisoned by the spell still present in the frog. If she could do the same with the bodies, the Wind Rulers might die or at least be seriously damaged before they would actually fight them. She sent a couple of poison needles towards each of the carcasses and shuffled back to her team. The last thing she needed was to get caught on her own by the Wind Rulers. When she arrived back at the group''s location, she noticed a makeshift bunker made of rocks. It should have been something created by Lija. Another cry came from the right. Four more griffons were flying towards the corpses. They were yellow and brown with heads that reminded Hera of an eagle. They were the closest thing to the regular griffon that she knew of. She looked back to the new group and used her [Observe] again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Talon Ruler ¨C Level 9 - 1% (No affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Talon Ruler ¨C Level 8 - 1% (No affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Talon Ruler ¨C Level 5 - 1% (No affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Talon Ruler ¨C Level 5 - 1% (No affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quickly moving towards the bunker, Hera entered by a small hole the mage had left for her. "There are more griffons here. These are called Talon Rulers," Hera explained. "Any idea what they can do?" Blue asked. "I think they can''t use spells, but since they still have the Ruler in the name, it''s probably a bad thing for you guys to hit," Hera turned to the dwarves. More sounds came from outside the bunker. The Wind Rulers, who never landed even when eating, started flying towards the rest of the corpses. The cries grew louder and got frantic. Inside the bunker, they all were curious about what was going on. Even if it was dangerous, they could always make another safe space for them to hide. After a quick discussion, the team left the safety of the bunker and headed to the noise. 251 - So many rulers The wind rulers started eating the fresh Bloodbeak corpses. The vile creatures were barely considered food, but meat was meat. As they enjoyed their first feast in a long time, an annoying sound of wings came from the side. It was a loud sound, with no finesse. It came from creatures who had long forgotten about how to use the wind for their flight. The wind rulers flew up with some pieces of meat still in their mouths. This was their meal. They came in here first, and no one was going to steal it from them. As their opponents got closer, several wind feathers appeared in the air and flew towards the incoming griffons. With a howl, the talon rulers dodged the spells and dove towards their assailants. They already spread all their claws out in an attacking position aimed at the wind rulers who had such a bountiful feast in front of them. After killing those lesser creatures, the talon rulers would have a meal like they never had before. By getting rid of those pests, they could finally have enough strength to kill the others. For too long, they have been weakened by hunger, and it was but a matter of time until the lack of food made them become the prey. Another wave of spells attacked the talon rulers. This time it wasn''t just wind feathers, but they also mixed a few larger blades in the attack. The projectiles struck one of the smaller talon rulers, making it fall to the ground. In response, the wind rulers piled on the fallen griffon. A flurry of spells rained down on the creature, ripping it to shreds. The other talon rulers cried and dove into the other monsters, causing a large brawl to start. From high above the clouds, another group of griffons watched as the rulers fought. When the mayhem started, they came down, carrying the clouds with them. Only after they got close to the fresh corpses, the other griffons noticed the invaders. They were called Cloud Rulers, and this is how they always got food. They waited for the rest of the griffons to kill their prey and would wait for the inevitable fight to swoop in and take some of the meat for themselves. A Cloud Ruler was an expert in hiding and disguising itself, but being in such close proximity to another creature who had an acute sensitivity to mana made it easier to be noticed. Still, two among the three grabbed a bite before being discovered. Even after being attacked, they were still covered in clouds, making it harder to see their form. As the wind rulers had to change targets, the talon rulers jumped at the opportunity to grab some of the meat. The other two groups attacked the magic-less griffons, who got their own piece of meat. A standoff began with all the different monsters staring at each other. Striking with their talons and spells, but no one seemed to be willing to go in too deep. On the other side of the plains, a griffon watched the fight. Soon it would have enough food to last awhile, but it wasn''t the moment for it to strike. Not just yet. Hera and the other dwarves watched the entire fight, hidden by a small rock formation created by Lija. The three cloud rulers were all level 8 and had cloud affinity. Not that this was a surprise. Even while they were walking on the ground, they still wrapped themselves in the same dark cloud that was in the sky. The team used that situation to study what each monster did to develop strategies to fight each group. When the standoff began, Hera could feel her poison in more than half of the creatures. Apparently, after eating the corpses, they were infected with her spell. That only meant that things could work even better for them. "Should I try to make the poison stronger?" Hera asked. The griffons were still staring and snarling at each other. Some animals could do that for hours, and she wasn''t in the mood to wait that out. "That spell. Am I correct to assume that it can be increased with intelligence?" Pyrrick approached her. It was a bit uncomfortable to do so since they were all lying on the ground with almost no room to move around. "Yeah. At least, I think so. There is nothing that says otherwise. Why?" "Let me change your buff for the moment. Instead of increasing all your attributes, I''ll focus solely on your intelligence. Then you can improve the poison." "I''m not sure if it would work. If the poison control spell only affects what''s already on the target, increasing my intelligence might not do a thing," Hera replied, after thinking for a moment. "It is not even worth a shot?" Totrak asked. Hera looked to her left, "Oh, it is. I''m just warning that it might not do anything," Hera turned back to Pyrrick, "Whenever you''re ready." The mage nodded and cut off the buff, putting another one in place that focused on intelligence alone. Instead of having a buff that got close to double all her attributes, this new spell turned her 30 points into 85. It was almost triple Hera''s base stat. She could feel her mind going into overdrive and her thoughts moving at such a rapid pace that it was overwhelming. She had to take a moment to get used to the speed she was thinking, but after close to a minute, she got comfortable enough to change her focus to the griffons. There were a total of 9 monsters in that standoff, and among them, only three weren''t poisoned. If she killed all the ones with her poison mana inside, there would be one of each type left. Hera pulled 300 mana from her mana stone and triggered the spell. She increased how deadly the poison was as much as she could without making the reaction too sudden. The griffons seemed smart. They were protecting the food or waiting for a moment to sneak around. The last thing they needed was for them to realize that someone was messing with the creatures. A new idea popped into her mind. It was something she never tried before, but doing a small simulation in her mind seemed to work. She created an extremely dim floating light and sent it towards the griffons. During that time, some of the monsters were already gasping for air and clearly weaker than they were just a moment ago. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "What are you doing?" Blue asked. "I''m trying to trigger my new skill." "The ailment thing? How?" "Blinded is also considered an ailment. It''s been a long time since I used it, but I have the equivalent of a flashbang spell," Hera explained. "Isn''t that going to warn them of where we are?" "Maybe, but I doubt any of them will leave the corpses for a less guaranteed meal." "Be careful. I understand you are excited about this new skill but do not put my team in danger," Naka stared at Hera. "I won''t, don''t worry," Hera turned to Pyrrick, "After I use this spell, can you put the other buff back?" "Sure. It will take just a moment." "Perfect. I''ll let you know when I trigger it," Hera kept moving the floating light that was even smaller than a firefly in the middle of the day until it reached the corpses, staying in the middle of all the griffons, "Count to 10 and swap the buffs." Pyrrick nodded and started counting while Hera activated her blinding flash spell. All the griffons were staring each other down and were hit by the effects. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Cloud Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 Cloud Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 Talon Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 Talon Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 Wind Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 Wind Ruler ailment bonus effects x 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to the flash, the three griffons that weren''t poisoned jumped to corpses. Hera couldn''t tell if they did that out of fear of losing their meal or to try to snag another bite. The others might have thought the same thing, but the moment the blinding flash hit, the poison inside them became stronger. Even worse, the blinding flash also became stronger. It didn''t simply hinder their vision but made the affected griffons lose grasp on the direction they were facing. The monsters started coughing and attacked anything and everything around. Their movements helped the poison move through their bodies, while the ones in the middle began a fierce battle. The wind rulers noticed that there was something wrong and turned to the rock formation. They might''ve been blinded, but their sensitivity to mana was still working perfectly. Hera and Blue looked at each other. Despite trusting the walls created by Lija, they had no idea if the monsters would break the rocks. If they did, the team could have to deal with the structure''s collapse. "Lija, open this up. You guys fall back while Blue and I fight them," Hera ordered. The mage didn''t miss a beat, and in a moment, the entire construction went back inside the ground. The dwarves headed back while the humans intercepted the creatures. They were still affected by not just the poison, but also the blinding effect of Hera''s spell. Not wanting to give them any chance to fight back, Hera lunged at the first of the wind rulers, brandishing her handaxe. The creature evaded the attack, but the explorer didn''t let up. With a flurry of blows, she pushed back the monster and start damaging it. It was a bit weird, the griffon was still blinded, and Hera could see that using her [Observe], but as she moved her weapons, the wind ruler shifted to evade the attack. It was as if it could see her attacks coming, even despite the blindness. Hera went for another strike, but she prepared a paralyze spell on her other hand this time. The moment she had a clean shot, she would let it fly. After a couple of misses, the opportunity arrived. The wind ruler stepped back, and Hera sent off her spell. The green claw snapped around the monster''s mouth, who couldn''t change its direction. This was a bit of a disadvantage the creatures had. Since their feet never touched the ground, it was hard to make consecutive small bursts of movement. Their wings were too big for that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Wind Ruler ailment bonus effects x 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The notification appeared before the wind ruler even touched the ground. Now that it was paralyzed, it couldn''t maintain its height. Hera jumped on top of the creature, slamming her handaxe on its neck, finally killing it. She didn''t expect to take so long to kill it since the poison already weakened it. Looking to the side, Hera saw Blue grabbing a Wind Ruler by the wings and started pulling, ripping them out of the body before slamming her fist against its head repeatedly. "Holy crap, Blue!" Hera gasped. "What? You did worse," Blue finished killing the monster and jumped off of it. The other monsters were still in the middle of their fight, but aside from the three still engaged in a battle, all the others were in terrible shape. The blind effect had gone away, but during that period, the monsters thrashed around wildly, harming even their own kind while trying to recover their senses. After all that, it looked like they weren''t even able to keep fighting. "Lija, do you want to try to hit one of them?" Hera asked the mage. "Is that a good idea? What if they turn on me?" Lija asked. "I agree. I should be the one to test that," Naka chimed in. "No, you shouldn''t. You have to get closer to them. While Lija can strike from a long distance. It gives us more room to kill them before they reach you," Hera replied. Naka stared at her for a moment, "You are not wrong. That is a better option." The group turned to Lija and gave her some room to attack. She created a giant boulder and flung it at one griffon that was a bit far from the rest. A cloud barrier enveloped the creature just before the impact, but instead of destroying the stone, the monster was pushed back several meters before stopping. When the cloud barrier vanished, the talon ruler was still there, heaving and trying to recover from the poison. Its eyes remained the same, and there was nothing else happening. There was no burst of strength, no angry cry, and no armor appearing around it. "Is the barrier weaker?" Totrak asked. "I guess," Blue replied. The monsters fell to the ground, one by one. They were still alive, but too weak to keep moving. At the same time, the three who were fighting continued their struggle. The battle was even on all sides, and it seemed like the only way to end was with a 3-way K.O. As Hera and the dwarves watched, something moving from beyond the clouds descended quickly. It was an enormous creature, much larger than any of the other griffons. If the ones they saw until now were the size of horses, this new arrival was mammoth. Almost twice as tall as the rulers or the bloodbeaks. It had dark feathers and a long, curved neck, but its head was white and completely naked. The monster landed on top of the three creatures that were fighting and crushed them beneath its feet. Following that, it created several cloud daggers around the area. The spell hit every one of the griffons, with two of the daggers even flying at Hera and Blue, but they dodged them without an issue. All the wounded creatures perished, and the monster started grabbing all the corpses with its four limbs, even picking some up with its mouth. It gathered all the bodies on the ground, leaving only the one bloodbeak that was already mostly eaten, and flew up. This time, it didn''t bother to go above the clouds and headed to the north side of the plains. Before it left, Hera managed to use her [Observe] on the creature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scavenger Ruler ¨C Level 12 ¨C 2% (Decay Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 252 - Carrion Hera and the others were chasing the Scavenger Ruler. It seemed much different from the rest, not just by the size, but it was the only one that took the food back somewhere. Not to mention that it was running away with all their potential loot. However, the monster was fast. They already had lost sight of it. Presumably, it had landed somewhere, but they still couldn''t see where. It was one of the problems of the plains. Since it was made of small hills, there were many places for something to hide. After close to ten minutes of chase, they noticed something weird in the distance. A large formation of jagged spikes and curved white rocks seemed to make a half loop. As they got closer, a gust of wind carried a smell that almost made the entire team throw up. Even Ganek, who rarely showed any sort of emotion or reaction, twisted his face and protected his mouth and nose as the smell came. It was the unique smell of rotting flesh, but it wasn''t just from a single body by its strength. It also made no sense for it to be from the monsters that had just died. How could it be? They were fresh. It would take at least a day for the decomposition process to start. Each step closer to the white rock formation only made the smell get stronger. Totrak tried to use a spell to push the scent away, but it didn''t work. Lija created a giant fan, but that only lasted for a moment. Only after Pyrrick deployed a barrier blocking the wind that the smell subsided. It still didn''t go away completely, but it helped a lot. The sound of something retching loudly came from the direction they were heading, making them regain their focus. The team walked closer and closer, now being careful not just because of the smell but not to alert the creature. They crossed another two hills before finally seeing where all the smell was coming from. The formation wasn''t made of stone like they imagined. It was, in fact, the bones of a creature much larger than any of the griffons. The scavenger ruler was under one of the ribs eating something, but it wasn''t one of the corpses it had brought here. That one seemed much older. It was bloated, and it split apart with ease as the monster''s beak touched it, and it wasn''t even the only one. There were a dozen more rotting carcasses spread around the area, not counting the new bodies. The other griffons seemed to have trouble feeding themselves, while this one was hoarding food. Sadly, Hera couldn''t feel her poison mana in the bodies or in the Scavenger Ruler, and it didn''t look like the poison ever affected the monster. She looked at Blue with a serious expression, who just nodded in response. Even if the creature was bigger than the rest, it was still 2 against one. "Pyrrick, can you give us the buffs again?" Hera asked. "Sure, but I only have enough mana for 3 more casts," the mage replied. "That''s fine. If we can''t beat it until the buff is out, we might need to run away to regroup anyway," Hera turned to Totrak, "Wait until we are closer to it before using the solid air. Actually, wait until it tries to jump us. I want to take advantage of that moment." The mages nodded and did as they were asked. Hera and Blue took a deep breath before heading towards the monster. However, the moment they left the barrier, the smell hit their nose like a truck. Hera felt her eyes watering, and Blue had to force herself to not throw up. Realizing there was no way to fight in those conditions, the duo quickly moved back to the barrier. "What happened?" Sevaris asked. "That smell is too much," Hera replied, while Blue still tried to gather herself. "C''mon, it can be that bad," Lija walked away from the barrier and took a whiff. She instantly rushed back and showed the dungeon what she had for breakfast. "Can''t it?" Blue scoffed. "How can something that awful exist?" Lija asked. "A bunch of rotting corpses out in the open will do that, but the smell seems stronger than it should," Hera replied. "What now then?" Sevaris asked. Hera looked over and saw the Scavenger Ruler eating. It was ignoring the fresh bodies and only taking the rotting ones. Maybe it had to eat things that were already decomposing, or it just liked the taste. Still, fighting in here wasn''t possible. They had to lure it away to get into an area where the smell wouldn''t hinder them. "I''m going to attack it. When it turns to us, we run to get away from the smell," Hera said. Everyone nodded and waited for the attack. Hera''s idea was very straightforward. The creature should get angry and chase after them after getting hit. No monster would get damaged and ignore an attacker, and it wasn''t like her spells should be weak enough that the creature wouldn''t bat an eye. Hera prepared a fire arrow and threw it at the scavenger ruler. The projectile flew through the air, but a few meters before it hit the target, a cloud appeared and blocked its path. It looked much like the barrier that occurred when the dwarves attacked, but this was different at the same time. Instead of a perfectly rotating barrier, a formless cloud engulfed the fire arrow and traveled with it for a moment before disappearing together with the attack. Hera tried the spell again, this time with more mana, but the result was the same, although it did take a bit longer for the cloud to disappear after swallowing her spell. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Oh, great. What now?" Hera sighed. "Why is it doing that? Is it a spell or that weird barrier?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. I don''t think it is the barrier, so it must be some sort of personal defense. I mean, some of the griffons are good at using clouds. Maybe that one learned something from them," Hera replied without taking an eye out of the monster. "Why is it not the barrier?" Naka asked. "It seems different. The barrier could stop your attacks completely at once. This one seemed to take some time. Not to mention the shape and that it wasn''t rotating." "I see. Maybe we can damage this creature then. Lija," Naka turned to the mage. Lija nodded and tried to attack it, but the same odd cloud appeared and destroyed her projectile before reaching the scavenger ruler. The team felt a bit lost with all this. They knew where the monster was and felt confident in their odds of killing it, but with the smell, none among them could last more than a few seconds outside Pyrrick¡¯s barrier. Even Naka tried and could only stay outside for half a minute before having to rush back to a place where the air wasn''t so vile. Hera kept watching the creature until an idea popped into her mind, "This is going to be so stupid." "What?" Blue asked. "I''m gonna burn the corpses. Maybe it will be angry if we take away its food." "Angry? The thing is going to be livid! Are you sure?" Blue gasped. "Does anyone have any better ideas?" no one replied, "Ok, then I''m doing this. I''m sure you all want the rewards just as much as I do." "Very well, but we run as soon as the monster turns in our direction. Lija, prepare to make some defenses," Naka commanded. Hera took a deep breath and looked back at the monster. It was a bit far away from most of its stockpile of corpses, and luckily, all the ones it got today were close by each other. Close enough to be hit by a single flaming poison rain. She created the point of origin and angled the spell to hit as many corpses as possible before triggering. Although she couldn''t see exactly where she was placing it, it felt like she was making a 3D model. Hera could more or less feel the direction her spells would go and even where they would hit. The drops of flaming orange liquid showered the bodies. It didn''t take long for them to be ignited, and the smell of burning flesh seeped through the barrier. In comparison, it was a welcome change. If one closed their eyes, they could pretend to be smelling a barbecue, a very crappy barbecue, but a barbecue nonetheless. The scavenger ruler also noticed the change and turned around to the pile of corpses. It roared and flapped its wings, trying to get rid of the flames, but that didn''t work. The monster stopped and moved its head closer to the bodies. Small misshaped clouds appeared around its head and fell down to the flaming pile of griffons. It took a few moments, but the fire finally went away, together with the spell that Hera had already stopped casting. The scavenger ruler sniffed at the corpses and tried to take a bite. It quickly spat out the food and turned towards the team with an angry expression. "Now we run?" Blue asked. "Yep. Go, go, go, go," Hera made a motion with her hand while she started running. It took less than ten seconds for the monster to let out a howl and go up in the air, chasing after the small creatures that destroyed its reserves. The humanoids were already going over the first hill when the griffon took flight. It dove towards its targets as soon as they were under it. Even if it had just lost some of its food, there was more right in front of it. The team had to move at a steady pace, with Pyrrick staying in the middle while keeping up the barrier. When the monster attacked, they had to dodge away. Hera, Blue, and Lerynn were behind the creature while the rest was in front. The scavenger ruler turned back towards the humans, attracted by the ones who should provide a larger meal. "Lerynn, get out of here," Hera said as the creature stared her down. The healer dashed to the side at the same time that Hera triggered her flaming poison rain right in the middle of the monster, hoping those clouds wouldn''t appear. Unfortunately, as the orange projectiles came down, several small clouds appeared. Some of the rain vanished in the barriers, but not all of it. Part of her spell hit the target, making the feathers on its back ignite. The scavenger ruler roared and jumped to the side, trying to get away from the spell. Blue was already by its legs, punching it with her electric buffs. Even when putting all of her strength on the strike, the creature didn''t seem to mind the attack that much, and the sparks of lightning were quickly covered by small clouds that absorbed the magic. Hera tossed her chakram with the poison reinforcement covering it. Cloud appeared to block the attack, but they weren''t able to stop it. When the burst of mana made the blade jump towards the Scavenger Ruler''s face, the monster jumped back. One of its back legs went straight for Totrak, who was still close by, waiting for a moment to use his solid air spell. Naka jumped towards him and intercepted the claw with the side of her sword. Nothing appeared as her blade touched the monster. With a grunt, the captain pushed the griffon away with all her strength. To everyone''s surprise, instead of simply pushing the creature away, Naka was strong enough to rip the back leg of the scavenger ruler out of its socket and sent it flying upward. The monster roared and fell to the ground. The captain opened a big smile and jumped towards the griffon while tossing her two-handed sword to the side. She reached the other back leg and, with a tackle, ripped it from the rest of its body. "What the¡­?" Hera gasped as Naka rushed to the front legs, ripping one of them up before the Scavenger ruler tried to fly away. But the captain would not let it go. She jumped several meters up and grabbed the monster''s head with her arms. With a punch to the neck, a sickening crack echoed through the plains, and the creature fell on the ground with a broken spine. "Holy crap, captain. How much pent-up anger do you have?" Blue gasped. "Enough for a few more hits," Naka didn''t even look towards the human and kept punching the monster''s head since it was still alive, just unable to move the rest of its body. A few moments passed while she kept hitting the creature until the body finally dissolved, turning into a pile of loot. 253 - Nimbus The entire team was staring at the place where the scavenger ruler once was. Not because of the pile of loot that had appeared after it died or because of the crater on the ground. But because of the captain of the guard, who was now covered in blood with an eerie smile on her face. "Ca..captain?" Sevaris called. "Yes? Are you injured, Sevaris?" Naka replied. "No¡­ are you ok?" "Better than I ever been in a long time," Naka said with a smile. There was another moment of silence, with the entire team staring at her. Seeing the captain smile in itself was a rare occurrence, but this was different. Her eyes were cold even with the seemingly warm expression, and her presence was twisted. To a certain degree, it reminded Hera of the wendigo she had fought during the rampage. How the creature seemed to enjoy toying with people. When it felt like it had the upper hand, the expression it showed was very similar to the one Naka had. Before Hera could take a step forward, several notifications appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest inside the Wooly Plains - Alternate Timeline By defeating the strongest griffon in the Wooly Plains, the region can now accept a new kind of life. Rewards: Wind Feather Spell Cloud Feather Item Box (B) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest as the first to enter this dungeon. Rewards: Advanced Griffon Whistle +1 Level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 10 Stats: Strength: 33 Endurance: 33 Agility: 33 Charisma: 33 Intelligence: 33 Luck: 33 Mana: 1347/1347 Remaining attribute points 4 left Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Treasure Map Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style, Subtle Strike Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Flee Mana Recovery Improved Regeneration Ailment Mastery Active: All in Inspect Hide, Sneak Attack Local Guide Weapon Maintenance, Weapons Rebalance Etching Medical Reference Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue Explorer''s Hunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Griffon Whistle in your possession. Whistle never used during the dungeon. Reward Updated. Griffon Whistle upgraded to Sky Ruler Whistle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why did we get a B box?" Blue gasped. "What do you mean b box?" Totrak asked. "It''s kind of like a grade. Since we got the B, it means we could''ve gotten something better. The grades go from D to A, and then there is the S grade above that," Blue explained. "Why S?" Lija asked. "I don''t know. Some people say it means super, others supreme or superior," Blue shrugged. "I remember someone telling me it was special," Hera added. "Well, anyway. It''s something better than A. So this box is the third-best we could''ve gotten. Even though the boss of the dungeon died in an instant," Blue huffed. "Right, but where is the box?" Naka asked. "Oh¡­ right," Hera looked back to her tablet. Despite not being able to use all its functions here, she still carried it to the fights. Right now, there was the familiar chest icon with a 1 on the side, showing that she still had a reward to receive. When she opened that one, the box would open and give her the item. However, she had no idea how the dwarves could get that part of the reward. It didn¡¯t make sense for the system to be locked with the tablet. After all, this was something relatively new. "Oh, I got it. Just wave the notification off," Lerynn was already holding a white box in his hands. The dwarves activated their item boxes, but Hera was more curious about other parts of her reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Whistle A small whistle made of crystalized clouds. By blowing the whistle, you can create a cloud griffon. The griffon can move at 30km/h, carry up to 120kg, and glide through short distances. The griffon can last for up to 2 hours, and it takes 10 hours to recover. If you dismiss it prematurely, the recovery time will be lessened proportionally. If the griffon is destroyed for any reason, it takes 20 hours to recover. In areas of strong wind, the griffon cannot maintain its form and will be destroyed. Additional effects: When used inside the Wooly Plains, it can call the next wave of griffons from the mountain instead of summoning your griffon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Blue! We got a mount!" Hera cheered. "What? Where?" "Check the whistle." "Sorry, I was checking my spell. I got a barrier," Blue replied as she picked the whistle, "This is awesome! Who needs a car?" "Cars are still faster, but yeah, this will help so much," Hera turned her attention to her new spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wind Feather Rank: Novice ¨C Ancient Creates a feather made out of wind mana to attack your target. The caster can control the strength, size, and speed of the projectile. Base Mana cost: 10 mana If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is neat, a low-cost spell. It might be useful to stagger enemies," Hera mumbled. She turned to her tablet and was about to take the reward box, when a loud noise came from Ganek''s direction. "Too big," he was brandishing a spear that seemed to be made out of the beak of a griffon, but the weapon should easily be 3 meters tall. Seeing such a big thing come out of the reward box, Hera decided to open it later. They still had to check the rest of the loot. The scavenger ruler had left a dozen of items for them to loot. Among them, there were 9 pieces of chicken weighing between 8 and 15 kilograms. The remaining three items were a bundle of very large feathers, one of its talons, and a cumulonimbus core. Unlike the storm one they got, this one created cloud mana, but at 100 points per second, and could store a whopping 100 thousand points of mana inside. If the storm core already made the mages'' day, this one would make their year. "Do you know what this ancient thing means? I''m talking about what appeared in the spell," Lija turned to Hera and Blue. "Yeah, it just means the spell was made in a way that was lost through time. Maybe it was a different language, or some forgotten runes," Hera explained. The mages started discussing the possibilities and how they could find more information about the new spells. At the same time, the rest gathered the items and walked back towards the boneyard. The rotting corpses were gone, but there was more loot to be picked up. There were several pieces of pink butcher paper and some bundles of feathers in the places where the fresh griffon bodies were previously located. It was nice that the feathers came all wrapped around a string, at least in the hard mode. Having to pick them up one by one was very tiresome. There was so much stuff to gather that Lija had to make a couple of extra stone baskets. "Hang on. Why are we carrying this?" Blue took out her whistle. "Blue, wait!" Hera called, but it was too late. The controller already had blown the whistle. A very low sound came out of it, almost like a dog whistle. Hera instantly turned around, getting ready to fight any monster that might pop up. Naka and the other dwarves also got prepared to fight, but nothing came. Instead, from the whistle that Blue was using, a white fog came out of the small griffon''s mouth carved in the crystalized cloud. The mist became denser and denser, turning itself into a cloud that took the shape of a griffon similar to the sky ruler spawn, but it wasn''t quite the same. The wings seemed smaller, and the beak didn''t have a very defined shape. It had four bird-like legs and a muscular body that was more similar to that of a lion or a tiger. The head resembled something like an eagle, but it had a mohawk made of feathers that rose above the neck and the top of the scalp. However, it was still a cloud, giving the griffon a fluffy look that made Hera think of Capri. "This is so cool," Blue gasped while watching the mount take form. The dwarves took a step back, worried about what the creature would do, but the monster didn''t move. Blue waved her hand in front of the cloud griffon''s face, but the mount still showed no response. Hera approached it and triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cloud Griffon ¨C Mana Construct ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, I don''t think it''s alive," Hera said. "Really? Well¡­ it''s still cute," Blue replied. "Not everyone agrees with that," Hera looked back to the dwarves, who were all moving away. "Will that thing attack us?" Naka asked. "It won''t. It''s an item like the orb. Besides, I don''t think it even can attack," Blue jumped on the mount''s back. Despite its appearance, she managed to mount it without an issue. The clouds held her up as if she was sitting on something solid. She asked the griffon to move around and started getting used to riding it, "This is so smooth. It doesn''t bounce like a horse." "Are you going to name it?" Hera asked. "Of course! His name shall be¡­ Sunny!" "Sunny? You are making a cloud named Sunny?" Hera asked. "Yeah, why?" "Nothing, I''m just asking," Hera smiled. She summoned her own mount. Instead of the pure white cloud, hers had a greyish color, and it looked a bit smaller than Blue''s. Aside from that, they looked just the same. "What''s his name?" Blue asked. "Hers, and it''s Nimbus," Hera replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name Registered Sky Ruler Whistle updated ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was a bit surprised that even the system recognized the name she gave to it. Shrugging it off, she jumped on Nimbus'' back. "How can you tell it''s female?" Pyrrick asked. "Oh. I can''t, actually. I mean, since it''s basically a vehicle, I just choose to say it''s a girl. Humans do that. We name random objects that we tend to use. It''s like naming your sword or a weapon," Hera explained. "I see¡­" Pyrrick replied with a confused expression, but the guards nodded, seeming to understand the concept. After seeing the humans walk around, everyone tried to call their own griffons. Each mount had a different shade, with Naka''s being the darkest one. Instead of the fluffy white you would see on a sunny day, it looked like a heavy storm cloud. The ones owned by the dwarves were also smaller, more similar to their height. Even with that, only Lija and Totrak kept their mounts active. The other dwarves seemed uncomfortable when around the cloud griffons. Despite it all, everyone agreed that having them helped a lot to carry their loot. Before they left the dungeon, Naka asked everyone to dismiss their mounts. Having those creatures appear in the city would surely create some unnecessary panic. Outside, they talked with Silah about how things went and discussed strategies. They also made sure to distribute the attribute points that each had gained. Hera had earned 14 points to use. That meant she could increase all her stats by another 2 points. They all also opened their Item Boxes. Unfortunately, some were pieces of armor that wouldn''t be better than what they were already using. In contrast, others got rare materials that could be used for other things. Blue got a pair of boots that could purify the air in a small area around them, and Hera got a large vial of a clear oil. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blank Smell Oil If you apply this oil under your nose, you become unable to smell anything for 1 hour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone understood how that could help the dungeon. It would be even better if there was a way for the mages to reverse engineer the oil. After some time resting, they headed back inside the hard mode, with Silah coming along. Things went down a bit differently this time. For one, the spinning round cloud barrier protected the Scavenger Ruler. However, two types of creatures didn''t have that protection, the bloodbeaks, and the cloud rulers. After a couple more runs and tests of the dungeon, two things became clear. First, to complete the dungeon, they had to kill all the monsters inside except the bloodbeak. It didn''t matter which of the rulers they killed first. While one of them was alive, the quest was still incomplete. The second thing was that when only a single species of ruler was alive, the cloud barrier wouldn''t appear in that spinning invulnerable form, allowing the dwarves to attack the griffons. By the end of the day, Hera gave the oil to the mages for them to try to replicate the effects. She and Blue had used during the runs to avoid dealing with the rotting smell, allowing them to kill the scavenger ruler before the other monsters. Despite still having a good amount of oil, it would be even better if they had more. Blue and Hera also pulled Lija aside and asked about the path to the Sky Ruler that she mentioned before. Fighting the different types of griffons gave them many ideas on how to deal with the monster, but they had to understand which creature from the hard mode would be closer to the actual ruler. "I don''t know, guys. I don''t want to get into more trouble," Lija mumbled as they left the guard headquarters. "You won''t. Just tell us where that passage should be, and we''ll sneak there. We won''t fight it. We just want to know more about the¡­" Blue looked around and got closer to the mage before whispering, "Sky Ruler." "Why do you want to rush so much?" Lija asked. "We want to see our family," Blue replied. "And when we open the room, we can have more mages coming here and helping you guys learn about magic. I have a friend that can take away your senses with shadow magic," Hera said. "Really? How does she do that?" Lija turned to Hera. "I Don''t know. We need to ask her." Lija stared at the two, "Ok, fine. I don''t know where it is exactly. But it''s near the mines by the lake. I guess it is somewhere high up because I''ve worked in the mines, and there is not a single passage in the lower areas. That''s all I can tell you." "Right, so all we need now is a way to get Pyrrick''s buff," Blue turned to Hera. "What if we say you two are doing some late-night practice with the buff? You say you still feel weird and want to get used to moving around with it," Silah suggested. "I''m not a part of this, but yeah. That could work," Lija replied, "Now go make your plans away from me. I don''t want to know, and if you die there, it''s not my fault!" "We will be careful. I promise," Hera replied as Lija split off from the group, "So, does anyone want to take a stroll by the mines?" 254 - Nest During the next week, Hera''s schedule changed. In the afternoons, they would keep doing the hard mode of the dungeon. They figured out that using the whistle would make the griffons all gather in the same place, allowing them to speed up the runs. One of the major benefits of doing the hard mode, aside from the experience, was how quickly they could finish it. Unlike the regular mode, which took anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, they could finish the hard mode in just 45 minutes and bring enough chicken to compare with what would take 2 hours in the regular version of the Wooly Plains. Another benefit was the possibility of getting more cores. It still didn''t happen, but since the Scavenger Ruler dropped one, it was likely that it could drop again. Hera, Blue, and Silah would walk around the mines during the night, trying to find the path to the nest. Silah was more or less familiar with the area, but she only knew about the lower tunnels. The mines were a large hole close to the lake on the west side of town. It looked like a miniature coal mine, split into several layers and tunnels, all heading in the palace''s direction. The lake was directly to the left of the mine, giving Hera an uncomfortable feeling of being by a dam. It was a good thing that there were no waves in the water. Otherwise, water would end up falling inside the pit. Thinking about paths above the mine, a couple of tunnels in the upper layers were rarely used since the ores inside those paths weren''t that great. So Hera and the others tried to find the way towards the nest by going inside the tunnels. A few guards would patrol the area. After some time, a couple of them would be stationed by the mines to watch over the lake and ensure that no one had an unfortunate end during a late-night swim. This meant that Hera and the others had only a small window of opportunity to search for the path during each night. If they took longer, they would risk having to explain what they were doing in there to Naka, and that wasn''t something any of them were too keen to do. On the fifth day, Hera used the Yarnball skill to locate a tunnel to the sky ruler nest. The thread pointed up and to the side, towards a trail outside the mine that could lead up and around the lake. It looked like a very narrow path, and she had no idea how far it would go. After showing it to Silah and Blue, they checked the time. It was still early, and if they wanted, they could try to use that trail, as long as it wasn''t too lengthy. "Silah, do you know how to swim?" Hera asked. "I do, but why?" "Because if we fall there, we will end up in the lake. It''s probably going to hurt, but if you know how to swim It''s less dangerous. I think," Hera replied "What about you?" Blue asked. "I can swim. You can too, right?" "Yeah. I wouldn''t convince my family to go to a beach in Brazil if I couldn''t swim," Blue smiled. "So, let''s try this path?" Hera asked. "Yeah, it should be there. I mean, it has all the things a hidden path would have, a place hidden in plain sight with a treacherous path, and it has that feel of ''I''m hiding something,'' you know?" Blue added. "I agree. Let''s move, but if we take too long, we head back to avoid the guards. We have 20 minutes," Hera explained before going towards the path. Hera and Silah went in front. They did their best to be careful, but the trail seemed to crumble beneath their feet. More than once, they had to count on the help of someone else to avoid falling into the lake. It wouldn''t be that bad going for a swim, since there were no rocks directly under them, but it was very likely that the guards would end up seeing that commotion. To walk over that trail, they needed to be in a single file line, and Blue was the one taking up the rear. Unfortunately, that also meant that she was the one who had to walk around most of the broken path. Since it crumbled as Hera and Silah put their weight on the ground. Each step proved to be more complicated than the last, until she slipped and fell towards the lake. Silah was quick enough to grab the controller, but she also lost balance. Hera grabbed the dwarf by her waist and pulled her up with all her strength. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated The cooldown will now start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera held back a grunt and pulled both up towards the path once more. They took a moment to gather themselves and kept going. Another 10 minutes went by, and the trio reached close to the middle of the lake. In the wall, there was a new tunnel. This seemed to be a natural formation, and not something that was carved out from the rocks. Hera jumped inside and helped Silah and Blue enter. "This has to be it. Let''s take a look around and rush back. If we take too long, Naka will end up finding out," Blue looked back outside to confirm that the guard was still on patrol. "I will end up finding out about what?" A voice rang from deeper into the tunnel. Hera turned towards the sound and saw Naka emerging from a side passage in the tunnel with a floating light orb that illuminated the path following her. The captain stared at the three women in front of her, "You took longer than I expected. Aren''t explorers supposed to be good at finding things?" Hera didn''t know how to answer. She completely forgot about the dowsing rod ability of her relic. If it wasn''t for that, she could probably have found this passage sooner. Before figuring out a comeback, Blue turned to the captain. "Where did you come from?" "I took the side passage. The way you came from is too dangerous to travel, so we made a tunnel on the other side," Naka replied. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "So¡­ I almost fell for no reason?" "Yes." Blue huffed and crossed her arms while Hera just tried to calm her friend down. "Ok, and are you going to stop us from going to the nest?" Hera asked. "I won''t. I know a lost cause when I see one. Unless I let you pass, I have to come back here every night like I''ve been doing this past week. But I won''t allow my blacksmith to be in danger for no reason. I''m going with you to protect her," Naka said. "I can protect her just fine," Hera huffed, getting closer to Silah. "Hera¡­ don''t take this the wrong way, but if I''m going to be in danger, I would feel safer with the captain by my side," Silah held Hera''s hand. "Not to mention, you have no idea what I''m going to be protecting her from. If I let you three go alone, she will end up getting hurt," Naka started walking up the tunnel. Then, after moving a few meters forward, she turned around, "Are you not coming?" "We don''t have our gear. We might want to check the nest, but we are not crazy enough to go there unarmed," Hera replied. "We can come back tomorrow, but since you are already here, you should at least see the entrance," Naka turned back to the tunnel. "What''s so interesting about the entrance?" Blue followed Naka. "You''ll see," the captain replied as she walked up. The four moved forward through the steep tunnel. In a way, it was almost like a very long staircase. By Hera''s assumption, it should take a long time to reach the nest. When she carried Blue down the mountain, it took a couple of hours to arrive in the city. However, that was counting all the winding paths she had to take to avoid any places where they could fall to their deaths, and Blue couldn''t walk properly. Since, this time, no one would carry someone else, walking all the way to the top should be much faster. Ten minutes went by, then twenty, then thirty. It was such a boring route that the group relaxed and kept talking about nothing in particular. Even the captain seemed less closed off than normal and joined in the conversation. They mostly talked about their past and how things changed with time. "Oh. That''s like when my high school set up a whole culture-sharing event. It was a mess. There were people from all over the world talking about their customs and stuff like that, but it was too much. I get why they tried that theme, but they should''ve split by continents or something. The food was amazing, though. It was the first time I got gyoza and pad thai," Blue said. "I have no idea what those foods are, and the names are weird," Silah replied. "Oh, gyoza is like a dumpling with meat or other fillings. You know those stuffed pastries? It''s kind of like that, at least the concept is. The taste is completely different," Blue explained. "And pad thai is¡­ fried noodles with chicken, right? So if we get some oil, we might be able to make something similar," Hera made a note on her tablet. "I thought you two wouldn''t tell anyone about the outside world until we opened the doorway," Naka cut them off. "Silah is the only person I told. I didn''t want to start a relationship with a lie," Hera defended her decision. "That''s hardly a good motive to break a promise to the king, but knowing how lenient he is, I doubt you two would be punished in any way even if I told him," Naka sighed. Silah knew Hera wasn''t supposed to talk about some things, but she never imagined that Rutigan was responsible for the rule. Understanding that the human was willing to go against the king just for her made Silah blush. She never imagined that someone would go to such lengths for her. "Is that how you talk about your king, captain?" Hera asked. She was already tired from all Naka''s hostility. "Just because Rutigan is my king, it doesn''t mean I have to agree with everything he does. But, unfortunately, he makes enough mistakes that warrant my doubts. It''s a shame he didn''t inherit his father''s wisdom," Naka sighed. "Why? He seems pretty wise and open-minded," Blue asked. "He is. I admit, however, he is too quick to change his mind. As a result, even the culture we worked so hard to create is cast aside after something new appears. The festival at the end of each month is proof of that. You two have been here for some time. Tell me, when did something appear at the festival a second time? A song, a painting, anything." Hera''s mind went back to the big parties that were hosted once a month in the city. There were many dresses, foods, drinks, songs, presentations, and a bunch of other things, but there was never a second round. It didn''t matter how amazing a dessert was or how beautifully performed a song was. At the next festival, everything had to be new. Or at least that''s what Fethy and the King said during one of their meetings. They said that this was a way to celebrate the new culture they had, but there was nothing to celebrate the culture they already had gathered. "I¡­ can''t think of anything," Hera replied. "Me neither," Silah had a surprised expression. "Same. I''m drawing a complete blank," Blue added. "Exactly. His father valued what we already had. King Rutigan values that which we do not have," Naka stopped walking, "We are here. Look." The tunnel in front of the captain turned to the right before leading to an opening completely obscured by a thick layer of mist. The area itself was larger than the trail they used to get here. Instead of allowing only two people to walk at once, here, the four had more than enough space to move around and even fight if they wished to. A cold feeling came from the fog, and the cave seemed to have more light than usual, as if the sunlight was hitting the mist from outside. "Ok, is this the nest?" Blue asked. "It''s beyond that mist. However, we are unable to cross that," Naka made her light go towards the fog. The moment the small point of light got close, it was swept away as it had hit a hurricane, "If I touch that, the same thing will happen," Naka said. "Really? Even you will lose your arm like that?" Blue asked. "I won''t lose an arm, but I will get seriously injured. It will be enough to put me out of commission for a few weeks," Naka stared at her left hand with a pained expression. "So¡­ How do we test if we can go through?" Blue asked. "Let me try a spell," Hera used a dancing light and sent it towards the mist. Unlike the one that Naka created, Hera''s spell went inside without an issue. "So¡­ are we good?" Blue asked. Hera walked over and touched the mist with her pinky. There was a bit of a humid feeling, but aside from that, nothing happened. Then, feeling more confident, she put her entire hand inside. That gave the same result. As the last test, Hera took one step inside the fog, being completely covered by it. In the end, everything seemed fine. Before anything else, Blue also tested if she could cross the mist. She could enter the fog without an issue, meaning that both could easily enter the Sky Ruler nest if they came here. "I believe that answer the question then. Tomorrow I''ll ask Lerynn, Totrak, and Ogryn to join us. We''ll stay in the normal mode of the wooly plains not to tire you two too much," Naka said. "Why Ogryn?" Hera asked. "He is very proficient at giving you elemental buffs. Although he wasn''t going to join the dungeon runs, his buffs are nothing to scoff at," the captain replied before going back to the tunnel. They still had a long way to get back to their houses. 255 - Egg "Ogryn, for the mountain''s sake. I don''t want to have to carry you all the way up," Naka sighed. "Nonsense, child, no one will need to carry me. I''m more than capable of walking these steps on my own," Ogryn replied as he walked inside the side tunnel. "There are no steps. It''s just a bunch of rocks going up." "Semantics, I can get up there very well on my own. I may be old, but I''m more than capable of moving around." "Moving around is one thing. But, this is a long hike, and we don''t even know how long it will take for the humans to do whatever they want inside the nest. We might wait for hours before coming back," Naka tried once more to convince the elderly mage to stay behind. "More reason why we should stop this meaningless squabble and head up the path," Ogryin said. "Are you really going to keep talking like that?" Naka rolled her eyes. "It was you, my child, who revealed to me I should act in an appropriate manner for my age. Therefore, I shall do so." "Ok, fine. You can come, but please stop talking like that. Figuring out what you are trying to say is giving me a headache." "Very well. Then, are all of you ready to head up?" Ogryn turned to the rest of the group. They were inside one tunnel on the top of the mines. There was a stone door with warnings letting people know that the cave''s structure beyond that point was unstable, and their surveys revealed that there was nothing in that area. This was just an excuse to keep people away. In reality, after that door, there was another hidden path that headed to yet another hidden path until finally reaching the point where Naka found Hera and the others during the previous night. Hera understood why the secrecy. If even touching the barrier was enough to injure Naka, it would rip most of the other dwarves to pieces. But, on the other hand, it felt excessive. It was one thing to make a hidden path, but this was worse than a Russian nesting doll. Considering how the dwarves acted with rules, there was not a single doubt in her mind that just by saying ''don''t go there,'' they could stop anyone from coming to this path. Her mind wandered, and she started thinking about the people walking up towards the nest. It was supposed to be just her, Blue, and Silah. Now they had Naka, Ogryn, Pyrrick, who got worried about his buff running out too soon and insisted on going as close to the entrance as possible. And Sevaris, who saw the group walking over and thought it was something about the dungeons and followed the group to the mines. It was weird that Naka barely tried to talk him out of going with them. She seemed more interested in getting up to the nest than anything else. She kept hurrying them along, saying she wanted to get this over with soon. But if that was the case, why did she argue with Ogryn about him staying back. "Hera? What''s wrong? You seem worried," Silah noticed the expression on the human''s face. "Sorry. I''m just trying to figure some things out," Hera replied. "Like what?" "Why is the captain in such a hurry to get us up there? I mean, I know she said she wants to get this over with, but doesn''t it look like it''s more than just that?" "I was thinking about that too. The way she''s complaining reminds me of Bonnie and how she keeps nagging when she''s trying to pretend not to be interested in whatever stupid thing we want to do," Blue added. "We are in a small tunnel, and your voice echoes. But please don''t let this stop you from talking behind my back," Naka kept her gaze on the path ahead. "In this situation, anything we say would be behind your back," Ogryn replied with a smirk, "Besides. You can''t blame them for their curiosity. I assume you haven''t talked about what happened." "Silence, Ogryn! You made a vow," Naka turned around and stopped the entire group. "I won''t say a thing. But you really should," Ogryn replied. Naka huffed and returned to their hike. Hera asked the rest of the team, but no one knew what they were talking about. After 40 minutes, they finally arrived at the entrance of the nest. Naka showed what happened with her light spell again to warn the dwarves not to get too close. While doing that, Pyrrick buffed the humans. It should last for at least half an hour, considering the amount of mana he used. Ogryn did the same thing, but his spell would affect only their weapons. Now they were covered in a small layer of sand made of mana. According to the research made inside their tower, sand mana was the natural enemy of cloud mana since it would absorb the moisture in the air, turning the cloud into wind. Most people could still use the wind mana to fuel any cloud spell, but their magic wouldn''t be as strong as before. He also added that if they hit a cloud spell with their weapons, there was a chance that it would be enough to disrupt the mana to the point of interrupting the spell. Hera and Blue thanked the mages and started walking towards the mist. "Wait!" Silah rushed towards Hera and gave a kiss. "Oh, my," Ogryin gasped before turning around to give the two some privacy. The other dwarves did the same, mumbling something about Silah not even giving them a warning. "What was that?" Hera smiled after the kiss. "A good luck charm," Silah replied. "Well, I do feel lucky right now," Hera chuckled. "Come back, and you might get even luckier tonight," Silah winked at Hera. "For the mountain''s sake! We can all hear you, Silah!" Sevaris gasped, making the blacksmith instantly turn red. "Sorry, guys," Hera wasn''t much of a fan of public displays of affection, but this seemed so minor in comparison with what other people would do. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Not to say how you should live your lives. But you might want to get used to this type of thing soon. After we connect the city and where we came from, seeing people kiss might be common," Blue added. Wanting to escape that awkward situation, Hera rushed towards the mist, pulling Blue by her side. The two entered the fog, and they could feel the wind rotating around them, but it wasn''t even strong enough to be annoying. They walked for only a few seconds before the mist subsided, revealing a snow-covered scenario. Unlike what Hera expected, it wasn''t the actual peak, but a small plateau surrounded by the snow-covered ridges of the mountain. Looking around, they could see a couple of odd snow formations that seemed to be small nests of some sort. The area was surprisingly bright, even though it was night. There was a full moon in the sky that basked the entire area in its pale light. Looking back to the mist, Hera could see that as the moonlight hit it, the color shifted from that pale white to a more yellowish color that gave an impression of sunlight. They could see something shifting in one of the nests, but the ones closest to the tunnel were empty. Hera and Blue activated their [Hide] skill and started moving towards the movement they were seeing. Unfortunately, Blue didn''t have a high-level hiding ability. Her movement made enough noise to warn whatever was in the nest. The creature jumped towards them, opening its wings. Before anything, Hera triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juvenile Sky Ruler ¨C Level 8 ¨C 6% (Cloud Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Blue, that''s the kid''s version of the ruler!" Hera warned. The monster had similar physique to the sky ruler spawn, but the colors were very different. It had blue and red feathers that covered its entire body, except its head, that was covered in purple feathers. In addition, the beak had a hooked tip, and the claws were almost translucent. It wasn''t that big either. The griffon was about the size of a small cow, reaching about the height of Hera''s chest. The monster lunged at the two, spreading its wings and splitting the humans apart. Hera tried to hit the griffon with her handaxe, but the creature was too fast. It dodged and spun around, creating a large gust of wind that sent Blue flying towards the nest. Seeing that, Hera jumped towards the creature, slashing its back with her handaxe. The griffon cried, but it kept staring at Blue, who was now closer to the nest. Blue seemed to be having trouble getting up. She didn''t have anything to hold on to, and the ground seemed slippery, almost like ice. The griffon crouched, ready to jump, but Hera was faster. She jumped on the monster''s back and started hacking away at the creature. The juvenile sky ruler jumped up and tried to fly. Because of the added weight, it couldn''t move that well, but it tried to spin around and get the human off of its back. Hera did her best to hold on as the creature got more and more frantic, sending several spells all over the place. Blades of wind, air bullets, and small clouds that created tiny hurricanes on impact went flying everywhere. The attacks kept going, but even in all that frenzy, the spells were avoiding the nest. To protect herself, Blue jumped inside the nest and ducked down. Hera felt like she was on the worst mechanical bull ever, but she started attacking the griffon with her handaxe. With the human directly behind it, the monster couldn''t do a thing. After receiving some attacks on its back, it started flying up at high speed. Hera did her best to hold on, but the juvenile ruler didn''t seem to be stopping. Worried by the increasing height, she let go of the monster and braced herself for the fall. Luckily, she was just five meters above the ground when she let go, and the entire area was covered in fresh snow. That wasn''t the only thing that helped. Since Hera also had Pyrrick''s buffs, her endurance reduced the damage she would suffer. In the end, the fall only made her graze her hands and knees. Then, moving to the left, she rushed towards the nest where Blue was located. The controller got up and looked around. A few branches and leaves were left in a large circle, and behind her, on the edge of the nest, a single grey egg. It looked like an ostrich egg going by its size. "It''s protecting the babies. Maybe we can use that." Blue turned to Hera. "How many are there?" "Just one egg." "An egg?" Hera gasped and turned around, looking at the sky. Capri''s voice echoed in her mind. ''When you find the storm, focus on the eggs.'' Despite having an egg there, there was no sign of a storm. So could this be the egg Capri talked about? Before anything else happened, the juvenile sky ruler roared. Several heavy clouds gathered above it. Lightning crackled behind it before coming down towards Hera. She tried to dodge, but the electricity hit her foot. Luckily, the attack wasn''t as bad as it looked. She only felt her muscles cramp up and some pain in her leg. As a response, she tossed a poison needle towards the monster. The ailment took hold, and Hera started using her paralyze to trigger the [Ailment Mastery] skill. She didn''t want to waste too much mana right away with her poison control. During all that time, Blue could only watch. She had yet to find a good way to fight at range. It took a few tries before the paralyze took hold, but the monster fell to the ground when it did. It crash-landed towards the tunnel, and Hera would not let that opportunity go by. She quickly chased it and started carving out its head with her handaxe. The sand buff that Ogryn placed on her weapon made the particles move around almost like an electric saw. Thanks to that, it didn''t take long for the monster to literally lose its head. With the griffon dead, she turned back to Blue and froze. All the way back on the peak behind the controller, a pair of wings spread out. It was almost like the mountain itself was trying to fly. Then, with a single beat of its wings, the creature was launched into the sky. Even at this distance, she could tell the griffon was massive. Hera''s best estimate was that it should have at least a 15-meter wide wingspan. More clouds gathered, covering the entire sky and turning the moonlit night into an expanse of pitch-black darkness. Lightning crackled with such strength that Hera felt like they were flashes from a massive camera, illuminating the entire plateau. The clouds swirled as the wind picked up strength. In less than a minute, the more or less peaceful area turned into a heavy thunderstorm. Lightning crashed beside Hera, making her tumble to the side with the pure strength of the impact. She turned back to Blue and yelled, "Grab the egg and run! We need to reach the tunnel." "Why the egg?" Blue asked. "It might help you avoid the lightning," Hera said, the first thing that came into her mind. She couldn''t afford to get paralyzed right now or to think about a better reason. Luckily, that was all it took. Blue grabbed the egg and ran towards the tunnel. Hera was several meters ahead, but she still took a small detour to grab the griffon''s head. It could be useful for the dwarves since they never properly studied one. More lightning came down, trying to hit Hera, but it seemed like the monster couldn''t see her properly. She ran as fast as she could towards the tunnel, jumping into the mist as soon as possible. She tumbled and ended up on the other side of the barrier, with all the dwarves behind her. "Hera?" Silah gasped. "Blue?! Are you there?" Hera yelled, still holding the juvenile sky ruler''s head, "Blue! C''mon Blue, run!" she called again and again. The other dwarves started to get worried, but they were unsure of what had happened. They tried to ask what happened, but the explorer didn''t reply. The only thing they knew was that Hera came back singed, carrying a head, and was now calling for her friend. Time seemed to slow down, and each second felt like a lifetime as Hera''s mind went into overdrive. Could Blue have been hit? There was no way. She was the fastest of the two, and she had her electric buff. Maybe she didn''t get a chance to use the spell. But why was she taking so long? There was no noise coming from outside the barrier. It was like the spinning cloud blocked all sounds from coming through. "Blue!" Hera called again and walked towards the barrier. Seeing that, Silah dashed to stop her, but a blue-haired woman came running out of the barrier before anything else could happen. Blue and Hera crashed into each other, falling to the ground. "Ouch, why are you in the way?" Blue asked. Hera slapped the side of her friend''s head and gave her a hug, "Why did you take so long?" she asked while pushing back the tears that were forming in her eyes. 256 - New Party Member It took some time before Hera and Blue could talk about what happened inside the nest. But when they calmed down, they discussed how the place looked and about the juvenile griffon they fought. For some reason that Hera couldn''t understand, Blue stopped her from mentioning anything about the egg. It was strange because the egg wasn''t with the controller anymore. "Why didn''t you even wait to see the Sky Ruler up close?" Sevaris asked. "The thing looked like it was a flying mountain, and it controlled the entire sky. So I didn''t want to take any chances," Hera explained. "Same. I didn''t see the ruler, but the strength of the lightning was something else. Not to mention that Hera''s panicked expression was enough to tell me what I needed to know," Blue added. "Right, and this?" Naka kicked the juvenile griffon''s head. "That is the monster we killed," Hera replied. "Why isn''t it dissolving?" Sevaris scratched his head. "That only happens with monsters inside a dungeon. Outside, the creatures die and leave their bodies, just like everyone else," Blue explained. "And why did you bring that?" Naka had a weird expression while she stared at the head. It was cold, but her eyes had a glint of joy. "I figured you never had a chance of study one of them," Hera turned to Pyrrick, "That''s something we humans do. We use their bodies to learn what each monster can do, and even as materials to make other things." "Such as?" Ogryn asked. "Well. Birds usually have powerful beaks. Those might be weapons or armor sometimes. The skin can be used to make something defensive. Let''s consider the rest of the organs. Eyeballs can be used to enchant things, or some people actually eat that, even the brain if I''m not crazy." "STOP!" Blue gasped, "I have nothing in my stomach, don''t make me throw up." "I was just explaining!" "Be less graphic!" Hera huffed and went back to reporting everything that happened inside the nest. She did her best to not miss any details, but the recounting didn''t take long. In reality, they were gone for just a few minutes, so there wasn''t that much to tell. After explaining everything they could, the group just took a break there before heading back out. As they talked, Blue seemed a bit weird. She kept looking in a random direction where nothing seemed to be around. However, she wasn''t the only one with odd behaviors. Naka didn''t take her eyes off of the griffon''s head. She kept swapping between a smirk and a frown while looking at it. Lastly, Silah was more affectionate than usual. She was by Hera''s side, holding her hand. It didn''t seem like much, but she always avoided physical contact when around other people. Even if it was just Blue. Hera wanted to give her a kiss but held herself back. She didn''t want to push her paramour too far. "Naka, can you please stop with that routine? It''s getting annoying," Ogryn sighed. "What routine?" "That thing you are doing with your face. Pick an expression and stick with it." "You know why I''m like that," Naka stared at the mage. "Ok, what are you talking about? It''s really irritating to hear you two talking about a secret like that," Blue said. "I agree," Silah nodded. "Do not pry into my personal life. There is a reason Ogryn is the only one who knows what happened," Naka stared the group down before getting up, "Now I''m heading back. I expect you all to follow. If not, you can spend the night in here until people start coming in to work. Then you''ll have to explain to the king why you were here." All the dwarves nodded and got up. They didn''t like the idea of having to explain themselves to the king. Hera and Blue found that a bit odd. It was more than likely that Rutigan would be happy to learn they came up here, but they didn''t say anything. Naka seemed very upset, and they just wanted to go home. Despite not getting hurt, the ordeal was exhausting. "I don''t think you ever told me. What happened after I came out of there?" Hera turned to Blue while they were walking down the path. "Right," Blue glanced towards her right, "I can''t say for sure, but the lightning didn''t attack me directly. It kept closing me off, but that was it. At one point, I just dashed through, and the attacks kind of stopped." "Just like that?" Hera asked. Blue stared her dead in the eye, "Yes. Just like that. You don''t have to be weird about it," she glanced to her right once more, almost like she wanted to show Hera something. Hera picked her tablet and wrote a message to Blue, asking if she had to talk privately. Unfortunately, there wasn''t a network here, but the tablets could send short-range messages. It only worked in very close proximity. If each of them was in their rooms back in the house, it would already be too far for the text to go through. Blue noticed the text, but seeing the sender made her sad. For a slight moment, she thought she had a signal here again. After brushing that feeling aside, she replied that they had to talk, just Hera and her. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. About halfway through the path, Ogryn got too tired. The mage asked to be carried, and after some time of complaining from the captain, he created a floating stone chair to take him the rest of the way. Another 15 minutes passed before they finally reached the mines. With that, everyone went back to their homes. Hera asked Silah to give her and Blue some time so they could take a shower and rest before anything else. "Sure, do you mind if I eat too? I''m kind of hungry," Silah asked. "Not at all. I''m starving," Hera said. "Ok, but leave room for dessert. I''ll bring something," Silah smiled. Hera leaned over and whispered, "Well, I hoped you would be the dessert." Silah got red, but just nodded in response before splitting from her. Her house was nearby, unlike Hera''s, that was on the other side of the city. They all headed back to their homes, except for Naka and Ogryn, who went towards the palace. They were going to tell the king about what happened. The captain wanted to bring Hera and Blue as well, but Ogryn convinced her they deserved a night of rest. Hera felt glad about that and even happier that she didn''t have to carry that griffon''s head anymore. Ogryn made a container to hide it from sight until reaching the king. After that, he would take it to his lab to study it. If they got any information, they would share with Hera. That way, her [Hunt] bonus could be even greater. When all the dwarves were gone, Blue rushed Hera back to their place. She was almost running and dragging the explorer along. "Blue, what the hell? Stop pulling my arm," Hera complained. "We need to hurry. I have to tell you something." "What can possibly be so important?" Blue pushed Hera inside their home, closing the door behind them, "This! Can''t you see it?" she pointed to her right. "See what? There is nothing there." "Can''t you become visible?" Blue asked the air. After a small pause, she continued, "And how do I do that?" there was another pause, "Ok, hang on." Blue closed her eyes and focused on something. Little by little, a small white cloud appeared in the air. It spun around a couple of times, leaving a small trail behind it. "Is that a new spell?" Hera asked. "No! It''s the egg. Or part of it at least." "What do you mean the egg?" "The egg turned into the cloud!" Hera took a deep breath, "Blue, I''m trying to understand, but you have to help me out here. What happened?" "Ok, right. Sorry. I''m just really excited, and worried, and afraid, and thirsty, and hungry. Can we talk while we eat?" "Sure, just reel it in a bit, ok?" Hera walked over to the kitchen, and Blue kept talking. "Right, after I picked up the egg, the lightning kept avoiding me. The sky ruler, or whatever was controlling it, used that to block my path but never to hit me directly. I got scared at first, and that''s why it took me longer. After I realized that the attacks wouldn''t hit me, I just ran towards the tunnel. I was really close when I tripped and landed on top of the egg, breaking it." "So that''s where the egg went. But why all the secrecy? What''s the matter if you broke the egg?" "That''s not all. When the egg broke, whatever was inside turned into smoke and wrapped itself around me. Then a notification appeared saying ''Legacy Piece acquired.''" "That was a legacy?" Hera gasped. "Yeah, it''s called Storm Cloud Legacy, and then this little guy started appearing," Blue pointed at the cloud that was still spinning in circles. "So that''s what the legacy does? Well, it makes sense with the name. But who were you talking to?" "With him! Can''t you see it?" Blue asked. "I see the cloud, yeah, but that''s it." "Can''t you talk to her?" Blue turned to the cloud, "Really? That''s lame," she turned back to Hera, "Ok, so this guy here is called a legacy herald. So basically, he¡­ she¡­ they, yeah, they are like a conscious part of the legacy that can help me figure out how it works. But I''m the only one who can hear them." "That''s amazing, Blue! Next time we go there, you can neutralize the clouds, and we won''t have to worry about the lightning." Blue turned to the cloud, and after getting a reply from the cloud, she answered, "No, that won''t work. This is just a piece of the legacy. There are a lot of things I can''t do, and the herald doesn''t know a lot of things." Hera nodded, "Well, it''s just a piece of the legacy, so I guess it makes sense. I''m assuming that the rest of the pieces are in the nest." "Probably¡­ And the last piece is with the Sky Ruler. Of course," Blue rolled her eyes with the new information. "What would happen if I''m the one who finds the next piece?" After a moment, Blue replied, "So, the herald says that it wouldn''t matter. Since I''m the one who got the first piece, even if you find it, it will come to me if I''m around. If not, it will just stay there until I come to pick it up, or I die, and my fragment goes back to there." "Back where?" "They don''t know." "Ok¡­ what do they know? Like, is there anything that can help us out?" Blue stared at the cloud and started blinking, "Ok, they are saying a lot of things. Like I can shape the clouds, use them as armor¡­ Ok, yeah, clouds are made of water¡­ I know about the cycle of water. You can skip that¡­ No, no, not that part. How does the mana turn into a cloud?¡­ Ok, time out. I need a drink." They finished making a meal and started eating. All the while, the Storm Cloud Herald kept talking about different aspects of the legacy. Despite saying they didn''t know too much about it, there was still much information it could tell them. The most interesting point that the herald said was that the legacy created the cloud barriers. The sky ruler made that as a protection for its children, and the control it had over the legacy was so strong that it even seeped into the dungeon. It also created the barrier around the nest. However, the barrier had a massive restriction. It would only work against the dwarves. Anything else wouldn''t trigger it. To top it all off, it also meant that the legacy was being used solely for that. The Sky Ruler couldn''t use a drop of power from the legacy to do anything else. Even the clouds that attacked them were controlled by the Sky Ruler''s magic and not by the legacy. The herald explained that the reason it had so much information about that barrier was that when Blue passed through it; they were already there, giving them a chance to analyze it. "That is a lot of good information!" Hera gasped. She even checked her hunter''s catalogue and all types of sky rulers had an extra 10% for the bonus damage. If she could share that with Ganek, his pinpoint spell would help a lot during the dungeons, "By the way, why did you hide this?" "Well¡­ I''m not sure what the dwarves would say if they know. I mean, it''s a legacy! What if Naka thinks I stole it from them?" Blue replied. "I don''t know if they would feel that way, but at the same time, I can''t say for sure. So maybe we can probe a bit and try to figure out." "Yeah, I''ll try talking to them some more to figure out what I can do now, too. I just have to be careful about showing things to the team." "Maybe you can say that the nest inspired you, and you came up with a bunch of spells. I mean, they already don''t understand the code you use. Or we can just hide that, but it feels like a waste." "True, anyway, let''s finish eating. You still have a date tonight, and I don''t want you to be late," Blue winked at Hera. "Crap, you''re right¡­ Say, do you have a razor? I haven''t shaved my legs since we got here." "Don''t mention it. My legs are itching like crazy. Not to mention I really need some blue dye. My roots are a mess already." "Well¡­ I''ll ask Silah about that stuff later. Let me eat quickly so I can at least take a shower," Hera sighed. The two finished eating. Hera went to the bathroom to get ready for her date, while Blue went to her room to test more things with the help of the herald. She hoped to get a skill or spell that would allow her to improve their time in the dungeons. Either way, tomorrow, they would have some new insight when trying to level up. 257 - Grief It was a nice morning, as nice as it could be inside a cave. It wasn''t exceedingly hot, and there weren''t any commotions anywhere around. In a rare situation, even the markets were more or less quiet. Not that there wasn''t anyone there, but people weren''t yelling like normal. At least, not right now. "Here is your coffee, your cappuccino, and your everything bagel. Do you want anything else?" the server asked. "No, that''s all for now. Thanks," Bonnie replied. It''s been seven months since Hera and Blue died. Seven months since their party crumbled and everything went down the drain. She tried to go back to her mother''s place, but that didn''t work. Staying close to her only reminded Bonnie of the lies and that she was the result of a business transaction that went wrong. To make things worse, she was helping her mom pay back her father for breaching the contract. She still had to get money, despite how she felt. All because of the sleazy lawyer that threw them under the bus to try to be in the good graces of a big law firm. It wasn''t that much money, at least not considering what she could make now. But that happened less than a week after the kobold battlefield, and her mother was in tears after the hearing. Then came Helena''s freak out, then Alex''s. With that, there was no way for her to leave Brinefront, even if she wanted to. Bonnie felt like she had to hold things together for everyone. Otherwise, people would just¡­ fall apart. Today was even worse. It was supposed to be Blue''s 23rd birthday. No one said a thing, but she knew Alex and Helena were aware. Usually, she would just dive into some research about a spell or go hunting with a random party to take her mind off things. But today, Bonnie had to be around, just in case Alex or Helena got worse. She could be a mess herself, but her two friends were much worse. "Hey, Bonnie! Sorry, were you waiting for long?" to her luck, Mark arrived, making her push away those thoughts. He was the only person she could talk to during these past months. Or at least, the only one who seemed to be together enough to have a proper conversation. "I got here five minutes ago, and I already ordered your usual. I''m guessing you haven''t eaten a thing today," Bonnie tried her best to smile. "Thanks. Yeah, the forge is a bit nuts these days. After we started advertising the enchantment service, a lot of people began to stop by," Mark saw the cup of black coffee in front of her, "Are you not going to eat anything?" Bonnie shook her head, "Not right now¡­. I''m not sure I''ll be able to eat anything today." "Why?..." Mark thought for a moment, "Shit, today is the 25th, right? It is¡­ was Blue''s birthday." "Yeah¡­ she would be 23 now." "Same age as Hera," Mark sighed. "Only for a month, Hera''s birthday was coming up too," Bonnie smiled softly. Mark couldn''t remember when Hera''s birthday was, but he wasn''t going to ask about that, "And how are you holding up?" "Holding up, yeah, that''s a way to put it," Bonnie sighed, "Alex keeps vanishing for weeks at a time and comes back all beaten up. But, honestly, I don''t know if it was better when she just locked herself in a room. At least I knew where she was. And Helena¡­ I really don''t understand her. She seemed to accept at first, but she felt so guilty. Then, she started with that ''they are still alive'' thing, and I don''t know what to do about it. I thought it was just a phase of grief, but it''s been months!" "I didn''t ask about them, Bonnie. How are you holding up? I know you are trying to take care of everyone, but what about you?" Mark asked. "I''m¡­ I''m not ok. Ever since they¡­ died, I felt like I couldn''t stop and grieve. First, I had to take care of Alex, then my mom, then Alex, and Helena. I mean, I know we knew each other for just a short amount of time, but it''s not like just losing a classmate. I''m also seeing a shrink. The same one that Hera saw, by some sick joke of fate, and she says that we get more attached to people in our party. Since we have to trust them with our lives, the connections we have are much deeper than if they were just coworkers. Not that it helps to know that." "Yeah, I can understand that. I feel closer to you guys than with most people from my high school. But hey, if there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know." "Will do. For now, just being able to talk like this already helps. So let''s change the subject. What new thing did you figure out about enchanting?" "Right, so this is going to sound weird, but have you ever like made a bunch of scribbles in a notebook? Then one of them forms this cool pattern totally by accident?" "Yeah," Bonnie replied. "It''s basically like that. I have no clue what I''m doing, so I just start making some random thing, but in the end, it works." Bonnie chuckled, "I''m sure your customers would love to hear that." "That''s exactly why I don''t do commissions just yet. Imagine if someone pays me for a fire-resistant armor, and I give one that is always covered in oil?" Mark laughed. They continued talking for some time, and a few hours later, Bonnie went back to the house she shared with Helena and Alex. The place felt empty without Blue and Hera, even after all this time. A couple of weeks after the kobold battlefield, the guild declared the two killed in action and took all the measures to give their belongings back to their families. However, some of their spare gear was in the house. Helena boxed them all up to make it easier to send the equipment away, but no one had the heart to do it. Instead, they were in Blue''s room gathering dust under the bed. Bonnie entered the room and took the boxes out. The gear Blue used when they first entered the MAZE was in one of them. There was the black kevlar suit and the black gauntlets that made her look like a futuristic cop from a crappy movie sitting on top of everything. Bonnie just looked over the items, remembering her friends. She lost track of time while in there, only snapping back to reality when she heard the door opening. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Who''s home?" Bonnie called after putting the gear away and leaving the room. "I am," Helena replied from the kitchen. "Oh, are you done with what you were doing in the guild?" Bonnie came downstairs. "Well, not really, but they kind of kicked me out again. But that''s ok. I got a lot of data to work with." Bonnie felt a glimmer of hope. It''s been a long time since she had heard Helena talk about her work in any way, "Really? Anything to help your research?" "Why are you thinking about my research? I''m talking about Hera and Blue." "Lena, we''ve been over this. They are gone," Bonnie sighed. "Just because we can''t reach them, it doesn''t mean they are dead, Bonnie. There are reports about people who survived for years alone in a room or even inside a dungeon." "I know, and I read all about that when they first went missing. But, the conditions were different every time. Most had other means of escape or were just stuck in places where they had access to food and water. We went over this, Lena," Bonnie scratched her head. "No, no, no. Here, come with me. Now I have enough to make you believe me," Helena walked downstairs to her lab. Bonnie was a bit hesitant, but she followed her. Even after all this time, she was never allowed to go inside the mage''s lab, and her curiosity took over. Walking inside, she saw a large room with several shelves on one side and large tables on the other. Many boxes were filled with beakers, rocks, and something that looked like large scales of some sort, all in the corner of the room tossed as if in a hurry, gathering dust. There was a large blackboard with several papers and notations with different dates, times, and what looked like EKGs in the middle of it all. The writing on the board was frantic and scribbled. Pieces of string, wire, and other strands connected different documents, and various information spread around the board. She took a step forward, and her foot hit an empty can. There was a large pile of energy drinks, food wrappings, and more garbage on the side. Looking back at Helena, Bonnie couldn''t tell when it was the mage had taken a shower or brushed her hair. There were large dark bags under her eyes, and her nails were cracked and bitten. "What is all this?" Bonnie asked. "This is what I''ve been working on during the past months. You see, we assume they died because no one found them, and the bracelets stopped sending signals. But that''s not true! If a bracelet is lost, it keeps sending signals every few minutes to indicate it is still functioning, and here," Helena pointed at a part of the board, "Both their bracelets sent a few signals in February. They were erratic, meaning we can''t get a good reading, but that lasted for about 10 minutes. That wouldn''t happen if they were dead. And if we take the longer signals with no interruption, it follows a steady heartbeat. Then, two weeks later, there was another signal, but this one lasted just under a minute. Fast forward another month and a half, and we have a signal that lasted for almost a full hour. It was still filled with static. Still, during this time, we got a better result, and at first, I thought it was just a steady heartbeat like the others, but if we put them side by side, look." Helena picked two diagrams of EKGs and put them on top of each other, then put the paper against light to show the difference. Bonnie looked closely, and the one in front seemed to be a bit off-center, with a slight deviation to the left. Something that would barely be half a centimeter. "What am I looking at?" Bonnie asked. "This! The second signal was slower, very slightly, but still slower. It doesn''t match with any previous signals. Meaning that it is something new! I''m guessing that Blue should''ve been crying during that time. Then we got a few others. Don''t you see what this means? They are alive, Bonnie!" "Lena, how is that different from the signals it normally shows? The people in the guild told us that if someone dies outside the range, the receiver will mimic their signal from time to time to try to find it during a scan. You said it yourself. It will grab random signals stored in the memory and replicate that to find a match when the network is idle. Besides, even if we are crying, our heartbeat doesn''t change. That''s just a misconception." "No, it''s not. Our heartbeat slows down slightly when we cry. It''s just nothing relevant for doctors, but for this. It shows they are out there. Look, there is more!" Helena explained the other signals she noticed and the slight deviations they had. The more she talked, the more it became clear to Bonnie that there was nothing there. At one point, the only difference was one out-of-place pixel in the image. Helena was looking for patterns and finding those where she wanted, not where they actually were. "Lena, what about your research?" Bonnie tried to pull her back to reality somehow. "I can''t research without my assistant. When Hera comes back, we have to work hard to make up for the lost time." Bonnie didn''t know what to say. Helena was more delusional than she imagined. The mage spent most of her time inside her lab, and the most Bonnie could do was put food and water in front of the door. She left the laboratory thinking about how things ended up getting this messed up when she saw Alex coming from her room. "Thank the system you are here. Look, Helena is having a lot of trouble coping with everything. She thinks Hera and Blue are still alive. We need to help her understand¡­" Bonnie stopped talking when she saw the large bag that Alex was carrying, "Where are you going?" "I''m too weak right now. If I want to get strong, I need an edge, so I''m going to the tower." "What tower?" Bonnie asked, "You are not talking about the tower that was in the news, are you? The one in the 26th layer?" "Yes, everyone is saying how it''s a test and the system will give people a reward for completing it. If I rush, I might be the first one and get something," Alex replied in an icy voice. "The fuck are you talking about? You are barely level 12 Alex, you''ll die before even getting there. Helena only made it past the 15th layer because she had people to escort her!" "I can get there. It will take some time, but it''s better than staying here." "Do you want to die that badly?" Bonnie yelled, but Alex just turned away and walked towards the door. Bonnie grabbed the bag and tossed it across the room. The two started yelling, disturbing Helena, who came stomping from the basement, "Can you two stop yelling? I''m trying to think." "Helena, help me here. Alex is talking about going to the tower!" Bonnie pleaded. "The tower¡­ if you are on your way there, can you drop by the Kobold Field and ask for them to send me some data? Hang on, let me text you what I need." "I''m not going there again, but I''m leaving. I''ll call you when I get to the tower," Alex replied. "It''s really quick. All you have to do is give a request to the clerk," Helena pressed. Bonnie felt exasperated, "Both of you stop! For fuck''s sake, it''s been seven months. Stop blaming yourselves. Lena, you were not the one that made Hera come here, and Alex, it wasn''t your fault. It was an accident," she fell to her knees with tears rushing down her face, "Please stop this. I don''t want to lose the only people that I have left." Alex stopped for a moment before hugging Bonnie, "You won''t lose me." Helena walked over and joined in, "I''m sorry, but I''m not going anywhere." "What does it matter? This is the most I talked to you in months. You might be here, but it doesn''t feel like it, Lena. And you," Bonnie turned to Alex, "You are so focused on getting stronger that you are never around. So why did I have to lose all my friends when only two of them died?" "They are not dead, but I see your point," Helena replied. "I only want to get stronger so that won''t ever happen to you, Bonnie. But I''ll stay around. There are still some things I can do here," Alex said. Bonnie kept crying, knowing that this situation wouldn''t change so soon. 258 - Its time Hera got up from her bed very carefully. She didn''t want to wake Silah, who was sleeping next to her. For a dwarf that was used to the sound of hammering, she had a surprisingly light sleep. Hera picked a wool robe she got as a gift the previous night and put it on. She also put on the cloud wool slippers that were a gift from Fethy before sneaking out of the bedroom. "Morning, birthday girl!" Blue was in the kitchen making some breakfast for the three of them. "Shush, Silah is still sleeping. And my birthday was yesterday," Hera replied. "You are the birthday girl until there is no more cake. Those are your girlfriend''s rules, not mine," Blue flipped the pancakes. "The difference is that you loved being called that for an entire week. You know how I feel about birthdays," Hera rolled her eyes before sitting at the table. "It''s not up to me, and you know it. Besides, are you going to tell Silah that? After she kicked out the council yesterday?" Blue asked. Hera''s birthday ended up being a city-wide event. Not that Blue''s was any different. Since both were close to 30 days apart and at the end of the month, King Rutigan dedicated the festival for them. The party started early morning, and the entire town took part. Luckily, after Blue received gifts from literally everyone in the city, Hera convinced the king that it was too much and that the best way to give her a gift was to make something that everyone could enjoy. Still, the council, their dungeon team, and Risli all gave her presents at some point. The guards and Risli seemed to understand that Hera wasn''t someone who liked big parties, but the king and Fethy didn''t. If it wasn''t for Silah kicking them out of Hera''s house the previous night, it was very likely that they would still be around. Most presents were clothes or trinkets that didn''t match Hera that well, despite being cute and well made. Not that she was ungrateful, but only three gifts made her truly excited. Blue got her an enchanted necklace that had the skill to clean her armor. It couldn''t do a deep cleaning, but she could trigger it once per hour rid of most blood and grime from her gear, as long as it was still fresh. Second, Risli gave her a book of medicine, with a lot of the information she had gathered during her years. Lastly, was Silah''s gift. She made her a new handaxe to work in a pair with the one Hera already had. During the past months, Hera had focused on her handaxe combat. Ever since her first visit to the Sky Ruler''s nest, she realized that despite how helpful the chakram was when facing a small monster, it wouldn''t do so well when fighting a big one. This was mostly because of the force of impact. Even with the mana reinforcement, the power behind each attack would never be as strong as her handaxe. It''s been over eight months since Hera and Blue arrived in this room, and they were already used to life in the city, but their desire to return to their home never changed. That showed in how hard they worked to level up. Now, they were both level 16 already, and several of their skills had ranked up. Not to mention their brand new skills and spells. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 16 Stats: Strength: 46 Endurance: 46 Agility: 46 Charisma: 46 Intelligence: 46 Luck: 46 Mana: 3597/3597 Remaining attribute points: 3 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe 2 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3 Dodge 2, Run 2, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 1, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 2 Poison Mastery 1 Wind resistance 2 Mana sensitivity 2 Nature connection 1 Active: All In 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Local Guide Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2 Etching 2 Medical Reference 2 Green Thumb 1 Chain of Command 1 Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue Explorer''s Hunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera ranked up most of her skills, and the first big change was the [Inspect] skill. Now, she could see more detailed information about things, and even her own status showed the rank of her skills. She wasn''t sure why some of her skills didn''t get any rank indicator, but it could mean that those skills couldn''t be ranked up in regular ways. She also got a resistance that reduced the amount of damage that she took from the wind element. Despite being a [Wind Resistance] skill, it could lessen attacks from elements related to wind. For instance, the cloud spells that the griffons used were a tiny bit weaker. The [Poison Mastery] skill just increased the power of her poisons and the likelihood of poisoning her target. The skill also mentioned she had access to a wider variety of toxins, but Hera had yet to understand how that worked. Finally, [Nature Connection] and [Green Thumb] were skills she got while helping Risli to grow herbs and other flowers to use in potions. The first gave her a sort of sixth sense to understand the surrounding nature, while the latter could make plants grow faster when she cared for them. It was unfortunate that the skill was an active effect. Still, it was a persistent buff that lasted a few minutes, giving enough time for her to use it on most plants inside the new greenhouse made with the small mana core they found during the first fight against the Starved Ruler. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. [Jump] was very self-explanatory, allowing her to go higher or cover more ground when jumping. It helped a lot during the fights against the griffons. [Chain of Command] was something very unexpected. Once upon a time, Naka had the same skill. It allowed her voice to travel farther when she wanted to convey something to her party. The only issue was that it only worked when she was considered the group''s strategist or leader. However, suppose she kept taking a leading role in her teams. In that case, the skill could evolve into something called [Commander''s Orders] that would help with communication and give a buff when someone follows her instructions. That was Naka''s current skill. Her [All In] also ranked up. Now, she could use it every 24 hours, and she would stay in a weakened state for only 4 hours. The attribute in question would go to a whopping 69 points when using that skill, and that was before Pyrrick''s buffs. With them, she could have a single attribute going past the 100 mark. Even with all that, it was still a last resort or a finishing move type of deal. [Mana sensitivity] was something that she got, thanks to Yarnball. The Danger Sense of her relic would not just make the object vibrate her body, but even her mana. That skill allowed her to increase her [Mana Regeneration] to rank 4 and make Hera notice when spells were cast. It also helped her understand how she cast spells herself and gave her some new insight into shaping her mana to create unique effects. For a while, Hera just started making every spell she could think of. She began by copying Blue''s static buff and then got a few of Lija''s stone shaping spells and even some of Risli''s healing magic. None of the copies were as strong as the original, but that was only due to the lack of experience Hera had with them. After that, she experimented with other types of magic. She managed to create a rotating cloud barrier like the one that appeared in the griffons. It was nowhere as strong as their''s, but it could stop some spells depending on how much mana she used. Things were much harder when creating truly unique spells that weren''t based on something she had already seen. During these months, Hera only made 2 original spells. The first was called Pollen Field. It created an area filled with small yellow particles that caused anyone inside to sneeze as if they had allergies. Unfortunately, she couldn''t make the spell target only a specific creature inside it, but at least she wasn''t affected by it. The other spell was called Solar Flare. She could make one of her lights pulse with intense ultraviolet light that could cause something similar to a sunburn and reduce the target''s defenses. Hera had more control over this spell and could direct the flash to a specific area. Blue also became very dedicated to increasing her mana and mana-related skills. The legacy required mana to do almost anything. After asking Totrak and Pyrrick about ways to quickly increase their mana, the dwarves taught them a method that could only work when the people involved either had the same type of mana or didn''t have their mana locked into a single element. They had to circle the mana they had inside their bodies through each other. By using this new technique, the speed at which their mana increased soared. However, it was very taxing to do that. Hera and Blue could, at most, stay for one hour doing that before tapping out for the day. Still, as they got used to the process, it became a bonding moment. As long as they didn''t lose their focus, they could even talk while circling their mana. Another thing they did during these months was to head to the Sky Ruler nest a few more times. They wanted not just to gather more information about the monster they would face, but also to find other legacy pieces for Blue. In four attempts, they found one single legacy piece that increased the power of the controller''s new abilities, which included creating barriers and phantom limbs that could help her grapple her enemies. One very unexpected result of the second piece was that Blue could use a cloud barrier on the griffons that would cancel out some of the effects of the original barrier. However, it was far from completely nullifying the effects. The spell required a lot of mana, but with it, even Lija or Sevaris could deal some damage when attacking the griffons. It took them quite a few strikes to kill one of the monsters, but they could do so. However, when Naka was attacking, things were different. Even with the original barrier canceling most of the power behind her swings, what was left was still more than enough to kill the Scavenger Ruler in a single strike. Because of that, Blue avoided using that nullification in most runs, leaving only one or two monsters for the dwarves to attack. As Hera and Blue talked quietly and ate their leftover breakfast, Silah came out of the room wearing a dragon onesie. That was a gift that Hera ordered a few months ago. Among the stories about the other rooms, Silah discovered a fascination with dragons and other large reptiles. The blacksmith wanted to work with their leather and even have one as a pet. Hera had already made a mental note to show some dinosaur movies to her girlfriend as soon as she could. "Morning sleepyhead," Blue placed another plate of pancakes on the table. "Morning, am I late?" Silah asked, still rubbing her eyes. "Nope, and don''t worry. It''s not like today can happen without us," Blue chuckled. "True, but I don''t want to leave people waiting around for too long," Hera added. "Oh yeah, that would be bad, but it''s still morning. We are only going there in the afternoon, right?" Blue asked. "Yeah, we are fine, don''t even worry about it. But if we can, I still want to drop by the dungeon and test that thing. I figured out that spell in the middle of the night when I went to the bathroom." "Is that why there was sand all over the sink? Anyway, we should finish this and go then. I want to know if that is going to work too," Blue nodded. "My bad, but yeah, I was thinking about testing with the pollen too, just to be sure," Hera said. "So, you two are worried." Silah sat at the table with a surprised expression. "Of course! We are going to fight a giant bird monster that can create storms. How can we not be worried?" Blue bit down on a pancake. "Well, you two like near-death experiences. I thought you would enjoy this," Silah laughed as she put syrup on her plate. "You are not wrong, but it''s not like we chase those experiences. We just enjoy them when they come," Hera replied. "Says the one who asked a bunch of people to attack her with spells," Silah rolled her eyes. "Hey, that was a perfectly valid way to test the resistance skill. And I stick by what I said. That would be a great way to increase its rank, and everyone involved would be training. No one loses in that situation." "You slammed against a wall so hard that you almost broke your ribs!" "But I didn''t, and if my wind resistance was stronger, I would feel much more at ease." "Woman, if I ever see you doing that again, the Sky Ruler is going to be the least of your problems," Silah stared Hera dead in the eye. "Yes, honey," Hera gave up. She knew that there was no way to win that discussion. "Can you please stop with the old married couple''s routine? Now, who wants cake?" Blue picked up a few very large slices of cake from the previous night. "How can you still eat that? You must have eaten 1kg of that yesterday," Silah gasped. "It''s just that good. I really miss chocolate, but this vanilla strawberry thing is out of this world," Blue chomped down on one slice. Hera just laughed. She was very familiar with Blue''s bottomless stomach. She looked around the room. This was exactly what she needed today. A nice fun breakfast before heading up to the nest. It was finally time to kill the sky ruler. 259 - Setting up the board Hera, Blue, and Silah walked out of the dungeon. They had some dirt on their hair and shoulders, but they were all smiling and laughing. "It was a good idea to test that inside the dungeon. Can you imagine how hard it would be to clean that up?" Blue said. "Yeah. The mess I made in the bathroom was with just the base cost, and you saw how well I cleaned that up," Hera triggered her necklace to clean her armor. A small pulse of energy coursed through her body, repelling all the dirt from her gear. Some of the sand even flew far enough to hit Silah and Blue. "Hey, watch it!" Blue gasped. "Sorry. New item, I''m still getting used to it," Hera smiled. "I really liked that effect. Where did you get it?" Silah turned to Blue. "I talked with Ogryn, and he''s the one that enchanted it. He said he wanted to do it himself to pass it along to the crafters he has. It took a few tries to make it like, usable. The first prototype needed 100 thousand mana but cleaned the armor completely." "Damn, he can put many people out of business with that," Hera didn''t expect his first attempt to be so successful. "I''ll talk to him later. Having one to get rid of the ash from the forge would be incredible," Silah said. They walked back to the humans'' house. They still had a few hours before the time they agreed to head up to the nest. Naka and some others would join them, and everyone was apprehensive about the fight. Hera and Blue wanted to fight it when they got to level 15, but they needed a way to counter the storm the Sky Ruler could create before going there. Their original plan was to have Blue use most of her mana to mimic the storm using the legacy and cancel both of them out. However, doing that was risky because Blue wouldn''t be able to use more spells, and there was the possibility of the Sky Ruler simply creating another storm. But now, they had another plan. Ogryn had shown them a spell that could counteract clouds by absorbing some moisture inside them with sand. It was theoretical work, of course, but it still helped. Hera worked hard to make the same spell. However, it was complicated to create matter with magic, not to mention the struggle to focus only on sand. Since it was so specific, making that was hard. Hera understood that, in nature, it was almost impossible to find an area that only had sand. There would always be something mixed inside. It was only during the party, when she saw a picture frame with sand and water inside, that she remembered that sand is actually awful at absorbing water. The liquid passes right through it, and using that on a cloud wouldn''t have much effect. She actually needed something similar to what people use on their yards or their plants. A mixed soil that could both absorb the water and let it go through it. After she stopped focusing solely on the sand, it became much easier to create the spell. After all, she wasn''t trying to make something specific. It was more of a concept. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Create Soil Rank: Novice Creates soil using mana. The soil does not have any minerals for growing plant life but behaves like natural soil. The quantity of mana used will determine the amount and spread of the soil created. Range: 10 meters Mana cost: 200 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By itself, the spell would barely help, but that was only one piece of the puzzle. Blue''s legacy allowed her to create blank storm clouds. When receiving a spell, attack, or type of mana from an outside source, the clouds would inherit its effects, and the results would vary wildly. For instance, using a fire arrow only made the cloud warmer, but the grease fire would trigger an actual rain of fire. To make things even better, the blank storm clouds would start small but could grow considerably. It wouldn''t be enough to clear the entire sky at once, but Blue could also move them around. The three of them had just tested how the create soil spell would affect it, and the heavy clouds in the Wooly Plains'' hard mode. The result was a resounding success. After being hit by the create soil, Blue''s cloud turned into something closer to a sandstorm. Hitting the heavy clouds already present in the area made them much less menacing. It was like they were scooping up chunks of clouds with this combo spell. After arriving at their house, Blue suggested not to talk or think about the upcoming fight during this moment of rest. The idea was to avoid stressing out, but forcing themselves to not think about something made it harder not to think about it. When the alarm that Hera had set up finally rang, they all sighed with relief and left towards the mines. As they got closer to the palace, they noticed the main street was filled with people. They were all on the sidewalks, almost like if they were waiting for a parade. "¡­ Did anyone tell Fethy about this?" Hera asked. Silah shook her head. But Blue just stared into the crowd, "Blue?" Hera pressed. "I was drunk. Really, really drunk." "C''mon, you know this was supposed to be on the down-low," Hera sighed. Before anyone noticed them, the trio sneaked behind a house. Then, instead of walking down the main road, they ran to the sides, trying to avoid the eager eyes of the dwarves on the road. All three of them were very put off by the display. They could understand that it was a nice gesture, but there was still a possibility that they would all be cheering while Hera and Blue walked to their deaths. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After much sneaking around, they finally arrived at the Mines. There were still some dwarves around, but most seemed to stay away from Naka and the others. Most likely not to incur the captain''s wrath. Still, Hera saw a couple of familiar faces, including the king, Risli, and Silah''s family. It was her parents, two sisters, and two brothers. That was a big family, even by dwarven standards. They all worked with crafting, but only Silah and her father would make armors or weapons. The others made various tools or accessories. Her younger brother was the only one who broke the tradition of working with stone or iron. Instead, he was studying to be a dressmaker. Hera knew them, but she didn''t have that much contact with the family, not that she didn''t like them. Silah was the one who made sure her parents couldn''t tell more embarrassing stories about her childhood. Hera and Blue greeted some of the dwarves around and moved to the side to talk to the king. "I wasn''t expecting you to come from there. The reports say you always take the palace road," Rutigan said. "Sorry, we just wanted to take a different route. If we knew that this was going on, we would have walked along the palace road," Hera replied. "I''m sure that would be the case," Rutigan gave Hera a look that told her he didn''t believe her story. It was expected, after all, she spent most of the previous night hiding from people who wanted to wish her a happy birthday. But at least the king didn''t seem like he would press the matter. Not wanting to give him a chance to complain, Hera turned to Risli. "Hey, I''m glad you came, but I would understand if you didn''t. I know you are against us going there," Hera smiled at the shaman. "Are humans all that spiteful? Just because I don''t agree with your decision doesn''t mean I''m not here to support you. Besides, if things go to shit, you might need my help," Risli smiled. "Risli¡­ there are children nearby," Rutigan pleaded. "How is that my problem? I stopped babysitting a long time ago," the shaman stared at the king, who sighed and escorted the humans the last few meters towards the rest of the team. They all greeted each other and waved at the crowd before going inside. The king wouldn''t follow them towards the nest, and Risli would wait by the tunnel entrance. She was too old to make the trek all the way to the nest. Having people help her walk up or even carrying the shaman was discussed. However, they all knew that Risli would be too proud to accept that, and if she walked up on her own, it would take way too long. No one wanted to make their journey almost 3 times longer. This didn''t mean that there would be no healers at the ready. Lerynn and Telanz would be by the nest entrance, not just for an emergency, but also for Blue and Hera to use hit-and-run tactics and recover themselves during the fight. Naka and the other team members had all been helping them come up with strategies to raid the nest. A couple of days after Blue got her legacy, she started using its spells and abilities to practice during the dungeon. That led to Totrak and Pyrrick asking enough questions to realize that there was something different. Blue felt like she had no other option but to confess. Luckily, the fact she got a legacy didn''t seem to bother anyone. Even after talking to the king, they all agreed that it wasn''t something that belonged to them, like Risli''s shaman legacy. In reality, everyone got excited about the possibilities that came with that legacy, and all their plans were created already considering her new abilities. Aside from the healers, Naka, Ogryn, Totrak, Pyrrick, Lija, Sevaris, and Ganek went to the nest. Each mage had a different spell to assist them, while the guards would be there as a safeguard if one griffon tried to come out of the nest. That was something that none of them had considered at first, but during the humans'' fourth attempt to gather information, one juvenile Sky Ruler chased Hera and Blue all the way back to the path. This made the entire situation more stressful, and Ogryn shifted the rock that formed the tunnel to block anything that might come through. Their fear was that, at some point, one of the sky rulers could come down that path and reach the city. If that happened, there would be mayhem. Because of the barriers, it took longer to arrive at the nest''s entrance. People were nervous as Hera and Blue received all the buffs. First, Pyrrick''s stat boost was applied. Then Ogryn''s element infuse that was changed from sand to soil after Hera''s insight. Followed by a version of Totrak''s solid aid that affected an area around an object that targeted both Hera and Blue''s armor. Lastly, Lija cast Orbital Mineral around the two. She waved her hands around the ground as a dozen small rocks spun around the humans, creating small orbits around them. These stones could block attacks or hit anything that got too close. As a safeguard, if Hera or Blue said the king''s name, the spell would stop, just if they had to get close to each other while the stones were still active. Hera had her chakram on one hand, her old handaxe on her waist, and Silah''s gift in her other hand. Blue also had some new equipment made by Kahala. It was a set of grey armor with a high defense rating and some skills to release steam when hit. The master armorsmith created that after some discussion with Blue and realizing the type of things that could synergize with her new legacy. Hera and Blue were inspecting all their gear and looking over their abilities to make sure they wouldn''t forget anything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dwarven Hope Rarity: Rare A handaxe created by Silah, a genius blacksmith from the city of Boothudurn. The weapon was tailormade for a human who arrived in the city. The materials used in the creation were imbued with the crafter''s feelings, increasing its strength and effects. Attribute scaling: Strength x 1.8 Agility x 1.8 Endurance x 1.8 Charisma x 1.8 Weapon Skill: I will protect you An intense desire to protect the user was present during the crafting process. When the user takes damage, there is a 10% chance that this skill will activate, increasing the user''s endurance by 20% for 5 seconds. During that effect, any healing the user receives is increased by 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera couldn''t help but smile at the weapon. Not only was it much stronger than her previous one, but the skill was something that made it seem like Silah would always be near her. She wanted to go give her girlfriend a kiss, but there were too many people around, not to mention there were the orbiting rocks that would hit anything that got too close, regardless of what it was. With everything ready, everyone took a deep breath as the humans crossed the barrier. It was the second time they entered the nest during the day and the first time the sky was clear. The sun reflected in the snow made the ground look like it was shining. That made finding the monsters in the area much easier. The griffons stuck out like a sore thumb in the white sheet that covered the plateau. Another thing that was very apparent now was the location of each nest. All they had to do was to look for a cluster of feathers. However, it wasn''t all good news. Unlike when they came during the night, there were already a dozen smaller griffons flying around. Some seemed to be going down the mountain, while others just basked in the sun. As Hera and Blue looked around, the sound of flapping wings came from the side. Two griffons came up and stared at the humans before lunging to attack the invaders. 260 - The Sky Ruler It was time for their daily scavenge. In this white world, the most the griffons could find to eat were some large seeds or leaves. None of them had any sort of meat in a very long time. Hell, most of them didn''t even know what meat was. It was a steep price to pay, but this was the only way the Sky Ruler had to protect its family. When the small pink skins appeared, they quickly destroyed part of the forest and drove the soft furs to extinction. But they were not done. The pink skins went after the griffons and killed most of the young and strong ones. Using the power it had ever since it was born, the Sky Ruler protected all its children and its children''s children. It took most of the power it had to make this, but it worked. When the small pink skins got closer, the clouds themselves would stop them from harming any of the griffons. This weakened the Sky Ruler, making it dangle between life and death. Some time passed while it recovered, but the pink skins became a problem yet again. They found a way to the nest and stole some eggs. Using the last of its strength, the Sky Ruler created one last layer of protection surrounding the nest. An eternal spinning cloud that would ward off any of the small pink skins. Unfortunately, this happened too late. The soft furs that lived in the plains were long gone, entire generations had been lost, and now the Sky Ruler was crippled. It took several years before the remaining griffons could replenish their numbers. To make this worse, they only could eat the leaves from trees or any other vegetation they found. The Sky Ruler was already old and weary, and this type of food wasn''t enough to keep it active. So it just spent most of its days sleeping and hoping its children would find something more nutritious for a meal. Every few years, one of its children would grow old and tired, too tired to hunt and too weak to keep going. So they would offer themselves to the Sky Ruler, hoping their bodies would be enough to keep their ancestor alive for a few more years. As much as it pained the Sky Ruler, he accepted their offer, knowing they only did that to protect the rest of the flock. A long time ago, some taller pink skins somehow passed through the barrier. That was the first time in centuries the Sky Ruler had some meat. Then, it took only one body to itself while letting the other griffons feast on the other. But now, it was so hungry that even two wouldn''t be enough. It wanted more, more food, more meat. It was that, or it would eventually starve to death. Years went by as the Sky Ruler accepted its fate. It had lived for millennia, but now, most of its time was spent sitting around waiting for the day where it wouldn''t be able to move anymore. Yet, a few months ago, a new hope appeared. Two new tall pink skins appeared. They invaded the nest and attacked its descendants in the middle of the night. The Sky Ruler flew for the first time in decades and tried to catch them, calling thunder from the clouds to cut off their path. Unfortunately, the creatures were fast, and the Sky Ruler''s reflexes weren''t as sharp as they once were. The first pink skin was able to run back to its hole before it was hit, but when its eyes saw the second, the Sky Ruler saw it was carrying one egg that was in the process of receiving its protection. It did its best to stop the thief from leaving, but without harming the egg, it seemed impossible. To add insult to injury, the pink skin even tripped before reaching the hole and broke the egg the Sky Ruler worked so hard to retrieve. Seeing them there made it so mad that it forgot to call for the help of the other griffons, and by the time they had woken up, it was already too late. Some time passed when they returned, again in the middle of the night. But this time, the Sky Ruler only became aware of the invasion after they were gone. It seemed like the pink skins didn''t come to attack or steal anything. They just walked around until one of the griffons saw them. They returned a third time, killing one of Sky Ruler''s children and stealing the body. This angered the entire flock. Not only had they come inside their nest and killed one of their own, but they even dared to steal the small amount of food that could nourish their ancestor. When the pink skins came yet another time, the griffons were ready. They attacked the invaders with everything they had, trying to chase them away. Unfortunately, the pink skins proved to be more resilient than expected. Their weapons killed several griffons before the Sky Ruler joined the fight. It called upon a storm to attack the thieves, but one of them had a power similar to the one protecting the griffons. It used that power to destroy the storm cloud before running away. At that moment, The Sky Ruler realized that these pink skins were stealing what protected its children. In a moment of rage, it roared for the first time in centuries, calling its children to kill the pink skins. Among the flock, the firstborn of every generation receives an increased amount of power from the protection that was created by the Sky Ruler so long ago. The firstborn of the last generation was among the most powerful that ever had been born. It was so strong that it received the title of Sky Ruler''s Heir. That griffon chased the pink skins through the hole they used to reach the nest, but its power vanished in the moments that followed. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. A month passed, with the entire nest still in disarray, and now the pink skins had returned. The Sky Ruler saw its children already attacking the invaders, but the murdering thieves didn''t seem to run this time. Instead, they fought. Killing the first two griffons that got close and pushing one towards the nests. It was clear that they wanted to finish this once and for all, and the Sky Ruler was happy to oblige. The first two griffons that charged at Hera and Blue were quickly killed off. Hera dodged their tackle to the side and used the grease fire spell. Being creatures that were used to cold places, they had a lot of trouble dealing with the heat. Actual fire was much worse, and a single spell was enough to neutralize the two attackers. The spell also hit one of the orbiting rocks that was now engulfed in flames. Not wanting to lag behind, Blue focused on the next group of griffons. Unlike her usual grapple tactics, she created what she was calling a storm sandwich. It was made of two heavy rain clouds that would rain into one another. After creating the cloud, her legacy allowed her to move it around with ease and even attach to something. That was exactly what she did after splitting it into smaller versions of the cloud. Each piece flew towards the head of a different griffon and attached itself to their beak. This would make it harder for the monster to breathe, and eventually, it would kill them. It wasn''t a way to quickly get rid of the monsters, but it was effective. "Tell me if you see anything that can help," Blue said. "Will do!" Hera replied as she threw a few poison needles at the monsters that were still far away. "I was talking to Stormcloud, but yeah, you too," Blue turned around, punching the air. That created a cloud fist that went flying towards a juvenile sky ruler. The impact tossed it off the plateau. It was unlikely that it would be enough to kill the creature, but it was one less to worry about for the moment. Hera, on the other hand, was focusing on getting in the way of the creatures. She raised pillars of rock and stone from the ground to make flying around the area more problematic, using her poison to kill the monsters at range and her fear spell to stop them in their tracks before they could connect with an attack. The Sky Ruler watched from the peak. It had lost one of its children due to anger, and it wasn''t going to let its feelings get in the way of its better judgment again. Now it had become clear that if nothing changed, the pink skins would do the one thing it had dedicated its life to avoid, kill all the griffons of Boothudurn. So, with a mighty cry, the Sky Ruler took to the skies. Every flap of its wings created small whirlwinds, and the sky itself seemed to tremble in fear. Hera and Blue saw the massive griffon take off and come down from the sky. It was a small flight when considering only the time it took, but considering the distance was a different thing entirely. The creature must have flown a few hundred meters up in the air before gliding down to the middle of the plateau. The monster touched the ground with a heavy drop, sending waves of snow flying in the wind. The creature was massive. Even the giant snapping turtles Hera once saw in the rampage were small in comparison. It easily was 10 meters tall even when it was on all fours, and its wings could barely fit in the area when they were open. The Sky Ruler''s head was covered in red feathers that turned green as they reached the neck. However, it was hard to distinguish the colors on the rest of its body. Even the color on its head was mostly faded and could only be seen because of the bright sunlight. Despite all that, its hooked beak still had an ominous blood-red tint, and a pair of piercing grey eyes stared at the humans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler - Level 15 - 65% (Cloud Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera saw the monster for the first time, and the bonus she got from her [Hunt] surprised her. During the last months, she learned a lot about the different types of griffons in the dungeon and in the nest, but she never expected that to translate to the actual Sky Ruler. It was supposed to be a creature akin to a dungeon boss and not another version of the same monster. When the Sky Ruler came down, the other griffons retreated and flew around their ancestor. It didn''t look like they were only obeying it, but also protecting, despite being much weaker than the elderly beast. "What? Where?" Blue asked Stormcloud, "I see it! What do I do now?" Hera tried not to make any loud noises or sudden movements that would start the fight as she got closer to Blue, "What are you talking about?" Blue didn''t look away from the Sky Ruler. She hid one hand behind her back and pointed to somewhere on the right, "Stormcloud just told me, I might be able to cancel that barrier. The one wrapping around the nest." "If you can do that, we might have backup. I''m guessing not even the big one can survive an attack from Naka," Hera replied, trying not to look too excited by the idea. "Yeah, but I need to find the right place. This thing is kind of like the magic circle we saw in the Arcanist Lookout. I need to find the point where the mana is concentrated," Blue explained. "Any ideas where that is?" "Not a clue, and Stormcloud can''t tell me either. They are not strong enough to read the spell." "I guess we are going to need to keep running around, then," Hera replied. "Or we skip any weird plans and focus on killing that thing," Blue stared at the Sky Ruler. "True, it''s a shame we didn''t get a chance to retreat and regroup," Hera looked at the griffons. They were all staring at the two, waiting for something. "Well, it''s not like we got hit. Even if we went back to the tunnel, it would be just to recover some mana and maybe drink something," Blue shrugged. "That''s true. I guess we only have one thing to do now," Hera glanced at Blue with a smile before the two ran towards the griffons. The warm-up was done. It was time for the real deal. 261 - Third Legacy piece To start the fight, Hera flung a few poison needles at the Sky Ruler. She wasn''t expecting the spell to do much, but that was just her opening move. Most griffons tried to avoid the attack, but the giant creature just flapped its wings, blocking the projectiles. Doing that proved that the monster had high control over mana. There was no way that this control was something that came naturally, so the griffon must have spent a long time practicing spells. Hera had no idea how old the Sky Ruler actually was. Her first thought was that it was a title passed down from generation to generation, but now, in front of the beast, that felt wrong. Something in the creature''s face gave her the feeling of looking at a being that had survived for a very long time. As unlikely as it sounded, the griffon might actually be the same one that made the dwarves lock themselves inside the mountain thousands of years ago. Large cloud feathers appeared in the air and started flying with the smaller griffons. It was almost a dance between them and the flying beasts. Then, just as quickly as they were created, the feathers flew towards Hera and Blue. They did their best to dodge, but the spell was much faster than the ones they saw during the Wooly Plains hard mode. It was only when the shaped clouds got closer that she noticed how large they actually were. A single cloud feather was the size of a shopping cart, being bigger than the griffons. Unfortunately, even with all the buffs, their reflexes weren''t sharp enough to completely avoid the attack. The orbiting stones blocked two of the feathers that went for Hera, destroying the spell and themselves with the impact. Along with each clash came a massive burst of wind that made the explorer struggle to keep her footing. That slight delay was enough for a third cloud feather to hit her arm and send Hera flying backward. Luckily, the attack itself didn''t hurt as much as she expected, but the gust pushed her far away and towards the edge of the plateau. More feathers followed, all coming from the same direction. The griffons inside the dungeon would try to hit her by sending their spells flying all over the place, forcing Hera to cover any blind spots she might have. But this was different. Each feather seemed deliberately to push her closer to the edge. The Sky Ruler wasn''t simply trying to hit her, but trying to make her fall down the mountain. There were several discussions about how smart the griffons actually were when coming up with the plans for the fight. Most said that they should''ve been brilliant and on the same level of intelligent life. Others that they should be mindless beasts guided only by their instincts. Because of that, they came up with plans for both scenarios. "Blue, the Sky Ruler is smart! Don''t think we are fighting an animal, and move to the other side! Don''t stay with your back by the edge," Hera took a page from Lija''s book and created a path surrounded by rock walls using her spells. The mage had come up with a formation that could weaken the wind before it hit the actual stone. Blue glanced back. She was using a cloud barrier to protect herself against the feathers. Thanks to that, she wasn''t pushed back. On the contrary, Blue was getting closer and closer to the Sky Ruler, already setting up her next attack. Despite having a legacy, it was still incomplete. Aside from the barrier and the blank cloud, every different spell that Blue created had to be made from scratch. It was even more complicated since she couldn''t use a formula for that. For Blue, who was working hard to learn the code used to create different magic effects, this wasn''t the most straightforward transition. Hera helped her somewhat, but without knowing how the legacy functioned, it was tough to give Blue any useful advice. Still, she was able to come up with several spells that would aid the fight. Among them, a way to stop the griffons from moving around in the sky. Using the Solid Air spell that Totrak created as a base, Blue mixed it with a blank cloud and stretched the spell enough to make a misty area. She didn''t know why, but this combo was much stronger than the others. Even with her version of the spell, which was much weaker than Tortak''s, she could make it almost impossible for the griffons to flap their wings. The main difference was that the monsters could still move around on the ground with no issues, but Blue could essentially create a no-flight zone. The griffons and even the cloud feathers fell to the ground, unable to move around in the air. That gave Hera enough breathing room to run towards the other side of the plateau. While running, she activated a Flaming Poison Rain covering the entire Sky Ruler. With the amount of mana she had now, the spell could take a huge scale. Unfortunately, because the spell was a mix of fire and poison, her Poison Mastery wouldn''t affect the initial damage. The other griffons started jumping, trying to cover the Sky Ruler with their own bodies. Instead, the elder griffon opened its wings and covered the smaller ones so the fire wouldn''t hit them. Blue created another Solid Air mist, trying to push the Sky Ruler''s wings down to make the smaller ones also be affected by Hera''s spell. The monster stared at Blue and, with a flap of its wings, tried to push the mist away, but it didn''t work. So it tried again, and the result was just the same. The spell seemed to be unresponsive towards the Sky Ruler''s power over mana. Hera took advantage of the distraction and started aiming her spells to pick off the smaller griffons. The Sky Ruler noticed that and grew angrier. It was doing its best not to move around a lot since its old bones were already hurting, and the more it moved around, the more they ached. Finally, it got up on its hind legs and stomped the ground while flapping its wings, creating a burst of wind that pushed all the snow away. Not just that, but Blue and Hera were tossed in the air. Luckily, Hera''s back was facing the mountain, and she slammed against the rock. The impact barely hurt, but it was enough to take the wind out of her lungs. She looked up and saw a few griffons running towards her. There were no more orbiting stones, which meant she could now use her chakram to deal with the smaller monsters more easily. Blue, on the other hand, was tossed much higher and farther away. Unlike Hera, she was closer to the Sky Ruler and took the brunt of the attack. Still, she managed to land on one of the smaller peaks, just above the entrance to the tunnel. Stolen novel; please report. "What? Where?" Blue asked before even getting up. She looked around, and her eyes went to her left before she broke into a big smile, "Hera, stall them for a while. I found the thing!" Hera slammed her handaxe against a griffon while tossing her chakram at another. A third one came from above, but she took a step back to avoid it and, with a kick, sent it towards the incoming group of monsters. Finally, having a small moment to breathe, she replied, "Do it fast. I don''t know when the Sky Ruler is going to do something again." Hera saw another set of five griffons trying to surround her. All of them already had some wind spell floating around their heads and were about to attack her. Hera swapped weapons and slammed her old handaxe in the ground, creating a stone barrier in the form of a semi-circle using its skill. The spells crashed against the rock, seemingly with no effect, but the griffons started to sneeze in a few seconds. There were tiny yellow particles spread all around the area. They were concentrated on the barrier, but after the wind hit the stone wall, the remaining impact carried the pollen all over the place. The greatest weakness of Hera''s pollen field was the amount of mana she had to use to make it cover a large area, but the wind easily carried the particles. Since she was already behind some protection, Hera quickly followed it up with a Solar Flare. The spell would give some very light sunburns to the monsters, but that was just a way to trigger her [Ailment Mastery]. For the first time, she thanked the spell for having a small delay before activating, "Blue, look away!" Despite not being something like the blinding flash spell, the light it created was enough to cause problems. It was close to looking straight at a camera''s flash when taking a picture and in the middle of a fight that wasn''t ideal. As soon as the spell went off, a notification appeared showing that the skill had triggered and 12 Juvenile Sky Rulers got affected by both spells. It was more than Hera had seen, meaning that either some hid, or the pollen went farther away than she expected. As the notification showed up, Hera ran out of her cover and started swinging at the griffons. They were sneezing like crazy while having trouble moving around because of the sunburn, allowing Hera to deal with them with ease. While she attacked, Blue''s voice came through her communicator. They still wore them, but since most of their plans had to involve the dwarves, it was rare for them to actually be used. "Try to distract the Sky Ruler. I need to get closer to the barrier to break it." The voice startled Hera, but not enough to break her flow. She decapitated another griffon before asking, "For how long? And what do you actually need?" "I''m not sure about the time, but I''m using the whistle. If things go south, we might need to flee." "Are you sure?" Hera tossed her chakram towards another griffon, who was a bit farther away. "It''s the best plan I have." "Ok," Hera started moving away from Blue. For that to work not only did she have to get the Sky Ruler''s attention, but she had to, somehow, make enough noise so the whistle wouldn''t be noticed. The path she walked became littered with corpses. The juvenile sky rulers were, at most, level 8. With the buffs, Hera''s attributes would be easily two times higher than her prey. Adding that to the level of her skills and the passive [Hunt] buff, the monsters were little more than fodder. The Sky Ruler was watching her every move. It didn''t move too much, but its head was following Hera around, which made her anxious. Everything the monster did was flashy and powerful. If that moment of delay was actually a way to charge up a skill, she would be toast the moment whatever it was preparing went off. The flaming poison rain was still there, but the ancient creature didn''t seem to mind. Without anyone noticing, the Sky Ruler had shifted the precipitation to miss its body. Only a few projectiles ended up hitting the target. Still, she could feel small strands of poison mana already inside the creature. However, she knew that a creature''s size would affect how much poison was necessary to harm it. Something like the Sky Ruler should be able to withstand gallons of poison before anything happened. Hera considered using her poison control spell to increase the damage, but it was better to wait. The spell would only work a single time in each monster. Actually, she wasn''t entirely sure about that, but no creature ever survived long enough to allow for a second cast. As she got behind the Sky Ruler, the monster shifted to stare at her. Its eyes burned with rage, watching the one who was killing its children. Blue was on a small peak on the other side of the giant griffon, waiting for her chance to use the whistle. Seeing her friend, Hera used the stone shape spell to create two very tall pillars at an angle. She made the rocks thin enough to break down as they reached the maximum height and aimed them at the Sky Ruler, hoping to hit its wings. Instead, the creature blocked the spell, and the rocks crumbled under it. That created enough noise for Blue to call Sunny and mount it. She glided to the side and made another solid air cloud, placing it under her wind griffon. That slowed her fall considerably, since it became harder for Sunny to go through that cloud, and she moved away from the plateau. There was a small whirling in the barrier that surrounded the nest. Now that she was this close, she could feel that this was more like a fishbowl and not a perfect sphere. There was an opening above it to show the sky, but the sides were completely protected. So she created another cloud and made it spin in the opposite direction that the whirling was moving, following Stormcloud''s instructions. The more mana she placed in the spell, the faster she would destroy the barrier. About half of her remaining mana was used to create the cloud, but the whirlwind lost speed very slowly. Blue looked back and saw Hera having to jump around and dodge several spells. There was also a large current that seemed to push her away. Yet Blue didn''t stop. She had to break the barrier. A minute went by, then two. Then, almost five minutes after she created the spinning cloud, the whirlwind finally stopped, and the entire spinning cloud dispersed. When that happened, Blue received a notification that she had gained another legacy piece. Blue told Sunny to move away from the edge and back to the tunnel. In just a few moments, she arrived at the place where the dwarves were waiting. "Is it done?" Naka asked as soon as she saw Blue. "No, but you can join us. C''mon, Hera needs help," Blue called the dwarves and rushed back towards the Sky Ruler. She was halfway through the plateau when she looked back and saw Naka, Lija, and Telanz standing outside the tunnel. However, instead of going towards the Sky Ruler, all three dwarves turned around and fled towards the entrance. 262 - How the mighty fall While Blue was busy trying to break the barrier, Hera was left alone to distract the Sky Ruler. At first, things weren''t that bad. She hit the creature using rocks from a spell to cause a distraction and dashed towards it while swapping her chakram to her new handaxe. She got close enough to slash the creature''s legs a couple of times. Unfortunately, Hera was overconfident. Killing the smaller griffons was too easy, and the Sky Ruler wasn''t doing anything significant. This made her reckless, and she failed to notice when the giant monster set up a trap. The griffon took a step back after being hit and let its wings fall to the ground, creating a perfect slope for Hera to climb. She deactivated her flaming poison rain and rushed towards the creature''s back. Hitting its legs wouldn''t do the same type of damage as hitting the torso or head. Excited about the idea of actually making some progress in the fight, Hera failed to notice the wind feathers mixed in the Sky Ruler''s regular feathers. The moment she took one step on the monster''s back, the spell triggered. Dozens of attacks coming from all directions suddenly assailed her. With her reflexes, some feathers missed, but most still hit her and tossed her around before launching her from the monster''s back. Hera hit the ground several meters away from the Sky Ruler, and a powerful gust of wind blew, once more trying to push her towards the edge. Several griffons were charging at her to make things worse, and the barrage of wind feathers didn''t stop. Hera used her fear spell to push the monsters away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered 12 x Juvenile Sky Ruler ailment bonus effects x 3 Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the notification, Hera smiled. She triggered two effects on her target, but that was far from being enough. However, her happiness was short-lived. The moment the Sky Ruler was hit with the fear spell, it started thrashing its wings. Two whirlwinds appeared in front of it, which immediately started growing. Hera created some stone barriers to stop the wind and, using the same spell, opened a hole in the ground so she could hide there. This was the only idea she had to protect herself from a tornado. In theory, it should work with the whirlwinds as well. But before going there, she had to take advantage of the situation. She got closer to the spells and sent out a concentrated pollen field towards the spinning wind. Using the Sky Ruler''s spell to spread the particles around. It seemed like things worked a bit too well. The clump of yellow dust went flying into the sky and was tossed around most of the plateau. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Sky Ruler started sneezing violently, and the twisters dispersed at the same time that the barrier surrounding the nest went away. Looking up, the monster seemed angrier, but it was still sneezing because of the pollen. Hera threw another solar flare under the giant griffon. Blue was facing the other way, and even if she wasn''t, it was far enough away not to trouble her too much. The spell triggered another ailment, and the bonus effect was increased to 4. Unfortunately, that wasn''t a specific amount. Hera had no idea if that meant the effects were 4 times stronger or if it was just a 40% increase overall since there wasn''t something in the skill explaining that to her. It was frustrating but understandable. Each type of ailment could have its own benefit associated with the skill. Seeing as the sneezes became more frequent, Hera rushed under the Sky Ruler, slashing at its legs. In response, the creature clawed randomly at the area under it. This was the first time the giant griffon used a physical attack, and it was much faster than Hera expected. One claw hit her chest, tossing her to the side as the monster continued thrashing. She took a moment to recover her breath, looking at the large scratch that appeared in her armor. Even with the buffs and the upgrade made by Kahala, the Sky Ruler was strong enough to damage it. For the first time since she got in Boothudurn, Hera had to be worried about losing her protection if she took too many hits. The griffon stopped its mindless frenzy and turned to Hera. Its nose was dripping, and its eyes were bloodshot. Hera almost felt bad. She knew how awful it was to have hay fever when she was busy with something else. However, that also allowed her to attack. Rushing towards the front legs again, she slashed at them, aiming at the tendons. The griffon could now defend itself better, but it wasn''t enough to stop all the strikes, even with its speed. In the middle of her flurry, Hera looked towards the tunnel. Blue was already running towards the Sky Ruler. Behind her, Naka, Lija, and Telanz were staring at the giant creature. However, the dwarves turned around and dashed back to the tunnel. Hera couldn''t understand what was going on, but she hoped they would join the battle soon. Then, looking back at the griffon, she jumped and slammed her handaxe against its chest. A few feathers were cut, showing some of the monster''s skin, but her attack was unable to draw blood. The sky ruler jumped to the side and spun in the air before roaring at Hera. She tightened her grip and ran towards it, not wanting to let it escape. Before she reached the monster, Blue passed her at high speed, still mounted on Sunny. A strong wind picked up, breaking down the controller''s mount. But that wasn''t enough to stop her. She jumped towards the creature, and several small clouds appeared, almost forming a stairway towards the Sky Ruler''s head. This was a version of the blank cloud where she could freeze the air. It took a lot of mana and agility to move like that, but Blue was more than capable of getting up to the griffon''s face. Hera didn''t want to stay behind, but she didn''t trust herself enough to follow her friend through the makeshift stairwell. Moving its head, the Sky Ruler dodged Blue''s attacks and tried to hit her with its beak. However, the controller moved too quickly, jumping from cloud to cloud and avoiding all its attempts. Attacking the legs wasn''t that effective. There had to be a better way to deal with the monster. After having a new idea, Hera created a stone pillar under her to propel herself up. To her dismay, the Sky Ruler noticed its prey kindly being sent towards it and opened its mouth to swallow Hera whole. The explorer froze. She was in the middle of the air, and there was no spell she could use to change her trajectory. Her best bet would be to fight inside the monster''s mouth and try to punch through the beak. She was almost completely inside the Sky Ruler''s maw when, suddenly, a shining object came up in her peripheral vision. The thing was spinning, almost like a boomerang, and moved towards Hera. In reality, it wasn''t going to hit Hera, but to protect her. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A bent silver boomerang appeared in front of her, and in a split second, it changed shapes. Now becoming a massive disc almost twice her size, capable of covering the entire Sky Ruler''s mouth. The monster tried to bite down, but despite the object being as thin as a sheet of paper, even the strength of its jaw wasn''t enough to bend it. Hera even saw some blood dripping from the beak. "Hera!" Silah cried. She still was a bit far away, but after seeing Hera use a stone pillar to jump, she sent one of her spells to protect her. Hera smiled, "Fuck. I''m really in love with that girl." Before jumping off the Sky Ruler''s mouth, she took advantage of her position and slashed the monster''s tongue beneath her feet. It took only a single swipe, with each weapon coming from a different side, to carve out most of the muscle. There was only a small part connecting the two pieces. It was small, considering the entire tongue, but it was still more than enough room for Hera to stand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the blood filled the monster''s mouth. Hera picked the Sky Ruler whistle and jumped, blowing it to call for Nimbus. The griffon appeared, allowing her to jump on its back and glide safely to the ground. Blue was still bouncing around the Sky Ruler and hitting it with both spells and her own fists. Silah also arrived in the fight. The first thing she did was turn to Hera and see the scratches in her armor. "Are you ok? Let''s get Telanz." "No, we need to finish this, and you can help. That shield you made hurt the Sky Ruler," Hera replied. "What? If I hit it, the barrier will show up, won''t it?" "You just hit it, and nothing happened. Try with an actual attack." Silah felt it was a bad idea, but she trusted Hera. Moving her hands, she shaped the metal once more. First, gathering the entire sheet in an ingot and then turning it into a giant spike. The metal pierced the griffon''s beak on both sides, making the blood inside its mouth pouring out. "Blue, hit the spike with some lightning!" Hera called from the ground. Following that up, Hera sent some paralyze spells towards the griffon. Trying to trigger one more ailment in the monster. At the same time, another cloud appeared, and lightning crashed into the metal rod. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery effects reduced Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the first time, Hera saw a notification letting her know that one ailment was gone. She suspected it was the one caused by the pollen, but she still used her [Observe] to confirm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler - Level 15 ¨C 73 % - Poisoned ¨C Sunburn ¨C Sneezing ¨C Bleeding (Cloud Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In reality, the sneeze effect was still there. However, it was the fear that went away. Silah smiled after seeing she could actually damage it and pulled two more pieces of metal from a pouch before throwing them in the air and turning them into a pair of spinning saw blades. She was used to making swords or spears with her attacks, but after hearing about chainsaws and other heavy tools, the blacksmith came up with better options for her spells. The blades went flying towards the Sky Ruler''s throat and started carving away. Despite Silah being level 26 and having Pyrrick''s buffs increasing her attributes, the griffon''s skin still proved too tough for a clean cut. However, unlike Hera''s attacks, the progress wasn''t that slow. Blue made another blank cloud and sent it towards Hera, "Make that one rain fire. I''m sending it down its throat." Hera nodded and cast her grease fire inside the cloud. Then, Blue used the legacy to move it towards the griffon''s mouth that was still stuck open thanks to Silah''s spike. Only after it was entirely inside the Sky Ruler that she triggered the cloud to start raining. In response, the monster roared and tried to use the wind to push the fire away. That worked to a point. Some of the flaming rain did spew out of its mouth, but the cloud was still there. The blood lost by the Sky Ruler was already forming a pool in the middle of the plateau, but the monster was still standing. It roared once more, and Hera triggered her poison control, spending 500 points to make the poison already inside the monster make it spasm. She hoped that the violent movements would worsen its injuries, and it wouldn''t be able to remove the fire cloud from its gullet. The Sky Ruler roared and created massive dark clouds in the sky that crackled with lightning. This was its last resort. Controlling the area in such a way was very taxing, and it was likely that it wouldn''t be strong enough to do it again. The entire area was so dark that it looked like the middle of the night in a few seconds. In response, Blue jumped into the monster''s back and sent out three blank clouds after a few seconds. "Hera! Use the soil thing." Spending the rest of her mana, Hera infused the three clouds that turned into small sandstorms. Blue sent them up and, just before touching the dark clouds, triggered her spell that made each cloud grow over ten times larger. The sandstorms engulfed the lightning clouds and made them vanish in a matter of seconds. Realizing its last resort had failed, the Sky Ruler fell to the ground. Losing the remaining strength it had on its legs. Blue, Hera, and Silah kept attacking, but now the creature was too weak to fight back. It wasn''t much of a fight anymore. Instead, the situation turned into the trio, trying to deliver the finishing blow. Silah called back the saw blades and turned the two pieces into a single large javelin. She took aim and sent it towards the Sky Ruler''s eye. The projectile embedded itself deep into the monster''s skull. Blue followed it up with an electric punch that she was saving ever since the fight started. The monster roared and started to spasm, slamming its head repeatedly on the ground. Blue had to move away, not to be crushed by the movement, and the spike that was still in the Sky Ruler''s beak popped off. When the monster finally stopped moving, the trio just watched it for a moment. It looked like it was dead, but here, there was no notification to tell them if they had finished the fight. After a few moments, Blue smiled and said, "We did it! I just got a notification about the legacy. I have the entire thing now!" "We did it?" Silah asked. "We did it!" Hera gasped. Silah turned to Hera and saw her girlfriend all scratched, and even her armor all banged up. She was covered in so much blood that it was hard to tell what was hers and what was from the Sky Ruler. "Can you do the thing with the necklace?" Silah asked. "Not right now. I''m out of juice." "Fine. I''ll wash myself later," Silah replied. "What are¡­" Before Hera could ask anything, Silah jumped into her arms and gave her a long kiss. "Do you guys have to do that here?" Blue sighed. "You got the legacy. We got this. Stop complaining," Silah cleaned Hera''s lips and returned to the kiss. Blue shrugged and pretended to be upset, but it was impossible to do that, considering the situation. They had finally defeated the Sky Ruler. All they had to do was complete another dungeon, and they should be able to get back home. 263 - First Key Hera, Blue, and Silah took some time before heading back to the tunnel. The fight was exhausting, and it was a lovely day despite the cold. With the sun shining above their heads, there wasn''t a single cloud in the sky. To top it all off, the view from the plateau was amazing now that the looming threat of death was over. They could see a large snow-covered mountain range that spread throughout the horizon. It was the first time that Silah saw this view. She spent her entire life inside the mountain. But, even if she had seen the plains in the dungeon, it didn''t change the fact that she never left the city. "It''s so beautiful," tears were running down the blacksmith''s face. "It really is. As long as we don''t look back," Blue glanced to the other side of the plateau. About two dozen griffon bodies were littering the place, not to mention the Sky Ruler, "How are we going to take all this to the city? I mean the small ones we can carry, but what about that?" Hera didn''t even look back. Instead, she just adjusted herself by placing her arm around Silah, "10 minutes." "What?" Blue turned to her. "I want another 10 minutes without worrying about anything else. Then we can figure that out." "That''s fair," Blue replied, looking back to the mountain range. They sat in silence, enjoying the view and the sun. Then, Hera noticed that Silah was shaking slightly and held her tighter, "Are you ok?" "I''m¡­ I''m fine. It''s just¡­ You could''ve died. I could''ve died. Why did we come here?" Silah kept staring into the distance. The realization of the risk she took by getting into the fight had just dawned on her. "Because of that," Hera pointed to the horizon, "Now you guys are free. You can go anywhere, see beaches, forests, deserts, everything. I know I''m doing all this because I miss my friends and want to see them, but that''s only part of it. I also want to show you everything in my world." "So this is it? You can go home now?" Silah turned to Hera. "Well¡­ not yet. But the next part should be quicker. We have to get another key inside a dungeon, and then we can open the doorway," Hera explained. "What? But there is no key in the dungeon. I''m positive we would''ve found it already." "Not the Wooly Plains. There is another dungeon here. I told you about the tunnel that leads to the doorway, right? The one that Blue and I sometimes go to." "Yeah. You said you guys go there when you are feeling down. What has that to do with anything?" "Well, there is a dungeon there, too. We tried to go inside it, but it says we can''t enter without the key. And before you get all worried, this dungeon should be on the same level as the Wooly Plains. So the monsters shouldn''t be stronger than the sheep or the rulers we see there," Hera said. "How can you know for sure?" Silah turned towards Hera. "I guess I can talk more about that now. Remember when I told you we are inside a place called MAZE?" "Yeah, but I still don''t get what that means." "I''m not sure how to explain, but imagine that we are inside a dungeon right now. However, it never resets. This dungeon has an entrance, right? That leads to another dungeon, and another, and another." "So it''s basically a bunch of dungeons connected?" Silah asked. "Exactly. But unlike actual dungeons, monsters don''t dissolve, they don''t reset, and we don''t get quests just by entering them. To make it easier to tell the difference, we call these non-resetting places Rooms. There are cities, villages, and a bunch of places with different people and races." "Other races? Like more than just humans and dwarves?" Silah''s eyes had a glimmer of excitement. "Oh yeah. Some just look similar to humans but have pointy ears, and others have animal ears. It''s a shame that on lower layers, their population is kind of small." "What''s a layer?" Hera kept explaining, but each answer created another question. Even Blue helped with the discussion. After a few minutes, a voice came from the direction of the tunnel. "By the mountain!" Naka fell to her knees while looking at the bloodied body of the Sky Ruler. "What happened?" Lija moved over and froze after seeing the result of the fight. One by one, the other dwarves left the tunnel, and all had similar reactions. They were just stopping and gasping in awe at the sight of the dozens of griffons dead by the corpse of the Sky Ruler. "We''ll talk more later, ok?" Silah turned to Hera. "Sure," just as she replied, Silah got up and walked over towards the dwarves. It was only when arriving directly in front of the captain that she stopped, "What the fuck was that?" Naka snapped out of her daze and turned to the blacksmith in front of her, "What?" "I asked what the fuck was that? Why did you run away?" Silah yelled. "I¡­ I was afraid." "So you just left Hera and Blue to die? Weren''t you the one who always said that you would protect us? So that was all a lie?" Silah''s voice became more frantic. "No! Of course, I would protect you, but they¡­" "Don''t even dare finish that sentence! They are members of the guard just like any one of us." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "But it''s different. None of you would do such a reckless thing," Naka defended herself. "Only because you never gave us a choice! Not a single member of the guard is free to push their limits." "I''m just trying to keep you all safe!" Naka yelled back. "Then why did you run away like a coward?" Silah stared the captain down. Before things could escalate any more, Hera jumped in, "What''s done is done, and the Sky Ruler is dead. If you guys want to complain and yell at each other, can we do this someplace else? Despite everything, I''m worried about causing an avalanche." "What''s an avalanche?" Ogryn asked. "It''s when the snow sitting on the mountain falls. So if we yell, that might trigger it, and we will end up buried under the snow," Hera explained. "If that were the case, that would''ve happened during the fight, wouldn''t it?" Lija asked. "Maybe, but voices can trigger that more easily than other noises," Hera explained. Blue knew that Hera was lying, but the dwarves all seemed to believe her. This could help now, but Blue made a mental note to correct that information later. If they kept thinking that they could make loud noises but couldn''t speak, they would end up in trouble. "Ok, does anyone have any ideas how to bring the body to the city?" Blue asked. "Chop it up and take the pieces?" Hera suggested. "I thought of that too, but that will take a long time. We could just push it off the edge and try to drag it to the front gate. You know those large double doors we found when we first arrived," Blue replied. "Yeah, but what if this is not the right side? Or worse, what if it ends up going all the way down the mountain?" Hera scratched her head. "Anyone have a better suggestion? Ogryn, can you like, open a hole to the city or something?" Blue asked. "Unfortunately, I cannot. Well, in all honesty, I''ve never tried such a thing, but if we just drop it, many could be injured," The elderly mage was staring at the Sky Ruler''s body. "I think the idea of cutting it into pieces is the best option we have," Totrak said. "I agree, but I believe we should give our brave warriors some respite. We can take care of this. Well, maybe the captain can send for more members of the guard to aid us," Ogryn suggested. "Honestly, I wouldn''t mind that. I''m exhausted, and Hera needs a bath," Blue pinched her nose and moved away from the explorer. "I''m the one who got a very close whiff of that thing''s breath, and you are complaining? Really?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you still smell." Before heading back into the tunnel, Hera and Blue gave a few tips about disassembling the bodies, including how careful they should be while removing the Sky Ruler''s parts. Powerful monsters could have some organs that could generate mana. Although Hera never saw one personally outside a dungeon, she still gave them a warning about it, just in case. Just as the three were heading back to the city, Naka walked over to them. "Silah¡­ You were right. I was a coward and put my men¡­ women in danger," the captain turned to Hera and Blue, "I''m sorry for abandoning you." "I know I was right," Silah huffed and kept walking. "Thank you, captain, but don''t worry. Having you join the fight was never a part of the plan. The idea caught us all off guard," Hera replied before entering the tunnel. The trio walked for about five minutes, but Silah still had a weird expression on her face. "Don''t let Naka bother you. Everything ended up fine," Hera softly pushed her girlfriend with her hip. "Oh, it''s not that. I''m thinking about something you said," Silah replied. "About how beautiful you are, or about the other places I''ll take you to?" Hera smiled. Silah chuckled, "No, not that. But you mentioned you needed a key to open a dungeon, right? I don''t think I saw you getting any key. Did the Voice of the Mountain give you one?" Hera and Blue stopped walking and stared at each other. "Did you get a key?" Blue asked. "No. Did you?" "God fucking dammit," Blue turned around and started heading up the tunnel while stomping her feet. Hera sighed and followed the controller. "Where are you going?" Silah asked. "We need to find the fucking key!" Blue cried. The three headed back up and helped with butchering the Sky Ruler. But even after they checked every piece of meat and skin of the creature, they could find nothing that seemed out of place. They did find a large cloud mana crystal. It could recover 1 point of mana every minute but could store over 100 000 mana. This crystal followed the lifestyle of the creature that created it. Since the Sky Ruler spent almost all its time standing still, it made sense that it focused on increasing the amount of mana it had, and not how fast it would recover it. The night had come around, and the entire area went dark. If it weren''t for the light spells that everyone was using, it would be impossible to move around. After getting all the pieces of the Sky Ruler down, everyone was now searching for a key in the field. Hera and Blue climbed up to the side of the plateau and found where the monster slept. There were some bones and a gigantic pile of feces, but nothing that could be a key. For a moment, they considered it could be in the middle of the droppings, but that didn''t make sense. The wording on the doorway was that they should get the key from the Sky Ruler. Unless it ate its own feces, there was no way that the key would be in there. Or at least that''s how they justified not searching through that. Frustrated, Hera and Blue came down the mountain and headed straight to the palace. They wanted to check the doorway and the dungeon. Silah had gone back after nightfall. She tried to help as much as she could, but at a point, it was clear that she wasn''t comfortable being near Naka. Hera knew how much that could eat someone up and convinced her to go back home and rest together with the group, taking some of the meat down with them. That way, she could cool off her head a bit. Hera and Blue left the plateau and saw that the entire place was in a frenzy when arriving at the city. When the news that they had killed the Sky Ruler reached the people, everyone started a celebration. There were many dishes of chicken being prepared, and Fethy had all the tailors working overtime. It was one thing to have something made of griffon feathers, but another to have them made of the Sky Ruler feathers. Everyone started cheering and clapping when the humans emerged from the tunnel. Luckily, since they were still covered in blood, sweat, and guts, no one tried to get too close. Under the praises of the crowd, the two headed straight to the palace, followed by Naka and Ogryn. King Rutigan was overjoyed with the news, and he didn''t seem to care about the dirt covering the humans. He gave them both a warm hug as they arrived and started asking about the fight, but Hera stopped him. "Sorry, Rutigan, but can we first check the doorway? We didn''t find any key as it was said and need to double-check that." "Of course, of course," the king nodded and guided them towards the hidden path. The king was kind enough to allow the humans to check the doorway first, and with a deep breath, both Hera and Blue touched the passage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Doorway locked To unlock the doorway, follow these steps. - Retrieve the key from the strongest monster in the room. - Use the key to unlock the Weeding Disaster dungeon. - ??????????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do we have the key, then? I mean, this second line wasn''t there before," Blue asked. "Maybe," Hera turned to the king, "Can we see the other dungeon?" "Of course," Rutigan guided them back towards a side tunnel, and they reached a small stone door. When Hera touched it, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Locked ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap," Hera sighed. Blue touched it too, and a loud sound of a door unlocking echoed through the tunnel. "Are you serious? The legacy was the key," Blue turned to the dwarves, "You guys can check the information too." Hera stared at Blue. She was also confused about why the legacy was the key. Not wanting to waste too much time with that, she touched the door. As the notification appeared, Blue was already laughing by her side. "This is so stupid. Since when does the System makes puns?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weeding Disaster Entrance Type: Dungeon A door leading to the castle of a dwarven kingdom that is in the middle of preparing for a wedding ceremony. A spell went awry, which resulted in the flowers overgrowing and covering part of the castle. The first clear of this dungeon may not be completed by any descendants of the people present in this event. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 264 - Are we interns? Hera and Blue were finally ready to go inside the new dungeon. After killing the Sky Ruler, their equipment was still banged up, and it took some time to get it fixed. Kahala made both their armors, and the armorsmith refused to do anything in a hurry. It was a good thing, since it allowed Blue to get used to the complete legacy and for the guard to check if anyone else could join the dungeon run. The message that showed up in the dungeon entrance said that some people wouldn''t be able to get the first clear rewards, but that wasn''t all. As long as the MAZE identified you as the descendant of those involved in the events that created the dungeon, it would stop you from entering it altogether. All guard members had tried, and even some civilians like Fethy and a few of the mages tried to enter, but the result was the same. A notification appeared in front of them, saying that they couldn''t be the first to enter the dungeon. Hera and Blue were the only ones that saw the notification asking if they wanted to enter or not. At least it wasn''t all bad news. Now that the threat of the griffons was gone, there were some small excursions to the mountain through the front gate. Of course, the dwarves were still being careful, since no one was entirely sure if there was any griffon left on the mountain. Even so, that was the talk of the town. The fact that Hera and Blue had killed the Sky Ruler was quickly replaced by discussions of how soft the snow was or how pretty was the sky. It was weird realizing that most people inside the city didn''t have an actual concept of the sky. Most were even calling it ''the ceiling outside.'' The term wasn''t technically wrong since there was an invisible wall on the top of the room, but it still felt weird looking at the blue sky and calling it a ceiling. Another thing that changed was the dungeon. The griffons no longer had the cloud barriers to protect them from the dwarves. Now any member of the guard was more than capable of killing the Sky Ruler''s Spawn and even the rulers from the hard mode. Since Blue now had the legacy, all the effects it created previously were gone, which even translated to the dungeon. According to Stormcloud, the legacy herald, the only reason even the dungeon was affected was that the sky ruler was the one responsible for creating that dungeon. That happened long before the dwarves arrived. But Stormcloud couldn''t tell her anything more specific. Blue also noticed how Stormcloud now had more of a personality. Before completing the legacy, the herald was much like a virtual assistant that comes with a phone, and now it would joke, complain, ask about things, and even make different suggestions. Stormcloud was much more alive, but it was also very lazy. Almost every time Blue called it, the herald wasn''t in the mood to talk and only wanted to watch the same episode of a show that Blue had downloaded on her tablet before getting stuck in Boothudurn. Hera couldn''t see any of that. Or at least, she only saw one side of the conversation. It was like watching someone talk on the phone. During the five days that passed, Blue learned much more about the legacy than during the months with just a single piece of it. Now, she could store up to three different clouds made by her blank cloud spell and instantly trigger them. But it wasn''t like she was storing the cloud that was created. Instead, she stored how the cloud functioned and could call upon the finished product like any other spell. She also learned how to make cloud limbs that helped her move around the battlefield. Another thing that Stormcloud showed her was a way to create a cloud that could lift her short distances like an elevator. It wasn''t quick or practical, but it showed that Blue would most likely be able to fly around freely with practice. Lastly, now Blue didn''t have to worry about being subjective when creating new spells for her legacy. With the complete Stormcloud legacy, she could keep using the code she used for other spells to control her newfound abilities. Blue also became more aware of the limitations that came with this new power. For example, she could only create, or affect, violent or heavy clouds. One possibility she now had was to control naturally formed clouds, but again the restrictions applied, and the bigger the cloud, the more mana she would need to move it in any way. Another issue was that some spells could be changed to function as part of her legacy as soon as she got them, and using the version that wasn''t connected to Stormcloud was now much more costly. When Blue talked about everything Stormcloud told her, Hera couldn''t help but find it similar to Peaches and the other guides. They always answered the questions directly and gave any extra information relevant to what she asked, as if they were reading her mind to understand what she wanted. Well, Peaches was a bit of an outlier, but that was only because he was in charge of the tests and not answering her questions. The next time Hera saw Peaches or another guide, she would have to ask about the heralds. The day after their armors got fixed, Blue, and Hera went to the dungeon. Silah wanted to join and wait by the entrance, but after Hera explained that some dungeons could last for days or even weeks, the blacksmith agreed to let them go alone. However, that wasn''t exactly an option. King Rutigan and Fethy escorted them to the dungeon. Both were very interested in what would happen inside since the wedding with the overgrown plants wasn''t something that ever happened in Boothudurn. Still, after some research, Rutigan found a diary that talked about the last day of their city before the fire that made them flee the kingdom. There was a single mention about a wedding that almost didn''t happen because of something that went wrong. It was a very small passage, but enough to make the King and the Duchess of Culture believe that this dungeon was a window to their long-lost culture. When the four arrived at the dungeon entrance, Hera turned to the two dwarves that followed her, "Listen. I understand how excited you are about this, but mind your expectations. Dungeons are weird. They are like a spoken story that already went through a dozen different recountings. The events that made it happen may not be exactly like what we see inside." Blue nodded, "Yeah. We know one that showed us an entire war in 2 days. Things may not be 100% accurate." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "You two are saying that it may not have been like what you will see. Does that mean that there is a possibility that you will see the old kingdom exactly like it was?" Fethy asked. "Well. I guess so, but try to expect the worst result. That way, anything good that comes out of this is already above your expectations," Blue said. "Are all humans so negative? If this is not what we expect, it will be a shame, but we still will be one step closer to connecting our cultures," Rutigan opened a big smile. "That''s true," Hera smiled back. After Blue unlocked the dungeon, they went back to the doorway to check if there was anything different. And as they hoped, the third step had appeared. Now they had to complete the hard mode of the Weeding Disaster dungeon and receive a reward for the first clear, and they would be able to go back home. However, there was a single thing that worried Hera about this. In the Wooly Plains, the first time clear was only available for the first attempt. If they, for some reason, failed the hard mode, could they lose the key forever? That seemed unlikely, but the thought kept creeping into Hera''s mind. "Are you ready?" Blue turned to Hera, snapping her out of her daze. Hera pulled her handaxe and got ready to fight if needed before nodding, "Yeah. Let''s do this." The two touched the stone door, and a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Weeding Disaster Dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They both pressed yes, and the door opened slowly, revealing another tunnel with a few torches illuminating it. The humans walked inside, and Fethy tried to follow, but she was stopped by an invisible barrier and a notification informing her that she could not enter the dungeon. After a few moments, the door closed behind Hera and Blue with a loud echo. "This is fine, right?" Blue asked. "I think so. I mean, we are level 16. So we should be 6 levels above anything that this dungeon throws at us," Hera replied. Blue nodded in agreement, but she got closer to Hera, standing shoulder to shoulder. The tunnel seemed very long, and the intervals between the torches were getting longer. Worst-case scenario, Hera could use her dancing lights to illuminate the path. But since they had no clue what to expect, creating a flare didn''t seem like the best idea. Suddenly, another pair of torches were lit up at the end of the corridor, revealing a large white stone door. Hera and Blue looked at each other and kept moving forward. The sound of metal clashing echoed through the tunnel, followed by loud yells, almost like there was a battle going on. "Wasn''t this supposed to be just a wedding?" Blue asked. "Maybe the spell created some monsters. Like, those small clay dolls from the Arcanist Lookout," Hera said. "Crap¡­ should we hurry?" "Maybe, remember what we learned. The MAZE never puts us into a life or death situation when we enter a room or a dungeon. Not right out of the gate at least." Blue nodded, and the two kept walking to the door at a steady pace. The sounds became louder, which only made the situation seem worse. Finally, after taking a deep breath, they opened the door. Unlike the battleground they expected to find, they arrived in a large kitchen with dozens of dwarves running around. A row of stone stoves was filled with pots and pans, with several cooks preparing different dishes. Another group was rushing out while carrying several boxes. Everyone was wearing some kind of uniform. The cooks were wearing white aprons and white clothes, while the ones carrying boxes looked like servers. They had dark blue jackets and grey pants with silver embroidery around the waist and by the sides of both pieces. Hera had to take a moment to understand what kind of pattern she saw in their clothes. It was made of sharp, straight lines cascading into each other, creating what looked like the image of a waterfall going down a mountain. As Hera and Blue were still in a daze, one dwarf approached them. He had long blond hair that stood up in an obnoxiously big pompadour that gave the man an extra 20 centimeters in height. His clothes were bright yellow, and the design was similar to a Victorian king. Big puffy shoulders with a tight pair of pants that were a bit too revealing. Not to mention the amount of shiny embroidery in his clothes. It wouldn''t be a surprise if the man could be seen from hundreds of meters away. "Finally, you both are here. How dare you come late on such a momentous day? If one guest complains about the decoration, I shall have your heads," the dwarf spoke in a tone filled with self-importance that made Blue flinch. On the other hand, Hera took but a second to return to her customer service persona and replied with a soft smile, "My apologies, sir. May I ask what task we should focus on for the day?" Blue stared at her friend with a surprised expression. It was offputting to see Hera change so drastically, so fast. The dwarf just scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Do not try to impress me with such lousy manners. Those are barely appropriate even for a commoner. Now, as you are undoubtedly aware, I am Vetek Rimmok, of the great house Rimmok, Baron of the Valley and Grand Tribune of Stone. You two are hereby conscripted into my aid, and I shall bestow upon you the honor of being my left and right arms during this day. Not literally, of course. I already have a personal butler, and commoners such as yourselves would never be worthy of tending to my every need. Now, chop-chop. You have much work to do, and the ceremony starts at sundown." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are tasked with preparing the Wedding Ceremony Dungeon Quest: The City of Kul Dorul is preparing for a wedding ceremony. Several aspects of the ceremony are yet to be finished, and a spell caused some trouble with the decorative flora. Prepare a wedding ceremony worthy of a princess. First completion rewards: 25 000 gold, Dwarven Wedding Gift Bag ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first ever to enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: Kul Dorul Tarot Card + 1 Level These rewards are permanently forfeited if you leave the dungeon without completing this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After reading the notification, Blue and Hera got excited. They could get another level by completing the dungeon. If that happened during the hard mode too, that was a 2 level increase between now and the moment they went back home. "Ok¡­ but what are we supposed to do?" Blue turned to Vetek. "Are you that stupid, girl? Prepare the ceremony, do everything that needs to be done, and it better be a fine job, or you will bring shame to the House Rimmok. Now off with you, this discussion has exhausted me, and I shall retire to rest until the guests arrive," Vetek waved and another dwarf wearing similar yellow clothes appeared and escorted his master to a room on the side. "So¡­ we have to plan the entire wedding?" Blue asked. "Yeah, and I bet that guy gets the praise," Hera sighed. It wasn''t the first time that she had to do someone else''s work. "Right, but¡­ have you ever been to a wedding?" Blue turned to Hera. "Not really. How about you?" "Do movies count?" There was a moment of silence while the two humans realized the situation. "We are fucked," Blue said. "Yep," Hera replied with a sigh. 265 - Living Fence Hera and Blue felt helpless while watching the lines of people move around inside the kitchen. The cooks all worked on their unique dishes, calling out for plates and changes of stations. It was the same with the servers, they took box after box from a room in the back without stopping for a single moment. The entire kitchen was made of different stones, and it all had a blocky feeling about it. Looking around, Hera couldn''t find a single round shape in the design of the ovens, the furniture, or any part of the architecture. While the two just looked around, feeling lost. Vetek''s butler approached them. "Good morning madams. I understand you might be a bit lost in the situation. However, my master has prepared a list of issues that must be taken care of before the ceremony. Do you wish to see that list, or would you rather deal with everything by yourselves?" "Oh, yeah. That would be great!" Blue replied. "Certainly," the butler pulled a small journal and passed it to the humans. When Hera touched the journal, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a list with a few tasks available in the dungeon. Complete as many tasks as possible within the time limit. Some available tasks are not on this list. [ ] Remove the weeds from the venue [ ] Set up the tables for the dinner [ ] Prepare the courtyard to receive the guests [ ] Find a place for the band [ ] Set up decorations for the ceremony [ ] Decide the order of the menu [ ] Deliver the bride''s dress. You are required to complete a certain number of tasks to complete the dungeon quest. However, your completion rate will not be revealed until the end of the ceremony. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera let out a relieved sigh. Having a to-do list made things a lot easier, and some tasks didn''t seem too bad. For example, finding a place for the band shouldn''t be that hard, and delivering the dress should be something quick. However, it was very likely that removing the weeds would the most important part. Not only was it the first thing on the list, but the dungeon itself had weeding in the name. That couldn''t be a coincidence. As she considered where to start, Hera noticed the butler was still staring at them without saying a word. "Thank you for the list. Do you have any suggestion about what we should do first?" Hera asked. "I''m afraid I''m not knowledgeable enough to give my opinion, but the master seemed particularly worried about the vines that covered the venue. It might be productive to remove them before proceeding to the next task," the butler replied. "Yeah, it''s a good idea. Thanks for the information. Oh, and what''s your name?" Blue asked. "My name is no longer necessary, for I am Lord Vetek''s butler, and that is all that matters," the butler replied. Blue made a confused expression, "You lost your name when you became his butler?" "It wasn''t a loss, but an honor to have my name stricken from the records so I could become Lord Vetek Rimmok''s butler," the butler replied with such a proud expression that Blue felt she couldn''t say anything back. "I see.." Hera chimed in, "You must be very proud of your work. We will be sure not to bring any shame for your lord and his house. Now, if you excuse us, there is much to do, and we don''t have much time." "Right, about that. How long do we have until the wedding again?" Blue asked. "The guests shall arrive at sundown. You have until then to prepare everything," the butler replied. "No, no. I got that, but how long will that be? Like how many hours?" Blue continued. "What is an hour?" the butler asked. "Oh no," Hera turned to the butler, "Do you know what a clock is?" "What is that? Something the common folk use, I assume." "Nothing of much importance, don''t worry about it," Hera replied with a smile before pulling up her tablet and starting a timer. "What are you doing? Do you have a way to find out what time it is?" Blue asked. "I''m gathering information. We are the first ever to come here. If we can tell others how long they have to do everything, it will be much better for them. And, no. I don''t have any way to find out how long we have. I might be able to make a sundial, but we need to find a place where we can see the sun first," Hera explained as she made a few notes about what was going on. "Right," Blue turned to the butler, "How can we get outside?" "Just head out those doors and turn right. It won''t be long before you reach the outside of the palace." Hera and Blue followed the directions. Just as they left the kitchen, there was a long corridor with people still moving about and carrying more boxes. Despite being a dwarven building, the hallway seemed to be 5 meters high and at least 8 meters wide. The decoration was simple yet elegant, and the entire building seemed to be made out of white rocks that were remarkably similar to ivory. However, there was a single streak of black stone in the middle of the corridor, almost like a long carpet one would see in a gala. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. They moved towards the end of the hall and turned right, going through the next set of double doors. After crossing them, the amount of work they had to do became evident. The room after the corridor was a large ballroom with a set of stairs that started at the end of the room and circled around towards the second floor. On the small midsection of the stairs, just before they turned into a curve, there was a massive painting of a golden mountain adorning the wall. It would be a beautiful place if it weren''t for the overgrown vegetation covering most of the room. The entire second floor was filled with unkempt hedges that spilled out from the banister. The vines and roots climbed the walls and crawled through the ceiling before coming down and blocking half of the main entrance. "Ok¡­ so that''s the first thing we have to do, right?" Blue asked. "I have no clue. Let''s look outside first, but this seems like a big issue," Hera kept staring at the mess that was caused by the vegetation. "I mean, fire could work, but I don''t know," Blue mumbled. "What?" "Stormcloud suggested we could burn all this, but I don''t think that''s a good idea." "Let''s leave that as a backup plan. We still don''t know how bad this is or if it would end up causing a massive fire. Also, try not to talk with Stormcloud near other people," Hera replied. "But there is just you here. Everyone else is part of the dungeon." "Yeah, but it''s better for you to get used to it already. Remember what we talked about? If people find out about your legacy, things might get complicated," Hera stared at Blue''s eyes. "I know, I know. But I still think you are overreacting. No one is going to try to hurt me just to get a legacy." "Blue, please. Just be careful." Blue waved her off, and they left the ballroom. Outside, a sprawling city greeted them, made of stone, lying on the side of a gigantic cave. The way the houses were set up reminded Hera of modern-day Greece, with several buldings almost on top of each other following the natural inclination of the ground. Most houses seemed to have a singular bright color, some were red, while others blue or green, but none mix of colors in their structures. Looking to the side, the city went on and on, and the houses became less colorful. It seemed like some of the citizens kept the natural color of the rocks used to build their homes. However, if that was an actual choice or just the lack of materials to do something different, was something Hera had no way of knowing. In the distance, to her left, there was a small orchard basking in the sun. She looked up, and there was a sizeable hole in the cave''s ceiling. They could see the sunlight coming from it and even the sky, and that was the only place in the entire cavern that had an opening to the outside. It was a shame that it also meant Hera had no way of making a sundial. Those types of things only worked when receiving sunlight constantly. Besides, she wasn''t even sure if she could be dextrous enough to create a sundial using her available spells. Hera and Blue turned around to see the venue better. It was a two-story-high white building decorated with several columns around it and a couple of hammer statues in the front. Unfortunately, vines and roots covered most of the right side of the structure. People were calling this place the palace, but in reality, it was just a small annex. Behind the building, there was a massive castle with eight golden towers and a high wall encircling the entire structure. For a moment, Hera even considered that this wasn''t part of the palace, but looking back, she noticed a secondary set of walls splitting this area from the housing zone. This felt a bit too much like a way to keep people away from the nobles. It wasn''t like the castle was in a position where it would be easily attacked. Even if someone invaded, they would have to go through the entire city before arriving here. The one exception was the hole above the orchard, but if someone tried to get through that, it was more likely that they would be discovered. "Are you ok?" Blue asked. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about some random stuff," Hera replied after coming back to reality. This wasn''t the time nor place to consider the whys of an ancient kingdom. Blue and Hera walked over to the side garden to check on the plants. Apparently, all this growth was caused by four single potted flowers. The roots were all coming from those pots, crawling on the ground before climbing up the building wall. "This seems unfair," Blue sighed. "What?" "This, I mean, if I try to make a flower grow, it dies because there was too much oxygen or something stupid like that. But these things are just screaming, ''hell yeah, concrete!'' and growing like that." "Hey, don''t be like that. I''ll help you take care of your next plant. I promise." "It''s not the same, but anyway. What should we do? Start cutting?" Blue asked. "I think it''s a good start. I really hope that works, and we don''t have to climb the whole place to get rid of these things," Hera looked back to the building. It could be just 2 stories high, but it was enormous. A place like this could easily be considered an entire neighborhood. Hera got closer to one pot and cut a piece of the roots. Since this was an effect caused by a spell, she was worried that attacking the roots would cause some unforeseen effects. Luckily, that didn''t happen. As she sliced part of the root, the rest didn''t react in any way. Since things seemed ok, Blue and Hera cut the roots that were coming out of the pots. They had to start somewhere and doing it like that would at least make it so if more grew it wouldn''t push the current vegetation forward. After finishing that, Hera turned to Blue, "Should I just try to burn it? Just a little to see how much it actually burns." "That might not be a good idea, but it''s your call," Blue replied. "I''ll make the weakest fire arrow I can. If it starts burning too much, can you make some rain?" Blue stopped for a moment, "I just realized¡­ Mark is going to give me so much shit about that." "About what?" "I can literally make it rain." Hera chuckled, "Yeah, you''re screwed. Can I do that?" "Yeah, sure. I''ll get ready." Hera sent a small fire arrow towards the edge of the roots. When the spell impacted, most of the vines that were climbing the wall of the hall glowed in red and orange and burst into flames. "Shit!" Hera gasped as Blue quickly sent a large cloud that instantly started to pour rain over the area. Hera tried to help, by using her soil spell to suffocate the flames. Thanks to their quick response, there wasn''t much damage, and a large part of the vines was gone after putting out the fire. "Well¡­ it kind of worked," Hera scratched her head. "Sure, but let''s not try this again, shall we?" Blue sighed. "Yeah, let''s go back inside to see what we can do." Blue nodded, and they went back to the ballroom. Things seemed to be a bit more complicated than they first thought, meaning that completing this dungeon on the first go might not be as easy as it seemed. 266 - What about the flowers? After their less than optimal attempt at removing the roots and vines from the side of the building, Hera and Blue went back inside to see the problem from a different angle. They stood in front of a large cluster of vines atop the right staircase. The vegetation here was much denser than the one they saw outside. When they came back to the ballroom, Hera noticed that the growth inside went much farther away than what was around the building. This probably meant that more flowers were affected by the same thing that triggered the flowers outside. They were working to thin out the number of vines that blocked the balcony, trying to, at least, clear out the worst part of the hedge. It was a good thing that Hera was walking around with two handaxes since Blue only had a small dagger to cut things when needed. In a situation like this, Hera lent one of her weapons so the controller could make more progress. They started thinking about how they should cut everything out, but they changed to cut only the edges by the wall after a while. That way, they could take off large chunks of grass at once. Still, it took a long time just to get to the first door in that area. Hera looked at the timer she had set to confirm how long it took to clean 5 meters of vines. The result was over 30 minutes. If they kept up that pace, it would still take two to three hours to clear just the balcony. As they opened the path to a secondary hallway, the amount of vines inside was much smaller. Instead of the hedge that was on the way,here, it was only on the walls and ceiling. Of course, the floor was also a tangled mess, but at least they could walk inside without much trouble. Blue walked in first, followed by Hera, who created a pair of dancing lights to illuminate the path. Unlike how it was in Boothudurn, the dwarves in here used candlelight and not the glowing stone, meaning that the corridor was completely dark. There wasn''t a way to know if that was just to be ostentatious or if the glowing stones weren''t available in here, since it looked like a completely different room. When the green light globules flew in the corridor, some vines radiated a similarly colored glow. The closer the dancing light got to the vegetation, the stronger that effect would be. Among the roots, Hera noticed a small flower that bloomed because of the light. When it opened completely, tiny yellow dots came out of it. Hera quickly grabbed Blue''s shoulder and pulled her back, "We need to get out of here now!" "What? Why?" Blue asked just as more pollen filled the room. "Cover your nose and mouth!" Hera ordered as the two ran outside. It was a good thing that this all happened before they got in too deep into the hallway. Meaning it only took them a few moments to get back to the balcony. "Can you please tell me what is going on?" Blue asked after being shoved outside the corridor. "Those flowers. I think they might be some sort of defense mechanism. If we breathe in the pollen, we might end up getting poisoned or something," Hera explained. "What flowers?" "Those white ones that were blooming, there were a few around that place." "I didn''t see a thing," Blue put her head inside the corridor once more and looked around. A lonely flower had bloomed right above the open door and was now spreading its pollen around the area. As Blue looked around, she suddenly fell face first on the vines. It wasn''t like she had tripped, but her body simply stopped moving. "Blue!" Hera gasped and pulled her over. Trying to get her away from the plants. "What¡­ is¡­ happe... ning," Blue struggled to speak. She couldn''t even move her mouth properly, but at least it didn''t seem like she was having any trouble breathing. Hera pushed Blue away from the corridor and created a stone wall in front of it, blocking any air from that direction. The last thing she needed was to be affected by whatever the pollen was while taking care of her friend. Luckily, those flowers seemed to be only inside the corridor. Outside, the roots were different, and there wasn''t a single flower bud in sight. She turned back to Blue and used her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pamella Blunt - Blue - Controller - Level 16 - Paralyzed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit, you''re paralyzed, Blue. I have a few things I can do, but I can''t be sure if it will work. Just try to stay calm and trust me," Hera did her best to seem confident, but it was the first time she had tried anything like this. Risli had taught her about some types of plants that could paralyze someone and a few ways to take care of that. However, since it was extremely rare for something like that to happen inside Boothudurn, Hera had purely theoretical knowledge of it all. She didn''t even manage to get spells, since there was no way to actually try to help someone recover from a situation like this. What she had was a minor way to increase Blue''s natural regeneration and a spell that helped the body to get rid of toxins faster. The problem was, the spell couldn''t target a specific thing, meaning that it would try to push away all types of toxins. Hera used both spells to no avail. Blue was still paralyzed, and now she couldn''t even move her mouth. Only her eyes still showed some movement. Hera also noticed that the controller''s breathing was getting weaker. But it didn''t look like she was simply calming down. Instead, whatever made her paralyzed seemed to start to affect her organs. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Do we have a healer around?" Hera yelled to the dwarves that were still moving around, but there was no response. She turned back to Blue, thinking about what she could do to help her. Hera looked to the side and opened her [Medical Reference], and a window appeared by her side. It was like looking at a website dedicated to medicine. She quickly looked through everything she had about paralysis. What could trigger it and how to treat it, but there was nothing that could help her at the moment. Then, as she was about to close the window, her finger touched the wrong part, and a new page appeared. It talked about poison and how it would affect the body, but what caught her eye was a small footnote. ''The dose makes the poison.'' That line was a principle of toxicology saying that everything is poison. What makes something deadly or not is the dosage. It basically meant that anything could be good as long that it wasn''t excessive. Bananas could be an example of that. They contain trace amounts of radiation, and in theory, if someone were to eat 10 million bananas at once, they would die of radiation poisoning. More to the situation at hand, it also made Hera remember that poisons could be used as medicine. "This might hurt, and I''m really sorry," Hera said as she pressed her hand against Blue''s chest and cast a poison needle. She didn''t focus on the strength. Instead, she made her toxin be able to move quickly through the body and spread itself as fast as possible. Then, when she felt that most of Blue''s body was filled with poison, Hera used the Poison Control spell to make the poison target any foreign substance in the controller''s body. "F¡­ F¡­ F¡­ Fuuu¡­ uuuuuu¡­ ck!" Blue finally started speaking again. She slowly moved her arms, which were still burning with the war going on inside her, "Are you done?" she asked while gritting her teeth. "You are still paralyzed, or the observe still says you are. Hold on for a while longer," Hera replied while focusing on her magic. Even though she changed how the poison behaved, she still tried to hold it back, not to hurt her friend. A couple of minutes passed, and Blue kept groaning the entire time while Hera used whatever remained of her concentration to heal her up. Finally, with a loud yell, Blue got rid of the paralysis, and Hera dismissed the poison. "This hurts like hell!" the controller gasped still on the ground. "I know," Hera replied while she kept healing her friend. "How do you know that?" "When I was training with Risli, she would watch over me while I poisoned myself and tried to take it away," Hera explained. "That''s¡­ kind of brutal." "Well, not everyone has a legacy to help out," Hera smiled. "Wasn''t that supposed to be something that we don''t talk about?" Blue squinted at Hera. "You said it yourself. There is no one here." Blue clicked her tongue and tried to get up, but she lost some strength in her legs. Hera was able to catch her before she tumbled down from the balcony. "Easy there. There is no need to rush," Hera said. "But the dungeon quest¡­" "Your well-being is more important. Even if we lose an extra level, it''s not the end of the world," Hera replied while forcing Blue to sit back down. It was obvious that they wouldn''t be able to take care of the roots inside the building, but they didn''t have to. The objective was to clear out the ceremony''s venue, meaning that as long as Hera and Blue made the ballroom look great, they could consider that task over. Hera created a secondary wall that cut most of the vines and blocked the other two doors to ensure there wouldn''t be any other surprises. "Please tell that there was a reason why you didn''t do that before," Blue asked as she saw the wall cutting off most of the roots and vines that were on the balcony. "There was. I didn''t think about this before." "If I wasn''t feeling like jelly, I would yeet you from up here." "I''m lucky then," Hera walked over and helped Blue up, "Let''s see if setting up the tables is just organizing things, or it''s something else." "Why that one? Let''s deliver the dress. That one should be easy," Blue protested. "You can barely move. If the dining thing is about making a seating chart, you can do that while resting, and I''ll make the delivery. There is no need for both of us to go there." "Yeah¡­ I just realized, but big parties really have an advantage in this dungeon, don''t they?" Blue asked while they started going down the stairs. "You''re right. Coming with a big group would be much better to do everything. We should do that when we come back." "Aren''t we going to the hard mode after this?" they arrived at the ground floor, and Blue seemed well enough to walk on her own now. "Yeah, but we need to find out how to trigger that. I don''t think we will be able to find that on our first try," Hera replied before stopping one of the dwarves that were carrying boxes around and asking about the dining room. The man replied that he was heading there and the supplies they were carrying were all for the dining room. Hera and Blue followed them to another corridor on the same side of the building where the kitchen was and reached a massive dining room, but it was completely empty, aside from the large pile of boxes in the corner. Some of them were already opened, revealing silverware, tablecloths, and some decorations. As they walked around, a dwarf with a journal in her hand approached the two. "Hello. Are you, perchance, Lord Vetek''s assistants?" "Yeah, that''s us," Blue replied. "Thank goodness you showed up. We are in quite a problematic situation. It seems we do not have enough tables for everyone, and we still have to decide the disposition of the seats in the room," the dwarf guided them to the other side of the pile of boxes where she had a large drawing of the dining room. Blue took one look at the makeshift blueprint and smiled, "I got this. Do you want to deliver the dress while I take care of this one?" "Are you sure?" Hera asked. "Trust me. I may never have been to a wedding, but I was the one in charge of setting up the classroom for whatever weird cultural festival we had during school. If I can cram 10 projects in a 5 square meter room and still give some space for you to walk around, I can do this," Blue gave a big thumbs up. It was the first time in a while that Hera had seen her so confident in something. "Ok, try not to do anything crazy while I''m gone. And if anything happens, use the comms," Hera turned to the dwarf, "Can you tell me where the princess''s dress is? I need to deliver it to her." "Oh, good. Someone brought it here by mistake, and I didn''t know what to do," the dwarf picked up a long white box and passed it to Hera, then she pulled a small scroll, "Take this too. It''s the delivery order. That way, you can get into the palace." "Thanks," Hera picked the items and turned to Blue, "Are you sure you''ll be ok?" "I''ll be fine, don''t worry about it." Hera nodded and left the dining room. The faster she delivered the dress, the faster she could come back to prepare everything. She wanted to unlock this dungeon for the rest of the dwarves. The more time she spent here, the more she realized how much this would all mean for them. 267 - Decorations The path to the palace was straightforward. All that Hera had to do was follow the road up and pass through a couple of checkpoints. The closer she got to the castle walls, the more heavily armored dwarves appeared. In a way, it looked like they were preparing for war. After using her [Observe] on the people standing around, she only got more confused. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Royal Guard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That''s all that the skill gave to her, no level, no name, no affinity, nothing. Even during the Kobold Battlefield, every kobold there had a name and a level. It wasn''t like they were just objects in the area, but here things seemed different. She tried to interact with a couple of the guards, but they only repeated the same handful of lines. ''Where are you going?'' ''Show me the permit.'' ''Follow the road.'' And some other variations of the same responses. That felt really weird. It was more like a simulation from the guild than an actual dungeon made by the MAZE. At least some people didn''t act like robots. If that were the case for everyone, it would be a big letdown for the dwarves from Boothudurn. When Hera crossed the final checkpoint, an enormous structure that was more like a mix between a temple and a castle greeted her. The entire building was decorated with large columns around it before coming into an actual entrance. However, that was only on the ground floor. Several smaller structures in different shapes were stacked on top of the main building. Some were round, while others had a pyramid shape, and they all varied in height. In the center, there was one taller round one with four gigantic stone anvils under it. That felt like either the throne room or the royal bedroom. In front of the castle, a woman in a maid uniform was pacing from side to side while biting her nails. Since even the guards in this area would give the same responses, Hera decided to try her luck with someone different. "Excuse me. Can you give me some directions to the princess?" The maid turned to Hera, "And why, pray tell, do you wish to see the princess?" "I have to deliver her wedding dress." "Oh," the maid''s face darkened, "You can give it to me, I''ll deliver to the princess." "Sorry for asking, but who are you? I don''t want to be rude, but I''d rather deliver this myself if I can," Hera remembered the time when she gave a package to someone else and ended up getting in trouble because the book was never delivered. "I understand, but I promise that this will reach the princess. I''m Helena, her personal maid." "Helena?" Hera was taken back by the name. "Yes¡­ why?" "Oh, sorry. You just have the same name as a friend of mine. It''s beautiful." "Thank you. Now, do you mind giving me the dress?" Helena asked. "Sure, but is everything ok? You don''t seem all that well," Hera gave the box with the dress to the maid. "It is. I''m just worried about the princess." "Don''t worry. You can tell her Highness that this will be a wedding people will never forget. I guarantee," Hera tried to cheer the maid up. Maybe it was because of the name or the look of helplessness. But Hera really wanted to help her. Besides, that wasn''t exactly a lie. The dungeon was created because of the ceremony. "Thank you. I hope the princess enjoys the ceremony," despite her response, Helena''s expression didn''t seem that excited about the situation. Hera wanted to help her, but Blue was alone dealing with the tables. She thanked the maid again and rushed back down towards the venue. This was just the first time they were doing the dungeon. She could try to help Helena during a different run, even if it was just because of her name. Walking back to the venue took only ten minutes. People could call it part of the palace, but that didn''t mean they were side by side. The first thing that Hera noticed when she arrived was that now the dwarves had stopped running around carrying boxes, and many different sounds were coming from the dining room. She crossed the hallway and opened the door. The dining room was now a completely different place. There were four very long tables, two on each side, with a large open area in the middle. Behind it, there was a small stage being built, and on the other corner of the room, someone had already decorated a more ostentatious table with a red and golden cloth and some gems on a plate. The tables were set up so that it didn''t matter the side of the table you were on. You could always see the main table, which Hera assumed was where the bride and groom would dine. Blue was in the middle of the room, giving orders to all the two dozen servers. They were placing the plates and silverware on the tables, along with any other decorations they had on hand. Hera walked over to her friend. "Did I really take that long?" she asked. "Nope, this is called efficiency," Blue replied with a smile and looked to the side, "No, no, no. Spread the decorations. We don''t want to make a single table have everything." "You know. I never expected this to be your element." "Me neither. I mean, I knew I could do it, but when I started, things just felt very natural." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Ok, boss. Tell me what I should do then." "Can you help the guys with the stage? I think they can''t use spells, and your stone wall thing might help a lot," Blue asked without looking away from the journal in her hand. "Sure, and is that that girl''s journal? Where is she?" "Yeah. Her name is Lervia, and she''s probably in the kitchen getting the names of all the dishes that are going to show up for dinner. We need to pick an order for them later." "Right. Maybe all those cooking shows I watch will be useful," Hera said. "We can hope. Now, do you mind finishing up the stage? The band got here a bit earlier, and they have to play before agreeing with their spot," Blue turned around and took a couple of steps before tripping on her own foot. Hera quickly grabbed her and helped her find a seat, "Are you ok?" "I''m fine. That pollen is just annoying. I still can feel my body cramping up randomly." "Want me to use the poison to see if there is any pollen left in your system?" "Not unless I''m dying," Blue replied. "Let''s hope that doesn''t happen again," Hera chuckled before going to help set up the stage. Hera took a look and used a spell called Raise Stone, which she had learned from Lija and used during the Sky Ruler fight, to raise a part of the ground to create a small platform where the band could perform. It was right in front of the dance floor, just like a high school prom. After Hera used the spell, the other dwarves around her started using the same spell to create the stairs and other minor details to polish the area. Including a small decoration surrounding the platform. "Why didn''t you guys did that sooner?" Hera asked. "We didn''t know how, not until you showed us," one server replied. Hera thought for a moment. This should be something that only happened because of the dungeon. If the dwarves could actually replicate spells just by seeing someone cast them, they would be way too strong. It wouldn''t fit with the system''s fairness if they had a trait like that. The dwarves from Boothudurn would have that ability too since they were supposed to be their descendants. She focused on helping to set the rest of the decorations under Blue''s command. And just one hour later, the dining room was ready for the grand event. The humans went back to the main hall to think about what they should do next. Before anything, they looked at the time. According to the hole above the orchard, it was still bright outside, and it didn''t look like the sun would set soon. Hera also noticed that this way of telling the time should only work for the people near the castle. The ones living far away wouldn''t be able to see the sun, much less the orchard. Even if they had a clear shot to the castle, most of the houses that seemed to belong to the lower classes were higher up on the incline, which made the hole in the cave be hidden by the rock formations in the ceiling. "Well, should we take care of this outside or check with Lervia for the dinner plans?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. Are you hungry? We might be able to get some food if we do the menu thing," Hera replied, after thinking for a moment. "I could eat, but let''s take care of this part first. I mean, this is kind of easy. All we need is to set up some lights around the area to guide them when it gets dark. There were a bunch of long candle holders in one of the boxes. We put them out and light them when it''s time," Blue suggested. "Sure, we can grab a couple of spare tablecloths and make an arch right about the entrance. To make it more¡­ I don''t know. Classy? Fancy?" Hera was staring at the front of the building. It was a beautiful place all by itself, but the vines made the annex feel abandoned. She actually wanted to remove them or make them grow over the entire thing, but she was worried about triggering more flowers if they messed with the vines too much. "Hum¡­ how about a cloud?" Blue was staring at the front of the building. "What do you mean?" Hera asked. "Gimme a second," Blue had a quick discussion with Stormcloud before making a cloud cover the entire front of the building. The dark clouds would clash against the white of the venue, and streaks of blue lightning kept flying around the puff of black smoke, illuminating the building, giving it a magical feeling to the area. That wasn''t all. The vines also seemed to be affected by the lightning. Every now and then, they would pulsate in the same blue light. "This looks incredible, but I have two questions. How long can you keep that up for, and can you do anything with the pollen?" Hera turned to Blue. "Well, according to Stormcloud, the lightning should be drawn to any pollen, so even if those flowers are around, we won''t have to worry. For the second question, I can keep this up for an hour," Blue stopped talking and looked to the side, "Oh, neat! Scratch that. I can keep this until the wedding." "Really?" Hera was surprised. This seemed like a huge spell, and she knew that Blue only focused on increasing her mana after she got the legacy. "Yeah. Apparently, creating a cloud is the hard part, but I can maintain it for a long time after it''s done. Well, as long as it is not doing anything. If it was attacking, raining, or moving, it is another thing, but just to keep it up is pretty cheap. So it''s like, great for decoration, but that''s about it," Blue sighed. "I think you are underestimating this. Imagine if you made something like that in the Kobold field. A way to hide some siege weapons or part of an army. Hell, you might even be able to hide an entire camp. And we can use this for the decorations inside too. I have an idea," Hera said, already walking inside. "Can you stop talking and walking? You always do that and it''s really annoying. Anyway, hiding big things wouldn''t work that well. It''s fine to do this here because there is no wind, but just a gust is more than enough to push that cloud away unless I use mana to keep it in place. Maybe in the future that will change." "You got the legacy less than a week ago, and you can already do this. Are you really complaining?" Hera scoffed. "No. I''m just saying," Blue crossed her arms. Hera walked over to the cluster of vines they had removed from the balcony. No one had cleaned that up yet, which was a good thing for her plan. Before anything, Hera gave every vine a once-over to ensure that there wouldn''t be any flowers around. After that, she grabbed the roots and made a line, going from the edge of the door to the front of the stairs. Then, she did the same thing on the other side, creating an aisle for the bride to move through. Inside each small bundle of vines, she placed one dancing light, making the grass shine with the same light. "Ok, now I need you to do two things. First, make a cloud for each of these lines, and don''t worry about the lightning. Make it a bit tall to work as rails so the other dwarves can be on the sides watching the ceremony. The second one is to make another cloud like you did outside on the ceiling. I''ll make another group of dancing lights and keep them up there," Hera demonstrated by making six lights that danced around just above their heads, "With the amount of mana I have, I can keep all this up for...45 minutes or so." Blue stared at the ceiling and made the clouds to test Hera''s idea. After completing everything, the ballroom had a completely different feeling. The lights gave a more mystic air to the entire area, and since there were many clouds around, a slight mist was forming, which only resulted in light shafts that increased the effect. "I''m going to call you the next time I''m throwing a party. This is awesome," Blue kept looking up at the lights hidden by her cloud. As the globules flew, they would, at times, peek out of the cloud like small sprites who were too shy to come down. "This looks much better than I expected," Hera smiled, watching the show. They stood there for a couple of minutes before Hera stopped the spells. Unlike Blue''s clouds, she couldn''t keep that up indefinitely, and there was still a lot of work to do. 268 - Ring the wedding bells Vetek Rimmok woke up from his nap. With his long years as one of the masters of house Rimmok, he had developed an acute sense of time and knew that sundown wouldn''t happen for a while. It was a good thing since now he would have time to check the work made by the commoners properly. He was in front of the wardrobe that he brought in here, picking what kind of outfit he should wear this time. Even though this was just a temporary outfit since he would soon return to get ready for the ceremony, Vetek would rather die than be caught with anything that wasn''t his exquisite style. Deciding on a bright orange jacket with green pants, he moved on to his dresser to apply makeup. Some time passed before he finished and walked outside his office. The butler was patiently waiting by the side of the door with a warm cup of milk. Vetek just picked up the glass and took a sip. Just as ordered, this was cow''s milk. That wasn''t available inside the room. It had to be imported from outside, but it was a delicacy fit for someone of noble blood such as himself. He walked towards the ballroom where the reception would happen. His sixth sense was tingling, and that only happened when some stupid commoner had screwed up one of his projects. Of course, there wasn''t a single helpful being among those uncultured neanderthals. Passing through the kitchen, Vetek noticed the cooks all working together to prepare their dishes. It seemed that at least the commoners were able to decide on what would be the menu. It seemed that when it was something related to their stomach; they seemed to have some drive. Crossing over to the main hall, the decorations surprised him. Somehow, there was a cloud on the ceiling and some smoke on the ground, splitting the entire ballroom apart. He looked around and saw his supposed assistants sitting on the staircase while drinking wine. "What in blazes have you done?" Vetek stomped his feet while getting close to the humans. "What? We decorated," Blue replied, not understanding his reaction. "Where is the gold? Where are the sculptures? The candelabra? Did you waste all this time making smoke? How are the people supposed to watch the ceremony without a light?" "Hey hey, chill the fuck down, man. We thought of that. We have these two candleholders by the stairs and a bunch of magic lights that the servers will make before the ceremony. During it, we will have less light, but they will make the princess''s entrance more beautiful," Blue gestured to the four long candlesticks that were left after they had finished setting up the entrance. "What are you talking about, girl? Commoners can''t use magic." "Are you that oblivious? Everyone can use magic. You just have to learn." "I do not know what kind of madness has taken you over, but only those of noble blood can use magic, child. That is the type of common sense that you clearly lack," Vetek waved her off. Blue stared at the small dwarf, considering if she should toss him like a frisbee to a wall, but she chose a different approach. Focusing on her hands, she created a cloud and threw it to the ground. "Stop making a mess. The guest shall arrive shortly, and you¡­." Vetek stopped talking as Blue rose from the ground, floating with the help of the cloud she had just made, "What kind of sorcery is this? Who is helping this commoner trick me?" "Exactly, this is magic. Everyone can use it, want to see?" Blue turned to the other servers who were waiting around, "Guys, everyone make a light in front of you." Obeying her orders, all the servers created a small light spell and made it float a few meters above them. Hera had tried to show them how to make a dancing light, but they weren''t very good with the random movements required for a dance, and having all the lights spinning around in a set pattern made the mystical cloud lose some of its mysticism. "This! How dare you use magic!" Vetek turned back to Blue, "I shall have your head!" "Oh please, try it. You seemed like a pain in the ass from the moment we got here, and I would love an excuse to drag your face through the floor," Blue jumped down from her cloud and got very close to Vetek. "Sir, it''s time to get dressed," his butler said without acknowledging anything that just happened. Vetek turned back and clicked his tongue, "Fine. I shall delay your execution until after the ceremony, but don''t let this fool you. I shall have your head on a spike by the end of the night." Vetek stomped back to his office, leaving Hera and Blue in the ballroom. "That guy is an ass," Blue scoffed. "Yeah, and honestly, if this is the type of people in charge here, Boothudurn was a massive upgrade," Hera nodded. "Side note. Do you think I can take him? My observe is still level 1. I can''t see their levels." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "I didn''t check, but nothing that would fight us here should be higher than level 10. Well, there are the guards by the castle, but they feel more like statues. I couldn''t see their level, names, or anything. But I think you are fine. That guy should be all bark and no bite. If things go south, we just run to the exit. You remember where it is, right?" Hera replied. "In the kitchen, right? By the ''freezer''." "That is the freezer? I thought it was just a pantry." "Nope, I asked one of the cooks. They have an ice stone there to keep things cold. The pantry is that room close to where they leave the dirty dishes." Hera stopped for a moment to think, "How much of this do you think was actually what they did, and how much do you think is just the System making things more familiar to us? Because let''s face it, it''s kind of hard to imagine people over 15 hundred years ago actually being careful with dirty dishes and things like that." "Are you saying that the System changed this dungeon just because we are the first ones to enter?" "Not really, but it might have changed since the people of Boothudurn are less¡­ medieval. Or we might actually be at fault. I don''t know. It''s the type of thing I don''t think we''ll ever have an answer to," Hera sighed. They kept talking and waiting around until sundown. Blue and Hera discussed the idea of going out searching for more tasks, but they also didn''t know if there would be an event that could ruin what they already had set up. As a result, they stayed around since they had completed the entire list of tasks. In reality, it wasn''t as difficult as they expected. That was all thanks to the other servers who would help when they asked. This was probably a way for the system to make things fair for small groups. Even if larger parties could do the same, just having more hands to set up decorations and other things was incredibly helpful. Another unexpected surprise was the menu. The dwarves here used a lot of moss and other fungi to make incredible dishes. They even had a steak that was entirely made of mushrooms. Despite being a huge carnivore, even Blue had to admit that it was delicious. The rest was pretty standard, a choice of mushroom or steak, pasta, some appetizers, and the cake for dessert. Deciding the menu was a simple task and ended up being a filling meal. Hera and Blue just had to sit around and take a bite of every dish before approving it and deciding the order that they would be served. Oddly, the dwarves were a bit confused when Blue put the soup as the second dish. People in the city tend to eat the soup after the main course, but the change made some of the chefs excited. About half an hour after the small confrontation with Vetek, the first guests arrived. Hera checked her timer, and it was reading as 9 hours and 47 minutes. If she counted the time it took for them to cross that first hallway, get the quest, and Hera to set up the stopwatch, people should have 10 hours to finish setting up the ceremony. Hera and Blue walked outside to watch the guests and make sure nothing was going wrong. Another thing they were on the lookout for was the arrival of the princess. They had no idea if the dwarven tradition would follow modern-day weddings where the bride was the last one to arrive, and since their entire plan was banking on giving some special effects to her entrance, they had to be ready to start. The guests all had a similar style to Vetek. All wore some sort of Victorian clothing, but there were some oddities. For one, there were a few couples where the man was the one wearing a ballgown while the woman had the puffy shirt and tight pants. Another strange thing was that when one couple or a single person walked by the gates in front of the venue, anyone else that arrived while they crossed the entrance would wait on the street. Some time passed, and all the guests arrived. They all wore some of the same type of clothing, all but one. This single dwarf, wearing long robes covering their entire body, walked slowly and seemed to ignore the custom of not having anyone else in the entrance when they entered. The other dwarves also didn''t seem to mind. It was almost like that specific person was either ignored or above the rules. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dwyn Orntop - Level 10 - Seer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera told Blue what she found out about that individual, and the two agreed to try to talk with the seer later. A reward for the first clear of the dungeon would be related to tarot, and the seer could potentially give them some better ideas on how to use that. After everyone was inside, a carriage approached and entered the premises. "I think that''s the princess," Blue said just as one server rushed inside, and music started playing. "Yep, that''s our cue. Let''s go," Hera walked into the ballroom before the princess could enter and sent off her dancing lights to their positions. The other servers understood that this was the signal to snuff out their lights. Now only Hera''s dancing lights illuminated the ballroom, aside from the candles by the stairs where the actual ceremony would happen. Hera controlled the lights to group up tight above the entrance and waited. The princess walked in wearing a cream-colored dress that had a long tail, a corset, and a veil with a crown on top. It also seemed like she was wearing a long-sleeved jacket filled with embroidery that covered part of the corset, but in reality, that was part of the dress. The princess had pale skin, long silver hair, and green eyes, but she had a stoic expression. It was almost like she was walking towards a trial and not her own wedding. As she started walking, Hera made the dancing lights follow her, making one of the light shafts catch the bride''s eyes. The princess looked up and saw the clouds illuminated by both the lights and the vines behind them. And for a split second, Hera could''ve sworn that she had smiled. However, as soon as her eyes went to who was waiting for her in the makeshift altar, her expression darkened. Blue also noticed the change, and the two looked at the groom. He was a short, stubby dwarf with a long red beard and a warm smile. The man seemed to be older than the princess, but not by that much, and he looked at his bride with a genuine passion in his eyes. "What do you think?" Blue whispered to Hera. "It''s probably a political wedding, right?" "Yeah, and by her face, she must have someone else. If this was a book or a movie, she must have just met the love of her life," Blue nodded. "Oh, that is so clich¨¦, it should be because she wants to be queen, but only a man can sit on the throne." "C''mon. Everyone is doing the empowered woman these days. I miss a good love story against all odds." "Like what? The princess and the stable boy? There is a specific area in bookstores for those books, you know?" Hera chuckled. "I was thinking more about the princess and an artist or a crafter," Blue replied. The two stopped talking as a dwarf began the ceremony and asked everyone to be quiet. Hera just pulled two servers aside and asked them to cast lights near the altar so that everyone could have a better view. With that done, she just leaned back into the wall and watched as the bride and groom exchanged their vows. 269 - Tarot The ceremony wasn''t that long. It only took half an hour before the bride and groom exchanged their vows, and people started moving to the dining room. The princess and the groom were talking with Vetek, who pointed at the humans. In response to that, the groom waved them over. Hera and Blue weren''t sure what was about to happen, but they still didn''t get the notification saying they had completed the quest. With no other options, they headed over to the recently married couple. "These are the ones responsible for the decorations, my liege," Vetek said as Blue and Hera approached. "So you two are the cause of this heinous display?" the groom asked. "Heinous?" Blue rose one eyebrow. "Of course. Why were all the lights green and blue? Where are the gold and the silver? And how dare you ignore my presence and only make a grand entrance for the princess? I will be your king and demand to be treated as such." "But you weren''t," Hera replied in an icy voice. "What?" the groom stared at Hera. "With all due respect, before the ceremony was over, you had no claim to the throne. Acting in any way just by assuming that you would be married to the princess would be disrespectful to the royal family and might even be seen as a sign of treason. I''m sure that you would feel the same way if this was a ceremony for your future children," Hera continued. "Oh¡­ yes¡­ I supposed you have a point," the groom cleaned his throat, "Since you have given my wife such a beautiful entrance, I shall forgive this transgression. However, by royal decree, you are forbidden to organize any other events in this city," he turned to the princess, "Come, my love, let us proceed to the dining room." The groom and Vetek moved along with the rest of the people. "Man, I feel sorry for the princess for having to live with that asshole," Blue said after the man was far enough away. "I appreciate that someone at least seems to understand my predicament," the voice of the princess came from behind the humans. "Crap! I''m really sorry, your Highness," Blue bowed while apologizing. "Why are you bowing?" Hera asked. "I''m apologizing." "There is no need for that. I find all this politeness and manner to be extremely annoying," the princess said. "Ok¡­ but now I feel bad. I''m here badmouthing your husband, and I don''t even know your name," Blue scratched her head. "If that''s the case. I''m Asta, and my¡­ husband''s name is Bheletag. Now you know, feel free to badmouth him as much as you would like. Just be careful not to be heard," Asta made a small curtsey as she introduced herself. "Will do. If you don''t mind me asking, why did you get married if you don''t want to?" Blue asked. "It is a political marriage. My family needed to rally the power of a faction to avoid issues, and a marriage was the best option. In a way, I was lucky, I was supposed to marry his uncle, and that would be much worse, but recently Bheletag''s father broke off an arrangement so that his son could become the new king," Asta explained. "I''m sorry. Does that mean you won''t have any power? Or are you sad because you had someone else in mind?" Hera elbowed Blue''s stomach after she asked that question. "Stop being annoying. Respect the princess''s privacy," Hera stared at her friend. Asta chuckled, "Don''t worry. With Bheletag as my husband, I will keep most of the royal power. I''m sure you are aware that we don''t have any rules that a Queen can''t rule, but some things are still under the rule of men. And¡­," she looked around that room to make sure no one was listening, "Someone has stolen my heart. She''s a beautiful blacksmith, and I hope she''s doing well. Our story is a bit too convoluted to explain here. Maybe we can talk more later since now people must be waiting for me. But I wish to thank you. Even if my husband wasn''t happy with your work, I found it all to be beautiful." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the hidden history of the Weeding Disaster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera didn''t expect to get a secret so easily. She opened her map, and the history was there talking about the princess and the blacksmith, how they''ve met and what happened during the past year. "We are glad we could help, and who knows, maybe you can take that blacksmith as a lover. I''m not sure if you accept that type of thing here, though," Blue said. "For fuck¡¯s sake, can you not suggest that she starts cheating just after she got married?" Hera rolled her eyes. "What? She''s unhappy. I''m just trying to help!" Blue gasped. Asta giggled and thanked them once more before heading to the dining room. Hera and Blue followed her with their eyes and noticed the seer watching them in the corridor. Since talking to them was already part of the plan, this was a great opportunity. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but do you have a moment?" Hera asked. "But of course, I was waiting for you," Dwyn replied. "You knew we were going to talk to you?" Blue asked. "I am a seer, child. That allows me to see things that have yet to happen, and the truth of what is. For one, I know you two are human and not dwarven kind." Hera glanced at Blue, worried that this person could know that they were inside a dungeon, "Do you know anything else?" "Only that whatever magic you used to trick the rest of my people is strong, stronger than I have ever seen." There was a loud noise coming from the dining room. It was the sound of heavy stone doors being closed. Following that, a notification appeared in front of Hera and Blue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest inside the Weeding Disaster. The princess loved the wedding you organized, but the groom was not as excited. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Rewards: 25 000 gold Dwarven Wedding Gift Bag (C) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest as the first to enter this dungeon Rewards: +1 Level The Three of Stars Major Arcana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level 17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ah, I see you have become stronger. Since you both received an increase in your strength together, I assume you completed a quest, yes?" the seer asked. "You can even tell that?" Hera asked. "I can. These eyes of mine can see much more than you imagine," Dwyn turned to Blue, "For one, I can see that you have a new power within you. Something different and yet familiar to those such as myself." "Do you have a legacy?" Blue asked. "Indeed, but such things are better off unspoken," Dwyn replied. "Why?" Blue pressed. "Someday, you will understand. Now, children, I have to get to the ceremony unless I can interest you in a reading." "You mean like read our future?" Hera asked. "Yes, but not quite. I can see the thread of fate within you, and by using my powers, I can bend said fate. Tell me, child, which arcana were you gifted with?" the seer turned to Hera. In response, Hera picked up her tablet and selected the tarot reward she had just received. A large playing card appeared in her hand, depicting a figure with sharp cold eyes and reddish skin, wearing a twisted smile that made it seem like a sadistic serial killer. In the background, there seemed to be windows covered in blood and the light of a half moon. "Ah, yes. The three of stars. Unlike what it seems, this card can be a very good card to draw. It represents the reversal of fortune and an unwavering virtue. If this were a normal reading, this would be all I could tell you. However, this card was gifted by forces beyond ourselves, and the powers that made the universe have blessed it. It can trigger unique effects, and if you so wish to, I can reverse the card, changing its abilities," Dwyn explained. Hera used her [Inspect] in the card to see what it could actually do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Tarot Three of Stars - Major Arcana When activated, this card can increase the rank of a passive Luck-based skill by two for 1 hour or an active skill by 4 for one minute. By adding mana to the card, you can trigger its effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, this is insane!" Hera gasped. She never heard about items that could increase skill ranks. "Mine too," Blue said, "It can grant me a rank 5 recovery passive skill for 1 day. Or permanently increase my agility by 2 points." "Ah, yes. The Storm Cloud of the Golems arcana on its reversed form. It represents rebirth and flexibility against any situation. I''ve only seen it drawn a handful of times," the seer nodded. Blue''s card had a drawing of several golems falling down from a castle-shaped cloud, but she held the card upside down. "Can''t she turn the card so we can see it better?" Hera asked. "She may, however, the power of the tarot only exists in the position the card was drawn. Even if you change that, its power will remain the same," Dwyn explained. "Unless we ask for your help, right?" Blue asked. "Correct. I can reverse the cards for you, turning yours," the seer looked at Hera, "Into the Reversed Three of Stars, a card that represents a cunning mind and the toils of life. Its power should increase one''s intellect and remove that which afflicts you. The Three of Stars specifically is more powerful when it is reversed." "What about mine?" Blue asked. "The Storm Cloud of the Golems, when in its upright position, represents the magical power and the ability to create, and that is its strongest form," Dwyn said. "Oh¡­ that seems really good. What do you think?" Blue turned to Hera. "Can''t you tell us more about what the cards can do?" changing the buffs was a gamble, since they didn''t know what they actually did. Yet, this Three of Stars could end up being something that could help Helena. "I''m afraid I cannot. The cards will tell you the rest, and I may only interpret them. There is another thing you should be aware of. Reversing an arcana is not something absolute. The cards themselves have a will, and the process might fail. A failure could weaken the arcana, break the card or even destroy it completely. And this is a onetime option. If you choose to attempt the reversal, I won''t be able to do it again with the same card." Hera stopped for a moment. This was a big reward, but it shouldn''t be the only time that this happened. For the seer to be a part of the dungeon, it meant that there had to be a way to receive other tarot cards here. Even if the odds were low, losing this wouldn''t be like losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She could, at some point, get this card again. Not to mention that it should be possible to sell these cards since there was nothing talking about it being bound to her. "I want to have my card changed," Hera announced. "Me too. If this is already this strong when it is reversed, imagine when it''s upright!" Blue nodded. "Very well," Dwyn slapped their hands, and suddenly the entire scenario changed. Hera and Blue were now inside a dark tent filled with black and purple cloths. In front of them, there was a table covered in some sort of silk, and the two cards they were holding were now floating above that surface. On the other side, Dwyn was covered in an even deeper shadow with both their hands above the cards. Without uttering a single word, a spell was cast, and the cards began to twirl on their axes. They sped up more and more, turning almost invisible under the dim light that seemed to come out of nowhere. The Storm Cloud of Golems began to glow and spin, creating a globe with its afterimage. In contrast, The Three of Stars grew darker and slowed down. Little by little, the two cards continued to spin and become unrecognizable. One was becoming a beacon of light and the other a shadow deep enough to eat up the light. Finally, the Storm Cloud of Golems stopped and fell back to the desk. Another minute went by until the Three of Stars shattered with a loud sound of breaking glass, and only its frame remained. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Silver Lining Silver Lining: When something bad happens to you, there is a chance of it leading to something good. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­" Hera stared at the notification. This description was too random and too subjective. What would be considered something bad? Was it something she didn''t like, or something that would hurt her? And why did she get the skill now? Before she could consider any other questions, the area changed once more, and they were back in the ballroom. "Apologies, child. The fate felt offended by the change and pushed back against it. However, not all is lost," Dwyn picked up both cards and gave them to their owners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frame of the True Reversed Three of Stars The frame from one of the cards from the Kul Dorul Tarot. This card was broken during the process of reversing it, and it will take time to regenerate all its pieces. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, this is so broken," Blue gasped. "What?" Hera turned to her friend after putting her frame away. "If I use this card, the rate that my maximum mana grows will be 10 times higher for a week, or it will give me a skill related to crafting," Blue put her card in her pocket, "What about yours?" "It''s broken. It says it will take time to regenerate, but it doesn''t say anything else," Hera sighed. "That is correct. You now have the true Reversed Three of Stars. It is a much more powerful version than the one you had before, but unfortunately, the card was broken. Keep it with you, and the card will eventually regain its complete form," Dwyn said. "Any idea how long that will take?" Hera asked. "Unfortunately, no. But you can keep track when looking at the card. The closer it is to being whole again, the more of its picture will appear." "Right¡­ thanks." Hera felt let down. It also didn''t seem very fair. Blue had a legacy and now a powerful tarot card that could even give her a free skill, and she had no legacy and a broken card that would only be available to use who knows when. She pushed those thoughts away and tried to head to the dining room, but the doors were locked. Without another option, Hera and Blue thanked Dwyn once again and exited the dungeon. 270 - Human advice Hera and Blue were walking through the tunnel that led them to the dungeon. It was funny to think how worried they were before finding out what was on the other side of the passage. They were ready to fight for their lives and instead just had a day to plan an event. Silah''s muffled voice could be heard from beyond the doors as they got close to the exit. "They are much more¡­ outgoing. Romance is not simply something they crave, but they put it on display. Hera showed me some books on her tablet, the glowing rock with words. Even when the story is about adventure or war or whatever, romance is always a part of it, and they talk about¡­" Silah leaned in to whisper, "Kissing. Like it¡¯s nothing. Apparently, there are even books that describe¡­ more things." "More? Like what?" Rutigan asked, but Silah''s reaction instantly made him understand what she meant, "Oh, I see." "They are talking about books?" Blue asked Hera before they pushed the door open. "I guess. I''m angrier about the fact that she''s here and not home or somewhere else. I told her that these things can take time," Hera sighed. Silah, King Rutigan, and Fethy were waiting for Hera and Blue''s return outside the dungeon. They were sitting iaround a small table with a plate of food on top. Silah even had a box of equipment from the guard by her side, probably to occupy her mind with something instead of just waiting around. "Hera!" Silah rushed over and gave her girlfriend a big hug. "I''m mad at you, but hey," Hera hugged her back. "Can you two please wait to do that when I''m not around," Blue sighed. "See, you were worried for nothing. Humans are not comfortable with these types of displays either," Fethy turned to Rutigan. "What? You mean the hug?" Blue asked. "Exactly. I can see how that bothers you. You must feel that those displays must be kept in private like us," Fethy nodded while she talked. "Oh no. I really don''t. I mean, I''ve done much worse in much more public situations. It just bothers me because I''m kind of seeing someone, and I can''t be with them right now. I mean, she''s not in this city," Blue explained. "See, I was right to be worried, but that is a problem we can take care of later," Rutigan turned to the humans, "What was it like inside there?" "Before we explain. Can one of you test one thing?" Hera asked. "What?" Silah looked up from the still ongoing hug. "Try to open the dungeon door. I want to know if you guys are free to enter now that we got the first-time completion rewards." "Of course!" Rutigan jumped up from the chair and approached the door. His eyes shifted to a notification that appeared in front of him, and the King smiled, "The Voice of the Mountain is asking me if I wish to enter or not. However, it says 9 attempts remaining. Is that normal?" "9?" Hera turned around and put her hand on the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Weeding Disaster Dungeon? [Yes] [No] 9 Attempts remaining ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap, does that mean weekly?" Hera asked the air. Blue put her hand on the door to check for herself, "This is a problem. If it is, we can what, run this once per day?" "What is wrong?" Rutigan asked. "Some dungeons have limits on how many times we can complete them in a set period of time. You know how once per week the guard can get a better reward in the Wooly Plains? It''s like that, but it also adds that limit, but 9 times per week would be awful," Hera explained. "Why is that? You two spent so long inside that place that it should be impossible to go there twice in the same day," Fethy picked a strawberry from the plate. "The problem is that the number is the same for Rutigan and for us," Blue said in a solemn voice, "That means that the number of attempts is shared. So we have 9 attempts per week, and we have to find how to trigger the hard mode during one of those, or we will have to wait another week to try again." "So? That is annoying at best. Why the long faces?" Fethy asked. "Because they want to go home!" Silah cried, "Imagine if you were stuck away from here, away from anyone you knew and anyone you cared about. This is like dangling food in front of someone who''s starving." Fethy looked away. She might not be able to understand what that was like, but she could imagine how hard it was to be away from her loved ones for such a long time. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "It''s fine, Silah. And I have at least two people that I care about in here," Hera hugged her girlfriend, "I know you didn''t mean anything bad by it, Fethy, and you are not wrong. Worst-case scenario, we just will take longer to get back home. But can we go back to the castle? We should call Naka to discuss the dungeon, but just her for now." "Of course, but why just her? We should call the guards and the rest of the council as well. This will be¡­ what did you call it? A dungeon strategy meeting, correct?" Rutigan asked. "Not yet. We have to talk with you about some things first. Some parts of your possible past and some things that might affect you all," Blue said. She and Hera had discussed the possibilities of what the dungeon could be at length. One of them was that the dungeon could have people inside. This could be a big culture shock to the dwarves, especially after learning about the MAZE as a whole. Both Hera and Blue had seen some articles about people who were born inside the MAZE, who doubted they were even real. If the system could create a copy of someone so perfect to the point where you couldn''t distinguish them from a real person, who was to say that the entire MAZE wasn''t just a dungeon waiting to be reset. That was a fun philosophical idea, but if the concept was placed in a society like Boothudurn, things could escalate quickly. Hera and Blue gathered the council and Silah, who refused to leave Hera''s side, and explained what happened inside the dungeon. They didn''t filter anything and talked about the people, the obnoxious nobles, how the dwarven society there seemed to function, and the arranged marriage. At every turn, they reminded the council that the dungeon could have some differences from the actual event and that so far, there wasn''t a single thread of connection between them and the people inside the dungeon, aside from what the notification said. The dwarves listened intently. Naka and Fethy seemed to be more interested in the actual mechanics of the dungeon and the possible risks that it presented. Laurel and Telanz were also curious about the people inside, but more so about the food and magic they had seen be used. Only two people among the entire council were disturbed by the presence of other dwarves in the dungeon. Unfortunately, they were the two people that most would turn to when looking for advice. King Rutigan and his adviser Ogryn didn''t say much during the entire explanation. After a couple of hours, it was decided that Hera and Blue would lead a team to the dungeon. That team would include Naka, Fethy, Telanz, and Silah. That way, they could gauge how dangerous the place was before sending in more groups. Hera also took advantage of the discussion to make a guide for the dungeon on her tablet. After leaving Boothudurn, she could sell it to the guild and make some money out of it. Not that she would actually need it. After the months working with the guard, Hera and Blue had acquired a large sum of gold that would easily keep her set for the next decade. Even so, she would always need more money. As she went deeper into the MAZE, the prices would skyrocket, but so would her earnings. When the meeting was over, King Rutigan asked Hera and Blue to stay behind. Even Silah was asked to leave the room so he could talk with the humans in private. The only person allowed to be there was Ogryn. "Hera, Blue. I am going to ask you a question, and I hope you can give me a truthful answer," Rutigan took a deep breath, "Is this a dungeon?" "This? You mean this room or the entire city?" Blue asked. "The city. Are me and my people just¡­ creations of a dungeon?" Hera was taken aback. She never expected the King to come up with that question by himself. Sure, it was something that she and Blue were worried about, but very few people could arrive at a question about the reality of their own existence on their own. "No, you''re not. You and everyone here are real," Blue replied. "How can you be certain?" the King pressed. "Because there wasn''t anything telling us that this was a dungeon. No notification, no dungeon quest, nothing," Hera said. "But can''t that be because you have yet to discover that information? You said it yourself. In some dungeons, you don''t receive the quest right away. And if I recall a previous conversation, dungeons can have dungeons inside them. So the fact that you two came from a dungeon doesn''t affect anything," Ogryn had a worried expression. "All that is true, but there is one sure way to confirm that this is not a dungeon," Hera could feel the gaze of the dwarves burning a hole through her skull, "The bodies. More specifically, the dead bodies. Inside a dungeon, bodies will dissolve and leave loot behind. There are a few exceptions, such as the hard mode in the Wooly Plains, but that is temporary. You all saw the Sky Ruler corpse, and we had to butcher it and bring it down, and I''m assuming you have seen other corpses too. Unless one of the people who died in the city dissolved and dropped loot, you have nothing to worry about." "I see," Rutigan slumped back on his chair. His expression showed that he had just let go of a heavy weight on his shoulders. "If that will be all, we should head back home. The dungeon might not be dangerous, but it is a lot of work. Oh, but before that, let me say one thing. It might not be a good idea to share that concept with everyone. Thinking that everything is fake could lead some people to a dark path," Hera said, before going towards the door. "Yes, of course. If it''s ok with both of you, may we have meetings in the evening every day from now on? I believe we have much to discuss if our people are to live in harmony in the near future," Rutigan asked and received a confirmation from the humans. They might not be experts in foreign affairs, but they could at least keep teaching the dwarven King some of the basics of human society. Silah had taken the chance to stop by the guard and drop off the equipment box, and she would meet Hera and Blue later at their place. When the humans arrived home, Blue prepared two glasses of wine and turned to Hera, "To a successful first run, and another level up." "Cheers," Hera chuckled before drinking. "Do you mind if I ask you a question before Silah arrives?" "Sure, what''s up?" "Why didn''t you say anything about the levels to the King? As the reason why this place is not a dungeon. I mean, if it was, no one would be above level 10."Blue asked. "Oh, I just thought that it wouldn''t be that¡­ palpable? Like, if I say it''s because of the level, it feels more subjective. They might have that level because they are not killable here, or the dungeon itself might have different rules. By saying it''s about the bodies, they can go back and confirm at any moment. All they have to do is dig up a grave or open a mausoleum, and the body should be there. In the end, it was just how I felt it was the best way to make them relax," Hera explained. "I see¡­ Honestly, I didn''t even consider that possibility, but I see why it could be better," Blue sighed, "I''m definitively not a good ambassador." "Same, I think the guild has someone responsible for that. I just hope they don''t try to trick them." "Yeah, but everything will be ok," Blue poured another glass of wine for her, "And until then. Let''s party since we couldn''t join the wedding dinner." "Oh, tell me about it. I was dreaming about that cake. Next time I''m eating my fill during the tasting." They laughed and kept talking. Silah arrived sometime later and joined in the small party they were having. Things were looking great for Hera and Blue. They had finally opened the dungeon. All that was left was to find and beat the hard mode. 271 - Professional Work When Hera touched the dungeon entrance, they noticed that the part of the notification talking about the number of attempts remaining had vanished. This could mean that the reset had just happened, or that it was a daily thing. There could even be an issue related to the dungeon being cleared for the first time. As far as Hera knew, dungeons in the same room would share their reset schedule when they took the same amount of time to reset. Today was still Thursday, which meant that the reset in the Wooly Plains wouldn''t happen for a few days. This bode very well for Hera and Blue, but they were still cautiously optimistic. After pushing the door open, the humans guided Naka, Telanz, Fethy, and Silah through the dungeon. That ended up being more troublesome than expected. It was like taking a first-grade class to a theme park. Fethy kept pestering every single person inside the dungeon about their life, their style, and basically everything she could. It was a good thing they were inside a dungeon, and the replies of some of the dwarves were limited. Otherwise, she wouldn''t ever stop asking questions. Telanz was very interested in the vines and the pollen that was created by the flowers. He even walked inside the corridor to feel the effects himself. Thankfully, the healer''s endurance was much stronger than Blue''s. When the pollen covered the hallway, he took a deep breath and exited by himself. Even being at a high level, the flowers made Telanz get paralyzed, but the effect was different. Instead of being completely paralyzed, he only got some odd twitches that would bother him from time to time. That lasted only a few minutes while the healer analyzed the effects. After a while, he simply used a spell to remove all ailments from himself. Naka and Silah caused other issues. The guard captain wanted to cut down all the vines, even those outside the venue. Her attacks chipped away part of the structure, giving the building an even more beat-up appearance. Silah would freak out every time she saw one of the guards, wanting to see their weapons and armor. According to her, the craftsmanship was outstanding, and each piece of their uniform was an almost exact copy of the others. To make something on this level, the blacksmiths responsible for it should be incredibly skilled, maybe even more than Kahala. Hera had to remind her that the dungeon took some liberties with its version of the story a dozen times. All in all, it quickly became clear that Hera and Blue were far from being the best people to deal with a dungeon-like this. Fethy took charge of the decorations, and the difference between what she created and what they had done the previous day was like night and day. The dining room didn''t have that high school prom feeling or stage. Instead, all the tables were set up in a circle, creating a dance floor in the middle of the room. The band would stay at the back of the room not to attract too much attention, and, unlike Hera and Blue, who made the room as bright as possible, Fethy''s decorations used the natural darkness to their advantage. The only places that were well lit were the dancefloor and the table where the bride and groom would stay. The ballroom was insanely different, too. Instead of the traditional setup, with a large aisle in the middle, a twisting path would make the princess walk by all the guests before reaching the groom. Naka had removed all the vines from the ceiling and replaced them with gashes made by her broadswords. To hide that, Fethy made a layered display with the tablecloths that covered the entire ceiling. She placed the lights above that, creating a unique type of lighting in the area. The last touch was a thin cloud created by Blue that would follow the path to the altar. The idea was that it would make the bride look like an angel walking in the sky. With all that preparation, Hera and Blue didn''t have a chance to search for the hard mode, but it was understandable. Vetek continued to be obnoxious, and the servers only used spells after being shown what to do. The ceremony came and went, and they all received the quest rewards. The dwarves got the same 25 thousand gold that Hera and Blue received, but instead of a Gift bag (C), they received a (B) one. Oddly enough, Hera and Blue also got the same reward, giving more strength to the theory that the dungeon was on a different reset schedule. Vetek complained a lot about the destruction of the venue, even if he never saw any of the marks himself. Interestingly enough, this time, Dwyn went straight to the dining room. Hera thought that the seer would only approach her when she had a tarot card in hand. With everything done inside the dungeon, the group made their way to the exit. Everyone was still talking about what they had seen when Fethy said something that caught Hera''s attention. "I can''t wait to return here. I can only imagine what ideas Levirna will come up with. I do hope that she takes my advice to heart." Hera turned to the dwarf, "Advice?" "Oh yes, we had quite a long discussion about party planning. She''s a bright girl with an incredible future ahead of her, as long as she''s willing to take some chances," Fethy smiled. "Fethy¡­ I think you are misunderstanding something. The people inside there... They are not real," Hera said. "What are you talking about? They are not ghosts. I touched them, and they could bump into me. Of course, they are real," Fethy huffed. "Yes, they are not ghosts, but they are¡­ dolls. Things that are being controlled by the Voice of the Mountain. The moment we leave, everything inside here will vanish, or at least be reset and ready for the next group of people." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "But¡­ They are so alive. The discussions we had, was that all fake?" "I wouldn''t say they were. Anything you said and heard still happened. Just¡­ not for her," Hera said. Fethy didn''t reply. She just stared at the ground in deep thought. "Hera, a question, if you will. If someone would, perchance try to bring something back, a small rock, for instance. Could that be an issue?" Telanz asked. "You picked a flower, didn''t you?" Blue asked. ".... Maybe." "Yeah, he picked a flower," Naka sighed. "Well, some things from the dungeon can''t exist outside it. If that''s the case, it will just dissolve when we try to cross the entrance. Others can go out without an issue, but they might be seriously nerfed," Hera explained. "Nerfed?" Telanz asked. "Oh, sorry. That means it will be weaker than what you saw inside the dungeon. We''ve been to this dungeon that had these pearls that could remove any type of poison from your body when inside the dungeon, but outside, they just worked as a weak antidote," Hera explained. Naka and Silah were the least problematic of the dwarves. The captain only wanted to be there to protect everyone, especially Hera and Blue. As the humans walked around the city, Naka kept following them like a bodyguard. And Silah never left her girlfriend''s side. Hera enjoyed that closeness, but she knew that she would have to talk to her later about this. They saw each other every day, and when she had to go outside the MAZE or back to Brinefront, she would have to stay away for a time. Considering that Silah lived her entire life with the idea that everyone would always be close by, Hera was worried about how she would deal with the change. Still, there would be some time before she had to worry about that. They still had to find a way to trigger the dungeon''s hard mode. After leaving the dungeon, Hera checked if the remaining attempted message would pop up again. Sure enough, there it was, telling her that there were 9 attempts left. She even got King Rutigan to confirm that the message would appear for him as well. Tomorrow, they could check that again to confirm if the dungeon was in a daily reset or not. The group split off, and Silah even went home. She had spent almost an entire week sleeping at Hera''s place, but now she needed to get a change of clothes and stay with her family for a bit. That gave the humans some time alone, and they remembered to take out the rewards from the gift bags. Hera focused more on the level up. She got 28 attribute points this time. It was the highest amount she ever got, which allowed her to get all her stats to 48, increasing them all by 2. She was getting very close to having all her attributes at 50, but that should still take a couple of levels since there was not a single point remaining this time. There were also the gift bags. Hera and Blue ended up so swept up by the meetings and the discussion of the dungeon that they completely forgot about the rewards. At first, having received a (C) gift bag for their run seemed unfair. They made a beautiful ceremony, but after seeing what Fethy had done with the place, it became clear why they got a lesser reward. Still, they now had two of the bags to open. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gold Anvil An anvil made out of solid gold. It can be converted into 10 000 gold or be used as a crafting material. When used as a material, the final product can receive one of the following effects: Increased heat and electricity conductivity Corrosion Resistant Increased flexibility ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Tarot Five of Stone - Minor arcana When activated, this card can increase the damage you deal to any type of stone by 20% for 50 minutes or your mining speed for 5 hours. By adding mana to the card, you can trigger its effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera got the anvil, which was roughly the size of a bowling ball, just much heavier, from the (C) bag and the tarot card from the (B) one. Blue also got an anvil from the (B) bag and some seeds for a wild cave flower from the (C) one. She agreed to set them aside and give some to Telanz and some to Risli since they were most likely to be interested in growing different plants in the city. Blue also talked about the tarot card with Stormcloud, she had an idea that getting some crafting skills could help her mold her clouds better, and the herald agreed, but since they didn''t know what type of skill she would gain, it would be hard to say if it would help. In the end, Blue decided to wait for a while before using her card. The entire conversation annoyed Hera. It was weird seeing her friend talking to the air, and she constantly said the legacy''s name. Not to mention that Blue was using the legacy for everything ever since she completed it. At first, it was just while she trained, but things escalated to the point where Blue was even using the clouds to dry herself after a bath or as steam to cover her body instead of a robe. Hera knew that the only reason she wasn''t cooking or picking up dishes with the clouds was that they were too violent for delicate tasks. The following day, Hera, Blue, and Silah went to the dungeon once more. However, they were surprised by the path. First, they didn''t have to go through the palace anymore, but instead, there was a side road that would lead to the dungeon and the doorway. The king had changed the layout so that the dungeon wouldn''t be hidden away anymore. Not just that, but several people were waiting for the humans in front of the stone door leading to the Weeding Disaster. Fethy and Naka had set up several teams to join the runs while keeping the apparent limit of 10 groups per day in mind. Most of the dwarves there were crafters, with at least one guard per group. This was all because they were all curious about the designs made by the old kingdom. Fethy herself already had made a shirt with large puffy shoulders. It was much more elegant than what Vetek wore inside the dungeon, but still felt out of place around so many people with more modern outfits. Hera and Blue double-checked the dungeon one more time, and sure enough, the message saying the number of attempts had vanished. They had one team to head inside first, and the information that only 9 attempts remained already appeared. This would''ve been so much easier if they had done this before, but it wasn''t something that occured to either of them Now, with 10 groups per day trying to find the hard mode dungeon, it should only be a matter of time before the room would open. 13 days later, their efforts were rewarded. After Blue and Hera left the dungeon, Sevaris and his group walked over to the humans. "We found out how to get into the hard mode." 272 - Over the edge The discovery of the hard mode thrilled Hera and Blue. This was the last step, the last thing they had to do before unlocking the room and finally going back home. To help them find what unlocked it, Sevaris explained what his team did inside the dungeon. Every group that went inside the Weeding Disaster had to give a complete report about all that happened inside. That way, when the hard mode was triggered, they could cross-reference the reports to understand what was different among the runs. Luckily, in Sevaris''s case, there was only a single thing that no one had ever done. First, they had to complete all the decorations and ask Lervina for more supplies. This was already known. Then, in the warehouse where some other boxes with tablecloths and other trinkets were, they should ask one of the people in there for help to bring the supplies back to the venue. Other teams already had arrived at that point. What actually changed was the interaction with the worker. Most people tried to ask Lervina to allow that worker to join in the ceremony. He treated everyone with such kindness and respect that even if he wasn''t real, everyone wanted to help him. However, after her denial, someone on Sevaris''s team tried something else. They went after Vetek and asked him to allow the worker to join the ceremony. That set the noble off, making him berate the worker and the people who brought him to the point of even splashing the two with milk and any other beverage that was around. He called them every name in the book and kicked both out of the venue. He went as far as ordering the guards to stop either of them from crossing the gates. The worker left, leaving the crafter from Boothudurn alone outside the venue. Sevaris and his team got really worried about that since the way out of the dungeon was in the kitchen, but when the ceremony was about to start, the worker returned with a few other dwarves and they arrived at the ballroom, crossing the gates without any issue. When they all got close to the entrance, the message about the quest being completed appeared, and all the dwarves from Kul Dorul stopped moving. It was like they had all turned into a painting that couldn''t be moved even if someone pushed them around. Along with the message about the quest, a second message appeared, letting the team know that they had discovered the hard mode and completed the hidden quest. The extra reward was just a hydration potion that could increase your resistance to dehydration. It was basically a super shot of water. That seemed a bit underwhelming since the rewards they got from the Wooly Plains would actively help with triggering the hard mode. Still, it could mean that if they didn''t use that potion, and had it on them during the hard mode, they might get an upgrade. This was something she had to worry about on another day. Right now there were more pressing matters, and that was to trigger the hard mode. "Does that mean we need to do it on the same day?" Blue asked. "What?" Hera turned to her friend. "Don''t we have to do the hard mode right after doing the normal dungeon? Because of the reset." "Shit. You''re right," Hera sighed. "What do you mean?" Sevaris asked. "You know how the dungeon resets every week and we have to do the normal mode and unlock the hard mode before going there again?" Hera turned to the dwarf. "Yeah, crap. Are you saying that because this one resets every day, we might have to trigger the hard mode every day?" Sevaris gasped. "Exactly. Either way, this is something we can test. Can you guys try to enter it? Like, just check if the notification appears." Sevaris nodded and touched the door. A few seconds later, he stepped back with a confused expression. "What happened?" Blue asked. "I''m.. not sure. The voice of the mountain said I have no remaining attempts available and that I can''t enter the hard mode because I''m a descendant of someone who was a part of the events present in there," Sevaris said. "Oh, fuck me!" Hera cried, "That crap again?" Sevaris cleared his throat, "Well, yes. It seems so, unfortunately." Hera noticed that the dwarf''s ears were very red, "Are you ok? Did you get burned or something?" "It''s because of what you said," Silah intervened. "What?" "The F me is not an expression we tend to use as a curse. It''s more like¡­ an invitation," as Silah explained, Blue started laughing. "No, no, no. I''m sorry I didn''t mean it like that," Hera felt her cheeks getting hot. "Don''t worry. It''s just a difference in cultures," Sevaris replied, but quickly moved away from the human and back to his group. "Oh man, I really hope it''s not awkward between us now," Hera sighed. "It won''t be. Don''t worry, baby," Sila bumped into Hera with her shoulder. "It should be babe and not baby. It ends with an E and not a Y," Blue said while rolling her eyes at the two. Focusing once more in the dungeon. Hera thought about what the hard mode could be. The main problem wouldn''t be so much the back-to-back dungeon runs. She was used to that, but if the hard mode took the same amount of time, it could be tricky. Facing a normal dungeon already had some risks, and in the last few hours, they would be very prone to make mistakes. "We should come back in a few hours then, right?" Blue''s voice broke Hera''s concentration. "In a few hours?" "Yeah, we wait until midnight and check the dungeon after the reset. If the hard mode is still there, great, if not we go inside, do the dungeon, then come out, sleep and go to the hard mode later," Hera just stared at Blue, surprised by the suggestion, "Why are you looking at me weird?" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Sorry. I didn''t even think about that. You just caught me off guard," Hera explained. Blue huffed and crossed her arms, "You always underestimate my brain. I''m much smarter than I look." "You can''t actually blame me. You spent half an hour trying to put your gloves on today before realizing you were trying to put the left gauntlet on the right hand," Hera chuckled. "I don''t work well when I just woke up and you know that." "Fine, fine. But that''s a good idea. I''m not sure if anyone else wants to join us, though," Hera said. "I''m in!" Silah said. "I can come too. You need someone to check if the hard mode is still there or not, but I won''t join the dungeon. I woke up a bit too early today and these old bones are not as spry as they used to," Sevaris said. "I wouldn''t mind going as well, maybe there are some differences in starting at night," Fethy had just come out of the dungeon. "I don''t think there will, but sure," Blue said. They talked a bit and decided to have a smaller team with just Hera, Blue, Fethy, and Silah, but this would be more than enough to complete the mission. Everyone returned home to get ready for the dungeon and the subsequent hard mode. Hera stopped by Risli to ask for some healing potions and something that might help them during the dungeon. "Did you waste all the potions I gave you for the fight against the Sky Ruler?" Risli asked. "They didn''t go to waste¡­ I just didn''t use them during the battle," Hera replied meekly. "What did you use them for? And why not in the fight?" Risli squinted at Hera. "I didn''t have a chance. Everything happened so fast during the fight and when I got injured, I was literally inside the Sky Ruler''s mouth. I used the ones you gave me in the Weeding Disaster dungeon, trying to get the hard mode to trigger. There were some people who seemed injured, and I just thought that it could be a way to find some secrets," Hera explained. "Honestly, child. Do you think the materials to make these potions can be mined?" "No, but they do grow on trees," Hera replied with a smile. "Your quips can be very annoying at times," Risli sighed as she grabbed a small box with three potions, "Here, the two red ones can recover your injuries, but only to a certain extent. This green one can take care of any poison or other things that might affect you. I haven''t tested all the possibilities yet, but it should cover almost everything. Take this too," Risli picked a small leather pouch from a drawer, "If you get close to those flowers again toss the powder that''s inside there. It should nullify the pollen." "Oh, thanks! It''s going to be a lot of help." "Of course it will. I wouldn''t make something useless," Risli scoffed and turned around, "Now go home. It seems you have a long night ahead of you." Hera thanked her and returned home. After eating dinner, she, Blue, and Silah took a quick nap, just to be rested enough to clear the dungeon without an issue. They woke up a little after 11 P.M. and headed to the Weeding Disaster. After meeting with Fethy, they waited until midnight and Sevaris tried to enter the dungeon. As expected, the reset already happened, and they still had attempts available, but the hard mode wasn''t appearing for the dwarf anymore. Thanking the man, Hera and her group went into the dungeon. Everyone was already used to the tasks. After a couple of weeks doing runs every day, the time it took to actually complete everything became much smaller. In just three hours, all the decorations were ready, and the dress had been delivered. Following that, they asked Lervina about the extra supplies and headed to the warehouse. It didn''t take long for them to find the dwarf that would help trigger the hard mode. His name was Telid, a tall man by dwarven standards, towering at 167 centimeters. He was still shorter than Hera and Blue, but anyone could easily confuse him with a short human, and that wasn''t just because of his height. Unlike other dwarfs, he was very skinny. Just looking at his body made it seem like the man was malnourished, but it was just a misconception. There was nothing about his behavior that would make it seem like he wasn''t in the best health possible. "When we get there, we can ask lord Rimmok to allow you to help during the ceremony as a thank you. What do you think?" Blue asked Telid. "Oh, I don''t know, miss. I''m just a worker. My blood is not noble enough to be a part of that," Telid replied. "Oh, don''t be like that. I''m sure we can make it work," Blue gave a sad smile. She knew what was about to happen, and the man in front of her had such a gentle soul. Every time they went to the warehouse, he always helped with everything he could, and even offered some coffee and biscuits for anyone who seemed a bit tired. Forcing him to do something that would cause him pain seemed way too cruel, but it wasn''t like they had any other options. The group walked up to the venue and talked first with Lervina. Just like Sevaris said, she said Telid couldn''t be there, and she didn''t have the power to allow him to stay. The only one who could do something like that was Vetek. After taking a deep breath, Hera and the entire group headed to Lord Rimmok''s office. Despite the butler''s protests, they knocked on the door and called the noble. After a few moments, the man told the group to enter. He was sitting on a couch while wearing a white onesie and as he got up to grab a glass of milk, they all saw that his outfit had a flap atop his buttocks. "Why do you dare interrupt my rest?" Vetek asked the group. "We want to ask you to allow this man, Telid, to take part in the ceremony as a server. He''s been very helpful while we prepare the ceremony, and he would be honored to help," Blue replied. "That is easy enough to do, and I suppose you are helping me," Vetek turned to Telid, "Tell me, what house do you hail from?" "I have no house, my lord. My family comes from workers in the mines and as storage keepers. I''ve been studying to become a merchant''s assistant and¡­" Before Telid could finish his sentence, Vetek walked over to him and splashed the man with what was left of his half glass of milk. "You¡­ you¡­ lowly houseless dare to speak up in my presence?! And you even dare to ask for a favor? You should be crawling on the floor, kissing the ground I walk, boy. You will pay for this offense, you worthless creature. And I''ll make sure your family and your entire lineage pay the price for your attempt to steal a noble merchant''s job. Get out of here before you make the entire venue reek with pig''s blood," Vetek waved his hand to the door. Hera, Blue, and all the dwarves were all staring at the noble with horrified expressions. The man went from 0 to 100 absurdly fast, and the barrage of insults was completely out of nowhere. Blue and Silah walked forward with fury in their eyes, ready to attack Vetek. But Hera and Fethy stopped them. "Hera, let me go," Blue said, without looking back. "He doesn''t have a level. We won''t be able to touch him. Besides, he''s already dead," Hera did her best to seem calm but Blue wasn''t the only one enraged. After a long pause, Blue replied between her teeth, "Fine. I hope I never have to see this asshole again." They all headed out of the venue, apologizing again and again to Telid for what happened. The dwarf just smiled and walked off into the city. After having this sour taste in their mouths, the group gave up on looking for anything else to do there and grabbed a couple of bottles of wine before heading to the garden to wait for the ceremony to start. The hours went by and even Fethy took the time to cool off and relax until night came and the guests started to arrive. After the princess walked in, Telid appeared, followed by dozens of other dwarves wearing large hooded cloaks that covered their heads. They all walked through the gate and reached the entrance, but before anything else could happen, all the dwarves stopped moving. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a hidden dungeon quest inside the Weeding Disaster. Your actions have pushed the leader of a rebellion to strike against their oppressors. Rewards: Access to Weeding Disaster hard mode Potion of hydration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked around to see anything that could show what was going on and noticed that several of the dwarves were holding bottles of a clear liquid with a piece of cloth halfway stuck in the bottle. Whatever was going to happen in the hard mode, it wouldn''t be good. 273 - Dungeon Surprise Hera and the others had already left the dungeon. Despite their small nap in the evening, they were exhausted since it was already past 10 A.M. Before splitting off, Fethy gave the potion of hydration she got as a reward to Blue, and Silah gave hers to Hera. They had no idea if it would be helpful for the dungeon or not, Nevertheless, it was better to be safe than sorry. Silah went back to her home to let Hera and Blue rest properly. The dungeon apparently was about a revolution, but the dwarves didn''t understand exactly what that could mean. They knew the meaning of the word, but their society never had any significant conflicts. They were unaware of the kind of madness that something like that could create. Hera was positive that this revolution would have something to do with the great fire that destroyed the room the dwarves came from. Or at least, that''s what it seemed like, since the people that appeared before the ceremony started were carrying unlit Molotov cocktails. Hera and Blue discussed some possibilities, but the lack of sleep was getting to them. It was better to go home and rest before trying to think about anything else. Both of them were so tired that they were out the moment their heads touched their pillows. When Hera woke up, she realized she ended up sleeping with her armor on. This made her body feel stiff, and her bed was a complete mess. After getting up, she picked up her tablet, hoping she didn''t pass out for too long. Thankfully, it was still only 6 P.M. During the previous week, a group entered the dungeon late in the afternoon and only came out hours after midnight. The only problem that this situation created was that they started the day with one less attempt than usual, but it also meant that they could stay past the reset inside the dungeon with no issues. Hera went outside her room and heard Blue snoring. Not wanting to wake her up too soon, she took advantage of that situation to take a warm bath and try to relax her body. Later, Blue woke up and took a bath herself while Hera was making something to eat. Now that she was awake and focused, the explorer started to think about the dungeon once more. Most dungeons were based on actual events. The more important the event, the more likely it was for one to be created. A fire that destroyed an entire room should be more than enough for a dungeon to appear. What she wanted to figure out was the actual event they would be seeing. If they would just witness the start of the fire or maybe even help cause it, or if they would have to fight it off and stop it from happening altogether. The Wooly Plains hard mode was proof that, at times, a dungeon could show an alternate reality. This also meant that the dungeon might have nothing to do with the fire that destroyed the room. Maybe the revolution would somehow prevent the start of that fire or this would be a society where the fire never happened in the first place. Hera was so distracted with her ideas that she didn''t notice when the food started to burn. She took the chicken breast out of the pan and sighed. "I guess this one is mine." Blue came out of the bathroom, using a cloud to cover her body instead of her robe, and grabbed some of the french fries Hera made. "Can you please put on some clothes before eating?" Hera asked. "It''s not like you can see anything, and I''m going to get dressed. This just smells so good." "Then get dressed first, and then come eat." "Fine, fine." Blue went to her room and came back a few moments later. They started eating and talking about the dungeon. After explaining all her theories, Blue added her own. She thought that maybe the revolution was about the oppression and the nobles'' issues with the commoners. Although she agreed that the dungeon could be about the fire, it could also be about changing their leaders. Since the normal mode was something more social, the hard mode could follow that. "That''s fair, but do you mind changing one of the blank clouds you have saved to an actual rain one? I''m worried that we''ll have to deal with the fire," Hera asked. "Sure. I can change the fire rain one, but I can only change those once a week. Do you have a water spell?" Blue started preparing the cloud. "I have a weak one, just to clean stuff up and have something to drink in emergencies. Does that work?" "It works, but if the spell is stronger, the effect is better. Let''s try it. I know that if a spell is too strong, I can''t mix it with the cloud," Blue explained. Hera used a spell called Water Spring that made a small stream of potable water appear from her hands. For the size and the amount of water created, it took an absurd amount of mana. To fill just a single cup, it took almost a minute and a whopping 2 thousand mana. Hera ended up having to use almost all her mana, so Blue''s blank cloud could get enough water mana to change. Unfortunately, the result was a windy drizzle. The water should be drinkable, but still, it was too weak to do anything helpful. Blue let go of the spell without saving it for later use. "What about using the sandstorm?" Blue asked. Hera thought for a moment, "I''m not sure. I mean, in theory, it might asphyxiate the fire. Then again¡­ if the fire ends up just heating up the soil, it could work like embers and spread it even more." "Yeah, let''s not try that then. We can check with Ogryn if any mages specialize in water spells." "It''s a good idea. Should we eat and go, or do you need to rest some more?" Hera asked. "Let''s just go. We are so close to opening the room." Hera nodded. Blue wasn''t the only one who wanted to open the room soon, and this should be the last step to do so. She only hoped that Helena and the girls were doing well. After finishing their meal, they headed out, searching for Ogryn. The best option was to go to the mage''s quarters. That way, they could already talk with whoever would help them. Arriving at their destination, Hera and Blue were greeted by an odd sight. Everyone was moving in a hurry, and some of the mages were grabbing their tools as if they were about to leave. "What happened?" Blue asked. "Master Ogryn went to fight the Sky Ruler." Hera and Blue stared at each other. "But the Sky Ruler is dead," Blue said. "You mean the Starved one? Or one of those in the Wooly Plains hard mode?" Hera asked. "No, he went to the nest. Totrak, Lija, and Pyrrick went there too!" another mage gasped. Blue turned to Hera, "Should we go? I mean, are they safe?" "I think they are. The barrier is gone, right? Everyone can hit the griffons now, even in the dungeon," Hera leaned in and whispered, "Does Stormcloud know anything about that?" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Blue turned around and quietly asked the herald. There were a few dwarves that knew about the legacy, but she was doing her best to keep it hidden from most people. "He says he doesn''t. There is no other piece of him lying around," Blue replied. Hera sighed, "Yeah, let''s go check. Now I''m worried." "Me too," Blue nodded as they left the building. The path to the nest was more or less open now. Even if most people weren''t aware of the hidden tunnel, everyone knew that the path to the nest was somewhere inside the mines. Because of that, Hera and Blue didn''t worry about hiding while walking. If anyone wanted to follow them, there wouldn''t be any issues, and several of the mages did exactly that. The small parade walked inside the mines and then up the tunnel. It was a fun little excursion, Hera and Blue spent some time with the mages, training spells, and creating new ones. The dwarven spell crafters were all very excited about sharing their knowledge and curious about how human magic worked. In 40 minutes, they arrived at the entrance of the nest. As soon as they saw the area, Blue and Hera froze. Lija was there, and so were Telanz and Naka, but that wasn''t the scary part. On the other side, right where the tunnel exit should be, a spinning cloud barrier blocked the path. "What the hell is that?" Blue gasped. "Oh, why are you here? Weren''t you going to do the hard mode of the other dungeon?" Naka asked. "Yeah, but we heard Ogryn came to fight the Sky Ruler, and we got worried. Where is he?" Hera asked. Naka just pointed at the barrier. "What? Did he die?" Blue''s eyes went wide. That barrier should be lethal to the dwarves. "No, he''s fine. I think. He just went in there, with Sevaris, Totrak, and Pyrrick," Lija explained. "In the nest?" Hera asked. "In a way," Naka replied. "Can someone please explain what is going on?" Blue gasped. "You see, dear. It appears that the nest has become a dungeon," Telanz said. "Say what now?" Hera stared at the man. "What now?" a few of the mages replied. "What?" Blue turned around. "She told us to say ''what now.''" "Can everybody shut up just for a moment," Hera cried and turned to Telanz, "The nest is a dungeon now?" "Exactly. This was discovered today. We quickly made a group, led by our captain here, and came to explore this new development. Alas, we three were unable to enter," Telanz explained with a shrug. "Why?" Blue asked. "Try to enter. It can help us make sure of one thing too," Lija said. Hera and Blue approached the barrier and carefully touched it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Nest Type: Dungeon The nest of the creatures known as the Sky Rulers. For eons, they lorded over the mountain, but now they have become vulnerable to attacks. The first clear of this dungeon may not be completed by any descendants of the people present in the events that created the dungeon. You were present during the event that created the dungeon. Entry denied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the message appeared, the barrier stopped their hands. Even after trying to push it, it didn''t budge. "We... we created a dungeon?" Blue asked. Hera just stared at her. They were the last ones to come inside the nest, at least while the Sky Ruler was alive. As strange as that might sound, this should be a place that exists because of something that they did. Did their actions affect this place so much? Seeing that her friend wasn''t going to reply, Blue turned to the captain, "If it''s like what we did, it shouldn''t take long. Do you know if they just went inside or something? "They''ve been there for close to an hour already," Naka replied. "I guess they are just hanging out there then," Blue shrugged. The nest was a beautiful place. It wouldn''t be that much of a surprise if they stopped to enjoy the sights. "Yeah, you said Ogryn was there. A level 15 monster wouldn''t even touch him," Hera snapped back to reality. "If you say so. I''m waiting for another 30 minutes before sending another group after them," Naka replied, "You two should go. There is nothing you can do here, even if you tried. You are stuck, just like us." As curious as they were, Hera and Blue nodded and headed back to the city. They knew the captain was right. If they couldn''t enter the dungeon, there was nothing they could do to help those inside. Besides, there was no way that the dwarves would have any problems dealing with the Sky Ruler and its spawn. Before going down, they asked the mages that followed them if anyone had strong water spells. The more violent the better, according to Blue. Luckily one of them had one called ''Tidal Explosion.'' It was a way to either create a large wave or to make what was essentially a giant water balloon. This was enough for Blue''s blank cloud to turn into a microburst. After that, the humans walked down while the mages stayed there. When reaching the Weeding Disaster dungeon, Hera and Blue saw Silah and Rutigan waiting in front of the entrance. "We were waiting for you," Rutigan got up from his chair when he saw the two humans arriving. "Sorry, we heard about the nest and got worried," Blue replied. "I see, fear not. We sent our best there. I''m sure that the captain can easily deal with anything that happens since she is already used to fighting those creatures," Rutigan nodded. "Yeah, but she can''t enter. Ogryn went inside with Sevaris and a few others," Hera walked over to Silah and grabbed her hand, "Sorry we made you wait." "Don''t worry. I didn''t wait long, but what''s going on in the nest?" "No one told you? Apparently, the nest turned into a dungeon, but the people who were part of the fight against the Sky Ruler can''t enter, not even Naka, Lija, and Telanz who popped inside just for a moment," Hera explained. Rutigan''s expression darkened when he heard that. He looked back to the passage leading back to the city and then to Hera and Blue, "Well, I''m sure you are as excited as I am to complete the dungeon. Is there anything else that I can help you with?" "No, I think we are ok. We have a bottle of water, some potions, and our gear is in top shape," Hera smiled. "Right. If you don''t mind then. I believe I should head to the nest. I''m worried about Ogryn. I wish you the best of luck, and I''ll send Telanz to be on standby here as soon as I can," Rutigan gave them a small bow and headed back to the city. "I''ll be here too. Just¡­ be safe," Silah gave Hera a kiss. "We will," Hera turned to Blue, "Ready?" "You don''t even have to ask," she replied with a large smile before they placed their hands on the stone door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conditions met for the Weeding Disaster hard mode Choose the version of the dungeon you wish to enter [Normal Mode] [Hard Mode] (1 attempt remaining) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Touching the hard mode option, the door opened, and the humans went inside. They crossed the same corridor, and at first, nothing seemed to be different. However, when getting closer to the door on the other end of the tunnel, they noticed some changes. For one, the noise was different. Instead of the sounds of clanging metal, they could hear screams and cries for help. They didn''t arrive in the kitchen like in the normal mode, but instead, they were just outside the castle gates. People were screaming and running around, with the noises seeming to come from everywhere. There were a handful of buildings on fire, spread around the city, and the lower area of the city had collapsed and was now just a pile of flame and rubble. There was so much in the air that they couldn''t even see the other side of the cave. However, the most ominous part of this was hovering above their heads. Fuelled by clouds of ash and soot that rose from the flaming structures, a thick layer of pitch-black smoke covered the cavern''s ceiling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Escape the City Dungeon Quest: The city of Kul Dorul is in flames. You must lead the people to a safe exit, or their civilization will perish. First Completion rewards: 45 000 gold, Random Source of Flame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first ever to attempt this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: Boothudurn Doorway Key + 1 Level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess you were right," Blue''s eyes stared into the rubble that once was a city. "I really didn''t want to be," Hera replied as the screams of the dwarves filled her ears. 274 - Roaring Flames The first thing that Hera and Blue did was to try to get some information from someone, anyone. As the people were running around, they tried to stop them to ask some quick questions, but this close to the palace, no one seemed to be willing to stop. Here, there were only guards that were rushing to help the royal family or nobles who only cared about themselves. Oddly enough, Hera and Blue weren''t freaking out with the situation. Not that they weren''t in danger or that this wasn''t scary, but there was only a single building on fire in their vicinity. The venue for the wedding. Aside from that, this seemed to be the safest place in the entire city, and the highest as well. This gave them the best possible view to find any locations that were not threatened by the flames. Even if this was a race against the clock, planning their steps was a part of it. Going in blind without a plan was a sure way to get themselves killed. The first place that Hera considered to be safe was the orchard. Since it was farther away than most buildings, it seemed logical that the flames weren''t able to reach it. Not to mention the large hole in the ceiling that could be an exit. However, when her eyes went in that direction, she didn''t see the small green patch. Instead, the area had turned into a massive bonfire, with the flames going high up to the cavern, even licking the opening to the outside. After thinking for a moment, Hera turned to Blue, "Can you do that microburst thing on the venue?" "Sure, but why? Do you think anyone is still alive in there?" Blue looked at the ballroom. The fires were so intense that she couldn''t even see the building, just the gate and the massive flames where once was the entrance. "Maybe, but I''m more interested in how much that cloud will help against the fire." Blue nodded, and the two hurried over to the wedding venue. To avoid wasting too much mana, Blue had to get closer. In theory, she could start making clouds that moved through the entire area, but since the hot air created by the flames changed the currents, just holding the clouds in place would be an issue. If she intended to use her legacy to put out the fire, she couldn''t waste her mana for no reason. After triggering her armguards, Blue moved her hands, using the mist created by her gear to help fuel a light blue cloud that was shaped into a ball. After a few moments, she held the cloud in one hand and tossed it almost as if it was a baseball towards the top of the ballroom. The small sphere grew and spread until it covered the entire building, or at least what Blue thought was the building. Suddenly, the cloud spilled out water and heavy wind, almost like it had opened a drain. It was a violent show as the microburst slammed against the flames, both trying to overwhelm each other. The waters pushed the fire back, but the hot air attempted to shove the cloud away. This small battle lasted for a while, but just as the fire seemed to be retreating, the microburst storm vanished. Hera turned to Blue and saw her friend heaving with some sweat dripping from her face. "Are you ok?" "Yeah, this just¡­. Takes a lot of me¡­." Blue was trying to catch her breath. That cloud was much more potent than the ones she used to fight the Sky Ruler. However, using the complete legacy was much more taxing. These new clouds required mana to be created, but it wasn''t just that. The magic used Blue''s stamina and mental strength to increase its effects. "Do you need some water?" Hera offered her bottle. "I have mine, thanks," Blue sat for a moment, just to recover her strength. The fire roaring in the wedding venue was already regaining its strength, but at least it wasn''t spreading. It seemed to be focused only on the building itself. Even the surrounding garden was unscathed for the moment. "If anything happens, just yell or use the comms. I want to see if the back looks like that too, but you stay here. We need to start moving soon," Hera said, before going around the building. She was worried that she couldn''t see the vines. It could be nothing, but worst-case scenario, they could help spread the fire. She hurried over to where the pots were during the normal mode but couldn''t find them or the vines. In this version of the dungeon, it looked like the roots were never an issue. There weren''t any markings or ashes that could have come from the vegetation. To be sure, Hera walked around the venue, trying to see if there was anything different. The back of the building was the same as it was before, aside from the flames, since here they were much weaker than those on the front. However, as she walked around to the other side, Hera noticed a noise coming from somewhere in the building. Getting closer, she saw a basement door with some flaming rocks on top of it. There was some banging on the door and some muffled screams coming from inside it. "Hang on! Move away from the door!" Hera waited a moment, and the screams stopped. Using a stone pillar spell to push the rocks away, she ripped the door from the ground, revealing a small staircase and a group of people. Even more surprising, the princess was in front of the group, "Here," Hera put out her hand and helped the people inside get out of the burning building. All the dwarves that came out were either the servers or the cooks working on the wedding. The princess was the only noble among them all. "Is everyone ok? Is there anyone else inside?" Hera asked. "We are, thank you. And it is just us. When those people started burning everyone, I called over as many as I could to the kitchen to come here. I just wasn''t expecting this door to be stuck, and by the time we got here, everything behind us was in flames," Asta explained. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "At least you are ok," Hera glanced at the flaming rock. She didn''t think about it before, but there wasn''t any wood in the building''s structure, and the stone itself was burning. She hoped that this was just an effect of the dungeon, and not that they had somehow created something that could actually burn rocks. Shaking her head, she turned back to the princess, "We need to find an exit. Do you know where the doorways are?" "I know of two. One on the other side of the city, and another behind the castle, but the guards will never allow you, or them, to go there," Asta said. Hera knew that the exit behind the castle probably would collapse before anyone could get out. According to Rutigan and Ogryn, only some of the commoners were able to leave the city while the rest perished in the fire. "Can you take us there? Not to the one behind the castle, to the other one," Hera asked. "I can''t. My father will be searching for me. If any guard sees me, they will believe I''m being kidnapped, and if any of the people responsible for the fire see me, they will try to kill me on sight. They seem to target nobles. They burned Lord Rimmok alive before we hid in the basement." A small part of Hera was glad that Vetek wasn''t around anymore, but no one deserved to die like that. Pushing those thoughts aside, she pulled up her tablet and opened her map. It only showed the areas in the city where she had already been to, but it was the best option she had at the moment. "Can you point where the exit is here? I know that is mostly empty, but anything can help," Hera looked at Asta. "Of course, it should be around here," the princess zoomed out and touched a point in the corner of the map as if she had always used those types of tools, "And please, could you take them with you?" Asta gestured towards the servers. "Oh, yeah. Of course. You don''t even have to ask. I was already planning to," rescuing people was part of the quest, and since it didn''t have a number, it probably meant that the more people they saved, the better the reward would be. "... Thank you. Now I must go to the palace. Please take this," Asta put a brass token shaped like an anvil in Hera''s hand, "Show this to any guard and they will let you pass, but be careful. The rebels might have a different reaction to it." "Thank you. It will help a lot. Now let''s go. It''s getting way too hot here," Hera guided the group to the entrance of the venue, where Blue was waiting. After a quick explanation, Blue nodded and checked the map. They couldn''t go straight in the direction Asta pointed. There was a large area in the middle of the city that was in ruins, and smoke kept rising from the debris. Those dark clouds made it impossible to see what was happening on the other side of the cavern to make things worse. Hera, Blue, and the server were in the middle of a crossing right now, with one path leading to the warehouse by the right of the venue, and another heading down a hill and around the large fire. "I apologize, but I must return to the palace. My father should already be panicking, and without me by his side, I''m afraid he will send guards to search for me. If that happens, lives may be lost without need," Asta told Hera. "Is there anything I can say to convince you to come with us?" Hera asked. Asta shook her head, "There isn''t. I must convince my father to send his men to save as many commoners as possible." "I see. Thank you for all the help, anyway. I hope you stay safe," Hera gave her a sad smile, understanding that the princess wouldn''t survive this. "You too, and please hurry," Asta replied before running towards the palace. "Having a guide here would be too easy for a hard mode," Blue sighed. Hera just nodded, wondering if she could call Kul Dorul''s guide with her skill. Then again, she would need to be alone to do that, and it wasn''t like she could just vanish for a few minutes. Blue tried asking the servers about a path to where the princess pointed, but they all lived nearby and didn''t know that part of the city. Suddenly, the massive bonfire that once was the orchard became the epicenter of a large explosion. The shockwave was strong enough to collapse some structures and make the dwarves fall to the ground. Ash and flaming debris rained down from the black cloud, and almost as if that had triggered a chain reaction, several houses in the city burst into flames, tinting the entire room in hues of red, yellow, and orange. When it stopped, the column of fire in the orchard shoot out to the hole in the ceiling, but it wasn''t enough. The roaring flames hit the top of the cavern and started spreading behind the black smoke. That wasn''t all. In the lower part of the city, a large hole filled with fire appeared amongst the rubble. In comparison with the destroyed area, the opening was tiny, but staring at it was like staring at the mouth of a volcano. "Everyone, get up! We have to move," Blue called. Even if they were more or less relaxed until now, that changed things. Hera looked over at the city. Before the explosions, there were a few localized fires, but nothing that would cause too much trouble to avoid. Now it was hard to see a path that could lead them to the exit. Everything was on fire, and the screams of the people grew even louder. "Where should we go?" Blue asked. "Do we have options?" Hera turned to her. As far as she could see, they had to push through that hellscape. "We can try the other side of the cavern. Going around the lower city. The explosion might not have reached there since the cave wall is on the way." "But we will be going in blind! We have no idea if that''s going to be better or worse." "We either take a chance or deal with that," Blue pointed to the burning city. "I don''t know what''s the best option," Hera sighed. If they made a mistake, they might get seriously injured. It was one thing to fight against monsters, another to survive a fire like this. They didn''t have enough information to make a good decision, and it wasn''t like there was a written guide about the dungeon¡­ But there was something else that could help. Hera pulled Yarnball and let the string loose, "Where is the path that has and will have less fire?" She felt some of her mana be drained. A few months ago, this would be enough to tap her out, but now this question only required a third of her max. The string started dangling between the path to the warehouse and the path downhill. It seemed like even her dowsing rod was having trouble deciding. After a moment, the string pointed towards the lower city. The yarn didn''t simply point and went away but kept twitching as if it was telling them to hurry. Hera quickly opened her [Explorer''s Map], and there was a small trail that followed the road showing in an area that she had yet to travel. Unfortunately, it didn''t go all the way to the other side, but Yarnball was even more helpful than usual. "Let''s go around," Hera said, and gestured to the dwarves to follow. This was a very high-risk gamble, and as they ran down the street, a thought crossed Hera''s mind. In a hurry, she only asked about the path with the least amount of fire on the way, not the path that would be safer. Sadly, all that Hera could do was hope that this phrasing didn''t come back to bite her in the ass. 275 - People dont make sense Hera and Blue were having some trouble controlling the servers. They kept trying to run instead of walking along the streets as the humans wanted. It wasn''t like they didn''t have the urge to keep running away, but now, Hera already knew that it was better to pace herself during a dungeon. However, the dwarves didn''t seem to care or to get tired. On the other hand, their running around ended having a beneficial side effect. Hera and Blue managed to find a few more dwarves to join the group during a few of the chases. What started as a dozen already had gone past twenty people that they were trying to save. After coming down the hill and reaching the rubble in the middle of the city, Hera realized the extent of the damage. The entire bottom of the cave had been completely decimated. She couldn''t tell where a building would start and another would end. There was also a massive hole in the middle of the area that seemed to be constantly burning. "Does anyone know what was this place was?" Hera asked. "It was the lower city. Here you would find the slums, the prison, and the ivory mine," one cook replied. Hera looked at the fire pit in the middle of the rubble. The flames coming from it didn''t seem to be dying down. It reminded her of a few places back on Earth that never stopped burning because of the natural resources. The problem was that those locations all had years and years of history where the situation stayed the same. In cases where something created a fire in a place filled with natural gas, it was very likely that a massive explosion would occur. "Is that the only entrance to the mines?" Hera asked. "No, there was another one by the orchard, but that one was covered to make room for the plants since it was just a long, empty tunnel," a dwarf explained. "Hera¡­" Blue turned to her friend with a worried expression. "We need to move faster!" Hera said. If that explosion was just coming from a side tunnel, Hera could only imagine what would happen if a blast came out of the main shaft. Running around the rubble, they tried to pick up the pace. In this part of the city, they weren''t finding anyone else. At least now they could see the other side of the cave, and there were almost no fires in that region. There were still panicked screams, but it should be from people who were seeing the flames and not those stuck under the wreckage. Hera was doing what she could to control the dwarves and move fast through the area. It wasn''t simply because of the fear that the mines would explode, but because the silence of the area was maddening. Yes, there were some screams coming from the rest of the city, but here, near the rubble and the fire, there was nothing. Not a single scream, not a single cry, not even pebbles shifting. It meant that nothing survived whatever happened here. Even if this was just a dungeon and it was very likely that there was no one around, just the sight of destruction was enough to make Hera''s stomach turn. Luckily, she was busy for long enough to cross the entire area and not think too much about what was going on. When they reached the other side, the buildings were already covered in ash, but they looked much better than the rubble. Hera and Blue had asked the dwarves to warn them if they saw anyone who needed help, but now this request proved to be an issue. There were many people around that were either hurt by the explosion or gathering their belongings to run away. Hera tried to help them, but when the third said they had to find an heirloom before leaving, she gave up. Even if they could get a better reward, it wasn''t worth risking their lives like that. Everything about this place felt like a timed thing. If they took too long to reach the exit, it was very likely that they wouldn''t be able to get out at all. Blue was worried about the flames spreading too much and blocking the path, but Hera had another thing in mind. The black cloud that covered the ceiling of the cave no longer had a way to escape. Before, it could go out through the hole above the orchard, but after the explosion, the flames blocked its passage. Now, the cloud seemed to have doubled in size, and with every second that passed, more smoke joined that deadly black gas. This was the only way she had to calculate the time they still had left. For now, it wasn''t much of an issue. Even the tallest houses in the area were far away from the cloud. But as more buildings caught on fire, more smoke would rise, and less time they would have to find the exit. To avoid being too close to the mines, Blue guided the group to one street on the upper level. They walked for a few minutes, joined by a few stragglers that were already trying to find a safe place. For a moment, everything seemed to be working out well. They were making a lot of progress and gathering more possible survivors. Looking at her map, Hera could tell that they were about halfway to the point where Asta told them there would be a doorway. They crossed another street and saw a wall blocking their path. If it was just Blue and Here, they could easily jump over it, but there were some elderly and children almond the dwarves they picked along the way that wouldn''t be able to follow. "Let''s look for another path," Blue said. "Yeah, but I don''t want to waste much time," Hera whispered. "I know. Let''s try for five minutes. If we don''t get at least a hint we¡­." Blue looked at the dwarves with a sad expression. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Yeah," Hera just nodded. She didn''t like that idea either, but she had to remember that these people were just part of the dungeon. Even if they were saved, it wouldn''t change what happened to them. Blue took a glance around the area, "We should go back and follow the street that has the most wear and tear," Blue called the dwarves and shepherd them towards the previous street. She was excellent at controlling the panicked group. "Oh, yeah, since a gate would see a lot of traffic. That''s a good call. And when did you get so good at that?" Hera nodded. "I grew up in San Francisco. We had protocols for wildfires and stuff like that. I just got used to it," Blue explained. "Right, I had completely forgotten about that. You don''t talk much about that," Hera talked as they looked for a place to cross the wall. "I try to live in the moment and not to focus on the past. Besides, talking about that just makes me sad. I still have friends there. I might need to take a trip when we are done here." "It''s a good call. All I want is some chocolate cake, soda, and some fast food. The more processed, the better," Hera chuckled. They kept moving for two minutes until they found a collapsed part of the wall. It would be more than enough for everyone to cross over. The only problem would be that they would have to cross a collapsed building. "That is one of the treasuries," a dwarf said. "So? What does that have to do with anything?" Blue asked. "There should be a guard in there. They won''t allow us to go inside the building." "What building? This is just rubble! There is no inside anymore. Let''s go." Blue cried and crossed the rubble. The dwarves hesitated for a moment but followed soon after her. Blue pushed some of the rubble aside as they moved, revealing some gold coins on the ground. Some of the dwarves jumped at the chance to line their pockets with it. However, just as they gathered their new fortune, a guard clad in black armor appeared. "What do you think you are doing? That is property of the kingdom!" "I told you we are not waiting for you. Keep moving!" Blue yelled and kept walking, but the guard stepped in front of her. "Return every coin you have stolen. I will search every one of you," the guard said with his hand up in a stop sign. "Are you serious right now? We don''t have time for this," Blue tried to move through, but the guard pulled his two-handed hammer. Instinctively, Hera triggered her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Treasury Guard - Level 10 (Stone Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You will comply with my orders. I will have none of you stealing from the great city of Kul Dorul," the guard got ready to attack. "Stop!" Hera yelled and moved over. If the guard had a level, it meant that this could be a fight. Then again, there might be other options. She held out the brass token that the princess had given to her and said, "We need to evacuate. That is a royal order." The guard looked at the token and then at Hera before putting his weapon away, "Very well, but these people must leave the gold they gathered here. We will have a full recounting, and if anything is missing¡­." Before he finished his sentence, Blue pushed him toward the street, "Everything is burning. Forget the gold and let''s just go. Everyone, drop whatever you got and keep moving. If you don''t, this donkey won''t move away." The guard started grumbling, but he obeyed her directions. It seemed like the token was a way to avoid any type of fight with the guards. When Hera thought a fight might happen, she got distraught. It was one thing to spar with the people from Boothudurn, but the last thing she wanted to do was to kill someone in a dungeon. It didn''t matter if they were not real. That was a line she refused to cross again. Just as Hera was feeling relieved, a group of dwarves appeared from the side. "Look at them, being escorted by a guard. They must all be nobles. Our jailors are not allowed to leave!" the dwarf in front of the group yelled. He was holding a large bat made out of rocks. Behind him, there were another five dwarfs, all had some sort of makeshift weapon on their hands. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 8 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 7 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 7 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 7 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 6 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Rebel level 6 - (Rage Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Blue¡­" Hera looked at her friend. "We are not nobles. We are just trying to save these people!" Blue yelled. "Lies! No guard would follow you if you didn''t have noble blood." "We don''t! The princess sent us to save as many people as we could," Hera tried to explain. The six rebels started laughing, "I expected a better lie. No member of the royal family would give that order. They deserve to burn and die inside this hole, and so do you!" With that cry, the dwarves rushed towards the group, brandishing their weapons. Blue blocked the first one, and the guard intercepted the second rebel. Hera didn''t even draw her handaxe and created a stone wall to protect the dwarves they were trying to save. She followed that with a blinding flash in hopes of distracting the rebels. Why were people fighting during this situation? Why was the guard still worried about the treasure? Why did the dwarves stop to pick gold when the entire room was ablaze. There was no way that this was how the events actually went down. No one would be this stupid. Right? These questions crossed Hera''s mind in a flash before she turned to the people she was trying to save. "Everybody run!" Hera yelled and tried to lead the dwarves towards the direction of the doorway. She ushered them towards one of the main roads, which was large enough, so no one had to be too close to one of the buildings in case they caught on fire. When the last of the civilians went in that direction, Hera spun around and headed back to help Blue. The controller had placed a cloud on a rebel''s head and tossed another one into a broken house that collapsed even more because of the impact. When Hera arrived, Blue grabbed a rebel by the arm and spun it around, breaking the bone and kicking the dwarf toward a burning building. "Blue!" Hera gasped. "What?" Blue turned around, worried, just as the guard caved in the skull of the rebel he was fighting. With only two remaining, Hera quickly used her pollen field to distract the rebels and created a stone barrier blocking their path. After that, she turned to Blue, ready to scold her about killing the dwarves, when a massive column of fire rose from the hole in the lower city. "We need to go!" Blue yelled as Hera and she dashed towards the main road. 276 - Source of Flame Hera and Blue were running as fast as they could. The time to hold back and maintain some energy for emergencies had passed. If the column of fire rising from the lower city wasn''t a signal that something was very wrong, they didn''t know what would be. The flames coming out from the hole were so intense that they tinted the dark cloud covering the cavern''s ceiling in an ominous orange. Looking up was much like looking at a volcano that was just becoming active again. Cracks of light peered through the black smoke, showing the firestorm that was forming behind it. It didn''t help that the clouds were now much closer. Looking over to the other side of the city, Hera could see the top of some taller buildings vanishing within the smoke. "Move, people!" Blue ushered the other dwarves. They were doing their best, but they were still too slow when compared to the humans. This wasn''t just because of the level, but their legs being shorter took a toll on their running speed. As they rushed through the main road, more rebels popped from the side streets. Blue tackled every single one that got too close and killed them in a swift movement. Hera, on the other hand, was going her best to just stop them from interfering. Creating walls and using her pollen to hinder them enough so they could keep running. Hera wanted to talk to Blue about all this. It seemed far too easy for the controller to kill people inside the dungeon. It could be a good call to have her see a shrink when they left the room. Then again, that was something that both of them would desperately need. There was another explosion coming from the back of the cavern. By the sound, it should''ve been the orchard again, but they couldn''t see that area from here. On the bright side, this explosion seemed to appease the flames in the lower city. The column of fire became somewhat smaller and less violent. Despite that, they weren''t about to stop their sprint. Some of the dwarves were lagging behind, especially the elderly. Blue turned to the guard, "Go help the ones in the back." Hera saw the dwarf nod and split off to assist those having problems to move around and turned back to Blue with a worried expression, "Are you sure doing that is a good idea?" "Do what? I''m just telling him to be useful." "He might die, Blue!" "He can come back if he dies. We can''t," Blue barked. Hera just shook her head. But there was nothing she could think of as a response. What Blue just said was the truth. The guard wasn''t real, or at least he wasn''t alive. He was just something created by the MAZE, and worrying too much about him would only lead them to ruin. Even so, this left an unpleasant taste in Hera''s mouth. It wasn''t right to be so cavalier about killing people. Five minutes went by before they finally reached the point marked on the map, but things weren''t that straightforward. They could already see a doorway in the cave, but a massive collapsed building blocked their path. If that wasn''t bad enough, the entire structure was burning. "Everyone stay here," Blue ordered and turned to Hera, "Go right, I''ll go left. See if you can find another path. If it takes more than two minutes, come back." Hera nodded, and they split off. Hera tried to find where the building ended, but the structures by the edge of the city were all touching each other. She tried to walk inside one house, but the door was locked, and the next one was mostly collapsed. Part of the living room seemed to be carved out of the cave wall, but she couldn''t see if there was a way to get behind the house. It was still a frustrating situation. Noticing the time that had passed, Hera quickly moved back to the collapsed building. Blue was already there, waiting for her with a worried expression. "Are you ok? I said two minutes!" Blue gasped. "Chill, I''m 20 seconds late. And I didn''t find a way to move. All houses were either closed or blocked off," Hera frowned. She wasn''t the one who killed a bunch of dwarves just to get here. "Same on my side. I think we need to cross here." "Right, I was thinking about that. What if you use two of those microburst things?" "Two? I''m not sure I can handle that. Covering the entire road will be just as hard as it was with the venue." "But you won''t be doing that from above. Make two clouds and part the flames. The ground is not burning, so I should be able to make some walls to create a path," Hera explained. "You''re saying I should wedge two clouds in the middle of that debris and then force the flames out?" Blue asked. "Exactly. I think you won''t even need to make it so long. I can make the walls as the area gets clear. It probably won''t hold for a long time, but it should be enough for us to cross." Blue nodded and started making the clouds. The legacy allowed them to control the direction of her spells, but it took more mana than expected to do that. If it wasn''t for her [Control] skill, it would be even harder. Even with the help of the skill and making the cloud as small as possible, while Blue was still preparing the two microbursts, sweat started pouring from her head. Hera didn''t expect the legacy to make her that tired. All the previous times that Blue used one of her clouds, things seemed much easier. She could even keep a cloud still for almost 10 hours without an issue. Hera glanced back to the dwarves, watching them with anxious expressions. She got worried that they would lose some people here, but shook those thoughts away and focused on the task. Just as Blue opened a path, Hera would raise the stone on the ground and create a safer route so everyone could move through it. This process took longer than expected. Blue couldn''t push the microbursts too quickly, or they would lose their shape, and Hera had to be careful not to make the wall touch the clouds. When they did, Blue almost lost control of the spell and if she wouldn''t have enough mana to recreate it. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Ten tense minutes went by as the two worked together to create a path, and Blue wasn''t the only one sweating buckets. With each second that passed, the heat increased, and the dark cloud above their heads was dangerously close. After the mines spewed out fire, the speed at which the smoke accumulated became several times faster. To make things worse, there seemed to be less and less air available for them. Blue and Hera were constantly coughing, and even the dwarves had trouble breathing. When they finally finished the path, they had created a 10-meter wide area that should be protected from the flames and, on the other side, there was an open doorway. Smiling at that, Blue crossed the freshly open passage. Hera waited on the other side, with a stone pillar spell ready in case something went wrong, but Blue crossed without an issue. Seeing that, Hera signaled for the dwarves to follow the controller. The group already had about 50 dwarves, and it seemed a sizable number until Hera looked back to the city. For a place that big, 50 wouldn''t even be a drop in the bucket. Even without seeing the other side of the kingdom because of the column of fire coming from the lower city, this was at least three times larger than Boothudurn. The kingdom should be the home of tens of thousands, yet they only managed to save this many. Before she could get even more depressed about the situation, Hera started coughing because of the smoke. Looking down the path, she saw the last group of dwarves start their crossing. In other circumstances, everyone would be already on the other side, but the flames and smoke made them move more carefully. Hera took up the rear and walked along with the dwarves. Even if her intention was to be on the lookout for any issues, nothing stopped her from doing that while she was on the move. After crossing the burning building, the people of Kul Dorul went straight for the doorway, vanishing inside the tunnel inside it. Every time someone passed through the threshold, the sides of the frame light up almost as if they were filling up a scoreboard. Hera and Blue watched as the lights went up to about halfway up the doorway until the last of the dwarves crossed. However, even after there was no other dwarf around, the notification about completing the dungeon didn''t appear. "Do we need more people?" Blue asked. "Maybe we have to make the entire doorway glow," Hera replied and turned back to the city. She didn''t want to keep coming back to a place like this, much less to have to fight against dwarves again. Doing that simply wasn''t right. However, just as she stepped towards the city, the column of fire coming from the mines became more violent, and the ground started shaking. "To the doorway! Now!" Blue yelled and bolted towards the tunnel where the dwarves went to. Hera followed right behind her friend, and as soon as she crossed the threshold of the doorway, the heat and the light vanished. Even so, they kept running for a few moments before looking back with worried expressions. The opening had vanished. Now they were in a tunnel with several torches on the sides. Just as they stopped running, a notification popped in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest Escape the City. By rescuing 53 people from Kul Dorul, you have ensured that their civilization will not perish. Rewards: 45 000 gold Shadow Flame Shard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first to complete this dungeon. Rewards: Boothudurn Doorway Key +1 level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We did it?" Blue kept staring at the notification. "We did it!" Hera opened her tablet and looked for the key in the rewards, but it wasn''t there, "Did you get the key?" Blue opened her tablet, and after a few moments, a key appeared in front of her, "Yep! Let''s go open this room!" she started walking down the tunnel. This was the same path that led to the exit when doing the normal mode, and on the other side of the tunnel, there was a familiar stone door. "Hang on. What the hell was that back there?" Hera asked. Blue looked at her with a confused expression, "What are you talking about?" "The dwarves, Blue. You killed them!" "First of all, for me to kill something, they have to be alive. The dwarves inside the dungeon were not, and you know that. Second, what do you want me to do? Get beaten up?" "No, but you didn''t have to do it like that, and there wasn''t a shred of hesitation coming from you." "Hera, look. I told you when you talked about your assassin test. I don''t see a problem with ''killing'' people inside a dungeon. They are not real. It''s like killing a character in a video game. It doesn''t mean anything, and it''s not like I''m going into a murder spree just because of this," Blue rolled her eyes. "But¡­" Hera still felt bad about this, but she didn''t have any arguments. "No more buts, let''s go. I wanna go home," Blue huffed. "That''s another thing. It''s not a good idea to use the key today," Hera sighed. "What? Why?" "Because we need to check with Rutigan. Like it or not, this is their home. If we are going to open it for humans, they should be the ones to decide when we do that. Besides, it''s late, and I''m exhausted," Hera explained. "I guess¡­ but if he says we have to wait a month I''m opening now." "I doubt it. Let''s try to open it tomorrow, and I''ll ask him to gather a group to be their ambassadors," Hera said. They walked out of the dungeon, seeing Rutigan, Ogryn, Telanz, and Silah waiting for them. This ended up being much quicker than the normal mode. It had been just a bit over 3 hours since they went inside. They did a quick checkup and had a long discussion with the dwarves about what happened inside. Knowing that they would see the fire that destroyed their previous homeland, they all felt conflicted. On one side, they wanted to understand what was going on. On the other hand, seeing all that death and destruction, not to mention that they would have to defeat their own ancestors, wasn''t something easy to digest. After a few hours, Rutigan thanked the humans and agreed with Hera''s idea of waiting to open the room during the next day. Some things had to be prepared for it all to work without any issues. After that, Hera and Blue went back home together with Silah. Blue kept complaining about how she wouldn''t be able to sleep. Yet, she ended up passing out on the couch. Before going to her room with Silah, Hera took a moment to level up and check her dungeon''s reward. Unlike what happened last time, she only got 2 bonus points getting a total of 29 points to distribute among her attributes, and thanks to her [Exponential Growth], all her stats were now at 50. After doing that, she tapped the reward box on her tablet, and a flat black and red round crystal appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shadow Flame Shard A crystallized shard of fire and smoke. This can be used in the production of equipment to give it fire and shadow properties. The shard leaks mana periodically. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After checking all that, Hera covered Blue with a blanket and went to her room with Silah. They wanted to enjoy their time together before the madness that would be opening the room. 277 - Long track home Everyone in the city of Boothudurn could tell that there was something big going on. The last time a King called everyone to the main square for an announcement was to declare that his son, Rutigan, would take his place. Not even the arrival of the humans or the death of the Sky Ruler was deserving of such a thing. There was a small stage set up right in front of one of the houses by the square. Typically, there is a large abstract sculpture in the middle of the plaza. That is changed at least once a year to make way for new pieces of art. Today, the mages lowered that underground and covered the hole so even more people could watch the announcement. Every single dwarf from Boothudurn was here, even the babies and small children. Hera and Blue were by the side of the stage, looking at the crowd. It was hard not to feel like people were staring directly at them; then again, this could be because they were at least half a meter taller than most people around. While the dwarves on the back had to find ways to see the stage, the humans could see all the way to the other side of the plaza without any issues. King Rutigan walked up to the stone platform and placed his golden crown on his head. People cheered and smiled at their ruler, who waved back and gave them a slight bow. Then, he raised his right hand in a signal to stop, making the entire square go silent. "People of Boothudurn, I have very important news to share with you all today," the King''s voice projected with a lot of power, but not in a harmful way. It was almost as if he was talking through a speaker, "Hera and Blue, the humans that graced us with their presence during the last months, have accomplished several things that changed our lives forever. They showed us how to defeat the Sky Ruler Spawn that harassed our guard inside the dungeon. They gave us knowledge about forging, cooking, art, literature, gardening, and even how to improve our very way of life. And that is not all. They defeated the Sky Ruler, killing it and ending its reign of terror. Allowing our guards to not only face its spawn inside the dungeon, but outside it as well. Because of that, we are now free to roam the surface, no longer in fear of what the beasts might do." There was a loud cheer that started from the middle of the plaza. The guard around Hera and Blue started clapping and poking the humans with their elbows with large smiles on their faces. After a few moments, King Rutigan made a gesture for the crowd to stop. "I agree. They deserve all our praise, but that is not all. Hera and Blue also opened a new dungeon, one where we could see our ancestors, or at least their memories. Going even beyond that, they have found a way for us to leave the mountain entirely and meet with the outside world," whispers could be heard all across the square. Some people seemed confused by what the King had said, "Please, let me explain," Rutigan turned to Hera and Blue, "And feel free to add anything that I miss." The King proceeded to explain what the MAZE was, how rooms worked, and the doorways that could allow people to cross to other areas. That raised many questions, some he managed to answer, but others he had to defer to those more knowledgeable on the subject, Hera and Blue. At one point, he asked Ogryn to create some illusions to give a more complete presentation and made sure to answer every question the dwarves had. Since there were several thousand people there, this took a while, but after two hours, it seemed like they answered all their inquiries. "Now, I decided to talk to you all about this for one reason. By opening our room, our city, we will start interacting with more humans and will have to understand more of their customs. This is not something that will change in a day, and I wish to keep our society as close to what it is as I can, but adding human technology and knowledge to improve our lives is also one of my primary concerns. I also will force no one to change your ways. However, some readjustments might be necessary to do so. I hope I can count on your help during this period where our city, no, our kingdom, will develop in ways that our ancestors could never imagine." There was a long pause after Rutigan finished his speech. For a moment, it seemed like the reaction was much worse than he expected. "Hooray, King Rutigan!" "Hooray, Humans!" "Hooray, Hera!" "Hooray, Blue!" "Hooray, Boothudurn!" People started cheering and celebrating in a way that neither Hera nor Blue could understand. They never found people who would embrace change this much. Not to mention that the cheering was very awkward, even if everyone was joining in. There were more shouts, and the King finished the speech by telling everyone that they would have a celebration soon about their newfound freedom. After that, Rutigan, Naka, Ogryn, Hera, Blue, Silah, and two dozen guard members all headed to the doorway. Despite a lot of protests coming from the guard captain, the King insisted that he should be part of the group that left the room. He should be there to discuss policies with the Explorer''s Guild to ensure a good relationship with them. Blue and Hera warned them about the three doorway limit. If the King tried to cross more doorways than that, there was a chance that he could be stuck inside a room for some time. Even so, Rutigan was adamant about going as far as possible to talk to the people. Naka was concerned about leaving the King alone, and she would escort him all the way. Hera was very worried about Silah, she didn''t want to stay away from her girlfriend for long, but still, if the doorway didn''t lead to a room she knew, she wouldn''t be going back to Boothudurn, not if she still had a lead. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Arriving in front of the door, Hera and Blue took a deep breath. "This is it, isn''t it?" Blue asked. "Yeah, we are finally going home," Hera smiled and looked at Blue. Behind the controller, Silah was staring at the ground with a saddened expression. Hera walked over and held her hands, "I''m coming back. This is not goodbye, just I see you later. Ok? Besides, I still have to help you guys not get cheated by people. Humans can be good, but some try to take advantage of you at every turn." Silah just nodded in response. It was hard for her to imagine being in a different room than Hera. Even if she would cross this doorway with them, the idea of a next one worried her. "This is a big moment for all of us. And I thank you for everything you have done here," Rutigan said with a smile. "You''re welcome, but in the end, everything we did was because of this," Blue turned to Hera, "Let''s go home," Blue''s eyes were shining, and she touched the doorway with the key. The frame started glowing, and with the sound of a lock being opened, the passage under the doorway turned a pure bright white. Hera looked at Blue and saw the tears coming out of her face. They smiled and held hands before touching the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Kobold Road - 3rd Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Blue gasped. Hera looked up and saw the symbol of the doorway. It was the same head of a dragon and a wolf facing each other, showing that this was supposed to lead to the kobold field. However, on a closer inspection, she noticed a groove between the two heads that could be forming a road. She had seen that before, but it was such a small detail that it didn''t seem to be anything significant. In anger, Hera clenched her fist and started grinding her teeth. "Your kidding, right?" Blue started crying. "Fucking piece of fucking shit," Hera started stomping the doorway, but it was meaningless. She couldn''t break it even if she wanted to. "What''s wrong?" Silah asked. "The system is an asshole, that''s what!" Hera yelled and turned her head up towards the symbol, "Did you hear? You''re an ass!" Blue took a couple of steps back and collapsed on the ground. "What is wrong?" Rutigan walked over and touched the doorway. But he couldn''t understand their reaction. "That symbol was supposed to be from a place we know. But it wasn''t. This piece of garbage is taking us to some random place again!" Silah touched the doorway and saw the notification, "Hera, that doesn''t mean you are far away. I mean, you talked about how layers mean how deep you are inside the MAZE. Being in the third layer still means you are close, right?" "No, it doesn''t!" Hera yelled, "Sorry. I''m not angry at you. It''s just..." with a yell, she turned back to the doorway and used a stone pillar to attack the structure. When her magic hit the passage, Hera went flying back, almost like the spell''s effect was reflected into her. "Hera!" Silah rushed over and tried to calm her girlfriend. It didn''t take long for Naka to get annoyed by the situation. She was about to say something when one look from Silah told her to stay quiet. Ever since the fight against the Sky Ruler, it was hard for the Captain to argue with the blacksmith. It took twenty minutes to calm both humans. At one point, Blue simply stopped responding to anyone while Hera kept cursing and lashing out at the walls. After that, Hera was panting with sweat covering her face, and her mana was completely tapped out. "Are you done with your tantrum?" Naka was sitting on a stool created by magic with the King by her side. "Are you done running away from big birds?" Hera replied without looking at the Captain. Naka just clicked her tongue and looked away. At the same time, Rutigan got up and walked towards the humans. "Girls, I understand your frustration. I really do. If I had a chance to talk to my father stolen like this, I would be distraught as well. However, this is merely a setback, and maybe. Just maybe, we are closer to your home than you think. Now, I understand if this is too much and you decide to wait until tomorrow, but if you are willing, we could step out and head to this brand new place that you just uncovered." Hera and Blue nodded. It was a frustrating situation, yes, but that didn''t mean it was hopeless, and despite being deceived by the MAZE, they still had to find a way back home. The two got up and walked over to the doorway, along with the other dwarves. Rutigan asked what they could expect, and Hera explained the warm sensation. After a moment, they all touched the passage, and a message popped up again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Kobold Road - 3rd Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After touching yes, the entire group of 20 plus dwarves was transferred to the next room. The sensation of being covered in warm water washing over them all, and then darkness. Hera tried to look around, but it was so dark that she couldn''t even see what was in front of her. Casting a couple of dancing lights, she sent the globules around the area, trying to get some semblance of clarity. Right now, there were inside a massive tunnel. She sent one of the lights up, and it took a long time to reach the ceiling. Taking a wild guess, it should be at least 50 meters high and 20 meters wide. "This is¡­ Unexpected," Rutigan said with a sigh. Part of him hoped that they would arrive at a completely different place, and not just another cave. "Yeah, but it''s just our luck. We''ve been going around inside caves for ages," Blue sighed. The group moved through the passage, following a long tunnel that had a slight inclination up and banked right at the end. They kept going until reaching a larger opening. The dwarves used their own lights to reveal more of the area, but even as they spread the light, only darkness could be seen from all sides. Hera walked forward, trying to see if there was anything different, when she felt a change under her feet. The ground wasn''t simply earth anymore. Now it was different, more cared for, and it was completely grey. In a way, it reminded her of concrete streets. When her foot touched that area, several lights appeared all around the walls and ceiling. They light up as if someone was turning the switches on one by one until the entire area was illuminated. This place looked like one of those massive underground tunnels that went on for kilometers on end. Not only was it double the size of the entrance they came through, but looking to the right, it seemed as it went off forever, even with all the lights on. To the left, the path seemed shorter, but it should still take a long time before reaching the end. There were also several other side passages, even if they were very far apart. Another odd thing was a slight incline in the area. It wasn''t much of an issue to walk, but seeing the tunnel made it clear that it would end several meters deeper than where they were right now. "So¡­ where do we go from here?" Naka asked. 278 - Violent Greeting It was a lovely day to work. Ever since the guild stopped being cheap and constructed a few houses in the room, being a clerk became a dream job. Kara lived just a few minutes away from the guild and this room had such a calm environment. There were very few problems here and there even was a nice barbecue place just down the street. Most explorers that came here were just passing by since the doorway to the Verdant Islands was here. That place had a big city and many enticing rewards in their dungeons, not to mention it was a beautiful place. Here, a room with only a single dungeon almost no one would be interested in staying. Thanks to that, they didn''t have to worry much about anything. It was only once a month, when they had to organize the groups heading to the dungeon to trigger a special version of it, that there was some actual work to do. However, people who would take part in those were already used to the quests meaning that the clerks had very little to worry about. Even the infirmary was barely used, and it wasn''t like anyone got hurt inside the dungeon. Well¡­ there was an unfortunate incident late last year, but that happened before she started working here. Kara was organizing some papers in the guild reception when a commotion outside caught her attention. People were shouting and calling everyone. Maybe someone famous was stopping by, and she could get a picture with them. Most high-level explorers were very friendly towards the clerks. It was probably because they all had to do some clerical work before getting their gold cards, and if she got a nice picture, her sister might finally stop calling her job boring. Kara barely had anything to do today, and the paperwork was hardly important. Leaving the front desk of the guild, she headed outside to see what was going on. Unlike what she was expecting, people weren''t gathering around the doorways, but instead, they were close to the wooden doors that led to the dungeon. In front of the massive gates, there was a large opaque blue box covering part of the ground and the stairs. This was right in the middle of the doors leading to the dungeon, but what caught everyone''s attention wasn''t the position or even the box itself, but its hue. Anyone, be it an explorer or a civilian, would recognize that blue color. It was the same shade of blue used by the system. Despite being an exquisite pigmentation, there was an unspoken agreement among all things that this color should never be used by anyone. This led everyone to assume that whatever was going on was something the system was making. After a few moments, the box became transparent and vanished. In its place, stone stairs that went down to an underground passage replaced the wooden stairs in the middle of the area. Everyone was shellshocked by the situation, but as they got closer, voices came out of the recently created tunnel. "Can you please wait!" a woman''s voice asked. "Screw that. I''m back!" a blue-haired woman ran up the stairs and shouted, tossing both her arms up to the sky with tears running down her face. It took some time for Hera and the others to arrive at the kobold field. After the tunnel lit up, Hera suggested that they should walk towards the closest end of that room. Everyone agreed that the edge of the tunnel should have some sign of what they could expect. It took them about one hour to reach the end, and halfway through it, they saw another side tunnel. Their curiosity got the best of them, and the entire group went towards this new discovery. In that area, they found two things. One was the entrance for a dungeon called ''Rolling Menace.'' The other was a doorway to a room on the 3rd layer called The Windy Towers. Unfortunately, that wasn''t a room Hera or Blue were familiar with, and they kept going. After another 2 kilometers and roughly 30 minutes, they arrived at another side tunnel right by the end of this cavern. They carefully went through it, worried about the lack of monsters in the area, and found a locked doorway with a very familiar symbol on top of it. The head of a wolf facing the head of a dragon. Hera tried to see any markings or anything that could show that this wasn''t the Kobold Field, but the symbols seemed to match this time. "I think this is it," Hera turned to Blue. "Please, let this be it," Blue took a deep breath before touching the doorway. A notification appeared, saying that this doorway was closed and asked if she wanted to open it, but before she pressed yes, the controller turned to the dwarves. "Ok, so this should be a place we know about, but here''s the thing. If anyone crosses over, you won''t be able to go back home until tomorrow. That''s the three crossing rule that we talked about. If you break that rule, there is a chance that you''ll be stuck in whatever room you are in for a random period of time. Some people get locked out for a few days, while others have to wait years. Anyone who comes with us will risk having that happen. So you can''t come if you want to go back home today," Blue explained. "And what do you suggest we do?" Rutigan asked. "Have some people stay here, and send a couple with stone spells to the doorway leading to Boothudurn. Make a small building that forces people to talk to you before crossing. That way, you can stop people from going in before everything is set up. But you will have to get some of the guards operating that area. Blue and I can go through here and see how we can start talking about integrating you guys into our world," Hera suggested. "I see. It is a good idea, but I would prefer to have someone among us to go with you as well. To serve as proof if nothing else," Rutigan said. "I''ll go!" Silah jumped at the opportunity. "Silah. If you come with me, you won''t be able to go home for at least a day," Hera explained. "Can someone tell my family?" Silah turned to the dwarves. "I got you, and I wouldn''t mind going either. We can make some tents and sleep here," Sevaris said. "Then you wouldn''t be able to tell my family about that," Silah said. "I''ll let them know, just¡­," Rutigan turned to Hera, "Will they be safe?" "They will. This room doesn''t have any monsters. Unless we end up going inside a dungeon, there will be no risk," Hera explained. "Very well. Silah, Sevaris, can I count on you two to represent the kingdom of Boothudurn in our first interaction with the human society?" the King asked. "You can, my liege," Silah bowed to Rutigan. "We shall make you proud," Sevaris lowered his head. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. After a moment, Blue cleared her throat, "Ok, so can we go? I don''t want to be rude, but I really want to go home." "One moment, please," Ogryn stepped forward, "We had five people in the dungeon that the two of you created. The Sky Ruler''s Nest. As a gift proving our friendship, I want to share some of the rewards with you." "Ogryn, you really don''t have to. We already got more than enough from that place," Hera glanced at Blue, thinking about her legacy. "Please, I insist. Besides, I''m not giving you everything," Ogryn pulled a small grey egg from his cloak, "For you, Blue, this is a storm mana core. I believe it will fit well with your abilities." "Wow, it really will," Blue replied after glancing to the side. For anyone who knew, it was obvious that she had just checked something with Stormcloud. "And for you, Hera. One reward was a fossilized feather. It wouldn''t do much by itself since it was a crafting material. However, the moment I received it, I realized that this would be exactly what Risli was searching for. I know you two became close, and you said your farewells before the announcement." "Yeah, she said she wanted to give me something, but it wouldn''t be ready, so I had to come back to get it," Hera nodded. "Well, apparently, the announcement was enough for her to finish it. She sent a guard to the doorway to pass this along," Ogryn showed a small bracelet made of vines and leaves with a single sky blue feather curving along with the circle and a few small purple and yellow flower petals framing it. "Wow, it''s beautiful," Hera gasped, "May I?" "Of course, it is yours." Hera picked up the bracelet. Initially, it seemed very frail, but she could see it wasn''t the case as she touched the vines. The structure was solid, and even as she tried to change its shape, it was tough to do so. What made it even more incredible was that there were so many details that Hera couldn''t believe it was made by hand. She could see a couple of leaves shaped to be an axe near the tip of the feather, and on the other side was a skull made of vines with a small message under it. ''To my least annoying student.'' She chuckled, seeing that. Even when doing something this intricate, Risli still kept to her grumpy old self. "This is amazing! Thank you so much," Hera held the bracelet near her chest. "You''re welcome. To be honest, I wasn''t sure if Risli would enchant it properly since she is rather new at that. I''m glad I was wrong," Ogryn nodded. "She enchanted it? I thought she only just started learning how to do that a few months ago." Blue chuckled, "Who is not using their skills now? Can''t you just inspect it?" Hera rolled her eyes and activated her skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream Feather Bracelet Very Rare A bracelet created by a shaman who put her life and soul into the work intended as a gift to her student. By adding several plants that can be used as medicine and poison with a feather with propagation properties, the bracelet can increase specific characteristics of some spells and provide a small increase in the defense of other equipment. 100% increased effectiveness when utilizing natural-based healing spells. 50% increased effectiveness when creating plant-based poison spells. 30% increased infection rate with plant-based toxins spells. Poisons and other types of toxins spells have a 10% chance of propagating to a secondary target. Poisons spells have a 0.1% chance of mutating on their own when affecting a target. 2% increase in the defense rating of other pieces of equipment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "By the system! This thing is amazing!" Hera gasped. "Wow, it really is. Tailor-made for you, although the healing thing might be wasted," Silah was peeking over Hera''s side. "Hey! I can heal," Hera protested. "You can. You just never do." "Yeah, yeah, it''s awesome, and that is great. Can we please go?" Blue gasped. "Sure. Sorry," Hera replied, and they crossed the doorway. The kobold field was in a frenzy. After Blue and Hera appeared, everyone rushed to ask what was going on inside the new room. Some people even were already going towards the newly discovered doorway, but Kara had to step in. The guild had some safety protocols for when new rooms appeared, but she never thought she would have to use that in here. "Sorry, everyone. Please, just give us some time. We need to figure out if that is a safe place," Kara pleaded. Silah was in awe, looking at the sky and the wooden doors that led to the dungeon. Sevaris, on the other hand, wasn''t doing all that well. Seeing the dozens of humans freaked him out, and he stepped behind Blue to hide. "Silah, don''t go too far. Sevaris, don''t worry, no one is going to bite you," Hera felt like a teacher taking care of kids during a field trip. "So, you got this, right? I can head home?" Blue asked. "What? I mean, I got this, but you can''t," Hera replied. "Why not? I''m not the one who is going to deal with the new room." "Because of the three doorway limit, Blue. Do you wanna risk getting stuck in another room for who knows how long?" "I honestly don''t mind getting stuck back on Earth, and that''s going to be the fourth doorway I cross." "You are missing a room. This one is connected to the Carpon Caverns, not to Brinefront," Hera said. "Fuck! I forgot about that one." "How? We spent what? A month there with Tom and Runir. You''ll have to wait a day. But at least you can call them, speaking of which," Hera pulled up her tablet but stopped to hold Silah''s hand before she wandered off and got lost. With a sigh, she looked over at the numerous notifications that were popping up. She had hundreds of messages, not to mention all the news apps and spam emails that appeared. She ignored all that and looked for the group chat she had with Helena, Alex, Bonnie, and Blue. The last message was from just a few months ago with Bonnie saying, ''I can''t believe you are gone.'' "Hum... I should start with a joke, right?" Hera mumbled to herself before typing, ''Sorry for ghosting you guys, we had to live under a rock for a while.'' "Ok, that''s a good one," Blue chuckled, with her tablet in her hand. "Yeah, it''s kind of hard to think about what to say after we went missing for almost a year," Hera giggled. "Sorry, did you say you were gone for a year?" Kara asked. "Yeah, we were gone for a long time. We were stuck in a room. Actually, we kind of need to see how to integrate a new society with ours," Hera quickly explained about Boothudurn and pointed to Silah and Sevaris. "Right, please come with me, then. Just one moment," Kara turned around and created an ice wall blocking the path to the doorway. It was a crude way to stop people from going there, but it should be effective until she got some backup. Hera, Blue, Silah, and Sevaris split off from the group of people in the middle of the room and headed towards the guild. Before reaching the entrance, someone let out a loud gasp. Hera looked over and saw Helena with a giant smile on her face and Bonnie with wide eyes and both hands covering her mouth. There was also a blur that approached too quickly for Hera to realize what was going on until it tackled her, tossing the explorer to the ground. "Hera!" Silah gasped. "You''re alive! You''re both alive!" Alex started crying while hugging Hera on the ground. "What do you mean, alive? Since when were we not?" Blue asked. 279 - Honey, Im home After Alex''s tackle, Kara, the guild clerk, scolded her for causing another commotion in front of the guild. Then, she led the group to a private room inside the building and asked them to wait there, along with Sevaris and Silah. Dealing with something like adding a new nation to the guild was way out of her league, and it would take some time to find someone to talk to them. In the meantime, Hera and Blue could catch up with Bonnie, Alex, and Helena. They were all sitting in a meeting room around a large table. Bonnie, Blue, and Helena were on one side, Alex, Hera, and Silah on the other. Sevaris took a chair and placed it in the corner of the room, saying he felt more at ease like that. Alex was still holding Hera''s hand and looking at her like a puppy who just saw its owner for the first time in years. Silah noticed that, but her girlfriend didn''t. It''s been so long since she saw Helena and the girls that she couldn''t think about anything else. "First things first. What''s this about us being dead?" Blue asked. "We¡­ thought you were dead. I mean, after the tremor, we couldn''t find any tracks, and we just assumed the catapult sent you two to the abyss," Bonnie was staring at the table while she spoke. "Ok, but that shouldn''t tell you that we were dead. I mean, the bracelets send our vital signals, don''t they?" Hera asked. "They are supposed to do that, sweetie. But it seems like either yours are malfunctioning, or you two were someplace too far away for them to get a signal. Actually, we could get a signal on some rare occasions, I don''t know what you did, but there was a place in¡­ wherever you two were that had a good enough reception to send something. Even if it was choppy. About one hour ago, that changed. The signal became strong, and I made everyone come here in hopes that you girls would come back." Helena answered. Hera took a good look at the mage for the first time. She was still the same Helena she remembered, dark skin with hazel eyes and a smile that could warm any heart, but she didn''t look that well. Her skin was oily, and her hair was a mess. There were some big dark bags under her eyes, and she was way too thin. Her arms were basically skin and bone. Helena wasn''t particularly superficial, but she always took care of herself, or at least, she used to. "OK¡­ well, we were two rooms away, and the hidden entrance was in a dungeon, so maybe it makes sense. But I don''t know enough about the network we have to say anything about it," Hera sighed. "Wait. So everyone thinks we are dead?" Blue''s eyes were wide. "Yeah, we even sent some of your belongings to your families," Bonnie nodded. "Sorry guys, give me a minute. Actually, an hour, maybe two. I don''t know," Blue got up with her tablet in hand, already calling her family, and left the room. Hera considered doing the same, and as much as she wanted to call her dad and grandma, she didn''t want to leave Silah and Sevaris alone. "Ok¡­ then what happened after we ''died''?" "Well¡­" Bonnie looked at the other two women that were left behind. After taking a deep breath, she explained the last few months for them. She started by talking about how things went down after they vanished in the dungeon and how she was the one who had to take care of sending all their belongings away and getting everything from Hera''s apartment, as well as the paperwork. Then, her job became taking care of Helena and Alex. "Why did you have to take care of them?" "Alex broke down, she wouldn''t leave her room and then she started training like crazy, and Lena dropped everything, she was always in the guild or in her lab doing something," Bonnie explained. "I was too busy trying to find you two to do anything else. I don''t say this to accuse anyone, but at the time, I felt like I was the only one who didn''t give up. I knew you were still alive, sweetie, and I refused to stop until I found you," Helena still had a smile plastered across her face that was making Hera uncomfortable. It was one thing to be happy, another to keep the same expression even when someone was complaining about you. "But you didn''t find them, Lena! They came back on their own. Don''t twist this to say that you are the reason they are here," Bonnie gasped. "Well, we only got here so early because of me. If it wasn''t for that, we would have received Hera''s message and then come," Helena''s expression didn''t change. "Oh, great. You stopped your research completely for months just so we could what? Meet them one hour earlier?" Bonnie yelled. "Wow, calm down. That''s a lot to unpack. Lena, what does she mean you stopped your research?" Hera asked. "I couldn''t worry about some research when you were in danger, Hera. I''m the one who helped you get here. I need to look out for you," Helena kept the smile, but she seemed almost satisfied with herself. "But you didn''t have to stop your entire life because of that!" Bonnie cried. "It wasn''t like you were the one who killed them," Alex mumbled, but spoke the next sentence loud enough for everyone to hear, "You were a bit too obsessed." "I wasn''t the one sleeping 3 hours a day, so I could train," Helena rolled her eyes, breaking the smile for the first time. "I had to make sure I wasn''t going to kill anyone again! And it worked, didn''t it? I''m already level 15!" Alex got up from the chair. "Stop!" Hera yelled, "Alex, sit back down. You two said a lot of things, and I''m not letting you gloss over all that. First, Lena. What the actual fuck? Why did you stop your research for me? According to what Bonnie said, you had every reason to believe that we were dead. Every protocol said that we were gone, and you guys checked everything to confirm it. Yeah, by all accounts, we were dead. Saying we weren''t would be like saying that someone survived a plane crash in the middle of the ocean." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Yet, by that logic, it was like you two were stranded on a desert island. I wasn''t wrong," Helena returned to her eerie smile. "Yes, you were. Because you didn''t find us. Look, I''m not trying to be mean or ungrateful here, but just for a moment, think about how I''m feeling. You stopped your research because of me. You put your entire life on a hold and even stopped taking care of yourself, apparently." "She even stopped taking showers," Bonnie added. "See! Do you think I would like to know that, not only did I make my friend sad because I died, but I made my mentor give up the one thing she''s been working on for years?" "No¡­ but¡­" "No, no buts. You messed up. That''s not how things should go down. Here is what is going to happen. After this, you are going back to the Carpon Caverns, get a hotel room, and you are going to relax. Tomorrow, you are going to start your research again. And if I die or vanish again in a similar circumstance, I don''t want you to spend months trying to find me. You need to accept that things like this happen. This is life in the MAZE, and you know it better than most." "I agree, Lena. You let yourself go a bit," Alex nodded. Bonnie just stared at the assassin with an expression of disbelief. She''s been asking for her help for months, and now she starts doing something? "Oh, don''t think you are off the hook, miss ''I''ll only sleep for three hours a day.'' What the hell are you thinking? We need to be in perfect shape to go to a dungeon or to train. Rest is part of that. Also, levels don''t mean shit. I know dwarves over level 60 who still mess up. Others like Silah here, who is just level 23, by the way, are much more capable of learning from their mistakes. How do you expect not to put someone else in danger if you are pushing yourself so hard?" Hera huffed. "I''m¡­ sorry. I just¡­" "You just nothing. You felt guilty and took the worst approach to that. Guilty, mind you, for something that wasn''t your fault. Blue and I were in a bad position, the kobolds were attacking and the entire situation was a mess," Hera brushed Alex''s hand off of her side, "And I bet you didn''t even see a shrink after all that." "I did! Just after the dungeon, I started seeing one." "Really? And how many sessions did you have before stopping? Because I''m sure you wouldn''t be this reckless if you had some professional help." "... Three," Alex looked away. Bonnie started laughing. Making everyone in the room stare at her. "Was that a human joke?" Sevaris asked. "No, it''s not. Sorry. It''s just that. I''ve been the responsible one for so long while trying to deal with these two that I forgot what it was like to have someone by my side," Bonnie wiped out a tear that was forming on her eyes, "I''m really happy you are back, Hera." Hera smiled, "I''m glad I''m back too. Although I can''t complain about what happened," she looked at Silah. "Can I ask you something now?" the dwarven blacksmith turned to Hera. "Sure. You can ask anything you want." "Were you two a thing?" Silah pointed at Alex. "What? No. Never. She''s a friend. A very good friend, but that''s all," Hera was caught off guard by the question. "Oh, so you are childhood friends or something like that? That''s why she seems so attached to you?" "No¡­ It''s not because of that," Alex replied, "I¡­ I''m the one that sent Hera to the abyss, to her death, or what I thought was her death¡­ actually I don''t know what really happened." "I guess it''s my turn then," Hera told them about what happened after the catapult launched them. She used an excuse that it was Yarnball that showed her the path in the abyss and that she only found the doorway by sheer luck to avoid any mention of the guides. It was the same excuse she gave everyone in Boothudurn, and since the reason was her relic, no one argued about it. Then she told them all about the city, the dungeons, the people, the Sky Ruler, and how she got the hunter role. She didn''t mention Blue''s legacy since that felt like something the controller should be the one tell of. After that, Kara appeared and explained that they wouldn''t be able to have an ambassador for the new room until the next day, but they would leave the entrance blocked until then. She added that if they wanted, Hera, Blue, Silah, and Sevaris were free to move between the rooms, even with the blockade. Kera also added that Hera and Blue had to go through some paperwork to regain their status as living. That shouldn''t take long, since these types of things were not that uncommon. Blue caught the tail end of that conversation, and Hera took a chance to leave the room and call her family. She thought about calling her grandmother first, but a small part of her was afraid that she would have passed away. Pushing that thought aside, she pulled her father''s contact and started the video call. Time went by slowly as the call rang, and after what seemed like an eternity, Eridan''s face appeared on the tablet. "Hey, grumpy bear," Hera smiled and felt the tears coming. "Goldilocks? Is that really you?" Eridan replied with a shaken voice. "Yeah, it''s me, dad. Sorry for making you worry. Actually, sorry for making you think I died. It''s complicated. But I''m ok. I''m alive, and I''m ok." "Honey¡­" tears started pouring out from Eridan''s face, "Are you coming home? I want to see you." "I am, but it will still take a few days. There is a lot going on, and¡­ actually, I''m not sure how much I can tell you about it." "Ok¡­" Hera could see how that delay saddened her father, "Does that mean you have to go right away?" he asked. "Not really. I can talk whenever now. I was in a place without the internet during all this time, but now I''m back. Even if I have to go back there, it shouldn''t be for more than a day or so at a time," Hera brushed off her tears. "That''s great! Where were you? What happened?" "Before we get into that. Is grandma ok? I mean, it''s been almost a year, and¡­ is she still around?" "She is. My mother is stronger than I am. After you died¡­ or, I should say went missing, she got really depressed for some time, but after a couple of months, she went back to her dancing lessons and to other activities in the senior center. She kept saying that you wouldn''t want her to be sulking in bed all day," Eridan chuckled. "She''s not wrong. So can I call her? I''ll call you back right after. I just don''t want to wait to let her know I''m back." "Of course. Actually, tell you what. I''ll head there now. That way we can both talk to you, ok? I would ask your mother to come too, but she''s in a meeting right now, and it should take some time for her to come back." "Where is she?" "She started going to a grief support group after you¡­ you know, and now she helps organize the meetings. There were some¡­ other things, but we can talk about that later." Hera nodded. She didn''t care much about what Stella was doing. She only asked to be polite, "Ok, I''ll check what I can tell you about where I was. And I''ll come home as soon as I can. I promise." "Ok, I''ll text you as soon as I get to my mother''s," before hanging up, Eridan just stared at his daughter''s face, "I''m really happy you''re still here. I love you so much." "I love you too, dad," Hera replied with a big smile. She turned off the tablet and went back to the meeting room. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying, and she knew it would be even worse later. Looking at Blue, Hera noticed that the controller was in the exact same situation. They just shared a glance and started laughing. "So, do you guys mind catching us up on what happened during all this time?" Hera sat back on her chair and grabbed Silah''s hand. Bonnie sighed with that question, "I don''t even know where to start." 280 - Catching Up Bonnie couldn''t tell if Hera and Blue vanished at a good moment or not. There were more changes during the last 8 months than in the last couple of years together. For starters, the New Dawn rolled out the infrastructure update on some rooms. They were focusing on the lower layers and the highest ones at the same time. Brinefront was among the first ones to receive the new equipment, and apparently, this was due to the size of the room. Since it was over 400 kilometers wide, it was a perfect place to showcase the capabilities of their new communication towers, and being in the first layer made it easy to access it. In total, three new structures were built in the room. One in the city of Brinefront, another in Hazelpond, and a third underwater, closer to the cave''s entrance. That allowed the entire room to have a stable connection to the internet. They also added a sort of router in every dungeon, which allowed people to send messages or watch videos inside the dungeons themselves. However, that came with a couple of caveats. First, the speed of the connection was very slow. Even if you could watch a video, it would take an hour to load a five-minute clip at an ok quality. Second, each router had a limit on how much data it could receive from the dungeon. It wasn''t like the router itself was blocking the signal, but apparently, each instance of a dungeon could only transmit a certain amount of data. No one could explain that phenomenon, but at least people could contact others while inside dungeons. Oddly enough, those issues only arose when the messages came from outside a dungeon. With the router installed, most dungeons had a permanent network all around the area for communication among the people inside. At first glance, that wasn''t that much different from what people already did with the communicators, but there was a new position that some parties were starting to look for. A navigator or a coach. Someone who would stay close to the exit and direct the party as they fought and completed the dungeon. They could use some advanced types of communicators to organize the party, warn people about incoming attacks, and develop strategies on the fly. It was all exhilarating for the high-level explorers, who saw a significant reduction in injuries during dungeons because of this added member. Another thing that the New Dawn was doing was updating their tablets and bracelets. The bracelets would just have increased signal strength. They even showcased how someone could still be localized even if they were 5 rooms away. If Hera and Blue had that, no one would''ve thought they were dead during all this time. The tablets were just new models which were faster, more durable, and had a few extra knick-knacks like a drawing pen and the ability to create small holograms of pictures or maps. This function required a lot of energy and had to be recharged with a specific type of mana, but the New Dawn was kind enough to start selling a new product; batteries that could be used to recharge precisely that function. People weren''t actually happy about that, but then again, it was just something extra. It didn''t mess with the function of the actual tablet, so they weren''t actually harming anyone by doing that. Also, the batteries weren''t the only way to recharge it, but all other options were a bit more complicated. The last thing New Dawn was doing was an increased push in their recruitment. At first, people were still suspicious of the company, but then the perks started to roll in. New models of equipment and access to new training rooms that made an ATR look like a jungle gym. Not to mention the training programs taught by famous explorers like Frostbite and Azure Chain. In the end, anyone who joined would praise the New Dawn nonstop. In other news, the guild had managed to open two new rooms in the 26th layer. It was the first time anyone set foot so deep into the MAZE, and they found something odd. In both rooms, there was a massive tower that could be seen from everywhere inside the rooms. The towers were identical and in pristine condition, even when one was in a room filled with seawater and creatures that lived in the area. Anyone who entered those towers would get the chance of challenging a trial to receive a reward. So far, more than 300 people have tried to beat this challenge, but only 4 managed to do so. To make things worse, among the 300, 20 died, 50 were gravely injured, and 160 had to be admitted to the closest hospital for at least a week. This challenge seemed to change from person to person, which made it impossible to prepare for it. The first person who beat the challenge was Insomniac, but he failed several times before being successful. However, he never disclosed what his reward was. The other 3 people just told everyone that they received something they didn''t understand and couldn''t explain what it was even if they tried. Because of that mystery, many people were going to the 26th layer to attempt that trial. That wasn''t the only change with the MAZE, or more specifically, the System, that happened recently. A few months ago, some recruits started to see a new role when they were going to change their own. It was called ''Performer,'' and its skill allowed them to increase any effects of their abilities or spells as long as they were performing them in some artistic way. No one understood the conditions to trigger that role, but the guild kept a close eye on the recruits who picked it. On the MAZE side of things, this was about it. The rest was just business as usual, a Rampage here and there, people finding a new item in a dungeon and everyone going nuts about it, things like that. But more things were happening back on Earth. The guild started releasing information about the MAZE to the general public in waves at first, but after a while, it seemed like they got too tired to worry about that and opened the floodgates, so to speak. Everyone was more or less aware of how dungeons worked and the types of monsters around, but seeing that most resources inside the MAZE were renewable set a few people off. Activist groups tried to force the guild to harvest food and send it to everyone who suffered from food shortages, but the guild didn''t have the manpower to do that. Romeo, the new chairman of the guild, completely removed the stat restriction to become an explorer as an unexpected response to that outcry. However, the guild would still have control over the number of new explorers each month. During a press conference, Romeo explained that if too many new explorers start at once, it would cause problems for the rooms that don''t have enough resources to share with everyone. In reality, this was just a minor issue that Bonnie found very interesting. Most people were freaking out about the knowledge that monsters like the Wendigos existed and that other races like Elves, Dwarves, and Beastmen were real. This had turned into a huge deal that was being milked by the media for months. Some were worried about the possibility of a monster escaping to Earth, while others were more concerned with those civilizations deciding they wanted to come here. Even after explaining that this wasn''t possible, people continued to speculate. They used the great war and the Hero Cyrus as an example of why things that we don''t understand could happen. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Bonnie, Alex, and Helena were doing their best to explain everything, but they knew that there was much they were missing. During the last months, they weren''t exactly the most social group. At the tail end of their discussion, Kara walked inside the meeting room again. "Hey, sorry, this took so long. I never had to deal with a Returned before," she pulled up a chair and sat by the table. "A Returned?" Blue asked. "Yeah, it''s what we call people who went missing, were considered dead but came back. On lower layers, that''s very rare, but deeper, this is kind of a regular occurrence. Since there are so many rooms, dungeons, and things that no one ever saw. I remember this story about a guy who spent three years inside a dungeon because he hit his head and went into a coma, and when he woke up, he had amnesia. But the dungeon was in a city, and the people there took care of him, and since his party left without completing the quest, he just stayed there. Living until he remembered and came out," Kara spoke while she prepared a few forms and a laptop. "Oh man, that must have sucked. Imagine knowing that the people you talked with for years were just dungeon mobs," Blue said. "Yeah. He ended up retiring after that, and I can''t blame him," Kara typed something in the laptop and turned to Hera and Blue, "Can I have your tablets just for a moment? I need to send you two a file." "Sure," Hera pushed her tablet towards the clerk, "What''s that for?" "I''m unfreezing your guild accounts and giving permission for you two to access a file we have for this type of situation. It''s basically a timeline with everything you two missed. Any major events will be there, elections, natural disasters, award shows, big movie releases, scientific advancements, and things that happened inside and outside the MAZE, like the tower or the performer role that started to pop up for some people. You will want to read about that, trust me," Kara said. "Oh, we were just talking about that. Do you know if that''s the only new role that appeared?" being an explorer, the idea of new roles was very enticing. After all, Hera could get a weaker version of those skills. However, the performer role wasn''t something she had even the slightest interest in. "So far, that''s the only new role, but¡­." Kara whispered to the table, "a few rumors are running around that the changes are bigger than they seem." "How so?" Helena asked. "Well, you didn''t hear it from me, but apparently, there was a party in an elven city on the 22nd layer that got new role skills," Kara said. "Is that all? Do humans not get new role skills? I mean, I got a few quests from the Voice of the Mountain and got new skills as rewards," Silah turned to Hera. "We do. My Treasure Map is an example of that. Why is getting these new role skill such a big deal?" Hera turned to Kara. "Because it wasn''t just a skill like the treasure map or a sneak attack. It was a full-on role skill. Like Control, Sync, or Learn. It seems that even their status screen changed. There was another role, aside from what they already had. But this is just a rumor for now. The party was entirely made of elves, and they vanished after that. I don''t have any proof of that and only know because my sister works there, and she is such a gossip," Kara continued typing. Hera held back a chuckle. She had forgotten how common it was to see the pot calling the kettle black among humans. The dwarves from Boothudurn rarely did something like that, not so much for lack of opportunity. It just seemed like they weren''t that worried about giving excuses. Kara kept typing on her laptop, "Ok, so your bank accounts are unfrozen. Luckily you had under fifty thousand gold saved up, so the authorization was automatic. If you had more, we would need to put in a request, which can take some time. If you got any gold in the bank app on your tablets, it should all be in your accounts by the end of the day. I also got you three rooms in the new hotel we have here. I hope that''s enough for you." "That''s perfect. Do the rooms have a balcony?" Hera saw how Silah kept staring at the sky when they were outside. It would be nice to sleep under the stars with her. "Yeah, and some hammocks, too. It''s great to sleep by the moonlight," Kara replied. "How big are these rooms?" Bonnie asked. "Well, they are supposed to be full apartments, so I guess medium-sized? There is a living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen. If you need to wash anything, there is a laundry room in the basement. Oh, and speaking of which," Kara took out four gift cards from her pocket and passed them to Hera, Blue, Silah, and Sevaris, "You can use those in the store by the guild to get some basic hygiene products and a change of clothes. If they don''t have the right size for shorter people, let me know. I can place an order that will be delivered in just a couple of hours. You can also get some food. You can pick the set meals they have there or get groceries and make them at home." "Right," Hera turned to the dwarves, "Remember how we told you guys about purchasing food and other things? This is one of the ways we can do that. Another option is to use gold." Kara stared at Hera after that comment, "They¡­ don''t know how to purchase things?" "Not really," Blue replied, "Their society is kind of¡­ socialist. Like, food, water, and other things are freely available to everyone, and they just trust each other not to get more than what they need." "Oh¡­ that is going to be tricky to change," Kara replied. "It''s their life. I don''t think it''s right to change how they do their own things. We can just figure out a way to make sure people don''t abuse that," Hera said. "That''s a stretch. When did that kind of thing ever work?" Blue sighed. "Either way, it''s not my problem, or yours, actually. Tomorrow the ambassador will arrive, and they are much better equipped to deal with all that. By the way, we are all done. You two are officially reinstated as living people. The hotel is on the other side of the street, it''s the tallest building around, you can''t miss it." "Well, I believe I should head back to let the King know of what happened here," Sevaris got up. "True, we need someone to send him a message," Blue nodded. "Yes, and honestly, this is all a bit¡­ too overwhelming for me. I think I''d rather stay close to my people while I get used to the idea of being in a place so different," Sevaris added. "Sure, we understand," Hera turned to Silah, "How about you? Do you want to go back with him?" "Can I stay? This place is incredible! Like, what are those glass things with moving pictures outside?" "You mean the monitors?" Blue asked. "Yeah." "Oh, boy. We have a lot to explain to you. Luckily we have all night to do that," Bonnie smiled. "All night?" Hera turned to her friend. "Of course, if you think we are not all sleeping in the same room, you two are crazy," Helena replied. Hera chuckled before they returned two of the keys to Kara and headed out of the guild. 281 - Meeting the folks They considered sending Sevaris straight away to the Kobold Tunnel, but Bonnie suggested that he could drop by the store to bring back some things before doing that. After all, they had the gift cards, and going back with some food or other things that weren''t available in Boothudurn would make the King very happy. Despite having to do several things that took a lot of time today, it was still only 6 P.M. They had more than enough time to continue catching up during the evening, and Silah was very curious about how this purchase thing worked. It was one thing to hear about it, another to see it in action. "You guys buy water? Or is that just for the bottle? And what''s the difference between the pink one and the green one?" Silah pointed to a rack with a few bottles of water. "The price is for both the water and the bottle, and they don''t have any real difference. They are just made by different companies. Like if they were bread from different bakeries," Hera explained. "Ok, and how about those? Why are they locked behind glass?" Silah pointed to the fridge. "They are not locked. They are there to keep their cold temperature. Come here," Hera walked over and opened the fridge door. "This is amazing! Do you guys have that many mana cores?" Silah gasped. "Well, yeah, but I don''t think this is a mana core. It is probably just electricity. Remember that I explained to you how that works?" "Kind of, it''s like mana, but it isn''t, right?" "More or less, if you want, we can ask Bonnie to explain a bit better later. She knows more about all this than I do," Hera scratched the back of her head. She realized how much she took for granted in her world. She didn''t know how to explain about half of what Silah wanted to know. They bought some clothes, toiletries, and enough candy to make a bear have a sugar crash. Hera and Blue were dreaming about those kinds of junk food. Not that they couldn''t eat sweets in Boothudurn, but there was something special about a bag of gummy bears. Helena also bought some things, including some skincare products. It seemed that now that she had ''found'' Hera and Blue, the mage was ready to start treating herself better once more. Or at least, she got annoyed with all the jabs at her appearance. Hera also splurged a bit and got a bottle of wine and even a tablet for Silah. It wouldn''t have all the functions that a guild one would have, but it would be more than enough for her to read books and start to watch videos. It was a good thing that the store in the Kobold Field had a wide variety of items, and now, after building the hotel, the small shop also made some upgrades. Money wasn''t an issue since all the gold she accumulated in Boothudurn was already in her bank account. The amount she currently had was insane. Hera never imagined that her savings would have that many numbers at once. In total, she was getting close to 500 thousand gold. This was thanks to the hundreds, if not thousands, of dungeon runs. If she sold the materials she got, the number should easily double if not triple, but that wasn''t a problem. Having this much money meant she could give a comfortable life to her grandma and her dad. Sevaris got some food and candy, mainly snacks and sweets, and some beer, sodas, and wine. He did ask Hera about getting a tablet. However, without an internet connection, a tablet wouldn''t be much more than a large paperweight. Not to mention that they would need to learn how to use it properly. Even so, he was more than pleased with everything he managed to get. The packagings were all so colorful and fun to look at when comparing with what the dwarves had. After getting everything they wanted, the group went to their temporary residence after dropping Sevaris off in the Kobold Tunnel entrance. He promised to let the King and everyone know about the ambassador, and Hera would go back to Boothudurn to accompany whoever came along. Then, they all went to the hotel. Just as Kara explained, it was a modest place, but very comfortable and completely furnished. There was even a large television in the living room. It was just a shame that the building didn''t have an elevator. Hera couldn''t wait to see Silah''s reaction to one. However, it wasn''t like there was an end to the things that the dwarf was surprised by. From tap water to fitted bed sheets. Almost everything that Silah saw made her gasp in awe. For Helena, Bonnie, and Alex, it was hard to understand all that excitement, but Hera and Blue knew exactly where Silah came from and how technologically advanced her city was. For a civilization that had yet to go through an industrial revolution, seeing the modern world was baffling. As everyone was getting set up, Eridan sent a text letting Hera know that Triss was back home, and they were free to talk. "Guys, I''ll be on the balcony for a while, ok? I''m going to talk to my family," Hera said. "Sure, let us know if you need anything," Helena replied. Before going outside, Hera pulled Silah to the side, "So this might take a while. I''m probably going to explain everything that happened to my dad and my grandma." "Don''t worry. I understand. I''ll stay with Blue and your friends. There are a lot of things I still want to know about this place," Silah replied. "Actually, I wanted to know if you want to meet them. It would be through a video. I mean through my tablet. Kind of like those moving pictures you saw back in the guild. Or that series that I showed you, but this one will show what they are doing right now. That''s one of its functions." "You can talk to people in other rooms? And even see them?" Silah gasped. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Yeah, when your room has internet, you can talk to your family at any moment, as long as both of you have a connection." "That''s amazing!" Silah smiled and looked back at the tablet, but after a moment, her expression darkened, "Will I meet your mother too? I''m not sure I can be polite with her." "Oh, no. Don''t worry. This is just my grandma and my dad. Stella won''t be around." "Then I''m in!" Silah almost jumped with excitement. Even for the dwarves, introducing your partner to your parents was a big deal. Hera honestly had wanted to do that for a while, but it wasn''t like she had a way to contact her grandma from Boothudurn. "Great! I''ll talk to them a bit, and I''ll call you soon, ok? But feel free to do whatever while you''re waiting. Maybe a TV show could help to give you some ideas how things work here," Hera gave Silah a peck on her cheek before heading to the balcony. After taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button on Eridan''s contact. "Hey, goldilocks. Can you prove to my mother that I''m not going senile before her?" Eridan''s eyes were red and puffy. It seemed like he had cried a lot before the call. By his side, Grandma Triss was staring at the tablet with an angry expression that broke down the second the screen changed, and the blonde explorer who she helped raised appeared with a big smile on her face. "I''m not sure I can, dad. You always lose your keys and keep forgetting important dates. I think those are signs of old age," Hera chuckled, "But I''m still alive, grandma, that part is not just in his head." "Hera¡­" Triss''s hands were shaking, and tears streamed down her face, "How? I mean, they told us you died in an earthquake." "Well¡­ that''s a very long story, so just sit down, grab some tea, or popcorn, or marshmallows. Man, I miss marshmallows," Hera sighed. "Aren''t you back? Can''t you buy some?" Eridan asked. "I can, actually. Let me check one thing while you two get some tea, water, and maybe some snacks. We are going to be talking for a while, and I don''t want to hear no as an answer," Hera huffed, before going back inside to search for marshmallows. She didn''t get a bag, but luckily, Blue got two. Using her hide, she sneaked to the kitchen and rescued one of said bags from the pantry before rushing back to the balcony. Alex and Bonnie just watched as Hera tried to be stealthy, but the explorer quickly got caught. Even so, they didn''t say anything. It was so good to have those types of shenanigans going around again. Hera talked to Eridan and Grandma Triss for a couple of hours, explaining most of what happened but leaving out some of the more gruesome details of her story. They didn''t need to know that she was almost swallowed whole or how close the lava got to burning her alive. There was a barrage of questions about how this new civilization was, and if they treated her well and all that type of stuff. Hera held back on some of that information that felt a bit too sensitive, like how the dwarves ended up in that room and how their society was created because of a fire. Then it was Hera''s turn to ask about things. Grandma Triss was having a lot of fun doing several classes in the senior center. From dancing lessons to painting and pottery, there was even a small group of elderly trying their hand at video games. They were hosting tournaments and everything. Eridan was spending more time alone, which he said he enjoyed, but Hera could tell it was just a front. He chalked it off to being about work and how he had to focus on the production of new furniture now that they were getting a lot of new orders again. However, there was another big difference that seemed to be the true reason for that. Hera''s apparent death ended up being a big thing for the city. When the guild started releasing more information about the MAZE, Hera getting a silver card so fast became a point of pride for the small town. Many people looked for Kingsley''s woodwork to have something made by the father of the ''fastest silver cardholder,'' but news of her death traveled even faster, and soon those new orders were more out of pity than anything else. But it wasn''t all doom and gloom. Stella went to a few local TV shows and even started to be called to speak at graduations and other small events as a pseudo-celebrity. Because of that, she was barely staying home, and Eridan ended up staying in his shop, not to be in an empty house. Just by hearing how Stella was doing, Hera already knew that this would end up badly. There wasn''t a single cell in her body that doubted that her mother would, somehow, make her the villain for not dying. As a quick change of subject, Hera called Silah over so they could meet her new girlfriend. "Grandma, dad, this is Silah. She''s a crafter from Boothudurn, and we are dating," Hera changed the angle and her position so both of them could be in the frame. "Hello¡­ ermm¡­ It''s a pleasure to meet you?" Silah said, unsure where she should look at. "Hello, Silah, right? Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I know she can be a handful at times," Eridan smiled. Silah jumped at the sight. She still wasn''t used to talking on a video call, "No. Don''t worry. She helped me so much and, she''s amazing!" "I''m glad I''m not the only one who sees that," Eridan nodded. "Grandma? Is everything ok?" Hera asked since Triss had an odd expression on her face. "Yeah, yeah. It''s just. I finally figured out your type," Triss said. "What?" "The first boy you ever liked was that transfer kid from California. The one who loved surfing. Then, there was the girl who wanted to give you scuba lessons and the boy who was always in the pool. You like tans," Triss explained. "What? No, I¡­." Hera stopped for a moment and started to think. She always thought that she didn''t have a type, but now, hearing it out loud, it fitted. Most people she dated were the type to stay outdoors for a long time, and their skin tended to be darker. It wasn''t like she couldn''t find other people attractive, but yeah, Triss wasn''t wrong. "Did you start dating me because I was the only tan person there?" Silah turned to Hera. "What? No! Of course not. I asked you out because you are amazing, pretty, and caring. I never realized that tan thing until grandma said it," Hera turned to the tablet, "Did you have to tell me that in front of her?" "What? I thought you would know your own type. Don''t blame me if you don''t pay attention," Triss scoffed with a smile. "For the record, I''m not complaining. I got you, so whatever made you fall in love with me, I''m taking it. Even if you don''t know the reason," Silah shrugged. "I like this one," Triss said with a big smile. They talked for a few more minutes before Grandma Triss started to get tired. Despite being early for Hera and Silah, for an old woman, it was way past her bedtime. After saying their goodbyes, Hera and Silah walked back inside. Everyone was sitting around in the living room laughing, with a bunch of food all over the place. Apparently, they had started their party, and Hera sure as hell wouldn''t be left out of it. Not after all this time. 282 - Slumber Party Hera and the girls kept talking through most of the night. While they discussed more details about Boothudurn, Silah also asked a bunch of different questions about things in the human world. During the time that Hera talked to her family, the dwarf kept watching videos to learn more about society and talking to the others. Still, instead of clarifying her doubts, all the technology and odd things only increased her curiosity. Bonnie was enjoying that, she loved to explain how things worked, and the two of them seemed to get along pretty well. Blue was already drinking for a while to celebrate their return. She downed an entire can of beer and stood up, "Guys, Guys. Look at this," she made a motion like she was holding a ball with both her hands and started to make one of her cloud spells. While preparing that, Blue turned to Hera, "Do the thing. The one that you do when you and Silah are going to bone." "Blue!" Hera gasped. Silah instantly got red after hearing that. Still, Hera tapped the floor, and a green barrier covered the room. This was a spell that she learned from Ogryn. A way to soundproof an area so she could have private conversations. When she asked him about that spell, it was to lessen the risks of calling a guide in a room, but the magic ended up being more helpful to allow Silah and her to have some more privacy. Blue continued to make the cloud and sent it up to the ceiling, "Now, someone toss a spell there. Any spell." "Blue, that''s a bad idea. We are going to sleep here later," Hera said. "It''s fine. Don''t even worry about it," Blue increased the size of the cloud that now covered the entire ceiling. "Lena, do you have any mana stones with you?" Hera asked. "I do. They are not very full, but I can manage something. Why?" Helena had already taken a shower here. She still didn''t look all that well, but it was a step in the right direction. That dirty and unkempt appearance went away after a good shower, making the mage regain some of her usual poise. "Then, can you throw some weak shadow spell in that cloud? I think that''s the one that is going to make less of a mess." Helena squinted at Hera, but did what she asked. It was an odd request, but the two were clearly trying to show something. Creating a small shadow on her hand, she sent it towards the cloud on the ceiling. Blue''s blank cloud absorbed the spell and started to change. At first, it looked just like a heavy cloud, something that would create a lot of rain, but it kept turning darker and darker until it became a sheet of darkness covering the entire ceiling. "What is that?" Bonnie asked. "That''s my legacy. It''s called Stormcloud," Blue replied. "You got a legacy?" Alex gasped. "Yep. It was the key we needed to open the room. Well, part of the key at least." "I don''t feel that bad about sending you guys there anymore," Alex replied. "You shouldn''t feel bad at all. It wasn''t your fault," Hera said. "It was a little bit your fault. But I''m not angry," Blue dropped the spell and snuggled with Alex, "We got a lot of things there, some pretty good rewards, a mount, and even got power leveled to level 18." "You guys are level 18!?" Alex gasped. "Yep. We were 16 when we fought the Sky Ruler, and then we found a brand new dungeon. When someone beats a dungeon for the first time ever, they get a level up as a reward. I also got this tarot card, but it''s going to be a while until it becomes useable," Hera pulled up the Frame of the True Reversed Three of Stars. At first, the card was just a transparent sheet with a small line around the edges. Now there were a couple of extra lines that started to form some type of drawing on its bottom. However, inside those areas, there was still nothing, just a transparent sheet of energy, "Also, I have this," Hera picked the Shadow Flame Shard and passed it to Helena, "I wanted to give you this. It''s a material that says it leaks, mana. Maybe it can be used to make something that regenerates mana until you can use your own again." "Oh, so you want to do gifts now? Ok," Blue got up and walked to the bedroom where her bag was. "You got us souvenirs?" Bonnie asked. "I didn''t. I mean, I was thinking about other stuff, and getting you guys gifts never crossed my mind. The shard was just because of Lena''s mana issues," Hera replied just as Blue came back with a couple of bags. "Here, here," the controller passed the bags along. Alex got a pair of Cloud Wool bracelets dyed black. It had a minor enchantment that could muffle some of the sounds she made when moving. The design itself was simple, just a bracelet that could cover most of her wrist while keeping the mobility and a puffy ring around the ends. For Bonnie, Blue got a book from the mages explaining the basics of magic and how they could create spells out of runes. Lastly, Helena got a long-tailed black velvet dress. It was one of the designs that Fethy created after Blue and Hera showed some of the pictures they had on their tablets. It was a stunning dress with some metal chains decorating the body and framing the breasts, and a long cut on the side of the skirt. Despite all of them being wildly different, everyone was thrilled with the gifts. They thanked Blue and continued talking throughout the night. When morning came, Blue was already packed and ready to leave. To avoid getting stuck in a room because of the three doorway rule, people had to wait 24 hours after crossing the first doorway. This was considered the safe window, although no one had figured out if the time could be lower. One thing was for sure. Waiting just for midnight wouldn''t solve the problem in most situations. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Hera and Silah were sleeping on the balcony, and they didn''t wake up even when Blue left the hotel room. The controller sent everyone a text letting them know where she was going. They had already discussed her plans during the previous night, but she still gave them a reminder. This slumber party was something Hera really needed. She was just hanging out with her friends and talking, but she noticed a few behaviors that would get old very quickly. Alex would offer to grab food, drinks, and anything she needed. She was acting like a butler, and she got sad and even angry when Hera or Blue refused. Helena, on the other hand, seemed a bit overprotective. She went as far as scolding Hera for using a knife to open a bag. Bonnie was going through something different. She was drinking way too much. They got a couple of six-packs and three bottles of wine. In the end, everyone drank one beer and one glass of wine. Bonnie went off and finished another bottle all by herself. There was also the problem with her taking free shots at everyone aside from Silah for no apparent reason. Hera could only hope that their behavior was just temporary and things would return to normal soon. After waking up with a bit of a hangover, Hera used an accelerated recovery spell to stop feeling sick. Risli used this one to help people with broken arms or those who came down with a cold. It triggered a sort of overdrive in their metabolism and allowed the patients to recover faster. If she put her mind to it, the shaman could fix a broken arm in just a few days. However, on Hera''s level, not only she couldn''t target specific areas of the body, but the effects were also much weaker. Taking care of headaches, hangovers or cramps was basically her limit when it came down to internal injuries. Superficial ones were easier, but it was better for paper cuts or the treatment of wounds and not for first aid. Hera saw Blue''s message and sent her a reply telling her to be safe and that they would see each other soon. Then, she took a hot shower. It was nice to have a bathtub in Boothudurn, but the pressure from an actual shower was very different. After getting out of the bathroom, Silah was already up and making something to eat. "Hey, how was sleeping outside for the first time?" Hera asked. "It was nice, but I didn''t expect the sun would be so annoying," Silah was looking at a bag of bread on the counter, with an odd expression, "Is this¡­ soft glass?" Hera chuckled, "No. It''s called plastic, and well, it is a bit like soft glass, I guess," she squished the transparent bag, "See?" "Wow, this is awesome! I need to show this to my¡­ Never mind," Silah just kept staring at the bread with a sad expression. "What''s wrong?" "I¡­ was thinking about my family. It''s kind of hard to think that they are not around." "I can imagine. But we should be going back there today with the ambassador." Silah smiled, "Yeah. Sorry. I know this is weird. I mean, you just came out here and you''re already going back." "Don''t worry. The room is open, and I can come here at any moment. Besides, I don''t want you to feel bad about this, and when you have internet set up there, you can talk to them or me if I''m not around," Hera hugged her girlfriend. "So you won''t be going home right away like Blue?" "You know how my family is¡­ complicated. I rather stay with you until you are ok with me leaving for a few days before going to see them." Silah gave Hera a kiss, "Thank you. It means a lot to me." "You mean a lot to me," Hera hugged her tighter. "Awww, you two are adorable," Helena said as she came out of the room. In the end, Silah and Hera took the balcony, and the rest of the girls all slept in the bedroom together. "We are," Hera kept hugging Silah for a moment, but it didn''t take long for the dwarf to break out of her embrace. She still wasn''t comfortable with public displays of affection, even if she was leagues ahead of the other dwarves. They talked for a while, and sometime after everyone woke up, Kara sent a text to Hera, letting her know that the ambassador had arrived. They quickly headed to the guild to meet with the person who would help put Boothudurn on the map. Only Hera and Silah would be allowed in the first meeting, since it was still a more or less classified subject. However, after arriving in the private room, they had an interesting surprise. There wasn''t a single ambassador, but three sitting around a table. One was a human with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a small scar on his chin. The second was an elven woman with long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and the famous pointy ears. Lastly, there was a dwarven man, but he seemed short even by Boothudurn standards. He was also wider. His shoulders seemed more apart than what Hera was used to. That made her question if even among dwarves, there were subraces with different traits. "Hello. You must be Silah and¡­." the human checked his tablet, "Hera, the one who discovered the room. Correct?" "Yeah, it was Blue and me, but she went to see her family. We got stuck there for almost a year, and she really missed them," Hera said. "Of course," the elven woman replied in a melodic voice, "We can understand how taxing this ordeal was for you two. Let me be the first to thank you for staying behind and helping us with this." "There you go again. Do you have to try to one-up me at every turn?" the dwarf huffed. "I''m not the one who tried to call dibs last time, old friend," the elf replied. "Guys, can you please focus? I know it''s been some time since something like this happened, but we got lucky enough that you two were close by," the human sighed. "Sure. Sorry about this, Valyra and I go back a long time. We keep taking jabs at each other, but this is all in good fun. I''m Kadmek, a dwarf from Gen Faldir on the 15th layer," Kadmek smiled. "And I''m Valyra Bihorn, an elf from the Longmane Groove on the 9th layer," the woman gave a small bow. "And I''m Kevin, born and raised on earth. We are the team of ambassadors that will be going to¡­" the man checked the tablet again, "Boothu¡­.durn? Yeah, Boothudurn. I will be representing the explorer''s guild. Valyra the Union of MAZE Nations and Kadmek the Natural Resource Unit." Silah turned to Hera, "You told me about the guild, but what are those other two?" "I honestly have no idea," Hera replied. "The Union of MAZE Nations or UMN is an alliance where all the countries, cities, and people from the MAZE take part. It''s kind of like an overall government that connects us all. We mostly help with identification and infrastructure, but on occasion, we also share troubles and split our resources to help cities in need," Valyra explained. ¡°You can think of the Natural Resource Unit as a merchant guild. We catalog what every room has to offer as resources and figure out the logistics of transportation. That works both ways, so if a city needs something, we can step in," Kadmek added. "That is most likely something that we will discuss with whoever is the authority there. But, for now, do you mind telling us about Boothudurn?" Kevin asked. Hera looked at Silah and nodded. This all seemed to be way above her, but she would still do her best to help the dwarves. 283 - Back to the mountain Hera and Silah talked with the ambassadors for about one hour. They explained how the people of Boothudurn lived and the type of society they had. Hera reinforced several times that there should be rules or laws to protect their way of life, since forcing them to buy food and other supplies could disrupt how they were used to doing things. Valyra made it clear that this was the case among most civilizations, and they had several ways to avoid those kinds of troubles. Kadmek also added that even the merchants would help them figure out the best way for the city to have the benefits of the modern world but keep their own culture and customs alive. A lot of it had to do with separating the people who lived there from the incoming traffic. After their talk, everyone felt ready to go to the room, or at least as prepared as they could be. They headed outside and towards the doorway, accompanied by Bonnie, Alex, and Helena. Silah had invited them to come along. The ambassadors weren''t that thrilled with the idea since it could give the people from Boothudurn the wrong impression. However, the invitation was made by Silah, who they assumed was someone well respected there. It would be rude to say no. They entered the Kobold Tunnel that was still being explored. People were moving around and finding several other rooms connected to it. Most rooms in that tunnel were already known by other explorers, but a couple of new rooms made things even more complicated. The guild ended up calling several employees to organize all that, and people were still blocked off from entering. Scout teams were the only ones allowed to go to the new room. As Hera and the others arrived at the doorway, they were allowed to pass through it. Inside the Kobold Tunnel, just outside the small path leading to the Kobold Field, three dwarven guards were posted as if they were waiting for them. "Silah, Hera!" Sevaris gasped. "Hey, what are you doing here? Why aren''t you back home?" Silah asked. "Honestly, things are a bit¡­ tense back there," Sevaris scratched his head. "What did you do?" "Look, Olenda asked me if she had put on some weight. I just told her honestly that she was a bit rounder these days." "For fuck''s sake, man. You never tell a woman that, not when they ask," Hera sighed, "Don''t you know we ask that when we are feeling self-conscious?" "How the hell am I supposed to know that? Besides, my Olenda is the most beautiful woman in the mountain." "That''s debatable, but I guess we are not there, so that might be true," Silah said. Sevaris scoffed and turned to the other humans, "So¡­ some of you I know. Who is the ambassador?" Introductions were made, and the group was led to Boothudurn''s doorway. The guards were all extremely excited about meeting more humans for the first time. They also assumed that Valyra was a human, since they didn''t have the concept of an elf. The lack of attention clearly bothered Kadmek, and Hera noticed some mocking glances that the elven woman gave to the old dwarf. They seemed to have a very good relationship. They reached the doorway about one hour later, and the small blockade Ogryn and other dwarves had created was unexpected. Hera imagined something like a checkpoint, but they constructed an entire building covering the doorway with small doors where people could come through. Inside, there was an area like the reception of a hotel, but there were a couple of rooms and a bathroom to the right. It was a place that people could live without an issue, as long as they had supplies. Already working on the blockade, they saw a few other dwarves, including Naka, who was there to make sure no one tried to invade the area. "Captain! I didn''t expect you to be here," Silah said when they arrived at the building. "We agreed it was best to stay outside the mountain to protect our city. Besides, Ogryn figured that we can lock the room if needed." "That is indeed the case," Valyra chimed in, "However, if you wish to completely close off your room, you must close all doorways at the same time." Naka squinted at the elf, "It''s a good thing we only have one then. And I didn''t catch your name." "Of course, apologies. I''m Valyra, and I''m a level 53 researcher specialized in politics and infrastructure. Also, let me add, you have more than one doorway. I guarantee it. No room has only one." "And I''m Kadmek, a level 48 fighter. I use a hammer to fight, but as you can see, I''m unarmed," Kadmek rose his arms and did a spin to show that he wasn''t carrying any weapons. After a moment, he cleared his throat and gestured to Kevin to say something. "Right! I''m Kevin, I''m level 33, and I''m a hunter, and I''m very dedicated, proactive and hope to assist you in this new endeavor." "Are you¡­ interviewing for a job?" Bonnie asked. "What? No! I mean, am I?" Kevin scratched his head. Hera sighed. This wasn''t a good look for the guild. Valyra and Kadmek seemed much more trustworthy, and Kevin¡­ well, he seemed more like an intern than anything else. "Right, what about those three?" Naka pointed to Hera''s party. "These are my friends. I tried to tell them they could stay back, but, well¡­ That didn''t work. These are Helena, Bonnie, and Alex. Mage, researcher, and assassin, in that order. They are all under level 20, although I''m not sure why everyone is telling their levels," Hera replied. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "It''s to allow the captain to understand our strength and also reassure her that we are not a high-level party who came to attack," Valyra explained. "Very well, and all of you are the people who are going to change our city?" Naka asked. "We don''t want to change your city. Just give you options to join the rest of the MAZE. We have the knowledge, tools, experience, and culture of billions of people among our groups, and thanks to that, we can progress at a much faster pace than when alone. But this will only happen if you accept that. If not, you are free to continue your lives as they are. We can even assist you with that. However, it would be better if we discussed this with your current ruler. And I don''t believe you are him since you should have a King," Kadmek said. "A woman can''t rule where you are from?" Naka turned to the dwarf. "Sorry, I didn''t mean it like that. We talked a bit with Hera and Silah and, although they didn''t mention his name, they referred to him as King and ''he.'' So I assumed he was a man and not a woman," Kadmek explained. "Well, you are correct. Come, I''ll escort you there, but be warned that I will not allow you to harm any of my people," Naka said, and turned to the doorway. The party walked through it and arrived back in the city. The size of the kingdom surprised the ambassadors. They didn''t expect to have such a large community thriving on its own. In most cases, when a new civilization was found, there would be only a few hundred people. It''s been over 500 years since anyone found a place with more than a thousand citizens that had no connection to the rest of the MAZE. Kevin, Valyra, and Kadmek kept asking about where they got food and water and how they made clothes. Hera and Silah had already answered the majority of those questions, but it seemed like they wanted to double-check the information. Naka replied to some questions, but she ignored a good part of them, thinking that the King should be the one to talk to them about it. At the same time, Hera told Bonnie, Alex, and Helena about what happened inside the room. She mentioned staying in front of the doorway every time she felt homesick, how it was to live without the sun, and kept showing the different places and people that she knew. It was like having someone show you their hometown, although the situation itself was considerably different. Hera was also cautious not to talk too much about certain things close to the ambassadors. She didn''t want to give them some piece of information that could go against the people of Boothudurn. Despite everything, she was a bit skeptical about their intentions. Most organizations and countries were only interested in their own benefit, and King Rutigan wasn''t exactly the most careful person. If they started showering him with gifts, technology, and large promises, she was worried about what might happen to the city. "Hera, I think I''m going to check on my family now," Silah said, just as the group got closer to the palace. "Sure, did you get everything?" Hera knew she had bought some food and some knick-knacks for her family. "Yeah. Don''t leave the room without talking to me, ok?" Silah asked. "Don''t worry. We crossed two doorways already. We are staying the night here, and¡­ well, I''m guessing the ambassadors will stay at my place, unless Rutigan made a room in the palace fit for human-sized people," Hera squeezed Silah''s hand before letting her go. After splitting off, Hera and the others entered the palace and were guided to the council chambers. When the ambassadors arrived at the checkpoint, Naka sneakily sent one of the guards back with a message to gather the council. Unfortunately, she didn''t stall long enough, so only Rutigan, Ogryn, and Fethy were already waiting for the group. "Welcome!" The King greeted the group. Usually, the council chamber only had the seats in a circle with an empty area in the middle. Now, however, there was a table and an illusory whiteboard right in front of it, with the seats a bit more spread so everyone could see both the table and the board. Rutigan was right by the door carrying a chair to the table while Ogryn and Fethy were already in their seats. "We thank you for your invitation, King. I understand that all this might be a bit overwhelming, but we are here to help to the best of our abilities," Valyra bowed to Ogryn. The counselor chuckled, "I appreciate it, but there seems to be a small misunderstanding. I''m not the King." "Oh¡­ My apologies, I simply assumed due to your seat," Valyra replied while Kadmek hid a chuckle. Hera felt a bit bad since it was partially her fault, but it wasn''t like she didn''t mention Rutigan''s age on purpose, and she did say that his counselor was an old man. But it was an honest mistake. No King would ever be bothered to set up the chairs in a meeting in human culture. Even managers already felt like they were above all that. "Worry not, Hera and Blue told us that humans have different expectations than we do. Please, feel free to take a seat. We are still missing a few members of the council," Rutigan walked towards Hera, "And I''m happy to see you back here. Part of me didn''t expect you to return so soon." "I wasn''t going to leave you guys to deal with all this on your own. But Blue went back to her family," Hera smiled. "I imagine that she missed them," Rutigan turned to the remaining members of the group, "And who are you?" Helena, Alex, and Bonnie introduced themselves, and the King made a point of shaking each of their hands, "Hera told me many stories about you all. You are very good friends, and thank you for helping her grow." "C''mon, man. Don''t make me cry," Hera playfully pushed Rutigan away from the group. "Very well, very well. I know you''ve been here for just a few months, but you are part of our family. Never forget that." "I won''t," Hera smiled. "All right then. Now, the rest of the council shall arrive shortly. Hera, you and your friends are more than welcome to join this discussion, but I will understand if you wish to show them around the city as well," Rutigan gestured towards the number of chairs on the table. There was enough not just for the ambassadors, but also for Hera''s group. "Actually, it would be better if we didn''t include other people in this discussion. Politics is a sensitive subject, and some of their views might hinder our work," Kevin interrupted. "Nonsense. Hera taught me much about your world. She would be of great help to us." "Even so, I must protest. In our society, discussions of policy are to be made only with those who have the power to make decisions. I''m afraid we won''t be able to continue if someone who wasn''t prepared for such an occasion is around," Kevin said. By his tone, Hera didn''t feel like he was making fun of her or being a snob, and it wasn''t like she didn''t understand why he said that. Most international deals were made behind closed doors. Still, hearing that wasn''t exactly pleasant. "Very well," Rutigan turned to Hera and her friends, "I apologize for my mistaken invitation. Take this chance to show your friends around town, but I do hope that we may talk later. I''m sure we will have much to discuss," Rutigan said. "Sure, same time as usual?" Hera replied with a smile, trying to fight the urge to snicker at Kevin. It seemed obvious that the King was showing that Hera would take part in the decision nonetheless. "Yes, I will be waiting." Hera turned to Helena, Bonnie, and Alex, "So, what do you guys want to see first? My home, the lake, or the dungeon I created with Blue?" 284 - The new Sky Ruler Nest "Are we there yet?" Bonnie was feeling tired. They''ve been going up this tunnel for half an hour already. "We are halfway there. I told you guys it was a long trek. We could''ve started with a tour around the city," Hera shrugged. "You didn''t say it would take this long," Bonnie gasped. "Yeah, I did. I told you guys it would take a couple of hours to get back." "Oh, that''s what you meant? I thought you were talking about how long it takes to complete the dungeon," unlike Bonnie, Alex was doing pretty well in the tunnel. During the last months, she kept training nonstop and her stamina-related skills increased a lot. "I have no clue what goes down in the dungeon," Hera replied. "Really? You didn''t try to go inside?" Helena asked. She wasn''t having any problems getting up the tunnel either. Despite not setting a foot inside a gym ever since Hera and Blue went missing, she still had her skills acquired through the years. This was more than enough for her to avoid getting too tired during that hike. "We didn''t. We found out about the dungeon on the day we opened the doorway. Coming back home was more important than this," Hera explained. "That''s fair. But still, having created a dungeon is a big deal. You girls were busy," Helena playfully bumped into Hera''s shoulder. "Yeah. I don''t think that sank in just yet. I mean, there was so much going on when they told us about this dungeon that I didn''t even consider what this all meant," Hera scratched the back of her head. "But she''s not wrong. It''s kind of amazing how much things changed because of you two," Silah nodded, "I mean, now we have chicken, a greenhouse, we can fight the griffons, and we even opened the room to the rest of the MAZE. You guys changed everything for us." "Stop talking like I''m some kind of selfless hero. All that was because we wanted to go back home. Like, don''t get me wrong, we were happy to help, but that was a consequence, not the objective," Hera rolled her eyes, "And are you sure you wanted to come with us? Weren''t you going to stay with your family for a while?" "I was, but c''mon. I was curious about this too, and now that Ogryn already cleared the dungeon, I can go inside." "You couldn''t go before?" Bonnie asked. "Oh, right. I guess I forgot to mention that. It seems that if you are one of the descendants of someone present during the events that created the dungeon, you can''t be the first to beat it. That''s why it had to be Blue and me to beat the hard mode of another dungeon that had the last key," Hera explained. "Really? That''s interesting. I never heard anything like that. Then again, it''s pretty rare to see new dungeons popping in. Most of the new ones we find are there for such a long time that no one knows what happened for them to appear," Helena tripped on a loose rock and almost fell down, but Silah helped her get steady, "Thank you, Silah." "Do you want to take a break? You might have started taking care of yourself again, but you still don''t seem to be in the best of shapes," Hera turned to the mage. "Don''t worry, sweetie. I''m perfectly fine for doing this dungeon." "Wait, you guys want to actually do the dungeon?" Hera asked. "Yeah, of course. We want to see what kind of monster you two fought," Alex nodded. "I thought that''s why you invited me to come along," Silah said. "Is that a problem?" Bonnie asked. "I mean¡­ I kind of thought that I should do it with Blue. We didn''t talk about this, but it felt like an unspoken agreement." "But won''t she take some time to get back to the MAZE? If she ever gets back," Silah turned to Hera. "Well¡­ yeah. I mean, I don''t think she will stay away from here. After all, she still wants to be the fourth hero. But still¡­" "Still what? Let''s just go. There is nothing stopping you from doing this again with her later," Bonnie scoffed. Her breathing wasn''t very steady, and she had stopped walking. "Well.. you do have a point. But can you do a dungeon in that state? You can stay back with Lena," Hera looked at the researcher. "Why would I stay back?" Helena asked. "Because you can''t use mana?" "I can use mana. I just can''t regenerate my own. But all my mana crystals are topped off. Besides, I''m still a pretty decent fighter even without magic." "Lena. No offense, but I never saw you holding a weapon. What are you going to do without mana?" Alex asked. "I know some martial arts, and I still know how to use daggers. When I started focusing on shadow magic, I started as a way to improve my hiding skills to sneak behind my enemies," Helena pulled two daggers from her waist, "These are not just for decoration." This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "I thought they were to harvest things you found interesting," Hera said. "Well, that too," Helena chuckled, "But you don''t have to worry, sweetie. I can take care of myself." "Question, why do you keep calling Hera sweetie? You don''t do that with anyone else," Silah asked. Helena stopped to think for a moment, "I honestly can''t say. I used to call everyone sweetie, but now it feels wrong. Almost like I''m cheating on her somehow." Silah glanced at Hera, who quickly replied, "No, we never dated." After a couple of minutes, Bonnie asked for a break, and they stopped in the middle of the tunnel. Another group passed by, coming from the dungeon. The nest was open to the guard or whoever wanted to come to challenge it, but because the boss was the Sky Ruler, almost no one was brave enough to fight it. Before coming here, Hera got some of the information about the dungeon from Telanz and Pyrrick. The description was much similar to how she remembered the nest, but the scale seemed wildly different. For one, they would have to fight close to a hundred griffons, and the size of the nest was several times bigger. There were also some odd rock formations and some weird environmental effects, but all in all, it didn''t seem like a hard dungeon. The best part of it all was the final boss. It was smaller than the original Sky Ruler and only at level 10. Those 5 levels would make a big difference in the fight. Not to mention that Hera was 2 levels higher than when she fought the Sky Ruler. Arriving at the dungeon entrance, Hera''s party took another break. They didn''t want to go in, guns blazing, while Bonnie was still tired. It didn''t matter if the dungeon was several levels lower them all. They wouldn''t take a chance like that. "Lena, are you really going to be ok inside the dungeon?" Hera asked. "I will. Don''t worry. I may be a bit rusty, but a place where the strongest monster is level 10 should be perfect for a warm-up. Besides, we have two experts in the dungeon to show us the way," Helena winked at Silah. "I''m far from being an expert. I was there when they fought the Sky Ruler, but I have no idea what the dungeon actually is like," Silah replied. "Well, we just have to kill griffons, right?" Alex was checking her daggers to see if they required maintenance. "Yep, but the other issue is the terrain. It''s snowy, and there is a cliff. I''m guessing if anyone falls from it, we could die," Hera added. "So we just have to stay away from the edge. And you mentioned wind or cloud magic, right? Alex kept going with the wind theme, and isn''t there a spell you have to make wind pass through us without effect?" Bonnie said. "Yeah, it''s called Windless. It basically makes wind go around us and not through us. Kind of like the wings of a bird or a plane. But it doesn''t work if it''s an attack, only a weather effect," Alex explained. "I''m honestly not sure how much that will help. I don''t know if the wind will be considered an attack or not," Hera sighed. Some time passed until Bonnie got up, feeling well-rested enough to fight, "So let''s just go inside and try it." Everyone nodded, and they walked towards the cloud barrier that was the dungeon entrance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Nest Type: Dungeon The nest of the creatures known as the Sky Rulers. For eons, they lorded over the mountain, but now they have become vulnerable to attacks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This time, the barrier gave some resistance, but as long as Hera pushed forward, she could enter the dungeon without any issues. The first change from the previous nest was the tunnel. Instead of a small opening leading outside, they had to walk for a couple of minutes before getting out of the mountain. Hera and Silah made note of that and pointed out the differences between the areas. Soon they arrived at the nest proper. When this wasn''t a dungeon, it was already massive. It took ten minutes to walk across the entire plateau. However, compared to now, that nest was just a book in a bookcase. The area should be at least five kilometers wide, and it was even decorated. Around the peaks of the mountains, giant griffon stone statues were looking down to the plateau. It was slightly unnerving, but beautiful at the same time. The plateau itself was also very different. There was a large open area in front of them now, but large stone walls blocked the view to the other side. Hera did notice one entrance close to the edge of the cliff. However, to pass through that, they would have to fight the griffons that were flying around. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juvenile Sky Ruler - Level 7 (Wind affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juvenile Sky Ruler - Level 8 (Wind affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Juvenile Sky Ruler - Level 9 (Wind affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Everyone ready?" Hera asked while staring at the dozen griffons moving around. "Ready," the group said together as they prepared their skills. Silah sent two pieces of metal out of her hands and created the floating saw blades. Bonnie made three small points of energy surround her, one red, one blue, and one glowing white. Helena created a small shuriken made out of shadows and threw it towards one of the griffons. The monster shook and collapsed to the ground, flailing and hitting anything nearby. Alex simply vanished. Hera could still see her footprints in the snow, but the assassin wasn''t anywhere to be seen. Then, a squawk came from the side, and Hera saw one griffon with two daggers coming out of its chest. In a split second, Alex covered the 50 meters or so and killed the first of the monsters. Not wanting to be left behind, Hera tossed her chakram towards one of the flying beasts. The creature evaded the attack, but the mana bursts were able to chase it for a few moments before sinking the blade into the monster''s neck. She turned to the rest of the griffons and just stopped. During the time it took her to kill one monster, Silah killed two, Alex three, Bonnie killed four with her lightning and fire spells, and Helena made two of them unable to see, hear, or smell anything. Hera couldn''t tell if it was the difference in levels, but this wasn''t a dungeon run. It was just a massacre. Her friends were so much stronger now that she felt like they would''ve been able to beat the Sky Ruler much sooner than she did. Not wanting to lag behind, Hera jumped to the ones still moving and finished them off. The monsters dissolved and dropped their claws and beaks. It seemed like meat wasn''t a regular drop, as it was in other dungeons. After a quick glance at the loot, nothing seemed particularly interesting. They were all materials that could be used for crafting, and none had any unique properties. Seeing how no one among the party was even fazed by the small fight, Hera sighed, "I guess the Weeding Disaster made me rusty." Silah chuckled as they walked towards the passage near the edge of the cliff. The dungeon wasn''t over, and Hera still had a chance to catch up. 285 - Human influence After killing all the griffons in the first area, Hera and her party moved to the path near the cliff''s edge. The massive wall of stone blocked the entire plateau, leaving only that small opening for them to cross. They considered going above it, but the rock was too smooth, meaning they would have to use spells to climb it. Not to mention, according to Helena, it was rare for a dungeon on the lower layer to require a more creative method to beat. Besides, they had no idea if going up would trigger some sort of event or even if the dungeon would even allow them to reach the top of the wall. In the end, they decided to stick to what they knew, even if it was second-hand knowledge. Just as they entered that structure, a howl echoed through the entire nest, and a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered the dungeon quest. By entering the passage, you have warned the Sky Ruler of your presence. Defeat the Sky Ruler and end its reign of terror. First completion rewards: 30 000 gold, Sky Ruler component ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a pretty nice sum to get, but it wouldn''t make that much of a difference for Hera. The most interesting part was the component. Not just for her, but Blue should get a lot of benefits if she made some gear using those items. Since the Sky Ruler had the legacy for such a long time, its materials should have some synergy with it. Brushing those thoughts aside, she focused back on the task at hand. There was still a dungeon to finish. The path they had just entered was straightforward. Just a long corridor with another opening at the opposite end of it. Moving along, no one felt worried. The massive walls gave the area an ominous feeling, and the wind howled as it passed, but it didn''t seem like it had much more than that. As they walked through the corridor, some blades of air went flying towards the group. They were quick, but anyone could see the attack coming from a mile away, leaving enough time for everyone to dodge with ease. Hera had a nagging feeling of familiarity in the area, despite never being here before, or at least not in the dungeon. Another blade of air came shooting out from the other side of the corridor. Hera created a stone wall to block the attack and give them some breathing room as a reflex. As the rock rose from the ground, she stopped moving. The surrounding walls had the same smooth appearance as the wall she could create with that spell. "Hera? What''s wrong?" Silah noticed her reaction and stopped behind the recently created wall. "I made this," Hera gasped. "Well, yeah. You made the dungeon," Bonnie said as she and the others huddled up behind the barrier. "No, I mean these walls. They are much bigger than those I created, but during the fight against the Sky Ruler, some of the griffons were coming after me, and I made this long corridor where they couldn''t come flying down. Then they started shooting spells at me. The walls blocked some of it, but parts went through, and I had to dodge. Just like we are doing," Hera explained. "Really? I mean, it makes some sense. Isn''t the dungeon supposed to mirror what you did here or whatever?" Alex asked. "I guess¡­ but it wasn''t this big," Hera glanced at the wall. It should easily be fifteen meters tall. The original Sky Ruler itself wouldn''t be able to look beyond it. If this was the MAZE version of the dungeon, it took significant artistic liberties with what actually happened. "What else can we expect?" Helena asked. Hera scratched her head, "I.. don''t know. I mean, Blue used some clouds, I used some pollen, Silah used the saws. If those small walls I made became this, I have no clue what those things could have turned into." "Well, Ogryn didn''t mention anything about that, did he?" Silah asked. "Not that I remember, but he did say that there were other areas he didn''t explore," Hera had to yell, since another wind attack hit the wall. This one was stronger. Instead of just blasting the barrier without any effect, the rock shook with the impact. "We should go," Alex said, "I''ve seen this type of trap before. The longer we wait, the stronger it gets." Nodding, the group started moving quickly. The spells were still easy to dodge, and the closer they got to the other side of the corridor, the easier it became to see where they would be coming from. On the wall in front of them, there was a set of nine griffon heads split into rows of three that would glow as they charged mana for the spell. By watching which one was the brightest, the group evaded all the attacks and crossed to the next part of the passage. They were still surrounded by walls, but now several other barriers spread in a large area. Just at a glance, they could tell that a football field could easily fit inside here, but the path to the other side wasn''t wide open. Stone walls of every shape, size, and form covered most of the area. Navigating through that seemed like it would be a nightmare. To make things worse, the large walls that surrounded the entire structure were filled with the same stone griffon heads. Topping it all off were the many winged beasts that were flying around. "There are 32 monsters here," Helena said after a moment. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "That''s a lot¡­." Bonnie mumbled. "Yeah," Hera started thinking, this would be a perfect place for her pollen spell, but that could hinder her friends, too. Her poison spells were mostly single target, too focused to be that helpful now. In the end, her best plan was to run to the exit and then block it off with the poison shower. It was a shame that her pollen spell couldn''t actually poison. If it could, she might be able to trigger the poison control spell and kill them all at once. With that thought, an idea popped into her mind, "Bonnie. Poison spores are a thing, right? Like, from mushrooms or something." "Spores are not poisonous per se. They have bacteria that can kill us, yeah, but it''s not like they can cause a chemical reaction in our body like actual poison. They kind of work in the same way, but they are fundamentally different," Bonnie said. "Oh. I see," Hera sighed. Her plan of making a poison spore spell was quickly shut down. "Well, why are we waiting? We might be in a safe place right now, but the longer we wait, the stronger those heads get. Let''s just rush to the exit and kill everything on the way," Alex said in a cold voice. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah, we just need to focus on the job, not on chatting around in a place like this," Alex''s eyes were very different. Hera remembered them as being warm and concerned. Now they seemed cold, distant, and unwavering. Alex waited for another moment and started walking towards the griffons, "The plan is simple. Head to the exit. Kill the monsters on the way. If you get out of here, secure the area and lay down cover fire for the ones still inside here." With a weak ''yes ma''am'' coming from the rest of the group, the assassin disappeared and reappeared on top of a griffon, already sinking both her daggers into its neck. The small points of energy were still following Bonnie. Now that Hera wasn''t attacking, she could see what those things did. The researcher prepared a spell, and by the looks of it, it was just a magic arrow, but then the red dot came close to it and imbued fire mana into the projectile, changing its element just before Bonnie sent the spell flying. "Wow!" Hera gasped, seeing that effect. "You are not the only one who got stronger. I figured out I can make those elemental batteries, and actually, this is thanks to Lena''s research," Bonnie said with a smile. "She basically stole my modular spell idea," Helena huffed and threw four shurikens at the incoming griffons. "I didn''t steal your idea. You passed out in your lab, and I had to take you to a healer. While I was there, I saw a single word on a piece of paper that said ''Module.'' That gave me the idea for this. Besides, I asked you to help, but you ignored me," Bonnie used a glowing rock fist spell that attracted the attention of several griffons before exploding in flames. "We''ll talk about it later. Now that I can focus on other things," Helena moved her hand, and the griffons who were affected by her shadow spell started convulsing, and several dark spikes shot out from their bodies. Any other monster who got hit by the stalks fell to the ground, having its senses stolen. "Lena, she was already helping you with some research, wasn''t she? In the end, you are the one that guided her to that spell. Try not to be too mad," Hera tried to break some of the tension. She kept sending poison needle after poison needle towards the griffons, refusing to be holding everyone back. Each time one of her spells hit the monsters, it would take only a few moments before they fell to the ground, too weak to continue their attack. Hera could also feel her poison mana jumping to monsters she didn''t hit, thanks to the bracelet she got from Risli. During all that time, they kept moving at a steady pace to the exit. However, Alex was already ahead of them, reaching the opening in the wall that would allow her to get away from the enclosure. "How did she get there so fast?" Hera asked. "She''s fast. Really fast," Bonnie sighed. There seemed to be something behind that comment, but now wasn''t the time to ask about it. Hera''s group continued moving after Alex. They jumped from stone barrier to stone barrier and attacked the griffons who kept trying to strike them from the skies. However, with the barrage of spells coming from the women, they couldn''t get close enough to harm them. With a new strategy, all the remaining griffons started to gather above one of the taller walls. Hera glanced up and saw that grouping. Worried about what they might try, she quickly came up with a plan. "Guys, go behind this wall and don''t look up," she told her friends. Silah instantly understood what she wanted to do and rushed to a safe spot. Bonnie and Helena weren''t that far behind, and when they were all hidden, Hera tossed a blinding flash towards the griffons. The monsters saw the attack coming and dove towards Hera before anything could hit them, but the flash was faster. The spell blinded all the 14 remaining creatures. Hera followed that up with a flaming poison rain that struck them all at once, making their feathers catch fire. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered 14 x Juvenile Sky Ruler ailment bonus effect x3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled. This confirmed that the sunburn caused by the blinding flash could stack with regular burns. To make things even better, the poison also affected all the monsters in her spell. Without missing a beat, she activated the poison control to make her poison as deadly as she could while not spending too much mana. With that, the griffons fell to the ground, spasming uncontrollably before dying and dissolving in just a few moments. "Neat," Hera mumbled just before a blast of wind hit the side of her body and made her tumble to the side. "Hera!" Silah and Helena called at the same time when they saw the explorer on the ground. The two rushed towards her while Bonnie came out of their hiding spot, ready to defend the three from the griffons. "What the¡­?" Bonnie gasped when she saw the drops on the floor. "Ouch," Hera rubbed her shoulder. "Are you ok?" Silah asked with Helena right behind her. "Yeah¡­ I''m fine. It was just the wind trap," Hera chuckled. At the same time, she noticed a glowing griffon head in the back that was about to fire. She quickly tapped her foot on the ground, and a stone wall rose in front of her, blocking not just the spell from hitting her but also Bonnie, Helena, and Silah. "Let''s get out of here. The longer we stay, the worse this will get," Hera jumped to her feet. They rushed outside the enclosure, and Bonnie couldn''t stop staring at Hera. At first, it seemed like the explorer wasn''t all that different from before, but this display was much more than what she expected. Since when was she able to kill 14 monsters at once before they even reached her? Not to mention her control of mana. She was creating spells by simply tapping her feet on the ground. That showed a degree of mastery that even Helena struggled to achieve. How could she have grown so much in just a few months? Her thoughts stopped wandering when they reached the exit and saw another 50 or so griffons flying around an open field of snow. All the way at the back, there was another one, larger than the rest, just watching them with expectant eyes. 286 - Rematch atop the mountain Despite the large numbers, the monsters in the area barely posed a threat. The griffons were weaker than those in the front of the dungeon, going from levels 5 to 7 and much less organized. To top it all off, they would only attack in waves of ten. For Hera and her friends, this was just a walk in the park. After getting out of the makeshift labyrinth made out of stone, they arrived at this open area with 56 Juvenile Sky Rulers. Despite the initial shock, they were having fun during the fight. Even if they allowed the monsters to attack them, the creatures couldn''t even scratch their gear, much less deal some damage. One griffon tried to body slam Silah, but the dwarf didn''t budge with the impact. The creature, on the other hand, had a cut on its head. It was like it tried to headbutt a rock. Hera even had enough time to look around. To her left, there was a wide expanse with a mist of yellow particles covering a large area. That should be the part where she used her pollen spell. She was curious about what would happen if someone got close to that, but at the same time, it wasn''t a good idea to do so when there wasn''t a healer around. If her stone walls, which normally were 2 meters tall at most, turned into those massive barriers that went over 15 meters high, she could only imagine what her harmless pollen could do. However, that wasn''t the strangest thing she saw. Close to who she assumed was the Sky Ruler, there was a large red pond on the ground, and behind it some clouds forming a sort of stairway towards the mountain peak. The clouds were easy to understand. Blue created similar formations as stepping stones to reach the Sky Ruler during their fight, but the pond was bugging Hera. They didn''t use any water or ice spells. Before getting too distracted with those thoughts, Hera snapped back to the fight. It wasn''t hard, but if she ignored the monsters completely, something bad could happen. Glancing to the side, she could see Helena dodging a few griffons, but the creatures swarmed her. Not wanting to let her mentor get hurt. Hera jumped towards the monsters, cutting off their heads with a single swing and paralyzing a couple who tried to run away. "Is everything ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah, thanks for the help. I''m trying to save the mana I have in the stones since I''m not sure what the boss will do," Helena looked at a small crystal on her necklace. "Don''t worry about it. I can tell that this Sky Ruler won''t be even close to what we fought just by the size of it. That one was taller than those walls we just passed through." "Oh, c''mon Hera. You don''t have to spice up the story. What you did was already amazing by itself," Helena rolled her eyes. "She''s not spicing anything. The real Sky Ruler was taller than those things," Silah said without looking back. She was focusing on controlling her saw blades. As strong as the spell was, it was also dangerous. Having a spinning blade that could carve an entire griffon in half flying around made everyone feel a bit uncomfortable, but they had to admit it was effective. The spinning metal cut the monsters like butter. "Really? How did it get so big?" Bonnie asked as two of their fist spells hit the griffons, killing a couple of them with the impact. "I have no idea. It was supposed to be over a thousand years old, but then again, since the dwarves couldn''t even cross the barrier, the title could''ve passed to a new generation or something," Hera flung three poison needles towards the new wave of griffons who had just triggered. "Can you stop talking and focus on the dungeon? This is not a game!" Alex yelled before sending a wind blade that cut two griffons. "This is not one of your power-leveling sessions. We are just hanging out. Chill," Bonnie scoffed. "I don''t care! We have to keep our guard up all the time." Bonnie just shrugged. Hera understood what Alex was talking about, but at the same time, this wasn''t hard. There was no need to be so on edge. Little by little, they finished off all the Juvenile Sky Rulers until only one monster remained. The Sky Ruler howled and jumped from its perch, flying around the invaders a couple of times before landing in front of the puny creatures that just killed its flock in front of the red pond. However, as soon as its feet touched the ground, it realized the mistake it had made. It wasn''t the one staring down at its prey. No, these invaders were the hunters, and the Sky Ruler was their quarry. The fear became overwhelming, and the monster lashed out, throwing its spells everywhere, trying to push its enemies away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler - level 10 (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stomped the ground, creating a stone wall in front of them that blocked all the wind blades, feathers, and blasts that were going coming them. At the same time, Silah controlled her saw blades to arc in the Sky Ruler''s direction. The monster was just a bit over 3 meters tall. It was a baby when comparing with the previous ruler of the mountain. Bonnie launched some fists towards the sky, but they changed courses in midair and flew towards where the griffon landed. During that time, the barrage of spells coming from the monster didn''t stop. Silah''s blades appeared on the other side, and she sent them back the way they came. It was easy to see that her attack was effective because of the blood splatter that appeared on the snow. Bonnie kept up with her rocket fists, adjusting the direction even without seeing the target. It was hard to tell if her spells were hitting the griffon, but with the number of attacks coming from the Sky Ruler, moving outside the safety of the stone barrier was too risky. Even Alex and Helena couldn''t find an opening to attack. Ignoring the danger and being hit by the spells was an option, but at the same time, no one wanted to see how strong those bursts of wind actually were. Noticing that her stone wall was being chipped away, Hera was about to cast another one to take its place when the wind spells suddenly stopped. They waited a moment before stepping out of cover, only to see the Sky Ruler with three of its legs missing and several broken bones and barely able to keep its head up. Apparently, Silah''s saw blade cut off its limbs while Bonnie''s fist spells shattered its body. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Errm¡­ that is a bit much," Hera walked over to the monster and slammed her handaxe against its head, putting the Sky Ruler out of its misery. "You could''ve asked if anyone else wanted to do it," Alex said. "Oh, sorry. Next time I''ll stop to talk while the thing agonizes," Hera rolled her eyes. "It''s just a dungeon monster," Alex shrugged and walked closer to the corpse, waiting for the loot. "So what? We don''t have to torture it. It''s fine if you need to kill a cow for meat, but kill it before skinning it," Hera replied. Alex just waved her away, and the drops finally appeared. Where the Sky Ruler once was, now there was a small pile of gold and a bundle of feathers. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest inside the Sky Ruler Nest. By defeating the Sky Ruler, you have stopped their rampage. Rewards: 30 000 gold Sky Ruler Eyes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s just gross," Hera said after seeing her rewards. Getting eyes as a reward was way too gruesome for her. Looking at the drops, there were a couple of hundred gold coins and the feathers that seemed to be suitable for crafting some gear with wind affinity. Walking over to the pond, Silah couldn''t understand why the water was red. She tossed a pebble inside, and nothing happened, but the splash sent the water to the snow. Curiously, the wet snow now had the same color as the blood splatter created by the Sky Ruler. "Oh, crap!" Silah gasped. "What''s wrong?" Hera stopped looking at the loot and rushed to her girlfriend''s side. "Nothing. I just figured out what this pond is," Silah turned to Hera, "It''s when I saved you from the Sky Ruler''s mouth. Remember how it started bleeding like crazy? It made a pool on the ground." "Really? Then¡­ is that blood?" Hera asked. "I don''t think so. It looks like red water, but I didn''t touch it." The group tried to figure out what that pond actually was, but even their skills gave them odd answers that couldn''t help identify the liquid. For one, this was called Blood Pond, and the description talked about it being rich in iron and other minerals for the griffons to drink, but it never said it was actually drinkable for humans. Not wanting to get sick, the group just started gathering the loot. While doing that, the girls kept praising Hera about the dungeon, and that was starting to go to her head. She felt proud of what she did. Just like Silah said, her actions changed the lives of everyone in the city. It was no small feat. Even if people around the world didn''t know, for the citizens of Boothudurn, Hera was a hero. Even so, Hera changed the subject to Alex''s skill, and they started talking about their new abilities and spells, and left the dungeon. There was no reason to stay around with the quest over, and even if Hera was curious about the pollen field, she wouldn''t risk going there without a healer in the party. It took some time for them to return to the city, since there was still the long tunnel that went down the mountain. After all that walking, they stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. In hindsight, that wasn''t the best move. Four humans walking around the city caused quite a commotion, resulting in a few guards having to escort the group around. They ended up eating quickly to not disturb the people in the restaurant, even if they seemed to be more than happy to have humans eating there. Hera tried to stop by Risli''s, but they called the Shaman for the ambassadors'' meeting. As a plan B, she took her friends to the farming fields and showed them the entrance to the Wooly Plains. Alex was ready to do another dungeon, but Helena wouldn''t have enough mana. She spent over half of what she had on her crystals, and no one wanted to put her in a situation where she was defenseless, even if the mage insisted she could take care of herself. Silah accompanied them through the tour. Hera found it a bit odd since her girlfriend said she wanted to stay with her family just to end up keeping her friends company all the time. Hera tried to ask about that, but it seemed like Silah wasn''t in the mood to elaborate on that. As a way to change the pace, Hera stopped by her house and picked up a few extra coats so they could see how the mountain looked from the outside. These small excursions were already common, but anyone who left the city through the main gate had to have an escort. Luckily for them, Hera and Silah were part of the guard, removing the need for more people to join them. Once outdoors, Alex and Bonnie were in awe to see the mountain itself. Neither of them had ever been to a mountain like this, and the sheer size of it made them forget about anything. Helena was less impressed, but she agreed that it was a beautiful place. Her research made her explore different areas, and a mountain wasn''t all that exciting. They walked around, checking the slopes where, once upon a time, the dwarves built some structures. It was just a shame that there was nothing left. Maybe they could find some marks or ruins after some digging, but that would require a full-blow archeological dig and they weren''t about to start that now. "Hey, who are you, little guy?" Silah was crouching down by a tree. "Silah?" Hera asked, worried about the type of monster that could be around now that the griffons were gone. "You are too cute, you know that? But are you hurt? Why are your arms red?" Silah continued. Hera rushed over, and when she saw what Silah was talking to, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was a small, round, four-legged creature. It seemed fuzzy and cuddly, like a panda, but it had red eyes, and its claws and arms were red, almost as if they were stained with blood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 5 (Consumption Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a flash, Hera crossed the distance between her and Silah and grabbed the creature by the scruff, slamming it against a rock behind it. "Hera! What are you...?" before Silah even finished, Hera was already slamming her handaxe into the creature over and over again, "Stop! What the fuck?" "What is going on?" Helena rushed over. "Lena, don''t come here!" Hera yelled without stopping her attacks. Only after she cut off the Wendigo''s head entirely that did her striking finally stopped. "What is wrong?" Bonnie and Alex were already with their buffs flaring up. "That was a wendigo," Hera replied. "Fuck¡­" Alex turned to Helena. The mage was pale and just staring in Hera''s direction with wide eyes. "We need to show this to the king and the ambassadors. Now!" Hera said, without letting go of the corpse. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?!" Silah gasped. Bonnie sighed, "It''s a long story, let''s go back to the city. I''ll explain it on the way." 287 - Big decisions The meeting with the ambassadors was going on for a while. Kevin insisted on wasting by speaking in political jargon and having to explain what each term meant. Only after Kadmek got too annoyed by that and complained that did the human started speaking more clearly. Rutigan could tell that the council was getting tired. Fethy was here primarily to talk about commerce, and so was Lural, but Telanz had almost nothing to contribute to the discussion. Bringing any type of medical equipment could only be discussed after the upgrade in the infrastructure. That wasn''t all. Rutigan could tell that Kadmek and Valyra were holding back something. He tried to probe for some answer, but the ambassadors seemed guarded about whatever it was. To help everyone regain some of their energy, the King attempted to offer a break so they could have some coffee and pastries, but Kevin shot that down. According to the human, meetings should only stop when their discussions were over. Luckily, Valyra had a better sense and cut him off, agreeing that they should have breaks, but it was better to schedule a specific time for their coffee break. After that, they went back to discussing what benefits they could get from being a part of each organization. Unlike what Hera had explained to him, the MAZE was split into three different groups. The Explorers Guild controlled the majority of the rooms and was run by humans. Something that Kadmek pointed out was that the Guild was also an organization focused on expansion. They wouldn''t start fighting other civilizations out of the blue, but their interests were focused on finding more rooms and more resources to send back to their private room. Hera had warned them about Earth and how it was an unfathomably large room where most humans were born and raised. It was just a shame that only humans could visit that place, but no one could explain why. If they agreed to being part of the Guild meant that its rules would be applied to Boothudurn, but it also meant that they would have the best resources and the most advanced infrastructure. The Union of MAZE Nations, or UMN, consisted of all other civilizations who would rather rule themselves. This didn''t mean that they were enemies of the Guild or didn''t have access to its resources, but just that they opted to keep their traditions and laws closer to what they were. One detail about this that worried and excited the King was that the UMN was home to most of the various races inside the MAZE, from dwarves to elves, beastmen, and even mermaids. All these different civilizations worked together under the same flag. They also had access to the internet and much of the infrastructure of the Guild. However, those benefits had to be bought or traded for, and more often than not, they wouldn''t have the most up-to-date version of a product. Kadmek gave one example of this. There was this huge room that could benefit from a better way of transportation. During the negotiations about what kind of transport they would use, the Guild offered to build a bullet train in exchange for having the room under their flag. This offer was ultimately rejected, but everyone agreed with the train idea, but the only thing they built was a train powered by electricity. It still had some luxuries of the modern days such as air conditioning, internet connection and comfortable seats, but it wasn''t the most advanced option. For the dwarves of Boothudurn, much of those details were lost, but they were still able to grasp the overall idea. Lastly, there was the Natural Resource Unit. This group wouldn''t deal with things like territory or infrastructure. Instead, they were responsible for logistics and cataloging all the resources that each room had to offer. This helped everyone when in need of supplies or a specific type of product. Still, there were a couple of rooms that were under their direct control. When a place rich in valuable resources appeared, to avoid any conflicts between the Guild and the UMN, the NRU would step in to manage said resource distribution. This part of their discussion also took a long time since the people of Boothudurn weren''t that familiar with the concept of purchase. What ended up delaying most of the conversation were the explanations of basic concepts that the council members weren''t familiar with. It was one thing to have Hera explain her society, another to have someone with knowledge about politics explaining what they would need to know. In the middle of one of those explanations, Hera and her group burst through the door. "Hera? What''s wrong? What is that?" Rutigan got up from the chair when he saw the bloodied white corpse that she was carrying. "This is an issue that everyone here needs to know about," Hera walked to the middle of the room and held the body up, "This is a Wendigo. It''s a deadly creature that must be killed on sight. If you don''t, it can eat and get stronger with each kill. They can even absorb the skills and spells of people." Kevin and Kadmek were skeptical about what the creature actually was, but a quick use of their [Observe] revealed that Hera was right. Valyra, on the other hand, didn''t doubt her announcement for a second. She knew who that human was, and how she was the first low leve explorer to fight a wendigo alone and win. With this new information, the mood of the meeting quickly changed. Hera did her best to explain what the wendigo was, and Valyra had a video of what happened during the wall break on her tablet. After showing it to the council, they understood the gravity of the situation. "Why is that happening now?" Rutigan asked. "We are not sure¡­ our best assumption is that it''s because of the humans," Valyra replied. "That is just speculation! You have no proof of that," Kevin protested. "I don''t, but this is an informed guess. Rampages only happen in rooms with a lot of humans. It stands to reason that the presence of Wendigos is triggered by humanity as well, but I can¡¯t say for sure," Valyra explained to the council. "Rampages¡­ Hera told us about that risk. Do you know when that will happen or how many humans have to come here before the red sky appears?" Ogryn asked. "We can''t know that for sure. The number of humans that are required for the Rampages to start varies from room to room. And, after they start, they never stop. Even if there are no more humans inside a room," Kadmek explained. "And on the matter of how often it happens, we also don''t know. It can be anywhere from 12 to 24 months. It''s never outside that window, and 24 hours before it starts, the red sky appears," Valyra added. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "So all the people in the city will be in danger once every year because of the humans?" Naka asked. Kevin slammed his hand on the table and got up, "We are not trying to harm anyone! Even if we humans are truly responsible for the Rampage, the Guild has several protocols in place to protect all the citizens of each room." "Kevin. Lower your voice. You are in the presence of royalty," Kadmek stared at him with an angry expression. In response, the human gritted his teeth and sat back down. "I apologize for his outburst, but he is correct. We are not accusing the humans of anything. Yes, they might cause the Rampage, but they understand that responsibility and do their very best to protect us," Valyra added. "Fret not. We understand that this is not something humanity has done on purpose. Besides, it seems like a low price to pay for all the technology you are offering us," King Rutigan replied with a smile. "My liege, are you sure this is worth it?" Naka asked. "I believe so, yes. Also, we have you and your guard to protect us, don''t we? That''s the real reason I can be at ease," Rutigan smiled at the captain. "Of course," Naka replied with a proud smirk. Hera had to hold back a giggle. Despite all her talk about how Rutigan''s father was a better King, all it took was a single compliment from the current ruler, and Naka would let it go to her head. Rutigan turned back to the ambassadors, "With this new development, I believe it will be best if we make a decision soon. The council will have a meeting, and by tomorrow we shall have our reply to your offers. I have prepared some rooms in the castle for you to stay, and a guard will be stationed nearby if any of you need anything, and do feel free to explore our city. I ask you just to keep our customs in mind. Oh, and if our meeting is over by then, you are more than welcome to join me for dinner. However, I have a rule. No business talk during meals." "Of course. We appreciate the hospitality," Valyra gave a slight bow after getting up from the chair. The ambassadors mainly used their tablets for everything, so there wasn''t even a need to clean up when they got up. "Before agreeing to dinner, let me ask you. Do you have any booze around here?" Kadmek asked. "We were experimenting with some options that Hera and Blue told us about. I believe we have some wine, beer, and one clear liquid made out of potatoes called vodka, but that is giving me some trouble to figure out," Lural replied. Kadmek turned to Hera, "You taught them how to make vodka?" "Not really, I just said it was a thing. I have no idea how to actually make that, and without the internet, the best I could say is that vodka can be made from potatoes," Hera shrugged. "That''s fair. Most people barely understand how to make wine, much less something stronger," Kadmek turned to Lural. "If we have some time, I would love to take a look at what you''re doing. I dabble in making my own brews. Maybe I can help." "That would be great!" Lural got up from his chair but cleared his throat before sitting back down, trying to hide his excitement, "But let''s discuss that after the council meeting. We must keep our priorities straight. I''ll send for someone to get you a bottle of our vodka so you can see where we are at." "Perfect, thank you very much. It''s been a while since I could drink on the job," Kadmek laughed. Valyra joined in the laugher, but Kevin gave the dwarf an annoyed look. The ambassadors left the area, leaving Hera''s group and the council. "I supposed I should''ve said this before. Hera, I wish to hear your opinion on the offers they made, yours too, Silah, if you wish to stay. However, I would feel more comfortable if your friends were not here so we can talk more freely," Rutigan turned to Helena and the others, "I hope you don''t take offense to that. As much as we trust Hera''s judgment, I¡­" Before he continued, Helena chimed in, "Don''t worry, King Rutigan. We understand. Just because you know Hera doesn''t mean you know us. We can leave you to talk in private without any issues." "Yeah, there is no offense taken," Alex nodded. "Trust me, the last thing I wanted is to stay in a business meeting," Bonnie shrugged. "Thank you for your understanding," Rutigan turned to Hera, "Can we start now, or do you need to do something beforehand?" "I''ll just take them to my house and come back," Hera replied. "I can do that. Honestly, as long as we get those tablets that let me talk to you anywhere, I''m fine with whatever. Besides, deciding this is way too much pressure. I''m good," Silah said. Hera thanked her, and her party left towards her house. Hera also asked Silah to grab some food for them since Alex and the others didn''t know how that worked in Boothudurn. After they left, King Rutigan explained what the ambassadors told them about the Guild, UMN, and NRU. The dwarves weren''t used to acronyms and ended up calling the groups by the full name all the time. Hera found that a bit odd, but endearing at the same time. When all the explanation was over, Rutigan opened the floor for discussion. Some people were more interested in being a part of the Guild. The people from Boothudurn were used to frequent changes to their culture, and because of that, the ''threat'' of change wasn''t something they were that worried about. Even the general population was fine with that. After the announcement they were opening the room, Fethy set up a survey to understand everyone''s thoughts about the change. The vast majority of the citizens were excited about the prospects of joining a large human civilization, even if that meant a considerable change to their lifestyle. Among the six council members, only Ogryn and Laurel were leaning towards the UMN. Fethy was excited about the cultural exchange among any civilization. So for her, it didn''t matter who they picked. Naka''s primary concern was how close they were with the Guild. Despite their talks about being friendly, her first thought was what would happen if that peace was broken. They would be too close to the human territory, and that could cause a myriad of problems. Hera barely said anything during that discussion and when Rutigan finally asked her opinion. Kadmek and Valyra sneaked inside the council chamber. "Is everything ok?" Rutigan asked, seeing the two enter quietly. "Yes. Apologies for intruding, but we have something else to say," Valyra walked forward. "Sure, what is it?" "Do not join the guild," Kadmek replied. "Do you have a reason to say that? I thought you were supposed to be neutral," Hera asked. "Shit, I didn''t see you there. This could be complicated now," Kadmek scratched his head. "It may not be so. First, help us understand. Why shouldn''t we join the Guild?" Ogryn asked. "If you do. I fear you might lose more than just your culture," Valyra replied in a serious tone. 288 - The other side of the story Everyone in the council chambers was staring at Valyra. It wasn''t simply because of what she said, but the words came out of her mouth with absolute confidence. Even Kadmek seemed a bit shaken by the way she phrased her remark. "What do you mean we will lose more than just our culture?" Rutigan asked. "This is¡­ a complicated story, but I''ll do my best to explain it. When we first noticed this type of behavior was about 50 years ago. At the time, I was working as a¡­." "Valyra, crap or get off the can. We don''t have time for the ramblings of an old crone," Kadmek interrupted. "Why is that?" Hera asked. "Because Kevin is taking a bath right now. It''s better if the Guild is not aware of this discussion," Kadmek explained. "How can you be sure he still is in the bath?" Ogryn asked. "I have a spell," Kadmek shrugged. "You have a spell that tells you when someone is taking a bath?" Hera frowned. "What? No, he told me he was going in. The spell is there to tell me when he comes out." "That''s even creepier¡­." Hera took a step back, unconsciously. "NO! For fuck''s sake. It''s not that I have a spell that tells me when someone is coming out of the bath. I just set up an alarm. When he comes out of the bathroom, I will know," Kadmek explained, "Anyway, we don''t have time for this. Look, don''t join the Guild. I know it seems all fancy and full of benefits, but they are sneaky and will change you little by little. In a few decades, you won''t even recognize who you are anymore. Besides, they hide most things about the other races, don''t consider our point of view when talking about progress, and part of their laws is to allow people from Earth to buy land even in your rooms. I know you have a human here, and she probably only sings the guild praises, but they don''t care about keeping our culture. All they want to do is assimilate it." "Ok, first. Breathe, or you will end up passing out. Second, I don''t constantly praise the Guild. In fact, it only took so long for me to become an explorer because of their stupid rules. Third, that law thing seems bull. Kevin should''ve said something about it if that is what actually happens. And how do you know all that, or why do you care? And why all the secrecy? It seems really unfair to say all this when Kevin is not here to defend the Guild," Hera scoffed. Just because she was part of the Guild, it didn''t mean that she liked everything it did. At the same time, she always hated people who accused someone without giving them a chance to defend themselves. "We care because we don''t want more people to lose their history. And we know because we saw it happen again and again. My own people ended up casting aside some of our beliefs because of the Guild. I understand that most humans here are not the religious kind, but in my hometown, the only church we had dedicated to the system was bought off and transformed into a branch of the Guild, essentially killing our religion. That''s not all. Our paintings, fables, songs, legends all died off and were replaced with stories made by humans. If Kevin was here, he would have excuses for each argument we give. Excuses that ultimately don''t change the fate of the people who join the Guild," Valyra sat in a chair to speak. "They even like to pretend that the only Heroes we have are human. They build shrines for those three and ignore all other six," Kadmek said. "What do you mean, other six? There are only Three Heroes," Hera had a confused expression. "See, they don''t even teach you about it. There are 9 Heroes, nine people who changed the MAZE forever. Among them, we have dwarves, elves, beastmen, and other races. Yet, the Guild only talks about the three. They always used the excuse that they didn''t want to cause a panic on Earth and talk about other races, but even now after lifting those restrictions, they still keep them a secret," Kadmek huffed. "Wait, who are they? What did they do, and why are there no shrines, statues, paintings or even books talking about them?" Hera didn''t know what to believe. The Heroes were supposed to be a beacon of hope and unity. How could someone lie about them, and if what Kadmek said wasn''t a lie, why would the Guild hide the information about the rest? "I''m afraid I don''t have time to tell you about all of them, but the UMN was founded by one of the heroes. She was an elf called Euruwan, the North Star. Because she is the one that guides us even after her death. I can send you a book about her and the other five later if you want." Valyra smiled at Hera. "Yes, please," Hera replied, still feeling shell-shocked. "So, you want to say that the guild won''t be looking out for our best interest?" Rutigan asked. "They won''t, but then again, neither will the UMN. However, we won''t actively try to change you and will support you with what we can with fewer constraints. Each time you ask the Guild for something, you will have to give something back in return. Let me also add that you won''t be asked to sell your land right from the get-go. That will come later when the Guild feels that you owe them enough to start charging. They already asked for some land and then they will expand little by little until only a handful of buildings belong to your people," Valyra explained. "But for what they talked about during the meeting, having a guild here might be very beneficial. If we join the UMN, we won''t have access to that," Naka was still worried about the prospect of someone trying to invade them. She had never seen a war or a dispute between nations herself. No one in Boothudurn knew what that was actually like. But the previous captains had some journals recounting large-scale conflicts that Weston shared with them. Just the thought of something like that becoming a reality made her shiver in fear. "You can have one either way. Most rooms that are a part of the UMN have a guild brach that works as both an actual Explorers'' Guild and an embassy. They might not offer the same type of benefits such as high-speed internet connection or advanced training rooms. But, protection against Rampages and patrol missions are things where they use the best resources available for everyone," Kadmek added. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Sorry, but I''m confused. Didn''t you say they were bad? Why are you defending them now?" Fethy asked. "They are not bad. Not intentionally at least," Valyra shook her head, "They won''t push everything away with bad intentions. It''s not like they want to hide the other races'' involvement or wish to get rid of their culture. However, despite their intentions, this is the result of their actions. And that''s why I''m giving you this warning." "I see¡­ This is something we will have to consider," Rutigan replied. Kadmek stopped moving for a moment, "Kevin is out of his bath. We should go." Valyra nodded, "Very well. I apologize for the interruption, and even if you do decide to join the Guild, the UMN will still want to deal with your kingdom. This is not a threat of animosity, just an advice coming from an individual, not a request for our alliance." "One last question," Hera stopped the elf before she reached the door, "If we ask Kevin about the UMN without you around, will he have a similar issue with how your organization deal with things?" "I''m certain he will. There are two sides to every story but know this. My warning doesn''t come from greed or self-interest. It comes from grief for what was lost," Valyra said before she left the room. "Well¡­ that makes things more complicated," Ogryn sighed. "It does. Anyone already formed an idea about all of this?" Rutigan asked, but no one replied. They were leaning towards becoming part of the Guild, but everyone''s thoughts were scrambled after this new information. Not wanting to waste to much time, the King turned to the only human in the room, "How about you, Hera?" "I¡­ I don''t know. I told you guys about the Three Heroes, and the fact that the Guild hid those who are not human is¡­ disturbing. The Three Heroes are supposed to be something sacred. Then again, we don''t know for sure if Valyra was being honest or not. The way she came to talk to us felt too sneaky, like she was doing something wrong. I think staying with the Guild could be the best option." "Weren''t you worried about how the humans would treat us?" Naka asked. "I still am. Humans can be greedy and only care about money, but at least we will know what to expect. But the UMN, today was the first time I ever even heard about them. Who''s to say they won''t do even worse? Did any of them tell you what they would need from Boothudurn?" Hera turned to Rutigan. "Yes, the Guild asked only for a space to build a branch and some hotels. And the information for the dungeons. With that, they can make something called a compendium and share it with other people. Aside from that, they also asked to set up some shops to sell the things we make here. Kevin also said that we will need to pay taxes at some point for all the infrastructure and everything else, but that would come later and it could be deducted from other deals. Oh, and to open all the dungeons for anyone who wants to go in," Rutigan double-checked his notes. Unlike the ambassadors, all the dwarves had small notebooks to write down what they considered important. "Right¡­ how about the UMN? Did they ask for anything?" "They did. They asked for the same space but also to open trade for minerals and food. But they wouldn''t be able to help to build the... towers? I believe those are what we will use to access the internet. We still would have to open a branch of the Guild or at least a version of it though. It seems like that is a prerequisite if we want to join any part of the world. If we wish to have a better infrastructure, we would have to pay for that ourselves," Rutigan continued. "Most of what we do is around the guild, so that makes some sense," Hera replied. "Can I ask you all a question?" Telanz rose his hand. "Sure, it is time for discussion, my friend," Rutigan smiled at the healer. "Do we have any reason not to go with the Guild? They have more benefits and will be able to help us more since they are close by. We are having all these arguments based on the word of someone who may or may not be telling the truth." "Well, we should try to protect our culture, shouldn''t we?" Lural scratched his head. "Why is that an issue? Our culture changes so much and so quickly. Can anyone here tell me how things were 50 years ago?" Fethy raised her hand, "Aside from Fethy. She doesn''t count," there was a small pause, "See, and besides, we are really good at keeping track of what we have done," Telanz continued. "You do have a point there. Our culture is about change. As long as we remember that, our culture will remain. Even if it ends up being completely different, we can always look at our old works," Fethy nodded. "Besides, with all due respect to your work Fethy, the most important thing is that our people are doing well. Even if we change, as long as we are safe and happy, everything is ok," Rutigan said. "I agree," Ogryn smiled. "Me too. Without the people we can''t do anything, and happy people make for better artists," Fethy nodded. "Very well. I believe we have come to a decision," Rutigan clapped his hands. "There is still much to do, but we at least can start working with who is going to help us now," Fethy got up and walked towards Hera, extending one hand, "And thank you for all the help." "Don''t mention. I barely did anything," Hera shook Fethy''s hand. "You did more than you can imagine, and even if we change, I promise that no one will ever forget what you and Blue did for us," Fethy pulled Hera in for a hug. After that, everyone went around thanking Hera for everything, even Naka. A few minutes later, the meeting was over, and Rutigan invited them all for dinner, but Hera refused. She wanted to be with her friends and ask about what Valyra said. Hera quickly went back to her house and talked with the girls. She avoided saying too much about the meeting and focused only on the other heroes. Bonnie and Alex had no idea about them, but Helena had a bit more information. "Yeah, if I remember correctly, the Order of the Lost Court has something to do with the heroes. I honestly never looked into that, but our leader loves those stories," Helena said. "Really? Why did you never say anything? You know how Blue and I love the stories about the heroes,'' Hera was surprised by the lack of information coming from the mage. "It just slipped my mind. I joined the order because of the freedom and resources that I could get from them for my research. Honestly, all those fables are nice and all but I never focused too much on them. If you want I can see if the leader can recommend any books or something for you, sweetie. We also have to complete your official admission." "Really? I''m still not a full member?" "Not just yet. I''m guessing that finding a new room will be enough to add you and Bonnie''s modular spells too. We might be able to get you both as full members at once," Helena said. "Does that mean you have to go away?" Silah turned to Hera. "Not yet. I''m staying around until you have internet, then we can talk even when I''m away. But I would love to know more about who those other heroes are, and to actually join the Order of the Lost Court." "Right¡­ and what is that order you are talking about?" Silah asked. Hera explained how the order worked and the types of organizations around the MAZE while eating a meal prepared by Silah. There was still a lot to do, but not only things seemed to be going in the right direction, but Hera already had something new to look forward to. 289 - The three heroes The tales of the Three Heroes shouldn''t be something new for you. After all, most of us grew up with those stories, but just in case, let me tell their stories again. The devils came. Destroying everything in their path, crossing doorways despite what we believed to be possible. Unlike how that happened the previous time, these monsters would sneak to other rooms on their own, devouring, feasting, and following their instincts of destruction for months on end. The creatures were animals, yes, but they were all but mindless. Each showed a cunning that transcended even the kings and queens that attempted to defeat them. However, after losing the battle against the devils, a deal was struck. Instead of annihilation, the kingdoms chose subservience. Among such folk was Undine. After losing her best friend and partner during an attack, the mighty mage vowed to not allow anyone else to feel that kind of despair and to get revenge against those beings for all the pain that they caused. She went on a journey to strengthen herself and, a few months later, returned with the power to bend the flames to her will. Being among the last truly powerful people alive, Undine was a beacon of hope. Hope that was quickly extinguished when the twelve devils joined and demanded that the mage be offered as a sacrifice. However, Undine, the noble hero, accepted her fate and went alone to the city where the twelve devils lived. Her intention was clear, defeat the devils who were kind enough to present themselves to her. When she arrived, a battle started that lasted for almost a full day. The ground shattered, and the skies were cut. Poison and doom covered the city, the lightning and decay could be felt from beyond the doorway, and a rain of fire showered the entire room. By the end, the entire landscape had changed. What once was a beautiful kingdom was now a scarred wasteland, but the devils had been destroyed, and Undine, the Firebringer, had fulfilled her mission. Most people overlook the tragedy that gave Undine the drive to fight the devils. I do hope that she got some closure after all this work. Still, that story is my favorite, but I suppose it would be best to start at the beginning. Believe it or not, once upon a time, the MAZE wasn''t this endless expanse of possibility. No one was able to go past the 8th layer. People only saw a massive wall in the middle of the room, stopping anyone from passing. The barrier would burn every hour and fix any damage that it had received. To all effects and purpose, that was the end of the MAZE. In one room, where people mostly lived as lumberjacks on a forest that was rich in redwood. There was a man who always tried his best to support his family. He lived a humble life, and together with his wife and daughter, they were happy. Being among the community''s oldest members and having earned the people''s trust, they considered Kahn the village leader. Unfortunately, things changed when two kingdoms in an adjacent room went to war. Due to the increase in the need for materials for weapons and barricades, the people of that small village started to be harassed by both sides of the conflict, even when they weren''t a part of either kingdom. Things became even worse when a general demanded an absurd amount of redwood to be delivered in one week. He asked for the entire forest to be cut down or burned so his enemies wouldn''t be able to use those materials. If they failed to meet his demands, the man would come and conscript the entire village. The women would take care of feeding and cleaning after the soldiers, and the man would be forced to join the fight. However, by doing that, the people wouldn''t have any way to survive. Their food came from the fruits of the redwood and the gold they got from trading the logs to other rooms. Fulfilling that request was the same as destroying the village. Kahn didn''t know what to do. The older men and women wouldn''t survive a journey to a room far away, and neither of the two kingdoms would accept them as refugees after they sold lumber to their enemy. To make things worse, the general''s men were blocking all the room exits, and it seemed like there weren''t any other options but to accept that abusive request. Frustrated, the village chief walked towards the wall while trying to come up with a plan. With a hothead, Kahn started punching the wall. It wasn''t something productive, but with each punch, his mind became clear. So he kept hitting it, again and again. For almost a full hour, his fists hit the stone wall. With a final strike that was supposed to just signal the end of his tantrum, the wall broke completely and revealed not just more of the forest but a doorway without anyone blocking it. Kahn quickly went back to the village and called everyone on this new path, finding a new home in the next room. The first wall had been broken, and now we knew that these barriers could be destroyed. I know this one is not that exciting, but we should always remember where it all began. Kahn, the Wallbreaker, only became a hero because he didn''t have another option. He wasn''t looking for glory or fame, just to keep his family safe. A curious fact that most people overlook is that this new room that Kahn had found was home for a large village of elves. Elves that greeted Kahn and his people with open arms and protected them from the war between the kingdoms. Now, let me tell you about the big one. There was only one word to describe what was going on, and yet, calling this a rampage was like calling the ocean ''a place that has some water.'' Whatever this was, was much bigger than what anyone could understand. Rampages are crazy, but they have order. They have rules. This was just madness, pure, unfiltered madness. Countless monsters were charging forward non stop. The only thing that delayed them was when they found a doorway. For some strange reason, they had to wait a couple of days before going to a different room. I say strange, but the fact that they could cross a doorway was already something that should be impossible. To make matters worse, every kingdom and country was only thinking about themselves. As long as they weren''t in the rampage''s path, they couldn''t care less about all the death and destruction. All of that changed because of one man. A knight, clad in black armor and surrounded by a golden aura, reached out to every single king and queen inside and outside the MAZE. In the span of a month, he had meetings with over two hundred rulers, yet that wasn''t enough. Most didn''t care or were too afraid to help. Having to give up the plan of rallying troops, Cyrus attempted to stop this rampage through another angle. He sneaked inside the room where the monsters currently were, searching for a leader, a boss, a person. Something that was causing all that madness. However, what he discovered was much worse. The monsters were waiting in front of three different doorways, and among them, there were species that never should''ve been born. Creatures that were snakes with the limbs and the tongue of a frog, spiders that could fly with the wings of a bird. Tigers that had the same amount of teeth as sharks, as well as their fin. The monsters weren''t simply moving and eating. They were breeding and changing, and their levels were added. He noticed two different monsters, both level 10 taking care of another creature, a mix between the parents that seemed to be just a newborn but was already level 20. He kept searching and found several other creatures in similar situations. He even witnessed the birth of one that seemed to be the third generation. A monster with so many parts could only be called an abomination, and the beast was already at level 34 when it came out of the egg. He killed the baby and ran away with its body. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. With that new information, Cyrus ran back to the kingdoms and shared his discovery. Some were still dismissive of the danger, but those with more knowledge understood that the monsters could turn into something terrifying if left alone for long. For now, only relatively weak creatures had done that, but if those on the deeper layers had the same type of offspring, no one would be able to defeat them, and if the monsters keep breeding, again and again, the results could be creatures that came out of nightmares. Rallying under the same banner, all the civilizations inside and outside the MAZE gathered in the room where the massive rampage would strike next. With Cyrus at the front, expanding his golden aura to buff the entire hundred thousand strong army, they defended the room and killed every single one of the monsters who were trying to invade. It is said that Cyrus used his spells to strengthen the whole army, but I think that is an exaggeration. Even if the imagery is very heroic. In the modern world, the record for most people buffed at once is held by a controller who was level 65 and managed to buff 20 thousand people. Saying that Cyrus did five times that when he wasn''t even level 50 seems like a big stretch. Notice how I spoke of civilizations, and not humans. For during this fight, all races joined together to push back against the creatures. Oddly enough, Undine is the only Hero whose actions affected only the human race. Although, if left unchecked, scholars agree that the Devils would''ve become a problem for everyone. Anyway, now that you remember what the human Heroes did, let''s talk about the others, shall we? ----------------------------------------------- A knock on the door made Hera look up from her tablet. "Are you still up?" Lena''s voice came from the other side. "Yeah, just a minute," Hera closed the book after bookmarking the page she was on and put on her robe before leaving her room. After Rutigan confirmed that Boothudurn would be a part of the guild, he also offered Hera to remodel her home so that Lena, Alex, and Bonnie could have their own rooms. A couple of dwarven architects had started learning about other styles, and they were itching to try making houses with more than one floor. Not that Boothudurn didn''t have that, but there were some techniques and frames that they never considered, and now, Hera was enjoying having a room that wasn''t directly by the kitchen. "Hey, what''s up?" Hera asked as she left the room. "I just got a text from Ninleyn. He said he can come by, but it will take him a little over a week to get here," Lena explained. "Oh, really? I guess the leader of the Order would be deep in the MAZE?" "Not really, but it seemed like he has something to do in a couple of days, so he has to take a detour. But he will explain everything to you and Bonnie. And¡­ well¡­ there is a thing you guys have to do as part of the Order. I actually had forgotten about that and got a big scolding," Helena sighed. "You got scolded?" "Yeah. It''s kind of hard to deal with an elf that is over 300 years old." "He''s that old? Should he be moving around?" Hera asked. "Don''t worry about it. Elves live to 400, so in human terms, he would be like 70, 75? But one of the spry ones, who does yoga, goes jogging and things like that," Helena explained. "Right. Well, I still have to get used to that age difference. It''s hard to even see Risli as over two hundred years old," Hera scratched her neck. "You''ll get the hang of it. And did you start reading the book?" "I just started. The first chapter just had a lot of information about the author, and then it talked about the three heroes and what they did. It wasn''t that big of a story either. It felt like hearing someone tell them around a campfire, or a grandma telling it to her grandchildren." "But it''s good, though, isn''t it?" "It is. I was worried because it is so small, but I think I''ll get the gist of it," Hera nodded. They kept talking for a while until Bonnie and Alex arrived at the door, "Guys, we are home! And don''t come downstairs without putting some clothes on. We have a visitor." "Who is it?" Lena asked. "We won''t say. Just tell Hera to come quickly!" Bonnie replied. A few minutes later, Hera went to the living room of their new place and saw Mark sitting on the couch. The crafter jumped up as soon as she arrived and went in for a hug. "You are really here!" tears formed on Mark''s face as he embraced his lost friend. "I am. Sorry for not calling you sooner. I kind of got swept away by everything," Hera hugged him back. "That was really mean of you. How can you leave me hanging like that." "The same way you can joke about asking me on a date." With that, Mark took a step back, "Are you really going to throw that in my face now?" "It felt like a good way to break the mood, and I know it''s selfish of me, but I''m done with the whole, ''you were dead'' thing. To Blue and I, you all only thought we were lost and not dead," Hera shrugged. "Still, can''t I at least hug a friend without getting harassed?" Mark scoffed. "Fine, fine, you drama queen," Hera giggled and hugged him again, "So I guess you are staying with us tonight?" "That''s the plan. Since there are no hotels here, Bonnie invited me over. Is that ok?" "Fine by me. I can also introduce you to Silah. She''s my girlfriend and a blacksmith. I''m sure she will have a million questions about crafting for you," Hera smiled. "Sure, I''ll love to talk to a dwarven crafter too," Mark nodded as he let go of the hug again. "Great, I''ll go pick her up," Hera walked towards the door. "Stop by the construction of the guild. Someone was looking for you. Ask for Brian," Alex said. "Really? Did they say why?" "Nope, just that they had some things to go over with you." "Ok, I''ll be right back. Make yourself at home, or help the girls with the moving if you are up for it," Hera told Mark before leaving the house. If the guild was calling her, it had to be for something important. 290 - Perks of discovery The guild building was already being constructed. However, unlike the other structures in Boothudurn, it couldn''t be made by the dwarves. Not because they wouldn''t be able to make an incredible guild branch, but because there were too many details that they weren''t aware of, such as power outlets and air ducts for the AC unit. Someone could''ve come to explain at length how things had to be set up, but doing so would increase the timeline by a considerable amount, and no one wanted to do that. Brian, the man who called Hera, wasn''t part of the construction team. In fact, he wasn''t there because of Boothudurn at all. The guild had finished its survey of the Kobold Tunnel, and the room was like a highway to deeper layers. There were, in total, 20 doorways in there, and the room itself was very straightforward. It was just a road that even followed a more or less linear progression of rooms. The first one was the Kobold field, on the 3rd layer. As you walked in the opposite direction, you would see several other rooms as well as 5 dungeons. The deepest point of the room had a doorway to another room on the 15th layer. To top it all off, among the 20 rooms, 5 were new. That was counting with Boothudurn, but still, it was an incredible find, and that warranted a reward to those who discovered it. Hera asked around, and it didn''t take long for her to find Brian. Rutigan had set up a few small houses for any humans who came to help during all the construction work, and Brian was in one of them. "Excuse me?" Hera knocked on the door where the man who was searching for her was supposed to be. "Yes?" Brian opened the door. He was a tall human man with black hair, pierced ears, and a pair of silver glasses resting on his nose. Despite that, he looked like a teacher at a university. The type who was way too strict and uptight. "Sorry to bother you, but I heard you were looking for me," Hera smiled, trying to be friendly. "Ah, yes. Hera Kingsley, correct? Please, come inside. I have a few things to discuss with you." Despite being a temporary house that would be destroyed soon, Rutigan didn''t spare any expense. There was a fireplace, a very big couch, and the entire structure was very well made. Brian had a kettle on the stove and a teacup on the table. He gestured for Hera to sit and walked towards the kitchen. "Would you like some earl grey or chamomile?" Brian asked. "I''ll take the earl grey, thanks." Brian nodded and prepared the tea for Hera before sitting on the opposite side of the table, "If you want more, just let me know. Now, for the reason I was looking for you. The guild finished its survey of the Kobold Tunnel, as I''m sure you are aware." "Yeah, it was two days ago, right?" "Correct. It took us only three days to complete the survey. To be honest, in most situations, it takes much longer, but this room is unusual. Not just by its size, but its layout as well," Briand nodded. "You can say that again. It''s almost like a modern tunnel." "Exactly, and the connections in there will save days, if not weeks of travel. Not just that, but now, we have a more direct connection to Dzviery," Brian explained while mixing the sugar in his tea. "Dzviery? Isn''t that the room with over a hundred doorways?" Hera gasped. "Correct, and the Kobold Tunnel is the latest addition to its many, many connections. Either way that is such an important find that the guild has decided that you and your friend," Brian pulled up his tablet to double-check the name, "Pamella Blunt. Should receive a special reward due to your contributions." "Oh, really? That''s great." "Indeed. Both of you will receive a 5% share each on the profits of the Kobold Tunnel for the next two years. As well as being able to use any of its facilities free of charge during that period. Stores, ATRs, and other luxuries are not covered by this reward, of course." Hearing that, Hera frowned. 5% seemed very low, especially when she considered that there was nothing useful in the room. The guild wasn''t offering for her to get the first clear in the dungeons or anything like that. It was just the earnings they would get if people spent gold inside that barren room for some reason. "By your expression, I assume you are not satisfied with the rewards," Brian looked at Hera through his glasses. "Sorry, but it is¡­ underwhelming. I would barely get anything with that deal. How will the guild get any money in there?" Brian chuckled, "I see. I assumed you weren''t that green. Yes, the room is barren, but the guild already started constructing a train station, and some hotels spread around the area. Both the hotels and the train won''t be free. Not to mention the taxes that they will collect for trade and other services. If you think you won''t receive any money, just consider what it would be like to have that same share in a busy train station back on earth." Hera stopped for a moment to consider that. If she was talking about the train she used to get to work, which costs one gold per trip. The stations should earn around 54 to 60 gold per month just because of her, and there were hundreds of passengers every day. If the guild used the same price, even 5% would amount to a lot of money. Not to mention that she wasn''t even counting the hotels and other possible services. "I didn''t think about that. You''re right. This reward is pretty good," Hera took a sip of the tea. Earl gray wasn''t her favorite, but she enjoyed the beverage quite a bit. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Indeed. Now, I will send you the certificate that proves you are to receive this reward. Also, the guild asked me to deliver this to you," Brian got up and retrieve a light blue box, about the size of a notebook, from a cupboard. "What''s this?" Hera asked. There weren''t any symbols or writing in the box. "An upgrade. Since the branch here is not ready, they can''t do the same with your bracelet for now. There is also a letter, but I''m unaware of its contents." Hera looked at him and opened the box. The first thing she pulled out was the letter. It was a quick thank you from Romeo Ballester, the chairman of the guild. It seemed all pretty standard, but in the last paragraph, there was also a mention about her [Exponential Growth] and [All In] skills. Saying that they had confirmed that those skills were natural evolutions of the [Stat Realocation] skill. Now that the guild established the requirements to say evolution, and they matched with her information, she would also get a hundred thousand gold and would be able to get the compendium of any S tier skill in the guild database. Hera didn''t understand exactly what that last part meant, but she shrugged off as being one of the new changes in the world. Under the letter, there was a brand new tablet. It was grey and bigger than her current one. She also noticed a small button on the corner, and when she pressed it, the solid tablet went limp, almost like it was made out of paper and not plastic. "This is New Dawn''s latest model. It can be folded as you wish, and by pressing the button, the tablet returns to its rigid state. Some people have been using it wrapped around their arms for quick access. However, let me give you a small piece of advice. These are somewhat more fragile than the one you currently have. If a monster ends up striking it directly, it will surely break. It also has some extra functions like holograms, and it can be used as a pocket projector. Some people are getting these instead of a television. Still, the sound quality is not that great," Brian went on a small rant about the bad quality of audio in most cellphones and tablets, but in the end, he thanked Hera once more and set everything up so she could receive her 5% share starting next month. That wasn''t a long meeting, but it still took a lot out of Hera. Just talking about the rewards wasn''t an issue, but Brian gave her some harrowing news after Hera signed everything. Becca Swan would be doing a follow-up interview to talk about her new achievements and the newly discovered room. Doing another interview seemed scarier than fighting the Sky Ruler again. The only good part of that was that Becca had a busy schedule, so it would take some time before she would be free for that. Hera left the house, and just before going to search for Silah, she saw Rutigan. The King was talking to the people in the guild, and waved Hera over. "Hey, what''s going on?" Hera asked. "We have some exciting news. They are bringing the tower for the internet, and if everything works, we shall have it up and running by the end of the day," Rutigan had a large smile on his face. "That''s great! But¡­ do you even understand what you are saying?" "Not entirely, but it feels very exciting," the King chuckled. "It is. I have a spare tablet now. I can give you later, after migrating everything to my new one," Hera offered. "I appreciate the offer, but that won''t be necessary," Rutigan pointed towards a large crate on the side, "The guild is also providing two thousand tablets for us. It seems like they are not the same as the one you use, but more simple models with fewer extra functions. They will also be providing a small class for everyone who wants to get one before distributing them. If we want more, we can always order them directly from the guild." "I see. That''s a good idea, but¡­ do you know who is setting up the network?" after hearing Hera''s question, Rutigan''s and Ogryn''s blank expressions told her that she wouldn''t get that information with them. "Right. Give me a minute," Hera walked away and talked with the people who were starting to set up the internet tower. A few moments later, she came back with a man in his early 20s, "So this is Al, he''s the one who is going to set up the internet connection for everyone''s tablet. However, there is one thing that I never told you about it. The internet has information about almost everything, including sex, and I don''t mean just the biology of it. A big part of the internet is something we call pornography and¡­ well." Al nodded and opened his tablet. They already had a very limited internet connection set up just around the area where they were building the guild to talk with people in other rooms while preparing everything. He quickly went to a famous website with a black and orange logo and put on a random clip. There was a pause while they waited for the video to load, then Ogryn and Rutigan turned red in a fraction of a second and looked away. Hera expected a similar reaction, but even she was surprised by how quickly they felt embarrassed. She turned around to see what Al had actually shown them and sighed. "For fuck''s sake, man. I told you they are shy, and you put on an orgy right from the get-go?" "Oh, my bad. I didn''t even wait for the thumbnails to load. The connection sucks right now," Al turned his tablet and closed the video, "Should I show something else?" "No, that''s fine. They get the point," Hera turned to Rutigan, "So yeah. There is a lot of that, some more graphic, some less so, and a lot of weird things. People do crazy things with comics." "Yeah, you''ll never look at a squid the same way again," Al mumbled. "Please don''t make this more uncomfortable than it has to be," Hera pleaded. "Sorry." "Anyway. When you are on the internet, you can end up in videos like that by accident. Maybe they have a different name, or maybe they are not where they are supposed to be. There is kind of a way to fix that, though. We can ask them to put on a filter on the network so that type of content won''t show up." "Isn''t something like that a lot of work? Or is it a spell that takes a lot of mana to fuel? Handpicking something like that in the middle of the ocean of information, as you called it, sounds like an ordeal," Ogryn cleared his throat before asking. "Not at all. This isn''t even a spell. It''s just part of the settings we can put on the network. Think of it like a net. Fish are caught by it, but water can still go through. The fish are those types of videos, and water is all the rest. We can even set it up so that everyone can individually pick if they want to see those kinds of things or not. I''ll leave the default option as not wanting to see not safe for work content." Al explained. "Not safe for work?" Rutigan asked. "That''s how we call these types of videos and images. Since we use computers and tablets for our jobs, having those things pop up during work hours can be¡­ complicated," Al said. "I see. I supposed that would be an issue. Seeing that is something one should only do in private," Ogryn asked. Hera snickered, "In private, you say? So I guess it''s better to show you how to change that setting as soon as you get your tablet." "What! Ho-Ho-How dare you, child?! I-I-I have no interest in such things," Ogryn turned red once again. Rutigan and Hera laughed. They discussed some more ideas on how to prepare the dwarves to be flooded by information before Hera split off and went to Silah''s place. Now that they would have internet here, she could go home and see her dad and grandmother. Even if she was trying her best to be a good friend and girlfriend, she missed them like crazy. Not to mention, she would soon have something to do for the Order, and who knows where that would take her to. 291 - Loving Family Leaving the MAZE ended up being a bigger ordeal than Hera expected. It wasn''t just because Silah constantly sent messages to her. She rather enjoyed that. It wasn''t even because of the sheer number of people that were walking around Brinefront now. Apparently, ever since the lift on the restriction, there was a constant stream of new explorers every month, and it wasn''t just the 10-15 people that generally joined. Each class had anywhere from 30 to 50 people, and at least 50% of the recruits passed the test on the first try. It was a lower average than before the changes but still allowed more explorers to enter the MAZE. This turned the already big city that was Brinefront into a bustling metropolis. They had even constructed a new district to accommodate the increased population. The biggest issue with all that was the long lines to cross the doorway. They were already more or less a problem before, but now it was starting to get ridiculous. Hera had to schedule a specific time to leave with the guild, and even then, she would need to wait in line for almost one hour before heading outside. Brilansis itself was the same city as always. Even the food truck with those needlessly large hotdogs was still there. Strolling towards the train station, Hera took her time to enjoy the scenery. Even if she was used to all this, seeing it after so long gave it a new light. That quickly went away when she had to go inside a train filled to the brim with other people. A small part of her wanted to create stone walls to push the other passengers away, but using magic outside wasn''t something she should do. There weren''t any laws prohibiting her from casting spells on Earth, but any damage that the magic caused would have to be paid back in full plus a fee for the disturbance. Luckily for Hera, she only had to stay in that can of sardines for a few minutes, and the train to Burtois was much more comfortable. Her luck ended with the trip, however. As soon as she got off the train, she noticed people stopping and staring at her with odd expressions. Some were horrified as if they saw a ghost. While others looked at her in awe. "Excuse me, are you Hera Kingsley?" a girl who couldn''t be more than 14 asked. "Yes, I am. Can I help you with something?" Hera asked with her customer service smile. "N-no. I mean, Y-yeah. Can I have your autograph?" the girl offered a pamphlet of the guild. "You want my autograph?" Hera blinked audibly. "Y-Yes, ma''am! If it''s not too much trouble." "Sure¡­." Hera picked the pamphlet, "I don''t have a pen on me." "I have one!" the girl rummaged her bag and pulled a blue pen. "Thanks, and what''s your name?" "Kathleen, Kathleen Watt." "That''s a beautiful name. Do you want to join the guild when you get older?" Hera stalled while she tried to figure out what should be her signature. "Yeah! I wanted to be a fighter, but after hearing about you, I think being an explorer is even better," Kathleen replied. "Well, the fighters I know are a bit weird, but that doesn''t mean they are worse. The role you get is not as important as what you do with it," Hera finished signing it and wrote a small message to the girl. "Thank you! And¡­ do you think I can be a good explorer even if my stats are not great?" Hera gave her a genuine smile this time, "Absolutely you can. The stats we get at first don''t mean much. The skills and spells you learn after going to the MAZE are what can make you a great explorer. I promise," she gave Kathleen back her pamphlet. "Thank you! Thank you so much," the girl smiled and went running back to a small group who were all staring at Hera with wide eyes. At the time, Hera had no way of knowing that the words she wrote on that small pamphlet would become the motto of one of the strongest factions inside the MAZE. ''Your stats do not define you, your actions do.'' However, that is a story for another time. After talking with Kathleen, more people started to come to greet Hera. A few would just congratulate her or ask for pictures, and a couple even asked if she was real or a ghost coming to haunt the city. In the five minutes that took her to leave the train station, Hera talked to at least a dozen people. She rushed to a taxi and asked the driver to take her to her parents house, giving him the address. Finally, she reached her destination. The house she spent most of her life in. It was a place with more bad memories than good ones, but right now, despite all the trouble, fighting, and resentment, all she wanted to do was hug her parents, even Stella. She walked over to the door and rang the bell. A couple of seconds later, Eridan opened the door in a quick motion. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Hey papa bear," Hera could feel tears forming on the corner of her eyes. "Hey, goldilocks," Eridan replied before pulling her in for a hug. They stood there for a couple of moments, just enjoying each other''s embrace before walking inside the house. "Come. Let''s get you out of the cold," Eridan said after a while. It wasn''t a particularly cold day, but Hera wouldn''t complain about that. Eridan quickly grabbed some coffee and cookies that he had set aside for her and placed them on the coffee table in the living room. "Your grandmother wants to see you too, but¡­. Well, she and Stella are not on speaking terms, so she won''t be coming here," Eridan said. "Oh, you could''ve told me. I would''ve stopped by there first. I really miss her," Hera took one of the cookies. "More than you miss your own mother, it seems," Stella walked in the living room, "Did you turn into an animal after spending months in a cave? Use a plate or a napkin while you eat. I don''t want to have to pick crumbs from the couch." It only took one phrase for the urge to hug her mother to vanish from Hera''s body. "Sorry," Hera looked around but didn''t see any crumbs. The cookie was small enough to fit into her mouth. "It''s fine. I''m just a bit on edge today," Stella sighed, "Welcome back. Did you manage to do something interesting in the MAZE?" "Yeah, I found a dwarven civilization, helped them unlock their room, got a girlfriend, and now I am helping the guild to make a branch in that city. I wanted to come home sooner, but the people of Boothudurn, that''s the name of the kingdom, they don''t know anything about our society, and I wanted to help them at least get organized," Hera explained while sipping some coffee. There was a long pause after that until Stella sighed, "And aren''t you going to ask us about how we''ve been? Are you really that self-absorbed?" "Sorry. I thought you might have questions about what happened. How were you during these past months?" Hera turned to Eridan. When Stella started doing that kind of thing, Hera felt like she was doing something wrong. That somehow it was her fault, and that''s why her mother reacted badly. This time, however, Hera only felt annoyed. It was like talking to a person who only cared about themselves. Looking at Stella didn''t feel like looking at her mother. It was more like looking at a coworker. "Well, I was working a lot. Since the news about what you did in the MAZE arrived in the city, people went a bit crazy. Then they started asking about you, and I had to tell them that you were¡­ well, you know. That only made more people come to the shop to order furniture. Business was good, and that was it," Eridan shrugged. He already had told Hera most of what happened with him, but he was still trying to keep the peace. "I''m glad things are working well, dad," Hera took a deep breath before turning to Stella, "And how were things with you?" "I had to keep myself busy. During the week we found out you had died, you father shut down and couldn''t even get out of the bed, so all the housework fell on my shoulders. I pushed him to see some support groups and ended up joining one myself to help me cope with that awful situation. People were very kind and even asked me to talk to a few parents and other people considering becoming explorers. My speeches were so successful that I started dropping by proms and other events to support their cause. Next week, I was supposed to be talking about the MAZE and how dangerous life inside it can be during the career day at school, but they canceled that today. Oh, and at the end of the month, I''ll be in a morning show talking about how it was to lose you to the MAZE," Stella proudly announced. "That''s good. I''m sorry you two had to go through all that," Hera replied, unconsciously doing her customer service smile. "Well, you should be. Your father was in shambles. I don''t ever want to see him like that again." "Me neither, but I didn''t know that the bracelets weren''t even sending signals to the guild. To me, everyone thought I was lost, not dead." "That doesn''t justify it. You should think about those who you left behind. At least leave some money the next time, so we don''t have to waste our own doing a funeral," Stella scoffed. "Stella, stop!" Eridan cried. "You had a funeral for me?" Hera asked. "Well¡­ yeah. I mean, we couldn¡¯t leave it at that, and the guild explained how this was like a plane crashing in the middle of the ocean. I tried to wait, but after six months¡­ I just needed some closure," Eridan''s eyes were filling up with tears. Hera reached out and held her dad''s hand, "That''s ok. I understand, and I''m really sorry you had to go through all that." "If you were sorry, you would help with the cost," Stella shrugged. "You are right," Hera pulled her tablet, "How much was it?" "Hera, no! For the love of the system, I''m not letting you pay for your own funeral," Eridan gasped. "You''re not, don''t worry. I''m just sending my parents some money. How much was it?" "Two thousand gold. Since we didn''t have a body, we just made the ceremony and not an actual grave," Stella replied. "That''s good since I wanted to be cremated and not buried," Hera sent ten thousand to Eridan''s account since she knew he was the one who actually paid for it all, "All done. It should already be in your account, dad." "Hera¡­" "Don''t worry, but I''m feeling a bit tired. Do I still have a room here or a place where I can get some shuteye? I woke up really early today," Hera faked a yawn. She had had enough of dealing with her mother for now. "It''s a guest room now. Your things should be in the garage," Stella replied. "Thanks," Hera got up and went to her old bedroom. She quickly went under the covers and opened her tablet. As much as she wanted to spend time with her dad, she wasn''t in the mood to be treated like that. It was odd. Usually, when Stella started being that much of a pain, Hera would feel horrible. Yet, this only felt annoying at most. "I guess this is what personal growth feels like," she mumbled to herself. Hera chuckled under the blankets while searching for some random video to watch. One thing Hera failed to notice was how tired she actually was. Before even finding something interesting to watch, she had already fallen asleep. 292 - Seems about right When Hera woke up, it was already dark outside, and her tablet was playing a video about woodcutting for some reason. She pressed the return button, and another odd video showed up. Since she fell asleep, the videos kept going on autoplay one after another. Luckily, they were still the kind of thing she would watch, even if it were just as background noise. Getting up from her bed, she stretched her arms and looked out the window. She was hungry, and there was a reason for that. It was already night, and the crescent moon was high in the sky. Hera walked out of the room, hoping that Stella had already eaten. She didn''t need another uncomfortable meal. There was no sound coming from her parent''s bedroom, but she understood why after looking at the clock. It was just 8 P.M. Even if her parents were older, they weren''t already on the stage to be sleeping at this time. Hera went downstairs and took a look at the living room. There, Eridan and Stella were sitting on the couch while watching TV. "Finally! Your father insisted on waiting for you before eating. I''m starving. Why did you take so long to wake up?" Stella got up and went towards the kitchen, "Everything is ready. I just hope the food is still hot." "Stella, please. Not today," Eridan pleaded. "I''m not saying anything that shouldn''t be said. She can''t expect everyone just to wait around while she is sleeping," Stella said while setting the table with several plates of warm food. Hera didn''t say anything and just walked to the dining room. Whatever Stella was saying didn''t actually bother her. It just felt like a hassle to deal with. Just as they all sat down at the table, someone rang the doorbell. "Oh, what now?" Stella gasped. "I''ll answer it. Stay here, honey," Eridan replied before going to the door. Hera started getting her plate ready, ignoring the annoyed stares coming from Stella. She was going to wait for her dad before eating, but still, she was hungry, and having her plate ready would let her eat sooner. "Hera, can you come here for a moment?" Eridan called from the door. Hera got up and followed her dad''s voice. Outside the door, there was a couple with frenzied expressions, "Hello. Is everything ok, dad?" "Yes, well. I believe so. These are the Silvesters. They have a question for you," Eridan explained. "Oh, sure. What can I help you with?" "You were lost inside the MAZE. At least that''s what people are saying. Is that true?" a tall man with a thick mustache and short hair asked. "Yes. Stuck is a more appropriate word. It''s a bit of a long story, but there was an accident, and I ended up in a city without a way to come back," Hera explained. "And the guild couldn''t see the signals from your bracelet? They thought you were dead?" a blond woman asked with tears in her eyes. "Yes¡­ Look, I think I know where this is going. You lost someone in the MAZE in similar circumstances, right?" Hera cut through all the small talk. "It is¡­. Was our son. He died during a dungeon, but no one managed to find his body. We were wondering if his situation was similar to yours," the man said. Hera looked at the couple. Anyone could see how much talking about that hurt. "That happened how long ago?" "Five years," the woman replied. "Ok¡­ look, I don''t want to give you false hope here. By all accounts, the guild was right when they declared me dead. In those circumstances, that is the only conclusion that they could come up with. The way that I survived was very¡­ specific. I wasn''t alone, I ended up in a city, and the people there were very kind and helpful. I''m not saying that it''s impossible for him to be alive, but going by just what you told me, the odds are minimal. Like, winning the lottery ten times in a row should be more likely," Hera did her best not to seem rude, but it was hard considering that she was crushing the hopes of people who lost their child. "Hera, that''s a bit much. I''m sure the odds are not that bad," Eridan tried to break the tension. "I''m sorry. I really don''t want to be mean, but that is the truth. I don''t think that giving you false hope will help. I want to be wrong. I really do, but if it''s been that long¡­ I''m sorry." The woman started crying and shoved her face into her husband''s chest. Mr. Silvester let some tears run through his face, "No. You don''t need to apologize. I appreciate the honesty, as brutal as it was. I think we¡­ we needed to hear that. Thank you." Mr. Silvester put his hand out to shake Hera''s hand. "You don''t have to thank me. Again, I''m really sorry." "Don''t worry. And if I may, I''m the producer of Good Mornin Burtois. Your mother was supposed to join us for an interview at the end of the month, but having you would be much better. Are you interested?" Mr. Silvester asked. Hera shook her head, "Sorry. I won''t be here at the end of the month, and interviews are really not my thing. I only do them when I don''t have a way out." Mr. Silvester nodded with a weak chuckle, "I understand. Thank you for your time." "Harrison, what are you doing here?" Stella asked while moving through the corridor. "I''m sorry for disturbing you at this late hour, Stella. We just had to ask your daughter a question, and she was kind enough to answer." "Oh, please don''t take whatever she said to heart. The poor girl is still in shock with everything that happened. I''m not sure if she could do anything without my help," Stella turned to Hera, "Go back to the dining room, honey. I''ll be right there, ok?" Hera turned to Mr. Silvester, ignoring most of what her mother just said, "I''ll be going then. I''m sorry I wasn''t able to help." "You did more than I can wish for. Thank you," Mr. Silvester replied. Hera walked back to the dining room, and Eridan soon followed while Stella kept talking with the couple. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "I''m really sorry about her, Hera. I¡­ I have to talk to her," Eridan stopped while putting some mashed potatoes on his plate. "Don''t worry, dad. Honestly, after all that happened in the MAZE, this doesn''t bother me anymore. I think I have to thank Naka for that," Hera started eating. It was a simple meal¡ªmashed potatoes with gravy with some greens, and a side of chicken. Even so, it had a really homey feel to it. Despite everything, Hera had to admit that Stella was a great cook. "Who is Naka again? The¡­ Shaman?" Eridan asked. "No, that''s Risli. Honestly, she and grandma Triss would get along pretty well. Naka is the captain of the guard. The one that still can''t call me by my name." "Oh, right. She called you Heryn, Hellen, and what was that last one¡­ Helerynen?" "Oh, don''t even get me started. It''s two syllables. How hard is it to remember two syllables? I''m sure she''s doing that out of spite," Hera sighed. Eridan chuckled at that. During the talks they had this past week, Hera had complained about being called the wrong name a few times. Even so, she still looked like she was having a blast. He couldn''t remember the last time that she seemed so happy. "But Harrison!" Stella yelled from the door. Eridan glanced at Hera, but he didn''t say anything. They were having a nice moment, and he didn''t want to spoil that. A few minutes passed with some random yells coming from the doorway. It seemed like Stella wasn''t happy with whatever was going on there. Even her husband started to get worried. Hera noticed that and said, "If you want to check on her, that''s fine, but I''m going to keep eating." "No¡­ I¡­" Eridan took a deep breath, "For too long, I chose your mother over you. I won''t do that anymore." Hera stopped the fork before it reached her mouth. That was the last thing she expected her father to tell her. "Dad¡­ I¡­" Eridan shook his head, "You don''t have to say anything. I made that decision, and I don''t deserve a thank you. When I prove to you that I''m serious, I''ll ask for your forgiveness for everything I overlooked, and when that happens... I just hope you can give me a second chance." Hera reached her hand out to Eridan, "I understand, and I''ll give you as many chances as you want, grumpy bear." They stared at each other with warm smiles for a moment, but before they went back to their meal, Stella slammed the front door shut and returned to the dining room in a huff. Hera didn''t want to spoil that moment, so she let go of Eridan''s hand and focused back on her plate. "I can''t believe in that greedy little man," Stella yelled while pouring herself a glass of wine. "What happened, dear?" Eridan asked. "That petty, talentless wannabe told me that he didn''t need me on the show anymore. After everything I did for him and that useless wife of his," Stella downed the glass and started pouring another. "Well, he did say that it wasn''t a sure thing. They were waiting for someone else''s reply, and you would be their plan B," Eridan shrugged. "Oh, please. They want to interview Bright Night and Black Star. If they think two famous singers will even bother replying to a small town morning show, they are crazy. Any explorer that would say yes to that would just be someone too lazy to make anything with their lives," Stella continued her rant while eating. Having a one-sided conversation for almost half an hour was an incredible talent. When the family was finally finishing their meal, Stella was already drunk. It was rare to see her get to that point, but it never ended up as something good. After finishing another glass, Stella turned to Hera, "Hey, didn''t Harrison ask you to go to his show?" "He did. But I won''t be around at the end of the month. I have a lot to do back in Boothudurn," Hera replied. "No, no. Stay. We can go together. A mother and daughter interview. It will be great." "No, I hate those things. Besides, I don''t want to be ''someone too lazy to make anything with their lives''," Hera rolled her eyes. "Is that tone I hear, young lady?! You better stop behaving like that or.." "Or what? Are you going to kick me out? I already don''t live here," Hera asked. She was tired of listening to her rant. Thanks to that, she could barely hang out with her dad. "What has come over you? I bet it is the bad influence of those people in the hole you ended up in. I didn''t raise you like that," Stella shook her head. "True, you raised me to be worse or just to shut up and do whatever you said." "That''s because I know what''s better for you. I''m looking out for your interests." "No! You are looking out for yours. You never asked me if I wanted to be on the stupid morning show, never asked me if I wanted to tell people in school about my stats, and you didn''t even ask me if I was ok after the guild rejected me," Hera snapped. That apathy she felt during the day went away, and in its place, it was only the bottled up resentment she let fester for years. "By the system, how could I get such an ungrateful daughter? I gave birth to you. I lost my figure and my dreams because you were born, and that''s the thanks I get?" "No one ever asked you to do that. I know dad wanted a kid, but he offered to be the one staying at home." "And how would we live? He was the only one working. Without his shop, we would starve." "So you don''t think you would make enough money to support us. Don''t blame it on everyone else." "I had to think about what was best for the family." "Dad had money, a lot of it. The truth is, you were too much of a coward to try to do something with your life," Hera replied. Stella slammed her glass on the table, almost breaking it, "The truth is that having you ruined my life. You were the worst mistake I ever made!" ''She finally said it.'' This is the first thing that came to Hera''s mind. She always thought that there was a reason for all that. A reason why Stella was so cruel, and now, it made sense. It wasn''t pleasant, but it wasn''t Hera''s fault, either. An odd weight seemed to be lifted from her back. "Stella!" Eridan, who was just watching the discussion trying to figure out a way to stop it and help his daughter, finally spoke up, "You take that back. Now!" "She doesn''t have to," Hera got up, "Thanks for dinner, dad. But I''ll be staying in a hotel tonight," she turned to Stella, "And Ms. Kingsley, since it''s clear that you don''t want anything to do with me, I don''t want anything to do with you. We are done." With that, Hera left the house, already calling a cab with her tablet. Her mind was much clearer, and there wasn''t a single drop of regret. Despite what everyone said about family, Hera knew that being a part of one didn''t mean that you had to like them, much less love them. Besides, grandma Triss was much more of a mother to her. She was there when she needed her, and she didn''t put Hera down when she felt bad. Before the cab arrived, Eridan rushed over outside, "Hera, wait!" "Dad, I''m going to a hotel. Please don''t ask me to come here later to make up with her. You might not realize, but what she said was always on the back of my mind." "I know. I know. I''m not asking you to do that. She crossed a line I never expected her to cross. I''m going to talk with your mother, and if she decides to apologize, I''ll let you know. But I will never force you to be around her again. I''m really sorry for this, and I hope I can see you tomorrow at my mother''s house," Eridan didn''t have that usual expression of uncertainty. He seemed decided and focused, which never happened when it was about Hera''s fights with Stella. "Sure. I still want to see her." "Thank you. I''ll see if I can get your things to her house, too. I''m sure she wouldn''t mind just keeping them there for a while." The cab arrived, and Hera got in after giving her dad a hug. Today was a weird day. People asked for her autograph. She had to console a couple and this fight, or whatever she wanted to call this. All she wanted right now was a drink, a bath, and watch a comedy show to forget all her problems. "Where to, miss?" the driver asked. "What''s the best hotel around?" Hera asked. "That would be the Path of Moonlight by the train station. But it''s very expensive. A night in a small room there is 500 gold." "Do you know if they have rooms with bathtubs?" "I''m sure they do." "Then that''s where we are going. Please." The cab took off. Hera saw on the panel screen that it should take 10 minutes to arrive at the hotel. ''In half an hour, I want to be neck-deep in bubbles.'' She thought to herself while staring at the stars in the sky. 293 - Unfortunate coincidence Hera stayed another day in Burtois, most of it was in her grandmother''s house. They talked about everything that went on during the last months, and Hera even offered to pay for a level up for her grandmother and her dad. They told her that there was no need for that. For one, grandma Triss was too old to want to gain a level, and Eridan had no intention of becoming an explorer. However, Hera pressed the matter. She had enough to pay for one level up even if they opted not to join the training and, if she started going around in deeper layers of the MAZE, it wouldn''t take long for her to get enough for a second one. Despite that, grandma Triss refused the offer. Eridan, on the other hand, became interested but asked for some time to think. Hera promised to check if he could get a role without actually becoming an explorer. Comparing to the shit show that was the previous day, this was much more pleasant. By the end, Hera felt a bit sad about leaving, but it was time. Even before being stuck in Boothudurn, staying outside the MAZE felt odd. Things were too different here on Earth, and small problems seemed to be much bigger than they actually were. Not to mention that walking around without her weapons and armor made her feel uneasy. It wasn''t like anyone would attack her in the middle of the street, but having her handaxes on her waist calmed her mind. After leaving grandma Triss''s house, Hera went back to the hotel and went to bed early so she could start the trek back to Boothudurn soon. Early morning, she took the first train back to Brilansis to go through the doorway in the guild. It took about four hours to reach the city and another half an hour to reach the guild. Despite all that, she arrived at the guild before noon. Now that she was a bit more focused, Hera took a moment to notice the differences in the building. The structure itself was the same, even if the decorations had changed a bit. The most significant change was the number of people walking around. There was double the number of clerks and five times more recruits walking about. The training rooms were also completely filled. To make matters worse, the entire east wing of the guild was off-limits. Apparently, one building on the side was bought out, and the branch was under renovations to expand its facilities. Hera walked straight to the back of the building, to where she could head down to the doorway. When she arrived in front of the elevator, there was a line waiting to go down. She stepped to the back of the queue and waited for her turn. By the number of people here, it seemed like it would take two trips before she could head down. Hera wanted to get her gear soon. Since her armor had an offensive option, she couldn''t walk around Earth while wearing it. That wasn''t an absolute rule, some circumstances would allow her to move around fully equipped, but none of them applied at the moment. To distract herself, Hera was replying to the messages she had on her tablet. That worked so well that she didn''t notice when a man with a bright pink mohawk approached and violently grabbed her by the arm. Instinctively, Hera spun around and tossed whoever was trying to grapple her on the ground while preparing a flaming poison rain spell to attack her assailant. The man moaned on the ground, "Sorry. I just needed to talk to you." Hera let go of his hand and took a step back, keeping the spell ready. She recognized the man as being the same one that attacked her when she did her first level up, "What do you want?" "I¡­ I wanted to apologize for what happened. What I did was unforgivable, and I''m happy it wasn''t enough to harm you," "Wasn''t enough? I got a scar on my back because of that! I got lucky that the system fixed me, or I would have that scar forever." "I know. It was¡­ a huge mistake. I was trying to get a safer job as a bodyguard for the prime minister''s kid, but the little shit only wanted a thug," the man forced himself to get up. "Am I supposed to feel bad for you? You attacked me when I was getting out. I don''t give a damn about your reason. There is no excuse for what you''ve done." "I know¡­ it''s just¡­" the man tried to speak, but no words came to his mind. "Just nothing. You fucked up. Stop trying to justify your mistakes. And stay the hell away from me. I want nothing to do with you," Hera waved him off. "But I¡­" "Don''t care. Stay away," Hera replied in an icy voice. The man clenched his fists and walked off, knowing that there was nothing he could do to change Hera''s mind. "Well, well, well. I have to say, I never expected that shy girl I met a few months ago to be this brave," a voice came from Hera''s back. She quickly turned around and saw a familiar face with dark hair and a pair of futuristic-looking rings tattooed on her face. "Becca!" Hera gasped, surprised by seeing her here. "Hey Hera, how are things going?" Becca Swan got closer and gave Hera a small hug. "Well¡­ a lot has happened," Hera didn''t even know where to start. "I know. You found two rooms, discovered a civilization, and even helped them to be a part of our world," Becca smiled, "Did I miss anything?" "Only some personal news. I can tell you, but that will be off the record," Hera chuckled. Becca laughed, "You''re learning fast. I''m going to have some trouble for your interview." "Luckily for me, I don''t have to worry about that for a while, right?" Hera scratched the back of her neck. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Actually. A meeting I had today was just canceled. If we could have that interview today, it would help me a lot. What do you say?" Becca asked. "I mean¡­ I really don''t like doing interviews. I''m not good when I''m in the spotlight, but if I don''t have a choice, that''s fine," Hera sighed. Last time she didn''t have a choice but to do the interview. Right now, maybe she could sneak out of that. "Well, last time, the guild wanted to use you as a poster girl of sorts. This time we are only talking about the new rooms. If you wanted to say something about Boothu¡­. Boothu¡­. Boothusomething that would be the best opportunity to say it. Now, if you really don''t want to do the interview I can talk with just your friend. Her name is Pamella, right?" "Yeah, but she''d rather be called Blue. Also, what did you mean talking about Boothudurn?" "Well, these types of interviews are not that uncommon. When an interesting room shows up, whoever discovers it gives some warnings and some advice. It can go from telling people about the dangerous monsters around to talking about a specific place that you should avoid or just be careful with. Considering that there is an entire civilization in this room, an interview could be a great way to give people some good first impressions," Becca explained. "I see¡­" Hera was deep in thought. If she managed to say the right things, it could help the people of Boothudurn to have a better relationship with the humans. However, it would be tricky. Saying the wrong thing would make the dwarves seem gullible, and praising them too much would just make it seem like propaganda, "I know it''s a stretch, but can I ask your help with whant to say?" Becca looked at her tablet, "Sure, my plans fell through today, anyway. We can talk while we wait for your friend to get here, if she can come, of course. Let''s go to a private room." Hera had failed to notice how everyone in the line to the elevator was staring at her and Becca. Seeing one of the most famous reporters in the MAZE talk to a random person made those around them quickly connect the dots. During their small discussion, a lot of people had gathered around and started taking pictures of the two women talking. Despite her distraction, Hera still noticed one figure with a bright pink mohawk watching her from the other side of the corridor. "Yeah, let''s go. I don''t want to deal with that guy anymore," Hera nodded towards the man who attacked her. "You mean Ashe? I heard about what he did to you and¡­ well. I can''t blame him for wanting to talk to you." "What? Do you think he wants to apologize?" "In a way," Becca started guiding Hera to a private meeting room, "I''m guessing you don''t know how his punishment works." "He has to work as a custodian here while he''s under probation, right?" "That''s just part of it. He still has to get one more thing before being reinstated as an explorer when his probation is over. Your forgiveness." "What?" "When an explorer has put a civilian in harm''s way, part of the punishment is having to receive permission from the people they hurt to become an explorer again." "But¡­ didn''t the guild thought I was dead?" Hera asked. "Yes, meaning that he wouldn''t ever be able to become an explorer again." "Isn''t that a bit unfair? Like, if you make a mistake and get unlucky, you might be doomed for the rest of your life." "That''s the point. Harming a civilian or breaking one of the guild laws can make you lose all your explorer''s privileges. Even if they return to the job, they will get a red guild card to signal that they committed a crime." "Really? But then how can we know if they hurt someone, stole something, or, I don''t know, murdered somebody?" Hera asked. "Well, for one, murderers would be in jail. If they have a red card, they did something minor in comparison. Mostly assault and stealing. Other things wouldn''t let people go back to the MAZE. Anyway, he has to get a written and a verbal statement from you accepting his apology and telling the guild that you are ok with him being back in the MAZE." "That seems like a lot." "It is, but it''s a system that works most of the time." Hera didn''t have much of an opinion about how all that worked. This was her first interaction with those types of proceedings, and everything still seemed a bit strange. Still, even if Ashe had hurt her, letting the man lose his livelihood didn''t feel right. She was thinking about that while Becca found a nice room with a couch and a coffee machine that no one was using. This could be a good place for the interview, even if she didn''t have her entire crew to help. Just as they sat down, Becca pulled up her tablet and smiled. "So, I sent a text to your friend, and she''s coming. It will take her about one hour to get here, so we have some time," Becca put the tablet on the table, "Now before I help you spin your story. I''m going to have to ask you for a favor." "Spin the story?" Hera sat on the couch. "C''mon Hera. You know how this works. Reporters can direct the story in a way to get a different reaction from the public. If I''m being candid, it''s all about manipulating their perception. It may sound bad, but that doesn''t mean you''re hiding something or lying. It''s just what we call it when we have an objective for a story. Like when we talk about a big development in a city to make people excited before talking about a tax increase." "Oh, right. I mean, it''s one of those things that we know but don''t talk about it," Hera nodded. It was hard to think about any news outlet that didn''t direct their stories in a certain way. "Exactly, and I can help you with that, but in exchange. I want you," Becca smiled. "Come again?" "Sorry, bad phrasing. I meant that I want you to give me any exclusives you get. Any big events, discoveries, anything newsworthy that you end up being a part of. I want to know and interview you about it. It doesn''t have to be a video interview all the time," Becca said. "I mean, that seems fine. But why me?" "Call it a bet. Finding the wendigo was lucky, or unlucky depending on your point of view. We can chalk that up as a lucky coincidence. However, if you end up in the middle of a third big event, that is a pattern, my friend, and a pattern like that can be very profitable for you and for me." "But¡­ there is no guarantee that I will get anything else that can help you. I mean, most people never become news material. That deal seems a bit too in my favor. Why are you doing this?" Hera asked. "Call it a hunch. You made news twice in the same year for very different things. I''m betting on you to make more waves around the MAZE." "Well¡­ I don''t think you will get what you are looking for, but I don''t think I have anything to lose on that deal," Hera said. "Great. Now, what do you want people to feel about Boothudurn?" Hera explained her worries and how she wanted to make sure the dwarves were safe and not taken advantage of. Becca had some ideas to help with that and some warnings about what not to say. They talked for a while, with Becca giving Hera pointers about how to phrase her words during the interview to get the result she wanted. About one hour later, Blue arrived, and Becca set up everything to start recording. While that was going on Hera took a deep breath to get ready for this ordeal once more. 294 - Ironic Talks Show When Blue arrived in the meeting room, Becca quickly started prepping her for the interview. It was weird to be far away from someone they saw every day for almost a year, and as much as Hera and Blue wanted just to hang out, they had to get ready for the camera. Becca explained to Blue how Hera wanted to spin the story and gave her some pointers on how to answer a few questions. "Do you always tell the people you are interviewing what to say?" Blue asked. "Not at all. I only do that when I have to direct the story in a particular way. Hera asked me to help her protect the people of Boothudurn, so I''m doing my best to help her," Becca was putting some basic makeup on Blue. "I mean, I get why Hera is worried, but doesn''t that mean we can''t trust in the articles and interviews you make?" Blue asked. "That''s up to you, but I never lied about anything I did. I might have put some emphasis on a piece of specific information, but that was it. All my articles have all the information I gathered about the subject." "That''s sketchy," Blue replied. "It may be, but it has its uses," Becca shrugged. "Besides, this will help the people of Boothudurn. Even if it is somewhat of a grey area, as long as we are using it for a good reason, it''s ok," Hera added. "So it''s fine if we do sketchy things outside a dungeon, but killing a humanoid monster inside one is a no-go?" Blue scoffed. "Those things are completely different," Hera rolled her eyes. Blue turned to Becca, "A question. Did you ''spin'' the first interview you did with Hera?" "I did, but not the contents. Only what it was supposed to make people feel," Becca replied without missing a beat. "Which was?" Blue pressed. "Make them feel safe and give them hope. Everyone was on edge because of what happened in the wall, and talking about the possibility of Wendigos everywhere could cause some panic. We edited your interview to make it clear that even a weak and inexperienced explorer could defeat them," Becca turned to Hera, "Sorry about that." "Well.. you were not wrong," Hera shrugged. Becca continued to give Blue and Hera some hints, and when they felt ready, the interview started. Unlike what happened when Hera did it on her own, this time, it fell much less daunting. It didn''t have that official feeling. Ironically, this almost felt like being on a morning show. Becca asked some questions that they were ready for and others that caught them off guard. Even so, things went down without a hitch. "I think that this is all I need. Thanks, guys, you two have been through a lot," Becca turned off the camera. "You can say that again," Blue sighed. "Are you enjoying being back?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Well¡­ there were some weird moments. Like... my parents had a shrine for me? I don''t know what to call it, but it was like a place where they kept a picture of me and some things to remember me by. It was weird seeing that." "Oh, tell me about it. I had to pay for my own funeral," Hera sighed. "Your mom?" "Yep. There was something else with Stella, but I''ll tell you later," Hera turned to Becca, "This is all off the record, right?" "The interview is over, don''t worry. Now we are just friends talking, and I''m not one to gossip," Becca was double-checking the recording. She looked up and saw the odd expression the girls were wearing, "Just because I''m a reporter doesn''t mean I have a big mouth. I have secrets too, you know. Sources and stuff that I can''t tell anyone," she crossed her arms in a huff. Hera and Blue laughed. A few minutes later, they came out of the meeting room and headed to the doorway. Hera still had to see when she could go back to Brinefront, and since it could take some time, Blue was going to keep her company for a while so they could talk. To her luck, Hera would only need to wait for about 3 hours before going back inside the MAZE. This would give her enough time to catch up with her friend. They went out to a fast food place and talked about what happened ever since they came back. Blue was surprised by the whole deal with the ambassadors and how the Sky Ruler nest had changed. Even so, she didn''t want to leave her family for now. She didn''t have any big news. Her days were spent just lazing around, almost like it was a summer vacation. A couple of hours went by before Blue headed back home, and Hera went back to the guild to get ready to enter the MAZE. She finally got into her armor again, and it felt much better. Even if it wasn''t as comfortable as casual clothes. The journey back to Boothudurn took two days since Hera couldn''t cross more than 3 doorways each day. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. When she arrived, the entire city already had an internet connection, and large groups of dwarves were already taking the classes to enter the age of information. Silah was among the ones who were a part of the first class. Although she had a considerable edge in comparison. She had been talking with Hera through her tablet for a while already, not to mention she had access to three humans who were used to technology. The guild branch had completed its construction, but some of the equipment was still missing. Apparently, the New Dawn was sending top-of-the-line facilities, but the materials and structure needed would still take some time to reach Boothudurn. The last piece of news that the city had was the discovery of a new doorway outside the mountain. Now that some humans were around and had some fancy modern toys, it was easy to get a complete view of the room. By using drones, they made a video with a bird''s-eye view of the entire mountain. Near the bottom of the room, a cliff led to a small alcove where the doorway was hidden. The passage to this new room was also locked, but now that Rutigan had the key to the room, all they had to do was send a quick expedition with the King and open the doorway, which led to a place called ''White Desert'' on the 4th layer. The guild had sent a scouting party, but that group was still exploring this new room when Hera came back. Bonnie, Alex, and Helena spent the last few days in the Wooly Plains along with the guard and Silah. Alex wasn''t used to standing still anymore, and all of them wanted to stretch their teamworking muscles. Hera joined in the dungeon on the same day she returned. It was fun to fight with her friends, and those last few days on Earth made her feel rusty. When they returned home, Hera had forgotten that her interview was already up on the guild website. To her chagrin, Silah was excited to see her girlfriend in a video like that. As soon as she had a chance, the blacksmith opened her tablet and searched for the interview. Lena wanted to see it too, and Hera set up the hologram mode of her new tablet so everyone could watch her embarrassing moments. Bonnie made some popcorn, and they all quickly sat around the couch to see the interview. "What are those numbers under the video?" Silah asked before Hera hit play. "Those are the number of views, then how many people liked the video and the number of comments," Alex replied, "How long ago was this published?" "... It came out today¡­." Hera replied after seeing the number of views. In just the however many hours since the interview came out, there were already close to 100 thousand views. "Someone''s popular," Lena teased. "It must be Blue. She''s cute and all excited about everything," Hera said. As the video went on, they understood why it had so many views. It was a blast to watch. Blue and Hera''s expressions varied wildly, and they even teased each other at times. Hearing them talk about how they vanished in a dungeon and discovered Boothudurn was like listening to an adventure book, and Becca''s questions only made things more interesting. Her editing skills were scarily good. The answers they gave were nothing special by themselves. However, by using different angles and, at times, focusing the camera on Hera when Blue was talking, or vice versa, she managed to make everything more intense. The group was enthralled with the descriptions. They laughed when Hera started ranting about how ''one specific dwarf can''t remember her two-syllable name''. Hera was cautious not to mention the name or the position of the dwarf in question, but anyone who knew her could tell that it was about Naka. At the end of the interview, Becca asked about the dwarves and what they expected with this new room. Hera and Blue talked about how much they helped, worked, and struggled with them to find a way for the humans to go back home. Becca edited that last part to show the care, love, and respect that the people of Boothudurn had for those they had never seen before. It was such a breath of fresh air that everyone could only think about paying them back. There was even an emotional moment when Hera told Becca how that was the first place where she felt actually seen. When it finally ended, Hera didn''t know what to say. They spent one hour recording the interview, but the video itself only lasted for 15 minutes. "That was¡­ amazing. How come you never told us that story?" Bonnie asked. "I did. That''s the same story I told you guys before," Hera gasped. "You didn''t tell it like that," Alex pointed at the video. "I never told it like that, not even during the interview." "So¡­ they faked your voice?" Lena asked. "No, I said all those things. It''s just¡­ It wasn''t all that. I don''t know how to explain it, but that was all Becca. Really our stories were not that interesting," Hera explained. "Did you mean what you said about us?" Silah turned to Hera, "Do you really feel like no one ever treated you that well?" "As a group, yeah. Like, individually, there is my grandma, my dad sometimes, the girls here. But as a group, yeah, no one was ever that kind to me before," as soon as Hera finished speaking, Silah jumped to give her a big hug. "I''m so sorry," Silah whispered. "Hey. It''s ok. Everything is fine," Hera replied while hugging her girlfriend back. "Can we join in that?" Alex asked after a moment. Silah didn''t say anything, just gestured for her to come. Everyone joined in the hug. Hera didn''t feel that great about the situation, but it wasn''t terrible. They stayed there for a moment, and Bonnie was the first one to break off. She picked Hera''s tablet and took a look at the comments out of curiosity. There was the usual bad, people just saying awful things for no reason, others complaining about only having women on the screen. However, that was the vast minority. Most comments were talking about how incredible the people of Boothudurn were. Others, how Hera and Blue were amazing for going through all that, and some talked about the ramifications of having a monster that was several levels higher than the rest of the room. "You know. If you weren''t famous before, you are now," Bonnie said. "Oh great," Hera rolled her eyes. They all read some of the comments and seeing people say how pretty Hera was only made her feel more uncomfortable. After a while, Lena received a message and smiled. "Oh, Ninleyn, just let me know that he will get here tomorrow. Then he can talk to you and Bonnie about the order." "Great, after that, I need something to take my mind out off things," Hera sighed. 295 - The Orders goals As time went by, Hera and Bonnie felt more and more nervous about meeting Ninleyn. He was the creator of the Order of the Lost Court and the person who would allow them to join as fully fledged members or say they couldn''t be a part of the inner circle, so to speak. Lena kept telling them to calm down, but that didn''t help Hera at all. She never gave too much thought about what the Order actually did, and now it felt like she was going to an interview in a company she knew nothing about. "So those jobs you took from the order. What were they?" Hera turned to Bonnie, who was sitting across the table. "I can''t talk about the specifics, but they were mostly research about one subject or another, or the occasional test of a spell. I had to make several tests and report things like effect, mana consumption, size of the spell, and stuff like that. There was one time they asked for some lizard skin from Brinefront. I asked why they didn''t just go through the guild for that, but they said it was faster to ask me directly since I was already there. I kind of figured, but I still wanted to be sure," Bonnie explained. "Does it really take that long to post a quest through the guild?" "Well, not really. It usually takes a day or so for a quest to appear on the guild database, but then someone has to pick the quest, and that might take a while. Another option is to make an item request, but then your order will enter a queue, and you''ll have to wait until all the previous ones are fulfilled. Since large companies or stores tend to make those types of requests, you might end up waiting for months until you get whatever you asked for," Helena came from the kitchen with a large pot of coffee and three cups. "Oh, I get it then. It makes sense. But is the actual goal of the order much different?" Hera asked. "Well¡­ yeah. Honestly, I don''t remember all the details, but it is about doing something specific. It''s better if we wait for Ninleyn to explain it to you guys. If I try to say anything, it will only make things more confusing. Besides, I do remember that Ninleyn loved explaining all that," Helena chuckled as she served the coffee. "Thank you," Hera took a sip, "Did Ninleyn say when he would get here?" "He should be here at 2:47 PM," Helena noticed the confused expression coming from Hera, "He is very annoying about being punctual. When he asks for a meeting, you better be there on time." "And if we are not?" Bonnie asked. "You better have enough free time to spend the next three hours listening to how order separates us from mindless beasts," Helena sighed. "How many times did you hear that speech?" Hera turned to the mage. Helena squinted at Hera, "You''re still not a full member. Do you want to push my buttons?" The three laughed and kept talking. After some time, the subject changed to Helena''s research and what would be her next step since Bonnie had already figured out the modular spell. It wasn''t the first time they talked about that, and there were no hard feelings since the modular spell wasn''t Helena''s goal and it could help her use a larger variety of spells. A good thing was that they had the entire house to themselves. Alex was at the guild helping them test out the training rooms and the gym. It was mostly just a way for her to work out and give the rest some privacy. Silah did the same. She would spend the day doing her job at the guard as per Helena''s request. Ninleyn didn''t like discussing the Order business with other people around. Time went on, and Helena left to meet the Order leader at the doorway. Then precisely at 2:47, the two arrived at the house. "That is¡­ disturbingly accurate," Bonnie mumbled. Behind Helena, there was an elven man with long white hair, a pointy nose, and a joyful expression that gave him a youthful look despite the wrinkles in the corner of his eyes. He wore a long-sleeved green shirt with a black vest over it and a pair of black pants with workout shoes. It was a sight that broke a bit of the mysticism that Hera had created in her mind about elves. "I must say, I didn''t expect this room to be so¡­ unique," Ninleyn was talking to Helena. "It''s not that odd. Underground cities are kind of common," Helena replied. "There is some truth to that, but the architecture is quite distinctive. Other civilizations use the walls to stack their buildings to allow for better use of space, or they develop a formicary structure. Although that wouldn''t apply since the cave is so large. Here, they decided to take an approach more common to cities that were created on plains. Not to mention the roofs. The conical shape is used to avoid the collapse of the ceiling due to snowfall, but here it has a purely esthetical value," Ninleyn explained. "Snowfall? But there are tropical places that use those triangle-shaped roofs too," Bonnie said. Ninleyn turned to the researcher with a large smile, "That is correct, tropical countries also use a slanted awning. However, in their case, it''s more about drainage. Since they have to deal with heavy rains during large parts of the year, those places developed a similar way to protect their homes. That doesn''t mean they are exactly alike either. In a place with a lot of snow, you have to focus more on the actual weight the house can support. In contrast, for places with a lot of rain, the focus is more on directing the water to a specific location and making the roof easy to be fixed or replaced since the constant rainfall can and will cause problems." "Sorry, Ninleyn, but can we focus on what you came here to do? If I don''t stop you now, I''m sure we will be spending the rest of the day talking about other things, and we don''t live here alone," Helena asked. "Of course. Apologies, it''s just rare to see someone interested in that subject," Ninleyn turned back to Hera and Bonnie, "First, I believe introductions are in order. I''m Ninleyn Aywin Nerilar Zylphyra, creator and current leader of the Order of the Lost Court. I won''t be asking you to remember my full name, of course. You can call me Ninleyn Zylphyra or simply Ninleyn. And you are?" he put out his hand to greet Bonnie. "Bonnie Chamarel, researcher and candidate to join the Order of the Lost Court," Bonnie replied while shaking his hand. "Ah, yes. Your research abilities have not been unnoticed, and I appreciate the help with the lizard skin. I''m afraid that buying from the guild would have delayed too much a project I was working on," Ninleyn gave her a warm smile before putting out his hand for the next candidate, "And you?" This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "Oh, yes!" Hera stood up straight, "I''m Hera. Hera Kingsley, and I''m a member of the Order too. No, I mean I''m a candidate to join," she awkwardly shook the man''s hand, "Sorry. I didn''t know we should have prepared." Ninleyn chuckled, "There is no need for the apology, child. As much as I appreciate a formal introduction, it was not required. Now, is there a place we can sit and talk more comfortably? I''m afraid the old feet are not what they used to be." "We can stay on the couch. Do you want coffee?" Helena walked to the kitchen. "If you wouldn''t mind, herbal tea would be lovely. I''m trying to cut back on caffeine," Ninleyn said as he walked over to the living room. They all got comfortable, and Helena returned with a small plate of cookies and drinks. "Before we start. Can I apologize for not helping the Order for the last few months?" Hera asked. Ninleyn gave her a soft smile, "There is nothing to apologize for. There is a possibility that in one of the rooms you have helped discover, we can find some clues to what we are searching for. Besides, our little Lena vouches for you. I wouldn''t want to make the entire Order upset for refusing a small request from one of the members who went to the wall." "And what are you searching exactly?" Bonnie asked. "You already know the answer to that. Even if you don''t realize it," Ninleyn said. "What?" Bonnie had a confused expression. "What could we be searching for?" Ninleyn took a sip of his tea. "Gold? Spells? Legacies? It could be anything," Bonnie gasped. "And yet, it''s something you already know." "Why are you being so cryptic? Just tell us," Bonnie huffed. "I understand that fire you have. The desire for knowledge, but this is the first part of the test. The answer is something you must find given my clues," Ninleyn calmly replied. "Is it the Court?" Hera asked. It seemed like too much of an obvious answer, but the fact that the elf was being careful not to mention the order made her suspicious. "Oh, that was fast. Most people circle around some more before reaching that answer," Ninleyn chuckled. "And is she right?" Bonnie asked. "She is. We are searching for the lost Court. To explain what the Court is¡­ I''m sure you are familiar with the Three Heroes but are you aware of the nine?" Hera nodded, "I found out about them recently, and Lena gave me a book about them. I''m still not done, but yeah, I know they are a thing." "Same, but I''m done with the book," Bonnie added. "Good, that will make this easier. Let me ask you this. Do you think they are the only ones?" Ninleyn took another sip of his tea. "What? They are, right?" Hera asked. "Are they? We say Khan is the first hero, but that happened 2954 years ago. What about before?" "You mean, before Khan?" Bonnie asked. "Exactly. We know that humans were around for much longer than that. For the other races, that''s the same. We estimate that we, and I mean the collective, humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen, and all the races. We are at least 400 thousand years old. And we know that the system was around since some cave paintings show rectangular shapes floating around people. Even if we only consider how long civilization exists, we are still talking about 6 thousand years. During all that time, do you believe that only those nine people did something Hero worthy?" Ninleyn asked. "I¡­ don''t know. I mean, it''s unlikely, but at the same time, if there were, we would know about them, wouldn''t we?" Bonnie asked. "Like you knew about the nine?" Ninleyn pointed out. "Fair point." "Before our civilization, there were many. Think of them like the Mesopotamians from Earth. We can still find ruins and archeological sites, but most are in languages we cannot understand. That doesn''t mean there is nothing to learn from those ancient civilizations. By studying their architecture, their art, sculptures, temples, and many other things, we can get glimpses into their lives," Ninleyn took a bite out of one of the cookies, "It doesn''t mean we are archeologists. Of course not. We are looking for something specific. During my travels when I was a young boy, I discovered a temple, and in that temple, there was a large mural depicting a war. However, it was different than I expected. The ruins belong to an ancient race of elves, but the painting showed only a single elf. Along with them, there were many different races with unique characteristics, be it exotic weapons, spells, and decorations. They fought some type of black amorphous creatures, but I couldn''t tell what they were. By translating what I could, I was able to find the name of the piece. It was called ''The Last Battle of the Court of Heroes.''" "Wait, are you telling us that the Lost Court is actually called the Court of Heroes?" Hera asked. "It is a possibility. We have many names for this supposed group. And the people that I found in that mural appear in other ruins. With different styles, of course, but the unique features were all still there." "How can you tell you are right? I mean, if there really was something that big, we should know about it, shouldn''t we?" Bonnie asked. "Well. For one, not many people are interested in ruins. Sure, you might find some gold or some age-old equipment, but most of what we have today would be much stronger than those items. And we rarely see any dungeons near or inside those ruins. Most likely, it wasn''t a big event that destroyed the civilization, but maybe they just left and abandoned their homes, searching for a better place to live. Or their story is still not over. Also¡­" Ninleyn pulled up his tablet, "To share this information, could you two sign a small NDA? It''s not something I want people talking about." "Is that really necessary, Ninleyn?" Helena chimed in. "It is. For my peace of mind if nothing else." Hera and Bonnie took a quick look at the contract. It was simple; They weren''t supposed to reveal a secret that Ninleyn would share with them. If they did, they would be kicked out of the order, and any resources they used or acquired because of the order had to be paid back in full. The secret itself was written on the contract, but it was hidden by a thick black line. Bonnie, who was more used to those kinds of things, quickly agreed since, in the end, the terms were very favorable for them. If they wanted, they could just pay back everything now and tell everyone about that secret which meant that Ninleyn was already putting his trust in them. After both signed the contract, the man stood up and looked around to ensure they were alone. He then created a wooden staff out of a small green seed and tapped it on the floor. Suddenly, a crown of flowers appeared around his head and a cape made of grass-covered his body. "This is the proof I have. A legacy called the Woodland Court," he tapped the staff on the floor again, and all that green vanished as if a gust of wind came through. Just at the end, an unnerving growl echoed through the living room. Hera started to look around, worried about a monster, but Ninleyn just placed one hand in his stomach, "Apologies. I forgot I couldn''t call the legacy on the same day I had meat. Could you point me to the bathroom, Lena?" "Second door on the right. And please, for the love of the system, light the scented candles. I still remember the smell from last time." "Of course. Thank you," Ninleyn walked over to the bathroom while Helena opened the windows and started to light some incense. "Is he¡­ going to be ok?" Hera asked. "He is, but we have some time before he comes back," Helena replied. Hera leaned back on the couch to think. The order was dealing with something much bigger than she expected, and she still had many questions. But for now, it was a good idea to organize her thoughts. 296 - A thread to follow Ninleyn was in the bathroom for about half an hour, and it did not sound like a good time. The noises that came from that corner of the house are the kind that should be reserved for monsters or large wild animals and the smell was equally terrifying. Hera, Bonnie, and Helena were grouped up in the kitchen surrounded by incense and scented candles. "Did he die in there?" Bonnie asked. "Fresh bodies smell better. He''s been rotting for weeks," Hera was almost shoving a cup of coffee into her nose, trying to smell only her drink. "Honestly, this is worse than I remember," Helena gasped. "How can a legacy do that?" Hera shook her head. "I have no idea. Does Blue have anything like it?" Helena was making a barricade of scented candles on the kitchen table. "Not as far as I''m aware. But maybe with time, that will show up. I mean, she got it what, a month ago?" Hera''s voice was distorted since she was talking into her mug. There was a moment of silence where the three just tried to survive the assault on their noses. Suddenly, Bonnie gasped, "Oh, no!" "What?" Hera turned to her. "Do we have a sewer system here? Or is that like an outhouse?" Bonnie asked. "It''s a mix. There is an enchanted tunnel that breaks down everything and sends it to the fields to make manure. They use like, this big tunnel that is pretty close to a sewer but much smaller," Hera explained. This was a small detail that made her stay in Boothudurn much more pleasant. A few more minutes passed, and the sounds Hera heard will surely come back to haunt even the monsters in her nightmares, but Ninleyn finally came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. "Oh, this one was bad. Then again, it''s my fault for eating a bacon cheeseburger," he waved his hand around, and the smell vanished, being replaced by the scent of jasmine. "Couldn''t you have done that while you were in there?" Helena asked. "Apologies, but the situation inside the bathroom required my undivided attention," Ninleyn replied. "Why does your legacy do that to you? I thought it would only help you get stronger," Bonnie carefully came out of the kitchen. "That is¡­ more or less correct. You see, my court specifically is about forest and life. Eating meat or anything that required the organism to die to be harvested can cause interference with my magic. The legacy made me particularly sensitive to the mana present in living creatures, even the small amounts still present in meat," Ninleyn walked back to the couch. "If it''s living things, doesn''t that mean that mushrooms are also bad for you?" Bonnie came back to the living room while carrying a scented candle. "That is correct. My diet is mostly made up of some vegetables, fruits that naturally fall from trees, and animal products that don''t require the creature to die, like milk and eggs. That being said, I can still access some of my legacy even when I have eaten meat or other things, but there is this restriction for the more flashy and powerful skills. If I force it, this happens. My body pushes out the incompatible mana in a rather¡­ Unpleasant manner." "And does the Herald control that? Or is it just an automatic reaction?" Hera asked. "Oh? You even know about the Heralds. That''s peculiar. Not everyone is aware of their existence," Ninleyn smiled, "She can control it but to a point. Without going into too much detail, there is a time limit, but it''s long enough for me to never have worried about it during a tense situation. And I''m almost sure that she makes it especially unpleasant at times, but I can''t prove it," Ninleyn squinted to the side, to where Hera assumed the Herald was. "And is it that bad every time?" Bonnie went to take a sip of her coffee but stopped. Her stomach wasn''t ready for anything just yet. "Oh, no. This was still on the easier side, despite it all. I''ve been following my diet, and the burger was the only hiccup. The first time this happened. That was hell. I honestly thought that the MAZE might create a dungeon because of the smell," Ninleyn laughed. "Anyway. Back to the main subject. You still haven''t finished explaining everything," Helena chimed in. "Of course. Where was I¡­." Ninleyn stopped to think for a moment, "Ah, right. The Hero Court. As I showed, this is proof that they existed in some capacity and left their mark in the MAZE. The goal of the order is to uncover more about the Court of Heroes and recover their legacies when possible." "How do you know where they are? Or where we can find something about the Court of Heroes?" Hera scratched her head. "Well, this is where our work comes into play. I have found some leads that might direct us in the right direction during my travels, but there are too many for a single person to follow. That''s why I created the order," Ninleyn created the illusion of an entangled piece of thread in his hand. One single string came out and straightened itself to the side, "Imagine that this string is a single clue that we have. This might lead to other clues or one of the actual legacies. Each member of the order receives a single clue and can follow it up as far as they want. When they find a new clue, a branching path, if you will, they must choose if they will follow this new lead or continue their previous one. The other lead will be shared with the order so another person can follow it up when they are done with their own lead." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. As he spoke, the illusion changed, showing a small silhouette walking on top of the string until the thread unraveled and branched out in several directions. The humanoid illusion followed the main path, but other figures soon appeared, each on a different string. The more they walked, the more paths appeared. Some crossed while others intertwined at times before splitting off again. "The way I created the order is that at any given time, each member is following a single lead. You are free to have as many people helping you as you want or to give up a clue and get a new one whenever they want. However, there are rules with that. First, any information you gather must be shared with the order. Second, even if you are interested in someone else''s clues, you may not interfere with their work. You can try to swap your leads, but you may not try to steal or hinder their progress. This endeavor requires teamwork, and we don''t have room for greedy thieves. Oh, and this goes without saying, but if you give up a lead and someone else solves it, you can''t complain. After all, giving that one up was your choice. Third, we should do our best to keep the court a secret. Now, I''m not saying you cannot tell your party or the people that will join you in the expeditions about it, but until we can find everything we want, we should avoid talking too much about the Court of Heroes," Ninleyn continued. "Why is that? Wouldn''t it be better if a lot of people knew about it? Then we could cover more ground, even if they don''t have a lead," Hera said. "Yes, but that doesn''t mean they will share what they found or that they will give the Courts the same respect I hope you will give. Also, we don''t want to share those rewards. I say that we don''t have room for greedy thieves because we are already playing that role. We all want a legacy and items that were never seen before, even if they will be underwhelming in comparison with things that we buy today," Ninleyn took a sip of his tea. "Right, but that clue thing doesn''t seem fair. If I found a clue, shouldn''t I be the one who gets the rewards?" Bonnie asked. "To a point, yes. But you can''t expect to get the legacy if another person did all the work to get to it. And each lead you find and give to the order will give you contribution points that you can use to get items and basically anything we can offer." "And what are those leads?" Hera asked. "Ah, they can be a wide variety of things, from poems to texts, maps, paintings, or anything that might give us a hint of where a member of the court might have passed through. Our goal is to find their final resting place. This is a bit like being a detective. We have to be smart and notice the small details. Before you get your own leads, I will send you on a trial run. We have a member that is currently trying to find something, and she could use some help. If the situation was different, I would''ve asked Helena to do this. Still, considering both her current situation and her lack of development with her own lead, it wouldn''t be a good experience for you." "And I''ll be going with you guys either way," Helena added. When Ninleyn looked towards her with a worried expression, the mage continued, "You are crazy if I''m letting Hera go inside an ancient ruin without me. She''s my assistant, and I will be helping her, just like she would do for me." "Fair enough. But be careful. I understand that you might not be in a good condition to fight," Ninleyn shrugged, knowing it was useless to try to convince her otherwise. "Do you know what we will be doing?" Bonnie asked. "I believe that Shane is searching for or has found some ruins that she wants to explore. Either way, I have discussed that with her, and when she is ready, she can tell you where to go," Ninleyn explained. "Can we take other people with us?" Hera asked. She just reunited with her friends, and the last thing she wanted to do was to split off again. Ninleyn sighed, "Personally, I don''t like to have other people involved in those things. But it will be up to Shane." "I think it will be ok. If I remember correctly, she''s the kind who thrives in a group," Helena added. "You know her?" Hera turned to the mage. "Yeah, she''s an explorer who helped me out when I was doing some of my research." "Was she your assistant?" Bonnie asked. "We never got that far. Besides, Shane is not the type to work for someone else. She''s too much of a free spirit," Helena was still moving around the room. Hera noticed that the mage hadn''t sat down at all since Ninleyn arrived. "Anyway. If you want to bring people along, that will be up to her. As I said, we don''t control what you do with each lead, but each member can decide how to approach it. I just ask you not to, you know, post these leads online or try to spread what we know," Ninleyn got a refill for his tea. "If we do that, are we getting kicked out? Or are you just scrubbing that information from the internet?" Bonnie asked. "What? No, nothing like that. I barely understand social media, much less deleting online data like that. We don''t actively try to make people unaware of the courts. We just don''t advertise it. After all, the more people know about this, the smaller will be the chances we have of finding the legacies. I believe that Shane herself used the internet to find a specific place once. She disguised it as a game of sorts, I think. I''m not sure, but you can ask her more about it. To make this clear, this is a test for you and for us. The order wants to know how well you can deal with clues and this type of exploration, and you will see at first hand what we expect you to do. If everything goes well, after Shane says you have done your job, you can pick a lead among the ones we have available and take a look at all the information about the Court of Heroes we have." "So we can still choose not to join the order completely, even after knowing all of this?" Hera asked. "Well, yes. Like I said, we are not trying to control information. We just avoid sharing it," Ninleyn finished his tea, "Do you have any more questions?" "What do we get from the order by following the leads? Or is it just about whatever we find in the ruins or whatever?" Bonnie was finally able to drink her coffee again. "Well, as much as I would wish that just the information about the Courts would be enough, each new lead or piece of information you find will be equivalent to a certain amount of contribution points. You can use those points as a currency that you can use to buy things or request services from the members of the order. It is much like the tasks you have been doing, Bonnie, but if we are talking about gold, you can ask for a refund for any expenses that you have while following a lead. We take care of the bill, as long as it is within reason. We won''t pay for new armor, weapons, or things like that, but food, water, supplies, travel expenses, library fees, all those kinds of things are on us," Ninleyn explained. They kept talking for some time, with Ninleyn explaining some of the finer details about the exchange of points. A way for the order to pay for those expenses was by taking a small cut from any products created with their resources. They had many crafters that improved their skills thanks to the order. Even the guild recognized the skills of some of the members, so much so that they were called to help take down the wall. This gave any member of the order quick access to masters of their craft, and the points could turn into top class equipment. About half an hour later, all questions had been answered, and he gave them Shane''s contact. Right now, she was back on Earth with her family taking a short vacation, but soon, she would return and continue chasing her court. This was a good thing. They would have some time to talk things out and work together. Not to mention they could try to get some more dungeons done to improve their teamwork. And, most of all, if this would be a situation where Hera would need to leave some of her friends behind, she wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. 297 - Ugly feelings Hera and the girls had a few days before Shane would arrive. Ninleyn had said she would still be away for a few days, but he got that wrong. In fact, she had just returned to the MAZE and was on the way to Boothudurn. It seemed like the room she wanted to search was connected to the Kobold Road, and staying in an actual city before heading out could give them time to talk and organize everything. Still, it would take close to a week for Shane to get here. She was far away and even using the most direct route, there were a lot of rooms for her to traverse. During that time, a few things happened. More people started arriving at Boothudurn, and the dwarves were extremely happy. Some of the human culture was already spreading, especially TV shows. With the guild''s help, Fethy had set up a couple of projectors in a few public places, and people were swarming those areas. It was a great way to get a glimpse of how human society worked. Hera found that kind of cute. It was like they just entered the era of movies and were all going to drive-ins. When they were not doing dungeons, Hera, Bonnie, and Helena discussed ideas about what they could do to help Helena''s research. Using the idea of the modular spell as a base, they were trying to make a spell that could identify the affinity of a creature in a more streamlined way. The affinity sight that Hera was using worked as well, but the version that Helena had created was way too complicated to share. Even Bonnie was having trouble understanding all the formulas. This is why the mage didn''t start selling the spell. She needed to make it more user-friendly. So, instead of focusing on the same spell, they were now trying to do something different. Using the base of the modular elemental spell, they were trying to make it in a way that when the spell touched something, it would identify some of the mana from the target and change it to match that affinity. It was a more invasive way to discover that, but the formulas seemed simpler so far, even if they were still unable to make the spell work properly. Hera helped more during the idea phase of the project, and now that it was mostly about math, she could do little more than just bring them drinks and snacks. When Shane told them that she should be arriving in two days, Blue also texted that she would be coming back sooner. Apparently, there were some issues with her family, and she decided to come back. Luckily, she would get to Boothudurn one day before Shane, and that would give them a chance to talk. With everything that was going on, Silah was feeling a bit down. Hera had just come back, and she was already talking about leaving. She waited for them to be alone and asked, "Hey. Do you know where you are going?" Hera kept playing with Silah''s hair, "I still don''t know. We need to talk to Shane first." Silah kept lying on top of her girlfriend while they were on her bed, "Do you know if you are going to be away for a long time?" "I have no clue. It might be a few days or weeks. But if it takes too long, it''s likely that we''ll come back every now and then to resupply." Silah snuggled on Hera''s chest, "Are you going to forget me?" "Hey, what are you talking about? Why would I forget you?" "Because you will be gone. I get that you will just be in another room, but it still feels weird¡­ and you didn''t ask me to go with you." "Silah¡­ I''m not going to forget you. The reason I didn''t ask you to come is that we have to talk with Shane first. And I''m worried about you staying away from your family for a long time. We might not be able to come back quickly." "I think you see me as more of a child than my mother. I can be away from them without any problems. Even before you showed up, I spent a few months with my ex without even seeing them," Silah scoffed. "Yeah, but you said it yourself. It feels weird when I''m in a different room. It should be the same with your parents," Hera tried to kiss Silah''s forehead, but she got up. "It won''t be. They will be fine and safe while you are in the middle of a random room filled with monsters!" Silah started pacing around the room. "I won''t be alone! And we don''t even know if it''s going to be a dangerous place. But after talking to Shane, you are the first one that I want to ask to come with me." "Really?" Silah asked. "Yeah. Also, I get that you are scared, but we need to talk about that. I love you, but you are a bit too clingy at times. I want to be with you as much as possible, but we need to keep going with our lives. Being an explorer was my dream, and these types of things are exactly what I wanted to do inside the MAZE," Hera sat down on the bed while talking. "You¡­ love me?" Silah asked. Hera paused for a moment, "I do. I was thinking that for a while, but yeah, I do. This is really not how I wanted to say it," Hera scratched the back of her head. "I love you too," Silah smiled and jumped on Hera''s arms, giving her a big kiss. The next day, Blue came back and was surprised by the new house and all the changes that happened in Boothudurn. Alex didn''t even know that Blue was coming back. The assassin spent all her time either in the dungeons or at the guild''s gym. After Blue got settled in, Helena called Alex over, and the group gathered in the living room. "Is everything ok at home, Blue?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah¡­ Me being there started to cause some trouble. After that interview, some random people started showing up at my house, and they kept following me and asking for pictures and a bunch of random questions about the MAZE. I asked around the guild, and they said I should go back to the MAZE. That way, anyone who is searching for me will know that I''m inside. I tried that for a couple of days, and it worked. So I figured I should come back here," Blue explained with a sigh. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "I''m sorry. That must suck. My dad told me that some people drop by every now and then, but no one went as far as go to his house," Hera patted Blue''s back. "I was fine with all that, but when a reporter started harassing my family, I got pissed. If it weren''t for my dad holding me back, I would''ve beaten the crap out of him. The dude tried to invade our house!" "Did you press charges?" Bonnie asked. "I did, but we don''t know who it was, so there wasn''t much to do there. Before coming back, I hired some security to patrol the neighborhood," Blue turned to Hera, "That''s another good thing that came with all of this. I have more than enough money to hire some people. Anyway, what''s going on here? Things are already very different." Understanding that Blue didn''t want to talk more about all that, the group told her about the changes in Boothudurn and everything they had found out about the new rooms and the order. It took a while, but by dinner, she was already fully caught up. "Sooo¡­ there are legacies that stop you from eating meat? Do I have to worry about that too?" she turned to the side. "Who is she talking to?" Alex asked. "Her Herald. Did we tell you guys about it? It''s like their own personal assistant to deal with the legacy," Hera''s voice had a hint of jealousy and Alex just nodded as a reply. "Oh, good. It doesn''t seem like there will be much trouble. Stormcloud told me the only issue I would have is with using some earth element spells. Even in those cases, it''s just an increase in mana cost." "Speaking of which, did you learn anything else about your legacy? You are the first person I know that has one. Well, I mean the first person I''m close to that has one," Helena asked. "Well.. more or less. Stormcloud needs time to sync with me completely. Right now, only some of my spells and skills can be affected by it. According to them, even basic skills like Observe, Hide or Improved Stamina can be buffed by the legacy." "Even Observe? How would that happen?" Bonnie tilted her head. "Well, for one, instead of the blue screen, it would show up as a cloud above whatever I''m seeing. And I can make it appear for everyone," Blue focused on Bonnie and Hera for a moment, and two clouds appeared above them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bonnie Camarel - Researcher - Level 14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley - Explorer - Level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been Observed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired Increased Perception Rank: 1 This skill increases your ability to perceive things around you and allows you to notice when you are under certain effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the new skill window, wondering how often people tried to [Observe] her before. "This is kind of cool, but I feel exposed," Bonnie covered herself with her jacket. "Why would you need that? I mean, everyone can use Observe, can''t they?" Silah asked. "The way I see it, this could be good for spies or people who deal with a lot of political drama. If someone is lying about who they are, you can use that skill and show the truth," Helena said. "You are watching too many dramas," Bonnie sighed. "Yeah, yeah, that''s fine and all. Is there anything else you can do in a fight? I saw what Hera does, but I still don''t know how strong you are," Alex got up from the table. "Honestly. I''m kind of rusty, I think. During the time I was with my family, aside from some light jogging, I didn''t work out at all," Blue looked down to her belly, "I think I even got fat." "So let''s go spar at the guild. I want to prove that I''m still faster than you even with that legacy," Alex smiled. "Yeah, you are good a running, but I bet you still can''t hit for shit," Blue got up with a large smile. "I think I''m going to watch that," Bonnie followed the two. "Same. I want to see how strong Blue is," Helena went along. "I''ll stay. I want to hang out with Silah," Hera didn''t move from her seat. Silah just waved everyone off and waited for a moment, but Hera was still silently staring at an empty cup on the table. With a sigh, the dwarf asked, "Are you going to tell me what''s wrong, or should I start guessing?" "It''s not that there is something wrong. I¡­ I''m just a horrible person." "Oh yeah, you are a backstabbing murderer who likes to skin cute dog puppies for fun," Silah rolled her eyes. "When did you find out about puppies?" Hera smiled. "Videos of cute animals make up about half of all internet. Of course, I was going to find them. I''m thinking about getting one, but that''s not the point. Why are you a ''horrible person?''" "I''m jealous. Blue only got the legacy because I told her to get the egg. I''m the one who saved her to get here, and I''m the one who was in the front line against the sky ruler for most of the fight. Now, I even have a chance to find a new legacy through the order, and what am I doing? Thinking that Stormcloud should''ve been mine. I''m awful." "You are," Silah nodded, "You are awful for leaving me here alone for so long. You are awful for hogging the covers. You are awful for being so tall that I have to jump to kiss you, and you are awful for taking baths that last hours." "Oh gee, thanks," Hera sighed. "Let me finish. You are awful for some small things, but that is not one of them. I''m sure everyone is jealous of Blue''s legacy. Even I wanted a legacy. Seriously, the only one that we knew about was Risli''s. When I was little, I wanted to be her student just to get the legacy, but that only lasted a couple of years. I''m not good with healing stuff," Silah got closer to Hera. "But I shouldn''t be like that. She''s my friend. I have to be happy for her!" "But you already are, aren''t you?" "I am, but¡­." Hera looked away. "Is there any rule that says you can''t be happy for her and jealous at the same time?" "I don''t think there is," Hera gave up and let her head rest on Silah. "Then stop beating yourself up. If you think it will help, talk to her. Let her know how you feel, not to make her guilty or anything, just so she can understand and you don''t end up stopping being friends." Hera chuckled, "You are very wise, you know that?" "It comes with the age, toots." "Where did you learn that one? People don''t use toots anymore. Actually, some might find it offensive. I''m not sure." "Really?" Silah looked up. "I don''t know. In movies, people who say toots are usually assholes, but I''m not sure if the word itself is a problem." With that change of subject, Hera managed to distract herself for a while. It was good that Shane would arrive tomorrow, then there would be even less time to worry about her jealousy. 298 - Shaper of Mana During the following day, the group was still talking about the spar between Blue and Alex. The assassin ended up winning most of their duels, to everyone''s surprise. Blue was too focused on using her legacy to fight properly against her friend. Only when she went back to her typical fighting style that she won once. Hera was feeling better, but when the subject lingered too much on Stormcloud, she would try to change it or just leave the conversation. Helena and Silah were the only ones that noticed her annoyance, but they didn''t say anything while around the group. Before lunch, Hera, Helena, and Bonnie went to the doorway to meet with Shane. It took some time before she arrived. At first, Helena received a text telling her to be in the doorway by 10. Then, Shane wrote another one, letting them know that there was a delay and they would arrive at 11. The last one was the odd one. ''Drive is bitch - 12:30.'' "Is she saying that the drive is a bitch or is driving a bitch?" Hera asked. "I have no idea. Should we head back home?" Bonnie gestured to the tunnel. "Yeah, I don''t want to wait for hours here," Helena put one hand on her neck, "Man, my neck is killing me." "Bad night?" Hera asked as they began to walk. "Yeah. I was working on that spell and fell asleep on my desk. I took some meds earlier, but I''m still stiff." "Do you want me to try a healing spell? It won''t be anything special, but it might help," Hera''s healing spells worked much better when used during fights, but they could still do something outside of combat. "Sure, but It''s just my body complaining about what I''m doing. I got used to not sleeping when you were¡­ you know." Hera walked over and cast a minor healing spell to help Lena''s neck, "Yeah, I do, but I''m here now, and you have to sleep more." "I know, I know," Helena replied. "I don''t want to ruin that cute moment, but I think I have a better spell for that," Bonnie chimed in. "Really?" Hera turned around. "Yeah. Who do you think kept her alive during all those months?" Bonnie walked over and used a different spell. One that helped with muscle spasms and general stiffness from staying long hours sitting down, "It won''t help during a battle, but for these kinds of things, the spell is great." "Oh, right. I completely forgot about that," Helena moved her neck, feeling much better. "I wouldn''t be surprised if you forgot most of what happened during those months," Bonnie rolled her eyes. Helena just looked away. There was still some tension between them from the time that Hera was gone. To make things worse, Hera didn''t know what to say. The few times she tried to intervene seemed to only make things worse. As they walked by the guild, Hera remembered that there was a reward she had yet to receive. The S tier skill. "Do you guys mind if I stop by the guild? I want to check something." "What is it?" Helena was stretching her neck and arms. "I got a tier S skill from the guild. I know it''s just the compendium on how to get the skill, so I wanted to see if I can access the list here," Hera explained. "Oh, that''s a good idea. Any ideas what you want to get?" Bonnie finished healing Lena. "Not really. I want to see what I can pick. Do either of you have any suggestions?" "Sorry, even after all this time, I don''t have any skill that can be considered S tier," Helena shrugged. "Same, and information about those skills is hard to come by," Bonnie added. They kept walking, and in a few minutes, arrived at the guild. The building was located near the guard to both keep an eye on the people coming and going and to let the guards of Boothudurn familiarize themselves with the differences in culture. When Hera and her friends arrived, Sevaris was there delivering some feathers for a quest. "Hey, Hera! How is it going? It''s been a while," the dwarf smiled. "Hey. I''m doing well. Yeah, sorry for me and Blue just vanishing. I hope we didn''t cause trouble," Hera smiled back. "Not at all. We already had a good number of guards for the supply runs. Now with the guild, we can be even more laid back. As long as we buy the meat from them. The king and the captain set everything up so we can sell spare items to the guild." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They talked for a few more moments, just catching up until Sevaris left for his patrol. Since the number of dungeon runs had been reduced, some guards now would patrol the city before or after going to the Wooly Plains. This led to an increased number of guards walking around, probably just to watch out for any problems caused by this new situation. After talking to the man, Hera asked around for her reward. The guild had her in the system, and one of the clerks led her to a private room that people could use when browsing the guild database. Before she was left alone, the clerk gave a quick explanation about how getting skills would work. She could buy the compendium for any skill available. After paying or redeeming her reward, she would receive the information on how to get the skill, increase its rank, and even some tips and tricks about its use directly on her tablet. However, there was one type that was a bit different. The New Dawn was in the process of developing training programs for each skill. There were new training rooms called Augmented Simulation Zones, or A-heart rooms as the people were calling them because of the shape created by the acronym ASZ that was painted on its walls. By buying one of those training programs, these A-heart rooms could create a simulation to help you unlock the skills at a staggering speed. For basic skills like [Observe] or [Inspect], an average recruit took less than 10 minutes to learn the skill. More advanced skills could require more time, but even so, there wasn''t a single skill so far that took more than a week to learn. Some S-tier skills already had the training programs, while others would be just regular compendiums. Unfortunately, if Hera stopped to read the entire list of available skills, she would be there for days. If she opened the complete list, there were over 100 thousand pages each with 50 skills for her to pick from. It was a good thing that the search engine was very well made. If Hera looked up a term like ''ailments,'' any skills that could have some relation to that would appear, and they all had tags like ''passive,'' ''defensive,'' ''stackable,'' and many others that would give her a glimpse of what the skills would do. When she filtered by S tier skills, the prices almost made her fall out of her chair. The cheapest one was around 5 million gold, and the ones with the training program were at least 50 million. On the one hand, the prices seemed ridiculous. On the other, for high-level explorers, this wouldn''t be that expensive. It was very likely that people at deeper layers could simply stock up on S rank skills just to be safe. Some time passed while she searched for something interesting, but it was hard to pick. There were too many options, and a lot of them seemed interesting. There was a ''Master of Poison'' that could make her poisons several times stronger and more versatile. Some fighting styles that could fit well with her Subtle Strike. Yet, she didn''t feel excited by any of that. She was going to explore, and she hoped that the skill she picked could help with that. As she browsed through the database, one skill finally stood out from the rest. She opened the skill, and the actual description that was given by the system was there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shaper of Mana Rank: 1 A skill that improves your control over the mana present on your spells. It allows you to better control how the mana acts inside your spells and even break away from the basic form of a complete spell without the need to create a new one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That one seemed very interesting. The explanation was simple, but with some creativity, it could be very powerful. Her first thought was that she might be able to move her mana reinforcement to avoid wasting so much mana while controlling her chakram. Another idea was to turn her poison needle into a string that could hit multiple targets at once. Those were just the first things that came to mind. This sounded like the type of skill that the more she practiced, the more powerful it would become. To make this even better, this was one of the skills that had a training program, and getting it already came with a reservation for using the A-heart room for a week or until she got the skill. Knowing that the more she thought about it, the more she would start doubting her decision, Hera chose the skill and used her voucher to pay for it. The compendium went directly to her tablet, and another notification appeared letting her know that she had up to 168 hours available to use an ASZ room within a month. Hera got up to leave, but before meeting with Bonnie and Helena, she asked the clerk if she could see the skills outside the guild. There were some weaker and cheaper skills that could help her a lot. From some basic elemental resistances to controlling her breathing in a better way. She could, but only skills up to the A tier, and to get the compendium, she had to drop by a guild branch. The clerk couldn''t explain why things were like that, but it was how it worked. Another thing he said was that this guild was equipped with a couple of A-heart rooms, courtesy of the New Dawn. After that, Hera went back to her friends. Part of her wanted to go straight for the training room and start getting the skill, but Shane should be around soon. "Hey, did you get something interesting?" Helena and Bonnie were hanging out in the guild lounge. "Yeah. Let''s head home. We can talk there," Hera said. One thing about the skill compendiums was that there was no rule that forbade anyone from sharing the skills they got from the guild with their party. Of course, everyone had to figure out how to get the skill by themselves, but now that Hera had an S-tier skill, the whole party would know how to unlock it. To learn it, they had to force themselves to change the spells midway. It wasn''t simply about altering the formula or how the magic was created but making it change after it was already complete and active. Having a channeling spell seemed to help with that. However, the compendium also warned that it usually took months, if not years, to learn the skill even by following the steps that it laid out. Increasing the skill rank seemed slightly easier. Or at least more manageable. You were supposed to use the [Shaper of Mana] skill to turn one spell into another. The example given by the compendium was to use a fireball spell and shape it into a flaming barrier. Blue had already gotten an S rank skill and shared the compendium with everyone. It was called Battle Trance, and it gave a buff to all her attributes the longer she kept fighting. The one she got didn''t have a training program, so everyone would have to work hard to get the skill. The issue with unlocking it was that it required you to be completely focused on the fight for long periods of time. After discussing with everyone for a while, it was finally time to meet Shane in the doorway. Once more, Hera, Bonnie, and Helena headed out to meet her and finally find out what the lead was that they would have to follow. 299 - Enter Shane Hera, Bonnie, and Helena were waiting by the doorway. Despite Shane''s message that she should be around by 12:30, it was already almost 2 p.m., and there was still no sign of her. Helena was getting worried. Shane wasn''t one to be that late. She wouldn''t always be on time, but these delays seemed odd. They tried contacting Ninleyn and other members of the order, but no one seemed to know what was happening. Despite that, it was still just a delay, so no one got very worried. That was understandable, it wasn''t rare for something to happen, and people get stuck in a room or in a place with no internet connection. It didn''t mean that she was in danger or anything, just that there might have been some issues with whatever path she took. It was 2:16 and Hera considered going to the guild and start working on her skill when a woman with light pink hair above a burgundy headband, dark circular shades, and a large puffy teal coat that went all the way to her knees came through the doorway. Behind her, there was a muscular man with short pink hair, black plug earrings, blue jeans, and sneakers with a fitted yellow long-sleeved shirt. Aside from the large backpack on his back, there was a purple staff with a floral pattern wrapped around some red cloth. "Lena! How are you, girl?" the woman walked forward and gave Helena a big hug. "Shane, it''s been too long. Did something happen?" Helena hugged her back. "Yeah, we got stuck in a sandstorm, and the Kobold Road doesn''t have a good connection,¡± Shane pulled out her tablet and started tapping it, making a lot of sand fall to the ground, "If you think this is bad you don''t want to know how much came out of my panties earlier." "You need a bath. Luckily the hotel here is done." "Oh, that would be great," Shane turned to Hera, "Oh, sorry. I didn''t introduce myself. I''m Shane, and I''ll be your counselor during this camping trip. That big hunk of meat behind me is Mylo. He''s a friend of mine that will help us out." Mylo looked around, "Where is the meat?" Shane turned to him, "I meant that you are the meat. It was a joke." "Oh¡­ sorry. I''m just hungry." "We''ll get something to eat soon. I promise," Shane turned to Hera again, "And you are?" "Right. Sorry. I''m Hera, and this is Bonnie. I''m an explorer, and she''s a researcher." "Another explorer, great! Do you have the treasure map skill already?" Shane gave a big smile. "I do. That was the last role quest that I got. Without counting the extra roles," Hera said. "Oh, what did you pick? I have the mage, crafter, researcher, and hunter roles." "I''ve just got the assassin and hunter for now. I kind of want to get mage next, but I don''t know if that''s going to happen." Mylo''s stomach growled, and the man turned red because of the noise, "Sorry," he looked away, feeling embarrassed. "It''s better if we talk later. Can we head to the hotel and grab some food?" Shane asked. "Yeah, that would be better. Let''s go," Helena guided everyone back to the city. Rutigan created some space for the hotel by the castle, just outside the path leading to the doorway. His goal was to give the humans a chance to get settled in before heading to the city. Not just that, but it was also a way for him to be near the people coming in and occasionally drop by to meet them. This was one of those moments. Rutigan was aware that Hera was waiting for someone important. He didn''t know anything else aside from that. Even so, anyone that was important to Hera would be important to him. After some light convincing and bribing a couple of guards, he even got them to let him know when Hera''s guest arrived. That''s why he was rushing outside the castle right now. He knew that Hera and her friends were not the type to waste time, and when they went to the doorway, Rutigan was ready to meet them by ''accident'' by the hotel. But the guards never came around to let him know that someone had arrived. In fact, they only showed up to let him know that the humans seemed to give up and go back home. Later they went back again to the doorway, but it took so long for them to come out that the King''s responsibilities couldn''t stay on hold anymore. During one of his meetings, one of the guards let him know that Hera''s guest had arrived. Rutigan did his best to rush out, but when he arrived in front of the hotel, Hera and the others were already in one of the rooms. "I''m sorry, my king," the guard who he bribed said. "It''s ok. It''s not your fault. I guess not all humans are as punctual as we are," Rutigan sighed. There was a long pause with the King just staring at the hotel before the guard said, "My King¡­ Can I have what you promised?" "Oh, yes. Come with me to the kitchen. I have a few bags of chips and some chocolate hidden from the cooks," Rutigan replied with a sad smile. Inside the Hotel, Shane had gotten a nice room for her and Mylo. They tossed everything they brought on the floor and ordered some drinks and food from the room service. After downing her second beer, Shane slammed the bottle on the table. "Man, that hit the spot. That desert was brutal." "Yeah. I don''t like sand," Mylo nodded. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Don''t you dare finish that sentence!" Shane stared daggers at the man who just smiled before taking a sip of his beer. Shane seemed much younger than Hera expected. She should be in her mid-twenties, just like her. Yet, she felt much more comfortable in her own skin. Even after meeting two people for the first time, she could be herself without worry. That was an ability that Hera had lost a long time ago. "So, let''s talk business," Shane turned to the group. "Isn''t it too early? We woke up at 3. I want to sleep," Mylo said. "You can go to bed later. I''m really excited about this," Shane smiled and turned back to Hera and Bonnie, "So. Ninleyn told you guys that I was searching for a ruin, right?" "Yeah. It has something to do with your lead," Bonnie nodded. "Exactly. I found an old text that described a room with gigantic valleys of orange stone and a howling beast that came from the darkest depths of the abyss. Where the sun gives you only a small reprieve from the overwhelming shadows that devour all. It said that hidden in the labyrinth of rock and silk, there laid a temple for the old race. The court that I''m following is from that old race. I don''t know the name yet, but the one picture that I found showed some elemental arrows being flung around. I''m not much of an archer, but if I get a court like that, I 100% will change that," Shane chuckled. "Is it ok for you to tell us that already?" Hera asked. "Sure. It''s my lead. I can do whatever I want with it. Anyhow, connected to the Kobold Road, there is a room called the Distant Grasslands. Ironically, that is a desert of orange sand with some eternal sandstorms that I thought could fit the description. You know, orange, howling winds that came from the abyss. There was even a small valley there near the sandstorm. I have no idea what would be the silk, but it was my best bet." "Was? So you have another one?" "Yeah! People found another doorway in this room, right? So, the guild sent a scout group to explore it and then found a few others going all the way to the 7th layer. The one I''m interested in is in there. Here, let me show you a picture," Shane pulled up her tablet and, in a few seconds, turned it around. The image showed what looked like dry, cracked ground, the type that one would see in places going through a drought. Seeing everyone''s reactions, Shane swiped to the side, and the reveal was that the first picture was, in fact, a photograph taken by a drone. Each of the cracks on the ground was actually a valley large enough for ten people to walk side by side. She kept swiping without saying a word, and the more they looked, the more it all matched with what she just said. The entire area had an orange tint when the sun was shining, but that only lasted a few moments since most of the valleys only had any sunlight at noon. To top it all off, the last picture showed a corridor of giant trapdoor spiders filled with spiderwebs. "See?" Shane asked. "Yeah, that fits perfectly. It''s terrifying to think about those spiders though," Hera had goosebumps just seeing the pictures. She wasn''t afraid of spiders, but those seemed to be at least the size of a car. "Oh, yeah, that will be a big issue. But we can do it. Besides, this is the temple of their race! I''m positive that a hint about a member of the Court of Heroes should be there. If not, we will find something that points us in that direction," Shane leaned back on the couch, making Mylo, who was starting to doze off, fall headfirst on her lap, "Ouch! C''mon man, don''t sleep here. You''re going to be all sore." "Sorry. I''m just tired," Mylo yawned as he woke up, "Sorry for being rude, but I''m going to bed." Bonnie waited for him to reach the bedroom before asking, "Is he ok?" "Yeah. He just gets a bit slow when he''s tired. But I can''t blame him. I''ve been dragging his ass all over the place," Shane looked towards the bedroom, "Why do you ask? Are you interested?" Bonnie blushed, "No. I mean, I wouldn''t not be interested, but still, I''m just worried. Besides, he''s with you." Shane laughed, "Don''t worry, we are not together. We have been in the past, and we still have some fun every now and then, but we are both single. You''re free to shoot your shot." Bonnie stared at the bedroom door with a vacant expression. Seeing that, Hera held back a chuckle and turned to Shane, ¡°Two questions. Do you mind if we bring the rest of our party? We have a controller, an assassin, and a crafter. The second one, how soon do you want to go? If possible, I wanted to wait for like a week.¡± "A week¡­ that''s doable. It will take a couple of days for the guild to say that anyone can go in that room. Besides, Mylo could use the break, and we could maybe train a bit together. For the first question¡­. Yeah, sure. As long as you all accept that I have the last say in anything we find in the temple. And none of you touches anything before asking me. I don''t want to have the legacy I''m working so hard on stolen." "I''m ok with that," Hera nodded. "Yeah, it''s a fair deal," Helena smiled. They talked for some time, but Shane was very tired as well. After about half an hour, Hera and the other got up to leave. "Lena, Bonnie, can you two go first? I need to have a private discussion with Hera," Shane said. They left the hotel room, leaving the two women alone for whatever Shane wanted to say. "Hang on, let me check if Mylo is really asleep. I don''t want him to hear this." "I can help with that," Hera tapped her foot on the ground, and the two were surrounded by a green soundproof barrier, "There. No one can hear us from outside." "That''s¡­. Handy. Can I get the code?" "I''m a subjective mage, sorry." Shane shrugged, "Right, what I wanted to ask is. Do you know the¡­. How was it again?" she pulled her tablet and spent a few moments trying to find something before giving up, "Screw that. If I say green apple. Do you think of a specific fruit?" Hera stopped for a moment. She knew that Shane was an explorer, but could she be talking about Peaches? "I do¡­." "It''s the fruit emoji people use to talk about butts?" Shane continued. "Yeah." "So you know Peaches?" "I do!" Hera gasped. It was the first time she met someone who had the guide skill. "I''m so glad. For one, Peaches is awesome, and it''s a sin that we can''t talk about him or everyone else. And this will help a lot in there. We can double our time and think of the questions together." "That''s true! If we can use the first answers to prepare for the second round, things will be much better." "Yeah! Oh, and I want to talk to you later about the places you''ve been to. I wanna gossip about the guides sooo bad," Shane chuckled, but that quickly turned into a yawn. "I should go. You are tired." "I really am. Thanks for all the help." "I''m the one that should be thanking you for bringing us along," Hera smiled and walked to the door. "Oh, before I forget, later I want to know about your relic and the roles you have. We should compare some notes." Hera nodded and left the hotel room. Soon they would head out to this new room, a place that was incredibly beautiful and dangerous at the same time. Not just that, but they would need to cross a few rooms before getting there. Hera wondered what they would be like and she could barely contain her excitement. 300 - Augmented Simulation Zones Hera took the stairs down to the guild basement. For now, this was the only way to move between floors on the building. They had the structure for an elevator here, but Rutigan asked to wait before showing that to the dwarves. With the presence of the humans, there was already a considerable amount of change going on in the city, and he wanted the people to be comfortable with the idea of an elevator before having access to one. Hera could understand that, in a place where carts were only used to move around objects and never for people, they saw any means of transportation with suspicion. The idea of being locked inside a box and moved to a different place was unnerving for most dwarfs, and they only saw it on videos. At the moment, Hera was going towards the training rooms. The guild spared no expense here. There was a very large training grounds on the first basement floor. Complete with a gym, an indoor pool, and some arenas for sparing and combat training. All the special training rooms were on the second basement floor. There were several ATRs and five A-heart rooms at the end of the hallway. The dwarves could access all those training areas at a substantially reduced price. Not just that, but the guard could use the ATRs freely as long as they made the reservation a day earlier without paying for it, and they didn¡¯t reserve more than half of the rooms. Rutigan made this deal to help the people of the city, and the guild also tossed in something extra. The guard could use one of the A-heart rooms for 1 hour every day. It was a way to help them understand the benefits the guild could provide. Hera was almost sure that this wasn''t a deal that would last forever, but at least for now, this meant they could increase their strength. Hera walked over to the A-heart room and placed her guild card on the sensor by the door to allow her to enter. With that, the logo by the door shifted. What was supposed to be paint started moving and formed a different set of words. ''Welcome, Hera. Enjoy your time in the ASZ training room.'' "Thanks, I guess," Hera replied as the door opened. The inside differed greatly from the usual white present in the ATRs. Everywhere she looked, Hera could only see some light grey panels with thick black lines between them. They were all triangular, and in the center, the polygons and the lines were smaller and formed a large circle on the ground about 4 meters in diameter. She took a careful step inside. Behind her, the door closed and blended with the rest of the room. If it wasn''t for the small symbol of a lock on the corner of the panel, there was no way to tell that this was a door. "Please enter the marked circle in the center of the room," a disembodied voice rang out. At the same time, the lines surrounding the round shape lit up with a soft white glow. Hera walked over, and as soon as she entered the circle, the glow vanished. Instead, in front of her, a line that went all the way around the room turned on, and a hologram appeared in front of her. It was an orange screen much similar to that of the system. At the same time, the voice read the words in the window out loud. ========================= Welcome to the Augmented Simulation Zones or ASZ for short. I have identified that you have a training program for the skill [Shaper of Mana]. You can spend a total of 168 hours trying to learn this skill. Any remaining time available after you acquire the skill will be removed. If you are unable to learn during that time, you increase the time available by renting an ASZ. Remember that you can only use this training program. Please touch the button when you are ready to start. ========================= "Are they¡­ trying to copy the system?" Hera kept staring at the screen. She pulled up her own stats to compare, but the font used by the message was slightly different. The spacing was a tiny bit off too. It was like they got as close as possible to the system without stepping out of line. If she was being honest, she didn''t like this. It was one thing to show the system in shows or comics, but the versions were always significantly different. Some had more ornate frames or different fonts. The most basic one used a green screen instead of a blue one and the default font of cellphones. For some reason, Hera remembered how Blue complained about her attitude with the dwarves in a dungeon. Maybe this was the same. Hera was just being too precious with something that she shouldn''t. Even so, she couldn''t help but feel bothered by this. "Is there a way to change this setting?" Hera mumbled. ========================= What setting would you like to change? ========================= Same as before, the voice spoke what was in the window. "Oh," Hera didn''t expect to receive a reply, "I don''t want to see those windows." ========================= This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. You cannot remove the window, but you can pick a different style. Please, customize at your will or choose one of our available presets. For the next 10 minutes, you are able to change any settings without affecting your remaining time in the ASZ. If you go past that, your remaining time will start to count down. ========================= Following that, another message popped out with all the customization options available. If Hera was to describe those options in a single word, it would be excessive. It went so far beyond the simple color, font, and frame. She could pick what type of bullet points the window would use, the shadows of the letters, the spacing between letters, words, and lines. Even the general layout of everything. It was like seeing a graphics design software made to create magazines. Hera spent a few minutes changing the window that appeared to a format she felt more comfortable with. Despite it all, this was fun. It has been a long time since she toyed around with something like this. The end result was a window with a stylized frame, like if it was from a comic book, a dark purple backdrop with bright white letters. Her last touch was that when a window would appear or disappear, the words inside would shift to the sides as if they were moving to position. With all that done, she confirmed her choices, and the first window appeared again. That bad feeling was gone, and now she could focus on the task at hand. Pressing the button, the training program started. All the lights in the room went off. Then, from one side, a small orange hue appeared in a horizontal line. This color started to spread in all directions, and little by little, turned into yellow while growing brighter. Bright enough to be blinding. Hera had to close her eyes, but after a few moments, the whole scenario changed. She wasn''t inside a training room anymore, but on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The smell of saltwater hit her, and the warm sunlight washed over her face. For a moment, Hera thought she was transported to a different place, but while looking around, she noticed the lock symbol floating behind her. She removed one of her gloves and touched the grassy floor. With a sigh of relief, she got up. Under her, there were the triangle-shaped panels, just like before. This place was an illusion or just a very realistic hologram. She was still in Boothudurn. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" All of a sudden, a loud yell came from beyond the cliff. There was some noise and rumbling, and a pillar of swirling water shoot out from the ocean. Something was riding on top of that , but before Hera could recognize it, the towering whirlpool rushed towards her at a staggering speed. Just as it was about to hit the cliff, the water stopped and fell. From above it, a figure landed on the ground, breaking the stone floor. "Yoooohoooooo!!!!" the muscular man with sun-tanned skin yelled while looking at the ocean, "Man, that hit the spot! I can''t believe I spent so long without doing that." Hera kept staring at him. This person was familiar. Something about him rang a bell in her mind, but she couldn''t grasp what it was. "You!" the man turned around and pointed at Hera, "How about it? Did you like that little spell? It was actually a gust of wind spell that I controlled to be like that. Impressive don''t you think?" the man puffed his chest and put both arms on his waist. Hera just kept staring at him, waiting for the program to continue. Yet, nothing happened. After a few moments, the man walked closer to her with an annoyed expression. "Yo, girl! I''m talking to you. Nod or do something, just don''t leave me hanging." Hera found that weird. It seemed like a bad joke just to make this feel more realistic. After everything they did, it really wasn''t necessary. "I''m talking to you, on the purple armor with the handaxes. Can you hear me? Is this thing broken?" the man asked again. "How does he know I''m wearing purple?" Hera asked. "Because I can see, girl. What is the matter with you?" the man asked again. "Wait, you can see me?" Hera took a step back. "Yes! I can. Why wouldn''t I be able to?" "Erm¡­ because this is a simulation, isn''t it?" The man squinted at her before starting to speak in a peppy voice, "You had to ask, didn''t you? Yes, this is a top-of-the-line simulation created by the best minds present at New Dawn. With the training program, you can get a fully automated teacher that will help you step by step in getting your skills. I am the trainer for this skill. You can call me Kale or use my title, Waverider. And for the love of all that is sacred, don''t ask if this is a simulation again. It''s so annoying to have to say that ad." "So¡­ you are real? Like, you can answer to me?" Hera asked. "Yeah, why is that so hard to understand?" "It''s not. It''s just surprising. I mean, in the ATR, the trainers only showed our mistakes. They didn''t talk to us." "Yeah, this is more advanced. Why would someone make a training room that was just the same as the others? Also, be careful with jumping around. If you leave that circle, the floor won''t shift to keep you in place," Kale continued. "Right, and how does the training works?" Hera asked. "Let me begin by explaining how the skill works. Like the name suggests, the Shaper of Mana skill lets you change how your spells work on a fundamental level. What''s the most basic continuous spell you have?" Hera thought for a moment, "I guess the light spell." "Perfect, that''s one of the best ways to change it. Can you cast it?" Hera waved her hand, and a small point of light appeared in the air. "Ah, you are a subjective mage. Ok, that might help." "Really?" Hera asked. "Yeah, if you use something more strict, it''s hard to know how to make the changes. Now, I want you to focus on this," Kale created a light, just like the one that Hera made. A few moments passed, and the light slowly changed colors from white to red. Hera focused on the mana around the light created by the trainer. Luckily, she already had the [Mana Sense] skill which helped her sense the magic. Even so, she couldn''t tell the difference between what she was doing, and the light created by their training program. "Don''t worry, we have time. Focus on all small details. It''s a very nuanced skill." Hera nodded and created a second light, this time a red one just like Kale''s. She tried to focus on the differences between the two spells once more but to no avail. Another good thing about this room was that it helped her recover her mana. With spells like these, it was very likely that she could use them non-stop. She created more and more different colored lights, all with different sizes and behaviors, and started to focus on what made each unique. After around 5 hours, she left the training room, unable to even find a single clue about all that. This was an S rank skill. Of course, it wouldn''t be easy to get it. Despite that, Hera was still eager to continue. If it wasn''t for her stomach, she would probably spend the entire day inside there. 301 - Dangerous idea It took Hera only four days to unlock the skill. The entire training program was very similar to what happened on the first day. Kale would ask about spells that she could maintain for a while, then he would replicate them and start to make small changes as examples. It took Hera close to a full day of training to begin to notice the difference between the mana in each spell, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Changing a spell that had already been cast proved to be much more complicated than she imagined. Making the spell was like baking a cake. She set everything up, mixed all the ingredients, picked a tray, and then placed it all in the oven. Trying to alter a spell that was already active was like trying to change the shape of a cake that had already been baked without cutting or breaking it. Even so, little by little, she understood what she had to do. For the skill to work, she had to trick her spell. First, she put some mana around the active magic and acted as if she would cast a spell again, but it was just a surface layer. The mana in the ongoing spell would think it was part of this new spell and change accordingly. As a result, she spent a fraction of the mana she used to make the spell to change how it behaved. If the alteration was bigger, more mana would be spent, but the mana cost was still lower than if she was creating something new. According to Kale this was a way to do it, but at higher ranks, she would only need to spend more mana if her intention asked for more than what the spell already had. What finally allowed her to unlock the skill was turning her dancing light into one of those spinning light globes from a club. The type that created several colorful rays and shot them out everywhere. "Very good, girl. I expected you to take longer," Kale clapped his hands when her skill triggered. "It''s weird that you know that I got the skill, you know," Hera replied, forcing herself to remember that he was just a simulation made by New Dawn. "I know, but there are an obnoxious amount of sensors in these rooms. And when you get the skill, your spell''s mana fluctuates in a specific way." "Does that work with all the skills? Like, can you tell what skills someone has just by looking at them?" "Probably, if you are really good at that. But would have to remember and compare each skill with each individual change, so I doubt anyone would waste their time to do it," Kale shrugged. The ASZ turned off, revealing the grey panels again. The beautiful scenery by the cliff had vanished, and only Kale remained. "Well, this is the end of the training program. I would love to say that we''ll see each other again, but it doesn''t work like that. The only way for us to see each other will be if you manage to find a skill that I helped develop the training program for, and they don¡¯t put the trainer¡¯s name in the catalogue for some reason. Still, it was fun," Kale said with a big smile. "You know. I kind of feel bad now. Doesn''t this mean you are going to die? Or be locked away until I come back?" "Girl, I''m not alive. Everything that you see here is a computer program. I have no emotions and no sense of self. I''m just data. Yes, I can pretend to be happy or sad, yes, I''m fun to be around, and yes, I''m incredibly handsome. But at the end of the day, Me going away it''s just like closing a browser tab. There is absolutely nothing that will be affected. All these goodbyes and me saying ''it was fun'' were programmed messages to make this look more personal. Just like this speech." "Ok, ok, I get it. I get attached easily, ok?" Hera turned around and left the training room in a huff. Still, before opening the door, she glanced back to see Kale one last time only to see him waving with a large smile. When Hera left the guild it was earlier than usual, and Silah went running to meet her. Because of all the training, they weren''t able to spend that much time together. In all fairness, everyone had mostly split off at the moment. Bonnie was helping Ogryn translate some spells from runic to formula and vice versa. Blue and Alex kept going to the Wooly plains to unlock the [Battle Frenzy] skill, and Helena was alone at home working on a new idea that she had yet to tell anyone. Even Shane and Mylo were busy organizing all the information they had about Shane''s lead. When she got back home, Bonnie was there making some snacks for the afternoon and Silah rushed to the kitchen to help. The blacksmith had gotten into cooking during the past week. Hera sat in front of Helena in the living room and told her that she got the skill. The mage started interrogating her about all aspects of the training and the skill and asking some oddly specific questions before looking away, deep in thought. Hera did her best to replicate what she saw during the training. However, she didn''t have the sensors or the ability to make her spells be just like Helena''s, like Kale did with her. Only when she tried to replicate the program that she realized how helpful it actually was. During the training, Kale would show her versions of her spells with the different mana flow marked in a different color. But doing that now was impossible even after she got the skill. After some discussion and even weirder questions, Hera turned to Helena, "Ok, I get that this is an interesting skill, but half of what you asked has nothing to do it with. What¡¯s going on?" "I was thinking about that skill. It gave me some ideas." "Like what?" "Well¡­ what if I can shape my mana to be¡­ aggressive? Like, to attack what''s inside my body," Helena said in a hushed voice. "You want to teach your mana to attack the parasites?" Hera asked. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Either teach it or force it to do that." "Lena¡­ that sounds dangerous." "It''s no more dangerous than going to a room with monsters at my level. I trust that I can defend myself somewhat, but if we are going to the 7th layer, then I''ll need to be able to do things on my own. If I went now, I would just be dead weight." "Lena, I don''t like that idea. Besides, I gave you that flame mana shard, didn''t I? If that doesn¡¯t work I can get you another item that regenerates mana automatically." "Hera, my mana pool is well over 50 thousand. That''s not just because I kept training, but because the spells I use are very mana heavy. A mana core that size is way too expensive, and the ones you can get won''t charge mana fast enough for battle," Helena sighed. "Fine, but if you figure anything out, I''m calling Risli before you try it. That''s not negotiable," Hera replied. "That''s actually a good idea. I haven''t talked with her about this. Do you think she would be able to help with the spell?" "Well¡­ maybe. There are some things that she can do that are a bit unusual for healers," Hera nodded. "Like what?" Helena asked. "Not my place to say, but she can do some potions and some different spells to maybe help." "Do you think we can drop by there now?" "Well¡­ it''s not that late. She might still be up." "Let''s go then," Helena got up from the chair. "Are you guys going somewhere?" Silah and Bonnie walked into the living room from the kitchen. "I think we should tell them. Bonnie can help figure it out, and Silah would help a lot to hold you down if it gets to that point," Hera suggested. "What do you mean to hold her down?" Silah asked with a confused expression. Helena stopped to think for a moment and then explained the whole situation to the two. "You know. Ogryn could help a lot with that too," Bonnie said. "That is a good idea. I mean, if you add up him, Risli, and us, we should have about 500 years of experience," Hera nodded. "Well¡­ the more, the merrier, I guess. But I''m not really excited about the idea of more people doing tests on me," Helena sighed. "Then we can go. Let''s stop by the mage''s quarters and then go to Risli''s," Silah said. "No need. I just texted Ogryn, and he agreed to help. The people here are really eager to reply to texts," Bonnie pointed at the time between messages. A few minutes passed, and the elderly mage arrived at their house since it was on the way to Risli''s. Helena started explaining the situation, despite knowing she would have to do that once more when they arrived at the shaman''s house. Risli was busy at the moment. She was brewing a potion and couldn''t stop or her work would go down the drain. Everyone agreed to wait for her to be done while Hera helped the old dwarven healer with her potion. About one hour later, the shaman was done with her work, and they all sat around a table for Helena to tell her story. She started by explaining what the wall was and what happened during the break, then about the Wendigos and how she ran away and hid from them. The story seemed well-rehearsed like she had told it several times already. Even so, speaking of that wasn''t easy. More than once, Helena had to stop and take a breath while her hands were shaking. After that, she explained what happened with the parasites and all the procedures people already tried. Ogryn and Risli had more questions about both the creatures and the affliction while trying to figure out a way to help. They had some ideas, including a ritual spell that Risli could cast as part of her legacy to weaken ailments. For the first time in a long time, Helena felt her mana pool recovering. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a moment. Despite being weakened, the parasites were still just barely able to keep up with her mana regeneration. This meant that the little mana she recovered was still there, but she couldn''t recover more. It felt like a step in the right direction, but this was the limit of Risli''s spell. It would last only for a week, but the shaman could use it again after the effect wore off to keep the parasites at bay. This helped Helena understand a bit more about her mana and try to test her ideas. With Ogryn around, they discussed some options, and Helena explained what spell she wanted to create. "My idea is to make my mana poisonous by itself. I''m not sure how that can work, but I imagine that if my mana deals damage to the parasites on its own, I can get rid of them," Helena explained. "I understand that, and it is an interesting concept. It would be like poisoning yourself to push them away," Ogryn nodded, already thinking about how the spell could work. "You know nothing. If you use poison, it will only make things worse. If those things can grow depending on what you feed them, giving them poison may make them more resilient. If we are going that route, we need to do something different. Maybe using fire, or something that most organisms can''t adapt to," Risli cut Ogryn off. "I kind of agree. Poison is very fickle. If we hit them with the wrong one, they might become much stronger than we hoped," Hera said. "Then, what if we make something that burns them? Using Lena''s mana as fuel. Most things can''t adapt to fire quickly, right?" Bonnie turned to Risli. "As far as I know, that is correct. But I don''t know what it is like in the other rooms," Risli was looking at books, trying to find something that could help. "May I give a suggestion?" Ogryn asked the group, receiving a nod as a reply, "Naka asked me to come up with a way to stop someone from casting spells without harming them. We tried a few approaches, from disturbing the magic in an area to remove someone''s control over their own mana. One of the most simple approaches we currently have, and something that we have yet to figure out, is a way to make someone leak their own mana. The idea is for no one to be hurt, but we already have a rough idea of how to make someone lose their mana while hurting them. One of the words we used to describe this spell would be ¡®burn¡¯ as in ¡®it will burn their mana¡¯." "That¡­ seems to be right on the money," Helena had a surprised expression. "Well.. yes, but if we create that to hurt someone, it will probably hurt you more than the parasites," Ogryn explained. "I don''t care. Let''s see if we can figure this one out before Shane wants to leave. I want to leave here with my mana again," Helena replied with a sad voice. Hera could only imagine what it was like losing her mana completely. Lena already spent more than a full year dealing with that, and Hera wanted nothing more than to help her friend return to her glory days. 302 - Bitter Medicine Despite what Shane said, it was taking more than a week for the guild to set up everything for people to travel to the new rooms they found beyond Boothudurn. The White Desert was open, but the Wailing Valley, which was their desired destination, was still among the ones that people shouldn''t go to. It wasn''t like the guild would stop people from going, but they didn''t have any actual infrastructure like hotels, campsites, or even bathrooms there. If they wanted to go, they would have to camp outside, heal their own wounds and take care of their own basic needs like food or water. Considering the size of their party and the possible encounter with the spiders, Shane decided to wait. According to the guild, they would probably need 3 days to arrive at the Wailing Valley. It wouldn''t be so much because of the crossing limit, but because the rooms were considerably large. It took about 6 hours to reach the other doorway of the White Desert, and another 4 to do the same in the following room. This was all considering that the environment helped and there weren''t too many monsters on the way. There was a possibility of heavy snowstorms covering the White Desert, which would make the travel much more complicated. This delayed the group''s departure but gave Helena and the others time to figure out a spell to make one''s own mana harm their body. It was called Mana Burn and it would quickly drain the target''s mana while dealing damage in the process. Ogryn had tested the spell on himself and it hurt a lot. He described the feeling as having his blood boil inside his body. It was like the worst fever he ever had accompanied by unbearable pain. Still, everyone knew Ogryn wasn''t exactly the most resilient person. He worked with the mages from a young age and the first thing they learned was how not to get hurt. Helena believed completely that this spell could help, but for it to work, she would need a way to recover her mana while the affliction was eating her up. She tried to use a mana crystal, but that didn''t work. "What if I cycle my mana with yours?" Hera asked. "Are you crazy? If you do that there is nothing that guarantees that the parasites won''t spread to you," Helena turned around. "There is nothing that says they will either," Hera shrugged. "Look, this is not on the table. I won''t risk that," Helena shook her head. "Let''s talk to Risli first. She might be able to do something to help or tell us if that is a good idea or not. We also need to see if the spell will do anything. I know you only have a little bit of mana and¡­ Actually, what if we do that inside one of the A-heart rooms? I felt my mana regenerating stupidly fast in there," Hera suggested. "Can more than one person enter?" Helena asked. "I mean, I don''t think there are any rules about that. But we could ask. I know that it''s 5k per hour. If we can get the dwarven discount, it would be just 2, but I doubt that." "That might help. We were trying to avoid increasing my mana regeneration because we didn''t know if that would make the parasites grow." "For starters, we need to check if the spell will work. You haven''t tried it just yet, right?" Hera asked. "Yeah, let''s head to Risli." "Lena, it''s almost midnight. If you want to do a proper test we need to sleep, rest, and call everyone to help. I know how much you want to fix this, but we need to be careful," Hera placed one hand on Helena''s shoulder, "This is going to work." "You''re right. I know. I just want to take these things out of me," Helena sighed. They talked some more before heading to bed. Helena decided to take a sleep potion that Risli gave Hera a while ago since she was too anxious to rest. The next morning, they headed out to the Shaman before even eating breakfast. Everyone seemed to be anxious about the idea, even Ogryn arrived in a rush. While Risli was preparing for some emergency healing, Hera asked about her idea. "If I cycle my mana with Lena, would the parasites go to me?" "That is¡­ possible. I''m not sure how likely it will be. Your mage friend has much more mana than you, and since she now has more mana than they can eat, there is no reason for the parasites to look for a new food source," Risli placed a few of her tools on a table, "Now come here. Let me check how you are doing." "I feel the same. My mana keeps going back and forth between 456 and 457," Helena replied. "Yes, I can see that this is steady. Even with my spell, the parasites can still eat up all the mana you recover. Now, what about the spell? Should Ogryn be the one who uses it or we leave it to Bonnie?" Risli put one thing that looked like a dreamcatcher away. "Ogryn. I think that Bonnie won''t be able to hurt the parasites. The guild tried using other types of spells to kill these things, but the spells were too weak and they didn''t want to hurt me," Helena replied. Risli nodded, "Very well. We can try," she turned to Ogryn, "Do a strong version, but not too strong. Make her spend the 4 hundred mana in¡­ a minute. Can you do that?" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ogryn nodded, "I believe that is within my power, yes," he put his hand on Helena''s shoulder, "This is going to hurt. Are you sure you want to do this?" "Absolutely." "Very well," Ogryn looked at Risli, who got ready to heal and gave him the signal to start. The mage simply tapped Helena, and the spell took hold. In less than a second, they could see her veins glowing from under her skin. Helena yelled and Hera quickly shoved a belt in her friend''s mouth to stop her from biting her own tongue. Their eyes met but before any reaction, Helena jerked back with the glow becoming even stronger. For an entire minute, she kept screaming nonstop, her cries of pain echoing in the shaman''s hut. During all that time, Risli was burning a small piece of sage and moving it around Helena while her other hand was just on top of the mage''s head constantly healing the patient. When Ogryn reached the one-minute mark, the spell stopped and Helena''s veins returned to normal. No one spoke while she caught her breath. Large drops of sweat had formed all around her body due to the intense pain. After a while, she turned to Risli. "Did it work?" "In a way. The spell hurt them. I can tell that, but it didn''t destroy a single one of them," Risli sighed. "Shit!" Helena slammed her fist against the frame of the bed. Risli slapped the back of Helena''s head, "Stop that! I don''t care if you are frustrated, I will not watch a patient hurt herself for naught." "Sorry¡­" "Also, let me finish. It hurt them, while the spell was going I could feel their life force becoming smaller, but trying to regrow. It''s a very small reaction, but I believe if the spell went on for longer they would be destroyed," Risli continued. "How much longer?" Hera asked. "If we make it the same strength. Maybe five, six hours," Risli said. "What!" Helena tried to jump up but her body forced her to stay still. Everything still hurt. "Is that a good what or a bad one?" Bonnie turned to Helena. "Both¡­" the mage replied after a pause. "Why?" Bonnie pressed. "I need to prepare myself if that will last for 6 hours. The pain is no joke." "Is it really that bad?" Hera asked. "Have you ever had kidney stones?" Helena turned to Hera who just shook her head, "Well, it''s like my entire body is passing kidney stones. I never imagined that this type of pain could be possible." "I suppose that saying I could make the spell stronger if your regeneration was better is out of the question then?" Ogryn said. Helena turned to Risli, "Would that help?" "Yes. The issue here is that the parasites can recover most of the damage they are taking, the stronger the spell the bigger the difference between what they regenerate and the damage will be." "So let''s get an A-heart room. I''m positive that it will help Lena''s mana recovery." "Oh, that is a good idea," Ogryn nodded, "Even my own recovery in there is at least three times as strong as normal." "Three times¡­ that may cut the time by three, so instead of six hours it would be just two, maybe even less," Risli said after considering it for a moment. "And if Helena can actually recover her mana, we should let her top it all off. That way the spell can be even stronger and take even less time," Bonnie added. "The pain will also be at least three times stronger if we do it like this. Are you sure you want to do this?" Ogryn turned to Helena. "My answer hasn''t changed. I don''t care if I have to be boiled alive. I want those things out of me." Understanding that there was nothing anyone could say to change her mind, the group headed towards the guild. Hera talked to the clerks who were a bit unsure on how much to charge for the A-heart room. Usually, only two people could be there at once, but after explaining the situation, they agreed to rent it out for 4 hours, but it would cost 40 thousand gold. For a single person, one hour inside one of the rooms here would be just 2 thousand. Hera knew she was getting scammed, but she was more worried about Helena than anything and just paid the fee without discussion. Inside the A-heart room, everyone was taken aback. Hera and Ogryn were the only ones who had seen the training room before and understood its effects. "This is¡­ incredible," Helena gasped. Despite the parasites, her mana was recovering even faster than it used to. "It is indeed. I was able to try a lot of spells here," Ogryn was looking around the room. "Yeah, yeah. Just keep it in your pants, will you?" Risli rolled her eyes and asked Helena to sit down in the center of the room. Helena moved over, and they waited for a few minutes while her mana recovered to full. During that time, Ogryn was tweaking the spell to hit just hard enough to keep up with Helena''s increased mana regeneration. The idea was to leave only a little bit of room so the spell could keep going without stopping. "This is¡­ an issue," Risli said after checking the energy coming from the parasites. "What happened?" Helena turned around. "Whatever is inside you is also being affected by the room. Their energy is stronger than normal." Helena opened her status, "My mana is still increasing, and I don''t remember how much of it they got it before. Hang on," she got up and left the A-heart room. A few moments later, she returned, "Yeah, we need to take them out today. Even when I leave here, they are still eating more mana than they were before." Risli looked down for a moment, "Perhaps those parasites are made out of pure mana. That''s how they can eat it to survive. If that''s the case, the regeneration provided by this place might be helping them more than we imagined." "So let''s stop wasting time and kill these damn things," Helena sat in front of the shaman once more. Ogryn nodded and walked over to her, "This is the last time I will be asking. Are you sure about this?" "Positive," Helena replied without looking back. Ogryn and Risli nodded, Hera took that chance to put the belt she brought in Helena''s mouth. To protect her from hurting herself. The mage smiled just before Ogryn activated the spell. It took less than one second for Helena to feel her entire body burning. It was like someone had put molten rock inside all of her veins. At the same time, she felt like she was passing kidney stones through her entire body. Helena bit down on the belt and screamed feeling as if her own flesh was being ripped asunder. 303 - Reinforcement It''s had been close to two hours since Helena started screaming, and she could barely take time to catch her breath. Risli was constantly healing her and trying to lessen the pain, but if she did it too much, it would also affect the parasites. To make matters worse, the creatures, if you could call them that, were growing. Ogryn had to recast the spell with increased strength every time. Despite the pain, Helena was adamant about continuing, even when her nose started to bleed. This was something she couldn''t stand anymore and would give anything to get rid of the parasites. "Those things are getting stronger again! We are close, but they can recover all the damage the spell is doing," Risli turned to Ogryn. "I can increase the strength of the burn, but her mana won''t last," Ogryn''s clothes were covered in sweat. Having to control the spell in such a specific way was taking its toll. "Do it! Kill those things!" Helena cried with the belt still on her mouth. "Helena¡­ if I push too much, you might die or go crazy from the pain," Ogryn said. Helena just shook her head, her dark brown eyes filled with resolve. Ogryn sighed and turned to Risli, who replied, "Humans are more resilient than us. They are more used to pain. I mean, the women go through the cycle once a month! Give them some credit. However, if I see that it''s getting too much, I''m the one who''s going to stop it," Risli told Helena, who just nodded in response. "Before that. If I push my mana into her, would that help keep the spell going?" Hera asked. "Well, yes, but you would feel the full brunt of it as well. Don''t expect the pain to be any less than what she is experiencing. The spell doesn''t work like that," Ogryn replied. "Don''t. Dare!" Helena yelled at Hera with an angry expression. Hera just stared back at her friend. Seeing that the tension was growing, Ogryn prepared the strengthened version of the spell and activated it. Helena screamed loudly, the pain becoming several times worse than before. Even the air in her lungs seemed to be attacking her. She could feel herself trying to pass out, but if that happened, no one knew what the reaction of the parasites would be and she would have no say if the rest decided to stop. The time went by slowly, but Helena''s mana was rapidly decreasing. She had her status window open on the side and was constantly checking her current mana. In less than 10 minutes, it had been reduced to 30 thousand. "How long?" Helena was sweating, and even her nose was bleeding. "If we don''t have any changes, we need half an hour," Risli had the sage on Helena''s left shoulder where the cluster of parasites was grouping up while trying to hide from the spell. "Too long. No mana," Helena replied with tears coming out of her eyes. She got so close, but all her effort would be wasted because she didn''t have enough mana. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands against her back. "Compared to you, I barely have any mana, but any little bit helps. Keep the spell up Ogryn and Risli, focus on Lena. I can handle the pain for a few minutes," Hera said and started to cycle her mana just like she did with Blue so many times during all those months. "Don''t!" Helena yelled, but it was too late. She felt that strange mana entering her body and gradually refilling her own mana pool. At first, a small amount of her own mana left her body and moved to Hera''s, but that was just to open the gate. After that, Hera pushed everything she had back into Helena. The moment their mana touched, Hera felt the effects of the spell. Every single part of her body was burning, every fiber, every cell, every atom begging for it to stop. The simple act of her heart beating sent waves of pain through her skin, and the only thing in her mind was the fire. Even so, this was nothing. Helena endured this for hours. Hera had to hold on until the parasites were dead. After the first minute, Hera had depleted her own mana, but thanks to the regeneration from the A-heart room, she could send a constant stream of energy to Helena. It was a mere drop to the mage, but every little bit could help. "Twenty more minutes, but I don''t think they can handle it," Risli shook her head while the screams of the human echoed in the chamber. In response, Bonnie sat behind Hera and pushed her own mana to her. This resulted in a bottleneck of sorts. Hera''s mana pool wasn''t enough to take in all the mana from Bonnie at once. Unbeknownst to Hera, this was the best way to go about it. If the researcher tried to put her mana directly into Helena, it would clash with Hera''s and cause even more problems. Unfortunately, this didn''t mean that Bonnie was safe from the mana burn spell. Just like it was with Hera, she took on the effect at its full strength. The three focused on just recovering their mana and surviving this ordeal. Hoping to hear someone telling them it was over or something that would signal that the pain would stop. Risli would occasionally tap Hera and Bonnie with a healing spell. That felt like a being splashed with water in the middle of the desert, refreshing their bodies for but a moment before the burn took over once more. Second by second, minute by minute, they sat there. Paralyzed by the pain, focusing on the single task at hand, passing along their mana to Helena. All the while, Silah was just there watching without being able to do a thing to help. She wasn''t someone well versed in magic enough to share her mana with others and her healing spells were nonexistent. "Please, help them, Mountain. I beg of you," the blacksmith prayed for the mountain. Even if humans said that the blue screen was actually a system, that didn''t change the faith she grew up with. A faith she barely ever remembered, but if there was a time to pray, it would be now. "That''s it. They are gone!" Risli shouted. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Are you sure? What if they are just hidden?" Ogryn asked. "I am. The last one vanished a minute ago, and Helena''s energy is steadily growing." With a loud clap of his hands, Ogryn halted the spell. This was only possible due to his years of control over mana, but even so, it wasn''t easy. "Helena, are they still there?" Ogryn asked with a grunt. Helena took a couple of deep breaths now that the pain was finally gone and took a look at her own mana. Hera had stopped pushing her mana to her, meaning that any regeneration she would have now would be purely hers. Still, this wasn''t a foolproof way to confirm that. Inside the A-heart room, the amount she recovered was much higher than normal. The only way to be sure it was working was to leave the room again. Helena tried to get up, but her body didn''t respond. After close to three hours of the mana burn spell, there was no strength left on her muscles. The only thing she managed was to fall to the side with an arm pointing at the door. Hera was having trouble breathing as well, but she was still able to see Helena trying to get up, "Silah, help Lena. Don''t worry, I''m ok." Silah jumped at the opportunity to do something and helped Helena to get up, but in the end, it was easier to just pick her up and carry her out. With the door of the A-heart room still open, Helena checked her mana. It was all increasing steadily with no signs of anything eating it away. She felt tears coming out of her eyes, but they weren''t because of the pain this time. It was over. It was finally over. She would be able to use her own mana again without having to worry about not having enough. She didn''t have to be protected by everyone or wait for someone to get home to recharge her crystals. Helena was no longer a waste of a mage. She had her magic back. "Did it work?" Ogryn asked, still holding the spell in place. "It did..." Helena managed to reply just before passing out. Ogryn let go of the spell that he was holding, making the burn effect disappear. Silah brought Helena back inside so that Risli could check on her, and after carefully placing the mage on the ground, she rushed over to Hera, "Are you ok?" "Not at all. I don''t know how Lena held on to this for so long," Hera turned to Ogryn, "For someone who cares so much about protecting others, you made something really nasty." "I am well aware of this, and I hope that this spell stays between us. I do not wish others to know of its existence," Ogryn was breathing heavily. Even if he wasn''t in pain during the last few hours, keeping the spell up for such a long time was exhausting. "Sure, but do you mind if we still use it? A spell-like that would be a great weapon against monsters," Hera was holding Silah''s hand to keep herself steady. She could still feel the pain even if the spell was gone. "I trust you will use it wisely," Ogryn nodded. "Hera, are you seeing this?" Bonnie was staring to the side. "Seeing what?" Hera looked around. By her side, there was a familiar blue window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired - Reinforced Mana Rank: 1 This skill allows your body to create more powerful mana. Reinforced mana makes spells cost less to cast and deal increased damage. Some spells can also have other increased effects. Spell Cost: - 10% Spell Effectiveness: + 10% Maximum mana growth rate: +50% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is ridiculous," Hera gasped. "I know, right? It''s like, a mini version of a mage''s synch," Bonnie replied. "What do you mean by that?" Silah kept looking at the two. They explained the skill, and even Ogryn agreed that it was somewhat similar to what the mage''s role provided. However, if they had the mage role on top of it, the end result would likely be even better. Another huge boon was the growth rate. They were young, and with time, their mana pools would get to ridiculous numbers. Before anyone else said anything, Risli stared Hera down, "Don''t even say it. I will not help torture people just so they can get a skill. Find another way to train that." Risli finished checking on Helena and moved over to Hera and Bonnie. The healing was much easier, and it only took a few minutes to make them stop feeling that phantom burn for the most part. After she was done, Risli sighed, "Your friend still has a long road ahead of her. If the two of you can still feel as if you were under the effects of the spell even after the healing, I can only imagine what it will be like for her." Hera looked at Helena. She seemed so weakened at the moment. Her clothes were soaking wet from all the sweat, there was a large bloodstain on her chest, but the blood around her nose was already starting to dry. When they were all ready to leave, Silah picked Helena up again since she was still sleeping after the ordeal. Risli and Silah were the only ones who didn''t understand completely what she had endured during those hours, but that didn''t mean they were any less worried. Because of Risli''s insistence, Helena was dropped off at her hut. She wanted to be close by just in case there were any issues with the mage''s recovery. The group all thanked her and Ogryn one more time before heading back home. Risli also gave them a couple of potions to take in case the pain came back. Alex and Blue were waiting for them there. They had wanted to help out too, but magic wasn''t exactly their forte, and having people around just to freak out wouldn''t help. "Oh, before I forget," Blue took a bag out and passed a black box to each of her friends. "What''s this?" Alex asked. "Well. We need a good way to talk to each other, even at long distances. Soooo. I got us all new communicators," Blue opened her box. There was a small earpiece, a collar, and a small thing that she could place between her eyes, just on the bridge of her nose. The moment she did that a small light covered her eyes and vanished, "This one has that display that points out our direction, and we can customize to show any temporary buffs and indicators we might have. It also has an effective range of 500 meters, and it won''t have any issues with mana interference until the 15th layer." "That is amazing! How much was it? I need to pay you back," Hera said. "Nah, don''t worry about it. We have way too much money now. And I got this as part of a deal that Rutigan made, so it was cheaper than usual," Blue waved her off. "Question, do you know if Shane has one of these? She might feel weird if we can talk behind her back with these," Bonnie asked. "She doesn''t have the same model, but we can be in the same network. I asked her before getting this one. In fact, this was one of her suggestions for us to buy. I got lucky that Rutigan saw me coming out of the hotel and asked if I needed anything," Blue explained. "How does this work?" Silah asked, while trying to use the earpiece as a microphone. "Let me show you," Hera got closer to her girlfriend and explained what she could. It would still take some time since she wasn''t sure about some of the communicator''s functions, but no one questioned how much this would help. With this, the group was ready to head deeper inside the MAZE. All they had to do was wait for the green light from the guild and for Helena to recover. 304 - Explorer Gossip Helena spent two days sleeping in Risli''s hut. She wasn''t comatose, but she needed constant doses of both a numbing spell to stop her body from burning, and a healing spell to stop these episodes. She didn''t take any damage from the burn. It was something similar to the phantom pain of burn victims. However, thanks to Risli, Helena was already doing much better. The pain was still there, but only at random times, and the episodes were not that painful or long. Delaying their departure ended up being a great thing for a number of reasons, including that the guild had set up an advanced outpost in the Wailing Valley. It was very bare-bones, but they would have access to things like a safe place to sleep, bathrooms, and a connection with the internet. With the New Dawn internet towers, it was much easier to set up a network across different rooms. It was easy to move the structures around since they were made to be the size of a camping backpack before being deployed. However, it was a one-time thing. Once the tower was set up, it couldn''t be removed from the area unless destroyed. This was the basic structure that the guild could set up before being comfortable for people to go there, and now, every room until the Wailing Valley had that. Shane was extremely happy and went to Hera''s house right after she got the text about the room. "Hey, hey! We can go now. Are you guys ready? How long do you need to pack your things?" Shane was almost like a puppy, running around and excited by everything. "I don''t think we are. Did I tell you about Helena? She''s still recovering from the¡­ procedure," Hera explained in a low voice. They were just outside her house, and she didn''t want the other dwarves to hear and start asking questions again. "Oh, right. Sorry I spaced out about that. How is she holding up?" Shane pulled back most of her excitement. "I don''t know. She''s been with Risli, one of the healers here, for a few days. Just to be safe, you know. I went visiting, but you know how she is. She won''t say if things are bad. Still, she should be coming back today," Hera gestured for Shane to come inside, but the explorer didn''t move. "I''m ok, thanks. If we still have to wait for Lena, it''s better if I let Mylo know. I got overly excited and told him to start packing," Shane scratched the back of her head. "Can''t you just send him a text?" "I can, but he''s so cute when he''s angry," Shane giggled. "Now you are just being mean," Hera shook her head with a smile. "Fine, I''ll let him know as long as you accompany me to the guild. We ended up not talking about the roles and those guys." "That''s true. Sure I''ll go with you. But how can we talk about them, won''t people know?" "Instead of their name, say the room they are from. In the green one''s case, let''s just say test. Unless you can do that green barrier thing while we are moving," Shane suggested. "I can''t. That one is stationary. But I never tried it in a car. Maybe that would work," Hera mumbled. "We can test it later. Just avoid very specific information, oh and don''t talk about appearance. That might trigger the bad ending," Shane added. "Did it happened to you?" Hera asked, understanding that she shouldn''t discuss how the guides looked out in the open. "Nope, a friend of mine. She was going to talk¡­ appendages? Limbs? Are tentacles considered limbs? Anyway, she got frozen." "Right¡­ isn''t it better to wait until we are alone for that subject? I don''t want to risk it," Hera said. "Sure. We can start talking roles. What did you get again?" "Assassin first, then hunter," Hera said. "Oh, going for a combat route?" Shane started walking with Hera. "Not really. Assassin was a conscious decision. I wanted to get better at hiding, but hunter sort of happened. I got a rank in increased stamina and got the test. I had a choice to go for controller and fighter, but hunter seemed more useful. What I really wanted was to get mage," Hera sighed, it''s been a long time since she was trying to get the mage role, but her magic-related skills were stuck at rank 4. "Oh, please don''t. Like, if it''s your dream or whatever, that''s fine. But mage is like the worst role skill we can get," Shane said. "Why? I mean, using spells for less mana sounds amazing." "Yeah, sure, and the buff in damage works fine, but the problem is the elemental mana," Shane got a candy bar from her pocket, broke it into two pieces, and offered one to Hera. "Thanks," Hera took the candy. "So, as I was saying. If you are a mage, that''s fine. All your mana is from one element, and that''s it. We have to learn how to use different types of mana at the right time. It''s all fine if you have time to focus, but imagine being in the middle of a fight and having to stop to pick the right type of mana for a spell." "That seems¡­ hard." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "You can say that again," Shane sighed, "I''ve been doing this for 9 years, and I still can''t make it work the way it should. Mage was my first role skill." "So¡­ what do you suggest?" "Honestly? What you are already doing. Keep working on your skills and get them as you get the tests. If there are two options, just pick the one you like the best. I''m giving you a heads up just so you won''t be let down as I was, but at the end of the day, you are the one who has to live with the decision. It''s better if you pick what you want even if it ends up being bad." Hera stopped to think for a moment. There was a lot she didn''t know about the role skills. She did try to look for that information online, but it was hard to trust things when the results were so different. Each person would have a unique experience with the role skills, and it seemed hard to get some perspective from an unbiased source. "Do you mind if I get your opinion when I get the next role quest?" Hera asked. "Sure, you have my number already. I just can''t promise that I''ll be able to reply right away. Just so you know, I went for mage, crafter, researcher, hunter, and controller," Shane nodded, "Although¡­ I do have a thing to ask of you if you don''t mind." "If I can do it, I''m happy to help." "It''s not about helping me, but about helping yourself. Lena mentioned you had some issues with someone back in the guild. A mage with pink hair? Soot, cinder, or something, right?" "Do you mean Ashe? The guy who attacked me when I got my first level?" Hera turned to Shane. "Yeah, that asshole. Do you still think he deserves to be punished?" "Not really. I mean, I''m fine now, and in the end, everything worked out." "Then go tell the guild you forgive him. There will be a very uncomfortable video call, and then just move on. Cut that tie loose," Shane added. "Why? Do you know him?" "I don''t, but you are not the first, nor the last person that had issues with random people. When Mylo was a recruit, there was this other guy in his class that, for some reason, really hated him. A month after they graduated, the guy tried to attack Mylo when he was coming back from a hunt. There were guards around who stopped him, and he got a similar punishment. At first, Mylo was just pissed, but a few months went by, and he just forgot about the dude. Mylo spent a couple of years in the MAZE, never going back to where he trained, and when he did, he figured out that the guy ended up in a gang, then he was arrested, and someone killed him in jail. That broke Mylo for a long time. He almost gave up being an explorer, even if it wasn''t his fault," Shane stopped walking and look Hera in the eye, "I agree with that punishment system the guild set up, but only up to the point where people don''t let others suffer without reason. When it goes past that, it is bad for everyone." Hera stared at Shane, "Yeah, I get it. I mean, it''s hard to argue with a story like that. I saw him after I visited my family, but there was so much going on that I just lashed out." "Hey, no one is perfect. And I get it. Family can make us crazy sometimes. Also, if you still don''t feel comfortable forgiving him and going through all that, it''s fine. I just wanted to talk to you about that because of Mylo." "Does he know? About me having that thing with Ashe?" "He doesn''t, and it''s not like I''m hiding it from him. It''s just not the type of thing I''ll make a point to tell him. And again, this is not about Ashe. I don''t give a fuck about some asshole who attacked a recruit while they were leveling up. I just don''t want another good explorer feeling guilty about someone else''s life," Shane smiled, "Considering how much you helped Lena, the least I could do is look out for you." "Thanks, and I''ll talk to the guild. But since we are talking about help. Any advice about what skills I should try to get? Or even better, do you know if we can upgrade our relic without having to complete a hidden quest during the role test?" Hera asked. "Oh, there are a few ways. Some are temporary, and others very complicated. Tell me more about your relic, and I''ll see if I can give you some tips. Actually, let me start by explaining what I did to mine. Maybe it can give you some ideas," Shane started walking again. They discussed both their relics and how to make them stronger. Shane had a gauntlet that could function as a sensor, a grappling hook, and even a pickaxe for mining. There were a myriad of other useful tools that she had put in the relic using the crafter role skill. There were some combat capabilities, like focusing the mana in her spells or creating and storing bombs that could be used as projectiles. There was a bit of automation, like in some crafting games. As long as the gauntlet received enough mana and materials, those projectiles could be built almost instantly. After hearing about how Hera fought and her focus on ailments, Shane had quite a few ideas. Aside from the suggestion of getting the crafter role, she suggested using the mana reinforcement spell to coat the threads before cutting them out and using them to attack or make traps. One possibility was even to wrap her chakram with several threads, each coated with a different type of mana reinforcement, or even each with a different spell. This wasn''t something that Hera had ever considered. For one, she didn''t know how to make the mana reinforcement stay without a constant supply of mana. However, now that she had the [Shaper of Mana] skill, things might be different. Other upgrades could also come with the role quests given by the MAZE, and apparently, even her other roles skills could end up triggering a quest, but those were hard to come by, and no one knew how to make them appear. "Oh, also. If you finish a role test and get an upgrade you don''t like, try complaining about it," Shane added as they were getting close to the guild. "What? Really? Would that work?" "Oddly, yeah. Our friend will be annoyed, but it can work if you give a good reason why something else can be better and fit with the role. When I got the crafter one, the upgrade was like a radar for materials, but I can already cover all that with one of the skills my gauntlet has and a spell to buff it. I showed some schematics I was working on, and the upgrade changed to match those," Shane pulled up her right arm and tapped the metal gauntlet. Hera never realized that the explorer was wearing her relic. It looked more like a long glove than an actual gauntlet, but there was a small bracer in the middle with a couple of slots that should be where those projectiles would be stored. Shane put some mana into the relic and it changed, becoming a large steel gauntlet that covered most of her forearm. Arriving at the guild, Shane had to pick up a package while Hera asked to set up a call with Ashe. It was late, and he would probably only receive that information tomorrow. Hera appreciated that since it wasn''t something she was that excited to do. Before heading out, Shane pulled Hera towards the private rooms for shopping and showed a few skills that could help Hera as an explorer. She ended up getting most of them since they were at most B ranks, and Hera had a lot of money to spare. Besides, even if she got those compendiums now, it would take some time to manage to actually get those skills. They split off after leaving the guild, and Hera went back home. Helena should be leaving Risli''s today too, and if everything went well, they would be leaving Boothudurn in the next few days. 305 - Final Preparations When Hera got back home, Helena was already there, sitting on the couch with everyone surrounding her and trying to make her feel comfortable. "Girls, please. Stop. I''m fine. You don''t have to get all worried about me," Helena liked the attention, but it was too much. They were offering to get anything she needed, and if things kept going like that, it wouldn''t be a surprise if someone wanted to carry her to the bathroom. "Guys, give her some space," Hera tried to give her mentor some breathing room. "Are you really feeling better?" Bonnie asked. "I am. Really. It still hurts from time to time, but nothing like how it was before. Risli also gave me a few potions just in case I have another episode," Helena smiled. "Right, she also gave me the formula, well the runes, she used for that numbing spell. I translated it to math, and I can share it with you," Bonnie pulled up her tablet and showed it to Helena. "Oh, that will help. Especially with the new skill I got," Helena started copying the spell to her own tablet. "What skill? The Reinforced Mana one?" Hera asked. "Yeah. You guys got it too, right?" "We did. I didn''t know if you would remember that. You seemed really out of it when I visited," Bonnie said. "Oh yeah. Risli has some amazing meds. I''m not trying to be a bad influence, but I was feeling great. I kind of want to get a couple of doses for myself," Helena chuckled. "I doubt Risli would like that," Hera shook her head. "Oh, by the way. What rank was the skill you got?" Helena turned to Bonnie. "Rank 1, how could it be any better?" Bonnie looked confused. "Well, I guess spending so long under that spell was worth it. Mine is already at rank 5, and I didn''t even have to train for it. I got it like that," Helena couldn''t hold back the massive smile on her face. "Holy crap. Rank 5? What does it do?" Bonnie''s eyes went wide. "My spells cost 40% less mana, are 50% stronger, and my mana growth rate is 250%. Also, any spells that would target my mana are 50% weaker. I imagine that it could be things like mana drain, the parasites, or the spell that Ogryn was using," Helena explained. "Wow, that is broken. Any chance I can get that skill too?" Blue asked. "Well¡­ Hera and I got the skill by surviving a few minutes under the mana burn spell, so maybe you can. But neither Risli nor Ogryn will help. I don''t think it will have the same effect if one of us cast it," Bonnie was heading to the kitchen. "That''s true. Also, ours is only rank 1, and I don''t think that all Lena got was because of the mana burn. If I had to make a bet, the fact that she spent so long with the parasites inside her also helped with that," Hera thought that since Helena withstood the constant attacks from the parasites for a whole year, the extra ranks came from there and not just the mana burn. "Right¡­. But there is one thing that I don''t understand," when Alex spoke, everyone turned to her, "Why did you only get the skill after the spell was over? Shouldn''t you have gotten it during it? Or during the entire year you still had the parasites?" "Well¡­ I can''t say for sure. I know that resistance skills only show up if you survive whatever made you get it. So if you are being hit by fire, something like a fire-resistance skill will wait for the fire to be put out before appearing. This might be something along the same lines," Helena didn''t notice when Bonnie came back and put a cup of tea in her hand. "That''s¡­ odd. I wonder why the system does it like that," Alex scratched her head. "Well. Maybe it''s easier. The system is lazy. Changing how much something is hurting you midway might be complicated," Hera replied. "That''s a bold assumption," Bonnie turned to her. "It''s just how I see things," Hera shrugged. She couldn''t say anything else without talking about the guides. The group talked some more, and Hera shared the compendiums of the skills she got in the guild. She got about 20 different ones. A couple of the basic elemental resistances required you to be exposed to those elements, those were pretty cheap, and Hera only got two to confirm if there were different methods. In the end, it was more simple than she expected. For instance, to get the [Water Resistance] skill, she could just be inside water with high concentrations of mana. It was a skill that most people ended up getting, even if it was just because they took regular showers in deeper layers of the MAZE. Others were just basic upgrades. [Heightened Senses] would allow her to hear and see better while [Magic Manipulation] ended up being a weaker version of her [Shaper of Mana]. Others would make one faster, stronger, or take less damage overall, but they were all very simple to acquire, just move or get hit, and eventually, you would get the skill. Of the 20 compendiums she bought, Hera only got 2 more specific ones. [Pathfinding] could help her understand the area and find the best way to reach her destination. Another called [Magic Exposure] could make the target more vulnerable to ailments, debuffs, and other negative conditions if they were hit multiple times by the same type of effect. Basically, with that skill, the more she used the same element to attack, the higher the chance of inflicting some sort of ailment on the target. The reason Hera only picked those skills was simple. There were way too many options, and she had no idea how long it would take to get the skills, even with the compendium''s help. If she ended up taking too many, she would spread herself too thin and take even longer to get the skills, and it wasn''t like she could look over all the catalogue the guild had, much less learn them all. Another two days passed, and Helena was not just feeling better, but with her newfound freedom, she kept constantly casting random spells. Not once did Helena use any of the glowing rocks around the house. Instead, she made the lights herself. There was also a shadowy tentacle that she used to grab things and open doors. It was a bit unsettling, but no one was going to complain. At least, not about the magic. During that time, Shane was very eager to get going and sent constant texts to everyone asking when they could head to the White Desert. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Now, Helena barely felt the phantom pains, and even when that happened, the episodes were manageable. "So? What are you saying, Lena?" Shane asked. She dropped by to check up on Helena and apply some slight pressure for the team to leave. "I''m saying that I''m ok with going tomorrow. Let me have one last day of rest, just in case." "Are you sure about that?" Blue asked. "I am. The episodes now are kind of like, mild menstrual cramps. Not good by any means, but far from being awful," Helena nodded. "That''s great! I''ll let Mylo know, and we can get everything ready. Can we leave first thing in the morning? I want to take advantage of the sun in the rooms," Shane turned to the rest of the group. "I mean. I''m fine with that, but why such a hurry? The ruins are not going anywhere," Alex asked. "The ruins won''t, but there is no guarantee that no one will find them. Sure, I''m the one who has the lead to get there, but imagine if someone stumbles in that place and finds my legacy?" Shane explained. "Your legacy? A bit presumptuous, don''t you think?" Helena smirked. "Hey, I''m being positive here. I worked my ass off to find all this, and I want that legacy," Shane shrugged. "Ok, I have a different question then. What about dungeons? If there are any on the way, can we stop to do them? I mean, we are going to a bunch of brand new rooms. The rewards should be at least a level up," Hera wanted to see the ruins, but she already had missed the chance of being the first to complete the dungeons on the Kobold Road. Losing a level like that wasn''t something that she was keen on doing again. "Well¡­ if it''s something quick and on the way, I think we could stop and do it. But only if it''s on our path. I don''t want to make a 4-hour detour. Besides, I''m sure the guild already sent people to do the first run in whatever dungeon they found," Shane said. Hera received a text on her tablet, letting her know Ashe got her message and would wait for her in one of the communication rooms. "Guys, I''ll be right back. I have to deal with a thing," Hera sighed. "Do you want me to go with you?" Silah asked. "I don''t think you will be able to be in the room with me. Besides, I don''t want you to be waiting for who knows how long," Hera kissed Silah''s forehead, "But thanks for the offer." "I don''t mind waiting. I wanted to take a look at the crafting skills the guild sells too," Silah got up and headed to the door. Hera smiled and left the house with her girlfriend. Taking the chance to talk, Hera explained a bit more about how it would be to travel between rooms and what Silah should tell her family. Despite the large group, there would still be some dangers, and it would be prudent to let them know that something bad could happen. A few minutes later, they arrived at the guild. One of the clerks let Hera know that Ashe was already waiting for her. After taking a deep breath, she entered one of the private rooms that was equipped with a computer, a webcam, and a large monitor. Touching her guild card to a sensor, the computer turned on, and a man appeared on the screen. His bright pink hair was down, and he looked like hell. His clothes were dirty, and his eyes sunken. The man was looking at her with wide eyes and his mouth half-open. That lasted for a while until Hera felt uncomfortable enough to speak up. "Can you see me, or the image is frozen?" "No, no. I see you. Sorry, it''s just that¡­ after the last time I saw you, I thought you would never want to speak to me," Ashe rubbed his eyes. "Honestly, this wasn''t high on my list. And you grabbing me out of the blue didn''t help. Still, someone gave me a push to do this," she still had bad memories about this man, and this chat wasn''t helping with it. "I appreciate it. Also, I''m very sorry for what I did. I needed money to hire a healer to help my baby sister and got a job as that kid''s bodyguard. In the end, he only wanted a thug to order around," Ashe wasn''t looking directly at her, but at the table in front of him. "Really? That''s how you say you are sorry? If you want me to say that it''s fine and you had your reasons, I''m not going to. What you did was wrong. It doesn''t matter how much you try to justify it," Hera crossed her arms. "No. I know that. Damn it, this wasn''t how I wanted to say it," Ashe took a deep breath, "Look, I''m an ass. I''m well aware of that. What I did to you... That was my lowest point. Or at least until last week when I made my sick sister make me throw up so I wouldn''t O.D. Either way that doesn''t matter. I''m sorry. What I did was wrong, and I swear on my life that I will never try to hurt anyone like that again." "Can I really believe that?" Hera asked. "You can! If you want, I''ll even quit being an explorer after paying for my sister''s treatment," Ashe''s eyes were full of resolve. In a way, they were similar to Helena''s during her treatment. Hera felt like he was telling the truth. "Ok, then. I accept your apology. But if you ever do something like that again, I''ll find a way to retract that," Hera replied after a few seconds. Seconds that felt like an eternity for Ashe. "Really? Thank you. Thank you so much," the man''s eyes started to water. "Feel free to call me a bitch or whatever, but I never want to see you again," Hera said, already getting up from the chair, "Still, I do hope your sister gets better soon. It''s not her fault you are her brother." With that, Hera left the private room looking for a clerk. She talked about the apology and how she accepted it. They put it on the system and added the video file to his registration. "All done. He should be reinstated by the next month or so. We can also give you a warning if he''s ever in an adjacent room with you. It''s automated, you don''t have to worry about anyone seeing but you," the clerk suggested. "No thanks. I really don''t care," despite that line, what he said about his sick sister was still on Hera''s mind. Knowing that she would feel guilty for it, she turned back to the clerk, "Hey. Can you tell me if he has a sick sister?" "I mean¡­ I can''t divulge personal information, but if he used that to make you feel bad and accept his apology, that''s another thing." "No, nothing like that. I was going to accept it either way, but he did mention a sick sister. Was that true?" "Again, I can''t tell you details, but¡­" the clerk typed on her computer, "Yeah, he wasn''t lying. There is even a request for a healer, but he has yet to pay for it." "How much?" Hera asked. "I can''t tell you that." "Yeah, sorry. I''m just feeling bad now. Can I make an anonymous donation?" "Sure. Sometimes people on deeper layers feel a bit charitable and pay off other people''s debts. Shame that never happened to me though," the clerk pulled a small screen for Hera to put her card information and set up the donation. Hera did some math and typed 24 thousand before confirming. She had no idea how much the healer would cost, but that amount should be two times her annual pay from when she worked at the bookstore. As donations go, it was a sizeable one. Not just that, but in the end, it was more of a way to make herself feel less guilty about how Ashe''s sister might have suffered because of her. After that, she went looking for Silah, who was shopping for skills in one of the private rooms. Hera hugged her girlfriend and just watched as she searched for crafting things with an absent mind. What Hera needed now was some adventure, something that asked her to move her body, use magic and fight some monsters. Luckily, her travel to an old ruin would start tomorrow. 306 - Into the unknown Shane was so excited that she could barely contain herself. Finally, they could start their journey to the Wailing Valley. She''s been looking for the place described in the old texts she found for a couple of years, but even when looking through everything the guild had about the MAZE, things only got close, but they were always missing something. Not this time. All the indications were there, gigantic valleys of orange stone. Where the sun gives you only a small reprieve from the overwhelming shadows that devour all.The labyrinth of stone and silk. If there was anything missing it was the howling beast that came from the abyss, but the room was still new. A creature that matched that description could be hiding somewhere in that room. The group walked out of Boothudurn, using the main gate that would lead them to the mountain. The dwarves were finally starting to build something outside. As a first experiment, they were making a small farm to see the effects the snow would have on their vegetables and herbs. Hoping to improve their relationship, the guild offered to help and even bring some seeds that were suitable for the weather, but Lural refused. He wanted to understand the crops and try to deal with this new environment before asking for help. Another structure that was built was a large auditorium with a glass ceiling. Rutigan requested the builders to make an observatory where people could look at the sky with some comfort. This had become one of the city''s main attractions, and people had to make reservations to visit the observatory. However, that was only the case for the dwarves. Anyone who came from a different room found this odd, and some even considered it a waste. That didn''t matter for the people of Boothudurn. Even if they never felt trapped, being outside meant that they were truly free. Hera and her group walked past that area, following a trail of trees with a yellow line painted on them to reach the next doorway. It wasn''t a long stroll. In just 20 minutes, they arrived at the stone staircase that was carved from the mountain. That led to a small alcove with a large grey doorway. On top of the frame, there was an image of some white hills, and that was it. "Oh, guys. Before we head out. Let me run a few things by everyone," Shane stepped in front of the group, "So, I''ll have more to say when we arrive in the Wailing Valley, but for now. How many of you have ever been in a room without roads?" Bonnie, Alex, and Blue raised their hands. "Does this room count? We had to come down the mountain," Hera asked. "I''ll give you a half yes. Actually, no. You cheated. That doesn''t count," Shane shook her head. "What do you mean I cheated?" Hera scoffed. In response, Shane just made a bird with her hands and mimicked the movement of wings. Hera was confused for a moment, but when she saw Shane''s expression, something clicked. She was talking about Capri, "Oh¡­. Yeah, a little bit." "What do you mean you cheated?" Blue turned around. "It''s an explorer thing. Our relics can do a thing, but we need to be alone," Shane replied. "That''s why you left me in the cave?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I''m still not sure how much I can talk about it. It''s a weird thing," Hera sighed. "You could have told me," Blue crossed her arms. "You wanted me to tell you that I have a thing that I can''t talk about? I tried that, remember?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok. Ladies, stop with that bickering. It doesn''t matter what happened before, you know now. Anyway, let me continue. Since four of you never went to an untamed room, there are some general rules to avoid getting lost. First, stay close to the party. Since we all have the communicator, as long as we stay in range, that''s fine too. It''s even better if you set up the color code for it. That way, if you are in the red, you should come back," Shane showed the same model of communicator that Blue bought them. After that, Mylo and her started to show everyone how they set up the color change for their distance from each other. "Second rule. Not all monsters want a hug," Mylo said. "So¡­ some do?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah. Some just want food and a hug. They can be very cuddly," Mylo nodded with a smile. "Ok then¡­" Alex turned back to Shane, "Anything else?" "Yeah. Sure, monsters can be good but don''t count on it. Unless you''re Mylo. If you see a monster, let everyone know and keep your guard up. More often than not, if we don''t do anything to them, they won''t do anything to us." "Really?" Bonnie perked up. "Yeah. It''s like seeing an animal in the wild. Sure, if they are hungry or we are invading their territory, they might attack, but if you are just passing by, they might just ignore you. Well¡­ I say might, but it''s like a 50/50. Unless they have something that proves otherwise. Like, if they are eating, they won''t bother us, and if they have babies around, get ready for a fight. Ah, it''s too many variables to explain now. Just be careful and let everyone knows where and what they are. Also, from the 5th layer onward, be careful when using the Observe skill. Some monsters can tell when you''ve used it on them. Here we probably won''t have any issues. Still, it''s good to watch out," Shane continued. "Oh, and bathroom breaks. Do you all know how to bury your stuff?" Mylo asked. "Bury our... stuff?" Bonnie had a horrified expression. "Oh, no, I don''t mean your time of the month. When you go to the bathroom, if you don''t bury it, it might attract monsters," Mylo explained. "That''s what I thought you were saying!" Bonnie gasped. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Well, it seems odd, but he''s not wrong. Strong smells can attract the wrong type of attention," Shane added. "Is there anything else?" Blue asked. "Just one more thing. If you get hurt or anything, let everyone know. We can''t have people hiding injuries just because they ''don''t want to be a bother,'' it doesn''t matter how small it is. If you get so much as a paper cut let us know," Shane glanced at Hera then at Mylo, making both of them look away. In just a few days, Shane already understood some of the dynamics of this new group. "Teacher?" Mylo rose his hand. "Oh, for fuck¡­." Shane mumbled, "What?" "If we heal the paper cut ourselves that''s not a problem, right?" "Yeah it is! We don''t know if there could be any poison or something on whatever cuts you. And please, by the love of the system, don''t call me teacher," Shane gasped. "So, stay close, watch out for monsters, and communicate. Anything else?" Alex asked with an impatient tone. "For now, no. Let me just send you all a file. It has all the information the guild has about these rooms we are going to see. Let''s hope there is not a snowstorm going on," Shane sent the file in their group chat with basically everything. Directions for the doorways, locations of the dungeons, and types flora and fauna they could find, it was all there. Shane turned around and raised the hand with her relic, "Then let''s go. Onward to adventure!" Her shout was followed by a dead silence. Everyone was just staring at her, wondering what that was all about. "She''s trying to find a good motivational catchphrase. I think this means that we should go," Mylo leaned over the rest of the group to whisper. Hera never realized, but the man was huge. He should easily be 2 meters tall. "Ok, Yay, let''s go," Blue tried to give an excited shout, but it only made things more awkward. One by one, they all went through the doorway. Shane waited for Mylo''s turn and asked, "Was it that bad?" "Around the same level of the ''adventure awaits us,''" Mylo replied just before crossing the doorway. Hera went right after him, and touching the pure white frame, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to White Desert - 4th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, Hera felt her body being covered in that warm feeling and the white light became intense enough to force her to close her eyes. A few moments passed until the warmth was replaced by a biting wind. "Holy shit. Why is this place so cold?" Blue was rubbing her arms. "I don''t know. Where are we?" Alex looked around. They were inside a cave. It was similar to the entrance to the Wooly Plains in a way, but the ground was covered in snow, and the walls were made out of ice. Silah grabbed Hera''s hand and held it tightly. It was the first time she saw something this alien, and it felt unnerving. Helena and Shane were the last ones to appear, and with the entire group together, they started moving. Following the light at the end of the cave, Mylo took the lead until they reached outside. Surrounding the explorers, the ice became clearer and clearer, reaching a beautiful shade of blue before giving way to the cloudless sky. Beyond the cave, there was a massive expanse of white. Fresh snow covered the entire area for miles on end. The only point that had a different color was the ice cave they just came out of. "This is¡­ amazing," Silah gasped. "It is beautiful but a bit unsettling," Bonnie nodded. "Let her enjoy this," Blue poked the researcher with her elbow. "I''m just worried about how easy it would be to get lost here. There are no landmarks and nothing that could tell us where we are," Bonnie kept looking around with a worried expression. "You don''t have the map skill?" Mylo asked. "Oh¡­ right, I do, but mine is a bit different," Bonnie open her [Atlas] to take a look, "Yeah, no, forget about that. I can see where we are." "Keep that in mind. There is a reason why everyone learns this skill. Also, we might have trouble if there is a snowstorm. The ones here can interfere with our map skill," Shane added before pulling up her tablet, "Ok¡­ so now we have to go north until we reach the wall of the room, then we head east." "For how long?" Mylo asked. "About¡­ three hours to the wall, then another three to the east," Shane replied. "Can''t we just go straight to the doorway?" Alex asked. "We could, but there is the risk of getting lost. Also, the snow is deeper in the middle of the room, reaching up to Mylo''s chest at some points, and some monsters hide in the snow. Going around takes longer, but it''s less risky," Shane kept checking her tablet to confirm the information she had. "Yeah, it''s better to be safe. There is no need to take a risk without reason," Helena nodded. Hera looked over to the mage, who seemed taller than usual. Hera glanced down and saw a couple of those shadowy tentacles coming from under the snow and wrapping around her waist, lifting her from the ground. "Lena¡­ are you carrying yourself?" Hera asked. Helena stared at her for a moment, "Maybe." "Can you carry me too? I have never been carried," Mylo asked. Helena looked at him for a moment and moved her hands. Four tentacles appeared around the man and wrapped around his waist before lifting him off of the ground, "Man, you''re heavy." "I''m just a bit bloated right now. I don''t remember the last time I had a cucumber avocado salad," Mylo looked away, crossing his arms. "Can you do that with everyone?" Shane turned to Helena. "Not really. I can carry myself for a really long time, but if I add Mylo, that can last maybe an hour. The more grabbers I make, the more mana they cost," Helena explained. "You call them grabbers? They are clearly tentacles. I mean, look around. They even have those sucking cups," Blue said. "That''s the name of the spell. It''s not my fault they show up like that," Helena shrugged. "Still, this would help a lot. We can take turns resting while Lena carries us around," Shane smiled. "I just got better, and you guys already want to use me?" Helena gasped. "Well, you are the one who can carry people around. I don''t see a problem with that, and it gives you a chance to use spells like you''ve been doing," Hera nudged her with her shoulder. "I''m not a carriage!" "True, a carriage would be able to carry more people. You are like a two-seat bike," Bonnie replied. The group laughed and started their journey. Mylo kept forgetting he was being carried and tried to walk even when his feet didn''t touch the ground. On the other side of the room, a large creature sniffed the snow, sensing the presence of different prey. It growled quietly, and five other beasts rose from the snow in response. There was a pause and more sniffing for a while, until, with another growl, the six dove in the snow once more and vanished from all sight. 307 - Lurking Ten minutes after arriving in the White Desert, the group reached the small settlement that the guild set up. Because of the terrain, they couldn''t construct it by the doorway. There was a 5-meter high tower and a few structures, but it was better than expected. Aside from a small branch of the guild, another building was being used as temporary housing for anyone around but later would be converted into a store or a restaurant. On the other side, there was a bathhouse, although calling it a shower house would be more precise since there were no tubs. Lastly, there was a construction site for what one day would be a hotel and, surrounding the entire area, a thick iron wall. According to what Shane found out, the guild branch here would be more simple than the one in Boothudurn. It would be primarily for meetings, receiving quests, and other things like that. No training rooms or large-scale facilities. There was no forge either. Since the room was so cold, it would require too much to keep the necessary equipment in good shape, not to mention that the heat would already attract monsters. For now, people would have to go to another room for a proper blacksmith. The only thing available here would be a small area for essential repairs and maintenance. Hera and the others made a quick stop in the settlement to check if anything was going on, but the room was mostly quiet, according to the people around. They only had to worry about the large creatures that tended to pop out from under the snow in the middle of the room. Continuing their trek, the group moved north. They had enough supplies to last for at least a day, but it was likely that they would arrive at the next room before nightfall. After reaching the invisible wall of the room, they turned to the east and kept going for another hour or so. The group wasn''t in a big hurry. They took small breaks whenever anyone felt tired, talking the entire time. It was very much like hiking, and everyone was getting along. Mylo and Blue talked a lot about famous explorers and their achievements. Shane, Alex, and Bonnie found a common love for old movies and shows. Silah, Hera, and Helena were the quiet group, not because they didn''t want to talk, but because, for them, seeing the sights was already breathtaking enough. Those weren''t the only subjects that popped up during the long trip, but just the small ones that brought them all closer. "So, how do you guys fight? I don''t think we ever got around to that," Shane asked while she was being carried by Helena''s ''grabbers.'' "I''m an assassin, so I keep myself hidden and aim at the weak spots. I also have some wind spells to make me faster and more stealthy. Bonnie is a mage, even though she''s a researcher," Alex explained. "Calling what I do just ''being a mage'' is kind of an understatement," Bonnie scoffed, "I can make several different elemental spells at once, and my main focus is single target magic damage, but I have some spells that cover a wider area." "Me next!" Blue jumped as soon as Bonnie finished speaking, "I''m a controller, so I''ll be the tank. I use lightning and clouds to trick my enemies and to keep them engaged with me so you guys can kill them. Not to say that I don''t pack a punch. Oh, right. I''m a grappler, so I''m always up close and personal." "Hera and I have a similar style. I take away their senses and deal damage with shadow spells, while Hera uses ailments like poison or makes them sneeze to hinder their movements. We both have ways to make the effects we put become stronger, but I''m not sure if they work the same way," Helena replied while walking. Right now, Shane and Hera were the ones being carried. The mage had given up her spot to stretch her legs for a while. "What about you guys?" Hera asked after a moment. She was a bit too distracted with the whole being carried thing. The grabbers felt very different from what they seemed. Instead of a slimy tentacle, it was more like being wrapped around by sand that softly shifted as they moved. "I''m a fighter. I use this staff to hit people and make the ground shake. I can also use its shape as a base to make a longer staff, but that''s just for big moves," Mylo puffed his chest proudly. If those ''big moves'' were anything like the Mana Reinforcement spell that Hera knew, it was incredible. He could not just force a shape outside of the object he was affecting but make a spell go through it. This was something Hera never considered doing with her weapons. "I''m a crafter, so I shape some iron ingots to match what I need, then control them to hit the monsters. If needed, I can also use my fists to attack, but I''d rather not do that," Silah added. "And you, Shane?" Bonnie asked. "Well, it might seem a bit weird, but¡­" before she finished speaking, a red circular light started to blink on her gauntlet, "Oh! It seems we have visitors. I guess it would be easier for me to show you. If you guys have the communicators off, turn them on now. Lena, can you drop me? Or can I jump off without it being an issue?" "You can jump off if needed. Don''t worry," even after making it clear that her spell wouldn''t restrain them, Helena waved her hand and dropped both Shane and Hera. Hera touched her neck, where the communicator was located, and the screen appeared in front of her eyes, coming out of the small piece resting on the bridge of her nose. Using this feature was more like looking through a pair of glasses than at a screen. On the corners of the holographic lenses, there were some small indicators showing the direction of the other members of her party. "Look there," Shane pointed to a direction, and a ping appeared on everyone''s screen. Following that, she placed her hand on the ground, and a pulse came out of her gauntlet, almost like a sonar that could go through the snow. About twenty meters to their right, six large four-limbed creatures walked towards them under the three meters of fresh snow. The entire group saw that through the screens. Whatever spell Shane was using was able to transmit the information it got straight to everyone''s communicator. In reality, there was a small delay. Shane''s would get that data first and then pass it along, but that only took a few milliseconds. "What are those things?" Bonnie asked. "I have no idea, but since they are hiding, let''s just make a mess of their plans. Everyone, take a few steps back so you won''t be directly on top of the snow," Shane then opened her coat and pulled out a large gun. It was completely made out of silver metal with a barrel much wider than the standard flintlock pistols that Hera had heard about. It was also odd because the entire thing had holes on the sides and a large spring-like structure inside the barrel. Shane used her thumb to pull a lever on the gun''s back and tilted her wrist back. Instantly one of the projectiles in her gauntlet jumped out and went inside the gun. Pulling the trigger, she fired the ammo towards the snow. The metal capsule started letting out steam, and before it hit the ground, it was completely hidden in a cloud of hot water. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Everyone watched as Shane''s attack sunk into the white floor, seemingly with no effect. But that only lasted a few moments. Steam started to come out as the snow melted. At the same time, the freshly created mist was pulled towards the projectile. In less than 10 seconds, a 10-meter radius of where the ammo landed became completely dry and free of snow. Revealing six creatures. Five of them had long and lanky limbs with faces that resembled that of a bear, but the proportions were off. The heads were too small for their bodies that were bony and thin. In the middle of the formation, the sixth creature was larger and more robust. Unlike the others, it didn''t look like it suffered from malnutrition. In fact, the bear-like monster was extremely fat. Its skin folded into itself, and its mouth kept salivating uncontrollably. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frightfigure - Level 9 - Starved (Snow affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frightfigure - Level 11 - Obese (Snow affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After using her [Observe], Hera confirmed that these creatures weren''t in a normal state. In fact, they could be considered afflicted by something, meaning that she only had to hit them with a couple of spells before being able to trigger her [Ailment Mastery]. "Mylo," Shane called before anyone else moved. In a flash, the fighter jumped from the small slope and slammed one of the thin bear-looking creatures with his flowered staff. The impact was so strong that it cracked the ground around him and the monster was dead. "Tone it down. We don''t want to cause problems for the people here," Shane called before tilting her gun backward, and another bullet was loaded. With a swift movement, she aimed at another of the thin creatures and pulled the trigger. The bullet changed mid-air, turning into a jagged rock spike with something glowing in the middle. Her target got hit in the head, allowing the projectile to rip its face and arrive in the middle of its body. Mylo jumped to the monster and thrust his staff through the creature''s body, impaling it with the blunt weapon. He followed that up by slamming his hands on the sides of his weapon and pulling it almost as if he was pulling an accordion. The flowers on his staff went along with the movement and created a barrier in front of him. When he was completely covered behind that protection, the projectile that Shane had shot exploded, sending dozens of sharp rocks all over the place. The last two thin monsters were impaled and fell dead to the ground before even realizing what happened. Only the big one remained, but he was already wounded and covered in the stone shrapnel created by the explosion. "I guess we overdid it. Do you guys want to take the last one?" Shane turned to the rest of the group. "Yes, please," Blue shouted as she jumped into the slope. Silah smiled and tossed two small iron ingots from her waist. She clapped her hands, and the metal changed shape into a muzzle and four handcuffs, all connected by a short chain. With another gesture, the contraption snapped around the larger monster, forcibly closing its mouth and restraining its movement. "Since when can you do that?" Hera gasped. "I was toying with some things, and I got this idea from that movie with the guy that eats people," Silah said with a smile. "You know. There are other uses for something like that. I have a feeling that someone might enjoy it," Helena giggled. "Shut up!" Hera snapped at the mage with her cheeks already turning red. "Ohhhh," Helena smirked. Trying to distract herself, Hera turned around and created a flaming poison rain under the monster, making the poison go upwards. However, instead of it being a large shower, she used the [Shaper of Mana] skill to focus all the projectiles in just a few spots. With the monster unable to move around thanks to Silah''s attack, Hera''s spell would have a much easier time breaking through the creature''s defenses. One surprising result of this attack was the mana cost. Using the skill to change the spell generally would make them cost more than normal, but this time, Hera spent the same amount she was used to while activating an unmodified spell. Bonnie aimed for the back of the monster, sending her elemental fists in an arch to both slam the creature into the ground and lock it in place. Alex pulled her daggers and was about to jump in, but she noticed how the animal was almost dead after that short barrage of attacks and just stepped back. Whatever happened with Hera and Bonnie made their spells considerably stronger. On the other hand, Blue didn''t stop and slammed the monster with her fist, causing it to topple over already dead. Hera and Bonnie noticed that and dismissed their spells, letting them fizzle out before they ended up hitting each other. "Am I that strong now?" Blue gasped, looking at her fist. "I think your friends are stronger. You just made it fall. Look at its stomach," Mylo pointed at the monster. Most of the fat in the monster''s belly was burned, and the parts around the burns had veiny orange marks showing that Hera''s poison had affected the creature. Blue had no way of knowing, but Hera''s [Ailment Mastery] triggered and increased the effect of her ailments by 4 thanks to the Obese condition, the restraints that Silah and Bonnie created, and her own poison and burn effects. That was too much for a monster almost half Hera''s level, making its heart stop almost instantly. "You guys are no fun," Blue sighed. "Sorry, new skills. I''m still getting the hang of it," Bonnie scratched her head. "Anyway. Can we stop to take some meat? I can make jerky," Mylo pulled a skinning knife and walked over the fat bear. "Don''t use that one!" Hera called, "My poison still lingers in the monsters after they die. I still haven''t figured out an easy way to take it off." "Can''t you just stop the spell?" Shane asked. "It''s not a spell anymore. It''s just poison." "Really?" Shane went down and put on a glove. She took some of the fat bear''s blood and placed it in a vial to check it later. During that, Mylo started taking some of the meat of the other bears, but they were too skinny. The meat wouldn''t taste good, and he just gave up. Still, it was a shame to leave the corpses there. Bones and pelts could still be very useful. With everyone''s help, they made a small sled to carry the bodies to the next room since they were already close to the exit. According to Shane''s information, the setup the guild made wasn''t that far from the doorway. A couple of hours passed, and they carried the bodies without an issue until they reached their destination. The doorway to the room called Cold Water Lake was located in another cave, but a smaller one this time. Shane told everyone that they would have their next meeting on the other side since they could take a break in the guild branch nearby. They all touched the doorway, and a familiar window appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Cold Water Lake - 5th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, Hera felt a familiar warmth washing over her body. She closed her eyes with a smile, wondering what this next room would be like. 308 - 5th Layer When Hera arrived at Cold Water Lake, she had to double-check her map to be sure she actually changed rooms. The area was too similar to the White Desert''s entrance, just an ice cave with an upwards path leading to the outside. However, after a few steps, Hera could tell that there was something different. She could hear some loud sounds coming from outside, and there was an earthy scent of water. She kept walking and saw the source of that smell, a massive lake that could be easily confused with the ocean. When she finally left the cave, things became even more confusing. She was in a lake, yes. And land surrounded the lake, but at the moment, Hera and the others were standing in the middle of a massive iceberg that somehow ended up here. The thing was by no means small, and if they tried to jump from their current height, it should easily be a 15-meter fall before hitting the water. "Don''t worry, guys, we just have to move around the iceberg and reach the back. There is a spot there that connects to land," Shane pointed to the side and guided everyone to a small downhill path. Still, everyone had to be careful while moving. They were literally walking on ice. If it wasn''t for the rope that the guild had set up on the walls of the iceberg, they wouldn''t have anything to hold on to. "How long does it take for us to go down?" Helena asked before moving. "If we are being careful, about five minutes, if not, maybe two," Shane replied. "Two minutes¡­ I think I can do this then," Helena made enough tentacles to carry everyone and quickly moved them down the path. The spell wasn''t affected by the slippery nature of the ice, but at the same time, they all had to be moved at once. The main drawback of this spell was that it was terrible for moving upwards. Even small slopes slowed the tentacles but descending an incline was the opposite. Thanks to all that, Helena was able to carry everyone in a bit over a minute and drop them all off, along with the bodies of the Frightfigures, on solid land. When the tentacles vanished, Bonnie and Alex took a few steps and fell to the ground with hands covering their mouths while Silah leaned over the lake to throw up. Shane was to the side trying to recover her balance, "Holy crap, Lena. Give us a warning next time." Mylo laughed with the situation, "I don''t need one. Can we do it again?" "Sorry, that one took out most of my mana. If you can wait half an hour, we can do it again, though," Helena gave a weak smile. She wasn''t doing all that well either. Moving eight people plus five corpses was very mentally taxing, even if it was just a spell. The number of quick calculations she had to make was staggering. After leaving the iceberg, it was easy to see the tower as well as some of the buildings. The outpost was in a grassy plain, allowing for some more advanced and quick construction. It also seemed that people were more interested in this room than in the White Desert. Before even reaching the settlement, Hera saw some groups leaving towards the plains or the beaches, and others seemed to be coming back after a hunt. It was close to 4 p.m., but the sun in the room seemed to be a few hours behind that. There were almost no shadows. This was one of the things that Hera had yet to get used to. Since Brinefront, the only room where she could actually see the sun was the Kobold Field, or at least the sun while outside a dungeon. She didn''t even consider how that would affect her, but going through too many rooms or rooms with different time zones would easily mess up her sleep. It didn''t take long for them to arrive in the guild branch, and after a few minutes, they sold the corpses of the Frightfigures. They got just a few hundred gold for the bodies, but no one cared too much. They weren''t hunting because of the gold. It was just something they picked up on the way. Still, this money could be used for a nice meal in one of the restaurants in the outpost. Surprisingly, they already had quite a few options on the menu but mostly focused on meat and chicken. The group managed to get a table big enough for all of them and sat down to talk. "Ok, first things first. What the hell is that thing you used, Shane?" Bonnie looked at the explorer. "Oh, you mean this?" Shane opened her oversized coat and showed the gun hiding in a holster by her chest, "This is a gun I made. My mom is a collector of guns, and she taught me all about them. When I came here, I started toying with the idea of making one myself, but using gunpowder in the MAZE was dumb. Every time I took a shot, I had to run from a dozen different monsters that were lured by the sound. Using fire spells had the same result and wind wasn''t strong enough to fire the bullet," despite talking about a problem, it was easy to hear the pride in Shane''s voice. "Why would they chase you? Wouldn''t most monsters run from the noise? Also, there was no noise when you shot before, only when those capsule things hit the ground," Bonnie asked the questions in such quick succession that she had to repeat for everyone to understand. "I think the weaker ones ran, but the ones that chased me were the stronger monsters. Can''t say for sure, though. For the noise thing, this one is a bit special," Shane pulled her gun and pointed to the large spring surrounding the barrel, "This thing is a magnet. It only activates when I put mana, but then it pulls the metal and shoots it out from the other side. I had to change the strength of that magnet a lot. The first version broke my wrist when I activated it. So, instead of focusing on making the bullets go faster, I made them deadlier. I have five slots in my gauntlet. One for the fire one, the one that I used to melt the ice. It was actually just a big explosion, but I made it hot without the blast part back there. Then I have the stone spike, an electric net, a buckshot, and the fifth one that I keep empty for any situational thing. My gauntlet can produce those bullets in just a few seconds, so I can keep shooting for a while without worrying." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Shane put the gun away, realizing she just told a bunch of people she barely knew about her invention. She cleared her throat and waved to one of the servers to order her food, making sure to avoid any more questions about the gun. It didn''t take long for the group to take the hint and focus on the meal. While eating, they double-checked the information about this room. It was smaller than the White Desert, and reaching the doorway should only take a couple of hours. They would have to be careful with some of the penguins that lived near water since they seemed to be very aggressive, and there was a dungeon half an hour away from the outpost. According to Shane''s data, it was a simple ''kill the boss'' quest that could be completed in an hour by an experienced group. "Do you guys wanna go to this dungeon? It''s a shame that they already had the first rewards, but it seems fun. We have to kill a sea lion type of creature that is controlling the penguins. I miss doing a dungeon so simple," Blue suggested. "I won''t stop you from going, but I''m heading to the Wailing Valley. I know I said we could do a dungeon if it was on the way, but if we do this, we might be stuck here for an extra day since it would be stupid to go to the next room in the middle of the night," Shane replied without looking up from her food. "I''ll go with Shane. Don''t wanna leave her alone," Mylo added. "I think we should go too, Blue. The dungeon will still be here when we come back," Bonnie took a bite out of her chicken, "Oh, this is amazing. What is this?" "Chicken. Penguin more precisely," Alex replied. "Wait. We are eating¡­ penguin?" Bonnie stopped her fork. "Well, yeah. There are a bunch in this room and they attack people. We can''t let all that meat go to waste," Helena replied. "Is it that unusual to eat those things?" Silah turned to Hera. "Well, a bit. Back on Earth, we even have laws protecting them," Hera cut a piece of her chicken parmesan and took a bite, "It''s kind of weird eating this now that I know where it comes from." "Girls, don''t stall too much. Like Shane said, we should get to the doorway to the next room before it gets dark," Helena took a sip of wine. "But here it''s close to noon. Or at least that''s what it feels like," Blue protested. "Yeah, but the next room is the problem. According to the guild, it should be only one hour behind our regular time. Meaning that we will be traveling during sundown. There is also some weird effect there at night, and I really don''t want to deal with that today since it might make us have to wait another day to get to the Wailing Valley." "But even if we sleep here, we can get there tomorrow. It doesn''t matter if we stay here or in the next room," Blue continued. "Again, you guys can do whatever you want. I''m telling you what I''m going to do. In the next room, the outpost is closer to the doorway to the 7th layer than to the doorway here. We are going to have to travel for some time to get to a safe place, and I want to start exploring the Wailing Valley tomorrow, not the day after," Shane sighed, already annoyed about having to explain herself so much. "I just don''t get why you are so against having a small break here," Blue huffed. "Blue. You didn''t want to stop in the Kobold Tunnel to do dungeons, either. There was something you wanted to do that was more important than that," Hera chimed in. "But that was about seeing my family!" "Blue, different things are just as important for other people. Just because this doesn''t seem that important to you, it doesn''t mean that it isn''t for Shane. It''s unfair to compare those kinds of things," Mylo was looking at the controller''s eyes. Blue looked down, "I''m sorry. That was out of line. We can do this dungeon some other time." Shane shrugged, "Again. I''m not forcing anyone to come with me. You can all do whatever you want. I''m just telling you my plans. And if you two are worried," she turned to Hera and Bonnie, "This wouldn''t count as you giving up or anything. Oh, and for the record, that only applies if I can''t find everything in a day. Sure it''s very unlikely, but maybe I''ll get lucky, and you two will need to talk to Ninleyn to figure something else out." "Honestly, I''m curious about the ruins too. I''ve never been to one," Bonnie replied. "That''s true. Do they have traps? Like pitfalls or giant boulders that come down the hallway?" Alex asked. "There was a boulder once. It made me lose my staff. I don''t want that to happen again," Mylo pouted. "To be fair, you were long overdue for changing your weapon. And this staff is better, isn''t it?" Shane tapped Mylo''s back. "I guess. I still wanted to keep it." "Would some dessert make you feel better? My treat," Shane asked. "They have a fruit salad with honey and glazed nuts. Can I get that?" "Sure you can," Shane looked at the menu, "You know, I really need to stop believing in you," she squinted at Mylo after realizing that the fruit salad was the most expensive dessert available. Even so, she called over a server and asked for it. A few more minutes went by as the group finished eating before they all left the settlement. Their next destination was the 6th layer room called Forest of Dreams. 309 - Forest of Dreams "What the hell is the matter with those things!" Alex jumped away from yet another giant penguin that kept trying to bite her. The group had left the city without any issues, and for almost one hour, nothing happened. Then, a flock of penguins appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the party. They stood there for thirty minutes hoping the monsters would just move along. When that didn''t happen, Hera and the others tried to push them away without hurting the creatures not to trigger a violent response, but that still didn''t work. Only by killing a couple of the monsters, the group managed to push forward. However, with the death of their brethren, the creatures roared and started attacking. Every penguin had navy blue skin and a white beak with black beady eyes, but each of them had a unique yellow pattern on their fins. Some had geometrical shapes, while others looked like tribal tattoos. Despite that, there was little difference between their behavior, even if they had different markings. The penguins were faster than one would expect, and they could even fly short distances in small bursts of speed. Because of that ability, Hera and the others couldn''t get away from the monsters. They reached a breaking point when, for the second time, the penguins flocked around the group, surrounding them completely. "How many?" Mylo already pulling his staff from his back. "Shit, 47. Most are behind us," Shane replied, already loading a bullet into her gun. "Can we book it to the doorway?" Alex suggested. "It''s too far away. Besides, if we just try to run, they might hit us while we transfer," Bonnie created her three motes of elemental energy in the air around her. "I have an idea," Blue prepared a large cloud, "Mylo, when I say go, start running ahead. Just kick anything in front of you out of the way. Everyone else, stay behind him and get ready to run." "I see what you are thinking. Here," Helena pulled the shadows from the ground and wrapped them around everyone''s waists, creating a makeshift rope connecting them all, "Don''t worry. This won''t do anything unless those monsters have the same spells I do." Blue pushed out the ball of mana between her hands, and a massive cloud covered most of the area, "Go! Don''t stop running. It''s going to get really loud really fast!" Mylo wasn''t exactly sure about what was going to happen, but when the cloud covered everything, he understood. Pulling out his staff, he used it as a lance and charged ahead like a Rhinoceros running through the savanna. Hera and the others saw his marker start to move on their visors and followed along his path. Their sprint was by no means organized. Alex jumped ahead and almost went past Mylo. Bonnie and Shane bumped into each other a few times. Hera and Helena threw spells at the penguins but almost hit Silah since she was about the same size as the monsters. The only one that didn''t have any issues moving in the cover of the cloud was Blue. Since this was part of her legacy, she could sense everything that was inside her ability. A few seconds after everyone started running the sound of thunder could be heard from within the cloud. The ones who were having the most trouble were the penguins. They were creatures that focused on sight, and now that everything was smoke, the monsters couldn''t find their prey. Seeing that the creatures were confused, Blue started to drag the cloud along but quickly gave up. Moving the cloud around took way too much mana to be sustainable. Instead, Blue kept creating more clouds and tossing them around the group. She didn''t make them just in front, but at the sides too. All of this was in hopes that it would be enough to confuse the penguins and allow the group to run away. Blue''s plan worked perfectly. With the monsters crying out and the rumbling thunder in the clouds, the creatures weren''t able to distinguish the people in the middle of the mayhem. This allowed the explorers to run far enough away to avoid being detected by the monsters. No one said a word even after leaving the cover of the clouds. They all understood that loud noises could attract the creatures once more. Just because they mainly relied on sight, it didn''t mean that they didn''t have other senses. Quietly, Hera and the others continued running through the hills. The Cold Water Lake had a lot of different biomes for such a small room. Aside from the lake and the grassy plains connected to it, there were some small foothills and a sparse woodland area. The doorway to the next room was located in that grove, and, for some reason, the penguins would avoid the area unless they were chasing something. After a few minutes, everyone felt comfortable enough to talk. Nothing was chasing them anymore, and they would still have some time before reaching the next room. Even so, Shane kept rushing everyone to pick up the pace. "We wasted too much time here already. Let''s go!" "That wasn''t our fault. And why so much hurry? We are still going to get in the next room today," Alex asked. "The next room has some issues. I told you guys that it triggers some weird effect during the night," Shane explained. "What kind of effect?" Bonnie asked after catching her breath. She was the one with the lowest stamina among the group. "People still aren''t sure. For some, it puts them to sleep, others have some lucid nightmares, but apparently, the nightmares can manifest. They found some weird markings and tracks that couldn''t be from any of the monsters from there," Shane had her tablet out to confirm that information. "Are you sure? Couldn''t it be like a rare monster or something else?" Helena walked over to the explorer. "We don''t know. The guild still hasn''t found any clues, but anyone who stays in the woods at night can be affected by that." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "I don''t like that idea. I hate nightmares," Mylo mumbled. "Maybe it''s some type of monster that can make a connection with our subconscious, pulling out our deepest fears and using them to shape a spell," Bonnie''s mind was already considering the possibilities. "Or it could be a shapeshifter. They are rare and very troublesome to deal with," Helena sighed. "Could they be, like, actual nightmares?" Blue asked. "I don''t think so, but then again, no one can say for sure what is possible inside the MAZE," Shane replied. "Is there a point to be worried like that?" when Silah spoke, everyone turned towards her, "I mean. No one knows what is going on. Sure it''s good to have a hint of whatever is happening, but since we can''t tell for sure, anything we think will only make us more nervous." "This is a basic thing for explorers. We need the information to understand what we will be dealing with," Shane shrugged. "Yeah, and that was the part about people falling asleep and having nightmares. Everything after that is just conjecture that may make our opinions biased. If we think it''s a nightmare, but it''s actually the effect of a spell, the way we fight back would be different," Silah continued. "You are not wrong, but you are not completely right either," Hera replied, "If we discuss what it can be and find something that matches the description, it might give us an edge when fighting it. Sure, it might change our plans for the worse, but we don''t have to follow that plan. Being an explorer is all about improvising and changing things on the fly, so even if we go in thinking it''s the wrong type of monster, we can change to an effective way to fight it when we see it." "I see¡­ but if it''s just a strategy meeting of sorts, why is everyone so tense? Wouldn''t that be a problem for the fight?" Silah turned to Hera. "She''s not wrong. We get too anxious when we don''t know what we are going to face. That only makes things worse," Mylo nodded enthusiastically. "I suppose it''s because of our lives. We tend to overreact to a lot of things and put too much pressure on almost everything. Like, if we have to run from a monster, it''s not like we just ran, but we gave up. Things like that," Bonnie sighed. "That''s stupid. If you have to run, just run. It''s better to run and live than stay and die," Silah scoffed. There were some human customs that she still couldn''t understand in the slightest. "Either way, we are about to find out. Look," Shane pointed to the grove. Smack dab in the middle of it, there was a large white doorway with the symbol of a tree with small Zs around it. The more Hera looked at that scene, the more strange it felt. The leaves seemed to glow softly, and a thin mist gave the entire area a mystic feel. A small gust of wind brushed the trees, making them dance, and the ruffling of the grass was almost like a song. That doorway wasn''t just there. It was inviting people over, calling them to cross and discover its mysteries. "That''s suspicious¡­." Helena said after the group stopped for a few moments. "I know, right? It''s like a trap, but it matches with where we are supposed to be going," Bonnie replied. "Places like that are never good," Mylo was squinting at the doorway. "Really? Are things like this common?" Silah asked. "Not really. Rooms like that are dangerous. They have something inside that makes you want to stay forever," Mylo replied without looking away from the doorway. "Like what?" Silah asked but got no response from the fighter. He just continued his staring contest with the entrance to the next room. "He''s still bothered by the time we went to a room with a bunch of hot springs," Shane chuckled. "Why? That seems great," Blue turned to the explorer. "Because we ended up staying there for a couple of weeks before even realizing. Those waters were too good. We would go out, do a couple of quick dungeon runs just to make some money, and spend the rest of the day in the springs. That room was amazing. I have to go back there soon," Shane explained as she started walking towards the doorway. "It was too easy to make us forget about everything else. I don''t like that," Mylo huffed, but he followed Shane. As they walked towards the doorway, that mystic feeling seemed to die down, almost like it was hiding or running away. This only made Hera even more curious about the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Forest of Dreams - 6th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes, and her body froze as usually happened, but before the warm feeling washed over her, she could''ve sworn that she heard some distant laughter. The Forest of Dreams was very similar to the grove they just passed through. The colors were all more vibrant than usual, and the wind seemed to make the greenery sing. There were also small blue lights floating around. At a closer inspection, those were all fireflies. Oddly enough, the insects were all level 1 despite being in a layer where the minimum level should be 13. "Is everyone here?" Shane looked around to double-check if they all had gone through the doorway, "Good. Let''s move. We don''t have a lot of time." The sky was already getting dark, and the sun was almost touching the horizon. The night should start within the hour, and that''s when the monster of the forest would appear. Half an hour went by with the group trying to hurry towards the outpost, but they were all tired. Running away from the penguins required more energy than they expected, and they all had trouble breathing properly during a considerable amount of the marathon since Blue''s cloud was covering everything. The result was that when the sun completely vanished, they were still in the middle of that singing forest. Worried about what was about to come, the party gathered around in a battle formation, with Bonnie, Helena, and Shane in the middle. Doing their best to keep a good pace, they cautiously continued their journey, everyone constantly looking around. Hera used her pulse spell, and with the [Shaper of Mana] skill, she managed to spread the pulse almost like a net that would stay a while before dissipating. It was thanks to that spell that Hera noticed when something small approached. "Guys, don''t make sudden movements, but check my left, above the branch on the closest tree," Hera whispered. Flying above one of the verdant trees, there was a small humanoid creature about the size of an olive. Its body was emanating blue light, and only the shadow of the eyes could be seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleep Sprite - Level 16 - Elemental Spirit (Sleep Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh! That''s an elemental spirit! It''s the first time I''ve see one," Helena gasped. "What the hell is an elemental spirit?" Bonnie, Blue, Hera, and Alex all asked at the same time. 310 - Elemental Spirit The sprite watched this newly arrived group from the safety of the canopy. One of them had done something with the air. Because of that, getting too close felt weird. It was almost like trying to swim through honey. Still, it had a job to do. A few days ago people started to arrive in the forest again. It had been a long time since anything like that happened and these people didn''t seem to respect the sprite''s homeland as they should. Without asking or anything, they came carrying machines and things from other places. Things that shouldn''t be here. For an elemental spirit to survive, they had to be in a place with pure mana that matched their own element. And that was exactly what this forest had. Everything in here only had a single type of mana inside it. Sleep mana. When the outsiders brought in those machines fueled by mana crystals, the surrounding mana became tainted, and the sprites had to run away from the road to avoid getting hurt by the stray elements that seeped out of the foreign objects. Because this was happening, the sprites had to defend themselves and attack anyone leaking mana like that. A few people were able to pass without too much issue. The forest had ways to purify the surrounding mana. It was something that took time, but as long it wasn''t too much mana, it wasn''t an issue. However, this group that just arrived wouldn''t be like that. Almost all of them were leaking mana, and one of those people had so many different elements surrounding her that just looking at her made the sprite feel sick. Not just that, but all the sprite could sense from that person was shadow mana in a very concentrated form. It was a signal that she was a mage, which only made the sprite angrier. Among the roles, one, in particular, had a very complicated relationship with elemental sprites, and that was the mage. Due to their own nature, their mana would change to a specific element and, because of that, any elemental spirit that didn''t share their element would naturally be hostile to the mage. On the other hand, when they found an elemental spirit that matched the same type of mana they had, the spirit would feel attracted to the mage, and it would be easier to form a bond. The sprite knew that watching this group was all it could do. They were too many, and there was too much mana leaking for it to be able to do anything. However, that didn''t mean it had no other options. It already had sent a signal to its kin about this new danger. Soon they would gather around and use their sleep mana to drive these people away from their homes. "Man, I don''t even know where to start," Helena sighed and looked around. The sprite was gone, and no one could find it again, even with Hera and Shane''s spell. "Is that something we already should know about?" Bonnie asked. "Not really, although, surprisingly, you didn''t stumble across that during your research," while Helena talked, the group still kept walking. The mage was also trying to be as quiet as possible, speaking in a low voice, "In simple terms, elemental spirits are creatures made out of pure mana. They are kind of another type of people we can find in the MAZE, but they can''t talk to us." "They can''t talk? What about writing?" Alex asked. "It doesn''t work. They can''t understand what we say, and no one has figured out a way to teach them our language in any form. Even charades don''t seem to work. The only way to understand what they mean to a point is to have a spirit partner." "What''s that?" Hera asked. "When you manage to befriend a spirit, they can offer to help with some of their mana. Then you have a sort of link with them, and when you use a spell of their element, you share the cost of mana. I always wanted to find one for me, but it''s hard to find a shadow elemental spirit," Helena explained. "That seems amazing! Why have we never heard about that before?" Bonnie asked. "Probably because it''s dangerous, and almost no one wants to risk getting a spirit partner," Shane replied in a cold voice. "Why is that?" Blue turned to the explorer. "Because Helena is not thinking about what that partnership means. You and the spirit will be linked. Your emotions will be affected by that," Shane stopped the group and used her gauntlet to make sure there was nothing coming towards them. "I still don''t get it. Why is that bad?" Silah asked. "Because elemental spirits react to things differently, they take their emotions from the mana they are made of," Shane didn''t look back to reply. She was focused on the surrounding forest. Silah turned to Hera with a confused expression, but her girlfriend just shook her head, "I don''t understand either." "Elemental spirits are made out of mana, pure mana. When they get in contact with another type of mana, they get hurt, and in extreme cases, they can turn into a daemon," Helena explained when it became clear that Shane wasn''t going to talk about that anymore. "Daemon? So they actually change species?" Bonnie asked. "Kind of, for them, being tainted by mana is like a dog getting rabies. There is no way to cure that, and they lose all their sanity and any control over their emotions." "That''s why people say it''s dangerous? Because since we share emotions, when they go crazy, so would we?" Alex asked. "Exactly, and we can''t take that much mana. What tends to happen is that people lose control and just start rampaging fueled by the daemonic energy supplied by the former spirit," Helena gave them a sad smile. "Does that happen often?" Silah turned to Helena. "I don''t know. Like, having a spirit partner is already a rare thing. Not as rare as a legacy by any means, but it''s still hard to see people who have them," Helena shrugged. "But when it happens, things can go bad very fast," Mylo said. "Like how?" Blue asked. "Guys, shut up for a second," Shane called out, "There is something coming." Stolen novel; please report. Everyone stopped talking and got ready for whatever Shane saw. To the south, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Not wanting to be caught by whatever was coming, the group started running again. They were still deep in the forest, and it would take some time to finally escape it, but there wasn''t any other choice. Whatever was coming after them had the home advantage, even if they tried to hide, they had no idea how the creatures here would track them. Having elemental spirits in the area only made Helena, Shane, and Mylo even more worried. No rule stated that humans, dwarves, or a specific race were the only ones who could have spirit partners. In fact, there were quite a number of reports of monsters who worked alongside the elemental spirits. If this was the case, whatever was coming wouldn''t be something easy to deal with, and without any information, it could prove to be a danger for the group. The footsteps kept getting closer and closer, despite everyone''s best efforts. They could hear a low growl coming from the darkness behind. Hera glanced back as they ran, seeing a pair of piercing yellow eyes staring back at her. A momentary sense of dread washed over her when she realized where she had seen those eyes before. Instinctively, she reached out for her scarred ear. The cold of the armguards was comforting, but at the same time, it only increased her worry. Could there be wendigos here already? "Hera? What''s wrong?" Silah asked after she noticed her girlfriend lagging behind. "Nothing. Just keep moving," Hera turned back to the path ahead and used another pulse, focusing the spell mostly on her back. If one of those things were around, she had to keep an eye out. "Aaahh!" Alex''s scream came out of nowhere. She sent a few blades of wind flying to the side. The spell hit one of the trees, but there was nothing there. "What''s wrong?" Bonnie started to slow down, but Hera pushed her forward. "Don''t stop! I think there is a wendigo here," Hera called in a hurry. Hearing that, Helena turned pale. Even if she already had gotten rid of the parasites, the memory of what happened, of what those things did to her, was still fresh in her mind. Shane fired an earth spike bullet to the side, but the projectile hit nothing. It exploded on the ground, damaging some of the nearby trees. A loud roar echoed through the forest, and the footsteps became louder. Hera glanced back again and saw the purple panther, much larger than it was before and with parts of its skull growing over its flesh. She tried to use her [Observe], but nothing happened. For the first time, her skill had failed completely. "Get off, get off, get off," Bonnie started to scream and slap her own body. "Shane¡­ he''s here again," Mylo was staring at the other side of the forest. "What the hell, guys?" Blue gasped while looking around. She couldn''t understand why everyone was acting so weird. "We need to get out of here," Helena turned around with shadows covering her entire body. She was no longer a person. Now she was the embodiment of darkness. With a quick movement, that dark figure vanished from sight. Helena was running even faster than Alex with her buffs. Bonnie looked at her arms and splashed some water on them. After a moment, she clenched her fists and looked up, "Ignore what you are seeing! These things are not real." "Are you sure?" Silah was staring at the sky with wide eyes. "I''m positive. Just ignore these things and run," Bonnie started moving again, pushing the rest of the party to make them start going. They managed to push through their fear and keep moving. It helped that what all of them were seeing was some sort of creature chasing them. Bonnie was the only one who was seeing something that would disrupt her movement. Then again, anyone would have trouble focusing with spiders crawling on their arms. "What the hell is happening?" Blue asked, still confused about the situation. "We are seeing illusions. I guess each of us is seeing something we are afraid of," Bonnie shouted from the front while she forced Mylo to move. The fighter seemed very perturbed by whatever he was seeing. "Really? Why am I the only one not seeing it?" Blue asked. "Are you really complaining about that?" Alex shouted as she threw another wind blade at the forest. "Stop attacking. These things are not real," Bonnie yelled. "It was a reflex!" Alex barked. Bonnie finally managed to push everyone forward, and they kept running for a few minutes. They were all tired, but at the same time, stopping here felt like a horrible option. Hera still couldn''t believe that this was just an illusion. The panther looked so real, and it acted just like the one she fought. Even the weird way to run to hide the noise of its footsteps was the same. Although now that she was trying to find differences, she noticed that it was a bit offbeat. Not just that, but it seemed like two of its legs were heavier than the others. Hera glanced back one more time, and above the wendigo, she saw another creature. A large purple monkey with massive arms and a face that seemed to have had all the moisture sucked out. The skin was sticking to the bone. What was more unsettling was the fact that it didn''t seem to have a mouth. There was a jaw and fangs but no opening in the skin. As the monster roared, it looked like it was suffocating in its own flesh. Hera tried her [Observe] again, but it still couldn''t see the name of either monster. "I heard that one," Blue looked back. "Great, now you are also being affected. Keep running!" Bonnie shouted. "Are we sure that is a monster and not just another illusion?" almost as if in response to Shane''s question, the monkey clawed at a small tree by the side and sent it flying towards the group, "Nevermind." Mylo and Hera quickly jumped back and created barriers to stop the flying trunk and kept running. Hera got worried about Silah since she was considerably smaller than the rest of the group, but when they managed to see the exit of the forest, the dwarf bolted at such a high speed that she left everyone else eating dust. "Why is everyone suddenly faster?" Alex cried. For an assassin who took pride in being among the most agile members of every party, seeing that was starting to hurt. Alex activated her buff and dashed forward, accompanying Silah, who was already a few meters ahead. Everyone else stayed behind, but not by that much. A couple more minutes passed, and they reached the edges of the forest. In front of them, there was a rocky plain and, beyond that, the settlement. Hera took one more glance behind and saw the panther wendigo and the monkey giving up on their chase, but they were still there, watching the group. "Is everyone ok?" Shane asked. "I hated that," Bonnie still had goosebumps from the spiders crawling over her. "Same. I really hate frogs." "Are you ok?" Mylo asked Shane. "Yeah. Nothing I can''t handle. What about you?" Shane replied. "I just hate that goose," Mylo replied. "Goose? You saw a goose?" Blue was staring at the fighter. "Yeah. Why?" "No. Nothing. I was just curious," Blue walked away, understanding that this wasn''t something Mylo wanted to talk about. "What about Lena?" Hera asked the group. "I''m here," Helena was sitting on a rock, sweating buckets and having trouble catching her breath. "Ok, what the hell just happened? And what is that monkey that was chasing us?" Blue asked. "I don''t know, but let''s talk in the city. I don''t want to start a discussion with that thing watching us," Shane gestured towards the forest. The purple monkey was still there, staring at the group with an angry expression. Hera also could see the panther hidden amongst some bushes, with its yellow eyes glued to her. "Yeah. Let''s get out of here," Alex turned towards the settlement and started walking. She didn''t have to say anything. This was something that everyone agreed on, and they all headed to a safe place where they would have warm beds and, hopefully, no more nightmares. 311 - Forest of Dreams outpost The outpost in the Forest of Dreams was surprisingly advanced. There was already a hotel, a couple of restaurants, a specialized store for equipment, and a few training rooms in the guild. To top it all off, there was a research center that would be used to study elemental spirits. Those creatures were rare to come by, and so far, no two kinds of the same spirits have been found. No one knew for sure if a type of elemental spirit could appear in more than a single room. As a result, any place inhabited by them became a center of research to improve people''s knowledge about the spirits and how to get their partnership. Hera and the group arrived in the city about one hour after sundown. The whole situation with the phantom beings chasing them ended up draining their energy too much. One of the guards who saw them arrive sent the party to the infirmary right away. Apparently, this fatigue was also caused by the forest. They already had seen a few different ways for that to happen, from people showing symptoms of sleep deprivation to people moving as if they had just woken up from a coma. Such symptoms would appear after just a few hours of them being inside the forest of dreams, and unless treated they wouldn''t go away. That''s why any exploration or discovery in this room was progressing so slowly. In the infirmary, the healers on call gave everyone a power bar and cleansed any status effect that they were suffering. According to them, the party was under a spell that would create two effects. First, it would make them see a hallucination of their fears as if they were stuck in a waking nightmare. Second, the longer they spent under the influence of the spell, the more drained they would feel. That particular type of magic would trick their bodies into thinking that they needed to sleep, and if the victim pushed past that, their bodies would start going through the stages of sleep deprivation at an accelerated rate. However, it seemed like while under that effect, no one would reach the point of sleep deprivation psychosis, when the affected patient wasn''t able to interpret reality. Hera felt reassured after hearing that. It meant that people wouldn''t just die because of the effect. The main issue was that the spell wasn''t the only thing that could hurt them here. If someone got too tired to properly function when that weird purple monkey appeared, it was very likely that they would be in serious danger. "Did anyone find out what that spell is?" Helena asked the healer. "Not as far as I know. I can only tell you the effects. It''s like a forced sleep thing," the healer replied. "That''s a shame," Helena sighed. A spell like that was well within her wheelhouse. "But how it does that? Like, is there any biological effect like poison or something along those lines?" Hera chimed in. "From what we can tell, it''s not like a poison. There is nothing that goes inside the body. It is just a reaction like when you feel pain after stubbing your toe. Like I said, the spell tricks your body. Instead of making hormones or something like that, it just sends the same type of signals to your brain as if you haven''t slept for a few days. This triggers a natural reaction on your body that creates all the hormones and stuff that makes you feel sleepy," the healer kept talking while taking care of Helena. "So. The spell itself is nothing doing a thing to us? I mean, it''s not like actively hurting us," Hera asked. "Exactly. And you guys also saw something, right? A monster of some sort or something that made you scared." "Yeah," Helena replied weakly. "So I think they do that to make it easier for the spell to work. Since the fear triggers a flight or fight response and we get filled with adrenaline, it''s easier to send a fake signal to our minds. It''s kind of a guerrilla tactic. Causing a distraction so the main part of the attack can go through. Then they send those monsters to attack us," the healer finished checking Helena and used a spell to cleanse the last bit of the sleep magic, "There, all done. Sorry it took so long, but we have to be careful when dealing with something new." "Don''t worry. I appreciate all the work. I know it must be busy since everyone has to come through that doorway," Helena smiled and got up. She and Hera were the last ones to be checked out, and the rest of the group was already waiting for them at the guild entrance. "Hey. Is everything ok?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah, we are fine," Helena nodded. "Great! Can we go to the hotel now?" Blue yawned mid-sentence, "I want to sleep," "Same, that made me tired," Mylo sighed. "Are you ok?" Silah walked closer to Hera. "Yeah. Sorry for making you wait. They want to be thorough," Hera pulled Silah over for a hug. "And she got a bit distracted talking about what happened to us," Helena said with a smile, "Am I the only one trying to figure out what that was, or do you have ideas?" "Well. I have. It''s been some time since I got some new spells, and that one seems really good for me. I mean, imagine if I could do that to the monsters we find? Not the showing a monster part, but just making them sleepy. We would have a much easier time fighting them," Hera explained. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "That is a good idea. But can you make that spell?" Silah asked. "I think so. I''m a conceptual mage, so as long as I have an idea, I think I can make it work. And the more I know about how the effect happens the easier it is," Hera smiled. "How about you, Silah? How do you use magic?" Shane asked. "I use runes. It''s how we are taught back home. According to Bonnie, that''s kind of similar to¡­ code?" Silah turned to Bonnie, who nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, code. It''s kind of similar to the runes we have but a bit more complicated. The runes are just different ways to write a word or a concept. We add them together to make what we want. I can send a text to Ogryn and see if he has any ideas about how to make a spell like this. I''m sure making people sleepy would help a lot even back home." "That''s a good idea. If he figures something out, I can translate it to code and then to formula, I think," Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, that''s great. Can we go now?" Blue yawned again. The group decided to head to the hotel. Blue wasn''t the only one tired, and any discussion about spells didn''t have to be had in the guild. Blue, Mylo, and Alex went straight to bed as soon as they could while Hera and the others had other plans. They still stopped in the hotel to shower and clean up, but they all wanted to do other things before sleeping. "What is everyone''s plans?" Bonnie asked. "I was going to the guild to check if they have more information about the Wailing Valley. I''m sure that people haven''t fully explored that place," Shane had mentioned this before. The room was huge. To make matters worse, even with a map, it was easy to get lost. The valley formed a literal labyrinth, and having every place look the same only made things more difficult. "I was kind of thinking about finding out more about the elemental spirits. I never heard about something like that before," Silah said. "Me too. Those seem incredible," as she spoke, Hera noticed an odd look coming from Shane, "Is that a problem?" "As long as you don''t get one of them as a partner, no," Shane replied. "Why? I mean, I get it that if things go wrong, it can be bad, but if it was that risky, people wouldn''t even try it, right?" Hera understood that Shane had some sort of problem with the idea of a spirit partner, but she couldn''t understand why. "Look, you can do whatever you want, but I don''t like the idea of having someone who can be controlled by a spirit around me," Shane shrugged. "It''s not like that. We don''t get controlled by the spirits. We just get influenced by their emotions. It''s like being angry because you are around someone angry," Helena said. "Sure, until they turn into a daemon, and then you lose control because of the demonic energy," Shane scoffed. "One, that is very hard to happen. And two, you don''t lose control. The demonic energy just heightens your emotions, and you have to be more careful not to overreact to everything." "Yeah, that''s much different. Having a thing force you to act without a filter is not mind control at all," Shane rolled her eyes. "No one is saying you have to get one. Just don''t complain if we do," Helena crossed her arms. "You can do whatever you want. Even if one of you gets a spirit partner, I don''t care. I would rather you waited to finish this whole test thing so I don''t have to sleep with one eye open, but you do you. I''m going to the guild," Shane turned around and walked away. There was an awkward pause as they watched her leave before Helena sighed, "Well, to each their own. Shall we go?" "Yeah," Bonnie nodded. Despite being interested in the elemental spirits, now it felt like a bad idea to look for a spirit partner. Hera, on the other hand, still wanted to know more about these creatures. It wasn''t so much about getting a partner but about understanding the drowsy spell they used. As long as she figured out how it worked and how to mimic that effect with her own mana, she could get another ailment in her arsenal. There were some very eager researchers ready to talk about the spirits and their findings. It was funny to see that contrast. Helena and other mages were very private about their experiments and would hardly ever share their discoveries while the project was still ongoing. Researchers, on the other hand, were excited to talk about everything they were doing. It was almost like a kid wanting to show a drawing to their parents. In just a few minutes, a small group of people who worked in the research center was giving a small lecture about the elemental spirits and this particular variation to this curious group. It was more or less what Helena had explained. Spirits would help you with the cost of certain spells, and there was no restriction of location. You would receive its aid once you had that pact, even if you were in a different room or a dungeon far away. Most sprits would just help you with the cost of spells, but if you had a good relationship with the spirit, you would be able to discover new skills and spells and even call them to your side. Bonnie found that strange. Monsters that leveled up were always considered a special kind of threat, and despite everything, these elemental spirits were still classified as such. So a high-level explorer would gain nothing by calling a low-level spirit to help. However, when someone reached the point to summon a spirit, they could also share some of their strength with the spirit. By spending mana to strengthen the spirit, anyone could temporarily make their partners match their own level. They discussed more about how to form a pact with a spirit and how although extremely rare, it was possible to have multiple spirit partners, but they had to be from different elements. This also meant that most mages simply couldn''t have more than a single pattern since their mana would only be of a single element, and that would scare away any spirit from a different element. Forming an actual pact sounded troublesome, to say the least. You had to befriend the spirit to the point where they wanted to start a pact with you. The issue with that was the language barrier. Since no one could properly speak with the spirits, befriending one of them was much like trying to tame a wild animal. In most cases, it took months, if not years, to form a bond strong enough for a pact. Not that it was impossible to form one quicker. There were those who even managed to get a partner in just a few hours, but that was considered to be wildly out of the curve. Hera also took that chance to discover more about the spell, and after the lecture, she spent another half an hour or so with the researchers there coming up with ideas to make the spell work. After that, Hera considered going to the guild to practice, but Silah started yawning. It was late, and she would have a lot of time to figure that spell out. Besides, tomorrow they will start searching for some ancient ruins. It was hard not to be excited about something like that. 312 - The (un)Lucky Where was I? Oh, that''s right. I''ve told you about the three human heroes. Now let''s talk about another. It is hard to pick who among the remaining six should be next. Going by importance is unfair and debatable, and going for chronological order just seems bland. You know what. I''ll tell you about one of my favorites. The story of Balcan Greenlight the (un)lucky. He was a beastman born in the year 1313, and the first thing that happened to him in this world was having a black cat jump over his body and break a mirror. Now, to me, that whole ''black cats bring bad luck'' thing is ridiculous, but it''s hard to say if it was the truth or not in his case. During his early life, Balcan was a magnet for bad luck. From tripping in random stones to have birds and other animals poop on him, people even say that he had a rain cloud constantly following him. It reached a point where the farmers would ask Balcan to walk around the crops during droughts to bring rain. And, as odd as it sounds, that worked. Growing up was hard for someone who always had bad luck. His family had a lot of issues, from his father losing his business to the miscarriage of all his potential siblings. Even so, Balcan was never blamed by his parents. It was sad that other people didn''t have the same type of tact and constantly reminded the child that he was the reason his family suffered so much. It reached a point where Balcan felt obligated to run away. After all, according to everyone else, people would be better if he wasn''t around. I''ll stop this just for a moment because I have something to say. I wish I could go back just to smack those people. No child deserves to be treated like that, anyway, back to the story. Balcan was just 15 years old when he left his family. He wasn''t even able to move rooms, but the room he was already in was large enough so that no one would find him. He spent the next three years in a place called the caverns of dread. A massive, sprawling network of tunnels filled with dangers and monsters. During those years, his luck helped him stay alive. Every time he was chased by a large creature, he would stumble upon another one, and they would start fighting. In there, he found a doorway that he could use to level up when he reached the right age and leave this room behind forever, which is exactly what he did. At least at first. After getting his first level up, he still couldn''t tell why his luck was so bad. There were no hidden skills, and his luck attribute was normal, a bit on the lower side, but still normal by all accounts. So, Balcan left the room in search of answers. He wanted to understand why that happened to him, why he was such an unlucky being. For years Balcan traveled through the MAZE. Everywhere he went, his bad luck followed, from earthquakes to floods and even rampages. All seemed worse while he was around. Balcan failed to notice that after every disaster, he was the first to arrive to help the others. Not just that, but because of his warnings, many lives were saved. About 30 years after the beginning of his journey, he found out why this happened to him. An old orc, well-versed in magic and skills, managed to reveal a hidden talent the beastman had ever since he was born. You see, Balcan wasn''t simply unlucky. Bad luck was attracted to him, yes, but that wasn''t all. He was attracted to bad luck as well and could pull it towards himself to ward off from others. It was something akin to a sixth sense, but he could tell when something bad would happen and even pull that to himself. All those disasters and problems that seemed to follow him were nothing more than Balcan taking the bad luck of those around him to himself. The disasters had a smaller effect in the cities because Balcan moved away from populated areas. The rains would be dragged towards him. His father lost his business before it was revealed that his partner was stealing from the city. Even his mother''s miscarriages were beneficial. What his skill did was to pull the issue that a baby just days away from being born would have to the baby his mother didn''t even know she had since it was just a couple of weeks old. Realizing that Balcan returned to his home, now that he understood the skill, he could even turn it off when he wanted. During his journey back, he saw every city he saved, every family that survived thanks to his efforts, every life that changed because of one man that wished nothing more than to help others. In the end, through just trying to help others, even if it was because of guilt. Balcan became a beacon for the people, an ideal that most strive to live by. As for what was Balcan''s ultimate fate. Some say he kept traveling, others that he found someone he cared about and decided to retire. Personally, I like the version where he found his family again and lived happily ever after in the city he grew up in. It''s a shame that we don''t have more information about what happened to him after he decided to return, but as with most legends, we tend to overlook the happy endings. Now, for the next story¡­ ----------------------------------------------- Hera couldn''t sleep, so she chose to read the book about the Nine Heroes. Balcan''s story felt strangely familiar. Or, at least, his skill did. She couldn''t help to wonder if the skill he had was anything like her [Silver Lining], but, then again, the effects were considerably different. Hera was curious about the rest, but the sleep got the better of her. Early next morning, Shane called a meeting before anyone even had breakfast. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Before we get going, I need to share one thing with everyone," The entire party was gathered in one of the rooms they got for the night. The place was large enough for 4 people, but now it felt a bit cramped with the entire party of seven. Shane was in the middle of the room, between the two large beds, while the rest sat anywhere they could. Mylo was the only one in the ground since he would take twice as much space in the bed because of his massive frame. "That sounds ominous. Like, very ominous. Are you going to tell us that someone has to die to open the ruins or something?" Blue asked. "No, not that. How the fuck did you went there so fast?" Shane sighed. "Well, there is always a twist like that in movies. ''To unlock the doors, the blood of an innocent must be spilled'' or something," Blue shrugged. "That kind of thing only happens in movies. Or video games. Well¡­ in dungeons, but we almost never see traps in a ruin outside those things. There is no point in that. These buildings were not made to trap people or anything like it. They all had an actual function. Like the last one Mylo and I went to was a library. No one would place traps in a place like that. Not to say there weren''t any dangers, but they were mostly monsters that made that place their home or the structure of the place. One of the corridors collapsed with our weight," "I''m fat, I know," Mylo crossed. "Dude, you have like, 8% body fat. You are not fat. That''s all muscle," Shane rolled her eyes, "Anyway, I want to talk about something else. I told you guys that there were spiders in that room, right? Well, it seems that there are more things than just spiders. There is also this scarab thing that is reportedly the size of a bear and can shoot its stingers at people. They seem to be very hostile with the spiders and keep attacking them on sight. If that wasn''t enough, there is a third species. They are called Rock Poly, and just as the name suggests, they are roly-polies that look like rocks. Those seem to be the most peaceful of the bunch, but that doesn''t mean they aren''t dangerous." "And do they have any known weakness?" Bonnie asked. "The spiders seem to be disoriented if we use water, the scarabs really hate lights, and the Rock Poly doesn''t have any particular weakness, but as long as you don''t hit the shell, they should go down easily." "That''s easier said than done. They should have a pretty tight lock when they curl up in a ball," Alex sighed. "True, but that''s when water and liquid spells come into play. It''s not an air-locked thing, so that grease fire thing Hera told me about should do wonders," Shane added. "Right, then what''s the plan to fight those things?" Blue asked. "We don''t. Our goal is not to fight them but to find the ruins. Those monsters are just in the way. Still, if we have to fight, try not to get hit by the spider silk, and use some water spells if you can. Also, stay clear from the walls when we are in their territory. They are called trap door spiders for a reason. Actually, keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place. I''m not sure if you guys know much about trapdoor spiders in general, but they dig holes and hide inside to capture any prey that comes near the opening. Some species even cover the holes with small rocks to make it even harder to notice," Shane pulled up a couple of pictures in her tablet. The spiders themselves were very similar to the ones back on Earth, aside from the size. Luckily, when she showed the picture of their hiding spots, everyone could tell how obvious they were. Hera raised her hand, "Do we have to worry about poison?" "Not really. They do have a small numbing agent, but it seems to be so weak that it would take 50 bites from the big ones to start hindering our movements. It''s more likely that the bites would kill before you even feel the poison," Shane flicked her tablet a few times to reveal a massive yellow scarab almost as large as a bear with two sets of arms pointing forward, "These are the other faction if that''s what you want to call them. Those arms that are pointing forward can shoot stingers. Again, no poison, but these things can penetrate deep into the rocks." "Hehe," Mylo''s giggle made everyone stare at him, "Sorry. Penetrate." "Would you grow up?" Shane rolled her eyes. "Yeah, this is not a joke. Can those things break through the Roly Poly''s shell?" Blue asked. "They can, yes." "So you might say, they penetrate balls deep?" Blue and Mylo started laughing at the joke. "Oh, what are you? 12?" Bonnie gasped. "13 and a half, thank you very much," Blue replied. Shane put away her tablet and just told everyone to get ready. They still had to eat something before going to the next room. During the meal, Hera and Bonnie did their best to explain the behavior of spiders and other insects to Silah. The dwarf had never seen those types of creatures, and having someone so oblivious about the dangers they represented could lead to trouble. In the end, they all agreed that for now, Silah should always stay close to someone else until she felt comfortable. After about one hour, the group decided to go to the next room before Shane shook her leg out of its socket. The doorway was outside the outpost, but it took just a quick 10-minute walk to get there. The passage was around a bunch of loose rocks and some sand, in the only part of the room that broke away from the forest feeling that the rest of the room had. On top of the doorway, there was a symbol that looked like dried-up ground, much like the aerial view of the valley. Shane was the first to cross over, followed by the rest. Hera and Silah were the last ones to enter. The blacksmith was looking at a text she got from her family. Despite what she said, it was clear that Silah missed her parents. "Are you ready?" Silah asked after she finished sending a reply. "Just one last thing," Hera leaned over and stole a kiss from her girlfriend, "Now I''m ready." Silah had turned red with that, "That makes one of us." They smiled and touched the doorway. A message appearing in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Wailing Valley - 7th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, the pair vanished in a glow of white light. 313 - The Wailing Valley The first thing Hera noticed about the Wailing Valley was the heat. She just felt the familiar warmth from the transfer, but that was replaced by dry and scorching heat. Even if they were under the shade, it wasn''t enough to give them some reprieve. The next thing Hera noticed was how the surrounding area felt odd in comparison with the temperature. The place was dark, almost as dark as a cave. Looking up, Hera could see she was at the bottom of a massive ravine that should be a few hundred meters high. The sunlight was only hitting the top of the walls. In a way, this place felt like a prison one would see in fantasy stories. A place where you could only wait for a small reprieve from the darkness. This was only her initial thought as she was staring up. As soon as Hera looked around, her impression changed. The outpost here was still being built. So far, only the guild and the infirmary were ready. Everything else was temporary, from the bathrooms to the bonfires that illuminated the area. In fact, looking around, this felt like a summer camp. People were walking around outside, talking and laughing. Torches were set up in the surrounding area, making it look even more like a camp for kids. There was a surprising number of people in the area, but not as many as they had in the Forest of Dreams. Here it seemed like people were focusing on defending the outpost and building the structures. Only a couple of groups seemed to be the type who would be interested in exploring the area. Shane was thrilled with that. The fewer people that seemed interested in discovering the room, the more chances she had of being the first to find the ruins. It was early morning, despite the darkness of the area. This also meant that they had a lot of time to move around and start their search. Shane pulled Hera to the side before gathering everyone. "Do that thing, please," Shane asked. "What thing?" "That green thing that doesn''t let other people hear us." "Oh, right," Hera tapped her foot, and a green barrier covered the two, allowing them to speak without being heard. "Thanks. So I wanted to talk to you about the guide. Let''s hold off on calling them for now," Shane spoke after making sure that no one would listen to them. "Ok, but why? Isn''t it better to just ask where the ruins are? We can call them twice." "Well, we don''t know what to expect in the ruins. If it''s a place that has too many secret passages or a full library, how can we find the information about the court? That''s why I''m saying we should save that. At least for now, you know. If we can''t find the ruins on our own, we can call the guide and ask about them. I just don''t want to waste a question with something that is going to end up being easy," Shane explained. "That''s fair. I''ll hold off on calling them. But even if we end up not needing their help. I want to see what the guide here looks like," Hera said. "Oh, for sure. I''m curious too. It''s going to be the first time I call a guide with someone else," Shane smiled. "With someone else? I don''t think we can do that even if we have the skill. Wasn''t the whole thing about not sharing because people started to call them in groups?" Hera asked. "Yeah, no. It was just a figure of speech. I have no clue if calling them in a group would work, and honestly, I have no intention of risking getting a strike." "Ok. So what''s the plan for now?" "Let''s get everyone to talk about that," Shane left the soundproof bubble. They gathered around, and Shane passed her strategy along. Since the texts talked about a place that was covered in webs, they had to find the nest of the spiders. The ruins should be somewhere around there. Hera and Shane would be using their relics to get a better sense of where everything was, with Hera''s dowsing rod being the hail mary in case they couldn''t find anything before calling the guides. "Everyone, listen up," Shane pulled the group to the edge of the outpost, "Everything here is dark, so we have two options. Either we put a bunch of lights around us and attract the monsters, or we manage without it and be very careful while we walk." "We are a large group. I think using the lights would be better," Bonnie said. "Are you sure? It''s like a massive ''free meal'' sign," Blue replied. "Not free. If they try, we just kill them," Mylo gestured with his staff. "I like the posture, but that might not work. Don''t forget that the monsters here should be higher level than Bonnie and I," Alex said. "Right, what level is everyone again? I''m 28, and Mylo is 25," Shane asked. "Blue and I are level 18. We should be around the same level as the strongest monsters here," Hera replied. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I''m level 23, but the strongest thing I ever fought against was just level 15," Silah added. "I''m level 15, and Bonnie is level 13," Alex added. "I''m level 14, actually. I got a level up a couple of days before we left Boothudurn," Bonnie puffed her chest proudly. "I''m level 18," Helena said. "Still Lena? I thought you were level 18 the last time we saw each other. And that was what? A couple years ago already." "I know, but I was focusing on my research. For a mage, that is a very ineffective way of leveling up." "Still, shouldn''t you have gotten a level at least? After everything that went down on the wall and all," Shane tilted her head. "You don''t have to tell me. I assumed that the penguins and weird bear things we fought would''ve given me a level at least, but here I am," Helena sighed. "Well, I imagine that your attributes will go through the roof then. I mean, that''s what? 3, 4 years at level 18?" Bonnie asked. "Maybe, like I imagine you are right, but I still can''t be sure until I actually level up." "I hope that happens soon. It would be a big boost to our group. Anyway, going back to the plan. Since Alex and Bonnie are lower-leveled, you two stay by my side. I''ll be on the lookout for any sneak attacks from monsters. I know you are more of a frontline Alex, but try to avoid that just until we are familiar with the creatures here," Shane''s request was met with a nod from Bonnie and an annoyed grunt from Alex. Still, the assassin knew that this was the best option. "The rest of us can be anywhere. I will take the front," Mylo pulled his staff from his back and moved to the front of the group. "I guess that''s it then. Let''s get going. Stay on the lookout for the spider nest. It should be a corridor filled with webs and spiders, or at least that''s what my clue says," Shane turned around, and the group started walking. "Hera, do things don''t change in the MAZE?" Silah asked as their journey began. "What do you mean?" "Like, if something was written down some years ago, will they always be like that?" Hera thought for a moment, "Not really. Major landmarks will most likely stay, but everything else can change." "So¡­ how can Shane be sure that the ruins we are looking for will be in the middle of a spider nest?" "I don''t know..." Hera looked towards Shane, who was close enough to hear the conversation. "I''m not sure, I''m not even sure if the texts I found spoke about this particular room. But that''s our best bet for now. The only lead we have. So instead of going around running like headless chickens, we at least have something specific to look for. If it works, great. If not, we just keep moving," Shane explained. The group left the safety of the outpost, and the light spells were triggered. Hera, Bonnie, Shane, and Silah used light spells to illuminate a large area around them. Helena could help, but light spells would go against the affinity, which made the spell way too costly to be worth. Instead, Helena could use a night vision of sorts, even if it was only for herself. For the first few minutes of their search, nothing happened. Everyone had a copy of the aerial view of the area, and they could overlay it with their maps. After half an hour walking, they were still in the first crevasse, and no one had ever seen where it would branch out. Even monsters were nowhere to be seen and in almost complete darkness. That was unsettling, even if they knew that this was supposed to be like that. Unlike when they traveled through the rooms, here everyone was tense, and there was little to no talking going on, which only made the silence even more evident. Another ten minutes went by when they reached the first branching path. A howling sound was coming from the path to the right, and the valley there was more narrow. Everyone looked at Shane to know where to go next. This was her quest, and she would be the one taking the lead. She placed her gauntlet on the ground and used her sonar ability. When she got up, the explorer pointed to the new path. Hera sent a couple of dancing lights ahead and tried to keep them about fifty meters ahead. That way, the light could work almost like the light of an anglerfish. A trap to lure creatures in its direction, making the monsters reveal themselves to the group. Several times, the shadow of a creature seemed to creep up on the edge of the light, but it quickly vanished. They couldn''t tell if that really happened, or it was just the situation playing tricks on them. Shane pulled up her map and sighed, "Guys. I know we are being careful, but I think we need to pick up the pace a bit. If we keep this going, it''s going to take a year to go over everywhere. Is everyone ok with moving faster?" "I''m fine with faster, but we shouldn''t be running," Hera said. "Yeah, it''s just walking at a normal pace and not at this careful march we are doing," Shane nodded. The group started moving at a more steady pace and reached another crossroads in just a few minutes. Hera pulled up her map again and started to check the information the guild already had. They had explored about a quarter of the room, but no one had found the nests of any of the creatures that lived here. It was assumed that the Roly Poly nest was above the valley, since most of them fell from above, but no one could be sure about that. Some explorers were able to fly, but that was considered a high-level skill since it required a massive amount of mana. The closest part that had yet to be explored was to the left path and up. Shane, however, had other plans. She wanted to keep pushing ahead, to where the spiders and the scarabs kept fighting each other. Her reasoning was simple. There had to be a reason for both species to be so interested in that particular spot. Following their leader, the group continued walking until the sun was high in the sky, giving a small break from all the shadows and illuminating most of the valley. Around that time, they arrived in the area marked as being the battlegrounds between scarab and spider. The two armies were already there, fighting each other. It was evident why that specific area was so desired. Looking in the opposite direction, Hera could see a long corridor going west, meaning that in this small patch of land, the sun would shine for much longer than in other areas. The battle actually looked like a fight between two armies. The spiders were throwing themselves on top of the scarabs, biting and ripping them apart with their legs and fangs. In contrast, the scarabs focused more on blunt force. Their two frontal legs were massive and armored. They slammed them against the spiders and used two smaller arms to shot out projectiles as a defensive measure. "We are not jumping in there, are we?" Blue asked after watching the fight for a while. 314 - Search for the ruins "They are starting again," Blue turned to Bonnie, who typed something in her tablet. "Ok, so they fight for about 30 minutes, then they split off and go back for an hour or so, but some of the monsters are staying back even during the break. It seems like they are posturing and just roaring at each other. Another odd thing is that they are not killing. They hurt each other really badly but never deal the finishing blow," Bonnie explained after checking the information she had written down. "This is oddly organized for a bunch of monsters," Blue sighed. After arriving at the area where the monsters kept attacking each other, the group found a place to watch the creatures. The idea was to check if they had a way to sneak by them. Since there was such a large force here, there should be an empty nest or a less populated one around. The group was searching for a place filled with webs, the nest seemed to be the best fit for that description. The only issue was that this particular path was closed off from the rest of the room. According to the map, if they wanted to check that specific valley, this was the only path available to take. Because of that, Shane, Alex, and Mylo went ahead to see how many monsters were around and if there was any way to sneak past them. Hera, Silah, and Helena were on the protection team, watching out for stray monsters and making sure no one would end up being caught in a trap. "Hera, can you see that," Silah pointed to the shadows. Hera squinted, trying to see whatever her girlfriend was talking about but found nothing. She could only see the surrounding darkness. "I can''t see a thing. How about you, Lena?" Helena looked around with her night vision, "Give me a moment," she raised her hands and used the shadows to grab the creature in the darkness. What followed were loud sounds of something being crushed and ripped apart. Suddenly, Helena was covered in a soft blue glow, "Yes! Finally, I need a minute now." "Did you level up?" Blue looked back towards Helena. "I did, and holy crap, those are a lot of points," Helena gasped. "How many?" Bonnie asked "A couple hundred. This should be the equivalent to¡­ maybe ten levels? Holy shit," Helena was feeling shell-shocked by the situation. "Go take care of that. Don''t worry, we got this," Hera said with a smile. Seeing Helena be this happy was amazing. "That is a lot of points. I think the captain was the only person back home who got that many points in a level up," Silah said. "I guess that makes sense. She''s already over level 60, so there is a good chunk that she would get naturally," Hera nodded. They kept going with their watch for a few more minutes until the recon team came back. "So, did you find anything?" Blue asked as the trio got closer. "Not really. There are about 50 monsters on each side, and only 25 fight at once. The only way to go past any of the groups would be to brute force it, or maybe come back at night, but that''s a whole different can of worms," Shane sighed. "Right¡­ and what''s the plan? Do we need to prepare for a big fight, or are we trying someplace else?" Hera asked. "Let''s go someplace else. This seems too risky. We might need to get other groups to help or prepare a bit better. I don''t think it''s worth the risk when we have yet to search the other areas," despite her words, it was easy to tell that Shane wasn''t all that thrilled with the idea of ignoring the place for now. "Where should we go then?" Mylo asked. "I was looking at the map, and I think we can try this valley," Hera pointed at a large valley that crossed most of the room to the left, that place was still among the unexplored areas, "According to what you said, Shane, the thing we are missing is the howling from the abyss. A corridor that long should give us a chance to hear that sound and try to follow it. Maybe the ruins will be closer to the ''source'' of the noise." "That is actually a good idea. We should get to the other side in what, half a day?" Bonnie started analyzing the map. "Probably, more if we stumble on monsters. Well, I say that, but we have the level fake level 19 here now, so it might not be much of an issue," Blue bumped Helena''s shoulder. "Fake level 19?" Shane had a confused expression. "I leveled up and got an absurd amount of attribute points. It should be enough to be worth 10 levels." "So you are the person with the highest stats among us all now?" Shane asked. "I wouldn''t say that, but my stats should be closer to yours than to Hera and Blue''s," Helena explained. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Let''s get going. We can walk and talk," Shane said. The group started moving towards that long corridor. The closer they got to their destination, the louder the howling sound became. Not just that, but the area became much windier. Not to the point of being a problem, but it was like someone was aiming a leafblower directly at their faces. The corridor in question was much larger than most. It was as wide as the main street of a big city. It would be easy to fit eight lanes of cars in here. However, the floor was rockier than the other areas. To top it all off, there were several tracks from different monsters. It seemed like this area saw a considerable amount of traffic. Despite that, the number of monsters they found was surprisingly small, and they only showed up in groups of three at most. This allowed Hera''s party to move rather quickly through the area, even while fighting. It didn''t take long for them to understand the behaviors of the creatures that lived here. The spiders focused onbursts of speed, but as long as you avoided the initial attack, it wouldn''t be hard to finish them off. The scarabs, on the other hand, were the slow but steady type. During the quick battles they had, those creatures would always move at a constant pace unless they were using the smaller hands to shot out their stingers. In that case, the speed was higher than the spider''s attacks, but the projectile wasn''t as strong as one would expect. Sure, if it hit exposed skin, it would be horrible, but it was like being shot with a paintball when hitting armor. Painful, but it would just leave a bruise. Seeing Mylo take those hits with his bare skin and the stinger bounce off as if it was made of rubber was a sight to behold. Unlike most people who wore armor, he had skills and spells that made his skin stronger than steel. He always said that it was better to move without a heavy suit of armor, and this was his solution which worked surprisingly well. Not to say that there weren''t any issues with that. Things like poison, fire, and other elemental-based attacks were more effective against him since they directly hit his skin. Using his staff, the man looked like a mix between a giant and a martial artist from a movie. At times, his attacks were heavy and wide, but at other moments, he spun around quickly with a dexterity that didn''t seem possible unless he was seeing the world in bullet time. During the figths Shane was doing her best to avoid using the fire bullet, it would make too much noise and the explosion was like a flare in such a darc place. Instead, she was focusing on the earth spike and her electric net. Using the buckshot bullet in the dark with such a large group of people was a bit dangerous, and she was trying to avoid that unless it was completely necessary. Still, who impressed Hera the most was Helena. There was a moment when the party had to stop because it seemed that there was a large group of scarabs in front of them, but they weren''t moving. Worried that the creatures could be just sleeping and that throwing light in that area could wake the creatures up, Helena stepped up and used one of her spells to control the shadows on the valley walls. She changed the color absorbed by the terrain, essentially making the bounce of the natural light stronger. It became strong enough to illuminate the bottom of the valley and reveal that what looked like scarabs was just an odd rock formation. Helena spent almost her entire mana pool for that single spell, but it still was something incredible. She managed to change the natural laws of the room, even if just for a moment. Hera wasn''t the only one amazed by that. Bonnie and Shane were astonished as well. This was the kind of magic that only was possible for high-level explores, but thanks to Helenas''s synch, her [Reinforced Mana], and the boost she just got with her bonus attribute points, she could make this type of effect before level 20. One could only imagine how strong she would get when she became a high-level explorer herself. "Maybe you should start thinking about what title you will get," Hera said with a smile. "Stop that. I''m still ages away from having a title," Helena waved Hera off. "Are you? The guild gives that whole spiel about titles being an honor above gold cards, but they are not the only ones who can give someone a title. I mean, as long as enough people start calling you by a name, what can they do?" Shane said. "I''m just level 19. I''m not getting a title." "Why not? I mean, Hera got a silver card in less than a year. Weirder things happened," Alex said. "Let''s not talk about that, ok. I just got my magic back. Let me enjoy this before you all start to put so much pressure on me." "What pressure? We are just saying you are badass," Blue protested. "Leave it, Blue. I get what Lena means," Hera tried to defend the mage since this discussion started because of her. "Fine," Blue shrugged. "Thanks, sweetie," Helena whispered to Hera, who just winked at her. "What is, like, the reason people get titles?" Silah asked. "Right¡­ you don''t know about the titles explorers get, right?" Bonnie turned to Silah and started to think about where to start. "No, no. I know that part. The guild or someone gives people a title that matches what they do. That''s why those two singers are Bright Night and Black Star, right? One of them can make a night get bright, kind of like what Helena did, and the other uses dark star magic or something. But like, how do you get a title? Is there a test, or is it something you pick or someday you just wake up, and someone tells you, ''hey, this is your title.''" "Well, you kind of have to earn it. All those explorers who have titles did something to give them that name. In Black Star''s case, her performances always included stars and other space-like elements even during the day, so she ended up with that title. I don''t know about Bright Night, but I''m assuming it''s the same," Alex explained. "So anything goes? Like can a crafter get a title? Or a healer?" Silah asked. "Yeah. As long as it is something other people recognize. I know for a fact that there is a crafter who specializes in musical instruments. He''s called Fate String because he makes guitars, harps, and other string instruments with a lot of crazy effects. He can do other stuff too, but string instruments are his specialty," Bonnie said. "Is that only for humans? Can dwarves get titles too?" Silah seemed excited about that idea. "Anyone can, as far as I know," Shane replied, but she quickly made a motion for everyone to stop moving. On the path ahead, there was some mist coming from below. The group pulled in their light spells and walked carefully. No one had said anything about mist here, and oddly enough, the fog was a visible shade of light grey even in this place with low light. They carefully approached that mist and noticed a massive chasm going even deeper than the valley. With a howl, the wind seemed to pick up and push some of that mist away, revealing another layer of valleys under the floor on the other side of the crevasse. "I''m going to go on a limb and say. The ruins are down there," Blue sighed, already imagining how much work would be to go down. "Maybe, maybe not. There is only one way to find out," Shane replied with a big smile. 315 - The room beneath the room Before heading into that new area of the room, the group decided to go back to the outpost and rest. In fact, instead of staying in the Wailing Valley, they returned to the Forest of Dreams since they still could cross the doorway. That way, everyone would have a nice comfortable bed and a hot shower before resting. Another benefit of that was the access to supplies. Most general stores inside the MAZE also had some climbing supplies, even in rooms with no mountains. It wasn''t rare to find a dungeon or a hidden spot that could require that basic gear. However, not everyone carried rope and hooks everywhere. Most people would never even have a set of climbing gear. So, most stores started to sell that type of equipment. If they were located in a room with a lot of high walls and caves to be explored, there would be a wider range of options. The same could be said to the stores in rooms connected to places like that. Unfortunately, the Forest of Dreams store was still a work in progress, and being by a room with impossibly high valleys made it so the climbing gear wasn''t on the top of the list of things to sell. They still had a basic option, but nothing with any fancy enchantments. Just to be safe, Bonnie got three of those kits for the group. This was just a backup plan since Hera, Silah, and herself were already tasked to make a stone path from the rocks on the side of the chasm, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The group also discussed if they should let people know about this new area or not. On the one hand, it was good to have people knowing where they should look for them if something happened. On the other, if they told people about this new area, more people could potentially find the ruins. Shane was the only one who was advocating against telling the guild. After hearing Bonnie''s argument that the ruins could not even be down there, she agreed to tell them, but only in the next day when they were already heading out to this new area. This time there were enough rooms for everyone in the hotel. Hera and Silah shared a room. It''s been a while since they were alone and could enjoy each other''s company. The following day, Shane woke everyone up, and they headed out to the Wailing Valley again. During the night, the people in charge of the room got a shipment of mountain bikes delivered. There were 20 of them lying around, and people could rent them to move around in the room. The price was for the rent was the full price of each bike, 200 gold a pop. However, when they returned them, they could get up to 150 gold back. This was set up like that so that in case the bikes ended up destroyed or damaged, the price to fix them would already be covered by the rent. This would help the group, even though not everyone knew how to ride a bike. Among them, Silah and Bonnie had no idea how to ride one, and Shane wasn''t confident about using one in this rocky room. Luckily, whoever ordered the bikes half expected that. They had a few options with an extra seat on the back. The ones who couldn''t ride would be able to travel there as long as someone strong was peddling. They would have to be careful with monsters, but the bikes had an enchantment that would ward off creatures. It wasn''t that powerful, but it should be possible to scare away some of the random monsters. A large group, however, that would be an issue. They grabbed a few bikes and headed out. At first, it wasn''t that much faster than walking, but everyone got the hang of it little by little. To make things easier. Mylo was the only one alone on a bike. Everyone else had a double with the mages and Silah on the back. That way, they had an artillery line, with Mylo being the vanguard during the travel. It was a fun feeling to see monsters in the distance before blasting them away with spells as they zoomed by on the bikes. Hera had to hold herself back from laughing like a kid more than once. They were trying to keep a low profile despite it all. A few hours went by, and the group finally reached the chasm again. Looking down, the sight was terrifying. They could see some of the second layers of valleys on the other side of the abyss. There was also a way to tell that these valleys continued under them, even if they couldn''t see the opening thanks to the fog that moved under the group without being stopped by anything. "Hera, could you make some walls to hide the bikes? Like, box them in a stone cube so no monster can damage them," Bonnie asked. "Oh, that''s a good idea. Why didn''t I think of that," Hera started putting the bikes by the wall and with the help of everyone that barely took time. With everything ready, she made four stone slabs, creating a makeshift tomb for the rented bicycles. When she turned back, she saw Helena putting a harness and tying the rope around her, "Are you going first?" "Yeah, I''m thinking about the grabbers. I might be able to use them to drag me down, well, depending on how far it is. If they are the same size as those, I don''t think I can go down," Helena pointed to the wall of the valley. "Ok, just be careful. We don''t know what''s down there or even if there is an actual path. This might be just a pit," Hera walked over and looked at the abyss. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "So what? We are all floating?" Alex asked. "Well, maybe. Who knows. The MAZE is weird," Hera shrugged. Mylo and Blue grabbed onto the rope, and Helena started to move down. Her grabbers glued her to the floor, and she started her descent. It was slow but steady. After a few moments, the wall gave in, and she was suddenly holding herself in the ceiling. "This should be just around ten meters high," Helena''s voice echoed through the abyss. "Can you get to the floor?" Shane asked. "I can. Just give me a minute or a few," Helena replied and kept moving. Hera and the others just waited while the mage moved through this second layer of valleys. The rope, which was 20 meters long, was 3/4 of the way down when noises of something were crushed and ripped apart. "Is everything ok there?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Just some spiders who came out to play. Gimme a minute," Helena replied with a chipper voice. More noises of limbs being pulled apart echoed through the abyss. Bonnie leaned over the chasm, "Aren''t you supposed to be a mage that focuses on removing a monster''s senses? What the hell are you doing down there?" "I''m removing their sense of touch and taste," Helena replied. "Just be careful. And those are just stragglers, right? Not a nest?" Hera yelled. It was one thing to fight a couple of monsters, another to face a horde of creatures on her own. A few minutes later, the rope became loose, "Ok, got it. You guys can come now." "Do we rappel down?" Blue asked. "It''s an option," Shane leaned over the ledge, "Can you help us, Lena?" "I can just come down to the ceiling," Helena replied. One by one, the group headed down. When only Mylo remained, Hera created a stone platform coming from the edge of the ceiling. That way, he could climb there and drop to the ledge to be in Helena''s sight. The mage only could use the grabbers when she saw the target. This second layer of valleys had one very unique characteristic. Even though the ceiling was made out of stone, the sunlight could still pass through it. They couldn''t tell if it was an illusion or not, but since it was already past noon, they weren''t anything they could do to check it out. "How are we going to go up again?" Bonnie asked. "I¡­ don''t know. We''ll figure that out when we come back. Let''s start exploring. Maybe we''ll even find another way up," Shane replied. "Did we just get stuck?" Blue asked. "Don''t worry. Worst case scenario Silah, Bonnie, and I can make some stone slabs as a stairway on the side of the walls. I think we can make it tall enough," Hera replied. "We''ll think about that later. Let''s keep going, everyone," Shane said. The group started walking. In here, things were very similar to what they were upstairs. Long valleys connected to other valleys. However, the monster activity here was much higher. While on the top floor, the group could see a large group of creatures fighting each other in a specific area. Everywhere else only had a couple spiders or a few stragglers that were hardly an issue to deal with. In here, things changed. Just at a glance, the group already had to decide whether they would try to sneak by all the traps created by the trapdoor spiders or if they would just attack the monsters before they were attacked by them. A preemptive strike ended up being the majority vote. Everyone who had long-range attacks would bombard the traps in hopes of killing the monsters, while Mylo, Alex, and Blue took care of anything that managed to survive and fight back against the barrage of spells. Their progress here was much slower than the progress on the top floor, but they were still moving at a good pace. Shane was thrilled with everything they were found. The howling wind was much louder on the bottom floor, and the area was filled with cobwebs. It wasn''t enough to be a nest, but then again, the ruins didn''t have to be by a nest. What they were looking for was just a place filled with webs. The hours went by quickly, with the group exploring the area and killing any monsters that attacked them, but there weren''t any signs of the ruins anywhere. No paths, no constructions, nothing. When it started to get late, they discussed the possibility of sleeping here, but that didn''t seem to be a good idea. Even if they had a large group, there was no need to make camp in a place filled with monsters if they could just head back and sleep in a safe area. Going back to the chasm, Helena used her grabbers to help Hera, Silah, and Bonnie build that makeshift staircase using the stone spells they had at hand. It took close to an hour for the structure to be completely done. Heading up, they grab the bikes and head back to the Forest of Dreams to rest. During the next few days, this is how they spent their time. Searching for the ruins in both floors of the Wailing Valley. As time went by, Shane started to get more and more frustrated until one day, before heading out from the outpost, she pulled Hera aside. "Hey, can you call, you know who?" "You mean who I don''t know who?" Hera chuckled. "Yeah, you know what I''m saying." "I do. Yeah, I can make a box for me with the stone spells and use the other one. What should I ask? I''m assuming the ruins, but any specific ideas?" "Try to get as much information as you can. If I have to ask for something specific, I ask them to reply with ''hot or cold'' then I can zoom in the answer instead of having them take away time because of a question," Shane said. "That''s a good idea. I''ll keep that in mind. Any other suggestions?" The two of them talked for a few minutes, trying to figure out the best line of questioning to get the information about ruins and how to get there. When they felt they had discussed enough, Hera walked away from the outpost and created another box, but with herself inside. She followed that up with the soundproof barrier and sat down to call the guide. 316 - Getting Answers Hera sat down, ready to call the guide of the Wailing Caverns to help her, when she realized one thing. She had no idea what was the name of the place they were searching for. Ruins were just too generic. What if there was something else that could be considered a ruin in this room? She pulled up her tablet and sent a message to Shane, asking about the name or any other identifying trait that the place they were searching for had. A minute went by, and there was no response. Shane didn''t even read the message. Hera deactivated the soundproof spell and opened the box she created. Moving back to the outpost, she looked for Shane and the rest of the group. "Shane, come here for a minute," Hera pulled the explorer over. "That was fast. Did you ask a big question?" Shane asked. "Not yet. What''s the name of the place we are looking for? Just saying ruins won''t work. What if there is a collapsed cave, or a structure made by the monsters that ended up being destroyed?" Hera explained. "Oh¡­ I guess that''s a good point. I honestly don''t know the actual name. But it should be a temple for the naga." "Naga?" "Yeah, imagine a snake with arms and a torso¡­ sort of," Shane explained. Hera stopped for a moment, trying to picture that type of creature, "So¡­ do they have..." Shane cut her off, "No snake tiddies." "How did you know I was going to ask that?" "It''s the first thing most people ask. I was bummed when I found out too," Shane sighed, "Anyway, it should be some sort of graveyard, mausoleum, or something with a spiritual significance." "Ok¡­ that doesn''t help that much. If they have something like that here, it wouldn''t be a surprise if there was an entire city somewhere in this room," Hera replied. "True, but that''s not a guarantee. Some ancient civilizations used to have graveyards in different rooms. Bringing the deceased to those places was something almost ritualistic." "Are they still around? The naga people, I mean." "As far as I''m aware, no. They are all gone. But I wouldn''t go past the idea that there is a civilization of that race still living somewhere in the MAZE." "That''s true. Well, I''m going back to the box. I''ll be right back." Hera turned around and left the outpost again, returning to that makeshift bunker where she could talk with the guide without being interrupted. She blocked it off again and created the soundproof barrier before taking a deep breath and activating the skill. "I call upon the Guide of the Wailing Valley. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." Unlike the other times where just a rift appeared, this time, a well-made mahogany door appeared in one of the walls of this box that Hera created. It was adorned with some engravings of trees and intricate flowers on the frame and a small brass knocker in the shape of a lion. Aside from the fact that the door didn''t even reach Hera''s knee, it seemed like the entrance to a very elegant place. She waited for the guide to come out, but a minute passed, and nothing happened. Hera leaned over the door and called. "Hello? Is there someone there?" but no one replied to her, "Should I?" Hera got close to the door and used the brass lion to knock on the door. "I''ll be right there. Just a moment," a gruff voice came from inside the door. "Oh, right. Sorry," Hera replied and took a step back, sitting on the floor. A few minutes passed, with Hera becoming increasingly more worried. The guide was still on the other side of the door, and there was no clock around, but that wasn''t a guarantee that the time of the skill wasn''t already ticking. Then again, this was most likely just her being paranoid. Every guide she ever met was fair and would let her know when the time started. Finally, the door opened, and a creature with a chameleon''s head and a humanoid body dressed in pristine Victorian attire came out. He wore a navy blue dress shirt with a white jacket and a black scarf around his neck. The guide also had a small cane with a silver hawk''s head on the pommel and a shiny black top hat. "Hello, I am Percy Bodwitch. The one and only guide for the Wailing Valley. At your service," the guide gave a small bow while taking off his hat, revealing a set of colorful spikes on the top of his head. "Oh, hi," Hera replied, still distracted by the guide''s entire persona. Sure, the kobold sisters also wore clothes, but they were more modern, and their entrance was less flashy, aside from the dance routine. Percy frowned, "It is polite to introduce oneself when you meet someone for the first time. Just because the system already told me your name, it doesn''t mean that manners should be ignored." "Sorry. I''m Hera. Hera Kingsley." Percy looked around for a moment, "Well, I see that you weren''t able to provide decent accommodation after inviting me here. Very well," the guide pulled up a pocket watch, at the same time an analog clock appeared in the air above the door. "Sorry. I had to make a place hidden from everyone else. If I got chairs or something, it would draw too much attention," Hera explained. "That is a poor excuse, my dear. If you are able to make a box like this, you are more than capable of making some proper seating arrangements," Percy scoffed. "I don''t think I can do that. Not to mention that I never tried to make something so delicate as a chair," Hera crossed her arms. "That is a shortcoming you should have considered before inviting me here. Nevertheless, let us start with the questions. I do not wish to stay here for longer than I have to," Percy clicked the button on his watch, and the clocks started to move. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Hera was surprised by that. So far, all guides had asked before starting the time. The way Percy acted was also weird. He wasn''t as polite as everyone else. Coming here seemed more of a chore than something he was excited about. She looked at the clock, 10 seconds had gone by, and she didn''t ask a single question. "Right. For starters, answer my questions with yes or no. Don''t elaborate unless I ask, ok?" Hera pulled up her tablet and opened a file with some questions she had prepared with Shane''s help. "Yes," Percy replied without looking away from his watch. "Are there any ruins in this room?" "Yes." "Are they from a human civilization?" "No." "Are they from the naga civilization?" "Yes." "The ruins are on this floor?" For the first time, Percy hesitated before answering, "Yes." Hera stared at the guide for a moment, "There are no ruins below us. On the floor below us, I mean. Correct?" "No." "So there are ruins there?" "Yes." "Are they on this side of the chasm?" Percy just stared back at Hera without answering. "You can elaborate on that question as long as it doesn''t take a chunk out of my time," Hera glanced at the clock. She had spent almost a minute in just these small questions, but there was already a lot of information that would help. "I do not know what chasm are you referring to. There is more than one in this room," Percy replied. Hera activated her [Treasure Map] and pointed at the area where they found the abyss, "Here, is beyond that area?" "Ah. Yes, it is." "Ok. I''ll point to a few places. Can you tell if it is hot or cold? I''m trying to find the location of the ruins. If it''s going to cost time, please let me know." "I can do that, yes. However, each answer will subtract a certain amount of time," Percy replied. "Forget about that for now, then. Among the ruins, is there something similar to a graveyard? Or a mausoleum? Go back to yes and no answers." "Yes." "Are there more ruins aside from a graveyard?" "Yes." "An entire city?" "No." "Are they all in the same place?" "No." "Are they all beyond the chasm I pointed out?" "Yes." "Can you tell me if there is a legacy in one of them? Do I have enough time for that answer?" Percy sighed, "No one has enough time for such an answer. Do you truly believe legacies are such mundane things that can be found with this skill?" "Well, it was worth a shot. Can you tell me if the ruins have some relation with the court of heroes?¡± "No, I can''t." "Ok then. Are those ruins currently inhabited by someone?" "Yes." "Monsters or people?" "Monsters." "Before the guild got here, was the naga the last people that came to this room?" Percy showed a surprised expression, aiming both his eyes at Hera for once, "Yes." "How long ago did the naga left?" "You don''t have enough time for that answer." "Ok, are there any strong monsters in the ruins?" "Yes." "More than one?" "Yes." "On another subject. I''ve seen this floor and one below it. Considering the room as a whole and not an individual building that someone made here. Are there any more floors in this room aside from those two?" "No." Hera had gone through the questions she had prepared. The only last option would be to do the hot and cold on the map to find the graveyard. "Last thing then. Let''s do the hot and cold thing." "Very well. I cannot tell you how much time it will cost until you point at the position and, to avoid any improper use of it, in case an answer requires more time than you have, I shall just inform you that your time ran out without answering." "That is very unfair," Hera crossed her arms. "Only if you take too long to find the right location. If you are lucky and intelligent, it shouldn''t be a problem," Percy scoffed. "Fine. Let''s do this then," Hera pointed at a specific spot in the map right above the chasm, "Hot or cold? I talking about how close I am to the ruins I asked about." "Cold," Percy clicked his stopwatch and reduced the remaining time by 10 seconds. "Then here," Hera aimed above her previous guess. "Warmer," another click in his stopwatch, and Percy took away 15 seconds. Aiming a bit more to the left and towards the edge of the room, "What about here," "Warmer," with a click, 30 seconds were shaved off. Now Hera only had around 40 seconds left. "What about here?" Hera pulled her finger more to the left, reaching close to the left corner of the room. "Your time has run out," Percy closed his pocket watch, and the clock above the door vanished, "Now. I advise you to think more about the guides when you are calling us. Some hospitality would be greatly appreciated. Good day to you, ma''am." Percy turned around and opened the door, walking inside it and closing it behind him. The only thing Hera could do was to say ''Thanks'' before the door vanished. "Wow¡­ he''s kind of a dick," Hera sighed. Sure, this wasn''t the most comfortable place to have a discussion, but it wasn''t like she could call him over inside a restaurant. Not to mention that the entire interaction felt just like dealing with a tired employee from a store. This felt very weird, especially since the guides were supposed to find meaning in answering people''s calls. Or at least that is what Peaches made it sound like. Hera turned off the soundproof barrier and dismantled the stone bunker before walking back to the group. "So, did you find anything good with your relic?" Shane asked, already trying to cover any mention about the guide. "Sort of. It seems like there is something in the corner of the room, but we are going to have to cross the chasm to get there," Hera explained. "Well... That''s an issue," Bonnie sighed. "Maybe our mounts can help us cross that," Blue suggested. "Mounts? You have mounts?" Mylo''s eyes were sparkling. "Well¡­ sort of. It''s an item that calls a cloud griffon, but they can''t fly, just glide. I have no idea how they will deal with all that smoke or if they can even reach the other side," Blue explained. "Can I see it?" Mylo asked. "It''s better to show you there. If I use it now, it takes a while to call them again." "Why is this the first I hear about this?" Shane asked. "Well¡­ we only have two. Three actually, but I''m not sure if Silah has hers," Hera looked to her girlfriend. "I don''t. I left mine back home," Silah replied. "Yeah, and they can''t carry that much weight. So it''s a bit unfair, only a couple of us could," Hera shrugged. "Still, it could''ve helped!" Shane gasped. "Well, they will help now," Blue said as she walked over to the area where the bikes were available for rent. Helena walked closer to Hera and whispered, "Do you have any other reason for not talking about the mounts?" "Honestly? I completely forgot about it," Hera scratched the back of her head before following Blue. After a few days of mindless searching, they finally had a solid lead to the ruins. 317 - The other side of the chasm Having an idea of where they could find the ruins, the group headed towards the chasm they had found a few days ago. The rock staircase made by Hera, Silah, and Bonnie was still there. In fact, it was even better than before. Every time they walked through it, they would improve the structure a little. At first, it was just some railing, but then they made the stairwell wider, and Silah even added some decorations and a pattern on each step. They already had let the guild know about that path, but no one had gone there aside from Hera''s group as far as everyone was aware. People seemed more interested in the dungeons that were being discovered. There were three so far, one for each type of bug that one could find in the room. However, none of the dungeons gave away bonus rewards for the first time ever completed, which confirmed that other civilizations had come here before, presumably the naga. That only made Hera appreciate even more the rewards she got back in Boothudurn. Finding an unexplored dungeon was something extremely rare. On their way back, she wanted to search the rooms they came through to see if there was any other dungeon for the party to take advantage of. Either way, now what they had to worry about was how to cross over the chasm. "Soo... Alex, can you make like some hot wind or something to help my mount glide to the other side?" Blue asked. "It has to be something weak. If the wind is too strong, it will break the griffon apart," Hera added. "I''m not sure. Can you summon it so we can take a look?" Alex asked. "Sure," Blue picked up her Sky Ruler Whistle and blew on it. Smoke started to come out of it and take the shape of a large cloud griffon almost the size of a horse, "So. This is Sunny. Say hi to everyone." Sunny lowered its head as if to greed the party. Hera knew that it was just Blue telling it to make that motion, but it still made the construct feel somewhat alive. Mylo, Shane, and Bonnie got closer to the griffon and started examining it. "Can I pet it?" Mylo asked with a big smile. "Sure. I''m not sure if it will work that well, though. It''s basically a cloud, but we can mount it somehow. Also, it''s technically not alive. It''s more like a motorcycle than an actual animal," Blue''s voice sounded a bit disappointed. She then turned to the side and stared into space for a while. Hera understood that she should be listening to Stormcloud and tried to distract the others by summoning her own mount. "This one is mine. Even if she''s smaller, everything else is the same, including the weight she can carry," Hera explained. "It''s a she?" Mylo asked." "Yeah, but like a car she. Like Blue said, it''s a construct. It doesn''t have any emotions or reactions unless we ask them to. Oh, I call her Nimbus, by the way." "I''m getting a lot of mixed signals here. You say that these are just objects, but then you gave it a name and call it ''her,''" Shane looked at Hera. "People make emotional connections to anything. I mean, c''mon, people give names to those robot vacuum cleaners. If I''m wrong, then so is society," Hera shrugged. "I¡­ can''t argue with that. I think I had a teddy bear for years that I treated like a brother," Shane nodded. "It''s so cozy!" Mylo gasped as he petted Nimbus. "Oh, so petting works too? Well, that makes sense, but mounting it is amazing," Hera smiled. "Hum¡­ Shane, Mylo. Can I trust you guys?" Blue asked. "What?" Shane turned to the controller. "If I tell you a secret, can you keep it?" "Sure, I mean, we are trusting you with some pretty big things here. If you tell me a secret, I''ll just feel like were are more or less even," Shane shrugged. "Blue¡­ are you going to tell them about that?" Hera made an egg shape motion with her hand. "Yeah. There is something important that I have to tell everyone." "Are you sure that''s a good idea?" Hera pressed. "I am. This will help a lot," Blue turned to Shane again, "So¡­ when Hera and I got stuck in Boothudurn, I got a legacy." "Ohh, which one?" Mylo asked. "Is it a court legacy?" Shane followed it up. "No, it''s not a court one. It''s called Stormcloud, and it lets me control heavy clouds. Now that you guys know, I can help more with some stuff that I was hiding, but that''s beside the point. Do you know what the Heralds are?" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Shane crossed her arms and thought for a moment, "They are kind of like mentors for the legacies, correct?" "Mentors, assistants, squires. I think any of those fits. Anyway, Stormcloud just told me that I can probably merge my mount with the legacy." "How would that work?" Hera asked. "Well. The mount should be weaker at first, but it should be able to fly. Like actually fly and not just glide. But I would lose the whistle, or at least it would lose all the effects it has. Maybe not the thing in the wooly plains," Blue explained. "Well. It''s your item and your skill. Do what you think is best," Shane replied. "Ok, then I need a few minutes, ok? If you guys want to start, see if it would work with Hera''s mount," Blue walked to the side and started talking to Stormcloud, which only worked for her. For everyone else, it looked like she was having a heated discussion with herself. Hera turned to the group and explained the intricacies of her mount. Alex shook her head, "Yeah. I don''t think any of my spells will be able to help with that. They are all too offensive. It''s more likely that it will damage it than help it glide." "Maybe I can make some fire follow under it. Using hot air to help it stay up," Bonnie suggested. "I think that''s the best way to go about it. Let''s try it here on the ground first," Hera looked over the chasm. It should be around 100 meters wide, and even when they were on the lower floor, they still couldn''t see the bottom of that abyss. It could be because it was hidden by the thick layer of fog, or it could be hundreds of meters deep. Either way, doing a test directly over that pit wasn''t something anyone was willing to do. Bonnie created a carpet of fire on the ground while Hera made a small pillar of stone under Nimbus to give them a bit of a higher starting point. After taking a deep breath, the explorer commanded her mount to jump and glide forward. Nimbus spread her wings and started floating along. The speed was much slower than it could run, but it was to be expected. Bonnie pulled the fire towards her, and when Nimbus was finally above it, it was able to maintain its altitude without going down, but that was it. "So, I guess you would need to create a path of fire covering the entire chasm. Can you do that?" Hera asked. "I don''t think so. I might be able to make it pop, but maintain it for a long time is impossible," Bonnie replied as she dismissed the spell. Blue walked back to the group, "Yeah. I won''t be able to help with the mount either. Adding it to my legacy messed it up a little. It''s much weaker, for now, so weak that it can''t even carry me." "Blue, can''t you make clouds that we can use as platforms? Like the ones you used during the Sky Ruler fight," Silah asked. "Maybe, I don''t know if that works for other people," Blue prepared a footing cloud and created it about a meter above the ground, "Here. Someone try to climb it." Alex placed her hands on the cloud and climbed up. The platform was very bouncy, but it was solid enough to hold the assassin without much trouble, "It seems stable enough. How much weight can you carry with this?" "About 300kg, and¡­ let me check one thing," Blue created another cloud and placed it in the chasm. After a moment, she turned back to the group, "Yeah, I can keep this up for a while. Like at an hour without a rest." "How much rope do we have in total?" Bonnie started gathering the rope that everyone had with their climbing gear. She started tying all the rope together, creating a single 120-meter long rope. While she prepared that, the researcher explained her plan, "Here''s what we are going to do. Hera, you make a large stone pillar here. We tie this rope on the pillar, Blue creates a cloud large enough to cover the chasm, and someone crosses over in your mount Hera. It would be better if you went in first. That way, you can make another pillar on the other side, tie the rope there, and we use this as a safety line while we all cross using the cloud." "I think it might be better if we all use the mount, and we go one at a time. I mean that along with your plan Bonnie. The mount moves fast, and since it can glide, the rope won''t be tugged out off the blue," Helena added. "Yeah, that works, just one thing first," Hera told Nimbus to step on the cloud platform that Alex was standing on to see if the mount would be able to walk over it. Everything seemed fine, and they started the plan. It took Blue a couple of minutes to create a cloud large enough to cover the chasm even if it was a bit narrow, it would be enough for a single person, or cloud griffon to walk over it. After that, Hera climbed on her mount to cross. The rope was tied around her, just in case something happened. Luckily, she reached the other side without having to use that safety measure and created a second stone pillar, tying the rope around it. Nimbus was sent back, and it started doing its back and forth, carrying the party members one by one to the other side. Helena''s idea helped a lot with the time it took for everyone to reach the other side. They wouldn''t be able to cross so quickly by foot since walking on a cloud was an odd feeling that triggered a danger response for most. However, Nimbus didn''t have something like fear. It would only do as Hera commanded without hesitation. After everyone was through, Hera turned around and took a good look at the area. It was much similar to where they were before, with massive walls that went to the sky, making the area where they were extremely dark. The second thing she noticed was the dust and the number of spider webs all over the place, but no spiders. It seemed like this place was an abandoned nest. "What could make a spider colony run away?" Blue asked. "I don''t think they ran away. Maybe they just migrated to search for food," Bonnie suggested. "That''s the thing. What do they eat? It''s not like there are other animals or vegetation here," Blue continued. "They eat the scarabs, sometimes other spiders too," Shane nodded. "Some monsters also eat mana from the air," Mylo added. "Really? That''s weird," Alex crossed her arms. "Not really. Eating the mana in the air is kind of a regular thing. That''s why monsters can have special organs with mana. Like the boss from the frog valley," Bonnie explained. "Anyway, is this abandoned just because they were searching for food, or is it because of something else?" Helena asked. "It''s hard to tell. There are no signals of a fight or something like it. Still, we should be on the lookout," Bonnie said. "All right then. Hera, since you are the one who has more or less of a clue on where the ruins are, lead the way," Shane nodded to her. Hera nodded back and led the group deeper into this side of the chasm. According to her map, they would still need half a day before arriving at the corner of the room, and that wasn''t even considering everything that could go wrong during this trip. 318 - The naga people "Hey, isn''t that a roly-poly shell?" Blue pointed to what looked like a large boulder dangling from a web. "Isn''t that just a rock that fell in?" Alex asked. "No, look. That''s the head, that''s the tail, and those are the small limbs," Blue pointed the parts to the group. "I guess you''re right. But I didn''t know they got that big," Shane was looking at the corpse. The roly-poly was much bigger than any monster they had seen so far. One of those should be enough food for five spiders or a very big spider. They''ve been walking for a while, and the only thing they could see was the various webs that remained around even with no one to care for them. Even if they wanted to move faster, there were too many holes that seemed to be used by the spiders as traps or homes. Every time the group got close to one of those shafts, they had to stop and proceed with care to be sure there wouldn''t be any monsters waiting for them. If the creatures here moved away because of food, there was a chance that they were still starving. "Guys, do you want to keep going, or should we go back? It''s late, and it takes hours to reach the outpost," Helena asked when she noticed the time. "I''m ok with sleeping here. Hera and Silah can make a bunker for us to be protected, and we can take turns on watch just to be safe," Shane replied. "Yeah, but what about food? Do we have enough, or would we need to hunt?" Alex asked. "Hunt what? The spiders?" Bonnie gasped. "Yeah, they are big. There should be a lot of meat," Alex nodded. "Are you crazy?" Bonnie took a step back. "She''s not wrong. Spiders are very tasty," Mylo added. "I''m not eating spider!" Bonnie said. "Fine, we can go after scarabs or a roly-poly. They should be juicy," Blue said with a smirk. "Blue, stop that," Hera turned to Bonnie, "We should have enough rations for another two meals, but that means we need to go back tomorrow or we start hunting spiders. I get what you mean, it feels weird, but they are so big that the meat shouldn''t be any different from what we are used to. Well, unless it tastes like chicken, don''t people say that everything tastes like chicken?" "I never heard that one, but you know what, I think I understand it," Silah nodded. "To be fair, you haven''t experienced much of the food that we have to offer. I mean, you never even had sushi," Helena turned to Silah. "Is that the food made out of raw fish?" "Among other things, yes," Helena replied "That one seems weird," Silah tilted her head to the right. "Guys, quiet. We have movement in front," Hera whispered to the group. About fifty meters or so in front of her, there was something large crossing a corridor. The party started sneaking as best as it could. Even so, it was hard to keep themselves hidden when they were the only source of light in the area. Something else moved in the darkness. It stopped in the intersection and moved around. Its several eyes glowed, reflecting the light coming from the human''s spells, and it moved along the intersection in a hurry. "How many eyes a scarab has?" Alex asked. "Just two, I think. Maybe four if they are from some weird species," Bonnie replied. "Yeah, that''s definitively a spider then," Alex sighed. "Did you saw how big it was?" Shane was trying to see what was going on in the intersection. "Medium size, maybe. It didn''t seem like it was taller than any of us, well. Maybe Silah," Alex turned to the dwarf, "Sorry." "Don''t be. It''s a fair point. You guys consider that a medium spider while I say that''s a big one," Silah tried to make a joke to lift the tension, but it didn''t land. "Everyone get ready to attack. That''s the second monster we saw passing by. There should be more," Helena said. The group nodded and kept moving. Hera already got her chakram on one hand and her handaxe on the other. When they got close to the intersection, Mylo stepped in front of the group and pointed up. On the wall to the other side of the valley, a swarm of spiders was moving around. They didn''t seem to be bothered by the humans, but after a quick glance, it was easy to see a couple of them watching the new invaders. Hera stared at the spiders and used her [Observe] along with the affinity sight spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trapper Spider - Level 16 (Earth Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trapper Spider - Level 17 (Earth Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Among that cluster, which should have around 20 or 30 spiders, most of the monsters were level 16, and just a few larger spiders were one level above that. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. When the group got closer, the monsters started to move faster, almost as if they were running away from them. However, the few bigger spiders came to meet the creatures that were encroaching into their territory. Without any warning, the spiders attacked, sending their webs toward the humans. Hera instinctively created her stone wall, not to let anyone be caught by the webs. The string from the spider''s bottom glued itself into the rock and pulled it apart with a tug, destroying the barrier in one fell swoop. Before the monsters could do anything else, Bonnie sent in a couple of fire fists to greet them. The flames ignited the web and ran through it, reaching the creatures who quickly cut off the connections. Then, the spiders moved to the walls, walking upwards to vanish among the shadows. Moving like that, the monsters could still see the party while staying hidden from sight. "Now that''s unfair, don''t you think," Helena smirked and waved her hands, creating a thin layer of shadows around the party. "What''s that?" Bonnie looked around, but aside from making the lights slightly dimmer, nothing seemed to have happened. "It''s an illusion. The light we are making only shows up for us. Anything outside the barrier sees only darkness. I can''t keep that up for a long time, but we can at least have an edge here," Helena explained while searching for the spiders. "So let''s, do this," Silah tossed a large chunk of metal to the side. It landed outside the barrier with a loud crash. In response, one of the spiders jumped at the metal, exposing itself to the group that bombarded it with spells. Killing the creature before it could even react. "Lena, does that barrier works the other way around? Light from the outside won''t reveal us either?" Shane asked. "Yeah. We will be just a black spot if something shines there." "Great. Everyone get ready to attack," Shane loaded one of her explosion bullets and aimed up before pulling the trigger. The projectile flew high up and exploded in the middle of the valley, creating a flash of light and revealing four spiders in the wall. Everyone tossed out their spells at the monsters who were dizzy. Two of them died instantly thanks to the combo attacks, and the remaining two fell from the walls. The impact wasn''t enough to kill them, but Blue and Mylo were waiting for the monsters. They took advantage of the wounded creatures and finished them off in a quick move. Mylo using his staff as a blunt weapon, and Blue created a large hand made out of clouds and slammed it against the remaining spider. The attack was surprisingly effective, but it wasn''t enough to kill the monster. Blue started preparing another spell, but Silah moved quicker. The chunk of metal on the ground shifted and transformed into a large lance that pierced the spider''s head, finishing it off before it could react to anything. With all the assailants dead, the group turned their attention to the ones in the intersection, but the spiders had left. "Should we go after them?" Alex asked. "I don''t think we have to. I mean, look back there," Hera pointed to the direction the spiders came from, "there is a path that might lead us to the corner of the room, and they didn''t seem to be running away from something just, moving." "Still, they can be running from something," Blue added. "I think they would be moving faster," Bonnie shrugged. "Also, monsters are everywhere. I get being careful, but we can''t keep stopping to discuss if there is a big thing or not at every turn. Unless we see some unmistakable signs of danger, we need to keep going," Shane cut everyone off and started walking to the path Hera pointed. "What''s the problem with having a discussion?" Bonnie asked. "We lost way too much time. I mean, c''mon, we almost had a full day of exploring lost because you want to stop and talk about what to do next. We are in the middle of a labyrinth. We need to move." "Shane, we are not doing this on our own this time," Mylo stared down the explorer. "I know, and I know that if it was just us, we would be taking even more time to deal with the monsters, but they were supposed to help. All the time we are saving, we end up wasting because you people want to stop and talk," Shane scoffed. "You people?" Helena asked. Shane''s eyes went wide, "No! I didn''t mean it like that," "Relax, this was just a joke to help lighten the mood," Helena chuckled, "Anyway, I agree with Shane. Being careful is good and all, but we have a large party. It''s fine if we move faster and are a bit more reckless. There are too many eyes and spells scouting our surroundings for something big to get the drop on us." "I don''t like it. We should be careful either way," Bonnie said. "I don''t mind going faster, but when something like this happens, we should still stop and talk," Hera kept walking towards the path she saw. There was no need to have this discussion while staying still. Alex was already getting to the valley, and the last thing they needed was for someone to get ambushed. "Fine, I''ll agree to stop when we find something, but only if it''s something big enough," Shane said, knowing that this was the best deal she would get. "Does that counts?" Alex was pointing at something in that new side path. The group quickly hurried over. In that valley, there were several different structures, various fronts of buildings could be seen. Some were smaller and some bigger, but all had one thing in common; Either embedded on the columns or as a stand-alone piece, there were sculptures of the naga. They were much more snake-like than Shane made them out to be. It was like someone had put arms, shoulders, and, for some reason, abs on a snake. Their heads didn''t have anything that could be described as human, but that didn''t mean that they were mindless beasts. Inside the first structure, the party found bones, small piles of gold, and other long rotten offerings. This area was clearly a place used to lay their dead to rest. However, there were no coffins. Each of the bodies was coiled up in a spiral and placed in a small metal pyre, with an altar on the ground in front of it. "This is¡­ kind of beautiful in a way," Hera gasped. "Yeah. I mean, We''ve seen things about other civilizations that are not around anymore, but I think that this is the first time we found a mausoleum like this," Shane was careful not to disturb anything that could once have been a gift for the deceased. "Do you have any idea what this means?" Helena pointed to some writing on the back wall of the crypt. Whatever letter was used by these creatures wasn''t something any of them had ever seen before. It looked like a bunch of gashes in the stone. Shane got closer and placed one hand in the markings, "I can''t tell what it means, but this is their version of writing. Snakes can see in infrared, and because of that, some of their writing is made with something that changes the temperature of the letters to convey the meaning. "Really?" Bonnie walked over. "Yeah. I can translate some of it, but it might take a while if you guys don''t mind," Shane added. "Now, how is the one telling us to wait," Mylo teased. "Bite me," Shane scoffed. "Maybe later. You stay here. Do your thing. Someone come with me. We guard the outside," Mylo left the mausoleum. It was a small space, and with Shane and Bonnie looking at the remains while Silah focusing on the structure, Hera felt like this place was already crowded and headed out to stay on guard with Mylo. Blue and Alex quickly joined in. As incredible as this find was, they weren''t the type to actually be able to help in a situation like that. "Thank you," Mylo said to the three women. "No problem. I would just be in the way inside there," Blue shrugged. "Not that. Thank you for helping Shane find this. It''s her dream." "If you want to thank us, big guy, maybe you can buy Bonnie a drink," Alex winked at the man. He just laughed and found a place to sit down, "You should sit too. This is going to take a while." 319 - The bunker
Shane spent a few hours translating the writing in every mausoleum they found. This was all in hopes of finding something connected to the court. Unfortunately, that didn''t happen. Everything she managed to translate was either the names of the naga who were laid to rest there or small messages, presumably from their loved ones. The naga seemed to have an interesting custom. Most writings were almost like passages in a diary. Mostly small things like how life treated them or how a festival happened and people seemed happy. There was a message about love at times, how someone had found someone new and would ask the deceased for their blessing. Several passages were talking about how hard it was now and how much they missed them, of course, but these weren''t the majority. Hera noticed that despite the difference in each structure, they all seemed to be from the same type of people. The offerings were very similar, and so were the pyres. According to Shane, there was no distinction between class or anything like it, which wasn''t the norm for the naga. Their society had a noble hierarchy, and they were ostentatious. This meant that this area where the only decorations were made out of stone and the crypts were not that large should belong to the working class. Because of that, it was very unlikely that a hero would be around this area. If Shane''s findings were correct, the holder of the court legacy would be among the nobles, if not beside the emperors and empresses of their society. Still, Shane was trying to be thorough, and only after checking a dozen crypts, she agree to look for the ''noble district'' first and then move back if they didn''t find anything. However, they were all tired and hungry after the entire day of travel, plus these few hours waiting around for Shane to translate a bunch of random text. Everyone agreed to take a break and get ready to sleep. The sun had already gone down, and even though there was no light in the area, seeing the night sky above made everyone uneasy. "We are not sleeping in the middle of a graveyard, are we?" Blue asked. "Why not? It''s not like there are ghosts or something around here," Bonnie shrugged. "But ghosts are a thing. We already fought a few," Blue remembered the ones they faced in the Arcanist Lookout. "Ok, so what''s your idea? Go back to the other corridor?" Alex asked. "Isn''t it better?" "I agree. Let''s sleep someplace else. Even if it''s just out of respect," Shane nodded. Bonnie and Alex sighed and agreed to move back with the group. It didn''t take long for them to return to the area where they had found the spiders, in there. Hera and Silah prepared a large stone bunker, creating three layers of stone with some tiny holes just to allow the passage of air. If it wasn''t for the [Shaper of Mana] skill, Hera would''ve used slabs of stone to create makeshift bars on the ceiling of the bunker to allow everyone to see what was going on outside. However, thanks to that skill, she could use her pulse to see if there was anything around them. Shane could also use her gauntlet and even share what she saw through the communicators. Hera and Silah made a relatively large area for them to rest, and everyone settled in. They pulled out the rations, and they all had and refilled their water and got ready to sleep. Mylo quickly got a spot on the edge of the bunker, where he could sleep sitting down, "Wake me up in six hours." "We should take turns on watch, just to be safe," Shane suggested. "With all of us, we can make what, 2-hour shifts?" Bonnie suggested. "Well¡­ that works. We can stay up 2 at a time," Helena counted the number of people in the group. "Sure, I''m still hyped, so I''ll stay up double-checking everything we found," Shane pulled up her tablet and started reading. "I''ll stay up too. You guys can rest," Bonnie moved closer to Shane to help her with the data. Hera and the others all found a place to sleep, but unlike Mylo, they still wanted to eat before resting. "Mind if I ask you a question?" Alex turned to Shane. "Sure." "Why are you so interested in this legacy. I mean, I get that a legacy is amazing and all, but is that all?" "Wow, hitting the hard questions, aren''t we?" Shane chuckled before taking a bite out of some jerky, "Well¡­ it''s not that fun of a story." "Still, I''m curious. I get that you might want a legacy, but it seems like something more," Alex pressed. Shane kept looking at her tablet, but even so, she started speaking, "When I started as an explorer, things were all fine and dandy, but after less than a year, I was feeling¡­ Lost. Like, what''s the point of going to deeper layers? Why should I risk myself? Money? I already made enough on the third layer to live a comfortable life. I could spend a month running around in dungeons and have a vacation for the rest of the year. Then I did just that. Instead of running deeper into the MAZE, I just found a place with easy enough dungeons where I could make a lot of money quickly and took my year-long vacation. The thing is. Doing nothing, even if I had a lot of money, made me go a bit crazy. I went around back on earth going from party to party, booze, drugs, and the whole spiel, but I was still depressed despite all that. It felt like I was just roaming around aimlessly, and that didn''t work with me. I''m not preaching that everyone needs to have a goal in life to be happy. I mean, Mylo just goes with the flow, and it works great for him, but it really doesn''t work for me. Anyway, I came back to the MAZE to have that rush of adrenaline we get when we fight, and man, that worked. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Both Alex and Hera, who were just listening in to the conversation, nodded in response. The assassin, however, also spoke up, "I get that, but it still doesn''t explain why are you so interested in the legacy." "I''m getting there. Hold on. Let me ramble a bit," Shane pulled a chocolate bar from her bag and passed it around, "So, after coming back, I started looking into organizations to have at least a short-term goal. Something to make me forget that feeling of being lost. That''s when I found the Order of the Lost Court. I started to like you two did. Just running errands for people until Ninleyn showed up and told me about the courts. I fell in love with that story. Imagine a whole secret society of heroes! I want to find out why they grouped up. Were they against something? Protecting something? Were they afraid? Or was it just a plan to control the MAZE. Also, how come a group like that just vanished without a trace. Was it intentional? Were people hiding them for some reason? Did they do something so terrible, so unspeakable that they deserved to be wiped from history? Don''t get me wrong, I still want to get the legacy. After all, from everything that I found out, this would go great with me. Apparently, this one is all about enchanting items. Making spells and attacks more powerful. But what I really want to do is find more about the court. It''s something that I feel like I can do." "It''s not a bad story," Alex replied. "It''s not a good one either," Shane shrugged. "I disagree. You found something that you are passionate about. Those stories are always good," Bonnie said. "I guess. Anyway, that''s the story. So far, I didn''t find any reason for the Court of Heroes to become a thing or for it to be dismantled, then again. This is the first thread that I''m following." "Thread? You mean clue?" Alex asked. "Yeah. Ninleyn has a thing that he calls these clues threads. It''s because it''s not a single thing but a string of various discoveries connected. I think I spent too much time talking with him about this," Shane chuckled. "Oh, tell me about it. I had a tutor who kept saying, ''things must be proper.'' I spent years repeating that phrase," Bonnie sighed. The group continued talking about life and their past until they fell asleep. Hera and Silah took the third watch. They would stay awake for two hours and then call Mylo and Helena. During their watch, the blacksmith shared a few ideas she had about the graveyard. Even if she didn''t have much experience dealing with other cultures, she understood construction. This was part of the education that every dwarf received in Boothudurn. To Silah, the structures they had seen all looked like they should have more than one floor. The ¨¦ traces were too big, and the pillars were set up in a way to support whatever was above them, which didn''t make a lot of sense since the crypts were essentially caves. The way they had to support the weight was very different from what they were actually doing. All this made her think that the naga wasn''t well-versed in the construction of mines and other things like that, which would explain why the crypts felt so out of place. During the rest of their turn, nothing major happened. Early morning a few monsters seemed to walk over the bunker, but none of them seemed to mind or try to mess with the structure. When everyone got up, Hera and Shane double-checked to ensure that there was nothing around them before dismantling the bunker. One way or another, they would have to go back today. It was that or hunting spiders for food, which wasn''t high on the list of a few of the group members. Still, they had enough time to spend a good part of the day here before having to worry about that. "Hera, quick question. Did you find anything about a lower floor with ruins?" Shane asked her in a whisper. "There is something under us. Like in a lower floor, but I can''t tell if that''s where we have to go or not," Hera nodded. "Did you find any place that would let us go down? Or do we need to make that stairwell in the chasm again?" "I''m assuming they have a way to go to both floors. Even if they are segregating the people, they wouldn''t like to bar off the ''peasants,'' would they?" Hera asked. "No, they were more the type to show their riches but say ''don''t touch,''" Shane explained. With that, the group finished their preparations and headed back to the crypts. They had already found the first part, and the goal was now to find the noble district or something that could be worth it of a hero. It wasn''t easy for Shane to fight the urge of going inside each crypt to search for the legacy. Bonnie and Silah were also a bit of a problem. They kept finding things to distract them, making the travel considerably longer than it should have. A few hours after they left the bunker, the group passed by hundreds of crypts. All had their unique carvings that tried to be opulent and flashy, but there wasn''t a single decoration, be it made of gold or other precious gems. Finally arriving at something different, there was a large stone passage that headed to the lower floor. This passage had some places for torches, a long slope with no stairs, which made sense since the naga didn''t actually have legs. There were also a few structures that once upon a time could''ve been used to hold banners, but all signs of cloth or any type of linen were long gone. It was hard to tell if that was only due time or some creature that decided to use it for their nests. The passage was long, going in a downward spiral until reaching the bottom floor. Here, the crypts were significantly different. Each sculpture had some decorations made of various materials, and the structure itself had more color and wasn''t simply carved out of the stone. In fact, some of the mausoleums were built in the middle of the valley and not inside the area''s walls. "Guys, I think we are getting close," Shane said with a big smile. "Yeah, we are still some ways off the edge, but we are near," Hera pulled up her map to confirm their location. "We have bigger problems. Everyone get ready," Mylo called as the noise of hundreds of legs echoed through the valley. 320 -The battle at the passage It took only a few minutes for the passage to turn into a scene from a horror movie. Hundreds of spiders and scarabs kept crawling over each other, trying to reach Hera and the others. The creatures were swarming them as if they were a plague, forcing the humans to retreat farther and farther back the spiral passage. The monsters were climbing the walls and even the ceiling, trying to reach this new source of meat that had just invaded their home. In fact, running to the passage was a strategic move that helped the party a great deal. Instead of worrying about monsters coming from all directions, they only have to worry about those coming from the front. Shane fired her stone bullets and her electric nets at the monsters trying to cross through the ceiling. She tried to use her explosive shot once, but that was a sure-fire way to cause problems in such a tight space. Not just because the force of the blast would travel through the passage, but burning the monsters now would create a large smokescreen that could both help hide the creatures and start to suffocate the party. Bonnie was using her spells to push the monsters out of the walls and give the rest of the party a better way to deal with the creatures. She was also doing her best to keep everyone out of the line of sight of the scarabs on the back. The stings they could shot would be enough to hinder the group''s defenses. However, thanks to her quick thinking and spells, Bonnie was able to push the spiders in front of the scarabs to stop them from shooting. To make things even better, the scarabs would sometimes shoot and hit the spiders, causing a small struggle that was enough to give some breathing room to the humans. Mylo, Alex, and Blue were taking care of the vanguard. They were able to push back some of the monsters, but it was an uphill battle. For each creature they managed to kill, another two would take their place. Blue was feeling freer now that everyone knew about her legacy. She could use her clouds to attack and block the monsters, even calling Sunny, who was now a part of Stormcloud, to the fight. The mount could have lost some of its strength, but it could now be used in combat. Of course, it wasn''t something that strong, and Sunny could barely push a monster back, but that small help was all that Blue needed to kill the incoming spiders. Alex kept jumping from monster to monster. She was like a circus acrobat doing flips and pirouettes while slashing the monsters with her daggers. Her hiding skills were even more impressive. She was out in the open, but that didn''t stop her from getting the [Sneak Attack] skill or her [Hide] benefits. It seemed like she had found a way to keep her buffs even when she was seen, or she had a different skill that worked like a loophole. As the last member of the vanguard, Mylo was having a blast. These monsters weren''t able to break his skin thanks to his endurance, and while using his flower staff, he could squash the bugs with a single move. The part he enjoyed the most was clearing out the corpses that ended up falling from all directions. He used his staff as a club to send the carcasses flying towards the middle of the swarm. After doing that a couple of times, he realized that there was something better to do with those bodies. Instead of just lobbing them in the distance, he could use them as a weapon. One of his spells allowed him to inject thorns in objects and toss them like grenades before the spell made vines shot out from the item. When a monster died, its body was no longer something living, and there wouldn''t be any push back when using the spell on the corpses. On the back, Helena was focusing on hindering the incoming monsters. She would remove their sight or sense of touch to make them miss attacks and follow that up by creating illusory senses that would make the creature hit its friends and start a struggle. Occasionally, the mage would also use a shadow spell to bind the monsters or rip them apart with her grabbers. Still, since this was already a long fight, Helena focused on cost-effectiveness instead of pure destructive power to make sure she wouldn''t run out of mana. Silah was by her side, using her metal shaping spell to cut off limbs from any of the bugs. She was also being the second line of defense alongside Hera, protecting Shane and Helena on the back. Unlike what most of the party members expected, the dwarf was great at close range. She was Hera''s teacher while she learned the [Subtle Strike] style, and that showed during the fight. Several times, Silah looked like she was about to get hit by an attack, only to dodge it at the last moment. She always followed that up with a move that if it didn''t kill the assailant, it would severely cripple it. To anyone watching the struggle, Hera would look like the one having trouble pulling her own weight. It took her several moves to kill even a small spider, and the orange projectiles she kept flinging towards the swarm seemed to do little to nothing. What wasn''t obvious was how much her spells were affecting the fight as a whole. Her poison needles were spreading fast. In a fight against so many enemies, the bracelet that Risli made was constantly triggered, making her ailments jump to other creatures in the area. Every five minutes or so, Hera would activate her poison control spell to kill dozens of monsters at once and give the group a small break. Even with this well-organized strategy, Hera and the others were being pushed back. They were already halfway up the passage, and if they reached the top floor, all these monsters would spill out into the valley, making an already tough fight much more complicated. Individually, the monsters were not a danger to the group. The problem was in the sheer number of creatures that were attacking. They had already killed hundreds of them, but there was no sign of the swarm stopping. "Anyone has any ideas?" Shane yelled while she was reloading her gun. "Kill them!" Mylo shouted back. "No shit. I''m asking how to end this. We don''t know how many are still out there." "I could try my grease fire spell," Hera replied. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "What if we hide?" Alex jumped away from a spider who just nicked her leg. The attack wasn''t enough to cut through the armor, but it was enough to stop the assassin''s flow. "Then what? What if those things go the outpost," Bonnie threw two fists at a scarab on the back of the swarm to stop it from firing its stingers. "They would have to cross the chasm. If we can hide and let them pass, we might be able to go down the passage and block it off," Helena made a web of shadows to grab some of the monsters on the walls and toss them back. "How do we do that then?" Blue punched two spiders away and used one of her clouds to block a scarab. "Hera and I can go up. We make a hole on the side of the passage so we can hide there as we did in the bunker," Silah sent her spinning blades to the middle of the swarm, carving a large path that was quickly filled with more monsters. "Then Lena can use that spell she used to hide from the wendigos. I bet that''s more than enough to deal with those things," Hera used a poison needle along with a wind feather to see if she could disperse her poison in a broader area, but that didn''t work. The spells just flew together without interacting with each other. "Then go. Hurry, make the passage clear to us and get ready to close it!" Shane yelled. Even if she was s few levels higher than the monsters, facing this many was unnerving, to say the least. Hera and Silah tossed a couple more spells at the swarm and dashed up the passage. While fighting the monsters, the group was moving steadily, which gave them more or less an idea of how much ground they would have to cover to be hidden from the monsters. "Should we go higher?" Silah asked after they couldn''t see the monsters anymore. "Let''s do another half lap, but we''ll need to be quick on making the hole," Hera replied "We should do it in the inner walls. If we make it on the ground, we are going to have to consider the weight of those things." "That''s a good idea. Just remember to give us a signal of where that thing is," Bonnie said through the communicator. They kept running as fast as they could until they reached a point where they felt comfortable enough to make their hiding spot. Hera and Silah quickly got to work opening the inner wall of the passage and creating a secondary bunker. Since they had no idea how long it would take for the swarm to pass, they had to make it deep enough to allow for enough air to be there. If not, they would have to make holes on the wall, which could warn the monsters of their location. "Hera, I found something," Silah was already deep in the hole they created. "Do you need to show now?" "It can wait." "Then just make it wider so everyone can get inside." "Ok, but don''t make this tunnel more than 5 meters wide. You''ll understand later." Hera nodded and kept going. In less than two minutes, they managed to create a tunnel long enough so that everyone would be able to enter. Silah made a point to stay on the back of the passage while Hera had to be by the entrance so she could close it when everyone was inside. "We are ready!" Hera called in the communicator. "Got it. Everyone do your big spells. Blue, can you make a cloud to stall them?" Shane replied. "I think I can!" a yell echoed through the tunnel. There were some loud rumblings followed by the noise of hurried footsteps. Hera peeked out of the tunnel to signal their location to everyone. In a few moments, Alex appeared and jumped inside the passage, already trying to steady her breath not to make too much noise. Shane and Mylo were the next ones, with Helena right on their heels. The mage got inside and already created the sense deprivation barrier that stopped the wendigos from finding her on the Qeeroni Wilds. Hera was still halfway out of the tunnel, waiting for Blue. "C''mon, c''mon, c''mon, where are you?" Hera mumbled under her breath, worried about her friend. A thick layer of white smoke started to fill up the passage, and soon Hera couldn''t even see what was going on around her. "Guys!" Blue yelled from within the smoke. "Here!" Hera called out and put out her arm, trying to find her friend. Seconds went by, and Hera was already in cold sweats. The cloud wasn''t supposed to be this thick. The idea was just to stall the monsters and not to make them unable to see each other. Maybe this wasn''t even something that Blue had done. What if this was made by one of the monsters? Before she could spiral out of control, Hera felt a familiar hand grasping her wrist. She pulled Blue inside the passage with a swift motion and blocked it off with a stone slab. Helena kept her barrier up, and the entire party just stood there in silence. They even snuffed out all the lights. They had to be sure not to attract the monsters. Blue felt her clouds disperse after a minute, and they heard the rumbling of thousands of legs running outside. The group remained there motionless, trying not to even make noise to breathe while the swarm crossed the passage. Ten tense minutes went by until the sound finally stopped. Shane asked everyone to wait for a couple of minutes more before doing anything, just to be safe. "I think we are good to go now," Shane said." "Let me open the door," Hera prepared her spell, but Silah spoke up. "Hang on. Come back here, guys. There is something you might want to see," Silah made a small light and pointed to a part of the tunnel that didn''t seem to have been created recently. "What''s that?" Blue asked. "No clue. It was already here when I found it. That''s why I said to everyone stay back, I don''t know what''s in there," Silah explained. The group carefully walked towards that path. The tunnel that Hera and Silah had made ended up in a spiral structure, much like the passage, but this one had one significant difference. The decorations. Sculptures of gold and jewels were spread around in that passage, each in a unique position and unique characteristics. Silah turned back to Shane after seeing all that, "So? Change of plans?" Shane opened a big smile, "Absolutely!" 321 - Hidden crypt "So, do you think the entrance would be above or below?" Alex asked. Shane was still looking at this hidden passage. It was hard to tell when it ended since the only source of light was around them. "I have no idea. I guess it should be down, near the base of the valley. I mean, that''s what it would make sense," Shane leaned over the ledge, trying to see the bottom. "What about going up? Couldn''t this start at the top?" Bonnie tossed a light up. "I don''t think so. If it did, we would''ve seen something. Unless the entrance was somewhere high up in the valley, but that wouldn''t make any sense either. Why would they make a crypt that no one can find?" Shane scratched the back of her head. "Maybe it was to protect a treasure. Or they wanted to make the travel here a trial," Blue chimed in. "That''s a possibility, I guess, but I doubt it. There wasn''t anything about their culture that made it seem like they would have this type of trial," Shane replied. "Couldn''t it be something more exclusive like an elite group of warriors or something," Alex suggested. "Like the special forces? Or a version of the king''s guard?" Hera asked. "Yeah. I mean, those groups usually have some weird test or initiation, don''t they? Some are all secret and stuff," Blue shrugged. "That¡­ could be the case, although I doubt it. From everything I found about the naga, they don''t have that kind of organization," Shane moved over to the edge of the tunnel made by Hera and Silah, "Either way, staying here will get us nowhere. We need to see what those things are." "Shane. I''ll go first," Mylo stepped forward and dropped to the central passage below. There was a moment of tension, with everyone waiting for a trap to be sprung. It didn''t matter if putting traps was something common for the naga or not. Just being in a place like this made everyone feel a bit on edge. Luckily, nothing happened. Mylo was able to start walking through the passage without any issues. "You can come now. The ground seems stable," Mylo tapped his foot on the floor to make sure it wouldn''t crumble under the weight. One by one, the party members dropped to the passage built by the naga. Then, they started to carefully walk down towards what everyone assumed was the end of this structure. Hera noticed a few things while they were moving. First, the area didn''t have places for torches or other types of lights. Sure, the naga seemed to be able to see in infrared, but even so, there were still candleholders, and such in all the crypts the party went to. Second, there was paint on the walls. It was hard to tell what the drawings should be. They all seemed distorted and even eroded, but someone had gone through the trouble of painting every single wall of this passage in various colors. The last thing was about the sculptures. Each of them was unique, with a different set of jewelry and a different position. They were so different that it made this place seem like a crypt for multiple people. "Hey, that might be it," Hera gasped. "What?" Silah asked. "Maybe this crypt is for an entire tribe or group." "That is a possibility. I also found that these statues are too diff¡­." Shane looked up to Hera, who was on the rear of the group, "Holy crap! Everyone put some light on the path behind us." Unsure what Shane meant, Hera moved her light back, "Like this?" "Yeah, but for you, it will have to be more up. Look up to the wall on the other side," Shane replied. Blue, Bonnie, and Alex gasped while looking at Hera, which only made the explorer feel uncomfortable. Even so, she tried to ignore that and tossed her light up to the other side of the wall. "Wow, this is amazing!" Silah gasped as the paint above them became visible. The passage was very wide, and only when you were on the other side, you could see the mural that was formed. It was odd. Each part of the painting would start in the middle of the wall and go up the rock passage until the middle of the next floor. It forced you to be on a lower elevation to see the full picture. Even the statues were a part of the painting. When you lined them up just the right way, the jewels and gold, as well as the shape of each sculpture, would fit like a piece of the puzzle revealing the complete mural. "It really is. I wonder what this means," the part that Hera was looking at depicted one naga on top of some sort of structure with three other nagas below it. They were all with their backs turned to her watching the sunset or sunrise. It was hard to tell. "Let''s keep going down. This has to make sense at some point," Shane said. As they moved, it seemed like the mural was in reverse. The first picture Hera saw was the naga on top of a building. The one that followed showed the same group of naga fighting a massive lion. Then they pass through several corridors, each with different dangers. A bit before reaching the bottom of the spiral passage, the first picture shows the group of naga lowering their heads and receiving something from a more imposing naga. Among the entire mural, two things showed that this was the same group of naga through all that journey. The leader had a mark on their shoulder, which looked like three spirals starting from the same spot. It reminded Hera of a triskelion, but the lines all connected instead of having a triangle in the middle. One of the other nagas also had a unique feature. Their hands were always painted in a different color, a color that seemed to match something in the background. It could be some fire, ice, or even the sunrise in the first picture Hera saw. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Any idea what does this all means, Shane?" Bonnie asked as they got closer to the bottom. In the middle of the passage, they could see now a large stone coffin surrounded by a ring of gold pieces and precious stones. "I don''t know. The naga shouldn''t use coffins. They use the pyres and burn their dead. If this is an actual coffin, like for our standards, there should be a body here," Shane scratched her head. "Soo¡­ should we open?" Blue asked. "Bad idea, do you remember that whole ''Pharao''s Curse'' thing in the pyramids? One of the possible reasons was due to bacteria that survived for thousands of years in there. That was back on earth without that much influence of the MAZE. Imagine what might pop out here," Bonnie said. "That''s fair. And what about the gold? Can we grab some?" Blue looked around. "I mean¡­ grave robbing is never a good thing. But let''s be sure there aren''t any traps around here before you start shoving gold in your pockets," Shane replied. "Why would I put them in my pocket? Won''t the gold vanish and go to my account like what we get in dungeons?" Blue asked. "Nope. That only works with gold inside a dungeon or when it''s dropped by a quest or a monster. When we find things like this, we need to drag it back to the guild to have the value converted," Shane explained. "Oh, and how do they know how much is it worth?" Blue asked. "By weight. Mana makes the coins weigh more, and if it has a lot of mana, it''s better to make items with," Mylo explained. "Really? I guess it''s better not to pick any of this up until we are going back then," Blue sighed. "Again, don''t pick anything before checking for traps. If you guys have never done something like that, let Mylo and I look first," Shane was kneeling by the coffin, trying to see if she could find any information about it. Taking a moment to look around, Hera noticed a passage right in front of the coffin. However, that corridor seemed to be locked. After a couple of meters inside, a large stone wall was blocking the path. Hera tried to use her stone shape spell to shift it but couldn''t do it. It was like this particular piece of stone wasn''t susceptible to her magic. "Guys, I think we might not be able to leave through here," Hera walked back to the room with the coffin. "Really? You didn''t find a way out?" Bonnie asked. "I kind of did, but it''s blocked by something, and I can''t make it budge." "Let me check. No offense, Hera, but you are not that good when trying to find a path in a cave. I mean, you didn''t even notice that we had opened a passage up there," Silah chuckled and walked to the corridor Hera just came from. Mylo and Blue went along with her to help if they could. "Cave digging was never my fort¨¦," Hera shrugged and walked back to the coffin. She wanted to help Shane figure out what was going on there. "This is weird," Shane said while looking at something behind the casket. "What?" Hera and Bonnie walked over. "This," Shane pointed at a corner of the wall. There wasn''t anything painted there, but instead, there were two engravings of coins with snake skulls in the middle and an intricate pattern surrounding them. "What is that?" Bonnie asked. "I don''t know. It looks like a keyhole, doesn''t it? Like we need those coins to open something," Shane started looking around to see if she could find any coins with that particular engraving. Bonnie did the same, but Hera just kept staring at the marking on the wall. There was something familiar about that design. After a few moments, Hera opened her [Tresure Map] to see if anything was there that could help her understand what was going on here. When she was in the Underground Forest and found that hidden origin, her map was updated with the information. Maybe this was something similar. Unfortunately, there was nothing special there. The hidden crypt was marked, and everything they saw here was described, but there was no other information. Hera sighed while staring at the map screen. It was a long shot, but she had to try. When she looked back at the coin slots on the ground, something finally clicked. When Hera got her [Treasure Map] skill, she also found some gold coins with skulls in the middle. She rummaged through her bag and pulled the small bag with the Dead Man''s Gold. A notification popped up as soon as she picked the coins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dead Man''s Gold A set of five golden coins with skulls engraved in the middle. You can keep the coins as they are or turn them into currency. Value: 1 000 gold Do you wish to turn it into currency? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed no and compared her coin with the slot in the wall. They weren''t a perfect match, but it seemed to be close enough to maybe trick whatever mechanism into thinking that this was the right key. "Hey, Shane? What would happen if we use the wrong coin to open this thing?" Hera asked. "Most likely nothing. It would be like using the wrong key to a house. If there are any traps, they should trigger as we try to open them and not because we have the wrong key. Why? Did you find something?" Shane looked over. "Sort of. Here I had these coins on me since forever, and I completely forgot about them. But look, I think they might fit," Hera showed the Dead Man''s Gold to Shane. "Humm¡­ that might work. I mean, it doesn''t match perfectly, but it could be enough. Hang on," Shane placed her gauntlet on the floor and used her sensor spell, "Ok, it doesn''t seem to have any traps. Before trying to trick this lock, let''s look around some more, just to be sure that the key is not somewhere else. "Ok, I''m going to try to go up. Maybe there is something more above the tunnel we came in through," Hera got up. "I''ll go with you. Staying here is making me a bit crazy," Alex sighed. "Sure, going alone might not be a good idea. We don''t know if there are monsters up there or not," Hera smiled. "Don''t even try to give me hope. You know how bored I''m right now," Alex rolled her eyes before they started moving up. 322 - The story in the mural Hera and Alex made their way up the passage. Seeing the mural from this direction made much more sense. The story it was telling seemed to be about a group of nagas who embarked on a quest and all the dangers they overcame during that journey. "How come we are getting this tired?" Alex gasped, they weren''t running here, but even so, both she and Hera were feeling tired from the climbing. "I don''t know. This floor is weird. We went down without a problem, but now I keep slipping," Hera looked around, the ground didn''t seem to be made out of a different type of rock, yet the way it behaved was like the stone behind a waterfall. To make this even weirder, it only acted like that when she was trying to move up. If she took a step down, it was just like regular stone, "Do you think this is kind of like a test?" "What kind of test?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. Something to prove you are strong or just worthy of learning that story." "Why would someone need to be worthy to know a story?" "I don''t know. Old civilizations were weird. Maybe it''s some custom they had," Hera shrugged. "You say that, but we have some weird things in life too," Alex chuckled. "For instance?" "Without going in the whole class issues. Why is a bikini fine to wear in public but underwear isn''t? Or why do we like things that try to kill us? Like coffee or pepper." "I mean, that''s not something from today, right? Old civilizations also drank coffee or pepper and stuff like that," Hera slipped and started to skid down. Alex quickly turned around and grabbed Hera''s hand to stop her. "Are you ok?" "My arm almost went out of its socket, but yeah," Hera pulled herself up with Alex''s help. "Well, it''s better than letting you fall. Also, toilets." "Toilets?" Hera looked at the assassin with a confused expression. "Yeah, toilets. We shit in perfectly good water. Ancient civilizations would fight wars for water while we just use it to clean our asses," Alex said. "That''s a bidet, not a toilet, but I get what you mean. I never realized how weird that was," Hera kept moving up with some difficulty. "Yeah, everyone is weird. Oh," Alex gasped while looking up, "Did we see that one before?" Hera looked to where Alex was looking at. It was a new mural, showing the naga reaching a temple. They kept going up and found more paintings. After that, they fought against a massive golem and finally reaching an altar with an emerald crown. The last part of the mural showed the naga group apparently returning to a city. At the same time, Hera heard a voice in her mind narrating the story. ''The naga people have a unique tradition among its royalty. They don''t have a single ruler unless their civilization is going through a time of need. When a moment like that arrives, each member of the nobility puts their name up for the role of the emperor. A small tournament is held to decide the order in which each naga will attempt the Emperor''s Trial. Lantra was one of the said nobles. When his turn came around, he gathered a group of warriors to assist him and departed on the journey, searching for the emperor''s crown. His first task was to find the ancient altar used by the previous emperor many generations before. Lantra followed the hints left by his ancestors and reached a room in a jungle where he expected the crown to be located. He ventured deep inside the forest and found a hidden passage leading to the trial along with his party. The previous emperor had changed an entire room to be part of his trial. First, the challenger must prove their courage by diving into a seemingly bottomless pit, then they would have to prove to have the required intelligence to lead the naga and pass through a series of logical challenges. Following that, he would need to prove their ability as a leader and guide his warriors through a passage where only Lantra could see the path. The next test was a fight against a mighty predator, a golden lion. After finishing that test, Lantra and his band of warriors arrived at the emperor''s lost city. The last thing they had to do was to find the crown in the middle of the buildings. It took some time, but Lantra finally discovered the location of the emperor''s crypt and his final resting place. This, however, had one final trial waiting for him. To prove that he was willing to make the hard choices. Lantra had to pick one member of his group to sacrifice themselves to release the crown. With a heavy heart, he explained the situation to the warriors. One of them agreed to be the one who would sacrifice themselves, and he stepped into the chamber who would be its grave. Fortunately, this was just a trick set up by the previous emperor, one had to be willing to make the sacrifice, but the sacrifice itself wasn''t required. Glad that the warrior survived, Lantra walked up to the emerald crown and returned to his people as the new emperor of the naga.'' "Hera? Are you ok?" Alex was in front of the explorer, waving her hand in front of her eyes. Hera didn''t even see the assassin there. While the narration was going on in her mind, the images in the mural passed by, showing the history that is told. "Yeah. Sorry," Hera rubbed her eyes, "Was I out for long?" "A couple of minutes. What happened?" "I learned the story of the mural. Kind of like what happened in the Underground Forest, but this was more¡­ real? I guess." This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Really? What''s the story?" Hera explained the story as best as she could. It was hard to remember exactly how the narration told her, but she got the gist of it. While speaking, Hera tried to check if there was anything above the end of the mural, but the path simply stopped. The passage itself would still go up for a few meters, but after throwing a dancing light up there, it was clear that there was nothing around. "I guess that''s that," Hera sighed. "Really? I mean, it was nice to find the story and all, but that''s it?" Alex asked. "I guess. Unless you found something else." "I got nothing," Alex sat on the floor, "At least let''s take a break before heading down." "Sure. Do you wanna talk about anything?" "Nothing comes to mind. Well. At least not right now. I mean, this isn''t exactly a private place. I''m pretty sure if we talk loudly enough, people can hear us downstairs," Alex said. Hera focused for a moment. The sound of voices coming from downstairs reached her ears after a few moments. There was also a light at the bottom of the passage where she could see Shane, Bonnie, and Mylo moving around, "I guess. I mean, we can hear some noise downstairs." "Yeah. I do have a thing that I want to talk to you about now. It''s not the time or the place." "Is it anything serious?" Hera asked. "Sort of¡­ do you remember what we talked about in the Kobold Battlefield?" "About how you weren''t sure about yourself?" "Yeah¡­" Alex looked away. "I''m sorry. I hope you know I wanted to help you with that," Hera said. "Oh please, I know that. Don''t you dare apologize for what happened. You are the one person that I never blamed about everything that happened." "You even blamed Blue?" "Yeah, she was the one who got too close to the catapult, but anyway, don''t worry. I might have figured some stuff out. Quinn helped a lot with that," Alex said. "Oh, that''s good. She was the first person that I thought about while you were telling me all that. I mean, there was only so much that I could do to help. I don''t have any personal experience with those doubts." "I get what you mean, but she actually went through the thing. I''m not even sure if that''s what I want. Anyway, like I said, that''s not the time nor place for that. Ready to go down?" Alex got up. "Yep. Let''s see if they found something there," Hera got up, and they headed down. It took a few minutes, and when they arrived, everyone was around the stone coffin. "Is everything ok?" Alex asked. "Sort of. We found something," Silah replied. There was a long pause while the group just exchanged glances until Hera rolled her eyes, "Ok, we can''t read minds. What did you find?" "It seems like the naga hid this place out of shame, or anger, or something bad. We had to go around that stone you found, and on the other side, there was just some writing saying ''here lies the emperor that must be forgotten,''" Silah explained. "Really? That''s so weird. The story the mural tells is very different." "You found out the story? How?" Shane asked. "Have you ever found a place that told a story about how a dungeon started or something?" Hera turned to the explorer. "Yeah, then a voice tells you what happened." "Exactly. If you reach the top of the passage, you can hear the explanation. I think this emperor was called Lantra. The story is¡­ well, there was a competition to be the emperor, and the naga only had a ruler when in times of need. I don''t remember all the details, but it was basically that," Hera nodded. "You have the treasure map skill, don''t you? Check the mural on the map. You should have the transcript of what you heard. There might be some details that we need to know." Hera opened her treasure map and tapped the mural icon. Just like Shane said, the entire transcript was there. She also noticed that there was something else. Before the transcript, there was a small description about the mural that read. ''This mural, painted inside the tomb of the forgotten emperor, was created before his crimes were revealed to his people. When that happened, the tomb was sealed off, and Lantra''s name was forgotten to the ages.'' "Oh¡­ this is weird," Hera said and followed that up by reading out loud the entire story, adding that description so everyone would have the same information. "I wonder what he did to be written off the history books. He was supposed to be around only in times of need, right?" Bonnie asked. "I guess. I mean, I''m not entirely sure if we could believe that. Not to say that the system is lying, but what if the story itself is a lie?" Hera replied. "Either way, we have more information than we had before. I don''t think the court legacy will be inside here, but I''m still curious about that locked thing behind the coffin. The stone is there doesn''t match with the rest of the structure. Are you still willing to use those coins, Hera?" Shane asked. "Yeah, what else would I use them for?" "I mean, you can find something else later, but I won''t complain. Here, you do the honors." Hera walked behind the stone coffin and placed two of the five Dead Man''s Gold coins she had on the slots. They didn''t fit perfectly, but it ended up being enough. She pressed the coins in the sockets and, with a small click sound, the stone plate shifted, revealing a hidden compartment with what looked like a book wrapped around in some cloth. "Let me see that. There is something written on that cloth," Shane moved closer to Hera as she pulled the bundle from its hiding spot. "What does it say?" Bonnie asked. "Give me a minute," Shane started translating, and after a couple of minutes, she revealed the contents of the writing. ''Your brother is a hero. We respect him, so did his bidding. But you don''t deserve him. He asked us to keep his journal on you. We hope that by hiding it, you will suffer for all time.'' "What does all that means?" Mylo asked. "The translation is a bit rough, but I think it means that his brother, who was a hero, asked them to place this journal here. Since they were angry with the emperor, they placed it near the coffin, but not inside as his brother wanted, hoping that it would make the emperor suffer in the afterlife," Shane explained. "And what about the journal? Can you translate it?" Bonnie asked. Shane unraveled the cloth and took a look at the journal, "I can, but it will take time." "Do you have to keep the physical journal? I feel kind of bad for the emperor and his brother. Couldn''t you just take pictures of each page?" Hera suggested. "I can, but we can also come back and put the journal here after I translate it. For now, let''s get out of here. We still have to find the legacy," Shane put the journal inside her bag, and the group moved to the exit that Silah, Blue, and Mylo found. 323 - Calling for help The passage leading outside the hidden crypt was longer than Hera expected. Not just that, but there were several walls made out of that weird stone that she couldn''t move, blocking segments of the corridor. Silah had made a path going around each of those rocks. She had to dig deep into the walls of the crypt and even be careful not to mess too much with the structure of the area, but she had managed to reach the ending. However, she didn''t open the last part of the passage just yet. Everyone more or less guessed that this would drop them at the end of that spiral passage, and if that was the case, there was a considerable risk of finding more monsters when they exited the crypt. Before opening it, both Hera and Shane took turns using their sonar spells. Thankfully, there didn''t seem to be any monsters in the area, allowing them to open the passage and sneak outside. Like they imagined, they were by the end of the spiral path. Hera and Silah quickly started to block off the large corridor. The last thing they needed was to be cornered by the monsters in this part of the crypts, and now they had a way to move up through the hidden tomb, which should be safer or at least free of giant monsters. "Ok, so where to next?" Blue asked. "I think we should keep going to the corner of the room. We might find the legacy there," Shane said. "I think we should go back to the outpost. We don''t have enough supplies to keep roaming around aimlessly. Besides, we already have a safe way to come back here," Bonnie said. "But if we go back up, we might end up meeting those monsters. We won''t be able to cross the chasm if they are there," Alex said. "That''s not necessarily true. The monsters might see the cloud as something that they couldn''t cross and don''t even try. Either way, we don''t have enough food to stay here for a long time," Bonnie added. "We could just eat the monsters that are around here. I''m sure there will be some nearby," Helena suggested. "I''m not eating spider!" Bonnie gasped. "But why, though? It''s just like any kind of meat. It actually tastes kind of like shrimp," Mylo said. "I don''t care. I''m not eating spider," Bonnie huffed. "Eating stuff like that is really not that bad. The worst part would be feeling the legs in your mouth, but they are so big that it would be like eating regular meat," Hera said. "Stor trying to convince me. It''s not going to happen," Bonnie crossed her arms. "Yeah. Let it go, Hera. Eating spider is not something our dear heiress wouldn''t eat something so foul as a spider," Blue rolled her eyes. "What did you just called me?" Bonnie turned around, staring daggers at the controller. "Heiress, or would you rather future CEO? After all, if you can''t even eat some spider meat, we can''t expect you to last that long inside the MAZE," Blue smirked. "Blue!" Hera gasped. "Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me if I''m going to last long inside the MAZE? You and Hera spent months in a paradise. You had food anytime you want and the people in there kissed the damn ground you walked on. Don''t give me that crap when you barely know what it''s like to actually live in the MAZE!" Bonnie started shouting. "Stop yelling!" Shane cried as the sounds started to echo through the valley. "I''m at least not holding my party back just because I''m too precious to eat spider meat," Blue shrugged. "I''m not holding anyone back! If you want to stay here and eat a spider, fine. I''ll manage something on my own," Bonnie stomped her foot. "Both of you, stop!" Helena said, "This is not the time nor the place for a bitching match. Bonnie, right now, if one of us goes back, we all need to go back. I''m not saying that''s not an option, but we have to agree to that. If we stay here, we need to find some food and, if you don''t want to eat spider for any reason, we might be ok for a while as long as everyone is willing to give you their rations. However, if push comes to shove, I''ll shove spider meat down your throat. We can''t afford to have you lagging behind just because you are hungry." "I''m not a child. I know that staying in a place full of monsters while I''m hungry is stupid. I said that I would figure something out," Bonnie replied. "Everyone, back in the crypt!" Shane yelled and started pushing people over the path that Silah had created. "What''s the matter?" Silah asked as she got ready to close down the passage. "There are monsters incoming, I think. I saw something moving," Shane replied while everyone gathered back in the passage. "Did your scan showed anything?" Hera asked. "Not yet. But now I''m worried about what could be here. The monsters came out in too much of a frenzy. Maybe there was something else here," Shane explained. "Do you think you could do the thing with your relic now?" Blue asked. "That¡­ might be a good call. Hera, can you make a place where no one will listen to me?" Shane turned to the explorer. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "I think so. Let''s go back to the first part of the tunnel, and I make that bunker for you," Hera nodded. "If you can hold everyone back here, I rather not have the bunker. I don''t like the idea of being inside a place that I can''t open myself," Shane gave a weird smile. "Sure," Hera nodded. They walked halfway back to the stone coffin after three of the side tunnels that Silah had created. Hera made the soundproof bubble and turned to Shane, "Be polite. If you can make something that can be used as a seat, it will help and," "Stop there. I think you already said more than you should. Don''t push it, but thanks," Shane smiled at Hera. With a nod, Hera walked back to the group, leaving the soundproof barrier behind. She could make it last a while, but the farther away she got, the more mana it would cost. Not wanting to run out of mana while Shane was still in the middle of her questions, Hera stayed a bit back. Blue noticed her staying away and walked over. "Hey, why are you all the way back here?" "The farther away I get from the soundproof spell, the more mana it takes. I don''t want Shane to end up messing up her explorer thing because I ran out of mana." "Oh. I see. That''s kind of you," Blue and Hera looked back and saw Bonnie staring at her with an angry expression. "You know you crossed a line, right?" "I know. I just wanted to give her a bit of a culture shock. I didn''t even have to look at Shane to see that she hated the idea of going back now," Blue replied. "That was still a crappy way to do that," Blue just shrugged in response, "Blue, look, you are my friend, but so is Bonnie. You can''t keep treating each other like that. At some point, staying at the same party is just not going to work anymore. I''m sure that at some point, we will go our separate ways for one reason or another, but I don''t want to rush that." "Why are you being so Grimm? This is just a fight." "Sure, but fights create problems. I mean, you said she was going to follow in her dad''s footsteps. That''s just as bad as if you say I''m turning into my mother," Hera said. "Oh, c''mon. It''s not that bad," Blue rolled her eyes. "It is for Bonnie. Promise me you''ll talk to her later, ok? Maybe not while we are in the middle of a tomb of naga surrounded by giant bugs." "Fine." "No, not fine. Look, this is a line that I honestly never expected to say to someone who is not my kid, but this kind of apology can''t be something you do out of obligation. It has to be because you understood that you crossed a line, and you reflected on your actions," Hera said. "You think about having kids?" Blue asked. "Maybe. I don''t know. I''m young. There is still enough time for me to worry about that later," Hera shrugged. "Well, for what''s worth. I think you would be a good mother, much better than yours. But I also think you would get bored out of your mind," Blue chuckled. "Tell me about it. I can barely stay still now. I''m really turning into an adrenaline junkie," Hera sighed. "You are not turning into one. You already are," Blue smiled and looked back at Bonnie, "I''ll keep what you said in mind, but like you said. Before apologizing, I have to understand why." "Try not to take too long. Bonnie is the type to keep a grudge." "You don''t have to tell me." They talked for a few more minutes until Shane came out of the soundproof bubble. She spooked Hera, who was distracted and called everyone over to talk. "Ok, so I found a couple of things. First, the monsters that ran out of here will try to come back. I don''t know if the barrier will stop them or not, but if they do, we could open the passage and run back here, and they might spill out in like a reverse of what they did when we got here," Shane said. "Was that something you found during whatever you were doing?" Bonnie asked. "Sort of, some of it I found out some of it I started thinking. Second thing, The tomb of the naga hero is not in the corner of the room as we were thinking, but it is by the wall. If we go to the corner and then follow it down, we should find it," Shane continued. "You are hiding something," Mylo squinted at the explorer. "I''m not hiding. It''s just¡­ something that might be a problem." "What is it?" Helena asked. Shane sighed, "Apparently, there is one monster in the room that we can''t kill. Not like, the monsters can''t die, but we are not strong enough to kill it." "I mean, we are not that high level. There are a lot of monsters that we wouldn''t be able to kill. Besides, Blue and I already found a monster that was a way higher level than the room''s average," Hera nodded. "Yeah, I don''t know, but the way I got that information felt more like a general we and not just as we as in our party," Shane scratched her head. "Like¡­ we humans? Or we all explorers?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. It might just be me being paranoid. Also, there is no guarantee that the monster will be in our way." "So? Why are you so worried?" Alex asked. "Because there might or might not be a crazy-ass monster out there that we have no shot at killing," Shane yelled. "Not all monsters are bad. Some just want a hug," Mylo shrugged. "Sure big guy," Shane gave a weak smile, "I''m just worried. I don''t know. This all started giving me a bad feeling." "If you want to go back, that''s ok. We can go to the outpost, get more supplies, or maybe even more people, and come back here. I mean, I''m sure the guild will be excited to find this graveyard," Helena said. Shane thought for a moment and then started giggling, "As much as I agree with that. I''m greedy. I want my legacy. But this time, I''ll be democratic. Do you guys want to go, or should we go back?" Everyone looked around, but Mylo was the first to speak, "I say we go. You said it yourself. The monster might not be on the way." "Honestly, Just thinking about how long it takes to get here. I rather finish this up now," Alex nodded. "I''m curious about who the Hero is. I say we keep going," Hera added. "We don''t have enough supplies. We should go back," Bonnie shook her head. "You are already worried. It''s better to be safe," Silah said. "As much as I want you to get your legacy, I agree with them. If you are worried about that, we should get some backup," Helena said after thinking for a moment. "I''m fine either way, sorry, but the last vote is your Shane," Blue shrugged. "That''s really mean," Shane gasped. "Not really. This is your party. It''s your call," Helena smiled. Shane stopped for a moment, "Ok then, let''s keep going, but if we find any monster that is too strong or that we can''t tell if it''s a threat or not, we come back. A legacy is not worth our lives." With that, the group left the passage and moved towards where the crypt of the naga hero should be. Unbeknownst to them, three creatures followed the party while hidden in the shadows. 324 - Odd behavior Even if the crypts on the upper floor were well made and had the statues, the ones in here were on another level. Each tomb was like the entrance of a palace. Gold statues adorned the gates, and gem-encrusted doors were lining all the walls of the valley. Just a small flame was enough to make the light bounce off for a while, showing that most of the valley was covered in those decorations. This also helped the group to see monsters from far away. There were a number of spiders and scarabs around, but that wasn''t much of an issue. The creatures around here didn''t seem to be all that sharp. It was almost like they had just woken up from a long sleep. "Are we getting close?" Blue asked. "We should be. If we don''t get any more surprises, we should get to the corner of the room after we turn left here. Then it should be just a straight path south," Shane explained. "Are we expecting trouble?" Bonnie asked. "We never expect trouble, but we should always be ready for it," Mylo replied. "That''s something we took a while to learn," Shane chuckled. They continued walking for a few minutes, and they could already see the corner of the room. It was a small plaza with a naga sculpture in the middle. This was the first part of the graveyard that didn''t have any actual tombs. Instead, the buildings here seemed to be focused on the people who would come. There was a small kitchen and what should be a house with two rooms, one small one with what they assumed to be a bed in the form of a sandpit and another larger one with an actual stone bed frame but no mattress of any sort of cloth. While they were searching the buildings, Hera noticed one weird thing, the monsters seemed to be gone and not just as if they weren''t in the area. It was easy to see traces of the creatures, such as webs, tracks, and even noises, but the spiders and scarabs were nowhere to be seen. Because of that, the entire party started to feel on edge. When they left the house, Shane raised her hand to stop everyone from going outside, "Hang on," she placed one hand on the ground and used her sonar to check the area, "We got company." She pointed to the path the group just took, and they managed to see some movement, but they were still hidden by the shadows. "Lena, can you do that light barrier thing? As wide as you can. Just for a moment," Hera asked. "I think I can reach the other side of the plaza. Is that enough?" "I hope so. Does it matter the amount of light we create here?" Hera nodded. "Oh, I think I see where you are going with this. I''ll make the barrier strong enough to hold off anything shy of sunlight," Helena prepared the spell and turned to Hera, "Ready?" "Ready," with that, Helena created the shadow barrier, and Hera followed it up by sending a blinding flash right on the edge of the barrier. The explosion of light illuminated a massive area, revealing a couple dozen monsters. Mostly spiders and scarabs, but there were a few roly-poly in the middle. However, the things that caught everyone''s eye weren''t the numbers. Among the creatures, there were three monsters that looked very different. One was a bronze spider with multicolored eyes, almost like they were made out of jewels. The second was a golden scarab, smaller than most, but he seemed to be leading that group. The last thing that made the group worry was the massive silver roly-poly on the back of that group. It should easily be the size of a three-story building, and the creature wasn''t even hidden on its shell. Hera also managed to use her [Observe] to see the names and levels of the monsters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeweled Hunter - Level 20 (Gem Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Golden Scarab - Level 20 (Gold Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Silver Giant - Level 25 (Precious Metal Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "These affinities are getting ridiculous," Hera gasped. "Tell me about it. When I made that spell, I didn''t expect to find so many weird ones," Helena sighed. "I don''t think that monster that we can''t beat is among them, but the big one on the back is making me worried," Shane replied. "I''m more worried about the spider. I don''t think that those eyes are just for show," Bonnie said. "We can beat them," Mylo nodded. "We can, big guy. But remember that we have people level 14 in the party," Shane replied. "Oh, that''s right¡­ that might be trouble," Mylo frowned. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "They seem to be waiting for us to leave here, and most of them couldn''t attack us inside this house," Alex said. "Yeah, but that doesn''t mean they can''t just bulldoze this place. I''m sure that silver thing could bring this house down without even making an effort," Helena replied. "So, what''s the plan? They seem to be following us. Maybe they won''t attack when we exit," Hera couldn''t help but feel weirded out about the monster''s actions. They were staying far enough away not to be seen by the group''s light, and even now, they didn''t seem to be rearing up for attack. "I think so too, but we can''t just let them follow us," Shane sighed. "Are you worried they might steal the legacy?" Blue asked. "What? No, I mean, monsters can get the legacy, but I''m worried they are waiting for something. Maybe they are preparing a trap somewhere or gathering more monsters to attack," Shane looked outside one more time. Helena''s barrier was gone, but the monsters didn''t seem to be moving. They were still there, waiting for something. "The thing is, if we fight them here, we are at a disadvantage. They have more numbers, and this is too much of a wide space. It would be easy for them to surround us. If we could at least get in a tight corridor, we might be able to stop the big guy," Bonnie said. "Give me a moment," Hera took a few steps back and pulled the thread of her Yarnball, "Where is the closest part of the valley that is too narrow for the silver giant that''s outside to pass?" She felt a huge chunk of her mana be drained, but the thread leaned over and pointed directly south. Opening her map, she saw a marker that should be in the same direction they were already going. There was no way to tell if the naga hero tomb would be before or after that narrow valley, but at least it meant that they had a chance. Just to be sure, Hera opened her status to check on her mana. Ever since she got her [Inspect] to level 2, she could open a smaller version of it where only her attributes showed. That helped a lot when she just wanted to check her mana. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 18 Stats: Strength: 49 Endurance: 49 Agility: 49 Charisma: 49 Intelligence: 49 Luck: 49 Mana: 1500/4890 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using the dowsing rod ability of her relic cost a lot of mana, but she still had some to use in a pinch now. Thankfully, her maximum mana started increasing much faster ever since she got the [Reinforced Mana] skill. "Ok, we might be able to do something if we head south. You guys heard my question?" Hera asked. "Yeah, we did. So that was a positive response then?" Alex asked. "Yep. If there wasn''t any, the thread wouldn''t even budge." "Right. Let''s keep heading south then, but we need to keep our guard up, and Mylo, stay on the back," Shane said as the group prepared to leave. They already were feeling tense, but now, things were even worse. It was one thing to find the area weird, another to know that there was an army of monsters following them in the shadows. Thankfully, the creatures didn''t change their apparent behavior when the group left the house. Hera and the others were free to move south while the monsters lurking in the dark. Knowing that this was going on only made the situation more apparent. The sounds they heard were not of monsters running away but of creatures shifting behind them. Hera focused on recovering her mana. If they had to fight, the last thing she wanted was to be tapped out. She also focused on trying to reassure Silah that everything would be ok. Even if the dwarf was on the same level as the Silver Giant, she wasn''t used to fighting things on her level of strength. Since the flash, Silah stopped talking and was just walking by Hera while holding her hand. Another half an hour passed when the valley started to become more narrow. At the same time, Shane noticed that the monsters were getting closer. The noise was also more frequent and restless. "Guys, I think we are reaching the breaking point. Either the monsters know what we are doing, or they are done waiting," Shane tried to say that without sounding alarmed. There was no reason to believe that the monsters would understand what they were talking about, but her tone was another thing. However, as it was with any wild animal, they should be able to know when their prey shows fear. "Do we have any idea how far the narrow part of the valley is?" Blue asked. "If we consider how much smaller the path is turning and how rock formations usually work, it should be somewhere in the next 2 to 5 kilometers," Bonnie replied. "So, we don''t have a clue," Blue sighed. "Is there anyone who doesn''t feel confident in a 5-kilometer sprint?" Shane asked. "I''m not sure about a full-on sprint, but a jog I can do it," Hera replied. "That might not be enough," Alex replied. "I can do a thing, but it the monsters will attack," Mylo said. "If no one has any better ideas, that might be the best call," Shane said. "Everything will be ok," Hera whispered to Silah. "Yeah, I can run a lot," the dwarf gave a weak smile. There was a long pause while everyone was waiting for someone else to give some suggestion, but nothing came up. Without any other options, Shane spoke up, "No other ideas? Then get ready. You''ll know when to run." "I''ll count to 3, then we run. I''ll use a spell to make everyone go faster. The monsters will run too, but they won''t have the buff," Mylo explained, and everyone got ready, with Silah holding Hera''s hand tightly. "3¡­2¡­1¡­ TIMBER!" Mylo''s scream made Hera feel energized like she had a mix of a sugar high and a caffeine shot. Before she could even realize it, everyone was running at full speed. Looking to the side, she could see Silah even moving a bit faster than her. With that, Hera felt relieved. She was worried that her girlfriend would end up lagging behind since she was much shorter than the rest, but apparently, there was nothing to worry about. Just as they started running, the monsters behind did the same. The creatures began to clack their mandibles and rush towards the humans. It was hard to tell if they were running because of the yell or just because the group started running. As they dashed, Bonnie and Shane started firing spells to the horde of monsters on the back. Seeing that, Silah and Hera started making walls to hinder the monster''s movement. Alex used her wind buff to move faster, and she helped Helena, who seemed to be lagging a bit behind the rest, to move. Mylo was still taking up the rear. He would tap his staff on the ground almost like it was a paddle of a rowboat. Each time he hit the floor, an illusory barrier made out of flowers appeared. These flowers would shatter like glass when in contact with the monsters, and the shard would fly off towards the creatures. The group kept running as fast as they could while the denizens of the valley tried to reach them. Hera looked up, hoping that they would arrive at the narrow passage soon. 325 - Run to the narrow path "Keep running! I can see the path getting really narrow up ahead," Helena yelled. She was using one of her spells to have a lesser version of night visions googles. Unfortunately, the visor the group had didn''t have that function, so they had to depend on spells. Despite being a shadow mage, Helena''s spells weren''t that great at seeing in the darkness. She could see, at most, a couple of hundred meters ahead. Everyone was getting tired, they were running for about 15 minutes already, and the monsters weren''t letting off with their chase. A regular human would have covered over 2 kilometers in that time, but, as a group of explorers, they had run for over 3 kilometers already. The valley was steadily getting narrower, but it wasn''t enough to stop the silver giant just yet. Looking to the sides, Hera could see that the walls were making a funnel. If it would keep going like that, it shouldn''t take long for the path to be too narrow for that giant monster. "When we are sure that that thing can''t follow us, we should turn and face the monsters. The big guy will work like a cork," Bonnie said. "Why don''t we just keep running?" Blue asked. "Not everyone has the same energy as you do. If we keep running, some of us will lag behind," Bonnie replied in a huff. By the sound of her voice, it was clear that she was among the groups that would end up lagging behind. Hera understood that well. She wasn''t that confident that she could keep running for much more time, unlike Silah, who seemed to be still doing well enough. All the muscle she built up while working on the forge was pushing her forward during this marathon. Looking back, Hera saw the Golden Scarab scurrying along the ground at a staggering speed. It quickly got close to Mylo, who was still on the back of the group. "Mylo! Watch out," Hera cried and tossed a paralyze spell at the monster. The creature jumped to the side and avoided the attack, but that allowed Mylo to create another illusory barrier right in front of it. The beast slammed against the flowers and was attacked by a barrage of glass shards. The Golden Scarab was tossed around, but there wasn''t even a scratch in its carapace. The monster pulled its smaller arms from under its body and started shooting its stinger at the party. Hera created a stone wall to cut off its line of sight, but the creature didn''t even care. It kept shooting and body-slammed the barrier, breaking it apart, before continuing forward. Mylo tried to get closer to it to attack properly instead of using his shards, but the Golden Scarab kept moving away. It was hard to tell if that creature focused on ranged attacks or on melee combat. Hera started tossing poison needles and using her flaming poison rain to cover the monsters on the back. Since they would have to fight, either way, she might as well start dealing some damage. The scarab seemed more careful when dealing with poison and backed away, hiding amongst the rest of the monsters. On the back, Hera also saw the green eye of the Jeweled Hunter glowing with an ominous light, but after a few moments of waiting for an attack, nothing happened. Paying more attention, Hera noticed that the green light became brighter as she threw her poison needles, and some of the monsters tried to avoid the projectiles. They weren''t always successful, but it wasn''t hard to tell that there was some connection between the Jeweled Hunter and that ability to evade her attacks. "I can see the narrow path!" Shane yelled on the front. She had stopped shooting her gun when it became clear that all her attacks were missing. There was no point in wasting mana or materials. "How narrow is it?" Mylo asked. "More than enough. Don''t hold your staff sideways," Shane''s voice was filled with glee. The path ahead should be less than three meters wide. The Silver Giant wouldn''t be able to pass by that area, and even the Jeweled Hunter should have some trouble crossing over. One by one, the group passed through that area. Even if the passage was wide enough for two people to stay side by side, they avoided doing so since some jagged bits of rock were coming out of the walls, which could easily hurt someone. The passage itself was considerably long, and after around 50 meters, the monsters also had to make a line to cross over. Being such a perfect opportunity, Hera created a spore field behind Mylo and followed it up with a flaming poison rain that would cover the entire passage. Adding to that, Hera also made sure to keep the source of her spell moving so there would be a constant stream of fire and poison on top of the monsters. "Blue, do you have any actual storms? Put one behind Mylo!" Hera yelled from the back. "Got it," Blue tossed a cloud up, making it vanish in the darkness. Tiny sparks of lightning could be seen in the shadows, "Let me know when you are clear of the storm!" "Wait for it¡­ Wait for it...NOW," Mylo yelled when he passed by the light. Following that, lightning began to strike at the monsters. Unlike Hera''s spell, the cloud was stationary, but the electricity was more than enough to damage the creatures and even give them the shocked affliction. This made Hera''s [Ailment Master] trigger several times. She could already feel her poison spreading to a large number of creatures, but since that didn''t spend any mana, Hera didn''t activate her poison master just yet. The more the poison naturally hurt the monsters, the better. The passage stopped being so narrow after around 400 meters, opening to a considerably wider area. Unlike the funnel it did on the other side, here, there was an abrupt change. In one moment, the valley was just three meters wide, and in the next, the valley was so wide that they had to spread out their lights to see both sides of the walls. Silah and Shane were the first to leave the narrow path. They ran a few meters forward and started preparing the area for the party to make their stand. Silah created several walls on the side to work as cover and blocked off the top of the corridor to avoid having to deal with monsters dropping from above. She couldn''t do anything to block all the way up the narrow path, but now there was only a three-meter tall hole before ten meters of rock blocked the passage on the narrow path. This created an amazing kill box for the group to deal with the monsters. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Blue and Bonnie were the next ones to exit. Noticing the barrier that Silah made, Blue also added some clouds to hide the stone from the monsters, while Bonnie jumped over one of the blockades and prepared to attack as soon as the creatures came out. "I''m hiding walls with my clouds. Don''t try to run over them. Go around!" Blue yelled to the group. "Got it!" Alex was just coming out of the valley with Helena right behind her. The assassin ducked to the left and hid among the rocks, vanishing even from some of the party member''s sight. Helena moved to Bonnie''s side, they were used to fighting by each other, and the multiple elemental attacks worked well as cover for Helena''s sense deprivation spells. Hera and Mylo were the only two still inside the narrow path. They were about a hundred meters behind the rest of the party since they focused on attacking the incoming horde. Still, when entering that area, the monsters started to clog up the entrance. That gave them a considerable lead. Mylo had created a massive minefield with his illusory flowers, while Hera let the flaming poison rain stop moving a few meters after Blue''s cloud. Focusing on the front enemies helped to give her and Mylo some breathing room, but they were far enough away from any creatures for it not to be a problem anymore. Now, Hera just wanted to spread as much poison as she could. Thanks to Risli''s bracelet, she would even get more monsters poisoned. "Hera, make that poison again. Right above the exit," Mylo said. "Will do. I''ll drop the other. I can''t tell if it''s hitting anything anymore," Hera nodded. "Good, and¡­ watch out!" Mylo jumped to the side when a small streak of gold crossed them in a flash. Instead of stopping, the Golden Scarab kept running nonstop towards the rest of the party. "Incoming! The Golden Scarab went past us!" Hera yelled. Before she even got to the exit, an explosion of light and magic blinded her. The moment the scarab came out of the narrow passage, everyone threw spells at it. Thankfully, they were careful enough not to aim directly at the corridor, or Hera and Mylo could end up getting hit by the splash damage. Even with all those attacks, the scarab didn''t seem to mind. It kept dashing around, trying to reach one of the humans. Helena used her grabbers to stop it, and that seemed to finally hold the creature back, but that took all the mage''s concentration. She tried to start removing the monster''s senses, but there wasn''t any leeway on the struggle for her to do something aside from holding the creature back. "I''m gonna need some help here!" Helena called. Blue ran over the monster and started punching it with her electric buffs already charged. The current coursed through the golden body, but the monster didn''t seem to mind it one bit. It was still wrestling with Helena''s spell, trying to break free, "That thing has too much armor. Nothing we are doing seems to be hurting it." "Stay clear. I''ll cook it from inside out!" Bonnie yelled and started slamming fire fists at the creature. "Can you make a constant fire?" Shane asked. "I can just rapid-fire this spell," Bonnie replied. "I can do that," Hera yelled just as she exited the passage. Behind her, Mylo slammed his staff on the ground and pulled it to the sides, creating a flower-patterned barrier. "Then do it!" Shane yelled. Hera rushed over the Golden Scarab and used her grease fire spell to cover it completely. When the flames were covering the entire creature, she took a step back and turned to the passage. Silah was creating something on the ground behind him, and Hera quickly went to help her. "What do you need?" "Make a hole. As large and deep as you can. I''m making a trap," Silah replied. "They can climb walls. I don''t think a pitfall will help that much." "Not a pitfall, something else. I got the idea from those horror movies Alex likes." Hera frowned, unsure what kind of horror movie Silah was thinking about, but she helped create the trap. The monsters were already slamming against Mylo''s barrier, and the ones that sneaked by the sides were being picked off by Alex o Shane. In a few moments, the hole was ready. Sila pulled the ingots from her waist and created two cylinders filled with blades. She placed both in the spot and made a makeshift meat grinder. "Blue! Can you hide the hole The darkest you can make the cloud the better," Silah called. Understanding the plan, Blue quickly created the cloud, and they stepped back. Hera made a final touch, raising two walls by the entrance of the narrow path that would guide the creatures to the trap. "Mylo, can you jump that?" Hera asked. "I can don''t worry." Hera moved away from the trap while Shane shot the now glowing red Golden Scarab. The bullet hit the monster and exploded with cold, and the sound of metal breaking echoed through the valley. Looking over, one could see that the armor of the creature had shattered. Its protection wasn''t completely gone, but much of its yellow body could be seen now. Shane and Alex started attacking the Golden Scarab, and Mylo jumped off the entrance. Letting the horde of monsters fall in the meat grinder. Not all of them were immediately killed by the meat grinder, but the ones that survived were picked off by the rest of the group. When the Golden Scarab was finally killed, Shane, Alex, and Helena joined in the defense, and in just a few minutes, all the monsters were gone. "Is it over?" Bonnie asked. She was sweating buckets from all the running. "It looks like it, let me check," Shane placed her hand on the ground and used her radar spells to see what was around the area, "Yeah, there doesn''t seem to be any more monsters around." "Do you think we broke that golden thing armor completely? I kind of wanted to see how that material works," Silah looked over the remains of the Golden Scarab. "It wasn''t that small. I''m sure there still is some of its carapace lying around," Helena replied. "Hum¡­ guys. You are you seeing this?" when Hera spoke, everyone looked towards her. They followed her hand and saw what she meant. Carved into the walls, a 10-meter tall naga statue adorned with silver and bronze accessories standing with a regal expression looking down upon them. 326 - Silver block While Silah was gathering what she could from the Golden Scarab''s body, the rest of the team was looking at the massive statue. Besides that, there was a pearl white gate and another statue of the same naga in an even more obnoxious pose. Whoever was the owner of this tomb clearly had an ego. "Before going there and checking what else is in here. Can we double-check if there aren''t any more monsters in the passage?" Bonnie asked. "That''s a good idea. I don''t see that spider with weird eyes in the middle of all those bugs," Helena nodded. "Yeah, if they are still waiting around setting up a trap, or worse if they are just waiting for another chance to come here, it''s better if we know," Hera said. "Ok, so it''s better if we send the sneaky people. Alex is the obvious choice, but I''m not very good at hiding, so I can use my radar. Are you ok with going, Hera?" Shane looked at her. "Sure. We are used to scouting ahead like that," Hera nodded. Alex sat down on the ground, "Can you give me a minute. That run was harder than I expected." "Sorry, she was half carrying me during most of the time," Helena gave Alex an apologetic look. Shane looked around and saw how aside from her, Mylo was the only one who wasn''t drenched in sweat. "Yeah, let''s take a break here. It''s a good defensive position, and we can feel more at ease," as Shane said that, the group slumped back and collapsed on the ground. Everyone was exhausted, and this was a deserved rest. While everyone waited, Shane and Mylo walked around the nearby area to see if there were more monsters on this side. In reality, the explorer wanted to see if there were any other crypts nearby, but securing the area was a good excuse to do so. Hera got closer to Silah and gave her a big hug. "Are you ok?" Silah nodded, "Yeah. Is it always like that?" "Not at all. Usually is much more like what we did in the Wooly Plains. Methodical hunting with low risk and against few creatures. All this is¡­ well¡­ a special circumstance," Hera replied. "So¡­ when it''s your turn to go after a legacy, it will be like that too?" Silah asked. "Well¡­ maybe. At times, yeah, but I promise that I will ask the guild for help before we have to deal with so many monsters again. I voted for us to keep going, but I kind of regret it now," Hera chuckled. "You can say that again, my lungs are burning," Bonnie gasped from the side. "I''m not complaining. Not really, at least," Silah chuckled and gave Hera a kiss, "But let''s try to be more careful when we are looking for your clue." "I promise," Hera rested her head on top of Silah''s. They waited for a few minutes until Hera and Alex felt rested enough to check what was going on in the narrow path. Activating their [Hide] skills, they moved into the path, climbing over the small mountain of corpses that had formed in front of their fortified position. "You know, it''s a real waste to leave all these materials here," Hera sighed. "Yeah, but they might be there when we are going back. Maybe we can try to get some of the materials," Alex suggested. "Yeah, maybe. Let''s focus on seeing if we are clear of monsters here," Hera turned around and kept sneaking through the narrow passage. Moving this slowly took a while, and Hera periodically had to stop and use her pulse spell to check the surrounding area. They were about halfway through the passage when something that felt like an earthquake hit. Hera and Alex jumped to the middle of the path. Hera used her pulse, forcing the spell to stay out so she could see any rocks that could be falling from the top of the area. Thanks to that, the small boulders that fell missed the duo, and they kept moving to the entrance of the passage. "Do you think a light is a bad idea? Staying in the dark is kind of hard," Alex asked. "I can make a dancing light, but we probably won''t be hidden from any monsters if they are around," Hera replied. "I think that''s better than staying in the dark. We can move around faster if needed." "Ok then. Be ready to run if things go south," Hera created two dancing lights and made them float around them. Without moving just yet, Hera and Alex got ready for an attack. If there was a monster nearby, this would be the best moment for it to strike. Thankfully, nothing happened. Walking for another couple of minutes, the duo finally arrived at what was supposed to be the exit of that passage, but they were met with a gigantic silver wall blocking them off. Using the light, Hera noticed that this wall seemed to have been slammed against the passage, almost like a truck that tried to pass by a corridor too small for it to fit. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "What the¡­" before Alex could say anything, two large silver antennae came out of the wall, and two dark beady eyes appeared. Pincers started to claw at the walls as if they were digging the ground and trying to reach the humans. Hera and Alex jumped back. It seemed like the silver giant was trying to dig this passage but struggling a lot to do that. With a roar, the monster used its mandibles to push against the walls trying to move back, but it seemed to be struggling. "Is it¡­ stuck?" Hera asked. "It seems like it. Can your pulse see if there are any monsters on the other side?" Alex didn''t look away from the Silver Giant. "Give me a second," Hera closed her eyes and focused for a minute, creating a pulse that would be both wide enough to go across the monsters and strong enough to still give her a signal after passing through such a massive beast. When the spell went off, all mana that touched the silver giant vanished. However, the mana that hit the walls kept going until it left on the other side. Hera could still sense dozens of monsters there, including one odd spider, but the spell fizzled out before it reached the end of the swarm. There was too much interference going on. After telling Alex what she found, the two flung a couple of spells at the Silver Giant, but they all were dispelled before hitting the creature. It seemed to have some sort of natural defense against magic, and its physical defense shouldn''t be anything to scoff at. Knowing that there was nothing else for them to do here, Hera and Alex went back to the group. Moving at a regular pace, it only took a couple of minutes for the two to get back. Alex forgot that there was a hole right after the entrance and tripped, but Hera was quick enough to grab her. "Are you ok?" "Yeah, thanks," Alex felt her cheeks getting red. How could an assassin trip in such an obvious trap? "Are you two ok? We heard what sounded like an explosion," Silah rushed over to Hera. "Yeah, that giant silver bug slammed against the entrance, it seems to be stuck now, and there is a bunch of monsters behind it," Hera explained. "Do you think they will try to attack us again?" Bonnie chimed in. "Maybe, maybe not. They seem to be holding back for now, and I''m not sure if they even can climb over the silver bug. It has some weird effect on its shell that dispelled our magic. Maybe that also affects the other bugs'' climbing ability," Hera added. "Well, if it''s stuck, we might have some time. We can also block off this passage, and I think we''ll be ok for a while," Helena walked over to the rest of the group. "Yeah. Silah, can you help me with that? I''ll toss some lights as high as I can," Hera was looking up, trying to see how much of the passage she could block off with her walls. "Sure. We can even make a staircase to the side to go high up. If we close off enough of the passage, maybe the monsters won''t even try to cross up," Silah started blocking off the passage. Worst came to worse she could easily open that path again. "Yeah, I mean, couldn''t we even get to the ceiling? We are on the bottom floor, right?" Hera asked. "We are, but we can see the sky. I have no clue how that works. There is a floor above us, right?" Hera scratched her head. "I think so. I mean, we came down to get here. Maybe this is a part of the valley that goes all the way down? But then again, even when we came out of that spiral passage, we still could see the sky, and I think we came out on the same side we went in," Alex said. "Oh, you guys are back," Shane gasped as she returned from her small exploration mission. "Yeah," Hera explained what was going on while still working on blocking off the path, "And what about you? Did you find anything interesting?" "Oh, we did!" Shane said with a big smile, "Unlike what the other crypts, these one seem to be placed only one at a time. Like if there is one on the right, there won''t be another right in front of it. They are also alternating sides. We saw two more aside from this one. One had a naga covered in armor and wearing lots of weapons, and the same naga standing on top of skulls. The other one had a naga that seemed to be farming and then doing some alchemy, maybe? It''s hard to tell. That one was weird." "There weren''t any names?" Helena asked. "I couldn''t find any, at least not on the front of the tombs," Shane sighed. "I had to stop her from going inside," Mylo squinted at the explorer. "Give us a couple more minutes, and we can go check it out," Hera was already a couple of meters above the ground, in the makeshift staircase that Silah and her were making. "Ok, we can take the time to make some food. We have enough meat," Shane was staring at the corpses. There was a lot there. "Yeah, I''ll stay with the ration we still have. Thanks," Bonnie walked away from the pile of bodies. During the next hour, Hera and Silah kept working, blocking off the passage while the rest of the party set up a small campfire so they could make some food. They used the spiders'' legs as a kindling while Mylo started cutting the monsters for their meat. In the end, they had blocked off around 20 meters of the passage. There was still more ground for them to cover, but being this high was making them feel uncomfortable. After that, the group gathered around and had a nice warm meal. Spider meat was surprisingly tasty, it felt like eating seafood, but the scarab was too tough, not to mention too small. Now that they had time to properly see the monsters, it was odd. All the spiders were much larger than the scarabs, but they were also much heavier. Since there didn''t seem to be any more monsters around, Mylo put some of the meat to dry, so they could have some rations before the group decided to keep going. It had been a long day already, but no one wanted to rest now that they had found these large crypts. As they walked, Shane was going through some internal struggle. On the one hand, she wanted to enter every single tomb to understand more about the naga. On the other, everyone was here because of her legacy, and if she brought a team of archeologists, learning about this ancient civilization would be much better. They passed by 5 different crypts. The first, which was just by the entrance, had a smug-looking naga that seemed to be proud of itself, following that, one that the group was calling the warrior since it seemed the most combat-related one. Next, there was the alchemist, then the saint since there the statues were covered in holy symbols and the naga seemed to be wearing ceremonial clothes. Finally, there was a statute of a simple-looking naga that didn''t have any unique features. Both statues were completely made out of stone, and there wasn''t any gold or jewels aside from the emerald crown on top of its head. Still, not a single one among them felt like the tomb of a hero. The group kept walking forward since this wasn''t the end of the valley until they reached something. In the middle of the path, there was a naga statue with both hands on the ground. Around the figure, several symbols of different elements were carved in the stone. It was simple, solemn and the statue itself seemed to be made out of a different type of rock. Something that wasn''t native to this room. "Something tells me this might be it," Shane said with a big smile. 327 - Spell Circle The group checked the area past the statue, just to be sure that there wouldn''t be any unwelcome surprises. Luckily, after the statue, there weren''t any more tombs or any buildings. It was odd since the last crypt seemed to be for the first emperor of the naga, but yet, it was like this place still had space for new structures. Hera kept wondering if they had messed up the order. Maybe that naga with a pompous look would be the first emperor, or perhaps the naga had some way to shift the structures back. She also considered the possibility that the narrow path could be changed, but following the size of each tomb, there would be enough space for maybe a single structure in there. Going back to the statue in the middle of the valley, the group took a better look at it. The stone was weird. It was greenish and humid to the touch, almost as if they were touching something inside a cave by the beach. Another odd thing was that looking at the statute, it seemed to be granular, but when they felt it, it was a perfectly smooth surface. Even after whoever knows how long, the statute didn''t show any signals of being assaulted by the elements. Sure, water might be something rare here, but the wind itself was enough to leave marks in all the other statues and even some of the metal adornment. Yet, this one statue without any flair, of a simple naga touching the ground, was in a pristine condition. "This has something to do with the elements, right?" Blue asked while pointing at the elemental symbols on the ground. "Most likely, the most obvious answer is that one needs to use the same elements that are showing in that rune around it to activate the statue. Before doing that, we just have to make sure that this doesn''t have a specific order or something. I don''t want to risk triggering a trap," Shane replied. "Didn''t you say that a trap wasn''t something that should be in a crypt?" Alex turned to the explorer. "Yeah, that''s for a tomb. It''s a place that''s open, and many people can come and go as they please. Now, this is something that''s hidden. If someone random comes by, they might just see the statue. Let''s say they know that this is the statue of a hero as we are assuming it is. They might just come here and see this rune as something that the hero would use. If there really is a secret to this, it might be rigged so that only the right combination will open, and we can even have traps if we get the wrong combination. That''s not a guarantee though, this can not have any traps or not even be anything, but in these situations, it''s best if we are being safe," Shane explained. "What about that journal? Can you just scan it for any mentions of a statue?" Hera suggested. "I could, but let''s leave that for if we can''t find anything here," Shane nodded. Hera turned back to the statue, trying to find some hidden details about it. The figure had both its arms on the ground, touching the entire palm of its hands on the rune. Its tail was coiled around its body, with the tip of the tail right in front of its face, pointing to the same direction the statue was facing. Lastly, there were its bracelets. They covered most of the naga''s forearm and seemed to have a large oval jewel on them. Saying it was a jewel was just a guess. The shape was still the same color as the statue, and there weren''t any lines showing that it was a cut gem or something. Nothing stopped them from being actual eggs, although Hera found that highly unlikely. The runes surrounding the effigy had nine distinct symbols. A few were easy to tell, while others were... Confusing. The easy ones should be fire, represented by the drawing of a flame. Cold, represented by some lines and moving like wind and a couple of snowflakes. Earth, or ground where the symbol was of a crack on the floor. Lastly was the nature symbol, represented by a tree. The other four, however, would be an issue. One sign was of a fang dripping something, it could mean blood, but they were naga. Maybe they meant poison. Another was of a circle with a dot in the middle and what looked like a spike with two spiral lines coming out of its size. There was also one with a diamond with a dot in the middle, one that was a circle with a square inside it, with a triangle inside it. Finally, there was one with what looked like a boat''s wheel, but only three of its six points would come out of the circle surrounding it. Hera took a picture of each symbol and noted down her suggestions about what each would be. When she finished, she turned to Bonnie and Helena, "I got this from those symbols. Any ideas about the rest?" They looked at the tablet and started discussing possibilities. Shane and Silah joined, and a few moments later, everyone was giving their ideas. "Ok, so we all agree with cold and fire. Earth and nature also seem like a good shot. I agree with Hera about the fang thing being poison. Some naga are known to be venomous. Silah said that the circle with the weird spike thing is a symbol for gold, and honestly, I trust the blacksmith''s knowledge about metal. The boat''s wheel means strength. I''ve seen that before with the naga. This last one, I don''t know. A circle with a square and a triangle¡­ geometry?" "Maybe shapes? Something that creates a form," Mylo suggested. "I mean, that makes as much sense as anything," Shane shrugged. "What about the order? Any ideas?" Blue asked. "Bonnie and I were looking at this rune. If we treat it as a spell circle, there would be an order in which they would be activated. It should start with the poison, or blood, and then go counterclockwise," Helena explained. "Really? I thought they would be pinging around in random directions," Silah said. "More often than not, no. A spell circle is already complicated enough without making it activate in a weird order. If we have to trigger the parts of the spell in a specific way, we usually set up the circle to already be in the right order, unless there is a very specific reason why we would do it differently," Helena continued. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Ok, that might solve one problem, but we still have another one. What does a circle square triangle mean?" Alex sighed. "Yeah, not to mention, do we have all away to trigger all the symbols? I''m assuming we need to put some mana of the element on each of them," Hera said. "Well, You have poison, fire, and earth. Bonnie has ice, I can use some vines to make the nature. Silah, do you have something that could be used for gold?" Shane turned to the blacksmith. Silah stopped for a moment, "I think so. I can use the golden carapace as the metal that I toss around, that might trigger it." "I have a buff for strength and for the shapes. Are flowers shapes? Could that work?" Mylo asked. Shane sighed, "That idea works just as well as anything I can come up with. Then we have them all right?" "We are missing one," Alex chimed in. "Which one?" Bonnie asked. "This," Alex pointed to the diamond with a dot in the middle. "Oh, right. Holy crap, I completely forgot about that one," Blue gasped. "Me too," Mylo nodded. "Me three," Silah was staring at the symbol. "That''s¡­ weird. It''s one thing for one or two of us forget the symbols but all of us¡­." Helena started to think, "Hera, could you look away from the statue for a moment." "Sure," Hera turned around. "Ok, now tell me how many symbols are in the spell circle," Helena asked. "Nine." "Can you name them?" "Fire, earth, nature, ice, poison/blood, gold, strength, and the one we don''t know." "That''s eight, sweetie," Helena replied, still thinking about what this could mean. "What? Then I guess I counted the symbols wrong," Hera turned around and noticed the diamond with a dot in the middle, "What the¡­." "Yeah, you see the problem, that symbol must have something. We can only remember it when we are looking at it. If we look away, it is gone," Helena nodded. "Are you guys being serious right now?" Alex asked. "We are. Can you remember when you look away?" Shane replied. "Of course I can. What kind of weird symbol makes you forget that you saw it!" Alex gasped. "That''s what we are trying to find out," Bonnie scoffed. "Could it be related to being an assassin? That''s why Alex can remember it?" Silah asked. "That''s a good point. Maybe it''s like, the symbol for hiding, or sneak," Hera turned to Alex, "Do you have any spells that increase your hiding ability?" "I do. But they are very expensive, and I can''t use it without looking at the formula," Alex replied. "Can''t you just call it through the system?" Blue asked. "I can, but then I can''t tweak the spell. I''m trying to memorize it so I can use it more often." "First things first. We need to test if this circle gives any response to magic at all," Shane said. "Ok," Bonnie replied and threw a tiny fire fist at the fire symbol. When she did that, everyone jumped away, worried that it would trigger some sort of trap. Blue created a cloud armor to protect her while Hera and Silah created two stone barriers pulling the rock from the ground. After a moment where nothing happened, the group looked up at the statue and the researcher. The flame symbol was now glowing red, and parts of the magic circle had a soft blue glow. "Are you crazy? That could trigger a trap!" Blue yelled. "If there was a trap here, it would be something too big for us to run away from. Besides, even I was getting annoyed with all that talk and no action," Bonnie shrugged. "Are you fucking serious!?" Blue yelled even louder. "Blue," Hera just stared at her friend. She understood why the controller was so angry, but she also knew that she tended to only make things worse when Blue got like that. "Still, Bonnie, that was way too reckless, and we can''t have someone going rogue on us and doing their own thing. I want you to be on the back of the group and don''t do anything unless someone asks. If you don''t follow these rules, I won''t give you a pass on the order''s test," Shane spoke in a calm tone, but the way she talked was almost like the principal of a school scolding a student. Bonnie opened her mouth and then closed it again. She took a deep breath before replying, "Ok, I''m sorry for rushing this." "Good, well. Either way, good work, at least we know how this works," Shane scratched the back of her head, "Anyway, let''s try to light up the next one." One by one, they managed to light up the symbols. Silah was right about the gold symbol, and the fang was indeed poison. The only two who were still a bit off were the diamond with a dot and the circle with a square and a triangle inside. Unfortunately, every time they missed the element, the entire circle would turn off, so they had to redo everything in order. After a few minutes, Mylo figured out what was the symbol of shapes. In fact, it was thanks to his flowers that it worked. The sign seemed to represent an illusion, and in hindsight, it made sense. Illusions would create shapes and make something that, when broken down, were nothing but circles, squares, and triangles. However, the one representing hiding or stealth was an issue. The group spent hours trying to figure out, and even when everyone was tired, they had no choice but to set up the bunker one more time to sleep. Shane refused to go back now that she felt she was so close. During the night, Shane kept translating the journal. Trying to find a clue about what the last symbol could be. Until she finally reached a page and went over to where Hera was sleeping. "Hera, Hera, are you awake?" Shane shook the explorer. "I am now. What do you want?" "You are a conceptual mage, right?" "You woke me up to ask that? Yeah, I am, now let me sleep," Hera rolled to the side, but Shane pulled her back. "So you can make a spell as long as you understand what you need to do, right?" "That''s what a conceptual mage is. Thanks for the lesson now. Good night," Hera tried to go to sleep again, but Shane shuffled to the other side to stay face to face. Hera looked to the explorer with a sigh, "Shane, what the hell do you want?" "I need you to make a spell for the last symbol." 328 - Missing rune "So? How is it going?" Shane asked Hera for the 5th time in 20 minutes. "It''s not. Maybe I can figure this out if I''m not interrupted every two minutes," Hera huffed. "Oh, sorry, it''s just¡­." "Just that you are excited, and you want to get your legacy. Yeah, you told me that five times already. Look, just because I''m a conceptual mage doesn''t mean I can just think about a spell, and it works. It takes time. I told you that I''m not even sure I can make this thing work, and even if I can, there is no guarantee that it will be the same element of that rune. Either way, unless you stop bothering me, we will never know. Try to sleep or something. You look like crap," Hera looked back at her tablet, which showed the translation of part of the journal. Shane had spent most of the night looking for some sort of clue in the journal. In the end, she found something, but that cost her a night of sleep. Among the pages, there were some mentions of fights and trials that the owner of the journal, presumably, the naga hero, went through. During those challenges, the naga would, at times, say that they had to hide in plain sight. At first, Shane thought it to be just an expression, but in one of the later passages, the naga talked about how the group had to hold their breath to hide from a monster that got so close they could see the white in its eyes. With that, Shane understood that all those mentions of hiding insight were, in fact, talking about something specific. She searched the journal one more time for more details of that ability and found several passages talking about it. For that spell to work, there were a number of conditions, and Shane wrote them all down so Hera could create the same spell. First, they couldn''t move. One of the nagas shifted when facing one monster, and that seemed to have broken the effect. Second, the better the hiding spot, the stronger the spell would be. It seemed like it took advantage of the environment to make the effect better. Third, smells and noises also affected it. That''s why the naga would smear themselves with mud and stop breathing while a creature was close by. Lastly, the spell, at one point, became so strong that if a monster saw them but got distracted by any reason, it would forget that the nagas were there. Apparently, this last effect was what saved the group so many times, and it was also something the owner of the journal never expected to happen. With all those details, Shane wrote down an explanation and asked Hera to figure out how to use it. The issue was, making a spell wasn''t an easy task like Shane expected. Even if it was something, Hera was familiar with, like Bonnie''s fire fists, replicating that effect was complicated. It wasn''t just about understanding the spell''s effect but understanding how the mana behaved to make the spell work. To make this particular spell, Hera first tried to understand how each part of the effect would happen. Some bits seemed simple enough. If she could use her pulse as a base to take a picture of an area and then another pulse to function as a screen to show what''s on the back, she could create a camouflage. However, after a few tries, she realized that this would end up as an illusion spell, which wouldn''t help with the problem. When they woke up, Bonnie and Helena had a brief discussion with Hera to understand what was going on. The two decided to help her, and with two people who had a good grasp on the theory behind using spells, things became somewhat easier. Or at least, it was easier to understand the details and how things were supposed to function. The first thing the trio had to understand was how this spell would differ from a basic illusion. In less than half an hour, they came to the conclusion that the main part of the spell, the part that actually mattered for what they wanted to do, was to make someone forget they were there. Everything else would make the spell behave as something they already had tried to make the rune light up. Despite helping a lot, having Bonnie and Helena chip in had its fair share of issues. They were very passionate about magic, and just a small push was enough to make them go on a tangent that wouldn''t help at all. Thankfully, Hera was annoyed enough with Shane to forget her usual passive persona. Every time Bonnie or Helena started to change the subject too much, Hera would bring them back like a teacher trying to make the class focus. A few hours went by, Shane was finally sleeping. Silah and Mylo were talking about crafting. The fighter wasn''t much of a blacksmith, but he recently picked up tailoring, and ever since being exposed by the human society, Silah had developed an interest in the area as well. Blue and Alex tried to help with the spell, but it quickly became clear that they were making things slower, so they decided to look around the area and maybe gather some materials from the monsters they killed during the previous day. During that time, Hera had a small breakthrough. They didn''t have to replicate the exact effect, just something similar enough that they should use the same type of mana. Instead of trying to hide herself or a person, Hera focused on trying to hide a location. She made a small cylindrical rock on the side of the valley, away from the main path. To make it easier, she made that small object seem almost natural, even carving away some bits and pieces to give it a similar look to the valley walls. Her theory was that if she was trying to make someone forget something that already was natural, it would be easier to make the spell work. The next step was to figure out how the mana would behave. She wanted to make people forget what they were looking at, but that also came with a major issue. It didn''t matter how many ways Hera tried to come up with. In the end, she could only think that doing that would be like messing with someone''s brain. Doing something like that was scary. If she created something too strong, she could seriously hurt people. For the first time, she understood why Ogryn was scared of his mana burn spell. If someone with bad intentions got a hold of a spell like that, there was no way to tell what they could do with it. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Seeing her hesitation, Helena got closer, "Sweetie? Are you ok? "I don''t know. What if this spell ends up being something bad?" Hera replied. "There are no bad spells, sweetie. Well... at least not in that sense," Helena chuckled. "But¡­ What if I make something that can hurt someone forever? What if this spell can destroy someone''s life?" Hera asked. "Well. for starters. I doubt that a spell you just came up with would be that strong. Second, if it gets to that point, just don''t use it on other people," Helena replied. "But the idea is for it to be an area of effect, not a targeted thing. Anyone could be affected by it. Not to mention that if someone sees the spell, they can try to duplicate it." "Even more reason not to worry then. I seriously doubt an AoE spell you just came up with would be strong enough to hurt people like that. And you are seeing how much work is to make the spell even when we have a decent description. If someone sees you using that, it will take a lot more to duplicate it," Helena continued. "Besides, do you really think that you, someone who''s not even level 20, would be able to make something that high-level healers couldn''t fix? C''mon Hera, you are awesome, but not that awesome. Besides, why are you worrying about something that you are not even sure it''s going to work?" Bonnie chuckled. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Hera rolled her eyes. "You don''t have to do this if you don''t want to. We can just tell Shane that it didn''t work," Helena said. "No¡­ I still want to try, and like you said, Bonnie, high-level healers should be able to fix anything that I do, right?" Hera turned to the researcher with a creepy smile. "You know¡­ now that you say it like that, I''m not liking this idea," Bonnie took a step back, playing along. Hera went back to the plan she created and focused her mana. Hera already considered ailments to be her specialty. Maybe she could make a poison or something that would target a specific part of a memory. She knew enough about biology to know that the brain tended to fill gaps in it. Naturally, that''s why people could understand words with missing letters or see full pictures even if parts of them were hidden. As long as the spell focused only on removing the parts that weren''t supposed to be seen from someone''s mind, this could work. Hera started weaving her mana around the small cylinder, which was even smaller than a soda can. The first step was to make the mana infectious to anyone who looked. Using her poison and spore field as a base, Hera made the mana, trying to reach out to anyone who stared at it. At first, this was tricky because she would always be looking at the mana, and it would keep trying to reach her. Second, because the mana wasn''t obeying and staying in place. To change that, Hera had to pump a lot of mana into the spell and make several tiny tendrils around the rock, splitting the spell into two parts. The first would just surround the object, and the second would try to attack anyone looking at it. The next part was to tell the tendrils what to attack. Hera never once tried to toy with messing with someone''s brain, and she didn''t know enough of biology to know where the memory would be stored or if she would have to even touch the target''s neurons. Unsure of what to do, she just went for a hail mary and told the mana to remove its memory from the target. She suddenly felt her mana being drained. A whooping 3 000 points of mana were pulled from her, but the spell worked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Selective Memory Filter You can use your mana to create an area. Everything inside that area will be forgotten by anyone who is not looking directly at it. Base area: 10 centimeters2 Base range of effect: 2 meter2 Base mana cost: 4500 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera almost fell to the ground. This was the first time she made a spell that cost so much mana. The feeling was much similar to when she used her relic for an impossible question. "Are you ok?" Helena rushed over to her. "Yeah, just dead tired. But at least it worked, I think. We just need to see if that will work with the rune," Hera replied. She could still see the cylinder without a problem, but Bonnie and Helena forgot about the object after a couple of tests if they tried to look at it when close. Not just that, but even if they had seen the tube from a distance, the moment they got close and looked away, the memory of its existence would vanish. They talked some more, then took a break to eat. After a couple more hours, Shane woke up, and the first thing she asked about was the spell. Hera told her that she thought she got it, but Shane had to eat before they could test. After all, if they were going to face whatever comes next, everyone should be in the best shape possible. Another half an hour went by, with Shane almost inhaling her food, but finally, it was time to try again. "Just a head''s up. This uses almost all my mana. I can''t use any spells after this for a while," Hera let everyone know. She would still be able to fight, but without mana, her options would be seriously limited. The group gathered around the naga statue, and one by one, the runes were lit up using the corresponding mana. Fire, ice, nature, poison, strength, illusion, gold, earth, and finally Hera''s spell, which they were still unsure what element it would be. When she used the spell, the light in the magic circle vanished. For a moment, everyone thought they had failed one more time. Then, the statue shifted. It rose its body from the ground and both arms towards the sky in an arc. The ground began to rumble, causing everyone to back away from the statue. With a smooth motion, four plaques of rock shifted beneath the group''s feet, pushing them away from the statue and towards the corners of the rooms. From beneath the stone nada, a tower began to rise. Then a white stone dome with green details. More towers and domes appeared, and it only stopped when the 50-meter wide valley was almost completely filled with a massive cathedral. In front of it, in the same direction that the naga''s head was facing, there was a large entrance surrounded by two statues of the same naga with a smile and one arm extended forward, as if it was welcoming the visitors. "We got it!" Shane started jumping and rushed over to Hera to give her a big hug, "I''m so happy that I could kiss you!" "You could what?" Silah asked in shock. "It''s an expression. She doesn''t mean it literally," Hera explained while pushing Shane away. "Oh yeah. Sorry, you guys are different. Anyway, let''s head inside. My legacy awaits!" Shane proudly announced before going towards the entrance of the temple. 329 - A heros crypt Shane was the first to get close to the entrance of the tomb. Before heading inside, she wanted to be sure that there wouldn''t be any traps or any writing on the statues or the door. If this really was the location of the legacy she was after, she didn''t want to miss anything. The rest of the party joined to help, but they couldn''t find anything on the front of the structure. Hera couldn''t help but stare at the statues around the main entrance. The naga had such a serene and warm expression. Not in a ''this is too good to be true'' kind of way, but somehow it seemed like the statue was saying ''Welcome.'' While staring at the giant figure, Hera noticed that there was something different about its bracelet. These larger versions of the naga hero were made of some sort of white marble or maybe a pearl. However, the oval shape inside the bracelets had a more crystalline mineral. It wasn''t completely transparent but almost pearlescent in a milky cream color. She pointed that out for the group. Helena found it very interesting, but the stone itself didn''t have any magic on it. It was just a natural reflection, almost like it was made out of some type of bismuth. Silah tried to understand what that material was, but it was hard to tell what it could do without removing the rock from the statue. No one liked the idea of breaking the figure just to satiate their curiosity. Unless there was a good reason to break the sculptures, it was best to leave them alone. Shane explained that even among the most greedy of explorers, they tended to respect culturally significant places. Not to say that they wouldn''t steal gold and other valuables, but the buildings themselves and anything that felt really important was left alone. This also meant that the statues should be safe from robbers unless someone figured out that the mineral used on the sculpture was extremely valuable. After being sure that they weren''t missing anything outside, the group headed inside the tomb. The place was weirder than anyone expected. Not so much because of the structure itself, but because of the way everything was laid out and the spiral pathways spread around everywhere. One could look anywhere inside, and they wouldn''t find a single staircase. Instead, ramps were leading to the higher floors, all in different shades of blue. Another unexpected thing was that the jade floor was smooth and somehow soft. Not to the point of being like a mattress, but it was close to walking through grass or fresh snow. Clearly, the naga had developed a way to make the ground more comfortable for them to move through. Another curious thing was the layout of the tomb. Unlike what it was with humans, or dwarves for that matter, the naga didn''t seem to focus on decorating the white pearl walls. Instead, they would make areas around every cream pillar with several ruby shelves and a small ramp that followed the shelves up to the top of each pillar. Near the walls, there were a number of cloths, rugs, and large pillows that one could use to sit or even lay down on. However, the most surprising thing about this all was the pristine condition it was in. It looked like a brand new hospital. There wasn''t even a single speck of dirt. It seemed that whatever spell was hiding this place would even keep the dirt and wind away, maybe even more than that since the fabrics were also intact. "Could the spell that hid this place created some sort of vacuum?" Bonnie started to think out loud. "I think there should be more than that. If it was just vacuum sealed, the pillows would have lost their shape," Helena replied. "Maybe some sort of permanency spell? Or just a conservation one, I mean, people use that type of magic with food. I don''t see a reason why it wouldn''t work with something else," Silah suggested. "That''s fair, but to use it on something this big, the amount of mana used would be ridiculous," Helena nodded. "Could this be part of the legacy effect? I mean, Stormcloud, Blue''s legacy created a barrier that was able to stop level 60 plus dwarfs from passing through, and the monster that had it wasn''t even level 20," Hera passed a finger on the ground, trying to see if there was some dust around, but her finger came out clean. "That is a possibility, but let''s remember that the legacy might not be here," Shane replied. "Trying to keep your cool?" Mylo snickered. "Hell yeah, I am! Every fiber of my body is telling me that the legacy is here, but if I''m wrong, I don''t want to be too disappointed." "The mural we saw in the jungle had a naga with bracelets," Mylo replied. "You are not helping, man!" Shane gasped and started walking away, "No one goes to a different room alone. Look around and see if you find any indications of what''s inside here." The group spread out and started searching. Surrounding the pillars, there were some tapestries and other small trinkets that seemed to be handcrafted. A few carved wooden figurines of different monsters and a few naga plushies. It seemed like each naga had different colored scales. Some of those plushies seemed to have been made by either someone who was just starting or by a kid. A bit higher up in one of the pillars, there were also some drawings and paintings. Again, they weren''t particularly good. Not something you expected to find on a crypt, at least. Most of them seemed like the type of thing that a parent would put on their fridge. Yet, there was a charm to them. Hera couldn''t help but wonder how much the kids should love the naga hero to be willing to do something like this. The feeling should be reciprocated by the hero as well. After all, she doubted that the people would let the kids put these drawings on a tomb unless the owner would allow it. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Hera came down that one pillar and started climbing another. Just like the previous one, this was filled with handmade gifts that weren''t particularly well made. When reaching the part with the paintings, she started to notice that the people who made this should be older. Maybe not adults who were experienced with the craft, but at least teenagers that were beginning to understand how to properly paint things. Bonnie was also checking the pillars, and they seemed to gradually increase the quality of items that were around. The one with the most well-made paintings and sculptures was the pillar hidden behind a corridor on the corner of the room. Somehow, that area felt like something made out of obligation. Almost as if it was made just to appease a group of people. It wasn''t just the location that gave off that feeling, but the way each piece of art was displayed. On the other pillars, they were organized, creating makeshift sets and harmonizing with each other''s colors. Still, on that specific area, each sculpture or painting was just tossed around as if it was a first-come, first-served situation. Aside from those paintings, the room had four corridors connected to it, plus the one that would lead to the outside. Each hallway was the same, with white walls and the jade floor and ceiling. What was different was the other side. Every corridor had a door with a large naga face in the middle, but each naga was different. One was verdant green, the other was yellow with white spots, the third was red with black rings, and the last was blue with darker arrow-like markings. "So, I don''t think we will find anything else here. Has anyone found something that could help?" Shane asked. "I''m not sure. I mean, I thought that this naga could be the same as the one in the mural back there, but there were six there, and even in the drawings here, there are only four," Hera replied. "Yeah, I found that odd too. Then again, we have no idea what those nagas looked like. Aside from that mark in the leader and the bracelets, they were only silhouettes," Bonnie sighed. "Well, I think it''s fair to say the one with the bracelets is the same naga. I mean, we used the journal to find our way in here. Maybe this is their actual party. The ones before were there just because of that emperor that they want to forget," Alex suggested. "I mean, that is a possibility. But the naga hero and the emperor are supposed to be siblings, right? Isn''t that what that note we found with the journal said? Usually, when someone does something truly horrible, their entire family gets wiped. Why would the naga hero get so much love despite that?" Helena asked. "Maybe they did that to wash away the bad," Blue spoke up while laying down on one of the massive pillows. "What do you mean?" Silah stopped trying to figure out what the ground was made out of for a moment and turned to the controller. "Like, when a politician or the boss of a big company does something bad, they try to cover it up by giving away a bunch of money or doing something for charity. What if they did that but on a bigger scale. Didn''t the mural said that the naga only had an emperor in times of need? So maybe they twisted the story, so the naga hero was the one that saved them instead of the emperor. I know that maybe old civilizations didn''t have the same thing with heroes that we have, but maybe they did," after Blue explained, she noticed Bonnie''s confused expression, "What?" "No, I just wasn''t expecting something so insightful coming from you. Well done," Bonnie replied. "Yeah, then¡­ if I was a naga hero, where would I keep my legacy?" Shane asked. "Hey, what did the emperor had? Like, how did we know he was the emperor in the mural?" Alex asked. "He had a triskelion on his shoulder. It''s like three spirals connected on the middle," Hera replied. "Ok, so can someone come here just to be sure I''m not seeing things," Alex had stopped moving her head and was being careful not to shift her body while pointing towards the blue door. Hera walked over and took a look. It took a while with Alex trying her best to explain what she was seeing, but finally, Hera found a point where the pillars would be on the way to the door, and the ramps would match with the dark blue arrow markings on the naga''s head forming three spirals in a triangle. They weren''t connected in the middle, but it could easily be considered a triskelion if one ignored that detail. "Isn''t this kind of obvious?" Hera scratched her head. "Obvious? How come. You have to be at exactly this position and look there. If you move just a little bit, you can''t see it. How is that obvious?" Alex scoffed. "I mean, it''s something anyone can end up finding. And if the people wanted to hide anything about that emperor, wouldn''t they know about that mark?" Hera asked. "Not necessarily. Maybe that mark has some cultural significance that is not directly related to the emperor. Also, let me take a look. Where should I stand," Shane started trying to see the triskelion, but only after Alex showed the exact position she was that the explorer managed to see the mark. "That seems promising. Let''s take a look there," Shane led the way while the rest of the group reached the door. They took a while since they were still worried about possible traps despite this looking more like a tomb that anyone could enter. Reaching the door, Shane asked Mylo to open it, and he did without an issue. The giant naga head shifted to the side and revealed the inside of the chamber. Four large stone beds were spread around a room of dark blue stone. When the group took a step inside, a circle of light appeared on the ceiling, illuminating the area. At the same time, four spectral nagas appeared standing up on the beds. They all turned to the group, making the door close behind the humans, and opened their mouths at the same time. With a roar, they spoke as one "Sssshaaaashssaasheesshsishes!" 330 - Stars in the ceiling The group prepared to defend against any incoming attacks. Whatever the naga said didn''t sound like a friendly greeting, and having the door lock behind them wasn''t a good sign. For a full minute, the group just stood there, waiting for something to happen while looking for any signs of what was about to come. Another minute passed in complete silence, the naga still staring at the group without showing any signs of a response. "Hello?" Shane asked, but there was no response. "Are we sure this is a trap?" Bonnie turned to the explorer. "Not really, but what else could it be?" "A planetarium?" Alex pointed to the ceiling. In the dark stone that covered the chamber, one could see several constellations spread around. "Is that Ursa Major?" Hera asked. "Yeah, and that is Lynx, right?" Helena pointed to a constellation above what Hera pointed. "I think so. I never thought about it, but are the constellations here just like the ones we have on Earth?" Bonnie asked. "They are, but each room would share constellations with a different place. It''s not weird to see starts that we would only see on the southern hemisphere in a room and constellation from the northern hemisphere on the next one," Shane explained. "Sooo¡­ are we in a trap or just some elaborate classroom?" Blue asked. "No clue, but it doesn''t seem like something is going to jump at us," Mylo replied and took a step forward. The naga started moving again. They all raised their right arms with their palms up and waved them in a U shape. Following that, they all placed one hand by their chests and lowered their heads, vanishing from their bed. Only a single naga remained, the one with the same arrow markings as the door behind the group. However, going against the hissing that came before, their face seemed happy and welcoming. The same type of expression that the statues in the entrance of the temple had. It started hissing again, which still sounded angry, but the face was still friendly and happy. "Can you understand anything?" Bonnie turned to Shane. "I can read their writing, but I never heard them speaking," Shane replied. "So¡­ any ideas how we can understand what they are saying?" Blue asked. "No clue. I hope that they start to use some images to explain things so we can at least make something out of it," Shane sighed. As the naga continued to speak, the group spread around and started to look for something. During all that time, the naga continued to talk while looking at Mylo, who was the first one to step forward. Most of the room was made out of that black stone, and there weren''t any lights aside from the constellation on the ceiling. Hera and Helena used their lights so everyone could see something. They spent about 30 minutes in there with the naga still talking. Bonnie kept watching the projection, but it didn''t make any other movements. It just kept hissing as if it was giving a lecture. Hera kept looking up to the ceiling. The constellations in there bothered her, something seemed off, but she couldn''t wrap her head around what it was, "Is anyone here really good with stars?" "I know a little," Bonnie replied. "I know some, but that''s not my specialty," Helena shrugged. "I used to visit a planetarium all the time when I was a kid," Alex said with a smile. She was also looking at the stars. "So, do you feel something off about this too? I can''t wrap my head around it, but something seems wrong. Doesn''t it?" Hera asked. The four of them looked up, but Bonnie and Helena couldn''t see anything wrong with the constellations. With a shrug, they gave up and went back to looking around. Alex, however, also felt like something was weird. "Hey, do you remember if Draco''s head is pointing to Ursa Major or not?" Alex asked. "Draco? Honestly, I don''t even remember what Draco looks like," Hera sighed. "So, Ursa Major, is that right? Those four forming a box, and then the next three forming kind of like a tail. At least those are the major stars of the constellation. There is Dubhe, Merak, the¡­ something, and I don''t remember the rest," Alex pointed to the stars while explaining. "Yeah, that I remember. Sort of," Hera nodded. "Ok, then right above it and a little to the left. Those starts that make a small box and go around, but I think they are in the wrong position," Alex said. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Hang on," Hera pulled up her tablet and took a picture, "Can you draw the constellation?" "Sure," Alex nodded and drew the lines to connect the stars. "Where are the wings?" "Wings?" "Yeah, doesn''t the Draco constellation have wings?" Hera asked. "Not every representation. Most of them only have the body and the head. I only remember that because that''s one of my favorites," Alex replied. "Right, but there is something off about it. Do the head of the dragon and the head of the bear face the same direction?" Hera asked. "That''s it! Draco is facing the wrong way. It''s flipped over!" Alex gasped. "So, what does this mean?" Hera kept looking at the top. "I have no idea. Shane, did you hear our conversation?" Alex turned around. "No, I didn''t. What''s up?" The group gathered around and heard the explanation about the constellations. Shane looked up and walked under the group of stars that were in the wrong position. She looked down and started to walk, following the shape that Draco formed. Looking around for anything that could be out of place. "Look for spirals. Maybe there is a triskelion somewhere. That might be the theme for this," Hera suggested. "That''s a good call. Although calling a theme might be a stretch, there was just one thing with those spirals around," Shane chuckled. "I''m just trying to help," Hera shrugged. "I appreciate it, don''t get me wrong," Shane looked around, but there wasn''t anything around, "Maybe this is not the right way to go about it. Where should the constellation be?" Alex looked around and tried her best to remember the exact position of Draco''s constellation. It took a while but after taking a picture of the ceiling and editing the image to put the stars in the right position. Shane tried to follow that new path. At this point, the naga had not just stopped talking but also vanished from its bed, and the sound of something unlocking came from the door. It seemed like no one would be able to leave the room while the projections spoke. Wanting to be sure about that, Blue walked to the door and pushed it open. Thankfully, it wasn''t locked, but the stars vanished when the light from the corridor came through. "Blue, can you close that. I need the stars to guide where I''m going," Shane asked. "Sorry, I just wanted to be sure that the door wasn''t locked," Blue closed the door again, and the four nagas appeared on their beds. That same roar echoed through the chamber, and it was followed by the rest of the speech, including their odd greeting where all the naga waved their arms. Shane stopped at a point and just stared at the projections, "I think I got something." "What is it?" Helena asked. "Hang on. Can someone open the door again? I need to see the start of this speech," Shane asked. "It''s locked. We need to wait for the snake people to stop speaking," Mylo said after trying to open the door. "Then we wait," Shane replied. At first, everyone waited patiently for the naga to finish their speech. When it was over, Mylo opened the door and closed it again to reset the projections. The main issue was that Shane still wasn''t able to find exactly what she wanted. It was only during the hand movement that the spirals seemed to form, but the angle she was looking at wasn''t right. After the third try, the rest of the party joined in. They all spread around the right position of the constellation and tried to find the triskelion hidden in the room. Everyone decided to help because each attempt to find took around fifteen minutes and if they left that up to Shane, who knows how long it would take for her to find the correct position. On their 7th attempt, Mylo, who was running back and forth between the door and the area under the constellation, caught a glimpse of the triple spiral. He tried to go back and see it again, but it was too late. Shane got really excited, and the entire party clumped up together to try to see the shape. On the next attempt, Shane managed to see the whole triskelion. Directly in the middle of the three spirals, it seemed like something was on the other side of the wall. It was a small point with a lighter shade of black that only showed the difference in color after when two of the see-through naga would overlap. "Someone stay here and keep your eyes on that spot. Let me know when I got close," Shane asked and walked over to the hidden mark. With some help from the rest of the party, it didn''t take long for her to find the location. However, the place was just like the rest of the wall. The stone was smooth and clean. Even when using her radar, Shane couldn''t feel anything special coming from that spot. She tried a few different ways of making it react, but nothing happened. Even after drawing a triskelion with her finger, the stone was cold and unresponsive. "Maybe there is a password or something," Shane mumbled, "Hey, what was the name of that emperor again? The one from the hidden tomb," she turned to Hera. "It was Lantra," Hera replied. "Lantra?" Shane asked to confirm, but her hand was still touching the wall. When the name came out of her mouth, that small piece of stone changed colors to a dull grey, and a large piece of the wall shifted, revealing a passage down. Unlike the current room, this hidden path had soft blue walls with light, a light red floor, and a ceiling with the same shade of red, which gave the area a much brighter appearance. Everyone gathered around to see where it would lead. The tunnel kept going down in a spiral, but neither Hera''s pulse or Shane''s radar could see anything beyond the walls in the room. It was like there was still solid stone in front of them instead of a passage. Shane was the first to enter the tunnel, with Mylo following right behind her. One by one, the rest entered the passage, and they kept going down. Almost twenty minutes went by while the group kept heading down. By Bonnie''s estimate, they should be almost 200 meters deeper, and there was nothing to identify if they were actually moving or just stuck in some sort of loop. To remedy that, Bonnie was using a pink lip balm she had on hand to mark the areas they passed by to be sure they weren''t walking in circles. When they got about 250 meters deep, the passage stopped its descent and opened to a small chamber with about a dozen pillows and a pillar in the middle. This pillar had paintings, dolls, and other knick-knacks of a different naga. One with a triskelion on their shoulder. Behind that, there was another door with the same symbols as the ones they saw in the statue. Unlike that version, there was no spell circle around them. It looked like just a design as decoration. Shane walked over to open it, but she stopped the moment her hand touched the door. With a big smile, she turned back to the group, "Guys. We found the legacy!" 331 - Legacy door "The legacy is in that door?" Bonnie asked. "Yep, I got a message pop out asking if I want to start the legacy trail," Shane said. "Really? Let me see," Blue walked over, but Shane stopped her. "What do you thinking you are doing?" "I''m going to see the message," Blue replied with a confused expression. "The hell you are. This is my legacy. I''m not going to let anyone try to steal it," Shane scoffed. "I''m not trying to steal it. I just wanna see the message," Blue gasped. "Don''t care. Mylo, mind being the bouncer? If anyone gets close to the door, toss them away," Shane turned to the fighter. "Sure," Mylo moved closer to her, standing between the door and the rest of the party. "Shane, you do know that none of us have any intention of stealing your legacy, right?" Helena asked. "Maybe, but there is a chance that one of you is lying. I trust you guys, but not enough to let any of you get too close to the legacy. I don''t know if just by saying you want to attempt the test, you would lock everyone out," Shane wasn''t even looking back. Her eyes were glued in the door. "I get it¡­ but it does make us feel like shit, you know," Alex crossed her arms. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings, but this is business. I''ll be happy to let you know everything that went down on the test. After I come out," Shane continued. "Are you sure you are coming out?" when Hera spoke, everyone started at her, surprised by her seemingly aggressive remark, "What? I''m not trying to be mean or anything, but these tests are supposed to be hard, aren''t they? I''m genuinely worried." "You are too good for your own good," Silah shook her head. "Why?" "She''s super mean to us, and you are worried about her?" "Of course! I mean, it''s her life''s work or at least something she''s trying to get for a long time. I get why she''s paranoid like that," Hera replied. "Still, you don''t have to be that sweet all the time. You always offer to help people, " Silah rolled her eyes. "Is this really the time for you two to start having a fight?" Bonnie side-eyed Hera. "This is not a fight. We are just talking. Going back to the topic, can anyone blame Shane? Legacies are weird, Blue got her because of an egg, and there weren''t any options for her to say no," Hera continued. "I don''t blame her, but she didn''t have to be that much of an ass about it," Blue huffed. "I wasn''t an ass. I''m just honest. Anyway, all of you behave and don''t try to come to the door after I enter. Seriously, I heard about a legacy that let more than one person take the test at the same time, and in the end, they had to fight to the death to see who would get the legacy," Shane touched the door and pressed something in the air. The door behind her rumbled and opened slowly. Revealing a long corridor covered in ice. Shane just tapped her feet, and small spikes appeared under her feet, turning her boots into ice shoes. Without saying a word, she kept moving inside that hallway. A few seconds after she entered, the door closed behind her. There was something different in the door now. Among the runes, the one that represented ice was starting to glow. Only a tiny piece of it was illuminated, and as the group stared at it, the light began to fill more and more of the drawing. "So¡­ that is like her progression?" Blue asked. "It seems like it," Helena nodded. "Well¡­staying here kind of sucks. I''m going to look at the other doors. Anyone wants to join me?" Bonnie turned around. "Sure, are you coming, Mylo?" Hera turned to the fighter. "I''ll stay," he replied while looking up. With a shrug, Hera and the others headed back to the spiral path that brought them here. Mylo turned back to the group, "I''m sorry, by the way. Shane has trust issues. I know it''s not an excuse, but she didn''t mean anything bad." Bonnie, Alex, Silah, and Blue just waved that comment off, not even replying to it. Hera nodded with a smile, but Helena was the one who spoke up, "I know. Still, she dealt with this situation in a really crappy way. It''s much harder to rebuild trust than to get it from the first time, I told her that before, but she seems to have forgotten." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "She hasn''t. I swear," Mylor quickly replied. He had a serious expression on his face. "Either way, we are going to have to talk after this," Helena replied and joined the rest in the ramp. It took around half an hour for the group to get back to the room with the constellations. The incline was steeper than everyone expected, and although it wasn''t enough to make them slip and fall, it was a taxing journey. Everyone was mostly quiet. Even attempts at small talk were quickly shut down. The group was not bothered by each other, but they didn''t want Mylo to hear their conversation. As soon as they exited the chamber with the constellation and closed the door, the silence was broken. "I can''t believe that bitch! Why the fuck was she accusing me of being a thief!" Blue yelled. "That''s a bit of a stretch, isn''t it? She never said you were a thief," Hera replied. "She might as well have. Saying I would steal her legacy just because I was curious about the message that was in the wall," Blue huffed. "I agree with Blue. She didn''t have to say the words to show that this is what she thought about us," Alex nodded. "Oh no, it was worse. We were just a tool for her. I bet that even if one of us died, she would just push our body to the side and keep going," Bonnie scoffed. "I think you are exaggerating a bit. She wouldn''t do that," Hera protested as they reached the central room once more. "I agree, that is a bit much. Then again, I didn''t expect her to not trust us," Silah got closer to one of the pillars. "Girls, that''s enough. We are all hot-headed right now. Let''s distract ourselves with something ok. Which door should we go to?" Helena clapped her hands to get everyone''s attention. "I don''t care. Any of them is fine," Blue sighed. It was clear that she was the one most bothered by the situation. "So let''s go to the green naga then. It''s the more snake-like. Right?" Silah suggested. "Actually, green snakes are kind of rare. Most of them are brown or yellow," Bonnie replied. "Oh.. still, the green one seems the prettiest," Silah insisted. "That I agree," Hera nodded, pulling her girlfriend closer. The group walked towards the green door, and with a push, it opened. Inside there was what looked like a sandpit arena. When they stepped inside it, the four naga appeared once more, doing the same hiss they did in the constellation chamber. Alex stepped into the arena, and three of the naga vanished, leaving only the green one behind. With a swift movement, the naga pulled a pair of daggers from its back and hissed. Alex pulled her own weapons in response as a reflex. Even if the projections didn''t seem solid, she didn''t know what to expect. The naga started moving in a mix of dance and combat moves. It did a series of attacks like it was training its combat style. Hera couldn''t help but notice that it had some similarities with her [Subtle Strike], mainly how the movements would spin around almost as if to confuse or mess with the opponent''s flow. However, unlike her fighting style, this was more aggressive and focused on dual-wielding large hunting knives. [Sutble Strike] was more of a footwork than something offensive. If Hera could somehow learn this, it would be a great addition to her skills, especially now that she was using more two handaxes than her chakram. The naga kept going, showing movement after movement and going back to the starting position every time. Unlike what happened with the constellation room, the door was still wide open, and people could come and go as they please. "Is it just me, or does this style seem kind of good?" Alex said. "Yeah. Do you think we can learn it?" Hera kept staring at the naga, trying to understand the footwork she would need to do those movements. "Maybe, hang on," Alex pulled up her tablet and started recording the naga. After a few seconds, she stopped the recording and took a look at the file. Thankfully, despite being just a projection, the green naga was crystal clear on the video, "Great, I''ll start recording now, but I kind of want to get it from the beginning," Alex looked around, "Could you make like a cellphone stand somewhere?" "I could only do that with rock, and I don''t like the idea of messing up with the temple like that," Hera replied. "Lena, how about your grabbers? Or your clouds, Blue?" Alex turned around. "I don''t think my clouds would help. Some of the actual clouds would be on the way," Blue replied. "I can use my grabbers, and it can probably stay there for a while," Helena walked over to see if they could get a good angle to see all the moves. "Could you keep more than one? It would be nice if we could have different angles for the recording," Hera pulled her tablet and walked to another side, trying to make the naga stay in the shot. "It depends on how long it will take. Let''s see how much mana just one tablet would spend," Helena and Alex found a good spot. The mage followed that up by using her spell to created a tendril that could hold the tablet in place. After double-checking how much mana she was spending, Helena asked Hera to tell her when she got to the right location. She also passed her own tablet to Alex and told Blue and her to find locations getting all the angles. Using her grabbers for a tablet was cheap enough that she could hold 4 without any issues, as long as she was nearby. With everything set up, they started recording just in case. The idea was to get the movements from the beginning, and close to ten minutes had already gone by. However, they couldn''t be sure that the projection would appear again when they exited the room. For one hour, the naga continued showing its movements. During that time, Alex and Hera were the only ones paying attention. The rest of the group took that chance to take a break and talk among themselves. That only lasted a while. Bonnie, Blue, and Silah got too bored with the situation and went outside to check the other rooms. One hour later, when the naga was finally done, they exited the room and closed the door while leaving the tablets inside and recording. Then they all entered again. The projection restarted, and this time they would be able to record the entire thing. Alex had suggested that they only record the part they missed and then edit the files together, but that would be too much work. It was easier and better to record the entire thing. Another 80 minutes went by when the projection finished its exhibition once more. The three women left that room and went looking for the rest of the party. Among the two remaining doors, the one with the yellow naga was open. Inside there was a small library with only two bookcases filled with tomes and scrolls. Inside each of them, there was some writing, runes, and a spell circle. Helena quickly recognized the layout of the scrolls. They all seemed to be instructions on how to use specific spells, although she couldn''t tell what would be the effect without being able to read the writing on them. Bonnie, Blue, and Silah were busy taking pictures of each scroll and didn''t even notice the rest of the group entering the room. In just a few minutes, they were done. Now the only remaining room was the one represented by the red naga with black rings on their scales. 332 - Red naga "By the way, was there a projection in the yellow room too?" Hera asked. "Yeah, the four naga showed up, did that greeting waving their hands, and then just the yellow one stayed. They talked for a while, gestured towards the racks of scrolls, then drew a spell circle in the air before vanishing. We took a page of Alex''s idea and recorded the whole thing," Bonnie replied. "Then Bonnie made us take pictures of every page of those tomes. It was more boring than doing a school project," Blue sighed. "You could''ve stopped at any time. I told you that," Bonnie shrugged. "Yeah, but then I would do what? We had three people watching a snake fight the air and two people taking pictures of books. I didn''t want to be the lazy one." "And I appreciate the help. I''ll buy you dinner later," Bonnie smiled to Blue. Seeing that the conversation was over, Hera pulled Silah to the side, "Sorry, I kind of left you. I hope it wasn''t too boring." "Don''t worry. I had fun," Silah smiled. "Fun?" "Ok, not fun, but it wasn''t that bad. The spell circles they use are kind of interesting. Like, I couldn''t tell much of what they were actually doing, but unlike what Orgyn and the other mages taught me, they are more simple. I kept thinking how maybe I could use that format to enchant equipment. It gave me some ideas," Silah said with a smile. "When we are done here, we can stay back in Boothudurn for a while. It''s the least I could do," Hera smiled. "You say that, but I bet you will want to go to dungeons in other rooms," Silah chuckled. "See, you know me so well already," Hera joined in the laughter. The six arrived in front of the door with the red naga and pushed it open. Unlike the other rooms, this place was pitch black, and there was a strong smell of metal in the air. Silah perked up and stepped forward. "Is everything ok?" Helena asked. "Yeah, it''s just. I recognize this smell anywhere. I think we are in a forge," the blacksmith took a step forward, and a large furnace lit up on the back with a green flame. The four naga appeared once more and did their greeting, waving their hands in a U shape. A moment later, three out of the four vanished from the area, leaving only the red naga behind. They started hissing while walking around, pointing at the different tools that were around. Silah kept following them, telling the group the name of each tool the naga was pointing at. Despite it being from an ancient civilization, the dwarf knew enough about her craft to recognize the objects, even if the shape was different from what she was used to. The naga continued and started walking to each station while showing how to create something. Bonnie already was expecting something like this to happen and was recording ever since they entered the room. Silah, on the other hand, was watching the naga intently. For everyone else, it didn''t seem like whatever was going on was that much special. Aside from Silah, no one was well versed in forging blades. However, the blacksmith was enthralled by the performance. Not only the naga was doing things in a different order than one should, but they were also adding some materials that normally wouldn''t be part of the process, like coal, sand, and some oils. The most impressive thing was that Silah could see why the naga was doing all that even without understanding what they were saying. By mixing the sand, coal, and oils at the right moment, they would mix, be compressed, and eventually create a thin layer of something in the process of becoming a diamond, which made the blade several times sharper. When the projection vanished, Silah looked around and found all the material needed to replicate what the naga had just done. "Do you guys mind if I forge something here? I want to see if I got what they showed us," Silah turned to the group. "I''m fine with that," Hera replied. "Same here. We have to wait anyway," Blue shrugged. "Are you making a blade? If it works, can I ask you to make one for me later? My daggers are good and all, but I honestly think that I should get something with a bit more reach," Alex asked. "Sure, not this one, though. If it works, I need to have something for a test project. I''ll make you a new set of weapons when we get back home. I promise," Silah gave Alex a warm smile. "Well, then I''m going to try to translate those texts," Bonnie shrugged. "How did you take the pictures? Did you use the infrared camera?" Helena turned to the researcher. "I did. I asked everyone to use that deep scan picture thing that we have in our tablets. It''s the same thing Shane was using to read the hidden text we found in other ruins," Bonnie nodded. "Ok then. Let me help you, I might not know the language, but I know a spell circle when I see one," Helena smiled. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Do you need help, honey?" Hera asked. "No, I''m ok. If you want to go someplace else, I''ll be fine," Silah didn''t even look back. She was too focused on the idea of crafting something new. "Hell no. I''m not leaving you here alone. We don''t know what might happen," Hera replied. "You know what. Alex, can you help me? Let''s get a bunch of pillows and make a place for us to wait by the door," Blue walked back to the center of the temple. The group set up a small place to rest in the corridor in the middle of the door. That way, if something triggered, everyone could help Silah or jump inside the room for cover. For a few hours, they talked, ate, rested, and tried to understand more about what the naga had shown. Alex and Blue even took a moment to go back to the constellation room and record what the blue naga was saying as well as take pictures of the star map on the ceiling. It took Silah about three hours to finish forging the weapon, but the end result was beautiful. It was a long dagger, almost like a short sword, and the hilt was just a thicker piece of metal wrapped around some cloth, but that wasn''t the focus at the moment. What Silah focused on was the blade. She used a grey metal that looked very much like steel, but because of the coal and sand treatment and the higher number of times she tempered the metal, a unique pattern was revealed when she sharpened the weapon. At first, Silah thought she had made a mistake. Tiny cracks appeared on the blade, but on a closer inspection, those cracks were, in reality, weak spots of the metal were reinforced by the diamond particles created during the process. Those cracks would shimmer in the light, making it seem like the sword had lightning inside it. The attributes of the weapon were also nothing to scoff at. Although Silah had made much more powerful weapons before, this one had a unique trait that usually required someone to make the blade in a specific way to get it. Happy with the result and knowing that she had understood the technique, Silah walked to Hera with a proud expression, handing the blade to her, "Here, Take a look." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunting knife A weapon made by a genius blacksmith using a long-forgotten technic passed down from the naga. Attribute scaling: Agility: x 3.5 Strenght: x 2.5 Additional effects: Weapon breaker: When this weapon strikes another weapon, be it natural or not, the weapon it struck will receive more damage than usual. Durable 3 Mana catalyst If this weapon is wielded by someone under level 34, the additional effects and the attribute scaling will have no effect to protect the wielder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, this is amazing. The scaling is great!" Hera gasped. "What? No, that part is trash. I wasn''t worried about the level, so anything under 5 sucks. The important things are the effects," Silah replied. "Really? Weapon breaker is that good?" Hera asked. "Yeah! You have to make something in a specific shape to get that effect. Not to mention that weapon braker is really hard to get. Usually, you get like, blade breaker or claw breaker. Something more specific, not this, that would affect any weapon. Like, in theory, it could even break a hammerhead or, I don''t know. Anything that is not made out of metal. The other two are kind of nice too, I can usually make up to durable 5, but I wasn''t focusing too much on that," Silah grabbed a piece of cloth to wrap the blade. "And the mana catalyst? What''s that?" Hera asked. "Oh, it just lets you put mana into the weapon. Like, not as a storage, but to make your attacks hit harder. It''s good, but it''s a bit of a waste if you can use something like your mana reinforcement. Too much effort to put this on the weapon when you can use those materials, and time to put something else," Silah explained. "Can we see it?" Alex chimed in, curious about the blade that Silah had just finished. "Sure," Silah showed the blade to the group and started talking about how the process worked, as well as how the coal was supposed to be set up. She couldn''t be sure about it, but when the red naga was explaining that part, it showed some other minerals, and maybe they would give different effects when used during that process. The group kept talking for a while until they heard voices coming from the center of the room. Everyone kept quiet and stared at the central room, waiting for whoever was coming. Not that they were worried about being some random person, but because they recognized the voices. It was Mylo and Shane. "... then the wall went to the side, and a huge tree appeared. I had to infuse mana on it to make it grow. I think that part of the test, like, it was teaching me how the legacy worked before I even got it. Or at least seeing how well I would synergize with the legacy, you know," Shane had an excited voice that made Bonnie and Blue roll their eyes. "Hi everyone," Mylo waved to the group. "Hey, Mylo," Silah replied. "Soo¡­ I got the legacy," Shane smiled. "Good for you. Does that mean that Hera and Bonnie passed that test or whatever?" Blue asked. "Yeah¡­" Shane nodded. "Great, now let''s get out of here. I have my own things to do," Blue got up. The rest of the group followed her without saying anything to Shane. "Can you guys wait just a minute?" Shane turned to the group. "Why? Aren''t we thieves? We have people to rob," Alex replied without looking away. "I didn''t mean it like that. I just worked for so long to get this that I got paranoid," Shane tried to apologize. "Don''t care. Apologizing doesn''t fix this," Bonnie replied. "Girls, I understand you are upset, but we are still in a place filled with monsters. We need to work together. Leaving all this resentment bottled up is a recipe for disaster," Helena stopped the group from walking. "You want us to apologize to her?" Blue yelled. "No, I want everyone to talk about your feelings. Just so we won''t kill each other before we leave," Helena asked, "Look, we have a comfortable area here. We could sit down, eat something and talk. Would that be ok for everyone?" "Please. I really need to apologize to everyone. I know how much of an ass I was back there," Shane asked. "Are you serious? You want us to have a group therapy session?" Alex turned around with an angry expression. "Yes. You might not enjoy therapy, but it helps. Also, I rather not get in the middle of a shouting match in the middle of a fight," Helena explained. "Fine, but I''ll only stay while we have food. Then I''m out of here," Blue sat back down on the pillow by the red door. Everyone else sat down, but Shane and Mylo still had to go back to the main room and pick some pillows for them. When they got back, Helena started speaking, trying to clear the bad air among the group. 333 - Blockage For around 3 hours, the group talked. Shane apologized for how she acted in front of the door, but her words did little to convince the others. What she said were more excuses and attempts to justify her actions than an actual apology. Blue said that she was fine, but Hera could tell that she wasn''t being honest. If Shane was someone from the party or someone that Blue already knew for a while, things could be different, but she wasn''t going to bother trying to get along with Shane after that. Bonnie, on the other hand, seemed more hurt than anyone else. She really felt like she was getting close to Shane, but being accused of wanting to steal things has like a punch to the stomach. There were a lot of snarky remarks and backhanded comments coming from the researcher, and in the end, it left a sour taste in everyone''s mouth. Still, they all agreed that they could still work together to come back to the outpost. Unlike how it was before the discussion, there was no lingering feeling that someone would hold back on helping someone else during a tense moment in a fight. Hera didn''t say much during the entire thing. She understood why the group was upset, but at the same time, she couldn''t bring herself to be upset with Shane. If she was in her shoes, Hera would be just as paranoid, maybe even more. Silah and Alex also expressed how what Shane did upset them. They expected more from someone with who they were traveling for a while. Mylo didn''t say a thing, but he seemed to be sad about the situation. Despite him working as a bouncer on the legacy door, no one got angry with him. He never accused anyone and just did what Shane asked. Hera found that unfair. Just because you were taking orders from someone didn''t mean that you weren''t also to blame. Even so, she didn''t say anything. The last thing she wanted to do was to make things worse. When they finished their discussion, Bonnie, Blue, and the others decided to head back. Shane tried to protest and ask to look around the temple, but that idea was quickly shut down. Everyone knew they were being petty, but they didn''t care. If Shane was that interested in the Naga people, she could just look around the other tombs. After all that, the group got up and headed out of the temple. When they left the building, nothing happened, but after they got farther away from the structure, the ground shifted and swallowed the entire thing, leaving only the statue of the naga hero with both their hands on the spell circle. "I guess it can tell when people leave. Does that has anything to do with the legacy, Shane?" Hera asked. "Yes and no. The legacy made this place, but they set up an underground garden to work to fuel the spell," Shane stopped talking while looking to the side, the same way Blue did when Stormcloud was talking to her, "Oh, that''s cool. The entire building is a giant spell circle and the garden that''s underground works kind of like the mana crystal to fuel everything. Apparently, this was supposed to last a few years only then someone had to come and make a new garden, but something happened, and the place became self-sustainable." "Because of the legacy?" Hera asked. "Nope. It just happened. We can''t explain how." "We? So you already met the herald? Can they tell us more about the naga?" Hera looked back towards the explorer. "I met him, yeah. But he can''t say anything about the naga. He only knows things about the legacy and some of the things that happened around the trial. Since it''s been so long that someone came here, everything is a bit fuzzy for him. His name is Willow," the way Shane spoke was a bit odd. She took long pauses, almost as if she was being cautious with whatever she was going to say. Seeing the annoyed expressions of the rest of the team, Hera stopped asking Shane questions and just focused on the path ahead. It was an uncomfortable journey, but they soon arrived at the narrow path that led them into this area. There was no signal of monsters around, and it had been over a day since they passed through here. Even if there still was a large pile of bodies behind them, everything seemed peaceful. They set the corpses on fire not to create a biological hazard for anyone who would come here in the future and went inside the path one by one. After a few minutes, they found a massive silver boulder blocking the way. "Don''t get too close! That''s the Silver Giant," Alex ad Hera were the only ones that had seen the monster stuck there. "Is it still alive?" Silah asked. "I don''t know. Large monsters tend to need more food to survive, but it''s a 50/50, or they need absurd amounts of food, or they can spend weeks without eating anything," Helena replied. Hera sent a dancing light closer to the creature, and the two massive feelers popped out as well as the black beady eyes. Following that, she used a pulse spell to reach out and see what was beyond the monster. Unlike the last time, Hera tried to make the spell move around the creature so she could see what was behind it. For a while now, she was toying more with changing the shape of the pulse, and thanks to the [Shaper of Mana] skill, it was much easier to do something like that. The idea worked like a charm. She could feel the mana moving around the monster and then spreading it behind it, leaving this massive blank spot where the Silver Giant should be. Behind the monster, that massive horde of creatures was gone. There were still some stragglers around, but Hera sensed something odd. It seemed like they were hostile to the giant and not to whatever was behind it. Maybe the ones who stayed behind were hoping to eat the silver monster when it died after being stuck for too long. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Sensory Net Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Rank: Intermediate Send a net made out of mana that gives the user information about everything in its area of effect. You are able to shape that net to fit the desired form. Some superficial thoughts or intentions from other bings can be perceived by the net. The stronger the target, the lower the chance of perceiving that information. The shape of the spell will influence the cost of the spell. Base radius: 10 meters Base mana cost: 340 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow," Hera gasped when she saw the notification. "Are we in trouble?" Bonnie asked. "Not really. I got a new spell. It''s an upgrade to my pulse. Anyway, it seems like that massive army of monsters is gone. There are some around, but they don''t seem to be worried about us. I think they are waiting for the big guy to die," Hera explained. "How can you tell?" Alex asked. "The new spell also see surface thoughts. I''m guessing that they are being super obvious about it," Hera looked back to the silver giant. "Ok then, how do we get past this guy?" Blue asked. "Give me a minute," Mylo walked forward. The feelers tried to grab him, but he quickly dodged the appendages and grabbed them with both hands. With a shout, he pulled it back and ripped the feeler from the monster''s body. The creature roared and slammed its head on the ground. Now the only part of the monster that was exposed was his silver shell. Mylo pulled his staff and, with a charge, slammed it on the monster, but there wasn''t even a dent on the creature''s shell. The man frowned and started off with a flurry of attacks, trying to do some damage, but nothing worked. He huffed and stepped back, away from the creature. During the next few minutes, everyone tried to figure out a way to either damage the monster or push it away. However, spells aimed at the shell would vanish before hitting it. Helena was the only one who managed to make a magic attack land, but even that shadow spear with three-quarters of her massive mana pool on it wasn''t even able to make a scratch on the silver shell. "I think we should just go up then. Silah and I can make a walkway from back there, then we go over it," Hera said to the group. "Yeah, I was thinking that too. It''s just complicated because we''ll be fighting with little footing and in a bad position. That''s why I didn''t say anything about it, but I don''t see another option," Bonnie sighed. "Hang on. Do you mind if I try something first?" Shane asked. Bonnie and Blue stared at her for a moment before walking to the side of the passage to let her pass without saying a thing. "Thanks. I''m not sure if this is going to work, but Mylo, get ready. Prepare the strongest attack you have," Shane asked. Mylo just nodded, and the group watched as Shane got close to the creature. She placed her right hand, the one with the gauntlet, on the silver shell and closed her eyes. Nothing happened for a moment, but then, the silver seemed to become brighter and brighter. At first, Hera thought it was just a change of shade, but then she noticed that the shape was starting to change. Trying to test her spell, Hera used the sensory net to see if there was any extra information about what was going on. Since she had just used it on the creature, it was easy to notice the difference. The spell was able to pass through the monster''s shell, and the silver seemed more malleable. A few more moments passed, and Shane was already sweating when she yelled, "Now!" Mylo charged with his staff, aiming at where the monster''s head should be. His weapon broke through the layer of armor and slammed against the Silver Giant''s skull. Not just that, but the impact was enough to push it away. The silver creature started slowly walking backward, causing the other monsters to perk up and start looking at it. Hera used the sensory net to see what was going on behind the giant. The spiders and scarabs that were around all seemed confused and hungry. Unless there was a good reason to believe the massive roly-poly was free food, it was obvious they would attack the group. To get ready, Hera tossed her dancing lights around, so everyone would see them coming. Mylo''s staff had some odd yellowish goo dripping from the place where he crushed the silver shell. The monster was still moving, but it was clearly injured. "Aim at the hole!" Helena yelled. A barrage of spells targeting the exposed wound flew through the air. Even Blue sent out a small cloud that grew bigger inside the monster''s shell, frying it with lightning. Mylo wasn''t going to jump in the middle of the crossfire, but he started attacking the stragglers that were starting to charge at the group. Shane, however, had to step to the back of the group. Whatever she did really drained her to a point she wasn''t expecting. The attacks didn''t stop, and the Silver Giant started to spin around, but the creature was slow to do so. While rotating around the monster, the group continued their attacks, and before it even made a 90o degree turn, the attacks killed it. Mylo was also able to kill all the stragglers, leaving the area clear of monsters for now. "Shane, are you ok?" Mylo asked. "Yeah, just really tired. I didn''t expect this to be so draining," Shane''s breath was short, and the sweat was still pouring from her forehead," Is it like that for you too, Blue?" Blue shrugged and replied while walking away, "It''s kind of a new muscle. You have to train it before you can do crazy shit." Since Shane was tired and had spent a good amount of time awake already, the group agreed to find a place to rest. However, they were all worried about finding that large horde of creatures again and decided against staying in the bunker that Hera and Silah could make or in one of the unexplored crypts. The best place to rest would be the hidden tomb in the spiral passage. It would still take a few hours for them to get there, but it was better than sleeping in a dangerous place. Before leaving the Silver Giant behind, Silah took a chance to pick up a few chunks of the creature''s shell. There was something different about it, something that the blacksmith wanted to figure out. Everyone else also took a piece, and to their surprise, it was hot. What Shane did wasn''t make the shell softer but heat it up enough to make it more malleable. It was highly likely that when the head dissipated, the shell could return to its natural state. The group kept going, killed a few monsters, and hid from large groups. A few hours later, they arrived at the makeshift entrance of the hidden tomb and the stone barrier that Hera and Silah had created in the spiral passage. As they all went inside the hidden crypt. Hera checked if any monsters were waiting behind the barrier they had created. The area wasn''t completely empty, but there weren''t any creatures directly on the wall. Silah stayed behind while everyone got inside, and Hera got ready to close the passage to the hidden tomb. If they left that spiral blocked, there would be too many monsters around when they exited it. With a quick act, Silah took down the entire wall and ran inside, with Hera closing it off right behind her. Everyone spread around the small corridors to rest, but Shane pulled Hera aside before they all bed down for the night. "Do you have a minute? We have to talk." 334 - Journal Hera and Shane walked back to the center of the tomb, where the stone coffin and the spiral ramp were located. As per Shane''s request, Hera also activated the soundproof bubble before sitting down by the side of the entrance. "So, what do you want to talk about?" "Well¡­" Shane scratched her head, "First of all, I''m sorry for what happened back there. This really wasn''t how I wanted things to go." "Shane, we already had this conversation. I''m fine, I didn''t like what you did, but I''m not the one you should apologize to," Hera sighed. This entire situation wasn''t something she liked to deal with, and having Shane give her a proper apology but not to Blue or the others would only make things worse. "I did. They just don''t accept it. Still, I''m more worried about what you think," Shane continued. "You never said the words ''I''m sorry'' or ''I want to apologize'' to them. It might seem stupid, but that matters a lot. Either way, I''m not the one who had problems. I get why you were so paranoid, even if I hoped that you trusted us enough not to worry about things like that," Hera explained. "I do. I mean, I trust you and Lena since I''ve known her for a while. For the rest¡­ I don''t know. Alex is too closed off, Blue seems like she doesn''t care about much, and Silah, honestly, I didn''t get a chance to talk too much with her." "What about Bonnie? You two seemed to be hitting it off pretty well," Hera asked. "Bonnie is¡­ too hungry for the lack of a better word. She wants knowledge, and it feels like she would do anything to get it, and that scares me. I don''t know how far she would go to get something. People like that are too unpredictable," Shane sat down by the stone coffin. "Ok, then why did you lash out at Blue? She already has a Legacy. There was no reason to lash out at her. Anyway, we already talked enough about it today. Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Hera had a serious expression. "Right, no, it wasn''t. Look, without you, I doubt I would''ve found the legacy. Or at least it would take much longer for me to find it. We wouldn''t have found this place without you and Silah. You used that coin to open the thing with the journal, not to mention making a spell out of your ass to open the temple. I know how much of an unreasonable request that was, and you pulled through. I don''t know how I can ever repay you for this," Shane looked at Hera. "I mean, this was part of the test to get my own clue about a court legacy," Hera replied, not entirely sure about what to make of this. "I know, and honestly, if you guys had just come here and helped me find the tombs, that would be more than enough for the whole test thing. You went above and beyond," Shane continued. "You never said what we had to do to complete the test. If you had told us that we were done, I''m pretty sure we wouldn''t have come this deep. Especially Bonnie," Hera shrugged. "She really hated the idea of eating spiders, didn''t she?" Shane chuckled. "Yeah, I''m pretty sure she''s starving right now. I think there are only a couple of rations left, and she''s saving them for tomorrow," Hera sighed. It was one thing not to want to eat something, but this situation could be dangerous for Bonnie. "Still, the first thing I wanted to do to pay you back is telling you about the legacy. I''ll keep you updated with any new information about the Court of Heroes that I get from him too," Shane turned to the side and after a moment continued, "You don''t know what that is? But the legacy itself had ''court'' on the name," there was another pause, "I see. Well, for now, Willow doesn''t remember anything aside from kind of recognizing the name. It''s weird because I''m the first person he''s talking to in English. Before that, he spoke only with naga, and some of the words are still in a grey area." "So he can understand naga?" Hera asked. "No, I asked him about that too. He understands the language of the legacy holder, but when it changed, the language he can speak changed too. The big problem is that he knows the language but doesn''t understand the differences. So anything that I ask about the past, he has to remember in a different language that he doesn''t have access to anymore. It''s going to be a while before we get more information," Shane explained. "Ok, so what can you tell me?" "I want to tell you the name of the legacy first of all. It''s called the Enchanting Court, and as the name suggests, is all about enchantments. I don''t know much, but from what I understood, it works kind of like a mana reinforcement on steroids. Like, the thing I did with the Silver Giant, it was just a fire enchantment. Willow told me that since I''m new, the effect would hurt the target, so I should only use it on weapons that can resist fire. I didn''t expect it to work so well as armor breaker," Shane picked a dagger and started heating it up. It took a few seconds, but the blade started to glow with the heat. "And is that just for fire? Or you can do anything?" Hera was staring at the dagger. "I can do anything I understand how to use as an enchantment. So I have to not only know the spell to do it but also how it affects whatever I''m enchanting. For now, I can do fire, ice, and electricity. I''ll probably have to study a bit to get a wider range of ideas." "That''s cool, really cool, but I don''t get why you are telling me all this." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Right, sorry. I got excited. The point is, according to Willow, the naga wasn''t who created the legacy, so the Court of Heroes should be even older than the naga people. With time, his memories might come back, or I might find out more about the court, and as a way to repay you for everything you did for me, I want to share everything I find with you. Be it spells, locations, history, whatever you want. I can send you everything I already have too. Not just that, if you need someone to do research or something, just let me know. Think of me as your assistant. I think that''s the only way I have to pay you back." Hera gave Shane a weak smile, "I appreciate the offer, but what''s the point? Look, I might be understanding about what happened, but that doesn''t mean that it didn''t affect me. You don''t trust us. What you did back there proves that. Why would I trust you with something important?" "But I trust you, Hera," Shane''s voice sounded sad. "Ok great, you say that, then pull that crap. Again, I understand why you were paranoid, and I realize I''m giving mixed signals here, but that''s the truth. You showed that you don''t trust my friends, my best friend as a matter of fact. If I ask you ''find this room for me'' or something like that, I will always wonder if you are actually going to tell me when you find it or you are just going there trying to find what I was after. Trust goes both ways, and you broke ours." "But I didn''t mean you." "Doesn''t matter. Taking a shot at someone I care about is the same as taking a shot at me. I''m honestly surprised at how upset I am. The more you talk about this, the angrier I get, so let''s just drop it," Hera crossed her arms. "Hera¡­ I''m sorry." "Again. I''m not the one to whom you need to apologize. And about the whole assistant thing. I don''t know. Sure, getting information would be great, but if you want me to ask for something, don''t hold your breath," Hera said. "I''m¡­ I understand. I''ll try to make this right, I promise. And if there is anything I can do for you, let me know," Shane was staring at the ground, avoiding Hera''s eyes. Hera stopped for a moment to think, "Did you take pictures of the entire journal already? I wanted to put it in the coffin as the owner wanted." "I have. I did that last night while I was trying to figure it out. One moment," Shane rummaged through her bag and passed the journal to Hera. "Thanks," Hera got up and walked to the stone coffin. She pushed the lid to the side, revealing the skeleton of a naga completely spread out, unlike the coiled ones on the other crypts. Both of its hands were placed around its ribcage. There were no other things inside, no jewelry, no clothes, nothing, just the skeleton. Carefully, Hera lifted the hands and placed the journal under them, "I hope you two are in a better place together." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By placing the journal with the bones of Lantra, you have completed Darni''s last wish. The brothers are finally reunited, and their memories give you their thanks. A different coin was used to open the hidden location of the journal. Your sacrifice has been noted. The journal was not delivered within a day of its discovery. Your greed has been noted. Part of Darni''s essence is present. Your connection has been noted. You were unaware of this quest. Your heart has been noted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was surprised by the notification. While she was trying to read everything, another window popped up right above that one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Secret quest completed Brother''s bond Lantra and Darni were very close through all their lives. Even after Lantra''s passing and his crimes came to light, Darni never lost the love he had for his brother. He kept a journal telling his brother of his life until he died of old age. His last wish, given to two of his disciples, was to place the journal on his brother''s hidden tomb so they could be together again and his brother''s spirit could finally find peace. Due to the crimes committed by Lantra, the disciples refused to help the forgotten emperor and hid the journal inside the tomb, but away from the coffin. Hoping that with that, Lantra would never find peace. Lantra had a similar wish. He wished that he could meet his brother one more time since he was away during the forgotten emperor''s deathbed. By placing the journal inside the stone coffin, you have reunited the brothers and fulfilled both their last wishes. Your reward has been calculated. Rewards: Naga Poison Skill Observe upgrade - Red Sight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Naga Poison You are able to create poison effects as they are natural extensions of your body. Your poisons can become more varied, and you can imbue different types of mana to the poison itself. Poison mana efficiency + 50% Poison effectiviness + 20% Poison resistance + 30% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Observe - Red Sight (rank 3) Allows the user to see the basic information of the target. You can also focus your vision to see the target through infrared. The information available is limited by the rank of the skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the quest Common Mysteries Explorer exclusive quest Discoveries are not just hidden treasures or forgotten lands. At times, someone might need help finding a lost pet or discovering a reason for their constant tiredness. You have solved the mystery of the brother''s last wishes. Rewards: Relic Upgrade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy shit," Hera gasped, seeing all the notifications pop up. "Holy shit too. This is amazing!" Shane gasped. "Did you get something too?" Hera turned to the side. "Yeah," Shane lifted up her gauntlet and activated, then a small green glow covered the entire thing turning the steel weapon into one made out of jade, "My legacy got something. What did you get?" "A bunch of stuff, and a Relic Upgrade from an explorer''s quest, but Yarnball is just the same," Hera sighed after checking her relic. "Oh, that''s because you can pick. Check the rewards where you would find random boxes. It should be there," Shane explained while still looking at the jade gauntlet. 335 - Stacking Rewards Hera pulled up the rewards app on her tablet and touched the ''Relic Upgrade'' option. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choose what aspect of your relic you would like to upgrade. Returning String Danger Sense Dowsing Rod Loose Thread New ability ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Is it better to get a new ability or upgrade the ones you already have?" Hera turned to Shane. "It depends. You can''t pick the new ability, but it''s usually something that fits what you do. But it will be just as weak as the first abilities the relic had. Upgrading usually gives a major buff or makes something change significantly. Also, do you have any rewards, items, or effects that increase your luck or say something along the lines of ''improve quality of rewards''?" Shane turned to Hera. "I don''t think so," Hera looked through her stuff, but there was nothing there. She noticed, however, that the tarot card seemed to be complete. The Three of Stars card that she first got had an effect that would increase her luck-based skills for one hour. The true reversed form could show something different. The card itself was mostly the same A large playing card depicting a figure with sharp cold eyes and reddish skin, wearing a twisted smile that made it seem like a sadistic serial killer. In the background, there seemed to be windows covered in blood and the light of a half-moon. However, now it looked animated. The stars were shimmering in the sky, the cold eyes had some mist around them, and the smile twitched. But the card was upside down, this was the normal version, and hers was the reversed one. Hera flipped the card and realized that the moon was, in fact, a reflection on top of the water. The cold eyes hid something beneath the lake locked behind bars that were connected at two large ruby pillars on each side. The reddish skin that hid the creature was a massive mountain that grew on the back of the card, with part of it reflected on the water. What once was that eerie smile was now the shore, with waves crashing by the sand. It was a beautiful card, and Hera almost felt bad for thinking about using it. Still, she had to confirm what the card actually did. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kul Dorul Tarot True Reversed Three of Stars - Major Arcana This card represents the hidden monster within all things. When activated, this card can reveal a hidden strength that lurks in the depths. By adding mana to the card, you can trigger its effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well¡­ that isn''t very helpful. At least not to explain what is going to do," Hera sighed. "What?" "It just says that reveals a hidden strength." "I mean, what''s the problem with using it then? Even if it doesn''t affect the upgrade, you will get something," Shane suggested. "Well, that''s true. And if I leave that for later, I guess I''ll forget all about it." "Ait that the truth. I have a bunch of stuff laying back home that I can''t even remember what it does," Shane chuckled. Hera gave a weak smile and turned back to the card, putting some of her mana into it. The card glowed, and the eyes blinked. Ripples started to form from around the cage, and with a flash, the card changed again. The cage was broken, and the mountain now had a massive bite mark, almost as if something impossibly huge wanted to eat it as a snack. Everything was still moving, the water and the waves were still there, and the sky behind the mountain showed some start twinkling, but that was it. Hera didn''t feel anything happen, nor did any windows pop out. She was about to open her status when she stopped. Maybe the card would show that hidden strength of whatever she did next. Shane said that the upgrade could stack, so she might as well try it. The reward window was still opened on her tablet, and she took a look at it again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choose what aspect of your relic you would like to upgrade. Returning String Danger Sense Dowsing Rod Loose Thread New ability Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The easiest way to go about it was to figure out what she didn''t want. Danger Sense was nice, but she already had her sensory net. Getting another way to look for monsters nearby seemed unnecessary. A new ability could be good, but at the same time, it would be another thing for her to remember to use. Some of her spells and skill already hardly ever saw the light of day, and she had to fix that. Adding another thing to the mix wouldn''t help. It was now between the Returning String and the Dowsing Rod. For a long time, the string was part of her primary combat style, but ever since she got her second handaxe from Silah, she preferred to go for dual-wielding than using her chakram. Not to mention that now that she would get her own clue about a legacy, having a way to have a limited use guide question would be amazing. Lastly, Loose Thread was something she hardly ever used. It''s been a very long time since she was on the defending end of a fight, and making a trap in the middle of combat was something she didn''t know how. Decided, Hera touched the Dowsing Rod option. The True Reversed Three of Stars appeared in front of the tablet in its original form. Hera was still holding the card in one hand, but what she was seeing was a form made out of energy. The spectral card shattered, and the shards flew towards the Dowsing Rod option on her tablet. As if the screen was glitching, the name blinked a couple of times and changed to Magic Ball, and the reward window closed. Hera pulled up Yarnball and saw that now it had a glossy black color and a small screen on the side of the case. Opening the lid, the thread was semi-transparent as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. It can return any objects attached to it to the user, be used as a dowsing rod, or as a threat alarm. Passive effects: Returning string: If an object is tied to the string when thrown, the object will return to the case after reaching the maximum distance of the string. Current maximum distance: 20 Meters Danger sense: When the object is near a monster, it pulses according to the distance of the creature. It can detect monsters that are hidden. The range of this effect depends on its owner''s strength. If the monster is on your hunter''s catalogue, you are more likely to detect it Current range: 10 meters Range while hidden: 20 meters Active effect: Magic Ball By injecting mana into Yarnball, asking a question, then shaking it. You can ask a question and receive a reply through the screen on the side of the case. The amount of mana required for each answer will vary, and if not enough mana is used, the reply won''t be of much use. If the question is related to a location or something too big for the screen, the information will show in your [Treasure Map]. The accuracy of the question depends on the owner''s strength. Cooldown: 2 hours If this effect is used to find a living creature, the cooldown is reduced to 1 hour. Loose thread You can cut off thread from Yarnball. During the first 24 hours, you can feel the thread as if it was part of your own mana. The string can be easily imbued with different mana for various effects. Every 2 hours, 1 meter of thread will be generated, up to a maximum of 20 meters. You can insert 50% of your maximum mana inside Yarnball to speed up the creation of 3 meters of thread. Current thread available: 30 meters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­" Hera kept staring at the new version of Yarnball. She expected something to happen, but even in her wildest expectations, she didn''t expect that the cooldown would become so small. Before this upgrade, it took 5 days for her to be able to use the ability again. Now she can do it once every couple of hours, and by the description, if she didn''t have enough mana, Yarnball wouldn''t drain her like it used to. It would just give an answer that wouldn''t help. Shane leaned over, "Damn, I didn''t even see that changing. It looks cool now." "Yeah, hang on," Hera looked at the screen and put about half of her mana inside it, "Are we missing any secrets in this tomb?" She shook Yarnball and looked at the screen. From the black background, a green triangle appeared with the words ''Signs point to yes.'' "You gotta be kidding me," Hera sighed. "Is that¡­ a magic 8 ball?" Shane chuckled. "It seems like it, and I can use it once every two hours. I just hope that it doesn''t give those weird replies that an 8 ball would give," Hera put the relic away and noticed how drained she felt. Looking around, she realized that this whole time she kept the soundproof barrier on. Because of the size of the spell, it was constantly chipping off her mana, and now that she used so much for the question, it was clear that she was almost tapped out. "Man, this thing is amazing!" Shane was still looking at her jade gauntlet, which was now glowing in different colors. "Yeah, it''s cool. Now I really want to rest and eat something. I''m heading back," Hera remembered the reason Shane called her here and got worried. She was supposed just to come to have a talk, and she''s coming back with a bunch of upgrades, upgrades that Shane also got. Hera could only hope that this wouldn''t cause any more problems. Coming back, the group was still split up. Mylo was alone in a tunnel closest to the exit, while the rest were closest to the tomb. There was a tense moment when Shane passed by the group where everyone just stared at her. After that, Hera took the time to first apologize to everyone and explain what happened. To her surprise, no one complained about the rewards, and they were all excited about what she got. Bonnie asked about the tarot card, and Hera still had it. However, the description made it clear that the effect was spent and wouldn''t be able to be used again. Another interesting detail was that the tarot card now was double-sided. On the front, it was the normal picture of the lake with the monster in the underwater cage. On the back, it was the same picture that appeared after Hera used the card. The broken cage with the bitten mountain. They talked for a while, ate, and Hera even was able to get another question out of Yarnball. This time, she just asked if the skull coin that could be used to open the compartment where the journal was located was inside this room. This time she put around 1 000 mana and got the answer. It wasn''t just a yes either, but a complete sentence. ''Yes, the skull coin in question is located inside the Wailing Valley.'' Hera still would have to make some tests, but it seemed like that when she used enough mana for a question, the answer was more direct than the ''signs point to yes'' that she saw before. After trying that, Hera kept going to finish her lookout shift before sleeping. They would return to the outpost on the next day, and if everything worked out the way it should, in a couple of days, they would be back in Boothudurn, and she could get her own clue about a legacy from Ninleyn. Not to mention having a moment to rest and seeing if everyone in her party was doing well. After that, well, the MAZE was her oyster. 336 - In the depths When they all woke up, the first thing the group decided to do was to check the area right outside the tomb. They wanted to be sure that a certain horde of monsters wasn''t still in the passage or if there was something bad happening outside. Hera and Silah slowly opened the entrance and allowed Alex to sneak out. She was the best one to go unnoticed. The assassin took a few steps to the middle of the valley. Looking around, she noticed that there didn''t seem to be any monsters around. Everything was quiet, deathly so. Alex stepped farther away from the hidden tomb, still using her [Hide] skill. Alex looked around, feeling weirded out by the situation. When they were here before, the only reason why there were no monsters around was that Hera and Silah had blocked off the passage. Now that it was open, they should all be here. Even if they were not right by the door, she should at least hear some noises, but there was nothing. If this was the only issue, she could shrug it off as a coincidence, but something else was bothering her. Looking to the south, she could see the fog that came from that abyss. The mist seemed thicker than normal, and it was much deeper than the last time she saw it. It was a good thing that it was close to 10 am. This meant that the light in the valley was brighter than normal, allowing her to see things clearer. Alex took a few steps towards the mist, trying to find any traces of monsters or something that would explain this entire situation. Suddenly, her eyes found something, and Alex''s entire body started to shake in a cold sweat. That reaction didn''t go unnoticed by the rest of the team, who were watching by the hidden entrance. "Is she ok?" Silah asked. "I don''t know. She seems weird, right?" Hera replied. "Hey! Alex, are you ok?" Blue yelled, but the assassin just twitched her hand, "Can you hear me? Alex!" Blue yelled even louder. "... ut..uc..p," Alex whispered while gritting her teeth. "What? I can''t hear you," Blue yelled again. "Shut the fuck up! For the love of the system, shut the fuck up," Alex yelled back, still trying to keep her voice down, and turned her head back to the mist. No one understood what was going on. Even when using their detection spells, they couldn''t see a thing with them. Unsure of what was happening, Hera poked her head out of the wall and tried using her new [Observe - Red Sight]. Looking at the mist, nothing popped up, so she turned to Alex. After a few seconds, the color of her friend started changing. Instead of her regular clothes, Hera could only see the heat that was coming out of the assassin''s body, with the exposed skin appearing much hotter than her armor. Hera turned to the mist once more and tried to use her skill once more, trying to see if anything appeared now that she knew what to expect. It took a while, but she noticed that there was a solid blue color beyond the smoke that didn''t match the rest of the mist. It was almost like looking at a gigantic thing, and when paying attention, Hera could tell that whatever it was, it was moving, and it was too big to even enter the valley. Since she could only see the blue hue of the low temperature through the infrared. [??????????] When the information, or lack of it, appeared, Hera jumped back. For something to appear as pure question marks, it should be much stronger than herself. If that wasn''t bad enough, if that really was a creature, it was more than big enough to swallow someone whole. Seeing Hera freak out and hide behind the wall on the hidden crypt, the group looked at her, confused. "What did you see?" Bonnie asked. "Big thing. A snake? A Lizard? I don''t know it was just the tail or the body, but it was too big. Big enough to cover the entire chasm, I think," Hera replied in a whisper. With a snap, she remembers that Alex was still outside. Hera touched the communicator on her neck, "Alex, come back here. Run if you have to. The head is not there, I think." "Are you sure?" Alex replied through the comms. "90%. I can see more or less whatever it is, and I just can see the body. If you stay there, it could be worse." "Ok, tell everyone to give me some room in the entrance," Alex asked. "Guys, step back from the entrance. Silah, get ready to close the passage," as soon as everyone cleared the way, Hera gave Silah a nod and spoke again, "All clear. Want me to count you down?" "Yeah, please." "3...2...1...go!" Alex bolted from the middle of the valley until reaching the hidden entrance. Hera and Silah quickly closed the passage by using their stone wall spells. Alex was deathly pale, and her heart was beating so fast that you could see the veins on her neck. She and Hera were the only two who had any idea of what was actually there, and they didn''t want to risk moving after this. Everyone else was still confused about the situation, but seeing their panicked expressions, they all understood that they should stay quiet. Hera pointed to Shane''s gauntlet and made a gesture of something expanding, "Radar." Without another word, the two explorers used their detection spells. Hera made a point of allowing the Sensory Net spell to stay around instead of being something that was just a blip. A couple of seconds went by when suddenly, a massive snake tongue lashed out from the mist and touched their mana. The tongue was so big that just the part that Hera could sense should easily be 10 meters long. With about 70% of that length being the forked tip. For a creature to have a tongue that big, its body should be massive. Hera wasn''t the only one worried about this. Shane''s expression also showed that she had sensed that creature, and her eyes were wide. Stolen story; please report. "This is¡­ impossible," Shane whispered. "What?" Mylo asked. She gestured to the tunnel, telling everyone to move along and get away from the entrance. They quietly moved along back to the central chamber with the stone coffin and the spiral path. "What happened?" Mylo asked again as soon as everyone entered the room. "Hera, do the soundproof thing. Just in case," Shane whispered. Hera nodded and quickly created the green barrier, kicking herself for not having thought about this before, "Done. You saw that, right?" "Yeah. Well, not see it exactly, but I could sense it. You spell senses their mana too?" Shane turned to Hera. "No, I just felt the size of that thing," Hera replied. "What thing? Can one of you tell what the fuck is going on?" Blue gasped. "There was a snake, I think. At least the tongue was snake-like, and the thing was massive. It should be what, six, eight meters long?" Shane looked at Hera for confirmation. "At least. I sensed ten meters of it, and the forked part took most of it. I also couldn''t see even its name. That thing is way higher level than me," Hera shook her head. "Yeah. My radar can sense the mana of creatures. It''s just a rough estimate, not an actual number. Kind of like, white means it''s the same mana as I have, green then blue is weaker, and if it''s yellow or red, it''s higher than mine. That thing, whatever it was, had more mana in its tongue than I had ever seen. Seriously, I saw level 60 explorers who had less mana than whatever the fuck that was!" "Are you serious? That thing is above level 60?" Bonnie asked. "I don''t know. I couldn''t even tell. But we know that there is a monster here that we can''t kill. I bet that is the monster," Shane continued. "Yeah, but it seems like it can''t get out of the abyss, right? Or it would be moving through the valleys, and there would be no spiders or bugs around," Helena tried to calm everyone down. "Are you sure? I mean, snakes can pass through very tight spaces," Alex shook her head. "Maybe, but if that''s the case, why would the other monsters flee?" Bonnie asked. "They might be hiding on the ruins. The snake wouldn''t be able to get there, I think," Hera added. "So¡­ to get back home, we need to pass over that thing?" Blue asked. A moment of realization dawned on the group. They had crossed the mist once, but doing that again would leave them directly above it. Even if they moved fast, a creature like that should easily be able to catch them while they ran through Blue''s clouds. "So what now? Do we know if there is any doorway on this side?" Silah asked. "We don''t. There are still many unexplored areas on this side, but baking on the existence of a doorway is a bit of a stretch. I mean, I''m guessing that snake has something to do with the naga crypts. Maybe it''s like a guard dog. It is sort of common for ruins or civilizations to use monsters as a way to protect what they find precious," Shane explained. "Ok, fine. What do you say we do then? Do we stay here forever or risk getting eaten by the giant snake?" Bonnie crossed her arms. "Let''s go up to the same place we crossed... yesterday? The day before that? I don''t know soo much stuff happened," Shane sighed. "Yeah, let''s head up. Maybe we can cross over again. If we use Nimbus, we might be able to do the same thing we did before," Hera suggested. With the plan in mind, the group moved up, the spiral path inside the tomb. It was better to avoid staying in the large spiral passage outside, especially if that giant monster was still around. They carefully left the tomb and kept following the path they had taken a few days before. On the upper floor, there were monsters around. It seemed like it was business as usual. They fought a few creatures and kept going, trying to reach the same area where Hera and Silah had made that staircase that went down to the mist. The chasm was slightly different from what Hera remembered. All that fog seemed to be lower than before. Using her [Observe - Red Sight], she looked for any signals of the snake, but there was nothing there. It was still impossible to tell how deep the chasm went, but right now, the coast seemed clear. "If we want to go, we should go now," Hera said. "Yeah, I agree, whatever it was, it was in the middle of the mist. Maybe it needs it to survive. Since it''s so low now, I don''t think we would have a better chance," Alex nodded. "I agree. This might be the best chance we got," Bonnie added. "What if this is an elaborated trap from the snake? Couldn''t it have sensed us and pulled the mist away just as a trick?" Blue asked. "Maybe, but I don''t think we are much more of a meal than the monsters," Helena said. "Yeah, but if that snake is here to protect the legacy, we are screwed," Blue replied. "That''s a fair point," Hera walked to the side of the valley, and with Silah''s help, they started making another bunker with a small opening on the front, "Let''s do it like this. You make the clouds. I send Nimbus once to see if anything happens. If she doesn''t get attacked, we go one by one while the rest hides in here." "And I''ll go last. That way, if the snake is protecting the legacy, I''m the only one that gets eaten," Shane added. Mylo protested, but there was no changing the explorer''s mind. After the bunker was ready, Blue created the cloud bridge on the valley while everyone else watched the mist. Hera sent over Nimbus, and nothing happened. There was a brief discussion, and everyone agreed with the order they should cross. First, it would be Helena. She was the only one who would be able to have a chance at escaping the snake, thanks to a couple of spells she could use. The issue was that they required a small preparation, and she only had the materials on hand for a single use. It was rare to see someone using a spell that required some sort of catalyst. Not because the spells themselves were rare, but most people found it annoying to keep carrying large bags filled with random things. These types of spells were mostly used by crafters or when defending a location since people could set up small crates with all the necessary materials. In Helena''s case, she was making a teleportation spell. First, she had to draw a specific spell circle in an area, then place a number of black gemstones inside it. The amount required would vary depending on the quality of the stone. Lastly, she had to place a personal belonging that was on her person for a total of at least 60 hours. When the spell activated, she would swap places with the item. With everything, ready Helena mounted on Nimbus, and they ran across the bridge. Everyone was holding their breath. Yet, she crossed without any issues. Hera picked up the stones and the earring that Helena left behind and sent Silah over when Nimbus returned. Bonnie, Blue, and Alex were the next to follow. On Hera''s turn, she mounted on Nimbus and kept staring down, trying to see if there was any movement among the mist. Out of the corner of her eye, Hera could swear she saw something shifting through the fog. Her heart stopped, and cold sweat started to form in her back. For a moment, she could swear she was seeing two cold eyes staring at her. She got hypnotized by that sight and how similar it was to the tarot card she used earlier. Before she could confirm anything, Nimbus arrived on the other side. Nimbus made the trip two more times, and on Shane''s turn, everyone seemed even tenser, but nothing happened. They looked around and found the hidden stone box whit the bicycles they had rented and finally, headed back to the outpost. 337 - Ninleyn returns "Hey, Leo just sent me a text!" Hera turned to Blue. "Really? What''s going on with him?" Blue asked. "Apparently, he spent the last three months on a special training session where he couldn''t contact anyone. He''s doing well and asked if he could come here in a week or two. He has some stuff to tell us about and wants to see us. He also said that he''s really glad we are back," Hera explained while preparing some tea. They were already back in Boothudurn. Returning from the Wailing Valley wasn''t much of an issue. The guild managed to make a small road through the Forest of Dreams where no one would be attacked. Knowing that the inhabitants of the room were sleeping spirits, they used stones and bricks infused with sleep mana and added some lanterns that constantly gave off the same type of magic, and that made the creatures stop their hostility. The penguins caused some trouble, but nothing like before, and in the White Desert, it was a cold hike. Shane and Mylo stayed back in the Forest of Dreams after warning everyone in the Wailing Valley about the snake. They wanted to see if they could find a way to create a safe passage to the other side so people could go investigate the ruins. Back home, Hera, Bonnie, and Helena let Ninleyn know that they were back and had completed their test. Shane had already sent a message to him informing him that both Hera and Bonnie passed with flying colors. Knowing that Shane had gotten the court legacy made him even more impressed with the two new addition to the Order of the Lost Court. He should arrive either sometime this afternoon or early next morning. To his annoyance, there was an issue with the bus he took to cross a room on the way, and the driver couldn''t give an accurate estimate of how long it would take to fix it or to get another bus there. Ninleyn told them that they would have a longer conversation, and if they had a place where they wouldn''t be disturbed, it would help a lot. This at least gave them a chance to finish the renovation of their house. Hera asked king Rutigan if she could expand her house to have a dining room beside the kitchen. Her idea was to make it herself and then just pull some furniture from the other areas to set everything up. Still, the moment she talked with the king, he quickly called an army of architects to not just make the dining room but also change the house to have the newest techniques that the dwarves had learned from the humans. Hera felt a bit bothered by that, she didn''t want to cause trouble, but at the same time, the dwarves seemed so happy to help and so excited to work on her house that she couldn''t refuse. All that renovation took a bit longer than anyone imagined. The architects kept bickering and discussing the best way to make the rooms or to reinforce the structure. Silah spent most of her days since they returned with her family. They missed her a lot, and there was a lot of crying from both her mother and herself. Despite everything, the blacksmith missed them a lot. For her first trip outside, she spent close to a month away, which ended up being a bit much for the family. This didn''t mean that she and Hera weren''t spending time together. It was just smaller amounts of time. Another issue Silah had was the amount of work on the guard''s forge. She had left the work for her brother, but he was nowhere near as quick as her. Her father was helping out to fix everything, which gave them more chances to spend time together. Blue and Alex were taking a small break, but they went back to hunting in the dungeons when the renovation started. Despite not liking the idea, Blue convinced Alex to try a run at the Weeding Disaster to try to get another tarot card. When Hera told them what the card could do, everyone was excited about it, but they were very expensive, even if they tried to buy one from someone else. The construction was finally over late in the afternoon, leaving Hera, Bonnie, and Helena to clean up. In the middle of that Ninleyn sent a message letting them know that he should arrive by 8:43 P.M. If they were up for it, he could start the meeting. If not, he could come by in the morning. Hera was ok with waiting since it was already late, and this discussion apparently would take a long time. Bonnie, on the other hand, wanted to know about her own clue soon. After they left Shane behind, the researcher didn''t stop talking about the legacy and how much it would match her spells. Even more so if she could figure out a way to enchant the spells themselves. Helena was good either way, she had a clue about a legacy, but it''s been so long since she got it that she had completely forgotten what it actually was. In fact, she wasn''t that keen on finding a legacy. What interested her more was her own research and creating spells that anyone could use and not getting a skill that could improve them. In the end, Bonnie''s insistence made them agree to call Ninleyn over tonight with the condition that they had dinner while discussing whatever the leader of the order wanted to talk about. Wanting to get ahead of it, Helena prepared a small snack and sent a text to Alex and Blue letting them know of their plans, just in case they didn''t return in time for her to tell them personally. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Time went by quickly, and exactly at 8:43 P.M. Ninleyn arrived at the door. "Hello again," the old elf said with a smile. "Hi, Ninleyn, welcome back," Helena gave way for him to enter. "I see you changed some things in this place. It looks¡­ nice," Ninleyn looked around. There was so much arguing among the dwarves that the only way they found to finish the job was for each one to take care of a separate room. As a result, the house ended up having an odd mismatched architecture. The living room had a minimalistic style with only the couch, and a low coffee table in the middle with a small TV stand if they ever wanted to get one. However, since electricity would still take some time to become available through the entire city, the group was using it just for keeping some books and trinkets. The kitchen was more rustic, with rock textured walls and a central countertop made out of granite and a newer stove that used mana stones to heat up the food that Blue bought for everyone. The dining room was more modern, with a sleek table and chairs and a set of currently open black metal double doors that slid to the side. However, the ceiling of that room was a bit different. It had some incline to it making it triangle-shaped, and that reflected in the inside structure. "It''s relatively new. We are still getting used to it," Helena replied while guiding the order leader to the meeting room, "Coffee?" "Tea, please. It''s rather late for coffee," Ninleyn smiled. "Only if you are an old man," Helena chuckled. Hera was already in the dining room, finishing to set up some plates and snacks for them to eat, "Hi Ninleyn. How was the trip?" "Oh, don''t even get me started. Why is it so hard for people to give accurate time estimates? I know that most won''t be as punctual as me but giving us a 12-hour window for the next bus is just unacceptable," Ninleyn huffed and sat down on one of the chairs across from Hera. "Oh, tell me about it. That''s why I liked the subway back in Brilansis. Even if it was running late, it would be just a couple of minutes. Well, unless something really bad had happened," Hera replied and offered some of the pastries she got from the city. "Oh, thank you. I always loved those chocolate biscuits," Ninleyn said with a smile. "Can you eat chocolate? Don''t you legacy complains if you do?" as Hera spoke, Ninleyn frowned at the mention of his legacy and looked towards the living room, worried that someone else could hear her comment. Noticing that reaction, Hera added, "Don''t worry. For now, the other people who live here are not around. It''s just us, members of the order." "Oh, I see. That''s good then. But no, I don''t have to follow a vegan diet, only a vegetarian one. Well, to a point, they complain a bit if I eat too much dairy or eggs, but they won''t do the same thing that happens when I eat meat, at least," Ninleyn sighed. "You don''t like that?" "Look, being vegetarian is not a choice that I made myself. Don''t get me wrong, I can still enjoy a lot of good food, but I miss meat. That''s why I subject myself to a few hours of torture every now and then." "Is that type of restriction common among legacies? Or is it just for the court ones?" "I''m not sure. I believe that it is not uncommon for legacies to pose some restrictions to the user. After all, life is about balance, and the system is always fair. I will be avoiding giving any specific information since it''s not my place to tell. Still, I am aware of legacies that hinder your ability to sleep, make you more susceptible to being dehydrated, and another that makes it really hard for you to get tanned." "So there are even some weird effects like that? Interesting," Hera kept thinking about Blue''s Stormcloud and Shane''s Enchanting Court, wondering if they would also have their own restrictions in the future. "Did you start without me?" Helena walked inside the dining room with a few cups, "Here''s your tea and some coffee for us. There is more in the pot if we get tired. I know I''m still jet-lagged from the whole test thing," Helena placed the cups in front of them and sat beside Hera. "We were just chatting. I''m happy to see that Hera is just as curious as you mentioned," Ninleyn chuckled. "Of course. I have no reason to lie about that," Helena giggled. "You know I''m still here, right?" Hera rolled her eyes. The three laughed and kept making small talk for a few minutes until Bonnie came rushing down the stairs. "I''m so sorry I''m late. I lost track of time while taking a bath." "Don''t worry. I only told you the time I would arrive. We didn''t have a set time to start our conversation about the order. They were just telling me about the creatures you found in the Wailing Valley. I must say, that Jeweled Hunter? The spider with gemstone eyes seems quite interesting," Ninleyn nodded. "Really? I thought you would be more interested in the snake. It seems more like your cup of tea," Helena replied. "Well, according to Shane''s assessment, I don''t think I could survive an encounter with that being. I asked her about it when she told me, and the snake seemed to have more mana than I do which is quite a feat, I must say. Elves live for a very long time, and our mana pool can get quite large," Ninleyn gave a playful smile. "How much mana do you have?" Hera asked. "Well, that is quite a rude question," Ninleyn turned to the explorer. "Sorry, I just got surprised." "Worry not. However, I won''t answer since that information is a bit too personal. Also, now that we are all here. Can you start our discussions?" Ninleyn asked the group. With a nod, they closed the door and got ready to learn the secrets of the Order of the Lost Court. 338 - The lost court "I assume you all still remember what I told you about the lost court the last time I came here, but, if you don''t mind, I''ll explain this all again. With more details this time," Ninleyn cleared his throat, "In ancient times, and I do mean ancient, the MAZE was filled with more races and more civilizations than we have around today. Not to say that those civilizations were weak or frail, but they perished for one reason or another. The biggest issue is that we know incredibly little about why those civilizations perished. Even after studying the most well-conserved ruins, we can''t tell what happened with most. However, almost all civilizations from a certain period had one thing in common. Mentions of something called ''the court.''" "I was an archeologist, searching for these ancient ruins in hopes to understand what happened to them and how to avoid making the same mistakes. And I was the one who first found out about this court. It is an odd thing. Although these civilizations all use the same name to talk about this group, any paintings, sculptures, or members'' descriptions vary wildly. The first painting I found was named ''the court in the battle .'' It showed an elf of verdant green hair, a blue human with massive tentacles coming from their back, and a man with goat feet instead of humanoid legs. Each of them seemed to be a member of this court and had incredible abilities. The blue human could create tentacles and other appendages to fight, the man with goat feet could control earth and stone, and the elf. Well¡­ he could control plants and small critters to help him fight." "That elf. Was it the owner of your Woodland Court legacy?" Bonnie asked. Ninleyn smiled and nodded, "Indeed they were. But it took quite some time before I was able to find it. After that first painting, I spent another 30 years searching other ruins and trying to find more mentions about this court with no success. Then, I finally heard rumors about a massive ancient city on the 14th layer. In there, I found another painting, this one with two tritons and the elf protecting a city from a massive tidal wave. Along with that, some texts depicted their powers and how they would pass them along when they stepped down from the court. This was the first hint that the members of this court had legacies, and I kept following that thread. More time went by as I delved deeper and deeper into what all that meant. After another couple of years passed, and I finally was able to make sense of something. You see, most of what I discovered about that elf showed that he was a wandering mage, always looking to spread his knowledge and help people. Well, to be fair, he wasn''t as benevolent as I''m making him out to be. The elf was akin to a good mercenary. He would help people with the crops and deal with monsters and ask for a fee depending on who was making the request." "I mean, that''s still a good guy. He asked people to pay more if they had more to spare, right?" Hera asked. "I thought so too, but then I found a diary from someone close to him and¡­ well. The elf was a bit of a spiteful asshole. If someone was rude to him or acted in a way that he felt was unfair, he would ask much more for his services, even when there were lives at stake," Ninleyn shook his head. "And the legacy was ok with that?" Bonnie asked. "Oh yes. They don''t care about what happens to other people, only to nature and animals. I''m perfectly capable of hurting someone else without having to worry about a backlash. Well, at least one from the legacy itself. I don''t have any plans to start attacking people, but I can defend myself without a problem," Ninleyn ate another biscuit. "But how did you figure out he was a part of a bigger organization?" Hera asked after taking another sip of coffee. "The diary I mentioned was a big part of it. In there, there were some mentions that the elf had a meeting of his team a few times, and after one particular passage stating that ''there would be many people like him in the city for the meeting,'' I started getting curious. I looked for the city he mentioned and found a few buildings that were used for large meetings. The city was part of a civilization that we call the Spindlians." "Spindlians?" Helena asked. "Yeah, I''m not the one who came up with that name. They can secrete this substance that they can then weave into thread. Don''t ask me how they do it or how did that work because we have no idea. Very few records remain about the particular function of that substance. We believe that it was the type of knowledge that was shared through word of mouth. It''s odd because we still don''t know how they actually expelled that secretion. Some pictures showed them spitting it, others showed the substance coming out of their noses or ears like long strings of black snot," Ninleyn explained. "Can we not talk about black snot while I''m drinking coffee?" Bonnie asked. "Of course. This is not important for the explanation either way. Going back to the Court of Heroes. I found mention of it in the city records and started looking for the other people I saw accompanying the green-haired elf in the paintings and poetry and everything else. Together with a friend of mine, who is one of the founding members of the Order of the Lost Court, we started searching for the green-haired elf''s final resting place. Our hope was that we could find more answers about this organization and who that man was. It took a while, but we finally found the room where he supposedly was last seen, and in there, we fought a monster that could control the entire forest." "Like the trees and grass?" Bonnie asked. "No, not just that. Every monster, every flower, every bug, even the air around the forest seemed to be controlled by the monster. Even more strange was that the monster itself was a small phasmid. One of those insects that look like the branch of a tree. Because it was so easy for it to hide in the forest, it took a long time for us to find it and the fight was¡­ complicated. Still, as you can see, we won, and I was the one who got the legacy. My friend, who you will meet someday in the future, was a bit upset that I was the one who dealt the killing blow. You see, we both wanted the legacy because, well, it''s a legacy. With my new powers, I suggested that we go after another one of those people depicted in the painting. The supposed members of this Court of Heroes. Since they all were similar, they all should have a legacy. As you can imagine, we were successful in our search, and my friend got the second court legacy we ever saw," Ninleyn chuckled with that, with a smile of an old man who is reminiscing about the good Ol days. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "What is his legacy?" Bonnie''s eyes were sparkling when she asked that question. "That is not my place to say. Even if we are all part of the same organization, we do not share the legacy or secrets of others. I hope you can understand that and remember that rule," for the first time since he got here, Ninleyn''s expression became solemn. Not in an angry way, but in a way to express the importance of what he was talking about. "Oh, sure. That makes a lot of sense, actually. I''m sorry," Bonnie held back her excitement. "Yeah, I understand how telling other people might cause trouble. I won''t tell anyone about yours or Shane''s," Hera nodded. "Thank you," Ninleyn opened a big smile, "Anyway. After that, we started recruiting a few people we trusted and found more court legacies. All the while trying to find more about the Court of Heroes, but information about the organization itself is scarce. We can find some mentions here and there about a meeting but nothing else. No explanation about how or why they came together, no talk about any organized defender or anything." "But¡­ there has to be something, right? Training, quests, something. If not, why would they gather? I doubt it''s just a book club," Bonnie was already trying to figure things out. "Exactly. If it was something only a handful of people participated in, it would be one thing, but the venues used for the meetings are all able to hold hundreds. Not to mention that we already have found at least 25 people who seemed to be part of the Court of Heroes, none of them human." "Is there a reason for that? Were humans not allowed to be part of the court?" Hera asked. "It''s nothing like that. You see, all the courts seem to be from a time when the humans were still blocked by the walls. Some dwarfs and elves lived on the lower layers, but the civilizations that belong to the court members all predate Khan," Ninleyn explained. "But¡­ we were just on the 7th layer. Khan broke the wall on the 8th. I''m not getting my history wrong, am I?" Hera asked. "You are not. This was the first time we found a court legacy that still existed after Khan''s era. Although I doubt the naga had any knowledge of humans at the time. The closest entrance to Khan''s room was near the area you call Asia if I''m not mistaken," Ninleyn had to stop for a moment to try to remember the right place. "Yeah, I think it was on China or Laos. I''m not sure. It''s like on the southern part of Asia but not that close to the ocean," Hera replied. "You really know your stuff. Is this all because of that book I got you?" Helena asked. Hera shook her head, "I always liked the stories about the Heroes. It was pretty handy on trivia nights." "Anyway. That''s the Court of Heroes. A lost organization that formed for an unknown reason and vanished for another unknown reason. And we, as members of the Order of the Lost Court, have been trying to uncover the secrets of that organization for 20 years now." "And how far have you gotten? I mean, I don''t want to be rude, but 20 years is a lot of time, and you don''t seem to be much better than when you started," Bonnie asked. "Bonnie!" Hera gasped. "Don''t worry. It is a fair assessment. However, we have uncovered many things. We have collectively found 7 legacies, including mine, my friend''s, and Shane''s. We have possible leads for another 15 members of the court and another 5 leads for the court itself. Another discovery was that they were spread around a wide area. We have found traces of that organization in rooms extremely far away from each other. I''m talking about being separated by over 1000 rooms even in the most direct route," Ninelyn explained. "Holy crap. That is close to a year of travel, isn''t it?" Hera asked. "Well, if you consider the 3 transfer per day limit, yes." "That means those meetings are not something that happens every year. Maybe it''s something that they set up once every decade," Bonnie suggested. "Correct. Another possibility is that the reason they change locations is to allow the ones who couldn''t participate in the meetings due to the distance to join," Ninleyn smiled. "Do you have any more clues about them?" Hera asked. "About the organization as a whole, no, but about individuals, yes. Currently, we have 3 leads that are available. The other 12 are already with members of the order." "12? But I thought we had like 50 members or so," Bonnie asked. "We have 47, I believe." Hera was about to put a biscuit in her mouth but stopped, "So why do you still have 3 leads? They didn''t pass the test?" "A couple, yes, but most are just not interested in a legacy." "What?" Hera and Bonnie gasped at the same time. "Yes, for some, getting a legacy is too big of a responsibility. For others, the risk is too high. Then, there are those like Helena who rather use the order''s resources for their own projects, even if in her case she has her own lead to follow," Ninleyn glanced at Helena who quickly looked away like a student that forgot her homework, "Lastly, we have some members who are more interested in the actual Court of Heroes than in any legacy. That''s even why all the 5 leads directly connected to the court are already with someone." Bonnie scratched her head, "Isn''t that counterproductive? Why have people who are not going to help with your goal in the same order?" "They do help, but more with research. When we need to find a specific room, a spell, or help with a translation, we have a group of people ready to assist." "I see. So it''s kind of like having a support team?" Hera asked. "Exactly. Now, I believe I have explained the basics. Do you have any more questions about this part?" Hera and Bonnie shook their heads in response to Ninleyn''s question, "Then let''s talk about the leads, shall we?" 339 - Choosing a thread Before Ninleyn could talk about the clues he had available, Blue and Alex returned, making the group take a small break. They had brought food for everyone, a few buckets of fried chicken and some fried rice, along with some salad for the elf. Despite having some light snacks in the dining room, the food was more than welcome. Everyone gathered in the new dining room and had a pleasant meal while chatting. Helena had to push the chicken away from Ninleyn a couple of times since the leader of the order seemed keen on eating it, but the mage wasn''t going to let him stink up the entire house again. A couple of hours went by until Blue and Alex left the rest of the group and went to their rooms. Letting the members of the order talk among themselves again. After Bonnie and Hera finished cleaning the dishes and returned to the dining room, Ninleyn asked, "Hera, for how long can you keep that soundproof bubble?" "Depends on the size. If I''m doing this for the entire room¡­ maybe half an hour, forty minutes," Hera replied after double-checking the spell cost and her current maximum mana. "And how long it would take for you to recover all your mana?" "Twenty minutes more or less, a bit less if I can focus just on that." "Would you mind using it? I understand that you might share some if not all this information with your friends in the future, but I rather not give them a chance to eavesdrop. I know you trust them, but I ask you to humor an old man," Ninleyn explained. Hera nodded while noticing a small frown on Bonnie''s face. With everything that went down with Shane, the researcher was still sensitive about people being accused of being untrustworthy. "Here, sweetie, use these to maintain the spell," Helena took off her earrings and passed to Hera. They were small silver frames with light blue rocks in the middle. It seemed like they were created to stay in the earlobe to avoid having any part of it dangling around. The back of them was also made to be very secure. You could screw the stud in two parts. One would screw on the pin and another on the stud for security. They were simple but very pretty. Hera triggered her [Inspect] on the pair of earrings to know how much mana she could use. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana core earrings A pair of earrings that have a small mana crystal embedded into them. Each earring has its own mana pool. Right earring mana 20 000/20 000 Left earring mana 20 000/20 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sweet system, are those the ones the guild gave you?" Hera gasped. "Yeah, I know it''s not that much mana, but it helped a lot during those months. I couldn''t use magic," Helena nodded with a smile. "Not that much? Lena, this is about five times my maximum mana! If I use these, I should be able to keep the bubble up for six hours without even touching my own mana." "That''s even better then," Helena replied. "Yeah, sure, but we are going to have a talk about these earrings. I want to borrow them or at least know how much they are," Hera replied while putting the earrings on. She never thought about going after her own items that could store mana. Even the poison mana crystal she had was barely seeing use lately. It might be time to change that. "As much as having a spare mana pool can be useful. I recommend you avoid using crystals all the time. Using one of those tools to cast spells hinders your mana growth," Ninleyn said. "I think I read about that too, but still, it''s good to have something like this for a backup or to make big moves," Bonnie nodded. "That is a fair point. However, we will have plenty of time to discuss equipment and other tools to improve your lives in the MAZE. May we start talking about the leads?" Ninleyn looked at Hera, who activated her soundproof spell. "Right, before we start. There was one thing that I wanted to talk to you about," Helena turned to the leader of the order. "Am I in trouble?" Ninleyn snickered. "Sure, you forgot to make your bed," Helena rolled her eyes, "What I wanted to talk about is about my lead. I know you left it with me for a long time since not many people are keen on chasing the court, but honestly, that''s not something I want to do. Going to ruins and running around as we did with Shane is not something I enjoy doing." "Are you sure? According to the painting we found showing your lead, it should be something that fits you very well," Ninleyn said. "I''m sure. Honestly, I was always more interested in how to create a legacy than to find one, and even then is more like something that seems cool but not something that I want to actively work towards," Helena continued. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Really?" Hera asked. The idea of getting a legacy seemed incredible. After all, why would someone not want to be stronger? "Really. Look, if I had a legacy, people would expect more of me. It would be harder to make spells that everyone can use. Not to mention that if the guild ever finds out about it, they will keep pestering me to help with everything they need. I know. I had to make some of those requests myself. I intend to retire someday, and I doubt I will have peace if I have a legacy," Helena sighed. "Well. If you are sure, I can add your lead to the ones they could pick. I would say that it would be a shame to lose someone looking for the legacies but well... You never actually went looking for your lead, so I wouldn''t say this is exactly a loss. In fact, having you in the support team might be a great asset," Ninleyn was organizing his thoughts as he spoke. "I''ll be more than glad to help with other stuff. Research and whatnot. Just the actual tomb searching that I didn''t enjoy," Helena nodded. "Really? I couldn''t tell. I thought that you were enjoying our trip," Bonnie turned to Helena. "I noticed that at times you had a weird expression, but since you would take one of Risli''s potions right after, I thought it was just the phantom pain acting up. That''s why I stayed close but didn''t say anything. I know you don''t like to show when you are hurting," Hera touched her shoulder with Helena''s trying to comfort her friend. "Very well then. Adding Helena''s lead in the mix, I have four options for you to pick. You may only pick one, but no rule stops you from helping each other with this lead. However, we do have a gentleman''s agreement that if you are helping someone else and find the legacy, the ''owner'' of the lead should be the one to get it. Well, I say that, but let''s say Helena had shared her lead with someone, and that person had found it. Since Helena didn''t make any effort, the legacy would go to whoever found it, but if both were working towards it, the priority would go to whoever originally had that lead," Ninleyn explained. "I don''t know if I like that rule that much. I mean, if I work my ass off to find something and the other person didn''t, shouldn''t I be the one to get it?" Bonnie crossed her arms. "That''s why I''m saying it''s a gentleman''s agreement. Not to mention that you might find the legacy while fighting something at times, and it''s not like we will ask you not to defend yourself when you are being attacked. Asking you to give up a legacy is not something we do either. After all, that would be too harsh since you are going to get a permanent hit too, well... Everything." "Well, I don''t think that we have to worry about that. I mean, I wouldn''t steal your legacy unless it was a life or death situation," Hera turned to Bonnie. "Yeah, same. I just find that rule weird. Then again, most ''gentleman agreements'' are sketchy at best," Bonnie sighed. "Either way, we can talk about this later. Give me a moment," Ninleyn pulled up his tablet and tapped it a few times before placing it with the screen down on the table. From the camera, a small light appeared, and a hologram was projected above the tablet. The picture was of a small envelope, "Now, if you allow me a little bit of theatrics. Let me show you the four options you have to pick from." Ninleyn placed his finger on top of the holographic envelope, and it started moving as if playing a pre-made animation. There was a tear on the side of the paper, and four white sheets of a mix between paper and cloth came out of it. As if it was dropped in the wind, the envelope fell and vanished while the four new objects stood side by side. "As a rule, you cannot pick which lead to follow based on the actual clue. Instead, I will show you the members of the Court of Heroes, and you must pick based on what their apparent abilities are," the first sheet spun and revealed a baroque painting of two people. One had a purple glow coming from his hands, a glow that spread around the area and even lifted a couple of trees from the ground. The other had a two-handed sword that seemed slightly out of focus, almost like it was the only part of the picture that required glasses to be seen, "We don''t know his name, but this lead is related to the warrior with the sword. What we know is that despite him not being able to use long-range spells, he was able to be even more effective than a mage in large-scale combat." "Nothing about the other person on this painting?" Bonnie asked. "Unfortunately, no. They are still a mystery," Ninleyn shook his head, "Moving one, this next piece, we have only pictures in some pottery, but I can say that the little we found says that she can befriend monsters and control them to a degree. Some texts call her a shepherd while others call her a witch," the second sheet turned around, revealing two clay pots of different designs. One seemed to be almost greek in structure but with drawings and characters that reminded Hera of feudal japan, while the other had markings that looked like they were from a Native American tribe. In both pictures, there was a woman with long hair and flowery clothes petting creatures that had to be monsters. "Do you have any more information? Like, could she bring monsters along to other rooms or something like that?" Hera kept thinking about how awful it would be to have a pet, only to abandon it every time you changed rooms. "I don''t, sorry. This is the extent of information that we have, but the lead about her is solid. More so than the rest," the third sheet revealed its contents. It was the picture of a statue depicting a man with the head of a bull surrounded by something that spun around it almost like a hurricane, "This one we don''t have a description, only a title. The Hidden Wind. I believe it''s safe to assume that this legacy is about wind, and if it''s a pure legacy, we can guess that it will be as strong as Undine''s." "What''s a pure legacy?" Bonnie asked. "It''s what we call a legacy that has a pure element on it. Using wind as an example, if your legacy is called ''Hurricane,'' you will have a hard time making a light breeze, or if it''s called ''Icy wind,'' it will be a mix of wind and cold. However, if you have simply the legacy of ''Wind'' or maybe the Court of Wind, in this case, you should be able to use wind mana in its entirety without any difficulties no matter what you want to make. We call it pure simply because it deals with a single element. It doesn''t necessarily mean that it is stronger or weaker than any other. However, having a legacy on par with one of the great heroes is something exciting, is it not?" "I mean, it would be very cool," Hera nodded. "Finally, we have the last lead. The one that Helena had. Did you ever looked into it, or is it all the same information we have?" Ninleyn turned to the mage. "I can tell a few rooms that don''t match with what we are looking for, but that''s about it. "Well, this is better than nothing, I suppose," Ninleyn touched the last paper sheet making it turn around, "This one I really thought it would work well with Helena. We have both the picture and the name people gave her," the paper changed and revealed a couple of drawings. Most had monsters and someone fighting them, but there was one with a single beastfolk with rabbit ears bathed by the moonlight with some of the stars in the sky shining brightly, "We have found some texts referencing this picture as the Astral Witch Ritual." Hera stared at the holographic paper sheets for a few moments, thinking about what she could pick. Ninleyn made it clear that these were the ones that actually had a possibility of bringing some results and wouldn''t end up as dead ends. Still, this was a big decision, and she would have to be careful with what to pick. 340 - Chasing a legacy Ninleyn and Helena had left the table, leaving the tablet behind with the four holographic paper sheets there. Hera and Bonnie were staring at the pictures for a few minutes, trying to organize their thoughts before speaking them out loud. All those possible powers seemed interesting to Hera, even if they didn''t have much information about what each would do. Having the out-of-focus sword that allowed someone to be as effective as a mage in large-scale battles should also mean that you would be extremely powerful when fighting alone. Befriending monsters could be absurdly powerful, especially if something in the legacy allowed her to take at least a monster along with her to another room. She could even picture how strong she would be if she tamed the giant snake from the Wailing Valley. That was all theoretical, of course, but the possibilities excited her. The wind legacy could also be interesting, although Hera felt like she would be stepping on both Blue''s and Alex''s toes. Blue had stormcloud that occasionally had some wind effects associated with it, and Alex seemed to be focusing her spells all in the wind attribute. Even if it was a ''pure'' legacy, as Ninleyn mentioned, Hera wasn''t all that excited by the legacy itself. The only part of that one that perked her up was the comparison to Undine. Lastly, there was the Astral Witch. It was a hard one to consider, the name was too ambiguous, and the paintings didn''t help to show any of the legacy possible abilities. Even in the versions where the Astral Witch was fighting something, there weren''t any tells about what she was actually doing. "Do you have a favorite already?" Hera turned to Bonnie. "Kind of, I''m between the Hidden Wind and the Astral Witch. The first one would be a waste on me. I''m focusing on magic. Why would I want to use something that focuses on weapons and the ''monster tamer''? I don''t know. I do like animals, but I''m not sure how I feel about using them to fight. Although, I imagine that if you can tame a Wendigo, you would eventually be the strongest explorer in the MAZE," Bonnie replied. "Oh, that''s right. I didn''t even think about that," Hera turned back to the picture. "How about you?" Bonnie asked. "I was thinking about the Astral Witch too or the tamer. The witch seems fun, and I do like constellations. If they are connected like the name suggests, it might be something interesting." "That one makes sense, but I didn''t expect you to be interested in the tamer." "Well, I kept thinking about Leo. He and Tiger worked very well together, and having a pet would mean I always have someone to watch my back. Besides, the first vase shows three different creatures, so maybe I can be like a one-woman army," Hera explained. "That would be really fun, but I guess you should get some buffs if you really want to work like that," Bonnie suggested. "Yeah, but the Astral Witch is still my first choice," Hera nodded. "Mine to¡­" They stared at each other for a moment while the tension rose in the room. In a flash, both Hera and Bonnie shifted on their seats, putting out one hand closed in a fist towards each other. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" both spoke at the same time. Hera picked rock, but Bonnie chose paper, making her the winner of the match. "Ah crap," Hera slumped on her chair. "Sorry, if you really want, we can still swap," Bonnie scratched the back of her head. "Nah, it''s ok. You won fair and square. Besides, let''s face it. Those leads might end up being dead ends," Hera explained. "Do you really think that, or are you just saying that to feel better?" Bonnie smiled. "A bit of both. But having a bunch of monsters following me around would be pretty cool," Hera smiled back. They talked a bit more, discussing the ideas and possibilities that each legacy could hold. Ninleyn and Helena came back when they noticed how Hera and Bonnie were talking more casually and didn''t seem to be in deep thought anymore. "So, have you decided?" Ninleyn asked. "We have. I''ll be taking the tamer lead and Bonnie the one for the Astral Witch," Hera replied. "I see. I suspected one of you would take on the task Helena relinquished. But I must say, I''m surprised about your decision Hera. I didn''t peg you as a tamer," Ninleyn was looking into Hera''s eyes. "Well, I do like animals, but I can''t tell why. Aside from the Astral Witch, none of the options seemed all that interesting," Hera explained. "Ah¡­ I see. I supposed that is an issue that can happen as well. We should consider what type of legacy we would pick in a situation like that. If you want, I can give you one of the other loose leads we have, but they are just rumors. We can''t even be sure it is connected to one of the Court of Heroes," Ninleyn pulled out his tablet, looking for the files about all the random information the order has about possible connections to the Court of Heroes. "That''s ok. I''ll stay with this one if, when I find it, I have the chance to choose. I''ll think if I really want that legacy or not. If it is allowed, I even have a friend who would love getting something like this." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Well¡­ I''m not one to say what''s allowed or not, but giving away a legacy is no small thing. I''m sure you understand that most people spend their entire lives without even personally knowing someone who has one. And you, well, you two already had a personal experience with three different legacies." "I know, and I know that getting a lead doesn''t mean that we will find the legacy. I know that Shane spent five years searching for hers, and that was only because she was very lucky," Hera nodded. "Indeed. I''m glad that you understand that. Even if the lead we have about the tamer is the most promising one among them, it still doesn''t mean that it will be easy to find," Ninleyn kept searching for something on his tablet and stopped after finding the files, "Well, now. Who will leave first so I can talk about your lead?" "Do we have to leave? I mean, I''m going to share everything I find with Hera and Lena either way," Bonnie asked. "Same. I never considered doing this on my own," Hera added. Ninleyn gave a long sigh, "I suppose the new generation has a different view on things. Very well, I can talk about these with everyone here. First, let me send you the files we have," Ninleyn sent everything the order had about the Astral Witch to Bonnie and everything about the tamer to Hera. He also took that chance to stop for a moment and explain how the files were organized and give them access to the order database. Since now they would be searching for their own legacy, having more information about the Court of Heroes could help, which was available to anyone who had passed the test. That part took a bit longer than Hera expected. Bonnie was very interested in how the order had set up their information and some of the cross-references they used. It was set up by someone highly proficient in data organization, and it put even some advanced laboratories to shame. Helena, Bonnie, and Ninleyn talked about that for a time until realizing that they were off track and Hera was starting to doze off. Ninleyn cleared his throat, "Apologies, Hera. I''m quite proud of this system we developed and might have been a bit too eager to talk about it." "That''s ok. You guys can keep talking. I''m going to make some more coffee," Hera got up and headed to the kitchen. This gave the rest of the group enough time to finish their discussion, and by the time she returned, everyone was ready to talk about the leads. "Let me start with the Astral Witch. The report we have about her whereabouts is this report from an old dwarven kingdom. They used to keep very consistent records about everyone who passed by their kingdom. Among them, there was a single line that caught our eyes. Here is the translation of it," Ninleyn opened a file and showed it to everyone. It was a simple file. There was a picture of an old spreadsheet on one side, and on the other, the translation. Winter solstice - 567 - half past mid sun Elderly woman (86), grey hair, white eyes, 6 palms height. Triton Black coat, large pointy hair with stars on the rims. Mage level 45 - Astral Witch Reason for visit: Passing through her destination The old city of Kharhalall "The tamer has a better lead than this one? Really?" Bonnie asked. "Yes. You see, we don''t know where that city of Kharhalall is located, nor do we know where the Astral Witch came from. I can say for sure that the city in question is not the name of a specific room, so it must be simply a place inside one of them," Ninleyn explained. "I looked into that for a while when I got the lead. No one knew anything about that city. I went as far as looking into the other records from that civilization, but there was no mention of Kharhalall anywhere. It was then that I realized that this would take too much legwork and get in the way of my research," Helena sighed. "The room where we found that, as well as any other records, are all in the file that I sent you. If you need any help, just let me know and try to level up a bit. As you can see, she was level 45, so there is a risk that her destination was someplace high level," Ninleyn changed the file and turned to Hera, "Now for your lead. As I mentioned, this sounds better than the others. First, we have these." Ninleyn showed a few pictures. Among them, there was more pottery, all showing the tamer and a house with a tower on the side. At first, Hera thought it was just a random background, but there was a unique characteristic to that tower on all pictures. Instead of being pointy, the top of the tower was shaped like a ribbon, almost like it was an art piece. Every single one of the paintings showed that house the same way, which led her to believe that this wasn''t just something to make the work pretty, but an actual representation of the house. That wasn''t all. There was also a couple of texts files with a lot of information on them. "We believe that this document is just a letter and although much of their contents are not that exciting. There are a couple of points that stood out. First, we can''t say if that''s a letter to the tamer or from her, we see mentions of taming monsters and the use of a legacy, but the translation doesn''t make it clear who those passages are referring to. Second, it talks about ''going back to our home,'' our being the keyword here. It also talks about how they had plans to spend their last days together. The way this is phrased feels, to me, a lot like when people talk about retiring. However, that is not the most important thing about this letter. What really makes this special is this line here," Ninleyn pointed at a line in the text. I can''t wait for us to go back to the 12th layer, to go back to our home. "So this means that her hometown, or at least where they lived, was on the 12th layer?" Hera asked. "I believe it''s safe to assume that, yes. Do you see why this is such a great lead? We also have some descriptions of places where the tamer could be, but either way, we can narrow the search to be just within the 12th layer." "Well, considering that we are not even sure if we have explored all rooms in the 1st layer, I don''t know how much that helps," Bonnie sighed. "That might be true, but consider the difference between your lead and Hera''s. You need to think about every room and look into every old civilization to find Kharhalall. On the other hand, if Hera finds something, but it''s on the 16th layer, she can write it off as a mistake or a dead-end since it''s not on the right layer," Helena nodded. "Well, yeah, but that''s assuming this letter is correct. I would still look into those leads even if they are not in the 12th layer," Bonnie shrugged. "I will. Also, I don''t expect every legacy to be in their tombs. Honestly, I think that we should be ready to find people who inherited them, or even found them years ago, and now pass them along as heirlooms," Hera was looking into the pottery to see if there was any other indication of where that house could be located. "That is indeed true, and I would be remiss to not let you know that we are aware of one court legacy that was found and is currently being used by a high-level explorer," Ninelyn added. "I guess we can''t ask more about that person, right?" Bonnie turned to Ninelyn. "You are free to ask. I just won''t be able to provide you with answers. This is all to respect their privacy." Bonnie sighed and waved him off, going back to focus on her lead while Hera kept going through all the files that she had about the tamer. Even if she wasn''t that excited about the legacy itself, trying to uncover this type of mystery was something that she couldn''t help but be excited about. 341 - A small reprieve Hera and Bonnie ended up sleeping really late. After getting all the information about their possible members of the Court of Heroes, the two of them started to dig deeper into everything they had about their respective leads. Ninleyn and Helena helped them for a while, and they also showed them how to add any information they found out to the order database. It was pretty straightforward. All they had to do was edit the page with the new data and the necessary connections to other pages. For Hera, that wasn''t a fun thing to do, but Bonnie was excited. After a few more hours, Ninleyn left the house, heading to the hotel located by the doorway. His next step would be to go back to the deeper layers and return to the archeological sites that he spent most of his time on. When morning came, Hera went back to the dining room and realized that Bonnie had turned the place into an office of sorts. She woke up early in the morning and started working on her lead. There were piles of paper and a couple of open notebooks already filled with scribbles and notes. "Please tell me that you didn''t spend the whole night here," Hera walked inside the dining room. "No, I didn''t, but I woke up early and bought some notebooks from the shop. I got you a couple if you want to use them," Bonnie pointed to a small pile on the corner of the table. "Oh, thanks. I''m going to make something to eat. Do you want anything?" Hera picked the notebooks and headed to the kitchen. "I''ll take some coffee. By the way, when is Leo coming over?" "In a few days, I think. The room he was in was a bit far away. Do you know where everyone else is?" Hera asked from the kitchen. "Blue and Alex went to a dungeon, and Lena went to the guild for¡­ something." "I see," Hera nodded and prepared something for them to eat. After that, she took the rest of the day to prepare some things. First, she headed to the guild to look for mana crystals. She wanted a pair of earrings or something small that she could carry around. Her idea was to use it mostly for asking Yarnball questions, and if the price allowed it, she would take a smaller one to work as a backup when she ran out of mana. She also took a moment to ask around for information about the other rooms. That was available for everyone, but since Hera never looked up that type of thing, she had no idea where it was located in the guild database. Unlike what the order did, the guild had several web pages for each room, layer, and much else. It was a very good page that was easy to navigate and had several search options and ways to connect the different pages. The only issue was finding that part of the website, but after one of the clerks showed Hera the way to get there, she could look up anything about the rooms at any moment. As long as she had an internet connection. For the crystals, Hera found a bracelet that she could keep under her armor that could store 30 thousand mana. It would cost her 70 thousand gold, but even considering that it had been a while since she went to a dungeon to make money, there was still a lot of gold left over from the months she spent trapped in Boothudurn. Not to mention that she should start getting her share of the profits from the Kobold Road next week. She also got a smaller mana crystal for just 10 thousand gold, but that one could only store 5 thousand mana. That was already more than her total mana pool, but she would only use it in case of emergencies. Her second stop for the day was on the guard''s blacksmith to see Silah. They weren''t spending the night together these last couple of days since Silah wanted to stay with her family, but Hera would still drop by to spend some time with her girlfriend. They talked for a while, and Hera explained about the order and what she would have to do now to find the tamer''s legacy. "You know, it''s weird. Like, I''m more excited about the idea of finding more about the tamer and her role in the court than the actual legacy. I mean, from what people already found out, she traveled a lot. The rooms where they found the pottery is really far away. Even if you were going directly from one of those rooms to the other, she must have spent at least half a year traveling. I wonder if the people of that Court of Heroes had to be hermits. Also, why the fuck do all the legacies have that ''Court'' name associated with them? How the hell did they do that? Was it something that happened after the legacy was already there, or was it something new?" Hera was so excited that she was even frantic while speaking. "Honestly, I have no idea about any of those questions. But I have a question myself. Does that mean you are going to the 12th layer?" Silah looked into Hera''s eyes. "Eventually, yes. But not right now, not only do I have no idea the room the tamer was in, but I''m too low level to even consider going there." "So¡­ do you intend to go to other rooms soon?" "Maybe. I need to level up if I want to go there, but there is no rush. It''s not like I have a deadline to find the tamer. Why do you ask? Are you going crazy here already?" Hera chuckled. "Actually¡­ it''s the opposite. Don''t get me wrong, I still want to see new things and go to new places, but what we did with Shane was¡­ A lot," Silah was staring at the ground. "I know. I honestly didn''t expect it to be that crazy. That horde of monsters was something else." "Which one? The one that we fought outside the hidden tomb or the one that chased us with that giant chunk of silver?" Silah scoffed. "I was thinking more about the first one. The second was weird, but it wasn''t that much of an issue aside from having to run around," Hera noticed how Silah was staring daggers at her, "Ah¡­ Ok, I understand. That was the ''a lot'' part, right?" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "That and the possible massive snake that I didn''t see," Silah rolled her eyes. "Ok, I understand. But you said you still want to go to new places. Do you have something in mind?" "It''s not that I don''t want to go to other rooms, but I don''t want to be in danger again. I also hate the idea of you being in one of those situations, but I know you well enough not to ask you to stay in a safe place," Silah sighed. "But these rooms are safe. As safe as any room at least," Hera replied. "Really? So you can be swarmed by giant bugs and devoured whole by a lizard if you are here?" Silah stared at Hera again. "Fair point. But I''ll be safe. I promise." "I know, but I''m still going to worry, and I hope your trips don''t take too long. I''m really not sure how that whole long-distance relationship thing works." "Since when do you know what is a long-distance relationship?" Hera chuckled. "I have a tablet now. You guys have a lot of shows about all that," Silah giggled and rested her head on Hera''s shoulder, "Just¡­ come back." "For now, I''m not going anywhere, and when I do, I will come back for you. I promise." The two stayed like that for a while until Silah had to go back to work. Hera went back home to start working on finding something about the tamer legacy. The whole thing about the courts was too interesting and something that she couldn''t stop thinking about. Among the files, she managed to get a loose description of the room that should be the tamer''s home. It was a grassy plain with a lake of considerable size and a few small orchards with a mountain with white peaks on the back. However, that mountain should be beyond the walls of the room. At first, Hera thought it would be easy to find that room, but even after 1 hour of combing through the rooms that matched that description, she had no idea where the tamer''s home was. There were too many results. The guild website allowed one to search for landmarks, but even after putting the entire description of the room in the search bar, over 10 thousand rooms appeared, and it wasn''t a bug. Every single one of them had at least an area that matched the description that Hera gave, even if it was a very loose match. However, this was just the current state of the room. The website wouldn''t even consider that the rooms could''ve gone through some change during the years. Hera spent the next few days doing that. Blue and Alex were still going to dungeons, unable to stay still for long periods of time. Bonnie did what she could to find more about the Astral Witch, while Helena went back to her research. Despite not wanting to share much of what she was looking for, both Bonnie and Ogryn had some insights that helped her regain some of the progress she lost during the months that Hera and Blue were missing. In the middle of a Friday afternoon, Hera was on the couch reading the letter from/for the tamer again, trying to see if there was anything that she was missing there. She wasn''t just reading the version in English but taking the original and translating it herself. The language used in the letter was ancient, but people had already found the equivalent of a Rosetta Stone for it. Even if it wasn''t that common of a subject, there was enough information for a newbie to start translating text. The biggest issue was the person''s handwriting. Whoever it was could really use some calligraphy lessons. Hera was focused on that when someone knocked on the door. "I got it. I need to stretch my legs either way," Bonnie, who had taken control of the dining room, got up and headed to the door, "Oh, hi. What can I help you with? ¡­. Sure, just a minute," Bonnie turned around, "Hera, the king is calling for you." "What? Why?" Hera gasped. "I don''t know, but it seems important," Bonnie glanced at the guard that stopped by. The man was catching his breath as if he had run all the way here. Hera got up, and the guard just asked her to follow him. There seemed to be an issue near the doorway, and the king wanted her help. Without saying another word, the dwarf started running back, already pulling his sword from his waist. Freaking out about what could''ve made the dwarves so scared, Hera quickly picked a handaxe and followed the man. She wasn''t wearing her armor, but it didn''t seem like she would have the time to do so. As they got close, Hera noticed the agglomeration of people by the road leading to the doorway. There were some dwarfs on one side, including Naka and some humans on the other side. Behind everyone, Hera noticed one thing out of place. A large creature was towering behind the people, around a beast with large black eyes and small limbs, it opened its mouth, and a shrill squeak came out of it, almost like it was something from a dog toy. "Tiger!" Hera gasped and rushed over. There was a lot of tension in the air, and the guard seemed to be ready to attack. "Hera!" Leo gasped as she came into view. Hera moved over and gave her friend a big hug, "I''m so happy you are ok." "Same, but hang on. Let''s deal with what is happening here first," Hera turned back to the dwarves, "Can anyone explain what''s going on?" "Hera! I''m glad you are here. Things got really out of hand. This man, who says is your friend, wants to bring that¡­ pet? Into the city." "It''s not a pet. That''s a monster that can kill the people in here," Naka snarled at Leo. "Right. Ok, I understand where you are coming from, tamers are rare among explorers, but they exist," Hera tried to explain. "That''s what I''ve been saying!" a clerk yelled. "I don''t care what you think is normal. I''m not going to allow the city to be in danger just because someone wants to play house with a monster," Naka''s eyes were glued to Tiger. "I''m sorry about this, we came inside, and people started yelling," Leo sighed. "How about this. We can all go back to the doorway, and we can talk there. That way, Tiger is far from the city, and we don''t have to be so on edge," Hera turned to the clerk, "Can you let me deal with this? I understand what Naka is thinking." "Sure, but if they try to stop someone affiliated with the guild from entering the city, it will be against the¡­." "They are stopping a monster from coming in, not someone affiliated with the guild, and this is new for them. What would you do if a monster like this popped in front of your home back on Earth?" Hera cut the clerk, who couldn''t come up with an answer to her question. The group walked back to the doorway, and Hera took a moment to explain who Leo and Tiger were and how the giant frog was a friend and it wouldn''t attack anyone for no reason. Rutigan found the idea of keeping a monster as a pet interesting, but Naka wasn''t having it. In the end, the only way to allow Leo and other future tamers to enter the city was to create a small stable for the monsters. They wouldn''t be allowed to roam around the city, and every time the creatures had to walk on the streets, they would have to be escorted by a team of guards. This discussion took almost an hour and another three to wait for the dwarves to create the stable. This situation ended up leaving everyone involved with a bad taste in their mouths, but Rutigan assured both Hera and the guild in the future, they would be better at dealing with this type of thing. Thankfully, Tiger was extremely well behaved and used to being in stables. With that, Hera and Leo went back to her house to talk to everyone. 342 - Coincidence? I think not After arriving at Hera''s house, Leo had to take a moment to get settled. He had been traveling nonstop for several days already, and this was the first opportunity he had to rest properly. While he was happy to find a place where he could just stop, Hera was worried about her friend. Leo was different. His eyes were sunken, and his skin seemed dry, not to mention the number of calluses on his hands. Whatever happened during his time with the Crimson Coalition was clearly taxing to his body. After a few minutes, Leo came back from the bathroom and asked for a glass of water, "Thanks. Man, that hit the spot." "What happened? Did you have to run here?" Hera asked. "Not really. I just got used to doing things in a hurry. Also, the way here was really annoying. I had to cross a bunch of rooms that had doorways really far from each other, and the schedule for any bus or trucks that allowed Tiger to be a passenger ended up being really tight," Leo explained after finishing his water. "Hey, Leo! How are you?" Bonnie came out of the dining room to greet him. "Hey, I''m doing ok. Dead tired today, and even more so for dealing with that mess in the doorway. One of the reasons I wanted my training to be over soon was to be far away from stuff like that," Leo sighed, "How about you?" "Mess in the doorway?" Bonnie turned to Hera, who explained what happened with Tiger and the dwarfs. "Ah, well¡­ Try not to be angry, they just started dealing with humans, and they are very cautious about everything. Well, most of them are at least," Bonnie explained. "I understand. Hera told me about this all in her text, but man, all that drama is tiresome," Leo slumped back on the couch. "Why? Was there a lot of drama where you were?" Hera asked. "Don''t even get me started. Aside from stupid macho stuff among the platoon like, who can drink more, who can lift more and jock bullshit like that, and to make it worse, the entire room was such a mess." "Oh, really?" Bonnie perked up, interested in the gossip. "Yeah, there is a dungeon there that has a consistent drop of mana crystals, and someone found one that was like, coconut-sized could store hundreds of thousands of mana, but it was a weird element. Even so, he managed to sell it for two hundred thousand gold. Since the dungeon was easy and not dangerous at all, people started to line up to do some runs. The issue started because the dungeon is one of those with a limit of runs per day, and the guild set up a priority system where if you had a silver or a gold card, you had kind of like a reservation. When it was just that it was ok¡­ ish, but then they added another exception. If you worked with the new dawn or any other organization that the guild had any dealings with, you also had another priority list. That''s when people started to protest. Weirdly enough, there weren''t many humans in the mix. It was mostly the other races that were around," Leo explained. Bonnie chuckled, "I don''t know if you saying that was weird is cute or sad." "What?" "Leo, more often than not, when a specific group gets pushed away from something, it''s done intentionally," Bonnie replied. "You really think so?" Leo asked. "I know more about that than you would expect. Being from a powerful family only mattered when people knew about it. When they just saw me, I had to deal with that bullshit," Bonnie sighed. "I''m sorry¡­." "Don''t worry. But yeah, if that is so targeted, it kind of feels like they did it on purpose. Then again, it could be just an honest mistake. I don''t see people acting weird when they are around people that are not human. Well, aside from the initial shock for those who just came in the MAZE," Bonnie shrugged. "That''s not entirely correct," Helena came down from her room, "Hey Leo. Glad to see you and sorry, I didn''t mean to eavesdrop." "Hey, Helena. I mean, it''s your house, right? And we are not talking about anything that serious anyway. But what do you mean?" "Well, the guild had a history of giving priority to humans. Mostly because they kept hiding so much about the MAZE. It was hard to be fair to everyone when you have to actively swipe what they do under the rug," Helena sighed. "Yeah, that is messed up. I still don''t get why someone decided to do that. What''s the problem with letting people back on Earth to know about other races?" Hera shook her head. "The explanation they give is that after Khan broke the first wall, there was a lot of conflict between humans and everyone else. Mostly because, well¡­ we as a society suck since always. Kingdoms who think that everything belongs to them, people who think they are better than everyone else. Not to say that the other races were any better, but it was one of those situations where two opposing forces collided. According to what the guild says, things were really bad, but after the great monster invasion, when Cyrus united all explorers under the same banner, there was a meeting where everyone agreed to hide their existence from Earth. The reason that we are told is that we needed a single organization to deal with all the politics inside the MAZE, and many of the kings and queens from Earth wouldn''t even bother leveling up, much less coming here. So to avoid any trouble, people would pretend that other races were a myth, and information about the MAZE wouldn''t be shared freely. Honestly, I don''t believe that''s the full story. There are too many holes, but even if we ask around, no one can tell us more about it," Helena explained while getting a drink. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "But that is changing, right? The guild is opening up about what happens inside the MAZE, so it shouldn''t be hiding what happened with the other races anymore," Leo said. "Maybe, but even so, it won''t change everything in a day. What happened in that room is probably either a crappy old habit, or it was caused by a group that doesn''t agree with the direction that the guild is going and is trying to push back," Helena came back to the living room with a bottle of wine, "Sorry, this type of thing really bothers me, and I''m drinking. You are all free to join if you want." "I''m in. I honestly thought I wouldn''t have to deal with this kind of crap here," Bonnie walked to the kitchen and came back with a few glasses. The mood was sour for a moment, but Leo asked about what everyone was doing, and things started to get better. Hera talked about everything that went down ever since the first time she got in Boothudurn. She avoided telling him about Blue''s legacy since it wasn''t her secret to tell. She also avoided talking about the order or the legacy. Unlike Alex or Bonnie, Leo had left the party a while ago, and the Crimson Coalition was a very militaristic-focused organization. Hera had no way of telling if Leo was obligated to tell his superiors about any significant discoveries. It''s not like she wanted to suspect him, but after seeing Shane call Blue a thief, her own paranoia was more evident. Luckily, it seemed like she wasn''t the only one thinking that Bonnie and Helena avoided talking about the order completely. Bonnie even went as far as to send a text to the group chat warning everyone not to mention the Court of Heroes or anything like that. However, they did talk about the ruins in the Wailing Valley, using the excuse of an archaeological expedition and not the search for a legacy. Blue and Alex arrived at the tail end of Hera''s story and joined in the conversation. With everyone there, it was time for Leo to talk about his time in the Crimson Coalition. As everyone expected, his first days there were very similar to someone who had just joined the military. His schedule was very strict, waking up every day at 5 A.M. spending most of the day doing training drills and practicing combat tactics. Since he was a tamer, Leo was assigned to a specific squad after completing the basic training. This allowed him to learn how to fight along with Tiger and how to make the best of their partnership. Leo was among the most dedicated members of that group, and his hard work and skill were noticed by his superiors. Instead of just being part of a platoon, Leo was assigned to a different group responsible for finding potential new training grounds or areas that the coalition could use for its resources, giving them more freedom to travel around the MAZE alone as long as he gave regular reports. The job gave him a lot of freedom, and he could access a lot of the coalition''s resources, but there wasn''t exactly a path to raise ranks while on it. Hearing that story, Hera couldn''t help but find it suspicious. Leo was strong, but he didn''t have any skills that would be particularly useful for finding a training ground, not to mention that it was a lot of freedom for someone who joined less than a year ago. "By your face, I''m guessing you also find this weird," Leo smiled. "How can you tell what I''m thinking about?" Hera asked. "Don''t get me wrong, sweetie, but you really need to work on your poker face," Helena chuckled. Hera rolled her eyes, "I''m not a secretive person, but yeah, your story is weird. I''m not saying you are lying, just that the things they gave you seem¡­ too much." "I agree. At first, I thought it was because of my uncle. You know, a bit of nepotism. But the commander who assigned me to this job seemed a bit too eager to do so. I''m guessing they are trying to hide something from me," Leo nodded. "Or they think you are a threat. Maybe whoever gave the order to put you on that group wanted you to get stuck at your current rank," Bonnie suggested. "That''s also a possibility. Then again, I can''t do jack shit about all that right now. I''m too weak. I''m just level 17. Even if I wanted to become a captain or whatever, I need to be at least level 30 before doing so," Leo sighed, "Let''s change the subject. You mentioned you recorded that snake person doing a weird fighting style. Can I see it? One of the things the commander said was to stay on the lookout for rare skills and old things that might help us now." "Sure, I really don''t expect that this remains a secret for long," Bonnie pulled up her tablet and started showing Leo the things they found in the Naga hero''s crypt. They never took any pictures or videos from the things related to the legacy, so she didn''t have to worry about that. Leo watched the green naga doing some of the movements of its combat style, then saw the rest of the things the group had found. When Bonnie was showing some of the scrolls that were in the room with the yellow naga, Hera noticed something. When two pieces of paper overlapped, it showed something written on them, something that didn''t match their language but matched something that Hera had gotten very familiar with. "Stop, send me that picture," Hera asked Bonnie. "Sure¡­ why?" Bonnie sent the image but was a bit confused about the sudden request. "I''m positive that this line here," Hera pointed at a point in the scroll, "Is something written by the same person who wrote that letter I have." "Are you sure? Even if those scribbles are in whatever language that letter was, how can you tell it''s from the same person?" "You don''t get it," Hera pulled up the original letter on her tablet and a reference of that language, "Whoever wrote the letter has such a bad handwriting that even a pharmacist would have trouble reading. Look." Bonnie started comparing the handwriting, and Hera was right. The letter was a mess, with many of the letters almost unrecognizable when compared to the proper language. However, when looking at the scribbles on the scrolls she found back at the tomb, they were too similar. It was almost impossible to say that they weren''t written by the same person, even if Bonnie originally thought that they were nothing but doodles. "Ok, I agree, that does seem to be the case, but without matching the right pages, it will be hard to understand what they say," Bonnie gave Hera''s tablet back. "Didn''t you take pictures for all the scrolls there?" Blue asked. "Yeah, but I didn''t focus on the edges. Most of those doodles are cut from the pictures," Bonnie sighed. "Ok, then I have to go back and take more pictures, maybe some front and back just to be sure," Hera had a huge smile on her face. She just started looking into the tamer''s legacy, and it seemed like she already had a new lead. 343 - Back on the road Hera talked with everyone in the party about her plans. She wanted to go back to the tomb where they found the scrolls, but neither Bonnie nor Helena were too keen on going back there. Helena was trying to get back to her research on affinities. She talked with Rutigan and Ogryn, asking permission to bring some of her equipment to the city, and they agreed with that. In fact, the dwarves were excited about the idea of seeing how humans develop their magic. Another big point was that since Bonnie had figured out a way to make the modular elemental spells, Helena could now take things one step further and try to make equipment that could work as an ''elemental translator'' something that could make a fire spell become a water spell. For the first time, Helena explained to Hera what was her ultimate goal with her research. Helena always wanted to be something she called a ''Ying Yang'' mage. Someone who controlled both the shadows and the light, and when she got stuck with shadow mana, that dream was taken away from her. She tried to ignore that and keep going as a shadow mage, but most of her offensive spells were from the light element, and using shadow mana for that was very inefficient. As a result, she ended up focusing on being a supporter and a debuffer, and she didn''t enjoy that, despite being very good at it. With her research, the goal was to create something that would allow her to either change her own mana to fix her mistake or something that could allow her to use other elements without worrying. This started as something she wanted to do just for herself, but Helena realized that many people had the same issue as time went by. Even if it wasn''t about a dream they had, mages who specialized in a single element always had trouble fighting something with a high resistance to that element. Sure, one could just avoid those fights, but in situations when that wasn''t an option, having spells from another element could be the difference between life and death. Now that Hera and Blue were back, Helena no longer had the parasites stopping her from recovering mana, and she had participated in some tomb hunting. It felt like it was a good idea to go back to her research. Bonnie also wanted to stay in Boothudurn. She wanted to keep searching for where the Astral Witch could be. Hera could tell that there was more to that. At first, Bonnie seemed interested in finding more about the tamer, but the moment a trip to the Wailing Valley came up, the researcher jumped ship. It was clear that she had no intention of going there again. She didn''t say anything, but sleeping on the ground and having to eat monster meat wasn''t something she was keen on doing again. Silah also didn''t want to join, not that she wasn''t worried about Hera going there, but it''s been just a few days since they returned to Boothudurn. The blacksmith missed her family too much, and all that adventure was more than she ever bargained for. Even if Silah was desperate to find something new to do, spending days or weeks away from her family wasn''t something she enjoyed doing. Maybe in the future, that could change, but for now, all she wanted was to be close to them. Hera understood that even if she wasn''t particularly thrilled with the idea of being away from Silah. Still, it was a good thing to spend some time apart. Sure, they were sating for half a year already, but that didn''t mean that they couldn''t stay away from each other. Silah seemed to agree with her even if the concept of staying in a different room was still somewhat new for the blacksmith. On the other hand, Blue, Alex, and Leo were all game for going to the Wailing Valley, as long as they didn''t have to rush through all the rooms like they did before. Shane was in a bit of a hurry, but Blue was curious about the dungeons that could be in the Cold Water Lake. For some reason, the controller was very interested in the penguins. Alex was also curious about the spirits in the Forest of Dreams and the type of dungeon or resources they could find there. Leo didn''t know what to expect, but it''s been such a long time since he could just roam around the MAZE for fun, or at least without having to stick to a set schedule. Hera asked everyone to wait a couple of days, to both give everyone some time to rest, and so that the two mana crystals that she ordered could arrive. Everyone else also took a chance to see if they could get some upgrades for their equipment. Now that they had an idea what to expect on deeper layers and Blue had access to stores, they could spend some money on that. Hera even tried to look up some better equipment and even ask Silah to make something for her, but according to the blacksmith, anything she could make wouldn''t be better than what Kahala did for her armor a few months ago. The issue was Hera''s level. Most of what Silah could do that was really strong had a level restriction. Sure, Hera could still wear it, but the extra benefits, bonuses, and skills wouldn''t be active. The one thing that made Hera feel better about this is that not knowing about those restrictions was a common thing. Many guards and even explorers from the guild only figured out about level locked equipment when it became relevant for them. In a weird way, the way this knowledge was shared was much like what the system did. Only showing to someone when the information could have some value. During the days they waited, Hera and Alex tried to learn the fighting style that the yellow naga showed to them. They rented a training room to have an edge but trying to follow along with a creature that didn''t have legs made learning the movements much more complicated than either of them thought it would be. The naga moved in ways that didn''t seem possible for someone with legs to move around. Another thing everyone did was to stop by the newly created stable and check up on Tiger. It''s been a long time since they had seen the frog, and it would be best for it to get used to the rest of the group before they headed out. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As soon as they all gathered on the stable, Blue gasped, "Holy crap, Leo. What are you feeding that thing?" Tiger was massive. He was easily 2 meters tall and as wide as a small car, but his face was still the same. Now he didn''t look more like just a pet. The frog was a full-blown monster. "Believe it or not, but I didn''t feed him anything special. It seems like living in a room with denser mana made it grow to that size. Apparently, it''s not unusual for monsters that people tame to change when they spend a lot of time in a different room," Leo explained. "Oh¡­ I never realized that mana could be denser in other rooms. Then again, I''m not that sensitive to mana, I think. Also, how did you make it move to another room with you? Was it a skill, or do you need a tool or something?" Hera asked. "A bit of both, actually. When I left Brinnefront, I had to use a small cage that made the system see Tiger as luggage. Now he has those bracelets on his legs that are kind of like a collar, and I have a skill that lets me bring him with me. The issue is that the skill has a level range, so even if I tame a high-level monster, I can''t make it move to a different room." "I''m kind of relieved to hear that. If people could bring high-level monsters to low-level rooms, it might be dangerous. Wasn''t that one of the things that caused the great invasion?" Alex started petting Tiger now that he already had recognized her. "Sort of. There were like thousands of monsters crossing, and they weren''t tamed. My guess is that monsters can cross doorways without any issue, but since they don''t understand the system, they can''t actually press the yes button," Hera said. "Wouldn''t the system translate that to monsters?" Blue asked. "Would it? All the references we ever found about the system from other cultures or even ancient civilizations talk about the windows having writing on them," Hera continued. "Yeah, but what about kids? They don''t necessarily know how to read, but they can still understand the system," Alex was giving Tiger, who laid on his side, a belly rub. "That''s true, but they can understand the concept of a choice or of someone asking you a question. I don''t think monsters can do the same," Hera replied while scratching her head. "Some monsters are much smarter than kids. I assure you of that," Leo was picking some food for Tiger. "Well, that was just a theory. I mean, there should be a reason why monsters don''t cross doorways, because if they can, why wouldn''t they cross more? Especially if going to a deeper layer made them stronger," Hera continued. "I mean, that''s as good as any idea I ever had," Blue shrugged. "We''ll have time to workshop some theories while we are going to the¡­ Screaming Valley?" Leo turned to Hera. "Wailing Valley. Yeah, and it''s not like we are supposed to figure out those kinds of things, but it''s kind of fun to come up with reasons," Hera shrugged. "You and I have very different definitions of fun," Blue rolled her eyes. The group talked and agreed to head to the Wailing Valley tomorrow. Everyone had gotten all their new gear and some items to help the travel. Some rope, rations, incense to ward off monsters, and some potions to help heal wounds or anything. Another thing they got was a set of one-use spells to open the entrance of the tomb. They came in various shapes and sizes, from simple things like a gold coin that could give a defensive buff or a small iron rod that would be consumed to fuel an illusion spell. There was even a small bundle of herbs that could benefit the soil, causing plants to grow faster. Hera never looked too much into consumable items, but they seemed very interesting. She had to remember to take a look at everything she could get when she had time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana storage - Bracelet A mass-produced bracelet created to store mana. Mana 30 000/30 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana storage - Earring A mass-produced pair of earrings created to store mana. Left Earring Mana: 5 000/5 000 Right Earring Mana: 5 000/5 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With those items, Hera had almost 10 times more mana than her normal amount of mana. It was amazing to think that she could get items like that, but at the same time, if it wasn''t for the months she spent on Boothudurn, there was no way that she could save enough to get that type of item. Another unexpected but welcomed surprise happened while Hera was trying to translate the letter about the tamer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired: Ancient Language Comprehension. Rank:2 This skill assists you in understanding ancient languages. You might still require a dictionary, but the skill makes finding the correct meaning of each sentence easier. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With all those upgrades, including a skill that came to her already at rank 2, the group headed out of Boothudurn and back to the White Desert. Tiger caused some trouble at first, but thanks to Hera and Leo''s natural charisma, the guard agreed to release the creature to the man and allow him to travel to a new room while passing through the city. 344 - Clear Water Lake "Give me a second. I have to use a spell on Tiger," Leo asked just as they entered the White Desert. This was the coldest place he had ever been with his pet, and frogs weren''t very well known for dealing with sudden temperature changes. Luckily, he had a spell that could protect Tiger from the weather. Essentially, Leo would be sharing his own body heat with his pet, but unlike most amphibians, he could warm himself up without relying on external sources. If there was any heavy snowstorm or something stronger, it wouldn''t help as much. Another issue was that it required a lot of mana to keep that spell up, meaning that Leo wouldn''t be in the best shape to fight, "How long we are going to stay here?" "Well, if we go straight to the next room, we should arrive there in about 6 hours or so. Well, that is if we follow the same path we did last time, and honestly. I don''t think it''s a good idea to try crossing through the middle of the snow. Everything is too white, is too easy to get lost even with the maps. Not to mention that those skinny bear things can hide in the snow way too well," Alex replied. "So we have to walk for 6 hours nonstop? I thought I wasn''t in the coalition anymore," Leo sighed. "Don''t worry, there is an outpost nearby, and we can take breaks at any time we need. Also, we have internet connection in the entire room," Hera tried to cheer him up. "Yeah, this room shouldn''t give us any unpleasant surprises," Blue added. "Actually. I have one thing to tell you guys that you might not like," Hera turned to the controller. "What did you do?" Alex squinted at Hera. "I called Shane to talk about the Wailing Valley. I didn''t mention anything about what I''m looking for, but I had to ask her about the snake and if the guild is doing something about it. Or just if there is any news of what was going on there," Hera explained. "She''s not going to go with us to the tomb, is she?" Blue asked. "I don''t think so, but she asked me if I figured out the element of that spell. You know, the one that no one knew about," Hera explained. "What do you mean figure out? Can''t you tell what type of mana are you using?" Blue had a confused expression. "Can you tell what''s the element of mana from all your spells?" Hera asked. "Only the ones that I use with Stormcloud. Not the others, but you focus more on spells than I do." "True, but I don''t have something that tells me the element of every spell. Some I can kind of figure out, but there isn''t something from the system. Only mages can tell what type of mana a spell uses, and that is only while they haven''t locked their own mana," Hera explained. "Yeah, I heard that too, but if you don'' mind me asking. What is Stormcloud?" Leo turned to Blue. "It''s the name of my legacy. The one I told you about yesterday," Blue replied. "Right. I still can''t believe you got a legacy. Even in the coalition, I don''t think anyone has one," Leo sighed. "Really? I mean, everyone says they are rare, but they are that rare?" Blue asked. "Are you kidding me? Most people spend their entire lives not even seeing someone who has a legacy in person, much less have one themselves," Leo gasped. "Oh, c''mon. It''s not that much. I mean, even we know like three people with legacies," Blue rolled her eyes. "Three?" Leo turned to Hera. Hera glanced at Blue with an angry expression. She told the controller several times that talking about other people''s legacy was something she shouldn''t ever do. Even her own legacy should be a secret from most. "She meant the dwarves. They have a couple of legacies that were passed down since before they came to Boothudurn. We try to avoid talking about it, and I don''t think I have to tell you why," Alex jumped in, trying to defuse the situation. "Right. Yeah, that''s a good call. I heard some real horror stories just because rumors of someone having a legacy popped out. Apparently, a few years ago, a guy in the coalition told everyone that he had a legacy to try to get better treatment from the top brass. Since he boasted so much, he attracted the attention of a group of people who only cared about money. Their plan was to steal the legacy and sell it off at a high price," while Leo talked, the group started to move. They had a lot of ground to cover, and there was no need to stop to talk. "And then what happened?" Blue asked. "Well, I only know the rumors, so take this with a grain of salt. But apparently, they kidnapped the guy, beat him up, and dragged him out to the middle of a forest to be eaten alive by the monsters. That way, they could just capture the monsters and sell them without having to do the whole inheritance thing and get the penalty for it, but in the end, it was all fake. People think that he had an innate skill that changed some of his abilities, and that''s why it seemed like there was something else." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Did he end up being killed?" Blue seemed more serious about the legacy for the first time. "Yeah, didn''t I mention it? The bandits, if you want to call them that, fed him to monsters." "Oof, that''s a rough way to go," Alex sighed. "Tell me about it. They even went to a room on the first layer so the monsters would be very weak and anyone could kill him. Since the guy was around level 20, it took almost a full day for the monsters to hurt him enough to finish him off. Or at least that''s how the story goes," Leo was now rubbing his arms, trying to heat himself up in the cold of the White Desert. Since he was splitting some of his body heat with Tiger, the freezing air hit him harder. "Dam, that''s brutal. Is that story really true?" Hera asked. "I think so, but it''s a rumor, so I doubt the story went down like that. There are probably a bunch of details that were exaggerated." "Could he still be alive?" Blue asked. "Oh no, he''s dead, and I''m sure of it. We keep records of the people who were part of the coalition and what happened to them," Leo explained. "Right. That''s still really bad," Hera nodded. The mood turned sour for a while. Thinking about being eaten alive wasn''t something that everyone seemed to be a bit shook up by. Leo, on the other hand, was focusing on trying to keep himself warm. A few minutes passed, and they arrived at the small outpost. In there, Leo stopped by a store to look for something to heat him up. He found a couple of heat packs that would be enough to keep him warm for a few hours. Aside from that, they also stopped by a cafe to get some drinks. They ate before coming here, but staying in such a cold area made them crave something hot. With a mix of hot coffee and hot tea, everyone felt much better about going forward. For the following hours, there wasn''t much excitement going on. They were just walking through the snow at a slow pace since Tiger was having trouble moving through the snow. Still, it didn''t take much longer than the 6 hours they were expecting. Unfortunately, things didn''t improve as they arrived at Clear Water Lake. Moving on top of an iceberg proved to be even worse for Tiger. It was a good thing that this shouldn''t take long, but at the same time, the frog was freaking out, unable to stand up properly. Still, after another half an hour, the group arrived at the small village that was being constructed in this room. It was still much like what they had seen before, but there were some minor upgrades. A better shop, a nice hotel, and some training rooms. Tiger could stay inside the room in the hotel as long as Leo was ok staying on the bottom floor. It wasn''t unusual for the guild to have a few extra-large rooms to allow people with pets or just people who wanted a private area to do some light practice. The main problem would be to make Tiger pass through the doors, and in the end, he had to enter through the window. Since he had the biggest room, the party decided to discuss their plans there. They had already stopped by the guild and gotten some information about the dungeons in the room. Two options were close to the village, and a third one required you to go underwater. No one was excited about the idea of going swimming in a lake that had a giant iceberg in the middle of it. If they did, the water should be freezing. With that, the group had two options. A dungeon called ''Penguin Migration'' where they would have to protect the penguins while they travel through an area, and a place called ''Tip of the Iceberg'' that deal with the iceberg in the middle of the lake and how it got there. "You know what. I don''t want to help those penguins. Unless the rewards are really good," Blue said. "Same, they were dicks when we were trying to go to the Wailing Valley," Alex nodded. "Well¡­ the mission would be to protect them, and if it''s anything like those escort missions we have on video games, that one would suck," Hera sighed. "And the other one?" Leo asked. "According to the people in the guild. That one is weird. We will meet a guy who wants to do something with the iceberg in the middle of the lake, but what he asks for varies a lot. Some people were just tasked with protecting him, while others had to help him make the iceberg smaller. I don''t know what to expect," Hera explained. "That seems fun. I''m also curious about that guy. Dungeons are supposed to be created because of big things that happened in the room, right? What did that guy do to make that dungeon?" Blue added. "It seems we have decided. Where is the entrance?" Leo turned to Hera. "On the other side of the lake. If we are ok with getting wet, we should get there in half an hour. If we go around the lake, it should take about an hour and a half," Hera had her map open and was double-checking the distance. "Is it ok if we go tomorrow? Going near big bodies of water in the night gives me the creeps," Alex shivered with goosebumps. "Really? Why? The weird things that live underwater don''t care much about night and day. They just care about how deep it is," Leo turned to Alex. "Well, at least during the day, we can see it coming. In the middle of the night, we can only hope that there isn''t anything lurking in the shallow water and waiting to jump at us," Alex crossed her arms. "I think you are watching too many horror movies," Blue chuckled. "I mean, if we were back on Earth, I would agree with you, Blue, but here on the MAZE? Alex has a point. Things get weird fast. We had to fight those special monsters back in the Wailin Valley, didn''t we? What if there is something like that around here too," Hera added. Leo had heard the story about how they fought the three named monsters, and even he had to agree that the situation wasn''t that great. With that, the group decided to wait for the morning before going to the dungeon. There was no need to put themselves at any big risk, nor there was any benefit for them to risk going to the dungeon at night. At least, not that any of them were aware of. They talked more, ordered some food, and a couple of hours later went to their own rooms to rest for the night. Hera took that chance to retranslate the letter and see if Bonnie had any insights into what she should be looking for and the [Ancient Language Comprehension] skill. Hera meant to ask about it before, but she completely forgot about it. Bonnie also got the skill, but hers was still on rank one. It seemed like starting with a letter made by someone with really bad handwriting gave the skill a boost and pushed it to rank 2 right away. Before going to bed, Hera had a video call with Silah to talk about nothing in particular. When the morning came, everyone ate some breakfast and left the outpost towards the other side of the lake. Their destination? The Tip of the Iceberg dungeon. 345 - The Tip of the Iceberg "Man, it''s really peaceful here, isn''t it?" Leo was leaning on Tiger while looking at the lake and the massive iceberg. HONK! HONK! HONK! "Are you sure about that?" Blue turned to the side where two of those giant penguins were gawking at each other. "Ok, maybe not really peaceful, but it''s still pretty nice." "Well, if you could have some music playing on headphones, I would agree, but with those things around, I don''t want to risk it," Hera added. "Yeah, maybe in the dungeon, it will be better. I mean, no one said anything about dealing with penguins inside there, did they?" Alex turned to Hera. "Not really, but they did say we need to protect the guy who''s inside. If we are thinking about protecting him from something, it makes sense that monsters would be around. Hera looked around and saw a small wooden cabin near the trees by the lake, "Oh, there is the entrance." "That cabin? Really?" Blue asked. "Yeah, that''s what they said. We need to enter through the door, and then we will enter the dungeon," Hera explained. "Can we see what''s going on inside?" Alex asked. "Maybe, no one said anything about that. But we can just go there and see. I mean, if there is a wall around it, nothing can come out of it either," Hera started walking towards the wooden cabin. The house wasn''t big, but it wasn''t particularly small either. Just by looking outside, it was easy to see at least one wall splitting the cabin on the corner, meaning that the structure would have at least two rooms. Curious about what could be inside, they tried to look to the windows, but oddly enough, they found none. The only part of the house that had any semblance of a way inside was the front door. The weird part was that if they tried to touch the cabin, they wouldn''t feel the wood, but instead an invisible wall just one centimeter away from the actual cabin. This felt much like the walls on the edges of all rooms. "I guess this is how the system made sure that no one would destroy the dungeon," Leo mumbled. "Yeah, but is that the same for all dungeons? Like, are they all protected?" Blue asked. "I have no clue. I never actually tried to destroy a dungeon. I mean, who would be that stupid?" Leo shrugged. "Yeah, and I guess it makes sense for the system to protect some of the things it created. It already does that with some stuff," Hera thought about her guide skill and how the system made sure that no one could harm the guides. "Like what? As far as I''m aware, the system doesn''t protect anything," Leo replied. Hera froze. She had to come up with something that the system was protecting aside from the guides, or she might end up wasting one of her strikes in such a stupid way. Her thoughts moved at light speed, but there was nothing she could think of as a good answer. Luckily, Alex intervened without even realizing the panic brewing inside Hera. "I mean, Earth, the walls in each room, the wall that divides the MAZE. There are things that the system seems to be protecting, even if we don''t understand why. I think that the towers that showed up in the 25th layer are also protected. I remember reading an article that talked about how it was impossible to do any damage to that, and the only way in was the front door," Alex replied. "I didn''t know that, but I guess it makes sense. By the way, have you seen the thing about the new role?" Leo asked. "Yeah, performer seems weird, but considering how many actors, musicians, and whatnot are around, it makes a lot of sense," Blue nodded. "True, but I''m still curious what is the point of going to the tower. Do people actually get something out of it?" Alex asked. "I don''t know, I didn''t look too much into that, but there has to be something, right?" Hera said. "Yeah, even the people in the coalition are not that sure, and we have members who went there," Leo shrugged. "We can look that up later. Shall we go inside?" Blue pointed to the wooden door in front of the cabin. "Sure. Can someone help me look that up later? I''m curious about the tower now," Hera asked as they walked toward the cabin. Blue pushed the door open and entered a simple room. There was only a table, a single chair, and a small counter with an odd stain that seemed to be blood. Connected to this mix of kitchen and living room, there was another door to the side. It was open, revealing a simple bed and a closed chest. When all of them got inside, along with Tiger, who had to squeeze through the entrance. The door closed, and a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Tip of the Iceberg dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They all pressed yes, but nothing happened. The group was still inside the cabin, and there was no new door or something that showed a change. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Are we in the dungeon?" Blue asked. "I think so. Maybe we need to get out of here?" Alex suggested. "I mean, there is nothing else to do now," Leo shrugged. They opened the door and were met by a grey-haired dwarf who stumbled back when seeing the humans. "Who, in the name of all hell, are you people? And what the fuck are you doing in my house?" the dwarf with a thick Scottish accent asked. "Oh, sorry? We didn''t know this was your house," Hera replied. Despite the oddity of the situation, she wasn''t fazed. Maybe because the man was a dwarf or because they were warned about dealing with someone, but seeing him here wasn''t that much of a surprise for her. "Who else lives in this godforsaken place? Fucking hell, when it''s not those damn penguins yelling all night long. I still have to deal with you a lot. What the hell do you want?" the dwarf pushed the group aside and walked inside the cabin. "Penguins don''t yell. It''s more of a honk," Blue said. "Oh, excuse me. I''m not a fucking hunter or a researcher who wasted my life studying birds that can''t even fly. If you know so much about those things, make them shut up!" the dwarf huffed. "I didn''t mean it like that. It''s just that it''s a honk, not a yell. It''s like saying that a dog yells, they don''t they bark!" Blue gasped. "The fuck is a dog?" the dwarf turned to Blue with a confused expression. "That''s not important. I''m really sorry for disturbing you. May I ask for your name?" Hera tried to change the subject so the dwarf wouldn''t be that angry anymore. "Finlay," the man replied without even looking at Hera. "Pleasure to meet you. I''m Hera, these are Leo, Blue, and Alex. That one is Tiger." "Yeah, yeah. Why are you here?" Finlay asked. Hera turned to the group, hoping to see if anyone had any ideas about how to answer that question, but everyone seemed just as lost as she was. "I''m not sure. We just stumbled here. Is there anything we can help you with?" "You came here without knowing who lives here and just offers help to do anything? Do you think I''m stupid? Fuck off, I don''t have time to deal with you, and if that asshole of a king starts complaining, tell him to come here himself, so I can tell him to go fuck himself in person," Finlay scoffed. "What king?" Alex asked. "Don''t play dumb with me, girl. I know very well who sent you here. I''m not going back to that fucking place, not after what fucker did," Finlay scoffed. "What did he do?" Blue asked. "You are kidding me, right?" Finlay turned to Blue with his eyes wide in an angry expression. "No, I really don''t know what you''re talking about, and I think that''s the same for all of us," Blue replied. "Ok then, you don''t know that asshole. What do you want? A prize? Not having to deal with that dick is more than enough of a reward. Now get lost. I''m busy," Finlay slammed the door shut. "Is he really the guy we have to help?" Alex asked. "I think so. When I talked to the people in town, they said that there was only one person inside the dungeon. He was kind of grumpy but nothing like this. Or at least, I didn''t get that impression from the clerks," Hera didn''t know what to say. This was really weird, and the quest still was nowhere to be seen. It was almost like the MAZE was refusing to give them the dungeon quest for some reason. "So what? Do we keep pressing or try something different?" Alex asked. "Well, the quest is to help him do something with the iceberg. I think we could take a look at it first, and hopefully, it will show up," Leo suggested. "I mean, we don''t have many options here, do we? I''m guessing that to leave the dungeon, we have to go inside the house again," Hera looked back to the cabin and then towards the lake. For the first time, she noticed the differences in the area. The lake was smaller than what it was outside the dungeon, or at least that''s what it looked like because the iceberg covered almost all the water inside it. The water was also much farther away from the cabin than it was outside the dungeon. More differences were evident. The beaches almost didn''t have any rocks or pebbles, the surrounding vegetation was more lush and vibrant, and the penguins were only present in a small area by the cabin. However, the biggest difference was still the iceberg. Not only it was wider, but it looked much taller than the one Hera and the others arrived at. Hera didn''t have any doubt that the dungeon had something to do with the size of the ice. "Are we going to have to climb that thing?" Blue pointed at the iceberg. "What?" Leo turned to the controller. "I mean, the name of the dungeon is ''Tip of the Iceberg'' wouldn''t that have something to do with the top?" Blue asked. "I mean, that''s as good as a guess as any, but it could also be the bottom. Like technically, that would be the point farthest away from the middle, right?" Hera said. "Not necessarily. If we were thinking about sailors, the tip would be just the closest part to the ship. The tip is too subjective to say it''s here or there," Alex added. "Going there is still the best idea we have right now, so let''s go take a look," Leo shrugged and started walking towards the lake. Everyone followed along, trying to figure out why they didn''t get the quest or if there was something they were missing. However, there wasn''t anything that stood out. They looked around the lake for the next 30 minutes, but even when getting close to the penguins, nothing happened. They even tried splitting up to see if anyone could find something but the results were the same. There was nothing around aside from the cabin, the iceberg, and a small flock of penguins. They all gathered near the lake after being done with their search. "So¡­ what do we do now?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. Maybe we should just go back to the cabin and talk to the guy again?" Blue suggested. "I don''t think we need to do that," Leo nodded to the back of the group. They saw Finlay coming down from the path leading to the cabin. He sighed when he saw the group and dropped his bag by his side, "Fucking hell. You lot are still here?" "Yeah, we don''t actually know how to get back," Blue replied. "Cross the lake and follow the path. You will eventually reach a doorway." "Yeah, that''s not an option," Alex replied, she had already gone to that side, and less than a kilometer away from the lake, there was an invisible wall blocking the path. "Then you can stay here and hope I can finish my work before dying," Finlay replied. "What are you doing?" "I''m building a new doorway." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a dungeon Quest Finlay believes he can create a doorway to a new room in order to escape from the grasps of the dwarven king. Help him complete his work. First completion rewards: 50 000 gold, crafter gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 346 - Trouble on ice "So¡­ that guy is crazy, right? Even the quest said so," Blue said. "What? Where?" Alex asked. "That part that says ''he thinks he can create a doorway. Of course, it''s the MAZE saying that he''s crazy," Blue explained. "Is it? I mean, there is a doorway in the iceberg, and he was a bunch of ice carving tools. Maybe he really made the doorway," Hera was staring at the man who was climbing the iceberg with his tool bag on his back. "Are you actually saying that he made the doorway?" Blue turned to Hera. "I don''t know, but it''s possible. The doorway is on the same spot he''s working, and we know that dungeons can be created when something big happens. Someone creating a doorway feels like something big for me," Hera kept looking at Finlay, who was now halfway up the iceberg. "But¡­ I mean, could someone make a doorway? Isn''t that a bit too easy? I mean, if people could make doorways to other rooms, don''t you think they would have done so?" Blue continued. "We don''t know what exactly made the doorway appear. Maybe the dude made a blood sacrifice or used his own bones to make the frame," Leo suggested. "Holy shit Leo. You didn''t have to go that far," Hera gasped. "No shit. I''m the one who''s supposed to be the psycho, you know, assassin and all that," Alex nodded. "Oh, c''mon. I''m just saying. You don''t have to be all family-friendly all the time." "Who the fuck is trying to be family-friendly? You just shouldn''t go straight to sacrificing children when you think of doing something different," Blue rolled her eyes. "Hey, hey. I just said he was sacrificing people. You are the one that tossed in the children in the mix," Leo took a step back, putting his hands in the air. "Ok, guys. Theories aside, we need to help him out. At least that''s what the quest is telling us to do," Hera said. "Yeah, we are going to need to talk to him, aren''t we?" Blue sighed. "Unless someone can read minds or figure out what he want''s to do just by watching. Yeah," Alex nodded. They walked towards Finlay, who was now about halfway up the iceberg. He didn''t seem to notice or bother with the group. Hera and the others stared at each other for a moment, trying to see who would be the one to talk to. In the end, everyone stared at Hera, who inadvertently took the lead when they first saw him. With a sigh, she started speaking. "Finlay, do you mind telling us what are you doing?" Hera yelled. "I''m making a way out of this godforsaken place without having to deal with that prick of a king," the dwarf replied without looking back. "How do you intend to do that?" Finlay stopped for a moment before returning to his climb, "You won''t believe even if I tell you, girl." "I don''t know. I''ve seen some really weird stuff. Including a griffon that stopped an entire race from hurting his kind by using wind for over 15 hundred years," Hera considered talking about the giant snake in the mist of the Wailing Valley, but that wasn''t necessarily that rare. Especially when considering the deeper layers. "That... is odd," Finlay replied. "So, why don''t you tell us? We might be able to help," Hera pressed. Finlay stopped again and waited for a moment, pondering about the situation. He then continued his climb until reaching an area where he could stand properly, "If you want to know, come up here. I don''t have time to go down." "I guess that''s better than nothing," Blue sighed and looked at the iceberg. Finlay had set up a few climbing spikes that he used to pull himself up. Although the controller felt confident about climbing the ice, there was an easier way to do it. Waving her hands, she created a set of clouds that functioned as a staircase towards the area where Finlay was. She climbed first, followed by Hera and Alex. Leo was the last one to go, and Tiger had to stay behind since the makeshift stairs were too tall for him to climb up. It seemed like that wasn''t the first, nor it would be the last time something like that happened. The frog quickly understood Leo''s orders to say behind and even started guarding the cloud staircase. Finlay was in the middle of the iceberg using a pickaxe to carve away large chunks of frozen water. He noticed the sound and looked to the side, "First of all. Why do you want to help me?" "Honestly, we came here for that. We didn''t know it was helping you specifically, just that we had to help someone here," Hera replied. She still wasn''t sure if telling people inside a dungeon where they were was a good idea. "Oh¡­ so you also got a message?" Finlay seemed interested in the group for the first time. "We got a quest," Blue replied. "An actual quest? Not just a vision or a message from the mountain?" Finlay turned to the controller. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Yeah. It said we should help you," Alex nodded. "Then I must be on the right path," Finlay smiled, "Come. If you come to help, you can start by helping me with this, and don''t use spells. This is something that has to be done by hand." "Why is that?" Hera asked. "This is what the seer told me. I asked her how I could free myself from that bloody eejit of a king. Her cards showed me a vision of this place and how I could find a way out of here through the ice as long as no magic was cast on it," Finlay explained. "Cards? Do you mean tarot cards? Do you remember her name?" Hera perked up. Ever since Finlay started talking about a bad king and the fact that he himself was a dwarf, made her consider the possibility of him being part of another group that managed to flee from the city of Kul Dorul. The same place where Silah''s ancestor ran from during the great fire. As a rule, every room had at least two exits, which meant that the one that led to Boothudurn Peaks was just one possible escape route. Now, if she added the fact that Finlay also knew a dwarven fortune teller with magic tarot cards, this could mean that the dwarves from Boothudurn still had some relatives out in the MAZE. "Yeah, I think that''s how she called those cards, and sorry. I only know her as the seer or fortune teller. Take your pick," Finlay shrugged. "Is that someone you know?" Leo asked. "Maybe. I''m not sure. Without her name, it''s hard to know, but it could be someone related to the dwarves from Boothudurn," Hera replied. "So there are more dwarves out there? Good to know," Finlay mumbled to himself, "Anyhow. You came here to help, right? So start helping." "What do you want us to do?" Blue asked. "Carve a tunnel here. It needs to be big and wide, but the walls must be thick enough to block some of the sunlight. If you have weapons or something, just start swinging. If not, you can pick any of the tools that are in my bag. Oh, and do not use magic, or I''ll kick you so hard in the arse that you''ll taste my foot for a week," Finlay kept working even while threatening everyone. This wasn''t the only direction that the group got. In an odd change of pace, the dwarf started explaining exactly what the group had to do, where to strike, and the measurements of the tunnel he was creating. Even weirder was the fact that his accent was gone. In a way, his intonation was similar to one of those text-to-speech apps and not an actual living person. As soon as he finished, his accent returned to normal. "Now go on. If you came here to help, then bloody help," Finlay scoffed. The group started working, carving away the chunks of ice as they were instructed. At first, it seemed like they were making quick progress, and it wouldn''t take long to finish the quest. However, it quickly became clear that there was something more about this quest. A constant stream of water came from the top of the iceberg that would freeze again on the spots they had just taken out. "You gotta be kidding me," Blue gasped as she noticed that everything she had just removed was back there again, "Where is all this water coming from?" "The rain, girl! Don''t you have rain where you came from?" Finlay scoffed. "What rain? It''s not raining," Blue looked up. The sky was cloudy, but there wasn''t any actual rain. She scanned the area and realized that right atop the tip of the iceberg, there was a localized raincloud, and it was pouring, "What the fuck?" "Oh man, that''s just mean," Leo sighed when he noticed what Blue was staring at. "I know, right. Do you think it would be ok if I stopped that rain? I''m pretty sure I can use stormcloud to make a gutter," Blue asked. "I don''t know. You need to ask Finlay, not me," Leo shrugged. "Ok, ok," Blue walked over to the dwarf, "Finlay, you said that we can''t use spells on the iceberg, but what about the rain? If I could stop the rain from falling in here, would that be ok?" Finlay started laughing, "Sure, girl. If you can control the rain in the entire room, do it. Who am I to say no to someone who''s stronger than a force of nature." "What are you talking about? It''s only raining on the top of the iceberg," Blue asked. "Are you that much of an eejit that you can''t even see rain? It''s raining all the time in the fucking room," Finlay scoffed. "Am I going crazy here? It''s not raining, right?" Blue asked the rest of the group. "No, your not. Maybe that''s how the things were here," Alex suggested. "Give me a second. I might be able to figure that out," Hera pulled Yarnball from her waist. She pulled the mana from her bracelet and put 10 thousand points into her relic, "Was it raining in the entire room when Finlay was living here or was it like it is now?" The screen showed a small projection with the answer. ''During Finlay''s life, it rained every day due to the excess water released by the iceberg in the lake. Inadvertently, his actions also assisted the rain. By removing large chunks of ice, these pieces could melt more easily, allowing more water to go back to the environment.'' "Wow, this is a very complete answer," Hera gasped and showed it to the rest of the group. "It really is, and the rooms are getting weirder, right? I mean, a place like this shouldn''t have that much rain, not if we consider the room as being in a closed environment," Alex nodded. "But is it, though? I''ve seen some rooms where effects from the outside seemed to hit the inside of the room. Things like rain, waves, or even sandstorms. They would come from beyond the walls. From what I understand, the walls block living things to move beyond them but not environments," Leo said. "Really? Are you sure that''s not just a visual effect? I always assumed that the walls were kind of like massive monitors made to pretend like we are not inside a box," Blue scratched her head. "Same, but I think that''s one of those things we will never know. Either way, we got your answer, Blue. For him, this was different. Maybe if you make the rainfall, we won''t have to be redoing our work," Hera suggested. Blue nodded and created a long cloud with a funnel of sorts right under the raincloud. The idea was that most, if not all, of the water, would be guided away from the iceberg so it wouldn''t plug the holes that the party had just created. It took a couple of minutes for the water to stop completely, but the group managed to progress much faster when it did. Ten minutes after that, all the tools they were using shattered at the same time. "Shit, you lot stay here. I''ll grab some extra tools from my shack," Finlay got up and climbed down from the iceberg. "Do you need some help?" Hera asked. "I''m not old enough to need help just to carry a bloody bag. Stay there and keep working or just wait for me to come back," Finlay was halfway down when he spoke. The group looked at each other and then at the ice. No one was that keen on using their weapons to carve the chunks of frozen water. A couple of minutes went by until they heard Finlay climbing up once more. However, when he arrived at the area where they were working, the dwarf was different. His grey hair and beard now had large patches of white, and there were many more wrinkles on his face. Not just that, but his expression was softer. "Sorry for making you wait. I had to hit the can," Finlay noticed a confused expression on the humans'' faces, "Don''t give me that look. We''ve been working together for more than ten years already. You know that when I gotta go, I gotta go." 347 - Years went by Hera quickly pulled up her tablet. Finlay just said that they have been working together for close to a decade. This had to be a lie. There was no way that they spent so long o top of the ice just waiting for him to return. However, just by looking at the date and the clock, she calmed down. It had been just a bit over an hour since they entered the dungeon, and that matched with the watch in her tablet. "Guys, look at the clock. Everything is OK," Hera told the rest of the party with a sigh of relief. "Fucking hell, that scared me," Blue gasped. "Fucking hell? We talked to the guy for half an hour, and you are already speaking like him," Alex rolled her eyes. "I''m a sponge, Ok? We spend time with someone. I get some of their habits," Blue shrugged. "That''s bullshit. Why aren''t you saying sweetie like Helena does or something then?" Alex asked. "Fine. I liked his accent. Is it so wrong of me to try it out?" Blue gasped. Finlay chuckled, seeing the scene, "You are still the same as the day I met you. Now stop horsing around, and let''s keep going. We have much to do," The dwarf pulled a bag with enough tools for everyone, and once more, in that monotone text-to-speech voice gave the instructions for the party. When he was done with that, he started talking normally again, "I can''t imagine how long it would take to finish this without you lot. It''s just a shame you can''t sculpt for shit." "We are doing our best," Leo shrugged. "After ten years, I expected you best to improve, but you''re still shit," Finlay laughed. "We could stop if we are just in the way," Hera said. Even if he wasn''t actually alive, she didn''t like how he was speaking to her friends. "No, no. I appreciate all your help. I really do. It would be very lonely to be here on my own." "That''s true. But why are you here anyway?" Hera asked. "Ah, it''s a long story." "We have time. Besides, if we don''t talk, I''m going to end up sleeping while standing up," Blue replied. "You do have a point. Well, I was born in a dwarven kingdom, in a big city under a mountain. Life was good. Well¡­ good enough, at least. There was some trouble here and there, a noble being an arse every now and then, but nothing too complicated. I was, am a sculptor. I can make great statues, and one of them caught the eye of the king. I was invited to live in the noble district, and honestly, it was pretty fun. I had a lot of fame, money, and people listened to what I had to say. I was setting things up to bring my mother to live with me. You see, she was in one of the lower cities, and to allow a commoner to live among the nobles, you have¡­ had to pay a significant sum. Before I could gather all that money, a fire broke down in the city. One of the mines was ignited, and in just a few minutes, everything went up in flames. I tried to go after my mother, but the king grabbed everyone in the noble district and pushed us to go through a doorway. That arse had a hidden doorway from the entire city. It was his way of having a secret passage out if things went south," Finlay stopped for a moment, "I tried to get away from those guards. I really did. My mother was down there, and I had to help her." Hera couldn''t help but notice the similarities with the city where the people of Borodin were from. Luckily, there was an easy way to confirm that, "What was the name of the city? The one that burned down I mean." "It is¡­ was called Kul Dorul," Finlay replied with a sigh. "Hera¡­ isn''t that¡­." Blue turned to the explorer. "Yeah. It''s the same city from the Weeding Disaster," Hera nodded. "Wait, you mean that he and the people from Boothudurn came from the same place?" Alex asked. "It seems like it," Hera turned to Finlay again, "What happened after you crossed the doorway? Where did you end up?" Before the dwarf could reply, all the tools shattered again. Hera and the others didn''t realize, but they had made considerable progress while hearing Finlay''s story. The tunnel they were making now already resembled the one they saw when entering the room, although it was still shorter than it was supposed to be. "Let me grab more tools. We can continue this story later," Finlay got up and headed down again without saying anything, leaving the humans to talk among themselves. "Ok, this is bad, isn''t it?" Alex turned to Hera. "Yeah, I think so," Hera was scratching her head. "Why bad? The people from Boothudurn might have more relatives somewhere," Blue asked. "True, but since they were all part of the same kingdom, the current king of this other city might say that Boothudurn should be a vassal state," Leo replied, understanding why Alex and Hera were so worried. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Exactly. We don''t know if the people of that other city have an interest in Boothudurn, and by the way, Finlay talks about the king. I doubt he would just let them be," Hera explained. "But we don''t even know if that city is still around. Not to mention that the king Finlay is talking about should be dead already," Blue said. "Yeah, but I don''t think a king like that would leave descendants that don''t follow his footsteps," Leo added. "What should we do then? If that civilization still is around, we have to tell the people of Boothudurn, right? At the very least, we need to tell Rutigan," Blue turned to Hera. "I¡­ Really don''t know. I agree with you, but if that is going to mess up their life, I don''t want to be the one to tell them," Hera sighed. "Wouldn''t that be even worse? What if those dwarves show up out of the blue? Or if they figure out that connection?" Alex asked. Before anyone could reply. They heard grunts coming from the side of the iceberg. Using the same path that they took when they got in the room, Finlay was walking up. His beard and hair were now mostly white, one of his eyes had glazed over, and he had to use a cane to walk around. "My dear friends. I still can barely believe you have joined me through all these years," Finlay smiled to the group. "Hey, Finlay. How long has it been since we meet each other?" Hera asked already with her tablet on hand. Even if she expected that there wouldn''t be any weird time issues, she wanted to be sure. "Now? I believe it''s been over 150 years since I first saw you in my cabin. I must thank you all for keeping company to an old man while he works on such a ridiculous endeavor," Finlay chuckled. "Don''t say that. It''s not ridiculous," Blue protested. "Oh, Blue. I''m well aware of the stupidity of dedicating my entire life to try to make a doorway. At least, this gave me peace and freedom from the king''s grasp." "What is his name, by the way?" Alex asked. Finlay stopped for a moment, "I honestly do not know. He never revealed his name, not to me at least. I guess he feels like being called ''King'' is better than being called by his name. Either way. I do not wish to think about him on such a good day. I feel that we may be close to finishing. Maybe today will be the day." "Really? Are we that close?" Leo asked. "My memory might not be the same, but I am sure that the iceberg is very close to what I was shown by the fortune teller," Finlay dropped his bag full of tools to the side and gestured for everyone to come to pick the ice picks. "And what is going to happen after you are done? The doorway will work?" Blue asked. "I ask myself that same question every day. I hope it does. I hope this gives me a way out of this room so I can find a nice place far away from that kingdom to live the rest of my days," Finlay sighed. "Don''t talk like that. You don''t look a day over 160," Hera joked, trying to lighten up the mood. "Ha! If you want to flatter someone Hera, at least make the lie believable," Finlay laughed while he started carving the ice in front of him. The group kept asking questions about the room, what was going on in the kingdom, and why Finlay decided to come here to make a doorway. Unfortunately, most of his answers didn''t help clarify the situation that much. According to the dwarf, the kingdom was just crap because the king didn''t know what he was doing, and since he only saved the nobles, they lacked the manpower to keep a city running. Finlay grew tired of everyone''s insistent demands and sought out advice from the fortune teller of the kingdom. There he saw the vision of the doorway in this place, along with the massive block of ice. To flee the city, he told the king that the vision he had was actually about the mountain itself, and by making a sculpture on its name, he could bring the mountain''s blessing for the kingdom. However, for that to work, he had to go alone and finish his task on his own. The second part of that fake vision was just an insurance. He doubted any of the nobles would be willing to risk themselves to travel through the spirit-infested forest. On the other hand, Finlay already knew that the spirits would leave you alone as long as you didn''t do anything to bother them. When he reached this room and saw the iceberg''s size, he decided to build a cabin first and then start working on the doorway. For 100 years, he worked alone trying to make the doorway, but the constant rain erased most of his progress every night. During that time, he was only able to clear out the small plateau that they were standing on. A small area just 10 meters wide that served as the footing for everyone when they arrived. As he spoke, it became clear that those time skips that he was having were just to reflect how old he was when he reached the same point on the work that the group achieved in a few minutes. It made sense since Hera had never heard anything about a dungeon that took more than a lifetime to complete, and even with the rain, she expected that the rate at which the water was freezing again would be slower than it was when Finlay was doing carving the iceberg outside the dungeon. While they talked, the group continued carving away at the ice, and Finlay gave the instructions. However, now it wasn''t that same text-to-speech voice that came from the dwarf, but his own voice that explained what they should do and tried to teach them the best ways to go about not just carving the ice but sculpting it. Hera was particularly interested in the techniques that could give a specific texture or pattern to an object. Suddenly, Finlay asked everyone to stop. The doorway was almost done, and he just needed to do the finishing touches, and the dwarf wanted to do that himself. He made the doorway frame and using a ladder that he brought up, he made the small area on top where the crest of the room would be, with everything done. Finlay stepped back to admire his work. Tears came down his face. "I guess this is it," he chuckled, "Thank you for helping an old man complete his work. Even if this is just a dungeon for you." "Wait. You know this is a dungeon?" Leo gasped. "I do." "Then¡­ what''s going to happen to you when we leave?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. Maybe I''ll just be gone, maybe I''ll forget everything and start over when the next group arrives. Maybe I''ll just stay here alone," as he spoke, the doorway they had created started to glow. The frame changed colors, and the doors opened, showing a white landscape filled with fresh snow. The crest on top changed and revealed a group of white dunes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. By assisting Finlay to carve out the ice, you have helped him create a doorway to a new room. Rewards: 50 000 gold, Finlay''s gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 348 - Unusual Rewards "Before I leave you lot. Let me give you something to thank you for all your work," Finlay turned around, keeping the doorway he had just created behind him and blocking the path if anyone tried to cross over. "Hang on. What do you remember about your life? Are you actually Finlay or just a version of him created by the MAZE?" Leo asked. "I honestly do not know my boy. What I know about myself are¡­ stories. I cannot remember doing most of the things I told you about, but they feel true to me. It''s like remembering something that someone told you about yourself. A childhood story or something you did while piss drunk," Finlay smiled. "It''s weird. I know Leo. But it''s one of those things we won''t have the answer to," Hera replied. "What? How are you not freaking out about this? I never heard about people inside dungeons who knew they were in dungeons," Leo gasped. "We''ve met someone like that before. It was a fortune teller inside a dungeon in Boothudurn. There were many people there, but she was the only one that seemed to understand what was going on," Blue explained. "Yeah, I had time to process that. Let me give you a tip, don''t spiral. Keep yourself busy and if you want to freak out, wait until you can call a therapist," Hera said. "I''m not following this, so I''ll pretend nothing is happening and give you your rewards," Finlay picked his bag again and pulled a small leather collar with a small wooden sculpture of a penguin, and passed it to Leo without saying anything. Then he pulled a small mahogany scabbard and handed it to Alex, again without speaking a word. For Blue, he took out a pair of raincloud earrings made out of maple wood. Lastly, he turned to Hera and pulled something from his pocket, "For you. I have more of a request than a reward. You are an explorer, and I heard you mention similarities. You might be at least aware of what happened in my city before the fire. If you ever find other survivors from there, please. Ask around and see if anyone recognizes this crest," he showed a round wooden symbol with three flowers in a triangle with a mountain on the back, "This is my family crest. The only other person who should know about it would be my mother. I believe she would be happy to know I''m alive and well." "Are you tough?" Leo asked. "Fucking hell, let me do my thing, boy. You got your reward now shut up!" Finlay scoffed. "Sorry," Leo stepped back. "As I was saying. I have no idea if my mother is still around, or even if she survived, but either find what''s left of the city or find someone who recognizes this crest. That''s my reward for you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lost Family Explorer exclusive quest Finlay asked you to find any remaining members of his family. Deliver the crest to his descendants or to the final resting place of his mother. Rewards: Powerful Connections Skill ( Explorer exclusive) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow," Hera gasped, "Seriously?" "Yes. I hope you find my mother or someone who can recognize that crest," Finlay grabbed his bag and turned to the rest of the group, "Once more, thank you for all the help. For you, this might have been just another dungeon, but I will never forget what you did for me." Without saying another word, the dwarf turned around and went through the doorway. He started moving in the fresh snow and before anyone could react, what looked like a snowstorm covered the doorway, and the doors closed. At that moment, the structure shifted and returned to be of solid ice, as if the doorway was nothing more than the carvings made by an excellent sculptor. "So¡­ what did you all get?" Blue asked, "This collar can buff Tiger. He gets a boost to his attacks, and I can always know the direction he is, which is¡­ well, kind of a waste. I already have a spell that can do that," Leo shrugged. "But does it cost mana to do it through the collar?" Alex asked. "Yeah, less than the spell, but the information I get is a bit different too. My spell tells how far away he is in meters while the collar just tells the direction. What about your scabbard thing?" "It''s¡­ kind of nice. When I keep my weapon sheathed, the weapon gets a buff. The longer it stays like that, the higher the buff gets, and the first attack that I do with the dagger will be much stronger. If that can combo with my sneak attacks, I might be able to do some serious damage to monsters," Alex had a large smile on her face. "Nice, mine is¡­ I don''t know. If it wasn''t for Stormcloud, I would be really sad about this reward. Basically, the earrings can let me summon a small cloud of rain that either stays in an area or it follows me around. If I''m under the cloud, I get a 5% buff to my defenses, and everyone else gets a 5% debuff to their attacks. It''s nice, but the cloud is small. It has a 1-meter radius," Blue explained. "Well, if you can make Stormcloud do something with that like it is doing with your griffon mount, it can be very strong. Like imagine covering the sky of a dungeon with that or something," Alex suggested. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Yeah, but I need to see if that works first. Stormcloud is telling me that to do that, I have to do some things first," Blue sighed. "Telling you? What do you mean telling you? Your legacy can speak?" Leo asked. "Oh right. I forgot to tell you. Legacies have those things called Heralds, who are kind of the ''personification'' of the legacy. They help you learn about the legacy and how to use it," Blue kept going with her explanation, answering most of Leo''s questions. When she was done, she turned to Hera, "How about you? What''s your reward?" "I got a quest¡­." Hera kept staring at the crest. Even when using her [Inspect], it just said that it was a quest given by Finlay to complete a quest. "A quest?" Alex asked. "Yeah. You heard what he told me, and if I complete the quest, I''m getting a skill." "Which skill?" Leo asked. "It''s called Powerful Connections." "Oh shit! That''s a really good one," Leo gasped. "Really, what does it do?" Hera turned to the hunter. "I don''t know the specifics, but it gives you a small buff based on¡­ something. Apparently, it varies from person to person. One of the commanders for the coalition has it, and he gets a 1% increase in his stats for each person he helped train in the same room as him. You can imagine how busted that can be for the leader of an army," Leo explained. "How many people are in the coalition?" Alex asked. Leo thought for a moment, "Maybe like 300 or so. I''m not entirely sure." "Wow, that''s a big buff then. I wonder what my version will be," Hera kept staring at the quest notification. Blue looked around then tried to push the doorway open, but nothing happened, "Anyone knows how do we get out of here?" "I''m guessing we need to go to the cabin again," Hera got up. With a nod, they all headed down the iceberg and towards the wooden hut. While walking, they discussed what they should do next. After talking with Finlay, no one wanted to try the dungeon again. It would be one thing if the dwarf would remember them, but they knew that wouldn''t happen. Even if he recognized that he was in a dungeon, things would start the same way on a subsequent run. Hera and Blue learned that in the Weeding Disaster. They could never find the fortune teller again, but some of the people from Boothudurn found her a couple of times. On both occasions, she acknowledged that she was inside a dungeon but couldn''t remember anything about the outsiders. In the end, the group decided to head back to the outpost and see what they could do next. It was still early, and they had a lot of time to do anything they wanted, even go to the next room. Walking inside the cabin, Tiger had to squeeze inside it again. Leo saw how much his pet was struggling to do so and mentally decided not to push Tiger into dungeons with such small entrances if possible. On the way back to the outpost, Hera sent a message to Silah, asking about the crest and attaching a picture of the wooden trinket that she got as a reward. She didn''t expect Silah to reply right away. After all, it was the middle of the afternoon, and her girlfriend should be working in the forge right now. After about half an hour, everyone was back in the outpost. Hera went to take a hot shower since they spent a long time surrounded by ice. Another benefit of doing the dungeon was that now everyone had some more money to spend. Leo and Alex weren''t struggling with that, but a 50 thousand gold payout made things much easier. With that, everyone went their separate ways for the rest of the days. Blue wanted to take some time off and just stay in her room. Alex went to the guild to see if she could upgrade her weapons. Leo went with the assassin, but he wanted to know if more people had found beings inside the dungeons that recognized that they were in a dungeon. Hera tried staying in her room, but she couldn''t stay still. Deciding to go out for a bit, she looked at her skills and realized that ever since she got the [Naga Poison] skill, she didn''t have time to properly test out the skill. The only poison spells she used after getting it were some random shots while leaving the Wailing Valley, but at the time, she was moving quickly and couldn''t stop to understand what was going on with her magic. The penguins in the area weren''t that strong on their own, and near the outpost, there were a couple of small groups and stragglers that would annoy people at times. Hera dropped by the guild just to see if there were any quests about hunting the penguins and found a couple. It seemed like they were among the primary source of food in the room. Hera texted the group to let everyone know where she went and looked for a small group of penguins in the area to test her spells. She considered going to the training rooms to do her testing, but the poison wouldn''t work that well without an actual living target. Unless she was using an ART or one ASZ, she would at most see the spell going off and not the actual damage it would do. It took her less than ten minutes to find a pair of penguins moving around. They were on the small end, but that wasn''t an issue. Hera activated her [Sneak] skill and started moving closer to them. Before attacking, she shot out a poison needle near her feet, just to confirm if the spell itself was different than what she was expecting. The magic felt mostly normal but using it felt more natural than before. She didn''t have to focus so much to pull the mana. Creating the spell was almost like snapping her fingers, a physical thing and not a mental one. Another change was with the color of the projectile. Instead of the bright orange, now the poison needle was brown, almost as if it was made out of gravy. It still had a soft glow, but it was much easier for it to blend with the environment. Hera looked to the penguins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ice Lake Penguin - Level 12 (Ice affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ice Lake Penguin - Level 11 (Ice affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera put some of her mana into two needles and threw them at the monsters. She saw the projectile hitting their bodies, but the penguins didn''t seem to notice anything. On the other hand, Hera could see a difference. The poison mana was already inside the creatures, and not just that, but she could feel the poison spreading inside their bodies. It was much clearer than she expected, and the poison was spreading faster. Hera always felt like her spells were being absorbed by a sponge and only when she commanded the poison to search for their bloodstream that the mana would move in that direction. Now, the poison was moving on its own, almost like thousands of worms or snakes looking for the best way to spread on her target. The spell that Hera created wasn''t particularly powerful. She didn''t put that much mana on the needles, but in less than 30 seconds, the penguins were almost filled with poison. Wanting to see how powerfully her spell actually was, Hera just waited silently while watching the creatures. The monsters already seemed to be affected by the spell. They were sluggish and seemed to try to shake something off. Two minutes went by before they fell to the ground, too weak to move. Hera got up and walked to their bodies. Both penguins saw her coming and tried to move away, but they couldn''t even get up. Using her poison control spell, she commanded the poison to stop their hearts and clog the blood vessels going to their brains. It took only a couple of seconds for that to kill the creatures, and to Hera''s surprise. Her poison was expelled from the bodies after the monsters were dead. She tried to see if the monsters still had poison inside of them, but she couldn''t be sure. Wanting to get some answers, Hera pulled Yarnball from her waist and cut off some of the thread, using it to help her drag the corpse back to the outpost. The people who butcher the monsters should be able to tell her if there was poison on the corpses or not. 349 - Spirit Party Hera and the others were standing outside the outpost, looking at the road leading to the next room. "Everyone ready?" Alex asked. "Are you really asking that? We spent the last 30 minutes prepping and double checking if we had everything," Blue turned to the assassin. "Besides, we are just going to the city in the Forest of Dreams. It''s not that far away," Hera nodded. "Yeah, but last time we got surrounded by penguins," Alex rolled her eyes. "True, but what are the odd of¡­" before Blue could finish her sentence, both Alex and Hera covered her mouth. "Don''t fucking say another word. We know what you are going to say, but don''t tempt the MAZE like that," Alex stared at the controller. Leo chuckled, "I guess that''s something everyone does. There was a guy in my squad that got body-slammed before he finished speaking something similar. No one wanted to tempt fate." "Can you blame them?" Alex asked. "Not even a little." With that, the group started walking towards the doorway to the Forest of Dreams. They had bought a few supplies, but since the city in the next room was much better established, it was a better place to grab what they might need for their journey in the Wailing Valley. Hera was feeling particularly good today. After going to the guild with the corpses of the penguin during the previous day, she found out that her poison now would leave her target after they died. This meant that now she could still use poison and sell the monsters to the guild. She would have to let people know that she used poison before selling, and some parts of the monsters would be unusable, but at least, she could make some money out of it. Not that she needed the gold, but ever since she started focusing on poison, she felt troubled for completely destroying resources while she fought. She was also excited about her poison spells. They were not only much more powerful, but the [Naga Poison] skill seemed to have changed them on a more fundamental level. Before going to bed, she asked a few questions to Yarnball, trying to find out more, not just about that skill, but about others that could give similar effects. Unfortunately, all the five attempts she made, two of which happened today, resulted in an answer from the magic 8 ball version of Yarnball. The answers were similar to ''signs point to no,'' or ''try again next time.'' Hera had learned to identify when the mana she used for the question was wasted. When that happened, Yarnball vibrated slightly and the hologram of a die with several words on each face of the die. Hoping to evade any large group of penguins, they moved quickly through the road. The guild was still trying to figure out if there was any pattern to the monster''s movement, but they didn''t have any luck so far. This resulted in many groups encountering a flock of penguins and an increase in escort missions. However, since the outpost was still being properly set up and the guild''s attention was focused on the next room, there weren''t that many quests available that would let them get a bigger group before heading out. If they were going to wait for one of those, it would require them to wait for a couple of days until a new shipment of materials came around. There were a couple of penguins moving through the area, but despite Tiger staring them down, ready to fight, the monsters didn''t seem to mind the people on the road. Maybe they were getting used to the presence of humans, or perhaps they were less aggressive for some reason, but everything seemed fine here. It took them just under an hour to reach the doorway and cross over to the Forest of Dreams. Leo was already aware of the things they would find there and that there was a high possibility that he would see something worthy of his nightmares. He understood that, and that he might have to use a spell on Tiger to force him to obey his commands. It wasn''t something he enjoyed doing, but it was the only way to keep the frog focused on his task in certain situations. As they crossed the doorway, the group was greeted by that same forest that Hera had seen before. Trees with vibrant green leaves and beautiful flowers were all around them. Fireflies and specks of light floated around, giving a soft shimmer to the entire area. A light mist enveloped the woods making this place feel like something from a dream. The main difference was the lamp posts that now surrounded the road. Large metal rods with blue crystals on top. This was the new mechanism that the guild had set up to avoid the spirit''s attacks. Thanks to it, the mana each person had would be hidden from the sleep spirits that inhabited these woods. That was only the case if you were walking through the road, and even that still posed some risk. If someone had too many mana crystals of different elements or was having trouble keeping their mana inside their bodies, the spirits would attack. Without wasting time, the group started moving. Leo kept his hand on Tiger''s back to calm him down while they walked. Hera was looking around, ensuring that the weird suffocating monkey or the panther wendigo were not around. Those creatures were terrifying, and just remembering them already made her flinch. She didn''t find anything like that. However, what she saw was a small blue creature, about the size of an olive, floating around one of the lamp posts. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleep Sprite - Level 16 - Elemental Spirit (Sleep Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After confirming what the monster was, Hera watched it blend with the blue light coming from the lamp post and appear on the other side. The more she looked at it, the more confused she got. The sprite would vanish from the top and, in less than a second, was flying much lower in a path that didn''t make sense. She tried using her [Observe - Red Sight], but the sprites were the exact same color as the light emanating from the crystal. After they walked a few more meters, Hera understood that each lamp had several creatures flying around them, and the more she realized, the weirder things seemed. The sprites weren''t simply flying around. They seemed to be dancing with each other. A few were almost swimming around the crystals. It seemed like they were at a party. For a split second, Hera could''ve sworn that one of the sprites even had a cup on its hand. Feeling more and more weirded out about this. Hera decided to pick up the pace. Being around these partying creatures made her feel like she was near a college campus. Even if the monsters weren''t talking to her, she half expected one of them to come up while screaming, ''Dude.'' The rest of the group didn''t seem to be bothered by that. In fact, they didn''t even seem to notice the sprites flying around the lamp posts. Even Tiger seemed not to notice the monsters, which was good since the elemental spirits looked like small bugs at a glance. The frog might be much larger than before Leo went to the coalition, but a frog was still a frog. If he saw flies roaming around, there was a considerable chance that he would try to eat them. The group misunderstood Hera''s hurry and picked up the pace along with her. While she was mostly uncomfortable and worried about Tiger causing problems, everyone else assumed she had noticed something in the woods and tried to keep it cool so as not to attract their attention. Hera didn''t say a thing during their travel, and they managed to leave the forest without any issues. "Can you tell us now what did you see back there?" Leo asked. "Oh, yeah. The Sleep Sprites were kind of having parties near the lamp posts. It freaked me out. I don''t know why," Hera replied. "Wait, really? I thought it was something like a monster you saw in the woods. They were just having a party. Why is that an issue?" Blue scoffed. "I don''t know. I just felt weird in there. Sorry, I should have told you guys." "Well, you are more sensitive to mana than any of us. Maybe that had something to do with your reaction. That place should be filled with sleep mana, right?" Alex suggested. "Yeah, but I''m not sure if it was that or me just being weird," Hera replied. "Either way, we are out of the woods now. I mean literally," Leo pointed back to the forest, "We can hang out in the city and see what we are doing next. The other room is pretty close, right?" "Yeah, the doorway is just on the other side of the city. We can go there today if we want. Or, we can hang out here and see what''s all the rage about these spirits," Alex was staring back at the forest. "You are interested? Really? I didn''t see that one coming," Blue looked at Alex. "What? It''s interesting, and Shane''s explanation didn''t quite make things clear. Like when you make a contract, do you feel what the other feels? Since you are more emotional, can your personality change? Or would you find something funny that wasn''t before? Would that have any changes on your body, like more hormones or chemicals that give you an emotion? And what about the spirit, would they change? How would that work?" Alex seemed really excited about the idea. "Alex¡­ are you thinking about¡­." Hera didn''t want to finish that sentence in front of Blue and Leo. After all, she had no idea if Alex ever talked with them about her struggles. "I know where you are going, and no. That''s not the thing. I just think that having a connection like that could be interesting. That''s why I want to learn more." "Well, if that''s the case. They were setting up a research center for the spirits here, weren''t they? If any place is good to teach us more about that, it would be there. The building should be right by the city entrance. That big one with a blue Crystal on top," Hera pointed at what looked like a lighthouse right by the city gate. "I''m sure you just figured that out. It''s not like you also wanted to know about the spirits and already checked where the research center was, right?" Blue rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I''m just that good of an explorer," Hera joke. She, Bonnie, and Helena were interested in the spirits, and she had promised to get some reading materials for the two who stayed back in Boothudurn. Even if a sleep spirit wasn''t something she wanted to get, she wanted to know more about those creatures. But first, the group stopped by the hotel in the city to get some rooms. Leo had learned the hard way that this should always be the first thing to do when arriving in a new room. In one of his trainings with a battalion, they had to march for hours under the scorching heat of a desert until reaching the next room. When they got to the city in question, they had just a few minutes to report to one of the commanders of the coalition. Most people took that time to eat or refill their water bottles, and no one looked into hotels. When they returned for the training drill, all rooms were already taken, and the battalion had nowhere to stay. This was something set up by the trainers, who had reserved all the available rooms. It was a mean but effective way to drill the right procedures in the heads of the battalion. This room also had a small stable where Tiger could sleep more comfortably. They got their rooms and headed to the research center to learn more about the elemental spirits. 350 -Elemental Spirit Class The research center was in a weird spot in the city. Instead of being directly inside the walls protecting the building from monster attacks, it was outside, in a way. Right by the gates, there was another reinforced stone wall surrounding this tall lighthouse-looking structure with a large blue crystal on top that gave off the same light as the lamp posts. This structure was separated to avoid any issues if there was an accident during the research. If a spirit went on a rampage, or someone turned the elemental spirit into a demonic being, it would still be outside the city walls. Going around the entrance to the research center, which was on the opposite side of the gate, Hera and the others saw the entire building for the first time. Up close, they could see that it was more of a cathedral than a lighthouse. Yes, there was a tall tower with the crystal on top, but the base was a large rectangular structure that clearly showed the existence of several chambers inside, including what seemed to be a greenhouse on the side with round glass walls. The door to the entrance was open, and there was some movement inside. As they got close, a woman with pale skin and long black hair going all the way to her hips wearing a uniform very similar to the one the guild clerks wore approached them, "Hello. I''m Camila. Are you here for an appointment?" "Oh, hi Camila. We don''t have an appointment. We came here trying to learn more about the elemental spirits. Is there a library or something like that here?" Hera noticed the woman was hugging some books and a stack of paper. Camila scrambled to get one of the pieces of paper. It seemed like she was looking for something specific, but she had trouble finding it, "Aha! We do, but we also have a presentation teaching about spirits. We weren''t scheduled to do one yet since we are setting everything up, but if you guys don''t mind waiting for a while. I can get a classroom and teach you myself. I need to practice doing that thing anyway." "How long do we have to wait?" Blue asked. "Well, probably around half an hour or so. I can get your contact information and send you a text when I''m ready. I promise to call you today and before 5. I''m not going to ask you to come here in the middle of the night for a class. We have strict rules about how much we can work," Camila pulled another piece of paper before speaking, and she seemed bothered by that rule. "That''s great. I would love to see the class," Hera looked to the group, and everyone agreed to participate, "Can we stay in the library you mentioned?" "Yeah, sure. Hum¡­" Camila looked around, pointing to different doors and mumbling to herself, "OK, got it. The open library is over there, through the green door. Before that, we need to go to the reception desk and get you a visitor badge. We need that to keep track of who comes here." Camila led everyone to the reception desk and walked behind it. She started typing something on the computer and kept mumbling. This time, Hera tried to pay a bit of attention to what the woman was saying, "¡­ top left, go to new entry, then the drop-down look for visitor. It''s in alphabetical order, so it''s at the bottom." Hera held back a chuckle. When she started working after high school, she would do the same thing to remember how all the systems of the store worked. This was before working in the bookstore when she was in an office supply chain, and the owner always wanted to have the newest inventory system, which meant they were constantly changing procedures. Speaking the process out loud helped her to focus and remember each step. There was another person there in the same uniform, a tall, muscular woman who you could put some bodybuilders to shame. She didn''t interact with Hera and her friends, but the woman seemed particularly concerned about what Camila was doing. The woman had a clipboard with some paper on it, but she was just moving the pages without even looking at it. Her eyes constantly watching Camila work. "OK, so all I need is your guild cards, and I can add you to the system," Camila smiled at the group. They passed their cards along, and a few moments later, they were all set up. Hera thanked Camila, and the group went to the library behind the green door. It was much more like a bookstore than anything. There was even an automated register on the side. You could ring up the book yourself and then pay for it. The volumes inside were in a specific display as well. Some talked about the history of spirits, while others talked about the rooms where one could find those spirits and some theories about the conditions required for the existence of a spirit room, meaning a room where the elemental spirits would live in. Others would talk about specifc spirits and how they behaved, and there was only a single book about what happened when a spirit became overwhelmed by the contractor''s emotions. There was also the option to get a download code for the virtual version of these volumes. Hera decided to pick one of each of the books about elemental spirits that were on display and the download codes for herself. Bonnie and Helena were the types who liked to have the physical copy of every book, while Hera only did that to the books she really enjoyed. They spent about half an hour in that library/bookstore. Blue and Leo even got some books unrelated to the spirits. Hera started reading a title called ''how to train your spirit,'' which was a guide to making the connection you have with a spirit stronger, but that didn''t actually help to get a spirit partner. When the group was about to head out, Camila sent them a message letting everyone know to meet her in classroom 2. With a sigh, Blue led the way. She wasn''t that interested in taking a random class in the middle of a room that was all about sleep. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Inside the room, there were several desks and a large screen on the back. As well as a hologram projector that could be used depending on what one would want to show. Camila was already in the front of the class with a slide show on the screen, "Oh, you guys got here quickly." "We were still in the library. How long will this take? I''m kind of hungry," Alex asked. Camila went through her notes, "Well, the full class can take a few hours, but since we don''t have everything set up, I can do the short version. Maybe forget all the stuff about the sleep spirit behavior and focus more on the general information. Oh, and if you want, we can order some pizzas. Well, I mean, like if you guys are willing to share the price. I like working here, but I''m not going to pay to work here, you know." "You are already taking your time to do this. I''ll pay for the pizzas, but can we order? Or does it have to be you?" Hera asked. "No, no, no. I''ll pay my share. It''s not right for you to be the only one paying," Camilla shook her head. "Are you sure? It''s really not an issue at all. We just did a dungeon for the first time before we got here. I have the money," Hera said. "You know it''s not a good thing to tell people you have money, right? I know you are new to having money but keep that in mind," Leo said. "I mean, anyone who came this far would have around the 50 k we got from the dungeon, wouldn''t they?" Hera turned to Leo. "50k? That''s a lot," Camilla gasped. When the group stared at her, she cleared her throat," Well. I mean, if they saved for some months, yeah, but unless we do a dungeon, we won''t get a payout like that. Our pay here is about 10-15k a month, plus housing, which is great. I mean, it just sucks that everything here is so expensive. But I guess that''s how economics work, you know. If we had a source of income in the MAZE in the form of dungeons and made things the same price everywhere, it would be so easy to make the markets crash. I''m rambling, sorry. I''ll shut up now." "Don''t worry, but I have no idea if what you said made sense. Actually, I couldn''t understand half of it. You might want to slow down when you are teaching the class," Leo said. "I''ll keep that in mind. Sorry again." "It''s fine. What about the pizzas? Should you order?" Alex asked. "Anyone can order, just ask to deliver it in my name. Everyone orders food here so no one would bat an eye. As long as you are not in one of the areas where they worry about contamination," Camila explained. Blue quickly pulled up her tablet and ordered some food. While waiting, Camila started her presentation," OK, so let''s start with the basics. Elemental spirits are¡­ Well, monsters made out of elemental mana. It''s kind of in the name. Their elements define their entire beings. It''s not like a Water Nymph who is mostly made out of water mana, but its body is made out of water, not magic. Or a Flaming Salamander, which is like a lizard made of fire. The fire is still there, even if it''s using mana to burn. Elementals don''t have that other part. They are 100% mana, no medium, just magic," after speaking, Camila realized that the slide show was still on the first slide. She quickly changed that, showing a picture of the Water Nymph and the Flaming Salamander. A circle on each of the creature''s bodies showed a magnified part of their skin made out of a non-magical element. "Man. I really need to remember to show this at the right time," Camila sighed. "I mean, it''s your first time, and your explanation was good enough to let people understand, although the slides do help," Alex replied. "Thanks. Now let''s move on," Camila stopped and showed the next slide. The picture of one of those small olive-sized sprites was on display, "Now, this is what we have in this room. Sleep Sprites, creatures made out of sleep mana. This means that they can control well, sleep magic for one, but also things like nightmares, tiredness, recovery, and basically anything that has to do with sleep. We theorize that they might even be able to use some sort of psychosis¡­ wait, no. Not psychosis, what is it called again?" Camilla rummaged through some of her notes, "Depersonalization! Yeah, that''s it." "What''s that?" Blue asked. "So the definition is the feeling of being disconnected or detached from one''s self. From what I know, it is that feeling of just watching your body moving. Like you are not in control, and your body is just doing its own thing. Even if that sounds kind of interesting from a scientist''s point of view, it seems like it''s among the worst things possible to happen to you. I mean, it''s a given since this is also part of stage 4 of sleep deprivation. In that case, it means you''re a step away from just dying," Camila looked up from her notes and saw the grim expressions on the group, "Oh, that doesn''t mean that the sprites can kill you like that. Just because their spells can cause those symptoms, it doesn''t mean that they can force your body to get sleep deprived because of a spell. You would still have to stay the actual three to five days awake to actually be in danger. But as other elemental spirits proved, they can influence anything related to their own element. Like fire spirits who should be able to use lava spells. Well... That''s just a theory since we still don''t know where we can find fire spirits to study them. Maybe I should say water spirits that can control rain, but rain is just water, so that''s not a good example. Wood spirits that can make grass fields? Sort of. I mean, people call forests ''woods'' sometimes, so maybe we have a wrong understanding of what the wood element is¡­ Got it! The iron spirits! They are these armadillo-looking creatures that can control not just iron but most metals. That includes gold, silver, platinum, and even using heat, mass, or hardness type spells. Basically, as long as you can make a direct connection to their element, the sprites can use that type of spell. On the other hand, if they don''t have a connection, they cannot use that type of magic at all. Like, not even a little. That''s why you can, for instance, expect the Sleep Sprites to use something like a spell that takes away your drowsiness and improves your focus, but you can''t expect them to make water out of nowhere. Well, maybe if you have recurring nightmares about water, but even in those cases, they are mostly illusions, not actually tangible things." Even if they weren''t the ones talking, Camila spoke so fast that Hera and the rest had to take a deep breath after she finished speaking. "Hum¡­ Camila, I couldn''t understand most of what you said after ''they can''t kill you like that.'' Could your repeat that last part and speak a bit more slowly?" Hera asked. 351 - Understanding the spirits Camila had to redo the start of her class two more times. During her first retry, she went on a tangent about monsters that looked like elemental spirits but were not quite right that lasted for half an hour, everyone tried to ask her to stop or to let her know that she was going off, but Camila was in the zone and didn''t listen to any of their calls. Thankfully, the pizzas they ordered arrived, giving the group a chance to stop the clerk before she went even deeper in that rabbit hole. Her third and final attempt was better. Camila gave some pieces of paper to everyone with ''slow down'' and ''off topic'' written on them and asked the group to just raise them like signs every time she messed up. She also cast a light spell that would change colors every time one of the signs was raised. That way, she would notice when someone was trying to get her attention. With that preparation, the third attempt to explain why elemental spirits were different than other monsters was a success. In reality, the reason was much simpler than Hera expected. They were creatures made out of mana and only mana. "Ok, now I understand what those things are, but I''m still not sure how you make a contract. Do you have to actually make them sign something?" Alex asked. "No, no. We call it a contract, but it''s more of a bond. Once you are friendly enough with an elemental spirit, they might offer to share their mana with you. It''s a bit weird because even if we can''t communicate through language, you will know when they want to do that. I wish I could explain that better, but I can''t. That''s really all that there is to it. If they want to share their mana, you will know," Camila sighed. "Really? We don''t even get a skill or a message from the system saying something like ''you have acquired an elemental spirit partner?''" Blue turned to the temporary teacher. "Not when they want to share their mana. You do get a message like that when your bond is complete though, and a skill, and a way to keep track of your spirit. You see, even if you make a contract with one of them, it doesn''t mean they will follow you around. They will stay in their rooms and keep living their lives. But you can call them every now and then to help you. It''s also a good idea to visit them from time to time to keep a good relationship. We still don''t have a way to confirm that, but we believe that this might be one of the ways you can stop an elemental spirit from turning into a demonic one," Camila explained between bites of her pepperoni slice. "Right, but what exactly is a demonic spirit? Like why do they turn into that?" Hera asked. "This was supposed to come a bit later, but I can skip to that part," Camila turned around and flipped through a few slides stopping at one with a video showing two creatures. One looked like an anthropomorphic wave made out of clear blue water, with arms but no legs. That one was called Water Elemental. To the right, the second monster had some similar features, but the water was inky black, and there were several whirlpools in its form. Looking at it already gave an eerie feeling. It was almost as if you were staring at something that shouldn''t exist, but the worst part was its face. Unlike the Water Elemental, where it took some effort to discern where its eyes or mouth were located, this version had a perfect human face that was screaming in a mix of terror and rage, even showing some of the muscles and bones from a humanoid head beneath all that water. It wasn''t a normal structure either. The bones seemed to be cracked, and being constantly put back together, the muscles would rip and snap only to be bound once more by the force of the waves. The monster was called Water Demon. "Fuck me, that''s disturbing," Blue gasped. "You can say that again. It only makes it worse when you find out that the face it''s showing belongs to the person who made the contract with the Water Elemental," Camila stared at the picture. "Wait, are you telling me that the person who is bonded to is inside it?" Blue asked. "Sort of. You see, elemental spirits are more susceptible to our emotions. We believe it''s because we let out small bursts of mana depending on what we are feeling. It''s an unconscious thing, and we don''t control the type of mana. Mages have a bit of an advantage since they only have one type of mana, so if they find an elemental spirit that matches their element, the odds of having those issues are much much lower. " "OK... But what are they? Like, why are they like that? It''s just a psychological thing?" Alex turned to Camila. "No, the spirits become like that when they are forced to absorb mana that doesn''t match with their own. We believe that is something similar to an autoimmune disease. Well¡­ sort of. The reason the body is rejecting is fair, in this case, because the mana that the spirit has shouldn''t be there, and since their bodies can''t understand other types of mana, it goes into a frenzy trying to equalize everything. The process seems to be extremely painful and will drive the spirit mad with the pain. Because of the bond, that madness will seep to the person who is bonded to the spirit, and they will become more erratic and influenced by demonic power. That doesn''t mean that the person will die though. There are many cases where the people infected by the demonic power survive after the spirits die, but if they try to break the contract or kill the spirit themselves, it only gets worse. Even so, in some desperate situations, there are those who try to force their bonded spirit to become demonic." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Why would they do that?" Hera asked. She couldn''t understand the reason for hurting the spirit and themselves so much. "If you lean into the demonic power, you can become much stronger. You can force any spell to use the same type of mana that the spirit uses, and that causes some weird effects. You can make liquid fire using the demonic water, and I don''t mean just like igniting liquid, actual liquid fire. Think like magma, but without the molten rock. Your stats also get a boost based on your total mana, but it''s hard to keep your reason, and what''s worse, you become infectious. People around you are also affected by the heightened emotions, and if you get close to other elemental spirits or people who have made a contract, they can also become demonic. It''s like a virus, and we try to quarantine those who get like that as soon as we can. Also, a person who gives in to that power becomes little more than a monster," for the first time, Camila''s face became somber as if she was talking about some personal experience. There was a pause where everyone aside from Blue stopped eating. But after she asked for another slice, the tension was broken. Leo scratched his head, "I still don''t get it. It seems like too much of a risk just to have a contract with a spirit. Why would people be willing to go that far?" "You think so? Well, I guess not everyone thinks that the benefits are worth it," seeing the blank stares from the group, Camilla asked, "I talked about all the benefits, right?" "Not really. You said what the spirits can do by themselves but not what they can do with us," Hera replied. "Oh man, hang on," Camila went back in the slides, searching for a specific screen that had a small clip of a Mage casting a spell. First, he made a small wave on the ocean that would barely be enough to surf. Then a Water Elemental appeared beside him, and the small wave turned into a massive 15-meter tall wave that came crashing down on a cliff, breaking large chunks of rock away from the ground, "Here is the thing. Elemental spirits can power up your spells a lot, and they also can give you a secondary mana pool. That mana pool is limited to your own, and you can''t stack their mana with yours. So let''s say you have 100 maximum mana. The spirit will give you another 100 to spend. This means you can cast 2 spells that require 100 mana instead of just one, but you can''t cast a spell that costs 101 mana. You add that with the fact that spirits recover mana much faster than we do, and you can keep some powerful spells up for a long time." "That''s it? Just an extra mana pool?" Alex seemed a bit down with that information. "Of course not! The spells you case through the spirit are also at least twice as powerful, and they can help you make more spells of that element and improve the ones you have. Take that light spell that I cast earlier. It takes 50 mana per second to keep it up, and it''s an intermediate-level spell. With an elemental spirit that could help me with it, the spell could be cheaper to maintain, or the spirit could even show me how to improve it to an advanced level and beyond. They could also show me how to create something new based on it or anything else. It''s like having access to a teacher willing to show you how to use an element properly. After a while, you also get elemental mastery skills that make your spells of that element so much stronger. There is even the possibility of letting the spirit possess your equipment so it can act independently while you fight." "Really? Can it even move around? Like, if I put it on a shield, can it protect me while both my hands are busy?" Hera''s eyes were sparkling. A long time ago, she thought about the idea of having her chakram flying around her and attacking her enemies, but she would have to spend too much mana to do that. If she made a contract with a spirit, she would be able to keep a weapon sidekick by her side. "Yeah. You get a bit limited to what they can do if you ask them to stay in some equipment, though. I''m not sure what are the actual details since there is a lot of variations. From what I can tell, it''s like, reduced amount of spells that they can use and make them less flexible in the range of things they can do, but still," Camila explained. "That does sound really good," Alex nodded, "How do we make a contract? Is there any requirements, or is it like befriending a stray cat?" "C''mon, it''s not going to be that simple," Leo scoffed. "Actually, that works. Using spells from their element also helps, and having part of your mana matching their element is a plus. If you can understand how the spirits behave, it''s even better. Because it varies from spirit to spirit, although each element follows the same trend, more or less. Like water spirits are more flexible and don''t like being stuck in the same place, while iron spirits are not that active, so to befriend them, you just have to chill out near one of them," Camila explained. "How about the sleep spirits? Do you know what they like?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. That''s one of the reasons we made this research center. In fact, if you guys want to help, there is something you can do. We have a quest up for anyone who can do a dungeon and give us a report." "Which dungeon?" Blue perked up. "There is one called ''A Spirit''s Plea,'' and it''s a weird one. You will be helping the spirits deal with some issues they had with something. The dungeon is weird since it changes every time you go, even if the rewards don''t, and you get the first-time completion just once. But essentially, you will be helping the spirits protect the forest." "OK, that''s the first thing you said that got me excited. Protecting a forest means we will be punching stuff, right?" Blue jumped up from her seat. "Well, yeah, there are other ways to go about it, but you can just punch things," Camila shrugged. "Then let''s go!" Blue started walking towards the exit. "Sorry about her. Studying is not her forte," Hera turned to Camila. "That''s OK. I know I have to work on teaching this class, and you guys helped a lot, not to mention the pizza. Here, let me at least show you where the dungeon is located." 352 - A spirits plea "So, now we go to the left, right?" Blue asked. "I think we go left, not right?" Alex replied. "So, right?" "No, left." "Left?" "Right." "Right?" "No, left." "Didn''t you say right?" "Sweet fuck, can you two stop. I feel like I''m having a stroke," Leo gasped. "We are just trying to figure out where to go," Blue shrugged. "Can you not do it while acting like a bad comedy movie?" Leo rolled his eyes. "It wasn''t that bad, was it?" Alex asked. "Let''s not talk about that," Hera patted the assassin''s shoulder, "We need to head there. Towards that tree with glowing blue veins. At least, that''s where the directions tell us to go." "What tree? I''m not seeing any tree like that," Blue looked around. "Here, look to the left, between those two large trees with a rock in the middle. Do you see a brighter shade of blue?" "I think so. It''s kind of hard, tough. Everything is blue," the controller sighed. "It is. Do you think this helps the spirits make us feel sleepy? I mean, it''s a calming shade," Leo looked around. "That actually makes a lot of sense. People use similar shades in mental hospitals, don''t they? It''s supposed to have a calming effect, I think," Alex nodded. With Hera taking the lead, the group kept moving towards the dungeon. According to Camila, and the people in the guild, the ''Spirit''s Plea'' dungeon was very combat-oriented, but at the same time, didn''t require you to kill anything. Inside, they would have to push away invaders from the forest, and depending on what they did, the sprites even could give them buffs to help. However, no one could tell exactly what would happen inside. More than twenty parties had challenged it, and all of them had different objectives and circumstances. The monsters changed, the layout of the forest changed. In one case, there was even a mirror version of the forest upside down in place of the sky, and the party had to enter a gigantic trunk to reach that area. It didn''t take long for them to reach the entrance of the dungeon. After finding the tree with blue veins, they had to head west for a few minutes until they reached a pair of identical trees that were connected by a web of branches on the side that was so thick not even light could pierce through it. When touching said branches, the dungeon notification would pop out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you want to enter the Spirit''s Plea dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Everyone ready?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I''m itching to do something with my spear," Leo nodded as Tiger squeaked in agreement. "Dude, you have to think before speaking. That one sounds really bad," Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh, that was nothing. You should see the other guys in the battalion," Leo snickered. "I don''t even want to think about that. I''m sure it was worse than a frat house," Blue sighed, "Should we go in?" "Yeah, before Leo regresses to someone who says everything is ''lit,''" Hera chuckled. "Hey! I would never say that," Leo gasped before they all pressed yes in the notification. The branches opened a passage, and the group walked through. They crossed a tunnel that seemed to be a part inside a tree and emerged on the other side. At a glance, the forest was already very different from what it was outside. Instead of that uniform, vibrant colors, now the trees, ground, and grass seemed almost colorless compared to the leaves of the trees, which were such a verdant color that it almost hurt the eyes to look at. Everything also seemed much taller than before, and the trees didn''t have any branches in the middle of their trunks. It was only when reaching the top that a set of branches would appear and create the same spiderweb-like structure from the dungeon entrance, forming a canopy that even blocked some of the light coming from the night sky. That wasn''t all. The greenery would also get up almost a full meter before blooming in the green blades of grass. Completing the picture, a small but thick layer of fog covered the ground that stopped anyone from looking at the soil. Everything gave off the feeling of a dream, more so than the forest outside the dungeon. "This is amazing!" Alex gasped Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Kind of. I don''t like not being able to see where I''m stepping," Blue tried to use Stormcloud to push the fog aside, but the mist was too peaceful to be affected by the legacy. "Guys, look there," Hera pointed to the side where a couple of humanoid creatures appeared. They were completely blue, and you barely could tell where their eyes were. Every part of their bodies glowed in soft light. However, the weirdest part was that each of them seemed to be the size of a watermelon. Wanting to confirm if these were a different species, Hera triggered her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleep Sprite - Level 16 - Elemental Spirit (Sleep Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, shit," Hera gasped. "What''s wrong?" Alex didn''t take her eyes out of the sprites. "They have the same name as the ones we saw outside." "So?" Blue asked. "So, this means that either there are sprites that size outside or that we are much smaller now." "Oh¡­ I don''t know what''s worse," Leo looked around, already getting ready to attack in case something jumped from the trees. Tiger, on the other hand, didn''t seem to be bothered by the situation. It wasn''t that long since the frog was much smaller than everyone else. In a weird way, he was used to seeing everything from this angle. The two sprites got closer, one of them pointed to the group, and images of a third sprite appeared. The spirit was hiding inside something that looked like a giant birdhouse, and outside it, a few large creatures were moving around. Whatever they were, they were biped and had large mouths covered in the same type of bluish-gray fur as the rest of their bodies. In the vision, one of them opened its maw almost like a snake, becoming at least 50 centimeters taller while it yawned. The image shifted to another one who seemed to be feasting on something. Large blood sprays gushing out and painting the trees. More flashes came, showing a path that would let them reach that birdhouse. When the spirit pulled back its finger, everyone understood what they had to do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the dungeon quest Trapped Sprite. One of the Sleep Sprites is being chased by a group of hunters. Rescue the sprite and return it to its brethren. First time rewards: 60 000 gold, Token of appreciation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Did anyone else notice how big those things seem to be?" Blue asked after she snapped out of the visions. "Yeah, they seem to be bigger than us. Not like a certain snake, but maybe around 2 or 3 meters tall?" Alex replied "I have no idea how tall they are, but we should be careful. Did you see their hands? They have massive claws, and it looks like the entire hand is made out o keratin," Leo nodded. "Really?" Hera asked. She didn''t notice that detail in the vision. "Yeah, their hands seem stiff, almost like a rhino''s horn," Blue nodded. "I only noticed how much they could open their mouths. One of those things grew by half a meter just by yawning," Hera scratched the back of her head. "So giant, biped, fury, snakes with monster claws. Great," Alex rolled her eyes. "I mean, things here should be at most level 17, right? They shouldn''t be that dangerous. We still need to be careful, and if push comes to shove, we can just run away and give up," Hera said. "True. Let''s first see what we are fighting before freaking out," Leo started walking towards the path revealed by the visions. Hera looked back at the sprites, but they were gone. It seemed like this dungeon was among the straightforward ones. No issues to find the quest or anything like that. Just enter, kill some things and rescue the sprite. According to Leo, most dungeons were like that, just go in, kill something and leave. Helping people make a doorway or a wedding was among the rare types that ended up attracting more people in lower layers, but fewer the deeper you get inside the MAZE. After all, high-level explorers tended to care more about strength, and having to deal with something that wouldn''t help them train wasn''t high in their list of priorities. So, unless the rewards were good or the dungeon gave some particular insight into what the explorers did, they wouldn''t even bother trying it. The group kept moving through the forest while trying to make as little noise as possible. Whatever those creatures were, they seemed dangerous, and the group didn''t have any information about them aside from their appearance. After a couple of minutes, they started hearing some scraping sounds from the north. Everyone got lower, trying to hide within the fog and the tall leaves of grass. Mixing with the grass wasn''t that much of an issue for everyone aside from Tiger, who was too big to stay beneath them even if he tried to lie down in the ground. "Hera, let''s head in first. I think we are the best to stay hidden," Alex whispered through their comms. "Ok, take the right. I''ll take the left," Hera replied. Leo saw the two moving, but he didn''t say anything despite not hearing anything. The movements of the two women were so in sync that it felt like something they had agreed to do before, like one of the combat tactics that the hunter used to see in the coalition. Moving as quietly as possible, Hera approached the noise. After a few meters, she noticed the source of the sound. It was one of the monsters, a large, almost ape-like creature with large muscular arms that ended in sharp solid claws. It had eyes like a frog atop the head of a wolf, but instead of a snout, there was a hooked beak. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream Invader - Level 15 (Strength affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s level 15," Hera whispered through the comms. "Where is it going?" Alex asked. "To our left, but it keeps looking around. I''m not sure if a sneak attack would work." "Only one way to find out," Alex moved towards the monster, getting ready to strike with her sheathed blade. With all her buffs and skills, the first strike should be enough to cripple the monster, if not outright kill it. Hera was worried about the monster having good senses and followed along, trying to keep her distance just in case she ended up tripping or making noise by mistake. It was hard to walk here since they couldn''t see the floor. Even the monster seemed to have some issues and would occasionally step into some loose branches or dried leaves. Alex moved without making a sound. Her hide skill was already rank five, and adding to a spell that she had, it was almost impossible for Hera to notice where she was after she activated everything. Before the assassin could reach the creature, it started looking around and smelling the air. Alex got worried that the monster might notice their smell and jumped to attack. However, the odd look of the forest messed with her depth perception, and in reality, the invader was considerably farther away than she had calculated. The beast managed to jump back and avoid the attack altogether. Hera knew that this meant that Alex would currently have a debuff for being seen and jumped out of her hiding, firing a poison needle at the creature. The invader avoided the projectile and jumped at Alex with both its claws out. Seeing that her friend wouldn''t be able to evade the attack, Hera jumped at the monster, trying to block its claws. A few meters behind, Leo and Blue, were startled by a loud scream coming from beyond their view. 353 - Assessing the situation Blue, Leo, and Tiger were running towards the scream they had just heard. They couldn''t tell if that voice came from Hera or from Alex, but it didn''t sound like they were celebrating something. They moved quickly through the woods, hearing more loud noises and grunts. When they arrived, the Dream Invader was attacking someone, but they were moving so fast through the trees that they couldn''t tell who was fighting against it. Leo pointed at the monster, and Tiger dashed towards it, slamming its body against the creature''s back. Not wanting to give it any breathing room, Leo pulled his spear and charged at the invader as well. His spear pierced the shoulder of the monster as it shrieked. Before, it could make more noise. A pair of hands clasped around the creature''s beak. Blue went after Leo, but she stepped on something that yelped and had to stop and look down. Laying on the floor, the controller saw Hera holding her sides. There was some blood around her armor, and it seemed like the explorer was in really bad shape. "Are you OK? What happened?" Blue kneeled by her friend''s side. "Hurts like a bitch," Hera replied while grinding her teeth. She was trying to use the healing spells to close her wounds. When the monster was about to attack Alex, Hera managed to block one of the claws. However, by doing so, the creature spun, and the second claw slammed against her armor before falling on top of her. Luckily, it wasn''t enough to make a deep wound, but even so, the two longest tips of the claw broke through her armor. The blood was coming from that area, and, though Hera was sure there would be a massive bruise on her side, she didn''t feel like anything was broken or that the claws hit any organs. It was mostly a flesh wound that ended up bleeding more than it should due to the monster''s weight. Alex also took the creature away from Hera in just a moment, giving the explorer time to rest. "Here, drink this," Blue shoved a small vial with red liquid inside in Hera''s mouth. Anyone in the MAZE would recognize that in an instant. It was a health potion. Those things were moderately expensive and could only be used if the wound was fresh since they worked much like a battle heal. The potion would use the residual mana from the attack to help it heal the wound. The main difference was that the potions already had some magic inside them, so the effect was better than most healing spells that people would randomly pick up. The drawback was the fixed amount of mana and the lack of control over where the healing would be applied. If you have other wounds, even old ones, the base healing of the potion would try to fix everything. "Thanks," Hera replied after downing it in a single gulp, "Ugh. This tastes like shit." "Well, good medicine is supposed to be bitter," Blue put out her hand to help her friend up. Leo, Alex, and Tiger were relentlessly attacking the monster. Alex was focusing on keeping the monster''s mouth shut so it couldn''t make more noise than what they were already making. When the creature rose one arm towards the assassin, Tiger launched his tongue to hold the monster''s arm in place. Alex jumped up and pushed the invader''s arm against its body with both her feet without letting go of the beak. Leo did a rapid stab on the monster''s back, trying to hit its spine to cripple it. However, it didn''t matter how much he stabbed. His spear didn''t find any type of bone or hard material. It was almost like this creature was made of only fur, muscle, and fat. Despite that, Leo didn''t let up. He kept stabbing, opening more and more holes on the back of the invader. The monster tried to push its assailants away, but it couldn''t free itself. Tiger''s tongue strength was overpowering, and the way Alex was levering her body made it hard to move its arm. Adding that to the wounds on its back that messed with the muscles it would need to use to raise its arm, and the invader didn''t have enough force to get free. Alex pulled one of her daggers and, in a quick motion, stabbed the creature right between the eyes. With a heavy thud, the monster toppled over to the ground, motionless. Both Leo and Alex were used to making sure a creature was truly dead, and they continued attacking for a few seconds. Only after the invader''s body dissolved into the ground leaving only a few gold coins behind that they stopped their assault. Seeing that, Alex dashed back towards Hera, who was by Blue''s side checking her wounds, "Are you OK?" Hera turned to Alex, "Yeah, how about you? Did you get hit?" Alex shook her head, "I''m fine. Why did you jump in like that?" "Because you were in a bad spot, and I know you have the debuff when you get seen," Hera replied. "So? I messed up. You didn''t have to do that," Alex gasped. "I know I didn''t have to, but no offense, but my armor is much better than yours. I mean, yours is just leather. Mine is made out of metal. If those claws hit you as that thing wanted, I''m sure you would be in much worse shape than I am right now," Hera rolled her eyes. Alex started to protest again, but her complaints were quickly shut down. Even if they were going to have that discussion, this wasn''t the time nor the place to do so. Hera kept going with her healing spell while they quickly talked about the fight against the Dream Invader. It was hard to give any useful feedback, but there was a possibility that they would be weak against magic. Or at least, poison. Since the creature tried to evade the attack. Usually, when something was resistant to something, they wouldn''t even bother dodging the attack. That being said, this was only the case for mindless beasts. If they were smarter, it would be possible that they were dodging the attacks exactly to deceive their opponents. While the group talked about the monsters, Hera took the chance to check her [Hunter''s Catalogue] to see if there was any information that could be useful. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter''s catalogue Dream Invader¨C Level range: 15 Caniform ¨C Strength affinity Bonus effects: 1% A bear-like creature with a hooked beak and hardened, immovable claws. The Invader hunts the Sleep Sprites or any other creature in the forest to eat it. They are capable of even turning the illusions created by the sprites into reality, as long as they are ready to feast on their flesh. The Dream Invaders don''t have a bone structure and are beings made only of flesh and magic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So¡­ apparently they don''t have bones, and they can make the nightmares that the sprites create become real but only to use them as food," Hera said. "How do you know all that?" Blue turned to her. "My version of the hunter skill. It tells me what I already found out about the monsters and gives some insights that I might not have been able to figure out." "Oh right. I can check mine too," Leo stopped for a moment and opened his own catalogue. From what Hera could tell, that part of her skill was the same as the one hunters had. There wouldn''t be any glaring differences in the information available when she knew as much about the monster as Leo did. This was confirmed as he talked about what his catalogue had to say. Aside from some extra information about how it felt to attack them and how the spear pierced through them, everything was the same, just explained in a different way. "The plan is to attack with spells then?" Blue asked. "Yeah, or magical attacks. Things are starting to get more specialized now. It would be great if we found another monster on its own, and I think we should all attack it at once. That way, Alex might even get her sneak attack off more easily," Leo nodded. "OK, then. Let''s get going. I still haven''t punched anything," Blue took the lead this time, and they kept going towards the area they had seen. It didn''t take long for another Dream Invader to appear. This one was already looking in the direction of the group, which meant that it saw them at the same time they saw it. Blue dashed towards it at the same time the monster started running at them. Using her clouds as a footing, Blue jumped over the monster and delivered a charged electric punch to the back of its head. The monster fell to the ground, flailing around because of the electricity. Its claws were destroying some of the surrounding trees, making it impossible for anyone to get too close. Hera and Alex took the chance to cast their spells aimed at the beast. Wind blades and poison needles flew towards it, repeatedly impacting. Feeling that the poison took hold, Hera activated her poison control to make the ailment even more deadly, but there was barely any effect. It was weird since she could feel the poison spreading and clogging up some parts of the monster''s body, but it was still moving without any issues. Suddenly, the invader jumped up a few meters off the ground and grabbed on to a tree, pulling itself and using the trunk as leverage to spin around. Its feet also had claws, but unlike the hands that were completely solid, the feet seemed more malleable. Each nail was individual, and the monster could move it at will, even changing the sides where the claws were pointing. Watching that was almost like seeing someone bend their fingers backward and make them touch their wrists. Hera created a stone wall in front of the monster, hoping that it would disrupt the creature''s movements. Unfortunately, that didn''t work. The Dream Invader was so nimble that it easily jumped over the wall, even using it as a foothold to jump behind Leo. As the creature was about to strike, Tiger head-butted the monster with all its strength. Even after the impact, the frog didn''t change trajectory. Its legs were strong enough not just to push the invader away but also to keep going and slam it against one of the nearby trees. With a roar, the monster brought down its claws on Tiger''s back while it was being pushed towards the tree. The frog kept pressing the invader against the tree, pinning it down and letting out a loud squeak that disoriented the creature, that was just in time to make the invader lose some of the strength on its arms, making the claw only draw blood from Tiger instead of something much worse. Hera and the others were also affected by the sound. Leo was the only one who didn''t feel the effects. He dashed after his pet, surrounding his spear with fire, and pierced the monster''s head. Both the tree and the creature quickly started to burn, the smell of burnt hair spreading through the entire area. However, the strike quickly killed the monster, and Leo began to tend to the frog''s wounds. Hera was holding back in using her fire spells because she was terrified about the idea of causing a forest fire in the middle of this dungeon. Luckily, the fog on the ground made the area too damp to allow the tree to burn just with a strike like that. With a sigh of relief, Hera went to help Leo. Her healing spells could be very weak, but it was better than nothing. "How is he?" Hera asked. "Hurt, but it didn''t get too deep. If I didn''t use my loyalty skill, I''m not sure he would''ve kept going with the monster. I should''ve trusted him," Leo was also using a healing spell. He had learned a lot of ways to help his pet, but they could only be used on his pet. Such a harsh drawback meant that the buffs and heals he could use were much more powerful than expected. Seeing the difference of power between spells, Hera stopped wasting mana and just tried to calm Tiger by petting its head. "You know¡­ I think we need a better plan to deal with those things," Blue sighed. "Yeah. Like it''s one thing to get a bit hurt if they are many, but we''ve been getting hit when it''s five versus one, and it''s not just by stray punches or something. Those attacks could''ve done some serious damage," Alex nodded. "We might need to approach this in a different way. Maybe making a trap or using something to scare them," Leo suggested. "Say, Hera? Doesn''t your relic let you cut some of the strings?" Alex turned to the explorer. "Yeah. What do you have in mind?" "Remember that old movie with the kid that gets left at home during the holidays and some thieves try to go inside?" Hera smiled, "I think I know where you are getting at." 354 - Trapped Alex managed to get the attention of two Dream Invaders and started running back to the group. She zig-zagged through the woods, trying to confuse her enemies but not moving fast enough to lose them. After all, the whole point was to lead them to a specific place and not just lure them away from their starting location. Without stopping, Alex turned left, then right. She followed the markings she had left in the trees until she reached one with a large X on the side. This meant that the surprise they had set up was right in front of her. Alex vaulted over something hidden by the mist and kept running. The invaders were right behind her, but they didn''t even consider jumping over the same spot since it wouldn''t help them catch their prey. When they crossed the area that Alex jumped over, they hit the strings that Hera had set up. She took about 5 meters worth of string and wrapped it around two of the trees, creating a tripwire coated in poison mana. The first monster fell to the ground and was met by an electrified storm cloud hidden in the mist in front of the trap. The second tried to jump away, but his feet got caught in the wire nonetheless. The monster jumped to the side and kept running after Alex, but Leo and Hera were waiting. They attacked the creature, emerging from the grass. Both of them used fire-based spells to burn the invader. Unlike the trees that would take a lot of time and effort to burn, the beast''s fur was much easier to combust. With their combined attacks, the monster started to flail around, attacking blindly anything that it could, while the first one was still struggling with Hera''s poison and the electricity coursing through the heavy cloud. Seeing that, Alex spun around and pulled her dagger, activating the scabbard and letting a wind blade come out of her weapon. Her movement was similar to something called a quick draw, a sword technique that originated in Japan. Without realizing it, that movement was enough to grant her a skill that made the spell become even stronger. The blade of green wind came out of her dagger with a different glow. Looking at it was just like looking at something made out of pure jade. With a roar, the invader tried to brace itself for the attack, putting both of its hands up as if it was boxing. However, that wasn''t enough. The new and improved wind blade managed to sink deep into the monster''s forearms. It wasn''t enough to cut the hands-off, but it was more than enough to make it unable to use its arms to attack. Seeing that, Leo used his spear, engulfing it in flames once more, and pierced the monster''s head. Hera broke off from that fight and went straight towards the invader on the ground. Raising her handaxe and slamming it where the neck of the creature should be. If it wasn''t for her poison spell, she would have had some trouble finding the beast, but thanks to her perception of her own poison, she could sense where the monster was located. Even with that, it took a while for the invader to be killed. Hera couldn''t finish it off in a single blow, and her handaxe was covered in fire mana. She had to almost saw the creature''s neck off. Its fur was so thick that it cushioned the impact of her handaxe. If it wasn''t for Blue''s thundercloud constantly paralyzing the monster, the invader would have more than enough time to get up and fight back. After killing that monster, Hera felt her poison disappear and told Blue to drop the spell. It was complicated to find the drop in the middle of the mist, but with some help, they managed to find the gold coins. When Alex grabbed the first drops, Hera thought it wouldn''t be worth picking the coins. However, she quickly changed her mind when she saw how much each of them was worth. A single gold coin dropped by the invaders was worth 350 gold. That could seem small considering Hera''s savings, but the value was ridiculous compared to what she used to earn before becoming an explorer. Just the four creatures they killed here were worth more than a full month of pay in her old life. "I guess the trap worked," Alex looked around, checking if there were any other creatures around. "Not just the trap. That wind blade was awesome. How did you do that?" Hera asked. "Oh¡­ I don''t know. Well, I know why it happened just not how," Alex scratched her chin with one finger. "You''re rambling. What''s the matter?" Blue turned to the assassin. "It feels weird. When I was about to attack, I got a skill called Iaijustsu. It''s a style of combat that focuses on the fast draw of a sword. I read about it a while back but only after getting the scabbard is it that I actually tried to make it work." "Why is that weird?" Leo asked. "Because it''s too easy. I got the scabbard. What? Yesterday? And already got a skill with just a few hours of training," Alex shrugged. "So? You got lucky, or you have a talent for the thing. Don''t worry about it and just enjoy," Blue rolled her eyes. "But getting a skill like that shouldn''t be easy. I mean, Iaijustsu, it''s a full fighting style. How can I learn it just by doing one thing?" "Every skill starts somewhere. You figured out the first step. The skill will probably only rank up as you learn more things about it," Hera said. "I guess¡­ It still doesn''t feel right," Alex sighed. "Either way, we figured out two things. First, traps work. Second, magic seems to be better against them than physical attacks," Leo explained. "Third, attacks with magic work, like your fire thing, but just a basic reinforcement won''t do much," Hera added. "I think that''s because reinforcement just increases the natural strength of the weapons. It doesn''t give it an elemental attack," Leo said. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Really?" Hera turned to the hunter. "Yeah. Or at least, that''s what people told me." "¡­ I guess I need to make some new spells then," Hera was staring at her handaxe. Creating the mana reinforcement was a lot of work. If she wanted to make something new, she hoped to be able to use the same structure as a base. They kept going deeper into the forest. According to the visions, they shouldn''t be far away from the location of the sprite. After about 100 meters, the forest started to open up, revealing some structures that were built on the side of a hill. Interestingly enough, this area didn''t have the same type of mist as the forest did. The buildings were almost stacked on top of each other, following the incline of the hill. Everyone knew that this place was where the sprite was. However, they didn''t have any clues as to where they would find it in the middle of that settlement. The only thing that Hera had to go off was that the house in question reminded her of a birdhouse. Unfortunately, all the structures looked like birdhouses. Large structures with a small round entrance a few meters above the ground, with a staircase that would allow one to reach the entrance. "Sooo¡­. Do we just search all of the houses?" Blue asked. "I guess so. Unless someone has a better idea," Leo sighed. "I might be able to see the sprite using my sensory net," Hera replied after thinking for a moment. "What''s that?" Leo was double-checking Tiger''s wounds. "It''s like an upgrade for my pulse. This version can wrap around walls and stuff instead of wasting the mana to pass through them," Hera explained. "Huh, neat." The group started searching. Each house was very simple, a living room, a kitchen on the first floor, and a bedroom on the lower floor. They didn''t even have a bathroom. Hera started using her spell to search through a larger area, but after using the spell for a second time, she had a better idea. Pulling Yarnball, she put two thousand mana into her relic and asked, "Where is the trapped sprite?" As a response, the small hologram with the face of a die appeared with the reply ''Better not tell you now.'' With a sigh, Hera continued using her spell to help the search. Forty minutes passed, and they were only able to check one side of the settlement. There were too many buildings around, meaning that a significant number of people should have lived here. Unfortunately, there weren''t any identification marks in the area. All houses were the same, and even the furniture was nondescript. That is until Blue found a painting in one of the bigger houses. "Hera, come over here," the controller called. "Did you find the sprite?" Hera walked inside the house. "No, but I found something. Come down here," Blue''s voice came from the bedroom on the lower floor. Hera walked over, and unlike all the other houses, someone had painted a mural in this place. It was the picture of a city inside a mountain, a city with many houses, a small orchard under an opening on the cave''s ceiling. The people who were depicted there all seemed too short, almost dwarf-like. Among the crowd, Hera noticed a couple of guards walking around with a familiar black armor. "Are those¡­ the guards from Kul Dorul? That''s the same armor, right? The same one that the guard was using during the hard mode," Hera turned to Blue. "I think so. I called you here exactly because of that. Do you think this is where the survivors from Kul Dorul came after the city went to crap? I mean, Finlay talked about how they wouldn''t risk crossing the forest, right?" "They did, and let''s face it. These houses look like the work of an architect who only makes concept houses, not actually usable ones," Hera looked around. Things didn''t make much sense In these structures. The kitchen was right above the bed, and the wooden floors had some gaps. Anything that fell to the ground in the kitchen had a chance of falling down here. Not to mention that the ventilation was terrible. Upstairs it was comfortable and breezy. Down here felt like being stuck in a damp basement filled with still air. Not to mention the horrible job on the spiral staircase. Hera was sure that even a dwarf would have to lower their head to climb down. After sharing their findings with Alex and Leo, the group continued their search. When they started to move to the other side of the settlement, they found a few Dream Invaders searching for something. Hiding from the creatures, the group pushed through, with Hera using her sensory net constantly to search the inside of the buildings. She was starting to get frustrated and decided to spread a massive net around most of the houses by using the mana from her earrings. This was enough to cover the entire north side of the settlement. Hera could tell that eight invaders were searching for something, and she found the sprite''s location. It was hiding under a bed four streets down and five houses to their left. However, since most of the creatures were around that area, she was worried that going there would only attract the beasts. Instead, it would be better if they killed them off before getting to the sprite. Her plan was to use someone as bait to lure one of the invaders to a house for an ambush. After ironing out the details, everyone agreed to the plan. Hera still had the string that she used for her tripwire trap previously and would reuse it to set up more traps, and, since she was the stealthiest of the group, Alex would be the bait. Hera, Leo, Tiger, and Blue all hid inside the living room of one of the houses. Hera and Leo would be right by the door with the tripwire on the floor. Blue would be towards the kitchen, hidden with Tiger and ready to use a cloud to paralyze the creature again. Alex let them know that she had found a target and ran towards the house. The invader was right behind her, moving much faster than the ones in the forest. Alex dodged a couple of attacks before reaching the staircase and jumping over the trap. The monster came just a few seconds after Alex had entered and tripped in the string Hera had set up. Leo went straight for the monster''s head with his spear, but the creature dodged to the side. Blue was late to cast the cloud, and when it started to form, the invader jumped up, only its feet being hit by the cloud, which wasn''t enough to paralyze it. Hera and Alex both used their wind blades, although Alex''s was much stronger thanks to her skills and items. Large gashes appeared on the Dream Invader''s arms. Leo pulled his spear, and flames started to swirl around the tip of his weapon. Tiger grabbed the monster with its tongue as it was about to strike, holding the invader in place. The creature tried to move, but when it realized it couldn''t evade the strike, it let out a loud screech that echoed through the city. What followed was a flaming spear impaling the beast''s head and making it stop its cries. However, it was too late. Just as the invader fell to the ground and started to dissolve, several screeches roared throughout the city in response to the first one. The group glanced at each other and got ready to fight. If they ran, they would have to deal with the creatures coming from all sides, if they stayed, this place would become a kill box, and there was no way to tell who would be the one dying. Whatever their decision would be, it would have to be made fast. By the sound of heavy steps, the monsters were already closing in. 355 - Rescue Mission "It''s better if we stay. Blue put up a cloud outside but don''t block the entrance for us, but block the sides so they can''t see what''s going on. Do it just on the stairs and make something that will hurt. I''ll make a flaming poison rain right in the door to make sure everyone who comes in gets hit. The tripwire is still on the floor, so be careful," Hera gave orders before anyone could even realize, and her voice carried in a unique way. It wasn''t like she was just talking, but the voice seemed to arrive directly inside their minds. She noticed the hesitation in the group when the invaders screeched and jumped into action. This surprised everyone, including herself, but at the moment, no one would stop to talk about it. Blue poked her head out and followed Hera''s instructions. She made a large cloud covering the front of the house but leaving a considerable hole directly in front of the entrance. That way everyone could see the monsters coming when they climbed up the stairs. While making the cloud, she could see one of the Dream Invaders already heading her way. Not wanting to be the first one to get hit, Blue jumped back inside, leaving Sunny, her cloud griffon behind. Thanks to Stormcloud''s connection, the griffon could now perform some tasks and even create clouds according to the controller''s instruction. It''s been a while since Blue wanted to test that out on a tense situation, and at this moment, it felt better than letting the invaders attack her while she was alone. Even better, Sunny could jump inside the cloud without being hurt by it, so it already had a perfect place to hide and vanish after its job was done. As soon as Blue jumped back inside, Hera created the flaming poison rain outside right above the door. She considered putting it sideways to pepper whatever tried to come inside, but if things went south and they had to run away, this could cause problems, and the spell would give the monsters some cover which wasn''t an option. Not wanting to stop there, Hera also followed it up with a spore field to make them start to sneeze if those creatures could even be affected by that type of thing. For her final trick, she created the shape of her sensory net and tried to use the same structure to activate her paralyze spell. She wasn''t sure if that worked, though. On the one hand, the spell felt different, and the mana was similar to the paralyze spell, but there wasn''t any notification about a new spell. Before she could spend too much time thinking about that, the first of the Dream Invaders appeared on the threshold of the door. It was already singed and battered from the cloud that Blue had made since inside it was a heavy thunderstorm, and now its fur was beginning to burn thanks to the barrage of fiery poison. The ''paralyze net'' that Hera created was covering the entrance as well, but it didn''t seem like there was much effect going on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Dream Invader ailment bonus effects x 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream Invader - Level 16 - Poisoned - Burned - Allergic (Strength affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera wasn''t sure what allergic meant. Not the actual definition of the word, but what the allergy would do. The monster didn''t seem to be sneezing, nor there were any red spots visible on his skin. Then again, it was almost impossible to see its skin under all that fur. Still, thanks to the [Ailment Mastery], the monster was in really bad shape. It already seemed to have trouble breathing, and after taking a couple of steps inside the house, it already seemed like it couldn''t keep standing and fell to one knee. Seeing that, Alex held off on using her scabbard. Leo was the one who attacked the beast putting it out of its misery. The body slammed into the floor with a heavy thud before it started dissolving. However, while the corpse was still there, the second monster appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Dream Invader ailment bonus effects x 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Surprisingly, the creature came inside already falling to the ground. It tried to get up, but even after slamming its claw on the wooden boards to keep it steady, it wasn''t able to do so. Leo killed the monster yet again and looked to the rest of the group, "This is going great. I think we were worried for nothing." Just as Leo finished speaking, another two monsters came through the door. Only one of them triggered Hera''s skill, and it only gave a 2 times bonus. Both creatures arrived while the second monster''s body was still around, and the floorboards started to bend with the weight. Hera didn''t wait and went for one of the beasts. She used her poison spray, hoping to poison the invader since none of them seemed to be affected by her mana. Following that up with a slash aimed at the neck, her handaxe got stuck partway through the monster''s throat, and a claw tried to hit her coming from behind her target. Hera had to jump back and let go of her weapon just as Alex sent her jade wind blade flying at the monsters. The impact pushed Hera''s Axe deeper into the monster''s neck, but it still wasn''t enough to cut its head off. Hera''s handaxe, on the other hand, took a considerable beating. Despite her care, the Victorious Odd Handaxe was already battered, and the months of constant use were showing. Adding Alex''s new attack to it made it clear that the weapon wouldn''t last long. Before Hera could approach the monster again, another two beasts walked in. Blue jumped one of them, catching it with an arm lock that not even the beast could shake off of. Alex put her dagger back on the scabbard and started fighting the one that tried to attack Hera. Tiger body slammed the last one to enter and made it fall to the bedroom downstairs. Leo took advantage of that and went after it, wanting to get the monster while it was still disoriented. Hera went towards the one that Blue was fighting since neither of them seemed to be able to attack each other. The one with her weapon stuck to the neck wasn''t moving. Despite it still not being dead, it lost too much blood to do anything else aside from struggling to survive. Hera used a couple of wind feathers to hit the monster and followed that up by making a stone pillar on the side of the house that would slam against the beast. Just like how it was in the forest, she was worried about starting a fire in this place. That''s why she avoided using any fire spells inside. Hera made a note to figure out offensive spells from other elements in the back of her mind. She couldn''t have poison and fire being the only two things she was good at. Almost as if it was a response to that thought, another two notifications popped up letting her know that her [Ailment Mastery] triggered again, but this time she couldn''t feel her poison in any of the creatures. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Alex seemed to be doing well against the invader. The monster was slowed down for some reason, which gave the assassin a much easier time evading its attacks. She was slashing the beast, again and again. Large chunks of fur covered in blood fell to the ground with each strike. Hera and Blue didn''t have the same luck. The monster they were trying to kill was pushing them back even while being grappled by the controller. The beast kept rotating, evading Hera''s attacks and putting Blue and between it and the explorer leading them to the kitchen. Leo was still on the top floor, attacking the creature that was seemingly stuck in the staircase. By his side, Tiger was using his tongue like a chained mace. Slamming it on the monster with a powerful impact. The sound of the cracking wood boards could be heard even in the middle of the chaos that had ensued. Before any more of the monsters died, another two invaders came ruining through the door. Hera saw the notification again, but she couldn''t pay attention to it. The next monster to enter took two steps inside, and the wooden board gave out, sending it crashing into the bottom floor. Seeing that, Hera had an idea. She quickly created another sensory net using the mana from her earring and tossed it outside to double-check how many of the monsters were outside. She didn''t create that wide of a net in her hurry, but it was enough to see one last invader running towards the house. "Everyone, get ready to leave the house! Blue, drop the cloud," Hera yelled while slamming her chakram on the back of the invader that Blue was still holding. At the same time, she stopped both her pollen field and the flaming poison rain, "There is one more coming. Leo, get Tiger and run outside as soon as it gets here." "What are we doing?" Leo asked while looking at the entrance. "Break the floor, burn everything and lock them in," Hera replied. "Oh, that''s nasty. I love it. I have a thing that can help," Leo smiled. "Good, just get ready to leave," as Hera finished speaking, the last invader came inside the house, jumping over the hole in the ground but making a new one right in front of it. "Now! Leo and Tiger, then Alex, then you and me, Blue," Hera commanded, her voice going directly into everyone''s head again. The first pair left without an issue. They were fighting the monsters that were already stuck on the lower floor, so there wasn''t anything trying to stop them from leaving. Just as they passed by the holes on the ground, Leo dropped an orange bead of flame on the wooden boards. Nothing happened and the bead just rolled around the room. Alex was dealing with two monsters, but the assassin had ways to evade attacks and run away. That was one of the perks of being someone focused on stealth. The monsters went after her, but seeing that, Blue took a deep breath and yelled, "Fight me!" She wasn''t just asking them but using a skill that forced her enemies to focus their attacks on her. Hera understood why she was doing that. Since she and Hera would be the last ones to leave, it was better to have the monsters focusing on the duo. "Blue, hold your breath," Hera asked before making a spore field in the entire room. She made it as dense as possible to annoy the monsters. Blue was waiting for it, but even so, there was so much pollen that her eyes began to water. They bobbed and weaved through the monsters, attacking and evading the strikes. Thanks to Blue''s shoulder guards that could let out mist, she managed to reach the entrance unscathed. Hera, unfortunately, wasn''t so lucky. The Dream Invaders clawed at her repeatedly, and she only managed to avoid the most dangerous attacks. The rest scraped her armor with a couple of attacks, even managing to pull a small chunk of the scales on her chest piece. Hera finally jumped out of the house and created a flaming poison rain inside before blocking the circular opening off with a stone wall. Hera tried to block off all the air inside, hoping that the monsters would suffocate with the smoke if they didn''t burn to death. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to make an air-tight blockage, but since the building didn''t have any other ventilation aside from the main door, the monsters inside should start having trouble breathing soon. "Can I do the thing now?" Leo asked from the bottom of the staircase. "As long as you don''t make the door burst open," Hera replied between grunts. "I don''t think it will," Leo replied and snapped his fingers. There was a slight rumbling and some loud noises coming from inside the house. A small stream of smoke started to come out from the gaps on the entrance, followed by loud screeches coming from the monsters, "It''s basically an incendiary grenade. Just an explosion of flames. Seeing that reaction, everyone ran to a house nearby to hide from the potential reinforcements. A few minutes passed, and several notifications about her [Ailment Mastery] skill appeared. At one point, one of the notifications let her know that she had triggered 10 ailments at once in one of the monsters. She had no idea how that happened since the monsters should only be burned, poisoned, and asphyxiated. However, her attempt at a paralyzing net was still inside and the allergies that were triggered by her spore cloud had developed into something else. Unfortunately, Hera had no way of knowing that unless she went inside to check. However, she felt her poison mana vanishing before waving the notification away, just like when she killed the penguins. Since there weren''t any monsters around, Hera carefully went outside and got close to the house they had destroyed. She used her pulse spell to see if there was any movement inside, and she couldn''t feel the monsters, but there were several gold coins on the ground as well as the fire and rubble of what once was the wooden floor. "I think we are clear," Hera called the group. Just to be safe, they agreed to let a few more minutes pass before reopening the house. When Hera took down her stone wall they had to wait for the smoke to clear out, with Alex and Hera using some wind spells to help push out the fumes. Inside, the fire wasn''t that bad. It was almost as though while trying to get out, the monsters broke most of the wood inside the house, making it easier for the fires to destroy it all. When it felt safe, Hera made a stone staircase inside the house to pick up the coins. Then the group headed to where Hera had seen the sprite before the attack, confident that the threat was gone. 356 - Its just that easy As soon as they arrived at the house where the Sleep Sprite was supposed to be, they noticed the mist coming from the bedroom downstairs. Tiger and Leo were outside since climbing inside those houses was an issue for the now giant frog. It was clear that the size of the pet would be something Leo had to consider in the future. Problems like that never happened during his time with the coalition. All the dungeons and training drills he was a part of happened in wide-open areas since his battalion wasn''t one specialized in urban combat or infiltration missions. Being in a tamer group they would only work in advantageous terrain. Not to say that there wasn''t any training against what they were weak to, but to start off, the coalition wanted to improve their strengths and get them all familiar with the strategy involved with fighting alongside a pet. Hera and others were the ones inside the house. They carefully went down the spiral staircase not to scare the sprite and found the spirit lying in the wooden bed. It seemed wounded with some of the blue light leaking from its leg. "Hey there, little guy¡­ girl¡­ spirit thing," Blue smiled and waved to the creature, trying to be friendly. The spirit jerked back when it noticed the group, but it didn''t seem afraid. It was more a spook for seeing something unexpected and not a fear of humans. Seeing that, Hera walked over and tried to use her healing to help the sprite. However, just as her spell started, the creature slapped her hand away. A vision of pain flashed on Hera''s mind. It didn''t actually hurt her, but it was how the Sleep Sprite was communicating. "No healing. Got it," Hera nodded. "Yeah, that wasn''t the best idea. Elemental spirits get hurt when they are around mana from a different element, don''t they?" Alex asked. "Right, I forgot about that. I just saw it was injured." "Can you move?" Blue looked around before getting close to the spirit. The room had a layer of thick mist on the floor that seemed to be coming out of the sprite. In response, the sprite shook its head and gestured to its leg, then it showed its back. The wings it had were torn to pieces. It was almost like looking at a kite that was attacked by a dog. "Can we carry you then?" Alex asked. "Are you sure? What if there are more of those things around?" Blue asked. "We can let them ride Tiger. I''m sure Leo would rather have us fighting than carrying them," Alex suggested. "Would that be OK? Do you want to ride a giant rain frog?" Hera turned to the sprite, who nodded in response. Blue picked the creature up and carried it outside. The sprite kept looking around, searching for the invaders. It seemed very scared, and given its current state, it was understandable. After seeing how injured the spirit was, Leo agreed to let it ride Tiger. As much as he believed in his pet, he understood that a human companion was much more capable than the frog. With everyone gathered, they started to think about where they should go. Since there was no notification about completing the quest, just finding the sprite wasn''t enough to finish the dungeon. In response to their inquiry, the Sleep Sprite pointed at them and sent another set of visions. This time, it was a path through the forest heading to their home. Their destination was a large tree with several thick branches that housed the spirits. However, that wasn''t all. Among the visions, there was also a creature much like the dream invaders, only several times bigger. It lumbered through the forest, ripping trees from the ground while searching for the home of the sprites. There was a long pause where the group just stared at each other, "We don''t have to fight that thing, do we?" Alex asked. "I mean¡­ I kind of want to. It doesn''t feel like this is a thing that we just have to avoid," Blue replied. "I''m with her. I think we should attack it. It might give us better rewards," Leo nodded. "It''s risky, isn''t it? Those dream invaders are not weak, and we are already having trouble dealing with them," Hera said. "Yeah, I want to kill that thing too. It might even give us a way to enter the hard mode. But I don''t intend to die because of a quest. So my vote is to avoid it," Alex added. "That''s a fair point. How about this? We try to be stealthy, but if that thing finds us, we try to kill it. If things go south, then we run," Blue suggested. No one had any complaints about that plan, and the group started their journey to the sprite''s home. Even if they never went there, the visions had given them the route they had to take. Traveling with the sprite was interesting. It seems like they had an effect on the forest. The mist was thicker, and the trees seemed to vibrate as they walked by. Another weird thing was that, despite the thick fog, it was easier to see the ground, and the environment seemed more vivid. It felt almost like that moment in a dream where you become aware that you are dreaming. They walked for half an hour when they finally arrived at the massive tree that seemed to be the center of the forest. It was similar to the others in a way. A tall trunk and the branches only appeared near the top, but the scale was completely different. It was like comparing a giant sequoia with a blade of grass. While looking up, Hera felt like climbing that tree would bring her to another world. Maybe one with giants and a goose that laid golden eggs. Unfortunately, she wasn''t the only one thinking about that possibility. Before they could even approach, everyone noticed a Dream Invader trying to climb the tree. It was larger than the others, and its fur was a shade of deep green and not the grayish-blue of its brethren. Another thing that was different was its claws. It was still that one solid block of keratin, but the invader seemed to be able to move it like an actual hand and not just a weapon. Just as they saw the creature, a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest update The sprite''s home is under attack. You are unable to bring the Sleep Sprite to safety as long as its home is being attacked. Defeat or drive off the invader to complete the quest. Do not let the sprite be further injured. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well, there goes the plan of being stealthy," Alex sighed. "Oh no. We are going to have to fight it now. What a shame," Blue couldn''t even pretend to be sad about it. "We still have to be careful with the sprite. Should we keep it with Tiger or find a place for it to hide?" Hera asked. "I''d rather just have it hiding somewhere. Tiger would be a big help to fight that thing," Leo patted his pet''s back. "I agree. The more people we have, the better," Alex nodded. With the Dream Invader already a few meters up the tree, they didn''t have much time to find a nice hiding spot. Instead, Hera just found a place that would be mostly far away from where they intended to fight and used the remaining mana in her bracelet to cast the selective memory filter on the sprite itself. She told it not to move since it would break the spell, but at least it should last for long enough. Hera had made some tests with the skill. It wouldn''t be permanent, and if enough time was given, the effect would run out. Thanks to that, she wasn''t worried about forgetting the sprite existed. Not to mention that she knew how to circumvent the memory loss. After placing the spirit on the ground, Hera quickly carved some markings above them and took a few steps back before activating the spell. However, as soon as she turned around, she could still remember the sprite. She had no idea where it was, but she didn''t forget everything about them. This wasn''t how the spell was supposed to work. It was almost like a virus infecting the memories of what was affected by it so you would forget everything about how the subject ended up there. That included removing memories of travel and even of making plans. Yet the only thing Hera forgot was the sprite''s current location, even the decision of hiding it was still there. There was no time to focus on that as the rest of the group got ready to attack. Blue prepared a cloud that would appear in front of the invader, charging it with lightning to create a loud thunder. Her intention wasn''t to hurt but scare the monster and make it drop from the tree. It was already about 10 meters high, and even a creature that size should hurt itself on the landing. By the tree line, Alex was hidden, already preparing a sneak attack with her scabbard. Instead of using her wind blade, this time, she wanted to deal a more direct blow. Leo and Tiger were also getting ready to attack. They would strike just as the creature fell to the ground. Before thinking of a plan, Hera wanted to ensure there weren''t any obvious issues with the monster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alpha Dream Invader - Level 17 (Strength affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That didn''t help as much, but since the names were similar, she assumed most of the same spells would be effective, "Blue, I''ll toss a spore field on it. Do your cloud after it." Blue nodded, and the spells went off. First, the densest cloud of spores Hera could make covered the alpha''s face. The monster tried to wave the particles off, but the spell didn''t let them move. What followed was a resounding thunder right on its head. The sound was so loud that even the sprites on top of the tree had to cover their ears. That made the monster put both hands in its ears, trying to shield itself from the noise and start falling. However, it managed to hold on using its foot claws, almost like a monkey. Seeing that, Leo and Hera tossed some spells at its heels. Wind feathers and spectral spears of fire repeatedly impacted the alpha. It tried to pull back up, but before its claws managed to reach the trunk, the invader sneezed, causing it to lose its grip and fall to the ground. Blue quickly created another cloud on its head, setting up her lightning storm while Alex dashed out of the forest, preparing to use her quick movement skill and trigger a powered up sneak attack. Unbeknownst to the group, a swarm of sprites was coming down the tree. They all saw the Alpha Dream Invader fall and the people who were attacking it. Without making a sound, the elemental spirits cast a spell on the humans. A spell given only for those who would protect them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blessing of sleep in effect. Damage increased by 500% while inside the forest of dreams. Defenses increased by 700% while inside the forest of dreams. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A light blue glow covered the entire party just as the buff took effect. This happened before Alex reached the alpha. What was supposed to be a strong opener was ready to become something deadly. When she pulled out her dagger from the scabbard, it was almost like there was another thunder. The attack missed the monster''s head but reached its neck, and it didn''t stop there. Using a dagger that wasn''t even 30 centimeters long, a single slash was enough to cut open the beast halfway through its belly. However, it was still moving. Alex jumped back, and another thunder roared from the cloud. Even though that one was several times louder, it didn''t hurt anyone from the party. On the other hand, the monster was in bad shape already. Blood was pouring out of its ears, eyes, and nose. With a dash, Leo aimed an attack at the monster''s head. With a last burst of strength, the creature tried to claw at the hunter, but Tiger intercepted the attack with a body slam, protecting his partner. With the impact, Leo''s attack missed the target, but it was still enough to hit the invader''s beak, shattering it. Hera didn''t want to be left behind, and it was the first time she got such a strong buff. Excited with the idea, she rose her Victorious handaxe and brought it down with all her might. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using her skill wasn''t intentional, but it was something she liked. A large part of her wanted to see how strong a full-powered strike would be right now. Her attack slashed the invader''s mouth open, separating the top half of its head from the rest of its body. It also created a sizable gash on the ground that was about three meters long. However, the creature wasn''t the only casualty of the attack. Her handaxe, which was already battered and burned since it stayed inside the house that they had set on fire, broke apart. The blade was in four pieces and the handle in two. There was a moment of shock following her attack. Hera just stared into the air looking at the notifications that appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired: Weapon Break By ensuring your weapon is destroyed with the attack, you can deliver a blow that will deal increased damage. There is a small chance that the weapon won''t break. The increase in damage is based on the rarity of the weapon. Common: 200% increase, 1% chance of not breaking. Uncommon: 500% increase, 0.001% chance of not breaking. Rare: 900% increase, 0.000001% chance of not breaking. Very rare: 1500% increase 0.0000000001% chance of not breaking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest complete You have rescued the sleep sprite and brought it to a safe location. First completion rewards 60 000 gold, waking salts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up - Current level 19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 357 - Level up as a human ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 19 Stats: Strength: 50 Endurance: 50 Agility: 50 Charisma: 50 Intelligence: 50 Luck: 50 Mana: 9450/9450 Remaining attribute points: = 48 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3 Dodge 2, Run 2, Improved Stamina 4, Flee, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3 Poison Mastery Wind resistance 2 Mana sensitivity 2 Nature connection Silver Lining Shaper of Mana Reinforced Mana Ancient language 2 Naga poison Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Local Guide, Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2 Etching 2 Medical Reference 2 Green Thumb Chain of Command 2 Role Skills: Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue Explorer''s Hunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap," Hera gasped, seeing how many attribute points she got. "Got some good stuff?" Blue asked. "No, I leveled up and got almost 50 points. That''s ridiculous." "How many are you used to getting?" Leo turned to her. "I don''t know. The base amount plus 5 or 6 points? Not my level on just bonuses," Hera explained. "Really? I guess that''s why I always felt that my stats weren''t that different from yours," Alex scratched her chin. "You are used to getting this many attribute points?" Hera turned to the assassin. "Not almost 50, but something like 35 to 40." "Well, do you know where you are distributing them?" Leo asked. "Yeah. I''m using my skill to raise them all. So from 50, I''ll get to 54 across the board." Leo sighed, "I forgot about that cheat skill." "You can get it too. Just make all your attributes match. At least that''s how the guild told me it works," Hera suggested completely forgetting the need for the [Stat Reallocation] skill. After increasing her attributes, Hera looked at the reward she got from the dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smelling Salts By opening this container, you can wake someone up even if they are under the influence of a magical effect. Only works for people who are sleeping. Uses: 5/5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It wasn''t the most exciting item she ever got, but at least it was something. Blue got something similar, some eye drops that could make someone have a better night of rest. It could be useful in more situations than just when someone needed to be up. Especially since, by the wording of it, the smelling salts wouldn''t work in people who were in any sort of stasis, coma, or any other type of sleep-like issue. Alex got something a bit more interesting. It was a small vial with a blue liquid that could allow her to let out mist from her body. It could cover an area 10 meters wide and 3 meters tall depending on the location that could be a great tool for hiding or setting up an ambush. However, the best of the bunch ended up being Leo. He got a simple item. A nightcap, blue and white stripes with a puffy, fuzzy ball of fur on edge. Odd, yes, but the interesting part was its effects. It would allow the wearer to become more friendly with the sleep sprites, and there was no restriction to it. Meaning it was a perfect tool to use to get an elemental spirit. Leo wasn''t that interested in getting a spirit partner, and the nightcap didn''t seem to be exclusively his. He could, for one-pass it to someone else and let them try to get the spirit to make a contract with them. Hera and Alex discussed the possibility of getting one, but unless they knew how long it should take, even with the ''make Sleep Sprites more friendly towards you'' buff, it was hard to make a decision. In the end, they left the dungeon and returned to the research center. They had a quest to report about the dungeon there and to add to that, there were some questions they wanted to ask about Leo''s reward. There was a bit of a frenzy when Camila saw the nightcap and gasped loudly when reading the description, the researchers swarming over it, wanting to use it for their own projects. Leo quickly snatched back, reminding everyone that this was his reward and if they wanted even a chance of using that item after he was done, he had some questions first. The Q&A was short. The people from the research center were all eager to please the man who had such an incredible item. According to them, the nightcap would help them start a relationship with the sprites, but it shouldn''t do much more than that. It was good since having that initial connection was the hardest part. The rest was just being nice to them and making sure to keep in touch. It still was possible to take months or years to get a contract, but with the item, it was probable that one could skip the first part. After some insistence, Leo agreed to let them ''borrow'' it to test its abilities. They wrote down a small agreement that the item still belonged to Leo and that he should be informed of any development about it. There was also a fee of 20 thousand gold per month for the research center as collateral. Since, after all, Leo would be the one losing time to get his own elemental spirit. Hera had to hold back a smile when the hunter said that. He had no intention of getting a spirit, but the researchers didn''t need to know that. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Before he offered the lease, Leo checked with Hera and Alex since they seemed to be interested in having an Elemental Spirit, but it would take too long to get one, and Hera, for one, had no intention of being stuck in a place for so long. After that, the group headed back to their hotels. The dungeon was interesting, but none of them wanted to deal with the Dream Invaders again, and Hera was missing one weapon. She dropped by the guild to ask around for a new one, even if it was just a temporary thing, but there were no hand axes available. Trying to order one would take at least a week for the delivery, or if she wanted to pay a premium of about half the price of the weapons, she could get it in two days. Hera might have money right now, but she knew when she was swindled, even by a large organization. Instead, she just looked around the available stock and picked a slightly curved short sword. Something that could be seen in those pirate movies being used by the imperial fleet or something. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curved Saber - Blood Common A mass-produced weapon that can become stronger as it gets bloodied. Attribute scaling: Charisma x 1.2 Endurance x 1.3 Weapon skill: Strength in Blood. The more blood is drawn by the weapon, the stronger it gets. If the wielder''s blood passes through the entire length of the blade, the full bonus is triggered at once. Max bonus 40% Current bonus 0% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The weapon was a bit too vampiric for Hera''s tastes, but everything else was too expensive or barely had any scaling. Hera wanted a temporary weapon, but she didn''t want to be crippled by it. She paid the 8 thousand gold for the saber and headed back to her party. After a brief discussion, everyone agreed that tomorrow they would head out to the Wailing Valley and back to the Naga hero''s tomb. Unless the guild had set up a better way of transportation, they would have to sleep in the bunker again, but this time things should be easier. "How are things going to be easier? We still have to deal with that horde of insects," Blue asked. "I didn''t tell you? Shane and the guild already cleared that up. Since we found the crypts of kings, there was a considerable amount of interest in looking around there for treasure or anything, and there was a quest to clear out the monsters from the graveyard. According to Shane, most monsters are gone, including the Jeweled Hunter. That spider with the colorful eyes. Also, it seems like someone high level is going there to check the snake. People are still being careful and made some to see if it was hostile, but no one figured out the level just yet," Hera explained. "What tests?" Alex asked. "They captured a spider and used it as bait, dangling it from the abyss. Nothing happened until someone cut the cord and dropped it on top of the snake. That''s when it attacked, jumping out of the mist and staring at the people in the valley, but it didn''t do anything. Just went back to the mist," Hera said. "I mean, a giant snake is annoying, but that''s it, right?" Leo turned to Hera. "You don''t get it. Giant doesn''t begin to describe it. I''m sure it could swallow a building whole and not even unhinge its jaw. That thing is beyond huge," Alex gasped. "Excuse me," A voice came from behind Leo, "Sorry to bother, but are you talking about the snake in the Wailing Valley?" The group looked back and saw a man with goggles on his head, atop a beanie with a soft stubble, all clad in brown leather with wool around its neck. He also had heavy boots and a silver rapier with an orange gem on the pommel hanging from his waist. Hera looked down and saw the man wearing sandals, and his feet were red. It seemed like he just came out of a really hot shower. Odd since the bathrooms were in each room in the hotel here. Unless the man came from the guild and used the facilities near the gym. "Yeah, why?" Blue changed her demeanor from relaxed to alert. "Oh, I got called to double-check on that report. If you are not busy could I ask you some questions about it? The more I know them better, and having someone who was actually there give me some details could help a lot," the man rummaged through his bag and pulled up his tablet. After a few touches, he turned it around and showed to the group, "Here is the quest that I was given." The group glanced at the screen, and yeah, that was a standard guild quest. However, it asked for a gold card, meaning that this had to be someone they trusted. Hera, Alex, and Blue agreed to talk to the man, who introduced himself as Sebastian and gave a bit too much personal information right from the get-go. He was from Somalia, or at least his family was. He was born in the US, but his mother got pregnant before leaving his home country, which made him a full-on Somalian, according to him. He was an explorer with a considerable amount of years behind him, and he was level 67, able to [Observe] anything up to level 80, even if they had skills to hide that. The goggles on his head were his relic, but he didn''t expand on that. He also stayed clear of his fighting prowess. Maybe it was just to be safe, or maybe he wanted to hide something. It was hard to tell. On the other hand, he had no trouble saying how he had this recurring nightmare of waking up, and suddenly he had holes on the side of his cheeks. It was hard not to be swept by the man''s high energy, but thanks to his constant over-sharing, no one felt inclined to say more than they should. Still, everyone agreed to stop by a coffee shop and answer his questions. Leo decided to go with everyone since he was also curious about the snake. A few hours passed, and Sebastian had no more questions to ask. He was going to the next room on the following day, so there was a good chance that they would meet up again. The party decided to head back to the hotel and just rest for a while. Before going to the elevator, Hera stopped and told them she was going to the guild. It''s been a while since she used a sword, and she wanted to train a bit to get used to her weapon. Just as she turned around, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired Private Room Role Skill When touching a doorway, you can enter a private room where you will find a bed, a bathroom, and a table in an 8m2 area. You can invite up to 4 people to enter the room with you and customize the room as you please. Entering and exiting the room counts as crossing a single doorway, not two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­" Hera stared at the notification. Why did she get a skill now? "Holy shit! This is awesome," Blue gasped. "Fuck me, that''s good," Alex was scratching her chin. "Does that also affect Tiger?" Leo thought loudly. "Wait, what happened? Did you guys just got skills too?" Hera asked. "Too? You got one?" Blue looked around, seeing everyone nod. Hera heard some gasps and people talking, and at a quick glance, it seemed like they weren''t the only ones who got a skill. A guild clerk who was just hanging out in the lobby quickly jumped to his feet and asked, "Did everyone just get a role skill? Raise your hands if you did." There wasn''t a single person without a hand up after the question. "Did everyone get a new skill? Like ''everyone,'' everyone?" Blue asked. "What the hell is going on?" Hera kept looking around, completely at a loss. 358 - Private room "OK, what did you guys get? I''m curious," Hera asked. "I got something called tactical view. I still need to check the constraints, but basically, it''s like having a drone around us to look at the area. And I might be able to cast spells through that in different places," Blue explained. "I got sneak as a role skill. Now the buff to hide is much better, and the debuff for being seen only affects my sneak attack and the first three non-magical attacks that I do to anything. I''m pretty sure I can still use magic without any issues, and I might be able to cheese that by attacking something random," Alex was already making plans for her new skill. "What about you, Leo?" Blue turned to the hunter. "This is weird. The skill I got is called Hunter Survival. It helps me find good places for camping, food, water, and medicine in the wilderness, and it also lets me ignore some effects of hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep. The weird part is that it tried to clarify that. Saying that this doesn''t increase how long I can stay without food, water, etc. It just lets me pretend like I''m not starving for longer. Since when does the system give that kind of information?" Leo scratched his head. "And what is the thing about Tiger?" Hera asked. "Oh, I can share some of my passives with him. Not things like observe or something to do with crafting, but improved strength and stamina go to him. I''m wondering if this also works," Leo shook his head and changed the subject, "By the way, I didn''t know you had the Chain of Command skill, Hera." "Chain of Command?" Hera asked. She remembered the name because she had just seen it on her status screen, but she couldn''t remember what it actually did. "Yeah, that''s how you spoke in our heads, right? If I knew you could do that, I would''ve tagged you as the party leader, just to activate it," Leo explained. "Oh, that one! Yeah, I keep forgetting I have it, and with the communicators, I don''t see the need to use it." "You should. It''s really good and has some really powerful party buffs later on. That''s rare for skills, but getting that one is a pain in the ass. You have to order people around and have them start following what you said in less than half a second. They also have to trust you completely at that moment, willing to even jump into lava at your command, and that''s the tricky part," as Leo spoke, Hera glanced at Blue. She never imagined that her friend trusted her so much. After all, Hera got the skill while leading Blue and a team of dwarves back in Boothudurn. "What''s your skill?" Blue asked Hera, trying not to linger on that subject. "Right, I got something called Private Room. I can have like a hotel room inside a doorway, and people can even come with me. Although, I''m not entirely sure how this all works. Actually, I kind of want to test it out," Hera glanced at the exit. "Same, Let''s run to the guild before the training rooms are all full," Alex turned to Blue. "I guess I have to starve myself to figure that one out?" Leo shrugged, "I feel like mine is the less exciting of the bunch." "It''s also the only one that''s passive, right? Everyone else got something active," Hera asked. "So far, but since everyone seems to have gotten a skill, I''m sure the other roles got one too, and I can only imagine what they got," Leo walked back to the elevator. He couldn''t do much right now, but Hera felt like his skill was the one that would be the strongest. If she had it while fighting the wendigo, she could''ve done much better without being hindered by hunger or lack of sleep. Still, she wanted to check this private room thing and headed towards the doorway outside the city. She wasn''t the only one doing that. There were three other people who she assumed were all explores heading to the doorway. Sebastian was there as well, and when he noticed her, the man gave her a knowing nod. Everyone around her also had similar reactions when their eyes met. One even had a large smile on her face. Hera could understand why. It was a free skill, and depending on how it worked, it could remove the need for hotels completely. Well, that only counted when there was a doorway around, and since rooms where it took longer than a day to get to a doorway weren''t that common, it seemed like a safe bet. One by one, the people who were walking arrived at the doorway and crossed over. There wasn''t anything different in the way they vanished. Suddenly they were covered in light, and then they were gone. Some were taking a bit longer to press the notification, surely reading something they weren''t used to seeing. Hera and Sebastian arrived almost at the same time and touched the large doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Wailing Valley - 7th Layer [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room. [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing the new button, Hera felt the familiar hot water cover her body, and she suddenly appeared in a room very much like the one she saw during her role tests. Simple white walls and no decoration. There was also a bathroom and a sink by the small living room. What was supposed to be the bedroom was just a bed with a door with barely any space inside. At least the bed seemed to be king-size, which was always nice. Hera pulled up her tablet to take a couple of pictures of the place and tell Silah when she noticed that she still had a signal. After a quick test, it became even better. Inside here, she still had access to the Internet. She was just about to make a video call when the signal cut off. "What the? It was working just now," Hera asked loudly. "Sorry, kid. Can''t have you doing a video call when I''m around," a familiar gruff voice came from behind her. Sitting on top of the counter was a talking green apple. "Peaches!" Hera gasped and went in for a hug. "Hey, kid. It''s been a while," Peaches smiled and let himself be picked up. "What are you doing here? Is this part of a test?" Hera asked. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Nah, you''re good. I''m just here to help you figure out some of the more¡­ fun parts of this place. Other people will have to deal on their own, but since you have the guide skill, here I am." "Fun part? Such as?" Peaches nodded behind her. Hera turned around and saw that on the other side of the room, a holographic screen appeared. Several icons appeared almost like it was her tablet. In fact, it mirrored exactly that layout, down to the location of the icons and shortcuts. She pulled the tablet up and tried opening a random app. The holographic screen followed the movement showing the app she had just opened, "So I have a giant tv screen here?" "Yep. Imagine the movie nights you can have here. Also, try opening your map." Hera did as he told her, and instead of the screen changing, a large diorama of the Forest of Dreams appeared in the middle of the room. It was a perfect replica of everything she had seen, down to the marks on the trees and the lamp posts with the blue crystals. Even the city was there, with the guild, the research center, and when she touched a building, it showed how it was inside. However, that only happened with places familiar to her. If there was a building she never entered, touching it wouldn''t do a thing. That was also true for the whole map. Since she had never explored the entire room, she couldn''t see everything that was there. Some parts were just missing while the outline of the entire place was still there. "This is really cool," Hera kept looking around the map observing how detailed everything was. "One more thing about it. You see the dungeon you just went to over there," a small beacon appeared over where the dungeon was. Unlike the other trees, this pair, with the branches creating a barrier between the trees, was bigger, and when she touched it, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spirit''s Plea Dungeon Normal mode: Help the spirit Common rewards: 30 to 15 thousand gold, waking salts, sleep well eye drops. Uncommon rewards: Mist drop. Very rare rewards: Nightcap of the Sleep Spirit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, so there are better things than the night cap?" Hera wandered. "Yep, that will also let you know how to enter the hard mode, and you can see the map from inside it too. Well, most of the time, that one changes with every run, and you can''t even use the map inside it," Peaches shrugged. "Bad example then, but still, this is awesome!" Hera kept looking around and took a peek inside the bathroom. There was not just a sink and a toilet, but a shower as well, "Aw, I hoped there would be a tub." "Which brings me to our next point of order. See that panel by the entrance?" Hera followed Peaches'' eyes. "The thermostat?" "No, well yeah, but I mean the thing on the other side of the door. That panel that looks like something you would see in a spy movie." "Oh, this one?" Hera walked over to the panel that Peaches was talking about. "OK, now put your hand on it. It''s kind of a lock. Only you can access it. Unless you give someone else permission, but you''ll see." Hera followed Peaches instructions and placed her hand on the panel. It wasn''t much different than the rest of the room. Same color as the walls, same feel, everything was just the same. The only thing that could be seen as an indication that this was different was that this had a frame of sorts. When Hera placed her hand on the panel, there was a pause, and a window appeared in front of her with the blueprint of the room. She could change the angles she was looking at, make it 3d and spin around freely. On the side, there were a set of tabs ranging from furniture to paint and even themes. She had full control over this room, and she could change it as she saw fit. However, she couldn''t add anything too fancy or complicated. A hammock in the middle of the room? Sure, but she couldn''t create a computer or make a crystal chandelier. With Peaches'' help, Hera explored the editor and made some adjustments to her private room. First, she made the bathroom bigger and swapped the shower for a bathtub. She also added a window right where her head would be. That way, she could stay in the bath and watch something on the holographic screen. Changing the color scheme was her next step. Now the ceiling was deep purple, and the walls a lighter shade of the same color. While doing all that, Hera noticed that Peaches wasn''t his usual self. After giving the explanations, he was just standing there, staring into space, and wouldn''t say anything unless she asked something directly. "Peaches, are you OK?" "I am. Why?" "You seem¡­ off. Are you worried about something?" "Ah, well. Sort of, but not really. You see, I have to talk to a bunch of explorers at the same time. Technically I''m not the ''real'' Peaches, just a copy. That doesn''t mean that the main body won''t have all the memories I do. Things are like that even when doing the role tests, but today I''m just working overtime. That''s probably what you are seeing," Peaches explained. "Oh, I see. Sorry to make more work for you." "Don''t worry, kid, it''s part of the job. Do you have any more questions?" Hera stopped for a moment, "Yeah. What happens to things I leave here? Like if I go out and leave my shoes here?" "They go out with you. Even if they are not on your feet. Everything you bring here will come out with you. Well. Almost everything. If you use the bathroom, you don''t have to worry about it spraying everywhere when you leave." "What if I swallowed a coin? Would the coin be gone, or would it go out with me?" Hera asked. "Why are you going around eating coins? Is that some new weird trend?" Peaches had a confused expression on his face. "Not really. But it is a fair question. What if I accidentally eat something that doesn''t get digested? Like corn?" "OK, fine, I get it. It''s just weird that you are not the first to ask about that. Hell, I bet most explorers who are talking to me are going to ask me that," Peaches sighed, "No, the system might be annoying with some things, but it won''t be with this. If you eat corn, it will vanish, but things like coins, a ring, or anything inorganic will be yeeted out. The fecal matter around it will be gone, but I would wash it with soap, alcohol, and maybe even fire before feeling like that is actually clean." "What about crumbs? Like if I bring popcorn or toast, will the crumbs leave with me?" "No, but also yes. If you just get some crumbs, it won''t happen, and they will just be gone, but if it is too much, it will be considered a foreign substance, and they will shower you and anyone around you as you leave," Peaches explained. "What''s that limit? 1kg or something like it?" "I honestly don''t know. You might want to do some tests. Do you have any other questions?" Hera shook her head, "Great. Then I have to go, kid. Sorry, this one was a bit rushed, but there are way too many people talking to me at once. I promise we can hang out more when you get your next role skill." "That''s OK. It''s just funny how even guides have their busy days." "Guide. Singular. I''m the only one killing myself right now. Then again, I don''t think anyone else could do what I do." "I agree. You are awesome!" Hera opened a big smile. "Ha! At least someone recognizes it," Peaches replied with the same smile Hera gave him, "Anyway. It''s been a pleasure, Kid. As always. I hope to see you during your next role test." With that, Peaches vanished, leaving Hera alone in her private room. She toyed with it for a while longer, took a bath since the hotel didn''t have any tubs, and watched some videos. She also took a look at her tablet and sent a message to her friends, asking about the new role skills they got. Silah replied right away, and they chatted for a while. According to the blacksmith, Fethy recognized the token that Hera had, meaning that the duchess of culture should be related to Finlay. After she was done with her bath, Hera went back to the hotel. On the following day, they would head out to the Naga hero''s tomb once more. 359 - Archeology Camp It''s been less than 24 hours that everyone got their new skills, and there were already countless articles about all of them. Crafters had [Recycle] that allowed them to break down an item to recover some of the materials used to create said item. Researchers got a skill called [Develop]. It was an extension of their [Learn] skill that allowed them to see the paths they could take to improve something they were working on. Healers had a very unexpected surprise. They got a skill called [Diagnosis], which allowed them to see a wound and understand what happened. Since healing was much more effective when they knew what to do, this was a great tool for them. Fighters had something called [Block], which worked in tandem with [Fury] and could improve someone''s defenses, as long as they actively tried to block an attack. Lastly, but certainly not least, Mages got a skill called [Spell Weave]. Thanks to that skill, it was easier to change the effects of an ongoing spell as long as it matched the element of their mana. Hera felt like that was a bit similar to the [Shaper of Mana] skill, but she wasn''t entirely sure of the specifics. She would have to talk to Helena later on. Not to say that everyone was happy with the new skills. Many people were freaking out about the reason why the system gave them said skill. It was a conspiracy theory galore, most of them involving the towers and how there was a deep dark secret that the guild was hiding. In response to that, the guild released a couple of statements to tone those rumors down. The first was letting everyone know that they were investigating why everyone got the skill. There were some theories already, but they had to confirm them before giving any concrete information. However, the second announcement ended up being even better to distract everyone. Two people were going to challenge the tower as a group. A duo that was not only well known but beloved by many. Bright Night and Dark Star. Recording and accompanying them would be Becca Swan. The reporter wouldn''t do much to help them in the challenge unless the situation became too dangerous. There was also a disclaimer in the announcement that the event would be prerecorded since they had to be sure that there wouldn''t be anything too graphic to show on an open channel. Adding more fuel to the fire, the reason why the singing duo wanted to challenge the tower was that among the rewards given by the building, there was a role change. People were going nuts about that. Not only was it extremely rare to see the singers fighting, but that would be the first and only glimpse that many people would have about the tower. It was in the 26th layer, so only someone who went past level 80 should be comfortable going there. Apparently, Becca was the only one who would be low level for the challenge. Hera was a bit worried about that since the reporter was someone she knew personally, but she calmed down after reading the entire announcement. Becca was going to receive some buffs, new gear, and a few items that would increase her survivability a lot. Since that was already her focus, this meant that even if she was around 20 levels weaker than the singers, she should be able to survive inside the tower. Interestingly enough, they wouldn''t enter the tower by the same room where she was first located. As they found out, all rooms in the 26th layer had that tower, and a safer approach was found. Instead of crossing the Qeeroni Wilds, the room where the wall was broken, they would go through a much smaller room with a direct path to the 26th layer that led to what was called a paradise room. A room where no wild monsters were roaming about, much like the Kobold Fields. In there, they had just a hill with the tower on top and another doorway to the other side. The entire room was just 1 km wide, making an amazing place to set up a main city, which was already being built by the guild. Hera and her group gathered in front of the hotel, waiting for Leo and Tiger to arrive. It was time to head back to the Wailing Valley. Hera had checked with Shane, and apparently, the guild had already set up a camp near the graveyard. About a dozen people were there excavating the ruins and trying to learn more about the Naga people. Ancient structures like those could give them a different insight into the workings of the MAZE, especially since they seemed to be from before Khan. Shane was among the group, and apparently, they weren''t able to enter the Naga hero''s tomb with that group. No one had figured out the elements necessary to trigger one of the runes. For now, only Hera could make it work, which meant that everyone in that group was excited about having her join the camp, even if just for a while. Just as the group started to head to the doorway, Sebastian joined them. There was a woman by his side with short hair and a scar on her neck who seemed friendly even if her size was a bit intimidating. She was wearing full armor, and the straps seemed to struggle to keep her muscles at bay, and the heavy serrated two-handed sword on her back didn''t do much to make her less threatening. Despite all that, the woman was very friendly and open. Her title was Red Lotus, and she didn''t like it very much. People always associated that name with someone dainty and feminine, which didn''t match her whole vibe. She got the title during a rampage where she had to hold one passage on her own. When backup arrived, they just found her surrounded by monster corpses and blood sprays that they said looked like a lotus flower. Red Lotus was sure that the only reason why people saw that was because the room had a massive lotus field, and they were so tired that everything seemed twisted. Still, people kept calling her Red Lotus after the rampage, and it just stuck. "Then why is your armor green?" Blue asked. "Because I don''t want people to associate me with the color red. I know that some people lean into their titles, like toxic rain that is always wearing green and purple, but red is really not my color," Red Lotus sighed. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "And why are you going to the valley, if you don''t mind me asking," Leo turned to the woman. "I''m plan B. Sebastian here is going to check a giant snake''s level, and I''m here just in case the monster decides to attack." "Can you handle it? Apparently, it''s above level 60," Hera asked. "I should be able to. I''m level 83. Even if it''s a monster the size of a building and that''s alive for thousands of years, I should be able to kill it. Not to say that I wouldn''t appreciate some backup, but since it''s being passive, the guild didn''t want to call a bunch of people and make it feel threatened. If that changes, I''ll probably stick around until we''ve dealt with it," Red Lotus explained. They continued chatting as they crossed the doorway before splitting off. Sebastian and Red Lotus stayed back in the settlement since they still had to talk with the guild before heading out. Hera and her party left the safety of the campsite and headed towards the abyss, where they crossed to the other side. According to Shane, starting from the same spot that they crossed the chasm, the guild had built a tall bridge to allow everyone to cross over without having to rely on skills or something that forced you to jump that abyss. On the other side, they would have to walk to the graveyards, where a small camp was used as a home base for Shane and the other people interested in the ruins. Unfortunately, they couldn''t get the bikes this time. Tiger would be too far behind if they used that transport. Hera tried calling Nimbus, her cloud griffon mount, but the construct wasn''t strong enough to carry more than one person at the time, and Tiger couldn''t be ridden by anyone aside from Leo. In the end, they would have to go the old-fashioned way. It was a long journey, and the scarabs seemed to excite Tiger in a way. Every time one of those creatures got close, the frog started salivating as if it was lost in the desert and the monster was a glass of water. Still, Leo let his pet indulge a couple of times before having to stop him from eating. Otherwise, he would end up being sick. It took them almost a full day of travel while fighting a few monsters on the way. It seemed like the guild had set up a trail of lamp posts across the path leading to the other side of the chasm. Thanks to the light, it was easier for them to move along, but at the same time, it attracted monsters to those areas. Apparently, the idea was to eventually put some monster repellent set up on the posts to allow for more safe travels, but that would still take some time to be done. Before even reaching the abyss, the group saw where the bridge would start. Someone had built it on the side of the valley, using the wall as part of the structure. It was actually really smart. They carved out the shape they needed, and the areas that were no longer full gave part of the material needed to make the actual bridge. What surprised Hera the most was how tall the bridge was. When they arrived in the middle of it, she guessed they were about 20 meters above the ground. Well, above the ground of the valley. If they were talking about the chasm, she still had no idea how deep it went. There was a big possibility that the existence of the giant snake influenced the way the structure was built. After all, if it was something this high up, there would be more time to notice the monster coming. Not to mention the width of the bridge. A slab 20 meters wide and 100 meters long of stone was being held by an arched support beam. Making the bridge this wide was a way to hold back the snake and to make sure that they had a ''highway'' of sorts for when they decided to create an actual outpost on the other side of the chasm. Everyone was crossing the bridge when they saw the mist rolling in the chasm. Not that the fog wasn''t there before, but now a larger cloud was coming closer. Still too far to even threaten to touch the upper layer of the room. Still, it was an incredible sight. It was almost as if there was a steam locomotive under all that fog, pushing forward and creating more steam as it passed by. Suddenly, the movement of whatever was under the mist stopped, and the mist slowly started to fill up the chasm. As mesmerizing as that scene was, the group kept moving forward, not wanting to stay there and risk having the snake attacking them on the bridge. Even if there was no indication that the snake was aggressive, no one was willing to test that theory out. About an hour later, the group arrived in the camp where the archaeologist had set up. Shane wasn''t around at the time, but they were already aware that Hera and the others were coming. In fact, they were all very excited about Hera''s arrival. Shane had told them about the spell required to open the Naga hero''s tomb, but no one had figured out the element yet. The people in there started asking about the spell, and since it was late, and they were tired, Hera''s group decided to hang on in the camp and only go to the tomb on the next day. Sometime later, Shane arrived, and Hera had a chance to talk to her since the explorer had become the unofficial leader of the excavation. "Can I make a condition to open the tomb?" Hera asked. "Depends on the condition," Shane replied. "I don''t want anyone with me in the yellow Naga room. I don''t know if or what I''m going to find there, but I rather not have anyone looking over my shoulder," Hera explained. "I think we can work with that. There will be a lot of things for everyone to look into and the people here are more interested in the cultural aspects. I''m just not sure how long I can keep them off of you," Shane sighed. "That works," Hera nodded. They talked some more with Shane explaining how everything was set up here and what they had found already. Hera wasn''t that excited about the discoveries, but at the same time, it was incredible how much they were able to discover just by studying some tombs. Hera hung around the camp, talking to her friends until they went to bed. When they went to bed, Hera had trouble sleeping. She was too excited about the idea of finally starting looking into her lead. 360 - Scholars research The trip to the Naga hero''s tomb was surprisingly uneventful. Shane and her team had cleared out most of the monsters in the area. Their main focus was the spiral path. If there was another horde of creatures like when Hera and the other went there for the first time, no camp would survive the monsters'' assault. Another benefit this type of setup had brought was the use of one of the New Dawn Deep Room Connection Towers. They were a mobile internet towers that could be deployed by a single person and could extend the wireless signal range. The New Dawn was still very much in the early stages of its collaboration with the guild, which meant that they would use most if not all opportunities to showcase some of their products and their versatility. Thanks to that, small excursions that normally wouldn''t grab anyone''s attention were supplied with some of the best gear available, as long as they were willing to give some feedback to both the guild and New Dawn. Despite all that, Hera understood the underlying message of that offer. New Dawn expected positive feedback and probably would even be happy to hear about a problem or two as long as they could use the situation as a case of success to sell more of those towers. Either way, that wasn''t Hera''s problem, and she could enjoy internet connection all across the room. Almost every archaeologists wanted to head to the Naga hero''s tomb, but a couple of them were interested in one of the crypts on the upper layer of the valley. In the end. The group split into two teams. Hera''s party would go with Shane, Mylo, and two other excavation members while the rest would stay back. Since they had to keep some people in the camp to guard their gear. Traveling to the tomb wasn''t the most accessible place to get to. Even if the monsters were mainly gone, there was still a lot of ground to cover, and some stragglers kept trying to eat the new smaller prey. Even so, the group only took four hours to arrive at what Shane was calling ''Kings'' Row.'' That was the area after the narrow path, where the tombs seemed much more opulent and had gigantic rock sculptures. Still, the archaeologists didn''t seem that excited about those, almost like they already had seen the tombs. However, they were getting giddier and giddier as they got close to the small sculpture that was in the middle of the path. Arriving there, Shane turned to Hera. "So, do you have a way to trigger all the runes?" "Yeah, for the spells that we don''t have among ourselves, I got a few one-time use spells, but if you guys can help out, that would be great," Hera replied. Shane nodded and waved Mylo over, who was currently playing with Tiger while talking to Leo. One by one, the runes were lit in the correct order until reaching the final sigil that only Hera could activate. She cast her Selective Memory spell, and the statue brought its hands down. The temple rose up from the ground once more, revealing that familiar white and green design. Loud gasps came from the archaeologists seeing that for the first time. "Ok, just a heads up. I hope that Shane talked to you guys before, but I want to be left alone in the yellow Naga room. The people who came with me can join me, but everyone else, please let me work," Hera turned to the people she didn''t know. "Are you sure? We are used to doing this type of thing. Maybe we can help," a man with short hair and a thick pair of prescription goggles asked. "I appreciate the offer, but this is something I have to do myself. If I see I''m stuck, I''ll ask for help, but I want to try it on my own first," Hera explained. Phrasing like that seemed to resonate with the archaeologists that understood the desire to find something for themselves. They also had a lot of things to discover in the tomb, which helped with the idea of not being able to look into a specific room. Hera was curious about what Shane would do with the Legacy door or if it even would be there. She tried to ask the legacy holder about it, but there was never a moment where she wasn''t surrounded by other people who Hera had no idea if they knew that Shane had a legacy. When entering the tomb, Leo went along with the archaeologists, it was the first time he came to such a place, and the hunter wanted to see everything. Hera, Blue, and Alex went straight to the yellow Naga room. After closing the door behind them, Hera pulled up the tamer''s journal and showed the type of handwriting they were searching for. She used one of the pictures that Bonnie took as an example and explained how she expected the messages to be hidden in the scrolls. Hera guessed that the writing was part of another spell that would be hidden among the scrolls in the room for the one-piece she had. They all started searching, being careful not to tear or damage any of the paper since it was hard to figure out where the hidden message would be. At first, things seemed to be going well. It took them just one hour to find a set that seemed to match and, even better, that wasn''t a spell, but a small message talking about the Court of Heroes. It was almost like the residual ink from a letter or something someone wrote above the scroll. On the particular message that the group managed to connect the pieces, Hera could read: ''Court meeting. 6 months and 11 days. Xystar Coliseum. Blades will be there. Can''t be late. Travel takes 1 month, 2 weeks if we go through the canal. Let me know when you are ready to go.'' Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hera had to hold herself back from jumping with joy when she finished translating the entire thing. This sounded like a huge lead, and It came in two parts. Both the Xystar Coliseum and the canal could give her some hint not just about the tamer but about the entire court. Not to mention that the canal, whatever it was, should be a huge time saver for the guild as well. If it was something that made a 1-month journey turn into 2 weeks, it was just as good as the kobold road, if not better. However, there were two issues with that prospect. First, Hera had no clue where the canal or the Xystar Coliseum was located. Second, she never got a definitive answer if old civilizations respected the 3 rooms a day rule. That information wasn''t given by the system, she only had it because of the extensive testing made by the guild. If the people from ancient times considered that getting stuck was just bad luck, that journey could be going across hundreds if not thousands of rooms. While Alex and Blue continued searching and matching those random scribbles to something that made sense. Hera left the room to look for Shane. The explorer was currently in the central room, making a catalog of the mementos left behind to the Naga hero and his party. "Shane, do you know anything about a canal or a place called Xystar Coliseum?" Hera asked just as she arrived in the main room. "Hi, glad to see you are still around. I can''t say those names ring any bells. I mean, canal can mean a lot of different things, so I know a few places that might match, but they are nowhere near here. Xystar Coliseum, on the other hand¡­ The name sounds familiar. Maybe I saw something like that while searching for this place. I need to double-check my notes, and if you don''t mind, we can ask everyone here if they know where those places are." "Sure. I mean, it''s just a place, and it''s not like they will know what I''m looking for," Hera replied. They asked around, but it seemed like no one knew about any canal or any place called Xystar. There were several coliseums in the MAZE, including a couple of rooms that either were just in the coliseum or just a large area with a massive coliseum in the middle. Shane pulled her notes and tried to find the place she thought about, but the closest thing she managed to find was called Shy-krar, and the room itself didn''t have any coliseums. It was a shame, but for now, Hera would need to search more before finding another clue. The explorer went back to the yellow Naga room and started helping the others again. However, not even 20 minutes passed before Blue began to complain about being bored. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to be doing fine. It was a bit unexpected, but the assassin loved puzzles, and this was like a very intricate one. In the end, Blue went outside to train with Leo, Tiger, and Mylo. Hera thanked her for the help and let her go. After all, she knew that the controller wasn''t exactly in her element here. For the next two days, they spent most of the time in the temple trying to decode all the messages left behind by the tamer. Hera had translated two spells, one that allowed one to heal monsters and another that gave an element to the monsters. The second one wasn''t simply a temporary buff but a permanent effect that could change the monster on a more fundamental level. What stumped her was a third one that seemed to let you talk with some monsters, and that wasn''t simply speaking and having them obey you, but having an actual conversation with the creatures. Unfortunately, that spell was missing several pieces. She only found some of the information about what the spell did and about a quarter of the circle used to cast it. Hera never tried to use a spell circle like those that were showing in both the yellow Naga scrolls and the ones made by the tamer, but she figured that since she was a conceptual mage, as long as she understood what the circles were doing, she might be able to use the spells. Even if the combat ones would be out of the picture, those made more for preparation or, like the Bestow Element made by the tamer, were a one-off thing. It was a shame that the third spell wasn''t complete, and there were no more scrolls to search in the room. There weren''t a lot of tomes, to begin with. In total, there were just around 30 volumes, and only 10 of them had ink vestiges. The biggest problem was making the connections and finding a couple of the scrolls hidden away in secret compartments among the racks in the room. Hera couldn''t help but find that this place was weird. It was too much space for just 30 spells. The other rooms of the tomb had their reason for being that size. The arena needed to be large enough to allow people to train, the forge couldn''t be too small, or whoever was inside would end up frying, and the star map needed space to correctly represent what one would see in the sky. The only place that felt off or incomplete was the yellow Naga room. She guessed that either there was something they were missing, or someone had come here before them and took away whatever was inside the room, leaving only the racks behind to trick those who came later into thinking that this was everything. Still, there wasn''t much she could do now, and together with Alex, they left the room, giving the archaeologists the green light to go there and study the room. As part of the deal that allowed her to have private time in with the tomes, Hera would stay around for a couple more days to open the tomb for whoever wanted to be inside. Even if it seemed like the structure wouldn''t go back underground while someone was inside, no one was willing to sleep there to confirm. When they were heading back to the camp near the graveyard, Hera explained the spell she found to Leo and asked him, "So, can I try to give Tiger an element?" 361 - Trip Hera explained to Leo how the spell worked, but even so, the hunter wasn''t that excited. Actually, he was interested but the idea of letting Tiger be a test subject was a deal breaker. In the end, he only agreed to let Hera test that spell if she tried it on a few random monsters first. It was a good idea, this would be the first time she would ever be trying to do something like that, and even if it worked, she had no way to know what would happen with the monster she tried to use the spell on. Her attempt could come up as nothing, and even worse, there could be side effects that put Tiger''s life in danger. Hearing the hunter''s arguments made Hera realize that she was too excited about the spell. Of course, she would have to test it thoroughly before using it on Tiger or any pet. To start off, she used the time they were in the camp to understand the spell circle and how it worked. It was something similar to code, and she had no idea how copying the runes would work with her subjective nature. Just writing it down and putting mana on it didn''t work. Nothing happened, even when she tried weaving the spell circle with her mana. Talking with some people around, they all agreed that it wasn''t just about copying the spell. She had to understand what each part of the spell did. That was the whole reason why people only used spells in a certain way. Mana was something fickle. It would behave according to the user''s will and require a deep understanding of each step before working. That''s why making new spells wasn''t as easy as thinking ''make a light'' or ''create water.'' Magic asked for a reason, a logical explanation as to why it could go against all logic. It was a bizarre and contradictory concept, but no one could go against it. For Hera, who wanted to use that spell, this was frustrating. Unlike the scrolls made by the Yellow Naga, the spells made by the tamer weren''t exactly beginner-friendly. There was very little explanation about what each part did and only a general idea of what happened. In essence, it was like trying to read a research paper about a very advanced subject that expected the reader to have a lot of knowledge in the area. To Hera, it was as if she was trying to learn calculus without even knowing basic multiplication. Hera had to start from the basics. She tried to cross-reference the spells on the scrolls made by the yellow Naga, or at least were found in that room, to see if there were runes matching the same symbols she saw in the tamer''s spell. This ended up being even harder than figuring out the hidden spells, not just because Hera had no idea where each rune would stop and a new one would start, but the tamer''s handwriting was awful. It took her almost a full hour just to find something even close to matching anything in the Naga''s scrolls. Hera kept thinking that the tamer should''ve taken some calligraphy lessons if she wanted to actually pass her spells to someone else. Alex was trying to help Hera for a while, but it didn''t take long before the assassin grew bored. Looking for the spread-out pieces of the spells was much more exciting than translating documents from two different languages and trying to make sense of them. "Quick question. How can you tell that the runes are even part of the same language?" Alex turned to Hera. "What do you mean?" "I mean, the spells the Naga made are in their own weird language that requires infrared to be read properly. Why would the tamer use the same language? Whoever they are, they are not part of the Naga race, are they?" Hera stopped for a moment. She was going off the assumption that spell circles were a universal thing. Following the same rules and language, it didn''t matter where they were from. However, if that wasn''t the case, trying to match the symbols would be useless. She thought the runes were wrong because of the tamer''s lousy handwriting, and if that wasn''t the case, she had to go about it in a different way. For the next couple of days, where Hera had to be around the Naga tomb to open it, she kept trying to figure out the spell she was calling ''Imbue Element.'' In the notes left by the tamer, this spell was referred to as ''A spell to give elemental properties to allied monsters,'' but that was too much of a mouthful. Blue was training with Leo, Mylo, and Tiger. She only stopped complaining when the party agreed to run some dungeons after this was over. People had found a couple in this room that that controller was excited about. During that time, Alex tried to figure out the Naga fighting style. Thanks to the suggestion of one of the archaeologists, she figured out that the best way to mirror the movement of the green Naga was to use a spell to let her glide or ski through the floor. That way, she could replicate how the green Naga moved. With that, it didn''t take long for her to get them a skill for that. It was called ''Dorohla Style,'' and it was perfect not just for Alex but also for Blue. The entire idea was to dodge and spin around your opponent to confuse them with quick snake-like movement and wait for an opening to defeat them in a single strike. Adding that to Alex''s new quick draw, she was quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Hera kept that in mind, and she would try to get the fighting style later, but she was focused on the spell for now. After spending some time talking not just with the people on the camp but also with Helena and Bonnie. She managed to create a spell circle that could work for the ''Imbue Element'' spell. To do that, she had to almost develop her own set of rules. Each part of the circle had a meaning that she took from how mana behaved while she tried to cast spells. For the foundation, she used a web-like structure similar to the one she used to cast her mana reinforcement spell, but weaved in between each thread was a strand of DNA. The tamer explained that for the spell to work, one had to change the very essence of the creature, and what was the essence of a living being if not their genetic code? However, that would only be the last part of the spell. Guided by the loose explanation given by the tamer, Hera continued making the spell. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. First, there was a ring on the outside of the circle that would be filled with mana. Not elemental mana, but pure raw mana. Then, using the base idea of Helena''s affinity sight, she could make the spell see the creature''s affinity before going to the next step, which was to change the mana into the element that most fit the creature. Part of her wanted to add all the possible affinities to that piece of the spell, but since there were countless possible elements, doing that would be impossible. Hera even considered doing just the most famous elements like fire, water, earth, and air, but after a test run with nothing inside, the elements started to clash with each other dispersing the mana before it reached the central part of the spell. Using a different approach, Hera made another layer to the spell, which would grab the element that the affinity found and change the entire spell to match that mana. Bonnie was the one who helped the most at that point, this followed her modular spell idea almost to a tee, and when the mana had changed completely, it would go to the final part, where her mana reinforcement would be entwined in the target''s DNA. Even after completing the spell circle, Hera didn''t get a notification about making a new spell. However, Helena had warned her that this could be the case. After making a spell using a circle, you had to cast it and have a result before the system would recognize it. So, for her to know if this spell would work or not, she would need a Guinea Pig. After asking around the camp, people were interested in not just helping but seeing her spell for themselves. Spells that gave someone or something an element weren''t unusual, but when she said that this should be a permanent effect, everyone got curious. If it was just something that a random person told them, they would all think that she was just naive, but since this all came from an ancient tomb, they were cautiously optimistic about the idea. Mylo, Blue, Leo, and a man named Charlie, one of the people in the camp, went looking for a small monster that could be used for Hera''s test. In less than half an hour, they came back with a spider that was sleeping thanks to one of Charlie''s spells. They dragged the creature to where Hera had set up the spell circle and added a small cage surrounding both the monster and the markings made by the explorer on the ground to guide the mana. With that ready, Hera stepped forward and began casting the spell. Telling her mana how it should move and where it should go. Doing that only cost her a couple hundred mana, which was the first red flag. The second one was that the magic seemed to be stuck on the ground. Yes, the spell was starting to go off, but it wasn''t able to leave the spell circle. The energy was stuck inside instead of going towards the creature. Luckily, the spider was still sleeping, so Hera had a chance to tweak the spell. This time, she understood why every spell circle had a more intricate pattern on the center. More than it simply being because of the lack of space, she had to direct the spell somehow. Going back to the tamer''s spell, Hera spent a few minutes coming up with her own version of a direction rune, and she made a new spell circle beside the one she created before. With the help of the others, they transferred the spider to the new and improved version of the runic circle and created the stone cage again. Hera started to cast it one more time, and in just a few moments, she already noticed the difference. The mana wouldn''t be stuck in the spell circle anymore, but it would start to coat the spider and seep into its skin. The problem was how much mana was being used. Hera could feel her mana dropping rapidly, and it didn''t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. Pulling mana from her earrings and bracelet, Hera flooded the spell circle with energy. It became so dense that the soft glow coming from the drawing turned into almost a small structure. The circle itself was surrounded by a fence made out of mana about 40 centimeters tall. When there was less than three hundred mana in her bracelet, the ravenous spell circle stopped eating Hera''s mana, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell acquired Imbue Element - flawed imitation The spell allows you to imbue a creature with a random element permanently. The affected creature will have access to new abilities and a new affinity, making it stronger depending on the element received. However, due to the lack of understanding of the spell by its creator, the element will burn the creature''s life force to power itself, leading to its eventual death. The more it burns, the stronger the effects will get. The amount of mana required for the spell will vary depending on the conditions and target. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What do you mean lack of understanding? She''s the one that can''t explain her work," Hera huffed while reading the description. She didn''t have time to worry about that. A loud scream came from the spider that was now glowing with a yellow light. It tried to slam its body against the stone bars of its cage, but the attack didn''t connect. In fact, just as the monster was about to touch the rock, it blinked and appeared outside of the cage with its body surrounded by lightning. No one was expecting that since the spiders in here had either rock, poison, or stealth affinities. There was no reason for it to get something related to electricity. The spider screamed again and started to run away from the camp. Hera quickly got up and started chasing it. She understood that the spell could eventually kill the monster, but that wasn''t a guarantee, and if some random person found it, they could end up getting seriously hurt by this creature that she had just buffed. Her friends started running with her, but they were a bit late to the draw. Without stopping, the monster kept moving in a straight line, heading directly to the edge of this side of the chasm. Hera tried to hit it with her poison needles, but the creature was too quick. She triggered her [All in], focusing on her legs. She knew that she could use the skill like that even if it was a bad idea. As long as the rest of the party was coming behind her, all she had to do was stop that monster. As they got close to the mist coming from the chasm, the glowing yellow spider jumped up, and the light that it kept giving off vanished. Hera stopped running and just got as close to the mist as she felt comfortable with and tried to see if she could find the spider. "Hera!" Blue''s voice came from a few meters behind her, just as the explorer tried to use her [Observe - Red sight]. There was a heat spot going up to the mist, but it came back towards the valley. As Hera followed the trail with her eyes, the spider dropped from above, and in an explosion of lightning, it launched itself towards the explorer, flinging her towards the mist. Alex and Blue just saw Hera being tossed towards the fog, the spider''s body tumbling backward motionless, and Hera''s scream as she fell into the misty abyss. 362 - Nest Hera saw a flash on the corner of her eye right before the spider slammed its body against her. She had already stopped running, so all her attributes were lower than they should be. Because of that, she wasn''t able to defend herself properly, and the impact tossed her towards the mist with such force that Hera flew almost twenty meters into the fog. Twenty meters before she started falling. With a scream of panic, Hera fell prey to gravity. What would be in the bottom of the abyss? Where was the giant snake? How could she have been so careless? Was she going to die? Where would she end up? Was there even a place to end up in? Would she just return to being a part of the system? Questions and thoughts flooded her mind, moving even faster than the wind in her ears. Hera heard some noise, a far cry of someone calling her name, and a light above. The light of a storm cloud trying to reach her but going in the complete opposite way. Hera tried to scream, but the sound came out muffled. The fog hid her body and even the noises that she made. Trying to think fast, Hera did a mental check of her spell to see if she could do anything before hitting the ground, anything that would save her from her imminent demise. Wind spells? They were too weak to keep her up and too small to hold her in the air. Fire? Unless she had a large piece of cloth, it would be useless. Poison? She couldn''t even use that to end it before hitting the ground. A single idea came to mind. Using the Mana Reinforcement on herself. It was enough to make her weapons withstand massive hits. Maybe it would be enough to save her. It was a long shot, but she didn''t have time to come up with another plan. The issue was she was almost out of mana. Trying to make the Imbue Element spell work almost completely tapped her out. She didn''t have enough mana to cover herself entirely with the spell, and if she didn''t complete the connection, her Mana Reinforcement wouldn''t work. As if a light bulb had been turned on. Hera had an idea. She didn''t have to start with that spell. If she covered herself in a different type of mana and then used her [Shaper of Mana] skill to change it to protect her, she might survive. It was a stupid idea, even stupider than her first one, but for all effects, the only one she had. Hera put her hands on her chest and back and cast her Poison Spray, trying to cover her entire body with the spell. Would she be poisoned by her own spell? Hera tried that a long time ago, but it never took hold of her. Then again, she had never tried jumping into a pool of her own poison before. Understanding her request, Hera''s mana worked on overdrive and let out the venom from all her pores. Following that, the explorer began to weave the poison in the same structure as her Mana Reinforcement. Unfortunately, this task was taking too long. She could feel it working, and the spell changed to protect her, but she couldn''t do it all at once. It would be better if she could turn around and fall on her side or if she managed to stand up and hit the ground feet first. Sure, she would break both her legs, but it was better than breaking her spine or skull. By some miracle, Hera wasn''t spinning while falling, and she was worried that trying to change her position would make her spiral uncontrollably. So she was focusing on making her back more protected. First, the neck, becoming paralyzed would be worse than dying. Then the skull and following along the spine. Shoulders next, if she broke her legs, she could crawl around and maybe use her tablet to ask for help. If she broke her arms, she could only move, and even taking out her tablet would be a struggle. Was that the right choice? Hera didn''t know, but she had to go through with it. There was no time to second guess herself. Shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, and wrists can''t forget the wrist and hand. Moving down to her waist and spreading the protection to her legs. The sides of her back were still not done, but you could survive with a perforated stomach, but you couldn''t with a collapsed lung. Stop going to the leg. Focus on the upper area of the back. Hera barely managed to complete her reinforcement of the back of her ribcage when she glanced down and saw something approaching quickly. Something moving at high speed. Maybe this was a river. If she hit the water, it could be better. Or worse? Did she reach terminal velocity? Would this even change anything? Hera tried to go back to her protection and cover more of her back as fast as possible. After barely starting with her legs, she finally hit the ground. ¡­ and it was¡­ Soft? Weirdly pointy but soft. She even bounced a bit as she hit what should be the floor. Looking to the side, she saw that she was moving, and under her, there were these weird white rocks. No, not rocks¡­. Scales! Hera''s heart sank. She just got a glimmer of hope now that she survived the fall, only to realize that she was riding the giant snake. At least it didn''t seem to notice her. Just as she had that though, the monster stopped moving. Hera went tumbling forward, having to hold herself with the help of the scales. However, they were sharp and dug deep into her hands, blood already flowing out of her wound. When she managed to pull herself up, she felt the mist changing. It was both becoming thicker and being pushed by something. Something big. Two massive nostrils appeared from the smoke, and a tongue, an impossibly big tongue, came out from under them. It got close to Hera and shook rapidly at such a high speed that she had to hold on to the scales, not to be pushed away. There was nothing she could do but hope that the snake wasn''t hungry or angry at her for falling into its back. Instinctively, the explorer triggered her [Observe]. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ???????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as the window appeared on top of the creature, the snake shifted, tilting its head to the side, revealing a silver eye that was bigger than Hera. "Hi," Hera awkwardly waved at the monster. The snake shifted again, aiming its mouth towards Hera, and the tongue came out once more, this time getting so close that some of the snake''s spit sputtered over Hera. She didn''t expect a snake to have saliva, but it wasn''t that much of a surprise considering how big it was. The tongue came out one more time. This time was targeting the empty space behind the explorer, who once more had to dig her hands into the scales to stop herself from being tossed away. She saw the massive head of the snake going back and turning to the other side, revealing a beautiful green eye. It was almost like staring into a forest with a white waterfall splitting the woods into two. Hera was mesmerized by the sight and almost felt sad that the creature shifted again, now stretching its head to continue its path. "Wait," Hera tried to speak, but the snake was already moving through the abyss. However, this time it was much faster. Hera had to lie completely flat on top of the snake and hold on to dear life not to end up flying off. The sound of the wind passing by was deafening, and it was hard to even keep her eyes open. She managed to get a glimpse of what was going on, and it was like she was inside a train going through a tunnel. Everything was moving so fast that she couldn''t make sense of anything, and there weren''t even the lights to help her understand the speed at which she was traveling. Hera noticed how there was some mist coming out of the monster''s body, but more than that, she saw the wall of fog making a turn to the right. She prepared herself and grabbed the scales with all her strength, feeling them break through the armor of her gloves and cut deep into her hands. But that didn''t matter. It was better to have wounded hands than to fall to the ground or whatever it was beneath her. When the curve came, Hera even tried to see if any spell could help her, but her stone wall needed rock to be created. At most, she could try to use some wind feathers to push her in the opposite direction, but even that was a stretch. She felt the centrifugal force pushing her to the side. With all her strength, she tried to hold on to the scales, feeling the sharp edges dig deeper and deeper into her skin. It came to a point where Hera could feel part of her hand flapping around. She didn''t have to look to know that the scales were ripping her palms apart. Blood was spilling and making it difficult to maintain her grip, but the worst part of all was the pain. The pain of having your flesh and muscle being cut slowly. The pain of having your bones exposed to the elements. A pain so sharp that not even the adrenaline coursing through her body was able to weaken it. Her hand was slipping. In just a few more moments, she would be holding on with only her fingers, and it was very likely that they would be chopped off by the scales. She tried to get a better grip, but her hands slipped when Hera tried to pull up, and she was tossed off the snake. With the body of the snake moving faster under her and some of the skin from her hands dangling from the scales, her thoughts started to wander, ''Did I think that right? Is it centrifugal or centripetal force? I never remember what''s the difference between them. It would be nice to at least know the name of what killed me.'' As those thoughts crossed her mind, Hera felt something on her back. Something wet and heavy pushed her down back into the snake. It was like someone had tossed a weight on her back, but not to the point of hurting her. She glanced up and could only see a thick layer of smoke moving at different speeds, but she couldn''t tell what part was close and what part was far away. Hera just stopped struggling and rested her face on the snake''s back. The scales were like the cold side of a pillow, and whatever was holding her down was soft and warm. "I wonder if the snake will feel bad if I take a nap," Hera mumbled, her eyes getting heavy. She never managed to sleep, despite feeling extremely tired. Every time she was about to fall into unconsciousness, something deep inside of her fought back, only to be silenced right away. Some time went by, Hera couldn''t tell how long it was, but eventually, the snake slowed down and stopped at the same time that the heavyweight on Hera''s back vanished, together with her sleepiness. Looking around, she saw a small alcove to her right, and the snake''s body seemed to have shifted to allow her to enter this space. Carefully, she got up, feeling the sharp pain in her hands again. For the first time, she took a look at the damage, and most of her skin was open. She could see the bones in her hand, but most of the flesh was still attached to the tip of her fingers. Trying to keep her hands steady, not to make the rest of them be ripped apart, Hera walked into the alcove, being careful not to lose her footing. As soon as she stepped off, the snake shifted again. Hera could only make a quick scan of the area before seeing the massive head of the snake approach. It moved to stare at her with its silver eye. "So¡­ what now?" Hera asked while gritting her teeth. The pain in her hands became more and more unbearable. She had to figure out a way to bandage her hands. That way, she could have a chance of recovering from that, using the only healing spell at her disposal. Without moving, the snake made a noise with its tongue, and the mist coming from its body reached out to Hera, enveloping both her hands. The pain immediately stopped, and Hera felt a familiar soft and warm sensation, followed by a slight tingle. Less than ten seconds passed, and the snake pulled the fog back. Hera''s hands were completely healed. There wasn''t even a scar where the scales had cut her, and the parts of flesh that were missing were there. There was no way to tell if that was new skin or the skin that she lost during the trip. She was in shock for a moment, but suddenly she realized what she had to do and turned to the snake, opening a big smile, "Thank you!" In response, the snake gently nodded and kept staring at her, almost as if it was waiting for something. "Can I do something for you?" Hera asked. Another moment passed without a response. Hera didn''t know what to do, but suddenly, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been [Observed] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The snake kept staring at Hera with expectation. The explorer couldn''t tell why, but something told her that the snake was asking for her to use [Observe] on it. Not wanting to anger the monster, she complied with the apparent request. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chika - Darni''s Companion - Level ???? (Mist affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 363 - A very old friend
"Darni? Wait... Are you the Naga Hero''s pet?" Hera gasped. Could this snake be a creature that has been alive since so long ago? On the one hand, it would make sense for it to be this big, but on the other, how could something survive for so long? The snake nodded vigorously while closing its eyes, shaking the entire area. Hera tried to keep her footing, but she was still feeling a bit woozy from the effects of the mist and ended up falling to the ground. Seeing that, Chika stopped nodding and lowered its head, almost like a puppy who just did something bad. "I''m OK. Don''t worry," Hera chuckled, realizing that the gigantic snake who terrified everyone seemed just to be lonely, "Wait a minute. How can I tell that you are lonely? And how can you understand what I''m saying? I should be the first human you come in contact with, and the Naga used a different language." Chika tilted its head, unsure of the meaning of the question. "Sorry, I don''t expect you to answer. I''m just thinking out loud," Hera smiled, not wanting to make the giant puppy upset. The snake moved over and tried to touch Hera with its face, but the stone around the alcove blocked it. Feeling dejected, it moved back and stared at the explorer longingly. Hera smiled and got up, staying close to the edge of this small cave. She looked around and saw how Chika would be too big to reach her even if she was almost falling into the abyss. Not wanting to leave the snake who saved her life alone, Hera made a stone platform and pushed it far enough so the snake could get close. "Come here," Hera gestured to the snake asking for a hug. Chika didn''t miss a beat and quickly but carefully approached the explorer, rubbing the side of its face on the human who seemed to understand it. Hera hugged Chika back. The scales on its head seemed much softer than the ones on its body, it wasn''t like touching fur or someone''s skin, but it was on par with a strong hairbrush. They stood like that for a few moments until Hera noticed something heavy falling beside her. Unsure of what was going on, she looked around without letting go of the attempted hug. Another large object fell on the other side. She looked up and realized that these objects were tears coming from Chika. Tears of happiness and sadness that were held back for eons. Hera didn''t want to let go, but each tear was the size of a minivan, if one of those fell on her, she would be squashed, and the platform she made wouldn''t survive. She let go of the hug and jumped to the alcove. When she looked back, she met a confused and slightly hurt Chika staring at her. "I''m sorry. I want to hug you, but your tears are too big, and the walkway is weak," Hera gestured to her own eye and then the half-bridge she created, and Chika seemed to understand, despite not being happy about the situation. Again, Hera felt confused about how she could understand Chika so well. There was a kinship among them, like seeing an old friend or someone who shared the same mentality. Did that mean that she was a snake herself? Probably not. Could it be because of an affinity? But Hera didn''t have any mist spells, she did have poison, but she couldn''t be sure that Chika had any poison. However¡­ The Naga poison could be different. If Chika was part of the Naga people, could that skill be helping her with the translation? Hera stopped thinking and focused on her poison, the one covering her body and the one in her mana pool. She could sense it, clear as day, but almost like a crappy glow in the dark star sticker, the type who you could only see when you were not looking directly at it, she could feel some mana coming from Chika. It was familiar yet unique, not the same mana that she was using, but something very close. Maybe that was the reason. Since they shared that particular type of mana, they could communicate somewhat. Maybe Chika even received the same skill that she had. Hera walked back to her platform with a smile and gestured for the snake to get closer. It did so but with its snout instead of its cheeks this time. "I can only imagine what it was like to stay here alone all this time. I''m sorry you had to go through that," Hera kept scratching the snake''s snout. A few minutes passed when Hera realized that her friends should be freaking out. It would be even worse if they called Helena, Silah, or even her grandmother, telling her that Hera was dead. She pulled her tablet, hoping that she would somehow have access to the internet here. Luckily, there was a single bar of signal. Hera quickly pulled her group chat and tried to make a call. It kept disconnecting just after a single ring because of the poor connection. Hoping that it would be enough to get their attention, Hera just sent a text letting them know she was fine, how she fell on top of the snake and that it was very friendly. She also added that there seemed to be a connection between her and the creature, but she couldn''t explain how. Hera also mentioned the poison and the Naga poison skill, but made it clear that it was just a theory for now. After being done with all that, she stared at the sent mark on the messages while moving her tablet around, trying to see if there was a place with a better signal until it finally changed to ''delivered.'' This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Good, I think they won''t freak out now," Hera told Chika as if the snake would understand what she was talking about. Feeling a bit silly, Hera turned around to look at the alcove for the first time. It was highly unlikely that there was any monster around since they would just be killed by the snake, but that didn''t mean that there wouldn''t be any danger. The alcove was a wide space, although oddly oval-shaped. Getting closer to the walls, Hera noticed a unique pattern. It seemed like something scraped against them over and over through a long period of time. There was a large rock on the left side of the alcove, and behind it, more markings, but these were smaller. Well, smaller in comparison with the markings on the walls. Whatever made this was still larger than Hera''s torso. Stuck under that rock, Hera saw something blue sticking out. She tried to pull it, but the cloth or whatever was in there didn''t seem like it was in such good shape, meaning she had to be careful with it, or she could end up destroying the object. Hera tried to pull the rock up, but it was too heavy for her, then she made a stone wall rise from under the rock using the little mana she had left. With a loud noise, the boulder shifted and released that cloth object. Hera crouched to pick it up, and it was a handmade plushie of a blue Naga with a large smile and half-moon for eyes, well, eye. One of the eyes was gone. The thing was dirty and battered, but somehow it was still in one piece, even with all the loose thread spread over the entire doll. "What the hell?" She gasped and stood up. Suddenly, the entire room started to shake, making Hera jump back and look around for a trap or something that could be coming to attack her. However, when she looked at Chika, she saw the snake moving around happily and excitedly. "Is this yours?" Hera asked, showing the plushie to Chika. The snake realized how the explorer was having trouble keeping her footing and stopped moving, then it nodded in response to the question. Hera placed the doll on the floor near the edge of the cave, not too close to the abyss that it could easily fall down, but far enough so that Chika would be closer to it. The yarn Naga was small, Hera could hold it in one hand, and even with the battered look, it seemed like it wasn''t made by someone particularly talented. The arms had different sizes, the mouth was oddly shaped, and it seemed like the blue yarn ran out at some point, and they had to use a similar color to complete. Even so, just by looking at Chika, Hera understood that this was made with love, the type of love that survived for a long, long time. With a flick of its tongue, Chika created a small mist hand and pulled the doll close to its head. Its eyes tearing up again. Hera smiled and thought that she wanted to do something to thank the snake for a moment. She used her stone wall spell combined with her [Shaper of Mana] skill to make a small chain link. If she had enough mana, she could try to make a necklace so Chika could carry the doll around. Then again, how would she make that? It was a snake. The largest part of it was its head. Anything below it would just be carried out. Hera tried a few versions of accessories, but nothing seemed to fit or to be usable. Not to mention that anything she did with a rock would be very fragile when considering Chika''s capabilities. Hera just watched as Chika kept playing with its doll for a while. At the same time, She was trying to recover her mana. It usually took around twenty minutes to one hour to recover all her mana. About ten minutes passed when she received a message through her tablet. Like her, it seemed like Blue tried to make some calls, but they all got disconnected. In the end, the controller just sent a text asking a bunch of questions about where Hera was and what happened and saying how happy she was that Hera was OK. She also added that she did send a message to Silah, Bonnie, and Helena during her freak out but that she had already explained to them that everything was fine and they didn''t have to worry. So far, there were no responses to those texts, meaning that the people back in Boothudurn didn''t even see the first message that she sent. Hera sighed and sent another round of texts to Silah, Helena, and Bonnie, giving her own version of the explanation and trying to keep everyone calm. When she was done, she turned back to Chika. The snake was still playing with its doll, tossing it around and catching it later, balancing it on its snout. It tried to curl up with it, but the plushie was too small for the current size of the creature. Hera also took a moment to look around the tunnel that led here. It was very wide, probably enough for Chika to stay curled up in the middle, but it wasn''t that tall, just around 8 meters from the bottom to the ceiling. Compared to the valleys that seemed hundreds of meters tall, this was barely a three-story building. Looking to the sides, to her right, she saw the end of this tunnel, and to the left, it kept going until she couldn''t see it anymore. She pulled her map just to see if she could locate herself. To her surprise, her map was showing more than just this part. There was a long area in the middle of the room, where it should be the chasm, then a turn to the right and nothing. However, her location was much more to the north of the map. Curious about one thing, she overlayed this floor with the floor where the Naga hero''s tomb was located. In reality, she was very close to it, just an unknown number of meters deeper than the King''s Road. Looking up, she realized another thing. The mist coming from Chika was bioluminescent, which was why she could more or less see the surrounding area. Somehow, even with the fog, she could see almost perfectly. Her best guess was that when Chika used that mist to hold her against its body, the snake also cast some sort of spell that could help her see in this area. Turning back to the smaller nest, Hera also noticed that there was what seemed to be a tunnel on the far left. At this point, Chika stopped playing and came back to watch the human that was currently in its old nest. The snake saw where Hera was staring at and gestured for her to go with its head. Thanks to the [Naga Poison], Hera looked back, being called by the snake, and understood what the creature meant because of the connection they shared. "Do you know if that place is safe?" Hera looked back at Chika, who just nodded in response, "OK then." Hera got up and walked towards that tunnel. It curved around, and after a few meters, it started going up. Ten minutes passed as she kept walking until a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Eternal Bond dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 364 - The path up Hera came down the tunnel and got close to the edge. Everything was dark, and the mist was slowly going away, but she couldn''t see the giant snake anywhere. Leaning over the edge, she called, "Chika? Are you still here?" A rumbling came from below the alcove, and the massive snake head appeared from the darkness. Chika let out some bioluminescent mist to allow Hera to see better. "Hey, sorry, but that''s a dungeon. Can you take me up?" Chika just stared at Hera, not understanding the question. "How can I go up?" Hera asked again. Chika pointed to the tunnel with its snout. "That''s a dungeon. Can you take me up?" Hera asked one more time, but Chika still seemed unable to understand the request. Hera spent the next hour trying to ask Chika to take her back to the valley, but every time the explorer asked about an exit or a way to go up, the reply was the same. Despite being very bright, the snake was still an animal or monster, depending on how you look at it. Its intelligence wasn''t exactly on par with that of a person. Maybe it was because it spent too long here alone, or perhaps because Hera was talking in English and Chika was used to a different language. Still, it didn''t seem like there would be any progress. Looking back to the tunnel, the explorer pulled up her tablet and sent another text to Blue and the others. She explained what just happened and how the only apparent way out was a dungeon and, although they were not that common, some dungeons could have exits and entrances in different spots. She also added that she had no idea what to expect inside the dungeon. It could be something quick, or it could be something like the Kobold Battlefield that would last a few days. In either case, they were not to send messages to Silah about her disappearance or apparent death unless the guild confirmed that she was actually dead. The last thing Hera wanted was to make her girlfriend worry even more. So far, Hera saw no reason to doubt Chika, but it was hard to tell if the creature could understand the concept of a dungeon. However, it wasn''t like Hera had too much of a choice here. She didn''t even know how to get back to the chasm, much less if she could make a staircase go up again or if she would even be able to stand on that ground. So far, she couldn''t see the bottom of the room. Yes, she could see Chika moving about, and it was likely that the bottom was just a few meters below her, but when she looked down, Hera could only see darkness. Even throwing a stone or something down, she couldn''t see a thing, and using a dancing light spell didn''t work. The magic would be snuffed out before she could see the floor. It was too eerie, and Hera had no intention of trying to figure that out on her own, much less in a situation like this. Turning back to the tunnel, Hera waved to Chika once more and headed to the dungeon. She went to grab her chakram only to realize that she had lost it. She was holding it while chasing the spider since the weapon could deal spirit damage and the monster''s physical form seemed to be unstable, but she didn''t have time to tie Yarnball on it. With a sigh, she kept going. It was a shame to lose her weapon, especially since it was one of the first pieces of equipment she ever had, but it wasn''t like she could go back and search for it. After a few minutes of walking, the notification appeared once again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Eternal Bond dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, the invisible wall that stopped her from moving forward disappeared, and Hera kept on walking. Another five minutes passed until she reached an opening. She took one step into that area and stopped. It seemed like she was again in the alcove, but as she walked towards the edge, she noticed that the cave was very different. Tossing a few dancing lights around, she saw how the tunnel was much smaller and covered in jagged rocks, almost like what you would expect from an underground river. "Careful, newbie. Don''t go falling on us now," a voice came from behind her, but it wasn''t human. The words came in a loud whisper, and some of the letters dragged for longer than they should. Hera turned around and saw a familiar face. Well¡­ not exactly familiar, but a face she recognized and least. It was a Naga with verdant scales and yellow eyes, but unlike the projection Hera had seen, their clothes seemed different. It wasn''t that ceremonial brag with shoulder pads and adorned leather armor, but something with a more simple design. A black coat covered most of their torso and tail, only stopping a few centimeters above the ground. Their armor was a brown leather vest that didn''t have a single metal. It was also much sleeker than the version in the projection. It seemed to fit the Naga better, not that one would realize that unless they could compare the two versions. "Stop picking on the newborn, Rris," another Naga appeared behind the green one. This one was completely white with green eyes. They wore a robe of sorts, filled with several colorful lines and runes all over the place, and had a pair of bracelets with an oval pearl on them. Could that be Darni? Almost as a response to the question, a small snake with one silver eye appeared from the Naga''s coat. Hera instantly recognized Chika, even if this form was ridiculously small in comparison. "Hum¡­ hi?" Hera waved. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Still star stuck, newbie? Stop that, we are just people, Naga like everyone else," a blue Naga with dark blue arrow-like markings all over its body emerged from the tunnel. This one wore long navy robes and carried several packs filled with scrolls and other materials. "No¡­ Hum. Sorry is just that¡­ where are we again? What are we doing?" Hera asked. Another Naga came from the tunnel, this one red with black rings on its scales. They were wearing a beige shirt and had some straps around their shoulders with hammers and other tools wrapped around them, "Hang on. Did you really ask that?" Hera just nodded awkwardly in response, causing the red Naga to burst into laughter, "I told you your explanation was too confusing. Even I was zoning out. You need to stop beating around the bush so much, Asher." The red Naga was looking back to the tunnel from where the fifth, and final Naga appeared. They had yellow scales and were dragging two seemingly heavy bags behind them, "I swear¡­ I''ll rip your scales¡­ one by one¡­" the Naga seemed exhausted and barely could speak a few words before having to stop and catch their breath. They turned to Hera, "Help¡­ I''ll take it¡­ as an apology." "Sure," Hera went over and picked one of the bags. They were filled with a random assortment of tools, and they were heavy. It was likely that her weakened stats played some part in that, but still. "You two really need to stop making those stupid bets," the white Naga said before turning to Hera, "Now, to answer your question. We are here because we want to make a place to teach our skills to future generations. Think of it as a school of sorts, but for a more specialized set of skills. Your part in all of this is just to take care of our camp and keep Chika here company, our sacred beast is still young, and it would easily get bored during something like this. Our camp will be here. It''s an easily defensible position, and we don''t have to worry about any creature coming from that cave. Going up the tunnel, we will reach the valley where we will build the structure we want. Again, that part is on us, not you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have received a dungeon quest Darni, the enchanter, is building a place where he and his team will pass their skills to the next generation. Your job is to take care of the group''s basic needs and to keep Chika, the sacred snake, entertained. First completion rewards: 80 000 gold, Naga Relic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first ever to enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: Naga Relic Selection + 1 Level These rewards are permanently forfeited if you leave the dungeon without completing this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap, this is a lot of stuff," Hera gasped, reading the notifications. "We can be a bit of a handful, but I promise it won''t be that bad," the white snake chuckled. "Actually, we never had a proper introduction, did we? What''s your name, new blood?" the red Naga asked. "I''m Hera." "Hera? First time I heard that name. Different, I like it," the yellow Naga replied and followed it with a bow, "I''m Asher, one of the best mages from the empire. This rude and obnoxious creature is Naph. He''s a¡­ decent blacksmith." "Decent my tail! I''m the best blacksmith anyone has ever seen. Even the emperor has to beg me to make his equipment," Naph scoffed then turned to Hera, giving her a courtesy bow. The Naga followed that up by pointing at Asher, "This Sunflower here is just pissed because he lost a bet, or is it because he''s too weak to lift a hammer. I can never tell. Then again, the forge is no place for a man." Asher tried to pull one of Naph''s scales, and the two started arguing again. The white Naga sighed and ignored the two while stepping, well slithering, forward, "Those two are always like that, but they have each other''s back, I promise. Even if it''s mostly because they want to be the ones to kill each other. Either way, this is Rris, the captain of the royal warriors and my blood brother," they gestured to the green Naga. "Blood brother?" Hera asked. "Ah, apologies, I forget that this is more of an unknown. In simple terms, we have gone through a ritual that binds us together. There are a couple of skills involved, but that is only worth doing with someone who has your complete and absolute trust. I can explain more to you later, but lastly. This is Casks, our genius star mapper and the best painter I''ve had the pleasure of knowing." "Says the greatest hero that our empire has ever seen," Casks chuckled and bumped the white Naga''s shoulder. "Can you two please stop flirting? We talked about that already," Asher sighed. "Fine, fine. To finish off, I am Darni. Some may call me a hero, but I believe myself to be just a talented enchanter and controller," the white Naga concluded. "Darni! What can you tell me about the Court of Heroes?" Hera asked straight away. She was talking to one of its members. Since they were already making the temple, it should be a version of him that already knew about all that since, according to Shane, the construction only started after a specific meeting with the court. "What can I tell you about what?" Darni asked. "The Court of Heroes. I know it might be a secret, but I''ll take anything you can say," Hera pressed. "What is a secret?" "The Court of Heroes." "Am I¡­ supposed to understand that?" "Darni, can you give me a perception enchant? I need to double-check if there are any signs of monsters or something here," Asher was by the other side of the alcove, in what would become future Chika''s nest. "Of course," Darni turned back to Hera, "We''ll have more time to talk later. Let''s get to work setting up our camp here." Hera tried to stop him, but the Naga didn''t reply. She wasn''t sure what he meant about not understanding what she asked. That could make sense since the system was translating the language to allow her to do the dungeon. Either way, this was a huge lead. Not only had she helped Shane find an actual legacy, but now they had access to a dungeon with one of the court members. There had to be something for her to learn from Darni, and she wasn''t going to let this opportunity pass. 365 - Babysitting Hera helped everyone to set up camp. The Naga didn''t use the same style of camps that she was used to. First, they didn''t use any fire. Instead, they had several thin metal plates connected by some copper wires. They could be placed side by side or in a circle, but the important part was the bowling ball-sized crystal they carried here. When they were going to sleep, Darni would enchant the crystal to let out heat. That way, the Naga could sleep in warm beds. Casks noticed how confused Hera was about this situation and gave a small biology lesson to the newbie. "I''m sure you have wondered at some point why the other races don''t have to worry so much about sleeping in heated areas. According to what I know, that''s because they have warm blood. I mean that quite literally. Unlike us, they can heat up their bodies on their own without having to resort to the heat in the environment. That also means they consume much more food and water to keep that up, but they are less vulnerable to strong weather conditions. Although that might sound nice, it does make them prone to overlook obvious risks. Most of the other races have tales about how someone went to a desert and died because of the heat or about someone who went to a frozen plain and, well, froze to death. All because they were confident that their own bodies could withstand the elements. I also noticed something about them that is very different from us. We can wake up and already be ready to face the day. Even if we are attacked in the middle of the night, we are always in peak condition. I mean if we are not exhausted or something. Warm-blooded races seem to need some time to¡­ well, heat up. They are a bit lethargic and slow when they wake. That''s not the case for all of them, but it seems like the ability to wake up ready for anything is something they have to practice to achieve," Casks spoke as they set up the metal beds. Hera would have her own too, but sleeping on a heated metal plate wasn''t exactly her idea of rest. Casks noticed a worried expression and leaned close to Hera, "I know some of us have skills that can help us to keep our blood warm as we sleep. Naph, for instance, has something like that. If you don''t want to be heated during the night, you can either sleep out of the bed or just disconnect this cable, and you won''t have any issues with the temperature," Casks showed the areas where Hera could detach the bed from the contraption. It was kind of amazing the ingenuity that the Naga had. Looking at this, it was almost like a battery. Hera had to admit that if the Naga people were still around, they should be much more advanced than humans or even the other races. This also made her start to question. If the Naga were this advanced, what happened for them to die off? "OK, we are all done. The cave is secure and hidden from anything. We can go upstairs to finish everything up," Naph came from the edge of the alcove. "We are done here too. The beds are all set. Hera, would you mind carrying our bag with food for the day? You can cook, right? It would help a lot if you did," Casks asked. "I can, but I need to see the ingredients first," Hera replied. "That''s great. Also, be careful with that bag. If you let her, Chika will eat everything on her own," Darni petted the snake, who closed its one silver eye. Hera didn''t notice before, but Chika seemed to be missing one eye, and she had a small scar on the side of her face. Darni noticed the stare and gave her a soft smile, "This little one had a rough childhood. I found her just after her family was attacked by an eagle. In the end, she was fighting by herself against the bird, trying to protect her younger siblings, who were still in the egg. It''s a shame, but all the eggs were already dead. She was the only one alive in the clutch. Still, she fought against the eagle and won. The eye and her scar are wounds from that battle, but if things go well, that might change soon." "Don''t spoil it. Let the new blood see it for themselves. It would be a fun experience for them," Asher cut Darni off. "Alright, alright," the Naga hero chuckled and guided the group towards the tunnel. They traveled in this long cave heading up for about half an hour. Hera had many questions about everything, but she had to focus on completing the quest. After all, she could always come back here to probe for more information, but getting the extra level and the bonus rewards was something she could only get this time. That''s why she was trying to learn more about their food and eating habits. Failing the quest because she was used to using a specific spice or because she made them sick with a soup would make her feel awful. Their diet wasn''t that different from what Hera expected, but it seemed like they didn''t use spices. Food had to be bland, or it would mess with their sense of smell. The only thing she could put was a small amount of salt, so she would have to enjoy foods by themselves for however long she would stay here. While walking and asking about the food to everyone, Hera kept writing down some notes on her tablet. Oddly enough, the Nagas didn''t acknowledge the existence of the device. Probably because they were just creatures from the dungeon and not actual people. By the time she had written down everything she wanted, the group had arrived at the surface. The same valley where Hera found Darni''s statue and his temple. Chika jumped from her partner''s shoulder and started to run around. Darni didn''t say anything and kept moving towards the south, where the chasm should be. After another ten minutes, they arrived at a point where the temple was being built. Most of the structure was already there. The only things missing were the rooms of each Naga and the statues in the front. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Now. We will be going inside. Your task is to keep Chika company for now. There are some monsters around, but they shouldn''t be much of a problem. Even Chika can kill them on her own as long as it is just one or two," Darni picked a rock from the ground and cast a spell on it, "We should return when this rock stops floating. The enchantment will lose strength as the day progresses, so you can use it as a way to measure time. If you can have our meal ready when we get back, that would be great. If not, we can wait for you to make it later, but that might make us take longer to finish everything." When the Naga finished speaking, he let go of the rock which just stayed there, floating in the air. Hera understood that this was the way Darni and the other tracked time. It was hard to tell if they had hourglasses and this was a common thing or if only the hero and his party had the concept of timekeeping. After that, the group walked inside the temple, closing the doors behind them. Hera looked at Chika, who tried to follow them but was stopped before reaching the entrance. Getting close, the explorer realized that both the floating stone and the building itself were locked inside an invisible wall. Hera petted Chika, who looked like a puppy in a time-out. "It''s OK. They will be back soon, I promise." Chika looked at her and climbed up her shoulder. The snake was so small that it could be curled up by Hera''s neck. Since they were alone, Hera tried to explore some of the area. She ended up going all the way back to the narrow path where she made her stand with her party the first time she got here, but oddly enough, the tombs of the emperors weren''t around. This could be because the dungeon wasn''t going to replicate those crypts or because the temple was created before any of the tombs. Somehow, she didn''t think this would be the case. When she saw the tombs, they seemed to progress from the oldest to the newest, starting from the one close to the narrow path. At this time, Chika climbed down from Hera, making the explorer squeal because of the unexpected snake moving around her body. Chika seemed to find that reaction funny and kept moving around, trying to see what kind of noises her new caretaker would make. Her squeal was just out of surprise. Having a cold, scaly creature moving around wasn''t something Hera was used to. But then came the tickling. Chika was surprisingly soft and slippery, and the way she moved rubbed against her armor in a way that the explorer couldn''t control herself. The snake even found a few of the places where the armor was damaged and went inside, only increasing the tickling while Hera desperately tried to take the sacred beast out of her clothes. The problem was that her armor had too many complicated parts to be taken off quickly. Even getting the lock on the zipper out proved to be a struggle as Hera kept feeling Chika slithering around her body. It took ten minutes for Chika to stop running around and jump out of the armor. Hera took off most of her armor with only one boot and her pants remaining when she left. At least the snake didn''t stay too long under her shirt. The last thing she wanted was to get naked in the middle of a dungeon. But the worst part of it all was the smug look on Chika''s face as she decided to leave. It was almost like a kid trying to tell Hera that she had lost. Despite that, the snake was ''mature'' enough to let Hera put on her armor again before going off on her own. The sacred snake could still be a kid, but it was a kid that didn''t want to put herself in danger just for kicks. Hera put on her armor back quickly. She could be in a dungeon with the Naga hero, but right now, she was alone. If any monster decided to come after her, she wanted to feel protected even if the monsters who would show up were the same ones she was more or less used to fighting. After she got ready, Chika started walking back to the temple, and Hera followed. The snake was fast but not enough to outrun the human. They went back to the temple, and the snake poked Hera''s feet before trying to run away. Hera didn''t understand it at first, but after a couple of tries, she noticed that Chika seemed to be wanting to be chased by the human. With a chuckle, Hera obliged and started chasing the snake. They played tag for a while. Hera had to pretend not to be faster than the snake and let it run for some time before catching it and then being the one to run. However, she always made sure to be caught quicker than it took to catch Chika. The game lasted for a while, but Hera stopped playing when she noticed that the rock was very close to the ground. "Hey, let''s stop? Darni and the others should be coming back soon. How about we make something really tasty for them?" Hera asked. In response, Chika looked at the temple and then nodded to Hera. Hera looked around, searching for the supplies, only to realize that she had dropped them right after the Nagas entered the temple. Luckily for her, the bag was still in the same place, and nothing seemed to have touched the food. She pulled the small crystal that would work to heat up the food and the rest of the items with a smile. There was some chicken, some vegetables, but no spice. After checking everything, Hera realized that the food here was all on the dry side of the spectrum. There weren''t any tomatoes or juicy vegetables. It was possible that even something with more liquid would be enough to mess up their sense of smell. In the end, Hera stayed with a basic idea. Just some grilled chicken and salad. She started preparing everything, and when she was halfway through making the chicken in a metal bow they had in the bag, Darni and the others emerged from the temple. Chika hurried over to Darni, who picked her up. They snuggled for a moment and then came towards Hera. "Hey, new blood. Is lunch ready?" Rris asked. "Almost. I''m just finishing up the chicken, and there is a side salad," Hera replied. "Perfect. That will give us some time to finish everything up," Darni pulled another rock and made it float, "We can eat and relax for about one hour before heading back inside. "Really? You are going to be less of a monster this time?" Asher asked. "I''m not that bad," Darni crossed his arms. "My love, sorry, but when you are in charge of our work, you are more of a bastard than the apothecary," Casks added. "So this is how our relationship ends?" Darni shook his head. Everyone laughed, and Naph turned back to Hera, "So, new blood. Since you made this meal for us, is there a story you want to hear while we eat?" 366 - Lunch and a show Hera was taken aback by the question. She didn''t understand what Naph meant. She had to pick a story? But what kind of story? Also, how would they watch it? Or would someone tell that story themselves? Seeing her hesitation, Rris turned to the newbie, "Are you not used to that in your pit?" "You mean telling stories? Kind of, but where are we going to watch it?" for some reason, Hera could only think about how people watched TV while eating, but that felt wrong for the situation. "Leave the details to me. Just ask a story, and we''ll tell you. If you want, I can give you some options, like the tale of the dark warriors or the story of the battle of the peninsula," Naph spoke proudly. "Yeah, yeah, you just want to tell them because you are the main character. Let the newbie pick," Asher turned to Hera, "If you don''t have any ideas, just pick a topic and we''ll see if we know a story about it. This is just for fun, so don''t pick something too heavy or too complex." Hera stopped to think for a moment. This could be a great way to figure out something about the Tamer or the Court of Heroes. However, she still wasn''t sure if she could ask directly about it. When they were in the cave, Darni seemed unable to understand any question about that subject, so maybe all information regarding them was protected by the system. If she wanted to ask something about them, she would have to be sneaky about it. After thinking for a moment, Hera decided to try one more time just to be safe, "Can you tell me a story about the Court of Heroes?" The Naga stared at each other, and Rris asked, "About what new blood? You just stopped talking after that." Hera nodded, understanding that this term wouldn''t work. Could she still be direct? "Sorry, never mind that. What about the Tamer? Can you tell me anything about her?" "Hera, are you OK? Your mouth moved, but after the ''What about you didn''t say anything," Darni asked. "Crap, that too? Give me a minute. I need to think about one thing," Hera sighed. "Sure, just don''t take too long, or I''ll start a random story," Naph replied before starting to eat. Since she was the one offering to tell the story, she would only eat when someone else had finished so they could pick up where she left off. Hera tried to figure out what she could ask to get an answer about the Tamer. It couldn''t be something too specific so she had to think about the letter and the information given by Ninleyn to figure out what story could involve the hero she was searching for. After some time of pondering, she came to the conclusion that most heroes had participated in some sort of large-scale battle, or at least that''s what all the information Ninleyn and the rest of the order had gathered. "Do you know any stories about a battle where someone had a lot of pets or monsters fighting against some great danger? I mean, they were all on the same side facing some other danger," Hera finally asked. "Well¡­ there is one that comes to mind," Naph turned to Darni. "It''s alright. She''s one of us. It''s OK for her to know about our friends, but use their titles," Darni nodded. "OK, then. Where should I start¡­." Naph stopped eating while getting ready to tell the story. Hera could feel her heart beating faster. Sure, her request was something very open-ended, but she already knew that Darni and the others had some relation with the Tamer thanks to the scrolls she found on the temple. Not to mention that someone having more than a single pet was rare, not that people couldn''t have them, but it was a lot of work to train and protect them all. In fact, if it wasn''t for the Tamer, Hera would believe that having more than two pets was something entirely theoretical. "Right, let''s start like this," Naph pulled a piece of raw metal from around his torso. She crunched the metal with her bare hands, grinding the ore into dust. Following that, she slapped both her hands together, creating a small plume of silver dust in the air. The particles stopped moving and gathered around, forming shapes. At first, they seemed to be just triangles, but little by little, they became more defined, showing some plains with flowers, almost like it was the scenery of a shadow theater. "It all began in a room somewhat far away. A place peaceful, there were monsters, of course, but nothing that the people who lived there couldn''t handle. But things changed when a mad wizard appeared. He used monsters as tests for his spells, which could give someone unparalleled strength, but at the cost of their own mind. Everything afflicted by such spells became little more than a puppet at the hands of the crazed mage," as Naph talked, the picture changed almost like it was a shadow theater following the tale that was being told. Hera had to admit that the Naga was skilled. The pictures were beautiful, even if not very detailed. She also couldn''t help to compare that with what Ninleyn had done to explain the order to her. Apparently, using some spells to create a makeshift television seemed to be standard for most civilizations. "For the people in the room, the experiments of the mage were little more than an inconvenience. However, that didn''t last long. The crazed wizard tried to share its work with the kingdom of the room, suggesting that the strongest among them all should have the honor of being affected by his magic, allowing them to get stronger to defend and expand the kingdom for years to come. Even after seeing the spells work and the result of a small monster defeating even one of his veteran guards, the king rejected the mage''s offer refusing to brainwash his subjects. Angry about the rejection, the wizard kidnapped the best warrior in the entire kingdom and used his magic to prove that thanks to his power, now the warrior would be invincible. What the wizard didn''t know was that the best warrior of the kingdom was, in fact, the queen in disguise. It was the ultimate hidden card, a figure of power that would be targeted by assassins but could defeat anyone who attempted to kill them. Because of that, the wizard hesitated to brainwash the queen, who defended herself, cutting one of the mage''s arms and capturing him. Already in chains, the wizard was brought up to the king for his judgment. If it was anyone else, they would have ordered the mage to be executed, which would be the end of the story. However, that king was different. He was benevolent and refused to condemn anyone to their death. Instead, he decided to banish the wizard from the kingdom and block him from crossing through any doorway." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Hera was paying attention to the story, but it seemed like Chika was even more interested. About halfway through the tale, Naph shifted his focus to the snake, allowing her to see the images more clearly. A weird thing was that some of the particles moved in place, and Hera noticed that detail. Remembering that the Naga wrote things with a special ink that had a different temperature, she tried using her [Observe - Red Sight] to see if there was something that she was missing. When she did so, the picture changed completely. It was still a shadow theater, but now the shadows had different colors and shapes. Each figure was much more detailed, with visible expressions and defining markings on their clothes. There were even lighting effects. While the human was in awe of the presentation, Naph continued. "For a few years, that was the story, and no one expected more to happen. Unfortunately, when the queen gave birth to her fourth child, there were some complications that ultimately resulted in her death. When it rains, it pours, as they say, and this wasn''t different. The wizard returned from his exile during the evening of the same day of the queen''s passing. Coming from beyond the plains that surrounded the castle, from the dark forest by the foot of the mountain. He was angry and demanded retribution. Despite everything, the wizard was a patriotic man, and being exiled after having dedicated his life to the protection of the kingdom was more than enough to turn his madness into an unbridled rage. During the years he was alone, he kept improving his spells and amassing an army of monsters at his command. He attacked the kingdom with the full moon high in the sky during the queen''s funeral. The city had little hope of defending against an army of thousands, and the army was lost without their commander. The king resigned himself to his fate with a saddened heart and was about to head out alone towards the wizard, ready to beg for his forgiveness and offer his own head as an apology. His plan might have worked, then again, it might have not, but he was never able to attempt it." Naph leaned over and spoke in a whisper, almost like it was a secret, "You see, there were two¡­ groups, let''s call it, in the city. They knew each other, or at least, knew of each other, but at the time, neither of them was aware of each other''s presence. On the east side of the kingdom, there was a small band of blade masters, each capable of bending an element to their will, who were resting in a tavern before continuing their journey. A powerful sorceress was there in the West side along with her horde of tamed creatures. Without telling anyone or even talking to the king, the two groups left the city and headed to the hills, where the mad wizard army was getting ready to attack. Each had a different reason for fighting, the blade masters were regulars in that tavern, and they knew some of the people in the city, while the sorceress got extremely angry after hearing about what the wizard was doing. You see, she was someone who always believed in talking things out and that everyone, including monsters, were inherently good. That''s a bit of a stretch if you ask me, but either way, that was her belief. They came out of the city gates almost at the same time and met each other while walking towards the hills. That wouldn''t be the first time the blade masters worked with the sorceress. After all, they were part of the same circle, but it was the first time they were just by themselves. In total, there were less than 20 bodies, including monsters getting ready to attack an army of hundreds of creatures that were little more than puppets at the hands of the mage." The picture that Naph was showing was becoming more and more distorted. Not that Hera couldn''t see the details, but the Naga seemed to be trying to make everything more scary and dramatic. She wasn''t the only one that noticed that, and Darni spoke up, "I''m done. How about you finish your meal while I finish the story." "What? But I was just getting to the good part!" Naph gasped. "Yeah, and the last time you ''got to the good part'' around children, they couldn''t sleep for a week. I''m sure the new blood would be fine with all this, but Chika is too young for your graphic battles," Darni explained. "But¡­" Naph started to protest, but the other Naga all shook their heads, "Fine. You guys were more fun before all this," she huffed. "We have bigger responsibilities now, " Darni turned to Hera, "I won''t go into too many details about the fight itself, but it wasn''t something that easy. Yet, both the blade master and the sorceress and her pets were all alive in the end, and the mad wizard was defeated and¡­ well killed during the combat. The king thanked the two groups and gave them a generous reward even if they were not doing it because of that. The blades received a small building to serve as their own base, and the sorceress was offered a small farm in the outskirts, but she ultimately refused since she already had a home. That is known as the battle of Talrill." "Talrill? Like, tall hill? Is that why the hills on Naph''s shadow theater were so big?" Hera asked. Darni scratched his chin, "You know, I never realized that, but yeah. The name is a bit bland." "OK, but can you tell me more about the people who fought there?" Hera pressed. "More?" "Yeah, like, who they are. Where are they from, and how do they fight?" Hera wanted everything she could find about the Tamer, not to mention that the blade masters could also be something related to the Court of Heroes. "Well, the blade masters are known wanderers. They rarely stay for long in a single place. The sorceress probably returned to her home, I''m afraid I don''t remember the name of the room, but it wasn''t supposed to be that far away. I can tell that the battle of Talrill happened in the Kamgeo Highland. That''s the name of the room." Hera quickly wrote it down before looking at the floating rock that was counting down the time they had for lunch. It was a bit more than halfway done, meaning she should have about half an hour before they went back to the temple. She would be sure to milk the Nagas for everything they knew about the tamer and this other group not just during this meal, but the rest of her time in the dungeon. 367 - Gathering breadcrumbs Hera spent the entire half-hour asking about that story, getting every single detail that could help her find both the room and the people in who saved the city. At first, her primary interest was in the sorceress. After all, one of them should be the tamer who was a member of the court of Heroes. Darni and the others told her how the woman herself wasn''t someone who attacked directly. Instead, she buffed her monsters and had specialized each creature to perform in a certain way. A small turtle was extremely fast and worked as the group''s scout, while a giant sloth protected everyone. A deer could call roots from the ground to trap their enemies and there was a wasp that could finish most creatures off in a single strike. Even so, the Naga were still cautious about some of the information they shared about the sorceress. It seemed like there were some details that they didn''t want to share. To Hera, it didn''t feel like they were trying to hide something out of shame or anything, but instead, it was the same care one would have when sharing their friends'' abilities with other people. There was this unspoken rule that one should never reveal what they could do to strangers and always keep some cards hidden close to their chest. "You said that her room wasn''t that far away, but what do you mean by that? Like, can I get there quickly, even following the three crossing rule?" Hera asked. "Three crossing rule?" Asher asked. "Yeah, we can''t cross more than three doorways a day, or we risk getting stuck in a room for a random amount of time." "Ah, yeah, I know what you are talking about, but you only risk getting stuck after crossing five doorways, not three. Besides, it''s so rare for something like that to happen that it''s not even worth it worrying about. When one gets stuck, it is most likely because fate has decided that you need to spend more time in that room," Asher continued. "Yeah, no. If you got stuck in a room it is because you are a greedy bastard, and you deserve it," Rris scoffed. "Sssshhaa, you have too little fate in the system. Nothing it does is random. Everything has a reason," Asher shook his head. "Then do you know why people get stuck?" Hera asked. "I can''t say I do. It must be a greater power or something that the system pushes us to achieve. Maybe it is trying to show us that we are missing something important in that room, or maybe it''s trying to show us a path that we never considered. Either way, if you are trying to avoid getting stuck, as long as you don''t cross more than five doorways each day, everything should be fine," Asher continued. While he talked, Hera stopped to think. Everyone knew that you could get stuck in a room after crossing three doorways in the span of 24 hours, but she never looked at the actual numbers. Maybe the odds of getting stuck on the fourth or fifth crossing were so small that they didn''t even matter. She texted herself to remember to look into that and continued her questions about the tamer and those blade masters. "Naph, you mentioned that the blade masters and the sorceress were in the same circle. What are you talking about?" "I mean the same circle of friends. You know, like us," Naph replied. "Yeah, but like, what is the circle? Just friends? Something more, is there a reason why that circle was formed? Maybe they have a spot where they gather or something." "You seem very interested in that particular subject. Mind sharing why?" Darni''s voice was cold for the first time, and his green eyes seemed to be gazing into Hera''s soul. "It just seems very interesting. Like, those people are very strong. I wonder if there was something I could learn from them. I''m not saying that I want to have them as teachers, although I wouldn''t complain if I could, but their experiences might help me in the future," Hera tried to be honest, but she couldn''t actually say that she was after their legacy. "I see¡­" Darni kept staring at her for a moment before turning to the rest of the group and receiving a nod from the Naga, "Very well. I can see you are not lying. I won''t go into details, but the group they are a part of is just looking out for the well-being of others. If you get strong enough and help enough people out, one day, you might receive an invitation to join them." "How do I get that invitation? Do I need to go to a specific place?" Hera wanted to get some more information, something about where the Court of Heroes would meet, a place where they hang out, anything that could give her some solid leads. "Don''t worry. They will find you. I know it sounds ominous, but you really don''t have to worry. Your deeds will spread faster than you expect. Both good and bad. Don''t forget that," Darni continued. "OK, thanks. But can you tell me more about the blade masters then? I think they fit a bit more with how I fight." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Darni nodded and turned to Rris. The green Naga seemed more familiar with how that particular group fought. It was a bit odd, to say the least. Apparently, most of them were able to use a single type of weapon and a single element in all their spells. Only the leader was more versatile, but even so, he focused more on spells with similar elements as the rest of the group. In the end, individually, each member of the blade masters was a force to be reckoned with, but nothing that was too much out of the curve. Their real strength came when they fought as a unit. Facing them was like fighting a monster with hundreds of eyes. Each master moved in perfect sync with each other. When one of them would attack and give an opening to their enemy, another was already there to defend them and stop their adversary from attacking. If there was one master in the middle of an attack, another two were ready to follow up and they would do so in the best possible moment. It didn''t matter the situation. It was almost like they all shared one mind, which made them even more terrifying. Unlike what Hera expected, not all blade masters used swords. In fact, only the leader used one. What they considered a blade was any weapon that had an edge. Some used Axes, two-handed swords, even glaives, daggers, or arrows. Such a variety of weapons fighting as one made them all seem even more impressive. However, it was also considerably harder to get any hints of where they should be. According to Casks, the blade masters came from a nomad society, and staying for longer than a few months in the same place was, for them, the same as being behind bars. Still, Hera had a lead to follow them if she wished to do so. The battle of Talrill in the Kamgeo Highland. If she could find any records about that, it was more than likely that she could find at least a clue about them. Her small interrogation lasted for the remaining time until the Naga returned to the temple. This time, Chika didn''t run after Darni but instead understood that he would be back soon. Interestingly enough, the snake looked at the floating rock that the Naga hero had placed again, almost as if it understood what was going on. Hera cleaned up after everyone and used some fire to ''wash'' the dishes. Luckily they were all made of either rock or metal, so the flames wouldn''t damage them. It was just a shame that she didn''t have any extra water or soap to clean the plates properly. After that, Chika and Hera went for a walk. They had just eaten, and that would help them digest their food. Ten minutes passed when Hera felt something moving under her feet. Chika quickly jumped from the explorer''s shoulder, and the two got ready for a fight. The ground shook once more, and with a shift, a hole appeared on the ground right from under Hera. She quickly jumped back, evading the trap, and got ready to attack. These kinds of things were the same ones that the trapdoor spiders used outside the dungeon, but to her surprise, what came out of the hole wasn''t an arachnid. A furry creature with large claws emerged from the opening. It had a long snout and large white eyes in a black body. The weirdest part of it all was its head. Instead of being the same color as the rest of the monster, it was green, silver, and blue, almost like a helmet made out of crystal. However, it moved naturally like skin, even being pulled when the mole started to scratch its nose. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valley Mole - level 17 (earth affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing that, Chika jumped off of Hera and started to slither towards the monster. Before Hera could even react, the snake disappeared in a plume of smoke that trailed towards the mole. The mole got wrapped in mist, almost like it was a rope wrapping around the monster. Near the monster''s neck, Chika''s head appeared and bit down on the mole. A large gush of blood sprayed out from the creature, who tried to move, but the mist held it down. Seeing an opening, the snake took another bite, this time getting her fangs even deeper in the mole. After a few moments of struggle, the monster stopped moving and slumped to the ground. Chika let it go, returning to her snake form, and just as she moved away, the mole dissolved, leaving behind one large sharp claw. Hera stared at the snake, who looked back at her expectantly. Something about how Chika was moving made Hera think about a dog who just brought a ball back and awkwardly said, "Good job?" Chika smiled and slithered up to Hera''s shoulder once more. The explorer just looked at it. At the end of the day, every dog could be a killer. That was exactly the same with snakes. Not to mention that Hera could only imagine what the real Chika would do with that skill. The idea of a snake that size being able to turn into mist was something terrifying. They walked for some more time. Every now and then, another mole would pop out of the ground. Chika would always run towards the monsters and kill them right after they got out of the hole before her babysitter could do anything. Then, the snake would return to Hera and stare at her until she was praised for her deeds. It was like a weird version of ball throwing where the ball was actually a monster. Hera would return to the temple every hour or so to double-check the time. It seemed like it would take longer for them to leave the structure this time. No one had told her if they would be eating again after this shift, and there weren''t enough supplies to make another meal. She wanted to see if anything in the dungeon could help her, maybe some old scrolls or something that could direct her to the Naga''s home, but there was nothing. Just a vast expanse of nothing. Spending so long without having to do anything was making Hera restless. Yes, she still had to take care of Chika, but the snake was a surprisingly tame creature. Ever since Darni and the others went back to the temple, the snake was much calmer than before. Maybe the exercise of fighting against monsters was helping. Also, Hera was getting some loot out of it. So far, she only managed to get a bunch of claws, but they seemed sturdy enough to be worth something. Oddly enough, nothing had dropped gold just yet. That was supposed to be the most common reward in all dungeons, yet none dropped a single piece of gold even after killing about half a dozen moles. More time passed until the Naga finally came out of the temple. Hera was trying to teach some tricks to Chika, and so far, she had learned how to sit, or curl in this case, and was in the process of learning to play dead. Darni and the others just got close, thanking Hera again and asking if there were any problems before they all headed back to the cave where they had set up camp. For today they wouldn''t continue with whatever they were doing in the temple. However, Darni seemed excited. It seemed like something else was going on before they reached the end of the day. 368 - Babysitting part 2 After returning to the camp, everyone gathered around their bed and got comfortable. Unlike what Hera expected, they didn''t go to bed straight away. Instead, the Nagas pulled books, instruments, and a bottle of wine to relax during the night. "Here you go, new blood. Careful, this is strong," Rris passed a cup of wine to Hera. "Thanks. But what are we doing now?" Hera took the cup. "Nothing. We are just resting until we get tired enough to sleep." "Really? Shouldn''t you guys be there in the temple?" "Why? No one is in danger, and we can take as long as we want to finish things. Besides, what''s the point of working ourselves to death? We need to rest and have some fun," Rris replied. Hera glanced back to Darni, who was on the corner with Chika on his lap. Several strange items were around him, including a small incense pot and a few gemstones, "What about him?" "Ah, he is doing something else. Honestly, I don''t know exactly what it is," Rris replied. "He''s bonding with Chika. It''s something like what you did with him, Rris," Casks explained. "What? Can he do that? Wasn''t it supposed to be something that only worked if two Naga did together? I mean, even some other races can''t do what we did." "It''s not the same thing, just something similar. The sorceress," Casks turned to Hera, "The same one from the battle of Talrill. She gave the instructions to Darni and used a skill on Chika that allowed another person to complete the whole process. There is also a scroll involved. It''s a whole thing. Honestly, neither Asher nor I can figure out how that works without the help of the sorceress." "And now they are going to bond?" Hera asked. "Yeah. They will share some of their strength and create a bond that will last until the end of one of their lives." "Wait. Does that mean that if one of them dies, the other dies too?" Hera''s eyes went wide. "No, no. Not at all. But they will know or feel when the other dies. According to the sorceress, it will be like losing a piece of our soul, which shouldn''t be a fun experience. Honestly, I understand that Darni is doing that to make Chika stronger, but I don''t know why he feels like he has to do it. We have other ways to give her strength that would bring less risk to him," Casks sighed. "I think that''s exactly why he''s doing it. We look at the snake and only see a sacred beast. He looks at her and sees a friend, someone who will stay with him for a long time. As people say, snakes are a man''s best friend," Naph took a sip of the wine. "I guess," Casks looked at Darni. Some strange lights were coming from the gems around him. "Are you worried or just jealous?" Asher looked up from his book with a smirk. "Oh, I''m so very jealous. After all, women are the ones who attack all other males during mating season, right?" Casks rolled her eyes. Hera tried to watch Darni''s ritual as closely as she could, but before anything interesting happened, the Naga and the snake were surrounded by mist, almost as if Chika was trying to give them some privacy, which could actually be happening. Hera continued to hang out with the rest of the people in the camp, talking, trading stories, and having fun. She tried to probe more information about the tamer or the room she lived in, but the Naga were adamant against talking about anything serious during their time of rest. This didn''t mean that they wouldn''t talk about something serious if the situation required that, but in a moment where there were no pressing matters, they would keep work for the next day. About three hours later, when everyone in the camp was already tipsy and eating dinner, the mist surrounding Darni and Chika disappeared. The two of them were touching their foreheads and had their eyes closed. Not just that, but the snake was bigger. Before starting the ritual, Chika was small enough to curl up on anyone''s shoulder. Now, the sacred beast was at least twice the size than it was before. Even so, she tried to climb on Darni as the enchanter moved to the rest of the group, but he had to stop to let Chika get settled. Instead of being just a cute pet on his shoulder, she now could even wrap around his body and rest her head on top of his, making the duo almost seem like a baby hydra. It took her a moment to get situated, but eventually, they managed to understand the new weight and size of the snake. Then, Darni came towards the rest of the group. Hera noticed a couple of changes in the pair. Darni had a streak of scales that went from white to a dull gray. The same streak was on Chika''s tail. Another notable difference was their eyes. Chika''s missing eye now was replaced by a green eye, while Darni now had one silver eye. Hera could also feel a familiar sensation coming from Chika, the same feeling she felt with the real Chika outside the dungeon, although it was much weaker than she felt in the giant version. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "How did it go?" Casks asked. "It was a success, now Chika will be able to grow stronger with time, and she shares some of my skills," Darni explained. "Is Naga Poison among the skills you share?" Hera asked. Darni looked at her with a surprised expression, "Indeed. Can you feel it?" Hera nodded, "Yeah. It''s weak, but I can sense a connection to her now." "You impress me, new blood. Even old Naga have issues in sensing the poison in others. I''m assuming you have some poison-related skills, correct?" Asher asked. "Yeah. Just one, I focus on poisons, ailments, and fire when I''m fighting," Hera replied. "Depending on the skill that would explain it," Asher scratched his chin. "Speaking of which. While we were inside the temple, were there any attacks from monsters?" Darni asked. "A few. But Chika took care of them all. I wasn''t even able to reach them before the moles were gone." Darni stopped for a moment, "I see. Is there anything we can do to help you be better prepared to defend against any attacks? I''m afraid my enchantments wouldn''t last enough, and having one of them run out in the middle of a fight is far more dangerous than you imagine." "Well¡­ I do have a skill that could help in an emergency, but I would need some throwaway weapons. The skill kind of consumes them," Hera explained. Darni just looked at Naph, who sighed and grabbed a rock before asking Hera, "Any weapon?" "Any weapon, but I was thinking something like throwing daggers or maybe darts," Hera replied before explaining how the skill worked. Naph tapped the rock and activated a skill. With a glow, the stone changed, and a bundle of a dozen small daggers appeared in its place. They were common, had no attribute scaling, and didn''t look very sturdy. Probably, if Hera tried to attack a random creature with them, they would break. However, since their power would be coming only from Hera herself but it would include her skills and attributes, meaning that as long as she covered them with some mana reinforcement, she should be able to deal some considerable damage with them. Even more impressive was that Naph created the daggers in less than a minute. If Hera could learn to do something like that, she could have an endless supply of disposable weapons to trigger her skill. She would have to ask Naph about that spell later, but it was very likely that her skill as a crafter allowed her to do something like that. Then again, could the Naga have roles like she expected? Hera had no idea how long ago it was since the roles were created. What if the Naga in the dungeon were from a time before the roles? "Hey, I forgot to ask. But what are your roles?" Hera turned to the group. "I''m a mage, Casks a researcher, Rris a fighter, Naph a crafter, and Darni is a controller. What about you?" Asher replied without even looking up from his book. "I''m an explorer." "Not many people go for that one. Everyone is worried about not being able to be good at any particular thing," Rris was already lying on his metal bed and spoke while staring at the ceiling. "Well, as they say. A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one," Hera replied, remembering what Runir told her some time ago. "I never heard that one," Casks was snuggling with Darni. Hera didn''t realize, but everyone was getting ready to sleep. "It''s an old thing I heard. Anyway, are we doing shifts through the night?" Hera asked. "Well¡­ even though I trust my skills, I think that would be a good idea. Would you mind taking the first shift, new blood?" Darni turned to Hera. "Not at all. Are we doing 3 or 4 shifts?" "I think 3 would be enough. There are probably very few monsters around, and having a long, nice sleep would help everyone. Call me when you are done," Rris replied. Hera nodded and let everyone get ready to sleep while she was on the lookout. It seemed like they would actually sleep here and not simply have some weird time skip like some dungeons did. In a way, it was kind of nice to have dungeons worry about things like rest. Then again, if they were about events that happened in the rooms, it would make sense that the people involved might need to sleep and rest. While the Naga started to sleep, Hera let her mind drift a bit. She kept thinking about what would happen to a new room. Could it have dungeons that were made by the system? Or would they only appear after something happened. If that was the case, then anyone who lived there would need to survive using only the natural resources of the room. It didn''t take long for Hera to start feeling sleepy and started to doze off. Not to fall asleep, she decided to try to do something to wake herself up. She first tried to make a dagger out of rock like Naph, but the exercise of trying to make her mana do a specific job was something very mellow to do. It required a lot of thinking and planning, but actually doing it wasn''t something so exciting. Going to another route, Hera walked to a more open area of the cave and pulled up the recording of Rris showing his fighting style. She tried to copy his movement, being careful not to wake everyone up. During her shift, there were a couple of moments where she thought she was hearing the sound of something getting close, but there was nothing when she went to look at it. When her shift was over, she called Rris and then went to her bed. On the next day, things were very much the same. The group just relaxed in the morning, then a few hours before lunch, everyone headed up, and the Naga entered the temple while Chika and Hera stood behind. The snake was much bigger now, but it was still acting like a puppy. Every mole that appeared was quickly killed by the snake. In fact, each attack was brutal. Chika didn''t use her mist thing again. Instead, she would just lunge at the creatures biting off their head or limbs in a single strike. Even when the sacred beast didn''t finish them off in the first move, she would quickly follow up with another bite, a tail attack, or even a poison spell that would quickly finish them off. Later she cooked for the Naga and asked more about the tamer and the blade masters. The rest of the day was just the same as the day before, with more attacks from the moles, but still not enough for Hera to join the fights. During the next day, the same pattern repeated. Even more moles appeared, but only a single monster would come out each time, giving Chika all the exercise she needed. Only on the fourth day that things change. 369 - Chika It was the fourth day since Hera came inside the dungeon. She tried sending texts to her friends, but there was no signal here. Still, this adventure was giving her valuable information. First, she learned about Talrill and the blade masters, then about the city and how the room where it was in was massive. According to Asher, it took almost a month to cross the entire room on foot. Mainly because the route was weird, and there were a lot of twists and turns to avoid some of the natural barriers the room had. Hera also got more information about the skills they taught in the temple and a small explanation of how to make a weapon out of stone like Naph did. Even if Hera still had the stone daggers on her, she wanted to be able to create more on her own. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to get the spell just yet. Everything started like usual. Hera and the Naga talked while having breakfast and joked around. Darni and the others were extremely friendly with her and always were willing to answer her questions. When they moved up the tunnel, Hera quickly noticed some signs that didn''t bode well. There were claw marks around the path, and some of the dirt seemed to have been moved around. In the valley, there were also several holes from where the moles could appear, but the Naga didn''t seem to mind or even acknowledge that. Chika was the only one staring at the freshly made tunnels before looking at Hera worriedly. During the past couple of days, Hera and Chika could understand each other very well. Darni explained that the [Naga Poison] skill had an additional effect for those with a high affinity to poison. They would be able to communicate their intentions and feelings to each other. However, that would come with a certain issue. That connection would only work properly when the people involved had the skill for similar times. If someone had the skill for years, people who just got the skill would have more difficulty understanding what they meant. This could be remedied if the person who had the skill for longer focused on trying to convey their intentions more clearly, but it wasn''t something that many could do. Darni made the comparison of the skill being like wine. Grapes that just started fermenting were much different from those who already had years to perfect their flavor. For the new grapes, the old ones wouldn''t even look like grapes themselves, and for the old ones, they couldn''t remember what it was like to be a young grape. Hera more or less understood what the Naga meant, and her thoughts went back to Chika, the real version of the snake. If the creature had lived for thousands of years as she suspected, the fact that she and Hera could communicate even a little was already nothing short of a miracle. When everyone reached the temple, Asher turned to Hera, "We won''t be coming out to eat lunch today. Completing this final step shall take some time, but when we leave, we can have one last meal before we part ways." "Oh. Already? OK," Hera couldn''t help but feel sad. It''s been a very long time since she hit off with a group so quickly. Even when she met Blue, it took her a few days before she genuinely felt comfortable around the controller. "Don''t worry. You can eat whenever you feel like it and take care of our sacred beast," Casks patted Hera''s shoulder before heading inside. "Unfortunately, I can''t give you an estimate of when we will return. After all, we can only leave after this part of our work is done. You don''t need to worry. It''s nothing serious, just a spell to make sure that the temple is safe and well maintained for years to come," Darni explained as the rest of the Naga waved to Chika and Hera, "I know you might feel that taking care of a sacred beast is a big responsibility, but please, treat this child as you would any other pet. I don''t want her to grow up with that kind of weight on her back." After that request, Darni walked inside the temple. Hera looked back to Chika, who had the same size ever since she and Darni bonded. Hera asked for an explanation about the whole ''sacred beast'' thing and got a simple answer. To the Naga, all snakes are part of their people, but when an albino snake is born from non-albino parents, it is a messenger from the system. A signal of greatness and prosperity for the Naga. Because of that, unless they know the white snake is part of a naturally white subspecies, all white snakes are considered sacred. According to Darni, Chika shouldn''t be an albino snake, but since all her pit was killed by monsters, he didn''t have a way of proving that. Being a sacred beast was nothing more than an arbitrary title given by the Naga. It would have just as much meaning as saying that Chika was American or Korean. Hera was expecting something more, an actual title given by the system or that the term ''sacred beast'' could explain why the snake was still alive until now. Without that, her only idea was that it had something to do with the ritual that Darni performed since it should be connected to a legacy. The tamer should be the only one who was powerful enough to give something akin to an endless lifespan to a creature. Unless there were some external factors that she wasn''t able to figure out yet. A couple of minutes after the temple doors closed with the Naga inside, Hera noticed some movement coming from the holes in the area, "I guess this is the boss fight," she sighed. Even if she was someone who enjoyed fighting, having this many openings from where monsters could appear wasn''t something good. Not to mention that she had yet to see what her attacks would do to the moles. There was no guarantee that her weapons or spells would be effective against them. The first two moles that popped out of the ground were quickly dispatched by Chika, who could feel Hera''s worry and was already ready for battle while Darni and the others were entering the temple. A third one appeared coming from the opposite side, and Hera threw a poison needle at it. The spell hit, and Hera got ready to trigger her poison control spell, but first, she wanted to see how much damage that basic spell would deal. As if nothing had happened, the monster started moving towards the explorer, who got ready for the attack. She jumped to the side, forcing the creature to slowly turn around, and stabbed with her new rapier. Unfortunately, she wasn''t used to the type of attack, and the blade of her rapier couldn''t pierce through the hard skin of the mole. Pulling back her weapon, Hera jumped around, being careful not to trip in the holes, and brought down her handaxe on the creature''s neck. This time, the impact worked as she expected, slicing all the way to the creature''s bone. Looking at the exposed flesh, Hera realized that her poison was spreading fast through the mole and an idea popped into her mind. Poiting one finger at the wound, Hera created a small stream of fire that touched the blood and seemed to ignite part of it. It wasn''t enough to make the entire monster burst into flames, but the attack was more than enough to kill it. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Looking up, Hera saw another mole heading towards Chika, who was engaged in a fight. In a quick motion, Hera pulled one of the daggers Naph had given her and wrapped it around mana before throwing it at the monster. However, the attack just hit the ground near her target, and the stone blade was still there on the ground. Because of the noise the rock made, the mole jumped to the side and started charging towards Hera. Since she had a clear shot, the explorer decided to try again. This time, after coating the stone dagger in mana, she thought about activating the weapon break skill and threw her weapon. If anyone was watching the fight, it would just seem like Hera made a clumsy long-ranged attack aimed at the mole, but the instant the weapon touched the creature, it exploded in a cloud of shrapnel. With a loud cry, the creature fell to the ground, already having trouble moving around. That gave Hera enough time to reach it and put it out of its misery. She looked around and saw more moles appearing, "Chika, stay close to me. You watch my back, and I watch yours." In response to her request, the snake moved around and stood right behind Hera. More and more moles appeared from the ground while the two fought against them. Hera only had four daggers remaining, five if she could count with the one that was on the floor a few meters away. Not wanting to waste her ammo, she was focusing on long-range spells. If one of the monsters got close, she would slam with her handaxe or try to use her blood rapier in the softer areas, which were basically just the eyes and mouth. There wasn''t anything else that could be considered a weak spot in the mole''s body. Chika was following Hera''s lead, despite preferring to fight in close quarters. The snake could understand that it would be easier for the moles to surround her if she was going too far away. After about half an hour, Hera started to notice a pattern in the attacks. The moles would come in waves, and each wave would be bigger than the last. Between each wave, there would be a small one-minute break before the next group would arrive. Unfortunately, Hera couldn''t find any pattern in the number or strength of each wave. It seemed completely random. A wave had several strong moles that gave the duo some trouble, but the next one had a single weak mole that was quickly killed off. There was one more thing that Hera managed to figure out. The waves came in groups of six. When the sixth wave was over, there would be a pause of around five minutes. This part of the dungeon felt much less natural. It was hugely unlikely that the moles were following this pattern only because of the dungeon and not because of what happened for its creation. Unless the Naga were doing something inside the temple to trigger this, it didn''t make much sense. During one of the longer breaks, Hera set up a large ring of fire using a mixture of the stone walls she could raise and her grease fire spell. With that, she created an arena without any holes on the ground and only a single opening that she could defend better with Chika by her side. Seeing that it was working, Hera doubled down on the setup and created another three layers of fire and wall surrounding them. For the next five hours, Hera and Chika kept fighting off the constant stream of moles. Both were already exhausted and hoping things would end soon. There were so many monsters attacking that a small pile of loot was forming on the entrance of Hera''s structure. One weird thing the explorer noticed was that only the moles that she killed could drop gold. The ones that Chika dispatched only dropped their claws and always the claws. At the tail end of the fifth hour, when they defeated a sixth wave. Hera quickly gave Chika some water and food. She has been doing that ever since she realized that they wouldn''t have a chance to stop and eat. As a way not to lose track of time, Hera had a timer on her tablet to let her know when the next wave would start. When it rang, she and Chika got ready to fight. A minute passed, then two, then three, with both Hera and Chika trying to hear any creature coming to attack. Instead, they heard Casks'' voice, "Hera? Are you there?" "I''m here. Can you see any monsters?" "No, there is nothing around." Hera gestured for Chika to come with her and carefully went out of the stone ring. After stepping over the pile of loot, she looked around. Even the holes that covered the ground were gone, and when looking at the temple. Casks was alone in front of it, wearing some sort of heavy armor. Another difference was that the temple seemed older. There were some markings that revealed the structure had been battered by the elements for some time. Hera and Chika got close to the Naga, "Is everything OK?" Casks gave Hera a sad smile, "Not really. We are in trouble, another kingdom is trying to invade our home, and we are going to fight against them. The good part is that we finished the temple, so we can focus on that. As for Chika, she isn''t strong enough to help, not yet. So I ask you to keep her company here until we return. It should be just a few days, maybe a week. Darni wanted to come, but I knew that if he did, he would have stayed back with her or eventually brought her along. Unfortunately, this will be risky, and I can''t allow him to put himself at risk just to protect her. I hope you can understand." Hera nodded, "Sure. Just try to be safe. We''ll be here when you get back." Chika nodded as well, despite being very sad about the situation. Casks thanked them and went back inside. Thinking that this would be the end of the dungeon, Hera opened the quest tab on her tablet, but there was no change. She still had to keep Chika company. Suddenly she felt an unbearable sense of dread and pain. It hurt more than when she was rejected by the guild, and it was deeper than when her father took her mother''s side in an argument. It was worse than a surge of depression on steroids, as if her entire world had just been shattered. Looking around, Hera noticed that all those feelings weren''t coming from her but from Chika. The snake was slamming against the ground in pain, not a physical one, but emotional and spiritual pain. Without making any noise, the sacred beast started to run, trying to outrun the agony she was feeling. Hera followed her right away, tears already coming from her eyes. How could someone be in so much pain? Could this be the pain of losing someone with whom you bonded? Chika kept running until it reached a ditch at the end of the valley. It looked just like a dried-up river, and the snake kept going, following that path. Hera was right behind her for some time, not noticing how this ditch was becoming deeper and deeper. What she noticed was how the riverbed was starting to show some red markings. Looking back at Chika, Hera noticed that the snake was bleeding, and those marks were created by her. The sacred beast didn''t mind, and as it kept running, the entire room started to change. The ditch became deeper and deeper as more and more blood was splattered on the ground, all while it was still going mad with pain and grief. All the blood in the ground turned black, becoming that floor that would absorb even the light. For what seemed like an eternity, Hera followed Chika until she stopped running and tried to leave the ditch, only to realize that it was too deep for the snake to climb and that she was stuck inside this place. Chika had also grown. The snake was already bigger than Hera, taking the size of a full grown python. However, the pain that it was feeling was still there, raw and unbridled. After trying to climb up a couple more times, Chika turned around and saw her caretaker. It slithered over Hera, who gave her a hug as the two cried at the bottom of the abyss. 370 - Goodbye Hera couldn''t tell how long she spent crying with Chika. She wasn''t even aware of the emotions that she was feeling herself. The pain that Chika was feeling still overwhelmed her. The snake was just there, coiled around Hera and letting her head rest on the explorer''s shoulder. When she finally pulled back, Hera took a moment to check on Chika''s belly. If all the blood was really from the snake, it was likely that her belly was in a very bad shape. Surprisingly that wasn''t the case. In fact, her underside was almost completely fine, even more sturdy than before. The scales on her back seemed even softer than those on her belly. The only difference was that the scales that kept grinding against the floor had a slight red tint near the base. Trying to help the snake to calm down, Hera pulled her water bottle and gave some for Chika to drink. The snake obliged, but her reaction felt mechanical. Not in a way that meant she wasn''t actually Chika, but as if she had lost the will to live and was just doing as she was told. A few more minutes passed, and Hera felt her stomach rumbling. Hearing that, the snake started to move again. She headed forward in the abyss and then turned back to the human, almost asking for her to follow. Hera did so, and Chika guided her back to the underground alcove where they had slept during the last days. There was still a bag of supplies that allowed the human to make some food for them and top up her water bottle. Chika wasn''t doing much aside from being by Hera''s side, and after they finished eating, the snake went towards the tunnel. The snake seemed to be too big to fit on the passage now. Not so much because of the height but because her head and body were too wide. To make things worse, there were points where the path became even tighter. However, when Chika got closer to that area, she seemed to get smaller. Hera followed the sacred beast, and the more they walked in the tunnel, the smaller the snake became. About halfway through the passage, Chika was back at her small form from the first day, but her green eye that only appeared after Darni''s ritual was still there. In addition to that, she was back to her previous playfully self. Running around Hera. Climbing up on her and coming to rest on the human''s shoulder while, at times, trying to lick her ear to play. When they finally reached outside, the temple was directly outside the tunnel, which was odd since it wasn''t supposed to be like that. Right in front of the temple Darni and the others were looking towards her. "Hey, new blood. Thanks for hanging out with her. Hope you didn''t have any problems," Darni gave Hera a big smile. "It was OK? What about the invasion? Are you guys OK?" Hera asked. "What invasion? Are you feeling alright?" Asher replied. "I am, but Casks said that there was an invasion and that Chika wouldn''t be able to help," Hera tried to explain before realizing that the Naga were dressed the same way they were during those days. This should be just s way for the dungeon to end. "I think you had a bad dream. I''m glad that you two were relaxed enough to take a nap," Casks chuckled. Chika had already jumped from Hera''s shoulder and moved towards Darni, "So, as a thanks for everything you did here. Let us give you a gift. Each of us made something that we think you might like," the enchanter said as they all pulled their gifts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. You have stayed with Chika through her entire journey. Rewards: 80 000 gold, +1 level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up. Current level 20 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please select one of the items offered by the Naga. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I made you a weapon. I saw how you weren''t that comfortable with the one you are using. This scimitar will never lose its edge and has a very strong mana conductivity" Naph showed a curved sword with glittering web-like patterns all around it. Hera tried to use her [Inspect], but it didn''t work. Probably because the system was blocking that information until she picked the reward. "My gift is this," Asher pulled a single scroll, "It''s a scroll that teaches you one of my signature spells. A spell circle that works as an explosion trap that you can put virtually anywhere and even imbue the spell with different elemental effects. I put them into small rocks and other random assortment of items and toss them towards the monsters to clear out any threats." "If you want something a bit less¡­ destructive," Casks pulled a dark cowl covered in stars made with golden thread, "This will protect and strengthen you when you are under starlight. When you are in the presence of one of the constellations represented in the mantle, the effects are even stronger." "Lastly. Mine is more sentimental," Darni pulled a small necklace. It had a simple black chain with a single silver scale with a small green dot on the tip as a pendant, "This is one of Chika''s scales. I didn''t hurt her, don''t worry. I picked this up the last time she molted and enchanted it so it can summon a snake construct. It can attack, and you can give simple orders, and you can even call it just when you are feeling lonely. It''s not like being beside Chika, but I feel like this was something you might enjoy." Hera stared at the necklace for a moment. She had no idea how a snake scale could look like a dragon''s scale, or at least how she pictured one. After taking a moment to analyze everything she realized that Darni''s seemed like the least exciting of all rewards. If the construct was anything like her mount, it would have very limited use and not being able to look into all the details was a big issue. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Asher''s offer was interesting, but at the same time, now she had the idea of making traps like that, and she could try to figure it out on her own. Naph''s was also exciting, but it was a scimitar and not a handaxe like she was used to. That left Casks'' cowl. It should give a conditional passive, but the main issue was if the system would consider the sun as a star. It would be rare for her to use the item to its fullest if it didn''t since she wasn''t that keen on fighting in the middle of the night. Glancing at Rris, Hera found it weird how the green Naga didn''t offer anything. Almost as if he was reading her mind, Rris sighed, "Sorry, new blood. Everything I could give you would take some time to teach, and I can''t actually do it right now. Maybe later." Hera nodded and looked back to the other rewards. Despite her initial thought, Darni''s seemed to be the truly unique one of the bunch. Not to mention, he was the Naga hero and had a legacy. There was a high chance that the reward would be more powerful than she expected. Looking a Chika, happily nuzzling with Darni, Hera almost felt a cold space on her shoulder. In the end, having a construct, even if it was just to keep her some company, could help a lot. It''s been a while since she did something alone, but not being completely alone when that happened would be amazing. "I''ll take the necklace you made, Darni," Hera replied after deciding. Darni smiled and gave the item to her. This time, when she tried to [Inspect], the skill triggered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darni''s gift - Very Rare A necklace made by Darni, the old Naga hero. He enchanted the item with the essence of a sacred beast, creating a snake mana construct that can perform simple tasks and will enable the wearer to use spells through it as long as they are within a set distance. You can call the construct by putting mana inside the necklace. The snake can move at 4km/h and carry up to 10kg. You can cast spells through the snake at a distance of 300 meters. The snake can attack as you command. The strength of the attack will depend on the mana spent for the action. If the snake is destroyed, it takes 24 hours to recover. If the snake attempts to perform an action that requires mana while it has none, it will be destroyed. Stored mana 0 / 20 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera wasn''t expecting something like that. Even if it didn''t seem all that exciting at first, the ability to cast spells at a distance of 300 meters was massive, and being able to store some mana in the snake itself was like having another mana stone. The whole attack depending on the mana, could also be interesting. Hera even wondered if the construct would be considered a weapon, and causing it to spend all its mana in an attack wouldn''t trigger her [Weapon Break] skill, but that seemed like a stretch. She looked back at the Naga, who were all smiling. It was like a happy picture of a family or a group of friends in this case. Hera looked around, but she didn''t see any obvious ways to leave the dungeon, "So... Can you guys tell me how I get out of here?" "Sure, just go to the tunnel that brought you here. There you will find a way to go back home," Darni replied. Hera thanked him, and they all waved at her. Chika was even waving her tail as the human returned to the tunnel. Hera walked back down for just a few seconds when it turned to the left, spiraling around until it was facing the same direction from where she entered. The tunnel stopped being sloped, and Hera could see the outside once again. When she left the path, she was back in the valley. She quickly pulled her tablet to check the map and realized that she was in King''s Row, beyond the temple. Looking back, Hera also saw that the path she just came from was just a small crevasse in the valley and that it was caved in. If she hadn''t just walked out of that place, she would never imagine that this area was an actual passage and not just another piece of the wall. While looking at all that, several messages came through on her tablet. She opened them and replied to every one of them, first letting Blue and the others know that she was OK and asking about where they were. Then for Silah, Helena, and Bonnie. Another one from Fethy asked her about the crest she got from Finlay. Lastly, there were a few messages from her dad. The first was him just checking up on her and letting her know that grandma Triss had a doctor''s appointment that day. This happened on the same day that Hera fell and was saved by Chika. On the same day, close to the evening, he sent another text letting Hera know that her grandmother would have to undergo emergency surgery. She was having trouble using the bathroom for a while, and it''s been a few days since she managed to poop. Just to be safe, the doctor ordered a couple of exams that revealed that a small part of her colon was heavily damaged, and if it wasn''t removed, it could end up resulting in necrosis. Eridan asked if Hera could help him pay for the surgery in the next text, but the following one had him thanking her for being an explorer. Because she already had a silver card, the guild would take care of her medical bill and even send in a healer to help with the procedure. There was an audio file after that, but before Hera could hear it, she read the last text. ''There were some complications during the surgery. Your grandma didn''t make it. I''m sorry I couldn''t do anything to save her.'' Hera felt the tears filling her eyes. It''s been just four days, maybe five at most. How could that have happened? Why? There was even a healer there! What could''ve happened during the surgery? Hoping that the audio was her dad or a doctor explaining the procedure or something that would allow this to make sense, Hera pressed play. However, what she heard was her grandma''s voice instead. "Is it recording?" Triss asked. "Yeah. Do you see that green microphone? It means it is recording, mom. Tap the red square when you want to stop," Eridan chuckled. The sound of a hand slapping someone came through, "Stop laughing at your mother! I''m not that used to those things." "No one would believe that you are just about to have surgery," Eridan snickered. "Tell me about it. Imagine if I end up dying because I can''t take a dump," Triss laughed. "Mom¡­" Eridan''s voice became softer. "Don''t make that face. I''m just kidding. You heard what the doctor said. This should be a routine thing. Anyway, I can start talking, right?" "Right." "OK then," grandma Triss cleared her throat, "Hera, my sweet grandchild. Your father already told you everything about the surgery, and don''t worry, everything will be fine. But, I don''t want to risk doing the same that your grandfather did to me. If the last words you ever heard me say were ''The fucking ass sniffing dog was after my ass,'' it would be a weird way to remember me by, to say the least," Eridan''s laughter could be heard in the background. "Anyway. Just in case, I''m leaving you this message. You are the biggest treasure of my life. Well, the second biggest after your father, but he only gets a leg up because he brought you into this world. You are smart, brave, beautiful, and the most amazing person I have ever met in my entire life. Never change and never let the world break that beautiful heart of yours again. After the surgery, we are going to have a party, and you have to be there. I love you with all my heart, my dear, never forget that. Lastly, The fucking ass sniffing dog was after my ass, and after all those dance lessons, my ass is as sweet as it was when I was in my twenties." Hera chuckled with the ending of the message and wiped the tears from her eyes. She still was in a dangerous place and had to come back at least to the archaeologist camp on her own. This wasn''t the place to let her feelings get the better of her. 371 - A celebrated return Hera walked to the temple, but unfortunately, no one was there. Since she was the only one who could open the entrance, there was no reason for anyone to visit that structure at the moment. Without stopping, the explorer kept going, moving towards the path that would lead her to the camp. Before getting too far away, she pulled up her tablet again and marked the location of the dungeon''s exit on the map. Only the entrance appeared on its own. Hera wasn''t sure if that was because of the cave-in or if there was another reason for her [Treasure Map] not to have updated automatically. Then again, she had other things to worry about. Remembering that she also had a level up, Hera opened her status window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 20 Stats: Strength: 54 Endurance: 54 Agility: 54 Charisma: 54 Intelligence: 54 Luck: 54 Mana: 10340/10340 Remaining attribute points: 26 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3 Dodge 2, Run 2, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 1, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3 Poison Mastery 1 Wind resistance 2 Mana sensitivity 2 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining Shaper of Mana Reinforced Mana Ancient language 2 Naga poison Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Local Guide Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2 Etching 2 Medical Reference 2 Green Thumb 1 Chain of Command 1 Role Skills: Private Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue Explorer''s Hunt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera increased all her stats by 2. This level felt much more like the ones during her time in Boothudurn, where she got only a handful of attribute points, and most of them were because of her level. This was their price for leveling up too quickly or being boosted by a dungeon. She was also impressed with how much her mana had increased in just a few days. It was likely because she was constantly refilling the mana in her stones or because of her attempt to create a new spell. She made a mental note to look up what other people considered as the better way to increase one''s mana pool. After walking towards the narrow path for a few minutes, she reached the first of the Naga emperor''s tombs. There was a group of people in front of the structure. Some who she recognizes. They were the archaeologists that she met in the previous week. They also called someone inside the tomb, letting Hera know Shane was still around. Hera talked with everyone for a while, trying to figure out where the rest of her party was. Apparently, Blue, Alex, and Leo had returned to the forest of dreams, and they were waiting for her there. Hera felt slightly hurt by that. A part of her expected them to be in the camp. She tried to be understanding but considering the news of her grandmother was hard not to be emotional. "Really? C''mon, guys, stop playing," Shane spoke as she got out of the tomb. The explorers hugged before Shane continued, "I''m glad you''re alive, and don''t listen to them. Your friends are back at the camp. They did go back to the city but only for a day in a supply run. Every single one of them refused to leave without you." Hera gave Shane a weak smile, "Thanks. I kind of needed to hear that today." "Did something happen?" "I got some bad news. I don''t want to talk about it, but I need to talk with you about something. Can you come with me to the camp?" Hera asked. "Sure, give me a minute." Shane went back inside the tomb, and five minutes later, she came back outside along with Mylo. The three started walking, and after crossing the narrow path, Hera double-checked if there was anyone else around with her sensory net. Then she told Shane about the dungeon. How she found Darni, the Naga hero, and the members of his party. She also added that she tried to get more information about the Court of Heroes or another member but didn''t get much out of it. Hera mentioned the blademasters thinking that maybe the court had some association with another group of mercenaries. In reality, this was just a way to take her mind off things. "Really? That is amazing! It''s been a long time since we found another Hero in a dungeon. You would imagine that they would be there more often. About the mercenaries¡­ I honestly don''t know. I mean, I don''t think they had anyone being a part of the court, but then again, it wouldn''t be strange if they had some¡­ let''s call them external contractors," Shane replied. "There were others?" Hera asked, feeling a bit sad about not being the first one to find a member of the Court of Heroes in a dungeon. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Just a couple. One is in the 18th layer, and another is in the 20th. The first one is not the main character of the dungeon, but we can talk with him for a long time. The second one is the hero of the dungeon, but since she has to fight against some of the monsters it is harder to have a good conversation," Shane explained. "Ah, I kind of get why Ninleyn didn''t tell me about them then. It will be a while before I can even get to those layers," Hera sighed. "I hear ya. I want to get there too and see if I can get anything out of them, but now this might be even better. Any tips about the dungeon?" Hera explained how things worked in the dungeon, and she also added that the entrance was right in front of Chika''s nest, which could end up being an issue. She still wasn''t sure if the snake was kind to her because that was her nature or if her [Naga Poison] skill had anything to do with it. "Right, and who is this, Chika? The name sounds cute," Shane asked. "Oh, it''s the giant white snake. You know, the one that lives in the abyss," Hera explained. "What?" Shane gasped. Hera proceeded to explain what happened when she fell and her interactions with the snake. Even Mylo seemed interested in that, and he joined in. The explorer also told them Chika''s story and what she learned about the creature in the dungeon. By the end of it, Mylo was in tears while Shane had a sad expression. It wasn''t that long after finishing the story that they arrived at the camp. Blue was the first one to notice Hera and greeted her with a tackle that sent them both to the ground. Everyone was ecstatic with Hera''s return and asked the explorer to tell all about what happened. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hera obliged, but only after she could get some drinks and something to eat. It could be the middle of the afternoon for the group here, but to the explorer, she was already way past her bedtime. She wanted at least to get some food and drinks if she was about to keep this going. One more time, Hera told her story. Since some archaeologists were around, she avoided mentioning the tamer and what she found out about her lead. Blue and Alex noticed a few details in her story that seemed off and gave Hera a confused look, which was just met with a wink. Understanding that this talk should come later, they didn''t ask anything and just enjoyed the rest of the story. She was finishing up the tale of how she fought against the moles and the whole arena setup she created when loud noises echoed in the valley. Everyone got up and looked around, trying to figure out if they were under attack. The noises continued. Sounds of explosions and heavy objects slamming against the ground made the entire area shake. A cry came from the south, from the abyss, and everyone started carefully walking in that direction. Hera had a moment to think about what was going on, and her only explanation was that something was fighting against Chika. That was the only thing that could cause such a commotion in this room. Worried about the snake, she started moving faster. She couldn''t actually run since she was too tired for it. Unfortunately, it would take 30 minutes for her to reach the abyss. The camp was intentionally set up away from the valley to avoid encountering the giant snake. She wasn''t going alone, her party and some archaeologists were going with her. If there was something really big going on, everyone wanted to know. The only ones who stayed behind were those in guard duty, cursing their luck for not being able to go with everyone. Ten minutes after the noises started, everything went silent again. Some archaeologists got worried that this could attract monsters, and they decided to return, but Hera, her party, Shane, and Mylo chose to keep going. Half an hour later, they were getting close to the abyss when Hera saw something that made her heart sink. On this side of the valley, there was a massive chunk of a silver snake. Something had ripped a large piece of Chika''s body and tossed it towards this side. A river of blood flowed towards the chasm, and all the mist was gone. Looking down, Hera saw the rest of the sacred beast. Most of her body was coiled around with several gashes on her skin and a part that seemed to be cut clean off. The snake was so massive that its curled-up body almost created a bridge to the other side. Feeling desperate, she glanced towards the bridge and saw, on the edge of the other side of the valley, the tip of Chika''s decapitated head, with the cut towards the abyss, blood still fresh She took a few steps back, feeling sick. How could someone kill Chika? She was supposed to be an impossibly strong creature, and she was so nice. The snake never did anything wrong. It even saved her. "She was just lonely. She just wanted to talk to other people, do something different," Hera started to sob. "Hera¡­ I''m sure there is a reason for this," Blue tried to speak, but her voice sounded muffled to the explorer. Hera started to hyperventilate and looked around, searching for the small Chika that had spent the last couple of days with her. Instead, she noticed a small blue object on the ground by the piece of the snake''s body. She approached it to see that it was the blue Naga doll that Chika was so happy to have found again. Picking it up from the ground, Hera was amazed because it didn''t have a single drop of blood on it. Even during all that, the sacred beast managed to protect her precious plushie. Hera chuckled, realizing that this doll should be Casks and not Darni. It seemed that the bond between the hero and the snake even affected their love by the astronomer. That response made the rest of the group concerned about her current situation, but her laughter soon turned into sobbing. Tears fell on the hand-made doll as the explorer fell on her knees, letting out a primal scream of pain. During the return to the camp, Hera''s mind was a haze. She couldn''t stop thinking about Chika, her grandmother, even Darni and the Naga. Why do people have to die like that? What was the point? Everything felt so unfair and so arbitrary. She kept thinking about all these questions to avoid dealing with the loss she was currently feeling, but eventually, the pain overcame everything else. Hera was guided to one of the tents and cried herself to sleep. She dreamt of her grandmother, of her grandfather, who she barely remembered, of Chika and the Naga and an endless abyss filled with dark blood swallowing them all. She woke up clutching the blue Naga doll and with a notification floating in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chika, the sacred snake, thanks you for keeping her company during her last days. Chika''s will wishes to bestow you with a gift. Her will recognized Darni''s handwork on you and wishes to be reunited with her bond. Do you accept her request? If you refuse, you will still receive her gift. [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Without a second thought, Hera pressed yes. After everything that Chika went through, she deserved to be with Darni again. It didn''t matter how. Her new necklace started to let out some mist, and the black chain turned white. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daskka - Ego equipment - Unique A necklace made by Darni, the old Naga hero. Later, the will of Chika, the sacred snake who bonded with the hero, was passed to the necklace, giving it an ego. The construct created has its own will and can move independently of any orders given by the wielder. Daskka''s strength and abilities will grow along with the user. You can call Daskka by putting mana inside the necklace. To withdraw her, she will jump inside the necklace. Daskka can move at the same speed as the user. You can cast spells through Daskka at a distance of 300 meters. The snake can attack independently. However, it will understand the user''s orders, and it is inclined to follow them. Daskka can learn some skills that belong to the user. She will also learn skills and spells that once belonged to Darni, Chika, or Casks as she grows. If Daskka is destroyed, it takes 730 hours to recover. Daskka has a natural regeneration equal to 10% of the user. If the wearer is not Hera Kingsley or someone who was recognized by Daskka as her owner, the necklace won''t have any special functions, and Daskka cannot be summoned. Stored mana 30 000 / 30 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 372 - Outburst Hera had to read the notification a few times to understand what was going on. She now had a piece of Chika on her necklace? This felt odd, not to mention that this was an unique item and one with its own ego. She had only heard about ego items in passing. They were supposed to have their own minds in a way, but she never quite understood how that worked. Curious about the situation, she put some of her mana inside Daskka''s¡­ pendant? Home? Vivarium? She couldn''t quite figure out the best word to describe it. A small snake appeared in a plume of mist. She was white with blue stripes that would spiral along her body, almost like a candy cane. One of her eyes was green and the other was silver. Those eyes were unmistakable. Daskka might as well be Chika''s child. Hera thought about giving the creature a hug but hesitated, unsure if the construct would feel comfortable doing that. Unexpectedly, Daskka seemed to understand what her owner asked and went in for the hug. It was weird to think of that as a hug since the snake could fit entirely on Hera''s palm, but even so, this was much more than what the explorer expected and something she really needed. She started crying again and was comforted by this creature that wasn''t even a minute old. Soon Blue walked inside the tent and noticed what was going on. She waited, seeing that the snake seemed to be important to Hera, and a few minutes later, the two humans talked. It was tough to explain everything that was going on to Blue, but Hera did her best. Blue didn''t say a thing and just sat by the explorer, joining in on the hug. Alex walked inside and saw the two. Seeing Hera''s face, she decided to be a part of that moment even without knowing exactly what was happening. Sometime later, Hera stopped crying and was feeling better. Alex managed to silently ask Blue what was going on and received a quick reply. Understanding that the explorer had just lost her grandmother, they stood there. Leo wasn''t able to get the same information, but he managed to read the room and just grabbed the girls some breakfast. They ate, and when Hera was sufficiently calm, Leo joined in the tent. Hera talked about her grandmother to Leo one more time, explaining that she had to go back home. "I''m sorry about doing this, Leo. I know you wanted to keep getting stronger," Hera said. "What? No, shut up. This is more important. You don''t even have to think about apologizing. I''m just thinking if we have a way to take you there faster." "I mean, I could probably get in the forest of dreams kind of quickly if I called Nimbus. But the rest of the track wouldn''t be much different," Hera sighed, "Besides, going alone would probably make me find more trouble. I seem to be a magnet for bad things." "That''s not true," Blue replied but then stopped to think for a moment, "I mean¡­ maybe a little bit." "You do have a knack to fall and find something interesting," Alex added. "Did you just make a joke about falling?" Blue gasped, knowing how guilty the assassin still felt about what happened in the Kobold Battlefield. A commotion started outside, and Leo went to check it out. Soon, they heard someone else''s voice. "Glad to be here, and don''t worry, that snake is gone for good. I made sure of it. It was a vicious son of a bitch, but humanity will always prevail," the voice proudly announced. Hera got up and stomped her foot while going outside. "Hera! Hera, no. Stop!" Blue tried to grab her as she noticed the expression on the explorer''s face. In the middle of the camp, there was a man clad in silver armor with a thin mustache and a pompadour with the sides of his head shaved, "You are all very welcome by the help. I''m just a simple fighter trying to help my fellow man," he noticed Hera''s brisk walk heading towards him, "Ah, yes. I would never deny a beautiful woman a hug of thanks. Come, come," the man opened his arms and waited for her. For a moment, Hera considered attacking him with her weapons, but there was still some sense in her mind. Instead, she slapped his face with all her strength. Even her [All In] triggered, but it was just like trying to hit an anvil. Her hand was the only thing that actually hurt, while not even the man''s hair moved because of the impact. "Fuck! Of course, it had to be a thick-skulled tin man," Hera yelled in pain. "I gotta say. Getting a slap as thanks is new to me. Thank you, I guess. But I''m not into that," the man wasn''t even fazed with the reaction. "Who the fuck is thanking you?" Hera barked. "Well, even if you are the ungrateful one, the rest of the people here are not." "Why the fuck would I be grateful? You killed Chika! She wasn''t going to hurt anyone. She saved me when I fell in that hole." "It''s more like a ditch, not a hole," Blue mumbled, but Hera stared daggers at her. "Oh, you are the one who fell? Glad you are back. Although I never heard of someone getting Stockholm Syndrome so quickly. Also, that snake killed two of my friends, don''t give me that crap about ''she wasn''t going to hurt anyone.'' It was a monster, and we had to kill it. Plain and simple," the man replied. "Did she attack you first?" Hera asked, trying very hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. "No, we weren''t going to let it attack first. Why would we?" "Because she would never attack, fuck head! She was like a puppy, a puppy who was alone and just wanted some love and caring. Not to be attacked by some asshole who painted on a mustache just to say that he''s a big boy now," there was a part of Hera''s mind yelling at her to stop. If this man killed Chika, even as a group, he could swat her like a fly. The man stared at Hera with a serious expression, "Look, this already stopped being funny. That was a deadly bloodthirsty monster, and we killed it. You were the one who got lost, and your vitals yesterday freaked the guild out. They thought you were being tortured or something. If that was the case, we weren''t about to let another monster capable of keeping hostages and torturing them run around. The last time we let a monster do that started the fucking devil hunt. We are not letting that happen again. I only came here to let your group know that it was safe. We didn''t come yesterday because we were all fucked. You''re welcome. Besides, you were the one who got kidnapped by it. Who knows if it was just keeping you alive so it could eat you later." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Bloodthirsty?! Kidnapped?" Hera could feel a vein throbbing on her neck, "Tell you what. Jump down the abyss, look for her nest. There is a dungeon there. Go do it, and then come tell me that she was a bloodthirsty monster. You are just an asshole who wants to make a quick buck. Why not go to the animal shelter to put them down. That seems right up your alley." Blue pulled Hera away from the conversation before things got even worse. Along with Alex, they dragged the explorer back to the tent so they could grab their stuff and go back. She went through an emotional roller coaster in the last few days, and it showed. While that was going on, Leo went to talk to the man. "Look, I''m sorry for her. She just got back, the dungeon messed with her, and she had some personal bad news. It was just a lot, and she''s lashing out. Also, do you mind explaining what you mean about the devil hunt?" The man scoffed, "Yeah, don''t worry about it. It''s not like she could even do anything to me. Just do me a favor and hold her back next time. Not everyone is as patient and magnanimous as I am. About the devil hunt. I guess you are too green to know that, but one of the first signs that the monsters were more than what they seemed was that people were being kidnapped. The devils took humans and other races to their nests and started experimenting, trying to figure out the best way to kill or control us. Now, if a monster is ever suspected of doing the same, we kill it before it can start doing more damage." That line made Leo worried and he started to consider if that was really the case. Since no one else was talking, the man felt like he had won the argument and left the camp, heading back to his group. Hera and her party waited for another half an hour before heading out. The last thing they wanted was to end up having to accompany that guy back to the outpost. Shane thanked Hera for everything she found and let her know that she would send any new information she discovered to her. Hera also asked for the information they found in the tombs now. Despite not being her focus, she was even more curious about the Naga after the dungeon. They passed by Chika''s head, which was in the process of being harvested by the people of the guild. This also meant that a few teams made sure that no monster would eat the snake''s body. Even the parts that were deep in the chasm. Hera almost threw up again when she saw the decapitated head, but she managed to hold on. During all this time, Daskka was inside the necklace. Chika was the only snake in the room, and if Hera appeared with a snake that was similar to it, it could raise questions that she wasn''t in the mood to answer. Even more worrying was the idea that someone could try to force her to sell the necklace or try to take it away from her. She wasn''t sure if anyone would actually do that, but just the idea of it was enough to make her paranoid. It took them two days to go back to Boothudurn. Hera let her dad know that she was going back but that she would spend a day in her house to rest and gather her thoughts. She spent most of the day with Silah, Helena, and her friends. They were hanging out, but Hera felt like she was just there. Even when someone asked her a question, her reply was mechanical at times, or it wouldn''t even make sense. Since no one had talked to the king about Hera''s situation, he and Fethy asked to talk to her. Hera ended up accepting that since it would be something to distract her from everything. The nobles went to her house, and when they arrived, Silah and Blue insisted that they stay with Hera during the conversation. "So, do you mind telling us where you find that emblem?" Fethy asked. Hera and Blue explained what happened and how they met Finlay, they also added the news about the mural in the Spirit''s Plea dungeon. When they were done with their story, Rutigan had a concerned expression. "What are you thinking about, my king?" Fethy turned to the man. "I don''t know what to think about it. If more people survived that fire, then¡­ What if they are the nobles of Kul Dorul? Would they want to rule over us too?" Rutigan explained. "I understand your worry, and even if I agree. I don''t think you have to worry about that now. No one has found any clues about where the rest of the dwarves from Kul Dorul are, and even in the forest of dreams, I haven''t heard anything about people finding ruins," Hera added. "Thank you for the advice, but that still is something that I should be considering. At least, until we have a definitive answer of what happened with them," Rutigan sighed. "It is a good plan. And I''ll help you with everything I can, my king," Fethy turned to him, comforting her ruler before turning back to Hera, "Now, can I see the crest?" "Sure," Hera pulled the crest from her bag and passed it to Fethy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the quest Lost Family Explorer exclusive quest You delivered the crest to one of Finlay''s descendants. Rewards: Powerful Connections Skill ( Explorer exclusive) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Powerful Connections Explorer Exclusive Skill Explorer exclusive skills are more powerful based on your [Treasure Map]''s completion rate of the room you are currently in. Current Room: Boothudurn Peaks Completion rate: 73% Explorer exclusive skills bonus: 18% 50% completion rate achieved, a random skill will be selected to be affected by this bonus when you are in this room. Random skill selected: [Silver lining] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh¡­ it seems like you are Finlay''s descendant Fethy," Hera explained the quest she got and what she had to do to complete it. "Indeed I am. This is my family crest. It''s not something many of us do here since we felt like this could bring back the old noble system and hurt some people. This knowledge is only available to me and the king, because of our positions. Well, that was it at first. The first generation that came to Boothudurn didn''t want to split the people like it was before, and the crests became something unimportant. However, as a Dutches of culture, It is my responsibility to give each house their own crest even if they didn''t use it," Fethy was staring at the crest with a smile on her face. "Speaking of which, are you free tomorrow? I want to have a meeting with the entire council to talk about this," Rutigan asked. "I''m not. I need to go home for a while," Hera replied. "Can''t you delay your return just for a day?" the king pressed. "No, she can''t," Blue shot him down quickly, but Hera just placed a hand on her shoulder, giving the controller a weak smile. "My grandmother passed away a couple of days ago. I''m sorry, Rutigan, but I need to be with my dad." "Oh¡­ I''m sorry to hear that. Of course, do you need anything?" "A spell that can bring someone back to life?" Hera chuckled. "My king. Can we offer a place in the mural?" Fethy asked. "But of course! That is a great idea." "Mural?" Hera asked. "It''s our version of a graveyard. We don''t have that much space here, so instead of having a large area where we bury those who are no longer here, we write their names in the mural and place one of their belongings inside the stone," Silah explained while holding Hera''s hand. "We may not know your grandmother personally, but you are one of us. If you want to, we would be happy to have her name amongst those we remember," Rutigan said. Hera felt tears forming on the corner of her eyes, "That would be lovely. Is it OK if I bring something later?" "Of course, do that at your own time," Fethy replied. Seeing that the explorer needed time, the council members left the house and left Hera and her friends alone. On the following day, Hera went directly outside the MAZE ignoring the three doorway rule and headed straight back to her grandmother''s house where her father was waiting for her. Hera would have to be busy for a while. There were several things that needed to be done, from managing Triss'' belongings to cremating her body and all the bureaucracy associated with someone''s death. However, for now, Hera just embraced her father. The only thing that mattered was to make sure her dad was OK. 373 -Opening ceremony It was an excessively opulent hotel. The walls were all decorated with Wyvern scales in different patterns. Some mixed red and green, while others had a black and white layout of a chessboard. On the corners of each corridor, there was a gemstone column. Massive emeralds, rubies, and opals, each three meters tall, seemed to hold the place together. This luxury was replicated inside each room. The higher the floor, the more rare and precious materials were used to decorate the hotel. One floor of executive suites, which were decorated with the bones of a creature called Jade Saber Tooth, was being used as a dressing room for several people who would participate in the day''s events. Some were performers who would entertain the crowd. Others would help present the city to the public. Even some of the staff members organizing everything were in those rooms. Tucked away in the far corner of this floor, in what was arguably the worst located room among those, there was a reporter who was around in almost every major event of the last year. Someone knocked on the door before asking, "Miss Swan, the broadcast will start in two hours. Do you need anything else?" "No, thank you, Stephan. Actually, could you pass that information to the rest of my crew. I fear some of them might have exaggerated last night," Becca replied absentmindedly. It''s been almost two years since she got her big break when she reported the assault on the wall and the wendigos that came along with it. Ever since then, Becca Swan was a name recognized everywhere. She interviewed a new explorer who killed a wendigo on the first layer alone, then about the deal between the guild and the New Dawn. At that point, Becca started to cherry-pick her assignments. Unlike what some people said, she wasn''t there because of the fame. No, Becca wanted to be a serious reporter. Stories about skincare routines and mindless propaganda weren''t the type of thing that she dreamed of doing. She wanted to investigate, show people what was going on in the deepest layers of the MAZE, reveal secrets to the public, and talk about protests, conflicts, and things that would leave a mark. Her first pick was something that seemed like just a fluff piece to help people distract themselves. Together with Dark Star and Bright Night, she went inside the towers in the 26th layer even if she was severely under-leveled. In there, she was able not only to put on a show but to find some information that helped people who wanted to challenge the test of the tower to succeed. Not just that, but her next piece, published as an article instead of a video, revealed that the cause for everyone suddenly getting an extra role skill was because all roles had completed the tower at least once. To top it off, she also talked with several scholars and researchers who focused on the MAZE and the system, which resulted in the headline. The System can level up. Such a simple idea took the world by storm, and although it was mostly metaphorical, most people seemed to accept that idea to the chagrin of the scientific community. It wasn''t that the scientists didn''t believe or had similar ideas, but that there was no way to prove it. So far, only two instances of the system changing have been recorded. The first was the creation of the roles, and the second was the appearance of the tower as well as the new skills, but Becca''s article went beyond that. Some of the people she talked about hypothesized that the system was constantly ''gaining experience,'' so to speak. However, unlike how it worked with people, only significant events would affect the system. That''s why it took so long for a significant change. Becca found those ideas interesting and decided to publish those theories even with very little data to back them up in hopes that more people would join the search for answers. When that article picked up enough buzz, Becca started making articles and reporting about the treatment of people inside the MAZE. She focused her efforts on showing the difference between those who lived inside and outside the MAZE. The changes that happened with children because of the environment and how some places had an unjust treatment to the other races, especially in lower layers forcing anyone that wasn''t human to spend their lives in danger needlessly. This happened mostly because the existence of other races wasn''t common knowledge for people outside the MAZE. Humanity had a history of war and conflict, and before creating the guild, some nation or kingdom was always waging war against another race. After Cyrus rallied all the kingdoms and created the guild, people suggested hiding the existence of other races to the population that way. There wouldn''t be as much hatred in their hearts when they first entered the MAZE. After Romeo, the current chairman of the guild, stopped controlling the information from the MAZE, tensions were high. Many people were worried about these other races, and the idea of them coming outside was scary, especially when they considered that children born inside the MAZE were much stronger than those from Earth. Becca was reminiscing about her work during the last year when another person knocked on the door. "Mind if I come in, Miss Swan?" a familiar voice came from outside. "I told you to call me Becca, Romeo. Miss Swan is my mother. Come in," Becca replied. A large man with short red hair with an extensive receding hairline, a long braided beard under a large plump nose, and big green eyes walked inside the room, "How is everyone treating you?" "They are all very helpful, and thanks for letting my team stay in the hotel." "Of course. We want this to work. A lot of people have put on a lot of effort to get us here. I can barely believe that we built a city this big in just six months," Romeo smiled. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "It would probably be less if you didn''t have to make the hotel this gaudy. I mean, c''mon, tiger stripe walls? Even someone with no taste can see that this is tacky," Becca rolled her eyes. "I get it, but this one wasn''t my fault. The elves wanted to make the most expensive hotel possible and well. They did it. I''m betting that it costs 30-40 billion just to make this room." "I guess they just want to show that they also have money. Can''t blame them after everything that is going on." Romeo nodded, "Yeah. Which brings me to the reason I came here. Becca, can I ask you to ¡­" "No," Becca cut him off. "You don''t even know what I''m going to ask." "You want me not to mention the protests and the tension that building this place caused. You want today to be about everyone coming together as one and not about the differences and cracks in our alliances. Did I miss anything?" "I mean¡­ I would appreciate it if you didn''t mention that my hairline went back a few centimeters since the last time I appeared on TV." "That is the only part of that request that I can do. I told you when we first started working together. I''m not going to hide anything or pretend like something big is not happening. I can help make a story more grim or give people more hope, but the stories themselves already have to lean to that side," Becca was still applying make-up and didn''t even look away from the mirror while speaking. Romeo sighed and tossed a set of keys on top of the dresser Becca was using, "I had a feeling you would say that. Those are the keys to the roof. You can see the central square from there and the group protesting in front of the building. Something tells me that this is the kind of stage you wanted to use." Becca smiled and picked the keys, "If you had this ready, why even ask me not to talk about the protest?" "Well, I have to at least try to get my way, don''t I. Otherwise, I would be too much of a pushover. Just remember this when I ask you for a favor, OK?" Romeo left the room with a wave. Picking up her tablet, Becca sent a text to her team talking about the location change. That was the worst possible news they could''ve received. During the last couple of days, they tested the acoustics, lighting, and camera position in the small news tower that was by the central square. Now, they had just a few hours to change all their settings to fit the new environment. Thankfully, Becca''s crew was great in what they did, and they were more used to recording in odd areas than in a proper and well-structured news platform. Becca finished doing her makeup and took the elevator to the top floor, then the stairs to the roof. As soon as she opened the door, Becca stopped to admire the view. The city had a circular shape, and the buildings had a mix of ancient architecture with large columns and statues with futuristic designs that focused on round shapes and high-tech structures. There were also trees everywhere. The entire city was built using an Eco-friendly approach. All the energy from here would be coming from either solar panels, mana crystals, or the tidal generator set up in the ocean to the north. Right outside the northern gates, there was a white sand beach, and the water had bioluminescent properties that made it glow with the moonlight. To the south, there was a long stretch of bluegrass for about twenty kilometers before reaching a mountain that went all the way beyond the clouds. When looking at both east and west, there was a similar view. Some plains and a small forest of pink trees that almost looked like cherry blossoms. If one tried to look at the entire picture, it seemed like an island of flowers in the middle of a blue ocean because of how colorful the city was. Her crew joined in just a few minutes, and even though they had to set everything up from scratch, they were ready to start in less than half an hour. Becca wasn''t the only reporter there. Almost all news outlets had sent in a team, even those used by other races. Unlike what most people expected, humans weren''t the only ones with technology. The kingdoms of elves, dwarves, beastmen, and all the others who weren''t isolated from the rest of the MAZE also advanced along with humanity. Each had its own TV networks and customs, but they all shared the same infrastructures, such as the internet and the supply routes. However, since this was the first city built in conjunction with all different races, it was a big deal for everyone. The ceremony would start with a speech from Romeo. Then there would be a small parade and end with a surprise prepared by the guild chairman. He refused to let Becca know what that was, but he told her to watch the parade. The entire city was split into ten sections, with large roads coming from the outer walls all leading to the central square. Each street would have a different group of people marching through, and they would all join in the center of the city. Becca looked down from the hotel. It was 20 stories tall, but she still could see the crowd protesting downstairs. This particular group felt odd, there were the usual chants for equality and fair treatment for everyone, but there were also those complaining about the effects the generators would have on the room ecosystem and how people wasted money making the hotel. It seemed unnecessarily disorganized and almost random in a way. Becca could feel something bugging her about this, but her team called before she could figure it out. "Becca, we are live in 10. Do you want to go to the bathroom before we start?" "I went before coming up. Where is my mark?" Becca replied as she stepped away from the edge. "Right here. How are you feeling?" "I''m good. This shouldn''t be a big deal, but we''ll be staying here for a few weeks to get a sense of the city. I want to make sure that there aren''t any issues that are being hidden from the public," Becca replied. "Does that mean we can stay in this hotel for that time?" the cameraman asked with a smile. "Just for the next few days. Then we will get a less¡­ absurdly expensive place," Becca chuckled. "Well, at least we can enjoy this for a couple of days." Becca nodded and looked towards the main stage. It was right on the edge of the empty central square. Romeo would give his speech about the city there, and from here, she would get a great aerial shot of everything. 374 - Big surprise "Hello, everyone. I''m Becca Swan coming at you live from a room in the 15th layer called Azure Seas. We are inside the grand city that has yet to be named. This future metropolis was constructed in a joint effort between the guild, the elves, the dwarves, the beastmen, the orcs, the triton, the wildlings, and the children of the sky. A collaboration like that is unheard of since Cyrus gathered them all during the great invasion," while Becca was speaking, she gestured to the city, letting the camera pan to the side to show everyone the view. The camera went back to Becca, who was now close to the edge of the building, "This is a city built with the best of each civilization and funded by each race with a significant donation from the New Dawn as a way to connect all of our people in one. I''m sure the guild chairman has more to say about the subject, but my opinion is that we are long overdue for this kind of change. We spend too long occupying ourselves with unnecessary conflict when we are all part of the same group. We are explorers, and we should always remember that." "Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with the idea of union. Some say that this is not natural. Others claim that one race will always be taking advantage of another. Some of the most vocal protests have been asking that humanity be left out or return some of the resources we''ve been hogging for such a long time," Becca looked down, and the camera panned to the front of the hotel where the protesters were standing ground. Some of them noticed the camera and started one of the many chants they used during the last few days. "You know me. I can never pretend that everything is OK when something is wrong, especially when they are right outside my window. Still, I want to say this again. I believe that this is the right path. Look at this beautiful place. When we put our mind on it, we, and I mean all of us, can make amazing things. Just stop for a moment and picture a world where no one would be afraid of someone just because they are different. Imagine how many amazing artists, scholars, actors, scientists, teachers, friends that we are missing out on just because of unbiased fear and prejudice. Not to mention, no one drinks like the triton and the liquor made by the elves is something out of this world," Becca noticed her assistant pulling up a sign that read ''Showtime,'' the reporter chuckled, "Well, it seems that I rambled for long enough. The ceremony is about to start. We will be going live to our opening number and then for a small speech from Romeo Ballester, the guild''s chairman. After that, we will have the parade, and I''ll see you all again then." The broadcast changed, now showing the empty central square. For a moment, everyone watching thought that there was something wrong. Could they have messed up the time? Suddenly, in a spark of light, a stage rose from the ground. It wasn''t something made by mechanisms or anything like that, but no one could tell what was actually going on. Seemingly out of nowhere, a voice echoed, "Most of us are still too low level to do something like this." "Well, to be fair, we still have much to learn, but give us a break. It''s been less than a year since we changed our roles." "C''mon, Night, it''s not like we don''t know what we are doing. After all, creating this stage would take a team before, and now," Dark Star appeared on the central square, being raised by the platform. She waved her hand up, and a set of lights appeared, already showing a pattern for their show, "Now the world is our stage." "Oh? We are showing off, are we?" Bright Night chuckled and jumped on stage. When her feet touched the ground, a dark backdrop appeared behind the stage, and several small lights, almost like a starfield, appeared everywhere. The illumination against the dark background made the two singers pop on the screen. It was impossible to miss any of them as they walked around. "Now, everyone. Let us show you all what a couple of high-level performers can do!" All the lights that were moving around randomly focused on the duo as they started their show. On the sides of the stage, spectral instruments appeared already playing their songs. There was a short message at the bottom of the screen telling people to enter a website to learn about all the skills they were using during the show. Despite the scale of the setup, the singers only performed two songs, one of which was brand new. Despite that, the focus of the presentation was something else. What the cameras were trying to show was the stage and the skills that a performer could use. That was because performer was still a very new role, and most people who managed to get it after becoming explorers were barely level 20. Having two people around level 70 showing what others could accomplish was a big draw for the entire ceremony. When the second song finished, they stepped down from the stage and changed it to be a much smaller one for Romeo to deliver his speech. The chairman walked and thanked both singers before carefully stepping up to the podium. Becca kept an eye out on social media to see what people were talking about. She wanted to know if there would be anything she had to address when the camera was back on her. However, for now, everyone was just talking about the show, and a few messages asked if performers could even make better defenses to protect cities against a rampage. Since everything seemed fine, Becca turned her attention to the broadcast. Romeo had a small stack of paper with him. He fumbled a bit while trying to set everything up and cleared his throat before tapping on the microphone. Unfortunately, that caused feedback forcing everyone around to instinctively cover their ears. "Sorry, sorry. I''m really sorry. I know I should be used to this kind of thing by now. However, I still get nervous when I have to make any big speeches," Romeo took a deep breath before continuing, "First of all, I would like to thank the elves, the dwarves, the beastmen, the orcs, the triton, the wildlings, the children of the sky, the members of the guild and the New Dawn for all the support and dedication in the construction of this city. When I first started as a chairman, this is what I set out to do. Help everyone to live together in harmony. During my earlier days as an explorer, I traveled with a very eclectic group. I was the only human of the bunch, and it broke my heart every time we had to cross a room too close to Earth where my companions had several restrictions imposed on them just because of where they came from. That''s why I lifted the ban on information and removed the stats requirements for anyone to become an explorer. We shouldn''t be trying to control that type of thing because, for starters, we take away other people''s freedom when we do that. And, more to the point, this only makes us look like we are trying to hide something from everyone. If we didn''t have that before, maybe I wouldn''t have lost touch with some of my old friends." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Romeo lowered his eyes as he got lost in his memories for a moment, "Oh, right. Sorry, It''s not the right time for me to reminisce about the past. As I was saying, the whole point of those changes and the construction of this city is to show that we are all the same. Some might be shorter, have more hair, blue or green skin, wings, pointy ears, or something different, but we are all people. We eat, we sleep, we laugh, and we love. In our cores, we are all the same, and this city will be a beacon to prove that. Now, I hope you all forgive the cheesy name, but I would like once more to thank everyone for all the efforts put into building this place and let me be the first to welcome all to Union City." Becca had to hold back her laughter. That naming sense was terrible. Union City seemed like something out of a comic book. As Romeo finished speaking, the camera changed, now giving a bird''s eye view of the central square. A ring that surrounded the square glowed, and the words ''Union City where we stand together,'' appeared "Now, to complete the ceremony. Let us welcome the members of each race. Each group will be a part of a small parade showing off their culture as their leaders join me here on the stage," Romeo finished, and each race started their procession one by one. They were all doing something to showcase their culture; the elves were riding large dogs showing some of the pastries, which were their specialty. There were also some large carts with illusions of their kingdom, showing how they lived in large cities. From the next street came the dwarves, all riding a large boat with wheels. It was an all-terrain vehicle that showed their engineering prowess. Then, the beastmen took a different approach and showed a large harvest of food from their crops, fruits and vegetables that were hard to grow and some flowers with very specific conditions were on display for everyone to see. With a large sound, the orcs appeared next with drums, tubas, electric guitars and keytars and several instruments that usually didn''t go well played in harmony, but in this case, the music was beautiful. Making their entrance even more impressive, the music that was playing ever since Romeo stopped talking was very similar to what the orcs were doing, showing that aside from their own soundtrack, they were also in charge of everyone else''s. Looking to the next road, one of the buildings seemed to be moving. When it got into view, the cameras captured what could only be described as a beach party led by the triton, people with blue skin and webbed hands and feet that used to live in the water. They were in the hospitality business, and this structure was part of the show. Unlike all the other races, the triton weren''t by themselves in their parade. People of all cultures were there having fun and dancing in the moving hotel that included people from the races that weren''t participating in the parades on their own. There were too many different races in the MAZE to have a parade for all of them. That''s why the less populated ones had to group up with the triton. Being the second to last to show up, the children of the sky came from the clouds while dancing in the air. As the newest race to join the guild, they were, in reality, harpies that developed enough of their intelligence to be considered people and not monsters. However, there were still monsters called ''Harpy'' in the MAZE, which made their name somewhat of a problem. Because of that, they changed how they were called and became the pioneers in the textile industry, to everyone''s surprise. The way they created clothing, blankets, and even dolls was so out of the box that no one would ever think about that, mostly because their lack of hands forced them to figure out other ways of creating fabric that didn''t use threads. No one was quite sure how they did that, but the results spoke for themselves. With the way they set up their cloth, it was light enough to not hinder their movement while flying, but at the same time sturdy enough to withstand the high speed they could reach and even take a few hits without being damaged, and that was just their basic, everyday, clothing. When talking about armor, they also had some exciting ideas, but the need to keep their mobility made their equipment not that suitable for anyone who didn''t have wings. Lastly came the humans. Their parade was the least exciting of the bunch. The only unique aspect was the inflatable balloons representing a cartoon version of some personalities and people wearing clothes that were unique for each culture on Earth or in the MAZE. Every race did the same, and there were several styles and different cultures represented in each precession, but the cameras were focusing on the unique parts of them. That''s why all networks barely stayed on the human parade and just continued the commentary over the others. People asked Becca to do that during her broadcast, but she refused. Instead of focusing on explaining to everyone what was going on, she wanted to take a look at what was happening during the parade. If the guild or anyone else were going to hide something big, this event would be a great distraction. That''s why during the last week, she spread her magic cameras around most of the city. This was the reward she got in the tower, the ability to create what was effectively a security system over a wide area. As long as she was in range, she could see the feed of any of her constructs, and they could even be invisible to the naked eye. Becca was well aware that this could be a huge privacy issue, and that''s why only very few people knew about that skill, and she also made sure not to be able to look inside any of the buildings. She didn''t want to spy on anyone, just to look for any problems around the city. The only thing she noticed was a number of people coming in and out of a few buildings near the central square. They were all being sneaky, but not in a bad way. If Becca were a betting woman, she would bet that this had something to do with the big surprise that Romeo said. Almost as if on cue, the chairman started speaking again. He introduced all the races leaders in the central square one by one, then turned back to the camera, "Also. There is a wrong that we have to make right. For too long, we praised the three heroes and ignored anyone who wasn''t human. Well. Starting from this morning, the guilds all around the MAZE, and on Earth will stop pretending like we are the only who deserve such praise. Starting today, everyone will learn and know the value of all the heroes, human or not. And to prove that this is not just an empty promise. Here, in the center of Union City, we will have the statues of all nine heroes representing everything that we strive to be." After speaking, the camera shifted to the warehouses where Becca had seen the people coming in and out from. A five-meter tall sculpture of one of the nine Heroes came from each structure. They were all there, Kahn the wall breaker, Cyrus the golden, Undine the Fire Bringer, Balcan the unlucky, Eruwan, the north star, Casper, the builder, Kroaan, the unbroken, Fakili the medic, and Dr''lyar the iron wall. Everyone was clapping. Only some of the humans seemed confused about the situation since they didn''t know the existence of the ones from other races. Little by little, the statues got close to the central square, making a circle around the people on the stage as Romeo started to speak about each hero and their position in the display. Just as Khan''s statue took its place in the middle of the square, Becca noticed a person in one of her cameras. The person pressed something and dropped the object on the ground just as they started sprinting towards the city''s south gate. At the same time, a large explosion occurred in the central square, covering most of the city in smoke and ash. 375 - Fallout Becca''s first reaction was to jump to her crew and use a barrier spell to protect them from the incoming explosion. She managed to move fast enough so that no one got hurt, but that was about it. The entire hotel shook, and the dust caused by the blast covered almost a five hundred meter radius. However, whatever caused that wasn''t done. Just after everything went flying, something started to pull the debris back to the origin of the explosion. The gravitational force was so strong that even the statues around the center of the blasts were broken apart and became a small ball of compressed materials. This cleared most of the smoke, allowing people to look at what was happening. Becca stopped their team from approaching with the camera. If people got hurt, there was no need to show that scene. Looking towards the central square, the reporter had to cover her mouth when she saw the state that the area was in. After the parades, there were around five hundred people near the podium, not counting the support staff and reporters. Now, she could only see about a hundred who were still moving. Most people were on the ground, unconscious or seriously injured, but those near the podium were just gone. It was hard to tell if they were blasted away or the gravity pull was responsible for clearing them out. At a quick glance, she only managed to see the leader of the elves, Evandar, and the leader of the Triton, Ashera. Every other member of the leadership was gone. Becca steeled herself before looking at the spheres that were still floating in the air, pulling the dust towards them. She noticed some red markings, but that could mean anything. Undine''s statue was made out of gems, and the red could be just the ruby of her dress. Her hopes were quickly shattered as the gravitational orbs fell to the ground and started to bleed. It was very unlikely that what caused the explosion was a monster or something living, which meant that all the blood coming out of the spheres was from people who were unlucky enough to be caught by the blast. An explosion that happened right behind Romeo. She quickly looked around, even trying to call out for the guild chairman, but there was no response. Seeing that there were healers and people already rushing in to help the wounded, something clicked on her mind. Whoever the person she saw running away from the city should be responsible for the situation. "Go back inside. This hotel is too sturdy to break," Becca yelled to her crew and jumped to another building, running towards the south gate. At the same time, she pulled her tablet and called Kivaru, the beastmen acting as the captain of the guard. Luckily, they had met previously, and the man knew Becca well enough to understand that she wouldn''t be calling unless it was an emergency, "Becca? Did you get caught in the blast?" "No, my crew and I were in the hotel. I can''t explain now, but I''ve seen someone using a device that looked like a detonator on the south road right before the explosion. That person started running towards the south gate right as everything went to shit. They must have something to do with all this. I''m already in pursuit," Becca jumped from roof to roof. She could be a reporter, but above that, she was an explorer, and she wasn''t going to let someone who hurt them get away. "Got it. I''ll tell my man to close the gate. Don''t do anything stupid. Chase them, but don''t engage. Let my men take care of things," Kivaru replied just as he ended the call. Becca kept running while looking through her cameras. Whoever that person was, they were doing a good job to keep themselves hidden. Even her cameras were having trouble finding them. It was a shame that the magic constructs couldn''t move around much for this skill to work, only change the angle. Still, Becca noticed a black cloak passing by an alley just a few blocks away from the gate. This was nothing short of a terrorist attack, and the reporter wasn''t able to find any clues of people who were willing to go this far. Sure there were disagreements and protests, but this was on a completely different level. There had to be a reason for it, a motive why someone was angry enough to want to kill people in a situation like this, but nothing made sense. There were factions among the races that resented humans, but they would just cut ties with those who were forming alliances with the guild. There was never a direct conflict, only sanctions and what was essentially a cold war. After about two minutes of running at top speed, the south gate came into view. She also managed to see the person she was looking for. They were also running towards the gate, but thankfully, the gates were already closed, and the guard was ready to intercept whoever they were. Becca noticed another figure appearing from one of the side streets who tackled the runner and pushed them behind one of the buildings. One of her cameras was in that street, and she saw this new person pulling a similar device and pressing a button while glancing at the gate. She looked to the guards on top of the gate and yelled, "Run!" Her voice was muffled as another explosion occurred in the center of the south gate. Becca dropped on the floor of the roof and took cover on the ledge. At the same time, she created another barrier. The smoke and dust covered the area for a moment, but it was quickly pulled back by the implosion. When the noise and movement seemed to stop, Becca peeked from her hiding spot. Most of the gate was gone, but the blast seemed smaller than the one in the central square. The guards on top of the wall went flying off, and none of them seemed badly injured, but the impact caused them to be stunned for a moment. Becca saw the two figures rushing towards the freshly created opening on the gate. She also started to hear the loud sounds of an engine from the other side of the wall. Using her floating camera, she sent it high up in the sky, hoping it would be able to at least see what was going on outside the city. She did that while keeping up with her chase. People who were willing to do something like this when they were just trying to unite all the races couldn''t go unpunished. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to catch up in time. As soon as the two figures jumped over the collapsed gate, a pickup truck was waiting for them on the other side. They jumped on the car that barely stopped before going towards the mountain in the south.Knowing that she could never catch up to a speeding car, Becca just jumped on top of the wall to check how the guards were doing. After ensuring they were alive and not in any danger, Becca pulled her tablet to call Kivaru and tell him about what happened. She had the broadcast open and what was currently going on made her stop. Instead of a picture of the central square, there was a hooded person in front of a black wall. On the corner of the screen, there was the symbol of a brick wall and the letters LLD almost as if it was a watermark. The figure was moving as if it was giving a speech, and Becca increased the volume to hear what was being said. "¡­ cannot accept this. How could we? For hundreds if not thousands of years, humanity acted like they were better. They acted as if we were inferior, pushing us away from our homes so they could build factories or hoard gold and other resources just to send it back to Earth, a place that was supposed to be bigger than any room. They have all that space and even more. We now can see that they have millions of kilometers worth of land there. They are free from the invisible walls present in every room. Can you understand what I''m saying? They don''t need any more space. They have enough to share yet humanity still comes to the MAZE and asks for more land. That is unacceptable. If any other race did the same, we would be up in arms to defend ourselves. The fact of the matter is that this situation has already happened. How many tyrants were brought to justice because they attempted to push others away from their lands? It''s not like we don''t have enough space for everyone. humanity is free to look for uncharted rooms and take hold of them just like everyone else. But why must we be chased away from our homes when a company decides to buy our land? Why must we obey the whims of the guild? A guild that does little more than the bare minimum for the rest of us." The figure shook their head and pulled out a children''s book, "Humans are raised on the base of prejudice and hate. Even their children''s stories have biased descriptions of us," the figure turned a couple of pages and showed an elf in a white castle, "For example. According to this book, which is recommended for children ages 3 to 5, an elven witch cursed a princess because she was envious of her beauty. I can appreciate a fairy tale as much as anyone else, but notice how the word ''evil'' is never used. You might think that this is just an exaggeration, but if you tell a kid that a specific race only does bad things, how can they expect something different?" The figure tossed the book aside, "This is just one of many examples. You can find a list with hundreds of books made by humans that depict our races, our heritages, our very beings as something heinous and terrible in this link," they pointed to the side where the address for a website appeared, "For crying out loud, humanity is racist even among themselves. They treat each other badly just because of the color of their skin. How can we expect that they will be any better with people from a different species like us? Hoping that we can live together is just a lie that the humans tell to make us forget about all they have stolen." A graphic appeared beside the figure, showing the total population of each race, "When Cyrus created the guild, humans outnumbered us a thousand to one, but now, even after their uncontrolled expansion, they are lagging behind. If we join forces, soon, all the non-human races will outnumber the humans. It''s time to show them that we are no longer under their rule, and we cannot allow those who side with humanity to stop us from doing so. What happened during the opening of this ''Union City'' was a warning. humanity has lost the trust of all races, and if they want to stay in the MAZE, they must abide by our rules. I ask you to join us in our fight. We cannot let humans get away with this anymore. And, for those who are too afraid to fight, fear not. We are the Last Line of Defense against humanity, and we will protect you." With that line, the figure vanished from the screen, leaving the LLD logo in view for a few moments before it was cut by the networks that were hacked and finally managed to get control of the broadcast again. Becca had never heard of that group before. She kept wondering how she missed an organization willing to go this far. They were organized enough to make an attack like this and even were prepared to end their message just as the networks managed to cut off their connection. Not just that, but they had to have people inside the guild or at least an informant. Knowing the layout of the city wasn''t a challenge. After all, there were thousands of people working on the construction, but the sculptures were a secret that only Romeo''s inner circle should know. Her thoughts stopped in the chairman for a moment, they weren''t exactly close, but their business relationship was good. Becca hoped that the explosion wasn''t enough to kill him. Even if she didn''t see his body, that didn''t mean he was gone. Romeo was a high-level fighter, and she knew that the new fighter skill could make them even sturdier. Turning her attention to the gate, the reporter remembered the device that the figure threw away right before the explosion. She pulled her cameras and tried to find the last location of the object. Her guess was that the plan was to let the blast destroy the detonator, but in the off chance that it survived, this could be a clue leading the guild to this LLD group. Analyzing the footage, it was hard to tell where the black object was. The cloud of dust created by the explosion obscured most of the cameras. The only thing they helped with was to locate the point where the figure dropped the detonator. Becca spent hours looking for that device, but to no avail, she even asked for Kivaru''s help. She told him that she had a few cameras around the city that caught something that could help. He sent a couple of guards to help with that search. However, his efforts were now focusing on finding survivors. Five hours after the explosion, news outlets of all races were already calling the LLD a terrorist group and debating about the fate of their leaders. Everyone was sad about the loss, but their hopes were renewed when one of the guards suddenly called. "I found something!" Everyone rushed to help the guard, and after another grueling 30 minutes, they found the leaders of the races being protected by Romeo. They had some injuries, but everyone seemed to be mostly fine, everyone except the chairman who had lost a leg and an eye in the explosion. 376 -Stepping up "Welcome back. First of all, I would like to thank Morgan Waaberi, the CEO of New Dawn, Tavine Illolont, the acting leader of the elves, Savyre Tychar, the queen of the children of the sky, and Becca Swan for joining us tonight," the host of the show said with a smile. "I''m the one who thanks you for the invite, Leandra and let me thank Tavine and Savyre for coming here. I understand that this is a very tense situation, and I appreciate you taking your time to discuss this fringe group with us," Morgan turned to the side, where the elf and the harpy were sitting. "I''m the one who is grateful for giving us a platform to publicly reject the view of this terrorist group," Tavine replied. "So you are condemning their actions?" Leandra, the host of the show, asked. "Of course. What they did goes against everything that we believe in." "So none of you don''t believe that humanity overstepped in our requests and expansion?" Leandra asked. "If I''m being completely honest, I do think humanity overstepped at times. However, that doesn''t mean that we, the elves, are looking for reparations. We want to live in peace and join hands while working for a better future." "Even I''m aware that organizations such as this LLD prey on real fears and turn problems that are either small or that are already resolved into effective bogreyman''s," Savyre turned to Becca, "Did I say that right?" Becca smiled, "I believe you meant boogieman. Throughout history, all terrorist organizations used a real fear to fuel the flames of their cause. However, I''m more curious about how that attack is being seen by your people if you don''t mind me asking." "The children of the sky are appalled. We know better than most what it is like to be attacked for no reason. If this group wanted to send a message, all they did was show that they refuse to accept anyone who doesn''t align themselves with their cause and are willing to hurt innocent civilians for what? To send a message? They are little more than thugs," Savyre scoffed. "The elves mostly agree. We do have some small groups that support the concept of what the LLD did, but even the most radical of them are against the unnecessary violence displayed. Our world has seen too much war already. Between the Wendigos, the rampages, and the random appearance of powerful monsters, we already have too much to worry about to start a fighting among ourselves. The main issue here is that these thugs have powerful explosives and are willing to use them with no regard for anyone''s life," Tavine turned to Morgan, "Mr. Waaberi, I want to make it clear that I''m not accusing you of anything. However, is it correct to say that you are well versed in gravity magic? The way the explosions returned to the point of origin and gathered the debris felt like something along those lines." Morgan nodded, "Indeed. Although I couldn''t say for certain since none of the cameras caught the actual explosion, it seemed like whatever they used had a gravity well of sorts. I wouldn''t go as far as to say they were able to make a black hole since if that was the case, I believe the destruction it caused would be much worse. It pains me to say this, but there is a possibility that they used one of my own spells." "Is it a spell that anyone can buy?" Leandra asked. "Yes, it''s one of the programs used by our A-heart rooms. I worked very closely with that project, and the first spell that was placed in the simulation was that one. To make it worse, anyone who used one of the A-heart rooms can learn the spell free of charge. It''s a freebie that I mostly use as a vacuum cleaner substitute. That''s why I wanted to share that spell with everyone. All you have to do is ask about it. I knew that if enough mana was used in the spell, it could cause a lot of damage, but I never imagined that it could be used like this. I''m sorry," Morgan lowered his head while holding both hands together. "Is there any way to track the people who learned that spell?" Becca asked. "Unfortunately, no. The data we receive from the training rooms is encrypted, and we don''t track what you do inside it. If you buy a specific simulation for a spell but don''t actually try to get it, we won''t know. The idea was to maintain everyone''s privacy, but now, it seems like a mistake." "I disagree. This shows that you still care about the people and are not just looking to benefit your shareholder''s pockets. I won''t say that your company''s products and services are not exceedingly expensive, but you at least still have some morals. Either way, is it possible to consider everyone who used one of the A-heart rooms a suspect?" Savyre asked. "If we do that, we will have over three million suspects. It''s hardly something to narrow down. The spell is not particularly complex either, and it wouldn''t be impossible for someone to pass the spell to others or even create an improved version. Not to mention that there are other spells available in the guild that could produce similar results. As much as I wish it would be this simple, I''m afraid finding the perpetrators is going to take more than that. I wish it wouldn''t. We lost 53 people in that attack, and the criminals are still free. It''s not fair," Morgan sighed. Seeing the mood was going in a direction that wouldn''t make for a good interview, Leandra spoke up, "It is not, and I''m sure everyone here agrees that the people responsible must be brought to justice. What gives me hope that we will find them is the fact that none of the leaders of the races was killed during the attack. I must say that knowing that Romeo is the chairman of the guild makes me feel safer now. After all, he was willing to risk his own well-being to save others during such a harrowing event." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Speaking of which, is Evandar injured? I was surprised when I saw that he stepped down from his position even if it is supposed to be something temporary," Savyre turned to Tavine. "This attack caused a lot of unrest among our people. Evandar was overwhelmed with the situation, and the attack took a toll on his health. He is not just the leader of the elves but also one of the senior members of the council of elders. A group composed of the eldest among our people. After going through something like that, his doctor recommended that he rest for a few weeks before resuming his work. If I''m being honest, he didn''t want to take such a long break, especially during these circumstances, but his wife forced him," Tavine chuckled. "Ah, yes. That is only more proof that we are more similar than we imagine. It doesn''t matter if you are a human, an elf, or children of the sky. We are all at the behest of our life partners," Morgan nodded with a smile. "Indeed we are. My mate almost stopped me from coming here, fearing another attack," Savyre chuckled. "Do you mind talking about them? I think that knowing a bit of your day-to-day life might help everyone see that we really are the same," Becca asked. "Sure. Although I''m not sure, I will be the best case study. You see, the children of the sky are mostly female, and we don''t need a male to reproduce. I won''t go into details, but we can perform what we call¡­." As the subject trailed off from the attack and started to focus more on the life of everyone in the interview, Hera stopped paying attention in the television. She wasn''t that interested, and hearing Becca tell someone else about her life just felt weird. If someone she didn''t know came to her talking about her life because they heard about it in an interview, she would feel very weird. Pulling her tablet, she saw a message from her father letting her know that he was already back home. Today was the one-year anniversary of grandma Triss'' death, and she didn''t want to leave him alone, even if he fitted in very well with the people of Boothudurn. After Triss'' funeral, Eridan told Hera that he was divorcing Stella. The way she treated his daughter was a big reason for that decision, but the last straw was when they received the news about Triss. Instead of asking if he was OK or saying that she was sorry, Stella''s first question was, ''so, who gets her house?'' That triggered a huge argument that made Eridan realize that she would never put anything else before what she wanted, even when her own husband had just lost his mother. After that, he asked Hera for help to become an explorer, a crafter, to be precise. He went through the entire training, and because of his knowledge as a furniture maker, he managed to pass the test on the first try. Hera and her friends all took a short vacation back on earth during that month. Hera spent most of the past year kept going back and forth to the Wailing Valley, helping the guild find a new doorway in hopes that it would lead to the room she hoped to find more about the tamer. That worked, in a way. She did help the guild find the doorway, but it led to a small room that was just a sandy desert in a five-kilometer-wide area. Unfortunately, there was nothing there. No monsters, no structures, no people, no dungeons, nothing. It seemed like a complete dead end, but everyone was sure that there had to be something. The main idea was that there was something underneath the sands, but so far, no one was able to find anything about it. At the same time, Hera was helping Rutigan and Boothudurn''s council to find out more about the rest of the people of Kul Dorul and looking into other rooms to find an area that matched where the tamer should be. Most rooms she found were too far away and would require a big trip to reach. Even if she was willing to do something like that, Silah wasn''t that excited about the idea. Even when the explorer would spend a week in the Wailing Valley, the blacksmith already complained. In a way, Hera found it sweet. Her girlfriend didn''t want to be away from her, but it showed the difference in mentality between the two. It was normal to spend a few days or even weeks without seeing someone to Hera. For Silah, that only happened when someone had passed away. Still, the two understood that there were differences and that they could talk when something was bothering them. "My dad is going home. I''m going to spend the night at his place," Hera announced to Silah, Helena, Alex, and Blue who were inside the house. Bonnie a Bonnie was back on earth, house hunting with her mother.. Ever since Eridan came to the MAZE, the researcher has been trying to convince her mother to become an explorer so they could stay together. "Do you want us to go? Would that be better than having just the two of you there?" Silah asked. "I honestly don''t know," Hera sighed. She didn''t have a plan for what to do. All she knew was that she needed something to distract her father. She was gathering her things and about to head out when everyone received a message through their tablets. ''Rampage Warning - Report to the guild immediately.'' "Shit," Alex got up and went to put on her gear. "That came on a really crappy day," Hera sighed. "Maybe not. It will be a good way for him to distract himself," Helena suggested as she went up the stairs to get her gear ready. "Rampage¡­ that''s the thing that turns a room into a dungeon with respawning monsters?" Silah asked. "Pretty much, and since it''s going to be the first that ever happens here, we are not entirely sure how it will work. If someone doesn''t want to risk staying here, they can go to a different room and wait for this to be over," Hera replied. "Do you really think I''m not going to stay to protect my home?" Silah gasped. "Nope. I was positive that you would stay and fight. I''m just reminding you that you can send your family away, so you have fewer things to worry about during the battle." "That''s¡­ actually a good idea. I''ll go talk to them. See you in the guild?" "See you there." Silah rushed outside while Hera went to her room and put on her gear. Since her grandma passed away, she had upgraded all her equipment. New armor, a new handaxe, and the one Silah gave to her had been upgraded. Not just that, but Hera was now level 25. Not that it would make much of a difference, considering the levels of the dwarven guard, this rampage shouldn''t be a problem. 377 - Boothudurn Rampage Hera was already suited up and heading to the guild. Some of the guards noticed her and gave her a smile that she couldn''t quite understand. Alex and Helena were walking along with her, but no one said anything. They were all double-checking everything and refreshing their minds about what they had. Hera was already seeing some of the problems that high-level explorers had. She already had way too many skills to remember and even more spells. To make sure she remembered everything, she opened her status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 25 Stats: Strength: 68 Endurance: 68 Agility: 68 Charisma: 68 Intelligence: 68 Luck: 68 Mana: 33221/33221 Remaining attribute points: 11 Skills: Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla Style 2 Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Identify Ailment Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery, Naga poison 2 Earth resistance, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance, Sturdy Body Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana, Mana sensitivity 2, Mana Recovery 4 Ancient language 2 Silver Lining Nature connection Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2 Etching 2 Medical Reference 2 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 2 Role Skills: Local Guide, Private Room, Explorer''s Map Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Hunt, Hunter''s Catalogue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever since she got Daskka, she had a few new skills. Some extra resistances, including the [Sturdy Body] skill that lessened all types of physical damage. She also got the [Dorohla Style], the fighting style that Rris'' projection showed Alex. However, she could only use it when Daskka helped her. The snake had a spell that allowed Hera to move her feet as if she was gliding on the floor. [Allergy Mastery] was very similar to her poison mastery, but it increased her spore field spell strength. The last of her new skills was called [Identify Ailments]. It was a simple way for her to understand the type of ailments affecting a creature without having to use [Observe]. At first, she thought this skill was mostly worthless, but after testing it for a while, she realized that it was much better than expected. Not having to rely on her [Observe] made her much more effective during the fights. She could tell what was afflicting each monster with just a glance, allowing her to stack her [Ailment Mastery] very quickly. Her mana was another big improvement. She made her mana go from 10 to 30 thousand in just a year. This increase was even higher than Bonnie''s. The researcher only had 28 thousand extra mana. It didn''t seem like much, but the difference would be significant in the long run. One of the major things that seemed to be affecting that was Daskka. Hera and the snake shared their mana pool in a way. One could tell when the other was running out of mana, and they could pass their mana to each other. It was still something that Hera struggled doing, and even Daskka needed some effort to pass her mana to her owner. However, that also meant that if they were both tapped out, Hera could essentially recover a mana pool twice the size of her own, which helped a lot to increase her maximum mana. Hera also took a moment to look through her spellbook. Unlike skills, there was no list made by the system with all the spells she had figured out. If there was something she created at one point but didn''t write it down and ended up forgetting, it would be lost forever, or until she remembered the spell. At the moment, she already had quite the range. Her spell list was the following; Poison Spray, Grease Fire, Light, Blinding Flash, Stone Shape, Earth Wall, Wind Feathers, Poison Needle, Poison Rain, Flaming Poison Rain, Mana Burn, Spore Field, Emergency Healing, Paralyzing Bolt, Poison Control, and Selective Memory Filter. The new spells she got during the last year were Mana Sap, a weaker version of the Mana Burn spell made by Ogryn. Instead of damaging someone, it was a way to force the target to lose mana without any pain, but it took a lot more mana to work, unlike the Mana Burn that used the target''s mana to fuel the spell. There was also one called Ailment Trigger. It was a spell that could only affect a target once, and it will force a random ailment to occur. However, the spell tended to focus on the ailments she could trigger on her own. During some of the tests, she figured out that the odds of the spell activating an ailment that she didn''t know was just under 10%. Otherwise, it would be one of the things that could happen with a different spell she already had. Another new spell was called Slow. It would reduce the target''s speed. The more mana was put into the spell, the bigger the effect would be, but increasing the area of effect would increase the cost of the spell way too much, meaning that unless the targets were close together, it wasn''t worth it to try to hit more than one monster at a time. Her last new spell was called Elemental Mote. It was a way to change her spells into something else by creating a small elemental sphere that would change the element of her mana. This was the spell that Bonnie had created and it worked great, but the problem was the cost. She had to fuel the mote with mana and change the element of a spell, and the amount of mana in the mote had to have at least the same amount of mana as the spell she wanted to change. In some situations, it wasn''t even worth it, if not simply impossible. Each mote would last only up to ten minutes, and that wasn''t enough time to recover all of her mana. She also had the Embue Element spell, but that one was still incomplete. Every time she tried it, she would cause the monster to burn out its own mana until it died. There was something wrong with how the mana worked in the spell circle, but she couldn''t figure out what. She even asked Ogryn, Helena, and Bonnie''s help, but there wasn''t anything they were able to do. By all effects and purpose, the circle she was using should be working. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Arriving at the guild, Hera saw Eridan by the entrance, "Hey, dad. Did you get the message too?" "Yeah. What''s going on?" "Right, it''s your first rampage. That happens in places that have too many humans from time to time. The MAZE starts spawning a bunch of monsters who will come down to attack the city. While that is going on, we lock the room so no one can enter or exit." "Why is that?" Eridan asked. "Honestly. I''m not that sure," Hera scratched the back of her head. "It''s because, during a rampage, there is a chance that any monsters can cross doorways. And if a monster kills whoever has the key, that monster can travel to a different room. If the monster is a bit more intelligent, it can open the doorway for all of its kind. That can cause problems since it would allow strong monsters to move unimpeded through the MAZE. That''s why it''s rarer to see big cities in the deeper layers. If we can''t hold on, it could cause a massacre," Helena explained. "Oh, really? I just thought it was about protecting what we built there," Bonnie said. "Well, that too. Making a new city or outpost is expensive, not to mention we don''t want people to get hurt." Naka was already in the guild, as well as most of the guards and some of the humans who were passing by. One of the clerks asked for the names of everyone in Hera''s party and made a note of it. After double-checking, she realized that everyone was already there. In order to make them all pay attention to him, the clerk climbed the reception desk. "Ok, everyone. We are starting rampage protocols in 2 hours. Anyone who doesn''t want to be stuck here until the rampage is over needs to go now. For the people who live in the city, the guild recommends that the low-level ones go to a different room, but it''s up to you, captain. For those who stay. This is the third layer, so the rewards are 18 thousand gold, plus the contribution." "I''ll have a team talking to people here. We can work fast, but there are a lot of people in the city. Can we increase the deadline?" Naka asked. "We can''t. The first wave already came to attack us. This means we have only 3 hours to prepare for the next one. For those who are staying, since this is the first time we have had a rampage in this room, we don''t know the type of monster we will have. Because of that, everyone gets a 2 thousand gold bonus. We also will be giving anyone who is a part of this a voucher for three hours in the A-heart rooms we have here. You just have to make a reservation within the next year." After he finished speaking, many people left the guild, already heading out of the room. Only a bit over half the human population stayed here. That was just about 20 people. Hera looked around, a bit confused with the situation. Even if a rampage was dangerous, they shouldn''t have any problems in a place with such strong dwarves, meaning that everything the guild was offering would be almost a freebie. However, she noticed some odd stares of anger aimed at the dwarves when looking around. Maybe people thought they couldn''t make much money here. After all, they would be fighting alongside people whose average level is 30, while the monsters in the room were, at most, level 8. A couple of minutes passed, and the clerks started to organize everything. They had a map of the room and started explaining that the monsters mostly appeared outside, but there were a couple of fish-like creatures in the lake. The amount and strength of said creatures was trivial, but this meant that they would have to divide their forces. After the clerk spoke about the need for a line of defense by the lake, Ogryn, who was in the back of the room, spoke up, "We can make some fortifications, and I believe we should focus on having mages and people good at long-range there." "The problem is the monsters outside are griffons. People who fight long-range could help us deal with the flying creatures," Naka replied. "In other rooms, we always make balanced teams. It doesn''t matter where they are. Rampages are unpredictable. Some monsters appear with odd mutations, and now that wendigos can also show up, we can''t leave anything to chance. We''ll also need to have shifts to cover the entire day. No point of defense can be empty at any point. When the monsters start coming, they won''t stop. There will be no reprieve, no time to rest. It''s an endless onslaught, almost as if we are fighting against a wave in the ocean. Also, I want to make a defensive line just outside the city between the farmland and the Wooly Plains. In some rooms, monsters come pouring out of dungeons, and since we don''t know what to expect, we should be ready for anything. If the monsters destroy the crops, we can help you guys with supplies for a while," the clerk continued. "Shouldn''t we make a perimeter around the dungeon then?" Naka asked. "It can work, but there is a wide area of farmland here. There is a possibility that the monsters can pop out in the middle of the field," the clerk explained. While that was going on, Hera pulled Eridan to the side, "Dad, do you want to stay in a hotel for a couple of days? I''ll pay for it. I know you are making furniture and this might be dangerous. Especially for someone on your level." He smiled, "I appreciate the offer, and your dad might be old, but that doesn''t mean he can''t learn some new tricks. I have a few spells that can make walls and such sturdier, and I''m learning to make and maintain wooded weapons. The people of Boothudurn are not that well versed when using wood, and I''m sure some people have wood-based equipment. Besides, it''s a good way for me to not think about your grandmother. Or I''ll just make a mistake and end up meeting her." "Dad!" Hera gasped. "I''m kidding. I have no intention of getting killed here. My mother would whoop my ass if I died because I was reckless," Eridan chuckled. "She would have to get in line. I would have my turn first," Hera scoffed. "With all due respect. I would want a go after her too. I don''t want the father of our savior to die for something dumb," Rutigan appeared behind the two. "Can you say things like that while being a king?" Eridan asked. "If I can''t be the one who says something like this, who would be?" the king chuckled. "I finished the count, my king," Fethy came close. "How many?" "22 humans, 75 dwarves," Fethy looked at Hera, "Oh, sorry. I mean 23 humans and 74 dwarves. I keep counting you as one of us, honey." Hera smiled and spoke in an overly dramatic tone, "Oh, how could you? I thought you considered me part of the city? How could you betray me like that?" Fethy chuckled, "Fine. 22 humans and 75 dwarves." "Very well," Rutigan cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice that allowed everyone to hear him, "As the king of Boothudurn, I wish to thank all who are willing to stay and defend us. I''ve talked to the craftsmen in the city, and we all agreed that you deserve an extra reward. Everyone who participates in defense of our city will receive an extra 20 thousand gold and can have one piece of equipment made by one of our best craftsmen. The ten people who gather the most contribution will also get another piece of equipment made by Kahala, our resident master Armorsmith. Anyone who is here helping us will receive those rewards. It doesn''t matter your race or position in the city. However, to make things fair. I believe that Naka should be out of the competition for Kahala''s work. After all, our captain is a bit stronger than most people here. You know what, let me add another thing. Among those 10 winners, at least five have to be humans. If there are more, great, but if the dwarves get the 10 first spots, only the first five will get something made by Kahala while the rest would be split amongst the top 5 humans." With those words, the humans who still seemed unsure of being here got a renewed interest, and they all started to hear the plans with more attention. Hera gave the king a nod, understanding that he wanted to show his gratitude and that he wasn''t trying to make something that would only benefit his people. Hera also was excited by it. She had seen Kahala''s work first hand and could imagine what it would be like to have a piece of gear that isn''t restricted by her own level. 378 - The lake After hearing the strategy that would be used during this rampage, Hera pulled her tablet to let Blue and the others know about everything that was going on. Luckily, Alex had already taken care of that. She sent a text in their group chat, which even Leo and Mark were a part of, explaining the rampage and how long it would take for the room to be closed off. To Hera''s surprise, Leo and Mark had already replied, letting them know they were on their way. Leo was constantly moving around, doing odd jobs for the coalition, and he was close enough to come help. On the other hand, Mark was still working in the Carpon Caverns. During the past year, he realized that helping out during a rampage was an incredible way to level up. He also added that he had some new ideas about making items that could benefit the party. It was nice that even if they weren''t working together directly, everyone still considered them part of the same group. "Dad, are you sure you want to stay here?" Hera asked one more time. "I am, Goldilocks. Don''t worry. I won''t be in the thick of it. I''ll be part of the support staff, making arrows and such," Eridan replied. "Don''t worry, he''s already a grown man. Besides, it''s not like he can''t handle himself against monsters," Ganek, one of the guards that helped Hera level up, got close to the group. "You''ve been doing dungeons? You promised you would talk to me before doing that!" Hera gasped. She couldn''t imagine her dad, who was in his mid-40s, having to run from an incoming goat. "What the hell, man? I told you to keep it a secret," Eridan pushed Ganek. "You were taking too long to talk about it. We''ve been doing dungeons for a couple of months already. He wanted to impress you when you went together," Ganek explained. "Shut up! Why are you doing this?" Eridan gasped. "I''m still eating on a stone slab." "You little! How can someone so old be so petty? Fethy asked me to rush a job for the king. I had to delay your table." "OK, OK. We can talk about this later. Just promise me that you won''t put yourself in danger," as soon as Hera finished speaking, she noticed Helena staring at her, "I know I''m a hypocrite, and I don''t wanna hear about it." "Fine. Let''s see where we will be placed. People are already forming teams." Unlike how it was in Brinnefront, the number of available people to participate in the defense was much smaller. Even Hazelpond was bigger than this city. And since they weren''t exactly sure how many monsters would come from where, the teams had to be split more or less equally. Out of the 97 people here, there were only 5 who would be exclusively in the support team. Fixing equipment, making ammunition, and other things like that. Silah''s dad and brother would be part of that team, as well as Eridan, Kahala, and another human crafter. If Mark got here in time, he would join the support team. Ogryn and the Mages from the city would be both helping with the monsters and making the fortifications. However, a considerable number of them would be focusing only on the creation of walls and other ways to protect the city from any attacks. After that, they would be on standby spread around the city to see if any monsters were trying to sneak by. Part of the mage''s training included expanding their perception of the mana in the air, which allowed them to be even better than most radars since they could detect even small disturbances that would be overlooked by the machine. A few minutes passed, and soon Naka had already split the 92 people into three teams. Following the guild''s suggestions, each team would be in one of the three defensive positions for 8 hours before swapping it with the next one. While one group was defending, the rest had to stay away, rest, sleep, and perform any maintenance on their equipment that was needed. The guards had some issues with that setup, but they understood the reason after explaining that the rampage could last a long time. Most humans wanted to get dispatched to the group that would defend the outside. That worked well since the dwarves didn''t have much experience fighting in a place with snow or against flying creatures. Even now that the Sky rulers were no longer a threat, very few guards would actually try to fight them in the dungeons. Another big potential issue was the presence of wendigos. During the past year, four of them were killed roaming the mountain. None was particularly strong. They were just the blank slates of monsters that would grow while feeding. However, due to the lack of any actual food to help them grow, not only the wendigos were severely malnourished when they appeared, but they were also level 4, being among the weakest monsters one could find in the 3rd layer. Hera wasn''t in the mood to fight for a spot in any of the groups, and she was more interested in protecting the city than getting a big reward. Not that getting some gear made by Kahala wouldn''t be amazing, but the blacksmith was so cranky that just getting her measurements would be a drag. That''s why when the clerk asked if there was anyone who preferred to stay outside, Hera didn''t say anything. Seeing the frenzy, Helena and Alex also decided against asking to be placed in the team that would stay outside. After a quick lottery draw, the humans would be part of the team that would defend the entrance to the city. They would also be responsible for ensuring that no monster would try to reach the doorway leading to the White Desert. Even if letting a monster go to a stronger layer shouldn''t cause many problems, it was still something the guild wanted to avoid. Aside from Hera, Alex, and Helena, all the humans ended up in that team. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Now, what was left was the team taking care of the lake and the team who would take care of the farmland. There was some evidence that the lake would be a problem since some fish creatures appeared. According to Rutigan, the first generation of people who came here found some similar monsters, but they fished them all to extinction. It seemed that the food ended up being just enough to make the farmlands start to get going. Despite it being somewhat unpleasant, the fact that they killed all the fish from the lake was what ultimately allowed the people of Boothudurn to survive. Because of the possibility of dealing with aquatic monsters, Naka suggested that Hera and her group be assigned to that area. Ideally, they would fight in separate shifts, but it would be better for them to stay together first to understand what was going on. Hera and the others agreed to that. Silah also said she would be with them to see what kind of monster they were fighting and help the support teams figure out what kind of weapon or trap should work against them. The blacksmith was one of the dwarves who spent most of her time studying and using the guild''s knowledge to improve her craft. Silah could be someone who always wanted something new and exciting, but she was still a crafter at heart. With their assignments ready, the team that would be by the lake headed out. Ogryn went along with them, and some other mages followed, including Lija, one of the mages that helped Hera and Blue train for the fight against the Sky Ruler. She was the one who helped Hera figure out her Earth Wall spell, and she was a specialist in fortifications. Having her help set up some defenses by the lake would be a massive boon to the team. In the farmland, they would also make a barrier, but there was an area between the city and the crops that was narrow enough for the people to fight as a group. The lake was a completely different beast. It was ample space, and everyone would be basically alone while fighting. Lija was there primarily to help with that. It would be much easier to defend that position if she could make some sort of barrier that would stop the fish from appearing in certain places. About ten minutes after Hera left the guild, she arrived at the lake. It''s been a while since she came here. The place had no sand, only the pitch-black water that refused to reveal its secrets. Ogryn gestured to a couple of guards carrying a large box and asked Lija to make a small tower. Five minutes passed, and the structure was completed. Ogryn grabbed the box and made a small stone platform to lift him up. On the top, he opened the chest and took out an enormous white mana crystal. He made a spell circle under it, and with a light tap on the crystal, he activated the spell. A giant ball of light appeared on top of the tower, and then it slowly moved to the middle of the lake. Then, the orb split into two. One-piece went up almost to the ceiling while the other sunk deep into the water. When they reached their positions, both spheres started glowing, creating what was almost like artificial moonlight. Now, Hera could even see beneath the water. The lake was massive. It was almost as wide as the side of the city. If one was to walk from one end of the shore to the other, it would take about five minutes. However, now that Hera could see all the water, it should take at least ten minutes to reach the other side of the water if they were going through the surface. The lake should be at least 40 meters deep, which was much deeper than she was expecting. Glancing to the side, she even noticed that path that she, Silah, and Blue took when they were looking for the Sky Ruler''s nest. "Anyone has a suggestion on what I should make?" Lija asked. "Can you raise the ground from the lake? Like, Make a path on the sides that funnel the water to a specific spot," Helena suggested. "I can do that in some places, but anything that gets deeper than 1 meter is a no-go. The water ends up seeping under the earth and splitting it," Lija explained. "Have you tried it?" Silah asked. "Yeah, we wanted to see if we could make some houses here a few decades ago. I tried it then and a few times ever since, but nothing works. I mean, I can make a path, but the stone will be floating. If I just create the stone, it will require me to use mana to keep it up. If I run out of mana, it goes away. What I was trying to do was to pull the rock from the bottom up, but I couldn''t do that and keep the rest of the earth in place. Eventually, the water will get under it and mess everything up," Lija sighed. "Could wave breakers help?" Alex asked. "What''s that?" Silah turned to the assassin. Alex showed some pictures to help the mage, but those things wouldn''t work. As the name suggested, they were good for breaking waves, not stopping creatures from passing through. It was a shame that they didn''t have an actual image of the monster that appeared. When it showed up, people killed it quickly, and the spells that were used were a bit too destructive, leaving the body completely charred. In the end, Lija kept her original plan. She made a complete wall splitting the lake and the city. As a way not to make anyone stuck on the wrong side of the barricade, she also made several sets of stairs on both sides going along with the wall. According to the reports, the creature that appeared here was a fish. It didn''t have legs, and it would have a lot of trouble climbing stairs. Using a setup like that would allow any mage who could shape stones or anyone who was moderately strong to destroy the stairs and stop any monsters from coming up. One hour later, everything was ready. The team discussed their plans when one of the clerks came to meet them. She was bringing the rampage quest they had to set up because of this situation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Boothudurn Peaks Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the room structures will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 20 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Any monster - 200 gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone got the quest and went on to discuss what they could do to fight against whatever was coming. 379 - Brown Fin Snapper Lija, Hera, and a few other mages spent most of their preparation time setting up traps and things that could block the monsters from reaching the wall. If that didn''t work, the hopes were that it would at least funnel them a bit and leave less ground for each team member to cover. However, they would have to protect an area about 40 meters wide each. Helena suggested that they keep the mages and people with long-range attacks in the middle. That way, if anything happened, they could assist those in the edges. While they were getting ready, Leo appeared and joined the team. Having him and Tiger along would help a lot. The frog had grown a bit, but the biggest change was its build. Before, he looked like just that round creature with small limbs compared to its body. Now, his body was sturdier, and his limbs a bit longer and more muscular. It still looked like a rain frog, but it seemed like that would change eventually. "Glad to have you here, Leo. Now each of us has to cover less ground," Alex said. "Well¡­ sort of. In the end, each of us has to take care of 37 meters. Actually, 36 and some change, instead of the 40 we would have to cover without him," Silah replied. "It''s still better than nothing, isn''t it?" Alex scoffed. "I mean, yeah. I guess." "Alex¡­ you don''t have to be mean," Hera then turned to her girlfriend, "Last time we were part of a rampage, we had to appreciate every little advantage we got. In the last few days, we were dead tired." "How long did the rampage last?" Silah asked. "About a week. Right?" Hera turned to Alex. "Nah, it was just three days. It felt like a week, though," Alex replied. Everyone got some extra supplies from the guild and some food and water. It was just some rations, but it was better than nothing. Seeing that, some of the dwarves who were still around appeared carrying trays of food and drinks. Nothing alcoholic since no one wanted their protectors to be inebriated. Most of the people of the city refused to leave, even after Rutigan himself went around asking for people to stay in hotels. In the end, only the elderly, the children, and a few others went away. Everyone else was going to stay and help with what they could. Right now, that help would be in the form of food and water for the teams who would fight against the monsters. Another thing everyone was instructed to do, was to keep an eye out for creatures in the city. If anyone saw something that seemed suspicious, they should warn the guild. Despite all of the people being considered civilians with no combat experience, all dwarves that were still in the city were high level when considering the level of the room itself. There wasn''t a single person living in the town under level 10, but if counting the average, it would be much higher. That happened only because of a few outliers like Naka and Risli. While they were eating the meal prepared by the dwarves, Silah approached Hera, "Can I take a look at your weapons and armor for a moment?" "I can give you my chest piece, but I can''t exactly take off my pants here," Hera replied. "Don''t worry, I can''t do much with leather pants anyway. I still don''t get why change from a full metal armor to this mixed match of leathery and steel." "It''s better to move like that, and Daskka kept trying to climb inside my armor." "Where is she, by the way?" "On the necklace. I know that most people here still get spooked when I walk around with her. I mean, you don''t even have pets here, so I kind of get it. Since the rampage is going on, I figured people would be a bit on edge about her. I''ll wait until we are in our positions to call her here," Hera explained while taking off her armor. "Well¡­ you''re not wrong. Even I took a while to get used to her. It''s weird to see a monster being so nice. Like even those dogs or cats that humanity seems to love so much. They can kill someone if they want to." "That''s the point. We don''t let them want to. I guess explaining that is a bit weird, but they are adorable." "That they are," Silah nodded as she started to cast a spell on Hera''s gear. A few minutes later, she was done and gave the items back to Hera, "Here. The buff lasts for nine hours. It takes a lot of mana, but I''m using a couple of crystals to cast the spell," Silah explained. Hera picked her gear and took a look with her [Inspect]. She started off with the handaxe that Silah had given her. It was good that she had figured out she could edit how much information was shown. That way the windows didn''t need the full description of the items and she could just look at the important information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dwarven Hope Rarity: Rare Attribute scaling: (Buff Applied) Strength x 1.8 (3.6) Agility x 1.8 (3.6) Endurance x 1.8 (3.6) Charisma x 1.8 (3.6) Weapon Skill: I will protect you An intense desire to protect the user was present during the crafting process. When the user takes damage, there is a 10% chance that this skill will activate, increasing the user''s endurance by 20% for 5 seconds. During that effect, any healing the user receives is increased by 10%. Current Buff. Doubles the scaling of the weapon. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executioner''s Blade Rarity: Uncommon Level restriction: level 20 Attribute scaling: (Buff Applied) Intelligence x 2.9 (5.8) Charisma x 2.6 (5.2) Dexterity x 2.2 (4.4) Weapon Skill: Executioner''s strike. Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage. Current Buff. Doubles the scaling of the weapon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Protection Breastplate - Mass-Produced - Failure Rarity: Rare Level restriction: Level 25 Attribute scaling: (Buff Applied) Charisma x 4.3 (8.6) Luck x 4.2 (8.4) Agility x 3.9 (7.8) Armor passive skill: Magic protection Reduces the effect of any magic attacks by 10% Current Buff. Doubles the scaling of the armor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy shit, Silah. This is ridiculous. Since when can you make a buff this strong?" Hera gasped while looking at armor. "Since a couple of weeks ago. I was toying with the idea of just bringing out the natural power of the armor. The only problem is that I need to know the material used like the back of my hand for the spell to work," Silah explained. Alex leaned over, "Dam, this is stupid. How does the spell work?" "Basically, I make a copy of the item made out of mana and mash them together. That''s why I need to know what the item is made of and why I can''t work with wood or leather, and why the special effects can''t be affected by that. Essentially, I have to know how to make the item myself for this to work," Silah explained. "Oh, right. Raise your hand if you can use some elemental buff on any weapons," Helena asked the group. "I can give a wind buff," Alex replied. "Lightning for me," a dwarf added. "I can do a fire one, but it only lasts 10 minutes. Any more than that, and it''s just not worth it with my mana," Leo said. "OK. Alex, and ¡­. Sorry, I don''t know your name," Helena turned to the female dwarf. "Rangalian, dwarven fighter, level 37." "Right, Rangalian and Alex. How long will your buffs last?" Helena asked. "Depends on how much mana I use. I can make it last maybe 12 hours if I spend all my mana. To last 9 hours, it would take about half of it," Alex explained. "Mine lasts for 5 hours, but I can stretch it. I can even recast the spell as long as I see the weapon," Rangalian added. "Perfect. I have a spell that doubles the duration of any elemental buff. Between us three, we can give everyone an elemental weapon. Leo, I can use that on your weapon too, but once I cast the spell, it only affects the current buff. Also, if any of the monsters are resistant to that element, I can trigger the spell to remove the elemental buff entirely," Helena explained. With a nod, they spread out their weapons so everyone could get a buff. The spells used were pretty standard. They just added a portion of the damage dealt as elemental damage. Hera ended up getting one handaxe with a shadow buff and the other with a lightning one. She could use wind spells herself, and she wanted to get a wider coverage of elements just in case. After giving everyone the available buffs, they headed to the rocky beach. Despite Hera having some ways to fight at a distance, she ended up being on the third spot by the north side of the wall. Now she called Daskka and kept the snake that was the size of a scarf on her shoulders. To her left would be Silah, and to her right, closer to the end of the wall, was Alex''s spot. The assassin was a melee attacker, she had a spell that allowed her to close the gap quickly, but that wasn''t going to help cover other areas. If she did that to help someone else, her position would be left vulnerable. Blue was almost in the middle of the pack. Despite her being someone who favored close-quarters combat, the controller could affect almost the entire battlefield because of her legacy. She even prepared a large cloud that would be in the cave''s ceiling. If anyone needed her, they could either give her a signal or use one of the small balls of wool that she gave to everyone. During the past year, she learned a lot about her legacy, and one of the things she could do was use some random materials as targets for a larger cloud. The only issue was that doing so would destroy the material. In the end, even if that was a problem, she also had a limited amount of mana in the cloud. Having a limited amount of ''emergency lightning'' would make things easier for her. Leo stayed in the opposite corner of the wall. The hunter had ways to pull monsters close to him and bring flying creatures to the ground, but he lacked any significant long-range attack. Smack dab in the middle of the field was Helena''s spot. Even if the mage was level 24, she was still much stronger than anyone around that level. Even some dwarves well into level 40 would get impressed with some of the spells she could use. When the three-hour timer was over, Ogryn warned everyone to get ready, and they all waited for the monsters to come. Some time passed, but nothing was happening. After about half an hour, some noises came from the other side of the city. Thanks to the mages that were scouting the area, the information was quickly passed along. It seemed like the sheep from the Woolly Plains appeared and started attacking the team in the farmland. So far, only the people in the lake weren''t fighting. Another two hours went by, and everyone was feeling relaxed. The one monster that appeared might have been an outlier, or maybe even a wendigo. Everyone was keeping to their posts, but at the same time, they were all talking through their communicators. At the end of the third hour, all the water in the lake started to be splashed around. It seemed like they were watching a feeding frenzy of a school of fish. "Everyone, get ready!" Helena called, understanding that this could signal that things would start. The splashing got stronger and stronger until it suddenly stopped. All the water started to calm down as Hera looked towards the bottom of the lake. A bright light was still there, but she still couldn''t see anything moving around. Fifteen minutes passed after the water returned to its peaceful state, but everyone was still on edge. Waiting for the moment when the monsters would strike. That changed when dozens of dog-sized fish jumped out of the water, snapping their turtle-like jaws at the team. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brown-Fin Snapper - Level 5 - (Scale affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 380 - Homemade Sashimi When the first fish jumped at Hera, she slashed with her handaxe while taking a step back. It almost felt like she missed the attack, but then she looked back at the creature, now split in half. She used the Dwarven Hope Axe, which had the shadow buff. Maybe that was the reason why it felt so easy to kill it. Another snapper jumped from the water, surprising Hera. She awkwardly swung her weapon, hoping to just parry the attack. Instead, the blade caught the fish''s belly and sunk deep into the monster''s flesh. While Hera was still holding the monster on her handaxe, the creature''s weight became too much for its body to bear and was ripped in half. "This is ridiculous," Hera looked around. Another fish came at her, but Daskka jumped from her shoulder towards the fish''s mouth. Before the monster could even bite, the snake was already completely inside it. Hera stepped to the side, and her companion burst out of the beast, almost like a creature from a horror movie. "Please do not rub all that blood on me," Hera asked. Daskka smiled and started to slowly approach Hera. "If you do that, I''ll keep you in the necklace for a month. I swear. This thing is going to last eight hours. I just told you that," Hera spent the early 10 minutes of her shift explaining to Daskka what was going on, and the snake seemed excited about all the action. Another fish came, and Hera dodged it before grabbing it by its tail and slamming the monster on the ground, killing it with the impact. "This is way too easy," Hera looked around to check on the other people. Alex was barely moving. She was leaning against the wall and sending a wind blade each time a fish would pop out of the water. On the other side, Silah was using her metal plates to test some different ways of killing the fish. Making a large spinning tube filled with spikes wasn''t working all that well, and her spinning saw blades struggled to hit the targets. Getting an idea, Hera yelled to her girlfriend. "Silah, try a net. Make it like a chainsaw." "A chainsaw?" Silah asked. "Yeah, the chain has small blades on every other link. Then you make it move at high speed kind of like a thread mill. Think you can do it?" "Oh, got it! I''ll try, thanks." Seeing that the fishes didn''t stop attacking even during their small conversation, Hera looked towards the lake, concerned about the lack of monsters in front of her. She half expected that the creatures would be almost getting to her now, but thankfully, Daskka was killing all of them. The snake would use her tail, fangs, poison, and spells to attack the incoming monsters, even going as far as jumping into the water to chase them away. "Daskka, stay on the beach. Don''t fight them in their home turf," Hera called her pet back. Daskka obliged, but she left a cloud of poison on the water before coming out. The monsters that passed through it would already come out in bad shape. All that Hera or Daskka had to do was to dodge and wait a couple of seconds for them to die. Hera pressed the communicator, "Are rampages supposed to be this easy? The one in Brinnefront was much harder." "That''s normal, Sweetie. You are way too over-leveled to be training here. When was the last time you tried to fight in the Woolly Plains or in your dungeon?" Helena''s voice was energetic. It seemed like she was enjoying herself. "My dungeon?" Hera asked. "The one you made with Blue on top of the mountain," Alex chimed in. "Ah, I think I only went in once. I wanted to see what the hard mode would be like, but no one figured out how to trigger it yet," Hera replied, "and I don''t have a reason to go to the Woolly Plains anymore. But my stats are not that higher." "Hera, you almost doubled your stats, got a bunch of new equipment, and Silah''s crazy buff is making our weapons behave like they are for someone at level 40. Of course, this would be ridiculously easy," Blue said. "I get that, but explain why even spells are killing these things like they are nothing. I feel like I''m fishing with dynamite." "Oh, that''s a fun idea," Leo said. A few moments later, a large explosion happened underwater on the other side of the beach. "The fuck was that?" Hera gasped. "One of my bomb traps. I made that one small, but I was thinking about making a big one to blow up in the middle of the lake," Leo replied. "Don''t destroy our water supply, please. We can be mostly independent because of it," Silah asked. "You''re no fun," Leo sounded disappointed, but he didn''t use that spell again. However, that gave Hera an idea. She walked closer to the water and cast a grease fire in the water. As she expected, the liquid flame wasn''t snuffed out in the water but burned on top of it, almost like it was oil. A couple of fishes jumped from the water and passed through the flames. When they hit the ground, the smell of fried fish began to spread. To ensure she wouldn''t do any lasting damage, she dismissed the spell and watched as the flames vanished, leaving the water in the same condition as before she did anything. "OK, my grease fire can cook any fish that jumps out. I might be able to cover a very wide area with that," Hera told everyone. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "We''ll keep that in mind for the next ones. We also need to warn everyone to keep the water supply in mind." Rangalian threw a lightning bolt in the water that spread out and killed about two dozen fishes who were now floating on the lake, motionless. Things seemed to be going pretty well, and since they had such a long time of waiting before the first monster appeared, no one needed a break. A part of the team even ate while everything was peaceful. Piles and piles of fish were forming around everyone. Some were burnt or badly destroyed, but many were just there and could even be used as food. The problem would be that the people of Boothudurn didn''t actually know how to prepare fish, not to mention the possibility that these monsters were poisonous. They didn''t look like it, but in a world where pufferfish were considered level 1 creatures, they had to be careful. Hera noticed that these snappers were getting bigger. The first few ones looked like small dogs, now some that were the size of a German Shepherd already appeared. If that continued, there could be some truly massive monsters coming from the lake. One weird thing was that she couldn''t tell where the monsters were actually coming from. They were appearing in the lake, yes, but she couldn''t see their spawning point. In reality, this happened everywhere in the MAZE. During a rampage, no one was ever able to find where the monsters were spawning from. Even when groups tried to follow the trail of monsters, they would eventually realize that they had gone too far. A theory that most people accepted was that the MAZE hid that from the people and either made monsters spawn in places where no one was looking or distorted the perception of anyone who was staring at the spawning point. When the next fish jumped out of the water, Hera triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brown-Fin Snapper - Level 8 - (Scale affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They are getting stronger!" Hera yelled. "I''m still one-shotting them," Alex replied. "Me too, but keep in mind that it might change." "Roger," Alex replied as two more wind blades came out of her weapons. Daskka seemed to be having a blast during the fight. She would chase the fish around and even try to juggle two of them using her tail. "I never told you not to play with your food, have I?" Hera asked, receiving a head shake as a reply, "Fine, do it just during the rampage. After that, I''m teaching you some manners." Daskka put out her tongue, almost like she was taunting Hera, and kept playing with the fish carcasses. Silah was now sitting with her back against the wall, and a large net was covering the 30-meter wide area that she was protecting. Every time a fish tried to jump, it would land on the ground and be minced into bits. Hera warned her girlfriend that doing that would damage the materials they could get from it, but Silah was more worried about defending the city. Alex used a version of her wind blades that worked more as stabs than slashes. Hera turned to Daskka and asked her to use the floating mist spell on her. Since this fight was really easy, she might as well train the Dorohla Style. With the buff affecting her, she felt like she was using rollerblades. However, the spell allowed her to move freely in all directions. When she first tried to use that spell, Hera felt like she was struggling to walk through the ice, but now she was already proficient on it. In swift motions, she was almost dancing around the snappers that came out of the water. Daskka joined using the floating mist to fly around Hera. Because of the snake''s weight, she could fly at low heights with the same spell that allowed her owner to just glide in the ground. The clock kept ticking while everyone got to a good rhythm in the rampage. Not a single of them was having any problems while facing the fish. If anything, the issue was now what to do with all the bodies littering the beach. Hera used her grease fire on the water to keep the monsters away for a moment and pulled up her tablet to look at the dungeon quest while taking a break to drink some water. The moment she looked at the numbers, she almost spat out her drink. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Boothudurn Peaks Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the room structures will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 20 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Any monster - 103 kills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "How did I kill so many?" Hera was coughing, trying to get her bearings. She looked up and compared her pile with Silah and Alex''s. They seemed more or less the same size, although the one by her girlfriend was more uniform since all the fish were minced. It was only the first day, and they fought for less than half their shift. Yet, somehow, she managed to kill more than what she got in the first rampage she participated in. The rest of the teams would have a full day and a massive reward that could easily double the base reward that the guild was offering. Everyone was distracted, killing the monsters when the next team arrived. Helena stepped away from her position to talk to the people who were coming and explain everything that was going on. Together with the guild clerk, they explained how things should work and how to split their time so people could take breaks. After that, the next team took their places while Hera and the others took care of the numerous fish bodies in the area. They weren''t going bad, but the smell was an assault on the senses. For the first time, Hera took a moment to actually look at the monsters. Each fish was very similar to tuna, but they had a dull brown color and fins that looked more like something a shark would have. Another odd thing was that touching their scales felt like touching dried-up soil, despite the monsters living in the water. After carrying the loot back to the guild, Hera, her team, and the dwarves were lucky since they could all stay in their houses. Unlike the previous attack, since many people were staying in the city to keep everyone safe, there was no need to make use of the bunks in the guild, not that it would even be possible with the number of people still in Boothudurn. The other humans stayed there instead of the hotel, following the regular rampage protocols. Hera managed to find Mark, but he was too busy to talk. Now that the first shift was already over, there were a lot of weapons and armor that needed tending. When she got back to her place, everyone asked her to take a shower quickly. Despite not being the worst one at long range, she was the one who got closer to the fish she killed, and the stank showed. Blue punched a couple of them but then created a storm cloud above the water that electrocuted any fish that jumped out. Despite knowing that Helena and the others also wanted a shower, Hera just laid down in the tub, soaking in the bubbles. Even if someone were to complain about it, she wouldn''t care. Daskka was also in the tub. After a while, Hera became comfortable enough to be with the construct during her baths. It also helped that the snake didn''t have to breathe or use the bathroom and she understood the limits of what she could do in those situations. While watching Daskka rest her head on her knee, Hera started to think about the rampage. She hoped that there wouldn''t be any wendigos this time, but considering her luck, she doubted that. 381 - Dangerous Quest It was the fourth day since the rampage started. Hera already had racked up almost 1 500 kills in the lake. When people heard about how many monsters were coming out of the water, almost all humans asked to change teams, but the guild refused. Unless there was a good reason, people couldn''t just change teams like that when a rampage was going on, and saying that they wanted a chance to get the prize for the top 5 humans wasn''t exactly a good reason. Hera almost felt bad for the people taking care of the griffons. In those 4 days, they had killed about 300 monsters in total. Of course, the monsters were harder to kill than the fish, but then again, Hera knew their strength, and she knew that they shouldn''t be that much of a problem. What ended up being the crux of the matter was not just the armor made by Kahala, but how much money they would get with the number of kills they got. Several surface team members argued that since there were so many more monsters in the lake, the quest should be updated to get the actual value of kills. However, according to the guild, setting up another quest wasn''t high in their list of priorities, not to mention that it would be unfair with the people who were already in the lake team. If they were going to change the value of the kills, the right thing to do was to lower the value of the fish to 10 gold per kill and reduce the value of the others too. As a matter of fact, the sheep coming from the farmland were the only ones who should be worth 200 gold when going by rampage standards. According to the clerk, the griffon should be around 120 to 150 gold. That argument made all the complaints stop really quickly. Hera was hearing a team get scolded by the clerk again while she waited for Silah to finish helping with some maintenance that her father was doing for the guild. Rampages were situations where the weapons and armors of every one were constantly being used or attacked. Because of that, there was more work than usual, and Silah felt bad for not helping. Hera peeked inside the workshop and saw Silah and her dad talking about what to do with a particular armor that was all dented because of the Woolly Ram that head-butted a guard. Mark appeared while she was waiting, coming out of the bathroom, "Hey, Hera! Waiting for Silah?" "Yep. It seems like it will take a while," Hera glanced inside. "Oh yeah. I saw what that ram did with the armor. Nasty stuff," Mark looked at her friend, his eyes stopping on her ears and the ear guards he made her almost two years ago, "Hey, since you are already here. Can I borrow you for a second?" "Sure, what for?" Hera got up. "Come to my workshop. Well, the one I''m using at least," Mark guided her to where he was working in the past few days, "So, you know the ear guards you are wearing?" "Yeah. It''s part of my morning routine already. I put them on even before I get out of bed," Hera chuckled. She only took them off to take showers or to sleep. Despite trying not to be someone who would constantly be worried about her appearance, having a mangled ear wasn''t good for her self-esteem. "Soooo. Don''t get mad. But I kind of made a business out of it," Mark scratched the back of his head. "That''s great! Why would I be mad?" Hera tilted her head. "I mean, I made this for you and only because of what happened to you. I felt kind of bad for using that to make money." "Mark, you helped me. If that gives you an idea to make some extra cash go for it. That''s even better." "Great, so. Do you want an updated version? Free of charge, of course, that''s the least I could do." "I''ll take the upgrade, but I refuse to take it for free." "Hera, c''mon. Let me do something nice for you." "Dude, I appreciate the gesture, but I''m stupid rich now," Hera explained. "Really? Did you make a deal with the dwarves from here or something?" Mark asked. "Not really. It is because of the Kobold Road. Essentially, the guild gave Blue and me some shares in that area. We get like, some minor taxes from everything that goes on there." "Shit, that explains it. How much are you getting each month?" "Well¡­," Hera leaned over and whispered, "Last month, I got about ten million gold." "Fuck me, woman. That''s your monthly pay?" Mark gasped. "Not really. That was just a slow month," Hera chuckled. She knew how ridiculous the amount of money she currently had, but it was still funny to think about it. "OK then. I won''t feel bad for asking you to pay for it." Mark grabbed a bag and showed a few versions of the ear guards he had made. They were more detailed and could even have different designs. Among the most interesting ones were a dragon, a lion, and one that was like a tree with even some small branches forming what looked like the pointy end of elven ears. He explained that the main attraction wasn''t simply the design but that he could now add some enchantments to the ear guards, and because of the size, it was easier to make something complex out of it than if it was just a piercing or an earring. He couldn''t make something too complicated by himself, but he offered Hera a small range of utility enchantments. From increasing her senses to protecting her from mental attacks. In the end, she picked an enchantment that would buff her hearing. According to Mark, that enchantment could even affect the map of an area she had yet to discover. It worked almost like a sonar giving her an outline of her surroundings. It would take him some time before he could finish the ear guards, so Mark asked Hera to come back before her next shift. If everything went well, this would be enough to complete the equipment. Hera thanked him and paid the 20 thousand gold for the ear guard. Since she had money, Mark offered the best materials he had avaliable, and she accepted the price. Mark then took her measurements, something he had never done before, and let her leave with the promise that the new version would fit even better in her ears. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! After that, Hera went back to look for Silah, but her girlfriend wasn''t done with the work. Accepting that it would take a while. Hera just asked Silah to meet her back at her place and left. Back at home, Helena and Alex were eating some food, fish, and chips, to be precise. Since Boothudurn now had a supply of seafood, they would take advantage of it. It was a bit odd since they were all tired of the smell, but at the same time, it was a meal they all enjoyed. Hera wouldn''t let this opportunity pass by her and sent a picture of the dish to the group chat. Bonnie wasn''t going to be that bothered by it, but it was Blue''s favorite dish. The controller replied in less than a minute, asking them to either save some for her or get sick and spend the rest of the day in the bathroom. When Alex and Hera were on the couch, digesting their meal and thanking their lucky stars for having won in their small game to decide who should do the dishes, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Wendigo''s Lair - Boothudurn A group of Wendigos has discovered a place in the room where they can hide and grow. Find their lair and eliminate the monsters. Defeating all the Wendigos will stop the rampage. Rewards ???????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the fuck?" Hera and Alex spoke at the same time. "Shit, that isn''t good," Helena walked out of the kitchen. "Is that something recent? It''s the first time I heard about a rampage ending because of a quest. I mean, it happened with us, but it wasn''t this direct," Hera turned to the mage. "It''s the first time I ever heard of it, but the problem is the wording. Not only does it not say for how long the wendigos were already there, but it also looks like we have to kill all of them to stop the rampage. If we don''t¡­." "The rampage will go on forever?" Alex asked. "That''s what it sounds like," Helena nodded. "Let''s go," Hera was already putting on her armor, "We need to gather the people and put them in a safe place." "Right, there is that too. I''ll head to the guild to see what''s the plan," Helena grabbed her things and headed out. Hera tried calling Naka, but to no avail, the captain already had issues toying with technology, but now it seemed like she wasn''t even going to answer anyone. Her second option was to call King Rutigan, who quickly answered, "Hera. Is everything OK?" "Not really. Did you get the quest? Everyone in the room should''ve gotten it," Hera asked. "I did. I''m talking to Naka right now about how we should find those creatures." "That''s not the main problem. We have too many people in the room. We need a place where we can protect them all. We can''t be sure that the wendigos didn''t find their way inside someone''s basement. If that happens, they might burst out and start attacking people." There was a pause before the king asked in a weak voice, "Do you think that can happen?" "I think that''s a possibility. That''s why I''m asking you to talk with Naka and see if we can keep everyone in the palace or something. It''s going to be uncomfortable, but it''s better than the alternative." Rutigan talked with someone around him, and Hera heard Naka''s voice in the background, then the king returned to the call, "We both agree with your suggestion, I just talked to her. Can you stop by everyone''s houses? For now, tell them to come to the palace." "Have people scouting the castle. We don''t know if the wendigos are there or not. Again, it''s only a possibility, but I rather waste time being safe than giving the monsters a full plate of food." "By the mountain, do you have to phrase it like that?" "I don''t, but it helps to make my point." "It really does. I''ll do what I can. Bring the people with you. Naka suggested that it was better to avoid any potential ambushes since we don''t know where the monsters are," Rutigan added with a sigh. "I''ll do that. Do you have a map of the people in the city? I don''t want to waste time knocking on empty houses." "I''ll get Fethy to send you what we have. We might send that to everyone who is going to gather the people. But it might take a few minutes, so bear with me." "Don''t worry. I''ll get people to the palace. Just send me the list when you can. See you soon," Hera replied. "Thank you, and be careful." Hera hung up and started looking for people who were still around. In half an hour, she got a message from Fethy containing the map with all the houses that should still have people inside. She already had a small group of about 30 people following her. Most of them were families that decided to stay in the city. It was a good thing that everyone was in Hera''s neighborhood. Since they all knew her, it was easier to make them agree to come along. About 5 minutes after Hera called the king, Rutigan sent a message to everyone in the city asking for the people who were not participating in the rampage to follow the guards going to their houses. When Hera reached the palace, there were already some people there. With the help of a few of Ogryn''s mages and a couple of people from the guild, Naka had made sure that the castle was completely free of wendigos and it would be the place where the citizens of Boothudurn would stay until the end of the rampage. As Hera was leaving to get another group of people, Helena and Mark appeared. "Hera. Come with me. You are going to help us find the wendigos," Helena said. "But the people!" "There are more than enough guards to get them. You have your net and your relic that can help us find where they are, and you are the only explorer currently in the room. Mark said he made something that can help too," Helena gestured to Mark. "Right. Here," Mark gave a small box with a set of gold ear guards. It was a dull color that one could easily confuse with Hera''s hair but aside from that there were no details. It looked almost unfinished, like it was just a chunk of metal "I can make the design later. I rushed this when I saw the quest, figured it might help." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sonar Ear Guards A pair of ear guards made by a crafter who specializes in such items. The items don''t have any special defensive properties, but they can possess unique skills. Item Skill: Echolocation By focusing your hearing on a specific sound, you are able to understand the layout of an area around you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, this will help. Any ideas about what I should ask?" Hera turned to Helena. "We need something to narrow down our searches. Anything helps but try to cut off a large area." Hera nodded and pulled Yarnball from her waist. She used the full 30 thousand mana from her bracelet to fuel the question before asking, "Is the entrance to the wendigo lair here inside the mountain or in the outer layer of the mountain?" The screen went black for a moment before the answer appeared. ''Inside the mountain'' Hera and Helena looked at each other and started to warn everyone before dashing out to see if they could find where the wendigos were. 382 - Wendigo Lair "Is the wendigo lair near the farmland?" Hera had just put 50 thousand mana in Yarnball. Because of the situation, the guild was allowing her to use some of the batteries they had to fuel her relic. ''No'' "Crap, it''s not there," Hera sighed in a sleepy voice. "OK, now you go back to bed," Ogryn said. "No, no. I''m awake," Hera replied. "Don''t make me use a spell on you again. I''ll wake you up in two hours, then you can be up for good. I think Helena already told you, but you are on lair hunting duty." 5 hours ago everyone in the room got the quest about the wendigos. Helena almost had to force Hera to take a lie down since they were exhausted already. Before the quest, they had their 8 hours shift and another 5 hours of rest, but they had yet to sleep. When she finally convinced the explorer, it was only with the stipulation that someone would wake her up every 2 hours so she could use her relic to narrow down the location of the wendigos. That had been the third question. The second one asked if the wendigo lair was in the city proper. Luckily, the answer was also no. There were only two places left, the lake and the tunnel leading to the Sky Ruler''s dungeon. There was a slight issue of what the relic would consider the city or the farmland, but after talking with Helena and Rutigan, they agreed to only worry about that when it became an issue. Hera just nodded and went back to bed. She was staying in a room in the guild to have easy access to the mana crystals. Despite her protest, she was exhausted. Rampages were never easy, and the 8 hours of constant fighting was much worse than running dungeons or searching for anything in the MAZE. In most other scenarios, you could take small breaks during the day and not just stay constantly facing off against monsters. Two hours later, Helena woke Hera up. Unlike the explorer, she had a proper night of sleep, "Hey, sweetie. Are you feeling OK? Can we start?" "Yeah, sure. Can I just splash some water on my face?" Hera got up, her eyes still hurting. "Of course. Drink some water, there is coffee and some food if you want. When you are ready, come to meeting room A. We are going to have a briefing there." Hera nodded and went to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she joined everyone in the meeting room. Helena, Alex, Naka, Ogryn, and Rutigan were there, along with the guild clerk currently in charge of organizing the rampage. Without even having a moment to greet each other, Naka started the meeting and explained what was going on. Outside of the mountain, the sky had turned red, signaling that this should be the last day of the rampage. However, because of the quest, they were uncertain if that would actually be the case or it would just be a signal for the last stage of the rampage. On other news, they had completely scoured the farmland and the tunnel leading to the Sky Ruler dungeon. Rutigan and Naka trusted on Hera''s relic, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and they were already looking through the field when they got the information that the lair wasn''t there. Still, it was better to finish the job. Searching the city would be a problem. Not only that could cause problems with the people since the guard would be basically invading their homes, but they would also take too long to scour the entire place. This didn''t mean they didn''t even try to search the other areas. In fact, they had groups looking through the tunnel, the mines, and the lake, but no one found anything. Hera was the only explorer in the room and one of the few people that actually had spells that could locate something hidden like that. Most of those who stayed behind for a rampage weren''t the kind to look for secrets in the MAZE, and the dwarves weren''t exactly archaeologists. "Can you ask the next question?" the clerk passed a wire to Hera connected to the mana battery. "Sure," Hera grabbed the cable and pulled 50 thousand mana to her relic. It was probably overkill, but it was better than using too little mana and wasting the question, "Is the wendigo lair in the lake area?" The blue and white answer appeared on the screen of her relic. ''Yes'' "So we have to look around the lake," Rutigan sighed with relief. The idea that the lair was in the middle of the city weighed in his mind. "Why aren''t you asking directly where the lair is?" Naka asked. "Because I don''t know how much mana that will cost. I mean, I could pull all the mana from the guild, but that is one of the batteries that is currently powering a lot of things. If we don''t have internet, plumbing and other basic infrastructures we could be in trouble. And if I just ask the question using a smaller amount of mana, I would waste the question and have to wait another two hours without having anything that could help us," Hera explained. "Ah. I see. Sorry, you are doing better than I expected." "I''ve learned a thing or two," Hera smiled. "OK then. Hera, you are coming with me to the lake. We need to find the lair," Helena was already getting up. "Are you sure you are OK with this? I mean, it''s the first wendigo you will see since¡­." Alex asked. "Oh, I''m sure. I tried to be all positive and happy, but by the system, I want to splatter those things in the wall," Helena''s eyes were cold as she showed a smile that Hera never expected to come from the mage. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "So¡­ kill it with prejudice?" Hera tried to break some of the tension. "Extreme prejudice. Just like when you see a cockroach in your bedroom," Helena nodded. "What is a cockroach?" Rutigan asked. "I''ll tell you later. For now, we are going," Hera turned to Ogryn, "Can you come with us? We might need more of those lights. Something tells me the wendigos are in the lake." "Yeah, I was thinking that too. It''s a great place to hide. We can''t see the entrance, and they have a full buffet for them to eat and level up," Alex nodded. With that, Hera''s group headed out to the lager along with Naka and Ogryn. Leo was already there, taking his place among the team who would kill the incoming fish. When they got close, Alex quickly explained what was going on and asked him if he saw anything different in the lake, but the hunter wasn''t able to help. Everything here was new to him, so it was hard to tell what was out of place. Since Hera''s questions were all about the areas where the wendigos could be, Naka decided not to ignore the mines just by the lake. Just like with the farmland no one could tell for sure if that place was considered part of the tunnel to the sky ruler, part of the lake, or just its own thing. For that reason, a team of guards and mages searched the mines to see if there was anything there. On the other hand, Hera was sure that the wendigos should be near the lake. Now that she thought about it, it made a lot of sense. The fish were coming in the thousands. If a wendigo had a chance to eat its fill there, it should be able to get really strong really fast. The first idea was to look around the lake for an alcove or an entrance. To do that, Helena picked a couple of drones from the guild. Such a piece of equipment mainly was used for scouting or events, but in a situation like this, it could help a lot. Using the drones to scan the lake''s surroundings didn''t reveal anything useful. All the surrounding walls were just walls, and it didn''t look like there was any passage around. Hera even tried to follow the side path that went around the lake, hoping that the rampage used the natural formation of the area but to no avail. "Could they be underwater?" Ogryn asked. "That is a possibility. Honestly, I think they are down there, but we will have problems if we try to go underwater," Helena sighed. "Yeah, there are too many monsters in the water," Hera nodded. "I might be able to do something about that. I have a spell that creates a barrier around us while we dive underwater. However, it only protects us from the water and gives us some air to breathe. If a monster tries to attack us, the spell won''t stop it, but they will fall to the ground since they can''t swim inside," Ogryn was scratching his chin. "How big is the spell? Like, how many can you keep inside it? Maybe Silah can help with her chain net, Daskka can be outside too, and any spells we can cast underwater could work as a way to protect us. Or would that mess with the barrier?" Hera asked. "It won''t. The spell only affects water, so as long as you are using something that is not water-based, we shouldn''t have any problems. And I can probably get about five people inside, but it will be somewhat tight. Also, I believe Silah is currently doing some repairs in the guild," Ogryn explained. "Let''s do it then. I can try to cast a spell around us that will hide us from anything," Helena was already moving to the water. Ogryn followed her quickly, and after a moment, he created a translucent barrier around him. It was almost like seeing the wind covering his surroundings. Hera, Helena, and Alex got closer to him as they started to walk into what was supposed to be water. Helena was in the back, using her spell that made the barrier seem like a pitch-black ball of shadows. The type of darkness that one would see in the corner of their eyes and chalk off as being just a shadow by a wall. This particular spell was the one Helena used to hide her group from the Wendigos during the assault on the wall. If it was good enough to protect a group from level 80 plus monsters, it should be more than enough to trick the level 5 fish in the water. Unlike what Hera expected, the barrier wasn''t capable of making them float. Instead, they had to walk to the bottom of the lake and search for everything. At first, the fish tried to attack them, Helena''s spell was able to trick them, but it couldn''t change some basic truths. When they were going into the lake, the water was being pushed to the side, and what was once an area where they could swim was turning into land. This made the closest fish attack the group, but they were quickly killed off. Little by little, the party walked inside the lake, completely unbothered by the water. Thankfully, Helena''s spell only gave the barrier a slightly dark tint. The main issue was the lack of light underwater. Even with the glowing sphere, they couldn''t see their surroundings properly. According to Helena, if anyone tried to use another light spell, it would break the shadow tint that she created. Unfortunately, that was the main drawback of the spell. "Daskka, go there and try to find any entrances or things that would lead somewhere else," Hera told her companion, who jumped in the water and started sowing. The explorer then turned to Helena, "If I make some noise will it break the spell?" "It won''t break, but some monsters might come to attack us. Why?" "What Mark gave me. It has a skill called echolocation, and as far as I''m aware, that is something that works underwater." Helena nodded, understanding what she intended to do, "Everyone, be ready to attack. Ogryn, you can still fight back, right?" "I can, but I cannot move too fast, or the barrier will break." Getting the go-ahead, Hera placed one hand on Ogryn''s shoulder and started humming. She had to focus on a specific sound for the skill to work, and having something constant would be better than just something random. After a few moments, Hera''s humming seemed to get louder and louder, almost echoing in the barrier, but the explorer was the only one who noticed that. Realizing that the barrier should be stopping the sound from moving along the water, Hera asked everyone to stop walking for a moment and stuck her head outside the barrier to continue her humming. Alex and Helena had to kill a few monsters that were getting close so they wouldn''t hurt their friend, but little by little, Hera began to have an idea of the layout of her surroundings. Doing so felt very weird. As her humming continued, a picture formed in her mind, but she couldn''t tell if it was real or just her imagination. Before her thoughts started to trail off too much, she noticed something different to her right. The picture of a small passage appeared between her thoughts. Pulling her head out of the water, Hera took a deep breath and opened her [Explorer''s Map]. Everything that she pictured while humming seemed to match with the map, including the seemingly out-of-place tunnel in the direction of the mines. Hera sent a mental message to Daskka for the snake to check it out as they started heading that way. The party got to the entrance in a few minutes and saw that the tunnel went straight for a while, then up. Here, there were some small bioluminescent formations on the walls. Before they even got closer, Daskka returned to Hera and sent a single thought as an answer that could translate to: ''I''ve found them.'' 383 - Kill it with fire After finding the location of the wendigos, they decided to head back and warn everyone. Unfortunately, the internet signal couldn''t go underwater without some specialized equipment, and going in without telling anyone else could be a recipe for trouble. If the worst came to pass, the people in Boothudurn would still have to search for the lair. When they left the water, Naka was the first to ask if they had found anything. Helena nodded and explained their discovery and that Daskka confirmed the existence of the monsters inside. The guard captain turned to Ogryn and asked how many people he could bring there. After hearing the reply that he could bring four people, not counting with himself, Naka announced that she would be going. During that discussion, Hera and Alex were warning Rutigan and the guild about the lair''s location. It barely took 10 minutes for the group to go back underwater and move to the lair. Unfortunately, Hera''s new ear guards wouldn''t be able to tell them how many creatures were inside it, since they were in a place without water but according to Daskka, there were at least eight and some large fleshy-looking things that could be their eggs. Hearing that, Helena became even angrier. This wasn''t just a small group but a large gaggle of creatures. If the worst happened and those things spilled into the city, it could easily be a bloodbath, especially considering the level of the people here. By killing one random person, the Wendigos would be much stronger than most explorers that traveled in this layer. Still underwater, they walked through the tunnel and reached a point where they could see the surface. Helena gestured for everyone to stop, "We don''t know what to expect there, but don''t let those things bite you. There is no way to know what they can do, and if they have parasites, you won''t want to know how to get rid of them, trust me. Hera, can you cast your sensory net from here?" Hera shook her head, "No. I need to see what is going on or at least have an idea of the space. I can use my pulse, though, but they might be able to sense it." "OK then. Naka, you jump in first. Hera, you follow and use the net to see if any of them are trying to hide. Ogryn, Alex, and myself will stay in the rear. Any questions?" Helena looked around. When no one replied, she just nodded and waited for Naka''s move. The captain took a deep breath and then jumped out of the water in a swift motion, with a small sphere of light following her along. It was hard to tell how high she went, but just as the dwarf moved out of the bubble, Hera tried to follow. Instead of a single jump, she walked out of the barrier and swam up. Seeing how much she had to travel, Hera was surprised by the captain''s strength yet again. It wouldn''t take just a small hop to reach the surface but a considerable leap. Adding the water, it would take a lot for someone to make that jump. Maybe Hera could do so by using her [All In], but she wasn''t about to try that right now. Because of her armor, it was harder to swim, and when she finally reached the surface, Naka was already engaged with the monsters. The wendigo, this time, all looked somewhat humanoid, like a mix of a hairless monkey with a ghoul from a horror movie. Long limbs and a skin that seemed to be stretched by the bones in their bodies. They had sharp fangs, two rows of teeth, long claw-like nails with a single inverted spike to rip apart their prey. With a quick glance, Hera also noticed that not all Wendigos were white with their red claws and fangs. Some of them were brownish, while others seemed to have scales. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 12 (Consumption Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 11 (Consumption Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 17 (Consumption Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 6 (Consumption Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit, most of them are high level for the room. That brown one on the back is level 17," Hera warned. Naka didn''t say anything. She just pulled a dagger from her waist and threw it at the monster, beheading it instantly. It''s blood-splattered in what Hera could now see were black cocoons in the walls. Another wendigo jumped at Naka, but before it could reach her, Daskka jumped at its throat, biting down and wrapping her body around the monster to try to hold it down. The small snake only could get a single-arm, but it was enough to hinder the wendigo enough for Hera to catch up. She slammed her shadow handaxe on the middle of the monster''s spine, breaking it with the impact. Following it up with a kick, the explorer ripped the wendigo in two. As a safety measure, she shot a poison needle at the monster''s head, controlling the poison so it would clog up the blood inside its brain. It was a bit of a mana sink, but it didn''t matter. She wasn''t about to let any of these creatures pull some crap about pretending to be dead. "Daskka!" Hera called. The snake already understood what she was asking for and quickly used the floating mist spell on her master. Before the explorer could attack another Wendigo, Naka had already slashed another five creatures with her longsword. Since they were fighting in a cave, the captain knew she had to hold some of her strength back. If she went all out, there was a considerable chance that a cave-in would happen, and if they were too deep inside the mountain, not even someone like her could survive. Hera glided through the floor, going after the next Wendigo with Daskka flying by her side. The two flanked one of the white monsters and, in a swift motion, attacked at the same time, Hera using her handaxe and Daskka her tail as a blade. Such a spell was something that the snake one day simply knew how to do. It was probably related to her growth, but Hera couldn''t tell how it worked. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Alex, Helena, and Ogryn emerged from the water and started attacking. Alex and Ogryn were being careful and meticulously killing all of the monsters that were not engaged with Naka or Hera. On the other hand, Helena was flinging spells left and right in a mad rage. It didn''t matter if those monsters were the same ones that attacked her. It didn''t matter that these shouldn''t have any parasites in their bites. All that mattered was that these creatures needed to die. Tendrils of darkness spread around the lair and started grabbing the monsters, snapping their bones and ripping their limbs apart, and slamming the wendigos against the walls again and again. Helena''s shadows were so strong that even the light Naka created struggled to continue existing. Hera made another light, trying to fight back, but the magic was too strong. Daskka started to freak out, getting closer to Hera. The snake was clearly afraid, and suddenly, she jumped back inside the necklace. Hera looked around, trying to understand what was going on, and she realized that the cave floor was covered in some weird black liquid, and it was rising quickly. "Lena, stop!" Hera called, but the mage kept going, her spells making the environment even darker. "Lena!" Alex cried. "Helena!" Ogryn yelled. The liquid was already on Hera''s ankles. She sent a dancing light to the black water, but it seemed to be absorbing all the light around it. "Stop!" Naka commanded using a skill that forced everyone to stop whatever they were doing, even the enemies. Helena turned around to the captain, "Drop that spell, now!" Helena obeyed the command, and at the same time, Hera created her sensory net in the entire area to make sure the monsters weren''t trying to run away or attack them. It seemed like all the wendigos were gone. Only the ones inside the eggs were still alive. Now that the shadows had cleared out, they could see some water coming from the walls in the places where the wendigos were slammed. Naka saw that and stared Helena down with an angry expression. "I don''t care what has gotten into you. You do not put my guards in danger because you can''t control your feelings." Helena glanced around and nodded, "Sorry. We can talk later. The eggs are still a problem." Naka didn''t reply. She simply went to the side and started slashing the eggs open, killing the wendigos before they could be born. On the corner of Hera''s sensory net, she noticed something moving, but it was weird. She turned to what she was sensing and stared at where the oddity was coming from. It was a cocoon like all the others, red, fleshy, and veiny, but there was something that felt off. She looked at the wall and, after a moment, realized what it was. It wasn''t that something was off, but something was no longer there. The wall behind the egg was flat, and the cocoon passed through it. When she noticed that, the illusion was broken, and she saw that the egg was open, and inside it, there was a humanoid wendigo, but instead of being white, it was completely black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Level 9 (Shadow Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "There is another one here!" as Hera called, the monster jumped from the egg with tendrils of darkness following it. It tried to attack Naka, but the captain just waved her hand and stopped the shadow appendages. Ogryn cast a lightning bolt at the monster while Alex joined in with a few wind blades. The creature was able to dodge some of the attacks, but not all of them. One of the wind blades cut his side, which started to bleed profusely. With a roar, the wendigo glanced at the entrance, the water-logged tunnel that led them to the lake. Not seeing another way to survive this, the monster jumped in the water to escape those who destroyed all of its kin. Naka threw a knife at the creature, but the shadow tendrils managed to deflect just enough so that the monster wouldn''t be hit by the attack. Just as it was about to vanish into the water, Hera sent a poison needle through Daskka, which hit the wendigo as it started to swim away. The poison took hold, and Hera just focused on increasing the spread. She didn''t know how long it would take for the magic to kill the creature or even if it could pull the poison out of its body. Because of that, she was treating this as if it was her only chance to kill it. Helena and Naka wanted to chase after the monster, but there were still some eggs in the cave. If they left now, it could mean that the cocoons would hatch, and more wendigos would appear. Leaving people behind wasn''t an option either, the water level was rising quickly and even a good swimmer would have trouble getting back to the surface in a single breath. Only after all the eggs were completely gone that Ogryn prepared his barrier again for everyone to head back to the beach. Hera''s poison was still inside the creature, and thanks to Daskka''s help, she could pinpoint the direction where her magic currently was. As they walked into the lake once more, Naka was feeling restless, and she wanted to push forward quickly, but Ogryn''s barrier couldn''t move at high speeds, the pace had to be that of a calm stroll, not to mention they still had the fish to worry about. Hera wanted to trigger her poison control to kill the monster, but she needed to see it or at least know where it was for the spell to work. Suddenly, she felt her magic dissipating and started to get worried. Could this mean that the wendigo managed to push out all the poison from its body? Almost as if the system wanted to answer her, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Complete Wendigo''s Lair - Boothudurn The wendigo lair has been found and destroyed. All those who were part of the search and those who attacked the wendigos will receive rewards based on their individual contributions. Rewards 3rd place - Treasure map ticket ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Treasure map ticket By infusing mana in this item, you can discover the location of one of the secrets of the room you are currently in. The map will only reveal the location of said secret, and it will always be something you have yet to discover. If there is no secret for you to discover in the current room, nothing will happen when you infuse your mana on the ticket but it will not be spent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing that, Hera felt a bit relieved, even if mildly annoyed. She was the one who found the lair and still got third place. It wasn''t even about the rewards, just her competitive side piercing through. As soon as they managed to reach the beach, they understood what had happened. The body of the wendigo was splattered amongst the rocks that made the protective wall around the lake, and a few guards were surrounding the monster, making sure it was truly dead. Helena talked to Naka and explained that this should mean the end of the rampage. All they had to do now was defend their positions until the monsters stopped attacking. 384 - Time to travel It took 3 hours for the rampage to finally stop, and just like how it was in Brinnefront, there was a massive last-ditch effort from the monster part. Thankfully, that wasn''t much of an issue because of the reinforcement sent to all the fronts. Hera and Helena stayed in the lake to help people and managed to get another 300 kills on their belts. As they walked away and back to the guild carrying hundreds of fish on wheel barrels, Hera took a moment to check her quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Boothudurn Peaks Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the room structures will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 20 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Any monster - 1862 kills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After doing some quick math, Hera was sure she would be getting close to 400 thousand gold. For a rampage in the 3rd layer, that was utterly ridiculous. Even if only the lake team got that much, that should easily be a few million gold to be distributed as rewards. Not to mention that her entire party should be the ones getting the equipment from Kahala. While they were walking, Blue was asking about the wendigos. She didn''t have a chance to help with the fight, but the little she searched for the lair was enough to net her 25th place, which ended up being just some uncommon crafting materials. "Hang on, what happened to that shadow one? Why did it turn all black?" Blue asked. "I''m not sure. Maybe it was Lena''s mana. The area was baked in shadows, and since it was an egg, the monster might have absorbed it. That''s my theory, at least," Alex replied. "Is that possible? Could Wendigos absorb mana when they are in their eggs?" Blue turned to Helena. "I don''t know. The Wendigos are still a mystery. Ever since the attack on the wall, I haven''t heard anything about finding the eggs. I wish I could tell you guys an explanation, but¡­," Helena let out a long sigh. "Don''t worry, we are just curious. By the way, what reward did you get for the rampage quest?" Hera asked. "I got the second place reward. It''s the first time I have managed to get that. It''s called ''simulation of magic token.'' It''s a scroll that, when used, can show me the spell I''m casting and the areas where I''m making mistakes or doing things in a less than optimal way. It sounds lame, but for a mage, it''s something amazing. These puppies can go for a few million gold if I want to sell it." "Are you going to?" Blue asked. "No way. This type of thing can help me more than you imagine. I''ve never seen someone using it before, but this item will almost always lead to a breakthrough," the reward made Helena giddy. With this item, she could perfect one of her spells. "Does anyone know what''s the first place reward?" Alex asked. "It seems that the captain is the one who got it. I heard her talking about it with a few other guards. For what it is, I can''t say for this quest, but it''s usually something rampage-related, like an item that lets you find a monster or even kill it. I heard some people in the coalition talking about how if you managed to get the 1st place in 12 rampages across an entire year, the item would turn into a skill," Leo replied as they were just about to get to the guild. Just as they stepped inside, Rutigan appeared out of nowhere and pulled Hera and Blue to a private room on the side, "Hera, Blue! I''m glad you are OK. I heard what was going on in the lake and how you bravely fought against those wendigo creatures and was paramount to find the lair," Rutigan turned to Blue, "And you were valiantly defending the city against the onslaught of fish." Hera stared at the king for a moment. He could be someone who would beat around the bush, but praising them like this would only happen when he needed something. "OK, why don''t we skip the¡­ whatever this is, and you tell us what you want," Hera replied, only now realizing that she might have been a bit too rude to the king. Saying that it was just because she was tired wasn''t an excuse, "Sorry, it''s just been a long day, and I don''t want to keep running around in circles." "No, no. You are right. Listen, it''s about the armor I promised Kahala would make." "She pulled back?" Blue asked. "Oh, no. She understood why I was doing that, and even if she is going to complain for years to come, she will make the items. However, I wanted to know if you could help me with something," Rutigan sighed. "Depends on what it is," Blue replied. "Of course. A lot of people are complaining about the rewards since your team was the one who went to the lake. They are saying that we gave more information to you two, specifically. Some are even going as far as saying that we are trying to increase our own power and leave humanity behind, and¡­ well, I would be lying if I said that I didn''t hear anyone accusing us of being a part of that group that attacked Union City," Rutigan sighed. "What?!" Blue and Hera asked at the same time. "Who the fuck is saying that bullshit?" Blue asked. "Calm down. There is no need to be that angry. As far as I''m aware, that came from a single person, and even other members of her team scolded her for the comment," Rutigan tried to appease the controller. "What''s her name?" Hera asked. "I don''t know." "That''s fine. What does she look like? Nothing will happen to her. She will just be gone," Hera''s eyes were cold and sharp. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "For, fuck''s sake Hera. You are supposed to be the calm one. Stop that. I heard one comment, and everyone piled on saying that she was wrong. I know this is not something I can just shrug off, but making a big deal out of it will only make this worse," Rutigan rubbed between his eyes, "Now. What I wanted to ask you is. Can you two give up your prizes? I''m sure you are aware that even if both teams added all their kills, they wouldn''t have the same kills as a single person who defended the lake. Because of that, I want to say that the two of you decided to relinquish your prizes so each other team could receive one of Kahala''s works. That way, we can be sure that all teams at least get one of the rewards." "So we won''t get the item?" Blue slumped. "Here is the thing. This was supposed to be a surprise, but I already convinced Kahala to make something for you two. It was supposed to be for the first anniversary of you opening the doorway for us, but you know how Kahala is. She got the inspiration for that project she''s making for her late husband and put everything to the side." "Wasn''t that a few months ago?" Hera asked. "Yeah. In fact, she says it will take just a couple more days to finish yours, Hera. For Blue, it might need at least a week. Well, I''m not entirely sure if that time frame will remain the same with the other equipment she''s going to make. In all honesty, my biggest fear is that she will just use those items and give them to you as part of the reward instead of making something new. I''m trying to make her feel the love for crafting again. I know it''s not the best way to do it, but I''m honestly out of ideas," Rutigan explained. "I mean¡­ we are still getting something made by her. I''m OK with that. Even if I feel bad for giving her more work," Hera replied. "As long as I get a nice item, I''m OK with that too. I would be annoyed if I was going to lose the reward altogether. Like it wasn''t our fault that there were so many fish," Blue crossed her arms. "I know, and I appreciate your help," Rutigan nodded. They headed out of the meeting room and the king explained to everyone the change. He told them that he asked Hera and Blue to relinquish their rewards so that the humans who contributed the most on both the farmland and outside would also get a special piece of equipment. After that, the clerks went around paying everyone, leaving the lake team for last. The guild used the private rooms to complete the transaction to avoid any problems. Out of curiosity, Hera asked who had the most kills in the lake team, and it was Sevaris, the guard that trained Blue when they arrived in Boothudurn. He had managed to get 22 hundred kills. Part of this should be because he was in the third rotation, meaning he didn''t have to wait it out for hours during the first day, and he was in the team that took the last shift before the end. The final piece of business was to sell the loot back to the people who participated in the rampage before selling them in the guild. However, because of the unusually large number of materials, and the low number of guild employees, the clerks asked for a few days before sending the list of items to everyone with what they found. For the people who won a piece of equipment made by a master armorsmith, they were asked to step to the side so Silah could take their measurements. Kahala was the one who would pick what to make, but since Silah knew how Kahala worked, she was the best option to get that information. To avoid having Kahala give items they couldn''t use, Silah was also doing a small interview, asking about how they fought and what they used. None of the questions were too invasive, but it helped everyone feel more comfortable with the whole situation. Unlike the rest of her party, who went straight to their house, Hera went looking for her father. Eridan was still by the farmland, helping the people there to dismantle the defenses and traps they made. Thankfully, he was doing well, just really tired. After giving him a big hug, Hera helped out while talking and trying to see if her father was scared after his first rampage. To her surprise, he was doing fine, excited even. A rampage might have been scary, but seeing the people fight and use spells and different types of weapons was amazing. When they were going back to his place, Eridan thanked Hera again for pushing him to come to the MAZE. During the next couple of days, the city was still in high spirits with all its citizens back from the other rooms, talking about the rampage, the return of fish, and everything they saw while they were away. Most of them had old recipes from their ancestors that used seafood, but they had never tried. One not-so-great side effect of the rampage was the return of the sky rulers outside of the mountain, but they were much weaker than the ones from before, and there was no storm barrier protecting them from the dwarves. That caused some issues with the plan of developing a settlement outside of the city, but it was still early to tell if they should give up that project or not. Hera had a date with Silah on that night, going to a human restaurant that had sushi. Even if that wasn''t exactly Hera''s favorite, Silah was intrigued by the idea of raw food. They had just arrived and were seated by the server. Before looking at the menu, Silah turned to her girlfriend, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Kahala finished your gift. She wanted you to stop by tomorrow. Since Rutigan already spoiled the surprise, she doesn''t want to make a big deal out of it. All she needs is for you to go there so she can make sure it fits." "Really? That''s good then. I might be able to go sooner than I expected," Hera replied. "Go? Go where?" Silah tilted her head. "I''m chasing that thing, you know. The one we went to the Wailing Valley to find out about," Hera replied, trying to not speak about a legacy out loud. "Right. Sorry, I forgot about that. How long do you think you will be gone this time? Just a few days?" Silah started looking through the menu. "A bit longer than that. I need to confirm the route, but if I do the five crossings instead of the three, I should get there in a couple of weeks," Hera pulled up her tablet to see how far away that room was. "What?" Hera just stared at Silah with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean two weeks just to get there?" Silah gasped. "I told you that. Where I found the next clue is far away." "Yeah, but I figured like, Wailing Valley far away, not on the other side of the freaking MAZE." "That''s not the other side of the MAZE. I won''t even be getting close to the entrance on the other side of my home country." "Still. What am I supposed to do?" "You can come with me or stay here. I''m not going to force you to do anything. I mean, I would love for you to come, but I know it''s a long time for you to stay away from your family." "And a long time for my girlfriend to stay away from me. You know, you spend so much time elsewhere that I feel like I don''t even have someone at times." "Silah¡­ it''s not like that. I love you. I just have to do my own thing. And I call you every night. Well¡­ every night that I can," Hera reached for Silah''s hand. "But aren''t we supposed to be together?" "We are. Just not in the same place sometimes." "It just feels like you are never here. I mean, these past two weeks were the most time you stayed in Boothudurn since your dad settled in, and we barely saw each other." "That''s not all on me. You''ve been busy with the forge, studying under Kahala and everything. I''m not trying to pass the blame. I know that there were days that I was with Risli for too long or in the training rooms." "Or the day you refused to see me for some random reason." "That day, I was sick. Blue tried a recipe, and I was throwing up and with diarrhea. I''m sure that if you had seen me like that, all the love would''ve gone away," Hera chuckled. "Can you not talk about that when we are about to eat?" Silah rolled her eyes with a smile. "You were the one who brought it up, but sure. Let''s enjoy our meal. We can talk about this later." Silah nodded, and the server saw his opportunity to offer the appetizers. He placed a small plate with wasabi and two small soy sauce bowls on the table. Seeing that, Silah smiled again, "Oh, you have guacamole here?" she said as she took a spoon full of green and put it on her mouth. "Silah, don''t!" Hera tried to stop her, but it was too late. Silah''s mouth started to burn, and Hera did her best to help her girlfriend before enjoying the rest of her date. 385 - Getting ready for the next room Hera was at Kahala''s place. The blacksmith had already told Rutigan that she would be giving the human her gift, and since this had to be something that the king kept quiet about, there wouldn''t be any celebration for it. It wasn''t so much that they had to hide this gift, but since he made a big deal about Hera and Blue giving up their rewards, it would seem weird if they suddenly got some armor made by Kahala. Luckily, no one knew where the armorsmith lived, so anyone who saw Hera going inside this random house wouldn''t think anything about it. "Here you go. Silah gave me your measurements. I hope she got them right," Kahala placed a leather sack on the table. Whatever was inside made a loud ''clank'' sound as it hit the stone. "Thank you, and you really didn''t have to do it," Here opened the bag and pulled out a pair of dark purple metal shoes. They went all the way to her shins and seemed extremely malleable despite it being completely made of purple iron. Looking inside them, it seemed like they were cushioned and even had some modern impact dampening technology. "If you are going to fight, it''s better to have something heavy on your feet. That way, it can help you put your weight on your attacks. Check the skill too. It should help you do that weird thing you do with the snake," Kahala explained. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Purple Flight Boots Very Rare A pair of tall boots that were made by a master armorsmith. The creation process of this item mixed old techniques with modern ones, creating a result that brought together the best of both periods. Attribute scaling: Agility x 3.14 Intelligence x 2.89 Armor skill Glide Allows you to glide through the terrain as you move for 30 minutes. Cooldown 30 minutes. Required level to use the skills or the scaling: 25 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow, this is amazing. One question. Does the cooldown start when I activate the skill or when I deactivate it?" Hera asked. "When you first activate it. Look here," Kahala pulled a small leather strip from the bag, "If you use this specific strap on the back, it will trigger the skill every time it runs out. If you stop the skill before the duration ends, the cooldown will continue as it is, and the strap will stop triggering the skill automatically. You can also use that in any other equipment that has a skill. Just tie the strap somewhere on the item. For boots or gloves that are a matching pair, you just need to tie it around one of them and be wearing both, of course." "Doesn''t this mean that I can keep gliding forever if I want to?" Hera asked. "Basically, yeah. I figured that it would help you not to waste mana on a spell if you had that. If you don''t like it, I can change that to something else. But you''ll have to wait until I''m finished with all the bullshit that Rutigan asked me to do," Kahala sighed. "No, this is amazing. It will help a lot. Thank you so much," Hera smiled. "Don''t thank me yet. Try it on. I want to know if it fits." Hera did as Kahala asked, and she noticed that it was a bit tight on the top and too wide on the sides, but the length of her foot was perfect. Those were quick fixes since all that was needed was a minor reshaping of the boots and not adding or removing material from the frame. Kahala wasn''t exactly the chatty kind, so she just worked while Hera toyed with her tablet, double-checking the information she had found about the tamer and her possible legacy. She now had two animals by her side, Daskka, and Nimbus, her mount. Finding that legacy could make her much stronger if mana constructs were considered fair subjects to the tamer''s skills. Hera found a few clues during the past year, not exactly about the tamer, but about the blademasters that worked with her. That was the only lead she had at the moment, aside from the tamer being in the 12th layer, which narrowed it down to just one of the infinite layers of the MAZE. However, for the blademasters, she had found more mentions of such individuals in a few old kingdoms and cities. One of them was still active to this day, but it did not belong to the same civilization that once existed. Well, it belonged to their ancestors, but the people had migrated to a different place for several centuries, and when they returned, most of the language was lost to the ages. Not that there weren''t scholars who studied the past, but it wasn''t something that the people in the city knew very well. Hera asked around and found a website that crowdsourced the translation of all the ancient archives. Some of the documents were only available in person, but among all the scrolls, she found mentions of the blademasters, and not just one. One of the group descriptions seemed to match the same one that she got from Naph. In the list of documents, a few about a meeting of powerful individuals happened around the same time, but the contents of such meetings were only available in person. That''s what Hera wanted to go check it out. That particular civilization used to keep transcriptions of everything said in meetings that were classified as important, like the one that the blademasters participated in. The only issue was that the room was very far away. Going through the shortest route, she should take around two weeks just to get there. It was a good thing that she had looked up the actual numbers of people getting stuck without being able to cross a doorway. There was a 1 million to one chance of getting stuck after crossing the 4th doorway, and a 500 000 to one after crossing the 5th doorway. If she tried to cross a 6th, the odds would increase to just 300 to 1. Because of those odds, Hera felt comfortable enough that she wouldn''t get stuck anytime soon. Not to mention that those odds were rounded down. The real odds should be lower than all that. In total, Hera would have to cross 52 rooms. Some would take a day or two to cross, but that would be the quickest route. Anything else would increase her time traveling by at least a week. Hera had another path she could take, one that would reduce her journey by 5 days, but doing so would make her pass through rooms in the 15th layer, including one that didn''t have a proper settlement due to the hugely aggressive monsters that lived there. She wasn''t crazy enough to try to go there. After the 10th layer, the level of the monsters in each subsequent layer would start spiking. On the 11th layer, she could find monsters up to level 31, and on the 15th, they could be as high as 50. If she was going to make the difference in strength between herself and the monsters she fought in the rampage, a creature at level 50 could kill her in a single move. Putting herself in danger like that was utterly needless. There was no time frame for her search, no one should be aware of the legacy, and if they were, well, that''s how things went. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. While Hera was double-checking everything, she received a message from Amanda, Mr. and Ms. Kahele''s granddaughter. After she got a mana overdose because of the New Dawn oranges, the girl received what was equivalent to a scholarship from the New Dawn. During an entire year, they were helping her level up and supporting her with items and such. After that, she managed to find a nice group and traveled with them for a while. Because she suffered that mana overdose, she had a skill called condensed mana, which was in a way similar to the reinforced mana that Hera, Helena, and Bonnie had, but instead of affecting spell power, it only affected her maximum mana, giving her a secondary storage of mana. Amanda decided to be a mage and contacted Hera about half a year ago when the New Dawn offered a more permanent position on their payroll. Since Hera was the one who saved her from the overdose, the girl wanted to hear her opinion on the matter. Hera talked about her reservations against the New Dawn even if they seemed to be improving. There was still something on the back of her mind that made her suspicious of the company. Ever since that talk, the two had kept in touch. Hera even mentioned her trip without saying the reason for it. Amanda also wanted to travel for a while with her friends and asked if they could tag along for some time. Hera agreed to that since she would apparently be going alone. Helena was currently invested in her affinity sight research, and she was very close to making a simple version that everyone could use. The goal wasn''t simply to sell the spell but to make it part of the basics offered by the guild. Blue was back on earth with her family after the rampage. Bonnie had finally convinced her mother to become an explorer, and she would stay around for at least a month to help her with her studies. Silah was going to stay, and they were having some problems because of the trip. Leo wasn''t around that much. He needed to keep moving because of the coalition and his link with that organization made Hera hold back the information about her journey. She wasn''t sure if telling the hunter about the legacy was a good idea. Leo could be trustworthy, but he was also trying to find his uncle, and Hera understood that family could make people do things that they wouldn''t usually do. Alex was the only person who gave her a maybe when she asked about the trip, but Hera wasn''t that hopeful. The text asked her if she had decided when she would leave. Hera replied that she should be going in the next few days but that they should only accompany her until the 7th layer. Amanda and her friends were around level 18, and Hera didn''t like the idea of bringing people to a layer where creatures higher level than themselves could be. The 8th layer was weird, it was where the first wall existed once upon a time, and it was the first layer where the level of the monsters took a leap. On the 7th layer, you normally would find monsters from levels 15 to 18. On the 8th, the monsters jumped to levels 20 to 24. Amanda replied right away, agreeing with that. She also added that there was a chance that they would stay in an even lower layer. They didn''t want to risk fighting monsters that were too strong. It was better to level up in areas where there was less risk, and they out-leveled the monsters. While Hera understood the sentiment, she had to stop for a moment and realize that she was a bit of a hypocrite. She always tried to fight in areas where she was on the same level as the monsters. Sure, she got stuck in Boothudurn, but even when she arrived here, she was on the same level as the monsters in the mountain. After opening the city, she started favoring places where the monsters would be either at her level or a couple levels higher. Kahala returned while Hera was still thinking about Amanda''s last message. This time, the boots were a perfect fit and so comfortable that it almost seemed like she was wearing cozy slippers. "Great, now that you have your gift. Get out of my house. I had enough social interactions for the day," Kahala waved Hera off. The explorer knew that this wasn''t a suggestion but an order, and if she tried to stay, it wouldn''t take long for the blacksmith to kick her out, literally. She stopped by Silah''s workshop to show off her new boots when going back to her place. The two were sitting on the outside wall of the forge while talking. "Oh, these look amazing. Do you think Kahala will be pissed if I make a matching pair? They are so pretty," Silah asked. "Well¡­ people do say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I would ask her. Tell her that you want to see if you can make a similar design, and she might see it as good practice," Hera replied. "True, that might work," Silah stared at the boots for a moment, "Does that mean you are going soon?" "Maybe. I still need to make sure everything is OK and that I have enough supplies. I do want to go soon. It''s the first significant lead I had since last year." "How soon?" "A couple of days, maybe?" Silah''s expression turned cold in an instant then she got up and started walking back to the forge. "Silah! Don''t be like that. At least talk to me," Hera followed her girlfriend. "What''s there to talk about? You say soon, then you say you are going tomorrow or the day after. I mean, it''s clear you don''t want my company." "Really? Do you really think that?" Hera gasped and stopped walking. Silah stopped and stared at the ground for a moment, "No¡­ not really. But I feel like shit. I mean, we are not going to see each other for what? A month at least." "I know, but I''ll call you every night. It will be like I''m still here. I''ll annoy you so much that you''ll get sick of me," Hera hugged Silah from the back and rested her head on the top of Silah''s. Following that, she started rocking side to side to shake her girlfriend. "It''s not fair for you to act all cute when I''m mad." "I can''t help if I''m cute as a button," Hera stopped for a moment but instantly felt her ears getting hot. "OK, that was cringe," the two said at the same time and laughed. Hera spent some time there before going back home. Silah was going to meet her after work, and she even took the next day off so they could spend time together. Just as Hera walked through the door, Alex came from the kitchen. "Oh, you''re home. Good, I wanted to talk to you." "Is everything OK?" "Yeah, yeah. Don''t worry. I just wanted to know, do you think we can make some good money on your trip?" Alex asked. "Probably, I mean, the room I want to go to is on the 10th layer, and even during the trip, there will be some places where we have to wait for a boat or a bus that only runs two times a day. We can look for dungeons, not to mention all the monsters we might find on the way. Also, dungeons in the 10th layer should give us , what? 20-30k per run? And that''s not even considering the reset or the first-time rewards," Hera explained. "OK then. I''m down to go with you. I needed some money for some stuff back home," Alex nodded. "I''ll ask again, is everything OK?" "Yeah, I just wanted to give my folks a new home, but it''s nothing urgent. If it was something serious, I would ask you or Blue to loan me some money." "Oh, OK. By the way, I have a friend that is going to come with us for a while. It will be her and her group, she still didn''t tell me how many are going, but it shouldn''t be more than five." "Are we babysitting?" Alex rolled her eyes. "I sure hope not. There is a place well known for her rum on our way. I intend to get plastered there," Hera chuckled in reply. Hera made a mental note of what else she had to do for the trip. Some supplies were always good, and the guild would have everything she needed. She also wanted to say bye to her dad, Risli, and the council. After all, she would be away for a while. Still, this would be a great chance to explore the MAZE, and this was exactly why she wanted to be an explorer so much. To explore new places and find hidden secrets. This trip was everything she ever dreamed of about life in the MAZE. 386 - On my way The two days that Hera expected to wait before starting her trip turned into five. Silah took a few days off to spend time with her girlfriend, and Hera didn''t mind. It gave her more time to get everything she wanted, talk to her dad, and make sure he was doing well. She even went to Risli and tried to get an idea for a spell that could help if she got injured, not a battle heal, but something that she could use later when she was resting. In the end, she got some suggestions, but the best way to get it was to use one of the A-heart rooms to learn a strong spell. During these five days, every time Silah went to her house for a significant amount of time, Hera took the chance to go to one of the training rooms. Looking through the catalog, Hera decided to pick a spell called ''Luminous Life Litany.'' It was considered an A-rank spell that had a continuous effect. As you kept casting it, wounds and other simple health issues could be fixed. It would work even with something like a headache or a weak cold, but any serious disease wouldn''t be affected by it. The main attraction of the spell was that the longer she kept the spell going, the stronger it would get. Keeping the litany up for a while would also gradually raise the mana cost, but the spell also had a minor monster repellent property. While she was casting it, the energy created by the spell would drive creatures that were not aligned with the light element away. However, if a monster had a light affinity, the spell would attract them, which could be a problem. Light and shadow aligned monsters were a bit of a coin toss. They would either be very friendly and peaceful or very aggressive and territorial. Despite that, those kinds of monsters were rare, so a spell like the litany should fit her requirements quite well. Since Hera was already getting used to the idea of spell circles and actual rituals for using spells, she found it easier to figure this one out. The Luminous Life Litany was basically a hymn that had to be repeated over and over, but instead of using words and a chant, she would use mana. Hera only took about two hours to learn the spell, and even Daskka seemed to be able to help her with it, making the litany even stronger when both were working together. The snake could also use it on her own, but after a few tests with Silah and the others, it became clear that when Daskka was using the spell alone, it would only affect Hera or herself. By the dawn of the sixth day since Hera got the boots from Kahala, she was ready to go, but even so, she only left the room after lunch. Just because she was going on a big trip, it didn''t mean that they should wake up at the break of dawn, and Hera was someone who enjoyed sleeping in. Around 2pm, Hera received a message from Amanda letting her know that she and her two friends were on the Kobold road and ready to go. Hera just told them to come to the Boothudurn doorway and wait there without crossing. She and Alex would be there soon. "Alex, are you ready to go?" Hera got up. "Let me just go to the bathroom before we leave," Alex replied. Hera nodded and texted Silah, just in case her girlfriend wanted to give her a kiss goodbye. Silah just replied with a ''Have a safe trip. Try not to get eaten by monsters.'' It was a bit frustrating, but Hera understood why she wouldn''t see her off. Last night, before Silah went home, she cried with fear, worry, and frustration. It hurt seeing her like that, but Hera knew that she would never be more than two rooms away if it was up to her girlfriend. Hera gave Helena a big hug goodbye, and soon they left towards the gate to the Kobold Road. "Do we need to stop by the guild? I know you bought a bunch of stuff," Alex asked. "No, we are OK. I have some potion bottles in my bag and some pills to boost our attributes. Speaking of which," Hera opened her bag and pulled a small plastic case with five mana potions, five healing potions, and a couple dozen of assorted buff pills. There was even a small cheat sheet inside it explaining what each pill did. Thankfully each type of pellet had a unique color, so it was easy and pretty intuitive to use them. The red ones increased one''s strength. The green was for endurance, yellow for agility, purple for magic power, and gray for defense. There were five of each in the case; "Oh, getting fancy, are we?" Alex chuckled, "Did you prepare one of these for the other guys too?" "Sort of, but they only get potions. Amanda had that issue with the oranges, and I''m not sure if that triggered any kind of weird dependency issues," Hera explained. "Dependency? Really? That seems like a stretch." "I know, but I had this nagging feeling in my head that I should be careful." "Fair enough." They arrived at the doorway a few minutes later and crossed to the Kobold Road. Unlike what it was the first time that Hera came here, the tunnel was no longer barren. Instead, it was filled with buildings on the side passages. Shops, hotels, restaurants, and many others. In the middle of the tunnel, there was a railroad for the subway that they managed to bring here. Thanks to that, it took only 20 minutes to go from one edge of the tunnel to the other. Hera was making so much money with her shares on the place because each trip would cost 10 gold, and about 40 thousand people would take this path every day. Meaning that in a single week people would spend almost 3 million gold here, and that was just with the train fare. Five minutes passed when Amanda arrived with her friends coming from the subway. "Hera!" "Amanda!" Hera gave her old friend a hug. Amanda was someone who always had a more alternative style, but now she seemed to have embraced that fully. She was wearing a full black getup. Combat boots, what seemed to be leather pants with a few chains going around her waist, and tights. A large black coat that went all the way to her chin but was shorter on the front and a black corset with a long-sleeved black shirt underneath. Her hair was now completely white, unlike the previous black that she was so proud of, "I never expected you to dye your hair." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Me neither, but do you believe that this is like an equipment?" "Really?" Hera asked. "Yeah, it increases the amount of mana I can recover and gives me a small buff to my spells. But I have to reapply the dye once every two weeks or so. It''s a bit annoying, but my maximum mana is increasing like crazy, thanks to this. I''m almost at 20k," Amanda proudly announced. "That is incredible. Well done," Hera smiled and looked at the woman behind her, "Hi, are you the ones coming with us?" "Yep. I''m Cristina, without an H, but you can call me Cris or just C. Oh, and I''m a hunter," Cristina was a red-headed woman, but the color didn''t seem natural, it wasn''t that copper or bronze shade, but a bright and vivid crimson. She had short curly hair and was wearing a set of green and brown leather clothes, the type that one would see in those stock images of what a hunter or an archer should look like. However, she didn''t seem to have a bow anywhere. Instead, she had what looked like a large wooden paddle with several jagged pieces on the edges of the weapon. Cris noticed the stare and pulled up her oddly shaped club, "This is called a Macuahuitl. It was used by the Aztec a long time ago. I like this weapon because I can swap each of the blades out individually and give them some interesting effects, not to mention that it is brutal. Trust me." Hera and Alex nodded. Despite it being a weird weapon, the moment Cris mentioned the Aztec, both of them realized why it felt a bit familiar. Daskka was hiding on Hera''s waist, but the snake climbed up to her shoulder and started to taste the air. She then turned to Hera and told her about another person behind Cris. "There is someone behind her? Really?" Hera asked. "You can talk to your snake!?" Cris gasped. "Yep, it''s a bit of a special item. It only works for me, though," Hera explained. "That''s an item? Wow, you got some good stuff," Amanda gasped. "I got lucky. Anyway, who else is here?" Hera asked. "It''s me," a man suddenly appeared behind Cris. He had a simple black get op that seemed similar to the Kevlar armor that Blue got when they first entered the MAZE. The main difference was his cloak, which had a few silver details on the edges, and his hair that was a dark shade of green. "Wow, I didn''t even see you there. How high is your hide?" Alex gasped. "I don''t have it. Mine evolved to stealth. Now it''s always active when people don''t know I''m around," the man replied. "Really? How did you do that? I was looking into that skill, but very few people have it, and no one knows how to evolve it. It''s perfect for assassins. You are an assassin, right?" Alex got closer to the man, but he stepped away and looked to the ground, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention. "Sorry, that''s Tim. He''s shy, but let him open up to you that you''ll hear him talking nonstop. I promise," Amanda explained. "Well, we will have some time. You guys just got here, so it should take like, half an hour before the train comes again. Let''s stop by a Coffee shop and talk. It would be good to know the people that will be traveling with us," Hera smiled. They talked for a while and got a feeling for their new traveling companions. Amanda was a mage who specialized in snow magic, not ice or water, but snow. It felt odd, but when she created a small snowman that could dance on the table, Hera understood what she could do. Because of her affinity, Amanda could use golems to fight, and, worst-case scenario, they would just collapse on top of the enemies and suffocate them. She also had a few snowfall spells that allowed her to buff or debuff creatures or her party members. Her biggest spell was an avalanche, but she would only use it in dungeons since the collateral damage would be too great. Cris was a hunter who specialized in traps and ambushes. More often than not, she would lure the monsters towards areas that were favorable to her, and when that didn''t work, the hunter would take an almost tribal approach. Hiding in the bushes and scaring the monsters with loud noises and odd growls before attacking. When she worked with Amanda, the mage would create a snowstorm as cover to make her threats more effective. Tim also worked well when hiding, but he didn''t need the cover to vanish from sight. Because of his stealth skill, his sneak attack was deadly, and he even had a skill called [Assassinate] that allowed him to deal even more damage when hitting a vital spot of a target that was unaware of his presence. Doubling down on that, his spells mostly focused on buffs that could increase his attacks. He was of the philosophy that he should make a single attack to deal with any enemies, and it seemed like it was working well. The main issue with his style is that when his attacks didn''t finish off the target, the creature would focus on him, and he had to run around while someone else attacked it. What he had to work on were long fights which were still a problem for the assassin. Most of his skills made Alex very interested, she always tried to figure out things on her own, but it was clear that some proper guidance would help her a great deal. They stayed in the cafe until they saw the subway coming. It would still move back to the end of the line before returning, but since this was the second station, it should be coming soon. "So, what''s our first destination?" Amanda asked. "First, we''re going to a place called Sunset City. It''s just a city with a couple of dungeons and some grassland around it," Hera explained." "So, like Boothudurn?" Alex asked. "Pretty much, but we won''t be inside a mountain. But that''s just a pit stop. We are going to cross a doorway there to a place called Flower Road, then we take a bus. It should run only a few times a day, so we might be waiting for a while. Apparently, there is a dungeon that has a time limit that we can do while we wait. We are going off on the last stop and then going to a room called ''Twin Mountains'' where we will stay the night. Don''t worry, we won''t be staying underground there," Hera continued. "I''m OK with staying underground, but like. I could really use a tan. I''m already pasty white," Alex looked at her arms. "Oh, I hear ya. I wish I could have skin like Amanda. I would look great in that shade of Terra-Gotta," Cris nodded. "What am I? A piece of fucking pottery?" Amanda gasped. "What? You said that using food to compare was degrading," Cris said. "Yeah, but that''s just weird. Find another word," Amanda rolled her eyes while Cris shrugged but pulled up her tablet to look for names of colors that would match her friend''s skin tone. "Are we going to see a lot of people?" Tim asked while his friends had that little argument. "Here and in Sunset City, yeah. After that, it will start to thin down. But after a few rooms, we will be closer to people. For now, we are in luck. We don''t have to walk all that much. After about 20 rooms, then we are going to have to rely on our legs most of the time." As Hera explained how the trip would go, the subway arrived, and they all went inside. The first part of their journey wasn''t all that exciting, but Hera could feel her heartbeat. This is why she wanted to become an explorer, and for the first time, she would actually explore the MAZE. 387 - Three rooms and a bus The subway was pretty quick. In just ten minutes, they reached their stop. However, crossing the doorway took a while, even longer than the ride. Sunset City was almost twice the size of Boothudurn, and it was the most common destination of people who came to the Kobold Road. Many people lived there because the room didn''t have any roaming monsters and would only present any sort of danger during a rampage. You could even find schools and children in that place. When they finally crossed, everyone quickly understood why it was called Sunset City. For some reason, the sky here was in a perpetual shade of orange that you would see during the twilight. Even when the sun was clearly high up in the sky. According to the people who lived there, that color would continue even during the night, but with a stary backdrop. As Hera had explained, this was just a pit stop, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t look around for a bit. If the bus in the Flower Road followed the schedule she found online, it should have departed for the first trip just an hour ago. Meaning they still would have close to six hours before the second bus would leave. They stopped in a couple of shops and ate some of the local cuisine, which was basically a lot of pork, bacon, and eggs. It had a southern feel to it, but the people in the town had nothing southern about them. They were mostly humans, but some elves, beastmen, and even children of the sky were present in the city and seemed to coexist without problems. Time passed, and when everyone felt like they had enough sightseeing, they headed to the Flower Road. There was a stark difference between the two rooms. While one was filled with people, noise, and movement, the other was peaceful, without many people, and everything seemed to be still, almost like it was a painting. With a name like Flower Road, everyone was expecting something like the Kobold Road. A long highway filled with people and buildings on both sides. However, what was in front of them was more similar to the ancient hanging gardens. It was a very tall structure about 50 meters wide, and both sides had massive gardens of various types of flowers. Roses, violets, tulips, sunflowers, and many, many others. Hera wouldn''t be surprised if there was at least one of each type of flower in existence here, not that she could tell the difference. The doorway put them on the top of the gardens, and according to what she heard, if someone tried to jump from the edge, an invisible wall would stop them from hitting the ground. The room was just this very long stretch of road about 200 kilometers wide. Hence the need for a bus or something to reach the other side. If someone was going to do that on foot, it would take a long time. This was the second room in a row that didn''t have any native monsters on it, and since there were never too many people who stayed here, a rampage occurring was never something they had to worry about. Oddly enough, the bus here would make 12 stops, the same amount of stops the subway would make in the Kobold Road. However, here there were only 3 doorways. All the other stops were dungeons, with one exception. A small building that functioned as a botany school. Considering the location, it was an excellent place for people to learn about plants, since there wouldn''t be a lack of subjects to study. On the edges of the room, there was also a large building that worked as a restaurant, a hotel, and a community center of sorts. There were rest areas and places where one could wait comfortably for a number of hours before the next bus came along. Close to the doorway, there was also a staircase leading under the road where there was a stone grate that functioned as the entrance to the dungeon with a time limit. Before going down there, Hera double-checked with the people in charge of the bus if it was on schedule, and they confirmed that yes, the bus would take another 40 minutes to arrive on the other side, then there was a one-hour delay before it would come back. This gave more than enough time for them to do the dungeon, which had a time limit of 3 hours. "OK, so here is the deal. Do you want to do a dungeon or just stay in there doing nothing?" Hera asked the group. "You know my vote. We should do the dungeon," Alex said. "I agree. I think it would be a good experience for us to see how you fight," Amanda nodded. "I can say the same about you. You guys all trained under the New Dawn, right? You had proper teachers while we had to figure out things on our own or ask around," Hera replied. "Still. I want to see what you can do. Amanda always talks about you," Cris added. "Stop that," Amanda poked Cris with her elbow. "Do you know what the dungeon will be like? If it''s something that requires us to talk to a lot of dungeon people, I think I rather stay here," Tim said. "It''s nothing like that. It''s basically a defense quest. We need to protect a sunflower, apparently. Some monsters will come to attack it, and we just need to keep it alive until it finishes growing. That should take 3 hours, or at least that''s what the compendium says." "Does it say the type of monsters we will fight?" Amanda asked. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "Crows and some other birds, but mainly crows. We might be able to do something to make it easier for us, but I think we shouldn''t use it at first. That way, we know if we can handle the monsters here without any problems," Hera said. "Do we need to? I mean, this is the 4th layer. We are already level 19. Things here are almost 10 levels below us," Cris scoffed. "True, but that doesn''t mean they can''t kill you. And it''s better to have experience in combat. Besides, like you said, they are 10 levels below you. Why would we need something that can make this easier?" Hera asked. Cris rolled her eyes but agreed with what Hera was saying. Before heading to the dungeon, Amanda told her friends to go to the bathroom so that wouldn''t be an issue during the dungeon. The three of them walked off, leaving Hera and Alex by themselves. "I thought you said we wouldn''t be babysitting," Alex asked. "We are not, c''mon, it''s a dungeon. It will be fun. Besides, we can make some money here." "Yeah, but why are you doing all that? I mean, they were trained, better than us, by the way." "I don''t know. I feel kind of responsible for Amanda. Her grandparents helped me out a lot, and it''s kind of a way to repay that debt. But also, if we see them in action and realize that they are awful, I can just stop the trip now and tell them that they are not ready for rooms like these. Not that I''m any kind of reference in that." "I don''t think it will get to that point, but it''s good to know that we have an eject button if we need it," Alex nodded. "That is only the case if they do suck, and considering who trained them, I doubt that," Hera shrugged. A few minutes passed before Amanda, and the others returned. Cris bought a few cans of energy drinks and some bottles of sports drinks for everyone. Hera took that chance to distribute the potions she got for them. They were all in a similar case as the one she gave to Alex, but these were somewhat simpler. She didn''t know everyone''s tastes and, because of that, opted for a few simpler designs while Alex''s had this sleek black tint with some gold details forming a checkered pattern. "Thanks! One question, are we doing the dungeon because we need money for the fares?" Cris asked. "Not really. My intention was to pay for everyone. Like, not hotels meals and stuff but at least any transport fares, and I already have more than enough for that. This is more to get used to each other when we are fighting," Hera explained. "Yeah, that''s a good call. I don''t think I ever saw you using spells," Amanda nodded. "Then can we go?" Tim was glancing back at the rest area, but Hera couldn''t tell why. "Sure. C''mon," Hera guided everyone down, or at least she tried to. Despite acting as the tour guide, it was the first time she came to this room, so the exact location of the places was not something she actually knew. It took her ten minutes of looking over the edge of the hanging garden to find where the staircase was located since it was hidden amongst the flowers. After that, they all went down the surprisingly well-kept stone staircase, and arrived at the pass under the gardens with a large stone gate on the side of the structure. It was a bit odd since it seemed that there was a long tunnel after the grate, but when looking to the side, the entrance was in a pillar barely two meters wide and walking inside should make them fall from the edge of the gardens. As weird as it seemed, that was how dungeons behaved. Things didn''t have to make sense when inside them. Hera touched the stone grate, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Sunflower Devourer Dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After pressing yes, the grates shifted and started to go up, opening the path forward. Hera cautiously stepped inside, she understood that it was a dungeon, but a part of her mind still told her that this shouldn''t be possible. However, she walked for more than ten meters, and it was still solid ground. Seeing that the explorer was still there, everyone followed her along. They walked for about 10 minutes until everyone arrived at a wooden door on the other side of the tunnel. Unsure of what that meant, Hera tried knocking. That made the door open slightly and revealed bright rays of sunshine from the other side. Figuring out this should be the actual entrance of the dungeon, Hera pushed the door open. Beyond it, there was a large farmland without any crops, just the tilled soil. There was even a barn and a large silo on the side. Looking behind the buildings, a massive tree towered over the area. It should be at least 50 meters tall, and its branches were full of life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest Harness the sun You have entered the sun farm. This is a sensitive moment for the crop, and a single sunflower seed was planted in the middle of the field. Protect the sunflower as it grows and absorbs all the sun that touches the tilled soil. The more sun it absorbs, the faster it will grow. First time rewards: 30 000 gold, Sun flower seed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A sunflower seed as a reward?" Cris asked. "I guess so, but the name is split. I think that means the seed is special somehow," Amanda suggested. "That''s what I''ve been told. I''ll keep it as a surprise for now, but it''s an item that can help you a lot in a pinch if you are lucky," Hera smiled. "And what do we have to defend the sunflower from again?" Alex asked. "I think it''s against that," Tim pointed to the horizon. A black cloud moved closer, but it didn''t take long for them to realize that it wasn''t in fact a cloud, but a mass of pitch blackbirds. 388 - Murder of crows "When you said we would be fighting against crows, I didn''t expect that it was going to be that many," Alex gasped. The black mass was getting close, and now it wasn''t just a cloud but a heavy storm that was about to blot out the sun. "Yeah, that is a bit more than I expected. But they are still too far for me to hit them," Hera looked at Daskka, who was already floating around her, wanting to attack, but she also knew that the monsters were too far away. Any spells that either of them tried to use right now would dissipate before reaching the flying creatures. That being said, Hera still could use one skill to gather more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pitch-Black Crow - Level 8 - (Night affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pitch-Black Crow - Level 7 - (Night affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pitch-Black Crow - Level 9 - (Night affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They all seem to be between levels 7 and 9, but be careful of any who look bigger," Hera warned everyone. "Can you observe them from that far away?" Cris asked. "Yeah, my observe is rank 3 already," Hera explained. "There is nothing in the quest that says we can''t use water here, right?" Amanda asked. "Not that I''m aware. Water would even help the plants, wouldn''t it?" Alex tried to cast a wind blade at the crows, but the spell couldn''t reach it before losing all its strength. "OK then," Amanda smiled and placed both hands on the ground. Around her, a small coat of snow was formed, and it began to grow in five separate mounds. After a few seconds, these freshly made piles of snow started to move and became four two-meter tall golems. They all walked behind Amanda and used the last mound to make snowballs and get ready to use it as ammunition to attack the birds. Cris was using earth and some twigs to make a trap to catch the birds, but it was clear that dealing with flying creatures wasn''t her forte. Hera tried to look around and find Tim, but the man had vanished completely. His [Stealth] skill was clearly active. "Tim, can you do something at range?" Hera was still looking at the monsters. "Medium to short range. I don''t have anything that can take those things out," Tim''s voice came as if from the ether. "Right," Hera turned to her pet, "Daskka, that circle thing you were doing, did you ever figure it out?" Daskka nodded in reply, "Do you think I can put a spell inside it?" the snake didn''t have shoulders, but her response could only be described as a shrug. "Isn''t that just a mana construct? I mean, it was in your necklace. How can it figure something out?" Amanda asked. "Daskka is a bit special. I''ll explain the whole thing later, but she can grow by herself," Hera replied while the snake was already creating a spell circle on the ground in front of them. "What is she doing?" Cris asked. "A while back, we started to learn about spell circles, and she was trying to make what is basically a trap that triggers any spell you put inside it. If it is up to her it would be something that would only grab, confuse or poison the monsters. These are spells that she knows, and since we are connected, I thought I might be able to use a spell on the trap myself. I have a couple that can really help here," Hera explained. "Your pet is doing all that? So are you like, always a two-man team?" Amanda gasped. "She does have a point. Like, isn''t that kind of what Leo did in the lake? The explosion thing?" Alex added. "Well, yeah, but if I go down, Daskka goes down with me." "I mean, if you die, what''s the point?" Cris rolled her eyes. "No, I meant that if I get unconscious, Daskka goes a bit crazy and jumps back on the necklace," Hera scratched the back of her head. "By the way, did you ever figure out why Daskka freaked out in the rampage? Back on the wendigo nest, I mean," Alex asked. "Ah, yeah. She was sad. Remember the thing I told you about Chika? About how the ground was black because of her blood? It was the same feeling that Chika had when she did that," Hera walked over to Daskka and petted the snake while it worked in a spell circle. "Oh¡­ some sort of lingering memory then? Could she have more?" Alex continued. "It''s a possibility, but I think it''s more about evolutional trauma than memories. Like how an animal knows that something is dangerous even if they never experienced it themselves," Hera said. "Guys, I don''t mean to interrupt, but the crows are acting weird," Amanda called, breaking the conversation. Hera looked up, and the monsters now had stopped advancing. Instead, they were spreading while keeping an empty circle in the sky. It was almost like a hurricane of birds was starting to form. Hera tried to send a poison needle to the monsters, hoping they were close enough to get hit, but that wasn''t the case. She felt her spell losing strength around 20 meters above the group, but it was still far away from the monsters. Stolen novel; please report. As time went by, the crows completed their circle, but they were still just there waiting for something. Hera and the others were starting to get impatient. Fighting against monsters was one thing, but this was something else. It was more a test of mental fortitude, a trial to see if they could withstand the pressure of a constant threat that seemed to be preparing something big. However, to Hera, this wasn''t that much of an issue. After fighting a wendigo on her own, having to run from lava while carrying her friend, and attacking a giant creature that stopped an entire civilization with its barriers, she was considerably jaded to this feeling. Still, it gave her a good glimpse of how the rest of the group would behave under pressure. Alex was calm, just looking at the crows, waiting for her chance to strike. Cris was in a frenzy, trying to make even more traps, she had given up on the birdcage idea and was now doing something that would attack them at long ranges. It was hard to say if the traps were going to do much, but at least she was keeping herself busy. Amanda was almost frozen in place with all the golems she created melting slowly. They were also ready to attack, but it seemed like their effectiveness had already dropped considerably. Looking around, Hera had no clue what Tim was doing or even where he was. Out of curiosity, Hera used her pulse spell to see if she could find him. When the mana left her body, it started spreading for a few meters until it hit a humanoid presence. The moment that happened, he became visible to her. It seemed like his skill only worked if someone didn''t know where he was, but the moment he was revealed, his seeming invisibility was gone. Behind Tim, something else caught Hera''s eye. In the middle of the farmland, a small mound of dirt was formed, almost like a tiny volcano being born. The dirt started to open, no, it wasn''t the dirt, but something from inside that was breaking through the ground. A small sprout appeared with green leaves and a long shaft. In less than a minute, that small plant kept growing until it was about 3 meters tall. Now the stem was looking more like the trunk of a tree, with several massive leaves coming out as its branches. At the top, there was a large green flower trying to bloom. When the petals opened enough, they changed from green to yellow, taking the shape of a massive sunflower that should be at least two times the size of Hera''s head. When the disk florets were completely open, revealing the seed, the crows started to caw and close the circle while moving down towards the flower. "Light them up!" Amanda cried the moment the crows were in the range of the snowballs. When she first created the golems, that might have worked, but now that they spent almost 20 minutes melting, the constructs didn''t have enough strength to reach the crows with a strong impact. Most of the monsters just dodged the snow boulders and kept going. The few who got caught fell for a few meters before managing to bat their wings enough to get rid of the snow. Cris activated a few of her traps. Using her spells, she made a rudimentary large-scale slingshot. She placed several pellets with a sticky purple substance which was something she learned to make by mixing the snow Amanda created with some mud and a specific type of mana. The projectiles hit the crows, and some of them started to fall to the ground, unable to keep flying with their wings stuck to their bodies. Even in that situation, the monsters were still aiming at the sunflower. Diving as suicide bombers, they tried to reach the plant but were stopped by Alex''s wind wall. It was a relatively new spell she had, but she still lacked some of the fine-tuning to use it on closed spaces like Boothudurn. Here, however, was another story entirely. She created a massive wind barrier that covered an area 10 meters wide, right above the sunflower. It was almost like an umbrella protecting the plant from the rain of crows. On the other hand, Tim was still completely still. At first glance, it seemed like the assassin was frozen in fear, but when Hera focused on the man''s eyes, they told a different story. If one were to describe his expression in a single word, it would be concentrating, like a master chess player looks at the board. While on the outside, he wasn''t doing anything. Hundreds of scenarios were playing in his mind as he watched the monsters get closer and closer. Hera glanced up, and it didn''t take long for her to notice that the monsters were trying to trick them. That insane number of creatures that could block out the sun was mostly an illusion covering the sky. Only a handful of the monsters were real. What was even more impressive was that even the fake ones would react to the attacks and fall to the ground. Hera only realized that when one of the monsters hit by the weird sticky goo slammed against Alex''s wind wall, none of the purple ooze fell out. Controlling such a massive spell wasn''t easy, and it wasn''t like the monsters had the notion of projectile physics. A few meters to the left of the sunflower, Daskka had set up the spell circle, but Hera wasn''t able to put her own spell on it. Instead, the trap triggered, and a whip of mist came out, slapping some of the crows away from the plant. Every couple of seconds, the mist would shoot out small poison needles at the flying monsters. Hera could feel that poison almost like it was her own, but unfortunately, the [Ailment Master] skill wouldn''t trigger only with spells that came from Daskka. Despite their connection, the system still considered Hera and her snake as two separate beings. Still, her skill now was able to trigger when the poison from both of them were present in the monsters. Amanda was able to deal some damage, but it was clear that her attacks weren''t hitting at full strength. Now, she was preparing something bigger. Anyone could see the amount of mana she was putting on a single spell. Realizing that whatever she was doing should probably obscure some of the crows, Hera created four spots of poison rain pointing up and started firing at the monsters before she lost sight of them. At the same time, some dirt started to float around the area. Hera found it odd at first, but she quickly realized that the dust was being controlled by Tim, who moved the particles at high speeds, almost as if they were inside a hurricane. Each pellet of dirt was like a cannonball, peppering the crows with holes. The poison Hera had sent towards the monsters started to spread to more of the crows, and in just a few moments, most of the creatures were poisoned, and the [Ailment Mastery] skill triggered several times. In fights like this, the bracelet Risli made for Hera would help her so much that it almost felt unfair. Suddenly, a crow much larger than all the others, about the size of a pickup truck, appeared in the middle of that tornado of black feathers and dove towards the sunflower. Before it could reach it, Alex pulled her dagger from a wooden scabbard, and a massive glowing green blade of solid wind flashed across the sky, splitting the monster in half. The body dissolved before it even hit the ground, and the blade kept going, piercing the black sky and dispelling the illusion. Now only a couple dozen crows were around, and due to the spell being broken, they were easy pickings for the rest of the group. In less than five minutes after the crows attacked, they were all gone. "Don''t let your guard down, everyone. This can''t be the end of it!" Amanda called while making another set of snow golems. "That''s a good idea, but we can relax. This should be it for the monsters," Hera replied. "What?" Alex asked. "Yeah. According to the compendium, we should try to repel the crows in this dungeon. When we thin their numbers enough, they will run away, regroup and come back. Another way to beat the dungeon is to kill the boss and the rest of the crows and disperse the cloud. When it is gone, no more monsters should appear," Hera explained. "Are you sure?" Cris asked. "Positive. Monsters only come out when there is a dark cloud in the sky, and they never come from behind that big tree. That''s what the compendium says and I got it from the guild," Hera nodded. "Then¡­ Can we leave?" Alex asked. "We can, but the quest is not over. We need to wait for the sunflower to finish its growth," Hera looked at the large plant. Even with all the crows and spells, the sunflower didn''t seem bothered at all. "So¡­ what do we do until then?" Tim asked. "I don''t know about you, but I wanted to read and sunbathe," Hera created a small beach chair using her stone walls and sat down, opening a book on her tablet. 389 - Post battle discussion Some time had passed since they killed all the crows. At first, Amanda and her friends were still on edge about the idea of monsters appearing. Alex was the only one who believed in Hera from the get-go. However, after the first hour, they all got more comfortable with the situation. If nothing happened until then, then the information on the compendium should be correct. Hera even let everyone read it on her tablet to calm them and confirm that she wasn''t hiding anything. They all were just doing their own thing for a while, gathering the loot dropped from the crows, which mainly were bundles of feathers and other materials such as beaks or talons. The one thing that was a bit exciting was a bundle of bigger feathers dropped by the boss that seemed to darken the area around them. It was very likely that a crafter could make something amazing out of it. At the start of the second hour, the entire group was gathered around Hera talking, each with their own stone beach chair. Seeing that everyone seemed to be in a good mood Hera took advantage of the situation to ask them something. "Hey, I know I''m no one to say this, but can I give you some feedback?" Hera asked. Cris twisted her nose and just stared at the explorer, but Tim seemed interested, even if he didn''t say anything. Amanda glanced at her friend and turned back to Hera before turning again to Cris, "Calm down. I''m sure she doesn''t mean anything bad by it. She''s just trying to help," the mage turned back to Hera, "Do me first." "Sure. I only have one note for you. You need to improve your timing." "What do you mean?" Amanda tilted her head. "Like, the snow golems you made were melting when the crows got in range. I get that you were trying to be ready for anything, but that made the attacks weaker. I''m pretty sure that if you had waited a minute or two to create them, you would''ve one shot every crow you hit," Hera explained. "But I didn''t know how long it would take. What if they were faster?" Amanda asked. "Fair, but if you are worried about that, you should do something as a preparation. Like, you said you can make snowstorms, right? What if you did a small one just to cool down the area before creating the golems? It would be even better to keep both spells at the same time." "Well, I think I can do that, but frostbite never did something like that, and she said I should practice not making my snow melt," Amanda scratched her head. "Never, or just never in front of you? You can''t keep putting yourself on the same standards as your teachers. I mean, sure, it''s a nice goal and all, but forcing it to work that way won''t work. Besides, Frostbite uses ice. You use snow. Even if both are cold, they behave differently when exposed to heat. Ice can pull the cold from its core. Snow doesn''t have that option," Hera continued. "That... Actually makes a lot of sense. Anything else?" Amanda asked. "Yeah, and this is more of a question. The golems, do you need to make them humanoid? Can''t you make like, a rotating catapult that keeps constantly firing? Or a battering ram for when you want to do a big hit?" "I can''t. Not yet, at least. I can make either humanoid ones or snowmen. That''s about it," Amanda sighed, and Hera just nodded in reply. She knew how it was like to not be able to change a spell to fit your ideas. Seeing that this part of the conversation was over, Tim spoke up, "Do you have any comments about what I did?" "Just a few. You stay too still when you are thinking. I get that your stealth can make you really hard to track, but some things will be able to find you. I mean, I did." "You did?" Tim gasped, showing more emotion for the first time since they met. "Yea. With a quick pulse spell. It''s kind of like a sonar. I''m pretty sure any monster that has echolocation or something similar would find you really quickly. Now, for your attacks, I didn''t see you doing anything physical, but there was some dirt flying around really fast. I assume that was you." "Yeah. It''s a spell that lets me use dust as a weapon. It''s good because it doesn''t give away my presence. I mean, dust is everywhere." "Well¡­ don''t count on that all the time. Even if I never saw a place that didn''t have dirt, I wouldn''t be surprised if there was somewhere like that. The MAZE is weird. But more importantly, don''t stay still while making plans. Move around to avoid any random attacks that come your way. I think that if you weren''t just a statue in the middle of my pulse, I wouldn''t have found you right away. Depending on your movement, I could imagine it was just some lingering effects of a spell or that I was misunderstanding what was going on." After that, Hera turned to Cris, who just rolled her eyes, "Let me guess. Don''t use so many traps?" This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "Not at all. Your traps worked great. Well¡­ half of them. If I was to say anything, it would be to focus on what works. I mean you wasted all the time you spent making those birdcages," Hera pointed to a birdcage that was still on the field, with no bird inside, "If instead of trying to show how many different things you can do, you focused on making one type of trap that really works well for the situation, it would be much better. Not to say that you can''t make several different traps, but think about the current situation. For what you can do with your¡­. Quata¡­ Kata¡­ Traka¡­ Maka¡­. your bladed club. I can''t say anything since you ended up not even using it." "Really? More traps? People always say that it''s a stupid thing that barely works and requires way too much effort."Cris said. "Then why do you make them?" Alex asked. "It''s something I learned with my father, and I like to make them. It''s like playing a strategy game in real life. You need to think about your enemy and how to lure it to the place you want them to be," Cris had a large smile on her face. "Then keep doing it. You are the one who has to worry about it being worth it or not. Besides, you can just be a professional rampage defender. I imagine that using your traps during one would be much easier than making them in a dungeon. Just try to think more about the type of traps you are going to use. Like, the bird cages would be great for other situations, but now, not so much," Hera nodded. "How about me, Hera? Any tips?" Alex turned to the explorer. "Not really, you already heard everything before. Be careful with the other party members, don''t jump in to kill something if that''s going to leave you in a bad spot, and don''t use that wind wall near other people. You did all that now. How about me? Anyone have any feedback on what I should improve?" "I honestly wasn''t looking at how you fought. We practiced making sure everyone is safe but not doing those deep observations," Amanda said. "I have a note. Your poison rain. Do you need to make the point of origin of the spell a circle? I feel like it would be better if it was a line," Alex suggested. "That''s tricky. I can increase or decrease the area, but making it a specific shape is something I can''t do properly yet. At most, I can make it egg-shaped," Hera sighed. They continued talking for some time, discussing strategy for the next dungeons. After that, Hera showed that inside the silo, there were a few dozen scarecrows that would give a debuff, reducing their attack power and ability to dodge attacks to any crow that looked at them. The effect should stack but with diminishing returns. One scarecrow would give a 40% debuff, the second would add only an 8%, the third only a 1,6%, and after that, the debuff was so small that it wasn''t even worth the effort. If they wanted to trigger the hard mode, they would have to put all the scarecrows around the field and make sure that not a single one of them was damaged during the fight. However, unlike the normal mode, there wasn''t a time limit for the hard mode, and the dungeon would take a few hours to complete at least, which meant that it wasn''t a good idea for them to do it now. When the end of the second hour arrived, the large sunflower started to glow. The particles of light coming from it were absorbed by the massive tree. In just a minute, the entire sunflower had been absorbed, and the tree bloomed with thousands of colorful flowers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest First time completion rewards: 22 000 gold, Sun flower seed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sun flower seed A seed of a sun flower that absorbed enough light to bloom completely. Consuming this seed can buff a single attribute by (10%-50%) for the duration of (1 - 6 hours). The attribute, the percentage of the buff, and the duration are randomized. Only a single Sun Flower seed can be in effect at a time. Consuming a second one will override the current effect. This seed can be planted and become a full Sun Flower. Its seeds will have similar effects. For this seed to grow, it requires constant sunlight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, I see why this can be helpful," Amanda nodded. "Yeah, and people should buy it because everyone likes to gamble," Cris added. "Pretty much. Are you all OK with going out? Or do you need to get anything that is still here?" Hera pulled her tablet to look at the clock. If everything went as planned, the bus should already be getting back here. In just a few more hours, they could ride it to the next room. "I think we are all set. We can sell these feathers in the building here, right? I mean the mall-like thing," Alex asked. "We can, but it might be better for us to take it to the next room. I''m sure that not many people take it there because of the travel time. Maybe we can get some better deals," Amanda was trying to pack all the feathers without damaging them. The years of helping out in her grandparents'' store gave her some skills on how to handle products. They left the dungeon and took a look at the bus stop, confirming that it wasn''t there yet, but it should be arriving soon. Hera and the others took a moment to have a meal in the plaza, and soon they were in the line for the bus. The entire thing was made of only first-class seats, and the vehicle was much larger than a city bus. Instead of having around 50 seats, it had 150 and felt more like a train than anything else. Another interesting fact was that it had a driver''s seat on both ends. That way, there was no need for the bus to turn at the edge. Behind each chair, there was even a monitor that could sync with anyone''s tablet. Adding that to the wireless connection made the ride comfortable enough since they could even watch something during that time. After an uneventful trip on the bus, they finally arrived at the other side of the room. There was a doorway in the middle of the road, big enough for the bus to cross over. Hera and the others went to the next room called Twin Mountains. As the name suggested, it was a place with a pair of identical mountains, not tall enough to have snowy peaks but forming a valley between them both. In the middle of the left mountain, there was a city on the outside following the mountain''s incline. This was the next stop on their journey, but it would be just a place to sleep for the night. In the morning, they should head to the path between the mountains towards the next room. 390 - Steps of heaven "For the love of¡­. Everything¡­ Can we take a break?" Cris was gasping for air. They were already climbing this set of stairs for a few hours. "Sure¡­ I could use a break," Hera collapsed on the steps, laying down while looking up. Even if she was exhausted, the view here was amazing. She could see so many stars. Even Mars was a bright shining dot in the sky today. Hera could''ve sworn that she had never seen the red planet so closely. Then again, she was a few kilometers up a mountain. Or maybe that wasn''t even Mars and just a random picture that the MAZE decided to use for the sky in this place. Was that how rooms worked? Maybe everything was fake, and she was just dreaming about her entire life. Maybe Earth was fake, and the MAZE was reality. Maybe the universe didn''t exist, or it was just a marble in a game of cosmic entities impossibly big, "I think I''m going crazy," she sighed after a long pause realizing that her mind was going too far. "Same, I could''ve sworn that I saw an ice cream truck up there," Alex started giggling. "Help! Someone Help!" Amanda started to yell, "I''m falling. Help!" Hera jumped up with all her remaining strength to help the mage, but Amanda was laying on the stairs, clutching at the steps. "Please help!" Amanda cried. Hera walked over and grabbed her hand, "Everything is OK. You''re not falling." "No, I am! I am!" Amanda''s eyes were glued to the bottom of the stairs several kilometers under them." Hera pulled her tablet and double-checked a timer she had set up before pulling a small vial of clear liquid from her bag, "You''re not. This is just a trick. Drink this." "If I let go, I''ll fall!" "Here," Hera put the vial in Amanda''s mouth and helped her drink the antidote. This room was weird. It was another place without any roaming monsters, but if you tried to climb the massive 10-kilometer long staircase, you would start getting some odd visions, and you would start having random thoughts. Luckily, the people who lived here already knew about that and developed an antidote that would brush off the effects for some time. This didn''t mean they could just keep drinking the potions as they climbed. After having the effect cleansed, subsequent potions would have almost no effect for the next hour. Because of that, everyone was doing their best to withstand the effects of the area, turning to the antidote when the situation started to become dire. Among everyone in the group, Amanda was the one who was having the most trouble resisting the effects. She never invested much in endurance, and her condensed mana seemed to be a detriment for now. When they were still in the city, Hera asked around about the effects, and it seemed like the odd magic would resonate with their mana, and the more mana someone had, the worse it would be for them. Even high level explorers would have problems going through this staircase, unless they had some sort of resistance skill. However, Hera''s reinforced mana made it harder for anything that would try to attack her own mana in any way. Amanda, on the other hand, didn''t have that protection. This is why she was struggling so much. She drank the potion every hour on the dot, and the last few minutes were rough. Everyone else wasn''t doing that bad, they would only get some odd thoughts, and after the second hour, they would start to have some minor hallucinations. "Are you guys OK? We still have a lot of potions. There is no need to be stingy. Drink up," Hera commanded the rest who accepted the suggestion. Hera had yet to drink a single vial of the antidote even after four hours of climbing. If this was a regular staircase, they should already have arrived in the next room, but those visions and mind tricks made them walk much slower to avoid any mistakes. This also created another problem. Since they were moving slowly, it put more strain on their legs, and everyone felt their calves burning. It didn''t matter if you were level 1 or level 100, four hours of climbing stairs would tire anyone. "How much more do we have?" Tim was sitting on the steps by Amanda, making sure she felt safe again. Even if she had just taken the antidote, he didn''t want to risk leaving her alone. "Alex and I still have 10 rooms to go, but you guys can stay in the next one. We got lucky with that caravan. If it wasn''t for them, we would have split off a while ago," Hera replied. "No. I mean here. Like how long until the doorway?" "Ah. Two, three more kilometers? We are almost there," Hera gave him a weak smile. "You and I have very different definitions of ''almost there,''" Cris sighed. "I''m trying here, OK. Most of the path is already behind us," Hera rolled her eyes only to realize that it was a mistake. She started feeling dizzy with the entire world spinning around her. Understanding that it was better to get rid of this feeling than to risk having everyone in the party affected, Hera drank her first antidote. It tasted sour and somewhat fishy, like a mix of sour candy and tuna. Despite the taste, the effects were almost instant, and her dizziness went away even faster than it appeared. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Finally stopped showing off?" Alex asked. "It''s called resource management, thank you very much," Hera smiled. "You''re still just a show-off. Also, I want ice cream," Alex looked down. "Are you still seeing the truck?" Tim asked. "No, but you know when a song is stuck in your head? Yeah, I keep hearing the melody that they play. Not actually hearing, but you get what I mean." "I''ll pay for a round of ice cream when we get out of here," Hera chuckled. "Please do. It''s been a while since we got something good to eat. Especially meat. I miss meat," Amanda recovered enough to join the conversation. "Yeah, I didn''t think about that when I set up the route. But who would''ve guessed that in the last three rooms that we passed by, there would be no meat whatsoever? I mean, c''mon. Rock monsters, plant monsters, then came the slimes. I really hate those things," Hera shivered, remembering the feeling of having a slime trying to climb up her leg. "It''s been two days, stop being such a drama queen," Cris rolled her eyes as she got up, "I''m good now. Let''s keep going. That way, Amanda can get out of here." "Yeah, I just want to leave already. Sorry guys, but we might need to take a big detour when we go back," Amanda replied. While they were climbing, Hera created a route for them to return without passing by this room again. If she had realized that Amanda would be in this bad shape, she would have changed the path, but now, any changes would add at least a week for her trip. Hera suggested that Amanda and the others stay here or go back to a different room, but they wanted to see their next destination. It was a very unique room, and the setup was something that almost everyone who heard about it felt compelled to go see for themselves. "OK, let''s keep going. I set up the alarm again so we know when you can take another antidote. If we keep going at this pace, we should get there in a bit over one hour," Hera explained before they all started to walk up the steps once more. Their trip so far was mostly uneventful. Most of the time, they were just walking from doorway to doorway and stopping to run a dungeon here and there. Even if it wasn''t something that regular, they still managed to gather over 100 thousand gold just for the first-time rewards. Amanda also got a piece of equipment that could lessen the effects of cold and heat on herself, which helped a lot when she was using her spells. Unfortunately, that was the only interesting item they got. The rest were just some random consumables, mana stones, or materials that they ended up selling to the guild for some cash. As they kept climbing the stairs, the effects of the room slowly started to return during the next hour. Hera glanced at the group, feeling bad for making them struggle so much. In fact, Amanda and her friends shouldn''t even be here. Hera''s plan was to split up with them about 10 rooms ago because they would be crossing a room on the 9th layer, where the weakest monster was level 23. However, thanks to a caravan that would deliver some supplies, the risk of having lower-level explorers crossing a hostile room was more negligible. It took some convincing, but Hera eventually caved and agreed to travel with them for a longer time. However, the path would consist only of rooms on the 9th or 10th layer after this room. Forty minutes after Amanda took the potion, she started hallucinating again. It began small, but after another five minutes, it became so bad that they had to stop just to keep her steady in the steps. The staircase wasn''t that big of an incline, but if someone started to tumble down and couldn''t stop, it was very likely that they would end up dead since it would be a 9-kilometer tall fall. If they were very lucky, maybe they could walk away with just severe injuries, but that wasn''t a theory that anyone wanted to test. At least there was no chance of falling to the sides. The staircase was completely surrounded by invisible walls, and the temperature was comfortable, even if, in theory, this should be higher than Mount Everest. Hera pulled some thread from Yarnball and tied around Amanda, then around herself and Alex since the two had the highest strength stat in the group. That way, if something happened with the mage, they could make sure she wasn''t going to fall. Ideally, she wanted to tie everyone together, but Yarnball couldn''t make that much thread. Just linking the three of them already required the three women to be very close together. Another hour and a half went by, with the effects Amanda was suffering becoming increasingly troubling. At one point, in the minutes she spent before taking the antidote, the mage couldn''t stop screaming in terror. Finally, they arrived at the doorway to the next room. Cris almost shoved Amanda through the door, even if it wouldn''t work. The mage was the first to cross over, then Cris, Tim, Alex, and Hera were the last ones since she was handling the effects of the room without much of an issue. She glanced up at the doorway and looked at the emblem on top of it. It was the moon with something floating around it. Despite everything she read about this room and the pictures she saw, it still felt unreal. Whatever the MAZE did, it seemed to even be influenced by society. After all, there was no way it would know to make something like this. This room should be something that only existed in movies. If not, could the MAZE and the system see the future? Was everything written down in a script somewhere? Was free will even a thing? What was the point of doing anything if, in the end, it was all set in stone? Hera shook her head, trying to push away the thoughts, understanding that this was just the effect of the staircase messing with her mind one more time. She glanced back, looking at the village that was the size of a coin from this height. Then, she changed the focus to the stairs and the room itself. This place was nasty. Even if it didn''t have any monsters, it was something ridiculous. Why would the MAZE create a place that preyed on their fears and doubts like that? It even put thoughts that she never had inside her mind. Could the MAZE have some twisted intention or even enjoy making this kind of thing? When Hera realized that she was spiraling again, she pulled one of the potions and downed it in a single gulp. She wasn''t going to let this room win. Turning back to the doorway, she touched it as a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Moon Station - 7th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She pressed yes and felt that warm sensation once again as she crossed to the new room. 391 - Moon Station "You have got to be kidding me," Cris''s frustration was the first thing that Hera heard as she entered the Moon Station room. The reason for the comment was that, on this side of the doorway, there were 20 flights of metal stairs going up this large silver structure. Looking up, Hera couldn''t even see where they would arrive when reaching the top. However, according to everything she read about this place, they were in the right location. As weird as it sounded, this also made a lot of sense and kept with the doorway theme. Two connected doorways would always be in similar locations. For instance, a doorway on a beach would always lead to somewhere with sand and water, even if it was an oasis in the middle of a desert or an attraction in a theme park. Unfortunately, the theme for this passage seemed to be stairs. Alex jumped on the spot and frowned as she hit the ground, "So that name is a lie." "What?" Hera asked. "The name, Moon Station. Isn''t the moon supposed to have a different gravity? I thought we might be able to jump and keep going," Alex sighed. "Oh... You''re right. Maybe it''s something about this station. Like it has some gravity generator. Or this is all just fake," Hera looked up and tested the gravity. "Aren''t gravity generators supposed to be impossible?" Tim asked. "Purely with technology, yeah, but any mage that can use some gravity spells should be able to do something like that. Besides, this is a room. The MAZE can do whatever it wants here," Amanda shrugged. "Then why didn''t it put an elevator here?" Cris was on the floor, trying to rest before continuing. Now that they didn''t have to worry about some weird magic trying to mess with their minds, everyone sat down to let their legs recover for a while. In the Steps of Heaven, each break had to be calculated, but now, they could stay here for as long as they wanted. At first, Cris wanted to stay there just for 10 minutes, but her legs had other ideas. Taking a break after such a long walk made them unable to get up for at least half an hour. Only then did the group start climbing the 20 flights of stairs. When reaching the top, they were greeted by a large set of double doors that slid open, revealing another set of doors on the other side of a small chamber. Small in comparison with everything else. The staircase could be the size one would expect, but the metal structure was massive. It should easily cover a 50-meter radius with the stairs right in the middle. Each steel door was 4 meters tall and 8 meters wide. They would connect at an angle, almost like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Right in the center of that, there was a triangle-shaped red light. As they got closer to that door, the light started blinking and turned green. Following that, the sound of air escaping the entryway and a gust of wind brushed over Hera and the others as the steel barrier opened. On the other side, the group could see another set of doors with the same triangle-shaped light in the middle. The only difference was that the angle of connections was opposite the first steel gate. Hera and the others waited a moment for the second door to open, but it wasn''t moving. Only when they walked forward did something happen. Alex was in the back of the group, and she had to jump in when the gate began to close. The steel doors had a sensor that would recognize when someone was near and stopped as Alex passed through. When she was at a safe distance, the door closed, making the same noise of air passing through as it did when it opened. After the noise, the triangle on the other side of this room started blinking its red light before it turned green, and then the door opened without any noise. "Is this an airlock?" Tim asked. "Maybe, but we still could breathe back there. I don''t get why this place would need an airlock," Alex replied. "Just to make it more realistic?" Amanda suggested. "Could be¡­" Hera nodded, but before she could say anything else, the doors opened completely. Beyond that threshold, about 100 people were walking around, and a small group by a table seemed to watch that gate intently. "Hey! The first challengers arrived!" a man called and pulled his tablet while approaching Hera''s group. He took one look at them and stopped, "Hang on. I don''t remember you guys. Did you come from here?" "From here?" "Yeah, did you leave her to do the Steps of Heaven challenge?" the man asked. "Challenge? No, we just came here," Hera replied. "Oh, really? Good for you. Actually, are you OK?" "Tired, where''s the hotel?" Cris asked. "Turn left here and head straight until the other side of the base. It''s not as far as it sounds, I promise." "Thanks," Cris was a bit dejected. "Hang on. Can I borrow you guys for a minute? Even if we just started the challenge, I feel like it wouldn''t be fair to not include you guys." "Include us on the challenge? What is that all about?" Alex asked. "OK, first of all, let me introduce myself. I''m Isaac, and I work in the guild here. A couple of days ago, we set up this challenge to see how long it would take people to climb the Steps of Heaven and how many potions you would need to take. It''s just a thing to keep everyone entertained, but we managed to even get some rewards. The person who uses the least amount of potions and climbs the fastest time will get a pair of moonwalkers. Aside from that, we have rankings for just the fastest climber and the one who used the least potions. Each can get a couple of days in the hotel for free with 3 meals included. If you guys want to participate, there is a small fee to be eligible for the prizes, but if you want just the bragging rights, you are free to just tell us how you did it." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Since it wasn''t anything they had to pay unless they wanted the prize, Hera agreed to share what they did. This put them in first place for the challenge ranking. Not that this was impressive since they were currently the only team in the ranking. Isaac explained that to avoid anyone getting an unfair advantage, they all went out from the same room and would come all the way back here by going to different rooms. Isaac also took the chance to explain to Hera and the others how this room worked. It had 2 doorways and 3 dungeon entrances. The doorways were located at the bottom of the staircase outside the airlock, and the other was right in front of them. However, this second doorway that was in the station proper was connected to 12 different rooms. At the start and at the end of each hour, the doorway would be inactive for 5 minutes before changing the location to where it would lead to. It seemed that the passage would follow the rotation of the base, even if no one could tell for sure where they were. Two of the dungeons behaved in a much similar fashion, but they would only change dungeons once every 12 hours. If someone was inside when the dungeon changed, nothing would happen, and they could leave the dungeon normally. The only issue with that was that staying in a dungeon after the exit was closed made whoever was inside get a debuff, and they wouldn''t be able to enter that specific dungeon again for another 2 days. The third dungeon was static like almost every other dungeon in the MAZE, and it was a quest that heavily relied on luck, and almost no one ran it. The dungeon was about how a piece of the station broke apart, and you had to wait for a rescue shuttle that could take from a few hours up to a week to arrive. During that time, some shadow monsters would be attacking the people inside, but at least they would have enough food and water, as well as bathrooms and a warm bed which was a rarity inside dungeons. The other two, or four dungeons, were on the moon''s surface, and unlike when one was in the station, they would be affected by moon gravity. Oddly enough, only one of the dungeons actually had people requiring space suits. The others had people moving around and breathing normally, even if there wasn''t supposed to be any air on the moon. Hearing all that explanation, everyone in the group became interested in doing the dungeons. Even Hera was considering staying here for a bit longer to do them. After all, how often does someone have the chance to walk on the moon? Still, their first step was to go to the hotel and rest. Even if no one wanted to sleep now, they all wanted just to keep their feet up. Isaac suggested for them to spend some time in the zero-G chamber. It was a place where people could go just to stay without gravity, and it was great to rest your entire body like that. They followed his suggestion after stopping by the hotel to get a few rooms and leave their stuff before heading to the zero-G chamber. It was a tall circular chamber with several rails on the walls and some straps that one could use to avoid floating around in the middle of the room. There were also a couple of people there to help anyone who got stuck in the middle of the chamber. While they were there, Hera called Silah to show the room to her girlfriend. "Hera!" Silah smiled as the video call connected. "Hey! How is everything back home?" Hera asked. "It''s OK¡­ mostly. I mean, some people are still acting weird," Silah sighed. "Really? Man, this sucks. I hoped that wouldn''t be the case." "Yeah, but it''s not like they are doing anything bad, so I guess that''s something," Silah stopped talking, "What is going on with your hair?" "Oh, this? Remember when we watched that movie about astronauts? When they leave earth, and they lose gravity?" Hera asked. "You left earth?! Hera, I know you said you were going to go far away, but this is too much." "Well, technically, you are not on earth either, but I didn''t go to outer space. I''m in a room called ''Moon Base,'' basically it''s the MAZE version of the moon, and they even have this chamber where there is no gravity," Hera explained as she showed the area to her girlfriend. "Wow, that is really cool. Sanrick would love that. He really likes space things," Silah chuckled. "Sanrick?" Hera asked. "Yeah, my brother." "Oh right, sorry. My bad," Hera stopped for a moment. Despite being with Silah for over a year already, she couldn''t remember the names of her parents or her siblings. "Don''t worry. It''s rare for me to call him by his name anyways. Oh, Kahala was asking about your boots. Are they working well?" Silah brushed the comment aside. "Yeah, they work great. Well, there are some situations where they don''t. Like, if we are in a place with too much sand, the glide is¡­ weird. It seems like the enchantment is a bit too sensitive, so even small clumps of sand in the air are enough to make me go up. Then again, if I use that well, I might be able to fly in a sandstorm or something. Is she teaching you some fun things?" Hera explained. "Yeah... She showed me this technique where I can bend the metal¡­." Silah kept talking shop. She would always get excited when explaining something she had just learned and, although blacksmithing wasn''t something that Hera enjoyed all that much, she loved seeing her girlfriend like that. They talked for about one hour before Silah had to go, leaving Hera alone with her thoughts for a moment. Before saying bye, Hera let Silah know that they might stay in this room for a couple of days since everyone was curious about the dungeons. The blacksmith understood that even if she didn''t like the idea of Hera staying away for longer. "Man¡­ I suck," Hera sighed. Amanda was right by her side, reading a book, but that comment seemed to grab her attention, "Why do you think that?" "I''m not a good girlfriend, and I just realized that." "How come? Because of the whole trip thing? You said that¡­ I want to say Silah? Wasn''t that excited about the idea." "Well, that too, but I just realized that I barely know anything about her family." "So? You are dating her, not her parents." "Yeah, but it''s different for them. They live in the same city since forever. Like seriously, before Blue and I went there, they didn''t have a way to leave the room." "Still. What''s the problem?" "They matter a lot to her. I should pay more attention to them," Hera explained. "I don''t think so, but if you think that''s the best option, you can still change how you act." "I guess so," Hera nodded and let her mind wander. It''s been just 10 days since she left, but it felt like a year, and she wasn''t even at her destination yet. Hera could only hope that all this wasn''t going to end up in a dead-end. 392 - Moon Dungeons Hera ordered some ice cream from one of the shops and waited for her considerably large order to be ready. Everyone got a special flavor while she went to a more traditional option, Neapolitan with rainbow sprinkles, her favorite from when she was a child. In the Moon Station room, all restaurants were in the same area called the food court for obvious reasons. The reason for all that wasn''t to save time or centralize all restaurants in the same place. No, the real reason this was the view. On the side of the station, there was a massive 5 meters tall and 30-meter wide glass window looking over the moon. At least, that was how it was right now. The station would rotate and change the view at times. Now and when the earth was in full view were the moments when the food court would be full. Since the station was constantly rotating, people couldn''t use the cardinal directions to guide them. Instead, they had painted the four sections of the room with different colored lines along the walls. The food court was in the red sector and the changing doorway. Most of the hotels were in the green sector and one of the dungeons. The guild was in the blue section with some shops and another dungeon. The last sector was yellow, and there was the zero-G chamber, a miscellaneous gathering of houses and other buildings, and the last of the three dungeon entrances. Alex and the others went looking for a table, and with some luck, they managed to find one near the windows. It took Hera a while for her to find them, but thankfully, the temperature in the room wasn''t warm enough to make the ice cream melt quickly. "This is a nice spot," Amanda was looking at the moon, "I never imagined I would be this close to the moon." "Same, It''s kind of surreal," Tim nodded. "Yeah, I''m going through my friends in my head, trying to remember if any of them wanted to be an astronaut. I mean, if they didn''t make it, this would be the next best thing, wouldn''t it?" Cris with her tablet open on the side with the list of all the dungeons in the room. "True, it''s a good idea. What I wanted to do was bring Silah here. Since she can''t actually go to earth, it would be fun to show her how it looks in person," Hera arrived and started giving everyone their ice cream. "Do you think she would be willing to come here?" Alex took a spoonful of her pineapple with wine ice cream. "I don''t know. Maybe, I mean if we came here and went back, it should take what? Two weeks in total. Maybe I can convince her for a vacation or something." "It''s worth a shot. Maybe you can even bring her family along. You said that they were all sort of high level, right?" Amanda asked. "Well¡­ Her parents are level 30 to 40, I think. Her siblings are lower. I know that after her parents, she''s the strongest of her family. Her siblings are lower level. Probably because none of them ever went to a dungeon," Hera explained. "Are they all younger than her?" Cris took a bite of her vanilla wild berry sherbet. "I¡­ honestly don''t know," Hera looked away and took a spoonful of chocolate. "You don''t know how old your girlfriend''s siblings are?'' Cris pressed but just got a nod as a reply. After a moment of awkwardness, Amanda tried to change the mood, "So, what dungeon are we going to do?" "Did you get the information about them?" Tim asked. "I did. There are five dungeons here," Criss pulled her tablet, "Let''s start with the one I think it''s a no go. It''s located on the blue side of the station, and the dungeon is called ''We have a problem,'' In there, we are just stuck inside a piece of the station that is detached from the rest. We have to wait for the rescue shuttle. That can take from a few days to a week. Worst case scenario, we will stay there for ten days." "That''s too long," Hera sighed. "I know. That''s why I said it was a no-go. Anyway, that''s option one, but it''s also the one that pays the most, and we would be able to stay there without having to worry about food and water. The only thing that is an issue is the monsters inside it," Cris continued, and the idea seemed to perk up Tim and Amanda. It wouldn''t surprise them if they decided to run that dungeon before leaving this place. "What about the other ones?" Alex asked. "So, there are four. Each of the two remaining entrances shifts dungeons every 12 hours. In the yellow sector, the first is a supply run or rescue. From noon to midnight, if we go there, we have to protect a buggy carrying some equipment and food for the station. There will be some monsters and some roving bands of¡­ living astronaut suits, I guess?" "Living suits?" Amanda tilted her head. "Yeah, that''s the description. It''s like just those blank space suits with nothing inside. Also, in the dungeon, we will have moon gravity. Then, from midnight to noon, the dungeon changes slightly. Instead of protecting the buggy, we will be chasing after one that was stolen by those spacesuits. Then we have to destroy their base," Cris continued. "Did that actually happen?" Hera asked. "What do you mean?" Tim had just finished the first scoop of his cookie dough with vanilla and chocolate. "Like, dungeons can be stories about the past. Things that happened in the room that created those dungeons. Is that the case here?" Hera explained. "Oh, right. I remember hearing about that, but I''m not sure. But since we can''t actually leave the station, I think that those are just how things always were," Amanda said. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Either way, those are the two options on the yellow sector. The last one would be in the green section. That one feels more¡­ natural, I want to say. Oh, and before I forget, both of them also have moon gravity. The one during the day is about looking for these antlion kind of things that live in holes around the moon. We need to find them and get rid of them to open a path for a base. That one is a bit weird since we have to clean everything on the way, and sometimes new antlions will get in the middle of the route. Now, the one in the evening is easier. We just need to find the antlion nest and wipe them out. They even have a queen, which I don''t think it''s how the ones back on earth are supposed to work, but that is our target. It''s a simple extermination mission. Go in, kill the queen and a set number of the rest and go out. That one seems to be the easiest," Cris finished her explanation. "Yeah, but honestly, I''m not that interested in being in a cave. Especially if we are dealing with moon gravity. Like, can you imagine what it would be like to move around in a tunnel when every step you take makes you bounce? Not to mention that bugs have a lot of claws and legs that they can use to move around or stick to the ground. We don''t have those options," Alex replied after thinking for a moment. "We don''t have to worry too much about that. Apparently, the nest is out in the open. Well, not exactly, but it''s a large structure filled with holes. Kind of like a bee''s nest but without that layer of¡­ I want to say wax? Covering it," Cris tapped a few times on her tablet and opened s few pictures, "Here, that''s where they live." The images showed a tall structure, and inside it, it was a mix of cobwebs and the honeycombs pattern that one would find in a wasp''s nest. There was even a photo with someone by the structure for scale, and it was massive. Which also meant that they should fight giant monsters. After a few more minutes discussing the options, they put the dungeon they would be running to a vote. "I think the supply run might be the best. The one we protect the thing," Amanda voted. "Oh, I hate that. Escort missions are always the worst in games. My vote goes for the antlion one. Whatever mode, it''s working now," Hera replied. "I''m with Hera. The antlion one should be about finding the traps and clearing the route. Fighting monsters is easier, and considering everything we can do, that shouldn''t be a problem. Besides, we will have more time to mess around in that one. Wiping out a full nest will be too much work, and the others need us to be on the move," Alex added. "I kind of wanted to do the one with the nest. Fighting against a bunch of monsters in a cave while under moon gravity seems to be a great way to practice for weird situations," Tim said. Everyone turned to Cris, waiting for her vote. They had discussed that the person who voted alone would pick between the two options in the case of a tie. This meant that it was up to the hunter to continue the vote or go with Hera and Alex. Cris turned to Tim and Amanda, "Sorry guys, but I like the antlion one too. I wanted to see what kind of traps the monsters could make on the moon. Maybe there is something I can learn from them." "Ah, man. Fine, we can start with that one, but we are doing the supply one later and the nest. Not necessarily in that order," Amanda replied. "Do you need anything? Any gear or something for the dungeon? Also, do we need space suits? I forgot," Hera asked. "Nope, we have air in the dungeons. About gear, I''m OK. How about you?" Cris replied. "I wanted to stop by the weapon''s store. Just to see if there was anything interesting," Alex nodded. "Same. The daggers I use are not that great, and after the last dungeon, I realized that the daggers I have are not that great for these rooms," Tim tapped his waist where his daggers were located. A few rooms ago, they fought against a few monsters that had sturdy shells, and his weapons weren''t able to pierce through their defenses. While Alex could deal damage normally. Tim had different circumstances than anyone in the group. He became an explorer out of necessity to give his family a better life, so all the money he was making was going back to his parents and his siblings. Despite his noble intentions, this ended up causing some problems with his equipment. He only focused on defensive gear since even if he was using very basic daggers, he never had any trouble killing anything. However, this trip showed that he was a bit of a frog in a well. Just because he could kill weak monsters in a single strike, that didn''t mean he could neglect his weapons, and that was a lesson he had finally learned. Going to the Blue sector, the group found a couple of stores and went on a shopping spree. Alex and Amanda got some new pieces of armor, a cloak for the assassin that, when activated, would allow her to move as if she was in the moon, and a pair of gloves for the mage that could condense some of her mana, allowing her to shape the snow more easily. Tim found a pair of daggers that had a chance of making the target have a hard time breathing by taking away its ability to breathe. It was basically a weapon that could give someone an asthma attack. It was a nasty effect, but it had a low probability of triggering and only worked on non-humanoid monsters. Monkeys, apes, and people, of course, wouldn''t be affected by it. Lastly, Amanda found a place willing to make some modifications to her weapon. She changed a few of the blades around her Macuahuitl to deal elemental damage, and one specific could trigger an increased gravity effect. Despite it being a mismatch of jumbled effects, Cris had a spell that would make it all worth it. It was called Elemental Overload, and it would use the residual mana from all her attacks to trigger a small explosion. Hera didn''t get anything new. After all, she recently had purchased another chakram in one of the rooms they passed. However, she did get a bag of spiked caltrops. She had discovered that something like that worked with her [Weapon Break] skill, but only if she hit the monsters before the weapons hit the ground. It was a bit tricky to make it work, but they even had some uncommon ones here, which meant that the damage would be significant. As they walked towards the dungeon, she pulled her chakram to double-check its attributes. It was a light green circled blade with eight small black spikes around the edge, and instead of it being a full circle, there was a handle on the base that was made so it wouldn''t be in the way in case the weapon was thrown. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Screaming Ooze Chakram Rarity: Uncommon A chakram made out of an agglomeration of cores from the screaming ooze. Because of the material, the weapon makes a unique sound when it is moved at high speeds. The blade is somewhat malleable when exposed to high temperatures. Attribute Scaling: Strength: x3.6 Charisma: x2.8 Luck: x2.2 Weapon skill: Howl: You can make your weapon scream, causing nearby creatures to run away in fear or to become frozen in place. Range: 50 meters Mana cost: 200 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chakrams were already hard to find, and this one was surprisingly strong for what she wanted to do. Hera also knew that the odds of making a monster frozen in place were much higher than it was to make them run away. It didn''t take long for the group to arrive at the Antlion Minefield dungeon and walk inside. 393 - Sea of Nectar Entering the Antlion Minefield, the group found themselves in another airlock. This led to an orbital elevator that brought the group down to the moon. To make this small dungeon even better, the panoramic elevator gave a view of the entire area as they got closer to the ground. Looking over the moon was surreal, to say the least. Sure, Hera and the others knew about astronauts and the many things one could find in space, but being in a place like this was completely different. Looking over that vast expanse of black, white, and gray with thousands and thousands of stars in the sky made them all feel a sense of wonder. After a couple of minutes while still on the elevator going down, Alex pointed up towards the station, which was another incredible thing by itself, even if it was a bit funny looking. It was almost like staring at a giant bagel, where the small hole was just this elevator shaft. However, the real treat was behind it. Looming over the man-made(?) structure, the Earth was in full view. One could see even the clouds moving above Europe and Asia. However, it didn''t take long for Hera to realize there was something wrong with the light. The Earth was illuminated and in full view, but the sun was to the right, facing the moon. For Earth to look like that, the sun should be behind the moon. "I wonder if that is like a real image or just an illusion," Amanda said while looking at Earth. "I think it''s real. Look, you can even see the clouds moving," Tim pointed to a cluster of rotating clouds, "Wasn''t there a storm raging across the UK?" "Yeah, but I don''t know if we are looking at the real Earth. I mean, how is it so bright?" Hera asked. "Well, it''s reflecting the sunlight. Right?" Cris turned to Hera. "Where is the sun?" "Right¡­. Oh, I get it," Cris pointed at the sun and understood what she meant. "Do you guys think that there are doorways on the moon or on other planets? Maybe even in outer space?" Alex asked. "I think so. I mean, there is no reason not to," Amanda replied. "I''m not so sure about that. Isn''t it a MAZE rule that a doorway will never put you in a place where you could die just by walking in? Like, there are no doorways inside lava or deep underwater where there is too much pressure," Hera Was staring at the sky, trying to find the red star that was Mars. "That is a very good point. But what if we terraformed Mars? Could a doorway appear there?" Tim was looking at the Earth. "I have no idea. Did a doorway ever appear on Earth? Or were they like, always there?" Amanda''s question made everyone turn to Hera. "What are you looking at me for? I have no clue. In theory, no doorway ever appeared on Earth, but there is no way to tell if that''s true. I mean, if we find a doorway in a cave, or an island, or a mountain, can we say that it''s a new doorway that appeared, or was it always there?" Hera shrugged. "Aw, I hoped you had a better reply. I mean, you are the explorer here," Alex teased. Hera just rolled her eyes, but an idea popped into her mind. She could try calling the guide for this room to get those answers. During the trip, she didn''t have time to be alone and contact a guide, but since they would be here for at least one more day, it was an option now. The only thing she would need to do was have a moment alone. Which shouldn''t be that difficult since she had the soundproofing spell. She could do the same thing she did back in Brinnefront when she called Berthellemy, just go to the bathroom, turn on the water and use the spell to talk to the guide. "Hey, I think we are getting close," Amanda looked towards the moon. The elevator was already close enough that they could see the details on the ground, and they were slowing down. Yet, there was one more odd thing about being on the moon. When one would look at the horizon, one would see the line between the moon and the sky curve, ever so gently. "Ha! Take that flat earthers!" Tim celebrated. His random yell made Hera laugh, "Yeah. Kind of hard to say that we are not in a sphere with that, but I''m sure they will find a way." "True, I can already hear them saying that this is the MAZE and not the earth, or that this only means the moon is round and the earth is still flat," Cris nodded. "What are you talking about? Of course, the Earth is flat," Alex rolled her eyes. Everyone stopped and stared at her, worried that they had both offended her and that she actually believed in what she was saying. "Are you serious?" Hera finally asked as the elevator arrived at the bottom floor. "Of course¡­ not," Alex started laughing, "You should see your faces. I know the Earth is round. C''mon, Hera. You should know me better." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "I mean, we never talked about this," Hera scratched her head. "It was funny though, I have to admit," Cris was also laughing at the joke. The elevator doors were open, and another airlock was on the other side. After they passed through that airlock, everyone felt that their steps were lighter, meaning they were already under moon gravity. Moving through, there was a small corridor before the five steps that would lead them outside. Passing through this area proved to be more of a challenge than anyone expected. Walking turned into something that requires concentration and careful consideration. Each step required much less strength than what they were used to, and if they overdid it, they would end up slamming head first on the ceiling. Since they would have to worry about monsters outside, and even worse, worry about traps made by such creatures, they decided to get used to this way of moving before progressing forward. It took them half an hour of jumping around, walking, and trying different things for everyone to feel comfortable exiting the base. As soon as they crossed the door, a notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Danger Beneath the Moon The moon is a dangerous place. Monsters take advantage of the environment to create traps to lure and kill unsuspecting travelers. Clear all the monster traps in the path leading to the launch pad so people can travel off-planet again. First time completion rewards 90 000 gold Moon Rock box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Moon Rock box?" Hera asked. "Yeah, it''s part of a set of equipment that we can drop here. It''s called the Moon Rock set, and the full set would allow us to be affected by moon gravity anywhere, but it''s like a full astronaut suit, so it''s a bit clunky," Cris pulled up a picture of someone using the full set. Like she said, it was just a spacesuit, without the extra options that would allow one to go to the bathroom and such. The set would have things like cold resistance and a way to produce oxygen inside it using some crystals, making the suit less baggy than the one used by astronauts. However, it was still way too big for someone who would travel in the MAZE, not to mention that to get the whole suit, one would need to gather all 11 parts, shoes, pants, chest piece, sleeves, gloves, helmet, backpack, and a belt. Only then the effect of the full set would be triggered. It was too much work to get something like that, and it might not even be that helpful in other places. Sure, you could jump high in that gravity, but you also would take a long time to reach the ground, and that could make you an easy target. Unless there was something that allowed them to turn the effects on and off. "How much do they go for?" Alex asked, having the same issues with the equipment as Hera did. "Around 30 to 40 thousand a piece or 500 thousand for the full set," Cris replied. "OK, so this dungeon is worth 120 thousand. I like it," Alex opened a big smile. This trip helped a lot with the funds for her new house. In fact, she already had enough for a small house in the countryside, but since she had the option, she wanted to get an even better place for her folks. "Yeah, but it doesn''t look like it will be that easy. Look there," Amanda pointed at the path marked by some tall posts with red ribbons tying them together. On the ground, there were some 10 meter wide craters that didn''t look that solid but as if they were made out of sand. "OK¡­ that doesn''t seem good. How are we going to kill those?" Cris asked. "I have an idea. Let me try it," Hera walked closer to the first of the moon sand traps and tossed four caltrops while triggering her [Weapon Break] skill. Out of the four trap weapons, only one managed to hit a target, but thanks to the skill, the metal spikes exploded and injured the monster hiding under the trap. The sands started to quake and shift, leveling the entire crater almost in line with the rest of the path. Hera backed up, unsure of what was going on. It was a good idea because, after four steps, a massive 4 meters long and 2-meter tall bug came out of the pit, bursting through the soil. The creature had four large fangs that moved individually and twelve smaller limbs to move its massive bulbous body. Its eyes were completely white, connected to a small head that led to an oversized torso that looked more like the undercarriage of a boat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moontlion - Level 16 - Bleeding (Sand Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After noticing the bleeding tag, Hera took a better look at the monster. Most of its face was covered in cuts, and some shards of metal seemed to be stuck in the base of its jaws, causing it to bleed even more with each movement of its mandibles. The bug slammed its pincers twice before jumping high in the air. Hera and the others jumped away as soon as they understood that this was supposed to be an attack and saw the monster slamming on the ground, creating a large cloud of dust and sand. "Oh shit, the MAZE even got this right," Tim gasped excitedly. "What?" Cris asked. "There is no sound! Like, for some reason, we can hear each other, but the monsters don''t make a sound. There is no air in space, so there is no way for sound to travel," Tim grabbed some of the dust with his magic and sent it back at the monster, slamming against his lower limbs. "Oh, you''re right. This is really cool," Alex used her scabbard, and a jade blade of solid wind flew at the monster, creating a gash that almost cut it in half. "It''s also a big problem for us. We won''t hear them getting closer," Hera threw some poison needles at the monster after calling Daskka. She kept the snake in the necklace while in this room since there were too many people around, and she wasn''t in the mood to explain why she had a snake construct around her neck. Amanda moved her hands together, and a stream of snow came out, covering the entire face of the creature. Cris jumped in right after, spinning her weapon to have the electrified blades on the side. She slashed at the creature''s face, breaking one of the mandibles off. Daskka flew towards the monster, creating a mist blade with her tail, and slashed at the Moontlion head, cutting it off in a single motion. That felt a bit odd, and the group rushed to the body to understand what was going on. Before it dissolved, Cris noticed that the corpse seemed weaker around the area where the snow hit. Maybe these creatures were so used to living without water that they would become softer and easier to kill when they were exposed to moisture. With that new knowledge, everyone looked towards the rest of the traps. If they weren''t wrong, this dungeon could be much easier than they expected. 394 - Snow in the moon A Moontlion jumped from its trap and bomb rushed Alex. The monster was peppered with snowballs before it managed to hit the assassin. Amanda armed everyone with some snow, and their entire strategy was the same one would use in a snow fight. Despite that odd situation, it was effective. The Moontlions were used to live in an arid environment, and their outer shells were made to absorb the tiny particles of water that eventually would reach them. Unfortunately for them, their bodies were used to dealing with minimal amounts of liquids. When dealing with anything that went beyond a few drops at a time, the shells wouldn''t know what to do with it and just stuff the water inside itself, causing its carapace to bloat and lose most of its defensive properties. After being essentially drowned in snow, the shell of the Moontlion was little more than a sheet of paper. Daskka flew through the area and, with a flip, cut off the monster''s head using her mist tail blade. This is how they were dealing with the Moontlions. One of them would bait the creatures out of the trap. They flooded the bug with water or, in this case, snow, leaving Daskka to deal the killing blow. The main reason the snake was responsible for killing the monsters was her size. Anyone else would have trouble reaching the neck of the bugs because of the mandibles, while Daskka could just fly over undetected. The body of the monster dissolved, leaving behind a pile of gold. Alex reached out, and 200 gold was added to the group funds on everyone''s tablet. It was an app that everyone had and helped distribute the money among the people doing dungeons together. "How is your mana?" Hera turned to Amanda. Since everyone was using the snow she made, they had to let her recharge every couple of fights. "I''m OK. I think we can do a few more. The idea you gave me helped a lot. Making a bigger pile of snow for everyone is better than doing one for each of us," Amanda replied. "Great, but I''m sure you would''ve thought about that too," Hera smiled. "Maybe, but it would take some time for me to get there." "The important part is getting there." "Hey, guys. I think I can see the launch pad," Cris had just moved over a small hill. Everyone followed her over and could see what looked like a metallic structure in the distance. It should be just a couple of kilometers ahead, but the problem was the number of traps on the way. Just at a glance, there should be around a hundred Moontlions spread around the area. "I think we need a better way to deal with them," Alex sat down on the floor. They''ve been walking for a while, making everyone tired. "Yeah, killing them all will take ages. Do we have a big area spell?" Cris was moving her arms as if she was trying to calculate distance, "What I have won''t work for more than two of them." "I could make an avalanche," Amanda suggested. "How would that work on the moon?" Hera turned to the mage. "I honestly have no idea. But most of our spells work just the same. Maybe they are kind of like frogs and can''t tell when their temperature changes. Do bugs feel hot or cold?" Amanda was staring at one of the pitfall traps. "I have no clue, but that actually gives me an idea. Do you think you could make enough snow to cover those things? Like, what if we turn those traps into small lakes? Maybe we can kill them by drowning them. You make the snow, I melt it, and we let it flood," Hera suggested making a small grease fire in the palm of her hand. The spell had reached the advanced tier, and now she could move it much easier. She could even set it up in stages, creating just the grease path before igniting it. Unfortunately, it wasn''t actual oil or anything like it. Despite the name and how the fire behaved, it was purely a fire spell that didn''t have any other elements involved, so using this to drown the monsters wasn''t going to work. "Maybe I can help with that. What if I make a dust barrier under the water and make a small area that wouldn''t be flooded. That way, we can just make them run out of air," Tim was scratching his chin. "Hang on. All those plans consider that those things need to breathe. How can we be sure of that?" Cris asked. "That''s¡­." Hera stopped for a moment, "A fair question¡­ I don''t know. I mean, bugs need air, right?" "Yeah, they usually don''t have lungs and breathe through their bodies. But we don''t have air here, do we?" Alex looked around. "I mean... We can breathe and talk, but they can''t make a sound, so¡­ I don''t know," Tim sighed. "Man, this place can be really cool, but it''s confusing as hell," Cris picked a rock and threw it on the ground, hoping to make some noise, but the pebble just hit the floor and bounced off without making a sound. Amanda walked over to one of the traps, "We won''t figure out anything just by talking. Let''s see what works and what doesn''t. I''ll start with just the snow, OK?" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The group nodded and got ready for a fight. Amanda created a large clump of snow floating in the air, enough to cover the trap about halfway up, and then dropped it at once. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening, that was until a hole appeared in the middle of the trap, almost like someone had unclogged the drain. Four massive mandibles appeared and started pulling the frozen water to the center in a frenzy. It was like watching a starving dog being offered food. The dog would just run at the meal and eat while making a mess. Hera and the others just stared at that creature while it ate the snow until there was nothing left. Only then did the Moontlion emerge from its trap. The creature was a bit bigger than they expected, and instead of being gray, it had a slight blue tint to its carapace. Even so, the most strange part was how bloated it looked. It was like seeing a corpse that washed up on the beach after weeks of being underwater. The monster struggled to move, and its weight became too much for its body to hold. Some of the small legs that carried its torso broke off and started to leak water, which the creature promptly started drinking again. "I mean, I heard about water weight, but that is just ridiculous," Alex gasped. Feeling weirded out about the creature, Hera just gestured to Daskka to put it out of its misery. The snake understood and got close before using her mist blade to kill it without any flourishes or any moves for the first time. Even she could understand that this wasn''t the moment to show off. "Well... I guess that works," Tim said. "Yeah, but I don''t want to do this¡­ I mean, it felt kind of¡­ mean?" Amanda turned to Hera. "I agree. It''s one thing to kill a monster that''s attacking us. Another is to kill something that is struggling to live," Hera scratched her arm. Alex sighed and walked over to the next trap, "You are just too kind, and I don''t mean that in a good way. These are just monsters, and inside a dungeon at that. It''s not like they are actually suffering. Also, I''m going to try one thing. Get ready." Everyone got a bit closer, but Alex waved for them to move away. She followed that up by creating a wind wall right on top of the mandibles of the monster. It wasn''t the basic version of the spell but an altered version that focused on making the wind spinning in the wall extremely strong. Before the wall was complete, Alex jumped back and tried to hide so her sneak attack would trigger. The mandibles of the Moontlion were caught in the swirling wind and were ripped apart, pieces flying in different directions. Maddened by the pain, the monster jumped out of its trap and started attacking blindly at anything around it. Hera sent a few poison needles flying while Daskka took the chance to use her mist rope to grab the monster. In some cases, the spell could be used to restrain someone, but when the creature was too strong or too big, it would only confuse their senses. Cris jumped the monster using her weapon to cut off two of its hind legs, while Tim suddenly appeared on top of the Moontlion''s body and cut it open with a single slash of his daggers. It seemed like the new weapons were much better than what he was using before. Alex used a wind blade to push the monster back into the trap to keep using her wind wall to deal some damage, and the impact was enough to push it ever the edge of the pit. When the monster slammed against the spell, more of its legs were ripped apart and flew away in random directions. Hera was about to trigger her poison control spell when three other Moontlions emerged from the other pitfalls. The pieces of leg and mandible that flew away hit their lairs and awakened them from their slumber. "Oh, great. Amanda, start making some snow. Cris and Tim play defense. We don''t want anyone caught between the two of them. Alex, stop that wall. Now!" Hera ordered everyone. They all followed the commands right away. In a way, it was almost as if they were compelled by the orders. Not that it would force them to do something, but thathe words were spoken with such a confidence that it felt like the right call. Alex canceled the spell and threw a few wind blades at the incoming monsters. Her target was their legs. If she could cut them off, the bugs would take longer to become a problem. At the same time, Amanda created a large snowstorm covering part of the field. She did her best not to let the snow hit the other pitfalls, but she couldn''t control it perfectly. Some of the small snowflakes could end up going towards the other monsters, but that was a problem for the future. Cris used a type of mana reinforcement in her weapon that made the already sizable Macuahuitl even bigger. She jumped at the first Moontlion, who was still alive even after having its jaws and legs ripped apart. Tim pulled the dirt and dust that were being kicked up and created a stream of pebbles to attack the monsters. He used it almost as if it was a whip, slamming against the incoming bugs ruthlessly. Hera wasn''t about to lag behind. She created a poison rain on top of the incoming monsters and started flinging paralyzing bolts at them, followed by a slow spell. All effects overlapped, triggering her [Ailment Mastery] and making the three bugs sluggish and wounded. As the wind blades that Alex shot off cut one set of the Moontlion''s legs, the other two stopped moving forward and started slamming their legs on the ground in an odd rhythm. "The hell are they doing?" Cris asked as she jumped away from the pitfall and the corpse of the monster she had just killed. "I have no idea, but I don''t think it''s good," Amanda replied. Hera activated her poison control, trying to kill them as quickly as possible to stop whatever they were doing. The monsters spat out some blood and fell to the ground. Even if they weren''t dead, it didn''t seem like they could do anything else to bother them. That small hope was quickly destroyed as another two dozens of Moontlions emerged from their pitfalls. All turned towards the group before marching forward. "Amanda. Avalanche. Now!" Hera yelled. The mage started preparing the spell while the rest of the party did their best to slow down the incoming monsters. Spells were flung towards every direction while Daskka weaved around the bugs trying to find ways to deal the killing blow and create a small barrier of bodies to protect her owner. After a minute, a large spell circle appeared over an area 500 meters wide. "Now, fall!" Amanda yelled and brought both her hands down as if she was pulling the snow from a mountain. From the circle, what looked like an endless wave of snow came crashing down in the area, spreading into all directions as it hit the ground and burying all the pitfalls under its weight. The magic seemed to resonate with something in the area, making the circle even bigger and the amount of snow pulled somewhere even greater. For a moment in time, the Sea of Nectar was covered by a layer of snow that could be seen from the earth itself. That is if all this didn''t happen inside a dungeon. 395 - Going up Hera saw the snow coming out of the spell. She yelled to Amanda to stop, but the mage wasn''t doing anything to the spell anymore. Daskka saw what was going on and hurried back to the necklace to be closer to Hera. As the mountain of snow came crashing down, it swallowed everything, monster, human, and, despite being almost 2 kilometers away from the spell circle, even the launch pad suffered the same fate. Hera tried to outrun the avalanche, even going as far as using her [All In] skill to run away faster. Still, the speed at which the snow appeared was staggering, and eventually, the mass of frozen water overcame her. She fell to the ground and did her best to protect her face and keep an air pocket nearby. The weight of the snow started to press on her back. Not wanting to be squashed by something like that, Hera focused her mana on covering her body, doing something similar as she did when using her mana reinforcement around her weapons. She hoped that it would lessen the burden on her spine and avoid breaking any bones. Doing that was easier than she expected, and just as the mana was about to cover her completely, Hera used a grease fire to melt the snow around her. However, instead of triggering the spell, the fire mana merged with her own body, turning her entire form into a flaming avatar that quickly melted the snow. Seeing that it was easier to move around, she slammed her hands on the ground and created a large stone wall right beneath her to pull her up, away from the snow. Unsure of how high she needed to go, Hera just kept pulling the wall up, higher and higher. She felt the snow above her slamming against her body, but most of it melted away before touching her. Parts of the snow were already turning into steam, which even helped turn some of the snow above her into water. The higher she went, the more snow melted, and the more steam was generated, creating a loop that helped her push off the mountain of snow. She was five meters high when she finally managed to break through all of the frozen water, but it was clear that she had to keep going. The avalanche that Amanda started was still going, and more snow appeared in the area. Hera used her pulse to try to find her friends. Her mana spread out through the area, digging through the sheets of white covering the moon until she noticed all four members of her party. Alex was in the air, jumping on nothing and going higher and higher. She seemed to be struggling, but she wasn''t in any danger right now. Tim was in the middle of the snow and wasn''t moving. Amanda seemed to have some sort of dome around her, meaning that she should be mostly fine, and Cris was on the same spot she was when it all started, holding her ground while slashing away with her Macuahuitl, somehow that was enough to give her a small pocket of air. Hera called Nimbus and sent it to Alex, so her friend wouldn''t have to struggle so much to keep herself afloat, "I don''t know why I didn''t call him earlier," she mumbled before jumping towards Tim. She dove in the snow and fell straight to the ground, melting everything in the way. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she made another wide stone wall to push the assassin out of the snow. Because of her worry, the wall was a bit too fast, and when it reached the peak, Tim went flying off to the side. Hera jumped over and grabbed him, unsure if he was awake or not. "Hot, hot. Your too hot!" Tim cried as her hand grabbed his arm. "Thank you, I guess. But this is not the best moment for that," Hera replied as another stone wall appeared from the snow, giving them a platform to stand on. "No, you are literally on fire!" Tim said as he yanked his arm back. Using the floating dust, he picked some of the snow and tossed it on his wrist to cool it off and avoid any burns. "Oh, am I?" Hera looked over. There weren''t flames around her but she could see that odd mirage effect that one would see in the desert around her. "I mean, it hurts like you are, and¡­." Tim was about to keep talking, but Hera jumped towards Cris. "Talk later. Try to figure out a way to stop the snow," Hera yelled. She turned to Alex, who was currently gliding on Nimbus, "That goes for you too." "Sure, I''ll figure out how to stop a natural disaster!" Alex gasped but guided Nimbus to approach Tim, hoping they could figure something out together. Hera jumped into the snow a few meters behind Cris and fell to the ground, getting close to the hunter who swung wildly and managed to create a small cave under the snow just by sheer strength and willpower. "Cris!" "Hera? How did you get here? And since when are you an elemental?" Cris glanced back and only saw Hera''s entire body glowing red and the snow melting around her. "I have no idea. I can take you out of here. We are going up. Are you ready?" "Yeah. My arms are killing me already." Hera made a third wall high up in the sky. Since Cris was closer to the spell circle, she had to make it around 7 meters tall to stay above the snow. When they reached the open air, Tim and Alex shot out spells to stop the snow being summoned from whatever portal Amanda had created but to no avail. "Try to figure out a way to stop that thing. I''m going to get Amanda," Hera told Cris and called Nimbus over. Amanda was too far away for her to get to in a single jump, and even with her fire form moving through the snow seemed like a bad idea. Oddly enough, Nimbus wasn''t bothered by the heat, and it even seemed to help him stay up in the air. When the cloud griffon got above the mage, Hera jumped off slowly falling into the snow once more. It didn''t take long until she touched the ground again without any issue, but getting closer, she found that the dome was, in fact, an igloo made out of snow. As she approached the structure, Hera expected that the heat from her body would be enough to melt an entrance. However, that didn''t happen. Even when she tried to hug the igloo, the snow didn''t budge, much less open. "Amanda? Are you there?" Hera yelled. "Hera?" Amanda opened a small window and saw the explorer glowing with the heat, "What the hell is that?" "Something new, I think. We''ll talk later. Can I take you out of here?" "Can you?" A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Yeah, I just need you to come here or to open the igloo." Amanda opened a door and walked off. During the time it took for that to happen, a considerable amount of water already gathered in the groung, enough to cover Hera''s ankles. It was good that this spell managed to keep water away from her boots. Otherwise, she would have to deal with soggy socks until they finished this dungeon. When the mage got close, Hera stomped with her foot, and a pillar of stone rose from the ground beneath them. "Do you have any idea how to stop that thing?" Hera asked as they went up. "Maybe I can push the snow back. It''s supposed to just summon some snow from a dungeon, but never like this," Amanda explained. "How can you summon something from a dungeon?" Hera had a confused expression. She had never heard anything like that before. "I don''t know. Frostbite gave me this spell. It was supposed to be something new that the New Dawn made." "Great, are you still spending mana? Like could we just make you run out, and the circle would stop?" Hera asked. "No, I stopped giving mana to that spell before everything went to shit." They finally managed to break through the snow. Amanda was soaking wet because of all the water created by Hera''s heat. Just as they looked up, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest Danger Beneath the Moon All the monsters who were endangering the path to the launch pad were killed. The path is now safe for anyone to travel. First time completion rewards 90 000 gold Moon Rock box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You know, things like this make me doubt the MAZE. How is this safe?" Hera sighed. "Yeah, but that''s not a problem we have to deal with anymore. Let''s just get out of here," Amanda said. Hera nodded, "OK guys, we got the quest, let''s bail." "Can we outrun the snow?" Cris yelled. "I think so, the snow is going to the other side, and now that it already has a nice pile, it''s moving more slowly here," Alex replied. "Can you all get to the ground, or do you need help?" Hera asked as Amanda and she jumped on Nimbus'' back. "I got this," Alex jumped in the air and started to jump on her wind blades to move around. "I could use some help," Cris called. Hearing that, Amanda jumped off Nimbus and started moving on top of the snow, almost like she was skiing. Hera glanced over to where Tim was, but he was also gone. He had a really big issue with voicing what he was doing, but she would only talk about it later. Thanks to Nimbus and Hera''s new fire form, they managed to move away from the snow and back to the elevator. It was a shame that all the drops from monsters were now gone, but it was better than having to deal with that avalanche. Running towards the elevator, they only took about fifteen minutes to reach it, unlike the hour and a half that took them to get here. Not having to deal with the Moontlions made a massive difference. As they entered the elevator and it began to rise up towards the moon station, Hera finally took a moment to look at the notification about her new spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spell Acquired Elemental Armor Rank: Advanced You can cover yourself with elemental mana to increase your physical abilities temporarily. This armor will also give you some elemental attributes depending on the element you use for the armor. Mana cost: 300 mana per second ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK¡­ this is weird. How is something like this an advanced spell?" Hera asked the air as she collapsed on the elevator floor. "I mean, you had to use fire to protect yourself and make sure it wouldn''t hurt or even make you sweat. It''s like isolating the effects around a specific area. Maybe that''s why," Amanda replied between breaths. "By the way, since when can you do that?" Alex asked. "Since ten minutes ago," Hera smiled, "And since when can you walk on air?" "I''ve been practicing that. It never worked that well before," Alex smiled back. "Nice, that can be really useful," Hera turned to Cris, "And by the way, how did you stop the snow from getting to you? I mean, you were just waving your weapon around. It didn''t seem like it should''ve worked." "That''s a skill that I have. It''s called safety zone. I can create an area around me that stops most things from getting closer, but I''m locked in place while that is going on. It''s not like it can work perfectly with monsters too, but if they are not that much stronger than me it can at least keep them at bay," Cris was stretching her arms that were still sore from the ordeal. "And you?" Alex bumped Tim''s shoulder, "What happened?" "A chunk of snow slammed me in the back of my head. It took me out for a moment, and when I woke up, I was buried under the snow," Tim sighed. "Oof, that sucks. But don''t worry, everyone has a day like that," Alex tried to cheer him up. They laughed and talked about what had just happened as the elevator went up. When they were just a few minutes away from the station, Cris spoke up, "We are splitting off tomorrow, right?" "That''s the plan," Hera replied, "But we should go in the afternoon. I still don''t want to wake up early in the morning. Why?" "It just sucks. It''s been really fun traveling with you two," Cris gave Hera a sad smile. "Why are you acting like we are going to war or something? It''s not like we are never going to see each other," Alex hugged the hunter. "She''s just bad with goodbyes. You should''ve seen her during the last day of training. She was bawling her eyes out," Amanda chuckled but had to dodge Cris, who was trying to tackle her. "Shut up! You''re the one who ran away the first time you saw a monster," Cris tried to defend herself but was hit with a snowball in response. "Wanna say that again?" Amanda was summoning more snow. "Kids," Hera sighed and decided to try something. She got up and made the mana reinforcement spell around her body, this time using her blinding flash spell in the end. Her armor turned into a massive beacon of white light, "Stop! Don''t go summoning more snow here!" Her intimidation worked. With light coming out of her entire body, it was hard to ignore her, and adding that to her [Chain of Command] skill, everyone was sure to pay attention to what she was saying. "Oh, right. My bad," Amanda pulled back her mana. Hera turned the spell off and glanced at Alex. Cris wasn''t wrong. Traveling with this group was a lot of fun. However, Alex and Hera were glad that they wouldn''t have to worry so much about people on their first trip in the MAZE after this. After all, it was one thing to have been trained for a full year, another to spend an entire year already striking out on their own. Despite Hera telling Alex that they weren''t going to be babysitting, that kind of thing happened often, and they were excited about not having to worry about that kind of thing in the near future. 396 -An unique guide "I call upon the Guide of the Moon Base. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure," Hera used her skill in the bathroom. She was sharing a room with Alex, but she didn''t have to worry about her friend listening to the conversation due to her soundproofing barrier. It was impossible to know where the guide would come from. Because of that, she was sitting on the floor with her back against the door. That way, even if Alex tried to come inside for some reason, Hera would have time to dismiss the guide. While she looked around, she noticed what looked like a metal gate appeared on the ceiling. Said gate slowly opened, and a flying saucer came from the opening. It was big enough to land on top of the tub but not large enough to cover the entire length of it. On top of the saucer, a large green dome seemed to be made of glass or something of the sort. Inside it, Hera could see some shadows and glowing parts moving around. In a way, this looked like a toy or a piece of scenery for a high school play. There was some quality to the UFO, but it was clear that it was more about the presentation than for actually flying through the stars. Some lights started blinking, and smoke came out of the bottom of the saucer. Following that, a metal ramp unfurled from the side towards the bathroom floor. At first, it seemed like it wouldn''t reach, but then the ramp expanded, finally touching the rug on the ground. The glass opened to the side with a soft hum and a humanoid figure wearing a full spacesuit came out of it. It was a bit of a shame that it was a human space suit and not something alien. The being, which Hera assumed was the guide, walked out of the spaceship and came down the ramp in slow steps as if this was a solemn moment that should go down in history. "One small step for a guide, but a giant leap for all explorers," the guide spoke proudly. Hera felt a bit weird about the situation, but she ended up clapping. Even if this was odd, to say the least, it seemed like a very well-rehearsed thing, and that deserved some appreciation. "Oh no. What is this? Am I currently having a first contact?" the guide gasped. "Wait? What?" Hera asked. "Indeed, and this being even seems capable of speech. This is the most joyous occasion of my life. Please just give me a moment," the guide opened a small compartment on their sleeve, revealing a screen with several readings, "21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen along with a number of other gasses, none of them toxic. This is truly a blessing from the universe. A planet capable of sustaining life with the same air composition as my home. I shall risk my own life to prove this theory!" The guide made their hand in a fist and calmly reached out to their helmet, "Computer, deactivate the safety protocols and unlock my suit. This is an order," a small gust of wind came out of the helmet, from where it connected to the rest of the spacesuit and the guide finally showed their true form. Hera was expecting some sort of alien, maybe a little green man, or something made out of tentacles. Who knows, the MAZE could have made the aliens just different colored humans. Someone with blue or purple skin. As far as she was aware, there was no race currently on the MAZE that shared those kinds of skin tones. There was, in fact, a race with natural blue and purple skin on the MAZE, the Triton. However, Hera had little to no interactions with them, which caused her not to consider that group when imagining an alien. Her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside that suit. That was no alien, but a dog, a mixed breed between a husky and a spitz. They had mostly withe fur, but their face had two large black patches covering their eyes and cheeks, leaving a single line of white coming from the top of their head all the way to their snout. "Greetings. I am Laika Orla Astra, and I came in peace," the guide raised their hand, which was humanoid with five fingers and opposable thumbs, trying to gesture that they were unarmed. "Greetings? I am Hera¡­ are you really not from here?" Hera was still a bit confused about the situation. "Correct. I hail from a place far, far away among the stars," Laika replied with a smile. "Like, from a different planet? Not from Earth?" "In a certain way," Laika seemed a bit frazzled by the question. "Hang on. This is important. It''s kind of why I called you here. You don''t live on Earth? So you live like on the moon or something? You''re really an alien?" Hera pressed. Laika clicked her tongue, "No. Argh. I can''t lie when you ask me a question. Look, I''m a guide. I''m not an alien. This is just my routine so work with me here. Please? Just once. Please?" "Oh, sure. I''m not a good actor, so I''ll try," Hera cleared her throat and shifted her position, now sitting on her knees, "Greeting star traveler. I am Hera, a human from Earth. It makes me happy that we can confirm that we are not alone in the universe." Seeing that Hera was playing along, Laika opened a massive smile, her eyes sparkling, "But of course. I''m glad I can bring such news. You see, my kind is not the only one in the universe. There are many others, both benevolent and malevolent among the stars." "Malevolent?" Hera gasped, "Please traveler, what can you tell me about them and about the stars? If they are a threat to my kind, we must learn how to defend ourselves." "Fear not human. Those beings are galaxies away. You see, during my travels," Laika started talking about everything she saw during her ''journey,'' stars and planets, black holes and galaxies. The guide seemed to want to talk about anything and everything related to space. While the guide was talking, Hera made sure to look around to confirm that there wasn''t a timer in any place. One of the hard rules of this skill was that the guide had to show you how much time you had left, and that should always be easy for the explorer who used the skill to see. A guide couldn''t just hide the timer under a rock or something like that. If there was no clock around, the timer wasn''t counting down. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. As Laika continued to speak, Hera realized that most of her stories were very similar to some movies she had seen. One was about a mining crew that had to blow up a meteor in a collision course with the planet. Another was about some people who found an egg and unknowingly released a giant acid spitting alien on their ship. While she talked and walked around, Hera noticed something moving inside her spacesuit. At first, she got worried, but after a moment, she realized that the side-to-side movement was just below Laika''s waist, around the same area where her tail should be if she had one. It seemed like she was really happy about telling her story. Despite this very weird situation, this dog was so cute that Hera was fighting against the urge to pet the guide. About fifteen minutes went by, and Hera tried to also add some of the things she knew about space until Laika seemed satisfied with her routine. She looked down at the screen on her wrist, "OK, now I''m sure you have many questions about this place. Please, let this humble star traveler help you with that." "Sure¡­" Hera hesitated. "What''s wrong?" Laika turned to the explorer. "Oh, nothing. I''m just thinking about how to make the questions as an alien," Hera realized that her answer didn''t fit with the routine, "Oh, sorry. I mean. I am thinking about how I can formulate the questions¡­. So you can understand my language. Yeah, that''s it." Laika opened a big smile again, "You don''t have to do that. I mean, this was the first time anyone let me go for so long. You can speak normally, and thanks for that. People don''t appreciate some theatrics anymore." "Are you sure? I can try to make it work," Hera replied. "I am. It would be unfair if I ask you to take too long to ask your questions," Laika nodded and tapped some things on the screen on her wrist. Behind her, on her flying saucer, a large digital clock appeared, marking five minutes, "I''ll start when you ask the first question." "OK, but everything will still be in that theme," Hera chuckled, "For my first question. Do you know if there are doorways on other planets?" Laika froze before making the timer start, "That''s your question? Really?" "Yeah. Is there a rule that I can''t ask about that?" "Well, it''s not a rule. I just can''t answer that question," Laika replied. "Oh¡­ OK then, do you know if doorways appear out of the MAZE? Like, if we terraformed Mars, could doorways appear there, or would it be only something on Earth?" "I¡­ honestly don''t know. That''s a good question. I mean, doorways only appear in places that are considered safe, and if Mars became safe, in theory, the conditions would fit." Hera glanced up and saw that the timer was still on 5 minutes, "That didn''t count as a question?" "Nope, since I only gave you my opinion and not a definite answer, it didn''t count. I don''t even know what the real answer is. Try something else, maybe something about the room." "Is the Earth we see from here really Earth? Or just an illusion?" Hera asked. "That one I can answer," Laika tapped her wrist, and the clock started to count down, "What you see here is essentially a live stream of Earth. The image keeps turning slowly, so you see a different angle every day. Still, it takes a week to see the Earth from behind." "Really? I thought it was only through the front. Like from the direction the sun is shining. That really weird me out," Hera shook her head . "Oh yeah. I can understand that. But it was a way to make the view better," Laika explained. "I see¡­ and do you know if Aliens or other planets have doorways?" "You don''t have enough time for that, unfortunately." "Not even to ask if you know that?" Hera tried her best to see if Laika''s expression would tell her any type of answer. "Not even that, because if I say that I know or don''t already is enough to reach the answer," Laika explained. "Well, still, this gave me the information that you know about things that happen on Earth as well and that you know the answer to that question," Hera smiled. "That is not a secret, just something that takes a while for some people to figure out, and we can''t interfere." "Fair enough," Hera looked up. She still had 4 minutes to ask questions, "Are there any secrets that people have yet to find in this room or in the dungeons here? Give me a yes or no answer." "That will cost you a minute," Laika looked at Hera, who just nodded, confirming the question, "Yes, there are." "OK¡­ is there a legacy here?" Laika just tilted her head, "Do you think you have the time for that one?" "Not really, but it was worth a shot," Hera sighed, "You know, I don''t have any other ideas then. Like I could ask if a new doorway can appear on Earth, but I guess I don''t have enough time for that." "Yeah, sorry. Five minutes kind of sucks," Laika turned back and stopped the clock, "You know what? I like you, and you were a really good sport with the whole alien thing. If you ask me a question that I can answer, but it would take like a few hours'' worth of time or something, I''ll answer. For the record, the questions you asked and I said you didn''t have enough time were valued at centuries. The legacy thing was valued at decades." "Really? So if you have actual numbers for that question, does it mean that there is a way for me or someone else to get that much time?" Hera asked. "Is that your question?" Hera thought for a moment, "No, I don''t know if I want to know that. Even if you say yes, I bet that the information about getting more time is worth as much as the legacy thing, if not more." "Way more. Trust me, it is not even worth it," Laika replied. "Then... I don''t know," Hera glanced to the side and saw the spell circle pattern on the cabinet that stopped it from getting any water damage, "I have one, well two actually, but one of them I hope doesn''t count." "Even the good ones are greedy," Laika shrugged, "What are the questions?" "One is a compound one. Do you know how to make spell circles? If so, can you try to help me figure out a spell that I''m trying to make?" Hera asked. "I mean¡­ the type of magic we use doesn''t require spell circles, but I can try to help." Hera pulled up her tablet and showed the Imbue Element spell that she still couldn''t complete. Laika took a glance at it and started thinking, "I''m not sure I''ll be much of a help, but I can try. Also, this will be 100% my opinion, don''t take anything that I say as absolute truth like you do with the questions since I have no clue what I''m doing here." "That''s fine. Any help helps." "What''s the other question?" Laika turned back to Hera. "Do you have any sci-fi movies to recommend? I noticed a few of the ones you used as inspiration, but there were two that went over my head," Hera asked. "Oh! I sure can. Tell you what, let''s work on the spell while I''ll make a list of movies for you. Before heading out, I''ll send it to your tablet, OK?" Laika smiled, and her tail started to wag faster again before sitting by Hera''s side so they could discuss her spell. 397 - Higher Layers "OK, now look away." Alex nodded and looked to the side, removing Hera from her view. Just as she did that, Hera''s presence vanished from her mind, "I know I''m still fighting someone. But who''s there? Is it Hera or someone I met here?" "It''s me," Hera walked in front of Alex. Alex blinked a few times, "Fuck, this was weird." "OK, but what did it feel like?" "It''s like¡­ I still remembered that I was fighting against someone and that it was just a friendly spar, but I couldn''t tell who I was fighting against. Then when you appeared, I couldn''t tell what the correct memory was. It was like my head was buffering a video, and it got fast against to explain everything that was going on. But I never forgot that I was fighting or the direction that you moved. It was just confusing. " Alex explained. "Right¡­ this might be better than I expected. I mean, if we are fighting in a group, I think I can trigger a sneak attack all the time," Hera smiled. They were testing out her new Elemental Armor spell. Apparently, that could work with all her spells, even the Selective Memory Filter, which caused this effect. So far, her favorite version was the stone armor that would give her entire body a crust of rock increasing her defense a lot, and the poison armor. Using it gave her some cartoon-like orange smell lines around her body, and anything that touched them could be poisoned. It was great for when she was alone, but it would be tricky to use in a group. There were others, like fire which she used in the moon base dungeon, slow, that would radiate a yellow aura and cause everything around her to be slightly slowed, including her own attacks, and one that created a pure mana armor. Unlike the others, there was no visual change, but she would have a higher resistance to spells and magical effects. She was still having trouble using some of her spells with the mana armor. Wind, Spore, Paralyze, and Healing were proving to be difficult when she tried to activate the Elemental Armor with them. For some reason, the element wouldn''t take. She couldn''t tell if it was because of the spells themselves or something to do with the elements. A couple more minutes went by, and the time they had in the training room was over. They were in a room in the 10th layer, three rooms away from the moon base, and funnily enough, they had crossed only rooms in the 10th and 9th layers since splitting off from Amanda and the others. Before reaching their destination, they would have to pass a room in the 8th layer, and it would be the first time either of them was in that layer. "Hey, are we leaving tomorrow or tonight?" Alex asked. "Tomorrow. I don''t want to risk going in the night," Hera replied. "Ah, yeah, that''s a good call," Alex understood Hera''s reasoning, but she still felt a bit frustrated. "I know. I''m excited too. I mean, it''s the 8th layer. Even if this is not where it happens, we are still going to see the remains of the first wall." Alex nodded, "Yeah. I can finally start using the ''you''re not a real explorer until you see the first wall'' argument," Alex chuckled. Hera just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because I''m sure everyone who came this far is an expert in what they do." "Let me have this. It will just be to tease some friends and shut up a couple of others." "Fine, just don''t be mean. Some people say those things, and they really mean it." "Oh, no. Don''t worry about that. I''m just going to say that to some friends. And take a lot of pictures," Alex replied. "Of course, I want pictures too, a bunch of them. It''s a shame that there isn''t any monument for Khan in the next room, but it''s not like we can have shrines or things like everywhere where the walls once were," Hera sighed as they left the guild. They were in a room called Green Beach. It was like that because the waters in this room were completely green and crystalline due to the algae in the ocean. Unlike most other rooms, this place had just a small patch of land, and the majority of the area people could explore was out in the water. All the dungeons and monsters would all be in the great green sea. However, the two doorways were by the city. A place like this attracted many people, as most beaches would do. For that reason, the city built here was substantial and mostly governed by the triton. This meant that the hotels, bars, and the overall leisure options that one would find here were the main attraction. Not to say that there wasn''t a group that was only interested in leveling up and doing dungeons, but the focus was more on allowing people to relax and have fun. Hera and Alex walked back to the small cabin they got in the water, on a part of the city protected against monsters. They ordered some room service and turned on the television. Without Blue around, neither of them was too interested in clubs, even if they were in a perfect place for that. Hera had realized that she was the type to have more fun doing dungeons and traveling than going to a party. Alex was similar, but she simply enjoyed fighting. As long as she could be either sparring with someone or dealing with monsters that were at least a little bit of a challenge. Hearing that it would take half an hour for their food to arrive, Alex went to take a bath. During that time, Hera tried to call Silah, but she got no reply. The show on the TV wasn''t that interesting, so she just went around sending a text to all her friends and family. Blue was having a blast with her family while Bonnie was still helping her mother with the guild''s training. Eridan, Hera''s dad, was excitedly talking about how his furniture started to take off. Some of the people in Boothudurn seemed to be ordering things from him just to look good in humanity''s eyes. Still, even if that was something they were ordered out of pity or some other second intentions, business was booming, and he was sure the quality of his work would speak for itself. Helena was also doing well, and she seemed to have had a breakthrough in her research. She had figured out a formula that could replicate a complicated part of the Affinity Sight spell. Now, all she needed was to set it up properly with the rest of the spell. If that worked, she could finally sell the Affinity Sight to the guild along with a proposal to add it to basic training. Helena always felt like the training the guild gave was something ridiculous. One month was hardly enough time to teach everyone all that they would need to know to live inside the MAZE. Several times, she complained about that to different guild masters. Still, no one accepted her suggestion, claiming that the low number of explorers stopped them from having longer training or adding anything that wasn''t deemed essential to the program. Now that the guild was accepting everyone, they couldn''t use the same excuse again, could they?Hera tried to say that things might not work as she wanted, but she was careful not to say something that might make the mage give up completely. Even if Helena hoped for the best, Hera didn''t have the same kind of expectations, especially when she was talking about a large organization or a company. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Sometime later, Alex came out of the bath, and it was Hera''s turn. She quickly went inside and noticed that Alex was kind enough to change the water for her. It was a standard thing that most hotels would have bathtubs, but the triton had a unique take on the concept. It wasn''t as deep as regular tubs. It looked more like the shallow waters in a river, with a constant sheet of moving water that would barely cover her belly as she lay down with her head against a soft elevated pillow-like part of the tub. It was very much like being in a mix of a hot spring and a creek. Daskka was also there, swimming against the current and seemingly having a blast. She would swim under Hera''s legs, and occasionally Hera would move her arm, creating an obstacle for the snake who considered that a challenge. Hera chuckled and started giving her more difficult paths until Daskka ended up failing the race and tumbled all the way to the back of the tub. "Oh, sorry. Are you OK?" Daskka got up and huffed before she started running again. Halfway through the tub, Daskka''s entire body changed colors, from the white with blue stripes, it all turned a soft shade of purple, and her entire body turned into mist. She flew through the air, almost losing all the shape of a snake, turning into a thin strand of smoke and moving towards Hera''s head. Before touching her hair, Daskka turned back into her snake form and landed on top of the explorer''s forehead. "Hey! That''s cheating!" Hera picked Daskka and held her in front of her head, "And since when can you do that?" Daskka just licked the air around Hera''s cheek and replied with an image of Hera using her fire elemental armor. It was the first time that the snake replied in such a clear way. Usually, Hera had to figure out her intentions by feelings or loose thoughts, but now, Daskka almost shared a memory with her owner. That surprised Hera in a multitude of ways. She already understood that this construct was much smarter than it seemed and that she would keep growing as time went by, but Hera never expected something like this. In her mind, Daskka would always be essentially an animal. A very intelligent animal but an animal nonetheless. Now, being able to show something like that and somehow learn a spell that Hera herself had just figured out seemed like something else. Even if the item said that she would learn Hera''s spells, this was more than just that. In the memory, she could feel Daskka''s intentions and how she looked at the spell and tried to figure it out. "You really are amazing, you know that?" Hera smiled while looking at Daskka. Even if the snake was something more than she expected, she could still feel the same feelings that Chika had towards Darni in the dungeon coming from her. It was like she had bonded with Daskka even if she didn''t go through whatever process that was. This was something that maybe she could try to look into. After all, doing that type of ritual with her own pet snake could be helpful. However, ever since Chika died and everything that happened that day, Hera didn''t return to the Wailing Valley. She knew that Shane was still there, digging up the Naga tombs to learn more about them. Another thing that the explorer did a lot was visiting the Eternal Bond dungeon. It was a place where she could talk with real Naga. Not just that, but she could talk with the previous holder of her legacy. No one in the order ever had a chance to speak with someone who had their legacy. In fact, that type of thing only happened with people who inherited the legacy from the current holder, and that was a rare situation even outside the order. Apparently, if Shane showed Darni any of her legacy-related abilities, the Naga would realize that he was just part of a dungeon, and in certain situations, he would help her. It was tricky. At times, Darni would be saddened about the situation, or he would just try to enjoy his time with his family. On rare occasions, the Naga hero would accept his fate and understand that the best course of action was to help someone else understand his powers and create a new hero. Hera washed herself and made sure to give Daskka a thorough bath as well before heading out. As they left the bathroom, Alex was still trying to find something to watch. "Hey, I thought you had died in there¡­. Why is Daskka wearing a towel on her head?" "We wanted to match," Hera replied in a smile, pretending to be modeling her towel. "You are one of those people who would carry the dog in your purse, aren''t you?" "C''mon, Daskka is not a dog. How many dogs can fly?" "Do cartoons count?" Alex pointed at the TV where a show about a dog superhero was playing. "If a cartoon can kill a monster, sure," Hera replied as she walked to the side where there was a divider that she could use to get changed. "Considering that one, I don''t think that would be the case. He''s running away from bees," Alex sighed and started to change channels again, "So, how many days until we get there?" "Two, probably, we could do it in one, but the last stretch of it would be in the early evening. I''m not sure if walking around in a forest in the middle of the night is a good idea," Hera replied while she changed into her pajamas. "I agree. Let''s try to avoid that," Alex nodded, "By the way, Amanda and the others just sent us a text. You should check it out." "Are they OK?" Hera walked out of the divider and pulled up her tablet. The text in question talked about how a rampage just started in the Moon Base, and it was wild. Instead of facing monsters, several gun stations appeared around the station, and people had to shoot at incoming asteroids. It was almost like an arcade game, and there was no danger unless people royally messed up. The station could repair almost any damage it suffered, as long as it didn''t happen all at once. Each destroyed rock also could drop some minerals and precious stones. Even mana gems that could recharge on their own could be among the drops. Along with the text, there were a few pictures showing the gun stations and the incoming asteroids, "Wow, this looks really cool." "I know, right. I know we want to get there soon and all, but I wouldn''t mind being stuck in the Moon Station during that," Alex sighed. "Honestly, me neither. And It''s not like Silah could blame me for it." "You guys are still not OK, huh?" Alex looked up, and Hera just nodded in reply, "Wanna talk about it." "Not really," Hera jumped face-first on the bed and just glanced up towards the TV. Daskka came to her side and curled up on the same pillow, closing her eyes to sleep. Hera just lightly patted the snake and kept thinking about her and where she was going. Maybe she should stop chasing the blademasters and look for the tamer''s legacy. It would be better for Daskka, but she wasn''t even sure where to start. Those thoughts continued until the room service arrived, and they started having dinner. After that, it was better to just stay in and sleep early. They had to be well-rested for the next day. 398 - Saltandeer Woods For the first time during this trip, Hera and Alex woke up early in the morning. It wasn''t so much because of the length of their journey, but because they were excited about going to the 8th layer. Both of them had seen several pictures of the rooms where the walls once were. Even if this next room wasn''t the same where Khan lived, this felt like something special. Hera and Alex checked out of the hotel and went to the doorway of the next room. There was a small line, but in a few minutes it was their turn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Lavish Plateau 8th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, that warm feeling covered the two. In a few moments, they were on a different beach, one with green sand that melded into an expanse of lush grass that seemed to go on for miles. According to what they knew, long ago, there was a wall in the middle of that field that could be seen even from the room''s entrance. Hera tried looking up if there were any paintings of this room from when it still had a wall, and there was only a single one with a couple getting married in the area and the massive light blue wall in the background. Hera never realized that before, but the pastel tone was very similar to what she saw during her role tests. In a way, this made sense, both were made by the MAZE and by the System, so having it use the same color palette seemed something that it would do. After all, the System was lazy. Another weird detail was that the wall had a different shape than the one she saw being broken in the 25th layer. It wasn''t simply a single color as if it was a massive block placed in the way. This had the appearance of bricks and even some areas that seemed like columns. Maybe this was just the artist''s representation, or maybe the wall was actually different than what they saw now. To check that, she would need to look for other paintings from other rooms, and she wasn''t going to do that now. Unfortunately, this room didn''t have the best internet connection, and just loading a page was taking too long. It wasn''t much of a surprise. After all, there wasn''t even any outpost or buildings in this room. The Lavish Plateau could seem like a very peaceful place at first glance, but that would quickly change when the sun went down. Larger patches of grass would become aggressive and start to attack everything in sight. The green sand would turn into sand golems that would roam around and try to swallow everything that wasn''t stuck to the ground. To top it all off, the regular monsters that could come from the small grooves peppered around the edges of the room would come out in dozens at a time. Even if this was a beautiful place, it was a nightmare for anyone who wanted to spend the night. Because of that, the guild warned everyone who wanted to cross over this area and asked them not to stay there after sundown. There was also careful control in how many people were there at once. If a place like that had a rampage, dealing with that would be an issue. Hera and Alex started walking through the verdant fields without any issues. Daskka''s head was on Hera''s shoulder, while the rest of her body was a scarf around the explorer''s neck. While walking, there wasn''t much to see, but after a couple of minutes, two lizards appeared from one of the groves. They were long and had green scales matching the color of the grass beneath their feet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grave Lizard - Level 20 - (Grass affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera and Alex glanced at each other and, without speaking a word, decided to take one each. Alex simply used her [Quick Draw Style] to send a supercharged wind blade at the monster and killed it in a single move. Hera, on the other hand, tried to be a bit fancier. She activated her Memory Elemental Armor. Even if she wasn''t entirely sure if that was the element she was using, that''s the name she gave to the spell when she used it along with the Selective Memory Filter. Following that, she clicked her heels, activating the boots she got from Kahala, and started fighting with her own mix of the [Dorohla Style] with the [Subtle Strike]. Both martial arts focused on distraction, parrying, and confusing the opponent which worked like a charm when applied together. She started gliding around the monster that became confused. Just as she managed to flee its field of view only to be met with a flying chakram coated in poison. If that wasn''t enough, right after being hit, a snake jumped from the grass and bit down on its neck but turned into smoke before the lizard could even respond to the attack. Hera moved around the monster and pulled its tail, lifting the monster''s back legs into the air. As the creature felt that tug, it turned around, trying to see what was attacking it, but there was nothing there. Just as it turned its head forward again, Hera''s handaxe came crashing down on its forehead, splitting the skull in a single move. "And you say I''m mean with monsters," Alex sighed. "What? I had to figure out some stuff," Hera crossed her arms. "And what was that stuff exactly? How to mess with a monster?" "No, I wanted to know if the armor would still be active when I attacked it. Maybe it was one of those things that if you attack, the effect breaks. And I think that''s the case. You saw how the monster turned in the same direction that I went after I touched its tail." "Well, that''s fair, but it could only pick between two sides. It''s hard to say that this is a definite answer," Alex shrugged. "True, that''s why I want to do the same thing with any other monsters we can find. I mean, this is the only armor that I still have some doubts about," Hera explained. "Just keep testing then. I won''t stop you," Alex''s eyes turned to the monster, "Are we taking this with us?" "We could. I just don''t know how many we will get until reaching the doorway." "Forget it then, I don''t want to be dragging something this big, and we have a lot of ground to cover, right?" "Yeah, we should stay here for another 4 hours, counting with an hour break when we get to the location of the wall, and another 8 in the next room but we won''t be on foot at least," Hera confirmed their schedule in her tablet. After about an hour and a half, they had killed another dozen or so lizards but the important part was that they had arrived where the wall once was. Even if there wasn''t any structure in the area, there was still a large two-meter wide blue mark on the ground with no grass growing on it. It almost looked like the wall was still there, just underground, but on a closer inspection, Hera could tell that the ground was now dirt. A pastel blue dirt, but still dirt. Hera and Alex glanced at each other and took a step forward together. Being inside a wall was a weird concept, but they still enjoyed the moment. Alex started taking pictures while Hera did her best to examine the soil. She was wondering if that was something that could have a unique use. After picking some of the dirt on the ground and placing it in a small plastic case, she joined Alex for the pictures. Hera could hate taking pictures of herself, but this wasn''t about her. It was about where she was. She never had felt so close to one of the heroes as she felt right now. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. When Alex walked to the other side to take a picture of Hera in the middle of the wall, she suddenly stopped, "What the¡­." "What''s wrong?" "Come here. Like walk over to this side," Alex gestured for Hera to come along. Unsure of the reason, Hera stepped forward, and as soon as she completely left the blue mark on the floor, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have crossed the first wall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera gasped and looked at Alex. "Yeah, what the hell. Is that a thing? Do people know about this?" Alex was looking around. A man passing by, going towards the Green Beach, heard the surprised reaction and chuckled, "Yeah, we do. And your reaction is exactly why no one says anything." "But what does this mean? Do we get something? Is there a quest or something?" Hera asked. "Nah, it''s just a notification. Probably to tell people who are unaware of what was going on that there are other walls. These days this is just a nod from the System," the man explained. "Really? There is a notification, and we don''t get anything?" Alex asked. "Well, some people say that you get a bonus attribute point, but I don''t know if that''s true. It''s been so long since I saw that message." "So it only happens once?" Hera asked. "Only the first time you cross. It happens on the other walls too." "Why does no one say anything?" Alex asked. "Why would they? I mean, it''s nothing important, and it''s not like it would change anything if you knew. It''s just a nice surprise for the newbies." "I guess¡­ but it''s weird that we didn''t find anything about that on the internet," Hera scratched the back of her head. "You have to search for ''Wall Notification.'' It''s a bit of an unspoken rule to not mention the notification in regular articles. Just to keep the surprise, not that it will last long. Honestly, it''s a miracle that no one spoiled that yet," the man shrugged and started walking again. "That''s true. Thanks for the information," Alex said and got a wave as a response. Hera and Alex spent a few more minutes in that area then continued their trek to the next room. More and more monsters appeared, but they were quickly dispatched. When they finally were able to see the doorway in the distance, the lizards seemed to lose interest in the duo. "Say, you know that elemental ball thing you and Bonnie can do?" Alex asked as they were getting close to the doorway. "Which one?" "The one you can use to change spells." "Oh, yeah. What about it?" "Have you tried using that one with the elemental armor? Also, why don''t you use that spell more often?" Alex asked. "I haven''t tried, and for why I don''t use it¡­ I just feel like I''m stepping on Bonnie''s toes. I know it''s stupid, but it''s her thing, not mine." "So? Are you telling me that because you use poison, I can''t do the same? I mean, we both have wind spells, don''t we? Why would that be an issue?" "I just¡­ I don''t know. But the idea of using the elemental mote with the armor is a good one," Hera tried to change the subject. "No, no. Don''t start now. Bonnie taught you that spell or at least helped you figure it out. You need to stop thinking that this might be a problem and start using the spell. What if you end up dying because of it?" Alex crossed her arms. "It never got to that point," Hera gasped. "So, are you going to wait to get there?" "No, but¡­" "No buts. Stop that. We are in the MAZE. We don''t have the luxury of letting pride be in our way." "That one felt rehearsed. Did you come up with it?" Hera asked. "No, someone else told me when I was in a dungeon. It actually made a lot of sense." "I agree. I''ll try to be less precious with that." They arrived in the doorway a few minutes later and crossed over to the next room. It was called Volcanic Farmland, and just as the name suggested, it was a place with several kilometers of fertile land. However, there was no active volcano in the area. The volcanic part came from the extremely fertile soil that covered the entire room. This was a place that produced food for several of the rooms nearby, and many people were traveling here. Unfortunately, this was also why it would take so long for them to cross the room. It didn''t matter what kind of transport they tried to get, all of them would have several stops and to reach their destination, it would amount to 8 hours. Hera considered going on foot, but that would take around 10 hours. In the end, they traveled in an old school cart, pulled by two horses. They went with a small group of farmers who all seemed to enjoy their lives in this place. Especially since they upgraded their infrastructure, which allowed them to have an internet connection in the entire room. About 9 hours later, sometime after the sunset, they reached their destination, feeling sore for staying so long sitting on a wooden wagon. In front of the doorway, there was someone from the guild talking to some people. "No, sir, this doesn''t mean you have to worry about your crops, and yes, we still will buy the produce when the rampage it''s over. Nothing changed. It''s just like all the previous rampages," he turned to another person who was yelling something, "Michael, I told you we are going to pay extra for the storage, so stop complaining and don''t give me that crap about you needing the space. I know very well that you have an empty warehouse on your farm. Hera braved the small crowd and got closer to the clerk, "Hi. Sorry, I just got here, but what is going on?" "Oh, hit. The next room is under a rampage warning. We are closing it in an hour. You are free to go inside and help, but it should last a few days at least." "Seriously?" Hera gasped. "Yep. I''m sorry for the trouble." "Crap. We really needed to cross over." "Where are you going?" "Waperath Jungle," Hera replied. "Oof, yeah. Even if you try to go around, it should take another week or so to get there. It''s better if you wait here, or you can go to Green Beach. It''s a great place to rest," the clerk suggested. "I can''t. My girlfriend will kill me if I take that long to get there." "Ah. Problems in paradise?" Hera shrugged, "You can say that. I really don''t want to mess this up," her biggest worry was how long it would take for her to go through the records and find what she was looking for. Hera knew that the room was massive, and if she stayed there for too long, Silah would get even more upset. "Give me a second," the clerk took a step back and called someone. A few moments passed before he returned, "Look. I know what it is like to have someone waiting for you. I''m not sure if you can make it, but I asked the person in that doorway to wait some time before giving the guild the clear to lock the room. He can wait for two hours. If you run, you might make it. If not, just help out in the rampage," the clerk replied. "Really?" Hera gasped. "Yeah. But you better run. It''s already late, and the monsters get more aggressive at night." "Alex!" Hera called and quickly explained everything, and they rushed to the doorway. Before touching it, she turned back to the clerk, "Thank you so much. What''s your name?" "Avery, I hope things work with you and your girl." "Me too. I''m Hera, by the way," the explorer replied before turning around and touching the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Saltandeer Woods 9th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait? Hera? Helena''s Hera?" Avery asked, but it was too late. The two had already been swallowed by the warm light. Hera thought she heard something, but her mind was on the next room. They had to make it to the Waperath Jungle. Her relationship might be on the line. 399 - Run or get stuck Hera and Alex bolted through the streets of Saltandeer City. It wasn''t a big place, but the paths were complicated. In an attempt to avoid disturbing the environment, the guild tried to build around the trees and leave enough space for them to grow. As a result, the streets were a city planner''s nightmare. Filled with unnecessary twists and turns that looped around the vegetation before getting anywhere. People were already getting ready for the rampage, but even so, there were enough plaques and signals with directions to the different dungeons or to the other room that it was almost impossible to get lost. "Hera! Here," Alex pointed to a street with an exit signal written ''Waperath Jungle.'' "Let''s go. When we get out of the city, I can call Nimbus," Hera nodded. "Can it hold both of us?" Alex looked over both of their armors. "Maybe, but I have an idea," Hera noticed a store that was still open and with no line inside. She went in and, in less than three minutes, came out with a rope in hand. "Oh, please tell me you are not thinking about being a kite," Alex was already running towards the city''s exit. "More like a sled, and I think it will work. Nimbus can''t have more than 120 kilos on its back, but I''ve seen him drag things heavier. "How much heavier?" "I have no idea. It was like a small pig that I killed." "Oh, great," Alex rolled her eyes. It didn''t take long for them to reach outside the city, and Hera blew on the whistle, calling the cloud griffon to her side, "C''mon, hop in." "What? Aren''t you riding it?" "Can you glide through the floor?" "No¡­" "So go, you guide him, and I go behind. Here tie the rope around your waist." "But I don''t know how to ride a horse, much less a griffon." "You don''t have to know. Just guide him. Nimbus will take care of the rest." "Can''t you have Daskka cast that spell on me?" "Alex, we really don''t have time for this, and Daskka can''t keep the spell for two hours. It''s a five minutes tops thing. My shoes can stay up for the entire time and don''t even think about asking me to take them off. You already tried borrowing my shoes and that went really bad. C''mon, hop up and go." With a groan, Alex tied the rope around her waist and jumped on top of Nimbus. Hera did the same with her end of the rope and activated her boots. At the same time, she sent Daskka to stay on Nimbus'' head. That way, if anything went wrong, the snake would tell her. She also added a dancing light to say always a few meters ahead of her mount to allow them to see where they were going. There weren''t any lamp posts or light sources in the room, and there was no moon in the sky tonight. "OK, OK, how do I do this? There is no saddle. Should I just hit it? Or do I have to say gooooooo¡­.." as Alex said go, Nimbus started running, making her scream with the initial burst of speed. Hera''s plan worked somewhat. She knew that Nimbus wasn''t moving at his full speed, and she was struggling to stay on her feet, but at least they were moving fast. When a large tree came in the way, Hera almost had to do some Rollerblade tricks to jump over and skip those roots. Alex yelled a bit in the beginning, but as time went by, she started to calm down. Riding Nimbus was much different than riding a bike or even a horse. She was essentially on top of a cloud which meant that with each step the griffon took, Alex felt like she was going to fall down, but that never happened. Even when it seemed like she was about to pass through the construct, the cloud would bounce back up. While being flung around, Hera started to look at the area around her. This room didn''t seem all that special. Sure, there were some large trees with pretty leaves, but it wasn''t anything she couldn''t find back on Earth. Her opinion changed somewhat when, after Nimbus made a turn to the left, her mouth became closely familiar with the vegetation of the area as branches slammed on her head. "Argh," Hera started spitting out, trying to get rid of the leaves that ended up in her mouth. "Are you OK?" "Yeah, I just got part of the name of the room. The trees are salty." "Salty?" "Yeah, it''s like I just licked a salt rock." "Oh... That''s the salt part, right? What is going to be the deer thing then?" Alex asked. Almost on cue, they started hearing some noises around them. The sound of something running along with them, followed by branches being broken. "Please tell me we are not about to meet Rudolph, the nightmare deer," Hera gasped while looking towards the noise. "I already made things go south. Can you not make it worse?" Alex rolled her eyes but quickly realized that it was a mistake. Adding that to the motion Nimbus was doing made her feel dizzy, "I really don''t like riding this thing." "I promise you won''t have to do that again," Hera jumped over another root and caught a glimpse of four legs moving around behind a tree, "Alex, Daskka, keep a lookout for incoming monsters. I think they are getting close." "And how close are we to the doorway?" Alex asked. "At this speed? Maybe 30 minutes?" "Having a mount is great!" "Tell me about it!" Hera laughed. It might take them two hours to even get to the doorway on foot, but when riding something that could reach 30 km/h, that time was reduced to a quarter of their expectations. If it wasn''t because Nimbus was carrying both of them, that time could become even smaller. Suddenly, a cry broke through the night. It was almost like the moo of a cow, but little by little, it became more human until it turned into what sounded like someone being tortured. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "Let me guess. Rudolph, the nightmare deer?" Alex asked. "Probably. I hate when I''m right," Hera activated her pulse and felt five monsters behind the trees. Three seemed female deers while two were stags taking up the front of the formation. With another cry, the one in the front broke out and jumped from the trees towards the cloud griffon, "Incoming!" As she yelled, Hera threw a poison needle at the monster. Alex pulled her dagger from the wooden scabbard and cut off both of the stag''s horns, making it cry in pain. Daskka was about to jump towards the creature, but one look from Hera made her stop. If the snake left the griffon, she would''ve ended up falling behind, and they would have to go back to get her, or Hera would have to force her back to the necklace somehow. Instead, Daskka shot out some poison needles herself. The first of the attackers tried to get closer, but Hera threw a chakram at it, pulling the thread to wrap it around the monster''s throat. Her weapon made two loops around its neck before the blade sunk deep into its skin. With a final yank, Hera pulled back her chakram, opening a gash large enough to make the monster bleed out. The rest of its pack jumped out of the trees, enraged by the death of one of their own. The deer screamed, now loud enough to make Hera and Alex feel the pain of the attack inside their minds. It seemed like it wasn''t something to do with sound waves but a psychic attack. Luckily, Nimbus wasn''t affected by things like that, but the body slam that one of the monsters aimed at it dealt some damage. Hera tried to pull the monster''s focus to herself. Launching spell after spell at the creatures and creating stone walls when they got too close. When they got in range of the light, Hera could finally see what the deer looked like. They were black with white stripes and had beady purple eyes, with some hair on their back flowing as if they were made out of fire. Whatever these monsters were, they were sturdier than what Hera expected. This was supposed to be the 9th layer, but even some monsters they fought in the 10th would die quicker. Maybe it was just their specialty or the fact that they were in the middle of something akin to a car chase, but it was hard to tell. Before finishing off them, Hera used her [Observe] just to confirm what they were. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Salted Deer - Level 27 (Endurance Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Salted Stag - Level 28 (Endurance Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, that explains it," Hera nodded just before the monsters were killed by Alex and Daskka. "What is it?" "Those have endurance affinity. It''s rare to find monsters with attribute-based affinity, but something like that would obviously be more sturdy." They couldn''t stop now to gather the monster''s materials, so they kept going. For the next 20 minutes, they ran through the woods, occasionally fighting off some deer, but they never came in large numbers, only one or two at a time. Unfortunately, their luck ran out, and a herd of 12 deers appeared running after them. Hera and Alex kept attacking the creatures trying to stop them from advancing and getting too close to Nimbus. Their spells flew through the air, but as Hera saw one of the stags getting closer to her with the horns taking the lead in the charge, she quickly activated her stone elemental armor to make sure the beast couldn''t harm her. That worked to a point, but the impact as the horns rammed against her back sent her flying off to the side, slamming against one of the nearby trees and falling to the ground. Because of the rope, Alex was yanked back. She tried to hold on to Nimbus, but doing so made the mount stop. One of the stags bolted to Nimbus, head butting it and destroying the mount. Seeing that, Hera quickly cut off the rope and attacked the closest monster, her handaxe slamming against the skull of one of the deer. It got stuck for a moment, but the stag was coming at her, and the movement was enough to help her free her weapon. Looking around, Hera could see 8 deer still nearby. Now, with a proper moment to stop, she noticed that they had sharp shark-like teeth and their hooves had three points instead of two. Daskka slithered on the ground, evading the stampede that was now turning to face the humans. Suddenly, she jumped up towards the face of a stag already turning itself into mist and wrapping her body around the monster''s head. The creature started to flail, panicked with the situation. Just like Daskka wanted, the beast''s horns started to hit the other deer, scratching and stabbing its friends. Being back on her feet, Hera changed her elemental armor to poison and started attacking the monsters while gliding around. It wasn''t hard to stay away from any danger while fighting the deer. They were quadrupeds that didn''t share the same kind of free movement that a wolf or a cat would have. Not to say that they couldn''t move quickly, but their stiff spine gave Hera a small opening to stay in their blind spots. Since she was the first one to stop, most of the monsters were aiming at her, and in the middle of that frenzy, she used the attacks of the monsters to her advantage. She would only be in range for a deer to kick her when another one was behind her, allowing Hera to evade the attack and let the creatures hit each other. Alex wasn''t that far behind, but instead of using a monster to hit another, she fought them one on one, making sure to kill them before moving to the next. She jumped on one of the creature''s back, and as it started to trash around, she pulled her daggers on its neck and cut it open. "This is a much better ride," Alex said as the first of her victims fell to the ground. "Hey, don''t complain!" Hera yelled. Despite the danger of the situation, she wasn''t afraid. Even if these monsters were higher level than her, they were having trouble moving around, and her fighting styles were helping her to confuse the creatures. "Sorry, but I really prefer to feel something solid when I''m riding something," Alex dodge one of the stags, cutting open its stomach in the process. Wounded, the creature couldn''t respond fast enough to avoid the blow directed just at the base of its skull. "There is a dirty joke there, but I can''t think of it right now," Hera was still dodging around, now using her slow spell on the monsters and seeing the notifications of her [Ailment Mastery] triggering. Her poison was spreading, and it was affecting the deer, "Alex, don''t get close to me. Daskka, where are you?" In response, Daskka used her tail blade to finish the stag she was suffocating and jumped to the next one. Evading the beast''s attacks as they tried to stop her, she mixed dodges with turning into smoke to not be hit. In that form, she would only be damaged by magic. She was going in and out of her mist form in such a natural way that it was almost like she had practiced for years. With quick movements, Daskka arrived at Hera''s side, leaving more of the monsters poisoned with her own poison as she passed by. That didn''t override what Hera did. In fact, the poisons amplified each other, making each of them at least 20% stronger. It was just something hard to happen because when a creature was poisoned, only parts of it that weren''t poisoned could be affected by more poison. Hera wouldn''t keep using poison needles at a target already poisoned for that exact reason. The explorer wasn''t just messing around either. While she made the monsters attack each other, she also made sure to keep swinging, and three of them were already dead on the ground. The remaining three deer were killed in less than a minute, but before they had a chance to stop and breathe, Hera and Alex had to start running again. Hera deactivated her boots. Gliding around wasn''t exactly something she could do when bolting through the forest. They ran for another half an hour without stopping. Monsters appeared, trying to stop them, but the trio quickly killed them before the creatures could become a problem. They reached the doorway one hour after they had talked with Avery in the previous room and saw a clerk looking around with a worried expression. He noticed the two getting closer and called to them. "Are you the people who Avery talked about?" "Yeah," Hera said while trying to catch her breath, "Great. Then go. I''m already in trouble for waiting this long. Hurry up." "OK, thanks for waiting for us," Alex smiled as they got close to the doorway. "You got lucky. I''m a sucker for a good love story. I hope you and your girl can make things up," the clerk replied to Alex. "Her girl, not mine." "Oh, right. Either way, let''s go." "You''re coming too?" "Yeah. I have to hold the fort on the other side. Dealing with explorers who want to move around is more dangerous than these monsters," the clerk sighed before they all touched the large doorway with the symbol of a castle surrounded by vines on top. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Waperath Jungle 10th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 400 - Waperath Kingdom Waperath Jungle was a room considered out of the norm for one simple reason. It was massive. According to the guild, the room had an area of approximately 213 794km2, and most of it was part of a rainforest. Rivers and lakes were peppered around the jungle, and there was a huge diversity of creatures here. Bugs, monsters, birds, even some animals that were supposed to only exist on earth were here. They had the level to match the room, but the animals were complete copies of those outside the MAZE. People had already found over 100 dungeons in this room, and that still felt like barely a drop in the ocean of trees and vines that existed here. To add to the strangeness, there were only three doorways, and they were all close to each other. Close for the standards of this room, at least. Each doorway was between 2 and 5 kilometers away from the city that was home to the beastmen. A long time ago, the first beastmen was born here. Then, because of a threat that existed in the jungle, they fled to other rooms. After a few hundreds of years, they returned, stronger and ready to face the dangers that chased them away. However, the threat was gone. No one could figure out what had happened. Some believed that whatever made them run never existed in the first place, while others thought that someone must have come to the room and destroyed the threat. Because they ran from it, and at the time, their civilization wasn''t exactly proficient at record-keeping, the true form of this threat was a mystery to this day. Archaeologists found traces of a large fight near the city, but they also found fossilized parasites that carried a particularly deadly disease. There was also a group of scientists that, through studying the rings on the oldest trees, realized that there was a massive spike in the temperature at some point in the distant past. In theory, no humanoid race would be able to withstand that heat unless they had the proper skills for it, and it made sense for an entire civilization to run away because of that climate change. However, those were all purely hypothetical. No one knew the true reason why the people fled the room. More importantly, no one knew if the danger could return at some point. Despite that, only a small group of the beastmen who lived in the city were actually worried or even aware of the possibility that someday, things could go south. For the rest of the people, this was just a wonderful place, aside from the bugs. The central city of Waperath was called Waperath Kingdom. Not very creative, but it did the job of telling anyone who was here that this was the main hub of the room. Not just because of the size, but because of the unique location near the doorways. Since most of the room was just a vast expanse of jungle and dungeons, not many people took the time to explore the room. Almost everyone who came here stayed within a day''s travel or two of the main city. Some smaller settlements existed. However, the rampages in a place like this were particularly nasty. Because of the massive size of the room, the number and variation of monsters that could appear was staggering. To circumvent that, any city or village built here had to have fortifications in place before even starting to build the first house. On the bright side, since the room was so big, there were situations where some of the monsters would start appearing on the opposite corner of the room and would march without stopping to the closest city. By the time the creatures got there, they would be exhausted and sleep-deprived. There was the fear of a wendigo being around to top things off. With a room this big and filled with places to hide, it was more than likely that a monster like that was somewhere. Even worse, no one had ever reported the sight of wendigos in the room, which meant that either there really wasn''t one or, there was one hiding somewhere and growing stronger. At least people had established that wendigos had similar growth rates to regular people. For a while now, the guild had been studying the monsters, and after capturing one, they managed to test some theories and came to those conclusions. For instance, even if they stayed for years in a low-level room, they wouldn''t end up getting to level 80 out of nowhere. Even if they somehow managed to kill several high-level explorers, they would level up the same way as a person. Meaning that when they gathered enough experience, or whatever was the equivalent of that for them, it was only for that level. If it went over what they needed to level up, the extra experience would vanish, and the next level had to be started from scratch. The clerk that came with Hera and Alex had to stay behind by the doorway while the duo moved towards the city. Unfortunately, they would have to walk through the jungle in the middle of the night, but unlike the previous room, this place was brighter, and their destination was in plain sight for anyone coming from here. Looking from the top of this hill, the Waperath Kingdom was like a lighthouse in the darkness. They started walking away as the two clerks by the doorway tried to appease the small crowd complaining about the situation. Even if rampages were something that everyone who lived in the MAZE knew about and was used to, they would still complain about these issues. Hera was hearing things like ''I have a delivery coming,'' ''my friend is in another room,'' and even, ''just keep it open for a couple of hours. I can reach the other side.'' That last one made her feel weird. Essentially, this was exactly the same thing that she did. Sure, it was Avery who told them to come, but still, it made her slightly uncomfortable. Alex didn''t seem to mind at all, and the two of them continued their journey to the city. The path leading to the kingdom was made with a special type of tile that warded off monsters. It worked almost perfectly, except for the weak level 1 mosquitoes always flying around. "Man, I forgot to get bug repellent," Hera slapped her neck after feeling a sting. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Do we have to worry about diseases?" Alex asked. "Oh yeah, that''s something we need to be on the lookout for, but the guild in the city offers checkups, and inside there, they have some sort of spell always running to stop these kinds of bugs from getting inside. It''s like a zapper barrier that only affects monsters at level 1, if I''m not mistaken," Hera explained. "What about people who were born here?" "I don''t know. Maybe they die if they try to leave, or, the more likely option, the spell is not strong enough to hurt a person," Hera shrugged. As they walked along the path, Hera tried to look at the city. It was already dark out, so parts of it were obscured by shadows, but there were so many lights all over the place that she could see most of the shape without any issues. In the middle of it all, there was what looked like a stone ziggurat that should be at least 50 meters high, split into 5 layers. On each terrace, several structures were close to the edges. Some looked like houses, while others looked like restaurants and hotels. That wasn''t even the entire city. On both sides of the ziggurat, there were two massive stone columns that almost looked like two ribs pointing up. More buildings could be seen on the outer part of those rock formations going all the way to the top, where both had lines connecting to the top of the ziggurat. On the bottom layer, several large trees and houses were built not just inside, but on top of the vegetation is a mix of modern architecture with something you would expect to see in a tribal setting. Despite the looks, everything was modern on the inside with sewer systems, electricity, and all that someone living today could need. That part of the city could not be seen from Hera''s point of view. Instead, she could only see a massive 5-meter tall wooden wall with several scout towers and large pillars holding some sort of mana stone on top. Before that, there was also a 20-meter wide moat with a 5-meter drop before reaching the water. From what Hera could tell, the only way to enter the city was through a metal bridge facing the same direction as the staircase of the ziggurat. Everything had a fantasy feel as if it was something made for an epic movie or a drawing from a concept artist. However, the numerous lights, billboards, and screens that kept playing advertisements quickly shoved that feel away. "This is¡­ something. I''m just not sure what," Alex said as they got closer. "Yeah¡­" Hera couldn''t think of anything to say, especially after seeing a billboard for the most famous soda in the entire world right in the middle of the city. "We are in the right place, right? We didn''t take a wrong turn anywhere, did we?" Alex turned to Hera. They were still about 10 minutes away from the city, but now they could only see the wall and the top of the structures. "I think so. I mean, I was talking to a few people who were here in the library, but no one mentioned this. And the pictures I''ve seen from here don''t have so many¡­." Hera paused. "Ads?" "Yeah. Well¡­ now that I think about it, the official ones don''t. But if I looked on social media, there were some strange lights on the background of the pictures. I just figured those were filters or random people using spells, not billboards," Hera sighed. It was weird that they went as far as changing the official pictures, or at least turned all the advertisements off just for that. Then again, a good graphic designer should be able to do that easily, but Hera couldn''t tell why they would bother doing something like that. "Is anyone waiting for us? Or are we just going in and saying, ''hey, we are here to look into your old files?''" Alex asked. "There is no one waiting, but I did put in a request for a specific file, and they already have approved. Well, they gave me a preliminary approval. I still need to give some identification, show my guild card, and things like that. Also, I don''t know how long it will take me to find what I''m looking for, so feel free to hang out in the city or do some dungeons. Apparently, there are two of them inside the city." "I''ll do that, but I think I''m taking a day off. I mean, we have been traveling for almost a week without stopping. Even if we were pacing ourselves, I''m still tired." Hera nodded, "Tell me about it. The few times I went on a long trip, I had to take a day off before even starting to enjoy the place I was in. And those times it took what. Five hours or something." "Yeah. It''s just a shame that we can''t stay in a triton hotel. I loved that bath and those pillows? It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud." "I would agree. If I didn''t think of that before we left Boothudurn," Hera smiled. "What do you mean?" "Well, I know we were going to stay here for a few days at least. So I took the liberty to make a reservation in the only triton hotel in the city, and since I got the room for a week, they tossed in a spa day for two, breakfast included for the whole stay and five complimentary massages," Hera showed the reservation on her tablet. Alex stopped for a moment, stunned by the announcement. She picked Hera''s tablet and read the information about the reservation before turning back to the explorer, "Can I hire you to plan my trips?" "Are you sure you can pay my rates? After all, I''m a rich businesswoman now," Hera chuckled. "Don''t I get friends and family discount?" "That''s why I''m charging you extra." "Is it cheaper if I make you hate me then?" Alex scoffed. "Maybe, but you will never know," Hera replied as they reached the metal bridge. Entering the city wasn''t an issue, even if it was already late in the evening. Both Hera and Alex wanted to explore the city, but they needed some rest after traveling so much and running for so long. The city would be here in the morning. There was no need to rush. 401 - A far away struggle Fresh snow was covering the forest as Khagril slowly approached a hollow tree that had fallen several seasons ago. For a long time, that was the home of a few horned rabbits, rabbits that he would come to talk to when the troubles of his tribe became too much for a single soul to bear. During the past two years, he came here almost every day to talk with small critters. Not that they would ever reply, but talking to them made him feel better, or at least feel like he wasn''t losing his mind while talking to himself. Almost no one should know about this place. Yes, it was close to their village, but the path to reach this area wasn''t easy. Before finding the hidden grove, one would have to cross the frozen waterfall, the black lake, and even the deadwood. After that, you had to follow a specific path, or the woods would send you back to where you first entered their domain. Khagril himself only stumbled here by accident, and if it wasn''t for his [Explorer''s Map], he wouldn''t be able to reach this area again. He raised his hand and the five warriors that came along all stopped. Each of them was among the best of their tribe, not that it meant much now that there were so few of them remaining. How things went wrong so quickly, no one could tell. Ever since the fire, ever since those¡­ things appeared, his tribe found nothing but misery and misfortune. His father died in his prime while defending his people, leaving the role of leader to the council of elders. A bunch of old men and women who could barely remember what it was like to run through the snow. Now, they spent every minute of their days sitting in the warmth and safety of the tent that belonged to his father, the tent that was supposed to be his. Those old codgers could barely stand up, and yet, they were the ones ordering the warriors. People who never hunted a single day in their lives were now in charge of telling the protectors of the tribe how to fight. So many were lost, so many were killed and devoured, all because the so-called leaders refused to hear anyone else''s advice. Unlike them, Khagril had been in the front lines since the first day. He was part of the group that tried to stop the fire and save the forest and part of the first group of people attacked by those monsters. He was there when his father fell to the blood-red fangs of those beasts, and he was there when his mother was devoured by that being whiter than snow. Even after all those fights, all that struggle, and all the lives he saved during this fight, the so-called elders refused to take him seriously. Just because he was the youngest member of the hunters. Forget the fact that he was well into his thirties, and he trained his entire life to become the next chief. Now, they refused to accept his suggestions and even went as far as asking for the help of that waste of a centaur. Said elder took the younglings on an excursion to show them the place where they lived. However, while they walked through the black lake, the Beast from Below woke up and broke through the frozen lake, sending all the young children to the depths, leaving the elder as the lone survivor. When he returned, he went under trial and was quickly found guilty of negligence. After all, everyone knew that you should avoid the black lake in the summer. If it happened to anyone else, they would have been banished to the wilds, but that would be a death sentence because of his age. Instead, his tent was moved to the outskirts of the city, where he would live out his days with no contact with the rest of the tribe. All that happened less than six months before the day of fire and monsters, and now simply because he was old, the child murderer had become an elder. The man who killed his little brother was now giving orders to Khagril. And now, after two years of war against the white beasts, now that their victory was in sight and it seemed like there was only a single beast alive, the cowardly elders ordered them to stop their chase. Khagril wasn''t going to let this slide. Not just because letting the monster rest and recover was a stupid idea, but because this was the same one that killed his father. Each tribe leader would inherit a tattoo from their predecessor. With each leader adding a small piece to the design as they pass the torch, so to speak. When his father was killed by the monster, the creature absorbed the tattoo. Something like that already happened in the past. One of the tribe leaders was killed by a beast during a hunt, and the wild boar had its body instantly covered by the tattoo. At the time, the creature was killed right away, and the tattoo passed to someone else who was already in line to become the next chief. However, this time, no one defeated the monster that killed the tribe leader. Even after the initial fight and during the years of war against these creatures, no one could find the beast. There wasn''t a doubt in Khagril''s mind that the reason the elders weren''t pushing the chase of this monster was so that they could keep their power as the leaders of the tribe. But that didn''t matter. They could all keep their asses in the chief''s tent for all he cared. All he wanted was to rid his home of those beasts, and then, maybe he could see what was beyond the wall of fire and what those strange doorways were. "Brother, are you sure this is the right place?" Melva, one of the bravest warriors in the tribe and someone Khagril considered his own kin, approached him from the side. Moving carefully, trying not to let her moose-like horns ruffle the low-hanging branches of the trees and give away their position, she approached the leader of this group. Khagril glanced at her, Melva was just a couple of years older than him, and she trained with the hunters every day since she was but a foal. Her hooves were swift like the wind, and her arms strong enough to rip a tree from the ground. During their spars, Khagril had lost countless weapons just by hitting her bare skin. Among all the remaining warriors of the tribe, Melva was, without a doubt, the most powerful of them all. Yet, even she was at the mercy of the elders. Her desire for vengeance burned just as bright as Khagril''s, but when ordered to stay put, she couldn''t do anything. Unless someone else decided to take a stand. "I am," Khagril nodded and raised a hand, telling the rest of the group to stop. He then reached for a small pouch around his human waist and placed two fingers inside it. Following that, he gestured to his neck and ear and drew a spiral symbol connecting both using the charcoal from the satchel. All the other five centaurs hiding in the groove did the same, with Malva waiting patiently so Khagril could draw the sigil on her. She could be a fantastic warrior, but her magical abilities were not as refined for something like this. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Can you all hear me?" Khagril spoke in his mind, reaching out to the others in the area. "I can," Jaithe, a small and slim scout, answered in an excited tone. He was Khagril''s childhood friend, and he was happy for finally having figured out the communication spell. "I can hear you loud and clear. What about you, Vond?" Halros, the archer who wore the heaviest set of clothes in the group. The centaurs were trained to strengthen their own skin, but she was the only member of the tribe who preferred to use leather armor than participate in that type of training. "I think I made a mistake. Your voices are weird. They echo," Vond, a burly man with bulging muscles and a spotted moose torso, replied. "He made the spiral on the wrong side again. You make the center then go to the front of the neck, not to the back," Calgera, the last member of the group, replied. He had a spear in his hand and several others strapped to his horseback. "I appreciate you helping me with this, Khagril. Now back to the question at hand. How can you know for sure if this is the place where the last monster resides?" Malva replied in a somber voice. "Look there," Khagril pointed towards one of the trees beyond the fallen one. At the same time, he sent out an image of the spot he was looking at to everyone connected by the spell. Very few centaurs could do this, and it was a surprise even for his team. In his line of sight, there was a large pine tree with black wood covered in snow, but his real focus was what was directly under it. Sitting in the snow, almost blending in all the white, there was a single tiny rabbit''s foot. It would be impossible to see that from this distance if it wasn''t for the dried-up blood in the snow. "How can you be sure that it is one of those monsters? Any animal could''ve done that," Halros asked. "This area was protected by a strong horned rabbit. He was able to fight off against any animal in this room. I''ve seen it myself. The only things that could kill it were the Beast from Below or one of those creatures," Khagril''s ''voice'' was followed by the feeling of loss. During the effect of this spell, their thoughts weren''t the only things that were shared. "OK, how do you want to go about this?" Malva asked, feeling the sadness coming from her brother. Even if he was wrong, he needed this. "Halros, move the side, try to get in sight of the opening in the trunk but stay hidden. Malva, Vond, you are with me. We need to get closer. Calgera, can you cover the other side? I don''t want it to run away," Khagril gave everyone his orders. "What about me?" Jaithe asked. For the first time since they activated the spell, Khagril looked away from the trunk and directly to the scout, "Jaithe, my old friend. I¡­ Must ask you something." Jaithe just smiled, "You want me to be the bait, right?" Khagril''s eyes were filled with sadness, "Yes." "Don''t worry. I figured that was the case when you called me here. I mean, you are all amazing at fighting, and I''m¡­ well I''m just good at staying alive," Jaithe nodded. "Khagril, let me be the bait. If that thing hits me, I can survive," Malva stepped in, not wanting to lose anyone else. "We don''t know that besides one of them already wounded you," Khagril looked at a scar on the left side of her back leg. "Exactly, and so far, not a single one of them managed to hit me, and they tried," Jaithe nodded again and walked over to Khagril, being sure not to make any noise. He clasped hands with his old friend, as they did before every fight where they didn''t know if it was going to be their last. Understanding the gravity of the situation, everyone quietly moved to their positions, careful not to make any noise that could warn the monster. Calgera and Jaithe moved faster than everyone, a hunter and an assassin could move better without being found. Halros found a spot where she could see the entire clearing, notching an arrow in place before taking a deep breath. This wasn''t practice. Here, all of her shots had to be true. Malva and Vond moved to flank the trunk on the floor with Khagril in the middle in a V formation. If anything went south, the group needed their leader to change their strategy. After confirming that everyone was in position, Khagril looked at his childhood friend, "Jaithe, whenever you are ready." "I don''t think I''ll ever be ready for this. But it''s the last one. We lost too many people to those things. Let''s end this." Jaithe started moving closer. All of his senses kept telling him that this was a bad idea. Before he even reached the clearing, he could tell that whatever was inside that tree trunk was aware of his approach. Even so, he continued, reaching the clearing and getting closer to where the monster should be. He was just 2 meters away from the empty trunk when suddenly the entire tree shook, and something came from inside it, pieces of wood flew everywhere. Malva, Vond, and Khagril had to cover their eyes to protect them from splinters. As they lowered their arms, they saw a white creature with its back towards them. It had six horse-like legs, the body of a centaur, including the humanoid torso, but the head was more like that of a hyena with the mouth of a crocodile. Aside from its legs, it also had two human arms, but their hands turned into large five-finger claws. However, he could only see one of its hands. The other one was currently inside Jaithe, pinning him to the tree. An arrow flew towards the creature and pierced its chest, followed by a spear that made the monster drop Jaithe and tumble to the side, now noticing the three centaurs behind it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wegoron the Wendigo - Level 91 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Wendigo opened its mouth while staring at Khagril, "S¡­S¡­So¡­n¡­n?" 402 - The end of a war "S¡­S¡­So¡­n¡­n? Ish¡­Tha¡­You?'''' The creature''s voice was cracked and gargled, barely able to make any complete words. Yet, Malva stopped in her tracks for a moment. Even through that odd, mismatched string of sounds, she could recognize a voice behind it. It was the voice of the previous chief of the centaur, Khagril''s father. She looked to her brother, hoping that this was just a trick and that she was the only one who heard that sound. "Father? Is that you?" Khagril asked, but his eyes lowered to Jaithe, who was now with a hole in the middle of his human torso. He looked back to the trunk and noticed the flesh-like egg sac. Looking towards the wendigo once more, he saw how on its right arm, the arm that it used to stab Jaithe, was covered in a tattoo with the patterns of his tribe. Right on where the picture meets the shoulder, Khagril saw a specific image. The picture of two young foals running through a field. Before the fire wall vanished, and before these white monsters appeared, his father told him about this drawing. It was what he wanted to pass to the next chief. It was a way to remember Khagril and his brother, to remember to take care of the children, for they would run the field with their memory in their hearts. Seeing that, Khagril felt a flaming rage consuming his entire being, the picture was proof that his father had died. That was the condition for the pattern to be added to the tattoo, "Don''t you dare use his voice!" With that scream, the centaur forgot all of his strategies and dashed towards the monster, slamming his body against the creature sending it flying towards the trees and breaking a few of them before the beast was able to stop. Vond was going after it right away. He pulled his heavy two-handed Axe and brought it down on the creature, who stood up on its hind legs and slammed both claws in the weapon, stopping it before it could reach the wendigo''s skin. Despite that, the force of the attack was enough to send a blade of wind that made a small cut on the monster''s head and left a gash on the ground beneath its feet. Halros rushed towards Jaithe and started yelling, but everyone else was consumed by Khagril''s rage. Malva galloped at full speed, pulling her glaive from her back and starting to spin it on her side at such speed that it wouldn''t be a surprise if she flew away. Calgera was now right by them and jumped to the side, using a tree as a stepping stone to go higher into the air, before coming down with two spears in hand, sinking the weapons deep into the monster''s left side. Malva reached the monster in the following moment, her glaive swinging in an upwards slash as she activated her [Ice Breaker] skill that was capable of cutting blocks of ice that were more than 50 meters wide. Khagril was the last to arrive, pulling his longsword from his waist and stabbing the wendigo in the midsection of his horse torso. Everyone stopped when they saw the blood coming out of the monster, expecting that it had died. "Weeaakk," the wendigo spoke again. Its voice sounded less and less like that of a person and yet, it sounded almost like it was enjoying this situation. Its four front legs slammed against Khagril, sending him flying back to the clearing and making him break two trees before stopping. Now that Wegoron paid back the initial strike, it could stop playing around. With a mighty roar, the creature pushed the remaining three centaurs away. Its wound was already starting to close, and even some of the blood seemed to be sucked back inside its body. It looked around, and its eyes locked with Calgera''s. The hyena''s head started laughing hysterically as its six legs dashed through the snow, moving so fast that it caused a sonic boom in the air. Calgera pulled two more spears to fight off the creature, but he was only able to reach the weapons on his back when the monster arrived in front of him. Calgera quickly created a barrier made of spectral spears between the two. That was just enough to slow the monster down for the hunter to pull his weapons and slash at it using his [Weapon Break] skill. Both spears exploded in contact with the wendigo''s arms, cutting it off. However, the arm still had momentum, and it was more than enough to pierce Calgera''s stomach. The centaur held in a cry and went for another set of spears to use the same skill once again. Wegoron wasn''t going to let that happen. It quickly jumped toward Calgera, biting one of his shoulders while the two front legs started to stomp the hunter''s knees. Malva arrived just after that, she could''ve gotten here sooner, but the shockwave created by the [Weapon Break] forced her to hold her ground before walking. She performed a downward cut with her glaive while charging. The wendigo realized the danger and held itself by the two middle legs to kick Malva away. However, the monster wasn''t entirely sure of the reach of the weapon coming in its direction. Because of that, it failed to push her away completely, but its kick was enough to reduce the power behind the attack. Wegoron let go of the prey in its mouth and spun around, slashing Calgera one more time as it turned to face Malva. Behind this female centaur, Vond appeared in a jump and brought his Axe crashing down at the monster one more time. Having learned its lesson, the wendigo jumped to the side, avoiding the strike allowing Vond''s attack to miss completely and hit the ground. Calgera was close, but Vond was proficient in group fights. Thanks to that, his slash didn''t reach the hunter, and the impact was completely directed to the ground. Seeing an opening, the wendigo slashed with its remaining claw at Vond while icicles shot out from the dirt towards Malva. It was clear that the monster didn''t consider Calgera a threat anymore. Khagril jumped to the side and charged at the wendigo while brandishing his sword and activating a spell that made the target bleed more when slashed by his weapon. Wegoron jumped high into the air, going beyond the canopy of the 20-meter tall trees in the grove, and landed behind Halros, trying to kick her in the back of her head. All of this happened so quickly that anyone would''ve been hit by the attack, anyone but Halros. She saw that when the monster was hit by the group, and all the weapons struck the creature''s torso, the wendigo looked around and locked eyes with her. An apparent lone centaur just waiting to be devoured. Halros wasn''t about to let that happen. She jumped forward, evading the attack, and sent out a couple of arrows at the monster, who wasn''t ready for that and ended up getting hit by the two projectiles. That wasn''t all. Halros perfected her timing to create a curse arrow inside her arrows, allowing the spell to hit an already exposed wound if it hit. Wegoron jumped towards her, but the archer stood her ground. She knew the danger of what she was doing, but she had to kill this beast. She couldn''t let what happened with Jaithe be for nothing. Screaming while using her skills, she let out a flurry of arrows, each of them with a different curse to hinder the monster''s movement. There was the curse of slowness, the curse of blindness, the curse of dizziness, curse poison of fever, and Halros'' unique spell that no one in the tribe was able to learn. The curse of shock that would use electricity to disrupt the target''s movements. She was the only one who understood how that worked, but even when trying to explain to the tribe that everyone had electricity inside of them, it was something hard to do. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Despite her best efforts, her arrows didn''t seem to be doing any damage. The wendigo continued to rush forward, opening its mouth and biting on the centaur. Halros managed to dodge to the side, making the monster miss her head, but it bit down on her horse torso instead. She screamed, not in anger but pain, this time as the rest of the group rushed towards her and the wendigo. Halros used a skill called [Kickback], which allowed her to push away any target as long as it was too close. She leaned back on her hind legs and kicked the wendigo with all her strength. The monster was pushed back a few meters, but it quickly returned to the attack. Luckily, the rest of the warriors arrived in time to stop Wegoron on its tracks. Vond bomb rushed the monster, grabbing its remaining arm, the one with the tattoo, and using his own legs to prevent the creature''s legs from moving. Khagril did the same, but instead of the arm, he grabbed the wendigo''s head, pushing it back and to the side so the monster wouldn''t be able to bite anything. Together the centaurs pinned it to the tree behind them. Malva was ready to follow up with an attack. She passed by Halros and saw Jaithe, still bleeding and unmoving on the ground. Her rage fueled her body, strengthening her muscles as she triggered several skills to make her body even stronger. Focusing her internal energy on her arms, she triggered one more skill [Immortal Fang]. A stabbing strike that she only used one time before due to the damage it caused and the issues it created with her body. Since Wegoron was being held by the other two, she didn''t have to worry about missing the target, and if the skill wasn''t enough to kill it, they would need a miracle to survive this. Her glaive was covered in an odd whirlpool of white and black energy, and as it pierced the monsters, it exploded, creating a sound that made it seem like the sky itself was shattering in a million pieces. The impact sent destroyed the entire grove behind the wendigo as well as most of its body. Right now, only the head and arm remained. Even Vond and Khagril, who weren''t directly on the way of the attack, felt their skin being slashed by the wind pressure coming from the glaive. Now, the two centaurs that were pinning the monster to the tree were holding Wegoron''s decapitated head and its amputated arm. Everything else was gone. Malva fell to the ground, feeling the excruciating pain that accompanied the use of the skill. All her attributes would be reduced for the next month, and she would be in constant pain due to the strain in her muscles. Yet, this was worth it. The eyes in the head of the wendigo were still moving around, and as they finally stopped and the brain ceased to function, a soft blue light covered all of the centaurs in the area. They had leveled up with the combat. Khagril smiled and started chuckling to himself. It was over. It was finally over. However, his joy was quickly snatched away when he looked back towards Halros and saw the archer crying by Jaithe''s corpse. Khagril rushed over and tried to cast some healing spells, but they didn''t take. There was nothing left to heal. Tears started to come down his face, but he stopped himself before getting lost in the grief, "Where is Calgera?" Vond pointed to where they had come from, and the two rushed towards the hunter. Even with their best intentions, and somewhat speedy arrival, it wasn''t enough. As one last gut-punch, the arm that Calgera broke his weapon to cut off was still inside of him, and now, it was completely frozen. That spell or whatever it was didn''t stop with just the arm, and it had frozen Calgera''s blood from the inside, causing him to bleed out as jagged pieces of blood expanded, impaling him from inside out. Khagril tried to heal him even with that, but just like Jaithe, there was nothing left to heal. He placed his hands over Calgera''s eyes and used a weak fire spell to thaw out enough of the frozen blood to close his eyes, "I am sorry, my friend. But your sacrifice might have saved us all," Vond moved to the side and, with Khagril''s help, placed Calgera''s body on his back. He didn''t deserve to be left here. A hero like him deserved a proper burial. Halros saw them coming back and turned to Khagril, "Can you carry him?" she gestured towards Jaithe. "Of course. Vond, help me with this." When both fallen warriors were already strapped to their friend''s back, Malva got up having finished her inspection of the wendigo''s cocoon, "This one was still evolving. It was a good thing that we arrived when we did." Vond nodded, "If that is the case, then we saved the entire tribe. How strong would that thing be if we allowed it to finish its evolution?" "At least three times stronger," Halros said in a grunt. It was hard for her to walk with the wound on her back. It was a good thing that she had a few healing spells. Otherwise, she would be bleeding out right now. "I think more. We know that in the first evolution, they double their strength. The second they triple. Is this its fourth? Or fifth? I''ve never seen a wendigo that looked like this. Its face it''s the only thing that still looked like one of the monsters. And¡­ it used my father''s voice, it could speak," Khagril''s voice carried the weight of what he was saying. There was a pause before he looked around, "Vond, do you still have the tattooed arm?" "There is no longer a tattoo there," Malva turned to Khagril, "I''m sorry, brother," she showed her right arm that now was covered in the tribal tattoo that was passed from chief to chief, "I received some words. I can pass it to you. This is your right." Khagril shook his head, "No, dear sister. The system has guided your hand. In these trying times, we need a strong leader for our tribe, and I couldn''t think of anyone better to take my father''s place." "But you''ve studied your entire life for this!" "Yet, the system gave you the tattoo. Even if we can change it, I believe we should follow its signs. I will be by your side whenever you need me," Khagril smiled. In a way, he felt like a weight was removed from his back. Not having the position of chief guide his every move would allow him to be free for once. Not just that, but he didn''t know how he would feel about having the tattoo now that it had changed again. Because of this new addition, Khagril wasn''t sure if he could live with that on his body for the rest of his life. Surrounding the picture of two young foals running through a field, there were large red fangs, the only design that broke away from the black in all other drawings. That would serve as an eternal reminder of what happened to his tribe, and to his father. 403 - Bookworm "Miss Kingsley? Miss Kingsley?" Hera felt something tapping on her shoulder and jolted up. "I wasn''t sleeping!" she gasped and looked around, rubbing her eyes. "Yes, you were, and that''s not the issue. As long as you didn''t drool on the documents," Krioz, a beastmen with bear ears, leaned over the table to check if everything was still intact. After confirming that there wasn''t any damage, he turned back to Hera, "If you are tired it is better for you to go back to your hotel for the day. The scrolls will be here in the morning." "No, but I still want to find something," Hera was still sleepy, and she remembered that she was doing something important before she lost consciousness. "That''s OK, we are all looking for something. Even if you go to bed, you can still find it tomorrow," Krioz took Hera by the hand and gently helped her up. Being the lore keeper of the ziggurat, he was used to finding some of the more dedicated researchers in similar situations. He also knew that when someone had just woken up, they were highly susceptible to suggestions, and as long as he could take them out of the chair and on the way to the exit, they would go back home to rest. "No¡­ Hang on. Just give me a moment," Hera asked as she got up. She quickly called Daskka and asked the snake to help wake her up. Daskka nodded and, without any ceremony, slapped Hera''s cheek with her tail. "What the? Is that a feral monster?" Krioz took a step back, flaring up his defensive spells. "No, that one is a construct. We can talk telepathically," Hera gave him a half-baked explanation. It was easier than telling him the full story. Daskka''s tail slap really worked. She suddenly felt awake and ready to continue her search, "I''ll be right out. Just give me a moment." "Very well," Krioz turned back and returned to his post, feeling a bit frustrated. His suggestion trick worked almost every time. Almost. Hera sat back on the chair and started going through the papers again. It''s been four days since she came to this room. During the first day, she and Alex ran one of the dungeons in the city. It was a simple defense dungeon where they had to fight against a few monsters trying to assault the ziggurat. There were a lot of defenses in the city, and the animals that came to attack were very single-minded. All they wanted to do was rush to the top of the structure. So as long as they kept killing the monsters, it wouldn''t be an issue. If that wasn''t easy enough, people tended to run the dungeon in groups of 10. Hera and Alex joined a team that was missing a couple of people just for the fun of it. It took them about five hours, but they got 120 thousand gold and some pieces of enchanted wood by the end. Hera bought the wood of Alex and sent it to her dad in Boothudurn. The fee for such delivery was almost 50 thousand gold. Despite the price, Hera paid it without a problem. She had made more than that during this trip, and even if she needed to make that amount again, she could do so in a few days of running dungeons. Bringing the wood back herself was something she considered, but the logs were too big, and she didn''t have a way to carry them all the way to Boothudurn. After that, Alex kept doing the dungeons as a mercenary, just filling in for teams who needed one more member, training in the guild, and looking around the kingdom. During all that time, Hera went inside the ziggurat, which had its own subterranean city. Unlike Boothudurn, several windows and light shafts with mirrors helped spread out the sunlight to all corners of the internal structure. Most of the interior buildings, if they could be called that since they were all inside the same structure, looked like they were made thousands of years ago. However, they were also exceptionally well maintained, and Hera understood how that happened. The city employed some crafters who specialized in stonework to rejuvenate the walls every so often. Hera''s goal was the massive library that took the entire second layer of the ziggurat. In total, there were almost 900 kilometers of shelves with various books, scrolls, and ancient texts squeezed into that floor of the structure. Not to say that there were only old books in this library. Many people considered this place the biggest library in the entire MAZE, maybe with the exception of dungeons, but those hardly counted as places to find books. This layer of the ziggurat was 50 meters tall divided into 8 smaller floors, each filled with shelves, tables, and whiteboards that were free for anyone to use. Despite many requests, this place didn''t have any private rooms, meaning that it wasn''t hard to see teachers and researchers discussing something along those halls. Everyone who worked here had some sort of soundproofing or sound reduction skill to help those groups. For the past three days, Hera was looking into all the reports, mentions, and even rumors about the blademasters. She managed to find the book that she saw back in Boothudurn without any issues. Unfortunately, the meeting in which the blademasters participated was considered a nobility secret, and those files were the ones giving her trouble. Not because she couldn''t find those records, but because during that time, the city was too loose with what was considered a ''Nobility Secret.'' And since it was a secret, there wasn''t any list of all the files available or a way to cross-reference all the thousands of files. Most of those classified reports were, in reality, just gossip. Some were so juicy that Hera ended up reading the entire report. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. In a particular record, it said that one of the lower nobles saw the Duke and the Baroness in an intimate moment. However, another noble said that she saw the Duchess and the Baron having similar interactions. A third noble stepped up and said they had seen the Baron and the Viscount fooling around during one of the balls. In the end, they discovered that a large number of the high nobility actually had open relationships and would regularly meet with each other to have intimate relations. The nobles who were discussing all felt offended by that information. Not because they were upset about the debauchery, but because they weren''t a part of it. After reading, she didn''t even know how many documents, Hera had finally found something that looked promising. She fumbled through the papers on the desk, trying to find the one she was reading as she fell asleep. "Got it!" Hera gasped as she pulled the piece of paper she was looking for. It talked about a meeting related to some new danger that could potentially reach the room, but that was as far as she had managed to translate. She continued her work and, little by little, she was able to understand the rest. What they were discussing seemed oddly similar to rampages, according to the blademasters. No, not blademasters. Blademaster, singular. For some odd reason, every mention of them was in the singular form of the word. At first, Hera thought it was her mistake, but she had triple-checked the translation and even the terms coming after the name should be used when talking about a single person and not a group. When she continued reading, it felt much easier to follow along. She quickly opened her status window and noticed that her [Ancient Language] skill had increased to rank 3. Maybe finding out these small nuances about a language would help her increase her skill. She looked back to the papers and continued reading. The queen and a few other nobles were asking about what was happening in some other rooms. Apparently, there was a room that was suddenly covered in red light, and monsters started appearing from everywhere. Hera realized that they were talking about a rampage. She never considered what happened to people who lived in places where rampages weren''t a thing. How would they react to this attack? It would be a surprise, and the assault could put them in a lot of danger. Not wanting to get lost in her thoughts, Hera focused again on the report. The Blademaster explained what they knew about the rampage, but they still didn''t know why that was happening. Someone speculated that it was because of that new race that appeared and brought a curse to the land. In a way, Hera had to agree with that statement. Even if it wasn''t intentional, the MAZE only triggered a rampage in a place with a lot of humans and she didn''t know why. In fact, no one knew the reason why that happened, even though many had looked for answers. The report continued with a small discussion amongst the people involved, some debating whether or not they should close down their borders, but in the end, they decided against it. The Blademaster seemed to be one of the key voices in that discussion, and after they talked about how their people never would consider abandoning someone just because of a rumor. Everyone had the right to the benefit of the doubt. For some reason, Hera had a feeling that the Blademaster wasn''t part of the beastmen, even though she never managed to find any mentions of their race. The way they were speaking seemed strange, and some of the words used to refer to the Blademaster weren''t the same words that the beastmen used to refer to each other. Then again, this was purely conjecture. No one was talking about where they were from, or even if the people in this meeting were beastmen or not. Maybe the only beastmen was the person making the notes. That''s why they were using this old language. The talks continued for another five pages of ramblings back and forth even after they already had accepted to not block the doorways and allow this new race to come to the city. In the end, the Blademaster offered their services when they were in the city. Hera had to translate the next part a few times, they were using an ancient dialect with some very complicated wording, but the way the Blademaster was talking was almost like a formal oath made by a knight. Maybe the Blademaster was part of the beastmen or someone who had a long history with them, at least. After saying that, they also added that they would soon have to travel to the temple, but when they returned, they could help the city with any problems they were having. The meeting ended shortly after, and no other mentions of said temple were made. To Hera, that could only mean one of two things. Either it was a secret place for the Blademaster, and people knew that they shouldn''t press the matter, or it was something so common that just by mentioning the temple, everyone would already be aware of what they were talking about. Whatever was the case, this was a very big lead. Of course, there was no guarantee that finding the temple would lead her to the Blademaster, but it seemed like they never left the room. People here only kept records of those who came through the doorways, and the last mention of the Blademaster was when they arrived. Sure, there was still the possibility of them having found another way to leave the room or sneaked out, but that was the whole point. She had to chase the clues and look for them, and now, she was even expecting the Blademaster to have their own legacy. So far, it was just out of curiosity, but since they were strong enough to be respected by a kingdom like this, they should have more than just levels and skills. 404 - Not found "Run that by me again. I want to see if I got it right," Alex rubbed her eyes. "OK, so the Blademaster came here to talk to the people of the kingdom about the rampages," Hera started explaining. "And they already were well known here," Alex poured some more wine on her glass. "Yeah! Then after the meeting, they said that they were going to the temple," Hera continued pacing around their room. "The temple that you have no idea where is located, and no one seems to know anything about it." "I still have to look into that, but at first glance, that''s the case." "And you want to go after that temple here?" Alex took a sip of her wine before pouring another glass to Hera. "No, I mean, maybe, but not yet. I need to look into that first, try to see if there are any records about it," Hera picked the glass that Alex poured, "Thanks." "But eventually, that''s the plan, right? Find that temple and go there, or go looking for it?" Alex asked. "I mean, yeah. I want to see if I can find where they ended up, or just more about them," Hera started drinking the wine. "OK¡­ but why?" "What?" "Why are you doing that? Is it all just out of curiosity? Because it has nothing to do with the tamer." "I mean, it''s the only connection to the tamer I have. Also, after everything that happened with Chika, I don''t think I would be able to use the skills the tamer had. What if I end up making someone spend thousands of years alone stuck somewhere," Hera glanced at Daskka, who was with her entire head inside a bowl of half-melted strawberry ice cream. "So you are giving up on that possible legacy and going for another?" Alex had a serious expression. "Kind of. I''m still trying to figure out how to tell that to Ninleyn and the order, but I don''t think they will have a problem with that, as long as I help them with stuff when they ask." "You do know that there is no reason to believe that the Blademaster has a legacy, right? I mean, it''s supposed to be a group, as a band of mercenaries, not a single person." "I know, but they seem awesome. Each master of their weapons, a group of people traveling through the MAZE and helping people or just doing odd jobs to make ends meet. Tell me if that''s not a story you want to know more about," Hera pulled Daskka from the ice cream after noticing she had a brain freeze. "It is, I''m not going to lie. I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were doing," Alex nodded and looked at how Hera was cleaning up Daskka, who was covered in ice cream, "Last question. What are you going to tell Silah? She won''t be happy if you tell her we are staying here for weeks." " I¡­ still don''t know. For now, I''ll just tell her that I''m still looking for more information. If I actually find any answers, then I''ll figure something out." "You know that''s a bad idea, right?" "I know, but I don''t know how to talk to her about this without ending up fighting." Alex paused for a moment, "Look. I know you might not want to hear this, but¡­ Maybe this is a deal-breaker for both of you." Hera sighed, "I thought about that¡­ But I love her." "More than you love being an explorer?" "I¡­ don''t know." "Then¡­" "I know. I have to figure that out. I''ll try to do that before going after the temple if I find something about it," Hera sighed and went to eat the rest of the ice cream that Daskka had started eating. For the rest of the night, Hera and Alex just talked and watched TV. Both were relatively tired, and they just wanted to relax. Early in the next morning, Hera went out, heading back to the library to look for any mentions of the temple. She first looked for Krioz, who was assigned to help her during her stay here. She wasn''t the only person he would assist. Each of the librarians in his position would assist a number of people who came here to translate old documents. They would also get a copy of all the translations for the archive, which was why Hera had someone who would not just show her the books and scrolls that she was looking for but would actively help with her search. "Hi, Krioz," Hera greeted the librarian. "Hello, Ms. Kingsley. Are you looking through more of the ''Classified documents?''" Krioz asked with a smile. "Not this time. I think I found what I was looking for. Say, have you ever heard about the temple? In those old documents, I mean," Hera leaned over and spoke in a whisper. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Temple¡­ There is no name? We have a couple in the city, one for the heroes, one for the system, and one for the jungle." "No¡­ I think this one is older. Like much older. I found it in the reports I saw yesterday." "Ah, yes. Although the temples are not new, they weren''t around during the time the documents you saw yesterday were written. Hum¡­" Krioz crossed his arms and looked down for a moment before typing a few things in the computer in front of his desk, "Ah, here. It seems like there are a few mentions of a Temple around that time. Unfortunately, so far, we don''t have any directions to it, nor does it show in any map." "Really? Not a single map?" "Yes, there are some notes here from the last person who looked into it. It was something they did only in here, there was no excursion to the wilds, but they say that not a single mention is met with questions, almost as if it was something considered common knowledge. There is even a comparison with ancient Roman concrete." "What?" Hera tilted her head. "Ah, it''s just an odd thing. The recipe for the concrete used in ancient Rome was found some time ago, but no one could make it work. Only when they used seawater that people were finally able to replicate the concrete. It took years for people to figure that out because the recipe called for water, and we believed that it was referring to freshwater, but for them, freshwater wasn''t as easy to gather, so no one would waste it in construction. It''s the kind of common knowledge that is lost to the ages that can cause these types of misunderstanding," Krioz explained with a glint in his eyes. It seemed like this was the type of thing that he liked. "OK¡­ then can you show me the maps? The ones from that time period, maybe whoever was looking into that missed something. Also, if I can check the documents with mentions of the temple, it would be great, if it''s not too much trouble, I want to see the originals." "There are a lot of those documents, are you sure? I can send you a copy of the translations right away." "No, I want the originals, maybe they missed something in the translation, and if I have the original, I can access the translation in the archive, right?" "Correct," Krioz nodded and started working. The first thing he did was to guide Hera to the map room on the third floor. He then showed the maps from the period she wanted and their location, and then he left to gather the other documents. Looking over the maps, Hera realized how large the room actually was. It was almost a triangle mostly covered in jungle. In the middle of it, there were a few mountains, but even high on top of them, the maps showed a lot of green. Hera grabbed all the maps of the same era, not the originals, but the copies made to be handled by the people in the library and started comparing them. She also had a map of the current room, and things were very different. For one, the old maps had two cities. Waperath Kingdom and a place called the Jungle Village about 100 kilometers away from the other city, towards the heart of the jungle. In the new maps, that village was nowhere to be found, and two more towns existed. One on the north and one to the east, also heading to the heart of the jungle but just 50 kilometers away, and the path leading there seemed to be much larger. Hera continued comparing the maps, the old jungled seemed much thicker, and the other corner of the room had several areas that were just green. They didn''t even have the end of the room there. It was just a thick forest all the way to the end of the map. On the new map, there were a few dungeons marked, as well as some monster''s dens and even the entrances of a couple of cave networks that covered the room. Looking back to the old map, Hera found a few monsters that she didn''t know were part of the room as drawings, almost as if they were being used to warn people not to get too close to those areas. Some of them matched with the dens while others matched with the cave network, but a few of the more strange monsters didn''t seem to be present in the updated map. A large lizard with bird-like wings in the southeast corner of the room, a snake that seemed to have limbs like a centipede on the Northeast corner, and an odd lion with two heads, five claws, and an elephant''s trunk instead of a tail in the north. From what Hera knew about this room, those monsters shouldn''t exist in here. Or at least, there were no reports about them. It was possible that they were just one of a kind and were hiding, but Hera doubted that was the case. Most monsters inside the MAZE would grow old and die just like anything else. So far, the only two creatures that she knew were outliers from that rule were the Sky Ruler and Chika. She kept looking, trying to find any hints of where the temple should be located. After a while, she changed from the maps of the entire room to the maps of each city. Maybe it was something that only showed up in more detailed representations. Around that time, Krioz came with a box of old documents. Just like the maps, these were all copies. It was a way to avoid damaging the original, but that would be more than enough for what Hera was trying to do. For almost half a day, she swapped between the maps and the documents, trying to find something that could give her a hint of where the temple was but to no avail. She went out to eat something, still with the archives open on her tablet so she could keep searching for the answer while having a late lunch. At first, she tried to call Alex, but the assassin was doing the defense dungeon again. She had found a group that was running that dungeon a couple of times a day, and since they managed to kill a very big number of monsters, the drops were amazing. Hera was halfway through her meal when she noticed something odd in one of the documents. It was a letter someone in the Jungle Village had left behind. They were talking about how they were going to the temple and would be back in days. That phrasing was weird. It was the first time she heard someone say that they were coming back in days, not a single day, but several days, and didn''t specify the amount. The line that came after it was also weird. It talked about how they could send a signal to the sky if there was an emergency, and they would be back in a jiffy. Even if whoever translated it was trying to be cute, a jiffy wasn''t something anyone would use if they were days of travel away. Seeing that this could lead to something, Hera gobbled her food and rushed back to the library. It took her a while to get the original letter, but when she did, she noticed some differences. For one, the mention of ''coming back in days'' didn''t seem accurate. The word used was similar, but there was a blob of ink in the end that hid the last letter. That could change the meaning entirely since the words for hours, days, and years were almost the same in the dialect used by the people in the village, only the last letter changed. Going back to the map, Hera analyzed the one for the Jungle Village. Those were the worst maps of the bunch, they had holes, ink stains, and most of the pictures were faded, but still, she tried her best. It was easier to get a complete picture by overlapping a couple of different maps, and that''s when she found something. The Jungle Village had a single entrance that led to the road to the Waperath Kingdom. However, when placing all the maps together, she could see a small path on the back of the village that seemed to lead down to the south. It was hard to see, and there was a very high possibility that she was just seeing what she wanted, but at the same time, the letter talked about going to the temple and coming back soon. There had to be something there. With a big smile, Hera took pictures of everything she found, put the maps back in their place, and went to find Alex. 405 - A different option Hera locked the door to the room and confirmed that Alex was still inside the dungeon. Now that she had an idea of where the temple could be, her first instinct was to run to the old Jungle Village right away, but she wasn''t sure if that was the best option. She considered what she found a solid lead, but I was still just a guess. While coming back to the hotel, Hera kept thinking about her guide skill. Using it was an option, but if her guess wasn''t right, she might end up wasting her skill. Then again, not using it right now could be a mistake. If she could get a confirmation, she would at least avoid running around after nothing. When she arrived at the hotel, Hera stopped for a moment. Ever since she got the skill, she has been too careful with it. It was fine if she wanted to save it for something important, but now that she actually had an actual question, she was second-guessing herself. Even if she just got a no as an answer, that was already more than she currently had. And if she got a yes, well, that''s all for the better. After casting her sound barrier in the entire room, Hera sat on the bed and called the guide, "I call upon the Guide of the Waperath Jungle. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." She looked around, waiting for the guide to appear. A noise came from the wardrobe, and it opened, with a lion walking on two legs and with blue swimming trunks which had several stamps of colorful flowers. The lion''s mane was shorter than Hera was used to. It was stylized as if it was the guide''s golden hair. There was also a seashell necklace around his neck. He approached Hera with a large smile, "Hey, dude. Thanks for calling me to a place this tight. Mind if I flop on the bed?" "Not at all, just try not to break it. Also, do you mind coming to this one? You look like you were just on the beach, and I don''t want my friend''s bed getting wet," Hera got up after the initial shock. "Don''t worry about it, dude. I''m dry as a desert here, and when I come through my door, all the sand that was on me goes away. It would be really bad if you guys got your hands on that stuff," the lion''s voice was rough, but he spoke very slowly and seemed to be relaxed with the entire situation. "Why is that?" "You guys are too smart, man. With one grain of sand, you might figure out how to make a new doorway or some shit." "Can that really happen?" The guide shrugged, "I don''t know, but if anyone can figure that out, are you, humans," He jumped on the bed with a smile and just kept staring at the ceiling for a moment, "Man, I need to get me one of these." "The bed?" "Nah, the sheets. It''s like being covered by the waves of a blue sea," the guide closed his eyes and smiled. "If you like this, you should try a bed made with cloud wool. Maybe Capri can give you one," Hera stroked the bed. It was comfortable, but the one made with cloud wool was on a completely different level. Maybe this is why she never paid much attention to the beds she was in during this trip. She had a cloud bed, making everything else just feel bland. "Oh, little dude with wings. He''s fun. A bit weird, always saying how he''s amazing and stuff, but he''s still cool." "Really?" Hera turned to the guide, "I didn''t expect you two to know each other. Capri''s room is kind of far away." "He and I go way back. Besides, I know everyone." "Wait, you know all the guides?" Hera asked. "Well. Sort of. I don''t know, know everyone, but I know them. You know?" "So¡­ you know about them, but you don''t know all of them personally?" "That''s it. Thanks, dude," the lion did some finger guns to Hera. "No problem," Hera smiled, "By the way. What''s your name?" "It''s Johnny." "Johnny?" Hera gasped. "Yeah, but if you think that brings bad memories, you can call me lion, surfer, or just dude," Johnny looked at Hera. "No, it''s not that. I just didn''t expect it. I mean, all the other guides had¡­ unique names," Hera scratched the back of her head. "That''s fair, dude. But there are just so many of us that names get weird," Johnny chuckled. "Really? How many?" "I think there are an¡­ Oh. Sorry, dude, I can''t say that one. Apparently, I already said too much. The system is nagging me to start the timer and answer what you want to know," Johnny sat up on the bed, "Mind if we start now?" Johnny pointed down to the floor, and Hera noticed how a sundial appeared. It was completely covered in light except for just a tiny bit of shadow at the top. "So... The shadow means how much time went by?" Hera asked, just to confirm she didn''t get it wrong. "That''s right, dude. When all the light is gone, your time will be up. That sundial is a vintage item. I saw my people using it a long time ago." "Vintage? It''s more like ancient," Hera chuckled. Sundials were the kind of things you would only see in very old civilizations. "Whatever, dude. Words don''t mean anything. It''s cool, and that''s that." "Hang on. Words mean a lot. What if I ask you something and don''t get an answer because you meant one thing and I understood another?" Hera asked. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "Don''t worry, dude. Just ask me, and I''ll explain better. I''ll even stop the timer while that is going on. Consider it a bonus for your connections skill," Johnny shrugged. "Oh, that skill affects the guide one too?" "Yep, but you don''t have to worry about all that. Everything is done on our end," Johnny nodded, "Now, can we start?" "One last thing. Can I ask about anything? Like, even things that happened potentially thousands of years ago?" "Sure, dude. Depending on how long ago it was, things will be real boring, but it''s your question. You can do what you want," Johnny winked at Hera. "OK then. To start, give me a yes or no answer. Do you know the Blademaster? Someone with that specific title, I mean." "I know a few. You need to be more specific, dude." "This one usually travels in a group, and people call them the blademasters. From¡­" Hera tried to search for the files on her tablet, but she quickly got worried that it might take too long to find the file and even longer for Johnny to read it. She just pulled up the map that was made around that era. The Blademasters should be there, "Here, from this time." "Ah¡­ Yeah, I think I remember them. So the answer is yes, dude." "OK, do you know where they went?" "Dude, are we still doing the yes or no answer thing?" "Yeah." "Then it''s a yes." "Telling me where would waste all my time, right?" "Nah, dude. Even with all your time, it wouldn''t be enough for that answer. They have a groove to them that not everyone has." "What does that mean?" Hera tilted her head. "It means what it means. Everyone has that nice flow, but that Blademaster has something extra. It''s like they are a burger with secret sauce," Johnny glanced up towards Hera, "Don''t get me wrong, you can have an amazing burger even without something special. Nothing beats a chili cheeseburger after all, but if you have that sauce, then things get wild." "I get it. I''m trying to chase that sauce," Hera nodded. "Then you are doing it wrong, dude. The sauce is not something you chase after. It''s something you find it yourself, even if the ingredients are something you got from someone else. And if that doesn''t work, just change the chefs. Or maybe you need to change from burger to taco, or maybe hot dogs. That can work too." "Wait, hang on. Now you lost me. The sauce would be a legacy, or an item, or something. The chef would be what? I thought it was the way I do things, but that''s more like the dish, so it would be a hot dog. I''m lost," Hera was struggling to make sense of the analogy. "What? No, dude, that part is just about the burger. Like if you are trying to open a food truck. The thing about the flow stops at the sauce," Johnny scratched his head. "Why are you talking about food trucks?" Hera asked. "I don''t know, dude. I was talking about burgers, and it just came out." Hera sighed and glanced at the sundial. She still should have around 2/3 of her time remaining. It was hard to say exactly since the dial didn''t have any numbers, "OK, next question. Yes or no answer. At this time, everyone mentioned a temple, but no one talked about where it was. Was there more than one temple in the room?" "No, just one." "Can you tell me where it is?" Johnny shook his head, "You don''t have enough time for that, dude. And it wasn''t my fault." "It''s OK. Can you tell me with a yes or no if the temple is near the old jungle village?" "No, it''s not near there." "Really? I thought I had found a clue," Hera sighed. "What clue?" Hera pointed at the image with the three maps overlapping, at the location where she thought there was a secondary road, "Here. I found this and figured out it should be a road to the temple." "Oh, this? No, it just led to a waterfall that the people in the village used to go to take baths and wash clothes." "Is the temple around here?" Hera changed to a picture of the current map and pointed to the center of the jungle." "No." "How about here?" Hera pointed at the top right corner, the farthest place in the room." "Also, no." Hera asked about five more areas covering most of the room, but the answers were all the same. "OK, it is around here?" Hera pointed at the city and circled her finger around the entire area covering the two doorways." "No." "C''mon. Is that temple even in the room? Are you telling me it was destroyed or something?" Hera leaned back on the bed, tossing her tablet to the side. "No, dude. I would''ve told you if that was the case in the first question about that." "OK, so how do I get there?" Hera gasped. "Now you''re asking the good questions, but that one I can''t answer. Try something different, dude. I wanna help you," Johnny smiled and looked at the sundial. There was just around a quarter of the time remaining. Hera thought for a moment, "It is in the room, but it''s not anywhere in the room, so is it inside a dungeon?" "That was a good guess, dude, but no." "Is it like an attached room? Like this place is a hotel room, but there is a bathroom behind that door, and that is technically another room?" "Dude, I never thought of it like that, but yea, totally!"Johnny seemed very excited. "OK¡­ but is there a way to enter the temple in this room?" "There is." "Can you tell me how?" "C''mon, dude, you know that I can''t tell you that." "It was worth a shot," Hera smiled. Johnny chuckled, "OK, I''ll give you that." "Is there someplace here that shows me how to get there?" "There is." "Is it in the city?" "No." Hera looked at the map, "It''s in the heart of the jungle, isn''t it?" she was staring at a large tree that was located in the center of the room. "Yeah, dude, those things are always like that." "Can you tell me what I need to do to find it? The way to the temple, I mean." Johnny turned to the sundial. There was just 1/10 of it left, "You know what. You are a cool one. I''ll tell you what to do when you get there. But dude, do me a favor and don''t mention it to anyone. Some dudes might get really pissed at me for helping you out like that. I don''t want them all up in my grill." "No one will know. I promise," Hera smiled and pulled up her tablet to write down Johnny''s explanation. She thought about recording what the guides said a long time ago, but that felt like an easy way to lose one of her strikes. After writing down all the explanation and saying goodbye to Johnny, Hera planned her route to the heart of the jungle. If there weren''t any big problems, it would take about two days of travel to get there, but maybe it was better to do it in 3 days. That way she would leave the village about 50 kilometers away after spending the night there. Doing so would reduce the amount of time she would be in the middle of the jungle at night. All she had to do now was talk to Alex and then to Silah. One of those conversations wasn''t something she was that excited to do. 406 - The new jungle village Hera felt a tug on her mana. That was Daskka''s signal, "Alex, two o''clock." Without speaking anything else, Alex and Hera counted to 5 in their head. As the count reached the end, both of them threw their spells close to a tree above where Daskka was waiting. A wind blade and a potion arrow flew through the jungle and hit a Skull Head Panther. It was a monster with green fur and a skull on top of its head, almost like a helmet. As a survival measure against the other monsters in the room, this creature was in the process of developing an exoskeleton of sorts. For now, only the head had this extra layer of protection, but if monsters could evolve, it was just a matter of time before its entire body was covered in a new set of bones. The two spells hit the panther while it jumped out of the bush. With the impact, the beast fell headfirst on the ground. Hera followed up with her handaxe while Alex used her chaser spell to rush behind the monster. In a single move, all three of them, including Daskka, who jumped from the bush to attack, slashed the beast and killed it on the spot. Alex ensured that the monster was dead before sighing in relief, "How many does that make?" "25? 26? I don''t know. I lost count a while back," Hera pushed the monster to the side to remove it from the road. "Man, weren''t these roads supposed to ward off monsters?" "I think they are still doing that. The ones we are fighting all seem desperate and hungry. Look," Hera pointed at the monster''s stomach. Its ribs and all the bones in its body were sticking out from its skin. "Oh¡­ do you think these are the exiled? Like when lions kick one of the males from the group." "Or the ones that were too weak to stay in the group. You know how some animals abandon the sick and weak newborns." "That''s a hard life," Alex shook her head. "At least it''s a short one," Hera shrugged. "Hera!" "What? Am I wrong?" "No, but c''mon. That was uncalled for." Hera looked at Daskka, who had a large smile on her face, apparently enjoying the joke or the small argument between the two, "Daskka enjoyed the comment." "That doesn''t count. You two share a brain cell," Alex rolled her eyes before pulling her tablet, "We should be getting there soon. It''s weird that we don''t see the edge of the village yet." "Yeah, we are what? Just five kilometers away?" Hera asked. "Yep. If there was a large wall, we should be seeing it. They have an outer wall there, right?" Alex looked in the direction they were traveling. It seemed like there was nothing there, just an endless expanse of jungle surrounding this ten-meter-wide road. "I think so. People said that it was hard to miss the entrance." "Well, let''s keep going then." Hera got up, and Daskka jumped on her shoulder, wrapping herself on her master like a scarf. Hera petted the snake and turned to Alex, "Thanks for coming with me here. Doing all this alone could be complicated. And I''m pretty sure I would go crazy if it was just me and Daskka." "It''s been fun, and if you find a legacy or something, I expect a small fee for my silence, of course," Alex smirked. "I know you are going to ask for dinner or something, but I would be down to give you a cool half-million gold," Hera chuckled as she cast the sensory net around them to make sure there weren''t any more monsters in the area. "That would be too much. But then again, a legacy should be much more expensive. I''ll leave my payment to you," Alex continued with the joke without realizing that Hera was being serious. They continued walking, still on alert to protect themselves against any monsters that could suddenly pop out of the jungle. Surrounding both sides of the road, rows, and rows of large green trees obscured their view. As they moved, their ears picked up all manner of noise coming from the wild vegetation. The ruffle of leaves, the sound of the wood creaking in the wind, the sounds of bugs flying around, and some far away roars echoed through the area. Walking this path was incredible and terrifying. Hera never saw such a lush jungle in person. The closest thing to this place that she could think of was the Amazonian Rain Forest, but even the pictures paled in comparison to this place. Each of the trees had a multitude of different leaves. It was the first time they had ever seen something like that. In all other rooms, the trees followed the same pattern of having only one type of foliage on them. Maybe some flowers and fruits, but that was all. Here it was like each leaf was completely unique. In a way, it was very similar to snowflakes. Green snowflakes with a petiole and the regular veins, but still. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After about half an hour, they should be arriving at the village. It was a pleasant surprise that they were doing such a good time. Both Hera and Alex had very high agility attributes, and having used the same rope trick with nimbus for a little while helped a lot, especially since it was just the two of them, well, three counting with Daskka, but she was always around Hera''s neck. It was just a shame that they were distracted, and one of the panthers attacked the cloud griffon 10 minutes after they left the Waperath Kingdom. Still, they made good time even with all the fighting and random attacks. Counting the breaks they took every now and then, it has been just a bit over 7 hours since they started this small part of the journey. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to where the village should be, but there was still nothing but jungle around, Alex turned to Hera, "Tell me again why we didn''t wait for a group to come here?" "Unless there is an emergency or something, they only do supply runs once a week, and we lost our chance to be with them yesterday." "Right, and waiting back there wasn''t going to work because of Silah?" "I mean, she did play a part in it. But if I''m being honest, it was more because of me. Do you honestly think that I could stay still if I found a decent lead?" Hera turned to Alex. "Fair point. What''s the lead, by the way? You only said that we need to go to the heart of the jungle, but you never mentioned how you found it." "Ah, that''s something I can''t talk about," Hera looked away. "It''s that thing again?" "Yeah, sorry." "That''s OK, but is that thing any different from the questions you ask your relic?" "Very. I tried asking my relic every chance I got, but the answer was always something random that didn''t help at all. It was always ''try again later,'' or, ''signs point to maybe,'' even when I got a positive answer, it ended up being a dud. That''s the problem with those questions. Even if I don''t have enough mana for it, the 8 ball thing might give me an answer that seems good for me." "Can''t you tell if it worked or not? Like, isn''t there something that shows you?" Alex asked. "Not really. I feel the mana coming out, and if the answer is complicated, it will tell me, but if it is just something like a yes or no, the 8 ball might fit, so I have no way of knowing with just a single question. Then I have to waste a bunch more mana in questions just to make sure if the previous one was an actual answer or not," Hera sighed. "That sounds¡­ convoluted." "Tell me about it. I want to see if I can fix that when I get my next role." "Do you know which one you''ll get?" "I was gunning for mage a long time ago, but I don''t know anymore. Crafter seems nice, so does the researcher, especially with all this. I think I''m just gonna keep doing things and get it when it happens." "I think it''s a good way to¡­. The fuck?" As Alex spoke, she suddenly realized a massive 7-meter steel wall in front of her. Everything was silver and shined with the reflection of the sun. "Was that thing always there?" Hera was looking up at the structure. "I¡­ don''t know. Maybe? But how could we have missed it?" "Wait¡­ don''t move," Hera walked backward, and suddenly the wall vanished. Only the jungle remained, but Alex was still there, "It''s an Illusion!" "Really? It''s covering all this?" "Yeah, but I think it only hides what''s inside the city. I can still see you." Alex walked to Hera''s side, "OK, this is cool." "I know, right? It reminds me of the thing with Dark Star and Bright Night in the tower." "That one seemed more advanced. I mean, the MAZE made it," Alex shook her head. "True, but it feels like the same principle." They continued walking towards the steel wall, and the entrance was in clear view. All they had to do was head a bit to the right to cross the large gate. Oddly enough, when they were getting close, Hera started hearing a slight buzzing sound coming from the wall, almost as if it was an electrified fence. A couple of the guards inside, who also acted as tour guides, welcomed the duo and warned them not to touch the walls. Just as Hera heard, they had a constant electric current passing through them, and it would sting a lot if someone touched it. The power would increase if the sensors caught a monster in the city''s perimeter. However, they had to keep the current constant to work properly. Otherwise, the shock wouldn''t be strong enough to fend off monsters that might try to attack the village. People called this place the New Jungle Village, in honor of the village that existed long ago. Apparently, the location change was due to the few monster nests that existed beyond this point. Maintaining the village deeper in the jungle would require too much manpower, and any shipments would have to be heavily guarded. On the other hand, building the city here reduced the number of people required to keep the city safe, and there was little to no worry with the shipments going from one city to another. Unfortunately, for Hera and Alex, they wouldn''t stay here for long. After resting for the night, they should head to the middle of the room, where most of the monsters were concentrated. The heart of the jungle wasn''t something metaphorical, not entirely. In the center of the forest, there was a tree whose roots spread to the entire room, or at least, that''s how the story went. Thanks to Johnny, Hera knew that there was some truth to that, but at the same time, the tree itself wasn''t that much bigger than everything else. If you didn''t know what you were looking for, there was a good chance that you would even pass by it without realizing it. Hera and Alex got a room in one of the hotels in the city. Compared to where they were staying, this was a significant downgrade, but it would still be better than what was in store for them in the following days. According to the map, they still have around 200 kilometers to go before reaching the heart of the jungle. If they managed to do it at the same pace they were doing it now, it would still be a three or four-day journey just to get there. However, apparently, someone here could help shorten their travel. All they had to do was convince a mage to help them out. 407 - Charting a raft The new jungle village wasn''t all that unique by itself, not to say that it wasn''t an incredible view. Surrounded by the silver steel walls, there were a number of treehouses everywhere. Each of them was in a different tree, but most of them were small structures made with logs and large palm leaves that didn''t belong to this room. On the ground, the houses and buildings were more normal, but they were all made out of wood of varying colors. In comparison to the Waperath Kingdom, this place was a shoebox, but at the same time, it felt more open. Unlike how it was in the main city, the streets here were wide, and the houses were spread apart. Almost no structure here was touching another and the vegetation was thriving. For now, Hera and Alex stopped by the hotel, which was located around one of the larger clusters of trees. They were taking advantage of the area and setting up the rooms above in the trees. It was a way to have some novelty, but that carried a couple of issues. Each room had some magical tools that worked as a substitute for toilets, showers, and sinks, and to avoid having a bunch of wires everywhere, the housekeeping would have to change the stones inside the bathroom once a day to recharge the mana stone and swap them with new ones. After checking in and resting for a few hours, they left the hotel in search of the mage who might be able to help them reach the heart of the jungle. He was one of the people in charge of bringing goods back and forth to the other cities. His base was here, and he was usually the person people would call when they had an emergency. This was all thanks to a combination of things, including a very unique spell and item that he got when doing a dungeon in another room. Hera had no idea where he lived, and that was a good thing. Going after him at his house was a bit invasive, but she knew there was a good chance to find him in the guild. Or at least, that''s where she could send him a message. Arriving at the guild, one of the clerks pointed out a man wearing black jeans, leather boots, a white shirt with a velvet vest with several leather straps around his torso holding some tools and a few daggers as well as a pair of brass knuckles hanging around his waist. He had golden hair and a soft stubble. Whoever that person was, he was very elegant as long as you didn''t focus on his exhausted expression. Just looking at him made Hera remember her days of working retail during the holidays. Alex looked at Hera, "Should we wait till tomorrow?" "I don''t think it will matter all that much. That''s pretty much his default mood," the clerk replied. "Oh¡­ and what''s his name again?" Hera turned back to the clerk. "Lecter. I honestly don''t know his last name." "Oh. Thanks for the help, and sorry for the trouble," Hera smiled at the clerk and started heading towards the mage. "Are you sure we should talk to him today? I mean, he should be getting home, right?" Alex asked. "Yeah, but we can at least introduce ourselves and ask if we can talk tomorrow. Worst case scenario, he will tell us to fuck off," Hera shrugged. "And since when you don''t mind that kind of thing?" "Since today. I really want to reach the heart of the jungle soon," Hera smiled. "You really think we are going to find something, don''t you?" "I''m positive about it." Alex sighed but didn''t say anything else. It was very rare for Hera to get like that, and when she did, there was no stopping her. They approached the man. Hera was in front and greeted him first, "Mr¡­ Lecter. Hi, I''m Hera. Do you have a minute to talk?" The man stared at her with a confused expression, "Mr. Lecter? What do you want?" his voice was deep and raspy. "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask for your help with a trip." "Talk to me in the morning. I''ll see if I can schedule something for you in a couple of weeks," Lecter waved his hand off and kept walking. Hera followed him, "Any chance we could do something sooner? Tomorrow would be ideal." "Tomorrow? Do I look like someone who can do things on such short notice?" "I don''t know. That''s why I''m asking. Are you busy tomorrow?" Lecter squinted at Hera, "That''s beside the point, and you two are getting in the way of my drink. So unless you want to pick up my bar tab, get lost and talk to me tomorrow. I''m off the clock." "I wouldn''t mind paying for a few drinks if we can talk about this. I won''t say the tab for the full night, but while we are there, sure." Lecter raised a single eyebrow, "You want my help that much?" "Kind of. We are not desperate, but with your help, we can get there much sooner." "Fine, pay for a few drinks, and you can at least tell me what you want. I won''t promise I''ll do it, though." "That''s more than enough for now," Hera nodded. The three of them walked to a building nearby. It was a simple bar without any special decorations or anything, just a lot of wood. Lecter seemed to be one of the regulars. Not only did he ask for his usual, but one of the patrons got up from his seat to give the mage his usual table. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "Is that how people always treat you?" Alex was a bit shocked by that reaction. Not so much about the bar staff, but because of the man who gave up his seat. "No, that one just lost a bet with me a while back. Now, he can''t use this table when I''m here." "Ah, OK. It''s not weird then." "You thought I was weird?" Lecter stared at Alex. "Not you specifically, but the situation. I mean, how many people do you know who not only have a specific table in a bar, but have people give up their seats when they arrive because of it? That kind of thing would only happen in movies about shady organizations." "Fair point, I guess," Lecter crossed his arms and waited for the drinks to arrive. When the server came along, he turned to them, "Hey, how much for a bottle? Top shelf stuff." "Any bottle, or you mean our brandies?" "The brandy, of course. The best one you got." "We have an aged red dragon fruit called ''Draconian Spiritus,'' but a bottle goes for 150 thousand gold here. Is that what you want?" the server asked. "Hera, was it? You can still turn around and leave." Hera squinted at Lecter before turning to the server, "That one is a bit much. What''s your second best?" "It''s called Unholy Brandy. It''s made with the help of a monster called Corpse Flower. The creature feasts in dead bodies and, when full, can create some fruits used in this drink''s fermentation process. I have tried it myself, and it''s very pleasant, despite the oddity of the product. A bottle will run you 50 thousand gold here." "Is that enough?" Hera turned to Lecter. "Hell yeah. I was just trying to scare you off, but if you are paying for that kind of drink, I won''t complain," Lecter smiled for the first time since they met. "Bring us a bottle then," Hera smiled at the server and turned back to Lecter, "Can I explain what I want now?" "Sure. I already have my first drink, and something really good is coming up. I''m in a good mood now." "So, I want you to take us to¡­." Hera started speaking, but Alex cut her off. "Hang on. People say that you have a way to travel across the room really quickly. Is that right?" "It is," Lecter nodded. "And how do you do that? Can you take more people?" "Depends on the number of people. You two wouldn''t be a problem. And about the how. A few years ago, I beat the hard mode of a dungeon. It was the first time anyone ever did that, so I got some extra rewards. The one that helps me with this is the floating raft. It''s a mana construct that creates a raft of varying sizes that can levitate in the air and carry a number of people or boxes. Then, I learned how to make a sea of wind to help control the weather in a room. Adding that to a couple of skills that I have, I can make the raft travel around at a very good pace. If needed, I can be in the Waperath Kingdom in under an hour," Lecter explained. "OK¡­ I think we can tell him then," Alex turned to Hera. "Yeah, I agree. And thanks for double-checking things," Hera turned to Lecter, "We need to go to the heart of the jungle, and if you could help us get there faster, it would be much appreciated. I''ll pay your fee, as long as it is reasonable." "That''s¡­. It''s a tall order. The heart of the jungle is filled with monsters, and the skies in this room are not exactly safe either. Not to mention that finding a place to land there is a nightmare. In the center of the room, the jungle gets much thicker." "What if we are asking for a one-way trip? We might even have a way to drop from your flying boat, but if you have another option, it would be great," Hera explained. "Then you would be getting back on your own?" "That is the plan. I''m an assassin, and she''s an explorer with the assassin role. We can hide pretty well," Alex announced proudly. "I''m sure you can, but this is serious business. The jungle is not a playground, and you two might end up dying if you are not careful. I mean, everyone in the room is aware that the odds of a wendigo roaming the area are very high," Lecter said in an ominous tone. Hera nodded, "I know, and trust me. I already found a couple of wendigos in the wild, and I have no intention of finding another." "You found one? Outside a rampage?" "Yep, one in Boothudurn, but that one was a newborn and wasn''t hard at all, but the one in Brinnefront I found barely a month after I finished training. That one was stronger than me, and I almost died, and I still have the scars to prove," Hera tapped the ear guard that hid her missing ear. At the same time, an idea came to her mind that she had yet to try. Maybe she could somehow combine the sonar effect of her ear guards with her sensory net, allowing her not to just increase her map but even localize the monsters around her. "Are you still here, girl?" Lecter asked after seeing Hera stare into nothing for a moment. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I had an idea unrelated to all this." Lecter shrugged, "Fine, but are you really sure you want to be dropped off in the middle of the forest like that?" Hera looked at Alex, "I''m down for that. How about you?" "I''m in," Alex nodded. Lecter took a big gulp of his drink, "OK then. 25k each for a one-way trip." "So 50 in total?" Hera asked. "Yep, 60 if you two want help getting down, and I think you do." "We''ll take it," Hera replied right away. This amount of money wasn''t much of a problem, and if she managed to find something good about the blademasters, she would make a lot more money with all this. "OK then. Meet me in front of the guild tomorrow at 10. I''ll confirm if I''m free for the day and we can go. It should take us between two to four hours to get there, depending on the wind." "Are you going to be OK getting back alone?" Alex asked. "Don''t worry. Worst case scenario, I have a way to move much faster, but I can''t bring anyone along in that case. That''s another thing, if we end up in a situation where we all have to run, I''m saving myself. Be aware of that," Lecter explained. They talked for a while longer as the mage explained some of the issues people would have in the journey. After that, Hera and Alex left the bar so they could rest for the night. When they arrived at the hotel, Alex turned to Hera, "Hey. I know that we said we would come back on our own, but you have another way to do that, right? You mentioned that if it worked, we might have an easier time getting back to the city." "I said it was a possibility. The information I got was a bit ambiguous, but it seems like there is a better way to come back from the temple," Hera explained, remembering what Johnny told her. If everything went the way she hoped, she would find the temple and be one step closer to the Blademaster. 408 - The heart of the jungle "This is far enough," Lecter looked back towards the city. He was now outside the range of the illusion, which meant that the sensors wouldn''t pick up his raft. If he used it inside the city, there wouldn''t be any big problems. However, there was a chance that the interference of his magic would create a small gap in the sensors that would allow a monster to sneak by. As a failsafe, when that gap happened, the walls would trigger the strongest shock they could, and if anyone was touching the walls for any reason, they would get seriously hurt. "Do we need to do anything?" Alex asked while looking around. "Not right now. Just a moment," Lecter pulled a small pamphlet from his pocket. Hera tried to see what it said, but to her, it was just blank. The mage walked forward and opened the brochure putting some mana inside it. As he did so, the paper on his hand started to turn to ash, much more ash than it should be, considering the size of it. All particles flew off and started to swirl a few meters in front of them. Little by little, log by log, a raft started to form. Each of the logs seemed old and tattered. They were tied with vines, roots, and even what looked like strands of hair. In some places, there was a yellowish-orange wax plugging some of the holes in the wood. When all the base of the raft was complete, a smaller log appeared in the middle of the structure. It rose just 2 meters up, and there was some triangular piece of cloth tied around it, forming a makeshift sail with a few holes. "That''s the raft?" Alex glanced at Hera. "I don''t want to be rude¡­ but can that thing actually hold us? It looks like it will fall apart if a bird lands on it," Hera added. "I know it looks bad, but trust me. This little gal can do her job. Also, it''s not done. I know how bad this looks, and I have a couple spells to help spruce it up," Lecter started casting the spells and using a few other items. He managed to set up some metallic rails on the outer perimeter of the raft and another to create three seats, "Hop on in." Lecter opened, passed through the only opening in the rails, and sat on the chair by the mast. Hera and Alex looked at each other before carefully stepping in. Unlike how it was with Nimbus, this construct was solid. Really solid, as Hera noticed when she tripped in the log as she entered. "Careful. If you fall too hard, the raft will take some damage," Lecter scoffed. "My bad. I wasn''t expecting it to be like this," Hera looked around. Even when standing on top of it, the raft looked like something out of a movie about castaways. "That''s what everyone says. Sit down and strap in. We have seat belts here," Lecter pointed at the straps around their chairs. It wasn''t a simple seatbelt around their waist but one of those used in race cars that came from both shoulders and connected in the middle. After confirming everyone was ready, he unfurled the sail, and the raft started to slowly go up, "Instead of controlling our forward speed, the sail controls how high we go." "So it''s kind of like that fire thing under a hot air balloon?" Alex asked. "Exactly." "It''s surprisingly smooth," Hera looked down to the raft, making sure everything was still stuck together. "That will change as soon as we start moving. I hope you two are not the kind to get seasick." "Oh no," Alex gasped as they kept going higher and higher. "What altitude do we need to reach?" Hera asked. "We are not a plane, but for this to work, we need to get around 150 meters high. That way, we can use the air current a bit better. It also helps avoid most of the monsters here. Only the birds would be able to reach us, and it''s not like going higher would make any difference for them, so it''s just unnecessary," Lecter kept changing the positions of the sail to adjust the speed they were going up. Around a minute went by before the raft reached the necessary altitude, "OK, then. Are you two strapped?" Hera and Alex nodded, and the raft started to drift along the sky. However, it didn''t take long for the ship to start picking up speed. Eight minutes passed before they stopped accelerating. The sound of the wind blowing through their ears was deafening. If any of them wanted to talk to each other, they would have to yell, and even so, it was hard to communicate. Using the tablets was also a bad idea since it would require them to physically pull up the device, and holding it in this place would be very dangerous. Neither of them wanted to risk losing their tablets in the middle of the jungle. Hera and Alex started using their communicators to talk, but even that wasn''t perfect. Even if their voices were coming from an earpiece, the wind was too loud. As they continued moving, Lecter had to use a spell to block off some of the wind every time he had to tell his passengers something. Unfortunately, he couldn''t keep that spell up all the time, if he could, not only would the trip be much more comfortable, but it would also be faster since the magic would create a vacuum behind it by cutting the air resistance, almost like the tip of a rocket. Still, he was doing his best to make the trip entertaining. Each landmark they passed by came with a small explanation about the area and the monsters that were around. There was a lot of information and Lecter was very energetic. It was almost like he worked as a tour guide. Unfortunately, even with his best efforts, there wasn''t much to show in the room. Not in the subject of landmarks anyway. Everything was just a jungle with occasional rivers or lakes. Lecter tried to make some of the more unique trees exciting, but it was a hard sell. The only thing that genuinely caught Hera and Alex''s attention were the tall peaks to the north. In that area, massive rock formations rose high up in the sky, even higher than their current altitude. Looking at them made it clear that those peaks were like fault-block mountains. It was like they were staring at a large man-made structure built with smooth rock, and yet, not just the top but the sides were also filled with trees. Hera even could see some movement in the side of the mountain, showing that there were monsters living hundreds of meters above the ground. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A bit over three hours had gone by when the raft finally started slowing down. Lecter guided his ship to hover above a small clearing on the ground, "OK, this is your stop." Hera confirmed that they were in the right area, "Do you know what tree is the actual heart of the jungle?" "Not really. I''m not even sure that there is an actual tree that counts as the heart of the jungle. I think it''s just this area," Lecter replied. "OK, then," Hera turned to Alex, "Are you ready? You can still go back with him if you are not up to being in the middle of the jungle." "I''m with you. The last time you jumped into an uncharted land, it was with Blue. It''s my time now," Alex smiled. "Oh yeah, because spending a few months in a room where people instantly loved me just by being human is the same as jumping alone in the middle of the jungle," Hera rolled her eyes and called Daskka. Since she had the mist glide spell, the snake could fly to the ground without any issue. Adding to that, she could also help them if any monsters tried to attack. Lecter cleared his throat, "Right, then can I cast the spell? I''ll wait for you guys to get on the ground and give you some cover fire if needed since you won''t be able to move all that well." "Please do. What do we need to do? We jump?" Alex asked. "Wait for me to cast the spell first," Lecter picked a mana stone from one of his pockets and waved his hand around both Hera and Alex. What looked like a soap bubble formed around them, and Lecter gently started pushing them to the edge of the raft. He had to deactivate the railing that he placed before they left, but soon Hera and Alex were falling through the sky at a very slow pace, "You guys should reach the ground in five minutes. You can still use spells from there, but try not to move around too much. And don''t use projectiles that start on you." "Five minutes? That''s a while¡­" Alex looked down as they slowly moved closer to the ground. "Yeah¡­" Hera didn''t say anything else. It felt awful to be so exposed for so long. Sure, five minutes didn''t seem that long, but in a situation like that, it might as well be a lifetime. Hera and Alex just kept staring at the ground as the tension rose in the air. Hera was holding her griffon whistle in her left hand, just in case. Every ruffle of the leaves and every odd noise that came from nowhere made the two bubble girls flinch. They wanted to be ready for anything, but not being able to fight back was terrifying. Daskka felt Hera''s unease and went down faster to look around the landing area and make sure it was clear. The clock kept ticking, and the bubble kept moving. In three minutes, they were already more than halfway to the ground, but if something went wrong now, it was still a 60-meter drop. With a lot of luck, they might be able to survive, but they wouldn''t be unscathed. Hera suddenly felt Daskka in distress and tried to locate the snake. She was wrapped around a branch, staring at the opposite side of the clearing where something was moving. For a moment, Hera thought it was just the leaves of a tree, but little by little, more of whatever was moving started to appear. First, a large root seemed to tremble. It was connected to a moss-covered trunk that bent backward, vanishing under the other trees. Then, a second set of roots connected to the same type of moss-covered trunk appeared to the side of the first. Another large piece of wood came into view, and on top of it, there was a massive red and green flower bud with small yellow feelers coming out of the middle. Another set of two trunks appeared behind the thing, showing that all those roots were actually the creature''s feet. It slowly moved to the middle of the clearing and opened the flower bud revealing larger blue tentacles that stretched out to the air. "Shit!" Lecter yelled from the raft and started sending spells at the monster. "What is that?" Alex asked "One of the worst things we could find. Those fuckers specialize in hunting birds, and since they are plants, the other monsters just leave it alone," Lecter was using some ice spikes to try to pierce the creature, but the bubble was in the way, and he wasn''t able to get a good shot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jupiter Birdtrap - Level 28 (Plant affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked down to the monster, "Daskka, fire!" Understanding what her owner wanted, Daskka started spewing fire towards the creature. The snake right now was a pocket-sized flamethrower thanks to Hera''s grease fire spell. The monster started to flail around as soon as the fire hit it. One of the tentacles inside aimed up, and seeds started being shot out of the creature. A number of those seeds hit the bubble that was holding Hera and Alex, making it pop right away. In an instant, Hera blew the griffon whistle, and Nimbus appeared right under her. She grabbed Alex and put her on top of the cloud griffon, but the mount wasn''t going to hold them both for long. They quickly plummeted another 30 meters into the ground when all of the feelers pointed at them. Without any warning, the Jupiter Birdtrap sent out all its tentacles towards the incoming food, managing to grab Hera''s leg and pull her out of the mount when they got just 15 meters away. Hera spun in the air, trying to get a hold of herself, but the last thing she saw was the massive petals filled with large thorns making this flower bud look like the maw of a giant carnivorous monster. 409 - Kirouhebi The first thing Hera did when she fell inside the maw of the Juniper Birdtrap was activating her stone elemental armor. She knew that the odds of it helping were not the best, but considering the thorns and the appendages inside the flower bud, that was the best idea that came to mind. Hera tried kicking the petals open, but the monster held her tightly. Moving her arms was almost impossible, she could barely move, and she was already starting to have trouble breathing. She tried to use a poison needle at the monster, but her spell bounced off the creature. Apparently, the thin layer of mucus inside the flower bud could stop her magic. Hera prepared to cast a grease fire on the monster. After all, it was just wood, and fire should be its weakness. But she stopped before triggering the spell. If this mucus was able to stop her poison, could it do the same with her fire? It wasn''t a good idea to use that one since it might result in her cooking herself. While thinking, she felt the feelers trying to wrap around her body, and some of the thorns inside the petals started to press against her armor. It wasn''t enough to hurt, but she could feel where the spikes tried to pierce her armor and skin. Outside, Alex was using wind blades aimed at the legs of the monster, trying to somehow force the creature to open its flower again, "Hera! Can you hear me? Give me a signal, and I''ll cut the flower." "Are you crazy? If you do that, you''ll hit her!" Lecter yelled from the sky. He had spells that could kill the monster, but to hit the vital spot, he would end up hitting Hera too. "She can take one of my spells, as long as she uses her elemental armor," Alex yelled back, trying to seem confident even if she wasn''t sure if that was true. Daskka started hissing loudly and covered her entire body in mist, but the fog was different. It wasn''t the usual transparent white but a dark red that swirled around her violently. The snake dove towards the monster, creating more and more mist that took the form of a second mist snake much bigger than Daskka herself. With a burst of speed, that fog monster lunged at the Jupiter Birdtrap, wrapping all four of its legs and pulling them together. A pair of large flaming fangs appeared out of the mouth of the snake before it swallowed the entire flower bud, making the fangs sink deep in the base of the petals. Inside the monster, Hera noticed the tips of two small mist fangs appearing below her. From the tip of those fangs, she could feel an intense heat and Daskka''s anger and desperation. "I''m an idiot," Hera shook her head. Even if this whole situation was unexpected, she ended up getting too flustered and her judgment was a mess. To make this even worse, she wasn''t using what should be the best tool to escape this creature. She adjusted herself the best she could to avoid all the thorns and swapped her elemental armor from stone to fire, "I''m going to give you the worst indigestion ever." This time, Hera focused her mana on becoming as hot as possible. Two seconds after she changed her armor, the mucus in the plant started turning into steam. Hera pushed the petals with her feet and hands, trying to force them open and make her fire armor burn the creature even more. It didn''t take long for the Jupiter Birdtrap to open up again and spit that bad food out. Hera didn''t realize that, but thanks to Daskka''s massive snake form, the monster was already tilted. Tumbling to the side, Hera managed to move away from the creature, and Lecter, who was still watching from his raft, quickly took that chance to send an ice spike at the plant. As the ice moved through the sky, it sounded like a whistle for a moment before stabbing the monster directly in the middle of the flower, impaling it to the ground. Daskka''s mist form was still holding the creature, even with the ice having seemingly pierced her form''s head. The ice didn''t bother her one bit, and the mist continued to swallow the monster making the sounds of wood being broken echo through the area. Hera got up and looked at her pet snake. Even if she could still sense Daskka through the mist, this red mist creation could be a glimpse of what the snake''s future would look like. Her eyes turned to Hera, and after making sure her owner was safe, Daskka bit down with all her strength, breaking all the wood and killing the monster. The giant snake dissipated, leaving Daskka''s regular body exposed on the ground, the small snake wasn''t even moving, and Hera rushed over to see if she was OK. Alex was still ready to attack the monster just in case it wasn''t dead yet, but when she saw Hera picking up Daskka, she got worried, "Is she OK?" "Yeah, she''s just tired. Whatever she did now wasted all her mana." "Doesn''t she have like 30 thousand mana?" "It''s more like 34 thousand and some change these days. Her mana grows with mine," Hera explained. "That''s¡­ a lot," Alex glanced back at the broken parts of the monster, "I never tried using all my mana at once, so that''s what we might be able to do?" "Well¡­ maybe I can. You, probably not," Hera managed to see that Daskka just wanted to rest and put her back inside the necklace. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Ex-fucking-cuse me? What the hell does that mean?" Alex gasped. "That your intelligence is way lower than mine. You''re sitting at what? 30 something? Mine is almost in the 70s," Hera winked." "You just almost got eaten by a monster, and the first thing you do is brag about your attributes? I''m sure I can do much more damage than you with a spell," Alex tapped the wooden scabbard. "Using items doesn''t count." "So Daskka doesn''t count either!" Lecter was watching everything from the raft. Even if he was sure that his ice spear killed the monster, seeing that snake rip the plant apart like that was a sight to behold. People who were level 25 rarely had that type of strength. According to all the yelling, he assumed that Hera was also a mage, but she was caught by the Jupiter Birdtrap and came out seemingly without a scratch. In the end, worrying about the two of them was unnecessary. They should do well enough even if they were attacked by a group of monsters at once, "Hey. Since you two are OK, I''m going back." Alex and Hera stopped arguing and looked up. "OK, thanks for the ride!" Alex yelled. "We really appreciate all the help. When we get back, I''ll buy you another drink. Bottom shelf this time," Hera yelled back. As the two watched the rafter slowly turn around and head back to the city, they also noticed the Jupiter Birdtrap twitching. To make sure the monster was actually dead, Hera created a stone wall surrounding the beast and tossed some of her grease fire inside. She didn''t want to cause a forest fire, even if the trees in the area didn''t seem dry enough to catch burn that easily. "You should close the top too; otherwise, it will both call attention to us, and sparks could start flying off," Alex had her arms crossed. "I was about to do that. I''m just giving it a moment for the fire to burn properly before removing most of the oxygen," Hera did as Alex suggested. To avoid letting the flames die out, she left a few very small holes open that would work as a filter. The stone wall spell she was using already had reached advanced rank, adding that to her [Shaper of Mana] skill, she could make some very detailed structures. "What are we looking for now?" Alex asked. "We need to find a tree. It won''t be the tallest nor the widest, but it will be the one that has the best ratio between the two. So look for a tree that is really tall and really wide," Hera explained. "I get why your dad calls you Goldilocks now," Alex sighed. "What?" "I mean, that is literally the same thing that happens in the story." "No, this is just what we need to find." "The same way Goldilocks wanted to find a nice bowl of soup and a bed." "It''s different." "How?" "It is¡­" Hera tried to come up with an argument, but nothing came to mind, "Just shut up and look for a tree." For the next ten minutes or so, the two of them walked around, trying to find a tree that matched what Johnny had told Hera. They only talked to point at a tree and ask if that was it. It was Alex who finally broke the silence, "Did you fight with Blue like that too?" Hera looked at Alex with a confused expression, "Were we fighting? I thought it was just some banter." "Really? I got really angry with the comment about my magic. I know that usually assassin''s focus on physical combat, but that was just mean." "Oh¡­ I''m sorry. I was just trying to tease, but you are right; I crossed a line there. Also, let me make it clear, I absolutely think you are stronger than me. I''m good at random things, but if we are going on a fight, you would be one of the three people that I wanted by my side." "Who would be the other two?" "Blue, because Stormcloud is a busted legacy and Naka, because¡­ well¡­ It''s Naka." "So I''m on the same level as Naka in your eyes?" Alex smiled. "In terms of who would I trust to have my back, yeah, but strength¡­." They stopped to think about a time when a landslide happened in Boothudurn and blocked the path to the White Desert. While people were calling for mages and other people to help clear away the mountain of rocks and rubble Naka simply walked over and, with a punch, turned the massive boulders into pebbles. She then went back inside the city like it was just another regular day for her. When they returned to their search, Alex noticed a tree that caught her eye. It was very tall but not tall enough to stand out among the rest and so wide that people might be able to live inside it, but not as if it would be a mansion. The tree''s leaves also seemed to be more green than everything around it, "Could that be it?" "I mean, it fits the bill. If that''s the right one, we need to find an entrance to a tunnel hidden under the roots," Hera explained, and they started searching. She used her pulse a few times, and it didn''t take long for her to find something on the east side of the tree. An opening covered in moss and dried leaves almost blocked the entrance. Walking inside this small tunnel, they found a large area made out of roots. The tunnel was deeper than Hera expected, and even seeing all the details that Johnny had told her, she felt on edge. After about five minutes, they headed deep enough to not be able to see any sunlight, but finally, they found what they were looking for. A massive statue made out of vines and roots depicting a lung dragon that seemed to somehow have grown naturally. "This is it, right?" Alex asked. "I think so. Look, there is even a plaque down there," Hera pointed at the base of the statue where there was a piece of wood with some writing on it. "What does it say?" "Kirouhebi¡­. It means the one who watches from beyond." 410 - Deciphering a poem Hera took a moment to see the dragon-shaped roots before focusing on the wooden tablet. The roots were wrapped around each other, almost like someone would do when braiding their hair in a way that helped to give the formation some scale-like texture. Looking to the bottom of the roots, there was a pair of small lizard legs, and the tail was coiled in a very similar way to how a snake would lay down. However, the rest of the body stood up, going almost all the way to the ceiling where the other two legs were located. The neck continued for a while, moving down, making the head stay directly in the middle of the room. Hera got closer to the head, trying to see if there were any hidden details in the sculpture. Kirouhebi had a long snout and had his mouth closed, but unlike some versions of a lung dragon, there wasn''t anything under its chin. No hair or whiskers, just the scales. The eyes were close together and pointing forward in a way similar to humans, meaning that this creature was a predator, and in the back of its head, about a dozen branch-like horns were coming out on each side. It was hard to tell if this was just because of the vines or if this was actually how Kirouhebi looked like. Another interesting thing that Hera noticed was that the sculpture was perfectly symmetric. If she placed a mirror in the middle, be it horizontally or vertically, there would be no change in the statue at all. "Is it just me, or does the pose make it look like an hourglass?" Alex asked. Hera took a step back, and she had to agree with that comment. The sculpture was wider near the floor and the ceiling, but the body would gather in the middle hiding behind the dragon''s head. "I wonder if that has anything to do with what we are looking for," Hera mumbled. "This isn''t it?" Alex turned to Hera. "Not quite. Like, yeah, we were looking for this because the instructions to get to the temple should be around here," Hera explained. "It''s probably on the wooden thing down there, right?" Alex turned to the wooden tablet on the ground. "Yeah, but I wanted to make sure there was nothing in the statue first," Hera crouched in front of the sculpture and started translating the seemingly natural engravings. ''A dying rose on the table, a blood-red soul, gone with the wind, yet I remain whole. Upon us may the bottomless pit come, For he who remembers the cherry plum.'' "Does that make any sense for you?" Alex asked. "No¡­" Hera frowned. According to Johnny, once she found this, she would have everything she needed to go to the temple. The guide explicitly said that after seeing the inscription and figuring it out, she wouldn''t even need to take another step to reach her destination, "I think these are instructions somehow. But we don''t need to leave here to complete them." "How can you be sure? Is it that thing?" Alex was staring at the weird poem. "Yeah. Basically, the answer I got was that after finding this place, I could go straight to the temple without even getting out of here. Now that I think about it sounds a bit weird," Hera scratched her head. "No shit, are you sure that this was about a temple, not a mausoleum?" "I''m positive. I''m not going to make that mistake." "OK¡­ then what is it then? What do we have to do?" "This was supposed to be instructions to get to the temple¡­ so¡­ I don''t know. Maybe¡­" Hera looked back to the sculpture. Do you think those branches behind the Kirouhebi head are from a cherry tree? I mean, it says ''He who remembers'' I''m assuming that the reference of memory is a hint for the head, and the branches are right there." Alex looked at the statue, "Maybe, but what about it?" Hera stopped to think again. Johnny told her that getting here would be key to entering the temple. What if he was being more literal with that phrasing? To enter the temple, she might have to make a key. "What''s with that face?" Alex asked after noticing Hera''s weird expression. "I had an idea. I think we need to make a key to enter the temple." "OK¡­ and how do you expect us to do that?" "With mana, maybe. I mean, I doubt this is asking for actual blood." "So that would be the element?" "Yeah, that''s what I thought. It can also be just the color, like deep red since it talks about both roses and blood." "Can we even change the color of our mana?" Alex asked. "I never tried, but I don''t see why not. I mean, worst case, I can try to make an illusion to change the colors. It''s all about refraction anyway," Hera shrugged. "OK then, what would be the shape?" "I don''t know. Maybe it doesn''t even have to have a shape." "How can a key not have a shape?" "How can a statue of a dragon grow naturally?" "That''s just your assumption. I''m sure that someone with a few wood spells could make this thing." "Anyway, let''s try to figure something out," Hera started using her mana to make a key. It was the first time she tried to make her raw mana visible and change its color. Just doing that already took her a couple of hours. Alex tried to help, but she couldn''t control her magic to change those kinds of details. Still, she was assisting Hera to figure out what exactly that key was. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. More and more time passed, with Hera and Alex stopping to eat after hours of trying to make the key work. This time, instead of the usual power bars that they would take during trips, they got some wraps that came in packages made to last for a few days, and they shouldn''t even need them for that long. While eating, Hera pulled 20 thousand mana from her bracelet and picked Yarnball, "What are we doing wrong with the key?" The screen flickered, and the answer appeared, ''Wrong Element.'' "Wrong element?" Hera asked. "So we need to change not just the color but the element as well? That''s annoying," Alex sighed. "Yeah. So grass and blood? Or do you think it''s better to try with flower element? That should be a thing, right?" "Maybe, flower and blood for the red parts, wind for the rest? What is the bottomless pit? Ground?" "I was assuming that was the keyhole," Hera replied. "That could be it. But at least we know what we are missing." "Yeah, and worst-case scenario, I can ask Yarnball again. In a few hours." They continued eating while Hera recovered her mana. She didn''t want to use the mana in her earrings since they were there in case of emergency. A few more hours passed, and according to the time, the sun should already be going down outside. Hera ended up using the remaining 10 thousand mana in her bracelet to ask what was the element refereed in the line, ''gone with the wind yet I remain whole.'' Unlike what Hera and Alex were assuming, it required the leaf element to work, which also meant that Hera had to figure out yet another way to use that element. Her saving grace was the elemental mote that Bonnie created. Since the spell, by definition, would ask for an element, Hera could use it and add the element she wanted. It wouldn''t work every time, and understanding the difference between grass, leaf, and flower mana was extremely complicated. Still, after what felt like an entire day of work, Hera and Alex finally felt confident enough that this next attempt would work. "Ready?" Alex asked. "Yeah," Hera nodded and started to make the key again. Using red flower mana she formed the legs, then green leaf mana to form the body, and the red blood mana in the face. Everything matched the sculpture as best as she could. To end things, she used shadow mana to create a keyhole behind her construct and then placed the key inside it. Just as the two shapes got together, a loud locking noise echoed through the chamber. "Did it work?" Alex asked. The key slowly turned to the side, and the shape of the dragon shifted. This image of Kirouhebi that Hera created unraveled itself and formed a large ring. At the same time, a white light covered the entire area inside the ring. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have opened the way to the Temple. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess we just walk over it," Hera looked back at her friend. "If you say so. I''m completely lost here," Alex said. Hera nodded and touched the glowing light. Her hand passed through without a problem. There was even some wind on the other side. She put the rest of her arm and then her face before crossing the portal completely. On the other side, she was greeted by a view like no other. Massive pillars of white and green rose to the sky until they reached a darker cloud that blocked some of the sun rays from reaching the ground. Small flower beds covered the area outside the marble path leading inside the building. Beyond the pillars, they could see the inside of the temple, and looking to the sides, it seemed like they were in the middle of the sky. Alex joined Hera right away, and they started exploring the temple. Walking to the sides, they reached what should be the end of this place. The ground suddenly stopped, almost like this was on the top of a mountain. However, when looking down, Hera could tell that this wasn''t the case. For one, her head hit an invisible wall that stopped her from going past the edge of the floor. Despite that, she still could see the things on the ground. They were currently overlooking the entire room. She could see the jungle village in the middle, the Waperath Kingdom in one corner, and an endless vast jungle to the other side. If that was all, Hera would think that this room was much bigger than it actually was, but even from this height, she could see where the invisible wall divided the room from whatever was beyond it. "This shouldn''t work like that¡­." Alex stared at the world below. "How so?" "We are too high. A plane wouldn''t be able to see a room this size like that. If we are going by earth''s standards, we are getting close to the stratosphere. And I''m pretty sure grass can''t grow there." "Are you sure?" Alex just nodded in response, "OK, this is really weird." A couple of minutes passed with them just staring at the ground, amazed by the sight, then it was time to explore the temple. Everything had the same color mixing white and green, and all the ceilings seemed to be made out of clouds. There were also a number of paintings, murals, and texts spread around every wall inside the temple. As they walked, Hera realized that this place was much bigger inside than it seemed outside. Curious about what this all meant, Hera started translating everything she saw. "Hey, quick question. How does coming here help you find the Blademaster?" "Well, the last piece of information I have is that they came to the temple. So there might be some clue about them somewhere around here," Hera explained. "I guess that''s fair," Alex started looking around while Hera translated one of the murals. She turned to a few corridors and eventually found a place with several paintings, murals, and drawings of the room. It took a moment for her to realize that all those art pieces were actually maps or depictions of the room through the ages. Near the entrance, she saw only a picture of a large green jungle, then there was another with a small village being created at the feet of the rib-like formation. As she kept looking at the pictures, she saw the city develop, create the ziggurat and the structures around the tall rocks, but she stopped about 8 images in. Every single one of the drawings in this place was surrounded by the green forest. However, the 9th picture was very different. This picture wasn''t an aerial view but just a single image of what a part of the room should look like. Instead of the verdant jungle, she could see white trees that towered over the mountains, a thick purple mist coming out of its trunks whit swirls of black and red mixed everywhere. The ground looked like a purple swamp that bubbled in the heat, and in the sky, large lime green crystals of ice were floating ominously, almost as if they were overlooking what was happening. Alex couldn''t take her eyes out of this picture and unconsciously started to step towards it. "Stop," a voice echoed through the temple. Even Hera, who was in a completely different corridor, was able to hear it. But Alex was enthralled by the painting. Everything else vanished from her mind. All she wanted right now was to get closer to the picture. "I said STOP!" the voice now turned into a roar, and a massive blast of wind pushed Alex out of the map room. She didn''t stop outside but was carried by the current through the corridors she passed by, and eventually, even Hera was caught by the same force, only stopping when both of them were outside the temple. "What happened?" Hera asked, pushing Alex''s feet away from her head. "I¡­ don''t know," Alex felt light-headed. She just remembered entering the area filled with maps and then¡­ nothing. "Do not approach that painting, Human. It will bring you nothing but suffering," a louder voice came from beyond the cloud ceiling of the temple. Something pushed through the clouds, "While I am in this place, no one shall come close to that cursed painting again." The owner of the voice appeared. It was a creature with a long snout but no war or whiskers on its face. Both red eyes faced forward, and branch-like horns came out of the back of its head. "Are¡­ are you Kirouhebi?" Hera asked with wide eyes. 411 - Curse Hera and Alex were staring at the giant face of this dragon that came from the cloud ceiling. The mouth of the dragon changed into something that could be called a smile. "That is correct. I am Kirouhebi. That is both my name and my title. It''s been a long time since I heard anyone else saying my name," Kirouhebi''s expression changed as he turned to Alex. Their eyes became sharper, and their mouth twisted, showing something very similar to disgust, "It is just a shame that we have met in such circumstances." "What happened?" Hera looked at Alex, still unable to understand what was going on. "I don''t know¡­ I saw a¡­" Alex started speaking but was quickly interrupted again. "Do not speak of it! If you attempt to speak a single word about what you saw, I shall destroy you where you stand," small whirlwinds started to pull the cloud from the ceiling as lightning crackled around the dragon. Kirouhebi''s presence was too much for Alex, who just froze when she was threatened. They had yet to even try to see the status of that dragon, but just by looking at it, anyone could tell that they were in the presence of an extremely powerful being. Seeing that Alex wasn''t doing anything, Hera stepped in, "We are sorry for anything we did wrong in your temple. It wasn''t our intention. We came here for a reason and got overwhelmed with everything that is on display." "You have done nothing wrong. It''s not your fault that that one saw the painting. Alas, the damage is done," Kirouhebi came out of the cloud showing now their full form. They had green scales, and the claws in their legs were completely red, just like their eyes. As they came closer to the ground, their size shifted. Now, instead of being large enough to cover the entrance with their head, Kirouhebi was about the same size as a horse. "What damage? What painting?" Hera turned to Alex. "That is not something she should say. Among these hallowed halls lies a record of something that should be forgotten," Kirouhebi got closer to Alex, reducing some of the pressure he was exerting, "What you saw is a curse. A curse that once devastated this room. It is infectious, and just by describing what you saw, the curse will spread. The more you are exposed to those images and descriptions of what happened, the more this curse will affect you." "What is going to happen to me?" Alex''s voice was trembling. "It depends on your mental fortitude. If you are able to ignore the urge to know more about the curse, nothing will come to it. If not, you might start a new epidemic. Or be consumed by it." "What do you mean consumed? The curse will kill her?" Hera asked. "It will not. However, the curse will force your mind to think about it, to yearn for its knowledge and power. You will stop paying attention to other things and search only for the curse. Eventually, even food and water will seem like a waste of time, time that could be used to find the curse. It creates an uncontrollable addiction in your mind," Kirouhebi explained. "Why would anyone want to find the curse?" Alex gasped, feeling more and more scared. "For power, for knowledge, maybe even out of the hubris of believing that they will be different from the million others. The reasons will vary from person to person, and the early stages are the hardest part. I hope you take my warning to heart and do not share anything about what you saw with anyone." "What¡­ what would happen if I told anyone?" Alex looked up towards the dragon. "As I already explained, the curse will spread. If it gets out of control, the only way to solve that issue is to trap all those who were affected in a room where they can perish along with the curse," Kirouhebi had a sad expression on their face. "Is¡­ is that what you did here? Is that why the¡­" Alex stopped herself before saying too much. "Yes," Kirouhebi replied in a way that it was hard to ask any follow-up questions. Yet, Hera couldn''t help herself. "Forgive me, but if the curse spreads just by knowing of it, wouldn''t I be infected too since you told me about it?" Kirouhebi shook their head, "No. It is not the curse''s existence that spreads but the contents of the curse itself. Telling you about those details and issues that followed won''t be a problem. But by knowing what the curse looked like, reading records, or hearing someone else describe it, this curse will spread." "Couldn''t you remove the painting then? Isn''t it something dangerous?" Alex asked. "I cannot. My role is to watch and assist those who live in the Waperath Jungle and maintain this temple. I am not allowed to change anything here, even if it is something that could pose a danger again." Hearing that, Hera got confused. The way Kirouhebi was speaking was much similar to that of a guide. Could he be one of them? To make sure, she activated her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kirouhebi - the one who watches from beyond ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as she activated the skill, the dragon turned to her, "It seems that manners have changed during the last few hundreds of years. The people who used to live here would ask permission before observing someone." The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Hera felt her cheeks burning up instantly, and even her ears got red, "I''m sorry. I just never met anyone like you, and I wasn''t sure if you were considered a monster or something else." "And what would you do if the system considered me a monster? Would you try to kill me?" Kirouhebi asked without changing his demeanor. "No, not at all. It was more along the lines of what I could do if you decided to attack me. If I should just run or try to fight back," Hera quickly replied. Kirouhebi nodded, "I suppose self-preservation is something that all living creatures possess." "Since we are on the subject, what are you?" Alex asked. "I am the overseer of this room. Someone who watches the room as it flourishes, maintains the records in this temple, and helps those who find this place," Kirouhebi looked back at the temple. For a moment, shadows of several connected buildings appeared behind the clouds, but they vanished just as quickly as they appeared. The dragon turned back to the humans, "And you? Who are you, and why are you here?" "It was because of me. I was looking for someone that people called Blademaster. They were supposed to be a group of people who fought together, but I can''t say for sure if they were really just a single person. I''m Hera, an explorer, by the way, and she''s Alex, an assassin," Hera explained, but the whole thing about this curse was still on her mind. "Despite our rough initial impression, it is a pleasure to meet you. I haven''t talked with anyone in a few decades," Kirouhebi bowed their head. "The pleasure is ours," Alex bowed repeatedly. "Can you tell me where the Blademaster went? I found information about him coming to this room but then¡­ nothing," Hera asked. "He is in the mausoleum." "There is a mausoleum here? Is he still alive?" Hera got excited about this idea. The Blademaster was here! "No, he is no longer alive. He was suffering from a disease and came to me in hopes that I could help him with his issue. Sadly, my knowledge was lacking, and after trying to help him figure out a cure, he ultimately died because of his condition," Kirouhebi looked back to the temple, "Despite my eons of existence, I am not someone omniscient. Even to this day, having seen all that your current technology can accomplish, I''m still unable to find a solution to the Blademaster condition." "What was his disease?" Alex asked. "Back then, we used a different name, but now it is something you call a brain aneurysm. Healing spells can only do so much, and the Blademaster was already someone with weak health. Now I can make an educated guess that the reason why he died was due to a rupture of one, or maybe several, aneurysms. Alas, it could also be a tumor or a number of other conditions that affect the brain. With the tools we had at the time, there was nothing me or his companions could do to find the cause of his condition, much less save his life." "He wasn''t alone? He came here with other people?" Hera asked, thinking that maybe those others could also help her find more about the Blademaster. "That¡­ is a complicated question. In a way, no, he wasn''t alone, but at the same time, he was," Kirouhebi replied. "Did that one make sense to you?" Alex turned to Hera. "Not in the slightest," Hera looked back to the temple, "Can you explain what you meant by that?" "Unfortunately, no." "OK¡­ Can you take us to the mausoleum?" "Are you asking about the mausoleum where people are laid to rest or to the one where the mortal remains of the Blademaster are present?" Kirouhebi asked. "The one where the Blademaster is." "I cannot assist you with that. You must find it yourself." "And you can''t tell me why, right?" Hera probed, trying to see if she could find a hint of the reason why the dragon was being so cryptic. "Correct. This is not something I can help you with. If you wish to search for it, you are free to roam the temple halls. There will be no place that is locked for you. This temple is open to all," Kirouhebi glanced at Alex before continuing, "However, I ask you not to come to the map room. What you seek is not to that side, and I have to speak with you, Alex. To explain what you should expect in your current situation." "Is it a good idea to have her go back there?" Hera asked. "I shall block the cursed picture with my own body. This will also serve to prove to me if she is able to handle this curse." "Quick question. Are you affected by the curse too?" Alex realized that the dragon knew too much for it not to have been infected. "I am. I have the infection, and I can spread it. But thanks to the protection from the system, I''m not affected by the affliction that accompanies the curse. But the obsession is still present. I have to maintain a modicum of self-control. That''s why I took so long to notice you were in the map room, Alex," Kirouhebi turned to the assassin, "I trained myself to forget the existence of that room as a way to remove the temptation." "Even you had to do that much?" Alex asked, receiving a solemn nod in response. "That is why I ask you to come with me. We have much to discuss, and I hope it helps you understand why you should never discuss this with anyone else," Kirouhebi explained. "I''m OK with that," Alex nodded and started walking towards the temple, but Hera grabbed her hand. "Are you sure? I mean, Kirouhebi seems like a cool dragon, but we don''t know if this isn''t a trap." "If it helps. I am unable to harm anyone. At most, I can kick people out of the temple. Still, even beyond that, I cannot do anything against anyone who came to the temple from the Waperath Jungle," Kirouhebi turned around and started walking inside the temple. "What about the whole ''destroy us where we stand,'' thing?" Hera asked. "It was just a way to give me time to explain the situation. Not to say I am unable to affect you with some spells if needed." "I think he really wants to help. If he wanted to attack us somehow, he could do that before taking us out of the map room. Besides, he already gave you quite a big hint. You just have to look to the right-wing of the temple," Alex said as she started to follow the dragon. "We have no idea how big this place is. It might be stupidly big," Hera sighed. "Well, it''s better than nothing," Alex shrugged. They walked together until the map room when they split off. Hera went to the right while Alex and Kirouhebi went to the left, inside the map room. Hera was trying to keep her cool, but the way the dragon spoke about the Blademasters and how they couldn''t say anything about it felt like how the guides would talk about legacies. They never gave a straight answer. Everything was either so cryptic that it didn''t even make sense or just an answer along the lines of ''I can''t tell you that.'' She had this nagging feeling that this would end up being a legacy, and if that was the case, Hera wanted to find it herself. 412 - Barren Room Alex watched Hera move away from the map room. She waited until the explorer turned to another corridor and was out of sight before turning to Kirouhebi, "What is going to happen with me?" "As I have said, hopefully, nothing. You should just feel an urge to learn more about the curse and its effects. The reason for that will vary. Some might think that there is a hidden strength behind the curse. Others will say that it can give them an answer they seek. In the end, it is all part of the curse itself. It will latch on to your desires, your wishes, and twist what you see to match them. If you lost a loved one, the curse will show you that it can bring people back from the dead. If you want to be stronger, the curse will give you some strength, and the more you give yourself to it, the stronger you will get. If you want to live forever, it will give you a glimpse of eternity and make you feel better, almost like a drug," Kirouhebi explained. "What if you want something impossible? Like bringing people back from the dead or traveling to the past?" Alex asked. "The curse will show you those things. It won''t matter if it is possible or not. The curse will show you ways of achieving your goals. But, the answer will never be complete, even if it seems close to the final result. There will always be something missing, a small piece that will send you deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, as they say." "This is all the good option, right?" Kirouhebi nodded with a sad expression, "It is, although that is also an entry point to the bad option." "Please don''t be cryptic now. What was going on? What is going to happen to me?" Alex asked. "What do you remember of the painting you saw?" "Everything was weird. The ground seemed to be part of a swamp, the trees didn''t have any color, and there was that weird mist surrounding everything. I think there was something in the air too, but I can''t remember. Maybe I could look in the painting again to confirm that," when the mention of the painting came, Alex forgot completely that she shouldn''t think about it. "No, you can''t. That craving, that''s what the curse does," Kirouhebi stared at Alex, trying to see if she was going to try to run for the painting. "Craving? No, no, I''m not craving anything; I''m just thinking about it. I can stop anytime I want¡­" realizing that she was using the classic line of an addict, the assassin stopped and literally took a step back, "No¡­ I¡­ I can see that. This is¡­ I didn''t even realize that I was like that. Fuck, this is a really bad drug." "Do you have experience with that?" "Not personally, but I have a cousin that struggled with addiction." "Then you might be better equipped to deal with what you will go through. You must fight against that desire to see the curse again. Luckily, in your current state, knowing more about what the curse does, how it acts, and its origin won''t have any detrimental effects." "Really?" Alex asked. "Yes. Those details carry the infection, but that is it. They can''t increase the curse beyond a certain threshold. In fact, my experience says that if you clear up most of your doubts, it becomes harder for you to succumb to those cravings. So ask, and I''ll do my very best to share my knowledge," Kirouhebi continued. "Anything?" "About the curse, yes." "What will happen in the worst-case scenario? With me, I mean." "If you succumb to the curse, it will break down your body. Your skin and bones will become what you saw in the painting. You will still be alive. I cannot say for sure if you will be suffering or not, but you will no longer be considered human. Instead, you will be just a moving mass of curse whose only goal is to spread and consume." Alex shuddered with the notion, "Is there a way to reverse that? Or to stall the process?" "No and yes. If that process starts, you will slowly lose your human form. It will take years for you to completely change into the curse. What happens is that, in essence, the curse will change how your body decomposes, forcing you to stay alive for the entire process. I suppose that in a way, its promises of power and immortality are not a lie," Kirouhebi looked up in deep thought. "I don''t consider that life. How do I stop that? And is that going to happen with me either way? Should I try to get killed before I die of natural causes?" Alex was feeling overwhelmed. All she did was look at a painting. Now she had a death sentence? "Calm down. That won''t happen quickly, and the madness will take over you before you reach that point. Unfortunately, there is little you can do to physically see the curse''s progress. The only thing that can tell you how far gone you are is your mental state. What I saw many people doing during that period was to write journals. The most important part is to see if you are losing any time. If you start noticing that, you can look for a healer or someone who has a curse breaker spell. It won''t be enough to remove the curse, but it can hold it back." This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "How did that all start? Where did that curse come from? It seems too much of a mess for it to be just a spell or something natural." "You are correct. Let me show you one thing," a transparent waterfall appeared behind Alex with images of other paintings showing. In that picture, she could see the Waperath Kingdom being besieged by an army of ants. Thousands of bugs were climbing on top of the walls, making bridges around the moat with their own bodies while the people in the top of the walls were fighting back, "Living in a jungle, where monsters are free to grow and expand as they wish, is a difficult thing. The beastmen were able to survive for eons being the apex predator, but one day they met with an enemy that was much more dangerous than anything they had seen before." "Ants?" Alex asked. "Yes," Kirouhebi changed the image to show an anatomically accurate picture of a large ant. It had detailed information about each of their body parts as well as notes about their behavior and natural defenses, "The beastmen believed that the ability to use tools would put them on top of the food chain. Even after having encounters with tigers, hawks, and other predators, they always managed to push them back thanks to their ingenuity. For their hubris, they failed to notice the changes in the jungle and how one species was growing ever stronger. It wasn''t something that changed in a day. The Wood Ants grew over a few decades. Each generation was more powerful than the previous one, and in a couple of hundred years, the ants grew enough to become a kingdom capable of overwhelming the beastmen." The picture changed again, showing the fight between the beastmen and the ants one more time. People were fighting in the ziggurat, and the rest of the city was in ruins, swarmed by the ants. On the top of the painting, there was a single person floating above everything, surrounded by a purple aura. Alex followed the lines created by the energy until she noticed the ants affected by that. They seemed corrupted and were fighting against the attacking ants, almost like they were mind-controlled. "At a time when the onslaught of the ants was so strong that it seemed like the beastmen were about to lose. Someone appeared with a powerful legacy that revolved around curses. He managed to push back the ants and even control some to patrol the area around the city, but even with his help, they couldn''t make a final push to the colony to destroy the queen. Together, with some of the mages in the kingdom, they worked night and day for years, developing a curse that would finally be enough to reach the heart of the ant colony and stop that war once and for all. To do so, the mage would have to use his own legacy as a source of power, and the best way to get it close to the queen was by giving himself up to the ants. Despite their strength and development, the ants were still ants and would bring the food with the most nutrients directly to their ruler. Making the ultimate sacrifice, the mage let the ants attack him, and by using a spell that would simulate his death, he was carried to the queen, where he started his plan. He used his legacy to create a curse that would eat away at every ant in the forest, but the magic was too strong. Instead of simply destroying the ants, his curse took hold of everything that came in contact with it," Kirouhebi continued to explain as Alex stared at that picture. "But¡­ Why is the curse stronger now? Shouldn''t it have been destroyed when the mage died?" "I''m afraid I don''t know. Some theories say that the mage is still alive to this day, trapped inside the curse he created. While others say that the curse became the legacy holder itself. What I know for sure is that that mage is no longer in this room. Or at least what the system considered to be him no longer exists," Kirouhebi stopped the waterfall, "The rest of the story you already know. The curse spread, and eventually, people had to flee this room, allowing the curse to consume everything here before starving to death. All records in the city were destroyed and all knowledge of the curse was removed from everyone''s minds by another noble soul who was willing to stay behind. The initial curse would only last until the target''s death, but, ironically, its evolution made it stronger and more resilient, but also made it require food to maintain itself and spread, and without it the curse would perish. When the entire room became a land of curse, it had nothing else to devour, and after 200 years, it finally died out. I kept the room closed during that time, so no one could enter and allow it to spread beyond here. When I was certain that this was safe, everything was barren. It took me years to revive the jungle, and if I''m being honest, I still don''t know how the animals and creatures returned. I can only think of it as a blessing from the system," Kirouhebi smiled. "For something so big to happen. Shouldn''t there be dungeons about this? And wouldn''t those dungeons also spread the curse?" Alex asked. "Not exactly. Dungeons are under the protection of the system. The ones related to these events do not share the curse. In fact, even the actual effects and details are considerably different than the actual events. If you are curious, try doing the hard mode of that dungeon you''ve been doing these past few days," Kirouhebi explained. "How did you know that?" Alex gasped. "I know what happens in my room. Don''t take that as me being able to watch what everyone does, but if needed, I can look up what someone was doing. I am the one who watches from beyond after all." "What about the other one? The one about the curse?" "That one is located in a different place, and it also is something you can only do in the hard mode." Alex and Kirouhebi talked for some time, discussing the details of what happened, who was the mage, and how was life in a barren room. Until the dragon stopped and looked away, "It seems like your friend found what she was looking for. Apologies, but I must go to her for a moment. Would you mind walking away from the map room? I admit that even if you seem to be someone who won''t be enthralled by the curse, I rather not give that foul disease any leeway." "Sure, I understand," Alex nodded and walked out of the room while the dragon jumped into the air and vanished beyond the cloud ceiling of the temple. Alex was just a few meters away from the map room when she stopped. She understood all the dangers, but in the end, the curse was a legacy, and there was someone stuck inside it. Maybe there was a way to free the mage from his eternal prison. If she was in his shoes, she would want someone to at least try to help him. And Kirouhebi told her that since she already had seen the painting, it would take more than just some superficial knowledge to increase the effects. Nothing would happen if she just took a quick peek, and if she used her [Hide], Kirouhebi might never know. 413 - Test Hera walked through the temple for what felt like hours. Even if she knew she was in the right wing of the structure, there were still too many rooms to look through. To make things worse, there were corridors inside corridors which caused her to backtrack several times through hallways that she had already seen. While looking through the temple, Hera found a place that seemed secluded and even tried to call a guide, but the skill didn''t work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You already have called the guide of the Waperath Jungle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With a sigh, Hera continued walking. She finally reached the mausoleum after almost fifteen minutes of roaming around. It was surprisingly well preserved, but instead of having tombs or something like that, there were shelves and shelves filled with urns. As a way to protect them, there was an invisible wall between Hera and the urns. Kirouhebi was probably the only one capable of rearranging them or adding them to the temple. It was nice knowing that some people would still be here even after thousands of years. She could read the names and titles of everyone who ended up here, but there was no mention of the Blademaster or anything like that. This felt much more like a regular graveyard where anyone could be laid to rest than something exclusive. It wasn''t just because of the lack of family emblems as decorations in the room, but because each urn was unique and very different from the rest. Some were adorned with gold and other jewels and had markings and symbols that made Hera think about noble houses, while others were simply made out of clay that seemed very simple. Along with the name of each person who was here, there were also their dates of birth and death, and they varied wildly. Most of them were from thousands of years before Khan. The frequency of people who were ''buried'' here was much lower these days. With a quick glance, she found who she assumed was the last person buried here, about 600 years ago. Leaving this room, Hera started thinking about where the Blademaster could be. First, she looked for a place where people could hang out since he was always accompanied by a group, but it didn''t seem like there was anything like that around. Her next idea was to find a blacksmith or a place where people would train. Since she was looking for the Blademaster, it was logical to expect that she would need to find it somewhere related to martial arts. The next ten minutes passed by quickly as Hera ran through the temple looking for those areas and when she finally found them, but they were very barren. Looking for clues in the training area was quick since it was just a sandpit. The blacksmith wasn''t that much better, there was a forge with a large anvil, but that was about it. Hera sighed and kept going through the corridor until she noticed another room. This one was an armory filled with weapons on display. Most of them were in glass cases or in the walls. She could even touch them and pick them up from their display cases, but nothing happened when using [Observe] or [Inspect]. It was like she was using her skills in the air. There was a nagging feeling on the back of her mind that there was something hidden here. Being very meticulous, Hera made a point of checking every single weapon she found. Everything was the same, different types of weapons, yes, but nothing that would even appear in the skills. She changed her focus to the boxes of random weapons in the corner of the room. Hera felt frustrated, but at least this was better than just running around aimlessly in the temple. After picking up the second to last box on the floor, she noticed a small dagger at the bottom of the container. Everything here seemed well maintained and somewhat adorned, but this felt a bit below the type of item that should be here. Not to mention that it was the only weapon that wasn''t standing up. Hera reached for the dagger, but before she could pick it up, a voice came from behind her, and something grabbed her leg, pulling her back. "I see you have found what you were looking for," Kirouhebi said. Hera jumped up before touching the dagger. She kicked away at the invisible force that grabbed her, "What the hell was that?" "I had to talk to you before you started." "Started what?" "You''ll see," Kirouhebi smiled. Hera rolled her eyes, "OK, what do you want to talk about? And you could just talk to me, you know, there was no need to grab me like that." "Apologies. I should have arrived here when you touched that box, but I was¡­ distracted," Kirouhebi''s expression was weird for a moment before returning to a smile, "Now, you are about to touch something that belonged to a very good friend of mine. You are not the first to do so, but during all the years that it stayed here, no one was able to complete the task." "What task?" Hera asked. "It is not my place to say. It saddens me to see this memory of my old friend stuck here without a new owner. For that, I wish to give you some advice. You may attempt multiple times. Your first attempt will last one full hour. Then, each time you try again, ten minutes will be removed from your time until you are unable to attempt the test again," Kirouhebi explained. "What test? The way you are talking about this almost makes it look like I''m getting a legacy," Hera tried to hide her excitement, but it was incredibly hard to do so. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "We do not require any more trickery or subterfuge. You already seem aware of what that dagger is. Indeed, it is the legacy that once belonged to the Blademaster, and by touching it, you will have a chance to become its master," Kirouhebi leaned over to stare at the dagger, "I do hope you managed to complete the test." "Do you know what it is?" Hera asked. "Unfortunately, I don''t. It seems that if you tell anyone what the test is, you lose any remaining attempts. And those who use all their attempts will forget what the test was. I''ve seen dozens of people trying to get this legacy, but none succeeded. A few didn''t even make it past their second try." "What do you mean by that? Did they die?" Hera gasped, she knew that legacies were supposed to be hard things to get, but she never considered that a test could kill her. "No, nothing like that, but they gave up after their second try. Or at least, never returned. Perhaps they had an emergency that made them give up the legacy, but that is purely a personal theory." "Why are you telling me all of this?" Hera stared at Kirouhebi. She barely knew the creature, and Alex even looked at a painting she wasn''t supposed to. This type of kindness wouldn''t happen without reason. "Because I want this legacy to leave this place. It has been here for thousands of years, and unlike me or this temple, it was never made to stay in a single place for so long. The legacy stops me from speaking too much about it, but every time someone comes here, I pray that they find it." "Is that really it?" "It is. You may not trust me, but there is no lie or hidden meaning in my words. I truly hope you can achieve your goals," Kirouhebi nodded. "OK then¡­" Hera looked back to the crate where the dagger was located but stopped before doing anything, "Do you mind leaving? I know it sounds rude, but I''m not sure if I trust you yet, and turning my back to a dragon doesn''t seem like a good idea." Kirouhebi turned around, "Understandable. But you realize that I don''t need to be here to do anything. My power affects the entire temple at all times. Alas, I shall do what you requested. Peace of mind can be something powerful," as he finished speaking, the dragon jumped to the ceiling again and vanished from sight. Hera waited another minute before reaching for the dagger again. The moment she touched it, she felt her body freezing, and a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a legacy. You are being transported to the location of the legacy trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera felt a warm sensation covering her body, much like what would happen when she crossed a doorway. She closed her eyes to avoid the bright light, and when she opened them, the sight made her freeze. It didn''t matter where she looked. Everything here was an endless expanse with thousands of weapons stuck to the ground. If one would say the words ''sword graveyard,'' it would be hard to come up with anything different from what she was seeing. The ground was brown and brittle like the dirt in a place going through a drought and the sky was gray and cloudy with light coming from somewhere beyond it. Just as Hera was getting her bearings, another notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find and wield the weapon used by the previous legacy holder. Time remaining: 1:00:00 If you fail the test, you will receive a time penalty in your next attempt. If you mention the test details to anyone, you forfeit any remaining attempts to acquire the legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera blinked a few times, "How the fuck am I supposed to find the weapon he used?" Thinking that it was better to have more eyes to look around, she tapped her necklace to allow Daskka to come out of it, "Are you feeling better?" Daskka nodded, but she still seemed a bit drowsy, "OK, stay on my shoulder until you wake up. Then I''m going to need your help to find something here." Hera started walking through this field, looking at the weapons to find something that could give her a hint about the weapon he used. The main problem was that there was no mention of what weapon the Blademaster used, even in the pictures or descriptions that Hera found. Considering the only painting with a more crisp image of the Blademasters, she was looking for either a long sword, a dagger, a double-bladed axe, a great sword, a rapier, or a glaive. To make matters worse, she couldn''t say for sure if that painting was an accurate representation or just someone who saw them at a distance. If it was the second option, those weapons could be just the rough shapes of the ones used by the group. This meant that she was basically searching for any weapon with a bladed edge. It was the same as saying any of the weapons in this graveyard. "There is nothing saying that I''m in trouble if I pick the wrong one," Hera said to herself as she picked one of the swords and tried pulling it out of the ground, but the weapon wouldn''t budge. Crouching beside the sword, Hera tried to see if there were any markings or something like that. This was a katana with a small blue line going all the way to what seemed to be the edge of the blade, although she couldn''t see the tip since it was stuck to the ground. Looking at the handle, she found just some blue wraps and a well-made metal guard, but it was simple and with no unique designs or anything like that. It seemed to be the type of weapon to be mass-produced, aside from the blue line in the middle of the blade. When looking at the other side, she noticed something written down right at the base of the katana, but she couldn''t tell if it was something magic or an actual language. Hera pulled up her tablet and was about to take a picture of it when she stopped. She had no idea if showing someone this picture was a bad move. The test said that if she mentioned the test to anyone, she would fail it and wouldn''t be able to try it again. Could that also count pictures? Hera decided against taking pictures, but she did her best to copy whatever was written there. After finishing, she was about to get up when she noticed that the weapon to her left also had something written on the blade. It was a glaive with half of its edge embedded into the ground. Hera looked over the following weapons and found writing in each of them, but everything was different. It didn''t even look like they were from the same language. "Maybe this has nothing to do with the words," Hera got up and started walking, searching for something different from everything else in this place. 414 - Unexpected skill Hera spent the first twenty minutes of the test running straight ahead to look for something unique, but she couldn''t find a single thing that stood out in the middle of what she was now calling the Weapon Graveyard. Not to say that there weren''t any unique pieces of gear here. She found a lance that was two times taller than she was, a handaxe that had a blade longer than its handle, a black sword with golden edges that made it seem like it was glowing hit by the light. She wrote down what each of those weapons had written on them, but it wasn''t any languages she understood. Flashy and unique armaments weren''t the only thing she could find. Other weapons seemed more simple. Plain metal swords and axes, spears and lances, daggers, and two-handed axes were sticking out from the grout everywhere. The variation seemed endless. Some of the weapons Hera found looked modern to make this even more confusing. She saw a couple of daggers with rubber handles, and some markings seemed too much like a machine pattern to be made in an ancient setting. "Maybe this place is not showing actual weapons that the Blademaster used. Maybe this is just like a representation of it," Hera said to the air but received a positive response from Daskka. It seemed like the snake agreed with her idea, "Can you even understand the difference between old and new weapons?" Hearing that, Daskka huffed and started floating away, looking around to find something that could help. Another twenty minutes went by, but Hera got nowhere. She tried saying that all the weapons could be used by the Blademaster, using magic and saying find anything. Knowing that her time was almost over, Hera decided to focus on getting the most amount of information she could before getting kicked out of the test. She started writing down every inscription, even if she didn''t know if it was from a specific language. If she could find out what that meant, it could be some sort of clue to what she had to do. Maybe in this sea of weapons, there was something in plain English or something in the old language of the beastmen, but she wasn''t able to find anything like that. Even Daskka couldn''t find anything before the time was up, and both of them froze. A bright light covered their eyes, and they were transported back to the Waperath Temple. Hera glanced at Daskka for a moment and sighed, "Thanks for the help, but I think this is not going to be that easy." Daskka felt her owner''s frustration and wrapped herself around her neck, rubbing Hera''s cheek with her face. Less than a minute went by and Hera was still staring at the dagger in the bottom of the crate when her tablet vibrated. She pulled it up and saw a message from Alex asking her if she was ready to leave. Hera sighed and started to think. She would need to go back to the city and then come back here, that should easily take another week or so, and that was considering she got another ride with Lecter. Silah would be pissed with that, but she wasn''t about to let a legacy slip through her fingers. The bright side was that no one seemed to know how to get here. So as long as they didn''t tell anyone, it should be hard for people to find this place. In the end, Hera replied to the message, saying that yes, she was ready to leave, but she would need to come back here soon. She started setting up the boxes of weapons the same way they were before, with the one where the dagger was, in the second crate from the bottom. After placing the third box, Kirouhebi appeared behind her and helped the explorer fix the rest of the setup. "Come, I''ll guide you to the exit. Also, don''t feel discouraged. Whatever the test is, all challengers fail even after several attempts," the dragon said as they started walking through the temple. "Thanks. I could have used some help to find this place," Hera sighed. "All you had to do was ask." "You said you couldn''t tell me where the Blademaster was!" "Yes, but I never said you couldn''t ask about how to get to other places," Kirouhebi replied with a chuckle. Hera stopped walking altogether and just stared at the dragon, not believing what she had just heard. Even Daskka was staring daggers at them. "If you stay there, I''ll leave you behind." Hera shook her head and just kept walking for a while. About five minutes passed before she asked, "Is Alex going to be OK?" Kirouhebi nodded, "I believe so. I left her alone near the map room as a test, and I couldn''t sense her getting back inside to see the painting. When I returned, she was walking away from that place. However, she was still close to the room. I believe she might be struggling a bit, but we continued to talk about other subjects for the next hour after that. It was a bit of a shame, really." "A shame?" "Oh¡­ forgive me. It''s been a long time since I''ve toyed with that curse. It seems like I''m not as accustomed to dealing with that as I used to be. If more people are coming back here, I should practice that again." "Isn''t that dangerous?" Hera asked. "It has the potential to be. However, even when people would constantly come here, only a very small number of people are called by the painting." "How many?" "Something around one in ten thousand." "Oh¡­ yeah, maybe that can be less of a problem. Do you want us to tell people about how to get here?" Hera looked to the side. There was a room that seemed almost like an old arcade. "I would not be opposed to you two telling people about the heart of the forest and the riddle in there. Telling them how to come here directly feels a bit¡­ cheap. I know how some people in this day and age are not very respectful of this kind of place. I would rather that only those who can truly appreciate this place would come. Alas, the choice is yours, and I understand that my wishes won''t last forever." "We can at least help keep that for now. Besides, there is even a chance that we die before reaching the city," Hera sighed. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "That is entirely up to you." "I''m not saying that we are going to keel over and die," Hera rolled her eyes. "I never said that. However, you do have a choice about where to return. Turn left here," Kirouhebi continued to walk, the four legs were in the ground, but their head was still taller than Hera. "What do you mean?" "I can send you back to where you came from or to a place close to the city." "Really? Can you send us anywhere in the room?" "No, only to three locations. The small shrine you saw in the heart of the forest. A small area near the Waperath Kingdom and where you came from. In your case, since that is the shrine, the options are somewhat reduced," Kirouhebi smiled at Hera. "Oh¡­ and do we have to be in a certain place to come here?" Hera asked. "You can''t come here from a dungeon or from inside the ziggurat in the Waperath Kingdom. The magic used in its construction causes some interference with the entrance," Kirouhebi explained. "Really?" "Indeed. Back in the day, some people tried to come here to escape the law. To avoid that, they created some barriers that stopped any type of teleportation from inside the structure." "Was that something common? People teleporting, I mean." "Not quite. A few could do something like that, but stopping it is easier than doing it. You see.." Kirouhebi continued talking about the theory behind stopping teleportation, which was simply messing up with the destination coordinates so the spells failsafe would activate. A few minutes went by, and the two reached the temple entrance where Alex was waiting for them, sitting on the ground by the entrance. "Hey. Did you find something?" the assassin got up. "I did," Hera stopped, thinking about what she could say. "What is it?" "Apparently, the Blademaster has a legacy, and I found it," Hera considered trying something else, but she didn''t want to risk it. Alex noticed her hesitation, "And? What else? Are you afraid I''m going to try to steal it?" "That shouldn''t be the case. The test is unique in a way that it doesn''t allow anyone to speak of its contents, or they would lose the chance to attempt it again. Hera here tried to challenge it once but failed." "Hang on. How can you know about all this?" Hera asked, realizing that someone must have told Kirouhebi about the test. "There were some people who gave up their attempts and told me about it. Alas, because of the memory clause, they could only give me small tidbits of information before forgetting everything they saw," the dragon shrugged. "So you really found a legacy?" Alex turned to Hera, who just nodded in response, "So we are staying here for a while longer?" "That''s the plan." "And what if you fail the test or whatever?" "Then I guess it''s your turn. Unless you want to fight me for it right now," Hera smiled. "Nah, I''ll wait to see if you mess up, but knowing you, I doubt it. It would be super mean if I tried to steal away something you spent an entire year chasing." "You say that, but some people search for legacies for much longer before getting it. Shane only found hers after 5 years, I think," Hera chuckled. "Yeah, but you weren''t looking for a legacy. You were looking for the Blademaster." "Which I still haven''t found," Hera sighed. "I apologize for interrupting, but that statement is not entirely true," Kirouhebi lowered their head to stay at the same level as Hera and Alex. "How so?" Hera turned around. "You have found his location, just not his grave." "Oh, please don''t tell me that he was buried inside the legacy," Alex gasped. "You could say that, yes. In fact, part of the reason I hope someone passes the test soon is so that his actual tomb may be placed in the temple. It would be nice to talk to him like that," Kirouhebi had a sad smile on his face. "It''s not the same, but you can talk to the legacy," Hera suggested. "I know, but as you said, it''s not the same. It feels less personal," the dragon gazed into the distance, thoughts of his old friend flooding his mind. After a few moments, he blinked and snapped back to reality, "Forgive me. It seems I''m falling back into bad habits. Now, shall I prepare your exit? Where do you wish to be dropped off?" Alex glanced at Hera, "The city, right?" "Yeah, the city," Hera might love exploring, but it was one thing to brave a jungle because you wanted, another to travel through it with another destination in mind. Besides, she was almost eaten by a plant today. She had no desire to go through that again. "Very well then. I hope to see you soon," Kirouhebi smiled, and the mana key appeared in the air again, unlocking the invisible lock and turning into the circular portal. Hera and Alex stepped through it, and they appeared outside of the Waperath Kingdom, a few hundred meters away from the city''s entrance in the middle of the jungle. If anyone was watching from the town, they wouldn''t see the two humans appearing out of the circular portal. However, Hera could see the city just fine. Still, they ran out of the forest as fast as they could. Unlike how it was in the temple, it was already the middle of the night. Maybe the temple was in an eternal day, or maybe Kirouhebi was controlling it to make it brighter for everyone. Either way, they didn''t want to risk staying in the jungle at this time of the day. In less than 15 minutes, they were already back in the city. Unfortunately, the hotel they were staying in was full, so they had to pick one that wasn''t designed by the triton. They ate dinner, and soon enough, both were already in bed sleeping. The day had been exhausting, and that was a good thing; otherwise, Hera wouldn''t be able to sleep thinking about everything she had to do during the next day. Hera got up at first light and rushed to the library, looking for anything that could help her translate the words she found. Krioz, the librarian, suggested an app that could help instead of having to deal with thousands of books. It was very expensive, and unless she got the subscription for it, all her translations could be used by the developer to improve the app. The problem with that was that she had no idea if the app would actually count as sharing information about the legacy. Not wanting to risk this, she started translating by hand. Doing that was another ordeal. She had to find languages that matched with the writing and then try to translate them. It took her two days to figure out one of the inscriptions. It was a longsword with a red gem in the handle with the words ''Silvanus Crash'' on the blade. Another three days went by before she managed to translate another passage. This one was from a small dagger encrusted with some shell-like lobster material on the side. It read ''Obriano de Luz.'' However, that wasn''t the only progress on the fifth day. After translating the dagger, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quests Triggered Explorer''s quest ¨C Researcher Skill You have acquired the abilities needed for one of the roles above. You may attempt one of the quests to unlock the related role skill. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the desired test will appear. Restriction: Quest must be completed within 24 hours of arriving in the test area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 415 - Researcher Role After triggering the quest, Hera went looking for Alex in the library. Ever since they came back from the temple, the assassin was looking into some magic spells. Apparently, she and Kirouhebi talked about the wind spell he used and other ways to control the battlefield that could work well with her fighting style. She was also looking into some curses but doing so in moderation not to make what she saw in the painting worse. Alex wanted to find a way to get rid of what was in her mind. That being said, she was trying to be careful not to mess with something that could aggravate her condition. Hera understood more or less what happened with her friend, and she was even helping Alex watch out for any possible symptoms of the curse getting stronger. Every night before bed, the explorer used the Luminous Life Litany to help fight back against anything. One of the biggest advantages of the spell was that she didn''t have to target something specifically. Instead, she could just use it and wait for it to latch on to something. Adding that to her [Shaper of Mana], it was a surprisingly effective curse breaker, even if, in this situation, it was nowhere near enough to remove the curse. At the very least, Alex felt the craving for knowledge weaken during the treatment. This time, Alex had a single book about curses and a few others about elemental magic that explained tactics and other ways to use wind, water, and earth to control your opponents. She was splitting her time between the training grounds in the guild and the library and today was one of the days dedicated to reading. "Hey, did you find anything good?" Hera asked. "A couple of things, but it will take a lot of practice to make it work. Like how can I make a pressurized air bullet to change the trajectory of an attack that''s not mine? How about you?" "I have a good problem," Hera sighed and sat down on a chair beside Alex. "Are you going to elaborate or just leave me hanging?" "I''m considering my options," Hera chuckled and leaned towards Alex, "Kidding aside. I got a role quest. For the Researcher skill." "Oof, I''m sorry. You were trying to get the mage for a while, weren''t you?" "Yeah, but my magic-related skills are stuck. I can''t figure out a way to recover mana more quickly, and things like Shaper of Mana are still rank one." "Do you think those skills you got when helping Lena made it harder?" "I think so. The reinforced mana thing seems to overlap with the mana regeneration. It increases the effects, but it kind of makes it harder to increase the skill itself, you know," Hera sighed. "But researcher might be good, right? I mean, couldn''t it help with what you''re doing now?" "Yeah, and who knows. Maybe there is something I''m still missing about how the skill works. But as far as I''m aware, it will be just something that lets me know how much I know about a subject and do some automatic cross-reference with my knowledge. But the number of details that I can find with that is much smaller than what Bonnie would get." "I mean, that is badass. Especially if it has some synergy with another skill. Like if it works with your map or your Hunter thing," Alex bumped her shoulder with Hera''s. "Yeah. Either way, I have to do the quest now. I don''t have the option not to do it. I mean, if I give up, I''ll just waste the rank of the skill that I got, and I''ll need to increase even more some other skill before getting another role quest." "Which skill was it, by the way?" Alex closed the book she was reading. "The ancient language one. It reached rank 5." "So, are you going to get the skill?" "Yeah. Tomorrow probably. It''s late, and I want to rest before going. I usually have a day, and rushing in seems like a bad idea." "OK, so I won''t wait for you to eat tomorrow." "You say like you ever wait. Your texts are always ''I''m going to eat,''" Hera rolled her eyes. The following day, Hera went to the closest doorway as soon as she woke up. Touching the frame, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role quest identified. Do you wish to begin the [Researcher] Role test? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera pressed yes, and she was transferred to a familiar place. There was a king-size bed in the corner, an oversized blue couch in the middle of the room with a small door leading to the kitchen behind it. On the walls, there was a pattern of wood that made the place feel like a treehouse, and the screen in front of the couch was set up with the view of a mountainside. "Why am I in my private room?" Hera asked loudly. She came here every now and then. During the trip, she even had Alex, Amanda, Cris, and Tim sleep here in a couple of rooms that didn''t have any hotels or any rooms available. Instinctively, she tapped her necklace and called Daskka. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Quest ¨C Researcher Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of a Researcher. You may attempt the Researcher role test to unlock Researcher-related skills. Study a topic enough to discover something new. You are able to pick between a number of subjects. Rewards: Researcher role skill ???????????? Failure: The quest will be lost. To attempt the test one more time, unlock the next tier of related skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s way too open-ended," Hera sighed. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "That''s why I''m here, kid," A slightly gruff and familiar voice came from something on top of the kitchen counter. Hera looked towards the sound and saw a green apple with a large smile on his face, "Peaches!" "Hey, kid. It''s been a while." She rushed over and opened her arms, "Can I give you a hug?" "Just don''t squeeze me too hard," Peaches replied and was picked up from the counter. While he was in Hera''s arms, Daskka appeared behind the explorer and stared at the guide, "What is that?" "Oh, this is Daskka. Daskka, this is Peaches. He''s a really good friend of mine." "An ego construct? That''s rare¡­ also, I''m going to need to double-check the rules. I''m not sure if she?" Peaches looked at Hera, who nodded in confirmation," She counts as someone else." "What? I mean, she''s intelligent, but wouldn''t she count as part of my equipment?" Hera gasped. She never considered that Daskka could be counted as a person for the guide skill even if she never called her over while talking to a guide. "That''s why I''m checking. Give me a minute," Peaches closed his eyes while Hera just waited. Two minutes passed before he opened his eyes again, "OK, so she doesn''t count as being a person around here. But, if she tells anyone about the guides, it will count as a strike for you." Hera nodded, "OK, that''s fair. I''m the only person she can talk to anyway. So are we good?" "Yeah, Wanna start already?" Peaches asked. "Well, hang on. How are things? We haven''t seen each other in over a year. Last time was when you showed me this place." "Things stopped being so hectic. Even if there are a lot more people becoming explorers these days, that part is easier to deal with. Things back home are good, and I''ve started playing some games. It just sucks that you guys don''t make playable characters like me." "I kind of get what you mean, but I think there are some games where you play as a slime. That might be the closest thing you''ll get." "I know. But I''m not a bloody slime," Peaches scoffed. "Are you sure?" Hera asked but just got a dirty look in response. She cleared her throat, "Anyway. Can you tell me what is going on with the quest?" Peaches sighed, "Sure. The idea is that you will get a few options about what you want to research. You will have this book with some information about the subject. What you have to do is use what is available in the test to expand your knowledge enough to reach the next tier." "My knowledge has tiers?" Hera asked. "Yeah, or at least according to the researcher skill." "Oh yeah, I remember reading something about that," Hera nodded. She did some research on the skills she could get, and there was a mention about the level of knowledge in a subject. "Exactly. You will only be able to see up to a certain tier. I think it was only up to B. Like in a test, you know," Peaches stopped talking for a moment, "Actually, It might be B-." "That''s still a lot." "Yeah, but the hardest part is the last 10%. It''s like baking. You can know how to make a pretty decent cake when following a recipe and maybe improve it a little bit. But doing one from scratch without a recipe is something you could only do when you are near that A grade." Hera tried to follow the analogy, but it was all over the place, "That¡­ doesn''t make that much sense. Not the 10% thing, I mean the rest." "Well¡­ yeah, you''re right. Sorry about that," Peaches sighed. "Are you OK? You seem a bit out of it." "I''m¡­ I''m dealing with some family stuff." "What happened?" Hera sat down on the couch. The test had yet to start and even if this was counting with the time she had, making sure Peaches was OK was more important. "Nina and Talpa are fighting. You know, the Kobold sisters you''ve met." "Yeah, I remember them. They literally saved my life. What happened?" "It is just stupid. We guides have a lot of free time in our hands, and last month we had a talent show. They always do a number on those things, this time wasn''t different, and their presentation was really good. But Talpa had to run off right away, skipping the encore because she was participating in another show with a few other guides who like to dance. Nina got livid because Talpa never said anything about doing another show, and the two have been fighting ever since. Like they are sisters and of course they fight, but it never lasted this long." "Right¡­ but why are they fighting? Is it because Talpa did another show or because she didn''t say she was going to?" Hera asked. "Honestly, I don''t even know anymore. At first, I thought it was because Talpa didn''t say anything about the second show. By the way, she only did it because one of the other group members wanted to watch a show that a band was doing back on earth live. And Talpa was the right height for the choreography. Nina was a bit too short for what they needed." "OK¡­ and what about now? Do you know why they are acting like that?" "It just escalated, every time they see each other, they start to fight, and the reason for the fight keeps changing. The latest one was because Talpa used all the conditioner. For fuck sake, we can just make more. I really don''t get it," Peaches sighed. "I''m sorry to hear it, and I don''t have experience with fights like that to give some advice, but maybe they just need to talk and tell each other why they are so angry." "I tried that, but they just kept yelling." Hera thought for a moment, "Do you have like a guide psychiatrist? They might need to go to couples counseling." "I think we have someone who does that. I''ll check with them." "I''m sorry. I wish I could do more to help," Hera sighed. "Don''t worry. Just hearing me out was enough. And if you get any other ideas, let me know." "Sure, I can keep my tablet in there, right? I''ll write them down if anything comes to mind." "You can do that, or you can just tell me," Peaches smiled. "What? Are you going to be there?" "Not quite," he gestured to the wall monitor. Instead of the usual view of a mountain range that Hera set up, the wall was completely gone, and beyond it, there was a massive library.Several tables were in the ground, The walls were filled with countless shelves, and there was even a blackboard that could be used for something. However, among all the shelves, there wasn''t a single book. Instead, there were three tomes in the central table. One red, one blue, and one yellow. "Should I just walk in?" Hera turned to Peaches. "Yep. The moment you step in there, you will start the quest and the timer." "So it still didn''t start?" Hera asked. "No, you have time to prepare, but you can''t use the internet here." "Oh no. I wasn''t thinking about that. I just want to go to the bathroom before I start," Hera got up from the couch and went to the back of her private room. A few minutes later, she was done with what she had to do, and she walked towards this empty library that was now part of her room, "Can Daskka come with me?" "Well, she is technically part of your equipment, so yeah, I guess." Peaches shrugged. "OK, let''s go, Daskka. You can read, right?" The snake nodded in response and even created a small pair of mist glasses and pushed them close to her eyes using her tail. Hera chuckled and approached the books on the table. Even without asking Peaches, she understood that these books had something to do with her test. All of the tomes on the table were very plain, just a colored cover with black letters for the title. The red one was called ''Monster Anatomy,'' the blue one ''Secrets of the MAZE,'' and the yellow one ''Magic is life.'' Hera looked back and saw her private room where the door to this library should be, "Just to confirm one thing. The book I pick here is what I''m going to have to learn more about, right?" "Exactly." "And the information I get here is real? Like if it says that a monster is weak to fire, is that actually the case outside here?" "Yep, everything you see here is real," Peaches nodded. "Then I know what to pick," Hera turned back to the table and reached out to the one book that stood out among the rest. 416 - Increasing ones knowledge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Secrets of the MAZE This is a study of the MAZE and how it classifies its secrets is a subject that many look into. As the theory goes, by learning more about the MAZE and understanding its patterns, one can use that information to infer the location of secrets even in brand new rooms. A warning for those who desire to study this subject to increase their chances of finding rare and valuable items. This theory still is a work in progress, and no definitive pattern was found across the MAZE. By opening this book, you will choose this subject for your role test. Your goal will be to find three MAZE patterns not present in this book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned after reading the notification. Sure this was the book she was the most interested in, especially if it would help her when she was exploring the MAZE. The problem lied in the requirements to complete the test. She would have to find those patterns, and she had no idea what would be considered a pattern in the MAZE. It was very likely that there would be some examples in the book, but still, that shouldn''t be something easy to figure out. Just to be sure, she looked at the red book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Anatomy By studying the biology of monsters and how their bodies work, we are able to improve our combat capabilities against them. Additionally, if one would understand the similarities between different species, even never seen before monsters can have their weaknesses exposed. By opening this book, you will choose this subject for your role test. Your goal will be to add to the information present in this book by studying similar monsters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey, Peaches. This one is not saying how many pieces of information I have to add. Do you know?" Hera asked the guide. "I can''t tell you that. Not because I don''t know, but because it depends on what you add. Each information would have a value. Worst case scenario, you might need to fill up most of the book." "Oh¡­" Hera stared at the red tome in her hands for a moment. It was easily four fingers thick, "Yeah¡­ I don''t have that much time. Let''s see the last one." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magic is life Spells have the power to heal, help people in their daily lives and protect them from danger. However, most people overlook the spells used in our daily lives, and the fact that even they had to be discovered or invented by someone. This book focuses on finding those opportunities to help people''s lives and how we can identify the need for spells. By opening this book, you will choose this subject for your role test. Your goal will be to create a new spell that will help people in their daily lives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Let me guess. When it says ''new spell,'' it means that I have to make something that no one has done yet. I can''t just make a new spell to flush the toilet, for instance," Hera turned to Peaches. "Exactly. But it''s not as bad as you think. If some random Joe made a spell to help him flush the toilet, but it''s not something that most people know about, that would still count. Not that flushing the toilet is a spell worthy of completing the test. The goal is to find something that could help a lot of people. If it''s something that is easy or that would affect a larger number of people, you might get bonus points," Peaches jumped to the couch. Hera started thinking for a moment. It was a hard decision. All of them had different difficulty levels, but none of the books seemed easy. The most straightforward was the Monster Anatomy book. Studying monsters would help her a lot, and she might even be able to use her [Hunter''s Catalog] to her advantage. But the sheer volume of things she would have to figure out in a single day was daunting. If it came to the point where she had to add things to the entire book, it would take much more than just the 24 hours she had available. If she were to pick the Secrets of the MAZE option, which was the one she was the most interested in, there would only be three things she had to find. However, there was no way to know how hard it would be to find those three things. It could be something she finished in just a few hours, or it could take her the entire day just to find one. Lastly, there was the Life is Magic option. By all accounts, that should be the easier one to finish. All she needed was to make a spell to help people, and since she was a conceptual mage, it shouldn''t be that hard to make that spell. The issue lay in what would be considered ''a spell to help people''s daily lives.'' Knowing what was available was just part of the solution. She also had to think of something that would be useful. The fact that this was so specific also worried her. These tests are never easy, and that one seemed like a trap. "What do you think? Which one should we pick?" Hera turned to Daskka. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The snake floated around all three books and landed in front of the blue tome. "So you are saying I should stick to my gut?" Hera received a nod as a reply, "OK then. Let''s try to figure this out." With a smile, Hera picked up the book and opened it. Just as the first page came into view, words started appearing inside the blank pages. At the same time, the shelves and tables in the room were filled with scrolls, notebooks, and tomes. Each new letter on the page was equal to a new book, and only after the first page was completely filled with letters that all the books stopped appearing. "What is all this?" Hera turned to Peaches, "Are those all about MAZE secrets?" "Yep. Everything in the test will be related to the subject you picked." "Am I supposed to read all this in a day?" Hera gasped. "Not really, but you are supposed to find your answers in a day. It is possible. Just be smart about it," Peaches smiled. "Is there like a list of all the books or something?" "Look to the left. There is a massive book. That''s the index with a list of everything that''s here, a single sentence about the item and their location." Hera glanced to where Peaches pointed and saw a table just big enough to accommodate the book in question. It was a black leather-bound tome that was around three times the size of a regular book. Before going there, she continued reading the volume already in her hand. This should be the key to everything. She pulled up a chair as Daskka flew to her shoulder, and they started reading. She was expecting something dull like a research paper, but this was actually a fun read. It told stories of different people finding secrets in the MAZE and how they connected. One of the tales was even familiar to Hera. It spoke about how someone found the hidden story of the Underground Forest in the Carpon Caverns. It was hidden inside a giant mushroom in a path that made things even more complicated for those doing the dungeon. According to the book, it was rare for the MAZE to do something without reason. If there was a path that seemed needlessly long or a place inside a dungeon that was deliberately different, there was a good chance that something special could be found in that location. In a way, it was like how video games were made. If an area looked like a boss arena, there would be a boss there. If a region was out of the way and seemed to be leading to a dead end, there was something hidden there. However, that wasn''t a universal truth, according to the books. Any dungeon that was created due to a certain event had fewer chances to have that kind of secret. Only the so-called ''natural dungeons'' should have that kind of pattern. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to tell if a dungeon was part of a room since the beginning or created because of an event. About 40 pages in, the subject changed. It wasn''t talking about dungeons and the repetitive patterns that one could find, but how most people would overlook obvious locations in the rooms. Caves, mountains, trees that stood out among the rest, patches of land that were completely different from its surroundings. There was such a large amount of unique areas spread around the room that people tended to just chalk them as a landmark, and that''s when, in fact, each of those different regions were hiding something special. The issue with that was the requirement to trigger whatever secret they were hiding. Usually, it involved several seemingly unconnected things unless the person found out some specific information about the area. It could be an old text, a fairy tale, or even some loosely connected painting that you saw in a dungeon. There were some examples of those kinds of secrets, but this was much more complicated, as the author said before. Even if all the parts to find a secret should be in the same room. Most of the situations described seemed to happen only because of pure luck. Someone saw something that made them think of a certain area, and they went there in the right conditions to trigger the secret. Hera was also realizing that, more often than not, looking for those secrets wasn''t exactly worth it. Not from a benefits standpoint. Sure it would be amazing to find more about the room you are in, and Hera even had her [Powerful Connections] that could become stronger the more she knew about the room. But the results were hardly ever worth the trouble. People could find a specific flower that was supposed to be extinct. Gravestones from long-gone people, songs and poems left behind by lovers or bards of old. Occasionally, people could find some rare item or a spell, but that wasn''t very common. And, just as it was with the odd areas in a dungeon, it wasn''t a sure thing. Finding a place out of the ordinary in a room wouldn''t mean that there was a secret every single time. Hera started to notice a pattern in this. They would have a theory and explain the entire process, but in the end, there would be a line saying ''that always happens until it doesn''t,'' which was hardly something helpful. She took a quick glance at the rest of the book, and it seemed that there were just another 40 pages or so. Looking at the time, she spent around an hour and a half rereading all of this. She could''ve done this a bit faster, but she was paying attention to what she was reading. There was still time, and this was something she had to do. Hera got up and walked back to her private room to drink some water. Just like it was during all of her role tests, there was a fruit basket lying on the kitchen table. "Are you the one who put this here?" Hera turned to Peaches. "Well, yeah. I know you don''t bring food, and we can''t have you starving for this unless it''s part of the test." "Thanks, but where do you get that?" "Some I just made with magic, but the strawberries were from Berthellemy. He has a small orchard and likes to grow them." "Oh, really?" Hera picked a strawberry and washed it in the sink before taking a bite, "Wow, these are amazing. Tell him thanks when you see him." "Will do, kid. But don''t waste too much time here." "I won''t. I was just thirsty," Hera replied before drinking some water and heading back to the book she was reading. To her surprise, the last 40 pages talked about something more concrete. It wasn''t just a theory about how to find secrets but an in-depth explanation about how the story of the room was the most important part when searching for a secret, especially if there were natives there. By knowing what happened in the room, one would be able to look for old relics and things that might have been deemed important by the system. It wasn''t simply because of archeology, but sometimes, ancient relics became items created by the MAZE that almost always had considerable power. If one would pay attention to the past it would be more likely for them to be stronger in the future. Following the hints present in the rooms history would reveal the location of something special, be it items, ancient techniques, spells, dungeons, monsters, doorways, and even legacies. Hera nodded while reading and agreed wholeheartedly with everything that was said in those last 40 pages. She had experienced that type of thing herself with Boothudurn and the Naga people in the Wailing Valley. After finishing up that part of the book, she noticed that there were still about 20 blank pages in the back. The last page with anything written had a single sentence. ''Add or expand upon three theories on how people can find secrets in the MAZE.'' 417 - An important meeting "OK, everyone. Settle down. Find a spot before we start talking," Peaches voice rang out, louder than usual, but it was simply because he was the one in charge of the meeting. If you don''t have a seat, let me know, and I''ll make you one." He was in a large circular room with several chairs, benches, and excessively large pillows forming rings on the edges of the area. In the center, there was a small sphere with some holes that could be used to create projections. Little by little, everyone in the area sat down. Talpa and Nina made a point of staying on opposite sides of the room to Peaches'' dismay. "Everyone settled in? If anyone wants water or something to eat, you should all be able to conjure it here without a problem. I tried setting it up for that, but this is kind of new to me too," Peaches looked around. "New? This has been going on for a while, my old friend. How is this new?" Percy asked, his chameleon eyes looking at the other guides in the room. "Dealing with the explorers is one thing. This whole room that only I can control is another. The setup for the place is more complicated than doing a thousand tests at the same time." "Really? Is it that bad?" Berthellemy asked as he got up to his seat. More guides appeared, each going to different spots in the room. "Yeah, I need to set up each invitation individually. I''m trying to find a way to make things easier, but I can only see the setup when I''m doing this," Peaches sighed and looked around. All the seats were filled, so it was better to get this going, "Anyway. Let''s start. Everyone knows why we are here. But as a reminder, we are here to vote if Hera Kingsley is a worthy explorer." As he spoke, a projection appeared in the middle of the room. It was an image of Hera sitting in a chair in front of a table with a few dozen books spread around. On her shoulder, there was a small white and blue snake which seemed to be reading a book while Hera herself was reading a different one. "Why is there a snake there?" Laika asked. "It''s an item she has. It''s a necklace that lets her summon Daskka, a construct with an ego," Peaches explained. "She got it by killing Chika. A snake that lived for thousands of years in my room. Even after Chika saved Ms. Kingsley from death," Percy crossed his arms, holding his cane in his left hand. "Your lies cannot deceive my cunning mind. Hera is the one who finally freed the magnanimous me. During the entire time she was stuck in Boothudurn, she never showed that kind of cruelty. She went as far as saving people who were constructs of a dungeon. Even if that Chika snake really died, I''m sure you are not telling the full story," Capri opened his wings, trying to seem bigger and more intimidating but to no effect. "She might as well have dealt the killing blow. Chika deserved more than being killed by greedy humans," Percy rolled his eyes, one at a time. "So humans were the ones who killed the snake, not Hera. Do not lie in my presence!" Capri flapped his wings and started flying, but suddenly, the pillow he was sitting on turned into a massive green translucent hand and grabbed the sheep, bringing him back to the ground. "Capri, stop that. I know you like her but behave, or I''ll kick you out," Peaches turned to Percy, "This is exactly why we are here. But please, tell the entire story." Percy twisted his nose and explained what Hera did in the Wailing Valley. He told them all about the hidden tomb, how she helped someone open an ancient temple and find a legacy, then about how she fell after using a spell on a spider, a spell that should be considered the worst kind of torture. Then he told about Chika, how Hera and the snake talked, and the dungeon she entered to leave the nest. Finally, he explained how Chika died because the guild put the kill order when Hera''s vitals started to show some odd behaviors due to Casks spells to protect them while they slept inside the dungeon. "I''m sorry to say, but I feel like you are projecting. Hera herself never wanted Chika to die, not according to your story," Berthellemy said. "Her intentions are irrelevant, only the result of her actions," Percy slammed his cane on the floor. "C''mon, dude. That''s lame, and you know it. I get that your friend died, and that sucks, but it''s not like she''s the one who did it," Johnny tried to calm Percy down. "How would you feel if Kirouhebi died because of her?" "Of course, I would be sad, but that''s just how things are. When it''s your time, it''s your time, and that''s that." "OK, OK. We all heard your opinion on the matter, Percy, and it will be taken into account. Now, we have another issue to be discussed. The spell you mentioned, was it a one time thing or she used it again? " a small figure holding a large cigar with the hooves on its hand asked. "I did not see her using that spell," a soft voice replied. "Neither did I," Laika added. "Same here, but to be honest, I only saw her a few times. Usually, she just passes by," Nina took a gulp of a soda that she conjured. "We. Only saw her a few times," Talpa stared daggers at her sister. "And what was your interaction with her? If I recall correctly, yours was a bit more unique than what happened with the rest of us," Berthellemy turned to his left, where Talpa was sitting. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "Well. She called us in front of a friend of hers," Talpa started speaking. "See! She is not worthy. That was a strike, and having one already removes the condition for what we are discussing. I don''t know why we are even here," Percy tapped his cane on the floor and got up to leave. Nina spoke up, "Wow, wow, wow. Hang on, that wasn''t a strike. Her friend was unconscious, and the system agreed that it wasn''t something about showing our existence. Besides, she was in a situation where she would''ve died without our help." Talpa nodded, "Yeah, she could survive without us if she ran, but she didn''t want to leave her friend behind. She carried the other girl all the way to a hidden doorway, running away from magma, giant boulders, and spells. In my book, that''s worthy." "She''s also really fun. It''s been a long time since anyone played along with my alien bit," Laika was wagging her tail. "But the subject of the spell still remains. I asked a question, so please do not make me ask again. Has Ms. Kingsley continued to use that spell?" the figure with the cigar pressed. Capri sighed, "I''m not sure if it is the same spell, but I have seen her use something that changes the very essence of a creature. The process seems far from pleasant, but I wouldn''t go as far as to say it was torture. Also, the spell is incomplete, she is still not satisfied exactly because of the pain it causes." "That is a heinous act, and I refuse to be a part of a meeting where people dare sing her praises, much less to give her this gift. My vote is no," without saying anything else, Percy turned around and left the room. In the center, above Hera''s projection, a scoreboard appeared, with ''Yes'' in green and a 0 under it and the red ''No'' in the other side already with one vote. "If she is playing with that type of spell, I must also vote no. Spells like that are always a problem," the figure with a cigar got up from his large leather chair, "My vote is also no." He got up and left as the scoreboard changed to show 2 votes for no and 0 for yes. "Wait, stop that. She helped the people of Boothudurn, unlocked the room, and even tried to mediate a deal for the dwarves to join the rest of the MAZE. She''s a really good one. I vote yes," Capri was exasperated. He really wanted to give Hera the gift. "I second that. She''s fun," Laika nodded, "My vote is yes." A gravelly voice coming from a very large figure that should easily be three meters tall echoed through the chamber, "She wasn''t bad but wasn''t good. I''ll vote for the one who has the most votes." "I hate that you can do that," Peaches sighed. When someone said that and a tie happened, these meetings could go south very quickly. "I vote yes. She was nice," the soft voice replied. "Yeah, she was cool, dudes. I vote yes too," Johnny smiled. Talpa and Nina stared at each other for a moment before Talpa got up and walked to the other side of the room. They whispered to each other for a moment and said, "We vote yes." "My vote is also yes. She asked my personal opinion on a matter that could change her life. Few would do the same," Berthellemy nodded. Peaches smiled, "Well then. We have 6 votes for yes, 2 for no, and one for the one who has the most votes. Our part is done then. It''s all up to her if she will get it or not." #################################################### Hera put a book back on the table and rubbed her eyes. She''s been reading for hours, and so far, she only managed to expand one of the theories, and that was only because the system was being very forgiving. Her addition was ''talking to the people who were part of dungeons is a good way to get more information about hidden things inside the rooms. It is very likely that some information that the person who was part of the dungeon has is not known to the people currently living there.'' It was a very simple thought, but adding that line was enough to change the current progress of the test, marking that now she only required two additions to the information to complete her test. She tried writing other simple information she had found, but either she was saying the wrong thing or what she added wasn''t enough to count as something new. Reading the books, she tried to find something else to give her an idea. Just picking a book was being a bit of an issue. Instead of straightforward titles, everything seemed to be something along the lines of ''Mysteries of the MAZE, a deep dive into the wonders of the world.'' They were nice names for a book and all, but it did very little to help her understand the subject. Another problem she was having was that most books fell into the same basic ideas that she had already seen in the first book she read. Hera closed yet another book and went to the index again. There had to be something different in here, something that she could add to or that could give her an idea of a new theory. Among the thousands of books, she found a section dedicated to the items found hidden in the MAZE. The particular book she decided to pick felt like a book of fairy tales for children. It talked about several different items, a sword given by a creature inside a lake, and then it got stuck into a rock. When wielded, that sword could amplify the mana of the user''s spells. It also had mentions of a scaling that shouldn''t be possible, but there was no direct description of the item. Another passage talked about a headband hidden inside a mountain that had to be excavated out. Said headband increased the user''s overall strength; however, it also made them vulnerable to a specific codeword that caused them extreme pain. Even worse, to use the power of the item, you had to give the codeword to someone else and allow them to speak it one time. On that page, there was a small footnote saying that the headband was taken to Earth, where it became the inspiration for a famous Chinese tale. After reading that, Hera got an idea. If items could inspire stories back on Earth, that also should happen inside the MAZE. She even remembered Lantra''s journal and how she was able to acquire some rewards and uncover Darni''s temple with it. It was highly unlikely that the journal was the only thing of that kind in the MAZE. Hera glanced at the clock in her tablet and tried to make sense of how much time she still had left. She gave up after a few moments and turned to peaches, who were still inside her private room, "Peaches. How much time do I still have left?" "About 20 hours. Look up. There is a large clock in front of you. I can make it a digital one if you are having trouble with the analog." Hera looked towards the other side of the room and saw a medium-sized round clock above one bookcase. It took her a moment, but she managed to understand how the clock worked. It was going backward, but it was still kind of hard to know how much time had passed. There weren''t any numbers, and it was looking at a pie chart slowly moving, "Can you change it? The way it''s set up is weirding me out." "Sure, kid," Peaches nodded and changed the clock. Now it displays the remaining time digitally, with the number of hours on the left side of the circle and the minutes on the right. Everything is in the same black and white color, almost like it was painted on the screen. "Thanks! That''s much better," Hera smiled and started writing in the book. It''s been a while since she had done a dissertation, but since this should be a theory that wasn''t included in the book, she had to write the entire thing. It might take a while, but it should work. Peaches watched her write with a smile, the meeting was over, and he was already getting the gift ready. He could only hope that Hera could find it, "I''m rooting for you, kid." 418 - The last theory Hera''s idea about the items seemed to have worked. The quest tracker was now showing 2 out of 3 additions complete. But the next part was giving her some trouble. Ten hours had already passed by, and Hera was feeling dizzy. She went through so many books that it was hard to keep her focus, which made her feel weird. "Are you OK, kid?" Peaches asked after noticing that Hera was rubbing her eyes too often. "I think so. My eyes are just weird," Hera replied without looking back. "You are probably tired. Just take a break." "Tired from reading? I used to spend the whole day reading before I became an explorer." "Was it for research like this?" Peaches asked. "No, it was just for fun." "Then it''s a completely different thing. Reading for fun lets you turn off your brain a bit, and you can skip some words without a problem. Here you should be paying close attention to everything and thinking about every sentence in the book. I''m exaggerating, but you get the point. Take a break to drink some coffee. Do you want cake? I can make it." "Cake?'' Hera perked up and turned around, "Can you make a cake here?" "Well, technically no, but nothing stops me from making it at home and bringing it here." "But¡­ During the other tests, I didn''t get any cake. It was just the fruit." "I know, it''s because I am told to bring fruit, but nothing says that I can''t bring something else." "So why didn''t you give me something else the last time?" Hera gasped as she walked over to her private room. "What are you talking about? During your last test, we ate popcorn. Where do you think that came from?" Peaches scoffed. "Oh¡­ right. I kind of forgot about that." "Really? You forgot the time you spent with me?" Peaches pouted to tease her. "No, I forgot that we were eating together. That''s different," Hera slumped on the couch by Peaches'' side with Daskka still on her shoulder, not noticing the guide''s attempt to play around. Peaches looked back to the kitchen, "I know you just sat down, but the cake is back there." "Couldn''t you have told me like, five seconds ago?" Hera sighed and got up, but Daskka had already left her shoulder and was now on the couch. "Sooo¡­ do you eat?" Peaches asked the snake and got a nod as a reply, "Really? Does it do anything for you or?" Daskka tilted her head, but the guide couldn''t understand her. Seeing that it was taking too long for Peaches to reply, Hera explained from the kitchen, "She''s saying something to the effect of ''it helps me recharge my mana.''" "You can understand her like that? Really? Usually, those items don''t have that effect." "I don''t think it was the item. I got a skill called Naga Poison, and that seems to allow me to talk with Daskka and Chika, who was a giant snake that lived in the room where I got her." "Oh really? You could even talk to Chika?" Peaches gasped. Hera poked her head from the kitchen, "You know Chika?" "I know about her, not her personally. What did you two talk about?" "It wasn''t really a conversation. It was more like an exchange of feelings. Chika was really lonely, and she was happy to connect with someone else. I wish she were still around, but then again, if she were, I wouldn''t have gotten Daskka, so I''m conflicted," Hera came out of the kitchen with three slices of lemon velvet cake. "It''s best not to dwell on things like that. We can''t change the past," Peaches moved the fork with magic and took a bite of the cake Hera just brought. "Yeah. I know," Hera patted Daskka''s head before placing her plate in front of her. They ate in silence for a while. Peaches wanted to give some time for Hera to rest, but the explorer had other ideas, "Oh, right. I was thinking about the thing with Talpa and Nina. You can try to call them over to watch a movie or something they liked to do when they were little¡­ Or I guess younger since you guys don''t actually grow. Or get something they are both passionate about, like a show or a book. Something that will make them discuss theories." "That is an idea. If I do that, maybe the nostalgia will kick in, and they will actually have a conversation instead. It''s not a fix, but it''s a step in the right direction. Thanks, kid," Peaches smiled. A little bit of the white frosting was in the corner of his mouth. Hera gestured to her face, "You got a little something here." "Oh, hang on," Peaches moved his tongue. And got the dirt out of his face, "Better?" Hera nodded and continued eating. Despite trying to rest, her mind was still on the test. She looked towards the library again, it was filled with hundreds of books, but they were all the same three subjects that were in the red book that started all this. Adding to the theories should be easier, but she had already made a new one. "Hey, stop that. This one is mine," Peaches tried to move his plate away from Daskka, who was trying to get a piece of his cake even if her own plate still had some left, "Fine, I''ll take yours then!" Peaches moved his fork to the snake''s plate, but she stopped it before it could reach the last few pieces of the cake. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Seeing that scene made Hera smile. Daskka almost never interacted with other people. Sure she could help during a fight, but she never did things like that with anyone. That kind of thing made Hera worried. In a way, it was like she was raising an anti-social pet, but maybe the issue was something else. Maybe Daskka just couldn''t find anyone else that was similar to her, and that''s why she never felt comfortable playing around with other people. Could the guides be mana constructs like her? Looking at Peaches, another idea came into mind. "Peaches. What I write here will be shown to someone else?" Hera asked. "Yes, it will. Other explorers who are doing the same test can see your additions, without the author''s name, of course. All the books in here were written by someone who came here. Well, they were conceived by them. Like, they did a small dissertation about the theories like what you did, and the system used their knowledge to complete the book." "The system is writing books now?" Hera chuckled. "Yeah, go figure," Peaches smiled. "OK then. Next question. If I write about the guides would that be considered a strike?" Peaches flinched, but Hera didn''t notice that. "As long as you don''t mention the names or the rooms where you can find certain guides, it will be fine. Books about guides will only appear for those who already have the guide skill." "Really? Why is there no guide-related book here already?" "Are you sure about that?" Peaches asked. "Wait? Really?" Hera got up without even finishing her slice of cake and rushed to the index. She flipped the pages for a while until she found about ten entries, one after the other with books about guides. Hera quickly went to the shelf where they were located and took them all out. Every single one of those books was discussing the guides, and some even had a list of questions one could ask to find if there was a legacy in the room or if there was a missing dungeon and a few other options. Yet, none of the books mentioned anything about using the guides to find secrets in the rooms, not directly at least. A couple of them talked about asking guides about secret rooms in dungeons and such, but nothing about the rooms specifically. There was another weird thing about all the tomes. On a random page inside each of them, a number was written down in a different font from the rest of the book in an odd place on the page. Aside from the number 1, the numbers would never repeat, and they were 1, 2, 21, 13, 5, 55, 8, 3, 1, 34. For some reason, those numbers seemed familiar, but Hera wanted to focus on the task at hand. She sat down back on the table with the pile of books and started reading to double-check if there really wasn''t any mention of asking the guides about secrets, and she didn''t miss anything. Among all the books there wasn''t a single passage suggesting asking the guides about secrets inside a room. "Peaches. Is this all the information people put here? I mean, just ten books about the guides seem way too low, and these ones barely have anything useful for the test." "How many books did you find?" Peaches asked. "10." "Then that''s all of them." "But there is so little information. Or at least everything seems to be just repeating itself. Does that mean that no one else made a book about finding secrets with the help of a guide?" "They probably did. Those books are just not here." "So¡­ does that count for what I have to write? I mean, it is talking about the guides," Hera asked. "Is that one of the theories you got in the quest book? The one you picked up, I mean." "No." "Then you have your answer." "Wait¡­ are you telling me that any theory that wasn''t part of the three in the quest book would be enough to pass the test? Even if I just copied something a book was saying?" Hera stopped looking at the books and turned around. "I''m saying that the quest asks you to add or expand the three theories in the book. Nothing else, kid," Peaches smiled. "Then why am I killing myself to figure out something new?" Hera gasped. "C''mon, kid. You know for a fact that going above and beyond these tests does not go unnoticed," Peaches shook his head. Hera sighed with annoyance. She was struggling a lot on this test. Despite her time being great, the way this place was set up was taking a mental toll on her. Still, she knew that Peaches was right. Every single role test she did had some special rewards as long as she did her best. It would be very unlikely that this place was any different. Going back to her writing, she used the books as a base to explain this new theory, one about how guides could show people where the secrets of a room were located. She tried to make it simple, but the words kept pouring out. Hera talked about the rooms she was in and how the questions she asked the guides led her to several discoveries like Boothudurn, the temple in the Waperath Jungle, and some information that otherwise no one would know in the Moon Base. Even Lantra''s journal and how talking to a guide helped her find the Naga temple. Her theory was enough to fill about ten pages, and that was more than enough. Looking at the book, the test was over. All three objectives were complete. "Well done, kid. As usual, I can say you finished the quest already, or you can try to push for the bonus reward," Peaches said as Hera closed the red book. "The other times, I already was able to go for the bonus round. Do you have another quest for me?" Hera got up, carrying the books about guides. "Not yet. You still need to do the right things to trigger the extra stage," Peaches explained. "OK, hold off on the quest. I want to rest for a while before trying to find something else to do here," Hera walked up to the empty shelf, and she was about to put the book in place when she remembered the numbers and felt that this might be a secret in itself. She double-checked the numbers and placed them in a crescent order, but nothing happened. Then, she picked one of the two number 1s and placed it at the end of the shelf. Again, nothing happened. She placed the book again in the beginning and even tried to swap the two 1s but nothing, "I''ll deal with this tomorrow," Hera sighed. Daskka stopped her from leaving and gestured to the first and last books. "Oh, you think I have to put them in the inverse order? OK, It''s worth a shot," Hera did as Daskka asked and when the final book was in place. There was a noise, and the entire bookshelf shifted to the side. Revealing a staircase heading down, "That was a great idea, Daskka!" Hera peeked at the staircase but just saw the spiraling steps heading down. She could be tired, but after seeing this, she wouldn''t be able to sleep or rest properly anyway, so she just started heading down. Five minutes passed before she reached a large room filled with vials, some odd pieces of equipment, and more books. Hera walked inside carefully, not to trigger any possible traps or something like that. This place looked like a magic laboratory but an old one. There were no computers, just metal equipment and some medieval-looking cages. Going to the center of the room, she found a table with a few scrolls and books. Each of them talked about guides, about tests to increase the time one would have to speak with them, and how to trick them into answering the questions they wanted. Hera started reading; even if the ideas here felt very sleazy, it was a bit surprising that they seemed to work. One suggestion said to trick the guide into answering a wrong question near the end of the time to force them to return a few minutes worth of questions like an apology. Suddenly, Hera heard a groan coming from somewhere in the room. "Who''s there?" The noise stopped. "Hello?" Hera used her pulse, but everything here was made of mana. It didn''t help at all, "Where are you?" "Either kill me or let me go. Please. I can''t take this anymore," a voice came from one of the cages in the corner. 419 - Wrong research "What?" Hera gasped, unsure of what she had just heard. "Oh, you are one of those who enjoy hearing me beg? Fine, either kill me or let me go. Please. I can''t take this anymore," the voice replied in the same pained tone as before. "No, wait. Where are you?" Hera started to look over the cages, trying to find whatever was talking to her. "I''m¡­ Here," the voice stopped midway to let out another groan. Something one would hear when a wounded person tried to shift their position. Daskka flew around trying to help Hera to find whatever was talking. She noticed a shape inside a cage on the left corner of the room. Hera walked over and saw what was talking to her. It looked like an iguana, but its limbs were longer and its body rounder. Its face was also less reptile-like and seemed to lean to the human side. In a way, it was like she was staring at a cartoon version of an iguana that could talk. Complete with the green skin and the spikes on its back. "Hello?" Hera called when she finally saw the creature. "You are a new one. Hi. Please let me go," the creature asked. "Do you promise not to attack me?" Hera felt terrible for whatever this was, but at the same time, she was still inside a test, and her [Observe] didn''t seem to be working on the iguana. If the other tests were a base for her interactions inside here, there was a high chance the creature would attack her. "As long as you set me free. I promise I won''t hurt you. I just don''t want to be tortured anymore." "OK then," Hera reached out to the cage, trying to figure out how to open it. However, the second her hands touched it, a large current of electricity coursed through her body, and she felt her mana being burned away. It wasn''t like what happened when Ogryn used the mana burn spell, but it was still enough to interrupt any attempt to use magic to fight back against the defenses. "You are not from here, are you?" the lizard asked. "Not really. Do you know how I can open the cage?" "Look on the other side of the room. There is a crystal thing that lets you control this. At least, that''s where they mess with when they need to do something with me." Hera walked towards the other side of the room and found the only crystal structure in the area. The second she touched it, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crystal Controls You can force the guide to answer a question by activating this device. Any question. Alternatively, you may release the guide. You only have one chance to make this choice. WARNING: By releasing the guide, you will be giving up your current role test, and the way to the test grounds will be blocked. You will have to find a different way to return to your private room. [Ask a question] [Release the guide] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh¡­ any question? Could I ask you where is a legacy, what happens after death, or what are the next lottery numbers?" Hera turned to the guide in the cage, who let out a long sigh. "Not the last one. I can''t see the future." Hera pressed a button, and the cage lifted from its position and floated to the middle of the central table. The guide inside it was ready to have the answer forced out of its body yet again, but to its surprise, the cage disappeared instead. The lizard turned to Hera, "What did you do?" "I let you go." "But¡­ you asked about the question." "Yeah. I was just curious if this worked. I''m not going to leave you here," Hera walked to the central table, "I''m Hera, by the way. Are you OK?" "Nice to meet you, Hera. I''m Fitzgerald, but you can call me Fitz. And I''m not doing that well. Everything hurts, and I still can''t use mana." Hera looked at the staircase from where she came from, but now that entrance was just a rock wall. Nodding, she turned back to Fitz and started humming as she cast the Luminous Light Litany to help the guide recover. They spent a couple of minutes there, and while Hera sang, she managed to take a better look at the guide. Fitz was a weird lizard that seemed to walk more in its front legs than its back. In a way, he resembled a monkey. But what caught Hera''s attention was something entirely different. Their body was covered in scars, gashes that seemed to be made by weapons, and pieces of flesh were missing, almost like if someone intentionally cut a part of their body. However, the most egregious evidence of abuse was the hundreds of electricity burn marks all over the green skin of the guide. If their skin weren''t a very vibrant color, she wouldn''t even be able to tell that it was supposed to be green and think that Fitz had charcoal black skin instead. "What happened here?" Hera asked. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "An explorer called me, but instead of asking the questions. He and some others prepared a trap. That cage was constantly buzzing with electricity, and I couldn''t use any magic when inside it. Somehow they made an interference field strong enough to stop me. Then it was just a matter of time for them to figure out ways to force me to answer questions. I honestly don''t know how they did it, but somehow, when they used those crystals and increased the voltage of the cage, I had to answer. It was somehow like when someone calls us, and we are under the effects of the skill, but instead of being forced to answer because of the system, it was because of the pain," Fitz explained as he looked at the soles of his feet. They were completely charred, and that''s when Hera realized that even the bottom of the cage was constantly electrified. Fitz must have been in endless pain, feeling their mana being burned. Hera bit her tongue inside her mouth, trying not to show the horror she was feeling. Fitz already went through enough, and they didn''t have to get even more worried because of her. She spent about half of her mana while using the litany, but there was barely any difference in the guide even with that. "Thank you. I think I can get out oh here now," Fitz slowly started to walk towards a door that Hera didn''t notice before. "You can''t just go back to your home?" "No. The people who locked me here created a barrier against any kind of teleportation. I need to leave these grounds to be able to leave, and even then. I''m not sure if I can make a portal without using mana." "I might be able to do something about that. Maybe I can call another guide and have him take you away," Hera thought that the strikes wouldn''t count if she were just making two guides meet. Also, she never considered using her guide skill inside her private room. Was there a guide just for that, or was Peaches the one responsible for answering the questions? "You already did enough. And I know not all humans are this cruel," Fitz looked at their hands, "But I can''t bring myself to trust one of you at the moment." "I understand that, but do you honestly think you can run away from here alone? I mean, you barely took ten steps, and what is your plan to deal with the doors?" Hera gestured to the door, focusing her eyes on the round doorknob. It would be one thing to open that with magic, another for a lizard to climb all the way there and open it. "I¡­ will figure something out." "Daskka, can you make them float? Like you do with your mist snake form?" Hera asked her pet, receiving a nod as a reward. Daskka quickly floated down and between Fitz''s legs, leaving a large mist cloud under them. Following that, the mist became denser and started lifting the lizard from the ground. "You can doubt me all you want. I''m getting you out of here, OK? Daskka, you are their bodyguard. Don''t let anything happen to them, and if you need more mana, just let me know." Daskka nodded and created a pair of black sunglasses and a purple suit and tie before floating behind Fitz, "Please don''t waste mana for jokes¡­ OK, fine, if it won''t waste any more mana now that you made them, you don''t have to take it off. And yes, you look adorable, but we don''t know what is going to try to stop us here. We need to save our mana in places where there might be danger." Daskka rolled her eyes, and Hera did the same in response, "I know that we can''t die in the test, but I still want to complete it. It will make us stronger, you know!" "Are you¡­ mentally unstable?" Fitz asked. "No, I can understand her. It''s a weird combo of skills, and we don''t have time for me to get into it. Just know that she can tell me anything at any time. If you need to talk to me quietly, whisper to her and I''ll know." "I''ll keep it in mind. And thank you for helping me," Fitz smiled at Hera, but they flinched due to the injuries in the corner of their mouth. Hera smiled back, trying to comfort the guide. When she turned around, her face changed. She understood that this is why the system changed how the guide skill worked. People were stupid and heartless enough to torture someone like that to their benefit. She couldn''t believe that someone would be so cruel. Her emotions bled to Daskka, and the purple mist started to turn red again, but this time the snake kept its size. "Try not to make any noise," Hera whispered to the two behind her as she opened the door. They were now in a stone corridor with several glyphs around the walls. Hera used her pulse to see if she could identify anything, and every sigil felt similar. Oddly enough, when her mana touched the spell circle in the wall, Hera understood that this was an alarm. If anyone touched the spell, the person who created it would be aware that someone passed through here. "Don''t touch the walls or the ground," Hera whispered before activating her glide boots. She had no idea if that would be considered touching or not, but at the moment, it was the best idea she had. Moving quickly through the corridor, they started to pass by other hallways, but all of them seemed empty, and the twisting corridors would often end up in dead ends or just circle back to themselves. In a way, this place was like a labyrinth. Considering that the people involved in this were hiding the existence of a guide, it was likely that this was intentional. Not wanting to be caught by them, Hera was constantly using her pulse. In a place with so many magical effects, even if someone noticed her magic, there was a chance that they would think it was just one of the spells or experiments in the area. After about 10 minutes of running around and trying to find a way to get out of whatever was this place, they reached a staircase going up. Following that path, they found a door leading to what seemed to be a prison. Carefully, the three walked by, glancing at the cells but finding nothing but dust, until they reached a large set of double doors adorned with hawks and other birds of prey. This felt like the exit of this place. After all, no one would care about presentation unless it was something that a lot of people would see. Hera pressed her ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on on the other side, but everything seemed to be quiet, "C''mon. I''m going to push this open just enough so we can pass. There might be some noise, but it''s the best plan I got. I have a spell that can stop sounds, but I can only cast it in places I can see. Without opening it, I can''t put it on the other side of the door." "I wish I could be more helpful, but I was unconscious when I arrived here. I know not what is waiting for us on the other side of that door," Fitz sighed. "Don''t worry. Whatever happens, I''m taking you out of here." Hera pushed the door open, and a loud sound of heavy wood being dragged through the ground followed the movement. She cursed under her breath and stepped forward, already activating her stone elemental armor. Glancing around, she was just in a large barracks, but the room was completely empty. Several tables and beds were spread around the floor, but there wasn''t a single window. The only other exit was another double door on the other side of the room. "C''mon. The coast is clear," Hera gestured for Daskka and Fitz to cross the door. She didn''t close the door since it wouldn''t matter and started to move to the other side of the large rectangular room when Daskka said something. "Fuck me. Never say that¡­." Hera gasped, still trying to keep her voice down. They were just a quarter of the way to the other side, "Because if you say things like ''this is easier than expected,'' you are asking for things to go wrong." Just as she finished speaking, the second set of double doors on the side of the room swung open, and about three dozen people wearing heavy armor or mage robes were on the other side with angry expressions and ready to fight. "This is your fault," Hera told Daskka as they dove to the side, trying to hide from the incoming barrage of spells behind one of the beds. 420 - A way out "Of course, it''s your fault. You''re the one who said this was easy," Hera put up another stone barrier between her and the battalion on the other side of the room, "Yes, it is¡­ yes, it is. Stop giving me lip and toss something at them." Hera was using her wind feathers trying to stop the attacks, but it was hard to use that spell while trying to avoid killing them. She still felt weird about killing people inside a dungeon or a place like this but beating the crap out of them was completely fine, especially after what they did to Fitz. She considered using poison, but she never tried using that spell to do something nonlethal. Even the targets that weren''t killed by her poison would be so severely affected that it was hard to imagine them surviving for an extended period after the fight. "For fuck¡­ I''m not telling you to stop protecting Fitz. Just toss a spell or something at them. Anything to give us some breathing room. Why are you being like that now?" Hera sighed. Daskka tossed a few mist blades, but just like Hera, she was too used to killing her targets. When trying to pull her punches, the spells ended up being too weak to actually do anything. Hera glanced at Daskka, understanding why she was struggling so much. She created another stone barrier since the one she just made had almost collapsed. Thinking quickly, Hera considered her options. Going back shouldn''t work. Whoever was attacking them had a home-field advantage. They should be used to traveling around those twisting corridors, and if she ended up in a dead-end, things would go south fast. Pushing forward didn''t seem like an option either. There were too many people near the door, and more seemed to come out every second, or they were just swapping places. Hera could barely make the shapes in the entrance, much less understand their actual strategy. The best option would be to find a place to hide. But just staying under a bed was a sure way to get caught. Suddenly an idea popped into her mind. Maybe her memory filter could work. She quickly pushed that idea aside. There were too many variables for the spell to work, not to mention she would need to cast in all three of them and somehow make it so that it wouldn''t affect each other. Instead, Hera decided to go back to the basics. What was the best way to push people away? A very sturdy wall. She slammed her hands on the ground and focused on making a five-meter wide wall that would cover the entire room. It took her around 4 thousand mana to make it, and that was only because she added some defensive properties to the structure. The next step of her plan was to find another exit or just an adjacent room. Moving quickly, she opened the walls on both sides of the room, using her stone shape spell to create holes in the stone. On the right, she only found more rock. It seemed like this place was built using the terrain to its advantage. On the left, however, she found another room. It seemed like a storage area for the kitchen. There were some crates of food racks with pans and other utensils. Seeing that there was another door here, Hera moved towards it. It was open, and there was a kitchen on the other side, with another exit. "Come here. Daskka, bring Fitz over. Go to the kitchen and let me know if anyone shows up," as Hera spoke, she rushed to the large dormitory again. Using another chunk of her mana, she pushed the stone wall she created forward. She wanted to make a mess out of everything to make her escape less apparent. While the wall was heading forward, Hera created another dozen walls all around her to make it seem like she had gone out of control. Not that she ever heard of anyone losing control of their magic like that aside from Amanda in the moon dungeon, but it was worth a shot. After pushing the wall to the entrance, Hera jumped back to the storage and closed it with her stone wall in hopes that the people who were coming wouldn''t notice the difference between her wall and the structure of the area. "Did you see anyone?" Hera asked as she reached the kitchen. She didn''t realize it before, but some of the pots in the stoves were boiling with some soup, which meant it shouldn''t take long for someone to come here. "We didn''t, but there was some noise coming from the other room," Fitz replied, not wanting to be excluded from the conversion again. "Ok, we are going to hide again, but if we see anyone, we knock them out before anything. Some of them might be friendly, but I''m not taking any chances," people would always be the most complicated enemy. They could lie, trick, and cheat their way out of any situation, and with Fitz''s freedom in the line, she wasn''t going to give them that chance. Moving close to the ground, they started walking away from the kitchen. On the other side of the door, there were a few people, probably the chef and her staff. With her [Hide] activated, Hera continued walking by the kitchen, trying to reach the other exit. One of her steps ended up making too much noise, and that caused two of the five people in the room to look up and start to get closer to the explorer. Hera glanced at the kitchen and, through the small opening in the door, she saw the large soup pot. With a flick of her writs, she tossed a wind feather at the pot, hoping that the noise would be enough to distract them. Magic was weird in a way. It would take a lot for her to miss a stationary target. Almost like the spell understood what her target was. The wind feather flew through the air, almost invisible, and slammed against the pot, causing a large banging noise, but it did little more than just make the chef look up from the table. However, the noise didn''t stop there. Hera''s spell ricocheted in the pot and started banging other utensils until hitting the bottom of a cabinet, which caused a number of plates to fall to the ground. That secondary noise was enough to grab everyone''s attention, making the chef and all her staff run towards the kitchen and start yelling. Hera didn''t even bother trying to understand what they were saying and just bolted out of the dining area¡ªfinding herself in another corridor with two guards patrolling the area. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Daskka jumped at one of them, wrapping mist around their neck and trying to get them into something similar to a chokehold. At the same time, Hera tossed a pair of paralyzing bolts and a spore cloud around both of them. Someone sneezing wasn''t going to be an issue, but if they called for backup, that would be a problem. With the attacks, one of the guards went out cold, while the second one was paralyzed. Daskka let go of one of the guard''s neck and jumped to the next, doing the same chokehold she did before. Hera moved over and slammed the back of her handaxe in the guard''s head, speeding up the process of knocking them out. "This was¡­ surprisingly well done," Fitz said while they were still in the cloud of mist. "What, you expected us to mess up?" "Not quite, but considering how you two seem to bicker, I expected your attacks to be less of a well-oiled machine." Hera and Daskka looked at each other and smiled, "Messing with each other like that is new. But we work great together. Now let''s keep going. You can tell how awesome we are later." Moving through the rest of the corridor, Hera was trying to find the corner room. Someplace that would divide the inside and the outside. As long as they get there, she should be able to open a hole to run away from whatever this place is. They kept going through the corridor, running as fast as they could not to let the army that was in the dorm reach them. Not that they heard any noise, but it was just a matter of time before they figured out Hera''s hidden exit. They followed the turns in the corridors for about a minute when Hera bumped into someone. It was another guard. This one was wearing full plate armor and had what looked like a golden hawk-themed helmet. Whoever this was, it seemed like he had a higher standing among the people in here. "Who are you?" the guard asked, but his expression changed as soon as Daskka and Fitz appeared from the corner. Hera had no idea what the meaning of that change was, and she wasn''t about to wait to figure it out. She pulled her handaxe and slammed the back of it on the guard''s stomach, denting the metal. At the same time, she pulled a stone wall from the ceiling to come down on top of his head. She wanted to use the impact to knock them out, just like what she did with the other guards, but the stone just broke, and the guard didn''t even flinch. Instead, he pulled a dagger and stabbed Hera. The movement was too quick for her to avoid. The dagger slammed against her armor, protecting her from the blade, but the force was still strong enough to push her back. Seeing that, Dasska created her mist trail and attacked the guard repeatedly. Hera was having some trouble catching her breath, but she wasn''t going to let her pet fight alone. She threw a paralyzing bolt and a few wind feathers while she managed to get her bearings. The guard attacked Daskka, trying to stab her with his dagger. On his back, there was a large spear, but it was too big for him to pull it out in these narrow hallways. Daskka was doing her best to avoid the attacks, but it was clear that she was losing the fight. A couple of the strikes even managed to slash her body. Unlike it would be with a real snake, each cut just revealed the light of her mana inside her form. Seeing that, Hera was enraged. Not only did the people of this place torture Fitz, but they were also attacking Dasska like that. She triggered her boots again and started sprinting around the guard, leaving a trail of red mist behind her as she slammed her handaxe on the back of Daskka''s attacker. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All in] effects activated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The blade of her weapon sunk deep into the guard''s armor, and when Hera pulled it away, a trail of blood followed her handaxe. Her target fell to the ground, motionless, be it because he was dead or because he was now paralyzed due to a severed spine. Hera didn''t know. While she was still seeing red, a noise coming from the back of this corridor caught her attention. Another guard was coming, and Hera bull rushed her without even a second thought. Raising her axe, she was ready to cut that person''s neck when the rage subsided. Instead, she just slammed the handle on her head to knock her out. Daskka and Fitz came right behind her, and the guide had a worried expression, but they didn''t say anything. This next room was very small. There was a small window by the ceiling and a wooden seat with a hole in the middle. Only then was Hera hit by the smell. "OK, I pity whoever has to clean this up," Hera felt her nose burning, but she used her stone shape to make a hole right under the window. This led to the outside, and it seemed like they were on the ground floor. Fitz''s eyes began to water as they looked to the sky. It''s been a long time since they could see that shade of blue. Hera didn''t allow him to enjoy the view for long. She kept running with Daskka following close by. More and more of the snake''s mana was leaking from the wounds. It wouldn''t be the first time the construct was destroyed in combat, but that wasn''t something Hera liked. Daskka was her friend, and she had to protect her. Sprinting through this field, Hera could tell they were inside a keep. And, to her luck, there was a gate close by to the right. Without a second thought, Hera turned in that direction and kept going at full speed. Her hope was that Fitz would tell her that the interference was gone when they crossed the gate, and she could try calling Peaches. Halfway through the area, she heard some yelling. The people who were in the dorm room were now spilling out of the building, and they were all running towards her, with spells already forming above them. Hera tossed a spore field and a few stone walls to stop them and to serve as cover. Some of the fireballs and other incoming spells blasted the area. Hera was hit not only by shrapnel but also by some of the attacks. Each impact seemed to strike harder than she was expecting. A stone shard flew through the air and pierced her shoulder, where her armor was thinner to allow for a better movement. Daskka turned around to attack whoever hit Hera, but the explorer stopped her, "We need to keep going!" The snake hissed but continued her path, making sure to dodge all attacks and not to allow Fitz to get hit. They continued running until they crossed the gate. However, the moment Hera stepped through the gate, she was no longer in this keep. Instead, she was back in the private room. "Well done, kid. I was rooting for you," Peaches said with a large smile. "What. Where is Fitz?" Hera looked around, trying to see what happened with the guide. "They were just a part of the test. Fitz was never real. That being said, what happened to him was close to what happened to the guide who got trapped. Anyhow, this was a special test that the guides agreed to give you, and now. We have a gift for you," as Peaches finished talking, a notification appeared in front of Hera. 421 - Meeting room ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the test given by the guides. You will receive a new skill for completing the test. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meeting Room When you are alone inside your private room, you are able to communicate with the guides you have met during your travels. They can send you messages on the room''s screens, and you can invite them to your private room. This interaction can only happen inside your private room, and the guides must be willing to communicate with you. Any communication under the effects of this skill is not under the same restrictions of the [Local Guide] skill. The guides are not required to answer your questions, and they can tell lies, but they are also not limited to discussing the room. There are some subjects that the guides are unable to discuss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­"'' before Hera could even finish reading the notification, a part of the screen that had her view changed to what looked like a messaging app. There were already a dozen notifications from the different guides she met. Capri, Johnny, Talpa and Nina, Berthellemy, Laika, Calina, and Peaches were all there, and aside from Capri, everyone else sent only a single message. "What is this?" Hera turned to Peaches. "That is part of the extra thing that the system gave to explorers last year. You could''ve gotten this skill then, but you had to be doing a test, and there was a vote involved. Also that message thing will appear in your tablet, but only when you are here," Peaches explained. "A vote?" "Yeah. All the guides that know you had a vote to see if we agreed that you should have this skill or not." "Oh¡­ really? What was your vote?" "I don''t get one. Since I''m the one calling the voting, that''s all I do. It''s technically already a vote yes for me. After all, I''m the only one who can call the vote," Peaches smiled, "I''m glad you passed the test, by the way. You made me worried there for a second." "Why?" Hera was still shell-shocked. Running away from the people, saving Fitz, this new skill, and being able to talk to the guides was a lot. Everything was a bit too much, too fast, and Hera still felt the phantom pain of the attacks. Daskka, on the other hand, was still hurt and seeing that, Hera called her back to the necklace. Staying inside, that was the best way for her to recover. "Because of what you asked just before freeing Fitz from the cage. I honestly thought you were going to ask something," Peaches explained. "Really? I think you don''t know me very well then," Hera sighed and finally got up from the ground, heading to the bathroom. She needed to splash some water on her face to get her bearings. "I understand if you need to rest for a while, but I would ask you to at least answer the messages before leaving. Specifically Capri''s. He was really excited to talk to you again." "Yeah, I''ll answer soon. I just need a break," Hera was still in the bathroom, trying to calm her nerves. For some reason, she was still angry. Angry at the people who did that to the guides, angry at the guard who hurt Daskka, and angry at herself for being so brutal with a person. Even if they were just constructs of the test, they were still people. This was something she still struggled with and even avoided doing any dungeons that had people as enemies. A few minutes passed before Hera came out of the bathroom. She sat on the couch again and took a look at the notifications. Not counting Capri, everyone had sent something along the same lines. It was basically a congratulatory message for getting the skill and an ''Oh, here is my number.'' From what she understood, the guides were the ones who could allow someone to talk to them, and that was why they were sending those messages. Capri''s, on the other hand, was more than just that. He already acted like Hera had agreed to call him and he thanked her again for calling him in Boothudurn for the first time. His next message included some suggestions as to what she could do with the dwarves, things like the type of schools that would fit them, and the shows she should suggest. His last message was telling her that he was happy she could meet him again, and he would be waiting for his invitation to come over. "How long can I stay here for?" Hera asked, still thinking about her test timer. "As long as you want, kid. This is your private room; there is no time limit for you to be here." "Ok. Are you leaving already?" "Not quite. I still have one thing left to give you," Peaches looked to the side, and a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Researcher role test. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Research You are able to tell how much of a subject you already have learned and use your personal knowledge to cross-reference with other information. You are only able to tell up to 70% of completion in a subject, and you cannot find any related topics by using these skills. By calling the skill, you are able to open a window that allows you to search for any information you know. If you forget a piece of information, that information won''t appear on the screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait¡­ what? I thought I gave up the skill because I let Fitz go," Hera turned to Peaches. "Nah, that was just the first taste of our lies. Since we guides made this test, we took some liberties with the notifications. We wanted to know if people were willing to save a guide even if that meant giving up something and not receiving anything in return," Peaches nodded. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Really? That doesn''t make much sense. I mean, usually, even if whoever is involved won''t give you a reward, the system will. And people can just ask Fitz about it," Hera scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, but if people ask for a reward, we won''t give them the skill. We say that it was a test to see if they could keep the guide skill and that they passed." "I see. Well, it kind of makes sense, but it feels a bit cheap," Hera yawned mid reply. "We are just being careful, kid. Anyway, I''ll let you rest. Feel free to call us tomorrow for a housewarming party. " "I''ll do that. Oh, and can I ask you to leave some fruits and maybe a soda here? I didn''t get any food when I came, and I''m sure I''ll be hungry when I wake up," Hera asked as she headed to the bed on the other side of the room. "Sure, kid. I''ll get you set up. Also, sorry I couldn''t remember the skill properly, it''s not a B grade but a C one." "Don''t worry, and thanks for all the help with this test. I''m glad I won''t have to wait so long to talk to you again," Hera smiled at Peaches, but she stopped before collapsing in the bed. All her tiredness was washing over her, not just from the running around with Fitz, but the ten plus hours she spent reading and figuring out her theories. Still, despite that, she really wanted a shower. A quick one to wash away the dirt, soot, and blood that was on her body. Before heading to the bathroom, she looked back to the couch to say goodbye to Peaches, but the guide was already gone. There was a fruit basket in the place where he was sitting just as she asked. Hera picked it up and placed the gift in the kitchen. When she opened the fridge to put the soda can in the basket, she noticed a large tray with a small card in front of it. ''Made you a lasagna. You just need to cook it and try not to burn it. Hope I see you tomorrow. Peaches.'' "You are too sweet. You know that," Hera said to the card before closing the fridge and going to take a shower. Less than 10 minutes later, she was already passed out in her bed. It was a good thing that she could control the temperature inside her private room. Otherwise, sleeping with her hair wet would be a sure-fire way to get sick. When Hera woke up, it was around 4 in the morning, and she was already feeling very well-rested. That felt really weird, she usually would sleep in, but after checking the messages she received the day before, she understood what was going on. The messages the guides sent her arrived at around 7 PM, and her reply, if one could call that odd rambling that she wrote as an actual reply, was sent just a few minutes after that. Most of her messages were so full of spelling mistakes that she couldn''t even understand what she meant herself. There were a couple of messages from Alex, Silah, and Helena too, but those weren''t anything serious. They were just asking if she was OK and how the test was going. She didn''t like the fact that she couldn''t explain how the test went down, but there was nothing she could do about that. First, she sent the replies to her friends, letting them know that she was OK and the test was going well, even if a bit weird, but she couldn''t say anything because those were the rules. Hera could tell that those constant lies about random rules would eventually come back to bite her in the ass. After that, she went to take yet another shower, this time not rushing to get clean but enjoying the hot water. When she was done, Hera put the lasagna Peaches made her in the small oven that she had set up and turned on the screen to watch something as she waited. During that time, Hera sent a message to the guides, apologizing for her previous message and asking them if they wanted to visit her. Berthellemy, Capri, Laika, and Peaches said yes, but the rest either thanked the invitation but said they were busy or didn''t read the message. Hera wasn''t bothered by that; this only showed her that instead of how it was when she called them, this interaction would be more personal, and they wouldn''t be splitting themselves up like Peaches did when she saw him. Less than two minutes after she sent the text, she heard a doorbell ringing, "What the¡­ since when does this place have a doorbell?" Hera walked to the door that usually would only show a notification when touched, but this time she could just open it without a problem. In hindsight, that wasn''t the best idea. As soon as the door opened, Capri tackled her, making Hera fall to the ground. "Hera Kingsley, how fortunate you are to be in my presence once more," Capri said while standing on top of Hera''s stomach. "Oh, stop being such a diva. I''m pretty sure you were more excited to see her than she was to see you," Laika rolled her eyes. "Also, you should get off our host. This is her home, not ours," Berthellemy added, still outside the door. "Ah, yes. My apologies," Capri got off of Hera and turned to the other guides with an angry expression, "She didn''t know that we could see each other again. I did, it''s different." Hera groaned while getting up, she wasn''t wearing any armor at the moment, and her simple shirt did nothing to stop the impact, "I''m glad to see you, just. Give me a heads up next time," she tried taking a deep breath but started coughing. "I¡­ I¡­" Capri looked back and forth to Hera and the other guides, "I''m sorry¡­" he lowered his head, and his wings flopped to his side. Hera just reached out and patted the flying sheep, "Don''t worry. It''s OK. Just be more careful next time. After all, you are much much stronger than me," hearing that, Capri perked up again, and Hera looked at the other guides, "Any reason why you are waiting outside? Is that like a vampire thing that you have to be invited to come in?" "Of course not, kid. This is called being polite," Peaches scoffed. "Then come on in," Hera smiled. Peaches, Berthellemy, Laika, and Nina, walked inside. Nina was a surprise to Hera. The message she got from the sisters was that they couldn''t come because they had other things to do. Peaches noticed Hera''s stare and gestured to her tablet. Hera opened it up, and there was a message there from him. ''Talpa had a rehearsal, and she replied, they share the communication because they are from the same room. Nina is free and wanted to come. I hope it''s not an issue.'' Hera just nodded and helped everyone settle in, "So¡­ Peaches gave me a lasagna, and it''s still not ready. I wasn''t expecting you guys to come so soon. I would have stopped by a store and bought some stuff if that was the case." "Don''t even think about it. We are the ones who came to give you a late housewarming party," Laika put her hand inside the air and pulled a tray of mini hot dogs. Berthellemy and Nina did the same, pulling out a cake and some bowls filled with different snacks. "No one told me I had to bring something!" Capri gasped, "Give me a minute," he dashed out of the doorway to what Hera could now see was a reception very similar to what she had seen during her role tests. On the other side of that room, there was an elevator which Capri jumped in and started to press the button frantically with his wing. "Is he going to be OK?" Hera asked. "He will. That''s just how he is," Berthellemy said. Laika looked back at the door. Then at Nina, who had a sad expression, "OK, OK, let''s stop that. We came here to party," she put her tray on the kitchen table and came back with a bottle of vodka and shot glasses for everyone, "Here, here. Everyone drink up. We are going to party like the world is about to end!" Peaches shook his head, "You do know that we can''t get drunk, right?" Laika gave a mischievous smile, "We can when we come here. Bet you didn''t know that." "Really?" Berthellemy asked. "Then I''m not so sure Nina should drink. I mean, drinking when you are feeling sad can lead you to some bad places," Hera said. "That is true, Nina. You shouldn''t¡­." Peaches started to speak, but when everyone looked at the Kobold, she had already downed her first shot. "I want another." "Nina... You shouldn''t¡­." Peaches started. Nina walked over to Laika, "Another." Laika became too intimidated to say no and just refilled Nina''s glass. Seeing that, Hera sighed and took the shot herself. It burned when it went down her throat, but unlike the vodka she was used to drinking, this was quite good and even a bit fruity. It was almost like she was drinking some sort of wine, a stupidly strong wine but still wine. Hera sat down on the couch and smiled, "So, what do you guys do at parties?" 422 - Party like a Guide "But you look like an apple. How do you want people to call you?" Hera''s voice was slurred, and she kept hiccuping. "My¡­ My name is Peaches. If you were going to say that I''m soto¡­ somo¡­. Something different it should be a peach," Peaches was spinning around on the kitchen table. "No, no. That''s your name," Laika heaved from the couch, "Hey, Hera. Would it be weird if I drank water from the toilet?" "What?" Hera and Berthellemy asked at the same time." "I''m a dog, and movies and shows have dogs drinking from the toilet. I was curious," they could only see Laika''s hand that was now being used as a sock puppet without a sock. "I mean, I used it already today. I think you should do it next time," Hera leaned over the couch, "Hey, hey. Where is your space suit? Can you make me one too?" Laika had her eyes closed, and she seemed ready to sleep, "I can''t. We can''t give you gifts like that." "But you guys gave me food," Hera pouted. "That is different. You can''t take our food out of here. If we do items, they would be on the level of legendary equipment. Also, I do not understand why you are all acting like this. The alcohol had no effect on me. Also, who used magic to make you stay in the ceiling?" Hera giggled, "Berth, you are the one in the ceiling." "Ah¡­ catch me then," Berthellemy said just as he dropped, making Hera dive to save him. However, before he reached the ground, he started floating in a bubble, "You should''ve seen your face." Hera started laughing, and her noise woke Nina up, "And another thing. Talpa thinks she''s just doing her own thing, but I was the one who suggested that we start to dance." It was then that someone rang the doorbell again. Hera stood up and went to answer the door, "Hellooooo!" she opened the door but fell flat on her ass before starting to giggle. "I have returned¡­. What the hell is going on here?" Capri looked at the scene. Berthellemy was floating in a bubble, Laika was sleeping on the couch, Hera was sitting in front of the door, struggling to get up. Looking at the kitchen, he could see Peaches spinning around and Nina complaining about Talpa while walking around the room. Daskka fell on top of him as she lost her grip in the mist spell holding her up, then she was dragged by gravity to fall on Hera''s lap. "Laika gave us a drink. It was good stuff," Peaches replied. "Laika? No, no!" Capri flew towards the guide on the couch and slapped her awake with his wings, "What did you put in that drink?" "I don''t know. It was just some stuff," Laika replied without opening her eyes. Capri sighed and flew up above Berthellemy, who was still inside his bubble. The sheep guide started to flap his wings faster and faster, making small puffs of white wool fall to the ground like snow. "It''s so pretty," Hera gasped, watching the scene, but as the small particles touched her and the guides, the effects of the drink started to vanish. In eight seconds, everyone was completely sober. "By the system, what did you put in those drinks, Laika?" Nina asked while rubbing her eyes. "I¡­ I don''t know. I mean, I looked it up, and there are some potato vodkas. I thought that making one out of sweet potatoes would work. And to make it grow faster, I used a few spells." "Did you make sure to clean the potato before doing that?" Capri landed and trotted towards her. "No¡­ is that a problem?" "You probably made something else grow. Or somehow you made the alcohol mix with something else that caused an increased reaction," Capri explained. "Oh¡­ I didn''t know that could happen. Sorry," Laika scratched the back of her head while avoiding eye contact with everyone. Hera shook her head, trying to recover her senses properly, "That''s OK. We all make mistakes. But how did you know it was something about the drink, Capri?" "I''m a brewmaster myself, and I know the usual issues one would find when they are starting," Capri puffed up his chest, "In fact. I brought something for us all," using his wings, he pulled up a casket of ale and placed it on the kitchen table. "Oh, wow. I didn''t expect that," Hera smiled as she walked towards the casket to try the drink. "The people of Boothudurn know how to drink. I learned from the best," Capri nodded with a proud smile on his face. The rest of the party wasn''t as interesting as the early moments. Nina taught some dance moves to Laika and Hera. They played some games, watched an animated movie about space pirates, and ate a lot. In the end, Hera saw a few notifications from her friends, asking her if she was OK since it was already over 24 hours since she started the test. Yet, she didn''t reply right away. Instead, she turned back to the guides. "Guys, I''m going to have to go soon. But can I ask you a couple of questions about this skill?" "Oh, sure. Yesterday, you were so tired that I figured we would have time to do this later," Peaches nodded. "OK. So we can only talk here, right? I can''t see your texts outside?" Hera asked. "That is correct, and it follows the same rule as the Local Guide skill, with an addendum. If you get a single strike, then the meeting room skill will be lost," Berthellemy ate another bite of cake. "And you guys are here because you want. So you are not bound by the system. Does that mean you could answer other questions about a room?" Hera took a sip of her soda. "Sort of but not really. We are still somewhat bound, and talking about things in our room is like going through an asteroid field. We need to be careful not to get hurt," Laika put her plate down to explain. "Oh... Really? I didn''t expect that. I figured you would be free, and maybe I could bribe you guys with food and gifts to get some answers," Hera smiled. "You are free to try that. Maybe we are more willing to navigate the minefield then," Berthellemy added. "I''ll keep that in mind," Hera chuckled, "Oh, and if I''m hurt can I come here and call you guys to heal me like Capri did?" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I''m afraid even the magnificent me is unable to come to your aid. This was an outlier. The cause of your ailment was one of us, which allowed me to use my incredible powers to heal you and my brethren," Capri flapped his wings proudly. "Ah, OK. I guess it would be a bit cheap for me to call you guys to help me like that," Hera nodded and stopped to think if there was anything else that she was missing. Then she remembered what happened when she was trying to run away with Fitz and what she did with that guard that seemed to have better gear, "Did I¡­ kill someone in the test?" "C''mon, kid. I thought you were over that. That was just something made by the system. They are not even alive. It''s just like a machine or your snake. Even if someone ''kills'' her, she won''t die. It''s the same thing," Peaches sighed. "But¡­" "No buts. Dad is right. You are stressing out too much for no reason," Nina cut Hera off, but everyone stopped to stare at her, "What?" "Dad?" Laika asked. "No¡­ I mean... He raised me¡­ Us¡­" Nina started to fumble with a horrified expression. "I''m just glad you are comfortable saying that in front of people. Usually, it''s just when it''s the two of us. Though I''m glad you stopped calling me daddy. Some shows ruined that one for me," Peaches shook his head. "Dad!" Nina gasped. "Yeah, you can''t deny you called him that now," Hera smiled. "But¡­. But¡­ I''m leaving!" Nina stomped away but stopped in front of Hera, "Thank you for having me, and sorry for coming unannounced. If it''s OK with you, can I message you in my private account?" "You can do that? I thought you couldn''t have something like a private account." "I can. I figured it out while we were here. Can I message you?" Nina lowered her eyes, some vanilla frosting framing the red scales on the corner of her mouth. Hera passed her a napkin and gestured to her mouth, "Of course you can. I''m more than happy to talk to you whenever I can," she looked at the other guides in the room, "That''s the same for all of you. And thanks for voting for me to get the skill." "You''re welcome. I am really happy that we can talk again," Laika jumped off the bed and gave Hera a hug. "I agree. I have no regrets in my decision," Berthellemy nodded. Capri flew over Hera''s head and stopped a few centimeters above Nina, "Indeed. You are one worthy of my presence. Never forget that." "I won''t. Thanks for the party," Hera looked around. The place was a mess, and it was a good thing that she wouldn''t have to worry about cleaning up. "Kid, it''s always a pleasure. And I''m glad we can hang out more," Peaches came jumping towards Hera. "Same. But I guess I''ll have to schedule a day with you. Since you are the one who everyone would know," Hera chuckled. "Not quite. Even among all the explorers who know me, there are just a few who I wanted to hang out with," Peaches jumped on Nina''s hands. Despite the embarrassment she just went through, the Kobold carried him without missing a beat. "I''ll feel special if you say things like that," Hera smiled. "You better. I do not appear to anyone. Only a select few are allowed to gaze into my magnanimous visage," Capri puffed his chest again. Laika rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it''s time for us to go. You have your stuff to do, and so do we. Don''t be a stranger, OK? We know that sometimes you can''t come to a doorway but try to not take too long. We will miss you." "I won''t. I promise. Oh, can I ask you one last thing?" "Sure," Peaches nodded. "I only got a text from a few of the guides I''ve met. Does that mean I won''t ever see the others?" "Not never, maybe we can talk them into coming here. But unless they give you their contact number, they won''t come here." "I see¡­" Hera felt a bit sad about it, she knew that some interactions with the guides weren''t the best, but she still expected them to at least be willing to talk to her. "Don''t feel bad, Kid. Some of us are just shy," Peaches tried to cheer Hera up. "And some guides are just dicks," Laika added. "Laika!" Nina gasped. "What? I''m not wrong," Laika crossed her arms. "Still!" Hera chuckled, "OK, I''ll keep that in mind. Have a nice trip back." "Oh, before I forget. I have to upgrade your relic," when Peaches started talking, Nina turned around again, but he jumped from her lap and back inside Hera''s room. He couldn''t use his authority in this corridor. "Right. I forgot about that. Say, think you can change the loose thread skill? It doesn''t fit very well with what I do." "Sure, any suggestions? Now that you are a bit more experienced, we can talk about this kind of stuff instead of letting the system decide. Keep in mind that it has to be related to what you already have. You can''t, for instance, make Yarnball turn into a shark or something," Peaches explained. "I don''t know, maybe something that can capture a monster and stop it from moving, or something that makes it so that only I can touch the thread. It''s kind of hard to spin around with a chakram when I''m worried about hitting a party member. Also, the danger sense never helped that much. I have spells that are much better to warn me," Hera was staring at Yarnball. "Sure, I think we can work with that," Peaches nodded, and the case that almost looked like a case of flossing started to glow. When it returned, it was still completely black but now had a swirling circular pattern that showed some purple and white among the small details, "You lost a bit, but it was the exchange to get what you wanted, but I think you''ll like the result. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. The string can be used to control other objects or to bind a target. The relic can also reveal the answer to a question if the right price is paid. Passive effects: Phantom string The string can be attached to an object by imbuing some mana into the string. While attached, you can move the string using mana. The string is able to pass through objects and creatures depending on their strength at the user''s will. If the string is currently touching a creature or object, the behavior of the string cannot be changed. Current maximum distance: 40 Meters Active effects: Magic Ball By injecting mana into Yarnball, asking a question, then shaking it. You can ask a question and receive a reply through the screen on the side of the case. The amount of mana required for each answer will vary, and if not enough mana is used, the reply won''t be of much use. If the question is related to a location or something too big for the screen, the information will show in your [Treasure Map]. The accuracy of the question depends on the owner''s strength. Cooldown: 2 hours If this effect is used to find a living creature, the cooldown is reduced to 1 hour. Binding thread When something touches the thread, you can activate this ability to bind that target. The stronger the target, the more charges will be spent. The duration of the bind will depend on the target''s strength. You are able to put multiple binds in the same target, however, they will have diminishing effects. 10/10 charges Recover 1 charge each hour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With that, the guides headed out to the corridor and then to the elevator on the other side. After they all vanished from Hera''s view, she tried to leave her private room to see if it worked. However, there was an invisible wall right on the edge of her room. It seemed like the MAZE wasn''t going to let her move around as she pleased. Hera waited a moment before heading out and back to the Waperath Kingdom. She was still about an hour or so away, and Alex should be waiting for her. She quickly sent messages to everyone letting them know that she was sleeping and that''s why she vanished. When she arrived in the city, Hera told her friends that she was back and that she managed to get the role, but she never triggered the hidden mission like she did before. It was a shame, but sometimes things were just like that. In reality, she wanted to say that she got more than just the researcher skill, but anything else besides that would end up making her reveal about the guides. When she arrived at the hotel, Alex asked if they were going to the temple right away, but Hera said no. Before going there, she wanted to get a bit used to the [Explorer''s Research] skill, and she would need a day in the library to do so. After that, however, Hera wanted to get that legacy. 423 - Back at the temple ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ancient Beastmen language [Alphabet] [Vocabulary] [ Grammar] [ Search] [Translate] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow," Hera gasped, looking at the notification. She looked at the vocabulary, and there was a list of all the words she already had translated, even some that she only translated once. It was like she remembered the word as she read it in the window. Looking up the other options, she could see the verbal structure of the language, the alphabet, and what each letter meant, as well as their origin and some references. There was even a sidebar that allowed her to see the equivalent of that letter in different languages, and that also was around all other options. Using the search function was very self-explanatory, and the translate button she could use and either type the word herself or place the window above the text to be translated, "This is really cool." Daskka was leaning over Hera''s shoulder, and it seemed like she could see the window screen. Using her tail, the snake pointed at a specific word that meant family then pointed at herself. "Your family? Well.. It''s complicated, but there is a dungeon where you might see your mother. We can go there if you want," Hera never went to the Eternal Bond dungeon with Daskka. The idea crossed her mind a few times, but it hurt a lot just thinking about it. Not just because of Chika, but she had a lot of bad memories with that room. Instead, Daskka shook her head and pointed at the word family again, then she pointed back to Hera. "That is really cute," Alex, who was in the other bed, smiled at the scene. "Tell me about it. I don''t know what happened, but she''s been more emotional ever since we came back from the temple. Not in a bad way," Hera was now petting Daskka, who was wrapping herself around her owner''s hand, "You are part of my family too. It doesn''t matter what anyone says," she pulled Daskka closer to her face and gave the snake a kiss on her head. "Could it be the red mist?" "Red mist?" "Yeah, the one she used when you were being attacked by that plant thing." Hera stopped to think for a moment, "I guess that is possible. I remember feeling her anger at the time." "We could look something up about it. Or, can you look up if you know anything about that?" Alex asked, still not understanding entirely how the skill worked. Bonnie tried to explain how the [Research] skill functioned, but the explanation wasn''t the best, meaning the assassin still had some questions about it. "Well, if I ever stumbled upon that, it can work," Hera changed the current screen going back to the main page. It was just a screen with her name and a search bar. She typed mana construct, and a few articles appeared. Unfortunately, even after glancing at them, there was nothing that could help her understand what was going on with Daskka. She changed to look for Daskka herself and found several entries explaining how the snake behaved and even a couple of pictures. Those pictures were literal snapshots of moments Hera and Daskka shared from Hera''s point of view. It was incredible but somewhat worrying at the same time. Could the skill save everything she had seen? "Hey, Alex. Can you confirm one thing for me? You can''t see the screen that''s in front of me, right?" "Right. To me, you are just looking at the air." "OK," Hera turned to Daskka, "Do you mind staying on the other side of the bed just for a moment?" Daskka jumped from Hera''s shoulder and flew towards Alex, landing on the assassin''s lap. It was the first time Daskka willingly went to someone else, and Hera didn''t know what to make of it. Still, there was one thing she wanted to confirm. She looked up Silah and then went to the area where she could see the pictures, and thankfully there weren''t any intimate images. It would be one thing if they decided to take pictures like that together, another if she was taking them without talking with her girlfriend, even if it was because of a skill that she couldn''t control. Out of curiosity, Hera did a quick search online, and it seemed like she wasn''t the only one worried about that. There were quite a few articles and forums discussing the ramifications of the skill, but apparently, the system had placed an NSFW filter in the pictures. No one could save intimate images, it didn''t matter how hard one tried. That being said, some issues still existed. For instance, in a specific article, there was a heated argument because of the idea that those random pictures could save things that others didn''t want to share. Classified documents, children, maps, and other kinds of sensitive materials still could appear in the pictures. After clearing out her doubts, Hera just closed the window and the tablet and adjusted herself in the bed. Even if she wasn''t up for a long time, she was still tired enough to sleep early. On the following day, Hera did her best to learn everything she could from different languages. While looking around the library, Alex found something that seemed interesting. There was a place in the MAZE that seemed to be able to help people get rid of curses. It was a room made of a set of islands, and inside each island, there was a trial. People who completed all the trials could detox their bodies of any harmful substance, including any sort of curse or ailment. "Hey, can you explain to me how that memory spell works again?" Alex turned to Hera. "The selective memory filter?" "Yeah." "I mean, sure, but will that help? You use equations for spells, don''t you?" Hera looked up from the research window. "I do, but I want to see if I can figure it out. If things work well, I can even get the stealth skill tomorrow. I want to improve my ability to hide. I kind of realized how important that is when the flower thing grabbed you. If we were well hidden enough, then maybe that thing wouldn''t have seen us." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Yeah, but that would only work if both of us had the skill. I mean, the thing did come after me," Hera added. "True, but maybe if it was just one of us, it wouldn''t have noticed," Alex was now petting Daskka, who was still on her bed. "Well¡­ we have no way of knowing that, but I get your point. Let me see¡­." Hera did her best to explain what was going on with the spell, but she herself wasn''t completely aware of how some of the details worked. They talked until the end of the day and then some more in the morning. Alex still was unable to figure out the spell, but she felt like she was taking a step in the right direction. After breakfast, they split off, Hera went to the library again, and Alex went to the training rooms in the guild. Hera spent the entire day trying to make as many languages as possible appear in her [Explorer''s Research] skill. By the end of the day, she had a rough understanding of half a dozen languages, but she could identify at least 20 different ones thanks to the skill. It was interesting that unlike what happened with actual researchers, Hera wasn''t learning the subjects properly. Instead, it was more like she was creating a database with all the information pertaining to a topic. Unfortunately, that wasn''t perfect either. Some of the words she managed to translate wouldn''t appear on the research screen, and that was because she forgot what they meant. The words she remembered, even if it was only after actually seeing the word, would still show up. By the end of the day, Hera felt like she already had a decent grasp on how the skill worked, and she felt ready to take the legacy test. Yet, she and Alex agreed to wait for the morning, to Silah''s dismay. During the past days, the blacksmith had become more and more angry at Hera for not coming back, and it seemed like she would continue complaining even after they were on their way home. Hera was doing her best not to let it bother her, but it was hard. She couldn''t even remember the last time they talked, and it wasn''t an argument. While trying not to think too much about that, Hera dove even deeper into her language studies. The next day, Hera and Alex double-checked if they had everything they needed before heading back to the temple. Since Hera remembered the shape of the key, and she could even see a picture of Kirouhebi''s statue in her research window, she could open the portal at any time. Luckily, the hotel they were staying at was located outside the Ziggurat, meaning that they wouldn''t even have to leave their room to go to the temple. "Welcome back. I must admit that I expected you two to come back sooner," Kirouhebi came down from the cloud ceiling inside the temple. "I wanted to come back sooner, but Hera had some things to take care of," Alex smiled and nodded to greet the dragon. "Well, and what is the reason for your visit today?" Kirouhebi lowered his head. Hera smiled, "I came to get the legacy. I''m confident that this time it will work." "And I wanted to talk to you about¡­ that subject. I have some ideas," Alex added. "Very well. Can you reach the armory on your own?" "I think so, but I might get lost," Hera had an idea. She opened her treasure map and saw the layout of the temple. It was incomplete, but she could follow it to find the same places she found before, "Nevermind. I can get there on my own. Unless you have a way to get me there faster." Kirouhebi smiled, "Unfortunately. I don''t have any way to teleport you in here. And, I don''t like the idea of being someone''s ride." Hera nodded, "Yeah, that would be a bit weird. But I think I can get there. Can I call you if I get lost?" "Of course." "Thanks!" Hera nodded and started heading towards the armory again. Kirouhebi and Alex watched Hera move away before the dragon turned to the assassin, "So, what is your idea?" "Have you ever heard of the Dispersion Pearl?" Alex pulled up her tablet to show what she had found. It took Hera about fifteen minutes to arrive at the armory. She got a bit lost even when using the map, but only because a few of the hallway entrances blended too much with the sides of the corridors. In there, she found the stack of boxes filled with weapons just as she had left them. She went straight for the second crate in the middle and saw the familiar dagger sitting at the bottom of the wooden container. Touching the dagger showed a notification again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a legacy. You are being transported to the location of the legacy trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find and wield the weapon used by the previous legacy holder. Time remaining: 00:50:00 If you fail the test, you will receive a time penalty in your next attempt. If you mention the test details to anyone, you forfeit any remaining attempts to acquire the legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was once again in the weapon graveyard. Thousands and thousands of swords, axes, lances, and daggers stuck out from the ground. Hera didn''t waste any time. She called Daskka and told the snake to look for any writing that could match a language that she knew while Hera herself did the same thing. It took ten minutes to find something that could be translated, and even when using the [Explorer''s Research] to cheat, it took her another twenty minutes to complete the translation of a single inscription due to the wear and tear of the two-handed axe that she was looking at. The blade was white, almost as if it was made out of some sort of bone, and the handle was made of steel. Hera''s main struggle to read whatever was written in the weapon was the number of scratches on the blade. She was having trouble identifying what was part of the inscription and what was just a scratch. Still, even when Daskka told her that she found another weapon, Hera continued the translation there. Looking around, all weapons showed signs of wear and tear. Going to another weapon just because it could be better was a waste of time. Or so she thought. ''Deveris Aqua'' "Is it really just their name? Or is it the name and title?" Hera mumbled to herself while she walked to the next weapon that Daskka pointed to. Unfortunately, the snake couldn''t help her with the translation, but during the time it took for Hera to understand that inscription, Daskka found another three. They were close by, and Hera managed to take a look at all of them before deciding which one to pick. Compared to the bone axe, these were much better cared for, or at least the weapon''s blade was. The sword had a rusty handle that was broken in places, and the glaive''s shaft looked more like a twig than an actual weapon, but the blades were pristine. Each inscription followed the same pattern as before. A word that seemed to be a name and something that Hera wasn''t sure if it was the last name or the person''s title. Since people with last names like ''Steel,'' ''Hawk,'' and ''Pierce,'' existed, that could be the case for those whose names were engraved in the weapons. After a while, she translated the sword, which read ''Barnaby Frost,'' and the glaive ''Furion Wood.'' However, when she was starting the third weapon, a sai, Hera was covered in bright light and transported to the temple one more time. 424 - Blademaster Legacy Hera was pacing around the armory, replaying everything she had seen inside the legacy test in her mind. "I''m missing something. I know I am." Daskka was sitting on the edge of the box, staring at the dagger in the ground. She then turned to Hera, calling her over, and pointed at Yarnball with her tail. "I know I have this, but I''m thinking about what question I should ask. If I go ''where is the blade master weapon?'' and just get ''here'' as an answer, I swear I''m hitting something," Hera pulled up Yarnball and just stared at it, "Any ideas what should I ask? Maybe what is their weapon. I could try to ask how to pass the entire test, but something tells me that I won''t have enough mana to get a decent answer." The snake looked down and started to rub her chin with the tip of her tail, almost like she was thinking very seriously about this. Hera just observed quietly. She was curious about what kind of reply Daskka would give her. She clearly could understand writing, even going as far as to be able to understand other languages that Hera was learning. Maybe this mana construct was much more intelligent than she gave credit for. Not that she ever thought Daskka was stupid, but it was one thing to be a smart pet, another to be able to read. A few moments passed, and the snake looked up again with a single thought in her mind. ''Food?'' Hera chuckled and patted the snake, "You don''t even have to eat. But here, we can split a power bar. I''ll get you something else later, I promise." She pulled one of the power bars that she always carried with her. It wasn''t exactly the heartiest of foods, but it was a constant part of her supplies when she left a city or went to any place where food might not be readily available. Doing that was pretty common among explorers, and the brands dedicated a sizable amount of time to improving the options and flavors. Not only could you find things like vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free power bars, but also flavors that no one ever would think of unless they were craving said food. The amount of flavors that were based on different pasta dishes was staggering. Luckily, Daskka wasn''t too fond of those. She preferred the fruit-based ones or the ones with chocolate. That was probably something she got from Hera. While splitting the banana and strawberry flavored power bar, Hera tried to come up with a better question for Yarnball. She would only use it inside the test, and there was no guarantee that it would work. After all, the system might put some sort of barrier around that since legacies seemed to be able to bend some of the known rules of the system, so it wouldn''t be a surprise if there was some weird obstruction. Asking about the location of the weapon felt a bit wrong. She was positive the answer would be unhelpful. Questioning what the weapon was would be a coin flip. It can either narrow her search considerably, or it would be a bullshit answer like ''all weapons.'' And, asking how to pass the test was probably useless. Even if her relic could answer that, it would require too much mana. "What about, ''how can I understand what the test wants?''" Hera mumbled to herself. It was a broader question, and it carried the same risk as to the ''what is the blade master weapon,'' since the answer can just be ''read the notification'' or something. But, it felt like a better question. Not the best, but a better one. Thinking some more, a few other possibilities came to mind, ''What was the most important weapon inside the test,'' ''Does the test have anything to do with magic,'' and even ''What type of weapon the previous wielder used?'' All those questions felt like they could work, but Hera would be stuck in the same place with no help if they didn''t. Daskka asked Hera about the writing in the weapons. Something along the lines of ''Why is this important?'' "Well. I don''t know, that''s the thing," something clicked inside her mind, "You know what. I should just ask that. What is the meaning of all that? Worst case scenario, I just get a dud of an answer, and we wait a couple of hours before going there again. Thanks!" Hera patted Daskka and gave her the rest of the power bar that she was eating. Even if the snake didn''t have to eat, it was clear that she enjoyed the food. Before going back to the test, Hera called Kirouhebi and asked about a bathroom. Lucky there was one close by, and soon she was reaching for the dagger once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a legacy. You are being transported to the location of the legacy trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find and wield the weapon used by the previous legacy holder. Time remaining: 00:40:00 If you fail the test, you will receive a time penalty in your next attempt. If you mention the test details to anyone, you forfeit any remaining attempts to acquire the legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing Hera did was find one of the weapons she could read, or at least translate, then she pulled Yarnball from her waist and asked, "What do these inscriptions mean?" she made sure to actually touch the writing, so her relic had no way of misunderstanding the question. Not that it had ever happened, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She also pumped all of her spare mana, everything in both earrings and in her bracelet. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ''Their name and their element.'' "Wait¡­ What? It was their element after all?" Hera looked around, trying to find more of the words she could recognize before shaking her head, "Wait, do you mean the wielder or the weapon? Whose name is it?" Hera asked her relic but got no response. The skill was currently on cooldown, and it would remain like that for all the time she had in this test. "Daskka. Try to find any weapons that have elements that I can use. Fire, Poison, Earth, Paralyze, Wind, Light, Grass, and¡­ I think that''s it. If you find something that is part of those languages that need too much time to translate, let me know but move on." The snake nodded and flew off into the weapon graveyard, looking for any writing that matched what Hera asked. It took them a few minutes, but eventually Hera found one weapon that might fit the bill. It was a large pair of twin hook swords wrapped in a chain. Each handle also seemed to be bladed and had edges that pointed outward. Hera noticed that every time a weapon should be in a pair, something was wrapping them together, a string, a cloth, some thread, or a chain. Looking at the inscription, this should be Tirenixio''s weapon of the light element. Hera carefully grabbed both swords by the handle and created a light mana reinforcement around both of them. The swords came out of the ground and started to shine, not because of her mana but because of the element. They were resonating with it, and soon, the silvery metal had turned into a neon white that made Hera feel like she was holding a pair of laser swords. Suddenly, the light started to gather at the tip of the hooks, and another set of swords formed as if they were clashing with Hera''s. From the handles, the light created a humanoid shape, but one that had a different build from the explorer. This figure seemed much more muscular and a few centimeters taller, but as it moved, it showed a nimbleness that Hera wasn''t expecting. It turned to the side, going straight into a martial art stance. Its back was turned to Hera. Its right arm was going above its head, holding the hooked sword in the opposite direction of its elbow. The left arm was lower, parallel to the right, but the arm was straight out, unlike the right one, which was bent. After a few moments, the figure started moving again. It started twirling its wrists, making the swords spin at a rapid pace while it walked forward, not towards Hera, but towards the direction the weapons were initially pointing to. Without stopping its wrists, its arms started to rotate, creating an area where if anything got close, it would be met by the bladed edge of the swords. So far, Hera was able to understand what the figure was doing. It was moving quickly, yes, but it was still a string of movements that Hera could follow. What happened next, however, left her completely at a loss. The figure did something that was close to a ballerina spin holding both swords out in a wide circle. While still spinning, the figure put both hooked swords on its back and somehow connected them, turning the two weapons into a single longer one and finished it off by going lower to the ground and using this new extended sword to make a swiping attack. The figure did one more spin and returned the connected weapon to finish the move, now having one in each hand again. Hera never saw such a perfectly executed movement before. It wasn''t a scramble or something meant to avoid an attack. It was like a dance, a calculated set of steps that only someone who spent years practicing it would be able to mirror. Even more impressive was the fact that this wasn''t the end of this small presentation. After returning both swords to its hands, the figure started spinning at an angle. Looking at that particular motion, Hera felt like you wouldn''t be that effective in the middle of a fight. It left the bottom half of its body to open for attacks, and since it was spinning, it would be hard to properly see anything coming. Her opinion changed somewhat with what came next. Instead of a kick or an aerial attack like she expected, the figure connected both swords again and used them almost like a whip to attack whatever was in front of it. An attack like that was surprising, to say the least, and the force that figure displayed should do some hefty damage. Then again, it depended very much on what it was fighting. An enemy that was too heavy, sturdy, or focused on defense could probably deal with an attack like this without a problem. In fact, this type of attack could even hinder the figure if somehow their opponent was able to intercept the second sword and take it away. When the glowing white figure was done with this presentation, it walked back to Hera and returned to the first position it showed her. Instead of moving right away, the figure waited, and after a few moments, Hera tried to mimic the position she was seeing. Only then did the figure move again. This time taking another step forward, repeating the movements it just did. Hera understood that this was part of the test. She had to wield the weapon just as the blade master did. Whether it was the blade master or not, this figure was showing her what she had to do to prove she could wield the weapon. "Man, I should have gotten a different weapon. It''s the first time I have even seen those things. How am I supposed to learn that move?" Hera sighed. She slumped her shoulders and dropped the weapons to the side without letting go of them, and when she did so, the glowing figure returned to the first position. This made it clear to Hera that the figure would reset if she made a mistake, allowing her to try again. Even if that was a good thing, it also meant that she would have to start again from the beginning every time she messed it up. After trying to replicate that movement for close to 20 minutes, Hera decided to look for something else. She had no idea how to wield those swords, but since there were other types of weapons in the area, it was likely that she could try a different one. When she placed the hooked swords back in their graves, the glowing white figure returned to the weapons, and the chain around them was connected once more. Hera spent the next 5 minutes or so looking for a new weapon to try out. Unfortunately, the only one she could translate and had the element for that she could find was a glaive. It was an earth element one that used to belong to someone called Findel. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Hera used her mana to take off the glaive from the ground and started following what the glowing brown figure was showing her. It quickly became clear that this wasn''t the best idea. The figure was showing moves that Hera couldn''t even follow. It spanned around so quickly and did so many quick jabs and slashes that she could swear that there were five figures and not just one. Whoever wielded this glaive was not just proficient. They had mastered it and went even beyond that. Hera looked back at the rest of the graveyard. There were so many weapons here that she could imagine all the different styles and ways to fight that could be waiting to be awakened. What if this glaive was not even the greatest master that this place was hiding? What would happen if she managed to get the legacy? Could she be able to learn all those different fighting styles? 425 - A sword, an axe, or a dagger Hera was pacing in the armory once again. She failed her third attempt at the legacy test. Still, it wasn''t like she was sad because of it. Her attempts weren''t for naught. She managed to figure out how to remove the weapons from the ground and that something else needed to be done. What she was trying to do now was find a way to identify the degree of mastery that each wielder had. If luck was not on her side, and the weapon she picked next was from a very skilled blademaster, Hera might lose her attempt or at least some precious time. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to see if a weapon was wielded by an expert among experts or if it was someone less proficient. Waiting around to have Yarnball as an option also didn''t feel right. She might be getting greedy, but Hera wanted to pass the test on her own without relying entirely on her relic. Or, at the very least, try one more time without relying on it. Not wanting to wait too long, Hera stretched her legs and drank some water before reaching out to the dagger and going inside the legacy test once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a legacy. You are being transported to the location of the legacy trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find and wield the weapon used by the previous legacy holder. Time remaining: 00:30:00 If you fail the test, you will receive a time penalty on your next attempt. If you mention the test details to anyone, you forfeit any remaining attempts to acquire the legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Daskka, look for a sword, a handaxe, or maybe a dagger. The Important part is that they have to be in a language that I can understand. And if we can know for sure if they have one of the types of mana that I can use, let me know right away," Hera looked around, seeing the countless weapons on the floor, and just hoped that her luck didn''t run out, "Take the left, I''ll take the right." The snake nodded and went flying off, bouncing between several weapons, looking for what her owner had just asked of her. Hera did the same thing. She moved quickly, first looking for weapons that she could use and then checking the inscriptions. Her mind was in a frenzy. For many things, 30 minutes was a long time, but for this, it felt like no time at all. A part of her wanted, more than anything, to figure out a new spell or something that would give her the edge that she needed. The rest of her just wanted to grab every single weapon she saw and pull it out of the ground using all kinds of mana. The end result was something in between both options. Hera was grabbing random weapons that she believed she knew how to use while at the same time looking for the right inscriptions. In the midst of that desperation, she managed to pull a weapon from the ground by sheer luck, thanks to her wind mana reinforcement. It was a large two-handed sword, one too heavy for anyone who wasn''t a fighter, or an explorer with high strength, to use. The weapon in her hand seemed to be carved out from a single massive piece of jade that formed everything from the tip, to the blades, to the guard, to the handle. In many ways, it looked primitive, but the balance was anything but. This sword was heavy, unreasonably so, yet it wasn''t unwieldy. As she held the grip, she could feel the proper way to move it. She could feel how the weight was supposed to help you deliver a stronger blow. Most of the weapons in this graveyard felt like masterworks. This, on the other hand, was an actual masterpiece. Not because of the design or because of how it was made, but something in this sword, an enchantment probably, felt like the best work that someone ever did, the kind of work that makes a lifetime of studying and crafting worth it. While Hera was admiring this beautiful weapon, the green light of her wind mana was pulled to the tip of the blade, making the jade shine as it passed by. On the other side of the sword, a green figure started to form, wielding the same weapon that Hera had in her hands. Just like in her previous attempt, the figure took a stance, one very different from what she saw with the hooked swords. It wasn''t a unique position. In fact, it looked very much like the most famous position of Kendo. The figure was simply holding the sword in front of it with its arms close to the waist and the tip of the sword pointing to the sky at an angle. A few moments passed before this instructor began to move. It raised the sword above its head and brought it down once. Another 10 seconds went by before the figure did the same movement one more time. However, the second swing felt much stronger. Without changing a single thing in its stance, the figure repeated that swing three more times. Each was stronger than the last. The final slash was so strong that Hera could see the wind shaking the weapons around it. By all accounts, that shouldn''t be possible. These light beings can''t touch anything. They were just projections. The white light that showed her the movements for the hooked sword passed through all the weapons in the graveyard without a problem. And yet, this green light seems to be able to exert its power even now, defying all logic. Something told Hera that she couldn''t mimic this attack. Watching those slashes was like watching a renowned painter create their masterpiece. Despite that, she wasn''t going to let this odd feeling get in her way. Maybe the test wasn''t so stingy with mistakes, maybe she didn''t need to replicate those slashes perfectly, and an approximation would be enough. After the 5th swing, the figure returned to its initial position and just stood there waiting for Hera to attempt the movement, and so she did. Before starting, she made sure to look at the form from every angle. Even if she wasn''t able to perform those slashes, she could at very least be in the correct position to start. Despite This being of light having no exact shape, it was surprisingly easy to understand how her body should start the set movements. It was very likely that this was something the test helped you with. After all, if it was asking you to repeat a precise choreography, it would focus on the attacks themselves and not the initial position. When she felt comfortable enough, Hera got ready and performed the first swing. The figure seemed to approve of the attack and showed her the second movement again. It was the same swing, only somehow stronger. The explorer copied the movement, but when she was done, the figure lowered the sword showing that it was resetting, and then returned to its initial position. Hera tried one more time, starting for the first movement. She swung the sword trying to hold back some strength, but the glowing figure saw that as a failure. On her third attempt she used all her might for the first slash, but just like the first time, she failed at the second. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Thinking for a moment, Hera considered using her [All In] skill, But she quickly pushed that idea aside. Even if she was to use her skill and go beyond the second slash, there were still three more attacks for her to copy, and she had no idea how to do that if she couldn''t even pass the second one. Daskka Had already found another three weapons that could fit her requirements. Despite knowing that she would probably be wasting her time, Hera decided to try a couple more times before completely giving up on this sequence of movements. As she expected all her attempts were in vain. She could only mirror the first slash. There''s something telling her that this martial art required her to perform five attacks, each stronger than the last, but at the same time, every single one of them had to be with her full strength. Without having a proper teacher, Hera wouldn''t be able to understand how she was supposed to do that. Knowing that she was just slamming her head against the wall, Hera lowered the sword and was ready to put it back on its grave. Before doing that, she looked up to the glowing green figure and gave it a bow as thanks for showing her the movements. Despite being aware that this was just part of the test, this felt like the right thing to do. In a way, that figure was being her teacher, even if just for a moment. Without wasting any more time, Hera turned around and dashed towards the closest weapon that Daskka marked with her mist. Hera didn''t even think about that, but the snake had set up what were essentially flares made of smoke on top of every weapon that she found and matched what they were searching for. Moving quickly between the weapons that stuck out from the ground, Hera found the first weapon that was marked by her pet. It was a one-handed axe that barely had any identifying features. Anyone who looked at it would believe that it was something mass-produced. The only thing that was different was a single red gemstone on the base of the handle. While she was looking for the inscription, Hera kept thinking, ''please be a lucky one, please be a lucky one, please be a lucky one.'' That''s when in the corner of her eye, she noticed something. A different weapon and its inscription was in plain old English. ''Lurize poison'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was surprised by the notification, but now wasn''t the time to pay attention to that. Giving up the one Daskka had marked, she bolted towards the new found sword. Most of her kit was about poison, and because of poison, she was able to talk to Daskka, Chika, and maybe even the Naga in the dungeon. Despite being weird, poison had only brought good things in her life so far. Adding that to her own skill triggering because she was thinking about being lucky, Hera thought something was guiding her here. Using her poison mana, she pulled the two-handed sword from the ground. This one was lighter than the one she was using before, but it felt more awkward. The blade wiggled slightly as she moved it, and there were just two parrying hooks near the base where it connected with the cylindrical handle. An orange glow covered the weapon and took the form of who would be her new instructor. The figure started showing its set of movements right away. Starting from the same position as the jade sword, it performed an overhead diagonal slash. Then it pulled the blade back in a defensive motion, keeping the sword horizontally in front of it and twisting its body slightly to the right as a way to defend from incoming attacks. In the next moment, the left hand slammed against the back of the handle to make a wide slash following the orientation of the sword. When doing that, Hera would have to lower her own head not to be hit by the blade, since would come first towards herself before spinning towards her target, followed by a quick jump back to return to the initial position. Next was a stab aimed at what seemed to be the chest of the phantom target by taking a step toward but leaving its left foot behind, then the figure pulled off the blade in a downward slash lowering its body closer to the ground, only to spin the sword in their hand and attempt a second stab aiming higher than the first one, possibly at the neck. Surprisingly the next move was a kick from the crouched position and another overhead swing that ended with the tip of the sword on the ground. The movements were by no means easy, but this felt doable compared to everything else that Hera had seen. "Daskka, come here," the explorer called while getting ready to start. In just a few seconds, the snake came back since she wasn''t that far away, "Can you help me see if I''m making any mistakes? Watch me doing the movements and see if I''m not putting my arm or my leg in the wrong place at the wrong time and let me know so I can try to fix that." Daskka nodded, and Hera started to mirror the figure''s attacks. She had no idea how long she still had to complete the test, but worrying about that wouldn''t help at all. Instead, she focused on repeating the movements that the figure was showing. Even if she wasn''t proficient in two-handed swords, this figure looked much more like a trainer than a warrior. Every step it took was calculated, and it actually seems like a demonstration made to help people learn the move set. Watching the other figures was more like seeing a martial arts presentation, something made to impress people and not necessarily to help them learn. Hera didn''t know how long it took, but every time she repeated the motions, she felt like she was getting a little bit closer to what the figure was showing. Daskka''s help was also invaluable. She would point at different parts of her body that were out of sync with the figure while Hera performed the attacks. Little by little, step by step, Hera moved closer to what the figure was showing. Now she was making a mistake on the first stab, and the issue was her feet'' position. Instead of keeping her left foot forward, she kept placing her right foot in the front since it would give her a better center of gravity for the next attack. Moving like that wasn''t intentional. It was an instinctive reaction that her year of exploring brought her. Having a right foot in front made it easier for her to be toppled or to lose her balance, and in a life or death situation, losing your balance wasn''t an option. The first time Hera managed to pass the stabbing part, she failed to perform the following kick. It took her six attempts to even reach the same spot, and then she went beyond. She could see the glow of the figure right beside her, and their weapons were moving almost in tandem. However, just as she was about to make the sword touch the ground, Hera was blinded by a white light that returned her to the temple. "Fuck!" Hera gasped, rubbing her eyes that were hurting after the flash, "I was so close," Hera kept rubbing her eyes for a while, trying to make the pain go away. When she finally opened them, there was a notification floating in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Legacy test. You have acquired the Court of Blades Legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 426 - Court of Blades 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Court of Blades - Legacy The Court of Blades is a legacy created by a member of the Court of Heroes. With it, you are able to absorb any bladed weapon in your court. You can call any member of your court to fight by your side at any moment. When your affinity reaches a certain point with a weapon and the conditions are met, you are able to assign a nobility title to your blade, allowing it to become one with you and with itself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Court of Blades - Legacy Empress: Hera Kingsley Consort: Spymaster: Mistress of the Hunt: Harlequin: Knight-Captain: Royal Guard: Royal Adviser: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Courtship Court Ruler Bestow Title ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Courtship - Legacy skill A ruler needs a court, and to fill it, they must perform certain actions to entice possible subjects. You are able to absorb a bladed weapon into your court. You are required to have a certain degree of familiarity with the weapon to accept it in your court. Doing so will destroy the weapon''s physical form, but you can recall the weapon back to your side by spending mana. Weapons in your court retain 50% of their own status and are granted an additional 20% of the empress attributes. Each member of your court is able to use only a single type of mana. While they have access to that mana, the empress won''t be able to use said mana. At any moment, you can expel a member of your court. If you do so, the weapon that you absorbed will be lost forever. The level of familiarity with the weapon changes the % received from the empress. Current members of your court: Lurize of poison (Zweihander) - 10 000 mana. Court capacity: 1/5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Court Ruler - Legacy skill An empress knows that they only have to give an order, and it will be followed. As the empress of your court, you are able to give commands to its members, who will do their best to fulfill your orders. Your blades will move on their own, inheriting any fighting style you possess that may also be applicable to them. Attacks against the blades will never harm the empress, but attacks against the empress harm her entire court. The court will prioritize the empress'' safety unless commanded otherwise. If the empress is attacked, the court will do its best to protect them. All members of the court pledge their eternal loyalty to the empress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bestow Title - Legacy skill A court is more than an empress and its subjects. There are several moving pieces, each with its own duty to help the empress. When the conditions are met, you are able to bestow a title to a weapon. Doing so will allow them to serve you better by giving them mana bodies that match their personalities. A title is a lifelong vow that cannot be removed until the empress passes the court to someone else. Giving one of your blades a title will increase the weapon''s attributes depending on the rank of the given title. They will also be able to utilize 90% of their original weapon status and receive double the additional attribute from the empress for being a member of her court. The type of mana that one of your titled blades uses does not remove the empress''s ability to use that type of mana. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several skills and spells can be affected by the legacy. These changes will happen as the legacy adjusts to its new host. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Presence of Ego item located. Would you like to turn said item into the current legacy herald? Doing so will not bind the item to the legacy. [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? Wait. Fuck me, that''s a lot of stuff," Hera kept blinking, overwhelmed by the number of notifications. Daskka flew to her shoulder and landed there to watch her owner toy with the flying windows. Hera read each of them very carefully, worried about even touching them and doing something wrong. This legacy seemed amazing! If she understood this correctly, she would be able to have several weapons flying around her while she fought, and the only mana she had to spend was to summon the weapons. They would also get some power based on her own attributes, which meant that all her weapons should be stronger overall. After all, most weapons Hera had scaled with 2 or 3 attributes, and now each of her blades, as the skill called, would scale with all of them. Or at least, that''s what she understood about it. Then, there was the last notification. The only ego item Hera had was Daskka, and it was asking if she could be the legacy herald. The best part of it was that doing so would not make Daskka bound to the legacy. Meaning that she wouldn''t be trapped with the skill. However, this felt like too much of a decision for Hera to make. She turned to the snake to ask her opinion on the matter. "So, here is the thing. This notification is asking me if I want to make you the herald of my legacy. If I say yes, I think we''ll be able to talk to each other. I mean, that is what Blue did with Stormcloud. She can talk with her legacy''s herald. But, I don''t know how this works. Maybe if we do this, you will change and not necessarily for the best, and I have no idea what that will do with your mind. Then again, I''m pretty sure this is the only chance we have of making you the herald. So, I want to ask you. Do you want to be the herald of the legacy?" Daskka looked at Hera and, using that connection via poison, asked what a legacy herald was. Hera scratched her head and explained in the best way she could. As far as she knew, it was sort of a guide on how to use the legacy. It was a being attached to the legacy that would answer any questions the new holder had. From what she heard from Blue, the herald had a personality, and they could talk about other stuff, but she had no idea how that would work with Daskka herself. She added that Hera didn''t have any preference. It was completely up to Daskka. If she wanted to be the herald, that was OK, and if she didn''t, it was fine too. Hera watched as the snake was thinking, really thinking. In a way, it was like watching a teenager trying to decide what college they wanted to go to. After a couple of minutes, Daskka turned back to Hera and said something she couldn''t understand. The beginning of the feeling was ''I want,'' but then it became a bit of a mess. Images of her hair, then of exit signs, followed by rats and other rodents. Then it turned into some large mountains and small temples. Followed by the lake in Boothudurn, and it ended with a dinosaur skeleton. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I¡­ didn''t get that. Was that a yes or a no?" Hera asked, trying not to make Daskka feel bad. The snake nodded in response and pointed at the yes button on the notification, "Are you sure?" Daskka jumped from Hera''s shoulder and wrapped around Hera''s hand, trying to make her press yes. Both of them knew that even if the snake really wanted, she couldn''t force Hera to press something in a notification. They had tried that some time ago just to test it out. Hera smiled and kissed Daskka''s head, "Just so you know. I love you no matter what happens," and pressed yes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The title of Royal Adviser has been bestowed to the Ego Daskka. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The notification disappeared, and Daskka seemed to be bracing herself for impact, yet¡­ nothing happened. "Daskka? Are you OK?" Hera asked and received a nod as a reply. The snake also seemed confused about the situation, "So what happened to the herald?" "I am here." Hera stared at Daskka for a moment. That voice came from her. She wasn''t going crazy. The snake''s mouth even moved, but hearing her pet speak for the first time was odd, to say the least. Her voice was softer than Hera expected, and it wasn''t that young. It was like hearing a teenager speak even though the snake was technically only a year old. "You can talk now?" Hera asked to confirm what she heard. Daskka closed her eyes and seemed to be struggling with something until she finally opened her mouth again, "¡­ Yesss." "Wait, are you OK? Does it hurt when you speak?" Hera felt flustered. It was the first time she saw Daskka like that. Even when she was hit by a monster, she wouldn''t struggle so much to get up. "I¡­ am¡­. F-f-fine¡­thissss¡­.hard," Daskka continued, now her voice sounded closer to a growl. "Oh¡­ yeah, I guess. It''s your first time speaking. But¡­ is it going to be like that when I ask about the legacy? I have some questions," Hera was a bit worried. She had a lot of questions about her legacy, including why Daskka was given a title. She wasn''t supposed to become part of the legacy. Hera didn''t want the construct to be stuck with it, and she had no idea if the snake would still be part of the legacy when she passed it to someone else. "And I have answers. When you ask about the legacy, my speech won''t be a problem with our communication, although I might occasionally use our¡­ let''s call it poison link to explain things better," Daskka spoke without stuttering. "What the hell? How are you speaking so well now? Was it that fast to learn?" Hera asked. "No, when we are talking about the legacy I¡­. Kind of know what to say. It''s like¡­ the feeling that I get when you send your emotions to me. If I try to talk about something on my own¡­It¡­get¡­hard," Daskka spoke normally at first, but then her speech returned to that low growl. Hera patted Daskka''s head, "Don''t push yourself like that. It doesn''t seem to be something very comfortable. We can still talk like we are used to." In response, the snake sent a message to Hera through their poison communication. It basically said that, no, it wasn''t uncomfortable, but it took a lot of her to figure out how to arrange the words to make a sentence. "How about when you talk as the herald? Does it hurt then?" Daskka just shook her head and sent a feeling saying that it was fun and it helped her learn. "OK then. I''m going to ask a few questions about the legacy then. First of all, why did you receive one of the titles? Are you part of the legacy now?" Hera sat by the crates, leaning her back against the boxes to rest with one knee up. This talk should take a while. "Yes and no, the position of royal adviser is reserved for the herald. If you had chosen not to make me the herald, whoever became the herald would be in that position. And no, when you pass a legacy to someone else or for any reason lose the legacy, I won''t be a part of it. Unless, of course, the next holder also wears the necklace. In that case, it''s likely that I will also be an option for the herald again," Daskka was now sitting on Hera''s knee. "That''s kinda good, actually. If someone inherits the legacy, you might help them figure out how everything works since you already will have the experience of being with me," Hera nodded. "Maybe, but I''m not sure," Daskka scratched her head with her tail. "Why?" "We don''t know what''s going to happen to me when you pass the necklace to someone else. Maybe when my owner changes, I''ll lose the memories of the previous owners," Daskka replied. "The necklace says otherwise. It''s says that you will remember the skills at least, and I''m guessing you''ll remember how to use them. And if you remember all that stuff, you''re probably gonna remember me. Also, why are you able to talk without a problem this time? It was about you, not the legacy?" "It was a question about memories and memories which included the legacy. But if I''m being honest, I have no idea how this works. It''s still very new to me." "I can say the same," Hera chuckled, "We''ll figure everything out together, OK?" Daskka nodded in response, "Next question then. How can I know what skills or spells will be affected by the legacy?" "You can open your status window. Any skill the legacy is considering to affect will have an L by the name. If the skill affected is already altered by the legacy, you''ll have the full legacy after the name of the skill. Oh, And this only shows up if you see the description of the skills, so you have to open them one by one." "Do I get a say in it? Like don''t affect this skill, or do affect this one?" "If the skill would go through a significant change and you could lose the skill when you don''t have the legacy anymore, then, yes. I''ll let you know when a skill like that is analyzed and then you can check it. But if it''s something like your fighting styles, you don''t have to worry. They are already part of the legacy, and even if you don''t have it anymore, the skills will remain there. After all, those are more about knowledge than something that the system creates." Hera nodded and opened her status window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 25 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Stats: Strength: 68 Endurance: 68 Agility: 68 Charisma: 68 Intelligence: 68 Luck: 68 Mana: 40234/44678 Remaining attribute points: 11 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3, Naga style 2 Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1 Earth resistance 1, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 1, Sturdy Body 1 Naga poison 2 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2, Weapon break Etching 2 Medical Reference 2, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 2 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera sighed, "That''s a lot to go through." "Imagine if you got the legacy later. It would be even more. Now, if you touch the legacy name, you can see the information about the legacy again. And if you touch the Blades option, it will show all weapons that are in your court," Daskka explained. "Right," aside from the legacy skill, Hera also noticed that her silver lining had leveled up. Nothing changed in the description, and there was no L by the name, but it seemed like using her [All In] to increase her luck and get the legacy was enough to give her an extra skill rank, or at least, that''s what she assumed happened. Still, there was a lot to go through, and she didn''t even know where to start. However, as soon as she saw the name of one of her skills, she decided to start with that. 427 - Court of Blades 2 "For starters, the skill weapon break. What would happen if the legacy merged with it? Would it be just an upgrade, or could it affect my blades?" Hera asked. "I can''t say for sure without the legacy doing its thing. And it will be quick. Maybe a couple of weeks. A month tops, by the way. But, the way I see it, it will probably affect the blades. I''m not sure if it will affect the ones who have titles, but even if it does, the power of this skill will be much, much greater. I think it will be something like, letting you split a mountain the way you are now, and that is really cool," Daskka gestured with her tail, pretending it was a sword. "Yeah, no, if that''s the case, take this skill off the list. I''m not gonna risk having this skill merged with the legacy. I don''t care how strong it could be." Daskka nodded, "Yeah. I imagined that. You are too kind to do something like that, mum." "Mum?" Hera never expected to be called that, especially not by a snake made out of mana. "Yeah¡­ you are¡­ mum," Daskka nodded, going back to that struggled way of speaking, but Hera couldn''t tell if that was just because she couldn''t talk properly or because she was feeling embarrassed. "I think I''m more of an aunt. Your mom should be Chika, the snake that died before I got you." "You¡­do¡­n''t¡­want¡­ be¡­mum?" Daskka asked with puppy dog eyes. Hera scratched the back of her head, "It''s not that¡­ Look, I had a lot of problems with my mother. Because of that, I never even consider having kids. Hearing you call me mum just brought some bad memories, but it''s not your fault. If you want to call me mum that''s OK. I will do my best not to be weirded out by it. And I''ll explain everything to you later. I promise." Daskka just nodded. She could feel the internal struggle happening inside Hera and understood that she needed time to process this. After a few moments of silence, the snake spoke up, "Do you have any more questions about the legacy?" "Yeah, I''ll leave the skills for later ''cause I have to check each one of them. I already have a blade in my court¡­ Actually, no, why is it called blades, and why are the titles like that? The consort thing feels weird. Isn''t that like a lover?" Hera decided to understand more about the legacy itself before asking how it worked. "Yep, it''s called blades because it''s the court of blades, but it''s just a way to phrase it. If you want, we can change it. It''s the same thing with the titles. Those are the titles used by the last legacy holder, and if you want to change any of them, we can. It can be anything. You can call the number 1, 2, or 3, or pineapple, orange, and grapefruit. Just remember that when you give a title to one of your blades, you have to call them by the title to summon them. That''s why one of the titles was changed to mistress of the hunt. It was a way for the previous wielder to remember who he was calling. The same applies to your title. It doesn''t have to be empress. Even if I think it fits and it sounds really cool. Empress Hera. Oh, and you have to name every blade even if you don''t give them titles. To summon them you call their names," Daskka explained. "OK, and what''s this about giving them a body? It said that I can summon the blades, but I''ll be summoning without a body then? How does that work?" "No, all your blades you summon will be flying weapons that can move on their own. If you have a spear, it will be a flying spear, a sword, a flying sword, and so on. For those who have titles, you can give them humanoid bodies¡­ ish. Depending on the weapon, they might be from a different race. It could be a dwarf, an elf, or even a naga. They will have personalities, memories, and desires. It will be like having your own private adventuring party at all times with you. When you dismiss them, they will just be sleeping, and you can do what you want in private. It''s kind of like they are a version of me, just with a different body." "But are they you, or will each weapon have a personality?" "They won''t be me. One of the conditions for you to be able to give a title to a blade is that you have an ego item with you, and it has to synergize with the weapon. Then in the process, you take that ego item, absorb it, give it to your blade, and that''s where the personality will come from." Hera frowned. Finding an ego item was extremely hard. And buying one would be incredibly expensive. Even with all the money she was making, she still didn''t have enough for one. Not to mention that those items were only sold in auctions, "Is there any other way to give a title to one of my blades?" "For now, I only know of one other option. You can have a spirit become one of your blades, but I''m not sure how. I still can''t see all the information about the legacy. Some parts of it are still missing. I think you still need more time with the legacy before I can know that." Hera nodded. It was the same with Blue. It took time for her to unlock some of the legacy''s abilities and even now she didn''t know everything. "OK, why do I already have a blade? And the list says I can only get five blades, but I have more than five titles to give. How does that work?" "That''s the blade that helped you pass the legacy test. It came with you. You don''t have to keep it, and you can change it anytime you want. I kinda hope you do because that blade is not very strong, and it doesn''t have any special attributes. Also, it doesn''t really match your style. The amount of blades you can have at one time also changes as you get used to the legacy. And I have no idea what''s the max or what the other holders had as the max." "I''ll keep that in mind, but it feels weird to let go of the blade that helped me get here. To call the blades, I just have to call their names?" Daskka nodded in response to Hera''s question. Without getting up, Hera stretched out her hand and called, "Lurize of poison." She felt the ten thousand mana leaving her body, and a few meters away from her hands, the same two-handed sword that she used in the legacy tests materialized in the air. However, there was one difference compared to the sword she used in the weapon graveyard. The sword was now orange, signaling the type of mana it was made of. Hera could feel the connection with that sword. It was similar to what she felt with Daskka but much more simple. Unlike with the snake, she felt only words and not feelings. Without saying a word, Hera thought to the weapon, ''move to the entrance,'' and the sword did as it was told. Remembering the thing about her not being able to use the same element as her weapons, Hera tried to create a poison needle in her hand. Since this was one of her main spells, she knew exactly how much mana it would cost to create the projectile. But this time, she used more mana than she expected. This probably meant that she was using poison mana before, but now she was using some other kind of mana and then turning it into poison. While still thinking about the spell, Hera received a message, not from Daskka, but from the sword asking what its next task was. Hera called it over and asked if she could wield it. The sword floated to her hand and rested gently in her fingers. Apparently, the sword was much lighter than the one she used inside the test, or the sword was actively trying to be lighter to help her wield it properly. Hera focused her attention on the sword and activated her [Inspect] skill. "Inspect won''t work. If you wanna see its attributes, you have to look it up in your blades list," Daskka explained. Hera nodded and opened the list of blades. There was only a single weapon in there, and it was the one that she had in her hands. Tapping in the name of the sword, the window changed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Lurize of poison Zweihander A two-handed sword that excels in duels thanks to its parrying hooks. Weapon Scaling: Strength: 2.06 [0.7(1.4) + 1.36] Endurance 2.01 [0.65(1.3) + 1.36] Agility: 1.36 [0+1.36] Charisma: 1.36 [0+1.36] Intelligence: 1.36 [0+1.36] Luck: 1.36 [0+1.36] Weapon skill Teacher''s spirit: Your familiarity with this weapon will grow at an accelerated rate. Familiarity: 1% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Where do these numbers come from?" Hera asked, unsure of what all that math meant. "So, the numbers outside the brackets are the full results of the math inside them. If you look at the strength, you have the previous strength scaling of the weapon, which is 1.4, reduced to half because of the skill. Then we have 20% of your attributes, which would be 13.6, and to translate that to attribute scaling of a weapon, we just move the little dot a number to the side, and it''s now 1.36," Daskka explained. "OK," Hera stared at numbers trying to make sense of them. It took her a few moments, but she more or less understood what the idea was, and it seemed like every weapon she could get would be stupid powerful in her court. Daskka shook her head, understanding her thoughts through their poison, "Not really. Weak weapons will benefit more from your high attributes than stronger ones. If let''s say you find something stupid, like a knife with a 50 plus scaling on an attribute, the penalty it will have by joining your court will be much worse than the buff that you can give with your attributes." "But that''s only if I don''t give them a title. If I give it a title, I think my attributes would be able to offset that, right?" "Yes, but like I said, titles are permanent. You can''t change them if you want. I mean, you can change what the titles are, but not who has it." "Right, and what is this familiarity? What does that mean?" Hera had an idea of the answer, but it was better to make sure. Daskka stared at her, "It''s kind of what you''re thinking. It''s how used you are with the weapon. I don''t mean just how to use it in a fight, but how to take care of it too. I think that if you learn how to make them, it can also help, but I''m not sure. Every weapon you own or use a few times will have some degree of familiarity with them. You just have to use inspect to see it." Hearing that, Hera pulled up the weapon that Silah gave to her. It was her current oldest weapon, and she''s been using it for well over a year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dwarven Hope Rarity: Rare A handaxe created by Silah, a genius blacksmith from the city of Boothudurn. The weapon was tailormade for a human who arrived in the city. The materials used in the creation were imbued with the crafter''s feelings, increasing its strength and effects. Attribute scaling: Strength x 1.8 Agility x 1.8 Endurance x 1.8 Charisma x 1.8 Weapon Skill: I will protect you An intense desire to protect the user was present during the crafting process. When the user takes damage, there is a 10% chance that this skill will activate, increasing the user''s endurance by 20% for 5 seconds. During that effect, any healing the user receives is increased by 10% Familiarity: 63% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I''m not gonna do this now, but how much would this change my court? The familiarity, I mean." "Just to make it clear, the familiarity is individual. Each weapon will have a different bonus. In this case, it would have 26.3% of your attributes applied to this weapon." "That''s it?" Hera gasped. "Yeah. You can get up to 30 for your court or 60 for the one with titles. The legacy is already strong. You can''t expect it to be just stupidly strong," Daskka scoffed, "Also, you usually need at least 20% familiarity with a weapon to add it to your court. Lurize was a special case." "Lame," Hera rolled her eyes and pulled her other axe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executioner''s Blade Rarity: Uncommon Level restriction: level 20 Attribute scaling: Intelligence x 2.9 Charisma x 2.6 Dexterity x 2.2 Weapon Skill: Executioner''s strike. Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage. Familiarity: 43% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Would this work?" Hera showed the weapon to the herald. "Yeah. All you have to do is invite the weapon to your court," Daskka nodded. "How?" Daskka rolled her eyes, "Did you ever invite someone to the movies? It''s the same thing. But it''s a court, so be respectful." "Oh, great axe that has been with me through so many battles. I... Hereby¡­ Cordially invite you to be part of my court. The¡­. incredible court of blades," Hera even gave a slight bow to the weapon and waited for a moment. She saw some smoke coming out of the axe and covering it completely. The weapon''s weight vanished from her lap, and then the handaxe fell back on her legs. Hera looked at Daskka, confused but saw a small trail of mist coming out of her tail while the snake laughed so much that she was crying. Hera crossed her arms, "That was just mean," she pouted. "Sorry. I wanted to see if ¡­ I ¡­ could¡­." Daskka returned to the growl and gave up midway through the sentence. Using the poison, she communicated to Hera that she wanted to know how much she could stretch the legacy to allow her to speak. And then just told her to call the skill name while thinking about wanting the weapon in her court." Hera nodded and did just as she was told. The Executioner''s Blade seemed to slowly turn into small specks of mana and head towards Hera. This took a while, and the explorer regretted not having a timer set up so she would know how long it would usually take. That would have to wait until the next time then. When it was finally over, she saw a notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speak the name of your new court member ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera opened her mouth to ask something, but Daskka stopped her with her tail, "The next words that come out of your mouth will be the name. Even if it''s what." Hera nodded and took a moment to think. In the end, it didn''t matter all that much, and since it was a way to remember the weapon, it was better to make it simple, "Executioner." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your court has a new member. Executioner - Strength ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Without a second thought, Hera summoned the axe, and it was there, floating in the air but now had a red blade instead of the usual silver metal. To double-check, she opened the status of her new blade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executioner - Strength Hand axe Attribute scaling: Intelligence: 3.1 [1.45(2.9) + 1.65] Charisma: 2.95 [1.3(2.6) + 1.65] Dexterity: 2.75 [1.1(2.2) + 1.65] Agility: 1.65 Strength: 1.65 Luck: 1.65 Weapon Skill: Executioner''s strike. Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage. Familiarity: 43% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera got up and started testing what she could do with the blades and how hard it was to control her court. Some time passed while she and Daskka were talking until Kirouhebi appeared in the doorway with Alex. "We came to see if you had any success. And by the looks of it, you did. I''m glad my old friend''s legacy has finally found a new owner." "Holy shit. Hera. Are you controlling those?" Alex gasped. Hera opened a big smile, "Yep, I''m itching to try this out in a real fight." 428 - Shopping trip "So, can you explain to me how that spell works again?" Alex asked while they walked to a weapon store. Hera understood that she wasn''t asking about a spell by her tone of voice, and this was a deal they had when they were in public. It was one thing if they were high-level explorers and almost no one could attack them, or if they were famous and a lot of people were interested in their every move. However, if two random explorers who just started their life in the MAZE a couple of years ago went missing, not many people would bat an eye. Even the Guild would just chalk their disappearance off as another group that bit more than they could chew inside a dungeon or while fighting a monster. That''s why they avoided openly talking about the legacy in public. In fact, that was the general consensus about it. Unless you had someone really powerful protecting you and backing you up no one would know if you had a legacy until you become a powerful explorer. From what she knew, it was easier to find people who had legacies past level 50. Then it seemed like either too much trouble to try to steal it, or they would be well known enough that if something happened to them, the Guild would start a full investigation. Hera knew that there were thieves and other unsavory types among explorers, but they also had a generous sense of self-preservation. If they involve themselves in a particularly risky heist or assassination, it will be very hard to hide what they did from the Guild. One of the advantages of living in a world where magic was easily acquired and skills to track something, or someone, were easy to find was that any criminal activity wasn''t that complicated to find unless they were hiding very well. There was a line in one of the detective shows that she liked that came to mind. ''In the MAZE, it''s not about not getting caught. It''s about not letting them know that you stole something in the first place.'' Hera''s mind trailed off thinking about crimes, and she remembered the terrorist attack in Union City. That had happened a while ago, but she couldn''t remember hearing anything new about it. Sure the Guild wasn''t going to give everyone consistent reports of what they were doing, not to give away their plans to the attackers, but something that big and that involved all the races should already have been solved. "Hello, earth for Hera. Are you still there?" Alex waved her hand in front of Hera. "Oh, sorry. What did you ask, again?" "How does the skill work? Sorry, the spell. Do you have to just do something with the weapons to add them? I still don''t get it," Alex gestured for them to turn the corner. She knew where the weapon shop was better than Hera. Before replying, Hera glanced at Daskka, who was on her shoulder, to confirm if she could talk about the legacy without a problem again. She had already asked the question before, but since she knew something like the guide skill existed, she wanted to be sure, once more. The last thing Hera wanted was to lose some part of the legacy just by speaking about it. Daskka felt her question and gave an answer confirming that there was nothing to worry about. The legacy didn''t have anything that required secrecy, not the way she was thinking, at least. "I can go over the details later, But in essence, I need to know the weapon I''m gonna use. Think of it like getting used to new shoes. I was talking to her about it, and it seems like if I already kind of know how to use that kind of weapon, it''s quicker for me to add them. So, it''s like if I''m used to wearing running shoes, it''s easier to get a new pair and walk around without a problem. But if I try stilettos, that takes a while before I can walk without falling," Hera explained. "And that''s why you want to buy more handaxes?" Alex pointed to the store a few hundred meters away. It was a massive department store, one that would sell everything back on earth, from groceries to clothing and electronics. But here, it would only sell weapons, armor, and the eventual magic item. "Yeah, we talked, and it looks like since I always used hand axes, even a new one won''t take long for me to get used to. We imagine it would be like a couple hours of practice, and then they are good to go," Hera glanced at Daskka to confirm if everything she said was right and got a nod in response. They went inside the store to look for new weapons. The place was massive. There were eight floors, four dedicated to weapons, three dedicated to armor, and one with a mix of a food court and some stores that sold random knick knacks and other variety of items. It was like looking at gift shops at the airport. Yet, the weirdest part was that these shops were actually private businesses not directly affiliated with the main store. Considering that the department store had everything from custom orders to maintenance, and you could even ask the clerks to order something from outside, it felt a bit odd that they would allow their competition to sell their products here. However, Hera''s goal was the axes. While in the store, she looked over the vast selection they had, and thanks to Daskka, she could confirm that every hand axe had between 16 to 18% of familiarity, simply because she was used to using that kind of weapon. She couldn''t confirm that herself because the legacy only recognized familiarity of weapons that she had already spent some time with, but that was a perk of having the herald. Daskka could make an educated guess on each weapon. Hera even considered looking for weapons that were a bit outside of what she was used to. Unfortunately, all those weapons would require between a few days to a week of constant practice and maintenance before she could add them to her court. It wasn''t that she wasn''t up to do the work, or that she didn''t want variety in her court, but this was supposed to be a practice run. The next order of business would be going back to Boothudurn. Even after just a quick glance in the store, Hera already found a couple dozen different axes that struck her fancy. Now came the hard part, picking just three of them. ########################## "Excuse me, could you point me to Romeo Ballestar''s room?" Becca was looking around the facility. It was a hospital that specialized in body reconstruction and physical therapy, which worked very well since most people who went through those procedures would require some assistance to recover their full range of motion. "Romeo, do you mean the chairman? If so, could you tell me what your relationship with him is? We have a very strict list of people who could visit him," the nurse looked at Becca, recognizing who she was, but she still had to follow the rules. It didn''t matter who she was talking to. "Sure, I am currently employed by the chairman to be his PR Rep, and by extension the guild. Since he kinda went dark after that initial attack, I needed to see if he was OK. You know, to know what I can tell people," Becca awkwardly explained. When Romeo was admitted to this facility three months ago, he stopped taking her calls. That became a massive problem since she couldn''t do some damage control without his authorization, and his lack of appearances or any official statements only made things worse. Just last week, she spent most of her time fending off all the reporters who were spreading rumors that Romeo had died because of his injuries. And if she was being honest with herself, that was something she was starting to consider. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "OK, just a minute," the nurse typed something in the computer, and after a few moments, she turned back to Becca, "I see you are on the list, Miss Swan. He is in that corridor. Follow the green line on the wall¡­ Room 12," the nurse gestured to the left. "Thanks, and I can stay there until?..." "Visiting hours are from 10 am till 6 pm. But considering both of your positions, if you need more time we can arrange something." "I don''t think we''ll need that much time, but thank you," Becca glanced at the hallway. "Of course, and¡­ may I ask you something?" "Sure," Becca looked back at the nurse. "Could we take a picture together? I''m a big fan," the nurse gave her a coy smile. "Of course," Becca nodded. A quick picture later, and she was in front of room 12. It was on the corner of the hospital and kind of far away from all the other rooms. Probably because of his job. Big places like that tended to have more secluded areas for patients that required more discretion. She was getting closer to the room when she heard a voice coming from inside. "No, no, no, no. You can''t do this to me. Not after all this ¡­.. Do you think I''m kidding? I lost an eye and a leg for those people. It doesn''t matter that I have my leg again. I did all that. I deserve this¡­. You wouldn''t¡­. Fine, after this, we''re done. Don''t ask me any more favors, don''t ask me anything. You stay out of my business, and I stay out of yours," Romeo was shouting, but if it wasn''t for Becca''s enhanced senses, she wouldn''t be able to hear all that screaming from the other side of the door. Since this was a hospital, there weren''t any privacy spells or anything like that in the rooms. The doctors and nurses had to be able to hear what was going on inside all the rooms just in case something bad happened. Becca waited a few moments. She had never seen Romeo acting like that. In fact, the man seemed to be impossible to anger. Becca had heard some truly heinous comments about him and people disrespecting him and his family in a way that it''s hard to describe. Yet, Romeo always was unwavering calm and warm with everyone. Whatever happened there was heavy, and it sounded personal. Becca considered him her friend, so she wouldn''t press anything or show that she had heard all that. After all, Romeo was still in the hospital. After about a minute or so, when there was no more sound coming from the room, Becca knocked on the door, "Romeo? Do you have time to talk to a friend? I brought gifts." "Becca? Yes, yes, come in. Please. I''m going nuts here," Romeo''s voice sounded normal. It didn''t even seem that he just had a screaming match on the phone. Becca walked inside, and this room was massive. There was a large television and three couches, and his bed looked like the equivalent of a king-size bed for a hospital. Not to mention all the medical equipment, a treadmill, and what seemed to be a very large bathtub. It wasn''t the kind of tub you would see in a hotel or house but the type used in medical procedures, "Wow, they''re giving you the full treatment, huh?" Romeo chuckled, "You could say that. The leaders of the races wanted to thank me for protecting them, even if some of them seem to be a bit hurt that I acted first." "Yeah, I don''t imagine that they were very happy about that. Elves keep saying how we can never surprise them since they live for so long," Becca nodded and took a good look at Romeo. The man was in a hospital gown, but he seemed to be doing well. She could even see that the man seemed to have both feet, or at least, she could see the shape of the feet under the covers. However, he was still using an eye patch. Romeo noticed how Becca was analyzing him and gave her a sad smile, "Don''t worry, I''m fine. Heck, the leg is even better than it was before. They put some monster bone on me, and it''s supposed to be even stronger than human bones, so good for me, I guess. The eye¡­ that is an issue. The nerves and ligaments and whatever bio-genetic-medical mumbo jumbo that is in there is too complicated to replicate, and the shard kind of destroyed everything that was inside. To regrow my leg, they had to basically cut open the other one and use it as a base to make the missing leg work. It''s how those things usually go, but it''s really not something I would recommend to anyone. Doing that with the eye carried the risk of making me blind forever. The good part is that some dwarven kingdom is starting to toy with cybernetic implants. They were doing legs and arms, but since I saved one of their leaders, they kinda offered me a position in the trials for a cybernetic eye. And you wanna know something weird? I still can see notifications even when there''s nothing here," Romeo gestured to his missing eye. "Oh, I see..." Even if that was some interesting information, Becca was still worried about what she assumed was a phone call that she had just heard. She knew Romeo pretty well these days, and if it wasn''t for the yelling, she would think that he was just fine. "What''s wrong?" Romeo stared at her. Becca considered her options for just a moment. In the end, her worry was greater than anything else, "Are you OK? Really? You look mostly fine, but I heard some yelling before I got here." "Ah, that¡­How much did you hear?" "Nothing really, just yelling. And I know you''re not the type to get angry easily. So, are you OK? Is there anything I can do to help?" Romeo let out a long sigh, "I suppose you should be the one to know about this. I''m going on early retirement," The man gave her a smile but quickly, his face changed into frustration, "Off the record, they are forcing me out. They''re saying that this whole debacle with the terrorist attack and how much they invested in the city is my fault. To the rest of the board, it shows that I don''t have the ''necessary qualities of a leader. I hate this because it''s what they always do. Liliana was doing a great job, but a single misstep, and they wanted her out. But I can''t say I blame them. I should be tracking down the bastards who did that, but here I am, stuck in a bed. If it wasn''t because growing back a leg works much better before your body completely heals. I would''ve slapped on a prosthetic and just kept going." "I get that you''re struggling, but why did you vanish? You could have made a task force, asked people around, I don''t know, something. It seems like no one is doing anything about the attack." "The rest of the board took away my chairman''s powers the moment the attack hit. OK, I''m being dramatic," Romeo rolled his eyes, "It was a couple days later while I was still recovering from the initial blast. After that, they kind of cut me off from everything. They even prohibited me from calling anyone that wasn''t my family. People could come here. They are not gonna stop that, but I couldn''t contact anyone." "Wow. The board sucks," Becca gasped after a long moment of silence. "Yeah, they really do," Romeo nodded, a complicated expression washing over his face. After a moment, he looked back at the reporter, "So, what kind of gift did you bring me?" 429 - Jungle Hunter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Swift - Wind Hand axe Attribute scaling: Agility: 3.64[2.15(4.3) + 1.49] Dexterity: 3.39 [1.9(3.8) + 1.49] Strength: 1.49 Luck: 1.49 Intelligence: 1.49 Charisma: 1.49 Weapon Skill: Swift Blade: The weapon can be covered in a layer of wind mana to increase the damage dealt by the next 10 attacks. Cost: 400 mana Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brute - Earth Hand axe Attribute scaling: Strength: 2.09 [0.6(1.1) + 1.49] Dexterity: 2.09 [0.6(1.1) + 1.49] Agility: 2.09 [0.6(1.1) + 1.49] Luck: 1.49 Intelligence: 1.49 Charisma: 1.49 Weapon Skill: Smash By using the blunt of this weapon, you can deal increased damage to objects and structures. Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beam - Light Hand axe Attribute scaling: Intelligence: 3.09 [1.6(3.2) + 1.49] Charisma: 2.94[1.45(2.9) + 1.49] Strength: 2.89[1.4(2.8) + 1.49] Dexterity: 2.48 [1.35(2.7) + 1.49] Agility: 2.7 [1.25(2.5) + 1.49] Luck: 1.49 Weapon skill: Light Beam: You can summon a beam of light from the tip of this weapon. This beam will damage and burn your enemies. Mana cost: 600 mana Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, so we have Swift, Brute, Beam, Executioner, and Lurize. Aside from Lurize, everyone else takes just 8k mana. So in total, I would need¡­. 42 thousand mana to summon everyone," Hera double-checked her court to make sure everything would work. "Yeah, yeah. It''s the fifth time I hear that roll call. You almost blabbed that same list to the clerk in the shop. Seriously, why didn''t you just ask for a mana crystal that can have like a hundred thousand mana and get this over with? You got one that was what? just a bit over what you needed?" Alex rolled her eyes. She could understand how Hera was excited about this, but it was just too much at some point. The explorer barely talked about anything else in the two days since she got the legacy. "Lena keeps telling me that''s a bad idea. A lot of mages end up hurting their growth because they use mana crystals all the time. According to her, using spells that cost more than your maximum mana makes you lose some of the control you have over your own magic. And the one I got has 45 thousand mana in it," Hera explained. "OK, OK. I get it. But¡­ Do you think you can do anything about your naming sense? I mean, Swift, Brute, and Beam are awful," as Alex spoke, Hera felt Daskka agreeing with the assassin. "This was just for testing anyway. I really don''t think I''ll use most of these. I mean, Beam is kind of fun, and it helped me understand the scaling of the weapons that I should look for, but still. I don''t think any of these will stay in my court long term," Hera looked over the list one more time. "Really? Not even Lurize? I figured you would want to stay with that one forever, since it was thanks to it that you got the legacy." "I considered that, and honestly, if it wasn''t poison, I probably would keep it. But not being able to use the type of mana that I use the most is a problem. And if I want to use the Naga poison in the spell, it gets even more complicated when Lurize is out. I think poison is going to be one of the elements that I''ll use myself," Hera spoke without looking away from the notification in front of her. Daskka nodded, agreeing with that assessment. When Lurize was out, it became difficult for the snake to talk with the explorer through their shared poison link. Alex understood why she was doing that, and she had to admit that losing her own ability to use wind could be a big problem. "Anyway, do you have any idea where that dungeon''s entrance is? You know, the one that Kirouhebi told us about. That jungle hunting thing," Alex asked. "So, according to what he showed us on the map, it should be¡­ A couple hours north of the city, maybe. He said that it wasn''t too far and that people would usually come and go there every day." "Do you know how to get there? Should we stop by the guild?" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Hera pulled up her tablet and did a quick search. There was some information about that specific dungeon on the Guild website and in some of the maps that were open to the public. Ever since the guild removed their restrictions to become an explorer, they also increased the amount of information they were willing to give out for free. You still had to buy compendiums and other detailed pieces of information from the guild, but you no longer had to pay for things like the location of dungeons, general ideas of the monsters inside the room, and any other relevant but not too detailed piece of information. It took Hera just a couple of minutes to find the details about the location and what to expect inside the dungeon. Just like Kirouhebi said, this dungeon should be a great place for her to test her new abilities. The basic information that she found was that you will be chasing after a specific creature through the jungle in this dungeon. While doing that, you would be running through a thick area of the jungle and be attacked by other monsters that weren''t trying to catch your prey. While using her court, she could have multiple eyes spread around an area and she would be able to understand how much control she had over her blades when they were far away or when there was something between them. This was the plan that Hera and Alex had. Go to that dungeon and do a couple of runs so Hera could get used to her new skills, and then they would make the long trek back home. There are two reasons why they choose to stay here for a while longer before going back. First, Hera had to get used to her legacy. If she didn''t, and they ended up finding a strong monster or even getting stuck in the middle of a rampage, there was a chance that not being able to use her full range of skills could become a problem. So far, there weren''t any skills that were negatively affected by the legacy, but that kind of thing happened with Blue. A couple of her skills change for the worse. Hera couldn''t remember exactly what skills were, but she remembered how much the controller complained about it. Second, Hera was really excited about her legacy, and she wanted to try things out. Even Alex was interested in seeing how that would work in a fight. This could be a very big change for the group, and they were both anxious to see the possibilities that came along with this. Despite their desire to go home, they decided to spend one day in the dungeon before returning. It was already the middle of the afternoon, and neither of them was very interested in the idea of going to the middle of the jungle at night, not to mention the unique circumstances surrounding this dungeon. All the information they found about this dungeon said that all you had to do was go in there after sundown to trigger the hard mode. But they also noted that the entrance to the dungeon was located near a nest of nocturnal predators. It was far enough away that the creatures wouldn''t be attacking all the time, but there was still a significant probability of meeting one of the monsters. Hera and Alex took the rest of the day off, exploring the town, visiting tourist attractions, and hanging out in their hotel room. Alex was very interested in curses and other similar types of magic, which made Hera worried. She was supposed to have been cursed with something that grew stronger the more she looked into it. However, it was understandable that the assassin wanted to know more about curses now that she had a curse on herself. Alex never mentioned whatever she saw or the curse that she was currently affected with during all their conversations. So, Hera decided against complaining and was cautiously optimistic about it. Before leaving the temple, she had asked Kirouhebi if warning her friends could cause any damage, and the dragon agreed that it shouldn''t do anything unless her friends decided to press Alex for the details of the curse itself. Hera had already briefed everyone about the situation and told them that she would explain as much as she could when they returned but that everything was OK so far. The next day, both woke up early for their standards and headed out for the dungeon. Just stopping for a late breakfast. According to the information they found, it shouldn''t take longer than a couple of hours to do a run. This also meant they had a chance to do several runs in a single day, which was always a good thing. Leaving the city from the north gate, it took them about two hours and a half to reach the dungeon entrance. The entire path here was, relatively speaking, well developed. Most of the road was made of cobblestone, which was unusual but still very useful. There were signs and lampposts that would help people traveling at night, and there was a very large influx of people coming back and going towards the dungeon or any other areas along the way. Just at a glance, Hera was able to notice about 20 or so different parties spread out throughout the road. It''s hard to say if all of them were going to the same dungeon or doing something different. Some of them seem to be carrying some sort of specialized hunting gear. Things like sound enhancers and small briefcases that one would see in movies when people were looking for monsters or things like that. Maybe they weren''t going to the dungeon, and instead, they could be searching for a Wendigo in this room, which was still an existing threat. Hera did try asking Kirouhebi about the Wendigo. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to get any new information aside from that. Yes, there was one in the room. When they arrived in front of the dungeon, they found a small campsite stop. There was a fire pit that was currently lit up, and some people seemed to be barbecuing something over it. Around this campsite there areas for tents or for seating, and a couple of outhouses. Although they looked very rustic, these camp bathrooms actually had many stones inside them to help keep the place clean and supply it with water. Hera chuckled seeing the structure of those outhouses and how they were clearly enchanted by magic. It seems that more than just making roads, one of everyone''s first priorities was to find a place where they could use the bathroom comfortably. It was funny to think that this was among the least of your worries in an actual survival situation. All you had to do was make sure to be away from your main water source before relieving yourself. Alex in Hera walked towards the dungeon entrance, a very large cave that led them down, almost like they were entering a tunnel. They nodded to a few of the other explorers in the area, watching them as they passed by. In just about two minutes or so, a notification appeared in front of the pair. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Runaway Prey dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Without even hesitating, they both pressed the yes button. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Runaway Prey. Dungeon Quest: The prey you have been hunting for the past week has escaped your grasp yet again. But now, you have destroyed all its hiding spots. The prey has nowhere to run. Find it and kill it. First completion rewards: 150 000 gold, glimmer hunter set piece. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It''s been a while since Hera walked inside a dungeon that gives a quest right away, and even more odd was that this wasn''t the only notification. Beyond the quest, another window showed a picture of what they were hunting. It was a creature with the face of a weasel, and the body seemed to be of one as well; however, it was long like a snake covered in green fur. The monster also had eleven legs in total, alternating which sides they would be on. On the tip of its tail, the green faded away and in its place there was a shimmering piece of glass or some sort of translucent bone. Beneath the picture, there was a single word, Glimmer. "I guess we are hunting a Glimmer," Alex said. "I guess so, but why do I get the feeling the scale of this picture is very deceiving?" Hera was staring at the image. The monster was beside a few blades of grass and a rock. Looking at the picture made it seem like this creature was almost the size of a tarantula at most, but something told Hera that this wasn''t exactly the size of the creature they would be hunting. "Maybe. We have to look for it and find out," Alex shrugged as she walked out of the cave. 430 - Glimmer
Exiting the cave, Hera and Alex saw a lush jungle, very similar to anything else they would see in this room. Large trees with bright green leaves covered in vines and surrounded by small bushes and other types of foliage. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of a river. Hera immediately considered that that should be a good place to start. After all, One of the best ways to track an animal was to locate nearby water sources and look for tracks there. "It''s going to be hard to find that snake weasel here. Everything is green, but I guess the yellow eyes might pop depending on what''s around it," Alex said as she took in her surroundings. "Yeah, if we are lucky, maybe it will be by the river or something. In that case, you might be able to see their eyes," Hera replied, but something seemed wrong, "Hang on, since when can you see yellow? I thought you were blue-green colorblind." "It''s actually blue-yellow, and I''m not sure how much I can say. Let''s say that when I went to the temple, I saw something, and now I can see yellow. But it''s not as if I can see regular yellow colors on everything, or at least it doesn''t feel like it. I can only see yellow if the thing is really yellow. It doesn''t look like something natural. It kind of looks edited, like some bad CGI forcing me to see the right color. It doesn''t hurt, don''t worry, but it''s really weird," Alex explained with a smile on her face. "But¡­. How do you know what''s yellow? I mean, in theory, if you saw yellow is a different color than what I see. So you shouldn''t know what yellow actually looks like. It would be like trying to explain color to a blind person. They don''t have ways of knowing what color is," Hera was staring at Alex, both confused and happy for her friend. "Kirouhebi helped me. I explained to him what was the problem with my eyes and asked him to help me figure out some things. He used a spell that could trick his eyes into becoming colorblind for a moment so he could understand how I saw the world. He did that to try to see the thing that I can''t talk about in a different light, but it didn''t work. When he was looking at¡­ that it was normal for him. The spell he used wasn''t working when looking at¡­ what we were seeing," Alex stopped several times in the middle of the sentence to make sure not to speak something that could pass the curse to Hera. Hera kept staring at her friend, "That''s kind of worse, isn''t it? The whole point of it is that you couldn''t look at that or talk about it; otherwise, it would grow, right? Why were you two talking about it?" Alex waved her off, "He said he was fine. Even if we''re talking about it couldn''t grow more than it already had." "Are you sure? I mean, what''s to say that even him talking about it wasn''t the curse trying to make him talk?" Alex stopped for a moment, "I didn''t think about that. Do you think a being like him could be affected that way? I mean, he''s supposed to be here since the beginning of the room, and¡­" her face was washed over by fear. If everything she spoke with Kirouhebi was because of the curse tricking him into talking about it, there was no way to know how much her own curse had progressed. Hera didn''t want to worry her friend, especially now that they were in a dungeon, "Then again, I have no idea what I''m talking about. You two were the ones affected by it, and It''s just something that made me worry. Maybe I''m wrong, and we won''t have any problems with that, and your conversation helped you figure out a solution." Alex nodded absentmindedly, staring at the ground for a few moments. Then she slapped her face with both hands as if she was trying to wake up. Her eyes changed, and it seemed like even if she was worried, she wasn''t going to bother with that for now. There were more pressing matters at hand. Seeing that, Hera also put her game face on. "Swift, Beam, Brute, Executioner, Lurize," by calling their names, Hera summoned her entire court using the mana from the stone. Instead of having an actual accessory made with the stone, she had it Inside a pouch on her waist. Any item that she could actually wear and had enough mana to call all of her court would be 5 to 10 times more expensive than the 200 grand she spent buying this mana stone. She only got this high of a price for an uncut mana stone because she needed it to be pure mana. According to Daskka, elemental mana stones could only work with blades of their respective elements. This also meant that in the future, when Hera had picked the blades she would have, she could look for items that match those types of mana in the amount she would require. Even if she had already seen how her blades worked, Hera was half expecting to be able to see what their blades saw. Maybe a screen would show up or, somehow, she would have multiple points of view, and yet that couldn''t be farther from the truth. Instead of that complicated scenario, the way she could perceive what was going on with her blades was very different. In fact, she couldn''t see what they saw or feel what they felt. She could only receive information as if they were talking to her telling her what they were seeing. It was a bit more direct than actual speech, but it still shared some of the same constraints. When she talked to Daskka, they could share not only what they were seeing but also what they were feeling and their thoughts. Doing that with the court was more like receiving data directly into her brain. She still had to interpret that information and then act upon it, while with the snake, the information was already interpreted, and there were even suggestions about what she could do. Controlling the court meant that she was almost like a general in an army. She had to trust the information she was receiving and then make a decision based on that. The main difference was that she could always trust the information and that her blades'' senses were very similar to her own. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Daskka confirmed that idea when Hera questioned. What the blades could see around them was relative to what Hera would be able to see in the same position. This also meant that if there was a creature who was able to hide from Hera''s sight, it could also hide from the senses of the blades. Even with that restriction, Hera already felt her radius of perception increase by a lot with her 5 blades floating in the air. She was constantly receiving information from each of the flying weapons, and that was when all her blades were still close by. Giving an order for them to spread out and stay around 10 meters away, they started walking. More than just finishing a dungeon, Hera wanted to understand how to control her court to the fullest. It took her around 2 minutes to realize that the way she was using her court wouldn''t help that much to find Glimmer. They could move through the woods, yes, but even having her blades 10 meters apart from her put them below the range of both her pulse and her sensory net spells. Alex was doing her best to find the monster as well, but she wasn''t much of a tracker. Her abilities focused on hiding from an enemy and then killing them. Feeling her frustration, Daskka, who was flying around them looking for the monster, landed on Hera''s left shoulder, "You can use them like energy poles." "What?" Hera glanced at the snake. "Your blades, you can use them as energy poles. Send them all together, Then daisy chain them along. That way, you can increase the range you can control them. Like this," Daskka used her mist to show an example of what she was suggesting. She showed a mist sword, then a long line connected to another mist sword which connected to another, and so on. All 5 weapons were connected in a straight line. "Really? That works?" Hera asked as she told her court to do that. She first sent them all out to the right as far as they could go. Executioner was the first to stop. The rest of the blades crossed a smaller distance before Swift stopped, making the next link in the daisy chain. The next to stop was Brute, then Swift stopped, with Beam and Lurize taking up the last two spots. It seemed like Hera had the largest range since she could still control Executioner when it was 25 meters away. Each blade, however, had a smaller range. They could only connect with another blade up to 15 meters away. Even with those restrictions, she had an effective range of about 85 meters. It wasn''t that impressive if one was considering a bow and arrow or some long-range magic, but being able to hit someone almost 100 meters away with a melee weapon had its own charm. Despite that, Hera didn''t want to risk having all her blades that far away. From what she could tell, they were physically unable to move beyond their maximum distance. If something went wrong and they saw a monster, chasing after them could prove to be an issue. Hera told her blades to come back 3 meters, which should be enough to let them move more freely if they needed. She did all that while still walking, and for a first-timer, that was impressive. Even Daskka praised her for her control. According to the herald, most legacy holders would have some problems controlling more than three blades at first. This daisy chain strategy was considered above the beginner level for the legacy, and Daskka was expecting her to have some trouble using her court that way. With the help of that increased perception range, it took the group just a bit over 5 minutes to find a water source in the shape of a river. Who noticed that was Lurize, at the edge of its range. That also showed Hera that the daisy chain setup came with a major setback. The farther away one of her blades was, the simpler was the information that it could send her. When focusing on Executioner, it could let her know how many trees were around, the color of the leaves, if there was any noise, if there was any magical energy, and other details of the area. But when trying to reach Lurize, she could get only small tidbits of information. The river, for instance, came only as a ''large body of water.'' Reaching the stream, Hera told her court to form a perimeter around them. This order seemed to be very easy for the blades. It was like they already knew what she meant. Each of the weapons went close to the 25-meter range and slowly started to rotate clockwise. While being protected, Hera and Alex took a moment to understand their surroundings a little better. This area of the jungle seemed to be downhill, and maybe a few kilometers in front of them, there was a large stone mountain that would shoot up to the sky, creating a natural wall. According to the quest, Glimmer Didn''t have anywhere to hide. Which probably meant that this area didn''t have any caves or anything like that. Hera turned to Daskka and asked her to fly up above the trees to see if she could find anything. The snake did that without any issues, the humidity helping her to create a thicker mist without having to waste too much mana. About a minute later, she returned and created a model of the surrounding area using her mist. It seemed like they were in a natural arena of sorts. In all directions, these massive towering stone mountains formed naturally, creating this hidden oasis in the middle of the jungle. "I guess this is why Glimmer can''t run away. The cave is probably the only way to come here. Or it could go up and above the mountain, but there might be some predators there," Hera looked up, pondering the possibilities. "Hera?" Alex called in a whisper as she stopped moving. Hera glanced at the assassin, who just gestured in the direction downstream. Peeking out from a large bush, there was the face of a weasel attached to a long green snake-like body. The monster got closer to the water and started drinking without even looking around. Just like she expected, the creature was considerably bigger than the picture made it to be. From this distance, it looked like she was staring at a cheetah or a lion that wasn''t fully grown just yet. Hera and Alex started moving slowly toward the creature, not wanting to spook the animal. The explorer activated her [Observe] to ensure this was the monster they were looking for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glimmer - Level 28 - Scared (Grass Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was confused about the scared in the notification at first, but as soon as the window appeared in front of her, the monster raised its head, staring with its beady yellow eyes. It made a cry that oddly resembled a bird before jumping back into the woods. "What was that? Were we that bad at hiding?" Alex grumbled, frustrated that her new stealth skill wasn''t enough to hide from the monster. "I think it was my fault. I used observe on the thing. It really was Glimmer, but it was scared already. Maybe it was jumpy because of something else," Hera said. "Maybe. But it still feels weird, doesn''t it? And what was that weird bird call?" Hera stopped for a moment, "You don''t think it was an actual bird call, do you? Like when someone goes duck hunting and uses that whistle to lure ducks." The jungles seemed to shake almost as if to reply to her question. The sound of dozens of wings flapping echoed through the forest as the bird began to sing. With every second that went by, that ominous choir grew louder and louder. 431 - Loginue Hera was rushing to the jungle with Alex right behind her. If there really were crows or any other type of bird coming after them, they should be clear of open areas. Even considering that these monsters should be used in the jungle, staying in the middle of the trees would make it harder for them to reach the duo. Hera''s court was following close. Not right by their side in case they find opportunists to start swinging but at a distance of about 5 meters. As they ran, Alex gestured to the side as small dust devils appeared around them. Hera noticed that spell, but she had no idea what it did. Seeing the expression on the explorer''s face, Alex gave her an awkward smile, "I don''t have many options to scout the area, but this is pretty good at picking up variations in the wind. Since we are facing birds, this might help," Despite that, they were still running and trying to find a good place to either hide or fight the monsters. Hera asked a couple of her blades to cover the canopy of the trees, but it seemed like they couldn''t go much higher than her own height. "You need a skill to make them fly. It''s gonna be, I don''t know, sometime before you get it. It is classified as a blade enhancement, but I have no idea what that means for the legacy," Daskka had a confused expression. She understood that much of the information she could see about the legacy was behind some sort of barrier. Still, it was the first time she got some information about something that she couldn''t directly access. Having this kind of mental block would already be confusing enough for a sentient being. For someone who had to try to understand the words that they were saying for the first time, the struggle was almost enough to fry Daskka''s mind. Hera patted the snake''s head, "Focus on the dungeon. We''ll think about that some other time." The birds were getting closer. It didn''t take someone with her high perception or who was particularly good at tracking to notice that. However, it seems to be a bit better than the dungeon where they had to protect a sunflower, or, at least, the number of creatures coming towards them seemed to be smaller. Hera and Alex didn''t say anything. They both knew that even if this could look like a good thing, it also meant that the monster should be stronger. After all, they were also in a different room in a much deeper layer. They found a small area that seemed to be well covered by a lot of foliage, branches, and trees, where they decided to stop and hunker down. Running away wouldn''t accomplish much, and they still had to chase after Glimmer. The longer they took to go after the prey, the harder it would be to find it again. A couple moments passed with Hera and Alex hiding among the bushes. Hera told her court to each stay by a tree and not move. That way, they could hide from the monsters and catch them off guard if needed. Suddenly, one of the birds landed on a nearby branch and started to scan the area. The creature looked like a black owl, but the feathers on its face would stick out, forming what seemed to be a mask from an old Victorian masquerade ball. Looking at it was a bit off-putting since the feathers seemed to mirror a human face. Even worse was when each feather started to move individually, almost like they were antennae that could help it track whoever it was chasing. While the monster was looking around, Hera pointed at it and made a gesture by crossing her thumb on her throat, signaling that they should kill it. Alex nodded and got ready to strike. Hera created a poison needle while Alex prepared a small wind blade to take the monster out. Both attacks went flying at the same time, but Alex''s was a bit faster. With a heavy impact, the spell hit the monster''s neck, and it sent both its head and its body flying off in different directions. Daskka watched the bird''s head hit one of the trees and roll over towards the bush where Hera and Alex were. It was a bit weird. The body of the owl was still there. When inside a dungeon, the monster''s body should vanish as soon as it was killed. This probably meant that this monster was somehow still alive. Because of that, everyone was wary of approaching the owl''s remains. That ended up being a mistake. Without anyone getting close to the body or stopping it somehow, the feathers that formed its mask shot out to the sky and exploded like red fireworks. "Please, tell me that wasn''t a sign for the rest of the birds," Alex gasped. "I don''t know, but we better move," Hera jumped out of the bush and dashed away from their location. Those feathers did look like some sort of signal for the rest of the parliament of owls. She told her court to get closer and stay within 3 meters of her. Their priority should be any attacks that were coming from above the canopy. Hera couldn''t help but notice that controlling her blades was very similar to playing a strategy game. She gave commands and focused her attention elsewhere, trusting that her blades would do as she asked. While she was trying to see if any of her blades noticed anything around them, Hera failed to notice when Alex vanished from her side. She became worried that the assassin could be in trouble, but she should''ve heard something if that was the case. After dashing through a few more meters, she noticed one of the owls getting closer to Brute. Before she could even react, the bird sent out one of its feathers which exploded in the air like another firework, a purple one instead of red. Soon after the explosion happened, the sounds of wings became louder, meaning that the owls were all converging in Hera''s position. She turned to Beam and told it to fire at any bird it could reach. The handaxe did as it was told, and Hera felt her mana dropping quickly as at least 10 beams of light shoot out from the weapon. And yet, not a single one of the attacks hit a target. Hera had to stop and tell the beam to aim before shooting and for it to try to predict the owl''s movements. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. That new structure seemed to have worked a little bit better. Beam still failed to hit its target eight times out of ten, but the bird that was just watching Hera from beyond the tree line was hit twice by the beam of light coming from the sword. She also gave her blade a limited amount of mana to work with. She couldn''t risk having one of her court members waste all her mana. Another dozen owls appeared in the air while Beam was still trying to hit that first one, which already showed some grave injuries. Swift and Brute were the first two to attack incoming birds who dove inside the jungle. They blocked their path and struck at their wings, not quite deep enough to cut them out but enough to make flying an issue for the owls. With the impact, Hera received the information that her blades lacked the weight to deal the kind of damage that she would deal herself. Even when using the fighting styles that Hera could use, the blades couldn''t deal the same type of damage that Hera expected. When a person fights, they will be able to put their own weight behind each blow. Doing the same with her blades would bring significantly weaker results, since they were significantly lighter. The only blade attacking without any issues was Lurize, who seemed to deal the same amount of damage as Hera expected. The plate itself was moving differently than the rest. Instead of just doing a single swing, the two-handed sword was always in motion, spinning around and gaining momentum. Seeing that, Hera gave the order to her blades to start behaving more or less like the zweihander. That change seemed to have worked somewhat. The axes were still new to it, and it was clear that they weren''t exactly proficient in combat. In a way, it was like watching people who were just learning how to fight. Even with Hera''s combat styles, the attacks were very crude and simple. With that out of the way, she focused on her own way of fighting. Her chakram was already attached to Yarnball, and now that she had the phantom thread, she could move it around a place like a jungle much more easily. Not to say that it didn''t come with a few problems. If she tossed the chakram too far away, there was a chance of it getting stuck to a tree instead of just passing through and hitting her target. Still, the binding thread ability proved to be useful. Hera could toss her weapon to the side and control the tread to heat one of the owls and then bind them, making them fall to the ground, becoming easy pickings for her court. While Hera and her court were fighting about half a dozen different owls that kept trying to dive and hit them with their pointy beaks, she could hear the sounds of other firework feathers exploding around her. They all had that same red color as the first one they killed. Hera tried using a flame spell to attack one of the owls, but with her entire court active, using magic was proving to be difficult. When she tried to use a spell, it would pass to one of her blades even if she didn''t want to. She had to make a conscious decision of not giving the spell to anyone else and keeping her mana on herself which was very complicated since, to use a spell, she had to push her mana away from her body. They had managed to kill almost all of the owls when a different cry echoed through the jungle. It was a sharp call that hurt their ears even if it sounded to be coming from very far away. Hera looked up and saw a large blue bird with a massive tail that she couldn''t tell if it was made of blue fire or some sort of blue smoke. The bird''s body resembled that of an eagle, but he had the beak of a pelican with a large orange sack under its chin. Realizing that she completely forgot about using her [Observe], she used it now on this new enemy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loginue - Level 28 - Empowered (Fire affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alex, if you can hear me, there''s another one coming. It''s a big one," Hera yelled, completely ignoring the idea of hiding. The bird was already staring at her, and it seemed to be getting ready to dive. Loginue flew over the area and started to ascend very quickly. When it was little more than a blue speckle in the middle of the sky, the bird did a flip and dove towards the ground at full speed. "Clear the area! We have incoming," Hera yelled and started running at full speed, ignoring the owls still chasing her. Not only did the monster seem unique because of its appearance, but there was the fact that it seemed to have a name and not just be called by its species. Those were usually the characteristics of a boss monster or at least a special monster that was much more powerful than others of the same kind. About 30 seconds after Hera told Alex to run, Loginue slammed on the ground with its beak digging deep into the earth. Loginue Took a deep breath making the sack on his chin expand, and then blew whatever was inside it into the dirt. Large sprouts of blue fire erupted from the ground burning the trees, the owls, and everything around them. Executioner was caught in one of the blasts, incinerated, and lost its material form. If Hera wanted to call the blade again, she would have to spend more mana to bring the blade back, and it would be weakened unless it took the proper time to recover. While the bird was still with its beak on the ground, Alex jumped from the trees and sunk both of her daggers into the creature''s back. The monster roared, pulling out his head from the ground, and started shaking violently, trying to get rid of the human attacking it. The blue tail, which Hera could now see was real fire, moved to grab Alex as if it was a tentacle, but before it could reach, Swift flew to her aid, already with its skill active. The handaxe blocked the attack and followed it up by spinning and slamming the blade on the base of the tail. Trying to cut it off from the rest of the monster. Hera only told her blade to protect Alex, but what no one suspected was that the wind surrounding swift would cause a chain reaction with the fire in Loginue''s body. The wind swirled, almost increasing the power of the flames, and was about to cause a large explosion. Seeing that, Hera dashed towards Alex and activated her stone elemental armor, trying to shield her friend from the blast. When the bird''s tail detonated, boat explorers were sent flying towards one of the trees, slamming against it and breaking the trunk with impact. Yet, this wasn''t enough Loginue was hurt, and a large part of its tail was gone, but it was still alive, and now the monster was angry. 432 - Opportunity Hera took a few moments to get up. The impact of the explosion was almost enough to knock her out. Her thoughts went back to Alex, and for a moment, the image of the assassin stabbed by her own weapon flashed through her mind. The last time Hera tried to save Alex like that, she inadvertently stabbed her and made things worse. However, this time they were both aware of the possibility. When Hera jumped in front of Alex, they both made sure to keep their weapons away from their torso. What Hera wasn''t expecting was how heavy the impact would be. The idea that she would be tossed towards a tree and break its trunk with the impact never once crossed her mind. As Hera was getting up, she realized that she was taking too long, and if there was a monster attacking her, it should have already gotten to her. Looking up, she saw the remaining blades, Beam, Brute, and Lurize, clashing with the creature and keeping it at bay. Loginue couldn''t shake off the weapons, but at the same time, they couldn''t hurt the bird. Hera quickly jumped to the aid of her court. She tossed her chakram coated with water mana, hoping that this could extinguish some of the flames in the creature''s body. She barely ever used that particular reinforcement since imbuing her weapon with a water element wouldn''t increase the damage she would do to most things. Only when fighting something made of fire or stone did she ever consider it, but even so, she didn''t have the habit of using that element to deal damage. Loginue didn''t notice the attack until it was too late. Hera''s chakram slashed its torso, snuffing out some of the fire around its body and cutting a large chunk of feathers off. She followed that up with her handaxe in an upward motion that cut the bird''s beak sack. Flames sprouted from the opening, singeing Hera''s hair and face. At the same time, her blades took advantage of that opening and slashed at the monster''s neck. Alex appeared, emerging from behind the tree that was now on the ground, and unsheathed her blade, creating a crystal blade that flew towards the bird. The combination of attacks left Loginue battered and bruised, but the creature was still alive. It let out a cry, and several wisps of blue fire appeared around it. Each ball of fire dashed towards one of its attackers, one for Hera, one for Alex, and one for each of the dancing blades. Hera activated her own fire elemental armor, hoping to block the flames using her own, while the assassin dove behind a tree to avoid being hit by the attack. That wasn''t all. There were another 5 wisps that seemed to trail off and aim at a different target, hidden among the bushes to the side. Hera''s idea worked somewhat. The fire used by the bird was mostly pushed away by the heat of her armor, but the attack still managed to do some damage. She could feel parts of her armor heating up and burning her skin. Still, what she was most interested in was where those extra 5 balls of fire went to. Using her sensory net, Hera created an area 50 meters wide to search for whatever was around. To her left, she noticed a long furry creature with a snake body. It seemed to be watching them as they fought. Currently, the beast, which Hera assumed was Glimmer, was rolling on the ground, trying to put out the fire on its body. "Alex, Glimmer should be over there. By the tree with the scorch mark," Hera didn''t point but glanced at where she could feel the creature. In response, Alex just nodded and vanished, hiding in the woods once more. Hera didn''t have to say anything. Her plan was to keep Loginue busy while Alex tried to kill Glimmer. Hera could be the better hunter, but the assassin was much more capable of dealing a killing blow. While she was distracted by all that, the bird managed to grab Lurize and slammed the sword against one of the trees repeatedly, making it lose its physical form and return to Hera''s court. Daskka was wrapped in one of the branches of that tree. After the explosion, the impact rendered her unconscious for a few moments. Now, after finally waking up, she created a large cloud of mist and flung it towards Loginue. Just like Hera''s water enforcement, this attack would help snuff out the flames surrounding the monster''s body. The bird slammed its beak against Beam, moving too fast for the blade to evade the attack. With the impact, the handaxe ended up on the ground, and Loginue held it down with his feet while trying to rip its pieces apart with its mouth as if the weapon was now a piece of meat for it to feast on. In response, Beam started shooting at the bird. Rays of light opened holes in the creature''s wings and burned its legs. At first, it seemed like the blade would be able to get out, but the bird ignited its body and started to melt even the ground around it. Seeing that, Hera recalled Beam, not wanting to let her blade be injured for no reason. This also worked as a way for her to understand how her court words. She had yet to see the effects of having her blades destroyed, and what was the difference between that and when she dismissed one of her summoned weapons. However, it wasn''t like she was going to check this now. There were more pressing matters at hand. With only Brute left, Hera commanded her remaining court member to cut down a tree, trying to make it fall on top of the flaming bird. Even if it was made out of fire, it shouldn''t be hot enough to melt a tree trunk before it would pin it down. It took the handaxe just three swings to cut down the tree thanks to the special effect of the weapon activating. Somehow, it considered the trees to be structures and not living beings. That felt weird, but Hera wasn''t about to argue with the system because of it. Loginue dodged the trunk and turned to Brute with rage in its eyes. Hera rushed to another tree, and it started chopping away, trying to cut it so we would drop on top of the bird. The noise she made didn''t go unnoticed, and the monster realized what she was doing. Apparently, the creature also agreed that this could be dangerous for it and changed targets. Instead of fighting the floating axe, It aimed at Hera herself. The explorer noticed the change, but she kept cutting the tree, unwilling to change her plans. Loginue was slow thanks to the injuries it suffered so far, and even when trying to fly, its wings couldn''t lift it up. That gave Hera enough time to finish cutting the tree and allow the trunk to fall toward the monster. Yet, it wasn''t enough. The creature saw the tree falling towards it and jumped to the left, avoiding the makeshift attack altogether. It stumbled when it moved, in evident pain due to the injuries on its leg. However, the trunk didn''t even hit one of its feathers. The monster looked back at Hera and smirked like it had won something. Hera was surprised, but not because of the monster. A notification appeared in front of her, but she quickly waved it off. This wasn''t the time to read something. Looking back at Loginue, she saw her plan getting into motion. She tossed her chakram and activated the binding thread ability as soon as the string touched the monster, overlapping five bindings on top of each other to stop it from moving. The creature struggled, but it was just for a moment. Behind it, Brute had been working on cutting another three trees that were now falling directly on top of the bird. Loginue couldn''t even notice the incoming trunk when it got hit square in the head and fell to the ground, being pinned down by the large piece of solid wood. Now, the creature was still alive, but it struggled to move. Hera called over Brute and held it in her hand as she got closer to the monster''s neck, "Brute, You were the MVP. You deserve the last hit," she said as she brought down her hand axe decapitating the creature. The monster was killed, and soon after, its body dissolved, leaving only a pair of blue feathers behind. Hera sat down for a moment just to catch her breath before running to help Alex fight Glimmer. As she was sitting, Daskka sent her a feeling of confusion. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "What?¡­. Well, yeah, Beam might have helped more, but he wasn''t around¡­. No, it''s not unfair. I''ll thank him later, but we are still in the middle of something. I''m not going to waste mana just to be fair¡­. What do you mean why? I just felt like it was fair. They are part of my court. It''s like they work for me, so they deserve to be rewarded for a good job." As she spoke, Alex appeared from behind one of the trees, "You need to be careful with that. People might think you are going crazy." "Hey. Did you lose it?" Hera asked while getting up. "Are you serious? No, I didn''t lose it. I killed it. We even got a notification telling us that we completed the dungeon," Alex scoffed. "Really?" Hera pulled up her tablet and opened the last notification. It was a good thing that she could dismiss these kinds of things and still read them later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest in the Runaway Prey. By killing your mark, you proved to be a worthy hunter. Rewards: 150 000 gold, Gloves of Glimmer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nice, I got the gloves. How about you?" Hera asked. "I got the boots. And Glimmer dropped this," Alex raised one hand and showed the massive piece of green leather that she was dragging, "Think you can help me get this off the ground? I don''t think people will pay as much for it if I drag it all the way back to town. And what about the bird?" Hera leaned over and picked the two feathers that were still on the ground, "We got these." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loginue Flaming Feather identified. Each feather can be used to improve one piece of the glimmer hunter set once. To enhance the piece of the glimmer hunter set, place the feather on top of the set piece. You can only do that inside the dungeon after defeating Loginue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh?" Hera stared at the notification. Seeing Alex''s puzzled look, she passed one of the feathers to her friend. "Oh, this is interesting. Do you mind if I use this one?" "Go for it," Hera nodded while taking a better look at the feather. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loginue Flaming Feather A feather of the great Loginue, a creature made out of pure fire. This physical manifestation of the feather is rare and is considered one of the best ways to imbue an item with fire when added during the creation process. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I have a feeling this might be expensive," Hera mumbled. "Yeah, but it''s better to use and make something better for us. Or at least that''s what I think," Alex put on the boots that she just got. They were dark green with some blue details and seemed very cozy. Hera also noticed that the boots had a very faint blue aura around them. Not to the point of glowing, but just shifting the hue of its surroundings. "Did it get a nice buff?" "Absolutely. Before, it would just reduce the noise I make when I move. Now it will still do that and also help me hide my tracks. And when I activate the skill, it will make an illusion that will show my body temperature as the same temperature as my surroundings. It''s a bit mana heavy, but when it becomes useful, it''s gonna be really useful." Hera offered to test that out since she had a skill that could work as a thermal vision, and it was just like she said. When Alex activated the skill, her body temperature would match whatever was around her, making the assassin very hard to spot. The buff was considerable, and Hera got curious about what her gloves would look like. So, she tapped the notification on her tablet and retrieved the reward. It was always weird to see an object appear out of nowhere in front of her, but the gloves appeared as soon as she pressed the notification. They were a very nice velvet dark green that shined when the light hit them. Around the middle fingers on each glove, there was a single yellow band that seemed to be made out of some sort of crystal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gloves of Glimmer Rarity: Uncommon A pair of gloves made with the fur of Glimmer. It takes some attributes from the beast that once eluded so many hunters. Attribute Scaling: Agility: x 4.3 Intelligence: x 4.2 Luck: x 4 Passive skill: Unseen touch: Anything you touch while wearing these gloves will be less likely to realize what happened. Glimmer hunter set (1/6) Set effect will activate when at least 4 pieces are worn together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s¡­. Kind of lame," Hera sighed. It''s been a while since she got some equipment from a dungeon that could actually help her. "Why don''t you use the feather? Maybe it will change into something good," Alex suggested. "Why not," Hera shrugged, already accepting that she would end up selling this pair of gloves. She placed the feather on top of the gloves and waited. The green velvet instantly burst into blue flames, making Hera drop the piece of gear out of fright, even if she couldn''t feel the heat coming from the fire. That lasted for a minute, and when the flames finally died down, she could see what the gloves had turned into. They weren''t full gloves anymore. Now they only covered up to her fingers with the yellow crystal wrapping around her middle finger to keep the gloves in place. It still had the green color, but now there was a feather-like pattern made with very thin blue thread covering the back of the gloves. When Hera picked them up, it seemed like the feathers were a pair of flapping wings. "That is really pretty," Alex gasped. "Yeah," Hera nodded, but she was more interested in the status. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glimmer Flame gloves Rarity: Rare A pair of gloves made with the fur of Glimmer and enchanted by its predator Loginue Attribute Scaling: Agility: x 5.9 Intelligence: x 5.6 Luck: x 4.3 Passive skill: Shrouded Graze Any attacks made by someone wearing these gloves have a chance to go unnoticed. The weaker the initial impact of the blow, the higher the chance for it to be concealed. Flame source: Any weapons that are touching these gloves are imbued with fire, dealing an extra 10% fire damage to its target. Glimmer Flame set (1/7) Set effect will activate when all 7 pieces are worn together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Now this, this is a reward," Hera opened a large smile. 433 - There is no place like home "So, let''s see if I get this right. If one of your blades dies, or it''s like, broken, it takes four days for it to recover? But if you dismiss it at the right moment, you can call it back again without any delay. Is that it?" Laika asked. "That''s about it. But it seems like how long it takes for a blade to recover depends on how much mana I used to summon them. Lurize, for instance, would take 5 days instead of 4¡­. Damn, was that real or just special effects? That one must have hurt," Hera was on the floor, sitting in front of the couch. Daskka and the guides were seated above her while watching an old martial arts movie. "I don''t know. That one seems real. You can see the sparks flying from the lights. Can you go back a little? I think we can see the actor shaking his hands after leaving that kiosk," Nina asked, but Hera just passed her tablet to her. The Kobold played with the player a bit until the moment she was looking for appeared on the screen, "There. Can you see the people running to help him? I don''t think that was part of the script." "Oh shit, you''re right!" Laika gasped, paying attention to the movie again. "You know¡­ that voice is familiar. Are there any other big movies that the actor did, honey?" a raccoon wearing a pair of jeans, booty shorts, and a red and white flannel shirt tied in front to show some nonexistent cleavage spoke in a heavy southern accent while tapping Hera''s shoulder. "He does a lot of martial arts movies, Ms. Jaquelyn. The ones more serious are mostly in Chinese, and those in English are more comedy-like. He had that one where he was an immigrant and met a cowboy, one he was a cop in L.A. and stuff like that," Hera explained, focusing on the movie again. "No, no, no. It was someone else. I clearly remember a man wearing a blue shirt. And please, call me Jackie, sweetheart." "I think you''re talking about the animated series. There''s something with like the Chinese horoscope, and medallions or something like that?" Nina turned to the side. Laika quickly pulled up a holographic screen and searched for the cartoon they were talking about, "Is this it?" Jackie nodded, "That''s the one! Thank you kindly. I wonder why they stopped making that show. I don''t remember if it ended." "I don''t know either," Hera replied after thinking for a moment. She remembered the cartoon, but she had never watched the last episode. Daskka jumped from the couch and landed on Hera''s lap, closing her eyes. It was already really late. Hera was only here in her private room to talk to the guides, and tomorrow, she would finally reach Boothudurn again. It was odd, even if the dwarven city was her home for only a year, a time considerably smaller than any of the other places she lived in, going back felt like going back home from a vacation. For the first time in her life, she wasn''t dreading going to a place where people knew her. Her father would be there, her friends, the dwarves, and Silah. Even if they were fighting, Hera still loved her girlfriend very much. "Guys, do you mind if we leave it here for tonight? Daskka is tired, and so am I. Not to mention I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow," Hera turned to the three guides behind her. "Well, of course, honey. We forget that you need sleep. That kind of thing happens with age. If you let us, we would stay here for a week," Jackie laughed and jumped down from the couch, grabbing her cowboy hat that was on the side. Laika nodded, "That''s true. And thanks for hosting girls'' night. It''s been a while since I did something like that." "Me too. And I''ll see if Talpa wants to come next time," Nina got up from the couch. "Hey. Don''t worry. I enjoy your company very much. I just asked because I still haven''t heard from her. I mean, there was that first message, and then that was it," Hera felt bad about that. She never wanted to make Nina sad by bringing up her sister. "Don''t worry, I know you don''t tell me anything by that. And for what''s worth, we are doing better, just not great," Nina sighed. "I''m glad. I know how hard things have been for you because of the fight," Hera wanted to give the Kobold a hug, but she couldn''t find an opening to do so. Hera walked the guides to the door and sent them off before going to take a bath. She let Daskka sleep on the bed like she was getting used to doing. The reason why Hera was using her private room instead of a hotel was that currently, there were no rooms available in the hotels in the area. They only managed to find a single room with a single bed, and since Hera had an alternative, Alex was the one to stay in the room. If they wanted it, they could have both come here to sleep. Hera was able to edit her room to have either a king-size bed or two single beds. However, they''ve been sleeping in the same room for over a month already and both of them wanted some time to themselves. That also helped Hera talk to the guides without worrying about giving you an excuse as to why she was going alone in her private room. While lying in the tub, she did a mental check of what she had learned about the legacy. She could control her blades at a fair distance, and she could be daisy chaining them to increase the range of control; however, doing that hindered their abilities. If she attached all the blades to Yarnball, she could use different mana reinforcements in the blades, but that was very mana hungry. It wasn''t like how she wielded the weapon herself. Turning on and off at a moment''s notice to save mana was a very complicated thing to do with her blades. Another thing she learned was that each blade took some time to recover after being destroyed. Also, that didn''t have a scale. They were either destroyed, and they would need time to recover, or they were fine and could be summoned again at any point. Lastly, and this was something that Hera was really excited about, if she attached a string from Yarnball in her glove and then to each other blades, all of her weapons would have to fire buff given by the gloves. Since the string could pass through objects, she wouldn''t have to worry about accidentally making her blades wrap around random obstacles, but she had yet to figure out how to not have her own movement hindering her court while they were all connected. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. After finishing her bath, Hera started cleaning up her room. Even if all the dirt and garbage would be tossed out when she came out of the room, she had come to realize that if there were some people around the doorway she had used, that would cause some problems. Hera didn''t mind that. There was something therapeutic about cleaning up your room after the party. Well, that was considering a small party she just had with a few guides. If he was anything bigger than that, the feeling would probably change. When Hera finished putting all the trash in the bag, a notification popped up in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 26 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Stats: Strength: 68 Endurance: 68 Agility: 68 Charisma: 68 Intelligence: 68 Luck: 68 Mana: 12012/45222 Remaining attribute points: 96 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Wire Trap Style 2, Subtle Strike 3, Naga style 2 Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1 Earth resistance 1, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 1, Sturdy Body 1 Naga poison 2 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 3, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2, Weapon break Etching 2 Medical Reference 2, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 3 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy hell. 96 Points?" Hera gasped while staring at her status window. She did a quick search, wondering how she got that many points, and it seemed like going to a new room would net her a bonus point. Considering that she crossed something close to 50 rooms, it made sense. Adding that to the 27 points she would get just for leveling up, she had an idea where most of her points came from, but there were still some with seemingly no explanation. Maybe your legacy gives her some extra points. She had no idea if people who got legacies would get a bonus or not. This was a problem with having a legacy. Everybody was very guarded about sharing information, so everything she knew or wanted to know had to be figured out by herself. Well, by herself and people she already knew had legacies, such as Shane and Ninelyn. She could probably ask them for some help to figure things out, but she wanted to tell her friends first. So far, Hera had avoided mentioning anything about the legacy to Helena, Blue, Bonnie, or even Silah, wanting to tell them personally about it. Either way, she wasn''t going to complain about her bonus points. She used her [Exponential Growth] skill to increase all her attributes to 74, leaving 8 points for the next level. It''s been a long time since she had such a big increase in her stats at once. While she was staring at her status window, a voice came from under the covers. "You¡­no¡­sleep?" it was Daskka. She was trying to speak more often about things unrelated to the legacy. Hera walked towards the bed and carefully laid down and snuggled with the snake before closing her eyes to sleep. She was about 4 rooms away from Boothudurn, and if everything went well, she would be home by dinner time tomorrow. Unfortunately, they only arrived in the middle of the night. It was 3 A.M. when Hera and Alex finally crossed the doorway. A couple of the dwarven guards who would be by the city entrance recognized the two and greeted them with big smiles, asking about what happened during their trip. Alex wasn''t much in the mood for talking, but Hera obliged, telling a couple of short stories. She quickly changed the subject to ask if anything had happened in this city, and it seemed like everything was OK to a point. Some people from the guild were coming to the city regularly to perform inspections and ensure that everything was running smoothly, but the way they acted made some of the guards uncomfortable. That was also creating some tension with the council, but the guard didn''t know much more about it. After thanking them, the explorers headed out to their final destination, home. Oddly enough, this last leg of their journey, the 10 minutes it took them to walk from the doorway to their house, seemed to last ages. When they finally arrived, everyone was already asleep. Hera noticed some paperwork on the table and even an envelope with an official-looking stamp on top of it, but her sleepiness overcame her curiosity, and she headed back to her room on the second floor. Hera and Alex slept in the next morning, waking up well past noon. Yet the moment one of them emerged from their room, they were met by the entire group waiting for them excitedly. What followed were a lot of hugs, greetings, and questions about what happened. Hera, who was the first to get up, told them about her legacy and about Kirouhebi. She also added some information about Alex''s curse, which worried everyone. It was a good moment to discuss that without having to worry about Alex getting excited talking about it. About one hour later, the assassin was the one who came from the bedroom, and Hera finally received a message from Silah telling her that she was done with her work for the day and hoped they could meet and talk. "Now that Alex is here, she will talk about what happened on the trip, and I''m going to see Silah," Hera quickly got up from the couch. "You haven''t seen her yet?" Blue had a surprised expression. "No, we got here at 3 A.M. I wasn''t going to wake her up then. I did send a message, but she only replied when I was sleeping, and now she''s off work," Hera explained. "That''s fair. Oh, and don''t forget to say hi to your dad later. Also¡­" Bonnie paused for a moment, "He and my mom are roommates for now." Hera stopped in her tracks. She never considered the idea of her dad having a roommate, "That''s¡­ something to unpack. I''ll deal with that later. I wanna see my girlfriend," she tabled that discussion for a different time just as she left the house. 434 - Misunderstanding "Hey, there, beautiful," Hera smiled as she found Silah in her home forge. It was a small workshop that her family used when they weren''t working with the guard. The place was very different from the forge that Hera was used to. For one, it had a lot more personality than a place made with efficiency in mind. In a way, it felt like her dad''s workshop, a place where people who really loved their craft could focus and learn new techniques or try to make something unique. Covering the walls, there were things like their son''s first work or her brother''s best armor. Things that they seem to be proud of. Yet, she couldn''t see anything that was made by Silah. "Hera!" Silah gasped and rushed to give her girlfriend a hug. The two stayed there for a while, just embracing each other and enjoying the moment. About two minutes later, Silah pulled a chair for Hera to sit on, and they started talking. Despite the fights they were having, Now that they were together, everything seemed OK. Hera talked about all the things she saw during her trip, how she saw the moon and how it was to cross the wall. She wasn''t the only one with some news. Silah had figured out a few different ways to make weapons, and she was starting to sell them to the guild. Even Kahala was starting to praise her armor-making skills. "She says that but she still doesn''t let me give armor to anyone or sell it," Silah sighed. "It''s probably because she thinks that your name is associated with her. So having someone who is learning from her give away some armor that is not up to her standards would look bad for her," Hera was caressing Silah''s head. "Maybe, but it''s still frustrating. I managed to make an epic armor, and she still told me it was mostly trash." "Ouch, that seems rough. I don''t know what to say. It just sucks." "Yeah, but everything is better now. You are here, and you won''t be going on such a long trip again," Silah snuggled on Hera''s chest. "Not at the moment, no. But Alex kinda got hit by a curse, and we have to figure out a way to help her. She might have found a place that could do something to help, but that''s very far away." "What? You¡­ Are you going to go away again? For how long this time?!" Silah got up and stared at Hera. "I''m not saying I''m gonna go away now but eventually, yeah. I don''t think it will be just a day. I''ll stay here for a while, but someday I''ll go on a long trip again. We talked about this. I''m not gonna stay here all the time. I''m not saying I''m going to abandon you, and you''re more than free to come with me on any of the trips, but this is my dream. I came here to explore. I wanna find new things, new dungeons, and rooms. Staying in the same place for too long is not the life that I want for me," Hera explained calmly, trying not to rile Silah up even more. "No. I know you''re not gonna stay here, but I figured you would be like a day or two away. Not that you will be leaving me for, I don''t know. Months? Years? How long do you think it would be enough?" "It''s not about being long enough. It''s about doing what I want to do or finding what I want to find. Sometimes it may be a quick trip. Like, I go in a day and come back in the next one. Other times it will be longer. Like this time. I didn''t know how long it would take. It''s not¡­. it''s not about me not wanting to be with you, Silah. Just like you do with your blacksmithing, I''m just following my dream," Hera reached out for Silah''s hand, but the dwarf stepped away. "How is that fair? You can follow your dream, but I can''t follow mine? Even if I go with you, how am I supposed to make new weapons? Make armor? Study? figure out new things?" "You don''t need to be here to do that. Almost every guild has a forge, and they just let people use it or rent it for a couple days, weeks, or months. Hell, in the room where Alex and I stayed, dozens of workshops advertised leases for however long you needed. You don''t have to be here to work on a forge. There are a lot of crafters that just wander around to learn new skills or just be like traveling repair shops." Silah rolled her eyes, "That doesn''t help. What if I want to learn from someone that''s gonna take a long time like I''m doing with Kahala? That thing where you just figure it out on your own without having somebody to support me doesn''t work for me. I need help if I want to improve." Hera rubbed her eyes, "Look, I''m just trying to find something that you may be OK with, but you need to meet me halfway. It doesn''t work if I''m the only one sacrificing what I want to do. We both need to be in this together. If you don''t want to come on my trips, that''s fine. We can talk on the phone, have video calls, and talk every day. I''ll try to make these trips as far away as possible from one another and not waste too much time doing whatever I need to be doing. But just like I''m never gonna ask you to stop being a blacksmith because of me, please don''t ask me not to be an explorer because of you." "Having you spend so much time away from you made me realize some things. Even if we figure this out and manage to find a way so both of us can follow our dreams, what about the future? In the best-case scenario, we spend the rest of your life together, and I''m still gonna be here long after you are gone. We have been together for just over a year, and it already hurt so much when you weren''t here that I can''t imagine it being any easier later," Silah sighed. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Hera didn''t have an answer to that. She had thought about that before. When she starts growing older and sees Silah still young, wasting her life with someone who couldn''t keep up anymore. How would she feel? That was something that weighed on her mind. In reality, Hera had accepted that they probably wouldn''t be a couple that would have their happily ever after. But she still loved her girlfriend so much, and she wanted to do everything in her power to make her happy. After a moment of silence that felt like hours to both of them, Silah spoke once more, "I love you, Hera, I really do. But, I think it''s better if we go separate ways. I hated how miserable I was while you were just trying to travel, and I hate that I''m so possessive. I hate that I''m trying to force you to be with me, even if that''s not what you want to do. I know you''re gonna say that you want to be with me, but you want to travel more than you want to be with me. And I get that. I''m the same. If the choice is staying with you or being a blacksmith, I''m gonna choose to be a blacksmith. I''m not saying that we couldn''t balance it out and figure something together. It would be hard, but we could, but it may not be worth it. I''m afraid that when you get old, for your standards at least. When you are already turning gray, maybe even starting to look like Risli, we are gonna start resenting each other. Or maybe hating ourselves for what we''re doing to each other. I might think that I didn''t give you a chance to grow old with someone, and if I don''t want to be with you anymore, breaking up will be like I''m abandoning you when you might need some help. And you might feel like you''re holding me from doing things that I want," Silah let out a long sigh and stopped. Tears were already forming in her eyes, " I don''t see a happy ending in our future, and I don''t think it''s fair to either of us to waste time on something that will just bring us pain." Hera started crying, not because she was angry but because she couldn''t say anything against what Silah was saying, "Silah¡­." "No, no, no, just listen for a moment. In the best-case scenario, you''re gonna live to what? 100, 120? That is generous. I looked it up. Most humans who go past 85 are just awful. And those who pass 100, I don''t think you could call that living anymore. Let''s say I stay with you until you die. I''ll still have two times the life you had. I''m not saying your life won''t be fulfilling, but mine will be almost two times longer. I''ll have to live without you and restart my life, hoping to find someone that I love again, and most dwarves already have like, a life partner when they reach 100," Silah started to ramble as more tears came down her face. "Silah¡­" Hera got up. "Look, I love you, and I wish you all the best. I just know that I''m not the best for you, and I don''t think it''s right for me to be selfish in this situation," Silah started pacing around while speaking, not looking at Hera. "Silah!" Hera grabbed the blacksmith''s hand, forcing her to look at her, "I understand. I love you very much, but I can''t argue with what you''re saying," Hera started to cry even more, "It''s OK." They stayed inside the workshop for another hour, crying, talking, and apologizing for things that didn''t even make sense. When they both felt like they had talked about everything, Hera got up and walked toward the door. The longer she stayed here, the harder it would be for her to leave. "I hope someday, in the future, we can hang out as friends," Hera turned to Silah. "Me too. Oh, and I forgot to ask. Did you find what you were looking for?" Hera sniffed while she cleaned a few tears from her face, "Yeah. But that is a big conversation. I''ll tell you about it the next time we talk. I don''t think I have the energy to explain all that mess," she chuckled. Silah nodded, "I''m happy for you. I''m glad the trip was good." Hera just gave her a weak smile and left. She did everything she could to stop herself from crying while walking in the street. It didn''t matter if the dwarves were going to respect that or not. The last thing she ever wanted right now was some stranger coming to her and asking her if she was OK. In fact, even going back to her house didn''t seem like a good idea. Hera knew that everybody would ask questions, and it would be a whole thing. For the first time, in she didn''t even know how long, going to her father''s house actually seemed like a good idea to get some support in a situation like this. Hera activated her [Hide] while getting there, trying to avoid being seen by anyone who could want to talk to her or tell her friends where she went. But one piece of information completely escaped her mind. When she knocked on the door, it wasn''t her dad who answered but Bonnie''s mom, which Hera had only seen through pictures. She was very similar to Bonnie. They both had the same lips, the same tiny nose, and the same intense eyes. However, unlike the researcher, she had long black hair tied in a single large braid going all the way to her waist. "Hi there. You''re Hera, right?" the woman asked. "Yeah... Is my dad. I mean, Eridan here?" "Yeah," the woman turned back and yelled, "Eri, your daughter is here," she turned back to Hera, "Please come in. I know you are much more at home than I am." "Thank you¡­. Sorry, I don''t remember your name. You are Bonnie''s mom, right?" Hera asked. "Yep. But you can call me Renette." "Nice to meet you¡­." Hera couldn''t think about saying anything else. In the end, she just stood there by the door for a few moments until her dad appeared. "Goldilocks? You''re back! I missed you," Eridan rushed over and gave Hera a big hug. "I''ll make some tea. Or do you want coffee?" Renette asked. "Tea would be great," Hera replied without looking up. Eridan just nodded and waved Renette off, without even looking at her. It was the first time she came home, and her father paid more attention to her than whoever else was in the house. Even if it was someone he didn''t know for long, this act was the straw that broke her back. Hera just started crying on her father''s shoulder without saying another word. 435 - Not exactly healthy It took a couple of hours before Hera calmed down enough to explain what had happened to her dad. Renette also ended up hearing most of what Hera was saying, not because she was trying to hear it but because Hera was speaking loudly, and after she started crying, it became harder for her to focus on her surroundings. The reality was something a bit different. Because of her intense reaction, her senses went into overdrive. She could feel the mana around her, she could hear people talking on the street, and she could smell the scent of freshly baked bread from a bakery nearby. While she walked toward Eridan''s house, Hera made a point of focusing her attention on everything that was going on around her, so she could avoid any problems. Now that she had stopped paying attention so much and focused on what she was feeling, something changed inside of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Awareness You are able to notice more about yourself and your surroundings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The more she talked about Silah, the more she felt the pain of the breakup. At the same time, she could feel this was the right decision. Not having to worry about the future with someone who lived for so much longer than she took a weight off her shoulders. However, because this was new, she was struggling to understand the differences between what was close and what was far away. Even worse, Hera didn''t notice the notification. At some point, while she was crying, the window appeared in front of her, but she just waved it off, not caring about what it was saying at the moment. Eridan and Renette listened intently to what she had to say. Both of them understood what it was like to lose someone close. And having had their fair share of heartbreak, they were more likely to give an answer that could help Hera. Unfortunately, there was not much they could do. Breakups were never easy, and even if you agreed that it was the right decision, it would still hurt. A couple of hours passed until Hera felt better. Or at least well enough to change the subject and try to forget about the pain for a moment. Eridan took the hint and asked about the trip and what she had seen and done. Hera excitedly shared most of her adventures, being careful not to mention the legacy since Renette was still around. Despite being Bonnie''s mom, she didn''t know if it was a good idea to trust her or even her dad, for that matter, with that knowledge. She showed Daskka and talked about Kirouhebi and the moon base, which made both Eridan and Renette very interested. After some time, she was feeling better. Still far from being good, but there was an improvement. Looking at the time and the fact that Hera felt like she was intruding on something, she decided to return home. Another reason for that was that she could talk about the legacy in focus on something else that wasn''t just her pain. Not even 10 minutes later, Hera was already back home, and all their friends were there. Alex was the only one that went out. She wanted to talk to both Ogryn and Risli about her curse. Hera barely stepped inside the door when Blue came from the kitchen and stared at her before asking, "What happened?" Bonnie and Helena were on the couch talking, but both of them looked over as the controller spoke. Hera sighed, "I''m going to answer, but I don''t want any follow-up questions. I don''t have the energy for it. Yes, I''m OK. Yes, that''s a lie. I''m not OK, of course, I''m not. I need time to process before I can explain everything that happened, OK?" Blue sat down in one of the chairs and nodded, waiting for an answer, "Silah and I broke up. It wasn''t because of the trip. That was just part of the reason. We realized that the age difference would be too much of a problem later on, and I''m not saying because she''s older than me. No, I''m talking about the fact that she will live to, like, 300, and I''m gonna live to 100 if I''m lucky," Hera noticed Helena wanting to say something, but she quickly cut her off, "I don''t wanna talk about it, I''m not ready. Just give me some time, and let''s change the subject. What was that paperwork that I saw yesterday on the table? It seemed official. Is anyone in trouble?" Since Hera forcibly changed the subject, the girls decided to go with the flow. Helena opened a big smile, "Well, sweetie. That''s my training program." "Your training program?" "Yep, remember how I was trying to make the elemental modes and the elemental site and a bunch of other small spells that could really help people who were starting? I finished it this month after Bonnie came back with Renette. They helped me set up my training program and all the spells I wanted to teach as a formal deal to present to the guild." "Oh? So that''s what that envelope was? It was rather big," Hera nodded. She could see that being a lesson plan for the new explorers. "Oh no. The Lesson plan and all spells weren''t something I could send through mail. I mean, I could, but it''s easier to send an email. That''s just the contract that the guild sent me to sign so that they can use the spells and my ideas in the next classes as a trial run," Helena spoke with a cheeky expression. "Really? That''s amazing! What did you do? How does it work? Tell me," Hera rushed over and sat on the couch. Helena and Bonnie started explaining the Lesson plan. Her idea was to extend the one-month training that they had to two months. Ideally the training would last much longer, but that wasn''t something the guild was willing to do. The first month will go pretty much the same way, with a couple of lessons about survival to help the newbies. Then, the role test would come, which would be followed by another month of training already inside the MAZE. This part would be more in-depth about their own roles, and it will teach spells like elemental sight, the elemental motes, and other basic abilities. Things like a light spell or how to make or filter clean water. They would also increase the training for combat styles and ensure that every new recruit would have at the very least one fighting style when they are finished with the course. A real fighting style, not just the random weapon combat skill that people usually got. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. This would require some investment from the guild. Still, since Helena''s plan included allowing lower-level explorers to become teachers or instructors, they shouldn''t have any issues getting the required personnel. Also, for the initial versions of this training, Helena suggested that the role training should be done every two to three months, so people could do the first part of the training, get their role, spend a month getting used to it, and then finish up before becoming full-fledged explorers. The way she spoke about it made it seem like a very good idea. Hera always had the feeling that her training was very much like throwing a kid in a pool to teach them how to swim. Another interesting fact was that even old explorers could apply to receive the role-specific lessons. The guild will try to gather some high-level explorers to teach. In any situation where that succeeded, even higher-level people could benefit from that kind of instruction from a veteran. Despite saying that, Neither Helena nor Bonnie seemed to think that many people would want to go back to training. As a matter of fact, among their group, there wasn''t anyone who would be interested in going back to the basic training unless there was a really good reason to do so. When the subject started to die down, Hera decided to change to something else before anyone tried asking about her break up, "By the way. What is up with your mom and my dad, Bonnie? I stopped there before coming here, and I got some weird vibes. They are not¡­. A thing, are they?" Hera couldn''t even begin to imagine her father dating someone else. The last, and only person he dated was her least favorite person in the entire world, and just the idea of it happening again made Hera feel sick. "You know, I had that feeling too. I asked my mom about it, and she said that they''re just good friends. Like, you know when you meet someone, and you instantly click, but not in a romantic way, you''re just in the same vibe, and find the same things funny, and it''s like, instant best friends?" Bonnie explained. "Not really. That never happened to me," Hera shook her head. "Yeah, me neither. And apparently, no one that we know had that happen to them. I was kinda hoping that you would be able to relate, but I don''t know. That''s what they were saying. They just clicked," Bonnie shrugged. Hera let out a sigh of relief, "Well if It''s just that, that''s fine. Don''t take this the wrong way, Bonnie, but I really don''t want another mother. My track record with those is really bad." Bonnie nodded, "I can imagine, and I don''t want another father either. The one I have is already way too much of a handful." "OK, OK, OK, that''s very..." Blue clapped her hands, trying to bring the attention to her to move away from the family drama, "Yeah, no, that all sucks, and I don''t wanna talk about this anymore," she turned to Hera, "What about the Blademaster, did you find them?" Hera smirked, "Yes, and no. It wasn''t the blademasters. It was blademaster singular. And they weren''t this group of mercenaries that worked with the court of heroes. They were part of the court of heroes." "Wait, are you saying you got a court legacy?" Bonnie gasped. "Yep. It''s called the Court of Blades. I don''t think I have to say it, but just like with Blue''s, don''t mention this to anyone. Not even your mom, not even Silah. The only people who know about this so far are the people in this room, Alex, and Kirouhebi, that giant dragon that lived in the temple," Hera stared at everyone with a stern expression. "Yeah, it''s one thing if we have one legacy among us, but now that we have two. That might bring some unwanted attention," Helena had a worried expression. "I know that''s why I''m acting like I don''t have a legacy unless I''m in a dungeon with Alex. Then again, I think I can kinda trick most people," Hera looked to the side, "Lurize." When she said the name, she summoned the zweihander, which appeared in the air floating around, "I can go into the details later, but basically, the legacy lets me summon weapon constructs to fight with me. But I don''t have to control them. I just have to give them an order. For instance," Hera looked back at the kitchen and saw one plastic cup with a handle, "Lurize, can you bring me that cup?" The sword slowly floated toward the kitchen, gently turned upside down, and used the handle to pick up the cup and float it back to Hera. "And you didn''t have to focus while doing that? Like you just told it to do it and shifted your attention to some other thing? You don''t have to make it move, spin, and anything?" Bonnie asked with wide eyes. "Exactly. It even inherited my fighting styles as long as I have something that matches the type of weapon. But since it''s called the court of blades, I can only do that with weapons that actually have a cutting edge. Things like staff, clubs, and even hammers are out of my wheelhouse," Hera continued. "Can you do that with more than just one? Since it''s a court," Blue asked. Both Helena and Bonnie stared at Blue with horrified expressions. The researcher was the one who broke the silence, "Are you nuts? Doing that with one weapon is already more than enough for it to be a legacy. And you''re asking if she can do it with more? Of course not? Right?" When Bonnie finished speaking, she stared back at Hera with a confused look on her face. Hera smiled, "Brute, Beam, Executioner, Swift, Daskka." All of her 5 blades plus the snake that was the court''s adviser appeared around her. Daskka could still be summoned through her necklace, but calling her from the legacy now felt more fun, "And I can call more in the future." "And you keep saying that I''m the cheater," Blue scoffed and crossed her arms. "Well, yeah. I can''t have my blades absorbing spells to use later. Besides, calling them takes all my mana. I''ve been using a mana crystal to call them so I can still use mana. Oh, and When I call them, I lose the ability to use their elements. Like Lurize uses poison, so I can''t use poison mana when he''s out. Another thing, Daskka is the herald. I asked her about it, and it seems like the legacy recognizes that I am close to her and allowed her to be the herald so I would be more comfortable," This was a half-truth. It wasn''t Daskka who told her all this but Peaches after she asked the guide about it, "She''s even starting to learn how to speak on her own, but I''m the only one who can hear it." Blue kept staring at Hera for a few moments, "That''s it. I need to see that in action. Let''s go," she got up from the chair. "Go where?" Hera asked. "To our dungeon. Some people figured out the hard mode, and we have to try it." "Really? I''m down, but we should wait for Alex. And I have to recharge the mana stone if I want to have the full team again," Hera, wasn''t about to roam through the streets with her entire court out in the open. That was a surefire way to let people figure out that she had a legacy. "Fine, but if we are not doing it today, we are doing it tomorrow." 436 - Sky ruler nest revisited Hera, Blue, Bonnie, Helena, and Alex were walking up the tunnel towards the Sky Ruler''s nest. Alex got home very late the previous day, so they decided to come here in the morning. The path to this dungeon was very different from what Hera remembered. During the past year, the guild worked with the dwarves to create a more comfortable tunnel that could allow people to come here without much trouble. Another new addition was the presence of an elevator that would cover most of the climb. Now, instead of taking hours to get to the dungeon, people took just around 20 minutes, including a very long elevator ride. Some people tried to make that ride shorter. However, making it too fast freaked the dwarves. They weren''t used to elevators in general, and having one that could go up at 50 kilometers per hour or some crazy number like that, made all those who rode it get sick even with stabilizing spells. The group had just arrived in front of the entrance. Here, there was a small waiting area much like one would see near most dungeons away from the city. Some people were around, mostly humans who had either just arrived or were passing by the town, but a few dwarves were here, ready to face the Griffons that haunted them for so long. Hera greeted some dwarfs that she knew who were part of the guard before they went inside the dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sky Ruler Nest Type: Dungeon The nest of the creatures known as the Sky Rulers. For eons, they lorded over the mountain, but now they have become vulnerable to attacks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera had forgotten how, unlike most dungeons, there wasn''t a notification asking if she wanted to enter the Sky Ruler nest. Even though the idea that someone could just accidentally go inside that was very far-fetched. If anyone tried to push against the cloud barrier that was blocking the entrance, they would feel some resistance, and it took an actual level of effort to push through the barrier. As soon as they got inside, Blue grabbed Hera''s shoulder, "OK, let''s see what you got. Summon your floating weapons or whatever you call them." "Aren''t we going on the hard mode? If so, I''m only gonna call one of them now. That way, I still have enough mana to call them all later," Hera explained. "That''s fine, that''s fine. Blue shrugged. Hera concentrated for a moment and called, "Beam," That should be the one that helped her the most in this dungeon. From what she remembered, the Griffons here would mostly be flying, and they would have to deal with creatures at long range. Among her blades, only one could do something like that without being constrained by her own range. "So, what does that one do? Actually, what do all of them do?" Bonnie asked. "Can you please don''t do that thing you did while we were away? I mean, answer the questions, but don''t just talk about it all the time. Please?" Alex sighed. She could see that if no one stopped Hera, she would return to that moment where she only talked about her legacy, not that it wasn''t understandable, but it was already getting old. "I''ll be careful. If I start just talking about it nonstop, let me know when I''ll stop. I won''t be mad, I promise," Hera replied to Alex, then turned to Bonnie, "So, let me be careful here. I don''t want to say something that will give me a penalty or something." "You can talk about the legacy all you want. It isn''t like the guide skill," Daskka replied from Hera''s shoulder. "Daskka!" Hera gasped. "What? They can''t hear me. It doesn''t matter how many times I talk about the guides. I''m positive about it. I even asked Peaches. There''s nothing, absolutely nothing in the entire system that can make other people hear the herald of a legacy," Daskka shrugged. "What''s wrong, sweetie?" Helena asked. "Oh, sorry. Daskka told me that I can talk about the legacy all I want, and it''s not like the thing that I have on my relic that I can talk about. But she spoke the actual name of it, and that freaked me out. Anyway, I can put any weapon inside my legacy. It''s called adding them to my court. It''s weird because the whole concept of the legacy it''s kinda like I''m an Empress, a name that was given by the legacy, not by me. My court is the name given to the weapons that can fight with me and help me. So if I ''court'' A weapon and get familiar enough with it, I can add them to my court, to the roster, if you will. Each weapon maintains some of its attribute scalings and gains a bonus from my status, not like a full scale, but it can be improved a bit the more familiar I am with that weapon. And they also keep their skills. So far, they kept all their skills, so I''m not sure if that''s going to keep happening if I have a weapon that has like a bunch of different skills and abilities," Hera glanced at Daskka for an answer, but the snake gave her a look meaning ''I don''t know.'' "And they can move on their own?" Helena walked over to Beam, "I have tried making mana constructs that could work as weapons, but they are very expensive. I mean, mana expensive. Well, if you''re talking about buying something that can make a mana construct then that''s also it''s stupidly expensive," she stopped for a moment while staring at the handaxe floating in the air, "Wow, this is so weird. I can''t feel any mana coming from it. It should have some sort of leakage or signature, but there''s nothing. It''s like I''m looking at an actual weapon." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Hera nodded, "Yeah, it''s not like I''m feeling a spell or something. It''s actually closer to how I feel with Daskka. And that only happens because of our shared Naga Poison." "Right, So what are the other weapons? Like what they do?" Bonnie asked. "Well, Brute is good at dealing damage to structures. And apparently inside a dungeon that also counts for trees and pretty much every foliage that''s not like a trap or something made by a monster," Hera started explaining what she had learned from Berthellemy, who was the one who answered her question in a group chat she had with all of the guides, "Then we have Swift, who just deals elemental damage when it activates its spell. Executioner, who deals more damage when hitting a vital spot. Lurize is the one I got by completing the tests of the legacy. It allows me to get more familiarity with it faster. And beam," Hera pointed at the handaxe flying beside her, "Can shoot laser beams. Also, when I''m using it, I lose the ability to use light mana. I still can use light spells, but they get more expensive. For the others, in the same order are earth, wind, strength, poison, and light. I can''t use their respective types of mana when they are out and about." Helena frowned, "So the one you got for the legacy it''s kind of a problem for you, isn''t it? I know you have been focusing on ailments, and poison is the biggest one you have." Hera nodded, "Yeah. I talked with Daskka about it. Even if I don''t want to, I might need to change it at some point. The problem is¡­." "That you feel attached to a thing you have for barely a week," Alex scoffed, "Look. I''m sorry, but you already told me that a hundred times. We walked inside a hotel room. You set up the silence spell thing and started asking me the same questions over and over. We get it you are nice, you are kind, and we love you for it. But please either decide that you''re gonna get rid of it or decide that you''re gonna keep it. I can''t hear you talk about this again." "Sorry¡­ I didn''t realize I was being so annoying," Hera looked back at her blade, "I''ll do my best to not talk about the legacy unless someone asks or I really need some help." Alex sighed, "That''s fine. I mean, I get why you''re so excited, but it was just too much at once. Can we keep going? We still have to figure out how to open the hard mode." Blue nodded, "We can, but we need to move closer to the boss to trigger it. And Alex," Blue turned to the assassin, "We are going to ask Hera a bunch of questions about her legacy. If you don''t feel like listening to everything about that, this might be rough for you." "I know, I know. And I''ll do my best not to be annoyed by anything." With that, the group started running the dungeon. Saying that this was a group effort was a bit of an exaggeration. In reality, Hera was the one doing most of the work. Beam was responsible for killing almost all the Griffons and only a few of them passed through, being dealt with by Hera. Part of her wanted to take advantage of the situation to increase her familiarity with some weapons. But summoning them now could bring problems when they finished that dungeon. The entrance wasn''t as empty as Hera hoped, and having constructs floating around would bring too much attention to herself. Instead, she focused on increasing the familiarity of the two weapons she had in her hand. The Dwarven Hope axe, and the Screaming Ooze chakram. Both weapons had interesting abilities, and they could be nice additions to her court. At the same time, it was a bit tricky to think about what blade that she would have to let go of for these new ones to join. The group traveled through the dungeon without any issues. Killing the first waves of monsters, going through the stone labyrinth all the way to the boss near the red lake. Helena and the others were increasingly more impressed with Hera''s legacy. It wasn''t simply because of the many constructs but for the individual actions of her blade. Beam showed a level of strategy and cunning that shouldn''t be possible for a construct. Or, at least, it will require years and years of practice controlling a single construct before reaching the same level of versatility. The handaxe would make faints, create traps for the monsters, and even decide to target the Griffons that were preparing a big spell. When Hera asked the blade to protect her friends, it even prioritized their well-being, albeit never making them more important than the Empress. "Do we kill the boss, or do we have to do something before killing it?" Alex asked. "Apparently, it doesn''t matter. The hard mode can be triggered before or after the boss, and the Sky Ruler being alive doesn''t affect it at all. So people tend to kill the boss first before going for the next part, just for convenience sake," Blue explained. "And the rewards," Helena added. "OK then," Hera walked over to the area where the boss would appear and waited for a moment. The Sky Ruler appeared from the cave on the cliff and jumped towards her. Before the monster even hit the ground, Hera tossed a poison needle at a creature while Beam launched a barrage of attacks. As a follow-up, Hera used her poison control spell to strengthen the poison in the Griffon''s body. The sky ruler was killed before it even touched the floor, dissolving in the air and dropping one of its claws. Everyone kept staring at Hera for a moment, and Alex was the one who broke the silence, "I know we are much higher level than the boss, but one felt wrong." "What are you talking about? If you use your scabbard, you would kill that thing even faster than I did," Hera rolled her eyes while waving off the notification. She only got a few thousand gold as rewards for the dungeon quest. "Yeah, but still¡­." "Either way, now we need to trigger the hard mode," Blue pulled up five vials from a pouch on her waist, "We need to fill this with the red water and then toss it on the top of the sculptures surrounding the nest," she gestured towards the large Griffons statues that frame the edge of this mountain peak. "That''s it? Do we just need to cover the statues in red water?" Bonnie asked. "Pretty much yeah, or at least that''s what people told me. I haven''t tried it yet. I waited so we could do this for the first time together," Blue smiled at Hera. "Aw, you are too sweet," Hera replied. "I mean, it was just fair, you know. This is our dungeon." 437 - Domain of the storm Splashing the statues with the red water proved to be more difficult than expected. Each of the stone Griffons was at least 20 meters from the ground, and climbing them was very complicated, not to mention the struggle to just reach them. The statues were smooth, and there was a lot of ice in the walls surrounding the nest. Hera had to create a staircase with her stone walls to reach one of them. At the same time, Helena used her shadow tentacles as climbing gear to reach the top of one of the other statues to pour out the red water that Blue gave everyone in the small vials. Alex took care of another statue by using her wind chaser spell to follow after her attacks. Bonnie was the one who took the longest. She was focusing on levitating a piece of rock to bring her up to the top of the statue. Doing so proved to be a bit more complicated than she expected. This wasn''t the type of spell that she was used to, and to lift her up more than 20 meters off the ground, the researcher had to spend about 90% of her maximum mana to get there. She took a break halfway by using a little bit of mana from a mana stone and creating a rock ledge from the dungeon wall, much like what Hera was doing. Lastly, there was Blue. The controller could move around here much more easily than everybody else. Thanks to Stormcloud, she could simply create a ramp made of clouds to go up, even making the clouds move like an escalator. During the past year, the controller had learned much more about her legacy, and the abilities and spells that she could use now were much more varied. It was a testament to what a legacy could do. It would develop and improve to match what the user wanted or needed. Blue always wanted a way to overcome her obstacles, and apparently, Stormcloud was a bit too literal in the interpretation of that desire. Still, after 20 minutes or so, they managed to cover all the Griffons in the red water. When doing that, the sky surrounding the nest turned red as a massive storm started to form, and a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have unlocked the Hard Mode for the Sky Ruler Nest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Is that it?" Hera asked through the communicator. "I think so. Now we need to go out and come back in," Blue replied. "And what can we expect? In the hard mode, I mean," Alex used one of her wind blades from the top of the statue and chased the spell as it hit the ground. "According to what people told me, the layout of the dungeon is mostly the same. But we don''t have that rock maze, and we need to fight against some storm elementals. Creatures made of clouds. It''s supposed to be just a ''go kill everything and get out'' dungeon, but I''m not sure if there''s any hidden quests or something," Blue explained. "Wait, it''s that a dungeon about a legacy? Like what would happen if your legacy was around?" that was the first question that popped into Hera''s mind. "It does look that way. Even more of a reason why I wanted to come here," Blue replied while she came down from the Griffon statue in a cloud slide. "Can you make me one of those ramps? I used too much mana to get here," Bonnie asked from the top of the statue in the far corner of the nest. "Oh, please. Tell me you didn''t waste all your mana getting up. The whole point is that we should be doing the hard mode right away, not waiting for someone to recover," Blue rolled her eyes. "I didn''t waste all of it. But I wouldn''t mind if we took a few minutes to rest after this. I have some items that increase my mana recovery, so it''s not like it''s gonna take that long," Bonnie crossed her arms while she waited. While that was going on, Hera was already on the floor. She smiled, thinking about how blue and Bonnie still kept bickering to this day. The two of them wouldn''t be aggressive and genuinely miss each other''s company, but they were not beyond those kinds of squabbles. Blue''s worry ended up being unfounded. Bonnie''s mana was mostly recharged by the time they came down from the statues and walked back to the entrance. The researcher had perfected her ability to focus on recovering her mana, and she could do so even when walking without a problem. However, while doing that she still wasn''t able to carry on with a conversation like Helena. Hera dismissed Beam before they left the dungeon, not to bring any attention to her, but that ended up being unnecessary. When they arrived on the other side, there was no one there. Either all the teams had already gone inside or they had returned to the city. Everyone took a moment to drink some water and check if there was anything else they had to do before walking back towards the dungeon once more. The moment they touched the cloud barrier, it shifted. Instead of being the regular gray cloud, it turned purple, with small specks of white light flashing through it that gave a cosmic feel to it. Another change was that there was a notification when they touched the barrier this time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Sky Ruler Nest dungeon or the Domain of the Storm dungeon? [Sky Ruler Nest] [Domain of the Storm] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Hera gasped, "Two dungeons?" "It''s rare, but some dungeons change names when they are in the hard mode. It''s because they are so different that they can''t be considered the same dungeon anymore," Helena explained. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Really? I never heard anything about that," Bonnie turned to the mage. "Yep. Like I said, it''s a rare occurrence. It doesn''t mean much aside from that change. It''s not like there are better rewards than normal or anything like that," Helena shrugged. Hera and the others tried to ask for more information about those differences, but there was nothing Helena could tell them. Basically, if a dungeon changed its name, it just meant that it would be completely different from what it was before. When inside a hard mode, you could see the continuation of events or some slight changes to the type of creatures and challenges you would find inside. On the other hand, if the name changed, everything went out of the window. Aside from the general location, there shouldn''t be anything inside this new dungeon that would match the previous one. Helena also added that even if the dungeon''s name had changed, this was indeed the hard mode. They shouldn''t get ideas about triggering another hard mode inside this dungeon because that shouldn''t be possible. The mage was the type to believe that anything could happen. That''s why she was hesitant to dismiss completely the idea that a second hard mode exists. But she made it perfectly clear that no one in the history of all the races that live inside the MAZE had ever found a second-tier hard mode or something like that. Everyone pressed the Domain of the Storm button when they were done with their questions. The entrance of the new dungeon was very similar to the previous one. They were inside a cave that led to the outside. But even from here, there are already changes that could be seen and heard. On each side of this tunnel, the rock was smooth and soft to the touch, almost like the place was made out of rubber. From the entrance, they could see a purple light with small flashes of white illuminating the area. As they started walking towards the exit, a loud rumbling echoed to the tunnel causing the group to stop and cover their ears. Hera and Alex glanced at each other and instantly activated their [Hide] while signaling to the rest of the party to wait behind them. The assassin already had the [Stealth] skill, and thanks to it, even the people who were staring directly at her couldn''t see where she was. Without making a sound, the two walked over to the exit and took one look at the place where they believed to be the nest proper. This area couldn''t be called a nest anymore. It could hardly be called a mountaintop. Everywhere they looked, all they could see would purple clouds. The ground was made of soft, bouncy Cumulonimbus, while white Cirrus framed what once were the edges of the mountain. Looking up to the sky, Hera could see patches of Altocumulus in a much brighter purple than the one on the floor. Glancing towards the direction where the sky ruler was before, she saw a palace made of clouds, almost like how Olympus was depicted in some mythological paintings or books. However, that was all there was to it. Aside from this vast expanse of clouds and the palace, there was nothing. No monster, no creature, no movement, nothing. It was peaceful in a way, not to mention beautiful. This place seemed like a paradise, a purple paradise, but still. Seeing that everything was fine, Hera called over the rest of the group, "Blue, what was the quest again?" "I don''t know. Some people offered to tell me, but I refused. Things here should be level 10 at most, so it''s not like there was anything that could be a threat to us. I did ask if there was anything that we should be on the lookout for, and they just said to not get caught. It seems like the elementals do the same thing the Griffons did. You know, grabbing you, flying up, and then letting you fall to the ground thing," Blue explained as everyone left the cave and started walking towards the palace, which was the only place that seemed to be an objective of sorts. As they moved, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Elemental Assault You have trespassed in the home of the Storm Elementals. They will defend their home with all their strength. Survive. Rewards 45 000 gold Storm Material Box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time remaining: 2:00:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Please tell me that''s two hours and not two days," Bonnie gasped. "Of course it is. If it was two days, I would have told you guys," Blue rolled her eyes. "Does that mean that we''re gonna have to fight for two hours non stop?" Hera looked around, trying to figure out a place where she could create a bunker so they could rest if they needed. Just after the notification appeared, she summoned all her blades and was starting to attach Yarnball''s string on her fingers and on the weapons. She then quickly told all of her court to stay within 10 meters of her, so everyone would have enough space to fight without getting in the way of each other. "Yeah, but also no. The first group that came here spent two hours, and the storm just passed by at the end. But Naka came here later and figured out that we could do something to finish the quest earlier. Again I didn''t want to get too many details, but it seems that if we kill enough of the monsters, their boss will show up, and if we kill the boss, that''s the end of the storm," Blue explained. "Can I assume those would be the monsters?" Helena pointed towards the center of this arena. Emerging from the clouds, several figures appeared. Some were humanoid in a way. They had two arms and a head, but their legs were nonexistent. Instead, their waist turned into a cloud that was almost like a hovercraft for the monsters. Others had long worm-like bodies, almost like a tiny sideways hurricane with a large mouth and no eyes. In the back, by the palace, two more unique elementals appear. They seem to detach from the wall cloud itself, lumbering forward with oversized arms that they were using to walk and a mouth in the middle of their body. It walked on all fours, with two smaller legs on the back, and roared with the sound of thunder as lightning flashed inside its throat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Storm Elemental - Level 7 (Storm affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eel Storm Elemental - Level 8 (Storm affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Storm Elemental Guardian - Level 9 (Storm affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I want the big one!" Blue yelled as she dashed towards the battalion of 50 plus monsters that had just appeared. 438 - Nuking the nursery Blue jumped towards the storm guardians ignoring everything else in the way. While she was doing that, the rest of the party gathered around in a defensive formation. They had no idea what the monsters here could do, and rushing like that was a way to get hurt. Hera went to the front to be the first one to fight one of the elementals. Her idea was to test the waters using her court. That way, if it was something too dangerous, they could come up with a better plan. When the first monster got closer, Hera told Beam to fire at the closest elemental. In a single movement, her blade shot out a concentrated beam of light that hit one of the storm elementals square in the chest. The spell dispersed the cloud entirely and even continued to pierce another two elementals that were on its path. In fact, the only reason the spell didn''t do more damage was that Beam''s skill reached its maximum range. "Huh," Hera frowned. She knew the creatures here were much weaker than her, but this felt a bit excessive. "Is that normal?" Bonnie asked. "What? If that skill is really that strong? No, it''s really not. It could hurt some monsters on deeper layers, but it was very hard for it to kill one of them in a single hit. Much less several at once." "Bonnie, try attacking one of them. A weak spell," Helena suggested. Bonnie nodded and created a pair of small mana spheres in the air. She then made two elemental motes, one of fire and one of lightning. With a flick of her wrist, the two spells she created flew towards different targets. The fire slammed against one of the storm elementals turning the clouds into mist, dissipating it completely. While the lightning one went towards one of the Eel elementals, the electricity seemed to ricochet inside its form before it became too much, and the creature exploded in a ball of lightning, losing its body in the process. "Weren''t they supposed to be resistant to lightning? Here asked. "Well yeah, but they should be resistant, not immune. I guess if the spell is strong, it will be enough to kill them," Bonnie scratched her head. They looked back towards blue. She was now creating a pair of giant cloud hands to fight against the two monsters that seemed to be protecting the palace. Instead of changing her focus from grappling, the controller decided to double down, and now she used the storm clouds clip created by the legacy as makeshift limbs when facing monsters that were much bigger than herself. "Should we just split up? That way, we can kill the monsters more quickly," Alex suggested. I think it''s better. Those things don''t seem to be too much of a threat for us," Helena nodded. The mage was now level 34. Seeing Hera and her friends level up and get closer to her own level made her a bit wary of lagging behind. During this past year, despite everything she was working on, she decided to push herself to level up so she could keep up with her friends. Despite being an explorer for about a decade already, Helena ended up lagging behind the people she started with because of her research that was ultimately completed by Bonnie. After that, she worked on her project to improve the guild''s training program. However, even that was now over. There was still a lengthy process of meetings and discussions with the high-ranking people inside the guild, but none of that would require her to be in a specific place. Most of those meetings will be done inside the guild in one virtual meeting room that allows people to communicate across the MAZE. Now that all her objectives were seemingly completed, Helena wanted to find a new passion. She still had about a dozen smaller research projects that she had started a long time ago, including ways to make her spell stronger, deadlier, or more accurate. However, those all required testing, and staying inside a lab wouldn''t do much for the results. Not to mention the idea of improving her spells. Elemental Sight was something that she believed to be extremely useful, and when Hera managed to get a thermal vision of sorts, the mage wanted to include that on a spell, maybe even change the spells so that each type of mana would appear as a different color under its effects. Despite having those possibilities at hand, Helena didn''t have the same passion for any of them as she had for the elemental mote spell. Her goal was still to somehow change part of her mana so that she could finally become the shadow-light mage that she had always dreamed of. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one would look at it, as far as anyone was aware, there was only one thing that could give her what she wanted. A single way for a mage to change the mana it had synced to, and that was completing the test in the tower. The one that was supposed to exist in all rooms across the 26th layer. In order to do that, Helena would have to get at least to level 70, and that was being very generous. Doing dungeons, going to deeper layers, and traveling with Hera and the others should be the perfect opportunity to do so. After all, Helena didn''t have a single doubt that this party would soon be moving away from Boothudurn to explore the MAZE for one reason or another. All of this crossed Helena''s mind while she started fighting the Storm Elementals. She was using her shadow magic as whips to grab and pull the creatures apart. Even better, she could create those whips from within the monsters. A big disadvantage of being a creature made of clouds is that there was an awful large amount of darkness inside you. That wasn''t all. Helena had also created a couple of motes of light mana to change her spells from shadow to light. It was nowhere near as effective as she wanted it to be, but it gave her a small glimpse of what she could do as a shadow light mage. Her obsession wasn''t just because of style, but because she understood that light made shadow stronger, and a shadow was able to make light clearer. Both elements had a symbiotic relationship, and if any mage was smart enough to mix them in the right ways, each combined spell could have the potency of something much greater than the sum of its parts. While that was going on, Bonnie was proving to be a big problem for the elementals. Each of her attacks carried a different element, and the level of strength behind them was nothing to scoff at. She wasn''t using her fist series of spells anymore. Instead, she used simpler elemental blasts. For some, this might seem like a downgrade; however, for a well-versed mage, this was much more mana efficient. Her current style revolved around using the elemental motes to catch her enemies off guard with different elements. She had ten different motes flying around her, and each of her blasts would pass through one or two of the motes every time she attacked someone. Not that it would help passing through the 2nd mote. Doing so would only change the element, not mix them together, but it was a good way to be less predictable with her attacks. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Alex, on the other hand, was a completely different beast. The moment they decided to start attacking, the assassin simply vanished. It was hard for anyone to tell if she was even doing anything, but the evidence of her attacks was clear for all to see. In the middle of the pack of elementals, some of them simply split in half before dissipating. Those were all kills made by the assassin. She knew that there were a lot of her friends around, and because of that, she avoided using her long-range wind blades. Instead, she just coated her weapons in elemental mana and focused on carving a path in the middle of the horde. Alex was never someone who focused too much on spells. She focused on using combat styles and fighting techniques to move quickly and be a deadly force against her enemies. Lastly, there was Hera. She and her court were like a spinning carousel of death. Any elemental that even got close to one of her blades was instantly cut down. She even told Beam to stop firing its lasers so that more of the creatures could get closer and she could focus more on working alongside her court. After killing about five of the monsters, she realized that she had forgotten to activate her boots. When she rectified that, her mobility increased by leaps and bounds, and now she could skate around the area almost like a saw blade destroying all the monsters in her path. It had barely been 10 minutes since they started doing this dungeon and each of the five party members had killed at least 20 elementals. There was a lot of loot littering the ground in this dungeon already, and the monsters finally stopped appearing. After Blue defeated both elemental guardians, two more showed up, and both were a little bit bigger. When the second set of monsters was also killed, another horde of storm elementals poured out from the palace. This new horde didn''t have any unique features compared to the other one setting already fighting. If anything, some of the elementals seem to be a little bit smaller than the others. After killing the last of them, the group just waited for a moment. Blue and Alex started looting. They looked at the ground, which was mostly filled with single pieces of gold with a few puffy cloud balls sprinkled in the mix. That''s when the true boss of the dungeon appeared. A pained roar echoed coming from the palace, but it quickly became clear that the noise didn''t come from the palace, it was the palace. The creature got up, the four wings on its back unfurling from the columns that held the structure up. The stairway retracted and shifted into six sets of arms. And the pointy tower that came down formed a long beak that seemed to be the face of this creature. The monster roared and opened all its arms as well as its wings wide while gathering lightning on the tip of its fingers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Storm Elemental Scion - level 10 - Enraged (Storm affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before it could do anything, Hera, Alex, Bonnie, and Helena flung spells at the creature. The projectiles hit it on different parts of its body, causing the monster to instantly die before it could even react. "Hey, I wanted to have a go at it," Blue pouted. "Well, you can do it next time. Don''t worry. We''re gonna do this a few times anyway, aren''t we?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Besides, you were the only one who fought the guardians. I think it''s fair that we have a chance to fight something you didn''t," Alex added. The notification letting them know about the completion of the dungeon quest appeared, and all the clouds started to be blown away by the wind, revealing the mountain top just as Hera and Blue saw once a long time ago. It was a beautiful sight, but there was nothing else to do here. The group left the dungeon and took a small break. After a couple minutes, they would head back inside. While doing that, Stormcloud talked to Blue for a moment, and apparently, those puffy cloud balls could be used by the legacy in some capacity. From what she understood, it was similar to how Hera had her court, but instead of being something that could fight for her, it would be something that she could use to make her own spells more efficient. Everyone kept one of the clouds, but the remaining ones they got from the dungeon all went to Blue so she could become even stronger. Another unexpected thing was that Stormcloud had an idea on how to beat the dungeon even faster. It was something only Blue could do, but if she managed to perform as they expected, it could be something that could help in several situations. Blue was being very cryptic about it, and the group''s curiosity got the best of them. They quickly went back inside the dungeon after seeing Blue absorb all the cloud balls. Inside, Blue just walked a few meters towards the palace before the moment where the elemental would start to appear, and she started to focus. A heavy cloud appeared above her head, and it started to grow until it was about five meters wide. Then, she sent the cloud up, vanishing beyond the purple storm. A few moments passed, and Blue started to move her hands down, almost as if she was dragging that massive storm cloud above them. What happened next was very different from everyone''s expectation. The cloud she created seemed to appear in the sky again, almost as if the purple storm became somewhat translucent. Then, little by little, the purple started to become dull, and the entire dungeon field started to lose its color, becoming no longer purple clouds. That was no longer clearly part of a dungeon, but a heavy storm cloud much like one could see even back on Earth. When the entire dungeon became the same color as Blue''s initial cloud, she simply opened her hands and spread out her arms, making this heavy gray cloud dissipate and reveal the mountain top the same way it happened when they killed the boss. At that moment, the same notification they got when they finished the quest for the first time appeared, and a pile of loot was in the center of the peak with what seemed to be half the amount of items they had gotten the previous run. "Are you kidding me?" Bonnie crossed her arms. "You¡­ completed a hard mode dungeon in less than five minutes?" Hera asked. "Apparently, yeah," Blue chuckled in a weak voice. The controller was clearly exhausted after doing whatever she had just done. "Soo... what is this about, can you like clear a storm now? " Alex asked. "That''s the idea. But it takes a lot out of me," Blue stumbled back to the group. "OK, this is just ridiculous. But it did give me a fun idea. How about we all beat this dungeon on our own? Of course, everyone should go inside, but we leave this all for a single person to deal with. I think that might be more effective to train than everybody trying to do it at once," Helena suggested. "That actually seems like a fun idea, and Blue can just do that again if she wants to. Next time we''ll even time you," Hera added. Everyone agreed to that suggestion, and they headed out of the dungeon once more. Not only did they see what the hard mode of Hera and Blue''s dungeon looked like, but they could do something just to relieve some of their tension. Most of all, Hera was craving a distraction like that. 439 - Next up Hera and her group ended up doing about a dozen dungeon runs. Even the slowest of them was barely an hour long. The loot wasn''t all that impressive. In total, they got around 70 thousand gold and a lot of those odd cloud balls that seem to be almost like balls of yarn that they could find in the Woolly Plains. Blue was the one who took all of those clouds so that she could increase her legacy''s power. Another interesting development was that the boss of the dungeon could drop parts of its body. During those runs the group managed to get one piece of the beak and a couple feathers. All of those materials could also be used by Blue, and you should give a different result from the cloud balls that they found. For Stormcloud, each of those physical manifestations of a storm could turn the legacy''s clouds into something more tangible. Something less likely to be affected by any sort of disruption. The pieces of the Elemental Scion, on the other hand, could give different abilities for the legacy. The beak allowed the clouds created by Blue to have more unique shapes. She now could make small modifications to the shape of her clouds so they could be more offensive or defensive. She was still very far from being similar to what the Scion could do, and even if she wanted, there was no way for her to make a palace or a place that they could sleep in. And if the cloud balls were anything to go by, absorbing several of the same item would give diminishing returns. The feather also gave something extra for Blue. Now the clouds that she created were able to hold more weight before collapsing. From what Blue could understand, eventually, if she got enough parts from either this monster or others, she could fly thanks to her legacy without having to worry too much about how heavy something would be. Although, fly might be an overstatement. It would be more like being carried by the cloud instead of actually flying, but it was still a massive improvement from what she currently had. The clouds of blue made now could only be static. Even the escalator that she created had to be stuck in a certain loop, and it couldn''t move from that position. If anything went beyond that, the cloud would dissipate before it could even be used as a platform. If Blue got enough items like the Scion''s feather, that could all change. However, aside from that, there wasn''t much they could gain inside the dungeon. The monsters were way too weak to give any actual combat experience, much less help them with leveling up. Not to mention that after a while, killing those elementals felt wrong. It was as if they were bullying the creatures, and that left a bad taste in everyone''s mouth, even if they still did another four or five runs after reaching that conclusion. When they went back to the city, Blue stopped by the Guild to see if any other pieces of the Elemental Scion were for sale. Unfortunately, it was a rare item, and they didn''t have any available. To make this worse, Stormcloud couldn''t tell her if there was any actual use for the pieces just by reading the descriptions. Only when she had the cloud material in her hands could she actually see what was going on. Stormcloud wasn''t the only legacy who got something new during this dungeon. When they got back home, Daskka pulled Hera aside and talked about a few skills that had completed the integration with the legacy. "What is that exactly?" Hera asked. "So, your skills can be split into three categories. First, the skills that won''t be any different because of the legacy. Things like All In, Exponential Growth, Treasure Map, and your role skills. That doesn''t mean that you can''t use the skills with the legacy, but there won''t be any changes to what they do," Daskka was on the table, using her mist to illustrate what she was trying to say. She made a stick figure and wrote ''Luck Up'' on the side, "Think about your Silver Lining. It has no way of connecting with the legacy, but you still can get improved results because of what the skill does." Hera nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense. Blue had a lot of skills like that. Things that just didn''t change." "Exactly. A few other skills are in this category: Medical Reference, Identify Ailments, Green Thumb, and Ancient Language for obvious reasons," Hera just nodded in response. All the skills that Daskka mentioned were clearly unrelated to the legacy. It wouldn''t even make sense if they could be added. "The next category has the skills that you can share with your court. Those are all your combat styles, all your resistances, and things like Shaper of Mana or Reinforced Mana. Basically, those are skills that you have, and your blades will also have. You don''t have to do anything, casting a spell, or use a different silk, is all unnecessary. Your blades will also have it as long as you have that skill. And it''s nothing that the legacy will affect. These skills are doing their jobs well enough the way it is." "Really? I thought that those would be part of the legacy." Daskka shook her head, and made another drawing. It''s the same stick figure, but now it was getting hit by a ball of fire and seems to be fine with that. Beside it was a floating hand axe that was receiving the same attack, and nothing happened, "I understand why you thought that, but no, those are your skills. The court is just making use of them." "OK, I think I understand. What about the rest?" "The last category is the skills that the legacy can change. Before anything, I have to warn you. These changes are up to you. You can choose to allow the legacy to affect the skill or not. This is important because you will lose those skills if you pass on the legacy to someone. And I''m not sure if you would be able to get them again. Even if you do a training program or try to recover them. Another point. Integrating a skill with the legacy means that everyone who has the legacy will eventually have the potential to receive that skill. It''s not a sure thing, but it is a possibility. Just like you will eventually get some extra skills." Hera frowned, "That''s something I really have to consider. What if I pass on a skill like hide? Does that mean that I will never be able to hide from anything again?" "No, well, yes, but not really. Losing a skill like that doesn''t mean you can''t do whatever you want to do. If, for instance, you pass on the hide skill, you can still play hide and seek. Or try to hide under the bed or something. There will be nothing stopping you from doing that. But, you won''t have any skills that improve your ability to hide. In fact, there''s one skill that could help you understand that," Daskka gestured with her tail, and a notification appeared in front of Hera. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The [Court of Blades] legacy wants to integrate the following skill: Etching ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Etching - Legacy Skill You were able to give specific powers or buffs to your place by engraving set enchantments on the weapons. Each blade can receive a limited number of engravings. If you remove one of the engravings, there is a chance that the number of engravings available to the weapon will decrease. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to integrate the skill [Etching] with the legacy [Court of Blades]? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daskka gave Hera a moment to read the notifications before continuing, "So, if you let that skill change, it doesn''t mean that you will never be able to engrave something again. You can still carve away if you want, but you won''t have any benefits from the system when doing so." "OK. I understand. But what can I engrave? Like, does it have to be a phrase? A word? A drawing?" "I don''t actually know. I think it has to be like a word or something simple, but you''re gonna have to test it out to see. This is one of those skills that we need to figure out. I don''t even know if just writing something would work or if you have to use a spell at the same time," Daskka shrugged. "Got it. Is that the only skill that can be integrated now?" "No, there are a few others. But confirm if you want to add that skill or not. You can change your mind and say no now, but yes later," Daskka waited for a moment while Hera pressed yes. This wasn''t much of a question. It was obvious that she wanted to integrate that skill. After the notification vanished, another appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The [Court of Blades] legacy wants to integrate the following skill: Weapon Rebalance Weapon Break Chain of Command Dodge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Dodge] and [Weapon Rebalance] had very similar changes. [Dodge] would allow her blades to evade attacks better while also ensuring that the attacks wouldn''t be redirected to another member of the court. It was just something that would lessen the strain on Hera''s strategic ability, and the skill didn''t lose any effects. [Weapon Rebalance] would apply the better weighting of the weapon as Hera added them to her court. Doing that would make her blades move more freely. Again, nothing would be lost to the skill, and she could still use it on her own weapons. [Chain of Command] had a unique difference. This would lose any chance it had of allowing her to give buffs to her party members. Instead, it will allow her to give direct commands to her blades, and the court members would receive increased strength while following her orders. The good part was that the ability to make her voice carry through the area wasn''t affected, meaning that she could still direct her party if she needed to. Lastly, there was a weapon break skill. Hera didn''t consider accepting this skill into the legacy even for a second, but she was curious about the changes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weapon Break - Legacy skill By ensuring your blade is destroyed with the attack, you can deliver a blow that will deal increased damage. The attribute scaling will be added, and the final result will be used to increase the attack, adding the familiarity bonus after those calculations. If this skill is used by a titled blade, the effects will be five times as strong. You can also use this skill to permanently remove one slot from your court. Doing so will multiply the effects of this skill by the remaining number of court members available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was a bit surprised. This was much stronger than she expected. The regular [Weapon Break] could make her attacks between 2 to 15 times stronger depending on the weapon''s rarity. If she considered even one of her handaxe, which were all uncommon, one attack should be around 13 times stronger than usual. Despite that, she didn''t even think twice and pressed no, refusing to integrate this particular skill into her legacy. This wasn''t something she was thinking just about herself, but about all the future legacy holders. She didn''t want to be the one willing to sacrifice the court members. It didn''t matter that they weren''t technically alive. Not to mention that eventually, she would get her own title blades, and those seem to be sentient, which made the idea of being able to kill them to deal a lot of damage even more disturbing. "One question. Are you also under the rules of the court?" Hera turned to Daskka. "The one about not betraying you and following your orders? Yeah, I am," Daskka put her tail in front of her body as if she was hiding her nonexistent breasts, "What are you trying to make me do?" "Keep acting like that, and I''m gonna start taking pictures of you and selling them online," Hera teased, "No, what I want to ask you... No, I want to order you this. Never show me the weapon break skill as part of the ones that can be integrated again. In fact, never let me integrate that skill. I don''t care what''s going to happen. I don''t care if that''s the only way to save my life. I don''t want to be the one putting that skill inside the legacy. I will not let that be what I pass on to the future holder." Hera could see that Daskka was struggling with that. Probably not so much with pretending that this skill couldn''t be integrated, but the idea that Hera was willing to die rather than accept this skill seemed to disturb the snake. Still, after a few moments, she had no other option but to nod in agreement. The empress''s orders were absolute, even if it was something potentially self-destructive. As long as she didn''t ask one of her court members to hurt Hera themselves, they had to follow the commands. If it wasn''t for their poison connection, Daskka would be much more upset with Hera for giving this kind of order. However, she could see how much the explorer was bothered by this. Not because she didn''t believe it was the right call, but because she never wanted to force Daskka to do something that she didn''t want to do. Her worry was that her desire to protect Hera would be too strong in some situations, and the snake would push her to accept this skill again. And depending on the situation, Hera wasn''t sure if she could keep her values as she wanted. If she was about to die, Hera would do her best to maintain what she said, but if one of her friends or even Daskka''s life was on the line, she wasn''t sure if she could just ignore the skill completely. They discussed the possibilities of the skills for a couple more minutes before Helena knocked on the door to the dining room where they were having this seemingly one-sided meeting, "Hey, sweetie. Do you have a minute?" 440 - Leaving again Helena was worried. She had never talked to Hera about doing something of her own, and she hardly could call the explorer her assistant right now. It''s been months since the last task she gave her, and it wasn''t like Helena was paying Hera a salary or something like that. This favor she was about to ask felt like something big, and she could only hope that Hera would accept it. "OK, this is freaking me out. You''ve been just staring at the table for the past 10 minutes. What''s going on?" Hera asked. "Ah, well. I wanted to ask you a favor. It''s ... A bit far away, and it''s a bit complicated. I could ask people to do it, but I kind of wanna be there and make sure that everything is set up the way it needs to be," Helena kept scraping her nail polish from her fingers in a nervous tick. "That doesn''t seem like something that big. What do you need? You can just ask me. I''ll probably say yes," Hera tried to comfort her friend. Helena let out a long sigh, "OK, so you know my old lab?" "The one in the Charring Wastes?" "Yeah. Apparently, someone in the guild went there to check some stuff, and they saw a bunch of the equipment that I had there. Now other people showed up who were interested in buying the equipment, and that''s a whole thing. I told them that I was not going to sell, but they wanna buy anyway, and since I''m not using it, the guild is struggling to stop them. So, they asked if they could send it here so people would stop complaining, but I kinda don''t want random people to go through my stuff. There are still some things there that I might need, and the equipment is very delicate, so I need to go back there and set everything up before asking people to move things here. Not to mention that I will have to ask Rutigan about making some changes in the house or letting me build a place for everything," Helena sputtered without looking Hera in the eye. "So, all of this was because you wanted me to help you move?" Hera smiled. "I guess you could sum up with that, yeah. But the thing is, it''s going to take like four-five days just to get there. Then there is another. I don''t know, maybe a week or two to pack everything up, see if everything is OK, and see what I actually can sell and what I can''t. Not to mention, I wanted to ask your help when I asked Rutigan for permission to make a laboratory here or something," Helena kept staring at her fingers. "That doesn''t seem bad. Why are you being so weird about it? I mean, we''re friends, aren''t we? Even if asking for help to move is one of those things that almost no one wants to do. You need help. I''m in," Hera nodded. "Really?" Helena looked up towards Hera, "I... Thank you, sweetie. I didn''t expect that response." "What did you expect?" "Well, despite everything, I never asked you to do something that will make you go out of your way. Not something big, at least. Like, I''m not gonna feel bad about asking you to buy some groceries or something, but asking you to spend a few weeks away from whatever you''re doing¡­ Let''s just say it''s not the best feeling in the world." Hera rolled her eyes, "Lena, come on. We are friends, and you know that I''m not doing anything specific. I did what I wanted to do, and I got what I was looking for. Now I just¡­ I don''t know. I''m gonna hang out, travel a bit, look for weird places. Honestly, after breaking up with Silah, I don''t wanna be here. I know my dad is really happy that we live in the same city, but I think it''s time for me to spend less time at home again. At least for a while. And you asking me is nothing major. You really don''t have to worry. I''m glad to help, and I''m sure everyone would be willing to do so. Well, maybe not Bonnie because of her mom." "Oh no. I can''t impose on everyone like that," Helena shook her head. "Yeah, because everyone is going to be just fine if we go on a trip, just the two of us," Hera rolled her eyes, "Even if we end up going just us, we need to invite everybody. Why are you being so weird about this?" Helena sighed, "Probably because of the first group that I traveled with. We couldn''t do anything that the entire group didn''t accept, and if there was somewhere I wanted to go, I had to basically pay them for the time they ''wasted'' because of me. Not that I was the only one paying, everyone had to do the same if they wanted to do something different." "Oh, that seemed like it sucked. How long did you travel with them for?" "About a year, a year and a half. I was young and naive, and I thought people should stay together with the same party they had when they left training. I didn''t say anything to you guys because you all seem to be doing well, but generally, I would advise against staying in the same group as your training buddies. Not that it can''t work. The problem is just that everybody is new and inexperienced. I think there are more benefits for you to hang out with people who''ve been living this life for a while. Not that you guys need to do that now. You have been through more than most explorers. I mean, I never got stuck somewhere with an unknown civilization, for instance. Besides you have me to show you the ropes and you couldn''t ask for a better mentor," Helena gave Hera a smug look. Hera chuckled, "And you walked in here all coy. I''m glad you are back to normal." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Me too. I really hate that. Anyway, we can talk with everyone during dinner," Helena smiled. Someone else knocked on the door of the dining room. "Come in," Hera said. "Hey. Have you guys seen this?" Bonnie walked inside, holding her tablet up. "What?" Helena asked. "This," the researcher passed the tablet to the mage, showing an announcement on the guild''s website. It was a lengthy article talking about the change in leadership of the guild. Romeo was no longer going to be the chairman. Instead, the person in charge now would be a fighter called Roland the Sentinel. The article went on to talk about Roland''s achievements, which included how he defended a city from a rampage on his own. Countless battles and fights against monsters or people who tried to use their power to harass or control people. He also participated in wars that happened 40 years ago and received the Medal of Heroism, the highest honor given by the guild. She found that passage a bit weird. As far as she knew, the guild never participated in any sort of war. The whole point of the organization was to be something neutral that would only care about the well-being of the people. Then again, she already knew that the guild was more interested in profits than anything else. At least, that wasn''t the only thing that Roland had accomplished. He also spent a long time as the only combatant in a city that was constantly attacked by monsters. For three months, he was the only one who could fight the creatures that came from the sea. Then when backup arrived, he continued fighting and training the city''s people so that they could fend for themselves. At the same time, he continuously participated in the defense of the town. He spent almost five years in the city, and that''s when he earned the title of Sentinel. Before becoming the chairman, he was the chief of the guild''s special forces. The people who made sure that everyone who was a part of the guild was following the laws and, if needed, the ones who would hunt a criminal down. The article went on to say that this change happened because of the terrorist attack in Union City and that Roland''s expertise would be key to protect the people inside the maze. At the end of the article, there was another passage talking about how the New Dawn was paying for most of the damages that happened in Union City and that they were providing equipment for a new special task force dedicated to locating the terrorist group that was threatening the people of the MAZE. In the last line of the article, there was a mention that Romeo had been injured during the attack and had stepped back from his duties to focus on recovering and to make sure that the guild was in the hands of someone who would protect the people. Hera felt that this article was a bit dismissive of what happened to Romeo. Then again, it was an actual announcement, not just a news report. Maybe that''s why they didn''t mention Romeo that much, and it just spoke about the changes. Hera pulled down to see the comments and saw that they were disabled. That was never a good sign. "You called us for this. Just to let us know, or do you have something to say about this?" Helena turned to Bonnie. "You''re kidding, right? Don''t you realize who that is?" Bonnie glanced at both of them. "Not really. I never paid too much attention to high-level explorers. I''m more interested in where they are than what they do," Hera replied. "Same, the not paying attention part," Helena nodded. "This Roland guy. After the attack in Union City, some people started protesting, and there was a group of humans saying that we should cut ties with the other races since they were the ones responsible. Some reporters went to ask him what he was going to do about it, and you know what he said?" Bonnie gasped. "I don''t," Hera shook her head. Bonnie glanced at Helena, who did the same thing. "He said that he wasn''t going to do anything. He sided with the protesters! If you leave him in charge, he''s gonna start sounding the war horns and make us all fight against dwarfs, the elves, and everybody!" Bonnie tossed her hands up in the air in exasperation. Hera and Helena glanced at each other, but the mage was the one who spoke up. While Hera looked up said interview on her tablet, "Are you sure about that? Did he really say that he agreed with the protest?" "Of course! And now the guild is putting him in charge? A crazy war freak who only wants to fight against everyone. How can they be so corrupt?" Bonnie kept going, and her statements became more and more unhinged. At some point, she even compared the new chairman with Xu Jiayi, the ancient necromancer emperor. It took Hera a couple of minutes, but she eventually found the interviewing question. Roland''s answer was that the protesters had permits for the protest, and they weren''t breaking any laws. He didn''t make his position about what they were protesting known and simply said that while the protest was peaceful, he wouldn''t do anything about it. Hera showed that to both Helena and Bonnie before speaking. "I mean, I don''t agree with that. To me, this is a kind of hate speech that shouldn''t be allowed, but you know how people are and how they''re gonna complain, bitch, and moan about everything. So he just did the most politically neutral thing that he could, and was made sure that the law was being followed. I really don''t think he''s everything you''re making him out to be." Helena nodded, "I have to agree with her. I don''t see him as being war-hungry. He just seems to be trying to follow the law. I mean, that can be a problem in itself. If he''s like those super law-abiding citizens that don''t accept a single thing out of place, but I don''t think this is going to have such an extreme result as you are thinking." "But¡­ but!" Bonnie looked at both of them, frustrated that they couldn''t see the same danger that she was seeing. "Look, it''s just too soon to tell. When Romeo first started his job, I thought he was gonna be kind of meh. Then he ended up doing a lot of good things. Let''s not judge him before he actually starts doing his job. And for what it''s worth, his ''police force'' always had some good results, and I don''t remember the last time there were any big scandals surrounding them. I mean, there are a few complaints about how they sometimes have a bit too much power or people who were harassed because they were mistaken as a criminal, but nothing serious like the cops back on Earth," Helena explained. Bonnie scoffed, "Fine, but I''m going to keep my eye out for him," she slumped in one of the chairs, "What were you guys talking about? Am I interrupting something?" "Well¡­" Hera looked back at Helena. "We are talking about going to my old lab. I might need some help moving things from there," Helena said. "Oh? Really? When are we leaving?" Bonnie asked. Hera chuckled with her response and looked back to Helena, "See? You don''t even need to ask." 441 - The city of doorways The next day, Hera and Helena went to talk to Rutigan about the possibility of building the lab or a workshop for humans. That ended up being easier than expected. The King was already discussing something similar with Ogryn. What they were now calling the Academy of Mages, which was a rebranding of the mage training center, was going to be renovated to allow other races to use their facilities. Since humans and the other races had very different ways of using magic from the dwarves, they wanted a place where they could share their knowledge and help each other expand their abilities. This discussion barely took them 20 minutes. With a single mention of private laboratories that anyone could use or rent, the King and his adviser went into a frenzy of ideas. The one concession they wanted was to allow the dwarves access to said equipment. Not so they could use as they wanted, but they wished to understand what kind of tools Humans would use during their own magic research. Hera had to agree that this was also something she was curious about. She had seen Helena and Bonnie working with things like sensors and other ways to detect fluctuations and magic, but she never saw any other types of equipment for magic research being used. Unfortunately, Helena wasn''t someone who could speak for the entire mage community, but she agreed that as long as it wasn''t some very experimental equipment, that shouldn''t be a problem. Rutigan gave his permission to bring the mage''s equipment, and, if somehow they came back before the renovations were over, she could keep everything in one of the empty storage rooms in the palace. Ogryn even offered to cast some spells to ensure that nothing could be affected by temperature or outside forces. Before leaving, Hera added that they should charge for people to go to the school, not the dwarves, but everyone else should pay, and they should charge for renting the private rooms. Rutigan was adamant against that, saying that sharing one''s knowledge should be free, and if he charged, people who wanted to participate might decide against it. Only when Hera argued that Boothudurn didn''t have any income aside from the dungeons and that the kingdom''s reserves wouldn''t last forever that Ogryn stepped in to support her. Either way, the project would take a couple weeks to get ready, even with the dwarves'' usual expedience with construction. Hera and Helena managed to go back home and the very next day, everyone was ready for their journey to the Charring Wastes. Since Bonnie''s mom had just gotten to the MAZE, the researcher was worried about leaving her alone. However, Eridan promised to look out for her, and Renette was excited about the idea of taking up baking again. She had chosen to be a crafter exactly because of that. One of her simple dreams from her college days was to own a bakery that specializes in cakes and other sweets. It was something very detached from her business diploma, but it was her retirement plan. Opening a small store in a quiet city where she could spend her old age. Now that she and Bonnie had solved the problems with her father, she could just make that future dream into something it could work in the present. It also helped that Eridan managed to reach level 10 during the last year without going inside the dungeon more than five times, and those were just because he was curious about what it was like. His leveling up was mostly because of his crafter skills that developed alongside his woodwork. Hera even managed to ask Naka for a favor. If Renette wanted to go inside a dungeon, the guard captain would accompany her to ensure she wouldn''t get hurt. The captain still couldn''t understand why humans were so open to the idea of going inside a dungeon when they were low-level. Still, after a year of seeing people at levels three and four going to the Woolly Plains, she was more willing to accept that difference. The last of Hera''s preparations was to send a message to Silah, letting her know that she would be traveling again. Even if they had broken up, it felt weird to leave the city without letting the blacksmith know. Also, it was a way to tell her that she could go visit Eridan if she wanted to. Hera''s dad and Silah had bonded over their crafting skills during the last few months. Hera, Blue, Bonnie, Alex, and of course, Helena were leaving the room to go to the Kobold Road. Reaching the Charred Wastes should take only a couple days, and that was following the three-room rule. Hera explained that this was not exactly necessary, but there was no reason for them to rush and risk getting stuck. Even if the odds of that happening were ridiculously low. There was one more reason why everyone was excited about this trip. Their first stop was in the room located at the end of the Kobold Road. The place known as the city of a thousand doorways, Dzviery. Even if that room was close by, Hera never had a reason to go there, and her exploration generally led her elsewhere. Now, the entire party was curious about how that city worked and the things they could see there. Helena even suggested that the group stay in the room for a few days so they could explore. Crossing the Kobold Road wasn''t an issue. It just took a while. The subway that was inside the room would usually take an hour to go all the way to the other end of the tunnel. And considering that Boothudurn was in the second stop, it took them an hour of sitting before they could actually reach the doorway. Even worse, they also had to wait in line for their turn before crossing over. Dzviery was the main destination of most people who would come to the Kobold tunnel, and it showed. Since the doorway wasn''t exactly big, and apparently, the other side was also somewhat cramped, people had to wait a few minutes before their turn, and everyone would be going one at a time. One by one, they crossed the doorway, with Hera being the last one. During that time, she could see the different setup that they had here. There was the usual change. The emblem on top of the doorway was different. It showed a tower with several openings that, at first glance, were just windows, but considering what she already knew about the room, it should represent the countless passages inside it. Another unique detail about this specific entrance was a screen on this side showing a live feed of the other side of the doorway. Hera only had to glance at the monitor for a moment to understand why this was needed. The passage on the other side was so narrow that only two people could walk through at a time. Even some people who were on the broader side of the spectrum had to turn around, or they would end up clogging the hallway. Because of those restrictions, anyone transporting large crates or items of significant size had to schedule a time frame where they could move the items from room to room. That would already be bad enough by itself, but each corridor had about a dozen different doorways leading to different rooms or dungeons, and that was the reason why there was such a long delay between people crossing over. If Hera and her friends crossed together, they would stop the entire line of people who were trying to come and go from different rooms. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! 5 minutes passed before it was finally her turn. The guild clerk responsible for managing that passage gave her the go-ahead, and Hera placed her hand in the doorway as a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to Dzviery - 12th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, Hera Was covered in a familiar sensation of warm water. A moment later, she was in this very gaudy hallway. A long red carpet was on the floor and very detailed columns with some beautiful art nouveau parterre made of gold surrender her on all sides. There were also several other doorways leading to different places and two lines of people moving about. One line was heading towards the corridor''s exit while the other was heading deeper inside it. While Hera was still trying to get her bearings, she noticed a couple of people walking towards her. They gestured towards the large opening that seemed to be heading into a central chamber of sorts, as if telling her to move along. It wasn''t aggressive, but it was clear that people were already moving, and she couldn''t stay there for too long. Quickly turning around, she continued the path until she exited the hallway and arrived at this massive circular room that seemed to be at least 200 meters wide and 50 meters tall. There were countless other corridors here and even more people moving back and forth. This area reminded her of a central train station, even if just because of the sheer number of people walking about. Her friends were waiting for her in this central area, and Helena was the only one who wasn''t in awe of their surroundings. She was used to the sight while the others were still admiring the place''s structure and beauty. Even if it was just a busy station, everything was not only exquisite but also excessively clean. She couldn''t see a single speck of dust even in the cracks between the decorations on the walls, almost like there was some sort of spell stopping the place from accumulating dust. Hera''s eyes went up, and she could see several other floors filled with corridors that had a constant stream of people going in and out. Each floor was connected to a staircase on her left, and even here at the bottom, there was another staircase going up towards what was clearly the exit of this place. There was a large hole in the middle of this structure that didn''t have any doors. It was just the opening leading to the rest of the city proper. Helena quickly pushed everybody to the exit, knowing that they would be gawking at the place for a while if they stayed there. Since their plan was to stay here for the night, they had to rush to the hotels to see if they could find something. Helena tried to get some reservations online, but because of the high turnover, she couldn''t find any available rooms. Because of those types of issues, some hotels in the room wouldn''t accept reservations. Worst case scenario, they could go to another room that was much larger, but that came with the issue of forcing them to cross another doorway and limiting their options to travel. Outside, Hera was able to see the entire city. Although calling it a city was a bit of a stretch. This room was made out of 10 towers, all of varying sizes, that formed a large circle, and in the middle of it, there was an area of about five kilometers filled with several buildings that included shops, restaurants, houses, hotels, and training rooms, as well as a guild branch. Each of the towers seemed to be different from the others. They had the same decorations in the same look, but each tower had a different color. The one they just left was red and gold, the one to the right was silver and blue, and to the other side, there was a green and orange tower. "Do the colors mean something?" Bonnie asked. "Sort of, but not really. They are kind of the theme of the tower, but it''s very subjective. For instance, in the green and orange tower, we see a lot of doorways to places with thick jungles, forests, or places filled with grass, but there are some deserts as well. You can have an idea of where you''re going by taking the colors of the tower into consideration. But like I said, that''s a really big stretch sometimes. It''s the same thing with the dungeons that are there. Also, going inside dungeons here is a bit weirder. There are two entrances in a way. One leads to the waiting room and the next one to the actual dungeon. But to leave the waiting room, you have to do the dungeon," Helena explained. "And can we do dungeons here? Aren''t the monsters, like level 30 or something?" Blue asked. "We can. There are a few dungeons that don''t have monsters. Or at least not monsters that we can kill. If we get caught by the monster in question, we just die," Helena explained. "And you want to go there?" Hera asked. "Not really. But you guys were the ones talking about running dungeons. We might as well do the ones you could actually do. Even if I think you should start to fight monsters that are above your level. But level 30 might still be too much." "I mean¡­ I''m down," Bonnie looked to the rest of the party. "Same," Alex nodded, "As long as we are not walking in a death trap." "We can do it later. First, we need to find a place to stay," Helena said while walking toward the city. 442 - Pick your poison Hera and Blue handed their bags to Helena and the others. Unfortunately, they couldn''t find hotel rooms for everybody. But that didn''t mean that they needed to go to a different room to rest for the night. Hera could use her private room to allow two people to stay there comfortably. If needed, she could have everybody stay there, but they would sleep without blankets or pillows. There was a limit to the number of items that she could create inside, and currently, she could only make enough for two people. Not that there weren''t ways to go around that, but those were cases for an emergency. In fact, there were a lot of things for them to do before going to bed today. Leaving their bags with Helena was just something they did so they didn''t have to carry some basic supplies, change of clothes, and other simple things around the room. When the time came for them to go to bed, Hera and Blue could just walk to one of the towers that had a much larger doorway where no one would be bothered if two people tried to cross together. Said tower was the biggest one of them all. It was Obsidian with pearl details. But, aside from the massive 20-meter wide and 5-meter tall doorway, everything else was just the same as the other towers. After setting up everything, the group walked around looking at the shops and the other tourist spots in the room. Helena, being the one who was used to the place, took the job of the tour guide and talked about the houses, including the one that was a museum dedicated to the first group of explorers that came here. She took them to a tall structure that allowed people to have an unrestricted view of all the towers and talked about each of the 10, explaining what kind of rooms they were connected to and how it seemed like every new doorway connected to this place would appear out of nowhere. While inside that tall building, they stopped by a coffee shop to discuss what they would do for the rest of the day. "OK, so we can keep exploring the city, looking at houses, museums, the training rooms, which are supposed to be among the most advanced ones in the MAZE, or go see the shops which, again, are packed with rare and unique items. Like I said, this place may not be a metropolis, but more resources are poured in here than in a big city. This is one of the few places in the MAZE that can connect so many different rooms, and because most people try to take advantage of the wide range of customers that they can interact with," Helena turned to the server who had just brought the party their drinks and thanked him. "Even if that''s interesting, I kinda wanna do something more exciting," Alex replied while taking her cappuccino from the tray on the center of the table. "Me too. We don''t need to go fight monsters. But I''m not much of a history buff. The museum was¡­ OK, I guess, but I don''t see the point of going there. And shopping, if I was going to change pieces of my gear, I want to do that when I have time to get used to the new weapons. I don''t like the idea of changing my equipment in the middle of something unless I either find something really good or something happens to my current gear. And for anything that is not combat or travel-related, well, I want to do that when I have the time and can bring everything home, not when I''m just leaving for a trip," Blue broke a large cookie in half with her hands and started eating. "Even I have to agree. This place is amazing, don''t get me wrong, but I rather know more about the towers and everything than about what happened to the people who found this place," Bonnie looked to the outside of this building, where she could see the red tower, and its neighbors, "For instance. Looking here, the structures seem to be much bigger on the inside. I mean, the corridor we came from should be at least a hundred meters deep, and the red tower doesn''t seem to be much bigger than the central chamber from this angle." "Yeah, you''re not the first one to notice that. We kind of assume that inside each corridor is kinda like an open dungeon that is connected to several different doorways, and that''s why when a new one appears, there''s no visible change. It''s just there, as if everything has been there since forever. You''re welcome to try to figure out what''s actually happening, but a lot of people are giving their lives to do just that, and it''s not exactly going well. I mean, the last time I heard any new developments about that was like, ten years ago when I was just starting out," Helena glanced at the same tower Bonnie was watching. "Right, I don''t think I want to dedicate my life to this, but I might try to¡­ I don''t know. Just see if that gives me an idea for something," Bonnie replied. "That''s fine and all, but what are we going to do?" Alex asked. "We have a couple of options. I know of two dungeons that we can do. I''ve done them both in the past, and we can run them without having to worry about the difference in strength. It''s more of a bunch of different trials and challenges than something where we have to fight to survive." "So we don''t have the risk of dying in those dungeons?" Hera asked. "Oh no, we can die in both. But the odds are very slim. As long as we are smart. The first one is called Dinner Party, but people know it as the jester dungeon. That''s because of the person responsible for the dungeon. I don''t know if that one was created because of something but still. It''s basically a mixture of a murder mystery party with a escape room with one of those crazy fun houses that we see in carnivals with a bunch of mirrors and moving floors and stuff like that sprinkled. We''re gonna be playing detective while trying to figure out who stole from the guests. At the same time, we have to avoid the traps that are everywhere in that place. This one is the safest since none of the traps are actually supposed to be deadly, but accidents can happen. If you end up going on a slide at a bad angle, you might eat your head and break your neck, and there is a room that gets flooded with water, and if you don''t figure out how to get out of there fast enough, you might drown. Those are just some examples, but I think it''s been like five years since the last fatality inside it, so we''re OK. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "That seems fun," Bonnie perked up. "That seems annoying," Blue scoffed. "They are both. It can be fun, but depending on the layout of the castle and the traps that can be active, it can get really annoying. The second dungeon it''s called the Nhotel, or No Hotel. This one is very weird. In the dungeon, we''re inside a hotel that is manned by statues, and they don''t move. They can speak, and if they want to give you something, whatever they wanna give you will just pop up, but the statues won''t ever move around. The quest here is just to grab a key for a room or several rooms in the reception and reach your room. Simple enough, right? Not really," Helena sighed. "When we get there, the front desk statue will tell us how long it takes for the housekeeping to clean a room. We have that time to move around the hallways that are very much like the ones in the tower. They seemed to stretch for miles and miles, and people even tried to see if there was an end. There was this guy who spent a week just walking straight in the hallway until he gave up and just finished the quest to get out of there. But the point is, we need to find a room, and at certain times we will hear a roar coming from the ''housekeeper.'' At those moments, a monster will be set free, and it will start roaming around the hallways. During that time, we need to find an open door, get inside and lock it behind us. Sometimes there is no lock so we need to find the ''do not disturb'' sign in the room and place it on the doorknob outside. After that, we will be safe, and all we need to do is wait and survive any potential traps for a certain amount of time. The traps inside those doors are never deadly at first, but they get increasingly worse with time. For instance, we may find a room that''s cold, and it gets colder and colder and colder until we are frozen to death. The thing is, when we are inside a room, the timer that stops the creature from roaming around will be increasing, so the longer we stay in a room, the more time we have to search the hotel and look for our goal. And staying in several rooms for long when they are close by can have diminishing returns. So we need to be smart and split our time. Also, we all need to be inside the room for the timer to start. It doesn''t have to be the same room, though," Helena finished her explanation. "What if we try to kill the monster?" Alex asked. "We will just die. It is a level 70 creature that has increased regeneration to the point of regrowing an arm in 10 seconds. There was even a group of high-level explorers who came here trying to kill it, and they couldn''t. And the party was above level 80. Everybody assumes that there''s a hidden quest related to killing the monster, but it''s not what we need to do to get the hard mode, so there''s not that many people trying to kill the thing," Helena took a sip of her espresso. "So the hallways¡­ are they all regular hallways, or do they have weird shapes like the back rooms?" Hera asked. "Back rooms?" Helena turned to the explorer. "It''s just an urban legend. It''s kinda like a glitch in the universe that sends you to this bland infinite expanse of corridors with seemingly no exit. Just countless walls of the same gray or yellow wallpaper that twist and turn endlessly. It''s one of those Internet rumors that people use as inspiration for horror games." "Ah, I see. They are not like that. Each hallway is like a very fancy hotel hallway with several rooms you could enter. You won''t seem like a wall that doesn''t connect to anything. It''s not tight like the ones in the tower. There are large hallways that several people can walk along without a problem, others are small and we would need to walk on a single file line. It''s just an endless expense where we will be running around like headless chickens. There are a few things that can show us to our room, but I''ll talk about that if we decided to head there," Helena looked around the table, "So, where do you guys want to go?" "Between the two. I think I like the dinner party better," Bonnie replied after thinking for a moment. "Same. The hallway thing seems confusing," Alex nodded. "I agree. Having a level 70 monster after us doesn''t seem fun," Blue crossed her arms. Even if none of the dungeons had what she wanted, they still could prove to be interesting. "Besides, it seems like a good place for us to start. Since that one is the least dangerous of the two. We can see if we can beat it without a problem. We can try the No Hotel if we feel confident after it," Hera added. "Then we need to head to the green and purple tower," Helena pointed to the east, "And the dungeon connection is simple. The Jester wears a hat with that color pattern." "Really?" the entire party rolled their eyes. "Hey, I wasn''t the one that put it there. But yeah, that''s the idea people accept. Because that tower leads mostly to swamps and places filled with poison," Helena explained. Hera looked over to the tower, "Do you know if there is any place there where I can find a Poison Spirit?" "I''m not sure. I''ll look that up and let you know later. But for now, finish your drinks. We have a dinner to attend." 443 - Dinner Party The purple tower was very unique in a way. Not in the overall concept of the towers in this room, but because everything inside it seemed to be made out of moss or cloth. The walls looked almost like the sides of a tent, and the decoration was very intricate and detailed, but it was as if it was growing from the actual structure. Also, despite the look and feel of the walls, they were completely solid, as if they were made out of marble. The central chamber was considerably smaller than the one in the red tower. However, those were the only differences between them. The hallways were still narrow and had that repeating pattern that made it hard to know when something new had just appeared. Hera and the others were now waiting in line so they could go inside the dungeon. It was the same setup that they had to go through when coming to this room, with a line of people waiting for their turn. This time, however, they weren''t going to leave this place. As proof that the system could understand the best option for those inside each room, Dzviery changed once it became too crowded. Hera walked alone towards what looked like a doorway, but instead of the white frame, she was met with a stone gate. Touching it made a notification appear. A notification that only started to appear after the lines were implemented. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the reception of the Dinner Party dungeon? Once inside, you have to complete the dungeon before being able to leave. [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, the stone door opened, revealing what looked like the castle''s foyer. The place looked like something straight out of a gothic horror movie. Everything here had sharp angles and an architecture that could only be described as hostile. It was as if the room itself was trying to threaten those who entered. It could also be just a gimmick for the dungeon. Maybe the idea was that whoever owned this place wanted the people who came here to feel inferior or to be on edge. There was a lot of psychological warfare going on during old times and even to this day among people who had political power. Currently, there wasn''t anyone else here. So, Hera had all the room for herself. Out of curiosity, she tried the door that she came from and was met by a different notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have not completed the Dinner Party dungeon. To leave the waiting room, you have to complete the dungeon or use a dungeon exit pass. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What''s a dungeon exit pass? I mean, where do I get one?" Hera mumbled to herself before stepping away from the door to allow more people to come. While she was waiting, the explorer did what she did best and explored the room. Aside from the couches, there were a few chairs and a fireplace with some ash at the bottom. On a closer inspection, it even seemed like it was lit recently. There was still some heat coming out of the stones. "This is a castle, right? Could there be something here? Like a secret passage?" Hera went inside the fireplace and then used the light spell to look around. About a meter above the opening, there was an empty slot for a brick, and inside it, she found a single paper ticket. She climbed out of the fireplace and took a look at it. ''Dungeon Exit Pass.'' It was like an old train ticket, with a red stub with the word ''Exit'' written on it. While she was staring at this finding, Bonnie came through the door. "Hey¡­ What happened?" Bonnie took a look at Hera and got worried. She was covered in some dark dirt while staring at a piece of paper, "Do we have traps here?" "What? No, I just went inside the fireplace to see if there was anything hidden there, and I found this," Hera passed the pass to the researcher. "Hang on. You come to a place like this, and your first instinct is to go inside the fireplace?" Hera stared at Bonnie for a moment, "What''s your point?" "No point. I''m just asking," Bonnie took a step back and looked at the exit pass. It only had writing on one side, and the other was blank, "Do you think this would work anywhere?" "I have no idea. But it makes sense if it does. I mean, it doesn''t say that is the exit pass for this dungeon. So, if any dungeon stops you from leaving, this should work. Or maybe it has to be a dungeon that has that line. You know, the ''to leave, you have to complete the dungeon or use a dungeon exit pass'' thing." "Yeah, that could be it. Nice find," Bonnie passed the ticket back to Hera. "It was just dumb luck," Hera picked the pass and took a look at her soot-covered hand, "Can you make some water for me? I would like to clean up before going to the party." "Sure, come here," They walked closer to the fireplace since it was the only place that could hold some water, and Bonnie created a small stream to help Hera clean up. "What are you two doing?" Blue walked inside and saw Hera taking a horse bath while Bonnie was working as a hose. "I got dirty and wanted to clean up," Hera replied. Blue rolled her eyes, "Stop doing that and stand in the middle of the room." Hera wasn''t sure what was going on, but she did as she was told. Blue waved her hand in a spinning motion, and a small cloud formed in front of her. It started spinning quickly, almost like an actual hurricane, but not to the point it seemed dangerous. The cloud went towards Hera and swallowed her completely. Hera felt like she was inside a car wash. She could feel water and wind hitting her armor and skin, and the noise of the swirling clouds made her unable to hear what was going on outside. That took a while, but when the cloud finally stopped, Alex and Helena were already inside the waiting room. Hera looked down and saw that all the ash and soot that was on her body was gone. Thanks to that spell, she was now perfectly clean. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "OK, you''re doing my laundry from now on. This was really quick," Hera told Blue. "Ha, you wish. Besides, this only works for superficial dirt, and there is no soap. I tried to add it to that cloud, but it didn''t work." "I wonder if I can get a weapon that can do something like it. You know, one that has like cleaning properties. There''s no reason that all my blades have to be combat-focused. I can do some different things with them," Hera had a new idea about what she could do with her legacy. "We can test this later. Now, how about we do the dungeon, ''cause if we let you two start talking about the legacies, I don''t think you''re gonna stop so soon," Alex stepped toward the door on the other side of the room. "Good call," Blue nodded. "Is there anything else we need to know about the dungeon?" Bonnie turned to Helena. "Short of, It''s more of a warning than something you need to know. The jester is ... A unique character. Don''t be upset because of what it says, and try not to let it get under your skin. We''re not there to kill it. That''s not part of the dungeon. Also, don''t talk about possible traps. If you start saying what you are expecting to happen, the jester will hear and use what said against us," Helena explained, "That''s about it. Everything else is too situational to be helpful. I''ve only done this dungeon a handful of times, and I''m sure there are many traps that I haven''t seen yet." With that, the group walked towards the entrance of the dungeon. It was a stone door similar to the one they used to enter here. However, it was much more adorned. There were symbols of masks everywhere, and a large crown was split by the middle of the double doors. Alex pushed them open, and everyone walked inside. Now, they were in this large ballroom filled with about 50 people, all wearing large gowns and masks that covered their faces entirely. They seemed to be talking, laughing, and drinking without a care in the world. When the group walked inside, a person wearing some simpler clothes appeared. It was still a very elegant suit, but it was nowhere near as garish as the other people inside. "Thank the system you arrived. People were getting restless, and we couldn''t start the show when some of the guests had yet to arrive," the figure said, "What should we call you?" "Helena, Bonnie, Alex, Blue, and Hera," Helena replied. "Ladies? Or do you have another title?" "Lady works for everyone," Helena nodded. "Except her," Alex jumped in, "It''s Empress Hera." "Oh my. I wasn''t aware we had this kind of nobility on the guest list. My apologies," the butler bowed to Hera, who was giving Alex the meanest look she could muster. The butler turned back to the rest of the guests, "Entering, Empress Hera Kingsley and her Ladies in Waiting, Helena Dittro, Bonnie Caramel, Alex Mali¨½ska, and Pamella Blunt." Most of the people in the ballroom turn to meet the new guests as some gasps could be heard from the crowd. It seems like the mention of an Empress attracted more attention than any of them expected. "And now that the guests of honor are here, we can start the lovely presentation that was prepared for you all. Please, I invite you all to return to your seats so our performer can start," The butler turned back to Hera and her group, "and for you, my Empress, I ask you to follow me to the box on the second floor. That is the best seat in the house." Hera nodded but didn''t say a word. She wasn''t enjoying this whole Empress business, but it seemed like it would help. All of a sudden, several tables appeared in the ballroom. The Hera and the others were sure that this arrangement wasn''t there when they arrived, but now no one was acting like it was something new. While walking, they also took a moment to observe their surroundings. This place was a mix of a ballroom with an Opera House. Everything was red and gold, making it seem like a perfect place for the red tower. There was a small circular stage in the center of the ballroom with a grand piano on top. But there wasn''t anything else that caught their attention. Everyone who was here was wearing beautiful clothing, but no one seemed to be the guest of honor, and she doubted that what the butler said was true. There was no way that the people who came to the dungeon would be the most important guests. When they arrived at the second floor in the box, which was a balcony of respectable size with five seats, Hera glanced and saw other four similar arrangements spread around the second floor, but they were all empty. The butler bowed one more time before leaving and then headed downstairs. It took less than two minutes for the entire area to go completely dark as if someone had turned off the lights. In the center of the stage, three small globules of white appeared and started rotating slowly around the piano. The sound of the music came right after. It was such a soft and calm melody that made Hera think of a picnic in the spring. Something joyful and full of hope and dreams. No one seemed to be playing that. In fact, the piano was moving by itself, making this beautiful tune as the keys were pressed by an invisible force. Little by little, almost in an imperceptible way, the music started to change. Each note became more frantic and desperate as if that picnic began to devolve into something horrible. By the time everyone at the party realized that the music had changed, it was a tune that could never be associated with the first part of the song, and now there was someone in front of a piano. He was wearing a very elegant white suit with a black shirt and a red tie but what caught everyone''s eyes was the hat. It was almost like an octopus with several large tentacles in a checkered purple and green pattern that formed almost like dreadlocks falling on the performer''s shoulders. Each of the makeshift appendages moved with each stroke of the keys in a way that made it seem like that was actually the pianist''s hair and not just a hat. The song continued for almost 20 minutes, and it told a complete story. There was the picnic, then something terrible happened, and a moment where you feel the pain of loss and the pain of someone being snatched away. Then, the song became adventurous and exciting as you imagine the story''s hero growing in searching for his destiny. There was another moment of strong notes that showed the battle, the struggle, the failure until finally, it reached its conclusion in a happy but bittersweet tune. When the song ended, everyone started clapping. Blue and Bonnie were sniffing, having cried during parts of the presentation while Helena was still weeping. She used one of the napkins to dry off her tears and cast a spell on the group just as all the lights were snuffed out. What followed were some noises, yells, and the sound of the piano keys being slammed against something. Finally, the butler was able to turn on the lights again to reveal that the pianist was now dead on top of the stage, with his blood dripping from the piano keys. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest You have witnessed the murder of the pianist. Find the culprit. Rewards: Dungeon Exit Pass Dinner Party Jack-in-the-box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 444 - The hunt begins The moment the lights went out, Hera and her friends had a buff cast on them. Being a shadow mage, Helena was an expert in not only using shadows to her advantage but also on how to deal with someone who was doing the same. Because of that, and because she already knew that there would be a blackout, Helena had a dark sight spell at the ready. It was simply a way to see in the dark despite the name. However, the rest of the group wasn''t ready for the lack of light, and it took them a moment to realize what was going on. Another issue was that even with the spell, they weren''t able to see perfectly in the dark as they would in the light. There was a limit to the max distance they could look at, and after that, things became hard to make out. Still, Hera could see part of what happened on the stage. She saw someone else climbing up, and there was a quick struggle between this new figure and the pianist. It didn''t last for long, and the figure slammed the pianist''s head against the piano keys a couple of times before they broke the performer''s neck. Then the figure looked around before taking off the pianist tentacle like hat and putting it on themselves. Finally, it bowed to the crowd that couldn''t see it and walked away into the darkness. About 2 minutes went by before the lights turned on again, and everybody could see that the pianist was now dead and the perpetrator gone. "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "You couldn''t see it? The spell was supposed to let you see in the dark," Helena turned to the researcher. "I saw it, but that doesn''t answer my question. What the hell is going on? Wasn''t this supposed to be about people getting robbed? Why is someone dead?" "Well, most of the time, this is just about a thief. But like I said, it''s a murder mystery party. If it was the same thing every time, it wouldn''t be much of a mystery. I knew that having someone die was a possibility, but it''s never one of us and this doesn''t change all that much. People are just more inclined to believe that we can solve this. Or at least to let someone else handle things," Helena explained. "And what about the spell? I think the first time I ever saw you using that one," Blue pointed out. "Is that really a surprise? I mean, I use shadows. It''s kind of obvious that I know how to handle them." "Yeah, but you could''ve let us know. It took me too long to realize what was going on for me to be able to see anything useful," Blue pouted. "Sorry, Blue. But that was kind of the point. Since we are discussing going to the no hotel, I wanted to make sure that everyone could respond quickly to sudden changes. That can happen here too, but it''s not as frequent," Helena explained. "OK... So what do we do now?" Hera looked down to the ballroom. It seemed like everyone was freaking out, and people were in shock. Not even able to scream because of the murder. Helena looked down again and let out a long sigh, "This is a bit of a problem. Usually, we will ask some questions to everybody to see if they have any ideas about who was responsible for the incident since it can be one of the guests. But when they''re like that, they are hardly any help. Unless anyone has an idea of how to direct their attention to us in a way to show that we are in charge, it''s better to just call the butler and ask him to show us the rest of the castle." "How useful is it to have them helping us?" Hera asked. "It''s a bit of a coin toss. Sometimes it might not help at all, while in other runs, we might be able to find the culprit in a few minutes because of the information we get from someone. Like I said, it''s not always the same, so I can''t exactly give you a good answer for this. But if we could get their attention, it wouldn''t hurt." "I really hate doing this kind of thing," Hera sighed and turned to Blue, "Can you make a cloud escalator for us? One that can hold all of us and bring us back to the first floor." Blue nodded, "Yeah, you want to climb down from here?" "Yeah. And I don''t want to hear a single joke coming from any of you about this. Ever!" Hera told her group. Blue felt that was a bit weird, but she decided to go along with whatever Hera was planning. She created the cloud escalator, and Hera called Daskka through the necklace, "You said I can have a command to call my entire court, right? Can I change it later?" "Yes and yes. I''ll set it up for you. What''s the plan?" the snake replied with her eyes sparkling. She loved mystery movies and this wasn''t something she ever imagined doing. "One last thing. When I call you like that, can you be in the big mist snake form?" "I can. You want me to do that? And what''s the command?" Hera didn''t reply with her words. Instead, she used their connection to show Daskka her intentions. The snake held in a chuckle but nodded in agreement. The explorer then turned back to the group, "Follow me, don''t laugh or say anything until we are down there." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Hera took a deep breath and stepped into the cloud escalator. After she went a few steps down, the rest of her party joined. Looking around, she could tell that some of the guests were stepping out of their shock and turning toward her with curious expressions. Hera did her best to keep a regal appearance, and he spoke in a loud and commanding voice, "I am Empress Hera Kingsley. All of you stay in your seats while we investigate this murder." When she finished speaking her name, the command to call her entire court was triggered. The five blades appeared around her, with the four handaxes flanking her sides and Lurize in front of her, spearheading the formation. From behind the cloud, a massive 5-meter-tall snake made out of purple mist appeared with glowing eyes making her entrance even more intimidating. That seemed to have worked, and suddenly, all the guests were now focused on her, and we were no longer frozen in fear. The moment she and her party arrived on the 1st floor, the butler approached them and bowed before whispering, "Apologies, my Empress. We have security measures, but it seems like whoever did this was able to bypass them. We can wait for someone to come to help us, or, if you want to find this murderer yourself, I''ll be glad to give my assistance in anything I can." Hera glanced back to Helena, "Is it always the Butler?" Helena shook her head, "No. Or at least, it was never the butler when I did this." "But it could be?" Blue asked. "I understand that you must consider all possibilities, but I wasn''t responsible for this. I was in the back with the kitchen staff, setting everything up for the meal," The butler replied while giving an angry stare to Blue. "I''m sorry. But, like you said, we have to consider everyone as a potential suspect for now," Hera interjected, already noticing how Blue was bothered by the stare. The butler nodded and turned back to Hera, "That is fine. I admit that being accused of something this heinous bothered me, but I understand why you did it." Hera nodded and turned back to her party, "Any suggestions about what we should do?" "What''s versus some questions. I think we all watched enough cop shows to know the basics of interrogation. Let''s just see if anyone here has any idea who might have done it or why they might have done it, and then we go from there. I honestly think that the murderer will be hiding somewhere else in the castle, but if we know who they are, it might be easier to make them come out and confess," Helena suggested. "That''s a possibility?" Bonnie asked. "Actually, yes. If we find who did it, start yelling or accusing the right person, we might be able to finish the dungeon before even having to deal with any of the traps." "OK then. There are a lot of people here, so let''s split up and everybody talks with someone. But let''s not waste too much time with this. Like Lena said, we are probably just grasping at straws," Hera turned to Bonnie and Blue," Maybe you guys can do some good cop, bad cop routines. Alex, you might be able to hear what people are saying without us being there, then Lena and I just do the regular interviews." "That''s a good plan. Since when are you into true crime?" Blue asked. "I''m not. Like it''s fun, but I get bored easily. Daskka is the one who''s really into it. Part of this plan came from her," Hera gestured to the giant mist snake that was still hovering behind them. "Well done," Helena turned to Daskka, "but may I change one thing in the plan? Hera, you go to the kitchen and interview the staff. Since you''re the Empress, the people here will probably want to talk to you about a lot of things. On the other hand, the staff will probably be a bit more intimidated because of your position. That way we can gain some time. We do this for half an hour, and then we try searching the rest of the castle". Helena looked at the butler, "I assume it''s not a problem." "Not at all. We are here to help. It''s a shame that this happened, but I can''t say I''m surprised that something went wrong," the butler sighed. "And why is that?" Hera asked. "Because these types of events attract the attention of some unsavory types. We had other presentations where people got their belongings stolen, or there was a kidnapping attempt. All those were unsuccessful, but I figured that someday someone would come along that was able to complete their mission, so to speak. I warned my employer about this, but he wasn''t interested in spending more money to reinforce the security." "And where is your employer tonight?" Hera pressed. The owner of this place being conveniently away seemed to be a good enough lead to investigate. "He was unable to attend. It seems like there was a family emergency, and he had to go out of town last week. We talked a couple days ago, and even some of the guards can confirm that he is nowhere near the premises." "I want to talk to the guards and all the staff that were working tonight. I think the kitchen will be the better place for us to have this conversation. That way, we don''t have to worry about any judgment from the guests," Hera looked to her group, searching for confirmation or another suggestion, but everyone stayed silent, just hearing her directions. "I agree. Please, follow me. I''ll gather everyone." "OK then. We''ll see each other in half an hour?" Hera asked. Everyone agreed, and they all split off to do their own missions. Talking to the staff was easier than she expected. Maybe it was because she remembered how it was to work in the service industry, but the people were quick to connect with her and open up. Daskka was with her, taking all their statements and ensuring that none of them was lying or hiding anything. Not that they could tell for sure since neither of them had any lie-detecting spells or skills, but the snake was able to tell if the person they were talking with was nervous or not, which helped a lot in the questioning. There was a surprisingly small number of people working tonight for the size of the event, 2 cooks, 3 waiters, 4 guards, and the butler. Everyone else had already left and couldn''t enter the castle until the event was over. Unfortunately, from what she could tell, none of them seemed to know anything that could help to find out the killer. If it was something about stealing, there was a chance that there were some of the staff involved, but the mention of a murder scared them too much for them to be related to it. After 10 minutes, Hera thanked them all and walked back to the main room, hoping that her friends had better luck than her. 445 - A crazed trapmaker "Any luck? The staff doesn''t seem to be a part of this," Hera asked when she joined the group in the main hall. "I think I got something," Alex said. "Same here. Or at least an idea of what to expect," Helena smiled. "Who wants to start? We didn''t get anything helpful," Bonnie sighed. "I''ll go first since I don''t know if it''s something or not," Alex turned to Helena, "I was listening to some conversations, and someone said that the pianist is supposed to be a playboy. There are a lot of women and men that he, how they put it, lure to his bedroom and ruin marriages. Apparently, he even did that to his music teacher, and the teacher''s wife left him because of that." "I found something that is completely unrelated. Apparently, there is a very dedicated fan of the pianist who was trying to learn from him, but he refused to take any students. Then they started chasing after the pianist and showing up in every place he was. When he finally cut them off and told them to stop, the kid didn''t take it well and kind of went nuts because of it. It was someone who really wanted to be close to him, and they were devastated by the rejection. The problem is that the information is all over the place. Some say it was a young boy, others an old lady, a rival singer, or any number of things. This stalker could be after the music, the pianist himself, or he was their missing father. Everyone says something different," Helena sighed. "There was this guy who was saying something like that," Blue started speaking but got cut off. "That guy was too drunk to take anything that he said seriously. I mean, come on. He saw a werewolf, a vampire, a mummy, and a headless knight doing the cancan. Do you really want to believe in any of his stories?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Not really, but he might have said something that could fit. He talked about how the pianist was a lousy father and then he said that a weird guy was carrying a bunch of boxes to the castle while the monsters danced, but still, it''s weird to have a random guy carrying the boxes of the castle, maybe that''s something," Blue insisted. "Well, I wouldn''t say that''s gonna be helpful, but it can''t hurt. At least we know someone came in here bringing things from the outside. So whatever we are going to face might not be something that was necessarily in a castle," Helena explained. "Do you have a specific example in mind? ''cause that idea is very open-ended, "Alex said. "I can''t say for sure, but I believe that if there is a witness saying that someone brought something from the outside, we can expect things like plants, sand, or ice, or something that wouldn''t fit here, like from a different biome." " What about the monsters? Could they be a thing? "Hera asked. "Yes, but not actual monsters. It''s probably some costumes or statues that can be used to scare or threaten us. Like I said, this place is not supposed to have any traps that are deadly by design." "OK. Then where do we go?" Bonnie asked. Helena didn''t reply, just turned to the butler, who was accompanying them, "I can take you to the hallway leading to the rest of the castle. However, I won''t be going beyond that." Agreeing with those conditions, the group was led to an exit in the kitchen that would give them access to the rest of the building. The corridor was very similar to the ballroom in a way. Everything has sharp angles in the same red and gold motif. However, it was less gaudy, there were fewer decorations and details on the walls, and things here seemed to be built for comfort, not appearance. They started walking, everybody already expecting a trap to spring up out of nowhere. With their slow pace, it took them about five minutes before they got closer to the door on the other side of this hallway. "Say, why are we so sure that we need to see the rest of the castle?'' Bonnie asked. "It''s because that''s the dungeon. If we can''t find the criminal in the ballroom, we have to come here to find them. I know it sounds like a stretch, but it''s how the dungeon is set up. The murder mystery part is more about finding information that will help us deal with the traps. In the end, this is more like a funhouse than anything else. You know, one of those you see in the carnival," Helena was using some shadows to touch the area in front of them. Trying to locate any traps to warn the group beforehand. "That''s better. Honestly, if this was an actual mystery, I would go nuts," Blue pushed the door open, but Hera quickly jumped to her side, trying to stop her. Unfortunately, the explorer wasn''t fast enough. The moment blue opened the door, a large bag with some milky white liquid exploded and sprayed both their faces. "Shit! What''s that?" Hera gasped as she tried to clean herself up. Her eyes started to water, and her nose clogged up. "What is this taste?" Blue started scraping her tongue with her hands, trying to get rid of whatever was in her mouth. Alex leaned over and sniffed them, "Isn''t that... Onion?" "Onions?!" Blue and Hera gasped at the same time. "That fucker sprayed us with onion juice?" Blue asked. "It looks like it," Alex replied. "Oh no," Helena took a step back, "Don''t tell me it''s this one." "This one what?" Bonnie asked. "Each run usually has a theme for the traps. Some are about binding you, others are about pushing you in the wrong direction, and some are some kind of psychological warfare. The theme this time could be pranks. Well, maybe not, it''s just the first one, but if it is about pranks, then it''s going to be really annoying." "Why me, though?" Blue gasped. "Because you opened a door in a place that is supposed to be filled with traps. We should take a moment to check those things," Hera was still trying to take the onion juice from her eyes. Bonnie stepped up and helped her clean herself with her water spell. Mostly just so they wouldn''t be crying during the rest of the dungeon. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The group double-checked the door to see if there were any more traps, and after confirming that everything was clear or at least that the entrance to this new room was empty, they walked inside. This place looked like the actual entrance to the castle. There was a massive staircase leading to the second floor with a gigantic stained glass window behind it, two doors leading in opposite directions, and very little furniture. There was only a small coffee table by the foot of the stairs and a single painting on the right wall. The painting itself was all scratched and torn apart. Everything that Hera could make of it was that It was of someone holding some sort of small animal. Besides it, there were some drapes that could be used to cover the picture. "So, what should we be looking for!" As Hera walked through the room, she stepped over a rug that was hiding a trap door. She plummeted for about four meters into what could only be described as a pool of honey. Luckily, it was only half a meter deep, so there wasn''t any risk of drowning, but Hera was covered from head to toe in amber goo with the fall. "Are you OK? Bonnie asked, looking over the entrance of the hole. "I''m fine. I just need a shower now," Hera looked up, and she saw a way to climb back to the first floor. It was a small tunnel, and she would have to crawl through it, but it looked like it would lead to the right location. There was even an exit sign above the entrance. She created a light, got closer, and saw that this tunnel was covered in sugar ant hives. Hera stepped back and used her stone wall to bring the floor up so she could avoid the ant trap. "Is it good honey at least?" Blue asked when she saw Hera emerging from the pool, looking like some sort of blob monster. "I''m not gonna eat honey that was in a pit!" Hera gasped. "I never expected to be saying this, but don''t eat honey you find in the bottom of the trap," Helena turned to Blue. "Fine, fine," Blue rolled her eyes. "Will she start eating things we find in dungeons now?" Bonnie whispered to Alex. "I think so," Alex sighed. "OK, OK. Can we keep going now? I want to finish this soon, so I caaaaa!" Hera was walking towards the painting so she could use the drapes to wipe some of the honey out, but she ended up falling into another pitfall. This one was shallower, and the moment her feet hit the bottom, 4 panels shifted, one on each of the sides of the square pit. A burst of sand came out of the holes and covered her completely. The sand wasn''t constantly coming out. It was just an initial burst that stopped right after. Hera cursed and created another stone wall from beneath her to climb out of this trap, "Are you fucking shitting me?" she gasped, now covered in a mix of sand and honey. Daskka was laughing, but the snake still created some mist and tried to help her owner with it. "Should someone else take the lead?" Helena asked while trying to hide her laughter. "Yeah. Please," Hera turned to Bonnie, "Can you help me?" Bonnie nodded and started using some water and ice spells to clean up the honey and the sand. While that was going on, the rest of the group started looking around. There were five doors in this room, two on the second floor, 2 on the bottom floor, and the one they used to come here. Unfortunately, there was nothing else that could help them figure out where they were going. Even using some spells like Hera''s sensory net didn''t give them any more information. The party started to discuss where they should go next. The only difference between the four doors they had to choose from, if you could call it that, What''s that one of the doors was closer to the ripped-up painting. As the group talked, she focused her attention on something else. She was trying to see if she could figure out a spell to clean herself up. Many explorers would have something like that in their arsenal, and Hera knew that eventually, she would have to learn that spell, and considering the situation, this was a good place to get it. In the end, they decided to go to the door nearest to the painting. It was the only one that seemed to have any difference and they all agreed that there had to be a reason for that. This time, Hera stayed in the back while blue took the lead. It was a good thing since her Blades were still floating around. With her in the back, they could stay away from everybody and make sure that she could tell them to help anyone if needed. In hindsight, Hera should have been doing this since the beginning. Now that she controlled her court, she had to get used to staying in the back. After all, she was supposed to be the commander of a small army and not part of the vanguard. Then again, she might be just thinking that so that she won''t have to fall into another trap and feel even more disgusting than she already was. The group opened the door by the painting and started heading deeper into the castle in this one corridor that was almost an exact copy of the one connecting the main castle with the ballroom. They found another half a dozen traps on pressure plates they would spray odds liquid and plumes of dust are pollen to annoy them. This would feel like a kid''s movie about someone making traps if it wasn''t for how intricate the traps actually were. A pressure plate wouldn''t activate right away. Instead, it would make a panel pop up, causing the party to split off and move away from the opening, only for noises and other signals of mechanisms moving inside the walls to start to appear and almost shepherd them towards a specific location where the actual trap would trigger. Lucky for them, Blue and Stormcloud were on point to stop most sprays. Everyone got somewhat dirty, but nowhere near enough the same way that Hera was. The first room they arrived at was eerily empty. In fact, there was nothing, no doors, no traps, no windows, no rugs. It was just a completely empty room with walls of gray stone. They tried pressing the walls to see if there were any hidden buttons or compartments, and, just to be safe, Hera used Yarnball to ask if there were any secrets in this room that they had yet to see. The answer was no, which made everyone shrug and turn back to the exit. The moment blue touched the door, some magical barrier pushed her away in a voice echoed through the chamber. "Naughty, naughty, naughty," a shrill voice spoke and followed with a burst of mad laughter, "Why are you here? You''re not supposed to be here. And why are you chasing little old me? I don''t know you, I never met you, and you never saw me, so I don''t get it. Why me? Why? Why? Why?" the voice started speaking slowly then became more frantic and crackled only to stop again and regain some composure, "I''ve done nothing wrong. I only took care of a bad, bad man. A very bad man. Why must a man like that be alive? Someone who made many people suffer, caused death, pain, and destruction while relishing in it all. Now you come after me like he''s some sort of martyr? Like he''s a saint? I saved you. I saved us. I''m not the villain here. It''s not fair. It''s not fair. It''s not fair. It''s not fair. IT''S NOT FAIR!!" the last line came in an almost indecipherable screech. There was a long moment of silence, with Hera and the others trying to find where the voice was coming from before it continued speaking. "Then again, it''s like they say. If you murder a murderer, nothing will change. There will still be another murderer in the world. I suppose the only way to fix that is to get rid of more murderers. And I won''t let anyone get in my way. Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you. Not unless you try to kill someone. No. You have to kill people. Then I can kill you. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. That makes sense. Stop! Here''s the deal. If one of you kills the rest of you, I''ll let you go. I''ll even put you at the end of my list. That way, you won''t die today. I''m only letting one of you get out. Yes, that''s a good plan, and when you are a murderer, then I can kill you. There, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect. No plan was ever better." There was another pause before the voice returned with an annoyed tone," Well, what are you waiting for. Do something. Kill, stab, maim, gouge, shoot, burn, melt. So many different ways to kill. Pick one!" Hera looked at Helena with a worried expression, but the mage just waved her off. "Fine, it was my fault. Let me give you a push, a reason for doing it. Have fun!" the voice spoke again With that last message, a large white spell circle appeared on the floor and on the ceiling of this room. It flashed in bright light, and when the group managed to get their bearings, they were now on top of a very large tower overlooking the ocean. Looking around, they saw a small sign that read. ''I am fair, unlike him. I''m at the bottom floor. Find me, and you can leave. Kill all your friends, and I''ll set you free. I wonder what your choice will be.'' 446 - Unexpected tower "Is this normal? Being transported to this weird tower?" Blue turned to Helena. "Kind of. This is what we need to do for the hard mode. We need to find the Jester''s treasure inside the tower. But we need to go underground for that, and it''s a bit of a mess down there. Not to mention, there are monsters there too, so we are not even gonna touch it," Helena explained. "And we being here changes anything? About what we should expect," Bonnie asked. "Nope, traps. Weird prank things and stuff. Since the Jester seems to be a bit unhinged, maybe the traps are more¡­ freaky, but that shouldn''t make any big changes," Helena looked down the tower, "I''m guessing we need to go down just five or six floors. The rest seems to be the basement." "So we only have to deal with six rooms of traps? Alex asked Helena. "Maybe, but we can''t be sure. This is a big tower. I mean, look around. This should probably be 100 meters wide. The Jester could have made smaller rooms, and traps that fit in those rooms. I don''t know. We have to just go for it." This tower that they were on top of seemed to be completely made of stone, and it had 8 spikes pointing up on the surrounding edge, forming the beginning of a railing. Aside from that, space was very barren. There was only the floor and the sign with the staircase leading down right behind the wooden plaque. "Let me send one of my blades down first. That way, we can at least have an idea of what''s going on inside," Hera walked along the Area heading towards the staircase. She then gestured to Beam to head down and tell her what was going on below. The handaxe flew to its maximum range, but all it could see was a spiral staircase that seemed to be following the tower''s curve. Hera told her group about it, and they decided to head in. As Beam told her, it was a very long staircase. "Hey. Quick question. How did the Butler know our names? I mean, we never told him. We just told her first names, but he introduced us with her full names. He even said Pamella instead of Blue. Isn''t that a bit weird?" Alex asked as they went down the stairs. "That''s just a dungeon thing. We need titles or important-sounding names and just saying entering Peter doesn''t have the same ring as entering, Peter Calgary or something like that," Helena explained. Bonnie nodded, "Yeah. That''s kind of common. Or at least a lot of dungeons have those kinds of things." "How do you know that?" Blue asked. "I had to do a thing for the order. They wanted a list of odd but seemingly unimportant circumstances that we can see inside dungeons." "Oh shit!" Hera gasped. "What''s wrong?" Helena looked around, ready to use a few different spells depending on what was going on. "Sorry. It''s not about the dungeon. I forgot to tell the order about my legacy" Hera scratched the back of her head. "Do you really have to tell them?" Alex turned to Hera. "I mean, I don''t have to do anything. But, and I don''t know how much I can tell you about this, the name of my legacy has to do with what they were looking for. And I can''t say more than that, but yeah. Not telling them seems like it would be a big deal, and I don''t want to piss them off. If it wasn''t for them I wouldn''t have found the legacy, even if it was a bit indirect. I only found out about the blademaster because I helped Shane and not because they sent me after them," Hera looked back at Helena, "Did I say too much?" "Well, it''s a little bit more than we usually tell people, but I don''t see a problem as long as you don''t share the thing that you and Bonnie got. Let me add this, as a senior member. The court is looking for something called ''The Court of Heroes.'' That seems to be an organization that existed long before the nine heroes, and each member was considered to be an actual hero," Helena looked down and gestured for everyone to stop, "We are about to enter a room." Beam was sent in front again, and in a few moments, it sent back a report. It was a large room with several holes along the walls. Things like that usually meant an arrow trap. Hera and Helena used some spells to see if they could find the trap and noticed that there were a few pressure plates on the ground. They told the group about them, and carefully everyone crossed over this new room to the door on the other side. It wasn''t that difficult since the trap wasn''t as intricate as the ones they found in the castle, but there was an eerie feeling coming from everywhere. It was like someone was watching them, observing their every move and waiting for something. After crossing the first room, they found another one. One with five mirrors and another sign. ''Your reflection hides your demons. If you want to move forward, you must face them.'' This one seemed to be simple in a way, but Hera still turned to Helena for confirmation, "We just need to walk towards our mirrors? "Pretty much. We''ll see some illusions and things that will probably mess with our heads but will be fine, don''t worry about it. We just have to break free or wait for the spell''s mana to run out. Or at least, that was the trap that I saw last time I came to this tower," Helena explained. With that, the party walked forward. Each of them heading toward a different mirror. They glanced at each other to gather some courage, and they all touched the mirror at the same time. The moment their hands met with their reflection, everything around them changed. Hera was no longer in the middle of a tower with her friends. Instead, she was now back home. In the same house, she grew up in. She heard a noise from the kitchen and saw Stella coming out with a plate of food in her hand. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "What are you waiting for? Come help me. That''s the least you can do," Stella scoffed. She looked down, and her body was considerably smaller than she remembered. She took a look at her reflection in one of the glasses and then realized that this was her appearance from when she was 12. "Hera, I''m asking for your help! Stop staring at the glass and do something," Stella gasped. "Now, now, Goldilocks. I know today''s your birthday, but that''s not a reason for you to give your mother a hard time. It doesn''t matter how excited you are about going to the guild, respect your mother," Eridan came from the living room and started helping set up the table. "My birthday?" Hera asked, her voice crackled, sounding almost like a child. "Of course, don''t tell me you forgot what date today is. It''s your eighteen birthday. We''re gonna go to the guild after lunch to see how amazing of an explorer you will be," Eridan smiled. "Or to show you that this is just a stupid dream and you should focus on something more useful. You are no longer a kid, and you need to think about the future. If you''re going to work with your dad, work someplace else, and about what you''re going to do about marriage," Stella spoke as she put some food on her plate. It was a black sludge that was bubbling and had a terrible smell. "But mom. I don''t want a boyfriend. Boys are icky!" When she finished speaking she felt even more confused. She was an adult. A grown woman that was an explorer. Yet, now she felt like a kid who was in the middle of her 18th birthday somehow, and she couldn''t tell which was her true self. Everything here was too real, but oddly fake at the same time. Maybe Helena, Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Daskka were all parts of a very realistic dream. "Well, we''re gonna have to change your opinion sooner or later. So it might as well be sooner. I don''t wanna hear it. We''re going to do this to get rid of your nonsense dream of being an explorer, and then we''re gonna talk about how you can find a good man to be with you. Or a good woman if that''s what you want, not that I think any woman with a drop of self-respect would want to be with you. Men at least are easy and will take anything," Stella continued. Hera looked down at her plate of food, not having any recollection of actually putting food on a plate, and just stared at it. "Goldilocks, are you OK? What''s happening?" Eridan asked. "I¡­ I don''t remember getting a plate," Hera replied. "Ah, my sweet girl. I thought you were getting better. Don''t worry. We know that your memory can be a bit irregular, but that''s OK. We have the doctor''s appointment next week, and I''m sure he''ll help," Eridan patted Hera''s head. "My memory is bad?" Hera asked, unsure if that was the truth. "It''s so bad that you can''t even remember that you have a bad memory," Stella rolled her eyes, "How do you expect to be with anyone when you''re this much of a mess? You need a job soon, that way you can pay for your medical bills instead of being a burden to your parents." Hera looked back at the plate of food. She blinked a few times, and suddenly her surroundings had changed again. She was now in the guild, being carried by her father with a pacifier in her mouth and a beat-up blanket in her hand. Everything around her seemed way too big, her father''s head was about the size of her whole body. She looked around and saw Helena approaching her, wearing her guild clerk uniform, "Hi. You must be Hera. Come with me. We can check your stats and see what you can do." Eridan passed Hera to Helena, who carried her to a room where she could check her attributes. By the time she arrived in that room, Hera was wearing diapers and couldn''t even speak. Helena placed the crystal ball that she used long ago to check Hera''s stats for the first time in front of her, and Hera, who now was a baby, tried to reach it, but she couldn''t. The crystal was too far away, and her arms were too small and chubby to reach it. "Well, sweetie. If you can''t even touch the crystal, you can''t be an explorer. I''ll give you one more chance. Touch it, or you''ll be a civilian for the rest of your life," Helena said. Hera tried to reach the crystal again but to no avail. The object was even further away, now distancing itself more and more. OK then. You''ll be a civilian. And since your parents asked for an explorer daughter, they will get a new child. While you go to work here," Helena gestured to the side, revealing a massive warehouse filled with boxes that had to be moved from one place to the other, "Have fun." Helena vanished from sight. Hera was now back in her normal body. There was a box in front of her with the label LZR 963. She glanced up and saw that she was on sector AAC 053. Without saying anything, she picked up the box using all her strength, feeling her arms burn with the effort, and started walking towards her destination. Her bones seemed to scream with each step, and her skin lost its luster. When she finally delivered that first box, her eyes were cloudy, and her hair was already gray. Harold picked another box and started walking, and tripped after a couple steps and felt her body fail for the last time. Like when you dream of falling, that reaction was enough to make her jump up. Now, Hera was in a circular room with her friends sitting on chairs, apparently sleeping. Everyone was there, Helena, Alex, Bonnie, and Blue. Her court was also around. Surrounding the chair that she was previously sitting on with Daskka wrapped around her neck. "Oh boy, oh joy. You are the first to wake up. Now, what do you say? How about you just get out of here by killing your friends? That way, you can be free and get away and you don''t have to worry about what you saw ever again. Well, you will still remember what happened, but then again, you should also have nightmares of killing your friends, so just pick whatever you like the best. Go on, you can kill them, have your fun. I''ll wait, don''t worry about it," the Jester''s voice came from a wall on the right, but Hera couldn''t see anything else in there. "I''m not killing anyone but you!" Hera barked at the wall. "Are you not going to do it? Fine, be like that. I''m sure one of your other friends will be more than happy to take my offer. Besides, it''s fun watching you squirm. So fun, so fun, so much, much more fun. I think I know why people kill, and torture, and maim, and play. It''s fun! I like it. I can do it now, right? I''m a murderer already, so yeah, I can, no, I can''t, but I can, I can''t, I can, I can''t. Well, I can. Of course, I can. It''s my prize for being a good girl. Yeah. I can," the Jester started laughing madly again. A couple of minutes passed while Hera was trying to wake up her friend but to no avail. Finally, the Jester turned her attention back to Hera. "Why are you still up? No, no, you go to bed again. Have fun there, and maybe the next time you wake up, you can change your mind. Go, go, go, go, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep." Hera felt woozy and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was no longer in the middle of a tower with her friends. Instead, she was now back home. In the same house, she grew up in. 447 - Trapping a trapper Hera felt trapped in the illusion, but now that she saw this was just a trick, it wasn''t scary at all. If anything, it was annoying. She had no intention of thinking about Stella. And to top it all off, there wasn''t even any food for her to eat. Whatever was this sludge that this fake Stella had created, it was completely inedible. Not only did it smell like sulfur and week-old garbage, but when she tried to taste just a little bit of it, it turned into sand in her mouth. The rest of this illusion went on as she expected. Some talks with her parents, she became a baby, Helena showed up and gave her the crystal that she couldn''t reach, and she ended up back in the warehouse. This time the numbers in the package she had to carry were different, but this was the only moment during all this illusion where she didn''t feel something controlling her thoughts. While everything else was going on, something was forcing her mind to go in a specific direction or to reply in a particular way, but here, while she had to carry this box, only her body seemed to be controlled. Her mind was free to wander and follow any path that she wanted. Because of that, this part of the illusion was the best moment to come up with a plan to get out of here. She worked for just a couple of minutes when Hera tried to call Daskka using their Naga connection. She could feel the snake and not just feel but talk to her without any issues. Any questions that she had to ask, Daskka was right there to answer, her voice coming from her neck where she should be in the real world. "Are you inside this illusion with me?" Hera asked. "No¡­ I''m out..side," Daskka replied, trying to speak without the help of the legacy. "Can you see Blue, Bonnie, and the others?" "Yes." "Did any of them wake up?" "Helena, and¡­ Bonnie." "Did they say anything, or just talked with the Jester and passed out again?" "Talk. Then. Sleep." "Crap¡­ I don''t know what I can do to stop the Jester from making me fall asleep again. Do you have any spells that can protect me from that kind of magic?" "I don''t, but we might be able to do something with the legacy," Daskka replied in perfect English. "It''s so weird when you change the way you speak like that." "If you are complaining, I can stop," Daskka huffed. "No, no, please continue. How can the legacy help us now?" "OK, a quick explanation. You know how you have skills that can become a part of the legacy so that other holders can use them, right?" "Yeah. Also, we should have a few minutes before I collapse and the illusion resets. So if you need to go into details, feel free to do so," Hera realized that this could be important and didn''t want to rush the explanation. After all, this wasn''t dangerous, just annoying and the pain she was feeling was much more subdued now that she could control her thoughts. "That''s good. Anyway, the same goes for you. You can use skills that the previous holders had. There is kind of like a market for the skill the previous holders had that only I, the herald, can see. And, to make things worse, I can''t tell you about any of the skills unless you ask. And I don''t mean like, ask about skills, in general, ask about either the specific skill or something that you can do. We can come back to this later. The important part is this. To get the skill you need to buy them with a sort of legacy currency. I don''t know how much you have or how much a skill is worth, but you need to spend something to get them. And to get that currency all you need to do is use the legacy. It''s weird, sorry." "Don''t worry. I think I understand. It''s like a skill tree in a game, but you can only see if you can buy the skill or not, and not how many skill points you have." "Kind of. But The thing is, there''s a way for you to get skills that you shouldn''t be getting. Like, if the skill is too expensive for you right now, you can basically take a loan from the legacy. There is a limit on how much ''currency'' you can borrow and the more you take the longer you will have to wait to be able to get more skills. But there might be something that can help us there," Daskka explained. "OK. Do you have any suggestions? Or do I have to ask about something specific?" "You have to ask. What kind of skill do you want?" "Is there any way to stop me from getting magically put to sleep?" Daskka looked through the ''list'' of skills, "Not really. Also, you don''t know if you''re being put to sleep, if it''s mind control, or something else." "Right¡­ is there a way to split the effects then? Like, instead of having to go through the entire illusion, each member of the court can go through a few minutes of it?" "Hum¡­ Yeah. There are a couple that match that idea. The first is called Long Live the Queen, well king, but I suppose it will be Long Live the Empress for you. It lets you change the target for any attack or effect that was aimed at you to one of your blades." "Can I change the target from one of my blades to me?" "No. This one is about protecting the center of the court. With this one, the blades can''t even change the target of the effects among themselves." "Is there any other option? That sounds good, but if each Blade has its own specialty, it will be better if we can have the blades being able to protect each other or even letting me jump in myself," Hera asked. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "There''s one called the King''s Burden that does the opposite. It pulls all damage and effects to you instead of the court. And¡­ here! This one is called Army of One. It makes you and your court to be a single thing. You can activate and deactivate the skill anytime you want, but when you have it active, most attacks or effects can be directed to any of the court members or split between them in any way. The idea is that you and your court are a single being. It''s like one body, and you can choose which part of the body is gonna get hit by the effect. But some attacks can''t be shared. Like, if you were about to be decapitated or something like that, you can''t pass the attack to someone else. Also, this just redirects the damage, not the attack itself. So the impact will still happen on who was hit. Another thing, when this skill grows, it can increase or share buffs, but at first that effect will be almost irrelevant." Hera tried to widen her eyes in surprise, but her body wasn''t responding. She was still carrying the box to its next destination in this endless warehouse, "That one seems great. I''ll take it. How much I''m going to have to borrow from the legacy?" "I don''t know for sure. I can''t see the actual numbers, but it doesn''t seem to be that much. That''s just the feeling I''m getting," Daskka explained and sent the feeling she was getting from the legacy to Hera. It was hard to put that feeling into words, but it was something akin to when you tried to make a jump in a game and missed by a little, but not enough to make you think it was unfair. "OK, that seems great. Give me that," Hera replied, noticing that her arms were starting to look old and that some of her hair was losing its color. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Army of One - Legacy When the skill is active, you and your court will function as a single entity. Most effects that would target a specific blade can be shared or redirected to one or more specific members of your court, including yourself. Buffs cannot overlap because of this effect and they are shared with only 10% of their strength. You can activate and deactivate this skill at will. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a quick and simple description, and Hera appreciated that. The moment she got the skill and activated it, she could feel her connection to the court change. It wasn''t just the shared abilities, but there was something else there. Almost like each of her blades was a strand of hair that you could feel when somebody was touching it. "Anyone want to deal with the illusion?" Hera asked her blades, not really expecting a reply. To her surprise, Lurize sent her a message asking to be chosen for this task, "Oh. OK. I''ll do my best to make this quick." Hera tried to close her eyes, but her body wouldn''t answer her again. Instead, she focused on the illusion and how Lurize was the one that should be affected by it. Everything happened much faster than she was expecting. It seems that another benefit of the legacy was that the skills she got from it would already come with some sort of instruction on how to use it. Hera could feel herself regaining control of her body little by little. She started with a blink, then made herself stop walking, followed by dropping the box and finally shaking her head. The last action snapped her out of the illusion, and she was tossed back into the circular room where her friends were sleeping. Everything is the same as she remembered. Helena and the others were sleeping in chairs while her plates were floating around her. However, Lurize was now on the ground instead of being in the air. Not wanting to leave her Blade like that, Hera picked it up and placed it on the chair, sending a message to him that she was with him. "What? How are you up? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That''s wrong. Back to bed, back to sleep. Go. Now!" the Jester spoke, her voice coming from the wall between Bonnie and Alex. Hera tried to figure out how to reach the Jester to make her stop the illusion. To do so, she used her pulse spell, trying to find any hidden passages or buttons around the area. The first attempt didn''t get any results, so she decided to use even more mana to be able to notice more details. She used the pulse three more times, each spending more mana than the last one. "What do you think you''re doing? Stop being so rude and just sit and sleep. I went through all the trouble to set up this place for you, and you wake up? Just like that? How dare you? How? How? How?! You still think I was wrong? You still think I''m the villain here? I did what was right! The world is better now, and I would do it again and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. You can''t stop me! You are weak, rude, lazy, ugly, fat, bald, smelly, cheap, stupid!" The Jester continued with a barrage of nonsense insults that Hera simply tuned out. After the fourth time she cast the pulse spell, Hera noticed that there was a pressure plate under the chair Alex was sitting on. A very small one that was almost imperceptible. While Hera was still thinking if she should press it or not, the rest of her party woke up. "Ugh, I hate that," Bonnie said while rubbing her eyes. "Same," Blue nodded. "It wasn''t that bad," Alex smiled. Hera was very close to the assassin, and she could''ve sworn that the moment Alex opened her eyes, they were yellow, but now they were back to the usual brown. Deciding that it could be just some weird effect of the spell, Hera turned back to the pressure plate, "There is a thing here. Should I press it?" "Yeah. That will open the wall, and we can finally get the Jester," Helena replied. "That''s it? Really?" Hera asked. "In this one. Yeah. Other versions of the dungeon are a bit longer, but it''s shorter since this was more psychological terror. I think that''s just a rare occasion of the system being kind," Helena explained. "OK then," Hera kneeled down by Alex''s chair and pressed the pressure plate. As she did that, a part of the wall shifted, revealing the Jester behind it, hiding in the corner of a small room, facing a closed door. This trap maker wasn''t anything like any of them expected. The Jester seemed to be a teenager, maybe 16 or 17, with blond hair, long elf ears, and milky green eyes, wearing leather pants and long sleeve shirts that were extremely battered and ripped at some points. There were a lot of stains all over her clothes, and it was hard to tell where they were from. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, and she was clutching the pianist''s hat as if it was the only thing that mattered in the entire world. "What¡­ What happened to you?" Bonnie asked. "Don''t answer that!" Helena cut them off right away, "Trust me. I''ll explain to you all later, but don''t ask her anything." Hera and the others looked back at the Jester, who was now laughing maniacally. She returned to her ramblings, talking about how she did the right thing and how everything was going to get better. Without speaking another word, Helena walked inside the room and pulled a lever on the wall. A cage formed around the Jester, and the door opened. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest You have captured the culprit behind the murder of the pianist. Rewards: Dungeon Exit Pass Dinner Party Jack-in-the-box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 448 - Court member After Helena told them all to stay quiet, the group didn''t say anything. They walked through the door to go back to the waiting room and only after the door had closed and the Jester''s laughter could no longer be heard, did Alex turn to Helena, "What was that about? Was that girl really about to say something that bad?" Helena let out a long sigh, "First of all, remember that what happened there might not be real. The events inside might not have any relation to something that happened outside. And if they do have a connection, the people involved should be long gone. This dungeon has been here for a long time, and I don''t think anyone would have survived this long. Well, maybe elves, but again, we have no idea if this actually happened. And since there are several possible outcomes from this dungeon, I doubt they are all real, even if they happened somewhere else." "Somewhere else? Do you mean like in another room? I thought dungeons were only about the things that happened in that room, or they were one of those created by the MAZE," Blue asked. "That''s true in most cases. But in rooms where there are a large number of dungeons, they may be related to events that happened elsewhere. There''s no limit to that. We can be here, and a dungeon can show up about things that happened in the 50th layer, if that even exists, and we have no way of knowing," Bonnie explained. "Oh¡­ I didn''t know that" Blue looked down, feeling like she had overlooked something important. "That''s not really common knowledge. So don''t worry. Most people don''t really care about where the dungeons came from. They only wanna know what they can get out of it," Hera bumped Blue''s shoulder, trying to cheer her up. "Doesn''t that also mean that there is a possibility that the MAZE doesn''t create dungeons out of nowhere? Like, what if all dungeons are just things that happened somewhere else?" Blue asked. "You know that''s an interesting train of thought. There are actually a small number of scholars that share that theory. Then again, it''s one thing to have a theory, another to prove it. Not to mention that there are some obvious holes on that," Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, like what Alex and I saw in the Moon Station. If we are to say that all dungeons exist because they happened somewhere, then that means that there are more rooms that are moon based out there. Or, using another example, there is a room with a sunflower farm by the foot of a tree the size of a mountain," Hera added. "There''s also the No Hotel. Trust me I don''t think anything like that ever happened in a room. And there are a lot of weird dungeons, and I don''t mean they just don''t fit the room. I''m talking about drug-filled bad trip levels of weirdness. Like fingers made out of screws and tentacle eyes," Helena shivered. "Talking from experience?" Hera asked with a smirk. "OK, OK, OK, but what is the deal with the Jester? I''m still weirded out about that. You are not the type to scream like that, Lena," Alex pulled back the conversation. "Keep in mind what I just said, OK? What I''m telling you might just be something that the MAZE made," Helena looked toward the group, confirming that everyone understood what she was saying, "When I came here a long time ago, I found that Jester. Different traps, but it was the same girl, I''m sure of it. We asked about what happened, and her story was, well¡­ troubling. I''m not gonna go into details like she would have, and I''ll keep it brief. Basically, the pianist groomed her. He was her teacher since she was 8 or 9, then he promised to marry her when she got older, but then she found out that he was sleeping with her mother and her at the same time. That triggered a fight, and she ended up killing her mother, then going after him only to be rejected because he was with someone else, and that''s when she well¡­ became like that. It''s not a fun story, and the amount of detail she puts into it is not something I want to hear again. Ever." "How old was she when they were¡­." Blue started asking but was cut off immediately. "I didn''t ask. But she said he waited for her to grow up. I just don''t know what that means, and I don''t want to know. There that''s the story. Can you please move on? I know this kind of thing happens, but it''s really not a subject that I like talking or thinking about. If that happened with anyone I know, people would be dead and I would be in jail," Helena pleaded, and everyone else seemed to agree. "I just realized, how do we get out of here? Can we just leave or do we have to do something with the line outside?" Blue asked after a long pause. "Right, I didn''t think about that," Hera scratched her head. "I figured you guys would forget this detail. Don''t worry about it. There''s an app for the people who stay here, and you can just stay here and enter the queue. And, because most people forget about this, one person can queue up their entire party. The only problem is that I''m gonna have to be the last one to leave since everything is already set up," Helena shrugged. Alex sat on one of the chairs, "How long do we have to wait?" "About 5 minutes before the first one can go out, then between one and two minutes for each. It seems like there''s a big group coming through, and everything''s a bit backed up," Helena sat on the couch, following Alex''s lead. "I''m going to see my reward then," Blue announced and pulled up her tablet. When she touched the reward button, a small Jack in the box appeared in front of her. A simple white wooden box with a lever on the side. Without a second thought, Blue started to turn the lever, and the melody came out as if it was a music box. She kept turning at a steady pace, and every time it seemed like the song would stop, it started once again. After about 40 seconds of turning, the top finally popped open with a loud laugh. It seemed a bit like the jesters left, but this one was less crazy and a bit more robotic. The box collapsed and changed its shape to that of a small piano key chain. Blue took a moment to read the notification before speaking, "This kind of sucks. It''s a magic music box that has a calming effect on monsters. Like, I get it, but¡­." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "It''s a nice souvenir. If you don''t wanna keep it or give it to someone later, we can just sell it for the Guild. I''m sure we can make some money out of it," Hera suggested. "I guess," Blue shrugged. "If I don''t get that, I can buy it from you. Giving something like that to my mother might be a good idea. Just in case," Bonnie added before getting her reward. It was a white tailcoat that increased any music-based effects. Something that will be amazing for a performer or someone who has some sort of music based abilities. But for her, it was going on a sell pile. Helena didn''t even get a jack in the box, just some gold as the reward, since it wasn''t her first time running the dungeon. Hera almost forgot that this was the reward for the first time completion and not what she would get all the time. A while back, she changed the notification in dungeons to not show any ''first time, first day, first week'' and things like that. They were too confusing and she always felt too much pressure when one of those special notifications showed up. Now, the only one that would appear was when she was the first person to ever run a dungeon. Alex got somewhat lucky. From her jack in the box appeared the pianist hat. That same weird tentacle-looking hat that the Jester was clutching before they left the dungeon. According to the item description, each tentacle could do something different, from protecting her from certain effects to attacking her enemies or using items. But there was one very big problem. "This thing is so ugly," Alex gasped. "Yeah, I don''t know how anyone can pull that one-off. Blue nodded "It''s probably worth a pretty penny. If I remember correctly, that one is one of the most expensive items we can get in the dungeon," Helena tried to look it up on her tablet, but the warning about being their turn showed up, "Oh, who wants to go first?" "I''ll go. I need to use the bathroom. I''ll meet you guys up front," Bonnie got up and left the waiting room. Hera started twisting the lever in her Jack in a box until it finally sprang open, turning into a pair of small sword earrings. They were the type that would be dangling from her ear with a tip pointed down. There were no special details or anything like that. Just simple metal swords that weren''t even that heavy. Hera had worn hoops that seemed to weigh more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mental Defenders - Earrings Rarity: Rare A pair of earrings shaped like swords, Given to those who overcame the trails of a trap made to ruin your psyche. Item Skill: Mental protection The earrings provide a passive increase in your resistance against mental attacks and can be activated to double that increase for a limited amount of time. Passive increase: 15% Active duration: 30 minutes Cooldown: 5 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ha, neat. I wonder if I can use the mana in my earrings if they are somewhere else," Hera spoke out loud. "It''s a bit tricky, but you can''t do that. You just need to make sure that they are still touching your skin since that''s how earring mana stones usually are. Or if you want, we can look for belts or something that you can use in their place," Helena suggested, "What can those do?" "Hera! I know I might sound crazy, but you can add those to your court. Well, not now since you''re already full, but those earrings are eligible for it," Daskka perked up, making Hera miss what Helena just asked. "What do you mean I can add them to my court? Those are earrings, not weapons," Hera gasped. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of the previous holders figured out that the legacy recognizes anything that has a blade as a possible member of the court. Well, anything is a bit of a stretch. Most things that can be used as weapons can be part of the court as long as they are bladed. And those earrings are. On the side of the tip, there is a tiny part that can be used to cut something, even if the blade is very dull, but it fits," Daskka made some smoke shapes to illustrate what she meant. This time, she did that by using the legacy, so Hera was the only one who could see it. "But these don''t have any scaling. And would it count as one slot or as two since it''s two earrings?" Hera asked. "Just one. Is the same thing if you get a pair of twin blades or any weapons that the system considers a single thing instead of two. If they are part of a pair, they are considered a single blade, and they can move away from each other. Well, a little bit but like a meter tops." "Right¡­ but how would the earrings help? They can''t actually fight," Hera scratched her head. "They can. Think of your earrings as you would one of your poison needles. They can fly around seemingly undetected and attack with precision. Or they could just fly by one of the blades and be almost like an extension of them, or.." Daskka continued giving other examples of how a pair of earrings could work as a weapon, taking some information from how the previous holder used her blades," Or, you can have them for support. Like scouting or warning the rest of the court of ambushes and things. Technically, despite being a single entity, it will have two points of view." "Really? How does that work?" "I have no idea. But that''s how it will be." "Ok¡­ give me some time to think. I''m not sure if I want to let these join just yet, but we''ll keep an eye out for accessories that can work," Hera nodded. "Armor too! Some might work. I think¡­. Maybe¡­ We need to check," Daskka added excitedly, wagging her tail almost like a dog. "Hera? It''s your turn," Helena managed to snap the explorer out of the conversation. "Already?" Hera looked around. Only Helena and her were inside the waiting room," Where is everyone?" "They all left already. You seemed to be talking about something important, so we didn''t want to interrupt. But now we don''t have much of a choice, you know," Helena gestured to the tablet showing that it was their turn. "OK, sure. Sorry about that, I''ll be going. I''ll explain what we were talking about when I have a chance, and you asked me something, didn''t you?" Hera got up but stopped before leaving the room. "I did, but don''t worry about it. Just go, and we''ll talk later. Also, don''t forget to tell Ninelyn about your legacy. He''s gonna flip that you found one that wasn''t among our leads," Helena chuckled, "If he sends you a voice message, which I''m sure he will, let me hear it. It will be priceless." "I''ll send him a text as soon as we get out of here," Hera nodded and left the waiting room. She went into the central area and arrived relatively quickly. Not long after, Helena joined them, and the group left the tower. Even if this dungeon didn''t take that long to complete, it was mentally exhausting, and they wanted to take a break. Their first stop was one of the stores in the room, and while everyone was selling the items they got, Hera wanted to take a look at some weapons and accessories. 449 - Talking to the order Hera was currently in her private room. Before going to the store, she had sent a message to Ninelyn, talking about the legacy and how she found that some members of the Court of Heroes might not go by heroes or members of the court. And that organizations or small groups could, in fact, be actual members of the Court of Heroes. She wasn''t expecting more legacies to be found by looking at every group that worked with the heroes but considering their lack of solid leads, it was worth a shot to at the very least try. After all, the lead she had about the tamer only narrowed it down to its home being on the 12th layer, and that was like saying the needle was in one of the 25 haystacks the size of a stadium. It helped, sure, but the help wasn''t significant enough to give any tangible results. After they left the store, Ninelyn had already sent her a text and a couple of voice messages asking all kinds of things. He was so frantic and desperate that it got to the point of being funny. In a way, he sounded almost as crazy as the Jester from the dungeon. Hera replied to the message with some information, but there were way too many questions for her to type them all out. Instead, she replied to the most urgent ones and added that she would be going to her private room to answer the rest through voice messages since she didn''t want to speak about the legacy out in the street. Ninelyn''s reply came right away, asking her to let him know when she got there so he could call her for a proper conversation. Right now, Hera was waiting for the elf to call. She had already sent a message telling him that she was in her private room and ready for the conversation, but he asked for a little more time so he could gather the rest of the information he had about the blademaster. That way they could see if what they knew was actually right and maybe figure something out about other leads with that. While waiting, she pulled up the box that she got from the store. She bought a couple of things, first it was a book of engravings. It would show her the process of engraving different kinds of buffs in a weapon or armor and even give her step-by-step instructions on how to create her own engravings, even if they were limited to the most basic types. There was also the belt with a mana crystal embedded in it. Unlike a stone, the crystal could recover the mana independently, but it could hold 20 thousand mana. It was much less than everything else she had, but using this, she could have a sustainable source of mana to summon her blades and to ask questions to Yarnball if she needed. She realized that her relic wasn''t seeing as much use as it should have because she was always worried about spending too much mana on that. Using the bracelet with 50 thousand mana was something she could only do once every day or so, if she spent all the mana at once, but the belt would charge itself every couple of hours. That made things easier, since focusing on the amount of mana she was putting in her relic was always difficult. That matched Yarnball''s cooldown perfectly, and the fact that the buckle was a snake also made her even more interested in the belt. She was already walking around with a real snake on her neck. She might as well lean in the aesthetic. Aside from that, she had three other items. A sharp tiara that was made out of several different weapons. This one could give a buff to the lowest scaling of a weapon, and according to Daskka, this meant that her blades would significantly boost their attack since, in the case of a tie, all attributes that were considered the lowest would get buffed. It was only a 20% increase, but that was already amazing. Another pair of earrings, those depicting a scythe that, when triggered, would make subsequent attacks on the same target increase the damage it deals by 1%. The kicker was that the effect could stack, and it would affect her blades thanks to the [Army of One] skill. Meaning that if she was fighting against a single target, every attack that came from each of her blades would not only count to the increase, but it would be 1% stronger than the last. This was mostly useless When fighting multiple targets, but the effect would be permanent as long as she was wearing the earrings. Also, according to Daskka, this could be part of her court, and unlike the sword earrings, Hera really liked the idea of adding them to the roster. The last item was a new weapon. Hera still had her chakram, but she left the handaxe that Silah gave her at home. There were too many memories associated with it, and she didn''t want to think about it now. She even considered not being someone who uses a weapon herself and focusing on spells, but that doesn''t feel right. Especially considering that now she was inheriting the will of the blade master. Not to mention that she would all increase the power of her court as long as she could improve her fighting styles. Hera was about to uncover the weapon from the cloth that was protecting it when her tablet rang. She put the items away and hit accept, allowing Ninelyn to appear on the large screen inside her private room. "Hera! It''s very good to see you. Is your legacy already out? How does it work? Where did you find it, and how was the test?" "Hi, Ninelyn. I''m doing alright, how about you? Technically it''s already out, but just a small part of it," Hera pointed at Daskka, "I can show you the rest soon. Just breathe, OK, you''re speaking faster than a plane moves, and I''m worried you are going to pass out. The test was about me learning a fighting technique. There were a bunch of weapons on the ground, and I had to pick one and learn the movement that they were showing. But I had limited time to do it and only a limited number of attempts; each attempt was shorter than the last one. I started with 1 hour, and every time I failed, 10 minutes were shaved off the time for the next attempt. I don''t know if that''s like that for every legacy, but he didn''t seem to mind if I took my time between attempts. I tried once, then I spent a few days studying before going back there, and the test didn''t say anything, nor did the legacy. Is that normal?" "Nothing about legacies is normal. I have heard about some that only give you a single attempt. Others allow multiple tries and don''t seem to give you any penalty for failing. And even some that have seemingly arbitrary rules about how many times you can try it or fail. Yours at least had an actual structure that was explained in the notification. Now," Ninelyn''s eyes started to shine with excitement, "Can you show me the legacy?" Hera nodded and said, "Blade out!" with that line, all blades appeared around her without Hera even getting up from the couch. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Those are constructs, yes? How hard is it to control them?" "I don''t, actually. And yes, they are constructs, but I don''t have to spend mana to keep them around. It''s just the cost of summoning. For my control, it''s about orders. I can tell them to do one thing, and they will do it. I can tell them to do several things, and they will follow my orders to the best of their abilities. For instance," Hera looked to the bedroom and said, "Swift, Brute could you fluff my pillows? Bring it here first." The blades did as they were told, even if Hera could feel that they found the order weird. "That is¡­ Incredible! And you are not actively controlling them?" Ninelyn was almost climbing inside his tablet. His face was uncomfortably close to the screen. "I''m not. They get some of my skills and things like that, but it''s not like when I''m controlling a dancing light or something like that. I can just tell them to do something and even go to sleep, and they will continue to do so," Hera explained, "Also, Daskka here became the herald. Apparently, the legacy thought I would be more comfortable because she was already close to me." Ninelyn nodded, "That is rather common. Well, as long as you have a particularly well-crafted mana construct by your side. Usually, the heralds take the form of objects or not beings, but I know of people who have dogs and other animals as their Heralds. I can think of a particular case where an ego construct of a deer became the herald for a particular legacy. The deer and the legacy are now family heirlooms passed on from generation to generation. It''s quite an interesting idea, and having an ego item as the herald can jump-start your ability to use the legacy." "How so?" "Well, if the ego becomes the herald once more, it will remember a lot more about what happened than a regular herald. Not that it is able to recall everything fully. Apparently, the ego will have some trouble remembering specifics about the previous legacy holder. But things like how to use the legacy, the types of skills you can expect, or some of the more interesting particularities of the legacy will still be fresh in its memory. Now it''s my turn. Where did you find it? What lead did you follow?" Hera did her best to explain what had happened in the Waperath Kingdom, the threads that she followed to reach there, and all the things she found about the Court of Heroes. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much she could say about the last part. After all, her search wasn''t about the court but about the blademaster themselves. They talked for around two hours, with Ninelyn asking several questions that Hera could never have imagined. How was the handwriting of the person who made notes about the blademaster, any other mentions of large groups or organizations going to that room, and many more details that she never considered relevant. For the last 20 minutes after the conversation, all questions the elf asked had the same answer. "I don''t remember that," Hera sighed apologetically. "That''s OK. It seems like this was the limit of your search. Don''t worry, it already helped a lot," Ninelyn smiled on the screen. "Really?" "Oh yes. Now we can expand our search and maybe connect some dots. The blade masters were not the only group that we ever found to be related to the court of heroes. But now, maybe they were not simply related to the court. Instead, they might be members of the court that we were considering to be separate entities. For instance, there was a band of mercenaries called ''Flying Fishes,'' And we know of a member of the court of heroes who had some sort of aquatic abilities. Although there was never a direct connection between those two, maybe they were just different names for the same person." "I mean, it is possible, but saying it''s a fish just because they use water is a bit of a stretch," Hera added, "Oh, and what about the tamer, the lead that I was supposed to follow. I know I kind of dropped the ball on that one." "No, you haven''t. The lead is still there, and you''re still free to chase after it. However, I will say that if we have new members and not enough leads for them, I might ask you to give your lead away." "But, what if I find it?" "Well, if you do find the tamer''s legacy, I do hope you tell us so that we can send someone to get it. That being said, if it is in a situation where you don''t have an option. Or you are running against someone else, or even in the worst-case scenario that a monster has it and you have to kill it, we will understand that the situation was beyond your control." "Hang on. Does that mean that I can get more than one legacy? How would that work?" "One moment," Ninelyn walked over to his bookcase and started looking through a few times, "Here, Just keep in mind that this is highly theoretical. Or, based on rumors, I have no idea if they are the truth or not. But, supposedly, if you already have a legacy and you attempt to get another one, your legacy will absorb this new one. Let''s consider the tamer and your current¡­ Court of Blades, was it?" "Yeah," Hera nodded. "In theory, if you find the tamer legacy, the Court of Blades will absorb everything it can from the tamer. It''s hard to tell since we don''t know what the tamer legacy actually entails. But, let''s assume for a moment that it has some sort of skill that allows you to strengthen monsters and other animals. Your legacy might find a way to change that skill to fit your own abilities. So instead of making monsters more powerful, you''ll be able to make your weapons more powerful. But again, this is just conjecture. I''ve never found any reports of someone who already had a legacy and found another one or anything like that. What I do know is that it is possible to do a test for another legacy while you already have one. I have experienced that myself, even if by accident." "Really? What happened?" "It''s not that exciting of a story. The legacy belongs to another member of the order, and the test was located at the bottom of a well. While we were going down that hole, I slipped and fell, entering the test instantly. A part of me really wanted to try to get a second legacy. Still, considering that the person I was accompanying was a very old member of the order and a dear friend, I decided to not test this theory. I would be lying if I said that I don''t regret the decision at times, but I do think it was the right one. Trying to get a second legacy would be not only greedy but something made only to appease my own curiosity," Ninelyn explained. They talked for a couple more minutes before the elf thanked her for her time and said his goodbyes. This left Hera alone in her private room again. Now she could do the remaining two things that she wanted. The first was to test out this new weapon and check the engravings, and the 2nd what''s to call the room''s guide. 450 - Guide to the doors Hera pulled back the box that she had pushed aside. After removing the cloth protecting the contents, she saw a large glaive sitting on the case. The handle was mostly black, with some red leather straps wrapped around where one should hold the weapon. When reaching close to the blade, a piece of cloth was dangling from it in the same color as the straps, but it didn''t look like leather. Instead, it was very similar to silk, even though it was made of an inorganic polymer. The blade itself was black on the sides and golden at the edge. It was also very large, the metal shape was at least two times the width of the shaft and almost glad when looking from above, there were also a few tiny spikes on the back of it. On the other hand of the glaive, there was a round metal sphere with a spell circle engraved on it. That would function as a catalyst that could make it easier to cast and control spells. Another interesting part was that right under the blade, almost connecting to the wooden handle, there were three rings interconnected. Two of them were directly in the base of the metal edge, while the third one was between the other rings, holding them together. According to the crafter that sold her the weapon, if she used any kind of magic-based buffs on it, a mana blade would come out of the ring. The strength of that blade would depend on the buff, and any other effects active would also spread to it. The dangling polymer was just a way to tell how long the buff would last visually. The cloth-like material would change color and lose it with time like the charge of a cell phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glaive of the Battle Mage Rarity: Rare This weapon was crafted by using mana-infused wood, frostmetal, and the skin of a red salamander. It was created having mages in mind so that they could use weapons that would not only benefit from the magic they used but also enhance the spells they could cast. Attribute Scaling: Intelligence x 4.5 Endurance x 4.3 Strength x 3.2 Passive Skills: Spell catalyst: When the glaive is used to cast a spell, spell efficiency: + 20% Mana Blade: When a magical effect is applied to this weapon, it will generate a mana on a blade that will function as a real blade. When casting a magical effect on this weapon, mana cost: +10% Made for magic: This weapon was created with magic in mind. Magic-based effects are easier to be applied to the weapon. Familiarity: 0% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is a really good weapon." Daskka nodded, "It really is. It''s a shame that it is gonna take a while for you to be able to add it to the court." "It shouldn''t be that long. I mean, the handaxes only took me a couple days," Hera replied while picking the glaive up. "You are used to fighting with a handaxe. This is a completely new weapon. You don''t even have a fighting style for it. Maybe you can make it work with something you already have, but you are even missing something like a ''glaive combat'' skill. You should try to train in the guild when you have a chance," Daskka explained, "Oh, I also have a bit of bad news." "What?" Hera was trying out a few moves carefully. This wasn''t the best place for actual practice, but she had a chance to get used to the weapon. "I''ll just warn you that I didn''t know this before, but your blades don''t scale up with you." "What are you talking about? They scale with my stats, right?" "They do. But you didn''t check their stats after leveling up, have you? Ever since then, the number of bonus attributes they got didn''t change. Well, they changed a little bit but because of the familiarity not because of your level. Basically, when you get a new blade, they are linked to your current attributes. If your attributes change, the bonus that the blade receives won''t. That''s only the case for your court members, not for the titled blades," Daskka explained. "So it incentivizes me to keep changing the members of my court? If there''s a weapon that I really like, I can only try to ask someone to make another version in the future?" Hera frowned. In a way, she felt she was lucky since, unlike Ninelyn''s legacy, the court didn''t come with any restrictions on her life. She could still eat anything, do any magic, or whatever. The only drawback was losing the physical version of a weapon. Now, it seemed like there was another one. "In a way, yes. But you can still keep the weapons if you give them titles. But, in your case, since all your attributes change so much, you end up getting a very big increasing power with each extra attribute point that you spend. So you might consider changing your court at every level. Or at least, every level that you got a lot of points." "Like the one that I just had?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Yeah," Daskka nodded while looking down, "Sorry I didn''t tell you before. I could have questioned the legacy when you first leveled up, but the idea didn''t cross my mind. I only realized that now when you started talking about changing court members." Hera sighed and patted Daskka''s head, "Don''t worry. It''s OK. It kind of sucks, but it''s not like I can be picky. I''ll keep that in mind. Maybe I''ll change Executioner for my chakram since there is no way I can use that while holding the glaive." "Do you want to do that now? I can explain how to release one of your blades." "Not now. I want to test the engravings first. I don''t know if it sounds mean, but since I''m going to remove one of the blades, I might as well see if I can make them work," Hera felt very conflicted with that. She could sense her blades, and they could talk to her in a way, but that didn''t mean that they were alive. They had no emotions like Daskka. "I understand what you''re feeling. But in the end, your blades are basically robots. You don''t have to feel bad about changing them the same way you won''t feel bad about changing your tablet or another piece of equipment. The only thing that would be different would be a titled blade. They have personality, emotions, and they can talk to you on a more personal level. Not to mention that, like I said, they would get benefits from your level-ups," Daskka explained. Stolen story; please report. "Yeah, you said that, but I still don''t know how I can give one of them a title. You said that there are some conditions and I need an ego item to do it, but I haven''t found one just yet. The closest thing that I got from one was an auction that asked for 10 million gold just to be in the venue, and each bid should be at least 50 million. I don''t have that kind of money. To top it all off, it was just a rumor that we could find an ego item there. I bet the auction house won''t even have one," Hera crossed her arms with the glaive still in hand. The weapon''s blade passed dangerously close to her face, making her realize that she really wasn''t used to that kind of equipment. Nothing would happen if she made the same motion while holding one of her handaxes, "For now I''m just going to stop messing with this and move on." "Are you go¡­ing to ca..ll... Bl-Bl-Blu over?" Daskka gave up on speaking and continued their conversation through their Naga connection. Asking if they were done with dungeons for the day. She couldn''t do much in the Jester''s dungeon, and the No Hotel seemed to be something very similar to that. "No, there''s still one more thing I wanna do while I have the chance. Well, two things, but they are related," Hera pulled up her tablet and started answering the messages from all the guides she was talking with. There was nothing truly important among the contents, just some small talk and discussions about movies or books. If anything was out of the ordinary was the fact that Capri invited all the guides Hera knew to a group chat. Apparently, he was jealous that Hera had a girls'' night with some of the guides and was now trying to set up a movie club of sorts where they could meet all together to hang out and watch something in her room. Everyone seemed to like the idea, but almost all of them badgered Capri for inviting himself to someone else''s house. When all that was done, Hera sat on the floor and prepared to call this room''s guide. "I call upon the Guide of Dzviery. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." To fit the room''s theme, a small doorway appeared in front of Hera, but it wasn''t white like she was used to. Instead, it seemed to be made of a reddish clay. From it, a small creature appeared. Just like all the other guides, it was around the size of an average watermelon. They had six limbs, two arms and four legs, a large head and a small body that was covered in an exoskeleton, and a large head with a pair of mandibles. It was clear that this guide was an insect, but Hera couldn''t figure out what insect. "Hi, there! It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Luna, and you are?" the guide spoke in a perky feminine voice. "Hi, I''m Hera. The pleasure is all mine. I''m sorry if I''m being rude, but what kind of bug were you supposed to be, if any? You don''t look like an ant," Hera asked, unable to let go of that detail. "I''m a termite," Luna replied with what Hera assumed was a smile. "Oh... A termite? ¡­ That actually makes a lot of sense. Termite colonies are usually like towers and have a lot of doors, right?" Hera nodded. "Exactly! People keep saying that this place looked like giant ant caves that you have in some stories, but you couldn''t be more wrong. Ants usually only have a few ways to exit their nest. Termites are the ones that make hundreds!" Luna nodded vigorously. "Really? I guess it makes sense for an anthill not to have too many entrances. And it''s hard not to have a bunch of holes in those termite colonies that are almost like a building." "Exactly. You know your stuff," Luna moved her mandibles in a way that this time Hera was sure was a smile. But that begged the question, what was that other expression then? "Not really, but I appreciate the compliment," Hera smiled. "You know, I already like you. And I can see you have your meeting room. So unless you royally screwed up, I''m gonna give you my number after this." Hera smiled, "Thanks! Well, that puts a bit more pressure on my questions, though." "Don''t worry. Let''s start. Feel free to ask away!" Luna pointed up, and the screen on the private room turned into a 5-minute countdown. "The questions I have in mind are not related to this room specifically. They are more about the MAZE in general, is that OK?" "Well... sort of. I may not be able to answer your questions depending on what you''re asking," Luna scratched her thorax with one of her legs. "OK, can I get an ego item from a dungeon?" Hera wanted to get a titled blade, even if it was mostly to appease her curiosity about it. Everything about that part of her legacy seemed so strange. "You cannot. An ego item is considered to be a unique item. Dungeons cannot give you something like that because they are, by nature, copies of something or simulations. An item like that has to be either crafted or acquired through some MAZE quest or effect that won''t ever happen again. Also, that question was worth a minute. Sorry about that," Luna explained as 60 seconds were removed from the clock. "That''s OK. It''s cheaper than expected," Hera stopped to consider things for a moment, "Giving me information about an ego item would be too expensive for me, right?" "Right. It''s one of those things that you would need an absurd amount of time to get it. Like, 50 years worth of question time or something stupid like that. I never checked, but I know you don''t have enough," Luna explained. "OK. Give me a yes or no answer. Just out of curiosity, are there any dungeons that no one ever found in this room?" "Yes. There goes another minute. Your questions are good, but they are expensive. Be careful with that," Luna advised. Hera glanced up towards Daskka, who was on the couch, "Any ideas?" she replied with a suggestion, and Hera decided to take it, "Do you know any dungeons they can give mana constructs and weapons that have a really good synergy?" this was another possible condition for the creation of a titled blade, but neither Hera nor Daskka had any ideas how it would work. "Hum¡­ not really. As far as I''m aware, there is only one dungeon here that can potentially give a mana construct as a reward, and the dungeon doesn''t drop any weapons," Luna explained after thinking for a moment, "You still have about two minutes left." "I guess that''s it. I was more interested in meeting you than anything," Hera explained, "Oh. Since we are going there. Do you have any advice for the No Hotel dungeon?" Luna stopped the clock, "Do you want to spend a specific amount of time on it? I can give you two options, one that I''ll just speak for about 30 seconds, and another that will make you run out of time." "I''ll take the second one. I really don''t know what else to ask. I''m dealing with a lot of things lately," Hera sighed, thinking about her last few days. From getting new skills to breaking up, she had a busy week. "OK then. The advice is simple. Most hotels will place chocolate mints under the pillows," Luna replied again with an expression that could only be described as a smile. "That''s it?" Hera tilted her head. "Yep. Trust me, it will make sense if you go there." "I''ll keep that in mind then. Thanks!" Hera smiled. "Thank you for calling me! I''ve put my number in your skill, and feel free to text me whenever. I have to go now. My real body is dealing with someone else, and I never managed to get used to splitting myself. See you soon!" Luna spoke quickly and left Hera''s room in a flash. "She¡­ odd," Daskka said. "A little, but It''s a bit refreshing. It''s the first guide that actually sounds busy. I mean, there''s Peaches, but he doesn''t struggle all that much," Hera replied. A few moments passed, and she sent a text to blue to come to her room. It was already late, and they would rest for the night. Tomorrow, they would be heading to the No Hotel, and Hera wanted to make some changes in her court before that. 451 - Engraving a weapon "You know, I never was able to understand that," Blue was on the couch watching some videos on her tablet. She shifted her focus to Hera, who was on the ground with several holographic spell circles around her as she tried to figure out something. "And by that, you mean what exactly?" Hera asked without looking up, but she lowered the volume of the music she had on. Since she was working with engravings, she wanted to focus and not get distracted by the television. But staying in complete silence was also an issue, so she pulled up a stream of lo-fi beats to help her focus. "Spell circles. I''ve asked Bonnie and Helena to explain to me, but they were not the best teachers. Bonnie went straight to some complicated way of how things worked and what I should do to avoid the issues, and Helena kind of babied me too much. Like I asked about the spell circle, and she started to ask me about how mana and magic worked in a patronizing way. She didn''t meant it like that, I know, but it was a bit hurtful. And when I gave a wrong answer, she gave me the right one without explaining why I was wrong. It felt like a parent doing their kid''s homework," Blue sighed. "Really? Helena never felt like that to me. I can try to explain it to you if you want. Now that I think about it, you might be able to use very big spell circles with Stormcloud," Hera looked up. "Sure¡­ I guess," Blue shrugged. "So, you know how you need to give instructions in your spells. You use programming, right?" "Yeah." "OK, now imagine that you''re doing it here instead of saying the instructions in your mind," Hera gestured to the spell circle. "Right¡­ but how can I tell what each piece of the circle does? Like it''s a language or something?" "Sort of. It''s a bit of a mixture of trial and error and an attempt to create a language that you can understand. For instance, The circle itself, the line surrounding everything, usually is just a river where your mana will flow when you put it inside. Now, if I start from here, sending my mana in this direction, it will follow the clockwise rotation of the circle, and that''s the order of the steps of whatever is inside." Blue perked up. Now she was listening with more attention. The way Hera was explaining to her made more sense than all the times that she had tried to figure it out herself or when she asked someone else to teach her how those spell circles worked. Even if someone else told her those basics, it was the first time that she was beginning to see how it worked, "OK, so if you put mana from one point or another, that will change things?" "Yep. Quite a lot of spell circles have, like, small ''mistakes'' around the circle. It''s a way to tell mana, ''hey, start from here.'' But you need to be a bit more careful when making one like that because you need to also add a way to push the mana in the right direction. Or make it so that it doesn''t matter the direction it''s going, the spell will work the way it''s supposed to," Hera showed a few examples of premade spell circles to make it clearer. Blue stared at them for a few moments, trying to understand what would guide the mana, "I get this one. There''s this line here in the bottom, and the circle is mirrored, so it doesn''t matter where it goes, but what about these?" She pointed to another two spell circles that didn''t seem to have a proper order like Hera was explaining. "These are about how deep or wide the circle is. Look, both start at the small line, right?" Hera looked at Blue, who nodded in confirmation, "OK, now on this one, look how the line gets thicker and thicker when going clockwise." "But why doesn''t the mana just go to the thickest part?" "That''s a bit hard to answer. A lot of people have different theories. One of the most accepted ones is that mana doesn''t like abrupt things. If you have a hole and a slope, the mana will go to the slope where the change will occur gradually and not right away. People even say that''s the reason why spells work. When we force mana to do something, it tries its best to just finish the job and return to where it was before. Another option is that mana can understand the instructions given, just like it does with our spells. Or, it''s just the system doing its thing. But if all that seems confusing for you, there are other ways," Hera pulled a pen made by her room and drew a few runes in the air, "The dwarves from Boothudurn have a different way of using spell circles. They actually call this rune magic. Instead of having an actual circle, they made a language very similar to programming and made it so that every rune has a weight, a priority." "Can''t I just write in code then?" Blue asked. "For some reason, that doesn''t work. Then again, it''s kind of good. If it would work with the code, it should work with words. Imagine if you were reading a book and suddenly something happened because you put mana on it. My understanding is that it has to be a language made to work with mana. Oh, and all parts must be connected. That''s why letters wouldn''t work. Well... Maybe cursive." Hera was lost in thought for a moment but she quickly snapped back to reality. To continue her explanation she made a rune that was a square with an open top and another that was a hexagon with a diamond inside, "I really don''t remember what all the runes are, but the rule of thumb is the more lines a rune has the heavier it is. Then, when they pour mana into the rune, the manner will follow the order from lightest to heaviest. It will never start a heavy rune unless the connecting lighter rune was already filled. I use some similar concepts to the spell circles I make. Each of the symbols I write has a different priority. The spiral is considered priority 2, meaning it will always come second. That''s because the elemental symbols are priority ones. When I''m making a spell circle that I want to have a specific limit or effect, I need to first pass the manner through the element and then through the spiral to mix it up and make sure that all the mana inside it is correct. Only then I can push to the next step. I also have these," Hera showed a few different symbols that she usually put around the spell circle, "These are my fail safes. They are here just in case the spell goes out of control. One is a monitor, another is a way for the spell to collapse on itself, and this one is the one that disperses the mana when it gets the warning. These are considered priority zero, meaning that they should always be active for anything else to work." "Why do you need something like that? If the spell circle fails, wouldn''t it just waste mana?" Blue asked. "In the best-case scenario, yeah. But sometimes, the process is already too deep into itself to be stopped. It never happened to me, but I''ve read stories about people who didn''t have any precautions on their spells and created large explosions or some seriously bad effects that hurt everybody around them. That''s why I keep my fail safes in all spells that I''m trying out." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "I see, that''s important then. By the way, what do you use spell circles for? I don''t think I ever saw you using one in a dungeon," Blue asked without looking away from the spell circles Hera showed her. For the first time, these things were making sense. "Well, I can''t actually use them inside dungeons. I mostly use them to help me control my mana when I''m trying to make a new spell or when I''m trying to copy the tamer''s skills. Now that I have the court, I might be able to do something about it in the middle of a fight, but I still don''t know how," Hera sighed. "Have you ever heard about formations?" Blue asked. "Like. Phalanx and things like that?" "Not really. I''ve been reading this comic about a bunch of warriors in a world without a system, and they use these things called formations. It''s basically a way to organize yourself and your party in a certain position to create a magical effect. Now that you''re talking about spell circles, it does seem like something similar. Maybe there''s a way to use your blades as the spell circle." Hera looked at Daskka, who asked for a moment to look some stuff up. Both of them seemed interested in that idea. If there really was a way to use her own blades as parts of a spell without anyone getting hurt, Hera could start to do some real damage. Most spell circles were considerably stronger than a simple spell than one could cast on their own. This was because, in the spell circle, there were a lot more details and a tighter structure that guided the mana to work in a certain way. Not to mention, you could improve a spell circle again and again. Eventually, the writing would be so advanced that it would look like something on a completely different scale. "That''s an interesting idea, but I have no clue how to start. Do they explain anything else about how those formations work?" Hera asked. "Not really. It''s all very vague. Like one is the foundation, and the other is the spear and some weird analogies that don''t even make much sense. One comic that I read a while back had a better explanation. It said that the energy they used in that world, which is called Ki, or qui, or chi, or whatever, should be passed from one to another and have their elements complementing each other. They have like a five-element rule that each element is weaker than another and at the same time can strengthen another element. From what I can remember, the idea was to just push the energy around to make each other stronger. That''s even why they had to have five members so they could do it in order," Blue was trying to remember the name of the comic, but she read so many of them that it was hard to pinpoint which one had that particular explanation. "Could something like that work?" Hera turned to Daskka, who was on the floor, helping her out with the engravings and now searching something about the legacy. "Maybe. I couldn''t find any skills that are related to that. Not anything called formation, at least. But in theory, some elements could help each other, but you already know that, like using wind to make a fire spell stronger or spread out more. But if you want to do something like what Blue is saying, you need to figure it out on your own. It won''t be something that the legacy already dealt with," Daskka explained while scratching the top of her head with her tail. "We should go to a dungeon later to test it out. But let''s go someplace where the entrance is not actually dangerous or at least where we can kill all the monsters easily," Hera nodded. "Why go to a dungeon? Couldn''t you just practice in one of the training rooms?" Blue asked. "If I''m being honest, I''m weirded out about using my legacy inside one of the training rooms. I know the guild talks a lot about those spaces being private and that there are no cameras, but there are sensors and other things in there. That''s how we can use the training AI. What if they have some sort of deal to sell some information about what some explorers can do? It''s just like social media companies that sell our data. Especially now that they are so close to the New Dawn. I still don''t trust them," Hera replied. Blue nodded in response. Even if the controller wasn''t that against the New Dawn, she understood Hera''s feelings. Some time passed, and Hera finally felt confident enough to attempt to engrave a buff in one of her weapons. In fact, she wanted to do that on two different weapons. The first was her chakram because, according to Daskka, There was a chance that the number of engravings one other place could receive wouldn''t be affected by engravings that happened before the weapon joined her court. The second weapon she wanted to test was Executioner. Mostly to understand what would happen if one of her court members received an engraving. Hera had two ideas. The first was to use a simple enhanced strength buff using one of the engravings. The second that she would use on the chakram was an engraving to add elemental damage to its attacks. It was a more complicated engraving, but it still seemed to be easy enough for her to make without any problems. Both of them were not constantly active. They would only be triggered when there was a magic-based buff in the weapons since they required mana to function, but they wouldn''t affect the duration or cost of said buffs. Hera read about engravings that either only required mana to be engraved and would be active all the time after that, or that would trigger actual skills, but those were very advanced versions that she had no idea how to do. Another issue about the engravings was that a member of her court could only receive an engraving that she made herself. If the engraving was made before the blade became part of the legacy, there wouldn''t be any problems. Hera started with her first engraving, which was the most complicated of the two, by using a wand-like tool that would function as a hot knife. The tip would heat up by using her mana to allow the marking of weapons. The main difficulty about doing something in a chakram was that the engraving had to be a certain size, and since the weapon wasn''t big enough. Because of that, she would have to draw the circle around the blade without messing up the ratio. It took her about five tries before making the spell circle work which was a good thing since each time she failed, the area where she tried to make the engraving became useless. Not that the weapon stopped being effective, but she couldn''t make any other spell circles on that area, and, by the dimensions of the chakram, she only had five attempts. She was even using the holograms made by her room to wrap around the chakram but that didn''t stop her from failing a few times. Fortunately, after three hours of work, she managed to complete the elemental effect on her chakram. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Screaming Ooze Chakram Rarity: Uncommon A chakram made out of an agglomeration of cores from the screaming ooze. Because of the material, the weapon makes a unique sound when it is moved at high speeds. The blade is somewhat malleable when exposed to high temperatures. Attribute Scaling: Strength: x3.6 Charisma: x2.8 Luck: x2.2 Weapon skill: Howl: You can make your weapon scream, causing nearby creatures to run away in fear or to become frozen in place. Range: 50 meters Mana cost: 200 mana Engraving: Deals 10% of the damage as lightning damage. Familiarity: 53% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feeling happy that it had worked, Hera was about to summon Executioner when Daskka spoke up, "Hey, you can add one more member to your court now!" 452 - The No Hotel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ooze - Sound Chakram Attribute Scaling: Empress attributes: 74 Strength: x3.67 [1.8(3.6) + 1.87] Charisma: x3.27 [1.4(2.8) + 1.87] Luck: x3.97 [1.1(2.2) + 1.87] Intelligence: 1.87 Endurance: 1.87 Agility: 1.87 Weapon skill: Howl: You can make your weapon scream, causing nearby creatures to run away in fear or to become frozen in place. Range: 50 meters Mana cost: 200 mana Engraving: Deals 10% of the damage as lightning damage when imbued with mana. No engraving slots Familiarity: 53% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executioner - Strength Hand axe Attribute scaling: Empress attributes: 68 Intelligence: x3.25 [1.45(2.9) + 1.8] Charisma: x3.1 [1.3(2.6) + 1.8] Dexterity: x2.9 [1.1(2.2) + 1.8] Agility: x1.8 Strength: x1.8 Luck: x1.8 Weapon Skill: Executioner''s strike. Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage. Engraving: Increase the strength of the weapon by 10% when imbued with mana. Strength Scaling when active: x1.98 1 engraving slots Familiarity: 66% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera only needed three tries to make Executioner''s engraving. Despite strength not being the best attribute for it, she decided to pick it since it was the type of manner that her blade used, hoping that the effects would be stronger because of it. Unfortunately, Daskka said that they weren''t. Any other blade would receive the same kind of buff, meaning that this engraving wasn''t the best option for Executioner. That ended up being one more reason for her to consider changing her blades in the future. If Hera wanted to be more effective with her legacy, she would have to stop being so sentimental with her weapons. "I have to say, watching you add a new blade to your court is something else. I mean, it''s smooth and simple. You can barely see the weapon stop existing. Well, I guess it doesn''t stop existing. It''s just somewhere else," Bonnie told Hera. The previous day, when Hera decided to add to her roster, she sent a text to everybody because they had mentioned they wanted to know what the process of adding a weapon to her court looked like. "Really? I don''t know. To me it just looks like smoke, and I kind of think it''s Daskka who''s doing that. Like maybe she doesn''t have to, but she does it anyway, I don''t know," Hera looked towards the snake that was on her shoulder. "You''re kind of right. I don''t have to do the mist, but at the same time, something has to. During the process of adding a weapon to your court, something has to cover it completely and then make the blade disappear. It could be anything really, fire, water, ice, light, dust, blood, whatever. It just ends up being me because¡­well, I''d like to practice making things with the mist," Daskka explained. "Oh, OK. Is it always that beautiful? Also, is it always the same thing that gets the weapon, or does it change depending on its element?" "I''m not sure. If you want, next time, we can try." "Try what?" Bonnie asked. Hera started explaining when Blue arrived. The controller was also curious about their conversation, and she asked to be filled in with what was going on. Even Alex shared some of the excitement, but to a lesser degree. She wasn''t bothered by the legacy anymore, but she was more curious about what the blades could do in action and not about the small details of getting them. Right now, they were already in the waiting room for the No Hotel dungeon, just waiting for Blue and Helena to arrive, and there was no one else around. It was very similar to the entrance of a hotel. There was a large chandelier on the ceiling, several very comfortable couches and chairs, and a fireplace that was turned off and didn''t seem to be real. The structure of the fireplace looked much more like one of those parts of a building that were just made to look good and did not actually have a function. All in all, it was a nice place if it wasn''t for one detail. The walls had a light blue texture that tried to replicate small waves rippling through the stones. When you were paying attention to them, everything was fine, but when you were looking elsewhere, it created an optical illusion that the walls were moving. If the rest of the hotel followed that pattern, it would be very easy to get disoriented, which was likely part of the dungeon''s design. It didn''t take long for Helena to arrive, and when she did, they talked a bit more about the No Hotel before going inside. "OK, things to watch out for. Don''t stay outside any room after you hear the roar. There is only one roar, and trust me, you won''t miss it. Inside there, we can find several statues. They are the people, I guess, that work in the hotel. We can ask them for directions or advice about rooms, but they won''t give a complete answer unless our destination is right on our faces. Also, don''t worry about finding the coat or the pattern to locate her room. It''s usually something so mind-boggling that it takes longer for us to figure it out than it would take for us to find it if we just walked. " Helena explained. "Sometimes we might split up too, right? Do I remember that correctly?" Alex asked. "Yes. Some of the rooms have a limit of people that can be inside. When that happens, we''re gonna have to split up and communicate either toward communicators or by knocking on the door or just yelling. As long as we''re inside a room, we can do whatever we want, and the Housekeeper won''t do anything about it," Helena nodded. "And inside each room, there''s a challenge of sorts. Like the place getting really cold," Blue added. "You guys really remember. That''s correct. Inside that room, there will be a trial of sorts. We need to stay inside for at least a specific amount of time, and if we stay for longer, we''re just gonna add to the time that we have to roam around before the Housekeeper starts patrolling the hallways again. On top of the door from the inside, there will be a clock. If the time is red, it shows how much time we have to wait until the Housekeeper goes back inside, and when it''s green, it shows how much time we will have before the monster starts walking around again. When everybody is inside a room, the red timer will start ticking down even if we are in split groups. And as long as there is no one in the hallways, the green timer will pick up after the red timer goes to zero. Another issue. Each room has its own timer and if we split up the timer will always be equal to the longest one. Which might cause some problems." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Does that mean that when the clock hits zero, it''s going to start ticking up at one second, and we have to wait for however long before going out?" Hera asked. Helena shook her head, "Not really. Since each room is a test, when you complete the test, meaning the red timer counts down to zero, we get a bonus time to move around. It can vary depending on how hard the challenge was. If it''s a cold room and we''re just chilling by the time the test is over, we should get around 5 or 10 minutes. Let''s say the challenge is on par with the temperatures in the Arctic, then we would get a lot more time. If I remember correctly, the most time I ever got with the group was an hour. And the challenge was really tricky. It was about being in a place where the oxygen got thinner and thinner. By the end, we had less air than one would have on top of Everest." "Can we fail those challenges and still survive?" Blue asked. "Some of them, yeah. I''ve only mentioned the ones about cold, but there are some more unique ones. Sometimes we are going to have to do an obstacle race, climb a wall, or find a white flower in the middle of a yellow flower field. Everything is non-combat-related, but sometimes combat might help. For instance, I did one test that was about breaking wooden boards. Kind of like those things you see in martial arts presentations. The more we broke, the more bonus time we would have later," Helena continued explaining, almost like a teacher talking to her class. "OK. Is there anything else?" Bonnie asked. "No, that''s about it. Are you all ready?" the mage looked around. Everyone nodded, but Hera remembered a detail, "Oh. I was reading up about the dungeon, and someone in the comments of a video said to look under pillows. They said something about chocolate mints. I''m not sure if they were telling the truth, but I guess it''s worth a shot." "Huh. I don''t think we ever checked under the pillows when I did this. It''s worth a try," Helena nodded. With that, the group walked towards the dark green door, and, on the other side, they could see the reception desk for the hotel. It was the same color as the door and made out of simple wood with some details to give it some personality. However, something about that seemed a bit off. The lines were too perfect, and there wasn''t a single speck of dust anywhere. As they approached, they found no one at the desk. It was completely empty, no paper, no computer, and no keys to be seen in the hangers on the back. It was like the place was completely deserted. "Wasn''t there supposed to be a statue here?" Blue looked around, searching for the person who would give them the key and the quest. "Yeah, they are there," Helena pointed to the left. Everyone looked over, but there was nothing. The moment they focused back on the desk, they saw a creature standing there. "What the hell?" Hera gasped while jumping away from the statue that had just appeared. Everyone else did the same with Bonnie tripping and almost falling to the floor. Helena started laughing, "I''m sorry. Your reactions were great." Hera took a moment to look at what was behind the desk. There was a humanoid statue, although it had no ears or facial features aside from a half-moon mouth and two black beady eyes that seemed to peer into one''s soul. It also seemed to have a frazzled black hair under its bellboy hat. Looking down, she could see that it was wearing a jacket with a vest and a tie, but everything was made of stone that had a slight tint to it. The hat and the vest were red, while the jacket was black and the tie blue. "Welcome to the No Hotel. Will you be taking individual rooms or one for the whole group?" the voice came from the statue, but it was unmoving. The mouth didn''t change, and the words seemed to be injected forcefully into everyone''s minds. "Oh, this is weird¡­. What do we answer?" Bonnie turned to Helena. "We will be taking a single room, please. One for all of us," Helena replied to the statue before turning back to the group, "Now close your eyes." "Why?" Alex asked. "The statues can''t move unless no one is watching them," Helena explained. "That''s not creepy at all," Hera rolled her eyes. "That''s how things go. Now close your eyes," Everyone followed what Helena said, and after a couple of seconds, the mage spoke up again, "You can open now." "Fuck me!" Blue gasped. The statue was now with its hand towards her and its head was uncomfortably close to her face. Hera also noticed that the frazzled black hair had changed to a blue shade that was eerily similar to Blue''s hair. "Yep. They do that," Helena chuckled, "Also, just a heads up. They move extremely fast. If you blink, it''s enough for them to change their position from standing still to that or to get very close to you, if that''s the case." Blue reached out to get the keys, and as soon as she did so, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Find your room The No Hotel receptionist has given you your room key. Enter your room to complete the quest. Rewards: 250 000 gold. No Hotel amenities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Your room is room 8592B. Is a very nice room with an amazing view of the frosty mountains behind the hotel. I ask you to please be careful when walking our corridors. We are currently understaffed, and our Housekeeper needs to keep her schedule. You are free to enter any vacant rooms while she''s passing by to avoid any uncomfortable situations," the statue spoke. Now that Hera could pay a bit more attention, she noticed how the voice was weird. It was like each word had a slightly different pitch than the previous one. "OK¡­ and how do we get there?" Bonnie asked. "Your room is to my left, your right. If you get lost, please look for one of our staff. They''ll be able to assist you in locating your destination," the statue spoke, still frozen in the same position that it gave the key to Blue. Alex walked over to the corridor and noticed how narrow the place was. Even if Helena said that each hallway had a different size, she felt that it was a bit too much, "Are all hallways like this, or do they get bigger? This feels a little claustrophobic." "No!" Helena gasped. "We are able to accommodate our customers. If you wish the hallways to be wider, we can make it happen," the statue replied before the ground started rumbling. The waves on the walls moved, folding into themselves and showing a large square room with five rows and five columns of doors on each side along with some stairs and moving platforms. "What did I do?" Alex turned to Helena. "Shit. It''s my bad. I forgot to warn you guys to be careful when talking to this one. The hotel is going to be all wide and weird, and it''s easier for the Housekeeper to see us now," Helena sighed. "What?!" Bonnie gasped, "Does that mean that it will kill us on sight?" "Not really. But she will start chasing us when she sees us. We''re lucky that the Housekeeper is not that fast, and she doesn''t have any ranged attacks." "I would advise you to move quickly. The change in the hotel changed the Housekeeper''s schedule, and she will start working soon," the statue now had changed. Its back was turned to the group while it seemed to be placing a key on the large key hanger behind it. Its head had done a complete 180-degree turn, and the beady eyes had small curves on the bottom trying to show some sort of happy expression that only made it more creepy. "We better get going then, guys. This just became a bit more complicated," Helena clapped her hands and gestured for everyone to move. 453 - Housekeeping The group was in one of the cube-shaped rooms. Everyone was looking around, trying to find rooms that should be vacant so they could stay there. "Do we really have to be in such a rush?" Alex asked. "Yes! We don''t know how much time we have until the Housekeeper shows up. It''s better for us to find a place and then stay there. Then we have an actual time frame to work with," Helena was moving around the walls of the large area with her shadow tentacles. Blue was using Stormcloud to do something similar, creating a small flying nimbus to move around. Unfortunately, even with the pieces of cloud that she got from the Sky Ruler hard mode, this spell wouldn''t work with multiple people just yet. Bonnie was just looking around with Hera by her side. The explorer made a motion as if she was about to throw a javelin and said, "Yeet!" tossing the non-existing projectile in the air. At the same time, her entire court, including Ooze, the new member, went flying to the top of this large area. Hera only gave them a single order, to find a vacant room, and the blades were already working on it. "Really? Yeet?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "What? I''m trying to find a good way to call them, but until then, I''ll have some fun with this," Hera shrugged. With everyone''s efforts combined, it didn''t take long for them to find one of the vacant rooms. However, it wasn''t in this particular area. Only after going across a corridor that was just 10 meters long to another one of those large cube-shaped areas filled with several doors around the walls that they find it. On the 2nd row, there was a single door that was already open, which also meant that it was a vacant room, according to Helena. The problem was actually entering the room. There were a few moving platforms that would go from side to side, and to get on top of it, they would have to climb down the other platforms jumping from floor to floor. Another option was just to jump down, but it would be a four stories fall, and there was a chance of missing the target. Alex and Blue didn''t have any trouble getting there. The assassin had her wind chaser, which allowed her to move quickly to the target of any of her attacks, while Blue could use Stormcloud as she had been using since the beginning. Helena also had an easy, even if not quick, way to get there by using her tentacles, but she couldn''t carry someone else like that. It was one thing if they were moving through the ground, but going up and down walls was much more complicated. Suddenly, a roar echoed through the hotel. It wasn''t a simple battle cry of a monster. It was a roar of anger in frustration, something that shook everyone''s body to the very core and resonated with the moments in life when they had to work with something that they really didn''t want to. They all looked back and saw the Housekeeper. By all accounts, they were looking at a minotaur, or at least a version of one. It had eight large horns, two on the top of her head and another six coming from her neck and spine, massive bulging muscular arms with small spikes coming from the elbows, a cow-like face, and a large golden ring on her nose. Her eyes glowed red like the fire from a forge in contrast with the long braided hair that came down from the sides of her head. She was pushing a cart filled with cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and other amenities that one might need to restock in a hotel and wearing a long maid apron covering its hooves, complete with the cloth maid tiara. The Housekeeper turned to the group and started walking toward them with an angry stare, leaving her cart behind. Each step made the ground rumble, and this noise coming from her nose became louder and louder as flames began to jet out with each exhale. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go," Helena pushed everyone to move faster while she was jumping from the high floor towards the empty room, "I can send my shadows to get one of you when I''m there." Alex sent off a wind blade and quickly appeared inside the room while Blue was floating, trying to figure out what she could do to help. Her clouds weren''t exactly quick to make, and since she was on top of her flying nimbus, there was no way that she could create another cloud to sustain a person. Hera didn''t like the idea of leaving Bonnie here alone, so she decided on another course of action. She quickly pulled up her Griffon Whistle that was always with her even when she wasn''t using it and called Nimbus to her side. She told the cloud Griffon to carry Bonnie towards the door while she was going to jump and hoped that her shoes'' gliding effect and Daskka''s mist would help cushion her fall. Everything happened too fast. Bonnie didn''t even have a chance to complain about the suggestion, and she was already on top of the Griffin gliding towards the door. Hera glanced back towards the Housekeeper, ''''the monster was already halfway through the corridor they had just come through. Without hesitating, she jumped down while asking her blades to help her get to the door. The order came in a weird situation, and her blades were too far away to reach her in time. As they were heading down, Daskka took the form of her giant mist snake to try to carry Hera, but her shape wasn''t solid enough. The explorer fell through the mist without stopping at all. She tried to raise a stone wall from the ground, but her spell didn''t have anything to take hold of. Apparently, the floor of the hotel wasn''t made out of stone. She started accelerating when something came to mind. Hera quickly activated her fire elemental armor to try to focus the flames on her feet and at the palm of her hands that were now pointing down. Hoping that it will be enough trust to push her up or at least slow her down. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. She ended up hitting the floor with a loud noise. Her knees buckled with the impact, and she could feel something being pushed to the very limit in her body. Jumping five stories down filled her with adrenaline and that was still coursing through her body when she hit the ground, allowing her to ignore both of her sprained ankles while she ran towards the wall right under the door. Arriving there, she tried to climb up using the wavy texture of the walls as footing. Even if it was working, she could feel her fingers hurting with the weight forced onto them. She was halfway there when she felt some shadowy tentacles grab her body to assist her climb. Helena was already getting close to the door, and she was close enough to help Hera at the same time. Her shadow tendrils couldn''t carry more than one person vertically, but they were strong enough to lessen the strain on Hera''s body. The Housekeeper had jumped from the corridor and was now on the bottom of the floor, creating a small crater with the impact before letting out another roar, but the movement seemed to have stunned it for a moment, giving the group more time to reach the room. Thankfully, Hera managed to enter the dorm room just a few moments after the Housekeeper reached the bottom floor before it even started moving again. Even so, she ended up being the last one, everyone else was already inside, waiting for her to enter, and they closed the door as soon as possible. Ooze, who was one of the blades that were farther away, was the last one to enter. Hera considered just dismissing the weapon, but she didn''t want to waste mana doing that and the Housekeeper wasn''t close enough to be a threat. Helena let out a sigh of relief with the door closed, "Wow, that was close." "Yeah. I don''t wanna do that again," Hera slumped on the floor, noticing now that there was some sand on the ground. The room they were in, if this could be called a room, was actually a beach with a small island on the horizon. There were some hammocks, a plastic table with two beach chairs around it, and a wardrobe that seemed to be made out of straw. "Is this normal?" Blue asked while looking around. "Nothing about this place is normal. But if you''re asking about showing up somewhere that''s completely unrelated to where we just were, yeah, it''s normal," Helena nodded, "On the table, there should be a piece of paper telling us the mission. Or somewhere where there should be a piece of paper or something with writing on it. Maybe inside the wardrobe." "OK, let''s see it¡­ Ouch," Hera tried to get up, but she felt her ankles sprained now that the adrenaline was wearing out. "Here, let me help you," Alex helped Hera up and took her to one of the hammocks. The ability to glide through the floor ended up helping a lot to push her along. At the same time, Blue walked up to the table and saw a note on top of it, "OK¡­ it seems like the test here is to reach that island and bring back a flag that''s on the beach. Who wants to go swimming?" "That''s not the best idea. If we swim and the next room we go into is about cold or electricity, that might be a big problem for us," Bonnie said. "I guess you have a point. But how are we gonna get the flag?" Blue asked while still flying on top of her cloud. "Are you seriously asking that?" Bonnie pointed down. Blue glanced at the ground and realized that she was flying. She never tried to cover long distances, but it was worth a shot, "I''m still getting used to this; I might have to take a break on the other side to rest up. If that happens, can anyone come to pick me up?" "Nimbus might be able to. But we''re gonna have to wait a few minutes for his cooldown," Hera explained while rubbing her ankles. She dismissed the mount as soon as they went inside the room to avoid causing any problems. The issue now was how to fix her feet. Not being able to think of anything else, she started humming the Luminous Light Litany to help her heal. Daskka joined in, and her blades made a circle around Hera and Alex while they also seemed to participate in the spell, but instead of singing, they seemed to be dancing. That triggered an unexpected effect. The litany became much stronger than what she expected from the amount of mana she was using. Even if her blades were taking some of her mana away, making her spend almost triple the amount she intended, the spell seemed to be at least four times more effective than if she was using it on her own. The process lasted for about 5 minutes. During that time, Hera noticed the ticking clock above the door. When they arrived, it had 7 minutes on the clock, and by the end of it, there were only two minutes left. Another thing she noticed was that the tide was slowly advancing. It was still very far from the furniture and even farther from the door, but the limit seemed to be related to that. Blue also returned while Hera recovered, with the red flag on hand. It was one of those that you would find on a golf course. However, there was no notification or sign showing that they had completed the test. According to Helena, that was how things went. They would either get the extra time or not. When the clock finally reached 0, it turned green and started counting up again, but instead of starting from 0, it began at 13. "That''s not much time. My suggestion is for us to stay here to have at least half an hour. Then we can really make some progress. We could divide our time into 20 minutes of searching for our room and 10 minutes of searching for any room just so we have enough not to be too close to the Housekeeper," Helena''s suggestion was accepted by everyone, and they all just sat down and waited. Lucky for them, even after the timer reached 30 minutes, the waves barely got close to the furniture. Since they were all feeling restless already, the group was by the door, watching the clock change from 29 minutes. As soon as it did, Helena opened the door and they moved outside. To everyone''s surprise. They were no longer in the second row of a cube area but in a massive cylindrical room with a spiral slope. In the center of this place, there was a pillar made out of several hundred, if not thousands, of doors leading to different rooms. "What do we do now?" Blue asked. "The easiest way would be to find a statue. Or to find our room. What was the number again?" Helena turned to the controller. "8592B." They all looked back to the door just came from, and the room number was 246D, the one to their left was 124893A, and the one to the right was room number 2V. This didn''t make any sense, and there was no way to figure something out. Not wanting to waste any time, Hera and Helena set up an alarm on their tablets for 20 minutes, and they all started moving. 454 -Find the statue "This doesn''t make any sense," Bonnie gasped. She was with her tablet trying to figure out the pattern for the rooms. "Let it go, Bonnie. I told you, trying to figure that one out is a waste of time. Not only is it a very complicated code, but it also has way too many variables for us to understand," Helena said as they kept walking up the spiral. "But, how are we supposed to find out where we should go?" Bonnie was still noting down every room number they were passing by. "We need to find a statue. Then we can ask them for directions. Usually, they only answer one question, but it''s better than nothing," Helena explained. "Do you guys want me to use Yarnball? I can just ask if we are going in the right direction or something," Hera pulled up her relic, ready to use it. "Save it for later. This place is too big, and asking for the right direction can mean a lot of different things," Alex walked closer to the central pillar. There was a solid wall about a meter tall that stopped anyone from falling over, and the massive pillar made out of doors in the middle. Each of them had a different number, and almost all seemed to be occupied. From there, she could see the other floors and wanted to check if there was a corridor or something that broke off from this seemingly infinite pattern. A couple of floors down, on the opposite side of the spiral, she noticed another one of those bellboy statues with its back facing her, "Guys! Look!" Everyone rushed over to see what Alex was talking about. When they realized what she saw, Helena started giving everyone directions, "OK, we need someone to stay here and don''t look away, and we all rush down. Then the person can come to join us." "I have a better idea," Blue jumped up and created her flying nimbus again to fly through the empty area between the door pillar and the spiral and reach the statue. "Didn''t you say that you couldn''t be doing that all the time?" Bonnie had a confused expression while she watched the controller fly by her. "Yeah, but we were resting. I have enough mana now," Blue replied without looking away from the statue. It didn''t take long for the controller to reach her destination. She was getting quite proficient with her flying nimbus. When she arrived there, Helena told her not to look away and try not to blink. They will get there soon. "Right, if she blinks, the thing should move," Alex nodded as they started running down. "Yeah, they are extremely quick," Helena sighed. "Where did it come from? I mean, we were just there. How did we miss it?" Hera asked. "When nobody is looking at them, they move faster than our eyes could see. So, in theory, they could just wait for a moment where we were looking at a door and passed by us without an issue," Helena explained as they were finishing the first lap. "Guys? Are you close? I don''t know how long I can keep going without blinking," Blue spoke through their communicators. "Blink one eye at a time. Just make sure to always have one eye open," Alex replied and started running even faster. Hera considered using her [All In] to get there sooner, but doing so wouldn''t guarantee anything. It was better for her to wait to use her skills in a situation where she actually would need it and not just to reach there before Blue ended up blinking. Luckily, Alex managed to reach the controller fast enough so she could blink. They still had to control when they were blinking not to let the statue get away, but it was much easier with two people. Soon everyone else arrived, and they turned to the statue. The bellboy was wearing the same type of clothes as the receptionist, but Hera was unable to see its legs. It was like the coat would keep going on until it reached the floor, and its arms were moving as if it was in the middle of taking a step. "It will answer only a single question, right?" Hera whispered to Helena. "That is incorrect. I will answer as many questions as you have. However, the amount of information I have to give about a certain topic is limited," the statue spoke in that odd voice that kept constantly changing pitch and without moving again. "Oh, OK. I thought it was different," Hera looked at Helena, who just shrugged. "Sorry, it''s been a long time since I came here. I don''t remember everything." "Anyway, can we ask you not to move while we ask you questions? It''s kinda hard to control who is blinking and who is not," Bonnie stepped forward. "That is unnecessary. Now that I''m aware you desire to speak with me, I will not move until all your questions have been answered. After all, doing so would be against hotel policy, not to mention very impolite. You could have said anything to me when you arrived, and I would have stopped to answer," the statue explained. "Good to know. Good to know. For starters, can you tell us why this place changed?" Blue was rubbing her eyes. It was weird having to consciously stop yourself from blinking. "What do you mean by changed?" the statue asked in a confused tone. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Like, when we got here, the layout was different. Then we went inside a room and came out somewhere else." "I see. The rooms have multiple connections. If you enter one and complete the test inside it, the exit will change locations to somewhere closer to your own destination. If you are unable to complete the test, the exit won''t change. This is more evident when the hotel adopts this layout." "Oh¡­ so we can arrive at our room just by doing a bunch of tests?" Bonnie asked. "Correct. However, if you decide to just enter the first vacant room you find. It will take quite a while for you to reach your room. Using this method will require at least 35 test completions before you are close to your room." The group looked at each other, a bit worried about that statement. When they returned the focus to the statue, it had changed positions. Now it was facing them with both hands on top of each other and its arms to the side, in a very subservient position. "So, what''s the best way for us to find our room?" Alex asked. "I can give one of two pieces of information as per hotel policy. I can inform you of the direction you should follow to reach your room by foot, or I can give you a hint about the rooms you should try to stay in until you find your destination. Which information would you like?" the statue replied in a monotone voice. "What do you guys think?" Alex turned to the group. "I think the second option is better. Just knowing the direction won''t do much for us now. Especially since we have no idea how far the room would be, and I''m assuming you can''t tell us that, right?" Bonnie turned to the statue. "Correct. The information I can give is limited as per hotel policy." "I agree. Like Bonnie said, we have no idea how much we''ll have to walk even if we know the direction we should go," Helena nodded. "I''m fine either way. I don''t think we''ll get much farther having gone inside a single room," Hera called her blades over and asked them to look at the statue, "Excuse me, do they count? As trying to talk to you, I mean," Hera asked the figure. "You mean your weapons? No, they don''t. Your snake is able to see me and stop me from moving, but she can''t communicate with me either." "It was worth a shot," Blue patted Hera''s back. "OK then. Well, take the second option. What hint can you give us about the rooms?" Alex asked. A light came from behind the statue that made them all close their eyes. When they opened, the stone had changed. Its arms were now wide, showing three sets of elbows on each arm and fingers too long to be natural. Its mask was cracked, and the hair behind it was long, just like Alex''s. Its clothes were tattered, but it was still made out of rock, but it looked like cloth and even sawed gently with the breeze. Hidden inside the skirt, they could see three sets of knees coming to the sides in a spider-like way. Suddenly a shrill voice started to speak inside their minds, "The key you have is something to wonder. Be wise not to make a blunder. Those that match will show you the path, but a near perfect fit will make you split. Look for the numbers, not the letters, and pray that you won''t find your betters," for the first time, the pitch of the voice didn''t change while it was talking. Another flash of light made a party look away, and when they returned their attention to the statue, its form had shifted again, back to the bellboy appearance that it had before. Everyone was a bit shell-shocked, but Hera and Bonnie managed to snap out of it to write down the riddle they had just heard. "Is there anything else?" the statue asked. "Can you explain the riddle to us?" Blue looked over to the stone creature that still had a cracked mask. "The hotel policy stops me from doing anything beyond what I''ve done. You are free to look for other employees who would be better equipped to answer your questions." "OK then, I guess we should keep going?" Blue looked back to the rest of the group, who nodded in response. "I can''t think of anything else to ask. Not right now anyway, and we have just about 12 minutes left. We should keep moving to see if we can find a vacant room. If anyone figured out that weird riddle say something so we can narrow the search," Hera looked at the timer on her tablet. She didn''t want to have a close encounter with the Housekeeper again. "I mean, it''s kind of obvious, isn''t it?" Alex asked. "Is it?" Bonnie turned to the assassin. "Yeah. It''s telling us that we need to find rooms that have a close match to our numbers. But we need to be careful not to enter rooms that have the same letter, and if it is the same number with a different letter, we might end up splitting up," Alex explained with a shrug. "But what about the something to wonder, and the part about finding your betters?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. Maybe there are doppelgangers here? Or a place where we have to be to a certain score that somebody else left or something, I don''t know. All I can say is that we should keep going so we can find our room," Alex added. "Then, let''s head up again. Keep an eye out for a vacant room that has one of the numbers that our key has," Helena said as they started walking. Hera turned back to the statue, but it wasn''t there anymore. At some moment during that conversation, the bellboy had left. She sighed and said, "Thank you for the help," not actually expecting it to hear. "You are very welcome. We are here to make sure our guests have the best possible experience," the statue replied in Hera''s mind. The group continued going up the spiral. About 5 minutes passed before one of Hera''s blades was able to locate an empty room that matched part of their room number. It also had 4 numbers and started with 85. The full room number was 8517T. A close match but not a perfect one. That could lead them closer to their destination, and it was all they wanted. Everyone entered the room, wanting to take some more time to discuss what happened and how they could find another place that would take them closer to their destination. Luckily, this room was an actual hotel room. There were three beds, a bathroom, a walking closet, and a table that the group could use to sit and discuss their ideas. This particular test was very simple. The lights would get dimmer and dimmer until they vanished completely, leaving only the timer above the door. After only five minutes, they completed the test, and all the lights in the room were off. However, nothing stopped them from using light spells to illuminate the area. This test only allowed them to gain two extra minutes, and they were following Helena''s idea. They would stay in the room until they had half an hour to look around. Since they were in a very dark room, Blue and Alex decided to lie down and ended up falling asleep while the rest continued discussing their ideas about searching the hotel. They even managed to find a small fridge with several snacks that they could eat. They were off-brand and didn''t taste quite right, but they weren''t bad, nor good. Still, it was better than nothing, especially for people who were staying in a dark room watching the clock tick. 455 - test after test "Blue, Alex? It''s time to wake up. We have to go," Hera shook them gently, trying to wake the two. "Five more minutes," Blue mumbled and turned to the side. "Man, I needed a nap," Alex sat up while stretching, "I don''t remember when was the last time that I slept in the middle of the afternoon. It still is the afternoon, right?" "Yeah, don''t worry. You slept for like, 20 minutes or so," Hera replied. "And unlike someone else, you didn''t snore," Bonnie rolled her eyes and poked Blue, "C''mon, we have to go. This is your last chance." Blue mumbled something but didn''t wake up. In response, Bonnie made a small spark of electricity on her hand and shocked the sleeping controller with the spell. "What was that for?!" Blue jolted up, some of her hair standing up because of the static. "This is what happens when you don''t wake up, and we are in the middle of a dungeon," Bonnie scoffed. "Ok, OK. I''m up," Blue grumbled as she left the bed and walked towards the bathroom, "Can someone give me a light here? Also, does this place have heated water?" Before she finished the question, Hera already had sent one of her dancing lights to the controller. "No, it doesn''t," Bonnie replied and then turned to the rest of the group and whispered, "Don''t tell her. Cold water is good for her to wake up." To turn on the hot water in this place, you had to press a panel inside the first drawer by the sink. It wasn''t the most intuitive system, but it somehow felt on par with what was going on in the dungeon. Hera looked over to the remaining bed. Surprisingly, all of her blades were there, lying on the mattress. It wasn''t something she ordered, and according to Daskka, they didn''t need to rest, but still, they were just enjoying the comfort for a few moments. During the time they were resting, Bonnie, Helena, and Hera came up with a plan to find more rooms that could lead them to their destination. Helena took some time to twist the packages of the snacks she got into numbers and used a few shadow spells that allowed her to expand her perception to familiarize herself with the shapes. Hera did the same, but she used her sensory net. The idea was to use their abilities to increase the area they could survey and, potentially, make finding the next room easier. But she didn''t have anything to look beyond the range that Hera or Helena were already working with, so she focused on trying to find a pattern or at least the beginning of one. Even if that was supposed to be a fool''s errand, it was the only thing she could think of, and she had to do something. Unlike Blue or Alex, she couldn''t just rest in a place like this. It just didn''t feel right. When everyone was ready to leave, they stared at the timer one last time. Now they had 37 minutes and some change to look for their room. It was not much longer than they expected, but every little bit will help. When they opened the door, they found themselves in a large circular room with no corridors or exits. There were only about 50 doors to different rooms. "Well, that was a waste," Helena sighed. "We managed to rest a bit. And the snacks weren''t that bad," Hera tried to cheer the mage up. "Are we sure that we can''t find a corridor here?" Blue asked. "I guess we could. Maybe behind one of those doors, there is a path that we can keep moving through. But we have to find it, if that even exists," Helena started walking towards one of the doors to check. It took them just 10 minutes to confirm that no there were no exits from this area. Their only option was to go inside a door, and this place seemed to have removed all choices from their hands. There was only a single vacant room among all those 50 doors. Even the room that they just had come from was now locked, and they couldn''t go back. However, when seeing the room number, no one wanted to go in. It was 8591B. According to the statue, if they went inside a room that was too close to a match and had the same letter, they would end up splitting up somehow, and that seemed like a bad idea. But there didn''t seem to be any other options. Every single one of the other 50 doors was locked and wouldn''t budge. It didn''t matter how much they tried. "Let''s just get this over with," Alex sighed in frustration. No one was enjoying the idea of splitting up, and she somehow felt responsible for it. After all, she was the one who came to the conclusion of what the letter would mean. With a nod, they all went inside the room. The place was, again, very different from the hotel. Instead of being in a comfortable room, they were now on top of a stone pillar with several stone platforms spread out in a hexagonal pattern. In front of them, there was a coat hanger with a piece of paper dangling from it. Bonnie picked it up and read it aloud, "The test for this room is to reach the center of the arena. Only one person can be on a platform at a time, or the platform will collapse. When a person leaves the platform, the platform will collapse. When all five members of your group reach the central platform, the test will be over." Stolen story; please report. "It doesn''t say we have to touch the platform, right?" Blue asked. "Apparently not," Bonnie nodded. As soon as she finished speaking, the controller jumped on top of her flying nimbus and went to the center of the room, which was about 100 meters away from their location. Everyone stopped for a moment expecting the test to act up in some way. But that reaction never happened. Apparently, flying over the platforms was a completely acceptable way of passing the test. "OK, Blue, now make that big cloud bridge that you did when we were in the Wailing Valley so we can go there without any issues," Hera yelled. "Good idea!" the controller left the nimbus and started creating a bridge for the rest of the party. At the same time, Hera asked her blades if they could somehow carry her in the air. She could see how much fun Blue was having and wanted to try to fly too. Daskka agreed that it was very fun to do so, and she started coordinating with the court about how they could do it. While the cloud was still being made, the flying weapons that Hera could control approached her and informed her that each of them would be carrying a part of her body. Brute and Executioner would be under her feet, while Ooze and Beam would be on her hands, trying to pull her up. Lurize and Swift would be around her making sure she wasn''t going to fall in either direction. "You know. A previous holder had a titled blade that doubled as their flying mount," Daskka told Hera while she tried to step on her blades and maintain her balance. "Really? How did that work?" Hera asked Daskka, but everyone else could only see the explorer awkwardly trying to climb on top of her court. "There''s a skill for that. Two, actually, but they are expensive, so it''s going to be a while before you can get them. One skill makes your blade bigger, big enough so you can stay on top of it like a surfboard, and the other is the actual mount skill. The titled part doesn''t seem to be necessary, but it does help," Daskka frowned. "Good to know. I''ll keep that in mind," she managed to get in a stable position with her blades. She told them to move slowly, and they did. In a way, this was similar to using roller blades, but the type of rollerblades that you didn''t know how to use, and someone else pulled you so you could move. Another issue was that it was clear that Brute and Executioner were struggling to keep her floating. In the end, Hera gave up that idea for now. She wasn''t going to stop looking for ways to fly, but he was best not to do it now in the middle of a dungeon. A few moments after the Hera finished testing this idea out, Blue finished the cloud, which allowed the entire group to walk above the platforms to the center of this room. Arriving in the middle, they heard a rumble, and all the platforms surrounding that place started to fall, one by one. In about five minutes, the only place still standing was the central stone pillar. "This pillar is not going to..." Blue started speaking but was quickly cut off by everyone. "No!" "Don''t say it! We are all thinking that, don''t say it," Alex gasped, hoping their fears were unfounded. The stone pillars started to shake, and the group got ready to be dropped to the bottom of this place, whatever that may be. Instead, what happened was the exact opposite. The pillar started to rise slowly, almost like it was presenting something. When it broke through one of the clouds in the sky, they were met by a view of a sea of clouds and five doors surrounding the platform. Each of them with one of their names and the clock above it marking 1 hour and ticking up. "So... Does that mean that we need to get out of here through the door with our names?" Hera asked. "Maybe, but what''s stopping me from going to a different door?" Blue took a couple steps towards the door with Alex''s name, but she was stopped by an invisible wall, "Seriously?" she gasped and tried to step back, only to be stopped again. "Ha, it seems like you can only move towards your door, and if you try to move back, this room won''t let you," Bonnie explained after doing a couple of tests. "Then we are going to have to figure things out on our own? How is the timer going to work? Aren''t we supposed to all be inside a room for the Housekeeper to stop chasing us?" Alex asked. "Yeah. Each of us is going to have to manage our time properly. Set up an alarm, and do not miss it!" Helena stared at everyone and stopped anyone from moving until they all set up their alarms. "Should we stay here for longer? That way, we can have more time to work with," Bonnie suggested. "I don''t know if that''s a good idea. We''re still going up. Slowly, but we''re still going," Hera gestured to the clouds, and they were, in fact, starting to lag behind the pillar, "And, if you pay attention, the air is starting to get weird." Helena nodded, "It''s the same thing with the thin air in the room I mentioned. This is how it starts. I agree with Hera. We should move now. Use the last 20 minutes to search for a room, and let''s hope that we find a way to group up again." "OK. Everyone ready?" Blue asked before turning to her door. "Ready!" Alex nodded. "Ready, I guess," Bonnie had a worried expression. She was the only one in the group who never fought against a monster that was stronger than her, and it seemed that the idea of being alone wasn''t sitting well with her. "I''m not ready, but let''s do this," Hera tried to cut through some of the tension, but it didn''t seem to work. They turned around and waited for everyone to reach their doors. They needed all the time they could get, and if one of them rushed ahead first, the timer would start counting down. With a deep breath, they all counted down from five before opening the door and stepping outside to the hallway of the No Hotel. 456 - Alone in a hotel Walking out of the door, the first thing that Hera saw was a very wide corridor with a surprisingly small amount of doors on each side. The ceiling of this area was also lower than one would expect. She would even have to dodge or duck under some low-hanging lights to not hurt herself. After walking around for a bit, she could confirm that a couple of rooms here were either open or had a small do not disturb sign with a big bright yellow sticker that read ''vacant room'' hanging from the doorknobs, but none of them were the room she was looking for. One of the doors did have a decent match to the numbers in the key that was currently with Helena, which meant that she might be able to get closer if she went inside. However, doing so might cause problems for both the test and her friends. There was a very real chance that the trial would take more than an hour, and adding that time to the time other people would be in their rooms had the potential of hurting someone. She had no idea if the time would add, be averaged out, or just become linked to the longest room. While thinking about that, a thought crossed her mind. What if someone ended up in a test that would take much longer than the rest? What if someone had to spend 6 hours somewhere and someone else had a particularly complicated test where it would be impossible to survive for the same amount of time? This could be an unforeseen death sentence, and there was nothing she could do about it. Hera took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts aside. As she said it herself, there was nothing she could do about that situation, so worrying about it now was completely useless. Focusing once more on this area that she was in, Hera noticed that near what should be the middle of the room, there was a hole in the ceiling. She sent Beam towards it and told it to look around and see if there was anything dangerous there. Even if she was worried about changing her blades and being kind to them, Hera wasn''t about to put herself at risk when she had an option that, in the worst-case scenario, could be revived. It didn''t take long for her to get a reply. This hole was actually a passage. Beyond it, there was a staircase leading up, and after that, another room very similar to the one she was currently in. It only took her 2 minutes to search the entire area, which gave her more than enough time to look into the passage she had found. She sent most of her blades to this next room and told them to start looking for the numbers on the doors. Lurize was the only one that she asked to stay behind. It was weird that this hotel had changed so much, and she wanted to be sure that it wasn''t changing just because she left an area. If it did, she would have to change how she approached her search. Apparently, that wasn''t the case. She even called the sword over and waited a few minutes before sending it back down, but the room was still the same. Not even the door numbers changed. During that time, the rest of the blades were also working, looking at every door and trying to find either a match or the room that they were looking for. Here there were no matches. Her court could only find rooms that had one of the digits of the one she was looking for, which didn''t amount to much. There was even another hole with a staircase leading up inside it. Feeling she had no other option, Hera went to the next floor. There was yet another hole in the ceiling. She ended up repeating that process another 12 times. Halfway through that, she noticed that each room was a little bit bigger than the previous one, almost like she was climbing an inverted pyramid. On the 13th floor, she found four elevators on the corners of the area and no hole in the ceiling. This begged the question, would an elevator be considered a room? Would she have to go through a test while in there? "What do you think? Are we going to see a test there?" Hera turned to Daskka. "Don''t. know," Daskka spoke in that growly tone. "Should we take that chance, or do we look for a room and hope it''s an easy one?" "Can. Leave. Room?" Despite the words not coming out right, Hera understood what Daskka was asking, "We can leave the room we enter after we finish the test." "Before. Start?" "Before we start the test?¡­ I don''t know," Hera looked down, she didn''t consider that possibility, but it was valid. If she had enough time and no one else was inside a room, could she walk in, check the test and decide if she wanted to do it or not? "Call. Lena," Daskka spoke, sending an image of the communicator that was on Hera''s neck. "I''ll try, but something tells me it''s not going to work," Hera replied and pressed the button, "Lena? Can you hear me?" There was no response. It was like she was trying to use it when they were too far away. With a sigh, Hera turned to the elevator once again, "Screw it. Let''s try. Everyone, follow me, and stay close. I don''t know if the doors will wait for everyone," she called her blades over and pressed the button to call the elevator. She didn''t even have to wait. As soon as she pressed the button, the door opened, revealing a pretty standard elevator, although slightly bigger than she expected. It still had the same odd wave pattern on the walls and a large mirror on the back. Hera walked inside, followed by her blades, then looked at the panel. There were only two floors to choose from. Top floor or ground floor. She pressed the ground floor since, by all logic, this should be the top floor, but nothing happened. Finding it odd, Hera pressed the top floor. This time, the elevator started moving down. The ride seemed to last a while, which made sense since the staircase between each floor was considerably big, and nothing weird was happening. If Hera was to nitpick, there was a surprising lack of music in this elevator which wasn''t usual for a hotel or a public space, but that was it. She turned around, looked at the mirror, looked at her blades, tried to tidy up her hair, which was a mess, and tried to distract herself while waiting for the elevator to arrive. After around 2 minutes, she started to get restless, and she tried to look for something in the elevator that could tell her exactly how far she was from the top floor. While doing so, she also realized something was off. The elevator was moving, something was off. She wasn''t feeling as if it was moving down but up. There wasn''t a doubt in her mind that when she got in the elevator, it was going down. She even remembered seeing the light of the room she was in passing by the small gap on the door and going up instead of down. Noticing her worry, Daskka and her court started looking for something to show her where she was. Ooze found something odd in the mirror and told Hera about it. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Looking at that finding, she realized it was just a power button labeled ''Elevator Mirror''. Since it was on the mirror, it was very unlikely that this would turn off the entire elevator. If it did, this would be the worst setup ever created, not to mention it felt like something that would go against the rules of a dungeon. Despite everything, dungeons were fair. The things inside it would never kill someone out of the blue. Well, maybe monsters would but not the environment, not if it wasn''t something there was clearly made to kill them. Pressing a button shouldn''t cause any problems. There was even a label, and Hera was starting to freak out. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button, hoping that it wasn''t a trap. A green circle appeared around the label and the walls vanished, showing now that this was a glass elevator, but both the button and the writing were still evident on the glass. Now she could confirm that she was, in fact, going up. From her point of view, she could only see an endless expanse of hotel rooms and oddly shaped structures. There was a place that looked like a giant mall, another that looked like a warehouse, and even one that was just a giant sphere with a spiral staircase around it. Looking back to the structure she was just in, Hera saw a pyramid. A normal pyramid with the smaller point on top. It was made of 14 floors, but it felt like it had the exact dimensions as the rooms she had just passed by. And now she was going to the top floor where there were four connected corridors to the small print in the pyramid. Elevator was also moving very slowly, that''s why it was taking so long. Pulling up her tablet, she double-checked the timer she had set up, and there was still around half an hour for her to search for the room. As a way to take her mind out of the waiting, Hera asked if any of her blades felt off. They asked what she meant, and she just said she wanted to see if she could polish them a bit, sharpen their edges, or make herself busy while they were waiting. As per Helena''s advice, she didn''t have the glaive that she just bought on her. The mage suggested that since she still wasn''t used to the new weapon, taking it to a place like this could be detrimental to what you could do, and considering how tight some of the corners in the staircase were, Hera had to agree that it was a good idea. Daskka turned back to Hera, "They are always sharp. It''s part of the legacy. When you summon them, they are always in the best shape possible." "Yeah, but that doesn''t mean they couldn''t be better. I mean, they''ve been moving around, and there was the whole ''trying to carry me'' fiasco. Maybe one of their edges is a bit chipped or something. I don''t know," Hera explained. "Well, I guess. But this feels more like something else," Daskka shrugged. "Anyway, I need something to distract myself, and I have a piece of cloth here. So, who wants a rubbing?" Daskka laughed, "You know how that sounds, right?" "Take your mind out of the gutter," Hera rolled her eyes. Lurize ended up offering itself to be polished, and Hera managed to focus on something else. She had enough time to clean one of the sides of the blade when the elevator arrived at the top floor. It was a long hallway devoid of any doors, and Hera quickly dashed through it. Since she was alone, there was no need for her to worry about getting lost, and right now, she just felt like moving. Looking at the time, she was getting close to the 20 minutes mark, which was when she would have to search for a room. When she reached the central room, she could see the four corridors connected to the edges of this area, a fifth one in the middle going slightly up. Directly in front of this 5th hallway was a door with the number 69X. "He, nice," Hera and Daskka spoke at the same time before turning back to the new passage and sprinting up. This led them to another open area, and for the first time here, it actually felt like she was in a hotel. Not inside one but in front of one. There were two buildings that looked like those hotels you could see in resorts, with all the corridors open to the view and the doors facing outside. Hera ran to the first open door she found now that she had an idea in mind. She told all her blades to hold the door in a way that would stop it from closing, just in case it would try to close on its own. With the door still open, Hera looked for the piece of paper that would tell the test of this room. The place was again very similar to an actual hotel room with green walls, a single king-sized bed, a television, and some curtains hiding a window overlooking a marvelous beach of crystal blue water. Inside the dresser drawer, she found the paper explaining the test. The gravity inside this room would get stronger and stronger and whoever was inside it only had to wait 30 minutes before going out. Hera didn''t like this idea. Staying in a place with increased gravity could get really bad really fast. Especially since she was wearing some armor. While she was reading, a voice came out of her communicator, "Hey, can anyone hear me?" "Alex?" "Hera! Good to hear from you. I''m guessing we are close enough to talk. Did you end up in the desert, or did you have to go through some tests too?" Alex asked. "Desert? What are you talking about? I''m in the¡­ resort, I guess," Hera replied. "Aw, man. I hoped you were close. That''s still far away." "How do you know that?" "I was there. It took me like five doors before I could get here." "What? How?" "I just gambled. I went into doors that had quick tests and matched the numbers. It worked. I''m already in our room. It''s a good thing that the Housekeeper can''t enter this place. There was a notification about it," Alex explained. "Really?" "Yeah. You should see the view we have from here; this place is so cozy. It''s kinda like a wooden cabin by a mountain. It has like, winter vibes." "You could try to send me a picture? Maybe I can look for rooms that are similar and end up there. Or even better, do you remember the number of rooms you went in?" "I don''t remember. It was the only room in the five-story tall resort." "Five-story? This place should have at least 20 floors, and there are two buildings," Hera gasped. "Oh, I guess it''s not the same place I passed by then," Alex replied. "Right. Send me the picture. I''ll try to find a room like that and a room I can actually stay in." "Sure. Do you think it''s going to work? The picture, I mean." "I don''t know. But maybe we can talk because we are inside rooms. Like this is a ''safe'' place," Hera emphasized the word safe to try to convey the quotes through her voice. "That makes sense. Like not a lot of sense, but what does in this place? There, just sent the picture in the group chat," as soon as Alex replied, Hera''s tablet rang the notification sound. Hera pulled up the device and opened the group chat. Just as Alex told her, she was inside a cozy cabin with five king-size beds in a circle, a fireplace, and a large TV. There was also a window in the frame showing the mountain in the background. If she couldn''t find a place like that, maybe finding the view was a way to go. "I''m going to run to look for a better test. Talk to you soon," Hera said and left the room without even waiting for Alex''s reply. This place was fun and all, but one of them had already arrived in the room, and her competitive side wouldn''t let her be the last. 457 - Finding the room After leaving the room where she talked to Alex, Hera sent out her blades to look for any other rooms that didn''t look particularly complicated. The first three that they found seemed to be a bit too much. All three had very large areas inside, and there was no indication of what the test should be about. Executioner found one that could work. It was a tall cliff with a red flag on top. From the description she received, one could guess that this particular room was going to be a rock-climbing challenge. That wasn''t bad, and if she could use her stone wall spell, passing the test should be a breeze. The only problem was that that room was on the 7th floor, and she was currently on the 10th. By itself, that wasn''t an issue, but to go down the floor, she would have to cross all the links of the corridor and then do the same thing on the next floor since the stairways were in the opposite corners of each floor. She glanced at her tablets and saw that she still had 7 minutes before the 1-hour timer. Going back to the stairs will take at least 5 minutes, and that could be too much. She would have to find something else if the test took a long time. But she still had one more option. Unlike most of the hotel, this place was set up like a resort. The building was facing outwards, and while on one side of the corridors, she could see only doors and the weird wavy wall. Looking to the other side would allow her to see a railing and the view. A pretty crappy view, but that wasn''t the point. In this place, she could, in theory, drop from floor to floor from the outside, saving her precious time. Not wanting to give herself a chance to struggle with the decision. Hera pulled up Yarnball and tied it on the railing before climbing to the other side. "What are you doing? The legacy can''t help you with this," Daskka tried to push Hera back to the hallway, afraid that she would fall and die. "Of course, you can. Just push me when I''m getting close to the floor that I wanna be. And I''m not gonna drop all the way. I''ll drop one floor, then I''ll set up and drop again," Hera explained. "No! You don''t need to. We can just run!" Daskka gasped, and Hera felt the rest of her blades having the same worry. "We don''t have time. If you guys are worried, just push me when I get to the opening," Hera held on to the railing and stopped using her feet for support. She was still around two meters away from the next railing, and that was only counting the distance starting from her feet. After giving Yarnball a quick tug, to make sure it was properly tied, she dropped as she was repelling down to the next floor. Her entire court jumped into action, both trying to lift her up and push her back inside the building. They weren''t able to stop the Empress from doing what she wanted, but with their assistance and Yarnball''s pull, Hera fell on the 9th floor, tumbling into the corridor. She wasn''t injured, even if the fall wasn''t exactly elegant, and got ready to do it again. "Hera stop!" Daskka gasped. "Don''t worry. It''s working fine," Hera tugged Yarnball, trying to see if she could activate the phantom thread to keep using the same string on her next attempt. It worked perfectly, and she started tying it on the railing of the floor. Stop. Don''t. Careful. Give me a warning next time. Those were the messages she was receiving from her court. She ignored those telling her to stop doing this but accepted the advice about being careful and letting them know before she jumped. That would help a lot since there will be more at the ready to assist her. With this new setup, Hera jumped another two floors. Doing it this way only took a minute and a half. In the grand scheme of things, this method wasn''t that much faster, but when pressed for time, every second counted. She quickly went towards the door that Executioner had found. Inside, she was met with a very tall rock cliff with some of those rock climbing handles on the side. There was a small coffee table right by the door with a piece of paper facing down on top of it. She quickly checked the test, which was even better than she expected. To complete the test, all she had to do was to climb the cliff as quickly as possible. The catch was that the crag would keep growing exponentially. So even if she had, in theory, unlimited time to complete this test, if she took way too long to reach the top, eventually, the wall would start growing at a speed that was impossible to keep up. If that happened, she would have to leave from the same door she entered and miss the bonus time for completing the test. It was a place where if she did the test or not, she could stay here for an unlimited amount of time. "Sorry, I really needed to use the bathroom. Where are you?" Blue''s voice came through the communicator. "I''m already in the room you guys are looking for," Alex replied. "Oh. I''m here too, guys," Hera chimed in. Blue started asking the same type of questions that Hera did the first time she talked to Alex. Not long after that, Helena also joined the conversation. The mage apparently arrived at a room where she could complete the test and stay for at least one extra hour if needed. Everyone got distracted by the conversation and the idea of understanding how this worked. When they were inside one of the rooms, they could talk with everyone else that was also inside their rooms but outside, they were still on their own. They were about a minute away from the moment where the Housekeeper would be roaming around again when they realized that Bonnie was still missing. "Bonnie? Can you hear us?" Blue asked. "Do you think something happened? Or did she miss the timer?" Alex''s voice sounded worried. "I doubt it. I saw her setting the alarm up. She made like 10 different ones to make sure not to mess up. I just hope she didn''t freeze," Helena replied. "What do you mean?" Hera was by the door, trying to see if one of her blades could see the researcher somewhere. "She was freaking out a bit. I don''t think she liked the idea of being alone here, but it wasn''t like we could do much, and everyone was already splitting up. I asked if she was OK, and she didn''t say anything," Helena sighed. "Why didn''t you tell us?" Blue gasped. "Because it wouldn''t matter. We got stuck in that room, and there was nothing we could do to change the rules. Bonnie would have to go alone even if we tried to make her feel better. This might sound cruel but talking her up and comforting her just to leave her alone in this place sounds even more cruel to me. Hope can be a dangerous thing. Besides, one rule of this place is that there is always a new open door for us to use. We will never be placed somewhere where we can''t find another room to enter." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "I''m going to see if she''s around here somewhere. I''m in a very wide area, and if push comes to shove, I can jump back in the room," Alex said. "I''ll do the same," Hera walked out of her room and yelled, "Bonnie! Are you here?" As she asked that question, the alarm went off, and the Housekeeper''s roar echoed throughout the entire hotel. At the same time, Hera managed to hear Bonnie''s panicked voice, "I don''t wanna die!" Hera looked down and saw Bonnie outside the resort structure, running like a headless chicken. Hera quickly pressed the communicator and started waving her arms, "Bonnie! I''m here." It took a moment for the mage to find her friend. Not so much because it was difficult to see the explorer, but because she wasn''t in the right state of mind, "Hera! Please don''t leave me." "Come up here. There is an open room that we can use. Hurry before the Housekeeper¡­" As if waiting for her rescue, the Housekeeper appeared in the corridor, from the staircase heading down. She was pushing her cart, and the moment she saw Hera, the minotaur just growled and started walking towards her, "Shit. Come here, Bonnie. I''ll keep the Housekeeper distracted. Room 3592C, 7th floor!" Hera yelled before backing away from the minotaur and tossing a few spells at it. The Housekeeper wasn''t going to move very fast, but at the same time, Hera didn''t want the monster to change her target. Her fire arrow bounced off the maid''s uniform, and her poison needle burst before even reaching it, which only seemed to anger the minotaur more and more. Now, the Housekeeper was walking a little bit faster. Hera kited the creature up to the 8th floor and told Bonnie to let her know when she was in the room. Only after luring the monster all the way back to the 10th floor that the researcher called her through the communicator. Since she was already here, she might as well use the same method she used before to climb back down. Only this time, she wouldn''t be using Yarnball since tying the string up took a bit too much time, and she kept the minotaur close enough so it wouldn''t think about going after Bonnie. When Hera jumped from the 10th floor to the 9th, her blades helped her reach the ground safely, but the Housekeeper had other plans. The monster slammed his fists on the ground, breaking it in just a couple swings, and dropped to the lower floor to follow Hera. That scared the explorer since it also meant that even if she arrived on the 7th floor, the minotaur would be between her and the door. "We are dropping two floors this time," Hera told her court and activated the wind elemental armor. She wasn''t that proficient with it, but she knew this armor could help move a bit in the air. Unlike previously, the blades had no protests. This was a very different situation than the one they were in before. Jumping from the railing, Hera arrived on the lower floor and used her mana to push herself forward, trying to tumble once again into the corridor. Her blades were trying to help her movement, but the combined effort was a bit stronger than expected. She hit her head on the edge of the 8th floor, and the impact almost sent her backward. If it weren''t for her blades and the spell, she would have fallen to the ground or hit her back against the railing, potentially crippling her. Instead, she managed to reach the 7th floor, even if she slammed against the walls. From above, she could hear the Housekeeper breaking the floor, and the ceiling started to crack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All in activated The cooldown will now start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera didn''t even have to think about triggering the skill. It happened as she was running at full speed towards the door. Bonnie was waiting by the door frame and put out her arm to grab her and pull her inside the room. Behind the explorer, there was a minotaur who was now doing a light jog towards them. Maybe they had done something, but the creature seemed to be moving faster now. Hera closed the door after dismissing all of her blades that were still outside. She could call them back again later, and now they needed to stop the Housekeeper somehow. That worked like a charm. The timer started after closing the door, and they had a moment to rest. Hera could see that Bonnie was still shaken up by the ordeal, but she remembered the test in this room. She told her friend to follow her, and using her stone wall spell, they were able to quickly arrive at the top of the cliff. All that Hera had to do was to make a stone platform on the side and then raise it up about 15 meters. With that, they earned another 30 minutes of roaming around and had a moment to talk. "Are you OK?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Sorry, everyone, I''m OK," Bonnie replied to all the voices she was hearing in the communicator. Hera didn''t notice, but it seemed like something was causing some interference with her device, and she couldn''t hear anyone. When she deactivated her elemental armor spell, she could once again listen to what everyone else was talking about. All of them were freaking out and asking a bunch of questions all at once, which seemed to make Bonnie even more afraid than she already was. "What happened?" Helena asked. "Sorry, just being alone in the dungeon is not something I wanna do again. I don''t think I''m cut out for this part of the job," Bonnie hugged her knees. "We are fine, and she''s not alone anymore. Don''t worry. I think she just needs some time. We are going to turn off the communicators. Our test is over. Finish your''s up, and we will be back soon," Hera replied as she sat beside Bonnie. "Thanks," Bonnie mumbled. "Don''t worry, I know how those things can be. The first few days after we came back from Boothudurn were a mess," Hera hugged Bonnie. "Is it a problem? Me not being able to do things on my own? "Not at all. There are a lot of people who live in the MAZE that don''t actually go in dungeons. We have shops, restaurants, and schools. There are a bunch of places you can be if you don''t want to keep risking yourself. Oh, and most people don''t go alone in dungeons. They usually have a party," Hera tried to sound confident in what she was saying, but even if those things seemed right, she wasn''t completely sure everything was true, "When we get out of here, we don''t have to go into dungeons again. We can just pick up Helena''s stuff and then go back home, OK?" Bonnie nodded and just stayed silent for a while. About 10 minutes later, they turned on their communicators again and talked to the group. Apparently, since they did different tests, the amount of time they gathered added up. Those three tests already gave them an hour and a half to roam about. Now that Bonnie was no longer alone, her fear had almost vanished, and with that, she asked if they could keep going. She wanted to get out of there soon. Everyone agreed to that. This place had stopped being fun the moment they split up. When Hera and Bonnie opened their door, they were in a wide expanse filled with sand on the ground and doors that were standing alone, not even connected to a wall. "Hey, Alex. You said you were in the desert, right?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Why?" "We just found it. Can you go outside and start yelling?" "Sure," Alex stepped outside her room and called, "The most amazing and beautiful assassin in the world is here. Can anyone hear me?" Both Hera and Bonnie heard the voice and just stepped to the side, seeing their friend a few meters behind the door they had just come from. The three walked inside the room they were looking for, taking a moment to enjoy the place. It was the best hotel room any of them had ever been to. Another two and a half hours passed, with Helena and Blue having to complete another test before everyone got there, and the quest was finally over. Bonnie pushed everyone to leave soon since she didn''t want to be in this place anymore. Blue was a bit sad about not being able to hang out in that room, but she understood how her friend just wanted to go rest outside a dungeon. However, the moment they all arrived back at the waiting room for the dungeon, all of their tablets rang out, and a warning appeared on the screen. DZVIERY IS ON LOCKDOWN. THE ROOM IS UNDER ATTACK. FIND SHELTER AND HIDE. 458 - Dzviery in danger "What is going on?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. It''s the first time I see this type of notification. Can you guys connect to the internet?" Helena asked. "I can''t. It says that the connection doesn''t have internet access," Hera was trying to see if she could change networks on her tablet, but only the one controlled by the guild was available. Not that it was a surprise since this is how every room behaved. "What about our communicators? Are they still working?" Bonnie pressed the device on her neck, and her voice came through everyone''s earpiece. "Yeah. They are on their own network. I don''t think we have to worry about that," Helena replied. Before anyone could think more about the situation, Alex walked to the door leading back to Dzviery, "We should get out of here." "What? Why? The notification told us to hide," Blue gasped. "Yeah, but what do you think would happen if whatever is attacking the room comes here? We are in a dead-end, and sure we can go inside the dungeon, but then we have no way of knowing when it''s safe to come out," Alex stopped to explain. Hera and Bonnie looked to Helena, who was in deep thought. Since the mage had more experience than everyone else in the MAZE, they wanted to hear her opinion on the matter, "I agree. We should get out of here. For a lockdown to happen, something must have been very wrong. If we just stay inside here, we won''t be able to know what''s going on. or what''s the best course of action." "Exactly, and if we stay here and end up back in the dungeon, we can''t control if we will ever split up again. Who knows what will happen this time. Besides, I need to get back to our hotel room," Alex replied as she opened the door. There was no movement in the tower, but it was clear it wasn''t empty. People were screaming, monsters were roaring, and the sound of explosions echoed through the chambers. "Why do you have to go back to the hotel?" Hera asked. "I left something there, and I can''t risk losing it," Alex was already in the hallway leading to the central chamber. "Alex! Are you serious?" Hera followed the assassin. Everyone else was right behind them. Like Helena said, staying in a dungeon was a bad idea. In fact, Hera had already thought about something. If she went to her private room, even with everybody, she could at least use her tablet and ask Luna about what was going on. This shouldn''t be something the guide would be against saying, and everyone would be safe there. The only problem would be food, but she could think about that later. In the central chamber of the tower, there were about 200 people. Ten were by the door casting spells and keeping something at bay. The rest was hunkering down and trying not to make too much noise, even if some were not as successful in doing so. Hera could see that some people were on the upper floors as well. Most were trying to hide, but a couple seemed to be using long-range spells or arrows to hit whatever was outside. As they passed by a beastman with floppy dog ears, everyone stopped to get some information. "What''s going on out there?" Helena asked. "Some monsters appeared. They are level 60? 70? I don''t even know, but only high-level explorers can do anything about them. There is also a centaur outside, and they are even stronger than the monsters. They started attacking and exploding everything, and we don''t know what''s going on. There were some high-level people in the room, and they started fighting, but everyone else just ran for it. Some managed to get out, but the lockdown trapped most of us here." "Centaurs? I thought they were only real on fantasy books," Bonnie asked. "Me too, but it''s the MAZE. Everything here is from fantasy books," the beastman shrugged. "Do you know if people can leave the tower? Or is there someone stopping us from going?" Alex asked. "Why would you wanna go out there? You don''t seem to be high level. No, you''re not high level. Are you crazy?" "Just answer my question, are people being blocked from leaving here or not?" Alex rolled her eyes. "I don''t think anyone is going to stop you. But you don''t want to be out there." "Yeah, yeah. Thanks," Alex waved the man off and walked towards the tower''s entrance. "Alex!" Hera grabbed the assassin''s wrist, "Are you really going out there?" as if to punctuate her point, a large explosion happened just outside the tower entrance, causing a large flash of light to blind some of the people in the chamber. "I have to. I can''t lose what I left in the hotel. You don''t have to come with me. I can do it by myself," Alex held Hera''s hand. The assassin''s eyes showed a resolve that Hera had never seen before. "Fine," Hera turned back to the group without letting Alex go, "Bonnie, Blue, stay here with Lena. Alex and I will go grab our stuff." "What? Why are you going?" Helena gasped. "I''m not letting Alex go alone, and she can''t carry five bags by herself while still being stealthy. When we get back, I can open my private room in one of the doors, so we are at least safe. I''m sure most explorers who are stuck here are doing the same," Hera explained. "Then I''m going to," Blue stepped forward. "How high is your hide skill? Alex has that busted stealth skill, and I can use the Memory Armor. Do you have a way to stay hidden? And no, using a cloud to cover us is not a good idea. It will end up making us a target," Hera explained. Blue struggled for a moment, trying to come up with something, but she eventually gave up, "I¡­ don''t¡­." "See. Stay here then. Help them, and we will be right back. I''ll take everything I can from the mini-fridge before coming back," Hera smiled and turned back to Alex, "I''m going to ask again. Are you sure you need whatever you left there?" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "I am. I need to get that," Alex replied. "Fuck. Fine, let''s go," Hera let go of Alex''s hands, and both started walking but were stopped by Helena''s tendrils. "If you two wanna go, that''s fine. Just come back alive and here. That''s the best I can do for you," the shadows enveloped the two allowing them to blend with the darkness more easily, "Stay in the shadows, and it will be harder for anything to see you." "Thanks, Lena," Alex smiled before dashing towards the entrance with Hera in tow. Just as they were getting close to the entrance of the tower, Alex stopped and turned to Hera, taking a small chocolate mint from her pocket, "Here. Eat one of these." "Right, I completely forgot about the mints," Hera picked the mint from Alex''s hand and used her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No Hotel Chocolate Mint Allows you to breathe underwater while inside room 341568G. If taken outside the No Hotel, it will have a random temporary beneficial effect. Effect when outside the No Hotel: Increases stamina recovery by 50% for 10 minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This will help a lot," Hera nodded. "Yeah. I got two of these, and both had the same effect, but don''t eat now. Wait until we are in the hotel and grab our stuff," Alex turned back to the entrant of the tower, "Ready?" Hera nodded as the two of them got closer to the exit. The People horse by the door asked them what they were doing and when they told him they needed to go to the hotel, no one said anything else aside from ''be careful'' and ''don''t attract attention.'' Looking towards the rest of the room Hera could see that by the entrance of this tower, there was a large crab monster, or at least the body of one. Apparently, they had just killed it after 10 minutes of fighting and were counting their blessings as no other creature seemed to be coming towards this tower. Hera activated her [Memory Elemental Armor] and her [Hide] while Alex started her [Stealth] skill before heading outside of the tower. After stepping over the corpse of a giant crab, they could both see that the city was a mess. There were large plumes of smoke coming from several buildings. Parts of it seemed to have collapsed, and something was moving in the streets. Something very big. In front of the other towers, there were also monsters trying to attack those taking shelter inside. It was a shame that the entrances of the towers had actual doors leading towards the city. After this, it was very likely that that would change. There wasn''t a doubt in Hera''s mind that the guild would decide to build some reinforced gates on every single tower. Of course, for that to happen, there still had to be a city to protect. And by the looks of it, that wasn''t a sure thing anymore. "Let''s take the third street on the right. It''s the smallest one, and we can avoid the big monsters there," Alex''s voice came through the communicator. "Good idea. It can also be safer there if buildings start to collapse since they can support each other," Hera replied and started running. She couldn''t see Alex, and she was afraid of using her sensory net and lure monsters toward them, but she believed that the assassin would be close by. Before they even reached the city proper, another monster appeared and started heading to the tower they had just left. It was a 3 headed lion with bramble for its main, framing the light green fur and a tail with a white rose on its tip. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Asesherm - Tyrant of the Jungle - Level ??? - Frenzied (Wood affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the level, Hera felt a chill going down her spine. She had done some tests inside one of the training rooms and knew her [Observe] could identify creatures up to level 56. This meant that whatever was going to the tower was beyond that, and, to make matters worse, it had a title. Creatures inside the maze would only get a title when the system recognized it as something beyond what the room they lived in had to offer. For a moment, Hera Thought about stopping and going back to help Helena, Bonnie, and Blue. However, doing so would only put her in danger. Not to mention, her friends were smart. If push came to shove, it was likely that they would be able to hide somewhere. No one was better equipped to hide from high-level creatures than Helena. And this wasn''t simply a baseless claim. She had done it against monsters that should be much stronger than those attacking the city. Focusing again on the task at hand, she continued to run towards the small street that Alex had pointed to. They arrived at the alley without any issues and started moving through the city, heading towards the hotel Alex and the others were staying at. Because of the way they moved, the roaming monsters didn''t notice the explorers who were making their way through the city, but they weren''t the only ones watching. A battle raged in the outskirts, between the buildings and the towers. A group of 5 explorers attempted to subdue a centaur who could not just defend against the attackers but push them back. Even worse, it was clear that the centaur''s objective was not to fight the explorers but to destroy the city and kill as many people as she could. While still being attacked by the explorers, the centaur noticed the two weak humans trying to sneak by the city, and she wasn''t about to let two weak prey flee. She slashed the air with her sword, cutting a spell aimed at her torso, and the shock wave was strong enough to reach one of the buildings right above Alex and Hera. With a loud bang, the structure broke apart, and solid pieces of rock started falling on the side street that the two friends were using to hide from the monsters. They managed to avoid the first few pieces of debris but more and more started to fall, almost as if the entire building was coming down. Hera tried to use her Stonewall to create a barrier, but the structure that was above them was too heavy, and her spell was quickly destroyed, only adding more rock to their path. Everything was falling too fast for them to leave. Or at least for one of them. "Alex, go! Get out of here!" Hera yelled to the assassin, who was just a meter in front of her. "But¡­" Alex looked at Hera. "No buts, go!" Hera yelled again. Alex clenched her fist and used her wind chaser spell to get out from beneath the crumbling building. Hera swapped her elemental armor to rock in hopes that, along with a bunker made out of stone, she would be able to survive having a building crash on top of her. She was about to call her court and do her best quick bunker when a man jumped from the corner. He waved his hand in the air, and large pieces of stone and concrete that were falling became much smaller and were pulled to his hand. The entire building was now gone. There weren''t even any rocks on the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been observed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The fuck are you doing here? Are you stupid? Go hide somewhere. This is no place for you," the man yelled before dashing towards the main street. As soon as he got a visual of the centaur, he tossed the small figurine of a collapsed building toward her. The figurine flew through the air, and, in the middle of its course, it returned to its full size but kept the same momentum as it had in its smaller form. For the first time, the centaur seemed distraught, and she had to run to evade the attack, but the other explorers didn''t let her. They used their skills and spells to hold the person responsible for all of this in place and allow the building to crash on top of her. The impact made the ground rumble, and even the monsters seemed to take a moment to see what was going on. However, that wasn''t enough. With a battle cry, the centaur emerged from the rubble, glowing tattoos covering both her arms and torso. "These petty tricks won''t stop me! You will bleed to atone for your sins!" the centaur yelled as she stopped trying to kill the stragglers and focused her attention on the now six explorers attacking her. Hera and Alex didn''t see that happening. By the time the collapsed building returned to its full size, they were already running toward the hotel. "I''m sorry!" Alex gasped as they ran, tears forming in her eyes. "I''m fine, and shit happens. Let''s just go grab our stuff. The hotel is right over there," Hera pointed to a building that was still standing up even if it had some missing pieces. 459 - Madness ensues The inside of the hotel was a mess. Not just counting the rubble and all the smoking and soot littering the floor, but it looked like it had been ransacked, which probably wasn''t the case since there are cameras everywhere. What probably had happened was that the moment people knew of the attack, they grabbed everything they could and ran. Another issue was that the elevators weren''t working. That was probably for the best since elevators would become a deathtrap if one of the monsters attacked this building. Hera and Alex quickly went up the stairs to the third floor, where the room they were staying in was. They ended up being very lucky because the staircase had collapsed after the 4th floor, and the room to their side had been completely removed from the building. Yet, by nothing short of a miracle, their room was intact, and all their belongings were there, just waiting to be collected. The two quickly gathered everything, Hera mentally thanking Bonnie for packing light. Each of them had two backpacks, while Hera also had the small bag that a certain researcher made sure to only have the essentials. "Did you find what you were looking for? Hera asked as she tied the straps of the backpacks together to make them secure around her body. She had Helena''s bag on her back and her own in the front. "I did," Alex waved a notebook with a large smile. "We came all the way here for that? Didn''t you buy that one when we were in the Waperath Kingdom?" Hera frowned. "Yeah. It''s a bit more complicated than that. I promise you that I will explain things later. "Fine. But it better be a damn good explanation," she was thinking about making a snarky remark, but it wasn''t time for her to be petty. There would be plenty of time to complain to Alex about the risks they took because of a book if, in the end, it wasn''t something irreplaceable. Before leaving the room, Hera grabbed her glaive and double-checked that they had cleaned out the fridge and snack cabin. She wasn''t going to risk her life to get her new equipment, but now that she was already here, it was a waste to leave it behind. Not to mention she would need a weapon just in case. If push came to shove, Hera could use one of her blades as her own weapon, but summoning an object out of thin air was already going to draw some attention to her, attention that she didn''t want. "I''m ready. Let''s get out of here," Alex finished securing the bags she was carrying. The two of them left the room and started heading downstairs. Everything seemed to be going well until they reached the hotel entrance. In there, they heard a yell from the centaur across the city, "May you fight those you hold dear. May you kill your peers. May you die by the hands of your brethren," her voice was carried by the wind. It''s spread far and wide throughout the entire city. What followed was a burst of manic laughter, "Now I don''t have to worry about the vermin hidden in the buildings. All of you will die!" Hera missed the second part. When that weird chant hit her ears, the explorer saw the world in a different light. She became angry. Angry at the monsters, angry at the people who were just hiding, angry at herself for coming here, and most of all, angry at Alex, who was responsible for making her risk herself like that. Everything around her seemed to be dangerous. The walls had spikes that were closing in, the floors were made out of lava and Alex now had a monstrous appearance of something straight out of her nightmares. "Ugh, what the hell was that?" Alex groaned with a hand on her head. "That was the sound of you leaving me to die," Hera barked back, turning to Alex and holding the glaive, getting ready to attack. "Hera?" Alex was taken aback. She felt guilty about running away while the building started to fall, but the way Hera was acting was weird. "Don''t look at me like that. You left me to die. You put me on a catapult and pulled the trigger. You''ve probably been trying to kill me ever since we started working together. Maybe you were planning that even before then. Maybe you were the one who stopped me from being an explorer. Maybe you are the one who made sure that I spent years on dead-end jobs trying to survive just so you could come and give me the mercy of death," Hera''s voice was becoming increasingly frantic. Her body language was feral and unpredictable. She went as far as punching the wall with all her strength in the middle of this small speech, causing her knuckles to bleed. "What is going on?" Alex realized that those weren''t Hera''s true feelings. She could have a different opinion if it was just about the catapult and the falling building. However, the rest was too deranged for it to be anything that the explorer ever truly considered. "I''m not gonna let you do that to me. If you''re trying to kill me, I''ll make sure to kill you first," Hera stabbed with her glaive. The attack was easily dodged by Alex, who started to move away from the explorer, "I''m not letting you kill me!" Suddenly, Daskka popped out of the necklace. She had entered when they were about to leave the tower not to attract even more attention to the two. The snake slapped Hera''s face with her tail and called, "Ooze!" The chakram appeared here, and Hera blinked a couple of times, rubbing her eyes and trying to collect her thoughts. Her memory of the last few moments was fuzzy, and she wasn''t even entirely sure of what she said or did during that time. "Hera! Order Ooze to see you and only you," Daskka ordered her, and the feeling of urgency came along via their Naga connection. While that was going on, the shack room started spinning and hitting the walls before slowly moving towards Alex menacingly. "OK¡­" Hera was still confused, but she did as Daskka commanded, "Ooze, the only thing you can see is me. You can''t see anything else." "What is going on?!" Alex gasped, still wary of the situation. Hera looked at Daskka inquisitively, and the snake explained, "You were hit by some sort of mind control. It forced you to attack anyone and everyone around you. Because of the Army of One skill, we can force the effect to hit only one of your blades. Just like we did in the jester''s trap." "But how did you call Ooze?" Hera asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "I''m the Royal Adviser. In situations where you are in danger or are being affected by something that can incapacitate you somehow, I can take control of your court to remove the effect afflicting you. I can only do things like that to protect you from these kinds of effects. Passing the effect to one of your blades was the best way to remove it, and Ooze has the least dangerous ability in case it tried to use it before you told him not to see anything else." "Are you telling me that I can control the senses of the blades to this degree?" Hera gasped. That sounded even worse than mind control. "Pretty much. Your orders are absolute. If you tell one of your blades to forget their names, they will forget it. I know what you''re thinking, but don''t worry about it. I''m aware that you don''t like doing these things, and I won''t force you to do it again unless in a situation like this one," Daskka explained. "Hera, what the hell is going on?" Alex touched the explorer''s shoulder. "Sorry. There was a mind control effect, and I don''t know what happened. Are you OK?" "I am¡­ so that''s what that was. I felt it too, but I just shrugged it off," Alex scratched her head. "Maybe that''s something that some people are more susceptible to, or¡­ I don''t know," Hera shook her head, "Either way. Let''s get out of here. Daskka, can I dismiss Ooze?" "If you send him away, the mind control will affect you again. This is how the skill works. Instead of you being affected by it, one of your blades is affected by it. It doesn''t mean the effect goes away. You just changed its location, but since Ooze can only see you now and you are the Empress, he can''t try to attack you," Daskka explained. "OK. Got it," Hera called Ooze to her side and strapped the chakram on her waist. "Are you really OK to move?" Alex asked. "I don''t know. But we need to grab the girls and go to a doorway. I''m sure that if we are inside my private room, all this won''t affect us," Hera sighed. Alex nodded, and the two of them started to move again. They had barely taken five steps outside the hotel when they heard the screams from people in the surrounding buildings. It was a mix of cries for help, people asking others to stop, and angry feral screams of people attacking others seemingly for no reason. Hera and Alex had to tune those screams out. Mostly because they didn''t want to attract even more attention to them. They were already the only two people walking around the city. Or, at least, they thought so. When they moved, a few people appeared coming from the buildings still standing. They had bloodshot eyes and were leaning forward, leaving their arms dangling in front of their body as if they didn''t have proper control of them. Each one of those people seemed to be searching for something, and when they looked at each other, they started fighting and trying to rip anyone else apart. Hera and Alex had their skills active, which helped to hide from monsters and crazed people who were beginning to appear. Several times, the duo had to stop themselves from screaming when they saw one of the frenzy people appearing out of nowhere or someone having their guts ripped out from inside their bodies. By all stretch of the imagination, they were in the middle of a horror film. Everyone had gone crazy, and they were fighting mindlessly, just trying to kill each other in the most gruesome way possible. At the very least, no one was using spells or any other type of ability they had. It was like the people inside the room had turned into animals. This time, it took them a lot longer to reach the city''s edge. Not only did they have to hide from the monsters who were randomly crossing the streets, but also the people who seemed to be now part of this attack somehow. When the red tower came into view, Hera and Alex sped up a bit. They wanted to get away from this place soon and to see if their friends were affected by this weird effect. "I''m going first. When I get to the tower, I''ll let you know if any monsters are coming from the sides," as Alex spoke, a small plume of dust was kicked off from her side as the assassin bolted towards the red tower where their friends were waiting. Hera waited patiently, hoping the assassin wouldn''t take long to scout ahead. At the same time, she was trying to keep herself hidden, not to attract the attention of not just the monsters but now the people who were crazed and affected by this spell or whatever effect it was controlling them. Hera was crouched by a building, waiting for the signal to go. She adjusted herself, putting one leg behind her to keep a more stable position. While doing so, she inadvertently pushed a rock against a piece of the wall that was holding it aloft and caused part of the structure to collapse, making a loud noise and lifting a small plume of smoke covering the area around her waist. An elf was very close by, and the madness caused by whatever the centaur triggered was engulfing his mind. He noticed the sound and went for it, running at full speed. It had finally found a prey, someone responsible for all his suffering, and he wanted to destroy whoever that person was. Hera''s memory armor would make someone forget that they had seen her. However, that only worked after they looked away. This wasn''t the case with the elf. He managed to see Hera even through the cloud of smoke and didn''t take his eyes off her. The man lunged at the explorer, trying to gouge her eyes out. Hera wasn''t expecting the attack. She was too distracted thinking about the large monsters to see someone smaller and with a much less intimidating presence getting close. The man almost fell on top of her, both his arms clawing at her face. Lucky for her, she could keep him at bay using the shaft of the glaive. The man was even trying to bite her, his teeth trying to go through the metal handle of the glaive, with both his hands going over his head while trying to hit Hera. Whoever this was, they were clearly not in the right state of mind, and here I didn''t want to hurt someone like that. Pressing her foot on the man''s stomach, she pushed him away, quickly getting up and putting the glaive in front of her to protect herself. In her mind, anyone would step away from a weapon. No one would be crazy enough to intentionally run into a blade and impale themselves. The problem was that this man was affected by something that drove him mad. He lunged towards her as she raised her glaive, making the blade pierce his chest, causing the weapon to go through him, cutting one of his lungs out and splitting his heart in half. Hera yelped and instinctively turned the glaive to the side, causing his body to fall from her weapon, a large pool of blood forming on the ground, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she dropped down to her knees and started putting pressure on the wound while starting to cast the Luminous Light Litany to heal the man. Unfortunately, there was no longer anything alive that the spell could take hold of. It seemed that not only this madness would cause people to attack each other mindlessly, but it would also reduce their defenses in a way that made it easier for them to be killed. None of that went through Hera''s mind. She was still just trying to heal the man she had just killed. "Hera, you are clear to come. Hurry up. Things are a mess here," Alex''s voice came in her ear, but Hera didn''t reply. "Mum, go!" Daskka appeared again and started to push Hera to move, but the explorer couldn''t stop. She had to save that man. "Hera! What are you doing? Run!" Alex yelled this time, breaking her stealth and having to avoid a few people who were attacking her, "Auch! Don''t bite me!" her voice sounded angry, and her scream of pain made Hera snap out of her daze. The explorer looked up and saw Alex in front of the red tower fighting against a few people who charged at her the moment her [Stealth] was broken. Hera got up and held down her glaive, which was still red with the elf''s blood. She took a step towards the tower but stopped to look back at the corpse on the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vulmer Keller - Crafter - Deceased ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera felt her stomach turning but forced it to stop. She didn''t have time for that, "I''m sorry," she was fighting back tears but now she had to run towards the tower where another battle was taking place. 460 - The tower thunderdome
Hera ran through the open field, heading towards the red tower. She couldn''t take the image of the crazy elf being impaled out of her mind, but if she focused too much on that, she would end up dying here. It took less than a minute for her to cover the area between the city and the tower, and as soon as she arrived, she punched one of the people who were trying to attack Alex. The assassin had already incapacitated another two, but Hera worried that others affected by the madness would charge at the unconscious once. Then again, she had no way of saving everyone here. When she looked inside the tower, all Hera could see were the 200 or so people fighting against each other. It was hard to tell who was affected by the madness and who wasn''t. Hera could even see some people using spells against each other, unsure if they were trying to kill someone or not. Another issue was that the ones still in control of their bodies didn''t want to do any fatal damage to those under the mind control of the centaur. Because of that, they could not perform as well as they could. Alex pressed the button on their communicators, "Lena? Bonnie? Blue? Can you hear me?" "A¡­ex¡­ W¡­re¡­ou?" someone''s voice came through, but it was weird and choppy. "Guys? Can you hear us?" Hera tried asking while pushing someone else away. They tried to claw at her, but she stopped with the glaive, only to freeze before making any follow-up attacks. Alex was the one who had to step in and knock them out before they could get up and start attacking again. "Don''t let them get up," Alex told her before turning back to the inside of the tower, "How are we going to find them?" "I¡­ I can try a sensory net. But that might attract some people," Hera replied. "Just do it. It''s not like things can get worse," as Alex spoke, Hera gave her a look, "Yeah, yeah. I know, but still." "Fine. Just be ready for anything," Hera sighed before using a sensory net to scan the area. Luckily, most people around were too crazed to notice that spell, but a couple turned to them and dashed towards the explorer. Alex intercepted the attackers, pushing them away and knocking one of them out. Doing so allowed Hera to get a better view of the area. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find Blue and the others. She was already familiar with the type of feeling she would get if she met one of their friends with the spell. Hera figured their friends might be in one of the corridors, which weren''t covered by her spell since she was trying to get a sense of the entire tower. Moving quickly to the second floor, Hera used the spell again, this time focusing on the openings by the sides of the tower. Even if the hallways were extremely deep, her spell was able to cover at least halfway through the end of most of the corridors. What they didn''t know was that each time she used that spell, the spike of mana attracted monsters who were still outside close to the red tower. A group of creatures that were very similar to velociraptors with colorful feathers was passing by the red tower, and instead of continuing their course, they jumped inside. The monsters started attacking indiscriminately, biting and clawing at the people who didn''t even seem to mind the attack of the creatures. Hera glanced at them to see if they were anything they could fight against. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feather Raptor - Level 46 - Starved (Claw affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit. Try not to attract their attention, and let''s find everyone. We need to get out of here," Hera told Alex as they went around the tower. "Hey, look up there," Alex pointed to a corridor three floors above them. There was a white smoke by an entrance, and it seemed that it wasn''t moving, just staying there almost like a solid wall. "That looks like one of Blue''s clouds," Hera nodded. They dashed to the side, trying to avoid all the monsters and people around. A couple of humans came out of one of the hallways trying to grab them, but the duo was able to toss them over to the ledge and towards the pit in the middle of the tower. It was unlikely that the fall would kill them, but if they hit the ground in an odd way, it was a possibility. Hera looked down, hoping to see the two moving again, but Alex pulled her arm. They didn''t have time to check if people were alive or not. One of the raptors was already climbing the stairs heading towards them. "Close your eyes!" Hera told Alex and used a blinding flash spell, adding a spore field on the monster so it would get distracted and allow them to run. Thanks to the spell, they were able to pass by the monster and reach the next floor, and it was a straight shot to the next one. Getting close to the wall that might be created by Blue, Hera tossed another spore field, aiming at the entire center of the tower. If she could make people stop hitting each other and just start sneezing, maybe someone''s life could be saved. Maybe she could atone for what she had done, even if it was a little bit. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Alex kept pushing Hera forward, ensuring the explorer wouldn''t lag behind too long. They finally arrived at the corridor with the white barrier and seeing it up close made it clear that he was one of Blue''s clouds. They tried to push through the barrier, but it was solid. There was only a tiny layer of soft cloud before it became almost like a magnet pushing them away, "Blue! Lena! Bonnie! Can you hear us?" Alex called as she pushed the wall again. Unfortunately, there was no response. In a close inspection, they noticed that this seemed to be a spherical cloud, not just a door-like barrier. This probably meant that the group was completely encapsulated inside this cloud and not simply on the other side of a protective field. "Daskka, turn into smoke and try to go inside," Hera told the snake, who quickly obeyed. Daskka turned into a puff of purple mist and started moving around the barrier, looking for a small gap where it could go inside. At the same time, Alex activated her hiding abilities. They didn''t want to attract more attention to them, and Hera had just the spell for it. She used the Selective Memory Filter on the two and told Alex not to move. They stayed there for what seemed to be a lifetime. The screams of the people in the center of the tower echoed through the chamber, cries of help, barbaric roars of feral creatures that could no longer be called people, and the roar of the raptors enjoying their feast. Occasionally, a spell or an attack made by someone who still had control over their bodies would make some noise, but it was clear that whoever they were, they were focusing more on their own survival than on helping others. Hera heard noises coming from the staircase leading to this floor. She couldn''t tell if it was coming from a monster or a person. Either way, it was a bad omen for them. The spell she was using worked when people looked away from her, and unless she had a way to distract whatever was coming, there was a chance that they wouldn''t be able to evade a fight. She didn''t know what she was more afraid of, seeing a monster she had no way of beating or someone who wouldn''t stop until they killed her or died. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from the cloud barrier and pulled both Hera and Alex inside in a single swoop, "Hera! Alex!" Blue gasped as the two of them entered the cloud barrier that was covering a five-meter wide area. The place was cramped since there were five people inside this protective field. Blue, Helena, Bonnie, Alex, and Hera. "Are you two OK?" Blue asked. "Yeah. We managed to grab everything and come back. What the hell is going on? Are they crazy too?" Alex pointed at Bonnie and Helena. They were standing still, looking like they were in some trance. Both had shadows covering their eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. "Sort of. That scream or whatever it was affected them too, but Helena was able to hold herself together for long enough to cast a few spells on Bonnie and her. According to Helena, this will make them unable to see or hear anything, so they''re just gonna be alive but unable to perceive anything else. Helena lasted long enough to test the senses she needed to cut off to make Bonnie stop," Blue explained. "And how about you?" Hera asked as Daskka appeared on her shoulder, returning to her solid form. "Stormcloud made this barrier around my ears the moment that scream started. The rest was all muffled; apparently, if I make a cloud dense enough, it could stop the effects. I just can''t be sure if it worked since I can''t ask Helena anything. And you two?" "Technically, I''m still under the effects. But because of one of the skills I got from the legacy, that madness is only affecting Ooze," Hera patted the chakram on her waist. "I just wasn''t affected by it," Alex shrugged. "OK. That''s weird. But what''s the plan?" Blue gave Alex a confused look. "Can you move this barrier? There are some monsters back there, and I don''t know if they are gone or not. Not to mention the people," Hera glanced at her glaive. Most of the blood had already dripped out, but there was still a stain on the blade''s tip. "I can. But move where? You are not thinking about going outside the tower, are you?" Blue asked. "No, I''m thinking about heading to a doorway. Then we can enter my private room and just wait it out there. In the best-case scenario, the guild solves this problem, and we can just leave. Worst case¡­ we get stuck there for a while and have to figure a way to leave here after it''s filled with monsters," Hera was trying to keep her thoughts away from the second case, but it was easier said than done. Blue looked to the side and then nodded, "Yeah, I can move. It''s just going to be a bit slow. Can you guys carry them?" she gestured to the other two party members. "Sure, it''s not like we are carrying a bunch of bags already," Alex rolled her eyes and walked towards Bonnie, who should be the lighter of the two since Helena was a bit taller and had more bulk to her build. Hera picked Helena up and got ready to walk along with Blue. Little by little, the controller pushed her cloud barrier until they reached one of the doorways. There, Hera touched the doorway and activated her private room inviting the rest of the party to join her, "Alex put Bonnie''s hand on the door. Then you go inside. We''ll wait a little bit before going inside. If Bonnie is still feral, come back out, and we''ll talk about what we can do," Hera adjusted her grip on Helena. "OK. Can we go inside without you?" Alex asked. "Oh¡­ no. I have to go first. Hang on. Let me bring Bonnie. Since Helena''s spell is still in effect, we don''t know if it will keep going when she enters. Wait two minutes. If one of us doesn''t come out, go inside," Hera put Helena down and picked Bonnie up. She touched the doorway and transferred to her private room. A few seconds passed before Bonnie entered as well, without the shadow covering her face. "Hera? What happened? I remember hearing something, and then everything went dark. Then I saw the notification about your private room," Bonnie was looking around. Hera explained what happened, and the rest of the party joined midway through her explanation. Helena dropped the spell that was affecting her, regaining her senses. Any effect of the madness was completely gone. Hera continued explaining what was happening outside, or at least what she had seen. When the subject changed to how they managed to reach the hotel and come back, Hera stared at her glaive and started to shake, "I¡­I killed someone¡­." 461 - Party Issues Hera was in the bathroom of her private room brushing her teeth for the fifth time of the day. After talking to everyone and explaining how she killed the elf, her nerves got the better of her, and she started throwing up. Luckily, she realized it was going to happen fast enough and rushed to the bathroom not to make her private room dirty and smelly for the rest of the time they would have to stay there. Between the moments when she was retching, Hera pulled up her tablet and sent a message to Luna, asking about what was happening. It seemed like she wasn''t the only one curious about that. Most of the guys were asking questions about what was going on in the room and if she was OK. She did her best to reply to the guides, but she made it clear that more people were with her in her room. Something told her that the guides wouldn''t be able to come to her room while other people were there, but she figured it was better to let them know instead of risking having one of the guides show up. At the moment, Hera was feeling somewhat better, or at least well enough to believe she wouldn''t throw up again. Luna had answered her question explaining that there was an attack and that someone somehow brought several high-level monsters to the room. Currently, everything was still a mess. The centaur was still fighting against a few explorers, and she seemed to be pushing them back. There were still a lot of monsters in the city, and the madness was still making everybody try to kill each other. A few people inside the towers were high level enough and had the right type of spells to neutralize large groups, allowing them to contain the situation before it devolved into what Hera saw in the red tower. However, the number of casualties was already in the thousands, and Luna expected that number to keep growing. Hera asked if she could tell anything about that madness or the reason for the attack, but the guide couldn''t answer those questions. She had no idea what was the reason for this attack, and since the madness was someone''s spell, she couldn''t share that information even if she knew how it worked. That being said, Luna told her they would be fine as long as they were inside the room but advised the explorer not to return to Dzviery until the centaur was no longer an issue. The way Luna spoke about it made her confused. She wasn''t sure if the issue was the centaur or if the centaur was maintaining an effect to make people crazy, but she took the advice to heart. After flushing the toilet one more time to clear any pieces of vomit that were left, Hera washed her face again and walked out of the bathroom. Her entire party was waiting by the door to see if she was OK, and since the explorer had used the privacy spell, they had no idea what was going on inside the bathroom. "Feeling better?" Blue asked. "Not really. But my stomach stopped being a bitch, so that''s something," Hera shrugged, "Also. I asked Yarnball about the room, and it told us to wait here. I don''t know if any of you had any idea about going back out there, but we should stay." "I had no intention of going out. I mean, I really don''t wanna go back there, not after everything I saw," Alex shivered. "Same. We should wait for things to get fixed in here," Blue nodded. "I''m worried about what might be happening outside, but I know we can''t do much about it," Helena sighed. "OK, we will stay here then. Hopefully, the guild will manage to fix everything soon," Bonnie walked back to the living room and sat on the floor. Heron nodded and went to the living room, sitting besides Bonnie and started staring at the glaive by the door. She couldn''t bring herself to think of anything else now, and although she knew the weapon wasn''t responsible for the man''s death, she had mixed feelings about it. "Hera¡­ don''t beat yourself up. It was self-defense," Bonnie spoke in a soft voice. "So? That doesn''t change the fact that he''s dead. Even if it was an accident, I still killed him. Maybe I should have let him bite me or something," Hera hugged her knees. "Are they zombies now?" Blue asked, unsure if that was how it worked. "I don''t think so. But they were trying to bite people," Alex wondered if the madness was infectious somehow. "I don''t think it is. But he was trying to bite me and claw me. Maybe I shouldn''t have used the glaive. Maybe I should have just avoided his attacks or let him hit me." "That wasn''t going to happen. Your court wouldn''t let it," Daskka said. "What do you mean? Only Ooze and you were out, and you told me that you can''t summon other blades unless there were some specific conditions. Is that one of them?" Hera asked. "No. But I wasn''t going to let him hurt you. You are not just the empress. You are my mum too." "Daskka¡­ it''s one thing to protect me. Another is to kill people." "Doesn''t matter. If the choice is you or someone else, we are choosing you. Every single time." "Daskka. I don''t want you Ki¡­." Before Hera could finish the sentence, Daskka put her tail on top of the explorer''s mouth, "Don''t give me that order. Not that one. Please, I don''t want to not be able to do anything if you''re about to die." "I''m not giving you an order. I''m asking you a favor. You know how I feel about killing people, And I hope you avoid doing that the best you can. I''m trying not to say the words, so the legacy won''t understand this as an order but consider that only a last resort because you know that if you kill someone, I''m the one who killed them. I mean, you are part of my court, and an item that I have, so it''s technically me, the same way that it wasn''t the glaive that killed someone, it was me." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Daskka nodded, "Promise. Kill people when no option," She made a point of not speaking through her legacy this time. Hera understood that this was a way for her to show that she was being serious and taking her words to heart. The rest of the party didn''t say anything while Hera talked with the snake. Even if they couldn''t hear her, they imagined that Daskka was trying to cheer her up, and the two of them had a connection that none of the other party members shared. If anyone could understand her feelings and help her go through that would be Daskka. When Hera stopped talking and snuggled with the snake, Blue turned to Alex, "So, in the end, did you get what you''re looking for? "I did," Alex nodded. "Right. Can you tell us what was so important about that notebook? You don''t have to if you don''t want to, but I would like to know why I risked my life to go to the hotel," Hera turned to the assassin. "Well... I can tell you guys a little bit, and you have to promise you won''t be mad," Alex scratched the back of her head and positioned herself by the bathroom door. "What did you do?" Bonnie asked. "So, you guys know about the curse that I have, right? I''ve been having some dreams about it, and I''m kind of keeping a dream journal to see if I can figure out how to get rid of it. But I''m not sure if I want to get rid of it anymore because it''s been helping a lot." "Are you fucking serious right now?" Hera gasped. "Yeah. I know what Kirouhebi said, that the more I look into it, the worse it gets, but I know a lot more about it now. I don''t know how much I can tell you guys without passing the curse to you, but I figure out what''s its origin and if that is really the case, it is something amazing! And for the help, it stopped the madness from affecting me, and when we were in the No Hotel, it showed me which doors I should go through. That''s how I got to the room so soon. It happened before we split up, but I couldn''t think of a way to tell you guys," Alex explained. "Alex, what the actual fuck?" Hera was staring daggers at her. "Look, are you really going to accept what a random dragon told us? This might not be that bad, and it''s helping me, so I don''t see what''s the problem. Besides, there were never any notifications telling me I''m cursed or something," Alex shrugged. "So? There wasn''t a notification telling us that we were mad either," Bonnie got closer to Alex. "Well yeah, but that was a temporary thing, this was supposed to be permanent. I really doubt that the system wouldn''t let me know if something was going on," Alex took a step back and placed one hand on the bathroom door, ready to jump inside in case the rest of the party got a bit too angry about the situation. Maybe it was because of the madness that she had just witnessed, but there was a part of her worried that her friends would try to kill her to get rid of this curse. "Alex, are you telling me you think you can use something that wiped out an entire room? You saw how big the Waperath Jungle was, and Kirouhebi said it destroyed all of it. People had to be evacuated and everything. What makes you so special that you can survive when the entire Kingdom couldn''t?" Hera asked. "I''m not special. But the world is. We have a lot more information now. Back then, if you got sick, you were probably gonna die. There was no medicine or ways to figure out how to cure something or make something unless someone close to you knew about that. But now, we have the Internet. Knowledge is shared across the entire world and the entire maze. I''m not saying I''m special enough to survive a curse that wiped out a Kingdom. But we as a society are probably strong enough to deal with this mess. And who knows. Maybe we can learn something good from all that. If this curse is this powerful, maybe it will be enough to kill the people responsible for this attack. Like a biological weapon to wipe them all out," Alex sounded confident in what she was talking about, and that scared the rest of the party. "Alex, did you talk to anyone else about your curse? ''Cause if I remember correctly, some of the things you say can infect people, right?" Helena asked with a calm voice. Alex shook her head, "No. I know how potentially dangerous sharing this could be. Even if I think some people might help me, I know that putting this online would be the worst idea ever." "Good. At least you still have a brain," Bonnie crossed her arms. This entire situation was making her angry, "Just a question. How dumb can you be? You explained to us what happened with the curse. And you still think you can do something about it even after hearing all that? And not just get rid of it, which is something we are already looking into, But you want to use it as a weapon? You want to use something that made everybody in the room run away? You really need to get your head out of your ass." "Well, excuse me. I''m just trying to make something out of this situation. I got screwed just because I looked at the wrong thing, and now I''m gonna have to die because of it? No, no, no, I''m doing something with my life. I''m not just gonna wait for this to kill me." "But you''re not even talking about it killing you. You''re talking about using it. It''s not just getting rid of it. That''s embracing it and turning it into a tool. I may not know the story but I''m pretty sure that''s exactly how this started!" Hera got up in a huff, and even Daskka was staring at Alex angrily. "And what am I supposed to do? Spend the rest of my life scared of this? I''m not you, Hera. I can''t live my life in fear of doing something with myself," "Alex!" Blue and Bonnie gasped, while Hera just gave her a confused look. She couldn''t even remember the last time she was too scared to do something, and what Alex said just felt nonsensical. Something someone would say when they were losing an argument. "OK, OK. Let''s stop here. This is getting personal; going beyond it will only worsen things. Girls, we don''t know as much about the curse as Alex, so she might have some better insights than we do. Let''s give her some credit," Helena turned to the group before looking back at Alex, "Alex. Can you promise us not to do anything without letting us know? I''m not saying you shouldn''t try to figure this out yourself, but we''re here to help you, and considering the situation, it''s good if we are aware of the things you''re trying." Alex nodded, "As long as you don''t try to stop me from doing what I want." "That''s fine. But promise to at least hear us out with an open mind, OK?" Helena pressured. Alex shrugged, but the mood in Hera''s private room was still heavy. Trying to change that, Helena clapped loudly, "OK, we had a long day. We went to a dungeon, then the attack and everything. Let''s just eat. Whoever wants to take showers can take showers and sleep, OK? I think we all need that right now. Also, I''m just gonna add, don''t leave here without talking to everybody. We don''t know what''s out there, we don''t know what''s going on, and we need to be safe." The mention of food seemed to grab everyone''s attention. They spent a long time in the dungeon and just now realized how hungry and tired they were. In the end, there was nothing else they could do. They had to wait for the storm to pass, so to speak. And that''s exactly what they did. 462 - Fallout Yash was in the break room getting yet another cup of coffee. It was only 2 P.M., but he was already on his 8th cup, and it didn''t look like he was getting a chance to rest soon. "Man, paperwork is hell," another man walked inside the break room. He wore a white shirt, black tie, and dark jeans as their uniform. The only difference between the clothes of the two was that, unlike Yash, this man was wearing dark blue suspenders. "That''s a bit insensitive, isn''t it, Michael? I mean, considering what they''ve been through," Yash took a sip from his coffee. "Fuck me, man. Do you need to go there? You know I don''t mean it literally. Of course, they''ve been through worse, but the paperwork is annoying," Michael gasped while sitting on the table, his hand reaching out for the box of donuts, "Who ate the last one with sprinkles? I know I left one here." Yash took a bite out of the donut with sprinkles, "Consider it a payment for the crap you pulled earlier today. Or do you think I wouldn''t have found out that you swapped our lists when you saw that yours had a lot of family members of the victims?" Michael shrugged, "If that''s all you''re asking for payment, it was worth it. I really don''t wanna deal with those." "You are still paying for dinner and happy hour for the next month. Then we will be even," Yash continued eating and pulled up his clipboard with the file for his next interview. "OK, OK. No. Wait, dinner? Do you mean the double date? You are making me pay for the whole thing?" Michael gasped. "Yeah, I am. This was a dick move, and I wouldn''t be a good friend if I didn''t punish you for it. That way, you can be a better person in the future," Yash snickered. "I said that once. Once. Do you have to keep bringing it up every single time I do something like this?" "Yes. Yes, I do." Michael gave up and started eating a chocolate-glazed donut. A few moments passed before they stopped playing around and went back to the discussions about the situation. It was the second day of interviews, and they had cleared out most of the potentially problematic people. Now, they had to make sure they weren''t missing anything by talking with the others. Both of them agreed that this was probably unnecessary since they already had someone who confessed and was ready to explain everything, from how the monsters got there to who was responsible for it. The only things they didn''t know were the location of the centaurs, their actual motives, and whether they were related to the other terrorists. This attack seemed very different than the one in Union City. Here was about killing people while the one that happened there was about sending a message. The methods were also considerably different, which raises some questions, but they still couldn''t rule out the possibility of both attacks being made by the same group. "I''m going back there. Talk to you later," Yash looked in the mirror and stopped to tidy up himself. His brown skin contrasted well with his white shirt, and his eyes were a very beautiful amber color. The problem was his nose. It was bigger than he would like and it reminded him of a potato, but he was afraid of getting a nose job just to fix his appearance. Not because of the risks, which were almost non-existent, but because of what his mother would say. "You know you spend more time looking in the mirror than your wife, don''t you?" Michael said after a minute had passed and Yash was still trying to fix up his clothing and short hair. "What do you expect? You''ve seen Jaya. You don''t keep a woman like her by looking like crap." "Oh, please. She''s madly in love with you, even if I have no idea how that happened. You can be missing half your face, and she''s still gonna think you''re hot. I don''t know how someone so beautiful can have such a bad taste in men," Michael laughed. "Right back at you. How you managed to land Sabrina is still beyond me." "She fell for my natural charm, of course. It''s something you wouldn''t understand." "That''s true. My grip in reality is too strong to understand your delusions," Yash chuckled and left the break room. He walked through the corridors and headed to one of the meeting rooms that he was using during the last few days. They had changed a bit how the room looked. Everything was gray, and there was a double-sided mirror splitting each meeting room so two groups could be there at once. Not that it was being used right now. Those extra sets of ears were only useful when they were actually talking with someone relevant, which shouldn''t be the case. He walked into the meeting room and saw a blond woman sitting on the chair anxiously picking her nails, "Hi. Miss... Kingsley correct? Hera Kingsley?" Hera got up and bowed slightly, "Yes, that''s me." "Please, you can be seated. I''m detective Yash, and I just want to ask you some questions about what happened," Yash closed the door and walked to the chain on the other side of the room. They didn''t even have a table for him to use, which was annoying, "For starters. Let''s just get a couple questions out of the way. First, you were asked not to bring any weapons and/or leave them back and the lockers. Can you confirm that you don''t have any weapons on you?" Hera hesitated for a moment, thinking about her court, "I don''t have any weapons now." Yash raised one of his eyebrows, "Miss Kingsley. I have to warn you. I have a skill that allows me to know when someone is telling a lie. As you can imagine, it''s very helpful in my job. I''d like to ask you again. Do you have any weapons in your possession at the moment?" "No, not really. I have a skill that lets me summon a weapon construct of sorts. I just didn''t know if that counted," Hera tried to explain as quickly as she could. "Oh, that''s fine. And it explains why I had a ping in my skill. And you said it''s a skill? I know those kinds of spells are common even if a bit more advanced for your level, but skills that can do that are very rare." Hera nodded, "Yeah. I got it as a reward for a hidden quest," it was a half-truth, but either Yash''s skill didn''t register that as a lie, or the man simply chose to ignore it. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "If you don''t mind me asking. Could you show me that skill? This is unrelated to the investigation. I''m just curious." "I''d rather don''t summon a weapon here. I don''t want any misunderstandings to happen. I''m not trying to look hostile to anyone," Hera glanced at the mirror. She had seen enough cop shows to know that someone should be behind it, even if, in this situation, that was an incorrect assumption. "Fair enough. And I can see why you''d be hesitant to bring out a weapon. Let''s go for the next question, then. Were you responsible, or were you associated with the people responsible for this attack?" "No. I wasn''t even in the room when it started. I was in a dungeon with my party, and when we came out, monsters were already everywhere, and the city was already under attack," Hera explained. "OK. Great. I don''t believe you were part of this. Especially since we can confirm that you were in a dungeon at the time of the attack, but I just had to make sure. Now, I understand that it must have been a traumatic experience. But can I ask you to tell me what you saw and what happened to you during the attack? Let''s start from the beginning and go from there. What happened right after you left the dungeon?" Yash asked. Hera started to explain the events from her point of view. She talked about how everybody was scared and how Alex, one of her party members, had a personal item she needed to retrieve. Hera added that it was a dream journal, but she didn''t believe there was anything to do with the attack. She didn''t mention the curse but explained that those dreams were helping the assassin figure out some stuff, and that''s why she went after the notebook. She followed her because she didn''t want her to leave her friend alone, but Yash stopped her when she mentioned someone who saved her from the falling building. It wasn''t the saving her part that caught his interest but the way that the men saved her. "So you''re saying that this man turned the falling building into a figurine? Do you know his name? How did he look? Anything?" "Not really. There was a lot of debris and smoke. I can''t remember anything about him. The figurine was honestly what drew my attention. Is he related to all this?" Hera asked. "He''s a person of interest in a case. I can''t say anything more than that. Could you give me a moment?" Yash looked back at Hera, who nodded in response. He pulled up his tablet and searched for a few things. A couple of minutes passed, and he gave a satisfied nod, "OK. It seems like that was indeed the only interaction you had with him. Before this, you two were never in the same room, and even when he came here, you two never visited the same places. I apologize for that, but as I said, he is a person of interest to us." Hera nodded, "That''s not a problem. I''m glad I could help, even if only a little." "You''re being very helpful, Miss Kingsley. Now, let''s continue. After he saves you, what happened?" She continued her explanation about what happened during the attack. Yash was interested in what she heard before the madness started and how she fought back against it. Hera only replied that she had a skill that helped her, which seemed to be good enough of an answer for the detective. Unfortunately, Hera didn''t have much information about what the spell was or how it worked. After she heard the beginning of the spell, her mind was already starting to be taken over, and when she regained her senses, she couldn''t tell what the centaur actually said. She added that she had no idea how her friend managed to withstand the madness. Yash just nodded and said that a few people shrug off the effects without any issues. When it came time to talk about her return to the tower, Hera stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "Alex went ahead to scout for monsters that could be coming from the sides of the city while I stayed behind. I made some noise by accident, and an elf that I never had seen before appeared. He seemed affected by this madness, and he tried to attack me. I... I pushed him away and used the glaive that I was carrying just as a way to threaten him, but he just walked into the blade and made me kill him. Not like he walked and I attacked, but he walked into the blade, I was just holding it up. His name was Vulmer Keller. I know it was an accident, but it doesn''t change the fact that I killed him. I''m ready to accept any punishment the guild deems fit," Hera was clenching both of her fists together, her nails digging into her skin. She could only hope this wasn''t enough to remove her status as an explorer. If that ended up being the case, she had no idea what she would do. Maybe she would even try to run and hide somewhere. All she knew was that she didn''t want to leave the MAZE. "If it was any other situation, you would be arrested, and there will be a trial, But we''re not charging anyone with murder right away. You are not the one who killed him. The centaur did. I do appreciate your honesty, and if you want, I can direct you to a few support groups that might help you cope with this. That being said. There was a death involving you. There will be an additional investigation just to ensure that his death wasn''t about you taking advantage of the situation for some reason. But if it really is as you said, and you never saw him before, this probably won''t amount to much, and you''ll be free to go without an issue. However, I will ask you not to leave the room until this part of the investigation is done," Yash stopped for a moment, "Wait. I''ll have to see if there are any rooms available in the hotels here. The Kobold Road is not the best place for this kind of thing," he sighed. "Could I stay in Boothudurn? I live there, and it''s just a room away. I can come here at any moment," Hera asked. "That''s the dwarven city, right? I don''t see why not. Just don''t leave that room unless we call you here. If you don''t follow those rules, it will be considered as if you were trying to hinder the investigation. Now, after that unfortunate situation. What happened?" She continued explaining the events of that day. Even if that happened five days ago, everything was still very fresh on her mind, "¡­ Then we waited two days inside my private room before leaving to find the rescue team." "OK¡­ and how did you know the rescue team was there?" "I asked my relic. I have a thing that allows me to ask a question as long as I use enough mana, and I use it a few times a day," Hera told a blatant lie, but she couldn''t talk about the guides in any circumstance. "Was it your relic, or was it something else that you can''t talk about?" Yash asked. Hera sighed, "The second option. But I promise it doesn''t have anything to do with the attack." "Don''t worry. I''m just glad that Luna managed to help. You got the meeting room, right?" Yash smiled. "How did you know?" "My skill is more sensitive than you think. It can tell me when someone is telling complete lies or just half ones. Since it told me that you were lying about your relic but not about the number of times you asked about it, I assumed it was a fair deduction that you''re talking to Luna more than once. I''m glad it was right. I have no idea if the meeting room is gone if I get a strike. I should really be more careful with this stuff," Yash scratched the back of his head. "I''m glad I can be honest. Yeah, I asked Luna, and she told me about the rescue crew." "Yeah. I don''t think I was the only one, but I also asked her to tell people about them. Anyway, that will be all for now. Thank you for your cooperation and stay in Boothudurn. When we are done with the investigation, we will call you." Hera nodded, "OK¡­ am I really not being charged?" "No, you''re not. This situation was completely out of everyone''s control. And from our point of view, anyone who killed one of the crazed people was just acting in self-defense. I''m not gonna say it was a good thing, but we can''t blame people for wanting to leave. I don''t think anyone will be charged with murder or even assault in this situation. Well, aside from the people responsible for all this," Yash got up and escorted Hera back to the exit of the guild. He was doing that with everyone that he was talking to today. He didn''t want anyone feeling like a criminal when they left. Doing so would benefit him in two ways. First, it will allow people to be more comfortable with him in case he had follow-up questions, and second, if he suspected someone, they wouldn''t be aware of it, which would allow him to put a tail on them. Luckily, this wasn''t the case for Miss Kingsley. As far as he could tell, she was entirely in her own right to defend herself, and she had nothing to do with the attack. He glanced down at his cup and saw that it was empty. With a sigh, he walked back to the break room and took his 9th cup of coffee before getting ready for the next interview. 463 - Interrogation Yash was walking towards the interrogation room. He was the one who was selected to talk with the smuggler that helped the centaur to bring monsters to Dzviery. There were a number of reasons why he was the one chosen to do so. Yash was one of the senior members of the Guild''s investigation department, and he tended to be the one who got the best results if the person being interrogated was willing to help. He was feeling confident that he would be able to get some information, but the fact that there were so many people who were going to be watching him work was making him nervous. The fact that he was currently in a destroyed room also was making him uncomfortable. Even if the guild wasn''t that damaged and repairs were under way, seeing the state the city was in only increased his worry. "Hey, are you good?" Michael came to meet him and passed the tablet with all the information he dug up about the man inside the interrogation room. "I got butterflies in my stomach. But I got this, don''t worry." "I hope you''re right. A lot of people are very angry about all of this. Especially since it happened so close to the outside. The US president is freaking out. We need to figure out what happened fast." "Thank you for helping me calm down," Yash rolled his eyes, "Trust me. I wanna know how those monsters got here just as much as them. I have family nearby." "Right, your parents live in Sunset City, don''t they? Fuck, I''m glad things stopped here." "This time. We do not know if there''s going to be another. But I''m going to find out," Yash finished looking at the information on the tablet. He was double-checking if he missed anything in the reports he received previously, but there was nothing new. He passed the tablet back to Michael and turned to the interrogation room. "Good luck," Michal said before the door was opened. Inside, there was a man with short black hair and a stubble that showed he wasn''t able to shave in a few days. He had tan skin that showed that he worked outside but not to the point where it seemed like he was always on the beach or in places with heavy sunlight. The man had an annoyed expression, but at the same time, his posture wasn''t aggressive. In a way, it was as if he felt guilty or sorry for something. It was a small detail that many other detectives wouldn''t have noticed, but Yash was someone who focused on those types of signals. The man was sitting on a chair with his hands handcuffed to the table, and there were a couple of magic dampeners on the corners of the room that stopped any magic from being cast here. "Hi there. Before we start, can I confirm a couple of basic pieces of information, just to get them out of the way," Yash said with a warm smile. The man let out a long sigh, "Sure. You guys have already done that a dozen times, but let''s do it again." "I apologize. This is just protocol to make sure that we are dealing with the right person. The last thing we need is to have someone else''s file here," Yash sat down in the chair on the other side of the table, staying directly in front of the man with the double-sided mirror behind him, "Chandler Dyers, correct? And your associates know you as," Yash snorted slightly and did his best to hold back a chuckle. "It wasn''t my idea. The first guy I ever worked for gave me that nickname, and it kind of stuck. At some point, I tried to change the names, but people wouldn''t recognize me without it. You try to rebrand yourself when you already have some fame. It''s not easy!" Chandler was shaking his head. "I understand. We can''t choose some of the things that we get in life. But you are known as the ''Smug Leer,'' correct?" "Yeah," Chandler sounded so defeated with that response that Yash felt bad for the man. "OK, can I call you Chandler during this process?" "I would appreciate that." "Great. And you can call me detective Yash or just Yash. You''re helping us out here, and I don''t want us to be held back by any unnecessary formalities," Chandler just nodded in response, allowing the detective to continue, "Now. Let''s start with what I consider to be the most important question. Do you know if there''s going to be any more attacks?" "I don''t. I was hired just for this, and I only met the client when we got here," Chandler replied. "I''m relieved to hear that. I heard you were also fighting against the centaur. Why was that?" "Because I didn''t sign up for this. My job was to smuggle some high-level creatures to someone. I''ve done that type of thing before. It''s usually some rich family that wants to power level one of their children or something stupid like that. I figured it was just more of that same kind of thing. But then when I got here, that fucking centaur told me to release all the monsters in the city. I said no, but that thing used some mind magic that messed me up. I tried to fight back against that thing, but it was too much. I don''t like pain, and if the centaur killed me, it would get what it wanted anyway. So I let the monsters go and ran. I stopped a couple of the worst ones and then went after her. I''m not trying to say that I''m a saint or anything, but I do have a moral code. I''m fine with stealing. People already have too much stuff anyway, but I never killed anyone. And I have no intention of hurting people just to hurt them. I''m a delivery guy. I take items from one place and put them in another one. That''s it. If people attack me, I fight back but never to kill anyone, just to put them to sleep or something," Chandler gesticulated a lot while talking, but none of his movements were aggressive. It felt more desperate than anything else. "I''m glad. I understand that sometimes people have to resort to stealing. I''m not going as far as saying that that''s OK, but I can respect you having a moral code and saying that you''re not there to hurt anyone. For the next question, and it''s a big one. How did you manage to bring monsters all the way from the 24th and 23rd layers? It is one thing if they were tamed, but they were all feral, and there were no reports of any traveling zoo passing by. And more to the point, from the reports and some of my personal experience with some of those monsters, they wouldn''t have obeyed you." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "I have a skill that lets me do that," Chandler pulled back his arms and looked to the side, clearly uncomfortable with the questioning. "If you figure out a spell or a skill that lets you bring monsters to other rooms, I need to know. This is something that will change the MAZE and how we act here. I also need to know if you shared that information with anyone. If you did, I need to know who, when, and where. That kind of power is not something that can just exist without any restrictions or laws around it. Before you even think about objecting to this, you just saw the reason why we need rules about this type of stuff. It''s so that no one is going to jump into a high layer and drop a level 80 monster in the middle of a city filled with people that are barely out of training just for a laugh," for the first time since he came into the interrogation room, Yash was more intense. If there were two people here, this would be the time when the bad cop would show up. "You don''t have to worry about that. That''s something only I can do," Chandler shook his head. "I''m afraid I can''t just take your word for it. I need to know how you did it. This is the type of thing that is grounds for your cooperation. If you refuse to explain how that happened, we will have to assume that you were part of the attack and judge you accordingly. I can see that that''s not who you are, and I understand that you might be hesitant to share something personal. No one likes to talk about their skills with anyone they don''t trust. But, you made a big mistake, and now you''ll have to face the consequences." "So, my options are talking about this or prison?" "If it was up to me. The options will be the following. By helping us, we''ll put you in some witness protection program. You would probably lose most of your assets and will probably be required to help us find the people responsible for the attack in any way you can. The second option, where you don''t tell me how you did this, ends up with you in a maximum-security prison. The type of place where only the worst of the worst stay. Then it doesn''t matter what you did because you would be charged with manslaughter, and more likely than not, you would be recognized as one of the worst terrorists in our time, if not in our entire history. Your infamy will be similar to the Devil Hunt. And I don''t say this as a threat but as an explanation of the circumstances. Your family, friends, and people with whom you had personal connections would also suffer. Not because we are going after them or anything like that. Your crimes are not their crimes, but you know how people are. The moment your name is reported in the media, people will start making assumptions. Especially those who lost friends and family here. Someone might go after your family and friends for revenge. We''re going to do our best to stop that from happening, but in a situation where the outrage is too much, we might not have enough hands to protect them. Not to mention we are still going to deal with a terrorist threat, so the number of people assigned to a security detail might be smaller." Chandler scoffed, "That sounds a lot like a threat." "I know. But it''s not a threat. It''s what''s going to happen already. Your name will be a part of this situation unless you give us a reason to say that you were just a pawn or a prisoner forced to do that. That you are not responsible for those deaths. That you may have done wrong things but never something to this degree. That you are also a victim. If you choose to do nothing, everything is already in motion. One way or another, people will learn about your name, people will learn about what happened on Dzviery, and people will make their assumptions and react accordingly." "You said that if it was up to you, either I go on witness protection or go to jail. And if it was up to someone else that would be different?" Chandler asked. "Yes. There is another suggestion coming from the dwarves and elves. The situation is already tense enough between the races, and having an attack like this only makes things worse. One strong suggestion was to reinstate capital punishment," as soon as Yash finished speaking this, Some notifications appeared on his tablet. The people behind the double-sided mirror complained that he was giving too much information to a criminal, but the detective ignored all that. He knew what he was doing. "Can I ask for a favor then?" Chandler looked up. "Depends on the favor in your answer. I can''t promise anything before you start cooperating." "Don''t let them take this for me. I know how that eventually will happen, but I don''t want to live the rest of my life as a crippled," Chandler saw that Yash had a confused expression, and the gears quickly turned inside the detective''s head. "Are you telling me you have a legacy that allows you to do that?" Chandler nodded, "Do you mind if I take off my shoe? There are no weapons there, I promise. I want to show you what it is." "Do it slowly. And just so you know, there are ways to kill you and me without either of us leaving this room. We know you are a high-level assassin, and some drastic measures were put in place to stop you from escaping." "I have no intention of dying, detective. Not yet," Chandler slowly moved one of his hands under the desk and took off his shoe. Very slowly and very calmly, he placed the sneaker on top of the table and kept both hands up when he was done, "You can confirm that it''s just a shoe and there''s no weapons or anything there." Yash took a quick look confirming that it was just a sneaker, nothing special. It would just help people who had to walk long distances and gave Chandler the go-ahead to use his legacy. Chandler changed the position of the shoe. He held it upside down with his right hand and let the shoelaces hang below it. A weird bronze-colored energy covered his hands and then the sneaker. When the light covered it completely, the object glowed almost like a piece of metal inside a furnace. Then it became several times smaller, and it was held up by the shoelaces that were connecting to a small copper base as the glow vanished, leaving only this small copper miniature of the sneaker. Chandler just pushed the small figurine forward, allowing Yash to inspect it again. "This is what I can do. I can touch any object or monster and turn them into figurines. They don''t have any attributes, they don''t have any special effects, they don''t have anything, they just look like toys. Depending on the situation, I can also do that with spells, but they only last for a limited time. The legacy is called Forge of Figurines, and there are some other quirks to it, but that''s basically it. I can turn monsters into small metal bobbles that I can bring across doorways. It doesn''t work with people. Or at least it is not supposed to work. I never tried it, so I don''t know for sure. But that''s it. I can smuggle monsters, and no one else can do the same." "I see. That''s reassuring in a way. But you know that even after all this is done, we will have to keep a close eye on you, right?" Chandler just nodded in response, "Right. Now, what can you tell me about the centaur? How did they approach you? How did they find out about what you can do? Tell me anything you can think of." "Do you think I could get a glass of water? It''s a long story, and I think we''re gonna be here for a while." "Of course. I would offer coffee, but I''m the one who''s gonna have to accompany you to the bathroom, and I''m not in the mood to do that. When we''re done, maybe," Yash sent a message requesting two cups of water and took a look at what the people behind the mirror were saying. It seems that now that they knew about the legacy, everyone was more open to the idea of having Chandler help them. Some weren''t even trying to hide the fact that they were already interested in using that legacy for their own purposes. Yash couldn''t do much about it. The man in front of him caused a huge problem, and it was something he would have to deal with for the rest of his life. Still, he started to think about ways of helping him not to be thrown to the wolves behind the mirror. 464 - Traveling to the Lab again "Hey Alex, do you know where Hera is? We were supposed to leave today," Blue asked as she looked at her bag. They were about to travel again, and she was trying to see if they weren''t missing anything. "I think she said something about going to the guild. Maybe to train, I don''t know. But she should be coming back soon," Alex replied. During the past few weeks, which was the time it took for Hera to be cleared out of any blame for having killed a man, the explorer and the assassin spent most of their time in the guild training various skills and combat styles. Everyone was worried about Hera, but there wasn''t much they could do if Hera herself wasn''t around. "How is she doing?" Helena asked in a low voice, not wanting Hera to hear her worry if she ended up arriving during her conversation. "Honestly? She seems to be doing OK. I was half expecting her to break down and keep herself locked up in her room or something. But she''s going to train. She''s talking about weapons and skills and stuff, and if you ask her about a show or something, she should reply like usual. She doesn''t start those conversations anymore, but I mean, you can''t actually blame her for it. I don''t know if she''s doing what''s the best option for this situation, but she doesn''t seem to be kicking herself too much over what happened," Alex explained with a sigh. "If she''s doing OK, why are you sighing?" Bonnie asked. "Because it''s a bit weird. She''s being frantic about her training. I know it''s just a way for her to try to run away from what''s happening but still. I want to do something to help her, but I don''t know what. Also, She''s basically making me eat dirt. She got a bunch of skills in those few weeks that we got here, and I just got like two, and we both used the A-heart rooms," Alex shook her head. "Maybe she just went after a few skills that she already had an idea how to get," Blue suggested. "Or maybe she''s hyper-focusing on something to ignore the guilt she might be feeling. I''ve read about some cases where people would react like that when they ended up killing someone, even if It was just because they couldn''t save them from a monster or something. I can only imagine that being the one that actually killed someone would be much worse," Helena looked down, trying to come up with an idea to help her friend. Unfortunately, no one could figure out a way to help her. They spent another half an hour talking but came to no conclusion. After that, Hera came back home. Apparently, she had just come from her dad''s house to let him know she was going to leave the city again. Eridan wasn''t exactly happy about that, but he knew he couldn''t convince her to stay here. In fact, he and some of the dwarfs had already tried to convince her to stay in Boothudurn for a while. When she returned from Dzviery, Rutigan and the city council were among the first ones to come to see how she was. Even Risli, the elderly shaman, rushed to meet her. Seeing the healer get close to the palace was already rare, but seeing her running was like seeing five rainbows at once. Silah was also among those who were worried about Hera and the group, but it was still very awkward when she talked to the explorer. It seemed like it would take some time before the two could speak naturally as friends. "Hey, I already talked to my dad, and we''re good to go. Are we leaving?" Hera walked inside her house and saw her party in the living room with their bags. "Yeah. But you can take your time to finish packing. Are you sure you can go? Is the investigation over?" Helena tried to smile but to keep things light but it was clear that she was still awkward bringing that subject up. Hera kept talking while going upstairs with the party following her, "I don''t need time. I''m already done. And yeah, the investigation seems to be over. I talked to Yash, the detective, a couple of days ago, and he confirmed that basically, there''s no reason to believe that I¡­ Did it on purpose," Hera walked inside the room and pulled a small bag from under her bed, "All ready." "Is that it? Don''t you have to get clothes or something?" Bonnie asked. "Don''t need to. I already have a change of clothes here, soap, a toothbrush, a pocket tent in case we need to sleep outside, a raincoat, and some potions just in case. This is my emergency kit, and I want to get used to using it," Hera explained as she put on the small sling bag on her shoulder. "Why do you need an emergency kit? And why do you wanna get used to it?" Blue asked. "Because I don''t know if what happened there can happen again. If it does, I''m gonna be ready," Hera replied without missing a beat and started heading downstairs. "Are you gonna become one of those crazy survivalists now?" Alex followed her. Her bag was in the living room already. Stolen story; please report. "I don''t think they are that insane, and maybe. If that saves our lives, I don''t mind being called crazy," Hera shrugged and looked at everyone''s bags in the living room, "You''re already, right? Can we head out?" Everyone nodded, and they all left not just their house but the room. They still had to go to the Charring Wastes to pack up Helena''s lab and bring everything here. The best way to go there was still by crossing Dzviery. The room was still a mess after the attack, but people could already travel from room to room. The only things that were already working were the guild, and a few of the houses where the people working to rebuild everything were staying. The party headed to the Kobold Road, and in less than half an hour, they were already inside the subway. "Hera, how many skills did you get in the last couple of weeks?" Blue asked. "Let''s see, I got, glaive, two-handed sword, sword, dagger, scimitar, axe, war axe, and knife combat. Then I got magic armor proficiency, which helps me use the elemental armor spell better. Earth Mastery does the same thing but with earth spells and a skill called Pathfinder, which helps me to find a road or route to a specific place. I don''t need to know exactly how to get from A to B, and I have to know more or less the direction I should be heading. The skill also makes it harder to get lost if I''m in a place I don''t know. Oddly enough, it doesn''t do anything if I''m in a place I already know well," Hera explained. "So you got 11 skills in the past two weeks?" Bonnie stared at the explorer with admiration. "Pretty much. I also hogged one of the A-heart rooms for two weeks which I''m sure not everybody is happy about. Oh, and Lurize helped a lot with the combat-type skills. Apparently, he can help me with more than just swords, and having him around already gives me a push in the right direction when I was learning the other ones." Alex pulled up her tablet and quickly typed the question before showing it to Hera, ''That helps your legacy, right? Those X weapon combat skills make them better.'' "Exactly. That''s why I was after them. And I just grabbed a wide range because eventually I''m gonna change them, so I figured it was better to already go after them since I have time now," Hera nodded and looked towards the front of the train, hoping they would arrive soon. She was feeling restless, the only thing she could do now was wait, but there was nothing to do there. And she couldn''t actually pull up a book and put some music on her tablet when the entire party was here. Doing so would be very rude, not to mention she knew that they would take that the wrong way. They talked a bit more about the skills and how she got them, but since the explorer continuously looked over to the front of the train, the rest of the party figured out she wasn''t interested in the subject. Some time passed before Bonnie tried to talk about something else, "Did you guys see what happened with the people responsible for the attack?" "I didn''t. Did they figure out who it was?" Blue asked. "Sort of. Apparently, there was this guy named Chandler something, And he was captured by the centaur in forced to bring the monsters to the room. He has a legacy that can do that, and since if the centaur killed him, she would get the legacy herself, he followed along, trying to find a chance to escape. I can understand why he did that. I mean, what''s the point of sacrificing yourself if the result will still be the same? Anyway, he''s a smuggler, and that''s how the centaurs found him. But he fought against the center as soon as the monsters appeared, and he even managed to use his legacy to recapture the worst ones he had let loose. Now he''s working with the authorities to see if they can find the whereabouts of the centaurs and try to see what''s going on. Another thing is that the guild is not confirming or denying if this attack had anything to do with the one in Union City." "I mean, it has to be them, right? There is no one else who would do something like that," Alex asked. "I don''t know. The attack in Union City was planned, and the terrorists didn''t even wait for the dust to settle before saying hey, we were the ones who did it. If they did this, why the secrecy? Wouldn''t this be a great way to force people to be afraid of them? Unless this was something that they didn''t want to do. After all, Union City was mostly empty. The attack was more of a statement than anything else. Here, it was about hurting people. It was about making people suffer. The statement the terrorists put out didn''t sound like they were doing this just for the sake of killing people. I think we''re dealing with a different group. Which is honestly even scarier than if they were just them," when Helena started speaking, a few of the other passengers leaned in to hear her opinion. It wasn''t because they knew her but because she spoke with a certain confidence of someone with insider information, even if that wasn''t the case. The rest of their journey was very straightforward. They crossed from Dzviery to a room called Ocean Trail. After changing rooms, everyone was surprised to see they were inside a moving ship. It was the first time Hera ever saw a room with a moving doorway, but it seemed like the entire boat was part of the room and couldn''t be destroyed. When they finally arrived at the island, a few hours after entering the room, everyone disembarked and headed for a doorway to the Red Sand Beach. This room barely had any infrastructure, and because of that, they had to cross over one more doorway to reach a place where they could actually rest for tonight before finishing their journey the next day. It wasn''t exactly late, but everyone decided to rest in the hotel. Everyone but Hera. The explorer left the hotel and headed to the guild. She wanted to move and focus on something and not be too lazy around and allow her thoughts to wander. When morning came, Alex was the first to wake up. She tried to sneak out of the room, but as she was leaving, she realized that Hera''s bed was undisturbed. Either the explorer managed to make the bed just as well as the people who work here, or she didn''t even come back to sleep. To make things even worse, there was no message from Hera on the tablet. Worried that her friend might be in trouble, Alex woke everyone up and told them what had happened. In less than 10 minutes, the party was already heading out to look for their missing friend. 465 - Guide Support Hera stopped by the Guild to see if any training rooms were available for her. Unfortunately, the only ones with open slots would have her sharing the training rooms. She didn''t like the idea of training with somebody else close by, not to mention that staying close to strangers made her feel uneasy. Ever since the attack, Hera had a feeling that people were staring at her wherever she was going. She knew that this was probably just her mind playing tricks, but it was hard to ignore something like that. Before returning to the hotel, she decided to go to her private room where she could be alone for a while and maybe talk to a couple of the guides. Another benefit was that she could take a bath and try to relax a little. Inside her private room, Hera called all of her blades back out. During these past few weeks, she felt bad about leaving all of them stuck inside the legacy. She wasn''t even sure if there was an inside. Maybe when they weren''t outside, the blades simply didn''t exist. Daskka told her it didn''t make a difference for them, but she liked allowing her court to roam around freely. It became even more evident that this was a good idea when the weapons would not just look for comfortable places to be in but even watch TV alongside her. In a way, she never had to be alone again. She was still inside the bathtub when the guide started replying to her messages. Capri was complaining about not being called, but the sheep was also worried about the explorer. It was the same with Laika, the space dog, Nina and Talpa, the Kobold sisters, and Jackie, the southern raccoon. Johnny told her that she had to relax and forget about the past. While Luna kept apologizing, she felt guilty about the situation, almost like what happened was her fault somehow. Lastly, there was a voice message from Peaches. "Hey, kid. I don''t think this will translate well via text. That''s why the voice message. Listen, the MAZE is a dangerous place. There are no two ways about it. You can try to live your life being kind to everyone, but life won''t be kind to you. Not always. I understand how upset you are. I still remember how you cried after killing the mad emperor inside a test. I can only imagine how bad you are feeling now that you actually killed someone for real. Don''t expect me to sugarcoat it. You killed someone. You took a life. That''s something that you have to carry with you until the end of your days," Peaches'' voice changed from stern to soft, "But you can''t let that break you. You need to find something, find some way to accept what happened. What''s done is done. You can''t change the past no matter how much you try to. Time travel skills or spells don''t exist. You can do some time shenanigans but trust me, that''s way above your pay grade, and they can only dilate time, never reverse it. Well... Technically, a few can reverse spells, but let me get back to the point. I''ve told you before that you are too soft. We can understand if that changes. Honestly, after all this, I would be worried if it didn''t. I think you''re in a moment in your life where you have to figure some things out. I''ve seen a lot of people, and I''ve talked to a lot of explorers. Trust me when I say that this does not define you. You are not a killer just because you have killed someone. But now, if you want to live with that, you will need to stop being so soft. I hope that doesn''t change you very much. You are an amazing person, and it would be a shame to lose that, but if you don''t change somehow, I don''t think you''re gonna have a very good, or long, future. Either way, I''m here for you whenever you need to talk. You know I can split myself pretty well, so don''t worry about me being busy. The other guides are here too. I don''t think anyone is gonna change how they feel about you just because of that. Maybe Luna. She''s feeling very guilty about all that and trying to compensate everyone she can." There was a small pause in the voice message, with some noise in the background. It seemed like someone had arrived at Peaches'' house. After a few moments, he continued talking, "Sorry about that. Some people don''t know the meaning of the word privacy. Either way, this is what I wanted to tell you. I''m here for you. We are here for you. Whatever you need, just call and for the love of the system, go to the support group that the detective told you about. I''m not a psychologist, I can try to help you, but I''m sure I won''t be doing half as good of a job as someone who studied for that. Don''t shut down and block everybody else off. You have friends and family. Lean on them. I''m serious. Also, you have to talk to us at least once a week. I don''t care if you''re just gonna send a message saying, ''hey, I''m still alive.'' I wanna hear from you once a week, one way or another. If you''re going to end up in a room where it''s hard to get to a doorway, let me know, so we can at least know who to ask to keep tabs on you. That''s basically it. I hope you''re healthy because I know you''re not OK, and if you need, just call." Hera finished listening to the message and smiled. Even if she already had people who cared about her, there was something special about having a guide worrying this much and wishing her so much good. She also understood that he wasn''t wrong. She was too soft, and she could feel this eating her away from the inside. Unless she changed something about herself, this might as well be her doom. For a moment, she considered this support group. However, staying in a room filled with people who were also feeling sorry about themselves and wanted to wallow in the pain of what they didn''t actually sound like a good idea. If anything, she would feel much more uncomfortable than just talking to someone one-on-one. As Hera continued to try to relax in the bathtub, an image flashed through her mind. The body of Vulmer Keller, bleeding out on the ground. That made her jolt up and splash some water on her face before washing the soap on her body and leaving the bathroom. She quickly put on her clothes and left her private room. She finally had an idea of what she could do to stop having those kinds of flashes. The problem was that she was too afraid of killing. Killing actual living beings and killing humanoid beings even in dungeons. She had to change that, and, sadly, she could only come up with a single idea. An awful idea, that she really didn''t want to, but it didn''t seem like there was another option. If she wanted to get rid of that fear, she would have to face it head-on. Hera grabbed her tablet to see if any dungeons in this room, called Southern Reef, had people as the enemies, but she got no luck. But it seemed like her luck would change soon. In the Charring Wastes, there was a dungeon that had people as one of the factions you could go against. To make things even better, there was a particular type of creature in this room that had a somewhat humanoid shape. Hunting them might prove to be a good initial step. Just as she left her private room, Hera dismissed most of her court, leaving only Lurize and Daskka out. The two-handed sword will be on her back while the snake will be around her neck as usual. She was still going to fight with the glaive, but she realized that having Lurize on her back or just around her would help her understand how to fight better. It seems like the blade was a teacher, and it could show her some of her mistakes. It was a shame that it couldn''t help her with actual combat styles, but having his aid for the basics of combat was still incredibly helpful. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Moving to the region of the room where those monsters lived, she felt confident. She was on the 9th layer, so the monsters should be around her level or a few levels higher, and since her target was supposed to be nocturnal, she would have an easy enough time to find them now. The sun had already set, and her abilities to hide would be even better in the dark. Leaving the settlement located in the tallest part of the reef, she headed north to one of the known colonies of the Larianic Lobsters. When she got far enough away from any civilization, Daskka asked, "Are you going to call the court?" "No. I wanna do this myself. But if needed, I have you and Lurize to help me." "And what are we doing?" Instead of explaining with words, Hera simply used their connection to pass along her feelings and how she intended to overcome her fears. "That sounds like a bad idea." "Maybe. But I have to do something. I can''t take this anymore," Hera sighed and accidentally sent her frustration and fear of the situation to Daskka. The snake took a moment to process all of that before nodding and touching her head with Hera''s, "I understand, mum." Hera snuggled with her adviser and kept moving. It didn''t take long for her to find one of the lobsters. When she read about them she found out that those creatures were nocturnal, but she never expected them to beat this active. A few meters in front of her there was a lobster walking on two legs with large arms connected to two pairs of massive claws sprinting from side to side. In a way, it was almost like doing suicide runs that one would do on a basketball team. Without saying a word, Hera flung a few poison needles at the target. She managed to hit two of them, and the poison started to spread. Instead of allowing the spell to kill the monster, she used her poison control spell to change how it behaved. She wanted it to be something that would weaken the monster and not kill it. She noticed how the amount of mana she used was considerably larger than she expected. This was all because Lurize was on her back. The blade would take her poison mana, making it harder for her to use poison herself. Before doing anything, Hera wanted to confirm if the monster didn''t have any other surprises waiting for her. She triggered her [Observe] just as her ailment mastery notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Larianic Lobster ailment bonus effect xi ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Larianic Lobster - Level 25 - Poisoned - Weakened (Water affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It only took a few moments for the creature to start to look lethargic. Its movements became sluggish, and it seemed to be straining itself just running around. Hera waited for the lobster to get closer and turn around before striking. She covered her weapon with a pure mana reinforcement focusing on making the blade sharper than usual. With a dash, Hera jumped forward, holding her glaive with both hands, and pierced the monster''s chest. Hera, Daskka, and Lurize were surprised by the attack''s effectiveness. They expected the battle to last more than just a second. However, Hera confirmed that, yes, the monster was dead. When she pulled out the weapon from the carcass, she noticed that she seemed to have pierced the lobster''s heart, even if she had aimed more towards the lower abdomen. She glanced down at the body, and for a moment, she could have sworn that it was the elf she had killed. Taking a step back and blinking, that image returned to what it was supposed to be. A giant monster lobster. Hera felt her stomach turning but pushed it down, refusing to get sick because of this. She placed her fist and wiped the gray blood from her blade before walking away, looking for another target. For the next three hours or so, Hera kept hunting non-stop. Initially, she killed monsters as normal, but when it became clear that it wasn''t working like she wanted, she forced herself to be more cruel. She would cut off their limbs and stare into their eyes while dealing the killing blow. Both Daskka and Lurize asked if she was OK after every kill, but Hera just replied that it was something she had to do. When she finally felt tired, Hera started walking back to the city. She had caused a lot of damage. At a glance she could count a trail of at least 100 corpses without counting the ones eaten by other monsters. Not wanting to waste materials and leave them to rot, she grabbed as many as she could and dragged them using Yarnball''s thread as a rope to pull them along. Thinking that she might as well make some money, Hera stopped by the Guild carrying the bodies to see if she could sell them. It was 2:00 AM, yet someone was working the butcher''s desk. "Hi. Can you help me?" Hera asked with a deadpan expression. "Hi. Sure, what do you need?" the butcher replied in a bored tone. It was obvious that he wasn''t happy being on the midnight shift. "I have these," Hera pointed back to the 10 lobster bodies that she was dragging behind her. She only took those she found to be in better condition. It was better to leave those that she had dismembered behind. "Oh, so you are one of the reasons I have to work this late? Fine. Let''s see what you have," the man stepped out of the desk and took a look at all the carcasses, "Heads up for next time. Try not to drag them on the ground. You damage their eyes and face, and there are some good materials there." "I figured it was better than leaving them in the wild. It felt like a waste," Hera replied, still with that apathetic attitude. "Couldn''t you have asked your party to help to drag them along?" "I was hunting alone." "Damn¡­ you are crazy," the man looked at the corpses again, "It''s gonna take me a few hours to go through all these. Those things are big, and there are a lot of organs inside that I have to be careful with. Do you wanna wait, or do you want to come back later?" "I''ll come back later." "OK, one moment," The butcher quickly typed a few things on the computer and then gave her a small piece of paper, "I''ve set this load as yours, and here is your receipt. You don''t need to bring it here when you come back, but people feel more comfortable when you hand something to them." Hera nodded, "Do you close, or are you open 24/7?" "24/7. But there might be someone else when you come here. Don''t worry. They''ll take care of you." "Thanks for the help. Have a good night," Hera replied before leaving the butcher to his work. Instead of going to the hotel, she decided to go to her private room again. It was late, and she didn''t want to wake anyone up. As she was walking, Daskka tapped Hera''s cheek, "Are you OK? You look strange." "I''m just tired. And doing all that wasn''t fun," Hera sighed, "I just tried to suppress everything. I''ll let you know if it''s working tomorrow." Hera arrived at her private room and took a quick shower before bed. She was much more tired than expected, and all she wanted now was a good night of rest. Unfortunately, her subconscious disagreed. 466 - Charring Wastes "Your elbows are too high. You should be holding it closer to your waist, not to your chest," Lurize spoke in Hera''s mind. "Crap. I keep doing that. I don''t know why," Hera sighed and lowered her stance. "The weapons you use require wider movements. That''s probably why you''re having this problem," the blade continued. "Wider? What are you talking about? The glaive has better range." "Correct. But your arms are always linked to each other. This reduces your range of movement while allowing the weapon to have a better reach. Think about it. Even if you''re going to do an overhead swing, your arms won''t be straight up. One hand will hold the base of the glaive while the other guides its path by being along the midsection." "Fine. Fine. I get it. I just need to keep my elbows lower, right? "Correct," Lurize replied with the same warm and comforting voice it had used since it started to help her train. In a way, that only made Hera even more frustrated. She knew that the blade wasn''t doing it on purpose, but it felt condescending every time it spoke like that. It was weird because usually she didn''t feel that way. The way Lurize spoke was comforting and it would help her focus, but now, it was driving her nuts. "Something wrong? You weird since up," Daskka asked while Hera continued to practice in one of the training rooms. "Yeah, yeah. I just couldn''t sleep. I''m still tired," Hera Continued following the movements that Her virtual trainer was showing. She had bought a compendium for a fighting style called Whirlwind Path. It required the use of a medium-range weapon such as a spear, a staff, or a glaive and focused on broad sweeps and spinning attacks that would both parry incoming blows and allow her to fight multiple enemies at once. Unfortunately, she was a bit too greedy. This particular martial art was on the more advanced side, which is why she had so much trouble grasping the basic movements. "I saw you sleep. You woke quick. Why?" Daskka asked again. The snake was by the side of the ATR, watching Hera from a distance with Lurize by her side. Even this early in the morning, people were already using one of the two A-Heart training rooms in the Southern Reef. This place was one of those that had barely enough space and infrastructure to withstand one of those specialized training rooms. Because of that, people who lived here always filled up the reservations. "I¡­ I had a bad dream," Hera shivered as she remembered what happened while she slept. Usually, she had a hard time remembering her dreams, especially if they were surreal or nonsensical. This, however, was different. The memory was still vivid, even now, 5 hours later. It started with her inside the interrogation room, and a detective appeared, slamming a folder on the desk. It was filled with pictures of the elf she killed. She didn''t even have time to look over them when the man started yelling. But the voice changed to a woman and back to a man, then it just became a chorus of different people asking her why she killed someone. What gave her the right to take a life and walk away scott free? Then, the double-sided mirror vanished, revealing all her friends, family, and even her court on the other side judging her and calling her a murderer. As that was going on, hands came out of the ground, wrapped around her legs, and pulled her down. She tried to get away, but she was handcuffed to the chair and ended up falling into the black hole that appeared under her. The fall lasted just a few moments, and she landed in the middle of the red tower, surrounded by people who were killing each other. When she got up, all the people turned towards her and started growling and yelling. From the back, they parted ways revealing Vulmer Keller, bloodied and with an open chest. His half heart was still beating and gushing out blood. The man didn''t say anything. It just lumbered towards her, becoming bigger the closer he got. His entire body had changed when he was close enough to grab her. His hands were somewhat bigger, but his gigantic head went all the way to the tower''s ceiling. He opened his mouth, revealing that instead of teeth, he had smaller versions of himself, all clawing out and trying to grab something before biting down on her body. That''s when she woke up. She was so disturbed by the dream that Hera simply got out of bed, splashed some water on her face, and came to the guild to train. She wanted to focus on something else. That way, she could at least ignore or temporarily forget what her mind showed her. What she failed to notice was that her connection with Daskka had become even stronger. Because of that, the snake was able to see the dream Hera had as she thought about it. The snake flew towards the explorer, wrapping herself around Hera''s neck, snuggling against her face, "Was just dream, mum." "I know. I know," Hera scratched Daskka''s head. They spent a few moments like that before the snake flew back to Lurize''s side. Doing so allowed her to glance at the tablet that Hera had put on the ground and notice a message popping up, "Mum, message. People worried." Hera let go of her stance and walked over to Daskka, picking up her tablet and checking her messages. There were about 50 or so, and It was clear that their worry was escalating. The last message talked about how they were heading to the guild before going out of the city to search for her. Apparently, they spoke with a few of the clerks, who confirmed that she appeared in the middle of the night. Hera quickly sent a message letting them know that she was already in the guild and that they could meet by the butcher since she already had to pick up the pay for her work the previous night. One thing that she found weird was that her tablet didn''t ring. She looked it over and was in silent mode, but she couldn''t remember activating that. With a shrug, she just changed that setting and grabbed her things to leave. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Just a few minutes after getting the message, Hera was already outside. Since she had to wait for her friends, she had decided to stop by the butcher to get her money from the corpses she delivered. Unfortunately, there was a big line in front of the desk. Dozens of people were carrying monsters'' bodies to be processed. With a shrug, the explorer just got in line so she could talk to the butcher. She had received a message from them telling her that they managed to disassemble their bodies and give her a fair price, but at the time, she was sleeping, and when she woke up, she wanted to move and decided to come here later. Since this was her first time in this room, Hera couldn''t tell if this kind of line was usual or not. But apparently, there were a lot of monsters around, and people were excited to make some easy money. Or at least, that''s what she heard from the people around here carrying several different monsters'' bodies. She was the next in line when Alex and the others found her, "Hera! Where were you?" the assassin gasped. "Sorry. After training, I went to my private room to take a bath, but I still wanted to move a bit. That''s why I went out hunting. When I finally got tired enough to go to bed, it was too late, and I didn''t want to wake anyone up. So I slept in my private room. I spaced out and forgot to send a message. My bad," Hera replied. "That''s fine. It happens. Just let us know next time. We were worried, and I woke everyone up," Alex glanced at the rest of the group. Helena and Bonnie mainly seemed fine, but Blue looked like someone who was still half asleep. "Also, what are you doing here?" Helena asked. "I brought some monster carcasses last night and they told me to come back later to get my money. It was just one guy working, so I guess he couldn''t evaluate everything properly at the time," Hera explained. "You went hunting alone? Are you crazy? There are a lot of strong monsters in this room!" Helena gasped. "It wasn''t that bad. I just went after some lobsters; they were all pretty easy to kill. I spent one hour hunting them, and I didn''t get hit once. I left a lot of bodies behind, though." "So you are the one that did that?" a woman behind Hera asked. "That what?" Hera turned around. "The massacre in the lobster field. That attracted a lot of monsters, so people went into a frenzy to kill them. Since they were all gathered in the same place and busy eating, we managed to kill many of them quickly. Thanks for that, girl. And you went on a rampage. From what I heard, there were like 50 corpses laying around when people started to notice what was going on," the woman said with a big smile. "50!" Bonnie gasped, "You hunted 50 monsters alone?" "She probably hunted a lot more than that. When people saw that happening, there was already a horde of monsters eating the corpses, and there were bones everywhere," the woman nodded. "Hera!" Helena gasped. "What? I''m fine, everything is fine. I didn''t get hurt. You don''t need to act like that just because I didn''t call you guys. I can handle them on my own," Hera rolled her eyes. "Can you handle them, Or were you hoping they could handle you?" Alex asked. "What''s that supposed to mean?" Hera turned to Alex with an angry expression. "You know what that''s supposed to mean." "Fuck me, Alex. Just because I''m struggling with something doesn''t mean I''m trying to get myself killed," Hera rolled her eyes. The woman behind the group took a step back, realizing that she might get involved by accident. Hera was called for the butcher''s desk right after that. This gave them a chance to cool off. In total, she managed to gather 25 000 gold. She could have gotten close to 40, but the most expensive materials in the lobster were their eyes. Apparently, the eyes had some sort of unique components that could be used to make camera lenses or things like that. The person talking to her wasn''t the same person that took the bodies. This butcher explained to her that if she wanted to keep one of the parts, they could just deduct the price from the 25 thousand or if she wanted to sell everything, she didn''t even have to come back there. They could have just confirmed the transaction and sent her everything digitally. Hera thanked the butcher after taking her money and headed back to the group. Alex apologized for the accusation, but it was clear that it wasn''t the assassin''s idea. Still Hera ignored her anger and they kept going. Before heading to the doorway, they stopped by the hotel to grab their stuff. Now, they were only two rooms away from their destination. The reason why it would take longer last time was because they could stay in Dzviery, but now this was the only place where they could rest inside an actual city. When crossing to the next room, everyone could tell that the mood wasn''t the best. Hera was still upset that Alex would consider that she was thinking about something so drastic, and, to make things worse, she could tell everybody was walking on eggshells around her. It was annoying, to say the least, and at times downright infuriating. In any other situation, they would have continued the discussion. Yet, now it seems like not even Alex wanted to continue talking about it. The room connected to the shallow reef was called Bountiful Coast. It was a massive circular room almost completely filled with farmland and a gigantic inactive volcano in the middle. The reasoning for the name was pretty obvious, the soil. Since everything was made out of volcanic soil, it would help with farming and the general growth of any plant. The island was so large that this was one of the places where people had actual means of transportation. It didn''t take long for them to find a place where people would be waiting for the carts that would take them to the top of the volcano. That''s where the doorway to the Charring Wastes was located. Less than three hours after they all woke up, they finally arrived at their destination. The Charring Wastes was a very unique room and home to fire spirits. It was a vast expanse of hot soil with some cracks that would glow beneath their feet for about 40 kilometers or so, surrounded by 41 active volcanoes and a single inactive one. This last one was the one they were coming from, and in the middle of the room, a large city towered over the area. That was their destination, where Helena''s lab was located, and all they had to do was pack everything before returning home. But Hera had another plan. She wanted to do some runs in a dungeon here before leaving, which should help her overcome her issues. 467 - Lava spirits Going to the city in the Charring Wastes was a bit of a problem in itself. For starters, they had to walk all the way to the town, which was already a 20-kilometer journey. Occasionally, some people with large-scale transport spells could also help people to cross that distance. But they couldn''t find anything about it online, and the information Helena had was outdated since it''s been over a year since she had come here. The good part was that another group of people was going to the city. Meaning that instead of being just a small party of five people walking through the perilous fiery wasteland, they were instead a caravan of 25 people. Despite the safety of moving around in a group, some of the monsters in the room still tried to attack the group. They were quickly dispatched by the explorers, but even so, that didn''t seem to scare any other attackers away. Because of the constant attacks, everyone decided to move a bit faster so they could reach the city sooner. As they were traveling through the lava fields, Helena and a few other explorers who were used to the room pointed to the right. Each of them was talking to their own party while a couple of the people who already knew the room groaned with the presentation. "And to the right, you will see one of our most famous attractions. The lava river and its denizens. The lava spirits," Helena announced with a big smile. Looking in the direction she was pointing, Hera could see not only the lava river, a massive flow of glowing orange rock that moved as fast as the rapids, but some creatures roaming around them. Some looked like animals, tigers, wolves, hippos, seagulls, and several others. Some had monstrous shapes. Creatures with several extra limbs, multiple heads, and faceless beings with mouths in the middle of their bodies. And, the most strange ones of the bunch, the spirits without a set shape. They were almost like blobs of lava just moving around, stretching and pulling themselves to the sides. "They are a peaceful bunch, but they are a bit territorial. You shouldn''t get close to them willy nilly. Also, don''t use anything related to water near them. Even grabbing a bottle to drink is a bad idea. Water is their natural enemy and that can lead to some problems," Helena explained. "Is there anything they particularly like? Hera asked. Well, they like fire. Things that are hot and can function as fuel. They also really like sulfur and some other gasses that can come from lava. I don''t know how that helps, though," Helena shrugged. "Do you know of anyone who made a contract with one of them?" Bonnie had her eyes glued to the spirits. "I believe a few people in the city have contracts. There''s also a Spirit Research Center here, but it''s smaller than the one in the forest of dreams. Mostly because of the constraints that the city has. Space is a bit of an issue here. The city could only be built here because it''s located on one of the few patches of solid ground in this room. If we try to build something else, there''s a good chance it will just sink with the weight. We don''t have to worry about that when we are walking, but for anything that is too big, that would be an issue. Not to mention that trying to keep one of those spirits in the middle of a city is extremely dangerous," Helena added. "Mum, if you manage to make a contract with one of them, you can have a Titled Blade," Daskka told Hera as she walked. Hera looked around, not wanting to discuss her legacy out loud in the middle of this group of strangers. She focused for a moment, trying to use the connection she had with her snake to send not just a feeling but actual words to formulate a question, "I know. But I need a weapon that shares the element, right?" Daskka was surprised by how she heard her question and replied in the same way, "No. You can use any blade you already have or a new one. It doesn''t have to match the element of the spirit." "Really? What happens then? Does the blade change its element?" "Not really. It will mix both elements together. It can be something like turning water and wind into cloud element or making something like wind and fire becoming hot wind." "Since when is hot wind an element?" Hera scoffed. "It isn''t. But it works for the legacy. It has both elements, and it will allow you to use both of them at once. It''s kind of like what Helena wants to do. She wanted to be a Ying Yang mage. It''s the same thing with the titled blades. Using a spirit that doesn''t match their elements will be a mix of both elements. Sometimes, the elements might have some weird synergy and create something else, even if it''s not a new element but a way to work together, and that depends on how each element works. For instance: Your poison is a bit weird, mum. Poison is not supposed to be flammable, but yours is. Because of that, maybe a mix of poison and fire can be powerful. The poison will fuel the fire," Daskka continued explaining. "I see... That''s something to consider. But it''s supposed to take months to get an elemental spirit on your side. So we might not be able to go after it right now," Hera looked back to the lava river. She could see the spirits roaming around and apparently living peaceful lives. At the same time, she starts to think about her legacy. Title blades seem to be a big part of her legacy, and she was beginning to wonder if not having one somehow hindered her progress. There were some specific requirements to get a titled blade, but she never actually went after them, not really. Maybe it''s time to change that. Perhaps if she had a title blade during the attack, she would have been able to fight Vulmer off without killing him. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. After passing the elemental spirits, it seemed like the monster attacks stopped almost completely. There was just one last group of salamanders that thought the humans might be easy prey, but they were quickly killed by everyone. It was hard to tell if the monsters were really weak or not. After all, even the strongest of creatures in this room would have a hard time if there were 25 people flinging spells at them all at once. When they arrived in the city, Helena guided the party to her lab. It was located in one of the central Spires of the city. A place dedicated to research and development of magic. Some blacksmiths worked exclusively with materials that could only be shaped at extremely high temperatures, but that wasn''t the focus of the spire. Helena''s laboratory was a sight to behold. She had a three-story tall room with a massive contraption in the middle. It had a mana crystal in the center of the room and several mechanical arms around it with different lenses on each of them. The idea was that she could use those lenses to identify the type of elements that were inside the crystal. Apparently, this was much more complicated than finding out a creature''s element or a spell. Since it required the person who was looking to see through the refraction created by the crystal. "Are you going to bring this entire thing back?" Blue walked towards the crystal. The thing was easily five-meters tall. "The lenses and maybe the mechanical arms, yes, but the crystal is gonna stay here. It''s part of the laboratory. Not to mention that it''s completely obsolete for what I''m doing now," Helena explained as she got close to one of the bookcases and started to look over the tomes. "OK, and how exactly are we supposed to help you? Just pick everything and shove it in a box?" Hera asked. "No, no, no. You don''t just pick this stuff and shove it in a box. We need to classify them properly," Helena had a large smile on her face. "Do you want to separate them by theme, elements, or spell configuration?" Bonnie jumped into work. She started going through books and making some piles based on some specific organization type that eluded everyone else. "I don''t know how much I can help you. I mean, I''m really out of my depth," Blue sighed. "Same," Alex nodded. "Honestly, me too. I know a little bit about spells, but just looking at the name of these books, I don''t even know what they were talking about. I mean, look at this, ''From iron to water: A theoretical application of the paradoxical remedial alteration.'' The fuck is this?" Hera gasped. "Oh, that is a good read. It''s about a theorem that allows us to change matter into something completely different. However, there are still some issues that no one can figure out, even if the theory is technically correct," Helena nodded. "Lena, that''s fine and all, but this is 3 thousand pages long. I''m pretty sure that this book can do more damage than some of the weapons we used when we just started in the MAZE," the tome was massive, and Hera had to use both hands to hold it. "That''s not even the worst one. This one is 5 lines just for the title, and I honestly don''t know what half those words mean," Blue was looking at another book that was a bit smaller, but it still had over 2 thousand pages. "If you guys don''t want to help this part, that''s fine. You can stay in the city and do whatever you want. We''ll call you if we need anything. But I really wanted your guy''s help to dismantle this machine and carry some of the boxes when we are done," Helena didn''t stop going through her books while talking. "That we can do," Alex nodded. "Yeah. And while you''re doing this, do you guys mind if we do some dungeons?" Hera asked. "As long as you don''t go too far from the city. The dungeons outside are a bit more complicated, and it will be better if we are all together," Helena looked up from the book. "I don''t have a problem with that. The one I want to do is here in the city," Hera explained while she took a look at another book. She was trying to find a single tome that didn''t have an overly complicated name, but it looked like that was a fool''s errand. "What is it called?" Blue turned to Hera. "The fall of Bonpei." "Pompeii? Like the city that was destroyed by a volcano?" Alex asked. "It sounds the same, but it''s not. It''s Bonpei. B O N P E I. But the contents of the dungeon are somewhat similar. From what I gather, it''s a battle. A fight between two armies. On one side are humans, well, humanoids; on the other, there is a civilization of fire people living inside a volcano. They are almost elemental spirits but not quite. Apparently when the fire people are attacking it''s like an eruption. In the dungeon, we can choose sides. Either we work as a saboteur for the humans or generals for the fire people," Hera explained. "Oh, so you want to be the saboteur? That seems fun," Blue nodded. "No. I want to be the general," when Hera spoke, even Bonnie and Helena stopped what they were doing to look at her. There was a long moment of silence before Alex stepped in, "Why? We all know how you struggle to fight against people inside a dungeon. Why do you want to fight them now? What changed?" "Nothing. That''s the problem. Even after what I did, I still feel conflicted about killing people inside dungeons. Someone told me that I have to change after what I did, and I feel like this is a good way to start," Hera picked a random book and pretended to read just to avoid eye contact. "I don''t think you have to change. You just have to deal with what happened," Blue suggested. "That''s the problem. I can''t deal with what happens if I don''t change, and that''s the whole point. If I stay the way I am, I''m gonna end up suffering a lot or just losing my mind. More than I already am. So, instead of letting this drive me crazy. I''m going to change so this kind of thing still affects me but not to the same point where it''s affecting me now." "That''s¡­. A surprisingly level-headed idea," Bonnie nodded. "Are you serious?" Alex snapped at the researcher. "Yes. I''m not saying it''s a good idea, but the concept makes sense. If someone is afraid of spiders, one of the ways to solve that is through exposure therapy. It''s the same principle." "Also, changing this is not on the table. I''m just asking if you guys want to come along," Hera explained. Alex stared daggers at the explorer, but there was nothing she could do to change her mind. It was clear when she looked into Hera''s eyes. The assassin let out a long sigh and gave in. Blue, on the other hand, was excited from the moment that she talked about the dungeon. It''s been a long time since they faced large armies or monsters that were more or less human-sized and the controller was itching to use her martial arts in combat. 468 - A clash of interest The entrance of the dungeon was surprisingly easy to find. It was close to the doorway in the middle of the lava river splitting the city in half. But instead of being something on the ground dangerously close to the hot magma, it was on the top of an ancient-looking structure a few meters behind the doorway to a different room. When they got close to the building, it became clear that this was a popular dungeon among the explorers, maybe because of the location or the rewards. Either way, there was a considerable number of people around the area, most of which were walking towards the dungeon proper. "Is there a reason why there are so many people here? Or is it just because it''s still the closest dungeon to the city?" Blue turned to Hera. "I''m not sure. From what I gather, there are some fun rewards but nothing that would justify a bunch of people coming here. I think it''s just easy because it''s in the middle of the city. It''s better than going all the way to the middle of nowhere just to do a dungeon," Hera had her tablet open and was double-checking the information she had about the quest they would do. "What are the rewards we can get here?" Alex asked. "Well, it''s a bit of the basics. Money, materials, and stuff like that, but we can also find some weapons. They change depending on who we help. If we go with the people of Bonpei, we should get water or ice-based things. Siding with the people from the volcano will give us fire and lava weapons," Hera explained after double-checking the information. "So we''re getting the fire and lava weapons? That seems to fit the theme," Alex nodded. "Not just weapons. We can find some armor and accessories too. But yeah, If we are lucky, we can find some of those pieces of equipment as rewards. Also, let me just say. Don''t try to steal any of the weapons that we see inside there. I mean like the things that are inside houses or anywhere else. The ones that people were carrying will disappear when we kill them, but there are a lot of set pieces just to make things more believable. If we try to bring any of them out, the army we''re helping will consider it treason because we are stealing from army supplies. And this will reduce our rewards. People tested it out. We can''t get negative gold, but it''s possible that when we finish the dungeon, we don''t get anything as a reward," Hera kept reading the compendium she had on her tablet. "Is that it? I mean, it seems fine and all, but I don''t see how that''s a reason for this many people to be here," Blue looked around, "Maybe it''s just the convenience then." "Not really. You guys are missing something important," a male voice came from behind the group. The three turned around to see an elf with suntanned skin and long red hair tied to the back of his head. The man was wearing a comfortable-looking white shirt and a loose green leather vest along with a mantle that was a darker shade of the same color. He also had some jewelry around his fingers, neck, and ears. All those pieces had one thing in common. They were adorned with golden laurels and leaves. It seemed like this man was really leaning into the stereotype of a wood elf. "Are we missing something?" When the man saw Hera''s expression, he took a step back. It was clear that the explorer did not enjoy the interruption. "Sorry. I just overheard you guys talking. The rewards of this dungeon are decent, but the reason why so many people come here it''s because this is a great place to train some skills. If you''re going with the human side, anything that involves hiding or stealth can get a very nice boost. If you''re going on the volcano side, a lot of skills related to giving commands, passing orders, and strategy can rank up rather quickly," the elf continued speaking. "Oh, that''s good then," Blue nodded, understanding that some of those skills should help Hera a lot. "Yeah. Maybe. Thank you for the information," Hera tried to end the conversation, but her friends had other ideas in mind. "Have you done this dungeon before?" Blue asked the elf. "I have. Quite a few times, actually. If you''re going on the human side, I advise you to be careful with the patrol. They are much trickier than you would expect. And if you''re going on the volcano side, watch out for spy groups and other teams trying to mess up with your army," the elf continued. "And the fire people are the invaders, right? If we side with the humans, we are playing defense," Alex noticed Hera''s annoyed look but chose to ignore it. "It''s more complicated than that but you are not wrong. If you''re going side with the volcano, treat this like you would treat an actual war. The humans will use every trick in the book and then some to get you, and you have to be ready for everything. I''ve seen humans using booby traps, disguising random objects as people then turning them into bombs, saying they surrender, then turn around and attack the troops when they are distracted. This dungeon is a bit of a mess, and honestly, almost everything that happens here is a war crime," the elf sighed. "Oh¡­ that''s not good. Thanks for the advice," Alex smiled. "No worries. Say you guys don''t have a free slot at your party, do you? I''m alone here, and I''m looking for a group to join." The girls looked at each other, but they all shook their heads. They had two legacies among them, and having a random person in the party would stop them from using everything they could, "No, sorry. The three of us are more than enough for this dungeon," Blue said. "Oh, OK. I understand. Again I''m sorry if I bothered you. It was just¡­ I was passing by, and I heard you talking." "You don''t have to apologize, And we appreciate the advice. What''s your name?" Alex asked. "Oh. My apologies. I''m Adriel. It''s a pleasure to meet you," the elf smiled and gave them a nod. "I''m Alex." "And I''m Blue. Nice to meet ya!" Hera just glanced back to the elf, "Hera." "OK, so you have the kind one," Adriel pointed at Alex, "The bubbly one," he turned to Blue, "And the brooding one," he said as he tilted his head towards Hera, "Yeah. You guys don''t need a 4th. It''s just gonna mess up the whole flow. I''m going to see if I can find another party. Maybe we will meet each other again someday. Bye and good luck." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With that, Adriel left, leaving the party a bit stunned. "Am¡­ am I the brooding one?" Hera asked. "Well... You have been brooding an awful lot lately. It''s understandable, but you are," Blue nodded, "and I was never called the bubbly one before. It''s kind of nice." "Yes, he was," Alex mumbled. "Alex? Really? That''s your type?" Blue gasped. "What? No! Well¡­ I don''t know¡­ he was just easy to talk to," the assassin blushed. While they walked towards the dungeon entrance, Hera and Blue kept teasing Alex about her new crush. It was a nice change of pace for her. She was too focused on solving her issues, and there were very few moments when she genuinely enjoyed herself. Unfortunately, that didn''t last long. Just 5 minutes after Adriel left them, they were already in front of the entrance to the dungeon. The way inside was quite simple. There was a large set of double doors inside the ancient structure. By opening set doors, one would pass a hallway before arriving at a large meeting room where two groups had a heated argument. On the left were regular people, elves, dwarves, humans, and Beastmen, all staring at the other side of the room with angry expressions. On the right, there were the denizens of the volcano. They had humanoid shapes, but their bodies seemed to be made out of pure fire. Their clothes seem to be pieces of lava that had cooled off somewhat and looked like tribal clothing, the type one would see in ancient tribes. "This is a new low, even for you lot," The leader of the volcano tribe said while still staring at a specific human on the other side of the room. "Oh, please. You were the ones low enough to call my kind to your aid," the human scoffed. "It is not my fault that you are all greedy bastards who would do anything for money." "It''s called being thrifty, not greedy," the human who was speaking turned to Hera and her party, "You guys should help us. We may not be able to pay as much as them, but I promise that you won''t regret it. After all, what''s the use of money if you''re all dead. Then again, if you decide to go against us, no hard feelings. If you are lucky, you end up as prisoners instead of corpses." The fire tribesman turned to the party, "You may be just greedy humans, but I do expect you to keep your end of the bargain. Follow us so we can destroy this invasive species that is trying to take over our home." After saying that, both groups left the meeting room. The humans and other races left through a large door on the left while the volcano tribe took the right exit. Both sides didn''t wait for Hera and the others to reply, and any attempt to talk to them was ignored entirely. A notification appeared when there was no one else inside the room except the newcomers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon the Fall of Bonpei You have arrived at a crossroads inside the dungeon. To make your decision, follow the group that you wish to assist. Your decision will have an impact on your mission and your potential rewards. To side with the Mountain Foot Alliance, exit through the left door. To side with the Volcano Tribe, exit through the right door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Are you sure you want to help the volcano tribe, Hera?" Blue asked. "Want to? No, but I have to," Hera sighed. She could feel her hands shaking with just the idea of fighting against people, even if they were all just constructs inside a dungeon. "Don''t you want to look for another way to get past this? Going from I don''t want to kill anyone who looks human to let''s do a dungeon where we commit war crimes it''s a bit of a leap. I know you think this is the only option, but we can figure something else out. I mean, you didn''t even look into seeing a psychologist or something." "I appreciate the offer, but I want to deal with this myself first. I''m not ready to talk with someone else about this," Hera shook her head. Her friends wanted to push her to talk to a psychologist, but they knew that if they kept insisting, it would only make her hesitate even more. With nothing else to say, everybody walked towards the right door. They opened it without any issue and on the other side there was a large village made out of cooled-off magma. Looking up, Hera could see the peaks coming from the sides, almost like she was inside the volcano. That idea was confirmed when Hera looked to the side and saw the large pool of lava surrounding the tent she had just come out of. Oddly enough, she wasn''t feeling too hot. Sure, it was warm, But it was a comfortable level, not the scorching heat that should exist when someone was right above the lava. "There you are. I''m glad to see that some of you still have the honor to keep their end of a deal," the fire humanoid got closer to the group, "I suppose I should introduce myself now. I''m Releon, the leader of this tribe. In times of war, I''m also the general. The problem is, I''m not used to human tactics of war. That''s where you come in. I expect you to show us some tactics that can be used against us and that you can lead our army to battle. And I hope you allow me to explain why we are going to war. Even if I''m not sure if that matters for you humans, we do not make declarations such as this lightly. In fact, We attempted diplomacy with the citizens of Bonpei several times. We allowed them to live at the foot of the mountain while we redirect the flow off the volcano to the other side so as not to hinder their city. The only things we asked in return was that they would trade with us at fair prices, and that they limit their city to a specific area. If their village grew too much, it would threaten the ecosystem of the region. Yet, the people of Bonpei laughed in the face of our requests. They lied and cheated. They grew their city to be five times bigger than we had previously discussed. To make matters worse, they saw fit to create farmland on the other side of the mountain, the same side where we were redirecting the flow of lava whenever an eruption was about to occur. They did so without telling us, and unfortunately, The last time we redirected the flow, it destroyed some of the crops and killed the family that lived there. This is the spark that ignited the war. They are blaming us for the death of the family when they are the ones who broke our rules and did not warn us of any changes. Now that you know the reason why this war started. What do you say? Are you willing to help us?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest - Help the Volcano Tribe You have discovered a dungeon quest. Releon, the chieftain of the Volcano Tribe, hired you to command his army against the citizens of Bonpei. Win the war against Bonpei to complete the quest. Rewards: 80 000 gold. Volcano Tribe gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, do you have a map of the area, distribution of troops, and things like that?" Alex asked after reading the notification. "We do. Follow me. I''ll show you to the command tent," Releon turned around and started walking through the city. "C''mon, guys, let''s go," Alex had a glimmer in her eye. "Why are you so excited?" Blue asked. "I always loved strategy games, and it just hit me that this will be like one!" Hera kept walking by her friend''s side, wondering why their reactions were so different. This place was a dungeon, somewhere where they were the only people alive. Everything else here was fake. Alex was right. This was just a game, yet Hera couldn''t bring herself to see things like that. Looking to the side, she saw more members of the tripe getting ready for war, people gearing up, couples saying their goodbyes, and children crying because their parents might not return. How could someone ignore all this and pretend it wasn''t happening? Why was the MAZE creating simulations so detailed? Maybe doing this dungeon would help her find some of those answers. 469 - War Table "Let''s recap. The people of Bonpei have around 2000 troops plus the civilians who should not participate in a fight. Adding everything that should total 5000 people, but they are at the foot of the mountain. They should have swords, bows, arrows, and those types of weapons, but nothing made for a siege. The city is surrounded by a wooden wall, and some checkpoints are going up the mountain. According to your scouts, there are around 500 troops on each of the 3 checkpoints and the last 500 back in the city. And you say they were also preparing something you''re not sure what it is, correct?" Alex, Hera, and Blue were inside the stone tent, discussing the strategy with Releon in front of a large map of the area. "Correct. Our scouts noticed some unusual movements here, and here," Releon pointed to two points on the map. At the same time, 2 red marks appeared on the table. Those were in between the outposts, meaning something might be in the path leading to the city. "Those might be traps. Remember what the guy said? The elf, I mean," Hera said. "Really? I don''t remember him saying that" Alex tilted her head. "Yeah, he did. You''re probably too lost on his plump well-drawn lips to pay attention," Blue smiled. "His lips weren''t drawn in. It was just natural. There was no lipstick there," Alex quickly replied while looking at the map. "She should be right, Blue. After all, I''m sure Alex has extensive notes about his lips," Hera snickered. Alex kept staring at the map, pretending she didn''t hear her friends teasing her, but it was easy to tell that she was embarrassed about it. Her cheeks were already turning red, and she was obviously not focusing anymore. "Anyway, Adriel also said that we need to be careful with sabotages. So where are our supplies? That would be the first place they should hit," Hera asked. "We have two caches, one is here in the center of the city to help us arm a militia, and the other is going to be with our logistic team to supply the troops in the front line. They should be moving back and forth between here and wherever the rest of the troops are located," Releon explained. "OK. That might be something we should give more protection to. Also, something is telling me that we shouldn''t leave the city alone. I''m pretty sure that they would try to come here and use the people that stayed behind as hostages," Hera leaned over the map, "Can''t you just redirect the lava flow to flood the city?" the path made some twists and turns, but the city itself was directly at the foot of the mountain. If they just opened a hole at the side and let the lava flow, it was very likely that the city would be completely engulfed by the hot magma." "Unfortunately, we can''t. A few days ago we did our monthly redirection, the one that hit the farm and killed the farmers. That''s the spark that triggered a war. If we try it again, our city will be in danger. We must constantly control the amount of lava that exists here to avoid an eruption and so that the volcano never becomes inactive. Going beyond those set and controlled releases is not an option," Releon shook his head while looking to the outside. By his expression, it was clear he was worried about the people in the city. "I think I missed it, but how many troops do we have again?" Blue asked. "893 proud warriors and I assure you that every single one of us is worth at least 3 of your kind," Releon puffed his chest. The man looked like a human made out of the fire, and his clothes were made of cooled-off magma. However, instead of small facial changes to present their emotions, the people of the lava tribe would change the heat from their bodies to express something. Because of that, it was hard to tell whether he was showing pride or arrogance, but there was a clear change in his temperature when he made that comment. "Where are they? It''s not that I don''t believe in you, but I would like to see for myself," after Hera asked, Releon nodded and walked outside the tent. He pointed to where what looked like a raging fire was moving. It took her a moment to understand what she was actually looking at. The warriors of the lava tribe were all close together, and there was no clothing in sight to help her identify their shapes. In the distance, the battalion she was looking at was no different than the flames of a gigantic campfire. Releon noticed she was having trouble seeing the warriors and called, "Captains! To the command tent." Some of the flames started to move closer to Hera, and eventually, they detached from the mass, allowing her to notice their actual shapes. They were humanoid, but their faces were less well-defined. Unlike Releon, they didn''t have beads of white flame for eyes and an area of a darker fire forming their mouth. Looking at their faces, Hera could only distinguish more or less a part of the fire that was a bit more yellow in contrast with the orange flame for their eyes and a more red part that formed their mouths, but the difference in colors was very subtle. Luckily, there was one thing that wasn''t disturbed by their amorphous shape. Her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lava Tribe Captain - Level 24 (Fire Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.Lava Tribe Captain - Level 24 (Fire Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lava Tribe Captain - Level 24 (Fire Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lava Tribe Captain - Level 24 (Fire Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Each of them commands a troop of 212 warriors," Releon told Hera and gestured for his captains to follow him, "Captains, this is Hera. She''s one of the generals that will be leading us to battle," they all entered the tent made out of cooled off lava, and the chieftain introduced the rest of the humans. "Oh, hi. And what are your names?" Blue asked. "They won''t be telling their names to you. You can call them captain; they will understand when you''re talking to them. This might seem unusual to you humans, but we can understand intentions through temperature," Releon said before any of the captains could even say anything. "That seems a bit stupid. We need to know who we''re talking to," Alex rolled her eyes. "No. We need to know who you''re talking to. As long as your orders are precise, we won''t have any problems. You may be our generals, but you''re still humans, and I will not sully my people''s name by letting you know them," Releon changed his expression for the first time since he met the humans. Now he looked somewhat angry. The three girls pressed on the matter, trying to learn the names of the people they would command but to no avail. Even if it would be bizarre to give them orders without having a way to differentiate between the four, Releon was adamant against it. At one point, he even started to repeat his answers. "I guess this is just part of the dungeon," Blue sighed. "Yeah. It''s a bit weird, though," Hera looked back at the map, "So, Alex. Have you come up with a plan?" "I did. I''m not sure it''s gonna work, but I think it''s a good idea. We''re gonna split our army in four. Well, technically, 5. The team responsible for logistics will be split in half. Half of it will stay in the city with the supplies, and the other half will bring everything back and forth between the army and the city. According to this map, we can reach the base of the mountain in just five hours of walking, so I think they can just cover the distance in a rush if we have a smaller group that is highly mobile," Alex looked to the captains, "Do you think any of your troops fit that criteria?" The captain on the far right of the line stepped forward, "I believe I can take that responsibility. My troop consists of those who are used to scouting in traveling long distances. If needed, we can move faster and reach the mountain''s base in an hour or so." "Great. I might ask for maybe 20 people to be actual scouts too. Unless somebody else has a scout team at the ready," Alex continued speaking. "There is a team of scouts under my command. I believe their expertise would be more helpful. The scouts in the captain''s troops are focused on trading and hunting, not warfare," Releon explained. "Perfect. For the rest of us, we''re going to split the army between two teams of vanguards and one that focuses on ranged attacks. For the vanguard, we will be using the continuous track strategy," Alex proceeded to explain what she meant by that. The idea was to move the army as if they were the tank tracks. Each battalion will be split into different lines. When one line fights against the Bonpei''s army, they will hold their position while the second line pushes forward for a bit before stopping. Then it would be the third line doing the same, then the 4th so on. The reason for that was so everyone would have a chance to rest and recover their energy before going back into the fight. "That is an absurd idea. We do not require rest between fights. We are not like you who can grow tired after a single combat," Releon scoffed. "Doesn''t matter. It''s not just about physical tiredness but mental strain as well. Fighting for your life takes a toll on you, on your body, and your mind. If we keep only the first line in front all the time, it will come a moment when they will die for stupid mistakes. Not because they are not good warriors or because they are distracted, but because they will be in such a constant struggle that their minds won''t be able to take it. If we allow them to rest, we are always in top shape and can lessen our casualties. Or, are you willing to let your people die just so you can prove that you''re better than us?" Alex kept her eyes on the map, moving the small pieces representing the troops around the map to simulate some possible scenarios. "I suppose you have a point. It''s more important for us to survive than to show anything," Releon nodded. "Thought so. Now for the range troops. Since we are uphill, we''re gonna have a better time with any sort of bow and arrow or long-range spell. I want you guys to be focusing on hitting their backline. Don''t worry about the front and we''re gonna spread out so we can have a wide range of coverage. Blue, do you think you can protect them or maybe hide them somehow? Only hide them if you can allow them to see where they''re shooting. The last thing we need is to get hit by friendly fire." Blue looked to the side for a moment, "I don''t think I can hide them completely, but I can do something. Worst case scenario, I might just make some cover so nothing from above can hurt them." "Great. Now, what I really needed was someone to check for traps." "I can do that. Actually, we can do that," when Hera spoke, her entire court appeared around her. "Can you guys find traps?" "Between me, Daskka, and my Blades, we can find most traps that would affect an army. I don''t think we are going to have to worry about things that are too intricate. "I agree, especially since the war was only announced recently. The traps might be tricky, but not like a trap dungeon hard," Alex nodded. They ironed out a few more details and told Releon they were ready for the war. When they said that, the chieftain nodded and left the tent. To everyone''s surprise, the outside was completely different now. The houses seemed more fortified, with more of the cold magma covering the entrances and windows, and the mass of fire that was the army couldn''t be seen clearly. Each individual soldier was now wearing igneous rock armor, the same kind that Releon was using. The chieftain roared with the sound of a crackling flame, followed by every member of his army doing the same. Releon turned back to the humans, "Let''s go. It is time to exterminate some pests." 470 - Scouting Report The army was marching towards Bonpei. Following the main force with Blue and Alex as commanders of the army. Hera had left with the scouts to check for traps on the way. She was about a quarter of the way to the first checkpoint when Ooze noticed something on the ground. There seemed to be a patch of dirt on the road that had a slight discoloration compared to the surrounding area. Hera signaled for the rest of the scouts to stop and walked forward to this area that could be a trap. It was good that they still weren''t in sight of the checkpoint. They would have to make a turn in the road down before even seeing the structures. Because of that, they would be able to inspect the area without having to worry about sneak attacks or revealing their position to the people of Bonpei. Hera walked over to the apparent trap and used her pulse spell to try to understand what was going on. The mana penetrated through the soil in a very unique way. Most of the area was solid. It was like she was trying to pass through a wall. However, when the mana passed through the discolored ground, it felt like Hera was looking through some bed sheets. It hindered her ability to see beyond it somewhat, but it was nowhere near like it was in the areas where it was solid ground. Not wanting to get hurt, she told Brute to try to poke at a trap after she moved away from any possible blast area. It didn''t take long for the blade to scrape off some dirt and review what was under it. When that happened, Hera told the rest of her blades to help them so that she could see what the entire trap actually was. By the looks of it, the trap was a bit of a mix. It had the magic circle to activate some effect, and another long stretch of ground was just dug up. She tried to understand the magic circle itself, but only the trigger was visible, the rest of the spell circle was hidden from sight. Turning back to the scouts, Hera warned them that she would try to trigger the trap and told them to all move back. With a nod, the captain moved backward, bringing the scouts along so that Hera could activate the trap without anyone being in danger. Anyone but Brute. Hera told her blade to touch the magic circle and even used her court conga-line to be far enough away from the trap not to be hurt by anything. To her surprise, the trap wasn''t an explosion. It wasn''t a burst of stone coming from the ground or something that could wrap the army and hold them in place. Instead, the spell circle simply created water and filled the pit with it. Hera frowned and looked over to the captain, calling him over. "Do you know why the people of Bonpei would make a trap like this?" Hera asked. The captain chuckled, " I believe those stupid beings think that we are vulnerable to water. I suppose this is something that people could assume, but it''s much farther from the truth than they could possibly imagine." "Does that mean that water makes you stronger?" "Stronger, no. But increases our defense by a lot. Water turns our fire into igneous rock. A trap like this would only make our frontline much harder to kill even if they lose some of their mobility." Hera stopped for a moment, just staring at the captain, "Why did none of you tell us that sooner? Information like this could really change our strategy. Is there anything else we should know about? If we throw fire at you, will you get stronger?" "Not really. Our fire is our own, and adding more won''t change things. But if you are considering creating a strengthening effect, we need something that could fuel our fire." "Fuel? Would something like this work?" Hera used her poison spray to create a small pool of poison beside her. The captain touched the orange poison, which was quickly engulfed in flames. The flame humanoids stop to ponder for a moment before replying, "Yes. If we drink this, I believe our powers might be strengthened. But since this is poison, it will also hurt us, and in the long run, I believe it will kill us." "How much stronger do you think you will be if you drink, let''s say, a glass of this?" The captain stared at the flaming puddle on the ground, "Considering how long this is taking to burn, a full glass with 200 ml should be enough to increase our power by 10% for five minutes. However, we will require healing or a way to remove the poison after the effects are over. We would also be much more vulnerable to damage during the effects." "That sounds like too little. How much poison do you think someone would have to drink for them to become considerably more powerful?" "I believe that if someone drank a full liter of this poison, their strength would be doubled for around 2 minutes. But doing so would be a death sentence. The reason it would only last for two minutes is not because the poison would only burn for that time, but because your poison would kill them before reaching the 3-minute mark." Hera listened to the explanation while thinking about different options. She did not like the idea of making the army more vulnerable to damage, and allowing them to double their strength for just a few minutes didn''t seem the best idea if that would mean they would be losing troops in the process. While she was considering her options, Lurize sent her a message. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ''Control your poison. Make it remove pain.'' "Oh, that''s an idea," Hera created another puddle of poison. This time, she used her poison control spell to change how the poison would act. She removed almost all dangerous aspects of it and changed the main effect of the toxin to remove one''s sense of pain. Unfortunately, there had to be some negative effects. Her spell wouldn''t allow her to make the poison completely harmless. When the spell had changed the poison completely, she turned back to the captain, "What about this one?" The captain tested this new poison, and after a moment, his demeanor changed. Since these fire people had very unique ways to express themselves, Hera wasn''t able to discern which emotion the captain was feeling, but her best guess was surprised, or maybe alarmed, " This one should increase our abilities by around 40% with a single cup, and I don''t think you would have any significant negative effects. Well... They will still receive the effects of the poison itself, meaning they won''t feel pain, which is a problem when we fight in a war. If people don''t feel pain, they don''t know how injured they are and can''t tell when it''s time to defend or retreat." With that new information, Hera called Alex through the communicator and explained her idea. There was a quick discussion and questions about water bottles or other containers that could hold large quantities of liquid. Eventually, it was decided that they would have at least one barrel of what was being called booster juice by Blue, as long as Hera was able to fill it up with her specific brand of poison. Doing so took around half an hour. The army stopped moving and waited for Hera to fill up the keg with poison. That took about 30 thousand mana, but since this was supposed to be a long dungeon, it was very likely that Hera would be able to recover her mana before it was needed. Not to mention, she still had a few extra mana storing items that could cover her needs. Thanks to this new development, Alex changed the strategy they would use during the war. Now, they would have a spearhead formation made to break through any of Bonpei''s defenses. Doing so would allow them to Target the back line sooner, which should give them an edge during the attacks. Because of the poison and the knowledge that water would make them sturdier, this became a more feasible strategy since the buffs and the extra defenses would be able to offset some of the danger the vanguard would face. All that preparation made Hera forget what they were fighting against, and for a while, she was generally enjoying herself in the dungeon. The lava tribe was very unique. They had weapons that looked like what Hera was used to, but also some that she couldn''t even understand how they worked. It was like the body of the people could become weapons in themselves. Some of the warriors could just wave their arms, and a wisp of fire would come out only to be solidified when it was about to hit the target. But the weirdest part was that when their weapons would hit the mark, they would fizzle out almost like embers in the wind. What baffled Hera was that the weapons had some sort of impact damage but should you try to touch them, or even if the tribesmen try to touch them, it wouldn''t have a solid shape. Another thing that was incredible to her was that the scouts could change the temperature of their bodies to become hot enough so that the flames, which usually were a bright spot in the middle of the field, turned almost invisible. They would still be emitting light which meant that any night raids were completely useless, but during the day, the scouts could move practically unseen, even in an open field. This was what was happening right now. Hera was walking seemingly alone on the road leading to the checkpoint. In reality, she was surrounded by the scouts who were keeping a safe distance from her so as not to burn her because of the heat. She was distracted by all those thoughts when a group of human scouts appeared just after they made the turn on the road. There was a momentary pause when both groups found each other. Even the humans seem surprised by the presence of the volcano tribe. Still, it didn''t take long for the situation to devolve into an all-out fight. The captain struck one of the humans with his weapon, cutting off the man''s arm. While a couple of the soldiers lunged forward, striking down two of the human scouts. Hera froze while watching the fights. She thought she would have more time. She thought she would have a moment to prepare herself and her mind before starting to fight like this. Unfortunately, dungeons were unpredictable, and she couldn''t control when she would start fighting. While she was too distracted by the surprise encounter, one of the humans came at her swinging, yelling and calling her a traitor. Hera took a step back, not wanting to attack the human, but her court had another idea. Lurize jumped in front of her to parry the attack while Beam fired two attacks at the man''s legs. The human fell to his knees and Executioner came right at the same moment, spinning and chopping the human''s head off with a clean strike. "Mum, you are in a dungeon, don''t forget," Daskka tried to comfort Hera while still around her neck. "I know, it''s just harder than I expected," She looked around and saw how all the attackers were quickly killed off by the volcano tribe scouts. To her right, the tribesmen were moving around and double-checking if no one was hurt. Hera turned to the left to look at the Outpost, but she ended up tripping on the body of one of the humans. Despite the battle being over, this woman was still alive, even if hanging by a thread. The Explorer hesitated for a moment, thinking about how she could try to help her somehow. The human just looked up at Hera with an angry expression and said, "You will lose, I promise you that," With her last breath, the woman tossed a spell in the air, which was close to a firework. There was a loud noise accompanying the bright light and what followed was a battle cry coming from The Outpost. Now the humans were aware that the volcano tribe was coming, and Hera wouldn''t have time to think if she should fight or not. 471 - Initial Strike Alex was with the long-range battalion of the army. In front of her, Blue was leading the charge with the other two groups that would be forming the vanguard. So far, everything was working out great. They had figured out a better way to fight their battles and Hera was able to find one of the traps and trigger it preventively. She even used her spells to cover up the pit so the army could move without going around it. Sure, it was just the start of the war, but a part of her expected things to go wrong much sooner. Her happiness was short-lived, however. Just as the army was getting close to the trap''s location, a firework went off nearby. She had talked to her about possible signals or anything they could use to warn each other of an emergency; a firework was not part of those. This could only mean that this signal was actually something made by the people of Bonpei. Maybe a trap was triggered or something else to warn them of the army''s arrival. "Hera? What''s going on?" Alex asked through the communicator. "I... There was an attack," Hera replied, still shell-shocked from what just happened. "Are you okay? Did we lose anyone?" Alex asked. "I... Don''t know. Maybe? No. I don''t think so," Hera tried to reply, but her mind was a mess. She was responsible for the scouts. She knew that people could be around and could try to attack them. She knew that she would have to kill them if that was the case; yet, when it came to it, she couldn''t do it. Even if everything here was just part of a dungeon and it wasn''t real, she still couldn''t attack someone simply because they looked human. Because of her own Hesitation, the woman sent a signal to Bonpei, and any hopes of making a surprise attack had gone down the drain. "Hera? What happened?" Alex was almost yelling, her voice clearly worried. "Mum! Snap out of it," Daskka slapped Hera''s face with her tail. It wasn''t an attack to hurt but to shock the explorer enough so she could move again. Hera felt a sting of pain coming from her cheek but a much stronger agony from her connection with Daskka, "Daskka? Are you ok? What happened?" "Sorry, mum. We can''t hurt you even if we''re trying to help. There are some very specific exceptions, but if we do something outside of those, we get some punishment from the legacy," Daskka wasn''t in pain. Instead, the punishment was in the form of fear. An overwhelming fear that made it seem like the entire world was crumbling as if everything that she was was being put to the test. "What? No. Stop. I don''t want the legacy to hurt anyone or make you feel like that. I''m fine with you guys not being able to kill me, but if you hurt me because you''re trying to help me, that''s fine. There''s no punishment necessary," Hera sputtered, hoping that her order could somehow override the restrictions imposed by the legacy. Just as she finished speaking, what Daskka was feeling vanished completely. "Ugh, thanks, mum. That felt really bad," Daskka shivered before snuggling with Hera again. "I''m sorry, I''m the one that pushed you to that point. I promise it won''t happen again," Hera patted Daskka''s head. After a moment, Hera called Alex on the communicator and explained what had happened. She made sure to add that it was her fault that the signal went off because she failed to finish off one of the humans that attacked them. "Okay. What''s done is done. Don''t worry about it. I know you''re dealing with your stuff. Just don''t scare me like that again. I thought something happened to you," Alex let out a long sigh. "Same. I was quiet, but I was freaking out, not knowing what happened to you. By your reaction, I just thought it was better for me not to say anything so you wouldn''t feel overwhelmed," Blue added. "I''m sorry. It won''t happen again. I''m going to take the scouts closer to the outpost to see if we can figure out any of their defenses or the numbers they have in there. We won''t engage, but I''ll see what I can find," Hera said with a more confident voice. "Don''t get too close. We don''t know if they have any mages or archers in the outpost. If you can''t find anything, that''s fine. Prioritize you and the scouts'' safety. You know that when the war actually starts, you are the one who''s going to be giving commands, right?" Alex asked. "Yeah. Because of the chain of command skill, right?" "Exactly. I''m going to be with the scouts, and we''re going to be focusing on taking out specific targets to hinder Bonpei''s army. While that''s going on, I want you to be on the back line giving commands to the tribe and give me the play-by-play of what''s happening," Alex refreshed Hera''s memory of their plan. "Yeah, it''s going to be easier for you too," Blue added. "What do you mean by that?" Hera was already letting the scouts know of the plan. "Blue!" Alex gasped. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "What? It''s better for her to know. Hera, we talked about this, me and Alex, I mean. We figured it''d be better for you to start off by indirectly killing the dungeon constructs. Going straight for killing them yourself felt like it would be a bit too much," Blue explained. Hera gestured for the scouts to hide since they were getting closer to the outpost, "I never thought about that. It''s probably a good idea. Thanks, guys." Focusing again on the task at hand, Hera continued sneaking towards the outpost. Together with the scouts, they quietly got closer and closer, trying to see who would be inside or around the structures. They couldn''t get too close to the outpost''s walls, but Hera had a plan. By sending one of her blades towards it and making the conga line, she could send one of her court members flying above the wall, who would, in turn, send back the information of what they were seeing. Sure, the people there could find the floating weapon strange, but Hera was betting on the people''s curiosity. She imagined that instead of just attacking the floating weapon, the soldiers would call their friends to see this weird thing that was roaming around the city walls. Especially since her blades didn''t have anything directly connected to the volcano tribe. Her plan worked at first. During the 2 minutes or so, Ooze managed to look into the outpost and send back a considerable amount of information. It seems like there were 5 different buildings, but three of them were very small and should be able to hold only about 10 or 20 people. The other two were larger that might be able to have 50 people inside, but they didn''t look all that well reinforced. Everything was also made out of wood which meant that fire could be an excellent way to destroy this. The blade was also able to tell that inside this outpost, that should be around a hundred troops. Ooze was also able to find two people that seemed to be commanding the army. One of them was who, after noticing the floating chakram, told the troops to attack since it could be something made by the volcano tribe. In a quick motion, Ooze came back to Hera along with the rest of the blades that were making the line. It gave a more detailed report to the empress, allowing her to understand the layout of the outpost. The two larger structures were right in front of each other, with the road crossing the middle. If one were to ignite one of the buildings, it seems like only one of the sides of the buildings would be engulfed in flames since there was a considerable distance between each side of the road. All of her court agreed that the best way to attack this place would be from above. However, there is no easy way of doing that. The mountain to the left of the outpost was too steep and jagged for anyone to reach a proper position where they could both attack and be ready to evade any defensive spells coming from Bonpei''s army. The rest of the scouts were able to find out if any more troops were surrounding the outpost and if there was another Battalion behind it. Luckily, this first area seemed to be defended only by those hundred. While heading back to the main army, Hera explained everything to Alex. The party agreed that this was a bit fishy. There was a high chance that this outpost itself was a trap. Maybe some large-scale spells could be used to destroy the army or that it was just something made to make them waste time. Having no way to know why this place was so poorly protected, Alex decided to continue with the attack. But, she would burn all the buildings and leave the army''s main force outside. When Hera returned to the main force, she and Alex swapped places. Alex was now going to head out with the scouts that would be working as an assassination team while Hera stayed behind in command of the forces. Another reason they were making the change was that with Hera''s blades, she could have an aerial view of the area. She sent 3 blades to shoot up in the sky as high as possible while the other three would be around her to protect her in case of an attack. Ooze, Lurize, and Swift took care of the aerial view while Brute, Executioner, and Beam were on protection duty. Her reasoning was more focused on the ones she wanted to keep by her side and that Ooze should be the one who was farther away in the sky. Since its specific weapon skill was essentially screaming, it would be the best option in case there was an emergency that she had to be aware of. "Hera, Blue, are you ready?" Alex asked. " I''m ready, and so is the ranged battalion," Blue replied. "Releon, are we ready to start?" Hera asked the volcano tribe chieftain that was by her side. "I believe so. You know that we must see it to the end once we start. I highly doubt that the people of Bonpei would allow us to have a moment of rest during this war," the flaming humanoid replied while tapping his igneous rock spear to the side. Hera nodded, " I know. Let''s start then," she took a deep breath, "Alex, we''re ready." "Okay. Whenever you are ready, give the order to the artillery squad," Alex replied while hiding on the other side of the outpost with the scouts. Hera raised one of her hands, "Ready¡­ Aim¡­ Fire!" hundreds of flaming arrows and fire spells flew through the air towards the outpost as if it was a barrage of fire coming down from the heavens. Before the first of the arrows even hit anything, people started screaming. Hera could hear cries of battle, panic, and even some people just screaming that they were about to die. She was the one responsible for that, and she had to accept it. Pushing down all her fear and worry, Hera clenched her fists and gestured towards the vanguard, "Army, advance. Hold the line outside the outpost, don''t let any stragglers out." The first Battalion search walked forward at a steady pace. When they were about 50 meters away from Bonpei''s army, two mages appeared and cast spells to create a large rain cloud above the volcano tribe''s front line. The tribesmen just chuckled and took the water, turning some of their bodies into igneous rock and increasing their defenses. The faces of the mages were of utter terror as they realized their plan had failed completely. The ranged battalion didn''t stop in the first volley. They kept going, again and again, sending more spells and more arrows towards the outpost. 3 minutes after the barrage of projectiles started, some more intense screaming came from Bonpei''s army as the two lieutenants responsible for the outpost were killed off by Alex and the scouts. This initial battle lasted for a total of 5 minutes, and not a single member of the volcano tribe fell during the combat. After some time, they could all confirm that there were no more living creatures inside the outpost, and the army kept pressing forward. As they passed, the flames opened up a path for the army, showing respect to the pure fire from the volcano. Just as the last soldier crossed the threshold of the outpost, large jacket spikes of ice appeared around the roads, surrounding both the next outpost and the city of Bonpei. Clearly, the people there were not willing to end like this, and they would fight to the bitter end for their survival. 472 - A tribes desire As they walked through the burning outpost, Hera was glad all the people here had dissolved, and she wouldn''t have to see the bodies. This wasn''t the best option since the whole point was for her to lose the fear of killing people or at least lessen it. Yet, a large part of her was happy with the situation. The time she had to be happy was short-lived. When all the ice popped out of nowhere, arrows started to fly from the city below. Not that they were able to do anything, the volcano tribe''s army was too high up in the mountain for the projectiles to even get close to hitting them. "Releon, can ice do anything to you?" Hera poked one of the shards of ice coming from the ground with her glaive. Doing so didn''t cause anything. It only showed that the ice was real and extremely cold to the point where not even being close to the volcano tribesmen was enough to make it melt. "It can''t hurt us. But it will slow us considerably. More than being made out of fire, we are made out of heat. If we cool off completely, it would be the same as dying," Releon stepped away from the ice. Hera walked in front of the army and used her fire spray to make lines of fire around the road, using her court as a starting point for some of them to cover a wider area. Her idea was that by doing so, it would fight back against the cold and allow the volcano tribe to move without a problem. "That''s a good idea. Can you make that spell on my cloud?" Blue was walking by Hera since she wasn''t doing anything. During the first attack, Blue barely had anything to do. The plan was for her to fight against any of the stragglers, but there were barely any who came out through the front. Most people who tried to run ran to the back of the outpost, and only a couple went through the front. The army quickly dispatched those two without even getting an order from the controller. "Are you sure that''s the best plan? Didn''t we try this before, and your cloud ended up being a literal rain of fire? It''s fine for them, but we would get hurt by that," Hera said. "That''s true. Maybe we can figure something out." "What are you trying to do?" Releon got closer to the duo. "I can make a storm that is affected by some spell. We thought about using the spell that Hera is using, but that would make it harder for us," Blue explained. "Oh, what about this?" Releon created a small ball of fire in his hand and expanded the flame, making it vanish. There was no fire, but the area became several times warmer, almost like they were by the side of the volcano. "That would work great!" Blue gasped, and in a few moments, she had a new cloud covering the entire area where the army was located. For Hera and the others, the place felt like it was a scorching desert. "Damn, I''ll stay close to the ice then," Hera walked closer to the side of the road while the rest of the army was mainly staying in the middle, closer to the areas where she had set up the lines of fire. Fighting with those kinds of restrictions would be something very complicated and it seemed like things would be even worse in the city. After Blue started using her cloud to keep the army''s temperature, Hera warned Alex about the new development. Hera left the command of the army to Blue and went to join Alex and the scouts to check for the next possible trap. It didn''t take long for her to find it. It quickly became apparent that, despite their best efforts, the people of Bonpei were set in their ways. The next three traps, located between the first and the second outpost, were exactly like the first one. Long patches of discolored dirt hid a pit and a spell circle made to create water. The only difference was that now, there was another spell circle that would freeze the water after the hole was full. "Guys? They''re getting a bit restless here," Blue called through the communicators. "What do you mean? They''re nervous?" Alex asked while Hera was busy taking care of another trap. "No. They''re saying that this is taking too long and they should just rush the city and kill everybody," Blue sounded exasperated. "Are you serious? Are they that dumb?" Alex gasped angrily. "Apparently so. I''m trying to say that they should wait and that we are in charge, but they''re not listening. I don''t think I can hold on much longer before they just start running toward the city," Blue explained. "Hera? Can your command skill reach them from here?" Alex asked. "I honestly have no idea. Let me try," Hera cleaned her throat and spoke loudly in a commanding voice, "Releon, you and all the captains have to wait for our clear before moving forward. Tell Blue that you understand this order." She couldn''t actually tell if people had heard her orders or not, But she hoped that blue would speak up, telling them that things had calmed down. Unfortunately, what happened was the complete opposite of it. There was some yelling coming from the volcano army, and the ground started to rumble. The entire mass of warriors was running down the road heading towards the second outpost, not caring if there were any traps, enemies, or anything else. They just wanted to reach their target and then attack. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "What is the meaning of this, captain? This is not the plan that we agree to follow!" Alex yelled to the incoming army. Releon scoffed, "What is the point of following a plan made by a cowardly human? We are mighty warriors from the volcano. We don''t need to fear any traps or tricks your kind might try. All we have to do is to kill those who have betrayed us. You''re free to do whatever plan you''re trying to do, but the army will march on." "Why the fuck did you even ask for help then?" Alex gasped and started to run along with the scouts, who now had become the actual vanguard of the attack. "You had a chance to prove your worth, and you squandered it by being overly cautious with petty tricks. You even allowed the people of Bonpei to create those ice shards to hinder us. Now we shall take matters into our own hands," the captain of the scouts replied as he dashed forward. Hera didn''t want to be left behind, so she started running alongside the army. Despite their change of tactics, the warriors of the volcano tribe followed Alex''s suggestion. They had two battalions in front with the line of ranged attackers behind them, and Blue was right in the middle of those two groups. She was trying to get ahead to join the vanguard, but, unfortunately, the controller wasn''t as fast as the tribesman, and she didn''t want to use her cloud to move around since being in the sky would make her a huge target. Even though this wasn''t the plan, Blue was actually happy about it. She wasn''t one for the slow and steady approach. She would rather dash head first into an army than make sneaky or complicated plans to circumvent the opponent''s strengths. She could see the value of it, but she wasn''t very good or interested in things like that. Luckily for Blue, it seems like that plan had unraveled. Before even reaching the outpost, the tribesmen ended up triggering another trap. Five or so members of the vanguard ended up falling to the pit and were frozen to death before they managed to get out. Yet, The rest of the army didn''t seem to mind, or they decided that those who fell into the traps were already lost causes. Hera tried to stop to help them, but Releon told her to let go. Waiting around would only bring more damage to the army since the people from Bonpei would be able to attack them more easily. With a frown, Hera had no choice but to do as she was told. The army was walking on top of the trap that was now frozen, meaning that any attempts to change had to wait for the entire force of the volcano army to pass before she could even have a proper look at what happened. Hera started walking again after meeting up with Blue, since she was already far away from the vanguard. When they were starting to get closer to the outpost, Alex jumped in front of the army and started running alone towards the structure. Before she reached where Bonpei''s forces were located, the assassin seemingly vanished in thin air. Hera and Blue weren''t sure what to make of it, but they decided to trust their friend for the moment. The tribesmen kept going forward at a steady pace, and the army in the outpost seemed to be getting restless. Some arrows and spells were flung towards the flaming creatures about to attack them, but they were easily blocked by the vanguard, who was covered in igneous rock. The few projectiles that went far enough to be a threat were stopped by one of Blue''s clouds still floating around them, ensuring that no aerial attack would hit the group. It didn''t take long for the attacks to become more frequent and threaten the entirety of the army, but Releon didn''t seem to mind. He commanded the troops to press on even faster, ignoring Hera''s orders to focus on blocking the attacks. Maybe due her proximity to the group, but Blue seemed to still have some sort of hold on the range battalion, and that was enough to tell them to intercept the incoming attacks. Suddenly, some yelling came from the outpost. There were cries of pain, and people were asking what was going on or where the attacker was, but apparently, no one could find them. In the middle of the road, Hera could see some odd greenish energy floating around. When a person got close to that energy, countless slashes and cuts appeared all around their body. Then, a shadow appeared behind them, plunging a dagger into their heart. During that quick glimpse, Hera could recognize that this figure was, in fact, Alex doing her best to thin the numbers inside the makeshift fort. When the rest of the army arrived, about two-thirds of the forces in the outpost were already dead. When Alex saw her friends getting closer, she appeared by their side, "You know. I expected a lot more from Bonpei''s forces." "Holy fuck, can you not do that? You are going to give me a heart attack," Blue jumped to the side when the assassin suddenly started speaking by her side. "If you''re going to have a heart attack because of that, you really should invest a bit more in endurance," Alex rolled her eyes, "But seriously, they are really weak." "Are you thinking they are more of the strength in numbers kind of army?" Hera asked. "Probably. I got curious, so I used observe. I remembered this time," Alex smiled at Hera, "Anyway, they were all level 18, and everyone in the tribe army is level 23 and up." "Really? This feels kind of mean, then. Like, we are kind of bullying those people," Hera scratched her head as they walked inside the outpost with the rest of the army. The volcano tribe was dealing with any remaining warriors without any issues and lighting all the buildings on fire. It became even easier since Alex had already killed all their commanders. However, some were still trying to deal damage to the army in order to help those defending the city. One of them was an assassin who was trying to reach any of the high-value targets of the army. The captains, the chieftain, or one of the humans working against their own kind. That assassin noticed the three humans talking and slowly started to approach the one closest to him. It was a woman with blond hair that seemed to be talking without a care in the world even while walking through this battlefield. Witnessing someone so carefree, even when surrounded by death, filled the assassin with rage. Seeing this as a chance to kill one of their generals, even if it was at the expense of his own life, the assassin dashed through one of the burning buildings and emerged right behind the blond woman. But, before reaching the traitor, two floating hand axes came out of nowhere and parried his dagger. As a loud metal banging against metal echoed through the area, the woman turned around with her glaive and decapitated the assassin with a swift motion. During the few seconds it took for the man''s head to hit the ground, he could only think of how there was no hope left. His city would fall. 473 - Volcano Day Hera was talking to her friends, discussing things about this fight and how they could reel the volcano army back so they wouldn''t just die out before even reaching the city. Suddenly, her blades almost screamed inside her mind. ''Watch out!'' ''Behind you!'' ''Empress!'' She also received information regarding the position and trajectory of whatever was going to attack her. Instinctively, she swung her glaive to kill the attacker. For a brief moment, she forgot that she was facing people and just remembered that she was in a dungeon and there was danger surrounding her. Maybe it wasn''t her fault. Maybe what actually made her forget was the urgency that came from her blades and not her own feelings. Regardless of the reason, Hera was now watching as a decapitated human head spun in the air before hitting the ground together with a headless body. Seeing that, she stepped back and fell to her knees, still holding the glaive with the blade pointing to the sky. "Hera!" Alex gasped. "Did he hit you?" Blue stepped in front of the explorer, waiting for another attack. "N¡­no. I didn''t get hit," Hera replied with her hands still shaking. She had killed someone. No, it wasn''t a person, it was just a dungeon construct, something made by the system and the MAZE. They were not alive. It didn''t matter how much they seemed to be. She was not a murderer. Well... She was, but her body count didn''t increase because of this. "Do you want to stop? We can leave. There''s no problem if we don''t finish the dungeon," Alex knew that in this dungeon, they had the option to go back to the center of the volcano and leave through the same door they came in. "No, no, I need to do this," Hera replied, still shaking but forcing herself to get up. "If that''s the case, we should move. I don''t think the lava tribe will wait for us," Blue gestured to the road, and most of the army had already passed them by. Even worse, they didn''t seem to stop or show any signs of slowing down. "Crap. Are you sure you can keep going?" Alex turned to Hera once more, who just nodded weakly in response. They continued following the army. Alex dashed to the front to try to reassemble any semblance of actual vanguard or strategy. Destroying the outpost was only that easy because the assassin spent most of her mana to clear the area. Thanks to that, the volcano tribe only suffered a couple casualties in the attack, not counting those who were left behind in the traps. The problem now was that doing that again was impossible, especially in a place with more people. While that was happening, Blue did her best to support Hera even if she had no idea what to say to help in a situation like this. Daskka, who mainly was quiet during the dungeon, was doing the same thing. "Mum, they are not real. You are not killing people, just monsters inside a dungeon. Don''t think of them as humans or elves or whatever. Think of them as you would think of the griffons inside the sky ruler''s nest," Daskka said. "That''s easier said than done," Hera took a deep breath, trying to push that fear away from her mind or find something else to focus on. She realized that Daskka was speaking very clearly, and she wasn''t mentioning anything about the legacy, "Since when can you speak like that? You''re doing amazing. I''m proud of you." "Oh, thanks. But this is a bit unfair. Since you are not doing well and I''m trying to help you, the legacy is helping me. It feels a bit like cheating, but as long as I can help you feel better, I don''t mind," the herald explained. "I wouldn''t call it cheating, but I get your point," Hera and Blue were still walking along with the army. The explorer looked forward and saw the hundreds of fiery humanoids walking down the mountain path. It was almost like watching the lava flow of a volcano. Even with the countless pieces of ice spread everywhere, the fire and the flames were starting to devour everything. They kept moving and as they got closer to the city, Blue turned to the captain of the range battalion and double-checked the distance. In a few meters, they will be able to reach the city without harming the army in front. The controller had more or less figured out how the archers and mages of the tribe behaved, and they were much more willing to accept suggestions than those in the front. Still, it seems like Alex managed to convince the vanguard to return to a semblance of formation. The front of the army was no longer just some lonely embers moving forward but instead a solid line of fire advancing steadily towards Bonpei. "How about you focus on dealing ranged damage?" Blue suggested. "That might be a good idea, mum. That way, you are killing them but not directly in front of them. Maybe it''s a good way to ease into what you''re trying to do," Daskka nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that might be a plan," Hera agreed, she stil was not feeling great about the idea of killing the people of Bonpei, but this was the whole point. The reason why she came here. About 10 minutes passed before the volcano army stopped. They were now very close to the city of Bonpei. The ranged battalion could even start their assault, yet everyone was waiting for their orders. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "My brethren, the time has come. We shall remove those vermin from our Holy Land, the land responsible for our forefathers'' birth. The land these people sullied with their greed. They have seen the sunrise on this land for the last time. After today not a single one of them will still leave to tell the tale. We will not allow anyone to spread the news of the city, of this land to others who might be blinded by greed. So come, my brethren, let us cleanse this land of this scum!" Releon spoke in a loud and commanding voice that echoed through the entire field. The people of Bonpei didn''t seem to make any speeches, and it seemed that the chieftain''s speech affected the morale of the opposing force. Even from this distance, Hera could see some people within the walls of Bonpei trying to duck and hide from the attackers. Releon turned to the city of Bonpei and raised a single arm. There were a few long seconds of tension before the chieftain lowered his arm and yelled, "CHARGE!!" There was a loud rumbling noise as the volcano tribe''s army ran forward. They were not yelling, but their mouths were open, and there was a sound of roaring flames coming from them. Just as the warriors started running forward, Blue commanded the range battalion to strike, aiming at the city. It wouldn''t matter if they hit something or someone. As long as they were doing some damage to Bonpei, that was all that it mattered. Hera and the others were still feeling conflicted about this, but if they wanted to complete the dungeon, they would have to do it like this. The goal was to win the war, and no one gave any Ideas about how they could win in a different way. After taking a deep breath, the explorer decided to continue with the original plan. She was going to attack and get rid of her fear of killing. To start, she tossed poison needles toward the city. It didn''t matter who she was hitting since she was aiming at a place where no member of the volcano tribe should be. If she hit a wall or a building, nothing would happen, but if she hit a person, her naga poison would let her know. Even if with Lurize out she couldn''t use poison mana, the skill would still work normally, allowing her to sense her poison wherever it might land. A couple minutes after the assault started, Hera already sensed about three or four people being affected by a poison, and it didn''t take long for them to die. When that happened, she didn''t feel anything. No panic, no fear, no anger, no disgust, nothing. It was as if she was simply watching someone die in the background of a war movie. The hypocrisy of the situation did not escape Hera. Even with all her higher-than-thou attitude about how she shouldn''t kill people and how all life was precious, when she didn''t see what she was actually killing, it felt easy. Way too easy. "Are any of you doing anything to make me feel like this matters less?" Hera asked both her court and Blue, that was by her side. "What? What matters? This is the dungeon quest, is it not?" Blue wasn''t able to grasp the subject in question. "We didn''t do anything, mum. Your feelings can affect us, not the other way around," Daskka replied. "Don''t worry about it, Blue. This was about something else. And thanks for the answer Daskka," Hera petted the snake just before sending all her court out towards the city. She realized that the army was already starting to push Bonpei''s defenses. If she wanted to keep helping, she would need to either accept that there would be some friendly fire or do something to allow her to send her spells deeper into the city. The best way for her to do that was to use her court as an extension. Doing that would allow her to effectively be a hundred meters in front of her current position. This time, Hera used her flaming poison rain, wind blades, and her spore field to create an area that could incapacitate anyone who got close. She wasn''t able to see it, but according to the messages from her blades, those who were not killed by her own spells were found by the volcano army, who quickly finished them off. The barrage of attacks started to slow as the arrows, and the mana from the ranged battalion started to run out. "Where is the logistics team?" Blue looked back, trying to see if anyone was coming. The controller had sent word that they would need more ammo just after they crossed the first outpost. She figured it was better to have a few battalion members carrying the supplies so the logistic team could be ready to restock, but they were still nowhere to be seen. "Captain!" Hera called, and the leader of the ranged battalion came running to her side. "Yes?" "Did the logistics team send any messages or anything?" Hera asked. "Not as far as I know." "Do we have a way to contact them?" Blue asked. "You don''t, but I have. What do you need to know?" the captain replied. " If anything happened. I asked for supplies a while back, and they still haven''t arrived. We need to know when the ammo and those weird lava things you guys are eating will be here," Blue replied while blocking some arrows with her clouds. "Those replenish our magic reserves. You are unable to do the same since you are not made of fire," the captain explained before turning to the volcano. His form changed slightly, and a large plume of flame came out of his head before rising to the skies. A few moments passed, and another large ember appeared near the top of the mountain. To Hera and Blue, that was just something coming out of the volcano, but for the captain, that came with answers, "The logistics team has been attacked. It seems like the people of Bonpei are targeting our supplies and potentially our village. My battalion cannot leave this place. Otherwise, we will be abandoning our troops," the captain spoke solemnly, almost as if accepting that the people they left behind would be gone. "Crap. I can''t move either. If I go, the arrows from the city will become a problem," Blue clenched her fist. This could be just a dungeon, but leaving the villagers to their deaths felt wrong. "Alex, send the scouts to me. Tell them to go up the mountain back to the village. They''re trying to attack us from behind, and I''m going to intercept," Hera quickly replied and turned to Blue, "Tell them to use the supplies at a steady pace. I don''t know how long it''s going to take for us to come back, but you can''t keep going at that speed; otherwise, you''re just going to be sitting ducks later." "Okay. We got this. Do you need a ride up?" Blue asked, but Hera shook her head. The explorer pulled out a whistle from her pockets, and suddenly Nimbus, the cloud griffin, was in front of her. She jumped on top of her mount and recalled her blades. All of them should be in front of her since they wouldn''t be able to keep up with the mount''s speed, and Hera had no intention of wasting more mana to call them back. The inconsistency of her reaction baffled her. When she was just attacking a city, every fiber of her body was hesitating in trying to find ways not to do so. But now that she had to protect people who were being attacked, she moved so quickly and with such a drive that it was like her mind had forgotten the concept of hesitation. Still, before she could even process those conflicted feelings properly, Nimbus promptly dashed towards the mouth of the volcano with Hera on its back, hoping they wouldn''t be too late to help. 474 - Bonpei strikes back Nimbus was moving as fast as it could with Hera on its back. If someone was walking or running to the village, it should take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. However, Hera was now riding a griffin that was able to go at 30 km/h. Meaning that thanks to her mount, it would take her about 15 minutes to reach the top. During that time, there was no hesitation on her mind. Even if she knew she was about to fight people, all she wanted to do was to protect the people of the volcano tribe. "Mom, why are you okay attacking people now?" Daskka asked. "What do you mean?" Hera didn''t take her eyes out of the road. She had no idea how long it would take before an enemy appeared. "I can sense your feelings. And when you think about killing someone from Bonpei, you don''t mind now. Well, you do, but you seem to be less concerned about it. What changed?" "I don''t know. Maybe it''s because they are attacking us? It feels better when we are not just attacking for the sake of attacking. Why do you ask?" "We were talking, and we figured it might help you to talk about your feelings. Maybe that can give you some insight on where that comes from and why you''re struggling so much with it," Daskka explained while looking around. "Wait, what do you mean we? Who are you talking to?" Hera looked down at the snake around her neck. "With Lurize, Beam, Swift, Ooze, Brute, and Executioner, who else?" Daskka tilted her head. "Hold up, you guys talk? Like talk talk? Not just say what''s going on around you but have actual conversations?" Hera gasped. They never talked to her unless she asked something first; even then, it was always straight to the point. "Well, yeah. It''s not like I can talk to anyone else, and the subjects are very limited. Until you get a titled blade, they won''t be that good of a company," Daskka shrugged. "Then, why don''t they talk to me? I don''t mean talking about fights or where enemies are coming from, just small talk, you know." "You never asked them to. By default, your court will only reply when spoken to. The only exceptions are the titled blades. Also, if you want my advice, you should keep the rule that they won''t talk to you about meaningless things during a fight. Seriously, Ooze rarely stops talking, and maybe its because of the skill, but when they are relaxed, they are sooo freaking loud." "Okay then. These are the new orders. When we are not fighting or in a clearly dangerous place, you guys can talk to me as much as you want. Even if the legacy considers me the empress or whatever, I don''t want any of you treating me like royalty. We are all members of the same party. Oh, but if I need a break or something, I''ll let you know, but in that case, it''s not an order to stop talking unless I say so. It would be just so I can rest or be alone for a while." All of her court gave her a confirmation reply, promising they would talk to her more casually, but since this was a dungeon, they wouldn''t be starting now. Nimbus ran for a few more minutes, still following the road to the mouth of the volcano, before finally being in sight of the logistics team caravan. It quickly became apparent that some unknown assailants were hindering its progress. Hera clenched her hand around the glaive, and as soon as she was close enough, she started attacking to relieve some of the pressure the warriors were feeling. Hera wasn''t exactly proficient in mounted combat, but with Lurize giving her pointers, things became somewhat easier. She told Nimbus to slow down after the initial attack so they could, at the very least, maneuver a bit better. With a quick glance, she noticed that there were about 200 attackers versus the 75 volcano tribesmen. That wasn''t the only problem. Since they were taking care of supplies, the people from the volcano couldn''t move freely. Otherwise, the attackers could destroy some of the crates or, even worse, steal them. Nimbus was moving around the caravan, forming a perimeter around the supplies, while Hera kept attacking with her glaive. She coated the weapon with some poison mana that would cause pain and dizziness to those afflicted by it. She considered using fire, but there was a chance that the people of Bonpei had some armor made to resist fire-based elemental attacks. By attacking the people without stopping, Hera could keep herself safe while becoming a large threat to all her enemies. To top it off, she activated her wind armor, making it even harder for anyone to hit her. Since Hera was trying to protect the convoy, she sent out her blades to do their thing, leaving only Lurize nearby so it could tell her when she was doing something wrong while fighting. Trying something new without the blade''s advice felt weird now. Hera had grown used to that type of thing, and its advice was priceless. She continued to act as the cavalry. A glaive was perfect for this kind of thing. The long-range would allow her to hit whoever she was targeting without losing her balance on top of Nimbus. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Even with all that preparation, whenever one of her strikes seemed deadly, Hera would freeze up for a moment. She was still unable to forget that she was attacking people. On the other hand, her blades didn''t have that problem. The convoy was made of just a couple of carts, allowing her blades to be on Hera''s range even when they were in the opposite corners of the battlefield. Beam and Ooze were helping some of the volcano warriors, while the rest were working together to take down a single person. The empress wasn''t in any condition to pay attention to her court''s fight, but Daskka could tell that even working together, they were having some trouble. Their attacks were missing more than they should, and the ones that did hit ended up being too weak to deal critical damage. Despite all that, in just a few minutes, the attackers were all killed by Hera and the volcano tribe army. The explorer herself wasn''t responsible for most of the kills, but her mere presence and constant threat were enough to give the lava warriors the edge they needed. "Thank you for your help, human. I must admit, we would have lost some of our supplies if things kept going like that. The people of Bonpei may be weak, but their numbers can overwhelm us," the captain of the logistics team gave a slight bow to Hera. It was a shame that she wasn''t in her right mind to listen. Seeing the bodies on the ground made her remember the elf she killed, and that seemed to have wiped out all the progress she had made so far. "Mum, you have to answer him," Daskka pushed Hera''s head to the side. "Yeah, right. I''m glad I could help. Can you take the supplies to the army? They are already running out," Hera tried to snap back, but her mind wasn''t entirely there yet. "Of course. Can I ask you to check the storage? I fear some of the attackers passed us by and seemed to have another objective. We tried to stop them, but our hands were already full. I don''t believe that having them raid our supplies will be enough to make them win the war, but I don''t know if they will leave the people who were still in the city alone," the captain explained. That last line seemed to finally be able to bring Hera back somewhat, "Wait. The people who are not in the army? You mean the children, elderly, and the few that stayed to take care of them?" The captain nodded, "Yes. We are aware that humans can use our loved ones as hostages. Despite that, our chieftain already informed us that should that happen, we must focus on removing them from the land. Even if that means our families will be no more." Hera got angry with that. Angry at the MAZE for making such a messed up dungeon, angry at Releon for even humoring that idea, angry at herself for coming here, and angry at the people of Bonpei. Not just because they might be willing to harm innocent people, but because she knew that this kind of thing could very well happen in the real world. "I''ll go check. Run down the mountain and give the supplies as quickly as possible," Hera replied before making Nimbus start running again. She was about five minutes away from the mouth of the volcano, and she could only hope that the captain''s fears were unfounded. However, considering this was a dungeon, that seemed very unlikely. When a construct said something like that, it usually meant that it was going to happen one way or another. When Nimbus arrived at the village entrance, Hera could already hear some screams coming from inside. She noticed a large force from Bonpei attacking everyone while the remaining logistics team tried to hold them back. However, if they were already overwhelmed by the 200 people against the convoy, this was much, much worse, even if the number of volcano warriors here was larger than the ones heading down the mountain. It seemed that for each one of the tribesmen, at least 5 humans were attacking, and they weren''t discriminating against the children and elderly, even if most of the attackers looked like civilians themselves. Hera started moving through the city, spinning her glaive from side to side to attack the humans, or at least make them focus on herself instead of the rest of the people. She wasn''t feeling guilty about attacking them, but she still hesitated a bit every time one of her strikes seemed to be more deadly than she expected. Luckily she noticed how most of the remaining army had corralled the tribesmen to the storage tent in an attempt to protect them. Hera smiled, glad that most people should be safe, but her momentary happiness washed away in a second. Looking to the left, she saw five humans coming out of a tent with large smiles on their faces, laughing and talking about how easy it was to kill some of the volcano children. They weren''t wearing any armor and seemed to be using farming tools as weapons. Hearing that, something snapped inside of her. It was one thing to attack the village, another to laugh about it. Especially if they themselves were not soldiers but regular people. For some reason, that was like adding insult to injury. With a roar of anger, she turned Nimbus to those five men and started attacking. Swinging her glaive upward, she cut one of them. Leaving a large gash on the side of his body and opening his neck. The men were shocked by the situation, which allowed Hera to continue her massacre. Sending out her blades to take care of those farther away from her, she spun the glaive above her head before bringing it down on another of the farmer''s heads, splitting his skull. Swift, Beam, and Brute stopped one of them from running away, slashing at his legs and arms to give Executioner an opening to cut off his head. On the other side, Lurize blocked an attack going for Hera while Ooze triggered its skill, screaming to surprise the attacker. That allowed the empress to hit the man with the back of the glaive, making him fall to the ground before piercing his chest with the blade. Daskka grew bigger and wrapped around one of the men before starting to squeeze, making him gasp for air and fall to the ground as his bones were crushed. All of them were dead, and Hera, for once, didn''t feel bad about it. They deserved it. Yet, her rage didn''t subside. She still felt like this whole situation was messed up. Her feelings bled out to her blades, and they continued searching for any survivors while killing the humans who came to attack the village. 475 - Attacking the city Alex was moving slowly between the houses. Her objective was to find the leaders of Bonpei and take them out. She hoped that by doing that, she could end the war without having to fight the entire army. It might be just a baseless idea, but being this deep into enemy lines wasn''t a pleasant experience. Any noise would make her worried that something was getting closer and force her to duck down. She had already killed a couple of warriors and even a few civilians. She never meant to kill the innocent people of the city, but they came at her, so she had to defend herself. Like Hera, the assassin did not struggle as much with the idea of killing someone as long as it was just self-defense. As a matter of fact, during the attack on Dzviery, a few people were killed by the crazed explorers because Alex pushed them away when they tried to hit her. Yet, she did not feel even a tinge of guilt about it. With the centaur and everything happening in the towers, The only thing that mattered was survival. Some voices echoed through the side of the road, making Alex jump down and stick as close as one of the back walls of a house as she could while, at the same time, she made a gesture for the scouts to stop moving. For a moment, she forgot that she was alone. After Hera called for backup, the assassin sent the scouts with to her aid, which meant that she had no one to help her while inside the city. Most people might find that a bit unnerving, but Alex was somewhat happy about it. If she was moving in a group, She would have to worry about everyone''s position, and it''ll be harder to infiltrate certain places. Places that had a very big chance of being the location of Bonpei''s generals, mayors, or whatever was the leadership title. Aside from that, she also had one special trick on her sleeve that worked better when she was alone. In reality, having the scouts with her shouldn''t matter for this particular trick, but she preferred to use it on her own. Even after the voices had stopped, Alex remained hidden without moving for a few moments. She was trying to ensure that there was no one around her and that she was properly hidden from most things. Taking a deep breath, Alex closed her eyes and felt a slight tingle on her face. Almost as if a tear was going down her cheek. When she opened her eyes, there was a golden trail on the ground, almost like a yellow brick road leading her to her destination. With a smile, Alex started following that path. She was still being very careful not to be seen by anyone, but there was no doubt in her mind that she would find the leaders of Bonpei as long as she followed this road that could only be seen by her. If there was anyone around, and they were paying very close attention to the assassin, they Would be able to notice that the irises in her eyes were turning yellow and that her pupils were a very dark shade of purple instead of the usual black. She followed the yellow trail until she reached a large building with a few guards in the front. She was being guided inside, but it seemed like there was only one entrance, the front door. Looking around, it was very likely that this was the place where the important people of the city were gathered. The building looked much more sturdy than anything else in the city, and there were few guards around the area. Redirecting personnel in the middle of a war wasn''t something that people would do unless there was a good reason for it, and Alex doubted that it would be because they were protecting some valuable object. She would first have to take care of the surrounding patrol to infiltrate that building. The last thing she wanted was for some of those guards to see her sneaking in and trap her inside. Since she could not find any hidden entrances, she had to assume that there were no hidden exits. The existence of a secret tunnel was possible, but she might not have enough time to look for something like that. Her first step was heading to the back to remove the guards stationed behind the building. Alex prepared her Windchaser spell and activated a skill called [Splinter Strike] before deciding which of the three guards she would attack first. Luckily for her, they all gathered to talk about something giving her a perfect opening. Using the wooden scabbard that would increase the damage she could deal when using a quick draw, she sent off a wind blade towards the guard in the middle of the group. The spell flew through the air, unseen by anyone, thanks to her stealth skill, and even before it hit her target, she activated her Windchaser spell. This allowed her to fly along the wind blade and hit the guard less than a second after her first attack. Doing so caused her to trigger her sneak attack twice, and thanks to the [Splinter Strike], a part of the damage she caused ricocheted to the other two guards. In less than 2 seconds, She had killed a pair of guards while the third one was quickly dispatched as she noticed that he was still struggling to stay alive. It didn''t take much, just a simple stab in the back of the head, for the last member of this patrol group to die without making a single noise. Feeling satisfied with the results, Alex went after the rest of the patrols. She was like the reaper in the night. A phantom that would just move and leave death in its wake. In less than 5 minutes, all the guards patrolling this building were no longer a problem, and the assassin could start moving inside. Before stepping in, she started the Cutting Vortex spell that created an area around her that would deal small amounts of damage to anyone inside it, as if they were being cut by blades of grass moving inside a whirlwind. One particularly fun part of this spell was that the vortex could also capture any wind-based attacks and spin around her while she moved. After casting her wind blade a few times, she was almost like a blender, ripping everything apart just by being close to them. Now that she was ready, Alex stepped inside the building. A part of her hoped that the people inside were just sleazy nobles who thought they were better than anyone else. She did not enjoy killing constructs that looked like people. Still, if those were the kind of people who would try to save themselves while their citizens were dying, the type of uptight asshole that was portrayed in so many books and shows, she wouldn''t mind trying different skills and spells to see what would work best. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Can anyone hear me?" Blue asked through the communicator. She wanted to talk to Alex about Hera, but she wanted to ensure that the explorer couldn''t listen before saying anything. Unfortunately, there was no reply from anyone. Either because they were too far away and the range of the communicators wasn''t enough or because they were too busy to reply. "Heavy clouds are forming, we must release some of the weight, or we will be the ones receiving the rain of iron," Stormcloud floated around the controller. At the same time, the small window that Blue used to look over the battlefield changed the view and showed all the high clouds in the sky and how many arrows and other projectiles were gathered above them. "What are our options? Can we transform the arrows into something useful?" Blue asked. "I fear not. Even using them as our own ammo would be impossible to your own capabilities. What we can do is shift those clouds towards the heart of the enemy''s forces and simply drop the spell. With some luck, a few of them will strike true, killing some of our enemies for us," Stormcloud had a smirk while he spoke. Blue nodded and took a moment to figure out the best target for that move. It was a bit of a complicated game. She had to First shift one of the three clouds under this protective layer and change how it worked, and then she could move the cloud holding all that ammo. If she did in any other way, there was a chance that the army would be exposed, and that wasn''t ideal. It took her about 5 minutes to complete the change and move the protective clouds to a place where they could actually do some damage. Then, as per the herald''s suggestion, she simply let go of the spell allowing all the are rows and other projectiles to fall back to the ground. This attack, if one could even call it that, was more affective than she expected. When the rain of arrows fell down on the city, a considerable number of soldiers ended up being hit by them. Even better, there were some trick arrows in the mix that exploded with the impact. Some created blocks of ice, others made snow or smoke, and there was even a particularly nasty one that seemed to only paralyze those hit by it but in a very larger area. This new, unexpected attack also helped the volcano tribe army. Most of the opposing warriors went into a state of confusion while they tried to scramble to avoid the arrows. Doing so created a very large opening in their defenses, and the tribesmen were ready for it. With a concentrated push, they broke through the city''s outer defenses and started swarming the insides. Blue did her best to keep the people safe, but they were going too fast and too deep for her to be able to follow. That''s when an idea came to mind. She could use a spell to taunt her enemies, and she could put a spell inside a cloud. Now, what would happen if she put the taunt spell in a cloud? Would anyone who saw the cloud want to hurt her, or would they try to hit the cloud itself? Either way, both effects would help a lot at this moment. On the one hand, the people of Bonpei might try to pass through the volcano army to reach her; on the other, they would waste time trying to hit something in the sky. Having Stormcloud as a legacy made blue try to think outside the box more often. Because of that, she always kept a couple of her clouds empty so another spell could be placed inside them. She quickly put a spell inside one of the clouds and sent it up to be hovering above the city. The storm started to become larger and larger while a red hue covered the sky. A few flashes illuminated that area, but instead of the sound of thunder, Blue''s booming voice yelled, ''Come get me!'' After a few moments, a voice came through the communicator, "You could have given me a heads-up. Hearing your voice out of nowhere made my heart jump out of my chest." "Alex, so you can hear me?" Blue gasped. "I can. I didn''t reply before because I was hiding and couldn''t say anything. All the leaders of the city are dead, by the way. I''m not sure if there are any other controlling the army, though," Alex was leaving the protected building knowing for a fact that there was no one else alive inside it. "That''s good. I think we just have to wait for the rest of the army to die then. Say, do you think Hera is okay? She''s been going back and forth between being completely fine and freaking out." "I would honestly be surprised if she was. The way she''s acting reminds me a bit of how I acted when I thought I had killed you two. You know, just diving into everything you can at full speed to occupy your mind," Alex sighed. "What did you do to get better?" Blue saw some of Bonpei''s army trying to reach her, almost like frenzied monsters, yet they were all killed off by the volcano tribe before they got close. "Honestly? I found you guys. Or you guys found your way back. I don''t think whatever I went through would help her now," Alex looked around and saw that all the volcano tribesmen had stopped fighting. There were still some people in the city, but they were all civilians, and the attacking army didn''t seem to want to kill them, "Can you still see anyone fighting? People kind of stopped here." Blue looked around. The army had stopped. It was almost as if they were waiting for something, "Not really. Everyone is just standing still here." Some minutes passed without the two of them figuring out what was happening. All the fighting stopped, and everybody was just standing still. Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. All of Bonpei''s forces were destroyed. The Volcano Tribe is the winner of the war. Rewards: 80 000 gold. Volcano Tribe gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 476 - Last ditch effort Hera killed about 40 invaders before things started to slow down. It didn''t seem like they understood the difference in strength between the volcano tribe and themselves, but it was as if they had forgotten their objective, and now everybody was confused about what they should be doing. This allowed the volcano tribe to overpower most enemies and kill or restrain them. Hera was now starting to cool off, focusing on stopping the people from attacking instead of killing them. She knew this went against the whole plan, but she had done enough. Right now, she was going around the outskirts of the village trying to take care of all the invaders that the logistics team was too far away to notice. From what she could tell, she was right now at the back entrance of the volcano, near the road directly opposite the one the army''s main force took. By the looks of it, this place was probably the remnants of the redirection of the lava flow that Releon mentioned earlier. "Why would they have tents so close to the outside of the village?" Hera asked no one in particular. "To warn them of attacks?" Lurize suggested. "That would be a good idea. That way, there''s a family here who''s more interested in protecting the city. It''s a bit scummy but effective in my opinion," Daskka looked around, trying to see if there was anyone there. "If you say so," Hera nodded. She honestly didn''t care about why the tent was there. It was just a hassle to come to this secluded area just to be sure there was no one around. As she started to get close, still mounted on Nimbus, she heard some noise coming from inside the tent, "Who is there? Get out slowly." The noise stopped, and after a few moments, a human came out with his hands up, " I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m sorry. We were just told to come here and make a mess. I don''t know what''s going on." The men looked haggard and way too skinny. It was clear that it''s been a while since he had a decent meal, and yet he came here to attack the volcano tribe for some reason. "Are you alone here?" Hera asked while pointing his glaive at him. The man''s eyes quickly darted back to the tent and towards Hera, "I¡­ I am.." "Ok, who else is here? You''re not fooling anyone." "No one. I promise," the man insisted, but his eyes kept darting back to the tent. Hera let out a long sigh, "Ok, step away from the tent, please," she gestured with her glaive towards an empty spot of land. The man obeyed her, and she came down from Nimbus, "Just be honest with me so I don''t have to smack you. Is there anyone else here?" "No! I don''t think so. They left already." "Where are they?" Hera rubbed her temple while approaching the tent "They grabbed the child and ran." That phrase made Hera stop and pay attention, "What do you mean they grabbed the child? What child? Where did they go?" "They¡­ they just¡­" the man looked around and walked closer to the tent and her as if he was looking at something beyond it, "That way," he pointed at the igneous rock path behind the tent. "Stay there," Hera barked before turning to nimbus. At the same time, the men pulled a dagger and lunged at Hera, aiming the blade at her exposed neck. ''Empress, left!'' Lurize screamed in her mind, allowing Hera to barely evade the attack, but she spun around at the same time, causing the dagger to cut the side of her face. In response, her entire court came crashing down at the man, slicing him to pieces before he could even say anything. "Mum!" Daskka gasped and started humming the Luminous Light Litany to heal Hera. "Fuck! Fucking shit. What about the kid? Was that a real thing?" Hera asked, and a few of her blades shot up to the sky to get a better point of view before searching for anyone who could be running away. Ooze, who was on the top of the link, sent back the information that two people were running down the mountain from the igneous rock path. "Shit!" Hera yelled and jumped back on Nimbus, telling her mount to follow them quickly. She was seeing red, and if those people really had kidnapped a child, she wanted to kill them. Not just to finish the dungeon, but because those truly deserve to die. Whoever they were, they were nowhere near as fast a cloud griffon that could run as fast as some older cars. In less than a minute, Hera managed to see the two of them. One was a human, and the other was a dwarf carrying a volcano tribe child over his shoulder. Without thinking twice, Hera sent out a few poison needles at them. She was trying to avoid the kid, and that''s why she didn''t try anything that could deal damage in an area or that could potentially hit the child. When the two of them saw her getting close, they left the igneous path and started climbing down the mountain itself, trying to go somewhere where her mount might have some trouble. Even if it was a smart idea, Nimbus wouldn''t have any trouble going down any path. The griffon could simply jump and glide down, only using the jagged rocks as small platforms to redirect itself. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The two men jumped over one of the spikier rocks, trying to evade the sight of the woman chasing them. Unfortunately, Nimbus was too fast, and Hera managed to catch up to them in less than a minute. That only happened due to a collaboration between her court and her mount. While Ooze was still providing information, Nimbus jumped from the mountain and glided around the makeshift path the man took at Hera''s orders. She was hoping to cut them off and block their attempted escape. At first, her plan worked flawlessly. She managed to keep herself hidden from the men while going around them, and the moment she appeared, the two of them were surprised by the cloud griffon and its rider. Because of the scare, the human slipped and pushed the dwarf, who was carrying the child, to the side. The human simply hit his head against the rocky mountain and passed out. The dwarf, however, lost his balance and went tumbling down the mountain, taking the kid along with him. Hera screamed and told Nimbus to go after them, hoping that she could at least save the child, but her mount was unable to go down at a fast speed. She watched while this small lava tribe kid slammed against the rocks again and again until it fell on a cluster of jagged rocks that pierced their entire body. Hera screamed again while the body of the child dissolved. The dwarf took a bit longer to be considered dead, but when he did, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. All of Bonpei''s forces were destroyed. The Volcano Tribe is the winner of the war. Rewards: 80 000 gold. Volcano Tribe gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nimbus stopped, and Hera slammed her fist against the mountain repeatedly. She never wanted to hurt the kid, her idea was to save her, but she was too slow and too weak for that. The kid had died because of her. Even if she didn''t deal the killing blow, that was the absolute truth. Looking down, Hera couldn''t see the kid or the dwarf anymore, and she had no intention of helping the human get back up now that he was passed out. With a bloody hand, she told Nimbus to return to the igneous path and the village. She was going to wait for Blue and Alex up there since they would probably have to leave through the same place they entered the dungeon. During the climb, Daskka and her court members tried to see if Hera was okay, but the explorer didn''t want to talk. She just got back to the volcano village and waited for her friends. About 20 minutes or so went by when Alex and Blue arrived on a small platform created by Releon to bring them back. When they arrived, they all met by the command tent where they had first arrived. Blue noticed Hera''s dark expression, "Are you ok?" "No. I Don''t want to talk about it," Hera replied while still staring at the ground. "Can we help?" Alex asked. "No." Knowing that there was nothing they could do, the two of them just turned back to Releon, who seemed to be waiting to say something, " Humans. I thank you for your help during our moments of struggle. as a token of gratitude, we would like to share some of the spoils of war," he gestured to the side. A group of four volcano warriors came carrying a large chest. Blue waited for a moment, and when no one seemed to be moving towards the chest, she stepped forward. When she opened it, the chest itself was mostly empty. Inside was a single gold piece, two arrows that seemed to be just regular arrows, and a red scarf. The gold was worth ten thousand, and it went directly to her bank account when she touched it, but the rest was very underwhelming. Even after using [Inspect], the arrows were just normal arrows, but the scarf had a difference. It would increase the fire resistance of anyone who was wearing it. The problem was that the scarf itself was very hot, and the resistance wouldn''t interfere with the possible heat stroke that one could get by using it in a place that was too warm. She showed the loot to the rest of the party. Alex felt like it was a very small reward compared to the rest, while Hera didn''t care. Her mind was filled with the events of the dungeon. She didn''t want to take time to process what happened. Instead, she wanted to occupy her mind, "We are going again, right?" "I think we should rest a bit, Hera. This was tiring," Blue suggested. "We could also eat. I''m starving. I didn''t expect this to take so long," Alex could see that Hera was struggling with something, and she should take time to process things instead of just keep going. "Fine. I''m going to take a shower then," Hera turned around to leave the dungeon, and her friends followed along. Instead of eating out, they stopped by a fast food place and got some fried chicken for them and the two in Helena''s laboratory. There was a good chance that they had forgotten to eat. Hera just helped them get the food to the lab, but she went back to the house they would be staying at. Helena had set them up to stay in a place for the next two months. At first, everyone just assumed the mage got a good deal. However, when they returned to the lab, they realized there was a real chance that packing everything up would take longer than those two months. Bonnie and Helena didn''t even finish a single box. Whenever one of them found a book they considered interesting, they would stop and start talking about it, forgetting completely what they were supposed to be doing. Hera didn''t mind. It was more time she would have to try to overcome her issues. When she arrived at the house, she went to take a bath and talk to her court to discuss what they could do better next time. "Mum, I know you are going through some stuff, but you need to be careful," Daskka was floating in the water. "I know. I''m trying not to get hurt during those fights," Hera touched the point on her face where the man had cut her, then looked down at the several bruise marks all around her body. It was good that her armor was very sturdy, but even so, all those were hits she took, and if it wasn''t for her gear, they would have pierced her body. "I''m not talking about that. I mean, you have to control your emotions a bit better," Daskka explained. "What do you mean?" "If your emotions are too intense, it may affect your blades. Especially if they are not receiving the full strength of your current stats. And since you have so many that are not on par with your level, the effect of your emotions might increase," Daskka continued swimming. "So you''re saying that I have to swap my blades?" "I mean if you want. If you don''t want to change them, just be careful." "Well¡­ I guess we could change them," Hera got out of the bath and started to dry herself. After putting on her clothes, she walked to the bed where there was a rapier with a red handle and a charred black wrist guard, and a blade with some glowing orange cracks resting on top of the sheets with the rest of her court around it, "We did get something as a reward that could work as a substitute." 477 - Changing the court "Before anything, explain to me why my emotions are affecting the court," Hera asked while sitting on the bed with all her weapons in front of her. "They always have. The court is part of you, so anything you feel, they feel. The thing is, when the difference between the stats that you have in the stats that the blades inherited from you is too great, then your emotions can influence them more. We didn''t have any problems this time, but I figured it was time for me to talk about this," Daskka was sitting on the other corner of the bed, on top of a pillow. When the two of them were discussing something about the legacy, they liked being able to look into each other''s eyes. "Okay, I get that. What is the problem? Why is having the court sharing my feelings a bad thing?" "Well... It''s one thing if you''re angry and want them all to be angry, but when you start getting stronger, and the difference of attributes gets bigger, the emotions your court will be feeling are enhanced. So, imagine that you are angry at someone, But not too angry. If you have a blade that has too big of a difference between the stats they inherited and the stats you currently have, they might be blinded by rage. Think of it like this, each blade is a cup, and your emotions are the water. When you make a weapon part of your court, the size of the cup will be based on how much water you can put into it. When you level up and increase your stats, then the amount of water you can put in a cup will increase, but the size of the cup that you already made will stay the same," Daskka explained while using her mist to illustrate what she meant. "Right. Why are my emotions even relevant? Shouldn''t my attributes be what controls them? Like they can''t use my strength if I wield them as weapons for myself, would they get hurt or something?" Hera crossed her arms, trying to understand why her emotions were an issue. "I don''t know the reason why your emotions are relevant and not your attributes. From what I can tell, it''s just another way to encourage you to change your blades often. Or at least once every level," Daskka sighed. She understood Hera''s frustration, but, unfortunately, she was also in the dark about why this happened the way it happened. Hera was in deep thought for a few moments. She knew that she should be changing her blades often, but worrying about them going crazy just because she leveled up would be an issue, "Realistically, what''s the worst that can happen? And how big does the difference have to be for that to start to be an issue?" "It''s hard to say. Since all your stats increase when you level up, I think it would happen sooner rather than later. It''s hard to explain, but if they have one of your attributes that still matches what they got from you, it can give them a baseline of what the emotion should be. I know that doesn''t make much sense to you, but it''s the best way I can explain it. For the worst case scenario. Your blades might exaggerate their orders. So if you say stop them, they might just go for the kill," Daskka rested her head on the pillow, looking a bit defeated. She even tried to send Hera the explanation through their connection, but the concept was too alien for a living person to understand. It was something that would only make sense for the legacy. Hera could tell that Daskka was doing her best, but it was still a bit frustrating not being able to understand those kinds of things. Still, since she was talking about a legacy, it was understandable that some things couldn''t be explained. "Okay. Moving on. How do I change one of my court members? Do I just add a new one and pick who is going to go away?" Hera asked. "No. You have to use another skill. You technically always had this one, but since you never said anything about removing one of your blades, I never gave it to you. The skill is called Exile, but you can change the name of that one. Before being called Exile, it was called Revocation of Nobility. The previous legacy holder made that change. Anyway, to use the skill you have to basically break up with your court member. You have to tell them you don''t want them to be part of your court anymore and explain why. You don''t have to be too specific, but you can''t lie while doing it. So if you''re changing a blade because they are weak, you have to say you''re too weak for me now or something to that effect. I know it''s a bit rough, but that''s how it has to be done," as soon as Daskka explained, Hera saw a notification in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exile - Legacy Skill You are able to relinquish one of your court members from its duties. Doing so will remove the court member from your court. Once a court member has been exiled, it can never return to the court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Okay. I hate that name. It seems too mean. I know that technically I''m going to be killing them, but I don''t know," Hera sighed. "You are not killing anyone, mum. Your court is not alive. I am not alive. I know this sounds very weird, but that''s the truth of it. If you want, I can change to the other name or something else." "Let''s go with that other one for now. Can I change it later if I want?" "You can. This is one of those skills that the legacy understood would vary from person to person," Daskka got up and looked around to Hera''s blades, "Do you know which one you''re going to let go of?" "I do. Brute, Swift and Executioner, could you come here?" Hera asked the blades, "Do you guys mind if we do it all at once, or would you rather have this conversation individually?" They all replied that they would do whatever Hera felt was best. Their response was somewhat mechanical, which helped her to understand that they were just weapons and not actually living beings. Hera took a deep breath, "Okay then. Look. You are amazing. You are part of my first court, and I''ll never forget you. But, the legacy doesn''t let you grow with me. Not really. And I need to¡­ I need to be more willing to make hard choices. I hope you know that letting you guys go is harder for me even than dealing with being a murderer," Hera felt tears forming in her eyes but did her best to hold them back, "I love you guys, but it''s time for a few new members to join the court." ''It was a pleasure serving you, my Empress,'' Swift replied as the form of the blades started to become translucent. ''I will never forget the time we spent together,'' Executioner added while tiny specks of light formed around them. ''The sweet moments by your side made my existence worthy. Thank you,'' when Brute spoke, the blades vanished from sight, and the light went up as if their souls were ascending. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Level Up Current Level: 27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? Why did I level up?" "Okay. This is a weird subject. The Revocation of Nobility skill has a bit of history behind it. Lurize helped me piece things together, but apparently, the system may or may not consider your blades as monsters. So, in theory, if you just add a bunch of different weapons to your court and send them away, you could level up like that." "Wait. What? But how can you tell the system sees the blades as monsters? Everything we do can make his level up. I once leveled up because I was walking." "I don''t know. No one does. This was just a theory that one of the previous legacy holders had," Daskka explained. "If I may," Lurize interjected, and Hera nodded, giving the blade the chance to speak, "My original owner performed some tests using the skill. After a lot of trial and error, he concluded that the number of blades he would have to relinquish to level up was similar to the number of monsters he would have to kill to do the same. Nevertheless, this is merely a theory. He was never able to confirm or deny that possibility." "Well, maybe the system just says that letting a blade go is something as hard as killing a monster. That''s why the amount of experience we gain is similar. Not that we have a way to test it," Hera shrugged while wiping out her tears. She was grateful that something had happened to stop her from crying. " Either way, That''s just really mean. Why would the legacy force me to do that? And why would it tell them to say those things?" "I think it forces you to do that because it doesn''t want you to take the blades for granted. But the legacy never made them say anything. Those were their actual feelings. Feelings of weapons but still feelings," Daskka wiped one of her own tears with her tail. "This really doesn''t seem fair," Hera mumbled, but she slapped her cheeks, unwilling to let herself get depressed by the situation, "Okay. So I''m going to add 3 new members to the court. The sword, the scythe earrings, and the tiara. Also, just before I forget. Lurize, can you remember more things about your past?" "I cannot. I was only able to recall this piece of information because it was related to the skill and my previous master asked the legacy to pass the information he discovered along." "Exactly. Even if you make him one of your title blades, he won''t remember what happened in his previous life. He already is a new version of the same weapon that once existed. Now back to the matter at hand. Why are you picking the earrings and the tiara?" Daskka asked. "I was thinking about that elf that wanted to join us. I don''t expect Alex and Blue to keep going with me to that dungeon all the time, so it would be good to have some court members that could be on me without attracting too much attention. Also, I just want to confirm one thing. The skill says that if a court member is exiled, they can never join the court again. Does that mean that if I have a blade with a specific skill, I can never have another blade with the same skill?" "No. It just means that even if you use the exact same model of the weapon and give them the same name, the new blade you get won''t be the same that you let go of. If you try to recall one of the blades you sent away, you''ll be creating a new one and not bringing an old one back," Daskka explained. "Ok, so I can buy or order another pair of earrings with the same skill and even the same shape and just replace them in the future." "Oh, so you''re thinking about making those two more like supporting characters in your court. Yeah, you can keep replacing them with the same skill. Just¡­ they won''t be the same. Remember that." "Okay then. Before I start, let me just do one thing," Hera opened up her status window, she had a total of 54 points to spend, and as usual, she used everything on her [Exponential Growth] skill. It would cost 15 points to increase all her attributes to 75 and then 16 to go beyond that. Still, thanks to all her points and the leftovers from the previous level, she could now have her attributes sitting at 77 and still have some points to spare for the next level. With that out of the way, Hera started using her [Courtship] on the items she wanted to join her court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scythe - Chain Earrings Weapon scaling: Empress Attribute: 77 Intelligence: 1.76 Charisma: 1.76 Strength: 1.76 Dexterity: 1.76 Agility: 1.76 Luck: 1.76 Chain Attack: After you have hit a target, the next attack will deal increased damage. This increase will stack additively with each subsequent attack. If you attack a different target, this bonus will be reset. Increase damage per attack: 1% Familiarity: 29% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Armory - Metal Tiara Weapon scaling: Empress Attribute: 77 Intelligence: 1.54 Charisma: 1.54 Strength: 1.54 Dexterity: 1.54 Agility: 1.54 Luck: 1.54 Lowest Stat Buff Increases the lowest stat scaling of your weapons by 20% Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 2 hours Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Core - Lava Rapier Weapon Scaling: Empress attribute: 77 Agility x 4.65[2.8(5.6)+ 1.85] Endurance x 4.5[2.65(5.3)+ 1.85] Luck x 4.35[2.5(5) + 1.85] Intelligence x 1.85 Strength x 1.85 Charisma x 1.85 Volcano Core: This weapon is imbued with the power of a volcano. Attacks with this weapon deal additional fire damage Additional fire damage: 50% Tempered: This weapon was created in a harsh volcanic environment. It is sturdier than it looks. Glow: You can make this weapon give off low light in an area. Duration: 1 hour Area: 10m3 Cooldown: 2 hours Sediment: Your attacks can leave behind a piece of hot magma at the expense of mana. Cost: 400 mana per cm2 Volcanic Ash: You can make the ash resting in the wrist guard become a shield to protect you from attacks. Cost: 10 000 Mana Familiarity: 41% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 478 - Four months later Alex was in the bathroom struggling with a headache. It wasn''t something completely new, but she was still figuring out how to handle them. Every time she had one of those, it would feel like something was trying to pull out her eyeballs. She tried going to the doctor, but no one found anything wrong with her. She even talked to a few healers who are experts on curses and other ailments but even then, we''re unable to find any indication that what she was feeling was related to a curse. They weren''t even able to realize that she was indeed cursed. There was another thing worrying her. Her eyes were slowly turning yellow. Not the cornea but her iris. She wasn''t aware when it started, Or if it was even actually happening, since her eyes were normally a very deep shade of brown. The yellow would only appear when the sunlight hit her eyes in the right way. A part of her just thought she was being paranoid because she was supposed to be cursed, but she wasn''t exactly feeling the effects. Then again, there were some things that she could do now that she couldn''t do before getting cursed. On a more basic level, her color blindness was getting better. Not that it was something she considered looking into ''fixing.'' She knew it was probably possible, but it''s been a while since Alex accepted that part of herself. Still, being her wishes are not, her eyesight was improved, and it wasn''t simply because of her endurance stats. That was the first thing she checked when she realized what was happening, and no increase in attributes would change anything about color blindness. She knew her friends would get worried about that, and even if it was a horrible idea to hide those things from them, she went as far as buying some colored lenses so her friends wouldn''t notice any possible change in her eyes. There was a little voice inside her head telling her that if she told them about this fear, they would drop everything to look for a way to remove the curse, and she didn''t want to worry them or make them stop what they were doing. In the future, when everybody was free, she would bring it up unless it became an emergency. After splashing some cold water on her face, her headache subsided somewhat enough for her to keep moving without much of an issue. Another thing that helped was a new spell that she found that was perfect for that kind of constant and annoying type of pain, from stab wounds to stomach ache sore, in this case, when she was mildly annoyed because of her head. The spell had a few no names. It was something very basic, and many people would use it in different ways, but everybody would call it a ''good hit'' since the numbing effect was very similar to a certain plant based smoking habit. The advantage of the spell was that there was only the number effect, nothing else unlike what those particular cigarettes could do. When she was feeling better, Alex left the bathroom and headed to the living room, "Sorry about that. I''m still trying to figure out where those headaches are coming from." "No worries. Are you sure you''re okay? And are you sure those don''t come from the curse?" Blue asked. "I''m okay. Promise. And I don''t know about the curse. I went to a few doctors and even talked to some curse specialists, but they don''t seem to be able to find anything wrong with me. They can''t even say I''m cursed. I know it does look like it could be from the curse, but at the same time, we can''t be sure. Maybe it''s the heat, or at least, that''s what the doctors told me. I mean, it''s really hot in here, and I could be getting constant heat strokes to a minor degree at least." "I can understand that. I''m also having some trouble with the heat. It''s fine when we are inside, but the moment we step out, it''s so hot and stuffy. I really hope Lena and Bonnie are close to being done," Blue got up, "Ready to go bring those two scientists and food? I''m pretty sure that if it wasn''t for us, they would have starved already." "Yeah. It''s lucky they don''t have a cat. I''m pretty sure they would have been eaten by now," Alex nodded. The two of them left the house and went to a Japanese restaurant. They ordered some food and ate there, and when they were heading out, they ordered enough for the two in the lab. Hera wasn''t among them since she was still running the volcano dungeon like a maniac during the last few months. There were days when she would get up before sunrise and only get back home hours after midnight. While that was worrisome, it seemed to be helping or, at least, making her feel better. On the rare occasions they could talk to her, the explorer seemed happier and in tune with her emotions, even if some aspects were scary. Now, Hera was more ruthless. Doing the last dungeon run she had with her friends, she used half the army as essentially suicide bombers to destroy Bonpei, and she did so without batting an eye to the volcano tribesmen who were going to sacrifice themselves saying their goodbyes to their families. When Alex and Blue were on the elevator to Helena''s Laboratory, a voice called, "Hold the lift!" Blue held the door open, and an elf with sun-tanned skin walked inside, "Thanks for that. This building is way too tall and it will take ages for me to get back up there," the elf looked at the two, "Hey, I know you guys. You were at a party with the Flame Princess, right?" "Yep, that''s us. Also, she hates that nickname. And you are¡­ Adriel right? We met you when we were going to the dungeon for the first time," Alex nodded. "That''s me!" the elf smiled, "and she shouldn''t go around with a tiara on her head if she doesn''t like the name. But she got a bit of notoriety with that nickname. There''s a considerable group of people hoping to be in a party with the Flame Princess." "Really? Is there a reason for that?" Blue asked. "Mostly because she''s very efficient. I mean, completing the dungeon usually takes between 3 to 4 hours. Between the war table and then the actual fighting, it takes a while. But with her, you can finish the dungeon in 3 hours at most, 2 hours if you''re lucky. It''s been a while since anyone showed up who could shake up the meta, so to speak," Adriel nodded with a smile and pulled a small necklace from his chest, " some people say she''s even blessed with good luck. I''ve been trying to get one of these for ages and only got mine when I was in a party with her." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "What''s that?" Blue asked. "It''s called The Heart of the Volcano. It''s an upgraded version of the necklace you can get to withstand the heat here. Not only lets me stay in places that are too hot while being comfortable, but it can also increase my resistance to fire damage and make my attacks a bit more spicy," Adriel almost started dancing when he spoke. "Wait. Are there necklaces that help us handle the heat? Why did no one tell us about it?" Alex gasped. "I don''t know. I mean, you came with someone, right? I talked with the Flame Princess a bit, and she mentioned that you guys are helping someone who had some stuff here." "Now that you mention it, Lena has been wearing a different necklace since we got here. You don''t think she¡­." Blue turned to Alex. "I''m going to kill her. I''m actually going to kill her," Alex rubbed her temple. "If you''re being serious, I heard nothing. You don''t have to pay me anything. Just let me walk away and pretend I never was in this elevator," Adriel took a step back, placing his back against the wall. "She doesn''t actually mean it. It''s just an expression," Blue turned to the elf. "Okay, good. I just got a new gig that is quite easy, and I don''t want to get involved in something like that," Adriel smiled, recomposing himself. "So if you didn''t have this new gig, you wouldn''t mind being involved in something like this?" Alex chuckled. "Well, I would still mind, but you know¡­ it would be, like, less because you''re not messing with what I''m doing," Adriel scratched the back of his head. The elevator door opened, and Blue stepped out, "Well, good luck with your new job. I hope it''s as easy as it sounds." "Me too." Despite the apparent farewell, Adriel also left the elevator and started walking behind the two. After they turned the second corner and the elf was still just a few meters away, Alex spoke up, "I have to ask. Are you following us for any reason? Is that one of those cultural differences where it''s okay to follow someone like this? Or are you like a stalker?" "I''m not following you guys. Not really. You''re just going in the same direction that I am. I didn''t say anything because I was trying to figure out a way to say this without looking like a stalker and¡­ I got nothing," Adriel shrugged, "Do you want me to wait here a few minutes so you guys can go wherever you''re going, and then I''ll go?" Blue and Alex looked at each other and shook their heads,"It''s okay. You can go wherever you''re going. Just remember that if you try to do anything to us, the Flame Princess will go after you," Alex gave him a mischievous smile, "That is if you can run away from me." Blue smiled and poked Alex''s stomach with her elbow, supporting her friend in her attempted flirting. They walked for a few more moments until they arrived at the doors to Helena''s Laboratory. The moment Blue reached for the door, Adriel sighed, "Kayo. Let me say this again, I''m not a stalker. I''m not trying to follow you guys. But I''m going there too." "Just so you know, we have a friend that participated in the last wall break. She''s in there, so if this is a lie you''ve been warned. Are you really going to say that this is where you are going?" Blue turned around. "Yep. I''m not lying here. It''s a referral job for movers," Adriel replied, and they agreed to open the door since that was something they might need. Most of the laboratory''s books and equipment were already packed in large boxes near the entrance. Helena and Bonnie were on the second floor, finishing up one of the last few bookshelves. Aside from that, the only thing left would be the large device surrounding the mana stone in the middle of the room. The two were talking happily about some form of magic, but Helena was the first to notice the people coming in. "Hey. Did you guys bring food? I''m starving," Helena smiled but stopped when she saw the elf, "Oh, Adriel. Glad you could come. I didn''t get confirmation if you would be able to take the job." "Hey, Ms. Dittro. I sent you a message letting you know that I was going to drop by to check the weight of everything to see if I could carry it alone or I would have to ask for more people," Adriel pulled up his tablet, " Yeah, you even replied that it was OK to drop by this afternoon." "I did?" Helena looked over her own tablet, and just as he said, the message was there, including her reply, " oh, sorry, I probably should have paid more attention to it. We''ll be taking those boxes by the left side of the doorway, plus one more that is up here and the equipment around the crystal." "I can check the boxes, but do you know how much this whole thing weighs?" Adriel looked at the several mechanical arms around the crystal. "Each arm is 37.82 kg, plus the boxes they go in round it out to 45.5 kg. There are four arms, so the total is¡­." "182 kg just for them. Got it. That should still leave a decent amount of weight and space. Let me check if I can carry everything." "So you''re finally done? Can we finally go back home?" Blue asked. "If everything goes well, yes. We should be able to go back in four or five days, depending on Adriel and if we need to ask for more movers or not," Bonnie nodded. "Actually, I would only be able to go next week. But I have a few things that I have to finish up here. I still have to check if I can carry all this. Give me a couple of minutes." "That''s kind of good. As much fun as packing everything was, I never ended up exploring the city," Bonnie said. "That''s true! We can hang out!" Blue nodded with a smile. It''s been a while since they had just gone out to have fun. "Yeah, do you guys think Hera would come?" Helena asked, "I''m still worried about her." "I don''t know. I don''t even know where she is right now, but I could venture a guess," Alex sighed. "Oh, she''s doing the dungeon. In fact, I think she was trying to beat it on her own," Adriel said. "Wait, what?" Blue gasped. "Yeah. But don''t worry. I''m sure she has more experience with that dungeon than almost anyone in the room. Besides, what''s the worst that can happen?" Adriel turned back around and kept using his skill to count the boxes'' size and weight. The girls just looked at each other, hoping that his comment wasn''t some sort of flag. 479 - The other side of the war Hera was in front of the dungeon again, and, as it became a regular occurrence, a lot of people were greeting her and asking if she had a party for the day. She wasn''t sure when it started, but at some point during the last few months, people came to respect her. Even some of the veterans here would look up to her and ask about different strategies or ways to complete the dungeon faster. Not to say that everyone shared those feelings. There was a group that felt Hera was just a kid who was trying way too hard, but she wasn''t the first to do something like that, nor would she be the last. According to the experience of those who lived in the city, her fame was just a fad, and the moment she left, it would be over. Either way, Hera wasn''t in it for fame. Her goal was just to overcome her issues, and she felt things were going much better. Now, she would no longer see the body of Vulmer Keller, the elf she killed, in place of the people she killed in the dungeon. Nor would his face appear in her dreams every night. She would still see him when she had nightmares, but even those were a bit rarer these days. "Hey, Flame Princess! Do you have a free slot today?" a loud man got closer to Hera and put her arm around her. Instinctively, Hera triggered her fire elemental armor to push him away, which worked perfectly. People here had fire resistance skills and equipment, meaning that her spell wouldn''t actually harm anyone, but the aggression would send the message she wanted, "Even if I had a slot, you wouldn''t get it." "C''mon. Why do you have to be like that?" the man jumped back as the spell activated and checked if he was injured anywhere. "Because you don''t know how to keep your hands to yourself," Hera replied without even looking at him. It was one thing to enjoy physical contact with her friends or whoever she was dating, but a stranger putting his arm around her made her feel very uncomfortable. "That''s what you get!" one of the people around the dungeon started laughing at the man, and he started bickering with them. Hera didn''t care. Right now, she had in her mind the next dungeon run. This time, she would be siding with Bonpei. It wasn''t the first time she did so, but she realized she cared much more about the flame tribe than the human city. The reason for that was that the people of Bonpei used very underhanded methods to try to win the war. From kidnapping to even trying to forcefully trigger an eruption. The list went on and on, and most of it was filled with war crimes, which was exactly why she wanted to help them. She had gotten numb to the idea of killing the people of Bonpei in the dungeon, but fighting against the volcano tribe still caused her some problems. Another thing she wanted to do was go in alone. It''s been almost two weeks since the last run with Blue and Alex, and Hera wanted to use her legacy properly. She still tried her best to avoid showing it off to other people, and even in the few situations where she was alone in the dungeon, she had to be careful with her surroundings. In one of those situations, a woman noticed Lurize fighting on its own, and Hera had to explain that it was a prototype enchantment from a mage that she couldn''t talk about since she had signed an NDA. Luckily, that type of thing was common enough in this room, so the woman stopped questioning, but Hera had no idea if anyone else had seen her using her legacy. That''s why she was going to run the dungeon alone for the first time. Doing so would allow her to control everything inside it, make sure that she was the one who killed most of the volcano tribe, and that she could use her full strength without having to worry about anything. People greeted her as Hera walked past them, heading towards the entrance. "Looking for a party today, Hera?" a dwarf named Gorth, who had worked with Hera a few times, asked as she passed by. "Not today. Or, at least, not right now. I want to try doing it alone," Hera replied with a nod. "You are crazy, you know that? There are way too many variables for you to handle alone. Are you sure you don''t want to go with a party?" Gorth asked. "Technically, I''m not alone," Hera smiled, and Daskka perked up from her neck. The snake had grown a bit and now could do two laps around the explorer''s neck, making it look like she was wearing a snakeskin scarf. That was another reason for her nickname. People who didn''t see her fighting assumed she was actually wearing a scarf in the middle of this city surrounded by volcanoes and that she had some sort of skill that made her feel cold even under this kind of heat. Little did they know that the mist snake had the opposite effect. Daskka could somewhat control her body temperature, becoming a cold pack around the Empress'' neck. "You can say that, but that snake can''t give orders to the army. Are you sure you want to go alone?" "I am. There is something I want to do, and unfortunately, I can''t do it with other people around." "Is that because of that mage you are helping? No amount of gold in the world is worth risking yourself like that," Gorth shook her head. Hera was a bit surprised by the comment. She never realized that even her lie about helping a mage had become part of the rumor. Then again, it gave her a convenient excuse, "It is, but don''t worry. I know that this is not worth my life. If push comes to shove, I can just run away from the dungeon." "That''s fair. And if you are having trouble doing that, try using that mount of yours to run from the battle. Some people tested this before. After about five or six hours, the fighting stops, and the side you are not helping will win. Then you can go to the exit without having to worry about people attacking you randomly. But if you hit someone and didn''t finish the job, they will still be aggressive," Gorth explained and pulled a pair of potions from his pack, "Also, take this. It''s a fire resistance potion, and an emergency heal one. Use them if you get in over your head." Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Gorth. I appreciate the gesture, but¡­." "No buts. We ran this dungeon more than just a few times. I don''t want you dying because of some obsessed mage. Take the potions. If you don''t use them, give them back. If you use them. Buy me a drink as thanks later," the dwarf shoved the potions into Hera''s hand before walking away. "Thanks. I''ll be sure to come back," Hera smiled before entering the dungeon. Their conversation wasn''t exactly private since it happened in the resting area full of people, and soon, news of the Flame Princess trying to solo the dungeon spread like wildfire. In less than 20 minutes, many people gathered in front of the dungeon. They wouldn''t be waiting for her to come out, but they were here to bet on how long it would take the Flame Princess to complete the dungeon or if she would leave without managing to complete the quest. Inside the dungeon, Hera walked through the corridor and arrived at the room where the two generals were arguing. She ignored all the yelling and simply walked through the door that would lead her to Bonpei. She walked straight to the command center, a building with only a single door that didn''t have any windows or other entrances. There, all the leaders of Bonpei would be giving commands to the army while being safe from all the attacks. When siding with the city, the only way these people would be in danger was if every other person in Bonpei had been killed. "Ah, there you are. The mercenary who decided against helping the volcano. Good, good. We should stick together since those people are just trying to hog their resources," Bonpei''s mayor nodded with a smile. Some of the other members of the city council started giving her words of praise and talking about how the volcano tribe was evil and greedy. This was, unfortunately, part of the dungeon, and there wasn''t anything she could do but wait for the general to come here and ''rescue'' her. After about five minutes, a man wearing full combat armor stepped inside the building and pulled Hera to the side, "You can ignore all those annoying old men. Hi, I''m Elrich. The general of the army. Can we talk strategy? I hope you have some information about what their plans are." Hera didn''t wait any longer and called out her entire court. Since Armory and Scythe were already out, she summoned Ooze, Lurize, Beam, and Core. It cost her quite a lot of mana, especially Core. According to Daskka, the more skills or strength one of her blades had, the more mana it would cost to summon them. While doing that, Elrich guided her to a side room where the map of the area was located, and they could have an actual strategy meeting. ''We wait for your command, Empress,'' the blades spoke in unison. "Don''t worry, guys. For now, it''s just tactics. As usual, you are free to give your opinions," she turned back to Elrich, "Their plan is simple, march down here with the full force of their army and overpower us with pure strength. And they can do that. Trust me. Even if we rally all the civilians, we can''t win using normal means. We are going to need tricky strategies, traps, and some less conventional methods." "Do you have something in mind?" Elrich asked. "I have one very bad idea. We grab a group of people to run up the mountain through the path they created when they redirect the flow to the farm on the other side. Then we kill the people there and take a few hostages. I know who the general''s family is, and if we can use them as bait, we can force the general to come alone. Doing so will allow us to pick the rest of the army with ease." "That is¡­ very underhanded." Elrich seemed sad hearing that plan. "I know, and you know that some of your people are already thinking about it. They will do it with or without your approval." Elrich let out a long sigh, "Yes, I do. I can''t believe you even know this kind of thing. My people need to be more careful." "Don''t blame them. I''m just very good at my job," Hera smiled. Saying these kinds of things was the best way to move the dungeon along without any unnecessary questions. ''Don''t forget the outpost,'' Armory said in her mind. "Right. I also know you are setting up traps, correct?" Hera leaned over the map and pointed at the roads between the outposts, where she knew the traps would be located. Some of the strategies changed between runs, but the position of the traps was a constant in this dungeon. "Even this got leaked?" Elrich gasped. "Not, really. Again, I''m just very good at what I do. Anyway, we should change the position of those traps. Instead of leaving them in the middle of the road, we should evacuate the first outpost and put them inside the buildings. Also, forget about using water. It doesn''t kill them. It just makes them slow and increases their defenses. Focus on ice. One of the ways to kill them is to remove enough heat from their bodies. We can also treat them like actual flames. If we take out the air, the fire will be extinguished, and so will their lives." "So the idea is to bury them?" Hera nodded in response, "Ok, I''ll tell that to my troops. We might be able to cover both outposts with the traps before the fight starts." "No, do it only in the first one. They will be wary about going to the second one, and that won''t work. Instead, we can set up an ambush. The flame tribe doesn''t have access to the area above that outpost from the top of the volcano. We, however, can reach this area through a path here," Hera pointed to a part of the mountain on the map, long before the inner outpost, then to a location filled with jagged rocks some ways before that outpost, "We can hide a group of mages and archers here to attack the army as they are trying to figure out what is going on with the outpost. A warning, the people we send here will likely die, and we can''t do anything to support them after they start." "So they will be a sacrificial squad?" Elrich frowned, but Hera''s expression didn''t change, making the general give up, "I suppose you are good at your job. And having some sacrifices to lessen the casualties might be necessary. After that, what should we do?" "My suggestion is to change some of the defenses of the city. Instead of barricading the entrance, use the first few houses around the gate as barricades and set up a line so we can have an open area to kill them that''s under our control. That should delay them enough and lessen their forces to the point where we have a fighting chance. If you have a way to block the view of the flame tribe as they get to the city, it will help a lot. Maybe a sandstorm or an illusion." "We could do both of those. I believe some of our mages should be able to perform those spells. It seems like you are even knowledgeable about our capabilities. What will you be doing during the attack?" Elrich gave up being surprised by the mercenary''s intel. "I just made an educated guess," Hera gave a half-smile, but then her expression turned darker, "I will be with the team responsible for attacking the village." 480 - Invading the tribe Hera was with a group of about 90 people going around the mountain towards what was once the farm. Now that area was completely covered in igneous rock, lava that had cooled down during the past weeks. She glanced back and saw the people who were following her. After talking with Elrich, he assembled this group that would be competent enough to perform the task that she wanted. According to her experience, there was a chance that the volcano tribal would notice the movement of troops. That''s why she requested people who were not only combat capable but also could move unnoticed. They were the worst of the worst, robbers and murderers, thugs and gangsters, psychopaths and sadists. Unfortunately, this group was the only one willing to attack the village itself. That wasn''t entirely true. Some of the civilians were willing to go to great lengths to protect their city, but Hera didn''t want random people that wouldn''t be able to follow her orders or carry their own weight during a fight, much less those who could become a hindrance for the operation. To make matters worse, most of those people here only accepted to be a part of this team because they were promised a pardon from their previous crimes or to have the bounties on their heads lifted. If she didn''t need people who could move stealthily, Hera would never have accepted this group. Yet, here she was, leading a band of criminals, so she could kill innocent people and kidnap the general''s family. "I guess I''m in the right place," Hera sighed. "Why?" Daskka asked. "Because I''m a murderer. So it''s only fair that I''m leading these people to do some more awful things," Hera smiled, trying to play it off as a joke, but her feelings couldn''t be hidden from her court. However, none of them said anything. They didn''t know what to say to help the Empress. After about one hour or so, the team was already climbing on top of the trail left by the lava. They would wait until the traps in the first outpost were triggered and then head up. Hera considered waiting for the signal before coming out of the woods, but the people behind her were starting to get restless. Maybe it was because of the dungeon, or perhaps they had more respect than Hera imagined, but they all treated her exceptionally well. She never once felt threatened by them, even when they were asking questions aggressively. As soon as Hera told them to back off, they apologized and stepped back. Then again, this could all be because they also wanted to save their city. The explosions went off, and loud yelling could be heard from the other side of the volcano. Hera didn''t waste time and quickly gestured for the team to climb the mountain. Following the igneous rock, the trail took about half the time that it took the volcano tribe to come down the path that crossed both outposts. In theory, even if the army decided to come back, they shouldn''t be able to intercept Hera''s team. Not before they arrived in the city. Hera also had the option of calling Nimbus and going off on her own, but doing that would cause her to arrive much quicker than the rest of the people following her, which wasn''t the best option. During their march to this side of the volcano, Hera explained to everyone how the rock might be cooled off, but there was a chance that it would still have some hot spots, so they would have to be careful when moving. Ideally, they should avoid any parts of the ground that seemed to bulge or were not as flat as the rest in case it was a pocket of gas or, worse, hot lava. Going up the volcano wasn''t that much of an issue. They took the amount of time she expected, and there was little to no noise caused by them. Even when someone was groaning and starting to complain, everyone else quickly stopped them. When they arrived at the top, Hera gestured to the team to split off and start to spread out. Their plan was first to infiltrate the village and then attack on her signal, a scream coming from Ooze. More than half of the team managed to sneak inside the volcano in a few minutes. However, Hera started to realize that there was something wrong. In some situations, the volcano tribe would gather all their people close to the town center. Doing so would allow them to protect everybody in case of an attack. But even in those situations, the threat of an actual attack was so small that some of the tribesmen would stay behind in their houses. Or at least, that was how things went when one was fighting alongside Bonpei. This time, even those villagers who should be in their homes were nowhere to be seen, and this wasn''t happening only on the outskirts. Hera herself was about halfway to the center of the village, and there was no way that everyone left here without a reason. Hera used her sensory net while sending Ooze, Beam, Core, and Armory to the sky while Lurize went forward to see if he could find anything specific. Scythe had left her ears and was now a few centimeters behind her. Since it was a dual-type blade, there were some unique features to her Court member. First, the two pieces could never be more than five meters apart, or they would essentially be destroyed. Second, in a weird way, it was like they had two minds. Each of the earrings could tell Hera things individually, and they even had their own senses. It was possible for someone to be hiding from one of them but not the other. At the same time, it was still a single blade. So, while they had effectively two minds, both earrings would perceive what the other was seeing. Because of that, Hera decided that they would be her last line of defense, so to speak. Having both earrings around her head would allow her to, in essence, have eyes on her back. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Even with all her preparation, not a single one of her blades noticed the volcano warriors approaching from behind the tents, and her sensory net struggled to notice the difference in the details in the area. The heat from the ground was too strong, making everything foggy to her spell. It was only thanks to a gust of wind that pushed some of the heat away that Hera was able to see a few warriors getting close to her. She quickly triggered Ooze''s skill but also made it scream in two breaths. This was the signal that something went wrong and that they would have to run. Unfortunately, the people from the volcano were ready for them. When the team from Bonpei scrambled to leave, the platoon from the tribe circled in, cutting off their exits. They used some spells to raise the lava around the mouth of the volcano and bar anyone from escaping or getting inside. At a quick glance, Hera could see about two or three hundred tribesmen appearing from the tents. Some were even hidden under the soft rock in the ground. The only thing that made her feel somewhat relieved was that not all of them seemed to be part of the army. Only half looked properly armed and wore battle garments from the tribe. Still, she was in the middle of a battalion of creatures that could take 5 people each, while each of the 90 she brought along would need to be, at least, at a 4 to 1 advantage to proceed safely. "I knew that hiring humans was a bad idea. You have no honor, no respect. And after this, you no longer have your lives," Releon, the general of the volcano tribe, spoke as he emerged from the troops. "Are you so confident that you sent your troops down the mountain without you?" Hera stepped back, taking the chance to gather her team so they would, at least, be together for the fight instead of being alone in the middle of the enemies. "They can handle themselves for a while. But when one of my scouts noticed the movement of this band of thieves, I decided that this required my personal attention. I''ll have plenty of time to guide my people to victory after I''m done with you all," Releon spat his words, almost like he was disgusted by even talking with someone like her. "And what makes you so sure you will win?" Hera asked, trying to gain some more time so she could get closer to the rest of the group. Since she was spearheading the formation, she was the one who was farthest away from the rest. At least the bulk of her team had managed to converge near where the volcano tribe was pulling lava from the ground. ''Daskka, can you stop that? Or cool it off enough so we can run through it?'' Hera asked inside her mind. ''I can''t. That''s too hot for my mist. Maybe you can change a spell to ice? Using that thing Bonnie uses,'' the snake looked back to the path they took and then returned to Releon, ''You saw where Lurize is, right?'' ''I did. I hope his plan works,'' Hera replied. The moment the tribesmen appeared, Lurize was behind their front line. His reaction was to get closer to one of the tents and pretend to be a regular weapon. To their luck, he was currently just a few meters behind the general. Maybe her court member would be able to kill Releon with a sneak attack. If not, Hera could only hope that the attack would hurt him enough to give her a fighting chance. She had no prospects of winning this particular fight. No, what Hera was trying to do was find a way to run. Even without the kidnapping plan, Bonpei had an actual fighting chance. And she knew for a fact that it would take longer for the general to reach his army than it would take her to go around the mountain and back to the city. This was all counting with Nimbus, of course, but there was no reason for her not to use her mount when she was far enough away from anyone who could destroy it in a single hit. "Enough. You already said too much. You chose to betray our contract, and now you''re siding with the people of the city who betrayed our trust. I hope you''re happy with what you just said, for those were your last words," Releon lowered his stance and created a large two-handed flaming sword in his hand. He was about to lunge forward when Lurize made his move. During that discussion, the blade floated close to the ground, carefully passing by the volcano warriors until he reached the general. When it became clear that the moment to talk was over, Lurize shot up, aimed at Releon''s neck. The blade gave Hera an indication that he was about to go. This allowed the Empress to activate Armory''s buffs, as well as a poison mana reinforcement on Lurize to increase his attack. She even triggered her [All In], risking the reduction in attributes. It was the first time she tried to use that skill with one of her blades, but if it worked, then the blade should be the one to feel the loss in attribute, not her. Lurize shot up too fast for any of the tribesmen to notice. He was inches from Releon''s neck when Hera triggered her poison needle spell making the origin point the tip of the zweihanders'' blade to help even more with the attack. At the same time, the general noticed the attack and moved his own sword to parry the incoming blow. He was faster than the blade, even though Hera was sure that she would''ve reached him if she was the one swinging the weapon, and instead of Lurize hitting Releon, he was parried. The sword staggered for a moment which allowed the general to grab it by the hilt, making Hera feel like there was a giant hand grasping her own spine. "You think these cheap tricks will work on me?!" Releon roared with anger as he slammed Lurize against his knee, snapping the blade in two and making Hera''s court member vanish in the air. The Empress was filled with anger seeing one of her blades being destroyed like that, but Daskka was quick to speak up, ''He''s not dead. It will just take some time before you can summon him again.'' "Your filth will no longer stain these lands! Wipe them out!" Releon yelled as the entire encirclement collapsed on top of Bonpei''s forces while, at the same time, Hera could feel the penalty for her [All In] affecting her. 481 - Reverse Ambush The moment the volcano tribe warriors start attacking, Hera and her court try to get close to each other. They were already doing that while Releon was talking, and thanks to that, the Empress was surrounded by her protectors before the first strike hit. That came from her side. One of the volcano tribesmen had shut out an arrow towards her. Beam was the one who managed to stop that projectile by deflecting it with its blade. The follow-up was a spell from other tribesmen that came as a mortar from the skies. Luckily, Core was on top of it, and since it had the same element as the incoming attack, the blade managed to pierce the spell and redirect it to the side. The mortar shots ended up hitting a few of the volcano warriors and exploded with the impact. Hera didn''t expect that blast to do anything but to her surprise, some of those affected by it ended up falling to the ground. Maybe that happened just because of the shockwave created by the explosion, or the fire used actually managed to do some damage to the tribesmen. Either way, it was an unexpected benefit from the trade, allowing Hera to be a bit more confident in her chance of survival. "Everyone, let''s try the spell formation. The one that reduces the attributes of anyone inside it that''s not us," Hera called to her blades while she activated the elemental fire armor, hoping that it would help her against those attacks. "But mum, we never managed to get it to work!" Daskka gasped. "It''s the best idea I have. My attributes are reduced, so we might as well try to level the plain field," Hera glanced back at the rest of the troops from Bonpei. Some had already fallen, but the rest seemed to be able to hold their ground somewhat, "Armory, stay close to them. You are taking Lurize''s place, and we know you are not suited for combat." ''I can fight Empress!'' Armory protested, but she still went towards the location pointed by Hera. Beam, Ooze, and Core each took another of the 4 spots around Hera. One was in front of the Empress, the other two to the sides, and Armory behind her. The tiara had become some sort of a strategist for the group. Since she was always on top of Hera''s head, she would focus on giving commands to the blades when the Empress was busy with an enemy. Because of that, staying in the back was beneficial to Armory, despite her protest. Usually, Hera would agree but say something along the lines of ''I need you commanding the rest of the court. I can''t trust the rest like I can trust you.'' This time, however, she was too busy to appease the blade''s ego. She noticed that the newer blades had more personality to them. According to Daskka, this happened because she was getting more used to the legacy so the legacy could create more realistic traits. If she managed to get a titled blade, then this progress would be much faster. Scythe was one of the last pieces of the puzzle for the spell circle. The twin blade would be set up around Hera, orbiting the explorer. Their job was to control the output of mana to maintain the spell circle. "Daskka, you are up! Do you remember what you have to draw?" "I do, but it would be better with someone to guide me from above," Daskka replied as she dashed to the left. She would start to spread her mist from Ooze, then Beam, Core, and Armory, before doing the inscriptions inside. Hera did her best to simplify that formation layout. In theory, there was no need to draw the spell circle inside it. However, using Daskka''s mist as a medium would make it easier for the mana to flow through it. Not that she would wait for the spell circle to be created. In fact, Hera was already sending her mana from blade to blade to start the formation. The main difference between what she was doing now and what she would usually do was the participants. Normally, Armory would be above them, guiding Daskka to make the spell circle work, and then she would come back to rest on top of Hera. Now, the tiara was a part of the formation and would play a more active role in everything. While Daskka was still drawing the circle around the blades, a couple of the volcano tribesmen were brave enough to intercept this effect that was forming around Hera. They had no idea that, currently, the mist will do nothing to them. Because of that, they were all very wary of getting inside, and after Core''s redirection, the ones who could do something from range were all hesitant to continue their attacks. Those who decided to take the gamble didn''t have any problems when getting closer to Hera and started swinging their weapons. One had a two-handed axe, while the other used a flame whip. Unfortunately, her court couldn''t help her right now. The blades could still use their skills, but until this formation was complete, they couldn''t leave their positions. Knowing that, Hera focused on defending against the attackers alone. The first thing she did was to get into her stance to defend, placing one of her hands close to the blade of her glaive while the other was closer to the base of the weapon. One of the warriors brought down his axe towards her with a jumping attack. His intention was clear to kill her off swiftly, but the movement was slow and telegraphed. With a simple sidestep, Hera evaded the blow completely and swung at the tribesmen with her glaive, aiming at his neck. Before the attack hit, the whip wrapped around the glaive and put it back, stopping the explorer from dealing damage to her attacker. Not wanting to have her weapon hostage, Hera triggered a cold reinforcement in her weapon. She knew that the people of the volcano were all about heat, which was also true to their weapons. Her idea worked flawlessly. The flame whip lost most of its strength, allowing her to pull back her glaive. Doing that gave an opening to the warrior that was with the axe. He made sure to punish her for the mistake by kicking her in her stomach. The kick was much stronger than she expected, or maybe it was because of her reduced attributes, but Hera staggered back, struggling a little to keep standing up. ''Empress!'' the blades spoke all at once. "Stay there!" Hera yelled back, not wanting to start over the spell circle again. They had precious little time for that to work, and if they broke their position now, all the mana she invested in the formation would go to waste, and she could feel that she would need every point of mana she got to survive this. Hera tried to use a stone wall to separate the volcano warriors and herself, but instead of the slab of stone coming from the ground, a blob of lava came up and sprayed them. That didn''t seem to do any damage, but the attack at least was enough to surprise them. Not wanting to give them time to regroup, Hera made a horizontal slash with her glaive, cutting one of the warriors in half. To follow that up, she created a wind blade using her weapon and used a mote of ice to change the element before sending it towards the one with the whip. With the second warrior down, she took a moment to check the formation. Daskka was done with the circle and now was finishing up the internal lines that would connect them all and complete the spell. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. At the same time, another four warriors decided to take their chances against the explorer. With a combined attack, the four of them hit her several times. Luckily for her, the attacks were mostly on her armor, and the fire from them was blocked by her elemental armor spell, but she still could feel the heat coming from them. It was clear that the reason her armor was working so well was because those attacks weren''t as strong as some of the ones the tribe could do. Hera did her best to fight against them, but she was in a losing battle. But then, she started seeing their movements better. They seemed slower and weaker. Almost as if they were moving through water. "Mum! It''s done, and it''s working!" Daskka called before turning into her red mist form and attacking the tribesmen that were facing Hera. Completing the formation meant that the blades were no longer stuck in those positions, and her entire court collapsed on top of the men attacking the Empress. Seeing that she could move more freely now, Hera clicked her heels and started gliding through the floor while spinning her glaive to use all her combat styles that focused on distraction. At the same time, she tried to use the Whirlwind Path. The combat style focused on broad sweeps allowing her to fight multiple enemies at once. She still didn''t have the skill for it, but she remembered the movements and was following them right now. The volcano tribe was relentless. Each time a group fell to her or her blades, another would take their place. And despite their best efforts, the court was unable to protect the Empress without fail. Each of these tribesmen could land one or two attacks before they were killed. When around 35 of the hundred or so warriors died because of Hera, Releon stepped forward, unwilling to lose more man to this human. The explorer could feel that the general was still affected by the poison, but since he was made out of flames, Hera had to be very careful not to let the poison be burned. That''s why she couldn''t deal any damage to him just yet. When Releon stepped inside the formation, all of her court went after him, but he managed to parry every attack. He used his weapons or his own body to defend against the barrage of strikes and did so with unexpected elegance. The moment he got closer to Hera, he clenched his fist and slammed it against her stomach, causing the Empress to gasp for air for a moment. Not letting up, Releon grabbed Hera''s hair, burning it with his hand despite her elemental armor, and started to punch her face repeatedly with a blinding rage. She tried to push back, kicking him, cutting his sides with her glaive. Using more ice, poison, and earth spells, she even used the spore field, which shouldn''t work against them since the volcano tribe didn''t have noses. Her court joined in, attacking with everything they had and using all skills to push the general away but to no avail. They were only able to stall him for a few moments. When Daskka joined in, trying to wrap her mist body around the general, Hera realized that what was hurting her wasn''t the flames but the actual force of each impact, Hera changed her elemental armor to stone and used the floodlight spell to blind the general and have a moment to rest. This finally worked, and Releon had to step back while he waited for his sight to return. Hera didn''t waste time and pulled the two potions she got from Gorth, the fire resistance and the one for healing. She chugged them both and saw the general rushing towards her again. Not wanting to get in that situation one more time, she created the biggest lava wall she could by using her stone wall spell and started running towards the mouth of the volcano. She had yet to find a good opening to do so, but it was now or never. Some of Bonpei''s troops noticed her movement and started running along, hoping to flee and survive this ambush. Hera''s formation also affected the team she brought, allowing them to become scapegoats so that she could run. This wasn''t something she became aware of until much later, but it was thanks to that effect that Releon couldn''t catch up to her. He had other targets to kill. She barreled through the line of volcano tribesmen blocking the path, using several wind turned ice blades to open a path. Just before she reached the defenders, she turned her elemental armor to wind and used all her strength to jump, focusing the spell on pushing her off the ground. With that, she managed to go over the lava barricade and tumble on the path of igneous rock leading down the mountain. As she got up from the ground, her entire body was hurting, and she could feel each of the cuts and bruises covering her, but at least now, she had a chance to escape. She kept gliding on the grounds for a while, hoping to get far enough away so she could call Nimbus without having to worry about the archers, and when she couldn''t see any more arrows or spells falling around her, Hera called her mount and jumped on top of it. Now she was safe. She could return to Bonpei and rally with the rest of the troops. They wouldn''t have to worry about Releon and could focus on the fight for a while. All she had to do was go back. Nimbus kept flying towards the mountain''s base at full speed while still keeping some altitude to hopefully be harder to hit. Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived as a flaming spear impaled Nimbus causing the mount to vanish with her still on top of it. She tumbled down the mountain towards a patch of jagged rocks and hit her back on one of the spikes. It wasn''t enough to pierce her armor, but she wasn''t sure if that didn''t end up making her break some ribs. She looked around and realized she couldn''t see the top of the volcano. Right now, she was in an area hidden from prying eyes. Hoping to keep it that way, she used her stone shape to open a hole on the ground and covered it up with a stone wall, leaving only a small opening for air. She wasn''t going to stay there anyway. Hera started using her stone shape spell to make a tunnel heading toward Bonpei''s direction. Her idea wasn''t to dig all the way there but to get far enough away from the igneous rock path to be able to leave the mountain and head to the forest on the side. About half an hour passed, and during that time, her entire court was right behind her, casting the Luminous Light Litany on the Empress. Her mana was almost tapped out, but she was at least feeling much better. That''s when Hera decided to leave her tunnel and make a break for it. She didn''t leave in a flashy way, but by opening a small hole on the mountain and using her [Hide] to keep moving. After a few moments, she managed to reach the forest and get a moment to rest properly. That operation was a shit show, and now she had to figure out what to do next. Hera opened her tablet to see how badly injured her face was. Her eyes were black, and a large chunk of her hair was gone. "Shit, I even lost the earguards," Hera sighed as she touched the missing part of her ear. She took a deep breath and drank another healing potion before turning back to her court, "Is everyone ok?" ''We are. Apologies, Empress, we were not strong enough to protect you properly,'' Core replied. Hera could almost see the rapier sulking. "Don''t worry. You guys did your best. The one who messed up was Lurize. I can''t believe he missed that attack!" Hera turned back to Daskka, "How long until I can call him?" "A couple of days for him to be back to normal. But if you really want to talk to him, you can force him out. It''s just¡­ that will make him take way longer to recover." "That''s fine. Bring him out. I want to know what the hell happened back there," Hera replied angrily. The court couldn''t understand her reaction, but Hera knew that if Lurize didn''t mess up, none of this would''ve happened. 482 - Court Meeting Hera was currently in the middle of the woods by the volcano. She walked a few meters inside the forest, hoping to be hidden from any prying eyes. Before actually stopping to rest, she asked Daskka to spread out a thin layer of mist on the ground so that if anyone got close, they would sense it. The snake did just that, creating a sheet of thin mist that would be impossible to notice unless you pressed your head against the ground. Hera''s court was also surrounding her. They were the second line of defense. Each of them was looking in one direction while at the same time, looking at the Empress. "Mum, are you sure you want me to call Lurize? He won''t be able to move, and it would take even longer for him to recover," Daskka wanted to confirm what Hera asked one more time. "I understand that his recovery might take longer, but if I call him will he get hurt?" Hera asked. Daskka shook her head, "No. Your blades don''t feel pain. They can tell when something is hitting them, but that''s it. Even I feel something closer to pain than they do. You can still talk to him, but you won''t be able to move or do anything. That''s why you can''t call him yourself." "You don''t feel pain either? But I''ve seen you react like you did," Hera tilted her head. "I don''t. What I feel is pressure and my mana leaking. The reaction is¡­ something that doesn''t come from me, I think. It comes from¡­ whoever I was before, but it''s more like I''m reacting to something unpleasant, not pain," Daskka continued. She was now on Hera''s lap, looking up to the Empress. "I see... If it''s not going to hurt him, can you call him? I really want to know what happened." Daskka let out a sigh and looked to the ground, " Okay, mum." Some mist left the snake''s body and started to take the shape of the two-handed sword. However, it wasn''t a complete object. The handle was in one piece, but the blade had been broken in two. As the shape became more and more vivid, Hera could tell that there were even some small shards of metal that had splintered when Releon snapped Lurize on his knee. However, the blade itself was mostly intact. "Lurize? Can you hear me?" Hera asked. ''I can, Empress. But I cannot see you or move,'' Lurize replied. "What can you see?" ''The three top and some pieces of the sky,'' he replied in her mind. "Ok. Let me prop you up then¡­. Where are your eyes? Or whatever you use to see? The hilt or the blade itself?" "In a situation like this, it would be the piece with the most mass. So since it''s a two-handed sword, it would be the blade itself," Daskka explained. "Okay. And the tip is the head? I never asked how your anatomy works, if there are any actual rules to it," Hera scratched her head. ''If I may, my Empress,'' Core spoke up and got a nod from Hera in response, ''Each of us is different. But as a rule of thumb, as one would say, you can think of our eyes at the very edge of our blades, facing what you would consider forward.'' "Oh, so they are basically where I would expect them to be?" Hera asked. ''Yep. Although I''m a bit of a special case. My eyes are in my center of gravity, not in the edge of my blades,'' Armory added. The tiara was the easiest one to imagine. For a moment, the image of all of her blades with googly eyes flashed on Hera''s mind, making her chuckle. "I understand now. Thank you," Hera smiled and turned back to Lurize, propping the broken blade up and placing him against one of the trees so they could talk face to blade, "Can you see me now." ''I can, Empress. I apologize for not being able to stand up by myself.'' "That''s fine. And you are not in pain or anything, right?" Hera believed in Daskka, but she couldn''t shake off the idea that being broken should hurt. ''I am unable to feel pain.'' Hera nodded, "Right then," her expression darkened, and she stared down at her first blade, "What happened back there? Why were you unable to hit Releon?" ''I was not fast enough.'' "You seem to be moving fine before the attack. And I even used my All In skill on you. Why did you fail to hit him? If it was me, I would''ve been able to strike the general, and we should have the upper hand during that ambush." ''I do not have an answer. I felt your skill and used all my strength to attack him. Yet, it wasn''t enough,'' Lurize''s voice was still calm like it always was. That was something unique about him. The blade would always say things in the same tone of voice as if nothing could make him angry or happy, for that matter. "Why did you attack from the ground? You could have hidden behind one of the other volcano tribesmen. Or, you could have tried an aerial attack. But you chose to go to the ground, which made you travel through the longest distance possible while being close to Releon before trying to attack. Were you trying to get caught? Because for someone who''s always talking about how my movements are wrong when I''m using a weapon, this seems like too much of a rookie mistake for you to make." ''I would never go against your orders, my Empress. The plan was to kill the general, but I failed,'' again, Lurize''s voice didn''t change even after being borderline accused of treason. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "He''s right, mum. They can''t do something like that. They can''t do something that would put you in harm''s way consciously. That won''t change no matter the situation. You have the absolute loyalty of every member of your court," Daskka spoke up, trying to defend Lurize. ''That''s true, Empress. I was in the back, but I could see that Lurize was doing the best he could,'' Armory chimed in. ''They are right!'' Scythe added. "Do you all agree with that? Was Lurize doing the best he could?" Hera looked around, and all the blades seemed to agree. Hera was feeling very anxious about this situation, but she had to press on, " Very well then. This changes things. Lurize, tell me why I''m keeping a blade that can''t perform the tasks I give it." ''I am unable to give you an answer. I don''t know the motives for your decisions.'' "Then tell me this. You are supposed to be a teacher, an instructor. Tell me if keeping you as one of my blades is something I should do to get stronger. Is your advice worth risking myself like this? Or should I just ignore your existence during a fight and use only the others to help me?" Hera was doing her best not to look away from Lurize. She knew that the moment she saw Daskka or any of the other court members, all her bravery in handling the situation would be gone. ''That would be unproductive. You would be restricting yourself to receive the benefits that may not be worth the risk,'' Lurize replied. "Then, I think you understand what this means," Hera said. "Mum!" Daskka gasped, but Hera just kept holding the snake on her lap. They both knew that if she wanted, Daskka could escape her grasp, but the Empress hoped this would be enough to let her adviser understand her intentions. ''I do. And I would like to thank you, my Empress, for the opportunity to exist again. I may not remember my previous existence, but I will never forget the moments we spent together.'' The other blades started to protest, even Beam, who was the quieter of the bunch, spoke up, but Hera wasn''t having it, "Unless you have an actual argument against the logic of my decision, I ask you all to be quiet," the blades stopped talking allowing Hera to focus once more on Lurize. She steeled herself and started speaking in a cold voice, "Lurize, you have failed a task and proven that you are unable to help me anymore. And for that, I release you from your duties." Unlike what happened when she changed her blades the last time, Lurize was still there, and there were no specks of light around him. ''Apologies, my Empress, but I am unable to leave unless you tell the real reason for my dismissal.'' "I just told you. You''re too weak to help me. Having you occupy a slot in my court does not bring me enough benefits to keep you here." ''That is a lie. Unless you tell me the reason, I cannot go.'' "What do you mean it''s a lie? You were there. You saw what happened. You failed to hit Releon, and that caused a massive issue for the operation. Everyone but me died, and I was beaten to shit. I have two black eyes, I don''t even know how many bruises, and I''m pretty sure I broke some ribs when I was running. All because you couldn''t do your job. Tell me, where in all of this is the lie?!" Hera''s voice became more and more frantic as she recounted all the reasons why she had to get rid of the blade. ''What you said is the truth, and I accept it. Your injuries are my fault, but it''s not the reason why you were letting me go.'' "Then what is the reason?" Hera gasped. ''I do not know. Why am I no longer a court member worth keeping?'' Lurize asked. "It''s not that. You are worth keeping. It''s just¡­." ''Just?'' "I can''t keep being so precious with everything. I need to be able to make hard decisions. If I could do that, I could have sent the people from Bonpei first and let them be caught in the Trap instead of me being in the middle. So I have to be colder, I have to be ruthless, I have to be¡­." "Like one of the people who were in that team?" Daskka left Hera''s lap and floated at her eye level. Hera finally stopped. She stared at Daskka for a long moment, processing what she had just heard, "No¡­ I don''t want to be like them." ''Why are you doing all this then?'' Armory sounded frustrated. "I thought that I had to be stronger. I thought that I had to be willing to do some harsh things," Hera replied. ''We may be new here, but making hard choices and doing harsh things don''t sound like the same,'' Scythe said. "You all are right. They are... Different. I''m the wrong one," Hera slumped back, losing all her posture, trying to process what was going on. During the past months, she forced herself to fight against people inside a dungeon so she could be okay with the idea of being a murderer. However, at some point, she stopped trying to just live with what happened and started chasing ways to become numb to what she had done. In other words, she was no longer trying to be someone who killed the man by accident and had to live with it, but someone who was able to kill again without feeling any remorse. The worst part of it all was that she never realized the change in her goals. If it wasn''t for her court and she kept pushing herself like that, it was very likely that she would eventually be just like those who were part of her temporary team. She would eventually turn into the very same thing she was trying so hard not to become. "I''m sorry, everyone. Lurize, Forget all about it. I don''t want you gone. I want you by my side, telling me how to fight and helping me out. What happened back there wasn''t your fault. It wasn''t mine either. We just got caught." ''Are you sure, Empress? If you believe you should replace me, I would understand,'' Lurize asked. "I am. You''re part of the legacy because someone decided you were strong enough to become a titled blade. It would be like spitting on the previous legacy holder''s faces if I let you go for petty reasons like I was going to. I''m sorry. I hope you can still help me learn and fight by my side in the future," Hera smiled, her voice becoming warm again. ''Thank you for giving me a second chance to be by your side. I''m extremely grateful for being able to continue serving you,'' Lurize replied, but he still had that emotionless voice. "It''s not a second chance. It''s the first one. You never lost any of your chances. I was the one who made mistakes. In the future, if you realize that I''m getting too far away from what I decided to do. Please let me know. This goes for all of you. If at any moment I seem to be getting lost, tell me. I promise I will listen to you," Hera turned to the rest of the court. ''Will do. Sorry I didn''t say anything before. I honestly didn''t realize you were strange,'' Armory said, and both Core and Scythe agreed with her. Beam and Ooze commented that they noticed differences but not enough to be alarmed by anything. Having finished that discussion, Hera and her court continue to rest in the forest. She focused on recovering her mana, and Lurize asked to be out while they were resting so he could keep everyone company. During that time, the court kept casting the Luminous Light Litany to recover the Empress as much as possible. After about one hour, Hera felt like she was rested enough to go back to Bonpei. Her mind was clearer now, and she understood that just trying to kill constructs wasn''t the way to go, but she still had something to do here. With some luck, the city had yet to fall, and she could still complete the dungeon. 483 - Flame Princess "I got it!" Hera gasped. She was already heading back to Bonpei. She spent about 1-hour resting and recovering while a few of the members of her court continuously cast the Luminous Light Litany to lessen her injuries. During that time, she realized that having all my blades use that spell was very effective but also extremely mana hungry. However, if just one of them was chanting, they could keep up with her passive regeneration for at least a minute before the spell''s cost increased. This meant that she could, in essence, have the healing spell constantly active on her. While doing that in a fight wasn''t exactly efficient, it was perfect for when she was just walking around. This was helping a lot, and she felt her condition improving as time passed. That wasn''t the only thing that Hera was doing. She had an idea about how she could use the elemental motes to imbue a spell with multiple elements. Because of that, she asked the blades to change who was casting the litany every 30 seconds. The remaining of her passive regeneration was being used on her tests. She was very carefully trying to create a poison needle with some ice mana inside it. Her intention was to use this as a way to attack the volcano tribe more effectively. Poison spells were still her primary magical attack, and she didn''t want to change that, not when using it would make her even closer to Daskka. That being said, against people made of fire, her poison wasn''t effective. It would force her to make them very slow-acting, and she wouldn''t be able to focus her power correctly. But if she could somehow put a little bit of ice inside her poison, she might be able to not only offset the issue of her poison being burned away but even damage them more by being able to remove the heat from inside their bodies. After around 40 minutes of trying, Hera finally was able to create a small capsule of ice surrounded by a coat of poison. not just that, she also combined both effects in a spell that she was calling ''Frost Poison.'' This would work exactly like her poison needle but with the added effect of having ice inside it. Because of her ability with poison, Hera also could tell that the spell could have a delayed effect. She might be able to cast it and set a timer for how long it would take before the poison itself actually started to cause problems for the targets. ''We are arriving at the city, Empress!'' Scythe said as they were floating above the canopy of the forest. "Great. How are things looking?" Hera looked up. ''Bad. Really bad. Half the city is on fire, and the volcano tribe is still coming,'' Scythe replied. "Have they encircled the city? Or do we still have a way to get there from the back?" ''From what I can tell, the back is still open. They seem to be pushing through the gates and focusing on that area.'' "Okay, and that''s where we are going to go. For now, stay up there, Scythe, and let me know if anything changes," as Hera finished speaking, she started to pick up the pace. It was a shame that she couldn''t move as fast as she wanted since her ribs still hurt a lot. Her healing spell wasn''t enough to take care of that. In just a few minutes, the explorer and her court were already on the city''s outer wall. Hera noticed a small team of volcano tribe scouts approaching and sent out her blades to deal with them while at the same time preparing her frost poison to test its effectiveness. Core and Beam were the first to attack that group, using their long-range attacks to do so. Hera also tried adding some other elements to the blades when they were using their abilities, but that didn''t work. Not that the concept wouldn''t work, but the way she was going about it didn''t feel right. Apparently, if she wanted to change the elements of the skills her blades possessed, she would have to try something else later. Either way, the attacks were enough to disrupt the scout''s movement, and the battle started. Most of the volcano Warriors engaged with the blades trying to fight off these odd constructs that were on their way, but a couple of them noticed Hera on the back and saw how there were another two constructs floating around her head. That was enough indication that she was responsible for this, and they wouldn''t let that go. Hera got into a combat stance, already triggering her boots, But despite having the glaive in one hand, she wanted to focus on spells for this fight. She had to know if her plan would work. Aiming at the one closest to her, she tossed a few of the Frost Poison needles at them and just let the projectiles do their magic. At the same time, she started gliding backward, getting ready to evade the attacks. Her combat styles were a blessing in disguise. Since she learned how to dodge and evade with small movements, the seemingly broken bones wouldn''t be that much of an issue. Even better, before the first scout reached her, she could already feel the poison taking hold of her target. Trying to see if everything still worked the same way, she triggered her poison control to make it stronger and remove even more heat from the scouts. Before the first of them even managed to reach her, they were already turning into rock, and their extremities were starting to crumble. The second one got closer to Hera as she activated an elemental ice armor. Seeing the frost gathering around their target, the scout stepped back, worried about what could happen. With a smile, the Empress lunged forward and slammed her hand inside the volcano tribesmen while shooting a volley of Frost Poison inside him. The scout staggered back and fell to the ground, crumbling into small pieces of rock. "Did you want to make the poison that strong?" Daskka asked. "Not really, but it seems it''s really working," Hera gave a devilish smile. "Mum¡­ you are not going to go crazy, are you? We just talked about this," Daskka asked. "No. I''m just happy the spell worked. I have to talk to Lena and Bonnie about this¡­ I don''t even know what they are doing these days," Hera sighed as the first scout she hit with the spell fell to the ground and died. Looking up, she saw that another two of the scouts were killed by her blades, leaving only four left. She tossed a Frost Poison at them and stayed back to watch the results. "Are you sure? You are still fighting people." "I know. But it''s different. These are constructs, and it''s been some time since I understood that fighting them is not the same as fighting a person. That''s one of the reasons why I was going so heavy lately. Just fighting against them felt normal, like I was doing any other dungeon," Hera explained while watching the volcano warriors turn slowly into ash. The spell was working, but killing them took too long. Maybe she could figure something different to be the killing blow. Either way, the blades finished off all the scouts without much of an issue. Now that they didn''t have the pressure of fighting against an entire battalion and that Hera could properly use poison, this became much easier. It also helped that this group didn''t seem well organized and felt much weaker than the rest. Taking a moment to think about that, it would make a lot of sense for Releon to have a skill that would strengthen those under his direct command. In fact, there were even moments during the past months when she could see something like that happening. All of a sudden, the volcano tribe would become stronger or would be able to push Bonpei back with ease for a few moments. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. With all the scouts dead, Hera turned around and ran to the back entrance of the city. She was still gliding thanks to her boots, and she wanted to keep going like that. Being able to push forward and move at a decent speed without overexerting yourself was a godsend, especially with her injuries. What she really wanted now was a way to fight without moving her body too much. Speeding through the buildings was easy enough, and what was going on in the city was something that she had seen several times before. Some people were running away while others were heading towards the fight. It was the type of situation that one would expect in the middle of a war. Instead of focusing just on moving, Hera decided to try to make an improved version of her frost poison without stopping. Instead of just having a piece of ice mana inside the poison, she put an actual ice spell there to be triggered by her poison control. It would cost more mana, but if it worked, using it would devastate the volcano forces. As she was running, Hera tried to use her new version of frost poison on a few of the plants around the city. Just like she was expecting, when she activated it, the ice would create a tree-like structure from inside the plant that exploded outwards. This time, she was really satisfied with the results. Not only would this be incredible against the volcano tribe but also against other enemies she faced in the future. After running for a few more minutes, she finally arrived at the location where the command center should be. Elrich was there giving orders to some troops while someone was patching up a wound he had on his arm. In front of him was a table with a map and several meeples representing all the troops. "Hera? You are still alive! I assume the operation was a failure," the general tried to get up, but the medic behind him slapped the back of his head and told him to stop moving, "Fine, fine." "Yeah. They were ready for us. We got ambushed, and I think I was the only one who came out alive. I could say that I tried to save the rest, but honestly, I was too worried about myself to even think about helping others," Hera admitted. "Don''t worry. I can tell you''ve been through some shit. Are you still willing to help us?" "I am, and I think I have a great way to do so," Hera smiled, "Can you show me where the troops are located?" Elrich pointed at the map, explaining the current situation. Bonpei had lost a part of the city, but thanks to her idea of creating barricades between houses, they were still able to hold on. The volcano tribe controlled the entire northern section of the town, but they struggled to move past that. Instead, they seemed to focus on destroying the houses to open up space for the rest of their army. According to Elrich, it appeared like Releon had joined in a while back, and the general was inside Bonpei, in the middle of the battalion who was pushing forward. "And we don''t have any troops there, correct? My plan involves destroying the entire part of the city." Elrich sighed, "You know, it would be nice to have a plan that doesn''t involve you doing something bat shit crazy. But yeah, that part of the city is gone already. Go nuts." "Great!" Hera smiled and left the tent before the general could say anything else. She quickly moved between the buildings looking for one of the tallest structures in the town. About 50 meters or so from the area controlled by the volcano tribe, there was a water tower that could work for what she wanted. To get on top of that, she raised a stone pillar behind the water tower and then glanced over it. From this point of view, she could see the entire city and the mountain behind it. The volcano tribe''s army was almost entirely inside Bonpei''s walls, with just a few groups on the mountain path leading to the outposts. "Guys, I need you to go up as high as you can. Go a bit forward too. I want to cast a spell on top of the main army," Hera told her court as they all flew up, making the conga line to increase the height they could reach. When Beam managed to reach the limit of the range, Hera looked up and then started to prepare a flaming poison rain. Taking a page out of Blue''s book, she first created the point of origin and then increased its radius more and more, as much as her mana would allow her. Even if everyone said this was a bad idea, she used the mana stones to make something gigantic, or at least gigantic in comparison with the usual size of that spell. In reality, Hera could only make a circle with a 30-meter radius, but she hoped it was enough. When most of the spell was ready, she used her frost poison instead of the regular poison on it and let the rain fall. As soon as the flaming droplets started to hit the ground, cheers could be heard from the volcano army. Some called this a blessing from the mountain, while others yelled that the gods were by their side. Hera could feel her poison spreading and even bouncing to other people thanks to the bracelet that Risli made her long ago, and the explorer never went hunting without. She saw how the tribesmen started to circle and allow everyone to receive the fiery blessing from the skies, making her job even easier. It took about 10 minutes for her to feel her poison spread across most of the army. She knew that some people were still clear, but that didn''t matter, she had enough to work with, and it had to work. Right now, she only had 10 thousand mana left, and her next spell should eat all of that up. Taking a deep breath, Hera activated her poison control to trigger the ice mana inside the poison on everyone at once. It was like watching fireworks. Some of the volcano army started to gasp, feeling the heat leave their bodies, but others, the weaker ones, were shown mercy in the form of large ice trees emerging from their bodies, killing them instantly. What was once a scene of desolation and flaming destruction was now a park of frozen fauna and screaming warriors. Those who survived the initial attack didn''t get very far since the cold from the trees would remove their speed and, eventually, their life. "I wonder if I would be called Frost Princess now," Hera chuckled to herself. "They are weak! Charge!" Elrich''s voice echoed throughout the city as Bonpei''s army dashed forward. Hera was tired, and she didn''t have any more mana. She sat on the water tower to recover enough to go down and let the armies fight. She did everything she could for this dungeon run, and at the moment, she was done. If Bonpei were to fall even after everything, she deserved to lose the dungeon. Not to mention that the effort to come here and make the spell only worsen her injuries. Luckily, her worry was for naught. After another half an hour, the notification of the dungeon quest appeared in front of her. She just walked back to the exit and waited for Elrich to show up with the chest containing all the loot dropped by her enemies. All of this was worth 5 thousand gold, counting the rewards for the dungeon, a couple of potions of heat and cold resistance, and a weapon. It was a pair of bladed tonfas with a light gray grip and a body made out of dark metal. In front of them, on the shorter part of the body before the handle, there was a hawk''s head made out of some red gemstone that seemed to glow with heat. On the longer part of the body, on the outer side, a pair of deep blue blades came out, going all the way to the back. When Hera gripped them to test, she noticed how the actual edge would go a few centimeters beyond her elbows. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Flaming Frostguards was bound to you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­" before Hera could even finish that sentence, Daskka jumped out of her neck and started to float, almost as if she was jumping in excitement. "Mum, mum! You can have a titled blade now!" 484 - Titled blade As soon as Hera exited the dungeon, the people who were betting gathered around to see who would''ve won. However, when they saw her current state, most of them gave up asking about it. A couple of them just wanted to make sure that Hera was ok and ended up getting the information that she did complete the quest. It took her close to 5 hours, and she was completely covered in bruises and wounds even after the constant healing spells that she was casting, but she managed to beat the dungeon on her own. Despite Daskka excitedly talking about a titled blade, Hera''s next stop was the hospital. She needed to make sure that she was healing properly. It didn''t take long for a healer to check up on her, and after examining her and performing a few tests, including an x-ray, they concluded that she wasn''t in danger. However, she had several minor fractures on several different bones, including some parts of her skull that had cracked, it was not enough to break and the cracks didn''t go all the way through the bone, so that was something positive. Still, if it kept going like that, she could''ve taken some debilitating damage. If a shard of bone ended up inside her brain, there was a big chance that she wouldn''t even be able to move, much less get out of the dungeon. Another minor issue was that at some point during the fight, the impact created small cuts on her stomach and liver, and the healing spell had some issues taking care of those parts. Instead of keeping the organs apart, it seemed like it was trying to heal together. Thankfully, this was in the very early stages, so Hera wouldn''t even need to go through surgery to fix it. The healer simply cast a few spells so they could tell her body how to properly heal and cut off that small connection that it was trying to make. She also received some treatment for her bruises and small cuts, but unless she was willing to stay in the hospital for the near future to receive constant care, the greens and black marks around her body couldn''t be taken care of in a day. "Now, Hera. You can take this if you feel any pain and this if you feel anything odd in your digestive system. For the next few days, avoid strenuous activity and foods that can upset your stomach. Mostly, spicy food, but if you are lactose intolerant or anything like that avoid those things. Oh, and alcohol. No alcohol until the treatment is over otherwise the medicine won''t have any effect. I suppose this goes without being said but do not, under any circumstances, go to a dungeon again or train in the guild. You have to come back here once per day for the next 5 days for your treatment, and even after that, it should take you two weeks before you can return to normal. And you will be taking these pills for the next week. You should get a glass of water, place the pills inside and wait a few moments for the capsule to dissolve. These are, in essence, concentrated potions that will help you recover from all the fractures," the healer explained. Hera cleared out any doubts and left, returning to the house they were staying in. While walking, she sent a message to her friends, letting them know that she was out of the dungeon and that they should have dinner together. In the end, she got back to their place before even getting a reply, and she was alone. Hera went to her bedroom and summoned her court, minus Lurize, since he couldn''t come out again until the next week. Before even talking to Daskka, she took another look at the Flaming Frostguards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flaming Frostguards Rarity: Epic A pair of bladed tonfas that was created during Bonpei''s War. The weapon was made with an ice heart to protect the people of the city, but due to the high temperature of the surrounding area, the ice and fire elements merged together in harmony. Attribute Scaling: Endurance x 13 Strength x 8 Agility x 8 Passive Skill: Defender When you block an attack using this weapon, you are able to reduce the impact of the attack. Fire and Ice Attacks with these weapons alternate between dealing an extra 20% fire damage and 20% ice damage. Cold Burn Attacks with these weapons can trigger an ailment that will deal constant cold damage to the target, and it will reduce the target''s fire resistance by 10%. This effect cannot stack with itself. Active Skill: Griffon''s call You can activate the skill to make the griffon heads on the tonfas cry out. Doing so will give the wielder a buff that increases the scaling of this weapon by 20% for 1 minute. Cooldown 3 hours. Ash Barrier You can create a barrier of ash to protect those within a 5-meter radius around you. Mana cost: 10 000 mana Cooldown: 30 minutes Snowcloud Aura You can create an aura of ice around you. This aura reduces the power of any incoming attacks by 20% while active. If the attack is imbued with the fire element, the reduction increases to 50%. Mana cost: 500 mana/s Cooldown: 5 minutes Bound Weapon This weapon is bound to the first person to hold it. To pass the weapon to someone else, you must give each tonfa a drop of blood from the new owner. If someone tries to use the weapon without being bound to it, they won''t be able to use the weapon''s scaling or skills. Familiarity: 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why do I already have 100% familiarity? I never even used tonfas," Hera asked while sitting on her bed. She had already taken off her armor and sent it to be cleaned and repaired. Right now, she had wet hair from her shower and wore casual, comfortable clothes. "It''s because the weapon is bound to you. One of the statistics that familiarity tracks is ownership. Like if the weapons truly are yours, if you made them yours. A bound weapon is, by default yours. So the familiarity goes straight to 100," Daskka explained. She was sitting on the other side of the bed, wagging her tail like a dog. "I see¡­ it sounds a bit arbitrary, but I''m not going to complain," Hera looked back to Daskka, "But that''s not the only thing I need for the titled blade, is it? I still need the spirits, don''t I?" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "That''s one option. The other is to find a weapon and a construct that have good synergy. You might not have realized it, but this has an amazing synergy with Nimbus. They are both griffin based and cloud-based. Because of that, you can join both of them to make your first title blade." "Cool, I didn''t consider that," Hera nodded and picked up her griffon whistle from the pack she kept on herself even during dungeons, "Just so I know, does this mean that I''m going to lose my mount?" "I can''t say for sure. Making the titled blade should combine both items. But we can''t know what skills or effects will stay." Hera nodded, "Ok then. What should I do?" "First, you need to consider the title you would give them. Then you tap the items and tell them the title you are giving them and what will be their role. Do you have any ideas? Keep in mind that since this is not already a blade, it will receive the personality of the construct and its appearance," Daskka asked. "I think so. Do you guys have any suggestions?" Hera looked around, but her court members refused to say anything. This was the first title the Empress was going to bestow, and it was something she should do on her own. There was also a sense of weight coming from her blades as if what she was doing now was something grand, and they were expecting her to understand that. Understanding their intentions Hera opened up her status and took a look at her court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Court of Blades - Legacy Empress: Hera Kingsley Consort: Spymaster: Mistress of the Hunt: Harlequin: Knight-Captain: Royal Guard: Royal Adviser: Daskka - Ego Item ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Daskka, can you change the Royal Guard title?" Daskka nodded and waited for the ceremony. Hera took a deep breath and looked at the two objects in front of her. The black, red, and blue tonfas and the jade whistle, "Nimbus, you have helped me several times already. You have saved my life and supported me for a long time, and I ask you once again to be by my side," she tapped the whistle and then both tonfas at the same time, "I ask you to take these blades and continue to fight with me. No longer as just a mount, no longer as just a temporary ally, but as my companion. I ask you to receive the title of Sentinel. So you may protect the court as we protect you." With those last words, the Sky Ruler Whistle and the Flaming Frostguards started to float ever so gently. The whistle slowly turned into a small cloud, and at the same time, the tonfas were also changing. One turned into a dark plume of ash while the other in soft snow. The three particles gathered in the center of the bed and started to spin, almost like in a dance. The agglomeration of fumes started to grow and moved to the side, away from the bed. Slowly, through the course of the next ten minutes, that mixture of ash, cloud, and snow started to take shape. It became a humanoid with two arms and legs but something on its back. The head was still formless as the rest of the body took shape first. Nimbus still had bird feet, but it was wrapped in some loose gray pants that seemed to allow him to move freely, contrasting against his pitch-black claws. On his waist was a sash with a jade pendant in the form of a whistle holding it in place. Then came his torso, which was covered in a long white halter top with details in black framing the clothing that would stop just a bit above the sash, showing some very defined muscles behind it. Next came the arms, muscular naked arms that turned into bird feet with five fingers. His skin was grayish and had some marks as if he had tattoos or scars. The face started to form, showing the image of a hawk with pure blue eyes and white feathers framing his head. On a closer inspection, Hera could even see that those feathers would turn ever so slightly to green when reaching the ends, and his beak was completely black. Lastly, a pair of massive wings spread out, knocking some of the lamps over since he wasn''t in a wide enough space to open his wings. They were the same white feathers, but now the green tint was more visible but only at the edges. "My Empress. I live to serve you as I have been doing in the past," Nimbus knelt in front of Hera and retracted his wings. "I''m glad I can talk to you like this," Hera replied with a smile but quickly became overcome with worry, "Hang on. You are not just talking in my mind. Can other people hear you?" "Yes, he can, mum!" Daskka nodded. "And¡­ you told me before that you guys share my skills. Does that mean you know all my skills? All of them?" Hera started to panic. "He does!" Daskka replied with a smile. "I can answer for myself, you know," Nimbus rolled his eyes while staring at the snake. Hera quickly tossed her soundproofing spell around them and stared at Nimbus with a worried expression, "I hate to do this, but I have to. This is my first order to you, which goes for every single blade I have and will ever have. You are not allowed to mention anything about the guide skill to anyone. It doesn''t matter the situation. It doesn''t matter the danger I''m in. You can only talk about the skill with me and preferably not out loud. I don''t know if you are like the rest that can read my mind but never speak about that skill to anyone! Actually, unless we are talking through some completely secure channel, never mention that skill period," the last thing she wanted was to get a strike because one of her blades was a blabbermouth. ''Do not worry, Empress. Like your other court members, I am able to speak with you like this,'' Nimbus replied inside her mind without moving his beak. "Oh. Ok, thank you. But feel free to talk to me out loud if you prefer," Hera slumped back, and a loud growl came from her stomach, "I guess I''m hungry." "I can grab something for you!" Nimbus quickly got up. "You don''t even know where the food is! Stay here. I''ll get you something, mum," Daskka gasped. "It''s late, and we''re probably going to have dinner soon. But I think there are some snacks on the kitchen counter," Hera replied. "Great, I''ll go get it," Daskka started floating. "No, I''ll get it. I''ve been with the Empress for longer," Nimbus replied. "Excuse me? I''ve been with mum for over a year already!" Daskka scoffed. "And a full year before you even came into the picture, the Empress already had me, albeit in my griffon form. Hence, I''m with her for longer than you are." "But you were never out! Mum and I always stay together, and I rarely stay inside the necklace, while you have to get back to your whistle after what? Ten minutes?" Daskka rolled her eyes. "That may be, but there is something you didn''t consider," Nimbus puffed his chest. "What?" "I''m much faster than you," the humanoid griffon bolted out of the room, and Daskka followed him right after, shouting that it was unfair. Hera couldn''t even react to all that. She never expected the two of them to have that kind of interaction. A few moments passed while she was still trying to understand what was happening, and she heard a loud thud from the living room. She got up and walked over, stopping in the corridor and crossing her arms while watching that scene. At the same time, Helena, Alex, Bonnie, and Blue opened the door. They were back from the lab and were ready to order something. However, to their surprise, in the middle of the living room, there was a giant mist snake wrapped around a humanoid bird person on the ground while the two of them seemed to be struggling to reach a bag of chips a few centimeters in front of them. On the corner, they could see Hera just staring at those two with a perplexed expression. When the explorer realized her party members were there, she smiled and said, "Hey guys, I made a new friend." 485 - Nimbus "Ok. Ok. We are calm. We understand that this is¡­ Someone you know? And everybody''s calm. Blue, you don''t have to start punching anyone. And we are all sitting down so you can talk. Now, can you please explain what is going on?" Helena asked after finishing drinking her glass of water. After she and the girls arrived home and saw a bird person fighting Daskka, they entered fight or flight mode. They weren''t used to seeing a creature that should only exist in a dungeon out in the world and considering current events, they were worried that this was another attack. Hera was the one who stepped in, taking a moment to calm everyone down and ask them to sit on the couch so she could explain what was actually going on. "Before we start. Just a moment," Hera waved her hand and created a soundproof spell around the entire living room, "Okay. This is Nimbus. He is my first titled blade," she gestured to the humanoid griffon that was now sitting on the ground, almost prostrating himself to the party. "Nimbus? Isn''t that the name of your mount?" Blue asked. "Yep. I got an item that could work with a whistle and make, well... Him." "You made him? You created a living being?" Helena asked, trying to keep her cool. "Empress, if I may?" Nimbus asked and got a nod in response, "I am not living, not really. Much like the creatures you see inside a dungeon, I am but a construct. I suppose it would be better to say that I am like one of the blades. A member of the Empress court." Helena rubbed her temple, "Even if you are just a member of her court, you can speak. You have thoughts. You probably need to eat." "I don''t, actually. I am able to eat if needed, but I don''t have to. I won''t starve or anything as long as the Empress still lives." "I mean, that''s something, I guess," Helena sighed and turned to Hera, " Did you know that you could do something like this?" " Sort of. Do you remember how I could give a title to one of my blades? Daskka explained that they should be somewhat humanoid. It''s more like a golem, from what I understand." "That is very accurate, Empress," Nimbus nodded with a smile. Seeing a beak curl up was odd, but that was happening in front of everyone, so at least she wouldn''t freak out on her own. "And what can he do?" Blue asked, her eyes shining with the idea of something new. "I don''t actually know. And before we get to that, do you mind if I talk to him and Daskka for a moment?" Hera waited for confirmation which she promptly got. It seemed like her party would need some time to process what was going on, "Okay, you two. What the hell was that? Why did you start fighting as soon as you started talking to each other? If the two of you hate each other or something like that, I need to know right now." Daskka and Nimbus looked at each other before the snake spoke up, " We can never hate each other. Not really. It''s part of the legacy. your court will always be in harmony even if we have blades that we like more." "That is correct. I do not hate the adviser. In fact, I admire her very much. But we have different opinions about who knows you the longest." "I mean, I''m not going to say it wasn''t fun watching you fight over me like kids fighting for Santa, but this is not something I''m going to have to worry about later, is it?" "No. It''s not. We promise," Daskka nodded. "Great. Now, Nimbus, can you tell us what you can do? Daskka, if there is anything that I have to know and it''s more private, tell me but otherwise, let him talk. I don''t want to explain what you tell me to everyone." Daskka nodded, but she started sulking since she wasn''t the one who was going to tell Hera about legacy things. To compensate for that, the Empress called the snake over to her lap and started patting her head while listening to Nimbus. "Can he tell us what he can do? Do you guys need some more time?" Hera asked the group, but they all agreed to hear what Nimbus had to say, "Ok, whenever you are ready, Nimbus." "Of course, Empress," Nimbus nodded and stood up, "First. I am still a member of the court of blades. Because of that, my true form is that of a pair of bladed tonfas. I will be summoning them now. Please do not be alarmed," after giving everyone a moment to understand, Nimbus summoned the Flaming Frostguards on his hands. They were still exactly as Hera remembered. If anything, the colors seemed more vibrant, but that was it, "I can fight like one of you, and it is possible for me to learn some skills. However, I require much more time to learn a skill than any of you," he turned back to Hera, "That doesn''t change the fact that any skill you learn will also be available to me, Empress. But that doesn''t work the other way around. The skills I got on my own are not available to you. A way to circumvent that is to teach you the skills I''ve learned." "I have also kept most of my skills from my previous forms. However, there are a couple of changes. First, the Ash Barrier and the Snowcloud Aura merged together, creating a skill called ''Frozen Ash.'' It still is an aura that can be toggled, but it will have the added effect of creating a layer of protection around me along with the reduction of any incoming attacks. Also, both Cold Burn and Fire and Ice affect all my attacks, not just the ones I made with the tonfas. For what was kept from my griffon origin. I can still return to that form, but I will be less¡­ foggy. I do not have a time limit to stay as a four-legged creature, and I can run at 30 km/h for about four hours without stopping. Or I could go at 60 for about one hour. Currently, I can carry up to 300kg, and that will increase as my attributes grow. I still am able to glide at those same speeds, but if you require me to fly, my speed would be the same as your walking speed." "And do you have a limit on the carrying weight to be able to fly?" Bonnie already had her tablet out and was making some notes. Nimbus nodded, "I do. I can only carry around 150 kg. Any more than that, and my wings are not strong enough to take me off the ground. I still am able to glide while carrying more, but I am not sure how much exactly." "Holy crap. I have a flying mount now. That''s awesome," Hera smiled. "I''m glad to be of service," Nimbus smiled and gave the Empress a small bow, but he also looked at Daskka and snickered. "I could make mum fly too if she weren''t so heavy," Daskka mumbled and got a playful pinch from Hera as a response. "I remember Daskka telling me that you can also grow with me, right? How does that work?" Hera asked. "Yes. Unlike your other blades, I will always benefit from your current attributes. Not just the ones that you had the moment you gave me my title. When you level up, I will also receive a number of attribute points relative to the ones that you have received. So I can increase my own attributes." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Wait. You can level up too? Does that mean you can increase the scaling of your weapon?" Alex asked. "I can, and if the Empress wishes, she can also wield me and receive those benefits. Those benefits also are applied to me, of course," Nimbus explained. "Wait, so you have your own scaling separated from the tonfas?" Hera asked. "I think it''s better if I chime in here. It''s easier for you to understand if you open his status window. You, and only you, can use Inspect or open it through your status screen," Daskka didn''t leave Hera''s lap while explaining. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sentinel Nimbus - Protection Bladed Tonfa - Griffon Strength: 102 Endurance: 142 Agility: 102 Charisma: 38 Intelligence: 38 Luck: 38 Mana: 9 000/9 000 Weapon Scaling Endurance x 14.2[0.3(13) + 3.8] Strength x 10.2[6.4(8) + 3.8] Agility x 10.2 [6.4(8) + 3.8] Charisma x 3.8 Intelligence 3.8 Luck 3.8 Passive Skill: Defender Fire and Ice Cold Burn Active Skill: Griffon''s call Frozen Ash Griffon Form ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frozen Ash (Rank 1) Creates an aura around you made out of frozen ash. This aura will reduce the power of incoming attacks. The reduction increases if the attack is imbued with fire or ice. Additionally, it creates a layer of protective sediment that can absorb some of the damage that would be dealt from the attacks. The more mana is used to maintain the aura, the stronger the protective layer will be. Base reduction: 20% Fire or Ice reduction: + 30% Base mana cost: 750 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Griffon form (Rank 1) You are able to turn into the form of a griffon. While in this form, you can move at high speeds, glide through the air, and fly. You also have increased strength. However, you are unable to use any other skills or weapons, and you are unable to speak when in this form. After moving for a long time at high speed without stopping, this form is destroyed. If the form is destroyed, you are unable to return to this form for the next 48 hours. Griffon form speed: 60 km/h Griffon form max carry weight: 300 kg. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Whoa. What do you mean you have mana? I thought you would share mine, and why do you have attributes? Not scaling, actual attributes?" Hera gasped. "When you gave me the title, the natural mana that was used to fuel the skills of the items came to me. Unfortunately, you are no longer able to give me mana to cast my skills, but if needed, I can give you my mana, as little as it is, to assist with any endeavors. You''re also free to cast spells through me. Or even use my own mana to make me cast those spells. But as following the hierarchy, a titled court member may never receive the mana from the Empress. For the attributes, they mean what my strength is in this form, while the scaling is the capabilities of the weapon, since I''m still able to assume that form," Nimbus continued explaining. "Attributes? Really? How high are they?" Alex asked. "Pretty damn high, actually. He has three attributes above 100," realizing that Nimbus might not want to share that kind of thing, Hera turned to the Sentinel, "I''m sorry. I should''ve asked if you were ok with me telling that first." "Please, my Empress. You are free to share what you see fit about me. I have nothing to hide from those you find dear." "That''s really high. I only have one attribute above 100 for now," Alex slumped back in her seat. Hera smiled and looked at her friends. They all seemed to be processing what was going on, and Bonnie turned to Nimbus, "Can I ask you a question, Nimbus? I''m Bonnie, by the way." "Of course. I am well aware of who you all are, although a formal introduction is in order. I am Nimbus, the one who carries the title of Sentinel," Nimbus gave Bonnie a small bow. "Wow, you are polite. Nice to meet you," Bonnie seemed a bit flustered with his response, "Anyway. You have mana, so can you cast spells on your own? Ones that Hera can''t cast?" Nimbus shook his head, "I am unable to cast spells. Or, at least, what you consider spells. Instead, some of my skills will require mana to be cast. When I learn a new skill, it may come with a mana cost attached to it, and if I were to learn a spell, it would come in the form of a skill instead." "And then you can teach that skill to me?" Hera asked. "I can try to teach you, but I''m not sure if you would be able to learn it as a skill." "At least that''s something. This was already getting stupid," Helena had her arms crossed and a worried expression on her face. "What''s the matter?" Blue asked. "You guys in your legacies. I mean, yours is not that bad, Blue, but Hera literally created a person. And his stats are pretty good, apparently. I only have three attributes above 100 because I spent years doing research instead of leveling up, which gave me ridiculous amounts of bonus points. I know those things are supposed to make you very strong, but this is getting ridiculous," Helena sighed. "But I can''t make people, can I?" Blue looked to the side, talking to her herald, "Avatar? Like a giant mech-suit?... Ok, fine, a storm-suit? Oh, that sounds like fun," Blue opened a large smile, but her face quickly became serious, "So you''re telling me to lean more into the storm aspect?¡­ That''s what I''m doing? Ok. I''ll keep that in mind." "Anyway, you have another problem," Helena turned back to Hera, " I don''t think you paid much attention to what was going on the last few months. I know you''ve been going through some stuff, and we''re here for you, but things are not exactly going well. The guild is cracking down on travel and is looking for other types of people. Like other races, I mean." "Oh yeah. Shane mentioned something about being questioned about the Naga," Hera remembered a text she received about a month ago, but it didn''t seem all that bad. "Exactly. So if a bird person suddenly appears and starts talking to people, everyone is going to freak out. People might even assume they are with the centaurs, and even if you go to the guild and tell them it''s a legacy, everyone else will be wary of them. So, I would advise against letting him walk around like that when it''s not just us." "Will do. How much mana do I spend to summon you?" Hera turned to Nimbus. "You? None, but I spend all my mana to come out, and if you dismiss me when I''m not full on mana, it takes around one hour for you to be able to summon me again," Nimbus explained before Hera turned back to the group. "And are things really that bad?" Hera scratched her head, getting a nod as a reply, "Ok, can you tell me what is going on? I realized some stuff during this last dungeon, and I''m going to try to slow down for a bit." "What happened?" Alex asked. "Basically, I got the living shit beaten out of me, almost died in an ambush, and realized that I wasn''t just trying to be ok with what happened, but to be ok with that happening again," Hera explained. "Is that why you have two black eyes? You look like a panda," Blue said. "Blue!" Bonnie poked her with her elbow. "What? I''m not wrong," Blue scoffed. "Ok, ok. We should talk. Do you want to order food now or later?" Hera chuckled, realizing that she truly missed her friends. 486 - Reunion During dinner, Hera did her best to catch up with her friends, but she started with what was going on with the MAZE since it was the subject at hand. During the past couple of months, the guild started investing heavily in security. There were checkpoints at entrances of any rooms that were already susceptible to a rampage. To make things worse, some of the human guards we''re discriminating against other races. There were people who believed that the centaurs were linked to the terrorists and treated all the other races poorly because of it. As a result of that, a few of the most extremist groups amongst dwarves, elves, and beastmen were starting to side with the terrorist or the centaurs. Someone leaked a video of the attack on Dzviery, and the centaur''s voice was edited into it. It was the heaviest line that she said during the combat, ''You will bleed to atone for your sins.'' Everyone was interpreting this differently. Some said this was referring to the collective you, meaning everyone who lived in the maze, while others said the scream was directed at humans since the attack was on a city with no history with the other races. Humans built and developed Dzviery with almost no influence of any other race, and that should be considered as part of the centaur''s reason. Another theory was that the centaur was just a monster and not part of an actual race, but that raised the question of where the line was drawn. What should people consider a monster and a race? Was it the ability to talk, or was there some other requirement? And if not, shouldn''t the dwarves, elves, beastmen, triton, and children of the sky be also considered monsters? Humans were the only race that could exit the MAZE. Maybe everything else was just that. Monsters. No one in the party liked that notion. In fact, they were even on the side of anyone who could talk to them and have empathy was a person. It didn''t matter if they had 2, 4, 8, or 100 legs. Then again, what the centaur did was unforgivable, and Hera agreed that if they all thought like that, trying to solve the situation could end in something much worse. She didn''t like to say those things, but if she knew someone was trying to commit genocide, the world might have been better without them. The next topic ended up going back to Nimbus. There were a couple more questions about how the titled blade worked. He was still out and about, and they bombarded him with questions. It became clear that if he used the weapons, he would also benefit from the scaling. Also, he could only be affected by Herra''s passive skills. He couldn''t use things like her sneak attack even with the [Army of One] skill. His mana regeneration, and mana in general, was also a topic for conversation. Nimbus explained that he would benefit from the [Shaper of Mana], [Reinforced Mana], and [Mana Recovery] skills, but those things would be based on his own mana, not Hera''s. For instance, Hera could recover 83 points of mana per second when she was concentrating. But Nimbus could only recover 16 points per second. This meant that if they started from 0, both would recover their entire mana pools at the same time. There were a few other minor issues. The blade couldn''t receive any role skill or skills that Hera received from the system directly like her [All in] or her [Naga Poison]. When they reached the topic of engravings, Daskka explained that, yes, Hera could make an engraving on the weapon, but it would be something permanent. So it was better to wait until she was more proficient with those kinds of things. Hera also confirmed that Nimbus could go from his weapon shape directly to his griffon shape or to being unsummoned. This would help a lot when they traveled in areas where he couldn''t have his humanoid shape. As a final note, Daskka explained that if Hera wanted to be able to give mana to her titled blades, she would require a skill, but that would only be possible in the future. She was still ''paying'' for her loan when she got the [Army of One] skill. They also confirmed that if Nimbus were to eat something, it would slightly increase his mana regeneration and that he had to be in a certain radius of the Empress. For now, they weren''t able to test the limits of that since even with Hera being in the opposite corner of the house, the Sentinel would still be inside the required range. With that out of the way, Hera started asking about what her friends had been doing during the past months. She ended up too concerned with herself to know what was happening in their lives and it was time to change that. Helena and Bonnie ended up finishing the elemental mote spell to the point where it was good enough to be sold. That was also true for the elemental sight spell. First, Helena wanted to sell a single version that would allow anyone to swap the elements as they wanted, but after some insistence from Bonnie, they changed strategies. Despite everything, the researcher saw this spell as a huge business opportunity, and if she could manage to sell enough, she might be able to give a good life to her mother again. In the end, they compromised in selling a few variations for various spells and letting people request specific elements so they could create them and send them their way. However, the spell itself wasn''t all that complex. Anyone who had a decent understanding of how a spell actually worked would be able to reverse engineer it and change the mote to another element. Funny enough, that ended up being a blessing in disguise. The people who realized that the spell was this open were happy to buy one or two extra copies as a gesture of appreciation. They would even be able to reach out to offer a version of the elemental mote with an element that they had yet to publish. These kinds of things were already happening with a few test cases, and having people offering their services like that caused some problems for the duo, but eventually, they agreed to a solution. When people did that, they would analyze the spell to ensure there weren''t any issues and then offer either to pay for their work or a percentage of profit for a few months. Some who created motes of rarer or more sought-after elements would go for the percentage, while those making more niche spells would gladly take the commission payment. Because of that setup, it would be harder for people to sell ''off brand'' copies of that spell. Every time someone registers a new spell on the guild, a patent will be attached to it. Since Bonnie was thorough in her registration, their patent was for the elemental mode spell itself, not each individual version. They even created a company to control all that. It was called ''Coven of Witches'', and they had ideas of continuing to develop new spells and more in the future. Depending on how much they earned, they might even start an actual research center and hire people to work for them, even if the two were the type who wanted to make all their discoveries themselves. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. On the other hand, Alex and Blue mainly were on vacation. They would work out in the guild and do some dungeons every now and then, but most of their time was spent just having fun. Even if the room was surrounded by several volcanoes, there were a lot of clubs and entertainment options for those who stayed there. That happened because of the intense work that people did in the room. It didn''t take long for those responsible for the city to realize that staying in a place where you were constantly pushing the limits of your mental capacity made people go a bit crazy. The solution was to create as many options to relax and have fun as possible. From gaming arcades to fighting arenas, theaters and interactive museums, spas, and even an indoor water park that took advantage of one of the thermal waters located here. They also discussed how they intended to go back to Boothudurn early next week, and Adriel was the one who would help them to carry everything. Hera wasn''t sure how a single elf would be able to help with all the equipment, but Helena explained how he was part of a group that took care of large deliveries and would be able to help with all that. The explorer knew that Helena was inside the MAZE for much longer, and she understood better than anyone what was needed to carry her equipment. In the end, dinner was just like that, everyone talking about what was new. Hera felt like she was reminiscing with an old school friend. Not that she had any to compare. Nimbus also participated in the meal, even if he only ate a little to show that he indeed could eat if necessary. Since he was part of Hera''s court and would be around in dungeons, everyone wanted to get to know him more, so they felt more at ease with the idea of him having their backs. Despite the Empress being able to trust him completely, that wasn''t the same for the rest of the party. They could understand that he was part of Hera''s legacy, But trusting him enough to put their lives in his hand was different. It would take a while before everyone was comfortable with the presence of the Sentinel, and they all wanted to get to that point sooner rather than later. For the next few days, Hera did her best to rest and distract herself with TV shows, books, and anything she could think of. After spending so much time running dungeons constantly, she realized that when she wasn''t training or moving her body, she got very restless. Blue and Alex decided to stay with her so they could do a movie marathon. Bonnie and Helena had to finish up some paperwork for their new company so they could sell the spells as the ''Coven of Witches'', not as individuals. Nimbus also stayed out for most of the day. It was fun to have another opinion about the movies, and Hera even called the rest of her court for the movie session, even if they were sitting at the table instead of sharing the couch. About halfway through the day, Hera started to get a bit bored and decided to try to increase her mana regeneration. Doing so would even help Nimbus, which was exactly what she wanted. She did that while they were watching an old movie about an ogre who became a prince, and she already knew the story very well. Trying not to attract attention to herself, Hera started to focus on the mana inside her body. Slowly, she started to move the mana, making circles in her entire body. Yet, she noticed something different. For one, she could feel Nimbus sitting on the ground. The Sentinel said he was more comfortable on a hard floor than on the couch''s cushion. It seemed like his wings were the problem since they wouldn''t sink with the rest of his body. But the way Hera was feeling him was different. It was close to how she could feel a mana stone. A place that had mana that she could access. ''Nimbus. Can you hear me? Don''t move. I want to try something with your mana. Is that ok?'' she tried to talk with him directly in his mind. Usually, doing that requires an enormous amount of concentration. That''s why she never did things like that in the middle of a dungeon. When she had to give some sneaky commands to anyone, she would tell Daskka, and then she would tell the others since it was easier for them to communicate. ''Of course, Empress. I''ll send it to you right away,'' Nimbus replied without moving. ''No. I can kind of feel your mana. I want to check if I''m able to take it. Please let me know if you are feeling anything,'' Hera got a small nod in response and tried to pull mana from the Sentinel. It didn''t take much, and the mana started to flow at a steady pace. ''I feel my mana leave me, which is an odd sensation. Not pleasant, but it doesn''t hurt.'' ''Ok, I still can feel your mana. I want to try to give it back to you,'' Hera tried to push the mana back to her court member, but that didn''t work. Instead, the mana escaped her and flew to the blades that were on the table, even pulling some of her own mana towards them. That redirection caused Core, who was the blade with the most costly skill, to trigger the Volcanic Ash. A large cloud of ash quickly covered the living room, causing everyone to panic. Hera helped everyone calm down, and she deactivated the skill making the black particles vanish, and luckily, nothing got dirty with what she just did. "What the hell was that? Can your blades just spontaneously use skills?" Blue gasped. "No, no. It wasn''t that. I was¡­ I was trying something with mana, and I kind of lost control of it," Hera scratched the back of her head. "So you were not paying attention to the movie?" Alex sat back down on the couch. "Sorry. I like that one, but I''ve already watched it so many times," Hera explained. "That''s fine. But that means Blue lost, and you are not going to like that," Alex took a sip of her drink. "Lost? Lost what?" "We betted if you would actually rest during this week or not. Each day was a different prize. Today''s for me to pick what we watch," Alex gave a sadistic smile. "Oh no. Please. I can''t be making sudden movements," Hera understood what she meant. "Well, you better be brave then. We are going on a journey through the best horror has to offer," Alex changed the movie in a quick motion as if she was already waiting for it to happen. 487 - Moving Day Monday finally arrived, and it was time for them to return to Boothudurn. Adriel had confirmed that he could carry everything but that they would need to assist him while protecting the cargo. Hera wasn''t sure what that meant until the day of the move came. The reason for that was simple. In order to carry all the boxes, Adriel would use a set of three drones that would follow him by using an app on his tablet. The drones were modified by him, and they had a few enchantments to help the machines'' carrying capacity and resilience. Unfortunately, doing all that also took a toll on their speed, meaning they were far from being able to run from a monster. That fact was doubled when they were close to the weight or size limit since those details would increase the tax on the enchantments that would help keep everything in place. Everyone met in Helena''s lab, which was now just a place filled with empty shelves, desks, and the giant mana crystal. The mage was walking around, touching the tables and different spots of the lab, with a sad expression on her face. "Are you ok?" Hera got closer to the mage. "Oh, yeah. I''m fine. It''s just¡­ I used this place for a very long time. Leaving it for good feels a bit sad," Helena smiled, the light from the windows shining against her ebony skin, revealing a small trail of tears that had yet to completely dry. "Do you want to forget all this? Can we tell whoever is managing this place that you''re going to stay?" Blue suggested. "No, no. It''s a good idea for me to leave here. The reason why I got this lab was that I needed that giant mana stone, and I wanted to make something to change the fire mana in this place to water. This was all to make the elemental mote spell that someone beat me to," Helena gave Bonnie a side eye glance but chuckled when the researcher started apologizing, "You don''t have to say sorry. I knew that this was a possibility when I talked to you guys about it, and this is how spell research works. People might just have better ideas or get there faster than you would. Anyhow, this is just the end of a chapter in my life. I''m just taking it in." Everyone understood what she was saying and gave her a moment to say her goodbyes. During that time, Adriel arrived, and Bonnie just asked him to start setting up for what he needed. There was just one problem. In total, the lab with all the books, notes, and equipment ended up turning into 54 boxes. Each of them was at least 60 cm wide, 100 cm tall, and 80 cm deep, weighing from 14kg to 150kg. The heaviest boxes, oddly enough, were the ones that contained equipment instead of books. In total, everything weighed just a bit over a ton. The problem wasn''t the total weight but that for the drones to carry everything, they had to spend the entire charge of the enchantment, and doing so inside wouldn''t allow them to pass through the door. One of the spells in the machines would create a container underneath it to allow for the items to be placed inside and then to carry it along, but that had to be tweaked before every use. And every time a change in the angles of the projection had to be made, the drone would lose the ability to use that enchantment again until the next day. So, for starters, they would have to carry or push all the boxes to the hallway. While Helena was still walking around, everyone started carrying the boxes outside. Adriel stayed in the corridor to set everything up on the platforms and spread it among his three drones. "And you''re the one who made them?" Hera asked. Once upon a time, she looked at drones to carry her loot, but they ended up being too expensive for her. She even asked Daskka if she could get one in her court, but drones were complicated machines, and the legacy wouldn''t be able to recognize them all as a single entity. Even if they had daggers or blades attached to them, she could only take those pieces and not the entire drone. "Sort of. I bought the drones, but then I made some modifications to fit what I wanted to do. You know some big companies are dealing with this kind of delivery service for large things. But if people want to move from one room to another, it''s surprisingly complicated to find someone who will do this kind of thing. That''s why most people just sell everything and buy new things when they move. So, I wanted my piece of the pie. I figured this could be a feasible way to make some money and so I invested in the drones, then enchanted them, and now business is booming," Adriel had yet to start the skills. He was doing one last round of checkups since when the drones were active, they would stay that way for a long time. "I see... and are you a crafter? I don''t remember if you told us," Hera asked. She was curious about how someone was able to upgrade drones like that. The elf made it sound so easy. "Not quite. I''m an explorer, and I have the crafter role. I got to say, the blueprint skill that I got from the role was essential to make this all work," Adriel nodded. "Really? I was thinking about getting that role next. I''ve been doing some engravings on my weapons, and I wanted to push that forward. Not to mention that maybe the system considers making spell circles as part of the role or something," Hera replied as she put another of the heaviest boxes on the ground. Along with Blue, she was one of the two strongest members of the group, and that''s why they were in charge of those. Since this place was made with laboratories in mind, the hallways were very wide, and they even had a cargo elevator for exactly this type of thing. Eventually, Helena finished saying her goodbyes to the lab, and they managed to gather all the boxes for the drones to lift them up. A green-ish energy came from the machines, almost like a tractor beam from a sci-fi movie. It was just barely enough to lift everything from the ground and create the transparent green platform under all the baggage. The drone motors started to move faster, making some noise as the tractor beam stopped and let the boxes rest on the newly created ground. Next, Adriel tapped a few buttons on his tablet, and another beam of light came out of the drones. Instead of creating another beam or another platform, this energy spread and became a net covering all the boxes and latched itself on the green layer underneath them. This was a way to ensure the baggage wouldn''t shift and would keep steady even when moving. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Ok, I''m all set. Just a small heads up. Ideally, we will be keeping a steady pace, but if things go wrong and we get attacked by a monster or something, I can push the engines on max for a little while. But that might mean that we need to stop to recharge earlier than expected, and that might take a few hours," Adriel explained as they moved to the cargo elevators. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Bonnie asked. "I don''t think so. If we had horses or something like that, we could kind of make a wagon situation. Then the horse focuses on the movement while the drones just keep everything afloat." "Really? How much strength would the horse need to do that?" Hera asked. "Well, it depends on the horse. As a rule of thumb, it''s like between 1 and 2 times their body weight. Since the drones would act like they were wheels but with a bit less drag." "So if I have a mount that can carry, let''s say, 300 kg, would it be able to drag this along?" "It depends on what you mean by carrying. If it''s like carrying 300 kg on their back, then yeah, absolutely. Usually, mounts, in general, can carry about 20% of their weight on their backs. While, like I said, they can pull things even heavier than they are with the proper setup. Can you summon it now so we can check?" Adriel pressed the button on the elevator. "I think it''s better if we do this outside the city. It''s a bit big, and I don''t want people freaking out. Not to mention that once I summon it, I can''t re-summon it right away. I have to keep the cooldown in mind," Hera already came up with this kind of excuse to make Nimbus a bit more believable as an item. If it was something that you could summon and send her away willy-nilly, it would be a bit suspicious. She even bought a whistle that was somewhat similar to the one she had before to pretend it was just an item evolution that she got as a hidden reward in the MAZE. "Ah, that''s fair. We''ll wait till we are out of town," Adriel nodded. Hera glanced back and got a few positive nods from the rest of the group. They had discussed at length what she could do to hide her legacy, and this was one of their best ideas about it. When they reached outside, they moved through the city without much of an issue. Hera even saw Gorth moving towards the dungeon and waved him goodbye. She had thanked him with a beer and a few potions since the ones he gave her ended up saving her life. As soon as the group arrived outside the city, Hera blew on the decoy whistle and told Nimbus to come out in his griffon shape. Little by little, the whistle produced some gray smoke, and the griffon began to take shape. His feathers were mostly white with small notes of green around the edges, and the claws were pitch black against gray feet. Oddly enough, Nimbus still wore his sash even in this form. He was also considerably bigger than before. Previously, the mount was about the size of a donkey, but now it towered over everyone else like a moose. "That is a beautiful mount! What is their name?" Adriel gasped when he saw the construct. "Nimbus, he is amazing!" Hera felt proud seeing the Sentinel like this. "He truly is. Where did you get it?" "It was a big mess of a combo. In Boothudurn, there are two dungeons. The first one is called Woolly Plains, and that''s where I got the first version of him. It was a much more basic mount, but then as a first-time reward for the dungeon hard mode, I managed to give him an upgrade. Then I went to another dungeon called Sky Rulers Nest and got yet another upgrade. Then, by accident, I ended up completing a hidden quest in a room called Waperath Jungle, and one of the possible rewards was an upgrade to an animal-based item, and I chose him," Hera replied with her rehearsed answer. "Wow, that''s a lot. But it makes sense, especially if he can carry 300kg. Constructs that can do that are hard to find. Usually, people would tame monsters for this kind of job. Can I put the harness on him?" Adriel had his tablet open again, waiting for the confirmation. "Just a moment," Hera turned to Nimbus and whispered, "Are you ok with that? If you are not, we can stop this." ''I am, Empress. I wish to help you, and staying in this form is more comfortable than you might think,'' Nimbus replied in her mind to avoid showing he could talk. "Ok. If it hurts, let me know, and we''ll stop, ok?" Nimbus just nodded in response. "You are surprisingly careful with him," Adriel had an amused expression. "I know. He started off as a cloud griffon, and even small gusts of wind could make it lose its shape. I guess I''m just being overzealous. But he''s all ready to go," Hera nodded. "Right, just step back so the straps won''t mix you up," Adriel tapped his tablet, and from the front drone, a series of green lines appeared and wrapped around Nimbus. After a few moments, they tightened, and the elf gave a satisfied nod, "All set. Is he ok?" Hera looked towards Nimbus, ''I am. This is not an issue, and I think you can even ride me if you so wish.'' "Later," Hera whispered before turning to Adriel, "We are ready." "Ok then. Tell him to start pulling." Nimbus started moving slowly at first, but it didn''t take long for him to pick up the pace a bit. When they were just walking around the city, everyone had to walk slowly for the drones to keep up. If they were going at that speed the entire trip, it should take them about 4 hours to reach the doorway. But with Nimbus, they could cut that time to just 2 hours. Blue kept staring at the griffon with a confused expression as they started walking. Hera noticed that and turned to her friend, "Is everything ok?" "Yeah... I''m just thinking. Since he''s so life-like now¡­ does he have a dick?" Blue asked. "Blue!" Hera gasped while Alex just started laughing. "If a construct has a dick, I don''t even want to know what he uses it for," Adriel laughed along. "Don''t ask those things," Hera huffed, feeling that she was stepping into something very personal. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her, but she asked him in his mind, refusing to say those words out loud, ''Hey, Nimbus¡­ You don''t have to answer if you don''t want to, but¡­.'' ''I do not have genitals, Empress. Nor a digestive tract so you won''t have to worry about feces.'' Hera''s reaction might have been a bit too bashful for the explorer, and Blue started teasing her about it. Bonnie and Alex also joined in the fun while Helena just walked as if she was taking a stroll. Adriel looked around, realizing that this trip wasn''t going to just be good money, but it would also be very fun. 488 - Fatherly advice Reaching Boothudurn ended up being much easier than anyone expected. There was no monster attack in the Charring Wastes, and when reaching the Sand Beach, they stayed for a day to rest and prepare for the next leg of the journey. Since Adriel was with them, they would keep with the 3 crossing limit. But, since the Ocean Trail didn''t have many hotels and no one wanted to stay in Dzviery after the attack, moving a single room was the best option. In the end, they stopped in the Kobold Road and stayed in one of the hotels there before returning to the city under the mountain. During the two days they traveled, Alex did her best to shoot her shot, and things seemed to be progressing in the right direction, despite the age difference. Adriel was 70 years old, but for an elf, that was still considered young. Thanks to their time gathering everything, the dwarves had already prepared a new laboratory to Helena''s specifications. Not just that, but Ogryn joined forces with some of the architects in the city to make something new for the kingdom. He built a new set of laboratories on the outside of the mountain. It was still close to the entrance, but the place would be etched into the stone of the cold peak. His idea was to allow some forges to use a more extreme heat and not let the workshop be unbearable to those working there. There was a way to go from the city to this new kingdom area. One would have to take the tunnel that stopped by the Weeding Disaster dungeon and keep going through a new path that was created. As a defense mechanism against rampages, that new area was also kited with some blast shields that would cover all the entrances and a few enchantments that would repel and damage any monsters that might try to break through. Everyone felt very confident about that since even Naka had trouble going through one of those shields. She was able to, of course, but it would take her several attacks or one of her most powerful skills to create an opening on those defenses. While Helena and Bonnie set everything up, Ogryn pulled Hera to the side, "Say. Hera, are you free this evening? Rutigan and I are having a¡­ dinner, and I would like to invite you to it." "Oh, sure. I''ll check with Blue, too," Hera said with a smile. It''s been a long time since she talked with the King. "Ah, sorry. We only have space for one more person. It''s a bit of a personal situation for the King, and it will be just us. So I would appreciate it if you didn''t invite Blue. You know we adore her, but this is a more¡­ solemn occasion, and I don''t think our friend is able to go along with the mood," Ogryn asked while making sure that no one else could hear him. "Oh¡­ Ok. I mean, I can go, I guess. Is everyone ok?" from the way Ogryn was talking, Hera felt like someone had died. "Everything is fine. You don''t have to worry. I''ll explain everything to you tonight. Come to my house at 6, so we can go together," Ogryn grabbed Hera''s hands as a thank you and walked along to assist with the new laboratory. ''He seems weird, right?'' Hera asked her court. Right now, she had Nimbus on her waist, in his tonfa form, Armory and Scythe as her accessories, and Daskka on her neck as usual. ''I think I''m the only one here who already knew him, and yeah. That secrecy was a bit odd,'' Daskka nodded. ''Even I can tell something is going on,'' Armory added. ''He looks nervous. His eyes kept darting around while he spoke,'' Scythe pointed out. ''That being said. I don''t think he has any bad intentions. I felt no aggression coming from him,'' Nimbus spoke. ''I guess we will figure out later,'' Hera sighed and looked back to Helena, "What else do you need me to do?" "Did you bring in all the heavy boxes?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah. Should I start putting the books on the shelves?" "It''s better if you don''t. We need to keep them organized," Helena was setting up some of the equipment that had to be attached to walls and to the floor. "I worked in a bookstore for two years. I know how to organize books," Hera scoffed. She was the only one who was helping them set up. After Adriel dropped the crates everyone split off to do their own things leaving Bonnie and Helena on their own. "I know, but it''s one thing to organize them for selling, another when you do it to work with. The organization is different. We don''t put things together because of a title or an author," Helena continued to tighten the screws in place. "Ok¡­ should I put this equipment on the table then?" Hera opened up a crate. "No! We need to finish setting up another three pieces of equipment before that one. We need to make them work together, and they have to be properly aligned," Bonni quickly stopped Hera before she could take any of the items from inside the crate. "Tell you what. How about I get out of your hair? That way, you can do whatever you want, and I won''t be in the way?" Hera raised her hands and started going to the exit. "Hera! We didn''t want to be mean. There are just a lot of things here that need to be set up in a specific way," Helena finally stopped working to look at the explorer. "I know. Don''t worry. I''m not mad or anything. I just think I''ll be on the way if I stay. Am I wrong?" Hera looked back but saw how none of her two friends could deny her statement, "Don''t worry. Do your thing, and we''ll talk later." Hera left the new laboratory and walked through the newly created area of the city. She had to admit that the place was amazing. It was a 10 stories tall building created on the side of the mountain. There were many windows that would all show the view of the snowy peaks that surrounded Boothudurn. It was an incredible sight, even if they were outside the room itself. The entrance to this place was on the 5th floor. From there, going up would allow you to go to the forges, having the hottest one on the top floor. If one wanted to head to the laboratories, be it alchemical or for magic, they would have to go down. On the bottom floor were the largest ones, and they would be smaller in scale until the 4th floor. On the 5th floor, one would only find a few storage areas, a cafeteria, some meeting rooms, classes, and a large auditorium. When Rutigan found out about the new laboratory that Helena asked for, he decided to create something close to a university so the dwarves could increase their technology and knowledge. He also hired some consultants from the guild to help modernize everything, but in Hera''s opinion, they might have gone a bit overboard. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. As fun as having smart houses sounded, the moment a water cooler would say the water temperature, and how much she drank out loud, it felt like a line had been crossed. Not to mention the entire look of the building. Everything here had that rustic ''made in stone'' feel to it. The laboratories looked like they were carved out of the mountain and not built, which was true for the forges too. However, the 5th floor was very different. Everything there was made out of stainless steel, or at least painted to look like it. There were sharp angles and odd shapes everywhere. Glass windows that would almost let anyone see the entire floor, but they could also be changed to become opaque or tinted black. There was even a cleaning robot moving around. In a word, this felt unnecessary, but it reeked of Rutigan. She was sure the King saw this design and accepted it immediately without talking with anyone else. Luckily for Ogryn, Rutigan wouldn''t agree with the rest of the building before talking with the people who were actually going to use it, and that was their saving grace. Even with the clash of aesthetics that would happen when someone moved from the main floor to the rest, the place was still incredible, and many people were itching to move their workshops here. Rutigan decided to first allow the people of his kingdom who wanted a new place to work to lease the rooms inside the new area. Helena was an exception for two reasons. First, she was the reason why they decided to create a place like this. Second, she was Hera''s friend and savior. Despite all the talk about how Boothudurn was a place for everyone and equal opportunity, Rutigan would show some favoritism to his people like any king would. Hera thought about going back to their place, but she decided to stop by her dad''s house first. If she went home, the only person there was going to be Blue, and she was sulking a bit after the trip. The problem was Alex and Adriel. It''s been a long time since Blue had something more than just a fling. But to start, she would need to find someone she actually liked, and ever since Quinn, she didn''t find anyone like that. Hera wanted to help her friend, but Blue complained almost the entire time during the trip, and Hera wanted a small break. Not to mention she also wanted to introduce Nimbus to her dad. The griffon would be part of her life now, and it felt only fair to introduce him to her family. She only hoped that Bonnie''s mom wasn''t going to be around. A few moments passed after Hera knocked on the door before Eridan opened it, "Hello? Hera!" he jumped into a hug, "How are you, Goldilocks? I missed you." "I missed you too, grumpy bear," Hera smiled. She still felt so happy to be able to meet her father like this. "Come, come, let''s head inside," Eridan gestured for Hera to come in, "Have you eaten? Do you want anything to drink?" "I haven''t, but I''m not hungry now. I would take water or a soda if you have," Hera replied. "Of course, of course. I''m so glad that you are back. I know you''re going through some things, and I wish I knew how to help you. But let me know what''s going on with you. You barely answered my texts these past few months, and I was worried," Eridan grabbed a couple of drinks and returned to the living room. "I know. I wasn''t really sure what I was doing. Then I guess I just didn''t want to talk to anyone about it," Hera smiled and took her glass. "Do you still not want to talk about it? I heard that support groups or maybe a psychologist could help a lot." "I know. Everybody''s telling me that. And they''re probably right. I really messed up what I was doing," Hera sighed. "Are you okay? What happened?" "I''m fine¡­. No, I''m not, but I''m improving. I don''t think I even explained what I was doing to you," Hera looked into her father''s eyes. "No, you didn''t. You just said there was a dungeon that could help." "Okay. So, the dungeon I wanted to go to was a war zone. A place where I could kill people inside a dungeon but not real people, just constructs. You know how some dungeons have those, like the Weeding Disaster." "I do. I still find it very weird, but I understand what you''re saying. I still don''t get how that would help you." "Well, that idea was that if I killed enough dungeon people, I wouldn''t feel so bad about having killed someone in Dzviery. I thought I was working it out, but after three months, I realized that instead of helping me cope with what I did, I was training myself to¡­." Hera tilted her head, feeling guilty about the last part. "To become a killer?" Eridan replied, and Hera stared at him with a surprised expression, "C''mon, Goldilocks. That''s not so hard to figure out. You don''t feel bad because you think killing is wrong. You feel guilty because you took a life, even if it was self-defense. The answer here wasn''t going to be to kill more people until you think killing is okay because, again, that''s not the issue." "Then what is the issue?" "That I don''t know, sweetheart. That''s why I told you to seek a professional. They might be able to help you understand the problem. Tell me, honestly, do you think it is wrong to kill someone if they''re trying to kill you?" Hera shook her head, "When you were attacked, did you fight back with the intention to kill him?" Hera shook her head again, "So it was an accident. If you did the best you could and followed your personal code, why are you beating yourself up so much about it?" "I¡­ I don''t know." "That''s why you might need help. I don''t know either," Eridan held Hera''s hand, "Whatever is the case. I''m here for you. Always." "Thanks, dad. If I had talked to you, I might have struggled less during these months," Hera smiled. She was feeling better. Not because she had a breakthrough or anything like that, but just talking with someone really helped. But this trip wasn''t all bad news, "So, dad. I want you to meet someone. Is there a place we can go to talk in private? I don''t know if Renette is around, but it''s not something I want to share with her." "Come to my workshop," Eridan got up with a grunt and guided Hera to the back of the house, where there was a thick set of walls, before reaching an area filled with woodworking tools. From modern things like power saws and grinders to the more basic chisel and hammer, "Renette knows not to enter here without talking to me first since some of the equipment here can be dangerous. I think you will want to do your sound bubble thing," Eridan replied, thinking that it was something to do with her Legacy. He knew Hera had the court, and he was extremely proud of his daughter because of it. Hera nodded and created a soundproof bubble around them before starting to explain what were the titled blades. After that, she summoned Nimbus and let him and her dad talk. Both men wanted to protect Hera with all their hearts, and that devotion made them get along really well. Nimbus even showed some interest in woodworking which only made Eridan more excited. After a few hours, she realized it was time to meet Ogryn. She said her goodbyes and rushed home for a quick shower and a change of clothes. Soon she was in front of the councilor''s house. "I''m glad you made it, Hera. Please come in," Ogryn said with a smile. There was no one around, but the mage didn''t say anything. He just gestured to Hera to follow him and keep quiet. The explorer found that odd but obeyed the old mage. He guided them to the basement and then to a hidden set of stairs reaching an empty room, "Please, stay in the middle of the room with me and grab my shoulder. Do not let go under any circumstance." Hera did as she was told, but she was already worried, "Ogryn, what is going on?" "We are having a meeting, and no one must know about it. I will be teleporting us there now." "You can teleport people? Since when?" "Since today," Ogryn said with a smile as he tapped his cane on the ground, revealing several runes around the walls that started to glow brighter and brighter. When the light vanished, the room was empty, and there was no sign of Hera or the mage. 489 - Secret Meeting Hera closed her eyes as the runes lit up; when she opened them again, they were in a completely different place. Instead Of being in a small room where she barely could stand up, they were now on top of a circular platform inside a massive hall. There were about 8 doors leading to different rooms, but this central area had nothing besides the circular podium. As Hera looked around, she could see more runes on the floor, probably part of the teleportation spell. As far as she was aware, things like that were extremely mana hungry and would require very precise spell circles and casting for the teleportation to work properly. Having a place like this made things a little easier since they could anchor the locations to each other. However, even this would be, at most, a safety measure. It wouldn''t change how much mana you needed to cast a spell nor how difficult it was to make it work. After processing all that quickly, Hera felt her stomach turning. She heard about how teleportation could make you feel sick, but she never expected that it would make her feel like someone was playing hacky sack with her organs. For a moment, she even got worried that everything was in the wrong place. But after a quick check, her heart, lungs, and stomach seem to be where they should be. There wasn''t a way for her to check the rest of the organs, but if the big ones were there, the rest should be there too. "Ogryn, what the hell is going on? You teleported us somewhere, and I really don''t think this is just about¡­ dinner," Hera had to stop herself from speaking anymore since her stomach was struggling to keep the drinks she had at her dad''s down. "You''re not wrong. And I''m sorry for being sneaky about it. I''m not sure if I can explain what was going on, but we need your help. Or at least your opinion," Ogryn tapped Hera''s back, trying to help her. One of the doors opened, but Hera was too focused on herself to notice the noise. Only when the king of Boothudurn spoke did she realize they were no longer alone, "I do apologize for bringing you here like this, Hera. What we''re discussing today is something we thought it was best to keep as a secret." "What?" Hera tried to raise her head, but everything started to spin. She was at the same time feeling like she was one drink away from blacking out and having the worst hangover of her life. "Ogryn! I told you that you should give her a potion before teleporting. The runes are set to understand a dwarf''s body, not a human one," Risli''s voice came from the same side as Rutigan''s, and soon she got close to Hera and passed her a potion, "Here, drink this, child. It tastes horrible, but it will help with the dizziness." The healer passed a small vial with a greenish-purple sludge that looked like the kind of thing that would be found near rotting bodies. When Hera opened the cork, she realized that, despite its appearance, it smelled like bubblegum. Hoping it would go down easy, she chugged the potion that tasted like a mix of cheese, mold, cement, and spoiled milk. She was about to throw up, but Risli covered her mouth with her hand and used a spell to calm her stomach. Everyone waited for a few moments before Hera could move again. The potion worked like a charm, despite the horrible experience. "Thanks. I hate everything, but thanks," Hera sat on the floor, trying to get her bearings, "Can anyone tell me why you guys tortured and drugged me just to get me here?" Risli slapped the back of Hera''s head, "Trust me. If we wanted to torture you, there are way better ways to do it than this." "It was a joke," Hera rolled her eyes and touched her necklace just to make sure that Daskka was still with her. From what she knew, because of the legacy, she could never lose the necklace, but it was her first reaction when something unexpected happened. And since she didn''t call the snake out for this dinner, there was a part of her that was on edge. "A very bad joke," Risli scoffed. "Risli. It''s fine. We know that she didn''t mean it like that," Rutigan got closer and helped her get up, "I''m sorry for all of this. Things are not exactly calm lately. Follow me. We have a meeting room here where we can have a proper discussion." The king guided Hera and the others through one of the doors to the side. Beyond it was a hallway that seemed to be in the middle of construction. About 4 meters in, the carved brick walls stopped, and Hera could just see the raw rock of the mountain. They entered the only door in that hallway, which led to another small room with yet another door. Ogryn closed the outer door and locked it before opening the other one. There was a round table with 10 seats, but only two people inside. Naka and Kahala. After everyone left the smaller room, Ogryn locked the door and activated a soundproofing spell around the entire area. Rutigan told them all to sit around the table. Hera took a spot between Risli and Naka, even if she was a couple of chairs away from the guard captain. "Okay, it''s nice to see everyone, but can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Hera asked as she sat down. "Of course. You deserve to know why we called you here," Rutigan sighed, "I''m sure you are already aware of some of the¡­ changes going on in the MAZE. I mean how the guild, or more specifically, the humans are starting to treat everyone else." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "I am. And for what it''s worth, I don''t think they''re doing the right thing. I agree with the checkpoints somewhat, but I can see they are not using them properly," Hera nodded. During the trip back from the Charring Wastes, she and her friends were stopped at each doorway. It was just a quick check-up that barely took a minute for them to go through. However, when it was Adriel''s turn, it became a whole thing. People would act like he was a criminal even if he had all the proper paperwork, and on one occasion, they even demanded he deactivated his drones. Part of the inspection was a scan of the boxes, which already showed that there wasn''t anything dangerous inside, but despite that, they still demanded Adriel to show what he was carrying himself. Only when Helena stepped in and told that all the boxes belonged to her and they were clearly overstepping what they were doing did the people responsible for the checkpoint step back. "I appreciate you telling us. And there was never a doubt in my mind that you were not among those who are the problem. That being said, The more time passes, the more brazen some of the humans become. It reached the point where we started to fear for our people," Rutigan explained. "Did something happen? Did someone do something with anyone who lives here?" Hera asked with a worried expression. "No, they haven''t. But the treatment of those traveling to other rooms has been less than ideal. We get judged and treated with prejudice by some. If that were just some small groups and situations, we wouldn''t be that worried since that seems common for humans. But when the people in power started acting like this on a larger scale, we need to consider the worst," Rutigan continued but stopped when Hera chuckled. "Do you find this funny?" Naka asked. "No, not this. It''s the fact that King Rutigan is telling me that we should be careful with other people. It''s kind of funny," Hera turned to the king, "I mean, you were the one who was excited about meeting the humans. We had to explain that things might not be all sugar and rainbows. Everything you said was always so peaceful and even naive that it''s weird seeing you act like this." Rutigan chuckled, "Yeah. The irony of the situation has not escaped me. After we joined with the guild and the rest of the MAZE, I spent most of my time learning politics and words the other kingdoms and the other races would do. And history does not bode well for a situation like this." "Yeah. But there is something else, isn''t there? I mean, People are freaking out because of the attack. It''s expected, but I don''t think you guys would react like this just because of that. Something else must have happened for you to be this worried," Hera looked around. "About a month ago, some people came to my house and started asking about my items. How I make them, how many I have, and a bunch of other questions about the armors we use. I sent them off running, but that started to bug me. I asked Silah, and she told me that some people came asking her the same questions. Naka overheard our conversation and told the king her worries," Kahala explained. Hera looked to the captain, waiting to hear the continuation of the story, "When I heard them talking, I considered for a moment what would be the first thing I would do if I was going to attack a city. Figuring out what kind of arms they could use would be one of my first steps," Naka turned to Rutigan, "I would also like to add that I''m still not sure if we should be sharing those kinds of things with her. You can say that she was one of us as much as you want, but the reality is that she''s not. She''s a human, and I''m skeptical to believe that her allegiances would be with us and not with her own people." "My dad is living here. My friends are living here. You guys saved my life. Trust me when I say that if someone is going to attack you, I want to be here fighting with you guys," Hera told the captain. "I know you have your reservations, but I do believe that Hera is someone who wants to be by our side. Or at least that wants the best for our people. Even if I''m a bit surprised with your determination to fight alongside us," Rutigan smiled at Hera. "I agree with that. She might have been a part of your guard, but I''m sure you didn''t spend that much time with her. She helped me heal many people during the months she was stuck here. And that was after her shift with the guard," Risli added. "She was a pain in my ass, but without her idea about molds, I wouldn''t have finished the ornament I was working on ever since¡­. Either way, she showed me that and didn''t even ask for a reward. If I''m being honest, at the time, she could have even asked for my best work and I would have given it to her," Kahala took a sip of the drink in front of her. "Wait. Really? Can I still ask for it?" Hera turned to the armorsmith. "You can, but not to me. The captain here has it now," Kahala nodded to Naka. "Nevermind," Hera sighed. Still, she might be able to ask Kahala to put some blades on her boots. If she could have it as a part of her court, it would be much stronger since the glide function was something she never wanted to get rid of. Another option was to learn how to do something like that herself, but that would probably take much longer to do. "I still don''t agree with that, but I know when I''ve lost a vote," Naka looked back at Hera, "Don''t get me wrong. I don''t think you are a bad person, and it''s not like I don''t trust you. I''m just not willing to put the fate of our entire civilization in your hands." Hera understood why the captain of the guard was so hesitant, and she had to agree. There was no reason to believe that Hera would choose dwarves over humans. But for Hera herself, that wasn''t even a question. Even if that sounded mean, very few people amongst the humans actually mattered to her, and among those who did, most of them were living in Boothudurn. Then again, if things got too ugly, she had no idea if she would stay to protect the people here. It was more likely that she would grab Eridan and her friends and just run away. It would be very selfish of her, but that was the truth of the matter. Still, it was one thing to be willing to fight in a war, another to figure out a way to protect them. "Then can we start with the meeting?" Rutigan asked and got a nod as a reply, "Very well then. I want to discuss with you today how we can ensure that the guild and the humans won''t become our enemies. And, in a worst-case scenario, figure out a plan to fight against them," the King paused and just stared at the cup in front of him, "And I pray to the mountain that this plan is never necessary." 490 - A plan never to be used The meeting lasted a long time. For starters, they discussed ways to show the humans that they were friendly and had no intention of harming them. Ogryn suggested doing something to help locate the centaurs, but Hera advised against it. If they took action themselves, it could be seen as the dwarves trying to contact them to join forces. Her suggestion was to offer supplies, armors, weapons, and other things like that. There was a chance that they wouldn''t trust the items, but if that was the case, Boothudurn could just offer money. Rutigan never told Hera how much gold they actually had, but they had more than a thousand years'' worth of gold in their vault, meaning that they should be able to help with the fees of the operation to find the centaurs without much issue. Another suggestion was to show the new labs and forges to the humans, give them discounts, and even have classes showing some of the techniques of the dwarves to make items and spells. They wouldn''t have to show their more advanced or experimental projects, but just having a place where people could come to learn their ''secrets'' could go a long way. Lastly, they could give a position of power to a human. It doesn''t have to be something big, but it had to be a job that would give them a certain amount of power. Her first two suggestions were praised by Rutigan and accepted by the group, but the last one would cause too many problems. For one, they couldn''t think of any jobs that a human would be able to do. Boothudurn still had a very unique society compared to the rest of the MAZE, and they would need someone who knew them well to do anything like that. Another problem was who to pick. Risli suggested Hera, but she refused to do anything that made her obligated to be stuck in a specific place. She came to the MAZE to explore, and she was going to do that. Accepting any position in the city would make her dreams almost impossible. Not to mention that this was the main issue she had in her relationship with Silah, and saying yes to something like this would be like a slap on her face. With Hera not being a possibility came yet another problem. Who could they give a position to? There weren''t any humans that they trusted enough to give an important job like that. Putting that idea aside, they discussed what else they could do. Ogryn suggested reaching out to the other races to see what they were doing about it. They could hide their intentions by saying that they wanted to know more about other dwarves and start from there. Everyone heard the news about this kind of situation happening everywhere. Since Boothudurn was a city very close to the entrance of the MAZE, it attracted a lot of attention from the humans. It was likely that the other races would sympathize with their situation and give some insight on what they could do to reduce the issues. Surprisingly, Naka also had another suggestion. They could make a tournament and invite people from all across the MAZE. After they got access to the internet, she started to enjoy those types of movies and comics. Another benefit of doing something like that was that watching how people fight would give them an idea of the strength of those who might one day become a threat. Naka herself wanted to participate in the high-level group, but she would keep her strength hidden during the fights. Ogryn and Kahala were excited about the idea, but Rutigan shut it down. A big event like that would surely be a target for any organization, be it those terrorists that attacked Union City, the centaurs, or some other group that didn''t want those things to work out. Having a tournament was a risky plan. If things went well, they might get some points with the humans, but if something went poorly, they could be in a much worse situation. Other options were also thrown out, like having a healer group reach out and travel around helping human cities or having the architects go around making houses for whoever needed them. However, any idea that included sending people to do something would also require a security detail, which sounded like an unnecessary risk for the people. Risli suggested learning more about why people were afraid. Was it just the attack, or there was another reason behind it all? Knowing that would allow them to come up with a better plan. This was also their first discussion about this, and if anyone came up with some other idea, they would gather again to discuss it. When no one had any more ideas about what to do to avoid being enemies of the humans, the topic changed to what to do in the worst-case scenario. If there was a fight, how could they fight back or just survive? For starters, Hera told them that the easiest way was to lock the room. Boothudurn managed to survive for centuries, isolated from everything else. Returning to those days wouldn''t be the worst thing, especially since some of the modern tools would be available to them. If any humans, elves, beastmen, children of the sky, or anyone else was inside, they would have to stay. Maybe it would be possible to send some away at certain times of day, but if that was too risky, the dwarves would have to accept keeping them as prisoners, even if they had freedom inside the room. The only issue was the doorway in the middle of the mountain. But one option was to close it from this side by covering the entire area in stone or ice. That way, even if someone tried to send an assassin through the Kobold Field, they wouldn''t be able to come in. Forcing people to stay in the kingdom didn''t seem like the best idea, but everyone understood that in some situations, it might be necessary. Maybe they would even be able to open the doorway so they could leave after a while, but there was no way to know if doing so would allow an army to walk in. Either way, this was the best of the worst-case scenarios. What they wanted to discuss was what to do in case the key to close the room off was stolen or if the guild pushed Rutigan to give the key to them as they were already doing for a while. Basically, the guild argued that since they knew what could pose a danger to other rooms, they should keep the key to lock the room at a moment''s notice. So far, the King was adamant against doing that. It would mean that the fate of his people was in the hands of someone else, and he didn''t like that idea one bit. Naka was in favor of fighting against the people in case of an attack. She started talking about strategy and where they could place barriers or defensive positions. However, it didn''t matter how good her plans seemed to be. Most of the people of Boothudurn were non-combatants, and if they were invaded, as far-fetched as that sounded to everyone, they needed a way to protect the citizens. Hera suggested turning this hidden place into a bunker. No one told her exactly where they were located, but thanks to her [Treasure Map], she could see they were right under the city. A few hundred meters under the rock of the mountain. If they increased the space enough, they could house everyone for some time. They had a few mana cores that could create clean air for them, and the two main issues would be water and food, but moss and mushrooms were an option, and most people were able to cast water spells. Although it would take 2 to 3 times more magic-made water to quench one''s thirst, it was still an option nonetheless. Ogryn also suggested making a larger rune circle under the central square to teleport multiple people. They might be able to hide their plans by saying they were making a new square. The scale of the project would allow more people to be teleported at once. If they managed to prepare correctly, he could even make another spell underneath it all that could be triggered at a distance to destroy all the runes. Other ideas were thrown around, including using the bunker to hide their equipment and even making a few training rooms here so people could hide their strength from the humans. But Hera realized that every single option was similar in a way. They were all about staying in the room. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Can I say one thing? Another option you really should consider is evacuating the room completely," Hera looked around only to see confused expressions, "I know this is your home, and you have a lot of history here. But if things get bad, really bad, that might be the best way to save the people. I know it''s cruel, but you guys have already started a new life once. I''m sure you can do it again." There was a long pause, and everyone was looking at Hera with a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion. Eventually, Rutigan nodded, "What Hera says is true. We are more than the mountain, more than this place. I don''t like that idea either, but if everything gets to the worst-case scenario, that might be the only option we have to survive." "My King! You can''t possibly mean that" Naka gasped. "Rutigan¡­ are you sure about what you are saying?" Ogryn had a severe expression. "I am. I understand how hard it would be to abandon our home, but we are survivors. We all know the stories about how we got here, and we all participated in the Weeding Disaster hard mode. We know what we escaped and what we can do to survive. The kingdom of Boothudurn is not this place. It''s not this mountain but the people who live on it. Even if I am to be called a coward or that history remembers me as the worst King of our people. I want to make sure our kingdom still exists," Rutigan continued. His face wasn''t showing happiness but sadness and resolution. It was clear that he understood how horrible what he was saying was, but it was something he was willing to do for the greater good. "That was a nice speech and all, but where would we go? Or are you asking us to figure that out later?" Kahala asked. "I admit I do not know. Maybe we can talk to other dwarves and see if there is a room they are willing to give up. That might not work, but surely there is a place for us to live in the MAZE," Rutigan sighed. Clearly caught off guard by the question. "How about Hera?" Risli turned to the explorer. "What about me?" Hera didn''t understand what the shaman meant. "Do you know any place that could be our new home? An empty room or something like that," Risli asked. "I''m sorry. I don''t. This was the only ''new'' room I ever found. Well¡­ the White Desert and the places beyond it too, but I wasn''t the one who went there first." "Ok, but can you?" Kahala picked up what Risli was trying to say. "Can I find a new room? Maybe. I really don''t know. It''s mostly about luck and, well, exploration. I never went out actually trying to find something like that," as soon as the words came out of Hera''s mouth, she realized that they were technically lies. She might never have tried to find a new room, but she did find something even harder to come by. A legacy, "Then again, I might be able to, but it would be much easier to find a place if I had a group of people working together. Not even traveling together, but just to send a bunch of them in different directions. I can only cover so much ground on my own." The idea of finding a new place for the people of Boothudurn was daunting but, at the same time, exciting. Doing that would allow her to be an explorer to the core. Even if people talked as if explorers were mostly people who wanted to do a bit of everything, what she wanted to do more than anything was find new places. "I have a suggestion then. Hera, you told the King that you might have found some traces of more people from¡­ what was the name of the kingdom we used to live in? The one we see in the dungeon," Risli turned to Ogryn. "It was Kul Dorul. Or at least, that''s the name that the dungeon uses," Ogryn replied. "Yeah. So you have found something that can be from the same people who left Kul Dorul. Some might have died, but we can''t be sure about that. Maybe there are still more of our people out there somewhere. Either way, it doesn''t matter if that''s true or not, but what matters is that this gives us an excuse to make a group of dwarven explorers. People who can travel the MAZE and look for something. We can even tell them to be searching for new rooms and places where we could make a new city. Or we tell them the full story if we think they can keep a secret," Risli explained. "That is a very good idea. I know some people who want to travel, which would help us know more about the MAZE in general," Rutigan nodded. "I didn''t even get to the best part. We make this group and put Hera here in charge of them. That way, we can have a human in a position of power here, people looking for a place where we could run to if everything goes to shit, and Hera can still have her freedom," Risli smiled at Hera. "That¡­ is actually a good idea. We would be appeasing the humans while at the same time having someone trying to find a safe haven. It''s not such a vital part of our plans that I feel uncomfortable with her knowing or being in charge of, and it allows us to start training people on other jobs," Naka nodded. "Wait, what?" Hera gasped. She was trying to help them make a plan. Now, all of a sudden, they wanted her to be in charge of an exploration team? "I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. You would be a great chief explorer. What do you say?" Rutigan smiled. Hera hesitated for a moment, "Can I have a few days to think about that? I mean, it''s a big responsibility." The King nodded, "Of course. Would a week be enough? The longer we wait for this to start, the less chance of finding a possible new home we have." "Sure. I''ll let you know before next week. Can I talk to my friends about it? Not the whole ''humans might be dangerous'' thing but the new job." "I don''t see a problem with that. As long as you are discreet with the more¡­ sensitive subjects," Rutigan took a sip of his drink. "Also, it would be wise for us to explain exactly what we expect of you if you take this new seat in the council," Ogryn turned to the King, who nodded in agreement. "I would be part of the council?" Hera gasped. "Of course. The idea was to show that a human is in the seat of power of the kingdom. You don''t have to worry. Because of the nature of your work, you won''t have to participate in our periodic meetings. You can just send us a report when you can, and we will support you as much as possible," Rutigan continued explaining what they would expect of her in that position. All the while, her mind was going nuts, trying to process what they were asking her. It''s been just a couple of years since she started traveling the MAZE, and she was going to be a central part of a kingdom? 491 -Showoff "Ok. I''m ready. Sorry for the delay, guys," Hera came down the stairs to meet everyone. They were going to the Woolly Plains so they could train in a private area. Aside from Alex, each of them had something they didn''t want other people to know about. Blue and Hera had their legacies, and Bonnie and Helena wanted to try some spells they intended to sell later. And despite the lack of reason to go there, Alex didn''t want to be the only one left out. "Are you sure you are ready?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I got everything. My glaive, the court is always with me, and I''m in full gear," Hera tapped her armor to make sure she didn''t forget anything, "Yeah, I''m ready." "Ok. I guess it makes sense. We are going to train. There is no reason to do your hair," Blue nodded and turned around only to be faced with an angry expression from everyone else, "What?" "Is it that bad?" Hera asked while going to the mirror in the hall. Blue wasn''t wrong. Her hair was a mess. After the fight with Releon, she was in a deplorable state. Alex offered to cut the burnt hair, and Hera accepted, thinking about going to a proper salon later, but later never came. She ended up hanging out with her friends in the Charring Wastes, staying in to rest. On one of the occasions where she actually went out to look for a hairdresser, some of the people she ran dungeons with met her, and she ended up going for drinks. Almost everyone in that room had either a few scars or a banged-up appearance. The fact that they were surrounded by volcanoes and constantly assailed by soot and ash also helped to cover any evident problems. It wasn''t like people were dirty, but the low lights and the constant darkness of the surrounding made her hair less of a problem. Another thing that completely escaped her mind was her ear. She had lost the earguards, and when she left the Fall of Bonpei dungeon, the gift Mark gave her was lost. "It''s not that bad. It''s a charming messy punk look. You know, the type that makes you think that you don''t really care about your appearance," Helena tried to cheer her up. "Really?" Hera glanced back, but all the girls looked away, "Blue?" "It kind of looks like you fought with some hair clippers and lost badly," Blue replied bluntly. Hera just stared at the controller with a blank expression, then turned to Alex, "I''m going to borrow one of your beanies," that wasn''t a question but a statement. After really looking at her appearance, Hera felt all her self-esteem go down the drain, and she wasn''t going to take a step out of their house before she could hide most of her face. A few minutes later, she came out wearing a black beanie covering her ears and head. She even considered wearing a face mask, but the dwarves of Boothudurn weren''t used to that kind of thing, and it would draw more attention than not wearing one. Everyone grabbed their stuff and started heading out to the dungeon. During that short walk, Bonnie asked Hera to explain the job offer she got the previous night again, "I really don''t get why you were so freaked out about the job. It sounds like a good deal." " I know it sounds good, but it''s a lot of responsibility," Hera sighed and looked around at the dwarves walking by, "And I''ll be in charge of a group. A team. I''ll send a bunch of people who never imagined that there was more than this room to explore places they never thought about. What if somebody gets hurt? Or worse? It would be on me for not training them well enough. Not to mention I have no idea how to actually train them." "Do you have to train them? I mean, most people here are much higher level than us, aren''t they?" Blue asked. "I think we are a little bit below average now, but that''s not the point. Everyone on the guard is stronger than the monsters. No one has to worry about facing something of the same level as they are. Doing this Explorer thing, they won''t have the same options. Sure they might find places where the monsters are lower-level, but it''s more likely that they''re going to end up in places where the monsters have the upper hand. Not to mention, we would have to teach them basic things like don''t sleep out in the cold or if you are in the desert, remember to stay hydrated, if you get wet, remember to dry your clothes, so you don''t get sick. And how to make a campfire. Do they even know? Even more basic, hunting. They don''t know how to hunt. They know how to kill monsters and expect them to drop food, but what about actually butchering them? To take out the pieces and know what parts you can and can''t eat. What to aspect from different monsters that resemble some animals. They have many gaps of knowledge." "No one said it was going to be easy. But I believe you are over thinking this. I mean, some people are born in the MAZE and can''t know the animals back on Earth. I''m sure they have ways of learning about that. Not to mention that saying that an animal on Earth is going to be the same as a monster in the MAZE is like saying that chocolate ice cream is the same as a car battery," Bonnie added. "Besides, we can set up some classes. Bonnie and I have been talking, and until we get some more people to work on spells and more products to sell, the Coven of Witches can offer some courses. Our idea was to have them about magic only, but we could expand. I can see if any of the people I know from the guild are willing to teach and maybe even make a deal with Boothudurn," Helena''s eyes were shining with the idea of making her own version of a course for explorers. Hera knew how much she wanted to help the recruits, and doing something like that would be a great case study for what she was trying to propose. "The deal part is kind of important. I don''t know if we could pay for the teachers without some funding. I hope you can talk to the council and help us with that part," Bonnie nodded to Hera. "Why are you talking as if I''m going to accept this? And you know that ''Coven of Witches'' is redundant, right? A Coven is a group of witches," Hera gasped. "Because you are. We know this. The reasons you are giving to say no are just about you being afraid of getting too much responsibility. But even if you say no, they are making that exploration group either way. So now, even if you refuse, you will still feel guilty if something happens because you didn''t help," Alex explained in a very confident tone, almost as if she was just telling something that had already happened. Blue nodded in agreement, and even Helena added that it was obvious. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "I¡­I¡­" Hera tried to come up with a response, but she had nothing. Alex was right, and she never had a choice in the matter, "Screw you all!" she huffed and continued walking. Barely two minutes passed before Blue asked, "So, when are you telling them your answer." "Don''t know. I want to kill something first," Hera continued walking briskly towards the dungeon. Getting inside was quick and easy. The guards still did their rounds in the dungeon, but there was no longer such a strict entry limitation. This was mostly because of the people who came from other rooms, but a number of citizens were also trying their hands against the monsters. After the group entered the Woolly Plains, the Empress called out her entire court. Lurize, Scythe, Armory, Core, Beam, Ooze, and Nimbus all came out in their weapon form. Hera wanted to see if she could get at least a basic ''Tonfa Combat'' to help the Sentinel since he didn''t have those skills, even if it made sense. "Oh, you''re not calling him out? Like his body," Blue asked. "I was going to try to get a skill first. Why?" Hera turned to her friend. "No, no. It''s ok. I was just curious to see him fight," Blue replied while the rest just watched her with eyes filled with expectation. "All of you want to see Nimbus fighting?" Hera asked and got a vigorous nod as a reply, "Well, you heard the ladies. Don''t keep your fans waiting," Hera said to the tonfas, who promptly turned into smoke and appeared in his humanoid form. "You wound me, Empress. You have not seen me fighting, and I hoped that you were curious about my capabilities," Nimbus appeared on his knees, bowing to Hera. However, he quickly understood that this wasn''t something he should do and got up while turning to the rest of the party, "It is a pleasure to see you all again, even if we were parted just for a few hours." Hera wanted to be careful with Nimbus but she didn''t want to keep him hidden all the time. So, her solution was to have him walk around the house when they weren''t expecting visitors. During that time, the Sentinel got a bit closer with everyone. The main reason for that was his politeness and eagerness to help, from small things like doing the dishes to more significant things such as rearranging furniture. Every time one of the girls would need help, he was right there to assist. According to Nimbus, because of his connection with Hera, he was able to notice the small changes in the mana around them. So, as a way to anticipate the Empress'' needs, the Sentinel was trying to understand the small changes in the surrounding mana and what they meant. When someone was doing something different, he would go there to check on them so he could match the feeling with the action currently happening. "I want to see it too," Hera nodded, "There, a group of Woolly Sheep. They are just level 6, but you may be able to show some things. Be as flashy as you want." "Very well. But I currently don''t have mana. So the most flashy aspects won''t be showcased for the moment," Nimbus nodded and started moving towards the Woolly Sheep. He dashed with uncanny speed, surprising everyone. "That''s a remnant of his Griffon form. He can go from 0 to 30 km/h in just a second. But he doesn''t have much control over his direction when he does that. To be on par with the nature of his mana, as a protector, he needs to be able to reach the Empress at a moment''s notice," Daskka explained as she understood Hera''s confusion. "That feels very busted," Hera said to herself, but as if it was a way to show that she was wrong, most of the sheep that noticed Nimbus getting closer managed to evade his initial dash. Only the two in the front were caught by his body slam. However, he wasn''t done. Nimbus kept pushing the sheep at an angle. And he was soon not just dragging them but carrying the two creatures on his shoulders. He continued moving until he got closer to a large rock. That''s when the Sentinel opened his wings and let the monsters slam against the environment. Following that up, he started flying around the stunned sheep, slashing at them with the tonfas. Maybe it was because of his skill or the difference in attributes, but even the wool from the monsters wasn''t enough to protect them from his attacks. He cut them like butter and moved as if using the Dorohla Style. Hera never expected it to work in the air, but then again, her blades could use it since they were not limited by the presence of feet. A Woolly Ram appeared out of nowhere and dashed towards Nimbus. Instead of dodging, the Sentinel simply stood his ground while still in the air. He was able to hold himself with the power of its wings alone. The titled blade grabbed the ram''s horns and started flying to the sky. He managed to go about 100 meters up when his strength started leaving him. Feeling that something was wrong, Hera called him "Nimbus? What''s happening?" ''I''m not sure. I feel weaker,'' the Sentinel replied in her mind but his voice was far away and muffled. "That''s the limit of his range. Unlike the other blades, the ones with a title can move beyond their maximum range, but that makes them lose attributes at a steady pace. If it takes too long for him to come back, the penalty will last longer," Daskka explained to both of them, and Nimbus promptly dropped the ram while moving closer to the Empress. He reached the ground before the ram and moved towards Hera and the others. However, the sheep was still alive, and the Empress didn''t want it to bother them while everyone was praising her blade. She flung a poison needle and said, "Purge," a unique trigger for her poison control spell. It was just a way for her to trigger several effects at once without having to go over each of them. The only issue was that she was used to facing stronger enemies. The command ''purge'' was supposed to make the poison spread quickly and then come out of the target''s body while leaving some bubbles of air behind. Doing so would make those bubbles extremely hot and cause a feeling akin to blood loss and a fever. But all that was tailored to the dungeon in the Charring Wastes. Doing so with a level 6 monster resulted in something different. Instead of just making the sheep leak her poison and some blood through the eyes and nose, the blood came out from all the pores with explosive violence. As a result, the ram burst like a balloon filled with wine. "Damn, Hera¡­" Alex gasped while watching the red spray fall to the ground. "Oops, I messed up the ratio," Hera scratched the back of her head. "Oops? You do that and say oops?" Bonnie gasped. "What? It''s just a monster," Hera scoffed before launching two nearby sheep to the sky using her stone pillar. She made the rock jet up as a piston, which worked out great. She knew that people would be annoying because of her spell, but she wasn''t in the mood to hear about it. The rest of the party realized they wouldn''t be able to talk to Hera right now, but they still gathered around Nimbus to gawk at what he had just done. The Sentinel was worried, but he also understood that part of his job was to protect the Empress, even from uncomfortable conversations. 492 - Old Friend It was a slow day in the shop. There were a couple of customers early on, but it was nowhere near as busy as she wanted. The problem wasn''t her service or what she could do but the few new salons in the neighborhood. Each of them had hired someone who leveled up a few times and even managed to get some skills to improve how they worked. She had a few regular customers, but most of them were talking about travel and moving away, meaning that in the end, she wouldn''t be able to keep her shop unless something changed. She was never interested in the MAZE or leveling up, but after the guild removed the fee to level up, it became clear that she was getting behind the times. The bell above the door rang, and her last customer of the week walked in, even though it was only Tuesday. It was a light-skinned woman, but she had an odd tan. The color seemed a bit off as if she either had used one of those lotions made to help you tan faster, or she had used a tanning bed. Most people wouldn''t realize that since the difference between a normal tan and that color was very small, but as an owner of a once thriving hair salon, she had an eye for that kind of thing. The woman''s eyes were light brown, and she had soft features, but even with a smile, her expression was sharper than what she remembered. To complete the look, she wore some loose jeans, a simple black t-shirt, and a black beanie. "Hera! It''s so good to see you," the owner of the salon put the broom aside and went for a hug. "Quinn! It''s been so long," Hera hugged her friend back. "Too long. It''s a shame you guys went deeper into the MAZE. If you were a bit closer, coming here might not be that complicated," Quinn chuckled and gestured to one of the chairs. "If I''m being honest, I could come here once a month or something like that, but I get so swept away with everything that is going on there that I end up forgetting," Hera replied as she sat on the chair. "You are not the only one. A lot of people stopped coming here," Quinn sighed. "Really? Why is that?" Hera asked. "Oh, it''s just business. I guess that despite everything, I''m having trouble keeping up with the times." "Why are you talking like an old woman? If you think things are moving too fast, you just have to be faster than them," Hera replied. "That''s easy for you to say. I''m not as flexible as you think, despite all the yoga. Anyway, can you take this off so I can see what we are working with?" Hera let out a long sigh, "Ok, but I promise I didn''t do this on purpose. I ended up getting my ass handed to me by a dude made out of fire," she waited for a moment to gather some courage and then removed the beanie, revealing the mess that was her hair right now. Patches of thin hair spotted the sides of her head, and some of the longer areas were cut unevenly. Not to mention the number of knots and split ends that resulted from someone keeping them under the constant heat of a volcano for months. "... Hera.. be honest with me. Do you hate me?" Quinn asked with a serious expression. "No! Of course not. I didn''t do this on purpose," Hera gasped, but Quinn just laughed. "Don''t worry. I know that. Now, do you have an idea of what you want to do? We have to keep some parts short. I don''t think extensions are a good idea for explorers." "Yeah¡­ I was thinking about that. Maybe we could shave the sides and make the top a bit bigger than the rest?" Hera asked meekly. She always admired those hairstyles but doing it to herself still felt weird. Yet, she could no longer think only about herself in those situations. Now, she was going to be the leader of a group. Someone they looked up to. The least she could do was make sure looked the part. "Oh, like the one you were thinking about the first time you came here? That takes me back. Let''s see," Quinn started pulling Hera''s hair up to see where the damage was. To her luck, most of the shorter parts were to the sides. The middle was already longer than the rest, so when Releon grabbed her hair, he didn''t burn the roots, "We could make the classic shaved sides but let a bit more on top. Then you can pick if you want to pull the hair back or let it go towards the front. Or pull it to the side. That''s also an option. If you want, we can make a pattern or something like that too." "A pattern? Can it be anything? For the top, I like how it is now. Kind of going forward and up," Hera asked, an idea coming to mind. "Nothing too complicated, but yeah." "Ok¡­ are you afraid of snakes?" Hera turned to Quinn. "Weird segue, but no. I''m not. Why?" Hera tapped on her necklace, and Daskka came out, first as the purple mist, then taking her corporeal form, "This is Daskka. She''s an item I got in the MAZE, but she is sentient, and we can even talk to each other." Quinn smiled and approached Daskka, "Hello there. I hope you can understand me because you are adorable." "Mum, I like her," Daskka wagged her tail. Hera sighed, "Really? One compliment is all it takes to win you over?" "So he can understand me?" Quinn reached out but stopped before touching the snake, "Can I pet him?" Daskka nodded vigorously, and Hera replied. "It''s her, and for the questions, yes, and yes. You can pet her, but I''m going to do a thing with her while you cut my hair. Is that ok?" If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Sure, can I know what it is, or is it a secret between you two?" "You know what a spell circle is?" Quinn shook her head, "Ok, so when you want to use magic, you have to guide the mana in a certain way. You can use a spell circle for it if you want to make it easier. I say a circle, but the actual shape doesn''t matter all that much. It''s what''s inside that is important. So I thought that maybe we could make a spell circle on my head. That way, if I need to activate that spell, I can just put in some mana to activate it." "Oh.. that seems like an interesting idea. What kind of spell do you think you could make?" Quinn asked as she started to prepare Hera''s hair. "I''m not sure. I need to see if it can fit in the shape of my head somehow. That''s why I''m asking Daskka for help. If you excuse me just for a moment," Hera turned to the herald and quickly conveyed her intentions. It was quicker than speaking. Daskka nodded and floated behind Hera before making a mold out of her head with the mist. It wasn''t completely opaque, and one could easily see beyond the smoke, "Could you show her where you are going to shave? Just so I know the area I''m working with." Quinn nodded and trailed her finger on Hera''s head, explaining what parts she would shave and what would be longer. As she did that, Daskka removed the mist from the frame until Quinn explained how the canvas would look. Next, the snake moved that piece of mist without letting it change shapes to the mirror in front of Hera. "Ok, I''ll try to make something work here, and then we can put the mist back on my head to be a guide for the pattern. Is that ok?" "Sure, I can''t promise it will work, though. I never tried doing something like that," Quinn was hesitant, but there was something about this idea that sparked a flame in her heart. She always believed that hair and makeup were more than just something to make you feel pretty or empowered. It could help you see a side of yourself that you didn''t know. Changing your hair was like changing who you were as a person, and if this idea of allowing someone to use magic through their hair worked, it would only increase that capability. Not to mention, this would be a way to stop playing catch up and actually run ahead of her competition. Quinn started cutting Hera''s hair, doing her best to fix the mess in front of her. Two more things were happening at the same time. First, Hera tried to work out a spell to shave in her head. Since it was the first time she did something like that, she decided to go simple. What she was trying to make right now was a basic light spell to be cast about half a meter above her head and follow along with her. Doing it like that would allow the light to actually show dark places for her entire court and it wouldn''t end up causing problems for anyone to see. As long as all the elements of the spell were in place, she would be able to trigger it without much issue. The whole point of this wasn''t to make something useful, not now, at least. But just know if this idea was something viable. If it was, she would talk with Bonnie and Helena, who surely would love the concept, and they might start looking into actual helpful spells to engrave on someone''s hair. Second, was the conversation between Quinn and Hera. They were mostly catching up, and Hera explained about her new job and how she would help the people of Boothudurn learn more about the MAZE. She didn''t mention anything about the legacy, of course. But she talked about her travels and the places she visited. Quinn showed some interest in the Moon Base room and some of the triton-based baths. On the other hand, the hair stylist had less to talk about, but she had some news of her own. After the guild removed the fee to level up, Quinn went there, and she even went through the basic training a few months ago. She went as far as getting the crafter role. She never went inside the MAZE since she still believed it to be too dangerous of a place for her. Her intention with that was to get some skills and be able to compete with the salons that were opening around her. Unfortunately, her leveling speed was extremely slow since she was still on Earth. Not to mention that because she didn''t have enough customers, she wasn''t able to get any of the skills she was looking for. Quinn also talked a little about her dating life. There were a couple of dates here and there, and even a more steady relationship started brewing, but that didn''t pan out. To make matters worse, Helena had been harder to reach these past months, which made the hair stylist feel somewhat lonely. She had a lot of friends, but Helena was the oldest and best friend she had despite the lack of communication in the recent past. "And why didn''t you get the skills you wanted? I mean, being a hairdresser is a sure-fire way to practice doing that. Or is it because you have to buy the compendiums?" Hera was looking in Quinn''s eye through the mirror. "I got a couple compendiums, but I don''t actually have that many customers these days. You are the last one I have for the whole week. Honestly, if it wasn''t for my savings, I wouldn''t even be able to pay the bills. I''m lucky that my landlord took a down payment for a full year for this place, so I don''t have to worry about rent, but I don''t know how I will make it in the future," Quinn continued to work on Hera''s hair. "If you had the skills, would that make a difference?" Hera asked. "Maybe. I would be, at least, on the same level as my competitors." "What if you come with me to Boothudurn for a few days? I''m sure the dwarves there would love to have a ''human'' haircut. Not to mention we have a big event coming at the end of the week," Hera suggested. "I don''t know, Hera. The MAZE is a dangerous place. I lost a few friends there. I don''t want to go somewhere and end up dead," Quinn stopped for a moment, "Is this length good? Or do you want it to be shorter?" "A little bit shorter. I don''t want it to fall in front of my eyes by accident. And back to the MAZE issue. Boothudurn is 5 rooms away, but only two of those actually have monsters. The rest is pretty peaceful, and the dwarven city is a bunker under a mountain. Nothing would get to you. Not to mention that none of the rooms will have a rampage for a while," Hera continued suggesting. She wanted to help Quinn, and having her reconnect with Helena would be an added bonus. "I don''t know¡­." Quinn still felt uneasy. She never liked the idea of being in danger. "What if I promise to keep you safe? I can even give you an item that can protect you if something happens." "And can you? Protect me from anything in those rooms?" Quinn chuckled while remembering Hera''s graduation. "I can. I''m positive about it. And, Daskka, can you grow without losing the spell circle?" Hera turned to the herald, who nodded and took the form of the giant mist snake that now towered over both of them, reaching the ceiling with ease, "And I won''t be the only bodyguard you will have." Quinn froze for a moment, but the giant snake''s eyes were still the same, and the tail was still wagging like a dog. Finally, the stylist chuckled, "Tell you what. I have to check on a few things, but I might be able to go. It would be nice to see Helena and maybe get some customers before that event. Losing my fear of the MAZE would also help. I know that. It might be time to adapt to this new world." "Really?" Hera smiled and turned around. Quinn forced Hera to look back in the mirror, "Really. I just need to be sure I won''t have any more customers this week. And stop squirming. You are making this harder than it has to." Hera chuckled and did as she was told. If Quinn went to Boothudurn, she would be able to surprise everyone. Not to mention she could talk to Fethy about cutting people''s hair. There was also the benefit that if she figured out the shave spell as she was calling, having someone with the ability to make the spell circles would be invaluable. She only hoped that Quinn would end up deciding to go with her. 493 - First Timer Quinn was leaning against the railing of the boat. She never expected this place to look like this. The pictures truly did not do it justice. She was in a cave so large that there was a massive city and even a port inside. Heck, there were even clouds inside the cave. Despite that, it was still a bit claustrophobic. The idea that she was underground was still something she was struggling with. To calm herself, she patted Daskka, who was around her neck. Hera had loaned her the snake, not the necklace, to protect her in case something dangerous happened. The explorer also let her borrow a tiara that was supposed to give Hera a way to know if she was ever in danger. Quinn wasn''t sure how that worked since the tiara itself didn''t even show in her [Observe], but she trusted Hera. "This place never ceases to amaze me. It really is beautiful, isn''t it?" a scruffy-looking sailor approached Quinn and leaned over the railing, mirroring her position. "It really is. How long have you been here for?" Quinn asked. "It''s been just a few months, but I tend to stay here for longer before going to my home in the countryside. I figured that having a place far from the city was cheaper, and I could just stay on the ship when I''m here," the sailor sighed, "I don''t have any complaints, but It''s hard to find someone to get back to with things like this." "I can imagine that. But if you are with a good crew, you shouldn''t get lonely," Quinn smiled, trying to be polite. There was nothing wrong with the conversation, even if the man was sharing a bit too much right away, but for some reason, she was starting to feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was how he approached out of the blue, or how he was copying her movements or how he looked at her, but there was something rubbing her the wrong way. "It is, it is. But then again, we have some really pretty passengers every now and then. Maybe times like this are good to get rid of that loneliness," the sailor approached Quinn, who just took a step back. "I see. I''m sorry, but I''m not interested. I''m just passing by, and I don''t have time for anything like that," if this was happening outside, she would have scoffed at the idea and argued with the man about how inappropriate this was. Not only was she a customer, but he didn''t even ask for her name. However, since she was in the MAZE, she had no way of knowing how strong that man was. He said he was there for a few months, but that should already let him be at a much higher level than she was. "C''mon, sweetheart, don''t be like that. I''m sure we can work something out," the man reached out to touch Quinn''s shoulder, but another hand intercepted him. With a quick motion, someone pulled his arm backward and stepped on his back, making the man fall to his knees. "I suggest you keep your hands to yourself, or I''ll be taking your arm as a souvenir," Hera''s cold voice cut through Quinn''s fear. "What the fuck? Get off me, you b- ARGH!" Hera twisted the man''s arm even harder, making sure not to break it but to make him feel all the pain. "What is going on down there?" the ship''s captain rushed down. Hera simply recounted what just happened while still keeping that sailor on his knees. When she was done, the captain apologized profusely and said that he would personally make a report to the guild. It wasn''t the first time that particular sailor caused that type of problem, but it would surely be the last. At least on his ship. Only after the captain promised to keep the man far away from them that Hera let him go. The sailor quickly got up and started arguing with the captain. It took a few moments for him to be fired on the spot, and he would be in the brig until they returned to Brinnefront. While other sailors were going towards him, the man turned to Hera and ran at her, yelling, "You made me lose my job, you fucking bitch!" Hera sighed and evaded his pitiful attempt at a punch before grabbing him by the throat and pushing him beyond the railing, the only thing keeping him still on the boat being her hand on his neck, "Listen here. You are no longer on Earth where being bigger means you are stronger. Here things are different, and I advise you to treat everyone with respect since the next person you mess with might not be as kind as I am to let you walk away." "What? Are you going to kill me? You don''t have the balls for ¡­" before he could finish his sentence, his body froze up. People around him might think it was out of fear but, in reality, it was Hera''s paralyze spell. She made sure not to mess with any of his organs with the spell to not put him in any danger. "All I have to do is let go. This will be chalked off as an accident, and you couldn''t swim. You won''t be the first person I kill in the MAZE," Hera''s eyes were cold, and her voice was sharp. The man could tell she wasn''t kidding, and one wrong move would send him to the bottom of the ocean, "Blink once if you understand." The man blinked, and Hera pulled him back to the ship, tossing him on the floor and turning to the captain, "Sorry. I thought it was better to use a paralyze spell so he wouldn''t cause any trouble. If you want, I can let go of it." The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "I understand why you did that, but I would thank you if you dropped the spell. I''m sure he won''t cause any more trouble," the captain asked. "No problem. Again, I''m sorry for this," Hera dropped the spell, and the sailors dragged the man inside the ship. He didn''t complain this time and just walked away. The captain apologized once more and offered to reimburse them for the tickets, but Hera refused before turning back to Quinn, "Are you ok?" "I am. Thank you for the help¡­. Are you ok?" Quinn asked. She never expected Hera to be that ruthless. "Kind of. I might have not mentioned a few of the bad things that happened to me, but you don''t have to worry about them," Hera scratched the back of her head and took that chance to talk to the court member that was guiding her, ''Scythe, your plan worked, but I guess it was a bit much.'' ''I only told you what to say when you had him by the railing. You are the one who went ballistic,'' the earrings replied. ''Yeah¡­ Armory told me what was going on but when I saw Quinn''s face, I kind of freaked out,'' Hera knew that she was jumpy ever since Dzviery, but she didn''t expect to be this much. "Hera? Are you ok?" Quinn asked, making the Empress snap out of her conversation. "Yeah, sorry. I was listening to Daskka. She was telling me what happened while I was in the bathroom." "Oh, she can tell you that? She''s so smart," Quinn tried to play it cool, but Hera could still see that her friend was shaken. "She can, and the only reason why she didn''t do anything was that I told her not to. I understood that you were uncomfortable, but a while back, I told her not to attack anyone unless they attacked first. Daskka, I''m changing that. While you are with Quinn, if you ever see her getting uncomfortable like that, you can protect her," Hera said to the snake around the stylist''s neck. In reality, she already told Daskka all that during the ''fight,'' but making a show out of it could help Quinn calm down. "Hera, you don''t have to do that. I''m a big girl, you know," Quinn was still trying to pretend like this wasn''t a big deal, but she stopped, "Actually, no. I feel like a kid here. Thanks for protecting me. It does make me feel a lot safer." "No worries, and I promise this won''t happen again. Most people inside the MAZE are smart enough not to mess with people like that. I meant what I said back there. Since we are in a place where anyone can be much stronger than you are, everyone tries to be respectful or at least not be a dick to anyone else," Hera explained. "Wouldn''t that make some people also abuse their strength?" Quinn rubbed her arms, showing some hesitation again. "They could, but they know that there are bigger problems here than to just mess with people. Not to mention that most high-level people have silver or gold guild cards, and if you start being an ass, you lose a lot of the privileges that come with them," Hera continued trying to calm Quinn. Even if that didn''t work completely, the rest of their trip went without a hitch. Hera had already reserved a room in the Kobold Field hotel, and passing through the Carpon Caverns was much easier these days. Because of the Kobold Road, the guild invested in making the trip from there to the outside even easier. The result was a reinforced tunnel that could not be broken by any monsters in the room. Thanks to that, Quinn managed to reach their first stop without seeing a monster up close. The second day of the trip was considerably easier. This time it was just a quick ride on the subway, and they would already arrive in Boothudurn. Quinn was feeling a bit better and saw how this place was much more similar to Earth than she expected. Aside from some obvious differences. When they arrived in the city under the mountain, Fethy was by the doorway waiting for them. Hera introduced Quinn to the Duchess of Culture but quickly shut down any hopes the dwarf had to put her friend to work right away. Fethy apologized and let them go back to their place so they could set up, but she still pushed a bit, letting the two know that they only had three days before the grand opening. Quinn asked a bit more what she had gotten herself into. She agreed with the idea of coming here but never actually asked about the event. Hera explained that it was the opening of essentially a research and development complex. They were even calling the building Boothudurn R&D. Basically, it was a place filled with forges and laboratories. It was the first time the city would have a big construction like that in a long time, and that''s why it was a big thing. After the actual opening, there would be a cocktail party in the building and later a gala back in the palace. Hera also explained that a lot of people were interested in having their hair done by Quinn. After she confirmed that she was coming here, the explorer talked with Fethy, who quickly spread the word. They would all pay Quinn''s fee, whatever that may be, and there was a chance that they would even have a lottery set up for the available times, depending on how long each person would take. Quinn knew that this was the idea, but she never imagined that there would be so many people interested in having their hair done by her. Before she could even start digesting that idea, they arrived at Hera''s place, and the moment Quinn entered through the door, she saw Helena sitting on the couch watching television. The two went in for a hug right away. The mage even got teary-eyed by seeing her friend inside the MAZE. After a few moments, they sat down and started talking while Hera went to the kitchen to prepare some food and drinks for them. During that time, she sneakily summoned her court, one by one, and apologized for not being able to have them out for a while. They all understood her reasoning, and no one got mad at her. "Hera?" Helena called from the living room. "Yeah?" "What is this about a spell circle in your head?" Helena was still holding Quinn''s hands, but now she was looking towards the kitchen. "Oh, you mean this?" Hera turned around, showing the pattern shaved on her head. "Yeah¡­ does it work?" Hera smiled and simply pushed mana out of her body. One of the runes she engraved pulled the mana to her head and triggered the spell, creating a small sphere of light above her head, "I don''t even have to think about the spell, just about pushing mana to the right spot," Hera replied with a smile and saw how the mage''s eye started to shine with ideas. 494 - R&D Opening Hera was getting restless. Rutigan started speaking, then came Ogryn, then Fethy, then Rutigan again, then Ogryn, then Rutigan one more time. Even if they wanted to make a big deal out of this place, it was getting annoying already, and she wasn''t the only one thinking that. Most humans in the audience were distracted. They were still respectful enough not to make any noise or anything like that, but it was clear that their minds were somewhere else. "... and that is the reason why we decided to create a place like this. A place where everyone, anyone, can come to develop their potential without having to worry about bad tools or lack of resources. Of course, we won''t be able to provide the more unique or rare material, but we are already in contact with the guild and a few other suppliers willing to sell us said items at a lower price. I won''t go into details not to bore you all any more than I already did, but keep in mind that as long as you can show us what you intend to develop and you are willing to share some of your knowledge with us. We will support you the best way we can," Rutigan smiled and looked at Hera, but before he could continue, one of the reporters here spoke up. "Are you saying that anything people discover here belongs to you?" "The Q&A session is supposed to happen only at the end of this ceremony, but I will answer that one since it looks like many people had that in mind," Rutigan cleared his throat and adjusted himself in front of the podium, "No. What anyone discovers or develops here is their own. What we ask is that you share some of the knowledge you have. Be it giving a lecture, writing an article, or writing a book. Whatever you want. Of course, the knowledge you are willing to share will influence the number of resources we can allocate to you. Also, this is not a charity. We will charge you for renting the equipment, but the value will be decided on a case-by-case basis. The actual numbers are very complicated, but in broad terms, we will ask for a percentage of your monthly income instead of giving a flat price. So if you made 10 thousand gold last month, we might ask you between 2 and 8 depending on what kind of facility you want. If you didn''t make any money, there are ways to go around that. Also, as a part of the contract, we will receive a small share of the profits of any product or byproduct developed here. Let me repeat. We will only ask for some of the profits, not the total value of it. This will be a temporary deal, and while we receive the profits, we will not allow anyone else to research the same thing in our facilities. Consider this a gesture of good faith. Does that answer the question? If you have any follow-ups, I ask you to wait until the end." "It does. I do have other questions, but I appreciate you answering this one now," the reporter replied, and Hera could see Naka staring daggers at him. Probably because he never referred to Rutigan as king or was overly formal as the captain expected. "No, thank you for allowing me to clear this out. Now, we also have another announcement to make. Those who know about us, about Boothudurn, also know that we are very new to the MAZE. Most of the mysteries uncovered by the guild are still mysteries to us. But one thing you may not be aware of is that we have a mystery of our own. You see, our kingdom was born after a great disaster in a place called Kul Dorul. Our ancestors lived in that kingdom, and when a fire broke out, they had no choice but to escape to this room. Sadly, only a small fraction of the people who lived in Kul Dorul arrived here, and when the last of them crossed the doorway, it was deactivated forever. Possibly signaling that the room where the kingdom of Kul Dorul existed was destroyed. Or at least, the doorway became inaccessible. Those last details were only uncovered thanks to the help of a couple of new friends," Rutigan smiled at Hera and Blue, who were in the front line, "But that raises a question. Are we truly the only ones that survived that disaster? We have reasons to believe that no. We are not the only ones. The people of Kul Dorul might have survived and might be somewhere in the MAZE. This leads to the announcement we have today. In the next couple of months, we will have a new group in Boothudurn. The Royal Explorers. A group of fearless people willing to brave the MAZE and discover the truth about our origins and ancestors. Of course, that will be only one of their goals. They will also be trained to discover more about this place and help us understand our place among the rest of the races." Some clapping came from the people of Boothudurn, but the rest didn''t seem all that excited about this. Rutigan gave them a moment to settle down before continuing, "That being said. We are not conceited enough to believe that we know how to do this. As I said, we are recent additions to the MAZE and its people. So, to lead the Royal Explorers, I want to introduce you all to a very dear friend of mine and the new member of the council of the city as the Countess of Exploration. Please give a warm welcome to Hera Kingsley!" this time, the claps were louder, and the visitors even joined in. They might not be that excited about the Royal Explorers, but they knew that introductions like this meant that it was someone important. "Countess of Exploration?" Blue whispered to Hera with a smile. "Fuck me. He never said he would make me a noble," Hera sighed and got up. She couldn''t actually leave him hanging. With a quick glance around, she saw her friend in the front row and her dad a couple of rows back with tears in his eyes and a big smile. Besides him, Renette was clapping vigorously and even whistling to celebrate. Hera smiled back at him and walked up the stage. Rutigan nodded at her and returned to the chair in the back to allow Hera to speak. She stepped in front of the podium after taking a deep breath and rubbing her finger in the ring on her hand. She got this ring from the Kobold Field dungeon a long time ago. It would allow her to increase her charisma if she spoke to more than 10 people at once, which certainly fitted the bill. It was a bit funny, she had wanted to sell that ring since she got it, but she kept forgetting to do it. Now it might actually be helpful. She sneakily pulled a set of cards she had prepared for this speech and looked at the crowd. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The entire audience was focused on Hera. Even those who were distracted previously. All of them now watched this woman wearing purple leather armor with a pattern of mountains in silver decorating the entire thing. Her blond hair was shaved on the sides with a longer middle pulled back and up, covering the whole top of her head. She was incredibly beautiful, with a mix of soft features and a cold expression that was surprisingly refreshing. "Hello. I''m Hera Kingsley, one of the people who helped open this room to the rest of the MAZE. Some of you may know me as the girl who got her ass whooped by a Wendigo in Brinnefront or the fastest silver card holder. Although, if I''m being honest, I don''t know if I lost that position or not. With so many people joining in, it wouldn''t be off if someone else had beaten my record. I just hope they didn''t have to be almost eaten by a Wendigo for that," Hera smiled, trying to be funny, but the joke didn''t land, "Either way. I''m an explorer, and I don''t just mean I''m part of the guild. My role is to be an explorer. I discovered this place by accident, helped a friend find the mausoleum of the Naga, and even found a giant snake in the Wailing Valley. I''m saying all this not just for those who don''t know me but for those who are going to join the Royal Explorers. I am young, and I''m new to all of this. It''s been a couple of years since I''ve come to the MAZE for the first time. However, don''t take that as me being inexperienced. I am an explorer. I came to the MAZE to discover new things and unravel its mysteries, and that''s what I intend to keep doing. I can promise a life of adventure and danger, beautiful places, and terrifying discoveries for those who want to join me. It''s a life that never gets old, but you also never do the same thing for long. I will be the first to admit that this is not a life for everyone. Most people want comfort, consistency, and a routine. We won''t have that, not really. For us, the routine will be the unexpected, the new, the discovery," Hera stopped and looked down. She didn''t memorize that speech. Instead, Scythe was in her ears, reading the cards for her. But now, she wanted to say something else. "If I''m being honest, I''m not sure I''m the right person for the job. As much as I love it, exploring is not easy. There is no guide on how to discover secrets or where to find hidden doorways. We will need to scour every inch of every room to see if there is something that others have missed. We are searching for the mistakes others made to make a name for ourselves. Adding that to the idea of finding another lost civilization¡­ the task seems daunting, to say the least," Hera chuckled with a weak smile, but that didn''t last long. She blinked and looked up to the crowd with determined eyes, "But I have no intention of backing down. Rutigan and the people of Boothudurn trusted me with this task, and I''ll do my absolute best to complete it. For all who will join. I expect you to have the same resolve as I have right now. People are counting on us, and we must find answers, whatever they may be. In the end, it doesn''t matter the role you choose. We, every single one of us, are explorers. Chasing mysteries and adventure is in our blood. It''s in our bones. It''s in our souls. And it''s time for the people of Boothudurn to answer the call of the MAZE." There was loud applause coming from the crowd that surprised Hera. She thought her speech was bland and cliche, but people seemed to enjoy it. Or it was just because of her attributes. Either way, she was happy it was over and she didn''t mess up. She stepped to the side and let Rutigan take over the podium again while he started with the Q&A session. That lasted a long time, with most people focusing on how the R&D building would work. Even so, some reporters did ask Hera questions directly. They were clearly the kind of gotcha questions only to make headlines, but she was ready for them. "Miss Kingsley, now that you are part of the nobility and the council of Boothudurn, do you intend to stop the preferential treatment that the dwarves receive here?" the same reporter that questioned Rutigan before he called Hera spoke up. "I don''t believe I know the preferential treatment you are talking about. Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Beastmen, Triton, and the Children of the Sky, all receive the same treatment as anyone else here. I will say that Boothudurn does take care of those who live here a bit better than the rest, but every city does that. After all, even tourist spots take care of their citizens first and the guests second," Hera replied. Another reporter, an elf this time, raised his hand, "Miss Kingsley. Why were you asked to be a part of the Royal Explorers and not the other person that came to this room? One¡­ Pamella Blunt." "I believe it was because of my accomplishments. What I do is more focused on exploration and discovery. While Pamella is someone who focuses more on fighting and training. That''s exactly why we form such a great team," Hera looked at Blue, who nodded in response. "The terrorist attacks only started after Boothudurn joined the rest of the MAZE. What do you have to say about that?" another reporter asked. "You are correct. The terrorist attacks only started after we opened this room. After the guild removed the fee to level up for the first time. After Leliana stepped down from the position of chairwoman. After the New Dawn started investing in the guild. After the tower appeared. After everyone got another role skill. After a new role came along. After a k-pop band won several international awards in the same year. After chocolate-chip-spicy-mint ice cream was discontinued. Should I go on? There are so many things that happened for the first time before those attacks that singling out Boothudurn as the reason is a bit short-sighted. If we talk about reason, they have none. They had loved humans ever since before we got here. I apologize if I''m saying too much," Hera looked back to the king, who just nodded and gestured for her to continue, "A human helped ignite the fire of their culture. It was because of a human that they were able to be happy again. And because of two humans, they were able to meet everyone else. See the advances, the food, the technology as it is today. I''m not trying to be defensive here; Trust me if they were involved, I would be the first to be up in arms. But I assure you, they are not. Heck, there is not a single native of Boothudurn that was ever more than four rooms away from this place. How do you expect them to go all the way to Union City?" Someone else put their hands on the reporter''s shoulder, and he stopped his questioning. Apparently, everyone was a bit unhappy with the question. Either because this wasn''t a subject they wanted to bring up here or because he was going about it the wrong way. With that, no one else asked Hera any questions, and the rest of the ceremony went out without a hitch. It was a good thing since she was already stressed out. Now all she had to do was survive the after-party. 495 - The after party The opening was a hit, and even the people who were skeptical about the quality one could expect from dwarves who, until just a few years ago, were still in the dark ages, were surprised. In fact, they were all amazed by how modern everything here was. There were some holographic displays in each and every forge and laboratory. Machinery that could help any crafter make, analyze and improve their designs and even very advanced computers with a new type of AI that could work as a personal assistant while there. Going as far as being able to control the temperature of the forges and give warnings about the optimal time frame to remove a piece from the heat. Everything was also heavily customizable, from how it looked to how it sounded to the types of warnings it would tell the user. The laboratories also had a variety of equipment, and if something was missing, those renting the place could order it. Boothudurn would pay for it, as long as it was reasonable and it wasn''t something so specialized that only a few people would ever use. There were a lot of other details about all that, but most people would be able to get the equipment they needed without too much of an issue. And, of course, if they had their own machines, they could bring them here. Boothudurn wouldn''t go out of its way to renovate a lab if the device didn''t fit, but some concessions could be made to help deliver the equipment. Hera didn''t care much about most of that since this wasn''t something she intended to worry about. When Rutigan and the others were giving the tour, Hera talked with Helena about the plans for the classes. Their idea was to start with a 3 month period where they would go over the basics, from camping to gathering food and some survival skills. There would also be some classes about politics so everyone could understand what was going on in the MAZE, and if they didn''t have the basic skills that the guild required, they would add classes that helped them get those. There would be discussions about the different biomes and lectures about the dangers and various types of monsters. However, since the goal was to make a group of explorers, Hera also wanted to have gym, parkour, and sprinting classes. Since those were the types of things that would help anyone in a pinch. Another huge part of the program would be healing with spells, potions, and regular medicine. If something were to happen and they were far away from everything else, Hera wanted her team to be able to do some first aid and maybe even more. Aside from all that, Hera also had a unique plan for the weekend classes. She had decided to make the training something more intense, to mirror a situation where they were facing hardship since no one in Boothudurn was familiar with that kind of thing. Even so, she would have what were essentially game nights for the weekends. She was going to make some treasure hunts in the city and make them play escape room games or some challenges in games that required exploration. She was even considering running some tabletop role-playing games just to help with their problem-solving skills. That was the only reason she considered the game night. It wasn''t because she liked those games and always wanted to play tabletop RPGs. Not at all. Then again, she needed something to trigger their sense of exploration, and this seemed like a great way to start. "Hey, Hera. Or should I call you Countess now?" Shane appeared from the crowd with Milo right behind her. It was amazing how he was able to stay hidden so far. There wasn''t anyone even close to his size around here. "Oh, please don''t. I''m getting tired of being called royalty of any kind already," Hera sighed and turned to greet her friends, "Hey Milo. How are things going?" Milo was currently eating some of the food that was available at the event, and he ended up choking when Hera talked to him. Shane passed some water to him and turned back to Hera. "Really? Does your dad call you princess too?" Shane asked. "No. He calls me goldilocks, like the children''s story you know. I was being called Flame Princess because of a dungeon in the Charring Wastes, and I have those¡­ friends that call me Empress all the time." "Those friends, you mean¡­ the one''s kind of like the one I have," Shane asked. They never discussed their legacies much since both agreed that talking about them through messages wasn''t exactly safe. Even when talking to Ninelyn, they were careful not to say too much about what they could actually do unless they were talking face to face. "Yep. Do they do that to you too?" Hera tilted her head in a confused expression. "Yeah, and it''s weird. We need to talk about it. There are things I can help you with," Shane smiled, "Either way. You said you needed me for something, and that''s why you wanted me to come. Not that I would only come for this, but I''m curious." "Yeah. How are things going in the Wailing Valley? Is the excavation over? Did you guys find the second doorway?" "Things are going well. We still have many tombs to comb through. Everyone is doing their best to catalog everything and, at the same time, don''t disturb the actual mausoleum. It''s taking a while. Not to mention it is enormous. About one-sixth of that room is made out of crypts. And no, we haven''t found the doorway to the next room. Why?" "Well. We will have a group of explorers who never actually explored anything. So I was thinking about a trial by fire, so to speak," Hera had a mischievous smile. "Which means?" "Don''t you want some interns for a couple of months?" "Oh...oh¡­OH! Girl, I like that idea. We can put them through the wringer," Shane started giggling. "Exactly, and since there is still the matter of the second doorway, we can give them a proper test. In a more or less controlled space. I don''t think anyone who is going to try to be a part of this will be under level 20, anyway." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "And since we are aware of most of what is in that room, we shouldn''t get any surprises," Shane nodded. "Exactly. It''s a good place to start, isn''t it?" Hera smiled. They continued talking on the central floor, where the classrooms and such were located. Shane wasn''t interested in the forges or laboratories, at least not right now. Some of the dwarves came by and asked her about the Royal Explorers and what they would actually do since her explanation seemed a bit vague in the details. Hera did her best to explain, but the reality was that it was a vague job by definition. They were supposed to go out and look for new things, whatever that may be. She could only give them one piece of actual information, which was to somehow look for things related to Boothudurn. Even if there was another hidden agenda behind this group, that was all she could say for now. In the future, after the training, the council would call all the explorers in that group and explain their secondary objective. Finding a place where they could build a second city if needed. "Hera. Can I ask you a question?" Milo stepped forward when he finally found a moment when no one was talking to her. "Sure, what''s up?" Hera turned around, quickly swallowing the quiche she was trying to eat. "Are the dwarves the only ones that can join that exploration group?" Milo asked. "Honestly¡­ I''m not sure. I know I''m supposed to be the leader, but there are some details that I still don''t know. Do you want to join?" "Yeah. The excavation is kind of boring, and I just carry things there. I wanted to do something else. Every now and then, I just go do my own thing and leave Shane there. She''s a big girl and doesn''t need me to protect her all the time," Milo seemed a bit down. "Did anything happen between you two?" "Nothing much. We just had a fight." "Want to talk about it?" "Maybe later. So do you think I can join?" "I think so, but let me get back to you, ok? I''ll talk with the King later. But if the answer is yes, you will have to be a part of the training. It should last two or three months. We are still ironing out the details." "Humm¡­ ok, I''ll think about it," Milo replied as Blue, and the others got close. The whole crew was there, Helena, Blue, Bonnie, Quinn, Alex, and even Adriel. They continued talking for a while, with Hera being stopped every now and then to answer questions from reporters or prospective explorers. Luckily, it didn''t take long for the reception to end. The problem was the after-party back in the palace. Hera had no option but to go since she was one of the guests of honor. At least most reporters didn''t stay for the party, seeing it as just gossip material. Here, the Countess of Exploration had a bit more breathing room. The person who ended up swarmed by the people was Quinn. The hairstyles she made were a huge hit. Not that they were that much different than what the people of Boothudurn were used to, but the sheer speed and volume of people who had their hair done by her was staggering for them. The reason for that was simple. Boothudurn was still using manual tools to do hair. Sure, some. We''re aware of the existence of hair dryers and other electronic tools that were second nature for Quinn to use. Curling Iron was something that they were particularly impressed with, but it was hard to get someone to teach the people here how to properly use it. Fethy even offered Quinn a place to stay for a while and teach the hair stylists of the city how to use modern tools properly. Of course, she would be paid handsomely for it and have as many customers to practice with as she wanted. Fethy wasn''t the only one putting pressure on Quinn to stay for a while. Helena and Bonnie really wanted her around. The reason wasn''t simply because they wanted to catch up with their friend, but they wanted someone they could trust to make more of what they were calling hair spells, a name that both of them hated, but no one else came up with a better one so far. At some point during the night, Hera managed to pull Rutigan aside and ask about having other people, not just dwarves, among the royal explorers. The King liked that idea, but he was worried about one aspect of it. He didn''t even have to say anything about it, and Hera assured him that said topic was going to remain a secret until the council decided to tell the explorers together. In the following week, Quinn was giving hair styling lessons in the R&D building while Hera was doing interviews with everyone who showed some interest in becoming a Royal Explorer. In total, about 30 people came to know more about the project. 16 refused when they heard more about the specifics. Especially the staying months far away from Boothudurn part. 3 of them had to be dismissed because of their ability. Two were dwarves that turned 18 this past year and, unfortunately, were still too weak to participate. Even if one of them was the first dwarf that got the explorer role in centuries. Hera told them they could participate in the training, but the parts that included going to another room were off the table. Unfortunately for them, Hera made a hard rule that no one under level 20 could join them. That being said, she also liked the idea of having a support crew back in the city. People who could do internet research and compile information that was being sent by multiple teams. If they were willing to take that position as a trial run, she wouldn''t be against it. This also meant that when they leveled up enough, there would be two new royal explorers who would potentially be much more prepared for the job. The last person she refused was because of his temper. As part of the interview Hera would make small hypothetical scenarios and ask what they would do in those scenarios. She would spend about 10 minutes placing obstacles in front of obstacles for whatever she created to see how far they would go and what they would do when met with failure. All those who passed got somewhat far enough before giving up, saying they couldn''t find a way out of the situation. Hera simply nodded and said this was the point. She wanted to show that despite their best efforts. Things could go wrong. One particular dwarf, the one who got rejected, was already angry and complaining about the obstacles, and when Hera explained the reason, the man started shouting and saying that none of that made sense. Sure, Hera exaggerated a bit in his scenario since she was starting to lose her creativity. At one point, she said that bears were underwater chasing him. But still, having someone snap because of this didn''t bode well. In the end, before the training started, she had a total of 11 dwarves, 3 humans, and 1 elf under her command. The humans were Alex, Blue, and Milo, while the elf was Adriel. He said that having a steady job was better than working only when there was work, but Hera was half sure he was just there to spend time with Alex, but then again, he offered to be more of a logistics guy. Carrying heavy equipment for those who could need it, and that was a solid idea. Either way, this was just the start of her work. Now came the hard part. Train all those people into actual explorers. Helena helped with that by tweaking her proposal for the guild recruit training, but there was still a lot of work to be done. 496 - Gather Up A chilly wind was starting to pick up, getting stronger and stronger, but there wasn''t much anyone could do about it. The trees provided cover from the warmth of the sunlight as the smell of the ocean covered the entire area. Those were large trees, larger than one would expect and each of the leaves was somewhat transparent, almost as if they were made out of plastic. A few, however, were obscured by a few snowflakes that had fallen in the previous night. No one could really tell if that meant it was the ending of the winter or the beginning of spring. Usually, this wouldn''t be an issue, but this was one of the rare rooms in the MAZE that actually had seasons. In fact, these types of rooms were getting more common with time. It seemed that most if not all the rooms on the 25th layer and potentially above had more consistent seasons. Or at least something close to it. Currently, there were about 30 people near a doorway on standby. Everyone knew why they were here. No one was happy about it, but it was something they had to do, "Are you sure we have no other options?" a slim man with heterochromatic eyes asked. "For the 100th time. Yes. Look, no one wants to do this. We all would be happy if we could figure out some other way. But they killed everyone who went there to have a conversation. Or options are to leave them be and risk having them do whatever they want or¡­ this," another man spoke. He was wearing a full set of heavy armor, and no one could even see his face from under all that. "Can you stop speaking in code? We are here to commit genocide. Say the fucking word," a muscular man with wild, untamed hair and beard got up to complain. Everyone knew who he was. Wildborn. "Calm down. It''s not a genocide. We are protecting our people," a woman with long blond hair tied in a ponytail while wearing plate armor was sitting on a log while sharpening her sword. She was using some sort of scaled stone to grind against the blade that already seemed sharp enough to cut anything. "Oh, please, Dawn. We need to stop pretending this is not what we are going to do. We came here to kill everyone. That''s the truth," Wildborn scoffed. "That may be so, but saying it out loud will be a problem for morale. Like Iron Heart said, no one wants to do this," Blade of Dawn continued. "She is right. We shouldn''t be thinking like that. It makes us look bad," Frostbite came back from her patrol, appearing behind a few of the trees. Blade of Dawn scoffed, "Don''t make me look like one of your goons. I don''t care about appearances anywhere near as much as you or your boss." "Aw, don''t be like that. You share your title with my employer. I''m sure you felt some kinship to us at some point," Frostbite walked to a log close to Blade of Dawn and sat down. "I was born and raised in the MAZE. If I had heard about your company before I got my titles, I assure you I wouldn''t have kept it, "Blade of Dawn continued to take care of her two-handed sword. "Don''t start. We can''t have infighting right now," Spinner walked close to the group. He was the one responsible for this operation, and there was no way in hell that he would let the plan fail because of petty squabbles. "Fine, fine. I''ll hold back," Frostbite smiled at Dawn before leaning back, "For now." There was a pause, but the man with heterochromatic eyes broke the tension, "Are they really all there?" "For fuck''s sake. He told you already. We don''t know! What we do know is that there was no movement going in and out in the last month. Or at least no movement related to the three doorways we know of," Wildborn snapped at the man. "Back off, Wild! We agreed that I would be responsible for teaching him the ropes. And protecting him while I can," Iron Heart stepped between the two before turning back to the man with unique eyes, "And Archer, you need to pay more attention. We sent some scouts to that room, and no one found more than the three doorways that we are protecting. We have some people inside that can stay hidden but they can''t give us constant reports or their positions will be compromised and we won''t have the element of surprise on our side. Even if we already lost some of it with the messengers." "Right, and they killed the messengers, right?" Archer asked. "Yes, they did, and that wasn''t done only by the adults or the elderly, but by the younger ones. Even the kids who shouldn''t be above level 1 joined the attack. From what we know, they had some tattoos that could make them strong enough to actually harm our envoys. Meaning that every single centaur is a potential threat," Iron Heart had a somber tone to his voice. "Ok¡­ so we need to kill children?" Archer asked while looking down to the ground. No one replied, but everyone knew the answer. Their job was to come here and kill everything. Negotiations had collapsed, and there was nothing they could do about it. The centaurs were treating everyone else as enemies. It didn''t matter if they were human, beastmen, triton, or whatever race. Every time they saw someone different from them, they would kill them with prejudice. After a long time of deliberation, the guild came to the conclusion that since this was how they were acting against everyone, since they were high-level enough to become a serious threat to everyone, there was only one solution. It was a matter of survival of the fittest, and if everyone else wanted to survive, the centaurs couldn''t be a part of their world. A lot of people argue that they shouldn''t just kill all of them. The children and those who never did anything wrong should be spared. The counter-argument won, however. Even if people left the innocent ones unharmed, there was nothing that could guarantee that they wouldn''t be coming after revenge. It was a brutal way of thinking, but no one could go against that logic, Even if their feelings were not supportive. History had proven that when a group was attacked, they would come back again and again. Be it for revenge or to keep trying to achieve their goals. The only way to stop them would be to either give them what they wanted in some shape or form or wipe them all out. Since the centaurs wanted nothing more than to kill all humans, giving what they wanted wasn''t an option. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It wasn''t like this was the guild''s first decision. They tried sending two dozen messengers to the centaurs and even asked them to meet them somewhere else to have a conversation. But every attempt was met with hostility, and all the messengers were killed. They weren''t clean deaths either. No, the first few were lucky to be just beheaded and have their heads on spikes, but the more people they sent, the more cruel and sadistic the centaur became. The last person, the one that made the guild stop all efforts of peace, was skinned alive and had all his skin and muscle pulled apart to make an attempt at a wall around their village. To make it even worse, the man was kept alive by healing spells. Only when another human went inside and killed the man did his suffering end. Spinner had a call and moved away from the group to listen to who was on the other side. He didn''t look much of a warrior. He wore black pants with a white shirt, blue suspenders, and a pair of round glasses that gave him the look of an accountant more than anything. As a matter of fact, this was not too far from the truth. He earned the name Spinner not because he would spin around while attacking but because he would create plans that were like spiderwebs, traps almost impossible to escape from. His name came from that idea. He would spin a web, so to speak, around his target and then either kill it with a quick strike or leave it to waste all its energy before finishing it off. He was talking with the other teams and the guild in order to decide when to attack. As soon as he ended the call, he told his close aides to bring the rest of the troops to the doorway. They weren''t far, but the large camp was some ways away from the woods. If one of the centaurs decided to come here, letting it drop in the middle of their supplies was a very bad idea. "Are we getting ready to go?" Wildborn asked when Spinner got closer. "In about 30 minutes. I got the go-ahead from the guild, and everyone seems to be here," Spinner nodded. "Everyone?" Blade of Dawn looked towards the camp, but she didn''t see any newcomers, "Are you sure? We only have humans here." Spinner sighed, "I know. The idea was that this would be a joint operation, but the people who could help us are too far away. The closest Elf above level 60 would take about a month to get here. And she is the closest one. You know how the children of the sky can''t help us, and the dwarves had some big event recently that called most of their high-level members back to one of their main cities and they are still doing system knows what there." "That''s not great. Some people are already scared of us. I mean, the whole terrorist attack was because they thought that humans were being too much. If we kill an entire race¡­." Blade of Dawn looked up from her sword, and her expression matched Spinner''s. "I know. But we also have another problem. Our spies say that the centaurs are getting ready to do something. They are gathering wood and other materials to build something inside their village. Some reports say it is just a wall or some defenses, but some infrared images show a larger thing being built inside one of their tents. If it was just a structure or a weapon, we wouldn''t care. Their technology is not advanced enough to be a problem. I mean, they think drones are just monsters, so we are good on that part. But this is what is worrying us," Spinner showed a picture on his tablet. It was a shot of their village. Taken from one of the drones that were very high in the sky and far away from the actual village to not be seen by the denizens of that room. Blade of Dawn could see the village in a blue wire frame filter that showed the levels of mana of everything on the screen. The brighter the blue, the stronger the mana was. And this picture was already converted to the proper proportions that one would expect in this layer. The ground was primarily black, showing that it had comparatively little to no mana. The small barricades around the camp had a significantly higher mana signal, but it wasn''t enough to be something like mana-rich wood or anything that could show a trap. When looking at the tents, however, there were some changes. From what she could gather, the patterns drawn or weaved into the fabric had some special properties. One possible answer was that tents were made to protect them from nature. Maybe to keep the interior heated or cooler during the summer. She could also see two centaurs in the picture. One that seemed to be a child with a lighter shade of blue but still nothing the one wouldn''t expect from a monster in this later. The other was an adult that was an even lighter blue than the sky. So far, those readings could only be found on large, powerful monsters that would require an entire team to kill. But the thing that was the scariest wasn''t any of that. In the corner of the picture were the beginnings of a pure white spot that almost looked like a floodlight. Whatever was giving off that reading had at least ten times the amount of mana that a regular monster should have. That was the only way that the readings could show like that. "Couldn''t that be fake? A trick or a trap exactly to make us think they have a big scary weapon?" Blade of Dawn asked. "It could. But the moment that this picture was taken, the drone was destroyed. The readings say it was an actual attack, not some interference. So the centaurs know that we or someone they don''t know is here. If this was a trap, it would make more sense for them to pretend they didn''t see whatever it was. That way, they can lure us in. But if it truly found something that could be a hidden card, then it would make sense for them to stop us from seeing it properly," Spinner explained and started checking things on his tablet again, "And yes, this could also be a way for them to pretend that this is not a trap. But then we enter a slippery slope of they know that we know that they know, and going that far ahead could be detrimental. Besides, from what we know, this is the first time they interact with any other type of civilization. I don''t think that they would have warfare tactics that are that advanced." "So our options are going now and giving more ammo for the terrorists to say that we are the cause of everything bad that goes on in the MAZE, or risk dealing with whatever that thing is?" Blade of Dawn looked to Spinner, who just nodded dejectedly. "Between a group of terrorists that we are already working towards finding and that even in the worst-case scenario, shouldn''t be more than level 60, and a civilization of hostile beings that are at least level 80. The biggest threat should be obvious. Even so, something is not sitting well with me," Spinner answered honestly when he noticed that there was no one listening. "Same. The way they attacked seems too random. We don''t even have an actual reason. It''s just, ''we hate you, and you made mistakes,''" Blade of Dawn sighed. "I agree. I feel like I''m missing something, but they didn''t give us much of a choice," Spinner looks back to the incoming group of explorers who were coming from the camp, "Either way, focus on the fight now. We can worry about this later," he walked away going to meet the rest of the army that had gathered here. 497 - The plan "Look, I''m not big on speeches. So allow me to keep things simple. We came here to deal with a threat. According to the guild, a threat that may be the biggest danger the MAZE has ever tossed at us since the devil hunt. Some of you might say that this is a stretch, but I''m not the one saying this. This is something the guild has decided. Because of that, it also opens the possibility of a new hero. Up to this point, I was just saying what the guild told me to say. I''m in charge of this operation, so I''ll stop the ramblings and go straight to business," Spinner was talking on top of a small podium to the entire group of 100 explorers covering this doorway. Around him, some tiny triangular gadgets functioned as cameras for a hologram. These cameras sent the image to the other two doorways, where everyone was watching the same speech. "First of all, I don''t want anyone trying to be a hero. Don''t kid yourselves. What we are doing here won''t be as heroic as the guild is making out to be. Right now, we are soldiers. We are an army that came to destroy our enemies. Yes, the centaurs are a threat, and we are tasked with their complete annihilation. This includes the elderly, the innocent, and the children. I know that all of us have mixed feelings about this, but let me explain our decision one more time. If we allow any of the centaurs to survive, they will come back for revenge. They have killed every single messenger we sent. Every attempt we made at a peaceful resolution ended up in more deaths. Not to mention, every one of them that managed to flee may one day reach a low-level room and kill everyone they saw. If they move in a group, or with some knowledge of what we can do, it won''t end like it did in Dzviery. They will continue to push forward, killing more people, destroying more of our cities, and pushing us back more and more. If any of you think this is not enough consequence for us to act like this. You are not seeing the full picture. A MAZE where we are forced to retreat from our current rooms will create a place where rampages can grow unchecked. Wendigos can feast and become stronger without anyone to stop them. Not only will this make it nearly impossible for us to reclaim the rooms we lost, but the looming threat of one of those monsters managing to cross a doorway will always be floating around our heads." "You all knew about this before you accepted this summon. I won''t say that you''ll be punished for hesitating to kill someone you may not want to kill. But I will warn you that doing so might cause more than just problems for this whole operation. It might end with your death," Spinner gave some time for his words to sink in before continuing, "I will say this again. We have two goals for this war. The first is to kill every damn centaur in that place. Every single one of them, without exceptions. The second is for us to survive. Personally, I am more concerned about your safety than anything else, and that''s why we have developed this plan. The blockers, you know who you are, will go around the village to stop them from running away. The snipers will take a position in the surrounding area, the mages are going to blast them to the dark ages, and then the vanguard will push in. You should all know your jobs by the description I just gave you but if you have any doubts ask the captains in charge of your group. For the healers, you will be spread around all teams to be safe. Aside from that, we have a total of 30 people, 10 per doorway, who will stay behind to cover the exits. Both to stop any centaurs from going out and to intercept any who might come from a different room. Any questions?" Spinner waited a moment. Since he was talking in three different rooms, he had to give time for the people responsible for communication to send him the texts. When it was clear that no one had any questions, he just nodded. "Very well then. We leave in 30. If you have any preparation, do it now. If you have any buffs that would last during the fight. Try to cast them early enough to have all your mana when we go inside. The moment we crossed that doorway, we are in enemy territory. Consider everything there as hostile and be ready for any potential ambushes. When we get inside, stay hidden and stay low. Be careful with the monsters, and don''t engage unless you have to. A few of the assassins are in charge of killing them without making a sound. I''m not saying not to defend yourself, but if you can, let them do their thing. Get ready, go to the bathroom, drink some water, or do whatever you need to do. Again, we leave in 30 minutes, get ready," Spinner finished speaking and stepped out of the podium. People started to prepare themselves, donning their armor and doing any last-minute preparations. Among them, some would stay in the camp. They only came for logistics support, and at the moment, they were passing around potions and buffing the people who were going to fight. If the worst came to pass, it would also be the last line of defense to ensure that all the centaurs were killed. Or at least to send a message that the operation had failed. Those who were not going to fight had the option to run from the room after this, and many would take that option since they didn''t want to die while fighting against something so much stronger than them, but a couple decided to stay behind to help the army go back. That was the same in all rooms connected to the centaur homeland. In one of such, a rocky, desolate room that had no water sources, no wind, and even the monsters were all made out of stone and other minerals, Insomniac was ready for the fight. Unlike most people, he was already wearing all his armor and carrying his longsword on his back even before Spinner''s speech started. He was constantly doing patrols around the area ever since he got here. Now that the fight was about to start, he had one more thing to take care of. "Hey. Have you seen¡­ What is his name again? The guy who can turn monsters into toys," Insomniac asked one of the people who were distributing potions. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Oh, you mean the Smug Leer? I think he is that way," the man pointed to the right, "if you are going there. Do you mind taking his share?" "Sure," Insomniac grabbed the bag with the potions but mumbled to himself, "I don''t think that was his name." He walked around and found a man with tan skin and short black hair talking with a few of the mages, "Hey. You are the guy, right?" The man turned around with an annoyed expression, but it soon turned to shock when he realized who was talking to him, "Hi¡­ you''re Insomniac. Aren''t you?" "Yes. Are you the guy? The one who can make toys out of monsters and stuff. I forgot your name," Insomniac rubbed his eyes, clearly too tired for small talk. "Yes. I''m Chandler, but people call me Sculptor. Or Smug Leer from my old job¡­." Sculptor glanced back to the group of mages. Despite having a proper title now, everyone still called him his old nickname as a way to remind him where he stood amongst the explorers. "Ok, Sculptor. You are with me for this thing," Insomniac looked back to the mages, "Do you need something from them?" "Yeah. Part of my legacy can let me trap spells in figurines. I can make them last a couple of hours now. Had to take a bastard of a loan to make that happen," Sculptor sighed, "Do you have to do that too?" Insomniac looked to the side and, after a moment, shook his head, "I could if there were any skills left for me to get. My legacy is new-ish. I''m only the third person to ever hold it. But what do spells have to do with them?" he pointed at the mages again. "Oh yeah. They are casting some big spells that we tested before so I can store them in figurines for the fight," Sculptor took a moment to look at Insomniac, "Are you, ok? You look dead tired." "I am tired." "Right, your legacy thing¡­ How long has it been since you had a decent night of sleep?" "Probably ever since I got the legacy. But if you are asking when was the last time I slept, it was about two months ago." "Fuck me. That''s too much. How are you even able to stand? Can you even participate in this like that?" Insomniac nodded, "I got a skill that lets me keep a well-rested body for later. When we are about to start, I''ll trigger it, and for the next 2 days, it will be like I just woke up from a long night of sleep. Also, here. The potions." "Oh, thanks," Sculptor stopped for a moment, waiting for the highest level explorer in the world to say something else, but after a while, it seemed like he was done talking, "If this is all I''m going to head back now." "No. There''s something else. Sync up your communicator with mine. For this war, you''re going to stay with me. You don''t have a say in this. The order came from above." "Oh¡­ I guess they still don''t trust me," Sculptor sighed and used his tablet to connect to Insomniac''s communicators. "It might be their reason, but it''s not mine." "What is yours then? Did you lose someone because of what I did and want revenge?" "What? No. I''m doing this because of your legacy." "What does that have to do with anything?" Insomniac frowned, "Everything. If things go south and we lose this, we need to make sure that the centaurs don''t have your legacy. If they do, everyone is going to be in danger. So congratulations. You have the strongest bodyguard in the world." "I¡­ didn''t even think of that¡­ Thank you. And I''ll be sure to see if I can bring you back with me too." "I appreciate that. But if they have my legacy, it won''t be as bad as if they have yours. I also have a few tricks I can use to run away if I need to. Anyway, starting now, don''t turn off the communicator. I don''t care if you''re going to the bathroom, if you''re talking to your mother, or if you''re going to the woods for a quickie with someone. Until this is over, keep the communicator on at all times." "I never pegged you as a voyeur," Sculptor chuckled but quickly stopped when he noticed Insomniac''s face, "No jokes. Got it." "Try again when I activate my skill. It''s hard to have a sense of humor when you''re this tired." "Ok. I''ll get the spells that I have to. Then we can head to the front. We are not exactly part of the blocking group, but I''ll send in some monsters as a distraction when they are in position." "Are those monsters friendly to us?" Insomniac asked. "Not really. They are just monsters. It will help to have someone to watch my back," Sculptor smiled, and Insomniac just nodded in reply. With that, the former smuggler turned back to the mages who used a couple of large scales spells only to have them trapped in small silver figurines with depictions of the spells. Usually, he wouldn''t be able to gather such large spells with his legacy. But thanks to the guild''s support, he had a considerable amount of silver that could be consumed to make said figurines. This was a new ability he had, the one he had to get a loan from the legacy to acquire. The main problem with the skill was that it didn''t require just silver but a specific type of silver that had mana inside it. It was essentially ores that could behave like mana stones, a rare and highly sought-after material. Having a legacy to consume them for a one-off thing sounded insane, yet here he was. After all preparations, Spinner gave the signal for them to head inside. The war against the centaur was about to start. 498 - Initial Strike The 300 explorers were approaching the centaur village. So far, there weren''t any issues despite the darkness. Unlike where they were, this room had a unique time zone, and it was currently the middle of the night. The few monsters that appeared were quickly killed without making any noise, and everybody was moving as stealthily as possible. Spinner was happy about that but uneasy at the same time. The plan was working well, too well. Even if this wasn''t because the centaurs were preparing a trap of sorts, it still felt like it was the calm before the storm. In a way, it really was. The moment the first spell goes off, everything will turn into mayhem. "Everyone be ready. We are entering their territory right now," one of the spies who were familiar with the area announced in the open channel available to everyone''s communicators. "Blockers, go around. Everyone else, keep low and don''t make any noise. Sculptor. On my signal, you send out the monsters. We need the distraction to ensure the centaurs won''t notice the barrier being put up," Spinner quickly reinforced the orders. They had already gone over the plan a thousand times, but there was no room for mistakes. The team responsible for creating a barrier around the village started moving. In less than 10 minutes, all of them had arrived at their positions, and the centaurs still seemed to be none the wiser. Not to say that it wasn''t a tense situation. At a specific moment, one of the centaurs came out of the village to do something on the outskirts. Everyone held their breaths while the creature walked around to a nearby ditch and emptied a bucket filled with a milky yellow liquid. The stench coming out of that was rough, but the centaur returned to the village with the bucket. According to their spies, the centaurs would go to sleep after all the lights were out. Hatty was the signal for the humans to start. Since the barrier they were going to create wouldn''t be emanating light, and it would take almost two hours for it to be completed the chance of the centaurs noticing it was very small. And even if one of them realized something was amiss, they had the monsters that Sculptor brought. Using them as a distraction should give the blockers enough time to close the barrier. Then, it would become a thunderdome. No one would be able to get in or out of the barrier until the blockers dropped it. As a way to guarantee that the centaurs didn''t escape, they had also placed a safeguard in the spell. The barrier could only be lifted if all the blockers agreed. Even killing one of them wouldn''t be enough to dispel the effect. However, the blockers were unable to move around while the barrier was up. Meaning that they were completely defenseless, and that''s why each of them had a group of three or four people as their bodyguards. Time went by, and the lights inside the village finally went out. Spinner gave the command, and the barrier slowly started to rise. If everything went well, nothing would happen during this stage, but there were a couple of centaurs who would always be on the lookout for monsters. Those were the ones that worried the commander. "I have to say, this place is really cool," Insomniac told Sculptor. They were waiting for a long time already and some of the tension was leaving their bodies. "You think so? I guess it could be, but I can''t see shit now," Sculptor sighed. "Use the night vision mode of the visor, then look at the trees. They don''t have a single trunk but a few that start spinning into each other becoming something bigger than all of them. And look over there," he pointed to the right, "That tree looks like a giant mushroom. Even the colors of the leaves make it seem like one of those red mushrooms with white dots." Sculptor changed the settings on his tablet, but Insomniac stopped him and showed what was the touch command to change the way the visor worked. He quickly activated the night vision and took a look around. The place was truly beautiful. Each of the trees was unique in some way. Some looked like they were different kinds of plants, while others just had really long branches that one would see in a painting. What was constant amongst all of them was the colors. They all shared the same tones and shades, making it look like they all belonged here, even with the weirdness of their shapes. After looking around, Sculptor turned to Insomniac, seeing the man smile for the first time. The skill he mentioned was doing wanders. It was almost like he was a completely different person. "You know, you are nothing like I imagined," he said. "What do you mean?" Insomniac turned to the former smuggler. "Sculptor! One of the centaurs is looking at the barrier. Send the monsters now!" Spinner''s voice came through their communicator. "How many?" Sculptor snapped into action. "All you got." The man reached for a bag in his waist and grabbed four different golden figurines. A very long lizard with its jaw open and four rows of teeth, a biped creature that resembled a gorilla but had very smooth skin and three tentacle-like appendages coming from its back, a dog that looked severely malnourished and what looked like a weasel, but a set of bones came out of his body almost like spider legs. Sculptor confirmed that all the four figures were there and placed them all in a round plastic container before putting them in a slingshot. "Sculptor! Now! They are moving towards the back of the village." "I got it, I got it," Sculptor replied and shot his makeshift projectile. Because of the size of that one, it was a bit clunky to use the slingshot, but he had trained for this. Aiming for the head of the centaur that just turned around, he let go, and the ball of monsters flew through the air. It hit the target and broke the plastic, causing the figurines to fall to the ground. The half-man held the back of his head, not in pain but annoyed, and, as soon as he turned around, Sculptor released the monsters. The lizard jumped out and roared, its body becoming even longer and snake-like, but several limbs were around him like a centipede. The smooth gorilla was actually a red slime creature that would take animal shapes as it fought. The starving dog was easily 5 meters tall and cursed with a never ending hunger, and the weasel was something out a nightmare. It screamed as if it was a child, and hordes of small weasels came out of its body as if they were baby spiders. "Oh¡­ that''s why that one took so much gold," Sculptor mumbled while he got the spells ready to fire. They still had to wait for the barrier to close before firing, but then the mages had set up a specific order to optimize their damage. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. As soon as the monsters appeared, the centaur started yelling. Warning everyone of an attack and trying to wake them up. The one that was a little bit behind him jumped to attack the Starving Hound, but he was intercepted by the Spider Weasel and its many, many babies. More than the yelling, the screams of panic as hundreds and hundreds of small weasel-like creatures climbed on top of the centaur were what managed to wake the rest of the village up. Spinner looked up, hoping that the distraction would be enough. The monster figurines were already their plan B, and if there was something else going on, they would have to go for plan C, which wasn''t the best option. The barrier was about halfway done, and it would still take about 2 minutes before it was completely closed. Since it was a very complicated spell, being able to shorten its cast by this much was already nothing shy of a miracle. Little by little, the centaurs woke up and joined the fray. The one that was being attacked by the weasels got some help, and with a fire spell, they were able to kill the babies, which only enraged the mother. While that was going on, the FrostFang Lizard started moving around the tents, smelling the air and looking for something. It managed to find whatever it was and jumped into a specific tent. Soon the sound of crying and yelling children came from inside. However, the Beast Slime had other ideas. Being the more intelligent of the bunch, the slime knew that someone had brought it here, and it wasn''t about to let its kidnapper go unpunished. The gorilla-like shape moved around, trying to see if the man who trapped it was somewhere nearby. "Shit. I think that one is looking for me," Sculptor whispered in the communicator. "Mages, slow it. Distract it. Do something so it won''t reveal our position," Spinner quickly ordered as the mages started casting their spells. "Should I kill it?" Archer asked, already notching an arrow on his bow. He, together with Sculptor and Insomniac, was one of the three legacy holders participating in this operation. Despite his lower level, being only in the high 60s, his skills allowed him to kill most creatures in a single shot. However, doing so would trigger the cooldown of his Heartpiercer, and the idea of sniping the centaur leader would have to be discarded. "No. Actually, do you have a shot that would kill it and a couple of centaurs?" Spinner asked. "Maybe. I might need to move a bit," Archer replied while watching the scene. Thankfully, the slime was translucent, allowing him to see those who were behind it. "If the slime gets too close, try to get it and a couple centaurs then," Spinner replied. The centaur leader was still a mystery for them. Even the spies had no idea who their actual ruler, chieftain, or whatever. So taking two of them out could already help their odds. The spells started to hit the slime, but a few of them were a bit too flashy and caught the attention of some of the centaurs. "Inva¡­" before the centaur could finish yelling, an arrow that had just pierced through the slime core hit his eye socket and continued to the ear of another centaur who was passing behind the first one, going through its head and only stopping when it became embedded in the humanoid chest of a third centaur who fell to his knees coughing up blood before dying on the spot. "Got three of them plus the slime. Thought the yell could be worse," Archer said before stepping behind Iron Heart, who was in charge of protecting the assassin. "Good enough," Spinner looked up and saw the barrier closing and a small glow covering the area around them as a confirmation that the spell was active, "Mages. Light this place up!" Just as the order came, the first spell went off. Each of them was a collaborative work among the mages to increase the power they can show. It started as a small earthquake that made all the centaurs lose their balance. The weasel and the hound were also having trouble, but the lizard continued its meal in the tent where most of the children were gathered. In the span of 20 seconds, the tremors became so strong that parts of the ground started to crack. With that, the following two spells were triggered. One of them was sent out by Sculptor using another small capsule with a figurine that looked like a jagged piece of rock. The second was the same spell, just aimed at a different spot. Double dipping allowed them to expand the area of effect and make the terrain even more troublesome for the centaurs to move around. The spells actually pulled shards of rock violently from the ground. A few were large enough to impale the monsters or centaurs, but most would be smaller, but enough to make traveling around that area barefoot, or bare hoof, in this case, a nightmare. What came next was a large tornado engulfing the entire village, and Sculptor tossed the second of the three spells he had available. This created a blizzard that could potentially freeze the centaurs or, at least, damage them with the shards of ice that would be flying around. Next came a massive cloud of smoke, made to remove the oxygen from the area. A few moments passed while the spells took effect when a mage told Sculptor to throw the last of his spells. It was a simple firestorm that would mix with all the magic that was already in effect and allow a couple of mages to mix all the elements together to create an elemental storm. The tornado changed shape, becoming more contained but more violent at the same time. A fire roared inside as large plumes of smoke that tried to escape the wind were sucked back inside. Ice fell at staggering speeds creating small craters on the ground as if they were meteorites, and the rock in the earth continued to come out as if it was being pulled by a magnet. About 30 seconds passed before the spells had to be deactivated. Unfortunately, the spell was too volatile to control for longer. But as soon as the smoke cleared out, it was obvious that this was a good idea. Most of the tents were destroyed, and there were a few bodies lying around on the ground with missing body parts, and the monsters were dead. Spinner focused his attention and noticed a centaur covered in tattoos that was eating something while running towards the children''s tent. She fell to her knees when she saw the destruction and the devoured bodies. It seemed like most kids were killed by the spell or the monster. After a few moments, she started looking around and broke some of the jagged pieces of rock, revealing a tiny centaur that went in for a hug. They started crying with smiles on their faces, but as soon as the tattooed centaur pulled back to look at the child, a drop of green rain fell on the small centaur''s face. The green seeped into its face and spread through its veins in a flash, eating the kid up from the inside. Before the tattooed centaur could do anything, the child rolled back his eyes and died, his body now motionless on the older centaur''s arms. This was Malva, the current chieftain of the tribe, and the child was her firstborn son, who was barely 3 months old. Malva looked up and around, trying to understand what was going on. It didn''t take long for her to see a human looking to the sky near the forest with both hands up, clearly casting a spell surrounded by some of the flames that had just come over the village. "AAARRRGGGHHH!!" With a bestial scream, the centaur chieftain snapped a large piece of rock from the ground and tossed it toward the human. Her target was known as Toxic Rain, who was trying to just finish the job quickly and ideally kill all the children by himself. That way, only one person would have to pay the price for such an act. What he never expected was that the price would be paid so soon. Before he was even able to completely activate his signature spell, a cloud of toxic rain, he heard a loud noise. When his eyes lowered, all he could see was a massive piece of rock flying at him. The rock hit his body but didn''t stop. His legs were instantly ripped from his torso, and his body went flying together with the boulder. It finally stopped after the massive stone broke five trees, and Toxic Rain was nothing more than a paste painting the rock. "Rain!" Spinner cried, looking at the bodiless feet of the hunter who was known for his heart of gold. He turned back to the village and saw several tribesmen getting up and emerging from beneath the rocks. The humans might have dealt the first strike, but it was clear that the centaurs wouldn''t go down without a fight. 499 - Centaur Advance Malva''s roar was a rallying cry for the rest of the centaurs. They got up from beneath the rubble and the destruction caused by the spells of the humans, took one look at the number of dead children, and turned back, enraged. All the ones who were inside the tent were killed. Even the children who were currently sleeping with their parents or friends have died. The tribe had lost their future, and it was yet again because of humans. Not everyone initially agreed with that idea, but what just happened turned the entire tribe into believers. Humans were a scourge that must be destroyed, a plague on the land, devils who are abusing the system for their own greed. The chieftain placed her son''s body on the ground, making sure not to jostle him. That corpse had already endured too much, and she wanted to have a proper burial later. When she let go of her child, she gave a soft kiss on its hand before turning around and rushing towards her tent. Arriving there, she tossed what remained of the tent itself to the side, revealing her glaive and a large pile of jerky. Malva grabbed her glaive and a handful of the dried meat before turning to the rest of the tribe, "Grab some meat and come with me! We shall kill those monsters!" the chieftain shoved the jerky in her mouth, and with the first bite her veins popped out, and her skin grew red as if it was recently sunburned. She dashed towards the middle of the woods, where Toxic Rain once was. The centaurs yell back, ''Yes, chieftain!'' revealing that this was their leader. Spinner saw the centaur dashing at the center of the army and quickly gave orders for the vanguard to intercept her. At the same time, he cast a couple of spells to try to lower her abilities. One of them was a net that would wrap around the centaur and sap her attributes. However, despite the spell taking hold of the chieftain, it seemed like nothing happened, "Mages, support the vanguard. Everyone who is not engaging with that centaur, go around and start the crab maneuver. You are the large pincers to rip everything apart!" "And the ones that can be cut off if things go to shit," Yellow Flash, a fighter specialized in high-speed combat, mumbled as the orders came through. Since things were about to start, he also activated his spell to increase his power. In a few seconds, he started to sink into the ground, his body mass becoming larger and larger until he pushed that energy out by stepping forward at impossible speeds. Anyone looking at him could only see a blur of yellow energy crossing the battlefield. In his wake, centaurs were getting hit, being tossed far away, or having one of their limbs broken, but the man didn''t return for a second attack. He only hit each enemy once, hoping the rest of the humans could finish them off. If he was to come back around, he would lose too much momentum, weakening him considerably. Halros noticed that energy and tried to follow it for a moment, but it was too fast even for his eyes. However, the centaur saw something else. A human archer was notching an arrow while aiming to the side. An arrow that was just like the one that killed three centaurs before all the spells hit. Grabbing his own bow, the centaur aimed at the human and let an arrow fly. The attack was about to hit him, but another human pulled Archer to the side. As promised, Iron Heart was protecting him. Halros clicked his tongue and started firing at that duo again. He wanted to avenge his brothers who fell and having someone that strong on the battlefield wouldn''t be good for the centaurs. Unfortunately, the combination of two humans proved to be a problem for him. Each of his arrows was either blocked or dodged by them. The centaur started using magic to change the trajectory his attacks would take, and that seemed to work. But only at first. The first two attacks managed to graze Archer, but the follow-ups were stopped by Iron Heart. The heavily armored warrior was surprisingly nimble, and being in the middle of the forest allowed them to use their surroundings as cover, unlike Halros. Frustrated, the centaur rushed to the chieftain''s tent to grab a handful of jerky. His movement was too fast for the humans to follow up, and when he fired again, his arrow went straight to Archer''s neck. He didn''t expect that Iron Heart had a skill that could let him notice incoming attacks, even at the speed that they were coming. The arrow was less than a meter away when the controller body slammed Archer, making him fall to the ground while defending the attack with his dual shields, making a loud ''clang'' echo through the woods, "Get up and stay behind me. if I move, you move!" Iron Heart commanded Archer, who followed the orders to a tee. Taking the idea of old warriors, Iron Heart would be a literal support for the assassin to steady his bow before letting the arrow fly. The problem was that neither of them could see Halros, and both were starting to get injured by the constant barrage of attacks coming not just from that one centaur but from the others that started to pile up to kill them. Iron Heart could be a great controller and bodyguard, but the moment more centaurs joined, it became hard to block every blow. He had to make the conscious decisions between evading and even letting some weaker attacks pass and hit Archer so he could defend against the deadlier ones. Archer wasn''t about to let impacts like that stop him. He could be much weaker than everyone, but he still wanted to pull his own weight. Even with the feelings of a few ribs cracked, he continued to let out a barrage of arrows at the incoming centaur. Most of them were imbued with a different element and effect. Ice, fire, poison, thunder, and other elemental attacks, as well as nets, grasping vines, ankle breakers, blinding shots, and even flash bangs, were in his arsenal, being thrown around in an adrenaline-infused flurry. Halros was having trouble getting a decent aim when seeing all the attacks coming out of Archer. Too many lights and other particles were getting in his way, not to mention that the number of centaurs in the area also caused problems. The last thing Halros wanted was to hit one of his tribesmen by accident. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That problem wasn''t something Vond had to worry about. The heavily armored centaur was pushing through the human vanguard, heading towards Archer. He was an unstoppable force on the battlefield. Each person who got in his way was killed without even being able to slow the centaur down. Spells were hitting his armor, and, despite the damage his items were suffering, Vond didn''t seem to mind what was happening at all. The vanguard was doing their best, but the heavy centaur with a moose''s body was just trampling everything people threw at him without a problem. Even the ones who decided to run didn''t get far, as the two-handed axe came crashing down on whoever was trying to escape. Vond was just a few meters away from Archer and Iron Heart when a set of chains appeared around his body, pinning him to the ground. The centaur struggled to get up and turn only to see a young man with short hair and a blue chain wrapped in his arm. Having a centaur going around decimating the human army would be awful, especially after the chieftain vanished into the forest. If there was one incredibly strong enemy was one thing, but having several would be too much of a hit for morale for people to keep going. Because of that, Azure Chain had to step in. He was a hunter, and his skills were better used to making traps than fighting someone head-on. Unfortunately, he didn''t have time for that right now. By wrapping the chain around Vond, he managed to hinder its movement. The next step was spinning the metal like it was a chainsaw. Even that wasn''t enough to damage the centaur, who was now walking toward the hunter at a slow but steady pace. Azure Chain whipped his arm to the side, letting the metal links wrapped around his body free and sending them all towards the centaur, the five bladed tips aiming for his vital points. Two managed to hit one of his legs, sinking into Vond''s skin, while the other three bounced off his armor, but the centaur didn''t let the attack continue from there. He grabbed the chains in the air and pulled Azure Chain towards him. Without moving too much, Vond shifted his two-handed axe to catch the human with the blade. Azure Chain was yanked out of the ground, and he tried to move and turn to evade the weapon, but he was moving too fast. This centaur was strong, too strong. To make things worse, every attempt the hunter made to change his trajectory was met with a small correction from the centaur, forcing him to continue flying towards the blade of the axe. As a last ditch effort, Azure Chain triggered a weapon break skill to destroy part of the chain so the force could push him away from his certain doom. His final plan worked, but just as he managed to hit the ground and dodge the attack, an arrow came flying and hit his torso. The arrow also had some sort of paralytic agent that instantly made his body freeze up. As a follow up, Vond used what was left of the chain to wrap around Azure Chain''s neck and started squeezing. Halros wasn''t the only one watching that fight. A human known as Mirror Match was going through a group of centaurs, trying to reach Azure Chain to assist the battle. The problem was that his way of fighting focused on reflecting the attacks back to the attacker, and the centaurs around him weren''t going for the kill. That caused a considerable delay, and only after some other humans joined his fight did he manage to push the centaurs to the side, but when he looked at the armored centaur again, it was already too late. Vond had tightened his choke so much that Azure Chain''s head popped clean off. Mirror Match was already halfway through the woods and caught Vond''s eye, who went straight for him, swinging his two-handed axe at the human who seemed to be challenging him. Mirror Match deployed his signature spell, and a reflective surface appeared in front of him just before the blade came crashing down. The blade bounced off as if it hit a piece of rock, and the damage was mostly reflected back to Vond. But there was a limit to that. Everything that went past his threshold carried on to him. As a final bit of advantage that the spell gave him, the damage was spread evenly through his body, so it wasn''t something that would deal fatal damage at once, "Oh?" Vond smiled and started attacking again, looking at this new human as if it was a new toy that he was trying to break. Even with his spells that could stop almost most attacks, Mirror Match was struggling against Vond. The centaur kept trying to hit him from different angles, playing with the man that finally was able to injure him a bit. Little by little, Mirror Match began to crack. He was reflecting less and less damage while more was being dealt to his body. After about a dozen attacks, Mirror Match fell to his knees, unable to cast another spell. Not because of a lack of mana, but because his body was too mangled to continue. Vond smiled and prepared a mighty swing, activating a skill that would ensure it would break through any reflection that could appear, "Get up, boy! This ain''t over!" Wildborn''s voice came echoing through the forest, healing most of Mirror Match''s wounds and giving him a buff that would increase the power of spells. When the axe came crashing down, a powered-up reflective surface that looked like an ornate mirror appeared just before the attack hit the man. The reflection of the attack hit Vond like a truck, opening a large gash on his shoulder and neck. Two arrows came from the side and were embedded into the centaur''s neck. At the same time Mirror Match jumped to the side and put one of his hands inside Vond''s wound before triggering an electric shock that was strong enough to burn the centaur''s organs. Wildborn arrived just after the centaur fell to the ground and tapped Mirror Match in the back, healing the man one more time, "Good work, boy. Take a solid five and go back into the fray. We still have work to do," Wildborn turned to the deepest part of the woods before running after Malva, who seemed to be heading straight to the barrier. 500 - Fight of the strongest When Vond''s body fell to the ground, Khagril was running close by. It was just by chance that the Previous chieftain candidate looked to the side and noticed his friend being killed by a human. He was one of the most vocal opposers of the idea that humans were a scourge. The centaur believed that the people who opened the wall couldn''t have known about the suffering they caused since they themselves had no idea about the existence of any other rooms outside their home. It didn''t matter what those people had told them. The stories about how humans had discovered the location of the centaur and sent the Wendigos to this place seemed too far-fetched, but the chieftain disagreed, so there was nothing he could do about it. However, his opinion on the matter changed as soon as the attack began. Even so, there was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. Some reason as to why the humans were attacking them like that. The centaurs never did anything to threaten or mess with them. This seemed like mindless rage and prejudice. He lost his father, his brother, and even his position in the tribe, and now, the humans were even taking out the few friends he still had. The father of his godson. Malva''s husband. This had to stop. Humans had to be stopped, and he would kill all of them himself. Khagril stepped towards Mirror Match, who was now on the ground by Vond''s body, trying to rest for a moment. As fate would have it, someone else appeared in front of him before. The strongest human alive wielding his two-handed sword. Insomniac wasn''t there because he wanted to fight against Khagril specifically, nor because he was trying to protect Mirror Match. In reality, the man was just trying to do his part during the fight. Sculptor was able to deal a lot of damage to the centaurs, and it felt wrong not to pull his own weight. To make things worse, he wasn''t able to finish off any of the ones that came to face him, and it wasn''t like he could just rush after them. One of his jobs was to keep Sculptor safe; to do that, he couldn''t actually jump in the thick of it. His luck changed when Khagril appeared. The fighter felt like he could finally do something, and this centaur looked like trouble. "Let''s dance, sweet tooth," Insomniac smiled. "Move away, vermin. I have no time to waste with you," Khagril took his sword out of his waist and slashed at the human, thinking that it was just another weak enemy trying to delay him. What he didn''t expect was that the human was not just able to block his attack, but it felt like he was hitting a wall. As a follow-up, Insomniac made an upward slash, cutting the centaur''s front leg. Khagril growled and started taking the fight seriously. He slashed down, aiming at the man''s neck, but his sword was blocked by another blade. It was the first time anyone aside from Vond was able to defend against one of his strikes without having their stance broken. Insomniac pushed the centaur''s weapon away, took a step back, and smiled. It''s been a while since he fought against a person with actual weapons. Most of his training was against monsters, but it seemed he wasn''t as rusty as he imagined. Khagril did a flourish with his sword and got into a stabbing stance. Since they were in the middle of the forest, focusing on attacks that allowed him to maintain his footing was better. On the other hand, Insomniac didn''t have to worry about mobility as much. He still had to be careful with wide swings, but unlike the centaur, he had a much easier time moving quickly to the sides. This wasn''t something purely because of luck. When they arrived in the forest, the fighter made sure to look for places that didn''t have a clear path for the centaurs to run through as a way to have some environmental advantage. Khagril realized the human plan and smiled internally. He tried to stab the human to gauge his reaction, only for the man to step behind a tree and appear on the other side, slashing at his horse torso. The centaur made a point to seem like he was struggling with the movement and only blocked it at the last moment. With a smile, the human did the same thing again, moving behind a tree before appearing again on the other side. Khagril acted like he was getting scared and struggling with the attacks, which never worked when he was sparring with his people, but the human seemed to believe in his poor acting skills. The two continued like that for a few moments, the human using the trees as cover and the centaur pretending that he was blocking the attacks in the nick of time. With each blow, Insomniac''s strikes became heavier. As part of his fury skill, the longer a fight would take, the stronger he would get. Spinning around a tree, he did an upward slash, trying to open the horse''s torso. A cruel part of him was curious about the centaur anatomy and wanted to know if Khagril''s guts were where he expected them to be. The attack failed yet again, and for the first time, some suspicion appeared on his face. Maybe the centaur wasn''t having as much trouble as it seemed. Noticing that Khagril realized that he could no longer test his opponent. Not just because of the human''s suspicion but also for the weight of his blows. But the damage was done, the centaur had already managed to get enough information out of his enemy, and he was ready to strike. When Insomniac vanished behind a tree again. Khagril jumped and kicked the tree, causing it to collapse to the side. As a follow-up, he kicked another tree and started jumping around. The human was caught off guard by the centaur''s mobility and accidentally gave a few openings that Khagril was happy to take advantage of. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. One slash cut Insomniac''s shoulder, and while jumping around the trees like a gazelle, Khagril delivered three more blows to the fighter. To make matters worse, after the fight with the Wendigos, the centaurs stop being so precious with combat. They would still honor a fight when he was amongst them, but any method worked when facing an enemy after their lives. Khagril''s weapon of choice was acid. He had his longsword enchanted so it would corrode and dissolve anything it cut. It would already be a problem for a monster, but having part of your muscles burned by acid was horrible for Insomniac. Not only did it hurt like hell, but he could feel his body not responding as it should anymore. Khagril noticed the effect and jumped on top of the human, ready to pierce his sword through him. However, just as he was about to strike, a large boulder appeared out of nowhere, aimed at his torso. Sculptor was close by, watching the fight while trying to not attract attention to himself. Insomniac had told him not to interfere since he would be too weak to do anything here. However, after seeing the fighter get in danger, Sculptor just used his legacy to remove the boulder by his side and send it to the centaur. The attack also gave an opening to Insomniac, who made an upward slash while covering his two-handed sword with a sleep spell. After all, the centaur weren''t the only ones who could play dirty. Khagril felt like he hadn''t slept in weeks, courtesy of Insomniac''s spell that allowed him to share his tiredness. And since his current well-rested mode was a placebo, the effect of his attack was incredibly strong. Still, the centaur wasn''t about to go down. He jumped again, trying to reach Sculptor, but Insomniac dashed to intercept, and the former smuggler used his hiding ability to vanish from sight. In the middle of such a tense battle, Khagril wasn''t able to locate him before he was intercepted by his enemy. Two slashes came out of the human''s blade, cutting the back ankles of the centaur, while a third one tried to hit the back of his neck. In a quick motion, Khagril kicked a tree to the side to push him away from the attack. He landed badly, hurting his back legs even more, and Insomniac was right on top of him to strike. Not having many other options, the centaur got ready to counter, but a bundle of branches filled with leaves appeared in front of his face, causing the human to be hidden from his sight. Insomniac managed to sink his weapon into the centaur''s body, pushing through the humanoid torso and cutting the spine of the horse half in two. As if to make sure he was done, the human grabbed Khagril by the throat and started squeezing as he felt blood fill his mouth. "They were right about you humans," Khagril said with his dying breath, the sleep effect added to the sudden pain and bleeding was too much for him to fight back and his body went limp on the ground. The fight lasted 54 seconds, but the surrounding woods were completely destroyed with large cracks on the forest floor, showing the places where one of the warriors blocked an attack. Sculptor rushed to Insomniac''s side, he was the only one to witness the fight, but it was a sight that would be engraved in his mind forever. The speed in which the warriors moved was impossible and his interactions with the fight only happened because Insomniac told him where to aim his attacks. A few moments had passed after the fighter killed the centaur. It seemed like he was struggling to remove his sword from the corpse, "That was a great fight! Let''s get you a healer. Here, I''ll help you," as he reached out for the weapon, Sculptor noticed Insomniac''s eyes leaking a purple goo, blood coming out of his mouth and a dagger letting out some black smoke embedded on the man''s torso, "Insomniac!" His screams were deafened by the madness that was around him. Dozens of centaurs and humans were fighting each other. But despite losing two of their strongest warriors, Halros still tipped the scales in their favor. He managed to kill three people every five arrows he shot, and his ammo was nowhere near running out. But there was one human he couldn''t hit. One that was nothing but a blur as he moved. Yellow Flash also noticed that and occasionally slowed down to lure out an attack from Halros. Doing that allowed him to narrow down the archer''s location, and now the human was heading there to get rid of the threat. Halros noticed Yellow Flash coming at him and sent out a few arrows trying to stop the man, but nothing seemed to work. Even with the uneven ground filled with rocks where his village once stood that should slow anyone down, the human was still able to keep his speed. Arrows also weren''t able to do anything against him. The man was too fast, and Halros knew he couldn''t run away. Not seeing a way to survive that encounter, Halros made a decision. Instead of focusing on his incoming doom, he turned back to the forest and triggered all the skills he had to accelerate his attacks. In the span of 10 seconds, he sent out 50 arrows and was finally stopped by a streak of yellow energy that decapitated him in a swift motion. Now that Yellow Flash had sped up enough, he could do more than just harm his targets. Even so, he slowed down ever so slightly to look back at the centaur he had just killed. Halros was willing to sacrifice himself to help his people, and that was something he had to respect. Most of the arrows shot by Halros before his death went to the humans near the forest killing almost forty people, but among the projectiles, there was one special arrow that he shot higher, making it seem like it was a mistake. Instead, it was a special projectile. One he could only use once every week, and it was aimed at a clearing by the barrier where three humans were currently fighting Malva. 501 - A chieftains way Malva was barreling through several humans that were in her path. She was like a battering ram pushing through all of their defenses and ignoring any damage that was being dealt to her. It didn''t matter if they were mages, warriors, controllers, or whatever. None was able to stop the chieftain from her carnage. One of her tattoos was now glowing, increasing her attributes even more. Suddenly she noticed a human with both hands pointing towards the sky again. It was Toxic Rain who somehow had survived the attack. With a cry of anger and grief, the chieftain sprinted at full speed heading towards the man, obliterating the trees in her path. When she was getting close to her target. Toxic Rain jumped to the side and appeared far away, now taking a position as if he was about to cast a spell on her. She felt her body getting heavier and her vision starting to twist as if she were wearing a pair of glasses slightly off her prescription. Before reaching the human, she noticed that there was something wrong. Even in her frenzied state, she could tell when some trickery was afoot. Without stopping, Malva looked around, following the trail of mana her enhanced senses could see coming from Toxic Rain until she reached Spinner a few meters behind her. She raised her arm aiming at the human general, and sent off one of her tattoos. It had the shape of a twin-tailed giant centipede that quickly rushed through the bushes and reached its target. The tattoo wrapped around Spinner in just a few moments, making him drop to the ground as the dozens of legs were embedded into his armor. Luckily, the living tattoo could only hold him down and it''s legs weren''t strong enough to pierce his armor. The impact hurt, of course, and he was still feeling his body being constricted by the tattoo, but it didn''t seem like he was in any danger at the moment. However, that would quickly change if another centaur noticed his current state. One particular centaur did. Malva herself. Angered by the illusion, the chieftain rushed towards Spinner, spinning her glaive to make a wide downward slash right in the middle of his body. He would have been instantly killed if it wasn''t for Blade of Dawn appearing to block the attack. The mage let go of all the ideas of being stealthy and quickly activated her spell that made it seem like the sun was rising from her sword. The battlefield that was dark and only had small pockets of light here and there suddenly lit up. Malva stepped back and covered her eyes, the light being too intense for her to handle in the middle of the night. All that lasted for just a moment, but it was enough for everyone to get a sense of their surroundings. Unfortunately, this affected both sides. Blade of Dawn couldn''t make her spell appear for only a single group, but the mage wasn''t done. She jumped after Malva swinging her sword that left a light trail behind it. That trail wasn''t just a pretty neon effect but part of her spell that would damage anyone who touched it, including Blade of Dawn herself. It didn''t take long for Malva to realize that as well. She grazed the light trail and noticed the searing pain in her arms. Still, it wasn''t that difficult to deal with an attack like that. The chieftain''s weapon had a longer reach, and she didn''t have to be that close to actually damage the mage. Not to mention that Blade of Dawn did very wide swings to increase that trail''s size, which left more openings for an attack. In just a couple of seconds, she was already familiar enough with those attacks to move as if they weren''t even there. With a stab, she pushed Blade of Dawn into her own trail, burning her armor, and was about to follow up with another stab aimed at her neck when ice spikes came from the ground surrounding the centaur. Out of nowhere, Frostbite interjected into the fight. The ice she created stopped Malva''s attacks and removed some of the light trails created by Blade of Dawn. She wanted to clear up the arena so they could fight better. Malva growled and grabbed her glaive with both hands for the first time, doing a single swing strong enough to create a shockwave that flew all the way to the other side of the barrier, killing one of the mages and his bodyguards. Blade of Dawn and Frostbite were able to evade the attack, but if the sunlight created by the mage wasn''t enough of a signal, everyone would know about their fight now. Frostbite didn''t wait for the centaur to continue her assault and started creating large jagged spikes of ice from the ground. There was a large area under her control now that she had already covered the field with a layer of snow. Each time she missed and Malva managed to escape her attacks, the ice spikes would explode, and the shards flew towards the centaur. An attack like that dealt much less damage than she expected, but it was enough to do something, and the more ice covered Malva, the stronger Frostbite''s aura effect would be. When enough ice was on the target, her movements would start to slow down. Unlike the 30 or so people Malva already killed, these humans felt stronger, better equipped, and more experienced. Because of that, she was starting to feel pressured, and this wasn''t something she was willing to accept. Malva jumped back and bit down on her shoulder, ripping a small chunk of meat that she started eating. While chewing, her muscles grew even more, and her skin turned a more vivid shade of red. Despite being on the ground, Spinner noticed that as the centaur did that, one of her tattoos, a red one, was glowing. The centaur jumped at the humans, slamming her hoof on the ground that cracks beneath her. Without stopping, she performed a horizontal swing that missed Blade of Dawn by a hair, but the strength of the attack was still enough to cut down some of the trees behind the mage. Frostbite covered her arms in ice and blocked the attack by going closer, but even the shaft of the glaive could cut the ice she created and crack her arms. Blade of Dawn was moving around Malva, leaving off a light trail to hinder her movements while trying to attack her, but all her advances were stopped by the chieftain. However, it was clear that even the small wounds the centaur received so far were starting to become a problem. She was bleeding from the multitude of cuts, and it seemed like her body couldn''t keep up with how her muscles were now behaving. An arrow cut through the sky and hit the chieftain in the back, causing her to roar. The humans smiled, thinking it was a gift from Archer, but, in reality, Halros sent the present for his chieftain. With his last breath, the centaur used his most potent healing spell on the arrow before shooting it. On impact, the projectile triggered not just an accelerated healing spell but also recovered most recent wounds. Seeing that her arm was getting better, Malva took another two bites, and with all the spells, her body could now move at full strength without worrying about breaking itself apart. Deciding to double down, she triggered another two tattoos. The first made her body sturdier, while the other created a double of herself. Her reflection was somewhat translucent and mirrored the chieftain''s every move. Blade of Dawn and Frostbite were caught off guard, and any advantage they had vanished. Despite moving at the same time as her reflection, Malva was able to fight both at the same time while using the same movements. Her glaive quickly became a problem; even evading the frontal attack wasn''t enough. The chieftain was forcing them to be in the line of fire of her reflection and vice versa, which caused their dodges to work against them. As soon as Malva''s reflection appeared, the tattoo centipede constraining Spinner vanished, but instead of being able to move normally, there was a paralyzing effect still lingering on the man. He used spell after spell to recover his condition, and when he finally got up, he could see Blade of Dawn and Frostbite being pushed back by two of the same centaur, "Dawn, Frost. I''ll tell you where to dodge," Spinner said in a low voice through the communicator. The strategist started giving orders telling them how to avoid the attacks, but he wasn''t going to tell them when to strike. It was counterproductive to micromanage so much in a situation like this. With his help, things quickly changed. Frostbite and Blade of Dawn were able to go back to what seemed like a level playing field. Not just that, but Frostbite managed to deal a heavy blow to Malva''s reflection, and to Spinner''s surprise, Malva herself was also affected in the same way. That gave him a great idea that he passed along to the duo facing the chieftain. His plan was to use both attacks to guide one of the versions of the centaur to get hit by something that was going towards the other one, just like she was doing to them. They only nodded as a reply, not to give off their plans, but it was something easier said than done. Even with Spinner''s guidance, they were struggling to be able to land a single hit while Malva wasn''t having the same type of issues. The chieftain spun her glaive and went for a wide slash, Frostbite was able to dodge one of them, but since she had just spun around to block an attack when Spinner told her to jump left, she ended up going right. Because of that, the slash landed, making a large gash on her back. Just as that happened, a loud yell came from the forest, and her wound healed instantly. Not entirely, but enough not to cause any problems with her mobility. "Don''t stop now, girls. We still have to take that one out!" Wildborn appeared, jumping into the fray and helping Blade of Dawn block an attack. He took the unofficial role of a tank that would be focusing on soaking up the damage since he could block some of the attacks himself. With Spinner still giving them commands, the chieftain started to be pushed back again, and little by little, she got more desperate. After four of her attacks were easily dodged and blocked, Malva decided to go for a different objective. She still wanted to break the barrier and let her people run away. Jumping back, she deactivated her duplicate and dashed towards the edge of the barrier. The centaur moved too fast for anyone to follow along, but the rest of the group was still trying to catch up. Stolen novel; please report. Malva managed to kill two of the barrier groups without any issues, but when she went to the third, a massive wall of ice appeared in front of her blocking her path. She tried to break through, but as she was carving a passage, someone suddenly punched her face so hard that she fell to the side. Looking up, the chieftain couldn''t see anyone around, but after a few seconds, a flash of yellow appeared, and another punch to the face dislodged her jaw. Wildborn also saw Yellow Flash moving around and buffed the group so they could rush to join the battle. Frostbite had to stay behind. The wall she created wasn''t only in front of the chieftain but a circular spell that forced her to stay in a small area while her surroundings were covered in ice. This was the spell that she used to protect the city and the spell that gave her her name. Blade of Dawn saw Yellow Flash hitting the centaur again and said in the communicator, "Hit my sword," that wasn''t the first time the two worked together, and the fighter understood what she meant by that. He ran around and kicked Malva''s back legs to stop her from getting up before going towards Blade of Dawn and slamming his fist on the wide side of her blade. Discharging a large amount of the energy he was accumulating to move faster. Because the attack also created light, Blade of Dawn used a spell to supercharge the trail she would create. With that boost of power, she dashed towards the chieftain and started spinning around her, covering the area in light trails that would obliterate anything touching them. Following it up, she jumped and came crashing down in the centaur that was now back up and ready for the blow. However, as her longsword clashed with the glaive, all the trails she created flew towards Malva, cutting her body several times and instantly cauterizing her wounds, causing her to feel an unimaginable pain. Yet, Malva was still standing. She pushed through the attacks, green-blue energy started to leak from her weapon, and one of her tattoos began to glow. With a swift motion, she stabbed Blade of Dawn. However, just before the glaive hit, a mirror appeared in front of it, causing the attack to be reflected back to the chieftain. Mirror Match arrived at the fight and used his spell after asking Wildborn for a buff. Unfortunately, the attack was too strong for him to reflect it all, and even being far away from it, he was sent flying towards a tree. But he wasn''t the only one. The impact also caught Malva off-guard, and she flew towards the ice wall. Parts of the jagged frozen water pierced her body. Not wanting to give her a chance to recover, Blade of Dawn spun around and came with her sword aiming at the chieftain''s neck. Her weapon couldn''t cut through, but the trail was still there. Using another spell, she pulled the path of light back to her sword, and the light managed to slit the throat of the centaur to the point of cauterizing her throat shut. Malva bared her teeth and tried to pull air to her lungs but to no avail. Yellow Flash punched her gut to force any air still inside her body to go away, and Blade of Dawn continued swinging. Spinner was finally getting close, while Wildborn went to help Mirror Match again. The commander got very close to the chieftain and stabbed her with a blood-red dagger that vanished from his hand and went inside her body. This spell wouldn''t do any damage, but it would harm both the natural regeneration of her body and any healing effects that could be affecting her. With that, he stepped back and let the rest of the team continue their attacks. He wasn''t in the mood to be hit by some random attack. Malva was still stuck to the wall, and the ice kept growing over her as if it was trying to consume her whole. The impact of her own attack was also causing problems, the tattoo she used wasn''t simply a buff, but an attack that, when the target was hit, would stop their body from moving. To make things worse, each attack she received would increase the time she would be stuck. Of course, that had diminishing returns, and eventually, the effect would run out. The question was, would she survive long enough for that to happen? Blade of Dawn jumped back and spun around one more time, making a large number of trails of light around the area again. Yellow Flash, who was near the centaur, continued his attacks until she was ready. He gave up most of his power to continue hitting with lightning-fast punches, but each strike was covered in lighting mana that would damage the chieftain''s entire body. This time, the mage continued dancing, giving a small space for everyone to move back while painting the forest with that orange light of a sunrise. That dance lasted almost a minute, and by the time the image was done, Malva could only see a wall of light with a small corridor being the opening where people would run from. "Now!" Blade of Dawn yelled. Yellow Flash ran out of that area while Blade of Dawn came in, dancing and covering the exit with a trail. Malva could feel herself regaining control of her body. She needed just a few more moments. While watching the human mage getting closer and closer, getting ready to deliver what looked like a killing blow. The chieftain''s body was now back in her control, and she was waiting for the human to get in range of her glaive. She could kill her with a single swing, considering the opening in the stance of the mage. As soon as Blade of Dawn got close enough, Malva pulled her glaive to attack, but the ice was stronger than she expected, and she couldn''t move her arm. Before she could understand why her attack failed, Blade of Dawn performed a downward slash, and all the light trails came crashing down on the centaur''s body. At that time, the mage leveled up, and the tattoos in the centaur appeared around her body, the legacy being transferred to its new owner. With the chieftain dead, and the buff she was providing the rest of the tribe gone, the humans took the upper hand and started to kill all the tribesmen. It took about twenty minutes or so for the main battle to be over, and now the humans were just making sure no centaurs were hiding somewhere. Frostbite had gathered with Spinner and the rest, who were still walking together when Blade of Dawn suddenly turned pale. "What? What do you mean?" the mage gasped while looking to her right towards nothing, "No, no, no, no, no. I don''t want this. Take this out! Take this out!" she removed part of her armor and started clawing out one of her new tattoos, one that was completely red and it showed the fangs of a creature. "Dawn, Dawn! What''s wrong?" Wildborn gasped. "Take this out of me. I don''t want it. I don''t want it! I''m not a Wendigo!" "What happened? Talk to us!" Frostbite grabbed Blade of Dawn by her shoulders to stop her from hurting herself. "A Wendigo had this. This legacy. They are a part of it. That''s why she was biting herself. She can eat others to get stronger. I can''t, please, take it. Please! I''m not a Wendigo!" Blade of Dawn looked deep into Frostbite''s eyes as a notification appeared in front of the controller. "Is that ok?" Frostbite asked Spinner. "We had agreed that any loot would be on a contribution base situation. Dawn and you were the ones who fought against the chieftain the most. I think you two deserve the legacy. And I don''t want it, not now that we know¡­." Spinner looked away. He didn''t like the idea of having a legacy that a Wendigo had at some point. He also understood why Blade of Dawn was reacting like that. She watched as the Wendigos devoured her loved ones a few days after the wall came down. "Ok, ok. I''ll take it," Frostbite accepted the legacy, and the tattoos vanished from Blade of Dawn and appeared in Frostbite. Everyone waited for a moment, and the controller turned to Spinner, "Look, I can''t pass to anyone else for a week. After that, if I give it away, I''ll lose about half a level worth of attributes at least. I understand if I have to give it to someone else, but after that week, I will need some compensation." "You can''t pass it to anyone else for a week?" Mirror Match asked. "That''s what the legacy is telling me. Because it was passed on, the legacy needs time before it can be passed on again. I don''t know if that''s how it''s supposed to work, but it''s what it is telling me," Frostbite explained. "Ok, that''s weird. We can see how everything is going to go down later. For now, continue going through the area and see if any centaur is still alive," Spinner turned around, only to see a commotion in the middle of the forest. "What''s going on over there?" Yellow Flash rushed over, "Shit! Wildborn!" Wildborn rushed over and saw why such a large group of people was gathered. Ten healers were doing their best to heal Insomniac. The problem wasn''t simply his wounds, but something was pushing back all the spells. Sculptor explained what happened as Wildborn joined in and started healing, but as it stood, it was a losing battle. At most, the group of healers could just maintain Insomniac''s current state. "We need to clear the area fast and get him to an actual hospital. I don''t know what happened with him, but this is not something I understand, and I don''t know how long he has left," Wildborn looked back with a worried expression, the same expression that all other healers. "What if I use my legacy?" Sculptor asked. "What? I thought you couldn''t do that thing with people," Spinner frowned. "Long story, I kind of can," Sculptor replied. "Will he get worse?" Wildborn turned to the former smuggler. "I¡­ don''t know," Sculptor sighed. He was covered in blood from the first aid he tried to apply to the fighter. "We''ll keep that as a last resort. If we think we are going to lose him, you can step in," Wildborn turned back to Spinner, "We need to get out of here." "Everyone, clear out the remaining centaur! We have people who need medical support that we don''t have here," Spinner told everyone through their communicator. The fight might be over, but they had to be sure they had won the war. 502 - Past teacher Hera had her eyes closed while Darni was behind her, explaining how to perform the bonding ritual, "You need to open your heart to your partner. Give them everything you are and everything you have. Feel their very soul and let them feel yours," the Naga hero explained. "I get that part. Daskka and I are always like that," Hera replied, being able to feel the herald even while she was on a rock a few meters in front of the Empress. "You''ve told me that already. But you are the one that said you were having problems," Darni calmly replied, " Let''s move on to the next step then. Understand the differences between you two. Not just between your bodies, but you''re very beings. How do the mana you two have differ from one another? The Spells you cast, the way you breathe, focus on those differences that go beyond the superficial." Hera tried to do what Darni was saying, but after twenty minutes, she still couldn''t see any progress. The directions were too subjective, and she couldn''t feel Daskka that way, "This is getting me nowhere," Hera sighed, defeated. "I told you that was a possibility. It''s one thing for you to do that with another person, but with an item¡­. And as we discovered, you can''t actually do this with your legacy. Despite your connection, there is still something missing to link you and Nimbus," Darni nodded. "Yeah. Still, thank you for trying." "Not a problem. It''s not like I actually have anything else to do. I''m just a dungeon construct, so I''m happy to help." "Hey guys, dinner is ready," Rris, the green Naga, called the two on the other side of the cave, having a conversation. Darni asked Hera not to mention anything about them being in a dungeon to the rest of the group. He wasn''t sure what would be their reaction, and it was best for them to just think everything was normal. They went around the deep cave by flying on top of Nimbus. Since Hera was alone in the dungeon, she had her entire court out and was having some lessons with a veteran legacy holder. During the past three months, she had been training the Royal Explorers. There were classes on top of classes, a few that she taught herself and others that they called people from the outside. Days when she would spend the entire night setting up her treasure hunts and escape rooms or grading tests and other activities, not to mention all the meetings she had with the council. After that, everyone took a two-week break before coming to the Wailing Valley, where they would have some actual experience in exploration. The idea was to keep everyone here or out of Boothudurn for at least three weeks. Her reasoning was that they had to get used to being away from their families and friends. She wanted to make sure that the Royal Explorers wouldn''t fall prey to the same problems that Silah had when she left her home. And to make the test even harder, she removed herself from the equation one day after giving everyone their assignment. It might not be the best idea, but she wanted to see what they would do in an unexpected situation. The dwarves weren''t the only ones who learned much during the training. Hera herself discovered new ways to make camps, set traps, and several survival skills that she never realized she lacked. That wasn''t all. She also managed to level up and increase the rank of several skills while training with her new team. Now all her attributes were at 80, and Nimbus also grew stronger, but only his weapon form scaled up. His humanoid form gained the same number of attribute points as she did. The Sentinel had yet to distribute them. He was struggling with the decision so much that, after confirming with the Empress if he was allowed to do so, he asked the Naga inside the dungeon for their advice on what to increase. "The way I see it, you shouldn''t worry so much about your weaker attributes. I mean, they are not actually going to help you that much," Asher, the yellow Naga, said. "I agree. Focus on your strengths. When you get a level that you get a lot of points or when you would only be able to increase your main attribute by one, then you can think about evening things out. But luck, charisma, and intelligence are not stats that will affect too much what you do," Casks put a spoon full of soup in her mouth. "That''s right. Charisma would be interesting if you were someone vain, but since you are not, focus on your strengths. You are called the Sentinel, correct? So protect your Empress," Naph gestured to Hera, teasing her about her title. Hera just rolled her eyes, but she didn''t say anything. Nimbus had been struggling with that decision for a couple weeks already. At first, he asked Hera to decide where his attributes should go, but she refused, saying he should do what he wanted, even if he was technically part of her. ''I still think it''s weird. Aren''t the titled blades supposed to scale up with me? Why didn''t his attributes increase with the scaling of the weapon?'' Hera asked Daskka without speaking out loud. ''Are you really complaining about that? You do know that your attributes would be like that if you weren''t increasing all of them at once, right? Besides, the legacy is about blades, so of course, the weapons take priority. The titles were not something the legacy always had,'' Daskka explained while trying not to reveal that the two were talking. ''Really? I figured it was.'' ''Nope. The skill that merged was actually from a holder that could make golems and other constructs. He was trying to create his own legacy and was close to it but ended up getting this one instead. And before you ask, no, I don''t know anything else about it. I know it sucks. I was also curious,'' Daskka sighed. "What''s wrong?" Nimbus noticed the mood of the adviser and the Empress and turned to the side. "Nothing. Don''t worry about it," Hera smiled and let him continue his conversation with the rest of the group, while Daskka kept staring at Chika, who was on Darni''s lap. Unlike what any of them was expecting, Chika didn''t like Daskka. Maybe it was because she felt threatened, or some part of her understood that Daskka''s existence was only possible because of her death, but Darni''s companion tried to avoid the snake construct as much as she could. That saddened the herald, but she understood that they were too different to get along anyway. On the other hand, the group of Naga adored Daskka almost as much as Hera herself. While Nimbus continued to ask the group''s opinion. Darni slithered close to Hera and looked into her eyes for a moment. This was one of his enchantments that allowed two people to talk with each other without anyone else hearing the conversation, "I have a question if you don''t mind." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Ask away. You have helped me so much already. Answering a question is the bare minimum I can do for you," Hera replied. "You said that my ''descendant'' came here, right? To this¡­ place." "Correct. She''s a friend of mine. A human, like I am," Hera explained. "Yeah, you said that we are gone. Did you find out why?" Darni frowned. "Not yet. Shane, your descendant, is looking into that, but she only found tombs. Oh, and we are being respectful. We are doing our best not to disturb the bodies and keep any belongings there. Even if we take something out to study, we give it back to the place where we took it from. People are talking about making an exhibit out of it, so that might be kind of¡­ I don''t know¡­." Hera looked down but quickly changed the position of her head. The spell Darni cast stopped anyone from hearing them, but they still could read their lips. "I see. I would ask for you to keep me posted, but it''s not like I would remember anyway," Darni sighed, "Back to what I wanted to ask. About this Shane, who has my legacy right now. Did she ever come here? I kept thinking about that." "She did, but you guys were not exactly welcoming. Actually, everyone aside from me gets met with hostility. I figured it was because you see me as one of you, despite not being one," Hera continued. "But you are one of us. Just because you have legs doesn''t mean you are not a Naga," Darni replied with a big smile. "Dude, I''m a human. I have a skill that gave me Naga Poison like you guys have, but I''m still human," Hera chuckled. "Right. Sorry, it''s just¡­ probably something to do with the dungeon. I see you as a Naga even if you are¡­ Not," Darni rubbed his eyes, almost as if he was getting lightheaded. "You okay?" "Yeah. Yeah. Don''t worry. Anyway, what happened when she came here?" "Well, she ran this dungeon¡­ I don''t even know how many times already. She tried a bunch of different ways of talking to you, and now she has a more or less stable plan. When she comes here, she takes a couple of days to warm up to you guys, then she convinces you that she has your legacy. She spends another day just waiting because you''re usually upset about this being a dungeon and everything, only on the last day that you actually help her to learn some stuff. From what she told me, you helped her a lot, much more than you''re helping me now, but it''s a lot of work for a small benefit," Hera explained. " I see... Have you ever come here with her? Maybe having you along as a buffer could help," Darni asked. "Not really. This is the second time I have come here because of what happened with Chika outside. But it is an idea." "I understand," Darni''s face went a bit darker. He was really upset about Chika''s future. Not because of her death necessarily, but because of the long time she spent alone in this room that wasn''t even her home. "My love?" Casks noticed Darni''s expression and came around, worried about her partner. Darni stopped the spell and turned to her, "I''m ok. Hera here was just telling me one thing about where she came from, and¡­ well, it''s not great." Casks turned to Hera, but the explorer just shook her head, "I''m sorry. Talking about it again would be too much. I need some time before I can explain to someone else again." "Oh.. that bad? Ok, I understand. Take all the time you need," Casks nodded and turned to Daskka, "Since they are like that, do you want to try the calming mist spell?" Daskka nodded excitedly. Part of the necklace description talked about how the construct was able to learn spells and skills that once belonged to Darni, Chika, Casks, and Hera herself. However, it was one thing to have her learn those things on her own another to be able to take actual lessons with those involved. Not to mention that even now, Hera never managed to teach Daskka any spells or skills. Neither of them understood why that was, but it wasn''t like they could ask someone about it. After some time, Daskka managed to use her mist to calm Hera''s emotions. She still wasn''t upset, but when affected by the spell, she felt more clear-headed. It was clear that this could help her a lot, not just in dangerous situations, but something like that could even help her sleep. It was something she would have to try later. It was the beginning of the final day of the dungeon, and when the Naga left for the temple, they wouldn''t come back unless she got lucky. So she was just enjoying everyone''s company. When they were done resting, she would have to deal with those moles again. "Hey¡­ quick question. Is there anything that could be a threat to moles here? I''m just wondering because I saw some different monsters around," Hera asked. "What kind of monsters?" Naph, the red Naga asked. "Bugs. Spiders, scarabs, and some other ones that curl up in a ball." "Spiders!?" the five Naga stood up. "Yes, why? Is that a problem?" Hera was taken aback, and even Nimbus stepped close to her just in case. "The drawing. It has to be a spider!" Asher turned to Darni. "I agree. We need to go there, now!" Darni replied with a big smile as everyone started to move "Wait, where are we going? What is going on?" Hera followed their lead, but no one said anything. Frustrated, she rushed to Darni''s side and looked into his eyes so he could cast his spell. Only after the effect took hold that she ask her question, "What is this all about?" "One of the things we came here to do was to hunt a nest of spiders. We had no idea where they were, but we found an odd drawing in a wall that required us to complete the image in order to open," Darni explained. "But that doesn''t make sense. If you guys were looking for spiders, that would be the first thing that would pop into your head." Darni thought for a moment, "I think this has something to do with the dungeon. Maybe there are some conditions, or you have to say something in order to make us think about it." "Then why did no one find out about this? I know for a fact that people asked about the bugs," Hera pressed. "I''m¡­ not sure. Maybe it''s because we like you," Darni noticed the confused expression on Hera''s face, " you said it yourself. We are hostile to anyone who enters here except you. Maybe unless we trust the person that talks about the bugs, we will assume it''s a lie or a trap and don''t mention it to them. I''m just saying what I think might be happening based on my experience. This is not something that the dungeon is telling me to say. Also, I think you could only mention this on the last day. This is the one day when our minds are calmer and not so focused on the temple. Because we know that we are about to be done." "If it is about trust¡­ maybe it''s about Chika. I mean, you guys trust them to take care of Chicka while you work on the temple. So if we earn her trust, maybe we can earn yours?" Hera knew she was reaching a bit, but if she could find a way for others to trigger this hidden quest, it could help a lot. "It''s a decent enough reason. I can''t say for sure if that''s going to work or not since I can''t actually remember what goes through my mind in other dungeons. Either way, you can try this again later. Let''s focus here. If things go well. We have a spider to hunt!" Darni said as they exited the tunnel leading to Chika''s nest. But instead of being in the area known as the valley of kings, where the Naga temple was located, they were now in front of a massive set of stone doors with an incomplete drawing in the middle. Hera wasn''t sure what excited her the most, the idea of finding yet another new part of a dungeon, or seeing the Naga fight. 503 - Spider Galore The monumental door with a faded-out drawing was in front of Hera while the rest of the Naga gathered around her. Looking at the structure, she could see the set of double doors carved in the side of the reddish valley. There was also a weird black smudge in the center of it all. After a closer look, she could also see some odd markings on the edges. "Crap¡­ I can''t see a spider in that¡­ Can you, Hera?" Darni asked. He realized that the dungeon was stopping him from seeing the full picture. "Why did you ask her first?" Casks crossed her arms. Hera stared at the Blue Naga, not believing what she was seeing. Even if the Empress was somewhat dense, she could tell when someone was acting jealous. "No. I just figured that you guys couldn''t see it either," Darni quickly explained. Even if he knew he was just part of a dungeon, it seems like he didn''t want to be at odds with his love. Hera stepped to the side, as did Rris, Asher, and Naph. No one wanted to be between the fighting couple. At the same time, the explorer tried to figure out what the image actually was. She took a picture of the door with her tablet and started drawing over it. After about half a dozen tries, she still couldn''t make something that looked right. When connecting all the points in the wall, she would have to make one of the spider legs stay in a very odd and unnatural position. "Say, what did the spider look like?" Rris asked. "There were a bunch of them, and they looked like spiders. I don''t know how else to describe them, 8 legs and a bunch of eyes," Hera sighed. "You are an Explorer, right?" Hera nodded to Rris'' question, "Do you have the hunter role?" "I do. Why?" "Can''t you open the catalog so we can see the monster?" Hera looked a bit confused, "Can I?" She opened the window for the hunter catalog and looked up for the spiders in the room. Since she was in the Wailing Valley herself, it was easy to look for those monsters. She found an entry describing the spiders, but there weren''t any pictures of them. Reading through it, there was a lot of information. Their behaviors, habitat, special traits, drops, locations, and at the end, there was a part marked as ''Anatomy.'' When touching that option, the screen changed, and now there was a 3D model of the spider. She could move around, spin, and even make it move, "I never realized I could do that," Hera smiled. In truth, she never looked over all the information that would appear in the hunter catalog since what she wanted was always easy to see. She spent the next 10 minutes changing the position and motion of the spider but to no avail. There wasn''t a way for all the parts of the drawing to match with this one. One of the markings would always be in the wrong spot. It was as if the spider had a missing leg. Thinking that maybe it wasn''t a spider in one of the other creatures in the room, Hera pressed the back button and returned to the text-filled database. Just to ensure she wasn''t missing anything else, she took a moment to read through everything in this window. It took her a couple minutes just because she was paying very close attention, and she noticed one more function that she had never tried. At the bottom of the window was a box that she could check that read ''mark habitats.'' Out of curiosity, she touched that one, but nothing happened. Going by logic and what she knew about the role, this should show up on her map, and that was the next thing she opened. As she expected, the map of the room was now different. Some large red areas were marking where the spiders should be living. The sites weren''t moving, and Hera imagined that this wasn''t taking into account any potential scavenger groups or spiders that went out for any reason. "Did you find something?" Rris asked when he noticed Hera''s smile. "Oh, not yet. It''s not the spider I was thinking of. Give me a moment," Hera quickly went back to her search and put the scarabs to match the drawing, but it still didn''t work. The rolly-pollies were also a no-go. Although they had many more legs, maybe there would be a position that would match. Before she could change the screen, Nimbus appeared behind her, "Empress, how about this one? ''Jeweled Hunter.'''' Hera frowned, staring at the Sentinel with an annoyed expression. She had told him again and again not to call her Empress and that she preferred to be addressed as Hera, but her titled blade still insisted on calling her by the title. Still, she looked over to the entry Nimbus mentioned. The Jeweled Hunter was that unique spider she met the first time she came to this place. Unlike the rest of the spiders, this one had longer legs that could fold more, almost like arms with multiple elbows. When looking at it from the side and triggering the ''web shot'' ability, where the spider would twist its body so its butt would be under it to shoot a web at her target, it was a perfect match to the faded drawing in the wall since one of its arms would snap around and match two of the markings completing the whole picture. As soon as she overlaid the 3D model with the markings on the door, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the hidden quest inside the Eternal Bond Dungeon You have opened the den of spiders by showing the correct image to the sealed door. Assist the Naga in their task to eliminate the spiders. Rewards: Access to the Eternal Bond Hard mode Sacred Naga Relic - Replica ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That is... A lot. I mean, what is a Sacred Naga Relic?" Hera spoke out loud, surprised that something that sounded so important could be a reward for a dungeon. Even if it was just a replica. "Those are items that were either created for a priest or an Emperor or created by them. Why do you ask?" Asher asked. "Oh, sorry, it''s just something that popped in my head. Could it be anything that was made by a priest? Like if they made a chamber pot, would that also be a Sacred Naga Relic?" Hera turned to the yellow Naga. Stolen novel; please report. "I guess. It depends on who created it. If there was a reason for that and other things. But usually, they are a weapon, armor, or accessories. A few items of note are¡­." Before Asher could continue, the drawing of the Jeweled Hunter appeared on the wall, and the door started to open. "Stop bickering, you two. We need to get ready!" Rris turned to Darni and Casks, who were still arguing about the Naga hero''s preferences. At the same time, a rumbling started coming from behind the doors, as if numerous creatures were coming. With that command, the Naga warriors sprung into action. Everyone was ready to attack whatever was coming from the nest. The doors opened slowly, the tension building up, and Hera was already surrounded by her entire court with Nimbus by her side, "I got your back," the Empress smiled. "And I got yours," Nimbus replied with the same warm smile. "What about me?" Daskka gasped from Hera''s neck. Hera chuckled and glanced at Casks, who was no longer side-eyeing her, "I guess we know who you get your jealousy from." "Hey!" Daskka protested but a sound coming from the path ahead made it clear that it wasn''t time for playing around. When the door was completely open, Hera could see that this was actually a tunnel that would spiral upwards. It didn''t take long for her to recognize this area. It was the same tunnel she had to use to come down to this level of the Wailing Valley, but a raw version without all the padding and construction made by the Naga so long ago. A memory flashed through her mind. One that she really hoped she was wrong about. Still, she decided to intervene. Using her stone wall spell, she started narrowing the passage. That way, if this really would be another horde of monsters like it was the first time she passed through this place, they wouldn''t be overwhelmed by it. "What are you doing?" Darni asked. "The last time I passed through a place like this, I had to face a horde of monsters. Hundreds upon hundreds, I''m not sure if that''s going to be the case here, but I''m not willing to take the chance," Hera replied as she continued to drag some of the walls of the opening closer together. Doing that took a lot of mana, and she wasn''t proficient with the spell for such large structures. However, the rest of the group understood what she meant, and they did the same thing to help. Every single Naga had one way or another to build something, and together they managed to create a secondary layer of protection between them and the corridor. With that ready, each Naga warrior used a different buff that affected the entire party. Asher cast a few spells to increase everyone''s attributes, Casks grabbed a spear out of nowhere and started rattling her tail, which didn''t actually have a rattle, but nothing seemed to change. Rris sharpened his curved swords on one another, causing all the group''s weapons to glow slightly, including Hera''s court. Naph yelled, and, with a roar, a massive forge appeared behind her. As the flames ignited, the ground started to glow, but Hera didn''t feel any change in the temperature. Lastly, Darni clapped his hands and spread out to the sides. A multicolor streak of light hit everyone, and a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All your attacks will deal 50% extra damage from all the elements below: Fire, ice, nature, poison, strength, illusion, gold, earth, and memory. Total extra damage = 450% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap. This is awesome," Hera gasped. She felt almost twice as strong after all the buffs. "Perks of a legacy," Darni smiled but quickly frowned, "They are coming!" Just as he said those words, A wave of spiders came out of the opening they had created. They looked somewhat like the ones that Hera knew, but these were hairier and a bit smaller than she was used to. These were about the size of a large dog, while the ones she faced before were bigger than she was. As they started getting close to the group, the glowing floor instantly ignited some of them. The rest were still clearly being injured, but they managed to not catch on fire. Getting even closer made them all slow down as they got in range of Casks rattle. "Hold," Rris told the group while the spiders got closer, "Hold¡­Hold¡­NOW!" The moment he yelled, all the Naga jumped forward in perfect synchrony. It was almost like Hera was watching the opening of a cartoon where the heroes attacked together. Not wanting to be left behind, the Empress jumped into the fray, brandishing her glaive along with Nimbus and the rest of the court. Because of the [Army of One] skill, she knew her legacy was also affected by all the buffs on her. Even better, Darni''s buff seemed to be multiplicative with her own. Meaning that the 50% increase would only be applied after taking into account any other increases she already had. What she expected to be a hard battle became a power trip. A taste of what she could be like in the future if she got strong enough. The spiders melted like butter when meeting her weapons. Even a kick was more than enough to send them flying towards the wall, turning the creatures into a splatter of guts and blood. While Core, Lurize, Ooze, Beam, Nimbus, Daskka, and even Scythe took care of the monsters who were getting closer, with Armory still being the strategist, Hera took a moment to watch the Naga fighting. Rris was using the Naga style, weaving around the hordes of spiders and leaving only corpses in his wake. His body would never be facing the same direction for more than a second, and it was almost like he had eyes on the back of his head. He was able to kill the spiders behind him without even turning around. A swing of his sword was wide enough to split them in half. Asher was a mage through and through. When the combat started, he jumped forward, but instead of landing, he kept going up and was now flying above the battlefield, raining down spells on the hordes of spiders. The yellow Naga was a master of elements. Fire, lightning, ice, poison, mist, and even spells belonging to the break and shatter elements were being tossed at rapid speeds. But instead of focusing on the main force of this army, he was making sure that none of the spiders could run away or flank them from the sides. Naph was an interesting mix between a mage and a fighter, despite actually being a crafter. The red Naga was wielding a heavy two-handed hammer, and every time she would strike a monster, there was a chance that the forge she created behind them would flare up, causing more of the spiders to burn. When that didn''t happen, her attacks would repeat even after her weapon was no longer there. It was almost like an afterimage of her strike that could repeat not just once but several times. Casks was a researcher, but from watching her fight, no one would ever think of that. With her spear, she was almost flying above the battlefields, not by magic but by pure strength. She could glide by moving her body in a specific way and pierce her enemies from above. Occasionally, the blue Naga would have to stick her spear on the ground and use it as a platform to jump up again, but it seemed like she wouldn''t touch the floor again until the fight was over. Darni was the last one that Hera focused on. The Naga hero was a sight to behold. He was a controller, someone who focused on buffs and debuffs. Because of that, his fighting style was very unique. He could use his claws and tail to push enemies away if needed. However, his strength came when he was using his legacy. He could grab a monster, enchant it to explode, and toss it in the middle of the horde. Touch the ground and create a small rock in front of him that becomes an immovable object, make the air surrounding his body so violent that it would rip apart anything that got close, enchant his eyes so that anything that looks straight out it would be struck by lightning. What made him so scary wasn''t exactly the strength that he was showing. But the countless possibilities that seemed to be on his mind. Hera never saw the Naga Hero making the same move more than once, even if it was a very successful attack. About 10 minutes after the fight began, all the spiders were dead, and the notification about the reward appeared. "Hey, System? What the hell do you mean about that?!" Hera gasped. She couldn''t believe what she was reading. 504 - A group of Naga ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the hidden quest By killing all the spiders in the nest, you have opened the path for the Naga to inhabit the room. Rewards: Access to the Eternal Bond Hard mode Sacred Naga Relic - Replica ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The system detected that the reward is to be given to a Naga, and this is the first time the hidden quest was ever completed. Due to the lack of members of the Naga race in the MAZE, the rewards will be upgraded. Rewards: Sacred Naga Relic - Lost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as the notifications appeared, the relic appeared in Hera''s hands. It was a bracelet that seemed to be made out of wood. It was just three fingers wide, but it was made to look as if the entire piece was created by having dozens of snakes moving on top of each other. The piece had amazing detail, and she could even see the nostrils and some of the snake''s tongues, not to mention that each of them had a unique pattern on the scales. "What happened?" Darni rushed to Hera''s side, which only caused Casks to cross her arms and stare at the two with an annoyed expression. "The system! It''s giving me a special reward because it says I''m a Naga," Hera almost forgot what the system said, but as soon as she remembered, she felt somewhat insulted. "I mean, you are a Naga, aren''t you?" Rris asked with a confused expression. "No¡­ now that I look at her. She''s not¡­ Why did we ever think that she was?" Asher had a concerned expression on his face. "And why was she the only one who got a reward? We also have a quest about this, don''t we?" Naph asked. Casks approached Hera with a serious expression, "Can I ask you not to move for a moment?" Hera nodded. Even if the Naga was jealous of Darni''s actions, the explorer trusted her. It was more than just meeting them, but she could tell if they had bad intentions, "Oh¡­ I see¡­ Casks gave her a sad smile. I feel so silly now." "My love¡­" Darni approached, and Casks jumped into his arms, holding her husband tightly. Seeing that scene, Asher connected the dots, "We¡­ We are in a dungeon, aren''t we?" Hera nodded, and the mood turned somber. She didn''t say anything and just let the Naga take a moment to process that. They all had seen dungeons with people inside. Yet, no one had ever discovered what would happen with those beings who were nothing more than constructs. Would they live on? Lose their memories and return to the beginning? Be destroyed and replaced by a new batch? The theories were numerous, but the answer was nonexistent. Feeling uncomfortable with that situation, Hera took a moment to look at the relic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snake Pit - Bracelet Rarity: Unique - Lost A bracelet created by one of the emperors of the Naga. It was used to command large armies, as well as to perform different rituals. It was lost during an expedition to a new land, where the emperor lost his life, and the bracelet fell into a pool of acid created by the monster who killed its creator. 50% increased effectiveness when using Naga skills. 40% increase in mana growth. 30% increase in mana regeneration. 20% reduction in damage taken. 10% increased Naga skill growth rate. After performing a sacred ritual, these effects will double for up to 2 days. The better the ceremony is performed, the longer the duration will be. Skills: Rattle: By shaking the bracelet, you can trigger a sound like a snake rattle. This sound can affect allies or enemies depending on the effect chosen. - Warning Rattle: Can only be heard by those the user considers allies. Cost: 2 000 mana Range: 1 km - Battle Rattle: All allies who hear this sound will have their strongest attribute increased by 20% for 10 minutes. Cost: 50 000 mana Range: 200 m - Threatening Rattle: All enemies who hear this sound will have their weakest attribute reduced by 30% for the next 5 minutes Cost: 50 000 mana Range 100 m - Death Rattle: All those who hear this sound, aside from the user, will receive 50% extra damage from all sources for 1 minute. Cost: 300 000 mana Range: 50 m Cooldown: 24 hours Only a single Rattle may be active at a time. Pit of Snakes: You can store mana inside this bracelet to create a number of snakes that will emerge from it when called. The number of snakes is proportional to the amount of mana in the bracelet, and their strength is proportional to the wearer. The bracelet cannot have more mana than its current wearer. The snakes can perform simple tasks and listen to basic commands. They can also be used to create a makeshift altar or ritual circle as long as the wearer presents the image to them. The wearer can also ask one of the snakes to share their senses with them. That can be done with a single snake at a time, and said snake will become unable to share their senses again unless they are resummoned. Maximum number of snakes summoned: 30 Current Mana: 0 / 612 597 ??????? (Skill locked) As per the will of its creator, the bracelet cannot be destroyed by acid. If someone who is not a Naga wears this bracelet, its skills will be locked. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a Hidden Quest. The Snake Pit Bracelet is not in its complete state. Unveil its secret to reveal its remaining attributes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow," Hera couldn''t help but gasp after reading through all the details. "I have to say, you are really leaning into the snake theme," Nimbus snickered. "Of course she is! Snakes are the best. We are small, soft, cuddly, can take care of ourselves, and don''t leave feathers everywhere we go," Daskka said with a smug expression. "You also shed your skin, and that''s gross," Nimbus huffed. "Excuse me! I''ll have you know that I never shed my skin," Daskka was staring daggers at the Sentinel. "That''s fine, but you should at least wash it. You are smelling so much that I can see lines coming from you," Nimbus plugged his beak to show that he was smelling something awful. "That''s my mist, you overgrown chicken!" Daskka lunged at him, and the two started to run around while throwing ''playful'' insults at each other. The rest of the court was really quiet during that exchange. The last time one of them tried to intervene, Nimbus and Daskka turned the tables on them. They were already good at bickering with one another, but when they teamed up together, they became a force that only the Empress could stop. Hera just glanced at them and sighed before looking back to the Naga to make sure they weren''t disturbed by her court antics. To her surprise, the rest of the Naga was just watching Hera''s court members with smiles on their faces, "Are you guys ok?" The Naga looked at each other, and Casks replied, "Yeah, we''re fine. I think this might be something that the dungeon does. We can''t dwell on subjects like mortality for too long." "Yeah. Also, if we''re part of a dungeon, that means we did something right. I mean don''t just want to show up when something really bad or really good happens. So, I''m going to guess we got the really good one," Naph nodded with a cheery expression. "You really did. The temple ends up being amazing. And I''m pretty sure a bunch of kids will come here later and give some drawings and knick-knacks for you guys," Hera remembered the number of poorly made handcrafted things in the temple''s central chamber. Despite the quality, it was clear that the people who made that did it with all their hearts. "Oh? I''m glad people respected our wishes, and the nobles didn''t put a bunch of expensive stuff there," Darni nodded. "Well...There was a bunch of expensive-looking stuff, but they were to the sides and not in the main hall," Hera corrected. Darni sighed, "I''ll take what I can get, I guess." "Also, I put your Journal in Lantra''s tomb. That''s even how I got the Naga Poison skill," Hera looked Darni in the eye, unsure if he was from a time when the forgotten emperor was already forgotten. The Naga hero smiled, "Thank you. I had a feeling that no one would honor this particular wish. It''s funny. He was the one who was supposed to have this Legacy. Our Master trained us to pass the previous holder test. At the time, my brother was already set to become the emperor. Everyone said I was greedy and this power should be his. Still, our Master said that since we were training long before the previous emperor passed away, it was only right that we both were given a chance," Darni stopped for a moment, "As usual, Lantra was better than me. So he was the one who could challenge the trial first," when the Naga Hero spoke his brother''s name, the rest of the Naga turned to him with surprised expressions, "But he failed. He had three attempts and failed all of them. I never told this to anyone, not even you, Casks, but after his third attempt, my brother explained to me what the test was and what I should do to pass. He had to do that in a very complicated way, but he still managed to figure something out. In the end, I only became the Hero because my brother gave me this power." Casks reached out and placed Darni''s face on her hands, "But you have proven to be worthy of it time and time again." "Thank you," Darni smiled, "But do you know what the funniest part is? Some years later, I asked why he had given me a legacy, why did he give up this power? He said that being an Emperor was already too much work, and if he was a hero on top of that, he wouldn''t have time to spend with his family," the rest of the Naga laughed as if they had heard a joke that Hera missed. Darni realized she was left out and explained, "I was the only family he had. He gave me the Legacy because he wanted both of us to have the same standing among our people. Thanks to that, anytime we wanted to just see each other, one could walk into the other''s office and say that it was an urgent matter for the Emperor and the Hero to deal with and off we went." Asher chuckled, "Nine times out of ten this was just their excuse to run from the city and swim in the lake by the waterfall." "No, no. That''s five out of ten, three they were in the jungle basking in the sun and the last one they were with Casks trying to learn how to glide," Rris added. Hera was smiling with the rest as they reminisced, "Your brother seems like a great guy." "He really was," Darni nodded and waited for the question he knew would come next, but Hera simply looked back to the bracelet, "Aren''t you going to ask what he did? I don''t believe there are any records of it." Hera shrugged, "Not right now. I don''t want to spoil the mood. Maybe I''ll ask you next time." "Next time, we won''t remember this conversation," Darni replied. "Yep. And Casks won''t be looking at me like she wants to rip my head off," Hera chuckled. "In my defense, you two were really chummy, and I had no idea what was going on." "I''m sorry, my love," Darni kissed Cask''s cheek. "Right. We''re not going to remember anything next time, right?" Naph asked. "Correct," Asher nodded. "Ok then," Naph turned to Rris," YOU! I know you''re dating my sister." "I-I¡­ Who told you?!" Rris gasped. "She did! Every night she keeps talking about how amazing you are and how you''re funny and strong and yada yada yada, and she goes into way too much detail about what you two do at night. Including when you forget to let her have her turn or end things before a candle can even start to melt," Naph got closer to Rris. "That happened one time, and your sister spent almost an hour¡­." Rris tried to defend himself. Hera couldn''t believe that she was seeing a Naga getting flushed. "I don''t want to know. But there is one thing I must know. Listen to me very carefully," Naph grabbed Rris''s head with both hands, and after a pause, she planted a kiss where humans had lips before letting go and dropping the green Naga on the ground, "I don''t get it. She said you were the best kisser in the empire, but honestly, that was just a 5/10, too little tongue, and you didn''t do anything with your hands. My poor naive sister," Naph shrugged and moved away from Rris. "Hang on! I was caught by surprise. I mean, you just did that out of the blue! Let me try again, and I''ll show you how good of a kisser I am," Rris quickly got up. "What? No, you are dating my sister. Why are you asking me to kiss you?" Naph scoffed at the idea. "She''s right, you know. You already have Val. Cheating on her with her sister is a high level of wrong," Darni nodded. "I agree. That would make you the worst type of scum," Casks added. "But.. She was the one¡­ Then I¡­" Rris kept looking at his friends, that were all acting like he was the one to blame for what just happened. Even when looking at Hera, the explorer could only shake her head and join in. "If it helps. They won''t remember how you just hit on your girlfriend''s sister," Hera stared into Rris'' eyes and gave him a devilish smile, "But I will." Everyone started laughing while the green Naga just sat there exasperated. He started chasing after Naph cursing her and forbidding her to say anything to his girlfriend when a noise came from the side, and Hera saw a familiar tunnel that should lead her to the exit. "I guess I don''t have to wait for the temple thing," she turned to the Naga, "It was an absolute pleasure spending these past few days with you." "The pleasure was all ours, Naga, who is not a Naga," Casks smiled. "I hope you can visit us again," Darni nodded, with Chika still around his neck. "Definitely, but I''m taking this ending. The other one is just too sad," Hera called Nimbus and Daskka over with the Sentinel returning to his weapon form since they would be leaving the dungeon. "Why is that?" Asher had a serious expression. "Don''t worry about it. It''s not worth knowing," Hera waved the group off as Naph jumped away from Rris''s grasp and waved at her. The green Naga was the only one who was too preoccupied to notice the explorer leaving. 505 - Calling the explorers "You''re kidding. The System said that?" Shane burst out laughing. "Yes! Can you believe it? The worst part is that I can''t even argue because the bracelet works with me," Hera sighed. "I don''t understand why you''re so upset. You always said that you like the Naga. Why is it a problem that the voice of the mountain is calling you one of them?" Bertrand, one of the Royal Explorers, asked. He was a researcher who had just turned 61. In human terms, he would be in his mid-20s. The dwarf had droopy black eyes and silky gray hair going to his shoulder with a bun in the back made for practical use, not aesthetic. Unlike most people of Boothudurn, he was very tanned, something that only happened after the Sky Ruler was defeated and the dwarves were allowed to go outside the city. He had long hands with some eternal ink stains on the tip of his fingers, and his clothes were simple and severe. The only thing that showed the man was conscious about appearance was his preference for small details in green in all pieces of gear he was wearing. "It''s not like I''m offended because the Naga are bad. But it feels weird to have the System calling me a different race. Imagine if you did something and the System went, ''oh hey, you''re human or an elf.''" "But I''m a dwarf," Bertrand replied. "Exactly! It''s like the System is saying I''m not who I think I am. It feels weird," Hera shook her head. "But the voice of the mountain didn''t say anything like that to me. Since it said that to you it must mean that you are a Naga and not a human," Bertrand said with a deadpan face. A dwarf sitting beside him let out a long sigh, "Bert, do you remember what we talked about? When someone is talking about their feelings, you have to put yourself in their shoes to understand better. Just because you are a researcher doesn''t mean you can''t have social skills." Bertrand looked at Rayna, a fighter with large brown eyes, and her lush red hair was pulled into a bun giving her a ''business'' look. She was very tall for a dwarf but moved with elegance. In contrast, she wore bulky armor, and every piece was hand painted blue, which gave off a very different feeling from how she acted, "You are right. I''m sorry about this, Countess," Bertrand turned back to Hera. "Bertrand, you can call me Hera. And it''s ok. Just be careful when you are talking with other people like that. Not everyone will understand that you don''t mean anything bad by what you say," Hera nodded. Bertrand was a bit of a unique case in the Royal Explorers, he showed some promise, but his lack of social skills made the Countess of Exploration hesitant in adding him to the group. However, Ogryn stepped in and vouched for the man, even if Bertrand himself seemed to hate the old mage. In the end, Bert was the only researcher that passed the interview and Hera decided to accept him. The role would be too helpful in certain situations, and forcing the man to interact with more people would help him understand how to talk to others. "Okay, let''s get back to business. Are you sure everyone can unlock the hard mode?" Shane asked. " I think so. It would be harder for other people, but I think they can. Darni and I talked about this, and we assume that the dungeon is about trust, not protection. People have to be good babysitters for Chika. And I don''t mean just protecting her or making sure she''s safe but also letting her have fun and maybe grow. Teach her something new. We guess this would make the rest of the Naga more open to you, and then on the last day, you can say, ''hey, what about spiders?'' That''s the thing I''m sure of. Mentioning spiders on the last day is important," Hera explained. "Yeah. That would make a lot of sense. But what''s the plan? You said you wanted to have the real explorers doing the dungeon? Isn''t that too big of a group? Also, can I join? The dungeon, not the Explorers," Shane tried her luck. Going for the first clear of a dungeon was something hard to happen, and she was still frustrated that she missed her opportunity in a couple of other dungeons that existed in the room. "As per our rules, we have to put that to a vote. When doing something with a large group, everyone must be consulted before adding someone else or making any big changes. We have that rule to avoid any conflict, just in case," Hera looked to the dwarves, who nodded in response. Rayna didn''t say anything, but she was impressed with the Countess. The fact of the matter was that she had all the authority to override the rule, yet she was following the same protocol everyone else had to instead of abusing her power. Ironically, Bertrand didn''t think anything of it. For the researcher, having everyone follow the same rules was something obvious. "Fair enough. I hope you guys agree. But what are we going to do? Everyone will join in the same run while you talk to the Naga? It would be a bit tight to stay in that cave," Shane thought for a moment. "I don''t know. I thought that we could split into a few groups and then have everyone try something else. You and I can go alone since we have a better chance to interview the Naga about their culture," Hera turned to the two dwarves inside their tent, "Also, I kind of wanted to see how much information you can get. I know for a fact that if you push too much, the Nagas will just give you the cold shoulder. So this could be a very good place for you to learn how to extract information in a somewhat controlled space." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "That''s why you vanished, Hera? You were trying to find this new dungeon for us?" Rayna asked. "More or less. I know it was a bit mean of me to just send you guys to do your thing and vanish for a couple days, but I wanted to see how you would react. That''s even why I split Blue and the others among your groups. My idea was to have them just look out for you guys, but they wouldn''t stop you from returning to Boothudurn or something. It''s not like I wanted them to be monitoring you guys, but they are more experienced with this place. For the dungeon, I intended to send you guys there, but doing a new dungeon is an experience that not many explorers have, so it''s an added bonus," Hera explained. "I see¡­ Is there a reason why we were excluded from the groups and were put here with Shane?" Bertrand had a neutral expression, but Rayna''s face was full of curiosity. "Honestly, it was luck. I rolled some dice to decide the groups. And I didn''t want to have groups with more than four people because I thought it would be too much for Alex and the others. That''s why I asked Shane to look out for a couple of you," Hera continued. "I see. I don''t believe that is the best way to group us up," Bertrand said. "Same. It feels like you don''t care enough to worry about what we do," Rayna confessed. She expected to have been chosen to help Shane for a reason. "I''m sorry about that. I agreed that it would be better if I matched you guys in a way that you can compliment each other. But, I also want you guys to work together with everyone in our group and be prepared for any eventual issues. Imagine if you were all in a dungeon together and something happened, and you had to split up. I want you all to be able to work together even if you have the worst possible combo for the situation," Hera noticed Shane smiling in the corner of her eyes, "What?" "No, nothing. I just think it''s cute how much you care about them. I mean, c''mon. You are doing more for them than the guild ever did for you, even when they gave you the silver card," Shane chuckled. "Well, after I realized how much the guild tosses us in the deep end, I figured out I should do something better," Hera explained. Bertrand and Rayna had understood Hera''s idea and that she wasn''t telling them these things right away because they had to get used to the unexpected. They also knew that she would tell them if it was something dangerous. Hera talked about how the rest of the dungeon went, but she avoided talking about how to open the spider door. It was better to explain that to everyone together. After about twenty minutes, some people asked for Bertrand''s and Rayna''s help. They were in the valley of Kings close to the Naga Temple. Almost everyone who was here was a scholar of some sort. Some were trying to find lost civilizations, while others were specialists in ancient artifacts or architecture, and a few people focused on fighting and protecting their area. For a while, Shane was the leader of this place, but when some people arrived who knew more about Naga or who were more used to the process of cataloging and studying ancient artifacts, she relinquished her position. Still, everyone respected her a lot, and when she asked people to help Hera, they all agreed without an issue. At first, they were just helping with menial tasks, but it quickly became apparent what they could do to help. Bertrand was excellent at cataloging items. On the other hand, Rayna was more helpful while carrying things around. She was a fighter and had the strength that went with the role. But that wasn''t all; she was also a former builder from Boothudurn and knew how to move things around in delicate spaces. When the two dwarves left the tent that they were in, Hera tapped the table Shane had her things and created a soundproof bubble around the two of them. "Oh? Bad news?" Shane asked. "Not really, but I''m not sure what it is, and considering the people who are around us, I don''t know if it''s a smart thing to tell them just yet," seeing Hera''s serious expression, Shane adjusted herself to pay attention, " the bracelet wasn''t just a reward for me being a ''Naga.'' It was also, and I quote, due to the lack of members of the Naga race in the MAZE." Shane frowned, "Lack of members? Was it worded like that?" "Yeah. I found it weird too. Usually, the System is pretty direct with these things. I don''t know why it would phrase things in a way that can allow people to interpret them differently. Still, there are only two possibilities. Either the Naga are completely gone, or there are so few of them that even the System is stepping in. Also, as a side note. You really have to figure out a way to see the hidden quest. Darni fighting is something to behold," Hera continued. "I very much intend to," Shane nodded, but then she started to think, "Still, that phrase is something to keep in mind. The System might also be considering that you are the last Naga, and that''s why it''s a ''lack of members.''" "I guess, but then I think the system would just say ''since you are the last Naga.''" Shane nodded, "In the end, this is just another reason why we need to find the doorway. If the Naga came here to make a graveyard, we should be able to find one of their cities nearby." "Unless their funerals included a long procession. It wouldn''t be the first group that has something like that. Elves go to one of their main cities to bury their dead," Hera added. Shane rubbed her eyes, "Yeah. I know. If they are bringing their dead here, that is a very big possibility, although having a cemetery in an adjacent room is not completely unheard of." Hera sighed and just stared outside for a few moments, "By the way. Do you know of any sacred rituals I could do? I''m curious about what I can do to increase the bracelet effects." "I think we found some stuff about that, but we are in the process of translating them. Are you in the mood to help?" Shane asked. "Might as well. My teams should only get here by the end of the day, and I''m not going to tell them to go to a dungeon while they are tired," Shane nodded and showed Hera the documents that had to be translated. Thanks to her researcher role and the [Ancient Language] skill, she could speed through some of the texts without a problem. When everyone got here, they would have a conversation about the last few days and what comes next. 506 - Group Meeting All the Royal Explorers arrived by dinner time. Hera took a moment to talk to everyone individually to ask about how things went and to apologize for vanishing. She explained the reason why she went into the dungeon, and almost all of the dwarves seemed to be okay with this. The only one who complained about her way of doing things was Callena. She was a controller who used to assist the palace with some of the bureaucracy in Boothudurn. After the room was opened, she became infatuated with the idea of traveling and seeing different places. Surprisingly, she also was at a considerably high level, at least for the dwarves, being level 35 at the age of 102. However, her issue lies with the lack of structure that Hera was showing. Despite all the talk about things being predictable and how going to new rooms could throw them into unique situations every day, Callena was too used to the idea of doing things the proper way. Hera sat down with her and explained that this was exactly the reason why she did what she did. She knew that despite her best efforts, the classes were organized, and there wasn''t any unexpected situation thrown at them, not really. "But Hera, what should we do in a situation like this? What if we have questions or problems that we need help with?" Callena asked after "If the situation is like this, you can ask the other teams for help. If they are not available, you can talk to other people in the room. If there''s no one to help you, you have to figure things out yourself. I know it sounds scary, and I know that you''re going to be afraid of making mistakes. But it''s okay to make those mistakes. Exploration is not just about finding what we need to find, but also about confirming that what we are looking for is not in a certain place," Hera explained as the two of them had dinner together. Callena was feeling frustrated, but when Hera was getting the reports, she wanted to make sure no one was injured or that something required her immediate attention. When she confirmed that everything was ok, she called Callena back so they could have a proper conversation. "But I want to be a good explorer... I don''t want to be a failure. I know I''m on the old side, and you only accepted me because of my level," Callena sighed. "Who said that? Your level had very little to do with why I picked you," Hera stopped eating and crossed her arms, " Why do you think that?" "Because I had a desk job. I never focused too much on my combat skills or spells, and I am the definition of someone who should live inside four walls. I mean, look at me," Callena gestured to her clothes that still followed a stern librarian vibe. She wore a long black skirt with a cut on the side and a long-sleeved dark yellow blouse with a black jacket on top. Right now, she was still using a pair of black leather pants that looked more like stockings than anything else and a pair of high heels that she changed after getting back. Unlike almost all women Hera knew, Callena felt more comfortable in heels than in flat shoes. Hearing that, Hera couldn''t help but chuckle, which only made Callena more annoyed, "Sorry, I''m not laughing at you. Do you know what I did before I became an explorer? I worked in a bookstore and was pretty much the definition of a wallflower and a pushover. People used to walk all over me. I mean, I once went on a date with a guy who forgot he had asked me out and showed up at the same place with someone else. So trust me when I say working in an office, or a palace, in your case, has nothing to do with your ability to be an explorer. Also, there isn''t such a thing as not finding anything. You always discover something," Hera pulled her tablet and showed a map of the room she was working on. Several green marks were showing safe paths, and there were some red marks in areas where they had already searched for the doorway, "Look, in just four days, you guys already narrowed down the location of the doorway by a lot. Sure the room is still massive, and we have to find how to get to this area," Hera pointed at the other corner of the room, "But still, by not finding the doorway, you have found places where we don''t have to waste time and resources to search again." "So¡­ not finding something makes me a good explorer?" Callena asked with a confused expression. "Not really. But it is a step in the right direction. What will make you a good Explorer is experience. And the reason why I accepted you into the group is that I saw the same kind of spark that I had. The same idea of ''I want to go out and find something.'' I want to stop on top of a mountain and look at a desert made out of rubies or a forest made out of candy. That''s the reason why I accepted you," Hera noticed that Callena was surprised by that comment and ate a few mouthfuls of the giant spider barbecue that was in front of her. When she figured she had given enough time to the controller, she continued, " That being said, I don''t want you to feel pressured about this. I never picture you as my substitute or something like that. It''s way too early to even consider those possibilities. And I don''t want you to think that you have to accomplish something big. Most of all, I just want you guys to be happy and enjoy what you''re doing. If at any point you figure this is not for you, let me know, and I will take you back to Boothudurn, where you can find something else to do. Or if you want to stay in a room, just say the word. But may I give you some advice?" Callena nodded, "I would appreciate it." "Try to see exploring the same way you see going out and looking for someone to hook up. I''ve seen you and Farica on the prowl, and damn, you two go for the throat. I mean, what was that line you used during the graduation party to leave with that new guard? ''You have a choice, keep playing the game, hoping that one of the girls here will remember you tomorrow, or follow me as I walk out.''" Callena chuckled, "I didn''t know you were watching. Did you like that one?" "Of course I did. I wish I had the confidence to do something like that," Hera laughed and went for a drink but ended up choking on the soda, "See. You can''t be clumsy and confident." "I''m sure you can. If you want, we can give you some pointers," Callena smiled. "I would like that. But for now, let''s focus on what we are doing. And Callena, I promise I won''t kick anyone out for not finding anything. Besides, this is not your forte, and that''s fine. Wait until we have to do some research. You will feel right at home," Hera chuckled. Callena smiled before going back to her meal. She was happy to have brought up her issues with Hera. Not that the countess had completely solved the problem, but at least the researcher had a renewed resolve to continue pushing forward. Hera knew how hard it was to maintain a good mentality while searching for something. During the time she was trying to find the blademasters, there were several times when she felt stuck and almost gave up. Still, the leader of the Royal Explorers wanted to keep morale up, she had even read a lot about how to do that, and this was the first time she put that knowledge to use. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. After dinner, everyone gathered in the tent used for big announcements. Hera greeted everyone and stopped at Alex, who was the last one, "Hey. I just want to make sure you are ok. I really thought he had talked to you about it, and I just vanished after I dropped that bomb on you," Hera was talking about Adriel. Before they left Boothudurn, the man asked Hera if any jobs would require him to travel back and forth between rooms. He said that he wasn''t too keen on exploring the room and would rather do what he knew how to do instead of just being dead weight for the group. Harris suggested that he would provide supplies for the group and that they would have Trilian and Legan, the two kids who were still 17 but wanted to be part of the Royal Explorers, talking with the different people in the rooms between the Wailing Valley and Boothudurn to secure the items he would get. Even if Rutigan was taking care of all the bills for the organization, Hera wanted them to be proficient in negotiation and work within a budget. So, they would have a limit on their spending to supply the items they might need, which were mostly food and other daily necessities, and any travel costs for Adriel. Those kids also had another job, to search the internet for any mentions of lost or ancient Dwarven cities. "I''m fine. Really. I know we''ve been hanging out a lot, but it''s not like we need to stay together all the time. And don''t worry about you just Vanishing right away. I understand why you did that, and that''s fine," Alex replied with a shrug. "Really? You are not mad at me?" "Not one bit. If anything, I''m thankful. This made me realize that I go too hard in relationships and should be a bit slower in the beginning." Hera nodded and thanked Alex for not being angry. The assassin replied by simply rolling her eyes. If their friendship was something that could have problems because of something like that, they wouldn''t have lasted so long together in the MAZE. With that out of the way, the leader of the Royal Explorers went to the front of the group and started speaking. "Okay, everyone, I have some possibly interesting news. Oh, but first," Hera snapped her fingers and created a large dome around everyone using her soundproof spell, " you guys don''t have to worry about it. It''s just so this conversation stays between us. You will soon understand why. There''s a dungeon in this room called Eternal Bond. It''s about a group of Naga who are building a temple and the snake that is one of the Naga''s partners. I was the one who found this dungeon a few days before I got Daskka. I think you all know this, but when you are the first person to ever complete the dungeon, one of the rewards will always be a level up. That is also true for the hard mode of the dungeon. So technically, every dungeon can give us two level-ups. One for the first person who ever completed and another for the first person who ever completes the hard mode." "But isn''t it hard to find the hard mode? I mean, aside from the Wooly Plains, the ones in Boothudurn have some very specific conditions," Yerel, a healer with silver eyes and very long dark brown hair that went up to his chest, asked. The dwarf had a boyish build, although he was more stocky than humans and wore a mismatched armor set. He picked those pieces of gear himself, focusing more on the attributes and skills they could provide. "It is. Dungeons are either something that the MAZE created as a representation of events in that area, or some random nonsense that the MAZE created by itself. The hard mode is a what-if situation. Using the Wooly Plains as an example, you can think of it as what if the griffon continued to grow their numbers and killed every single sheep on the plains. For the sky ruler nest is what if someone else came to get the title of ''Sky Ruler,''" Hera continued. "What about the Weeding Disaster? Isn''t the hard mode also about past events?" Hera nodded, "Yeah. That is a rare case. Because it was such a big event that we are assuming caused the destruction of an entire room, and there was another big event leading up to it, the dungeon was split. Then again, some of the details might be wrong. That might be a different possible scenario where the room was destroyed. Since we don''t have any records of what actually happened, we can only assume that the dungeon was telling the truth. If we ever find more people from Kul Dorul, we might have some answers, but until then, we have no way of knowing. Either way, back to the main point. I have found a way to trigger the hard mode in the dungeon here. And, as far as we know, I''m the first person who managed to do that." The Royal Explorers started clapping, praising their leader. Hera couldn''t help but smile, "Ok, guys. Thank you, but I''m not done. I found a way to trigger the hard mode, but I haven''t done it just yet. The plan is for all of you to unlock the hard mode so we can all go there together. Also, Shane wanted to join us, so I wanted to put it to a vote. Are you guys ok with having her join us for the first time completion of the dungeon? This is not mandatory, by the way. If anyone is not comfortable with the idea of doing a dungeon that was never seen by anyone else, you can sit this one out." Rayna raised her hand, "Can everyone join the dungeon?" Hera nodded, "Yeah. I checked earlier, and it doesn''t say anything about a limit to the number of people who can enter. This means that as long as we are all in the same party, we shouldn''t have any problems." "Is there any downside to going in a big group?" Rayna continued. "The items probably. Not the first-time rewards. Those should be dependent on our performance there. The overall loot is the problem. Since we are going with a bigger group, if we make like, 20 thousand gold, we are going to end up with just a bit over a thousand each." "Excuse me. I''m confused about one thing," everyone turned to Bertrand, who started speaking, "If there are no actual limits for dungeons like that. Why don''t people gather in large groups to increase their strength?" "That''s a hard thing to answer. I know that some people call large groups to help them level up, but that''s unusual. What happens is, when you find a new dungeon or a hard mode, you get a bit paranoid about somebody else finding the same thing after you. So if you are going to gather a large group, they need to be close by, or you might risk losing what you found. If I''m being honest, if it wasn''t for the actual conditions to trigger the hard mode, I would be worried that someone else would find it before us. But there are some circumstances that put me at ease," Bertrand nodded, understanding the Countess'' explanation, "Before I start going to specifics on how we''re going to do this. How about a vote to know if Shane is coming or not? Those who agree, raise your hands. I''ll say that we need at least 10 votes to allow her to join just so we can have a majority vote." Hera raised her hand, and so did everyone else. As a unanimous decision, Shane was going to join them in the hard mode. "I''ll call her over. She was waiting outside," Mylo said and left the tent. In less than a minute, he returned with Shane. Hera smiled and started explaining how everyone was going in together to unlock the hard mode. She and Shane had decided to put their talk with Darni on hold, fearing that someone else would swoop in and steal the first-time rewards for the hard mode. 507 - Surprise landing Having almost all Royal Explorers participating in the Eternal Bond dungeon was much easier than expected. Thanks to Farica and Barlac, instead of having to clump all 16 people plus the 5 Naga in a cave that wasn''t all that big, they managed to create a temporary dormitory for everyone. It helped that both of them worked as builders before joining the Royal Explorers. Barlac was a crafter that specialized in interior design. He was one of the people who knew how to make stone furniture that was not just pretty but also very usable, and the man made a show out of it. Being leaner and taller than most dwarves, he could almost pass as a short human. The man had a considerable following in Boothudurn because of his appearance. He had green eyes and wavy silver hair, and always wore elegant clothes. Even his traveling gear made him look like a noble. It was a black coat with gold trimmed edges and a pattern of flowers that would hide the buttons. He also had a cloak with some black fur on the sides attached by a couple of golden strings that went from one shoulder to another. Even Fethy told Rutigan, again and again, to get Barlac''s advice when choosing his clothes, but the king refused, explaining that he enjoyed a more relaxed look. Another person was in charge of both the structure and the expansion of the cave that was by what would be Chika''s nest. If it wasn''t for Farica, they would have definitely caused a cave-in. The woman was a mage that specialized in excavation. In fact, she was part of the team who did the last expansion in Boothudurn. At the time, she assisted with the expansion of the farms, and as a favor to Risli, she helped her reallocate her house in a new area away from the rest of the healers so the old shaman could have some peace. Farica was Callena''s best friend, and the two would often go out drinking together. The mage had deep chocolate eyes and always wore fine clothing, but her armor was closer to the idea of a witch. A pair of leather pants with simple shoes, a black corset with a chain necklace, and a small mantle around her shoulders. To complete the look, she had a pointy witch hat that helped her control her magic. When the group arrived at the dungeon, the Naga were wary at first. However, after she introduced everyone and told the dungeon constructs she vouched for the people she brought, the Naga opened up to them. It still was a far cry from when Hera was alone, and even her interaction with them was a bit colder than she was used to. Still, they weren''t being hostile, and they were open to most questions that people would ask. The Naga wouldn''t reply to some topics, but this allowed Shane to gather some extra information. Hera also tried to find more about her bracelet but to no avail. During the last day, Hera talked about the spiders, and they moved to the giant stone door again. Their reaction was quite similar to the one they had the first time. The Naga got excited and immediately walked toward the tunnel. Everyone else had to follow along, which was the dungeon''s most annoying part. It was a single file line for all 21 people, and they had to move at a steady pace to accompany Darni and the others. Hera was 90% sure that even if they lost track of the Naga, nothing would happen, but just in the off chance that if they got too far, the dungeon denizens would vanish, she was trying to keep everyone moving at a good pace. When they arrived at the door, Hera showed everyone how to open it using her tablet. She had opened her hunter''s catalogue from her tablet and selected the picture. Unfortunately, other people couldn''t see the same information that she had available on her skill, but the name and image of the creature would still show up. Using an app, she took a screenshot of the monster and used it as an overlay on her camera. The moment she aligned the picture with the drawing on the wall, the doors started to open. Shane was the one who suggested this method. No dungeon should require you to be in a specific role to trigger the hard mode. So, they could activate it by using a drawing or their tablets. When the fight began, Hera sent out her court to the sides and stayed in the back watching the fight. She was using her blades to make sure none of the Royal Explorers got injured. On the last day of classes, all the dwarves and only them were invited for a meal with the king. During the dinner, the members of this exploration group were informed of the hidden secret of their organization. The search for a safe haven in case something forced the dwarves to run away. Hera also added the information about her legacy, feeling it wouldn''t be a good call to hide that from them. The excuse they gave to the rest of the Royal Explorers was that since they would be essentially ambassadors of Boothudurn, Rutigan wanted to talk to them all to explain a few things. Even so, Hera also visited Mylo to tell him about her legacy. She had already known the man for a few years, and since he helped Shane find her court, Hera felt it was only fair that the fighter knew about hers. Oddly enough, this ''secret'' was something everyone in their newly formed organization knew about, except for Adriel. Hera still didn''t trust him enough to tell him about her court, and he was the only member that didn''t have a reason to keep the secret. Blue and the others were her friends, and the dwarves respected her position. On the other hand, the elf was like a free agent, making Hera weary of sharing that information. At least until she was sure, he could be trusted. The fight went on without a hitch. It was obvious to anyone watching that they didn''t actually have to participate since the Naga could take care of the hundreds of spiders by themselves. Still, Shane was the only person who wasn''t actively fighting against any of the monsters aside from Hera. The holder of the Enchanting Court watched mesmerized as Darni created spells and attacks out of nowhere with completely different effects. Making the air around him move faster as if it was a bullet, turning the soil into sand that would jet out in violent bursts, hissing and making the sound form swords that cut the spiders like butter, each attack was unique. Even if she could understand that he was simply enchanting something to cause an effect, Shane was nowhere near as proficient as the former hero. She believed that her court was something made to buff and help her allies and never considered using it to fight this way. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. When the fighting was done, the Naga thanked the group, and they all received their rewards. They all got various types of replicas of Naga artifacts, but not all of them had an actual use. Hera and three other group members received ceremonial pieces that didn''t do anything. A couple of the dwarves got pieces of art, while the rest received something that had a unique effect, but it wasn''t that impressive. Things like a flute that could make snakes dance or a jug that could contain 10 times more liquid than its dimensions would allow. Unfortunately, that was something that only would happen with liquids, and the actual weight of the jug would still be that of something 10 times heavier. Only one of the Royal Explorers actually got something that could help during their travels. A necklace that would glow green in the presence of poison and turn red in the presence of hostile creatures. A hunter called Alton was who got that item. He was a guard member for a few months after getting his role, but when he realized that it would take too long for him to enter a dungeon, he gave up. His dream was to fight strong creatures, and, once upon a time, he dreamt of being the one who killed the mighty griffon that became the bane of the dwarves. When Hera and Blue unlocked the room, and human explorers started to come by, Alton was one of the first dwarves to try his hand in the dungeon. He spent years practicing his shooting skills and used to train in the lake aiming his arrows at some fake fish he made. The man had light blue curly hair that was a bit too long in the front and covered part of his eyes, a face that was constantly stuck in a menacing expression, and some scars on the bottom of the left cheek caused by one of his experimental arrows that blew up in his face. The city''s healers offered to cure that, but he wanted to keep it as a reminder of his mistakes. He was currently wearing light brown leather armor with a hood that he could use to blend with the room''s environment. As a hunter, he always prepared for his tasks, which is why he only chose his gear after researching his destination. It took them four days to complete the dungeon, as it was supposed to be. However, the last day was much shorter than anyone expected. They woke up at around 8; at 10, they were already out, and everyone had unlocked the hard mode. Hera asked if they wanted to take a day to rest, but they were all excited about the first-time rewards. So, the decision was simpler. They would take a break to eat, rest and resupply, and at 1 P.M., they would head back inside for the new version of the dungeon. Going to the entrance was exactly like when they would try the normal mode. A tunnel heading up that should lead to Chika''s nest. However, their destination was different this time. Instead of stopping in that small alcove where the Naga were resting, they continued going up to where the temple should be. When Hera, who was taking the lead, emerged from the cave, she saw Darni''s statue and the set of runes in the ground that functioned to hide or reveal the temple. She walked forward, using her sensory net to find any possible threats. However, she didn''t sense anything around them and gestured for the rest of the group to get closer. Everyone left the tunnel and started looking around. They knew that not every dungeon would give them a quest just as they entered it. Suddenly, Hera and a few dwarves heard something coming from above. It was a minimal noise that could easily be confused with the sound of the wind going through the valley. What alerted the few was a slight difference from the rest of natural sounds, almost like a dog whistle in the distance. Hera noticed it was getting closer and when it came into range of her sensory net, she could only sense something large going towards the group. In a split-second decision, Hera created a stone wall covering all the Royal Explorers while, at the same time, triggering her Earth Elemental Armor and calling out her court. Something heavy slammed against her body, the tip of a spear sinking into the ground just a few centimeters beside her head. Nimbus, Daskka, and the court were all about to come crashing down on the attacker when Hera yelled, "Stop!" Blue, Alex, and the dwarves ran out from behind the barrier that Hera sprung up out of nowhere, ready to attack before they heard Hera''s scream. The Countess of Exploration was on the ground, and on top of her was a large blue snake-like creature with two arms and a pattern of arrows all over her body. "Wait¡­. Hera?" the Naga asked with a surprised expression. "Oh, you remember me? Hey Casks," Hera smiled and waited for a moment, "Do you mind getting off of me? No offense but you are kind of heavy." "Ops," Casks slithered to the side and helped Hera up. Unlike what the explorer remembered, the astrologist was much taller than her. She also seemed bulkier, and her scales had lost some of their shine. Her skill was also telling her that this Naga in front of her was much older than the one she met in the normal mode of the dungeon, "Sorry about that," Casks looked up, "Hey, everyone. I didn''t expect to see you here." "We could say the same about you," Shane replied, "Why the rough greeting?" "Oh, we have monsters around here sometimes, so we have a few people who do rounds to ensure the city is safe," Casks explained. "City? What city?" Hera asked. Casks smiled and gestured to the other edge of the valley, "Come with me. I''ll show you what we built here." 508 - A helping hand Casks was guiding the group through the valley. Hera tried to compare the environment around her to the room outside the dungeon, but everything looked different. They didn''t pass through the narrow path, the colors seemed wrong, and there wasn''t a single crypt or mausoleum around. It was like the Naga never decided to make this place their graveyard. While they walked, Hera asked some probing questions to Casks. It was the first time she went inside a dungeon where people remembered her, and the explorer wanted to know what she actually remembered. In the end, this version of the Naga was the same that joined the entire group, not the one that was jealous of Darni and Hera when she was alone in the dungeon. After about 10 minutes of walking, Casks noticed a few other people moving around and waved to them, "Let me formally welcome you to Spiral," the Naga smiled. Spiral was the name of the city she was currently living in, and it was located inside the spiral path that once was locked behind the stone doors with a spider drawing. The Naga had created several structures inside with some guard posts near the entrance. Hera was in awe of the stark difference from this place to the version that she knew. In the actual room, this place was just a somewhat bland tunnel that didn''t have much to show. Here, the center of the spiral had an incredibly detailed drawing. It showed forests and mountains, oceans and islands. There weren''t any creatures or people, only views, marvelous and incredible views that were true works of art. The colors would blend together, hiding some details that could only appear after you paid close attention. On the other side, the walls had been carved out, creating large neighborhoods. Even without walking inside, they could tell there was some farmland and forges around. "This... Is amazing!" Shane gasped as she saw the dozens of Naga walking around and talking with each other. "It really is. Look at those drawings!" Chiton, one of the dwarven mages, gasped. He pulled back his hood, revealing his short black hair and pierced ears. He had a goatee that framed his face well and gave him just a tiny bit of a mean look. A look that was almost washed away by the blue and purple robes that covered his entire body. "I know!" Casks smiled, "Every time someone joins our city, we ask them to add to the mural. If they don''t know how to paint, we give them time to learn and put a little bit of their journey here." "So these places were all places that the Naga who live here visited?" Blue asked. Casks nodded, "Yeah. Spiral is a place free from all the politics of other kingdoms. It''s a room where those who fought, traveled, and became pioneers in their field come to retire. Everyone who lives here will be remembered for something they''ve done elsewhere. But here we wanted to remember their journey, the path that led them here." "Isn''t that a bit mean?" Alex frowned, " You guys are removing yourselves from your homes and removing the possibility to teach the new generation." "Not entirely," the group looked to one of the Naga who was approaching to see Asher with a smile on his face and a book in his hand, " We may have excluded ourselves from our civilization, but it doesn''t mean we don''t know what happens there. Every year a few of us go on a trip, visiting the various kingdoms and cities where our brethren live, and we see if there is anyone who shows promise. Either for their talents, drive, or dedication to one of the fields that were mastered by our people. If that''s the case, we invite them to join us here temporarily, of course. They can learn, grow, and develop their skills until it''s time for their own adventures," Asher smiled at the group, "It''s lovely to see you all again." Casks and Asher guided the group through the city, explaining each district. Most of the farmland was close to the exits to avoid any issues with monsters going too deep into the city, and in the middle of the spiral path, the heavy industry was located. It was a bit of an odd setup but the explanation was that they did it that way to protect the resources that were being poured into those areas. Since most of the people in this city were masters in what they did, the weapons, armor, spells, and other artifacts being created were too dangerous to let fall into the hands of a random person because of a monster attack. "What kind of artifacts are you talking about?" Shane asked, the idea of being able to witness the Naga''s work firsthand made her very excited. "Pretty much anything that we want. Despite having these dozens of workshops, only two or three are ever working at a time. Mostly because there''s no reason for us to work without stopping," Casks continued but gestured to one of the forges that glowed with an orange light, " There are some exceptions, of course. Naph, for instance, is still crazy about making weapons. But now, she''s more focused on quality over quantity. The last weapon she created took, I want to say, 2 years to be completed." "Actually, it was 3 years. You forget the time she took to make the scabbard," a voice came from behind the group. As Hera turned around, she saw a massive 12-meter-long white snake with one silver eye and one green one. On top of that, there was a familiar white Naga with green eyes, "Hello everyone. I didn''t know you were coming by." "Darni!" Hera and Shane gasped. The Naga hero looked older and stronger. His arms were wider, and he had a small scar on the side of his face. Darni left Chika''s back and started greeting everyone. It didn''t take long for Rris and Naph to join in while the rest of the Naga continued to move around without interrupting the group. It wasn''t like the rest of the people who lived here were ignoring them, but as if this wasn''t an uncommon occurrence. After a while, Hera stepped toward the giant snake. She might not like Daskka very much, but she never seemed to have a problem with Hera herself, "Hey Chika, how are you doing?" she had a sad smile on her face, remembering what happened to the real version of the snake. Another thing that made her remember the version that was killed because of her was the small crocheted blue Naga hanging around her neck. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Surprisingly, Hera got more than just a feeling as a reply, ''Sad,'' Chika said, using her connection to the Naga. ''Why?'' Hera asked the same way. Chika looked over to Darni and Casks, ''They want children.'' ''So you are jealous?'' ''No. Casssksss sssick. Can''t lay eggsss.'' Hera looked over to Casks and saw that she seemed to be fine, ''Are you sure?'' Chika nodded, ''Heard her talk. No healer can help. But I know how.'' ''You know how to cure her?'' Hera tilted her head, and Chika nodded again, ''How did you find out? I mean, you are not exactly a healer.'' ''Odd eye lizard told me. Need to hunt ssspecial mole.'' ''Odd eye lizard?'' Hera stopped to think for a moment. The first thing that came to mind was the chameleon guide, but he was very rude, and she didn''t expect someone like him to be willing to help Chika, ''Do you remember his name? Was it Percy Bodwitch?'' ''Yesss.'' ''Ok. Do you know where the mole is? I can go kill it for you.'' ''I know where it isss. I need to kill it. My fangsss mussst deal the lassst blow.'' ''That''s a bit more complicated, but we can work with that. Can you lead us there?'' Hera replied while completely forgetting she was inside a dungeon. She only wanted to help the Naga, who seemed to finally be having a happy and peaceful life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered the Dungeon Quest. The Naga are having some trouble due to the appearance of a few moles that are stronger than usual. These monsters pose a threat to their infrastructure, and they are asking for your help. Collect pelts to help them create repellents that will protect the city forever. First time rewards: 80 000 gold, Spiral Supplies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered the Hidden Quest of the Eternal Bond dungeon [Hard Mode] Chika discovered a way to help Casks and Darni have children. The snake companion must find and kill a specific mole and bring back its heart infused with her own venom. Follow her to locate the specific mole and help her kill it. Chika must deal the killing blow on the creature with a bite, or the quest will fail. First time rewards: 80 000 gold, Chika''s gift. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first to ever enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: + 1 Level, Spiral Gift The following reward will be upgraded if you complete the dungeon and the hidden quest. Spiral Gift -> Spiral Masterwork. These rewards are permanently forfeited if you leave the dungeon without completing this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait, what happened?" Farica asked as the notifications appeared in front of everyone. "What''s this about a mole problem? Are those the same we fought before?" Mylo asked. "What? How do you know about that?" Asher asked. "Sorry, everyone. That''s on me," Hera quickly jumped in, not wanting the Naga to realize they were inside a dungeon. This could cause problems for the first-time rewards, and she didn''t want to risk that, "I was talking to Chika, and she told me the full story. You guys could use some mole skins to protect the city better, right?" Darni nodded, "Yes. A couple days ago, a few of our Crafters came up with that idea. We could enchant the skins to ward off any moles that might want to come closer to the city. The idea is just to create a permanent fear spell of sorts that makes it look like there is a very strong predator in here, and since we don''t want anyone else to get affected by it, we need the skins," Darni looked at Chika, "Thank you for suggesting this. Everyone seems to be too busy with one project or another to help out, and we don''t want to impose." Chika nodded and sent out a more condensed feeling to all those around them, ''I guide.'' "Oh? It might be good for you to stretch a little," Darni looked back to the rest of the group, "Chika is offering to guide you to where the moles are located. Would you be willing to help us? We will reward you for this, of course." Everyone nodded, agreeing with a suggestion. The Naga gestured for them to follow him a long while he went up the spiral to the exit on the other side. They all had to pass through this spiral corridor, and they could see the differences between this place outside the dungeon and here. About halfway to the city, Barlac noticed a cut that formed the side of a door in the central pillar and pointed it out to Hera; he was about to ask a question when the Countess put a finger on her lips, telling him to stay quiet. She then gestured to his tablet, and the man sent her his question. Hera read it and replied, ''correct. Lantra''s grave should be there. The Naga are sensitive to the subject. Let''s avoid mentioning it to them during this first clear. Maybe next time we can try.'' Realizing that other dwarves could notice that possible entrance, Hera sent a message to everyone saying the same thing. She expressed that if the Naga got angry, they might fail the quest instantly. It was just a possibility, but she didn''t want to risk it. Everyone got the notification and pulled up their tablets. After reading, there was a brief moment where all the Royal Explorers, plus Shane, nodded at each other in synchrony. After about five minutes, they were on the upstairs exit, and Darni gestured to their left, "You guys are in a big group, so you might take this path. There are more moles here, which would help a lot. We need as many of their skins as we can get. But, if you guys are worried about their number, you can take the right path. There are smaller groups, which should be enough to last us for a while. We just won''t be able to expand the city without going out for more pelts." ''Chika, where should we go?'' Hera asked as the snake gestured to the right path, which should be easier. Hera looked to the rest of the group, "I think we should go to the right. You know, just to be safe. We shouldn''t be overconfident," she said, trying to sound worried, but the team understood that they should let Chika lead the way as the quest told them. Darni and the others nodded and waited for a while as Chika guided everyone towards the objective of the hidden quest, and a mission she didn''t want to fail. 509 - Starting the hunt It didn''t take long for the group to start finding the moles they were hunting. They were a bit different than what Hera remembered. First of all, they were larger and had a thick coat of fur that made her remember capybaras. Their nose was a round pink ball that gave them the appearance of a cartoon character. Even more odd were their eyes. Some peculiar black crystal-like formation made it seem like each of the moles was permanently wearing a pair of sunglasses. Despite their somewhat adorable appearance, the moles were strong creatures that could pose an actual threat to most people. With claws made to dig through solid rock, their attacks were nothing to scoff at, and since they varied from the size of a large dog to the size of a horse, it became clear that Hera and her group were in for some trouble. The first group they found had about 20 moles moving around. Chika dove head first to attack one of them while the rest of the group followed up. Thargrom and Alex jumped around, vanishing from everyone''s sight and appearing behind the monsters already stabbing their backs. They were the two assassins in the Royal Explorers and both had a similar spell. While Alex could ''jump'' towards a target she hit, Thargrom, or Grom as he went by, could move quickly by swapping places with a piece of rock behind his enemy. To follow that up, he used a sword to pierce the spine of the mole, incapacitating it before killing it. The dwarven assassin was the oldest member of the group, being 140 and, if they completed this dungeon, he would reach level 40. He had emerald eyes, long hair tied up in a low braid, and a well-kept beard that went all the way down his neck. The man had big ears that were usually kept behind his hair, but with the movement, people could see them. His clothes always made you wonder where he came from or who he was. It was a mix of a deep green long coat with a black pair of pants and a pair of yellow leather boots. Now that he was fighting, there was even some odd green smoke inside his coat, increasing his strength. Hera also took a more aggressive approach this time. She was tired of being behind everyone, just watching them fight. Along with Nimbus and her entire court, the explorer jumped in the thick of it along with Chika. She saw the claws of a mole about to reach her when the Sentinel appeared to block the blow and give the Empress an opening to attack. Hera just stabbed her glaive forward before pulling it down to open the creature''s stomach. To her side, Beam and Ooze were stopping another monster from getting close when Core came crashing down on top of the mole''s head. Hitting its brain and killing it on the spot. Enraged by the loss of one of its family members, another mole jumped at the floating weapons. But before reaching them, a barrier appeared in front of it, stopping it in its tracks. Hera glanced back and saw Hayath, one of the two healers in the Royal Explorers. She had turquoise eyes and a short faux hawk that gave her a tomboyish look that didn''t match with her personality completely. At the moment, she was wearing some loose yellow and orange clothing that would make one think of a martial artist. "Why are you wasting mana like this?" Yerel, the other healer, asked. "It''s not a waste. It''s called preventive healing. I don''t have to heal anyone if I can stop the monsters from hitting them. Or," Hayath gestured with her hand, and a rock spear dealt the killing blow to an already wounded mole to the side, "I can just kill them first." Yerel sighed, "That''s not what we learned." "True, but Risli told me to do this," Hayath said with a smirk. It was a lie, the old shaman never gave her any pointers, but she knew that saying this would push Yerel''s buttons. "Do whatever you want," the male healer replied in a huff and walked away. However, a few moments later he also placed a barrier to help the dwarves who were fighting. When the first group of moles was killed, Hera asked if anyone was injured and needed healing. A couple of people got some small cuts and bruises, which were quickly healed by those who had skills for it. Nimbus had a small bruise on his arms after blocking one attack at a weird angle, and, to Hera''s surprise, Daskka was the one who stepped in to heal him. The herald was trying to use the spells that Casks taught her last week, and it seemed to be going well, even if she couldn''t compare to the healers. Before continuing to move along, they had another problem. The pelts. When everyone heard about it, they imagined it would be the skins of small moles like the ones they saw in the normal mode. However, the pelts were massive. It would be a struggle to carry them around while fighting the rest of the creatures. Everyone was considering what to do in that situation when Hera turned to Chika. ''Is it ok if I carry the pelts back now but we continue hunting?'' A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ''Yesss. The hunt will lassst daysss,'' Chika''s eyes were filled with excitement. Hera couldn''t help but feel like she was a dog that really wanted to go for a walk. ''It''s going to take more than a day to find the mole you mentioned?'' ''Yesss. Deep in the valley.'' Hera nodded and turned to the group, "Ok guys. Listen up. I''m going to take the pelts back to Spiral. I just asked Chika, and apparently, it will take a few days for us to reach our destination. Since Nimbus can move way faster than any of us, I''ll be taking the pelts. I''ll see if I can get a carriage or something to help out. Let Chika guide you guys, but don''t let her fight alone. We need to protect her," she turned back to the giant snake and spoke out loud while using her connection to say the same words, "And you need to stay with us. For you to find what you want, you need to stay alive. Ok?" "Should we have someone take command of the group?" Rayna asked as she put her two-handed axe on her back. "That''s a good call. We mostly don''t need someone calling the shots, but just in case¡­." Hera''s eyes went straight to Thargrom. He spent almost 100 years working as a guard, so he should have the most experience in running dungeons. However, the man shook his head, showing that he didn''t want to be the one in charge. She then turned to Farica, "Since you are a mage who stays in the backline, you might be able to see the entire area. Are you ok taking the lead?" "I''m¡­ not sure," Farica hesitated. Hera nodded, "Ok, is there anyone who wants the job?" looking around, no one said anything, and Hera turned to Blue with pleading eyes. "I''ll do it. It''s annoying, but it''s just in case, right?" Blue sighed. "Yeah. Everyone here knows what to do. This is just in case shit hits the fan," Hera was still mounted on Nimbus during this entire time, which helped everyone to see her, "Guys, if something bad happens, Blue is taking the lead. If not, just follow Chika, protect her and if a different mole appears, make sure to pin it down so she can deal the last blow," Hera waited a moment to hear the confirmation and told Nimbus to turn around, "I''ll be right back." It took her just 10 minutes to get back to Spiral. That was the difference between moving on foot and moving with a griffon. Funny enough, Casks and Darni were in a small shop by the entrance. It seemed like the two were in the middle of a date now that Chika wasn''t around. The moment they saw her getting closer, both stopped snuggling and got up as if they were teenagers who had just got caught by their parents. "Hera? Back so soon?" Darni said, trying to pretend nothing happened. "Sorry to interrupt," Hera smiled, "I came to bring the first delivery of the pelts. We are still not done, but we figured it was better to just bring this here when we can instead of dragging it around," she came down from Nimbus'' back and took one of the skins, "This is what you need right?" Casks looked over the delivery and nodded, "Yeah. This is perfect. We still need a lot more, but having a few to start will be great." Hera nodded, "Oh, before I forget. Do you guys have a spare cart or something? It would be better to bring them back. I don''t know why we didn''t think of that." "I can arrange something. Give me a few minutes," Darni nodded and went to talk to a few of the people who were tending the farms while Casks helped Hera take the pelts that Nimbus was carrying. "It''s really sweet to see that you are still so in love," Hera said while they were getting the pelts. Casks looked away, embarrassed by the comment, "We don''t have that much time for ourselves lately. Sorry you had to see that." "Oh, please. Don''t apologize for that. The two of you are free to do whatever you want and whenever you want. I mean, not everything, but you get what I mean." Casks chuckled, "Thanks. And thanks for taking Chika with you. I love her to bits, but she tends to be a bit too¡­." "Needy?" Hera glanced at Daskka, who was around her neck, but the snake pretended not to hear Hera''s comment. "Yeah." "I can understand that. I know there were some situations where I didn''t want Daskka around, but you guys don''t have the chance to put her on a necklace or something," Hera replied. "Oh, that would be handy. She really knows when to get in the way at the worst possible times," Casks laughed, remembering something she didn''t want to share. "What if you guys give her some responsibility? Like being a part of the guard. I mean, everyone can talk to her, can''t they?" "That''s an idea. I''ll talk to Darni later about it. Speaking of him," Casks gestured to the side where Darni was bringing a cart that could be pulled by a person. "We have a few of these. Do you think it''s enough?" Darni got closer to let Hera inspect the cart. She looked it over and saw how it wasn''t as big as she expected. In the end, even using that one should only be enough to carry some pelts before they start to fall from the sides. Then again, if Nimbus was to carry them, she might be able to come back and forth without too much trouble. It was just a shame that there was no way for her to bring various carts with her. Not to mention that having an actual caravan could prove more trouble than it was worth. "That will be enough. When we fill this up, I''ll bring them back. Could you help me attach this to Nimbus?" They helped her with the cart, and soon, the Empress was on her way back to the rest of the group. There was just one problem. "Hera¡­ do you remember how we got here?" Daskka asked when they arrived at a crossroads. 510 - Cant read a map "How are we lost? I thought you had a map," Daskka asked. "I have one. But this place is a mess. Look at this. Why is every mole tunnel showing up as part of the road?" Hera gasped. ''What about this path to the right?'' Nimbus asked. "We took this one already. We ended up back here," Hera replied. It took her 10 minutes to return to Spiral, but now. It''s been more than two hours since they were trying to find the rest of the group. "Isn''t the map upside down?" Daskka asked. "This map can''t get upside down!" Hera rolled her eyes. ''But can''t you move it?'' Nimbus tilted his head. He was still in his griffon form, looking over Hera''s shoulder, who was right in front of him. "I can, but I haven''t. Not since we got in the dungeon." "Doesn''t it have a GPS function or something?" Daskka pointed at a line that was behind them, "Here. Isn''t this telling us to go back?" "No, that''s the tracking thing I set up, so we know where we passed by. I should''ve used it before going back to Spiral, but I didn''t think that we would have so much trouble," Hera sighed. ''I think we should go to the right,'' Scythe tilted towards a tunnel. ''No, that''s not the path we took. We should head left,'' Core pointed to a path that was still in the valley, but according to the map, it would lead them to a place they hadn''t visited yet. "Everyone, stop talking! Let me think!" Hera huffed. She knew that her court had the best intentions, but she was having trouble hearing her own thoughts while trying to figure things out. The weirdest part is that finding the rest of the group shouldn''t be this hard. When she left Chika and the others, everyone was just a single turn from the main path. Yet, when she went back there, it wasn''t the same place she remembered. She tried calling her friends through the communicator or tablet but to no avail. There was no signal inside this dungeon. That''s why she gave up and just started going, but when she reached where the mole tunnels were located, things went south really quickly. All the monster-made paths were shown as being the same thing as the road she was currently traveling through, and there weren''t even any walls or other things. From Hera''s point of view, the map was just a jumbled mess that ended up nowhere. ''Hera, can I make a suggestion?'' Armory spoke up. The crown has been silent ever since they got inside the dungeon. ''Sure.'' ''I think you should¡­'' ''Let''s go to the left.'' ''Right!'' ''Head straight!'' "ONE AT A TIME!" Hera yelled as the voices of her court flooded her mind, "Please, people, one at a time. You are giving me a headache. Armory, what''s your suggestion? Just her. I don''t want to hear anyone else." ''Thank you, Empress. Can''t you use the pathfinding skill?'' Armory said with a calm voice. "I don''t remember the place we were in. I need a clear picture of my destination for the skill to work," Hera sighed. ''Can''t you think about a person as a destination?'' Lurize asked. "A person? I can''t. It needs to be a place." "What about a construct?" Daskka suggested, "What if you think about Chika instead of someone else? I mean, maybe it''s just enough of a gray area for it to work." Hera shrugged, "It''s worth a shot, at least." She closed her eyes and focused on Chika, thinking about the giant snake and her appearance. How the pure white snake had one green and one blue eye and how it was bonded with Darni. Her mind kept bouncing between the different versions of Chika, but Hera forced the picture to focus on her current form. After a couple of minutes, the explorer opened her eyes and looked around. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but there was one of the tunnels made by the moles that seemed different. In a way, it was almost like she could see an air current going inside it. "Nimbus, go to that tunnel," Hera climbed on top of the Sentinel again. "Are you sure about this?" Daskka asked. "Not in the slightest, but let''s try to put this skill to use." Hera continued guiding them for a few minutes, going from tunnel to tunnel even when it looked like they were just moving in circles. After another 10 minutes of running, she finally came out in a large open area where they first fought against some of the moles. To her left, there was another path that had the same odd wind current look to it. She passed through another 3 places like that and finally found the group. "Hera!" Blue gasped. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Finally, we found you guys," Hera sighed. "What do you mean? You just go straight and turn left," Blue frowned. "I know but the path changed when we were on our own. We spent the last two hours running in circles. Either way. We got the cart. That should hold us for a while," Hera gestured to Nimbus. "That''s great," Lorna started to get closer to Hera. He was pushing a large slab of stone with all the pelts the group had collected. At first glance, the man would make you think of a snake. He had long arms and angular features. His purple hair was tied in a way that made it seem like the feathers of a peacock peeking from behind his head. A pair of metal black and white gauntlets that matched his heavy armor was pressed against the rock as he pushed the massive stone slab around. "Here, let me help you," Hera climbed down to assist the fighter she knew from her guard days, "How are things going?" "So far, so good," Alex replied, "We killed, I want to say, about 40 moles and got those 20 or so pelts. It''s a bit of an issue that we can''t understand Chika, but it seems like we are going in the right direction." "Chika? Are we heading to the right place?" Hera looked toward the snake. ''Yesss. Ssslow, but sssteady.'' "Yeah, I agree. It''s a bit slow. Did something happen, or was it just how things went?" Hera turned to Alex. "It was just how things went. Some of the moles tried to escape and then started doing some hit-and-run. We didn''t want to move forward until we dealt with them so as not to be caught in a trap or a pincer attack. The first group that did that forced us to wait a long time, and only when the second third came did we have a more or less stable plan to deal with those issues." Hera nodded, "It was a good call not to chase or push forward when things were like that," she turned back to the dwarves, "It''s always better to be careful and play it safe if you have the option. Our lives are worth more than any rewards." Everyone nodded to her reply, and they continued their hunt for the day. Hera had to make another two trips back to Spiral to deliver the pelts. She managed to work out what was going on during that time. Going back to the city was simple, but the path shifted when she was heading back to the group. At the end of the day, she asked Chika if they could go to the city to rest, and the snake nodded in confirmation, saying that the moles wouldn''t appear again and their progress wouldn''t be lost. As Chika said, completing the hidden quest would take them a few days, which made sense since the normal mode of the dungeon was already 4 days long. In Spiral, Darni offered the group an empty warehouse for them to rest in, or they could make a dormitory on the side of the valley. Unfortunately, making one in the city would cause problems with the rest of the buildings, so that wasn''t an option. To balance that, the Naga offered some food, including produce from the farm and meat they harvested from the moles. On the second day, Hera decided to test one thing. She left the city by herself and headed to the place where they had hunted the previous day. As she expected, she only found the same mess of tunnels and paths that didn''t make sense. Later, when she returned with Chika, all the tunnels were gone, and the path was very straightforward. Having the giant snake as a guide physically changed the dungeon, allowing them to move around without a problem. The hunt continued, and the monsters could prove to be a problem if the party was smaller. Every fight was between a group of 10 to 20 moles versus the 16 dungeon delvers, plus Chika. However, Hera had a feeling that the snake was holding back on them. She saw a moment where Chika simply cut a mole''s claw using her tail as if she was swatting a fly, so maybe doing this dungeon with fewer people wouldn''t actually be a problem. During all that time, Hera kept going back and forth to deliver the pelts they were getting from the monsters. Thanks to her [Pathfinder] skill, she could do so without getting lost again, even if it took her longer than it would be when Chika guided them. At the end of the day, the Royal Explorers found themselves in front of a massive tunnel filled with claw marks on the sides. Hera asked Chika to stand up and, if the measurement was correct, whoever dug this should be at least 5 meters tall. But, since it was late, everyone agreed to return to Spiral to rest for the day before continuing. The night went by quickly, and Hera even managed to ask Darni and Naph for some help with engravings. She offered them to the rest of the group because she didn''t want to use her legacy for a trial run. A few of the dwarves didn''t have weapons that had sentimental value, so having to change them for one reason or another wouldn''t be the end of the world. One of the things the Empress managed to do was to engrave a pair of daggers with thunder. By itself, that wasn''t all that impressive, but Naph assisted her in creating a pattern that would function as a lightning rod for effect. It required someone to activate it, but when they did, the weapons would have an electric current going from one to another, almost like a pair of tesla coils connected to each other. For a brief moment, Hera considered using that on Scythe, but doing so would only harm her, who was always between the two earrings. Then again, if she managed to do that with a healing spell, she might be able to have a semi-permanent healing affecting her at all times. Unfortunately, they couldn''t get that far before it became too late, and everyone went to bed. When the third day started, the Royal Explorers moved towards the large tunnel and started their expedition inside. Chika became more and more excited as she could feel that they were getting closer, but she wasn''t the only one. Waves and waves of moles started to attack the group. It was like Hera and the others had just poked an ant nest, and everyone was now trying to protect their home. This made the explorer feel weird. The moles were clearly trying to defend something, and if this was really basing itself out of an ant nest, that meant that the strongest bodyguards would only show up when they faced the boss. Despite that, it was still a very monotonous experience. All they had to do was to kill the moles until there were none left in the area they were in, rest for a few minutes and then head to the next area. Again, this could be a problem for a small group, but this small battalion could deal with them without any issues. Either way, it became clear that this tunnel wasn''t something they would be able to finish in a day, and even Chika got tired. Hera spent the entire day working as a delivery girl, which only made the Naga happier due to the large number of pelts they received. Late at night, Darni came by and told them they had more than enough pelts to cover the entire city and even a year''s worth of expansion. However, if the group decided to hunt more, they could keep the pelts or leave them with the city to have even more spare ones for the future. It didn''t take long for the Naga to leave their temporary barracks since they noticed how tired everyone was. Hera took that chance to say that they could leave the dungeon right now if they wanted. That wasn''t something she wanted to do, but, at the same time, it was an option they had, and they would keep the first-time rewards. Thankfully, no one wanted to do that. According to Chika, they were very close and wanted to see this through to the end. Hera didn''t ask this as a sort of test, but it made her happy that the people she chose to explore the MAZE were starting to get a feel for exploration. An itch to discover new things and unveil the secrets they found. After eating, everyone sat around, resting and talking. Despite being tired, there was excitement in the air as they all expected the next day to find the unique mole they were searching for and get the rewards for being the first group to ever complete the dungeon. 511 - End of the tunnel Hera and the others woke up early and called over Chika so they could head to the large tunnel as soon as possible. If everything went well, they would be completing the dungeon today. Despite not needing more pelts, everyone agreed to take the cart again. If push came to shove, they could just leave it behind and keep going. Chika also seemed to be very excited about the idea of finding the mole she was chasing. Everyone had a decent breakfast and walked out of the city, with a giant snake taking the role of a hunting dog. When they arrived at the large tunnel, everything was just how they had left it. There were no moles around, but the battle signals were still plain to see. Hera walked in front of everyone, "Ok, guys. You know the drill. We should be facing a boss today, so be careful, don''t try to be a hero, and watch each other''s backs. Anyone who''s fighting from the back line needs to be on the lookout for ambushes coming from behind. And the Frontline needs to be ready to answer a call for help at any moment. Everybody ready?" "Yes!" they all said in unison. Hera smiled. Even if she wasn''t sure she was the right person to lead this group, everyone seemed to be enjoying their time together and having fun, despite the danger, "Remember not to make too much noise. Even if it doesn''t seem like the moles are attracted to sound, it''s better to be safe than sorry." They all headed inside the tunnel, with Chika staying in the middle of the group. The whole objective was for her to kill the boss with her poison. If someone else ended up dealing the killing blow, they would fail the hidden quest, and for Chika, she would miss the opportunity to help the people she cared about. After about 30 minutes of walking, they saw another group of moles. They were all staring at them, almost as if they were an army ready to defend a castle. Hera also noticed a couple of them who seemed fidgety and even somehow stressed. Out of curiosity, she used her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black Eye Mole - Level 18 - Exhausted (Rock Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black Eye Mole - Level 18 - Sleep Deprived (Rock Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh," Hera gasped. "What''s wrong?" Chiton, who was close to her, asked. Hera pressed her communicator so everyone would hear her, "I think they were here the entire night. We accidentally did some psychological warfare against them. Most of them are exhausted or sleep deprived." "That''s good, isn''t it?" Blue asked through the communicator, trying to keep the low voice that Hera was using. Everyone knew that loud noises could cause the start of the fight, and for now, the moles were just watching them. "Maybe not," Lorna replied, " If an animal is cornered, it might fight harder than usual. The ones that are exhausted might not be that much of an issue. But the ones that are sleep deprived could have more strength than we expect." Hera nodded, "Exactly. Let''s not underestimate them. Everyone who can attack from a long-range, get ready and, on my mark, fire. Let the monsters come to us, don''t dive in the middle of the pack," all members of the royal explorers started preparing a spell or a different attack. Only Chika, Daskka, Grom, and Mylo were waiting. Beam and Core also joined in since they were the two members of Hera''s court who had long-range attacks. "Ready," Hera raised one of her hands, "Fire!" she sent out a shower of poison needles, trying to hit as many of them as possible. At the same time, spikes of earth, ice, and fire flew through the air, accompanied by wind and electric blades. Shane made the ground sturdier so the moles would have problems moving around. It was also something she did to avoid showing off her legacy to the dwarves. Even if Hera trusted them to share that secret, Shane didn''t. Despite that, it wasn''t like she didn''t have other options. Her weapon was already set up in a way that she could pretend that the various different effects she was triggering were caused by her hand cannon and not a legacy. But the ability to reduce the mole''s mobility was too good to pass up. With that initial attack, the first couple of lines of moles were instantly killed. The remaining monsters started charging at the group, but it was like they were rushing towards a meat grinder. Each dwarf was already higher level than any of the creatures, and they had years to perfect their skills and increase their attributes. The fighters took at most three hits to kill one of the moles, while those who focused on magic could dispatch each creature with one or two spells. The Royal Explorers continued their advance at a steady pace, but soon it became clear that something had changed. During the previous days, they would face 20 or so monsters at once before having a break. Now, after breaking through their defenses, only 8 or 9 moles were attacking the group at a time. However, they weren''t getting any breaks. It was a constant flow of creatures that never seemed to stop. "Guys, let''s make two groups. While one fights, the other stays back to rest. After a few minutes, group two will rotate," Hera told everyone, and they quickly split up. Even if that would make their progress a little slower, it was better than having the entire party fighting nonstop. Four hours went by while doing that rotation every 10 minutes before they finally saw something different. It was a large cave that seemed to be forming almost a perfect dome. Surrounding this area, several tunnels could be seen even from their position. Most importantly, there were eight different moles right in the middle of that apparent arena. They were a little larger than any of the others the group saw, and Hera could see a big difference between those creatures and the ones they were fighting so far. The Black Eyed Moles had that small black formation around their faces, but they had patches of black mineral all over their bodies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black Rock Mole - Level 22 - Alerted - (Rock affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ However, the most impressive part of this place was the massive 5-meter tall mole in the center of the room. If it could even be called a mole at this point. Whatever it was, its entire body was covered in that black rock, forming an ominous-looking black armor. There were spikes on its back, and its claws were several times longer than the other moles. Funny enough, the formation around its eyes was now white, which still gave the impression that the monster was wearing a pair of sunglasses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Obsidian Land Shark - Level 25 (Obsidian affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, guys, this is it, and their level is higher than expected. We need to¡­" before Hera could talk about strategy, Chika dashed forward. ''MY PREY!'' she yelled in a way that only Hera and her court understood. In response, the eight moles plus the Obsidian Land Shark dashed forward. "Fuck!" Hera yelled and dashed in. She had already seen Chika die and wasn''t about to let that happen again. Seeing Hera move forward, everyone else ran along. Mylo jumped in front of one of the Black Rock Moles, and the dwarves split off to do the same. Blue stayed on the back, making a large cloud on the arena''s ceiling. It would take a few moments, but when she completed the spell, she would be able to assist everyone. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Hera and Chika went straight for the Obsidian Land Shark. At the same time, Nimbus took his humanoid form. Her entire court lunged at the boss surrounding it and immediately attacked the monster. Daskka didn''t wait and took her giant snake form, which was about the same size as Chika. Even Hera was joining in, swinging her glaive while using her mana reinforcement to pierce through the armor. Unfortunately, all the attacks bounced off the armored mole. Chika frowned and attacked again, using a poison spray, but the monster turned around to evade the attack and let the liquid drip along its armor. Seeing that this was going on, Hera activated all the buffs she had available. Starting with Armory to increase her court''s attributes. Following that, she sent out all the 30 snakes that the item could create and told them to create a formation around the entire arena. It would be the same formation that she used against the Volcano Tribe. A way to lower the attribute of all her enemies inside it. Lastly, she used the battle rattle ability to increase the attributes of everyone in the party. With the preparation out of the way, Hera went in for yet another attack. She slammed her glaive against the Obsidian Land Shark and, this time, managed to chip a bit of the armor, but the damage was minor. In order to actually let Chika bite it, it would require much more than what she just did. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came crashing down on the boss. Hera looked around and saw the cloud above the area. She quickly turned to Blue, "Be careful not to kill it. If you can''t just paralyze it, it''s better not to hit it!" "Did that deal too much damage?" Blue asked, but the obsidian mole didn''t seem to mind the attack. So far, it was just waiting and watching as this group tried everything they could to damage it. Yet, nothing seemed to work. It snorted, almost like it was poking fun at everyone, and with a simple swing of its arm, it sent Chika and Daskka flying to the cave wall. Hera''s court was able to move away, and Nimbus jumped in front of the Empress to stop the attack. The rest of the team was taking care of the Black Rock Moles, taking Hera''s advice to heart. She told them before that when facing unless they had a way to kill their target right away, they should clear all the enemies that were around first while someone distracted the big bad. Unfortunately, that also meant that she would have to deal with the monster by herself for a while. So far, the Obsidian Land Shark has only made a few slow and telegraphed moves. But that changed out of nowhere. A black streak crossed the battlefield heading straight for Chika, who was still recovering from the claw attack. Hera tried to use her stone wall spell to stop but to no avail. Farica and Callena noticed the attack and used a couple of spells to disrupt a target''s movement to push the monster to the side while pulling the snake closer to them. Thanks to that, the attack missed, and the mole slammed head first into the wall. That impact didn''t seem to bother it one bit, but a small metal ball flew towards it before spreading out and turning into a net made out of reinforced spider silk. The attack came from Shane, who fired two more projectiles with the same spell on them. Liking that idea, Hera shot out a few bolts of her paralyze spell and spore field, hoping the boss also had the powerful nose that moles should have. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Obsidian Land Shark ailment bonus effects x 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "If anyone has a bad status effect that you can apply. Aim at the boss! Nothing that could damage it too much," Hera called. If there was a way to pile up on it, the damage would be considerable. A couple of the dwarves added their own spells to the fold, causing the obsidian mole to become slower and have trouble breathing. Adding to that, Hera decided to use her stone wall spell to bind the monster to the ground. Even if it was a creature made to dig through tunnels. She hoped that if she could stop it from moving altogether, it wouldn''t be able to run away. While that was happening, the rest of the team managed to kill all the Black Rock Moles. The group was much stronger than the monsters, and without having to worry about letting someone else get the last hit made things a lot easier. Everyone moved closer to the boss while they discussed how they could give Chika an opening so she could kill the monster. To avoid any issues, Hera, Shane, Callena, and Chiton kept using their spells to lock the Obsidian Land Shark in place. After some discussion, Bralac came up with an idea, "Why don''t we use water?" "Isn''t obsidian kind of like glass? Why would water help?" Hayath asked. "Not if we take the water jet approach. I got a skill like that, and I think I can at least cut open a piece of the boss. It just won''t be pretty," Bralac scratched the back of his head. "I think it''s worth a shot. Are you comfortable doing that?" Hera asked. As much as she wanted to complete the quest, she wasn''t going to force someone to do something they weren''t willing to. Besides, she already had another idea in mind. They could use some strong skills to cut one of the monster''s limbs and let Chika bite the wound. "Honestly, I don''t know. But I''m willing to give it a try," Bralac approached the Obsidian creature that was still stuck to the walls. Shane had changed the terrain again, making it almost impossible for the monster to do anything. And to their luck, it didn''t seem like the creature had any spells that could control rocks. Bralac started using his water jet spell, and little by little, it started to cut the rock from the monster''s back. The creature was squealing and crying the whole time, which made everyone uncomfortable. Even if this was just a construct, this was nothing more than torture. Hoping she could avoid traumatizing her team, Hera got closer to the creature''s head and used her soundproof spell to stop everyone from hearing it. Unfortunately, she had to be inside the bubble, or the spell would fade. ''Guys. Can you sing? As loud as you can,'' Hera asked her court, who started to serenade her loudly, hoping to drown the mole''s cries. After about ten minutes, Bralac was able to remove a large chunk of the obsidian armor. To ensure the monster was still alive so Chika could finish it off, Hayath and Yerel even used healing spells to stop it from bleeding out. With everything ready, they gave Hera a signal, and she told the snake to go for it. ''Thank you all,'' Chika replied before opening its maw to reveal a set of 6 fangs, 3 on each side. Two were white, one was green, one blue with arrow markings, one was yellow, and one was red. The same colors as Darni and his team. She bit down on the monster, who started to struggle even more, but as time went by, it stopped, and its body went limp. After a few more moments, it dissolved, leaving behind a 5-meter by 5-meter pelt that was completely covered in obsidian and a heart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Obsidian Land Shark Pelt The pelt of an Obsidian Land Shark. It is extremely durable and malleable. When mana goes through the pelt, it becomes strong enough that not even a giant saltwater crocodile would be able to break through it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The notification for the heart only said that Chika made it and she would now deliver it to Darni and Casks. "So? Is this it? Where is the level up?" Bertrand asked. "We need to go back to Spiral and deliver the heart. Then we get it and all the rewards," Hera glanced at Bralac, "Also. I think we should let him have the pelt. Maybe give him a few moments alone with it. I don''t like the way he''s looking at it." "Really? Can I have this?" Bralac''s eyes were sparkling. While he was cutting the obsidian, he kept thinking of ways to use that material to make something, but since it was a dungeon, he knew he couldn''t take it back. However, when the boss dropped that item, the ideas he was having came flooding back. "Any objections?" Hera glanced at the group, and everyone shook their heads. She then turned to Shane and mumbled, "I''ll pay you for your cut later." Shane just shook her head as well. To her, the opportunity to talk to the Naga here was more than enough reward. The only reason she wasn''t doing that already was that she didn''t know if her questions would get in the way of the quest, and the rewards could also prove very interesting. "Ok, let''s gather the rest of the pelts that were dropped so we can get out of here," Lorna gestured to the drops of the Black Rock Moles. The eight monsters left a couple of pelts and a few claws behind. As everyone was gathering the loot, Blarac was still caressing the obsidian pelt with an expression of glee. Seeing that, Lorna sighed, "Yep. I want someone who looks at me the way you are looking at that." "What do you mean?" Bralac didn''t take his eyes out of the pelt and was already making schematics on his head. The rest of the team stared at him for a moment, and only then did he notice that people were already moving, "What?" "Nothing. I just hope I''m invited to the wedding," Lorna chuckled. "Oh, man¡­ Can I split the gift with anyone? I have no idea what a pelt would like," Alton asked. "Maybe a tanning rack? Or would that be too personal?" Alex suggested. "What do you mean?" Bralac asked, still missing the joke. Everyone laughed and continued heading up the tunnel, "Guys? Guys! Wait up. What''s so funny?" 512 - Rewards all around After returning to Spiral, Hera and the others let Chika take the heart on top of the cart. The giant snake took the item into her mouth and moved to the side while Darni and the others got close to them. "I have to say. I did not expect you to help us this much," Darni smiled at the group. "Me neither. You have no idea how much trouble we would be without you all," Asher nodded. Hera glanced at the rest of the group with a confused expression, "What do you mean?" "We can tell you killed a Land Shark. That is its pelt, isn''t it?" Naph pointed at the black pelt on top of the cart. Hera nodded, and the scholar continued, "That is the one monster around here that wouldn''t be affected by the repellent pelts we are making. If anything, they would taunt it to come to fight us. And I see you even managed to nab a few other ones. If you are willing to part with them, it will help us a lot." "NO! Hera, you promised I could have the obsidian pelt!" Bralac yelled while jumping on top of the cart and stepping in front of the pelt to protect it from the Naga. Asher hesitated, confused by the dwarf''s reaction, "I¡­ did I say something wrong?" "No, you didn''t," Hera sighed and turned to the crafter, "Can you please get off the cart? I don''t want you to fall when Nimbus starts moving. Also, if this would help them, it might be a good idea to let the pelt here. We can always find another for you later," Hera kept thinking about the first-time rewards. There was a chance for the rewards to come with tiers from F to S, and if this was the case, giving them the obsidian pelt could push them closer to the best possible reward. "But¡­ but¡­" Bralac''s eyes looked like that of a puppy who just lost his favorite toy. "Excuse me. But there seems to be a misunderstanding here," Asher interrupted the group, "I don''t mean the obsidian pelt. The monster from where that one came from is too different from the other moles. Even if we use it to make the repellent, it won''t work with them, and again, it would only be enough to anger the Land Shark. I meant the other pelts. The ones with patches of black rock." "Sure, sure. Take it. Just leave my precious alone," Bralac grabbed the obsidian pelt while the rest of the team sighed. "Is he going to be ok?" Casks asked. "I really hope so," Hera shrugged. "Just leave the man alone. I know how it feels to be excited with a new material," Naph scoffed. Bralac just looked at the Naga blacksmith feeling like he had found a kindred spirit for once. Hera asked the rest of the group if they were ok with giving the remaining pelts away, aside from the obsidian one, and sent a text to everyone explaining what she was thinking about. Seeing the possibility of the best possible rewards, everyone agreed to it. While they were getting the pelts out of the cart. Chika approached Casks and Darni. She nudged them with an odd expression before opening her mouth and letting the heart she got from the Obsidian Land Shark fall into Casks'' hands. "Chika, what is¡­." Casks'' eyes went wide, and she started to shake, "How¡­ Why?" ''I love you. Now, you can have child. You can be happy,'' Chika replied to everyone who was around and could understand her. Casks started crying and hugged Chika while being very careful with the heart. Darni joined in, tears already dripping from his face, "You are the best friend I could ever have asked for. I¡­ We don''t deserve you." ''Wrong. You deserve more. I help. I always help.'' Hera was the only one who could get the full picture of that tender moment. She smiled, feeling the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest You have gathered enough supplies for the Naga to cover their city and even found a few pelts that are much better suited for their plans. First time rewards: 80 000 gold Spiral Supplies S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Hidden Quest You helped Chika to deal the killing blow to her target. Now, Darni and Casks can have children and expand their family. First time rewards: 80 000 gold Chika''s gift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest as the first to enter this dungeon hard mode Rewards: Spiral Gift +1 Level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.You have completed both the dungeon quest and the hidden quest together during the first time this dungeon was ever completed. The following rewards will be upgraded. Spiral Gift -> Spiral Masterwork. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level: 29 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned, seeing the notifications. Everything was amazing, but there was a part of her that expected to receive another upgrade because she was considered a Naga. She knew it was greedy of her, but still, she felt it was only fair since it had already happened once. Then again, complaining about it was stupid. They got several rewards, the S rating supplies, the masterwork, a gift from Chika, and a level-up. Asking for anything more was just excessive. Seeing the notification, everyone in the group gasped and celebrated. Darni and the others didn''t seem to mind since they were already in their own world. "Can we open the rewards now?" Chiton asked with a smile on his face. Hera chuckled, "Sure. Just remember that if you get something too big, you are responsible for carrying it. "I mean¡­ what''s the biggest thing we could get?" Alton asked. "A house," Shane replied without missing a beat. "What?" most of the dwarves asked at the same time. "A house. There is this story about a dungeon that gave someone a full house as a reward. He opened it right in front of the entrance, and it was a nightmare to get it out of there. Every explorer knows about that one," Shane looked at Hera with a smile. It was clear that she wanted to tease the group. The countess was still debating if she should play along or not when Mylo spoke up, "But wasn''t the house just a doll house? Like," he gestured with his hands, "This big?" Seeing his reply, the dwarves looked at Shane with a confused expression, then at Hera, who realized that the jig was up, "She''s just messing with you guys. We can get something big like a cart or something, but usually, it''s never something large enough not to pass through the entrance. But keep in mind that if the entrance is really big, there is a chance that the rewards can also be that big. Here, we should be fine." Shane clicked her tongue and then pulled up her tablet, starting to level up and check her rewards. Everyone started to do the same, including Hera. She was now at level 29, and in total, she had 37 points to spend. Increasing all her attributes by using her [Exponential Growth] skill would cost 17 points per increase, so she could do it twice and bring all her attributes to 82. It''s been a while since she had a big increase. The last time was when she traveled to the Waperath Jungle, and the reason for her high number of points was because of the amount of rooms she passed through. If she wanted to reach level 30 with a blast, she would have to do something different. Nimbus got the same amount of points, but according to him and Daskka, he couldn''t have a total number of attributes bigger than Hera''s. In total, the Empress had 492 points across all her attributes, and Nimbus only had 466. But, unlike it was with Hera, he couldn''t use the [Exponential Growth] skill. If that was because his attributes didn''t match or because her court couldn''t use that skill was something that remained to be seen. In the end, the Sentinel decided to bump his intelligence to 46 and keep the last 2 points for the next level. Hera felt like this was the biggest cheat of her Legacy. Not only could she make people to fight beside her, but they would even be able to level up at the same pace as she did. Then again, it was a legacy. It was supposed to be a cheat. Her next step was to check the rewards. First, she opened the Spiral Supplies S, expecting the masterwork to be better, and she would keep Chika''s gift for last. When she touched the option on her tablet, a light came out of it, and a scroll inside a metal tube appeared in her hand. She opened it, and it revealed the same painting that was in the middle of Spiral. A multitude of different and unique environments filled with color. Hera looked to the side and found the same spot on the wall, and it seemed like this was all a one-to-one representation, but on a different scale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spirit of the Spiral Mural Rarity - Epic This scroll can be used to apply a permanent buff to any weapon or armor. The buff will vary depending on the item it was used whit. Weapons that share similarities with the images in the scroll can receive better effects. The scroll has 3 charges, and when the last charge is used, the scroll won''t be consumed, but the ability to increase the power of a piece of equipment will no longer be available. Charges 3/3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy crap, this is amazing!" Hera gasped. For anyone else, this could be a hard decision. After all, there was always the chance of finding a better weapon. But for the holder of the Court of Blades, this was one of the best possible ways to increase her strength. If she could use this on Nimbus, she would have a permanent buff for life. But first, she looked over the entire drawing. It said that if the weapon shared similarities with the painting, the effect could be stronger. She noticed a couple parts that might match the Sentinel. One was a place with a volcano on a very tall mountain. The other was a mountain with red vegetation and a blue waterfall cutting the middle. The first option would match where Hera found the Flaming Frostguards, the second had the same colors, and in a few other drawings, she could see ice and places that had fire. "Nimbus. What do you think?" Hera turned to the Sentinel, who was still in his griffon form. ''I don''t know how that would feel, but I would be happy to be able to help you, even more, Empress.'' "Empress?" Hera raised one of her eyebrows. ''Sorry. I mean Hera,'' Nimbus quickly replied, understanding her complaint. "Ok then. Can you turn into your weapon form? Also, I don''t know if this will affect your body. Daskka, what do you think?" Hera turned to the snake who was around her neck. "There shouldn''t be any problems, but I agree. This specifies a weapon, and Nimbus himself is no longer considered a weapon¡­ I think," Daskka looked at Nimbus, "Yeah. I think that''s right." Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Ok, Nimbus, it''s your choice. Do you want to try it? If not, that''s ok. I can wait until I get an interesting weapon for this." ''What are the odds you would get a weapon as a reward that would be worth using it on? That way, we can see the effects,'' Nimbus asked. "I don''t know. I mean, I''m kind of using a lot of my luck lately." "But wouldn''t that count as luck to both of you?" Daskka asked. "Maybe. Let''s try. That way, you can have a more well-informed decision," Hera nodded, realizing she was being too rash. She had no clue how that would affect the weapon and, in Nimbus'' case, how it would affect him. Moving along to the next reward, Hera touched the Spiral Masterwork option on her tablet. There was a light, and the item appeared in her hands. "Ok. It was a good idea to wait," Hera said with a large smile. 513 - Twin Adders When Hera pressed the option to receive the Spiral Masterwork, she was expecting something interesting, but she could never imagine that it would come as the exact thing she needed right now. After the light appeared, a pair of long daggers materialized in her hands. They were white and red, but the colors were the opposite of one another. While one of the daggers had a red blade with a white handle, the other had a white blade with a red handle. The edges were smooth to the touch, but looking at them made it seem like they had scales like a snake. Another unique feature was the size of the blade itself. Unlike most daggers with a somewhat flat piece of metal, this pair had a bulkier form. The metal formed a triangular shape, with a wide size of 5 centimeters in length connecting to the sharpened edge on the opposite side. Each dagger was slightly curved, making it very similar to the fangs of a snake. At first glance, the handles seemed extremely simple, almost as if someone had just glued them to the rest of the weapon. However, on a closer inspection, Hera could see several engravings around the leather. She used her [Observe - Red Sight] to check if something else was hidden in the daggers and only found more engravings that overlapped, making it impossible for someone to understand. But, right beneath the blade itself, there was a single line that she could somehow understand. In the white dagger, it said, ''My fangs are true,'' and in the one with the red blade, which was smaller than the white one, there was the phrase ''My claws don''t fail.'' She spent a few moments looking over the weapons. They were beautiful and gave off a certain presence. Hera felt drawn to the daggers, although that could also be said for all the other equipment the Royal Explorers were receiving at the moment. When she was finally done looking over her new weapons, Hera wanted to see what they could actually do. Interesting enough, a single notification appeared when she used her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twin Adders - Fang & Claw Rarity: Epic A pair of daggers made to function as the fangs and claws of a Naga. These daggers came from the collective imagination of the Naga blacksmiths, who were inspired by their warriors. Fang, the white dagger, is a reminder of the past, of an age where the Naga had to hunt like animals. Claw, the red dagger, is a hope for the future, showing that even if their claws are bloodied, the Naga always push forward. Attribute Scaling: Fang: Strength x 15, Endurance x 10, Charisma x 8, Luck x 5 Claw: Agility x 16, Intelligence x 12, Luck x 10 Passive Skills: Two fight as one: When wielding both daggers, the daggers will be affected by each other''s scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. Enhanced Poison: When using any poison-related spells or skills with Fang as the catalyst, increase the poison effect by 30% Rending Blade: Claw''s attacks can cause the target to receive a grievous wound, reducing any healing that it receives by 20% Active Skills: Alluring Presence: By activating this skill, your target will feel attracted to the daggers. Mana Cost: 300 mana Grasping Strike: Fang deals a blow that binds the target temporarily. The duration of the bind depends on the strength of the target. Mana Cost: 500 mana Bloody Claw: Claw launches a long-range attack made out of blood. Depending on how much mana was spent, the attack can be performed with one, two, or three claws. Mana Cost: 300, 600, 1 200 Mana. Distance: 50 meters Familiarity: 12% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shit. Nimbus, they are stronger than your tonfas," Hera gasped. ''I mean¡­ they are a special reward,'' Nimbus pouted. "Sorry. I didn''t mean anything bad by it. I was just surprised because they were a reward from a deeper layer. They should be stronger," Hera patted Nimbus. "Don''t be a big baby. We will find things that are stronger than you in the future," Daskka rolled her eyes. "Ok, don''t start now, you two. Nimbus, you don''t have to worry. I wasn''t complaining or anything. Now let''s see what the scroll can do," Hera tried to change the subject. She pulled up the scroll and stopped to think for a moment. There were 3 charges, and she didn''t want to use 2 of them for the daggers. If she had to choose only one to upgrade, it would be Fang. Claw seemed cool and all, but Fang could increase her poison, and she already accepted that she focused on poison. Unsure of how to use the scroll, Hera did the first thing that came to mind, place it on top of Fang. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you wish to use the Spirit of the Spiral Mural with the weapon [Twin Adders - Fang & Claw] [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh? Both? Ok," Hera smiled and touched the ''yes'' option. The scroll started to move, and the drawing inside came alive. On the corner of the scroll, a tiny speck of light appeared. It started to move through the pictures, almost as if someone was exploring those areas. Hera smiled as she watched this little ball of energy move about in the scroll. At first, it passed by a forest with some pyramids in the background, but it stopped there. The small mote of light started spinning and jumping, and another appeared. Now that he had a friend, it continued going through the scroll. It kept going, stopping in a few more of the drawings and gathering more companions while doing their happy dance with the rest of them. When the speck of light reached the last of the drawings, there were a total of eight particles following the first one. Those lights jumped off the scroll and flew towards the daggers. Four of the particles hit each of the daggers and spread around the entire weapon. The process was slow, and Hera took a moment to think about what had just happened. From what she could tell, there are a total of 20 drawings in the scroll. She was going on the assumption that the light particle would only dance when it found a picture that matched the target weapon. It stopped on the first image, which she imagined was something related to the Naga. She didn''t ask Darni, but the first picture should be his birthplace. Then it stopped in a desert with black sand, which felt odd since none of the daggers were black. The next stop was a place filled with ice with a blood-red river crossing the middle. Following that, they stopped in a white garden, but what came after seemed to have lost any kind of pattern. It was almost impossible for her to imagine what those images had to do with the weapons that she had just got. While she was trying to figure out that pattern, the lights stopped, and the daggers completed their transformation. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twin Adders - Fang & Claw were upgraded by the Spirit of the Spiral Mural. The following skills were added to the item. Predator of the Shadows: Attacks with either Fang or Claw will deal 10-30% extra shadow damage. The damage is increased when attacking from the shadows. Compound Poison: When Fang strikes a target that is currently under the effect of any type of poison, it can absorb some of that poison. When using Fang as a catalyst for a poison-based attack, the absorbed poison will be spent to increase the power of said attack. Strength of Blood: When Claw draws blood from an enemy, it can store that blood around the dagger to increase the number of claws created by the Bloody Claw skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All those skills sounded amazing. Especially when Hera was no longer wielding them herself. But that also came with a problem. Her court was currently full, and if she wanted to use the daggers, she would have to remove one of her court members. Looking at the weapons, they seemed to be the same, but on a closer inspection, Hera saw some changes. The scale-like pattern text covering the blades now seemed to move ever so slightly, and the handles were more comfortable to the touch. Aside from that, the weapons looked just the same. "Daskka. Is there a way for me to increase my court right now? I mean, how many can I have in my court," Hera asked. The herald thought for a moment but then shook her head, "No. As far as I can tell, there isn''t a skill that allows you to increase the number of your court members. You can still have more court members but you need to give time for both you and the legacy. But there is a skill that can be very interesting when you have enough points to get it." "What skill?" "It''s called Blade Graveyard. When using that skill, you can summon the blades that are no longer part of the court. They have the same stats, and memory they had the moment you let them go. It lasts for a number of minutes equal to the number of blades that are in the graveyard, and it takes a week for the cooldown to reset," Daskka explained. Hera''s eyes started to sparkle. A skill like that opened many possibilities, and she could even start to look for random weapons with interesting skills so she could call them when needed, "Ok, that sounds amazing. How can I get that one?" "It''s a bit on the expensive side. But the worst-case scenario may be a year or so. That''s only considering you don''t do anything with your legacy. As you know, the more you use it, the more points you get, so if you keep calling everyone out, it shouldn''t take that long for you to be able to get that skill," Daskka explained. "Ok. I like that. Let''s save for that one, but if you end up finding another interesting skill that''s cheaper, let me know," Hera turned to Nimbus, "Ok, so you saw what happened with the daggers, right? Do you want me to do that with the tonfas too?" "Now that we see what the scroll does, I can tell that you shouldn''t have any major changes. At least not on your appearance or personality," Daskka added. ''Are you sure?'' Nimbus stared Daskka dead in the eyes. "Positive, you don''t have to worry about it. Also, it should only affect the weapons, not you." "That''s even better. You can stay by my side when we are going through that," Hera suggested. ''Ok,'' Nimbus changed from his griffon form to his humanoid one, "Let''s do this," he passed the tonfas to Hera. He was still somewhat scared, but he wasn''t about to let a pair of weapons from a lower layer one up him. Hera nodded and did the same thing with the tonfas, placing the scroll on top of them and pressing yes on the notification. One more time, the speck of light appeared and started traveling through the scroll. It passed through almost half of the drawing before it stopped to dance. It stopped in the picture of the volcano in a tall mountain, and the dance lasted for longer. Instead of just one speck of light, two came from that image. Another one came out in the picture of the mountain with the waterfall and, in the last drawing, a place that was an empty field with blue skies, one final mote of energy came out. In total, five balls of light jumped from the scroll and fell in the tonfas. The weapon started to glow, and Nimbus grabbed Hera''s hand. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "I''m¡­ just scared," Nimbus replied. "I''m here with you. If you feel any pain, just let me know, and I''ll stop this," Hera placed her other hand on top of his. She was starting to regret her decision. Even if this could make him stronger, she never expected the Sentinel to be like this. After a few tense moments, the light surrounding the tonfas disappeared, but there was no notification. "Are they done?" Nimbus reached out to grab the weapons. "Wait," Hera said, but the Sentinel touched the weapon before she could finish the word. At that moment, the light flew from the tonfas and wrapped around Nimbus'' chest, "Nimbus!" Hera cried. The Sentinel jumped back with a scared expression and yelled as if it was in pain. A few seconds passed before he stopped screaming and touched his chest, "It doesn''t hurt." "THEN WHY DID YOU YELL?" Hera and Daskka yelled at the same time. "I got spooked!" Nimbus protested as the light vanished and revealed some markings on his body. They were just small lines that were a lighter color than his skin. Those lines would swirl around in a way that it was clear they represented wind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flaming Frostguards were upgraded by the Spirit of the Spiral Mural. The following skills were added to the item. Call of the wind: This weapon has a 20% chance of enchanting its next effect with wind. If the effect deals damage, it adds 30% of wind damage. Wind Front: When triggering a fire or cold effect at the same time that the Call of the Wind skill is triggered. The fire or cold effect will increase by 50% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait, does that mean Wind Front also increases the damage?" Hera asked. "Yep, it affects everything," Daskka nodded. "Damn. That''s amazing," Hera smiled. "I truly am," Nimbus puffed up his chest but got a flick on his forehead. "You are also the person who almost gave me a heart attack," Hera sighed. Daskka stared at him before scoffing, "Ok, let''s look at the last reward." Hera nodded and tapped the option to take Chika''s gift. What came out of it was a pair of round stones that looked like snake eyes. One green and one silver. Hera had to do a double take to look at Chika, but the giant snake still had her eyes intact. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snake Eyes Gemstone A pair of crystals that can be used during the crafting process. They possess a strong affinity to magic and can increase the strength of most other materials. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is¡­ kind of underwhelming in comparison," Hera shrugged. "Well, not all rewards can be amazing. Besides, we never know what that can turn to," Nimbus smiled. "Mum¡­ Can I have those?" Daskka asked. Hera looked at Daskka, "I mean. Sure, what are you going to do with them?" "I want to eat it," Daskka replied without missing a beat. "What?" Hera blinked a few times. "I want to eat it. They seem delicious. Like really delicious," Daskka was already salivating. "I¡­ I don''t¡­. Really?" Hera couldn''t find the words. "Yes." Hera rubbed her eyes, "Do you mind waiting a while? I''ll talk to Naph to see if this could make you sick or something." "I can''t get sick, mum," Daskka rolled her eyes. "You also don''t have to eat, but here we are. I just want to make sure this is not going to end up as something bad, ok?" Hera waited for Daskka to nod and walked off towards Naph, mumbling, "Now my necklace wants to eat rocks, and my weapon screams because of light¡­ since when did my life get this weird?" 514 - Parallel Worlds It didn''t take long for Hera to find Naph. She was right by Darni and Casks'' side, smiling with tears in her eyes as well. However, unlike the couple, she was still there. The Naga hero and his lover seem to be in their own world while still hugging each other. One odd thing that Hera noticed was that Casks was carrying the heart almost as if it was a baby. Not thinking too much of it, she approached the blacksmith with the Snake Eyes gemstone in her hands. "Hey, Naph. Do you have a minute? I wanted to ask you something." Naph gave her a soft smile, "Hera. For you and for your friends, I have all the time in the world. That''s the bare minimum I can do to thank you for what you did." "You don''t have to thank us for anything. We were more than happy to help. Either way, do you know what this is?" Hera presented the gemstones. "Oh, Snake Eyes. Those are hard to come by. Well, at least here. It''s easier to find one of those if you are near a place with a lot of snakes," Naph took the gemstones and started inspecting them, " Wow, and these are very high quality. I think Chika made them." "She made them?" Hera had a confused expression. "Yeah. Some snakes can create this kind of thing. It could either be the eyes or the fangs as a gem or just some scales. From what we can tell, this is kind of like a piece of condensed mana. It''s very useful when you''re making something. If you use something like this when you''re making a piece of gear, a lot of things can happen," Naph gave several different examples of what the gems could be used for. After some time, Hera understood that the Snake Eyes gemstones were basically a binding agent. By using them, one could add more materials to a specific piece of equipment being made. However, the end result requires a lot of time to be prepared, and it will depend very much on the skill of the crafter. "Ok¡­Weird question. What do you think would happen if Daskka ate it?" Hera asked. "Daskka is a construct, right? Like an item?" Naph asked. "Yep." Naph stopped to think for a moment, "I can see one of two things happening. First, nothing. She will eat the gemstones, and the gemstones will be gone, that''s it. The second option would be that Daskka is going to get a buff. I''ve created constructs like her before, and when they ate something that it looked like they shouldn''t, those were the things that happened. After a few tries, I realized that if you force them to eat, nothing will happen. Only when they ask to eat something can they potentially get a buff." Hera nodded. It seemed like a good idea to give this to Daskka. Worst case scenario, she would lose one of the rewards, "And how hard is it to find one of these things again?" "In here, we can see one of those every five years. Back in my hometown, we would see one every six months or something. They were usually smaller than those two, but I''ve also seen bigger ones. If you want my opinion. Give it to her. You are still low level enough that you should be changing your equipment every so often. Those gemstones are better used on the equipment you will keep for a long time." Hera nodded, understanding what Naph was trying to say. She glanced back at the rest of the royal explorers and saw how all of them were getting their rewards. It seems like every single one of them was getting something interesting. There were even a few people who were already trading their rewards since they got something that wouldn''t fit with their abilities. Hera walked back to Daskka and put the Snake Eyes in front of her, "They are all yours. Just¡­ be careful." "I will, mum, thanks," Daskka opened a big smile before unhinging her jaw to eat the gems. Hera looked away. It was too weird to see the herald doing that. A few of the people from her party came to talk to her and ask what she got. Hera showed her earnings, and Shane was very interested in the scroll. Not in the actual effect but in the drawing itself. The others also had interesting things. Alex got a jacket that could increase her resistance to damage and make it so it was harder for anything to pin her down, while Blue got a pair of earrings that would increase the range and the speed of her spells. Apparently, that would also work with her legacy, allowing her to create the clouds faster. Among the rewards, there were a few weapons, including a spear that looked exactly like the one that Casks used, and when using [Inspect], it would confirm that it was her spear or at least a version of it. While they were talking, the changes that happened on Nimbus were noticed, and a few people were even complimenting him on the new look. That made the Sentinel get an ego boost, but he was quickly shut down when Bertrand bluntly said that he always thought Nimbus already had tattoos. Daskka was still eating the rocks, now going for the second one, while the first was already getting smaller inside her body. Hera couldn''t understand why the snake didn''t use her mist form to absorb the gemstones, but she figured Daskka knew best. Distracted by those thoughts, she didn''t notice Darni approaching. "Hera. Can I talk to you for a minute?" the Naga hero asked. "Sure. I also wanted to ask you one thing, if you don''t mind." "Of course. Do you mind if I go first?" Darni gestured for her to follow him. They walked a bit, just enough to get away from the rest of the group. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Not at all." Darni nodded and looked at the Spiral mural in deep thought, "This is a dungeon, isn''t it?" Hera didn''t say anything, just nodded, "Can I ask how long it''s been since you saw me? Before you came here, I mean." "Probably around 3 or 4 hours," Darni opened a big smile, and a tear came down his face, "What''s wrong?" "Nothing. Everything is perfect. For you, it''s been 4 hours. But I remember the last 70 years since our last goodbye. Not everything, of course, but enough to make me believe that I truly lived through that or that the system can simulate my life perfectly. This also means that, maybe. I will be able to see my child grow," Darni looked back at Casks, who was now carrying an egg instead of the heart. "Maybe. Maybe there''s another part of this dungeon that will send you a few years in the future. Or maybe when we leave, you guys are just going to continue. Almost like a parallel world," Hera smiled. The idea was heartwarming. Maybe every dungeon just continued existing even when people weren''t there, "If you don''t mind me asking, how did you find out?" "My child. I was hugging Casks, and after a while, the heart that was in her hands turned into an egg. Despite what my mother used to tell me, I know that holding hands can''t make you have an egg, so I figured there was something wrong." "How can you be sure? Maybe your mother was right," Hera teased but only got an eye roll as a reply, "Can I ask something unrelated to all this now?" "Sure." "Can you tell me how to get to your hometown?" Darni stopped to think for a moment, "Honestly, no. I know that something happened with the doorway some years ago, and it was closed off. We''ve lost contact with the center of the Kingdom." "Really? Can you tell me what happened, and do you know if there''s another door right here? One that doesn''t lead to the Forest of Dreams," Hera asked. "I''m not familiar with the Forest of Dreams, but I know of one doorway that is to the northwest of here. That''s the doorway we use to reach other Naga settlements. There was a monster who made the area surrounding the doorway collapse. It was to the southwest, in the corner of the room. One of the moles passed and caused the tunnel to be destroyed. We tried to excavate the area to reveal the doorway again, but when We managed to open up the path, the doorway was no longer working." "I see. That''s a shame," Hera looked down. Darni stopped for a moment, almost like he was gathering courage, "Hera, what happened with my people?" Hera looked the Naga hero dead in the eye, " Honestly, I don''t know. I never met any Nagas outside of a dungeon. And I even got a system notification that one of my rewards for a dungeon was improved because the system considers me a Naga or at least part Naga, and there was a lack of members to the race. Also, I''m not the best person to talk to about this. Shane is much more knowledgeable about your people than I am." Darni nodded and stared into the distance, digesting that information. After a few moments, he turned back to the rest of the group, "I''ll try to talk to her before you leave. Thank you for answering, and thank you for helping me grow my family." "It was my pleasure," Hera looked back to Nimbus, who was still by Daskka just in case, and realized that the herald seemed to be turning into mist, "If you don''t mind. I have to check up on my family now. My kid ate some rocks, and now I think she''s getting sick." "Is that a euphemism?" Darni tilted his head. "I wish it was," Hera sighed. She walked over to where Daskka was and saw how the construct was struggling to keep her shape. Nimbus had a worried expression, "Empress, I don''t know what''s happening. She''s not answering me." "Daskka? Can you hear me?" Hera asked. Daskka looked up, but her body started to shake, and more mist came out. Now becoming darker and darker until it was completely black. Her form was completely lost, and now it was surrounding Hera and Nimbus. It was hard to see beyond the black mist, but not impossible. Hera felt like she was wearing very dark sunglasses. "Daskka?! What''s wrong? Talk to me!" Hera yelled. "Don''t worry, mum," I''m okay. And right now, I''m hiding you," Daskka replied, but her voice came out of nowhere and everywhere all at once, "And now. I''m stealing the strength of your enemies and sending it back to you," the black mist turned green. "So you''re okay? Like, those new abilities are awesome, and all but you''re okay?" Hera pressed, she was worried about her friend. "I''m great, mum! Never felt better," the mist changed colors one more time, now becoming purple, and Hera could feel a healing effect being applied on her, even if she wasn''t actually hurt, "And for the grand finale," Daskka said and gathered all the mist in one place. Going for her giant mist snake form that made her be 20 meters long. However, instead of being a red mist, it became silver, and the shape was more defined. It was still clearly made out of the mist but much more solid than before. With a smile, Daskka grabbed Hera with her tail and put the Empress on her back before moving around a bit. "Okay. I''m never saying you can''t eat rocks again," Hera chuckled as she rode on the snake. Unfortunately, that didn''t last long. Daskka''s form wasn''t made for long contact, and the mist lost the strength it required to carry her owner. "You should leave the mount job for those who are actually made for it," Nimbus huffed. Daskka returned to her normal form, which was much bigger now. Instead of being just a small snake that looped around Hera''s neck once, she was now a scarf that would do several laps around the Empress'' neck without a problem. She was looking like a fully grown snake, "Don''t be like that, Nimbus. I''m not going to steal your job," Daskka smiled and got closer to him. As a response, Nimbus flicked her forehead before pulling her body in for a hug, "Fine, but don''t scare me like that again. I didn''t know what was happening." They stayed like that for a few moments, and Hera smiled, seeing both of them sharing that tender moment. "You know that you did the same thing to us, right?" Daskka patted Nimbus with her tail. Everyone continued talking, with Shane and the Royal Explorers talking with the Naga, not just Darni''s group but the others who lived in the city. A few hours passed before they finally left the dungeon, and Hera told everyone what she had discovered about the doorways and what would be the next step in their search. 515 - Searching for a doorway The dungeon was over. However, everyone decided to hang out in Spiral for a while longer. Hera was happy to be talking with Darni and the others. Shane was excited about being able to speak to so many Naga, and everyone else had various interests in the place. For most of them, this was the first dungeon where they saw people that were not other Dwarfs. Maybe it was because of Hera''s own actions or because of how they were raised, but they were treating the Naga as they would treat any other person. Eventually, she wanted to take them to a place where they would have to fight people just so they understand that inside a dungeon, everything goes, but there was no need for her to do that right now. After a few hours of enjoying the happy mood, they decided to leave. Shane kept talking with every Naga she saw, asking about their home and trying to get more information about their culture and society. It was just a shame that the city''s people couldn''t answer all her questions. They would say they forgot some details, but in reality, it was the dungeon blocking some of their memories. Still, it was enough to get a better understanding of a lot of different things. Bralac also got something unique out of the deal. Because of his passion with crafting, Naph gave him a few pointers on how he could create a portable forge of sorts. She taught him the basics of one of her skills called Soul Forge, the same one she used during the normal mode while they were facing the spiders. Naph was a surprisingly good teacher. Because of that, she managed to pass the first rank of the skill to the crafter. That wouldn''t create anything as big as the forge created during the fight, but it was enough to make a flame that could burn for a long time while using a small amount of mana. Adding that to some stone shape spells that most dwarves knew, Bralac could make a forge pretty much anywhere. After leaving the dungeon, Hera shared the lead she found about the doorway with everyone. She went back to ask Donny about a more specific location while showing him the map, and he pointed to an area where no one had found anything yet. In fact, no one had even found a way to get there. So everybody would be focusing their exploration in that area. She also added the information about the broken doorway but let the people who were already excavating the tombs look for it. In the best-case scenario, they would find a doorway that would be open, and they would be able to cross over, but if the doorway was still broken, then their efforts wouldn''t amount to much. All the Royal explorers were focused on just that for the next two weeks. Finding the doorway to the next room. Hera tried to remind everyone that this shouldn''t be a brand new room since the Naga should have passed by, but that didn''t change their excitement with the idea. It was thanks to Farica that their search was rewarded. While looking for Hidden passages around the valley, she noticed one of the walls had a path hidden behind it. The only reason she realized that was because she was looking for tunnel networks that could be underground because it wasn''t a simple 1 or 2 meter thick wall that was blocking the entrance. No, it was a 50m wall that was separating the valley from this passage. At first, she thought it was just the cave network she was searching for, but on closer inspection, she realized that this part of the valley wall was not supposed to be there. Some groves showed signs of deterioration around the 50m long rock. When she removed that barricade, people could see that the lines surrounding it were too straight to be natural. Someone had intentionally blocked this path, and no one could tell why. Farica and her team didn''t open the path right away. Instead, they called over Hera and the others. Seeing this as a good opportunity, the Countess told Farica and her group to lead their exploration of this new area. After all, she was the one who found it. She ended up doing a great job. By keeping the groups larger, she made sure that no one would be ambushed by monsters. Her next decision was to make a grid map of the area, direct each group to a specific zone, and then go from there. The unfortunate part was that this place was empty. Even when looking very carefully, they couldn''t find anything from statues to buildings to pottery or any markings of something living there. Another weird thing was that beyond the hidden path, there were no monsters. It seemed like after blocking this place, whoever was here made sure to kill everything that was beyond it. The cherry on top was that there weren''t any buildings around. It was like they killed the monsters to create a safe location but just left. Since that was the case, the Royal Explorers decided to close off the entrance and sleep in this new area while searching it. They told Shane and the others about the location, but since everything here was suspicious, they didn''t want to risk letting something dangerous free. Two more days went by before Alton, Yerel, Lorna, and Grom found an odd formation. It was a natural pillar in a hexagonal shape with a staircase made out of the same structure surrounding it. On top of that, there was a pure white doorway with the symbol of an island made with that same formation with several small islands in the background. He called everyone over, and in just an hour, the entire group was there. Hera was the last to arrive, and they were all waiting to confirm if this was what they were searching for. "Did you guys touch the doorway?" Hera asked. "We did. And it seems to be working. I think you should check it just so we know it''s the right one," Alton replied. "Right one?" Hera chuckled, "If it''s working, that''s the right one. You don''t have to call me to confirm it. We came looking for a doorway that is working, any doorway that is working. This will be the, well, second doorway anyone ever finds in this room. The first one would be the one that we took to get here. So you just found a path for us to continue exploring. There''s no wrong here. It''s absolutely right." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hera walked up to the doorway, climbing the odd hexagonal shapes that reminded her of something back on earth, and touched the ivory frame. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Shtylla Archipelago - 10th Layer [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned, looking at the notification. If she remembered correctly, the 10th layer should have monsters from levels 10 to 28. By itself, that wasn''t a big problem, but two things came to mind. First, not everyone in the Royal explorers was level 28 or higher. Even after the extra level in the dungeon, the weakest amongst all of them should be level 25 since both leveled up while fighting the moles. Another problem was the idea of an archipelago. Fighting monsters on land was one thing. Fighting them in the ocean was completely different. It also came with the problem of traveling. If the islands were far away from each other, they would have to have a boat or something to move around. Maybe she could go by with Nimbus, but that could be a stretch, not to mention that it would mean the rest of the group wouldn''t be able to follow her. She went back down and waited for everyone to get there. Before moving forward, she wanted to have a meeting with everyone, "Okay guys, now that everybody touched the doorway and saw the name of the room, we need to talk. If we go there, we might run into a few problems. First is the level of the monsters, which can be up to level 28. Now, I know that a few of us are only three levels behind, but that is still three levels. The second problem is the room itself. Since it''s called an archipelago, we can assume that we''re going to deal with islands and water. Fighting a monster on land is one thing. Fighting a monster in the water is extremely different. Unless we are a triton or can breathe underwater, it''s close to a death sentence. You guys had your lake, but you never saw how big things can get in the ocean." "Remember that pirate movie we watched after one of our classes? The second movie night we had," Alex turned to the group and got a few nods as a reply, "In that story, they were running from the Leviathan. That giant creature could swallow a ship whole. I don''t know if there is a monster that size around, but its babies, the ones that were about the size of a ship, those exist even back on earth. I can only imagine that things could get much bigger here." Hera nodded. She knew that Alex was talking about whales, but it was a good comparison, "That''s just a possibility. Maybe it''s not as bad as I''m thinking. But I want you all to be aware of what can be waiting for us beyond the doorway. Also, it''s been a little over a month since we got here, I think, and I understand if anyone wants to go back home so you can see your friends and your family before going forward," she didn''t want to do that. Every fiber on her body told her to cross the doorway, see the new room, see the things inside, but she had to be responsible, at least for now. "Do we have to decide that now?" Yerel asked after a moment. The dwarves were hesitating a bit. "No, we don''t. We can go back to the camp or spend the night here. Since we are close to a doorway, I can take a few people at a time in my private room so everyone can take a proper shower, but then someone else would have to go back to the camp to grab the internet tower," when Hera decided to search for the doorway, she informed the guild and they sent a portable internet tower that could be connected to the doorway in case she found it. It came with a small crate that was a bit heavy, and once it was deployed, it couldn''t be removed. It was an expensive piece of equipment, but since she had a silver guild card, they trusted her enough to send it her way. Now that she found the doorway, she had to go grab that tower so people would have an internet connection in the next room. "I''ll go get it," Mylo offered before turning to Yerel, "If you are having a vote while I''m away, I vote for us to go to the next room." "Same," Blue nodded, "For both, going to get the tower and voting to go." "I''ll go with you guys too. I honestly don''t care if we go now or later," Alex shrugged. "When you guys get back, you can come to my private room," Hera said, she could go inside three times without having it be a problem, and she could bring 6 people along each time. It would be a bit tight, but that way, everyone could take a shower and relax a bit. The issue was that the trip back to the camp should take at least 3 hours, so Mylo and the others will take a long time before getting back. The dwarfs started preparing a camp using the valley itself to make a small building where they could rest and be more protected if there were any monsters incoming, and after that was done, they went inside Hera''s room in groups. Since there were a lot of people, Hera asked them not to take too long in the bath. 2 hours later, the last of the dwarves left her private room while feeling refreshed, and Hera was going to give them some time to discuss what to do next. Wanting to take advantage of her skill, it was her time to take a bath, but before that, she checked the messages from the guides. It''s been a while since she managed to talk with any of them. Everyone seemed to be doing fine. Capri was complaining about her lack of messages, the Kobold sisters were now talking with her in the same group chat, but they still sent private messages to her. Laika and Johnny were also in the same group chat, where they would discuss and recommend movies or shows for them to watch. Surprisingly, Luna and Jackie also had their own group chat with Hera, where they would talk about books that weren''t exactly safe for work. The raccoon guide had a taste for saucy literature, and she was introducing Lune to the fold. As she was turning on the water, she tapped Peaches messages. He was giving her some words of encouragement and congratulating her again for becoming the Countess of Exploration. He added that even though he couldn''t teach the Royal Explorers himself, he could give her some tips by using what he learned while taking care of the Explorer''s tests. However, the last message had a completely different tone, and it was one he sent a few hours ago. ''Kid. I don''t know what you did, but we need to talk as soon as possible.'' 516 - An old promisse After seeing Peaches'' message, Hera quickly sent one back, telling him she was available. He never said something like that, and she knew that it wouldn''t be a joke. Peaches could be playful, but he knew when to be serious. It didn''t take more than 5 minutes before there was a ring on the door. Hera did her best to clean up the place, but 6 dwarfs had just left, so it wasn''t the best situation to have visitors. Still, it was something important, and she wasn''t going to worry about that right now. Aside from Hera herself, Daskka was sitting on the couch, but her court wasn''t going to be a part of this discussion. She didn''t know what Peaches wanted to talk about, and having weapons out might note the best idea. Hera took a deep breath before opening the door, "Hey Peaches," she opened with a large smile. However, her face quickly turned into surprise. Behind Peaches was a chameleon wearing a tuxedo and a top hat, "Oh? Percy Bodwitch? What are you doing here? I thought you were among the guides that didn''t want to talk to me." "You are correct, my dear. I do not care for you nor for your way of life. Alas, I must fulfill my duty, and unfortunately, you''re part of it," as Percy spoke, one of his eyes stayed on Hera while the other kept darting around. "What does your duty have to do with me?" Hera had a confused expression, but soon she snapped out of it and looked at Peaches, "Hey Peach, how are you?" "Please don''t call me Peach. It reminds me of a game character that really annoys me. I mean, why does the ruler of a Kingdom always get kidnapped? You figure that after maybe the second time, you would beef up security or something," Peaches shrugged. "I never thought about that, but yeah, I agree. The games are still fun, though," Hera nodded. "Are we going to stay here in the corridor while you two talk about irrelevant things, or are you going to invite us inside as a good host would?" Percy rolled both his eyes, one at a time. Hera blinked slowly while looking at the chameleon guide. She made a point of lingering as if she was deciding if she would invite him in or not. It was one thing to have the guide treat her poorly because she called him in a room, and, according to him, her preparations were not adequate. Another was for him to come here to her house and act like he was entitled to his standards of politeness. However, Peaches was the one that said they needed to talk, and Percy should only be there because of that discussion. Hera stepped back inside and gestured to her private room, "Please, come in. I apologize for the mess. I wasn''t expecting visitors," she said, making sure to point out that Percy was the one who invited himself here. The chameleon walked in and glanced at Daskka, who was just staring at him with an annoyed expression. It seemed like he was thinking about something, but after a few moments, he continued moving to the middle of the living room. On the other hand, Peaches was being carried by Hera to the couch, where he sat by her side. "It''s okay if we talk about why you''re here? The message that Peaches sent me sounded important," Hera asked. "Young lady, when you are entertaining guests, one should offer some tea or, at the very least, a cup of water. Frankly, your manners are appalling. And yet it''s completely expected. After all, you are someone who has such a disregard for manners and rules that you''re even sharing the knowledge of the guides with her," Percy had both eyes on Hera this time before turning to Daskka. "Who the fuck is this asshole?" Daskka snarled, but only Hera could hear it. "I suppose that''s why you''re not in charge of the rules. I only introduced Daskka to the guides after confirming if that was allowed or not. If you have a problem with the ruling, complain to the system because it was its decision, not mine. And you must forgive me for my lack of preparation. I had no idea that I would have visitors such as you today, so I had no time to prepare. Unfortunately, I would only be as good of a host as my guests allow," the speech lessons Hera had with Rutigan and Fethy were useful in an unexpected situation. Still, Hera made a mental note to thank them for that later. "Typical, when presented with your own shortcomings, you are unable to accept criticism," Percy scoffed. "I want to slap him. Can I slap him?" Daskka turned to Hera. ''No, you can''t. He may be a dick, but he''s still a guide,'' Hera replied, using her poison connection with Daskka. "And let me say, it''s incredibly rude to talk about someone in front of them. I may not be able to understand what you''re talking about, but I have enough experience with Naga to know when I''m the subject." Hera nodded, "Of course. I''ll refrain from doing anything that you may consider rude such as talking about you in front of you or hearing a conversation that I''m not supposed to hear." "Yeah, you are the rude one here!" Daskka cheered, seeing Percy''s face contorting with Hera''s reply. "Ok, Ok. Let''s calm down. Percy, you are the one who needed to come here. You shouldn''t be this rude to her," Peaches turned to Hera, "And try to be less snippy. I know he is trying to push your buttons, but be the better person." "I don''t have a problem with lowering myself to the level of others but okay. I''ll try to be nice. For you," Hera said before turning to Percy, " I am sorry for being rude. But unfortunately, you caught me unprepared. If you like, I can offer you a glass of water, but that''s all that is available. Chairs are also something I can''t get at the moment, so if you prefer, I can sit on the ground while you take the couch. But Daskka is staying here." "I would rather stand, and if I wanted water, I would go to a lake. Either way, Peaches is correct. I came here for a specific reason. It came to my attention that the system considers you a Naga. I do not agree with that in the slightest. However, I must fulfill a promise because of this," Percy pulled a small piece of paper from his breast pocket, "This is a map. Made by the last Naga that came to this room. He was lost and desperate and wanted to find his way back home. Unfortunately, at the time, the doorway was already inactive. So he was trying to reach his destination by going around it, through the doorway you''ve discovered today. He was scared, alone, and worried that others would end up lost like he was. In the end, he made me promise that I would give this to the next Naga that appeared in the room. It saddens me greatly that I never had the chance to pass this along to someone so far." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "What about Chika? She was bonded with Darni, so she should also be considered a Naga," Hera asked. "Even if that was the case, when I received this map, Chika was in no condition to see anyone. And by definition, I wouldn''t be able to give it to her. She was not a Naga who passed by the room. She was a snake who bonded to a Naga, and she was already in the room." "It sounds like you''re going through a lot of hoops to say that you had to wait till now to give it to somebody," Hera replied. "I am, and that''s not by choice. I am only trying to fulfill my end of the promise," Percy replied bluntly. "And what was the promise? Why is this so important to you? The Naga only used this room as a graveyard. Why is this one Naga worth all of this?" "That is something personal. And why should that matter to you? I''m giving you something you are looking for. I know that you are already searching for the Naga. I''m only helping you find your answers," Percy crossed his arms, holding his cane in one hand and the paper in the other. "So? Am I supposed to believe that you''re doing this out of the kindness of your heart? Who''s to say you''re not doing something that''s going to put me in danger? If I don''t know your motives, why should I believe in any of this?" Hera scoffed. She really wanted that map, but at the same time, it was hard to trust someone so obnoxious. Even if he was a guide. "Forget it. This was a mistake," Percy started walking towards the doorway. "Percy, are you sure you are going to leave now? I don''t think you will have another opportunity to talk to her if you end things like this. So you will have to wait for the next Naga to show up," Peaches said without getting off the couch. Percy clenched his teeth, or, at least, this is what his expression suggested, "Fine. I got sentimental. The Naga in question had a sad story about how he lost his family and his friends, and he was alone. And I just wanted to give him some closure so he could move on with his life. Before that, he came here often, and we talked on several occasions. I consider him my friend. All I want to do is honor his wishes." Hera waited for a moment but then turned to Peaches, "A long time ago, you told me that guides can''t lie. I can''t remember if that included what we talk about here or through messages. Is that still true?" "Pretty much. We can still be sneaky about stuff, but if we say something, you can consider that as truth. That being said, we can make mistakes. Unlike when you call one of us with the guide skill, we don''t have the system backing us up to make sure we don''t give incorrect information," Peaches nodded. Hera turned back to Percy, " Okay. Thank you for telling me. If you still want me to have the map, I will gladly take it." Percy walked closer to Hera and gave her the piece of paper. She tried not to seem overly excited, more out of pride than anything. This map could be amazing for her, but Percy was so obnoxious that she couldn''t bring herself to show her interest. When she opened the map, she couldn''t help but frown, "Was all of this a prank?" "It is not. I swear that this was the map that was given to me." "This can hardly be considered a map," Hera sighed. It was just a piece of paper with seven empty circles connected with lines from odd angles. Remembering that this was supposed to be given to a Naga, Hera triggered her [Observe - Red Sight] since the Naga would write things using their infrared vision. On the bottom of the map, inside the last circle, she could see a symbol that looked like dried-up ground. It was similar to the symbol on top of the doorways leading to the Wailing Valley. Connected to it, there was a drawing of an ant nest inside. Followed by a small strip of land surrounded by water, a jungle with a pair of waterfalls on both sides, a city made out of pyramids, a cave filled with crystals, and, lastly, a temple with the head of a snake on top. Percy realized that Hera managed to see the map and crossed his arms, "I suppose there''s a reason why you are an explorer. Although, considering you are apparently a Naga, it took you too long to realize how to read this map." Hera looked up and was about to snap at him when Peaches interrupted, "Percy, it took her less than 30 seconds to figure it out, stop being a prick." "Is this the original?" Hera asked, wondering if the Naga had put some hidden message on the map. "Not exactly. The original map is long gone. Despite my best efforts, paper can only last so long. But the copy you have in your hands is perfect. Any blemishes or markings are exactly like the original. I didn''t make the copy manually, I created it by using my authority as a guide." "Right. So can you give me an extra copy? A perfect one, I mean. I want to share it with a few people," Hera replied. "And why would I help you with this? My job is done. I gave you the map," Percy scoffed. "I''m guessing that since you''re here giving this to me, this promise is not simply something you are doing to be nice. There must be some spell or effect by the system forcing you to do this. Because let''s face it, you don''t like me for some reason. And I have no idea what is the promise you made. Let me ask you this, is giving me the map enough, or was it part of the promise for you to help the other Naga find their way? If it''s the second option, giving me copies of the map would also consist in helping me find the way." Percy clicked his tongue and pulled another three copies of the map from his breast pocket, tossing them on the ground in front of Hera, "There. Three more copies, exactly like the original. With this, I fulfilled my promise," Percy walked towards the door in a huff but stopped in front of it, "Could you open the door for me?" Hera leaned over to grab the maps and check them. She knew Percy couldn''t lie, but she still felt the need to do so, "I never keep the door locked when there''s a guide here. You can open it yourself," she said without looking in his direction. Percy left, and Peaches waited a few moments, "I''m sorry for this, kid. I honestly wasn''t expecting him to act like that." "Don''t worry about it. It''s not your fault. But was this the important thing we needed to talk about, or was there something else?" "Nope, this was it. That promise was something big for him, and when you touched the doorway earlier today, he came after me asking to send a message. Sorry if I scared you." Hera shook her head, "It''s ok. But honestly, he needs to pull that stick out of his ass." "He does. By the way, you should check your messages," Peaches said with a smirk. Pulling up her tablet, she noticed a few messages from Capri, Talpa, Nina, and Laika, all cheering on her for telling Percy off, "He is a prick with everybody, and when I saw that you were standing your ground against him, I might have opened the voice channel in a group chat." Hera started laughing, "I would ask you to give me the recording, but honestly, I don''t want to think about him so soon. Anyway, I was about to take a shower. Do you mind waiting a few minutes? Then we can call everyone over to hang out for an hour or so. I have to wait before leaving. But I can''t stay here for too long." "Sure, kid. Do your thing. I''ll ask everyone to bring some food, and we can have a party," Peaches smiled, "Oh, can you bring out your court? This place feels empty without them." Hera nodded and called Nimbus and the others. She thanked Peaches quietly about this. Before going to the bathroom, she glanced at the flying blades. Despite getting her new weapons, she still didn''t change her court like she wanted to, but that was something that would have to wait. Now, she really wanted a shower. 517 - Royal Seal "I guess we stayed here long enough," Blue got up from the couch and stretched. "Yeah. I''m sure they finished their discussion by now," Alex nodded. "I think they don''t know how to swim," Mylo got up and walked to the kitchen to grab another glass of water. "They don''t know how to swim?" Hera turned towards him. "Yeah." "But, there''s a lake in Boothudurn," Blue turned around. "So? Have you ever seen one of them swimming?" Hera stopped to think for a moment, she spent almost a year with Blue living in Boothudurn, and the two went swimming a few times to relax. Still, very few people seemed to be interested in joining them, and she couldn''t remember any of the Royal Explorers being there, "Not them, specifically, no." "See. They are embarrassed that they can''t swim," Mylo nodded, feeling confident in his answer. "I don''t think they are that worried about that. Or are they?" Nimbus turned to Hera, who just shrugged as a reply. She honestly couldn''t tell if that was the case or not. "Well, I guess we are about to find out," Blue replied, walking to the door. "You guys can go ahead. I have to do a thing with my court, and I''m going to double-check if there aren''t any big messes around. I don''t want everything to come out with me," Hera replied. "Ok. Don''t take too long," Alex nodded before heading back to the Wailing Valley. When everyone left, Hera sat on the couch while Nimbus gave the room a once over, making sure there wasn''t anything that could end up flying off when they left. The Empress called over Beam. Aside from Lurize, it was her oldest blade. However, unlike the Zweihander, who still could help her train, she noticed during the current fights that Beam couldn''t keep up with the rest and would often seem confused about what to do. It was a shame, but it was time to change her court once again. In fact, she also intended to remove Ooze soon, but she only had one weapon to swap at the moment. "Beam. You are amazing and thank you for all the help. But I¡­ I don''t think you can keep up anymore," Hera''s voice was filled with sadness. It hurt a lot doing this. In a way, it was like saying goodbye to a friend that she would never be able to see again. "I agree, Hera. Thank you for everything. It''s been a fun ride," with those words, the blade turned into small particles of light before disappearing completely. Hera just sat there, staring at her hands that held Beam a few seconds ago. Having the blades thanking her felt worse. Maybe it was better if they felt angry or upset. She didn''t know. All she knew was that this sucked. "Mum? Are you ok?" Daskka got closer to Hera. "Not really, but I will be," Hera nodded. Suddenly a bird wing covered her and Daskka from the side. "If it helps, to us, our reason to exist is to help you. Knowing that we are doing something to help you, my Empress is the most fulfilling thing we can ever imagine," Nimbus pulled the two of them closer with his wing. Hera chuckled, "I''ll remember that the next time you complain when I ask for help to move something heavy in the house." Nimbus frowned, "That is really not fair. I wish I had Peaches'' powers. I mean, the whole moving things with his mind is really cool." "I think it''s a bit more nuanced than that, but yeah. Still, I''m glad I can introduce you to them, but I''m sorry about Jackie." "Oh¡­ yeah¡­ she comes out strong," Nimbus blushed a bit, still remembering the odd advances from the guide. "Anyway," Hera picked her glaive from the counter, "Can you help me, Daskka?" Daskka nodded, and some mist started to come out of her, covering the glaive, "Can you hold like that for a moment? I want to try something," Hera added. Daskka frowned but did her best to stop or at least slow down the process. At the same time, Hera started making a spell circle on top of the mist, almost like a stamp to be added to the glaive. Maybe she could do this to avoid using up one of the weapon''s engraving slots. She did something simple, a circle that would have the power of ice. Her idea was to use the same rune that was in the Naga hero''s tomb to write it here. The first couple of attempts failed, and Daskka''s mist couldn''t keep its shape, but on the third one, Hera created the spell circle around her hands first and then pressed it on the glaive together with the mist. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Royal Seal - Legacy Skill The Empress is able to give messages to those who are to join her court. By using her seal, she is able to guide the direction she wishes her new court member to follow. However, using the wrong seal might bring negative results to the blade. By using an elemental sigil, you are able to change the element of a weapon you are adding to the court. Depending on the weapon, doing so can have positive or negative effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh?" Hera and Daskka gasped at the same time. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Shouldn''t this be a skill the previous holders have already learned?" Hera asked. Daskka waited a moment, "They have. This was one of the ones you could get. But I guess you just have it since you figured it out by yourself. I honestly didn''t know it worked like that." "But it does make sense¡­ Can you tell me what the other skills do?" "I can tell you the end result, not how to get there. Like, you have a skill that gives all your blades a scabbard of sorts. Then you can pull them all from the same place and get a temporary boost when you use them. But I can''t tell you how to make that unless you get the skill," Daskka explained as the glaive finished entering the legacy, "You need to give it a name, mum." "How about¡­ Frost?" Hera said with her hand out as the glaive materialized in her hand. It looked almost identical as it was before, but now it had a slight shade of blue covering the entire weapon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frost - Ice Glaive Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 82 Intelligence x 4.5 [2.5(4.5) + 2.1] Endurance x 4.25[2.15(4.3) + 2.1] Strength x 3.7[1.6(3.2) + 2.1] Agility x 2.1 Charisma x 2.1 Luck x 2.1 Passive Skills: Spell catalyst: When the glaive is used to cast a spell, spell efficiency: + 20% Mana Blade: When a magical effect is applied to this weapon, it will generate a mana on a blade that will function as a real blade. When casting a magical effect on this weapon, mana cost: +10% Made for magic: This weapon was created with magic in mind. Magic-based effects are easier to be applied to the weapon. Ice Seal: When any spell is cast using this weapon, the residual mana grants it a temporary +25% ice damage. The more mana used to cast the spell, the longer the duration of this effect. Engraving Slots: 2 Familiarity: 68% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera whistled, "This is nice. That seal thing can be stronger than I expected, and I''m glad it didn''t use up one of the engravings." "Maybe. I think the mana you used wasn''t the best. You can''t just use the same element, but if you use something that complements each other, maybe the effect will be even greater. Also, you keep saying you are saving up for the right engraving, but you never do any. How do you expect to improve?" Daskka rolled her eyes. Hera shrugged. She knew that Daskka was right, but she couldn''t bring herself to use her court as guinea pigs. Still, she would have to find a way later. With all that done, she left her private room and went to meet the dwarves who had made a small building inside one of the valley walls. However, she noticed that there was some smoke coming out of one of the windows. Worried about that, Hera rushed inside, calling her friends. "Blue? Alex? Anyone? What''s happening?" Rushing inside, Hera arrived at a large area where everyone was sitting on tables, and there was a brick barbecue kit on the back, with a lot of smoke coming out of it. "Hera!" Farica raised her glass to the Countess. "What are you guys doing? Do you guys know that there''s smoke out there?" Hera gasped "Shit! I knew we had forgotten something. Hang on, Chiton, come help me here. We need to make the smoke trap," Bralac called over the mage, and in a few moments, they set up a few spells that would condense and solidify the smoke to be released later. Blue, Alex, and Mylo were also there helping out to set up the barbecue. Lorna walked over to Hera with a glass of juice in her hand, "We can''t actually bring alcohol here, but Bert had a few juice packets, and he was kind enough to share for this." "Oh¡­ but what is this? Any reason for a party?" Hera was still confused about the entire situation. She expected a lot of different things when she came to talk to them, but not this. "Of course we have!" Yerel jumped into the conversation, "We found the doorway we were looking for, so of course, we need to celebrate to lift up our spirits before going in there." "So¡­ you guys want to go there instead of going back?" Hera asked. "Oh¡­" Yerel looked to Lorna, who was staring daggers at him. With a sigh, Alton, who was sitting by the side, got up and clapped his hands, bringing everyone''s attention to him, "Listen up, everyone. Yerel already spilled the beans, so I think it''s only fair if we tell Hera our decision now. Can I say it or does anyone else want to?" everyone just gestured for him to keep going. Alton turned around, "Honestly, we didn''t even need to vote. The moment we stopped to talk about what we wanted to do we realized that everyone was so excited about going to the new room that going back home didn''t even cross our minds. Don''t get me wrong, we miss her family and friends, but we are here, and there''s a new room right over there. going home now just to come back here feels¡­ I don''t know¡­." "Stupid! Or like we gave up without seeing our prize," Rayna yelled from one of the tables closest to the barbecue. "Exactly. So, yeah. We want to go to the new room and we want to continue exploring, and I think I can''t speak for everyone on this part. But what we''ve been doing the past few weeks was the most fun I ever had," Alton chuckled, "Sure, it''s kind of boring at times, but more often than not, we have a blast. I never imagined that looking for something could be so much fun." "Yeah, it''s like those treasure hunts you sent us during training, but it''s much more satisfying when we find something," Hayat raised her glass, but no one followed her, so she just downed it in one gulp. "Really?" Hera smiled. She never expected them to be this excited about all this. Not to say that they didn''t want to explore, but because of Silah''s reaction to staying away from her home, Hera was still very worried about all of this. The dwarves nodded in agreement, and soon they were all talking about the room. Asking about what they could expect and the things that they might have to be worried about. In the end, Hera couldn''t tell them much because she herself didn''t know, but she reinforced that it was very likely that dungeons there wouldn''t give a level up as a reward since the Naga might have passed by, taking the first-time rewards. They all understood that, but it didn''t change their excitement. If anything, what they were looking forward to the most was going to a place with fish or something else more normal to eat. After all, even a barbecue like this couldn''t change the fact that they were now eating spider meat. "I just hope the room isn''t filled with crabs," Blue said as she took one of the meats from the grill. "Crabs?" Bralac asked. "Yeah. I mean, spider it''s like a bad crab. Or at least the shape is the same. I wanted something different." After saying that, you could hear a pin drop in the room. Everyone went quiet, hoping that she was wrong and that in the next room, they would find something else to eat. 518 - Shtylla Archipelago The Royal Explorers spend the night in the building they created by the doorway. It was very likely that more people would use it later, and Hera told everyone that if they wanted, they could bring it all down, but the dwarves opted to leave it up. For one, If the next room was somewhat dangerous, they could come back here to rest instead of staying in a place where they would have to spend the whole night worried about monster attacks. Another reason for not removing the building was that the dwarves wanted to help others who might one day come here. Hera did try to explain to them how people would pay good money for a building like this, and making one for free would make them lose a lot of gold, but the dwarves didn''t care all that much about that. Even if they were already getting used to the idea of paying for things, they still had a mentality of not charging for basic needs. Back in Boothudurn, the dwarves wouldn''t have to pay for food, water, or electricity, as long as they were willing to help the city one way or another. Because of that, they considered shelter a basic need, and it would still take a lot of work to make the place liveable. Right now, it was little more than a glorified campsite. Either way, it was the dwarves'' decision, and Hera would respect it. Especially now that she had something more important to think about. They were all in front of the odd hexagonal structure, getting ready to go to the new room. "Okay, guys, I just want to remind you of one thing before we head in. Even if we know that the doorway should be in a safe location, that doesn''t mean there will be no monsters around. The odds are pretty slim, but it is possible that when we go in there, we will meet a monster right away. Because of that, the first group that''s going to cross is going to be made out of the strongest people we have here. Grom is going first, then Callena, Farica, Mylo, then the rest of us," Hera explained. "Hera, I think it might be a good idea if you went in first. Even if I''m at a higher level, because of Nimbus and your court, you have a numerical advantage," Grom suggested. "Are you sure? You know that even if I''m using the entire court, I can''t win a fight against you." Grom nodded, "It''s one thing if you are fighting 1 on 1. I know that I don''t have to defeat your court. I just have to defeat you. I don''t believe a monster would have the same insight." Hera thought for a moment, and she had to agree with his logic, "Ok then. I''ll be going first, and you will come after me, the rest of the order remains the same." They all started heading up in a line. Blue and Alex wanted to go sooner, but they understood why they wouldn''t be going right after her. When considering the level of all Royal Explorers, the two of them would be just a bit above the average, but that didn''t include Grom or Callena. The two of them were above level 35, which messed up the curve a lot. As they discussed, Hera was the first to touch the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Shtylla Archipelago - 10th Layer [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before pressing yes, she recalled Daskka and her court just in case. She never tried to cross a doorway when they were out, and she was afraid that the process could hurt them in some way. There was no reason for her to think that, but her paranoid side won every time. A warm feeling of being submerged in hot water covered her body, and soon, her vision was flooded with a bright light. When she regained control of her body, she entered the Shtylla Archipelago. She only had time to realize that she was, in fact, on an island and that there was some vegetation around her before noticing a large two-legged creature with green scales. Fur was covering its long and muscular arms that went all the way to its ankles. Each of its hands was massive, large enough to carry three watermelons with a single hand, which the creature was doing. Its torso was the definition of an hourglass body, with extremely broad shoulders, a tiny waist, and a set of extremely large legs that didn''t seem to fit a biped. No, the legs would fit more like a Rhino or a Hippo. On top of its body, there was a somewhat humanoid face. It was completely bald and with cloudy white eyes. A couple of lumps on the sides of its head seemed to be its ears. Framing its face, there was some hair that could be very easily considered a beard, even if patchy in places. But the lack of a nose and the thin line that should be its mouth made Hera weary. That line would make three points, two that could be the edges of its mouth and another that went up the face until reaching where one would see the bridge of the nose. It felt unnatural as if there was something deeply wrong with this creature. When Hera appeared, she wasn''t the only one who noticed something. The creature also realized that someone was close by. It stared at the human who had just arrived, and nothing seemed to happen for a couple of seconds. Until the monster opened its mouth, the three-pointed line opened up, revealing that most of its face was actually its mouth. Three flaps pointed out towards Hera as it roared, and small tendrils came out of its throat, reaching out to her, even if they were far away. Seeing that maw filled with teeth and tentacles, Hera jumped to the side and called all of her court, "Shit! Shit! Shit!" "Is that how you want to call us now¡­ What the hell is that thing!" Daskka gasped as she appeared and took her silver mist form, becoming bigger and more solid. The monster lunged at Hera with both arms out, arms that seemed to detach and become four, and a web-like structure connecting the two pieces almost like the flaps of a wingsuit. Its claws came crashing down, but Nimbus stepped forward and pushed it away, "Fuck, that thing is heavy!" the Sentinel gasped. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "It''s called a Scavenger Bugfish, and it is level 28!" Armory told everyone. "How do you know that?" Hera pulled Fang and Claw using the Bloody Claw attack to hit the monster. A line of red energy came out of the dagger and split into three, going for the creature''s head, body, and waist. "I used Observe," Armory replied as Frost and Core went for a pincer maneuver. Trying to stop the arms that were now going after Nimbus. The Sentinel triggered the Frozen Ash aura to reduce any incoming damage, but the temperature didn''t seem to be much of a bother for the Bugfish. The Bloody Claw attack slammed against it, and some cuts could be seen, but it wasn''t the damage that Hera was expecting. It seemed like this monster had a strong defense. Before anything else happened, Grom appeared in front of the doorway, "What the..!?" "Bad guy!" Hera yelled, but the assassin was already ahead of her. He jumped to the side and, in a flash, appeared above the monster, cutting the back of the creature''s neck. The Bugfish was still alive and roared in pain, but Hera wasn''t about to let up. She told her court to strike and activated Fang''s grasping strike. When she hit the creature, several small white threads appeared around the monster, binding the monster. Daskka joined in, wrapping around it to reinforce the bind. Hera had no idea how long it would last, but it didn''t matter. The few moments where the Bugfish couldn''t move were enough for Grom, Hera, Nimbus, and her court to attack until the creature was dead. Hera took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. She wasn''t afraid of a creature like this. She had seen and fought worse, but the moment it changed shape and lunged at her gave her a jump scare. "I guess it''s a good thing you told us this could happen," Grom turned to Hera after removing the Bugfish''s head from its body. Doing that was something they had learned during the training. When seeing a new monster, it was better to make sure they were dead and not just playing possum. The rest of the team started to arrive, and they all formed a perimeter around the doorway. If there was one of those monsters here, it could be more around. Half an hour later, the team had scoured the entire island. It wasn''t a big place, to begin with. The forest was small, but each tree was a lush green color, while the grass was a beautiful shade of cyan. The area was just a couple hundred square meters wide, but there were many wild watermelons in the area, as well as a cluster of jackfruit in the center. This island was on top of a basalt hexagon base, and beyond it, there was water. A lot of water in all directions. However, there were also other islands with the same formation underneath them. From this place, the Royal explorers already managed to see five different islands in the distance. One of them was somewhat close, but the rest was far away. The water looked like an ocean, and people tested it, confirming it was indeed salt water. Still, everyone was weary of getting too close to it since the monsters seemed to be water-based. Despite the humanoid shape, the Bugfish had gills and webbed feet and was, by definition, a fish, or at least a sea creature. Another thing they found was a cave underneath the island. It was by the sea level, and seemingly it went to the middle of the island, but no one was willing to go there just yet. When they felt safe, they gathered in front of the doorway to confirm their plans. "We are here. What do we do now?" Hayath asked. "Now we have options. We already scouted the island, which was the first step. The next step is to either look into the rest of the islands or see what is around them and make a base camp here, but that comes with its own problems. Or, we can try to check the ocean¡­ that is a very bad idea, but it is an idea," Hera explained. Blue scoffed, "Bad idea is being generous. Going into the water with those things around would be the same as asking to be killed." "Yeah. Maybe we can tell people about this room and call over some of the triton. This place should be their specialty," Chiton spoke up. "That is a possibility, but then we are going to have to wait for a while before being able to do anything," Hera nodded. "I don''t know if this helps, but when we looked in the North? West? That side," Lorna pointed to the back of the doorway, "There seemed to be an underwater bridge." "Oh, that''s good. Let''s go check it out," Hera smiled, and everyone went along to see this bridge. It didn''t take long for them to get there and realize that it was more of a path than a bridge. A couple of centimeters deep in the water, this hexagonal structure was made of several different pieces that seemed to be going to the closest island. It was also considerably wide. Five people should be able to walk side by side without a problem. "Well, this helps but still leaves the problem of the monsters," Blue sighed. "Yeah. Guys, before we do anything, I want everyone to think about ways of protecting ourselves while we cross this. Both in case we are attacked by a monster, and in case we slip into the water. Split into smaller groups to talk. Coming up with ideas with a larger team is hard," Hera told everyone who did as she said, making smaller groups to check everything. For once, Blue and Alex joined with the Countess. It''s been a while since they hung out together. On the other hand, Mylo went with Bralac and Callena to look into the rest of the island. They wanted to ensure they didn''t miss paths like that elsewhere. "So¡­ any suggestions?" Blue asked. "I thought about making a rail, but to do that all the way to the next island should take a few days at least," Hera sighed. "I wish Adriel was here," Alex looked into the distance. "Why?" Blue asked. "He has a few spells that help move underwater. He can even make a bubble to protect things, but he prefers to swim. There is this spell that gives him a tail that is really pretty," as Alex explained, Hera couldn''t help but start giggling, "What''s so funny?" "Sorry, no. I''m stupid," Hera couldn''t stop. "What? I want to know too." Hera snorted, "He likes to sing and is half fish. He''s a perfect mermaid just adding the D." "The D?" Alex asked, confused. "Fuck!" Blue started laughing, but Alex still didn''t get it. Seeing that, the controller explained, "Take the D out of his name." "What are you¡­." the realization dawned on Alex, "Oh no. Please no. I''m not dating a cartoon, am I?" "That depends. Is his best friend a yellow fish?" Hera asked. "No!... But when they were little, people called his best friend Blunder¡­." Hearing that, Blue and Hera just started laughing nonstop. The rest of the groups were also discussing their ideas while at the same time talking amongst each other. Unbeknown to them, dark figures were approaching from the opposite side of the island, attracted by the smell of blood, blood from one of their own kind. 519 - Creating an island After about 30 minutes, Mylo and his group returned. They had found another of those underwater paths, but this one was much deeper. It should be about half a meter deep, and it seemed to be going at an incline, getting deeper and deeper the farther they were from the island. It was hard to tell what that meant. Maybe the room had some sort of cycle where each bridge would move, allowing people to reach one of the islands at a time. Or maybe it was just a path leading to a different place. Everyone also had a few ideas about how they could cross this passage safely. The main suggestion was to expand the paths by using some stone shape spells, but as Hera said, that would take a while. Another issue was that they were not sure if those spells would work in this type of rock. By all accounts, they should, but since the spell would move the earth to create an elevated passage, it was hard to tell if doing so in the path could cause it to break apart. That was the main reason why no one was using those spells to create a more comfortable place for them to discuss their options. It would be bad enough if they broke the bridge, but if they could somehow destroy the island itself, they would be in a lot of trouble. Other options were thrown around, like using ice to freeze the passage and make a more solid bridge or a boat to cross to the other side. The problem with that idea was that if those monsters appeared, it was very likely that they could destroy the ship and make it sink. Bralac had a suggestion to work around that. He said he could create a boat out of the earth from the Wailing Valley and enchant it to float in the water. However, that came with its own set of issues. First, he had no idea if it would actually work. He had made some spells that could make things lighter, but floating in the water was more complicated than that. Second, it would require a lot of materials. Meaning that they would need to go back to the Wailing Valley, dig up a bunch of dirt, and bring it here. A couple more ideas came up, but they were quickly shot down. Flying over to the other island was almost impossible without some sort of mount, and swimming was a no-go since the monsters could still be around. Not everyone in the group was confident enough in their swimming abilities to reach the other islands. "Blue, do you think you could make a cloud bridge to take us there?" Hera looked at the island in the distance. "Not really. It''s too far away. I''m even worried about using the Flying Storm to take me there. If the wind picks up, I might end up in the water." "Yeah. It''s the same issue I have with Nimbus. I''m not sure if anything will attack us, and then I''ll be one blade short," Hera sighed. "Why are we talking as if we don''t have any options here?" Alex rolled her eyes, " We still have a cave on this island that we didn''t check. It''s very likely that there is something that would help us. Maybe we can do a dungeon and get a boat as a reward. I don''t know." Hera nodded. The idea of a dungeon right now could solve some of her issues. She had a map that she had no way of telling anyone where she got it from. Even telling Shane was a bit risky. But, if she went to the dungeon, she could say that she completed a hidden quest or got a random reward that gave her the map. She could even blame her bracelet or Daskka, saying that she got an extra reward because of them. "That''s a fair point. Where is the cave?" Hera turned to the rest of the group. She wasn''t the one who found that place, and it was easier to ask where it was. "I think it''s this way," Alton pointed to the west. The group moved again and, in a few minutes, arrived at the small natural staircase that led to a cave. However, that came with a problem. The path was narrow, too narrow. People would have to go down on a single-file line, and it was hard to tell if they could turn around to run if needed. Another issue was that the cave already had a couple of centimeters of water covering the ground. It was very similar to the bridge they found, but if this place had tides, people could end up in a very bad situation. "Ok¡­ Who wants to try to go to the cave?" Hera asked. Alex and Chiton were the only ones who raised their hands. Everyone else was scared that doing so could cause problems, "For those who are going to stay here, try to come up with more ideas so we can head to the other Islands. If you guys want to explore the ocean, be very careful, and if you feel like this is not a good place, just go back to the Wailing Valley. If we end up not Finding anything else that could help us go to the next islands, we should go back and call for backup." The reason why Hera went straight away was that all this waiting around was starting to annoy her. It was one thing to be careful, another to just talk about doing things but never actually do them. Before heading down, she pulled up a small plastic bag and placed her tablet inside, as well as the map given by Percy. The last thing she wanted to do was to get them wet, even if she already had made a copy of it on her tablet and sent it to the cloud. Before Peaches left her private room, she asked him a few questions about what she could do with the map. The answers were more or less what she expected. She could share the map with anyone she wanted, but she couldn''t tell them where it came from. Even if the person in question knew about Percy, the decision whether or not sharing that knowledge was a strike would come to the guide that gave the map to her. Considering Mr. Bodwitch''s personality, if she ever told anyone, that would be a strike. That being said, the contents of the map were fair game. It was something supposed to be shared anyways, so she could send pictures or copies to anyone. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "Blue, you don''t want to come?" Hera asked. "Not really. We''ve spent way too much time underground already. I want to see the sky. And my legacy is weird underwater. Like it can work, but it''s hard to control. Also, the last time I tried to go into a cave like that, I almost drowned. Sure, I was a kid at the time, and we managed to get out before it flooded, but I don''t want to go through that again anytime soon," Blue replied getting a nod from Hera "What about you, big guy?" Alex turned to Mylo. "The place is too narrow. I won''t have space to fight with my staff if I need to," Mylo explained. "Oh¡­ right. I didn''t think about that," Alex scratched her cheek. Hera, Alex, and Chiton moved towards the cave. They came down the hexagonal staircase and continued, realizing that the water level inside was lower than they had imagined. Small waves would make the water come in, but all in all, it never went above the soles of their shoes. Aside from that, the place wasn''t bad. It was just narrow and wet. They continued walking and turned to the left once before seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. "Do any of you remember if there was another entrance on the island?" Chiton, who was in the front, asked. Hera wanted to take the lead, but having the dwarf behind her would be worse since he couldn''t see what would be in front of him. "I don''t think so. But maybe it''s an entrance deeper in the island," Alex was taking the rear since she was able to use some spells to move to the front if needed. As they continued walking, the trio arrived at an exit that looked exactly like the one they took to get here. Hera scratched her head, "Maybe the cave goes in a circle, and we didn''t realize that," she took one more step towards the staircase and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the [Island Builder] dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After checking with Alex and Chiton and sending a text to the rest of the group, they pressed yes and went inside the dungeon. They moved up to the staircase and realized this was a different place. They were still on the same island, but it seemed to be a very old version of it. There weren''t any patches of cyan grass, much less the trees. Instead, they could only see the hexagonal patterns covering a wide area. To the side, some fresh dirt was tossed in the area by some weird headless humanoid creatures. Suddenly, a whistling came from the side. Turning in that direction, they saw one of those creatures closer to them. It had two long brown arms, a pair of smooth legs, and a torso with a smiley face carved in the middle. "Welcome. We appreciate your assistance. Please take one of the boxes on the ship and spread the soil around the island. When the task is complete, take the seed box from the ship and plant the seeds in the same locations where you spread the soil. A red string surrounds the area where you should be spreading the soil. Please refrain from performing your task outside the marked area," the golem spoke in a robotic voice, but its mouth wasn''t moving. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the dungeon quest inside the [Island Builder] dungeon Building assistance: The golems in the area are creating a more sustainable environment for the island. Assist their work by spreading the soil and planting the vegetation. First time rewards: 30 000 Gold Stylla Island Supplies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh? This seems easy," Chiton said with a smile. "It does¡­ And that is a lot of gold," Alex frowned, feeling that maybe this was a bit too easy. Then again, a dungeon in this layer should be giving a lot more money, and that could be another sign that the difficulty here wouldn''t be that high. "Well. Let''s just start. We can see if it''s really that hard or not as we go about it," Hera looked to the left and saw a stone boat made out of the same hexagonal patterns as the island. Several crates were inside marked as soil with a few smaller ones for the seeds, "Be careful. Don''t drop your guard. Just in case." About two hours after Hera and the others sent the message that they had found a dungeon and were about to go inside, Blue and the rest of the Royal Explorers were just waiting around. They discussed many plans and possible ways of crossing the waters, but all options sounded bad. In the end, they should just head back and call for backup, but no one wanted to leave Hera''s team here. Because of that, everyone was just hanging out, eating some of the fruit on the island, and talking. Rayna got a large branch from one of the trees and used some string to fashion a rudimentary fishing rod before walking closer to the edge and casting it in the water. Her hope was to find some of the fish that lived in the ocean. It took less than a minute for her to feel a tug in the string and start to wrestle with her catch. However, after a few moments, the fish was strong enough to snatch her fishing rod from her hands and let it fall into the depths. "Aw, man," the dwarf complained. "Is it the first time you ever fished?" Mylo helped her make the fishing rod, and he had yet to ask that question. "Yeah. I just saw it in movies, but I didn''t expect the fish to be this strong." Mylo nodded, "They are much stronger than it seems. Unlike us, who stop and rest, fish are always moving through the water." Suddenly, the hook that Rayna was using came out of the water in the direction of the group. It was still attached to the string, but the fishing rod was nowhere to be seen. In a way, it was almost like something was trying to fish them. "What is that?" Lorna squinted while looking at the water before screaming, "Watch out!" At the same time, half a dozen Bugfish jumped out of the water, landing on the island and going after the new prey they had just found. 520 - Landscaping Massacre "Get down!" Blue yelled as she spun around, tossing one of the Scavenger Bugfish back into the water. It went right over Lorna''s head as she ducked to avoid the incoming ''projectile.'' Following that up, she triggered the cloud on top of the water to start bringing down lightning. They were using the water as a way to damage the monsters all at once. Doing so allowed them to hit the creatures as they were jumping out of the water. Rayna jumped to the side, evading one of the monster''s claws before kicking it backward. She was used to the spiders or the moles in the Wailing Valley, but, unfortunately, these monsters were sturdier. The kick barely did anything, and it just turned to Rayna and opened its face, revealing the spiral-like teeth going down its gullet. The feelers jumped towards her, but Grom intervened to cut them before they reached the dwarf. Suddenly, another Bugfish came out of the water, but that one was different. It had eight limbs that were being used as legs, even if their ends all looked like hands, and another set of three arms coming from the top of its form. Beneath itself, there was the thin part of its body like the waist of the Scavenger Bugfish. However, unlike the other variation, this was the monster''s head. "What the fuck is that?" Farica yelled as she sent off five fire arrows at the monster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter Bugfish - Level 26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s a Hunter Bugfish. Use your Observe," Bert waved his hand, and five crystals appeared in front of him. Each side of the crystal started glowing and fired beams of light in the monster''s direction. The mage twisted his hand, and the light became thinner and more concentrated. That hurt it somewhat, and the monster turned to Bert only to be intercepted by Lorna and Mylo. "Are we sure we can''t just leave and come back later? Maybe the monsters will be gone by then," Callena yelled. "We don''t know how long it will take for Hera and the others to come out of the dungeon. What if they are swarmed by these monsters?" Blue yelled as a pair of giant cloud hands appeared, and she grabbed the Hunter Bugfish, holding it down while the rest of the group piled in to kill the monster as another lightning bolt crashed into the water. "Hey, Alex, what do you think about making it higher here? We can already start to make something that would fit an actual field instead of just putting the dirt around," Hera looked over the hill that one of the golems was making. If it was going to follow the same pattern as the others, it would first unload all the dirt it needed and then start spreading it around, almost like turning dough into a Pizza. "That''s a cool idea. Do you know how to make a proper like, field?" Alex asked. "I think so. But I''m honestly not 100% sure. How about you, Chiton?" Hera turned to the dwarf who had just arrived with another box of dirt. "I¡­ know¡­ a ¡­ little¡­." Chiton was huffing, much more tired than either Alex or Hera. "Okay, so how do we go about it? Give us a full detailed explanation, that way, we can do the best field possible," Alex smiled. "Bite¡­.me," Chiton huffed again before laying down on the ground to rest. When they arrived here, Hera and Alex agreed to pick the boxes of dirt since they were stronger. Still, after a couple of trips, Chiton started to tease them a bit too much, and as a punishment, he had to bring the last two boxes without using any spells, including the ones that would help carry all the dirt inside the boxes. In the end, that was too much for a mage, and the small climb from the boat was the worst exercise he ever did in his life. "Actually. Now that I think about it, we should consider the size of the things we''re going to plant. Chiton, why don''t you go back to the boat to grab the seeds?" Hera turned to the mage. "But¡­ But.. I¡­" Chiton gasped in a panic, but Hera just chuckled. "Relax, I''m just messing with you. Take a moment to rest. It''s a beautiful day, after all. I''ll go check the seeds," Hera glanced at the baby blue sky with a couple of white fluffy clouds here and there. The weather in this dungeon was amazing, not too hot or cold. It should be a great place for a picnic. Blue was flung to the side when the third Hunter Bugfish intercepted her. They had already killed the first two, but this one was larger than the others. She was just trying to toss one of the Scavenger Bugfish back in the water before being hit by three of the monster''s legs. Blue tumbled in the field, only stopping when her back hit one of the nearby trees. As another Bugfish came closer to her. However, this time Mylo intercepted it, sending it flying with his staff. They had been fighting for a while already, and everyone was starting to understand the strengths of those creatures, as well as how to defeat them. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The weak spot was their waist, at least that was true for the Scavenger Bugfish, while the Hunter Bugfish was always very careful not to let people hit its head. It was probably due to the fact that it didn''t seem to have any bones, almost like the head of an octopus. Having that knowledge changed the tide of the battle. Even if the number of monsters was never that large to begin with, they were giving the Royal Explorers some trouble. Rayna, Lorna, Alton, Blue, and Mylo got injured in the fight, forcing Hayath and Yerel to step in to heal them. Everyone else blasted the first group with strong spells, and now they were all very mindful of their mana consumption. Bralac was to the side, making some barricades and barriers using the scales of the bodies to make some traps. He also supported and buffed the other fighters while ensuring there weren''t any Bugfish approaching from the sides. Farica and Callena started freezing the water in the ocean to stop the monsters from attacking, but that only slowed them down. The beasts could no longer come out of the water swinging. Instead, they had to use all their strength just to climb on top of the island, clawing their way through the hexagonal formations that rose from the water. Hera, Alex, and Chiton were walking to the boat. They had already covered their entire area with soil, and now, it was time to check the seeds. Working like this was exhausting, but it also gave them a sense of accomplishment. They were seeing the island actually being built, and the terrain changed before their eyes. Not to mention that it was very interesting to watch the golems work. They were very methodical but also had unique ways of spreading the soil. One golem would walk backward while carrying the box and shaking its arms, almost like it was putting powder sugar on top of a dessert, while the other would be walking and stomping the dirt on the ground to make sure it was properly placed. The boat was very unique. It looked like the engine car of an old locomotive, with a round cylinder in the front connected to a small house-like structure and a large area that would be used to carry things. However, there was no actual engine there. Looking over it, Hera managed to figure out that there was something underwater behind the boat that would propel it forward. Just as they were getting closer to the makeshift docks, the same golem that greeted them when they arrived approached them, "Hello. Thank you for your help. Please pick 1 box of grass seeds, one box of fruit seeds, and one box of tree saplings to plant in your field. The three types you pick will be the types present on this island." "Oh. There are multiple?" Hera asked and got an odd full-body nod as a response. Then again, its torso was its head, so it made some sense for the golem to reply like that. They walked inside the boat and took a look at the seeds. The grass types were separated by various shades of green and blue, while the fruits seemed all to be the kind that would grow from bushes or from the ground. Pineapples, Watermelons, three types of berries, and even Tomatoes. After a brief discussion, they agreed to pick strawberries and the cyan grass, and then they looked into the trees. There were only three types to pick from orange, banana, or coconut. "We are all thinking that what we choose here is going to change the reward we get, right?" Alex looked around and got a nod as a reply, "Okay, then I vote for banana. I don''t know if you guys realize, but it''s kind of hard to find bananas here." "I don''t think that''s a good idea. I mean, sure, bananas could be good, but if those are wild bananas, we''re kind of boned," Hera replied. "Oh¡­ right, I didn''t think of that," Alex sighed, feeling defeated. "Why is that an issue?" Chiton asked. "The bananas we are used to eating are not natural. People made them be like that, without seeds. The wild bananas are filled with seeds. Like we can eat them, but it is a very different thing than what we are used to," Hera explained. "Oh¡­ So oranges? Coconut trees don''t give that much shade, not to mention they kind of suck," Chiton suggested. "Excuse you?" Alex gasped, and a discussion about what was better, oranges or coconut, started between the two. "Just¡­ Freaking¡­ Die!" Blue had a Scavenger Bugfish on a choke hold while its mouth feelers tried to grab her face. A cloud fist kept hitting the monster repeatedly, despite her Herald''s advice that the legacy wasn''t made to deal physical damage that way. Even so, in a situation like this one, Blue didn''t have any other ideas. They had already killed about 50 Bugfish, and everyone was running out of steam, but the same could be said of the monsters. When they started, they were all coming out of the same area, but after a number of the creatures died in their first few attempts, the Bugfish were smart enough to change tactics and jump into the island from different directions to come after their new prey. Even with that change in behavior, the Royal Explorers managed to kill all of their attackers. The worst part was that the monsters weren''t coming in hordes, but only a few at a time, causing the tension to build up even when nothing was happening. Keeping their guard up all the time was starting to take a toll on everyone''s minds. While Blue still had the Bugfish on a choke hold, Grom came up to help her finish it off. Blue let go of the body and turned to Grom, "Thanks," if that had happened earlier, she would have been upset about him stealing her kill, but now, as long as the monsters were dead, it didn''t matter. She glanced to the side and saw another Bugfish getting closer, but it stopped and looked towards the ocean before running and jumping back into the water. "What the¡­?" Yerel spoke the words that everyone was thinking. The monsters were running away, while at the same time, the ground started to rumble, creating waves in the water. In the distance, everyone could see one of the islands starting to sink. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the landmass was nowhere to be seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new island was created. For the next 7 days, the various Bugfish in the room will not search for food above water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The fuck?" Blue gasped. "What the hell just happened?" Farica looked around, but there was no answer to her question. They could only hope that they would eventually figure out why an island had just sunk while another was apparently created, and what that had to do with the Bugfish. 521 - Paying the gardeners When Hera, Alex, and Chiton finished planting their seeds and saplings, the Golem waved them to approach the boat once again. They did as asked, and the construct guided them inside the ship, stopping them when they were inside one of the covered spaces. "We thank you for your assistance. Now we are able to swap one of the islands," the Golem spoke. "Wait. Swap? What do you mean by that?" Hera asked. "The islands in the room will be swapped. The island that is at the bottom of the list will once again join the ocean floor, while the one you just created will emerge taking the top spot in the list. Doing so will also stop the Bugfish from searching for food above the water for seven days. This is how long the food will survive in the ocean floor," the Golem explained. "What do you mean the one we just created? Are you making a brand new island in the room?" Hera asked. "No. All possible variations of islands already exist at the bottom of the ocean. Once a new one is chosen from this place, that island will emerge from the waters," the Golem continued and gestured to a button previously hidden by the crates, "Pressing this button will complete your island. And through the window, you can look at your finished work. Hearing that, everyone looked outside and saw the entire island and all the plants fully grown. The cyan grass with strawberry shrubs and the tall coconut trees everywhere. In the end, Chiton lost the discussion when Alex argued that it would be good to have something to drink. He tried to defend, saying that oranges also had juice, but they did some math and came to the conclusion that a coconut tree should give more liquid than an orange one. They had no idea if they were right, but it wasn''t like they had any way of confirming that. "So, if we push this button, we will change one of the islands here?" Chiton asked. "Correct. If you don''t want to change the island, you don''t have to press the button," the Golem replied. "Which island will change?" Hera got worried that the island they arrived at would sink. "I am unable to tell you. However, I can confirm that the island where the dungeon is located will be unaffected. That one is not among the islands that can change." "Is there more than one island that can''t change?" Nimbus asked. He and Daskka helped with the dungeon, but they didn''t vote for the seeds they would get. The reason for that was that Hera felt it was cheating to have votes for her court members since they were part of her and would usually agree with her train of thought. Not to say that they didn''t have their own ideas, such as this one. Hera herself overlooked that possibility, and knowing which were the ''safe'' islands would be a major discovery for the room. "I do not know," the Golem replied. Following that train of thought, Hera continued, "Is there another dungeon in one of the islands that can move?" "I do not know," the Golem replied. "What about this mention of the Bugfish? Are they going to attack us if we go through the bridges that are kind of underwater?" Alex, who had been in deep thought ever since this Q&A session began, asked. "It is unlikely but possible. The Bugfish will now have a food source in the form of the newly sunken island, so they shouldn''t need to hunt outside. However, they are living creatures, and such are capable of taking unpredictable actions," the Golem explained. The group continued with a barrage of questions, from what they could find at the bottom of the ocean to what other islands would look like, and even asking about the boat and how it worked. Unfortunately, the Golem only replied that it didn''t know the answers. When they tau of ideas for more questions, Hera looked to the group, "Are we done?" "I think so. Chiton?" Alex nodded. "I don''t have any other ideas. We can tell the others what we asked, and if anyone has another idea, they can come here and ask," Chiton looked around, "This is a nice change for a dungeon. Don''t get me wrong, the Weeding Disaster wasn''t that dangerous, but it was very hectic." "Agreed," Hera nodded and turned back to the Golem, "Soo¡­ Can I push the button?" "I wanted to do it," Alex frowned. "What about me? I''m new here," Chiton protested. They played a round of rock paper scissors, and Hera ended up being the winner. With a smile, she stepped forward and pushed the button on the boat. At the same time, three notifications appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest By helping the golems to create a sustainable environment for the island, you have completed one of the islands that are present in the room. Rewards: 30 000 gold Stylla Island Supplies B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.A new island was created. For the next 7 days, the various Bugfish in the room will not search for food above water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every 24 hours a new island can be created. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "B grade supplies. Meh, it could be worse. I just don''t know how we could make this better," Hera shrugged. "I guess. Can we just get out of here? I''m done with this place," Alex huffed. "Sure¡­ are you ok?" Hera looked at her friend, confused by her attitude. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I just want to leave." Hera glanced at Chiton, who also seemed confused by her reactions, "Alex. Did anything happen?" "It''s fine. Let''s go," Alex turned to the Golem, "How do we leave this hellhole?" "You may exit the dungeon through the tunnel you used to enter," the Golem replied in a monotone. "Great, let''s leave. This place stinks," Alex jumped out of the boat and started stomping her feet towards the tunnel. "Alex, wait," Hera jumped after her and tried to grab her shoulder, but the second her hand touched the assassin, she swung her arm wildly, almost hitting Hera in the face. "DON''T TOUCH ME!" Alex yelled, but the realization of what she did instantly dawned on her. "What is going on?!" Hera gasped as she took a step back. Chiton was by her side, unsure of what he could do in a situation like this. "I¡­ I''m just angry¡­" Alex looked at her hands, almost not recognizing what she was staring at. "Why? It can''t be just because you weren''t the one who pushed the button," Hera was still keeping some distance. Alex stared at her and opened her mouth before closing it without replying. A few seconds passed before the assassin finally spoke, "I... I think it is¡­was¡­is? I don''t know. Am I still angry about it?" "Why are you angry about that? If it was this big of an issue, we would''ve let you press the button," Chiton turned to Hera, "Right?" "Of course. It was just a button," Hera nodded. "I really don''t know why I reacted like that. I''m sorry." "If you''re having this strong of a mood swing, we should get you to a doctor," Hera approached Alex carefully and triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alex Mali¨½ska - Assassin - Level 28 - Confused - (Wind Affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You don''t seem to be affected by any weird conditions. Not that I can tell, at least. Have you ever felt like this before?" Hera added. "It''s the first time it ever happened, at least to this level. I think. If it happens again, I''ll go look for help," Alex looked up to Hera. "Ok, If you don''t want to go now, that''s fine. But if it happens again, we are taking you to a doctor. And I mean a doctor, not a healer. As far as I''m aware, healers are not the best option when dealing with mental issues," Hera looked Alex over, trying to see if she was injured in some way. "You think I''m crazy now?" Alex felt annoyed by that idea. "What? No. Of course not. But if something is messing with your mood like that, it is very likely that it''s something affecting your brain or hormones. Healers are more of the cure diseases and wounds kind of thing. Dealing whit personality is more complex than that," Hera explained. "I still think we should ask Yerel and Hayath to take a look at you," Chiton got closer to Alex while still trying to be somewhat careful if she ended up snapping again. "Ok... Yeah. I agree. They should give me a check-up. Just in case," Alex nodded and turned around, still confused by the whole situation. Hera and Chiton followed her through the tunnel, and eventually, they reached the exit, or entrance, depending on how one would look at it. After climbing the natural staircase, they were met with a unique sight. The Royal Explorers were all on the ground, breathing heavily, surrounded by dozens of Bugfish corpses. "What the hell happened here?" Alex gasped. "The Bugfish kept coming," Blue replied as being one of the few who still had the energy to move around. She was dragging some of the corpses away from the ocean. There were way too many for them to bring back, but maybe, there was something of value in the bodies. "Damn, this was an intense fight then. Sorry, we weren''t here to help," Hera scratched the back of her head. "The issue was more about the time it took. If those were all coming at once, it would make things easier for us," Mylo added. He was to the side and had set up a small campfire where he was trying to cook the Bugfish meat. As weird as that looked, the smell was just like grilled salmon. "How was the dungeon?" Callena asked without getting up. "It was fine. We were basically gardening," Chiton explained. "Gardening?" Rayna stared daggers at Hera and the others, "We were here getting swarmed by monsters, and you were playing in the dirt?" Alex nodded, "Pretty much." "That feels very unfair. We stayed here to make sure you three wouldn''t be swarmed when you left, and in the end, those things even went away because a new island appeared," Grom sighed. "Sorry about that, but we managed to make the Bugfish leave us alone for a while," Hera tried to sound happy, but she was feeling awkward. No one expected that things would end up like that during the dungeon run, "If it helps. I got another weird reward for being a ''Naga.''" "What?" Alex and Chiton asked. "Yeah. When we got the rewards, there was another notification saying that a Naga left a message for me. Well¡­ for the next Naga that came by," Hera pulled one of the copies of the map she got from Percy, "It looks like a map, but only a Naga can read it." "So you can''t read it?" Alex asked. "I can. I need to use my Observe Red Sight to see the infrared part of their writing," Hera turned around and showed the paper with seven blank circles. "Oh, good. Because if that was the map, it would be the worst map ever," Chiton scoffed, "What does it say?" "Is not so much something it says, but what it shows. It looks like a map from the Wailing Valley to what I''m assuming is their main city or an important temple," Hera described the emblems that were on each map. She told them that she could make a new map later. They opened the rest of the rewards and got a few small sacks of fruits, coconuts, and strawberries. After a quick check, Hera confirmed that they were more than just food. Eating one of them would give someone a small buff for a while. It was a paltry +2 to a random attribute for a couple of hours, but it was still delicious. On the bright side, if they ate a lot of it, it could increase the effect up to a + 10. After that, the group decided to head back to the Wailing Valley. It was late, and they were all tired. They went back to their makeshift housing by the doorway to rest. Only on the following day would someone go to the dungeon again, and the group would explore the rest of the room. 522 - Unfortunate Circumstance For the next couple of days, the Royal Explorers ended up in something close to a routine. They would wake up in the Wailing Valley, return to the Shtylla Archipelago, and split the group between those who would run the dungeon and those who would explore the room and search for ways to move between the islands. When they were done, they would return to the Wailing Valley and rest for the night. And since the Bugfish were not attacking anymore, Hera didn''t have to use Nimbus as a mount to drag the corpses to Shane''s camp. They argued about keeping them close to the doorway, but they didn''t have a fridge or a decent way to keep them cool, and no one wanted to be close to rotten fish. The one bridge they had access to led to an island with green grass, pineapples, and oranges, but it was a dead end. When looking around the island, they found a couple paths that could eventually lead to another Island. However, at the moment, those were submerged underwater. Which probably meant that they were heading to an island that had to be created in the dungeon. That is if this was the only dungeon that could affect the room like that. Another interesting thing they found was that despite the dungeon offering a wide variety of grass colors, the Golem confirmed that they were all categorized into three different types. Green, blue, and cyan. Bert calculated all the options, and if his math was correct, it meant that the dungeon could create 54 islands, but they still didn''t know how many would be underwater at a time. Five days into their search, disaster struck. The one island connected to the room''s entrance sank after the team completed the dungeon. Luckily, no one was on that island. Hera was worried about exactly that, and her solution was to have the teams inside the dungeon only press the button after 4 hours had passed from the moment they split off. Even if they completed the dungeon earlier, they would stay there until the allotted time. The reason for that was so the people outside could continue their exploration while some were running the dungeon. When 3 hours had passed, everyone gathered by the dungeon''s entrance and waited for the rest of the team there. That plan wasn''t a hard sell now that everyone had seen the Bugfish. No one was willing to take chances against them on their home turf. But when the only island connected to the entrance sunk, they were left with almost nothing to do in the room. Sure, they could swim, but that felt like pushing it. They tried to bring the island back, but even when making the same layout as the one connected to the initial island, it didn''t emerge. When talking to the Golem, it confirmed that the positions were not set in stone. When one island sunk, the one that would appear in its place wasn''t necessarily the same one that sunk. There was one of its elements that would always be the same, but the rest could change. After further probing, the Golem added that the islands directly connected to the island they wanted to bring back would share at least one of its attributes. This helped somewhat, but without being able to move from their starting position, it was very difficult to find the pattern. One very confusing thing was the presence of jackfruit on the initial island, but then again, it wasn''t one that could submerge, so maybe this was a way to identify ''special areas'' in the room. What frustrated the Royal Explorers the most was that they only had one chance per day to get it right. If they were very unlucky, it would take them 45 days just to find the right combination. Because of that, the Royal Explorers decided to go back to Boothudurn to resupply and talk with the guild about their discovery. Explaining to the guild how the Shtylla Archipelago was left to Hera. After all, she had a silver card. She shared their discoveries with a representative in charge of updating the database, but the response was that the guild didn''t have the resources to explore the room right now. They would still inform people about this new room, and anyone who wanted was free to go there, but the only thing they would do was set up a proper warning about the changes in the room caused by the dungeon. With the help of the internet tower, they were able to make a message pop up on the tablet of whoever was entering to inform them how many people should be inside the room right now. That would also explain how the room worked and why they shouldn''t press the red button in the dungeon unless they confirmed that no one would be put in danger because of that. The Royal Explorers could still continue their search, but they had to be careful with others as well. With all that being said, it shouldn''t take too long to find someone to take charge of the flow of people inside the Shtylla Archipelago. Probably just a couple of months, and it wasn''t like there was a lot of interest in that area of the MAZE. Even if it was a new room, with many apparent mysteries surrounding it, getting there wasn''t easy. People would have to travel 2 or 3 days and cross both the White Desert and the Forest of Dreams, rooms that didn''t have a particularly safe route to take when moving from doorway to doorway. Bralac was happy with the change. Even if he was practicing his Soul Forge, he still didn''t want to use that skill to work with rare materials, such as the obsidian leather they got from the Eternal Bond dungeon hard mode. Hera also let him know that he could work in a forge for as long as he wanted, but if he decided to join the rest of them again, he would have to wait for Adriel, so he wouldn''t travel alone. There was one more reason for Hera to return to Boothudurn. She wanted to see if there was a way to buy an item that turned into a boat or that created a ship like her Griffon Whistle became a mount. Unfortunately, even by using all her connections, including the ones with the Order of the Last Court, she couldn''t find anything like that. At least, not anything affordable. She found one simple necklace with a gold coin attached, which could be used to summon a pirate ship. The issue was that the item would be going to an auction and the starting bid was already in the hundreds of millions. It was very likely that something like this would only be available to large corporations. Either way, Hera also looked for another weapon. Ooze was lagging behind, and she didn''t want to risk having her blade freak out for no reason. She ended up going for something called a Dao. An ancient sword that didn''t have a pointy tip. Instead, it was a wide flat tip with an edge, allowing her to cut her enemies even with a stabbing motion instead of piercing them. What attracted her to the weapon was that the design came from a group of humans from earth called Naga. They lived in India, but Hera couldn''t help but feel attracted to that weapon, even if just for its origin. She also took a few days to practice, and soon, she had a new court member. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dao - Lightning Dao sword Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 82 Intelligence x 5.3 [3.5(7)+1.8] Endurance x 4.8 [3(6)+1.8] Charisma x 4.3[2.5(5)+1.8] The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Strength x 1.8 Agility x 1.8 Luck x 1.8 Weapon skill: Chain Lightning: You can channel lighting through this weapon dealing damage to the target and allowing this skill to arc to another five targets who receive reduced damage. Arc distance: 5 meters Damage Reduction: 10% on each arc Mana cost: 20 000 mana Lighting Edict: When using a lighting spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 40% When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 30% lighting damage with all its strikes. Lighting rod - Engraving: Lighting can be attracted to this weapon. When that happens, it can use the lighting coursing through it to empower its attacks and spells. 2 engraving slots remaining Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Lighting Edict was something that came from her Royal Seal. Using one that matched the weapon''s element seemed to give it a considerable boost. Still, according to Daskka, it was possible to get an even better result if it wasn''t just the same element but one that complemented the original. Interestingly enough, she realized that her basic [Sword Combat] skill also affected this weapon. Despite it''s unique features, it was still a sword at its core. Hera understood that, but she was still testing the skill out. While checking for new weapons, she also looked for a substitute for Armory and Scythe, but she couldn''t find any accessories with the same skills that could be a part of her court. She would likely need to order them custom-made, but it was a bit tricky when the important part was a specific skill. Since Hera had given the Royal Explorers a week off, everyone was doing their own thing, and she was currently in her house just watching some tv in her room, with Nimbus and Daskka by her side and her court floating around her. She told them to get comfortable, but they decided to keep floating for some reason. Suddenly, her tablet started ringing. Nimbus and Daskka looked at Hera, "Who is it, mum?" "It''s Shane. Weird, she hates when people call her," Hera frowned and touched the accept button. "HERA!" Shane yelled as soon as the call connected. "What happened? Is everything ok?" Hera jolted up, surprised by the reaction. "Yeah. It''s great. I have some news. Do you want the exciting one or the really exciting one first?" Shane was grinning from ear to ear. "The exciting one first. Let''s build up to the next," Hera chuckled and pointed the tablet to the side, "Oh, and say hi to Nimbus and Daskka," her court members waved at Shane. "Hey, guys. So the exciting one is that¡­ actually, are you in a quiet place? Can I talk about anything?" "One moment," Hera tapped her finger on her tablet, and a soundproof bubble appeared around her, "Now you can." "Great. So, that map that you found. The one you said was from a dungeon, but I''m not sure it is," Shane started. "Like I said. I got the map from a dungeon. It wasn''t from any place else. Especially not from a place that I can''t talk about, or I would risk losing something important," Hera squinted at Shane. She had already told her that, and it seemed like they understood each other. There shouldn''t be any reason to ask this again. "Right. I went to the same dungeon and got a similar reward," Shane winked at Hera, "But mine was just confirming that part of the map was for the room connected to this one. And we found the doorway." "The ant nest one?" Hera asked. "Exactly. But like Darni said in the dungeon, it is inactive. Something must have happened on the other side," Shane sighed. " That sucks. But at least we know that we can trust the information on the map. I think," Hera nodded. "Yep. That was the exciting thing. Now for the really exciting part. You know how dungeons only have their normal and hard modes, right?" "I do. That''s common knowledge." "Not anymore. One of the archaeologists here is around level 70 something, and he also completed the test in the tower. You know, the one in the 26th layer." Hera frowned, "Ok¡­ I don''t know why that''s important." "I''m getting there. So, he went inside the hard mode dungeon and tried to do more than just the hidden quest. Apparently, some dungeons have more than one hidden quest, and that''s what he was looking for. He talked with almost every Naga around and helped them with everything he could, from farming to giving love advice and a bunch of other stuff. Then, a new notification appeared when he completed the dungeon and the hidden quest. It said that he had unlocked the ''Trial Mode'' of the dungeon." "What the hell is that?" "From what he could gather, it is something beyond the hard mode, but apparently, the enemies inside will scale with your level. So he will fight monsters level 70 something. Also, only those who passed the test of the tower can access it," Shane explained. Hera''s eyes went wide, "Are you serious? Isn''t that a major discovery?" "It is, and he is already letting the guild know. But here is the important part. This Trial Mode has an entirely different setting. He wasn''t in Spiral but talking to the Naga that came to Darni''s temple. He had to fight a few who wanted to plunder the place while protecting the ones inside it. And they were from a different time frame than Darni. That happened years after he was gone so the Naga could tell him all kinds of stories. He recorded everything, and we are still going over it, but he found something very important." "Ok, stop teasing me and tell me what it is," Hera shook her head. She knew that Shane could''ve gone straight to the point but was just trying to torture her a little. "We know the name of the room where their city, their capital, is located. And the rooms connected to it." "Really?" Hera and Nimbus asked at the same time with excited expressions. "Yep. The Naga were from a room called Deakoshara. That place is connected to a room called The Old City of Zaxalam and another called Gartinet Hollow." Hera thought for a moment and even did a quick search online, but it seemed like no one knew where those rooms were located, "I never heard of those places." "Me neither, but it''s the best lead we ever had. Well, that and the map." "Yeah. We need to see if we can find one of those rooms." "Absolutely," Shane nodded and caught Hera up on the excavations. They also talked a bit about the Order and how everyone seemed too worried about their own thing to search for their legacies. Then again, no one could blame them. When Shane hung up the call, Hera returned to the TV, but her mind was elsewhere. She never expected to be this involved with the Naga, but now, she wanted to find their capital, maybe even more than Shane. Probably not, but hey, she was a Naga, after all. It seemed only fair that she would search for her forgotten home. 523 - Strange Meeting Becca Swan crossed the doorway to finally arrive at her destination. She was going to meet a source that apparently had some big things to tell her about everything that was going on. After arriving at the room called Rising Pillars, she started her journey towards the dungeon that would serve as a private location for their conversation. As she walked by, her mind was thinking about everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. First, it was the discovery of the Trial Mode in dungeons, but that was quickly forgotten when the guild announced that Insomniac had died. Not much was explained about it at first, but more information emerged after a while. Apparently, a group of people went rogue. They had lost someone in the Dzviery attack, and they started chasing the culprits for revenge. Somehow, they discovered where the Centaurs lived and decided, on their own, to make them pay. Blood by blood. Insomniac was said to have found that out and died while trying to stop them. Now, there were even talks about making him an honorary Hero, even if he failed to protect the Centaur. Or, at least, that''s the story the guild was telling. Everyone seemed to accept that. Well, they seemed to accept that this was something that could happen. No one was happy about the situation. The Beastmen, Triton, and the Children of the Sky were all up in arms. Asking who gave the humans the right to wipe out an entire civilization, arguing that if the Centaur ended up like that, what would stop the humans from doing the same with them? No one misunderstood the underlying message of that. The question might as well be, ''Why do humans get to decide who are monsters and who are people.'' The Elves and Dwarves were less vocal about all this, but it was clear that they were not happy either. Probably because they had a passing resemblance to humans, which led those two groups to not suffer so much prejudice. Many people started to agree with the ideals the Last Line of Defense put forward, with some even stating that they were willing to join that terrorist organization. Of course, their peers quickly arrested those who said something like that out in the open. It was one thing to agree with some of their ideals, another to openly incentivize their tactics, and no one wanted to start a war. In all honesty, Becca half expected something like this to happen. Well, not the genocide, but that someone would do something stupid and everything was going to collapse because of it. And now, even though their structure was still standing, anyone could see the cracks starting to spread. She, like many others, believed in all the information that was put out there, but then Becca was contacted by someone who said the guild was lying. That this criminal group that attacked the centaurs, was nothing of the sort and had not just the guild''s backing, but the approval of all other races as well. When she read that message, which was sent by a fake email account, Becca thought this was one of the dozens of weird conspiracy theories people regularly sent to her. When talking to Romeo, the ex-chairman suggested that she give them a chance. His reasoning was simple. Whoever sent this email was being careful. They didn''t tell her who they were nor how to contact them, and it looked like they only sent enough information to pique her interest. Another factor that showed how careful they were being was the fact that to get in touch with them, Becca would have to go to a specific bar and make a particular order at a specific time. Only then would she get more information about them. That first step was the easiest, and it was in a very public place as well. Even if someone was trying to ambush her for some reason, it would be easy enough to get help from someone else. Unless they had hired an entire city of people, and if that was the case, Becca would at least feel flattered. Very few people in history could say it took an entire city to capture them. After going to the bar, she was sent to a library, then to a restaurant, and lastly to a park. Every time she got one of the puzzle pieces, another email from a different account would arrive giving her the password she would need to receive the next clue. The whole thing felt like a poorly orchestrated scavenger hunt. Even if the person was doing all this to be safe, there was no way for them to know whether Becca was keeping it all to herself. She could be sharing all this with the guild or any number of people, and no one would know. Not to mention that, if the people giving Becca those clues had a way to contact that mysterious figure, someone would be able to track them. The deeper she got into that, the more she believed that all this was just a crazy conspiracy theory. Or maybe a publicity stunt for something, a book or a show probably. She could already see the tagline, ''The story that fooled Becca Swan.'' If that happened, she would at least ask for a consultant fee, and to be reimbursed for all the money she spent getting here. Not that she actually needed any of that, but it was a matter of principle. Right now, she was going to the location where the mysterious source would be waiting for her. Allegedly. The Rising Pillars was a room made of pillar-like mountains, as the name suggested. Several bridges and paths would connect the pillars and let people move from one to another. However, not many people would come here due to the constant strong wind and the lack of natural resources in the room. Not one of the dungeons in this place would drop any sort of food or water, and there wasn''t a way for anyone to grow something here. The caves inside the pillars were too dry, and the constant wind outside was too strong to allow vegetation to grow. Because of that, this was one of the rooms that almost no one came to, and those who did were only passing by. Becca climbed one of the pillars, moving back and forth between bridges, and going on a dangerous climb to the side of the mountain until she reached her destination. A small cave with a dungeon inside. The mission was to climb a pillar and plant a flag at the top. It was simple, easy, and the biggest worry anyone would have was falling. Which wouldn''t be much of a problem for Becca, since she had a few spells that allowed her to fly at different speeds. Before coming here, she double-checked the information about the dungeon, and nothing stopped anyone from using spells to complete it. Even if that wasn''t the intention, she wanted to be ready for anything. When Becca finally got close to the entrance, she saw a cloaked figure waiting to the side. The figure was staring at her with one hand to her side, probably holding a weapon of some kind. It was understandable, Becca had a very well-known face, and to avoid people recognizing her, she was currently wearing a choker that would change her appearance. Removing the illusion, she took a few steps towards the figure and spoke in her best attempt at a southern accent, "Hey there, Hun. Mighty fine day we are having ain''t ya?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Becca cringed at hearing her own voice like that. The accent was terrible, and she was awkward as all hell, but this was part of the code that this figure had sent her. Including the accent. "The day may be fine, but the clouds will soon cover the sky," the figure replied and took two steps back. An action that was also part of the code. There were a few variations of their response, and each one would require Becca to answer in a specific way. After thinking for a minute, Becca spoke in a very bad and exaggerated Irish accent closer to what a leprechaun would sound like. She knew it was awful of her, but this was the only thing that came to mind, "But then the rainbows will be sad, matey. Don''t forget to turn that frown right side up." She waited, hoping that this was the correct code, but after 30 seconds, there was no other reaction from the figure. Realizing she forgot something Becca thought about everything and remembered what she had to do because of the two steps the figure took. Closing her fist and bringing it closer to her head, Becca put out her pinky and touched the corner of her lips while winking and raising her left foot in a cutesy way. The figure nodded and simply said, "Follow me," before turning towards the dungeon. This was the standard situation when talking with sources. Dungeons were the safest place for a private conversation since no one outside would ever hear what was happening inside. Still, that also came with some danger. "Just for the record. If I don''t send a specific message to my people in two hours, they will receive my location and a copy of everything you ever sent me. Also, don''t take me for a weakling just because I''m a reporter," Becca said in a firm tone. Again this wasn''t something new for her. Every time she talked with a shady source, precautions had to be taken. The figure just nodded and continued walking to the dungeon. Becca followed along, and soon they were in a very similar location, but now, they were on the ground facing a massive 500-meter-high pillar. The dungeon quest notification popped up, but both of them ignored it. The figure walked to the side and sat down on one of the large rocks before removing her hood, revealing the face of a woman with short blond hair. She looked battered as if it''s been a while since she had a chance to shower or sleep. After a moment, Becca recognized who she was sitting in front of her. "Wait. Blade of Dawn? Is that you?" Blade of Dawn nodded, "Yeah." "Aren''t you supposed to be in jail with the rest of the people who attacked the centaurs?" "No! None of us is supposed to be in jail! We didn''t do anything wrong. Well.. That is questionable, but it wasn''t our decision. The whole thing was set up by the guild, and we even had permission from the other races!" Blade of Dawn got up, but she quickly sat back down, feeling light-headed, "Sorry. It''s been¡­ rough." Becca approached her and passed a power bar to the woman and the water bottle she always carried on her when moving through rooms, "That''s ok. Here, you look like you could eat something." Dawn''s eyes started to water when she saw the food in front of her, "Thank you." They both stayed silent for a few minutes to let Dawn gather herself. When she finished eating and drinking almost the entire water bottle, Becca spoke up, "First of all. Do you want this on or off the record?" "On¡­ I think. People need to know," Dawn replied. "Do you mind if I record our conversation? Just the audio, I don''t think you want your family to see you like this," Dawn nodded and thanked Becca again before the reporter continued, "Ok then. Explain what is going on." Dawn took a deep breath, "After the attack in Dzviery, the guild started searching for the Centaurs. Everyone knows that. The idea was to understand what happened and why they attacked. When they finally found them, they were in a room called Great Frozen Pine Forest on the 26th layer. The guild sent a few scouts and messengers to try to talk to them, but all were killed, some in a very gruesome way. In the end, after about a dozen attempts, the guild decided that they would need a stronger show of force. They talked with all the races, and everyone agreed to send in a force to kill all of them. All, with no exception. The argument was that if even one was left alive, they could grow and come back as a bigger threat. No one was happy about that decision, but it wasn''t like anyone had any other better ideas. And, unlike regular monsters, the Centaur could cross doorways, meaning that everyone in the MAZE was a potential victim," Dawn''s hands were shaking as she spoke, and Becca could tell the rage she felt hidden between her words. "That is very different from what the guild has been telling us. Do you have any proof?" "I have the messages that were sent to us. Including those where a guild employee says everything is set up. But not something from the leadership." "Well. That can help. But It won''t absolve you guys. I think the best case scenario would be having some of you be portrayed as people who got swindled," Becca had to be blunt. Blade of Dawn wouldn''t go through all this just to give her a story. She wanted something, but Becca was unsure what. "That would help. But¡­ That''s not the worst part. After we got back, we weren''t expecting a hero''s welcome. We knew that many people would be angry, but we hoped we could at least bury the dead. But we couldn''t. The moment we got back from the centaur homeland, we were arrested. The dead were burned, and we didn''t even have a trial. They locked us up, sent people to be our guards, and kept beating us for no reason. Now that I think of it, all of the guards were non-humans. That lasted a few weeks, I think, and when we were being transferred to somewhere else, a few tried to flee. Everyone was captured or killed, but I managed to jump inside a dungeon that I knew had a different exit far away from that place. That allowed me to escape, and I''ve been on the run ever since," tears started to stream down Dawn''s face, "I know what we did was wrong. And I know we deserve this punishment, but we are not the only ones who deserve that. The people who sent us there also need to pay." That was a lot to digest, and Becca had to take a moment to process everything. One way or another, this was something worth looking into. If Blade of Dawn was lying, then this could be a way to find out why. If she wasn''t lying, something much bigger was going on. The worst part of it all was that deep down, Becca knew that if the guild was really lying to the people to this degree and trying to cause some conflict between them and the other races, a lot of things would make sense. Her only hope was that Blade of Dawn was lying, but her gut refused to believe that, "Ok. Send me everything you have. I have some people I trust that may be able to keep you safe, as long as you stay hidden. Also, tell me everything that happened during that attack. Everything, don''t leave out any details. Then tell me about the prison you were in. I need to know everything you know so I know where to start. 524 - The right combination Hera woke up early and left the dormitory. She was once again in the Wailing Valley after their week off. During the time they were supposed to be resting, the Countess decided to learn a few new skills. One was a simple one called [Swimming]. As the name suggested, it would just let her swim faster and for longer periods of time. Unfortunately, that was the only skill that she actually managed to learn, even if she had bought the training programs for another four. Despite that, she was still trying to learn them even out here. Those four were all mobility-based skills. One thing that Hera realized that she was lacking was the ability to move around a battlefield with ease. Lately, almost all fights she participated in were against a large number of monsters, and since her court would share her skills, if she got something that allowed her to close the distance against her target faster, all her blades would benefit from it. The first of those skills was very basic. It was one called [Acrobatic Movement], which would help her jump around and use the terrain to her favor. The second was somewhat strange, called [Battle Dancer], and it would change how she moves in a fight to maintain a rhythm. The interesting part was that if she learned various dance styles, they could be incorporated into the skill, increasing the movements that would benefit from the skill and allowing her to have more unpredictable actions during the fights. Calling the last two skills ''mobility based'' was a bit of a stretch, but it would help Hera mo move around the battlefield. The third was a skill called [Attack Pathing] that would give her the ability to understand the battle better. She would be able to see the path one attack was taking, almost like the real blow was just an afterimage. The main issue with that skill was that it required her to pay close attention to everything going on in the fight, but Hera hoped that with Armory and Scythe, it would be easier to trigger the skill. The final skill was called [Synchronized Battle], something that Hera should have looked into a long time ago. Most people would ignore that kind of skill since it required multiple people to have it for it to be activated. However, when all those participating in the battle had it, it would allow them to easily perform group attacks and follow-up strikes, almost as if they could read each other''s minds. Hera already had that ability, but she still had to focus her mind when performing more complicated combos. After a brief discussion with Daskka, the herald realized that this skill would only increase the teamwork of the court. To make things even better, the more people had that skill, the stronger it would be. This meant that for Hera, who would only need to learn it once, and all of her court would have the skill, this would already be a massive boost to her strength from the get-go. For now, Hera, Rayna, Alex, and Lorna were all trying to learn the [Acrobatic Movement] skill by running through a makeshift obstacle course they created in the Wailing Valley. The structure varied from basic barriers and pipes that they had to move on top of to more complicated areas like spider climbs and wall runs. Everything was made to mirror the same things they would see in the training programs, but there were some more complicated obstacles that required moving pieces that they couldn''t recreate here. This group was here because they were waiting for Adriel, who was bringing some supplies, including a long-range internet tower, to be installed on the Shtylla Archipelago, courtesy of the guild. After his arrival, he would help the Royal Explorers search for the next doorway. It would be the first time he would be actually helping to explore and not just taking care of the logistics side of things. The elf asked for that. According to him, just traveling back and forth got boring quickly. That''s why he would take breaks from time to time. "Are you sure you made their spider climb part correctly? Why are the two of them doing so much better than us?" Alex asked while taking a big gulp of water. "Well¡­ they are stockier. Maybe that gives them more arm strength?" Hera suggested. Lorna was already reaching the five-meter mark on his climb, Rayna was almost reaching six meters, while Hera and Alex couldn''t pass two meters. The Countess could understand if Alex couldn''t keep up with them, after all, the assassin focused on agility so her strength was lower than that of the dwarves. However, Hera knew for a fact that she had higher strength and endurance than Lorna. He was a fighter but like Alex, focused on agility and his strength was only in the mid-60s. "Lorna, your time is up," Nimbus called. He was currently holding Hera''s tablet with a timer on the screen and was also the official lifeguard of their makeshift trial. The idea wasn''t just to climb it by pressing their hands and feet on opposite walls but doing so with speed. Because of that, each of them only had ten minutes to run the course, and they had to come down when the time was up. Since leaving the spider climb obstacle was complicated, Nimbus would fly up and carry them down. Daskka was also there as a back up plan. If needed, she could turn into her silver mist form to grab anyone falling. In that shape she would be very squishy, allowing her to take the role of a makeshift air mattress. "Oh," Nimbus looked at the tablet and turned to Hera, "You have a message." Hera took her tablet while Nimbus went to bring Lorna back to the ground. The text was very simple, sent from those in the Shtylla Archipelago. They changed the islands and had a new connection to the first one. "Guys. We found another island! One that we can go to this time," Hera said excitedly. "Really?" Alex and Rayna gasped. "Yeah. It is the same one we could access before. Now we know what never changes when the island sinks. It will always have pineapples," Hera explained. "Are you sure?" Nimbus asked as he landed with Lorna in his arms. "Yeah. Before, it had green grass, pineapples, and oranges. Now the island has blue grass, pineapples, and coconuts. Since each island always has one constant, it can only be the pineapple." "Ok¡­ so can we wait like¡­ 30 minutes before going?" Lorna asked. He was gasping for air after his attempt at the obstacle course. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "You guys can wait here if you want. We need someone to wait for Adriel anyways," Hera replied. Lorna just gave her a thumbs up and collapsed to the floor, clearly exhausted from their run. Rayna also decided to stay, they were working out for a long time and she didn''t want to risk fighting against monsters. Even if the dungeon said that it wouldn''t happen. In the end, Hera was the only one to head to the doorway, since Alex wanted to wait for Adriel and help him with everything he was bringing here. After going back to the archipelago, Hera met with the rest of the Royal Explorers, and they all moved quickly through the path heading to the ''new'' island. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much to see there. The island was much smaller than the one where the dungeon was located, and it didn''t have any dungeons or anything of the sort, but two more connected paths would lead to another two different islands. Hera told everyone to split off, but they should call the other team if something happened. She could even have Nimbus cross to the other island in a desperate situation with her on his back. Going to the island to the east of the room, the group that Hera was leading quickly realized there was something in this place. Not because of the blue grass or the oranges, but because in the middle of this island there were some ruins by a lake. Whatever the ruins were, it was something ancient and almost completely destroyed. Part of the structure was tipped to the side, showing part of what should have been a wall. She could see a small frame of what could be a doorway near the ground, but it almost looked like the building had been swallowed by the island. Another weird thing was the number of barnacles and other algae covering the rocks. "This¡­ this is made out of the same rock the island was made of," Bralac said after cleaning a part of the structure that was completely green, like a dirty fish tank. "And the way it fell to the side¡­ could this have fallen into the island and created the lake?" Bertrand asked. Hera looked over the lake, it wasn''t particularly big, but considering the size of the island, it was taking up a considerable amount of space. It was maybe 10 meters wide and 8 meters long, and the building would stop just at the edge of it. "I mean¡­ It does make sense, but why would people build this? Or was it an accident? Maybe they were attacked, but then there would be some markings on the walls, but I can''t see any. A spell that went wrong could make this, but it''s not like we can confirm that one," Hera was thinking out loud as she started doing when with the Royal Explorers. This wasn''t something she came up with, but something they asked for since they were struggling to understand the thought process they should have when looking for something. "Could it be something from the lake?" Chiton started walking closer to the lake, but when his foot hit the ledge, he felt it sinking and jumped back, "What the!? That thing is still falling!" "What?" Hera asked before carefully approaching the edge of the lake. She noticed that the grass around it was mostly gone, and she could see parts of the hexagonal pattern that formed the entire island. When she touched one of the pillars that were touching the lake it sunk ever so slightly, "Wow. Careful everyone. I think this part of the island is unstable. Tell everyone not to get too close to the lake." "How can we figure out what happened here?" Bralac asked while still staring at the ruins, "If this is made from the same mineral that the island is made of, shouldn''t it be near impossible to break like that?" "Not necessarily. We didn''t try to mine this rock, so it might behave like anything else. Just because the room can move it doesn''t mean it''s protected by the system," Hera replied and glanced at Yarnball. She tried using the relic to find the pattern for the island they wanted, but she couldn''t get an answer even when using all her mana for it. Asking it about what happened here should also have the same result. However, there was one thing she could try, as long as she was alone, "I don''t know what we can do to figure out who or what created these ruins. But I have a way that might work." "What is it?" Chiton turned to Hera. "Well¡­ it''s a bit complicated. As an explorer, and I mean the role explorer, we get a relic. You guys know about Yarnball, correct?" Hera looked around and got a few nods as a reply, "Well. Aside from the question that I can ask with mana and the string, it has one special function that I can''t talk about." "Why?" Bralac frowned. "Ask the system," Hera shrugged, "It''s not that I don''t want to talk about it. But as part of it, if I tell, or show, that to anyone, I lose that function. It really sucks, but it can potentially give us some answers." "Potentially? So you can''t be sure it will work?" Hayath asked. "I can''t. It''s tricky, convoluted, and a mess to use, but when it works. It''s amazing." "Ok¡­ so can we help you in some way while you use that?" Chiton asked. Ever since they went to the dungeon together, he felt he was closer to the Countess and didn''t want to lose that. "Actually, you can. I already bought an item that would help me with this, but you guys can stay close to the path to this island and not let anyone get closer to me. And, I''m very serious about this. Do not try to come to see what I''m doing. If anyone sees it I lose the ability to do what I''m going to do," Hera had a serious expression. She already had everything she needed to call a guide without worrying about anyone seeing her, but it was better to make it clear so no one would try anything. "Ok, we can do that. How long do you need?" Chiton smiled and already started pushing people back to the path leading to the other island. "Probably around 10 minutes. It doesn''t take that long, and it might end up not helping at all, but who knows," Hera replied as the rest of the Royal Explorers moved away. She trusted that none of them would try to come to see what she was doing, and she hoped that Blue wasn''t going to come closer. Here, she couldn''t make a stone box to call a guide like she used to, and she knew how curious her friend was about her source of information. Still, she could worry about that later. For now, she already had something to help her out. Taking a small black cube from her bag, Hera sat down on the ground and placed the object in front of her. She tapped the faces of the cube, one at a time, and it started glowing slightly. Then, the object changed, turning into just the wireframe outline of itself, and started to grow until it was covering Hera, who was sitting down, and an area about 2 meters wide. Hera could still see the outside, but to anyone else, this was now a black cube that would not only stop anyone from seeing what was inside but also stopped anyone from passing through the barrier from the outside. This was one item that most people would only use when they were trapped and had to wait for rescue. This item was called Safety Cube, and by activating it, a barrier would form in the shape and color of the cube. Most people would go for red, pink, or white cubes to make it easier for others to spot them, but Hera only cared about the privacy aspect of it. As the final bit of preparation, she activated her soundproof bubble. Now that she was hidden from the outside world, and they wouldn''t be able to enter this place unless she deactivated the Safety Cube, she was ready to call this room''s guide. 525 - Villainous ambitions "I call upon the Guide of Shtylla Archipelago. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure," Hera said after creating a few dancing lights inside the dark barrier. She also had some chocolate and a can of soda in her bag. Expecting to call the guide when she came back here, Hera had prepared a few gifts for them as a thanks for all the help. A smaller part of the reason was to, maybe, have more guides to talk to back in her private room. Despite not liking him, Percy Bodwitch left an impression on her, and she knew that there was some truth to what he said. Just because she called the guides it didn''t mean she couldn''t make their interaction a bit more comfortable. A few moments passed, and one of the hexagonal pillars that sustained the island shifted. It went down and revealed a dark lake with only the tiny lights from her spell illuminating it. Staring at it was like staring at the ocean in the middle of the night. Then, a hand appeared, like a zombie clawing out of its grave. What Hera first saw was a strange-looking arm. It had several ridges that seemed to form a pattern from the wrist to its shoulders. The chest was metallic and had some odd machinery attached, and the face was a giant black globe. As the guide climbed out of the lake, Hera wasn''t sure what to make of it. She considered Offering help, but she wasn''t sure if that was a good idea. If this person was sensitive about it, that could cause some problems, not to mention that, as far as she knew, the guides were able to decide how to appear. The figure looked around and then back to Hera before pressing something on the left side of its head. Behind the black tint of its globe-like helmet, some lines appeared, and slowly, the black started to vanish, making the lights from Hera''s spell creep through its head. After a few moments, all the black was gone, and Hera could now see a goldfish inside a fishbowl. "Hello. I am Kelp, the Shtylla Archipelago guide. It''s been a long time since I''ve talked with anyone, and I hope you can overlook any blunders I may make," the goldfish spoke as the body, which now Hera could see was an odd mix of an old-timey scuba suit with a modern astronaut suit, almost like what someone from the past could imagine people wearing in space. Hera was still shell-shocked by Kelp''s entrance. Unlike Laika''s, which was very interactive, this one had a stronger feel to it. It was like she was watching a monster movie, and the main villain was finally introduced after a lot of build-up. The fact that they were inside a dark barrier also helped. "Oh no. Am I speaking the wrong language? I was sure you were speaking English when I saw you enter the room. Let me try something else. Spreek je Nederlands?" Kelp seemed a bit flustered as the fish moved from side to side, and the suit gesticulated wildly. Hera broke out of her daze and shook her head, "No. Sorry. It was just¡­ unexpected." Kelp crossed his arms, "Why? Do you think I couldn''t have fun while getting here? Or is it because you think my suit is ridiculous? Do you have any idea how hard it is to interact with technology when you don''t have fingers?" "Oh, no. Nothing like that. I''m sorry. I was just impressed by your entrance. The other guides I''ve met didn''t have the same presence." "Presence? I have a presence? Really?" Kelp seemed more excited now. "Yeah. Don''t take this the wrong way, but it felt like I was in a horror movie." "I scared you?" Kelp gasped. "Not really," when Hera replied, she could see the disappointment in the guide''s eyes, "It wasn''t so much of a slasher jumpscare thing. It was more like¡­ seeing the villain of a thriller appear for the first time. Not the monster who makes people run, but the type of cruel and calculated person who brings up the tension just by appearing on the screen. And the light coming out of the helmet when it was opening was amazing!" "I see¡­ Hang on a moment," Kelp reached behind its back and took out a camera, "Can you record while I try to come back again?" Hera nodded, "Sure. But, can you make your¡­ helmet? Bowl? Tank? Your head thingy be just partially closed? That way, I can move around my lights to get a good shot while maintaining that effect." "Oh, sure. Hang on," Kelp moved one of the arms of his suit and tapped on the side of the helmet. The black tint started to cover it, but it stopped before completing it, "Is this good?" "Open a little more. There is not enough light coming through¡­. There! Now give me a minute," Hera started moving the dancing lights so it would both create that lighting effect and show Kelp properly. She then called her court and asked them to form a makeshift tripod so the camera wouldn''t be shaking, "I''m all set. Whenever you are ready." Kelp gave her a thumbs up and jumped back in the water. Hera hit record when the water became still again, and the guide repeated his entrance the same way he did before. "How was it?" Kelp asked after Hera stopped the recording. Hera passed the camera back to the guide, "I think it looked great, but it could be better if we used some mist or some effect. Then again, sometimes, less is more." Kelp nodded with both the fish body inside the helmet and the suit, "I completely agree. We don''t need to be all flashy to make something good. And this looks great," the guide watched the video a couple of times before turning back to Hera, "I''m sorry. I told you my name but never gave you a chance to introduce yourself." "Don''t worry. I''m Hera. Hera Kingsley. Nice to meet you," Hera smiled. "The pleasure is all mine. And thanks for the help. I always wanted to pull off a villain look, but it never worked. The other guides always say I''m too goofy to be a monster. ''Who would be scared of a goldfish?'' Is what they always say." "I mean¡­ I can understand their point. If you were big, then it can be scary, but being small, not so much. That''s why the thriller villain fits better. You are not just a jumpscare. You are a constant terror in the scene. But are there Guide movies? Like you guys make your own movies?" If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Yeah, we do. I would love to show you one, but the rules don''t allow me to. Unless you''ve seen each of the guides that show up in the movie," Kelp explained without looking away from the camera. "Oh¡­ yeah, that would take way too much time. If we consider the same scale as the ones we make, there should be hundreds if not thousands of people involved," Hera sighed and waited for a moment, but it didn''t seem like Kelp was going to turn away from the camera anytime soon, "Hum¡­ Kelp? I''m sorry, but do you mind if I ask the questions? We are in a private place right now, but some people are waiting for me." Kelp jumped up and put the camera away, "Of course, of course. Sorry about that. I got distracted. Do you have a preference between analog or digital timers? Or would you rather have an hourglass or a sundial?" "Digital is better. More simple," Hera replied, and Kelp made a large digital clock appear above him, marking five minutes. "When you finish the first question, I''ll start the clock," Kelp looked at Hera. "Ok. Before we start. Can you answer all my questions with yes or no? If I want more information about one topic, I''ll ask you to elaborate. And, if a question will shave off more than 30 seconds, let me know." Kelp nodded, "Sure. That''s a good way to go about it. I think the last person who called me did something similar." "Ok¡­ I have one more thing to ask about now," Hera chuckled, "For starters. Is there a doorway in the islands controlled by the dungeon?" "You don''t have enough time to get information about the doorways." "Is there a specific pattern for the islands controlled by the dungeon?" "More or less. But you already know it," Kelp stopped the timer, "Sorry, I know you said yes or no, but that one I couldn''t answer another way." "That''s ok. I appreciate you stopping the clock to explain." "No problem. But now we go back," Kelp''s suit didn''t move, but one of his fins pressed something invisible, and the timer started ticking again. "Was there ever a Naga here? Not counting me." "You are not a Naga¡­ oh. I guess you are. Either way, the answer is yes." "Were they the last people who called you?" "Yes." That was good information, but Hera needed to focus on something else, "Can you tell me what happened to the ruins on this island?" "It will take a bit over a minute of the time," Kelp replied. "Go ahead." The timer went down from 4:12 to 3:00 and stopped, "These ruins were created by using a spell that pulled the earth from the ground because of the way these islands were created. Doing so caused some structural issues. Eventually, after going back to the ocean floor and up a few times, the island caved in, and now there is a hole in the middle of it. The ruins are what remained after the destruction." "Oh¡­ and was a Naga who created that building?" as Hera asked the question, the timer started ticking again. "Yes. A very skilled one. That''s why it took a few trips to the ocean floor before everything collapsed. No one was hurt, don''t worry," "I''m glad," Hera smiled before going for a question that had been bugging her for a while, "Are we truly safe from the Bugfish as the dungeon notification says?" "You are. As long as you stay on the path and away from their nest, you won''t be attacked. If you get too close, though¡­." "If we get too close, we are kind of asking for it. They are monsters, after all. Next question. Can you tell me where the Naga went? The last one who called you." Kelp paused the clock and looked up at the timer. It marked 2:21, "I can, but it will cost you all the remaining time. Are you sure you want to use that question?" "Can I ask it again later?" "Probably not. That question should cost you more than what you have right now, but I like you, so I''m giving you some extra. Answering that one with this time is the best I could do," Kelp gave Hera a thumbs up while he winked at her. "Then I am sure. I want to know where the Naga went." "Alright then," the timer went to 0, "The Naga crossed a doorway at the bottom of the ocean. Near the doorway you used to get here, there is a reef, and you can find the doorway they used there. But I''ll have to warn you. That Naga was an excellent swimmer, and it wasn''t easy for him to get there. The best way to find that place would be by looking from above." "Didn''t you say I didn''t have enough time to get information about the doorways?" Hera asked. "I did, but I''m not telling you about the doorways. I''m telling you the path the Naga took. There is a difference," Kelp winked again. "Thank you for that," Hera stopped for a moment. It felt weird to know that the guides could tell others about her, "Can I ask you a question about the skill itself?" "Sure." "If another explorer comes and asks about where I am in the room, would you tell them?" "Not unless you told me they could know. Like, if, for instance, if you got lost, called me over and told me ''hey, if someone, or if this person asks about me, tell them where I am.''" "But you told me about the Naga," Hera had an idea for a reason, but she wanted confirmation. "Yeah, because that is ancient history. I''m not going to give someone away if they are still alive or have died recently. But a few centuries after their death, their whereabouts stop being something private." It was the answer that Hera expected. In reality, that''s what most archaeological sites were. Graves, houses, schools, and things left by a lost civilization. At some point, grave robbing was no longer seen as something bad but something that only scholars would do. It would be the same with this type of information. "Thanks for all the help, Kelp," Hera replied now that her worries were gone. "No. I''m the one who should be thanking you. I never thought about being the type of villain that lets tension build-up. I''ll try that next time. Also, do you mind if I text you every now and then? If it isn''t much trouble, I would love to hear your input on some of the projects I''m working on. Then again, you wouldn''t be able to see the end result, so that might be a bit mean¡­" as Kelp spoke, he realized that more and more, it sounded like he would just be using her. "Of course! I would be happy to help, but I''m not a movie critic, so I can only tell what I think looks cool, not what is actually better to do." "Don''t worry about it. I would just enjoy a different perspective. And I''ll be glad to help you with anything you need. Within reason, you know there are things we can''t do," Kelp smiled and looked back, "Well¡­ I have to go now. I guess giving you all that information about the Naga and staying here is pushing it already. I''ll check a few movies for reference for my villain persona and send you a list. Let me know if you think about any other." With that line, Kelp jumped back into the water, not even giving Hera a chance to say bye. Still, this was much better than she expected. She discovered what happened with the ruins and found the location of a doorway. Even if it was underwater, she could at least try to talk to Adriel. Maybe they could find a new room soon. 526 - Here comes the backup When Hera deactivated the Safety Cube, she realized she had forgotten one thing, ''The snacks in my bag. I''ll give it to him later.'' She returned to the rest of the group and explained what she had discovered during her conversation with Kelp. All the while, she was being careful not to mention the guide, of course. "Your relic told you all that?" Chiton asked. Hera nodded, "Yeah." "But you said that it could end up being nothing. How did you get so much information? And how can you know it''s correct?" Hayath found it all very odd, and not hearing an explanation wasn''t sitting right with her. "Ok, so I can''t say much about it, or I''ll risk losing that ability. But I can say it''s correct because that''s how it works. The answers I get come from the system, not from someone''s knowledge. And as you know, the system never lies," Hera explained. "Are you sure about that?" Hayath pressed. "Absolutely. It never lied to me, even when I asked some really weird questions and things that no one should know about. But it can''t predict the future," a long time ago, Shane showed Hera a manual of sorts about how to explain their seemingly impossible knowledge to others. It was more or less clear that this was something made with the guide skill in mind, even if there was never a direct mention of the skill itself or the guides. Hayath stared at Hera but eventually let out a long sigh, "You know how weird this all sounds, right?" "I do. Trust me, it would be much easier if I could just tell you, but like I said¡­." "I know. You can''t, or you risk losing it," Hayath waved her hand, "Is that something only you have, or other explorers can have it too?" Hera stopped to think for a moment. She was trying to come up with a way to explain this part without losing one of her strikes, "Well¡­. You guys know how you can complete a hidden quest during the role test, don''t you?" "Yeah. We get some information about them before we start our test," Bralac nodded. "You are better than the guild then," Hera chuckled, "Basically, this is a reward for completing the hidden quest. All explorers can potentially get this, but not all of us have it. Also, part of all this is interpreting the information correctly. For instance, the way I found out about where the Naga went makes me think there is another doorway somewhere else. And I don''t mean the one we used to get here." "How so?" Chiton asked. "It was about the phrasing and¡­." Before she could continue the phrase, she heard Daskka inside her mind, ''Mum, I think you should stop talking about the skill.'' Understanding why Daskka spoke like that, Hera changed her answer, " and I don''t want to risk saying anything more about it. This already feels like I''m pushing my luck. Sorry guys. Can we change the subject?" "Oh, sure, so what is the plan now?" Chiton took it upon himself to make sure no one was going to press on that matter. "Well, we are going to see what the other group finds. If there is something interesting on the other island, we might go there, if not. We will have to check the dungeon again and try to open a new path. It kind of sucks, but that''s where we are currently at. I am thinking about going with Nimbus to fly around the area to see if there is any particular island that catches my eye, but I''m still worried about what could happen if we try that," Hera looked to the sky, ever since they found this place the weather has been the same, and it didn''t seem like there were any strong air currents in the sky. Despite that, she was still worried about the possibility of something attacking her or stopping her from flying around. If that were to happen, the fall could end up hurting a lot. "What about us? Do you have any idea what we can do?" Chiton asked. Hera shook her head, "No. and you can''t count on me to tell you how to explore an area. No one knows your capabilities better than yourselves, and you guys should try to come up with ways to help our exploration," the Countess was trying to have a more ''hands off'' approach to leading the Royal Explorers. She realized that she was micromanaging too much lately. She wanted the dwarves to start discovering secrets on their own, and a room like this, where there was some danger but not enough for their lives to be constantly at risk, seemed like a great place to start doing that. Hera''s group went back one island to wait for Blue and the others, and soon, everyone was together again. They discussed their findings, but unlike the place with the ruins, the other island didn''t have anything of notice. However, it was considerably larger than the one where Hera met Kelp, that''s why it took longer for them to search it. In the end, everyone decided to head back to the Wailing Valley and regroup. Adriel should be close, and maybe he had a unique idea about dealing with this part of the exploration. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The elf had already arrived, but, to Hera''s surprise, he didn''t come alone. Helena and Bonnie were also here and wanted to help everyone look for new rooms. They didn''t say why, but Hera figured they would tell her later. After the greetings and ensuring everyone was doing ok, Hera pulled Adriel to the side, "Say, a little bird told me you have a way to travel underwater. How does that work?" "Who did¡­" Adriel glanced at Alex and sighed, "I never expected her to tell other people about that." "Oh¡­ is that a secret?" Hera asked, a bit confused with his reaction. "Not really, but it''s not like I enjoy sharing my trauma with everyone," Adriel turned back to Hera. "What trauma?" Adriel stopped for a moment, "What did Alex tell you?" "That you had a way to travel and carry things underwater. That''s it." "Oh¡­" there was a pause where Hera and Adriel were just staring at each other, but the elf eventually broke, "So¡­ what do you need? Take some people across a cave or something?" "Something. Apparently, there is a doorway near a reef in the next room, but since we don''t know how deep it is, we have yet to check it out. I was wondering if what you do could help us with that," Hera wasn''t going to ask about the trauma he mentioned. Despite Adriel being part of the Royal Explorers, she wasn''t that close to him, and it felt intrusive to ask. "Are there any monsters around that area?" "It is possible, but we are not sure," Hera replied. "Ok¡­ so I have something I can do. You know how I used my drones to carry things? I can set them to make an air bubble and take us underwater. But while I''m doing that, I can''t do anything aside from moving the barrier and maintaining it. The good part is that the only thing the barrier stops is water, so if there is anyone else inside it with me, they can attack if they want. The bad part is¡­." "That monsters can also attack us when we are there?" Hera finished his sentence, realizing what he was trying to say. "Bingo," Adriel made finger guns pointing at Hera. "Ok¡­ and how many people could you carry at once?" "Around ten. If they are carrying something heavy, maybe nine, but it would be tight either way." Hera thought for a moment. That was more than she was expecting. If there really was a doorway there, and everyone decided to go with her, then they wouldn''t have to make as many trips as she thought, "So, are you up for a diving expedition?" "Sure am, captain," Adriel saluted Hera, "But can we scout the area first? Just in case." "Of course. We are not going right now. I first want to see who else wants to go and how we can make sure that you will be protected," Hera nodded. "That''s great. Walking all the way here was exhausting. I''m going to grab something to drink. Do you want anything?" Adrial got up and started heading towards the cafeteria. "No, thanks. I''m ok," Hera replied, but she also got up. They were currently in the lounge area of the dormitory, and she wanted to have a quick chat with Bonnie and Helena. It wasn''t hard to find them. They were talking about the last couple of days with Blue and Alex in their room. "Hera! Finally done with your job?" Helena asked with a smile. "I honestly don''t know the answer to that. Maybe I am, maybe I''m not. I''ll figure out when someone comes running after me," Hera chuckled and sat by the bed. It was amazing how Bralac and Farica were able to make comfortable beds with rock and dirt. "That''s the life of those in charge," Bonnie smiled. "Yeah, then how about you two? You were starting your own company, and now you come here to help us? Is everything ok?" as Hera asked, Alex and Blue leaned over. They were also curious, but they waited for Hera before asking. Bonnie just waved Hera off, "Everything is fine. The thing is, we applied for a patent for our spells since apparently that''s the standard thing to do," the researcher looked to Helena. "Yeah. When you add a spell or skill to the guild''s shop, you have to make this, or others can just copy your product and sell it as their own. We have already sent all the paperwork and had a meeting with someone to confirm our patent, but¡­ now we have to wait," Helena sighed. "Wait?" Blue asked. "Yeah. Patent things take a long time, not that they actually need to, but it''s a lot of red tape to go through. According to the guy who talked to us, it should take two to six months before we can adequately start selling our spells in a more official capacity. And since we are not much of a company without a way to make money, we decided to wait a while before continuing to figure out other spells," Bonnie took a few strawberries that were on a coffee table in the middle of the room. "But shouldn''t you be working on new things already? Isn''t that what companies do? Start a new product before the previous one is finished," Alex asked. "It is, and we tried, but we are too anxious about this. Sure, everything seems to be going fine, but there are so many possible bad endings. Someone might try to steal our idea and apply for a patent themselves. Our paperwork might be wrong, and we get denied, or I don''t know. A monster can destroy the patent building and all the files with it," Helena started to shake her head as if trying to get rid of what was inside her mind. "As you can see, we are a bit on edge. Anxious about all this, and we thought coming here would help us take our minds off things for a while. I hope that''s ok," Bonnie turned to Hera. "Of course. I''ll ask the rest later, but I''m sure no one will mind. Besides, we are in a bit of a slump, so any help is welcome," Hera nodded. "Speaking of which, do you have any idea what we can do next? Hoping to find the right island in the dungeon is already boring," Blue asked. "Well¡­ I did find something interesting. Apparently, there is a doorway at the bottom of the ocean near a reef. And, to make this even more interesting, the last person who used that doorway was a Naga," Hera said with a large smile. 527 - Gathering the expedition Sometime after breakfast, Hera called all the Royal Explorers, plus Bonnie and Helena to the dining room. She explained to everyone what she found and was very quick to stop people from asking the source of all that information, stating that it was because of her relic and that was it. Hera also told everyone about Adriel''s spell and how they could search for that area for a new doorway. "Now, like I said, the main reason why I want to go there is because of the Naga. I really want to find where they ended up, and I want to see if that will lead us anywhere. That being said, I don''t think this would be a place where we would find anything about the old dwarves," Hera explained. "Why is that?" Callena asked. "Because it''s in the middle of the ocean. I highly doubt that a large group would go through there. Not to mention, imagine taking Fethy or the King there," Hera chuckled, and the dwarves started nodding, "Either way, this is what I wanted to do. Go there with Adriel and whoever else is willing to go while the rest of you continue searching for the next doorway." "But if you are going there, who is going to lead us?" Lorna asked. "When you were back in Boothudurn, did you always have someone leading you? In your jobs, I mean," Hera asked. Lorna stopped to think for a moment, remembering all the work he had in the guard. Sure, Naka would show them the ropes in the dungeon, but she wouldn''t be a part of every single dungeon run, "Not always. They would give us a task and let us work," Lorna finally replied. "That''s the same thing. You guys know what you have to do. Those who don''t want to go with me can continue doing that. The goal is to find another doorway or something related to your ancestors, and I truly believe that you are much more likely to make those connections than I am," Hera continued. "How about when we arrive in the next room? What do we do then?" Farica asked. "First, you will check the level of the monsters that should be inside. And I don''t mean just go inside and check. We have a lot of information online. Use that. Look up the layer and see what''s the level range that you should expect. Then, if the monsters are too strong, you should make groups to level up in dungeons or go hunting somewhere. If not, and you are around the right level, then you should head inside and carefully explore the room. Remember to always bring supplies and be ready to have to hunt or gather your own food. Also, why is everyone acting like I''m going on a long trip? I''m just going to be one room over. The internet tower we installed in the archipelago should still work on the other side, even if just near the doorway. So if you have any questions just message me," when they heard Hera''s last phrase, all the dwarves relaxed a bit. At first, the idea of being here without the Countess seemed daunting, but since she wouldn''t be that far away, it should be ok. Hera waited for a moment, letting everyone settle down before continuing, "Now, before I ask who wants to come with me. Do you have any more questions?" there was silence in the room, and it seemed like all their doubts had been answered, "Ok then. Adriel can''t bring everyone, only ten people. So we still have eight spots left. Who is in the mood for an underwater expedition?" Alex, Blue, Helena, and Bonnie were the first to raise their hands. They were much more invested in Hera''s interest than in the Royal Explorer''s mission. But none of the dwarves seemed interested in that. Hera felt that reaction was a bit weird, "I didn''t expect everyone to want to come, but is there a reason why no one wants to come?" The dwarves stared at each other for a moment, as if they were unsure of what to say. Eventually, Bertrand spoke up, "We don''t know the ocean," "Yeah¡­ I think that is it," Rayna nodded, "We don''t actually know much about the ocean, and seeing such a large body of water is¡­ Weird, to say the least. I mean, we only knew the lake in Boothudurn, so looking to the horizon and not seeing land scares us." "Not to mention, you made a point of saying how dangerous the sea is. Monsters that can swallow entire boats, creatures from the depths that have odd shapes and weird behaviors. I was reading about a thing called a man o'' war, and it is like a piece of rubber that can kill you just by touching you," Yerel shivered as he spoke. "You think that is bad? Look at the blue ring octopus or the cone snail. The man o'' war is not even the worst jellyfish. You should read about the box jellyfish. From what I heard, you need to have an endurance of about 200 to survive its sting, while the man o'' war, you only need like 50, " Hayat rolled her eyes at the healer. "Oh¡­ I guess we did too good of a job at scaring you. That wasn''t the intention. The ocean is so big that it''s very hard to see those kinds of things. Still, it''s good to be careful with it," Hera nodded. "Also, despite the more obvious danger, the MAZE is safer than Earth," Helena chimed in, and everyone turned to look at her, "You see, back on Earth, we have a lot of those small things that can kill us right away. From bugs to fish and even some trees that could kill most people just by getting close to them. Inside the MAZE, things are more organized. If you are in a room with monsters that go up to level 20, anyone who is at level 20 should be able to survive a hit of its poison or any toxin they release. Well, I''m talking about the regular monsters. There are always some that don''t fit the rule." "So, knowing that, is there anyone who wants to join?" Hera asked again, but the result was the same. None of the dwarves seemed to be interested in going with them, "Ok then. I''ll be scouting for at least another day before we actually go there. If anyone changes your mind, let me know before we head out. Right now, we still have four spots," Hera turned to Adriel, "Right?" "I would say three. Four might cause problems if we need to defend ourselves from those weird fish things you mentioned," Adriel replied. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. With that out of the way, Hera pulled up her tonfas and was about to start talking with Nimbus in her mind when Mylo approached, "Hera. Did you tell Shane about this?" "I didn''t. Why?" Hera tilted her head. "Because it''s about Naga. I think she would want to go." "That''s fair," Hera glanced at Blue and the others, remembering how things ended when they found Shane''s legacy. Even when they were in the archeology camp, there was a weird tension in the air when Blue and Shane were together. However, Mylo was right. Shane was an expert in the Naga, and if Hera wanted to discover more about them, she would be the best person to bring along, "I just need to make sure everyone is ok with having her as part of the soup. I''ll send her a text right after it, even if it''s just to let her know where we are going." It was clear that Mylo didn''t like that answer, but he didn''t say anything. Hera went to talk to Blue right away and pulled the group to a bedroom so they could have a private conversation. As soon as everyone was inside, she closed the door and cast the soundproof spell. "Ok, this seems serious. What are we doing?" Alex asked. "Here is the thing. I wanted to ask you all if you are ok with bringing Shane along on this trip. That is if she wants to. Mylo talked to me, and since we are technically chasing a Naga, she might be interested," Hera explained. "I mean, this is your trip, not mine. But I still don''t like her," Blue replied. "I know. That''s why I''m asking if you guys are ok with it. I don''t want to force anyone to be uncomfortable. Especially since you are all here mostly because of me," in the past few days, she realized that Alex and Blue were mostly tagging along. They asked to be part of the royal explorers, but it never felt like they were looking forward to the job, and that was making Hera feel guilty for a while already. So much so that she was inadvertently avoiding the two. "I''m not here because of you. Well, not just because of you," Alex replied. "Really?" "Yeah. I like exploring, even if I didn''t become an explorer. Besides, doing this kind of thing, it''s much better than just doing the same dungeon over and over to get stronger. There is less pressure, you know," as Alex explained, Hera understood what she meant. In fact, after thinking about it for a moment, the Countess realized that ever since the Royal Explorers started, Alex was much more relaxed. At first, she imagined it was because of Adriel, but after hearing that, she realized that maybe it wasn''t her love life that put the assassin''s mind at ease. "Ditto. Well, sort of," everyone looked at Blue, expecting her to say something similar, but the controller just scratched the back of her head, "Look. Unlike you guys, I didn''t become an explorer with a specific goal in mind. The idea was just to make money so I could support my family. I know that I don''t spend much time with them, but they are still the reason why I came to the MAZE in the first place. After we got stuck in Boothudurn, I made enough money to sustain them for a while, and I''ve been sending part of our share of the Kobold Tunnel to them so I can be more relaxed with everything. In the end, I''m just going with the motions and doing what I think it''s fun. This place is getting boring very fast, but if we are going to a new room, then that might be fun. Now, about Shane. Like I said, I don''t like or trust her. But I understand that she might be helpful if we are looking for a Naga or something related to them. So, if you want to bring her, that''s fine." "Thank you. I''ll do my best to make our trip fun," Hera smiled. "Ok, but why all the secrecy?" Bonnie pointed at the green dome that was covering them. "Oh, right. Here is the thing. I haven''t told Adriel about my legacy yet. So, of course, I didn''t tell him about Shane''s either. He knows I have a flying mount and Daskka, but that''s about it. I was going to ask you all not to mention it, if possible," Hera explained. "Gotcha. Don''t worry. I''ll be quiet about it," Helena nodded. "It''s not my secret to tell. Can we go now?" Bonnie was still standing up by the door. "Hang on," Alex stopped them, "I know it''s your legacy, and I don''t have the right to say anything about it, but I think you can trust him. He is a good guy, and I don''t think he would go around telling everyone about it." "It''s not that I don''t trust him. But I don''t know him well enough. Maybe this trip will help me fix that. And it''s not like I''m saying I won''t use my legacy under any circumstance. If something goes wrong, I''ll gladly call my court out and tell him about it later. A secret is not worth our lives," Hera explained. "Like you would have a choice," Daskka scoffed. "What?" Hera looked down at the snake around her neck. "Mum, if you are in danger, we are going to help you. You don''t have a say in that." "Even if I order you guys not to?" "Yep. That''s the one time we are allowed to go against your orders. Your life takes precedence over everything. I told you that before." Hera looked to the rest of the group, "Ok then. Apparently, that wasn''t even an option. If we are in danger, my court will show up to help us even if I don''t want them to." "Good to know. Now can we leave?" Bonnie was fidgeting by the door. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "I am. Can we go?" "C''mon, this is important. Why are you being like this?" Blue crossed her arms. "I really need to go to the bathroom. Can we finish this later? Or someone tells me what happened after this." "Oh¡­ sure. You can just leave. The barrier only stops sound," Hera replied. "Really? But how does that work? Does the barrier blocks a specific wave frequency?" Bonnie touched the green dome that was surrounding them, and her hand went right through it." "It could also be a miniature void field," Helena suggested. "But that seems way too advanced for a basic spell. I mean, Hera uses it like it''s nothing, so I''m guessing it doesn''t cost a lot of mana," Bonnie continued. "Don''t you need to go to the bathroom? Hera can show you that spell later," Blue shook her head. As soon as someone reminded Bonnie of that, she could feel her bladder about to burst and dashed out of the room at a full speed. Watching that, Hera just turned to Helena, "Does she always get like that when you two are talking about spells?" "Pretty much. I''ve given up on telling her to take care of herself," Helena sighed. "Then why were you going along with her curiosity?" Alex asked. Helena just gave them a mischievous smile, "It''s kind of fun seeing how long it takes before her body says ''nope.''" Everyone stared at Helena for a moment, and Daskka spoke in Hera''s mind, ''If that''s what she does with her friends, let''s try to stay on her good side.'' 528 - Far from a league under the sea It took one text for Shane to drop everything in the excavation and rush to the doorway. The idea of finding something else that belonged to the Naga was too enticing for her to pass on. Not to mention that she could also call the guide of the Shtylla Archipelago and ask her own questions to them. In a way, having Shane come here ended up being a good thing. Hera still had to scout the area to ensure they wouldn''t walk in the middle of a monster nest. However, things would have been easier if Adriel wasn''t going with her for backup. Even if his intentions were good, having him stay on the island watching over her made the Countess unable to call her court to help her. Only Daskka, Nimbus in his griffon form, Armory, and Scythe were out, but all of them were very close to Hera herself, so some of her blind spots were still blind spots. Daskka even tried to stay close to Nimbus'' back legs, but there were still a few spots on the ground that she couldn''t see. Still, they eventually managed to scout the entire area. They found the reef with its unique colors and shapes on the south of the island connected to the Wailing Valley. From the sky, it looked a bit weird since the coral structure was closer to the surface than she imagined. She half expected to be able to stand up on top of the reef and still keep her head above the water. Then again, that was just an estimate she was making while looking from far away. Currently, Hera was about 30 meters above the waters. It wasn''t the flying limit for Nimbus or the room, but it was high enough to allow her to see a large area while still feeling somewhat safe. To make things even better, it didn''t seem there were any monsters around that area. Hera noticed a few Bugfish in the distance, but around the reef, everything seemed to be peaceful. She couldn''t peer into the ocean''s darkness, but on a surface level, they should be safe. Another way they ''tested the waters'' was by having Adriel show the spell and a few people going around the initial island. Essentially, he would be using his drones to create the air bubble and the platform where people would climb and then slowly go underwater. Since almost everyone had some sort of light spell, being in the darkness wasn''t something they would have to worry about, but the light would attract monsters, and it was unlikely that the Bugfish were the only creatures that lived here. Everything went off without a hitch. They even tested their makeshift submarine with everyone who would be part of this expedition, and it worked just fine. According to the elf, The air bubble wouldn''t have any problems maintaining its shape until they were about 20 meters underwater. Beyond that, the water pressure would start forcing Adriel to reinforce the barrier more often, and it would begin shrinking in size. After a depth of 30 meters, his spell would break completely, exposing them to the elements. That meant that even if the barrier broke, no one would be in danger because of the water. A person could easily survive even at a depth of 50 m. In fact, the record depth that a level 1 ever achieved while free diving was over 100 m deep. After hearing all that information, Shane found a secluded location, borrowed Hera''s Emergency Cube, and asked her to create a soundproof barrier around her before calling the guide of the room. Unfortunately, she could only ask two questions with the time she had. When she returned from her short session with a guide, she told everyone that the doorway should be around 10 to 15 m deep and that the Naga left this place in the same year that the last graveyard was built in the Wailing Valley. That didn''t help much since the archeology camp had still to properly date the ruins, but the guide warned her that the answer wouldn''t help, and Shane wanted to hear it anyway. When Adriel heard that, he pulled Hera and Shane to the side, "I have something to ask you two. Could you use the Safety Cube and that soundproof thing you do, Hera?" "I can do the soundproofing, but I can''t use the Safety Cube. It takes a lot of Mana to activate, and it spends everything when you use it. Now I have to charge it, and it will probably take me a couple of days. But if you really need to talk to us in private, we can go to my private room," Hera wasn''t going to explain why they used the item here since they were still using the excuse of being a relic thing, and Adriel was an explorer. It could become a problem if he wanted to press on that matter. "Yeah, that works. Would that be ok?" Adriel asked. "I''m ok with it," Hera nodded and turned to Shane. "Sure. Just don''t get any ideas, pretty boy. If you try anything with us, we will kick your ass, and Alex will be next in line," Shane flicked Adriel''s chin and walked off towards the doorway. Hera found that reaction extremely odd and walked closer to Shane before whispering, "What the hell was that?" "I don''t know! Elves make me nervous," Shane sighed and glanced back at the man who was following them, unfazed by her attitude. "Shane, you do know he''s with Alex, right?" "I do. Don''t worry. I have no intention of hooking up with him. I don''t have nearly enough self-esteem for that, and even if I did, I wouldn''t do that to a friend," Shane was still flustered, which worried Hera a little, but there was no reason not to trust Shane with this. During the short time they''ve known each other, Shane never lied or deceived Hera, and she always had a good handle on her romantic entanglements. Soon, the three of them walked inside Hera''s private room. Hera went to the kitchen to grab some water while Shane sat on the couch. Adriel was just standing in front of the wall that Hera used as a tv screen and was currently set up to show a beautiful landscape overlooking a pink jungle on top of a mountain. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "I''m going to ask you two a favor. Don''t say anything, don''t react to what I''m saying. I''m just going to ramble for a moment. Okay?" Hera and Shane glanced at each other before nodding to Adriel, "As an explorer, I am aware of the things our relics can do. And I''m also somewhat aware of ways to gather unique pieces of information. One of the ways was by using a unique skill that I once acquired but no longer have access to because of three situations where I broke a rule. If you have any idea what I''m talking about, stay silent. If not, please ask so I can explain how to get that skill," Adriel looked at Hera and Shane, who just kept quiet. It was the first time Hera had ever met someone who lost the guide skill, so she didn''t know what she could say or do, and it would be considered a strike. Adriel nodded, "Okay then. I''m going to be honest. I don''t remember the specifics of the skill. I just know that I could get some answers directly from the system. I''m saying this because of this expedition we are about to go on. Look, it''s one thing if we''re just going to explore, but you guys seem to have a very definitive location, and I want to know how sure you are about it. Because it''s different if we are going on a wild-goose chase and we are going to a place that probably has what we''re looking for. The way I''ll ''drive'' the air bubble will be different. So, if you are sure of the location of the doorway because of some skill that has rules and only explorers have. Keep quiet. If not, say something," Shane kept quiet, and so did Hera, but she was terrified of doing anything and losing one of her strikes. "Very well then. If that''s the case, I have to prepare a few things. I honestly didn''t expect us to find the doorway in the first go, but now, I think we might. Would it be ok if I left?" Adriel asked. Hera and Shane nodded, and as soon as he left, they turned to each other and spoke at the same time, "Did you lose a strike?" "No," Shane replied. "Oh, good. Me neither," Hera sighed in relief. Neither of them had ever seen what happened with someone who lost all their strikes, but it seemed like they also lost all memory related to the guides if they were to trust what Adriel was saying. They didn''t know what to make of it and, eventually, decided to head back. The rest of the day went by in a flurry. Hera and her party were all preparing for the expedition, discussing spells and attacks that could work underwater and making sure their tablets would be in a safe and dry location if they had to swim. Adriel also gave everyone a quick explanation about what they could and could not do while inside his barrier. While all that was going on, the dwarves tried to be more independent. Some were focusing on training and trying to figure out new spells, while a few would go to the archipelago to run the dungeon and try to discover something they might have missed. For once, during the rest of the day, none of the Royal Explorers went looking for Hera''s advice or to ask what they should do. It seemed like what she told them about doing their own thing was working, for now. Morning came, and everyone crossed to the Shtylla Archipelago. Even if none of the dwarves would be going underwater, they were all there to send them off. Hera didn''t want to make this seem like a farewell, even if everyone was acting as if they would never see each other again. This was her excuse for not making any speeches while leaving the dwarves alone, and soon, Adriel placed his drones in the water and triggered the air bubble. A round blue barrier appeared connected to a large circular energy platform made by the drones. "Ok, everyone, come along. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. We are out of complimentary peanuts and in case of emergency, just start swimming," Adriel spoke in his best flight attendant voice. "Ugh, no peanuts? I''m writing an awful review when we arrive," Alex pretended to be mad while stepping into the bubble. It was a bit rickety, but that was only due to the uneven weight distribution. "Don''t worry about that. When we all get inside, I can fix the balance. Just bare with me for a while," Adriel replied as Hera, Helena, Blue, Alex, Mylo, Shane, and Adriel himself stepped into the barrier. Exactly as he said, the moment they were all on the platform, he used a couple of spells to control the drones, and it stabilized almost as if they were standing on solid ground, "Ok, everyone. Here we go. Try not to freak out. It''s weird." The bubble started to sink, and as the water splashed against it, it looked like a layer of glass was blocking the liquid. However, when they tried to touch it, their hands passed through, reaching the water on the other side without any problems. "Ok, new rule. If you want to test the barrier, do it one at a time. It''s hard to keep it up when everyone is poking holes in it all at once," Adriel looked back, making the party pull back their hands as children who just got caught doing something bad. All of them continued to sink, and in about a minute, their submarine was completely underwater. Hera looked around and could barely see what was happening around them. The water in this room was incredibly dark. All the light from the sun could only reach about half a meter before being engulfed by the water. "I didn''t expect it to be this bad," Adriel mumbled and triggered a few lights from beneath the drones, "Anyone who was a light spell, feel free to help out." Without exception, everyone inside the ''submarine'' activated a different light spell. Hera used her dancing lights around the bubble. Helena pushed the darkness away, letting the sun reach deeper into the water. Mylo made a few glowing flowers bloom inside the barrier. Alex made a simple light spot appear in front of them. Bonnie spread a few tendrils that occasionally flash like a plane''s lights. Blue made a cloud above their head that would be glowing white, almost working like a second sun, and Shane enchanted the water around them to reflect more light. "Too much, too much!" Adriel gasped, "Turn everything off!" Everyone did as he asked since they didn''t expect all the light spells to go up at the same time. After a brief discussion, they kept Mylo, Shane''s, and Alex''s spells. The rest would focus on defending the group. After setting all that up, they finally started to move towards the reef. In the darkness, a group of large Bugfish, who were now in a growth spurt because of the constant supply of food, noticed the sudden flash of light in the water. They all started swimming in that direction, attracted by the shiny object. 529 - Snakes on the water Adriel''s ''submarine'' was far from being fast. Any one of them could make a better time swimming, but at the same time, no one had to be worried. The air bubble also supplied the party with a constant flow of oxygen. And thanks to Mylo and Shane''s spells, they could see their surroundings without an issue. The combination of spells allowed everyone to see far away into the water. The colors and shapes were not exactly correct since the enchantment Shane created would mirror the effects of night vision goggles, but they at least worked to show everyone where they were going. Hera was surprised by the sheer number of creatures that kept swimming around them. She imagined that there would be some creatures, but it actually looked like they were close to an actual reef. Fishes were swimming everywhere, some big, some small. They all were similar to the ones one would see on Earth but, at the same time, had distinct features. Some had more than just two eyes, others had spikes or longer tails, and there was even a small seahorse with a horn on its forehead. Considering all the rooms she passed by, this ocean felt more alive. The only two places that could compare were the Waperath Jungle and Brinefront. Everywhere else barely had any diversity of species. Some rooms didn''t even have any monsters, while here, it was an actual ecosystem. After about half an hour, they could finally see the start of the reef. If Hera were flying on Nimbus'' back, it would take just a few minutes to get here. Even swimming, she was confident it would take her less than 10 minutes to reach the reef''s edge. Still, their journey so far was going well. Now, they had to focus on finding the actual doorway. Hera could ask Yarnball for directions, and as long as she formulated the question correctly, it would even show an arrow pointing to their destination. However, if she did it now, it could go to waste. She would end up spending mana for nothing if it were something obvious. "Adriel, if I use a sonar, would it affect your barrier?" Shane asked. "A sonar? I don''t think so. What are you trying to do?" The elf glanced back as more of the reef came into sight. It looked massive, but it was still too soon to tell if it would go beyond the 30-meter depth limit for the bubble. "My relic lets me make a map of my surroundings. I never used it underwater, but in theory, it should work," Shane replied as she placed her gauntlet outside the bubble and triggered its sonar mapping ability. Nothing happened to the people inside the submarine, but when Shane pulled back her hand, she could map almost everything in a 10-meter radius around them, "There is nothing that seems like a passage for now. Not a passage that would fit us, at least." "So there are passages?" Bonnie asked. "A bunch of tiny ones that fish should use. Some are even occupied to the point where my sonar can''t see what''s beyond it," Shane turned the tablet so everyone could see. It was a 3D map of the entire area that she discovered, "But there is what seems to be a large chamber right here. At the edge of my range." "Can''t we just open a hole in the reef?" Blue asked. "We need to get closer before we try anything. If the entrance is not big enough, we will have to find another way. Besides, I''m not the type who enjoys destroying nature just to save some time," Adriel said as he examined their position. "I was thinking more like that stone shape spell Hera has," Blue replied. "That only works on stone. Besides, a reef is a living organism, not just a bunch of rocks," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Shane, how often can you use that sonar thing?" Alex asked. "As often as I want. It''s more about the mana cost. I can still do it about 10 times. It can be more if we really need it, but I want to keep some mana in case of an emergency. We are in the middle of the ocean, after all," Shane replied. "Hang on. Let me do something. No one freaks out. I''m going to summon a bunch of snakes," Hera was about to trigger the bracelet skill when Bonnie stopped her. "Do you have to trigger it here? Can''t you summon them outside?" ''It was worth a shot, mum,'' Daskka snickered in Hera''s mind. "Fine. I just wanted to see if everyone would keep their cool while snakes passed by," Hera replied while putting her arm out in the water. She shook the bracelet, and 30 snakes came out of it. Using the map Shane showed everyone, Hera sent all the snakes to the large open area she found with her sonar. The snakes slithered through the water and started exploring their surroundings. There wasn''t much to see from the inside of the bubble. It would take them some time before reaching the opening, and Hera didn''t want to waste one of her connections for nothing. One of the most interesting parts of this item was that she could sense the presence of the snakes in a similar way as she felt Daskka. However, she could also tell everything came from the bracelet and not from each individual snake. If they found something, Hera would know about it first. Or if someone decided to mess with the snakes, she would instantly know. As long as she stayed calm and focused, she would be able to pinpoint whatever was happening. Either way, Adriel continued to pilot his drones to guide everyone around the reef. According to Hera and Shane, there should be an entrance, a path that they could take to reach the doorway, and he wasn''t the type who would want or allow others to destroy nature just to make things easier on themselves. He wouldn''t let anyone go near the door until there was a clear path for them. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. And so, Hera waited patiently for the snakes to explore their surroundings. That was¡­until she got bored and decided to check on the snakes herself. Looking out into the darkness wasn''t exactly fun, and seeing the reef through the odd night vision enchantment that Shane created was nowhere as interesting as one would expect. Her snakes didn''t all go to the open area Shane found. Only 10 of them followed one of the tunnels. The others were scattered around the reef to look for entrances or anything interesting. Hera could tell the snakes simple commands, and they would obey and even send a signal back when they found something. The good part was that even after tapping into the senses of one of her snakes, the construct would still exist and send back messages, even if it could no longer become her eyes in the water. After looking through two different snakes and only seeing darkness and the reef to the side, she gave up and decided to wait for them to tell her they had found something. In the meantime, the rest of the group asked if there was a way to use the drones to scout the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case. Adriel only had the three that were being used to maintain and move the makeshift submarine. When they were getting closer to the edge of Shane''s current map, she used her sonar again, discovering more of the surrounding area. To her surprise, she could see some very strange shapes under the water on the edge of the map. "Hey, guys! Look at these!" Mylo pointed at the screen, "Is that a giant octopus or something?" "I don''t think so. Living things don''t show up on the map like that," Shane pointed at a few points in the water that seemed to have caught some interference, "See these? They are animals, things that are moving and don''t stop the sonar completely. "What are those, then?" Bonnie was curious about the odd tentacle-like structure at the bottom of the map. By all accounts, they looked like the legs of a giant octopus. "Fossils, maybe?" Helena suggested. "Ok... but then what caused them to become fossils? Could this room have a volcano or something like that somewhere?" "Shane. If that static equals a living creature, these could be Hera''s snakes, right?" Mylo pointed at a few points on the map showing the snakes in full definition. "Correct." "What are these then?" He pointed at the corner of the screen where a few other large shapes were. They would start as static, but the sonar stopped a few centimeters beyond it as if it had hit a wall. "I don''t know. Hera, can you move one of the snakes there?" Shane turned to the Countess. "Sure," Hera told a couple of the snakes to head in that direction, but she soon felt the connection break. Something happened with the constructs she sent, and they no longer existed. Using another one that was close by, Hera swapped her senses with the snake and tried casting a light spell through it. When the snakes were close enough, that could work. It wasn''t like Hera was using the snake as a medium. She was still casting from her position but using the constructs, she could have a better grasp on the position of her spell. The moment the lights appeared, Hera saw, through the snake, a Hunter Bugfish. With the flash, the monster was startled and swam away. While the squid-like creature disappeared, Hera moved the two closest snakes to the spot where it was last seen. Sure enough, it reappeared, but this time, it was covered in sand. Its tentacles were also waving around wildly. They lashed out and cut the constructs where they stood. One thing that Hera didn''t expect was how it felt to be sharing the senses of one of the snakes when they were destroyed. It didn''t hurt, but when the Bugfish hit the snake, Hera gasped and stepped back, almost falling into the water if it wasn''t for Blue catching her. "What happened?" Helena had a worried expression. "There is a Bugfish out there. It seems different than the ones we fought against. It looked more like an octopus, and for some reason, it was covered in sand," Hera tried to explain calmly, but her heart was beating so fast she was amazed it wasn''t coming out of her throat. "We should hurry. If it gets more aggressive, it could destroy our submarine," Mylo raised his voice, "Let''s get to the doorway! I''ll break some of the reef, Blue help me." "Wait, wait! Let me find the entrance. I can push the sonar to reach a larger area, but I''ll use more mana," Shane looked around, trying to see if another monster was approaching. "My snakes reached that open area. Let me see if they can find something to help," Hera quickly snapped back and tried to see through one of the snakes inside the open area. There was some bioluminescent coral around the space, revealing a path towards a doorway. Oddly enough, when getting close to it, the water would simply stop as if it had hit a wall, but the snakes could pass by that area without a problem, "The doorway is in there, but I can''t see a passage. Everything here seems closed off. I think we might not find a passage." "Why?" Bonnie asked. "Probably because there isn''t one," Helena said, "Reefs are natural formations. They grow and change with time. It wouldn''t be impossible for the coral to block the entire passage." "Ok, so can we open a path? I think that between Mylo, Bonnie, and I, we can break enough to pass through." "We are not breaking the reef just to pass through! If you try anything, I''ll drop the bubble and stop you," Adriel turned around with an angry expression. "What is your problem with that? We are here to explore, and the reef can grow again. I''m not saying to burn everything to the ground, just to open a path!" Blue tried to walk closer to Adriel, but she was in the middle of the platform, and they didn''t have enough space to move around. "How would we burn this to the ground? We are underwater," Mylo asked. "That''s not the freaking point!" Blue gasped. While they started fighting about their destination, Hera got a ping from one of the snakes. It was far away from her location, but apparently, it had found something. The snakes had amazing eyesight, and this one could see a large oyster that would occasionally open to release some air bubbles. Inside it was a hexagonal red gem instead of a pearl. Thinking nothing of it, Hera told another snake to grab it. The moment one of the constructs touched the gem, the snake vanished, almost as if it was absorbed by the mineral. The entire reef started to rumble, and everyone stopped fighting as the red hexagonal gem flew towards Hera. It stopped in front of the submarine and slammed against the reef, shattering it with the impact. The red particles were sucked into the coral and started to twist and bend, revealing a hexagonal path inside the reef itself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The reef path will remain open for the next seven days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 530 - A tunnel inside the reef With the path in the reef open, Adriel guided the drones inside. It didn''t seem like it would be a straight shot to the doorway, but the system itself said this was the path. Or, at least, the entrance to one, and everyone agreed that this should lead them to the doorway. Using the snakes, Hera opened her map to see if she could find the route they would have to take. A few moments after they entered the reef, it became clear that the tunnel wouldn''t be a straight shot to their destination. Unfortunately, the snakes weren''t able to find a path to Hera''s location yet. She had recalled all the snakes that were outside to follow them. "Since Hera saw a Bugfish, someone should keep an eye out behind us," Alex said. She was willing to be the one on the lookout, but she was currently in the front of the submarine. If she was in charge of looking for the monsters, they would have a big chance of sneaking by. The group pressed forward through the reef tunnel until it came to a dead end. Only when they looked behind them that they noticed two more tunnels leading deeper into the reef. Helena looked to Adriel, "Could we go deeper?" "We are still at a depth of 15 meters. We should be able to move around some more without much trouble," Adriel nodded and turned back to the tunnels, "The question is. Right or left?" Both routes seemed as though they were going to lead somewhere interesting. Since the reef had been created from the sea floor, both tunnels led downwards. But, the right tunnel wasn''t very large, while the left one felt wider and less jagged than the right. Hera''s snakes were still moving about, but they couldn''t tell which tunnel to take. Even Shane tried using her sonar but to no avail. Inside the reef, the soundwaves had to move too much through the tunnels to reach the entrance. To make things even worse, the small passages that allowed Hera''s snakes to reach the doorway were now closed. "I''m not sure," Hera said, "But I think I can see a light down there." Hera pointed into the left tunnel. The other three followed her finger and saw what appeared to be a glowing light coming from somewhere below. It wasn''t a direct light but one that was bouncing from the walls, which could indicate the location of the doorway. "Well, that''s better than staying here. Let''s go," Adriel shifted the direction of the submarine, making it spin around, and then head to the tunnel to the left of the exit. For now, there were no monsters around, which gave them a sense of security. Everyone was thinking that the tremors were enough to scare the Bugfish away. About ten minutes went by as they moved through this passage and chased the light that seemed to be coming from very deep into the reef. Finally, the light disappeared completely, and the submarine stopped. They all looked at each other confused. What happened? Did something block our way further down the tunnel? Why did it stop? The last thing anyone expected was the walls suddenly lighting up to reveal an entire room filled with Bugfish. "Shit!" Alex gasped as all the monsters dashed at them, swinging their tentacles and sending out small jets of water to attack the group. In response to that, Shane froze some of the water around them and moved it to function as shields. Bonnie understood that idea and also helped, creating her own version of ice shields. However, her spell would not only make slower barriers, but they would break much more easily. Seeing that there were some people taking care of their defense, Hera shook her bracelet, triggering the Battle Rattle skill to increase everyone''s attributes. Hera herself got the biggest boost since all of her attributes were the same. With the Rattle active, all her stats would be almost at 100. At the same time, she sent out her court, not caring if Adriel would see it or not, and all the snakes around her to attack the monsters. This wasn''t a situation where she had the luxury of keeping a secret. Her blades appeared in the water, including Nimbus on his tonfa form, and started attacking the incoming Bugfish. Helena was using her sense control spells to force the monsters to hit the shield. She wasn''t making them hit the ice with their tentacles but slamming their entire bodies against the frozen water. Bonnie was only able to turn her shield into jagged pieces of ice, but Shane could freeze the monsters, turning them into frozen meat shields. In total, five Bugfish were caught by that combo, unable to do anything but watch as another eight attacked the group. Blue saw as two Hunter Bugfish came from below and created a pair of cloud hands to stop them, sending lightning through them. However, the monsters were covered in sand, which was able to stop the electricity from damaging them. "Let''s run away!" Mylo cried as several flowers bloomed out of nowhere, illuminating the area even more and attracting some of the Bugfish towards them. Adriel turned around, looking for the tunnel they used to get here, but the monsters were smart enough to be covering that exit. There were more creatures there than the ones that were attacking them, "We are stuck here!" While telling her court to keep some of the creatures at bay and flinging several poison needles at the monsters, Hera felt a tug. One of the snakes was trying to call her. It was one of those who found the doorway, "Daskka, can you follow that one? Turn into your mist form, and I''ll cast a light spell on you." "Got it, mum!" Daskka jumped from Hera''s neck. She had been feeling useless ever since they got here, but now it was her time to shine. Becoming the silver mist while a dancing light was in front of her allowed Daskka to become a beacon in the middle of the low lit tunnel. "Follow Daskka! We found the doorway," Hera turned to Adriel. "Got it," Adriel turned the submarine around, but it was still extremely slow, "Shit. Hera, can your mount swim? We can''t move faster unless there is something pulling us." Without having to ask for an answer, Nimbus replied in her mind, ''Not in my mount form, but I can pull it if I''m in my humanoid form.'' You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ''Do it! The snakes will help you,'' Hera replied as she turned to Adriel, "Do you have a rope or something?" "Yeah. Where is your mount?" Adriel created a rope made out of mana connected to the drones. "I''m here!" Nimbus spoke out loud as his head went inside the air bubble. He grabbed the rope, "Make more of those. The snakes can help. Let''s turn this into a sleigh." "What the..." Adriel turned to Hera. "Later. Just make more rope," Hera replied as Core and Frost blocked one of the Bugfish that was heading towards Helena. Hera followed it up by putting her hand outside the bubble and sending a few blood claws toward it. After the fifth strike, the monster died, and the submarine picked up in speed. Nimbus and her Snakes started to pull it, following Daskka. "Shit. Hang on, everyone!" Adriel gasped as the drones moved much faster than anyone was expecting. "Hang on where?! There is nothing to hang on to here!" Bonnie cried. "Right, sorry!" Adriel created a rope on top of the submarine and tied it to Bonnie''s waist. That caused Bonnie to gasp in surprise. Everyone else also jumped to grab the rope as Nimbus, and the snakes started speeding. For a humanoid griffon, the sentinel was surprisingly nimble underwater. It didn''t take long for Hera to realize the reason for that. He was using fire mana to push him forward and ice mana around his fingers to create makeshift webbed hands and feet. Not to mention his wings were glued to his body to reduce the water resistance. While they moved, Hera and the others were still sending spells toward the Bugfish who were chasing after them. In reality, the monsters were faster than the submarine, even when Nimbus was pulling it. However, the constant barrage of attacks was stopping them from advancing. As they got deeper and deeper into the tunnel, Hera realized that the monsters were becoming more reckless and frenzied. They would dive into spells, shielding the ones in the back with their own bodies, almost as if they were willing to do anything to reach their prey. Suddenly, the tunnel ended in a giant cavern filled with thousands of Bugfish, most of which were unmoving. The submarine slowed down to a halt, giving Nimbus a chance to rest before he continued to pull the sleigh ahead. ''Daskka? What happened?'' Hera called inside the herald''s mind. ''There is a really big one blocking our path,'' Daskka replied. She was floating in the middle of this large cavern. Hera couldn''t see exactly what she was talking about. Even with the light around, it was hard to tell what was part of the reef and what was a monster. Trying something different, she triggered her [Observe Red Sight]. It was odd using it underwater since almost everything was very cold here, the changes were minimal, but Hera was able to see two different things. First was that the Bugfish around the walls had small pockets of heat that didn''t match what the other ones had. They were hundreds of small balls of heat that could indicate eggs. The other was the massive creature that was in front of Daskka. Unlike the other Bugfish, who were around the same size of a human, this creature was the size of a killer whale. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bugfish Queen - Level 30 - Drowsy (Water affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A queen? That''s not good!" Hera gasped as she realized the situation. If they accidentally woke up this monster, they would be in serious danger. They needed to help it go to sleep somehow. "A queen?" Bonnie asked. "That''s what it looks like," Hera replied while Shane created a large ice barrier blocking the entrance. "Ok, whatever we want to do, we need to do it fast. I don''t know how long my barrier will last," Shane still had one arm out towards the entrance, reinforcing the ice as she could. Hera looked around and noticed the Bugfish around the walls stirring. Some of the smaller Bugfish were starting to wake up, which meant that the queen wouldn''t be far behind. She also saw that the queen had its tentacles wrapped around the walls, which showed that she was not just floating aimlessly. "How far is the doorway?" Helena asked. "According to the map is just beyond here. We will be going through a small tunnel, then we reach it," Hera explained. "So, we can either try to move it quietly or just wake it up and run through it?" Blue asked. "Mylo, don''t you have a spell that makes people sleepy?" Shane turned to the fighter, who nodded in response. "I can make an illusion that helps you sleep." "But that doesn''t change the fact that the queen is on our way," Bonnie sighed. "Lena, can you remove its sense of touch? Then we can push it to the side while Mylo uses his spell to make it sleep," Hera suggested. "I think so. But before we start, does anyone has a better idea?" Helena looked around, but no one said a word, "Right then. Mylo, when you are ready." The spells were triggered, and after their signal, Hera told Nimbus to push the queen to the side so they could pass through the tunnel behind it. Hera''s idea was to dismiss the Sentinel after they were on the other side. That seemed to work at first. When the makeshift submarine had crossed that passage, entering the tunnel, Daskka, who was swimming in front of them, could already see the doorway. Unfortunately, when Shane lost line of sight with her ice shield, the spell unraveled, and the swarm of Bugfish came rushing in. The noise and movement were enough to wake the queen completely. Just as everything started to shake, Hera told the snakes to rush deeper into the tunnel. In just a couple of minutes, they arrived at the doorway beyond a barrier that stopped all water. No one waited around to check things before crossing. They knew that even if this place was technically out of the water, the monsters could still come here. One by one, everyone crossed to the next room, Hera being the last one. She dismissed all the snakes, Daskka, and her court. Then she quickly sent a message to the Royal Explorers saying that the doorway is in the Bugfish nest. When she left, she promised to come back soon, but now, maybe that wouldn''t be the easiest task. Turning back to the doorway, she looked at the symbol on top of it. It looked like a treasure map with seven different islands but no X marking the spot. She heard some noise from behind her and saw a couple of Bugfish approaching and quickly touched the doorway to cross over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Seven Islands - 18th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hoping that misread the layer as 8th, Hera pressed [yes]. 531 - The Seven Islands After crossing to the next room, Hera could feel her heart beating extremely fast. Layer 18 was one of the layers where the level range of monsters was very wide. Some cities would exist on this layer where people with children would live, even if the monsters in the area should be between levels 20 and 60. What worried her the most was the fact that some of those rooms would only have strong monsters. All of this meant that there was a chance they had just walked inside a death trap. Then again, no one seemed to mind that as they were crossing. Hera figured that Helena, Shane, and Adriel would be aware of the level range, but still, there wasn''t an ounce of hesitation between them. It took a moment for the Countess to realize that she was currently alone, but it didn''t take long to realize why. When she crossed the doorway, she was expecting to end up in another underwater cavern or something along those lines. Instead, she was just by a small cove, and beyond it, there was a beautiful blue sky and crystal clear water that allowed people to look all the way to the bottom of the ocean. She stepped forward, noticing the sand beneath her feet and the footprints heading to the left. Everyone was on a white sand beach, looking around the area with expressions of wonder. "You know," said Helena. "I''ve never seen anything like this before." "Isn''t it beautiful?" asked Adriel. Hera turned towards their voices. "What''s so special about this?" "That," Shane pointed to the ocean. Hera looked over, unsure what she was talking about. However, once her eyes followed Shane''s finger, she understood. In the middle of this ocean was a massive sculpture of a sea creature. It had the tail of a fish made in some sort of translucent crystal that seemed to be warping the light around it ever so slightly, a long humanoid torso with four tentacles coming out of its shoulders, and the head was the top of a jellyfish with its tendrils falling back into the waters. From this distance, the sculpture was even taller than the volcano on an island behind it. Yet, the colors seemed to blend and mix together, giving the statue a fragile look, even if that was impossible considering its size. A slight breeze blew against Hera''s cheeks, making her hair flutter and creating a veil of pearls around her. The wind also helped keep the sand from getting too hot when it touched her skin. Yet, when she tried to touch those pearls, they popped like soap bubbles, "What is this place? Are we safe here?" she asked. "We should be safe. Why wouldn''t we?" Adriel turned to Hera with a confused expression. "Because this is the 18th layer. Monsters here should go to level 60, shouldn''t they?" "Oh no. You got it wrong, sweetie. In the 18th layer, you won''t ever find a monster stronger than level 20 outside a dungeon. Inside it, it''s a bit different," Helena explained without looking away from the giant statue. "Really? But I remember some people talking about rampages and how they had to gather a bunch of strong people for it." "Well. Rampages are a bit of a special case, but I don''t think we have to worry about something like that here. There are not enough people to trigger one," Helena continued. Hera paused for a moment before turning to the statue again, "So, does anyone have any ideas what that is?" "This is the statue of the God of Water. They grant us the ability to travel across the oceans with ease. Or at least, that''s what the Naga used to call it," Shane replied without missing a beat. "Really? How can you be sure?" Hera asked. "Some of the tombs had pictures of this statue. I just never imagined that it would be here. From what I understand, the ability part is something granted by the system, but the name was something the Naga came up with." "Ok... and are we sure we won''t find high-level monsters here?" Hera pressed. She was still worried about that possibility and couldn''t understand why everyone else was so cavalier about it. "I won''t say I''m 100% sure because we don''t know enough about the MAZE. But if we find anything above level 20, it will be a first," Adriel replied. Hera let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, she felt bad for doubting them and wondering why they weren''t being more careful. The group moved down the beach, admiring the scenery. As they reached a small campsite with a fire pit and some logs around for people to sit down. Beyond it, they found other statues spread throughout the area. Each of them depicted an animal or an object. When Hera tried to inspect the one showing an open box with something covered in fabric inside, a different notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What was once created is now lost, waiting for the one who will find it. Cratic Island challenge incomplete ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What? This doesn''t make much sense," Hera said out loud. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Agreed. This one just says, ''What is in your path shall not stop you,''" Blue pointed to a sculpture of a pile of coconuts. "That''s it? doesn''t it have an island name attached to it?" Bonnie asked. "It does, but I have no idea where Sitlacan is," Blue replied. "Maybe it''s one of the islands in this room?" Alex suggested. "That would make sense. We are in the Seven Islands room. Maybe each of those statues represents one island," Shane nodded. Everyone turned to the sculptures surrounding them and then to the ocean. With a quick glance, they could see seven distinct islands around them. Above the islands was a large cloud formation that seemed to be made up of many smaller clouds directly on top of the God of Water statue. Hera shook her head, realizing she was getting too far from the doorway. She pulled her tablet to see if there was any internet connection here, and, unfortunately, she had no bars, "Hang on. Let''s go back to the doorway before moving around here. I just want to confirm if we can talk to the others while here." "Right. We need to figure out a plan to get back. Going through that nest again won''t be easy," Adriel turned to Hera, "Wait. Where is your tiara? And the earrings? Also, what was that bird thing that was pulling the drones? Where are they?" Everyone glanced at Hera before looking away. No one wanted to be the one to explain that, and in the end, it was something Hera had to do herself. "Yeah... about that..." Hera let out a sigh, "First. Let me just tell you that I didn''t tell you sooner because I didn''t know you well enough for that. It wasn''t like I didn''t trust you, but at the same time, it was that I didn''t trust you enough." "What are you talking about? I understand that you don''t trust me enough. After all, we just met a couple of months ago. But what was that thing?" "So... it is a friend of mine. Kind of like a construct but not quite," Hera tried to explain, still feeling a bit weird. "A construct? I''ve never seen something like that. They were too alive to be a construct, and they could speak. Don''t get me wrong, but you are too new at all of this to make something that powerful. And I doubt you got it as a reward or had enough money to buy something like that. Unless... Do you have a legacy?" Adriel asked, point blank. "I do," Hera nodded, "Nimbus, the bird person you saw, it''s an advanced part of my legacy," she summoned her blades around her, "I can absorb weapons and call them out later. I can change it as I wish, but in Nimbus'' case, he also got a body. It''s a bit complicated, but he is on our side. My court is unable to hurt me or go against my direct orders," Hera gave a superficial explanation since the details felt a bit too personal. Adriel nodded, "I see... I understand why it was a secret you might want to hide. Don''t worry. That information is safe with me. I''m just sorry that you had to show everyone else too. But then again, it must have been hard to lie to everyone." "Actually... Everyone here knows," Hera scratched her cheek. Adriel looked to Alex, who nodded, then Shane and Mylo, who looked away, "How about the rest of the Royal Explorers?" "I mean... I lived with them for almost a year. So I knew everyone for much longer than I''ve known you." Adriel let out a long sigh, "Like. I get it but damn." "If it helps. Alex has been bugging me to tell you for a while now. I''ve told her I just wanted to know you better before sharing this secret." Adriel just shrugged and asked a few more questions about Hera''s legacy as they walked back to the doorway. To make it easier on herself, she called Nimbus, which only increased the elf''s curiosity. It didn''t take long for them to arrive back in the doorway and confirm that they had some internet connection when they were this close to the Shtylla Archipelago. While Hera was sending messages to the Royal Explores, Shane walked to the doorway, "I''m going to check if the monsters are close to the entrance. I can use my shields if I need to come back in a hurry." "I don''t think that''s a good idea. We should wait some more before going back there. Give time for the monsters to settle down," Helena frowned. Crossing a doorway would never put them at risk, but that was only considering natural hazards. Monsters could still decide to attack, even if the doorways themselves would repel most creatures. "Don''t worry. I''ll be... What the hell?" Shane gasped. "What?" Hera turned to her. "I can''t cross the doorway! It says we need to complete the challenge in all seven islands." "Really? Bonnie asked, and everyone got closer to touch the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To cross the doorway to a new room, you must complete all the challenges in the Seven Islands room. Challenges complete 0/7 Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well¡­ at least we still have our private rooms," Hera sighed. After a while, Adriel asked, "So, what''s the plan from here?" As always, the answer was simple. They would continue exploring the 18th layer until they found a way to leave. Since they had to figure out the challenge, the statues were their first clue. However, before leaving the area by the doorway, Hera sent a few texts to the Royal Explorers, Rutigan, and her dad, explaining what had just happened and how they were stuck until they completed the challenge. To make matters worse, they only had one week before someone had to open the reef passage again. Hera wasn''t sure if there was a way to open that path while close to the doorway. It was very likely, and they had other ways to get out as a last-case resort, but still, it was another thing she had to worry about. Hera went over the message she sent to her father but removed most of the details. He already knew about the MAZE and the existence of the Royal Explorers. The only things she left intact were that she was safe and managing to deal with the situation. She also added that her party was wearing the new model of bracelets, which should be able to show her vitals to the guild even if she was several rooms away. The last time Hera got stuck, her dad ended up having a funeral for her; this time, she didn''t want him to do the same. Having to bury his daughter once was more than enough, and she never wanted to make him go through something like that again. When satisfied with the message, she hit the send button and started heading to the campsite with the rest of the group. They might be running against the clock, and Hera didn''t want to waste any more time. 532 - The four sisters Before everyone arrived back in the camp, where the statues talking about the challenges were located, Hera pulled Blue to the side. This whole situation felt very familiar to her, and she worried about the controller''s reaction. "Hey, can we talk for a moment?" "Sure, what''s up?" Blue replied in a cheery voice. The way she spoke caught Hera off guard. she was expecting many different things but having her friend be seemingly excited wasn''t one of them, "I just want to know how you''re doing. I feel like it''s the second time I get you stuck in a random room." "Second time? Hera, are you saying that you got me stuck in Boothudurn?" Blue was aghast with that possibility. "I mean¡­ yeah." "Are you fucking kidding me? We''ve been over this already. You didn''t get me stuck anywhere. You saved my life by taking me to Boothudurn. I was never angry about that, and I''m not angry about this now, even if we do end up getting stuck here for whoever long," Blue rolled her eyes before putting her arm around Hera, "This is not your fault, everyone knows that things can get weird, although I don''t remember ever hearing about a doorway that doesn''t let you cross unless you do something inside it." "Me neither. But it''s not that weird. I mean, the one we used to get to Boothudurn only appeared when very specific conditions were met," Hera replied as she put her arm around Blue''s waist. Happy that her friend was still acting like usual. "That''s true, but we will be fine. And we can still talk with people outside, even if it''s just when we are close to the doorway. Also, between Shane, Adriel, and you, we could all sleep in actual beds instead of having to camp outside. Can''t we?" Hera looked around, "Pretty much, we can have three people stay in each room and one with two. Although, I''m not sure who will be in the mood to share a room with Alex and Adriel." "White sandy beaches, a beautiful paradise-like island. The pressure of being stuck somewhere without a clear way of going back. Yeah, those two are going to make some noise, aren''t they?" Blue looked to Adriel and Alex, who were walking side by side and talking without a care in the world. Her eyes then shifted towards Mylo and Shane, who were more quiet but still walking side by side, "Do you know if they are going to do something like that too?" Hera sneaked a glance at them, pretending to be looking past the two. Mylo noticed that and looked behind him before turning back to Hera with a puzzled look. The Countess just shook her head and mouthed, ''thought I saw something,'' before turning back to Blue, "I honestly don''t know. As far as I''m aware, they don''t have that kind of relationship." "What are you girls talking about?" Helena popped from the side with a smirk on her face. "Nothing!" Blue and Hera replied at the same time. "Right," Helena squinted at them. "Actually, we were talking about those challenge things. It''s the first time I ever hear about a doorway that gives a condition to cross. Is that common?" Hera asked. Helena shook her head, "Honestly, it''s the first time I heard about it too. I know that in very rare cases, a doorway can have a condition when they''re not functioning. Something like the one in Boothudurn that you two took. Or another that says, ''you can''t cross during a storm,'' but having that lock being associated with a set of challenges is a first." Hera turned to ask Shane and Adriel about that, but this was also a first for them, and soon, they all arrived at the camp with the sculptures again. They spent around 30 minutes there, trying to find something about these challenges but to no avail. Each of the statues had a unique riddle and depicted something different from the others. Another issue they had to consider was the food. So far, no monster had appeared, which meant that they would have to scavenge to have a meal. If push came to shove, they had enough rations to last three days, but after that, they wouldn''t have anything to eat anymore. However, Adriel noticed some shapes moving in the water, and since he had experience with seafood, he offered to fish and then check if everyone could eat them or if they would be poisonous. In the end, they decided to split off and try to find out more about this island. Everyone formed teams of two to move around. Blue and Helena went to the south of the island, following a path that would cross the small forest in the center of it. Mylo and Shane went back to the doorway to the east to see if they missed anything there, leaving Hera and Bonnie to head to the west, towards the beach closest to another of the seven islands in the room. When they finally reached the shore, they were greeted by a warm wind and salty smell that made Hera shiver despite herself. She was starting to get used to the cold of the previous room, so being in this place was quite refreshing. "Hey, Bonnie, did you notice any dangerous animals on this island?" Hera asked while stretching her arms. "Nope, I didn''t. Only plants and fish." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "You saw fish too?" Hera turned to the side, trying to catch some movement in the water. The ocean was so clear that she could see the base of the giant God of Water statue from here, and yet, she couldn''t see any fish moving around. "Yeah. I think it''s the type that can change colors. You know, those fish that can blend with the environment," Bonnie explained. "Like stone fish?" "No, those just look like they are part of the environment. Some fish can actually change colors, like an octopus or a chameleon." "Oh... right. Like cuttlefish, right?" Bonnie frowned, "I mean, yeah, but aren''t cuttlefish closer to an octopus than a fish?" "I have no idea. We can ask Adriel later," Hera paused while looking around, just to be sure they weren''t missing anything, "Say... Did you tell your mother?" "Tell her what?" "That we are stuck here, at least for the foreseeable future." "I... I didn''t think of that... Do you think I should?" "I think so. Speaking as someone who already got stuck in a place where I couldn''t reach out to my family. It might help her know what is going on with you," Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Also, there is a chance my dad will talk to her." "You told your dad?" Hera nodded, "I don''t know if I ever told you that, but when I was lost in Boothudurn, my dad had a funeral for me. I told him what is going on and asked him not to worry, even if I stopped responding to him. And then if all of our vitals vanish at the same time, he shouldn''t think the worst." "But then he will be waiting for you forever, won''t he?" "I asked him to wait a year. If I spend more than a year without giving any signals that I''m alive, then... I didn''t finish that part. I don''t want him to go through that again." Bonnie nodded, "I can imagine," she was about to say something else when something caught her eye, "Hera... are you seeing that?" "Seeing what?" "There, in the distance," Bonnie pointed to where the horizon was, "there''s a city." "Really?" "Yeah, really. I didn''t notice it before because the trees were in the way, but now the wind has picked up. I''m sure I saw it. Right there, on the next island. When the wind pushes the trees. " Hera looked over and waited for a gust of wind. At a certain point, the palm trees shifted, and beyond it, she could see what looked like the roof of a few buildings, "It does look like a city, but it''s hard to tell it from here," she looked to the side and noticed a clump of trees on top of a small hill, "Let''s go up there. Maybe we can get a better look. I don''t think it''s a good idea to go to another island without everyone else." "Sure, but couldn''t you just call Nimbus? I mean, there is no reason not to have him out now, is there? Also, is there a reason why you didn''t call Daskka out yet? It feels weird to see you without her." "I can... and yeah, you''re right. Adriel already knows about them. I can have everyone out all the time," Hera summoned her entire court since she had dismissed Nimbus after Adriel asked him a few questions, "Sorry for keeping you out for so long, guys. There was so much going on that I got a bit lost." "You don''t have to apologize, Empress. We understand that there was a lot going on. Also, I appreciate the moment to gather myself. Pulling the submarine in this form wasn''t easy," Nimbus replied. "This place is really pretty, mum, but what is that?" Daskka snuggled on Hera''s neck and pointed at the God of Water statue. "We still don''t know. Nimbus, could you fly me up? There is something on that island over there, and I want to get a better look. Just go up. We are not getting closer for now." Nimbus nodded and picked Hera up in a princess carry before flying high in the sky. He was moving slowly since this was a new place, and they didn''t know if something could happen. They raised about 10 meters when Hera decided to stop. She didn''t want to push their luck while they were still scouting the place. On the next island, she could see some very simple houses that looked made of clay or sand, but she couldn''t see any more movement there, which probably meant that the place was abandoned. Then again, she was only seeing a small piece of the area since the trees would still block part of her view. When she felt it was enough, Hera told Nimbus to come down, but as she shifted her gaze to the island where she was currently, she noticed a clearing in the forest with some stone stairs. In the middle of it, she could see a fountain with some very large stones surrounding it. Four statues were standing in front of it, depicting figures that looked to be wearing armor with a unique pattern that was a mix of tree leaves and scales. She told Bonnie about it, and they went to investigate. As they approached, they realized that they were all women, but each one had a slightly different expression on their bodies. It was hard to explain since all four statues were exactly the same, but just glancing around, they could tell that one was happy, one was sad, one was angry, and the last one was afraid. Even more odd was the fact that they couldn''t see the faces of those statues. "They are so strange..." Bonnie said, staring at the statues. "Yes. I wonder what they represent," Hera walked closer to the fountain, "It might be a good idea to bring everyone here," Hera stepped back and accidentally touched the fountain causing a notification to appear in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the challenge of Cratic. Walk inside the fountain to start the challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera turned around and moved away from the fountain while telling Bonnie what had just happened. The researcher touched the stone, and the same message appeared. "Ok, we need to grab everyone and bring them here. I don''t think it''s a good idea to try this without them knowing," Bonnie said. "I agree. According to Lena, even if monsters shouldn''t be above level¡­ 20 was it?" Hera turned to Bonnie, who just nodded in reply, "Level 20 outside, inside a dungeon, they can be much higher. And we don''t know how strong the things inside this place will be. "Do you want me to go get everyone?" Nimbus asked. "No, let''s go together. We still don''t know what is going on around here," Hera shook her head as they started to head back to the campsite. She wasn''t sure what to expect. They found a city and the challenge. She could only imagine what everyone else found in this place. 533 - Grilled fish by the beach When Hera and Bonnie returned to the campsite, Shane and Mylo were already there, and Adriel managed to get a decent number of fish for them to eat later. Helena and Blue were still away, which worried Hera a bit, but she trusted them enough to know when to run away if something were to happen. "So, did you guys find something?" Hera turned to Shane. "Kind of? I don''t know if that counts as something, but there was a half-buried... something. It was maybe the start of a sculpture," Shane pulled up a picture on her tablet and showed it to Hera. It looked like a small stone cube with a hole in its center. The side had been chipped off, so they couldn''t see what was inside, but it definitely wasn''t anything living. There were some carvings on the closed side of the cube that made Hera remember the statues she saw. Some were of fish with leaves instead of scales and branches in place of fins. On the other hand, there were several trees with scales instead of bark for the trunks and fins in the place of branches. It was a very odd and surreal piece of art, but something told Hera that this was more than just a random drawing. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, "Hang on. Where is that sculpture?" Hera turned to the set of statues behind the camp''s fire pit and trunk benches. She looked for the one depicting the open box with something inside, but from the shape of the cloth, it wasn''t a cube. Wanting to be sure, she touched the sculpture, and the notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What was once created is now lost, waiting for the one who will find it. Cratic Island challenge incomplete ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey, Bonnie. That fountain said something about the Cratic Island challenge, right?" "It was. Is that the island that the sculpture is talking about?" Bonnie got closer and touched the open box, "Ok... so maybe this is a hint? We need to find something to complete the challenge." "Hey, girls. If you are going to have a conversation, you''ll have to share it with the class," Shane interrupted them, but it was for a good reason. Hera turned around and explained to everyone what they found. After hearing everything, Adriel had a concerned expression on his face, "This is not good. We might be in trouble if that challenge is considered a dungeon." "Right... if it''s a dungeon, the monsters here can go all the way to level 60, can''t they?" Bonnie turned to Adriel, who nodded in confirmation. There was a pause with the realization of what that meant. If they were stuck in a place where there were no monsters around and didn''t have the option to go to dungeons to train and level up, there was a chance that it would take decades to even get close to a level where they could handle the creatures. "We could ask for help," Hera suggested. "To whom?" Bonnie turned to the explorer. "The guild, the dwarves, anyone. Just because we are not strong enough to fight monsters here, that doesn''t mean others couldn''t come to help us complete the challenges, and then we can leave. Hell, I would even pay them for it if we need it." Shane nodded, "That''s a decent idea. It''s not unusual for people to be carried, and here it would be more of a rescue operation. I can even ask the people working in the tombs to come help. There are a few level 50s there, not to mention Jasper, the researcher that already completed the test of the tower," she turned to Hera, "But... we could see if that thing we can do could give us more information. We are basing everything on assumptions, and maybe things are not so bad here. Remember, the monsters inside dungeons can get up to level 60, but that doesn''t mean that every single dungeon has monsters at that level." "That''s true. Do you want to do it first? Since we have seven challenges, it might be a good idea for one of us to save that for later, just in case. Besides, the Safety Cube only works once every couple of days. Do you want help to figure everything out beforehand?" Hera pulled the Safety Cube from her bag. "Why am I going first?" Shane crossed her arms. "I just figured it was fair. I mean, the last two times we did this together, I was the one who went first," Hera replied. Shane wanted to protest, but she couldn''t argue with the facts. The two of them walked away from the group, and Hera activated a soundproof barrier while they discussed the questions they could ask. After about half an hour, Hera walked back to the camp, leaving Shane inside the black barrier of the Safety Cube with a soundproof bubble inside it. Blue and Helena had returned, and they also found some odd things spread around the island. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There was a broken-down gate, almost as if some ruins were supposed to exist here, but there was nothing anywhere. They also found an odd patch of ground that had a different color. Blue used her controller role skill which allowed her to see the area from a different point of view, almost working like the camera of a drone. It was a shame that she couldn''t take a picture when using the skill, but there was a weird pattern that looked like a giant tree on the ground. The strange part was that the lines were the parts where nothing was growing, while the bark and the leaves had patches of multicolored grass on the ground. Aside from that, they found some fruit that was more common in cold weather. Either way, they brought back a large number of apples and peaches. They also found a stone slab, and after making sure it was safe, they decided to use it. Once again, the blue screen appeared before them, and it read, ''Do you wish to know the location of the island challenge?'' They accepted that, and the location was marked on their maps. Unfortunately, it was the same place that Hera and Bonnie found, and after sharing that information, the tablet entered a cooldown period which should last 48 hours. While talking, Adriel started the fire to make something for everyone to eat. Since now they had some fruit, he could make something a bit more interesting than just simple grilled fish. A few more minutes passed, and everyone was sitting around the camp talking about this place and everything they were worried about. The conversation was very redundant, but it felt better to talk about it all than to just sit around waiting for more information. Unlike what happened when Hera and Blue arrived at Boothudurn, they weren''t in danger, and there were no pressing matters aside from gathering information, and somehow, that was worse. Shane finally returned with a pep in her step. It seemed like whatever she found out was good news. "Oh, we have food? Good, I was getting hungry," she said and sat down between Hera and Mylo. Everyone waited for her to say something, but the explorer just grabbed an apple and started eating it, "Do you guys prefer apple pie or peach pie?" "Shane!" Mylo and Hera gasped at the same time. "Ok, ok. I was just joking. So we have good news and weird news. What do you want first?" "The weird one," Blue said. "The challenges are not dungeons. Not really. Like they do give rewards, but they are not considered full-blown dungeons. Also, not all of them will happen in different places. Some will happen out in the room," Shane took another bite of the apple and continued speaking with her mouth full, "Also, in some of the challenges, there will be monsters, but they won''t kill us. It will behave kind of like role tests. If we were to get killed, we will be ejected from the challenge. That''s not to say that we can''t get hurt. Like if we get hit in a bad place, we may die before we can get out of there. Or if we slip and fall head first in a spike." Everyone took a moment to digest that information. It was good news, but at the same time, it wasn''t great. If those things didn''t behave like dungeons, then maybe they wouldn''t help them level up to face whatever monster would be around the room. "What is the good news then?" Helena asked. "We don''t have to worry about monsters. Unless it starts to rain. Monsters only show up when there is a storm. And they will only be up to level 35. Well... the normal ones, at least. I couldn''t get any more information beyond that about them." "Level 35?" Mylo asked, and Shane nodded. "And you said that they come in a storm?" Blue smiled. "Blue... I don''t think that will work," Hera already had an idea of what her friend was thinking about. "I mean, it''s literally my element. And I managed to break apart an entire dungeon. I''m pretty sure I could stop a storm from a room like this. As long as it''s not like a full hurricane." Hera sighed, "Fine, but can we keep that as a plan B? I don''t want to rely on something that may or may not work. It''s not that I don''t trust you, but you never tried to stop an actual storm, have you?" Blue opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself and thought for a moment, "I haven''t. Ok, that''s fair. We should look into ways of being safe, but I still want to try if that happens." "I already have the answer for that one," Shane reached out to one of the fish being cooked, but Adriel used a sand hand spell to stop her. "It''s not ready yet." "You can just tell me. Don''t put sand near the fish!" "Don''t worry. I can control my magic enough not to have to worry about that. I can cook with those sand hands, and not even a single grain will end up in the food," Adriel puffed his chest. "Ok, ok. We won''t eat. But what do you mean you have the answer for that, Shane?" "Oh. I asked about places to wait out the storm, and there are a couple of challenges that don''t have a time limit, and there is enough food and water to last a couple of weeks inside," Shane explained. "That''s good to know, but then we will have the problem with the reef tunnel. It should be open just for a week," Alex felt she had to remind everyone about that. "Well, that''s why I also asked about the other challenges and how long they take. I couldn''t get the names or what they are, but apparently, it''s possible to complete all challenges in a single day. It would be hard, but it is possible," Shane turned to Adriel, "You are adding peaches to the fish?" "Don''t complain about it before trying it out. I have some other spices with me that will make this great," Adriel replied. "Is that all? I mean, is that all you found out?" Hera asked. "Yeah. There is another thing, but we figured that out already. Each island has hints about the challenges. And so do the statues. Apparently, some of them make whatever we have to do inside really easy," Shane replied. Hera nodded and looked back to the statues behind them. She was still trying to figure out what they would have to do to get out of the room. Still, since they were more or less sure they would be safe while attempting those challenges, they could head to the fountain. But first, it looked like the fish was ready, and Hera''s stomach was growling. 534 - Unexpected Opponent Soon after they finished eating, Hera and her group went to the fountain surrounded by the four statues. They all had the same odd feeling when looking at those armored figures. Even if they had no physical differences from one another, each of the sculptures seemed to give off a unique emotion: anger, sadness, happiness, and fear. And, considering what Shane told them, it was likely that this was also a hint about the challenge. This and the drawings they saw spread around the island were all possible tips to help them complete this task. Before coming here, Hera and Nimbus went to the location where Blue and Helena found the ruins and the drawing on the ground. Thanks to the Sentinel, they were able to fly and take a few pictures, just in case. Then, they regrouped with everyone and were now in front of the fountain. "If we want to start the challenge, we have to step into the fountain?" Adriel asked. "That''s what the notification says. All you have to do is touch this, and it will show up," Bonnie touched the rocks at the base of the structure, and the notification appeared in front of her, "Yeah, this is the Cratic Island." "Ok then, how do we do this? Do we just.." Blue walked inside the fountain, and before she could finish her words, the water splashed her like a geyser, and the controller was gone. Hera let out a long sigh and recalled her court, "Honestly can''t she talk a bit before doing things? I''m going after her." No one protested since Hera was the one better equipped to deal with any unexpected situation. After all, she was never alone. When she stepped inside the fountain, the water splashed just like it happened with Blue. For a moment, Hera felt like she was on a water slide. Suddenly, the water stopped, and she was on top of the same fountain, but now there were no statues around. The forest seemed thicker but, at the same time, less wild. A stone path was leading away from this small clearing, and Hera could feel the warm sun peeking from beyond the trees. Hera took one step out of the fountain, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are attempting the Cratic Island challenge. To return to the Seven Islands room, step into the fountain. If the conditions have been met, doing so will complete the challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, great. You are not even telling me what I have to do?" Hera sighed and looked around, but she couldn''t find Blue anywhere, "Blue! Are you there?" After a few moments, it became clear that there wouldn''t be any response to her question. Summoning her entire court, Hera asked Nimbus to take an aerial look in the area while at the same time having the rest of her blades spread out and look for anything interesting. "Do you think I should use the bracelet right away?" Hera turned to Daskka, who was around her neck. "Not yet. We don''t know what we are doing here, and if you just try to send them all out, you will end up wasting a lot of the snakes by looking at something that is not actually helpful." Daskka replied. ''I agree with her. We should wait until we can get a more clear idea of what we need to do,'' Nimbus added while he was still flying, ''Speaking of which. I can see a large building. I believe it should be around the area where Blue found those ruins.'' "How large is it?" Hera looked up. ''It looks to be a... House? An old one, with a tower and at least three floors from what I can gather. It''s not big enough to be called a mansion, but not small enough to be just a regular house.'' "Is there anything else that seems different?" ''The forest seems¡­ off. I can''t explain why, but it doesn''t look the same. And towards where the doorway is located, there is a hill. Maybe it would be directly on top of the doorway, but I''m not sure.'' "Alright. Keep looking, Nimbus. If you discover anything else, tell us." Hera returned her attention to the forest and started walking in the direction Nimbus indicated. She wasn''t going to waste too much time on this. First, she wanted to figure out what this place was about, and then she would worry about completing some challenges. Not to mention she still had to try to find Blue, even if there was a chance that each of them would be sent to an individual location. Or, maybe, they had to go in the fountain together. ''Hera, someone is calling your name!'' Hera turned around, and she saw the other members of her court approaching. Apparently, Nimbus had discovered something. "What is it?" Hera rushed to the side, towards the beach. When she finally saw why Nimbus was calling her, she gasped and lost her footing, falling face-first into the sand, "What the hell is this?!" Hera yelled with a face full of sand. "For someone with so much agility, I figured you wouldn''t have problems running around, kid," Peaches snickered. Stolen story; please report. "Of course, she would fall when her eyes looked upon the magnificent me," Capri raised both his wings to the sky, "Fear not, for we are not here to harm you... for now." "C''mon, Capri. Don''t spoil everything," Laika said. Hera got up and could see all the guides she could message in front of her. Peaches, Berthellemy, Capri, Nina and Talpa, Jackie, Laika, Kelpi, Johnny, and even Calina, the polar bear guide for the White Desert. Hera could message her, but they ended up not talking much, yet here she was, "What are you all doing here?" "Well, dear. This room is a bit special, you see. A while back, the guide responsible for this place created the challenges in a way that no one would get hurt. He did all that because he was trying to make a place where we could have some fun with the people we know," Jackie, the southern raccoon, stepped forward. "Exactly. I was a bit excited when you asked about this place. It''s been a long time since I''ve participated in one of these," Kelpi nodded. "I still don''t get it. What is going on? Are we racing against each other to do... whatever it is we have to do here?" Hera got up and was now slapping the sand out of her body. "Apologies, but we are not competing to complete the challenge. We are the ones who are here to stop you," Berthellemy replied. "What? Shouldn''t I be facing monsters? I mean... that''s what Shane told me." "I''m pretty sure the guide she spoke to never said anything about monsters. Just that there would be enemies and that there was a chance of you getting hurt. And that is only the case for the non-explorers. You and Shane don''t have to worry about anything. We are all able to stop you from getting hurt if push comes to shove. I don''t mean that other people are likely to get injured, but since, in their case, they won''t have a dozen guides looking out for them, accidents can happen," Calina smiled. "So... I will be fighting you guys? That hardly seems fair," Hera frowned. She knew how the guides were supposed to be almost omnipotent. "Don''t worry. We have a set of rules we have to follow, and we won''t be in this shape. Each of us will be using the form of one of the things people should find here. Think of it like we are picking characters in a game," Laika explained. "And we can even customize their appearance a bit. It still has to look like what it is supposed to look like, but we can make it our own," Talpa spoke excitedly as she toyed with an invisible window that Hera couldn''t see. "Ok... so what is the game? What do I have to do here?" Hera asked. "That''s part of the game, kid. You have to find out. We came here because it would be more fun to have you know who you are up against," Peaches looked to Nimbus and Daskka, "Also, you already have an edge on this. You are not in a team all by yourself." "Mum, I think we can take them. Sure, they have numbers, but this is what we do. If they can''t just make things happen, we can beat them!" Daskka smiled and stared the guides down. "I agree, Empress. We have the advantage here," Nimbus stepped forward, trying to look intimidating. Capri let out a burst of resounding laughter, "I will make you eat those words, my friends. You are nothing compared to the invincible me!" "Calm down. I still have some questions. Is that ok?" Hera turned to the guides and got a nod as a reply, "Is the guide of this room participating as well?" "He is. Since you haven''t called him, he couldn''t come here to talk to you. But after you call him. He might join us. Don''t worry. He is not upset about that. Honestly, he even praised your self-control. But he will be around," Peaches replied. "Right... and are you guys participating in all challenges?" Nina shook her head, "No, only a few. Some won''t have you coming to a different place. In those cases, we won''t be a part of it." "And in one of them, we are not the enemies, but the damsels in distress," Jackie winked. "Jackie, c''mon. Don''t spoil things," Kelpi rolled his fish eyes. "I''m not. That one has a better explanation about what she''ll have to do. It''s fine," Jackie waved him off. Hera gulped. A lot was going on, and she had no idea what to expect. After all, this wasn''t the kind of stuff she was used to. "Ok. I think we talked enough, and as I said, this is just a game. You don''t have to feel pressured to win right away. If you lose, you can come in and try again," Peaches gave Hera a teasing smile, "I''ll be here to kick your ass every time, kid. Do you have any last questions?" "Is there food and water on this island?" Hera asked, thinking about faking them out with the idea that it would take a long time before she made her move. "There is. But you can figure out how to find it," Peaches turned around, "Let''s go, everyone. We still have some time to prepare." Behind him, a large portal appeared, and all the guides waved to Hera before stepping in. The Empress couldn''t help but chuckle when they were all gone. Not only did she have a chance to play hooky with the guides, but Peaches also gave her a hint, and she knew it was on purpose. If they had time to prepare, it meant that it would take time for Hera to arrive wherever she needed to, so there was no need to search the surrounding area. "So... we are really doing this?" Daskka asked. "Where is all that fire that you had a minute ago?" Hera smiled. "I was just talking smack. Are we really going against the guides?" "We are, but like they said. It''s just a game. Let''s have some fun with it. I just need to think of ways of neutralizing some of my spells. I don''t want to use poison or things that could kill someone," Hera said. "I don''t think we would have to worry about that. I''m pretty sure we would only be damaging their characters, not them," Nimbus rubbed his beak in deep thought. "Still. I don''t want them to feel pain. I know how poison can make you feel," Hera didn''t have to worry about that anymore. Ever since she got the Naga Poison skill, it became hard for her to be affected by that kind of thing, but she still knew the effects her spells would have. "Right... but what do we have to do?" Daskka asked. "What did the statue say again? ''What was once created is now lost, waiting for the one who will find it.'' So I guess we need to find something? It sounds kind of obvious, but maybe it will be more complicated later," Hera suggested. Then again. It wasn''t like she had to figure everything out right now. Nimbus had already found a house and a hill that shouldn''t be there, and both were great places for her to start. 535 - Snake burgular Hera was walking slowly towards the house that Nimbus saw. Before getting there, they were trying to figure out what this challenge could be, but Hera kept going back to the idea of finding or, more likely, stealing an item. The fact that the guides would be against her was also a very strong indicator for the second option. If it were just about discovering where the object was hidden and retrieving it, then there would be no need for someone to be ''against'' her. Adding that to the notification she saw when she stepped out of the fountain, talking about how she had to return there under specific conditions, then it seemed likely that this would require her to grab something and bring it back to the fountain. "There is another thing. If this is supposed to be a game between us and the guides. Shouldn''t they mirror something like an actual game people could play?" Nimbus suggested. "Could be¡­ So if we consider the box as a hint¡­ then maybe a capture-the-flag scenario? We need to grab the item and then come back to our flag, the fountain," Hera suggested. "Oooh, that would be fun. We have to find the thing and then run for it," Daskka wagged her tail. "And we would have an edge if that was the case. As long as we are in an open area, you can just ride on me, and I doubt any of the guides will be able to stop us," Nimbus puffed his chest proudly. "That''s only the case if they don''t set up any ambushes. Let''s try not to get ourselves overconfident," Hera pushed back a bit, even if she agreed with his idea. If the guides were following the rules, there was no way they could catch up to Nimbus, who could move as fast as a car. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the house Nimbus discovered, but Hera was still trying to play it safe. She removed her earrings and told Scythe to scout ahead while the rest of the blades hid in the tree line. The house looked strange. It wasn''t round, nor square, nor rectangular, yet it somehow felt right. There was nothing around it that might make it stand out from the scenery aside from the tower, but that was only true when one would get close to it. If they were far away, the building would stick out like a sore thumb. Their scouting turned out to be successful. There were no guards on the walls or patrolling the grounds, so the group decided to risk it and enter the property. They made sure to stay alert, though, for those guards could suddenly appear behind them without warning. Slowly, Hera approached the house while keeping her blades on high alert. The door was made out of wood against a stone frame, but there were some gaps to allow air to pass by. But to her luck, that wasn''t the only thing that could pass through it. "Daskka, are you ready?" "I am mum!" Daskka gave a small salute before going inside to see if there were any traps or if the door was locked. She turned her entire body into mist and popped inside the house without a worry. ''You could become an excellent thief, my Empress. Also, we should communicate like this to avoid making too much noise,'' Nimbus smiled at Hera. She smirked back at him and nodded, ''Just remember that you''re talking to your Empress, even if I am a thief,'' Hera chuckled. A few seconds later, Daskka came back outside after a small noise was heard coming from the door. "Everything is clear. But I can''t open the door alone," Daskka flew back to Hera''s shoulders. ''Ok. Let''s go, then. Also, don''t speak up, Daskka. You know Peaches and the other guides can hear you when you use the Naga part of you to talk.'' Daskka nodded as Hera turned the knob and slowly went inside the house. Just like the outside, this place was strange. Every single piece of furniture was different from one another, and their placement was simply awful. Right in front of the door, there was an iron stove with a small stone chair in front of it. To the side, there was a bookcase with several small plants and tiny tables, almost like a doll house. Hera was feeling weird in this place, maybe it was because of the number of strange decoration choices, but it was as if her mind couldn''t process everything that was going on here. It was too much information, and she ended up just tuning most of it out. ''Empress?'' Nimbus placed one hand on Hera''s shoulder to help her gather herself. ''Yeah, it''s just... a lot,'' Hera shook her head and looked around until she spotted something that caught her eye. A painting hung next to the window depicted a woman wearing white robes with a golden sash around her waist, holding a scythe in one hand and a sword in the other. But the interesting part was the background. Behind her were some trees, but the trunks were covered in scales and not bark, ''Ok, I''m seeing way too many of those things. It has to be related to the challenge, right?'' ''It seems likely. Maybe we need to find a fish tree? Or a tree fish?'' Nimbus looked around. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ''I don''t think it will be something big. The box we saw was what? This size?'' Daska used her mist to create a shoebox, and Hera nodded, confirming that the size should match the sculpture, ''Yeah. So it shouldn''t be a tree, but maybe a knick-knack.'' ''Also. I don''t think we are in the right place. If we were, the guides should have appeared. I don''t think they will be waiting for us to complete the first part of the challenge to show up,'' Hera started walking towards the hallway. She looked inside every room in the house, and they all had this weird clutter and overbearing feeling to them. That was true for all floors of the house, and neither her [Inspect] nor her [Observe] were giving her any information about these objects. After passing the second floor, Hera headed downstairs, where she found a room she had missed. In the kitchen, there was a sink full of dirty dishes, and below it, there was a thin wooden box. When Hera opened it, she saw some small crystal sculptures resembling trees. She inspected each of them carefully, but despite the uniqueness of each them, none seemed to be the item she looking for. Suddenly Hera stopped and turned to Daskka Nimbus and the rest of her court, who were all searching the kitchen for anything. ''Am I really this stupid?'' ''You are not stupid,'' Armory huffed from the top of her head. ''Why are you saying that?'' Nimbus asked. ''Yarnball. I didn''t even consider asking it,'' Hera replied. ''Yeah, but what would you ask? Where is the item?'' Daskka popped from inside one of the cabinets. ''No. I was just going to confirm what the challenge is. We are going to the assumption that we need to steal something, but what if it isn''t?'' ''It''s a good call. But I think you should use all the mana in your belt and not your own. To be safe,'' Nimbus added. Hera smiled and pulled Yarnball. Pumping all the 20 thousand mana into it and then asking, "What is the objective of this challenge I''m currently doing?" The screen by the side of her relic turned on, and a few words appeared on the screen. ''Find and retrieve the protected item.'' ''Ok then. We weren''t wrong,'' Hera gave her court a bittersweet smile. It was nice to know they were on the right track, but knowing that she essentially wasted her question wasn''t the best feeling. ''So the item is protected? That is not exactly good,'' Frost spoke up while opening one of the cabinets under the sink. ''Yeah. We might need to look somewhere else,'' Core added. ''Ok. Let me just put those things back. I don''t want to end up stepping on them,'' Hera leaned over the wooden box and noticed that the bottom seemed to be a bit off. She tested it out, and it was a couple of centimeters too high, ''Daskka, come over here. Can you try to get under this? I think it''s a fake bottom.'' Daskka quickly moved inside and pushed a layer of wood out of the box, revealing a hidden hatch underneath it. Even better, this hatch was unlocked. Hera pulled it open, revealing some stairs leading down to what should be the basement. Since the sink above this box was very tall, she could go down without a problem, and that''s exactly what she did. ''Weird,'' Scythe mumbled as they moved from the kitchen into the basement. ''What is?'' Nimbus asked. ''There are no traps in the house. None at all. And the only way to access this level is through the secret hatch in the kitchen. You would think that something like this would either have an actual lock or some traps.'' ''Maybe we got lucky,'' Hera finished climbing down the stairs and saw that now she was in a very wide room. It looked very much like a dungeon. No windows, no doors, just a massive room filled with pillars that should be supporting the house. A few torches were spread around, giving some light to Hera, and a corridor filled with burning lights was far on the opposite end of this place. ''Or it would have someone protecting this place,'' Frost said as he came down the hatch. The moment he finished speaking, Hera and all of her court were staring daggers at him, ''What?'' ''Look. You are new here, so let me tell you a rule we have,'' Daskka approached the glaive, ''WE DO NOT RAISE FLAGS!'' ''But... why is that a problem?'' As if to answer his question, a loud rumble was heard, followed by metal dragging through stone echoing in the room. ''That''s why! It never fails. We raise a flag, and it happens,'' Daskka gasped and approached Hera, trying to see if it was a trap or an enemy. Hera triggered her sensory net, trying to cover all the room. From the two corners in front of her, two large figures were approaching. They were humanoid, or at least human-shaped. But as they emerged from the darkness, Hera recognized them. They were the statues that were around the fountain. Looking at one was like staring at a child gleefully playing while the other looked like a beast mad with rage. However, they were not quite like the statues. The happy one seemed to have some fur and a wold head design on the chest. Looking at the pants, she could also see that they seemed to be wearing armor only on one leg, while the other was naked from her upper thigh down, and they had a chained mace on their hand. The angry one had a pair of lizard heads on the shoulders, lightning in the chest, and some fur around the neck and shoulders. The pants seemed a bit puffy, but on top of the helmet was a cap with a straight visor, some sparkles, and the word ''Shine'' written on it in big letters all across the crown. This angry armor was dragging a heavy two-handed sword with one hand, but it stopped and pulled it up while using its other hand to maintain a fighting pose. "When you said I might be able to recognize you, I didn''t expect it to be so obvious, Talpa," Hera turned to the armor with the chained mace, who just nodded in response, "And I never pegged you for the angry type, Nina," the armor with the two-handed sword shrugged while still on its fighting pose. Then gestured to her mouth and shook her head, "So you can''t speak? Ok, I guess asking you to let me pass won''t work either." Both of them nodded and tightened their grip on the weapons. Hera told her court to get ready for a fight and smiled at the two kobolds who were currently controlling the armors, "Ladies, let''s dance!" 536 - Hera VS Guides "Let''s dance!" Hera hoped that her taunt would make the kobold sisters act first. However, they were still very guarded, not making a move. Hera wasn''t used to fighting against people, not really. Her only real experience with all that was the dungeon in the Charring Wastes. Sure, she would practice with Alex, Blue, and Nimbus, but she was used to their fighting styles. This would be different. She thought about triggering one of the rattles from her bracelet, but if other guides were affected by it, they could decide to come to join the battle. After about a minute of intense staring, Hera decided to make the first move, ''Nimbus, you Core, and Ooze will take care of Nina. Talpa''s weapon is more troublesome. I''ll take it with Lurize and Frost. Armory, Scythe, stay in the back and give us support. Daskka, do you mind healing us as we fight? A battle of attrition might be a good play here.'' Before Daskka could reply, Nina dashed forward. Lunging at Hera. However, the Sentinel was ready for that. He blocked the attack with his tonfas and redirected it to the side, making the heavy sword slam against one of the pillars. Seeing an opening, Hera pulled some of the stone from a pillar to block Talpa''s head and dashed forward, already wielding Fang and Claw. Frost and Lurize were right behind her, moving to flank the moving armor. Talpa wasn''t just going to wait for Hera to attack. She jumped back and started spinning her mace, getting ready for a strike. She first saw Frost coming from under the wall that Hera had created, but instead of attacking or blocking the blade, she stepped back even further. The kobold knew about all of Hera''s blades, but this was a new addition. With her change in position, she could now view all the incoming attackers. Hera to her right, Lurize to her left, and the glaive coming from below. Another unexpected factor was the purple mist that was starting to spread. Unsure of what was going to happen, Talpa spun around, making a circle on the ground with her foot before taking another step back out of this circle she had created. When Hera got close, a large plant emerged from the trap, vines lashing out and trying to grab her and the flying weapons. Thanks to the [Acrobatic Movement] training, Hera was able to duck and dodge the attacks while still keeping her momentum. She also asked Core to lob one of his lava attacks at the plant so it would be neutralized. The Empress continued moving towards Talpa, who was about to attack her when she realized the explorer was going past her. Worried that she might be trying to run to the exit, the kobold quickly turned around only to realize that Hera wasn''t aiming for the corridor. She was going towards one of the pillars behind Talpa that now had a few bricks sticking out, almost like a set of stairs. That distracted her enough to allow Frost to come with an upward slash, making a small cut into the back of the armor. Hera also made sure to coat him in a paralyze mana reinforcement, but, for now, it still wasn''t enough to affect the kobold. Talpa glanced back to the glaive, only to see Lurize going straight for her face. She took yet another step back, which only aided Hera, who was now flying through the air and landing with her knees on Talpa''s shoulder. Using a move that Blue taught her, Hera spun to the side, forcing the kobold to move. Following that up, Hera tilted her body backward, trying to use her legs to launch the armor back towards one of the pillars. The maneuver worked well, throwing Talpa off balance and giving Frost time to charge at the enemy while, at the same time, letting Hera do a flip to get back in position. However, Talpa was quick to recover. As soon as he was thrown, she spun around, pulling herself back together and slamming her mace against the glaive, who started spinning with the impact, struggling to regain its balance. That was one of the biggest weaknesses of the Court of Blades. Since they didn''t have someone holding them, when someone parried an attack, it would be much harder for them not to be thrown away. Hera got back on her feet and tried to give a spinning kick to the armored kobold, but Talpa grabbed her leg and pulled her closer for a strike with her mace. Lurize came to intercept the attack as Hera activated her earth elemental armor to protect herself. Thanks to that defensive combo, the mace only grazed Hera''s leg instead of hitting her knee with full strength. As the Empress grunted in pain, Nimbus got a little distracted from his fight. Nina was much faster than he expected while wielding this two-handed sword. He swung his blade down again, only for it to hit nothing. Nina dodged the swing easily by using the pillar she was leaning on as a shield. That''s when Nimbus noticed the glinting metal between her fingers. He told Core and Ooze to force her hand away so he could take a better look at whatever she was carrying. Maybe it would be what they were looking for. But it didn''t take long for him to realize it wasn''t the case. There were metal chains wrapped around the sword, attaching it to the right hand of the armor. This also meant that the kobold couldn''t move as freely as she wanted. Armory started to call out how Nina was moving, and soon, Nimbus, Core, and Ooze delivered a flurry of attacks that seemed to push the armor back. The Sentinel also triggered his Frozen Ash aura to increase the damage he would deal with while protecting himself at the same time. With a mighty swing, Core was able to force the armor to loosen her grip on the sword despite it being stuck with a chain, which allowed Nimbus to come for a stronger blow. Nina dodged the next attack and used the opportunity to jump on top of the pillar and then onto the wall above, jumping from there to the floor below. With that, she managed to get to the other side of the room without Nimbus having any clue where she went. Armory also ended up losing track of the kobold, but before she could do anything, the heavy two-handed sword came crashing down on top of its form. Breaking the tiara apart and sending Armory back to the legacy. A moment later, Nina vanished again and appeared from the shadows, where Nimbus was already preparing for another swing aimed at Talpa. She struck the Sentinel with a powerful punch, only to find out that she couldn''t push him back. Her gauntlet didn''t have the speed she was expecting, courtesy of a slow elemental armor that Hera cast on Nimbus. Talpa noticed that change and started to beatbox while getting closer to Nina, which confused Hera until she noticed the mana around the armors becoming denser. It was to the point where she could see the layer of magic around them taking shape. ''Nimbus, get back!'' Hera called the Sentinel and pulled some rocks from the room to block their path. One of the pieces that she pulled down from the ceiling created a hole in the upper floor, causing some of the furniture to come down along with the stone. She glanced back and saw how now they had swapped places, and the kobold sisters were no longer between her and the passage, ''Everybody to the tunnel! Daskka, hide us,'' Hera told the court and started to create more walls between her and the sisters. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. She made several split layers and tossed a few spells and lights around the room to distract as everyone dashed to the corridor. Hera herself was the last one to go in, and she blocked the passage with a giant stone wall behind her. ''Are you sure this is a good idea?'' Daskka asked. ''We are still under the house. I can make an exit anywhere. Besides, we never found the tower. I''m guessing it has something to do with this place,'' Hera replied as they kept running through the passage. They couldn''t see the end, but everyone hoped it would lead somewhere important. Some noises started to come from behind, probably the kobold sisters trying to break through the wall. Luckily, Hera made it five meters thick, so it would take some time for them to pass. Unfortunately, she failed to notice that the noise was actually morse code and the sisters were calling for help. After about 30 more seconds of running and the continuous noise, a figure appeared in the corridor. It was another armor that seemed to be sad, but it was running towards Hera and gaining speed. Nimbus moved forward with the intention of stopping it, and Hera made low stone walls to slow it down, but the moment the armor touched those obstacles, it broke through them like it was a battering ram. Some of the light from the torches was now illuminating it, allowing Hera to notice the ram horns on its helmet and the fluffy wings on its back. However, it wasn''t the light from the torches but the light created by his armor. The faster he moved, the stronger the glow was. ''Shit! That''s Capri!'' Hera used her stone shape spell to make a groove on the wall so she could hide behind it. It looked like the Cloud Sheep guide was using some sort of charge skill, and she didn''t want to be caught in the middle of it. Nimbus didn''t feel like hiding, but Hera recalled him and most of her court as she hid in this small alcove she created in the walls. Capri passed by like a train and continued at full speed toward the other room. ''Is he going to help Nina and Talpa?'' Daskka asked when Hera started running again. While moving, the Empress also called her court back and kept going at full speed. This tunnel was much longer than she expected, and it was clear that, by now, they would be far from the house. After a few seconds, a loud rumbling came from behind her, and the ground shook. It was likely that Capri had managed to rescue the kobold sisters. The shaking stopped after a few seconds, and the Empress was able to see that the tunnel opened into a large underground courtyard. The sound of multiple feet echoed in the distance, but they weren''t that close yet. As Hera and her court stepped inside this new area, two new armors appeared out of nowhere. One of them didn''t have any decorations like the kobold sisters or Capri, but the armor was light green colored, and looking at it, it was as if the armor was confused. Just like all the others, Hera had no reason to think that. The armor wasn''t behaving differently in any way, but it was how she felt when looking at it. "Hey, Peaches," Hera smiled at the statue, who just nodded in response and took a fighting stance. He was carrying a simple bo staff. To his side, there was a white armor with boxing gloves that should be the one Calina was using since it was the only guide Hera knew that had a passion for boxing. That armor wore a pair of boxer shorts and a champion belt and gave off a feeling of being in pure terror, "Calina. Any chance you two can just let me pass?" In response, both guides attacked. Hera was able to dodge the punch and the staff, and Nimbus intercepted it to stop them from attacking. However, none of them was expecting the spells that came from behind. A bolt of lightning came flying so fast that not even Hera''s blades were able to give her a heads up. It slammed on her back, causing her to move forward and get punched in the face by Calina. Nimbus tried to jump in to protect her, but Peaches was too skilled with his staff. He blocked every attempt to move while still attacking the Sentinel. To make matters even worse, he was using some sort of telekinetic ability to fling rocks at the rest of the blades and keep them at bay. He wasn''t hurting them, but the attacks were strong enough to push the court back. Calina was relentless. She kept attacking without giving Hera a chance to move while more spells came flying from behind. To make matters worse, Capri''s footsteps were getting closer and closer, and the glow from his armor was stronger than before. Hera managed to dodge one of Calina''s punches and swipe her leg to make her fall to the ground. She threw a couple of Bloody Claws toward Peaches, hoping it would give Nimbus a break. Unfortunately, that didn''t faze the guide at all. He shifted his staff to parry the incoming attacks while at the same time hitting the Sentinel''s legs and forcing him to fall back. Without missing a beat, he swung the staff back at Hera, hitting her square in the jaw. Calina jumped on her and started to punch repeatedly, turning her face into a bloody mess. Feeling woozy, Hera just tried to bring the rocks from the ceiling down, hoping that the light from the sun would distract them enough to allow her to recompose herself. Unfortunately, she didn''t consider what was above her and when she broke the courtyard structure, the entire ceiling collapsed, bringing the hill on top of it down. ''Empress!'' Nimbus yelled as he jumped toward Hera, now that Peaches and Calina were distracted. Thinking fast, Hera pulled a few rock slabs from under her to make a bunker. She recalled her court and Daskka, hoping that they wouldn''t get hurt and braced herself from impact. She barely had enough time to get ready when a voice reached her ears. "Damn, kid. I didn''t expect that one." Hera opened her eyes and saw some light coming from beyond the gaps of the bunker she had created. She pushed the stone walls to the side and realized she was back in front of the fountain, and all the pain she was feeling was gone. "What happened?" Hera looked around with a confused expression. "You killed yourself," Calina had her arms crossed and was staring Hera down. "What?" "She''s exaggerating. But it reached the threshold of danger that we felt comfortable with. So we decided to stop," Peaches replied. "So, did I win?" Calina scoffed, "Of course not. You didn''t complete even half of the challenge. And you cheated to get away from me." "She didn''t cheat. She caused a cave-in that would even hurt you, man," Johnny added. Calina clicked her tongue, but Hera just looked to the guides, "Any chance you guys let me win? I''m kind of trying to get out of here." "Unfortunately, no. It''s part of the rules not to pull any punches, even if some of us are a bit too excited," Peaches side-eyed Calina, "But now you have to leave before trying again. That''s how it works. You can rest a bit here if you want, but we can''t give you anything to drink. With a sigh, Hera lay down on the beach. She was tired, and it sucked that she lost. Not to mention, this was really dangerous. Causing a cave-in could end up killing her, and she had no intention of dying here. But it wasn''t all bad; she already had a few new ideas about what to do inside the challenge, and things might go very differently on the next try. 537 - Challenge results Before leaving the challenge, Hera asked if there was any way for the guides to help her finish this. Unfortunately, they couldn''t do anything to help. This was part of the rules of the room, and there was no way to go around it. What they were doing was already to the limit of pulling their punches, even if that expression wasn''t exactly applicable to Calina. The polar bear guide apologized to Hera before she left the challenge. This was the first time she had ever participated in something like this, and the fear coming from her armor was a bit too much for her. When the fight started, she genuinely believed it was a matter of kill or be killed. Her anger at Hera for ''cheating'' also came from that fear; when she understood that, it became much easier to process those feelings. Hera still felt her nose a bit numb since Calina ended up breaking it during their battle. Nothing was broken anymore, but the sensation was still there. Blue, Adriel, and Mylo were already there when she came out of the fountain. Blue was a bit battered, while Mylo and Adriel seemed fine. "Are you ok?" Hera turned to Blue with a worried expression. "Yeah. I''m fine," Blue shrugged, clearly upset about something. Without saying anything, Hera told Daskka to heal Blue up even if she wasn''t going to ask for it. She then turned to Adriel and Mylo next. "How about you two? You don''t look hurt." Adriel gave a small smile, "I''m fine. Did you complete the challenge?" Hera shook her head, "I messed up when I was underground and caused a cave-in by accident. I still think I could survive that, but the challenge kicked me out." Adriel turned to Mylo, "Do you want to pay me now or later?" "It''s still not over. The bet was that half of them would win. We still have four inside," Mylo crossed his arms. "Are you guys betting on who is going to complete the challenge?" Hera asked. "Yep. Mylo believes that half of you will complete it on the first try. I said you wouldn''t. We both managed to win the challenge, by the way," Adriel nodded. "Really? What was the item then? I didn''t get that far," Hera asked. "I found a fish tree. He got a tree fish," Mylo replied. Hera blinked slowly at him before saying, "I''m going to need a little more than that." "I had to find a fish made out of wood, and the person didn''t change the texture of the bark, letting it look like a treant fish, so a tree fish" Adriel replied. "I found a tree made out of glass, but it had scales in the place of the bark. So a fish tree," Mylo shrugged. "Ok. I think I understand what you meant. But where did you find that? I went to the house, then the tunnel, but I never saw the tower," Hera was still looking at Blue, but the controller didn''t seem ready to talk. "So, it''s a bit weird. I found it inside the tower. But to get there, I had to go to the hill where the doorway should be located and go inside a tunnel leading me away from the house, only to step in a teleporter and then show up there. I tried walking through the front door or going to one of the windows, but I couldn''t break them, no matter how much I tried. Mylo, on the other hand," Adriel looked back at the fighter. "The door to the house was in the tower for me. Then I got to the living room and got teleported to the top of the hill. The four armors were there, and I had to fight them to get my item, then I ran back to the fountain," Mylo explained. "So you both managed to complete it? Did you get anything? A reward or something?" Hera petted Daskka, who came back to her neck after healing Blue. "We did, but it wasn''t anything that exciting, not for most, at least. I got a lure that will make fish more likely to be caught, " Adriel pulled the lure from his pocket. It was just a tiny crystal fish. Hera then turned to Mylo, and he pulled a small bracelet made out of tiny sea shells, "This makes me swim faster, and if I use an illusion when I''m in the water, it looks more natural." "I see. Like it''s nothing that amazing, but since the challenge wasn''t supposed to be that dangerous, it is a nice perk," Hera nodded. "I thought the same thing. It''s just a shame we can''t get money there. It would be a perfect place for training otherwise," as Adriel finished speaking, there was a large splash of water in the fountain, and Alex was there on her knees, coughing like crazy. "Alex!" Hera and Adriel called at the same time and rushed over to her, but they couldn''t go inside the fountain without risking getting sent into the challenge again. "Nimbus! Don''t touch the water and get her out," Hera called Nimbus, who swiftly flew over and pulled Alex out of the challenge''s entrance. They checked on her, but she didn''t seem that injured. She was just coughing a lot. Still, Hera told Daskka to heal her just to be safe. It didn''t have much result, but everyone felt a bit less worried as the snake started to cast her spells. About two minutes went by before Alex was finally able to speak. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Thanks. I''m ok." "What happened?" "I got hit on the stomach. With a war hammer. From a statue that was spinning around," seeing everyone''s expression, Alex tried to smile, "It wasn''t that bad. It just took all the air out of me," she touched her stomach and moved as if it was in pain. "We are healing you. Tell us what happened," Hera suggested. "Oh, right. Sorry. I went to the house to find something about this challenge. I figured that it shouldn''t be too hard since there was nothing in the way," Alex paused to cough again, "I ended up picking the lock and then going to the basement. In there, I fought against that armor," she pointed at the angry statue, "I killed it by going for the gaps in the armor. Then I heard some noise and started following it. When I arrived at the next open area, the happy one was spinning around with the hammer. I tried to sneak by it, but it noticed me, and well..." "You got hit," Nimbus said. "Yes." "Did you get any loot?" Mylo asked. "Not really. I thought about getting some of the small baubles in the house, but I gave up later. I had no idea if they would mess with the challenge." "Crap," Mylo huffed and turned to Adriel to settle their bet. "We''ll do it later," Adriel replied and turned back to Alex to ensure she was okay. "How about you guys?" Alex asked. "I lost. They won," Hera pointed at Adriel and Mylo and then turned to Blue. "I lost too. Ok? I was stupid and thought I could take the four armors at the same time, and they beat the crap out of me." "Just be glad it was just four," Mylo added. "You fought more than four?" Hera looked at the fighter. "Four types. Six armors in total." "I got five. Same thing about the typing, though," Hera quickly replied. The guides had told her not to talk about the differences in their armor since, for everyone else, there would only be four types of enemies around. During the next hour, the rest of the party appeared in the fountain. Bonnie wasn''t in that bad of a shape, but she had a couple of bruises around her arms. Shane was mostly ok, and she managed to find the item, but the armors caught up to her as she was heading back to the fountain. The last one to come out was Helena. Despite the mage being currently lower level than Hera. She managed to retrieve the item thanks to her dark spells that allowed her to sneak by the armors. Her reward was a hair tie that would give her the feeling of being under the shade even when she was under the sun. That would only work in tropical areas, but it still helped. Another effect was that it would reduce the damage caused by seawater in the hair of anyone who wore it. After explaining what the reward was, Helena added, "And this feels a bit racist, not gonna lie." "I mean.. yeah, but at the same time, it is helpful. And if the system is considering what we need for this place, it makes sense," Bonnie replied. "Hey! My hair is not that bad!" Helena pouted. "Yet. C''mon Lena. I know better than anyone here what seawater does to our hair. If you are going to complain about that reward, I''ll gladly take it out of your hands," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Ok... can I ask one thing now?" Blue interrupted and got the go-ahead from the group, "What do we have to do in that challenge? I don''t get it." "But... didn''t you fight against the armors?" Hera asked. "Yeah. I just looked for something to punch. I figured that should be part of it. I heard you mentioning items and taking them to the entrance, but I still don''t get it." "Ok. So there, we need to find one specific item and then bring it to the fountain. From what I can tell, it will be the only item that your Observe or Inspect will actually do something with. If you use it on any other item inside there, nothing will happen. Another thing we can use to know if we are on the right track is the armors. They protect the item, so you need to be on the lookout for that. It''s also inside a box, like the one that we saw in the statue back in the campsite," Adriel explained. While that was going on, Hera sent a text to Shane, ''How many variations of statues did you find in there?'' Shane glanced at Hera and then smiled before replying, ''13. Not everyone could come, apparently.'' Hera smiled back, and they knew they had something to talk about in the future when they were in a private location. Before letting everyone try again, they wanted to confirm one thing. Everyone walked back to the doorway to check if they needed to pass the challenges individually or if it was a case of one person completing them. To no one''s surprise, it was an individual situation. Mylo, Adriel, and Helena could see the message telling them they had 1 out of 7 challenges completed while for everyone else, it still said 0 out of 7. Everyone talked for a bit longer, and they eventually came to the agreement to rest for the day. Bonnie, Blue, and Alex were somewhat bruised, and taking a break before going for the next challenge would help. Not to mention that the sun was already starting to come down, and no one was too excited about the idea of exploring the room at night. Even if they should be safe here, moving with only the light of the moon in the sky was somewhat unnerving. The good part was that the campsite was still there, so they could have dinner in the moonlight. All the while, they were discussing their strategies for the challenge and what they could try in their next attempt. Knowing what to do and having a plan would make things a lot easier and, in the end, would allow them to attempt a few times during the day if needed. At some point before their meal, Shane and Hera walked to the side and activated a soundproof bubble to talk about the guides who were inside the challenge. They made sure not to mention the names or the details of any they weren''t 100% sure the other already knew about. During the conversation, they realized that, despite being safer, the challenge was also harder for them. Everyone else had to worry about only 4 variations of the same monsters, while they would face a dozen different possible versions, and the experience others had wouldn''t apply to them. Not to mention, the guides never said they couldn''t change their setup between challenges. And, unlike the statues, they were smarter and more able to react to unexpected situations, such as Hera blocking the kobold sisters in the room while running away. Later, everyone went to their private rooms. Hera ended up sharing one with Helena, Bonnie, and Blue, while the rest stayed in pairs. To their luck, they could even watch some television, even if the quality wouldn''t be that good. Eventually, they decided to sleep, and Hera was just staring at the ceiling of her private room while thinking about the day. This place was amazing, but she was feeling conflicted. Part of her loved everything about this room and hoped to be here for a long time. While the other part just hoped they would finish this and go back soon. Staying locked in a place didn''t sit well with her. After some time, her tiredness overcame her worry, and Hera drifted to dreamland, excited for a new attempt to beat the challenge in the morning. 538 - The tower roundtable Hera stepped out of the fountain again. They talked a lot about what kind of strategy they could employ while fighting against the armors. Shane and Hera also had a different conversation about the guides they both knew and met during the challenge. Those were Peaches, Capri, Kelpi, Celina, and the kobold sisters. It was a shame they couldn''t help the others all that much, and all the ideas put forward by everyone else when it came to combat wouldn''t work for Hera and Shane since their enemies would be different. Still, it was interesting to know how the challenge worked for everyone else. From what she gathered, the armors could wield several weapons, but each had some unique abilities. They seemed to vary between challenges, but inside it, there would be only four variations when it came to the skills the armors would show. It didn''t take long for them to realize the trick to it. The feelings each of the enemies would give off were related to their skills. So if one of the armors looked like it was afraid and could use fire spells, all the ones who looked afraid would use the same fire spells. Still, they talked a lot about how to circumvent the fighting altogether. Bonnie wasn''t exactly someone who could fight very well, and fighting against those statues alone scared her. In every one of the challenges, except for Blues, the house and the tower attached to it seemed to be important places. Either it would teleport people to where the item was located, or it would be where the item itself was. That was Hera''s first destination. When she arrived inside the challenge area, the guides didn''t come to meet her, but they let their presence known by making a window appear in front of her. It was like a postcard with all the guides smiling and Hera hiding under the makeshift bunker she created when the ceiling of the underground courtyard collapsed. Under it, there was a single handwritten message. ''Waiting to wipe the floor with you again.'' "I really want to smack them," Hera sighed. "Me too. Let''s beat them this time!" Daskka announced. "Calm down. Remember the plan. We won''t be going in for a fight. Our goal is the item," Nimbus tried to pet the snake, but she slapped him away with her tail. "Don''t tell me to calm down. They are toast!" Nimbus scoffed, "And what are you going to do about it? You are the one who does less during fights." "I was keeping you all safe!" Daskka flew towards Nimbus, stopping right in front of his face. "Stop it, both of you!" Hera pulled her two court members apart. "Nimbus, she''s getting hyped. And I asked her to focus on healing," Hera turned to Daskka, "And you need to cool off. They are taunting us exactly to cause that reaction. Let''s not play in their hand." Daskka grumbled, but she backed away from Nimbus. The snake floated around the room, trying to see if there was anyone around. When they confirmed that the coast was clear, the group moved towards the house, but instead of going to the entrance, Hera headed to the tower in the back. Going for a more direct approach, the Empress asked Nimbus to fly around and see if there were any entrances from the outside. He did that while under the effect of a memory elemental armor. That way, if something were to show up, he could try to make them forget where he was. To give him some more breathing room, the rest of the court was going up, making a conga line to extend the distance that he could be from Hera. Because he was a named blade, this was less effective than doing it with the rest of the court, but every little bit could help. He did a quick lap around the tower and couldn''t find any entrances, but the roof was in a cone that would allow Hera to stand on top of it, even if she had to make a small alteration to the structure. ''Are you ready?'' Nimbus asked as he flew down to the ground. ''Yeah. Beam me up!'' ''No one is wearing any red shirts, right?'' Daskka asked, and they all turned to Core, who was the predominantly red court member. ''You will be missed,'' Ooze said. ''Don''t kill me off!'' Core snapped at them. ''Ok, guys. Joking aside. Be ready. We don''t know when we will find more of the guides here,'' Hera chuckled and turned to Nimbus, who picked her up in a princess carry and flew towards the top of the tower. When reaching there, the Empress used a stone shape spell to push a small piece of rock inside the structure to create a ledge where she would be more stable. The next step was to create an entrance to the inside of the tower by using the exact same spell. She hoped to be able to sneak inside it, but it would depend on the entrance she created and if the guides wouldn''t be right under her. Once done with that, Hera got a vision of the place and looked through it. There was nothing suspicious about it. No guides, no statues, just a normal empty room. ''Let''s go,'' Hera whispered, ''Daskka, get ready for anything. Ooze, go in first and let us know if there is anything inside.'' The chakram floated around a little, checking all the sides until they felt sure enough that the area was clear, ''All clear, Hera.'' The Empress jumped down inside the tower, with Nimbus coming right behind her. However, the moment her feet touched the ground, it collapsed. Not in a way that showed the age of the place, but as if it was a trap made to open when someone touched it. Nimbus reacted quickly and grabbed Hera before she fell. On the floor below, six armors were looking up. Two were painfully obvious. Laika was in a full astronaut suit wielding a two-handed axe, and Kelpi was in an old diving suit with a pair of double blades in his hands. They were opposite of each other. Besides Laika, there was one armor with a cowboy hat, leather pants, and a jacket with frills. That should be Jackie, who had a halberd by her side. Next was someone with white armor and two blue lines going through the sides, wielding a katana and a samurai mask. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. It was hard for Hera to tell who that should be, but the color scheme matched with Berthellemy. The last two were further back in the room, and the light didn''t let her see them properly. In the corner of the chamber, there was also a small box on top of a podium. From this distance, she could already use her [Observe] on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cratic Treasure ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the armors were waiting for Hera to come down before attacking, giving her a moment to give orders to her court. ''Daskka, can you make enough mist to cover the entire room? Then stay close to the treasure and wait for my signal. The rest of us will be fighting together. We will be doing what we practiced with the Synchronized Battle and the Battle Dancer skills. Armory, focus on the Attack Pathing. Try to see where they are coming from and tell us.'' ''Yes, Empress!'' everyone replied at once just as Nimbus continued to float towards the ground. "Hey, guys. Any chance you could take it easy on me?" Hera smiled at the guides. They all turned to the two figures hidden in the shadows. One had a spear in one hand, a wooden mask in front of the helmet, and some arm and leg braces made out of grass. It was a very odd tribal look that clashed with the metal armor underneath it. Hera guessed that would be Johnny since that setup matched his room. Behind him, someone was wearing the same armor the four statues were wearing outside the challenge without any alterations. That should be the guide of this room. She couldn''t tell if he was wearing the basic armor because that was what they wanted or because they had to hide from her for now. While looking around, she realized that, looking at the armors. She couldn''t tell what any of them were feeling. "Hang on... why can''t I tell what you are all feeling. Is that another gimmick?" Hera frowned. Laika stepped forward, pointed at Hera, then at her helmet, and made an X with her hands. "I just asked a question. You didn''t have to talk smack because of it," Hera shrugged. The longer she stalled, the longer Daskka would have to create mist in the room. Laika shook her head and started doing some mime. First pointing at her face, then at Kelpi and making an X with her arms. "You and Kelpi? Guides?" Laika shook her head. Hera thought for a moment, "You two... You have suits? Like to live outside.... Close enough? You don''t need to breathe? Oh, ok. Now my face? Air plus my face? What? I don''t get it?" Jackie stepped forward and put her hand on Laika''s shoulder while shaking her head. Laika slumped her shoulders almost as if she had given up on what she was doing altogether. With that, everyone got in a fighting stance, ready to attack. "Ok then. Let''s do this," Hera pulled Fang and Claw from her waist and sent out a few paralyzing bolts at all the guides in the room from all of her blades. The first to respond was Jackie, who nimbly dodged the attack and dashed at Hera, swinging the halberd only to be intercepted by Nimbus'' tonfas and receive a kick in her stomach that pushed her away. From behind her shoulder, Kelpi jumped over Jackie and came down with a spinning attack with both of his daggers. Core and Lurize deflected the attack just enough to change his trajectory and allow Nimbus to step back. Hera wasn''t just waiting around. With the Sentinel at her back, she used the stone shape spell to deform the ground away from the center of the room, forcing everyone to move slower or risk being caught in a bad position. Unfortunately, she wasn''t fast enough to do so without letting Berthellemy get close. He performed an upward slash at the Empress using his katana, only to be met by Frost''s handle. As a follow-up, Hera and Ooze went for a pincer attack, with the Countess activating her slow enchantment on all of her blades. Laika came swinging her two-handed axe in a wide arch. While the weapon was still moving, Armory told Hera to duck and Nimbus to return to his weapon form. That caused Kelpi, who jumped at the Sentinel, to pass by the area he was in and get in the way of Laika''s attack. He managed to evade the axe by a hair, only to be met by Nimbus'' talons as he returned to his humanoid shape and stomped the fish guide. Hoping she could neutralize one of the enemies, Hera made a bunker using her stone shape that was too close to Kelpi''s body to allow him to move around. She glanced to the side, worried about Johnny and the guide of the Seven Islands, who were still in the back, closer to the treasure. However, no one seemed to notice a small black mist trail hiding behind the podium where the box was located. Just as the fight started, Daskka turned to her gas form and let a large amount of black mist around Hera and the others. Right now, she was quietly gathering mana for a large spell. Hera wasn''t sure how long she would last, but she needed to give enough time for Daskka to finish her spell. The Empress stood up, her Sentinel standing by her side, and readied her daggers for the next attack, smiling at Johnny and the new guide with a smug expression. They were too close to Daskka, and when it was time to get out of there, the snake might have some trouble grabbing the box. Her taunt worked with Johnny, but not the new guide, who just stepped in front of the treasure while still holding his sword and shield in front of it. The spearman jumped in the air and came crashing down on top of Hera, only to be blocked by Frost as the Empress put away her daggers to help the glaive withstand the attack. For some reason, Johnny was feeling like one of the big threats in the area. Maybe during each run, one or two of the guides would be stronger than the rest, and the weight of his strike seemed to support that theory. Nimbus came to her rescue, activating his [Frozen Ash] aura around the both of them while also pushing the spearman to the side. Berthellemy came with an overhead swing aiming at Nimbus just as he gave an opening because of his attack. To stop him, Hera let go of Frost and pulled her daggers again, holding the katana above the Sentinel''s head with her weapons in an x shape. ''Mum! I''m Ready!'' ''Close your eyes!'' Hera yelled mentally to her court and cast the strongest floodlight she could muster at the moment. Using around 200 thousand mana for a spell that originally would require just 50 points. None of the guides expected that. Only Peaches and Berthellemy knew about Hera''s floodlight spell, and none of them ever saw her create such a powerful version of it. It wasn''t just the tower, but from the outside, it looked like there was a second sun inside the tower for a brief moment. At the same time, Daskka triggered her spell. It was called hidden mist, and it would create a large area covered in black mist that would help Hera and her party to hide from anyone else. At the same time, she returned to her solid form and pushed the treasure box out of the podium. Before it reached the ground, Ooze was already under and quickly brought the item back to Hera. The guides were swinging wildly, trying to hit Hera or any of her court, but she was in the air being carried by Nimbus, who flew towards the opening in the upper floor just as Ooze and Daskka arrived with the box. When they left the tower, the Sentinel turned into his griffon form so they could reach the fountain as fast as possible. Hera glanced back and saw the guides jumping to the top of the tower after her, but they were too far away to hit her now. "And this is how an explorer does their job! I don''t have to beat any of you. Just get this," Hera shook the treasure box with a smirk. Johnny tossed his spear at her while the rest of the guides jumped to the ground, ready to chase the explorer, who was surprised by the reaction. She half expected them to give up when they realized she had won. ''Go!'' she yelled, and Nimbus started flying at full speed towards the fountain. It didn''t matter how much the guides struggled. Hera won this challenge fair and square, and they wouldn''t be able to catch up with her. Or at least, that was her hope. 539 - Final stretch As Nimbus flew through the sky, the guides kept attacking, trying to bring the griffon down. Only Johnny had a proper ranged attack. Everyone else had minor spells, but since the guides were extremely proficient in the use of magic, giving them any sort of considerable magic would increase the difficulty too much. Because of that, they were limited to the simplest spells they could muster, but even the very basic attacks they were sending were enough to give Hera and Nimbus some trouble. ''Get to the ground. You are faster running than flying,'' Hera was using her court to parry the spells, but if things kept going like that, they would end up being destroyed, and Hera would be in deep trouble. Nimbus did just that, and it became somewhat easier to evade the spells. First because of his speed and second because they all came from the same place. Hera threw a spore cloud behind them as well as a slow field to hinder the movement of the incoming guides. "We need a big distraction," she looked at Johnny, who was still throwing his spear at them. It was a cheat move since he could recall his weapon after each attack. She knew he was far more effective on the ground, so she needed a way to distract them while she made an escape with her mount. The floodlight spell wouldn''t work, and she wasn''t that well-versed in illusion magic to make something weird happen. But one thing she could use was fire. Using the flaming poison rain, she aimed at the forest to the side, hoping to create a fire behind them. She might be overdoing it, but the wood here shouldn''t burn easily. The guide with basic armor stopped and turned to the forest as the flames started to rain down. It spread quickly among the dry grasses and trees there. Soon, a raging fire broke out, threatening to destroy the whole area. Hera wasn''t expecting the flames to spread out so fast, ''Fly!'' she screamed, and Nimbus took off into the air again. Now using the smoke of the burning forest to hide. It didn''t take long for the fountain to get in her sight, and as Nimbus was diving towards it, a staff came flying towards the Sentinel, hitting his head. The strike was enough to knock the Sentinel out. He started falling back towards the ground, still keeping his shape but unable to move around. Not wanting to harm him even more, Hera sent him back and tumbled when landing to reduce the damage she would take in the fall. Now, she could see the fountain, but she could also see Peaches, Capri, Calina, Nina, and Talpa running toward her. She turned to the fountain and bolted while still holding the box in front of her chest. Daskka started to throw balls of mist at the incoming guides. Hera didn''t even know what that spell would do. It was the first time the snake ever used that attack but now wasn''t the time to ask about it. The Empress glanced back and saw the guides gaining ground on her. She realized that the challenges should have enemies up to level 35, and it was very likely that the guides were pulling their punches so far, but when it came to raw attributes, they should be much higher than hers. Not wanting to be caught, she went for a hail mary. Hera triggered her [All In] skill while trying to make the action to be running. Every time she used that skill was to perform a simple and quick action. However, there were two times when she was trying to train the skill when she managed to perform several different motions before activating the cooldown and the debuff. She tried to replicate that effect later but to no avail. Instead of thinking about running, Hera tried to make her action to ''escape.'' That seems to be working. Hera was running much faster than she was before. It wasn''t enough to keep up with the guides, but she got a significant boost. Daskka continued attacking while Hera ran at full speed. She considered using the glide function of her boots, but that might reduce her speed. A few moments passed, and the guides were getting close. In the distance, Daskka even managed to see the ones they fought in the tower coming from the beach, ''Mum! We have more company.'' Hera gritted her teeth and continued running, seeing the fountain getting closer and closer. At the same time, Peaches and Capri were hot on her heels, already reaching out to grab her and just a few centimeters away from touching her. She stepped into the area around the fountain, now just five meters away from her goal, and for a brief moment, a thought came to her mind, ''I did it!'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Hera gasped as she felt her body become sluggish. She could feel someone''s hand in the back of her hair, and in a desperate attempt, she used the stone shape spell below her, trying to push her forward enough to reach the fountain. The sand tried to rise, but it only worked to give her a small cover. As a final option, Hera jumped forward, aiming at the fountain. She saw she wouldn''t make it, but hoping it would be enough, she tossed the box into the water and fell to the ground. Expecting to be attacked, she covered the back of her head with her hands and braced herself. Yet¡­ nothing happened. ''Mum¡­ I think we are ok,'' Daskka said when she finally looked up. "Are we?" Hera asked and turned back. All the guides were there, or at least the armors they were using were there, just standing behind her. The plain one, which should belong to the original guide of the room, walked forward, gave her a small bow, and then snapped their fingers. All the smoke that was in the air and all the fire on the island was gone, and the place was again in pristine condition. The armors started moving again, but instead of attacking, they all started clapping. The simple armor gave Hera another bow and waved as it stepped into a portal leading back to the front of the house while the rest of them started glowing, and the guides who were controlling them came out, almost like they were going out of a mech. Hera glanced back at the fountain, and the box was still there. "Did¡­ did I win?" Hera asked to confirm what was happening. "You did, kid. Gotta say the way you went about it was pretty smart. According to the guide you haven''t met yet, most people would focus on fighting and only then going after the treasure. He even praised you for the fight you had in the tower," Peaches smiled. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Oh yeah. Having Daskka follow up on your flashbang with a dark cloud freaked me out. I honestly thought you had done something with my helmet," Laika nodded as her tail wagged. "If I''m being honest, it was the other way around it. The floodlight spell was a way to distract you guys while Daskka created the mist cloud," Hera scratched her cheek, a bit embarrassed about all that praise. She suddenly felt Nimbus waking up and called the Sentinel out. "Ugh. What happened?" Nimbus asked. "Sorry about that, big guy. We had to stop you," Peaches replied. "Did you have to aim for my temple?" Nimbus rubbed his head. It wasn''t hurting anymore, but he could still remember the feeling. "It was effective, wasn''t it?" Peaches smirked. "I have to say yes, unfortunately." "Either way, congratulations, honey! That was one heck of a show. Oh¡­ the guide in charge of this room is telling me to give you a freebie since you helped him figure one thing out," Jackie smiled as she approached Hera. "A freebie? And what did he figure out?" Hera tilted her head. "He always felt like this forest wasn''t exactly right. He is the one who made the entire challenge, after all. When you set the woods on fire, you made him realize that he forgot to make the trees as wet as they should be. You have to admit. Everything caught on fire pretty darn fast." Jackie explained. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense, and what is the freebie?" Hera asked. "A single question. Think of one that is not too complicated. If the answer is ''he can''t answer it,'' it will still count," Jackie continued, "Oh, and we can''t help you come up with the question. It''s up to you." Hera thought for a moment but didn''t need that much time. She was already thinking about what to ask, and there was one thing she really wanted to know, "If we complete all the challenges and leave the room, then we come back. Do we have to complete them all again before leaving?" It didn''t take long, but the one who replied was Kelpi, not Jackie, "No. If you complete the challenges once, you are free to enter and leave the room as many times as you want. And there is no time restriction. You can come back here in fifty years, and things will remain the same." Hera let out a sigh of relief, "Good. This makes things easier for me to come back here later." "Now, for the fun part. Since we made this challenge more difficult for you, you also get a little bit of a better reward," Nina smiled. "Yep. We saw what you guys were trying to do during the fights. It was close to a dance, and we can tell you are close to getting a skill related to it, but not quite there just yet," Talpa had her arms crossed but was gesticulating a lot while speaking. "That thing you did to make me almost hit Kelpi was great too, and it was something related to a skill that, again, you are not quite there yet. And I think you are missing a key piece to make it work," Laika added. "We can help you with that. We are great at understanding our surroundings," Kelpi walked closer to Laika and put his elbow on her shoulder. Johnny stepped forward and pointed at his head with both hands, "Dude, I can tell you guys are trying to work together, and you are doing great. But you are still too much in your head, man. You need to trust your bodies more," he hugged himself when finishing the sentence. "Or, we can give you an item. But, because of the way the challenge works. It will not be something used for battle," Berthellemy floated closer to Hera. "So I can ask your help to get one of the skills you mentioned or an item?" Hera wanted to be sure of what she agreed to before making her final decision. Peaches looked around, "What do you guys say? Can we do what we just talked about?" Jackie nodded, "I think so, hun. Let''s face it. She was fighting against all of us while being six levels behind. Sure, she wasn''t able to do any damage to anyone, but she also didn''t take that much of a beating. With one exception," she glanced at Calina. "I told her I was sorry, and it wasn''t my fault. The feelings of the armor got in my head. That''s why they even took it out. But I agree. She wasn''t able to do all that against Peaches and me, but when seeing the other fights, it''s clear how far along she is," Calina added. Johnny started nodding, letting his now dreadlocked mane go back and forth, some of the hair hitting his lion nose and making him sneeze. He apologized and continued, "100%, man. They moved together so well, and she even changed weapons on the fly. That wouldn''t work if she wasn''t right there, bro." "The incredible me regrets not being able to meet her face-to-face in battle. Alas, I must agree. From what we saw, it wouldn''t take much, and the alternative wouldn''t feel like a proper reward," Capri nodded with his wings folded in his back. "Could you guys tell me what you are talking about? I''m a bit confused here," Hera looked at the guides. "You see, kid. We noticed those skills, but you are close to getting all of them. Our reward option would be to help you learn one of them, but since you are so close, and there are several of you to teach, we figured we could give you a hand with more than just one," Peaches explained. "Wait. Are you teaching me those skills? All of them?" Hera gasped. "We are teaching you all three, and that''s because you are already very close to getting them for yourself. Those would be Battle Dancer, Attack Pathing, and Synchronized Battle. If I''m being honest, even teaching you all those three, it would still feel like we are giving you the short end of the stick. It wouldn''t take long for you to figure them out yourself," Peaches sighed. "Empress, if I may?" Nimbus asked. "You don''t have to ask permission to talk. You know that," Hera rolled her eyes. "No. I wish to ask for something myself. I''m not sure if it would be possible, but..." "Oh. Sure, go for it," Hera nodded. The last time one of her court members asked for something, Daskka got a big upgrade, and it wasn''t like she wasn''t happy with the current reward. Being taught by the guides sounded like an honor in itself. Nimbus smiled and turned to Peaches, "Would it be possible to teach me how to become Hera''s wings? In a more literal sense than just carrying her around." Peaches turned to Capri, who walked forward and flew around Nimbus a couple of times, "It may be possible. And being the one responsible for your birthplace. You shall have the magnificent me helping you with your next steps. Be warned. The reward wouldn''t be enough to help you create a skill like that, but we might be able to give you a starting point." "Would that be ok," Nimbus turned to Hera. "Of course," Hera smiled at Nimbus, then turned to Peaches and the others, "So. How do we do this?" "We already have a perfect place for this. It should take us only a couple of hours to get all three. Yeah, you are that close, kid. Now, who wants to start?" Peaches turned to the guides. 540 - First challenge complete Hera ended up spending about four hours inside the challenge, and when she left, she had three new skills thanks to the guides'' teachings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Battle Dancer (Rank 1) Allows the user to move through the battlefield as if it was a dance. Your movements during combat will be more natural and less predictable. If the user is listening to some sort of music, the effects of this skill will be increased. Additionally, increases the damage dealt by the attacks that are seen as part of a dance and increases your chance to evade attacks when you are not restrained. Additional damage: + 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attack Pathing (Rank 1) Allows the user to recognize patterns in the attacks of their enemies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Synchronized Battle (Rank 1) When attacking in synch with others, your combat effectiveness will be increased proportionally to the number of people attacking together. Requires multiple users to be in effect. Increased in damage per user: 30% Increased defense per user: 40% Increased mobility per user: 15% If any of the users desynchs, the effects are deactivated, and all currently Synchronized users will receive a debuff. Decrease in damage, defense, and mobility: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Those were amazing skills. Synchronized Battle should be the biggest boost Hera has ever had on a pure number base. Since all of her blades shared that skill, it meant that when her full court was out, they should be getting a 240% increase in their damage, a 320% increase in their defense, and a 120% increase in their mobility. This was a ridiculous buff for everyone, and it would only grow as Hera managed to get more members to her court. From what she knew about the blademasters, they were a group of seven people, and they should all be named blades. When she eventually got to that point, she would almost double this buff, and that was counting that the skill stayed at rank 1. Of course, this would only be true when the skill was active, but since the beginning, Hera never had to worry about bumping into one of her blades by accident. Even without the skill, they were all already working together. As Capri said, Nimbus wasn''t able to learn a complete skill. He spent the two hours talking with Capri and the other guides and trying to understand more about himself. Unlike Hera, who was a human, he was a being of mana. However, unlike Daskka, who was attached to an item and had some constraints, the Sentinel had more freedom. In a way, he was much closer to having the body of a guide than anything else. Because of that, the guides were uniquely equipped to help him understand more about his shape change and how to, eventually, create new forms. Hera and her court spent that time practicing the different skills, while Nimbus was in a more theoretical lesson. Still, everyone felt more than satisfied with the rewards. Peaches even told the Countess not to get used to that type of treatment. They only offered that rewards because she already had between 80 and 90% of the skill in her. All they had to do was give her a nudge for the last 10 to 20%. The remaining 57% was used to help Nimbus. In reality, that wasn''t the only reward she got. Inside the box, there was also a small glass leaf. It was purely ornamental and didn''t have effects like Adriel''s lure or Helena''s hair band. When she left the challenge, almost everyone was waiting for her, and they all looked relieved when she finally came out. "What took you so long?" Blue stepped forward. "Sorry. I was caught by the armors and ended up running around for a while before managing to go back to the house. Then that happened again, and again, and again," Hera slumped to the side, sitting on the ground. More than just the challenge itself, the training was brutal, and her exhaustion wasn''t a lie. "Sorry to hear that. But don''t worry. I''m sure you will manage to complete it next time," Adriel tried to cheer Hera up. "Next time?" Hera smirked and showed the crystal leaf, "Only if I''m doing it for fun." "You managed to beat it?" Helena gasped. Hera nodded, "Yeah. That''s why it took me so long. I think I managed to confuse the armors or run around enough to fill them with sand or something because, after a few hours, they stopped chasing me and just stood there," it was a stretch of a story, but something the guides told her to say. This was a possibility, even if the requirements for something like that to happen were very specific. They weren''t able to tell Hera what those conditions were, but her story would match what could happen. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "And what kind of thing that leaf does?" Mylo asked. "Nothing. It''s just a trinket," Hera passed the leaf to him. "Ah, so you got a dud?" Alex spooked Hera when she spoke. The Countess didn''t notice the assassin who was directly behind her. After gathering herself, Hera replied, "I mean, it''s very pretty. And I wouldn''t call that a dud. Besides, I kind of expected these rewards to be different. There was never a mention of ''first-time rewards'' or something like that." "Now that you mention it¡­ that''s true. I wonder if that''s just because of the challenges or if we will get something when completing all of them," Helena started to think. Hera got up and walked away from the fountain, "Right. And did you beat it, Blue, Alex?" "We sure did," Blue announced proudly, "But the items weren''t that exciting. I got a sand magnet. Just strong enough to remove sand from my clothes, and Alex got a storm alarm." Hera turned to Alex with a puzzled look. The assassin sighed and pulled out a small doll with a big head and a large skirt/cape covering the rest of its body, "This is called a Weather Doll. I think it''s more common in japan, but in essence, If the cloth is white, it will be sunny. When it turns red, it means there is a storm coming. Also, I don''t think this has anything to do with how they use it in japan. I don''t think they had anything to do with storms." "Are you sure? I think there was something like a doll that flipped upside down when it''s going to rain," Helena said. "That does sound familiar, but I don''t know if that is the thing people in Japan use," Alex continued. "We can check it later. By the way, what about Shane and Bonnie? They''ve been there for longer than I have," Hera looked to the fountain. "Bonnie came out three times already. She looked more focused before going in the last time. Shane came out only twice. She takes longer to come out," Adriel explained. "Oh. Ok. I hope it works out for them," Hera continued to stare at the fountain. She suddenly felt that Nimbus wanted to come out and called him to the side, "Everything ok?" "Yeah. I just wanted to continue toying with the idea I had inside, and I can''t just do it while I''m not out," Nimbus explained. "What idea?" Helena turned to the Sentinel. "During the test, while we were running, I couldn''t find an opening to change from my mount form since I was carrying Hera. That made me wonder if there was a way to have other forms. Maybe something that would function as armor or a form that could transition better between the shapes I can appear on. I had the idea of giving her my wings or my legs, and I want to try that to see if it works," Nimbus explained. "I see¡­ If you need someone to talk to about that, I''ll be happy to help. I don''t know how much I could assist you, though," Helena smiled at the Sentinel. "I appreciate the offer, Lena. But I believe that, for now, this is something I have to figure out myself," Nimbus'' answer didn''t surprise Hera. According to him, Capri and the other guides helped him a lot to figure out how to start, and it would take time to look like he came up with a lot of the information that he already knew. The main issue was how careful they had to be when discussing anything related to the guides, and Nimbus knew that. Hera also felt something coming from Daskka. She was sad and let that leak out through her connection. Without speaking, Hera reached out, ''Daskka? Are you ok?'' ''Oh¡­ Yeah. I am. Sorry, mum,'' the herald replied, but her feelings said otherwise. ''What''s wrong? Talk to me,'' Hera pressed. ''It just¡­ it feels, I don''t know. I know I don''t have the right to be upset, but I feel left out. You guys got skills, and Nimbus had that training session, but I didn''t get anything. I know I got the gems from Chika but still.'' Hera listened quietly to Daskka, ''That''s ok. It''s ok to feel like that. I mean, in the end, you ended up not getting anything. I''m sorry about that, and we can see if, in the next challenge, they can give you something special. They said that this wasn''t the only one they would appear on.'' Daskka seemed to feel a bit better, but she was still quiet. It wasn''t the first time she got sad, but it was the first time she felt so strongly about something, and Hera had no idea what to do to help her. Before she could think of something, there was a splash in the fountain, and Bonnie appeared. She was covered in dirt, blood, and water, and it looked like her left shoulder was out of its socket. Bonnie tried to raise one hand that was holding something. "I did i¡­." before finishing the sentence, her eyes rolled back, and she passed out. Nimbus jumped to grab her and flew the researcher out of the fountain while everyone else gathered to perform some first aid. Hera, being someone who trained with Risli for some time, was responsible for putting Bonnie''s arm back in it''s socket and making sure that she wasn''t in any danger. Even with the pain that came with putting a shoulder back in place, the researcher was out for the count, but everything seemed ok aside from superficial wounds and bruises. Hera grabbed Nimbus'' shoulder to get his attention, "Hey. Thanks for your help." Nimbus nodded, "You''re welcome. I didn''t expect her to be in this bad of a shape. Does anyone have any idea what happened?" They all shook their head, "No. But the last time she got inside, she was angry. You know, the type of angry she gets when someone tells her what she can''t do," Alex added. "Right. Let''s wait for Shane. When she comes back, if Bonnie is still passed out, we bring her to my private room," Hera suggested. "I''m not sure that is a good idea. What if she spends a long time sleeping? Wouldn''t she be tossed out the moment you try to leave?" Blue scratched her head. "Ok... yeah... that might happen. So if she doesn''t wake up, we are going to need to camp out here," Hera sighed. They waited for some time until Shane emerged from the fountain. She had a smile on her face, but like Hera, she only got a small trinket, a wooden sculpture of fish bones. Hera had an idea why she got something so simple, but they would have to talk later. They continued around the fountain for another couple of hours. Adriel and Mylo had a fire going and had already made food for everyone. Bonnie was woken up by the smell of grilled fish, and her injuries were much less severe than she remembered. After she got her bearings, she showed everyone what she got from the challenge. It was the best item anyone got from any of the challenges. It was a spyglass that, when someone looked through it, everything would be black. However, if you moved around, it would become clearer if it was pointing to the entrance of one of the challenges. When used in other rooms, it could have the same effect, but only once a week, and it would become clearer if it was pointing to a dungeon. Hera was already thinking about buying that item from Bonnie later, but for now, they were all going to eat and celebrate passing the first of the tests. However, they all knew that this wasn''t the end of it, and after their meal, they would head to the next island. There were still six challenges to go and only six days to complete them all. 541 - Nactilan Island Everyone told Bonnie to rest, but she was adamant against staying behind. Not because she was afraid or something like it, but because she wanted to complete the next challenge. She also had the spyglass now, which meant they would take even less time to locate the entrance of the challenge. Mylo, Adriel, and Helena had one more thing to help with the next step of this trial. They had taken pictures of all the statues around the camp, the ones that would give a message with a hint of each challenge, and added their respective notes to each image. Adding that to the fact that they were already close to the next island, the group headed towards it. There was one more thing that Mylo, Adriel, and Helena managed to find while the rest of the group was running the challenge, and that was the shallow water path leading to the next island. It was a good thing that they wouldn''t have to worry about swimming, but this would be only the second step of their journey in this room. Hera split off from the group and returned to the doorway with Nimbus to send a few texts before meeting everyone up. She ended up arriving before they even reached this new island, the one where Bonnie and Hera saw some buildings in the distance. This new piece of land looked much like the one before, but it had more vegetation and even a small mountain. It should be just about 15 meters tall, but something could be above it. Around it was a dense forest leading to the beach, but to the left, they could see what once should have been a small path. To the right, the island curved to the left, and then it came back, forming a half-moon shape that could be seen from a distance. Another interesting thing was that they were starting to see the side of the God of Water sculpture in the middle of the room. Each angle revealed more intricate designs, showing that every part of the statue was made with extreme care. "You know what?" Bonnie said as they approached the shoreline. "I think I''m going to need this." And she pulled out her spyglass. Everyone just playfully rolled their eyes. After all, she arguably got the best item of the bunch. Or at least, that''s what Hera felt. In reality, aside from Mylo and Alex, everyone was satisfied with their rewards. Adriel loved fishing, Helena always struggled with her hair in humid places, and Blue hated the feeling of sand inside her clothes. Shane also got some help with a skill. More specifically, a skill related to her legacy, but she couldn''t talk much about it without mentioning some of the guides that Hera didn''t know. Bonnie moved the spyglass around and pointed towards the left, "I think the challenge is over there." "Isn''t that the direction where we saw those buildings?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Maybe the buildings have something to do with it," Bonnie nodded. The group sat down on the beach and walked towards the left. As soon as they started walking, the road became visible, leading to a long building that sat on top of an open area. It was much closer to the beach than either Hera or Bonnie expected. They started by moving around the building and seeing if there were any markings or signs that someone had lived there once. Oddly enough, it was quite easy to find it. Behind that long building, someone had made part of a mural. In fact, multiple people seemed to have worked on that piece. The art style varied a lot, but it wasn''t cohesive like the pillar in Spiral. Not to mention, whoever painted this was much less skilled. There were some letters, but none that anyone could understand, even when Hera used her [Observe - Red Sight], which meant that there was no Naga writing anywhere. The painting was very complicated to understand. It could be a hurricane, a monster, or just an aerial view of the islands. All the drawings looked more or less the same, making things even more confusing since there was no way to tell if they were different versions of the same thing or something that should be seen as a whole. When going inside, the building was completely empty. It had no furniture, partitions, rooms, windows, or anything. It was just a giant box of clay with a single entrance. It seemed like the mural was the only clue they had to go on. But the real question was why this particular artwork was here. Was it a test? A message? If it was a message, what did it say? It was unlikely that this would be just a random painting. After a few moments, Bonnie pulled the spyglass again, "It''s not here. We need to go further into the island." "Ok... we can come back to try to understand this later," Helena replied when she finished taking pictures of the paintings. In a way, it was amazing that it survived this long on an island. The saltwater should have removed most of the paint long ago, yet here it was. After a few more minutes of walking, they finally found another structure. Unlike the last one, this building was extremely different. Instead of a simple clay rectangle, it looked like a Japanese temple. It was made entirely of red stone and covered in strange symbols that Hera didn''t recognize. She could tell that this should be one of the buildings she saw in the distance. Previously, there were too many trees in front of it, but she was sure that the colors matched what she had seen the day before. "The entrance to the challenge should be inside here," Bonnie looked at it through the spyglass. "And we didn''t find anything yet... Do you guys want to look around first, or do we take a stab at it?" Hera turned to the rest of the group. "We are already here. And the tips didn''t help all that much. There were a bunch of things about trees that looked like fish, and fish that looked like trees, but that ended up leading nowhere," Shane scratched the back of her head. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "I agree," Blue and the others nodded. Finding some tips about the challenge, whatever it may be, could help, but at the same time, it could end up just making them waste even more time and effort to get nothing in return. They walked around the pagoda and reached what seemed to be the entrance. There was a large staircase leading them to the second floor with a few statues on top of the railing. They were all humanoid but not trying to resemble a person. Instead, it was as if they were statues of stone golems, all of them in the same position. Sitting with their legs crossed, eyes closed, and with the right hand on top of the left hand with the palms up. It was obvious that they were meditating. "Are those things going to attack us?" Bonnie asked as the group walked up the stairs. "I really hope not. There are a lot of them," Alex glanced around. There were about 15 of the golems on each side. "Let''s see what the entrance says. We can decide what to do from there," Adriel suggested. They agreed with that idea and continued walking towards the entrance. The doors were heavy but completely empty, made out of a dark red wood that matched the rest of the structure. When Hera reached out to touch it, everyone saw a notification appear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are attempting the Nactilan Island challenge; Enter this room and speak your answer. If you are correct, doing so will complete the challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You already completed the Cratic Island challenge. You will not receive an item to attempt the Nactilan Island challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked around, but everyone was still there. She wasn''t teleported somewhere else this time, "Is everyone ok?" "Yeah, and the statues are not moving," Alex looked back to the staircase. "What was the Nactilan Island challenge?" Bonnie asked. "Let me see¡­." Helena pulled up her tablet and found the statue in question. It was an inkwell with a feather pen inside it. The label was ''I was stolen after my birth. Speak my truth.'' "That¡­ doesn''t help at all," Hera sighed. "Yeah¡­ Also, why did it mention the other island challenge? If we didn''t beat that one, would we get an item here?" Shane scratched her head with a confused expression. "I guess¡­ Do you think the item is related to this challenge? I mean, there had to be a reason why it was mentioned, right?" Adriel asked. "I think so¡­ but how?" Helena frowned. Mylo stepped inside the room and looked around. There was nothing inside, just like the previous building they found. After a few moments, he looked up and spoke, "You were wronged! That is my answer," he looked down and frowned, "Ok," he said before walking outside. "What happened?" Shane asked with a worried expression. "I got the wrong answer. Can''t try again for one hour." "Oh¡­ that is... Not that bad, at least," Shane smiled, but Mylo just shrugged and continued walking down the stairs. Hera didn''t notice this before, but there was something off about the two of them. "I can try one thing. But if anything happens, could you guys help me? I''m going to be out of mana after this," Hera told the group. "Hera? Are you sure about this?" Nimbus asked. ''Yeah, mum. Can''t you use just half your mana?'' Daskka asked. "I don''t think it will be enough. Honestly, I''m not even sure that all my mana will give us a decent answer," Hera looked up to the rest of the group, "Can I count on you all? I''m just asking to know if you are ok with me doing this now. If not, I can do it later." "Of course, sweetie. We''ll take care of you. I promise," Helena smiled, and the rest nodded in agreement. Hera nodded and pulled Yarnball. She stared at the screen for a moment before putting all her mana inside it and asking, "What is the goal of the challenge of the Nactilan Island?" There was a pause, and then letters appeared on the screen, ''Find the name.'' "The name of what?" Hera gasped in frustration. "Find the name?" Bonnie mumbled, "Maybe the name of the thing we saw in the drawing back there?" "Or would it be the name of this place?" Alex asked. "Maybe of whatever these statues were supposed to be?" Blue was looking at one of those meditating golems, trying to see if there were any clues on it. "Well... Worst case scenario, I can ask it again in two hours. Or I can try that thing I can do, but it feels a bit of a waste to do it for this," Hera sighed. "We can also look around the island while we think about what this means," Adriel suggested and pointed to the mountain, "If it were me, I would set some good hints in the hardest place to reach." "So you want Nimbus and me to go up there and check it out?" Hera asked. "Well... Not necessarily you. But Nimbus, yeah," Adriel nodded. "I''m afraid I cannot go without Hera," Nimbus replied. "Why is that?" "It''s part of the restriction of the legacy. He can''t go beyond a certain distance from me," Hera explained. "Oh... I see... Honestly, that makes me feel a bit better. I thought you could move around freely as long as both of you were in the same room. That would make Hera a literal walking army," Adriel turned to Nimbus. Nimbus smiled at him but didn''t say anything. He wanted to tell him about the Blademasters, who were an entire mercenary crew, but he also didn''t know how much Hera was willing to tell about her legacy. "Who knows, maybe in the future, that will change," Hera said as she walked down the staircase, "But I do agree with that idea. I''ll go with Nimbus to check the mountain, and everyone can see if they find something. If anything happens, let us know." No one objected, and after a break to let Hera recover some mana, the Empress was once again being carried by her Sentinel, flying through the air in search of a clue on how to beat this challenge. 542 - The secret in the cave Nimbus carried Hera to the top of the mountain. It took a while since they weren''t rushing. At the same time, she had her entire court out, looking around the area to see if they could find anything that could help, but they got nothing so far. "Nimbus, I''m not saying this as a complaint. But when you manage to make that new shape to give me your wings, I''m going to miss you carrying me like this," Hera smiled at the Sentinel. "You mean if I managed to do that," Nimbus smiled, but his eyes were still aimed at the sky. "No, I mean when. I''m 100% sure you will be able to do that," Hera replied while looking over the island, trying to see if there was something that could catch her eye. Hearing that, Nimbus stopped moving and just kept hovering around the same area for a while, "Why do you trust me so much?" he finally asked, "Where does that faith come from? I don''t remember ever doing anything that would warrant this kind of belief. In all honesty, I feel like I''ve been a very mediocre Sentinel. The last dungeons we went to would have been just the same without me or with me as a weapon. It''s the same for the challenge we just beat. So why do you trust me so much, Empress?" "Why shouldn''t I? I''ve seen how much you care about me, and I don''t think it''s just because you are one of my blades. I''m not saying the rest doesn''t care about me, but you always go the extra mile. Even when I tell everyone to take a break, read or watch TV, you are always thinking about me and what you can do to help me. I mean, c''mon, Nimbus, you are even learning how to cook. How can I not trust you after all of this?" Hera shrugged and continued looking around the island. To her, this wasn''t exactly an important conversation. After all, Nimbus could tell how much she trusted him even without it being put into words. "But I have not proven myself to you in battle, Empress. I aid you, but I was never able to protect you from certain death or take a blow that would harm you greatly. Why do you believe in me like this?" Nimbus pressed. Hera frowned and stared at the Sentinel, who was carrying her in his arms, "What are you talking about? You helped the Royal Explorers, saving pretty much everyone at one point or another. You blocked the attacks from the guides in the last challenge, and you always help me. Why wouldn''t I believe in you?" Nimbus started going up to the top of the mountain again, "I''m trying to do something that no one has ever done before. I even asked Daskka, and she doesn''t know of any skills that would allow me to give you part of my body, Empress. I''m trying to go against what the legacy is supposed to be." "So? I found Boothudurn and was the first who managed to open it. I was the first who encounter Chika and Darni''s dungeon. I was the first who completed the legacy test and got you all. If even I can be the first to make those things, why wouldn''t you be able to do something similar?" Hera asked. "Everything you mentioned were your own hard-earned accomplishments. Don''t take them lightly," Nimbus finally arrived at the top of the mountain. Hera got off Nimbus'' hands, "I''m not. But I''m saying you are part of me, so those accomplishments are also yours. If we manage to do all that, you can, absolutely, make something new for the legacy," she was walking around, trying to find something that could help, but the place seemed empty. The mountain was flat at the top, not in a way that it looked like it was cut, but a more natural formation where it never managed to form a peak. "You are the one who did all that, not me." "No, we did all that. Don''t tell me you forgot all the times I called you when you were still a mount. If that''s the case, I''ll have to agree with Daskka. She''s been with me for longer," Hera looked at Nimbus with a teasing smile. "NO! I do remember. It''s just¡­ different. Most of what I remember about those times feel more like a dream," Nimbus sighed, "But what if I don''t figure out a way?" Hera frowned, "What is the problem with that? I mean, it''s one thing if you just give up because it''s hard, but if, in the end, you can''t find a way to make that work, then that''s it. You will have learned something along the way, and it was something you wanted to do, so everything is ok even if it doesn''t work," she walked over the south ledge and looked down, trying to see if there was a path or something. ''Hera, over here,'' Ooze called as the blade noticed a cave by the side of the mountain. The Empress started walking in that direction when Nimbus continued, "So you won''t be disappointed in me if I fail?" That line made Hera stop and look back with a shocked expression, "Nimbus¡­ I would never be disappointed in you. I may be upset. I may get sad or angry about something you did," Hera walked closer to the Sentinel and placed her hand on his cheek, "But I will never be disappointed in you. Never." Nimbus smiled and leaned into Hera''s hand, "Thank you, my Empress." "Again, you don''t have to call me that," Hera smiled, "Also, what is up with you and Daskka making me feel like a mother? You are supposed to be my partners, not my children." "I think it''s karma, mum," Daskka replied from Hera''s neck. "That''s more like irony of fate and not karma," Hera rolled her eyes. Daskka chuckled, and they headed toward Ooze, who was still floating above the area where he found the cave. Looking down, Hera couldn''t see the entrance, but she could see a ledge, and she knew her court wouldn''t lie to her. Turning back to Nimbus, she asked, "Do you mind taking me there? It''s safer and more comfortable than climbing down." "Of course," Nimbus smiled and carried her down. Just in front of the ledge was a cave, the type of cave one would see in stories about hidden places in the mountain. Even if it looked right, Hera was positive that this shouldn''t be a natural formation. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. She called all of her court, and sent them out in front while asking Scythe and Armory to watch her back. They walked for about 10 minutes, heading deeper and deeper into the cavern. At that point, Hera had already created a few dancing lights around them to help everyone to see. It didn''t take long for her to start to notice something else, small particles that seemed to be floating around the area, moving deeper into the cave. As they entered the deepest part of the cave, Hera saw that the particles were actually specks of mana that would be flying around a carving in the wall. It depicted one of the same stone golems she saw at the pagoda''s entrance and in the exact same position. The only difference was that the hands were not empty. Instead, it had a box on top of it. A box that somehow looked familiar, but she couldn''t wrap her head around where she had seen it. All those particles were pulled towards the box and then spun around as if entering a vortex. Thinking back to the vortex outside the rectangular building, Hera looked around and focused on the particles. She waved her hand around, touching the small specks of light, and closed her eyes. They were hitting not just the body but also her blades, and the feeling was bizarre but familiar at the same time. When a larger group of particles washed over her hand, covering it in warm rain, she realized where she had felt this before. She felt it every time she crossed a doorway, but instead of warm water flooding the area, it was this small shower of energy. She could also feel a small thread connecting all of her court together, not by herself, but she felt the particles hitting that connection. However, thread might not be the right way to describe it. It was more like a web, woven by a spider, that linked each of her blades in a way she had never seen before. Focusing on Nimbus, the web was even more complex, it started off as a single thread, and then it spread, covering the entire Sentinel. Hera opened her eyes and looked around the area, blinking rapidly. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a small opening in the wall and looked inside it. Unfortunately, it wasn''t large enough for her to go through it, and this is where the particles seemed to be coming from. There was too much going on, and Hera decided to take a step back. First, she stopped and tried to focus on that web-like link between her and her court, "I''m going to try something. If anyone feels anything, let me know." Her blades agreed and gave her some space. Slowly, Hera reached out to that connection between her and Ooze, but she couldn''t physically grasp it. The connection itself was also stronger than it was with others. There were more strands of web linking her with the chakram. Trying again, she focused her mana on her fingers. At first, nothing happened, but after increasing the density of mana, she could touch the web. By doing so, she was able to understand Ooze more. The chakram was worried it would do something it shouldn''t because of the difference between attributes. Hera made a mental note to calm him down and say that even if that did happen, she wouldn''t be mad. It would''t be his fault. Just as she was thinking about that, Ooze seemed to relax and understand her feelings, which was a surprise. As far as she was aware, she had to speak or at least intentionally connect with one of her blades to say anything to them. Yet, now that she was touching this web-like structure, that necessity seemed to vanish. She could also, somehow, know all the skills her blade had without looking at their status window. Not that she had any issues remembering what each of them did, but this felt clearer. "Daskka. Can you see or feel what I''m touching?" Hera asked and sent her feelings through their connection. Daskka thought for a moment, "I.. think this is what connects you to your court. It''s not exactly made out of mana, but it is magic, just a type of magic that is different from what you normally use." "Different, how?" Hera turned to the herald. "I can''t explain it. It''s like... something deeper than just magic. As if magic is a computing language and this is written in binary. It''s more... Primal, in a way. Sorry, that''s the best I can do to explain it." "So... if I learn how to understand this, I could use even stronger magic?" Hera asked. "I don''t think that''s possible. It''s like asking if you can read data like a computer. This type of magic is beyond you, or me, or anyone really." "Even the guides?" Hera turned to Daskka. "I think so. Or maybe, this is how they used magic. But I really don''t think they would teach you how to use this. Looking at this makes me feel like we are looking at the raw laws of the world," Daskka stared at an empty space where the connection between Hera and Ooze was located. Hera nodded. She could tell that this wasn''t something she should mess with. Her idea was never to learn how to change it but to understand this force. If she could do that, maybe she could improve how the legacy worked. But before trying, she wanted everyone''s opinion, "Guys. I don''t want to change this, whatever it is. I think it''s the basics of the legacy, but I wanted to know if I can use this to make us stronger. What do you guys think about it?" There was silence while everyone considered what she was asking until finally, Lurize was the one who spoke up first. "A legacy is created when someone goes beyond the world''s natural laws. Another way to look at it would be to see the legacy as a new natural law. Using it to make us stronger should still be part of the newly created law." "As long as you are not forcing it to change," Ooze added. "Did you feel something strange while I was trying things?" Hera turned to the chakram. "Strange, yes, but nothing that made me feel bad in any way." "That might be a good cut point. You can test things while we are still comfortable," Armory shook on top of Hera''s head. "That is a given. I''m not doing anything you guys don''t want me to do." "But if you''re doing this, you should still be careful," Scythe floated out of Hera''s eras. "And should explain to us what you are trying to do as well. Maybe we can tell if something would cross a line or not," Frost floated around Hera. "Yeah, I think if something were to happen, we would feel it first, so... Can you stop?" Core stared at Frost, who was doing laps around the Empress. "Sorry. I just can''t sit still for some reason." "Ok, then just move in the back, don''t keep getting in the way," Core huffed. Frost stopped going in front of Hera and the others but continued moving around in the back. "As I was saying. Since we would feel what you are trying to do first, maybe we would have a sixth sense for what could harm us," Core finished his thought. "I think, Daskka and I can also work as spotters. While you focus on whatever you are doing, we can ensure the thread is not behaving erratically," Nimbus walked closer to Hera. Thanks to his own mana and the current location, he could also sense the connection in a way, but it was very faint. "That''s true! I can''t see it, but I can sense things through you, mum," Daskka nodded with an excited expression. "So everyone agrees we should, at least, try it out?" Hera looked around and got a yes from all of her court. Closing her eyes again, she touched the connection between herself and Ooze one more time, "I''m going to start then." 543 - The bottom of the well "Wait, wait, wait!" Ooze gasped. "What?" Hera opened her eyes. "What are you going to do? We just talked about this!" "Didn''t I say?" Hera glanced to the side, and both Nimbus and Daskka shook their heads, "Oh. My bad. Just for starters, I wanted to see if I can send my mana through that web and then what it does. Then I would add one element to it. Maybe sleep?" "Sleep?" Ooze asked. "Yeah. I figured it was better to use a less aggressive type of mana. If I use fire or something, you might get hurt. Sleep, you would just, well... fall asleep," Hera explained. "Oh¡­ that makes sense. Ok, I''m ready," Ooze shook a bit as if he was pumping himself up. "Are you sure you want to start with him?" Frost turned to Ooze, "Don''t get me wrong, but you and Lurize are the weakest ones among us." "I see your point, but he is also the one that already knows how it feels like when I touch this connection. And aside from Nimbus, he has the strongest link between us. Which I think would be related to the familiarity," Hera explained while letting go of the web. "And you are not doing Nimbus first because he is a named blade," Frost nodded, understanding her reasoning. "Actually, no. Nimbus'' connection is different. It''s much stronger but much bigger and more spread out. It looks very complicated, and I figured it would be better to start with something simple," Hera turned back to Ooze, "Can I start?" The chakram nodded, "Yeah. I''m ready." "Ok, guys, try not to call me unless it''s about this. I don''t know if sudden motions can cause problems," Hera closed her eyes and focused on the connection again. She still couldn''t see it, but since the mana particles were so dense, she could perceive the parts where the mana seemed to be hitting something. She tried sending her mana towards Ooze, but she couldn''t see anything happening, even if she could tell that the mana had reached her blade. With a frown, Hera let the mana go and tried again and again, but to no avail. She couldn''t tell that the mana was passing through that web. The only thing she could tell was that the magic was leaving her body from the same spot she thought the link was connected to her, which meant that she was on the right path. Thinking that maybe, the mana was just blending with the surroundings, she tried sending sleep mana toward Ooze. The only way to do that was to use a sleep mana reinforcement. For a brief moment, Hera could''ve sworn that she saw a small wave moving through the link, but that barely lasted a second. She deactivated the spell and triggered it again. The same thing happened. A pulse crossed the connection between Hera and Ooze, but like the link itself, it wasn''t something she could see. It was just an invisible wave pushing the particles away. Hera tried that one more time, and the result was the same. "Can any of you see what is going on here?" Hera asked without opening her eyes. "I can''t," Nimbus replied in a defeated voice. "Me neither, just the same blip that you are seeing," Daskka thought for a moment, "What if I push my mist against the connection? Do you think it will help?" "I think it''s worth a shot," Hera replied. Daskka made some mist and pushed against the link, but it just passed through as if the web wasn''t even there. "Right¡­ Ok, let''s keep trying. Do you mind Ooze?" Hera turned to her blade. "Not at all. So far, I didn''t feel anything weird, aside from you touching it," Ooze replied. Hera just nodded and continued trying to figure something out. It was strange. Even when she was touching that connection directly, she couldn''t feel the mana passing through. Still, the Empress pressed on for another hour, trying not just with Ooze but with all of her blades, including Nimbus. Daskka was the only one that didn''t have that same link, despite being part of the court. In the end, the frustration got to her, "Nothing works!" Hera gasped and slumped back, laying on the floor of the cave. It wasn''t comfortable with all the bumps and loose rocks, but she didn''t care. "Empress¡­ You can''t expect something like this to be easy. It''s already amazing that you managed to touch it," Nimbus lifted Hera''s head and gave her a lap pillow. There was a pause as she rested her head on top of his tights before the Empress quickly got up, with Nimbus doing the same. "Let''s not do that again," Hera said without looking at him. "I agree¡­ it was¡­." Nimbus looked away, but Frost was the one who finished his sentence. "Weird. Even we felt that." "Yeah, it was like giving a lap dance to my brother," Daskka shivered. "How do you know? None of us have siblings. Technically speaking," Armory scoffed. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "But I still know what it feels like! It''s how Darni felt about Lantra. They were close, but doing something like this would just feel plain wrong," Daskka explained. "Ok, ok, let''s move on. I''m curious about what that hole is," Hera looked at the wall. She could see the particles evading that spot, and she couldn''t tell why, "Daskka, do you think you would fit there?" "I think so. Want me to take a look?" Daskka was already flying towards the hole, but Hera stopped her. "No. I''m going to send the others," Hera shook her bracelet and sent out the 30 snakes inside the hole. She could feel them going through a wall and then going down a large hole. Wanting to understand what was going on, she saw through the eyes of the snake further behind the rest. At first, she couldn''t quite grasp what was in front of her. It was like she was staring directly into a multi-colored light that constantly changed intensity and color. Blinking a few times, Hera let her snake eyes adjust to the light. In front of her, or more precisely, below her, there was a deep pit with some odd sparkling water inside. Sending her snakes down, she kept that one she used to see behind, just to be sure of what would happen. What she saw next, however, took her breath away. The snake that went further down landed in the middle of the sparkling water. At first, it had no effect, but it slowly turned transparent. It didn''t lose its form but became more lifelike. Not that the snakes didn''t feel real before, but now, it was something else. Then, suddenly, the water formed a giant bubble around the snake. The snake itself gained a new form, a giant crystal that was floating above the water. This was followed by an explosion of light, and the snake transformed into a human woman. A woman that looked exactly like Hera. The woman looked up towards the snake at the top of the well. No, it was looking past that snake towards the Empress herself. The woman smiled and waved. Unsure what to do, Hera did the same, only to realize that she still could feel the snake now turned human. She told the other snakes to stop and asked one of them to go back up while changing her point of view to one closer to the woman. She seemed harmless enough. She was just standing there, smiling at Hera. There was no hostility in her face, but she was still watching the Empress as if she knew everything about her. However, there was something off about that smile. Unsure how this being would react, Hera asked, "May I approach?" The woman nodded, and Hera sent one of the snakes closer to her and swapped senses with it. Just as she had seen before, this woman was very similar to her. The same haircut, the same eyes, nose, and mouth. Even the missing part of her ear, everything was there. It was hard to tell if the colors were right since the woman kept shifting like the water below her. Almost as if her body was reflecting the light coming from the well. However, there were some differences as well. Her skin was different. It looked human, but on closer inspection, Hera could see small cracks and divisions as if it was made out of thousands of tiny scales. Those were more visible around the woman''s eyes and behind the neck. Another thing Hera was able to notice was that there was a thin line going from the corner of her lips all the way to the side of her face, almost reaching her ears. "What is going on?" Nimbus asked, but Hera just gestured for him to wait. "Can you hear me?" the Empress asked, receiving a polite nod as a reply, "Can you speak?" the woman shook her head. "Right... Do you live here?" the woman shook her head again. "Where are you from?" the woman pointed directly at the snake that Hera was controlling. "From the snake?" the woman shook her head. "From that direction?" the woman shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she asked the question she was worried about asking, "Are you... me?" The woman shook her head, then stopped and nodded and pointed at one of the snakes while pointing at Hera. "So you are one of the snakes I created?" the woman nodded. "Ok¡­ and what happened for you to get like that?" the woman pointed to the glowing water. Then to her head with both hands before pointing to Hera. She kept repeating that motion as if she was trying to say something. It took a few tries, but eventually, Hera asked the right question, "Do you want me to look through you?" The woman nodded vigorously and then gestured for Hera to wait. She sunk into the water until her body was completely submerged before putting an arm out and giving a thumbs up "Ok, just a moment," Hera turned to Nimbus and explained everything that was going on, "I can still feel her, so I think we are ok, but if anything happens, try to make me snap out of that," she didn''t have to tell Daskka since she was sharing everything with the herald through their connection. "As you say, Hera," Nimbus nodded as the Empress connected to the woman at the bottom of the well. The second she changed her senses, Hera felt the liquid, but it surprised her even more than seeing one of her snakes turning into a woman. What was in the bottom of that pit wasn''t water but mana. Pure, liquid mana. That wasn''t something that was supposed to exist. Mana wasn''t something that could have a physical form. It wasn''t like electricity or air. If one were to classify mana, it would be much more similar to sound waves and not particles. Yet, here it looked as if it was a pure liquid. Not the mana potions that one would drink, not the water created by magic, but the actual essence that made all of that possible. When sensing through the snake-woman, Hera could feel an endless supply of mana around her. It felt like she had enough magic to do whatever she wanted. Create an island, cause a storm, raise an army of constructs, even bringing someone back from the dead seemed like something she could do right now. Her curiosity got the better of her, and the Empress tried to pull some of that mana for a spell. A simple light spell that wouldn''t be a trickle in that massive pool. However, the moment she reached out for the mana, the well reached back. Hera felt something grabbing her own mana and trying to pull it back to the water. She tried to fight it, but suddenly, she felt like her mana was being sucked into a whirlpool leading to an endless abyss. She tried to pull back, but the pull was too strong. Worried that this could cause problems, Hera snapped out of the snake-woman, returning her senses to her body. She took a moment to gather herself and make sure that nothing had happened to her mana. Everything seemed to be fine even if she had lost a few hundred points of mana, but she no longer could feel the snake woman. Going for another snake, Hera swapped her senses again. Just like she expected, her doppelganger was gone. Hera sent another snake there, and just like the first, it changed and became another copy of the Empress herself. After waiting for a few moments to see if anything weird would happen, a splash in the water hit another of the snakes that were close to the mana, and now Hera only could see two versions of herself looking at each other. They smiled and started playing and playing around in the liquid mana. It was extremely weird, but aside from that, everything was fine. Taking a deep breath, she swapped her senses with her one of her new doppelgangers, hoping to find out more about this place. 544 - A touch of mana Hera felt as if she was floating in space. Weightless and unbound by anything. Every part of her body was brimming with energy and power. She could feel the mana inside her swirling quickly. However, it wasn''t like a violent river. It felt like the underwater current that moved the oceans and the world. She pulled some mana for a simple light spell, and the floating luminous sphere that appeared wasn''t simply a shapeless construct. No, in front of her was something solid, almost like a basketball. It had some give, but her spell bounced back. It also had a unique feel to it. It felt more than any spell she ever saw, more than any of her court members, more than buildings or mountains, more than people. From this angle it looked like she somehow managed to create something more real than reality. As she focused on the spell, she felt a pull from the depths. Something massive pulled her down, and her mana started to leak, being devoured by whatever was hidden in the abyss. For a moment, she remembered images of stars being devoured by black holes. How the gas would slowly be pulled by gravity, and suddenly the speed would spike. Not wanting to let herself be swallowed by that, Hera snapped out of the snake she was currently sensing. "Hera!" Daskka gasped as the Empress'' eyes regained their light. "Are you ok?" Nimbus was crouched by her side with a worried expression, and the rest of her court was right behind him. Hera nodded. Her undershirt was soaked in sweat, and even the leather parts of her armor were wet. She was breathing heavily. All the effort she was making to understand what that pool of mana could do took a toll on her body. It wasn''t just mental strain, but she constantly had to fight to keep her mana still while seeing through the snakes. "I''m¡­. fine¡­" the Empress replied between breaths. "I think it''s better if you stop, mum," Daskka was in front of Hera, looking at her from the ground. "No. I''m close to getting something. When I''m there, my spells take a different shape. They are¡­ more. But when I have to pull back, I lose that feeling," Hera sighed. "How many snakes do you have left?" Nimbus asked. "Just one. Well, two but I already saw through one of them," Hera gestured to the hole in the wall. "Don''t you want to take a break? You''ve been doing this for about two hours already. Nimbus even had to go outside to tell everyone you were still alive," Daskka slithered to Hera''s lap. "That''s even more reason for me to keep going. Not to mention that if I stop now, I might lose all progress I made so far," Hera shook her head and pulled out her water bottle, taking a big swig before putting it down on the ground again. After taking a moment to steady her breath, Hera sent the last snake towards the lake. She waited a few moments until the sensation from it changed from that alien feeling of not having arms or legs until it became like another piece of her own mana, a body detached from her own. Hera didn''t want to risk using a spell that could damage things around her, not to make the abyss notice her as a threat. Still, she tried something a bit riskier. Weaving her Sensory Net, she tossed it towards the bottom of the well. Just like the light spell, this magic was different. The net wasn''t just something made out of energy. It looked like metal wire made with several different strings that would spin around each other to become stronger, but it had a blue color as if it was something otherworldly and it was still emanating light. She watched the net that, by the amount of mana she spent, should cover a 1km2 area, go deeper and deeper into the abyss. This wasn''t something she could normally do. Even by using all her mana, that spell would, at most, cover 200 meters or so, not to mention it would be nowhere near as thick, and it would be stationary. This happened because the cost would increase exponentially with the size and strength of the net. If she were to try to copy what she just did, it should cost her well over 100 million mana. She watched the net for a few moments, trying to see if she could find whatever was at the bottom of this well. What was the thing that was eating all her mana and devouring her spells? However, the net suddenly vanished as if a massive mouth had just snapped shut with it inside. At the same time, she felt her mana being pulled away, her energy being sucked to the middle of that black hole and pulled back from the last snake she had available. "Crap!" Hera gasped as she again lost all the feeling of the magic inside the well. "It didn''t work?" Daskka asked. "It did, but not entirely. I lost the feeling again," Hera sighed. "And there are no more snakes?" Nimbus asked. "No. Not any that I could use for this, at least," Hera sighed, "We can come back here later. Maybe bring everyone too, but I''m worried about them trying to reach that well. I don''t think it''s a good idea for any of us to get too close to it," Hera was still tired, but she wasn''t as exhausted as she was before. The reason was that this time she took a break between attempts. Previously, she was going forwards like a crazed woman, going from one snake to the next without stopping. "Empress, if you want, I can go there," Ooze suggested. Hera just turned to the chakram with a confused expression, "Didn''t you hear what I just said? We should be careful when messing with that." "But they are not connected to you the same way we are. Maybe if I go, it will help you figure out what is down there." "And what do you suppose will happen when you get swallowed by the abyss? Do you think I would be able to dismiss you?" Hera was staring daggers at Ooze. "I trust you will. And I''m willing to take that risk," Ooze replied solemnly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "That''s nice. I''m not," Hera got up in a huff and started walking out of the cavern, "The snakes are just mana constructs. You are different." "We are also mana constructs. Even if you don''t actually need to spend mana to summon us," Ooze retorted. "The snakes from the bracelet are expendable! You are not. I''m not risking a single one of you just to try to figure out something. And I don''t ever want to hear you talking about putting yourself in danger for a reason as stupid as this. That is an order," Hera rushed out of the cave and stopped just by the ledge. She turned around and said with an angry expression, "Nimbus, take me down," her voice softened, knowing that she shouldn''t mistreat any of her court members, "Please." Nimbus nodded, and they headed to the pagoda once again. Everyone was already there, and they had all discussed their findings with each other. Only Hera''s discovery was missing. She told them all about the cave, the carvings, the mana particles, and even the well, but she made sure to be very clear about how dangerous it felt and how, every time she tried to do anything in the water, she would feel her snakes being destroyed. While talking, Hera was feeling weird. Everything looked strange, but she just chalked it off as her being used to the chromatic liquid of the well. "Are you sure you are ok, sweetie? I can feel something strange coming from you," Helena approached Hera, but Hera unconsciously took a step back, making the mage stop. "I think so. I didn''t get any notifications," Hera nodded and looked toward Daskka and Nimbus, who also seemed fine. "Is there something different in your status screen? If something happened, it could show up there," Alex asked. Hera shrugged and opened her status window, but her eyes went wide as soon as she saw it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Touched - Title When someone comes in contact with pure mana, their mana will be permanently removed from their bodies. Those are the lucky ones. Others will be completely swallowed by the pure essence of magic. However, in exceedingly rare situations, someone comes along who is able to escape magic''s gravity. Those who do so are forever changed. They become aligned with pure mana itself, allowing them to have a deeper understanding of magic. All magic-related skills and spells are affected by this title. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell is that? Since when does the MAZE give off titles?" Hera gasped. "You got a title?" Helena, Adriel, Mylo, and Shane gasped at the same time. Hera took a step back, "Yeah¡­ Is it that rare?" "Let''s put it this way, between the eight of us, we have three legacies, and I believe you are the only one who has a title," Shane replied. "I mean, that''s really not fair. You and I are part of an organization that chases legacies," Hera rolled her eyes. "True, but the point still stands. Legacies are rare, but titles go even beyond that. No one can create a title by themselves. They have to find something unique, something special that would create the title," Helena explained. "The annoying part is that, for some reason, people who get one title will almost always get another one at some point," Adriel crossed his arms in annoyance. "Really?" Alex perked up. "Yeah. I don''t know if titles attract titles or something, but almost every person I know who has a title has multiple. That''s so freaking annoying. People are so quick to let things go to their heads," the elf continued, and it was clear that he was still salty about something. "But how did you find it? Maybe we can get it too," Blue had a spark in her eye. "That''s not a good idea. Here is what the title says," Hera read the title to everyone. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Titles are bullshit. To get it, you have to do something so stupid that no one should survive, but somehow, you keep going like nothing happened. It''s not like people who got them deserved it," Adriel scoffed. Hera frowned and stared at him. Alex also was feeling annoyed by his reaction and slammed her elbow against his ribs, "Ouch. Why did you do that?" he looked around and noticed everyone''s expressions. Hera almost died just by touching that mana. Sure, it never felt that dangerous, but now that she was aware of what could happen inside the cavern, she was scared of even going there again. All the rest of the group also realized the danger she was in, which was clear on their faces. Realizing why they all looked angry, Adriel quickly apologized, "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean you. I just have some bad memories related to people who got titles." "That still doesn''t give you the right to be a jerk," Alex scoffed. "You are right. Again, I''m sorry, Hera. I''m very happy that you are ok, and you deserve the title." Hera sighed, "That''s fine. I can''t say I don''t know where you are coming from. People getting very big rewards for apparently nothing feels really bad," Hera turned to Blue, "I got upset with someone for getting a legacy, for instance." Blue shrugged, "Yeah, and now you have a leg up on me. It''s my turn to be jealous," she smirked. "Ok, but does anyone know what the title actually does? It only says that ''it affects all magic-related skills and effects,''" Hera asked. "That''s the tricky part of titles. They never say what they actually do. It could be a massive boost to everything or make all of your spells smell like cinnamon or some shit," Adriel explained. "Did anything else change?" Helena asked with a worried expression. "Yeah. My maximum mana jumped to a bit under a million. It was just 600 thousand before." "That''s a lot. It''s almost double," Bonnie gasped, "Where did you say the cave was again?" "Don''t even think about it," Blue slapped the back of the researcher''s head. "Ouch, I was just kidding. I don''t want to die just to try to get something. Besides, I think Hera only survived because she sacrificed the snakes in her place. Like she was never directly touching the mana, only using the mana that the snakes had," Bonnie rubbed her head. "And because the snakes share her mana, the system understood that it was the same as having her touch the mana herself. I mean, it does make sense since they are still connected, even if very loosely," Helena nodded and turned to Hera, "It''s a good thing that you didn''t send any of your court there. I''m pretty sure you would also be swallowed since your connection with them is stronger." Hera just stared at Ooze for a moment before Shane spoke up, "Check your skills. Maybe something changed there." The Empress nodded and opened her status window again. While that was happening, Adriel turned to the group, "By the way, you mentioned three legacies between us. Who is the third? I know of Blue''s and Hera''s." Everyone stepped away while Shane started explaining to him about her legacy. Seeing a moment when Alex was alone, Hera stopped checking her status screen and pulled the assassin to the side. "I noticed your reaction. Do you also have a ti¡­" Before she could finish her sentence, Alex cut her off, "Don''t! Don''t ask me about this. I can''t talk about it. Any response I give could be a problem. Including this one." Understanding that this should be something curse-related, Hera just nodded and looked back at her status screen. Trying to find out if any of her skills had changed. 545 - What is a name After checking all her skills, Hera wasn''t able to find any differences in her skills or spells, with one notable exception. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Recovery (Rank 5) Improves your natural mana recovery. This effect increases as the mastery of the technique used to create the skill increases. The skill increases your passive mana recovery. By activating the skill, you can recover mana at an accelerated pace. However, if the skill concentration is broken, you will be unable to recover mana actively, and your passive regeneration will be cut in half for 30 minutes. The amount recovered by the active effect increases significantly with the mastery of the technique. The user has a natural affinity for mana, that will increase the amount recovered by this skill Passive Recovery: 1 446 mana per second Active Recovery: 2 301 mana per second Mastery: 43% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Her mana regeneration shot up like crazy. Before, it would take her almost an hour to recover all her mana while she was concentrating, but now, that should be closer to twenty minutes. Not to mention that even if she was interrupted, she would no longer stay without mana. She also noticed that if she was using her old technique of cycling her mana, the active regeneration would get closer to twenty-five hundred. It''s been a long time since she tried to advance her mana regeneration and mana sense in general. Now that she had this tile, maybe it was time to chase that again. With that out of the way, Hera started casting a few spells to see if there was anything different. At first glance, everything was the same. Her floating lights were around the air, no different from what she expected. But as time went on, she was able to notice some things. First, it was easier to control the spell. Moving them around was supposed to be like moving a balloon. Sure it wasn''t a lot of work to push it back and forth, but it still took a conscious decision, like putting on socks. But now, it was closer to moving her arms or legs. It was more of a matter of wanting to change their location, and they would move. Another difference was that, instead of it being just a ball of light, the dancing lights looked more solid. It was similar to the basketball of energy she saw through her snakes, but it was far from that more real-than-real appearance. Helena was close by when Hera was casting her spells, and she realized that all the magic coming from the Empress was very different from what she expected. Being a very experienced mage and giving her enough to study, Helena could tell when a spell was using the right type of mana or when it was going through the change of elements during the creation of the magic. Her own shadow spells would have that same reaction when created. Yet, now every single spell that Hera was casting shared that feeling. It was as if it didn''t matter the element. All of her spells would behave as if they were under the effect of the [Synch] mage skill. After hearing that, Hera even tested the cost of her spells, but they didn''t seem to be different from what she was expecting. It could be that her spells were stronger than before, but it wasn''t like she had the tools to test everything right now. While that was happening, Shane talked with Adriel about her legacy. She didn''t want to spread the word, but after her blunder, it was better to come clean since they were still stuck here and had to work together to get back. Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Mylo were to the side, discussing what they could do to pass this test. Some time passed until Helena and Hera decided they couldn''t get any more information about the title and joined the group trying to figure things out. Blue and Alex had found some text on one of the sides of the mountain. When they touched it, a notification appeared with the translation. Oddly enough, it had only a couple of lines, despite the text covering a large piece of the wall. It read. ''That which remained locked may show you the key. You start at the beginning and head towards the sunset.'' Mylo found more buildings with Shane, but there were no pictures or anything anywhere, and all the structures were completely empty. Unfortunately, no one else found anything, but all the indications pointed to the item they got from the other challenge. It had to do something related to what they had to do here. As they discussed that, Hera also realized that the carving of the golem she saw in the cave was carrying the box they saw in the Cratic Island challenge. She pulled the crystal leaf she got from there and assumed the same position the golems had, with the item on top of her hands. Just doing that didn''t seem to be enough. Nothing was happening, even when she tried to focus on the item. She couldn''t feel anything coming from it. "Tell me again, what was going on in that part of the cave," Bonnie asked. "There were a bunch of sparkly particles, almost like fireflies floating around," Hera explained. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Right, and were they doing anything weird when they passed closer to the engraving?" "I¡­ don''t remember," Hera focused too much on the well she found, and everything about the engraving itself was more or less a blur. And now that everyone knew how risky going there was, she was hesitating to go there again. Even if she overcame the pull of the pure mana and got a title, she had no guarantees that she could survive another encounter. "I do," Nimbus stepped up, "Right around the box, the particles were spinning around, almost as if they were in a whirlpool or a vortex of some kind." "A whirlpool?" Bonnie stopped to think for a moment, "Would you say it''s similar to that painting we found by the side of the building?" Nimbus looked at her, "Now that you mention it. It could be. I mean, it still doesn''t feel right. What we saw in the cave was brighter and somewhat peaceful. Those paintings seemed to be something dark and violent." "So, what if we try to replicate that? Maybe using some sort of spell to make a small hurricane or just gathering something with the item in the middle," Bonnie suggested. "Oh, that''s easy," Blue smiled and sat down in the same position as the golems beside Hera. Soon she started to create a small hurricane using her legacy with the sand magnet that she got from the challenge right in the eye of the storm. Seeing that, Hera decided to try something similar. But instead of using a spell, she would just try to move the mana around her crystal flower to go inside it. It wouldn''t be the first time she tried to control mana like that, but without using an actual spell, it had never worked before. Closing her eyes and focusing, the Empress tried to expand her senses and feel the surrounding mana, just like she did when seeing through her snakes in the well. In there, it was easy to do that. There was such an overwhelming amount of mana that she could feel it in the hairs in her arms. Here, things were different. When she started to focus, looking for mana, she was saddened. Not because she wasn''t able to feel anything but because she felt so little that it was like looking at a wasteland after just coming out of a lush jungle. Each speck of magic in the air was so small and so far away from each other, and they seemed so lonely. She steeled her heart and tried to expand her perception by using a mix of her pulse spell and her improved sense of magic. The moment her magic hit Blue, she saw a large amount of mana moving in front of her, and it was increasing. However, the odd part was that all that power wasn''t from Blue herself or the environment. It was coming from somewhere else. The sparks of mana were appearing out of nowhere and joining what was being created by her legacy. She could also faintly sense the rest of the group around her. Or, at least, it was faint now that the signal she got with her pulse was already vanishing. Trying again, she did the same thing, focusing on the people around her. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked to the side. Not because she managed to see something from her friend but because her pulse was able to catch the connection she had with her court. Closing her eyes once again, Hera reached out and touched the link between her and Ooze. She didn''t use any mana, she just placed her fingers in the web-like structure, and the chakram responded. This time, both Hera and her blade felt more at ease. It wasn''t uncomfortable or weird; it felt natural to them. Letting go, Hera decided to pout this part of her discovery aside. She already got a lot for herself, and everyone was expecting her to try to help with the challenge. Focusing again on the crystal leaf in her hands, she tried to pull the mana towards it. Little by little, Hera managed to pull the small specks of magic in the area towards it. Oddly enough, the more she pulled, the more mana would appear. Almost as if they were hiding and only coming out after being called. However, it wasn''t like the magic that Blue was using. This felt more natural, while the mana being pulled by the legacy felt like it was being brought from somewhere else. She noticed some parts of the flower had small openings where the mana could gather and enter the crystal. Almost as if they were veins or tubes. Changing her method, Hera started to put even her own mana inside the crystal. Now, the flow of mana became faster, and since the Empress was pulling the mana in a non-violent way, the crystal leaf wasn''t harmed. It simply absorbed the energy and grew larger. Once she felt she had gathered enough mana to fill up the entire crystal, Hera opened her eyes. She could now see swirling energy inside the leaf on her hands. That mana seemed to be forming letters, but not only were they alien and unknown, but they also changed constantly. Yet... Hera somehow understood it, not like she could read it, but the word that it was trying to form jumped into her mind. "Xey''lyon," Hera said out loud. Everyone turned to her, and Bonnie asked, "What?" "I don''t know. I was trying to put mana inside the leaf, and now it''s like this," Hera showed the crystal leaf to the group. They could all see the energy inside it, but no one was able to understand the words. "Ok... but how did you come up with that word?" Shane asked. "I don''t know for sure. I was looking at it, and it just appeared in my head." "How can you be sure that is the name?" Mylo asked. "I don''t. It just felt right." "Can I?" Helena reached out to the crystal leaf. Hera flinched when seeing Helena''s hand suddenly appeared in front of her, but she nodded and gave the mage the crystal flower. While she continued to explain what she did with the item. She tried to help everyone do the same, but Helena came back a few minutes later, "Say. When you say ''Xey''lyon,'' Do you mean it starts with X, E, Y?" Hera looked at her and thought for a moment, "Yeah. I think I do. Why?" "Ok, I figured it out. These words that keep changing will cycle through different languages. Eventually, they will reach something we can understand. I stared at it for a while and saw the first three letters," Helena explained. "Really?" Alex asked. "Yeah. I think that everyone can find the names of their items if we do it like that," Helena nodded. "Ok then, let''s keep going. Like this. Hera, do you want to go to the pagoda and see if this is it?" Shane turned to the Empress. "Sure. I''ll be right back then," Hera smiled and walked off towards the pagoda where they were supposed to speak a name. If everything went well, they would be one step closer to getting out of this room. 546 - The second challenge Hera was walking up the stairs leading inside the pagoda. She paid close attention to the golem statues on both sides, trying to see if there was any difference or indication of something new. After getting the title, everything felt strange. The air had a different smell. The sun hitting her skin felt warmer. The taste of salt water that the wind would carry was stronger, and it felt more like a unique spice than just an uncomfortable reminder of her location. However, despite thinking everything was new and fresh, she couldn''t describe what had changed. There was one more thing bothering her. When she looked at her friends, Hera saw something else. Something that no one was able to see. Although, saw might not be the right word for it. She could sense the type of mana they used, and because of that, her feelings for her friends were being pulled in different directions. If she looked at Helena, she would be a little scared, as if looking into a dark hallway in the middle of the night. Blue also gave her a similar sensation, but it was more awe-inspiring as if she was looking at an incoming storm. Looking at Alex was like looking at a cactus balloon, sharp and pointy, but soft when approached with care. However, she also got a sickening feeling in her stomach, as if she was staring at a diseased plant. Her assumption was that this was because of the mana everyone had. She was, somehow, seeing the type of mana they had which caused her to feel certain things related to that type of magic. That wasn''t something she liked. Feeling afraid of Helena made no sense, and seeing Alex as a sick person was just plain mean. Maybe this was something she could change or adapt to get a different feeling or actually see the mana instead. Another option she had in mind was to get used to this new perspective and understand what came from this title and what came from herself. That wasn''t an idea that she liked, however. Ever since she started living in the MAZE, Hera''s life was constantly changing. She couldn''t remember the last time she got used to one of the new changes. Even Daskka and her court would, on rare occasions, feel like something new. So, the best option in her mind was to try to make that feeling of mana change somehow. It wasn''t rare for a skill or an item to adapt to fit what its owner wanted, so titles shouldn''t be different. For now, she had to keep looking at new things and try to make them shift to what she wanted. Unfortunately, none of the golems seemed to have any mana inside them, so she couldn''t use them as ''target practice.'' Hera opened the doors to that large empty room and saw the notifications again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are attempting the Nactilan Island challenge. Enter this room and speak your answer. If you are correct, doing so will complete the challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You already completed the Cratic Island challenge. You will not receive an item to attempt the Nactilan Island challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She walked to the middle of the room and spoke with the crystal leaf in her hand, "Xey''lyon." The entire room seemed to resonate and echo the words, repeating them with Hera''s own voice over and over as the sound was getting farther and farther away, but it also distorted the words she spoke. After a few moments, it was like a completely different person was speaking in a completely different language. The name now sounded more like ''Zed-Nylon'' than the version that Hera spoke. Suddenly, a loud bell rang, and the crystal leaf started to change. It didn''t grow in size, but it turned into a small branch with another two smaller leaves sprouting from the sides while keeping the larger leaf on the tip. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The true name of your item was spoken. It will now be able to utilize its full capabilities. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Nactilan Island challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera cheered and looked at the crystal branch in her hand. She still could use it as an earring if she wanted or just attach it to her tablet as a strap, as long as she found some tread. Next, she used her [Inspect] to check what were the ''full capabilities'' mentioned by the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crystal Branch A branch made out of a crystal tree, or Xey''lyon, in an ancient and forgotten language. It can be used to create a crystal tree that provides shade and protection in any place that has soil. The tree is temporary, and if it is destroyed, it will vanish completely. Additionally, whoever creates the tree can use mana to change the colors of the tree while maintaining its crystal appearance. Duration: 2 hours Cooldown: 24 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This seems nice. It might help in a desert or in a place where I need to make a landmark or something," Hera mumbled to herself. She put the branch away and looked around the room. It was still completely empty, with plain beige walls and some beams of the same dark wood that made the railing framing said walls. She tried using her sensory net and her new mana sensitivity but to no avail. Even Nimbus flew around and wasn''t able to find anything of notice in the pagoda, be it inside or out. After a while, she realized there wasn''t any way to find something else about this place. Hera decided to go back to the rest of the group who were close by, trying to figure out the names of their own items. It took a few hours, but eventually, everyone managed to get the name they were looking for and received the ''unlocked'' version of their items. The upgrades were not that exciting. Helena''s hair band would now maintain your hair in more varied situations, and Adriel''s fish lure would work in freshwater and not just in the ocean. Mylo could make better illusions in any place with water, while Blue''s sand magnet would now remove other types of dirt from her clothes. Alex''s doll would tell the general weather of the next few hours and not just when a storm was coming, and Shane''s item, which was just some carved fishbones, would now turn cold when activated. In essence, it was just an ice cube, but she could detach part of the bones to spread it around. Unfortunately, they had to recharge after a while, and that could only happen if everything was in a single piece. Lastly was Bonnie''s spyglass, and that one had the less interesting upgrade. It removed the whole, turning black when not looking at the right thing aspect and allowed it to function as a normal spyglass when not pointing at one of the challenges. To allow her to know where the challenge was located, a runic pattern would appear around the lenses when she was looking in the right direction. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Unfortunately, the sun was already getting close to the horizon. Adriel and Alex found the path to the next island, but it would be a long crossing across the shallow water, and going there and back would mean that they would be moving around during the night. Even if this room wasn''t supposed to have any monsters roaming around, the idea of exploring an area in the dark wasn''t that exciting, but at the same time, they would be wasting precious time. There were six days until the coral reef path would close, and even if they were a day ahead of schedule, the first challenge proved that they couldn''t count on beating them in a single day. "Adriel, do you think we could use the drones as a sleigh?" Nimbus turned to the elf. "A sleigh? For everyone?" Adriel looked around, "It would be a bit tight like it was in the submarine, but I can make it work. Why?" "Since the current issue is the lack of time, I could pull everyone to the next island and then back. Maybe this will, at least, give us some extra time for tomorrow," Nimbus suggested. "That''s a good idea," Adriel turned to Hera," Would that be ok?" "Nimbus is the one suggesting this. If he says it''s ok, then it''s ok," Hera replied. "Right then, give me a couple of minutes," Adriel pulled the drones that were in his backpack. He made them be very light and portable, occupying about the same amount of space as a sleeping bag. It took just five minutes for him to set everything up, and Nimbus assumed his griffon form to pull this improvised sleigh. An advantage of the situation was that Hera could be on top of her mount instead of on the drones. Adriel also gave everyone some rope to hold on to and warned that Nimbus should avoid stopping quickly. If that happened, the drones wouldn''t be able to stop, making everyone slam onto him. Bonnie would be using her spyglass to show where they had to go, and soon, the group was running across the island in their makeshift carriage pulled by a griffon who could talk and change shapes. They had to move across the Nactilan island, getting closer to the tip of the half-moon beach and then changing directions to the northwest. Nimbus didn''t seem to have any problem running across the water, but that was thanks to the fact that it was a very shallow path that would barely reach his ankles. At first, everyone thought they were just dashing toward the water, but after a couple of minutes, they realized that their destination was an island that would exist below the ocean level while still being dry. The entire place looked like a giant bowl. The sides were made of some rock that stopped the water from getting inside, but the rest looked like sand and dirt. Aside from an empty doorframe, there was nothing in there. Nimbus had to slow down while going around the island so the drones wouldn''t hurt anyone, but eventually, the party left the sleigh and approached that structure. Since this was the only thing on this island, it had to be something related to the challenge, and Bonnie''s spyglass confirmed that. When touching the grey stone doorframe, a simple notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Walk through the doorframe to start the Sitlacan Island challenge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, what did the statues say about this one?" Alex turned to Helena. "Let''s see¡­. Oh¡­ It just says, ''It''s time to run,'' and the sculpture is¡­ I don''t know, some logs?" Helena frowned. "What?" Hera asked and carefully approached the mage to look at the picture. Just like she said, it looked like a pile of logs, nothing else. "Great, so we have to go there and start running? That doesn''t sound good," Bonnie sighed. "Yeah¡­" Blue nodded. "Tell you what. Let me go there first. I''ll go inside really quick and check what the challenge is, then I''ll come back. If we really have to run, then I have Nimbus," Hera suggested. "Are you sure?" Alex had a worried expression, "You don''t know what will happen in there. You might be in danger." "Yeah, but if that''s the case, we are all in trouble. Besides, we were not supposed to be injured in those challenges, remember? Also, Nimbus can run as fast as a car. I''m sure that if something dangerous is going on, he can outrun them," Hera smiled at the Sentinel. "Be careful, sweetie," Helena put her hand on Hera''s shoulder, making the explorer flinch slightly. "I will," Hera replied before dismissing her court and walking through the stone doorframe. On the other side, it looked like she was in the exact same place. The island below sea level. However, she quickly realized that she was no longer in the same location. Looking back at the archway, she couldn''t see anyone else, and to confirm that this was the challenge, to her right, there were a familiar group of creatures sitting around a few chairs. "Hey, kid. You got here sooner than we expected," Peaches smiled. "Hey. Yeah, I got lucky with the last challenge," Hera smiled, already calling Nimbus and Daskka, just in case. "Lucky is an understatement, honey. That thing you pulled in the well should''ve killed you," Jackie shook her head. "Yeah¡­ I didn''t know." "We honestly thought we lost you when the first snake change shape," Laika gave Hera a sad smile. "Not all of us. The all-seeing me was sure you would overcome that ordeal. After all, you are the first person who ever laid eyes upon my beautiful self. Such achievement would surely be enough to prove your worth," Capri flew and got close to Hera, who just petted him, making the sheep go back to the ground and snuggle on her leg. "It was just luck. I had no idea what I was dealing with. I''m just happy nothing bad happened," Hera smiled and turned to the others, "So, what is the challenge here? Or do I have to figure it out on my own?" "That is not needed. Not this time," Berthellemy started to float from his chair, "This challenge is simple. A race. If you win, you complete the challenge." "A race? Really?" Hera looked at Nimbus, "Sure, this won''t even be a challenge." "Not so fast, man," Johnny stepped forward, "You have a choice here. Either you run by yourself, and we will have a similar speed. Or you use your mount, and we use our own." Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Right... And how long would this race last?" "Somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes," Nina replied. "Ok¡­ do you mind if we do this tomorrow? Everyone is waiting for me, and it''s already getting late," Hera looked up, seeing that the sun had just touched the horizon. "Sure, we kind of figured this would be the case. Tell your friends that you saw a few different statues here waiting to run. And you can add the thing about mounts. That''s the same for everyone," Peaches smiled, "Try not to take too long, kid." "Why?" Hera looked at him with a confused expression. "Dad is kind of a fan of racing," Talpa explained. "Really?" Hera chuckled. "What? Can''t I have hobbies?" Peaches shrugged. "Of course, you can. Just don''t get mad when I beat you," Hera smiled. "Big talk for someone who walks on two legs," Laika smiled. "Most of you walk on two legs," Hera rolled her eyes. "By choice, not by design," Kelpi added. Everyone stared at him for a moment. He wasn''t walking, not really. He was swimming on his helmet-bowl while the suit did all the moving around. Still, no one said anything, and Hera left the challenge. She wanted to talk to the guides, but she was tired, and everyone was waiting for her. It would be better to come later when she had time to hang out without worry. Then again, the idea of going on a race against the guides was starting to make her excited. 547 - A long day Before leaving the challenge, the Guides gave Hera a brief explanation of what other people would see when they entered. In essence, they would see a few stone statues of various shapes and sizes, and they would be the adversaries during the race. The statues would be random, but they would be mostly humanoid, with a single four-legged one. Another thing Hera had to know was that if someone were to use a mount of any kind, the statues would have their own as well. It didn''t matter if it was something temporary or permanent, but that information wouldn''t be available to them. What Hera could tell was that the moment Nimbus changed his form, all the statues created their own mounts. The rides would be thematically appropriate to the statue itself. For instance, a statue with a lion''s head would likely have a lion or a tiger as a mount. Again, that was only a visual thing. The actual attributes of the mount would just mirror the mount used by the challenger. If they didn''t have a mount, then the runners would be close to the total attributes of the challenger. In the end, this challenge was about proving your skill and not just having better items. With all that out of the way, Hera said her goodbyes to the guides before exiting the challenge. Everyone was on the other side waiting for the Empress, and they were even surprised about how quickly she returned. "Is everything ok?" Helena asked. "Yeah, this one is more simple. It lays out everything for us as soon as we get inside. Basically, this is a race, and it looks like there are some obstacles in the mix. I saw a part of the course, and there were some things for us to vault over or under. I don''t know if there is an actual ''right'' way to go through the obstacles," Hera explained what the guides told her. She never actually saw the course, but all she had to do was to walk up the island to see it, "Oh, another thing. I saw a bunch of statues, all armors, but those had different designs and shapes. And one of them was like a dog, I think. It was hard to say. I was worried that getting too close would start the race, and I wouldn''t be able to leave halfway." "That was a good call. It''s hard to tell how long that race would last. If it''s a marathon, it will take ages for it to be over," Alex nodded. "And we kind of need you to get back in a decent time frame," Adriel looked to the horizon, where the sun was already setting. "Right. Do you need to change anything with the drones? If not, we should get going. I can explain things better when we are back in the camp." The group agreed with Hera''s suggestion and quickly remade their makeshift cart with Nimbus dragging them behind. Twenty minutes later, when the last rays of the sun vanished on the horizon, they arrived at the campsite once again. Before dismounting Nimbus, Hera told the group that she wanted to take a shower before anything else. Today was a very long day. They finished two challenges and went all the way to the third island. Most of them got beaten up in one way or another, and Hera almost died, even if, at the time, she had no idea that was a possibility. Spending the entire day being buffeted by the ocean made them all feel sticky. In the end, everyone decided to go to the private rooms to shower before dinner. Adriel and Mylo would stay behind to cook and catch some more fish while the rest of the group headed to the doorway. To make better use of their time, Helena and Bonnie went to Shane''s private room while Alex and Blue took Hera''s. "You two can take a shower first. I''ll be the last, so I can have a talk with my court," Hera told her friends as they all went inside her private room. "Is there a reason why you have to talk with them in private?" Alex asked. "Yeah, we love Nimbus. I can''t say much about the others because, well, they don''t talk to us, but you don''t have to wait to be alone to talk to them," Blue added. "I know. But it feels... Rude to talk to them with you guys around. Especially if it''s, like, a more serious conversation about the skills or something else. I know that that''s not a problem for you guys, but talking and only having you hear my side of the conversation feels really bad, and having me tel you all about what they are saying it''s just annoying for everyone. Remember back home when you guys tried to help me when I was talking with them about the skills I should get? You know, during our last break." "Oh¡­ yeah..." Blue nodded. There was a moment during the last time they stayed in Boothudurn where Hera was trying to come up with ideas for what kind of skill she should get next. Unfortunately, she was talking with all her court and friends, which meant that she had to tell everything the court was saying and only then state her opinion. That caused a lot of confusion and issues with who was saying what. In the end, that discussion took way longer than it had to, and it was understandable that Hera wasn''t in the mood to do something like that again. The real reason as to why she wanted to be alone was to talk to the guides. Hera couldn''t do so the previous day, but she wanted to see if everyone was okay and if she didn''t hurt anyone during the test. She also wanted to ask a bit more about her title and if they could give her some advice about it. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Blue was the first to bathe. Since Hera had an actual bathtub here, they would all take some time there before leaving. That gave Alex a chance to talk to Hera about one thing that was bothering her. "Hey¡­ Are you ok?" the assassin asked from the kitchen while she was getting a glass of water. Last night, Hera had a moment to change a few things, including the cups they used. Now, everyone had their own glass with their names in beautiful calligraphy and an image of something they liked. For Alex, it was a cute drawing of a puppy wielding double daggers. "I''m fine. Why do you ask?" Hera replied without looking up from her tablet, there were a lot of texts from her dad and the Royal Explorers, and she was going through them all. "Hera. I know you. Ever since you came back from the cave, you have been acting a bit weird. Did something else happen? Is it because I told you I can talk about¡­ a thing?" Hera looked back to Alex, but her eyes quickly darted away. That feeling of looking at something spoiled washed over her again, " It''s not because of that. I understand why you can''t say anything." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Alex smirked, "So something is going on?" Hera stopped before letting out a long sigh, "Yeah. There is. But it''s not something talking will fix, and I don''t think you will want to know. It also makes me feel like a very crappy friend." "Try me. Maybe there''s something I can do to help. And it has something to do with the title you got, right?" "Yeah. It does. I even tried looking it up online but couldn''t find anything about this title," Hera explained. Nimbus approached Alex and pulled three cups, one with a griffon flying in the sky, one with a snake doing a full lap around it, and the third had just the phrase, ''May the coffee be stronger than my children.'' He filled them with water and walked back to the living room after whispering, "Remember that this was never her option. She didn''t choose any of it." Alex looked at the Sentinel with a confused expression but didn''t say anything. Just waited for Hera to continue talking. However, the explorer wasn''t going to continue the conversation. Frustrated, Alex walked over to the couch and took Hera''s tablet before staring her in the eyes, "Talk to me. What is going on?" "Alex¡­" "No. Don''t give me that. You are weird, like really weird. I noticed how you keep getting away from Helena and how you always try to be close to Adriel. This is not a jealousy thing. I trust you enough not to worry about that, but It''s odd when he is the person who makes you the least comfortable in the group. You also seemed to be looking beyond Mylo when talking to him, and if Blue gets close to you, you assume a more stable position, almost as if you were bracing for impact." "I... I was doing all that? Really?" Hera stared at Alex in disbelief. "Yeah, and now you have a sour face when you are looking at me, and it''s not because of what I''m saying now. You have been doing this for a while already." "I''m sorry¡­ I never wanted you guys to notice that. Does everyone know?" Hera looked away. "I don''t think so. Maybe Helena realized you''re doing something like that. The reaction you had with her was the strongest one, so¡­ I don''t know," Alex rubbed her temple, "Now, please, tell me what is going on." "I honestly don''t know. I have an idea, but I''m not sure if that''s the case," Hera took a deep breath, "Ever since I came out of the cave, I''ve been seeing mana in a different way. Seeing is not the right word. I just get feelings. For instance, when I''m looking at Helena, I have that same feeling that you have when you are looking at a dark corridor in the middle of the night. You know that fear of not knowing what''s in there? The thing you feel when you''re watching a horror movie, and there''s a scene where you can''t see anything. That''s what it feels like to look at Lena, and it kills me. How can I be scared of her?" "But are you? Afraid of her, I mean." "No! Of course not, but that is the feeling I get when I look at her. Probably because of her mana, or at least that''s what I''m assuming. Looking at Mylo is like looking at a mirage, and Adriel gives a cozy feeling, like being wrapped in a very soft blanket surrounded by fluffy pillows. Blue is like seeing a storm, which could explain why I steady myself every time I see her getting close. Bonnie and Shane are weird. They don''t have a specific feeling but several things mixing together, like watching a blender work. Everything feels so weird, and I don''t know how to stop or change that. Then again, I just got that title, so it might just be something that takes some getting used to," Hera blurted out, speaking so fast that she didn''t even have time to breathe. When she finished, she was close to hyperventilating, but Nimbus and Daskka got closer to calm her down. "Right¡­ But what am I?" Alex couldn''t help but be curious since she was the only one Hera didn''t mention. "You¡­" Hera looked into Alex''s eyes, trying to come up with an excuse or a reason why she couldn''t tell her. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind, and she knew that keeping this secret would hurt the assassin, "Just¡­ keep in mind that I don''t know how to control this, and I really don''t think it has anything to do with how I feel about the person. I mean, c''mon, being afraid of Helena and thinking that Mylo is so mysterious that it is almost like an mirage is just nonsense." "I agree, but you are starting to scare me. What is wrong with me? Or with how you feel about me now, and I mean like, my mana, not me personally." "You feel like a mix of a balloon and a cactus. Something soft and filled with air, but it''s prickly at the same time," Hera replied. "That is not that bad¡­ Why were you so worried?" Alex tilted her head. Hera hesitated for a moment, "Because¡­ there is one more feeling. It''s a small part of it, but¡­ it somehow feels like I''m looking at something rotten. Like if you end up in a dumpster filled with old fruit. That nausea that you feel just by staring at it before the smell hits you." "Oh, I see," Alex took a step back, taking the information in. "That doesn''t mean I think you''re sick or something like that. I want to be perfectly clear about this." "But I am. We know I am. I am cursed, and that''s a fact," Alex replied with a solemn expression. "But that''s not necessarily a bad thing," Hera tried to comfort her friend. Alex scoffed at that notion, "Hera, trust me. It is a bad thing. I think I''m the only person alive who knows how bad this is. And honestly, that does make sense. When I look at myself in the mirror, I also see something rotten, something diseased that should be purged. I would be lying if I said I never considered that for various reasons." "Alex¡­" "No, really, you don''t have to worry about it, and I understand. Maybe this is even a good thing. You can help me know if I''m getting worse. If you look at me and start throwing up, I''ll know I''m in trouble," Alex chuckled, trying to play it cool, but anyone could tell she was worried about this. Hera reached out and grabbed Alex''s hands, "Listen to me. As soon as we get out of here, we are getting that thing out of you. I promise." "I''m the one who said we didn''t need to worry about this, remember?" Alex tried to pull her hands back, but Hera held them tightly. "I do. And I shouldn''t have accepted that. I know the Royal Explorers are doing their own thing, but my objective now is to find a way to get rid of that curse. I''m even going to start now. I''m sure there is stuff about curses online that I missed the first time I looked into that." "You can''t. The more you think about it, the stronger it gets, remember? I''m already worried that you might be affected by it. Let me do the search," Alex replied. "So? Maybe that''s the way to go about it. I''ll get infected by the curse, and that way. We can talk about it and figure out a way to fix this," Hera suggested. "NO!" Alex yanked her hands free, "You are not getting cursed like I am. Especially with all your court. We have no idea how they will interact. I appreciate the offer, but I don''t want anyone else to be affected by this." "Alex¡­" "No! That is not up for discussion. You are not getting cursed just so I have someone to talk to!" at that moment, Blue came out of the bathroom with a large smile, and Alex took that cue to head inside, slamming the door behind her. Blue looked at Hera and then back to the bathroom, "What did I miss?" 548 - mana touched court After Alex and Blue left her private room, Hera went to the bathtub and started messaging the guides. She used the group chat to explain the title and how she got it. That didn''t come as a surprise for anyone, since they were aware of what she did, but some details caught them off guard. According to the guide of this room, there wasn''t a single person who looked at the hole in the cave and survived. Even going inside there was a risk, and five in ten people would get really sick or have part of their mana sucked out of their bodies just by being there. Unfortunately, they also didn''t have any information about what the title actually did. They were more than happy to help her figure those things out, but it would have to be after she completed all the challenges. For now, they had to hold back their interactions to avoid giving anything away. That was not something the guides decided themselves, but one of the rules made by the guide of this room. Even the amount of messages they could send was somewhat limited. All in the name of protecting the mystery behind the challenges. That being said, Peaches and Laika mentioned that she looked different when they saw her inside the race challenge. It was hard to grasp why, but having heard about the title and how she is supposed to be more in tune with mana, things made sense. It wasn''t all bad news. They added that at first glance, it didn''t seem like there was anything wrong with her. The guide of the room also said that getting the title shouldn''t come with any danger. Even if they couldn''t tell what the title did, when someone received the title inside the room, the respective guides would know whether the title was something to be wary of or not. When Hera came out of the bathroom, she was drying her hair with a simple warm gust of wind spell. While doing that, she called her entire court to the living room, "How are you all feeling? Did the title affect anyone?" "I¡­ think it did. My magic seems¡­ I don''t know, more intense," Nimbus pulled some mana and tried to create a shield around his hand. Surprisingly, that was very easy to do and even gave him a new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Shield (Rank 1) Creates a layer of protection around a target. The size and shape of the shield can be tweaked to fit your needs. The shield absorbs impact and is broken if the damage passes its threshold. The amount of mana used to create the shield will change the threshold of damage it can withstand. The shield has a natural resistance to damage. Base Mana cost: 300 mana Damage reduction: 30% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow¡­ was it that easy?" Hera looked at Nimbus. "Honestly, yeah. But the idea came from Capri. Also, I have a lot more mana now." "How much?" "My maximum is about 50 thousand." Hera nodded with a surprised expression. In the morning, the Sentinel only had around 23 thousand mana. His increase was bigger than even her own. She turned to the rest of the court, "How about you guys?" "I think we are in the same boat," Core replied, "We feel like our skills are¡­ better, somehow." "I would like to add that I feel more present now," Lurize chimed in "What do you mean?" Hera tilted her head. "It''s hard to say, but even when I''m out. Things are more or less a blur. The feeling is similar to when you are drunk, Empress. Not to say that my abilities were impaired, but it was somewhat hard to remember things. Now I feel more¡­. Here," Lurize explained. That was the only big difference. Everyone else felt mostly the same, but when Hera tried to cast spells through them, all her blades agreed that it had a change. It wasn''t exactly easier or harder, for that matter. It was just different. "Daskka? How about you?" Hera turned to the herald. "I¡­ don''t know. I can''t say I feel that much different, but right now, I feel like my mana is kind of split. As if it''s oil and water, you know," Daskka explained. "Well¡­ you get your mana from me, sort of. Maybe if you spend it all and I top you up, you can feel the difference," Daskka accepted the suggestion and started casting some spells just to get rid of her mana. After that, Hera sent her mana to the necklace and, little by little, replenished what Daskka spent. As soon as the mana started to enter her body, the snake did a few laps around the room as if she was a dog who just got excited, "Wow! Is this what you guys are feeling? This feels amazing!" "Really?" Hera and Nimbus asked. "Yeah! It''s like when you drink a lot of coffee, mum. But without the shaking and the bitter taste," Daskka nodded vigorously. Nimbus stared at her for a while before closing his eyes, trying to feel his mana again. Yet, he couldn''t get the same feeling that Daskka mentioned. With a shrug, he chalked that off as it being something because of Hera or the legacy. Hera didn''t catch his struggle and just decided to finish changing before going back to the camp outside. Aside from Adriel, everyone was already there cooking the fish. The elf ended up falling into the water when he got a big one, and he wanted to take a shower and remove the saltwater from his clothes before eating. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. During dinner, Helena sat by Hera''s side. She was still somewhat far away but close enough so they could have a private conversation. "Hey, sweetie. Alex told me you are struggling with the title. Apparently, you are seeing us in a different way. More specifically, our mana," Helena smiled and took a bite of her fish. Seeing that Hera had just stopped eating and was staring at the fish in her hand, the mage continued, "Are you afraid of me now?" Hera couldn''t deny that, and she didn''t want to hurt Helena''s feelings, "I''m not afraid of you. Not really, but when I look at you, I get a weird feeling. Like staring out in the woods at pitch black darkness. Again, that doesn''t mean I''m scared of you, Lena, but I do get scared when I look at you." "I see¡­ honestly, I was half expecting something like that to happen sooner or later. I just imagined it was Bonnie who would act like that since she focuses more on spells than you. But I really hoped this wouldn''t happen again," Helena looked toward the ocean. "What do you mean again?" Hera turned to Helena. It was easier to look at her now. It was already night, and looking at the islands or the ocean already gave her a very similar feeling of ''fear of the unknown,'' making the mage blend with her surroundings. "I don''t think I ever told you this. Actually, I''m sure of it. A long time ago, I was dating someone who got a skill that allowed them to see other people''s mana. It worked kind of like what you''re telling me. When they looked at someone with fire mana, they would have the feeling of seeing something hot. If it was ice mana, then it would be like seeing something cold and so on." "Did they also feel afraid when they looked at you?" "He did. We tried to make it work for a few months, but he was jumpy every time he got close to me," Helena let out a long sigh, "That''s the problem with the skills that people used to see affinity. It never gave an actual word or phrase explaining it. It was all about feeling. And that causes problems since people will react differently to various things. If someone almost drowned, they would see water mana as something scary, for instance. That''s why I was so dedicated to finding a more streamlined way of seeing mana. Something that was connected to the system, and it would give us a name and not just a feeling. As much as I say it was to help others and make people more capable of dealing with threats, it was mostly selfish. I did all that because I didn''t want to go through something like that again." "And I am making you go through that again. I''m sorry, Lena," Hera grabbed the mage''s hand. Helena squeezed Hera''s hand, "It''s okay, sweetie. I know you are not doing this on purpose. In the case of my ex, he got the skill even after I warned him about what could happen. Also, we still don''t know how your title Works. Maybe there''s a way to change that, or you can get used to me. But if you feel like my presence is too much of an issue, let me know, ok?" "It will never be, Lena. Just because I''m somewhat afraid of the dark doesn''t mean I want you to be away. You don''t have to worry about that. Ever." Helena smiled, but Hera could see some sadness in her eyes. Unfortunately, there wasn''t anything Hera could do now to reassure her. The rest of the night was uneventful, Adriel joined the rest of the group at the campsite, and everyone ate before going to bed. This time, Helena suggested sleeping in Shane''s room, but Hera refused. Her argument was that the more time they spent together, the faster Hera would get used to the odd feeling she got from the mage''s mana. When morning came, Nimbus once again became the mount that carried the group to the Sitlacan Island, the third island where the race challenge was located. Hera was still feeling the effects of her new title. However, she spent a couple of hours in the middle of the evening watching Helena sleep to get used to the effects of the shadow mana that came from her body. It was a very creepy thing to do, and that fact did not escape her, but she felt like it was the best option she had at the moment. Doing that when Helena was awake could hurt the mage''s feelings, especially when it became too much and the Empress had to look away. This was another thing she realized as she tried to watch her friends during the night. At a first glance, she could just identify what kind of mana they had, but if she focused, it was almost as if the mana was looking back at her. That felt too much like what was swallowing the snakes in the well, while at the same time, it was on a much smaller scale. What worried her the most was the possibility of harming her friends because of that. The title said that pure mana had some sort of gravity. If she, somehow, had a similar effect to that, maybe their mana would be attracted to her. That wasn''t something she was willing to risk. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the entrance of the challenge. Hera gave everyone a refresher on what they should expect inside, and after a quick conversation, they all headed to the door frame inside the island that was like a sinkhole in the middle of the ocean. Walking inside the challenge, Hera saw all the guides once again, but this time they weren''t just relaxing. Each of the guides was in front of a statue with a vehicle of sorts by their side. "I hope you are not thinking about running away this time," Nina smirked. Hera squinted at her, "It was a strategic retreat. But I guess you wouldn''t mind beating someone who almost died earlier that day. After all, that would be the only way you would have a chance, right?" Talpa snorted, "You know, your trash talk is getting better." "Thanks. I looked up some videos last night," Hera admitted as she called her court out, "So, do I have to know anything else about this race?" "Just that we are going all out. Our mounts have the same top speed as Nimbus, and they also get tired, in a way. So it''s a fair fight," Kelpi explained as he got closer to a statue of a armored monkey with a seahorse to the side. "And everything goes here? Like, are there any rules?" Hera asked. "You have to pass through the checkpoints, but you can do whatever you want to get there. Hitting us to remove some competition is also fair game, but the moment you do so, we can do the same," Laika was on top of a clockwork donkey with a statue of a humanoid crocodile to the side. "Ok then," Hera turned to the Sentinel, "Are you ready?" Nimbus nodded and changed his form, and all the guides walked to their respective statues and mounts. Soon they all began to move to the starting line. Before going inside his armor with a crystal crown, Peaches turned to Hera, "As soon as you are in position we can start. Feel free to prepare if you need." Hera nodded and turned to Nimbus for some last minute preparations and a few moments later, she was in the starting line, ready to begin the race. 549 - Guide Race The race had begun, and all the guides that were present in the first challenge were also here. Hera was currently in third place, with Kelpi on his seahorse mount taking the lead of the pack. It''s been only a couple of minutes since the start, and the Nimbus only had to dodge a simple set of barriers made out of sand. No one had any trouble going through them, but those who decided to jump over the obstacles, like Nina and Talpa, who were ironically taking control of a wolf and a lizard kobold, respectively, ended up getting slowed because of the lack of acceleration. Their mounts were a giant wolf and a komodo dragon that could fly. Hera, along with Kelpi and Laika, who rode an old-timey bicycle with one large wheel, went around the obstacles, allowing themselves to gain more speed than the rest. For now, the race seemed very straightforward. Only a path with some random formations of sand here and there, but Hera was sure things wouldn''t stay so peaceful in the future. Right beside her, Capri was doing his best to keep up. "Hey, Capri! Quick question. You guys won''t hit me if I don''t throw the first punch, right?" the wind was so loud as they ran that Hera had to yell to talk to the guide. A sculpture of a shirtless warrior with a ram''s head was riding a large mountain goat by Hera''s side. Capri turned to the side and nodded. His mouth started moving, but his voice was coming directly into the Empress'' ear as if she was wearing an earbud, "That is correct." "Good. If all of you were attacking me, I would have no chance of winning," Hera felt glad that she wouldn''t have to worry so much about incoming attacks. "That might be true, but this also means that we cannot attack each other," Capri replied. "Why would you attack each other? I''m the only one who has to lose here, right?" Capri gave her a mischievous smile, "This is not a team race. There will be only one winner, be it you or one of us." "I see.." Hera looked ahead. She still had at least a minute before the next obstacle, which would be a 90 degree turn to the right after passing the checkpoint. Knowing that the guides would also be attacking each other changed things. Unlike the rest, she literally had eyes in the back of her head, and maybe causing some mayhem could improve her chances, "Say¡­ How do you feel about an alliance?" "An alliance, you say?" Capri gave her a satisfied smile and looked back. Behind the two, Nina and Talpa were fast approaching, and the two of them were also taking almost all space in the course, stopping anyone from taking them over, "Some already started that, and between your strength and my power. I''m sure we can take first and second places. However, I must warn you. Any alliances will last only until the last checkpoint. Beyond that, is every guide, or human, for themselves." "So we have a deal?" Hera asked. "We have a deal," Capri nodded. Hera looked back, "Get ready to stop those in the front," she waved her hand and created a slow field attached to her sensory net. She also shook her bracelet at the same time, triggering a Battle Rattle to increase her attributes by 20%. She considered that Capri could be affected by it, but either way, she had a bonus to her attributes. During these early moments of the race, things were not that exciting. People were running and trying to reach first place, but it was organized. No one was trying to endanger anyone else, and everyone was just doing their best to move forward. However, the second the slow field hit Talpa and Nina, the race plummeted into madness. The type of mayhem that would happen in a party racing video game. Being the first ones to be hit by the spell, the kobold sisters were slammed by the others behind them. Capri started throwing large balls of wool back at the group while Berthellemy made a protective bubble around him and made his manta ray mount glide outside the course, where the water was too deep for anyone to run to avoid the attacks. Hera told Nimbus to push forward, and the Sentinel did as he was told, while at the same time, Daskka let out some dark mist to hide them from the others. Laika noticed that, and four flying saucers appeared above her head. The UFOs started attacking Kelpi with lasers that seemed to explode on contact. In response, the fish guide pushed some bubbles out of his suit and started dropping them on the track to stop the others. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The chaos continued for several minutes. The speed of the race increased drastically, and people stopped caring about anyone else. They all wanted to win. As Hera kept pushing forward, she watched in horror as Nina got hit by some kind of water ball from the back, and it shattered her armor, destroying one of the arms of the sculpture she was controlling. If the Empress was hit by an attack like that, she had no idea if she could survive. Hera tried to get closer to the leader, but at this speed, she had to be somewhat careful, and Nimbus wasn''t that great during turns. Still, little by little, they were approaching the two who managed to take the lead. The first few checkpoints were very simple to go to, with just a few twists and turns. Kelpi was still in first place, sending his bubbles to those behind. Laika was still using her lasers to stop Capri and Hera''s approach while those in the back were in the middle of their own form of mayhem. Thanks to the slow spell that Hera would toss every now and then, they were very far behind the leaders of the group. At first, it looked like each of the guides only had a single skill, but Scythe and Armory told the Empress how some of the guides were using different spells to attack others. Berthellemy was controlling some of the water outside the course to splash at the other guides. More spells started to pop out, but they were too far behind for them to understand what was actually going on. It was just a mess of explosions and particles being tossed back and forth. It took a while for Hera to realize, but Capri had triggered a spell to increase his speed, along with everyone who was ahead of him. It was a bit of a complicated effect, and it would only work when there were at least two people in front of him, but it was a strategy that helped the guide to get even more ahead when he was ahead. As the chaos slowed down a little, Hera noticed that Kelpi had gotten to the fifth checkpoint, which was the one closest to where they were. He began casting another spell, and the sky lit up, with a gigantic sphere appearing above the ground. However, she could also see through that ball of light. Beyond it, there was an island and the next checkpoint. For a brief moment, Hera was worried about what attack could come following that second sun that appeared in the sky. However, she could see how the mana was behaving, and it didn''t look like it would have any follow-ups or anything. That spell, whatever it was, was stable, and it would probably be just something to hide the path from everyone else. That became even more apparent when the course split. One part of it headed to the left while the other continued forward. Hera could see that both Laika and Kelpi pressed on, ignoring the turnard, even if that was the part of the road that was easier to miss because of the giant sphere of light. Capri was looking back when the spell was created, and now, he was changing lanes to make the left turn. Hera pushed forward and gestured for him to follow her. Capri seemed confused, but the Empress insisted. Receiving a nod from Boothudurn''s guide, Hera led the way to the path hidden by the light. Capri was clearly hesitant, but after a few moments, he understood what they were doing. If they took the path to the left, they would have to make a very wide arc around the island. Taking this route allowed them to cross through the island itself and reach the next checkpoint much sooner. However, it wasn''t just a simple run. As soon as the two of them stepped onto the beach, golems made out of sand emerged from the ground and started attacking the duo. Seeing the enemies, the Empress just told Nimbus to start his frozen ash aura without missing a beat. This was supposed to be an obstacle course, so Hera was half expecting something like that to happen. With Capri following right behind her, she started dodging the attacks, summoning her court to parry the incoming blows and recalling them when they started to lag behind. It was something that she had to do very quickly since Nimbus was moving so fast, but with everyone''s help, it seemed to work. Core and Frost were also tossing a few skills around to open a path or stop the golems from advancing, and soon, they reached a cliff. The checkpoint was a few meters beyond it, back on the ground. "Capri, can your goat fly?" Hera looked back and yelled. "You wound me. Even if it couldn''t, my wings are more than powerful enough to carry us both." "Then I would be worried about your legs. Can you carry a goat with your thighs alone?" Hera told Nimbus to keep going. The Sentinel could fly, and she wanted to take advantage of that. When looking to her left, she noticed a path leading down, but they would lose precious seconds if they took that detour. "Fear not. I am magnanimous and will do whatever is required!" Capri announced proudly just as the two of them jumped the cliff. Nimbus simply spread out his wings and glided down while the guide created a pair of wool wings from his back and did the same. However, it was clear that carrying a goat with his legs alone wasn''t exactly easy. Capri was making a face very similar to what one would see in a weightlifter when they tried to break a record. "Are you ok back there?" Hera chuckled. "I¡­ AM¡­ FINE!" Capri yelled through his teeth. If a statue could sweat, Hera was sure the guide would be sweating right now. The poor goat under him also looked so confused about what was going on, that it was still trying to run on air. After a few moments, which felt like hours for Capri, they finally landed on the ground and continued through the checkpoint. A few meters in front of them, Hera could see Laika and Kelpi, both attacking each other relentlessly, trying to push their mounts from the road. Kelpi ended up being overconfident in his tactics and slowed down to get rid of Laika, who was currently in second place. Thanks to that, Hera was now much closer to the two, and it was a perfect moment to steal the first place position. 550 - Fight for first place Hera had just passed through the sixth checkpoint, the one right after the island, and she was now just a few meters away from Laika and Kelpi. The rest of the guides were nowhere to be seen, which gave her and Capri a good chance to take the lead. ''Daskka, use your shadow smoke to hide us,'' Hera said. ''Are you sure, mum? That will make some black smoke,'' Daskka looked up. She was currently wrapped around Hera''s waist, not to be tossed back due to Nimbus'' speed. ''Yeah, if they look back and see a cloud, they might think it''s just another obstacle trying to approach them. Either way, we still have the element of surprise,'' Hera turned to Capri and said in a quiet voice, "Can you hear me?" Capri looked forward and nodded, "Ok. We are making some smoke. Stay close to me, and when we have a chance, we can pass them." "I have a better idea. Make the smoke, and I''ll start a spell that will help us take the lead," Capri replied directly in Hera''s ear. If it wasn''t for the communicators that Hera and her friends already had, she would ask Capri about that spell. Daskka started making some black mist, and in just a few moments, they were completely covered by the effect. When casting that spell, Daskka could select people to be able to see through her black mist. Everyone else would only see a dark cloud. It was almost as if the shadows themselves were rising from the ground and creating this area of darkness. "Alright, let''s go," Hera said, and Nimbus took off running. She knew that Daskka''s spell wouldn''t last forever, so she wanted to make the best use of it while it did. Capri started casting the spell he was talking about, but they still used that opportunity to move closer to the two in front of them. Laika was too busy trying to stop Kelpi to notice the incoming black smoke, but the fish guide was already looking back and saw the looming darkness. He threw a couple of pearls toward it, and the projectiles exploded inside the dark mist, creating small pieces of thunder that highlighted Hera and Capri''s silhouette. "You two are going to need to do better than that!" Kelpi yelled, recognizing their mounts. This was one of the problems of this race. Everyone had a unique mount, which made it easy for anyone to identify who was getting close. Either way, Hera let Daskka continue her spell. They weren''t just trying to hide their position but also what they were doing. "Empress, should we attack them?" Core asked, itching to throw one of his Sediment skills at the two guides. "No, not like that," Hera replied. She knew the guides wouldn''t be hurt if she attacked. The only damage would be to their statues. Still, going for something like that felt wrong. This was supposed to be a fun thing, like a friendly spar, not a duel to the death, "I don''t want to hurt anyone." "They wouldn''t get hurt, but fine," Core replied while still attached to Hera''s waist. He was one of the few court members constantly out since he was quick and one of the easier blades to secure in her clothes. "I''ll try something different," Hera said before launching a Paralyze Bolt toward Laika. The spell, which usually was like a projectile coming out of a crossbow, was now a spiral chain. It flew through the air, and just as it was about to hit its target, one of the UFOs moved to intercept it. When the spells collided, the chain unraveled and wrapped itself around the flying saucer. Both spells fell to the ground and vanished, the mana no longer able to keep its shape. Another of the lasers went to Capri, and he had to waste the spell he was preparing in order to block the attack. Kelpi noticed the blasts and tossed another pearl at Laika, this one flashing right in front of her eyes, temporarily blinding the guide. At the same time, the ground shook, and the road started to rise. The next leg of the race changed from a simple straight line to a set of several loops in a spiral. Hera wasn''t all that worried about this new obstacle. After all, every single one of them could simply fly in the middle of the spiral. The only issue was the speed loss that doing so would bring. Nimbus couldn''t fly at the same speed he could run, and gliding would make their speed fall fast. It was a bit weird since that would go against the laws of physics, but apparently, there was a limit on Nimbus'' flight speed. Hera saw Kelpi and Laika jumping off the road to fly instead of risking going through it. It was a shame, but she had to agree with that decision. There was no way to make Nimbus run through a loop. If it was a car or a motorcycle that always had all the wheels touching the ground, then maybe she would try, but for the Sentinel, that shouldn''t even be possible. "Nimbus, let''s jump and fly through this part, too," Hera said. "What? But why, Empress? Nothing stops us from going forward, and now that they''ve decided to fly, we can pass them easily!" Nimbus asked with a confused tone. Hera gave him a weird look, and she unconsciously shared her feelings. She was already touching their web-like connection that was tomming from her ankles this time, allowing her to share Nimbus'' senses for a brief moment. She would never expect that these loops would affect the riders and the mounts differently. For the Sentinel, he was still running on an incline. There was no looping around, just a straight road for him to run, while Hera saw this new weird arcade racing-like structure. "Are you sure you can keep running?" Hera asked, still unsure if the loop was a trick or not." "I am!" Nimbus nodded, every fiber of his body telling him that what he saw was real. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Ok then, let''s go!" Hera said as the Sentinel sped up. He was already tired, but this was a moment where pushing harder made sense. If they managed to pass Laika and Kelpi, they could just focus on keeping everyone else behind them. "Hera, what are you doing?" Capri asked when he noticed that she was going up towards the loop. "Nimbus is telling me this is the right way. I''m trusting him," the Empress replied as she felt her body start to be pulled to the side by gravity. The Sentinel was already sideways in the loop, but he was still going. For him, nothing had changed. He was still running forward in a straight line. The only difference came from Hera herself, who was tipping to the side for some reason. The Empress clenched her feet under the griffon and yelled, "Daskka, hold on!" Worried that her friend could slip and fall. The second the words left her mouth, she realized how stupid that sounded. Daskka was wrapped around her waist. If she was secure enough not to be tossed back by the speed they were moving, gravity wouldn''t make that much of a difference. They went through the second loop when Nimbus passed Laika and Kelpi. Hera saw them looking at her and preparing some spells, but they stopped for some reason. She glanced up at Capri, who was following her along the loops. Laika and Kelpi were trying to attack him but the guide stopped them by throwing large balls of wool in the air, giving some problems for their aim. Not wanting to waste that opportunity, Hera covered Nimbus with a mana reinforcement to buff him up and maybe increase his speed or stamina a little bit. Her idea didn''t seem to do much, but the Sentinel appreciated the effort. After a few more loops, with Hera holding on to Nimbus the entire time and Capri doing his best to grab onto his goat using his tights, they finally came out of that obstacle. They were considerably ahead of Laika and Kelpi, but it wasn''t like they could take things easy. Especially since the next problem was already in sight. Just beyond the checkpoint, the road was moving. Several pieces were split and would rock back and forth in constant motions. To make things worse, there was a sign just before it with a picture of someone flying with a red circle and a line in front. It was obvious that this should be a no-flying zone and Nimbus confirmed that. Somehow he understood that in this part of the race, he wouldn''t be able to fly. Hera turned around and tossed a few Paralyze Bolts at the two guides close by, and just as they passed the checkpoint, she tossed a slow field. If there was no flying here, they wouldn''t be able to dodge that attack and give even more room for Capri and Hera to run. Just after the two of them got to the first moving platform, Kelpi was hit by the spell and lost third place to Laika, who had created an air bubble around her as a shield. Unfortunately, she let the spell go after a few moments, thinking the effect was no longer there. If that happened a day before, she would be right. However, now Hera''s spell was different. Slow Field was a spell based on her Sensory Net, and thanks to her new affinity to mana, it behaved more like a net itself. By using a shield to stop it, Laika simply picked the spell up and carried it along with her. If she continued for a while, the mana would dissipate, but since she created the bubble for just a few moments, the spell was still there, and it latched on to the space dog riding an old bike. Capri and Hera were on top of one of the platforms, now waiting for it to get close enough to another piece of the road so they could continue the race. Looking into the distance, Hera could see one more checkpoint and then a straight line to the finish, which was marked by a rainbow arc and a checkered flag, "So I guess our alliance ends after this part?" Hera turned to Capri. "It seems so, but I must say. I don''t feel like I did all that much," Capri replied. "Don''t say that. You helped a lot. I mean, if it wasn''t for you, we would have to worry about the rest of the guides as well." "Still. Despite what I say, you were the one who led us to first and second place. You noticed the island and how the loop would work," Capri continued. "So? You kept the rest of them at bay, even if my spell was bothering them. Your wool helped a lot." Capri just shook his head, "Not enough. But I appreciate your compliment. Maybe¡­" noise came from behind them, and they saw how Laika completely ignored the moving platforms. She created a flying saucer underneath her bike and moved fast toward the next checkpoint. "Shit!" Hera gasped and told Nimbus to run. She had noticed that this part of the road was made out of rock, not coral or something else. Using her stone shape, she created a small jump pad for them, and Capri used a different wool spell to make them fall more slowly, allowing the two to reach the next platform from a very far distance. They continued jumping from moving road to moving road using that combo. Laika could be using that spell, whatever it was, but she still had to go around the platforms, causing her to waste some time. Hera and Capri continued running as fast as they could, but when they reached the checkpoint, Laika was right beside Hera, with Capri a few meters behind. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of all of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attacks are disabled during the last part of the race. Only support skills or spells are allowed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?" Laika snarled and tried to use a laser beam to hit Hera, but to no avail. Whoever was going to win now would be the fastest of them. Seeing that, Hera tried pulling the rocks from the ground to cause Laika and Capri to trip, but the road was no longer made of stone. Nimbus triggered his Frozen Ash aura, and it still worked since it was a defensive skill. Hera glanced back and saw Capri lagging behind, enough to make her relax a bit. It was now between her and Laika. The two of them pressed forward, moving as fast as they could, trying every skill and spell they had access to, but most of them would count as an attack. Even a Flood Light spell wasn''t allowed. Having Daskka create a dark mist also resulted in nothing. It was a straight road, and it wasn''t like there was anything to stop Laika. Behind them, Capri started to cast a spell. One that would envelop him in a large ball of wool. Doing so would make him unable to turn, but just like a snowball going down a hill, he would be faster and faster. The problem was the two who were in front of him. Since he would be trapped inside the ball and spinning if they were more towards the right side of the wool when they crossed the finish line, one of them could end up being the winner instead of him. ''Then again. I don''t mind if Hera wins. So I have two chances out of three. I like those odds,'' Capri thought to himself and triggered the spell. The goat under him became a large ball of wool and engulfed him in a moment. His speed didn''t change at first, but the more he rolled, the faster he got. In less than a minute, the towering ball of wool was already hot on Hera and Laika''s heels. The two only had a moment to glance back before they were swallowed by this fluffy cream-colored fiber. It was quick and painless, but it made them both panic. Hera and Laika tried their best to escape the wool ball but to no avail. In the end, they were only able to wait until this giant ball crossed the finish line and hoped that they were the ones who got first place. 551 - And the winner is Hera was engulfed by the wool, and when the spell finally stopped, she was flung to the ground, tumbling along with Nimbus. Looking up, she could see that there was a notification in front of her, but she was too dizzy to read it properly. "Capri, what the hell?" Laika asked as she tried to get up but she kept falling back to the ground. "I will admit, I wasn''t expecting things to go like this," Capri tried to get up, but he was also stumbling. "Did it work, at least?" Hera asked with her eyes closed, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Capri smirked, "It sure did. I''m in first place." "Crap, how about you, Hera? I still can''t read things," Laika opened her helmet and was now rubbing her eyes, trying to compose herself. "Don''t know yet. I''ll let you know when the world stops spinning," Hera replied, still with her eyes closed. She was grabbing the ground as if it would help. Nimbus was by her side in her griffon form, and one of his front legs reached out to touch the Empress'' hand. Both of them understood how part of their dizziness should come from the spell and not just how much they spun. They all waited to get their bearings, and Kelpi finished the race during that time, "Can you guys get out of the middle of the road? I was slow, but the rest can come at high speeds. "Right, sorry," Hera tried to get up, but she had to lean on Nimbus, who was also having some trouble moving. Still, after a few moments, they were now in a rest area with the doorframe in the back. Hera was able to read the notification, even if things were still wobbly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You finished in 3rd place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap. I''m 3rd. You beat me, Laika," Hera sighed. The race was fun, but it wasn''t something she was looking forward to doing again. Especially if the guides knew her tricks. She was sure the second time would be much harder to win. From the group that ended up getting delayed. Peaches finished first, being fifth overall. He was controlling a humanoid turtle statue riding a motorcycle, and he was clearly annoyed by something. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "Not really. I was hoping for a race, not for everyone to start trying to kill each other. What is the point of running if it''s like that?" Peaches scoffed still inside the turtle. "Sorry. I honestly didn''t think I could beat you guys without going on the offensive," Hera gave him an awkward smile. "Don''t worry about it. I''m not blaming you. But people only got offensive spells here while I focused on the race aspect of it all. I still beat them, though," Peaches shrugged, but it was clear that he was upset. After a few more minutes, the rest of the guides finished the race, with Johnny coming in last while Talpa and Jackie just appeared from the doorframe. The two of them had their statues destroyed and were considered out of the race. Nina still had a missing arm, and all the other statues looked as if they were hanging by a thread. Cracks spread around the entire structure. Hera was sure that if a strong breeze hit them, they would all turn to dust. "You weren''t kidding. People really went after each other," Hera glanced at Peaches. "Yeah. We usually can''t fight against each other in any way. Even martial arts competitions or things like that are very limited for us. Here we can let loose a bit more," Peaches shook his head. "I see¡­ Do you guys have that much pent-up rage against one another?" "It''s nothing like that, kid. We just don''t have that many opportunities to push ourselves against others. At most, we can play video games or do things like comparing scores in bowling. For us, anything that requires us to actually fight against each other gets ''baby proofed.''" "Baby proofed?" Hera asked. "It''s like everything is padded. If we were about to get hurt, a barrier will protect us, or we will be teleported out of harm''s way. I get that the system is overcompensating for the times a few of us got hurt, but it still is very annoying. If it wasn''t for that, I could be a part of a proper race. We don''t have that many options to race on a level playing field. If we do it back home, everyone can just teleport to the finish line or have some weird custom vehicle, so it''s hard to make it work. I''ve tried setting up a more simple race track, but no one understood the spirit, and it became a huge mess," Peaches explained. "I see, that sucks. When I try this again, I won''t attack anyone. We can try a straight-up race. After all, you already know my tricks," Hera tried to comfort him. "Oh? Are you doing this again? I thought you were on a strict time limit to complete the challenges," Peaches turned to her. "I have to, don''t I? I mean, I got third place, so I didn''t beat the challenge," Hera had a confused expression. "What do you mean? You have already completed this challenge. Although, if you so desire, I am more than willing to start a new race. I shall defend my winning position with all my strength," Capri approached. "I''ve completed this one? Really?" Hera smiled. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "You have. To complete the challenge you had to be in the first five to finish the race. Others might have to be in the top 3," Laika got closer and sat beside Hera, already out of her statue "That can vary if they are an explorer. It will depend on how many guides will participate in the race, but you don''t have to worry about that," Kelpi added. All the guides had left their statues and mounts and were now close to her. "I see. That''s great! But maybe in the future, I might try this again. It was fun, even if Laika cheated," Hera smiled. "Excuse me?! When did I cheat?" Laika scoffed. "In the end. You flew in the no-fly zone," Hera replied. "That wasn''t a cheat. This is an obstacle course, and I got a spell that makes a road under me. It''s not my fault no one else had that idea," Laika crossed her arms. "It still was cheap. You completely ignored one of the obstacles because of it," Hera huffed. "So? Are you telling me that those who jumped around the first set of barriers didn''t do the same? Besides, you were the one who figured out that we could actually run in the loops." "You guys jumped. We just ran through," Hera rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok. Let''s not fight. We all had fun here," Nimbus was back in his humanoid form and pulled Hera back as she was pretending to get heated up. "Fine, fine. Either way. What do you want as a reward? An item to help you have drinkable water all the time, or something to help the next challenge?" Laika asked. "Can''t I ask for help with skills again?" Hera knew she was being greedy, but if she could get more help from the guides like that, it would be worth much more than just some items. "You can ask, but we can''t help you. The skill thing was just because you managed to complete the other challenge almost perfectly. You might have completed this challenge, but you are still in 3rd place. So the rewards have to match that," Nina explained as she was stretching her arm. It looked like she was still feeling the effects of having lost one arm as a statue. "Ok¡­ It was worth a shot," Hera shrugged and then started to think, "Do you guys think the help for the next challenge will make that much of a difference?" she liked the idea of not having to worry about water anywhere. If she ended up in a desert or something, wasting her own mana to make water might not be the best call. Especially since water made out of your own mana would only do so much. If she got lost in a place without any water whatsoever, making her own with magic was only a temporary solution. After a few days, maybe a week if she was lucky, it wouldn''t be enough to hydrate herself. The reason for that was that ''magic water'' was pure water. There were no minerals or other particles inside it. Not to mention that it was made out of mana, so drinking it would do more to help recover a portion of the mana she spent to create it than to solve her thirst. "Honestly. I think you can deal with the challenge just fine. Some people in your group might have some trouble, but the item could only help one of you," Talpa replied. "Really? How so?" Hera asked. "Well, you showed your bracelet, the one the guild gave you, and how you changed its appearance. If you can do that.." Jackie started, but suddenly two giant hands of water grabbed her and flung the raccoon to the stone doorframe, making her fly past it and disappear. "What the hell?!" Hera gasped and called her court. "Don''t worry, kid. That''s the guide responsible for this room. Jackie crossed a line, and he had to quickly remind her of the rules. Unlike some of the interactions we have, the system is not stopping us from telling you something about the challenges," Peaches explained but started moving towards the stone door. "Oh¡­ is she ok, though?" Hera looked towards the stone doorframe. "She will be fine. They will just chew her ass out," Kelpi shrugged, "What reward do you want then?" "I''ll take the water item. I think it''s a good call for emergencies," Hera trusted what the guides were saying, especially since Jackie even got punished for it. Besides, they had a large group. She didn''t have to be the one to look out for everyone all the time. "Very well. Here is your prize, for third place," Capri smirked as he passed Hera a thick disk. It was a portable cup, very similar to the bottle she had, but the top lid seemed to be made out of a mana crystal. It had a smaller cap on the lid that could be pulled to the side to open. She used her [Inspect] to confirm what it did. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bottled Creak This item, which is a foldable cup, contains an entire creek inside. You can unfold the cup to drink from it and open the smaller cap to create water inside it. If the cap is opened without the cup attached, it will create water directly under the opening. The lid can be removed for cleaning, but if both parts of the cup are too far apart, the cup will appear back on the lid. The water is perfect for consumption. By drinking a full liter of this water, you can remove any symptoms of dehydration. Amount of water available: 50 liters / 50 liters Refill 10 liters of water per hour. Once a day, if the water runs out, it will refill 10 liters in 10 minutes, but for the next five hours, the amount it can refill per hour will be halved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, this is really good. I don''t think we could even drink 10 liters of water per hour," Hera smiled. "Hey bro, I think that is better than you think. Try giving water to Nimbus or Daskka," Johnny was looking at the item with a curious expression. "Ok¡­" Hera passed the cup to Daskka since she was closer to her and opened the cap. Daskka stared at Johnny for a moment and then started drinking. It took her a few sips before the snake gasped, "What the¡­ Is that recovering my mana?" "Wait, what?" Hera gasped. Daskka took a couple more sips, "Yeah. It is! It''s like a potion. Well, a very low-tier potion, but still." "How much mana are you recovering?" Hera was staring at the cup, thinking if that had something to do with her title. "About 50 points per sip. But then again, my sips are very small," Daskka looked at Nimbus, "Someone with a big mouth might be able to get more out of it." Nimbus squinted at her, but gave in and took a large gulp, "Oh¡­ 333 points of mana. That''s a considerable amount." Hera looked at the cup, "And between the two of you, you guys drank¡­ about 50 milliliters. So that means the full 50 liters should let you recover 333 thousand mana!" "I''m not so sure about that," Johnny interrupted, "I remember when the other dude with your legacy showed up. Even if his blades tried to eat or drink, they couldn''t eat as much as they wanted. That part was very life-like for them. He also had something like this that they used to recover mana, but it didn''t work for him. It''s a shame, but that should be the same for you, dude. Another thing. I think each of your partners recovers mana in different amounts. Like Nimbus here. He might take less since Daskka uses mist. It''s closer to water, you know." "I see¡­" Hera looked back at the cup and took a sip herself. Unfortunately, she didn''t recover her mana, but it was still delicious. She stayed there for a few more minutes talking with the guides until she decided that the rest of the party should be waiting for her and headed out of the challenge. This was the third one she completed, now there were only four left, and the day was still young. 552 - Challenge number 3 Leaving the challenge, Hera found Alex, Helena, and Shane outside, already waiting for the rest of the group. "Hey, guys. How did things go?" Hera smiled. "Pretty well for me. I could take all of the other statues'' senses, and with my shadow tendrils, it was easy to pass the obstacle course since that doesn''t work as a mount," Helena smiled. "Yeah. I should''ve tried that. I used my legacy to enchant myself with speed and agility and just blazed through it. It was way too easy, and it''s giving me bad ideas," Shane had her tablet in her hands. She was noting down some ideas and things to do with her legacy in the future. Alex rolled her eyes, "I didn''t have to cheat like those two. I got second place fair and square. My one issue was the panther statue. That thing was way too quick. Even if I used my Wind Chaser spell, it wasn''t enough to beat it." "Nice. I got third place, but it still worked for me. And I solved any issues we might have with water," Hera showed everyone the portable cup she got. "That''s great! I got a hint for one of the next challenges," Helena pulled out her tablet and showed a picture to everyone. It was a small terrarium of sorts showing a forge and five different objects on top of the anvil. Several tools were hanging from the walls, and there was a box filled with different scrolls that looked like blueprints from the outside. "Me too," Shane nodded before pulling out a particularly large gold coin. It had engraved a set of eggs on one side and some waves on the other. Hera looked it over, but her [Inspect] didn''t trigger a response. Confused, she turned to Shane, "Is that it? Just a hint?" "Well¡­ According to the notification, this will help me complete one of the challenges. It didn''t say which one and the notification was sketchy at best. So I have no clue what is going to happen when I find the right place to use this," Shane explained. Hera nodded and turned to Alex, knowing how it was likely something the guides told Shane, "How about you?" "I got a flower sticker that can help me cool off if it''s too hot. It has five petals, and I can share them if I need to, but if I put the entire thing, it will help me deal with the cold instead," Alex explained. Helena frowned, "You know, I saw something like that in the showcase in the middle of a store. They sold similar ones there, but they were expendable and kind of pricey. It was¡­ 10 thousand a pop, I think." Shane sighed and shook her head, "I think that''s because of who made those. I''ve seen others that were just a few hundred bucks." "Were those multiple uses? Because the ones I''m talking about had a few charges," Helena turned to Shane. "Oh? No, I think those were one-and-done. Then I don''t think those are that expensive. If they are like 20-30 charges each, it would already be a deal." Hera started rubbing her eyes, "I think the two of you really need to spend some time outside the MAZE. You know that you are talking about the price of like two or maybe even three ACs, right? Like not just those portable ones that are cheap, I mean full-blown Air Conditioners with part of the installation to the outside," everyone stopped to stare at her with an expression of disbelief, "I know, I know. I have a lot of money right now, but still. I have an idea of how expensive things are here." Alex laughed, "It''s okay, Hera. We get it. It''s just¡­." "This isn''t exactly the best place to talk about the cost of things. Anything that we buy here can help us survive," Shane added. "I know. It just feels really weird, especially when I used to live with a thousand gold a month," Hera sighed. "Really? That little?" Shane gasped. Almost as if to save her from the conversation, Adriel and Mylo came out of the challenge. The two walked toward the rest of the group, who were closer to the water. Staying on this low ground when there was an ocean right by their side didn''t feel right. "I didn''t make it. Got seventh," Mylo said as he sat down and took off his shoes. He walked a few meters into the water and sat on a shallow part of the ocean. Everyone looked at each other, but Hera was the one who walked closer to the fighter, "What''s wrong, big guy?" "They cheated," Mylo replied while still staring at the God of Water sculpture. Hera raised her eyebrows, "Excuse me?" Mylo blinked a few times, "Yeah, they cheated. I timed them, and they didn''t move or use any spells for about forty minutes. I thought I had to wait for them and stay by their side. Then they all started running and doing the obstacle course. I was going to follow them, but I was stopped, and it said I lost because I ''failed to overcome any obstacle within the minimum time frame.''" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Oh man, that sucks. The notification really wasn''t that helpful. But now you know what will happen the next time," Hera tried to cheer him up. "I guess..." Mylo continued staring into the distance. Hera glanced back, asking for help with her eyes, but Shane waved her off. No one else had any ideas, and the Empress just ended up turning back to Mylo, "Can I do anything to help?" "No. I just need time," Mylo replied before being left alone. Adriel had finished his challenge in first place and got a tack box for the item he already had. It had no special attributes or anything of the sort. "Damn, you can get a dud even by getting first place?" Alex asked. "Yeah. But I think it''s kind of a punishment because of how I won," Adriel explained. "What did you do?" Shane turned to him, still playing with her coin. "I used one of my drones as mounts to run, but here is the thing: unless someone pulls them or they work together, each drone is super slow. So while the statues were dragging their feet, I just climbed out of the drone and ran." "You are joking," Hera stared at him in disbelief. "I''m not. When you said my mount would dictate what the statues would have, I figured this would be a good way to cheese it," Adriel opened a large smile, "Also. If anyone is having problems. I could let you borrow the drones as long as you promise to be careful with them." "That works? I thought they were part of your relic," Helena asked. "One of them is. The one that can make the barrier, the rope, and stuff. The others are just to carry things and work with an app. Or I link them to my relic and let it control them. That is much easier, honestly," The group talked a bit more and watched Mylo''s mood continue to deteriorate. They probably wouldn''t be able to cheer him up until he processed his emotions, according to Shane. Everyone agreed to give him some time after that. It took another twenty minutes for Bonnie to come out, with Blue being the last. Both of them failed to complete the challenge. Bonnie faced an army-like training course, and completing it was already a challenge in itself. When they asked Blue, she was a bit embarrassed to reply. She didn''t notice the checkpoints and tried to just rush to the finish line. That ended up being her doom. Using her flying cloud, she got lost in the challenge, and it took her ages to find the start of the race again. "Also, while I was there, I had an idea," Bonnie started speaking but looked towards the ocean, where Mylo was sitting without moving or speaking, "Mylo? Can you come here? I wanted everyone''s opinion on something." The fighter nodded and got up, walking towards the group. Everyone waited for him, and when he joined the party, they all turned to Bonnie. "Ok, like I was saying, during my obstacle course, I kept thinking about how we are doing this. Every time, some of us manage to win right away and just stay back waiting for the rest, and I don''t think that''s the best use of our time. I agree that we should have someone here to help in case of emergencies, but instead of waiting for everyone to finish the challenges, we should split up." "Isn''t that dangerous? What if something happens or a monster shows up?" Alex asked. "I don''t think any of us is reckless enough to put ourselves in danger," Bonnie glanced at Hera, "At least on purpose. And unless we find something like what Hera found, I''m positive no one would be in a situation where they would be in serious trouble if the rest of us didn''t show up to help right away. Also, this is why I would say we should split into groups. I want to say groups of three, but Hera would technically count as two, at least, so she could go with just one more person." "If possible, I think Hera, Blue, and I should all be in different groups then. That way, each group would have at least one legacy with them. It might be stupid, but there are things we can do that maybe others can''t," Shane added. "But that would only work if one of you beat the challenge. Otherwise, you would be without anyone on the outside," Helena looked at Mylo, worried that this could make him even more upset. "So we split into two groups, for now. I''ll stay here with them, and you guys can go ahead. I was going to offer my drones to two of them anyway," Adriel smiled and pulled two of the three disk-like cases that were his drones in their rest mode. Everyone else accepted Bonnie''s suggestion, which made Mylo look really unhappy. Trying to support him, Hera turned to him, "You could just leave it for later. Then we can split up into groups of three." Mylo looked at the group, "Would that be ok?" "I don''t see why not. Just remember that you have to complete this later. It also helps since I only have two drones to offer," Adriel smiled and patted Mylo''s shoulder, trying to cheer him up. Mylo nodded, "Next time, I''ll get first," he turned to Hera, "Mind if I go with you?" "Sure, Nimbus, do you mind?" Hera called the Sentinel to her side. "Of course not. It will be a pleasure to have you accompany us," Nimbus nodded to Mylo. "Actually¡­ Do you have a rope or a way to drag something? We could do that thing where I''m skating behind you while you carry someone else," Hera turned to Nimbus. "It is a good idea, and I don''t think he will be too heavy for me," Nimbus noticed how Mylo frowned at that comment, "I mean no offense about your weight, but compared to Hera, you are much more muscular." Mylo showed a confused expression for a moment before slamming a fist into his open hand as he realized something, "Oh, right, muscles are heavier. I don''t have a rope, but I can do this," he took his staff from his back and cast a spell, it soon turned into a long snake plushie, "This is technically an illusion, but it''s one so good that it can actually affect things." Hera reached out and tried to touch it, and to her surprise, it was somewhat solid. Not like Daskka in her mist snake form, but when Mylo pulled it back, she could feel the staff-made-snake being pulled. Enough to make her arm move forward. "I think this will work. How about it? You guys take the next island, and we go to the fifth. On the way back, we meet up and bring everyone back to the doorway," Hera turned to the group. Everyone accepted that suggestion, and soon, Shane, Helena, and Alex got in a group heading to the fourth island. At the same time, Hera and Mylo, who was riding Nimbus, sped through the area, skipping the fourth and going straight to the fifth island. 553 - Flower Galore The fourth island was what you would call a paradisiac place. White sand beaches with a small forest in the middle surrounded by the bluest water Hera ever saw. Most of the trees were pink or purple, with what looked like apples and oranges with such a vibrant color that it made her mouth water. They considered stopping, but they could pick up some of them on the way back. The Empress was having a blast, using her gliding shoes. She was almost water skiing. As long as the part of the ground she was on wasn''t too deep, her boots were working well. It would keep her just above the water level and allow her to have her fun. Moving past the island, they continued following a path of reef that started to come out of the water. The fifth island was more elevated than the rest, and Hera could see a small volcano in the middle of it. Or at least a mountain with smoke coming from the top. When they started to get higher and higher, Hera had to deactivate her boots because the ground became too uneven, and Nimbus decided that the path was too narrow for him to move at high speeds. If someone were to fall, the Sentinel might not be fast enough to catch them while in his griffon form. The problem wasn''t speed exactly, but maneuverability. Since they were already close to the island, no one complained about it. The closer they got, the more of the island itself they could see. Unlike the others, this one didn''t have a beach or a place where it would touch the water. The entire thing was sitting on top of a 10-meter-high plateau, and around the volcano, all they could find was incredibly lush and untamed vegetation. Just by glancing around, Hera could tell that this place had something different about it. Every other island was wild, yes, but it still looked well-maintained. Even the overgrown areas had some sort of pattern or order to everything. Here, things looked more like a free for all. Trees that shouldn''t be growing near each other were fighting for a spot near the sun, bushes wrapped around the trunks of said trees as if they were trying to join the struggle. Some even managed to overpower the trees and now sat on the forest''s canopy. Flowers were mixed in each area as if the roses, tulips, sunflowers, and marigolds were all trying to grow from the same seeds. It was utter and absolute chaos, a beautiful mess of mayhem. "Is it weird that I find this very pretty?" Nimbus asked as he flew back after taking an aerial view of the area. "I agree. It''s weird but very pretty," Mylo nodded. "Same here. I never saw something like that," Hera turned back to the God of Water statue in the center of the room. From this angle, she thought she could see what could be a face, but it was very hard to tell. She turned back to the forest and tried to [Observe] everything. To her surprise, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Each flower had the name she was expecting, and even the trees and bushes looked like the right species they should be, even if their behavior was utterly wrong. Worried this might be part of the challenge or something, Hera sent out her blades and told them to touch things and see if anything would snap at them. This felt like a perfect place for a trap or some kind of plant-based hurdle to overcome. "I understand your worry, but I must say that I disagree with that, Empress," Nimbus spoke as the court headed to the woods. "Disagree with what?" Mylo asked. Hera explained what she was doing out loud so the fighter could also be in the loop, and he agreed with her suggestion wholeheartedly. The Empress then turned to Nimbus, "And why do you disagree?" "Because of what I saw from above. The entire forest looks like this, but they seem to be avoiding the volcano. Or at least, a part of it where I saw a door or some sort of structure that led inside." "Inside what? The volcano?" Hera had a confused expression on her face. "Yes. I know what it sounds like, but even when looking from a distance, I could see the tunnel heading inside and some red light coming from there," Nimbus continued. "Did that light look natural? Or are we expecting to see someone there?" Mylo pulled his flower staff from his back, getting ready for a fight. "It did look natural, but I cannot confirm if the place was empty. I could only see a few meters inside, but there was no noise from what I could tell. Not that that says much. Maybe I should try to learn that sensory net spell," Nimbus turned to Hera. "That''s an idea. I mean, you are a great scout, and it could help out a lot in various situations. I can try to teach you later," Hera smiled before turning back to the forest. Her court had just told her that everything was ok, and the vegetation didn''t seem to be doing anything, "The coast seems clear. I still don''t trust this place, but we might be able to reach that tunnel. Unless you saw something that looks more interesting." "I didn''t. That was the only thing out of the ordinary. Well.. for this place, at least," Nimbus replied. Hera turned to Mylo, waiting to see if he had another suggestion, "That sounds like the right place," he agreed to the suggestion and waited for Nimbus to start moving. "Ok. I''ll go flying above while you two follow through the woods," Nimbus took to the skies to guide the two to the right place. "Do you think we should open a path? Like cutting the grass and stuff to make it easier for the others later?" Hera turned to Mylo. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Is that the only way? It feels like a shame to destroy this place," Mylo asked. "Not really. I''m sure we can figure something else out. Let''s follow Nimbus, for now, then," Hera started walking inside the jungle, being careful not to be caught by anything. She was still on high alert, and Daskka was around her neck looking towards the forest. Since the Empress was talking with Mylo, the Herald opted to stay quiet. She knew how annoying it was to have to pass along everything she said to the group, and Daskka was trying to avoid talking so much when Hera had company. "Mum, be careful. Some of these plants seem to be poisonous," Daskka was staring at one of the bushes that wrapped itself around one of the trees. "Poisonous? I don''t have any intention of eating any of them," Hera looked up and stopped, "Oh..." "Poison ivy doesn''t care if you eat it or not," Daskka rolled her eyes, "Let me go ahead. I can tell if any plants hurt before you pass them," she jumped out of Hera''s neck and assumed her giant mist snake form. If any attack hit her while in that form, she would feel it, but unlike Hera, the worst that would happen was her body being destroyed, and she would pop back to the necklace for a while. "I don''t like that idea. I don''t want you to hurt yourself just to keep me safe," Hera frowned. "It''s a good thing that it''s not up to you then. Tell Mylo to move after me or just waste my efforts. Your call," Daskka started moving through the woods, pushing some vegetation aside to ensure nothing was hiding in the area. "What the hell? Why are you being like this?" Hera didn''t expect that reaction. It was the first time Daskka was acting against what she told her. Daskka kept going as she answered, "You''re always saying things like ''don''t do anything stupid,'' and all sorts of other nonsense. You need to let people act their age once in a while!" "You are two! What do you mean act their age?" Hera gasped as she followed the giant snake. Mylo didn''t say anything and just followed her along, wondering what was going on. "I can''t hear you. Just follow me. Where to, bird brain?" Daskka turned to Nimbus, "Don''t give me that. We can always hear each other!" Hera yelled while trying to talk to Daskka as the Herald. The snake heard the yelling but ignored it completely and continued following Nimbus'' directions. He wanted to retort the bird brain comment, but it felt like a bad moment to do so. Hera walked inside the jungle, following Nimbus'' instructions. She tried to stay quiet and pay attention to where she was walking, but her mind was still trying to figure out what had happened. She felt like she was talking to a teenager, but that wasn''t possible. Daskka was just two years old, and despite everything, she was a construct. She wasn''t supposed to have any hormones or things that would cause her mood to shift randomly like a person. If she was acting like that, it had to be a reason for it. Hera took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, "Let''s stop and talk about this. I don''t like having to shout at you all the time." "Mum, please. Let''s just get to the tunnel. I want to help," Daskka said without stopping. Defeated, Hera sighed, "Fine, but we are talking about this later." Daskka didn''t reply and just kept going. A few minutes passed with the giant snake having to change directions a couple of times because she found holes or plants that could be dangerous if touched. Nothing weird or magical, just typical plants that still could pose a danger. The worst of all, or at least the worst that they saw, was a sandbox tree filled with fruit that would explode like a grenade when it turned ripe. Hera thought that she could survive that attack without too much of an issue, but at the same time, that wasn''t something she wanted to confirm. "We should warn everyone about this," Mylo said. "Yeah. If even this is here, it could have something worse," Hera nodded. "Like what?" Mylo started looking around, worried about what could be hidden. "There is the... manchineel tree, yeah, I think that''s the name. It''s super poisonous. It can make you blind and give you severe rashes. The suicide tree makes people kill themselves if they eat the fruits. Nightshade is also a problem. There is another one that touching it feels like being bitten by a deadly bug. You need to take steroids to cure that. Oh, and there are those things too," Hera pointed to the side, to a small tree branch where a set of white fruits with black dots emerged from red stems. By all effects, they looked like eyes. "Is the tree going to grab my eyes?" Mylo took a step back. "What? No. Those are called Doll''s Eye. It''s a fruit, but it''s very poisonous. If you eat that, you will die and look like you have had a heart attack. The toxin affects the heart muscles specifically. It''s a great thing for a sneaky murder," Hera gave Mylo a smile as a joke, but that made the fighter stop in his tracks. "Why do you know that? Have you killed someone with that?" "What? Of course not! I never...." Hera stopped before finishing the sentence, "The only time I had to kill someone, I did it with a weapon, not with poison, and it was self defense. I just like mystery movies, and that thing showed up in one that I watched recently. It was a victorian thing where the lady of the house wanted to get rid of the abusive husband." Mylo felt bad about his question. Shane told him how much Hera struggled to cope with having killed someone, "I''m sorry. I didn''t..." "It''s ok. Don''t worry about it," Hera shook her head and saw Daskka leaving the forest. "Here! We arrived," Daskka called them and moved towards the tunnel. Hera followed right after her, happy to be out of a jungle where she couldn''t trust anything. Nimbus also came down from the sky and stood by the Empress'' side. Looking at the tunnel, Hera could see a long path heading inside the volcano. It wasn''t a natural formation but something that was clearly built by someone. There were support beams and patterns on set intervals, and way in the back, Hera could see a set of stone metal doors that were open. Beyond it, she could see the reflection of a reddish-orange light bouncing off the doors. "Are we going?" Hera turned to Mylo. He nodded but tightened the grip on his staff before stepping forward, "Stay close, just in case." Hera pulled her daggers from her waist, and Nimbus did the same with the tonfas. Daskka also moved closer, and got ready for a fight, even if, in theory, no monster should be around here. When they were all ready, everyone started walking deeper into the mountain. 554 - Inside the tunnel Hera, Daskka, Nimbus, and Mylo inched, little by little, toward the open door. They were all trying their best to notice something from the room beyond it. They didn''t want to be caught off guard if something, or someone, was inside that place. Hera knew that the odds of that were very slim. Monsters should only show up during a storm, and no one should be living here. Especially since for that to happen, people had to be stuck here for generations. As far as she knew, it''s been decades since anyone came to this room. However, all this was only considering the doorway they came from. People could still come from any other doorways, wherever they were. There was a chance that a new civilization was beyond this room and that this would be their first contact. Hell, she might even find some of the dwarves from Kul Dorul here. They passed the last of the support beams and approached the door when a loud bang echoed through the tunnel. Hera instinctively created a stone barrier in front of them, and they all ducked down. A few moments passed before any of them moved again. Peeking over the stone barrier, Hera sent out Scythe towards the door since they were the smallest blade she had. The earrings passed by the door, and after a brief moment, Hera heard them talk to her. ''It''s all clear. I have no idea where the noise came from, though. But there is no one here. Also, there is a corridor to the side.'' ''Ok, but what is in there?'' Hera asked. ''It looks like a forge. There are a bunch of furnaces and some anvils and tools to the side. Everything seems to be fine too. It doesn''t look like someone was just here. I can''t see any footprints or anything of the sort.'' Hera frowned but whispered the information to the rest of the group. It was more for Mylo since Nimbus and Daskka also heard what Scythe was saying, but they didn''t make any comment about that. "So we can enter?" Mylo asked, still in a whisper. "I think so. But there is a chance that something there will only trigger when we are inside," Hera replied. Mylo nodded and got up. Before continuing to walk, Hera put the stone barrier down, just in case something happened, and they had to run for it. Moving to the door again, they peeked inside, and just like what Scythe reported, this place was a forge. There was a set of ten anvils and racks with several types of tools to make things. From this distance, it was hard to tell exactly what was there, but some things seemed familiar to Hera, even if she couldn''t understand why. Looking to the sides, they noticed a large workbench with more sets of tools on the right, and to the left, there was a corridor leading deeper into the mountain. Hera and Mylo shared one look before stepping inside this forge, ready for any traps that could trigger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Supafa Island challenge. To complete this challenge, you must reforge the correct item. Current participants 2/10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Current participants? Does that mean there is a limit to how many people can work here at one time?" Hera asked. "Considering the number of tools and stations, it makes sense," Nimbus nodded. "How many participants showed up for you?" Mylo turned to Hera. "Two out of ten. And for you?" "I got one out of ten. So I guess I''m the one, and you are the two," Mylo said. Hera nodded, "Yeah, I don''t think it would make sense to tell how many people are inside but don''t count you. Still, let''s check out the corridor first before dropping our guard." Mylo looked to the tunnel and started walking with his staff already in hand. He held it as if it was a spear since this tunnel was much smaller than the one they used to get here. Before walking in that direction, Hera did a once-over around the area just to make sure they didn''t miss anything or any other passages. Confirming that the coast was clear, Hera called all of her blades and spread them out. She would be in the middle while the court covered both the front and the rear. Following that corridor, they found a few doors. The first one was a storage area filled with hundreds of weird items. From cutlery and earrings to support beams and padlocks. There were some weapons and armor in the mix, but they didn''t look all that well. Not to mention that the items were in bad shape. Be it rusted, moldy, or just plain broken, every single item had some type of defect that made it unusable. In all likelihood, the test was about finding the item they had to remake here and then use as a base. Or at least that was what Hera was thinking about. This challenge was obviously made for crafters. "Now that I think about it¡­ Each challenge is made for a specific role," Hera said as they looked around the small warehouse. "What do you mean?" Nimbus asked, but both Daskka and Mylo were also staring at the explorer. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Well, the first challenge felt a lot like something made for an assassin. Being sneaky and stealing one item is something that can even happen in the role test. The second one seemed to be made for researchers since it used language and something more ''researchy'' to complete it. In the race one¡­ I don''t know, it could work for a fighter since it''s a more physical-based thing, but maybe it works for an explorer, too, since we are more versatile in facing random obstacles. And then we have the crafters," Hera gestured to the items in this place. "Right¡­ so we are still missing mage, controller, healer, hunter, and then fighter or explorer?" Mylo asked. "Yeah. I know the math doesn''t add up. There are nine roles and only seven challenges. My guess is that healer and explorer are the ones that won''t show up. That''s why I''m considering that the race was for fighters," Hera explained. "Why do you think explorer would be missing?" Nimbus tilted his head. "Because it''s the one that makes less sense. How can you make a challenge for the literal jack of all trades? Not to mention, explorers don''t have a set skill or something that all of us share. At most, our relic, but each of us has something unique with it. Just look at mine, Shane''s, and Adriel''s. There is no way anyone would even say they have the same origin." "That is true. Having drones as relics is something weird. And yours is¡­ what does it do again?" Mylo turned to Hera. "I can ask a question and use mana to get the answer. It will always give me a correct answer, but if there is not enough mana, it won''t give a reply. Then there is the thread that I can attach to things and move it around using mana, and ¡­. A binding thread effect that I always forget to use," Hera scratched her cheek. "That''s all?" Mylo was looking at a shelf filled with small bobbleheads, trying to see if one of them was less damaged than the others. "I mean, the question part is kind of big, but yeah. Last time I changed it, I got the thread, but now I don''t even have to use it," Hera looked at her blades, "I really need to change how it works, but I don''t want to mess up. So I need a crafter role. Shane and Adriel confirmed that with that role, we can use a skill to change our relic. It can only do small things, but if you keep tweaking it, you can get to where you want to go." "Do you know what you want to change?" Mylo was now crouched in front of a box filled with mining tools. "I have a few ideas, but I need to see what the skill does first," Hera went to check a shelf of teapots, they looked more or less ok, but when she touched one of the lids, it broke in five different pieces. "Like what?" Mylo continued going through the tools. "Maybe changing the string so if I wrap something with it, I can move it around as if I''m holding it. That would work great to solve the problem of my blades being too light to deal heavy blows. But a more realistic idea would be to make my dread to be a wireless receiver for my mana. That way, maybe my court can move around without worrying about being inside a set range of me. After that¡­ I don''t know. It used to have a threat detector. Maybe I can make something like that again, but more effective, like allowing me to see any hostility within range," Hera moved to a drawer filled with glasses. They had no lens on them, but the frames were also banged up and broken. "You also had that idea about turning the thread into armor," Daskka spoke up. "Right, that was an idea I had a long time ago, but I think it would take way too much effort to make it work," she turned to Mylo, who was staring with a confused expression, "The threads are very hard to cut, so I thought about making armor out of it. I even tried buying some yarn to see how much I would need just to wrap myself with it, and¡­ yeah, it''s not worth it." "I see," Mylo nodded and continued searching for the item that they didn''t know what it was. ''Were¡­. Were you really thinking about changing your relic to something like that?'' Lurize asked. ''Of course. I want you guys to be able to move around. I imagine that having to stick with me is very boring. Who knows, maybe we can even figure out a way for all of you to speak or at least write like Daskka with her mist to communicate with others. Not that she actually likes doing that, and talking in a group is a mess, but I want you guys to be as free as possible,'' Hera smiled at Lurize as she replied without opening her mouth. ''But¡­ Giving us that much freedom can cause problems, can''t it? I mean, What about when you have to change court members?'' Ooze asked. ''In that case, we can throw a farewell party. I was already thinking about doing something like that next time I change one of you guys.'' ''That could be fun¡­ in a weird kind of way,'' Core was floating by the armors, testing them out. Most of the pieces were pierced by his probing with almost no resistance. ''I''m trying to come up with a better way. I really don''t want to be depressed for days every time I have to part with one of you guys,'' Hera replied, and before anyone could say anything else, Mylo grabbed a shield and started walking towards the door. "This looks easy to make," unfortunately, the moment he tried to leave the storage, the shield vanished and appeared back in the box where it was found, "Oh¡­ if you take the wrong item, it goes back. This sucks." "Yeah¡­ let''s check the rest of the rooms first. Then we can try to figure something out here," Hera put all the knick-knacks she was checking and left the storage with Mylo and her court. There were three more rooms in this hallway. On the opposite side was another storage, but this one only had paper. Thousands of pieces of paper with various schematics and instructions were written in languages none of them could recognize. After searching for a few minutes, they went to the last door. This one was all the way in the back, with a heavy-looking steel door in front of it. Carefully, both of them opened the door and revealed a dormitory with ten king-size beds and some desks in front of it as if they were more workstations. The most unexpected part was the beds themselves. They had sheets that were, somehow, still soft, and beneath it, there was what could only be described as the top of a jellyfish being used as a mattress. Daskka was the one who tried it out, and it didn''t hurt, but it was like she was sitting on top of a water bed. On the side, there were also three bathrooms with showers and running water. "Well¡­ I guess we have a place to sleep if we need it," Hera scratched the back of her head. "Yeah¡­ And we are alone. We should go back to the forge. We barely looked there," Mylo turned around. Not seeing anything better to do, Hera followed the fighter, hoping that she could progress her crafting skills during this challenge. 555 - Forge, materials and blueprints Looking over the forge, Hera realized why this place looked familiar. It was an approximation of what Helena showed her in her challenge hint. The only reason it took her so long to connect the dots was her worry about an ambush when they first arrived here. Having ten forges spread around also made things more confusing. However, now that she had looked at the area properly, it was clear that it was the same place, just with more equipment. She pulled the picture that Helena had and confirmed that, when isolating one of the stations, it would match exactly with the terrarium that was shown. But the items on the anvil and the box with scrolls were missing. Hera''s best estimate was that those represented the item they had to reforge and the blueprints. Then again, the objects on top of the anvils looked more like blocks or ingots. Maybe the idea was that each item would take five different materials to make. That was one thing Hera had yet to understand. If they had to reforge an item, where would the supplies be? Mylo and Hera were looking at different forge stations. They had the anvil, a couple of different buckets with liquid, and the forge itself. Each looked like a brick oven with some small details to differentiate them from one another and a metal lid in the front. When Hera opened one, a large gust of hot air came rushing out, and she could see hot magma moving inside as if a lava river was passing under the furnaces. Out of curiosity, Hera pulled one of the tools to the side and tried to poke at the molten rock. That wasn''t possible. Between the magma and the tool, there was an invisible barrier, but it looked like this protective field was great for conducting heat. After Just a few seconds of letting the poker touch it, the iron was already starting to change colors. "Hera," Mylo called, making Hera jolt up and drop the poker like a kid who just got caught doing something bad. "Yes?" Hera turned around while keeping her back perfectly straight. That caused her entire court to start giggling, ''shut up all of you,'' the Empress huffed in her mind. "Take a look at this," Mylo was staring at something on the wall. He was all the way to the right, looking toward the corner. Hera walked over and saw a large plaque written in plain English, but she could see that this wasn''t the case. Behind the letters, there was a flow of mana, something that was hidden behind it all, but it didn''t seem like Mylo was able to notice that. It wasn''t the same type of mana as the one being used to light up the place. This one felt less constricted, more free. ''Care and Maintenance of the Forges 1 - Do not keep any items inside the furnace overnight. 2 - If the material gets burned or destroyed inside the furnace, place the T-shaped green rock inside it and close the lid. The rock will clean the furnace, but you won''t be able to open it for the next 30 minutes. 3 - Each tool is branded with the number of their forge. Return the tool to the correct forge after use. 4 - To request a material, open the first drawer of the workbench and pick the options while placing your item on top of the counter. The required amount will appear in the bottom right drawer. These materials cannot be taken from this challenge unless they are in the form of a complete item. To ask for another material, you must remove the first one from the drawer altogether. Each workstation only has a set amount of materials available. They are restocked every day. 5 - Keep your workstation clean. If needed, you can find cleaning supplies inside a box in the right corner of the forge. 6 - Once per day at 3 P.M., The fumes of the forge will vent through an internal passage. This causes a loud noise. Avoid doing any delicate work during that time frame.'' "That is all¡­ surprisingly tame. I don''t know what I was expecting," Hera said after reading the entire notice board. "Yes, but it''s good to know how to get what we need to make the items," Mylo nodded. "Yeah, but aside from that, all other warnings are very standard to what one would see in a forge," Hera remembered the times she helped Silah out. "Still, how are we going to find what item we should fix? Can you ask your relic?" Mylo looked around. "You mean reforge. And I can ask, but I have to be very precise in how I ask the question. If I just ask where the item is, it will come up as ''in the storage'' or something like that. I would probably have to ask where in the storage the item I have to reforge is located, but even that is a gamble. What if the item only shows up after another condition is met?" Hera sighed. "Then why don''t you ask how to find the item?" Mylo turned to her with a confused expression. "Because I don''t know if that will work. And then I will be out of questions." "Can''t you ask more than one question?" "There is a two-hour cooldown, not to mention that I need to put mana into the relic. If I wanted to go all out, I would put everything I had and then be defenseless for a while," Hera replied. "Don''t you have weapons? And your flying court?" Mylo stared at Hera. "I do, but still. I don''t want to be caught off-guard." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "So save a little. Isn''t your mana pool larger now?" "It is, but then comes the problem of, ''what if we need a different question later?''" Mylo stopped to consider her words for a moment. After about a minute, he sighed and turned around, "You are weird." Hera just stared at him in disbelief, "Where did that come from?" "You have a thing that gives you the answer for something you need, but since you are always thinking, ''this might not be the best question in the future,'' you end up never using it. To make it worse, you complain about the relic not being as useful as others. Shane has a weapon, a very strong one that she can use for a bunch of things, but it''s a weapon. Adriel has the drones, and they are just a special mount. The way I see it, you are the only one with a relic that does something that couldn''t be replaced, and you never use it," Mylo opened one of the drawers to look at the materials available here. Hera stopped to process what she had just heard. Unsure if that was an accurate assessment, she turned to Daskka, "Do I do that?" The herald nodded, "You do, mum. It''s just like when you are playing games. You never use items because you always think there is a better moment for that, even in the final boss. You had to try that fight again five times because you swore there was a fourth phase and refused to ''waste your healing items'' after that big area attack. This is not the first time we had this conversation, but it looks like it didn''t stick." "I must agree. You are overzealous with some of the skills you can only use after a certain time. You constantly mention that your All In skill takes too long to rank up, yet you hardly ever use it," Nimbus nodded. "That''s¡­. Fair. Ok.. I''ll try not to be as¡­." ''Stingy?'' Armory asked. ''Greedy?'' Ooze added. ''Paranoid?'' Lurize suggested. "I was going to say parsimonious, but thanks for sharing what you really think about me," Hera rolled her eyes and pulled Yarnball from her waist. Going off on what Mylo suggested, she asked, "How can I find what item I have to reforge in this challenge?" Using about 800 thousand mana, she got a reply, ''Look for the blueprint you can read.'' "Ok, easy enough," Hera showed Mylo the answer, and they moved towards the storage with the scrolls and schematics once again. There were at least a couple of thousand blueprints inside, but they started checking one by one. It took them about an hour and a half before Hera found one she could read. It was a small scroll with the schematics of a small skinning knife. It had a wooden handle with some details made out of gemstones and a silver edge. However, a key part of the blueprint was that it required another skinning knife to be used as a base. In essence, the challenge wasn''t about making a new item but remaking the old one, and the blueprint showed the step-by-step process. Hera showed the scroll to Mylo, but he still couldn''t read it. Like they were suspecting, each challenger would have to find their own blueprint. "Go look for the item. I''ll keep searching here. It''s not like you can help me," Mylo told Hera. She wanted to protest, but in the end, it wasn''t like she could do anything. If the scroll could only be read by the person who would use it, having a second set of hands or eyes would be useless. Hera pulled up Yarnball and confirmed the remaining cooldown, "If you can''t find it in half an hour, I''ll try using my relic to help you." Mylo just nodded as she left the room, heading to the item storage area. She opened the scroll again to see what she was looking for. Her court was also able to read the blueprint, and Hera wasn''t sure if she was surprised about that or not. In a way, it made complete sense. Her blades were part of her, and they were considered a single entity. At the same time, it was very weird since each of them had a personality, and she couldn''t even consider them as pieces of her own mind. Some were so different from herself that this theory simply didn''t work. After getting past that internal struggle, finding the knife was very easy. Unlike the initial appearance, the storage was incredibly well organized. Each shelf, drawer, or box had a specific type of item. All she had to do was to look for leatherworking materials. In just a few minutes, Hera noticed a tanning rack on a shelf and a few tools in front of it, including eight different skinning knives, but only one of them matched the same model as the one in the scroll. Hera picked up the knife and took a look. The blade was partially rusted, and there were some cracks near the base. The handle was splintered on one side, and the other side was much smaller, almost like whoever made it was overzealous with the sanding. Even the decoration was gone on that side. Speaking of which, the pattern that framed the handle was weird. It looked like someone ground up a bunch of different gemstones and just used them to fill the gap, but not in a good way. The colors were a mess, and it didn''t look pretty, not to mention things were uneven, which made the knife horrible to hold. She left the storage area with the knife in her hand, and the item didn''t vanish like it did when Mylo tried to leave with the wrong one. Walking towards the main hall again, Hera started to think about the materials she could use. If she was considering the blueprint, she would only need three different materials. The metal for the blade and screws, the wood for the handle, and the gemstone for the details, but something was nagging her. After reaching one of the workstations, she placed the blueprint in the panel above it in a slot with a glass frame to allow her to not only see it but also use the markers by the side to make notes or changes without changing the blueprint itself. Before anything, she pulled up the picture Helena sent her. The one showing the forge, "Why does this have five things on top of the anvil?" "Maybe you have to use five materials?" Nimbus suggested. "Isn''t that a bit of a waste? Not to mention some of the things back there would need more than five, and others less, I think," Hera scratched her head. "How about if you take off the parts of the knife first to see if there are any hidden features or something inside? It''s a good idea to see the damage and how everything is set together," Daskka added. ''Also, this is not about making a new item. You should look for ways to repair as much as you can of the original before remaking parts of it,'' Lurize added and pointed with the tip of the zweihander to one of the drawers he had opened. There was a book inside called ''How to repair items of different materials.'' "This feels very hand holdy," Hera frowned. "Maybe that is because otherwise, only crafters would complete this. So it''s giving you the opportunity by teaching you the steps. You still have to figure out how to make all this work," Nimbus picked up the book and started to look through it, "Here," he showed the first chapter to Hera, ''Disassembling with care.'' "I guess I should start then," Hera sighed and began the next step of the challenge. 556 - Zoned out Hera was in the middle of taking apart the skinning knife when an alarm that she had set up started to ring. Cheap weekly walked back to the blueprint storage room to check on Mylo. The fighter was still struggling to find something he understood, and Hera had an idea of how to help him. Pulling Yarnball, she asked, "Where, inside this storage, is the blueprint that Mylo can understand?" Just like last time, she pumped almost all of her mana into the question. Part of her was sure she wouldn''t get an answer. After all, this would be basically cheating, and her question was very specific. Not to mention, this was the first time she had ever asked a question that was 100% unrelated to herself or anything she was looking for. Yet, the screen flickered, and words appeared. ''Two drawers to the left and four down from the one he is currently searching.'' "Mylo, check this one," Hera walked over and opened the drawer her relic told her to. She let the fighter look over it while she kept the one he was just checking open and the blueprints he had already looked at separate from the rest. Just in case the relic made a mistake. After about five minutes, he pulled one of the large blue pieces of paper. "Found it. It''s for a¡­ teapot?" Mylo frowned. "Well. I got a skinning knife. It''s not awful, but hardly useful," Hera chuckled, "Come. I''ll help you figure out which one you have to work with. Oh, and I found that the workstations have a book inside them that teaches us how to do this." "That''s good, but you can go ahead. I already know what pot I''m looking for." "Really? Which one is it?" "The one you broke," Mylo said as he went inside the storage room. "Oh¡­ sorry about that," Hera scratched her cheek. Ever since they talked about her relic, things felt weird, and she had no idea why. Walking back to the workbench, she continued disassembling the knife. It was much harder than she expected, mostly because of the techniques shown in the book. All of them focused on maintaining the current materials and parts as best as possible, and that slowed things to a crawl. Even removing the screws that kept the wooden handle attached took ages because it required a specific solution to be poured in the holes and then let it sit for a few minutes before she continued the work. It would be nice if she could do several of the screws at once, but if the solution dripped into the rest of the knife, it would damage it too much. Mylo came carrying the teapot with both hands and placed it on the workbench at Hera''s side. She quickly pointed to where the book was located, and they continued working. Neither of them spoke much, not out loud, at least. The Empress was still talking with her court. Since they were weapons, they had a unique perspective on this whole situation, and some of their advice proved invaluable. The book said that if the screw started to be a problem, she could try to wiggle it gently with her tools, but Core suggested an alternative. Daskka could use her mist to wrap around the screw and then make a hurricane of sorts to loosen it. Doing so would deal much less damage to the knife. While continuing the work, Mylo occasionally asked Hera where she found one tool or another. In turn, the Empress would ask similar questions or his opinion on things that she was struggling with, even with the help of her court. Between reading the book and trying to follow the blueprints, neither of them realized how much time had passed. At one point, Nimbus thought he heard a noise coming from somewhere, but at the time, Hera was starting to melt the metal to fill the cracks in the knife, so his focus wasn''t there. She placed the two small ingots, following the instructions given by the book. Their weight should be enough to compensate for the missing weight of the knife plus an additional 10% that would end up being removed in later stages of the reforging. Thankfully, the blueprint was very specific on the measurements the end result should have and there was a scale available to use in the workbench. Inside the furnace there were the two materials that she would use to improve the knife. First a steel ingot that was the same type of metal used on the original, then she added a different material to coat the entire knife and make it sharper. Among the list, she noticed something called ''replenishing bronze'' that should regenerate with time. The effects wouldn''t be enough to allow someone to split the knife and let it grow back again, but it could work so the blade would never lose its sharpness. However, that wasn''t without its flaws. This bronze was much more malleable than most other metals, meaning that if the bronze was used on a weapon, it wouldn''t have a good enough edge to cut most monsters'' hide in a single swing, especially when it was covered in mana. On the flip side, a skinning knife that was made to be used when the monster was no longer an issue could prove to be invaluable. Nimbus did point out that if the knife couldn''t cut monsters when they were alive, it would have problems cutting them when they were dead, but Hera liked the idea of that material and wanted to try to add it to the item. With care, Hera removed the melted ingots from the furnace and started pouring the metal over the disassembled knife that was already in a sand frame to avoid spilling it everywhere. She closed the lid over that frame to avoid any contamination from the outside and set it aside to let it cool off. Just as she started working on the handle and decided which type of wood she would use, a voice came from the entrance. Stolen story; please report. "You have got to be fucking kidding me." Hera and Milo looked behind them and saw the rest of the party, with Shane in front with an annoyed expression. "Oh, hi, guys. Did you complete your challenge?" Hera asked. "Yeah! About six hours ago!" Shane yelled, "What have the two of you been doing?" "Working on the challenge. We have to reforge an item," Mylo replied. "I know that, dumbass. I just got the notification when I walked in here. Didn''t you figure we would be waiting for you? We were freaking out here." "We¡­ kind of lost track of time. It''s easy to get in the zone here," as Hera was trying to come up with an excuse for not remembering to check the time, she realized how quickly she could focus on something in this place. "Fine, let''s just go. It''s already late, and going through those woods will be horrible," Shane rubbed her eyes. "We could just stay here. We have a dormitory, and that way, we don''t have to walk through that forest with no light," Hera suggested. "Really? Are the beds good?" Blue asked. "Kind of, they are sort of water beds made out of jellyfish, but they don''t hurt. We also have bathrooms here," Hera explained, but her hands were still moving around the bench, grabbing the wood and marking the size and the places she would have to saw and sand to make the handle. Mylo also was still working while still looking at the group. "Can you two stop! This is not a fucking joke!" Shane yelled again. "Sorry, sorry." Mylo and Hera both said, trying to calm the situation down. "I''m not mad. Just irritated. Come on, let''s go. You two can work on those things tomorrow," Shane said. "But are we going? Like it''s going to be dangerous to pass through the forest. We could sleep here and go out in the morning," Hera suggested again thinking that Shane didn''t hear her the first time. "Are you saying this just because you want to keep working?" Bonnie snickered. "No. Not just because of that. It would also help tomorrow. We are closer to the challenges we have to complete right now, so staying here would save us some time." Hera smiled. "Yeah... and I think we might need that. Or something else," Alex was holding her weather doll. It was red, signaling that it would rain soon. "How much time do we have?" Helena asked. "Close to 24 hours. The doll tells me the weather for the next day, and I check it constantly. Before we entered the forest, it was still white." Shane looked at Alex and then at Hera, who just nodded in response. "No one follows me. I need a few minutes alone. I''ll be taking one of the bathrooms in the dormitory. Actually, if you could all wait here, I would appreciate it," Hera didn''t wait for a response and just walked to the side passage in the forge. The Empress left the knife on the workbench, but there was a switch that would create a small shield on top of the table to protect anything on it. Blue found that odd and was about to ask something, but Shane stopped her, "It''s her turn to see if she can figure some stuff out. If anyone is near, things might go south." "Oh... ok," Blue nodded and waited for Hera to return. In less than a minute, Hera was already inside the bathroom, surrounded by her soundproof bubble and security cube. She made sure to lock the door and even placed a small stone pillar to stop anyone from opening it. After taking a deep breath, she spoke the words to trigger her skill. "I call upon the Guide of the Seven Islands. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." For the first time, when using the skill, she felt the ground rumble. Then, an opening appeared to her side, showing the middle of the room with the God of Water statue in plain view. She squinted, trying to see what was going on. She noticed some movement in the water as if something was swimming at high speed, but as it approached, Hera realized that it wasn''t someone swimming. It was someone surfing their own personal wave. The figure started to get closer and closer, doing even some tricks that were not fully appreciated by Hera since it was too dark for her to see until, with a splash of water, it arrived inside the safety cube. The ocean water splashed Hera''s face, making her close her eyes and unable to see the guide as they entered this obscured area. "Hera Kingsley. I was looking forward to meeting you," the guide spoke in a gravelly voice, and behind each word, there was something else. In a way, it reminded her of the sounds she would hear in Boothudurn when people were trying to change the stones of a house. When she opened her eyes, cleaning the salt water, Hera was able to see a giant golem''s face in front of her. They had a beak/mouth made of stone with three fins on top of their head. The eyes were deep and completely white, with a pair of small dots in the middle. What was strange was that she couldn''t see any limbs. It was just a stone head. A giant stone head that was almost her size when she was standing up, but a stone head nonetheless. "Hi, sorry for taking so long," Hera replied, snapping out of her daze. "I¡­ wasn''t expecting that reaction. I figured you would be used to our brand of uniqueness. Especially considering Peaches," the guide seemed a bit embarrassed for some reason. "I mean, to be fair, you''re only the third guide I met that doesn''t have limbs. It''s you, Peaches, and the guide for the Kobold Road, but he was literally a face in a wall." "What about Kelpi?" "Well, he''s a fish. And he has the suit with limbs. Most guides that I know are either animals or types of monsters that I''ve seen before. You are the first one who kind of breaks that cycle. Also, it was dark, but I''m pretty sure you were surfing out there, and I have no idea how that is possible without limbs. Don''t get me wrong, it''s impressive, and I don''t mean to say anything bad. It''s just something unexpected." The guide stopped to think for a moment, "That is fair. Also, I apologize for the lack of manners. I got a bit excited here. I am Ruma." Hera smiled and gave a short nod, "It''s a pleasure to meet you." Ruma looked up, and a sundial appeared, showing Hera how much time she still had left to ask her questions, "The pleasure is all mine. Now, would you mind if we got started? I understand that you might be pressed for time." 557 - Ruma "Can you tell me at what time the storm will start tomorrow?" Hera asked the guide in front of her. The weirdness of the situation still pressing on her, more because she was currently talking with a giant stone head. "I¡­ hum¡­ how can I put this¡­ Oh, you know what? It''s been a heck of a long time since I''ve seen anyone. So yeah, I can say this. You won''t be facing a storm tomorrow. But it will rain," Ruma winked at Hera. She paused for a moment, and it quickly hit her, "So we won''t have to worry about monsters tomorrow?" "Correct. Well, probably not." "Probably?" "Weather is a fickle thing. I can give you my best estimate, but things might change. Especially if any outside forces influence it. That doll your friend got can only do so much." "Do you mean us? We can influence things?" Hera tilted her head. "Well¡­ I don''t know. Your friend does have a legacy that can do something with storms. I honestly don''t know what effects that could trigger. But I was speaking more of the winds and everything that might meet the incoming storm," Ruma continued. "Can that actually happen? I mean, weren''t rooms supposed to be like closed-off spaces?" "They are actually more like pieces of a puzzle that are far apart from each other. We can talk about this some other time but let''s focus on your questions for now." "Right. So give me your best estimate of how long we have before the first monster shows up," Hera glanced up. There weren''t any numbers in the sundial, but she was assuming that she had already spent about a minute, a minute and a half of her time. "Best case scenario, 48 hours. If things go south, and I mean that literally. If the wind turns south, it could be somewhere around 20. The rain would start much sooner in that case. That is not taking into account anything you might do," Ruma admitted. "That soon?!" Hera gasped. They had less than a day to complete the challenges and get out of here, or be left stranded in this room for who knows how long, "Do you have any idea if the storm will last for a long time?" "I do. That will cost you some extra time. Is that ok?" "Sure," Hera nodded, and the sundial moved to what she realized now was the third marker. The cost wasn''t as high as she expected. "Storms come here to die out. You can think of this place as their graveyard. They come here and keep going until they lose all their strength. That can take between half a day to a few weeks. This storm will be in the longer range of the spectrum," Ruma had an apologetic expression. "Damn¡­ Ok¡­ Is there a place safe from the monsters here?" "The forge is a good call. You can close the doors, and no monster will ever go there, but the issue is food. The only way to get food is to go outside. Or you can stay inside one of the challenges, but only Shane and you would be able to know when the storm is over. Same thing if you stayed in your private rooms. If either of you were alone, I''m positive the guides you know would help you out with food, but with more people there, that won''t happen." "Yeah¡­" Hera sighed and tried to change directions on her questions, "Ok, do all doorways require us to complete all the challenges?" "Oh, smart. No, only the door you used to come here has that restriction." "Really?" Ruma nodded, moving its entire body while a wave kept them raised from the ground, "Since getting here from the Shtylla Archipelago requires you to pass a trail of sorts, the same has to be true from this side." "Ok.. and how many doorways are there in this room?" "Counting with the one you used, three that people have used before. I cannot say if there are more that have yet to be discovered or not." "Which layers do they lead to?" Hera continued. "One leads to the 20th layer, one to the 15th, and one to the 12th. I''ll say that for you to reach the doorway to the 12th layer would take a lot. It''s not just hidden, but there are a few conditions that must be met for it to work." "Shit. Really?" "Yeah, you should focus on the one leading to the 15th layer." Hera nodded, "Ok can you tell me where it is?" "That will cost the rest of your time," Ruma looked at the sundial. It was very close to the end already. "I mean, sure. If you can give a more or less precise location, that would be great." "I''ll be as precise as I can," Ruma smiled, "It''s on the last island you would go to. Considering the path you were taking so far. But it''s not exactly in a place where people would try to look. That''s the best that I can do." The sundial vanished, and Hera nodded, "That''s ok. I''m still curious about some things I saw here, but I don''t think they would help right now." "Like what? Ask me. If it''s not something that big, maybe I can answer it." "What is that statue?" Hera pointed to the giant crystal jellyfish in the middle of the room. We saw some mentions of it being the ''God of Water,'' and since you are telling me this place is where storms come to die, it makes some sense." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Oh¡­ that¡­" Ruma looked in the direction where he came from. The portal was still there, and the giant crystal jellyfish was bathing in the moonlight, "That is not exactly a statue. It''s ancient history, and it''s not like there''s anything you can gather from this, so I can tell you without a problem. A very, very, very long time ago that was a being that existed in this room. Kind of like Kirouhebi in the Waperath Jungle, but less¡­ sentient, I want to say. She couldn''t talk and just existed, like an animal. We can debate if she had a soul or not, but that honestly doesn''t matter. To me, she was important. It was kind of like a pet. A dog that kept me company during those long boring days. She would roam the room''s outer edges, where the water is much deeper than in the middle. A group of people came here and decided that she was a threat. Don''t worry. Whoever they were, they are long gone, and they were not part of a civilization that ever came in contact with yours. They used an illusion to create a mate for her, and, as she moved to the middle of the room, one of the people crystalized her." "How? How did they do that?" Hera gasped. The statue was massive, bigger even than the mountain where the forge was located. If someone was able to turn the entire being into crystal, it would require a massive amount of mana or something incredibly powerful. "They used the one thing that is completely unpredictable to anyone. A legacy. I''ve tried recruiting people who could dispel ailments and magical effects to release her, but to no avail. To make things worse, people can''t even damage the crystal, so I don''t know if she is trapped in there or not." "I''m sorry to hear that. Maybe I can try something in the future?" Hera had a lot of spells that dealt with ailments. Maybe she could release that creature if that was poison or something like that. Even if that wasn''t her focus, she would be willing to learn something new to help Ruma out. "I honestly think that the only person who will be able to do anything about it is the one who currently has that legacy, but if you ever have an idea, I wouldn''t mind you trying." Hera gave Ruma a sympathetic smile, seeing the sadness on their face, "What was her name? Or was it just a species?" "That one I can''t answer. There is more to her name than you might think, so it becomes an ''important question.''" "Mysterious. That only makes me even more curious," Hera chuckled. "I know. Maybe I''m doing this so you will try to figure something out. But it''s just the system telling me, ''no, don''t say that.'' It kind of sucks, but there is nothing I can do." "That''s ok. You already told me more than you should. I think. I''m still not sure what is considered ok to say and what isn''t," Hera sighed. "Honestly, same. Even after so long, I still get caught off guard by some of the questions people ask, and how the system stops me from answering them," Ruma continued and started to move towards the portal to the side. "Oh, there is one more thing that I kind of want to know. I''m not sure you can tell me, though," Hera waited to see if Ruma was going to stop or not. Seeing the guide turn toward her and wait, she continued, "I have, on good authority, that a Naga was the last person to pass by the Shtylla Archipelago. Were they the last ones who came from that room?" Ruma nodded, "They were. The last visitor that came from that doorway was a Naga. They left a few weeks later. Unfortunately, it wasn''t through a doorway that you are likely to use, even if they were not that high level." "So they used the doorway that is hidden or hard to get to?" "I never said that. You were the one who came to the conclusion that a good detective would," Ruma winked. Hera smiled and decided not to say anything else. She was never sure what to do when guides started to jump rope with the line of what they could say. What if the system realized something was happening and punished them for it? That wasn''t something she was willing to take the chance on. Just after leaving the safety cube, Ruma turned back to Hera, "Once again, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Also, I understand if you decide not to try any other challenges right now. I know you are pressed for time. But do come by in the future to complete them. It would be a lot of fun to participate when I can actually customize my things." "Oh? You weren''t doing that? I figured since you made the challenges, the basic statues were the ones you wanted to use." "You''re not entirely wrong, but there are some small things that I can''t use if I don''t know the person. I know it sounds a bit weird, but it''s part of the whole ''only a few people know about us'' thing." "That sucks. But I''ll be sure to try to complete them all," Hera nodded, "Oh, also. Did you write that book? The one in the forge?" "I did, with the help of a few other guides. Why?" "Can I buy a copy? I want to start crafting my own gear, and that book is amazing! It''s so well written." Ruma''s eyes sparkled with the compliment, "Well, thank you very much! I put a lot of work into that. You know that was a new addition, and you are the first to ever read it. Previously there wasn''t any way to help you like that, which caused a lot of people to give up on that particular challenge. That''s why I wanted to make a book to help, and all I had was time during the past few centuries. For you buying a copy¡­. I have to check with those who helped me make it, but I think we can make something work. Heck, maybe we can even start sharing the books we have with you guys. As long as they are not biographies or mention actual guides, it shouldn''t be a problem," Ruma was talking more to himself than to Hera at that point, "Yeah, that might work. We need to have a meeting, a big one." "Sorry about that?" Hera said with a puzzled expression. She wasn''t sure if a big meeting was something good or not. "Oh no. Please, don''t worry about it. I''ll let you know when I get some answers. Also, is it ok if I keep in touch?" Ruma asked. "Of course! You don''t even have to ask. So far, there was only one guide that I honestly wasn''t excited about getting messages or anything from." "Percy?" Ruma asked. "How did you know? Is he that obnoxious with everyone?" "Not really. I mean, he is¡­ a lot. But he isn''t that bad when you get to know him. As for how I know about that¡­ Well¡­ Guides are ancient beings that can do almost whatever we want all the time. Eventually, everything gets a little bit boring. Except for one thing," Ruma leaned over, "Gossip." "You guys were gossiping about me?" Hera gasped. "We were, especially after the challenges. They told me the story about when you all got drunk because of a bad batch of beer. And how you helped Nina and Talpa reconcile. I wouldn''t go as far as saying they wouldn''t have done so without you, but you played a big part in that. And about how you and Percy kept throwing jabs at each other when he showed up with Peaches." "Oh... still, it feels weird to know people are talking about you behind your back. Even if it''s good things." "Well.. that''s fair. But it''s not like we are any different from your friends. I''m sure they also talk about you when you are not around." Hera stared at Ruma with a deadpan expression, "Thanks for that thought," she said after a very long pause. Ruma laughed, making a sound similar to that of a rockslide, "Sorry about that. Are you claustrophobic? I have a great one about your brain." "The one that we have no problem with our brain being trapped inside our skull?" Hera asked. Ruma stared at her, genuinely disappointed, "You already knew that one?" "Yeah. sorry." "I mean, win some, lose some. I''ll catch you later, Hera." "I''ll see you later. Wish me luck," Hera sighed as Ruma left, and she deactivated her spells. People were already a bit on edge after this. Now she had to think about how she was going to break the news that they would have to find another way out or complete all the remaining challenges in just a few hours. 558 - Next step "Ok¡­ so let me get this straight. Our options right now are completing all the challenges before sundown tomorrow, searching for the next doorway and going to a place that is also above our level, or hunkering down somewhere with enough food for a month?" Bonnie was rubbing her temple. "That''s basically it," Hera nodded while still working on her skinning knife. She had no idea what they would decide to do, and if they decided to rush the challenges, she had to do her part. Not to mention she wasn''t in the mood to talk while doing nothing. Her mind was still on the God of Water and what had happened to her. Why did they decide that a creature like that was a threat? According to Ruma, she was peaceful. All of this also reminded her of Chika and how the people of the guild killed her without any reason. "Hera, can you stop while we discuss this?" Bonnie asked. The rest of the party was in a circle in the middle of the forge. "No. I can''t," Hera replied bluntly. "Would you like to share the reason with the class?" Bonnie crossed her arms. "I''m paying attention to everything you guys are saying, and if I miss something, my court will help me out. I told you guys everything that I found out there, well, everything that''s relevant, at least. I also found that a Naga was the last person to come here from the archipelago, and they used the hard-to-reach doorway to leave. But like I said, that''s not relevant," Hera continued carving the piece of rosewood she chose to make the handle of her knife. According to the book, she would have to wait about three hours before being able to continue working with the metal she melted. "So you were wasting time trying to find out more about the Naga instead of figuring out a way for us to get out of here?" Bonnie scoffed. Hera took a deep breath, "No. I did my best to figure out a way for us to get out of here without getting killed, but in the end, I had no more questions to ask. And it wasn''t like I could stop and come back to ask your opinion about it. This thing that we do has a time limit, and I can only use that short window to figure things out. I didn''t want to waste the last bit of time that I had, so I asked other questions, the first things that popped into my head. And for the record. I didn''t have a chance to process this. Working with this helps me concentrate, and since I''m not doing any small details, I can still pay attention to the conversation while making this knife," she looked up towards Bonnie, "I know that you''re scared. I know that the idea of getting stuck here or even beyond this place is not great. But Blue and I already went through something like that, and we came back, and this time, we are not alone." "I¡­ I''m sorry," Bonnie toned it down, realizing that her emotions were all coming from the fear she was feeling, "I just¡­ don''t like the idea of going to another place filled with monsters." Hera nodded, "I know. And I know that this is partially my fault. I''m the one that figured out where the doorway was and brought us here. But we are going to figure out a way to get back. We just might need to take a bigger detour." Bonnie nodded, and the group continued discussing their options. At the same time, Hera started to have a conversation with her court, ''Scythe, can you pay attention to both conversations?'' ''Sure can!'' the earrings replied in a chirpy tone. ''Thanks. Let me know if I need to say anything to them, but I want to know what you guys think. I mean everyone,'' Hera glanced at Nimbus, Daskka, and the rest of her blades. ''I think we should look for the doorway Ruma told us about. The one on the last island but not in a place where people would look for,'' Nimbus replied. ''That is safer now, but it might not be in the long run. Ruma said that doorway would take us to the 15th layer. So we will be in the middle of monsters from levels 47 to 50. That is much worse than the ones we might see here,'' Daskka shook her head. ''But it''s not like we know where it is, right? All we know is that it would take a lot to find the doorway to the 12th layer,'' Core added. ''Yes, but that doesn''t mean it would take much to find it. Ruma might be saying it would take a lot for it to be unlocked. Like the one in the Kobold Field that took Hera to Boothudurn. If I remember the story correctly, it only opened when the ground broke open during a battlefield, and lava was rising from the abyss,'' Lurize was floating on the other side of the workbench. ''If we somehow find that one, the doorway that leads to the 12th layer. How strong will the monsters be?'' Ooze asked. ''They should get up to level 36, but some might be as weak as level 5. The 12th layer is another of the weird ones,'' Armory, being the group''s strategist, had that information on the tip of her metaphorical tongue. ''That is much more manageable than anything else. Maybe we should try to find that doorway. It''s not like you don''t have ways of discovering information, Empress.'' Frost tapped Hera''s waist, where Yarnball was located. ''It is an idea, but we need to consider the cooldown and what questions to ask. Any ideas?'' Hera asked. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ''Empress, they are calling you. In essence, their conversation was the same as ours. Now they are asking if Yarnball can figure something out,'' Scythe interrupted. Hera turned to the party, "I was thinking just that. But before going for it, we should decide which doorway we will look for. The easy one that will bring us to the 15th layer, or the hidden one that will take us to the 12th?" "Can''t we try both?" Blue asked. "We could, but we need to keep the cooldown in mind. I can only ask a single question every 2 hours, and if the question is too much, it won''t work. I''m positive that asking point blank where the doorway is will be a waste." "Why is that?" Adriel asked. "Because the broader the question, the more mana it consumes. Like, if I ask, ''Where is the doorway to the 12th layer?'' Then all the doorways to that layer will be included in the question. Now, if I ask something like, ''Is the doorway close to the last island?'' I can get a more straightforward answer. Then we go from there." "But we already know that it''s close to the last island, don''t we?" Mylo asked. "We do. This was all an example. But one thing we could try is this," Hera pulled up a random map on her tablet and split into several sectors as if she was setting up a battleship board, "If we set it up like this, it''s easier for us to figure out the general area where the doorway is located." "Oh, that''s a good idea. But we can only check that when the sun is out¡­." Bonnie was looking at the map, already thinking about the way to phrase the questions to minimize the number needed to get to the result. "Maybe not," Blue smirked and summoned her flying cloud to her side, "I can go there and look around. I''m not using this to carry anyone because I have to move fast when I''m on top of it, and it can only carry me. I''m still getting the hang of this, but since I managed to use it during the race, I think I can use it now. " "Going alone is a bad idea. I know you''re not used to that spell? ...skill? Whatever, what if it breaks before you can come back? Or if you are too high?" Helena asked. "Then I''ll go with her. Nimbus can fly over the forest. He can carry me outside, and then I''ll be with Blue while we scout the area," Hera turned to the Sentinel, who nodded in agreement. "I think it''s better if you Ask a question before you go. We don''t know how long it will take for you to come back. If it''s over two hours, we won''t have wasted so much time," Shane suggested. Hera nodded and asked a question that was already on her mind, "The doorway that will take us from this room to a room in the 12th layer is located near which of the seven islands?" ''Beyond the Tacritan island.'' "Tacritan¡­ which one is that?" Hera looked at the group, but it seemed like none of them knew, "Ok, so it is in one of the two next islands¡­ At least we know that if we decide to look for it." "Ideally, we would find it. Going to the 12th layer sounds much better than the 15th," Alex sighed. "Do you still have enough mana, Hera?" Blue turned to her friend. "Enough for an emergency. Let''s go. I can recover while we are traveling," Hera moved to the entrance tunnel, followed by her court and Blue. She didn''t want to wait too much to do something. For a while now, she realized that having a discussion with a larger group would make things much more complicated and make her waste time without reason. Outside, Blue created a cloud near the ground and jumped on top of it. Lightning tendrils from her hands came out and latched onto the cloud, allowing Blue to keep her footing while flying. The controller pulled the cloud and took to the skies. Nimbus followed along with Hera in his arms. However, he wasn''t moving as fast as his new aerial companion. If it was on the ground, he would be faster, but speed wasn''t his strength when he was flying. "Are you ok there?" Hera asked since Blue was moving fast around the forest, spinning around and doing some erratic turns. "Yeah. I can''t be slow with this, or the cloud will vanish. I feel like a hummingbird." "A hummingbird?" Nimbus asked. "Yeah, don''t they die if they stop flapping their wings?" "What? No, they can land and sleep just fine," Hera replied. "Really? Where did I hear that, then?" Blue asked but continued moving around. "How should I know?" Hera asked. A few minutes passed, and they managed to get beyond the forest. There, Nimbus put the Empress down and changed to his mount form since it was much more comfortable for both of them. As they returned to the sky, Blue tried to slow down by constantly changing her altitude. That way, she wouldn''t be that far from the others, "This feels like old times, doesn''t it?" Hera looked at her, "How so?" "You and me, stuck in a random room trying to find a way to get back home and realizing that we have to get stronger and do a bunch of shit just to go back." Hera chuckled, "I mean, you have a point, but at the same time, things are very different. We are not alone, for instance." "But we are figuring out that our first plan has a second part that is going to take who knows how long." "That is very broad. It doesn''t count." "Fine, we are the only two who are willing to take a risk and scout what we need. Better?" Blue rolled her eyes. "Ok, that one is better, but it''s not so much willing as we are the only ones who can do it safely. And now we have legacies. I mean, c''mon. Are you telling me that you ever imagined that you would be flying through the air in a cloud when we arrived in Boothudurn?" Hera smiled. "No, but now you have something powerful, and I don''t." "Don''t be jealous. As far as I can tell, the only thing that the title gave me is more mana, and let me see some of the things that use mana in a different light," Hera replied. "Oh yeah. Because having more mana is completely useless," Blue rolled her eyes, but she moved a bit too much doing so and started to spin with her cloud. A few moments later, she managed to steady herself again. "How about we avoid making any wide movements when flying?" Hera smirked as they continued heading toward the next island. They had to scout two and try to figure out what their names were. If that didn''t work, Hera would have to waste one of her questions to find that out, which wouldn''t be great, but at least it was a plan. What they didn''t know was that if this was happening during the day, it would be easy to see the storm brewing on the horizon, but since the sun had already set, that line of dark clouds eluded their view. 559 - When you stare into the abyss... "Are we sure this is all?" Blue asked. She wasn''t looking good with all the ups and downs that she had to make to keep up with Hera''s pace. Still, they had already scouted the entire last island, or at least what they could see of it. "I kind of wanted to take a look beyond this island. I mean, we already figured out that this is the Tacritan island because of the notification that showed up. But if we could get some information on the surrounding area, we might be able to find the doorway to the 12th layer. Can''t you move in a straight line for a while?" Hera replied through their communicators. Trying to yell while flying wasn''t working, and thankfully, their equipment had a function to remove the noise that came with moving at high speeds to a certain degree. Blue shook her head, "I don''t think so. Not anymore, at least. I''m feeling way too dizzy." ''If she wants to land, I believe I could carry both of you back as I run. Mylo is considerably larger than you, and it wasn''t that much of an issue to have him on my back,'' Nimbus told Hera, since he currently couldn''t speak. "Nimbus is saying he can carry us on the way back if you want, but it''s going to be on the ground until we reach the forest." "Really? I''ll take that offer. This is worse than a boat. Mind if I land?" Hera gave a thumbs up, and Blue went down, landing on the last island. According to the notification they got, the challenge of this island was to ''reach the monument.'' However, they couldn''t get too close to the middle of the island when flying, and most of it had a weird shimmering effect when looking from above. Daskka even tried to go there, but as soon as she got too close, she was sent back flying as if a massive gust of wind was pushing her away. It was clear that Ruma set this up so that people actually had to go through his challenge and not just go around it. At least people could still fly around the island without a problem. "Hey, Hera, mind if I take a look at the entrance of this thing while you are checking the sky?" Blue asked as she landed. "Go for it but don''t go inside. We don''t know if you can leave after you start it," Hera replied and kept flying beyond the island. Even if Ruma said that finding the doorway to the 12th floor should be tricky, he also mentioned that the one thing no one could predict were the legacies, and there were three in her party. If anyone had a chance to find that doorway, even in a bad circumstance, it should be them. Flying beyond the island for a few minutes allowed Hera to notice a change in the ocean floor. The entire area was illuminated by the moonlight and the stars, and since the water was so clear, she could see everything going on in the sea. But at one point, that changed. The water turned dark as a massive abyss engulfed the ground. Even if the water was extremely clear, inside that pit, it turned darker and darker until it became pitch black. Hera knew of a few places back on earth that showed a similar landscape. If this was following the same idea, that hole should be the entrance for either a cave network or a single tunnel that was hundreds if not thousands of meters deep. "How large do you guys think that hole is?" Hera asked her court. ''I would say, maybe 400 meters wide,'' Core replied. ''I think that''s too little. It should be close to 1 kilometer,'' Frost flipped a few times in the air as if he was measuring things. ''Actually, it should be around 700 meters,'' Armory replied with a tone of certainty. "Are you sure?" Hera asked. ''I didn''t get the exact distance, but I''m sure my estimate is better than everyone else''s. I''m responsible for telling people how far they can go during a fight. After all,'' Armory had a proud tone in her voice. ''And we thank you for that. But that feels much more than what you could eyeball,'' Lurize replied. ''Yeah, but I know how far we could get if we make a conga line, so using that, I can give a rough estimate. Again, I''m not saying it''s 100% right. I''m just guessing here.'' "And your help is invaluable. I don''t even know what I would do without you," Hera replied with a smile, "If you ever want something, let me know. I never know what to do to thank you, guys." "Actually, mom. I have a thing for that," Daskka said. "Really? What?" Hera looked down at the snake that was around her waist. "There is a skill you can get. It''s called, well, in your case, it will be ''Empress'' Gift.'' It''s a skill that lets you give a permanent buff to your court when they complete a task or prove their worth. Each court member can only receive one gift for now, but later that can increase. When you are about to give a gift, you have a choice of a few options." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Really? Is there any restriction on what I can say about those choices? Like if I want you guys to pick, can I do that?" "You can, but it will only start counting their contribution after you get the skill," Daskka turned to Armory, "Sorry." "Do I have other skills from the legacy I could get?" Hera asked. "A couple more, but I don''t think you will like them. I can tell you about them later. I don''t think this is the right time for it." Hera nodded, that sounded like a serious conversation, and she had a lot on her mind right now. About ten minutes later, Hera came back to the Tacritan and asked Nimbus to land on the beach near where Blue was. "Did you find anything?" the controller asked. "I think so. There is a massive hole in the ocean floor back there. I''m 90% positive that it leads to the doorway to the 12th layer," Hera pulled her tablet and opened her map to show what was there now. Because of her [Explorer''s Map] skill, the area no was labeled as ''The door to the abyss.'' "That''s not ominous at all," Blue rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it," Hera sighed but turned towards the direction of the hole. She couldn''t see from this angle, but she still could feel that abyss somehow. Snapping out of it, the Empress turned to Blue, "Did you find anything?" "Not really. I think this island is supposed to be a labyrinth, and I saw it moving, so it''s not like we can map it out." "I see¡­. Well, we need to go back, and I have a weird idea," Hera said. "Which is?" "You know the snakes I can make with my bracelet?" "Yeah. What about them?" "It doesn''t say anything about maximum range. Nor if they vanish when I fall asleep." Nimbus went back to his humanoid form, "Are you suggesting we send your snakes to scout the area while we go back?" "Pretty much. In the best-case scenario, it works. Worst case scenario, it doesn''t, and I just have to recharge the bracelet again. And since it is late, it''s not like I would have another chance to use it today." Blue nodded, "I''m down. Are you sending all the snakes?" "Yeah. I''ll tell half to look into that hole and half to take a look at this labyrinth. If the doorway really is inside there, we might be able to find it." "Do you really think that is a possibility?" Nimbus titled his head. "Well. It would be a place people won''t think to look. After all, people would assume that a challenge is like a dungeon and doorways inside dungeons are not exactly common." "I see your point," Nimbus nodded. "Ok, give me some space," Hera took a few steps back and shook her wrist. Dozens of small snakes fell to the floor and stared at her as if they were an army looking at their commander, "This half will go to the northeast and dive into the area known as ''The door to the Abyss,'' the other half will go inside the challenge of this island. YOu are looking for a doorway, but if you find something else that is really interesting, let me know. Also, you five," she pointed at the five snakes closest to her, "You are to stay on this island and search outside the challenge. There isn''t much here, but you never know. Go!" Her snakes quickly obeyed the commands and spread out as if they were an army of ants. Hera gave them a satisfied nod and turned to Nimbus and Blue, "Let''s go back." "Don''t you want to wait here to see if they are going to find something?" "We can do that tomorrow, and we don''t know how long it will take for them to find something. Besides, if we go now, maybe we can arrive at the forge before the 2-hour cooldown. That way, we can talk about the next question. And this is supposed to be a test anyway," Hera explained. Nimbus once more turned into his mount form and carried both Hera and Blue while speeding through the islands. During their journey back, the Empress got a couple of pings from her snakes. One of them was from inside the labyrinth, the snake had found a doorway, but it did not lead to a different room. It was just one to enter part of a building. Still, considering that, at the time, Hera was already on another island, the range the snakes could still ''connect'' to her was considerably long. The second ping showed her a tunnel inside the abyss, which increased Hera''s suspicion that that place was an entrance to a cave network. When they arrived on the island where the forge was located, Hera couldn''t feel the snakes anymore, but if she focused on the bracelet and requested one of them to share their senses, she could still do that, but it was as if she was watching it through an old television. Everything was staticky and fuzzy, but she still could make some things out. After showing the map and the things they discovered, everyone agreed that the doorway to the 12th layer should be in there, but if it was a cave network like Hera suspected, it would be much harder for them to find it. Even if that layer was safer, it would be too much of a gamble, and they were pressed for time. Going back to the original plan, Bonnie and Adriel had already devised a way to waste the least amount of questions to locate the doorway. First, they created an 8x8 grid and overlaid it on the map. Then Hera would ask if the doorway was beyond line 4. If it was, she would ask the same question about line 6. If the answer was positive, she would point blank as if it was in line 8. This would let them know which line the doorway was in 3 questions. After that, they could repeat it with the row to get a location. Sure, it would take 12 hours to narrow it to one of the squares in the grid, but it was better than running around trying to search the entire place. Was this really the best option? No one could tell, but it was the best idea they could come up with. To make the best out of it, they also had to put the grid over the right part of the map, and Hera added one question to the mix. To know if the doorway was present in the area where they put the grid or not. It felt a bit like a waste since doing so would add another 2 hours to their timeframe, but at the same time, if they were not 100% sure they were looking in the right place, all the other questions would be for nothing. She asked that question, and Yarnball confirmed that the doorway was inside the grid. Now, all it was left was a very annoying night where Hera would wake up every couple of hours to ask a new question. 560 - ... The abyss stares back The first question Hera asked was if the doorway was located in an area inside the grid of the map they made. With a positive answer, people split off to rest for the rest of the night. Some tried to complete this forging challenge, while others went to the dormitory to rest up or to prepare something for the next day. Hera decided to finish her knife, or at least try to. Part of it was over, and now she only had to finish the handle and the gemstone details. She knew that Daskka had some skills for her to pick from, but according to the herald, none of the skills could help them travel underwater or find the doorway. Because of that, Hera thought it was better to focus on what she had at hand than to start to pick a new skill for her legacy. When they arrived in the next room, they would probably stay a day in their private rooms, and Hera could take a look at her options with fewer things in her mind. As the Empress worked in sanding and preparing the handle, Alex came over, "Hey¡­ I want to ask your opinion about something." "Hey. Sure, can I keep working, or is this a stop-and-listen talk?" Hera asked. "You can keep working," hearing Alex''s reply, Hera nodded and continued sanding the handle to match the shape of the skinning knife, "So¡­ You will understand what I''m saying but just humor me and pretend you don''t. If you had a way to find where the doorways are and how to reach them, even if that could eventually come back to bite you in the ass. Would you do it? To save yourself and your friends?" Hera looked up from her workbench and opened her mouth but stopped. She understood that Alex should be saying something related to the curse. After all, this was the only thing that the assassin had that could do something like that. Hera had seen Alex find some unique paths or a monster weakness out of the blue, and a part of her suspected that it was because of the curse, but this felt much bigger. "It depends. If my friends don''t have a way to figure this out, and if it looks as if we are in trouble, yeah. I would do whatever it takes. I mean, I kind of did that with Blue once already. We could have ended up lost inside the cave in the Kobold Battlefield and die to the rising lava. So, yeah. If I had no other options, I would 100% risk that. But knowing what you are saying, give us some time before doing anything rash," Hera looked deep into Alex''s eyes when saying that. "I''ll try, but¡­ I might be able to take us to the 12th layer. Which would be much safer. I mean, most of us would be fine, I think. Helena and Adriel especially. They have the most experience in the MAZE, but Bonnie¡­ I''m worried about her. She is not a fighter, and if we end up in a very dangerous place, I don''t know if she will make it. Or if we could protect her," Alex glanced at a forge on the other side of the room, where Bonnie and Adriel were talking about his drones. The researcher wanted to determine how to improve their chances by using that equipment. Hera nodded, "I know. But like I said. I would think the same but leave it as a last resort. Maybe my snakes can find something out." Alex nodded and walked towards the dormitory, but that conversation made Hera worry. If she decided to use the curse, maybe the rest of the party would also be affected by it. After all, that thing could spread through knowledge. By using that to find the doorway, Alex could expose them all to the curse''s capabilities. The next two hours went by in a flash. Helena and Blue stopped by to see if Hera was ok, but she was focused on the work. To make the details in the handle, she decided to use jade dust and resin, that way, it would be both pretty and comfortable to hold. Not to mention that a thin coat of resin around the wooden handle would make it more durable and less prone to some problems. Thanks to one of the furnace settings, letting the resin cure took only half an hour, and by the time she was done, Hera asked the next question to Yarnball. Following Bonnie''s plan, she asked if the doorway was in a column past the fourth one on the map. She had to be clear to say past and not in the fourth column or beyond so as to make the split even on both sides. After getting an affirmative answer, she went to the dormitory to eat and get ready for bed. Bonnie also set up an alarm spell around Hera''s bed so she would be woken up every two hours to ask another question to Yarnball. Soon, everyone turned in for the night and rested until the next day. After everyone got ready to leave in the morning, Helena turned to Hera, "Are you sure you don''t want to sleep some more, sweetie?" Hera let out a huge yawn, "Yeah. I just need to move. If I go to bed now, I won''t wake up anytime soon," the Empress woke up every two hours to ask questions to Yarnball and spent almost all of her mana doing so. However, now they at least knew that the doorway to the 15th layer was in the 6th columns of the map and in the lower half of the rows. Before leaving the forge, Hera took one last look at the workbench she had used the previous night. She managed to complete the challenge, and now, the skinning knife was in her pocket as the reward for being successful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera''s Skinning Knife A skinning knife made by the Empress of Blades with the help of her court. The dedication and care put into the creation of this item were felt by the materials, which, despite the crude workmanship, formed a unique bond with each other. Skills: Master Skinner: Whoever wields this knife is likely to cut leather in ways that go beyond their skills. Ever sharpened blade: This knife will never become blunt when used for its true purpose. If used to perform a different task, the knife''s edge will be recovered within 10 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a beautiful knife with a silver and bronze edge, and a mahogany handle with jade details that formed the petals of a rose around it. Hera was very proud of the end result, more because of the design she made than anything else. "Hera? Everything ok?" Shane asked, snapping the explorer out of her daze. "Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something. Let''s go," Hera replied as Daskka assumed her giant snake form to take the lead. They left the forest and the island altogether and jumped on top of Adriel''s drones while Nimbus would drag everyone to the Tacritan island. It didn''t take that long, and as they got closer, Hera started to feel the snakes she had sent out the previous day. That caught her off guard. She never actually tried to see how long those constructs would last, but she never expected them to be still around after she slept. To make things even more surprising, she was getting a few pings from them. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Hey. My snakes are still out, and they are telling me they found something. I''ll check it while we are going. Nimbus, try not to make any sharp turns so I won''t fall," Hera told her party. Everyone nodded, and she started to check what the snakes were doing. The four ones inside the labyrinth showed her some unique landmarks. Statues, odd structures, and even a painting of the ocean view without the God of Water in the middle of the room, but that was it. Some of the other snakes were still running around, trying to see if they would find something, while the ones in the ''Door to the Abyss'' were all waiting for her response. In reality, there were only four spots where the 12 snakes were waiting. Changing her senses to them, she understood why. They were all in front of places that looked like tunnel entrances but were blocked by rubble. It was hard to tell if it happened naturally or not. Having still 8 of them to change to, she asked the constructs to search for a way past the debris. There may be a hole or something that would allow them to pass. If they found something, the snakes were to continue through that passage. If not, they would continue going deeper into the Abyss to see what else was in there. When they arrived on the Tacritan island once more, everyone started searching for the doorway across the sixth column of the map. Unfortunately, there was a portion of the area that was located inside the labyrinth. Seeing that, Hera sent one of the snakes, still moving around the island, to the challenge and told it to come back after running in there for a few minutes. That way, she would be able to tell if there was a physical barrier that would stop people from leaving after entering. After almost an hour of walking around, Daskka called out, "Hera! I found something!" "What?" the Empress asked, turning to look at the giant snake. "The entrance is blocked by rubble," she said while pointing to what looked like a cave, even with small rocks covering the entrance, but instead of it being on a rock or a mountain. It was in the middle of a massive tree that seemed to be thriving. "That''s odd. Let''s go take a look," Hera told everyone what she found through the communicators, and soon, Blue, Helena, and Mylo joined her. All the while, Daskka was trying to pass through the rocks by turning into mist, but every time she went inside, she would come back out as if she was running in circles. Daskka jumped on top of the rubble and started digging. The rest of the group followed her. It didn''t take long until she finally found a gap in the rocks, which allowed the snake and the snake constructs that Hera called over to pass through. She connected to Daskka to cast a light spell and then swapped her senses with one of the snakes that crossed the rubble. Unfortunately, there was nothing inside. Well, close to nothing. Some stones and what looked to be remnants of a very old campfire were present. Beyond, there was a solid stone wall, the same wall that was circling most of the island. Revealing that this was part of the challenge, in a way. With a sigh, Hera called everyone back and continued their search. Everyone was getting frustrated. This doorway was very well hidden, and Adriel was even considering going to the Abyss. There could be a tunnel that led to an underground cave. Otherwise, this wouldn''t make any sense. Hera asked the next question, narrowing it down to just two squares on the map. The sky was already filled with dark heavy clouds, and in a few minutes, the rain started. For now, they knew that monsters wouldn''t show up. According to Ruma, it took a storm to make them appear. However, this was much earlier than anyone predicted. Even the guide said that the rain should only start after sunset, and it was still close to noon. The entire party doubled their efforts. If the doorway was there, they had to find it soon. When it came time to ask the last question, Hera didn''t waste time and confirmed that the doorway was located in the area inside the 6th column and 7th row of the map. That was the same place where she found the camp inside the tree, part of the labyrinth, and part of the beach. In frustration, Mylo even started digging around the sand to see if he could find anything. When the Empress got a ping from one of her snakes, she quickly swapped her senses and noticed how the snake was in front of a sandpit, and someone had written something on it. ''Hera, this is Ruma. The storm is coming fast. You don''t have much time. Go back to the challenge on the first island. We''ll figure something out. This is the biggest storm I''ve seen in 750 years!'' Hera snapped back to herself just as she saw Alex standing in front of her. "Hera¡­ I''m going to do that." "Are you sure?" Hera agreed with that idea, but she still was worried about her friend. "No, but we don''t have that many options right now," Alex hesitated, "If I¡­ If I turn into something, kill me and forget about me. Please." "You are not turning into anything," Hera replied. Alex walked a bit to the left and stared into the distance for a few moments. She then rubbed her eyes and rushed towards Blue. They talked for a few moments and ran toward the edge of the beach. "Guys! Come here, quick!" Alex yelled. Everyone rushed to their side, and Shane asked, "Did you find something?" "Sorry about this," Blue said, creating a set of ring clouds around everyone. Each cloud was like some rope tying them with their hands to the side, "Hera, please. Dismiss your court. Shane, don''t do anything, please." Hera glanced at Alex while dismissing her court and the snakes, "That was fast, or did you know what to do already?" "I kind of knew. After I talked with you, I checked, and when I got what I needed, I told Blue about my idea. I just left the details of what she had to do until now," Alex replied. "Ok, what are you doing?" Helena asked. "We are getting to the 12th layer. As soon as Blue is done with that spell," Alex glanced to the side. "Give me a couple of minutes. This is hard," Blue kept staring down while a cloud formed in her hands. It was almost as if she was trying to compress it. "How did you find this?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah. Please, tell me how, or I''m breaking this cloud. I don''t like what you are doing right now," Shane squinted. "I¡­ I am under the influence of something really bad, but it''s something that wants to thrive, so it needs me alive and well. If I lean into that influence, I can learn some things, and I found a way to go to the doorway like that." "Why didn''t you ask about the one we were looking for?" Mylo frowned. "I figured that if I was going to risk doing this, I might as well go big or go home," Alex shrugged. "It sounds like you made a deal with the devil," Adriel had a sorrowful expression. "You are not completely wrong. It does feel like that. But it wasn''t intentional." "How can you¡­." Bonnie started speaking but was interrupted. "Done. I hope this works!" Blue tossed that small cloud into the sky, and everyone watched as it went higher and higher, "This should clear the storm. Or that''s the idea." Just as she said that the cloud expanded and merged with the one already in the sky. For a moment, the wind and the rain stopped. "Hey! It worked!" Alex cheered, but her words fell on deaf ears as a thunderstorm drowned out her voice, and the wind picked up again, now moving much faster than before. Everyone tried to hold on, but they were tossed towards the northeast. At first, they just tumbled forward, but soon they were actually being carried by the wind until they all fell inside the Door to the Abyss. "Blue, drop this cloud!" Helena yelled. Now that they were in the water, they would need their hands to move around. From the skies, a part of the clouds started to come down, as if it was going to become a hurricane directly on top of them. At the same time, the water inside the Abyss started to move, and the current became stronger and stronger, forming a whirlpool. Blue tried to drop her spells, but the storm was more powerful than her and was now in control of all the clouds she had created. The group spun around more and more as debris from the surrounding area came loose, and after a terrifying five minutes, they were all dragged underwater to the deepest part of the Abyss. 561 - 12th layer Hera held her breath as much as she could as the water swirled around her. She couldn''t tell how long it''s been since the whirlpool brought her under. Trying to open her eyes resulted in her being unable to see anything aside from the sand that was pulled from the beach. Luckily, she wasn''t getting hit by any rocks or something else that was being dragged by the current, but she still could not move her hands thanks to Blue''s binding cloud, or whatever she called it. More time passed, and Hera could no longer hold her breath. Her body moved on its own, and she took a deep breath, getting ready to taste the water and start drowning. She tried calling Nimbus, hoping the Sentinel could do something to help her, but she couldn''t focus for long enough to do so. To her surprise, when her mouth opened, and she took a deep breath she felt air coming inside her body. Somehow, the water would change to oxygen the moment it went inside her body. Trying to look around again, Hera couldn''t even see the dirt and sand around her anymore. Everything was too dark, which could only mean that she was either dragged into a tunnel or she was too deep to be able to see the surface again. One more time, she attempted to call her court, but she couldn''t reach them. The cloud around her seemed to be interfering with her legacy somehow, and right now, she didn''t have a way to break free. More time passed, but at least she wasn''t worried about drowning at the moment. Using a floodlight spell, she illuminated some of the area, allowing her to see a few other bodies being dragged by the tide. Her hope was that those were her friends, not the monsters who should be arriving with the storm. Suddenly, she was pulled to the side by an even stronger current. After being jostled by the most unnerving water slide of all time for another ten minutes, Hera was spat out on a cave. It felt like an accident since the actual passage still kept going, but because of the angle she was in, the Empress ended up falling through that hole in a cave that didn''t have that much water inside. It took her a moment to get up since the impact hurt her shoulders. The first thing she did after that was try to remove the cloud around her. It was surprisingly easy to do so. Not to the point where someone would break it by accident, but it was much less effort than breaking free from actual ropes. With the cloud out of the way, Hera called her entire court out. "Hera!" Daskka wrapped herself around the explorer, rubbing her head against Hera''s. "Empress!" Nimbus took one look at her to be sure she was ok and spun around, pulling his tonfas and getting ready for any incoming attacks. The rest of her court made a ring around Hera and did the same thing, getting ready for any threats. The Sentinel triggered his Frozen Ash aura and spread it to the other blades. Just like Hera, he could also trigger spells that affected the court, but, just like Hera, doing that took a toll on his mana. Until recently, he couldn''t keep that aura up for long. However, things changed when Hera got the title. His mana pool also increased a lot. To help everyone, Hera made a few dancing lights spread around this cave. Just as she was doing so, Alex came crashing down through the same hole. As the assassin groaned on the ground and started to get up, the Empress could tell that the water outside seemed to be moving too fast for it to get inside this place. Or there was a barrier of some sort stopping it from crossing the threshold. "Are you ok?" Hera turned to Alex with both Fang and Claw still in her hands. She wasn''t sure this was a safe place, and the assassin didn''t look injured, just dizzy. "I''m o¡­" before Alex could finish her sentence, Helena came crashing through the hole and slammed on top of her. "Shit!" the mage gasped as she landed ass-first on the ground with her legs kicking Alex''s head, "Where are we?" "Don''t know. Do you need help getting out of that cloud?" Helena groaned along with Alex, but she got up and got closer to Hera, "I would appreciate it." Nimbus stepped forward, but Hera grabbed his shoulder to stop him. For some reason, this spell could block her connection with her legacy. It didn''t seem to work when the court was already out since when Blue cast it, nothing changed, but she wasn''t willing to take the risk right now. The Sentinel didn''t say anything, but he could somewhat understand her worry and let the Empress do her thing. Alex rolled away from the apparent landing zone while Helena was being set free, and one by one, the rest of the party started to arrive. First Blue, then Shane, Adriel, and lastly, Mylo. Everyone seemed to be mostly ok, aside from some bruises caused by the landing, not to mention that everyone was feeling dizzy and disoriented. On the other side of the cave, they could also see a passage that led to nowhere, just a flat wall. Before anyone could say anything, Alex walked over and started touching the surrounding stone in an odd and very specific pattern. At times, she would ask someone else to touch another spot at the same time as her, or she would stretch to hit one rock with her feet and another with her finger and stay like that for a few moments. After about five minutes, she jumped to a corner of the cave, and a pressure plate seemed to shift. A loud rumbling followed as the stone in the back shifted and opened, revealing more of the corridor and, illuminated by glowing moss, a doorway. "Ok, guys. Don''t touch the moss. It should be toxic, but that is the doorway to the 12th layer," Alex turned around, but as the rest of the party saw her face, they all froze, "What is wrong?" "Your¡­ your eyes¡­ Why are they black?" Adriel asked. Hera, Blue, and Helena already had an idea why. Alex used the curse to find all this out, and because of that, the curse grew stronger. The three looked away quickly, worried that if they stared into her eyes for too long, they might get infected by it too. "They are black?" Alex blinked, but her eyes were still black, and as her eyelids closed, the inky black darkness that covered everything, from pupil to sclera, remained in plain sight. As if a light shone through a thin layer of fabric, "Ok, we don''t have time to worry about that now. We need to move. If we stay here for too long, the mold could poison us. Bonnie, could you¡­ wait. Where is Bonnie?" Everyone looked around, but the researcher was nowhere to be seen. They rushed back to the hole where they had arrived, but nothing was there. Shane used gauntlet relic to scan the area where the water was still moving, and Hera threw a sensory net inside, trying to expand it as much as possible. No one had to say anything before starting, not just because they were worried, but because everyone understood what this should mean. It''s been a while since they got here, and if she wasn''t around, it was highly likely that she missed the hole and was dragged deeper into wherever they were. "No¡­ No¡­ No, no, no, no, no. You told me everyone would be ok! You said that!" Alex yelled, but she was looking at a wall, not at anyone in particular, "Don''t give me that crap. You said that the one who would be hurt was me. Not anyone else!... She didn''t! I asked her not to, so she didn''t! Blue!" Alex rushed towards the controller, "Can you tell if Bonnie is still bound by your cloud?" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Hang on, and step back. I don''t want to get whatever bit you," Blue pushed her away without looking at Alex directly and focused for a moment, "No, she isn''t. It looks like she was the first to break free. Much sooner than anyone else." "NO!" Alex punched the wall, "You said she would be safe. You said we would all be safe," she started to sob, and by all accounts, she should be crying right now, but no tears were forming around her eyes. While that was going on, Hera pumped as much mana as she could inside her bracelet and summoned about a dozen snakes. She sent them all out, towards the hole in the wall and the current, telling them to find Bonnie. The snakes obeyed and started to move while Hera focused on their location. They spread out a bit, going in four different directions but after a few moments, three of those groups passed by the entrance once again. The last three snakes seemed to be getting closer, but it was hard to tell if they would also find their way back to this place. Suddenly, one of those three gave Hera a ping. She swapped her senses and managed to see Bonnie flailing around in the water, with one arm and one leg bent unnaturally. "Grab her and pull her to the tunnel. The rest of you try to help them!" Hera said out loud in a rush to command the snakes. "Did you find her?" Alex asked, but Hera was focused on the task at hand. "Nimbus, I''m going to ask you something horrible," Hera said. "You are saving a friend. There is nothing I wouldn''t do to help," the Sentinel replied. Hera gave a soft smile and pointed to the hole with a heavy heart, "Go in there. Stay with your lower half in here and the upper half in the water. When you see Bonnie, help her get inside." "I''ll hold your legs," Mylo said, getting closer to Nimbus. "I''ll help," Blue rushed over. "Is she ok?" Adriel asked. "Doesn''t seem like it. Can your drones work as a gurney? I don''t think she can walk to the doorway," Hera asked. "They can. I''ll set them up." Nimbus jumped inside the water and held on. Hera could feel how much that hurt. It was like the Sentinel was being ripped apart by the strong current. While Blue and Mylo held his feet down with all their might. In a way, it looked like an old punishment where someone was killed by having their limbs attached to different horses before telling them all to run in opposite directions. Yet, he endured. The snakes approached fast, and a couple of the ones that were dragged to different tunnels managed to connect with Bonnie. By wrapping themselves around the controller, they were able to change her course, even if it was painful for her since the snakes were grabbing her broken limbs. After a few tense moments of struggle, with Helena joining, using a spell that took away one''s sense of pain so Nimbus could focus on the task at hand, Bonnie was grabbed by the Sentinel, who jumped back into the cave. His form only lasted long enough to place her body on top of the drones that Adriel set up before he couldn''t hold anymore. Hera could see that a large part of his lower back was gone, and he was hemorrhaging mana. "I¡­ need a break," he managed to say before vanishing back to Hera''s legacy. Hera couldn''t even reply as she was already on top of Bonnie, trying to heal her. The researcher was alive and awake but covered in cuts and bruises. Daskka also turned into her healing mist form and started working. Even Shane used her legacy to enchant her body to heal at a fast rate. Hera also did her best to make a couple of splints for Bonnie''s left arm and leg. The problem was that she had no way of telling if the bone was in the right place or not. Alex stepped in to help, using the same thing she used to find this place to confirm the location of each bone and how it had to be set up so she would heal as quickly as possible. When that was over, Hera took a deep breath, but she started to feel a bit dizzy, "What is going on? Do we have problems with the air here?" "No¡­ Crap, the mold. We need to move to the doorway. Bonnie, please tell me you can, at least, accept the notification," Alex asked. Bonnie nodded weakly, and they all rushed to the newly discovered doorway. Hera didn''t even take the time to look at the symbol on top of it and just touched it as soon as she could. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to The Abyssal Deep - 12th Layer [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked back and waited for Bonnie and Adriel to pass through before pressing the button to transfer to this new room. Since it was on the 12th layer, the monsters should be anywhere from level 5 to 36, which shouldn''t be that bad. She felt that familiar feeling of being dipped into warm water, but it was quickly replaced by a cold wind and raindrops that almost felt like small ice cubes hitting her skin. Currently, there was a storm in the Abyssal Deep, and they were out in the open. Everyone came out of the doorway, with Alex being the last one to pass through. Bonnie was still in bad shape while being carried by Adriel''s drones. His relic allowed him to keep the drones out and let him cross with them without any issue to him or to those who were being carried by them. "Guys! I think I can see some houses over there!" Shane called. They were on a small island that was completely devoid of any protection. It was just a large circular piece of land made out of stone with the doorway in the middle. The explorer was pointing to a place beyond the water, where some structures could be seen, and there was even some light over there. "How are we going to cross this?" Blue asked. She wasn''t going to try to cancel out the storm again, and flying under these conditions was a no-go. Not to mention that they had to carry Bonnie through the water, which could prove to be a problem. "Hang on," Shane grabbed her handheld grenade launcher and quickly made a projectile with a light blue glow. She then shot it into the water, and a large part of the water turned into ice. Following that, she touched the frozen water, and the surface changed. Instead of a smooth area, everything now looked like blades of grass. Stepping forward, she walked on top of this makeshift iceberg until reaching the middle of it, "Come. This will work as a boat for a little while. And I can make us move too. Helena, can you use your shadow tendrils to keep Bonnie secure while we do this?" Helena nodded, "If anyone else wants a better footing, I can hold you. Since I won''t be carrying anyone, doing that with this many people is not much of a problem." With care, they brought Bonnie over. She was still struggling to stay awake, and Daskka was still continuously using her healing mist. When everyone was on top of this ice slab, Shane enchanted the water around them to push the ''raft'' to the houses in the distance. The rain wasn''t letting up, but compared with the hurricane they faced in the Seven Islands, this felt like nothing. Soon, they arrived close to the structures, which were actually several rafts connected to each other. The lights were small rocks that emanated light. The small houses were, in fact, the cabins of the boats. Hera looked back toward the island they just came from, but she couldn''t see it anywhere. Looking to the sides, she could only see water and rain. There wasn''t a single large structure, a landmark, or anything, and looking at where the horizon should be was like staring into nothingness. "Where the hell are we?" the Empress gasped before going inside one of the cabins with the rest of the group. 562 - A glimpse of a threat Bonnie did her best to stay up, worried that if she passed out, there wouldn''t be a way to help everyone. However, now that she was inside a seemingly safe location and the party looked like they were getting ready to rest, she let the sleep and the numbing effect of Daskka''s spell take over. Blue was right by her side and gestured to everyone about what was happening. They asked Hera to make a soundproof bubble to not wake Bonnie by accident while they talked, even if it was very unlikely. The Empress did as she was asked, but she told everyone that she wouldn''t stay inside for now. She wanted to scout the area a bit to ensure they were safe. Just because they were in a village of sorts, it didn''t mean there wouldn''t be any monsters around. Especially since they didn''t see or hear anyone anywhere. Since Hera had her court, the rest of the party agreed to let her go. Alex suggested going with her, and the idea was ultimately accepted, even if Shane and Adriel seemed weary about that. "They are suspecting me¡­" Alex said sometime after she left the cabin with Hera. The explorer already had her entire court out, except for Daskka, who was still healing Bonnie, and Nimbus. "Of course they are. You somehow figured out a very complicated thing, and to get us there, you trapped us and made us all fall inside a whirlpool without warning. Even I, who knew you were planning something, am upset about all that. Not to mention what happened with Bonnie," Hera looked around. There were several cabins on this part of the raft, and the area was much bigger than she initially expected. Even during this heavy rain, she could count about twenty different structures hidden in the dark. Most of them were marked by those ever-glowing rocks, but others were completely dark. Hera spread out her court, and she was being very careful since Nimbus wasn''t around. It seemed like it would take him some time to recover. Daskka explained to her before she left the cabin that her titled blades could keep going even if they received a blow that should destroy them, but doing so would have a price. Fang and Claw were in her hands to face any incoming monster. "But¡­ it wasn''t that bad. Was it? And Bonnie only got hurt because she didn''t follow what I told her. The whole point was to make sure you guys could arrive safely," Alex protested. "Yes. It was that bad. I didn''t break free because everything was too much, and the cloud stopped me from calling my court. And more to the point, you didn''t tell anyone what you were doing. Even Blue, who had a lot more information than any of us, didn''t expect the hurricane and the rest," Hera looked to the water again. It was hard to tell if this was an ocean or just a lake, but considering the name of this room, she imagined it was the former. Abyss usually was a word used to talk about the sea and not a deep lake. Ooze entered one of the cabins, and it was empty, aside from a small pile of rubble on the corner. "But we didn''t have time, and I wasn''t sure if talking about that plan would make you guys more like to go with it or not," Alex looked away. Hera rolled her eyes. She was about to turn to Alex but caught herself. She didn''t want to see the assassin''s eyes, or this new version of her eyes, at least, "And how is that working for you? You use the curse to find out a bunch of things, and now your eyes are completely black all the time. Do you think that having something like that will be better or worse to let us know more about it?" the Empress started moving slowly toward one of the dark buildings. The ground here was weird. From what she could tell, it was made out of some mineral and looked completely smooth. Yet, she wasn''t having any problems walking around in the rain. Almost as if the floor was made to stop people from slipping. "But¡­ we came here, and everyone is ok. Things didn''t go perfectly, but it worked out great! It''s not like everyone will be angry at me because of it, right? I mean, it was just a small mistake. You guys will still like me, right? It''s just like what happened with you and Blue," Alex said with a happy voice. Hera was trying to focus on safety, and Alex worried that people would get mad after what she had just pulled. It wasn''t even a plan. She put everyone''s well-being in the hands of something they know nothing about, and the whole spiel about ''the curse needs me to survive'' had no basis whatsoever. To make it all worse, instead of helping to ensure they were safe and could rest, Alex was just staring at Hera. She was just staring at Hera with those black eyes asking for some sort of validation when things were nowhere near resolved. They had no idea what would happen in this room, no clue what monsters they could find here, and no plan to find their way back. They couldn''t even let the Royal Explorers know that they had to go deeper because they didn''t have a chance to do so. Hera couldn''t stop thinking about how worried her dad would be. How scared he would be alone in Boothudurn, thinking he had lost his daughter again. Yet, despite all that, Alex was more worried about if people would like her than if they would even survive. "NO!" Hera snapped but quickly stopped. She knew that she was scared, her body hurt, and another hundred problems were going through her mind, so her reaction might have been too much. Taking a deep breath, she told her court to stay close and on the lookout as the rain continued to fall, "No, things didn''t work out great. Bonnie is seriously hurt, Nimbus is hurt, and you broke everyone''s trust. You and Blue made a plan but didn''t talk with anyone about it and just went for it in a situation where we still had options. This is not like the Battlefield. In there, the tremors were starting, the ground was about to open, and I made the only choice I could to save us. You decided, all on your own, that you knew more about Bonnie than anyone else. You said she wasn''t a fighter, but from what I can see, she is the only one of us who fought against the current. The only one who tried something instead of just getting dragged into a whirlpool. So no, Alex. I don''t agree with what you did, and I don''t like the situation you put us through. You messed up, and now you are going to have to face the consequences." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Alex was taken aback. She frowned, looked down to the ground, and then mumbled something that Hera couldn''t hear. However, Scythe was close enough to understand what she said and passed the message to the Empress, ''She is saying ''You said things wouldn''t be like this,'' and it doesn''t seem like she is talking about you.'' "Alex?" Hera called, but there was no answer, "Alex?" she tried one more time, but the result was the same, "Alex!" Hera yelled as she grabbed the assassin by the shoulder. She couldn''t tell by her eyes, but she seemed startled, "Who are you talking to?" "To¡­. No, I can''t!" Alex pushed Hera back, "I can''t talk about this!" "Ok, so it''s the curse. Is that why you are acting like this?" "Like what?" "Like a teenager in a crappy TV show! You are worried about people liking you when we are in a situation like this, and the way you are speaking has completely changed. What is going on?" Hera stared at Alex''s eyes, but this time she noticed that when the assassin blinked, the black that covered her eyes was no longer there. "Crappy TV show? That''s just hurtful. My acting is just a bit rusty," Alex completely changed her tone and opened an eerie smile that was too big for a human, "Use your skill to talk to me. It''s been way too long since I''ve seen anyone. Also, this can happen here, so consider it a warning. You have five seconds to kill me." "What?" Hera took a step back but felt a pair of arms around her waist. Yet, she was still holding Alex''s arms. Looking down, she saw part of her body stretching and wrapping around her. "Three," the creature using Alex''s form spoke. Hera looked up again and saw the face melt away, revealing a purple liquid that seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn''t grasp where she saw it. "Two," this time, the voice didn''t come from any place in particular. It was directly by Hera''s ear. "Kill this now!" Hera yelled at her court, which all sprung to action. They were already on stand-by when whatever this creature was started to wrap around the Empress, and they wouldn''t let it hurt her. Ooze went straight for the head while Core and Frost aimed at the sides. Lurize came from above, putting himself between the monster and Hera, and even Scythe started attacking with their tiny blades. Hera also joined in, and by the time she slashed it with Fang and Claw, the creature fell to the ground in a puddle. "This¡­ is a slime?" Hera remembered the monsters she faced during the explorer''s test. The way they fell to the ground was exactly the same. "Hera!" Alex called from a distance and rushed over, "Are you ok?" Hera glanced over and saw those black eyes that pierced through her eyelids, "I''m ok. One of the monsters took your shape, and it was even talking." "It talked? Really?" Alex had a serious expression, "The one I saw only had your shape, and it only worked that well because of the rain. When I got close, it was clear that it was a monster." "Mine was exactly like you. Even the black eyes and it knew things. Actually¡­ no, it didn''t know anything aside from what we talked about here¡­" Hera realized that during the conversation, the fake Alex never mentioned any specific details, only some generic remarks that followed what they had discussed in the cabin. Then again, this creature told her to use a skill to talk to them and that it''s been a long time since they''d met someone new. Her best estimate was that this was about a guide, so it could explain it. Also, having the monsters be able to read their minds and trick them by pretending to be someone else was something too terrifying to consider. "Come, let''s get out of the dark. Those lights are actually monster repellents," Alex grabbed Hera by the hand and started walking toward the cabin. "How do you know?" Hera asked as they moved, with her court in tow. "I used my Observe. You always complain that we forget to use that. This time I remembered," Alex smiled, but her expression turned darker soon, "I''m sorry for not telling you about my full plan. I didn''t expect the curse to be this much of a dick." "I mean, it''s in the name. It''s a curse," Hera rolled her eyes, "I''m ok. I trust you, but don''t do that again. It''s the second time we''ve been in serious trouble because of that thing. Don''t let it be a third." Alex nodded, and they arrived in the cabin. The assassin had gathered a few of the monster-repellent stones that were loose in a couple of houses and brought them along, so this area would be more protected. Still, everyone agreed that when they went to bed, they should have people staying up in shifts to watch over the party. During that time, Hera could only think about the monster version of Alex and whether her gut was right and the thing she talked to was the guide or not. 563 - Meeting under the rain "Well, shit. Shapeshifting slimes?" Shane rubbed her eyes. "It seems like it. Have you ever seen one before?" Hera replied. "During the explorer test. There was one I had to deal with. It was like an extra challenge, and I almost managed to beat it," Shane explained. "Wait, really? Are all the tests the same? I had to deal with slimes too," Hera turned to Adriel. "As far as I''m aware, there are a few variations. One is against slimes, mine was against treants, and the last one I can remember has you dealing with¡­ fish? Frogs? Something that lives in the water. I think there are another five types of monsters you can see there or something," Adriel scratched his head. "Really? Treants for the explorer''s test? Those are hard to fight," Shane had a surprised expression. "Well, it''s the test version, you know. It''s not supposed to be as hard as the original," Adriel continued. "Can we leave the talk about tests for later?" Alex interrupted. "Sure. Let''s start with you," Shane turned to Alex with an angry expression, "What the hell did you do? How did you find the way to come here, and why did you trick us to do that?" "Trick you?" Alex gasped. "What would you call what you did? You had Blue trapping us with her cloud, which we need to talk about, by the way. I don''t know if you felt that, Hera," Shane turned to the Empress with a shocked expression. "We''ll talk about that later. But yeah, we need to," Hera nodded, already understanding that this was about their legacy. It seemed like Shane also had a similar experience to her when they were in the whirlpool. "Ok, later. But I still want to know what the fuck is going on. And you are not out of the woods either, Blue. Trapping us like that was shitty," Shane glanced at the controller, who didn''t reply, just nodded in agreement. "I¡­ I don''t think it''s a good idea for me to explain," Alex turned to Hera, "Could you give them the rundown? I''ll add something when I feel it''s necessary." Hera sighed, "Fine. Just remember you are angry at her, not me, everyone. Basically, Alex was cursed. Sorry, I mean is. She is cursed. And it''s not an easy curse to get rid of. It''s something that already destroyed an entire room a long time ago, and even an ancient being that lived there was affected by it." "What kind of being?" Adriel asked. "I don''t know how to explain this. Basically, he was a dragon that existed in a part that was not exactly a dungeon, but it worked kind of like a dungeon. He could talk, and the temple where he lived had the history of that place in paintings and stuff." "Oh, so he was like the guardian beast of the place?" Adriel nodded. "Yeah, like that, but he couldn''t do anything with the room itself, only with what was inside the temple. He could watch the room, but that was about it." "Right, but what does this curse have to do with anything? I mean, I already knew she was cursed, but I don''t understand how she found out all this," Shane continued. "So, don''t ask me how. I don''t know, but the curse is supposed to be contagious. And the way you get infected is by knowing about it. The more you know, the easier it is for you to be affected by it. If you already are infected, the more you think about it, and the more you learn about the curse, the stronger it gets," Hera continued. "Ok, so it runs on faith?" Mylo asked. "We were thinking it runs on knowledge. Since you don''t actually have to believe in it for it to do something," Helena chimed in. She also knew a few things about the curse. "That still doesn''t explain what is going on. How did she find out about all this?" Adriel asked. Hera didn''t know the answer and ended up having to turn to Alex. "I''m going to avoid giving too many details. Since the curse gets stronger the more you know about it, it tries to lure me into thinking about it. So it will give me things that I want, or show me answers, and trick me into thinking about it. The first thing it did was show me yellow. The color yellow. I''m colorblind, so seeing that without any special glasses was amazing. Then it¡­" Alex started explaining but was cut off by Blue. "Alex, you are giving too many details, aren''t you?" "Yeah. Right, sorry. This is what the curse does. It makes me want to talk about it. It kind of reminds me of a line from a movie. How was it again? ''I spent about 20% of my time talking about the curse, and the other 80% of the time, I was praying for someone else to bring it up so I could talk about it more.'' I paraphrased that line but that is the sentiment. Anyway, it shows me things that I want to know. At times, they are things that are impossible for me to know. Like where some monsters are coming from or where I''m going to find a specific person inside a dungeon. This time, it told me what to do to reach that doorway and how to make sure no one got hurt in the process. To learn all that, I had to pay a price, which was knowing more about the curse. That happened while I was being dragged by the current and then when I opened the passage. Honestly, that part was just weird. Instead of telling me the pattern, it showed me a rhythm game with some flashes of things of the past in the mix. And some of those images were just insane, like¡­." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Alex!" Hera warned her. Alex stopped talking and took a deep breath, "Sorry. It keeps trying to make me speak, and I don''t even know if that was the curse or me. Anyway, that''s what happened. I know I was a bitch, and I completely understand if you decide you can''t trust me, but I''m not going to apologize for bringing us here. I stand by that decision. But I am sorry for getting you guys hurt, especially Bonnie. And for breaking your trust." There was a moment of silence after she finished speaking. Everyone was processing what she said. During the time she spoke, Adriel, Mylo, and Shane were the only ones staring at the assassin. The rest was making a point of not looking directly in her direction to avoid any possible problems with the curse. After about five minutes, Shane let out a loud groan. "Fuck this. It''s really hard to be upset with you when you are actually being reasonable. But don''t ever do that again. I don''t make a point of having people make my decisions for me, not anymore," Shane stared daggers at Alex. "I can''t promise that will never happen. If it''s an emergency and It''s either doing something like this or letting people die, I''d rather break your thrust than lose a friend. But in any other situation. I promise I won''t act like this again," Alex replied. "Ok, that. Do you see how annoying that is? It makes me want to punch you," Shane rolled her eyes. "If that helps, I''m ok with that," Alex nodded. Shane groaned once more and turned to Hera, "Now, do you want to talk about that in private, or can we talk here?" "I think here is fine. Since that is something that could be a problem for everyone depending on the situation," Hera said. "Ok," Shane looked Blue dead in the eye, "That cloud that you used to bind us. What does the skill say? I mean specifically?" Blue frowned without understanding why they were being so serious, "Hang on¡­. Here. It''s called Cloud that Binds. And the description says: Binds your target using a cloud. The bind is not powerful but can interrupt certain skills and spells. I''ve tried using it before on myself, but none of my skills were blocked, so I figured everyone would be ok." "Yeah¡­ I wasn''t. That skill can mess with my legacy. I couldn''t do anything with it during the whirlpool, and that made me panic even more," Shane replied. "Me too. I couldn''t talk with Nimbus and the others," Hera looked to the side. Daskka was sitting on Bonnie''s chest while using her mist to heal her as much as she could. The herald knew that her spell now was barely doing anything, but it seemed like at least it was keeping Bonnie comfortable. Hera mouthed a ''Thank you,'' since the snake was outside the soundproof barrier, "I didn''t try calling Daskka since I was worried that she would be dragged by the current." "I assume that wouldn''t be a problem. She is an item, even if she is part of the legacy, but I don''t know," Helena was making her own theories related to what they were talking about. Being part of the Order of the Lost Court, she had some knowledge about legacies. "But¡­ Nimbus was out when we were bound. Isn''t that right?" Mylo asked. Hera nodded, "It is, and at that time, I could still talk with him and the rest of the court. I think the problem was just when I had to summon them." "I couldn''t make any new enchantments, but the ones that were already active didn''t break. So maybe it doesn''t affect what we already used, only new things," Shane explained. "Wait, really? I can stop legacies?" Blue opened a big smile on her face. "Not exactly stop, but like, make things complicated. That could help a lot," Hera nodded. "Why do you think that?" Alex turned to the explorer, "Do you think we will find a legacy here?" "Honestly? I don''t know, but I think we have a chance. Like, we are clearly in a place where civilization once existed. Maybe one of them had a legacy and was killed by a monster. Now the monster has the legacy, and if it shows up, we can, at least, stop it from doing stuff," Hera explained. "That¡­ is actually a fair assessment. From what I know, most legacies are found in new rooms. Now that you mention it, a large number of them end up coming from monsters. The ones that are in a challenge are kind of rare, and they come with some benefits since you have to learn a bit about the legacy before getting it," as Helena spoke, Hera and Shane glanced at each other. They both got the rare ones. "I think the best option is for us to test how strong that will be. But honestly, let''s do it later. I''m not in the mood for that now. I''m just tired," Shane slumped against the wall. "Me too. Do you guys have food?" Blue asked. "I have some rations, but I don''t know if they got wet in the whirlpool," Alex opened her bag to check. Everything was dry, and it looked like even with the strength of the current, the waterproof bags they got were holding strong. "I told you it was a good investment," Adriel smiled as he noticed the power bar in the assassin''s hand. "I still think it was way too overpriced. I mean, 50 thousand for just one of them? That is ridiculous," Alex scoffed. "It''s not like we were the ones who paid for it. Rutigan was more than happy to give all the Royal Explorers one of these," Blue chuckled. "Yeah, but still," Alex shrugged. "That is kind of the price. The ones we have are a bit more pricey, but they also come with temperature control. To a certain point," Shane pulled some jerky from her bag and started eating. Everyone did the same and decided to rest for the rest of the day. A lot happened, and with the storm outside, it wasn''t like they had the option to explore the area. Some time passed, and the rain continued. People started to find spaces to sleep, and they set up their shifts for the night. Hera insisted on Shane as her partner for their lookout. It didn''t take much to convince everyone, especially when she mentioned that they had to discuss something about their relics. They had the second shift, so they slept, and soon they were woken up by Mylo and Blue. Being alone with Shane, Hera covered them in a soundproof bubble and explained to her the last moments with the fake Alex, how someone said it was a warning and that they wanted to talk. Shane agreed that it sounded like the guide, but it would be better if they had more information about the room before using their skills. Hera was thinking the same, and they continued their shift without any problems or monsters trying to come closer. Eventually, it was time to wake Helena and Alex, and the two of them returned to bed. Despite the small reprieve, there was a lot to do in the morning. 564 - We are on a boat When Hera woke up in the morning, she could hear Bonnie''s voice. She got up and saw how the researcher seemed okay, despite her arm and leg. Right now, she even had replaced the splints made by the Empress with a couple of stone casks to keep her limbs secure. "Hey, Hera. Good morning," Bonnie said with a smile. "Morning. Are you ok?" "As ok as I could be. Lena said that Daskka kept healing me to help me sleep. Could I thank her?" Hera nodded, "Sure," she called Daskka and let the snake float towards Bonnie. Taking advantage of that moment, she tried calling Nimbus, ''Are you ok?'' ''Five more minutes,'' the sentinel replied with a sleepy voice while still inside the legacy. Hearing him was already enough for Hera to calm herself. Ever since he vanished into the legacy, the Empress was worried about her named blade. While thinking about that, Alex arrived carrying a bottle of water and some bananas and strawberries. "Here, Bonnie. These looked like the best ones we found there," the assassin placed the food in front of the researcher. "Thank you. This is a nice start," Bonnie nodded and took a strawberry, "Did you make sure these are not poisonous?" "I used my inspect and ate one of them. Nothing is going on with me," Alex replied. "What is going on?" Hera tilted her head. "Well, I''m like this because of Alex. So until I''m better, she will be my maid," Bonnie smirked. It was clear that she was enjoying the situation. The assassin nodded with a bland expression. Not so much one you would see on someone suffering, but the type of face the butler in a movie would make. "You are not going to ask her anything weird, are you?" Hera stepped away from Bonnie as a joke. "What? Of course not! She''s with Adriel!" Alex stepped back, "So that''s the only thing holding you back?" she had an exaggerated, distraught expression like an amateur actor in a lousy movie. She even placed the back of her wrist on her forehead while the other hand daintily touched her chest. "Stop that! This is not a sexual thing. I just need someone to help me move around and stuff!" Bonnie huffed. Hera and Alex stopped their joking and spoke at the same time with a deadpan expression, "Who said anything about this being sexual?" "You¡­"Bonnie turned red, as red as she could with her dark complexion, and started rapid firing a weak version of a water fist spell at Alex and Hera, who quickly ran out of the house. The two of them rushed outside, chuckling to themselves while Bonnie continued to curse them. After taking a few steps outside, they stopped, still laughing, "She is doing better than I expected," Hera smiled. "She is. I''m glad she didn''t get a fever, and it seems like the only problem is the broken bones. We wouldn''t have medicine for it otherwise," Alex saw Daskka coming out of the cabin and landing around Hera''s neck, "And that is all thanks to you. I don''t know how bad she would be if it wasn''t for your healing mist. Thank you." Daskka nodded and shook her tail with a smile on her face. She was getting quite big already, but her smile was still adorable. Hera asked where everyone else was since she only saw Alex, Bonnie, and Shane, who was still sleeping. The assassin explained that everyone was exploring the area. They found a fountain with magic engraved that would filter the ocean water to be good for consumption. Additionally, there was a large greenhouse filled with fruits and vegetables that seemed to be growing wildly. The whole building also had some sort of magic cast that was maintained to this day. From what Alex could tell, everyone searched the area to see if there was something else. Not wanting to be left behind, Hera thanked her friend and started walking away to explore this raft. "Oh, could you do me a favor?" Alex asked as the Empress walked away. Hera turned around, "Depends on the favor." "I''m just going to ask you to grab some more strawberries on the way back. I''m positive Bonnie will want more than what I got," Alex replied. "Oh, sure. No problem. I''m sure I''ll find the greenhouse," Hera wasn''t trying to be sarcastic, despite how it sounded. "I thought you were an explorer. Aren''t you supposed to be good with this stuff? It''s just there to the left. Go past the fifth cabin, and you will see the fountain and the greenhouse," Alex rolled her eyes. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I am good with this stuff, that''s why I said I would find it," Hera waved as she went down the raft to check everything out. Despite the situation, she couldn''t help but be excited. Finding a new room filled with mysteries tingled some part of her brain that made her very happy. "Watch out for monsters. Try to stay close to the repellent stones!" Alex yelled as Hera continued to walk. The raft was much bigger than Hera imagined. Each cabin was very far apart, leaving large open areas which allowed her to look very far, and yet, she couldn''t see the end of this boat. Sending her blades out into the sky, they confirmed her suspicion. This place was as large as a village. Not even her blades could see the other side of the boat. But they told the Empress to look at the water. She turned to the right and froze. She was looking at the sky. The vast blue sky seemed to go on forever, and that wouldn''t stop in the water. Instead, it would keep going. She told Core to move closer to the edge to ensure that it was water and not a weird situation where they were floating in the sky. The rapier plunged below the raft and returned dripping wet, ''Yep. That''s water.'' "Really?" Hera frowned. ''I could dive again if it helps,'' Core suggested. "No, no. That''s enough. It''s just hard to believe," Hera replied and walked closer to the edge. When she was close to it, she could tell that the water was very deep, and the raft was moving. It wasn''t too fast, but it moved with the current. Hera noticed that the raft was full of small holes and there was a lot of algae growing on the side. Yet, there were no signs of it sinking. The algae also showed that life under the ocean existed and thrived, "Did you see anything underwater?" ''Not really. It''s really dark down there. I think that since the surface is so reflective, the light can''t go too deep inside,'' Core replied. "That makes sense... I think," Hera wasn''t sure if that would happen back on Earth, but this was the MAZE. Things were supposed to be weird here. Hera turned around and looked at the several cabins along the raft. Most of them seemed to be made out of stone, but she could see some pieces of wood here and there. Frost and Core started to poke at some of the planks near the edge and accidentally snapped one out of the raft. Noticing that, the Empress walked over and sighed, "I guess we will have to fix that. I don''t know if a hole like that can cause problems or not." She took a few steps toward the hole but stopped when she heard a voice coming from the water. It sounded like Mylo, but the man was screaming bloody murder. It didn''t matter the situation, but Hera couldn''t imagine the fighter making that sound. Pulling Fang and Claw from her waist, she carefully approached the hole while telling her court to be ready to attack. When she was two steps away from the hole, a white slime jumped out while yelling in Mylo''s voice. Hera was expecting it and, together with her court, quickly attacked the monster. Slashing it in five different angles. But that didn''t seem to be enough. The slime started to reform itself when she noticed a small cube in the middle of the goo. Lurize and Ooze came down, attacking that cube with all their might in different directions. The impact managed to break it, and the slime was dead. "This is going to get annoying quickly," Hera sighed. "Mum, I think I saw some building supplies in one of the houses we passed by. We might be able to use it to fix this." "That''s a good idea, but let me try something first," Hera turned to her court, "Core, do you mind taking another dip? Since you have fire spells, it''s easier to dry you out." ''Of course, Empress. These waters are nothing against my lava. Am I looking for something?'' "I''ll use a sensory net through you. I want to see what is going on under the raft," Hera replied. A second later, she felt a wave of heat as Core entered the water. She didn''t tell him to, but he was activating his Volcano Core that game extra fire damage. Doing so made the blade extremely hot and protected it from the water, ''Ah, yes. There''s a lot of algae and plants here. Also... Oh... that is... unique,'' Core told Hera through their connection. "Unique?" the Empress tilted her head. ''The bottom of the raft is completely filled with slimes. It''s almost like they are what is keeping the raft from sinking,'' Core explained. Hera changed her plans. If she used her Sensory Net, there was a chance that the monsters would try to attack in retaliation for being affected by a spell. She called Core back and went after the repair tools that Daskka mentioned while keeping one of her court members looking at the hole, just in case. The cabin that Daskka mentioned looked like the maintenance room for a boat. The walls were filled with various tools, and a couple of bundles of planks were inside a container protected by a barrier. However, touching that barrier only made it temporally stop working. Hera saw the spell circle on the lid of the container and realized that this should be something related to preservation. She couldn''t actually read any part of this spell circle, but she could see the flow of mana and make an educated guess going from that. Inside it were some planks that looked just like the ones on the raft floor. The odd part of this was that she couldn''t find any nails inside the cabin. Only something that seemed to be some sort of glue. "Should I use this?" Hera asked her court. ''Can''t you test it first?'' Frost pointed at a pair of small pieces of wood in the container. After testing it, she confirmed it was glue, but doing that with something close to the ocean felt weird. Still, she grabbed a saw and a couple of large pieces of wood before heading to the hole. To fix the mess her court caused, she first had to cut the splintered wood enough to make it a straight line. During all that time, Core was underwater, making sure none of the slimes were approaching. The vibrations seemed to attract a few, and the blade had to attack them and toss the monsters deep into the ocean, which seemed to work. After about forty minutes, Hera managed to fix the hole, and it looked really good, even if she wasn''t entirely sure if this would hold when someone stepped over it. Thinking about that, she returned to the cabin and grabbed a few extra pieces of wood to make a sign. As she was doing that, Shane passed by and noticed the movement. "Hey. What are you doing?" "Hey, Shane. My court broke one of the planks of the raft, and I was fixing it. Did you sleep well?" Shane nodded, "I did. I wasn''t expecting to be this tired. Oh, and I borrowed something from Bonnie," she pulled a small spyglass from her pocket, "Want to go dungeon hunting?" 565 - Things get weirder "Why dungeon hunting? Shouldn''t we be looking for a doorway?" Hera asked as they started walking toward the fountain, "Actually, do you know what happened with the one we used to get here? I completely forgot about it." "According to my map, there is nothing there, but we can check that area first if you want," Shane replied. "I think we should. At least to know if there is anything in there," Hera nodded. They turned around and started heading back to the cabin where they spent the night. This time, Alex wasn''t outside, and they could hear some noise coming from inside. Nothing that sounded like a problem, just people talking. Passing through it, they reached the edge of the raft. Without the rain, they could tell this was very close to the corner of the boat. However, when looking beyond it, Hera couldn''t see anything besides the reflective water. "We are in the right place, right?" Hera turned to Shane. "Yeah¡­ at least according to my map. The doorway should be there," Shane pointed to a random spot in the water. "That is a problem," Hera sighed. "Yeah¡­." Shane pulled the spyglass from her pocket and looked around, trying to see if it would show the location of a doorway or, at least, a dungeon in that area. Unfortunately, nothing came out of that. Even looking down at the ocean didn''t give any signals to the item. "Well¡­ we are moving. So it makes sense that the doorway wouldn''t be in the same location. Maybe we will go around the room and reach there later," Hera tried to find a silver lining. "That is only considering the doorway is in the same place. I can''t say for sure, but I think I saw that island or whatever it was moving away last night. Then again, between all the rain, our rush, and the whole mess, I don''t trust what I saw," Shane looked to the side, trying to see if there was something in the distance. "I really want to call the guide right now," Hera looked around, trying to make sense of this place. "I get that, but what would you ask? Just the things about last night? Let''s see if we can, at least, find something about this place first. Then again, this is just my suggestion. It''s your turn to call them first," Shane smiled at Hera, who just nodded in response. They walked back to where the fountain and the greenhouse should be located while discussing theories about the room. Hera thought that there was land somewhere. After all, they had to get wood and stone somewhere. Shane, on the other hand, believed that this place had dungeons to give anyone the supplies they needed. As they approached the fountain, they heard voices coming from the building. They were loud enough to understand that they weren''t happy ones. As they got closer, they finally made out words. "I fucking hate those things! How are we supposed to tell when it''s one of us or one of them?" Blue yelled. "Ok, ok. Calm down. We just got here, and we are figuring things out," Helena''s voice had her regular calm tone, but Hera noticed a hint of laughter in the middle. Turning the corner, they saw Blue and Helena sitting by the fountain. The controller was soaking wet. Somehow, it looked like she was even more waterlogged than the previous day. "What is going on?" Shane asked. "Those fucking slimes. They have a spell that makes it impossible to get dry," a cloud formed around Blue''s waist, and a heavy gust of wind started blowing. It was a localized wind, but it didn''t take long for her clothes to dry. However, just as the water left her pants, small bubbles appeared all over her body and exploded, splashing her with more water, "See? This is fucking ridic...." before she could finish that sentence, another bubble burst right by her face, covering Blue''s head in seawater. "Crap, is that permanent?" Shane asked. "It doesn''t seem like it. She can see that debuff in her status window, and it says it lasts for 20 minutes," Helena explained while starting to dry Blue''s hair again. "How long do you have left?" Hera asked. "Fif..." another bubble exploded above Blue''s head, and she stopped speaking as the equivalent of a bucket of water was dropped on her. Even Helena took a step back, not to be splashed by all the water that appeared, "...teen minutes. I hate this." "Wouldn''t it be better to just be wet until it''s over?" Shane crossed her arms. "No. If I do that, this happens," Blue pulled her right arm to the side. It was still soaking wet, and she let another bubble explode on top of it. The new batch of water wrapped around her arm like a slime and started to slowly drip to the ground, "If I''m already too wet, the water just gets stuck, so I can actually drown with this," she just shoved the water out of her arm and continued drying herself. Hera and Shane watched, completely baffled by this. "What type of slime did that to you? I killed a white one a few minutes ago, and it didn''t do anything like that," the Empress asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "It was a green one," Blue stopped for a moment and looked towards the explorers, "Please tell me that they don''t have different skills depending on their color." "Honestly, that''s how slimes work. Even two with the same color might use what they have in very different ways. I fought against a red one that kept throwing fire at me and another that made a whip of fire to attack. The second one was also red," Shane explained. "Really? When did that happen?" Hera looked around, trying to see if there weren''t any other slimes nearby. "Oh, that was during the test. The explorer''s test, I mean. For some reason, those two stuck to me." Helena continued to help Blue but turned to Hera and Shane, "And how about you guys? Where are you going?" "We were going to look for dungeons, or doorways, whatever we find," Shane showed Bonnie''s spyglass. "But we wanted to stop here first to get some water and eat something. Alex talked about a greenhouse that was full of fruit. I''m guessing it''s that," Hera pointed to a large glass building behind the fountain. She could barely see the inside through all the overgrown vegetation that covered the windows. Helena nodded, "Yeah, that''s it. If you are going there, be careful. There are roots everywhere in the ground. I almost tripped and fell more times than I can count." "Is it really that bad?" Hera asked. "The worst part is that it''s impossible to know if you''re about to fall down a hole or not. You can''t tell which roots are stable and which are not, so it''s easy to stumble. At least the ground under there seems to be deeper than the rest of the raft, so you shouldn''t end up falling into the ocean," Helena continued. "Do you think this is how they kept the greenhouse going? By using the moisture from the surrounding area to keep the plants alive?" Shane rubbed her chin. "Can that work? I mean, don''t plants need fresh water?" Hera asked. "Generally, yes. Even in the MAZE, it is hard to find plants that live off seawater. Well... land plants, you know. I''m not talking about those that live in the ocean," Helena changed the spell she was using. Instead of using a random wind spell, she switched to her shadow grabbers to remove the water from Blue. Instead of just having the wind dry her, using that spell, she would focus only on removing the slime-like bubbles that grabbed onto Blue. Doing things that way was much less mana-heavy, which meant that the mage could spend some mana trying to dispel that effect. Shane pulled the spyglass again and started to look around and mark the directions on her map, "Hera, could you grab me some fruit? I want to see how many signals I can get with this." Hera nodded, "Sure. Anything you don''t like?" "Mangos and grapefruit. Never liked them," Shane was looking towards the greenhouse and stopped to mark down another line on the map. Hera went inside the greenhouse and sent out her court to look for food. The entire place looked like a jungle. Each of the plants was growing wildly. The strawberry bushes took over an entire wall, the watermelon had its own territory on the left of the greenhouse, and some pineapples were peppered around the entire building. All the way in the back, the greenhouse became much higher where the trees were located. However, she could only find bananas and coconuts in that space. It was amazing to see how all those different fruits managed to find a way to coexist. It didn''t take long for Hera to come out with a large watermelon that looked amazing and a few bananas. When she came back, Helena, Shane, and Blue were looking up at the sky as if they were looking for something. Hera looked up too, but she could only see some clouds, the sun, and the blue sky. "What are we looking at?" the Empress asked. "The spyglass had a reaction when I looked up. Towards that large cloud, to be precise," Shane pointed at the largest cloud in view, "We are trying to see if there is something there." "A doorway or a dungeon in the sky? Really? That sounds... kind of odd," Hera frowned but kept looking up. After a few moments, she noticed a small distortion in the air. Almost like a mirage, but it was being pulled to a specific point, behind the cloud that Shane pointed to. Hera tried to find whatever that was, but all she could see was the cloud itself. Turning to Daskka, she asked, "Do you think you could get that high?" The snake shook her head, "I can''t. I can, maybe, get, like, 2 meters high, but that is the best I can do. That bird brain might be able to get there." ''Nimbus, did you wake up?'' she asked the Sentinel inside the legacy. ''I have, Empress. My apologies for sleeping so much.'' ''You don''t have to apologize. Could you come out? We have a situation, and I want your opinion on the matter.'' Mist started to form by her side, and soon it took the shape of Nimbus, the humanoid griffon. He kneeled down in front of Hera, "I am at your command, Empress." Hera let out a long sigh, "First. Stop that. You know I don''t like when you act like that. Second, we are thinking that there is something inside that cloud. Do you think you would be able to fly up there?" she pointed to the area where she thought the signal was coming from, but Shane grabbed her wrist and moved it to the right spot. Nimbus looked up and thought for a moment, "Maybe. In all fairness, we never tested how high I am able to fly. Mostly because you have to be with me, Empress. I never felt like I had a limit to how high I could go, but then again, if we consider birds, they too have their own limits." "I don''t think it''s a good idea to have you going up there to check, Hera," Helena spoke. "Me neither. Don''t get me wrong, Nimbus, but if something happens to you, you can come back. Hera, on the other ha¡­" a bubble exploded behind Blue''s head before she continued with an annoyed expression, "She can''t." "I agree. It is too risky," the Sentinel nodded. "I''m honestly more worried about the distance. I mean, this raft is moving. What if it''s moving faster than Nimbus can fly? Then I have no way of coming back," Hera sighed. "That''s also a valid point. It would be great if Nimbus could move far away from you. Then he could check, and if he couldn''t keep up with the raft, he could just return to your legacy," Shane sighed. Hearing that, Daskka perked up and jumped in front of Hera''s face, "Now it''s my time to shine, mum!" "Do you have a plan?" Hera asked with a smile. "No, but I have something better. New skills that may help here!" "Right, you said I could get a few new skills. I completely forgot about that after everything. Do you have something in mind?" Daskka nodded, "Yep, I already made a list of the ones I thought you might like. Open that watermelon so we can talk while we eat!" Hera nodded and told everyone to gather around. She wanted everybody''s opinion on the matter since now they all had to work together to find a way home. 566 - Deciding a new skill Just as Hera was about to open the watermelon, Mylo and Adriel came from behind the greenhouse. Now that most of the party was here, the Empress decided to grab some more food and go back to the cabin. That way, everyone could voice their opinions. Another reason to go back was so that Alex and Bonnie wouldn''t be left out. The two of them always helped her when she was trying to understand her legacy better. It wouldn''t be fair to leave them out of a conversation like that. Mylo and Adriel also had some news, and they said that it was better to talk about it with everyone. When they arrived back in the cabin, Shane turned to the two men of the party, "Do you guys want to talk about what you found out first? Or can it wait?" "It''s better if we say what we saw. This could change things," Adriel turned to Mylo, who nodded his head. "We found bones. A lot of them." "Bones?" Helena asked. "Yeah. They were a mess. Not full skeletons, but like piles of bones. I guess the people who lived here died, and after a storm or heavy wind, the raft rocked enough to bring all of them to the same corner of the cabins," Adriel explained. "We found an entire neighborhood where most of the houses had bones. And a weird temple," Mylo pulled out his tablet and showed the pictures they had taken. It showed a large cabin with several piles of bones spread around. In the center of it, there was a glass casket with more bones inside atop a small platform. "A temple?" Hera asked. "Yeah. In one of the houses, there was a glass casket with a skeleton inside. Maybe they were in the middle of a funeral before dying, or it was a person of importance. It''s hard to tell since there were a lot of bones in that temple, outside the casket, I mean," Adriel continued. "Are you saying that there are skeletons inside the temple? Like¡­ they died there? In the temple?" Bonnie asked. "Yes, that''s what we are saying. Why?" Mylo frowned. "Because if that is really the case, and the temple wasn''t something like a graveyard or a place to keep their dead, this means that something happened that wiped them out quickly. Maybe a pandemic or some poison in the air," Bonnie explained. Adriel nodded, "It could be that, but it''s not like we can find out the reason. The bones are completely clean and sort of degraded. It looks like they''ve been here for a while." "Maybe there is a dungeon or something that could tell us that story," Hera chimed in. Everyone turned to her, Adriel, Shane, and Mylo, with confused expressions, "What? That''s how some dungeons work. They are created because of the events that happened in the room. I mean, Blue and I created a dungeon." "Really?" Adriel asked. "Yeah. We killed a giant monster in its nest, and it¡­." Blue paused to let a bubble burst by her face, "... it turned into a dungeon after some time." "That is very cool. I wonder if I could go there someday," Adriel smiled. "Sure. It''s back in Boothudurn. We talked about that during class, and there was even a weekend we took people there. It surprises me you don''t know about it," Hera tilted her head. "Oh¡­ I think that was the day we had our date," Alex chimed in, "Remember when we asked for a weekend off so we could have some time to ourselves?" "Oh, right. Yeah. That makes sense. But we still talked about the dungeon a lot in class." "Honestly, I wasn''t paying that much attention most of the time. Don''t get me wrong, the classes were great, but it was just stuff I already knew," Adriel scratched the back of his head. "IT''S OVER!" Blue yelled and walked inside the cabin. She stayed outside while the bubbles were still going off. However, it seemed like that debuff was finally over. "That''s great," Hera smiled and turned to Mylo, "Do you guys found anything else? If not, I wanted to talk about my legacy skills with everyone." Mylo shook his head, "We didn''t find anything else, but there are a lot of cabins in the center of the raft. We couldn''t check them all out." "So is it ok if we change the subject? Honestly, I''m kind of excited," Hera asked and received a confirmation from everyone. She told Nimbus and Daskka to be on one side of the room, together with her court, while the rest of the party stayed closer to Bonnie. The herald would speak out loud to Hera and Nimbus, and the Sentinel would be like a microphone for the snake to communicate with everyone. Doing things like this meant that the entire party would be aware of Hera''s options while avoiding any delays. After all, even if Daskka was speaking out loud, she would communicate with the Empress differently, using their connection to share information more quickly. Words were simply a way to clarify some details. "Ok then. Let''s start Daskka''s Legacy Skill Showcase!" Daskka said with a large smile and used her mist together with some illusion to make something very similar to the system window. Even if the frame around it wasn''t quite right and the letters were in a different font. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Since when can you use illusions? Have you been holding out on me?" Hera chuckled. "I started trying things out during the challenges," Daskka replied, but through the connection, she added, ''And asked a few of the guides for help. Jackie and Laika helped a lot.'' Hera tried her best not to make any expressions, "You are going to tell me more about that later. I appreciate you wanting to surprise me, but I think we could work together to learn new things. Now I''m jealous because I can''t use illusion spells that well," and using their connection the same way Daskka did, Hera added, ''I want to know what they said about spells! None of them talked to me about that.'' Daskka smirked but continued with her show, "So, mum," she stopped and turned to Nimbus, "No, you have to say things like I am saying. So when I say mum, you say mum." "Daskka¡­ that is not necessary," Nimbus sighed. "It is! I only say Empress when it''s about the legacy, so you saying Empress might get people confused," Daskka explained with an annoyed expression. Defeated, Nimbus sighed and corrected himself without looking Hera in the eye. "Ok, moving on. You can get a few skills now, but I set a few options for you. First, the one I talked about before. It''s called Bestow Gift. That one lets you give some permanent gifts to any of your blades. Those will be related to what they did for you. I told you that the legacy was supposed to be something about constructs, right? This is one of the ideas that come from that. The idea of specializing someone even more as time goes by," Daskka continued and placed the name of the skill on the window she made with a few pros and cons under it. "So it can give various effects you can''t explain, and each effect is tailor-made for the weapons themselves. But it wouldn''t be something that benefits Hera right away?" Shane read the screen. "Correct. And the more ''points'' a blade gets, the better the effect will be. There is a limit, of course. It''s not like one of the court members can rack up an infinite amount of points, but it can get kind of high," Daskka explained. "And you really can''t tell what kind of benefits that would bring?" Bonnie asked. "I can''t. The legacy doesn''t tell me. Even after mum gets the skill I won''t know exactly what the gift will be. I can only say the tier of the reward. Like the rarity of an item. If it''s common all the way to legendary. My best guess is that it will be a new skill or something like that, or maybe an increase in the attributes. I don''t know what else it could be," Daskka lowered her head. "That''s ok. And I really like that skill. But what would be the next skill?" Hera asked. "So this one might help Nimbus to see how high up he can fly. It''s called Royal Quest. You can give your mana to one of your named blades. They gather it in a mana core, and when you do that, they spend that mana to move beyond their normal range. The cost will increase the further away they are; if they use any skills, it takes mana from the core before taking them from their own mana. And there''s something you have to keep in mind. Using that will make you unable to recover the mana you gave. Like, if you have 100 maximum mana, and you give 50 to Nimbus, then your maximum mana temporarily becomes 50. You can spend and recover that mana, but it won''t go past 50," Daskka put the skill on the board, adding a ''Lets named blades scout very far,'' on the pro list. The con list had more than just a single line, but it was also very biased. ''Only works on Named blades,'' and ''Can''t expect much from a bird brain.'' "Can she give some mana to him and keep Nimbus close?" Helena asked. Daskka stopped to think for a moment, "I don''t see why not." "So I could use that to give my own mana so he could use more of his skills?" Hera asked and got a nod as an answer. "Oh, and before I forget. You could get both of those skills now. Those are on the cheap side because they are so conditional," Daskka smiled before the next name appeared on the illusory board ''Court Graveyard.'' Before she could even say anything, Hera asked, "Is that what I think it is? A skill to replicate what I saw in the test?" "Sort of. The look is very similar. It''s a place where all of the blades you let go of will appear, and for some time, they will be able to help you. During that time, everything will work the same way it works now. It will be like your court expanded temporarily. You can even talk to them, and they will remember everything that happened. But¡­ only the things that happened when they were still with you. If you tell them something new when they are in the graveyard, they won''t remember that the next time they show up." "What are the limitations?" Shane asked. "Well, the skill can only be activated once every so often. And if one of the blades that show up because of the skill is destroyed, they might not be ready to show up the next time you use the skill," Daskka explained as the pros and cons showed up in the window. The pros were ''Can meet old blades,'' and ''Become the army,'' while the con was simply, ''It hurts when they don''t remember everything.'' "Honestly, I want that in the future. Even if it''s just to say hi to the blades I had to let go of," after hearing Hera, no one could argue. They understood that changing her court was hard for her, and being able to see friends who were no longer around was a skill that everyone wanted. Trying to keep the mood light, Daskka continued, "The last one I have to suggest is called Royal Capital. It lets you set up an area where you are stronger. You get a buff while inside that place, and so do all your court. You can also make them appear anywhere inside that area for a few moments before being brought back to you. Another thing is that you can sort of give each of your blades control of an area of this capital. Doing so will allow them to know everything that goes on inside their territory. But this doesn''t mean that you know everything. Like if there is a hidden cave, a house, or something that you don''t know exists, then it won''t be a part of the skill. The buff will still apply if you go there, but you can''t use the skill to explore an area." "How long is the cooldown on that one? From what I know, territory-based skills take a lot of effort to be used," Adriel asked. "The cooldown is long. I don''t know for sure, but it won''t be something you want to use in a dungeon. It would be the biggest cooldown of any of your skills, and you have to physically move around the perimeter of your territory before activating this skill. Well¡­ You or your named blades. But the cool part is that you can include things like towers, walls, and things as part of your capital so you can affect them with your skills or spells. Those structures can be considered part of the court for skill purposes." With that last skill idea being shown, everyone stopped to think for a moment. Blue asked if those were all the skills that Hera could get, and Daskka said no. She mentioned a few other options, but they were either too combat-focused or just plain odd. There was a fighting style made for the Empress and her court, a way to boost the spells used by her blades, and a skill that let Hera dance with her court and give them all a buff. But as the herald said, those were not exactly helpful in the current situation. Turning back to the group, Hera asked, "Ok, I think I know what I''m leaning toward, but do you guys have thoughts?" 567 - From 0 to 100 "Guys...." Hera tried to speak, but she was cut off by Bonnie. "Are you nuts? Even if she gets that skill, it will only mean that in the future, she can get something. It doesn''t help now! The Royal Palace one could actually help us all. That way, her court could be anywhere we need while we are here." "So? Not everything is about the short-term. We need to think about what comes next!" Blue protested. Shane swallowed a large chunk of watermelon quickly so she could speak, "Oh, please. We don''t even know if we will have a future. Besides, you know her. She will stall as much as she can before giving a gift to one of her blades. And we still don''t know what it can be." "Actually, I was going to..." Hera tried again, but Helena was the one who cut her off this time. "Who are you to say what Hera will do? She can have other plans." "Are you serious? I''ve known her for the shortest amount of time, and even when she was the Flame Princess, she was predictable. Crazy, yes, but predictable," Adriel scoffed. Hearing that, Hera activated her [Hide] and called Daskka to her side. She asked Nimbus to block the door behind her and not breathe. Being a construct, the Sentinel didn''t need air to survive. However, to seem more alive, he would constantly inhale and exhale, even if he was just cycling the oxygen in the area. The Empress quickly told her plan and stepped outside just as Daskka covered the windows with white mist. "3, 2, 1, now," Hera said, creating a spore cloud inside the cabin using 200 thousand mana. It should be strong enough to overcome any of her friends'' resistances but not so dense that it would stop people from breathing. "What the...?" Alex gasped. "Hera?!" Blue called just before she sneezed. That seemed to trigger everything, and the rest of the group started having the worst pollen allergy crisis of their life. For the next minute, they were sneezing non stop. Hera knew this was an effective way of making them tire themselves out without hurting anyone. At most, they would have some pain in the abdomen like they had just left the gym. When the minute was over, Hera deactivated her spell and opened the door. Mylo and Shane were on top of Nimbus, trying to push him to the side, and Alex was right by the window, testing to see if the mist was dangerous or not. She didn''t realize that it came from Daskka, and since this was a new room, anything could happen. "Are you all done?" Hera asked with her arms crossed and an angry expression. "You didn''t have to do that," Shane replied with a disgruntled voice. "I was trying to speak, and no one was letting me. Besides, why were you all getting so upset about all this? You looked like you were about to jump on Blue''s throat." "It was just an argument. You didn''t have to do that," Adriel tried to defend himself. "What? Couldn''t predict what I was going to do?" Hera rolled her eyes. "That''s¡­ fair¡­" Adriel looked away. "Ok then, now all of you shut up. It''s my turn to talk," Hera glanced around the room to see if anyone was going to start speaking, "First, we all agree, the Court Graveyard seems amazing, but not right now. So I''m not taking that skill. Bonnie, I agree with what you, Shane, and Adriel were saying. The Royal Capital sounds like a great skill. It could protect us and make sure no one gets seriously hurt when we are on the raft. But! That''s where it stops being helpful. We don''t know if the raft is the only place we could explore here. Shane saw something in the sky, and I bet there is more in the ocean. Also, Daskka confirmed that the skill cooldown should be bigger than anything I ever had. If we are being logical here, a skill that makes something that big should take months before being available again, if not years. So yeah, it could help a lot here, but only if we stay here for a long time. What if we find a doorway tomorrow? Or in two days? Then I have a super strong skill on cooldown, and I can''t do anything with it in the new room. No, I''ll take the Empress Gift and the Royal Quest skills." "It''s Bestow Gift, mum," Daskka chimed in. "Didn''t you say it was Empress'' gift?" Hera turned to her left shoulder, where Daskka was resting. "Maybe back in the Seven Islands, I did. But I was going from memory at the time. Here I actually looked at the names," Daskka explained. "Whatever. Bestow Gift and Royal Quest. That way, Nimbus can try to reach whatever is up there, and my entire court can get stronger," she turned to Shane, "Also. I''m not the one who is going to choose when to give a gift or not. It''s up to my blades. When they get enough for a gift, I''ll let them know, and they can say if they want one or not. I appreciate everyone''s help, but if this is how it''s going to be every time I ask for your opinion, I won''t do it again." "Sorry," the group mumbled but stopped arguing. Despite being relatively safe, they all knew that the stress of being stuck without a way to go home was getting to them. Not to mention they were all literally stranded in the ocean, which wasn''t a good feeling. Even if this raft was more like a floating city than a boat. Turning to Daskka, Hera confirmed her choice. The herald smiled and closed her eyes. Suddenly, three notifications appeared in front of the Empress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Bestow Gift - Legacy When a member of your court has performed their duties well enough, the Empress can bestow a gift to them, showing her appreciation. These gifts will be tailor-made to the court member in question and can have various effects. The more favor the court member has amassed, the rarer the gift will be. The rarity of the gift is defined by the rarest item in the Empress'' possession. A gift of the highest rarity can only be bestowed a number of times equal to the number of items of said rarity in the Empress'' possession. Each blade can only receive a single gift. A Titled Blade can receive the gift multiple times. However, that will only increase the rarity of the previous gift, not replace or add a new one. The favor cost for upgrading an item is much higher than to acquire a gift of that rarity, and it cannot go beyond the highest rarity of the skill. Rarity of gifts available: Common - Uncommon - Rare - Very Rare - Epic - Unique - Unique(Lost) If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Number of items of the highest rarity: 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill acquired Royal Quest - Legacy As an Empress, you are able to request the completion of a unique and dangerous task to your most loyal and devoted subjects. Doing so may put them in peril, but as an Empress, you must give them your support to complete their quest. You can give your mana to one of your Titled Blades to allow them to move beyond the physical constrains of the legacy. Moving away from their range will make them spend the mana you gave to them to sustain their strength. The farther away they are, the more mana they spend. Skills or spells used by the Titled Blade during a Royal Quest will use the Empress'' mana first and then their own. If the Empress'' mana runs out while they are outside their regular range, the Titled Blade will be constantly damaged until it is able to return to the Empress'' side. If their form is destroyed before they return, the Titled Blade will become unable to be summoned for an amount of time relative to the time spent away from the Empress. Each Titled Blade who is a part of the quest can take up to 2 court members with them. Doing so will increase the mana cost to move beyond their maximum range. The court members will receive the same restriction and possible penalties that the Titled Blade receives. Those who participated in the Royal Quest can receive some favor relative to the danger posed by the Royal Quest. Cooldown: 24 hours or the same time that it took for the last Royal Quest to be over. Whatever is the longest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your court has grown. Court Capacity: 7/8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Even the court grew? That''s great," Hera smiled. "Do you have more information now?" Helena asked. "Yeah. A lot, actually," Hera told everyone what her skills said. She read the entire notification for [Bestow Gift], but just summarized [Royal Quest] since it was so long. "So¡­ If Nimbus takes one of your blades, and that blade breaks for some reason, do they become unavailable for a while?" Bonnie asked. Not knowing the answer, Hera turned to Daskka, "No. Well, yes, but not in the same way. If any blade is destroyed, they take some time before being able to be summoned again. If they are on a Royal Quest, that time remains the same. If Nimbus, or whatever Titled Blade who is doing the quest, is destroyed, then they get an increased penalty. Also, just to clarify. If you send Nimbus on a quest that takes a week to complete, the cooldown becomes a week, and it only starts to count when he comes back, not when you use the skill." "I see. And are those quests the only way to make them get favor?" Shane asked, and Hera turned to Daskka again. "No. Everything they do for you, mum, gives them a bit of favor. This would be just a way to give a bigger boost. The more dangerous the task, the more favor they get if they complete it." "Got it. So give me a few minutes to recover some mana. Nimbus, I''m giving you a quest soon," Hera smiled at the Sentinel. They all took a few moments to rest and calm down. During that time, Hera debated about adding her skinning knife to the court. If the skill it had, where it would never lose its edge when doing ''what it was created to do,'' understood that weapons were made to attack, it could work wonders for her court. Sure every time she summoned one of her blades, they would be as sharp as possible, but during a fight, that would change until she sent them away. What made her hesitate was that, eventually, she would have to replace the knife, and that skill would be lost. If she kept it as a knife, she could see if a crafter was able to replicate the effect ''Actually, mum. There was another skill that I found that might fix that,'' Daskka said as they were having a private conversation. ''Really?'' Hera raised an eyebrow. ''Yeah. It''s called Heirloom. You can pick a skill, a spell, or a single attribute of one of your blades and make it an heirloom. Then, every time you replace that particular blade, you can pass that to the next one.'' ''What''s the catch?'' Hera asked. She knew enough to know that skills like that should have a restriction. ''You have to have 100% familiarity with both court members, and both blades have to be a part of your court so you can pass that heirloom. Also, some things won''t pass, and attributes will be weird... I don''t know what that means.'' ''Could I get that now?'' ''No. That one is a bit more expensive than the Royal Capital. You couldn''t even get it right now,'' Daskka explained. Hera nodded, ''Ok. I''ll add the knife to my court then.'' Daskka nodded and got ready to help. Hera placed the knife on her lap and started using her [Courtship] skill. She reached out with her mana and touched the knife, inviting it to become a part of her. A silver mist started to form around the tool as if the blade itself was turning into gas. Soon it had no more form, and it joined Hera''s court. Since it didn''t have any attribute scaling, it took everything from the Empress'' stats. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the new court member and called it. "Edge, come out." The skinning knife appeared beside her. It was very small in comparison with almost all her other blades, with the only exception being Scythe. The knife floated awkwardly for a couple of moments before turning to Hera. ''Hi, there! It''s a pleasure to meet you. Although, I suppose you have already met me. I''m the only one meeting new people. Thank you so much for making me! And oh... wow, you are so pretty. That''s the right word, right? Pretty? It sounds funny,'' edge spoke very fast, and it had a very excited tone about everything. ''Ok, slow down. Please. And try not to yell unless you need to. It''s kind of hard when you speak directly in my head,'' Hera smiled and noticed that her mana was full again, ''Could you wait a moment? I need to do something. Feel free to roam around. Just try not to hurt anyone.'' Hera turned to Nimbus, and after some help from Daskka, she understood how to trigger the skill. It was just something she wasn''t excited to do. Still, everyone was curious about her new skills, and she had to show them how they worked. After taking a moment to think about how to phrase everything and to confirm with Daskka if it would have the effect she desired, Hera turned to her Titled Blade. "Nimbus. My Sentinel. As your Empress, it pains me to ask you to complete a dangerous task. I ask you to fly high in the sky and search for what is hidden in the clouds. I know this task may be beyond your capabilities, and for that, I apologize. If you realize this goes beyond your power, I ask you to return to me, for knowing your limits is already enough information," this was Hera''s way of telling him to put his safety first. She had to phrase it like that otherwise, it wouldn''t work, and the Sentinel would feel compelled to complete the mission even if his form would be destroyed in the process. Not to say that he would be forced to complete the quest, but running away would give him a feeling similar to losing his honor. Nimbus kneeled in front of Hera and spoke in a solemn voice, the legacy showing him what to do and how to answer, "I will complete this quest, my Empress. This task shall be my alone." Hera reached out to him, allowing the Sentinel to kiss the back of her hand. At that moment, she sent 900 thousand mana to him. It was a lot, but she wanted to make sure he had enough to go to the clouds and back. After all, if he vanished after finding something, they would have to wait for him to come back before learning anything new. Nimbus got up, bowed to Hera, and walked outside before taking flight, but he stopped before getting too far. "Shane. Do you still have the spyglass? May I borrow it for a moment?" the Sentinel asked. "Sure," Shane passed the spyglass to him. He looked through it for a couple of moments, and when he found the cloud Shane discovered, he returned the item, "I will be right back." Hera watched as Nimbus continued to rise beyond his usual range, still in his human form. She couldn''t help but feel like a mother who was watching her kid go on his first field trip. A few moments passed when Blue turned to the Empress. "Sooo¡­. Do you have to speak like that every time?" Hera let out a long sigh, "Yeah. Whoever made that skill was obsessed with royalty, and unless I give the quest in a ''royal'' way, it won''t work." "That sucks," Blue said, but she tried her best not to giggle. "Don''t you even start," Hera rolled her eyes. "Hey, Hera. Can you come get your knife? They are destroying the watermelon," Bonnie''s voice came from inside the cabin. Blue started chuckling while Hera let out another long sigh, "Why are all my children a problem?" 568 - Brand new blade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Edge - Regeneration Skinning Knife Attribute scaling: Empress Attributes: 82 Intelligence: 2.05 Charisma: 2.05 Strength: 2.05 Dexterity: 2.05 Agility: 2.05 Luck: 2.05 Master Skinner: Whoever wields this knife is likely to cut leather in ways that go beyond their skills. Ever sharpened blade: This knife will never become blunt when used for its true purpose. If used to perform a different task, the knife''s edge will be recovered within 10 hours. Familiarity: 50% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, so which of those skills works with the Army of One skill?" Hera asked Daskka, who was helping her clean some of the mess Edge had caused. When she went to give Nimbus his mission, the new court member saw Alex and Bonnie cutting the watermelon and decided to help. The problem was that instead of actually helping to take out a piece of the fruit, Edge just started wailing on the entire thing causing a huge mess. At least they still had a couple more watermelons in the cabin, but that one was currently all over the floor. "I think both of them¡­ Which is weird¡­." Daskka replied. "Both of them? Including Master Skinner?" Hera reached for her tablet, but she couldn''t find it. She tried looking everywhere, but it was nowhere to be seen. Even asking her friends to call her ended up without a result. Frustrated for having lost it, she focused again on the cleaning. Maybe she left it in the shed or fell when she fought against the slime. Worst case scenario, her tablet was at the bottom of the ocean. "What''s that skill?" Bonnie asked, trying to take Hera''s mind off that. "It just says that whoever wields the knife is likely to cut leather in ways that go beyond their skills. Apparently, the entire court would have that skill active all the times when Edge is out," Hera replied. "So¡­ does that mean all your weapons would have that effect even in combat? Like, are they more likely to pierce a monster''s skin?" Alex asked while cutting another piece of one of the surviving watermelons for Bonnie. "I don''t know. I would have to test it out later. And I''m positive it won''t work on any monster, only things that have leather," Hera used a waterspout spell to wash out the watermelon from the cabin. She didn''t want the place to be filled with ants. Then again, she wasn''t even sure there were ants in this room, "Do you think there is a dungeon here where we could test that out?" Shane was outside, looking around to see if she could find some dungeons. So far, she had managed to mark the direction of four signals. Two were on the same level as the raft, one in the sky where Nimbus was going to check and another underwater. Hearing what Hera was saying, she stepped back inside the cabin, "I found a couple of dungeons that I think are in the raft. I mean, I''m assuming they are dungeons. There is also a signal underwater and the one that Nimbus is going to check. Do you have any idea how long it will take him to get back? I mean, I know you won''t go anywhere before he returns since you barely have any mana left right now." "I honestly don''t know. I can tell he is still ok, but I have no idea how far he is. Can you see him?" Hera asked. Shane looked towards the cloud, trying to see if there was something. It took her a little effort, but she eventually found a small speck of dark blue in the sky. Nimbus seemed to be very far already, "I think I can. Say, is he faster as a mount when he is flying?" Hera nodded, "Yeah, but he loses some mobility. I guess he is not going to change forms unless he is coming back. But it wouldn''t make that much difference. When flying, he is almost as fast in his bipedal form." "I see¡­Mylo, want to come search for the dungeons with me?" Shane turned to her friend. The man looked back at her and, after a long pause, nodded. Helena and Adriel decided to stay behind with Hera and the others. They had two people who were currently unable to fight as usual, and trying to protect them if something were to happen could prove to be difficult. Blue wanted to go, but she decided against it. The way Shane and Mylo were acting made it seem like they wanted to talk alone. "Are they sure about this?" Helena asked. "Yeah, I think so. They both know what''s going on, and if something is wrong, they will let us know. Besides, if I understood this correctly, they have the best teamwork out of all of us," Adriel glanced at Hera, "Well, maybe with one exception, but she is just cheating." "Do you want another spore cloud?" Hera squinted at him. Adriel chuckled, "No, no. I''m ok." They continued talking and discussing their plans in the cabin, and soon three hours passed. Shane and Mylo came back, letting everyone know they found a dungeon inside a cabin filled with fishing gear. But the dungeon''s entrance was very different from anything else in the room. It was a very ornate crystal door with some details in wood. They didn''t risk going there, but Shane was almost positive that the dungeon would be related to fishing. Her logic was that it should be a natural dungeon to the room, and the people of the raft set up the cabin around it with fishing gear, so people had easy access to the equipment. Suddenly, Hera felt her connection with Nimbus get stronger. Rushing outside, she saw the Sentinel approaching in his bipedal form. "Nimbus!" Hera called as he got closer. The moment he landed, she greeted him with a big hug, "Are you ok?" "I am, Empress. And I have completed this quest," Nimbus returned the hug, and even Daskka joined in. After a few moments, Blue''s voice came from the cabin door, "I know you two are having a moment, but¡­ what was up there?" "A city. Smaller than the raft, but still big. Everything was made out of white sandstone and made with sharp edges. I took pictures," Nimbus pulled Hera''s tablet from his sash. "You took my tablet?" Hera gasped. She never realized that the Sentinel had it. "Yes. I asked you¡­ didn''t I?" "I don''t think so," Hera replied, trying to remember if she had heard him saying anything about it," Yeah. No, you didn''t. If you had said something, I would''ve told you it was a bad idea since you had no way of knowing if something was going to happen. If you were too far out and lost your form, the tablet would fall back to the raft and break, or worse, it would fall into the ocean." Nimbus'' eyes went wide, "I''m sorry, Empress. I didn''t consider that possibility. I was sure I would be able to reach my destination, but I see now that it was a mistake," he bowed apologetically. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Oh, don''t worry about it. Like don''t do it again, but what is done is done. There is no point in being mad now," Hera smiled. She was too relieved that Nimbus was back and safe to be upset about something like that. "Mum, you have to do the thing to complete the quest," Daskka reminded the Empress. "Right," Hera nodded. She already knew what to say but took a moment to remember the lines and confirm with Daskka if she had to add anything about the pictures, "My brave Sentinel, you have completed your task going even beyond what I expected of you. For that, I am ever grateful. Please, join us one more time and rest your weary body. You deserve it." Nimbus was kneeling in front of Hera, and the Empress cupped his head with both her hands before delivering a soft kiss on his forehead. Doing so returned her mana, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nimbus - The Sentinel has completed a Royal Quest Due to his achievement going beyond what was expected, he received an increased amount of favor. Gift available for Nimbus, Rarity: Common ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh? I don''t know if this should be considered a lot of favor or a little," Hera scratched her head. "Empress. May I request my gift now? Since mine can be upgraded, I don''t think it would be a waste, and in all honesty. I am curious about this skill," Nimbus turned to Hera. "Are you sure about that?" Hera asked, "Even if your gift can be upgraded, it doesn''t mean it will be as powerful as something with a better rarity." Nimbus nodded, "I am. Even if I could get something better, I feel that the information we would get if I received a gift would be just as valuable as a rare gift." Hera couldn''t argue with his logic. Then again, if she waited for one of her other blades to receive a gift, she would be able to learn just as much. However, when she got this skill, there was one thing she promised herself. The gifts would be decided by her court, not by her. So, stopping Nimbus from getting his skill felt like it went against her own promise. "I''m going to ask you again, but you have the last say. Are you sure you want your gift now?" Hera looked deep into Nimbus'' eyes. "I am, Empress." Hera nodded, "Ok then. Daskka, do I have to do anything?" "Just take his hand and trigger the skill," the snake replied, moving away from Hera to avoid interrupting anything by accident. Hera held the Sentinel''s hand and focused on the skill. Something similar to a notification appeared in front of her, but it wasn''t just a blue window. Instead, she could see three blue markers around Nimbus. When focusing on each, a small purple pop-up with an ornate and delicate frame made out of snakeskin and some rock patterns appeared to the side with more information. By looking at his left calf, she could see one of the possible gifts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Common Gift: Agility increase Increase Nimbus'' agility enough so his total attribute points will match that of the Empress''. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turning her focus to his wings, she saw the next mark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Common Gift: Upgrade to Griffon Form. Allows Nimbus to move just as fast as you would on land. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next mark was on his shoulders. Both were connected by a thin purple line that pulled to the side where the pop-up appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Common Gift: New Skill - Share the pain Allows Nimbus to take some of the damage from attacks that hit the Empress or other blades and channel some of that damage into the Sentinel''s next attack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera told Nimbus about each of the possible gifts, then she turned to Daskka, "Does everyone get 3 options?" The herald stopped for a moment, "No, they can get up to¡­. Five, I think? The information I''m getting is that no one ever got more than five options. But it doesn''t say if that is the maximum." Hera nodded, "Ok, and if we don''t like any of the options? Can I deactivate the skill?" "No, if you start, you have to give a gift. If you don''t like any of them, then you can use the mark on your wrist." Hera looked down at her own arms and noticed another mark. The pop-up appeared just like the ones in Nimbus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Random Gift You can give Nimbus a random gift. This gift has a chance of being a rarity tier higher than the ones currently being offered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, hell no!" Hera gasped, "I''m not doing loot boxes with my court. Listen up, everyone, you can only pick this gift if both of us agree with that. I don''t want to have a bunch of gambling addict blades," Hera told her entire court, even the ones that were not out at the moment. Currently, only Edge was moving around. "You do not have to worry about me, Empress. I have made my decision," Nimbus smiled. "I''m glad. What did you pick?" "Increasing my agility seems unnecessary. I can increase my attributes on my own, and I don''t believe that having my mount form be able to fly as fast as I can run would be safe. If you were with me and you fell off, I might not be able to catch you. And to play my role as the Sentinel, I should be more ready to protect you. So I want to pick the skill." Hera nodded, "Ok then," she touched the pop-up, and it changed, now asking if she wanted to bestow that gift on to Nimbus. She pressed yes, and from the Sentinel''s shoulders, pointy feathers appeared for a moment before resting by his sides. "Oh.. this is interesting, especially if the upgrades increase the percentages," Nimbus smiled. "Really? Let me see," Hera opened her status window and went into the Titled Blade section. Opening Nimbus'' status window, she checked the new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Share the Pain - (Rank Common) When the Empress or any of the court members is hit, part of the damage that would be inflicted on them is transferred to you. Your next attack will deal extra damage based on the damage that was transferred to you. Damaged Transferred: 40% Extra damage to the next attack: 50% of the damage transferred. Mana cost: 300 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That can be very strong. Especially since it doesn''t talk about stacking," Hera smiled. "I thought about that too. If it doesn''t, then it means I could gather energy from several attacks. But what interests me the most is the rarity. If we consider other skills as a base, when it gets upgraded, I might be able to take away even more damage and deal even more damage with it. Maybe I''ll even get to a point to deal more damage than I take." "Well, that might be a stretch, but who knows," Hera smiled and closed the window. She was about to close her own status screen when she noticed something in there. It was marked that she had 8 court members, but that number seemed wrong. With a frown, she touched the option to open the list of blades she currently had. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lurize of poison (Zweihander) - 10 000 mana Ooze (Chakram) - 10 000 mana Armory (Tiara) - 12 000 mana Scythe (Earring) - 12 000 mana Core (Rapier) - 15 000 mana Frost (Glaive) -23 000 mana Dao (Dao) - 35 000 mana - Inactive Edge (Skinning Knife) - 10 000 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait¡­ Dao¡­ I completely forgot about them. Why are they inactive?" 569 - Unexpected Findigns "I can''t believe I forgot about them," Hera shook her head, "And what is this? Why are they inactive?" Daskka floated to Hera''s side and looked at the window, "I''m¡­ not sure. Give me a moment." "Hera! Come look at this!" Shane yelled from the cabin. Hera glanced back and then turned to Daskka, "Go, mum. This will take a moment." "I think I know what is going on. Let''s go. I can help with some answers," Nimbus said. They moved back to the cabin, with Daskka on Hera''s neck with a faraway stare. The snake only had that look when she was checking something with the legacy. Before anyone said anything, Shane shoved the tablet in Hera''s face. "Look! Look!" Hera pushed her hands away, "I can only see the pixels if you do that." She looked at the picture and saw a beautiful white house filled with sharp edges in triangle shapes. In a way, it reminded Hera of bird formations, the famous flying V. There were no windows on the side, only on the back, the flat area of the building, beside the door in the middle of that wall. Her best guess was that doing so would stop the wind from making noise from passing through any openings. It was a very interesting place, but it didn''t explain Shane''s reaction. "There is nothing here, or am I missing something?" Hera looked up. "What?" Shane turned the tablet back to her, only to see that it wasn''t the picture that she wanted to show. Swiping back a couple of times, she found the right one and turned to Hera, "Here!" It was a similar picture, but instead of showing the house at an angle, it was just the back, where the door was located. However, just a glance made Hera''s eyes go wide. She blinked a couple of times, but the image was still the same. In the middle of the double door was an image of a Naga engraved in the stone. Nimbus even used the infrared camera to see if there was something else, and below the picture, there was some writing in their language. First, a label, ''Temple.'' Then a phrase, ''Nurla was here. May the spirits of ancestors help find a path forward." "Wait, wait. Does that mean¡­" Hera didn''t finish her thought. "I really think it does. You said the Naga who passed the Seven Islands came to this room, right?" Shane was smiling from ear to ear. Hera nodded, "Yeah. I just never imagined that they would have left something here. And this also should mean that the Naga was here after the rest of the room became deserted, right?" "It seems likely," Helena nodded, "I mean, if the Naga created this place, I don''t think they would have carved the stone to mark a temple like that," the carven as crude and it seemed to be made without the proper tools for something like that. "And they might have stayed here for some time, but not enough to make an actual temple," Bonnie was rubbing her chin like she did when she was thinking. "Right, and they either could fly with a spell or something, or they found a different way to get there," Alex added. "If I may?" Nimbus asked and got a nod in response, "I don''t think they would have found that place by flying. Beneath the city, there is a rock that creates the cloud that covers it. Actually, let me rephrase that. The entire structure beneath the city is made out of that rock. Unless that Naga found a spyglass like the one Bonnie has, I don''t believe they would''ve noticed the city." "I mean¡­ that''s fair. The Naga finding the same type of item that Bonnie found is too much of a coincidence. It''s not impossible, just¡­ unlikely," Adriel nodded. "Nimbus, did you have a lot of my mana left when you got back?" Hera turned to the Sentinel. "About 30 thousand or so. I have to spend a lot of mana when I am up there. I only searched the place for 20 minutes or so before I felt I was losing too much mana to stay there." "Do you know how long it would take to search the entire city?" Shane asked. Nimbus crossed his arms to think, "At least a full day. I didn''t enter any of the houses. They were all locked or closed in a way I couldn''t understand. So I''m counting that I would need time to unlock each of them or break the windows." "And was it hard to get there? I could go with you next time," Blue said excitedly. The Sentinel shook his head, "I don''t think that is a good idea. The winds are very strong. I had to change into my griffon form to reach there since it''s more aerodynamic. Honestly, I would have to say no, even if Hera asked me to bring her there. I don''t believe anyone on a mount would be able to hold on when the wind picks up." "Was it really that bad?" Hera asked with an apologetic expression. "Yes, but I am a being of the sky. I am comfortable when facing strong winds, and if I fall, I would simply return to you. I have extra lives. You don''t. Taking you with me would be the same as putting you in danger." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Hera nodded, and the group continued to discuss the possibilities. Unfortunately, each of them had a different theory. Teleportation, the island could come down, the raft could go up, there could be a mountain somewhere, a geyser, a flying vehicle, even the idea of a tractor beam ended up being tossed around. That''s when Daskka finally got some answers and told Hera quietly. ''Mum. I think I know what happened with Dao.'' ''Really? Is it bad?'' ''No, not really. It''s just¡­ something that has never happened before. Remember how you asked if I could make the status window of the blade pop out as soon as you added it to your court?'' ''Yeah. I was just curious,'' Hera nodded while looking at the snake. ''Soooo¡­ I did that, and you read the skills and stuff¡­. But you never called Dao out.'' Hera stopped to think for a moment, and that was true. At the time she finished adding the new weapon to her court, someone did something that distracted her, and she ended up never calling Dao, ''Is that why? Because I never called them specifically?'' Daskka nodded, ''Yeah. So what happens is. For the legacy to register the new court member, you have to call them. Just them, and you can''t just say ''Everyone,'' you need to use the name you gave them. If you don''t, the process of adding a new blade won''t be complete, and they won''t be able to help you. It seems like not a single of the previous legacy holders ever did that. They all called their new blades as soon as they got them. That''s why the legacy also didn''t know that it could happen. Or that it was a requirement.'' ''That is a bit odd¡­ How can the legacy not know things about itself?'' Hera frowned. ''Well¡­ Do you know what will happen if you breathe every other gas that is not regular air?'' ''Not all of them. I know some.'' ''It''s the same thing. The legacy knows what it has seen before. This was something new.'' ''I see¡­ well¡­ I suppose that makes sense. But how do we fix this? About Dao, I mean.'' ''Just call them. The moment you do that, they will be registered, and things will go back to normal. Well, our normal.'' Hera nodded and closed her eyes, "Dao, come out," she said out loud, and the rest of the group looked at her with confused expressions, unsure of who she was talking to. Suddenly, a blade with a flat edge on the tip appeared. It had a sturdy grey blade with a golden handle and seemed to crackle with energy. The weapon floated in front of Hera and touched the floor before tumbling back and falling to the ground, "Dao!" Hera gasped and picked the weapon up, ''Can you hear me?'' For a few long moments, there was no answer, but eventually, Hera heard a voice in her head, ''I can¡­ Empress. I''m sorry, it just feels¡­ weird,'' it was a deep masculine voice, but as it spoke, it became increasingly high-pitched until it was just a shrill, ''Is this better? No. Like this? Or this?'' Dao changed to a feminine voice and continued speaking as it changed the pitch and the tone until it finally found something that sounded right. It was a smooth voice, very similar to what one would hear from a jazz singer, ''This one? Yes, this one feels just right. Sorry about that, Hera. I was feeling a bit off.'' ''That''s ok. Are you feeling anything else? Does it hurt? Or are you uncomfortable?'' ''I don''t think so. Everything seems peachy. Why? You look worried.'' "Hera? What is going on? Is that a new blade?" Helena asked. The Empress looked up and explained out loud what had happened. How she forgot about Dao and felt horrible about it, and how there was something that not even her legacy knew about. When she finished, Shane was the first to speak up. "That is a rough one. But it''s not your fault. I mean, a new blade is like a new skill or spell. We usually forget if we are just trying things out." "Yeah, but I still feel bad. Dao, is there anything I could do to make it up to you?" ''In all honesty. I''m itching for a good fight. If we could do that, it would be amazing.'' "Fight? I guess we could start hunting some slimes," Hera looked outside, thinking about where to find monsters. "Or you could go to the dungeon," Mylo suggested. "Wasn''t the dungeon about fishing?" Blue asked. "Yeah, but there are a bunch of weapons there. None of them are in good condition, though," Mylo was in the corner of the cabin setting up a hammock that he had found somewhere else. "How does that¡­ oh? I see. Since they set up fishing gear there and some weapons, it should mean that the dungeon requires both," Bonnie looked at Mylo with a surprised expression. "Well.. that could work. Does anyone want to join me? Since it''s about fishing, we should get some meat for dinner," Hera looked around. "I''ll go," Helena got up. "Me too. I want to see if my lure works in a dungeon. And a fishing dungeon sounds like my kind of dungeon," Adriel smiled. Shane and Mylo decided to stay, they were not interested in the dungeon, and Shane had already copied all the pictures Nimbus took to her own tablet to study. Alex and Bonnie also stayed behind, but Blue didn''t say anything. She just walked off with the others toward the dungeon. After getting the directions, Hera, Helena, Adriel, and Blue headed to the middle of the raft. Still in the corner, close to the water, but the fishing cabin was far east. As they walked, Hera called her entire court and let them meet the two ''new'' additions to her court. She explained what happened and apologized again, but Dao seemed fine. To her, no time passed. In fact, for Dao, this was the first day of her existence, just like how it was for Edge. The difference was that Edge still acted like a child, while the flat-bladed sword was much more calm and collected. After about twenty minutes, the four arrived at the fishing cabin. It was somewhat evident that this was the right place. The structure was bigger and different from most of the raft. Most of the wood that made the walls was much darker, and the ceiling seemed to be made of some polymer. A malleable plastic of sorts. Inside, the area was split into two. To the left, there were some weapon and armor racks. Unfortunately, all the remaining equipment that was there was severely degraded. Hera only found a single sword that still had its shape but was completely rusted. The armors were falling apart and rotten in some places. What they could actually see were the shelves and racks that were once used to keep those items. Looking to the right, they could see some fishing rods and drawers. Inside them, there were a few lures and some fishing lines. Not everything here was in bad shape, although everything was clearly ancient. On the opposite end of the room was an ornate crystal door that should lead to the outside, and the ocean, if going by their current location. They picked a couple of fishing rods that seemed to be stable enough to be used and crossed the door. Blue was the first one to pass through. She stopped, smiled, and started running around before yelling, "We are on a boat!" 570 - Crystal Fisher Blue continued running around, jumping back and forth like a kid going to a playground for the first time. "Why are you so hyped? It''s not like this is the first time we''ve gone on a boat," Hera walked inside the dungeon. The entire ship looked to be made out of wood, but on closer inspection, it was actually crystal made to look like wood. The entire thing was made with this material. Another thing was that this boat didn''t have a mast in the middle of the deck where the sail was supposed to be. Instead, it had four smaller pillars coming from the sides of the ship that met in the middle, where a large crow''s nest was located. It was hard to call those crystal beams masts since they were not going straight up. Instead, they were curved and bent to the middle of the ship, where a large crow''s nest was located. From it, there was a ladder coming all the way back to the deck. It wasn''t as dangly as a rope ladder, but it was far from being something sturdy. Between the front pillars was a large blue sail, and a large green sail between the two back posts. Neither of the sails had any markings. Looking at the front, Hera could see the jibboom that seemed to end at a very sharp point. "I like ships! Especially the ones with sails. It makes me feel like a pirate," Blue said with a big smile, but she stopped and looked to Hera''s side, "What''s this?" Hera turned to the side and saw, just by the entrance to the dungeon, a notice board with the dungeon quest written on it. ''Dungeon quest - A hungry crew Part of the deal to chart the Crystal Fisher is to gather supplies for the ship''s next voyage. Gather enough fish for the crew. You can keep any surplus. First-time rewards:160 000 gold Bundle of Spices.'' "That''s a weird place for a notification," Hera said. "Why does that matter? We got the notification anyway," Adriel started walking toward the side of the boat, looking for a good place to start fishing. Right by the notice board was a hallway leading to what looked to be a captain''s quarters. The walls were well decorated, and there was even a curtain in the back. However, instead of a table, as one would expect, there was a massive scale in the middle of that room. The left tray was empty, but it was touching the ground, showing that it was the heaviest side. On the right tray, there was a large barrel, but it was being held up with ease. Hera and Helena walked inside that cabin and noticed that the barrel was filled with water. As Hera touched it to test whether the scale was working or not, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The scale can only be tipped by depositing fish inside the barrel. When enough fish for the next voyage is deposited, the scale will balance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well... At least it was easy to figure this out," Helena chuckled and turned to the corner of the room where more barrels filled with water were on the ground. After a moment, she turned to Hera, "Those are salt water. We could use it to keep the fish before bringing them here." "Yeah... but that doesn''t mean it''s a good thing. Usually, if a dungeon is too easy to figure out, it means that it''s not exactly easy," Hera looked around and called her entire court out. This time Dao came along as well. Just like she always did, when entering a dungeon, she recalled all of her blades, including Daskka. It was something instinctive, despite knowing that that wouldn''t be a problem. It was Hera''s way of ensuring her court wouldn''t be caught off-guard when she wasn''t around. She asked Nimbus to help them move the barrel Helena found since he was considerably stronger than both the women here. After that, they went back outside and told everyone of their discovery. Adriel was sitting on a crystal wooden chair that apparently could appear after pressing one of the buttons on the railing of the boat. Unable to see any danger, or something that could be a potential danger, everyone took a position on the right side of the ship and started fishing. "This is kind of relaxing," Blue said. "You literally just sat down in your chair," Hera chuckled. "So? It''s peaceful here, pretty, and fishing just gives a feeling of calm, you know," Blue smiled as she started to put the lure in her fishing rod. They didn''t find any bait, be it live or otherwise. Then again, even if they did find that, it would probably be rotten to all hell. Helena waited a moment for Blue to get really distracted and leaned toward Hera, speaking in a whisper, "Five gold. She gets bored in less than ten minutes." With a smile, Hera replied, "I''m not taking a losing bet." "Wow! That is a live one! Come here, my full-course meal!" Adriel gasped and started to reel in his fishing rod. That was a significant advantage he had over everyone else here. The elf used his own fishing rod, with a modern build, while the others used essentially big sticks with a line on top, "This is a big one! We might be able to feed the entire crew with it!" Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He continued to fight with the fish going back and forth as one would see in a movie. The rest of the party watched him fight off this sea beast with all his might, enthralled by the performance, only to start laughing when the fish came out of the ocean. The full-course meal that was caught was smaller than Hera''s index finger. "I hope it''s a crew of ants," Blue snickered. "It''s the MAZE. This thing obviously had some sort of magic that made it even harder to catch," Adriel huffed and put the fish in the barrel before tossing his hook back in the water. ''Empress. What is our goal here?'' Dao asked. ''To catch fish and put them in the barrel back there. Actually, we probably need to catch more first and then slowly put them in the barrel. Since it mentions surplus when we put enough fish there, the dungeon might stop us from continuing fishing,'' Hera replied. ''I see, and do they need to be... alive?'' Dao was now closer to the edge of the boat. It was a tall ship, but if Hera was close to the edge, the blade could reach the water without a problem. ''I don''t think so... why?'' ''I possess electricity within me. Instead of wasting time fishing like that, I could zap the waters while Nimbus grabs the fish.'' Hera stopped and looked at the weapon, "That... is actually a good idea. Wouldn''t it be even better if you get struck by lightning?" the Empress asked out loud while looking at the blade. ''Correct. That is part of the edict you gave me.'' "Lightning? That is a good idea." Blue smiled and started making a cloud. "Wait, what are you guys doing? We are supposed to fish here!" Adriel gasped. "We are just testing something. Besides, fishing with dynamite is still fishing," Hera smiled and turned to Blue, "Can you aim at Dao? It''s my new blade. She has a skill that empowers her attacks when she is struck by lighting. It also makes lighting more prone to hit her, so aim like close so we can test this." "Got it," Blue replied, and after about ten seconds, she tossed a small dark cloud, a bit bigger than the barrel, toward the ocean. Dao moved around and got close to the water. Hera even had Frost moving out to give the new blade some extra distance to move around. The cloud flashed a couple of times, and a bolt of lightning came crashing down into the water. However, as it got closer to Dao, it was pulled toward her as if it was magnetized. The moment the attack hit Hera''s court member, she felt energized. Almost as if she had just downed two cans of an energy drink. But it quickly became clear that this wasn''t coming from her. Instead, it was coming from her blade. Dao was the one who felt like she had the energy to break the world. With a spin and a flurry, the flat-edge sword impaled the ocean and used her [Chain Lightning] skill. Hera even helped and pumped some extra mana to make it more powerful. She didn''t go all out and just doubled the cost, going from 20 to 40 thousand mana. The electric current spread out in a flash. Yellow tendrils moved fast beneath the still waters. They went far, far enough so that not even Hera, Nimbus, or Daskka managed to see where the attack stopped. With that over, Dao came out of the water and waited. "Did it work?" Blue asked. "I don''t... Look there!" Hera pointed at the water, where a few fish started to float up. About a dozen or so sea creatures were emerging from the ocean. All of them were unmoving, which meant they were dead or just stunned. Either way, Hera wasn''t about to wait around for them to recover, "Nimbus, Daskka. Try to grab them!" The Herald jumped into action, turning herself into her red mist form, which was the most solid of them all, and started grabbing the fish with her mouth. At the same time, Nimbus flew down and used both his arms and legs to grab the food. It took them three trips, but they managed to get all 15 fish affected by the lightning and place them all in the barrel. "I think we could toss a few of those in the scale and see how much it moves. Maybe with that, we can figure out how many we need for the quest," as Hera spoke, something came flying toward her at an incredibly high speed. However, Lurize, Ooze, and Frost flew toward it to parry it. That proved to be unnecessary as Nimbus slammed his bladed tonfa on the incoming attacker, sending a large flying swordfish to the ground. "Is everyone ok?" the Sentinel asked with an angry expression. The entire group nodded, but they heard water splashing as more and more fish jumped from the ocean. Hera managed to start at one and quickly used her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crystalline Hunter - Level 25 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Crap!" Blue yelled and sent another bolt of lightning to the sea. That attack caught a few monsters in the water, and the intense shock killed them. For a moment, Hera considered that this should be a blessing in disguise. After all, instead of fishing, they could just kill the fish and use them as food, but her hopes were shattered when the one Nimbus stopped dissolved on the ship''s deck, leaving some scales behind. With a sigh, she turned to Adriel, "Do you still want to fish, or can we keep going?" "That is not fishing anymore!" the elf gasped as another Crystalline Hunter tried to hit him in the back. Adriel just spun around with his scimitar in hand and parried the monster before cutting it into several pieces before it could even leave his range. Hera, Blue, and Dao continued attacking the water with lighting and killing large amounts of fish all at once. Then Nimbus, Daskka, went down to grab them while Helena used a version of her shadow grabbers that tossed the fish back to the ship. After about five minutes, they managed to grab about 30 or so fish when a larger creature came out of the water and landed on the deck. It had eight limbs covered in some silver metallic armor with small golden trims dividing the numerous sections that went across each of the tentacles. Protecting its head was a dark bronze helmet with two golden eyesockets and some glass protecting whatever was inside. Hera could even see some gears shifting on the back of the helmet, but she couldn''t tell what they were doing. "A steampunk octopus? That''s a first," the Empress said just before the monster started an attack with one of its tentacles aiming at her. 571 - Spa day As the armored tentacle of the octopus came down towards Hera, she sidestepped to the left, getting away from the edge of the ship. The last thing she needed was to be tossed overboard. Glancing towards the monster, a gigantic 2-meter-tall Cephalopoda, not counting the size of its tentacles, she triggered her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diving Octopus - Level 28 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "As you can imagine, that thing uses metal mana. Be careful!" Hera yelled, but she realized that she had never read that information. It didn''t show in her skill for some reason, but she could tell just by looking at it, and it wasn''t because of the armor. No, she could almost see the mana moving inside the creature or feel what was happening. Looking at the octopus was like staring at a piece of metal being worked on in a forge. A brilliant piece of iron near its eyes would be hammered again and again as the mana moved towards the tip of its tentacles and cooled off, turning into that strengthened piece of metal that could crush almost anything. Distracted by that, Hera failed to notice the next attack incoming. This time a swipe from left to right that everyone saw from a mile away, everyone except the Empress. ''JUMP NOW!'' Armory screamed, making Hera instinctively obey. It wasn''t because of the screaming but because of the urgency that came with that voice. Hera jumped much higher than she expected, the energy that was still coming from Dao increasing her strength. She somersaulted, doing a full spin in the air and starting the second one. This wasn''t exactly her intention, but she understood it was the [Battle Dancer] skill at work. When the guides taught her that, they helped the Empress realize that the skill wasn''t just about rhythm but also about flair. Otherwise, every single person who trained in any form of combat would eventually get the skill. A dance was made to be seen, made to be performed, and the skill guided her body to do exactly that, to show off her abilities to both inspire fear and distract her opponents. In the end, it was a perfect match for her current skills. The octopus was clever and understood that now its prey shouldn''t be able to evade its attacks. After all, this bipedal creature didn''t show any signs of being capable of flight. Just as Hera jumped to avoid the second attack, the octopus coiled one of its tentacles like a spring and sent it out to stab her. Armory saw it all happening, and she had already sent orders to Ooze and Frost. The two blades with the highest strength attribute serve as footing for the Empress so she could evade the attack even while in the air. Both flew towards her feet and used their bodies to create very loose platforms. Pushing against them, Hera managed to change her direction. Instead of going straight down, she moved sideways towards the octopus. The tentacle passed right under her, stretching as much as possible and revealing weak spots in the sectioned armor covering this creature. Not willing to ignore this chance, Hera used Fang and Claw to attack, sending a few Poison Needles and some Bloody Claws at the monster. Blue blood started to pour from some of the wounds, and part of that went to Claw, increasing the dagger''s strength and the number of Bloody Claws that it could generate. At the same time, the strikes that Hera was performing with Fang were pulling the poison that just entered the octopus'' system making it both spread faster and weaken, but that increased the next poison needle that Hera sent through fang, which made the next attack pull even more poison. That was a vicious cycle that made the Empress and her court extremely happy. It''s been a long time since she ever had a chance to fight against something where she could focus on herself, and she never managed to see Fang and Claw at their full strength. She continued to spin in the air and attack, with Frost and Ooze doing their best to help her adjust her trajectory. With the attacks, the octopus tried to pull its tentacle back, but it seemed that the armor took a bit too long to readjust itself because of spring tentacle blow. She managed to get about halfway between her initial position and the monster before doing a three-point landing on the ground. "Dao! Now!" Blue yelled, and Hera saw the new court member flying through the air and going between one of the exposed segments of armor. Just above her, there was a black cloud that was starting to flash white. "Oh shit!" Hera gasped and rushed away, trying to get some distance between herself and that creature. A lightning bolt came from the cloud and struck Dao thanks to the [Lightning Rod] ability. That made the entire octopus shake as it was being electrocuted. Not satisfied with that, Dao also cast her [Chain Lightning], burning the creature even more. The clockwork gears around the octopus'' head stopped moving and the glass protecting its eyes exploded. With that combo, the monster stopped moving, but it didn''t look like it was already dead. Trying to confirm what happened, Hera used her [Observe] again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Diving Octopus - Level 28 - Shocked - Heavily Wounded ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dao came out of the gap she found as Hera prepared another Bloody Claw using all the blood the octopus had lost. She aimed at the now exposed eyes and covered Claw with a mana reinforcement. To her surprise, that mana changed and became blood mana instead, turning the red and blue claws of blood into more vibrant shades of color. Just looking at them floating around her dagger now felt dangerous. With a slash in the air, three regular and five octopus Blood Claws flew in a line toward the area where the glass was no longer protecting. The first two were blocked by what remained of the lenses and bronze around the creature''s eyes, but the next six broke through until blue blood started to drip from most of its head armor. After just a few moments, the entire body dissolved, leaving behind only one of the sections of the armor around its tentacles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level 30 This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nice!" Hera cheered, but she didn''t have time to check her status. More flying swordfish started to come from the water, and she had to fight. "We are going to need more than double that amount!" Helena was coming from the captain''s quarters with the barrel being dragged by her shadowgrabbers. "Shit, fine. Blue, Hera, let''s fish with dynamite," Adriel pulled one of his drones from his back, and the machine sprung to life. That was the only one with some markings on the sides, which indicated that this was the elf''s relic. The drone started rotating and shooting small spells out of it. Each one exploded in yellow light when it hit a monster or after traveling underwater for a few moments. Soon, some fish started to float, stunned by the impact. To Hera''s surprise, no one hit by those spells had any exterior damage. Adriel was using a part of the relic that allowed him to stun his targets, which ended up being their saving grace as a few of the flying swordfish fell to the water or on the ship, and everyone felt the pressure lessen. There were fewer monsters now, which allowed them to focus more on small fights instead of a massive bombardment of attacks. All of that indicated a limit to how many creatures could be attacking them at once, and since the stunned fish wouldn''t dissolve, they also counted for the critical mass. Blue used her cloud that was already in the sky to call down lightning again, and Dao followed that up at Hera''s command. Nimbus and Daskka turned back their focus on retrieving the stunned fish and tossing them in the barrel. Unfortunately, it didn''t take long for another Diving Octopus to appear, but Helena was ready for it. The mage waved her hand, making the shadows between each section of the armor darker, and then she returned to carrying the barrel back to the captain''s quarters. Hera was ready to fight that monster, who was preparing another spring tentacle blow, but when it attacked, it aimed at its own eyes, shattering the glass and shoving half the tentacle into its head. The body crumbled on top of itself and dissolved in just a few moments, leaving some gold coins behind. "We are about halfway done. We need double that to complete the quest and a bit more for us!" Helena yelled as she came back. She just looked around and confirmed that the octopus was no longer there before returning to the ship''s side. "Did you make that monster kill itself?" Hera asked as she dodged a swordfish that her court killed a few meters behind her. "Yes, I did. It''s part of my specialty. I can do more than just remove the monster''s senses now," Helena answered smugly. "I''ve wanted to try that since we were in the Seven Islands." That explained why her spirits were so high, which was also the case for the rest of the group. Blue was grinning from ear to ear, Hera and her court were having a blast, and even Adriel seemed to enjoy himself, despite being unable to fish as he wanted. Clearly, being stuck in the Seven Islands took a toll on everyone, and it seemed like the challenges were not the best way to let out some steam. Here, on the other hand, where monsters could be killed quickly even if they were close to their levels and there were more than enough of them to go around, they were having a specific kind of power trip that was working wonders to help them relax. Time went on, and they gathered more and more fish. Every five minutes or so, Helena would rush to the captain''s quarters, dragging the fish barrel along to deposit all the fresh seafood into the scales. After two more trips, the mage came back yelling, "We are almost there. I think we need just a couple more fish. Let''s add the ones we are taking back in this batch!" "Got it!" the party replied as they killed another Diving Octopus. ''I think I know their triggering condition,'' spoke Armory. ''What?'' Hera asked as she spun around to dodge a flying swordfish before grabbing it by the tail and slamming it against the deck. ''The octopus. If I''m getting this right, they show up after we put a certain number of fish in the barrel. I think the number is 10 or maybe 12. Incoming on your left, jump back.'' Hera did what Armory said and let two of the monster fish slam against each other, becoming easy prey for the explorer, ''So the monsters here are based on the number of fish we caught? I noticed they only showed up after we had a few already.'' ''That''s what I''m assuming. I think the first swordfish came when we had five fish.'' ''And the octopus 10?'' ''Correct.'' ''You don''t think there is an even bigger tier, do you? Like something at 50?'' Hera asked. ''Maybe, and we are about to find out,'' Armory replied as Nimbus tossed another handful of fish into the barrel. Hera was still fighting off a couple of swordfish when suddenly, something slammed into her from above. The shockwave caused both the Empress and the fish to tumble across the deck and crash into the railing. One of the swordfish that survived the explosion rammed into her as well, sending both of them tumbling through the deck. By all accounts, she should have been injured. Not in any big way, but whatever happened should have given her a few bruises. Yet, she wasn''t feeling any pain. She noticed how Nimbus had one hand out pointing at her and felt a warm feeling around her body. It was cozy and felt like a blanket. Without having to hear a word, she understood that this was the Sentinel''s barrier spell. Focusing back on the fight, she turned to whatever had just attacked her. In the middle of the boat was a humanoid creature with seaweed as armor or clothing. The being was 5 meters tall, extremely muscular, and had the face of a goblin shark. Hera quickly got into a defensive stance. That monster was staring right at her for some reason, which didn''t feel good. She was about to use her [Observe] to know what she was dealing with when Blue''s voice echoed through the dungeon, "I AM THE STORM!" The controller came from above. How far above? Hera couldn''t tell. Even with the stunned fish, the fight was too hectic for her to pay attention to everyone, and she knew that Armory and Scythe were keeping an eye on everyone to make sure they were doing ok. Yet, at some point, Blue vanished and took to the skies. Now she came back, crashing down at the new monster and delivering a punch that made the entire boat sink about two meters in the water before its buoyancy made it return to its initial position. There was no thunder, no lighting, no wind, or anything, but the creature''s head was gone. In its place, there was just a charred mess of flesh and teeth, while Blue was on the ground a few meters behind it, soaking wet and shivering. The monster''s body fell to the ground with a loud thud and dissolved. Monsters were still coming, so Hera wasn''t able to help her friend right away. She could only stop them from getting to the controller. Helena was in the same situation, but she focused on the dungeon quest instead. If they could leave this place, they could check if Blue was ok. The mage dumped a few fish on the barrel sitting on the scale, and a bell rang. The sound worked almost like a barrier, pushing all the monsters away and making a bubble around the ship. The notification saying they had completed the quest appeared for everyone. Hera ignored that and rushed to her friend, "Blue! Are you ok?" "Y-y-yeah. I''m j-j-just cold. I-i-it''s the ski-i-i-i-ills drawb-b-back." 572 - Overcharge After being sure that no monster would pop out of the water again, Hera helped a shivering Blue to go inside the captain''s quarters. Despite all the fighting, there wasn''t a single scratch in the entire ship. Even that last monster and Blue''s attack could not make a dent in the crystal vessel. This probably meant that the captain''s quarters was the safest place in this entire dungeon. "Are you ok?" Hera helped Blue sit on one of the many boxes inside the room. "I-i-I''m f-f-ine," Blue replied. "You are freezing cold!" Helena gasped and tried to take Blue''s shirt off, "Here, it''s better to exchange body heat, or your heart could give out." Blue shook her head, "No. T-t-t-this is a d-d-debuff-f-f. Fi-fi-fi-fi-fi-fi" she gave up after that and just put out her hand, showing five fingers. "Five? Five minutes?" Adriel asked and got a nod as a reply. "And are you sure you don''t need help to heat up?" Helena pressed. Blue didn''t say anything, just nodded in reply. Even so, Hera called Core over and told the rapier to trigger its glow and make it so that the light emanates heat. The Empress could have asked him to use the sediment to burn one of the boxes, but she wasn''t sure how the crystal ship would react to magma. Still, that heat seemed to help Blue, who got closer to the blade and stopped shivering so much. Having nothing to do but wait for Blue''s recovery, Hera opened the reward window for the dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. You have gathered enough supplies for the Crystal Fisher''s next voyage. Rewards: 160 000 gold, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, and Thyme blend (Strenght) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The gold went straight for her tablet as it was supposed to, and the spices came in a single vial that should weigh around half a kilogram. Curious about the mention of strength on it, Hera used her [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, and Thyme blend (Strenght) A set of spices tailor-made to be used in dishes that contain fish. If at least 20 grams of this spice is consumed as part of a meal, you receive a temporary boost to your strength. If another boost from spices is applied, this buff is canceled. Bonus to strength: +20% Duration: 5 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh? This is interesting," Hera told everyone about the spices she got. Each of them seemed to have gotten a similar one. What varied were the actual spices in the blend as well as the attribute it would buff. More than the buff, everyone seemed excited about the idea of eating something seasoned. Hera, Helena, Adriel, and Mylo had some spices on them, but they were just the basic salt and pepper. Ever since arriving in the Seven Islands, every meal tasted the same. The fruit here already helped, but having more options was always better. "Oh, by the way. What happened with that one octopus? You know, the one that killed itself?" Adriel asked. "Right, I wanted to know that too," Hera turned to Helena. "Soo¡­ I got some new tricks. Instead of taking someone''s senses away, I can trick them into thinking something is not where it should be. The issue is that to do something like that, the target needs to be almost completely covered in shadows. At least for now. The octopus worked great since it had that armor, but the effect is far from perfect. Any sentient or really intelligent creature wouldn''t have the same reaction," Helena explained. "Are you sure about that? Octopi are pretty damn smart. If you can trick one of them, I think even some people would be tricked by that spell," Adriel added. "That was a perfect target. Since they were inside the armor, I didn''t have to worry about removing the feeling of the wind and a bunch of other things. It was like they had already removed one of their senses, so I just doubled down. Also, I had no idea it would die like that. I just wanted to see if I could make it hit itself." "I see," Adriel was looking down, in deep thought, "Say, do you think there is a way for me to help you improve that? In exchange, could you teach me a little about how to do that? Even if I don''t get to the point of doing this, just making my target blind or deaf would help a lot." Helena opened a big smile, "Sure! As long as you are willing to be my guinea pig. I want to know what to do to improve this, but using the spell on myself can only get me so far." "Do you mind if I join in on that deal?" Hera asked. Once upon a time, she asked Helena about her spells, but the mage said they required way too much mana for the Empress to use them. However, now that she had increased her maximum mana so much, she might be able to use a couple of those spells, even if just for a while. "Sure, you have around 1 million mana, right? That should be enough to use a few of my spells. I think," Helena smiled and turned to Adriel, "How much mana do you have?" "More than enough. Let''s just leave it at that, or I''ll end up showing my age," the elf chuckled. Hera glanced at the man and thought for a moment. If Helena, who was just about 10 years older than her, already had over 100 million mana to spend, she could only imagine how much an elf, who could live for several centuries, would have. "Hey¡­ stupid question. You guys have a lot more mana than I do, right? So can''t you cast a simple spell and hypercharge it enough to kill pretty much anything? I know that if you put too much mana into a spell, it has diminishing returns, but even I can do some pretty badass things with simple spells," Hera''s question seemed to interest Blue too, who perked up to listen in while staying close to Core. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "There are two problems with that idea, Sweetie. First, the diminishing return is not a line but a curve. The more mana you put into a spell, the less effective that mana will be. It will come to a point where even if I add 100 million points of mana, I will be lucky to make the spell 1% stronger. Let''s take my Shadow Bolt. It''s the most basic spell I have and it costs 10 mana per cast at its base form. Even if I put 1 million mana into that one, it will be like 100 times stronger and 10 million would make it just 106 times stronger. Sure it can still be deadly for a weak creature, but for a strong one, it won''t do much. Now if I use a Shadow Lance, which takes 350 mana, I would only need around 2 thousand to make it as strong as the supercharged Shadow Bolt," Helena explained. "The second problem is that simple spells can only take so much mana. A beginner spell is made in a way to be easy to use, but it also can''t handle too much mana. If you go past that limit, the spell will break, and that comes with its own set of problems," Adriel continued while setting up one of his drones to carry the fish. "L-l-like wha-wha-what?" Blue was starting to get better, and her shivering was slowly getting weaker. "Well, if you use just a bit of mana beyond the limit, the spell will just fizzle out, and you will waste the mana. If you use more, you can cause an explosion or get a debuff that hinders your regeneration for a few minutes or up to a year if you exaggerate a bit. If you really go overboard, you might even permanently lose some of your maximum mana. Like if you have 10 million, it goes down by 2 million, and then you have to grow it back up again. Either way, this is not something you two have to worry about for now. Even the most basic of spells, like the light spell you both use, can take around 10 million mana when it''s at the beginner level before fizzling out. If it goes to the novice level, it can handle 80 million or something stupid like that. When you get to the point of having that much mana, it''s likely that you won''t have to worry about this kind of thing," Helena opened her vial of spice and used her pinky to try a little bit before coughing, "Holy crap this is hot!" "You got pepper?" Adriel asked and got a nod in reply, "Nice. I was missing something spicy." "Why did no one tell us about that during training?" Hera asked, still confused. Even if it took a lot of mana for something like that to happen, it sounded like important information. "I mean, it is part of the warnings the Guild gives. When you reach like 8 million or something, you are supposed to go for a class that explains all that. But in the end, most people won''t ever have that much mana unless they are a Mage. Also, research has shown that knowing that this is a danger stops people from trying new things. In the end, people decided that this should be more of an advanced course that only people who are flagged as having enough mana would learn. That''s even something that our bracelets can do. Along with the vitals, they send information about our maximum mana. When it gets close to the ''danger zone,'' you are asked to take an online class about it," Helena turned to Blue, who had stopped shivering, "Is the debuff gone? Blue shook her head. "Do you think we could be moving? It''s getting late, and I don''t want to risk going back in the middle of the night," Helena asked and got a nod as a reply. They all got up, started walking out of the dungeon, and noticed that the sun was already setting. It was a bit weird since it should still be 4 P.M., but there wasn''t much they could do about that. While going back to the cabin they were staying at, Adriel started telling them how Elves had to take classes every few decades. Usually, that information about spells would be part of that course. Other things they learned were how to track time like the other races and how to cope with the loss of short-lived loved ones. Another more light-hearted tidbit was that Elves had to use unique products for skin care and for their teeth. Since they would be around for centuries, they had to use less aggressive products to avoid harming their bodies. Funnily enough, almost all Elves that went beyond 600 years had fake teeth. Most would implant a new set of them every 300 years or so, but a few just decided to go for dentures. Elven dental care was the best among all races, so much so that it should be impossible for anyone to know if an Elf had real or fake teeth. When he finished that story, everyone was staring at Adriel''s mouth, more specifically, trying to figure out if he was among the ones with fake teeth or not. The sun had already set, but the repellent stones illuminated the area enough so that no one felt afraid, not to mention the full moon rising on the horizon to their right. Here they had an unimpeded view of the ocean and the massive moon to the side. Hera had never seen the moon so big. Well, aside from the moon in the Moon Base room. Still, Hera had created a few dancing lights around the group. After a few moments, Hera gave up on trying to find out about Adriel''s teeth and turned to Blue, "Hey, can I ask about that skill¡­. Everyone stop!" the Empress yelled as she noticed what was going on. To her side, between a couple of cabins, she could see Blue, Adriel, and Helena walking toward the center of the raft. The problem was that she could also see them to her right, walking in the direction of the cabin they were staying at. To make things even worse, there was something causing her eyes to trick her. Even if she looked only at one of the two groups, she couldn''t tell which of them was following the edge of the raft and which was going to its center. "Hera, what is¡­ Hera?" Blue started looking back and forth between Hera and another cabin, where there was another Hera looking out of the window. "Doppelganger slimes, remember?" Hera said before asking her court to check everyone. Unfortunately, every single one of her blades also saw the copies. She tried using her [Observe], but even that was marking all the copies as themselves. "What is going on here?" Adriel gasped and prepared a few spells just in case. "Guys, calm down. I''m going to send you all a text with a password. Hera, can you read it and tell your court to approach us? We need to whisper that password to them and hold on to the weapons. Even if the slimes copy that, you can tell which weapons are real, right? And then the weapons can pull us in the right direction," Helena said her plan out loud. Even if the slimes could copy them and copy what they said, they shouldn''t be able to see the message if everyone was careful. It took a couple of moments, but thanks to Helena''s plan, they managed to find who they were once again. Oddly enough, even though Nimbus was out, none of the slimes were trying to copy him. That wasn''t the case for Daskka, though, since the other versions of Hera also had the snake around her neck. "Ok, let''s keep moving," Hera told Nimbus to say by her side as they walked in front of the group. That way, everyone else knew to follow the Sentinel, and the rest of the court would be like a lifeline. A couple of tense minutes passed before the slimes changed tactics. Now, instead of showing one of the four in the group, they started appearing as Alex, Bonnie, Shane, or Mylo. All bloodied, wounded and even begging for help. "Should we run?" Blue asked. "I don''t think so. We might get lost," Helena replied. "It''s a straight line until the cabin. And all we have to do is to follow Nimbus. Even if this place is trying to trick us into going in another direction, the griffon is not affected by that," Adriel said with an annoyed tone. "He is also having trouble to see where is the right direction. I''m helping out with my map, but running is still an unnecessary danger. Those slimes are not attacking, and as long as we stay in the ...." as Hera spoke, they noticed something covering the moonlight. Slowly turning their heads, they saw the body of a gigantic snake-like creature covering the upper half of the moon and moving as if it just had come for air before returning to the depths. "Can we run now?" Adriel asked with a crack in his voice. "Yep!" Hera and Helena replied before the group bolted towards the cabin in the corner, trying their best not to scream while hoping to arrive someplace more or less safe soon. 573 - Night in the raft "Hera, please! Help me!" Alex had half her head missing while crawling on the floor. Tears, snot, and blood were coming down her face. Below her waist was a writhing mass of something that seemed to be eating the assassin as the sound of crunching bones echoed through the alley. Hera glanced at her friend, but she didn''t stop. After seeing about a dozen versions of the slimes and stopping to confirm whether they were their friends, the group started to notice one thing that would give the monsters away. They didn''t seem to be able to copy weapons properly. This version of Alex had a Scimitar on her waist. Hera knew that the real one wasn''t a fan of longer blades. That was the kind of thing that they had to focus on to make sure they wouldn''t be going to check on a fake. "No! No! No! Please!" Bonnie''s voice came from inside one of the cabins. Her body was smashed against the window as blood started to spurt from her back, as if something was ripping her to shreds. "Bonnie!" Blue gasped, but Adriel stopped her from moving away. "Look at her hands. She has brass knuckles. Would she ever use something like that?" Blue clenched her fist, "No¡­ she wouldn''t use that." "C''mon, honey. Let''s keep moving," Helena said. Even if they all understood that those were monsters, it was hard to accept that. Seeing their friends brutally killed wasn''t easy, and walking away was even harder. But that was their only option. The alternative would be to risk being attacked by those slimes and then have to fight them while they wore the faces of the rest of their party members. Oddly enough, between all the possibilities, seeing themselves begging for help was the less disturbing version of it. Early on, when the slimes were still turning into one of the four present here, it was the same as being asked to be attacked. But then, the slimes changed. Now, they looked different. And because of that, they no longer appeared exclusively as their friends in need of assistance. It was more like a crime scene. A murder where the victim was screaming for help. Still, according to Hera''s map, they were close. The corner of the raft was already visible in the distance, and they would only need to turn and reach the first cabin to be safe. During the afternoon, the group grabbed a few extra monster-repellent rocks and placed them in their temporary house to ensure they would be protected from any slimes or other creatures that existed here. "Hera¡­ Please. Help. They are in danger," Mylo appeared from the corner of a house. He was carrying the floral-themed staff that he used, which made the entire group stop. "Fuck!" Hera looked around and found a repellent stone by a cabin where a version of Shane and Alex were trying to kill each other. She tossed a couple of poison needles and told Dao to use her [Chain Lightning] on both of them. When the shapes lost their form and became puddles on the ground, Hera hacked at the wood that was around the repellent stone and took it out of the structure. Then, she turned to Mylo and walked toward him with the glowing rock in her hand. "Hera¡­" Mylo stepped back, trying to move away from the Empress. "What? Don''t you need help? C''mon!" Hera yelled and tossed the rock at him. Just as it flew through the air, the shape collapsed into a pitch-black slime. She couldn''t remember before, but this was the same color she had encountered the previous night. Without even having to ask, Dao flew through the air and slammed the monster''s core against the ground, breaking it with the impact. "Are you ok?" Blue asked. "No. I''m not!" Hera yelled. Her anger wasn''t directed at Blue but at this entire situation. Watching her friends die or having to attack them made the Empress remember the elf she killed. This already wasn''t a pleasant experience without dealing with that memory. "Let''s just go back to the cabin. Yesterday they stopped trying to mess with you when you got there, right?" Helena asked. "I think so," Hera nodded and continued to walk following her map. In about five minutes, they finally arrived at the cabin. Rushing inside, Hera raised her hand and snapped her fingers to create a soundproof bubble. "Stop there!" Bonnie yelled with a stone fist floating around her, "How can we be sure you are not a monster?" Hera''s group finally had a moment to see what was going on in the cabin. Mylo, Shane, and Alex were gathered around Bonnie''s bed with weapons drawn. Around the floor, there were several repellent stones like a minefield. "Are you serious?" Hera asked and gestured to the ground, "Do you think any monster would be chilling here?" "So¡­ you guys had to deal with those things too?" Blue asked. "Yeah¡­ It wasn''t fun. Especially when they started to cry for help," Shane nodded and looked at the people who had just walked inside, "Could you guys pick a repellent stone? Just to ease our minds?" Hera rolled her eyes, but she felt terrible about it right away. It was a good idea. That way, everyone could be more at ease with the situation. She grabbed one of the rocks and passed along the line. The last to take the stone was Adriel, and he walked towards Alex, giving the rock to the assassin. "Can you guys do the same? For the same reason." Alex nodded, and soon everyone confirmed that there were no monsters in here unless one of them could withstand the effects of the repellent stone. When all that was over, the entire group started to hear screaming outside. All of their voices were calling for help or yelling in pain. "Hera, can you make a bubble that stops the sounds from outside?" Blue asked. "I can try. Give me a moment," Hera sat down on the side of Bonnie''s bed. Nimbus went to her side and sat beside her. Without saying it out loud, he asked, ''Empress¡­Hera, are you ok?'' ''Not really. This is a mess, and I really don''t like these places that mess with our heads like this. I don''t mind if it''s just like a trippy place, but when it tries to play with our hearts like that, it just makes me feel like crap,'' even if Nimbus wasn''t around for what happened in Dzviery, he knew the story well and could tell that this was part of what was eating her up. The rest of the court didn''t know what to say, but they were all close to her, trying to comfort the Empress. ''Mum¡­ it''s ok. You know you didn''t have a choice,'' Daskka snuggled with Hera, who just let her head rest against the snake. ''I know¡­ that doesn''t make things easier, though. Let me focus on something else. I need to figure out this spell,'' Hera sighed. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ''Sure, but don''t forget you leveled up. I believe you haven''t increased your attributes just yet.'' ''Oh. Right. Let me do that before I forget,'' she quickly opened her status window and increased her attributes. Somehow, she got a total of 54 points to distribute, which translated to an increase of 3 points in all her stats. Her mana was also growing a lot, and it was hard to tell why ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 30 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched Total Stats: 510 Strength: 85 Endurance: 85 Agility: 85 Charisma: 85 Intelligence: 85 Luck: 85 Mana: 1 053 984/1 053 984 Remaining attribute points: 6 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest , Bestow Gift , Royal Seal Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 2, Glaive Combat 2, Sword Combat 1, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 1, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 1, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla style 3 Battle Dancer 1, Attack Pathing 1, Synchronized Battle 1 Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1 Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 1, Sturdy Body 1 Magic Armor Proficiency 2 Naga poison 4 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 2, Weapons Rebalance 2, Weapon break Etching 3 Medical Reference 2, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 4 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were some skills that she had to focus on right now. She intended to get the crafter role, and by the looks of it, there was a chance she would miss that. When she was done with her attributes, the Empress opened Nimbus'' status screen to distribute the Sentinel''s points. He always got the same number of points that she did, and the only restriction was that his total attribute points couldn''t surpass her own. One surprise was that his mana increased significantly, which seemed to have happened when he completed the royal quest. After setting everything up, they arrived at his new total. In the end, it wasn''t that much of a difference. He just increased his endurance by 3 and rounded out his luck to 40. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sentinel Nimbus - Protection Bladed Tonfa - Griffon Total Stats: 479 Strength: 102 Endurance: 145 Agility: 106 Charisma: 40 Intelligence: 46 Luck: 40 Remaining points: 1 Mana: 306 128/306 128 Weapon Scaling Endurance x 15.5[11.5(14.5) + 4] Strength x 10.2[6.4(8) + 4] Agility x 10.2 [6.4(8) + 4] Charisma x 4 Intelligence x 4 Luck x 4 Passive Skill: Defender Fire and Ice Cold Burn Call of the Wind Wind Front Active Skill: Griffon''s call Frozen Ash Griffon Form Mana Shield Share the Pain ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She also checked his skills to see if she was missing anything, but the reality was that he didn''t have that many opportunities to participate in combat. Even in this last dungeon, his focus was on getting the fish, not fighting. Hera knew the Sentinel was feeling self-conscious about that and made a silent promise to let him have a more active role in the fights in the future. With that out of the way, Hera focused on the spell she wanted to make. Her idea was to invert the barrier. Making it so that noises from the outside would be stopped. However, as she tried to change it, she noticed one thing. Her soundproof barrier was already perfect for that. The spell would create a very thin layer of vacuum, stopping sounds from coming out and in. She could hear what was happening beyond the bubble because the next part of the spell would register the sound waves from the outer layer and replicate them inside the barrier. In the end, the soundproof bubble she used was already more complicated than what she needed right now. Tweaking that was extremely easy. All she had to do was to make an imperfect barrier intentionally. With a snap of her fingers, the barrier changed, and now it was so cheap to keep it up that she would never have to deactivate it. "Oh wow. Thanks," Blue let out a sigh of relief as the yelling vanished. "No problem. It''s easier than I expected." "Really? How so?" Bonnie asked, and Hera gave a brief explanation about it. "Speaking of spells and skills. Blue, what was that? The last attack you used in the dungeon," Adriel asked. "Oh, right? Did you get fish?" Alex turned to the elf, who just pointed at the corner of the room where his drone was located, "If we are going to cook it, it might be better doing it outside¡­." "Or we can keep it there for the night. I can set it up as a cool box so it won''t go bad, but the smell will still be there¡­" "I could cook it outside. I can make a cloud to hide us from the monsters, and we just attack anything that comes through," Blue suggested. "I''ll help you. My court can stay on guard," Hera got up. She noticed that the controller avoided the question and felt there was a good reason for it. The least she could do was to help her out. 574 - Second meeting with a guide "Do you want to talk about it?" Hera asked as she and Blue set up the makeshift kitchen outside the cabin with some cooking supplies Shane and Mylo found during the day. It was a large stone support with some dry wood to fuel the fire. Besides that, a few iron slabs were also used as a grill. Having those things could help a lot since making the fire on the raft floor was dangerous. Blue had already created the storm barrier around them, and Hera placed some monster-repellent stones on the perimeter before making a soundproof bubble. "I just felt bad¡­ and embarrassed," Blue replied as she started the fire. "Embarrassed?" Hera tilted her head. "Yeah. I mean, c''mon, ''I am the storm'' is soo fucking cringe," Blue sighed and started preparing the fish on top of one of the grills. "Well¡­ I can''t say much. I keep trying to find cool ways to call my court, but right now it''s just ''Everybody out,''" Hera chuckled, "But it''s ok if you wanted to make a signature move or something. And if you don''t like that one, we can workshop something else. How about ''Crash Down''?" "I rather not say anything," Blue kept her eyes on the fish. "Then why don''t you?" Hera asked. "I can''t. I''m guessing it''s like how you call your court. It has to have a phrase for the cloud to echo." "The cloud? So you weren''t the one who yelled that?" "No!" Blue gasped and turned to the explorer, "It was the cloud. Instead of thunder, my voice booms out of the storm I created. It''s part of the condition for the skill." "Really? What exactly is that skill?" Hera had her arms crossed while trying to think. Even if she had something similar, when she called her court, it didn''t have to be something she said out loud. "Well. It''s something that I can do with one of my clouds. The cooldown takes a couple of days, but basically, when I make a cloud, I can designate it as the Storm''s End. With that, every attack or skill I use through that cloud leaves a bit of power behind. Then as the Storm''s Last Breath, I can unleash the energy to make an attack that will either cover an area and be around 20 times stronger than if I was using that energy for something else or a single target blast that will be 50 times stronger." "Damn!" Hera gasped, "That seems amazing! Shit, 50 times? Do you have a limit on how much power each cloud can store?" "I do. Each cloud can only store a percentage of the mana I used to create them. Like if I used 100 mana to make one, the cloud could only store 40 mana, but I would need to spend around 800 mana to store that much in the cloud." "Got it, still. Even if we are going by that math, you are spending close to a thousand mana to make an attack that would require double that amount. It is a powerful thing. Especially when you start scaling up the cost. Add one or two extra zeroes to those numbers, and you are already dealing with something stupid," Hera said with a smile, "But I still don''t understand what the problem with telling everyone about it was. Was it just the cringe?" "The other problem was that I got those skills last night. Well, saying those is kind of unfair. It''s all a single skill but split into two parts. I felt bad because I didn''t want to have a discussion with everyone like you did," Blue explained when she finally cleaned one of the fish. "So? Just because I did that doesn''t mean everyone has to. Besides, I asked for your help and ended up getting what I wanted anyway," Hera shrugged with a laugh. "Still, you were thinking about the group while I was thinking about what would be fun. I think I''m not taking all of this seriously enough." "What''s the problem with that? We could all afford to be less stressed about everything that is going on. Besides, this is just a temporary thing. We will figure out a way to go back home eventually. I think we might need to go the long way around now," Hera smiled and started to mix the fish with some of the spices they got from the dungeon. "Really?" Blue stopped for a moment, "Yeah, I think I agree with you. Even if we find that doorway again, we would have to deal with the whirlpool. Sure, maybe we can breathe underwater there, but maybe we can''t." "You are also counting on the idea that we can figure out a way to open the door the way Alex did quickly. I have no clue if there is a lever or something. Maybe there was, but I honestly can''t remember," Hera started cooking the first of the fish. They were going to try to cook one first to see if they got it right and then make it in bulk for everyone. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Right. I forgot about that. Yeah, going the long way around sounds better. We might even be able to find a connection back to the Wailing Valley or someplace else," Blue nodded, feeling a bit better about it. They continued talking about their plans and any new skills they got from their legacies while cooking the fish. Nimbus, Daskka, and the court were on patrol duty, moving close to the storm to make sure no monsters were approaching while still staying inside the soundproof bubble. Hera didn''t want them to be forced to hear the fake screams coming from the slimes. After about fifteen minutes, Blue walked inside the cabin with some cooked fish. It wasn''t a five-star meal, but it was a welcomed change from the usual. That kept going for a while, and when Hera was cooking the last batch of fish, Shane came out of the cabin with one of the empty iron slabs instead of Blue. "Hey. This bubble is working, right?" Shane pointed to the surrounding area. "I mean, you can''t hear their screams, can you?" Hera asked. "Fair point. Listen¡­ Do you think you could call the guide tomorrow? I don''t like the idea of having to go through this every night." Hera nodded, "Yeah. I was already thinking about it. I wanted to see if we could find a way to go to the flying city and if there are any monsters in there at night. Then, if I''m lucky, I wanted to see if I can find out more about the doorways." "That''s a good call. Whatever you can''t find out, I''ll try to," Shane smiled, "Oh¡­ and sorry if I''m being annoying. Mylo and I were talking, and I realized that I started to default to being bitchy every now and then. I didn''t even realize I was doing that. If I can ask for a favor. Could you tell me if I start acting like that again?" Hera stopped to stare at Shane for a moment, "I honestly didn''t realize that was happening. But sure. I mean, we are all under a lot of stress, and everyone has been a bit snappy lately. Understandably so. But I''ll let you know if I notice something odd. Changing the subject for a bit, do you have any new legacy skills you want help with?" "Not really. I got a couple of new ones a few days before we started our trip, and I''m saving for a big one now. It will let me make long-term enchantments on items, and it won''t ask me to be close to most of them. Like I could enchant one of your weapons, and we could be in different rooms while the skill is still working. Or at least that''s what the herald tells me," Shane sat by Hera''s side, "Want me to finish this up? That way, you can eat." The Empress smiled, "The person who is grilling the meat usually is who eats the most. Also, is there a reason why you don''t mention the herald''s name?" "Not really. I just find it easier to explain like this. Besides, my herald is just mine. It''s not like Daskka, who can interact with a bunch of people," Shane replied and leaned back, "Their name is Dartra, by the way." "Dartra? Any reason for that name?" "I tried to make it a mix of Darni and Lantra. It felt fitting." Hera smiled, and she noticed that Daskka was happy with that too. The snake wasn''t outside the bubble but sitting on the corner, watching the cloud barrier that Blue created on the lookout for any monsters. When the last fish was done, Hera called everyone back and went inside the cabin. She gave Nimbus and Daskka some of her share. Even if they didn''t have to eat, they could enjoy food. More time passed, and everyone went to bed. Someone was always up to keep a lookout, and they would sleep in shifts, but thanks to Hera''s bubble, which was still up when she slept, nothing happened until the morning came. After waking up, Hera first brushed her teeth and headed to a nearby cabin where she would activate her Safety Cube and set everything up. She told everyone where she was going but asked them not to follow. To make sure things wouldn''t go south, she grabbed a couple of monster-repellent stones and placed them around the cabin she was using. With everything ready, she took a deep breath and said. "I call upon the Guide of the Abyssal Deep. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." She waited a moment while nothing happened. Then a tiny pink sphere appeared in front of her, coming from the shadows created by the safety cube. That round ball started to spin slowly and glow within a mix of multicolored sparkles, and then it started to change. It stretched slowly, taking a different shape. Little by little, that ball became humanoid, but it started to twist even more. Large tendrils were coming out from the head and going all the way to the feet, almost like a new set of limbs. The waist became bigger and bigger, stopping midway where the legs were supposed to be, but forming heavy armor or some sort of swollen limbs. It was insect-like, small limbs reaching for a much bigger body, and Hera was starting to get worried. She never saw a guide with such an alien shape, and they were still glowing for whatever reason. Could she even understand this guide? With a cutesy ''pop'' sound, the feet took their final form, a pair of high heels with a small bow resting on the tip and a pair of knee-high dark pink socks. That large waist that Hera believed to be armor became a ball gown full of frills that seemed to be flowing in the nonexistent wind and dropped a few centimeters beyond her knees. The hands became white gloves, and the chest had a beautiful top shirt with a puffy cravat and a light pink bow on top adorned with a single amethyst. What Hera thought to be extra limbs was revealed to be actually this guide''s hair, a very long and silky hair that formed small drills in the end. "When the light of the world is in danger, only those with a pure heart can fight against the forces of evil," the glowing face started to move and spoke in a slightly high-pitched voice, "I heard your cries, adventurer, and your soul is bright. For that," the left hand moved to make a sideways V and place it in front of their face. In contrast, the right hand went forward with the finger as far apart as humanly possible, "I have answered your call!" The glow stopped, revealing the guide''s face. It was still pink, more pink than any person should be, and in a way, it reminded Hera of Peaches. The way the skin was moving, it seemed almost malleable, like some soft clay or play dough. "To fend off the evild and darkness, I am the warrior of love. Magical Guide Lodi!" 575 - A deal "Are¡­ are you ok?" Lodi asked after a very long pause. She kept holding the pose that entire time, but now she was getting worried. "Yeah¡­ yeah, I am. Sorry, it was just¡­ unexpected. Your entrance, I mean," Hera blinked a few times, trying to get her head in the game. "Oh. Was it bad? I thought it was a good magical girl transformation," Lodi looked down, feeling a bit silly. "No, no. It was great. I think¡­ Honestly, it''s been a long time since I saw a magical girl show, and that doesn''t actually translate all that well in manga form," Hera tried to explain but felt like it wasn''t enough, "I think I was expecting something else. After last night.. I don''t know. My mind was in horror territory." "Horror? I scared you?" Lodi tilted her head with a confused expression, her hair bouncing as it jiggled to the side. "No. I don''t mean it like that. Your silhouette just played some tricks in my mind. For some reason, when I saw it, I thought your hair was a pair of extra arms and that your skirt was part of your body. I had no idea you would show up wearing clothes," Hera said. "Why wouldn''t I? As far as I''m aware most guides you''ve met wear clothes." Hera nodded, "That''s fair, but like, Ruma didn''t, neither did Peaches or Capri, and Kelpi is like¡­ I don''t know if he counts." Lodi opened her mouth, then stopped and nodded after thinking for a moment, "I mean, that''s fair. Each guide is unique, so it wouldn''t be impossible. Maybe I can fix that somehow." "What if you made the skirt flutter while it was still glowing? Or is that too hard to do?" Hera suggested. "Like this?" Lodi touched her skirt, and it started glowing just as it did during her transformation, but this time it was moving. It still felt off, and it could potentially be worse, but at the same time, it gave a less alien look now that Hera knew who the guide was. "I don''t think that''s a fix, but it''s a step in the right direction," Hera smiled. "Ok, thanks! I''ll keep that in mind¡­ Is there a reason why you didn''t introduce yourself? Don''t get me wrong, I already know your name, and it''s fine if you don''t want to tell me. I just want to know if this is still protocol. Like introducing yourself? Should I not have done that?" Lodi was fidgeting with her gloves, clearly feeling embarrassed for some reason. "No, no. Sorry I just got distracted. I''m Hera. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lodi," Hera put out a hand instinctively. This was the most human-like guide she ever saw. Even if she thought Lodi was a slime, she looked like a regular person. A pink person but still an ordinary person. Lodi stopped for a moment looking at Hera''s hand before sheepishly reaching out and shaking it, "This is it, right? This is what I''m supposed to do? I''m sorry. It''s just been a very long time since I talked with anyone here." "Yeah, that''s it. Sorry if it''s weird for you," Hera smiled and felt Lodi start to shake her hand excitedly. "No! It''s not weird at all! I''ve seen it in movies, but I try not to base my knowledge on those things. I know they can be unreliable depictions of the world," Lodi kept shaking Hera''s hand while nodding vigorously. "Don''t worry. That part is real. People do greet each other like that. Well, in the western world, at least. I think in the east, there are a few cultures that have other greetings, but I''m not the best person to talk about that," Hera smiled and looked at her hand, trying to signal, gently, that it was time to stop. Lodi managed to catch the signal and let Hera''s hand go, "Ok, so. About your questions. I have an offer for you. I know some of the things you are going to ask. Ruma talked to me about what you asked in the Seven Islands, and I can give you a full explanation about the doorways in this room. They are weird, and even if you ask all the right questions, you will waste at least four minutes and a half just to know everyone. But I''ll do it by taking two and a half minutes away. Since it''s been a freaking long time since I talked with anyone in this room, I have some leeway to share what I want. In return¡­" Lodi looked down and started to twist her foot back and forth, "I kind of want a favor." Hera chuckled, "It''s hardly a favor if you are offering something in exchange for it. But I do like the idea. What is the favor?" "So¡­ There is a guide that you know, that I know you know, and he is¡­ really cool, and fun, and serious, and smart, and talented. And I kind of wanted to get closer to him, so I hope you could help me with that." "Oh? You are asking me to be your wing woman?" Hera couldn''t help but open a large smile. She never expected a guide of all people to ask that. "No, well¡­ Yes, but not like in a romantic way," Lodi made a negative gesture with both her hands quickly as if she was a character in a cartoon which oddly fit her. "Ok¡­ then what are you asking me?" Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "There is a guide that is really cool, and I always wanted him to be my mentor, you know, like a father figure. He does that to a couple of other guides, but I never convinced him to do that to me," Lodi explained. "Are you talking about Peaches?" Hera asked. "Yeah! He is amazing! I asked him to be my dad some time ago, but he shot me down." "Well¡­ that is kind of a big thing. At least for us, and I don''t know how I can help. Besides, this is not the kind of thing that you can force. It has to happen naturally." "I''ve tried that for the past thousand years! It''s not happening." "I mean¡­ maybe you are going the wrong way about it. Do you two hang out a lot?" Lodi shook her head, "Not really. Only at parties, but I try to be close by." "That''s¡­. A bit creepy. Are you stalking him?" "NO! Well¡­ what would you call stalking?" "Following him around. Going to places where he is at just to force an interaction. Watching him from the shadows. Having a shrine for him at home," Hera replied. "Ok, that last one I absolutely don''t do. I have a single picture that we took together, and that''s it! And I don''t watch him from the shadows. Like if I see him around, I look, but I don''t go out of my way to hide. Also, I don''t follow him¡­. Unless he is acting weird or going somewhere new, that could be dangerous, and if I want to get closer to him, I have to talk to him, so what is the problem with going to places where he should be?" Hera frowned, "I mean¡­ it''s not¡­ directly bad, but did he ever ask you to stop?" "No, never." "Ok then. I can try to help, but I''ll make sure he is ok with you being around first. I''m not going to put him in an uncomfortable position." "Really?" Lodi opened a smile that was only possible for a slime. It was as if half her head was split in half by a half-moon. Hera nodded, "Really? I can''t promise it will work, but I can at least try." Lodi jumped and gave Hera a big hug while continuing to jump, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." "Ok, ok, calm down. You are going to tear your dress like that." "I won''t. It''s very sturdy," despite her words, Lodi stopped and let Hera go. She took a few steps back and cleared her throat, "So. Do you accept the deal? I need to hear that." "I do. Can I ask questions about the explanation if I''m confused?" "Perfect, and sure, ask away. Now, I''m going to explain to you how three doorways work here." "There are only three doorways here?" Hera asked. "Here is the thing. That is a question that almost no guide can answer. It doesn''t matter what I say. It will give too much information. So I can''t say if there are only three or more doorways here, but I''m going to talk about the three that are the most likely for you to encounter. That doesn''t mean those are the only three or that there are any others. Only that I''m talking about those three specifically. "Ok," Hera nodded. "Back to the meat of it. The doorways are weird. First, there is one that only opens once a month. That one is very dangerous and very hard to get to. It''s at the bottom of the ocean, and there is a huge monster guarding it." "Is that the giant snake that was swimming last night?" Hera shivered, remembering that creature. "No, that one is smaller," Lodi''s words sent a chill down the Empress'' spine, "But you don''t have to worry. That monster doesn''t come out of the water. And it''s far away." "Is the monster that much stronger?" Hera gasped. "Not really. It''s just level 40. But the problem is that it''s made to live underwater. I know that there are some species around the MAZE, like the triton, but they are still bipedal. That one is a deep sea creature, and if it''s on its home turf, it''s almost impossible to beat it. Not to mention they are worse than any of the slimes outside. Tricking your mind is easy for that monster, and they can even pretend to be the system." "What? Is that even possible? I thought the system had protections to stop anyone from pretending to be it." Hera''s eyes went wide. That went against everything she believed to be true. "Yeah, because it''s not the system. Like, the monster won''t make you see a notification from the system. It will create a realistic illusion and then hide it from anyone who is not its target. The illusion can be dispelled, and it''s different from a regular notification, but it''s still close enough to trick you. It''s like just at the limit, and I even had to step in to change some stuff to make sure it would always be up to code," Lodi created a clipboard in her hand and a pair of glasses and started to check some nonexistent boxes. "Ok¡­ I don''t know if I feel better or worse about that," Hera scratched her head. "Honestly. Me neither. I just got the information that I should do some stuff, and it sucks that we don''t get much information beyond that," Lodi sighed and tossed the clipboard back, making it vanish before it even hit anything, "Now. Moving along, the next two doorways are similar. They keep going in and out of the room. There are a few conditions to bring them back here. I can''t say what they are, but if nothing troublesome is going on with the room, they won''t be close by. Also, there is one that is on the surface, the one you came from. The other one is underwater, but it''s in a dry place. And¡­ I think that''s about it. I can''t actually say anything else. Man, this sucks," Lodi kicked the ground. "I mean, this is already a lot of information. I have no complaints. I still have some time, right?" Lodi nodded, "Yeah, but my issue is that It''s been soooo freaking long since I''ve talked with anyone, and now I can''t even tell you everything I want. Besides¡­. Ok, ok. I''ll start the timer, jeez." "Is it that bad? The warnings about having to continue the time." "Yeah, sometimes they are really annoying!" "Can''t you just ignore it?" "Nope. I have to do it. Not doing would be like¡­ you having to cut open your stomach and play jump rope with your own intestines. Like, it''s something that is not even considered." "It would hurt?" Hera asked. "No, no. It won''t hurt, but it''s like a ridiculous thought for us. Like if you suddenly decide that you are a bird or a rock. Anyway, are you ready to start? You still have half your time," Lodi pointed up where a digital clock appeared, showing 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Hera nodded, "I''m ready." 576 - Searching the floatilla "For starters. Please answer yes or no unless I ask you to elaborate on a question," Hera made sure not to phrase it as a question. She didn''t want to start the timer prematurely. For now, it was still marking two and a half minutes. Every single interaction with the guides was like that. Only when the first question was asked that the clock would start ticking. "Got it. It''s a nice way to do things," Lodi smiled. "To start, then, is there a way to get to the flying city from the raft? Aside from flying towards it." "Yes." "Bonnie got a spyglass in the previous room that detects dungeons and doorways. Would it be able to detect that passage or whatever it is?" Lodi had to think for a moment on that one, "Sorry. I had to check what the spyglass is. No, it wouldn''t work for that." Hera nodded, "Is the flying city safe?" Lodi crossed her arms and looked up for a moment, "Sort of." "Ok, let me change that question. Are there monsters in there? Be it during the day or the night." "Oh, that. No, there aren''t." "Then why is it dangerous?" Hera frowned. "There are no railings. You can fall if you are too close to the edge." "Oh¡­ Ok. Can you tell me how we can get to the city in the sky from the raft?" Hera took a shot in the dark. Lodi shook her head, "You don''t have enough time. That one is worth at least three minutes." "That feels cheap," Hera squinted. "Sorry, I didn''t think you would ask that. My fault." "That''s ok. There was a Naga that came here a long time ago, correct?" "Yes," Lodi gave a sad smile as she nodded. "Did they leave? This room, I mean." "They did." "Was it through one of the three doorways you mentioned?" "It was, through the one underwater. But not the one with the giant monster. Not that they couldn''t. The creature was nowhere near as strong as it is now. But they didn''t even find that doorway. "So they left through the one underwater that we will probably take?" "I don''t know your plans, but that is a likely possibility," Lodi nodded. "Ok¡­" Hera still had questions about the doorway and all that, but she knew that all those questions would take too much time. There was only a minute in the clock, and she knew that anything related to that would cost more than she had. However, there was one thing that usually made the guides speak more than they should. Whenever she asked about the room itself, they became very talkative, "Could you tell me what happened with this place? Why did everyone die?" Lodi looked back at the clock and stopped it, "I think the best answer I could give you will cost all the time you have left. Is that ok?" Hera thought for a moment, "Sure. Knowing that will be more helpful than anything else I could find out with that one minute." Lodi chuckled, making her hair bounce, "You are not wrong there. The thing is, I can''t actually tell you. But I can say that there are two dungeons that will show you what happened. First, the one in the sky city. You have the spyglass, well, your friend has, so use it when you get there. The dungeon is called ''Day of Progress.'' Then, one that is underwater in a¡­ place. You can also get there through something in the flotilla. Oh, I guess you are calling this a raft. It''s here, where you are, but not in the same place as the¡­ as the whatever that takes you to the sky city. The dungeon that you are looking for is called ''Green Water.'' When you do both and connect the dots, you will understand what happened. If you do them in that order, first the one in the sky and then the one underwater, it might be easier. Oh, triggering the hard mode or finding the story of the dungeons can help too." Hera nodded, but she was struggling not to laugh. Lodi noticed that reaction and frowned, "Why is this funny?" "No, it''s not that. It''s just that I had one minute left, and I''m pretty sure you nailed the timing." With a smile, Lodi puffed her chest, "Of course. I take pride in my work, and when I have to spend some time for the answer, I''ll do my best to fill that time with as much information as I can." "Oh? That is very nice of you. I don''t remember any other guide that did that." "Wait¡­ really? I thought that was the deal for everyone¡­. I need to talk to some people." Hera smiled, "Well, don''t let me hold you. Unfortunately, we are done here." "Yeah, it was really nice to meet you. Oh, and is it ok if I text you sometime?" "Of course! And if Peaches is ok with you, I''ll try to put on a good word. Not to mention you should be seeing Shane soon." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Lodi opened a big smile, "Thanks! And please, send her my way. Even if I was more excited about meeting you. The guides talk better about you than about her. Oh, don''t tell her that, please." "Really?" "Yeah, usually people say she is a bit too¡­ Intense and less understanding." "I do agree with the intense part, but I can''t say much about the understanding. She was always ok with me." "Either way, I''ll be on my best behavior. I really missed talking with people. Oh, and¡­" Lodi rushed towards Hera and gave her a big hug, "Thank you for coming here." "Thank you for answering my questions. Even if I kind of forced you." "You didn''t. And I hope I can talk to you soon," with that, Lodi made a circle with her hand, creating a very glittery portal surrounded by bows and pink flowers, "After a job well done, Magical Girl Lodi leaves in search of another pure soul in need of her help. But don''t forget, your heart is the biggest weapon against the shadows!" Hera couldn''t even say a word before Lodi jumped into the portal and disappeared, leaving only a tiny puff of pink glitter behind. After waiting a few moments, the Empress deactivated the safety cube and left. She called her court out as soon as she exited this cabin and walked back to the group. It took about thirty minutes to explain everything, including all the time wasted with questions to which Hera didn''t have the answer. Still, eventually, everyone agreed to head out and look for a way to go to the flying city. The simple idea of being able to sleep without having to worry about seeing their friends getting brutally killed every night was more than enough to make them rally. Even Bonnie was against staying behind. She would use a copy of Helena''s shadow grabbers to move her leg so her injury wouldn''t worsen. Daskka was still using some healing mist at every chance she got, but now it wasn''t doing much. As the group was gathering some supplies, Shane got closer to Hera, "Hey. How long will it take for your safety cube to be recharged?" "I think it will take a couple of days, but this is the first time I''m recharging after I got the title. Why? Do you already want to use it?" "Yeah¡­ I have some ideas for the questions. I could just go to a cabin and have you using the soundproof bubble, but I''m not sure if I want to risk it," Shane sighed. "Well¡­ Let''s try to find a better place to stay. We will also be able to check that Naga temple. And there is a dungeon up there, so we could check that out too." Shane nodded. That''s fair. By the way. Don''t you think you should ask Yarnball where is that¡­ whatever thing that will get us there?" "Yeah, I was just about to do that. I know we are still going to take a little while to head out, so I should have enough mana when we leave," Hera pulled her relic from her waist and thought for a moment before pumping a full million mana and asking, "Where, in this raft, is located what will get us to the flying city in this room?" The answer came right away, but it was a little unexpected. ''Look at your map.'' Hera tilted her head and opened the explorer''s map. She only had a part of the raft revealed and a few markers pointing out the greenhouse, the maintenance cabin, and the dungeon. But now, beyond the dungeon, and a lot to the right, there was a circular area. Touching that spot showed a label ''What is needed to get to the flying city is somewhere in this area.'' "Oh? That''s new. And kind of good, at least," Hera smiled. "Did you find something?" Shane asked. "Yeah, hang on," Hera pulled her tablet and showed the map, "It says it is somewhere here." "That is¡­ good, but somewhere in this area? Really? That circle could go from here to the dungeon." Hera looked over and realized that Shane wasn''t wrong. The circle was massive, but it was still better than searching the entire raft, "I probably would need more mana to get a better location." "Yeah, I guess." Minutes passed, and everyone was ready to go. They had enough food and water for a day and a night, and Adriel was carrying a large amount of the monster-repellent stones, just in case they had to sleep somewhere else. ''Guys, tell me if any of you sees anything that seems off. We don''t know what we are looking for, and I really don''t want to sleep down here again." ''Got it!'' Hera''s court replied, with Edge already flying around to the limit of Hera''s range. ''Nimbus, how do you feel about a quest right now? You could take a couple of them and look around from the sky.'' ''If you want, I''ll do that, Empress. However, I do not like that idea. We are going to an area where the cabins are more densely packed. It''s hard to tell if there will be any hidden danger somewhere.'' Daskka stretched and put her face in front of Hera''s, ''I agree with him, mum. After last night I think we should stay together. If those weird slimes show up again, Nimbus won''t be there to guide everyone.'' Hera looked down at Daskka with a shocked expression, ''Ok, if the two of you are agreeing with something, I won''t object to that. It''s probably a sign of the end of the world, and I shouldn''t go against it.'' ''I would never put you in harm''s way, Empress, even if the world is ending. I will protect you.'' ''Unless you see some bird seed lying around.'' ''You are the glutton here! You ate Hera''s fish last night!'' ''She was done eating! And you are the one who always eats the last piece of cake in the fridge.'' ''Guys! If you are going to start a screaming match, don''t do it when talking in my head. You are going to give me a migraine,'' Hera rubbed her temple. ''Sorry,'' both of them said at the same time but continued staring daggers at each other. "Problems in paradise?" Helena noticed Hera''s expression as they were heading deeper into the raft. "I''m surrounded by children," Hera looked at Nimbus and Daskka, "And yes. I''m talking about both of you." Helena chuckled, "For someone who always hated the idea of having kids, you are really leaning into the role of a mother," the mage saw Hera''s expression darken with the mention of ''mother,''" Sorry, Sweetie. I didn''t mean it like that." "I know. Don''t worry about it. It''s just¡­ I''m a bit worried about my dad." "Why?" "I don''t know. I''m worried that he might freak out and go after her again. I want him to be happy, and I hope he finds someone in the future, but I really wish he wouldn''t go back to Stella. I don''t want to lose him again," Hera explained, but she felt horrible doing so, "I know I''m being selfish." "You really aren''t. I know just a fraction of what that woman made you go through, and I don''t see anything wrong with your wish. People like that are toxic to everyone around them. I''m sure your dad also got hit with some of her abuse." "Thanks? I guess," Hera looked at Helena with a confused expression. Not that she didn''t understand what the mage was trying to say, but it just didn''t feel like a good idea to say that her dad was suffering before. Helena sighed, "You know what I mean. He probably can see that she wasn''t good for him, and I don''t think you have to worry about that. Also, why do I get the feeling that you are more worried about your dad while you are gone than about us being lost?" "Because I am. I told¡­ someone that already. Between the eight of us, we have three legacies, two veteran explorers, and one title. I''m positive we can handle basically anything this room throws at us," Hera smiled. ''Mum¡­ I thought we didn''t raise flags,'' Daskka sighed as they started to see the multiple story cabins that formed the center of the raft. 577 - Town Hall The center of the raft was filled with hundreds of cabins close to each other. And it looked like a few of the cabin doors had been removed and replaced by a heavy steel mesh, which allowed air in but kept out anything larger than an insect. On top of the mesh were several layers of metal that also prevented people from getting inside easily. It was hard to tell why that was the case, and coming up with theories seemed counterproductive. The most confusing part was that those metal spikes and wires wouldn''t be enough to stop any of the slimes. Not to mention that, instead of them being in good condition like the wood that made the entire thing, the metal was heavily rusted, and in some places, it was clearly broken off. "Why would someone do this?" Hera asked out loud while looking at the cabin doors. "I don''t know," Blue replied. "Maybe they wanted to make sure no one could get in without their permission." "I think this is more likely to be to stop things from getting out. Look at that one," Bonnie pointed to the left, where the bottom of the metal actually looked like a set of iron bars. "So this place was a prison? In the middle of the raft? That sounds¡­" Adriel trailed off. "Stupid?" Alex finished his sentence. "Well¡­ I don''t want to speak ill of the dead." "I honestly do not care. If these people died because they ended up putting a bunch of criminals in the middle of the city, thinking it was a good idea, it''s their own fault," Alex scoffed. "I don''t think that is the case," Shane looked inside one of those cabins with the mesh and the metal outside, "Look here. This doesn''t look like a house or a place like the other cabins. If anything, this is bigger. A storage, maybe? Then again, there are no windows, and the place does look like a jail cell." "It''s still strange. Why would you put a prison in the middle of the city if it wasn''t for the fact that the city was a prison?" Adriel asked. "Because there are people who want to lock up others and then force them to work for free, even if it poses a threat to them. Their comfort is more important than safety. " Helena replied. Adriel and Mylo looked at her with surprised expressions, but it was the fighter who spoke up, "Do you have experience with that kind of thing?" Helena rolled her eyes, "Really? I kind of expected it from Adriel, but c''mon, man. You know what happened in our past. Or were you in one of those schools that didn''t mention what happened when people were being colonized?" "Ah, I see. I''m sorry. I didn''t consider that possibility," Adriel looked at Helena, "We have studied your past, but even in the MAZE, slavery was only done with war prisoners. Never with... well.." "I know. It''s harder to do that with others when everyone can get to the same level. Back on earth, we needed to go to a specific place to start leveling up, and a number of tribes didn''t have access to those places. When people who could literally fly and make fire rain from the sky came to capture them, there wasn''t much they could do," Helena let out a long sigh, "Sorry for bringing the mood down. That subject always pissed me off." "No, no. It is interesting to see your point of view. But let''s continue our search." "Guys, I think I found a hotel!" Blue called the group, a few meters ahead of them all. What she found was a house with a reception desk and with six bunk beds in each of the six rooms. "Why would they have a hotel here? It''s not like this is a prime vacation spot," Bonnie scratched her head. "Could this be just a regular house?" Blue suggested. "I don''t think so. We''ve seen cabins that only have a single or a double bed, or at least the space for one. This feels like something different. Maybe it''s the barracks?" Hera suggested. Unfortunately, this was yet another question that they couldn''t get the answers to. Deciding to continue their exploration, the group arrived at a large structure. It was the tallest building here, being three stories tall, and it looked almost like a town hall of sorts. Looking inside, they could tell that the ground floor seemed to be okay. Just like all the other cabins, this place didn''t have anything aside from wooden furniture. A couple of tables, long benches, and a single empty cabinet in the corner of the hall. However, things changed when going to the second floor. Not everyone was able to go there, Bonnie and Alex stayed behind. The researcher couldn''t climb stairs with her broken foot, and the assassin wasn''t going to leave her alone. After climbing the stairs, Hera noticed that the ground was still fine, and it didn''t seem to be having any trouble, but the walls and the ceiling were starting to rot and form holes everywhere. It was like they had left a normal raft and entered a post-apocalyptic place. "Maybe we should turn back," Shane suggested. "I''m not sure that is a good idea," Adriel said, "If what we are looking for is here, we will be running in circles for a long time. Not to mention this is close to the center of the area on Hera''s map." "Daskka, Nimbus, let''s go to the next floor," Hera called her court, "The rest of you can keep looking here. The ground seems sturdy enough, so you don''t have to worry about falling." "What about you?" Blue asked. "Daskka and Nimbus will be going in front of me. If something breaks, they can fly, and in the worst case scenario, I can use an Earth Armor to stop my fall." "Sounds like a plan," Shane agreed. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Hera waited for her court members to pass and then climbed the stairs. As she got to the top, she could see the roof had also started to rot. The top floor had a bit of a different structure. It had a large open area in the middle that would lead to the outside. There was a large wooden table surrounded by chairs. And there were bookshelves in the corners of the room. However, there was no sign of life. It looked like something made to be a meeting room for something important. The whole floor felt like a war room, which started to worry Hera. Could the people here be at war with the people from the sky city? Or would this be just so they could figure out how to deal with monsters? Nimbus started Moving to the left side, with Hera right behind him. The Sentinel had his wings out at the ready in case the ground caved in. The Empress started to look around and noticed that the pattern continued here. The higher it got, the worse the condition of the wood became. Even when she was considering a single slab that was placed vertically, she could see the difference between what was closer to the water and what was farther away. As she looked around, Hera had a weird feeling, as if there was something watching her. Looking to the side, towards where the large table was located, she felt a presence of sorts. It wasn''t a strong presence by any means. Even the ghosts or apparitions she saw in dungeons or around the MAZE seemed more¡­ tangible. "What is that?" Hera asked out loud and took a step to the left. Unfortunately, the new spot on the wooden board wasn''t strong enough to hold her and collapsed just as she shifted her weight, "Shit!" she quickly activated her stone elemental armor to increase her defense in case she was about to land on a monster or something. Nimbus and Daskka jumped toward her, trying to catch the Empress, but they were too slow, and, to make things worse, the hole was too small for the Sentinel to spread his wings. Daskka, on the other hand, could easily follow Hera. "Mum! Are you ok?" "I''m fine," Hera mumbled as she steadied herself. The floor here was sturdy, and it wasn''t rotting at all. She should be stepping on the equivalent of the cabin''s roof. Maybe this was why this was in good condition. "What happened?" Blue yelled. "Hera? Are you ok?" Helena''s voice came from beyond the wall where Hera was located. "I''m fine. I just fell," Hera replied. "Where are you?" Shane asked. "I¡­ don''t know," Hera used one of her dancing lights to take a better look at wherever she was. Oddly enough, she couldn''t see any doors, only an empty room with the exception of a single chest with a large lock sitting against the wall behind her, "Can you guys see the light?" "Not really," Blue tried to send a few clouds after the empress, but they couldn''t find her on the first floor. "Hang on," Hera turned around and closed her eyes before making a flashbang behind her. "I see it!" Adriel shouted. While the group was getting closer, Nimbus was trying to figure out a way to come down and help. At first, he didn''t want to go down in case the ground was also rotting, but now that he could see that wasn''t the case, the room itself became the problem. Hera wasn''t in a large room by any measure, and she was only moving around comfortably because she was alone there. "Don''t worry. I''m ok. You can go down and help them if you want," Hera smiled at Nimbus, but the Sentinel refused to leave even if the rest of the court was also down in that secret room. The Empress could see that the rest of her party was trying to find a way to reach her, but so far, they were only running around, looking for a door or a hidden passage. She could try jumping to the next floor, but the wood would likely break with the impact or her weight. Breaking one of the walls was also a possibility, but that seemed excessive for now. Even using her fire elemental armor to give her a boost to her jumping power was a bad idea since she was sure that the heat from her spell would end up starting a fire. With nothing else to do for the moment, Hera turned her attention to the chest in the corner. If this was really a secret room, and there was a box hidden here, it was likely that this would have something interesting inside. She crouched down and started to analyze the lock. It was bulky and sturdy and connected to a large chain that went around the chest a couple of times. She tried pulling the box to look at it from the back, but the container wasn''t moving. It seemed like it was almost connected to something. Hera almost climbed over the chest to see what was going on in the back. While she was trying to understand why the chain was wrapped around the wooden wall, the top of the chest opened in several different places, revealing a mouth split seven ways and filled with teeth that bit down on her with such force that it broke through her armor. Hera yelled in pain and grabbed two of the mouth flaps, pulling them out of her ribs. Dao, Frost, and Core came rushing to the Empress'' aid. They attacked the box, cutting more flaps and trying to release their ruler from the monster''s grasp. Hera triggered a poison elemental armor to hurt this monster and shoved her hand inside the chest before starting to cast poison needles, wind feathers, and all spells she could think of. There was a thin layer of frozen ash covering her body, and Daskka decided to start healing Hera right away instead of attacking. Too many of them were already fighting against that monster, and if she were to help, there was a chance she would get in the way with her larger body. "Get. The. Fuck. Off!" Hera yelled as she managed to escape this chest''s grasp. She didn''t even use a skill to know what she was looking at and just wailed at it with Fang and Claw. Lurize was in the corner of the room, just floating around, and Ooze jumped toward the creature while screaming. ''Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!'' In the middle of all that, Blue decided that the noise was too much and broke through the wall. She saw the monster and jumped in to help. However, Ooze was too angry and scared to notice that this new being wasn''t a threat, and with a spin, they aimed for Blue''s neck. The controller managed to block the attack and swat the blade away. That made the chakram snap out of it, staring in shock at the monster chest. Between Blue, Hera, and the attacking blades, they managed to destroy the chest enough and reveal a small cube object that looked a lot like the slime cores that they had to break to kill them. Hera took a moment to use her [Observe] to ensure she was looking at a monster, not a trap. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mimic Slime - Locked Chest - Level 30 (Wounded) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Shifting mana? That is weird," Hera said just as Blue stomped the core and killed the monster. "Are you ok?" the controller asked. "I''m not great," Hera mumbled, and she noticed that she wasn''t the only one in pain. Looking up, she saw Nimbus with a few wounds around his body in the same places where she was hit, "Are you ok?" "I''m fine, Empress. This was just the share the pain skill. I''m glad it worked well." "Daskka, can you heal him?" Hera turned to the herald. "Only after I''m done with you," Daskka replied. Hera nodded, and the rest of the group arrived. After explaining what happened, they all decided to leave this place. The fact that a slime mimic appeared made everyone worry. Those things would even trick their [Observe] or [Inspect] skills which only made them more dangerous. Not to mention that it was a creature strong enough to pass through both Hera''s armor and her rock elemental armor with a single bit. Just as the group left this town hall, feeling a bit distraught about this new information, Bonnie and Alex called them over to a large group of cabins that were connected to each other, "I think we found something!" Alex had a big smile on her face. 578 - The Sky City Following Bonnie and Alex, the group arrived in what looked like a massive hangar, but that was only on the inside. On the outside, the place only looked like a cluster of cabins side by side. Even the doors were there. However, after trying out one of them, Hera realized they were fake doors. They could still be opened, but behind them was just a wooden wall. Inside the actual hangar, there were a few odd sculptures, if they could be called that. They looked like fish with very large open mouths, but they also looked like slimes. Each of them was somewhat translucent and looked a lot like slimes. That made everyone who went into the town hall get ready for a fight, but Alex and Bonnie just stared at them with confused expressions. "What are you doing?" Alex frowned. "Those could be mimics," Adriel replied. "Should I punch one?" Blue started to step towards one of the weird fish things while keeping both her arms up in a boxing stance. "I can try a poison needle. If they are monsters, they will do something. If not, it will just bounce off," Hera suggested. A long time ago, she had already tested the effects of her poison spells on objects. The Poison Needle, specifically, would act as if she had just dropped an actual metal needle against a piece of iron or something. "If you think that will help, sure, but you can just use your inspect to check," Bonnie crossed her arms and gave some space for Hera to do what she wanted to do. While Hera was carefully using her poison needles on each of the twenty giant fishes that were inside here, Helena turned to Bonnie and Alex, "Mimics can trick even our inspect or observe. Just like how we can stop others from seeing our labels, they can do that and more. That''s why we have to be careful when we see one in the area," the mage turned towards the fish. Hera could easily fit in the mouth of one of them, "Especially when they are that big." "They can trick the system?" Bonnie gasped. "No, they can trick our skills. It''s different," Helena kept looking at Hera to make sure nothing was going to happen. A few minutes passed, and the Empress returned to the party, "Ok, those are all objects. Or slimes that could copy an object to the point of making my poison bounce." "And what are them?" Blue asked. "Transportation. The light green ones are Flying Slime Fish that can take us to Sky. The s is capitalized, so I''m assuming that''s the name of the city up there," Bonnie explained. Alex pointed to the other side of the hangar, where ten dark green fish were sitting on small wooden structures, just like the light ones, "And those are Diving Slime Fish that could take us to a place called Abyssia. I assume that it''s underwater, but I''m not sure if I want to figure it out." "Right¡­ and are they safe? Do we know how to turn them on?" Shane walked over to one of the flying fish and started to inspect it to see if there was a switch or something to turn it on. "We need to sit on their mouths and press a scale behind their lips. They should be flying pretty fast but not enough to make anyone sick. After activating them, they will make a bubble around them to protect us while we go up, and they will land on the hangar in the sky city," Alex explained without missing a beat. "How do you know that?" Helena turned to the assassin. "Look, my eyes are already black. I figured it was better to get an answer. We are leaving everything to Shane and Hera in that department, and I want to pull my own weight. Besides, I''m down for anything that would let us sleep without having to worry about those slimes." "Seriously?" Hera stared daggers at the assassin, "Are you doing this shit again?" "What? Bonnie was fine with that," Alex turned to the researcher, who nodded with a sigh. "I''m not going to lie. I am a bit freaked out about staying here when I can''t fight or run properly." "So what? Every time you used that fucking thing, we got screwed. First, it was the attack in Dzviery, then the whirlpool. What is going to happen now? One of the fish is going to break midway?" Hera yelled. "That''s not fair. I''ve used this much more, and nothing bad happened. You are only remembering the bad times." "You used it more?" Hera, Blue, and Helena gasped. "Yeah. I mean, I had to figure out what was going on. This curse let me see colors properly, and it helped put the splint on Bonnie''s leg. Adding this, it''s a tie. The curse was both good and bad, just like any other thing." Hera took a step forward with the intention of slapping Alex, but Nimbus stepped in front of her to stop the Empress. ''I don''t think this is the best idea.'' Hera stared deep into Nimbus'' eyes with a rage that sent chills down his spine, but she eventually backed off. She turned to one of the fish and said, "If you die because of that thing, the last thing you''ll hear from me is I told you so." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "That seems kind of rash," Alex mumbled. "It''s as harsh as you are being stupid," Blue scoffed and walked towards another of the fish. Hera and her could fly if push came to shove, so having them try the fish first seemed like a good idea. "At the same time¡­ It''s a bit hard to argue with the results. If I had that, I would be using it constantly," Shane added. And got a few angry stares from the rest of the party. Angry and frustrated, Hera sat on the mouth of one of the fish and started to look for the scale that she had to press. ''Nimbus, if something happens, be ready to turn into a griffon. I''ll keep you back in the legacy while we are flying. I don''t want you being left behind in case this moves faster than you,'' Hera said while her eyes were focused on the inside of the fish''s lips. Looking right above her head, she found a scale that seemed out of place and touched it. Feeling some push back, almost as if it was a button, Hera pressed it, and the Flying Slime Fish sprung to life with a low humming sound. The slime-machine slowly floated above the wooden support as Hera tucked her legs inside the mouth. Whatever made this made it in a way that allowed people to be lying down while moving, but she didn''t feel confident enough to do that. After the Flying Slime Fish rose about a meter from the ground, a bubble appeared around the entire fish. Surprised by that, Helena rushed over, "Hera? Are you ok?" To the Empress, her friend''s voice was a bit muffled, as if they were talking through a thin wall, "I''m ok. Nothing is happening with me." "Are you sure?" the mage pressed. "I''m sureeeeeeee¡­." in the middle of Hera''s sentence, the fish started moving, and it jolted up. Instead of it breaking through the ceiling, it passed by a trapdoor that opened outwards, and now, the Empress was already heading to Sky. ''Mum? Are you ok?'' Daskka asked. ''Yeah. I just didn''t expect it to move so fast,'' Hera wasn''t feeling the wind blow, but she could tell that this fish was very quick. Peaking out of the mouth, she could see the raft becoming smaller and smaller. It was odd seeing that place like that for the first time. The center was very cluttered and filled with cabins right by each other, but when going to the edges, they became more sparse. Another interesting thing was that there was a pattern to the cabins. It almost looked like a spiral heading toward the town hall. A somewhat square spiral, but still. While still looking down, Hera saw another fish coming towards her. She also noticed that this room was weird. The water in the ocean was so reflective that when looking at it from this distance, she couldn''t tell where the sky stopped, and the sea started. If she was flying around the area without being able to see the raft, getting lost wouldn''t be just easy, but likely. A few moments later, another six dots came out of the hangar. Figuring that they would get close soon, the Empress turned back to the clouds, trying to see if she could find her destination. Unfortunately, she could only see a blue sky and puffy white clouds everywhere. ''Nimbus, is this what you saw?'' Hera asked inside her legacy. Talking to her blades without them being out was still a new thing, and so far, she could only have a proper conversation like this with the Sentinel. Everyone else sounded like they were in a very old phone while passing through a tunnel. ''It is, Empress. We should arrive after we go inside the cloud. Everything will be hard to see for a while, but it shouldn''t take long to get there.'' Hera nodded and leaned against the side of the Flying Slime Fish. She was still angry at Alex for using the curse to find out about these things. It''s been just a couple of days since she caused Bonnie to break her leg and arm, and yet, she was here using it again. Not to mention that the worst parts of her recent life were all related to that damn curse. In silence, Hera promised again to make that her number one priority. This time she wouldn''t even wait to get back to civilization. Instead, she would try asking the guides and even Yarnball how to get rid of the curse and hope that she could find something. A couple of minutes passed, and she finally arrived at the cloud. As Nimbus said, the visibility took a dive, which made her very worried. If there was something dangerous around, or if the Flying Slime Fish was on a collision course, she might not be able to see it until it was too late. Trying to cast something beyond the bubble also didn''t work. However, Hera still had an ace up her sleeve. Dismissing Armory, she resummoned the tiara in front of the bubble and used her Pulse spell through it. She still could talk with her court member, and the spell was now on the outside. ''Are you ok out there?'' Hera asked. ''It''s a bit weird and scary, but I am,'' Armory replied. Hera was sure that if she had an actual face, she would have closed her eyes. ''Tell me if it gets too much for you. Please, I don''t want you getting hurt,'' Hera replied and continued using the spell through the tiara. Another five minutes passed when, on the edge of the pulse she was sending, something appeared. It was a massive structure that blocked all the mana that tried to pass through. Her ride started to go up, and soon it emerged from the cloud, revealing this giant triangle-shaped city. All buildings were triangles, and it seemed like the entire floating island was slowly spinning and adjusting to keep the tip of the triangle towards where the wind was coming from. From beneath it all, there was a rock very similar to monster-repellent stones, but this one kept creating a cloud that obscured the place from prying eyes. The fish moved around and dove toward a large white house with a chimney-looking structure that wasn''t exactly taller than everything else. In fact, if this was the hangar, it was nowhere near as tall as any of the structures surrounding it. Hera noticed how the tip of the triangle was very thin and short, and things became bigger and bigger the closer they got to the opposite side. The fish went down the chimney and landed on a support that shifted to the side and moved almost like it was going to the right parking spot. Only when it arrived that the bubble disappeared and let Hera leave. She did so, calling Nimbus and her cour out, and as soon as she took a few steps away from the Flying Slime Fish, a new bubble appeared, but this time it was completely red instead of the transparent one that was protecting her. Somehow, it felt like the fish was recharging. Hera shook her head, "Now, I''m Santa Claus." "Santa Claus?" Nimbus asked. "You never spent a Yuletide with us?" Hera asked. "I don''t think so¡­ But isn''t Santa Claus a character for those¡­ I think it was a Christmas movie?" Nimbus asked. "Oh yeah. Everyone has their own celebration. Christmas is one of them, even if it''s a smaller one. Usually, we say either merry or happy and add the name of the holiday to wish people happiness during that time," Hera explained. "Oh¡­ then Mery Christmas, Hera," Nimbus smiled. Hera chuckled, "You are a bit early for the draw, but sure. Happy Yuletide Nimbus, you too, Daskka. And everyone," she looked at her blades before leaving the hangar to see what this sky city had in store for them. 579 - Flying Serpent Hera knew that the rest of the party would be arriving soon, and she had no reason to think that Lodi was lying about this place being safe. Despite that, she went outside to check what was going on in the city. A paranoid part of her still wanted to confirm those things. Not to mention that she wasn''t exactly in the mood to see Alex right as they landed. In the end, the assassin was right. They all got here without any problems, so her use of the curse worked, but at the same time, Hera didn''t want to approve of that. Just because something created a good result didn''t mean it was the right thing to do. Going outside, the Empress looked to the side of the hangar, towards the base of the triangle-shaped city. She walked close to the edge and reached her hand out to Nimbus to hold her. Just in case. Leaning over the edge of the city, she could see another layer of ground under her, but it was small, and if someone were to stumble while landing on that lower floor, it was likely that they would end up falling. "They really should put some railings here," Hera said as she walked away from the ledge. "I agree. It seems unnecessary. Then again, the people who lived here could be able to fly," Nimbus jumped and started flying just a few centimeters above the ground. Hera could see the Sentinel moving slowly away from her, and he soon landed again, "Yeah, the city is not moving fast enough to become a problem." "That''s good. I think. I don''t know. How much do you think that will influence everything?" Hera asked. "Not much. Or at least, I don''t think so. No one should have any problems because of the movement," Nimbus replied. The next Flying Slime Fish appeared and landed on the hangar while Hera continued to check her surroundings. Even if she was avoiding Alex, she didn''t want to stray too far away. This was still a new place, and running around alone was stupid, to say the least. After looking for a bit more, Hera returned back into the hangar and saw that everyone else had arrived carrying the monster-repellent stones they had brought from the raft. Unfortunately, she didn''t find much during the attempt to scout the place. Only several buildings that seemed to be at least four stories tall. The entire area also felt like an industrial district of sorts. Hera quickly told everyone what she found as they left the hangar, and the group continued moving through the city. There was a striking difference between Sky and the raft. While moving around below, even in the areas with a dense concentration of cabins, things felt very open and free. Here, it was somewhat claustrophobic. As if they were traveling through narrow alleys in a high-rise city. Oddly enough, even if the buildings were not as tall as skyscrapers, that is what it felt like to look from the ground. "I think we should be looking for a place to stay first," Bonnie spoke up. "Yeah, I agree. Even if we have to stay in one of those large buildings, making a home base might be better than any other option. Then we can search for other things, like that Naga temple," Shane nodded. The whole group glanced at her and sighed. It was really obvious why she was so keen on coming here. Hera also had the same idea, but as curious as she was, her focus was to make everyone safe first. After about ten minutes, they arrived in an area where the building had changed significantly. Instead of the flat white walls towering above them, they could see some more creative use of architecture. Small pillars with grooves and small decorations where the door and windows were located. The sides of the house were still the same, solid blocks of white, but the buildings were starting to get smaller. Not like a full story smaller, but their roofs had an incline going toward the ''tip'' of the city. Another thing that Hera noticed was that this place was nowhere as windy as she believed it would be. As the group stopped by one of the doors and let Daskka move inside the house to scout, Hera turned to Nimbus, "Didn''t you say that this place had a lot of wind? And that''s why you assumed they didn''t have windows to the side of the houses?" "I did. When I came here, there was a lot of wind. Walking through one of these corridors was hard, but I also landed closer to the tip of the island. I didn''t have enough time to explore this area as well," Nimbus explained. Hera nodded, and Daskka reformed from her mist form to her side, "Mum! They have furniture here. And even glasses." "Glasses? Like, eyeglasses or cups?" Hera asked. "Cups. And stone chairs and tables. Even cupboards. Oh, and I don''t think this is locked. I mean, there is no lock or anything stopping you from opening the door." "Ok¡­" Hera turned to Nimbus again, "Didn''t you say that the doors here were closed?" "I tried going inside a single house and the temple. I didn''t try every single door," Nimbus squinted at Daskka. "That''s fair, so is this locked?" Helena asked. "Apparently not. According to Daskka, there is nothing blocking the door or a lock. Not one she can see, at least. Also, they have furniture and cups in there," Hera explained. Sometimes she forgot that she was the only one able to hear the snake talking. It felt so natural to her already. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Let''s try it," Blue walked to the door and tried to push it, but to no avail. It was like she was pushing a solid wall. Since they wanted to avoid brute forcing their way in, everyone started to come up with ideas, including having Daskka move inside and open the windows, but that also didn''t work. Around 15 minutes passed with them all struggling to open not just that but other doors as well until Mylo stepped forward with a new plan. Instead of pulling or pushing the double doors, he slid them to the sides. Just like that, the doors opened, and he turned to the group with a proud expression, "If it doesn''t say push or pull, it must be slide." Shane let out a long sigh while shaking her head, but Hera and Alex chuckled at that response. "That was really smart, big guy," Blue bumped Mylo''s shoulder. The house was considerably big. It had four rooms on the upper floors and a living room and kitchen on the ground floor. Another thing no one expected was the bathroom. There wasn''t a toilet per se, but there was a hole in the ground filled with water that could be flushed. But that wasn''t all. There was also a large tub that could be filled with water for anyone to take a bath. There was no showerhead, meaning that the stone tub would be filled from the bottom up, but it was still a great thing to have. Everything seemed to be made by using some sort of spell, and Hera could see some of the mana moving through the walls, but the source of that magic wasn''t anywhere near the house, only the levers or buttons that would trigger it. "I wonder if all the houses have this," Helena looked outside. "You don''t like this one?" Bonnie asked. "I think we are too close to the¡­ Industrial district? Yeah, let''s call it that," Helena replied. "Why is that a problem?" Adriel tilted his head. "Because we don''t know what''s in there. What if there are machines or things that make loud noises during the night or early in the morning? Not to mention that going out in the middle of the night would be very creepy, even if we have the stones to ward off monsters. If we are going to shop around for a house, we could see if we find one in a better place. Maybe closer to the edge of the city, there is a park or a place with a nice view," Helena continued her explanation. Everyone agreed with her idea and decided to head out. After another half an hour, they arrived at a wide two-story house closer to the edge of the city. Here the wind was a bit stronger but not to the point where it would become a problem. However, there were some stone railings around the area, showing that there was a possibility that the wind had become too much at times. Still, the house was right in front of a small open area with a pattern on the ground that reminded them of the stars in the night sky. Another thing that made everyone agree with this house was that on the second floor, there was a small balcony surrounded by a tall railing on all sides. Since this was a house that looked to be directly in the center axis of the triangle, it also meant that whoever was up there could see beyond the houses to the sides. The house itself was smaller than the first one they found. With only three rooms, two of them on the first floor with only one on the ground floor. The kitchen was a little bigger, but the living room was smaller. But the most important part was still there. A proper bathroom. The idea of splitting up and having each of them stay in a different house was tossed in the air, but it was quickly shut down. No one knew what to expect in a place like this, and if things went south, being close to everyone else would help a lot. After setting up some of the monster-repellent stones around the house, they took a small break to eat before continuing their exploration. Blue, Mylo, and Adriel chose to head back to the raft and grab some food. It was still early, and they could even get some fish if they felt like it. The rest of the party stayed in Sky to look around and find out more about this place. "Nimbus, can you show us where the Naga temple is?" Shane asked as they were leaving the house. Before replying, the Sentinel turned to Hera, who gave him an approving nod, "It''s to the right. Well, to the right of the smallest point of the triangle. Oh, just follow me," he gave up on giving directions. This time, Helena, Alex, and Bonnie also joined them. They wanted to explore the city anyways, and going towards the temple was as good a plan as any. To everyone''s surprise, the temple was much closer than anyone expected. Walking for about 5 minutes was enough to get there and see the single-story building. Shane quickly tried to open the door with the carving of a Naga in between the double doors. Just like any of the other houses, the doors slid to the side, revealing what was beyond them. However, unlike any of the other houses, there were no walls here, no rooms, and no furniture to speak of. But the markings of those things were still there. It seemed like the Naga who created this place changed everything. They used the walls to make an elevated platform, and the furniture became a large sculpture of a winged serpent with a crown of feathers on the top of its head. It was beautiful and extremely detailed, but at the same time, it showed some of its flaws. The wings were not the same size, and there were some pillars supporting the body instead of it being a full sculpture that could stand on its own. Looking to the side, Hera saw some patterns on the walls, but on a closer inspection, realized that it was something else entirely. The walls were filled with writing, some looking more frenzied than others, but there was a part of it that was meticulously made. A large part where the title read ''Blessing Ceremony.'' As Shane and Hera kept looking around, Alex spoke, "Ok¡­ I know you two are going to stay here for a while. Is it ok if the rest of us go exploring around the city?" "What? Yeah, yeah, sure," Shane waved them off without even looking back. Hera frowned and turned to her friends, "Have you guys marked the house on your map?" Helena nodded, "We have. Also, if something goes wrong, we can send out a flare. I have a black smoke spell that I can tweak to be green or red if I need to." "Ok then. I''ll keep one of my blades outside on the lookout for that, just in case," Hera smiled, and the others left. The Empress turned back to the temple and started translating everything she saw. It''s been a very long time since they had ever found so much Naga writing in a single place, and she really wanted to understand what this place was, and more importantly, what that sculpture was. 580 - Naga Temple Hera and Shane spent a couple of hours translating the writing on the wall. The Blessing Ceremony seemed to be a religious prayer of sorts, not a spell that would make something. Another interesting thing was that it was supposed to be performed by a single person at a time. Everything else looked like the crazed ramblings that should be written in a journal. The biggest problem they were having was identifying the actual words used in that writing. Shane had to take a picture of everything with her tablet to see the infrared that would reveal the missing part of the language. On the other hand, Hera could just use her [Observe - Red Sight], but she was nowhere near as proficient as her friend in translating the Naga language. Aside from the ceremony, the most interesting part so far was the name of the statue. It was right behind it, on the wall. The being depicted was called Kcetzal, and it was the guardian beast of the Naga. Shane turned to Hera, reading that, "Wasn''t Chika supposed to be a guardian beast?" "I think so¡­ actually, no. I think she was like the child of a guardian beast, or Darni wanted to make her his guardian beast. Or just a new guardian beast. I honestly can''t remember. Did you ever find out what exactly a guardian beast is?" "I never told you? They are not that uncommon in older cultures. It''s basically a symbiotic relationship between a group of people and a monster. Like, the tribe or whatever feeds and helps the monster grow and become stronger, and in exchange, the monster protects that tribe. In some cases, the creature might even get to the point of giving skills or spells to the people or just letting them raise its children," Shane frowned while looking at a piece of writing, "Do you have any idea what this means?" Hera looked over and, after a moment, reached out to draw the letters with her hand, "I think this would be like an Skch, then here is Vri. This part looks like it''s the beginning of the one going down, so you can ignore those lines. If I got this right, then it would be¡­ ''Hate this island.''" "Oh¡­ so all this would be the same?" Shane gestured to a large portion of the wall with similar words written maniacally. Some parts even looked like they were scratched by hand instead of made with some carving tools. "I think so¡­. Why do you think they hated this place so much?" Hera asked. "Maybe because they were alone? I mean, from what we gathered that Naga was already alone when they were in the Wailing Valley, right? Then they continued to be alone in the Seven Islands and then here. Maybe it took a long time for them to manage to leave. I mean, according to what we know, they were traveling alone all that time, so they might be starting to go a bit insane with the lack of contact with others," Shane suggested while continuing to translate the walls. Even if they had already agreed that this section was all the same, she was trying to see if there were no hidden messages or passages that strayed from the rest in this mix. Hera turned to the other side, to a part of the wall that looked very similar to the one Shane was looking at, but the words seemed different. The ''Hate island'' was still present, but there were also mentions of a storm, how it was awful and terrible, but in the end, there was a single line that read ''Missed storm.'' What made this even weirder was that this phrase specifically didn''t seem as frantic as the rest. It was even¡­ sad somehow. Hera was not a linguist of any sort. Her only hint about it was how the carving looked against the wall. The ones talking about how much they hated the island were deeper and had sharp edges, while the one about the storm was softer and shallower. Continuing her translation, she saw how the emotions seemed to take a turn. Instead of the anger of hating this place, everything seemed sad and hopeless. Phrases like ''Die here'' and ''Why bother?'' could be seen repeatedly, along with several other messages that showed how depressed the Naga was. There were even a couple of mentions of suicide. However, after that one mention at the corner of the wall right behind the statue, things changed once more. Starting from the next wall, the writing made more sense. Well, as much as the Naga writing made sense. Even now, they had some trouble understanding things. They didn''t use almost any function words like ''The,'' ''is,'' or ''and,'' even pronouns were rare. Shane believed this was because they had more indicators than the actual words to convey a message. Instead of just saying ''I,'' ''you,'' or ''they,'' they would place some sort of pheromone or smell-based marker to explain what they wanted to say. But since Hera, who was the person closest to a Naga that existed, couldn''t see those markers, they probably didn''t have a way of getting those missing pieces. There was also a chance that those smells faded with time. Maybe it was something that would only last a few thousand years, and since the Naga didn''t exist for that long, they never had the need to develop something that could still be read eons in the future. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Hera told Shane about the change, and they started translating these more coherent parts of the text. By the looks of it, it was a journal. The first entry had the label ''Day 4031,'' but that didn''t mean the Naga stayed here for over ten years. Another unique quirk of their language was that dates should be read backward. So this was, in fact, day 1304. That still meant that the Naga was here for three and a half years, or at least he spent that time writing that journal. Hera frowned, seeing that number. "Don''t worry so much. They said they missed a storm, and that number of days doesn''t mean they were stuck here for that long. There is still the possibility of the Naga writing the journal even before they arrived in this room," Shane tried to cheer Hera up. "Yeah. I know. I just think it''s a shame. If they were a bit more consistent and wrote when they missed the storm, we could get an idea of how long it took for a storm to show up," Hera replied. "I could ask that when it''s my turn to ask questions," Shane suggested. "Sure, but that is not going to be a cheap question, and you know it," Hera replied and continued reading. The first few entries had nothing interesting. It was just some ramblings about the type of food they ate or how they exercised. Then it changed to some mentions of Abyssia and how they couldn''t bring themselves to blame the people of Sky for what they did. Unfortunately, those were the only passages that were worth anything. Everything else looked more like something they were writing to keep their minds busy. "I think this ritual, the Blessing Ceremony, I mean, was helping them a lot," Shane said before pointing out the days when the ritual was mentioned on the wall. The Naga did that ritual once every two days, but then it became more frequent until it reached a point where they would do it once a day, "Do you mind if I try doing it? Maybe it is linked to a spell, or there is something in the room that would trigger once I do it." "I get what you mean, but shouldn''t I be the one to do it? What if you are right, but the spell or whatever also checks if you are a Naga or not?" Hera suggested. "That''s even more reason for me to try it. If nothing happens, you can go after me. It doesn''t seem like it would take that long. The only issue is that we don''t have a candle, but I suppose I could enchant something to burn during the ceremony," Shane looked around before pulling some napkins from her bag. She took two, passed one for Hera, and then turned to the wall with the instructions, "Now¡­ how can we make that circle?" "Oh, I have a way," Hera shook her bracelet and told the snakes that came out to form that symbol. It was a circle with several lines inside that would spin around themselves and connect to others, but the Empress didn''t even have to give any orders. The bracelet itself said that the snakes could be used to perform Naga rituals, and it seemed like they already knew what to do. With that, Shane began the ceremony. It wasn''t something long. It just involved speaking a few words and thanking the statue for protecting her while the candle was lit. After a few moments, she had to make a few simple movements, raising her arms in different directions and bowing to the statue. Finally, she had to whisper some words into the candle, which had to be in plain English since they didn''t know how to speak Naga. As soon as the words left her mouth, the flame flared and began burning brighter than it ever had before. Hera was in the corner of the room watching the entire ceremony, and she noticed that when Shane started speaking, all of her snakes, who were still making the symbol in the ground around her, began to channel some mana to the statue. It wasn''t their own mana but some mana coming from Shane herself. After the flame died out, nothing happened, and Hera saw how the mana reached the statue, but it all spilled out as if it was a river hitting a wall. "What just happened?" Shane asked when the makeshift candle was snuffed out. "The circle was trying to do something with your mana. Did you feel it being pulled?" Hera tried to see more of the mana, but it all vanished when the ''candle'' went out. "Not really," Shane pulled her status window, "No, hang on. I''m missing a little bit of mana, but less than what I used to cast that spell. I don''t know how much it was exactly." "Humm¡­ Let me try it. Can you light another napkin?" Hera took Shane''s spot and started performing the ceremony, just as her friend did. She had to be careful not to get distracted by her snakes as they started to pull mana from her. However, Armory was still on her head, and through the tiara, the Empress knew what was happening. The circle created by the snakes started pulling some of her mana when she started speaking the words and carried it to the statue. When the mana finally reached it, the winged serpent seemed to accept it instead of blocking it as it did with Shane''s. The flame flared up even more, and the fire engulfed the statue, making the scales glow in a bright orange while the feathers turned a deep shade of red. The pillar that was being used as a support to keep the sculpture''s shape shifted, and from the center, a piece of the rock slid down, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside that, there was a thick journal and an odd piece of ebony sitting by the side. "What''s that?" Shane gasped. "I don''t know. Hang on," Hera looked at the statue and reached out, taking the journal. Nothing seemed to happen as Kcetzal maintained the glow and the colors that it had just acquired. Passing that to Shane, the Empress went for the piece of wood next. However, the moment she touched the ebony, the winged serpent roared and flapped its wings before unhinging its jaw and swallowing Hera whole in a motion that was too quick for anyone to react. 581 - Survival of the fittest It was a lush forest with dense vegetation. Almost all the trees were covered in vines rising high into the sky. On the ground, the bushes, the grass, and the flowers fought with each other, competing to reach the small pockets of sunlight that broke through the thick canopy. The Double Eared Bunnies rushed off as the snarl of a Blue Spotted Leopard indicated his approach. Most of the jungle recognized this feline as its king, or at least, this part of the jungle did. The leopard continued walking with slow steps. This wasn''t a hunting trip, since the creature already ate its fill for the day. No, it had noticed something entering its territory, something new, something strange. A pair of Golden Rhinoceros Beetles were fighting on a branch. The smaller one had been trying to win over a mate for a long time, and it was fed up with its constant losses. That''s why it challenged an older beetle, one that others left alone out of respect for keeping its mate for so long, but that might not have as much energy as the young one had. For one hour, the two insects faced each other, slamming their horns, trying to either make their opponent fall from the tree or break their horn, the ultimate signal of victory. The young beetle never expected the fight to take this long, and it was even surprised with its own strength. Never before has it managed to fight for so long. On the other hand, the elder felt frustrated. It managed to hold on to its mate for a long time, and it had already faced many challengers. Yet, this young one, barely older than a larva, was giving it a run for its money. The young beetle dashed forward while opening its wings, giving up the attack on the horn and aiming at the legs. There was no need to go for the glory of breaking another''s horn. As long as it won, it was all that mattered. Despite its best efforts, the elder was unable to move fast enough to block that attack. Seeing that his move worked, the young beetle held on to the trunk with its hind legs and pulled its horn up with all its might. The elder grabbed onto the bark, its legs grasping on each groove to stop this kid from winning with this attack, using the spikes behind its ankles to pierce the wood. Yet, that wasn''t enough. With a mighty fling, the young beetle tossed the elder out of the tree. An old wound made the elder lose its grasp and fall to the jungle floor. Its wings were no longer strong enough to allow it to fly, much less steady itself as it spun around during the fall. However, as fate would have it, the old beetle did not meet the ground. Instead of landing on the grass, the beetle was about to land on top of the king of this jungle. The Blue Spotted Leopard. The jungle''s ruler seemed oblivious to the incoming beetle until it got very close. That''s when the leopard moved its tail and caught the old Golden Rhinoceros Beetle. It moved the tail to face this bug and recognized the elder beetle. As a king, the large cat was aware of most of the denizens of the jungle, and it knew of the struggles this old bug had. Then again, it was only old for a bug. One year was almost nothing for a Blue Spotted Leopard. Maybe, seeing this beetle made the king remember the time he was but a cub and would chase the Golden Beetles around the jungle, or it could perhaps sense the elder beetle''s frustration. Maybe it was just a whim, but either way, that didn''t matter, for the leopard''s next action gave this Golden Rhinoceros Beetle one more chance to protect its mate. Instead of killing the bug, the king of the jungle flung it back to the tree, making the bug land right in front of the young beetle once more. Landing on the tree again, the elder beetle caught the young one by surprise and slammed their horns together. That pushed the young one back, but it was still not out of the fight. They stopped trying to be fancy and continued to attack each other''s horns, trying to break the opponent and confirm who was the strongest and who deserved a mate. Seeing that the fight wasn''t going anywhere, they both got ready for one last attack, taking a few steps back to gather speed for a final blow. Charging towards each other, the beetles met in the middle of the branch, but just as the horns clashed again, creating tiny cracks in their shells, a Split Tongue Chameleon who was sneaking on a lower branch sent out its bifurcated tongue, grabbing both bugs and having a very filling lunch for the day. The Chameleon was completely unaware of the struggle between the two beetles, nor would it care even if it knew. Such was the law of the jungle. There was always something bigger who would gladly have you as a meal. It didn''t matter the situation. The Blue Spotted Leopard also knew that and was on the prowl for something new. Whatever entered his domain would soon understand why he was the king of this jungle. Hera opened her eyes when she noticed the warm sun hitting her skin. The smell of leaves, wood, and life overwhelmed her nose, causing the explorer to sneeze. Looking around, she was by a creek, with both her hands on the water as if she was trying to take a sip, and she felt thirsty. Instinctively, she drank from that stream to satiate herself, but she saw a massive snake underwater before being able to do so. Jumping back, she called her court and reached for her daggers to get ready for an attack, but there was no response. She couldn''t sense Daskka, Nimbus, or any of her blades in here. Fang and Claw were also nowhere to be seen. Instead, she could feel a spear held across her back. That started to freak her out, but she knew better than to let her emotions get the better of her. Pulling the spear, she waited for the snake to come out. Some seconds passed, then a minute, then two. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Confused, Hera slowly approached the creek again to see if the snake was still there. She considered turning around and running, but what if the monster was waiting for her to show her back before striking? That wasn''t something she was willing to test. Slowly approaching, the Empress first saw the tip of her spear reflected in the water and then the snake''s head. However, this time she noticed something else. The snake wasn''t actually there. Instead, she was looking at a reflection. Looking up, she could only see the trees and the sky, but not that creature that was staring back at her from the water. She turned back to the water and reached to her own face. The reflection did the same, showing a scaly hand with some jewelry around the fingers. Looking back at her own hand, she couldn''t see the scales or the rings. It was just her normal hand, wearing her own gloves, and even her armor looked the same, or almost the same. She approached the water and saw more of her own reflection or the reflection that she was seeing. Currently, she was looking at the head of a snake with orange scales, very muscular arms with only some leather shoulder pads with feathers in the edge covering their body, and a tail that seemed to go on for a long time. Yet, when looking down, Hera still had two legs and no tail to speak of. But if she tried to raise a foot, the tip of the tail would appear in the water. Another thing she realized was that the pieces of clothing or armor on the reflection were also present on her, even if her own armor was underneath everything. "What the shit?" Hera frowned and tried to call her court again, but she got no reply. The Empress was so used to always having someone to talk to, that this solitude felt off. It was like a part of her was missing, which in hindsight, could be the truth. Turning back to her reflection, she stared at the Naga she was seeing. Just looking at it made her feel conflicted. She had no idea where she was or how she got here, but it looked like she was currently inhabiting a Naga, which was both a surprise and completely expected. After all, the last thing she remembered was that she performed a ritual, a Naga ritual, and touched one item that was hidden and protected by the statue of a guardian beast, a Naga guardian beast. Now she was here, wherever here was, on the body of a Naga. "Ok¡­ let''s think. Is this a dream?" she pinched her hand and felt the pain, "Ok, not a dream. A dungeon? But I didn''t get any notification to enter. Then again, that doesn''t happen all the time. But then I could still use my court. My armor is still here, but everything else is gone. My weapons, Daskka''s necklace, even Yarnball is gone¡­." After thinking for a moment, she looked around and tried to make a soundproof bubble around her. This was both to continue with her plans and test if her magic still worked here. The spell worked, but instead of it being green, it had a sickly shade of yellow. She looked around to see if anyone was nearby and pulled the rocks from the ground to create a small bunker. When she was completely hidden from prying eyes, even if her location was conspicuous, Hera said, "I call upon the Guide of this room. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." Unfortunately, nothing happened. She didn''t get a notification informing her that she had already used the skill or any feeling that whatever she tried to do had any effect. Yet, her other skills seemed to be working. She opened her explorer''s map, trying to see if she could find the name of this place and to confirm again if her skills were working. That came with good and bad news. The skill worked, but the name of the room was blank. "Ok, c''mon, I have to have a clue about what I''m doing here," she started patting herself, looking for something, anything that could give her a glimpse of a path forward. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find anything, but when she touched her right wrist, she realized one thing. None of her items had come with her, except for the Snake Pit bracelet, "Why is this, of all things, here with me? It''s not the only Naga item I have. I mean, the daggers and Daskka''s necklace should also count." To make things even more strange, nothing appeared when trying to use her [Observe] or her [Inspect] on the item. It was as if she wasn''t actually looking at her bracelet. Still, Hera decided to try to use its abilities. Shaking her arm, she tried to call the snakes inside it, but things didn''t go as she expected. Instead of calling the snakes out, she was able to sense that the snakes were already spread around the jungle. With one, far to the north, on what looked to be a mountain. She swapped her senses and saw a massive structure carved on the side of a cliff. No, it wasn''t a structure, but an entire sprawling and living city. Pyres were lit, and shadows seemed to be moving around. She could even hear some laughter echoing through the mountainside. Hera returned to her own body and told the snake she had just swapped with to move around a bit. She wasn''t trying to do anything specifically, just to see if she could still command the constructs, which proved to be true as the snake ran in circles a couple of times. "Thanks, you can stop now. Just stay there. If you are all marking a path for me, I guess that must be for a reason," Hera opened her map and saw how the snakes appeared on it, even if she couldn''t tell what was actually around them unless she changed her senses, "Man, you guys are far from each other. I really hope this is the right way to go," Hera sighed and started walking, completely unaware that her arrival here alerted not just the king of this jungle but a creature that made even the Blue Spotted Leopard run away in fear. 582 - Welcome to the jungle For three hours, Hera walked across the jungle. She met a few monsters here and there, a group of yellow-ish rabbits with four ears and legs that were strong enough to break wood with a kick. Unlike what was happening with all the items on her, she managed to use her [Observe] on the creatures. They were called Double-Eared Bunnies, but she couldn''t see their levels. Not because the notification showed the question marks but because they had no levels. At least Hera was strong enough to fight against them. A rabbit came out of the jungle and jumped at high speed toward the Empress'' chest. This was their attack pattern. Their skull was extremely sturdy, so much so that even the spear wasn''t enough to pierce them. After blocking the rabbit with her spear, Hera spun the weapon around, making the monster fall to the ground disoriented. She followed that up by stomping one of its legs and then piercing the rabbit''s neck with the spear''s tip. When only one of the monsters was attacking, she could easily get rid of them. On the occasion when a group of the bunnies tried to attack her, Hera first attempted to block them by using a stone wall, but they bulldozed through it without any problems. Unfortunately, her poison needle wasn''t as effective as she had hoped, but her other ailments, like the spore field and the slow area, worked wonders. With that, Hera managed to scrape by and kill the group of rabbits. If that happened now, she already had a few plans on how to deal with multiple attackers at once, but since that was the first time she ever fought against any of the Double-Eared Bunnies, things almost took a turn for the worse. Either way, she also confirmed that these creatures were strong and that this wasn''t a dream. If it was, the kicks she took to the leg and torso wouldn''t have hurt as much as they did. Once Hera reached the top of the cliff, she noticed a small village built on the edge. It was mostly made of wood, which was surprising, but at the same time, it fit the jungle. The place was abandoned, the houses and walls were broken in certain spots, and it looked like the woods were starting to reclaim the land. She could even see a few nests at the top of the highest buildings, but no birds around them right now. "This is definitely not a dream," Hera muttered as she passed by a sign that read ''Jungle Heart Village'' in the Naga language. As soon as she got closer to the entrance, she realized something was wrong. The walls weren''t just broken because of time and lack of maintenance. Several marks of claws and dried-up patches of blood covered the entire village. She also noticed some rudimentary tools and sharp rocks wrapped around sticks that were stuck to some of the houses. She tried using her skills to learn more about the items, but the windows never popped up, just like it was with her bracelet. While she was distracted, thinking about this place, she heard some noise in the jungle. As if several animals were running away from something and that something was approaching. Not wanting to stay around and find out what kind of being was getting closer, she gave up on the village and moved quickly after the next of the snakes that she could sense. She had already passed a few of them and asked the ones that were behind her to patrol a radius around her for dangers or anything of interest. After walking for another hour, she finally found an entrance to a cave. It was hidden between two trees and had a wooden door that was almost completely intact. If it wasn''t for a small hole in the corner of the door, the snakes would never be able to pass through it. Hera opened the passage and continued walking through this tunnel. A part of her was screaming that this was a bad idea. It was so easy for people to be lost in random cave networks that it just didn''t make sense for anyone to consider this a good way to move around. However, she could still sense the snakes through this area, and thanks to the constructs, she could have a map of the cave network quite easily. The tunnel ended abruptly at a dead end. There were no markings on the rock, but Hera knew that this was where the snakes had entered. To be precise, several snake tunnels branched off, but those led nowhere. She frowned, thinking that maybe the person who actually gave them the command wasn''t clear enough, and that made the snakes take the shortest route to their destination, not the path that this Naga could take. However, if they had this bracelet for a decent amount of time, it was hard to think that they would miss something so basic, especially if this was something important. While thinking about that, she heard a noise as the ground started to rumble. Hera jumped back, looking at the tunnel she came from. She was too far away from the entrance, and if this was an earthquake, it would take way too long to reach outside. Instead, she pulled some of the stone from the ground to make supporting pillars for the cave. Trying to make sure that she wouldn''t die because of a cave-in. Everything continued shaking for a couple of minutes, but instead of the tunnel collapsing, the wall in front of her shifted and started to lower, revealing a large path ahead. It wasn''t just a simple open passage but an actual road that was carved and worked on. And there was sunlight here. Hera peeked over this new tunnel and looked up. From this cave, she could now see the sky, which probably meant that, If the road shifted again, she wouldn''t have to worry about becoming paste on the ceiling. Still, to make sure this was the right move, the Empress shifted her perspective to the next snake over. That construct was still underground, in a cave very similar to the one she was currently at. After returning to her own body, Hera started moving through the road. She wasn''t running but also wasn''t being overly cautious. As she walked down the path, she saw signs of civilized activity. At first, it was just a few places where the ground was repaired, then parts where the earth was dug out as if they were about to start some sort of construction that was stopped for some reason. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. She started to wonder if this entire structure that kept shifting was made by someone instead of it being something created by the MAZE. If that were the case, it would be an incredible achievement of engineering, and she could only imagine what else the people who made this were able to do. After about half an hour, Hera descended some stairs and found the next snake on her path. She quickly noticed why there was a greater number of her constructs in this area. The tunnel network in this place was massive. At any point, she could stop and look around to see at least five different passages. Thankfully that didn''t last long. Only fifteen minutes after she came down the stairs, she saw the exit of this cave. She was now in a new part of the jungle beyond the hill she saw. Here it seemed thicker, and the trees loomed over her, giving the Empress an eerie feeling. Still, this was the way the snakes were heading, and this was the only plan she had so far. Her curiosity was piqued by this whole situation, though. How did this place even exist? Why was there such an elaborate system of caves in the middle of the jungle? Could this be an actual room? What, if any, was the connection of this place to the Abyssal Deep? And what was the place she had just passed by? What kind of people could make something like that? So many questions were going through Hera''s mind that she missed when a golden beetle flew toward her. She yelped out of surprise and tried to swat it away, but the bug was insistent. Oddly enough, it only focused on her shoulders and nothing else. When she finally stopped to see what it was going to do, ready to trigger an elemental armor to burn that creature to a crisp, the beetle simply landed on the feathers of her shoulder plates and stood there, playing with them. "Is that all you wanted, little guy?" Hera asked but got no response, not that she was expecting any. But she did notice a unique pattern of orange on its back, almost like a pair of hand-drawn antennae. Hera stared at it for a moment and used her [Observe] before turning around and continuing her path. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Golden Rhinoceros Beetle - Variant (Unknown) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at it for a moment. It was the first time she ever saw something marked as a variant, and to top it all off, it was alsol unknown. Still, she wouldn''t be able to get any answers right now. With a sigh, she started walking again, but she didn''t completely forget about the insect. Now that it was so close to her, she placed a sensory net in a 1-meter radius around her. This was a considerably expensive spell, and it would keep chipping away at her mana, little by little. However, it would take almost a full day to deplete her entire mana pool like that. The beetle seemed to be enjoying the net and even snuggled more on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed a couple of small chameleons in the trees. That made the Empress remember the time she was back in Brinefront and ended up meeting the purple wendigo. In hindsight, this place was somewhat similar to that forest, but this was much denser and livelier. Shrugging it off, she continued following her path and started talking with the small bug piggybacking on her as a way to cope. She would tell him her current goal and say her thoughts about this place, complain about how Nimbus was the one who could fly, and how he would help here. At some point, she even started asking questions that were never answered, but it didn''t matter. This was just a way for all this walking to be less boring. The sound of her voice attracted a few of the rabbits, who tried to attack her again, but they were quickly taken care of. Even some of the chameleons started joining the fray, but they didn''t seem to be after Hera herself. Instead, they went for the beetle on her shoulder. Since they had to get closer to her before attacking, she was able to protect her little friend without any problems. After killing another of the rabbits, Hera poked it with her spear, "So, Mr. Beetle, do you think those are good to eat? I''m getting kind of hungry." The beetle turned to the rabbit and started flapping its wings, but Hera had no idea what that meant. Suddenly, she noticed how the bug stopped and turned to the left. It stepped back and then tried to hide within the feathers of her shoulder pads. "What''s wrong?" Hera asked, but she quickly noticed another thing. The entire jungle was silent. Before, she could hear bugs, other animals, and the sounds of nature. But now, the only noise was coming from the wind and from the ruffling of the leaves. Glancing in the direction where Mr. Beetle, the Empress saw something coming out of the jungle. A large four-legged creature with massive crimson fangs that protruded from its mouth, big black eyes that seemed to peer into her soul, blue skin covered in white spots all over its body, and a tail that was three times longer than its torso moving as if it had a life of its own. Hera quickly deployed a flash bomb while covering Mr Beetle with her hand and bolted while creating a few spore and slow fields behind her and activating her memory elemental armor while also covering her bug friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blue Spotted Leopard - King of this Jungle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After being momentarily blinded and observed, the leopard roared in anger and dashed toward Hera, but it met the spells she prepared. The spore field made it sneeze and lose a bit of her scent while the slow field made it sluggish. When it finally was able to see again and walk out of those areas, the new prey was already far away. The Empress wasn''t going to stay and fight a monster like that and was already sprinting at full speed. The jungle was too dense here, and she only had a spear. Trying to face that thing would be suicide in the current conditions. What she needed was a better location, maybe a narrow path or a place where she could hold the higher ground, and she knew the direction of the mountain. 583 - Who rules over a King Hera held Mr. Beetle in one of her hands while sprinting at full speed. Anything labeled as ''King'' of any place should be a strong monster, and just by the looks of it, that leopard was no slouch. During the quick moment that the Empress saw it, she noticed how muscular the creature was and how the tail would make it as if she was fighting against two monsters at the same time. The main body and the tail seemed to be able to move independently from each other. Not to mention, if the entire jungle was scared of it to the point of going silent, she would be a fool not to take it seriously. A part of her wondered why her snakes didn''t show her the leopard approaching, but she wouldn''t be able to stop now to check if they were still around. Still, she could do something with them. Hera told all of the snakes that were behind her to come to her as fast as possible. Without looking back, she could tell that the leopard was getting closer. After she set up her traps, she made a wider sensory net, spanning a 10 meters radius, and to her dismay, the King of the jungle was already appearing at the edge of that range. At least he was running behind her, which meant the monster shouldn''t be so fast that it would just appear in front of her out of the blue. Taking its location from the spell, Hera tossed a couple of poison needles at the creature, but the King was too smart for it. With his tail, he swatted the needles away like they were some flies trying to get close. The Empress'' next move was to make more spore and slow fields behind her, but another unexpected thing happened. The King of the jungle roared when her spells became active, and although it wasn''t a particularly loud roar, the magic she created was dissipated by that sound. She tried to make some stone walls from the ground, but that took some time. Without stopping or slowing down, she could, at most, make something about the size of a tree root on the floor. Expecting the King of the jungle to trip on something like that was like expecting a fish to emerge from the water to catch its breath. Another problem was quickly becoming apparent, the leopard was faster than her. Even with all the attempts to slow it down, it was little by little gaining more ground. While at the start, the King was just on the edge of her sensory net, now Hera could sense the entirety of his body. Worried about their eventual fight, the Empress started looking for a better spot, a clearing, a stream, anything that would give her more space and allow the fight to be on more even grounds. There was a part of her that knew she had no other option. Eventually, they would clash, and she wanted every single advantage possible. Right now, Hera didn''t have her court, she didn''t have her weapons, and she didn''t have her items. The gloves she was wearing, which should be doing additional fire damage, were not working. Her fear was that not even the bonus attributes of her armor would work, meaning that a single strike would be felt by her entire body. Even if she got hit by other creatures in this place, she had no way of knowing if the impact she felt was taking into account her armor or not. Before, worrying about that was useless since the blows were not too dangerous, but now, with a thing like the Blue Spotted Leopard chasing her, that changed. She heard the King''s roars growing louder as she was thinking about her options. It seemed that he was starting to get annoyed with this chase. The distance between them was shrinking, and she couldn''t help but notice the difference in their abilities. The leopard had no problems moving around the jungle; the only thing it did was remove any of the traps she was creating. To make things worse, when he used one of her walls as a step, he broke it apart with just the strength used to run. He wasn''t like the rabbits who could break wood by attacking it. The King''s sheer mass was enough to destroy the stone she created. She was running out of options. She needed a safe zone, but nothing was in sight except the trees. As much as she liked being surrounded by nature, she really didn''t want to be surrounded by the King of the jungle. Luckily, she noticed that the next couple of snakes she had to get to follow a path upwards. Almost as if they were walking alongside a road by a mountain. Not just that, but she was getting close to the last one. Maybe just reaching that snake would end this dream, vision, or whatever this was. With renewed strength, she triggered her [All in] with the intention of running. It could be a bad idea, but it could also work wonders. This burst of speed made the leopard stay behind while Hera continued to run. Soon, she found the next snake, and just like she imagined, they were following a road up a mountain. It was a place wide enough so that fighting here wouldn''t be a problem, which was already good news. But if she managed to reach her destination, maybe she could avoid fighting altogether. Not wasting any time, the Empress continued moving as fast as she could, passing by the three snakes that were on the road until she reached the top, where that last snake was located. The leopard was nowhere to be seen, and even her 10-meter-wide sensory net couldn''t see it. Hera wanted to keep the spell up, but having it be so large for so long was starting to take a toll on her mana. If there was a fight coming, she might need to save every drop of magic she had left. Dropping the spell to the 1-meter range she had before, the Empress looked around, trying to find a doorway or a way to exit this place, but there was nothing. Only more mountain to the side and the lush jungle beneath it. She also saw the city, the Naga city, carved on the walls. Something told her that this was just the entrance; if she got there, she would see the sprawling cave networks inside, where people lived. Another thing she noticed was that the place was heavily fortified. There were enormous slabs of rock sitting above the entrances, held by chains and metal, a massive crystal embedded in the center of the stone with something engraved around it and several ballistae around it. From here, she could also hear laughter and people talking. She couldn''t understand any of it. Maybe it was a different language, or maybe the echo was just making everything too scrambled, but it all sounded joyful and happy. The type of thing that one would hear when passing by a children''s party where everyone was having a good time. Distracted by that, Hera failed to notice when the Blue Spotted Leopard landed on the road in front of her. The King didn''t even have to worry about moving along the path she took. Instead, it chose to climb the mountainside to cut her off. After all, he knew this jungle like the back of his claws. With a low snarl, he announced his presence, making the Empress snap into a fighting stance. "Shit¡­" she said as the leopard started its very slow walk towards her, "Mr. Beetle. I think it''s better for you to get away. I can''t protect you right now," Hera put the Golden Rhinoceros Beetle on her shoulder before reaching for the spear. As a surprise to everyone, including the King, the beetle refused to leave. Instead, it turned to the leopard and opened its wings while still staying on Hera''s shoulder, clearly showing that it was challenging the ruler of this place. "Are you sure about that?" Hera asked with a surprised expression. As a reply, Mr. Beetle dragged his front leg twice against her feathered shoulder pad as if it was getting ready for a charge, "Ok then. Let''s do this," Hera smiled and looked the leopard dead in the eye. But some of her bravery quickly started to leave when she saw the King''s expression. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. With its pride hurt, the leopard gave up on toying with this new prey. Instead, it would make sure that this snake-like creature and the beetle riding on its shoulder would pay the price for offending it. Then, it would turn his attention to the city. There were more of those bad attempts of snakes down there. If killing this one wasn''t enough to appease his anger, getting rid of thoses pests would surely calm him down. The leopard jumped forward, and Hera was ready for the attack. But she didn''t expect his next move. With a crack of a whip, the monster was flung to the side, going all the way outside of the road and into a free fall. She couldn''t understand what just happened, but then, she saw the tail moving, and like a whip, it cracked behind the leopard who was now facing her. Just as the noise reached her ears, she felt a pair of claws piercing her stomach, and she was slammed against the mountain wall. The King had just pushed her about three meters, and he still had enough strength to create large cracks in the stone behind her with the impact. Without even having to check, Hera could feel that some of her ribs were shattered, and the taste of blood started to fill her mouth. While the monster was still pinning the Empress to the wall, Mr. Beetle pointed its horn at the leopard, and a jet of brown liquid went right to its eyes. The King roared and took a few steps back, allowing Hera to get her bearings for a moment. She quickly pulled her spear and went for a strike. The tip of the weapon grazed the leopard''s skin, but it wasn''t enough to do any significant damage. Maybe if it wasn''t for the debuff of her [All In], she could''ve actually wounded the king, but it was hard to be sure. She threw a few poison needles while triggering her earth elemental armor to increase her defenses. The attacks hit the King, but it wasn''t enough to even slow it down. He lunged forward again, even with his vision impaired. To Hera''s luck, he could not gauge the distance correctly and struck a bit in front of her. But to offset that karma, she tried to block the attack with her spear, which was broken in half under the strength of its mighty claw. Using the two pieces of the weapon as swords, the Empress tried to attack again, slamming the side of the leopard''s head with one of her sticks, but the other, the one with the pointed tip, was stopped by the tail that wrapped around it and pulled out of Hera''s grasp. The Blue Spotted Leopard pushed her forward and roared. This time, the sound of his voice was so strong that it launched Hera back into the mountain wall, creating more cracks as she slammed against the rock. Her eardrums ruptured, and blood started to drip from the sides of her head. The Empress struggled to keep herself standing, and it looked like Mr. Beetle was still alive even if he was no longer on her shoulder. Instead, the small bug was now to the left, atop a rock. It was gesturing to the side while looking at Hera. She followed that direction and saw a cave behind it. That could have helped a lot if she had found it before the leopard arrived but now, it wouldn''t change a thing. The Empress''s legs were giving, her ribs seemed nonexistent, one of her arms was completely out of its socket, and the other could be broken, if it was even there, she wasn''t sure which. But her eyes had to stay on the King. Turning around now would be asking to be killed. She struggled to raise one arm, the one that was still holding part of the spear in front of her. Her idea was to be in a defensive stance, but this was just a pitiful attempt at that. The Blue Spotted Leopard could just sneeze and finish the job. All of a sudden, the King was no longer there. There was just a black spot in front of her. Maybe her eyes were finally giving out. Maybe this is what was supposed to happen, and she was going back. Maybe everything that happened inside the MAZE was just a dream, and she would wake up in bed and return to the bookstore soon. Her body was swaying, and Hera was about to fall forward, but she managed to catch herself and stand up, opening her eyes wide. In front of her was a gigantic rock where the leopard should be. That rock was connected to an even more gigantic body. Something that could rival the size of the mountain, and it was still moving. Little by little, she managed to grasp what was in her view. It was a giant scorpion mixed with a centaur, but it still was a bug through and through, with the torso and head of a praying mantis. The thing didn''t stop and continued moving. Eventually, it removed the leg in front of Hera, one of the many dozen it had. The hole that the massive limb created on the ground wasn''t just empty space. Inside it, there was the upper half of the Blue Spotted Leopard. With the rest of the monster motionless behind it. A creature that was able to overpower Hera so much was killed like a bug by being merely stepped on. Whatever the creature was, it didn''t seem to notice or care about Hera. It kept moving forward, heading toward the city. "I guess we can just get out of here," Hera turned to Mr. Beetle, but the bug was still staring toward the city. She glanced down and realized that no one seemed to notice the massive mountain-sized creature approaching. Everyone was still acting like it was business as usual. She glanced at the centaur-scorpion thing and realized it wasn''t casting any shadows ahead of it. It was like that creature was hidden. That''s when Hera noticed the sun was behind the mountain, and she also didn''t see the shadow of the creature approaching. Maybe this monster could become invisible when it was being seen from the front. If that were the case, the people in the city might not be able to notice the incoming creature. If Hera was to consider that the monster was invisible, the only thing that would warn them is the trees moving when he steps forward. Especially since, right now, everything was silent. Even when the legs came down, there was barely a thump. Hera could just walk away. This wasn''t her problem, and she could just ignore all of this. The monster was too big for her to do anything. Yet¡­ Leaving those people to die felt wrong. They were Naga, and even if they weren''t, she could try something. Her bracelet was still working, and she had a skill that would warn them. But it would also warn the monster of her location. Or¡­ She turned to the cave and walked inside. Mr. Beetle flew towards her shoulder again. When she was far enough away but still could see outside, she shook her bracelet, activating the Warning Rattle ability that should create a noise that anyone in a 1 km radius could hear. Hera instantly started running deeper into the cave, but not before having her curiosity get the better of her. With one last glance back to the monster, she triggered her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra - Emperor of the Jungle - Naga''s Bane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the second title sent a shiver down her spine. Having the classification of the bane of a species would require a lot. Hera just continued running away, getting deeper into the cave and hoping that her idea worked. Down in the city, everyone instantly triggered the defenses when they heard the Warning Rattle. People rushed inside, and the rock slabs blocked all entrances as the crystal created a barrier to protect everything. At the same time, a group of guards rushed to the ballista and used a scope to locate the threat before opening fire. Almost everything happened without a sound since Scryotra had a skill that reduced all the ambient noise so it could move without causing too much of a stir. However, the attacks were too much for it, and it knew that the barrier would withstand many of its blows before breaking. In the end, the Naga''s Bane already knew that this attack was a bust. It snarled and turned around, moving past the mountain, but it smelled something near the top, the scent of a weak naga heading inside the cave. This should be the one that ruined its plans and warned the others. As Scryotra passed, its tail went directly to the shelter, and the venomous tip blocked the exit before spraying a large amount of acid poison inside. It couldn''t stay there since the ballistae were still proving to be a problem, but it could sense that the cave was deep enough that the Naga wouldn''t be able to leave. Satisfied with this small victory, Scryotra unplugged the cave and continued its path over the mountain, allowing this Naga, who was actually Hera, to the gruesome fate of being burned by acid from the inside. 584 - It has to be a dream Hera moved through the cave as quickly as she could in her current state. Almost all of her body was wounded to various degrees. Her legs were still fine, but her feet hurt like hell after all the running around. Her waist was ok, but her stomach was bleeding, and she was sure some of her organs had ruptured. Everything else above was just a mess, from the shattered ribs to the dislocated arm and the bleeding ears. Still, she reached the deepest part of the cave and sat down. She couldn''t hear the monster moving outside or what was going on, and somehow Scryotra moved around without causing the ground to shake in the slightest. Hera understood how that thing managed to become the Emperor of the jungle and the Naga''s Bane. A creature of that size being able to move that quietly could easily destroy a civilization. It took her 10 minutes to reach the deepest part of the cave and collapse on the ground. While sitting down, Hera started casting the few healing spells she had. The problem was that she wasn''t exactly proficient with them. Risli taught her a little, but her focus was more on making potions or salves to cure diseases and such. Whatever heal and battle heal she learned either took too long to cast, or it was too weak. Thinking now, she should try to make an elemental armor with the healing element. If she could fight with that, things might be much less risky. As Hera was trying to recover herself, the Golden Rhinoceros Beetle that was on her shoulder flew over to her knee and looked at her. "Hey, Mr. Beetle. I''m going to be ok. I just need some time. But if you can, don''t let me sleep. I need to stay awake for all this," she gave him a blood-filled smile before coughing up some blood. Speaking seemed like a bad idea, but she wasn''t going to just roll over and die. Mr. Beetle turned around and started batting his wings toward Hera, letting some small specks of brown light fall on her. Those particles seemed to burn in contact, and Hera felt her body tensing up as a reaction, almost as if she was being shocked. For a moment, she thought her companion beetle was trying to attack her, but then she noticed how the effect of her healing spells became stronger. Thanks to her poison knowledge, she could tell what was going on. Mr. Beetle was poisoning her, but whatever poison he was using would increase her healing power at the expense of some pain. She wasn''t exactly thrilled by that, but Hera wasn''t about to complain. Taking in this new effect, she tried to focus on something else while maintaining the healing spells. One of her dancing lights was hovering right above her, which was the most distracting thing in the area. However, after a few moments, the white light started to turn green. Not because she was changing the color but because something else was happening. With a frown, she made the glowing orb get closer to her. It eventually came back to white, but it didn''t take long for the green hue to cover it once more. Before the Empress could even understand what was going on, she took a deep breath and felt her lungs starting to burn. At the same time, the green smoke hit her skin, making it sizzle. Mr. Beetle flew to the side and tried to stay away from that smoke. Hera looked around and noticed that even the surrounding rocks were starting to melt, "Is this acid?" she gasped, but moving her mouth only made more smoke go inside her. The Empress rushed over to Mr. Beetle''s side, on the lowest corner of this cave, and started to look for a way out. Unfortunately, this was a dead end. But maybe she could make a new path. Pulling some of her mana, she used her stone wall to push the stones away, trying to open a passage somewhere. In her frenzied state, she didn''t notice how the acid was also eating away at her mana. Hera knew that she was too wounded to get all the way up in time, not to mention that crossing the field of acid gas would surely hurt much more than trying to dig her way out. When she spent the last bit of mana she had, she saw a glimpse of hope. A small gap that allowed light to pierce through the darkness. However, opening that part of the wall led to two problems. First, the opening caused the acid to rush through, following the air current. Second, the light was coming from far above. It would take at least five minutes of constant walking to reach up there. And now, Hera had no mana. She couldn''t even recover more mana since the acid would burn away every extra drop she got. ''I guess this is how Helena felt,'' the Empress thought to herself. She looked back and confirmed that the acid smoke was much denser and rushing toward her. Mr. Beetle was still close to her chest as she dug around. She stopped and looked back. This had to be a vision, a dream, or something like that. There were way too many inconsistencies and too many things missing for this to be real. If she died here, she should be back to her friends and her court. She had to. Hera believed that wholeheartedly. After fighting the Blue Spotted Leopard, everything felt like a scripted scene in a video game. A monster that cannot be beaten shows up, and as a punishment for running away, this acid smoke comes to kill her. The right way to go about it should be to attack Scryotra. Maybe that was what she had to do here. Still, it wasn''t like she had any other options now. The best would be just to wait for this to finish. She was about to drop to the floor and take a deep breath when she felt a small vibration against her chest. Mr. Beetle was still there. This wasn''t real, or at least, that''s what Hera thought, but on the off chance that she was wrong, she didn''t want to let her new friend perish along with her. Not if she could save him. Stepping towards the small hole in the cave''s ceiling, Hera turned to Mr. Beetle, "You can pass through here. Run as fast as you can, ok? I''m going to cover the passage behind you, so the acid doesn''t follow you all the way up. I''m sure you can get out of here." Mr. Beetle seemed frazzled with that response. He shook his body, trying to say no, but Hera didn''t listen. She grabbed him and shoved the bug inside the hole, holding her hand behind it so it would work as a plug to block the acid smoke. She felt Mr. Beetle attacking her hand, trying to push it away, but soon the bug understood why she was doing that and continued up the tunnel leading to freedom. Hera continued holding her hand while also holding her breath. She could feel her eyes and skin burning from being in contact with the smoke. Some time passed, and she couldn''t hold on any longer. Opening her eyes before taking a deep breath, she saw the bracelet collapsing, leaving only a single piece of dark wood on the ground. She understood that this should be relevant in some way, but she couldn''t hold it anymore. Hera opened her mouth and took a large breath, feeling her entire throat instantly burn before she felt extremely sleepy and fell to the ground. -- -- -- -- -- "Mum!" Daskka''s voice reached Hera''s ears. The Empress opened her eyes and got up from the bed, coughing and taking deep breaths. She could feel that her body was fine, but the pain she was feeling mere moments ago was still there. "Hera!" Blue and Helena called and rushed over to her bed, "Are you ok? What happened?" "What?" Hera tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse, and she felt really thirsty, "Water." "Sure, sure," Blue nodded and snatched a cup from Bonnie''s hand. Giving it to Hera. This was already what the researcher was going to do, but this time no one said anything. They were too worried about their friend. Hera gulped down the water and blinked several times, trying to understand what had happened. She could see a couple of notifications in front of her, but her eyes were watering too much for her to read them. ''Daskka? What happened?'' she asked without speaking. ''You passed out. After getting that piece of wood, the winged serpent''s eyes glowed, and you collapsed. We tried waking you up, healing you, and a bunch of other things, but you were unresponsive. The only reason why we weren''t freaking out more is that we, your court, are still here and out without a problem,'' Daskka explained. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ''Everyone is here?'' Hera rubbed her eyes, making a stop motion with her hand. Blue was still asking a bunch of questions, but she had a horrible headache that stopped her from hearing anything. ''We are, Empress,'' Nimbus kneeled by the bed. Hera could feel the worry and sadness in his words. ''I''m sorry. How long was I out for?'' ''About six hours, people are already making dinner. Are you really ok, mum? What happened?'' Daskka floated to Hera''s lap. "I''m¡­ ok," Hera replied out loud. "What happened?" Alex asked. Hera could still see a couple of notifications in front of her, but she ignored them for now. Turning back to her friends, she explained where she had spent the last few hours. Or at least where she thought she was. While talking about the jungle, everyone seemed to be calm, but when it came to talking about her fight against the Blue Spotted Leopard, Daskka wrapped herself against her arm while Nimbus hugged her. When she finally mentioned what happened inside the cave, Blue, Helena, Alex, and Bonnie joined in the hug. "I''m sorry¡­." Shane said. Hera chuckled, "Why are you sorry?" "Because if it wasn''t for me, you wouldn''t be caught in that mess," Shane replied. "Oh, I absolutely would. Also, as I said, I was sure that it was all a dream. The biggest tell was that I couldn''t call Daskka, Nimbus, and everyone else. Legacies are supposed to be something that goes almost beyond the rules of the MAZE, so there is no way that I would be teleported somewhere else without them. Not to mention that I could see myself as a Naga. Even in Spiral, when we talked with Darni and the others. I could still see myself when I looked into any reflections. So that''s not how dungeons are supposed to work. I mean, I''m still me even in a dungeon. Oh, and there was the thing about not being able to use inspect or observe on the items. That was also very weird," Hera explained. "Did you at least get something out of it?" as Adriel spoke, Nimbus, Blue, and Helena stared daggers at him, "What? As much of a dick the system is at times, it would never make her go through something like that and not give her something in return. I''ve heard about people finding odd things and getting a skill, a spell, or maybe even a level up." "Don''t be angry, guys," Hera patted Nimbus'' head, "Also, he is not wrong. I have a couple of notifications floating in front of me right now. I just wanted to make sure you are all ok before checking it." "You can do that, Empress. I''m just happy you are ok," Nimbus said. "Yeah. I know how excited we get to see some rewards. Don''t worry about us. I hope you can at least get something good out of it," Bonnie stepped back, wiping away a tear that was forming on the corner of her eye. Everyone else let go of her, and they all seemed to be very emotional. It took a moment for her to understand why they were like that, even if she was just sleeping for a few hours. If the same were to happen with any of her friends, she would be very worried, and when they woke up, she would also be crying out of relief. "Thank you, everyone. And I''m sorry about this," Hera smiled, the phantom pain no longer in her body. "It''s not actually your fault, and I told everyone that you would wake up soon," Alex turned to Hera, giving a smile back. However, the Empress noticed how there were some black veins coming out of her eyes, almost like some makeup. "Did you use your curse again?" Hera changed to a stern expression. Alex crossed her arms, "I did, and it was something we all agreed to do. Shane wanted to use that thing you guys can do to figure out what happened to you, but she wasn''t sure if she would even be able to get that information. So I offered the curse. Everyone agreed, and I used it. It told me that it wasn''t a problem and that you should wake up on your own after a while. Don''t blame this on me," she pointed at the side of her face, "This is technically on you, but I''m not blaming you either." Hera didn''t like that, but she had to agree. She just nodded and turned to the notifications. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered the fate of the original Viper''s Pit bracelet. Doing so unlocks the remaining skill and upgrades it to a new version of the item. Snake Pit (Replica) -> Viper Pit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Viper Pit - Bracelet Rarity: Legendary - Recovered A bracelet created by one of the emperors of the Naga. It was used to command large armies, as well as to perform different rituals. It was lost when a Naga warned his tribe about an incoming danger at the cost of his life. 60% increased effectiveness when using Naga skills. 50% increase in mana growth. 40% increase in mana regeneration. 30% reduction in damage taken. 30% increased Naga skill growth rate. After performing a sacred ritual, these effects will double for up to 2 days. The better the ceremony is performed, the longer the duration will be. Ritual performed, effects doubled. Remaining time: 41:26:03 Skills: Rattle By shaking the bracelet, you can trigger a sound like a snake rattle. This sound can affect allies or enemies depending on the effect chosen. - Warning Rattle: Can only be heard by those the user considers allies. Cost: 2 000 mana Range: 2 km - Battle Rattle: All allies who hear this sound will have their strongest attribute increased by 30% for 15 minutes. Cost: 50 000 mana Range: 300 m - Threatening Rattle: All enemies who hear this sound will have their weakest attribute reduced by 50% for the next 7 minutes Cost: 50 000 mana Range 150 m - Death Rattle: All those who hear this sound, aside from the user, will receive 100% extra damage from all sources for 1 minute. Cost: 300 000 mana Range: 100 m Cooldown: 24 hours Only a single Rattle may be active at a time. Pit of Snakes: You can store mana inside this bracelet to create a number of snakes that will emerge from it when called. The number of snakes is proportional to the amount of mana in the bracelet, and their strength is proportional to the wearer. The bracelet cannot have more mana than its current wearer. The snakes can perform simple tasks and listen to basic commands. They can also be used to create a makeshift altar or ritual circle as long as the wearer presents the image to them. The wearer can also ask one of the snakes to share their senses with them. That can be done with a single snake at a time and said snake will become unable to share their senses again unless they are resummoned. Maximum number of snakes summoned: 30 Current Mana: 0 / 612 597 Naga Essence Every 24 hours, you can make a small amount of Naga Essence to drip from the bracelet. You can make two 50 ml vials with this skill. By drinking a single of these vials, it is possible to increase the rank of a Naga skill or learn a new Naga skill. Drinking the essence daily can increase the chances of getting these effects. Even those who are not Naga can receive these benefits at a reduced rate. A person can only receive the benefits of a single vial each day. Any essence that is not consumed will vanish after 24 hours. Current Available Vials of Essence 2/2 As per the will of its creator, the bracelet cannot be destroyed by acid. If someone who is not a Naga wears this bracelet, its skills will be locked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Venom Spirit - Mr. Beetle is asking to be bound to you. Do you wish to accept? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 585 - Spirit bound "Hera? Are you ok?" Blue asked. The Empress was quiet for a while already, and her expression kept changing from excitement to confusion rapidly. "Yeah¡­ No, yeah, I''m fine¡­ This is just¡­ a lot," Hera replied, still shell-shocked. "Really? You got something that good?" Bonnie asked. Hera nodded, "Let me start with the easy one. This¡­" she raised her hand and showed the changes that happened with her bracelet itself had changed. It was no longer brown, but now a very dark shade of ebony, with some small cracks covering everything, but as she touched them, she understood that they were part of the decoration. There was a layer of something that almost looked like resin covering the cracks. It was also just three fingers wide now, instead of covering almost half her forearm. The snake pattern changed, now they were more intense and clearer, and the scales created an illusion of them all moving in circles all the time. "That is very beautiful. Did it change?" Shane approached. Aside from Hera, she was the one who had spent the most time looking at the accessory. "Yeah, it got an overall buff to the bonuses in general, and it has a new skill. It says it can make vials of Naga Essence, and that if people drink that, they can get Naga skills or increase the ones they already have," Hera explained. "That is just ridiculous. You have an item that can give people skills? What rarity is that? Legendary?" Adriel gasped while rolling his eyes. "Actually, yeah. It was unique previously, but after this, it became legendary. Then again, I think that''s fair. Like, most of what the item does is not that exciting. Some decent overall buffs, a few active skills, and the thinking with the scouting snakes. Giving others skills is what makes it legendary, right?" Hera turned to the rest of the group, it was the first time she ever saw a legendary item in person, but her explanation sounded right in her mind. "I think so," Alex nodded, "I mean, I only saw one legendary item before in an auction, and it was a pretty basic one at that. A sword that had a scaling of 500 for strength. But it required like 200 charisma for the effect to be active." "That''s considered a legendary item?" Blue tilted her head, "It sounds kind of bland." "Yeah, but think about it. Even if you just have 1 strength with that weapon, your attacks will work as if you had 500. If you are high level and have at least 100 points on strength, every attack would be with an effective strength of 50 thousand. But yeah, it feels a bit bland," Bonnie replied. "I would like that one," Mylo said. "The starting bid was a few billion gold. I can''t even imagine what the end price was," Alex sighed. "We are getting off track, "Shane interrupted the conversation, "I''m guessing that skill effect only works if you are a Naga, right?" "Sort of. The bracelet still only works if the person wearing it is a Naga, like me apparently, but the essence can work on everyone. But it does say that it has a reduced effect on anyone that is not a naga," Hera was looking at the new version of her bracelet, so she didn''t notice Shane''s eyes going wide. "Are you saying that¡­ I could get a Naga skill too?" Hera nodded, "I think so. I have no clue how long it will take, though. I don''t think this would be something quick. "Could all of us get those skills?" Bonnie was sitting on a chair, much more relaxed than everyone else. "I mean, I guess so. I can make two vials of essence a day. I kind of wanted to drink one, especially since I would get better effects, but the other one is free for grabs." "Couldn''t you drink both of them?" Adriel walked closer to Alex and rested his head against hers. "I could, but the second vial would be wasted. It says in the description that I can only receive the benefits of the essence once a day." "I think it''s important for you to get one of the vials. That way, we can know what kinds of skills the Naga had," Helena suggested. "I was thinking the same thing. Besides, it''s her item. It''s only fair that she gets first dibs," Shane nodded, but she started smelling the air, "Shit! The fish!" she dashed out of the room and to the kitchen on the side. Now that she paid attention to it, Hera also noticed the aroma of grilled fish with fruit in the air, even if a little bit burned. She turned back to the bracelet and asked for an empty cup. Then she triggered the Naga Essence skill and saw how one of the snakes from the bracelet moved and placed both fangs on the glass. Following that, a clear liquid started to fill the cup. When all the 50 ml of essence were out of the snake, it turned back to the bracelet and blended with the rest of the ones there. Hera picked up the glass and sniffed it. There was no smell, not even the smell of water. Stolen story; please report. "At least it''s not white. It would be weird if it was," Blue looked at the clear liquid in the glass, but Hera just gave her an annoyed expression, "What? I''m sorry, but ''Naga Essence'' sounds like something very specific. And it''s not like it''s a cow, and you are taking their milk." "Actually, you can milk snakes too, but in that case, you are taking their poison. I was more worried that it would be something like that," Bonnie tried to change the subject. "Whatever," Hera rolled her eyes, "Bottom''s up," she said before downing the liquid like it was a shot of alcohol, "Holy shit, this is bitter," the Empress coughed a bit and waited, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. She even looked into her Naga Poison skill, but the rank didn''t change. "So? Feeling any different?" Adriel asked. "Not really. Just thirsty now. But the skill did say it was a chance to get a new skill or increase the rank of one. I''m guessing it will take some time to see the effects." The group nodded, but Daskka interrupted their conversation, "What about the other notification, mum?" "The one about Mr. Beetle? I''m still trying to understand how that could happen. I was in a vision, not in a physical location. How could a spirit from there bond with me?" Hera turned to the herald. "There is a spirit trying to bond with you?!" Helena and Bonnie gasped at the same time. "Yeah. You know the bug I carried around there? So, the other notification is telling me that a ''Venom Spirit'' called Mr. Beetle wants to bond with me. "But¡­ how? You don''t use Venom. Do you?" Bonnie asked, still unsure of what to think about this. "I mean, I use poison, so maybe it''s close enough?" Hera suggested. "I don''t think so, Sweetie. From what I know, spirits only accept their own type of mana. Even if you, for instance, have shadow mana, and they are a shade spirit. It doesn''t work," Helena explained. "What if this is about her title?" when Adriel Spoke, everyone turned to him, "I mean, I don''t remember the exact wording but wasn''t it like something about her being blessed by mana or whatever? Maybe that blessing makes spirits more comfortable with her even if they don''t match her mana." "I''m more confused about how a spirit was inside a vision. Was I really there?" Hera frowned. "Can''t you just accept it and then ask the spirit?" Blue asked. "I don''t think so. That''s not exactly how it works. You won''t be able to talk to them as much as having them send you their mana, and help when using spells that match their type," Helena explained. "Actually, mum. I think you can do something else," Daskka turned to the side and looked at Lurize, "Remember the conditions for making a titled blade? Either have a construct type item that has some synergy with your weapon, or¡­." "Have one of my blades bound to a spirit?" Hera opened a big smile, "Do you think this would work? Their mana is not the same." "You can use a Royal Seal to try to change that, and Venom is very close to Poison. From what I can tell, doing that with the legacy gives you a little more leeway. Since, in theory, you would only have one spirit with you," Daskka explained. "Ok¡­ But before anything. What would happen with them?" Hera turned to Lurize, who was just watching this conversation, but he had yet to say anything. Daskka stopped for a moment to think, "Ok. If I''m understanding this correctly, not much. Lurize would still have all his memories and personality, but he would also know everything that happened between you and the spirit. For the spirit, they would enter in stasis for the time you have them in your court. According to the legacy, spirits are like energy. They can never be destroyed or created, only changed. So they would change to be part of your court for a while, and when you pass the court to someone else, or you die, then the spirit would return to wherever they are from. Also, this is not like doing with items. If you want to make them a titled blade, the spirit has to accept that." "Just the spirit? The blades wouldn''t get a say in that?" Hera frowned. "No. I know you don''t like that, mum, but the fact of the matter is that the blades obey your orders. If you tell one of them to become a titled blade, they won''t just say yes, but think it''s an honor," Daskka sighed. "Is that true?" Hera turned to her blades who all agreed in her mind. ''Becoming a titled blade is the same as becoming part of your inner circle, Empress. There is not one of us who would think about refusing that,'' Frost spoke up. "Even so. I never want you guys to think that you have to accept if I ask you to become one of the titled blades. If you have any reservations, you can say, ok?" Hera was looking at Lurize specifically since he was the one to whom she wanted to give a title. ''If you are giving me the option of helping another legacy holder. I''ll gladly take it. But I do feel like it will be unfair, and I wouldn''t have as many skills as other blades,'' Lurize said. "You are only considering your own skills, not the spirit''s. I think that the fact you only have a single skill might even work in our favor. From what I understand, and take this with a grain of salt, spirits have more interesting and unique skills. Things that items and equipment wouldn''t have. Again, I''m not sure of any of this. It''s just the small pieces of information I''m getting from the legacy. Oh, and before I forget, mum, you can bond with other spirits if they want to. As long as they accept you, that''s ok. I just got that information. Binding a blade to a spirit does not make you unable to bind with another spirit like it should because it''s technically not you who is being bound. Another thing, you don''t have to worry about anyone turning into a demon. The legacy stops that," Daskka continued. ''As I said, I would be willing to become a titled blade, but¡­ One of the requirements is 100% familiarity, correct?'' Daskka nodded in reply to Lurize''s question, ''We are still a few percent short.'' "Ok then, we have to train, but first," Hera turned around and pressed yes in the notification, accepting to be bound with Mr. Beetle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have accepted to be bound to the Venom Spirit, Mr. Beetle. Any spells that use Venom Mana will have their cost split between you and the Spirit. A portion of the Venom Mana used on attacks or spells against you will be absorbed into your own mana. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 586 - Accolades After accepting being bound to Mr. Beetle, Hera tried changing a few of her spells to venom instead of poison. It took her a few tries, but eventually, she managed to get it working. Even better, when she used a venom needle, Mr. Beetle himself would appear on top of the spell and fly it to the target. Before leaving, he would wave at Hera with his antennae. Every now and then, he would also show up when she used some poison spells, but his form would just appear and not interact with the magic. Not to mention it was much less clear than before. Another weird thing was that no one else seemed to be able to see him aside from her court. Still, having Nimbus and the others seeing him made her less worried about hallucinating again. Hera spent about one hour or so toying with her spells, then she turned to Lurize and used the Royal Seal to change his mana type to venom. It was somewhat funny how his name was still ''Lurize of Poison,'' but now the mana was marked as venom. That meant he got a new skill, but it felt very much in tune with what they were expecting to happen after he got a title. While she was training, Blue and Helena caught her up with what they did during the day. Alex, Helena, and Bonnie found a dungeon using the spyglass, and they also found a water treatment plant of sorts. But instead of machinery, everything was made with mana crystals embedded in devices to be constantly used. According to the mage, this was amazing, especially considering it should be a very old civilization. The people who went back to the raft didn''t find anything else, but they arrived when the sun was setting, and as Hera said, there were no monsters in this city. Only after doing all that Hera went back inside to eat, but even so, she didn''t stop checking to make sure everything was ok to give Lurize a title. In reality, she didn''t expect that this would happen so fast. Even if Lurize was just 4% away from 100%, she imagined that it would take quite a long time to reach 100. However, just by giving the royal seal, he got a 3% boost, then thanks to his ''Teacher''s Spirit'' Skill, the final 1% was reached in just one hour of training, with Lurize telling Hera what to do and how she should move while wielding him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lurize of poison - Venom Zweihander A two-handed sword that excels in duels thanks to its parrying hooks. Weapon Scaling: Empress attributes: 68 Strength: 2.74 [0.7(1.4) + 2.04] Endurance 2.69[0.65(1.3) + 2.04] Agility: 2.04 Charisma: 2.04 Intelligence: 2.04 Luck: 2.04 Weapon skill Teacher''s spirit: Your familiarity with this weapon will grow at an accelerated rate. Venom Edict When using a Venom spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 40% When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 30% Venom damage with all its strikes. Familiarity: 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While eating some reheated fish, Hera was talking with her court to iron out some final details, ''Lurize, do you have a suggestion for your title?'' her mouth was full, but she got used to communicating with her court even when she was eating. ''I do have one suggestion, but can I ask something first?'' Lurize turned to the Empress. ''Sure.'' ''Why me? Don''t get me wrong, I really appreciate the offer, but with the Royal Seal, you don''t have to wait for a specific weapon to come along. You can just make a new weapon to be the correct element. Maybe even another of your current ones.'' ''Ok, first about the current court members. Daskka explained how a royal seal could change their element, but not necessarily to the one I picked. It could be a mix. And about getting a new weapon, why would I when I already have a perfect option in front of me? You might think you don''t have enough skills and your attributes are weak, but being able to teach others is something amazing. If you can do that to Nimbus and pretty much all other titled blades, it will be incredible. Also, you might be able to teach more than just us too. If we had a proper teacher for combat styles during the Royal Explorer''s training, it would help a lot. But the real reason is something else.'' Hera swallowed the piece of grilled fish that was in her mouth. She didn''t want to speak this next part while she was chewing, ''You are my first blade. Sure I got a few others right after you, including Ooze, but you were the one who showed me the moves in the trial, and according to Daskka, everyone in that trial was, once upon a time, a titled blade. If it weren''t for you, I would never have the legacy. I talked about dismissing you before, but I won''t let that happen again, and the best way to do that is to have you as a titled blade.'' ''I¡­ don''t know what to say, but you are not expecting me to remember things about the previous holder, are you?'' ''Not in the slightest. It will be a good surprise if it happens, but I want you by my side. Who you are right now, not who you were in the past.'' ''Thank you, Empress. I will be sure to do my absolute best to assist you. And for the name of my title, I wonder if it could be Royal Tutor. Some of the comics we were reading have people with that title who are not mentors per se but help the nobles overcome some of their shortcomings and fight with them side by side. I feel like it is a fitting name for me, if I may be so presumptuous,'' Lurize spoke. Hera just smiled and nodded, ''It does sound like a great title. Much better than the ones I had in mind.'' ''What were them?'' Daskka asked. ''Armourer or Weapons Master, but they don''t feel noble enough for someone who is supposed to be like, the upper echelon of a court,'' Hera sighed, ''Before we ask Mr. Beetle, who can still say no and put a halt on all our plans. Does anyone have anything else to say about Lurize becoming a titled blade?'' Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. None of the blades protested, but she felt some uneasiness coming from Nimbus. Seeing as everyone''s focus turned to the Sentinel, he spoke, ''I am worried, but not for any valid reasons. My feelings come from a selfish place, and I know I shouldn''t have them.'' ''You are afraid that you will be replaced? Like, not actually, but you know what I mean,'' Hera asked point blank. ''I¡­ am.'' Hera reached out and touched his face, ''You don''t have to be. You are still my first titled blade, and you are still the Sentinel, the one who is supposed to watch over all of us and make sure we are safe. There is just one more person to protect now and one more person to watch your back.'' ''I would never dream of taking your place, Nimbus. Each of us has a unique job inside a court. We all work together, not work to do more than each other,'' Lurize added. ''Trust me, if I had a way to get rid of your ugly bird mug, I would. Sadly, we are stuck together forever,'' Daskka shrugged and continued eating her fish. ''Thank you all, even you, Daskka. I apologize for this. I don''t want to get in your way,'' he turned to Lurize. ''You wouldn''t be doing so. Fret not.'' ''Ok, Anyone else?'' getting a no in response, Hera turned to Daskka again, ''How do I get Mr. Beetle''s approval? Is it just starting the process?'' ''It could be, but it might be good to talk to him first. Use a spell that would bring him here and explain what you want to do,'' Daskka suggested. Hera pulled Fang and used a Venom mana enchantment, making the small golden beetle appear on the dagger. She talked with it for a few moments, explaining what she wanted to do and asking if the spirit would be ok with that while getting some weird looks from the rest of the party. To them, she was just talking to her own sword, which was more or less common, but in this case, it was a weapon that wasn''t part of her court yet. After finishing her explanation, she asked if Mr. Beetle wanted to become part of her court. In response, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Venom Spirit Mr. Beetle accepted to become part of your legacy temporarily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mum, don''t say anything right now. Everything you say will count as part of the skill. Think about what you want and then say. I can help you with it if you want." Hera nodded, and the two of them had an odd communication, with Hera speaking only with feelings before the Empress was satisfied with the speech she would have to make. Picking up the Zweihander, she covered the weapon with a mana reinforcement, and Mr. Beetle appeared again, now already resting in the weapon that he would be bound to. "Lurize, my first blade. You have been teaching me since the beginning. To complete the trial, I needed your help. To learn how to use the legacy, I had your aid. Even when I was training to learn how to use new weapons, you were the one guiding me and pointing out the flaws in my posture," she paused and turned to the small golden Beetle that was on top of the blade, "Mr. Beetle. Even if our time together was short, you helped me more than you can imagine. I was in a strange place, alone and scared. In a forest where everything seemed to want to kill me, and yet, you came as a friend. As a simple companion for my travel, one that I protected at times but that was willing to challenge even the strongest of beings in that place just because of me. You even tried to stay with me when you could live. I might be here, alive and well now, but neither of us knew if that would truly be the case. For that, I will be forever grateful. And I ask both of you to join my court and become my Royal Tutor." With those last words, Hera made a gesture with the blade of the weapon as if she was knighting someone. She was doing this in the middle of the kitchen, which led straight to the living room where the rest of the party was, so everyone was watching the birth of a new titled blade and a new party member. Hera didn''t notice, but everyone else could see a crown and a cloak of mist forming behind her. However, this wasn''t coming from Daskka, who would usually be the one pulling that kind of prank. It seemed like it was coming from the Empress herself. Hera felt the Zweihander pull out of her hand, standing with the tip of the blade on the ground. The mist from her cloak surrounded the handle, and from it, a heavily armored gauntlet with pointy fingers appeared. When reaching the wrists, there was a larger bracer with an amber gem. More armor covered the biceps and the elbow until it reached the segmented dark iron shoulder guard with a piece of brown cloth attached to it with a golden antennae pattern framing the fabric. The chest was a metallic piece of armor, with a small tuft of fur going from the indentation between the pecs to the right shoulder. He had a barbarian-style cloth piece on the waist that was made out of gold metal instead of fabric, with some small pieces of fur dangling on the sides. The pants also followed the dark metal motif, but one could see a bit of fabric underneath everything. His shoes were large and made out of dull cooper with some studs on the sides, including four sharper ones. Two close to the heel and two close to the tip of the boots. Finally, his helmet had a round top with a single horn in the front going up and splitting into two spikes that would turn into four, just like Mr. Beetle''s horn. There was only a tiny gap for his eyes where Hera could see a pair of golden irises looking at her. The form was kneeling down in front of her and slowly got up, becoming even taller than Mylo, who was the tallest member of the group "E¡­Empress?" a voice came through, but it was changing rapidly, almost as if they were trying to figure out what would be their actual tone of voice. Lurize coughed, "Excuze me. Emprezz," his voice was very deep, deeper than Nimbus'', but he also turned all the ''S'' sounds into ''Z.'' Aside from that, he sounded like a noble, with a calm and collected tone. "Hello Lurize, or should I say, my Royal Tutor," Hera smiled. "Can we call him RT for short?" Blue asked from the living room, making Hera realize that she did all that in front of everyone. "You are free to do zo, Blue. Calling me RT won''t be an izzue," Lurize bowed to her slightly. "How are you feeling?" Hera turned to the tutor. "I''m¡­ ok. Zome memoriez are ztill confuzing and¡­ I will attempt not to employ any idiom that require the letter Z¡­ I mean Z¡­ Z¡­ Z¡­," Lurize let out a long sigh and drew an S with his finger against his bracers, "Thi¡­. That letter." Hera chuckled, "You really don''t have to worry about it. Does that happen even if you are talking in my head?" "Let me try it," Lurize stared at Hera for a moment, ''Is this working fine? Can I say the letter S here? I can!'' "Ok, that''s good then. If we have any problems communicating, we still have that option. But again, you don''t have to worry about it. " "Thank you, Emp¡­ Hera. I will try my harder¡­zt to make this work," RT sighed again. "Lurize, how is your body feeling?" Nimbus walked closer to the newly titled blade. "A little ztiff. Why?" "Let''s go outside. That feeling won''t get away unless you move around. We can go for a spar," Nimbus smiled. "Nimbus!" Hera gasped. "No, no. I think I will enjoy that. I need to move around. And that might help with the memory problem," Lurize smiled. "Wait!" Mylo yelled. Everyone stopped to watch him go to the kitchen, grab a couple of bowls and some glasses and saying, "We need drinks and snacks if we are watching a match." With that, he walked outside along with everyone. Hera knew there wasn''t much she could do to stop this, so she walked out to be the referee. If they were going through with that, she would make sure no one would get hurt. 587 - Its time to duel Just before the duel started, Hera opened Lurize''s status to see what he could do. To her surprise he grew along her own attributes, skipping the whole need to manually add the points. Finding it strange, she turned to Daskka for answers ''That''s just how things are. The titled blades grow with you, following you own attributes along with their original ones. But the total value of all attributes combined can never be higher than what you have. Which means they will always be, at most, as strong as you, never stronger. That doesn''t mean they can''t specialize on some aspects.'' Hera nodded and let Lurize know about his attributes. He confirmed them and then double-checked his status to be sure of everything he could do now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lurize of poison - Venom Zweihander - Rhinoceros Beetle Stats:329 Strength: 91 Endurance: 60 Agility: 49 Charisma: 43 Intelligence: 43 Luck: 43 Mana: 581 562/581 562 Available attribute points: 3 A two-handed sword that excels in duels thanks to its parrying hooks. Weapon Scaling: Empress attributes: 85 Strength x 11.6 [7.3(9.1) + 4.3] Endurance x 9.1[4.8(6) + 4.3] Agility x 8.2 [(3.9) + 4.3] Charisma x 7.8 [3.5(4.3) + 4.3] Intelligence x 7.8 [3.5(4.3) + 4.3] Luck x 7.8 [3.5(4.3) + 4.3] Skills: Ancient Weapons Master Being part of the court of blades, Lurize learned almost all simple combat styles of weapons that have been a part of the court before. He can teach the court members simple fighting styles at an accelerated rate. When teaching those who are not part of the court, he can only share his knowledge of weapons that were a part of the current court, not previous ones. Venom Edict When using a Venom spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 40% When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 30% Venom damage with all its strikes. All weapons wielded by Lurize will be under the effects of the Venom Edict. Venom Blade Lurize can create a cover for his Zweihander. The amount of mana used by this skill will dictate the increase in strength and range of the weapon. Minimum mana cost: 10 000 mana. Winged Boost Using his wings, Lurize can move at high speeds for a dash. Movement speed increase: 100% Cooldown: 1 hour Beetle Form Lurize can become a small golden Rhinoceros Beetle. In that form, venom spells are 20% stronger. He is able to fly and increase his ability to move stealthily. Rhinoceros Form After a brief delay, Lurize can become the embodiment of a Rhinoceros Beetle while still keeping its bipedal form. Attribute increase: 20% Duration: 30 minutes This effect can be increased by 1% by reducing the duration of the effect by 1 minute. Maximum increase: 70% for a 1-second duration. Cooldown: 24 hours. Exoarmor Lurize''s body takes the benefits of an exoskeleton of the Rhinoceros Beetle. Half of his total weapon scaling is used to increase his defenses based on the attributes present in the weapon scaling. Defense scaling: 26 Defense + 85% Spirit Bound When the Empress uses a Venom or Poison type spell, Lurize can pay half of the mana cost of the spell desired. Doing so will make him spend only a quarter of the total mana cost for the spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After getting a good look at his skills, he felt comfortable with his new abilities to fight. Hera also wanted to see what her new titled blade could do. They all walked to the middle of the square in front of the house. Everyone already had created a few dancing lights to illuminate the area where the two would be fighting. "Everyone is excited, hunh?" Hera smirked. "Well... Yeah, this is the closest thing to TV we got," Blue said. Hera just rolled her eyes and pulled her court members to the side, "Ok. I''m going to be the referee here. If I say stop, you stop. If I say move back, you move back. Understood?" "Yes," Nimbus and Lurize replied, the Z sounds coming from the Royal Advisor as he finished the word. "Ok, then. I want a clean fight. No dirty tricks, no spells. Only skills and your combat style. Nimbus, you can''t fly beyond the houses. The arena is inside this square." "Are we allowed to hit any part of the body?" Nimbus asked. "Well¡­ you two don''t have genitals, right?" Hera looked at Lurize, who nodded in response, "Ok, so any part, except the eyes. I was going to say mouth too, but I don''t know if you have one. "I don''t think I do. If I were to eat, I think I would need to place the food inside my armor," Lurize replied. "Really? Well¡­ we can check this later," Hera stepped back to be closer to her friends, "Are you ready?" "Yes!" Nimbus pulled his tonfas. "I am ready," Lurize leaned on his back leg and pulled the heavy two-handed sword up, keeping it steady on a horizontal position aimed at the Sentinel. Hera looked to both sides and asked Daskka to be ready to heal, just in case. She could feel the tension rising, and even her friends were getting more and more excited. Nimbus was to her right, and Lurize to her left, both with eyes locked into each other. The rest of the court was also out so they could watch, but they were around the square, forming the arena where they would fight. After enjoying that expectation for a couple of moments, she yelled, "Fight!" You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Unlike what happened in the movies, both of them moved right away. Nimbus dashed to the side, avoiding an attack as Lurize went in for a stab. With a follow-up, the Royal Tutor swung the weapon to the side, chasing after the Sentinel, who jumped, escaping the second blow. However, Lurize quickly stepped forward and grabbed Nimbus by the feet before slamming him into the ground. Just as he was about to hit the floor, a cloud of frozen ash covered him, reducing the damage he would take with the attack. RT wasn''t about to let up, and he quickly brought down his sword. He knew that he would be at a disadvantage in a long fight. Nimbus'' attributes were higher than his own, but the Sentinel was much lighter than the armored beetle. His weight could work to bridge part of that gap, especially if the griffon decided to fly. Nimbus kicked the ground and moved to the side, using his wing to get up and rush back toward Lurize''s back. He delivered a quick flurry of attacks, some of which sparked in fire, wind, and cold, but the armor was much sturdier than he expected. The Royal Tutor pretended to go for a new attack, causing Nimbus to step back to gain some distance, but that move was just a faint. Instead, he rushed towards the Sentinel with his sword behind him on an upward swing that left a mark on the floor. Nimbus had to block and use the momentum to vault over RT, which was much easier for him to do since he had wings to help him get some height. Before the Sentinel even hit the ground, Lurize spun around, making his weapon glow in a golden light as it became longer and sharper. Nimbus spun and used his tonfas to deflect the strike to the side together with his shield spell, but those moves happened dangerously close to those watching, and the zweihander was now going toward Helena''s stomach. Luckily, Hera noticed what would happen thanks to her [Attack Pathing] skill. She put a heavily fortified stone elemental armor around her body aAnd stepped into the sword''s trajectory, ready to block the impact and push Helena out of the way. Nimbus and Lurize saw that happening in slow motion, and they tried their best to stop the attack, but it was too late. The momentum was too strong to stop the massive blade. However, just 5 centimeters before the weapon reached Hera, it stopped dead in its tracks as if it had just hit a wall. Helena and Bonnie yelped in surprise, and Adriel just stared at Hera for a moment, "How did you do that?" "Stopping it? I don''t know," Hera replied. "It''s because they are part of your court, mum. They can''t hurt you. If they try, they are stopped. Since it was an accident, the legacy just froze his attack," Daskka explained. "Oh¡­ does that mean it will keep going when I move?" "No, no. Forgive me. It wazn''t my intention," Lurize pulled the zweihander back, deactivating the [Venom Blade] "That''s ok. Just be careful. Actually, let''s do it like this," Hera made a couple of dancing lights in a line in front of her, "Lurize, Nimbus, you cannot cross this line. To you, the area beyond these lights is an invisible wall that cannot be broken in any way until the end of the duel. This is an order," she turned to Helena to see if she was ok and if it was just a scare. The mage was already laughing about it. "Thank you, and again. I apologize. I did not expect a move that would make my weapon bounce back this way," Lurize turned to Nimbus. "I''m sorry too. I should''ve been more careful with my surroundings. I got excited with the fight and ended up being careless," the Sentinel walked towards the ''wall'' Hera created and tried to pass through, but his hand was blocked by an invisible force. For anyone watching on the other side, it looked like Nimbus was pressing against a glass window. Satisfied with the result, he stepped back, getting ready to fight again. "That''s fine. No one got hurt. You guys can keep going if you still feel like it," Hera suggested. "Yeah, we still don''t have a winner," Blue nodded. Despite the scare, she was still hyped for the fight. Nimbus and Lurize looked at each other and then walked back, getting ready to continue. "I actually was asking how did you know that the attack was going to go there. You were by my side when the fight started," Adriel said in a low voice. "Oh, I have a skill for that," Hera replied without looking back. If she had, she would''ve seen the confused expression on the elf''s face, but since that wasn''t the case, it remained unnoticed. "Fight!" Hera yelled again and the duel restarted. Nimbus had a smile on his face, but now he was the one on the offensive. He rushed at Lurize only to side step hitting RT in the back a couple of times. The Royal Tutor tried to catch the Sentinel, but he was too quick. Every time Lurize spun the sword, Nimbus was already on the other side. Having a body was weird. He couldn''t move as he was used to, and it was harder to change his mind in the middle of a strike. Nimbus was too fast, and this matchup was terrible. To Lurize and everyone watching, it looked like the Sentinel was just toying with his opponent, making RT spin around aimlessly. Hera, on the other hand, could tell that this wasn''t the case. This was a stalemate. Lurize couldn''t hit Nimbus, but Nimbus wasn''t able to deal enough damage to finish the fight since he could only hit the Royal Tutor''s back, which seemed to be the sturdiest part of his body. That being said, everyone could tell that Lurize was getting angry. His movements were more and more reckless, and all that nobility he once had was slowly fading away. "What''s the matter, big guy? Am I too fast for you?" Nimbus taunted, trying to distract his opponent and reveal an opening for a strike in a different place. "Quiet," Lurize replied, spinning in the opposite direction to try to catch the Sentinel, but he could only graze the side of his leg, which wasn''t enough to trigger his venom. "Can''t talk and fight? C''mon, aren''t you supposed to be an ancient being who knows how some moves? Show me what you got," Nimbus jumped on Lurize''s back and kicked him forward to get some distance between the two, but that was just a faint. The moment he pushed back, he transformed into his tonfa form and started attacking from two different sides. RT dropped his sword and grabbed both attacking weapons before slamming them against each other. He then tossed Nimbus away and pulled his sword again. The Sentinel returned to his biped shape with a smile, "Now we are talking. But you have to have something else hidden there. C''mon, bug boy." Nimbus dashed forward while Lurize was still with his back turned to him, but the Royal Tutor''s voice echoed in the square as he swung the zweihander back with a single hand, cutting the Sentinel''s chest, "I am not a bug!" Lurize turned around with rage in his eyes. His entire body glowed, becoming golden as a pair of two beetle wings appeared behind him. The horn on the top of his head grew, forming four large blades on the four tips it created. "I AM MR. BEETLE!" RT roared and dashed at Lurize at such a high speed that the only way for the Sentinel to evade was to turn once again into a pair of tonfas who were kicked to the side by the massive metal body of Lurize. The Royal Tutor slammed his horn against the wall of a building, piercing it and getting stuck inside the structure. "STOP!" Hera yelled, "That''s it, duel''s over." "What? Why?" Blue gasped. "We can still fight!" Lurize protested with his horn still stuck in a wall as he tried to remove it. "Yeah. This isn''t over," Nimbus returned to his biped form, nos with some bruised from the kick. "I don''t care. You break a house. You stop fighting. Period," Hera huffed. She had no idea what would happen if they continued fighting, and it was obvious that Lurize was no longer keeping his cool, "Nimbus, your taunts were a cheap shot. Now, come here. And Lurize you too, turn into a beetle and come here." Both of them did as they were told. Hera asked Daskka to heal them both, even if they could still move around without any problems. After a couple of minutes, both titled blades were still arguing about who should be the winner of the fight. Annoyed by that, the Empress turned to them with a huff, "Now I have a quest for you. Both of you. Take some mana and run around the city. Go in different directions and come back in 30 minutes or when the mana is running out. I want to see how the mana interacts with the two of you in a quest. And take that time to cool off and stop arguing about the fight. You were both disqualified, so no one won." "But Hera!" "But Empress!" "Say one more word, and I''m going to say Daskka was the winner, and she will never let you two forget that," Hera squinted at them. That threat worked exceptionally well, and both titled blades stopped arguing. The Empress could even feel the herald''s satisfaction with the reaction, "Right, so, are you two up for this quest? It''s ok if you are not, but you still have to cool off." "I am," Lurize nodded, he wasn''t injured, but some parts of his armor were charred, frozen, or bent. Still, Daskka''s healing was fixing some of those defects. "Me too," Nimbus looked a bit worse for wear. Some bruises around his body and a cut on his chest, but the healing worked really well too. "Thanks, just run around a bit. You can even walk if you prefer. Avoid flying. If you see anything dangerous, get back and try not to go too far away. This is just a test," Hera let them kiss her hand to receive the mana, and after sending 250 thousand points to each, they both took off. Not sprinting but on a small jog. When she walked back to the group, Bonnie and Shane were worried that there could be some bad blood between the two, but Hera was relaxed about it. She could sense the deep respect they had for each other, especially now after the fight. It seemed that those martial arts movies were right. The best way to form a bond was by fighting. 588 - Restfull Night After her two titled blades walked away, Hera looked back to the house that had a hole in the wall. This place survived unscathed for who knows how long, and now she was part of the reason why it had broken. That wasn''t a good feeling, but then again, it wasn''t like there was much she could do about it. She didn''t have any spells to fix this, nor the knowledge on how to do so. Maybe she could ask Lodi later to fix that area when no one was around. Or maybe there was a supply closet with materials to fix that somewhere. Either way, now wasn''t the time to worry about that. Turning back to the group, she walked with them inside the house, and as soon as everyone sat down on the surprisingly soft stone couch, the questions started. "Did you know Mr. Beetle could do something like that? Did he do anything like it in your dream/vision?" if Bonnie didn''t have a broken leg, Hera was sure she would have jumped out of the chair to ask that. "I had no idea. In the jungle, he only used some venom spells to hit the Blue Spotted Leopard. But then again, I didn''t see him fighting something he actually had a chance against." "What about the armor? Did you have anything to do with that, or was it purely the influence of Lurize and the spirit?" Helena was staring intently at Hera. Clearly, the fact that the Empress was now bound with a spirit was something of great interest to the mage. "No, it was all them. I''m trying to think if the shape Lurize showed me during the trial was somehow similar to him now, but I don''t think that was the case. I remember it being humanoid and, well, naked. Or at least just a spectral silhouette, which helped me to follow the steps of what I had to do since I could see his limbs very well. Maybe that was just because of the test, and the original Lurize was more like that. I don''t know," Hera sighed. "But, are you happy?" when the Empress looked at Alex, she flinched when meeting her eyes. The black and the veins around her face were very overbearing. Noticing that reaction, Alex turned to the side so that she wouldn''t face her friend. "Sorry. Just let me get used to that. And to answer your question, of course, I am. Lurize is the first blade I ever had. Having him here like this is incredible. Not to mention Mr. Beetle is still there. I think that anger comes from him. He was... is a feisty little one. By the way, do you know what actually happened to him? The spirit, I mean," Hera turned to Daskka. Knowing that this question would come up eventually, the herald had already tried to find that information, "So... the answer is inconclusive. I don''t think he exists anymore, but that should be just a temporary thing. When the legacy is no longer with you, all your blades will go away; when that happens, the spirit will return to where it came from. The part we don''t know for sure is whether it will be the same spirit. Like I said before, they are like energy. They can''t be created or destroyed, but they can be changed. When they are no longer titled blades, they will have changed because of all their experiences, but then are they even the same spirit as before?" Hera nodded, understanding this was a complex question. When she looked up, she saw Bonnie and Helena looking at her expectantly, and she relayed the information Daskka just gave her. "Well, the spirit being the same or not, you still have a friend for as long as you want," Blue smiled. "That''s true, and now I wouldn''t have to worry about causing a scene if I walked with Lurize in the middle of a city. Well, inside the MAZE, at least," Hera nodded. "I''m not so sure about that. I mean, his armor is impressive, and he is really tall," Shane looked at Mylo, who didn''t have to lower his head to pass through doors like the blade. The Royal Tutor only had to do that because of his horn, but still. "Well, yeah, but it won''t be like walking with Nimbus around. Lurize can still pass as a human. Nimbus would either reveal that I have a legacy, or it would make everyone think we have yet another new civilization around. The uproar each of them would cause is very different," Hera explained. "Fair, but I still think it would be better to have Lurize in his beetle form. I only saw it briefly, but he was very small, wasn''t he?" Adriel turned to Hera, who nodded in response. "I was so worried that I didn''t even take a good look at him then," the Empress let out a long sigh, "Now I feel bad. He just got here, and I already sent him away." "According to Nimbus, it is good for him to move around to get used to his body. So I don''t think it was a bad idea. And you have all the time in the world to talk to him later. You don''t have to worry about that, sweetie," Helena smiled. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The group continued talking for some time until the titled blades finally returned. Both of them seemed very happy after their jog, and they quickly told the Empress of their discoveries. First, they could pass the mana she gave them to each other, but doing so would waste some of it. Nimbus estimated that for every 10 points he would give Lurize, the Royal Tutor would only be able to take 8. This meant that, in a pickle, they could pass the Empress'' mana to each other, but it was still better if she was giving the right amount to each of them. Another thing was that Lurize found a warehouse of sorts that seemed to store clay or a substance similar to it. He suggested going there later to confirm if that was the case, and if it was, he would fix the hole he made in the neighbor''s house, even if no one was using it. Hera agreed to check it out, but they would do it after the dungeon. During the time the two blades were out, the party decided to attempt the dungeon that was in the city. This should help them understand what happened here, and having more information could help Shane to formulate the questions she wanted to ask when it was her turn to do so. "Oh, before I forget. Nimbus, do you want me to look for armor that you can use? I noticed how you were struggling to damage Lurize, and I think that might be part of the reason," Hera asked. "I don''t think so. I mean, we are both constructs made out of mana. In theory, what would dictate our defensive capabilities are our attributes and our skills. So my skin would be just as sturdy as his armor if it wasn''t for that cheat of a skill," Nimbus looked at Lurize and rolled his eyes. "That iz rich coming from a blade that can fly," Lurize looked at Nimbus but chuckled right after, "Not to mention. You gain a part of that buff too. Or did you forget about the Army of One?" "Oh¡­ right. So I also get some of that extra defense? 10% wasn''t it? Or, in this case, 8.5?" Lurize nodded, "Correct." "Right, I keep forgetting about that one. Since it''s a passive, I just take it for granted. I think I would get some extra defense too. I wonder if that works before or after taking into account my armor," Hera added. "It should be after, mum, but we can test it when we have a chance," Daskka was on the Empress'' lap, receiving head pats. "On a quick change of subject. Lurize, you were a beast!" Blue interrupted with a smile. "Oh¡­ thank you?" Lurize didn''t expect that, and this was the first time he talked with someone aside from Hera or Nimbus. Or at least the first time he was conscious of it. "I''m serious. That was awesome. I was worried you would be all uptight and righteous but after seeing how you fight? Man, You are an animal!" Blue continued. "I''m¡­ what?" Lurize was confused, and Hera could tell that he didn''t like that compliment. "A beast! You started off with proper form and all, but then you pulled his leg and slammed Nimbus to the ground. It was awesome. And that last move? ''I am Mr. Beetle!'' man, I loved it! You were like a full-blown monster." "Waz I that zcary?" Lurize turned to Hera. "No one was scared of you. You''ve been with them for long enough to know how weird they are. C''mon man," Daskka rolled her eyes. "Well, that miss with the sword was a bit scary. I was bracing myself to get hurt there, but I hoped we could fix it. To be honest, I was hoping the legacy would protect me somehow, which it did. But aside from that, no, no one is afraid of you. They think you are pretty amazing," Hera bumped him with her shoulder. "I see¡­ Thank you. I just¡­ never expected to be called aggrezzive. In all honezty, when I felt your emotions overwhelming me, I would just freeze and not lazh out." "That''s probably the spirit''s fault. He should be different from who you were before. You two became part of a single thing, you know," Nimbus suggested. "I told everyone a while ago that Mr. Beetle was kind of feisty. I think that''s the aggressive part of you. If Daskka didn''t tell me that you couldn''t become a demon, I would be worried about that, but apparently, the legacy stops that from happening," Hera added. "Yeah¡­ that makez zenze. I apologize for being weird. It will take time for me to get accustomed to my new nature," even without putting it into words, Hera could tell that Lurize was slowly getting less frazzled. Another thing that showed that was that he went back to phrasing his sentences while avoiding the letter S. After that, the party returned to their rooms, just resting before bed. Alex and Bonnie took the room downstairs. The one Hera woke up in. Blue and Helena got a room, leaving space for Hera, while Adriel bunked with Shane and Mylo. That being said, most of them were still walking around, talking loudly, and showering when their turn came. Eventually, they all went to sleep, with Hera dismissing her entire court. The last thing they needed was for someone to wake up in the middle of the night and stab themselves in one of the weapons the Empress left out by accident. As Hera was lying on her bed, with Daskka snuggled on her pillow, which was a weird transparent air packet that was a bit too soft for her, the Empress started to think about her house. One day she would buy a place. A very large house with several rooms so that each of her blades could have their own place to sleep. That was the dream, but considering the range limit, there was a chance that it wouldn''t work as she hoped. Still, she wanted to, at least, give a proper room for those who had their own bodies. It didn''t take long for the sleep to take over her. Despite spending a long time in a sleep-like state, her mind was still exhausted from everything that had happened today. And, unlike how things were in the raft, there were no screams of pain or monsters trying to lure them to a trap on the sky city. 589 - Strange lab When morning came, Hera and the others had a quick meal before the entire party, including Bonnie and Alex, went to the dungeon''s location. It was inside one of the large warehouse-like structures. The researcher and the assassin were going alone just for moral support. Bonnie still wasn''t able to move around very well, and going inside a dungeon where they could be attacked wasn''t something she was willing to do. Truth be told, she never said that Alex couldn''t go, but the assassin knew that staying in a place like this alone could be scary, not to mention that no one could tell how long the dungeon would take. If it was one of those dungeons that took days to complete, having her alone outside could put her in a bind. When he realized that the two would be outside, Adriel also said he would stay behind. Arguing that if people took too long to come back, someone might need to go down to the raft and get more food. Considering the party going to the dungeon had five people, seven if counting, with Hera''s titled blades, everyone agreed with his argument. Arriving in the warehouse, Mylo and Nimbus were in charge of the large double doors. They were heavy, and it took both of them to push one of the sides open. As the inside was exposed to the outside air, some lights turned on. Those were actually mana crystals enchanted to turn on when movement was detected. Going inside, the group spread out, trying to see what was going on there. They found several screens and even a couple of illusions that showed various statistics. Not that any of them could understand what all that meant. The language used here was completely alien to everyone. Even Shane and Hera, the de facto linguistics experts of the group, never saw anything like it. Every letter was a squiggle that would change and move, almost as if every character was actually a full word, but it moved to show all the letters in the order they should be. All this was inside a part of the warehouse right by the entrance, but it felt a lot like a reception with walls blocking the path for the deeper area. They crossed another door, this one much smaller and lighter than the one in the front, and arrived at a large open area with what looked like an elevated pool covering most of the ground. To the left, there were more crystals projecting illusions that were just like holograms that some companies have started making lately. The reason why things like this, projections made with mana crystals, were not as popular was due to the cost. Making a hologram only required electricity, but to make an illusion, you would have to either have someone fueling the crystal with mana or use a mana core that could regenerate enough to keep the illusion working. If anyone found a core that had enough mana to keep something like that constantly on display, people would rather use them for something else, like for vehicles or as home generators. Helena walked towards a glass room with several pieces of equipment that looked like they would be used in a chemistry lab and whistled, "Wow¡­ I have to say. I never expected an ancient civilization to be this advanced." "You don''t know the half of it. Come check this out," Hera called the group. She went up a ladder to see what was inside the pool and she couldn''t believe her eyes. As soon as she stepped on the platform, a set of lights turned on under the water and revealed a large circular structure in the middle. "What is this? Some kind of sci-fi engine." Nimbus asked after more people joined her on the platform, but no one had the answer. Not until Blue arrived, helping Bonnie up the steps. "I don''t get it. What are we looking at?" the controller asked. "I¡­ I really hope this is not what this is, but it looks like a nuclear reactor," Bonnie said. "Are those even real? Are they not just something that people say that power a ship in a space movie?" Adriel had a confused expression. "No, they are real but aren''t those like large things with smoke coming out of them? And aren''t they super deadly?" anyone could tell how worried Blue was just by glancing at her face. "I mean¡­ yeah, that''s why there was only one in the world. People looked at it and realized it was better to use mana cores to get electricity. Especially after the disaster," Bonnie continued. "And this is what it looks like inside?" Alex frowned. "If I remember correctly, the structure is very similar. A large vat of water to help control¡­ something? Maybe the temperature, with the actual reactor in the middle," Bonnie still had her eyes glued to the pool. "I don''t think this is one of those things," Mylo said. "How can you tell?" Shane turned to him. "Don''t people say that you die in seconds if you get close to one? Something about poison in the air. We are still alive, and I''m not feeling sick." "That sounds right. But let''s try not to test that theory. No one presses anything that looks like a button, deal?" Shane turned to the rest of the party, who all nodded in response. "Where is the dungeon?" Blue turned to Bonnie, hoping to get away from this place quickly. She pulled her spyglass and looked around, "There, in the back," She pointed to a set of double doors just like the ones they used to get inside the warehouse. "I know what you are thinking, but you do realize that if we go there, we should see this turned on, right?" Shane turned to the controller. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "No¡­ that''s not a guarantee. Is it?" Blue looked at Helena and Hera with a pleading expression. "It''s not. Just because there is one here, it doesn''t mean that there is another in the dungeon. Then again, we can''t say for sure that won''t be the case. Especially if whatever happened here is related to this thing," Hera replied. Helena looked at the Empress with a smile, "I couldn''t have said it better myself." Blue let out a long sigh, and Alex patted her back, "You don''t have to go if you don''t want to. You could stay with us." "No, no. I want to participate in the dungeon," Blue looked to the double doors in the back, somewhat dejected. "Let''s go then. There is no reason to wait around," Shane went down the platform and started walking to the back of the room. Hera helped Alex and Bonnie to get down from the platform, "Are you sure you don''t want to stay Blue? It''s ok if you do." "No. I mean, I''m scared, but what''s the point of being scared? We are in a place where we should be able to fight any monster that shows up here, so I want to be there to help. And to fight my fears." "Ok then. If you are sure, let''s just wait for them to leave before going inside. Who knows if this is a weird dungeon that forces everyone inside here to participate," Hera let Bonnie go, and the group that was going to stay behind nodded, leaving the warehouse before going towards the dungeon. It was a bit of a weird suggestion considering that Hera only saw a dungeon that would do that once, back in the Moon Base room. That being said, it was a sound idea. If that actually happened, and the exit was far away from the entrance, like it was in the Weeding Disaster hard mode, they could be in trouble. It was a long shot, but one that, when thinking about it, no one was willing to take. "Hera. Call me when you arrive there. We don''t know what to expect," Lurize said just before the Empress dismissed him. Daskka had told her again and again that she didn''t have to do that during dungeons. Doorways were still a question mark, though. Despite that, Hera maintained her idea. She would avoid crossing with any of her blades out just to make sure there would be no problems. When they were clear, Mylo turned towards the large doors, with Blue by his side to help him open them. However, as soon as they touched the entrance, a notification appeared in front of everyone inside the warehouse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Day of Progress dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess you were right," Helena smiled at Hera as everyone pressed the yes button. "Not quite," Hera looked back, and the doors to the outside were still there. So even if Bonnie and the others were here, there was a chance that they would be able to leave without any problems. "Anyway, let''s go then," Shane said before pressing yes, but the door still didn''t budge. Only when all of them, the ones inside the warehouse, confirmed that they would enter that the entrance was open. Beyond it, there was an exact replica of the warehouse entrance, with one difference. Instead of things being in that odd language that no one understood, the illusions were all written in English. But before they could read what was actually going on there, a man came rushing towards them. He had completely black skin, not like Helena, but actually black. He had webbed feet and hands, and his ears were fin-like. "Is he a triton?" Adriel asked out loud. Hera never had a chance to interact with one of them, but now that the elf mentioned it, she could see the similarity. Even if, as far as she knew, their skin should be in different shades of blue, not this deep black that they were seeing. "What are you talking about? Of course, I''m a triton. What else is there?" The man scoffed and crossed his hands over his chest. With the initial surprise out of the way, Hera took a look at what he was wearing. The man was barefoot, and he was wearing shorts. He also had a long open coat over his shoulder that went all the way to his knees. It looked a lot like a lab coat, but it had a blue wave pattern all around it, "Nevermind that. I''m glad that you are all here. How much do you know about what happened?" "What happened?" Blue asked. The man stared at Blue for a few seconds, "Please tell me you are kidding. They didn''t tell you anything?" "I''m afraid not. We don''t even know your name, to be honest," Helena replied. "What? But I''m¡­ no... I suppose that makes sense. You are from Abyssia, after all. I''m Jadas Skyseer. The chief artificer of the city. I''m the one responsible for all the advancements and all the magecraft gear we use in Sky and in your city. I''m the one who created the design for the Slime Carriers and the Net Launchers you guys use. Anyway, the new project I''m working on is a way to change how we use mana cores. Instead of having to get lucky and earn one in a dungeon to be then able to make something, I invented a way to turn cloud dust into mana itself. That takes a large structure, and we can then use it to fuel mana crystals and use those to power whatever we need. It''s all very technical, and I''m sure most of what I said went over your head, but that''s fine. We all have our strengths. The important part and the reason we called you here is my assistant. He ended up falling into the structure, and the mana latched on to her and went crazy. It created almost a¡­ creature. And that¡­monster is attacking anyone in sight. That''s why I had to call you. The people of Sky are scholars and artists. We don''t focus on physical prowess like you. Don''t take this as me saying that we are superior. I''ll leave our accomplishments to speak of that. However, this is the kind of thing you excel at. Killing things that should be killed. A task that requires muscle and a specific type of knowledge that cannot be used for other things." Everyone was annoyed at the way Jadas talked. It was too fast, and he was so condescending, not to mention the amount of backhanded ''compliments'' mixed in the middle of his speech. This was clearly a man who loved the sound of his own voice. "Ok. And what do you want us to do? Kill your assistant?" "NO! Well¡­ if that''s what it takes, then yes. I want to be able to turn on the mana pool today. To do that, I need the mana monster to be gone. Do whatever you need to do for it to work. If killing my assistant is what it takes, then that''s a sacrifice I''m willing to make" Jadas gave a small bow as if he was doing some sort of noble thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest - Mana Creature Rampage A triton inventor inadvertently created a creature of mana. The creature distorted the laboratory where a mana pool was created. Defeat the mana creature to return the place to normal. First Time Rewards: 180 000 gold Jada''s Workshop Grab Bag ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 590 - Invaders "So? What are you waiting for? I''ve already told you everything I could. What more do you need? Go do your job!" Jadas shouted with an annoyed expression. "Can I punch him?" Blue whispered to Hera. "We don''t know if we need him for the dungeon. After we are done, we can come here to do that. He deserves a good slap," the Empress replied. ''Honestly, I think we should still ask some more questions, but I don''t want to deal with him anymore,'' Nimbus said. ''Me too. If we take long to leave here, I will punch him,'' Lurize added. "Ok, let''s get going, guys," Hera suggested and started walking towards the second entrance of the warehouse. The rest of the group followed her, not wanting to deal with that triton. Before passing through the reception area, Hera looked around the illusions, trying to see what they said. Things like ''Mana level'' and ''transmission coefficient'' were around. Some other words were also here and there, but Hera couldn''t tell what they meant. It looked like the types of words that would name mathematical theorems or scientific terms. After moving to the side and entering what was supposed to be the large area where the pool should be located, they found a very different place. It was a long and narrow corridor leading to what looked like a vast and well-illuminated room. This felt very much like an employee-only area. The ground was some sort of grate that echoed as they walked through. There were leaky pipes all over the ceiling and some valves here and there that were letting some steam escape. Hera was confused by this. They didn''t see anything made out of metal in Sky, yet, here, it was everywhere. Maybe this was really the case, or perhaps the dungeon changed to fit their perception. Or, who knows, to protect some kind of technology that the system deemed too risky to exist. Walking through that corridor was unnerving. They had to move in a single file line, and even if there was enough space for all of them to move comfortably, it still felt very claustrophobic. However, that didn''t last for long. After a few meters, the path became wider, wide enough for them to move with three people side by side. Before reaching that area, Hera triggered her pulse to scout the path ahead. The entire place was brimming with mana, which made things even more complicated for her spell. It was like she was trying to sense the area through static. "Ok, the mana here is acting weird. I can''t feel what''s ahead. Core, Frost, Ooze, go forward and make sure there isn''t anything ready to ambush us," the blades started floating ahead and spread out on this new area, but it seemed to be empty. After getting that confirmation, the group moved forward slowly, ready for attacks. Luckily, nothing happened. As they continued moving, the corridor changed slightly. The grated floor became a smooth area of white stone, and large slabs of stone in different colors now hid the pipes. This was slowly becoming a place that would be pretty to the eyes. There were no illusions, mana crystals, or even lights in this area, only the path. Another dozen or so meters ahead, the area changed again. Now revealing a massive circular room with some small vents framing the top of the dome. "Ok, this is really weird. Why is the place like this?" Blue asked. "I don''t know. We just have to kill the monster, right?" Hera continued walking and looking around, noticing another five passages. One to the opposite end of the path they took to get here and another two on each side of the room. "That''s what the quest said. But this is looking very much like a modern thing. Do you think they were that advanced.?" Helena looked at Shane as she walked past a very thin mark on the floor going from the left to the right wall. It was a simple line that looked like the connection between two pieces of rock. However, doing that triggered something. A loud ''clank'' sound echoed, and six doors came down from the ceiling. Each of them blocked one of the passages. "What happened?" Mylo pulled his floral staff and got into a fighting stance. Lurize and Nimbus did the same, pulling their weapons and creating a perimeter around the group. "I don''t know!" Shane cried and enchanted the air around them to become a barrier. "Mum! Up there!" Daskka called. Hera looked up and saw all the vents were now open. From them, a weird pinkish light started to emerge. About three dozen small globules appeared and started floating down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Plasma - Level 29 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s in the name, but they have mana affinity," Hera called. She tried sensing them, but the mana felt weird. It wasn''t exactly wrong, but the opposite. Almost as if she was looking at the negative of a photograph. "Can''t you do something about them with your title?" Blue created a few small clouds that looked like fists. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "No. They don''t move like regular mana, " Hera replied as the last of the pink lights came out of the vent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Update The Mana Pool safeguards have been triggered due to the presence of hostile beings within the structure. Clear all hostiles to unlock the door for the central chamber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Good. I like things like this. Plain and simple," Blue smiled and tossed her Storm Fists at one of the globules. The five clouds slammed against it and kept their shape, then they flew in a circle and came back for another attack. That continued again and again. Each impact making the clouds lose a bit of their shape and mass. However, only after four of the monsters were killed and they were working on the fifth one did the Storm Fists finally vanish. On the other side, Shane reached out and grabbed nothing, but by enchanting the wind, she made a very long whip that could allow her to attack from a distance. She twisted it high above her head and cracked on top of one of the Mana Plasmas, sending it flying to the wall. The follow-up was to let go of the whip and pull her launcher. Without using any ammo, she just pointed at a spot in the middle of a cluster of five monsters and pulled the trigger. The same whip crack was recreated in the location she aimed for, sending the creatures flying through the room. Mylo spun his staff, making it glow slightly, and rushed towards the creatures. Each strike would let a small trail of lotus flowers behind it for a few moments. When one of the monsters moved closer, the flowers would burst, sending the petals flying to the creature that got too close as if they were daggers. Helena went for a spell she used a lot when she was starting out, but an upgraded version of it. After all, removing the senses of creatures like this might not even work. She made several shadowgrabbers coming out of the ground and armed each with a bow and arrow. With a flick of the wrist, she sent a volley of Shadow Bolts, the most basic shadow spell she knew. But doing this way allowed her to increase the strength and accuracy of the attacks by a lot. With just the initial volley, about 6 Mana Plasmas fell, but the monster''s pink energy projectiles intercepted the next attack. Not wanting to get left behind, Hera rushed out of the barrier with Nimbus and Lurize by her side. Each strike of Fang or Claw would kill one of the monsters while the titled blades took care of any of those who were getting closer. The rest of her court paired up and spread out, attacking the Mana Plasmas that were on the outer perimeter of the room. While that was happening, the Empress realized she was one of the less flashy combatants. Not that this was a problem, per se, but it was something she had never considered. Even Blue''s attacks were more eye-catching while she was only swinging her weapons. Sure, things would change if those watching knew that the flying weapons, Nimbus and Lurize, were part of her legacy. But even Daskka was putting it on more of a show by using her mist to match the circle energy coming from the monsters only to then squeeze them until they popped. This was easy enough, and she wanted to see if she could be at least a bit showier. To do that, she created a poison elemental armor, hoping the drip effect it created would be enough to make her feel less self-conscious. Lurize ended up paying half of the cost of the spell, and instead of just a simple orange glow and the drops of poison coming out of her body, she was covered in what looked like an orange rhinoceros beetle''s armor. It was very similar to the one Lurize created when he yelled, ''I am Mr. Beetle.'' Hera had no idea this would happen, but it did look pretty cool. And judging from the reaction of the other court members, they thought so as well. This was still a bit far from what she wanted, but it was a step in the right direction. In less than five minutes, all three dozen Mana Plasmas were gone. When the last one perished, one of the doors to the left opened. Before moving forward, they looked around for loot, but there was nothing. All the monsters died without leaving a single thing behind. "Well, let''s get going. Maybe we will have better luck with the next one," Helena tried to cheer everyone up, but that was unnecessary. None of them was too worried about rewards. The first-time completion would already be good enough, and the drops here would likely be gold which would be more of a hassle to deal with than anything else. Hera dropped the armor and walked to the new path, with Nimbus and Lurize taking the front and the rest of the party following behind her. The passage was just like the circular room: white walls and simple architecture. After just two minutes of walking, they arrived in a room with several large vats of something. The liquid was being poured in through some of the pipes. It was thick and an odd brown color, almost as if it was some sort of chocolate syrup. There were a total of ten tanks, with five on each side, separated by a metal fence and a single rod going all the way to the ceiling. But the strangest part was what was in the middle of the room. A gigantic green pool noodle was placed in the center of this room. It had the same texture and the hole in the middle that one would expect from the water toy.But more strange than that, the noodle was moving. Everyone could see how the body was slowly shifting up and down, almost as if it was breathing. Confused, Hera tried using her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reformed Shapeless Shape - Level 30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera found it weird that it wasn''t showing the sleeping status, but she figured it was just part of the dungeon. However, as she looked up, everyone could see the Shapeless Shape move and raise what should be its head before looking around. The moment it looked in the party''s general direction, it freaked out. The monsters started thrashing around, breaking some of the vats and jumping inside one of them. In a few moments, the creature flopped out of the vat, completely charred as if it had just jumped into acid and dissolved on the ground, leaving a gold bar behind. Right after, the passage where they came from was closed off, and another path opened in front of them. Despite the weird reaction of the monster, it felt nice to do a straightforward dungeon and remove the need to look for a specific path. "Did we¡­ just scare it to death?" Blue asked. "I honestly don''t know if that counts. It''s more like it killed itself because of a freakout," Shane replied. "Either way, let''s keep going. And be careful not to touch that liquid. It doesn''t look like acid, but it''s not like we can be sure of it," Helena added before walking to the new path and the next part of the dungeon. 591 - Magic Cube Going over the liquid wasn''t that difficult, even with the mess that the pool noodle created. Shane simply enchanted the air to push the sticky goo to the side and clear a path for everyone. Surprisingly, even with all the splashing around, not a single drop fell closer to the group. No one was entirely sure if that was just luck or if this was a part of the dungeon layout. Either way, people moved around the sticky goo without a problem and followed this new path that was their only current option. This corridor curved around and led them directly back to the central round room. Now, only two of the doors were open, the one they came from and another on one of the sides of the room. Everyone was worried that more of those Mana Plasma creatures could show up. However, that didn''t happen. The monsters were nowhere to be seen even as the group passed through. Continuing the next part of the dungeon, they crossed a very similar corridor to the one they had just passed through. After some time, they reached another room. It had a similar layout to the place where they found the syrup vats and the pool noodle. A large rectangular room with five devices on each side. But the similarities stopped there. Instead of vats with liquid, there were a few columns of different sizes. Some would go almost up to the ceiling, while others looked little more than the step of a staircase. Up high between all the pillars, smack dab in the middle of this room, there was a massive cube with 25 segments of equal size on each of its sides. In a way, it reminded Hera of those colored magic cubes that people played with, but only in the shape. All of the smaller squares had the same color, the same color that the pillars had. A dull light blue that seemed to glow ever so slightly. Behind that, there was another closed door. "Ok¡­ So what do we have to do here?" Shane looked around. "We were supposed to get rid of some monsters, weren''t we? So we need to find the monster. I think," Hera replied. "And where is it? Is it one of the pillars?" Mylo moved closer to one of the square pillars, but as soon as he got close, a door closed behind the group, locking them in this place. At the same time, the massive cube started spinning, only a few segments at a time, much like how the magic cubes would work. Everyone stepped back and triggered some defensive spells. Shane made another air barrier around them while Nimbus placed a couple of hexagonal shields between the group and the cube. Hera also triggered her stone elemental armor since it would be the one with the strongest defense, but she wasn''t sure if she shouldn''t have tried something different. Realizing that this might actually be a monster and not just a trap, Hera used her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A$)!#)16!*$%¡§ - Level 30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The letters in the name kept shifting, almost as if it was something that was trying to hide what it really was. That was not entirely unexpected. The cube was trying to hide itself, so it would make sense that it would even be able to hide its name. Although it would be better to hide the notification altogether, but maybe that was beyond its capabilities and this was the best it could do. While Hera was thinking about that, the cube stopped shifting, and four of the segments formed a larger square that glowed red before a beam of energy shot toward the group. Everyone was relaxed, even if the monster was level 30. A single attack shouldn''t do that much damage, especially with all the defensive spells they had in place. Hera, on the other hand, had a sickening feeling in her stomach as the glow started. She looked at the cube, and she could tell how the creature/object was doing something with the mana around it. It didn''t look like it was eating the mana, but every single drop that got close would vanish as it was never there to start. The Empress, who could sense the mana very well since she got the title, felt dizzy and nauseous. Watching that was like seeing a body horror movie when a character starts to eat another person raw. She wanted to warn everyone, but the beam of energy flew at her. As it crossed the shields and the barriers in front of the group, the attack destroyed the defenses with ease, not by breaking through them but by simply removing them from existence. However, the beam became smaller with each impact, showing that the defenses were doing something. Yet, it wasn''t enough. The attack was about to reach Hera when Lurize pulled her aside. Doing so made the beam graze his gauntlet, creating a large gash on his armor. Inside, she could only see a golden orange flow that started to drip as if the Royal Tutor was bleeding. "Lurize!" Hera gasped. She noticed that the attack was just like the effect around the cube. It would remove mana from existence in that twisted way that she couldn''t grasp, "Everyone, get back to the legacy. That includes you, Daskka. I don''t want a single one of you out right now!" Hera ordered, and all her court vanished before they could say a word. The rest of the group dashed out of the way, hiding behind the pillars. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "What''s wrong?" Shane asked from the other side of the room. "That thing can destroy mana. Not exactly destroy, but I don''t know how else to explain it," Hera yelled. She peeked out of her hiding spot, and the cube shot a beam straight at her, missing by a hair. "Shit, it''s a mage''s bane!" Helena yelled. "A what now?" Blue turned to the mage, her movement exposed part of her body, but the creature didn''t react. It seemed like its only target was Hera. "A mage''s bane. It''s a type of monster that should only show up beyond layer 15. It can cancel out any magic. It doesn''t matter how strong the spell is. The only way to defeat it is with physical attacks," Helena explained. "So a mage can''t even hope to beat it?" Hera asked. "Not quite. We can still do this," during the conversation, Helena had made a few of her shadowgrabbers go under the floors and start breaking a piece of rock. It took her a few moments, but she was finally able to raise a large chunk of stone and fling it at the monster. The cube noticed the attack and fired a few beams at the spell. The small shadow tendrils vanished quickly, but the laser didn''t do anything against the rock. Even better was the fact that the creature was too slow to move away. It looked like the only things it could actually do were destroy magic and attack. Its mobility was pitiful. When the flying projectile hit the cube, several of the segments broke and fell to the ground, but more came from inside it and covered the gaps. At the same time, the monster lost some of its height, lowering about a meter from its previous position. "Be careful not to let it hit you. If it''s using some nullifying beams at us, it shouldn''t hurt our bodies, but it will hurt our mana and maybe even give us a debuff that stops us from regenerating for a while," Helena yelled. "So, how do we kill it?" Blue asked. Everyone was focusing a lot on magic lately, and they didn''t actually have anything to deal with a flying monster. "Just hit it. That one doesn''t seem to have a good physical defense," Helena used her shadowgrabbers to pick another piece of rock, but it would take some time before she could break the floor enough to throw it. "Ok, got it!" Hera said and looked around. She might be able to reach the monster if she used the pillars to boost her. Thinking she had a good route, the Empress moved out of her hiding spot, running to the other side of the room. However, as soon as she left her hiding spot, the cube glowed in four different places and shot small red laser projectiles much faster than the beams. The attacks hit Hera on her chin, waist, and shoulder, with only one of them missing their target. With each impact, Hera felt her body burning. There was no force behind each of the lasers, but the pain they inflicted tricked her mind into thinking that there was something more. She stumbled forward, falling to the floor and rolling to avoid becoming a stationary target. She scrambled to the other side, staying behind one of the pillars along with Mylo, "Hera, are you ok?" "No, everything burns. Those attacks took 10% of my mana each," Hera was rubbing her leg and trying to use one of the few healing spells she had to stop the pain, "Why is that thing coming after me?" "Maybe it''s because of the title? You are, like, blessed by mana now or something. Since that thing destroys mana, maybe it sees you as a threat." "That could be¡­." Hera put one hand to the left, showing it to the cube, and pulled it back quickly, just in time for a laser to pass by the area where her hand just left, "Ok then. Guys, I''m going to keep it distracted, you take care of the monster!" she yelled to the group. "Are you sure about that?" Helena asked. "No, just do it so we can end this!" Hera tried making some dancing lights, and even that seemed to attract the monster''s attention. While that was going on, Mylo and Blue started running to the lower pillars to climb them. That way, they would be able to attack the creature with physical attacks. During that time, Helena tossed another boulder that destroyed another cluster of segments, which were quickly replaced but forced the monster to get even lower. It was still closer to the ceiling than the floor, but it was at least easier to reach. Shane tried enchanting the air around the creature to become almost solid and let people use it as a platform, but the cube let out a pulse of energy that broke any spell that was too close to it. Meaning that to reach the monster, Blue and Mylo would have to climb the pillars. Hera was still distracting the creature, using her dancing lights and showing her hand at times. She felt useless, but after what happened with Lurize, she wasn''t willing to risk the rest of her blades like that. Even if she didn''t expect them to be permanently gone, she didn''t want to hurt any of them. Soon, Mylo managed to jump and slam his staff against the cube, sending it down closer to the ground and breaking more of the segments. Blue was right behind him and started punching the sides of the cube to destroy as much as she could. Shane used her launcher to fire a large metal ball that was made to deal purely blunt damage. Hera also wanted to help, but the moment she moved away from the pillar, the monster tried to attack her again, even when it was being assaulted by others. They continued shaving off the segments little by little until Helena yelled, "Everyone clear!" Blue and Mylo jumped away just a few moments before a large part of the ceiling came down on top of the cube, crushing it to bits. Everyone waited for a moment until the segments dissolved under the rock, and only when they saw the drops that the party relaxed. The door on the opposite side of where they came from opened, revealing the next path, but the party decided to take a small break here. Whatever this thing was was scary, and if this was a signal of things to come, they might be in more trouble than anyone imagined. 592 - Final Boss After the cube was gone, it left behind two things. A small gold bar worth 10 thousand gold and a mana crystal that could store up to 10 million points of mana, but when using the mana inside it, there was a 2% chance that the remaining mana inside would dissipate. Still, since it would happen after using the mana, the party could make some good use of that item. "Is everyone ok? Hera, do you need some time?" Helena asked. "No. I''m ok. It didn''t hurt that much. I just lost a lot of mana. Even after getting hit, I still kept burning mana away, but that was it, at least." "How much do you currently have?" Shane turned to the Empress. "A bit less than half, which is around half a million points." "That''s so stupid. Less than half of your mana is almost double my maximum," Blue shook her head. "Well¡­ to be fair, I did get some items that help increase the mana growth. Not to mention the title, and I always try to increase my mana when I''m doing other stuff," Hera smiled. "I can''t do that. Meditating is too boring," Blue rolled her eyes. "You don''t have to meditate. Just keep circling your mana. You can do that anywhere. I usually cycle it when we are watching shows or something," Hera explained. Blue closed her eyes and thought for a moment before replying. "I think you told me that before, but I don''t remember. I have to try that soon." "Shall we get going then? Hera, I think you can call your court again," Shane suggested. "Yeah. I think everything is fine now," Hera nodded and raised one hand. She had set up a couple of lines to call her blades, and it was the first time she was going to use one of them, "I am never alone." As she finished the sentence, all her blades appeared to come flying out of her back. Frost and Core came up from her shoulders, Ooze and Edge came from under her arms. A mist crown and a pair of earrings appeared before taking the shape of Scythe and Armory. Dao flew up in the sky as if it shot out from the top of her head. However, Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka broke apart from the whole presentation, jumping on Hera to make sure she was ok. "I''m fine, guys," Hera chuckled. "Never do that again!" Daskka shoved her head on the Empress'' chest. "I can''t promise that. I will protect you when I can" Hera looked to her titled blades, "All of you." "But¡­" Lurize tried to speak up, but Hera cut him off. "We can talk about this later. We still have a dungeon to complete." With a nod, the blades stopped arguing, and the party soon followed the path that was just opened. In the end, they went back to the circular room as everyone expected, and the last door was finally open. During the walk, Daskka used her healing mist to fix any wounds people might have gotten, but her mist wasn''t enough to fix the hole in Lurize''s gauntlet. The party pulled their weapons and walked slowly forward. "Actually, I have an idea," Hera shook her wrist, and the 30 snakes dropped to the floor. With a simple command, she told them to make a perimeter around the group. Her initial thought was to send them ahead, but since there seemed to be something that triggered the doors, she changed her plans. If she sent the snakes too far ahead, there was a chance that the party would be split when facing the next enemy, and that wasn''t something anyone wanted to happen. They moved through the next corridor, and after turning a corner, the entire place changed. It was no longer a plain corridor with white walls and ceiling but a hallway filled with wave and coral patterns on the sides. There were some multicolored lights on the ceiling that made this place look like an aquarium, but with no fish anywhere around. Everyone was tense, thinking that this could be the lair of yet another creature, but after five minutes of careful walking, they noticed how, on the opposite end of this hallway, there was yet another room. Something very wide and with water inside. Getting closer, they realized what it was. The room was one of the pools, like the one they thought to be a nuclear generator outside the dungeon. Everyone knew this would be a fight, so everyone walked inside the room. After getting a few steps inside, a door behind them slammed shut, destroying a few of the snakes and keeping others locked outside. About 13 of them were still in this room, and Hera quickly told all of them to spread out. If something was going to come, she wanted to know where it would be. While the small vipers were still moving, a bipedal creature started to emerge from the water, or that''s what everyone thought at first. It didn''t take long for them all to realize that whatever this was, wasn''t coming out of the pool. It was the water in the pool itself. It had two massive arms without hands, a long worm-like head, and a pair of legs that looked more like tree trunks. The being was almost reaching the ceiling, which should be around 5 meters tall, and it was just as wide. The water was somewhat murky, and the lights didn''t help. It was hard to tell if it was green, brown, or just dirty, but everyone could see a shape in the middle of it. It looked like a large egg, but Hera could see a somewhat humanoid shape in a fetal position, almost like a baby. It wasn''t like she could actually see them, but as if she could see a shadow blocking the mana that was coming from behind the creature. Trying to see if she could confirm her suspicions, Hera triggered her [Observe] only to realize something even worse. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Proto Slime - Level 36 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "That''s a slime! And it has shape mana, like the ones we saw in the raft!" Hera called. By the name, this could very well be the first slime that ever appeared in the room. Maybe in the entire MAZE, but that was a bit of a stretch. "Please don''t let it turn into one of us. That''s not a nightmare I wanted to be real," Blue joked. "You dream about a giant version of us attacking you?" Shane asked. "Yeah, it''s not actually a recurring nightmare, but one that happened more than once, which is weird," Blue continued. "Get down!" Hera yelled and jumped on top of Shane while Nimbus tackled Blue. Just as they managed to get both women to the ground, the right arm of the Proto Slime swung above their heads in a sweep attack, "We can talk about Blue''s nightmares later. That thing is level 36!" When she tackled Shane, Hera sent her snakes to spread around the room while a single one of them dove into the pool. She wanted to know if the remaining water was dangerous or not. Having to fight completely at a range would be a problem. Luckily, the snake could barely sense any water in the area. By the looks of it, all the liquid in the pool was just the slime pretending to be something else. Hera and Blue quickly got up while Shane loaded an empty case in her launcher. Before getting up, she fired it at the Proto Slime, aiming at the shoulder. Her idea was to enchant the air inside the projectile to send some of the creature''s body flying to the sides. If this monster was following the pattern that a regular slime had, that could reduce its size, even if by a small amount. After all, regular slimes could only move the parts of their body that were directly connected to the Core. Unfortunately, for the party. This wasn''t a normal slime. Shane''s plan did work and sent pieces of the gooey liquid flying everywhere, but even detached from the main body, those pieces could still move and took the shape of small versions of the Proto Slime that charged at the party. Mylo, who had just created a large rose on top of his staff and was about to use a spell, changed the target to the incoming small creatures still marked as being the same gigantic slime. With a thrust, the rose bloomed, each petal becoming a blade of energy that flew toward the creatures, cutting through them and pushing them back at the same time. Some of the smaller versions became even smaller versions of the Proto Slime, but a few were hit by more than one petal, and the liquid ended up splattering on the ground without moving anymore. A fact that bodes well for the group. This meant that even if the monster could multiply, it wouldn''t be forever. Eventually, the small bodies would collapse after being attacked. Only Mylo, Armory, and Shane noticed that. Everyone else was dealing with the big version of the Proto Slime. After it missed the first strike and got hit in response, it followed it up by raising its left arm, the same one that Shane hit, and brought it down on the group. It was easy to evade a blow like that, but as the jelly-like liquid got closer to the ground, several tendrils stretched, replicating the appearance of a dead tree. Hera was stabbed in the leg. Nimbus tried to help her, but the attack came too fast, and he only was able to shove the Empress enough out of the way so it wouldn''t hit her bone. Lurize also wanted to help, but he was much bulkier than anyone else, and moving away from the branch-like tendrils proved to be too difficult. He was hit on the shoulder, stomach, legs, and on the exposed piece of his gauntlet. None of the attacks was enough to pierce his armor, but Hera could tell that the Royal Tutor wouldn''t be able to take too much more damage, or he would end up losing his form. Blue and Helena were also unable to completely evade the attack. They got some small cuts by dodging the branches by a hair, and Shane, who was distracted by the smaller Proto Slimes, received a full blow on her back. Luckily, it wasn''t one of the sharp tendrils, but the impact still made her crash on the ground, breaking her nose and making it bleed. "Everyone spread out!" Hera yelled while gritting her teeth. Staying close to each other was a very bad idea. Daskka was already pumping some healing on her leg. The snake knew her job was to help everyone, but her Mum would come first, always. At the same time, Hera started casting spells through the snakes, trying to distract the big slime. ''Nimbus, Lurize, go to your blade form. Everyone, start attacking the big guy. We need to stack Scythe''s skill,'' the Empress commanded through her mind. She didn''t even have to think of the words. Her intention was enough to tell her court what she needed. Mylo quickly went to help Shane and help her up, pulling her away from that position. But one of the smaller versions of the Proto Slime jumped on his back and started to strangle the fighter while trying to get inside his nose at the same time. Shane enchanted Mylo so that his body would burn anything that touched him as Blue managed to reach her and pull the explorer away from that position while creating a cloud on top of the slime''s head. Hoping that it would hinder its sight. Helena was also doing something similar, using every spell in her book to remove the senses of the Proto Slime. Unfortunately, it seemed that this creature used something else to locate the party that wasn''t a part of the five senses. Even trying to cover it with a condensed layer of mana to interfere with the being''s perception ended up doing nothing. Most of Hera''s court was also attacking, slashing the monster in different places, but when a large enough piece of its body was cut, it would only create more smaller Proto Slimes that started moving toward them. Everyone was painfully aware that this fight wasn''t looking good. So far, they were unable to deal any significant damage to the monster, and most of them were too busy helping others instead of being able to attack it. They would eventually lose the war of attrition if things kept going like that. But their disposition changed when Dao dove inside the Proto Slime''s body and activated the Chain Lightning spell. A blue arc of electricity came out of the creature, hitting 10 of the 15 smaller versions of it that were walking around the area. The attack destroyed most of the split monsters and paralyzed those who survived. Even the giant slime ended up getting shocked and now would spasm out of control as it tried to move. "Electricity!" Hera gasped with a smile. Since this was like a nuclear reactor, the idea that lightning could help never crossed her mind, but that was clearly a mistake. The Proto Slime trembled and changed its shape. Now becoming a web-like structure that covered half of the room. Despite that, the party had a second wind. They just discovered the monster''s weakness, and they would be sure to exploit it. 593 - Slime Net Hera still had a wound on her leg. Lurize had a broken gauntlet. Helena and Blue had cuts all over their bodies, and Shane struggled to move around after being slammed by the Proto Slime''s arm. The only two who were in good shape were Nimbus and Mylo, who, so far, were able to deal with everything without getting hit. Yet, the monster they were facing had changed. It was like phase 2 of a video game boss. It went from a bipedal form to this weird net of a creature. However, now everyone could see where the core was. It was a massive cocoon being protected by a few layers of the web-like structure that the rest of the Proto Slime became. Amongst all the strands of liquid, there was a very large bubble that moved around at a blinding speed. No one had to say anything. They all suspected that that would be where the Proto Slime would attack from. When the monster shifted forms, most of Hera''s court ended up trapped in some of the smaller layers of slime net. Because of that, the Empress recalled all of them and summoned the blades once more by her side, this time telling Nimbus and Lurize to assume their full forms. They barely did anything while in their weapon form, but it wasn''t their fault. The giant slime didn''t allow many attacks to come through, and even the hits did little to no damage. When everyone came back, Hera felt a wave of lethargy washing over her body. She knew that constantly summoning and dismissing her court would make her tired, but it felt much worse this time. Just as he returned, Lurize covered his zweihander with mana and attacked a cluster of tendrils using his Venom Blade. The attack went through and broke a couple of layers, opening a path for the party if they wanted. However, the strands reconnected in less than a second, and they seemed just as good as new. "Shit¡­" Blue looked around. Even if the slime web did not completely surround them, there was enough to be a problem. The Proto Slime was now taking half the room''s space, with some of the strands reaching the side walls as if they were trying to reach the other side and corral the party into a circle. "Dao!" Hera called, telling her blade to launch another Chain Lightning. The blade used the skill, but the tendrils moved out of the way, evading the electricity without a problem. Hera noticed something as that happened and told the blade to attack again. Just like the first time, the Lightning that Dao created missed, but the Empress understood what was going on. Her blade''s aim wasn''t the issue, but somehow the slime was controlling where the lightning would hit. Just as the electricity left the golden blade, the Proto Slime would change the mana surrounding the strands that were going to be hit, making the lightning follow it as a magnet pulled it. But things didn''t seem to be perfect. At some points, the slime had to remove a strand to let the attack pass through. Everyone was also testing the waters of this new enemy. Even the Proto Slime was only making some very slow and careful attacks as if it wasn''t able to understand its new form completely just yet. The monster would move the massive bulbous pustule around and then launch some sharp tentacles at the group, but Nimbus, Lurize, and Mylo easily defended against those strikes. The attacks were nowhere near as strong as the ones that the Proto Slime used before its transformation. Hera walked closer to the group, going against the idea of staying away from each other, but she had to say something and didn''t want to let the Proto Slime know. Just in case it could understand her. While Dao was attacking, she realized that the location where the lightning ended up was not that far off from the blade''s actual target, "Guys, let''s aim at the core. I don''t think it can move it around." "What? Isn''t that where the assistant should be? Are you saying we should kill her?" Blue asked. "I am," Hera nodded. "But why?" Mylo asked as he blocked another of the blows from the Proto Slime using his staff, but they were already getting past the point where he could stop them without taking any damage. "She is crying. I saw something weird before, but now since it''s closer to the surface, I can tell she wants to die. Every fiber of her body wants to die. She is even using their mana to try to stop her heart, but the Proto Slime is stopping her from doing so," Hera replied, aver since Dao started attacking, she could sense the mana from the core, the mana of the person inside it, and just looking at it made her heart ache. No one deserved to be in that situation. "Hera, are you sure? That is not a light thing to do," Helena asked, worried that killing someone might trigger some bad memories for the Empress. "I am. If I was suffering like that. I also would want to be put out of my misery," Hera nodded with a solemn expression. Hearing that, everyone nodded and looked at the slime. The moving blob appeared above them and launched a flurry of tentacles, trying to pierce the group, but that happened just a moment too late for it to hit them. Everyone already sprung into action, with Nimbus slowing the attack down with a series of shields while Mylo created a floral mandala above them to protect the group. It was a very intricate pattern, slowly spinning around and giving everyone a small buff to their defenses and to their lowest attribute. Or in Hera''s case, to all her attributes. Lurize prepared another Venom Blade, this time aimed at the core, and Helena used her shadow grabbers to make about five bows that started firing Shadow Bolts at it. She had other options, but they would all lose power as they hit some of the strands of slime. Blue was just under the umbrella of protection, preparing a thunderstorm inside a cloud. Her idea was to cover the entire ceiling with that and bring down lightning anywhere, but since damage was her first priority, she had to charge up the cloud before sending it away. Core started tossing the Sediment at the slime''s core, hoping to make the lava stuck there and constantly do damage. The rest of the court focused on stacking Scythe''s damage increase. Each attack against the same enemy would increase the damage it took by 1% from the Empress and her court. Hera had lost count a while back, but Armory was keeping track. So far, they were dealing 49% increased damage, but it really didn''t look like it. Each blow would barely do anything, and the lava sediment that Core was using was intercepted by the tendrils, which burned with the impact but took away all the momentum that came with the spell. At the same time, Shane started firing at several pieces of the slime network. She considered focusing on the center of the creature, as everyone else was doing. Still, since she had the only projectiles that could potentially be intercepted and sent back, she didn''t want to take any chances and lose sight of her bombs. She trusted that her enchantment to make them blow up on impact would work, but a part of her still was worried that the Proto Slime would pull something as the cube did and interrupt her spells. In that case, she wanted to know that it was happening so she could stop the projectile from blowing up and damaging the party. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The battle continued, but it became clear that no matter how many times the team attacked, they couldn''t deal enough damage. The slime seemed to have endless energy reserves, and it never stopped moving or launching more tentacles. Aiming at the core helped lessen the number of attacks that were coming toward the party, but only slightly. The Proto Slime was still able to continue its barrage of strikes that kept constantly getting stronger. However, little by little, that was starting to change. The more times Hera and the others were able to hit the core, the more the monster seemed to protect it, and the fewer attacks were coming at them. But it wasn''t all good news. Every time a tentacle would hit their defenses, the damage would increase exponentially. First, it only bounced off Mylo''s mandala. Then it pushed it down. Then it cracked. Now it came to a point where Nimbus and Mylo were completely focused on defending and having to use multiple layers of barriers to stop the creature from hitting them. Another flurry of attacks came out of Hera and the others, with the Empress now using the Wind Feathers spell as a base and changing the mana to lightning. Since this particular attack focused on quantity over quality, she imagined that it would be helpful to hit the Proto Slime. However, even though the attacks hurt the slime, it showed no sign of stopping. Its tentacles moved faster than ever, and the amount of them increased every second. A few of those reached the group, and each one managed to inflict additional damage. As the battle progressed, the number of hits grew until it was impossible to keep an eye on everything. The bulbous growth had become thinner and more spread out, making the attacks come from more locations at once. "Blue? Are you done?" Helena asked as she dodged a tentacle but was hit by another. Luckily, that tendril was focused on blunt force and not piercing through their armor. Because of that, the mage only lost some air as the blow hit her chest. "Fuck it, I am!" Blue yelled and threw the stormcloud in the air. It instantly started to spark and send thunderbolts at the Proto Slime. Because of the frequency of the attacks, the monster wasn''t able to dodge all of them, but at the same time, the storm wasn''t doing any permanent damage. Blue clearly sent out her spell sooner than she should have, and when one of the tendrils started to spin inside the cloud, making part of it dissipate, that fact only became more apparent. Mylo''s mandala protected him again, but he looked pale. He tried to stand up and cast another barrier, but his legs gave way. Nimble stepped forward and supported him for a moment, then grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the shelter of the umbrella barrier he had created. This was hardly something that would last, but it was better than nothing. Helena also had to start playing defense, using a Shadow Cloak spell that would control the darkness around her to intercept any attack coming her way. Hera tried to send a few poison needles, but they didn''t seem to affect the slime. She looked at the core and could swear that she saw a pair of pleading eyes looking in her direction. Then, a very bad idea came to mind. ''We are doing something stupid. Dao, to me. Lurize, get ready to use everything you have. Nimbus, pass Mylo to Helena and stay close to me. If this doesn''t work, I''m going to need you to get out.'' "Keep that thing occupied!" Hera yelled to the group without giving more explanation. There was no time for that. Lurize moved to be right in front of her with Nimbus behind, the conga line aimed at the Proto Slime''s core that was hidden behind at least 30 layers of slime web, ''Lurize, you say when. Open a path for us.'' Lurize closed his eyes for a moment, activating his Venom Blade to cover the zweihander. "Nothing ztandz in the way of..." His armor started to glow and turned golden as a pair of beetle wings appeared on his back, and his horn grew longer, forming the familiar horn of a Rhinoceros Beetle, "MR. BEETLE!" With that battlecry, he dashed forward, breaking the slime tendrils. Some were cut by his weapon, while others were ripped apart by his body. The Empress was right behind him, running with all her might and hiding from the tentacles that tried to stop the Royal Tutor. On the back of that, Nimbus and the rest of the court were all following along, intercepting the attacks and stopping the slime from reattaching itself. The Sentinel also triggered his [Share the Pain] so that he could take a portion of the damage that Lurize was taking, letting the new blade focus on breaking through. Daskka covered everyone with a dark mist, hoping to hide their actual location from the slime. At the same time, she kept healing those who were hit by any attacks. Back where the party was, everyone gave one last push as they saw Lurize and Hera move forward. They had an idea of her plan, and the best way to go about it was to support her. Helena continued using the Shadow Cloak but changed the attack to one of her most destructive spells called Well of Darkness. It would create almost a tornado of tentacles that tried to rip apart everything in sight. A swirling plane of darkness appeared as each shadow inside that area lashed out, trying to grab whatever it could and pull it toward the center. Against a slime that could regrow as much as it wanted, it didn''t seem that good. After all, the spell would just split the body, but it was flashy, and it looked dangerous. Shane grabbed one of the tendrils of the Proto Slime and tried to petrify it. That move seemed to trigger alarms in the monster, who reduced a lot of the number of attacks aimed at Hera, focusing more on Shane. Blue continued to bring down the thunder while making a pair of massive cloud hands before punching the slime with all her strength. Spells and magic were fine and all, but she was a fighter at heart, despite her role. Mylo also wanted to help and created a couple of sunflowers that peppered the monster with seeds. It wasn''t something that would do a significant amount of damage, but the number of attacks would be annoying, at least. During that time, Lurize finally broke through the last layer of the slime web. The Royal Tutor had cuts and dents all over his armor, despite being in the Rhinoceros form. Nimbus wasn''t looking much better. He had cuts and bruises all over his body, and even his beak had a large crack, not to mention the lack of feathers in half of one of his wings. Lurize continued forward, and when he reached the core, he slammed both his weapon and his horn inside it. The blows seemed to pierce the cocoon, but it wasn''t enough. Hera stepped on the Royal Tutor''s back and jumped with Dao in her hand. She stabbed the core and used a Chain Lightning with almost 200 thousand mana. The spell was so strong that the blade turned red hot, and Hera had to let it go so as not to burn her hand. The electricity covered the entire Proto Slime, who started spasming and losing some of its shape, but that didn''t seem to be enough to kill it. "Dao, I apologize!" Nimbus yelled as he jumped above Hera and slammed his tonfas against the blade, pushing it deeper into the cocoon. The Empress could see that the person inside the core tried to move closer to Dao, but she was unable to get hit by the weapon, that is, until Nimbus'' attack. With that boost, the blade managed to cut the assistant''s neck, allowing her to finally die. There was no cry, no sound, no struggle. The Proto Slime simply stopped moving and dissolved where it stood, leaving behind the items that it dropped. However, Hera could hear something from her, not as a voice, but a feeling of gratitude coming from her mana just as the assistant, stuck inside the slime''s core, vanished. 594 - What went wrong with the world? With the Proto Slime gone, the group collapsed to the floor. Everyone was exhausted and hurt from all the fighting. Hera''s court even asked to be dismissed, since most of them were tired or injured. Especially Nimbus and Lurize, it was clear that just staying in their bipedal form was a struggle for the titled blades at the moment. There were so many cuts and parts of broken armor around their bodies that any person would have bled out by now. That weighed on Hera''s heart, but she knew her plan worked. Sure, they may have found a different way to beat that monster, but they could also have gotten seriously injured in the process, if not worse. After a quick thank you, Hera let them all rest. She wasn''t worried about the boss or anything for two reasons. First, the boss had vanished, and the drops were on the ground. Second, there was a notification in front of them telling them that the dungeon quest was over. Of course, that wasn''t a confirmation that there would be no more monsters around, but considering the dungeon''s layout, she felt it was a safe bet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the Dungeon Quest - Mana Creature Rampage By defeating all the monsters inside the facility, you have returned it to a state where it can be used for its intended purpose and released Jadas'' assistant from the control of the Proto Slime. First Time Rewards: 180 000 gold Jada''s Workshop Grab Bag ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hey, if anyone gets a weapon they don''t want to use, could you show it to me? Since I added Lurize as a titled blade, I have a free slot in my court," Hera turned to the group. They all nodded in response. In a situation like this, the more firepower they had, the better things would be. Not to mention that eventually, they might have too much stuff to carry around, so making the best out of the available resources would be very important. The fact that they were stuck in a place without a way to go home was still very much in their minds. Before opening the grab bag, she looked at what had fallen from the Proto Slime''s core. There were three items in front of her: a raw green gem that looked as if Hera was staring at an explosion, a vial with a dark red liquid with some small leaves and flowers on it. Almost like the blood of a creature that died in the forest, and something that proved once and for all that the MAZE had a sense of humor and a very twisted one at that. A pair of knee-high socks with a pattern with very cute and happy slimes in different colors playing around. If Hera wasn''t in a room like this, she would find this interesting and even be reminded of peaches, but she could only see them as the creatures that turned into her friends and tried to lure her by showing them suffering. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wisteria Malachite A rare gem that can be used as a conduit for mana. Doing so will create powdered mana that can be ignited by using any spell as long as the source of mana is the same. The powder mana will be consumed to increase the power of the spell. Conversion rate 1000 > 1 Can convert up to 1 million mana every 24 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Godly Potion of Denfrenchau - Replica A potion created by the first potion maker, Denfrenchau. Legends say that by drinking this potion, one can recover from any ailments, can increase one''s attributes, destroy any evil lurking inside and even become immortal. Unfortunately, Denfrenchau never had a chance to test this concoction, and his research was lost during an attack. By drinking this potion, you will receive one unknown positive effect or remove the worst condition that is currently affecting you. To receive these effects, a person has to drink the entire vial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chemical Runners A pair of socks that, when worn, can create a trail of chemicals behind the user. These chemicals can be ignited and used with different types of mana for different effects. As the item of a scientist, the reactions are a mystery until experiments are made. The chemicals only react to mana, not to anything else. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy shit," Hera gasped while looking at the items. Everything seemed really interesting, even if a bit weird. "Did we get something good?" Shane asked. "Kind of, I mean, yeah, but at the same time, it''s hard to tell. It''s not any type of equipment, but some of these things have potential," Hera picked the items and showed them to the group. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. After a moment of them looking over, Blue spoke up, "That potion¡­ It says it can remove evil. Do you think that would work with the curse?" "Or we could give it to Bonnie in hopes that it fixes her leg," Shane added. "That''s a bit of a long shot, isn''t it? It says it will remove the worst condition you currently have. Can the term condition be applied to a broken leg?" Helena kept staring at the potion in her hand, swirling the liquid around. "So, does everyone agree that we give it to one of them?" Hera asked. "I mean, as much as getting a benefit could be good, removing a problem sounds better. Besides, it''s a chance-based thing. So instead of giving to someone in hopes to trigger the good thing or fix minor issues like a bad knee or," Shane turned to Hera, "A missing piece of their ear, it would be better to give that to people who have really bad things going on." The Empress crossed her arms, "You didn''t have to go there. I was just asking if everyone was on board with this." "Sorry," Shane tried to smile, but Hera wasn''t having it. She just turned around and started walking to the door that was now open. "Whatever, let''s just get out of here. We are not that far from the exit, and we can rest back home in a comfortable place," Hera walked off, and soon, the rest of the group followed her. When she turned the corridor, she was already in the entrance, where the holographic displays were set up, and right in the middle of that room was Jadas. He was sitting on a chair by the side, and when Hera arrived, he rolled his eyes, "Finally. What took you so long? It doesn''t matter. Your reward is back in your city, so you can go collect it there. Now stop wasting my time," he waved the party off and turned to the side where there was a large wooden crate being carried by an automatic platform very similar to Adriel''s drones. "What is that?" Helena asked. "This is the waste that the mana pool creates. After the reaction takes place, the materials used to start it burn up. We have to get rid of this, and we will be throwing it back into the ocean. Your people already know that, and everyone is warned about not going to that area before talking to us. If you get hurt because you went there, that''s not my problem," Jadas turned to Blue, who was the last one to leave the dungeon, "Are there more of you there? Or are you here just to waste my time?" "Dude, take that stick out of your ass. Why are you being such a dick now?" Blue scoffed. "Because now you are just as useful as this waste. Just more weight that could pose a problem to Sky. You are done here, so I don''t know why you are waiting around. Leave." "No, hang on. That waste, are you sure it''s safe? What will happen to those who are close to it?" Helena stepped forward. "Nothing. I did all the tests, and even after a full month of consuming nothing but the water that shared the container with this waste, nothing happened. Everyone was fine. Honestly, do you think I wouldn''t do that type of basic test?" Jadas rolled his eyes. "But that''s not enough time. Some things can take months or even years to show their effects. And you are calling it waste after this reaction, so that is very likely to be able to do something like that," Shane added. "How the hell do you know that? Are you saying that you, who lives under a rock at the bottom of the ocean, know more than me? Please, that''s not funny, even as a joke. Stop kidding yourself. I am completely sure that this is harmless, and if you think that something will happen after years of waiting, come here with proof before spouting all this nonsense." "For fuck''s sake, dude, we are telling you this to help you. Can you just fucking listen?" Blue gasped. "I have no need to listen to people who are beneath me. And I don''t mean the people of Abyssia, but everyone. Every single living being is nothing but a prawn in front of my genius. There is no reason for the sky to bother with the opinion of a grain of sand," Jadas continued. "Oh yeah, you are so smart that you didn''t realize that your assistant would end up being the victim of a giant slime. Really a stroke of genius to have a monster running around in your lab and having her killed," Hera rolled her eyes. "You are the ones who killed her, not me. I asked you to save her, but you failed to do so. This is not on me. It''s on you. You are weak and unable to complete your mission, and now I have to work without someone who trained to be by my side, so thanks for that," Jadas scoffed, "She was worth much more than you imagine. I would trade each and every one of you to have her back. That way, someone would at least be here to do some of the grunt work. But you didn''t even have the decency to die after your failure. If you could only be smart enough to¡­." Before he finished talking, Blue punched Jadas'' face, tossing the triton to the crate and making him fall to the ground, "Fuck you," the controller said before stomping towards the exit of the warehouse. Hera felt a bit better and started following her friend. Jadas struggled to get up, but when the party was almost at the door, he managed to get off the ground, "HOW DARE YOU? I AM A GENIUS WHO HAS BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN¡­" Before he could finish his sentence, a shadow came from the ground and punched him between the legs. A bellflower appeared right by his ears and started ringing loudly. The crate suddenly sprung to life and dashed to the side, making him fall again, and a field of spores surrounded him as he sneezed uncontrollably. The party left the room and, in unison, said, "Fuck that guy." Now that they were out of the dungeon, the party went back to their house. Even if it only took a few hours to complete the mission, it was exhausting. During the walk, Hera noticed that Daskka was surprisingly quiet ever since the fight against the Proto Slime, "Daskka? Are you ok?" "I am¡­ sorry. It''s just¡­ I feel like I''m not helping you as much during the fights. I help with the legacy, and that''s about it. I want to do more than that. Before this, we would fight together and stuff. Now I don''t know. I''m taking too much of a backseat," Daskka explained. "I understand how you are feeling. I''m worried about some stuff like that too. If you want, we can try to train to make some things differently." "I would like that, mum," Daskka smiled and snuggled on Hera''s neck. When they arrived back at the house, everyone slumped on different chairs. Bonnie and the others had left, but they would soon be back, and then they could learn about the potion and decide what to do with it. 595 - Theory of the past Sometime after arriving at the house, Alex and Adriel made some food for everyone. The elf had stopped by the fishing dungeon and caught quite a haul for the party, but despite his best intentions, that only made them all upset. "Why the hell would you even try that? Do you want to die?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Even if it worked, do you think you could have survived if the monsters showed up? As far as I know, most dungeons don''t scale with the number of people that are inside," Shane added. "It''s hard to explain. I''ve been to my fair share of dungeons, and every now and then, a few seemed to be more geared to the survival of those in the room. Usually, if you go with a very small number of people, the dangers of the place are close to none, and you can focus on getting the supplies," Adriel explained. "How can you tell if a dungeon is like that?" Blue asked. Adriel twisted his face in thought, "It''s kind of hard to explain. It''s not like there are signals or similarities between them. I mean, I suppose you could say that all those dungeons are about resources, but that is a very broad way to see it. It''s more of a feeling. I only could tell because I''d seen those kinds of dungeons before. The best way I can describe it is that feeling of living in a city and knowing the places to avoid because the people there are annoying." "Still, just because you had that hunch, you shouldn''t have gone there. Next time talk to me about it. I can ask Yarnball if you are right or not. That will minimize the risk by a lot," Hera rubbed her eyes, but she smelled something weird. Looking to the side, she saw Alex giving Adriel the stink eye, which made the Empress realize that this wasn''t about her actual smell, but the mana she was sensing from the assassin. During the dungeon, there was so much mana everywhere that her senses were flooded. Now that they were outside, she was able to notice the smaller details like that. Alex noticed the stare, but she ignored it, thinking it was about the situation at hand, "Honestly, I don''t know how you could''ve done that. asked you to be careful when going down there, and you still had the gall to look me in the eye and say that you would. Good to know you are such a good liar." "Alex, c''mon, it''s not like that¡­." Adriel walked towards her, but she stepped to the side, avoiding him. "It doesn''t matter," the assassin turned to the rest of the group, "You guys were talking about a potion? What''s this about?" "Right," Hera nodded and explained about the potion as well as what everyone agreed to do. "Well. Honestly, I think Alex should be the one to take it," Bonnie looked at the assassin. "And I think you should be the one to take it. Having you out of commission is a big problem, and it can be a big issue when we leave," Alex turned to the rest of the group and realized that everyone wanted to voice their opinion, "Ok, no. You guys said that the potion should go to Bonnie or to me. So we are the ones who are going to have that discussion. Come with me, and Hera, can you block the sounds coming from the room and not say anything else?" Hera sighed. Despite her worry about the curse, she was leaning toward giving the potion to Bonnie. That way, the researcher wouldn''t be so defenseless, but she understood why Alex was acting like that. The Empress was never much of a fan of that curse. She walked to the room with the two of them, and before she created the soundproof bubble from the outside, Hera looked into Alex''s black eyes, "I know you told me not to say anything, but I have to make one thing clear. I''m fine with whatever you two decide. I just want the two of you to be ok." Before she could hear an answer, the Empress left the room and cast the Soundproof Bubble. The entire party knew that once the spell was active, trying to leave it could mess with the effect, so they had no option but to stay there. Hera went back to the rest of the group and sat on the couch with a plate of grilled fish in front of her. "While the two of them are having that conversation, let me ask. Now that we finished that dungeon, what do you guys think happened in this room?" Shane took a bite of a pear that Adriel brought from the greenhouse. "Isn''t it obvious? The dude created the slimes that killed everyone," Blue turned to the explorer. "I don''t know. From the way he spoke, I think the people of Abyssia could handle those slimes. I mean, he was sure we could beat it," Helena was inspecting her fish to make sure she removed all the bones, "I think the waste is the reason." "I agree," Shane nodded, "Things that are labeled as waste were very overlooked in the old days, and I don''t think this wouldn''t be the case here. Especially since there was water everywhere." "But that also doesn''t make much sense. If they were aware that showers were important, they should be aware that waste could be dangerous," Hera tilted her head. "Or maybe Jadas decided that slimes were the next step in evolution and made a machine to turn everyone into monsters," Blue joked, but everyone stopped to think. Despite it sounding like the plan of a movie villain, they all had to admit that Jadas would very much be the type of mad scientist that would do that kind of thing. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "What if it''s like a smoothie?" Mylo said. "A smoothie?" Helena turned to the fighter. "Yeah. We have the slimes appearing and attacking, the waste in the water making people sick, Jadas being a dick and making things worse, and maybe something else. Put everything in a blender, and that''s what happened. Not one thing but a mix that happened at the same time and messed everything up. If it was just one thing or another, they might be able to survive, but since it was a lot, it was too much," Mylo explained. "That''s actually a very good theory. I wish we could confirm it," Hera nodded. "You have got to be kidding me," Blue scoffed at Hera, who stared at her with a confused expression, "You have Yarnball, woman! You just said that it could help Adriel find out more about the dungeon. Why wouldn''t it be able to tell us if we got it right?" "Oh¡­ right¡­" Hera looked down, feeling embarrassed, "Sorry. It''s just been a long day. I''m kind of tired." "I can''t blame you. We only did a single run, but I''m beat," Blue slumped back on her stone chair. "Same," Mylo took a large sip of the watermelon juice in his glass. "By the way, what did you all get in your grab bags? And who is going to use the socks?" Adriel asked. "They won''t fit me, even if they are cute," Mylo said. "You would look adorable on them, but yeah, your thunder calves wouldn''t fit," Shane teased, but Mylo didn''t seem to mind. He was more upset about not being able to wear the socks. Noticing that, the explorer changed her tune, "It''s a shame they don''t come with an auto-fit feature. Anyway, if we are talking about actual use, it would be good to give it to someone who moves around a lot," she turned to look at Blue and Hera. "Before deciding that, we should test it out to see what they actually do. I mean, what if the person wearing them has to run away from the chemicals that they trace behind them? Imagine if it''s like a barrel of black powder in a cartoon. We should see what they do and the reactions we can trigger and then see who would be the best fit for it," Helena suggested and pulled the malachite from her pocket, "We also have to test this out. Sure the conversion rate is awful, but it doesn''t say anything about the mana powder vanishing or expiring. Maybe we can just keep making more and more." "Honestly, my launcher would be great for that. I can store the powder in the bullets and increase the power of the spells. After we are done with all this, I''m going to try to get another one of those or a way to make powder mana," Shane kept staring at the malachite. "It''s just a shame that I can''t help you with that. I mean, I think I have more mana than you, don''t I?" Hera asked. "You do, but you don''t have to rub it in," Shane playfully rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, but what about the other reward? What did you guys get?" Adriel pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him. Everyone took a moment to check their grab bag. Helena and Hera got empty mana stones that could hold 250 thousand and 73 thousand mana, respectively. They were non-elemental stones which could prove to be very useful, and things like that always helped. Blue received a small pendant that could block one spell every 24 hours, and it could block a total of 5 spells before the effect would never activate again. There were some restrictions about the type of spell and how strong it could be, but it still sounded great, even for an item that would eventually break. Shane got a bundle of what looked like metal rods, but they were called ''Cloud Essence,'' and it was apparently a very light metal that could be used to make a number of things. Adriel found that very exciting and asked to take a look at it. The material wouldn''t be that good for a weapon or some armor since it wasn''t a particularly durable metal, but if he used it on his drones, the results could be amazing. Lastly, Mylo got a piece of armor. It was an undershirt that he could wear like a second skin, and since it was a reward and not just a drop, it already came in the right size for him. This also meant that no one else could wear it since it would be way too big. The armor itself had two things going for it, one, it was the defensive scaling being about five times stronger than what Mylo was currently wearing, and since it was an undershirt, he would only add to his defenses, not change it. Two was a passive skill that could disrupt the mana of spells that targeted him. It wouldn''t be like Blue''s pendant, which would block the entire spell, but it could reduce the effectiveness or remove one of the minor effects. Basically, it was a very reduced version of what the magic cube monster did. A way to fight against spellcasters, and it would be always active. After a quick test, they also confirmed that healing spells also got affected by that, but his own magic would flow like it was supposed to. After everyone checked their items and talked a bit about the options they had going forward as well as what to do next, Alex and Bonnie came out of the room. "Ok, we came to an agreement. I''m the one taking the potion," Alex announced and pulled the cap on the vial, "I don''t want to explain how we got there, but we did. And I figured everyone would want to be here for this," she continued before downing the entire vial. The assassin had no intention of dragging this out. She wanted to be done with it. The mixture was bitter-sweet and tasted like french fries and ice cream with a little bit of hot sauce and melted cheese in the mix. The taste was unique, but it wasn''t good or bad. Everyone waited a few moments for something to happen, but nothing did. Alex then opened her mouth and sneezed, letting out a cloud of green smoke from her nose. "Is that it?!" Hera gasped, "Is the curse gone?" Alex sneezed a few more times, more of the green smoke coming out of her mouth until she was finally able to answer, "Sorry, no. I got the benefit. Let me read it. It''s a skill called fleeting wind. I can move better when I''m obscured, and I can create a trail of wind behind me that increases my speed. Also, any spells that I use will have a gust of wind following them, and I can follow that path to move quicker, whatever that means. Let''s go outside. I want to try this." "You can go. I''m still tired," Blue waved her off, followed by Shane and even Hera. Everyone was still exhausted. In the end, they all walked outside and watched as Alex toyed with her new skill. Soon everyone would do the same, but for now, they still wanted to rest. 596 - Post game Analysis During the rest of the day, the group tested out their new items. Shane felt a bit sad about the results of the powder. The difference of power between putting the mana inside the projectile and just firing like she was used to was minimal. Sure, things would change if she weren''t using her legacy, but at this point, not using it felt just wrong. Not to mention there was no reason not to. On the other hand, the socks had a lot of potential. The trail they would leave behind was very hard to see, but the effects that it could create were wild. Using fire mana created a large cloud of smoke that hindered the view of anyone except the person wearing the socks, and the person who ignited the chemicals. Using wind made almost an invisible barrier that would make those trying to pass feel like they were knee-deep in a lake. Poison, oddly enough, would cause a reaction that created vapors able to clean the air around the trail. And it wasn''t just about air quality. Hera''s Spore and Slow Fields and her Sensory Net would also vanish but it wouldn''t do anything with the Soundproof Bubble. It was hard to tell exactly, but the current theory was that the vapors would remove things that behaved like dust in the air, while things that were more solid would not be affected by it. Even if they were poison based, like one of Hera''s Poison Needles. They also tested Mylo''s new armor. They put it on the ground and tossed some spells at it to see what would happen. It was hard to tell how strong the effect was, but the spells did feel weaker with the impact. Using things like afflictions and such yielded no results, or at least that''s what it felt like. Then again, they were trying to poison or mess with an object, not a person. However, Hera was able to notice one thing. As the spells hit the undershirt, some of the mana would be absorbed into the armor, and the more mana it absorbed, the more mana it would take from the spell. But if there were a delay between the attacks, that would go away. "Hey, Mylo. I didn''t check the actual information, but does it say anything about the defense getting stronger the more it blocks spells or something?" Mylo shook his head, "No, it doesn''t. Why?" "I have a feeling that it''s taking more mana out of the spells the more mana it takes." "There are some rare occasions where items have some interaction that has some unexpected results. But they are very minor, so much so that the system doesn''t bother with giving us the information about it," Helena chimed in. "How minor? Like a 1% difference?" "More like a 0.001%. That''s why it doesn''t even show that." "Humm¡­ I see," Hera turned back to the armor, trying to see if there was something else that she was missing. The last thing they had to test was Alex''s new skill. When she walked, there was a small air current behind her, as if it was pushing her forward, but at the same time, it would make it harder for any animal to catch her scent. Daskka was the one who noticed that. When she used a spell, even if it weren''t a wind spell, the magic would have a gust pushing it forward, making it reach its target faster. Some spells would also get stronger with that, but for most, it only reduced the actual travel time. But the biggest boost was the trail created by them. The small air current would allow Alex to move extremely quickly when she was following it. Her speed would rival her Wind Chaser spell, but it would allow her to stop and change her direction midway, unlike the spell. However, if she left the trail, she would lose the boost of speed. During the test, they found out that the limit for that trail would be the same as the spell''s range, meaning she could control how far she would go. If Alex was running at full speed, she could be even faster than Nimbus on his Griffon form, but that came at a cost. She could only keep up that speed for a few seconds and would be too exhausted to do anything else after it. The trail accelerated her movement, but the strain on her muscles and stamina was very much the same for the amount of effort she was making. Still, that was all up to her. How fast she would move and for how long was completely under her control. As long as she paced herself, she could move at incredible speeds nonetheless. During the day, Hera also asked Yarnball about their theories. She spent most of her mana on each question, and little by little, she confirmed that this was indeed a smoothie, and all their theories were correct except the one where Jadas went full-on mad scientist. However, that wasn''t all the story. There were more factors that resulted in the extinction of the people in this room. This was verbatim what Yarnaball answered, which made everyone worried. Extinction was a heavy word, to say the least, and having something like Hera''s relic say that felt define disconcerting. As if the people in this place didn''t have a chance to survive or something like that. Hera also asked where they could find those last pieces of information, but the answer was something she already knew. In the underwater city of Abyssia. The only answer she got about the underwater city was that there was something dangerous there. When she tried to expand on that information, she only got replies that meant that she didn''t use enough mana for the question. At some point, when everyone was training, the Empress went to her room to be alone. Well, not exactly alone, but to be with her court. She asked Daskka if everyone was ok, and the herald confirmed that they could be summoned without a problem, but Nimbus and Lurize would still have fragile forms. Not to the point that they would just collapse in the wind, but fighting wasn''t a good idea for at least another day. That being said, all of them were willing to come out if Hera wanted to talk. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The Empress nodded and spoke, "You are always with me," calling her entire court out. The blades appeared around her this time without the flourish of her summon in the dungeon. Lurize and Nimbus were standing by the bed while the rest were floating in different places in the room. "Hey, everyone. How are you all feeling?" "Not great," Core said. "Yeah¡­ that was rough," Frost nodded, which looked as if the glaive was just shaking back and forth for everyone else. "I know, that cube thing was really scary," Hera agreed, thinking everyone was talking about when she had to dismiss them. "What? No, that was fine. Everyone was ok to fight against that thing. Even if it broke our shape, it shouldn''t remove us from the legacy," Ooze explained. "Yeah¡­ I agree, but it wasn''t a risk I was willing to take," Hera shrugged. "You are worried about us but not about yourself?" Nimbus was staring daggers at the Empress." Hera tilted her head with a confused expression, "What do you mean by that? I was taking care of myself." "Were you? Then what the hell was that last move?" Nimbus asked. "Nimbus, I don''t understand why you are so upset. I know it was a reckless move, but it wasn''t like I went in without any idea of coming out. My plan was to have you turn into a griffon and rush out. If needed, the rest of the court would help open a path. Again, I know how reckless it was, but it wasn''t a suicide move, just one that, if it failed, would put me in a very bad position," Hera explained with a very calm voice. "But¡­" Nimbus wanted to continue arguing, but he didn''t have anything to say against what the Empress said. "Come here," Hera tapped the side of her bed. Nimbus slumped and walked over to her side, sitting beside her. After he got comfortable, the Empress took the Sentinel''s hand, "Look. I know it was risky, and I apologize for worrying you," she turned to the rest of the room, "all of you. But it was something I thought I had to do. We were in an uphill battle, and I could feel we were starting to slip. It wasn''t easy, and it was a stupid idea, but it worked, and I''m not going to apologize for that. But I do apologize for making you all worry." Nimbus let out a long sigh, "It''s infuriating when you act like that. I want to be mad, but you are actually being reasonable. Can''t you act like one of those noble characters that make us angry in shows?" Hera chuckled, "Want me to act like a spoiled brat? Sorry, but I don''t even know if I know how to." "I know," Nimbus rested his head on the Empress'' shoulder, who then turned to Lurize and the others. "Does anyone else have something to say about what I did? It''s ok if you do. I think it''s better for me to listen than to let any problems go away only to come back later." Edge, Armory, and Scythe complained about her attack, but their complaints were the same as Nimbus''. Her move was too reckless, and she needed to take better care of herself. On the flip side, Dao and Lurize had a different opinion from the rest of the Blades. They agreed that it was a reckless move, but they also approved her decision to do so. If the fight kept going, they would be in an even worse position, and despite the danger, Hera''s plan was actually very well put together. Lurize, who has an amazing defense because of his skill, being the front of the battering ram, while Nimbus, who is more mobile and focused on protecting others, took care of the rear. Finally, having the Empress herself as the deadly force behind the attack worked very well for the situation. This conversation started exactly what Hera wanted to do, a strategy meeting. After leaving the dungeon, she decided that she should have a ''post-game analysis'' with her court. They could talk about the things that happened, their mistakes, and good ideas. Doing so should improve their teamwork even more and help everyone get in a good flow. Just because they could sense each other and had Armory as the de facto commander of the group, that didn''t mean they had no room to improve. Daskka also took that moment to ask for suggestions on what she could do to help. She was upset about being the designated healer, even if it was an important job. Everyone gave a different suggestion, from focusing on her silver mist form to attacking the enemies with her body, to focusing more on spells since she had the same amount of mana that Hera did and have her as the mage of the group. Another option was to have her lean more into the supporting position, focusing on buffs and ways to control the battlefield. Lurize also suggested that Daskka leaned into what a snake would do in nature. Move around unseen and go for the kill when the moment arrives. While they were discussing the options that someone in the shape of a snake would have, Hera had a few ideas about herself. She wanted to be more flashy with her combat, but no one said that buffing had to be something simple. So far, she only used buffs that increased one type of damage, but when she was using her elemental armor, her body would be encased in that element. Using the stone armor, she would be covered in small illusory rocks. Using the fire armor made her look like a mirage, with everything around her being distorted by the heat. To be more flashy, she could make her blades look like full-blown magical weapons and not just the flying constructs they appeared to be. Another idea was to use mobile spell circles. She would need to learn how to make them properly, but if she could add some interesting effects, that might solve her image issues. The bottom line was that she always fought as a group. There was no need for her to be flashy by herself. Just like dancing, making impressive choreography for a single person took a lot of effort and complexity, but if a group was in sync, even simple dance moves would look amazing. Not to mention, she had a couple of kobold friends that would surely like that idea, and they might have even better suggestions for her when she managed to talk to them again. 597 - Gift Later that evening, sometime after dinner, when Hera was on the balcony on the second floor looking at the sky, Daskka said, "By the way. When we completed the dungeon, almost every member of the court became eligible for a gift. Only one at a common rarity, though. The only ones that still can''t get one are Lurize and Edge. Lurize takes longer since he is a titled blade, and Edge didn''t do enough to get it. Not that he didn''t do anything, but the others ended up helping more in the fight. Edge is still a bit¡­ lost when it comes to fighting. I think it''s because he is supposed to be a tool, not a weapon. Oh, and Nimbus can''t get the upgrade yet. I thought that was obvious, but it''s better to make it clear. " "Really? He is struggling that much? Edge I mean," Hera asked. At the moment, Daskka and her were the only two people on the balcony. Not even her court was around. "He''s not struggling exactly, but most of his attacks are more focused on removing parts without damaging others, which didn''t actually help in a dungeon like that," Daskka explained. "I see¡­ Do you think we should talk to him about it?" Daskka shook her head, "No. He is asking the others about it. I think it''s a good idea to let your court help each other. For now, you have a small number, but in the future, you might have too many members to help them individually like that." "How many court members will I eventually get?" Hera asked. "If I''m being honest, I don''t know. But when I try to check that, the only answer I get is that it will grow with time, but not that it will have a limit. So currently, my best estimate is that you can eventually have between eight and three trillion court members," Daskka sighed. That was such an odd idea that Hera couldn''t help but laugh, "It would be amazing to have more blades than humans in the world. I could just rule everything with that." "Is this how we start our plans for world domination? I''m down. You would be a good Queen or Empress," Daskka giggled and started rubbing her tail as if she was a cartoon villain. "Nah, that would be too much work. I already have my hands full dealing with all my children," Hera smirked, "But what about the gift? Ooze, Armory, Scythe, Core, Frost, and Dao all can get it?" Daskka nodded in reply, "Ok, I''ll call them here." "Let''s go inside. I think we could sit down for this," Daskka suggested, and the two of them walked back into the room. Hera called everyone around the bed and explained what was going on. While she talked, Blue and Helena also came to the room, but the Empress and her court didn''t mind. They were not doing anything too private anyway. "... So I think that''s why Dao managed to reach the point of getting the gift. Since he is being more active in the fights and the last two dungeons, he was responsible for the bigger hits, so it makes sense. Everyone else is with me for longer, and that''s why they got the chance for the gift too. Don''t feel sad, Edge. I''m sure you are not far from getting yours." "Wait¡­ but that doesn''t make sense. I mean, you got the skill after you got Edge, didn''t you?" Blue asked. "Yeah. I believe so," Helena nodded, "And according to what you told us, the skill only started counting after you got it, so at that moment, every one of your court members started from the bottom, didn''t they?" "Oh¡­ that''s right," Hera nodded. "In the end, Edge couldn''t contribute az much az the remaining court. For that, he can''t receive the gift," Lurize added. Making the small skinning knife lower himself in shame. "It looks like it, but that doesn''t mean you are bad or anything, Edge. Dao only did so much because of his skills, and everyone else is used to fighting. These were your first two dungeons, while Ooze already did a couple hundred by my side. Don''t feel discouraged, you will get to the same point as everyone else, and it doesn''t have to be by fighting. Armory and Scythe don''t go after monsters, but they help us in other ways. If you want to fight, that''s ok, and we will help you improve as much as we can, but if you want to find your own way of doing things, that is also completely fine, and we will be there for you. Ok?" Hera tried to cheer her blade up. She could see that he was really upset. Thankfully her words seemed to improve his mood somewhat, even if it didn''t solve everything. "Ok¡­ I''ll think about something," Edge replied. As he did so, Nimbus repeated what he said out loud for Blue and Helena. He and Lurize decided to take turns doing that. That way, Hera could focus on talking, and everyone else would be in the loop of the conversation. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "I am. Thanks, Empress." Hera nodded, "If you need anything, please, tell me. I think it''s better for us to check the gifts later then." "No, no. That wouldn''t be fair to everyone else. Please, continue. I am ok." "Really? None of us will be bothered about waiting some time for that," Core said. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Really. I would feel even worse if you guys had to wait." "If you are sure, that''s fine. Now, with the exception of Edge, Lurize, and Nimbus, everyone can receive a common gift. Who wants to get it, and who wants to wait for a better rarity?" Hera asked the court. "May I ask a question?" Frost spoke up. "As many as you want," Hera smiled. "Is the rarity set? Or we might be lucky and get something beyond the rarity of the gift?" the glaive continued. Hera didn''t know the answer, so she just turned to Daskka. This time, it was the Empress'' turn to broadcast what the snake was saying for Blue and Helena, "Ok¡­ So I don''t want anyone getting their hopes up, but yes, you can get something above your current rarity as long as it''s not a legendary one. And you can only get something one tier above. So if you are getting a common gift, you can, at most, get an uncommon one. But the odds are absolutely terrible. Don''t expect that to happen often." "I see¡­ then I have made my decision." Hera quickly interrupted Frost before he could finish speaking, "Ok. Wait. Here is the thing. I don''t want anyone to influence each other here. The gift should be a personal decision, not one made because of peer pressure. So here is what we are going to do. Everyone stays out of bed. Whoever wants to get the gift now just needs to get to the bed, and I don''t want anyone discussing if they should get the reward or not." "Why are you doing that?" Blue asked, "Wouldn''t it be better if you let them talk amongst themselves? They might have some good ideas." "The skill is too new for that. Right now, we only have Nimbus as an example. I''m worried that if I let them talk, one of the blades might feel pressured to ''give up'' on a higher rarity just to test things out. In the future, I''ll let them give some advice to each other, but right now, we need some information, but I don''t want to force anyone to get that," Hera explained, receiving an approving nod from Helena, "Ok then. Are you all ready, or do you need some more time to think?" "I''m ready!" all the court said at the same time. "Ok then. Whoever wants the common gift, come to the bed." Only a single blade moved forward, Ooze, who quickly got in front of Hera. "Are you sure about this?" Hera asked. "I am. I will most likely be the next blade to leave the court, and I want to be able to help, even if it is just with information," Ooze replied. Hera nodded, she knew that the chakram was right, and soon she would have to change him. Not just because he would be far behind the rest of the blades but because the issue with her emotions was getting worse. Armory and the Empress noticed more than a few times when Ooze froze during combat because Hera was starting to feel flustered. "We don''t know when that will happen, and it''s not like it will be the last time we see each other," Hera tried to change the mood. "I know. You will get the graveyard skill eventually. And I know it''s not a goodbye right away, but I don''t believe I will be around for much longer." Hera wanted to say he was wrong, but she knew better. Each of Ooze''s statements felt like a stake in her heart. "Hera, I''m ok. We all know that this is part of the deal. Don''t worry. I''m ok. Now, about my gift. What are my options?" Ooze asked. Hera sighed and turned to Daskka, who made a few marks appear around the chakram, marks that only Hera could see. The first option was in the middle of the weapon, in the handle, and it was a skill called ''Challenger''s Call.'' As the name suggested, it would make a loud noise, and all those who listened to it would be compelled to attack Ooze. The biggest issue was that doing so wouldn''t necessarily exclude allies from being affected. There was a small chance that the effect could also taunt anyone who wasn''t part of the court. The next option was a simple increase in damage when Ooze was covered in mana coming from a circle around the entire chakram. Essentially, it would be a buff to any mana reinforcement or spells like it that she applied to the weapon. It was interesting but not all that exciting. Lastly, there was a skill called ''Wail'' that could disrupt attacks and interrupt spells. But like the Challenger''s Call, it had a hard time differentiating allies from enemies, but at least it was a directional thing and not a wide area of effect attack. This one marked two points in the weapon, both on opposite sides of the handle. "So those are the options. What do you think?" "So most of the gifts are either interesting but can have some drawbacks or are just simple and not that fun," Ooze turned to the other members of the court, "Everybody making notes?" the court chuckled, but they stopped soon to let the chakram pick his gift. "I think I will take the Wail. A way to interrupt things is a good idea. Maybe we could even stop the slime from transforming," Ooze suggested. "I don''t know if that would be a good idea, but I understand your point. Ok, I''ll pick that one for you," Hera touched the illusory layout and selected the Wail gift. Mist started forming around Ooze, and a pair of small engravings appeared around the weapon''s blade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wail - (Rank Common) By channeling the cries of the court, you can let out a scream that can interrupt spells and attacks that are directly in front of it. Mana cost: 65 000 Interrupt Range: 20 meters Sound range: 500 meters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ouch, the sound range might be an issue," Hera said as she realized that this was far from being something stealthy. "True¡­ but then again, I''m not someone who focuses on being sneaky," Ooze said with a happy voice, "I hope this can help, and we already know a little bit more about that skill now." Hera nodded, but before she could say anything else, Shane knocked on the open bedroom door, "Hey, sorry to bother you, but Hera. Is your safety cube working already? I mean, is the cooldown over?" The Empress quickly checked and nodded, "Yeah. You want to use it?" "I do. I have a few questions in mind that might help us find out more about this place. Can I borrow it?" Hera passed the cube to the explorer, "Sure, do you need a soundproof bubble too?" "Nah, I''m going to the house on the other side of the street. I think it will be fine there," with that, Shane left, stealing Ooze''s thunder a little bit. Still, it was for a good reason, and they would know more about this place. If things went well, they might even have an idea of when they would be able to leave this room. 598 - Shanes Turn Hera walked Shane to the house where she was going to call the guide. Despite her friend saying that there was no need for it, the Empress wanted to use her Soundproof Bubble just in case. "So? Any advice before I start?" Shane asked. "Not really. I think you will have fun. Do you have your questions ready?" "I do. I''m going to ask about when the next doorway is going to come through. I know it''s a big ask, but I don''t think we will ever have enough mana for you to ask Yarnball that," Shane looked back to the house, "Do you think I''m rushing too much? Bonnie seemed to think I should wait." "Not at all. I know better than anyone how curious we get about this stuff. And it''s not like we don''t have anything to ask. Also, I agree. I don''t think Yarnball can even tell us when a storm will come. That feels more like predicting the future, and it''s not something it can do." "By the way, we''re talking a lot about what to do next, but we are just going in circles. Do you have any ideas?" "Well¡­ it depends on your questions. If we find out that this is going to be short, we should just focus on helping Bonnie and moving to the next room. If we are going to stay here for a while, we might have to train and level up. That way, we are better prepared for the next room," Hera explained, "I also want to check Abyssia. An underwater city sounds amazing, but it''s not like we can just go there without a way to breathe underwater." "Yeah¡­ I''ll see if I can find something out about that too," Shane nodded as she entered the house. "Good luck. Remember, we also have Yarnball if you don''t want to waste time with more specific questions." "That only works if it can give us an answer," Shane smiled and walked to the couch, "Now do your thing and get out of here. We can''t be together for this." Hera nodded and used her Soundproof Bubble around Shane. That way, there wouldn''t be any risks. The Empress went back to their house and grabbed a glass of water. All of her blades were currently with her, and she wanted to test something out. "Lurize, can you change to your weapon form?" "Of courze, Hera," Lurize transformed into his zweihander form and floated closer to Hera. "Thanks. I''m going to cast a poison spell. Let me do it on my own. I don''t know if using your mana would be harder for me," the Empress grabbed the handle and used a poison mana reinforcement on him. Trying to pay attention to how the mana behaved around the weapon. It''s been a while since she analyzed that, and right now, her mana was like a plastic sheet covering the blade. But it was flimsy and uneven. As she moved Lurize from side to side, the mana changed its shape as if it was being dragged by the air resistance. These changes were not something that could be seen by the naked eye. Hera only could see it herself because it was her mana, and it was like she was looking at that through a magnifying glass. Thinking for a moment, she tried to make the mana more steady, more solid. Poison mana should be like thousands of small needles, or at least that''s how she remembered. Yet, this version was smooth. Even when she tried to change it, the shape returned to that form quickly, like it was a rubber band that someone stretched and let go of. "Lurize, are you controlling this mana in any way?" ''I''m not. This is how the mana behaves when you use that spell on me.'' "But there is something wrong. How can I make this more¡­ elemental?" Hera stopped for a moment and called Core over, "Can I try with you? I know fire mana is not exactly what you use, but it might be close enough." ''I don''t think so. Fire mana is wild, like, well¡­ fire. Lava mana is calmer, like coal that is burning red. Strong and intense but contained,'' Core explained. "I see¡­ then I guess I should try to learn more types of mana that match what you guys do," after getting the title, Hera could see the mana of her blades. As interesting as that was, it also meant that when she used a spell that used a different type of mana, there would be a lot of interference as the mana tried to change to match the blade''s. "I think that Frost or Dao would be the best options for that. Everyone else is a bit more¡­ conceptual, and it might work better if you are trying with something that you can visualize," Nimbus suggested. "I was actually thinking more about Dao and Core since they are the only ones with an actual active skill that matches their element. Or you, but doing that with a titled blade might be even more complicated," Hera explained. "I agree. I might not be as helpful as one of the others. I do feel like the way I use mana and the way the other court members use it is quite different," Nimbus nodded. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Ok then. Dao. Let''s go outside. I want to see you using your spell a few times, ok?" ''Of course, Hera. But it would be better to warn your friends about this. So they won''t get spooked by the lightning.'' "That''s a good call," Hera took a moment to tell her party about her plan. She would be sending Core''s skill to the sky. That way, nothing should be affected by it. Bonnie and Helena got interested in what she was doing and decided to watch her and try to help. It would be somewhat hard since neither of them was a conceptual mage, but their insight could also prove to be valuable. When they were ready, Dao activated the chain lightning spell aiming at the sky. For a moment, it illuminated the dark city before the electricity vanished into the night. The first cast only served to show Hera the trajectory of the mana. The second wasn''t that much different, but after the third cast, she noticed something that eluded her so far. Hera always imagined that lightning mana would work just like actual lightning. An electric current chasing after the positive charge. However, she never considered how a spell would find the target. Would it create a large amount of positively charged particles on the destination before creating the lightning itself? By looking at Dao''s spell, she realized that her initial idea was completely wrong. The mana wasn''t chasing anything but growing at an extremely high speed, as if it was a timelapse of a tree across the centuries. Unfortunately, this was everything she could find from that cast, and it took another five until the next breakthrough. The Empress was finally able to see the mana magnified and she was shocked by her discovery. The lighting wasn''t just a simple strand that grew but a connection of snowflake-like fractals, expanding and growing. Repeating its shape again and again while focusing its direction. That made her feel somewhat confident that she could create a lightning spell. Just as she started gathering mana to make her first attempt, Shane came out of the neighbor''s house. "Hey, what are you doing? I kept hearing the noise from inside there." "I''m trying to figure out some lightning spells. Actually, I''m trying to figure out how to make my mana reinforcement do more than what it does, but to do that, I need to test the types of mana that my blades use. Otherwise, there is too much interference for me to understand." "I see¡­ That''s an interesting idea. Have you been curing the mana?" Shane asked. "Have I been what now?" Hera thought Shane was speaking a different language for a moment. "Curing the mana. I don''t know if there is a better term for that, but you know when you work with resin? You need to heat it up later to make it solid. It''s the same principle. When you are covering something in mana, if you cure it, the mana will change its behavior." "And how do I do that?" Hera asked. "It varies depending on the type of mana. Some you need to change the temperature, while others just use the same type of mana as acupuncture needles. It''s really weird. If you have the actual element you want to cure, let me know, and I can see if the legacy can give some ideas." "Your legacy can do that?" Bonnie asked. "Yep, that''s how I found out about the whole curing thing. But it takes time to do that on your own. That''s why people should only use that method when studying. When you unlock the spell you want, just use the system. It''s better," Shane smiled. "Hang on. You are saying that each type of mana can be cured by a specific thing, right? Is that the basis of your legacy?" Helena asked. "Not the basis, but it''s part of it. Also, my legacy lets me cure any type of mana with any type of mana. If I already know what the combination does, the curing process is instant," Shane explained, "Now, can we go inside? I have some things to talk about with everyone." "Sure, just give me a moment," Hera pulled up her tablet and recorded a small audio file with her explaining to herself her idea about how to use lightning spells. After a couple of minutes, everyone was in the living room, sitting on the couch and chairs, with Shane standing in the middle to tell everyone her discoveries. "Ok. I have news," Shane started. "Good or bad news?" Blue asked, "I honestly don''t know," Shane sighed, "For starters. The doorways only show up when it rains, and the next time it will rain here will be in at least three months, potentially six or even more. Apparently, we came here in the last storm of the rainy season, and now it will be a drought for a while." "What? That doesn''t make any sense. We are in the middle of the ocean. There is water everywhere. There is no reason why it wouldn''t rain," Bonnie gasped. "I know, but that''s the information I got. Then again, it''s not a guarantee. Weather is fickle, so it''s hard to predict accurately. And to be clear, the thing Hera and I do is not like seeing into the future. We can only get concrete information about current or past things," Shane added. "Ok¡­ I think we would be able to see heavy clouds forming here anyway," Alex nodded, but she then turned back to Shane, "Do you know if the doorways always show up in the same place?" "I do, and they don''t. Well¡­ sort of. The doorways will always show up close to the Flotilla. That''s the name of the raft. It can be in any corner of the boat, but they will be close enough that anyone should be able to swim to it. The next information is that the next doorway should lead us to a room in the 11th layer. So it will be less risky. Oh, and we will need to go underwater to get to the doorway. Don''t ask me why. That''s just the information I got." Everyone felt conflicted about that. On the one hand, they would have a chance to go to a safer place. On the other, they would stay here for a while. "I also found out a little bit about Abyssia. The raft should have some gear that can help us breathe underwater, but we shouldn''t go there just yet. It seems like there are a lot of monsters down there, and we should try to get a bit stronger before heading in that direction." "So we just need to train before going there?" Hera asked. "Sort of. Basically, the information I got was that if we want to go to Abyssia, we should go in a group with everyone. The sea is filled with slimes, apparently." That sent a shiver down everyone''s spine. But one way or the other, they had enough information to make some plans in this place. It was just a shame that they had no option but to wait for the rain. Then again, maybe Blue could make another storm and bring the doorway with it. And even if she didn''t, three months wouldn''t be such a long time. 599 - Betrayal "Dao, you''re up. Show us what you got," Hera smiled and stepped back. "Can I leave now?" Lurize asked. He was gasping for air, even if he wasn''t able to breathe. Parts of his armor were singed while others were frozen, but his shape was still holding strong. If this were when he first became the Royal Tutor, he would already have lost his bipedal form. But now, five months later, his Exoarmor skill ranked up a couple of times. The main reason for that was the way they were training. According to him, doing so allowed him to practice reducing damage and notice the openings that others would show better. That was something that only helped when the basics were already drilled into someone. After all these months, with everyone just focusing on leveling up and getting stronger, most of the party and court were already past the point of needing his advice to practice the basics. This meant that they would all attack Lurize, who wouldn''t fight back, just defend to both help others and train his defense. The ultimate goal was to increase his defense enough to protect the entire court. Not as a way to take Nimbus'' place but as a way to help him and make sure no one would get hurt. "No. You can''t," Hera replied with a cold gaze. Still angry for what he had done. "But¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I apologized," Lurize pleaded. "That won''t solve anything, will it? Will that bring it back? No, it won''t. Did you ever consider the number of things that had to happen at the right time for someone to make that?" "I¡­ I didn''t¡­ You gave Nimbuz, Dazkka, and me one, zo I thought it was ok for me to have another." "I begged everyone else to give a small piece to the three of you. And that only happened because I got a smaller piece to start with. You three don''t need to eat!" "But Hera¡­" Lurize tried to speak, but he was quickly cut off. "No buts! Do you know the odds of us being able to make that here? We had to get milk, eggs, and flour from a dungeon reward! And they all had to be within a certain time frame. Milk in this heat would get bad in a day! We had to make butter Lurize, make butter! In a day, we had to build that thing and then make it. And the chocolate came from our power bars. The last ones we had. After everyone had eaten the cake, we had three slices left, and we played cards to decide who would get them. Bonnie got one, Alex got another, and I had the third. It was mine, and you ate it without even asking!" Hera let out a grunt and turned to Dao, "Go for it and give it your best. Lurize, the safe word is platypus." Dao stood up perfectly straight, and from the empty blue sky in the Crystal Fisher dungeon, a soundless lighting came crashing down, covering the sword that enveloped the blade and continued to course through it. Just that visual effect showed that Hera''s hard work paid off. She now could make not just an elemental Mana Reinforcement on her blades but what was called Elemental Strength. In reality, it was simply an evolved version of the evolved version of the same spell. The order was Mana Reinforcement > Mana Strength > Elemental Strength. Now the attacks would be 2 times stronger, and so would the effects of spells or skills. In addition, when affected by the Elemental Strength, each attack had a chance of causing elemental-based effects when applicable, courtesy of the Mana Strength version. For instance, Dao could paralyze and shock his targets. Frost could freeze, Core could trigger a persistent burn, and Scythe could make their target feel bound by rope or chain for a brief moment. Even for the elements that wouldn''t have something like that, they also got an extra benefit. Armory, for instance, would increase the defense of anyone who was wearing her. Edge also had an interesting effect. He would make whoever was wielding him recover from wounds at an accelerated rate. This second evolution, which only happened recently and could only affect weapons that had a clear elemental affinity, came with yet another feature. An elemental-based skill that would be available depending on the element. In Dao''s case, this was very straightforward. The sword pointed at Lurize and, in a flash, lunged at him attempting to stab him with the flat tip of the blade. Dao was able to cross a 10-meter distance in less than a second with that attack, thanks to the extra lightning elemental effect, but Lurize was already expecting that. He stepped to the side, letting the blade graze the side of his armor. That was enough to make a large scratch on the metal, which was already incredible, considering most attacks would just bounce off his rank 3 Exoarmor. "You ztill give too much of an opening when you do that," Lurize said. If this were a regular training session, he would have grabbed Dao''s handle as he stopped behind him, but since he couldn''t fight back, he just turned around to face the sword. Dao continued to attack. Now instead of trying to deal one big hit, he focused on several small ones. The goal was to trigger the shock affliction. More than just that, but every time he would leave a large opening for a counter-attack, Dao would dash forward using the lightning movement from the Elemental Strength. Doing so made Dao use a lot of mana. In a real fight, that would consume too much mana to keep being used repeatedly while all other blades were also out. Each centimeter he traveled would make him spend 500 points of mana. Moving just 1 meter would cost 50 thousand points, and with the first move Dao already spent close to half of Hera''s maximum mana. The sword went for an overhead swing, but it was just a faint. Instead, he stopped midway and stabbed Lurize''s neck. Again the attack barely did any damage, but it was still more than enough to bother the Royal Tutor. The fight continued, with one side attacking with all he got, and the other blocking and evading but not fighting back. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Platypus," Daskka said. "You don''t get a safe word," Hera scoffed and looked to the side. Daskka was standing up on her tail while looking at the sky, and Nimbus was by her side, in a variation of something called the horse stance, where you would keep both legs apart as if you were sitting down on an invisible chair. But instead of having his arms parallel to his tights, they were pointing up too. "But¡­ Mum!" Daskka pleaded. "No, you two saw him doing that and didn''t stop him because you thought it would be funny. You are lucky I''m not making you two fight," Hera huffed. "But¡­" Nimbus started. "No buts! I don''t care if Daskka told you not to say anything. That''s what you get for following the troublemaker," Hera turned back to the fight and saw how Lurize was with one knee on the ground, small sparks of electricity surrounding him, and a small but deep cut on his leg, "Ok, stop." The Empress walked over without saying anything, making Lurize increasingly uncomfortable as she got closer. Hera looked at the Royal Tutor''s current state. He had small scratches everywhere but nothing that could cause a serious problem, with the exception of the cut on his leg. Even that wound wasn''t deep enough to break through his armor, but not by much. Hera kneeled by him and touched the deeper cut, "This is enough for you to ask to stop this. Why didn''t you?" Lurize was breathing heavily. Even if he didn''t actually need to breathe, he could still get tired, "I am being punizhed. I have to endure." The Empress placed one hand on his armored face, "No, you don''t. Yes, I''m angry, but I don''t want to hurt you. You need to tell me when it crossed the line between a tantrum and something more serious." "Do you forgive me?" Lurize looked into Hera''s eyes. "Yes, and no. I won''t be mad anymore, but you, Daskka, and Nimbus are going to learn how to cook. And you will have to bake me a cake every week when we get back," Hera got up and reached out her hand to Lurize, "Now come. This was enough training for today, at least for you." She brought him back to Nimbus and Daskka, who were still in their punishment positions. It had already been 40 minutes since they started, and both were clearly tired of it. "Mum¡­ can we¡­ stop?" Daskka asked. "That depends. What did you learn?" "We shouldn''t let someone else make a mistake if we see it happening," Nimbus said. "And we shouldn''t prank you," Daskka added. "Nimbus got it right. You didn''t, Daskka. I''m fine with pranks, just don''t cross the line. You two can stop." Daskka flopped on the ground with a heavy thud, and Nimbus fell back, both sweating and gasping for air. In Daskka''s case, it wasn''t actual sweat but cold mist to help her control her body temperature. It was funny how even though she was supposed to be a construct, she would behave like a living snake more often than not. "Did you tell them already?" Lurize asked. "When I told you, I made sure to speak it to the entire court. I hope you three get used to the kitchen. You will stay there for a while," Hera squinted at Daskka and Nimbus, who just groaned in response, "Either way, stay here. I''m going to practice with the rest of the court." "Don''t you need to recover mana?" Nimbus asked. "They let me borrow the bad mana crystal today. I have 10 million mana to waste, and as long as it''s a continuous effect, I don''t have to worry so much about the rest of the mana vanishing from the crystal," Hera tapped a pouch on her waist. This was where the crystal they got from the cube monster was. Hera called her entire court. Ooze, Armory, Scythe, Core, Frost, Edge, and Dao floated around the Empress. With Armory on top of her head, all other blades moved around to reach their positions. As they moved, Hera created some strands of mana that would latch on the weapons to assist in making a pattern between them all. It took them just two minutes to set up their positions. Then, the Empress activated the Elemental Strength on all of the blades. She spent the last few months working on getting the right element for each of them, and she managed to do so with a little bit of help from her friends. Another minute and a half went by, and she finally was able to complete the formation, which was just a massive spell circle around them. "Field of Elements!" Hera yelled. This wasn''t necessary for the spell, but when using anything that could affect the other members of her party during a fight, she promised to shout the name of the spell she was using. That way, they would all know what would happen if they got close. That was a lesson she learned the hard way. During a dungeon, Hera made a circle that would increase one''s speed and strength, but when Mylo passed by, the fighter didn''t expect the changes and ended up slamming his head against a steel door, passing out as a result. That happened in a fight against the Proto Slime, and they almost died because of it. This spell, however, wouldn''t have that effect. Instead, it would simply increase the elemental power of all her allies in the area. The moment she activated the formation, Dao''s lightning became stronger, and Frost''s ice was so intense that it froze some of the crystal under him. Hera started moving around, running from side to side and zig-zagging everywhere to make sure she managed to keep the spell up even when she was moving. At first, it took her around 20 minutes to make this particular formation, and if she moved on her own without talking to her court, the spell would vanish. Now, taking only three and a half minutes to make this spell was already a big improvement, and she could run around without any issues. However, the mana cost was still a problem. Just to maintain this, it would take 100 thousand points per minute. And since she had to use the Elemental Strength spell on all her weapons while inside it, the upkeep reached 250 thousand when her entire court was present. If she was to use all of her mana, that would last around 7 or 8 minutes. Hera dropped the spell and tried a few more times, managing to bring down the time to closer to three minutes. Satisfied with the result, the Empress left the dungeon and waited for her friends. Tomorrow would be a big day, and they would finally go on a trip to Abyssia. 600 - Preparation According to Shane, going to Abyssia would be dangerous, and using Yarnball, Hera was able to ask how strong they should be to be safe down there. The first few questions she made didn''t work, but eventually, she narrowed it down enough to the point where it told her that if the entire party was level 32, they should be ok, even if that particular question took not just her entire mana pool but the combined use of all mana crystals they had on hand. During the past months, everyone focused on getting stronger, be it by training or by leveling up. The first trick they figured out was about the Crystal Fisher dungeon. In there, there would be endless waves of monsters that did not grow stronger with time. However, they would come in ever-increasing numbers. And, at any point, someone could just run away from the dungeon. The only problem would be that doing so locked them out of it for a day. Hera spent most of her time in this dungeon, either fighting with her friends against the monsters or coming alone to practice some spells and skills without being fearful of breaking anything important in the raft or in Sky. As a result, she managed to reach level 33. She also made a minor change in her status window. Now instead of having to open a skill to check her mana regeneration, it would be right there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 33 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched Strength: 93 Endurance: 93 Agility: 93 Charisma: 93 Intelligence: 93 Luck: 93 Mana: 2 398 154/2 398 154 Passive Mana Regeneration: 3 357/s Active Mana Regeneration: 5 596/s Remaining attribute points: 13 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal Passive: Exponential Growth Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3(+1), Glaive Combat 3(+1), Sword Combat 3(+2), Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3(+1), Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2(+1), Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla style 3 Battle Dancer 2(+1), Attack Pathing 2(+1), Synchronized Battle 2 (+1) Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Reinforced Mana Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1 (+1), Regeneration Mastery 1(+1), Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1 (+1), Sound Mastery (+1), Frost Mastery 1 (+1), Lava Mastery 1 (+1), Steel Mastery 1 (+1) Elemental Mana Mastery (+1) Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2(+1), Sturdy Body 2(+1), Magic Armor Proficiency 3(+1) Naga poison 5 (+1) Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 3(+1), Weapons Rebalance 3(+1), Weapon break Etching 4(+1) Medical Reference 3(+1), Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5(+1) Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She managed to upgrade several skills and even get a new one. Elemental Mana Mastery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Mana Mastery Increases the effect and the strength of any spells and skills from elements that you do not possess a Mastery skill. This increase is relative to your weakest Elemental Mastery skill Also increases the effects of Mastery skills by 10% Current weakest Elemental Mastery Skill: Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1, The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She also made sure to give the Royal Seal to each of her court members that had yet to receive one, with the exception of Nimbus. Frost and Core got simple elemental seals that would increase their elemental power. Armory received one that increased the skill she had, from a 20% increase to the lowest stat of another blade to 40%. Using a seal that had a debuff applied to it, Hera managed to give another effect to Scythe, making it so that all the attacks would have a 1% chance to reduce the target''s attributes by 1% for 1 minute. So far, even in the best-case scenario, Hera only saw that effect being triggered five times in the span of 60 seconds, but still. The more blades she had, the better that would be. Ooze gained a rallying cry skill that would increase the attributes of anyone who heard it by 10%, and this effect could stack with Armory''s. Lastly, but certainly not least, was Edge. Since he was already someone who could help people heal, Hera decided to double down and give him a seal with a healing spell. The result was very similar to what would happen when Hera used the Elemental Strength spell. Whoever was holding it would have their natural recovery accelerated. But unlike what would happen with the spell, this wouldn''t be just about wounds, but even deeper things like bone fractures, fevers, and such would be affected by it. Despite all those upgrades, Hera still felt like it was a shame. She only got three level-ups from the five months of work. That probably was due to the fact that they would come with the entire party to challenge the dungeon and that they weren''t able to find the hard mode for either of them. There was another thing she could have done to increase her overall power, but it wasn''t up to her. Giving the gifts to her court could prove to be a decent buff, but all of them passed on the chance of getting an uncommon gift. Lurize also had the option for a common one, but he refused as well, and Nimbus still needed more time to increase the rarity of the one he got. Everyone else was also considerably stronger than they were when they arrived, but the biggest change was, without a doubt, Bonnie. During the first couple of months, she was really bored not being able to help with anything. As a way to have her do something else, she asked the party to capture a slime so she could study it. Her plan was to learn more about the creatures and eventually identify their weaknesses. At first, no one liked that idea. Even Alex was against it, but after a week of hearing Bonnie complain non-stop about not doing anything, they gave in. Dealing with a single slime that would cry for help every night was better than dealing with the researcher''s constant nagging. The next time the group headed to the raft, they looked for a slime that seemed weak enough to let Bonnie study. Eventually, they caught a red one that was smaller than average and seemed unable to change its colors even when it changed shapes. In fact, all the red slimes behaved like that, but they also could become much more solid than most, who always kept a somewhat squishy consistency. Bonnie was very happy about that and started studying it right away, even naming the slime Ruby for its color. What no one expected was that this would eventually lead to her discovering some taming skills and having Ruby, the slime, be her first-ever tamed beast. Ruby proved to be quite useful, especially since she could use her abilities to make herself immune to damage or fire and take the shape of a tool or other objects they might need, even if the color was always red. It took a while before she learned how to control the creature properly, but once she did, it became a valuable member of the team. Hera felt a little upset, now she wouldn''t be the only one who had an animal companion in the group, but at the same time, it was nice to have someone else who understood her. Aside from that, the entire party focused on training and improving their skills, and Lurize helped a lot with that. He assisted everyone, even Bonnie, in getting some combat skills to use in emergencies. This was also some training for him, and thanks to that, he was able to increase his Exoarmor skill. What they were going to do now was head down to Abyssia. They already knew where the slime fish transports were and how to activate them. The only thing missing was a way to breathe underwater, and that was found by blue a couple of days ago. She was exploring an area close to the edge of the raft and found a shack with several chokers inside a box. When she used the [Inspect]skill on them, she realized that this was what they were searching forl. Each of them could help someone breathe underwater for up to 24 hours. The only issue was that people still had to breathe water. That made the item extremely uncomfortable, but it wasn''t like they had a choice. It was the morning after Lurize''s punishment, and Shane saw the Empress come down the stairs from their house. "Hey, ready for the big day?" Shane smiled. "You say as if I''m the one responsible," Hera rolled her eyes. "Well¡­ we are technically here because of you. But I won''t complain about that. With everything we discovered in the temple, it will give me enough to work for a few months," Shane continued as she pulled her small book and began writing something on it. "Tell me you are not making notes about me right now. That is really rude," Hera crossed her arms. "No, no. I was writing about the Naga." "Oh¡­ Ok. Sorry," Hera looked around, "Where is everyone?" "I think they went to Bonnie to see what Ruby could do," Shane replied. "Oh, how long will it take for them to come back?" "I don''t know. Maybe like half an hour, maybe more. Why? Are you that excited about going to Abyssia?" "I wouldn''t say excited exactly. I just want to see something new. It''s kind of¡­ boring to do the same thing over and over and over again." Shane chuckled, "Can''t say I blame you there. I''ve been getting kind of nuts lately." "Yeah, and we still don''t know how long it will take to rain. I really wish I could," Hera stopped before finishing the sentence, "Do that thing again." "You are preaching to the choir, sister. I''ve wanted that ever since I first got that skill. Speaking of which. It''s been five months since you got a legacy skill. What happened? Did you run out already, or are you saving for a big one?" "Saving for a big one. I already know the one I want, and I asked Daskka to tell me when I can get it." "Ohh, nice. Is that the graveyard one?" Shane asked. "That''s the plan," Hera replied, but she wasn''t all there. She was feeling something weird with her shoulders. As if the blood that passed there was either too cold or too hot and that had captured her focus. "Are you ok?" Shane noticed Hera''s expression and started to get worried. "Yeah. I''m fine. I think I just slept in the wrong position." "Are you sure? If you are not feeling well, we should wait a few days before going to Abyssia." "I appreciate the offer, but I''m fine. Really. Do you know where everyone is? I want to gather them so we can go," Hera tried to change the subject. "I believe they are all in warehouse B. You know, the one in front of where the dungeon is located." "I think I do. Do you want to come with me, or should we meet at the hangar?" "I''ll go with," Shane closed her book and got up, "It''s not like I''m doing anything," placing the small journal on the desk by Hera''s tablet, the two of them left to talk to their friends. Today they wanted to check the underwater city of Abyssia and see if they could uncover its secrets and what actually happened in this room. 601 -Naga journal It didn''t take long to reach the rest of the group. They were in a warehouse that Bonnie was using as training grounds. She also used the Crystal Fisher every now and then, but teaching Ruby some more specific things in a dungeon wasn''t working that well. It seemed like the slime would always be in an alert state when inside there instead of focusing on what Bonnie was saying. So far, Ruby has been very well-behaved, and she would do what Bonnie asks even when facing her own kind. However, she was still afraid of some things. During the first fight she participated in against the Proto Slime, Ruby wasn''t able to do anything. She was too scared to face her apparent progenitor. When that wasn''t the case, she became almost like a third limb and armor for Bonnie. The slime would be around her like a belt and attack the monsters that got close by stretching part of her body in a tentacle with a sharp point. Another thing Ruby could do was to become any object that Bonnie wanted. She could even mirror mechanisms and gears, and that ability was improving with time. Early on, the slime was able to, at most, make objects without any moving parts, but now she could make a set of three gears that could spin individually or at the same time. According to Bonnie, she wanted to see if Ruby could become a lab assistant and, in an emergency, a substitute tool to solve a problem. Or a way to make a tool prototype and test it before actually making a full one. The idea seemed interesting, and they were getting along pretty well. It also helped that Ruby could eat anything organic. Even bones and fish skin. As mean as it sounded, most of her current diet was composed of the parts of food that the rest of the group couldn''t eat. Not to say that Bonnie didn''t give her something more special every now and then, but her reaction was the same whether she was eating grilled fish or some watermelon skin. However, everyone still felt somewhat on edge for sleeping so close to a slime. Even if Bonnie had it tamed, it was still a monster. The researcher figured out the skills herself instead of getting all the ones a tamer would get, and there were a few she was still missing. Because of that, they picked one of the glass crates inside the lab by the dungeon so that Ruby would always be locked inside when everyone was sleeping. It wasn''t so far from a lizard cage, but Bonnie still felt conflicted about that. She did her best to make it a more comfortable place, but there weren''t that many options to make something better in this room. "Do you think we would find something soft for Ruby down there?" Bonnie asked. "Unless you are talking about getting another slime, I don''t think so. I don''t think anything soft that is not alive can survive underwater," Shane replied. "Maybe some sand?" Nimbus suggested. Hera nodded in agreement, "That''s a good idea, sand could work. It''s not exactly soft, but it still could be better than the pieces of wood that are in her tank." "Either way, we can try to see if we find something. I''m sure everyone had their own thoughts about what we can find down there. I, for one, am looking to find more things that Jikesu left behind," Shane turned to the left, following the path to the hangar where the Flying Slime Fish were located. Everyone was ready to go to the bottom of the ocean, but they had to first reach the raft. "Jikesu? Who is that?" Adriel asked. "It''s the Naga that came here. His name was in the journal, but it took a while for us to figure out that it was his name," Shane explained. "Oh, really? And did you finish translating the entire journal?" "We did," Shane turned to Hera, who gave a smile in response, "It''s kind of fascinating. Apparently, he got this journal halfway through his trip. There are some mentions of different rooms, but he eventually reached the Wailing Valley to visit the temples that we discovered, and that''s when the doorway stopped working for some reason. He had no idea that could happen, so he stayed there for a few months, hoping it would work again. According to the diary, he had no idea such a thing could even happen, and that made him very worried. Eventually, he found a way to go to the Shtylla Archipelago and blocked the path behind him so no monster would chase him there. I mean in that area by the doorway, not to another room. It seemed like he knew that couldn''t happen. After a few days, he found the doorway underwater, but there is no mention of a reef like the one we passed through. Then he stayed in the Seven Islands for a while, but I don''t remember exactly why," Shane looked to Hera again, hoping the Empress remembered that part. Without missing a beat, Hera continued, "He got stumped in two of the challenges. The race and the crafting. In his journal, Jikesu said he didn''t have enough stamina for a long race and that he never made anything by himself. There was no mention of the book that we found that taught us how to make things, so that''s maybe why. Anyway, after he was finally done with the challenge and there was only the racing one left to complete, there was a storm, and some water elementals appeared. Jikesu mentioned that he was strong enough to face a couple, but eventually, he was overwhelmed and passed out in the water. When he woke up, he was in the cave we ended up in, and the core of one of the elementals he killed resonated with the area, opening the path. Then he came here." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They arrived at the hangar, and everyone climbed aboard the Flying Slime Fish to head down to the raft. While doing so, Shane continued speaking through their communicators, "The really interesting part is what happened when he got here. You see, the Naga had no knowledge of other civilizations. At first, he thought that this place was a tribe that ran away, but when he finally saw a Triton, he was utterly shocked. Most of what he believed in was wrong, and it took him a while to recover from that. That''s when Jikesu started to make the temple and, after it, lost his mind. In the diary, he mentions that isolation was the biggest factor, but another big thing was how the room messed with his head. The fact that he couldn''t tell where the water started and the sky began, and how he would see the slimes pretending to be his family every time he stayed too long in the raft was brutal." As Shane spoke, everyone looked around. Aside from the cloud where the city was located, the entire sky was empty, and from this angle, it was hard to tell where the water was. The only thing marking the sea level was the raft. Sure, no one in the party had too much of an issue noticing that, but they were also able to talk to each other every day, and it was hard for any of them to be alone for a long period of time. The isolation might be playing a big part in the reason why Jikesu went crazy. "So, is that the end of the story? How do you know he went to Abyssia?" Adriel asked through the communicator as they approached the raft. Hera took the chance to answer. After all, she was the one responsible for translating the latter half of the journal. Since she could see the Naga writing without the use of the tablet, she could notice the nuance of the words better than Shane, "No, there is still a little bit. After some time, Jikesu regained his sanity. It was a slow and gradual process, but he eventually started writing properly again. Saying that he wasn''t about to give up in life and that he would find a way back to his home. But since he lost track of time, he couldn''t tell how long it had been since he got here. So he started counting again from where he had left. In total, his count amounted to three years, but it should be longer, and only after he regained his sanity was there some information about this room that could be useful. It''s just a shame that since it took so long for us to translate, every bit of useful information in the journal about this room came after we had figured that out for ourselves. Things like the Crystal Fisher not having any monsters when he was alone or the Proto Slime having multiple phases. On the last page, he mentions that he will soon be going to Abyssia now that he had found out how to get there and that he would leave the journal here since he got a flat crystal in the Day of Progress dungeon that was actually a book he could write with mana. In theory, he could write as long as he had mana for it. Reading it also required a constant flux of mana, but it was more resistant, and he wouldn''t need to worry about damaging the pages. The last phrase, the one he put on the back cover of the leather, is ''I will return to my home, my love, and my children, and I believe that you can also do the same.''" Adriel came out of his Flying Slime Fish now that they were already in the raft, "That is a nice sentiment. And I agree with him. We can do it." "As long as we can survive while using these things," Blue sighed and put on one of the chokers. Hera pulled the one she had from her bag and took a look at the item''s window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jadas'' Water Breathing Apparatus Due to the generations of Triton living in Sky they lost some of their abilities to breathe underwater. Jadas, the inventor, developed a tool that would not just help them recover that ability but also completely replace it, even if just for comparatively small periods of time. While wearing this tool, any water that reaches the user''s lungs will be slowly converted into breathable air. When breathing out, the carbon dioxide, as well as all the liquid that could not be converted, will be pushed out of the user''s lungs. Maximum Duration: 24 hours. Cooldown: Equals the duration of the previous use. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Does it start counting when I put it on or when I start to breathe underwater?" Hera asked. "When you put it on. But it''s not like we are going to spend a full day down there, is it?" Blue turned to the Empress. "I don''t think so, but I don''t know. Maybe Abyssia is very far." "That''s unlikely. If Jadas was the one who made this, he would make it so people wouldn''t have to worry about time when going there. I also think he wouldn''t believe anyone would want to sleep down there, so 24 hours should be enough to do whatever we need and come back with enough time to spare. I honestly think he might have made it with a much smaller duration at first but eventually had to increase it after people nagged him enough," Bonnie suggested. "I mean¡­ that''s¡­ likely," Helena admitted. During these past months, they had their fair share of interactions with the Triton, but he was always insufferable. Bonnie''s explanation made a lot of sense and matched pretty well with his personality. "Well, let''s keep our minds on that. Also, everyone can use the Illusory Script spell, right?" Hera looked around. That spell would allow them to write glowing words with mana. Since they would be going to the bottom of the ocean, they wouldn''t be able to talk underwater, and this was the only way they would have to communicate. "Oh, and here," Mylo placed a glass box on one of the benches. Everyone would keep their tablets and communicators in there to avoid any water damage. The items were water resistant, but since they had no idea how deep they would go, bringing the items was risky. The glass case would be a way to protect it from any slimes that could show up since those monsters were not able to break through the glass. After making one last check to make sure everyone had everything they needed, the group jumped on the second set of Flying Slime Fish, the ones that would take them to Abyssia. It was time to see what lies at the bottom of this endless ocean. 602 - The depths of the abyss After everyone jumped into their own Flying Slime Fish, they started their descent. Unlike what one would see in normal oceans, even with the sun high in the sky, the water was pitch black. Not because of some coloration to it or anything like that, but because the surface was so reflective that light was mostly unable to pierce through the mirror-like layer that faced the sky. Another thing that was easily noticeable was the cold. In the raft, even when they were being protected by the bubble created by slime, everyone could feel the hot air around them, Like those annoying summer days when one would want to either stay under the AC unit or inside the fridge. Yet, as soon as they dove, everyone felt like the temperature had dropped considerably. Inside her bubble, Hera already had all of her court out, just in case something happened, looking like an intern in a weapon shop that just got way too much work at once while carrying all the weapons. When she looked up, she could see the hundreds of slimes attached to the bottom of the raft. If it wasn''t for the two monster-repellent stones that everyone attached to their waist, they might have been attacked right away. The trip continued, and Hera noticed that her map was able to tell her how deep she was. She never noticed that since it never was relevant, but it was an interesting function that she would talk with Shane and Adriel about later. Her entire court was on high alert, even if Hera was already using the diving goggles made by her friends. With them, she could see more than just the small lights that were coming from the other Flying Slime Fishes and see their actual shape since the entire party was close to each other. Five minutes went by when they stopped, but it didn''t look like they had arrived. Instead, some characters appeared in the barrier. It was the same type of writing they saw in the room before the Progress Day dungeon. "Why did we stop?" the words appeared in a yellow light around them, showing that it was Helena''s Illusory Script. "I''m not sure. Are you seeing these words?" Shane''s red writing came through. "The ones we can''t understand? Yeah, I am," Alex replied in green. "Hera, can you ask Yarnball what''s going on?" Blue''s blue writing appeared in front of them. It was a bit weird. They were all casting the spells in front of the entire group, almost as if the entire party was in a drive-in. "I can. Just give me a moment," using 100 thousand mana, she asked why they stopped and how long they would stay that way. The reply came quickly, saying that the Flying Slime Fish were compressing and it would take five minutes before they moved again. After getting that information, Hera used her purple writing to convey it to the rest of the group. "Right, so we''re just waiting?" Bonnie asked, using her white letters. "Hang on. Isn''t decompression something you only have to do when you are going up? Not when you are going down?" Adriel asked in orange. "I don''t know. Mylo, you used to dive, didn''t you?" Shane asked. "No. I used to go snorkeling. Never had any training for diving deep," Mylo replied in a soft pink color. "Well, since we have to wait. We could have a Karaoke night to break the tension. I''ll start! The seaweed is always greener¡­." Adriel tried to lighten the mood. It was a bit impressive how he knew the lyrics by heart, but Hera wasn''t paying too much attention to that. She started talking with her court about what they could do down there and the types of skills they would have to avoid. Dao, for instance, couldn''t use anything, or he would risk hitting someone else by accident. Far away, out in the water, something noticed the bright lights coming from somewhere close to the city. It knew that this would be an opportunity to catch some easy prey. However, it also could tell that it would come soon, and that would give it an even better chance at catching them. So, for now, it would just prowl around and wait for them to either get too far away from each other or get in a more vulnerable position before making its move. The party soon started moving again, but it didn''t take long for them to stop one more time. Hera could tell that they were now 20 meters deep. ''Empress? What is wrong?'' Frost asked, feeling her grip on the shaft of the glaive strengthen. "Sorry. It''s just¡­ I don''t remember the limit of depth for diving. I know that after a certain point, regular people can''t withstand it." ''Well¡­ It''s not like you are a regular person, Hera,'' Nimbus added. He was in his tonfa form since there wasn''t much space inside the bubble. "That''s¡­ Fair. I mean, I should be able to deal with close to double what a regular person could deal with. So we might be ok. But I know that''s not the case for everyone," Hera glanced toward where she believed Bonnie was. The researcher had the lowest endurance out of everyone in the party. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Mum, don''t worry. If you want, I can buff everyone to increase their endurance for a while. Or to reduce the pain, your call." Hera smiled and patted Daskka, "I''m glad you are feeling better about what your role is in the group. But the combination is still odd." "I don''t think so. Do you know what''s scarier than a strong monster? One that can heal himself while he fights," Daskka replied with a smirk. Hera chuckled, and soon the Flying Slime Fish started moving again. But this time, it was moving forward more than it was heading down. With the goggles, the Empress noticed a few structures in the distance that looked like a massive spine, but they looked unnatural. Not like it was actually from a creature, but as if it was an eerie natural formation. Suddenly, a display appeared in the front of the bubble showing a view of the area as if it had light. The first thing Hera noticed was that the ''spine'' was just a stone structure that made an arch. Sure, it still could resemble bone, but you had actually to force yourself to notice that. The houses here were very colorful. They seemed to be made out of seashells, corals, and other materials that you would find in the ocean, but with vibrant colors, almost like a man-made coral reef. Another thing that Hera found quite unique was how the houses were actually made. They looked like the types of huts one would see in a swamp. With tall pillars that would keep the structure away from the ground, allowing people could move around underneath it without any problems. But the most interesting part was that every house had a large pillar resembling a tree. Each of those trees had different decorations hanging from them, including things that reminded Hera of fruit. In fact, many fruits looked similar to what she saw growing on the plants in the greenhouse. Funny enough, the trees held the fruits as if they would go up to the surface when they fell. That being said, no one ever saw those fruits floating in the water. Hera quickly came up with a few theories about that. First, the slimes could catch it before the fruit reached the surface, but at the same time, there would be no reason for them to wait until it became ripe. Second, they weren''t able to reach the surface. Maybe the pressure or lack of pressure of the water as it got closer to the ocean level wouldn''t be enough to let it maintain its shape. Third, and this was what scared her the most. Maybe there was something here that would catch the fruit before it could reach the surface. As they approached the city, the Flying Slime Fish moved to what looked like a port of sorts. When it came time to deactivate the barrier, a small hole appeared on the bottom, and water started filling it up. Hera knew that she was safe, but the entire situation still was scary, to say the least. Seeing the water slowly fill the barrier felt like a nightmare, and the Empress was sure she had one just like that at some point. The worst part was that she was at the bottom of the ocean. There was no way out. Her only option was to wait until the water completely covered her. She waited for another three agonizing minutes before the water finally got up to her waist, covering part of her entire armor, or what was left of it anyway. During the past months, there were parts that broke or were destroyed in dungeons, so now she only had a sleeveless chest piece with some tattered shirt under it. She was hoping for a dungeon drop to let her change her armor, but it apparently wasn''t in the cards for her. When the water reached her chest, Hera decided to speed up the process and dunked her own head in the water. As it was when she tried the choker for the first time and how she tested it before coming down, it took a lot of willpower to force herself to breathe in. She felt the water filling her mouth and lungs, and every fiber of her body was telling her this was a bad thing. However, Hera fought back. She held on and felt the liquid reaching her lungs. After waiting until she felt it was enough, the Empress breathed out, pushing the water from her body. It felt extremely weird, as if the air had turned into honey, but she could still survive despite that. ''Mum, are you ok?'' Daskka asked, which made Hera smile. During this trip, she would be the only one who could still talk with someone normally. ''I am. This just feels really weird. And like you said, Nimbus. I don''t feel the effects of the water pressure so much. Not right now, at least.'' ''Speaking of which. Should I stay in my weapon form?'' Nimbus asked. ''I think you can become humanoid. Lurize, you were really slow underwater, right?'' the Empress turned to the Zweihander. ''I did. It wasn''t fun. I feel like I don''t have a way to help when I''m like that,'' Lurize replied. ''Ok, stay in your weapon form. Everyone else, get ready to spread out. I want a perimeter around us all the time. If anything gets inside our range, we need to know,'' Hera tried to focus on something that wasn''t the water inside of her. She turned to the side and wrote in the water, "Is everyone ok?" There was a delay, but eventually, the rest of the group said yes. When the barrier was finally full of water, it opened and released the passengers into the ocean. Unfortunately, this also meant that they lost the visual of the area illuminated. As they stepped out, Hera felt her body being pressed by the water pressure, but it was much weaker than she expected, and everyone seemed to move around well enough. The goggles were also working, even if they gave everything a green color. "Can I do my thing?" Mylo wrote in his pink script that it still showed the right color through the goggles. "Go for it," Shane replied, but Hera didn''t know what they were talking about. The fighter waved his staff, and several small petals flew out of it. They fell to the ground giving a very low glow that those near it could only see, almost like some type of bioluminescent plant. That wasn''t enough to show the entire city or even a house, but it at least allowed them to see each other and see the path they were taking. "Should we start?" Helena asked. "Sure," Blue replied, but Hera knew the controller wasn''t that excited about this. Either way, this was the fabled Abyssia, and the Empress wanted to figure out more about the place. 603 - Abyssia Going beyond that first set of houses, the party started to explore the city. First, the buildings that were close to the docks where they arrived. Those structures looked like houses with something else in the mix. Some seemed to be barracks or hotels, while others were just homes with some extra rooms that maybe could be used for storage. One interesting thing they found out was that the triton here seemed to use something close to a hammock for beds. But instead of it being open, they could close themselves inside, almost like a cocoon. Blue tested that out, and it felt surprisingly cozy. Bonnie let Ruby move around without restraint since she didn''t need to breathe. However, having a small monster that looked just like the ones that had everyone on edge moving around was not a great idea. Eventually, she agreed to have the slime on her waist as they moved around. They spent about half an hour looking around and only managed to cover four houses. If that kept going like that, it would take way too long for them to be able to explore the entire city. However, moving alone was too dangerous. So they split into two groups. Hera, Nimbus, Adriel, and Mylo would head to the outskirts while Shane and the girls moved toward the city''s center. Searching for something that could be interesting. It didn''t take long for them to find the edge of Abyssia. It seemed like the farther away they were from the center, the shorter the houses were. Maybe because that way, the houses on the very end of the city would work as a barrier to protect those inside from the current, which was getting increasingly strong with time. Or maybe it was just a way for everyone to see what was beyond the buildings. They were discussing their theories by writing when Adriel came up with a unique spin on that concept. Echolocation. Maybe the city was set up to both help them see things from far away and trick other sea creatures into seeing this place as a large monster. In a way, the houses were set up as if they were tentacles, or at least that''s what he was thinking about. No one was entirely sure if that was the case, but it was fun to come up with those ideas. What they didn''t consider was that the light coming from the Illusory Script would be helping a creature track them through the city, and now, they were already far enough from everything that the monster had a chance to strike. It still had to be careful. Most beings who came deep underwater could pick up on small movements in the water. Because of that, the creature moved slowly, close to the ground so as not to be seen. Hera and the others walked closer to what seemed to be a flat piece of ground. They assumed it was just a weird formation, but when they got closer, they realized their mistake. The floor was made out of some inorganic material that made even the sand that fell on top of it move away, almost like an invisible force was cleaning the platform. When they got closer, they noticed three sets of oddly shaped crystals attached to that structure. They looked almost like stars in the green light created by the dark vision spell. "Mylo, Can you use your flowers? I can''t see them very well with the goggles," Hera asked. The fighter just nodded, he seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable, but no one could blame him. Breathing water in was horrible, and even worse was the effort that it took to push it out of their lungs. As the glowing petals appeared, everyone noticed that the crystals were in a normal diamond shape, but some clamps were attaching them to the structure that formed the star shape that they had seen before. Adriel reached out to touch one of them, and it glowed blue before springing to life. The leftmost crystal became almost a turrent pointed to the void of emptiness beyond the city. Using her [Inspect], Hera found out that this was part of the defense mechanism to protect Abyssia. Each crystal had a different function that would be revealed as they activated them. The one Adriel triggered was a sonic cannon. It could generate a sound so loud that it would scare away most monsters and damage anyone impacted directly. In the right corner, there was a green crystal that could deploy an electrified net. The current would be weak enough not to hurt anyone who got close but strong enough to paralyze those caught in the net. Lastly, the middle crystal would only work as a trigger of sorts that would release some of the extremely hot vapors from a path. That was the only crystal that came with a warning. Using it would cause the temperature in the city to rise several degrees for a few hours. Hera considered triggering that just for a moment to help everyone with the cold, but since there was a warning, she decided against it. There was a good chance that the increase would make life unbearable for her party, and she wasn''t the only one who thought that. Her court agreed that it was a bad idea. ''Mum, if you are cold. Why don''t you use the fire elemental armor? That should work to make you hotter, right?'' Daskka asked. The snake was still around her neck, even underwater. ''That''s¡­. A good idea, actually. The fire elemental armor doesn''t glow, right?'' ''Not unless you are actually using the fire for something.'' She triggered the armor and instantly felt more comfortable. Even better, right now, she could keep that spell up for a few hours as long as she wasn''t doing anything else. Adriel and Mylo also stepped closer to her to enjoy the warm water that surrounded the Empress as they talked about the weapons. If the people who lived here had something like that, it had to mean that they weren''t in a peaceful place. Strong monsters could be around, and they had to be strong enough that just sending warriors wouldn''t be enough, or something like this would never be constructed. As they were talking, the creature stalking in the shadows was backing away. A long time ago, it tasted the pain those crystals could cause. Back then, there was only a single prey, and it was already enough to push it back. Now with a group, it would be even worse. Frustrated, it decided to get away, but it would still follow that group. Soon, it would come, and with it, a perfect opportunity for the creature to feast on something new. Hera and her group walked around the perimeter for a while and found a few other sets of those defenses. All of them were spaced out evenly, being about 200 meters away from each other and slightly angled to see another part of the void. When they realized that the rest should be just like this, they decided to go towards the center of the city and look for the rest of the party. It didn''t seem like they would be able to find anything else on the outskirts or at least nothing on this side. It didn''t take long to find them. Just by moving to the center of the city, they were able to notice some lights. At first, it was just a piece of bioluminescent coral that was growing along what should be the main street, even if it wasn''t paved. Then, a stronger light coming from a different source giving the area a red tint. That was Bonnie''s low light spell. The red color was intended to bring less attention to them since the wavelength was lower, but it made the place feel very ominous. The rest of the party was around a large crystal crate, talking about something. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Hey guys," Hera wrote in the air around them. "Hey," Helena replied, "Did you find anything?" "Just some defenses. These people really knew how to fight, and they were ready to face something big. How about you," Adriel chimed in. "That''s not great. But we already know that there is at least one big monster around. Or two if we count the snake Hera saw," Alex said. The red light against her black eyes gave her the look of a monster in a horror movie, "We didn''t find anything yet, but this. We were saying that this crate might be the waste that Sky created. Maybe this poisoned the water slowly." "That could make sense. People didn''t realize that it would be a problem until it was too late," Adriel nodded. "Do we know where the dungeon is?" Mylo asked. "Dungeon?" Blue turned to the fighter. "There is a dungeon here, right? Isn''t that part of the reason we all came?" "Sort of. I still don''t think this would be a good idea. What if the dungeon takes more than a day to complete? We can only stay underwater for so long. Also, Bonnie tried to find it, but she can''t see it while we are underwater for some reason," Helena explained. "Really?" Hera turned to Bonnie. "Yeah. Outside I can see it without any issue, but down here, I can''t. It might be because of the goggles, but I''m not about to test that out. Hera, can you ask Yarnball about this crate?" Bonnie turned to the Empress. "I can''t. The cooldown will still take around 40 minutes," the explorer replied, and there was a pause where no one was entirely sure of what to do next. "Anyway, I don''t think we will find anything else about this crate. Shall we keep going?" Shane turned around to where the center of the city should be. When they were in the Flying Slime Fish, there was a large structure that looked like a cone seashell, which seemed important. Luckily for them, it didn''t take long for the group to arrive at that central structure. By all accounts, it looked like a temple and not the type of structure that a Naga would make. There were details and carvings all around the outside, forming intricate patterns that were utterly destroyed by time, leaving only what looked like scars behind. The whole feel of it was of something bigger than life, and there were some symbols that felt religious, even if it was impossible to actually see the symbols properly. Unlike the rest of the buildings that were holding on pretty well, this didn''t seem to have any magic to stop it from deteriorating with time. In a way, it felt ritualistic, as if they wouldn''t soil the temple with magic and let their care be what kept it standing. Shane started walking towards the entrance, but as she touched the side of the door, the wall crumbled, and the entire thing shook, making the entire party move away in worry. "Shit¡­ do you think we could swim inside?" Shane asked. "I don''t think any of us is good enough of a swimmer to not touch anything inside there. Besides, with water in our lungs, it will be hard not to touch the ground. Have you noticed how easily we are walking on the bottom of the ocean?" Bonnie replied. Even through the goggles, everyone could tell that she had an annoyed expression. "I have an idea," Hera stepped forward and shook her bracelet, letting the 30 snakes come out. Before giving them the order, she turned to Lurize, ''I have a quest for you, but first, can you move around in your beetle form?'' The Royal Tutor changed shapes and started moving around. Swimming wasn''t exactly his fort¨¦, but he could manage. And, unlike Shane, the structure didn''t seem to mind when he walked on top of it. ''Great. Now you go with the snakes to explore that area. This is your quest. If you need to talk to me, give a signal to the snakes, and I''ll look through their eyes.'' Lurize nodded and assumed his humanoid form for a moment. He kneeled in front of the Empress and kissed her hand, receiving 200 thousand mana in the process. With that, he returned to his beetle shape and went inside the temple. Hera decided to stay close by. That way, the Royal Tutor wouldn''t spend too much mana with his movement. Mylo and Adriel stayed with her while Shane and the others continued exploring. A full hour passed, and Hera only saw a couple of things through her snakes. A mural that only had a little bit of paint still on the wall. More of those symbols, now Hera could tell that there was a small edge, like a curved tip of a blade, and a whirlpool on the corner. Lurize also found a large area filled with those hammocks, but it didn''t look like the place was supposed to be a dormitory. Instead, it appeared to be something made in a hurry, with the hooks in the wall still in good condition like the rest of the houses. Hera was starting to give up on finding anything interesting in the temple until Lurize passed by a gap behind a small altar with nothing on top of it. He followed a very long path until he reached what looked like a storage unit, but it was empty with one exception. On the back, there was a leather armor in perfect condition. It was standing on a headless mannequin, and the piece would just cover the chest, leaving the arms completely free. In the center of it, there was the symbol of a squid in a crescent moon shape with a couple of star-shaped whirlpools around it. Hera realized that the symbol was just like the ones that were no longer around the temple, or the shape was very similar to it. Lurize was using a light spell to see the things around him, and he turned to one of the snakes that were following him before writing in the air, "Empress. I''ll bring you this armor." ''What? No, you can''t do that. How can you even do something like that in that form?'' Hera tried to send that message to him, but she couldn''t contact him using the snakes. Shane and the others had returned and were already asking questions. However, the Empress was too preoccupied with her titled blade to pay attention to whatever they were writing. Lurize first tried to take the armor off of the mannequin but to no avail. He at least knew that he couldn''t just transform to grab it. Changing tactics, he pushed the armor, trying to make it fall to the ground to make it easier to remove it. After a couple of tries, he was successful, but when the mannequin slammed into the ground, the entire temple started to shake. The ground crumbled and caved in. Seeing that, Hera told the snakes to get Lurize out of there. One of them quickly went after him and swallowed the Royal Tutor in a single movement before it continued to run out of the temple. Everyone had to run away from the structure not to be caught by the debris, and the cloud of dust that raised as the temple crumbled. As the dust covered everyone, Alex looked up at something, lost in thought. When it finally stopped, Hera waited to see if any of her snakes would move. She could still feel some of them, but a good number had vanished, and she had no idea which one of them was carrying Lurize. After five long minutes, one snake jumped out of the rubble and moved towards Hera before spitting out a small golden orange beetle. ''Lurize!'' Hera yelled in her mind and grabbed the beetle, giving him a big hug. After a moment, she patted the snake that brought him here as thanks. "What happened?" Shane and Helena asked at the same time. "Guys," Alex called, but her message was quickly hidden by the others. "What did you do?" Bonnie turned to Hera. "Was it a monster?" Blue was looking around in a frenzy. "Guys," Alex tried again, but Hera was the one who interrupted her this time. "It was just a mistake. We are all ok. Don''t worry about it. It wasn''t a monster. Lurize was trying to¡­." "GUYS!" Alex wrote in all capital letters, making the entire party stop and look at her, "Hera, I need you to ask Yarnball what is happening on the surface. Now." Hera frowned, but she did as she was told. It was a good thing that she didn''t have to speak to ask a question. She used 300 thousand mana just to be on the safe side, and the message sent a shot of adrenaline through her body. ''It started to rain.'' 604 - Gotta Run "Move, people, move!" Shane''s red writing appeared in front of them, causing Blue and Bonnie to stop thinking it was an attack. They huffed and continued going forward toward the docks. "Stop using that thing. Everyone knows we need to run!" Alex''s green letters appeared. "Everyone shut up. Just follow my arrows," Hera was using her map to guide them back to the docks. Shane and Adriel could do the same, but she was in the lead of the pack, so the responsibility fell on her. At the same time, using the Illusory Script, she was making some pointers to where they would need to turn in order to get to their destination. It didn''t take long for them to find the Flying Slime Fish, and everyone jumped in. But before that, Helena felt the need to say something else. "Remember to take out all the water in your lungs before taking out the choker. Actually, don''t even take them out. We can still breathe air with them. Just keep them on until we reach the next room." Everyone agreed as they jumped into the vehicles. Almost at the same time, all of them sprung to life and started to ascend. This time, even the protective bubbles were filled with water, making them a bit slower. Everyone was feeling tense, like being stuck in a traffic jam when they were late for something important. Hera kept replaying what she found out through the guide over and over in her head. Aside from the doorway that was protected by a supposedly extremely strong and smart monster, all others would only appear when it rained. They would be dragged by the current and eventually leave the room altogether. And this was their chance. Sure, maybe the doorway would take them to a very deep room, but if that was the case, they could just wait around for the next one. Especially now that they had the chokers, if they ended up going back to the Seven Islands, they would be able to swim through that massive hole and then finish the challenges before finally going back home. Or, if they ended up in any other room, Hera hoped that it would, at least, stop with this kind of bullshit. Having to deal with conditional doorways was already getting on her nerves. Most of the MAZE didn''t have those, so why the hell were they having to deal with so many of them at once? Just as she was getting even more frustrated, the Flying Slime Fish slowed to a halt, and a word appeared around the protective bubble. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Blue wrote angrily. "This time makes more sense than the previous one. If we move too fast up, we could die due to the nitrogen in our bodies," Bonnie explained. "Wouldn''t the chokers fix that issue?" Shane asked. "I don''t know. Maybe, but there is no mention of that in the description. Either way, I like that we stopped here. It''s better to be safe than sorry," Bonnie continued. "I just hope this is not just a quick drizzle. If we get up there and the rain is over, I''ll be pissed." Adriel put some drawings around his word, trying to mirror emojis, but his artistic talents were not the best. The Flying Slime Fish started moving again, but soon they stopped one more time. Hera kept shaking her leg nervously. ''Hera¡­ While we wait. I just want to apologize,'' Lurize spoke up. He was still on her lap, together with all of the other court members. ''What? Why?'' Hera looked down. ''For the temple. I wanted to get the armor, but I was reckless.'' ''Oh. That''s ok. I know you went after it because you wanted to get it for me, but that''s fine. We can talk about this later, ok. I can''t focus on that right now,'' Hera took a deep breath to calm herself down, ''But don''t worry. Everything is ok. And sorry for not talking too much with all of you down there. There was a lot going on. Especially you, Nimbus. You were out there in your humanoid form, and I don''t think I ever asked your opinion about anything.'' ''Don''t worry, Empress. We were talking amongst ourselves, and everyone was on high alert. Besides, we depended on your senses to know where things were, so we needed to focus,'' Nimbus said with a happy voice. Hera couldn''t help but smile. However, that lasted only a short time. She was still worried about the rain and if they would miss the doorway. Not being able to see where it was would mean that they would have to wait for the next time it rained. That could take a day, a month, a year, who knows. The worst part was that they would even need to figure out where it actually was, and now they didn''t have Yarnball to help. ''If we don''t find it, we might only have one option¡­'' Hera thought to herself, but she felt like a hypocrite just thinking about it. ''You mean Alex?'' Daskka asked. ''I mean her curse¡­ I don''t like saying that Alex and that are part of each other, even if that''s technically true.'' Daskka just nodded, and they waited for a little more time before the Flying Slime Fish finally started moving again. Tense moments went by, but as they got closer to the surface, they could see some light breaking through as the raindrops reached the water. Looking up was like looking at a sky of scintillating stars. Beautiful and terrifying at the same time. As the constructs reached the docks, the hatch under the raft opened again, and the group arrived back on dry land. However, instead of just opening the bubbles right away, the Flying Slime Fish opened a small hole under it to allow the water inside to go back to the ocean. During that time, no one could leave. The hole was too small, and even if it wasn''t, they would fall back into the water before trying to get back up, which could be dangerous since the place was covered in slimes. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Before the water level got low enough for them to start pushing the water out of their lungs, Alex wrote something for everyone to see. "I used the curse to know where the doorway is. It''s to the left of here, on the opposite side from where we arrived. We need to look for a giant fin, then swim and dive inside the mouth of the whale. The curse is being a bitch and not giving me more information about it, but it looks like this is all it can say for now.." "A giant fin?" Helena asked. "That''s what it''s telling me," Alex confirmed. "Ok, try to take the water out of your lungs as soon as you have enough space. We need to be in good condition for whatever is going to happen," Shane reminded everyone just a moment before she managed to raise her head out of the water and push the water out of her lungs. It was a feeling very similar to throwing up, but somehow even worse. Still, it was something they all had to do. As soon as the bubbles disappeared, Bonnie and Blue rushed to a cabinet in the corner where they had left their bags. In there, it was mostly clothes, potions, and other tools that they still could use, not to mention their water bottles. With that in hand, they all rushed out, running toward the edge of the raft as the rain continued to pour. They were getting close to the edge, and to the left, they could see a gigantic fin piercing the waters. It was still far away, but it seemed to be moving fast. "Ok, so we need to be in front of that. To go on its mouth, but that thing is not alive. It''s kind of like that shark with a big mouth. Hang on. I have a picture on my¡­ Our tablets!" Alex was talking when it suddenly dawned on her. They forgot to get their tablets. "Shit, Nimbus. Griffon, docks, now!" Hera barely finished yelling orders, and the Sentinel was already under her in his griffon form, sprinting back to the docks. The Empress also sent most of her court away, keeping only Armory, Scythe, Lurize as a beetle, and Daskka out. "Hera, we can get new ones!" Helena tried to make her stop, but the explorer had a reason for doing this. "If we are close to a doorway that leads to civilization, they can connect to the internet!" Hera yelled as she was getting out of earshot. Even if they had Bonnie''s spyglass, being able to connect to the internet, especially if it was a recently discovered room or one that only had the connection tower on the other side, would be a massive help to the group. At least it was a straight line until the docks, even if it would have them going across almost half of the raft. Luckily, Nimbus was faster than he used to be. Right now, his top running speed was close to 50 km/h. However, at the moment, he couldn''t move that fast since the ground was wet. It took them about five minutes to reach the docks, and Hera quickly found the tablets in the glass case. She grabbed the entire thing and jumped back on Nimbus with Lurize''s help before the Royal Tutor returned to this beetle form, and they were once more running towards the end of the raft. Now, she could already see the fin, which was massive. Easily bigger than any of the buildings in the raft, and it wasn''t even that close yet. Whatever they were going to enter would be a true sea monster, the type that could swallow a ship whole. ''Empress, in front of us,'' Armory called, and Hera focused on the road. There was a trail of glowing petals going to the water, leaving a trail for the rest of the group swimming right in the path of the giant fin. "Hera!" Helena called. The Empress just waved and told Nimbus to continue moving. When he left the raft, he flew for another hundred meters or so before halting to be just above the rest. "Hera, here," Adriel pointed to his drone. It already had a partial barrier that protected anything on top of it from water, and it would be a perfect place for the case filled with tablets. The Empress nodded and told Nimbus to get closer to the water. They struggled a bit and finally were able to place the glass case on top of the drone. As soon as she did that, Adriel closed the barrier, and Hera jumped into the water, followed by Nimbus. "Do we know what that thing is?" Hera asked. "All that I know is that it''s not a monster. Like it may be shaped as one, but it''s not. It''s like a massive golem with some moving parts inside. "Moving parts? It has moving parts?" Bonnie asked. "Sort of. But we don''t have to worry about anything," Alex started speaking, but her voice became somewhat gargled, and the veins on her face were visibly growing, forming a crescent moon on her cheeks and getting closer to her mouth. She then turned to Hera and spoke in a way that sounded like two voices were talking at once, "Let''s dive. We need to get deeper to be safe. Can you use that flashbang continuously or a light that is always that strong? Make it behind us, so we see where we need to go." The Empress considered mentioning the curse, but she stopped herself, "I think I can. Let''s go." Everyone dove and started swimming deeper into the ocean. Despite the danger of alerting the slimes or any other creature that lurked in the depths, Hera made a floodlight behind them. The water here was crystal clear, and thanks to the spell, they could see for the first time the thousands of slimes under the raft. It wasn''t enough to see the bottom of the ocean, but it did reveal the owner of the coming towards them. That thing looked like a mix of a basking shark and a manta ray, with extremely wide fins and a wide body with a long tail behind it but a massive mouth spanning a 50-meter radius. Hera could see several segments inside the mouth, almost as if they were ribs, and that the ocean''s water was being sucked inside. However, it wasn''t doing anything aside from going forward. It had no eyes, no movement on the fins, and by all accounts, it should not be something alive. "Everyone, swim for the mouth. Let the current take you in," Alex wrote in front of the entire group using the Illusory Script, but even her writing seemed a bit off. The letters were almost dripping and twisting at the edges. They did as the assassin told them and continued moving towards the mouth of that gigantic structure. Some of the slimes detached from the raft and started swimming toward them, but they were extremely slow underwater. It didn''t take long for the giant manta shark to get close enough to start sucking them in. Everyone just leaned in the current and was pulled inside the construct''s mouth. They passed a tunnel that was just 10 meters wide and 8 meters tall and were spat out inside the belly of the structure, and to everyone''s surprise, they were no longer underwater. Hera took a moment to gather her bearings and push the water out of her lungs. They were inside what someone would put in a children''s book as the stomach of a whale. There was water on the ground and some pieces of random rocks here and there. Glowing cubes everywhere illuminated the area quite well, and on the far corner of this place, there was a single pure white doorway. But there was a problem. Between them and the doorway, there was a massive slime with the shape of a moray. A large toothy maw with five rows of teeth and tentacles were coming from the sockets instead of eyes. The creature had a black color with some silver strands floating inside it and it could easily reach the top of this stomach-cave even when half of its body was coiled in the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anemoray - Monster of the deep - Level 36 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anemoray finally had a chance to catch this prey. It saw them moving around the old city, and it knew that if they were running away, they would come here, just like that one prey that it had lost a long time ago. Anemoray was tired of living off other slimes and the fruits in the ocean. Now that it had meat in front of it, it wouldn''t let them get away. 605 - Anemoray There were a few tense moments where the party stared at Anemoray while the creature stared back. No one was moving a muscle. That thing was stronger than any monster they had fought so far, and it had a name, which meant it was strong enough to be recognized by the MAZE. However, that didn''t mean they had no chance of killing that thing. Adriel wasn''t someone who focused too much on fighting, but he was close to level 40. Shane and Mylo were just one level below the monster, sitting at level 35, and everyone else was at least level 32. They had the numbers, even if the creature had the size and level. Not to mention, it was very unlikely that the Anemoray would be used to fighting against people. During the past five months, Hera asked Yarnball several questions and found out that when the triton lived here, there were no slimes in the room. Or at least none that could pose a threat in any capacity. Back then, slimes were almost like prawns that would clean the ocean by eating carcasses and other small particles. It was only after the waste created by the mana generator contaminated the waters that the slime grew and became the dominant force in the room. In fact, they had all the pieces of the history of this place already. There were three civilizations. All are made up of the same group of people. Tritons. They originated from Abyssia, but a large part of the raft and the entirety of Sky was already here from the beginning. Eventually, they split up and changed their focus. Sky would take care of tools and ways to make life easier. The raft, or Floatilla as it was called, focused on trade, culture, and farming using the greenhouse. Almost all the festivities that happened here would happen there so everyone could participate. And the people from Abyssia were the hunters and fighters. People who would catch the fish and creatures that lived in the water and protect everyone else. After Jadas'' reactor started, he tossed the waste back into the water and slowly poisoned everyone since most of their food and water supply would come from the ocean. It took decades for people to start feeling the effects and even more time until some of the creatures in the waters mutated and attacked Abyssia relentlessly. In the end, due to the lack of numbers and able warriors, since most were sick by the time the attacks started, the people of the depths were decimated. Next came those in the raft. They were able to survive for longer since the creatures struggled to move out of the water, but without the help of those in Abyssia, and with all their food sources being too close to the edge of the Flotilla, they also perished. Sky was the last group to survive, and most never had to deal with any of the mutated sea monsters. However, they had no way of getting food while up there, and coming back to the raft was a dangerous task. The Flying Slime Fish alerted the monsters, who were ready to attack at any moment. In the end, those who lived amongst the clouds and were the most protected from danger had the most prolonged suffering by starving to death. The slimes only came a long time after that. Only when they fed on those mutated creatures that they started to become stronger and eventually were able to overwhelm the monsters. According to Yarnball, there wasn''t a single slime, not even the supposed strong one that lived by a doorway, who was alive at the same time the Tritons were. This should also be true for Anemoray. Even if that creature faced the Naga who stayed here, there was no way it had fought with multiple people at the same time. "Fight or rush to the doorway?" Blue, who was in the middle of the group, whispered. "I don''t think it will let us get to the other side," Mylo said. "But that is a good idea. We don''t have to kill the thing to get out of here. Not if the doorway leads to a room on this layer or below," Adriel added, but it seemed like this was the limit of Anemoray''s patience. The monster roared, creating a sound more similar to glass shattering than to what a living being would create. With that, Hera called out her entire court. Lurize and Nimbus already in their bipedal forms. The Anemoray saw this group preparing for a fight and decided to strike first. It lashed out with its tail going for a sweeping attack. However, Lurize, Nimbus, and Mylo jumped forward to stop the tail. They managed to block it and were pushed back a couple of meters, but the movement stopped, and there was little to no damage to them. Helena also helped by using her shadowgrabbers to pull the tail in the opposite direction. Thanks to the dark hands being sharp claws doing so also dealt some damage to this beast. Before the monster could even react, Shane fired two bombs at it, trying to freeze the creature. Even if Anemoray was a water-dwelling being, it might not be able to deal with ice. Bonnie had a similar idea and tried to freeze the path under it so it would struggle to move. Alex and Hera rushed towards the monster pulling their weapons. The assassin was going much faster since she had just thrown a wind-blade spell while using her new skill to increase her speed. However, it was clear that she wasn''t going as fast as she could since Hera wasn''t trailing that far behind. At the same time, the Empress triggered the Elemental Strength spell across all of her court. Frost was covered in a layer of ice, doubling the size of the blade of the glaive as he started attacking the tail, making a few gashes that were quickly mended by the monster. Core glowed as the blade itself became a dense liquid, moving as if it was a chainsaw of fire, increasing his firepower and letting some of the lava sediment behind with each strike. Armory grew some spikes around her and became more sturdy, and any attacks aimed at her would return some of the damage she took. Scythe grew a small chain on the base of the earrings allowing any attacks to have a small chance to create a mirror strike that would deal a small percentage of the initial damage or bind the enemy momentarily. Ooze didn''t have any visual changes, but as he moved, there was a sound coming from him that would reverberate with an impact causing some damage inside the target. At the same time, any ally who heard that sound would be more aware of their surroundings. Edge had a soft green glow around him that increased his recovery rate, and he was currently close to Hera in case the Empress got hit and needed some healing. Dao was once again covered in electricity, letting him move at incredible speeds. Nimbus'' tonfas which were also affected by the spell, had a honeycomb pattern around them, being covered in small shields that could not just protect themselves but also be deployed to stop attacks. Lurize''s zweihander was even bigger now, combining the Elemental Strength spell and the Venom Blade skill. From the tip, an orange liquid dripped but evaporated before reaching the ground, going back into the sword and making it even deadlier. Lastly, Fang and Claw, the weapons that Hera was the proudest of for what she did with them. Using the Royal Seal, she tried to pass a skill instead of an element, and after some tests with random objects and even a couple of fish, she managed to come up with a way to pass her Naga Poison to the weapons. Everyone agreed that this only worked because of the weapon''s origin. Either way, now, with the Elemental Strength spell, both blades would glow softly, and the scales became more apparent. But the biggest difference came when Hera attacked. Each blow would make the blades move almost like a snake and attack from a distance. Of course, hitting something with the actual weapon dealt more damage, but the distant strikes would still deal about 50% of what the blades could do. Another thing that surprised her was that she could even understand the weapons better, and using skills became much more intuitive than before. Alex did a flip to jump over Anemoray as she slashed at the creature. The monster turned to the assassin, but before it could do anything, Hera and her court attacked the other side as a loud rattling noise echoed, signaling the use of the Battle Rattle from her bracelet. Aside from that, she also added Armory''s buff totaling an increase of 15% in attributes for everyone plus 40% to all of her blades'' weakest attributes. The impact of her multiple strikes seemed to deal some considerable damage, and they were not done. Blue sent out a bolt of lightning from a cloud she made in front of her and created a massive pair of cloud hands before going forward and punching the tail of the Anemoray with that spell. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. For an initial strike, that was about as good as it would get, and the damage was clearly showing on the creature. Or at least, that''s what everyone thought. However, as soon as there was a small moment when the monster wasn''t receiving any attacks from anyone, all the wounds closed up, and the creature seemed to be good as new. "Now that''s just not fair," Adriel said as he passed, flying on top of two of his drones carrying Bonnie on his back with the third drone, the one with all their tablets, following right behind him. "Keep it busy. I''ll check the doorway!" Bonnie cast a couple of defensive buffs on the party as she passed by. The Anemoray seemed to notice the two in the air, but the rest of the team was quick on the uptake. Mylo, Lurize, and Nimbus started wailing on the creature''s tail, which was now showing more of the silver strands that were inside its body. ''Empress, those strands might be the actual body. I think the black part is just something it controls,'' Lurize said just as the creature slammed his tail against the three warriors. The impact sent them tumbling back, splashing in the shallow water, with Mylo landing on the small island where the main body of the Anemoray was located. Shane fired a couple of shots with an electric net while running on the outer perimeter of this stone whale''s stomach. Hera tried to use a spore field to hinder the monster''s eyes, and it had some effect, but no one could tell exactly what that effect was. Seeing that, Daskka took a chance to transform into her silver mist snake form, which was now a three-and-a-half meter tall beast that was wider than Lurize with glowing red eyes. She wrapped herself around the Anemoray and started to squeeze. A pair of silver fangs that looked like daggers came out of her mouth, and she bit the monster, trying to poison it. At the same time, mist started to come out of her body, going straight for Hera and Alex. The two of them instantly felt refreshed, and some of the exhaustion they were feeling went away. This was the new way the herald had come up to help during fights. She would split into healing and supporting and becoming a giant monster that could put fear in their enemies. "It''s for the 11th layer! The name is weird, but we can go without a problem!" Bonnie yelled. "Then go! Everyone, move to the doorway and just go. We don''t have that much time!" Shane yelled back. "What? Why?" Blue asked. "Because this thing is moving, and we have no idea where the invisible wall is!" Hera replied as she used her flaming poison needle rain to pepper the Anemoray with attacks, hoping the poison could do something, even if it was a very long shot. "We can still help!" Adriel started preparing a few lasers from his drones, but a shadow wall blocked his vision. "Just go! If you attract the monster there, we don''t have a way of going through!" Helena was also running towards the doorway. Her voice came from behind Hera, but not a single one of the blades managed to see the mage. "I¡­" Adriel started, but Bonnie''s voice came right away. "Ok, we are going. You better be right behind me!" Nimbus and Lurize rushed to Hera''s side, already attacking the creature. The tendrils from its eyes grew and were now gripping Daskka, squeezing her the same way she was doing with it. Alex jumped to the side and pierced one of the silver strands. This finally made the Anemoray react. It roared in pain and came down on the assassin with all its rows of teeth. But she was too quick for it. She managed to move to the side without worry. The impact pushed Blue to the side, making her fall on the water and hit her head. She quickly got back up, but she was stumbling. "I''m going!" Shane yelled. "I''m right behind her," Helena was already there even if no one could see her. "Blue, Alex, go!" Hera called. "What, no, I''ll stay." Blue punched the Anemoray with her cloud hands. "Mylo can handle being hit more than you do, and I have the numbers. Alex has its attention, and we can use that to get closer to the doorway," Hera yelled. Blue huffed, "Fine," it was clear that she wanted to say something else, but she didn''t. Instead, she just ran to the doorway. The Anemoray tried to get Alex again, but Mylo slammed his staff against its head, making the creature lose its target. "Alex¡­" Hera started but was quickly cut off. "After Blue gets out, I''ll go there and lure the monster before going myself. That way, you two are close," Alex smiled. Hera glanced towards her with a smile, but seeing the black veins pulsating made her even more worried than she was about the monster. Alex sent out a couple of Wind Blades from her scabbard and jumped to the opposite side of the creature. Mylo liked that idea and went to the front forcing the Anemoray to move its head around every time it attacked a different target. Daskka was still around it, but she was struggling. The tentacles coming from the eyes were squeezing her too much, and she had to drop her giant shape. She could pretend to be a monster, but the Anemoray was still out of her league. The snake moved back towards Hera, healing Mylo, who was already bruised. With the tail, the monster managed to catch Alex off guard and sent her flying to the wall of this area. She managed to lessen the impact and saw Blue disappearing from the room after touching the doorway. "I''m going!" Alex yelled and tossed a Wind Blade at the doorway to use her new skill to run after it. The Anemoray chased after her with Mylo and Hera right in its heels. However, the monster wasn''t able to get to her in time before the assassin vanished in a glowing white light. The monster roared in anger and looked around, focusing on Hera. "Mylo, go!" Hera realized that this left a perfect opening for him to leave. The fighter hesitated for a moment but did that without saying a word. This wasn''t a good moment to argue. The Anemoray tried to bite Hera a couple of times. He missed the first by a hair, and the next was blocked by Nimbus and Lurize. Then the eye tentacles reached her and burned her arm as if they were tentacles of a jellyfish. Hera groaned as her arms spasmed but managed to get away, thanks to her court, who all cut the tentacles off. "Push it away from the doorway!" Hera told her blades. The entire court started attacking the Anemoray just enough to stop it from moving while Nimbus body-slammed the creature, trying to push it away. ''Mr. Beetle! You''re up!'' Dao and Frost yelled in Lurize''s mind. The Royal tutor activated his golden beetle form and followed up the body slam. Together with Nimbus, they managed to push the monster far enough away to leave room for Hera to run. She triggered her [All In] and dashed to the doorway as fast as she could, almost breaking her wrist when she slammed onto it to stop her movement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to The belly of the beast - 11th Layer [Yes] [No] You cannot enter your private room through this doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She glanced back with her finger on top of the yes to recall her court. At that moment, she saw everyone coming towards her, not by running, but because they were being dragged by an invisible wall. Quickly recalling everyone, she pressed yes and felt the warm feeling that she had missed so much before vanishing from the room. Just behind her, the Anemoray had no way to escape this place and was completely destroyed as the invisible wall of the room reached the end of the stone whale''s belly. 606 - Safe or in danger? Hera still had her eyes closed when she heard Blues'' voice coming from somewhere in front of her. "Ew, ew, ew, ew. What is this? Why is it slimy? What is that smell?" "Blue, calm down. You''ve been saying that for a while already," Shane spoke, but her voice was also a bit shaky. Hera finally was able to move and opened her eyes to understand what was around her. A few dancing lights illuminated the place. All of these were white since now there was no reason to change the colors. Shane used the red hue in Abyssia to stop it from getting too far away. Besides, they all had a pair of monster-repellent stones around their waist. Those things were very awkward, but since they worked with the slimes in a Layer above, they should work with the monsters in this room. Looking around, she realized why Blue was acting like that. The name of this room was ''The Belly of the Beast,'' and it sure as hell looked like it. The walls were red, covered in some odd stringy liquid, making them glisten in the light. Green, blue, and purple veins walked along the walls, going seemingly nowhere and everywhere at the same time. As she paid attention to it, she realized that those strands that were behind the red walls were pulsating. She could also smell something putrid and almost acidic coming from everywhere, including the small puddles of yellowish liquid peppered around the ground. The whole place felt slimy and had moisture in the air that was similar to what one would find in their breath. They were also able to hear a rhythmic beat that moved through the area in waves. It really felt like they were listening to a heartbeat, and that could only happen inside a creature. "Where are we?" Hera said out loud. "We still don''t know. This place feels weird," Helena turned back to the Empress, "Are you ok? What happened with your arm?" "What?" Hera looked down and noticed the large sting mark that was covering most of her left arm. It almost looked like a clump of massive worms, "Oh shit. Right, Daskka!" As Hera called, the herald appeared and saw the injury in the explorer''s arm. The snake instantly wrapped the Empress'' entire arm with a violet mist and started to heal. Luckily, even after being transferred to another room, battle heals still could work, "Sorry. I should''ve noticed that sooner," Daskka apologized. "Oh, yeah. We were fighting against a giant monster that could easily kill us, and you were keeping it busy for a long time, but it''s your fault for not realizing that this happened sooner," Hera rolled her eyes. "Don''t worry. You won''t even have a scar after I''m done¡­ hopefully, but it might be good to bring out Edge," Daskka added with a smile, knowing that even in a situation like this, Hera wouldn''t blame her. Not that this was ever something she doubted. Knowing it was a good idea, Hera called her court but warned Nimbus about the floor, worried he might step on the odd liquid barefoot. When they all came out, Lurize was the one who complained, "I would have appreciated a warning about the liquid. I hate how they feel in my feet." "Oh¡­ sorry. I know you are not wearing armor. You are armor, but I didn''t consider that," Hera scratched her cheek before asking Edge if she could wield him while using the Elemental Strength spell. The blade agreed to that and flew to her hand. "Is everyone ok? Does anyone else need healing?" Daskka asked, and Hera passed the information along. Mylo and Alex had a few bruises but nothing major. Luckily, most attacks were either blocked or dodged and when few people were around, Alex was fast enough to evade everything while she had the monster''s attention. As the two of them were getting closer to Daskka just to get a top-up, Hera turned back to the doorway. It was gray now, and the light it would usually emanate was gone. She reached out just to make sure it was deactivated and got a pleasant surprise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This doorway is currently inactive. Press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh. Good, we can go to our private rooms from here," Hera said. "That''s good, but we have another problem. Food," Shane sighed. "Yeah¡­ I''m hungry," Mylo nodded. "How can you be hungry here? This place is awful," Blue turned to him with a distraught expression. "Simple. It''s been a long time since I''ve eaten," Mylo shrugged. "Ok¡­ I''m going to try something bad, but if it works, we can find food¡­ and I''ll have some bad news to share," Adriel said and closed his eyes before turning his back to the group. No one understood exactly what he was doing, "There are some odd frog-like monsters to the left from here. Or a dungeon about 3 hours away that can get us some fruit." "How do you know that?" Bonnie asked. "Well¡­ that''s the bad part," Adriel turned around with his eyes open, and everyone could see how part of the white of his eyes had turned black. Like an ink stain on white paper. It was nowhere near the pitch black that Alex had when she first showed that symptom, but it was something very obvious already, "I think I''m cursed too." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "What did you do?!" Alex yelled while stomping towards him. "I didn''t do anything. I started hearing a voice ever since you told us that it was raining. I kind of figured that you had asked the curse to warn you when that started." "But this means it has already progressed a lot! You should only start by seeing some things. Markers or something that you couldn''t see before," Alex was still yelling with fury in her eyes. The black veins made her expression even scarier. "Yeah¡­ I was. And it wasn''t like I was leaning into those things. But some were useful, or I had to do what the curse was telling me anyway. And I figured I would confirm if I was really cursed or not by getting something useful," Adriel continued. "But this is dangerous! You could end up as a blob!" Alex gasped. "Wait, what? What do you mean a blob?" Bonnie asked. "I.. I¡­ Fuck! I can''t talk, but fine. That is the last stage of the curse. It consumes you, and you become a blob that can infect anyone who sees you! You lose your mind. You lose everything just to become a swirling mass of curse that moves. That''s why I work so hard not to say anything about it or share information about the curse." "What?" Hera and Blue gasped. "Yeah. Now tell me, who else is affected by it? The title didn''t show up right away, but who else can see some things that you couldn''t before or sometimes get some signals of things you need? Don''t make me use the curse to know if you are telling me the truth," Alex stared the group down. It was hard not to be intimidated by her visage, which might have helped. Shane, Mylo, Blue, and Adriel raised their hands. Adriel got slapped since everyone already knew that he was cursed. "Really, all of you?" Hera asked. "A little bit. Mine showed me a few ideas for enchantments," Shane replied. "How to fight better for me. My form was wrong," Mylo looked down, feeling ashamed, "I''m sorry." "It just told me my family was ok. No one is injured or with any problems, but the money I sent them is helping them out," Blue looked away. Alex rubbed her temple, "Did any of you interact with the curse whatsoever? Did you do what it told you to?" "It''s hard not to when you get an idea. For example, instead of making fire grenades, I can make compressed air ones, and when I fire, I just ignite the air inside, causing a big explosion. That sounds really obvious, but I never considered that, not until the curse told me," Shane shrugged. Despite the risk. It wasn''t the type of thing that she could just pretend not to have heard. "He helped me fight better and showed how I could block that tail attack from the Anemoray. I did what it told me to," Mylo added. "I didn''t say anything, but I felt really relieved. I mean¡­ we know the curse can tell us things that happened in the past or can tell us about things like Yarnball can, so I figured it was telling the truth, and that made me happy, but that was it," Blue explained. The mention of Yarnball confused Hera a bit. They had tried to ask about their families, but unfortunately, not even with all her mana, she got an answer. "Right¡­ So please, don''t use it anymore. Especially you," Alex stared daggers at Adriel. "Yes, mam." "Alex¡­ can I ask you a question?" Hera stepped forward. "Yeah, sure." "You said that you are trying hard not to talk about the curse¡­ but if you are showing us what it can do, that also counts as information. So even using it was risky. So why have you been using it so much lately?" "What? No, that''s not the same thing. Knowing what it can do is not knowledge of the curse," Alex waved her off. "Alex¡­ no. It is. Why do you think it isn''t? That changed at some point. When you first got cursed, I remember how careful you were being. Even after you started seeing yellow, you would actively avoid looking at that color," Helena spoke up. "No¡­ That''s¡­ but I¡­ No, no, no, no. When did that change? When did I start thinking like that?" Alex''s eyes went wide, and it was easy to see that she was starting to panic, "I''m¡­ I am so sorry," she looked up with her eyes starting to water, but instead of regular tears, it was an inky black liquid." Hera got closer and gave her a hug, "It''s ok. I know it wasn''t your fault. It''s the curse. It messed with your head." "But why are you three ok?" Blue asked, turning to Bonnie, "You spent the most time with Alex. I figured if anyone was also feeling these effects, it would be you." "I honestly don''t know¡­ Maybe we have a skill?" Bonnie looked to Helena in hopes of getting an answer. "That''s it! The three of us have the reinforced mana skill. Maybe that makes it harder for the curse to affect us," Helena smiled, not because she didn''t have the curse, but because she had an idea of why this was happening. "Do you think that makes us immune?" Hera was still hugging Alex, but she turned to the mage. "I doubt it. The curse should affect mana, and I think that''s why it''s taking longer for us to be infected. Our mana is more protected, and that''s why we are still ok," Helena continued. "Do you think that using that spell we used to take out the parasites could work to cure the curse?" Hera suggested. "We talked about this before, sweetie. It''s not the same thing. We did some tests with Alex''s blood and mana. Everything was normal. It wasn''t the same situation as it was with me." "If you all don''t mind. Can I make a recommendation?" Lurize spoke up and got a nod as a reply, "We just had a very long day and had to deal with a lot. It would be prudent to retire to a private room. Adriel located food. We can hunt and then gather our thoughtz through the night. In the morning, we can come up with a new plan." "That''s actually a good idea. Where were the monsters?" Blue asked. Adriel pointed to the left. Soon the entire party followed them. It took just 10 minutes to reach a pool of yellow liquid that was letting out a rancid smell where some odd creatures lived. They were called Frogranires and were a mix of a frog and a donkey, still green in color but more muscular and with more fat. Their front legs were long but very skinny, while the back ones were massive and could still allow the creatures to leap through the air. But they were only level 29, and in just a couple of minutes, the group managed to kill two of them that were big enough to feed everyone. They went back to the doorway and butchered the creatures. Adriel confirmed that the meat shouldn''t be poisonous, and Hera could attest to that. She could feel poison pretty well now that her [Naga Poison] was level five, and they didn''t seem to have any. With everyone with the supplies they needed, they entered the private rooms in the same setup that they were used to. Shane, Mylo, Alex, and Adriel, while Bonnie, Helena, Blue, and Hera took the last. After dinner, Hera was the first to take a bath, not just a shower, but a proper bath to take out all of the salt water from her body. Just as she was taking advantage of the privacy to check the guide messages, she saw a new group popping up with all the guides that were her friends. There were a lot of messages right away, but the one that caught her eye was from Johnny, the surfer lion that was responsible for the room where Alex got cursed. ''We need to talk. The curse is spreading.'' 607 - Hope with a sprinkle of despair ''Guys, calm down. What is going on? I can''t keep up with all the messages,'' Hera typed before using her soundproof bubble to cover the entire bathroom. Daskka was the only one with her right now. Her court was outside, all in their weapon forms to save space since the private room was a bit full. That being said, Hera knew that this place was bigger than she remembered. Now she had enough space to put a five seater couch and still have room to reach the bedroom. Another difference was that the room was wider, allowing everyone to lie down on the ground under the couch and still have room above and below. The bedroom was also bigger, giving her some room to move around the bed, something she couldn''t do before. She could make the kitchen bigger, but considering how there would be four people sleeping here, it was better to focus on the living room and bedroom. Still, Nimbus'' wings would take up a lot of space, and Lurize was massive. It was better to have them in their weapon forms while everyone was here. Hera also asked them to stop anyone from coming into the bathroom, just in case. And if her friend needed to talk to her, they could just ask the blades, and either the Sentinel or the Royal Tutor could transmit the Empress'' words by temporarily returning to their bipedal forms. After she sent the message, there were a few more texts that were moving too fast for her to catch up. It''s been less than a minute since she opened the group text, and there were already a few hundred new messages. Lodi realized what was going on and sent a message, ''Everyone chill. Hera can''t use quick reading as we do.'' ''I wouldn''t say that I can''t read quickly, but you guys are going way too fast,'' Hera added. ''She means as we do. When we need to talk about something urgent, we get the content of the messages directly into our heads,'' Ruma replied. ''It''s kind of like a cyberpunk instant message device. Very high tech, you guys seem almost there to be able to do something similar,'' Laika said. ''Let''s not lose track of the subject, people. This is important,'' even through text, Peaches was able to pass that tone of a dad telling his kids to stay quiet, ''Johnny, can you explain to her what is going on?'' ''Yeah, man. It would be better if we were talking face to face, but I can at least give a rundown. Kirouhebi had to hide the portrait room in the cloud temple because the curse started to grow. I won''t go into details since that could get you cursed too, but now it''s easier to see it, and there is more than one painting that is showing it,'' Johnny explained, ''We don''t know what happened. There were a couple of people who also found the temple, but neither of them ended up getting cursed.'' ''Crap, really? Is he ok? And are you guys ok? Isn''t it a problem to talk about the curse?'' Hera asked. ''Fret not, dear adventurer. The magnanimous me cannot be affected by such things. That is also true for my companions,'' Capri added an animated picture of a cartoon sheep with a crown. It looked a lot like him, but it was far enough that people could consider it was just a random character. ''Who are you calling your companions? We don''t follow you,'' Talpa added an eye-rolling emoji. ''Focus, people, focus. This is not a joke. You all remember what happened the last time that curse got out of control,'' Peaches reeled the group back again. ''So everyone is ok? Do you know if there is anyone else who is cursed?'' Hera pressed. She knew that her party was in trouble, but if they were the only ones, that would at least be something. ''Not as far as we know, but it''s not like we can track that. There is a chance that someone is cursed that we don''t know about. This just sucks, man,'' Johnny sent the message and, after a few moments, added another below it, ''How is Alex? Is she doing ok?'' ''Not really¡­ Ever since the Seven Islands, her eyes went black, now she felt she had to use the curse for a few things, and her entire face is filled with black veins. And¡­ To top it all off, with the exception of me, Bonnie, and Helena, everyone is cursed. They still don''t have the title, but they are hearing things and getting ideas about how to improve. Blue even heard that her family is doing ok, and she was really worried about them, even if she doesn''t talk all that much about it,'' Hera explained. It took a while, and Daskka even helped her remember a few details. The Empress wasn''t calm at the moment. Her heart was racing like crazy, and she could feel a panic attack incoming, but she was pushing it down. She had to focus right now. ''Man¡­ that fucking blows¡­ Peach, think I can say one thing about the curse?'' Johnny asked. ''Might as well. If they are all cursed, I don''t think it will take long for it to infect her. She might as well know some information if you think it''s important,'' Peaches replied. ''Ok. Hera, don''t believe in what the curse says. It will tell you things that it feels like you want to know, but it can''t tell you about things that happened in places where the curse isn''t. Like, it can tell, but it''s not like it will be what is actually going on, you know,'' Johnny tried to explain, but the Empress wasn''t in the right mind to understand what he was saying. ''I don''t understand,'' Hera finally wrote. ''Let me try to explain this, honey. The curse is like a sleazy toxic player. It tells you just the right thing you want to hear, and it gives you just the right thing that will make you happy, but not what is good for you. It will lie, cheat, and deceive you as much as it can while being the sweetest thing on this side of the MAZE. That''s how it gets you. Like a man, you just can''t quit. It''s awful and toxic, and if you know it''s bad for you, the good parts don''t let you quit. Well, in this case, you can''t quit even if you wanted to,'' Ms. Jackie tried to help. ''I don''t think that helps all that much. I can try to explain it a bit better,'' Ruma said, and then it showed that they were already typing. ''I appreciate the offer, but I understood Jackie''s explanation. The curse will try to appear useful and even lie to me to make me use it more often. Right?'' Hera confirmed. ''Oh¡­ that is correct,'' Ruma replied, but that made the Empress feel a bit bad. Maybe the guide was hoping to participate more in the conversation, but this wasn''t the time to worry about that. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ''Listen, kid. Do you think we could go to your private room? We decided to ask you something, but it would be better to be face to face,'' Peaches asked. ''I don''t think you can come today. I have three other people here, but maybe tomorrow,'' she looked around the bathroom. Before checking the texts, she considered changing the layout a bit so more people could take showers at the same time. She would have to take out the tub, but it might be worth it, depending on the situation. Anyway, that could be a good excuse to stay behind when everyone decides to head out. ''Ok then, that will give us some time to figure things out. Just sleep and relax, kid. It seems like you had one heck of a day,'' Peaches said before heading out. Hera just stayed in the tub for a few more minutes before heading out. Everyone could tell that there was something wrong, but the Empress just told her friends that she was worried about the curse, which wasn''t a complete lie. However, she did tell her court what was going on while giving an order for them not to speak with anyone else about it, as she did with everything that was related to the guides. When morning came, they ate a bit more of the frog meat, and Hera prepared two vials of Naga essence. So far, no one was able to get a naga skill, not even the Empress herself, but Hera managed to get her [Naga Poison] stronger. However, when she drank one of the vials, she got a pleasant surprise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired - Naga Scales (Rank 1) Your skin has become sturdier as the scales of a Naga. Any attacks that hit you will deal reduced damage. When your scales fully develop, they will receive special properties based on your experiences. Since the user was not originally a Naga, this skill will only activate when an impact is detected, and the amount of damage reduced will be smaller. Reduced damage: - 5% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as she started reading the notification, Hera felt her entire body start to itch. She scratched it for a few moments, but the feeling vanished. Looking at her arms, it was almost impossible to notice any differences, but when paying very close attention, she could see very tiny marks that matched the patterns that scales would create. That worried her a bit since it could mean that, eventually, she would be covered in actual scales, like a snake. That wasn''t something she wanted to happen. After all, she always struggled with her own looks. However, as she stared at her arms, the scales vanished. She pinched her own hand and saw how the scales appeared. This time they were even more apparent, but when she let it go, the scales would vanish almost instantly. "This is kind of cool," Hera smiled. "What happened, sweetie?" Helena was on the couch, but she turned around to see what Hera was doing. The Empress explained the skill as they ate, and soon, it came time to leave. "Hey, you guys can go ahead. I''m going to change the layout of the room. I''ll remove the tub and put a couple of showers with an area for us to change before it too. That way, we don''t have to wait for hours for everyone to clean up," Hera said. "Oh, that''s a nice idea. But I will miss the tub," Blue nodded. "Just¡­ don''t take long. We have to figure out a way to get out of here," Bonnie looked at Hera before leaving. The researcher didn''t have a good night of sleep. She kept tossing and turning the entire night, and when anyone mentioned the curse, she would become very anxious. "I won''t, don''t worry," Hera smiled. As soon as they left, she quickly set up the new bathroom layout, something she had already prepared on her tablet. Just as she finished with that, Hera sent a message to the guides, letting them know she was ready to talk to them. It didn''t take long for someone to knock on the door. Hera opened, expecting everyone that was in the group chat to walk in. However, only Peaches, Johnny, and Capri came. "Hey guys, come sit. Do you want water?" Hera tried to be polite and show that she wasn''t scared, but the expression on the guides'' faces was worrying her. It was almost as if they were coming from a funeral. "No, kid. I''m ok. Look, there is no easy way to go about it. So Johnny, can you explain the basics first? And try to be clear," Peaches looked at the lion with a seashell necklace. "Yeah, bro. I''ll explain. Hera, I''ll give you a quick lesson about the curse your friends are dealing with, but that might also make you cursed. I''m sorry, but we don''t have another way to do this. The curse can spread to other beings by knowing about it. The more you know, the stronger it gets. Eventually, it can spread to plants and then to objects, even minerals. When the curse first started, the entire Waperath Jungle was consumed by it, and the only way we had to stop it from spreading everywhere was to close off the entire room and abandon it. After about two hundred years, the curse starved out, and with some help, the room came back to what it was before." "What about the people who were cursed? Did the curse vanish when it starved?" Hera asked. "No¡­ we grabbed everyone who was cursed and locked them inside the room, letting them succumb to the last stage of the curse and eventually starve. Only when the room was 100% free of curses and could sustain life again that we allowed people to return. There''s even a dungeon about the curse back there, but I locked it since that could also make the curse spread." "Oh¡­ that''s¡­ bad," Hera looked down. "Yeah, kid, and what we are going to ask of you is bad, too," Peaches looked at the ground. He couldn''t bring himself to look Hera in the eye. "Wait, let''s say the alternative first. It''s not fair to start with the worst option right away," Capri interrupted. "Capri¡­ You shouldn''t even be here. Can you let us do what we need to?" Peaches sighed. "No! She''s Hera. She''s the first person to ever call me. I am going to help her as much as I can!" Capri huffed and flapped his wings, staring Peaches down. "Fine, you tell her then. Talk about the ''best'' option," Peaches made some air quotes appear in the air to emphasize the word best. "Ok, so here is the thing. There is a chance that you guys can get rid of the curse, but it will take a detour. There is a room five rooms away from here, and in there, there is another being like Kirouhebi, but they, along with some help from us, might be able to give you a chance to get rid of the curse. It won''t be easy, and you guys will have to rewrite history in a way, but that''s an option," Capri explained. "That''s good. But what would be the alternative? Why are you guys being so serious?" "The other option would be taking your friends to a small room nearby so we can lock it with you all inside and starve the curse again," Peaches replied. "So¡­ you are asking us to sacrifice ourselves?" Hera tried to confirm what she had heard. "Yes¡­ It''s not something I wanted to do, nor something we can force you to do," Peaches continued. "Or something that will be a guarantee. I know you talked with some of the dwarves from Boothudurn about the curse, so they might eventually get cursed at some point," Johnny was passing his hand through his mane as a nervous tick. "I''m going to be honest. I don''t know if I''m altruistic enough to accept dying like that, but if we have a chance to remove the curse, we sure as hell can try it," Hera replied. There was no doubt in her mind that not a single one of her friends would be willing to just die to kill the curse like that, especially when it was clear that it could show up again in the future. "Ok then, let''s talk about how you are going to explain this to them. We need to make it convincing, and you still can''t mention us, so that might be tricky," Peaches said with a smile, trying to break the tension, but the weight of what he had just asked of Hera still lingered in the air. 608 - The plan It took about 30 minutes to discuss the plan with Peaches, Johnny, and Capri. About halfway through their conversation, Peaches added that Shane was also in the loop. Hera never asked her friend if she could talk to the guides in her private room since that could also trigger one of her strikes for the skill, and asking about it wasn''t allowed either. The guides couldn''t say anything about other people who were still alive and well, but this situation was clearly something that allowed them to bend some of the rules. "Ok, kid. I think this is a solid plan to tell them how you found this out. Then you can ask the guide to pass any extra information to Shane or the other way around," Peaches said, "Do you have any other questions about this? We can still talk through the group chat, but a face-to-face might be an issue since you are always with your friends." "I do. Just a few. First, all the guides that I will meet between here and that room will know about this deal?" Hera asked. Johnny nodded, "They will. The last time the curse got out of control, we had a meeting with everyone since it was the type of thing that could decimate the entire MAZE. We also already talked with them about this, and they agreed to help. When you talk with them, they will give you directions to the right room and even explain if there are some weird requirements to get there." "Will I still be able to ask things about the room?" "If you are the second to call them, you will. If you are the first, I believe it will depend on the amount of information they will have to give you for you guys to reach the next room," Capri was the one who answered this time. The sheep guide was making a point to speak with less flourish than he used to to avoid any misunderstanding. "So, if they just say ''go down this tunnel and take the first left,'' I will have time for more questions?" Hera turned to Capri, getting a nod in response, "Ok, last question. Is this the only way? To get rid of the curse, I mean. If that room doesn''t work, do we have a plan b, or is that the sacrifice ourselves option? Because I''ll be honest. I don''t think I can sell that to them. I mean, none of us wants to die, much less succumb to the curse and just become that blob thing. I don''t even know if I would be willing to do that. Especially since the curse is still out there." "We do, kid. If this doesn''t work, there is another place that might have some options, but that is about 95 rooms away. It will take you all a few months to get there. Plan C would be another 600 rooms of distance, and it might be even better to go through Earth to get there, but that opens a whole new can of worms with Alex''s current situation. What would be the current best bet would be a room in a very deep layer, but I don''t think you guys could level up enough to get there in time," Peaches sighed, "I''m really sorry for springing all of this on you, kid. But, honestly, we are scared. This curse is not a joke, and the last time it happened, we had to interfere. If this were to happen now, a lot of things would change, and we might not even be able to talk with any of you anymore." "That''s ok. And at least we still have options. Also, isn''t there a legacy that might be able to fix this? Maybe if this or plan B doesn''t work, we could look into that," Hera suggested. "I mean¡­ it''s a possibility, but it will be hard to find the right kind of legacy for that. Also, they would be at risk of failing and getting cursed in exchange. That''s what happened last time," Johnny''s eyes had some hints of guilt. "Ok then. I think I''m ready to talk to everyone," Hera got up. "Be careful, kid. Even if we are asking you a lot, we still can''t stop you from getting a strike. It sucks, I know," Peaches gave a saddened smile to the Empress before the guides left her private room. Before heading out, Hera quickly called her court and told them what was going to happen, also adding the order not to mention the guides to anyone, including Shane. After that, she headed out to meet the rest of the party. Everyone was already there, and they were all talking about the current room. "Hera. Can we talk really quickly? I have something I want to run by you," Shane spoke up in a somewhat loud voice. Making sure that everyone would hear her calling the explorer to the side, "Do you guys mind waiting here for a moment? We need to talk about that thing we can''t talk about." The party nodded. They understood that the two explorers had some sort of secret skill to get information, and this might be a good moment to use it. Hera and Shane quickly walked away from the group. When they found a place that seemed safe and secluded, the Empress triggered the soundproof bubble. "So you can talk with the guides in your private room too?" Shane smiled. "Yeah, I''m glad I have someone to talk to about that. I never mentioned it because¡­" "Because you were worried about getting a strike. Don''t worry. I was doing the same." Hera smiled, "I''m glad. Now for the bad news." "Yeah¡­ So I was thinking that I should call the guide now and then tell them about the way to get rid of the curse. Then you call them and get some information about the room, but come out saying more about what we found out. Like the directions and how to get to the next room." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Let me be the one who ''discovers'' about the place that might help us get rid of the curse. I think Alex will feel less¡­ attacked if I''m the one who brought this up," Hera suggested. "Do you really think she would be offended by something like that? I mean, even after she looked in the mirror?" "I don''t know, but I also don''t know for sure if the curse will do something to make her more defensive or not. We know that it messed with her perception of what could be considered information," Hera added. "Yeah.. that''s a good point. Do you want to call them now? I''ll move back and say that you are calling the guide to get some information." Hera nodded, "Yeah, oh, and take this," she passed the safety cube to Shane," I''ll have my court stopping anyone from getting closer. When you call them, you can use this to hide." "Are you sure you don''t need this now? You can''t make a stone bunker here, can you?" Hera shook her head, "No, but Daskka can make some mist to keep me hidden, and she can tell when someone goes inside it. Not to mention we can use the Memory Filter spell to make people who look away forget about the mist. It''s a nasty thing but it still takes way too much mana to use in any other situation," the Empress called the Herald and the entire court. Shane just nodded while the snake turned into her giant silver form. She followed that up by making a large cloud of black mist to hide Hera. The blades spread out, Nimbus and Lurize beyond the mist as bodyguards, while the rest was a mix of being closer to the Empress and staying hidden in the mist. Shane took that as her cue to leave and went back to the group. With everyone ready, Hera activated the skill, "I call upon the Guide of the Belly of the Beast. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." From the red wall, something started to move. At first, Hera thought it would be something like what Laika or Kelpi did, but to her surprise, the guide appeared as if they were coming out of a bush. It was a small brown rabbit with floppy ears and a cute pink nose. They had a pair of adorable black beady eyes that made the guide look like a plushie. But that''s where the similarities with a real creature stopped. Coming from the top of their head, they had a pair of white moose antlers and a pair of bird-like wings coming from their back. The guide gave small rabbit steps until they were in front of Hera, then they turned to face her and spoke in a happy and soft voice. "Your motives being pure is an understatement." Hera chuckled, "Well, It''s not like I''m doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I mean, it does affect me." "Sure, but you are trying to help us out and following along with our plans. It still counts." Hera nodded, "I guess,, before you tell me what you need, can I just ask your name? I''m Hera, Hera Kingsley." "Of course, I am Lenomet, but my friends call me Leno. That includes you." "Already?" "Yeah. I mean, not only are you the first to come here in a very long time. You are also going through all these hoops to try to get rid of the curse. I already consider you a friend of the guides, and that includes me, so you are my friend!" "I appreciate it," Hera nodded, "So, how are we doing this?" "For starters, Capri told me how he showed you the path to Boothudurn on your map. I''ll do the same. You guys have to go to this doorway," Leno opened a map showing only the small area that Hera already had, and a line appeared from her current location to the doorway, "The thing is, getting there will either take you four, or twenty-eight hours." "Why is that?" Hera tilted her head. "Bad timing. There is a colony of monsters who migrate every two months here, and you got here on the day they do that. If you want, you can try to bulldoze your way past them, but there are thousands of them. And they are very protective of their colony. But aside from that, they are pretty chill unless you are in the nest, then you are screwed," Leno continued. "Oh.. ok. If we wanted to go today, would we need to run?" "Yep. You have about two hours to get there, and it will be hard to find any other monsters around. They all get scared of the colony." "What are the monsters? Like bugs?" "Sort of¡­ it''s hard to explain, but imagine a mix of a scorpion with a tree and a cheetah." "That sounds horrifying," Hera''s eyes were wide, staring at Leno. She couldn''t help but think that this room might be a place that would only have mixed creatures, and the guide was the perfect poster being for it. "Well, I''m used to them. To me, they are cute, but I understand your point. Anyway, unfortunately, because of what I''m doing, you won''t have time to ask questions, but I can give you a single one if it''s not too big." "I have one. Is there a place here where we could get some food that can last long? Or a place that can give us a lot of salt so we can make some rations? Since we are going on a long trip, I wanted to stock up, and I know some rooms might not have food or water," Hera asked. "Yes, there is a place," Leno replied and stopped talking. After a moment of silence, Hera let out a long sigh, realizing that she had made a mistake, but Leno started laughing, "Oh, c''mon, that was too easy. Don''t worry. I won''t monkey paw you like that. There is a dungeon down this road that can drop what you are looking for. I can''t say exactly what, but you will see. Also, I think it will help you guys feel better about this room." Hera chuckled, "Thanks. Before I forget, can you also tell Shane everything you told me? We might need that to match our stories." Leno nodded, "Yep, Peaches talked with me about it, but you still have to ask me to do that. It''s part of the rules." "Those are weird rules." "Tell me about it, but still. We have to follow them." Hera nodded, "Yeah. But thanks for all the help." "Anytime, and can I message you?" "Of course." Leno said his goodbyes and jumped on the wall, vanishing as if he was walking through the woods. Hera just called Daskka over and walked back to the group. She had a plan on how to explain what she found out, and she could only hope that everyone would accept her suggestion. 609 - Convincing the cursed Hera walked back to the group, having almost depleted her mana by using the Elemental Memory Armor on Daskka so she could transfer it to the mist. Because she was doing it with something that was constantly moving, the spell took massive amounts of mana. The Empress only had one thing in her mind as she moved, she was worried about Alex''s reaction, but it wasn''t time to hesitate. "Hey guys," she said as she finally got close to them. "Hey, did you find something useful?" Helena asked. "Yeah... I did. But it wasn''t so much about this place," Hera turned to Alex, "I asked if there was a way for us to get rid of the curse without hurting you or anyone affected by it." "You did what?!" Alex yelled, rage filling her eyes instantly, and the black veins became more prominent. "I found a way to get rid of the curse without hurting any of us," Hera replied without missing a beat. "How dare you?! Who do you think you are to decide if this is something I need to get rid of?" Alex barked, spitting the words out of her mouth in a way that they were barely comprehensible. "So you think the curse is a good thing?" "Yes!" Alex stopped, blinked a few times, and continued in a soft voice, "No, it''s not. But you still don''t have the right to tell me what to do!" the assassin returned to being angry at the end of her sentence. Hera nodded, "You are right. I don''t have the right to tell you what to do, but I am your friend, and I have the right to help you whether you like it or not. So yeah, I used the thing that gives me information to try to take that shit out of you. Not because I think you are doing badly now or that you can''t handle it, but because I want to be able to talk to you about the good old days when we are older. And I mean talk to you, not whatever kind of blob monster you might become if that curse gets worse," the Empress turned to Bonnie, and more specifically, Ruby, who was on the researcher''s shoulder, "No offense. You are a different kind of blob." "But you¡­" Alex shook her head, "Fuck! What is happening to me?" "I think it''s the curse," Bonnie touched Alex''s shoulder, "Do you remember how it messed with your head and made you think that knowing what it could do wasn''t the same as knowing about it? That happened when just your eyes were black. Now I think the curse might be affecting you in different ways." The assassin took a very deep breath, "You are right. Hera, I''m sorry. What did you find?" Hera smiled, "You don''t have to apologize. Now I found out a few things. First, there is a place somewhat close by where we might be able to get rid of the curse. The way the answer was phrased makes me think it''s not a sure thing, but it didn''t sound like it was because of the conditions in that place. I asked for some clarification, and apparently, it''s because this curse is a unique thing, and removing it is not something that had ever happened before, so the answers I got were all conjecture. I might be wrong, but I also think that I got so much information about this because most of the answers I got were not certain, so it was a way to make up for the possible wrong information." When Hera said that line, Shane gave her a look of genuine surprise. She never considered explaining things that way. It wouldn''t be strange if, in the future, they couldn''t get so much information about something else. "Is that how it works?" Blue asked. "I have no idea. These are all the reasons I''m taking out of my ass to make sense of all of this," Hera sighed, hoping that her acting skills were on point."Anyway, I found out that there is a place about five rooms away that might be able to help us remove the curse. If that doesn''t work, there are a couple of other options, but they will be far away from the current room." "How far?" Adriel asked after glancing at Alex. "I only got a rough estimate, and I can''t get the actual names of the rooms, only the directions. But one would be close to 100 rooms away, and the other about 600. In that case, it could be better to just move through Earth according to the answers I got. Plan C is not the last option, there are others, but I didn''t focus on that. Let''s go one step at a time," Hera continued. "Ok, that''s good. Right? Like we got lucky that there is a place close by that might help us," Blue smiled. "Yeah, even if it''s just a shot in the dark, it''s better than nothing," Helena nodded. "Ok, so everyone agrees? We are going to try to get rid of the curse now," Hera looked at the group. Everyone nodded in response, "I''m glad. I was ready to argue with anyone who said no," the Empress glanced at Blue and chuckled. "Hey, I might miss my family, but I''m not crazy enough to go see them while I''m cursed. I was already thinking about that. What if I go back home and end up spreading this? If you didn''t say anything, I was going to," Blue crossed her arms. "Blue, I didn''t mean anything bad by it. It''s just that I know how much you want to go back home," Hera tried to appease her friend. "Well, ok. What''s the name of the room we have to go to then? Or how do we get there?" Alex asked. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "I don''t actually know. Names are considered big pieces of information, so asking about that would cost me a lot. But it''s not like we don''t have any other options. I managed to get some questions that Shane could ask to get more information about that, but since the actual questions mention the thing we do, I can''t say that now," Hera continued. "Ok, can we talk over there then?" Shane asked. "If no one else wants to ask something, sure," Hera looked at the group, and no one seemed to have any doubts about her plan, not any that could be answered right now, at least, "Ok then." Hera and Shane walked back to where Hera called the guide. When the Empress activated the soundproof bubble, Shane asked. "Do you really have a question to give me?" "Kind of. Just ask the guide to tell you what I asked them to tell you. They should give you some of the information I got free of charge. Hopefully." Shane nodded and activated the safety cube as Hera left and walked back to the group. She talked a bit with the rest of the party about how everyone was doing. "I have some bad news," Adriel scratched the back of his head." "More?" Mylo raised one eyebrow. "Yeah¡­ I got the title." "Shit¡­ at least we know when it happens. When your eyes start to go bad," Blue sighed. "Yeah, that''s what I was thinking too," Adriel nodded. "Right¡­ and Alex, I want to ask you a favor," Bonnie turned to the assassin. "What?" "Since many of us are cursed already, and we don''t think it will take long for it to affect me, Lena, and Hera, if you think about asking the curse something, let someone else do it. That way, we can minimize the progression of your curse." "But that will make someone else''s curse progress!" Alex gasped. "Yes, but we know what the progression looks like. It''s better for us to avoid figuring out what the next stage is as much as possible. So let us get worse before you do," Bonnie continued. "But what if the curse stops that?" Alex asked. "I highly doubt that will happen. The curse wants to spread. It doesn''t matter how. Making someone with a small version of it get more cursed would be just as good as advancing yours. Actually, it might be even better. That way, it has more people who can potentially spread it." "Right¡­ that does make sense," Alex looked down. She almost seemed disappointed. Realizing that, Blue couldn''t help but chuckle. "Oh, please. Don''t tell me that you are upset because of that." "No! ¡­ Maybe a little. I don''t know. Maybe this is some weird kind of Stockholm Syndrome, or just me thinking that I was special, and that''s why I got cursed and not Hera," Alex huffed. "You are special, and not just to us," Hera got closer to Alex, looking into her eyes despite the fear that caused the Empress, "I honestly don''t know if any of us would be able to fight against that curse for so long. Blue wouldn''t be able to stop talking about it, Bonnie and Lena would want to study it, and I would probably freak out and run away so I wouldn''t hurt anyone. You are the only one of us that could face this head-on for so long and keep going as you did." Alex opened her mouth a couple of times but eventually stopped trying to fight the compliment and smiled, "Thanks. I don''t know if I believe in all of that, but thanks." They continued talking, and soon ten minutes went by. That was a lot more time than what Hera spent with the guide before Shane finally returned. "Hey, is everything ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah, it was just a lot of information for me to get. First, I got a path to the doorway leading us to the right room. Here let me pass that to you," Shane opened her tablet and shared the map data with everyone. Hera already had that, but this would allow her to talk about it without raising any suspicions, "Another thing. We can''t go today. Apparently, some monsters are migrating, and it would be too much for us. They are crossing the only road we have to take to the doorway, or at least, they will start that soon, and even if we run now, we wouldn''t get there before they start. Maybe Nimbus could get there in time, but since the path has a lot of sharp turns, I think we would end up getting hurt if we do the drone sled thing. But I managed to find out that there is a dungeon down this path that can drop some sort of rations for us. Like food that we can take on a long trip." "Oh, that''s a good idea. We don''t know where we might end up, and bringing the meat we got from here might not be the best option," Helena nodded. Hera didn''t say anything. She didn''t care about the praise, only that her idea helped. "Did you find anything else?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah. Unlike what the name suggests, we are not inside a monster, but I don''t know where we are. Also, we don''t have to worry about traps, pools of acid, or anything like that here. And the monsters are straightforward. No mimicking us, invisibility or camouflage, mind control or illusions. They are just burly and hit hard. The only thing is that ones who are migrating do have poison." "Ok, that''s good overall. So should we go to the dungeon? To see what kind of rations we would find?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I think that''s our best game plan. The migration will continue until tomorrow afternoon, so we have a day to kill. Not to mention, I would be down for taking it easy after everything that happened yesterday," Adriel stretched and groaned like an old man getting out of a chair, even if he spent the entire time standing up. "I agree," Helena nodded, "Let''s check that dungeon. One way or another, we can get a bonus for completing it for the first time. Who knows, maybe it will be the first time anyone ever completes that dungeon, although that feels a bit like a stretch." "Yeah, we are right by a place where a lot of people lived, even if getting here was complicated," Bonnie nodded, "But the rewards should be interesting, and the rations are a big plus. We already have a way of getting water, right?" Hera nodded, "We have my bottled creek. It makes 50 liters per day, which should be more than enough for all of us. Thankfully Nimbus, Lurize, and the others don''t need to drink. Otherwise, we would be in trouble." "Ok then. To the dungeon!" Blue cheered and started walking but stopped after a few meters, "Think you can use the spyglass, Bonnie?" "Yeah, yeah," Bonnie pulled her spyglass and used it to track the location of the dungeon since Hera and Shane didn''t have directions to it as they did with the doorway. The group started walking while the Empress had both worries and hopes in her mind. The curse was spreading fast, and for it to be something that even the guides were interfering with, it had to be serious. But at the same time, that meant that they had a large group of powerful beings willing to do whatever they could to help them get rid of it. It was hard to tell what the odds would say about their chances of getting rid of it, but one thing Hera knew was that she had friends in high places watching over her. 610 - Fight for Entertainment Getting to the dungeon was surprisingly easy. All they had to do was to walk down the road to the right of the doorway where they arrived. About half an hour later, they reached what clearly was a dungeon entrance. Embedded into the wall was a golden gate with a yellow honeycomb pattern and a garnet symbol in the middle. It looked like a minimalistic version of a bee, or a wasp, with long wings moving to the back of the body, a pair of antennae on top, and a small pointy tip on the bottom of it. They couldn''t see anything beyond the gate. At first, they thought it was because of the tunnel behind it, but it didn''t take long for them to realize that the black was actually part of the structure, a backdrop to accentuate the other colors. "That is kind of pretty," Shane said. "Yeah, the symbol looks like those minimalistic high-class jewelry companies," Bonnie nodded. "I''ll take your word for it. I never paid too much attention to that kind of thing," Hera walked towards the gate, "This should be the dungeon, right?" "The spyglass says yes," Bonnie double-checked and then looked around, "There is another¡­ something there," she pointed to the left and a bit up, but in that direction, there was just a wall. "Well.. the tunnel continues through here, so there might be another dungeon if we keep going. Or that one might be on the other side of the room. I think we should just try this one," Helena said. "Yeah. I mean, we were looking for rations, right? If this is about bees, then we might get honey, and that is the only food that doesn''t spoil," Adriel nodded. "We go then?" Mylo asked. "I think so. Any objections?" Alex asked. The party agreed and pushed the gate open, but it didn''t work. Instead, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the dungeon Hive Entertainment? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They all pressed yes, and then the gate opened, splitting the bee/wasp symbol right in the middle. Inside they were met with another tunnel just like the one they were in, with the red pulsating walls still making it seem like they were passing through something''s digestive tract and the putrid smell that assaulted their noses. But soon, things started to change. A honeycomb pattern appeared around the walls, almost cutting through the red and turning to a warm orange and yellow. From the back, they could see the tunnel turning to the left and light coming from that area. Everyone walked slowly and carefully, already with their weapons at hand. The light wasn''t from the outside or something like that. Instead, it was just part of the hive structure. Some of the honeycombs were glowing, creating a very beautiful and elegant light for the place. Now the red walls were gone, giving way to a very long corridor adorned with gold. Everything still felt a lot like a beehive, but it was something one would expect to exist in a kingdom, not just something made by animals, much less insects. After five minutes of walking through that straight corridor, they arrived at a door. Much more ornate than the gate, with silver and gold embossed trim covering everything. They could see more small details that seemed to be carved by hand. Small wings, flowers, and patterns that didn''t seem to represent anything but would connect the other engravings with such grace that it was hard not to be in awe of everything. Just as everyone got a bit closer to the doors to see those details, they shifted and opened, revealing a large throne room inside. If they thought the corridor leading to this place was fancy, the inside was on a whole different level. Pristine walls with metal adornments that looked both ancient and just carved. A floor that made their steps echo, but the sound bounced in a melodic way, almost as if it was the beginning of a song. The throne itself was closer to a bench, without the back of the seat, but the cushion seemed to be some sort of liquid amber. Whoever sat there would always be about two meters above everyone else, looking down at those in the rest of the room, but it was currently empty. In the center of the hall, between the walls and the ceiling, were four pillars, each decorated differently. One pillar had a single flower growing out of its base, while another had several leaves intertwined together, forming shapes resembling people, but they were wearing some very odd sets of armor with some large hooks coming out of their shoulders. Another pillar featured three birds flying away from each other, with tigers, lizards, alligators, and other animals all running from the base to the top. The last one was covered in vines and fruits, including grapes, pears, apples, peaches, and many others. Everything seemed to have been made by the best craftsman that ever lived, and just being in this place made them all feel unworthy. The feeling wasn''t completely natural either, but something that emanated from the walls. They all stood in silence for a moment before moving forward again. It took them a few seconds to realize where they were standing. There weren''t any stairs, which meant they needed to climb a ladder to reach the throne, but before they could do anything, a voice came from the side. "You have finally arrived. Welcome," it was impossible to tell who was speaking, not only because they had yet to show themselves but because it kept changing. At first, it sounded like a man with a deep voice, but then it changed to a feminine high, pitched sound that could never be from the same person. "We were expecting you before we could start. I hope you are able to provide the entertainment that we expect," another voice came from the other side of the room. It still wasn''t coming from the throne, but the odd change in pitch was still present, even if it seemed to be from a different person. "And how can we help you with that?" Shane asked. The sounds of footsteps echoed through the throne room, forming a melody much more intricate than the one created by Hera and her friends. From the left, a figure appeared. They wore a long yellow dress covering both their feet and a black bustier, almost like an exoskeleton. Their arms were covered in tight black gloves with small claws at the edge of the fingers and a puffy white scarf around their neck. But when their face came into view, it became clear that they were not wearing clothes. That being was similar to an insect. The dress was their wings wrapped around their bodies, the bustier was actually an exoskeleton, and they were not wearing gloves. Looking at their faces, Hera could see where the chin would part to reveal the mandibles, and they had large black eyes that took over half of their faces. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "We are utterly bored. And we have a game we like to play. Alas, even that wasn''t enough, and with countless matches, we eventually grew tired of even that," the second voice spoke, and another bipedal insect appeared. This one was very similar to the first but smaller and had a long cape following them from behind. That was a secondary pair of wings that was much bigger than the first one. The colors were not only less vibrant than the ones used by the first figure but also seemed to be inverted. Instead of having a yellow dress with black gloves, they had a black dress with yellow gloves. The cape was the only orange thing in this figure. Both of them were very bee-like, but the way they moved and talked was aggressive, which made Hera think that they could be wasps instead. "And what is that game? If you don''t mind me asking," Helena added. "It is quite simple. We gather two groups and give each group a type of benefit. Then we place them in the plains below and let them fight. Those who win survive and are rewarded based on the number of kills they got. Those who lose perish, and well¡­ Let''s just say the younglings always need feeding," the first figure replied. "And we are to participate in that?" Hera asked. "That is correct. We have tried all possibilities and know the outcomes. That''s why we are introducing a new variable on the field. You all. As long as you survive, you will be rewarded, of course. And if you die, well, that is hardly our problem. You knew what you signed up for," the second figure continued. "Speaking of which. We have yet to decide on the teams. I believe it''s your time to pick first, and the selection we have today is one we haven''t seen in a while," the first figure said. "True. I''ll take the tribe and the plants. It''s been a while since we had that combination." "So that leaves me with the beasts and the fruit. You know this team won most of its fights, don''t you?" The second figure smiled, "Yes, but who doesn''t love an underdog story." "Well, now all we have to do is decide the team our new combatants will be in," the first figure looked at the party, "You know what. I''m in a good mood today. Not only will we have a battle, but we will have them participating in that. Not to mention that even the Queen might be coming to join us soon. So let them pick. What do you say?" they turned to the second figure. "I agree. Tell me, what team would you like to join? My Yellow team, or.." "My Black team?" the first figure finished their sentence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found the dungeon quest. Fight for Entertainment. The leaders of the Yellow and the Black team invited you to participate in one of their periodic fights. Choose a team and lead them to victory to complete the dungeon. First-time rewards: 180 000 gold Noble Wasp''s gift. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess this answers what they are," Shane mumbled. "Yeah¡­ and¡­ Hang on," Hera turned to the Black and Yellow wasps, "Would you allow us to discuss amongst ourselves for a moment? Just so we can come to a decision, we all agree." "Very well, but don''t take long. The battle will start soon, with or without you," the Black wasp, the one with the long orange wings that were being used as a cape, said. "Thank you," Hera nodded and turned back to the group. However, before starting to talk, she triggered a Soundproof Bubble around them all. "Would you look at that? Those warriors can even stop us from hearing what they say," the Yellow wasp smiled. "Today''s battle will be very interesting," the Black wasp replied. "Ok, those guys are assholes. We can all agree to that, right?" Blue asked the group. "Of course, and beating the crap out of them is probably what we would need to do to trigger the hard mode. That whole noble bullshit pisses me off even as a trope," Alex nodded. "We should be able to do that. I couldn''t see their names, but they are just level 31," Adriel nodded. "Hang on. We came here for rations or something like that. Did the answers you got mention anything about the hard mode?" Helena turned to Shane. Shane thought for a moment before replying, "Not really. It sounded more like it would be easy to get. If that is the case, I don''t think it would be in the hard mode." "So we might need to just go for the normal clear," Bonnie sighed, "If that''s the case. I think we should go with the tribe or whatever. Being allies with beasts might not work. What if they decided that we are their enemies all of a sudden?" "Hang on," Shane said and walked out of the bubble, "Apologies for the delay. However, we have one inquiry about this battle if you allow us." "Speak," the Yellow wasp said. "Would the other members of our team be a possible threat to us? Say, if we decided to side with the beasts, could they attack us in a moment of frenzy?" The Yellow wasp chuckled, opening its mandibles ever so slightly, "Worry not. Once you are part of a team, the members of said team will never harm you intentionally. But attacks that cover a large area or if they are mind controlled are different situations altogether." "I see. Thank you for your answers. I ask you to wait for just a few more moments as we finish our decision," Shane gave them a small bow and walked back inside the soundproof bubble, "I hate talking like that. So there is that. The beasts should be stronger, and we might have a better time if we are on their side." "But we will have to fight with monsters that don''t think that much. If we go with the tribe, we might be able to use some different strategies," Bonnie added. "I agree. It''s better to fight with something we are more used to by our side. If we just go with the beasts, we might struggle to match their pace," Mylo nodded. "I would rather fight monsters than people. We also have to take that into account," Hera said. After everyone agreed to that, the Empress deactivated the bubble, and they turned to the wasps. Shane stepped forward again, "We will join the Yellow team." The two wasps seemed to smile, almost as if they knew that this would make the battle even more exciting. Without saying anything, they gestured to the center of the room, between the pillars. "Should we stand there?" Blue asked, getting a simple nod in response. The party walked to the honeycomb platform, and when they were all on top of it, the entire thing shifted, lowering them and revealing the outside world. Looking up, they could see a large wasp nest attached to something. Looking back, they realized that if they were indeed outside the ''Belly of the Beast,'' the beast in question wasn''t a monster but a mountain-sized red tree with blue leaves. And beneath them, there was a large grassy hillside where the battle would soon ensue. 611 - Yellow Team "Are we there yet?" Mylo asked. The fighter was in the center of the platform, standing completely still while holding Shane''s hand tightly. "We are almost there, big guy, don''t worry. Keep your eyes closed, ok?" Shane patted his shoulder. "I don''t get it. You weren''t scared when we went to Sky, and we were much higher up there," Blue tilted her head. "I don''t know if we were that much higher," Bonnie looked up towards the tree, "In the Abyssal Deep, we didn''t have anything big enough to work as a landmark. Well, there was the raft, but it was just a flat thing on the ground. Having a mountain would be better to measure height." "Doesn''t matter. We were safe then," Mylo replied. "And we are not now?" Blue pressed. "No. There are no railings, no barrier, nothing that stops us from falling down by accident," Mylo continued. Everyone looked around to the edge of the platform. Even if it was very wide, and there were around seven meters between them and the end of this hexagonal flying structure, knowing that they could fall like that made everyone feel somewhat worried. Hera started to nervously chuckle, "C''mon, there is no way. Nimbus, do you mind showing how we can''t fall from here?" "Of course, Empress," Nimbus took his bipedal form and walked to the edge. When they entered the throne room, Hera told her court to stay in their weapon form. That way, if there were any attacks, they could catch the enemies off guard. When the Sentinel reached the edge of the platform, he noticed that there was no barrier or anything like that anywhere. Thinking it might be funny, he simply took a step forward and plummeted to the ground. "Nimbus!" Hera yelped. Worried that he could get hurt. "See, I told you. We can just fall here, and that''s it!" Mylo gasped and tightened his hold on Shane''s hand. "Ouch, ouch, ouch. I know you are scared, but take it easy. My hand is not made out of rubber," Shane slapped Mylo''s shoulder and tried to take her hand away, but the fighter wasn''t about to let her do that. However, he did loosen his grip so as not to hurt her. "Is he ok?" Alex asked. "I don''t know!" Hera gasped. She could still feel her titled blade, but he wasn''t replying. The Sentinel flew under the platform and appeared on the opposite side with a smirk on his face, "I am completely fine. Thank you for worrying about me." "You dick!" Blue yelled and tossed a cloud punch at him that was easily dodged. "That was really mean, Nimbus," Hera huffed. "It was also really funny," Daskka smiled but got a flick on her head from the Empress. "My apologies. I couldn''t resist. But yes, this platform doesn''t stop you from falling, so it is a good idea to stay in the center. I can fly beside you all, that way. If anyone were to trip, I could catch them," the Sentinel suggested. "Consider yourself lucky. If it weren''t for the fact that we are going to a fight right now, I would tell you to fly down by yourself. And I know you can''t just dive to the ground right away," Hera huffed, still annoyed by the prank. ''I consider myself lucky ever since I joined you, my Empress,'' Nimbus replied in Hera''s mind, knowing that she wouldn''t like to have the entire group hearing that. That worked to a point, the problem was that he didn''t try to speak only to the Empress, and the entire court heard his words. They started booing and groaning. ''C''mon. Don''t you have a better line than that?'' Core sounded very annoyed. ''I hope you are not trying to hit on the Empress,'' Frost snickered. ''Booo, stop trying to kiss her ass, boo,'' Daskka waved her tail. ''Shut up, all of you! You are only upset because I said it first!'' ''So what? You already have a title, and now you want to get another leg up on us,'' Edge added. "Hera? Are you ok?" Blue asked, noticing how her ears were starting to turn red. "Yeah, don''t worry about it. The court is just rowdy today," Hera replied and looked away to avoid any follow-up questions doing her best to ignore the argument her blades were having. As they got closer to the ground, they saw a large group of people moving in the hills wearing some strange armor covered in fur. They were going to the left side, where there was a large Yellow banner and a yellow mark on the ground. Paying a bit more attention, they could also see some vines and other plants growing there. To the other side, about five hundred meters away in the opposite direction, there was another set of banner and mark, but those were black instead. The beings moving around in that area were also different. Instead of people, there were hundreds of beasts, but it was hard to identify them. Some walked on four legs, while others were more monkey-like. Some had wings, and others had long tails. All of them also seemed to be eating something in a more or less orderly fashion. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. When the platform landed, the group heard the voice of the wasps once more, "Since you are new to this event, I shall explain a few details. First, you need to walk to the Yellow area since that''s where your team is. Your goal is to defeat the opposing team. There is no trick to that. You just need to kill all of them. If one is still alive, the game is still going. Being part of the Yellow team, you will have at your disposal some plants. What you can do with those plants is up to you. The tribe will be able to help you do whatever you want with that. To participate in this event, they became a simple bunch who can do wonders as workers. So long as they have someone to direct them. Usually, this particular team composition requires a very¡­ hands-on approach on my part. However, this is why you are here. So I''ll leave the command of the troops to you. You have twenty minutes before the battle begins. Until then, neither side can cross the middle of the field. You are free to prepare however you wish, and make sure to give us a good show." They assumed that they heard the Yellow Wasp talking, but it was hard to tell. Both their voices sounded the same, having the pitch change with each sound they made. As their team owner finished speaking, a black and yellow glow appeared in the middle of the hill, splitting the area in two, with each team on one side of the barrier. "Let''s move quickly. 20 minutes is not a lot of time," Bonnie said, and the group rushed towards the Yellow field to meet with the rest of the tribe. Everyone hurried along, and when they arrived, they were all surprised by the sight. The tribe in fur-covered armor was actually made of bipedal mammoth-looking creatures. Looking at them now made it clear that they were the same ones that were depicted in the pillar before. The large hooks coming from the armor were, in fact, the massive tusks, and the apparent large head and body were only like that because of the enormous trunk that hung all the way to their knees. "Oh¡­ hi?" Blue greeted the first group of mammoths that they saw. The beings just looked at them with dead eyes. Still, she tried again, "Hello?... Can you hear me?" With that question, the mammoths nodded, but it still looked as if they were not fully there. "Is it just me, or do they seem off? Like the lights are on, but there is no one home," Adriel asked. "Yeah.. they do seem weird¡­ Do you think they did something to force them to be like that?" Hera asked. "Maybe, but then again, I don''t think this dungeon is about something that actually happened. It doesn''t look much like the place we were in," Alex nodded, "Should I find that out? If this place really is a dungeon about what happened in the past, or not?" "Alex¡­ remember what we talked about? If we are using the curse, let''s let someone else ask the question," Bonnie tried not to sound annoyed, knowing that this shouldn''t be Alex''s fault, but the curse''s. "Right¡­ Does anyone want to try that?" Alex turned to the group, seemingly oblivious to the risk. "Hang on. Do you guys think we will need Yarnball in this place? I can just use it to figure that out," Hera suggested. Shane stopped everyone by pushing Alex forward, "Let''s try to figure that out after the dungeon. We only have 20 minutes before we have to fight." They continued moving around the area, trying to talk with the mammoths, and eventually, Mylo introduced himself to them, allowing the group to learn their name. Apparently, they were Xandari warriors, but that was all anyone managed to find out. When they found the plants, everyone realized that this was actually quite intuitive. There were a few bags of seeds that would be grown instantly when tossed on the ground, and in front of the bags, there was a fully grown version of the plant. Amongst them, a few seemed much more useful. One seed would create a large area of spiked thorns that would damage anyone passing by them. Another could create a bellflower that attracts animals to it. There was one that could make a large bush that would be shooting out berries at their enemies. They weren''t able to deal too much damage by themselves, but the sheer amount of projectiles could suppress some of the targets. Lastly, there was a seed for a hedge that could withstand some damage before it broke down. "Ok¡­ so how do we do this? I think using the vines in front and then having the bellflowers to lure the monsters into kill zones for the bushes, and then the hedges could be some cover for us to hit them from a distance, could work," Bonnie suggested. "I think we should put the hedges in front. Then the vines with some of the bellflowers in the middle and the bushes in the back. That way, we can thin the horde by dealing with the strongest ones first and then with the rest," Shane retorted. "I think I have a better idea. We can¡­" Adriel started, but Blue cut him off quickly. "No! We are not doing that. We only have twenty minutes, and we are not going to waste that discussing plans. Everyone splits off, and we prepare like we want. When the time is up, we gather somewhere for the fight. Ok?" Blue looked around, and everyone seemed to agree. During the months they stayed together in a dangerous place, talking a lot about plans became something that happened frequently. Not so much because they had to come up with new ideas, but because they didn''t have anything else to do, and planning things out became a good way to pass the time. After saying that, Blue picked a handful of seeds from each of the plants and called a few of the Xandari to help her set them up around the area. The rest of the party didn''t say anything and spread out to do the same. However, Bonnie quickly rushed towards Hera. "Hey, can I ask for a quick favor?" "Sure, what''s up?" the Empress still sent her court to move around and scout the place. They were looking for anything that could be hidden or things that could improve their chances. "Can you take Ruby to the sky and let her see the field? Then we can use her as a map for the battle plan," Bonnie offered the red slime to Hera. "Sure, that shouldn''t take long. But can she even see things from that high up?" "She can. I tested it out before. She can turn herself into a small diorama, and then I can ask her to add the traps in certain locations to see if my plan will work. It might also help to tell the Xandari where they could place the seeds." Hera nodded, "Ok, give her here. Nimbus, we are going up." Bonnie passed Ruby to Hera, and they took to the skies. The field was very different from what she expected. Even if this was called a hillside, there were no actual hills. None that was of any relevance, at least. The center of the field was a bit taller than the rest, but the entire thing was very flat, and the two sides were mirrored. This was both good and bad. It meant that no one had an advantageous position, but it also meant that there was nothing Hera could use in the environment to increase their odds. Then again, if they played defense, they would already be in a better position. Being able to install traps would artificially tilt the scales to their side. Looking to the other camp, all the beasts were looking down, eating something, and changing. Some would sprout wings, others catch on fire or become stark white while the ground underneath them froze. Maybe that was the effect of the fruit she saw in the pillar. After all, each pillar seemed to have either a group or a benefit. So it would make sense for the monsters to get something to level the playfield. When she felt she had given Ruby enough time to get the information, Hera told Nimbus to rush down. She also had a few ideas about how she could make the life of the Black team harder, and she had precious little time to put her plan in motion. 612 - The barrier drops Hera jumped on top of Nimbus as the griffon dashed through the field. The alarm she had set up to match the 20 minutes they had before the fight started had just rung, and she was right in front of the barrier, placing a few of her seeds on the ground. Not that she was too worried after all, she made sure to give her a minute to spare and return to the Yellow area in the field where the rest of the team was located. The Xandari warriors were all ready for combat. A few of them even were standing in different war formations. It seemed like Bonnie taught the concept of a Phalanx to a few while Mylo and Adriel made smaller battalions with 20 or so members using different weapons that complemented each other. Shane also had a good idea. She gathered all the archers and told them to split into two groups who would alternate while firing. That way, a constant stream of arrows would rain down on the Black team. Even with most of the preparation out of the way, Hera still had one thing left to do, but she needed some seeds for that. Since the entire party had gathered before the fight started, she took the chance to ask everyone, "Guys, do you have any seeds left? Any seed, but the vines and the hedge would be better." "I have some, but I thought about using them during the battle. Do you have a better plan?" Shane asked. "I don''t know if it''s better, but it''s different. But it''s going to take too long to explain. Keep whatever you want, but I need as many seeds as possible," Hera said. Aside from Bonnie and Shane, everyone gave her all the remaining seeds. It was enough to fill a pouch, but she was still unsure if it would be enough for her plan. Either way, she knew what she would need to do if there were some missing. "Nimbus, Lurize, come here," Hera called, and the two titled blades took their bipedal forms, already kneeling in front of her since they were aware of her plans, "Nimbus, take the seed and place them in the locations we talked about. Armory will be going with you to help you plant them in the right spots, and I''ll give you 100k mana since you are not getting too far away from me." ''Hera¡­ are you sure about that? Who is going to watch over you while you fight?'' Armory asked. ''Scythe will take care of that. And as soon as you two are done, you will come back, but if this works, we are going to have a big advantage in the fight,'' the Empress replied. ''We got her back. Don''t worry about it,'' Scythe added. Nimbus kissed Hera''s hand to get the mana from the Royal Quest skill and grabbed the bag of seeds as Armory floated to his head before the sentinel dashed to the left at full speed. Seeing that, the Empress turned to Lurize, "For you, another 100k mana. During this fight, feel free to move around as you see fit, and if anyone is in trouble, go help them. Core, you will go with him. Both of you are free to fight and go all out. Just keep an eye out for Ooze''s call. That''s the signal that shit hit the fan. Are the two of you ok pairing up? Or do you want to change the pair?" "What do you think, ready for an outing, Core?" Lurize turned to the rapier. ''Let''s kill some beasts!'' Core said excitedly. Lurize nodded and placed Hera''s hand where his mouth would be, receiving the mana. He got up and moved around with Core for a bit so both could get used to the feeling of being away from the Empress. The barrier started to disappear from the top slowly, and Hera noticed that the Xandari seemed to be ready to dash, but that would mean they would also be hit by the traps they had set up. "Hey, guys. Are they going to just rush in?" Hera asked. The group looked around, and they had to agree that it seemed like they were all gearing up to run. Bonnie looked at the group she taught and saw how they also seemed to be ready to move, "I never said that they should wait here, but it sounded like an obvious thing." "Crap," Hera used her stone wall to make a platform under her and hoped the [Chain of Command] skill would trigger for them to, "Xandari warriors do not rush at them! We are playing defense. Let the monsters come to us and only fight them when they pass the traps we set up." Hearing that, all of the Xandari warriors changed their stance. They took a defensive position, some raising their shields while others putting their spears in front of them, ready to impale any incoming monsters. "Honestly. If the wasps treat this like a strategy game, the least they could do was set this up properly," Hera sighed as she dropped from the stone pillar. At the same time she hit the ground, the barrier dividing the middle of the plains. The sound of paws and hooves quickly followed a cacophony of roars and legs stomping the grassy hills, making them rumble as the stampede of monsters emerged from the top of the hill. It was hard to tell what each of them was. Not only did they have unique appearances, but there were elemental effects and mutations going from elemental buffs to an extra head, tail, and arm. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Just as the monsters crossed the middle point of the field, the traps they placed started to work. First, everyone agreed there should be a layer of thorns to start thinning the horde. Some of the smaller critters, like horned rabbits, jumping geckos, and all sorts of mutated or elemental rodents could pass through that area without receiving damage. However, when they reached a certain size, the vines became a deadly trap, opening large gashes all around their bodies that were compelled to keep moving despite their injuries. As the bigger creatures appeared, they were less damaged by the thorns, but it was still enough to be annoying. A large bull with stone horns stopped before the first layer of vines and lowered his head, pulling some of the earth from the ground before he charged forward with the barrier of dirt in front of him. This attack managed to rip some of the vines from the ground and create a path for the other beasts, but it was just a small line of ground that funneled some of the monsters to the next set of traps. Blue had put some hedges that grew in a straight line with the berry-shooting bushes on top. Somehow, that worked despite the lack of dirt on the top of the freshly created living fence. After seeing that, Alex did something similar, but instead, she made a half circle with the hedges and put a bellflower in the middle to lure even more monsters there. Everyone else had a similar version of that same setup. Some of them added vines inside the kill box to help get rid of the monsters even faster. The archers of the tribe were also firing nonstop, adding to the damage that was being dealt to the beasts. However, they were still coming, and the more time passed, the bigger the monsters that appeared became. What was first a bunch of rats, squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons, already became cheetahs, wolfs, and bulls. Hera and her friends wanted to start attacking, but they knew that most of their spells would interfere with the traps and that it would be better if they waited for them to be closer. The Empress tried sending a few poison needles, but since the targets were too far away, the attacks missed. Only now that she considered coating the vines in poison, but it wasn''t like she could do anything about that now. "Oh, no..." Bonnie gasped when a spider, much larger than any of the other creatures, emerged from the back. It was actually much closer than anyone could imagine, being almost halfway through the traps, but it was invisible, and only now it came into view. It wasn''t alone, either. More spiders appeared on the sides. They seemed to be all variations of the same one, but each had a different mutation. They had larger legs or bodies, more fangs, and even some hair growing from their belly. On a good note, the creatures were covered in arrows, and they already seemed to be bleeding quite a lot. But that wasn''t the problem. Since the spiders were so big and they were towering over all of the creatures, they were also working as a barrier to protect the beasts from the attacks. To top it all off, one was also covering the path the earth bull had opened, allowing some monsters to pass by without being damaged by any of the traps. That creature stopped at the bellflower for a while, but the berry-shooting bushes were unable to kill it and eventually, the bull pressed forward, increasing the size of the safe path it left behind. "Shit, archers, focus on that bull! The rest of you get ready for contact, " Hera yelled, getting into her stance and triggering her boots so she could glide around the area. The spiders moved slowly towards the group, one after another. Even though the distance between them was decreasing fast, it didn''t mean they couldn''t deal some damage. Each party member started attacking, focusing on the legs without even having to talk about it first. If they could make those creatures drop, most monsters under them would be heavily damaged. Lurize grabbed Core, and the two ran toward the closest leg. The rapier used his sediment skill to spread molten magma across the appendage, hoping to destroy it. The spider''s carapace started to sizzle and break down, but it could still balance itself. Mylo made several petals spread around the area and sent them to one of the legs. The petals started spinning like buzzsaws that slowly began cutting through the monster''s exoskeleton. Unfortunately, the damage was minimal since the petals were actually illusions and would require the monster to see the attacks for them to work. Shane had a different approach. She grabbed a couple of projectiles and used her launcher to blast the legs away with massive explosions, especially now that she could increase the potency of a blast by placing a lot of compressed air in the middle of the grenade. Alex and Adriel also joined in the attacks, using the lasers from the drones and some wind blades that came from the assassin''s wooden scabbard that was, to this day, able to let her deal some strong long-range blows. Blue suddenly threw a pair of clouds in the sky. They quickly started growing and growing until they became a pair of large cloud hands that slammed down on the two spiders that were farthest away from the group. With a loud impact followed by the sound of thunder, the two spiders buckled and got very close to smashing against the ground but managed to steady themselves before any of the other monsters were squashed. Unfortunately, that was the limit of what the clouds could do. Now they were in a stalemate. The spiders could no longer move but were also high enough to allow the monsters to pass under them. Still, Blue didn''t let up. If they wanted a battle of endurance, the controller was more than happy to oblige. "Some monsters are going for a pincer maneuver," Blue said while keeping the two spiders in check. "How can you tell?" Adriel asked. "I''m a controller. We got a camera skill." "I got them," Hera said before dashing to the left, "Lurize, go right and take care of the pincer attack!" the Empress moved to the edge of the hill where there was a tree line and noticed a small stream of beasts going around the traps to hit them from the sides, "Wipe them out!" she told her court just as a wave of shadow covered every inch of the battlefield going halfway up the giant tree in the back, leaving both teams in pitch black darkness. 613 - Black and white world "From the darkness comes light!" Helena''s voice echoed through the entire field. At the same time, the shadows that made everyone blind changed. Hera could see things now, but all in black and white. The ground was gray, but the monsters were completely white, with dark lines helping her see their shapes. "What the hell was that?" Blue asked through the communicators. "New spell. We can still see them, but they will see everything covered in shadow. It''s not a 100% blind, but it works better against large crowds," Helena''s voice sounded strained, "I can''t do much right now, but this should be enough to help us." "Are they really blinded?" Shane asked. "Like I said, not 100%. We are also showing in white for them, but it''s like they are seeing us through a curtain. They have only a general idea of where we are," Helena explained. "Do you need someone to protect you?" Mylo asked. "I wouldn''t say no, but I can still move around. The problem is fighting back." "I''ll cover you," Mylo said, rushing to her side. Since Helena never said anything about the spell, everyone was caught off guard, but Hera had to believe that Nimbus and Lurize would be able to deal with whatever happened. She focused again on the monsters that were right in front of her. Every one of them had stopped moving, and now they were just growling at each other as if they didn''t know who was close by. ''Edge, go. I think you are completely invisible to them right now,'' Hera said, activating an Elemental Reinforcement on the knife. She used a weaker spell because the Elemental Strength had to be used with the same element as the weapon, and right now, she wanted to give him fire to make the monsters freak out with the smell and the heat. The blade became bright white, giving Edge a nice contrast from his normal metallic grey color. He charged forward while making sure he kept himself hidden behind some of the grass so the others couldn''t see what he was doing. When he reached the first monster, he stabbed into its chest without even slowing down. The tiger with two sets of claws on each paw roared and tried to pull back, but the bear-moose behind it lashed out, slashing at the feline who lost a chunk of his back leg. Adding to that, Daskka flew to the tiger''s neck and bit down, causing blood to spray everywhere. Funny enough, Hera also saw the blood as milky white, which was an odd sight, to say the least. Dao flew up and came crashing down the back of the bear, triggering a Chain Lightning skill. A flash showed some color for a moment, but that worked only to flashbang everyone around the impact. "Don''t do that again," Hera said as she rubbed her eyes. ''Duck!'' Scythe yelled, and the Empress did as she was told. One of the smaller creatures, a mixture of a honey badger and a mole, jumped, trying to hit Hera''s head. Whatever mutation happened to it removed its eyes, so even in this situation, it didn''t care about the darkness or the light, ''Frost, swing to the left. Ooze, slash down, Hera Stone Elemental Armor!'' They all followed what Scythe was saying. Her way of giving orders was a bit more invasive than what Armory did. The tiara would just send them the information they need and let them decide what to do. Sure, she would also send them some advice, but the earrings were surprisingly forceful. Hera felt something hard hitting her shoulder. She looked over and saw that a creature had managed to bite her. It wasn''t a deep wound, but it hurt quite a lot, even if it wasn''t able to draw blood. Then, when she turned to look in the attack''s direction, she heard a familiar roar. "Emprezz!" Lurize came charging towards her and grabbed what looked like a giant squirrel with one hand before slamming it against the ground repeatedly. ''My man... Chill,'' Core said as he noticed the squirrel had turned into a white paste on the ground. "Lurize, I''m fine. Don''t worry," Hera said as she jumped on top of a wolf covered in ice, slamming both her daggers into the creature''s back. ''Empress, use the bracelet. The Battle Rattle to buff everyone,'' Scythe commanded. "Oh, right. Good idea," Hera nodded and jumped away from the wolf that was still moving, but it was already severely injured. She raised her hand and shook her arm, the sound of a rattlesnake echoed through the entire field, increasing not just her party''s but all the Xandari warriors'' strongest attribute by 30% for the next 15 minutes. She considered calling the snakes right away, but she didn''t know how many of them would be needed to complete what Nimbus was working on. Daskka assumed her giant snake form, becoming bigger than most of the monsters that had shown up so far. Only the spiders were bigger than her at the moment. To make things even better for the snake, in her silver mist form, she would show as an odd formless smoke to Hera. When one of the beasts looked at her, she became practically invisible. Ooze went flying by, killing some of the smaller critters in a single hit just as Hera noticed something flying toward her. She jumped to the side at the same time that Scythe yelled, ''Duck!'' Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The Empress tumbled on the floor, rolling as if she was trying to reduce the fall, and got back up quickly, only to notice that there was no attack coming for her at her current location, only the first one she evaded by stepping to the side. "What?" Hera mumbled. ''Sorry. I noticed we were moving a bit too late¡­ you didn''t have to duck,'' Scythe replied, and the Empress could sense the embarrassment coming from the earrings. "Don''t worry. It''s ok," Hera smiled but this small moment was cut short as a cheetah ran towards her and almost reached the Empress with her claws. Thankfully, Lurize was right there and he blocked the beast, letting the claws scrape against his armor, barely scratching it. Dao and Ooze followed that up by attacking the feline and quickly finished it off, but the creature let out a roar as its final gesture of defiance before it died. Helena''s shadow spell only affected the sight. Noise, and smell were unaffected by it. That cry was enough to call some of the monsters to where Hera was, and now the shadows became a problem since a large mass of white running at her. "Fall back to the rest of the group. Let''s fight them with the Xandari!" Hera told her blades and quickly moved back. Even if the monsters were doing a pincer maneuver, if she stayed there, she would be surrounded by who knows how many beasts. It didn''t take long for some of the Xandari to join her and form a barrier as more of the beasts appeared. Hera was doing her best to attack them, but unlike what happened with that fringe group, the ones coming now seemed to be both supporting each other and preparing their attacks better. It was almost as if they were getting orders from someone. A few beasts would try to push forward, but after receiving some attacks, they would retreat and be healed by those in the back. It felt like some odd form of guerrilla warfare, and it seemed to be working. Little by little, everyone was being pushed back. It didn''t help that Blue was still locked in her struggle against the giant spiders and Helena was holding the spell that seemed to be making the monsters somewhat blind. "Where the hell is Nimbus? This should be more than enough time for him to plant everything," Hera huffed as she grabbed a bull by the horns quite literally and used a stone wall to topple it to the side. She followed that up by slamming Fang on its neck and pulling the blood with Claw to empower the Bloody Claw attack that she sent to the next wave of enemies, "You know what. Fuck this," the Empress activated her Poison Elemental Armor to increase the potency of her poison. Following that up she went for a classic. Flaming Poison Rain. She tried to cover a wide area, even took a page out of Blue''s book, and tried to make the rain move as if it was being battered by wind. Her idea was to do that using the Mana Shaper skill since it would be the easiest way to change the effects, but to her surprise, that created a new spell. Instead of just a spell circle appearing in the air, a massive green cloud showed up, and several large drops of orange poison rained down on the field. Each of them was covered in a different type of elemental mana. Fire, ice, lightning, thunder, wind, gravity, darkness, light, shatter, sight, radiation, and every single element seemed to be present in the cloud. They even showed their actual colors despite Helena''s spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elemental Poison Storm Advanced Spell Creates a localized storm of poison. Each droplet will be imbued with a different element that matches the affinity of the caster dealing increased damage and increasing the effect of said element. Naga Variant This spell was created with Naga poison, the strength of the poison is increased by 50%, and the amount of mana used is decreased by 20%. Anyone who possesses the Naga Poison skill will receive 20% less damage from this spell for each rank of the Naga Poison skill. Someone who has the rank 5 Naga Poison skill will be immune to the effects of this spell. Someone who has the rank 6 Naga Poison skill will receive a 5% buff to their attributes while under the storm. This buff is increased by 5 % for each rank above 6. Base radius: 30 meter Base mana cost: 3 000 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera didn''t open the notification manually. Instead, Daskka was the one who showed her. Since she was the herald, she was connected to Hera in a way that gave her access to some light control of the system windows. "This is really good," Hera smiled. ''Your Naga Poison is already at rank 5, right?'' Dao asked. "You mean ours? And yes," Hera smirked. ''Right¡­ that will affect all of us,'' Dao replied in a tone that clearly showed he was smiling, even if he had no mouth. "That iz our domain. Charge!" Lurize announced proudly before rushing forward. At the same time, some of the Xandari started walking, but Hera stopped them. "Not you. You all stay away from the poison. Fight against any stragglers that go beyond it," Hera said before rushing to the field covered in the Elemental Poison Storm. Every monster under that area was struggling not just because of the poison but because each raindrop would also do the same damage to them as a basic spell like a flame arrow or a stone fist. Of course, using one of those spells with the same amount of mana that Hera was spending would be much stronger, but the attacks were already leagues better than what the berry shooting bushes would do. She danced in the rain, cutting the beasts and splashing the poison with her feet to spread it to more monsters as her court flew around her. Each of her blades was suddenly dealing more damage thanks to the liquid poison that started to coat them. This spell became something much more powerful than she could ever expect, and there was one more piece of good news about to arrive. "Hera!" Nimbus yelled as he got closer to the group. "Did you finish it?" "Almost, we just need to close the loop there," Nimbus pointed to an area in front of them. The Empress could see a couple of hedges on the sides and an opening in the middle, almost like a door. "Right, we close that and we finish the spell circle. If this works, we can finish this really quickly." Almost as if showing that completing this plan would take even more work, a large hippo appeared in front of her, blocking the path to the last part of the spell circle. The monster was outside of the rain, and just by looking at it, it was clear that if she wanted to pass, she would have to deal with it first. 614 - When a plan comes together ''Let''s bring it here,'' Nimbus suggested as he stared the hippo down, even if it couldn''t see him properly. Then again, they were currently under the Elemental Poison Storm, which made them look as if they were constantly being splashed by paint in this black-and-white world. "I think that one is smart enough not to do that. There is something in its eyes," Hera saw a mix of a weasel with a raccoon coming at her with a jump. She dodged to the side, but the monster propelled itself after her and made a series of quills appear on its back, stabbing the Empress repeatedly, "Ouch, you prick!" Hera gasped as Ooze and Frost cut the monster in half in anger for hurting Hera. ''Are you ok?'' Frost asked. "Yeah, but this armor is not cutting anymore," Hera sighed, noticing the small puncture marks in what remained of her leather armor. She already had to remove the arms, which reduced some of the attributes of the armor itself, and the entire thing was battered and full of weak spots. ''Hera to the left!'' Scythe yelled ''Incoming on your right!'' Armory said at the same time. That confused the Empress, and instead, she decided to go up. Jumping in the air, she quickly shifted to a Fire Elemental Armor and pushed the flames down as if she was a rocket. That made the wolf with vines around its legs miss the target and get burned by the fire. It howled and tried to run away, but that only worked to spread the flames. Even the orange puddles that were created because of the Elemental Poison Storm ignited, causing the flames to spread. Hera worried that this could hurt her court, but even Lurize and Nimbus, who were right by the fire, didn''t seem too bothered by it. "That doesn''t hurt?" Hera asked. "The flames themselves do, But the heat is not that much of an issue, maybe because of the elemental armor," Nimbus added. "Right, and we don''t have much time for the storm to stay up. Let''s go after the hippo. We need to finish the spell circle," Hera said as she landed and started running toward the monster in her path. Every creature moving under the poison storm struggled to cross, and the few who managed to get past that area were killed by the Xandari warriors behind the group. "I''m with you!" Lurize said as Armory landed back on Hera''s head. ''Scythe, let me take over. We can''t be both giving commands.'' ''Yeah. Ok. That was going to my head,'' the earrings replied and returned to what they usually did, scanning the area for threats and anything that could help the rest of the group while fighting. It wasn''t long before Hera reached the hippo, which looked like a giant bull with two horns sticking out from the top of its head. The creature seemed to notice them approaching, but there was nothing that could stop the Empress now. She ran forward without hesitation until she felt the first blow land. It was an attack using the Bloody Claw skill and followed that up with a Grasping Strike to bind the monster with the attack. Hera had to be a bit careful with her mana since the Elemental Poison Storm was still active. Nimbus was right behind her, activating the Frozen Ash aura and the Griffon''s Call, which caused his tonfas to scream like a bird before getting a 30% buff to their scaling. Right behind him was the Royal Tutor, brandishing his zweihander and activating the Venom Blade and his golden beetle form. However, Lurize wasn''t going to maximize the skill for a single blow. Instead, he was going for the longest duration possible. He slashed the hippo''s two front legs, but there were still four more to go. Another thing that none of them realized before starting the attack was the three scorpion tails that came out of the monster''s back. Each tail lashed out at one of them. Nimbus easily evaded while Hera dodged it by a hair, causing the Sentinel to use a mana barrier to help her block an attack that never came. Unfortunately, Lurize couldn''t escape the attack, and the stinger pierced his chest armor. There was a brief pause where the Empress and the entire court got worried as they saw the Royal Tutor stop moving, but then he started laughing. "You think... You think you can poizon me!?" he pulled his sword to the side and increased the size of the Venom Blade before bringing it down on the back of the hippo. As fearsome as the attack looked, it still wasn''t enough to kill the monster, but it opened a large gash on its side. A moment later, another scorpion tail struck the ground, sending a wave of sand everywhere. This time, Lurize barely avoided it thanks to the protective barrier Nimbus used. He moved back, just in case, but the other two attacks hit him again, this time with more force and focusing on blunt damage, not the poison. ''Hera, go!'' Lurize yelled in her mind. Killing the hippo wasn''t as important as completing the spell circle. ''I got him. Go,'' Nimbus added. ''Ok, Daskka. Stay with me,'' Hera called her snake back, who was by the side having a blast. Since she was so much bigger than most monsters and almost invisible to them, she could take her time to find the best point to strike, and just her presence was already making the creatures freak out. But hearing the Empress call her made her stop and rush to her side. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The hippo didn''t seem to mind that one of its assailants was running away. After all, it was still dealing with two very annoying enemies. Hera quickly moved to the end of the spell circle that Nimbus created and quickly accessed what she would need to do to complete it. Thanks to Armory, she placed a couple of stone walls to finish the connection before jumping on top of one of the walls. "Ok, now for the hard part," Hera took a deep breath and pulled up her map with the overlay of the spell circle that she had already set up. This spell was something she had created a while back, but it would be the first time she had made something that big. Taking the mana out of the core with a 2% chance of losing the unused mana, she started covering the entire barrier with mana. It took her a few moments, but it was easy to weave the energy together thanks to Nimbus putting small markers on each of the seeds he planted. About two minutes after she started, the mana circle closed, and then she started working on what would happen in the middle. The fight was still going on. Nimbus and Lurize had killed the hippo, and the court was now protecting her since the Elemental Poison Storm was no longer active. The next step of the spell would be following the markers that Nimbus and her court placed around the field. She would have to change some details by hand, but considering the situation, this was the best option. Another three minutes passed, making the entire process take just a bit over five minutes when she completed the circuit and triggered the spell. The Empress had named this Pool of Styx, taking inspiration from some of the old mythology. When the spell activated, she would have to specify a group. It had to be something simple and not too detailed. Something like human, elf, snake, or monster, a classification that was accepted not just by her but by the system. When that was set up, anything that was not a part of that group and was inside of the Pool would have their attributes reduced by the difference between their attributes and the casters. Meaning that if a monster had 80 strength and Hera had 93, the monster would effectively be only at 67 strength when inside that field. The problem was that this only worked on creatures that were lower level than her, and their attributes had to be lower than her at the moment she cast the spell. If the endurance of one of the monsters were above 93, that attribute wouldn''t be affected. Aside from that, anything affected by that debuff would also have their mana and stamina sapped. The true value of this spell, and the reason why she was sure this would allow them to win, was for the last part of the effect. Every 10 points in an attribute that were taken from anyone affected by the spell would be converted into a flat 1-point buff to a single person who was a part of the group who could be inside the Pool of Styx. The mana and stamina that was sapped also would be shared amongst those who could be inside the spell. In a fight like this, where they were against hundreds of monsters, that increase would be massive. So, she picked the only group she could think of to affect everyone in her party and hoped the Xandari would also be a part of it. People. As soon as the spell was triggered, a flow of green, purple, and orange energy started to move through the entire field, and just like the Elemental Poison Rain, these colors still appeared even with Helena''s spell. Everyone could see that, but it was something that would just cover the ground as a thin layer of fog. Hera instantly felt energized, and her mana started to recover quickly. A loud noise echoed through the field, and she could see the two spiders who were being held by Blue all this time were smashed on the ground. "Holy shit. Hera, is that your thing?" Blue gasped through the communicator. "Yep. I had no idea it would be so strong," Hera smiled. "How long does it last?" Shane asked as a loud explosion created a crater in the middle of the field, "Holy crap." "Five minutes, ten, three? I honestly don''t know. It shouldn''t last long. The spell is very finicky, and I never made one this size," Hera replied as she tossed an Elemental Poison Storm to cover the entire flank. Looking up, she saw that the Xandari warriors were also affected by the spell, but not in a good way. Their energy was also being sapped, which meant that all the extra points would go directly to Hera and her friends. "Ok, let''s not waste any time then," Helena said and clapped her hands, dismissing the spell in a way that still flash banged the monsters affected by it. Following that, she made an army of shadowgrabbers wielding bows that began firing nonstop at the monsters. An odd effect of Heras Pool of Styx was that she would be the only one affected in her court. However, by default, that also affected Nimbus and Lurize since they would grow together with the Empress, and this buff wasn''t a percentage thing but a flat increase. Now that everyone could participate in the battle properly, it didn''t take long for the remaining monsters to be killed. The only one that posed a small threat was a winged lion with dragon scales, but the moment he appeared, the entire party flung spells at the creature, and it was killed before anything happened. Just two minutes later, the Pool of Styx was no longer working, but now only a few beasts remained, and the Xandari recovered some of their strength. Knowing that things would soon end, Mylo, Blue, and Adriel focused on searching for the remaining monster while Hera and the others picked up all of the loot they got from the fight. There were no weapons or armor, but a few pelts and other materials could help them make new pieces of gear even if no one amongst them was very proficient in armor making. However, the most common drop wasn''t gold. Instead, it was small coin-sized pieces of honey. According to the description, the honey would cover the item when placed on top of something, and mana passed through it. Each honey pebble could cover something that was up to 1m x 1m x 1m. When whoever was touching the honey stopped putting mana on it, it would harden to a stone-like consistency, and to deactivate that, all you had to do was pass mana on the hardened surface, making the honey melt away. Unfortunately, those were a one-time use. Once the honey melted, it would be gone forever. About ten minutes after they started collecting the loot, a notification appeared in front of all of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. Go back to the throne room to receive your reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 615 - Scoreboard Seeing a notification like that was a first for everyone. Still, they understood what that meant and gathered as much loot as possible before returning to the platform. Since Mylo was really scared about going there again, Nimbus agreed to bring him up by flying instead. In reality, that would be even more dangerous since there would be nothing attaching the fighter to the griffon, but it somehow made him feel better. While on the platform, the group checked what they got for loot. There were about 160 honey gems, which should give them more than enough to gather rations for a long trip. Plus, three different hides from the monsters and two sets of claws that could also be used as materials. In a way, this was very underwhelming, but at the same time, having that many honey gems would be invaluable. "I think we could try to run this again. I mean, 160 gems is good and all, but we have to wait around anyway. Having more couldn''t hurt," Adriel suggested. "I kind of agree, but I don''t think that spell I did will work again. I used everything that we had gathered in the 2% mana crystal," Hera turned to him. "Well¡­ things weren''t going bad without that spell," Adriel continued. "They weren''t going great either. And remember, we don''t know what group will fight next. Maybe it''s a more difficult combo to deal with," Bonnie remembered the group. "Yeah, and we don''t even know if the rewards are going to be worth it. I mean, Lena and I are pretty drained after those spells," Blue looked to the mage who, despite resting during the time they were looking for the stragglers and for the loot, was still looking tired. "I''m sorry, guys, I don''t think I can use that spell again. Not for a while. My mana will recharge, but it takes a toll on my mind. I''ll probably pass out if I try that again today," Helena was rubbing her forehead. "Not to mention Blue is not doing that well," Alex glanced at the controller. "Hey, I''m fine!" Blue huffed. "Then raise both arms above your head," Alex glared at her. Blue tried doing that, but everyone could see her hands shaking, "Fine, my arms are killing me." "See, I think this is enough for us, at least for now. It''s not like we are going to cross a bunch of rooms that have no supplies whatsoever," Shane looked up, they were already getting close to the hive, and soon they would get their rewards. "Are you sure about that? I mean, we have no information about the rooms we are going to, do we?" Bonnie asked. "We don''t, but there aren''t that many rooms that won''t give us any supplies," Hera added. "So it''s a coin toss? That''s why I''m saying we should get some more of those gems," Adriel pressed. "I mean, not really. Even the largest rooms would only take us, what, two weeks to go through? With 160 honey gems, we could get more than enough food for us to get wherever we need. Not to mention that those really big rooms should have supplies on them. I seriously doubt that we will find a wasteland where we have to travel for months without a way to get food, even if we have to run dungeons," Hera called Daskka over and asked her to heal Blue''s arms. "Thanks, Daskka," Blue said as the mist covered her, and she instantly felt the pain subside a bit, "And yeah, I agree with her. There is no reason why we should run again right away. Unless you really had fun here." "I mean¡­ It was a blast. It''s been a long time since I participated in a dungeon that made me feel super powerful," Adriel pouted. "We can come back here again later, I promise," Alex smiled at him. Hera looked up, ignoring the lovey-dovey atmosphere, and noticed that they were about to arrive, "Nimbus, come to the platform." The Sentinel nodded and flew over a few moments before they all entered back inside the hive. The Yellow and Black wasps were both still there, but that wasn''t all. Sitting on the previously empty throne, there was a massive creature. It looked a lot like the two wasps, with the same elegant use of its wings to create a very long dress. However, unlike what Hera and the others were expecting, the Queen wasn''t slender like the other two wasps. She was much more robust, not in a way that made her look fat necessarily, but it truly showed the difference between a being responsible for laying eggs for the colony and the rest. "Welcome back," the Black wasp spoke with the same shifting odd voice as it did before. "We must say, this was an impressive display. So much so that one of you has piqued the interest of our Queen," the Yellow wasp gestured to the massive wasp on the throne as it made a bow. "But let''s not get ahead of ourselves. We need first to check your points," the Black wasp snapped their fingers, and a scoreboard appeared in front of the Queen, keeping her head still visible but hiding part of her body. "Also, let''s start from the bottom," the Black wasp said as Hera''s name with the number 5 appeared by its side. "Wait¡­ five? Why is it like that? Isn''t a kill equal to a point?" Hera gasped. "It''s like that because we rounded up. Decimals are annoying. And each kill is equal to a point, and that point is divided between all who dealt damage to your target. If five people hit the same enemy, each of them gets 1/5th of a point. Every point you got had to be divided between at least 10." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "What do you mean 10 of me?" Hera protested again. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10," the Black wasp pointed at Hera and barely moved its finger while counting until 8, but when it reached 9, they pointed at Nimbus with the 10th being Lurize. This made Hera realize that the dungeon was counting that every kill she got was split between every member of her court. That meant that her points would barely increase even after using the Pool of Styx. "Now, moving along," the Yellow wasp waved toward the scoreboard again. Blue got 11 points even if the scoreboard showed her score as Pamella, Adriel got 15, Mylo 16, Alex 21, Bonnie 23, Shane 23, but Helena''s name didn''t show up just yet, "For those who got less than 20 points, you will receive 10 honey gems per point. Also, since this is your first time participating, we will give you a little extra. For those who got above 20 points, then you will receive 2 pieces of Royal Honey. Honey made personally by our Queen. It could be more, but none of you reached 25 points. Well¡­ almost no one," the Yellow wasp turned to Helena. They were about to say something but were interrupted by the Queen. "Helena, step forward, child," the Queen wasp''s voice was more consistent and melodic. The words bounced off the walls forming a small choir with what almost sounded like trumpets in the background, as if those were sounds accompanying her words. Everyone had already left the platform that could lead them down, but they were all closer to the entrance instead of being close to the Queen. But hearing the call, Helena walked over, going around the pillars to the first few steps in front of the throne, until the Queen made a gesture for her to stop. "Helena. You have achieved something that not even my greatest warriors were capable of doing. The two wasps that prepared and controlled these battles had to participate before ascending to their current position. Yet, they were never able to accumulate so many points in single combat. Not against the beasts empowered by the fruit," the Queen nodded to the Black and Yellow wasps, who seemed to look away in shame. Yet, they gestured to the scoreboard, and Helena''s name appeared with the number 153 beside it. "Holy crap," Blue gasped. "How many monsters were there?" Bonnie asked. "435. There was quite a large number of small critters that are delicious for a snack," the Black wasp chuckled. "Silence," the Queen bellowed. The voice being magnified by the room, causing the entire hive to shake. The two wasps quickly went to their knees and started shaking in fear while Hera and the others put their hands on their ears to protect them from the noise. When the echo stopped, the Queen continued to speak in that soft voice she was using before, "Now, Helena. I will offer you the same that I would offer one of my noble wasps. After all, we must recognize one''s accomplishments. Would you rather receive one of the royal items in my possession or one of my teachings?" Bonnie and Shane opened their mouths to give their opinion, but the Queen glanced at them with a bone-chilling stare that instantly shut them up, making it clear that this was supposed to be something that Helena decided on her own. After a moment of pause where the mage was pondering her options, "May I ask questions about the rewards?" "You may not. All you can do is pick," the Queen replied in a soft voice. Helena nodded, "Then I wish to receive your teachings." The Queen''s face changed, almost forming a smile with its fangs, "Then you shall," she raised one hand and softly touched Helena''s forehead. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have received the rewards for the dungeon quest Fight for Entertainment . First-time rewards: 180 000 gold Yellow Wasp''s Carapace Bonus rewards: 50 Honey Gems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera looked at the notification, and despite knowing that it would be better not to take out the material right away, she touched the notification on her tablet. To her surprise, it wasn''t just the body of a wasp. Instead, it was actual armor. It was the same yellowish-orange color that the Yellow wasp had and almost an exoskeleton wrapping the entire thing around, with small pieces framing where would be her breasts, abs, and spine. The armor also covered her shoulders and biceps, stopping a bit before the elbow. In the back, there was a cape-like thing that was actually very similar to the wings the Black and Yellow wasps had. Even more impressive was that the inside was padded with cloth and something soft that would remove the weirdness of wearing a piece of monster by itself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yellow Wasp''s Carapace Rarity: Rare A replica of the exoskeleton present in a certain species of wasps. The structure can withstand a lot of damage without damaging the inside, but to offset that, every impact will damage and break down the carapace. However, its attributes will still remain in effect unless the armor is completely destroyed. Defense Rating: A- Attribute scaling: Agility x11, Endurance x9, Charisma x8 Armor Skill: Exoskeleton 80% of damage is dealt to the armor before reaching the user. The impact will also damage the armor. Natural Armor: As long as the carapace is not completely destroyed, it can recover from damage. Recovery rate 1% every 1m Pseudo Wings: You can activate the wings on the back of the carapace to create a hardened shield around any other part of the armor. Mana cost: 150 000 Damage reduction 60% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At first, Hera thought the armor wasn''t that great. Having something that would always be damaged was not the best option, but as she read the rest of the skills, it kept getting better. In the worst-case scenario, it would take just an hour and a half for the armor to be back in tip-top shape. So she could skip the part about fixing her current armor and focusing on this new one. The only thing that bothered her a bit was how her chest would be framed. That part of the armor looked a lot like a bustier or a corset without the waist part. Then again, despite that shape that was made to accentuate her breasts, the armor itself would be closed all the way to her neck so she wouldn''t be showing any skin, not from her torso, at least. Everyone also received some interesting items, and Helena seemed to be still thinking about whatever she got from the Queen. "I would like to thank you for giving us quite a show," the Queen said in a warm voice, but her tone quickly shifted, "Now get out of my hive. And Helena, if you wish to return, I might be able to give you the opportunity of training with my royal guard." The group only smiled and continued walking away, thinking about their rewards. But Hera also had another thing in mind. They got what they needed to keep meat from spoiling, and now their preparation for a long journey was almost over. 616 - Teachings of a Queen "So, Lena. What did you get?" Blue asked when they left the dungeon. "A notification letting me know I was invited to the royal ball. I think that is the hard mode," Helena said. "...And?" Blue pressed, excited by whatever the teaching was. "I got a skill. It looks a lot like a spell, and I''m trying to understand how it works," Helena replied while she still was staring at nothing, obviously reading the notification, "Ah fuck it. Be ready if this gets weird," Helena raised one hand horizontally and spread her fingers. Her shadow started to grow and then bubble up. Everyone stepped back, unsure of what to expect from that skill. The bubbles became stronger and stronger, reaching the point that it looked like a fish was trashing right beneath the surface. Suddenly, the shadow became still, and a large claw-like hand emerged. It twisted and reached down to the ground before it started to pull the rest of the body from behind. After a few moments, an oddly shaped head emerged. It was horned and had no apparent eyes, but it was hard to tell. Whatever was coming out was made out of shadows, and its features were lacking. When the creature finally came into full view, everyone pulled their weapons, unsure what would happen. This shadow monster had broad shoulders with a spike going outward. Six legs, two very much like that of a person but another four behind it, creating an odd mixture of a centaur with a bee with a large abdomen with the stinger in the end. Its hands, if they could be called that, seemed to be melded into weapons. A massive tower shield and a lance that was pointing to the side. The creature''s head moved as if it was looking around before it turned to face Helena. The lance retracted, and the shield melded into its back just as the shadow wasp kneeled in front of the mage. "Oh, this is fun," Helena smiled. "That''s yours?" Shane asked. "Yeah, it''s the skill I got. It''s called Wasp Guard. It makes a construct with my mana to protect me. The way it''s worded makes it seem like I can get more of them in the future," Helena explained. "How long does it last?" Bonnie asked. "Half an hour. Then it has a 5-hour cooldown, but I can spend 20% of my mana to call it again. That doesn''t interfere with the cooldown." "What if you use mana to call it again? Another will show up, or that one is gone?" Adrimel asked. "I don''t know. Let''s see," Helena used the skill again, but before her shadow even grew, the shadow wasp in front of her vanished. There was another disturbing moment when the Wasp Guard came out of her shadow one more time. It had the same shape as the one she summoned before. "Can they talk?" Hera looked at the Wasp Guard. "No¡­ it can''t. It''s not like your court. It''s more like a robot that I can command. At most, it can defend me when I''m being attacked. I mean, that''s the limit of its automation, not that it can only do that. I think the idea is that I''m like the Queen Bee, well, Queen Wasp, and they are the royal guards," Helena explained. "Oh, for fuck''s sake. We already have the Empress over here. Now we have a Queen too?" Alex gasped in a joking tone. "Don''t complain. You are surrounded by royalty. Not everyone can say the same," Helena chuckled. "Can they run fast?" Nimbus asked. "I don''t know. The skill doesn''t mention the speed, only that their power is increased based on my maximum mana," Helena replied. "I see.." Nimbus squinted at the shadow wasp. "Jealous?" Daskka teased. "I''m not jealous. That is just a piece of armor, and it can''t stay out for a long time," Nimbus huffed. "Yeah, he''s jealous," Hera said with a chuckle. "Empress!" Nimbus gasped. "Ok, ok. Let''s move back to the doorway. We can hunt monsters on the way to gather supplies. Adriel, can we use one of your drones as our bag?" Alex turned to the elf. "Sure, I was already thinking about that," Adriel nodded and changed the lights of one of his drones to blue, "We can use this one. It can carry up to 50 kg, and I can set up a barrier to protect things from any sneak attacks. I want to keep my main drone free this time." Everyone nodded, and they started walking back while talking about the items they got. Hera got the armor, Alex got a belt that could create a stinger out of any part of her body to deal one big hit, and Mylo got a pair of glasses that looked a lot like the compound eyes that bugs had. When wearing those, it would be much harder for anything to hide from him. It also worked as binoculars, but that was it. Those were the only pieces of equipment they got. The rest of the rewards were materials, from honeycomb meshes to wasp parts. Thankfully nothing that was too big. The royal honey that a few of them received wasn''t that different from the honey gems. The only difference was that they had a number of uses. Ten each, and they would keep the temperature of whatever was placed inside them. So they could have one with ice or cold drinks if they wanted to. Keeping something warm didn''t sound like a good idea, even if, in theory, it should also keep it from spoiling. It didn''t take long for them to find a group of those same odd Frog donkeys. Since Helena''s guard was still around, she asked the group to let her test the new spell. The mage wasn''t going to do anything and just let it fight, and she asked the rest of the party to do the same. Then she turned to the construct and ordered it to kill the pack of Frogranires. The shadow wasp just nodded and moved towards the monsters bringing out its shield and lance. With the weapons in hand, the construct rushed towards the first of the monsters. It moved quickly, not as fast as Alex with her new skills or as Nimbus in his griffon form, but the shadow wasp was still very nimble. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. In a quick movement, it bisected one of the monsters, splitting it with the lance. Then the construct turned to the side and used the stinger to kill another Frogranire. The monsters noticed the attack and started to defend themselves. Two of them jumped on top of the shadow wasp and kicked down with their back legs. Those creatures had tremendous leg strength, and just a single attack was enough to break some of the construct''s form. Still, even after losing part of its torso and one of its legs, the shadow wasp continued its attack with reckless abandon, trampling one of the Frogranires to death. Helena''s command was to kill the pack, and the construct would follow that order, no matter the cost. Using the shield to bash one of the monster''s head in. Another of the Frogranire used its tongue to pull the shield back, forcing a tug of war with the shadow guard. The wasp was still fighting against five monsters, even after killing two of them. Another of the creatures went in for a headbutt, pushing the shadow wasp to the side, almost making it fall, but the guard endured. It used the lance as a blunt weapon, slamming it against the Frogranire that was about to headbutt it. That wasn''t enough to kill it, but it was knocked out by the impact. Another monster ran to the side of the shadow wasp, spinning around and kicking two of the construct''s legs, making them bend backward. It wasn''t enough to break them, but the damage was clear. The shadow wasp pierced one of the smaller monsters, who seemed to be still in its growing stages. The attack wasn''t enough to kill it right away, but it opened a large gash on its stomach, a small part of its intestines spilling out. The foal tried to get up and fight back, but it was too weak. Another of the Frogranire got closer to its child and rubbed his head against it. In just a couple of seconds, the smaller creature closed its eyes as the amount of blood it lost was too much, and it finally perished. The Frogranire that was helping the foal croaked loudly and jumped to the shadow wasp, who now had pierced the tongue of the monster holding its shield. The parent who just lost its child jumped again, getting extremely close to the construct''s head, and in a flash, kicked it with both legs, decapitating the shadow wasp in a single move and finally destroying the construct. Just as that Frogranire landed, a jade blade of wind came flying and bisected it as it turned to look at the foal on the ground. The monster, which had its tongue pierced by the lance, looked around as a pair of bladed tonfas appeared on its neck, decapitating it. Just as the last creature realized the danger wasn''t over, it turned around to see a staff flying in its direction. It tried to jump away, but the flowers around the staff were too mesmerizing. Mylo''s weapon pierced the monster''s skull in a single move and became embedded in the wall behind it. "Ok¡­ can we not do that again?" Bonnie asked, looking at the group of dead monsters. "Yeah¡­ Watching that is not something I want to happen again," Blue shivered. "You don''t have to ask twice. I didn''t expect them to act out a traumatizing kids'' movie," Helena shook her head, "Either way, now we know. The wasp guard I summon can do some damage." "You also need to check if it keeps knowledge. Like if you ask it to fight while trying to defend against attacks, would it remember that order the next time you call it?" Hera suggested. "That''s a good point. Maybe you can teach it a dance and tell it to do that every time you say ''Macarena,''" Blue suggested. "That is a very convoluted way to do that. It''s easier to just ask them to spin when she says a word or something," Alex frowned. "Yeah, but then we won''t see it doing the macarena," Blue replied. "That is a very good point. Seeing them doing that dance would be amazing," Hera chuckled. "Ok, ok. Let''s get going, shall we? If we are using these as supplies, we will need to butcher them," Shane had a smile on her face. It seemed like she was really excited about butchering the bodies, but in reality, it was because she was picturing the shadow wasp doing the macarena. They worked quickly. Aside from Helena and Bonnie, everyone in the party had various degrees of expertise in butchering the animals. There were seven bodies on the ground, and a couple were in really bad shape. Since Hera and Blue were the most proficient ones, they played rock paper scissors to decide who would work with the one that was mostly splatter on the floor. Unfortunately, the Empress lost, so she had to deal with that mess. She looked it over and called Edge. Since he was a skinning knife, it would be a great tool for this kind of thing. It didn''t take long for her to understand what each piece of the monster was and even less time to understand what she would need to do to gather as much meat as possible with them. In just two minutes, she cut everything, and she was even able to make some portion sized cuts that were ready to be cooked. Somehow, she even knew where to cut to allow the meat to bleed faster. And using some of her water spells, she had the idea of controlling the water inside the blood to speed up that process, managing to create a new spell out of it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exsanguination Intermediate spell By using mana, you can help push out the blood inside a dead body. This spell only works in bodies that have a type of blood that is known to the user. Mana cost: 200 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After finishing up with her body, she placed everything on Adriel''s drone and went for the next one. It was the parent and child pair who died in the combat. It seemed like no one wanted to butcher them since they showed such a tragic sight. In the end, the party was responsible for their pain, even if it was short-lived. Hera wasn''t immune to that guilt, but she would feel even worse if they did all that for nothing. Since they killed the animals, the bare minimum would be to use every part of their bodies. It took her less than five minutes to finish butchering both of them. It was almost as if she saw the lines where she had to cut, and Edge was surfing through the meat. When she was in the last part of the process, about to start cutting the meat into portions, Edge''s voice stopped her, "Hera¡­ are you seeing this?" "What?" "This," Edge left her hand and tapped the meat. There was a small black line where she was about to cut. "You mean the line?" "Yeah¡­ I don''t think that''s supposed to be here." "What? How so?" "I don''t know¡­ It''s just a feeling. Daskka, can you see it?" Daskka floated over and inspected the meat, "Nope. I don''t see any line." Hera stopped to think for a moment, this was going surprisingly well, and she wasn''t that skilled in butchering to do such a good jog with such speed. It could have something to do with her title, but this effect didn''t happen when they first got the meat. Then again, now that she looked at the line, she realized that she saw it a few times during the dungeon, always in places where she should hit to deal a lot of damage, and when she was using the Pool of Styx, there was something helping her locate the right connections with her mana. "Ah shit," Hera groaned. Edge turned to the Empress, reaching the same conclusion that she did, "Does that mean¡­." Hera let out a long sigh, "Yeah¡­ I think the curse finally caught us." 617 - The mind of a reporter "Miss Swan, Mr. Haddock is ready for you," the assistant noticed how Becca was staring at the coffee machine that was in the lobby. It was a new model that, thanks to the number of settings, levers, and buttons, not to mention the portafilter-french press combo with some weird hooks on the sides, gave the machine an intimidating look to anyone who wasn''t used to it, "Would you like some help?" Becca smiled and shook her head, "No, thanks. I''ll take this as a sign that I shouldn''t drink coffee today. My stomach has been a bit annoying lately." "Very well, please follow me," the assistant walked to the side before entering a long corridor. Unlike most people, Guilhermo Haddock did most of his work from home. Or a better way to say this was that he worked from one of the buildings in his villa. This was just a small detached part close to the entrance. After leaving, he would just take a quick five-minute ride to his actual house behind the tree line in the back of this building. Still, this was a massive structure. It had two floors, a reception with a double staircase that would lead up, two large meeting rooms on the first floor, as well as a dining room, a kitchen, and a small theater for presentations. The top floor had two massive libraries, a waiting room, an office, and a gym with some meditation mats and light training equipment. Across the entire building, there were a few security guards. Usually, they wouldn''t be needed, but ever since the Last Line of Defense became active, those in the upper echelon of the Guild had increased security around them all the time. The assistant walked up the stairs and guided Becca to the middle room. Before opening the doors, she knocked. "Come in. And Camilla, you don''t have to knock when I''m expecting you to come," Mr. Haddock''s voice seemed somewhat defeated, almost as if this was something he had already given up on happening. "Excuse me, Mr. Haddock," Camilla turned to Becca, "You may go in, Ms. Swan." "Thank you," Becca smiled and walked inside as Camilla closed the door behind her. The office was quite large. A few monitors on the walls surrounded the ivory desk with black walnut edges. Between the door and the table, there were four large leather chairs and one couch, as well as a small coffee table with some macaroons and biscuits. "Please, Ms. Swan. Sit. I hope you don''t mind if we have a more casual conversation. Even if you are no longer working for the Guild, we still consider you family," Haddock gestured to one of the chairs by the coffee table as he walked to the side, picking up a small teapot and two cups. "I appreciate that," Becca smiled and sat on the opposite chair. "Green tea? I''ll warn you that this is store-bought. I quite like the flavor, and it''s much easier to find around these parts than to import the leaves." Becca shook her head, "I appreciate the offer, but I have to refuse. I ate something that is not sitting that well with me, so it''s better if I refrain from drinking anything." "I can ask Camilla to bring you some medicine. Or to call a healer over." "No need. I already took my medicine before getting here, and it''s a bit embarrassing to call a healer just because I decided to eat spicy food for lunch," Becca chuckled, and Haddock followed her laugh. "Very well. Now, you are the one who requested this meeting. Would you mind telling me what this is all about?" Becca''s expression became more serious. She hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh, "Ok, look. It''s like you said. I don''t work for the Guild anymore, but that doesn''t mean I don''t believe in what it stands for and that I don''t want to help. But ever since the Last Line of Defense leaked the footage of the attack in the centaur village, this all became a shitshow. No one is telling anyone anything. People are scared of other races. Sorry, they want to be called species now, they are starting to push us away, and no one knows what is going on. The bottom line is I want to help. I know you have your PR team, and I''m sure they are doing their best, but they are an inside source. I''m not. My voice will not be taken with a grain of salt, especially since we parted on ''bad terms.''" Haddock kept listening while preparing his tea. After Becca finished speaking, the counselor was still sipping and looking down at his cup. Without looking up, he spoke, "You stated a few facts but have yet to tell what you actually want." Becca sighed, "I want something." "Something?" Haddock raised one eyebrow as he looked into Becca''s eyes. "Yes. Something. Look, people are scared, and not knowing what is going on only makes things worse. We need to do some damage control, but we can''t since the Guild is staying quiet. That only fuels conspiracy theories. People are saying that we, I mean you, commanded the attack in the centaur city. That the one in Dzviery was a setup, and the centaur there was fake just to use as an excuse. Some are saying that the Guild didn''t imprison those who attacked but killed them all. Their families are saying that we are keeping them in a lab somewhere to do experiments. Others believe that this was a failed attack at a base of the Last Line of Defense. That humans are at war against other species. That we are retaliating against something, that there is a war inside the MAZE that is kept away from the public, and we are losing. That''s why the restriction to apply to be an explorer was lifted. I mean, for fuck''s sake, yesterday someone asked me if the MAZE was actually real, and it wasn''t some alien research lab." "But giving information won''t stop any rumors from being created," Haddock placed his teacup on the table and crossed his hands on his lap. "It won''t, but it will force the rumors to surround the information. Information that we can control. If we say that those who participated in the attack are in a hidden supermax prison, and we can''t let them roam around because they are all extremely high-level. Then we can focus on the rumors that surround that. Just for the record, if this is really what is going on, it was just a guess. I don''t have any inside sources. If I did, I wouldn''t be here. The point is, by giving the people something, we can make them focus on that, and then doing the damage control becomes much easier. So yeah. I''m asking you to give me something. Ideally, we will talk in an interview, and we don''t even have to have the entire topic being that information. We can have you talk about yourself, showing your daily life. Let people connect with you and see that you are just like them despite your job. Maybe share some interesting anecdotes about something that happened in your past and really influenced you. When we are done, and before I post it, I''ll send you the full interview, and you can veto any parts of it or tell me if you''d rather have a different question in the video," Becca explained. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Haddock started to laugh loudly. His muscles pushed against his white shirt, and his short brown hair fluttered as he tilted his head back. At that moment, Becca noticed a small cut on his neck, probably something that happened as he shaved. Considering that Haddock was only around level 37, it wasn''t that unlikely for him to have cut himself, but even so, that would require some strength. This could only mean that he was stressed. The small rash just above the collar could also point in that direction. Then again, this could all be Becca overthinking things. After a few moments, the man finally stopped laughing, "You know. I understand why Romeo hired you. If you are offering something like that, I must say I''m not in a position to refuse. However, I can''t give you something now. Since Romeo left, we have been working with a board of directors, and I''ll have to confirm what we can and want to give you. This shouldn''t take long, but it won''t be today, unfortunately." "Wait, really?" Becca''s eyes started to sparkle. "Of course. Why? You didn''t expect me to accept this deal?" "Sort of¡­ I honestly thought it would take a while to convince you, and I would have to come here every day for a week until I annoy you enough to accept." Haddock chuckled, "I think you are underestimating your persuasion skills." Becca smiled, "Thank you. It''s the first time I''m having to report things without a crew, and getting the interview is a bit harder than I expected." "That is not a problem. Now I believe I can have the information available to you in¡­ five days. Let''s say at 6. The sunset might give us good lighting. Would that be ok?" Becca nodded, "Sure. That sounds perfect. I can set everything up now and then. Do you have someone to do your makeup?" Haddock groaned, "Do I have to? I really don''t like the feeling." "I mean, I won''t force you to, but without it, people might think you are tired or focus more on your appearance than what you are talking about," Becca said. "Fine. I''ll have Camilla do it. She usually does that for any public appearances. Is there anything else you need?" "No. Actually, yes. Two things. Could you just tell me what will be the topic that we will be discussing? When you know of it, of course. I''ll make a list of questions so you can prepare the answers beforehand." "Of course. However, we might need to reschedule depending on when I can meet with the rest of the board. Just to give you and me enough time to formulate everything. What''s the second thing?" "Sure. No problem. The second thing is. Can I film some of the rooms in this building? I might need some B roll for the interview, and showing your place of work can do wonders. Especially the pictures you have," Becca gestured to a few of the picture frames on the walls of the office. "I don''t see a problem with that, but you''ll have to ask Richard. The chief of security. I don''t know if a recording could compromise our defenses here. Camilla can assist you with that. And please don''t film any pictures with children. I don''t want my nieces and nephews to be harassed because of me." Becca nodded, "Of course. I''ll avoid any family pictures, and if I get one, I''ll apply some effects so that only you will show." "Then I think we are done. Correct?" Haddock picked his teacup again and got a nod as a reply from Becca, "I''ll ask Camilla to assist you with the recording. Thank you very much for stopping by, Ms. Swan, and I hope our collaboration can help the Guild. Becca thanked him one more time and walked out of the office to see Camilla and Richard. They talked for a while, and the chief security agreed to let her film the area. However, he would be following her along, and if the angle revealed too much, he would veto it. As they moved around the house, Becca showed what her camera would film on every single shot. However, what he couldn''t see was the pair of windows right above her tablet. After all, this was part of the skill she got from the tower. This window had the point of view of the two cameras on her earrings. While Richard and Camilla looked at her tablet, Becca created a small camera on the opposite end of the hallway. She raised it to the ceiling before turning the camera invisible. She repeated that process in every single room and corridor in the entire house, including a quick trip to the office when Haddock left to search for a book in one of the libraries. By the end of it, Becca had about 20 minutes of B roll and cameras covering every single angle in the entire building, seemingly without anyone noticing. She even double-checked to ensure all the cameras were working and everything was perfect. Before leaving, Becca thanked Camilla and Richard and walked towards the door, feeling relieved for completing this part of the plan. "Ms. Swan?" Camilla called just as Becca reached for the door handle, making her heart sink, "Could you come here for a moment, please." "Sure," Becca walked back. Looking around, she counted three guards, plus Richard and Camilla. The path to one of the meeting rooms was the farthest away from everyone, and there was a window in there. Maybe she could run for it. Fighting could also be an option. She was a fighter, after all, and she was confident in her speed. Especially after the tower, "Is something wrong?" Becca asked when she reached the reception desk. Camilla smiled and reached for something on the table, "Every now, and then people end up overstepping, and they can only hope to be forgiven for that," Becca was about to start attacking when the assistant pulled a picture from a drawer on her desk and a pen, "But could I have your autograph. I''m a big fan!" Becca couldn''t help but laugh, "Girl, you scared me. Why were you being so serious? I thought I offended Mr. Haddock somehow," she signed the photo. It was one where Becca was passing by a Halloween parade, and a few people took pictures with her while she covered the story. Beside her, there was someone wearing a pirate costume. Now that she paid attention to it, it was clearly Camilla, "Sorry I didn''t recognize you earlier. But in my defense, you had a beard." Camilla chuckled, "I never expected you to recognize me. But I really appreciate the picture. It''s one of my favorite memories. I met my husband a few minutes after this." "I''m glad you enjoyed that parade. Honestly, I was pissed. I wanted to participate, not cover it." "Did you have a costume?" "No, the day they announced the parade, my boss at the time said I was covering the story. I didn''t even have a chance to dream," Becca shook her head, "Maybe next time." "I''ll let you know when the next one is happening. If you don''t mind, of course." "Please do. I would love to be in one," Becca looked at the clock on the desk, "Ok, sorry, but I have to go. I still have a pile of work to finish." "Oh, right. I''m sorry, you mentioned that before. Sorry for keeping you. Do you need me to call a car?" "Oh no. I drove here. Thanks," Becca waved at Camilla as she left, and she was back in her car in a few minutes. Driving back to the hotel she was staying at, the reporter walked inside her room, leaving the door open for a moment as she placed her bag on the table. She then closed the door and waved her hand, creating a soundproof bubble around her. "Ok, the suspense is killing me. Did it work?" a voice came out of nowhere in the middle of the room. Becca nodded as she saw her partner removing the invisibility spell, "Phase one was a success. Now for phase two." 618 - Infiltrator extraordinaire "Right, and what is part 2 of the plan again?" Becca''s partner asked. "So, now that we have the cameras, all we have to do is wait for a moment where you can go there, and then you hack the computers and get away," Becca explained. "Yeah, no. I know that part. But what are the specifics? What are the entry and exit points? How many guards are there during the day and during the night? When do they take breaks and change shifts? What kind of security system do they use? What are their outside defenses? Where exactly is the file we are looking for? Do you know Haddock''s password? What is our escape plan?" Becca stared at the man that was helping her for a moment. He was wearing a tight-fitted black suit with a light gray shirt and a bolo tie with a single black gemstone in the middle. On his feet were a pair of black heavy-duty boots, and there was a large black leather belt around his stomach with a pair of metal ornaments on the sides. Covering everything was a deep blue long overcoat with a small line of white fur around the neck. The man had plump lips, a small nose, hazel eyes, blond hair, and pointy elf ears. That wasn''t the natural color; you could see the black roots on top of his head and as a layer under his hair. If Becca didn''t know he was a man, it would be easy for him to pass as a woman, which apparently was something he did intentionally. "I¡­ I¡­ I don''t know," Becca sighed after a while, "This is the first time I''m doing something like this. I''m usually more of a detective than a spy." "I''m just joking with you. I know that this is not your fort¨¦. That''s why you called me. Zestra Cobinath, infiltrator extraordinaire," Zestra made an elegant pose almost that of a dancer with one hand above his head and the other going around his waist. Becca just stared at the man with a bewildered expression, "Do you do that often? Like pose out of nowhere and introduce yourself? I mean, I know you. What''s the point?" "Girl, you must be a blast at parties," Zestra rolled his eyes, "I''m just messing around. Well, not entirely. You already know me, and you know my name, and you saw what I did, right?" "Yeah, I do. But I don''t understand why you are asking me that. You introduced yourself, said your own name, and did that weird pose," Becca tilted her head. "And that''s how I know that no one planted a bug on you. This is actually part of a spell. If there was someone else listening to our conversation, you would hear the name of someone dear to you when I introduced myself," Zestra explained. "Really? How does that work?" "Basically, it works with my voice. I designate you as my recipient, but if my voice gets transmitted to a different place or there is someone else around us, everyone will hear a fake name instead of mine. And the spell uses the name of someone you love just to frazzle whoever is hearing," Zestra explained before clapping, "Now, can you show me the cameras? I need to see what we are working with." Becca nodded and showed the cameras. She could either use her tablet to show the images or see them on her skill window. Using the system was the clear superior choice since she could see all the angles at once, but that only worked for her. The reporter showed everything to Zestra, who quietly listened to what she saw. Every so often, he would ask about a specific painting or angle, and Becca would reply to the best of her abilities. "Right. I have to say. This was a very well-made setup. I''m surprised," Zestra smiled. "Do I look that unreliable?" Becca gave him a sad smile. "Not really, but some skills are not transferable. You are used to being a reporter, not scouting a place for possible entrances, hiding places, weak spots, security breaches, and stuff," Zestra turned to Becca and looked into her eyes as he lowered the tablet, "Before we start. Are you sure you want to be a part of this? If you want to give up, this is your chance. We can say that we coerced you, and you can drop the cameras. So far, you didn''t do anything wrong. The moment we start planning the next step, that will change, and you will be an accomplice." "I''m sure. Something is wrong, and the Guild is covering it up. And even if we are wrong, at least I''ll know that I was just being paranoid. But yeah, if the Guild is doing what we think it''s doing. I need to know," Becca nodded. "Well then. Welcome to the world of crime. Try not to get addicted. When is the interview?" "In five days. Will I have to go through with it, even after we get what we need?" Zestra nodded, "It will be better. If you run away, you will be one of the suspects. Not to mention that they are likely to reschedule or cancel it altogether if they notice someone has broken in. You trying to get the interview will be annoying, and they will likely think you had nothing to do with all that. Then again, they might think you are related to the incident and interrogate you during the interview. But having you show up will already make it seem like you had nothing to do with it." "Really? What about the whole ''criminals always come back to the scene of a crime'' thing?" "That is usually talking about petty crimes. Industrial espionage doesn''t fall in the same category. And a good spy never goes back to the same place they stole something from since they would already have a target on their backs." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "I see¡­ well, I suppose it makes sense. In that case, if you already got what you want, why would you go back," Becca nodded, "What''s our next step?" "Surveillance. We need to know the schedule of everyone in the house. Usually, I case the place for a few weeks before heading in, but I imagine that keeping the cameras up won''t be exactly easy. You can keep them up for how long?" Zestra started going through the cameras, already making notes on a piece of paper. Even if he was confident that no one else had access to his tablet. Plans and notes were better kept on paper so they could be destroyed later and not have any trail. Ironically enough, in this day and age, it is easier to get rid of a paper trail than a digital one. "If I''m doing things, maybe a day. If I just rest and don''t use mana or other skills, maybe three or four. The biggest problem would be sleep. I can sleep, but it won''t be a restful night," Becca explained. "Ok, so we are on a deadline. Let''s aim for three days. We gather intel today and tomorrow, and then we go." The two went through every single camera until they found what they needed. From there, Becca focused on gathering information, while Zestra concentrated on setting up a plan. They had several options, and each one came with its own set of problems. But the biggest issue was the location of the information they were looking for. The obvious answer would be inside the computer in the office. However, Haddock was a smart man. If he had any incriminating information, it wouldn''t be kept in an obvious place. If he had a secret safe or something, they would have to find it first, and there was nothing showing in the cameras. For the next day, they took turns watching the camera. Becca was under a strict order not to move around, so she could keep the cameras going. The spell itself didn''t use that much mana, but that changed when she added the invisibility part. A camera by itself only cost her about 300 mana per minute, but the invisibility spell asked for another 3 thousand, and that was for each of the cameras she had set up. Thankfully, she had some items that increased her mana recovery and a few mana stones that could manage to offset that issue. In the end, the time limit on the cameras wasn''t because of magic, but because of the mental strain that it caused. Becca couldn''t sleep properly, and she would always feel like her mind was in several places at the same time. The reporter also had a skill that could offset some of those effects. It was called Hyper Focus and allowed her to tune everything out for a period of time, giving her a chance to either work or rest her mind for one hour. The good part of all of this was that she could set up several warnings on her tablet, and when one of the cameras noticed movement or anything that changed in the image, it could warn Becca or whoever was using the tablet. During one of her shifts the next day, one of those warnings triggered, and what she saw was strange. "That''s weird," Becca said after about two hours since she started watching the cameras. "What?" "I''m pretty sure Haddock took out the same book earlier," Becca replied. "Maybe he likes it?" "Then why doesn''t he take it away? And why does he keep it in such an annoying place, to get to? I mean, look. He needs to use the ladder to reach it, and then he moves the ladder away o a different position. Also, both times he picked the book, then returned the ladder to a different place and walked to a third location to read." Zestra perked up, "Can you show me the previous time he walked there? Without stopping what we are seeing now?" "If I couldn''t do that, I wouldn''t call myself a reporter. Here," Becca changed to the recording she was making, and passed the tablet to the spy. Just like she said, Haddock went to the library, took one of the ladders, and went up to around the middle of the bookshelf before pulling a brown book with a golden eye in the cover framed in deep green. He opened it, moved his hand in an odd way, passing it on top of the book as if that was a prayer, and closed it before going down the ladder, changing its position, and walking to a different location. He opened the book again and just stared at it for a while, not even changing the pages. But thanks to the keen eye of a certain infiltrator, they managed to realize that his fingers were moving very slightly. Almost as if he was typing on an invisible keyboard. "Ok. I understand why you were weirded out now," Zestra nodded. "Do you think it''s relevant?" "Maybe. Can you move the camera?" Zestra asked. "No. I can only set up movement when I''m close to the camera, or if I have a network of cameras going all the way there to send the signal. But I didn''t do it since they might be able to track the mana," Becca looked to the side, noticing how the sheets in her bed were tossed around. She was moving a lot during her sleep and forgot to make bed. Her mom would be pissed if she knew about that. It may be time to take care of it. Then again, she was hungry, and some instant noodles could really hit the spot. "Becca?" Zestra tapped her shoulder. "What? What''s going on?" Becca snapped back to the topic. "This really messes with you, huh?" "Yeah. Sorry," Becca shook her head, "Do you think we have enough?" "Maybe, but I think that going in the evening will be better. Haddock doesn''t seem to take anything back home aside from his tablet. So unless he keeps the files on his tablet, which would be a risk in itself, I think we are ok to go today in the dead of night." "Right," Becca nodded but then realized a big mistake on her part, "How are you getting inside the villa? I only have cameras on the inside, I didn''t set anything up outside the building." "Oh, don''t worry about that. I already have that covered, but we will have one more thing to take care of. Near his house, there is a coffee shop that stays open for 24h. They are used to people going there to work during the late hours of the night. So the plan is for you to be there while I go inside the house. Use a soundproof spell and keep working there. We''ll use that recording of the video editing you were doing some time ago, and you''ll be in a voice call with a fake number to pretend you are talking with someone else instead of me. While that is going on, you will be looking at the cameras and guiding me through the office," Zestra explained his plan. "When did you have the time to think about all that?" Becca looked at the spy with a surprised expression. "Preparation is half of the job. Now rest. I''ll keep using the cameras while you get ready to stay up during the night." Becca nodded and crawled onto her bed. It hadn''t been long since she woke up, but the skill was taking a toll on her body. She barely felt like she slept before Zestra woke her up. It was already 2 A.M., and it was time to see what the Guild was hiding. 619 - Bird, dogs and a turtle Becca was driving her car. Luckily it was 3 A.M., and there were few cars out at this time. She didn''t want to use her Hyper Focus skill now since she didn''t know when Zestra would need her help. Turning to the right, she arrived at the parking lot where she would leave her car and quickly found a parking spot. She took a deep breath and looked around the empty car for her purse. It was inside the glove box, and Becca picked it up and opened it to look for something before heading out. With her elbow, she pressed the horn, startling herself in the process. Cursing under her breath, she opened the door and left the car, still searching for something in her purse. Before she could even close the door, Becca tripped, spilling the contents of her purse into the floor. She groaned and grabbed everything while leaving the door of the car open. After a few moments, she heard a voice in her earbuds. "If being a reporter doesn''t work, you have a talent for acting," Zestra teased. He knew she couldn''t say anything back to him right now, and he wasn''t going to let that chance slip. Everything so far was part of their plans. There were cameras everywhere, but Zestra''s invisibility could deceive even the best sensors. However, if he was going to walk all the way here, there were too many chances for things to go wrong. So they took the best alternative. Zestra came in the car with her, doing a similar skit when she first opened the car door so there would be some time for him to walk inside. Becca got herself together, grabbed the bag with her laptop inside the car, and locked the vehicle before heading to the coffee shop. It was just around the corner, and this was a very safe part of town. After all, there were several business buildings that dealt with somewhat sensitive information. This was another reason why the coffee shop was used to people showing up in the middle of the night to work. The life of someone working a desk job could be rough at times. Becca also made sure to wear a pair of non-reflective blue sunglasses so that no one would see where her eyes were looking. Her excuse would be that her eyes were strained, and this would help with the blue light from the computer. Going inside the shop, a server walked over to greet her, "Welcome to Overtime. Is it your first time here?" Becca nodded, "Yeah. I had to work, but if I stayed in the hotel, I was going to sleep. Is that ok?" "Sure, come with me," the server walked to the side, passing by the counter and a few tables with a single person on each, "Now, we have a couple of rules here. You are free to stay for as long as you want, but for every hour, you need to spend at least 20 gold on our products. If you want, you can pay in advance for the time you will be here, and the pay will be deducted from your tab at the end." "Oh, really? Yeah, that sounds nice. I think I''m going to do that. If I don''t stay the entire time, can I get what''s left of the pay back?" Becca asked. "Unfortunately, no. But you are free to order whatever you want as takeout. We also have some 1 gold candy to make sure you don''t leave any money behind," the server explained. "I see. Yeah, that''s ok," the reporter nodded. "Great. You can have this table here in the corner. We try to keep it empty for our more¡­ popular customers, like you, Ms. Swan. I''m sorry to say your ring tattoo around the eyes is not exactly inconspicuous, even with the glasses," they were in front of the corner table, here Becca would have her back against the wall and no one would be able to see what she was doing on her laptop. Becca chuckled, "Oh, this wasn''t to hide. My eyes are just killing me for staring at the computer all day. I''m sorry if it looked like that." "No problem. Now, are you going to talk with someone during your time with us? If so, I would ask you to use a soundproof spell or item. If you don''t have one, we offer loans for 10 gold an hour." "I have one, thanks," Becca pulled a black ring box from her purse, "Also, this will make it so that a mask appears in my face, but it''s just an illusion, so you might see my hand going through it, don''t freak out." "Oh, that''s a nice one. I''ll have to see if I find a few for the shop. Feel free to order whatever you like from the menu. Sam will bring it to you so no one will bother your work." "Sam?" The server pointed to the side. A small robot turtle was floating around the shop and delivering the orders to the tables before going back to the kitchen, "Sam." "That''s just adorable," Becca chuckled. "It really is. Now how long are you staying with us for? Or would you rather order as you need?" "You said 20 gold per hour, right? So¡­ I''ll stay for five hours. 100 gold is easier to count." The server nodded and set up the pay on the table. Soon, Becca put on the ring that would activate both the soundproof spell and the mask illusion. She turned on her laptop and was about to speak with Zestra when she decided to wait. The elf was talking nonstop in her ear, teasing her about her delay and her acting, and talking about some show he watched last week. Now he was complaining that this walking was boring and wanted someone to talk to. He was way too relaxed, considering what they were about to do, and that annoyed Becca. Instead, she took a look at the menu and, after a couple of minutes, ordered a large cup of espresso, a soda, and a burger. During all that time, she already had the soundproof and illusion active, so no one could hear or see her mouth moving. Then she looked at her email and rearranged her desktop before speaking with her partner. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Ok. I''m set up." "Damn, girl. That took a while. Was it hard to get the people there to leave you alone?" "Not at all. I was just deciding on what to eat. They have burgers and some amazing-looking desserts." There was a long pause before Zestra spoke up, "Now you are just being mean." "If you behave, I''ll order some to go when I leave. Now, where are you?" "About two blocks away. Open your laptop and open the file called ''Spooky Skeletons,'' That will show you the camera I set up," Zestra said. "When did you do this? Actually, how did you figure out my password?" "Girl, please. I''m about to hack a computer that should be as protected as it gets. Do you really think I couldn''t do that to yours? Also, I didn''t. You left it open when you passed out. Don''t worry. I didn''t do anything else. We are on the same side, and my organization doesn''t have a custom to backstab their members, even the potential ones." "Ok then," Becca mumbled and opened the file. It went to a live feed with four cameras, one aimed at the entrance gate, another that seemed to be from very far away looking at the woods before the office building. That camera would move from side to side getting all the way to the gate before moving back, and two in the entrance coming from the back of two cars, "Damn, when did you do all this." "When you were inside doing your thing. Now tell me what you see." "Right, there are two guards on the gate. Then around the woods, I can see some movement, but I can''t tell what it is. Dogs maybe? Two cameras on the gate. No, make that three. One is on each corner, and a third is on the ground to the left. I think that one focuses on getting the plates of cars. The guards outside don''t seem to be wearing armor, but there is a bulge in one of them¡­." "A bulge, you say?" Zestra said with a smirk. "On his jacket, take your mind out of the gutter. Oh, thank you, Sam." "Who''s Sam?" "The robot turtle that just delivered my espresso and my soda." "Your stomach must be made out of iron. Also, isn''t that caffeine going to make the effects of the skill worse?" "I have the Hyper Focus for when things get hectic. And it''s better for me to be a bit distracted than passed out. For now, I''m doing ok." "Right. Just be careful. Change of topics. The camera showing the woods. There is a red flag on the corner of the screen when it turns to the left. It''s right above the wall. Let me know when the area behind the flag is empty." Becca waited for a few moments for the camera to get there. She couldn''t tell exactly what was going on, but there was something moving there. After five cycles of the camera going back and forth and Sam coming back with her burger, the movement stopped, and Becca said, "It''s clear now." Zestra didn''t say anything, but he pressed something on his watch and started counting from 10. As he reached one, he jumped over the wall just by the flag. At the same time, a bird slammed against the barrier covering the entire villa at high speed, getting shocked and creating a bright flash of electricity on the other end of the walls. This was the opening Zestra had to bypass the barrier now that the power was redirected to a single spot. Having a job in a room where the only danger was a Rampage had its perks. Since the city itself had so many barriers, the ones inside it couldn''t be that powerful, or they would cause some interference. Becca saw that happening on her laptop, and she watched it while eating her burger out of anxiety. Everything seemed to be going fine. She had no idea where the bird came from, but the problem came after Zestra landed. She only saw quick movement and then heard his voice. "Oh shit!" Zestra gasped, and everything went silent. Becca held in a yelp and just kept going through the cameras, calling her partner, but she couldn''t see or hear anything. "Zestra? What is happening? Talk to me?" Becca asked. She was worried, but at the same time, she knew she couldn''t do anything. If she went after him, things would get much worse. In the end, she could only wait. This only made her stress eat even more. Ten minutes went by, and Becca was already going through her second portion of fries when she finally heard a voice in her earpiece, "I fucking hate dogs." "Dogs? What happened?" "There is a pack of dogs roaming the villa. I''m assuming it''s part of the guard, and I had to run, hide and make them lose the trail." "And did you?" "Of course I did," Zestra sounded genuinely upset with the comment. "I''m glad. Sorry about the dogs. Where are you?" Becca asked, trying to change topics. "I''m east of the office. I have a clear path to the window of the¡­ I think it was marked as the east conference room in your cameras. Is it clear inside?" Zestra asked. "One moment," Becca swapped through the cameras. She did so without using her hands. Since the cameras she set up were all attached to a system window, she could move them by simply using her mind to do so. Almost no one did that because it took a lot of time, effort, and practice to learn how to move the windows that way, but since Becca could also move around her camera similarly, it didn''t take her that long to learn this. The problem was that this was a waiting game. There was nothing she could do to create an opportunity for Zestra to enter, and she would have to notice any opening quick enough to pass the information along so the spy could make his move. Despite not being there herself, her heart was beating like crazy. One wrong step and the entire plan could collapse on itself, and if that happened, she would become the target of all the hate of the Guild. 620 - Gettining the Data "Ok, I think I got it, but it''s a bad idea. They are using that room as a break room, the one you are staring at, and there are five guards in there playing cards. The theater room on the west is empty, but the hallway right outside it has two guards. One is always there, and the other keeps rotating. Oddly enough, the best way seems to be the main entrance. The only person who passes by there is the guard who keeps patrolling the hallways. And in front of the building, there is just one guard at the moment. And he is drinking something. Hang on," Becca quickly checked the recordings, "Yeah, ok, this is his third cup of coffee, I think. I''m sure he will need to use the bathroom soon." "Going through the front door. That''s a bold move. I like it," Zestra smiled and started moving. He waited behind one of the cars, still invisible, for the guard to start heading to the bathroom. He was hoping he would use the one in the building since there wasn''t any portable toilet around, "I''m giving half an hour for that. Keep track of the movements of everyone inside, and tell me if you see something different. I''m already working on a plan B." "Roger that," Becca said and activated her [Hyper Focus] skill before continuing watching. It didn''t take long until she noticed how the guard in the front of the house was pacing around. He called someone through their communicators, but one of the guys in the break room just replied and waved their hands while laughing. Unfortunately, the cameras couldn''t capture sound. If they did, the invisibility spell would be much more costly, and Becca wouldn''t be able to keep it up for so long. Not because the audio would cost more than the visual data but because the more sensors Becca added, the harder the invisibility had to work. "Are you seeing this?" Becca asked when the guard in the front of the house started moving. "I am. How are things going inside?" "All clear. The guy who is on patrol is in one of the hallways." "Perfect," Zestra got up and started moving. Becca couldn''t see where he was, but the spy moved quickly and with confidence. Just as the man opened the door, Zestra tapped on his watch under the sleeve of his suit, making one of the cars flash and beep just as it opened. "What the¡­?" the guard who was about to enter the building pulled a set of keys from his pocket and pressed the lock button to lock his car again, "Weird," he huffed before walking inside. During all that time, he kept the door open, giving a chance for Zestra to move inside, "Fuck you all. I''m going to take a piss. Someone come watch the door," the guard continued, causing the one patrolling to rush out. Becca didn''t see anything, just the car flashing and the man waiting, but the opening didn''t seem large enough to allow a second person to pass through. Yet, a couple of minutes later, she noticed that the camera pointing to the office blinked a couple of times. "That was easier than I expected," Zestra said. "Where are you?" "Inside the office. Let me know if anyone gets close to the door," the spy was still invisible, and he first made sure to turn off all monitors in the room. Then cast an illusion to block out the light, and only after all that was over that he opened the computer. His data drive would work better if he installed it inside it, and it didn''t look like this particular machine had any spells or alarms on it, "Time to work my magic." "Go for it. I''ll keep a lookout. How long is that going to take?" Becca asked. "Probably around 2 hours. Praise the SSD," Zestra said with a chuckle. "SSD?" "It''s a newish tech that works better than a USB stick. It usually can download 3 TB in just two hours, but my custom version can do that in just 20 minutes, and I think this will give me enough time to¡­." Zestra walked over to the door and set up a couple more spells and skills to hide his tracks while the software was working, "Let me know when the path to the library is clear." "Which one?" "The one where there is a sale on cookbooks. Girl, what do you think I''m talking about? The one where Haddock was acting all sneaky and suspicious." "Oh! Right, sorry," Becca felt flushed. It was an obvious thing, and she should''ve realized it sooner. "That''s ok. Sorry for being a bitch. I get snippy during a mission." They waited a while until the hallway was clear before Becca told Zestra it was time. He quickly moved through the corridor and reached the library. It took a few moments, but with the help of the reporter-turned-camerawoman, he managed to find the book. Unfortunately, this one was much more protected than the computer. There were several odd spells and locks that had to be unlocked in a specific order to open it. And now that Zestra had touched the book, if everything wasn''t opened in five minutes, it would trigger an alarm, and the contents would be destroyed. The spell didn''t say anything about that, but the spy had faced a very similar lock. More than that, the mana signature seemed to be very similar, so whoever made this set of traps was the same person who did the trap that made him fail his last mission. "Sneaky bastard. I got you this time." "Who are you talking to?" Becca watched the camera that only showed a floating book. According to what she knew, this library didn''t have any sensors or cameras, so Zestra could move more freely. "This trap. I think I know who made it. Well, I know of who made it," Zestra continued. "And did you manage to bypass it?" "No. I failed that mission, and everything went south. But now that I touched the book, unless I disarm it, it will trigger." "And can you?" "If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I would have said no. But now, maybe." "Maybe?" Becca gasped, "That doesn''t sound good." "It''s not, but give me a minute. I need to focus," Zestra spoke in a very serious tone that Becca had never heard before. "Ok. I''ll let you know if anything urgent happens," Becca continued. Time passed as Zestra continued to work on the trap. One of the guards stopped in front of the office door, which made Becca worry, but she didn''t say anything not to disturb the spy''s work. All that happened in the span of four minutes until Zestra finally said. "Ok, this is the last part. If it works, great. If not, I''m running out of here," he took a deep breath and pulled the mana from the final part of the trap. There was a small spark that also showed up on Becca''s screen, but everything else seemed to be ok. The spark wasn''t strong enough to cause any harm, nor strong enough to make a light. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Did it work?" Becca asked. "Yeah. It did. Hang on. Let''s see¡­. Holy shit. This is amazing!" Zestra gasped. "What?" "This looks like a journal with sensitive information. It''s on a cipher, but Haddock left the key in here," Zestra chuckled, "So much for being a smart guy. Anyway, let''s just take some pictures, and we can decipher it later," Zestra moved to the table on the side and started scanning every single page with a small device. Thankfully this would allow him to do it two pages at a time, and in about half an hour, he managed to complete the process, "Honestly, this is amazing. It''s totally worth it to have them know someone came here." "They will know? How?" "Well, there is no magic in the book anymore. So he will notice that something is wrong." "Can''t you make a lock like the one that it had?" "I don''t think so. That was very different from the one I could make." "So? Just make one. Maybe set it to be dispelled after some time. That way, Haddock will, at least, think that everything is fine for a while, and when he realizes it''s not, your mana is gone, and they can''t track it if that is a thing." Zestra stopped and looked at the hidden camera in the room, "That''s actually brilliant. Why didn''t I think of that?" "Probably because I''m the one eating and just watching you. You have way more stuff to worry about than I do." "Fair point. Let me finish this, and I''ll tell you when I have to go back to the office." Zestra took a while to set up a new lock with the same pattern as the one he unlocked. Soon he went back to the office with Becca''s help. Nothing happened as he waited, and when the file transfer was done, he deleted the computer logs showing it was ever turned on at this hour, took his SSD chip, and left. He got lucky with the rotation, and just as Zestra was about to leave, Becca let him know that the way was clear. "Thank you, darling. I''ll buy you a coffee later. We leave through the front door?" the spy asked. "Just get out of there with the data," Becca rolled her eyes, "The front door seems to be the best option, but I have no clue how long it will be before any of them opens the door," She was already used to his flirty ways and knew that 90% of those comments could only be taken at face value. He moved through the hallway toward the entrance. Just as he was about to go down the stairs, there was a noise coming from one of the meeting rooms. "The guys on break are moving out," Becca said as she noticed them leaving that room. "Crap¡­ Do we know where they will stay?" Zestra moved back to the hallway, trying to be out of sight even with his invisibility but still close enough to hear any conversation. "One moment," Becca looked at her notes, "Two stay in the entrance, one in the hallway you are currently in, and another two will be moving around the house in circles." "Ok, the front door is a bad idea then. How long until the other team takes a break?" "They won''t. The first group that was on a break already started working, and this is the second one coming out of theirs.." "Where are the windows?" Zestra asked. "I saw a few in the cameras, but I didn''t case the area. Is there any that is not showing on the screens you have?" "No¡­ Well, the bathroom had a small window, but I didn''t put a camera in there." "Why not?" "It''s not a public bathroom. There is only one toilet and nothing to hide you from another person inside. It felt like an invasion of privacy." "We are stealing from this guy, and you are worried about his privacy?" Zestra asked. "We are not stealing anything, just copying data. And yeah, recording people going to the bathroom is where I draw a line." "At least we know what is too much for you. Do I have a clear shot to the bathroom?" "You are just up the stairs, right?" Before Zestra could reply, one of the guards started speaking. "Everyone. I''m going to trigger the mana sensor Acryora. Run a check. You all should be wearing the bracelet. I don''t want a redo of the mess that happened last week, even if this is a new thing we have here. If that shit happens again, I''ll have you lot doing the paperwork," the guard said through his communicator. "Fuck," Zestra didn''t say anything else but dashed to the bathroom. He faced that sensor before. Anything that wasn''t either excluded from the sensor or wasn''t wearing one of the bracelets would be signaled as an intruder. Even worse, that could pinpoint his location with deadly accuracy. As he moved, he glanced to the library and got worried. Maybe the lock he placed in the book would be enough to give him away. Then again, maybe Haddock made that room as an exception for the sensor since he would want to hide that there was something in there. Either way, there was nothing Zestra could do right now but run. The window here was tiny, but he could make it work. The problem would be to close it, not to mention the view from the outside, but Becca had no cameras in the back of the house. He quickly opened the window just a smidge before casting an illusion spell to make it seem like nothing was moving. After that, he added a mana marker on the window so he could cast a spell even without seeing it. Climbing through the small gap, he dropped down, kicking the wall as he got close to the ground so the spy would land on the grass and not the gravel that was right under the window. He tumbled forward, using a spell to reduce the noise he made. Looking back, he prepared to use his marker to close the window. The problem was that doing so would require multiple casts. In order to make perfect illusions that could trick even the most sensitive of sensors, he had to make it weak to any direct interference. It was a gamble that always paid off, but now if he had any hopes of closing the window, he would have to switch between closing it and recasting the illusion at rapid speeds. If he was even a second too late, the camera would notice the movement, and people would know someone had left this palace. To make things worse, he had to do all that before they triggered the Acryora sensor, or his mana signature would be felt by it. Zestra started rapidly firing the spells and quickly closed the window, making some noise that he could only hope wouldn''t attract anything. With that out of the way, he ran to the side as fast as he could. That sensor could have a very wide range, and if he was caught anywhere on it, he would be in a world of trouble. Becca didn''t say anything during all that time. She understood that Zestra needed to focus to deal with whatever he was doing. Five minutes later, she finally heard his voice. "Hey. I think I''m in the clear," Zestra sounded tired. He had to run as fast as possible while keeping a soundproof spell around him. Having that kind of spell moving around took a lot of effort, even for someone proficient in it. "Are you sure?" "I will be when I leave this place. If no one comes after me, I think we will be ok. And it''s a good thing. I''m running out of mana already," Zestra said as he approached the wall surrounding the villa. He pressed something on his watch again, and a bird struck the barrier, causing it to flare up for a moment, just like before. The spy jumped over the wall, ready to fight whatever was coming, but there was nothing. With a sigh of relief, he started moving back to his partner. About thirty minutes passed until Zestra returned to the parking lot. Becca wanted to leave the coffee shop right away, but according to the spy, it would be better if she stayed there until the five hours she paid for passed. She did so, ate some food,, and ordered extra for both of them when she was about to leave. As she went to her car, she did the same thing as before, making some sort of excuse to keep the door open for a few moments before going in herself. A couple of days passed, and the interview was still scheduled. It seemed like no one realized that someone had infiltrated the office. During that time Zestra was still in Becca''s room decoding the journal and seeing if there were any files that could help them. One night, as the spy was working on a new page absentmindedly, he finished deciphering and stopped to actually read what he found. "What the actual fuck?" "What''s wrong?" Becca asked as she got out of the shower. "Look at this. How the hell did they manage to hide this?" Zestra passed a page to Becca. The reporter took it and read it over, "This¡­ fuck. This is messed up. How did they think they would get away with this?" "I don''t know. But let me keep going. We still have some pages left to decipher, not to mention I have my contacts combing through the data. Maybe there are more pieces of this puzzle we can put together. "Yeah, sure," Becca nodded, "Either way. We got those bastards." "We sure did, girl," Zestra said with a smile, but he knew deep down that things were never this easy. 621 - Red Dunes "Are we there yet?" Blue asked for the umpteenth time. "No, Blue, we are not," Hera replied, the sweat dripping from her nose. "Can I go on Nimbus?" Blue asked. "It''s not your turn. I''m next," Alex replied in a cold tone. "Can Daskka do the thing?" Blue asked yet again. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! We are miserable here, and we don''t need a fucking child on top of things," Bonnie snapped. The group was now only two rooms away from their destination. After the Belly of the Beast, they went to the Obsidian Mines, a massive mine spanning around 10 million square meters. The pit itself was so deep that it took them a full day of travel just to reach the top, and they were not even at the bottom when they arrived. Then came a room with a large cliff with a beach underneath that would only appear when the tide was low called Rising Giant. After getting up from the pit, they all had to climb all the way down to cross to the room they were currently in. Red Dunes. A vast and extensive desert of red sandy dunes without a single drop of water or vegetation to be found anywhere, which made the room prime for sandstorms. To make things worse, with one exception, all the dungeons or doorways seemed hidden beneath the sands. Currently, they were on their fourth day of travel in this room. Nimbus was almost permanently on his griffon form carrying one of the party members, while Helena called her Wasp Guard every now and then to do the same. Unfortunately, because of the dunes, they couldn''t have the Sentinel carrying everyone in the makeshift sled that Adriel could make, not to mention that his drones were struggling a lot with the sands. At the moment, only the one that was his relic was active. The other two got clogged up with sand and were currently out of commission, which meant that his only drone was being used to carry everyone''s stuff. Mostly the meat and rations they got from the previous rooms. If it wasn''t for Hera''s bottled creek, they would be in a lot of trouble, but even a party of this size wasn''t able to burn through the 10 liters it would recharge every hour. No one was happy about the situation. During the day, it was extremely hot and uncomfortable, and at night the entire place became like an icebox, forcing the group to huddle together to sleep while the blades kept watch. Hera couldn''t even try to use her stone wall to make a proper cover since there was no stone around. To top it all off, Lurize had to stay in his weapon form the entire time. Because of his large body and weight, he would sink into the dunes as if it was quicksand. To top it all off, some sand monsters could appear out of nowhere. Some would make traps like an antlion, while others were sand snakes or hydras disguised as dunes. Fighting them was relatively easy since this place was on the 10th layer, but it was annoying. To kill the monsters, they had to either destroy their core, as if they were slimes, or use spells to destroy or remove the sand fast enough so they wouldn''t be able to recover. A couple of the creatures were even more annoying, being able to recover their strength by absorbing some of the sand from the ground into their bodies. Luckily, the rate at which they did that wasn''t that high, but the mere concept was enough to keep the entire party on edge; "Daskka, how is your mana?" Hera asked, ignoring Bonnie''s yelling. "I need about 10 more minutes before I''m full. I could use it now, but then it won''t last as long," Daskka replied. "That''s fine. I''d rather have a break right now under the midday sun, even if it''s a bit shorter," Hera looked around to see Bonnie and Blue still arguing, but she had already developed the ability to tune that out. Opening her [Explorer''s Map], she looked at how far away from the doorway they should be. It was hard to tell exactly how long the trip would take, but they were getting close. The worst part was that to find this specific doorway, they had to travel on a set path that looked almost random. Instead of just moving forward from A to B, they had to make turns and go on large twisting paths that were not actually there. If it wasn''t for the information Hera got from the guide of this room, a mermaid made out of sand called Aria, they would have to do something very different. The name was a bit on the nose since it was very close to arid, and it seemed like this guide would want to talk to Hera every now and then, although the two of them didn''t hit it off that well. Not because either of them said anything wrong or something like that, but there was no flow to their conversation, even if they had a specific topic to talk about. Overall it was just an odd vibe that made it seem like they wouldn''t be close. Either way, Aria told her that a mirage hid the doorway, and there were a couple of ways of breaking through that. She could go through the hard mode of a specific dungeon in hopes of getting a specific item that could remove the mirage one time. Another was to complete all the dungeons in the room within the span of a week to receive a quest that would ask them to do yet another dungeon that would only be opened for those doing that quest. Then they would receive an item that would allow them to bypass the mirage as many times as they wanted. Lastly was to travel the path of the sands that would reveal the hidden doorway instead of hiding it. Moving through the path in this specific pattern would trigger a specific kind of magic in the room that would protect them from the effect of the mirage. It was very much like a spell circle, but it wasn''t a complete loop as what Hera was used to, but just a squiggly line. That made her think about how she treated spell circles and that maybe she could do something different. As the Empress was thinking about the guide, the room, and the spells, she felt a cold feeling wash over her body. Looking to the side, she saw how everyone was covered in a light blue mist, and a pair of glowing red eyes were hovering above her, "Thanks Daskka. This feels much better." On the first day that they started traveling through this room, the snake had that idea, and it didn''t take long for her to change her giant snake form also to be made out of cold mist. Since the basis of her silver snake form was to become mist and condense her body to become tangible, all she had to do was to disperse her mana to cover a wide area. "Water check. Everyone drink water, and let''s refill. We can also take a small break," Helena called. One by one, they downed their water and gathered around Hera for her to refill their bottles. Even if they had enough water to go around, everyone had the instinct to ration it as they were moving through the desert, and that was a dangerous thing. It was not uncommon to find people who got lost in the woods or in the desert and ended up perishing with bottles filled with water nearby. "Oh, Hera. I just remembered. Can I take the Naga Essence today?" Shane asked when Hera finished refilling everyone''s bottles. "Yeah, sure," Hera picked a small vial and created the essence from her bracelet, "Did I drink my share?" she asked herself. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "You did not, Empress," Lurize replied right away, excited to be able to help, even if Her could check that herself by looking at the bracelet status. "Oh ok, then," she waited for Shane to drink it so she could clean and reuse the vial for herself, but her friend froze as soon as she drank the essence. "YES!" Shane yelled, "Finally!" "You got a skill?" Hera asked. "Yeah! Naga scales. I was hoping for something to do with my eyes so I could read their writing properly, but I''ll take this," Shane said excitedly. "Do you think that skill will help with the ruins? Maybe there is something related to touch there?" Hera suggested knowing that she was being way too optimistic about this. "No clue, but I don''t care. I feel closer to them now, and maybe this skill will give me a unique insight into what it was like to be a Naga. As they say, you never know someone until you walk a mile on their shoes," Shane was grinning from ear to ear. "Please, please, please. Don''t start using miles for measurement again. It took way too much effort to make you all stop using those nonsensical measures," Adriel gasped. "Were you guys responsible for that?" Bonnie asked. "Yes. Not us elves, but everyone inside the MAZE. Do you know how annoying it is to have to convert every single measurement because people decided to measure things with the foot of an old king? So many mistakes were made because people didn''t mention if that particular project was in metric or imperial." "Yeah, yeah, you already complained about that before. Get a new thing," Alex mumbled. Adriel got a bit annoyed with the reply, but he didn''t say anything. No one was feeling great with this heat, and walking through the sands was anything but easy. Each step would sing a few centimeters into the sands, and they had to quickly move away or risk being swallowed by the dunes. This meant that even when they were eating or drinking, they had to do something like that. The only way of having solid ground was to burn the sand to turn it into a sheet of glass and then wait around for it to cool down enough so they could climb on top. Or to get lucky and find a large boulder somewhere, which was the group''s preferred way of sleeping. Hera just shrugged and asked for the vial back before cleaning it and putting the second dose of essence on it, "Bottoms up," she said to herself and drank the Naga Essence, not expecting anything, but she could never imagine what would happen next. As soon as she swallowed the liquid, her entire body became cold. Not freezing, but just unbelievably cold. However, the temperature quickly rose, and suddenly, she felt like she wasn''t under the scorching heat of the desert anymore but in a place warm and comfortable. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Triggered: Explorer''s quest - Crafter Skill You have acquired abilities that mirror that of a crafter. You may attempt the crafter role test to unlock the crafter-related skills. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the test area will appear. Restriction: Quest must be completed within 24 hours of arriving in the test area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Triggered: Naga Inheritor The Naga are a species that went extinct a long time ago. However, by developing one of their skills to the point where it becomes one with your own self, completing important tasks left by the Naga, interacting with their culture, and giving their history a chance to exist in the MAZE again, you have become a part of their culture. You are now close enough to the Naga for your ascension. To begin the quest, head to a doorway, and the option to travel to the ascension area will appear. Inside that area, you will know more about the process. You are able to leave the ascension area without completing the ritual. The ascension area will remain available while you have a Naga skill at rank 6 or above and possess a legendary grade item that was made by a Naga. There is no time limit to this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell?" Hera gasped. "What happened?" Shane asked. "Hang on," Hera replied while opening her status window. She wanted to check one thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Naga Poison (Rank 6) You are able to create poison effects as they are natural extensions of your body. Your poisons can become more varied, and you can imbue different types of mana to the poison itself. The poison permeates your body, changing its temperature to maintain the optimal conditions for its production. When attacking, you can coat the weapons you are wielding with poison at no cost to your mana. Poison mana efficiency + 150% Poison effectiveness + 60% Poison resistance + 90% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok¡­ so my Naga poison got to rank 6, and I got two quests because of it," Hera replied. "Damn, you had to one-up me," Shane teased. "Sorry." "No worries. What are the quests?" "One is the crafter role quest. I guess making poison inside my body counts as crafting?" Hera turned to the group, but no one could answer her, "Either way, the next one is¡­ Weird. It''s saying that I can become the inheritor of the Naga and that by doing that quest, I can go through an ascension. I have no idea what this is all about. Does anyone know?" again, no one had answers. Hera read out loud the notification and discussed with the party what that could mean. Unfortunately, this was the first time anyone had ever heard about an ascension or something like that. "Damn, those requirements are brutal. Not just the relic, but the rank 6 skill is awful," Shane scratched the back of her head. "Is the skill that much of an issue? I mean, I have a couple of skills that are at rank 5 already. Rank 6 doesn''t seem that far off," Blue asked. "It is. Rank 6 is considered a milestone. Usually, it takes years to go from rank 5 to 6 unless you have some external factors helping you. To get a rank 6, you need to be able to use the skill without even thinking about it, and it can''t be an accident. It has to be as natural as moving your arm, and that takes a lot of time to practice. In some cases, it is borderline impossible to do that. I mean, imagine if you have a passive like Hera''s. Did you ever consciously think, ''I''m going to make Naga poison?''" Helena turned to the explorer. "I can''t say I have." "That''s my point. It''s supposed to be something that becomes natural for you, but how can you do that with something that is always active? Aren''t passives already on that level by default?" Helena continued, "Either way. I think you should get to that ascension area to know more about whatever you are going to do. Not to mention you should do the test right away. We don''t know what we need to do to get rid of the curse you guys have, and I''m sure having more abilities and skills won''t hurt." "Not to mention, the crafter role is one of the best for us. It lets us change our relic. Also, it''s not like you have much of a choice. If you refuse the test when you touch the doorway you will need to raise the skill to rank 7 to get it again," Adriel added. Hera nodded, "I agree. So let''s get moving. According to the map, we are not that far from the doorway. We should be able to get there today, and I can see what this is all about." 622 - Ancestor Sometime before sundown, the group finally arrived at their destination. However, they still had to do a full lap around the oasis that they weren''t able to see. The mirage would make that area look like just another part of the dunes, and if anyone tried to walk towards it, they would unconsciously walk around the area. Even worse, the illusion would make it seem as if their tracks were still heading straight, even if they were moving to the sides. During this loop, a Sand Hydra appeared from the side, roaring and snapping at the group. However, the moment it appeared, everyone threw some spells at it. Bonnie used large elemental fists to slam its body, Helena used the shadows to grab it from inside and rip the monster apart, and Shane fired two projectiles that exploded in ice and fire. Blue called down some lightning from a cloud she made in the sky, hoping to give them some shade, but the room didn''t seem to mind. It didn''t matter how high or how large the cloud was. The sun''s scorching heat would still pierce through it as if it was nothing. Hera sent a poison needle that didn''t do anything. After all, she couldn''t actually poison sand. It didn''t matter how strong her poison was. Mylo pulled his staff in a quick motion, but as he saw everyone attacking, he just waved his hand and put it back on his back. After the initial flurry of attacks, Alex and Adriel manage to see the monster''s core and send out attacks that immediately destroyed the being. "We are getting there, aren''t we?" Blue asked. "This time, we are," Hera nodded and pulled her tablet to show the map. They were very close to the end, and they should be able to see the oasis in the next few minutes. Just like she said, it took them just 5 minutes to finish the full loop, and the moment they did so, a new place came into view. Surrounded by the red sands, a large clear water lake almost glowed as the sun reflected on the surface. Large date palms with pink leaves towered over the dunes. There was some smaller vegetation in different shades of green, yellow, and red, as well as a gravel outline separating the entire oasis from the rest of the desert. In the center of the lake was a glowing white doorway, which was their destination. The moment they saw the water, everyone started running. Nimbus, who was carrying Blue this time, flew towards it and dropped off his rider before coming back to help the Empress, but he didn''t have to do that. When the oasis came into view, Hera glanced around and noticed that there were no marks of monsters anywhere, and she had an urge to just dive into the water. She was already on the edge of the water when she fell to her knees and dunked her entire head inside the lake. Even if she wasn''t feeling all that hot anymore, thanks to the new rank of her Naga Poison skill, the stickiness was still there. Not to mention that it was one thing to be somewhat comfortable and another to feel refreshed. "Man, this really hits the spot," Hera said as she lifted her head from the water. "This could''ve been dangerous," Helena frowned while still touching the water lightly with her fingers to ensure nothing would happen to them. "I looked around. There was nothing here. I mean, look, no markings, no tracks, no nothing that could signal the existence of a monster or anything," Hera pointed to a few areas while speaking. "That doesn''t mean this is a safe place." "But it is safe. I''m 100% positive." "How are you so sure of that?" Helena asked. "I¡­ I''m not sure," Hera looked around. Even if there was nothing around, she couldn''t be sure that this was really the case. There was a chance that the water was toxic or that the plants would attack them or cause a reaction. Yet she was completely sure that there was no danger around. "It''s the curse," Alex said as she took off her shoes and walked inside the lake, "Ah, that''s the stuff." "The curse?" Hera asked. "Yeah. I mean, you are the one who was the weakest version of it right now. I think. Maybe Bonnie is in the same boat. Either way, at first, when the Curse can''t talk, it will just give feelings. Like making a place look safer if there are no enemies around or making it so that the weak spot of a target seems more obvious in your eyes. Honestly, it''s a great tool, and you get used to it fast," Alex continued. ''If this makes you less weary, I also have the feeling that this place is safe,'' Lurize added. "Do you? Or is something telling you that you do?" Nimbus asked as he approached the Empress. ''What do you¡­ Oh¡­ yes, it''s the second option,'' Lurize sounded defeated. "Is it affecting you guys too?" Hera asked. The question made both Helena and Alex look at Nimbus with worried expressions. "I believe so. The idea of placing markers on the ground to help make a spell circle was not exactly my own. Even if I thought it was mine at first," Nimbus explained. "Well, shit," Hera looked down, thinking about ways to stop that, "Ok. Everyone come here," when she said that, Shane and the other party members also got closer, "Oh no. I meant my blades. I mean, you all can still be here but this is about them." "Oh, sorry," Shane replied and walked away. With the exception of Helena and Blue, the rest of the party did the same. "Don''t worry. Now to you guys," Hera turned to the blades, "You all know how much I hate this, but I have to do it. You are all not allowed to think or interact with the Curse in any way. This is an order." "Yes, Empress," they all replied at once. "Right then. Let''s eat something, and then you can go to your test," Helena said, and they started preparing some of the meat they still had left from the Belly of the Beast. They also had some fish, that they got from the previous room, but that was easier to prepare while walking and they were sick of it. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. A couple of hours passed, and the area around the water was much much more comfortable than the rest of the room. When they were done eating and Hera had rested for a while under the shade of the trees, she gave her bottled creek to Helena and walked to the doorway. "I''ll be right back, guys. I''ll try not to take too long." "Focus on the test. Try to get the most out of it," Adriel suggested. "But don''t take too long," Blue added, getting some angry stares from Shane and the elf, "What? I don''t like this room. I want to leave already." "I''ll do my best," Hera replied and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Role quest identified. Select the role test you wish to challenge [Crafter] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The feeling of warm water covered her body, and her eyes were covered in that white light that would happen as she changed rooms. Soon she was in a reception with a couch on the left, the desk on the right, a couple of tv screens around the area, and two doors in front of her, one to the right that should lead to the bathroom and the kitchen, and the other set of double doors in front of her leading to what should be the test area. However, the most important part was missing. There was no talking green apple on top of the desk as she was used to. "Peaches?" she asked. "Just a minute, kid," a voice came from the door leading to the kitchen and the bathroom. Hera didn''t say anything, just nodded, understanding that he might need some time, and sat on the bench. But she couldn''t help but wonder. Did Peaches had to go to the bathroom? She knew the guides could get drunk, but they never asked to use her bathroom, even when they drank a lot of water. Five minutes went by before the guide opened the door and walked, or hopped, out. "Sorry about that, kid. This is a weird one." "No worries, but what is weird? The test?" Hera asked. "Not exactly¡­ I mean, you got another notification, didn''t you?" "Yeah, one about being an inheritor and ascending, whatever that means. Do you know what that is about?" Peaches nodded, "I kind of do¡­ but I''m not the one who is going to tell you about it," he looked back at the now-opened door." Hera waited for a moment since it seemed like Peaches was waiting for someone to come in. It took a few moments, but she suddenly saw a small witch hat slowly approaching. Only when it got closer that she notice a small purple tail moving behind it, and when it finally stopped, a soft, timid voice started speaking. "He-Hello. Ms. Hera Kingsley. I am here to explain to you the details of the notification." "Stop," Peaches said, "First, introduce yourself. They know we know their names, but they don''t know ours, and it''s polite to do that. Also, look her in the eyes while speaking. Don''t just hide under your hat. You need to make a smaller one." "O-Ok, Mr. Peaches," the voice replied, and the blue velvet hat became smaller and smaller until it was resting on top of a purple snake with a lavender belly that had a few rings and necklaces with stars and moons around her body. "Nice to meet you. I''m Taralandra, but my friends call me Tara. You can call me that too," the small snake started speaking, her beady black eyes fixated on Hera. She suddenly jolted up and pulled the hat to hide her face again, "Oh, no! I''m not saying that we are friends already. You don''t have to be my friend if you don''t want to. But you can still call me Tara, it''s easier I know," she turned to Peaches, "Did I mess up already?" Peaches scoffed, "Considering this one. I doubt it. If anything, you just won over her soft heart." "Hey!" Hera protested but just got a side glance from the apple guide. "Am I wrong?" "No! But you don''t have to rub it in," Hera huffed and sat on the ground, "Hello, Tara. It''s nice to meet you. I''m Hera Kingsley, and I would love to be your friend." "Oh, kid. Do you mind calling the rest of the crew? I think it''s a good thing for her to understand something. Even if it''s not that common," Peaches asked. "Sure," Hera straightened her back, "I am never alone," she said, calling her entire court out. Nimbus and Lurize were already in their humanoid forms, while Daskka formed from the mist around her neck. "Eeeeek!" Tara yelled and jumped behind Peaches, "There are a bunch of them! Wasn''t it supposed to be just one?" "Who is that? Are you getting a new pet, mum?" Daskka asked. "I mean, I''m sure Hera would take care of you well," Peaches glanced at Tara with a smirk which only made her panic even more. With that reaction, the veteran guide started laughing, "Relax. I''m just messing with you. Look at them, and I mean really look. What do you see?" Tara glanced at Hera, then Peaches, and started looking at Nimbus, Lurize, and the blades. It took her just 20 seconds to say, "They are part of her¡­. A legacy?" "Correct. It''s a weird one too, but because of that, we can interact with a group without a problem," Peaches continued. "I see¡­ I''m sorry for fleeing," Tara said as she turned to Hera, but she still was holding the hat to hide her face while hiding her body behind Peaches. "You don''t have to apologize. Really. Now, if you don''t mind. Can I ask who exactly you are, and what do you know about that new quest?" Hera got up and sat on the couch, telling her blades to do the same. "I''ll answer the first part. Tara, here is someone new. A new type of being that was created by the MAZE when you got that quest. She is, from your point of view, just a few hours old, but to her, she is a few hundred years old. It''s kind of what happens when you can have multiple copies of yourself existing at the same time. Most of those copies were studying and learning about her role in all of this, but there were a few expanding her social skills as well." Hera nodded, "I''m sorry I made you go through all that." "No! It was fine, really. If you didn''t get the quest, I wouldn''t even be here, so thank you." "Exactly. You see, this quest, the one you got, was a MAZE first. It is the first time the MAZE and the system offer to change someone into a different species." "Wait, what?" Hera asked. "Yeah, kid. This is what the quest is about. Turning you into a new version of the Naga. But since it''s a first and it''s something that would require some help, the MAZE also made Tara here. The first Ancestor." "I''m the Naga Ancestor, to be more precise," Tara added. "That is¡­ a lot¡­" Hera replied. She never imagined that she would become a different being. She thought that, at most, she would get some extra skill, not change completely. "I know, kid. But it''s not something you have to do right away, or even at all. But, one way or another, Tara here can help you with things related to the Naga skills, and I think she can explain a bit more about the whole idea. Are you ready for that?" Peaches turned to Tara, but it was Hera who replied. "Yeah. I need to understand this to know how I feel." "Oh... Sorry, I wasn''t talking to you," Peaches felt a bit embarrassed. He turned to Tara, who pulled her hat, covering even more of her face before raising it and moving out of her hiding spot. This was her first day of work, and she had to prove she had what it takes to be a good Ancestor, not to the system or anyone, but to herself. 623 - Ascencion "Ok, Ms. Kingsley¡­ Do you have any suggestions on where you want me to start?" Tara asked. "I honestly don''t know. I don''t even know what that all means. So how about you start from the top? Also, you can call me Hera," the Empress smiled. "Oh, ok. Hera. Let''s see¡­ from the top¡­ The MAZE and the system seems upset with the number of sentient species that went extinct inside the MAZE. Things like¡­" Tara stopped talking, "Sorry. I spoke too much. I can''t actually talk about it." "First day on the job, and you already got the system bugging you. Well done," Peaches smirked, causing Tara to pull her hat down a little bit. "A-a-anyway. This is not something you have to worry about. The point is, this is what the ascension will do. It will allow you to kickstart the resurrection of a species. Of course, you won''t have to do that if you don''t want to. I mean, part of what I did to learn about this job was to spend some time as a different being, and it''s weird. I understand why someone would hesitate to make such a drastic change," Tara continued. "I''m glad. I mean, I wasn''t expecting it to be, anyway. There are very few things that the system forces on us. Or, like, don''t give us a choice on the matter. But¡­ is that all? I mean, this is something big. Will I get something out of it?" Hera asked. "Are you open to that idea?" Tara perked up. "Sort of, but not really. I mean, I just don''t know enough just yet for it to sound like a good thing. If you tell me something like, ''Doing this will make you immortal,'' or ''You will get 100 levels in one go.'' Then yeah, I''m down, but for now, I don''t actually see what would be the benefit for me," Hera continued. "Not even looking more like me?" Daskka pouted. "Why don''t you try looking more like me, then? Between the two of us, only one can change shapes at will," Hera rolled her eyes. Daskka huffed and turned her head, but the Empress could tell that her herald was just playing around. "Right, your benefits. So you will get some skills, and others you have will change. The Naga skills you have will all get a new name and have some changes. Since you will be the progenitor, you will get all the Naga, or New Naga, or whatever the name of the species will be skills. Then if someone else, who is a part of the species, gets a new species skill, you will automatically get that one at rank 1. I mean that at any moment, not just during the ascension. If in 50 years someone gets a new New Naga skill that you don''t have, you will get it," Tara continued. "Ok¡­ I have questions," Hera said right away. "And I have answers," Tara tried to sound confident but quickly became flustered and backpedaled, "¡­. I think. Maybe?" "First, are the skills going to change for the better or for, the worse?" "Neither, I think, but it''s not a definitive answer. Some skills might become weaker. Others might become stronger or even change completely. That is not something we can control very well since they will have to adapt to your new body. However, we might be able to direct some things," Tara said while looking at the wall. That was a common sight for someone who was reading a system window. "What do you mean?" Nimbus asked. Tara looked at him, then at Hera, "Does that count? I mean, is it ok for them to ask questions? I don''t know how this works." Hera nodded, "It does. They are part of me. Any questions they have also are questions that I want to know. We share information, but not our minds, so they might come up with a few ideas I didn''t have." Tara looked at Peaches, "Is that common?" "Not at all. Hera here is a bit special on that part. I can count on one hand the number of people with legacies that can make several personalities like that one, and I don''t actually have fingers," Peaches replied. "Oh, ok. And to answer the question¡­ Should I introduce myself again to all of you? Is that the polite thing to do?" "I think they are the ones being rude this time. I mean, you already did your part. You don''t have to be the only one with manners," Peaches added. "That is true. My apologies. I am Nimbus, Hera''s Sentinel and first titled blade," the bipedal griffon gave a small bow to Tara. "And I am Lurize, Hera''s first blade and the Empress'' Royal Tutor," Lurize glanced at Nimbus, who seemed to be bragging about being the first titled blade. "And I''m Daskka, Hera''s daughter. I came from a mixture of a necklace made by Darni, a doll made by Casks, and Chika, who was happy to see her doll again after I don''t even know how long. But mum was the one who put all the pieces together, letting me be born. Also, I''m her herald and have the title of Royal Adviser," Daskka said proudly. "It''s a pleasure to meet you all. What about the rest?" Tara looked at the flying weapons that were around Hera. "There are Ooze, Armory, Scythe, Dao, Edge, Frost, and Core. Can you hear them?" the Empress asked. "Oh, they are talking? No, I can''t¡­ is that ok?" Tara turned to Peaches. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Yeah. Don''t worry about it. Like I said, she''s special. That conversation she has with them is something not even we can intercept," Peaches replied. "Right. Thanks, and sorry for all the questions," Tara lowered her head a little. "No worries. You are new at this and doing a great job," the talking green apple smiled. "I agree," Hera nodded. "Me too, but if you don''t mind. Can you answer my question? The way you phrased that made it seem like we would have some control over how Hera''s skills would change. Is that right?" Nimbus asked. "Right, right. Sorry," Tara bowed and lowered her hat again, "This is just a lot," she took a deep breath and looked up, "So. If You¡­ I mean, Hera¡­ I mean you¡­ I don''t think you would change. So I''m just going to say, Hera, ok? If Hera decides to go through the ascension, and she is the first person to ever do that, she will be able to make some decisions about this new species. Things like if they will have poison glands like the Naga or they will be closer to humans in that aspect. If they have scales, will their eyes be human-like or snake-like? Or will it be a mix? All of those things can be decided by her. And that will have an impact on her skills too." "And she will get the basic skills of a Naga or this new species you mentioned?" Lurize added. "Correct, those are¡­." Before Tara could finish the sentence, Peaches spoke up, "Careful now. You already got a warning from the system. If you push too much, you might not be able to say something else that you think it''s important." "Right¡­ yeah ok. So the skills are move movement, utility, and one offensive one. But then you might add any skills you have that can be considered Human skills, but I can''t say more about that right now." "Ok¡­ and what would I have to do during the ascension?" Hera asked. "Well, it''s just a ritual. It will take a few days to prepare things, and you will be in a test like this. You can''t actually fail, but it will take longer if you don''t get some things right. Then you will just start it and go to sleep. When you wake up, your body will have changed," Tara explained. "And can you do something else? Aside from the whole ascension help thing?" Daskka asked. "Absolutely. I will be helping you and any other new member of this new species to understand how their bodies work, telling you about precautions and explaining what will happen if you have children with someone from a different species. I can also explain the skills, how they work, and what will happen when they strengthen. That also counts for the Naga skills." "I have another question then," Nimbus said. "I have one too, but you can go first," Hera nodded. "Thank you, Empress. What can you tell us about the skills Hera currently has? The Naga Poison and the Naga Scales?" "There isn''t much I can say about the poison now. After rank 6, there won''t be any big changes, just small ones. By that, I mean that unless you reach master rank, but that is a whole different can of worms. The Naga Scales, on the other hand. When you reach rank 6, it will also get an elemental attribute to increase the defense against that type of mana. That will also define the color of the scales that are covering your body." "Oh? So until then, I won''t have visible scales?" Hera asked. "Not really. If you pay attention to it, you can still see them, but before that point, they won''t be too visible," Tara continued. "I see¡­ Well, about my question. You mentioned babies and increasing the population. Does that mean that more people will be able to do the same after I or someone else ascends?" Tara nodded and turned to Peaches, "She really catches on to things quickly, like you said," she turned back to Hera, "Yeah. Any newborn from a couple where at least one person is a New Naga will be a New Naga, and if anyone gets a naga skill to rank 3 or above after the first person ascends, they will receive a similar offer. But they won''t have all the same benefits as the first one who ascends. That will keep going like that until there are 5 thousand New Naga. Then the system will stop giving people the option to ascend to this new species." "Why 5 thousand?" Daskka asked. "According to the system, that''s the minimum number of people so a species can thrive without having to worry about lack of genetic diversity. That doesn''t take into account the New Naga having children with a different species, although that should probably work just fine. But that is something we will only know after the first person ascends. I don''t know why the system didn''t consider that. It seems stupid," Tara continued. Hearing that, Peaches started laughing, "First day on the job, and you are already bashing the system. You are going to do just fine, Tara." Hera continued to ask a few more questions. Mostly about how her body would work in this new species. Would she still have a belly button? Drink water? Eat anything? Would she have hair, or would she be bald like the Naga? How about babies, would they be eggs or would she get pregnant if she would ever choose to do something like that? Unfortunately, Tara didn''t have any of those answers. They would only appear during the ascension process, but the Naga Ancestor did say that Hera had full control over how far she would go. If she decided to stop at any point, even at the final stage of the ascension, she could. But if she completed the ascension, there was no way back. She would become this New Naga forever. Another thing Tara said was that the species'' name was not yet decided. She kept referring to them as New Naga, but that was just a placeholder until the system decided on the final name. Hera could also add her suggestions, and since the Empress had some Naga skills, she could call Tara just like she called any of the other guides. When Hera finally finished asking everything she could think of, Peaches stepped forward, "Now, kid. You came here to do a test, and I think it''s about time to do that. Also, Tara will be here with me to watch how to apply these things. When they show up, she will take over this job for this New Naga species." "So if I ascend, you won''t be here to give me my role tests anymore?" Hera asked, already thinking this was a big con for the whole thing. "Ha, you wish it would be that easy to get rid of me, kid. No, no. You are part of my job, and no one is taking that away from me." Hera smiled, "I''m glad." "Me too, kid. Me too. Now, time for business. This test is a bit different. You can pick the regular test or the hidden one right away. In the regular test, you will have to figure out how to make a few items and make them enough to unlock the blueprint of it," Peaches said. "And the hidden test?" "The hidden test will use your relic. You will have to study it again and again. Open it up and rebuild it enough times to learn how to make part of it. Doing that will give you a blueprint for your relic, and you can change it as much as you want going forward." Hera chuckled, "I mean. Do you even have to ask? Being able to modify the relic is too much of a good thing to pass." Peaches smirked, "I figured you would go for that one. Remember, I can''t help you with getting the skill, but you are free to come here and ask for our opinion on stuff." "Got it," Hera nodded just as the double doors opened, revealing a large workshop on the other side. She was a bit shell-shocked seeing the number of tools and pieces of equipment that were in front of her. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go get them, kid." 624 - Opening a relic Hera looked at the entrance that had just opened. It was a large room with several tool racks, a large workbench 5 meters long and 5 meters wide, and a shelf with multiple Yarnballs just like the one attached to Hera''s waist. The Empress squinted at that area, and before stepping forward, she turned to the guide once more, "What''s the catch?" "What do you mean, kid?" Peaches asked. "Every other test asks me to find out the hidden mission in the middle of the test. Why is this one different?" "Oh, consider it a freebie," Peaches replied. Hera squinted at him, "Again. What''s the catch? Why am I getting this right away?" "Actually, I''m curious about it too. If I''m supposed to be helping the New Naga people out, is that how it goes?" Peaches sighed, "Ok, no. This is not how it is supposed to be. Look, the actual mission would ask you to pick a few items in the room to rebuild. You could pick whatever you want, and I know you well enough to know you would ask about the relic, especially when all of your friends keep talking about how this is the place to figure out how to change your relic by yourself. So I just speeded up the process, ok? Are you telling me you wouldn''t ask if you could test that with your relic?" the guide scoffed. "Not really. I agree that I would ask that. I already had something in mind about that since they mentioned it so much," Hera replied. "So there is that. Stop complaining and get to work, will you? You only have 23 hours and some change left." "But there wasn''t even a notification," Hera protested. "Yeah, but you already picked the quest. Just go," Peaches huffed. "Fine, fine," Hera chuckled and walked inside the workshop. As soon as she stepped inside, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Crafter Role - Hidden Mission Your relic is a unique item inside the MAZE that the system makes and upgrades when certain conditions are met. However, that does not mean that no one is able to change or modify said relic. As an explorer, if you unlock the Explorer''s Blueprint skill, you will be able to study your relic enough to receive its blueprint. Keep in mind that you will not be able to make a second relic. Only customize your current one. Study the relic enough to unlock the Explorer''s Blueprint and your relic''s blueprint. Rewards: Explorer''s Blueprint Yarnball''s blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It''s a good thing I don''t have to open the original," Hera looked at the shelf and picked one of them. She placed it on the workbench and started to compare it with the one on her waist. It was still a white box that looked a lot like the case for some dental floss with a black screen that would show the answer she wanted to get from her questions. On the back, there was a small clip that was sturdy but not impossible to move. At the very edge of that clip was a magnet that would snap to the rest of Yarnball after she let go. The magnetism was so strong that it would make sure she wouldn''t lose the relic even when being trashed around inside a whirlpool. When opening the top part, she would have access to the string that gave Yarnball its name, even if these days Hera barely ever used it. That being said, there were two clear differences between the original relic and the version that was in here. First, Yarnball, the one she had ever since entering the MAZE, had a few markings here and there. A small scratch or a bump here and there. Nothing that would actually cause a problem, but just signals that showed the relic has been through a lot along its owner. The other difference was that behind the version created in this place. There was a stamp that read ''For test purposes only.'' "Right¡­ how do I get this open then?" Hera asked and looked at the tool rack. There were countless options to pick from, from small screwdrivers to larger power tools like a handsaw and some other things that she didn''t even know which part was pointing up. The good thing was that everything was labeled, so she would at least have an idea of what each tool would do. ''Empress, here,'' Edge called from the other side of the room. Most of her court had spread out, and she was now looking at everything available for her to use. Hera walked over and saw a small tool that looked like a weird flashlight, the type that one would have clipped on top of a book to read before bed. It was labeled ''Structural Scanner.'' "Oh, that''s a good call. Thanks, Edge," Hera smiled at the small knife before taking the tool out of the rack and walking back to the workbench. She put the original Yarnball back on her waist to avoid confusing them and used the Structural Scanner on the replica. A blue light came from the top of this oddly shaped flashlight and slowly covered the duplicate relic. The whole process took about 10 minutes, with the light going up and down four times in total before it was over. When the blue light vanished, a small red dot appeared in a few spots. Two around the screen, two in the back, and one inside the flap. Then, from those spots, lines flew out and connected to different tools in the racks as if they were showing what Hera had to use on those spots. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Going to the closest tool, Hera took a look at it. It looked a lot like a chisel with a crystal edge, but as she pressed against the tip, it moved almost as if it was made out of syrup. It would even stick to her finger slightly, but as she pulled it away, the chisel returned to its regular shape without leaving anything stuck to her. "Oh¡­ this is weird," Hera mumbled and looked at the tool''s name. It was called ''Liquid Crystal Chisel,''" I don''t know why I was expecting something different," she sighed. Taking the tool out of the rack, the Empress walked back to the table and was about to open one of the replicas before stopping, realizing that she never actually took a look at the replicas to see their skills. It should match her own Yarnball, but it was still something she had to do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yarnball - Explorer''s relic - Test Replica An extremely resilient string that takes its strength from its owner. The string can be used to control other objects or to bind a target. The relic can also reveal the answer to a question if the right price is paid. Passive effects: Phantom string The string can be attached to an object by imbuing some mana into the string. While attached, you can move the string using mana. The string is able to pass through objects and creatures depending on their strength at the user''s will. If the string is currently touching a creature or object, the behavior of the string cannot be changed. Current maximum distance: 40 Meters Active effects: Magic Ball By injecting mana into Yarnball, asking a question, then shaking it. You can ask a question and receive a reply through the screen on the side of the case. The amount of mana required for each answer will vary, and if not enough mana is used, the reply won''t be of much use. If the question is related to a location or something too big for the screen, the information will show in your [Treasure Map]. The accuracy of the question depends on the owner''s strength. Cooldown: 2 hours If this effect is used to find a living creature, the cooldown is reduced to 1 hour. Binding thread When something touches the thread, you can activate this ability to bind that target. The stronger the target, the more charges will be spent. The duration of the bind will depend on the target''s strength. You are able to put multiple binds in the same target. However, they will have diminishing effects. 10/10 charges Recover 1 charge each hour. Test Replica This item is a replica created by the current test. Its pieces and materials cannot be taken out of the testing area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow. When was the last time I used anything else aside from the questions?" Hera asked. "I think we used the binding thread against that proto-slime thing," Nimbus added. "Maybe, but still, it''s not something I ever think about using. Maybe I should change this." ''That is a good idea. If your relic can do something as strong as answering questions as it does, it might be able to do something else that is equally powerful even if it is in another direction,'' Lurize nodded while speaking in her mind. "I don''t know if that will be the case. Not right away, at least. I mean, I only got that skill because of a tarot card," Hera explained. "A tarot card?" Lurize asked. "Yeah, I didn''t have any of you at the time. Not even Daskka, I think. But it was like this.." Hera started to explain the upgrades she got from the time before she got the legacy. It was fun to reminisce about some things, even in this situation. Not wanting to waste time, Hera was talking while she was working on opening one of the replicas. The Liquid Crystal Chisel was the last thing she had to use since it would be used to disconnect the visor from the rest of the relic. Aside from it, she needed a Power Magnetic Screwdriver to unscrew a few pieces without actually touching the screw itself. Lastly, there was something called a Resoldering Iron that could both remove a soldering job and make a new one. Since all those tools were made with magic, they had a much better performance than anything that Hera could find elsewhere. Nimbus and Lurize were working as the Empress'' assistants, grabbing the tools she needed. At the same time, Daskka made sure to keep the surrounding temperature comfortable for her so Hera wouldn''t start sweating. All the while, the Empress continued to tell tales of her earlier adventures with her court floating around her, enthralled by the stories. They weren''t the only ones paying attention, but outside, watching them through the monitors. Tara listened to everything and wrote down anything she found relevant. Hera could be the firstborn of a new race, and as its Ancestor, Tara would make sure to have stories to tell the new generations. When Hera finally opened one of Yarnball''s replicas, she saw how it was split into two pieces. One where the black visor was located and another where the string was made. Both of them were split by a metallic plate that was part of the relic''s frame. Hera grabbed the Liquid Crystal Chisel, placed it under the black visor, and used the metal plate to give it a bit of leverage and hit it with a bit of mana. The visor resonated, and once she felt the vibrations stop, she removed it from the artifact, leaving behind a hole in the middle of the relic''s face. She placed the visor to the side and was about to dismantle the part where the string was created when she stopped. There was a unique flow of mana around that part. It was somewhat mechanical but very natural at the same time. As she took out the pieces that would fabricate the string, she realized that they were connected by mana, forming a structure similar to that of a spell circle, but it was both more complicated and more simple at the same time. Hera couldn''t tell which part of what would give the commands to the mana, but she could understand the underlying order. ''Make a string.'' Even more impressive was that after taking that entire structure out and placing it outside of the relic, it was still working. By all accounts, the visor and the string-making were the core of her relic, while the rest was just the container where it would be in. "It''s kind of amazing that you opened it without damaging anything," Nimbus said. "You''re right. I didn''t expect things to go so well," Hera replied. Almost as if it heard the comments, the pieces responsible for making the string started to rev up and spat out all of the string, binding Lurize and a couple of other blades together while more of the string fell on top of Hera, Nimbus, and Daskka. "You two had to zay it, didn''t you?" 625 - Odd mana path It took five tries before Hera could actually disassemble one of the replicas successfully. The second time, she accidentally broke one of the parts that would make the string by grabbing it with too much strength with the tweezers. The third attempt had the visor shattering when she put a bit too much strength into the Liquid Crystal Chisel. The fourth seemed to go well, but the part where the string would be stored after it was created ended up unraveling, and that caused a domino effect that destroyed the rest of the mechanism. Finally, when she picked the fifth replica, it worked. She managed to remove all the pieces without breaking or causing any type of problem. "Ok¡­ so¡­ do the pieces still work by themselves?" Hera tried to pull the string and cut a small piece of it. Nimbus and Lurize had to help to keep the rest of the pieces in place, but after a few moments, it worked. She removed a 10-centimeter-long piece of string that would work just like everything else. "Now for the question part," Hera picked up the black visor and put about 10 thousand mana inside. She noticed that the mana would coat the entire piece of glass, almost as if it was being submerged in water, "What is my name?" As she asked the question, the mana tried to go inside the visor, but it couldn''t and ended up vanishing into the air. With a frown, Hera took another of the replicas from the shelf and asked the same question, using the same amount of mana. The only difference was that this was on a single piece. This time, the skill worked, and a name appeared on the screen, "Hera Kingsley." "Mum, you don''t have a middle name?" Daskka asked. "Not really. Apparently, when I was going to be born, my mother wanted to call me Stella. You can all guess the reason why. Anyway, my dad was adamant against that, saying that it would feel weird in some situations, and then when Stella suggested using that as my middle name, he had to say he hates middle names and would never let his child have one. According to him, this was a big fight they had and one of the few where he ''won'' the argument. He once said to me that he regretted that, saying she might treat me better if I was also called Stella, but I don''t think that would matter. If anything, she would be even more of a bitch because I was a ''stain on her name'' or some bullshit like that," Hera replied and then looked at Daskka, "Why is that? Do you want a middle name?" "I don''t know. I mean, I''m just Daskka. I would already like a last name." "What are you talking about? You have a last name. All of you do," Hera looked at her court, "You are all my family. So it''s obvious that each of you is also a Kingsley," the Empress smiled. Daskka looked at Hera, her eyes starting to water, "Mum!" she cried before shoving her head on Hera''s chest. "I am honored, Empress," Nimbus bowed. "Me too," Lurize did the same. "Ok, ok. Everyone stop that. I don''t want to get emotional right now," Hera waved everyone off, but her entire court gathered for a hug. After a few moments, they let the Empress go so she could focus on her task again. Going back to the dismantled relic in front of her. Hera tried a few things, including using some of the tools available to understand how the mana behaved as it created the string. Since her goal was to change some of those effects, she had to first grasp what was the spell or skill that was currently in effect and how it worked. Only then could she work on changing those effects. Even with her court helping her and all the tools she had at her disposal, it took Hera about 3 hours to start to understand the spell that would create the string. The main issue was that this wouldn''t create a basic string, but the Phantom String that could pass through objects and creatures. Additionally, that was wrapped around the command to trigger the Binding String effect, which only helped to confuse the Empress. Despite all that, she persevered, and after stopping the use of tools and focusing only on her natural sense of mana, she was able to slowly piece together what was going on. Once she understood the basics, the rest came easier. It wasn''t an easy process, though, since there were many steps involved. First, creating a phantom string, which was a mess by itself. To Hera, the easy way would be making the string and then adding the phantom property to it, but this wasn''t the case in the relic. Yarnball already created the enchanted thread from the start. Then came wrapping the binding string around it, or at least part of it. The Binding Thread skill used the same string that was already created instead of making a new one. Because of that, the string itself also had to get another enchantment that would make it more resistant. Third, making sure the strings didn''t break, the enchantments didn''t overlap, and the spell didn''t unravel while doing all these steps. However, there was another problem on top of all of this. Even if Hera was able to identify what each piece was doing, she couldn''t understand how they were doing that. Things worked like they were in a spell, but there was no language. Each piece of the mechanism, each cog, and each of the small bolts inside it didn''t have any writing or something that could be considered an instruction. Another hour went by, and Hera could now see the path of mana that would receive the commands, but she still couldn''t grasp how the mana knew what it had to do. Frustrated, she turned back to the visor for the first time, hoping that she could see how it worked. After all, this piece was only a single thing, not a connection of a few parts that would make a complete thing. Unfortunately, the moment she focused on the visor to see the path the mana was taking, Hera almost went blind. The black piece of glass suddenly became bright white with all the mana that passed through it. The Empress tried again and even asked Daskka to make some dark mist to lessen the brightness of the mana and allow her to see what was actually going on. Yet, not even that worked. Looking at the visor only made it seem like it was so jam-packed with instructions using the odd paths that the mana would take that the entire thing changed colors. There was no way for Hera to see even where all of that started. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Frustrated, she put the pieces back on the table and got up. Hera left the workshop and walked to the kitchen, passing by Peaches and Tara, who were half watching her and half talking about other things. "No luck, kid?" Peaches asked. Hera didn''t answer right away but grabbed a large glass of water and downed it in one go. She filled it up again and started drinking slowly to calm her nerves while Nimbus, Lurize, and the rest of the court waited in the reception. "Does she¡­ get like that often?" Tara asked. "Not often, but when she thinks too much and things don''t work, mum needs a moment to calm down. This is not even that bad. You should''ve seen when she was trying to figure out a spell circle," Daskka shivered. "Oh, yeah. That one was bad. After drinking two liters of water, she ran a few laps around the building without saying anything, but she kept gesticulating wildly," Nimbus added. "Her mind waz a mezz too. Not even we were able to understand what she zaid," Lurize spoke up. "It wasn''t that bad. I just needed to move around to help me think," Hera walked out of the kitchen while taking a bite out of one of the apples that was in the complimentary fruit basket that came with the test. "Do you need that right now?" Tara asked. "I don''t think it would help this time," Hera sighed. ''Empress, why don''t we ask Peaches for help? For him to explain how the mana is doing what it is doing,'' Ooze suggested. "I don''t think he can help us with that," Hera replied to her chakram. "With what?" Peaches asked since Nimbus looked at him as Hera spoke. "With the relic. I''m not able to understand how the mana is behaving the way it is. How is it getting the right commands by just making some odd turns here and there?" "What are you¡­ oh. Wait, you were trying to do that?" Peaches gasped. "Well¡­ Yeah, I need to understand what the relic currently does to be able to change it. Don''t I?" Hera tilted her head. "No. Shit, kid. What you are trying to do is figure out how the system works on a fundamental level, and let me tell you, you just can''t. Not because you are not smart enough or anything like that, but because you are just not supposed to understand it. It''s like telling a rock to comprehend the math behind a black hole," Peaches explained. Tara pulled the guide to the side and whispered in a not so quiet voice, "Are you sure you should be saying that?" "Yeah, yeah. This is fine. It''s one thing if I''m giving her an answer, but this is just explaining how she is going in the completely wrong direction," Peaches continued, "Listen, what the system does is something beyond you and me. For one, those paths are never the same. It all depends on the room you are currently in. There is also something to do with the overall layout of the entire MAZE, and I can''t even explain how that works because I simply don''t know. So just scrap that idea and the idea that you only have one chance. You have an endless supply of relics. Just try stuff out." "Oh¡­ Ok. Thanks¡­ I mean, you could have told me that a while ago. I just wasted what, four, five hours?" Hera sighed. "You didn''t ask, kid. I can''t intervene otherwise," Peaches rolled his eyes. "Fine. I hate how pedantic this part of the test is," Hera finished her apple and went for another fruit. ''Hera, now that we are here. Could I ask Tara a question about the ascension?'' Armory asked. "Oh? I think so," Hera turned to Tara with a banana in hand, "Tara, can I still ask you things about the ascension? Armory has a question." "Of course," Tara jumped after being called. She went for her hat to pull it over her head but stopped herself, trying to be brave, "I-I-I''ll do my best to answer every question you have." ''What''s the question, Armory?'' Hera asked in her mind, trying to help Tara a bit. ''If you ascend, can you still leave the MAZE?'' "What? Of course I can still leave the MAZE. I''m human. I was born on Earth," Hera gasped. ''Yes, but you no longer would be a human. That''s why I''m asking. If we are saying we want to do that, this would be something big we would have to consider,'' Armory added. "Ok... That''s a fair point," Hera turned to Tara, "Sorry about that. If I ascend, can I still leave the MAZE?" "Oh¡­ hang on, let me check," Tara stopped and looked to the side for a few moments. Her face was mostly hidden by her hat, but Hera could still tell that she was changing her expression a lot, "So¡­ Short answer is no. You will be a being of the MAZE and no longer just a person of Earth. But you will have a small benefit since you were born on Earth. Once per week, if you go to a doorway connected to Earth, you can travel to another room in the 1st layer. The one that has a doorway closest to what would be your Earth location." Hera nodded and thought for a moment, but even after a while, she had to admit, "Sorry, I don''t understand." "Ok, where are you from? I mean, you arrived in the MAZE at Brinnefront, right? Where would you end up if you left the MAZE through there?" Tara asked as if she already had that answer in her mind. "It''s called Brilansis." "Right, so. After you ascend, if you go to Brinnefront and try to go to Earth, instead of going out of the MAZE, you will go to the room that is closest to Brilansis, aside from Brinnefront." "So I would be like¡­ fast traveling to a different room?" Hera asked. "I mean¡­ not really, but I guess that''s a way to look at it." "That is¡­ very weird¡­" Hera sat on the bench. "Does it change your feelings about ascending?" Tara asked. "Not really. Honestly, the idea does not sound that appealing to me overall. This is just another thing on the con column," Hera replied. "Oh¡­ I see¡­" Tara looked dejected. It never crossed her mind that becoming part of a new species wouldn''t be something that Hera wanted. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Hera quickly finished her banana and returned to the workshop. Since Peaches said she didn''t have to figure out how exactly the spell worked, she might as well run before walking. 626 - Elemental Symbols Hera was back at the entrance taking a break. There were still sixteen hours to complete the quest. She tried a few things with the relic, but so far, she didn''t have much luck. According to Peaches, she wouldn''t be able to understand the spells or effects that were already inside Yarnball, which means that besides the position and structure, she wouldn''t be able to learn anything else about the relic. Sure, she could try to figure out what kind of material the mechanisms were made of and the actual dimensions of each piece, but according to Shane and Adriel, that wasn''t required. Not to mention that she didn''t have any encyclopedia of materials available. Both of them advised her on what she should focus on, and the main point was to understand the magic. As a matter of fact, now that Peaches told her she couldn''t grasp how the magic inside the relic worked, the advice Adriel gave her was much more clear. According to the elf, she had to ''Understand the magic, but it doesn''t have to be the relic''s.'' Her interpretation of this was that she could change the relic''s effect to something made by herself, and that would circumvent the issue of understanding that odd magic and the quest would be complete since she was the one who created the new effect. The first thing she tried to do was to imbue the thread with poison, fire, or some other element, but that didn''t work. On the rare occasion when she inscribed a spell, and it didn''t unravel right away when the thread was created, it would instantly ignite and burn away. That turned her relic into a bad smoke signal device. Eventually, she reached the conclusion that she had to do something different. She opened the mechanisms and separated every single gear, screw, and plate to see if she could create something different with that. Before just trying random things, she stopped and did her best to draw everything, making an actual blueprint of her relic. After all, this was the name of the skill, so it might be a hint in itself. After noting down the different parts of the relic, Hera had a moment to talk with her court and decide what could help her. Several ideas were tossed around, something that could trigger another elemental coating on the blades. Something that could track monsters, something for scouting, something for healing, but in the end, they started to talk about their shortcomings to see if the relic could make up for that. The two main points where the blades felt weak were the weight behind their attacks and the limited distance they could be from each other as well as the Empress. With that in mind, Hera came up with a few ideas. First, something like a sticker that could increase the mass of something that had it attached to it, but the constant need to turn that on and off might be an issue. Another idea was to have every blade connected to the string so they could use the centrifugal force to increase the strength of each attack. To fix the distance issue, her best idea was to have something like a small transmitter of mana, maybe even something like a miniature one-way teleportation device that would send her mana to the other part of the device. However, that came with another problem. Hera had no idea what the symbols used to signal those elements were. Not the ones that would be used in the creation of spells. She tried to make some random drawings to attach to her spells, but that didn''t work. Even those drawings had to have some type of connection to the actual element. For instance, if she were to draw a fire and try to make it create water mana, it would never work. On a base level, that was very intuitive, but things became considerably harder when it started to deal with more advanced elements like mass, magnetism, or teleportation. "Peaches, can I ask you for a favor?" Hera was lying on the couch in the reception, staring at her tablet while trying to make a symbol for an element she wanted. "I''m not giving you access to the internet, kid. That''s the rule." "I wasn''t going to ask that," Hera turned to Peaches. "Ok, then. What is the favor?" "Can you or Tara give me any of the symbols for mass, magnetism, or teleportation? I know for a fact that my spells work even when I''m using things from different cultures. So any symbol you can give me will help." Peaches stared at Hera for a while as the Empress gave him lost puppy eyes, but eventually, he sighed, "Check your messages. I just sent you one." Hera jumped from the couch and opened the texts from the guides. As he said, Peaches sent the symbols for all those elements and even some variations and a few other elements that were close to the ones she asked for, like electromagnetism and weight. "Peaches, you are the best!" Hera said as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Ah, don''t do that. Not even my kids just give me a kiss willy-nilly," Peaches grumbled, but the Empress was already back in the workshop. Tara stared at Peaches for a few moments, "Can I see the text you sent her?" "Sure, here," Peaches nodded and sent her a copy. It took the Ancestor just a few seconds to read it thoroughly and turn to her senior. "Aren''t you being too nice? I mean, giving her some of these symbols feels almost like cheating. A couple of them could just give her the answer for her to do what she wants," Tara had a frown on her face. "Maybe. But Hera here has been through a lot, and more importantly, she made several decisions that benefited no one but the MAZE. Giving Lantra his brother''s journal is one of them. She had no idea that would trigger a quest or that giving Chika her toy again would eventually make her have Daskka. Not to mention the whole curse situation," Peaches explained. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "So you are just rewarding her for what she did?" "Not really. There is one more reason why I''m doing this," Peaches leaned over to Tara, "I just like the kid. She''s my friend." "Really? You are helping her so much because you like her?" Tara tilted her head. She couldn''t understand how a guide and a person could be friends. In her eyes, they were different existences, and that difference was too big to allow them to actually become friends. "Talk to Capri later. He made a compilation of her best adventures, and the ''Director''s cut'' is a few months long. That includes dungeons, training sessions, travels, and a lot more. Not to mention the interactions she had with us. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get everything since we don''t record everything, but I don''t think anyone else will have as much content as he does," Peaches added. He noticed that Tara was looking down, deep in thought, probably considering if she should use her time like that or not, "I know she said she doesn''t want to ascend, but not even we can predict the future. Maybe Hera will change her mind in a few days. Wouldn''t you want to know more about your possible first New Naga?" "I guess you have a point¡­." Tara nodded, "I''ll talk to Capri later." Peaches just smiled and turned back to the screens to watch Hera again. It took the Empress about half an hour, but she eventually went through the entire list of symbols that the guide gave her and found a couple of options for what she wanted, but there was one that really caught her eye. Entangled. Most people would consider that just to be about tying someone up with a rope or a vine, but Hera remembered a science experiment she had heard about some time ago. It talked about something called quantum entanglement that, in broad strokes, made two particles react to the same things even when only one of them would interact with something else. Even better, that happened instantly. It didn''t matter how far away from each other those particles were. Of course, the experiment talked about things on a molecular level, so there was no reason to expect it to work the same way when she scaled everything up, but it still sounded like a good idea. Especially considering that when using magic, elements were very subjective. The symbol for light, for instance, could be used when creating something to illuminate dark places, when trying to make something weigh less than it should, and with some effort, could even create a small flame to light a bonfire. Meaning that entangle could work as Hera was hoping. It took another three hours of trial and error, but eventually, she managed to create a spell circle that would, instead of making thread, send out her mana from one point to another. To complete this part of the process, she added a small mana siphon that would constantly take around 100 mana from her and send through that transfer. Even if those parts were actually working, it came with another problem. Doing this would only make her waste mana since there was nothing to attach to the receiving end of the circuit to the blades. To fix that, Hera looked at the other pieces and what she could do. Then came another idea. All of her weapons were made with some sort of metal. She could make a sticker or a tag that would magnetize to her blades and move around with them. Maybe using that magnet, she could even use that as a pseudo thread and let her court get some momentum with their attacks, or even use the magnet as a way to accelerate them as they struck. With that new idea in mind, Hera started working again. She changed the part that would create thread to create small magnets, and then, instead of using the binding thread, her relic could attach that magnet to her blades with a quick motion. All they had to do was pass by the opening. Opening that now, Hera changed to face the same direction as the visor. That way, they could just fly beside her to get this magnet instead of having to go above her and risk getting too close. To top it all off, each magnet was also connected to the central piece, constantly taking mana from Hera through the entanglement she created. Just as she closed the last piece of her relic in this new configuration, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a quest Explorer''s Crafter Role - Hidden Mission You have reached enough of an understanding of your relic to unlock the Explorer''s Blueprint and your relic''s blueprint. Rewards: Explorer''s Blueprint Yarnball''s blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To transfer the changes from the replica to the relic, use Explorer''s Blueprint to update the relic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh shit. It worked?" Hera gasped. "Congratulations, Empress," Nimbus smiled. "Way to go, mum!" Daskka cheered, and Lurize clapped with a satisfied expression on his face. "So I should just update it, right?" Hera was about to open the new skill when a voice came from beyond the door. "Make sure your new relic works as you want first. Take advantage of this place," Peaches advised. "Oh.. right," Hera nodded and tried to see if everything was working while using the replica. She could ask questions normally, but when trying to attach the magnet, it wasn''t able to get stuck to her blades. Apparently, they were not considered metal since they were made out of mana. Still following the same idea, she spent the next couple of hours tweaking the magnet so it would attract mana, her mana specifically, instead of metal. That way, it could snap onto her blades, and even better, now it would be able to attach to any place and not just the blades. For now, the magnet was just a small black dot that could pull it in a specific direction at the blade''s command. But she intended to eventually change that to a less inconspicuous pattern. Something that could pretend to be just part of the blades instead of something clearly out of place, but that was a plan for the future. After tweaking the strength of everything so she could not just have the magnet on all of her blades but also have some spare mana to allow for more magnets for when her court grew. Unfortunately, she couldn''t test the distance properly here. The workshop wasn''t large enough to reach the limit of her range, but in theory, everything should be working. Before actually doing it, Hera got up and walked out to the reception. "Where are you going?" Daskka asked. "Need to go to the bathroom. I''ve been holding for a while already. I''ll finish this as soon as I get back," Hera replied and closed the bathroom door. 627 - New Relic
When Hera returned, she placed the original Yarnball on the workbench. Right by its side was the new version she created using the replicas. At first glance, both looked a lot similar. It still had the same appearance as a case of floss, but the replica had a few changes. The visor was still in the same place, even if the opening faced outward instead of up. The entire thing didn''t look all that impressive since, even with all the tools, Hera wasn''t able to do as perfect a job as the system did. Still, it looked good in her eyes. It was not perfect, but it was still great for the first attempt. "Why are you waiting, mum?" Daskka asked. "I don''t know. I''m just nervous, I guess," Hera replied. "Everything will work. You already got the skill, after all," Nimbus added. "Correct, you don''t have to worry. Everything will be fine, Hera," Lurize gave her a warm look. ''Yeah, even if the whole letting us move further doesn''t work, you can always fix that later. The important part is that you are making changes, and we know that the magnet thing already works,'' Core added. Hera smiled, "I know. Thank you, guys," she took a deep breath and opened the new skill, "Let''s do this." Looking at the Explorer''s Blueprint, Hera felt like she was staring at a computer software that dealt with schematics. Something used by engineers or architects. Funny enough, she had two blueprints available, one for a skinning knife and one for Yarnball. The challenge where she made Edge in the Seven Islands seemed to have given her an extra reward. She ignored that part for now and opened Yarnball''s blueprint. It showed each piece and what they would do. The visor only appeared as a material and with a description of what it would do. However, when touching the other pieces, she could see much more detailed information. It wasn''t just the materials and functions they had but also the spells placed on them and how the spell circles interacted. To her surprise, she could change the spells right there on the blueprint. Increase or decrease their size, which allowed her to make a much more clean spell circle for everything and even run tests to see how the mana would run on that configuration. Hera decided to fix a few issues that she had already noticed and was about to confirm the changes and remake Yarnball when she saw a button on the corner marked as ''Remodel.'' Out of curiosity, she pressed it, expecting to be able to cancel if it wasn''t anything she wanted, and got pleasantly surprised. The Remodel option allowed her to change the appearance of her relic. Sure, she was used to its floss case look, but she already had a few ideas to make it better for what she wanted. She first tried to stretch the visor to display more information, which worked to a point. It seemed like the visor that would answer her questions had a minimum thickness, which meant there was a limit to how much she could change its dimensions. In the end, she only increased it by a few centimeters before reaching the maximum size of the visor. However, the casing itself had a lot more room to be changed. Hera decided to make something that could be attached to her belt, making it horizontally wider while vertically smaller. At the same time, she created a flap to turn the visor up. That way, she could ask questions and get the information without removing the relic from her waist. She would still have that option, but doing so allowed her to make Yarnball more secure, which was a worry she had now that she was changing things. The small part that would launch the magnets to her blades was also more visible and facing forward. That way, all her blades had to do was pass in front of it to receive those magnets. Hera tried changing how the magnets looked themselves, but at the moment, she could only change their dimensions, not anything else. Either way, she finished her remodeling and changed the colors to match the black of her new armor, hoping to make the relic blend with it. When satisfied, Hera pressed the done button, which sent her to the previous screen where she could transfer the changes to the original. "Guys, can I ask you all to hold my hand? I don''t know why, but this is making me really anxious," Hera turned to her court. Nimbus and Lurize quickly grabbed her hand while Daskka wrapped herself around Hera''s neck. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the confirm button and watched as the replica and the original relic started to glow and merge. At the same time, she felt all of her mana leave her body. Worried that she had done something wrong, she looked around the skill but noticed that there was a mana cost to this process equal to her maximum mana. She also saw a loading bar informing her that the process would take five minutes to complete. "Since you are doing that and have already completed the quest, I will explain a little about your skill. Ok, kid?" Peaches appeared behind her on a small table with a small snake wearing a witch''s hat by his side, "Tara. This is part of the job. If you are here, you need to explain how the skill works and answer any questions they have about it." Tara nodded, "I understand." "We do have to wait anyway," Hera scratched the back of her head, "Are there any tricks to it? I mean, the description kind of says everything." She opened the description just to confirm if she was reading it correctly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explorer''s Blueprint Role skill Allows you to make items quickly by using the blueprints. After you find or create a blueprint, you can simply add the materials to the skill and confirm it to create the item. Doing so allows you to forge an item exactly as it is shown in the blueprint. You can also make changes and perform tests that are within your own knowledge using the skill to confirm the viability of said changes. Creating an item will have a proportional mana cost to the strength of the item. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "There are a few details that are important for you to know. First things first. When you make something using the blueprint, you can never make something better than what is there. Think of it like this, if you are forging a sword, there are times when it will get better properties or some bonus effect, but using the skill removes that possibility completely. Second, if you try to make something by hand, without using the skill, you can make something worse than what the blueprint shows. That''s different for crafters. They don''t need to worry about that since the blueprint skill makes sure each creation is at least as strong as the blueprint." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Oh, really? That''s cool for them," Hera nodded. She wasn''t much of a crafter herself, and if she could make something like Armory, Scythe, a dagger, and her boots consistently, she would be more than happy. When trying to make something stronger, she would try to be in a better location where she could focus anyways. Peaches tilted to the side, "You seem less upset about that than I expected. That''s good. Next thing. You can''t use materials you don''t know about when using the skill. When I say that you have to know the material, I mean that if you have something made out of metal, you have to use a similar metal. You can substitute copper with gold, silver, or steel without a problem. But if you want to use fire alloy or cold iron, you need to make the thing by hand first. Then more options will appear for you. That''s another difference between your skill and that of a crafter. They can just add the materials and see how they would work together." "Ok, like it''s annoying, but that''s not so bad. I imagine that making the same item by hand would help me improve it anyway. Especially if I''m using different materials," Hera replied. "That was the next thing I was going to say. If you find a way to make an item better, the blueprint will be automatically updated. But unlike crafters, you can''t choose to make the lesser versions even if they take fewer materials. Your blueprint only allows you to make the best thing possible," Peaches continued. That part made Hera frown, "Hang on. So if I make a sword, then I turn it into an elemental sword. I can never make a regular sword again?" "Not quite. If the improvement is enough to make a new item. Like the elemental sword example you just used, it will be considered a new blueprint and not just an improvement on the previous one. Improvements would be things like adding a guard to a sword or some padding to armor to make it more comfortable. Changing the make of a weapon, or adding a spell to it, would be considered a new item altogether," Peaches explained. "Oh. ok, that''s not so bad, then. Still sucks that I can''t make weaker things if it''s an emergency, but I guess I have to deal with that," Hera nodded. Peaches explained a couple more details and some functions, including a few things that the Empress already had understood about it, and then the group just waited for the relic to finish updating. When the five minutes passed, the relic still glowed, and a new option appeared in the blueprint window. "Do I want to rename the relic?" Hera read it aloud, "Is that common?" she turned to Peaches. "Actually, yes. Most people want to change the name of their relics to something more¡­ cool sounding since the system usually makes some bland names. I remember one guy who had a relic called Service Bot but later changed that to Chestnut when he changed the relic to look like a ferret. Just a heads up, this is the only chance you have to do it. If you don''t, the name will stay the same in the future." "Hum¡­ I don''t know¡­ Does anyone have a good idea?" Hera turned to her court. "If I may?" Lurize spoke up and got a nod as a response, "Yarnball began az a thing that would make thread and point to a direction. That remindz me of the tale of the minotaur." "Me too. I always thought that was the origin of the name," Hera nodded. "Then, there iz another part to that tale. The one who gave Thezeuz the ball of yarn was a woman called Ariadne. We could use that." "Ariadne¡­. I kind of like that. It keeps the meaning and sounds more like a part of the team," Hera smiled. She also sensed that the rest of her court agreed with that idea. Writing the new name, she pressed the confirmation button, and her new relic was born. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ariadne - Hera''s relic This relic can help you find answers as long as you are willing to pay the price. It also helps you to send mana across small distances and control the direction mana moves. Passive effects: Magnet attachment Ariadne will generate a magnet every so often. These magnets can be attached to any mana that originated from Hera herself. Once attached, the magnet will last for a few hours. After that time is over, the magnet will break off and dissolve. If the magnet is returned before the duration is over, it can be repaired by Ariadne at a faster speed than it would require to make a new one. These magnets work as a mana delivery system supported by the mana that is being constantly siphoned from Hera. The farther away the magnet is from Hera, the more mana it will require to maintain the connection. Maximum number of Magnets stored: 15 Magnet duration: 2 hours. Magnet repair rate: 10% every 10 minutes. Only 3 magnets can be repaired at a time. If more require repairs, they will be on hold until a repair slot becomes available. Magnet creation rate: 1 every 5 hours. Individual mana siphon cost: 10m/s Long-distance mana cost: When the magnet is farther than 200 meters away, the siphon cost doubles every 10 meters. Active effects: Magnetic pull Once the magnet is attached to a part of Hera''s mana, it can be activated to pull or push the mana around. This activation requires only a command from Hera or the mana that it''s attached to and can be done as many times as required without reducing the duration of the magnet. However, there is a brief delay between activations of this skill. Cooldown: 1 second Ariadne''s Inquiry By injecting mana into Ariadne while asking a question. The relic can give an answer through the screen. The amount of mana required for each answer will vary; if not enough mana is used, the reply will inform that. If the question is related to a location or something too big for the screen, the information will show in your [Treasure Map] or as a notification. The amount of details acquired by the inquiry depends on the owner''s strength. On extremely rare occasions, you may get the answer to a question that goes far beyond the amount of mana used to ask the question. When this happens, the cooldown will have a massive increase. Once this cooldown is over, the cooldown time will return to normal. Cooldown: 1 hour. Cooldown when a question beyond the cost is answered: 24 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holy shit. This is amazing!" Hera gasped. She wasn''t able to see the new version of the relic using the replicas and had no idea about some of the details. "Yeah, kid. Usually, making the relic your own makes things much better. Then again, that cheat question skill only happened because you got lucky," Peaches nodded. "I can''t wait to test this outside. Having my blades go from 50 meters to 200 will be a huge difference. Especially if they can still do the conga line," Hera was grinning from ear to ear. "Well. You can leave now, kid. Or you can stay and sleep here," Peaches suggested. Hera stopped for a moment, "I think I should go. As much as I wanted to stay here and hang out, we are running on a time crunch, and I don''t want them to have to sleep on top of each other," Hera replied. "I get that. Congratulations on the new skill, kid. And on the possibility of ascension," Peaches smiled and gestured to the snake by his side. "Thanks, and thanks for telling me about the ascension, Tara. We can still talk even if I don''t want to, right? I mean, you said that you would be willing to answer questions about the Naga skills." Tara nodded, "Yeah, just call me when you want to talk¡­ Or hang out?" she turned to Peaches almost as if to confirm if that was the right question. "Will do. It was a pleasure to meet you," Hera said with a smile and let her court say their goodbyes to the two beings in front of them before dismissing the blades and leaving the reception. Just as she was covered in white light, Peaches sighed, "I hope this skill helps you get rid of the curse, kid. We are going to need all the help we can get." 628 - Hera is back
As Hera appeared outside the doorway, she noticed it was already late at night. Looking at the clock, it was around 2 A.M., and the room was very cold. The red dunes were terrible at holding heat. However, Hera was very curious about the magnets. She looked around and couldn''t find any of her friends, which meant that they were probably inside someone''s room. "Well¡­ I know that I won''t be able to sleep if I don''t do this first," Hera walked away from the doorway and called her entire court out. They were in their weapons forms, and all flew in front of her waist as the magnets shot out from Ariadne. Each of her blades got one magnet, including Armory and Scythe. However, the earrings only got one magnet despite being a pair. It was the same thing with Nimbus. There was only one magnet shared between the two tonfas. There was no need to give one each since the twin blades could never be too far from their other halves. "Armory, let''s start with you. Go up. I''ll keep an eye on my mana. Try getting 200 meters away from me. Can you do that?" ''Of course, Hera!'' Armory replied in a chipper tone before taking off. She started moving very quickly but then slowed down when she got closer to the 200-meter mark. After around 2 minutes, the blade called, ''I think I''m at the right distance. Can you feel any difference?'' ''Not really, but even if a single one of you goes beyond 200 meters, my mana wouldn''t take that much of a dive. I would only notice when you get to 300 meters, but then I''ll notice that quickly,'' Hera replied in her mind. It was odd. Even at this distance, she didn''t have to struggle to communicate with Armory, although her voice sounded slightly muffled as if they were talking through a phone and not face to face. Either way, the connection was perfect, and there was no delay in their communication. ''Right, the ones down here, your turn. Move everyone to the left. I want you all 200 meters away. Armory, you tell everyone when they get far enough away.'' The blades agreed with that and continued the testing. Thanks to the magnets, Hera''s initial range was 200 meters, and then, using the conga line trick, that range increased by 100 meters with each court member joining the line. With the eight blades currently there, the last of them could be almost 1 kilometer away, and she wasn''t even losing any mana at that point. With a smile, she called everyone back. There was one more test she wanted to do, but that would have to be left for later. She was freezing right now and very tired after the test. Later, she wanted to see if sending Nimbus and Lurize on a Royal Quest with the magnets to see if there would be any changes. A part of her doubted that this would work, but maybe there was an odd interaction between Ariadne and the skill. With that out of the way, Hera went to her private room, showered, and went to bed. She was too tired to even reply to the messages from the guides, even if there were quite a few of them. The Empress ended up sleeping in only when she woke up that she reply to them all. There were a couple of odd messages. Lodi sent one on the day she got inside the Red Dunes that she and Ruma would try to talk with someone, and they might take a while to come back. Hera wasn''t quite sure what that meant. After all, guides should be able to send her messages no matter where they were, but as she said, neither of them sent any other texts after that one. Capri asked her permission to show Tara some of his collections. Hera had no idea what that meant, but she said it was fine. Whatever that collection would be, it was Capri''s, not hers. There was no need for him to ask her permission about it. Aside from that, most of the guides were just talking about the Red Dunes and the monsters she faced, giving some advice on how to fight them or how to optimize her travel time. All of those would be very helpful if they sent it a day or so before when she had no idea what to expect in the room. However, most of their advice ended up being things that Hera and her party eventually figured out. The only thing that would be new was the idea of using water to kill the monsters. When the sand got wet, they couldn''t move around without any issues. After answering everything, she quickly went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and headed out. It was already 11 A.M., and the rest of the group was probably waiting for them. "Finally!" before even opening her eyes after the transfer, the Empress heard Blue''s voice, "We''ve been waiting for hours!" Blue was on the shore of the oasis with her bare feet on the water. "Blue, chill. You talk as if we were fighting non-stop. It''s nice to have a moment to breathe," Alex was lying in the sand without her armor, just basking in the sun, with Adriel by her side, shirtless. Helena and Bonnie were by the water, half submerged, while Shane and Mylo were resting by the shadow of a tree while grilling some food. No one was wearing any armor, and they all seemed very relaxed. Seeing that, Hera chuckled before calling her court out, "I was going to feel bad about being late, but seeing this, I refuse to apologize." "C''mon, they are just too comfortable here. We need to move fast!" Blue gasped. "Why?" Hera tilted her head. Blue never seemed too bothered by everything that was going on, and having that change in a day made the Empress suspicious. But when walking closer to her friend, she noticed something in her eyes, "Why are your irises so big?" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Blue instantly flinched and looked away, "I¡­Don''t know?" "Blue¡­" Hera got even closer, putting one hand on the controller''s shoulder. Blue bit her lip as if she was trying to hold back the words, but eventually, she broke, "I missed my family¡­. So I asked a bunch of questions about them¡­." "You asked the curse?" Hera asked just to confirm what she was hearing. "Yeah¡­" "And now it is advanced enough so you can hear it?" Hera pressed. "I even got the title," Blue added. "Blue!" Bonnie yelled, "I can''t believe you. We agreed not to toy with that! Apparently, Helena is the only one with a shred of self-control in this party," she huffed. "Actually, I might also be cursed. I was thinking about some spells last night, and the answer kind of came to me. And not in an epiphany kind of way," Helena added. "Well.. at least we are already going to get rid of that," Adriel tried to lessen the blow. "But I don''t want to be cursed. I can''t see my family like this!" Blue gasped. "It''s not like you would be able to see them now anyway. Try to relax," Shane added, "Also, lunch is ready." "We will eat, and then we can go. I promise," Hera smiled at Blue, who let out a long sigh. "Ok. This voice is just really annoying." "Tell me about it," Alex rolled her eyes. It''s been a long time since she started to hear that voice. Hera was curious, but at the same time, she knew better than to ask about it. Suddenly, she heard a shrill and gargled voice inside her mind, ''Like thissss.'' "What the fuck was that?" Hera gasped. ''I''m sorry!'' Edge gasped, ''I just thought about how the curse should sound like.'' "What? But¡­ I ordered you guys not to interact with it. How did it bypass the order?" Hera asked out loud. "What''s wrong?" Helena asked. Hera explained to them as they all walked to Shane and Mylo, who were taking care of the food. The working theory was that Hera''s order was unable to stop the blades from seeing something. Or at least it wouldn''t be able to stop their senses. So even if she asked them not to see the color red, their eyes, or whatever they used to see things, would still see red, but their brain, or consciousness, is what would stop them from actually registering that thing as red. Because of this, the curse could still hear them and understand what they were looking for. To make things even worse, Hera realized that part of her new relic wasn''t made by her. During the time she was trying to make some of the spells that were currently on Ariadne, she had a lot of ''moments of brilliance.'' Random ideas that popped into her mind out of the blue and worked right away. She was too focused on finishing the job to pay attention to it, but now as they talked, that seemed more and more obvious that not all ideas were truly hers. "You know¡­. I get why people used this curse," Hera sighed. "Yeah. It''s a great tool. You mentioned you changed Yarnball. What does it look like now?" Alex nodded and quickly changed the subject, knowing this might make them discuss the curse more. "It''s no longer Yarnball. I changed the name. It''s called Ariadne now. Before I forget, Nimbus," Hera took one of the magnets out of Ariadne, "I''m giving you a Royal Quest. Take this and fly one kilometer up. I want to know if you can still talk to me even when you go beyond your range." Nimbus took the magnet and kissed Hera''s hand to receive the 5 thousand mana she gave him, "I will do as you command," the Sentinel took off and placed the magnet in his mouth. Then he turned into his griffon form and started flying. Hera wasn''t worried that he wouldn''t be able to return to the oasis since her blades could always come back to her, no matter what. ''Why are you asking him and not me?'' Lurize was in his zweihander form, but Hera could swore that she heard him crossing his arms. "Well, for one, he is a much better flier than you are," Hera answered truthfully. ''I could just run for 1 kilometer,'' Lurize huffed. "Lurize, you know you are amazing, but you can''t even walk in the dunes without being buried alive. If I ask you to run for 1km, you will take hours to get there and back. I''m not playing favorites here. I''m just taking the best one for the job," Hera patted the zweihander. He avoided staying in his bipedal form so he wouldn''t fall through the sands. ''Fine,'' Lurize replied but he was clearly sulking. Hera pulled the zweihander and a few tools to maintain the weapon. Even if she didn''t have to, after all, her court would always be in the best possible condition as they were summoned. Doing this was akin to giving them a massage. "Oh, by the way. I checked that whole ascension thing," Hera turned to the group. She forgot to ask if she could mention Tara to them, but she assumed she would be under the same rules as the guides. Being careful not to mention the Ancestor, Hera explained to everyone about the ascension, avoiding some details that would seem too unlikely for her to know, like the fact that she would get benefits from being the first one to ascend, getting the skills of the others who ascended if she didn''t have them. In the end, everyone agreed that she did the right thing by not ascending right now, but the topic of whether she should go through that or not was debated. Shane was completely on the side of ascension. Being closer to the Naga like that felt like a dream to her, and if she got the chance, she would ascend as well. In the middle of their lunch and that conversation, Hera felt her entire mana pool being drained in an instant. She wasn''t paying too much attention, but Armory told her that Nimbus had just passed by the 380-meter mark. Since the cost would double every 10 meters, there was a point when the cost would spike really quickly. The Empress tried calling the Sentinel but to no avail. When she took a look at Ariadne, she saw how it was marking 14 out of 15 magnets, meaning that the one Nimbus had with him was now gone. Eventually, her first titled blade returned, confirming her suspicion. The magnet had vanished at some point, and Lurize had to spend the mana she gave him to reach 1km and come back. Still, that did work for a while. After finishing their meal, everyone suited up and walked towards the doorway. They all touched it, making a notification pop up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Temple of Sands - 11th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They all looked at each other and, with a nod, pressed yes. This should be the last room they had to travel to before being able to get rid of the curse, which means that this step of their journey would soon come to an end. 629 - Shiretaa When the transfer was over, Hera looked around this new place. The room was called Temple of Sands, and it was true to its name. Just behind them was what looked like a 50-meter-tall tsunami made out of sand that was locked in place just before the wake started to break. Particles were reaching out toward them, but they were completely still. Some grains of sand even floated around. Because of the way the wave formed, the doorway was under the shade, but that wasn''t true for everything. That massive wave was not something coming only from behind them but something that went around the entire room with the temple proper in the middle. The structure was a mix of different architectures. Parts of it looked as if they were made in ancient Egypt, or maybe from Mesopotamia, with tall doors that looked almost made for giants and stairs that would bring them to the different levels of the temple from the outside. Hera could see fourteen obelisks from the doorway that reached halfway up the sand wave. They spread in a consistent pattern, almost like they were a mirror of each other. There were four on the road leading to the temple''s entrance while the rest stood around, making almost a pyramid shape with the doorway marking the apex. Aside from the large doors and archways, the top of the temple was very different. Some round shapes with a single spike on top reminded Hera of some of the ancient structures in India. However, the most impressive part of it all was that each pillar, each wall, and each piece of structure was not made out of stone or metal but of flowing sand. The obelisks flew upwards, going to a point where the sand would gather and continue on a constant stream going to infinity. The walls and pillars were like waterfalls, pouring out sand endlessly. Even more strange was the fact that there were drawings and decorations outside the temple, but they would be perfectly still, not as a painting that was hanging on a wall, but as if the sands knew when to change color not to disturb the pictures one bit. To top it all off, from the highest round dome of the temple, there was a constant stream of sand falling in 8 directions. They would splash on the dome and bounce off, forming actual waterfalls on the sides of the temple that would fall on a moat where a river of sand flowed. That was the sand that would be rising through the obelisks and the walls of the temple, all moving to the highest point of the structure where they would be sent to the sky only to come back as a larger stream aimed at the spike on the apex of the temple that would create the 8 waterfalls. "This place is¡­." Bonnie started speaking but stopped, being too overwhelmed to continue. "Amazing," Shane added. "Yeah¡­" Helena nodded, still looking in awe at the place. "Is it safe?" Blue asked, "To go inside there, I mean." "I think so. But if you guys want, I can do my thing first," Hera suggested. "Yeah, that''s a good call. We don''t even know if we need to go inside there or not. And knowing if we are safe while going there would be much better," Alex nodded, "Even if we do have another option to check that." "No. Let me. I mean, part of the ground here is still made out of rock. I think I can just use the safety cube and the bunker. Give me a minute," Hera walked to the side, following the rocky part of the ground, and used her stone shape spell to make a small house, covering all exits and leaving only a small hole for air. With that out of the way, she made a soundproof bubble and activated the safety cube. Then she made some lights to see the guide properly and spoke, "I call upon the Guide of the Temple of Sands. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." Just as she finished that line, something appeared from above and fell in front of her with a loud clanging sound. Hera looked at it and realized it was an oil lamp. The type with a long tip and a handle on the opposite side that one would see in a show about a genie. Thinking that she would never have that chance again, Hera picked up the lamp and looked around it to be sure it wasn''t a guide that looked like an object. When looking at the bottom of it, there was a phrase, ''Polish-me.'' "At least you didn''t say Rub me. That would be very weird," Hera chuckled and cleaned the lamp. After a few rubs, orange smoke started to come out of it, and the Empress placed the lamp on the ground. The smoke slowly started to take shape. An orange human-like figure with a mostly bald head but a ponytail coming from the back of his head. Two very muscular arms and a torso adorned with rings, bracelets, and piercings and a thin goatee framing his mouth appeared. He wore a belt that seemed to be made of some cloth, and below it was just the same orange smoke connecting him to the lamp. Without warning, music started playing in an upbeat rhythm, and the guide started singing. "Ms. Kingsley. It''s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you know. And now it''s time to start the show. My friends all call me Shiretaa, and I came to release you from the maw of this curse that fell upon thee. Now that is a genie''s guarantee. When you return here, you will be free, I say this with pride. It''s my decree. Before anything, I must say, my room will try to lead you astray. But fear not, for I will explain About the labyrinth that it contain. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. You see, it''s all quite simple dear, After all, exploring is your career. I will guide you through this new frontier, While you will be its pioneer." Shiretaa was dancing and creating some props as he sang like a character from a cartoon, and Hera was enthralled by it. The presentation was very well put together, and his voice was deep and beautiful. However, after saying the last line and winking at Hera, he stopped and let out a long sigh. "Sorry, that''s the entire song. I tried to make the explanation work while rhyming, but it ended up getting too confusing. Even some of the other more musically inclined guides couldn''t understand the directions," Shiretaa made all the props, lights, and changes he created while singing disappear. "No, don''t apologize. It was a great song. It kind of made me want to watch some old movies that had songs with a genie. You are a genie, right?" Hera asked. Shiretaa put a hand on his chest and showed an expression of utter disbelief, "How could you even say that? Me a genie? That is absolutely prepost¡­. No, yeah. I''m a genie, or at least look like one. I can''t give you three wishes, though." "Can you give me one?" Hera smiled. "If it''s the one I''m thinking of. I can," Shiretaa smiled back, "Should I tell you how to reach the place where you can remove the curse?" "Yes, please. And are you sure you can say that as a certainty?" "In theory, no. But after hearing everyone talk about you and seeing how well you all have been working together, not to mention creating Tara, I''m putting my faith in you," Shiretaa winked at Hera. "I appreciate it. Oh, and can I just ask a thing about Tara? Can I talk with other people about her, or is it like the guide skill?" "Well¡­ You are already not getting any questions. Sure, I can check that, just a moment," Shiretaa looked into the distance for a few moments, "Ok. It''s like the guide skill. But unlike the guide skill, there are no strikes. You just can''t mention her, and you''ll be frozen if you try to." "Oh, ok, that''s good." "Yeah. Now can we get to the directions? You should make some notes on your tablet," Shiretaa explained. Hera frowned, "Ok, is it that complicated?" "For your destination, yes," Shiretaa waited for the Empress to pull up her tablet and be ready to write, "Ok. So first, you can enter the temple without any problem. It''s completely safe there. The only monsters in this room are inside the sand river, and they never come out. Second, the temple is a labyrinth of sorts. Each threshold will take you to a different place that is almost identical to the previous room. The only difference is the picture on the ceiling of each area." "When you say threshold, what do you mean exactly? Just door frames? Or do hallways and any archways also count?" Hera asked. "Second option. Anything that could fit a regular door in the middle will take you to a different version of the same place. You also can only see what is going on in the version you currently are in. Even if you are technically right beside someone else." Hera nodded, "Got it, weird parallel dimension thing." "Exactly, and each threshold is part of a code, so to speak. Let''s say you cross the central door frame, then the door in the southeast corner. Is someone else entering the southeast corner directly, or if they go through a different threshold first and then to the southeast corner, the two of you will still be in different places. Each place can have either a doorway, a dungeon, or nothing but the temple itself." "Ok¡­ that''s a bit confusing, but I think I understand. It''s like branching paths that don''t loop around. If we want to be together, we need to move through the same spaces." "Precisely. There actually is a point when you loop around back to the beginning, but you need to cross over 50 thresholds before that. Your destination is just 5 symbols deep." Hera stopped writing, "You lost me there. What are the symbols?" "Ah, my apologies. Each room has a symbol. It will be a drawing on the ceiling. Right in the middle of the room, inside a star of moving sand. In the outer layer of the star, starting in the north, you will see all the symbols that you passed through before reaching that particular area. So your destination will only have four symbols around that star, with one in the middle." "Oh, ok. Can we see those symbols before we cross a threshold?" "Unfortunately, no. There is a dungeon that can give you a map. But it''s a random drop for getting the best possible reward, and it takes a week to complete. Not to mention it is a bit far from the entrance." "And there is only one entrance?" "Four, actually. One north, one south, one east, and one west. They appear multiple times on each branch, as you said. But not on all of them. If you are not by an exit, that part will just be a wall. Oh, and you should go through the entrance that is right in front of us. If you take a different one, you have to find this before looping around to your destination." "Got it. So what is the code? What are the symbols we have to go through?" "I can''t tell you that. Even with everything that we are doing, that information is too much for me to say. All I can say is each symbol is unique. It doesn''t matter the path. Each symbol will represent a single area. Your destination is 5 symbols deep. It will have four symbols around the star and a picture of a hot spring in the middle. "A hot spring? Like Japanese style or naturally made?" "Indian, actually. Think pink lotus flowers, steam, and green water. It''s the only hot springs symbol in the entire temple, so you don''t have to worry about it. When you get there, you will see the doorway. Be careful not to cross any thresholds while moving there, but it should lead you to a room called ''Thirmal Waters.'' It''s supposed to be a pun on thermal and time, but I don''t know if it works that well." "Yeah¡­ don''t tell the guide, but I kind of agree. That name is not great." "Ah, don''t worry about it. They agree that it''s bad. Also, the last piece of advice I can give you is this. You, Hera Kingsley, have a way of figuring out the symbols. You just need the correct type of inquiry," Shiretaa winked at her, but the smoke that was still his lower body started to be sucked into the lamp, "Shit. I messed up. I hope I can text you later. Sorry about this." "Yeah, sure you can," Hera replied quickly. "Thank youuuuuu!" Shiretaa said as he vanished inside the lamp, which disappeared right away along with the guide. Hera stayed there for a few moments. It was the first time that a guide was kicked out of their conversation, but then again, she got a lot of information. After asking Armory to confirm if she missed anything, Hera dropped the spell and got out of her bunker to talk to her party. If she managed to get the right questions, in the worst case scenario, it would take them just five hours to reach the next room. Five hours so they could finally start dealing with the curse. 630 - Temple of Sands The group walked down the path to the temple, careful not to touch the obelisks or the river of sand flowing underground. Hera spent the entire time worried about her court. She didn''t know if her blades would be able to move around inside the temple or not. What if going to a different area would be considered as if they were very far away? Then they would end up getting hurt in the process, and Hera would have to wait for some time before calling them again. Because of that, only Daskka, Nimbus, Lurize, Armory, and Scythe were currently out. "You can give a Royal Quezt. Then I can move to the next area, and we can confirm how much mana I need," Lurize suggested. "I agree with that idea. This would fix the issue of being in the same place or not. Or all of us who are not actually touching you could be in the legacy while you explore that area," Nimbus added. "I think that is the safer option. We don''t even know how many thresholds are in each room. If the blades start moving around too much, it might become problematic. Especially since we don''t know what to expect when we are dealing with the curse," Daskka nodded. "Calm down, everyone. We don''t even know what that place looks like. Let''s not make any rushed decisions," Hera stopped the discussion. She knew better than anyone how bad things could get if she started to overthink too much, especially if she didn''t have enough information about whatever she was worrying about. When they arrived at the temple proper, the party was in awe at the sheer scale of it all. Even the doors that seemed small in the distance were, in fact, massive eight-meter-wide and twenty-meter-tall doors. Inside the palace was even more impressive. A set of ten arches in the middle surrounded a large sand fountain. Several stairs would bring people to various rooms and passages that seemingly led nowhere since most only had small door frames connecting open areas. Not to say that there weren''t proper rooms, but those were in much smaller numbers than everything else. After a quick glance, she was able to count about 40 possible thresholds that could be leading them to a different version of this area. She could also see three large walls in the room where the entrances would be, one in the north, one in the east, one in the west, and the open door they took in the south. Another thing that was very different from what they expected was the walls. Unlike the outside, where most of the temple seemed to be made out of constantly flowing sand, here, things were solid. Everything was made out of rock or stone in different shades of a pastel yellow and light orange, with some blues and grays peppered here and there. The only two places that actually had that same flowing sand appearance were the fountain in the center between the ten arches and the star drawn in the ceiling. "You know, when you said that we had to move just five rooms deep, I didn''t expect we would have this many options," Bonnie sighed. "Me neither. I was thinking maybe ten at most, not what, fifty?" Hera looked around. "Isn''t it more than that? I mean, those areas between two frames on the side are also thresholds, are they not?" Adriel pointed to a couple of arches to the left. They were side by side with some space between the two, and he had a point. There was a chance that this place would consider that another threshold. "You''re right¡­ man, we are in trouble," Blue scratched her head. "Even more because we don''t know if the next area will have the same layout. I mean, what if in the next area, some things change?" Shane added. "Ok, no, hang on. Let me try Ariadne first. Best case scenario, it works. Worst case, I waste a question, and we can try again in one hour," Hera reached for her belt and pulled the flap that would make the visor face her. But before speaking, she looked up, "Can I use that mana stone that can lose mana?" "Right, your questions now have a shorter cooldown," Helena nodded and reached for the mana stone that was in her possession, "Here. It''s not completely full, but it has about 1 million mana left." "Thanks, I''ll use 200k for each question. I think that might be enough. If not, Ariadne will tell me," Hera took the mana stone and sent the 200 thousand mana to her relic before asking, "If we want to get to the area in this temple with the hot spring symbol in the ceiling, what is the first symbol we need to pass through?" The mana left the stone, and the visor flickered with a single word appearing, ''Sunset.'' After a few moments, the word vanished, and the picture of a sunset appeared with an orange sky, some clouds, and the silhouette of some sort of animal walking just in front of the sun. Still, it was too small for Hera to identify what it actually was. "Oh¡­ well, ok. We need to find the sunset symbol. It will be located there," Hera pointed up to the ceiling where a star of moving sand was. The drawing was extremely wide, and there were so many points to the star that Hera couldn''t count, but its center and a ring around it were made out of the same flowing sands outside. "Ok, so sunset. I guess we should start looking around?" Blue suggested while walking to the nearest threshold. She poked her head inside, still completely visible to the rest of the party, and then came out, "Not this one. It''s a cooking pot of some sort." "Well¡­ that works," Shane chuckled, and the group spread out to do the same. Hera also tested if Nimbus and Lurize could move beyond one of the thresholds by sending them with a magnet and a Royal Quest. Unfortunately, the moment they crossed to a different area and vanished from sight, the magnet was destroyed as Hera''s entire mana pool vanished in an instant. Lurize ran back, feeling the half a million mana points that the Empress gave him to be drained at a rapid rate. From what they gathered, being just one single area away from her would be more costly than what Nimbus did when he flew to Sky in the Abyssal Depth. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Knowing this was the best option, Hera called her titled blades back, staying only with Scythe, Armory, and Daskka out. Everyone continued moving around, and after a couple of minutes, Mylo was the one who called everyone. He was in one of the thresholds on the third floor of this place, in one of the arches not connected to any walls. Soon, the entire party crossed that area and saw the sunset Ariadne showed Hera, including the figure of a camel in front of the sun. "Our options now are to wait here for Hera to get another question, or we can try to figure that out by ourselves. What do you guys think?" Helena asked. "I don''t want to just sit around while doing nothing for five hours. I mean, sure, we will probably need at least one or two more questions before getting there, but we might get lucky," Blue replied. "I agree. Staying here will make us restless, and I''m pretty sure the curse will offer us the answers," Alex nodded. "Will it? I mean, we are going to a place to get rid of it. Wouldn''t it stop talking or give us wrong directions?" Shane turned to the assassin. "I don''t know. It never did that so far, and it already knows what we are trying to do. Maybe it thinks we won''t be able to get rid of it," Alex shrugged. "Well¡­ ok then. If we are going around, let''s split up. Everyone, be sure to keep track of where the doors you come through are. Take pictures if you need," Adriel looked around, "I think we can go with the usual setup. 3 groups, 2 of them with 3 people and Hera with one more person since she has her court." "Yeah, even if it''s weird here if something happens, I can call them out," Hera nodded. "And I can go with you. That way, we have more people to look around. My drones can move back and forth without any issues since they don''t use more mana if they are far away from me," Adriel smiled. "I like that. Let''s do it like this. In one hour, we can come back here, and Hera can ask Yarn¡­ I mean, Ariadne, another question. Also, Hera, can you make a rock wall here? That way, if we somehow look through all the options beyond a threshold, we can mark the symbol we already cleared out, so no one is doing the same work twice," Shane suggested. "Good call," Hera nodded, and they all walked down the stairs for her to make the wall. It would be better to have something like that in an area that is easy to get to instead of something that would make them come up three flights of stairs. With that out of the way, they decided where each group would go and started searching around. Hera and Adriel took one of the entrances to an actual room, hoping to understand how those thresholds worked. In the end, it was more interesting than they expected. They walked inside a plain room with two entrances. The one they used to get here and another where the stairs should be located. Unfortunately, they weren''t able to see the symbol from here, but that wasn''t all bad since they would just be in the second step. They would need three more either way. "So, I''m thinking the best option is to reach the fourth symbol and then keep trying for the fifth," Hera suggested as they crossed that secondary entrance, appearing in the center area of the palace again. However, here there were no sets of stairs, and there was a long corridor in the corner of the room inside a painting frame. It didn''t look like that was a drawing but something real. Hera even tried to send a poison needle through the frame, and it worked. Her magic went far away before falling into the ground around 50 meters deep into that hallway. "I think that''s a dungeon," Adriel said. "I agree. We can check that after dealing with the curse if we want to," Hera nodded, remembering the mention of the pioneer. There was a chance that they were the first to arrive in this room. If that were the case, it might be a good idea to move around this place and find some of the dungeons to get some free level-ups. She took a picture of the door they used to get here and then of the ceiling, which now showed the sunset and a scorpion around the star with a palm tree in the center, "One more room, then we start looking for the hot springs. Want to pick one?" "Let''s go to the arches in the center. That way, we can knock a few options really quickly," Adriel suggested. "I like that," Hera nodded, and the two of them walked to the first arch. The next room had a telescope for its symbol, and now, the two of them were right in front of the fountain, surrounded by the 10 archways. After checking them one by one, it became clear that this wasn''t the right path. They stepped out and went to the next arch, which led them to the same location but with a new symbol on the ceiling. Then came the job of looking over all ten arches that, once again, resulted in nothing. They repeated that process five more times and entered the eighth arch in the center of the room when Adriel spoke up. "Hera. Can we take a break for a moment? I want to talk to you." "Is everything ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah¡­ well. No. I mean, sort of? I don''t know," Adriel sighed, "Listen. I¡­ I''ve been lying to you. To all of you." "Do you want to break up with Alex and don''t know how to?" "What? No! I really like her," Adriel gasped. "That''s good. If it was the case, I might have to slap you for lying to her. So what''s up? Are you spying on us or some shit?" Hera joked. Adriel just stared at her, "Damn, you are good at that¡­ Yeah, sort of. Not on you in particular, but I joined the Royal Explorers to sort of spy on Boothudurn and the dwarves who live there." "YOU DID WHAT?!" Hera yelled, and her anger brought out her entire court, who quickly surrounded the elf as Lurize and Nimbus grabbed his arms, "No one hurts him! That''s an order. I want to be the first," she said while clenching her teeth. She would be fine with almost anything, but hearing that someone came here to spy on the people of Boothudurn made her blood boil instantly. Those were the sweetest people she had ever met, and they trusted her. Rutigan didn''t even look into Adriel''s background. He just accepted her suggestion because she said she trusted him. If someone, anyone, was abusing their trust, she wouldn''t forgive them no matter what. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. I can explain!" Adriel gasped. "Start talking. And I swear if I find out you did anything to hurt any of them, I''ll drop you in the Red Dunes and let you find a way back on your own." 631 - Confession "Hera, calm down. Let me explain," Adriel tried to speak, but he didn''t make any sudden movements. Nimbus and Lurize were by his side, holding his arms, and he was even scared to look at them. "Don''t tell me to be calm, you son of a bitch," Hera pulled Fang and pressed against the elf''s neck, "What did you do?" she put some pressure on the blade, which ended up drawing a drop of blood. ''Mum. Calm down. This isn''t all you,'' Daskka kept looking at Adriel, not to undermine the Empress'' authority at the moment, but she could tell that the anger wasn''t entirely her fault. ''What do you mean it''s not mine? I want to rip his fucking head off,'' Hera growled. Armory, Scythe, and Core''s voices followed the Empress, saying the same exact thing. That''s what she needed to understand what was going on. Yes, she was angry, but not to the point of murder. Not yet, at least. What was happening was that her emotions were influencing her older blades, and because that was happening with three of them at once, their anger would leak back to Hera, and in turn, that would make them even angrier. It was a vicious cycle that had never happened before and only was triggered because of her intense emotion in the first place. The Empress took a deep breath and pulled Fang back. She was still extremely angry but trying not to be swayed by her blades. Nimbus and Lurize noticed that there was something wrong, and the Royal Tutor spoke up in her mind, ''Empress, are you ok?'' ''No. Lurize, Nimbus, please stop me if I''m about to do something I''ll regret. I don''t want to kill him just because I can''t control my emotions.'' ''But you are open to the idea?'' Nimbus asked with some worry in his voice. ''I honestly don''t know. Maybe. Depends on what he has to say.'' Nimbus, Hera, Lurize, and Daskka, who kept following the conversation with her eyes, turned back to Adriel. "Can I speak now? I''m not interrupting you guys?" the elf asked. "How do you know we were talking?" Lurize asked with an angry voice. "C''mon, we''ve been together for months already. I can tell when you guys are having a serious discussion, at least when the two of you are involved. When Hera is talking with the flying weapons, it gets hard, at least when she is not following them with her eyes," Adriel explained. Hera''s eyes were getting more and more bloodshot as her anger increased now that the elf started to talk about something else, "Adriel. I''m trying really hard to give you a chance here, but if you don''t start talking soon, I''m going to snap." "Ok, ok. Sorry. Look, it''s not bad. I wasn''t spying to treat them badly. The¡­ organization, let''s say, that I work for is a group that looks out for the other sentient species in the MAZE. We try to make sure that the guild, and more importantly, the Humans, are not exploiting our people. I can''t say this works 100% of the time, but we try our best. Depending on the location of the new civilization, we send either some ambassadors to help them, or, when they are located in a place with a lot of human organizations around, we send a spy. Me, in this case. My job was simple, figure out if the guild was doing something sketchy with Boothudurn and its people and if they were starting to be oppressed by humans. If that was the case, I was supposed to make contact with the king or the people in charge and then help them get their footing in the MAZE. Helping with supplies, making laws, getting more guards, and in the worst case scenario, helping them relocate if the pressure was too much," Adriel explained quickly. "So¡­ you are not actually spying on Boothudurn, but spying on the guild and what the humans are doing in there?" Hera rubbed her temple. "Oh¡­ yeah, that is a much better way to put it," Adriel nodded. Hera stared the elf down for a moment before letting out a long sigh, "Armory, Scythe, Core. Go back to the legacy. We''ll talk later." ''Empress¡­ I''m sorry,'' Core said. ''Hera¡­ I didn''t mean to¡­." Armory added. "Don''t worry about it. Everything is fine. We can talk later," Hera replied. When the court members were gone, she felt her anger slowly vanishing, "Dude¡­ if you are a spy, how the fuck do you talk like that? I mean, seriously, aren''t you supposed to be good at talking with people if that''s the case?" "We are trained to convince people about our mission, not to reveal ourselves. This is the first time I have to admit to someone that I''m a spy without the benefit of exposing what is going on," Adriel shrugged and looked to the sides, "Are we ok now? I mean, can you let me go?" "Yeah, yeah. Let him go," Hera told her titled blades before going back to the elf, "Tell me, why the fuck are you telling me this? What''s the point?" "So¡­ I''m saying this because of the whole ascension thing. You mentioned that more people would be able to go through with that, and if you are making a new civilization, as weird as that sounds, I can help. Well¡­ we can help, my group. I mean," Adriel stepped away from Nimbus and Lurize and sat by the fountain. "Right¡­ ok, I have questions then. Can I?" Hera asked. "Yeah, sure. I''ll do my best to answer them." "Why are you telling me this? Just because I might become part of a new species?" "Basically. I''m telling you that you won''t have to deal with this alone. I have people that can help. Especially since I''ve seen small tribes getting exploited to hell by the guild." "Really? I mean, the guild does some questionable things, but I never heard about them being that aggressive." "It''s been a long time, but yeah, that happened in the past. The last one happened some 30-odd years ago. At the time, when people figured out what was happening, the guild said that it was the fault of a couple of bad actors, but when we look into my people''s records, those bad actors appear more frequently than we find acceptable," Adriel continued. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Are you telling me that there is no corruption in the elven society?" Hera crossed her arms. "Oh no. By all means, we can be just as bad as anyone. But at some point, we realized that the guild was essentially bullying the new civilizations they found into being assimilated into them, again, not all of them, but more. One was already too many, and they didn''t stop there. They would force them to abide by their laws and wouldn''t care much about the culture of that new group of people. Then they would kind of intercept any attempts of others of the same species to get them to join them. Sometimes they did that with lies, saying the other species were weaker or couldn''t help them. Others, the guild used debt to control them, and there was even one occasion where they used force to keep them in check." "But why? Why did the guild gain by doing that?" "Access to rare resources or a cheap workforce to make them whatever they want from what we know, or at least those were the reports and investigations that the guild released. In all those cases, it was the fault of a branch manager or one person in the upper echelon of the guild who used that to become rich. But, it''s hard to believe in those reports since the guild is the one doing the investigation." Hera nodded, "Yeah, it''s hard to believe the reports didn''t have any bias if things are like that." "Exactly. That''s why this organization started. We wanted to make sure that no one was getting exploited like that." "Right, and how can you help? If I decide to go through with that?" "Like I said, we can help you find a place to build your society. A room that is either low-level enough to hold any civilization or one that doesn''t have any monsters. We can help you get some infrastructure and connect to the internet. Or we can just help you with the paperwork to become an officially recognized civilization in the MAZE. We already did that with the Children of the Sky," Adriel explained. "Ok¡­ and does Alex has anything to do with this? Did you start dating her to get closer to us or something?" "No, of course not. Look, I might be a spy, but I don''t toy with people''s feelings like that. At most, I scare them a bit when I''m showing what the guild did to them." "And does she know? About your job," Hera pressed. "No, she doesn''t. No one does. You are the only person I told about this, and I hope you can keep this a secret." "As long as you are not hurting Alex, I''ll keep quiet. If that lie starts hurting her and she asks me about it, I''ll tell her." Adriel stared at Hera for a moment, "Well... I suppose that''s the best I can ask for." "Yep," There was a pause before the Empress spoke up again, "I think I only have one more question. For now, at least." Adriel nodded, "Go for it." "Were you supposed to do anything with the people of Boothudurn aside from making sure the guild wasn''t going to treat them poorly?" "No, my organization only asked me to help them with the guild," Adriel replied without missing a beat. That almost seemed rehearsed. "Your organization? So you had some personal motive?" "No¡­ Well¡­ ok to be fully transparent. I had plans to overcharge deliveries that the king asked of me. I know that Boothudurn is very rich, and I wanted to take a little bit of advantage of that. I wasn''t going to do that with the regular population, though, only with the things asked by the city," Adrield confessed. Hera listened closely, but she couldn''t believe him completely. Despite his words, it still felt like there was something more that he wasn''t telling. She wanted to continue asking. However, a thought came to her mind. What if this wasn''t just Adriel? What if the curse was trying to force her hand into kicking him out of the group, so even if they tried to get rid of it, there would be a part of it out there somewhere? "Let me ask you again. Why are you telling me this? And really think about it first. I just got the ascension option. What, two days ago? And you are already revealing this spy job to me just because I might one day become a new species? So why are you telling me this?" Hera pressed. Adriel stopped and looked down for a moment. A few minutes passed while he seemed to be struggling with something, "I¡­ don''t know. Now that you mention it, it doesn''t make that much sense. I should have waited and then talked with the people in my organization first. Or with you before talking with them. I mean, this is a big deal. Knowing that changing species is a possibility is not something that should be taken lightly. So I would probably talk to you first, but there was no need to do that now¡­." "So it might have been the curse?" Hera asked. "He wass lyiiing to youuu. I juusst made himm honest," a shrill and gargled voice echoed in Hera''s mind, making the Empress jump. "Fuck me, this is terrifying," Hera gasped and looked at Nimbus and Lurize, "Did you hear that?" "Yeah¡­. That wasn''t pleasant," Nimbus nodded. "Oh? Did you start hearing the voice? Yeah, it starts weird, but it gets better with time," Adriel nodded. "I don''t know how I feel about that¡­." Hera replied. "Fair enough, but you were right. I don''t think this was all me." "Right. Let''s make a deal. Don''t mention this to anyone else before we get rid of the curse. Also, if you are doing anything that might seem suspicious, or if I''m looking at you weirdly, just tell me what is going on. If not, I''m afraid the curse will start making me even more suspicious, and if my court is out, things might go south really quickly," Hera rubbed her neck. "Yeah, I''ll do that. What is going on with that, by the way?" "It''s part of the deal with the legacy. When I level up, my court members stay the same. The problem is that the bigger the difference between the attributes I had when I got them and the attributes I have now, the more my emotions can affect them. This was the first time almost half of them got angry at the same time, and I think that that made them so overwhelmed that their anger started to affect me." "Crap¡­ that is rough. You need to get new ones, then, right?" Adriel asked. "Basically, yeah. In theory, I could just make the same weapon several times and replace them all with that, but then I would lose a lot of coverage. Not to mention I don''t even know if I can have two court members that use the same type of element," Hera looked at Daskka, who nodded in response. "You can''t, mum. Each blade has to have its own element. But you can use the Royal Seal to give them different elements, so that''s a way to go around that if things get too hectic." "I have a couple of weapon blueprints if you want. They are nothing special, but I''m sure you can make something good out of them. The only issue is that we have to actually make the item first before getting the blueprint," Adriel suggested. "I would appreciate that. But I don''t know when I will have a chance to make some stuff. Besides, all of the blades that I would have to change have some skills that I really wanted to keep, and I don''t have a skill for that yet," If Hera was being completely honest, Core wouldn''t be a part of that, but she didn''t want to say it out loud. "Ah. got it," Adriel nodded, and the two of them stayed in silence for a while, digesting everything that happened. It didn''t take long, however, for the elf to stand up, "Well¡­ No reason to just be here doing nothing. Shall we keep going?" Hera looked at him and chuckled, "Yeah. Might as well. Let''s get rid of this curse, and then we can deal with everything else. We also need to figure out a way to get back home." "Oh shit¡­ I completely forgot about that. Yeah, after the curse, we still need to go back. I need a vacation," Adriel sighed. "You and me both. When we get back, I just want to do nothing for a month or two," Hera chuckled. Not knowing that it was going to take a long time for her to take a vacation. 632 - Thirmal Waters After talking with Adriel, they continued searching around for the next 3 hours. After Ariadne''s Inquiry cooldown was over, they went back to the sunset room, where everyone gathered again before Hera asked the next question. That process was repeated one more time, with them finding up to the third symbol, thanks to Ariadne. It was sunset, a scroll with a fountain pen, then a pair of theater masks, one happy and one sad. With two more symbols remaining, Shane, Mylo, and Helena managed to find the hot springs symbol. The fourth symbol on the outside of the star was a set of three laurels intertwined with each other. One bronze, one silver, and one gold. As they all crossed one of the left-side thresholds, they arrived at yet another room that looked almost the same as the previous ones. However, just like Shiretaa warned her, there was a pure white doorway near the east wall of the area. If they walked in a straight line, they would end up passing by central arches. Moving to the side they quickly walked to their destination and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Thirmal Waters - 13th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Everyone ready?" Helena asked before pressing yes. The entire party nodded, but Alex seemed to hesitate for a moment, "We are not going to get hurt, are we? I mean¡­ is this going to be dangerous?" "Honestly, I don''t think this will be something safe. But keeping the curse is a death sentence. One way or the other, this means that we have to get rid of it," Hera replied. "But¡­ What if what we are going to do is more dangerous than staying with the curse?" Alex pressed. "Alex, the only way that would be the case is if whatever we are about to do would kill us quicker than the curse. From what we know and what you told us, we cannot survive the curse. It doesn''t matter the risk. Basically, anything that doesn''t kill us is better than the curse," Shane replied. "But¡­ No, you are right. Sorry," Alex glanced up almost as if she was trying to look back into her own head, "Something is making me paranoid." "I get that. Intrusive thoughts have nothing on this thing," Adriel sighed. "Tell me about it," Blue said but quickly changed the subject, "Can we go now?" "Yeah, let''s," Helena nodded as they all pressed yes in the notification. The feeling of warm water covered their bodies, and soon, they appeared in a new room. However, the feeling didn''t change that much. If anything, it became more intense. Hera regained control over her body and opened her eyes. She instantly understood why the feeling was still there. They were in what looked like a massive structure completely surrounded by thermal waters. In fact, the water was very similar to the symbol on the ceiling of the temple of sands. Green water with some lotus flowers floating around. What she didn''t expect was that the place would be this big. Calling this area a bath or even a pool felt like an offense. This place was a lake, a shallow lake for the most part since Hera could see the stone underneath the water, but a lake nonetheless. With a stone path in the middle going from the doorway that was attached to the light orange wall to the shore, which should be around 200 meters away. It was hard to tell because of all of the steam, but this place also seemed to be a temple or an intentional structure of some sort. Not just a cave or something natural. As they started walking towards the shore, Hera started to think about calling the guide. This was supposed to be the place where they would get rid of the curse, but what would they need to do? As she was thinking about it, she noticed something in the water. There was a clump of lotus flowers that were moving around and slowly forming the words ''Inner chamber.'' "Guys, are you seeing that?" Hera asked. "What are you¡­ Yeah, I am," Blue looked to where Hera spoke and immediately understood what she meant. After a moment, when everyone saw that message on the lotus flower, Bonnie looked around, "Ok¡­ but where is that? I can''t see any doors." In reply to her question, the lotus flowers changed positions, creating now an arrow to the right. "Oh¡­ thank you," Bonnie looked towards the direction the arrow was pointing to, but there was too much steam for her to be able to see anything, "Any chance you can make a trail leading there instead of an arrow? That might help us not get lost." Answering her request, the flowers moved and formed a trail of breadcrumbs that would lead them to the inner chamber. Everyone followed that path. First, they did that by going through the shore, but when it became clear that their destination was inside the water, they stopped being bothered by wet shoes and walked through the lake. It took them about 20 minutes of walking, and the path became invaluable. The closer they got to the inner chamber, the more steam would cover their vision. Eventually, the group was able to pass by an entryway, where they all heard a soft masculine voice. "Welcome. You have traveled far to get here. Please, approach. I will warn you, while you walk closer to me, you will be isolated from one another. I must do so to cleanse each of you as it is part of what must be done." "Wait¡­ you know why we are here?" Bonnie asked. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "Indeed. Alas, I only was made aware of your intentions when you arrived. The same tool that was used to guide you here shared the information it gave you with me," the voice explained. "Really?" Helena turned to Hera, "That is kind of amazing." "Yeah, I had no idea it would do something like that," Hera nodded. She had a suspicion that this was actually the lie that the guides came up with to make her life a bit easier. "Are we really going?" Alex asked. "Are you scared? Or is it the curse again?" Shane turned to the assassin. "I¡­ don''t know. A bit of both. The curse keeps saying that I don''t have to do this, that I can be alive for as long as I want, and that removing it will hurt me. I just¡­ don''t know," Alex admitted. "Fear not," the voice spoke, "Before anything, we will have a conversation about the steps that will be required to achieve your goals. Please, come forward. Allow the steam from these waters to cleanse your body and mind of any worry and simple ailment that afflicts you." Alex still was hesitant, but she started walking, vanishing in the steam. The group also started walking, and soon Hera wasn''t able to see even her own hands unless she pressed them against her face. Calling out to the others was also useless as her voice wasn''t able to reach them. "Kid, you are not helping us like that," Peaches'' voice came from her left. She looked over and saw a small pocket where the steam was less intense. However, instead of seeing the guides, she was seeing only their reflections in the water. Another thing that felt weird was that Peaches was acting differently from what he would do when talking to Hera. His voice seemed a bit colder and more distant. "What do you mean? And how are you here?" "We are not. We are in the version of the room that we use, not the one that you do. It''s basically the same except that, to us, you all look like ghosts. Also, don''t worry. The guide of this room is making sure no one else hears or sees us. Aside from Shane, we are also having a conversation with her," Peaches explained. "Yep. And the guide of this room wants to talk to you later, but for now, we are just going to explain to you a couple of things," Laika added. "Oh, you are a part of this too? Thanks for all the help," Hera smiled. "Pretty much everyone is trying to help you with this. Even Percy chipped in with a few ideas," Laika continued. "Can I go now? I really want to tell her what we managed to do!" Lodi appeared to the side with a large smile on her face. "Don''t take all the credit. We were both there to get this," Ruma huffed as he emerged from the water. He was still only a reflection which made things even weirder. "Ok, ok, fine," Lodi rolled her eyes, "So listen. The big guy over here will explain everything, but we got something to help you out." "Our trip was to visit a few of the guides in rooms that are deep in the MAZE," Ruma continued. "Deep?" Lodi gasped, "My guy, she is deep in the MAZE. We went to the bottom of the barrel. We stopped by the 27th layer and talked with a few guides there. What we were looking for was something to help you here. So we got some mushrooms." "Mushrooms?" Hera asked. "Yeah. We can''t explain more than that since it''s not our part, but just keep in mind that the mushrooms are not native from here. I wanted to ask you to help the others believe that this is a one-time thing and that everything is ok. Also, Kirouhebi and the painting are going to participate in all of this, but you won''t be able to interact with him. Everything is very complicated, but you will soon understand. " Peaches explained. "I see¡­ Thanks for all the help, but now I''m getting nervous," Hera scratched her cheek. "You and me both, kid. If that doesn''t work, the curse will spread here. So it would be even more complicated to get rid of it. Just to let you know, the guide skill won''t work when you are doing what you are doing. And some other things will also not work as they should, but I''ll let our friend explain that," Peaches continued. The Empress wanted to ask about it, but it felt like it was something personal, "Ok¡­ Is there anything else?" For the first time since he appeared, he sounded warm again, "No, kid. We did everything we could on our part. Now it''s up to you. But I''m not worried. I''m sure you will be able to get rid of the curse without any problems." "Thanks, I''ll do my best." "Even your worst would be enough to remove this heinous curse from your magnificent self," Capri huffed. Hera chuckled, "Thank you. All of you. When I''m back home, I''m inviting you all to a party." "Why wait so long? We can have one as soon as you are done here," Lodi cheered. "I mean, yeah, but I wouldn''t be able to get any snacks or make a cake," Hera replied. "We''ll decide the details later. For now, you should go. A couple of your friends are already waiting," Shiretaa added. "Oops. Ok, I should be going then. Thanks for all the help, guys, and thanks for cheering on me. Next time we talk, I''ll be done with this curse," Hera smiled and waved them off. The guides waved back and watched as Hera vanished into the steam. Now came the worst part for them, waiting. To get rid of the curse, those infected by it would have to go through a process that no one else would be able to watch, not even the guides themselves. After walking for about five minutes, Hera emerged from the steam into a place that was nowhere near what she expected. It still had some of the waters, but they were now crystal clear with large bean bag chairs inside the pools, a couple of colorful couches on the sides, and what looked like a minifridge on the corner above the water. There was also a coffee machine and a teapot on one of the shelves above it. Right in the center of the room, there was a larger pool that would go all the way to the back wall with the couches and bean bags surrounding it. Inside there was a massive turtle wearing a pair of very small glasses and a baby blue tophat, and its shell was a mix of the flower power pattern with some tie dye as the background. "And now we are all here. Please, sit, and be comfortable. May I offer anyone some tea, coffee, or a soda?" "You¡­ You have soda?" Blue asked. "And coffee? Like real coffee?" Bonnie asked. "I do. I also have hot cocoa and some snacks if you are interested," the turtle smiled, and a small hand made out of water flew to the minifridge and opened the door revealing a large variety of candy, chips, and drinks, "Please, feel free to take what you want, and don''t fight. There is enough for everyone." Like kids at a birthday party when a pi?ata was broken open, everyone rushed out to the minifridge to grab food. They were not starving by any means. Everyone had some jerky, and there was more than enough food to last them a month, but no one could suppress the craving for processed candy. Sugary treats that would only increase their dentist pay. If there was a way to win their hearts, it was like this, and the turtle seemed to know that very well. During that time, the turtle also started making some coffee, tea, and hot cocoa. It took everyone a couple of minutes to settle down and sit on the couch or the bean bags. The turtle smiled at them, "The hot beverages will take a few minutes to get ready. During that time, let me introduce myself and explain what we are going to do here. First of all, I am Samuel, but you can call me Sammy or just Sam. And I am¡­ Well, I suppose you could call me a psychologist. So please, get comfortable, for we have a lot to talk about." 633 - Preparing for a Session "Wait, what do you mean by that, Sammy?" Blue asked, "How are you a psychologist?" "I have some abilities that would allow me to help those who have ailments of the mind. And I don''t mean some magical effect, but issues that you have to deal with. For instance, I can make illusions to help you face a fear or help you cope with a situation. I can even help someone say goodbye to a lost loved one to give them closure. To be clear, that would be fake. The version of the person who passed away would be purely a representation of your memories. However, that can also help in some cases. The water of this place can also help you unlock memories that are hidden or that were lost," Sammy chuckled, "It''s almost a way to time travel through your past if you ask me." "Oh¡­ and that is the reason for the name of the room?" Hera asked. "Wait, what? What does this have to do with the room?" Adriel turned to Hera. "When I saw the name, I thought it was a bad pun. Thirmal Waters, like a mix of thermal and time," Hera explained what Shiretaa told her. Then again, this shouldn''t be something too far-fetched. "I guess that makes sense, but I never look that deeply into the room names," Adriel shrugged. "That shows you focus more on what''s in front of you than the possibilities ahead. It''s not a bad outlook, but you might sometimes miss something important. Then again, searching for a hidden meaning in everything would be more worrying. That would be a very big sign of anxiety and maybe some other deeper issue," Sammy continued. "I''m sorry, but I don''t understand one thing, Sammy," Bonnie spoke up. And as the turtle turned to face her, who was on the couch, she continued, "How can this help us get rid of the curse?" "Ah, yes. Let me explain," before continuing, he stopped and looked towards the shelf with the pots that were making drinks, "One moment," a couple of hands made out of water appeared and started preparing everything. Hera, Blue, and Alex took some hot chocolate, Bonnie, Helena, and Shane, Coffee while Mylo got some green tea. The only one who didn''t get a hot beverage was Adriel, who chose something cold from the mini-fridge instead. "Man, this is amazing," Alex smiled after taking a sip. "I''m glad this is up to par. I honestly never served this type of drink before. It''s all relatively new to me," Sammy continued. "But you have treated people before?" Shane asked. "I have, although the definition of people that you have now and the one that I have might be different." Hera and Shane locked eyes for a moment before the Empress spoke up, "Were they a different civilization?" she suspected that maybe this had to do with the guides, and before any suspicion arose, she wanted to guide everyone in a different direction. "I''m afraid I can''t say. As you would call it, I''m under a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement. Nothing that happens here can be shared with other people without their explicit permission," Sammy smiled at Hera. "That''s kind of a yes, isn''t it?" Blue asked. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn''t," Sammy chuckled. "That''s fine and all, but how can you get rid of the curse? You still haven''t told us!" Bonnie gasped. "Right. My apologies. I never had this many people with me at the same time, and I''m trying to give some attention to everyone. Although I have treated people before, to remove the curse, I will need to do something I have never done before. This plan was proposed by the relic that informed of this situation. However, I believe that this might have some hand of the system as well. I can''t say for sure, but it''s just a hunch. Either way, the plan is to use my abilities to do what I call memory diving. This allows me to guide someone through their memories so they can relieve their past with new eyes. But instead of doing that with one of you, specifically, we will do it with the curse itself." "How can that help us?" Helena asked. "By itself, it won''t. Memory diving has no physical effect on you, and there is no risk attached to it. However, I also have this," Sammy turned his head to the side, and a water hand came carrying a blue mushroom with yellow and green spots, "This is something that has been growing here for a very long time. When a small amount of it is used together with a drink, it is able to trick your mind into believing that your past is actually happening. This allows you to feel some pain and even makes your body react as it should to a certain extent. With the doses that I used, no one was seriously injured, but they could feel when their bodies were burned or hit, and when they returned, there were marks on the spots where they were hit. Those marks were much weaker than the ones they saw in the past, but that''s only due to the dosage of this mushroom," Sammy explained. "So you are giving us psychedelics to make our vision more real?" Bonnie scoffed. "Correct," Sammy nodded with a chuckle, "I understand your doubt, but I must say, I agree with the plan. From what I gather, the curse gains power when you know more about it and know what it can do. This means that its power comes from belief, or faith, whatever you prefer to call it. The plan is to go to its past, to a point where the curse wasn''t able to do what it can do now, or maybe even before it was created, and use that belief to make it believe that it never existed or that it was destroyed before it could grow to what it is today. Unfortunately, to trick the curse successfully, you will have to take a very high dose of the mushrooms, and that will make it so your bodies understand everything that is going on as real." This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Does that mean that if we get hurt in the dive, we get hurt out here?" Helena asked. "Your body will feel as if what happens in the memory is real. If you get injured in some way, your real body will also feel that pain. That doesn''t mean that if you lose an arm, you will also lose an arm in your real body, but the pain will still be there. And if you end up dying, your body will act accordingly," Sammy said with a solemn voice. "So we can die there?" Mylo asked. "With the dosage required for this to work, you can. We need to make the memory dive as realistic as possible so the curse doesn''t have a chance to understand that what is going on is not real," Sammy continued. "Hang on, but wouldn''t the curse already know? I mean, we are talking about it," Bonnie scratched her head. "Yes, but the curse should know how prone to lying people are. It will trust its senses more than it would trust what you say. In a situation where you say, ''this is fake,'' but the curse can see that you are feeling pain, it will believe that what is happening is real. Then, by destroying the curse in the past, we will make it believe that it should already be dead." "Wouldn''t it be smart enough to understand that it can''t have died because it is still alive? I mean, the curse shows a lot of intelligence every now and then," Alex asked. "I understand that worry, and I share that with you. This is why we will be using a very high dose of the mushroom. Aside from it being hallucinogenic, it also has the property of making those who consume it more likely to follow suggestions. By using that to make you all believe that you will be actually traveling to the past, we can make the curse believe that if it is destroyed there, it will also be destroyed in the present," Sammy continued. "Wouldn''t we also be more susceptible to suggestions?" Mylo asked. "Correct. In order for it to affect the curse, it will also have to affect you. However, the effects are a bit more nuanced than you might be thinking. That suggestion effect will only work when you are here. The moment you go into the memory dive that won''t be an issue. Of course, I will convince you all that you are actually going back in time instead of just seeing a memory. Then inside, you will be able to move around unimpeded and without having to worry about that suggestion effect since inside the memory, the effects of the mushroom will appear to have vanished," Sammy explained. "And what will happen with our bodies while we are there?" "You will be here. I will cast a spell on you to make you in a state similar to a stasis. I cannot tell you how long this will last, but even if it takes months, I will be able to keep you all in peak condition," Sammy noticed the worried expressions they all had and continued, "That being said. I doubt it would take that long. The progress of time is different when inside a memory." "How different?" Hera asked. "It varies. Some memories move faster than others, but the longest I stayed inside a memory felt like three weeks, but in reality, only a day passed here. On the other side of things, the longest that a session took was three days, and we only spent about 8 days inside their memories." "Did you notice something that would explain that difference?" Helena took a bite out of her chocolate-covered candy bar. Sammy looked down for a moment with a serious expression, and after thinking, he answered, "Yes. The first individual, the one whose session only took one day of real-world time, had a scattered mind, so to speak. We would jump from location to location as we followed the memories instead of walking the path, even if it was just across the street. They also only focused on what they considered to be important. While the second one, when the session took three days, they were much more detail-oriented. We walked together with every single step of their memories. Not to get too much into the details, but they believed they missed some details and could have done things differently if they had noticed. Hence their need to see everything. We also moved through a few of the memories multiple times, which should have increased the time it took us to get back. That is not something we will be able to do in this situation. In order to make the curse believe that we will actually be in the past, we must avoid any incongruences." "Incongruences?" Mylos asked. "He means anything that is out of place. Like a time skip or some object that shouldn''t be there. Right?" Shane explained, but in the end, she also felt unsure of her answer. "That is precisely it. I also need to warn all of you. Your items will change when you go inside a memory. Anything that could not exist at the time, like your tablets or communicators, will not be with you there, and the appearance of some of your items might change. This is also true for any spells that might be too advanced, although I don''t think that will be much of a problem for all of you." Sammy continued. "What about legacies? Will they still be there?" Hera asked, worried that she might be going there without Daskka, Nimbus, Lurize, and the rest of her court. "Legacies, yes. By definition, they break some rules. However, your relics are a different story. Hera, yours will probably be mostly intact, but the visor and the question part won''t work simply because your body is not where it is supposed to be. Shane, yours will change into a sling. A projectile launcher like the one you have is too advanced to make sense. But I believe I can adapt it to work in two parts. A pouch that makes ammo and the sling. Adriel, yours is much harder to adapt. I think, at most, I can make it a bird, but even then, it would be tricky. Mimicking a live animal that is not part of the memories might cause problems. I will make all of you believe that this was always how it was, and Adriel, maybe we can say that you had to sacrifice your relic, the bird, to escape a dangerous beast." "Yeah¡­ if you ask you to go to a place without tech, a drone is a bit too far off the loop. Even if we make it like a Victorian thing, it will still be weird. But that''s fine. My relic is more of a travel thing. I don''t think it would help much. Except for scouting, but then we have Nimbus for that," Adriel nodded. They continued their discussion for some time. Just confirming if their spells and skills would still work. Since there was a possibility that some things were too advanced, they wanted to make sure not to be using anything that could show the curse how they were not in the past. After a couple of hours, they ran out of questions, and Sammy asked, "So, do you all accept going through this treatment?" everyone nodded, with Alex being the last one to do so after some hesitation, "Ok then. I''ll start the preparations. Feel free to ask any questions you want as I do so or attack my fridge. Everything here is to make you more comfortable," Sammy smiled as he began cutting the mushroom and preparing the tea that would start the whole process. 634 -Phsychodelic Therapy Sammy prepared the tea. He added some honey and lime to help with the taste. And asked everyone to find a comfortable position. They should be lying down since their bodies would essentially be sleeping. There was also a bathroom on the corner for anyone who wanted to use it. After about twenty minutes, everyone did whatever they had to do, and the tea was finally ready. "Sammy. Can I ask you a question before we start?" Alex said while staring at her second cup of hot chocolate. "Of course. I''ll do my best to answer it," the turtle nodded with a smile. "When we remove the curse¡­ will I be in danger? I mean, I''m the one who is the most cursed. Won''t doing this hurt me?" "I don''t believe so. What we are doing won''t be an aggressive removal. It''s not like we are pulling the curse out. In theory, it will work just like a bad flu. Eventually, the virus will die out," Sammy explained. "Really?" Alex looked up. "Really. Even if this is the first time I''m doing something like this, we have no reason to believe that when the curse dies, you will feel any pain. But you reminded me of something I forgot to warn you all about. Thank you," Sammy smiled and turned to the rest of the group, "May I have your attention for a moment?" The entire party stopped their last preparations and got ready to listen. Only then, Sammy started speaking again, "Thank you. What I have to say is this. We will be deceiving the curse, and even though I dismissed a lot of what it can do, I don''t think it will go down without a fight. From the little that I know, I can already imagine the curse trying to trick us into stopping or trying to make us help it instead of destroying it. I don''t know how it will do that, but it''s something that must be in our minds." "Yeah¡­ that might be tricky, but just to make sure I understand things. We will be going there believing that we traveled to the past, correct?" Adriel asked. "Correct. After you drink the tea, I will use something similar to guided meditations to bring us to the correct memory. But I''ll change some of the words to make you believe that we will be traveling through time. I won''t go into details right now since knowing exactly what I will say might make it harder for you all to believe," Sammy continued. "And is there anything else we should be aware of?" Bonnie asked. "Well¡­ we will be inside a memory, but that also means that we will be interacting with memories, people, monsters, and other things. Those things won''t be able to see me when we are inside the memory," Sammy started pouring the tea into glasses for everyone. "So you will still be there?" Alex asked. "Yes. I will be able to move around somewhat freely between what each of you is experiencing. But if you talk too much with me when the memory people are around, they might notice something strange," Sammy brought all of the cups on a tray and started to pass them to everyone. "Wouldn''t they notice you? I mean, you are not exactly easy to hide," Shane said. "What? Wait, does this shell make me look fat?" Sammy looked back with an expression of genuine worry but quickly started to laugh, "I''m just messing with you. Don''t worry. Inside the memory, they won''t be able to see me, and I''ll be a small flying turtle following you around as if I''m just one of those animal companions in video games that gives you some exposition about the world. Now, are you all ready to begin?" Sammy asked everyone individually, and they all said yes. The turtle started to make some movements with his water hands, "Very well, then please drink your tea, and we can begin." "Whose memories are we going inside? The curse''s?" Alex asked before starting to drink her tea. However, when she tasted it, she almost spat it out. It was extremely sour and tasted like a mix of muddy moss and turpentine, "Holy crap. This is awful." "I know. And I apologize for that, but I need you to drink everything," Sammy gave her a sad smile, "Now, for the memories, it is like you asked. We will be going inside the curse''s memories while using one of you as a medium. So, Alex, you would be the best candidate for it since you are the one who has the curse at its most advanced stage." "Yeah¡­ I figured," the assassin sighed before plugging her nose and finishing the drink. The rest of the party did the same. Only Shane and Helena didn''t plug their noses, but that ended up being a mistake. The taste of the tea was horrible on all levels. After that, Sammy clapped his water hands, and countless others appeared in different colors and sizes. Those hands started to move almost in a dance, creating a rainbow pulse behind the turtle. In Hera''s eyes, those hands started to leave trails behind them, and the colors melded together as if they were inks that an artist was mixing. Somehow, Hera could even hear those colors, as if each of them was a note on a xylophone. Then steam started to rise and form small swirls that danced along the rest of the colors, turning Sammy''s office into a psychedelic stage. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Now, please, all of you lay down and get comfortable," Sammy''s voice sounded almost ethereal, as if it wasn''t coming from the turtle but from the room itself. Everyone slumped back on the chairs or couches they were currently using, "Please, focus on my voice. I want you all to think about the curse. What is it like? Where did it come from? How did it start? Ask it so we can understand it better. See the curse among the steam above you, and don''t fear. We are all in a safe place." As his voice echoed, Hera started to notice some small dark shadows behind his water hands that continued to do that odd dance above them. Little by little, those shadows grew, forming cracks much like the ones on Alex''s face. But Hera wasn''t afraid. Looking at them was like watching something unique, something that made her curious. Then, she saw a large lung dragon from behind. The shadow tendrils surrounded him but not in a way that seemed like they were inside the creature, but more as if he was carrying them around. Another thing she noticed was that the dragon seemed to hold something, but she wasn''t sure what. That image quickly changed as two large spots of black appeared amongst the colors, swallowing the dragon. The tendrils were coming out of them in a way that was much similar to how Alex''s eyes currently looked. As Hera stared into those black eyes, she could feel a pull, as if a part of her wanted to get closer. "Very good, everyone. Now if you feel something calling you, don''t worry. Give in. We are all safe. Doing so will allow you all to connect to the past. But don''t stand up. Move your mind and not your body." Hera listened to Sammy''s voice, and everything he was saying sounded like the absolute truth. There was nothing to fear. Something was calling her, and it would even be rude not to go there. She focused on the black eyes and felt them becoming bigger and bigger as if she was going inside a tunnel. But even then, she could still see some of the colors. They were darker than the vibrant red and yellows she had seen before. Sammy noticed everyone was getting close to the dive and started tying up some loose ends, "Hera, remember what you can do, how your relic can use magnets to help, but that is its limit. Shane, your creation is brilliant. Your relic being a sling and an ammo pouch that can create pellets for your attacks is amazing. And Adriel, we all will forever remember your sacrifice. Using your parrot relic to save us all from a monster by sending it away as bait. It is unfortunate that you cannot create it again, but know that if it wasn''t for you, all of your friends would not be here." "Thank you, Sammy," Adriel said with a smile as a tear formed in the corner of his eye. Losing a relic was not easy, but it was better than losing one''s life. "All of you need to remember that the tools you carry with you will change. They will match the time period we are traveling to, for if we leave anything behind, we might damage the timeline in ways that cannot be fixed," Sammy added. "Wait, aren''t we just going inside a memory?" Blue asked in a daze. "I''m afraid not. We will go to the past and destroy the curse there before it was able to grow properly. The memory we are using is just an anchor point to locate the correct time and place. This is a spell that was given to me by the system, and it seems like it will be the only chance we have. This spell will never work like this again. Now, I need you all to look at the forest that just appeared inside the darkness of the curse. That is our destination. We all must go there, don''t stop and don''t look behind. Focus on that point, and don''t stop. Time travel is complicated, and we will only have one shot at this," Sammy lied, but it was part of the deal. He had to make them believe they were not going inside a memory but to the actual past. Only then might this plan work. Hera sent her mind towards that hole. It was something she would never be able to do normally, but thanks to the mushroom, leaving her body felt easy. That being said, as Sammy told her, she didn''t look back and just pressed forward. She could see another two people in front of her, but they were just human-like shapes moving forward in the dark tunnel surrounded by color. Out of nowhere, Sammy appeared in her view. At first, it was the same massive turtle that she already knew, but little by little, he changed. Slowly becoming smaller, his eyes turning wider in comparison with the rest of his head. His flippers were getting shorter, and the number of flowers on his carapace reduced to one. It was still surrounded by a tye dye motif, but it was much less extravagant now. He was no longer wearing his glasses, but the baby blue tophat was still there, now much smaller than before. All in all, Sammy was closer to a guide, or a plushie, than a giant turtle like he was before. Sammy then pushed forward, now stopping by the side of the first of the two people ahead of Hera. A few moments later, he went to the other person and then towards the green light at the other end of the tunnel. Not wanting to be left behind, the Empress tried to move faster. The light became brighter and brighter until trees started to come into view. In front of Hera was a massively sprawling jungle that seemed to go forever. She got closer and closer, admiring the view. There were so many different types of foliage and flora that simply existed with incredibly lush colors in this place. As she was about to cross over the limit of the tunnel and dive inside the light of the forest, she realized that she was staring at that area from above, and just as her body left the dark tunnel, she felt gravity pulling her to the forest floor. "Wait, noooooo!!" Hera yelled as she fell to the ground. Luckily, the moment she hit the floor, she bounced up as if she just had hit a giant waterbed. She bounced a few times, and when she finally stopped, she got up. At the same time, the earth beneath her feet became hard again, turning into solid ground. The fall ended up sobering her up, and all the fuzziness that was in her mind was gone. Looking around, she was alone in a jungle that was a bit familiar to her. Calling out her court, Hera turned to them, "Let''s start moving. We need to find the others. Don''t mention anything about the future to anyone here. That''s an order." Her court agreed, and they started moving, searching for the rest of the party. 635 - A jungle in the past Looking around, Hera felt both scared and amazed by her surroundings. The trees in this jungle were absolutely massive. Each could reach well above 10 meters in height, and the diameter was nothing to scoff at either. She imagined that some of those trees could turn into two-bedroom houses if someone was to start carving away. Even the bushes and flowers were much bigger than she was used to. A single petal was about the size of her head. In a way, the size and shape of the flowers reminded her of the Jupiter Birdtrap that she faced when she first arrived in the Waperath Jungle. "Wait¡­ this is where we are. Isn''t it?" Hera asked no one in particular. "I''m sorry, Hera. But I don''t understand the question," Nimbus said. "Me neither," Lurize added. When the Empress turned back to explain it to them, she was surprised by Lurize''s appearance, but she didn''t have enough time to process that, for a voice crept into her mind, making her jump. "Yess. We are in the Waperath Jungle. Here, I arose. Here, I lived. Here I grew," this voice was still shrill and gargled, but it sounded much more clear right now. Less that of a monster and more of a disturbed person or a sentient creature. "I really don''t want to get used to that," Hera sighed. "You won''t. I guarantee it," Lurize placed one hand on Hera''s shoulder. "Thanks," the Empress replied and placed her hand on the Royal Tutor''s. However, doing so made her remember why she freaked out. His hand, which was supposed to be made out of metal, now felt rugged, as if she was touching the trunk of a tree. She spun around to face her titled blade and took in his new appearance. Instead of the metal sheets that formed his armor, now he was wearing mostly wooden armor. Not a well-maintained or properly sanded wood, but as if someone just grabbed pieces of a trunk and slapped them together. Another thing that was a far cry from his previous appearance was his helmet. It was as if someone had ripped out a giant Rhinoceros beetle head and was using it as a helmet. At least it still looked like a helmet and not his actual head. "Lurize¡­ are you ok?" Hera asked. "What are you talking about?" Lurize looked at her and then at his hand, "What iz thiz? Why am I wooden?!" he gasped, finally realizing that something was very different. "Mum!" Daskka gasped. "Ha! You lost," Nimbus snickered. "What were the two of you doing?" Hera turned to them. "We bet how long it would take for him to notice. I said under an hour, Daskka said it would take longer," Nimbus explained. "That doesn''t count. Mum was the one who made him realize it!" Daskka gasped. "Doesn''t matter. you never specified that mom couldn''t be a part of it," Nimbus replied with a smile. But he noticed how everyone was staring at him, "What?" "Did you just¡­ Call me mom?" Hera asked. It was the first time he had ever said that. "What? No, I didn''t," Nimbus huffed. "Yes you did," Daskka chuckled. "They are correct. You called Hera mom," Lurize nodded. "I¡­ it was an accident!" "Do you see me as a mother figure?" Hera asked. "No! You are my Empress. Royalty! The noblest of all beings," Nimbus replied. "Would you like me to read you a story before bed? When we are out of here since I don''t have any books with me." Nimbus opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it a few moments later, "I think I would like that¡­" he admitted. "Can I be there too? I miss when you read to me as I was trying to learn how to speak," Daskka added. "I didn''t participate in that. May I join too?" Lurize asked. "Ok, ok. When we leave here, I''ll make sure to read to you before bed," Hera chuckled, but the light mood was interrupted by a roar coming from deep inside the jungle. It seemed like whatever made that noise was far away, but it was hard to tell the direction, "Let''s find everyone first. Edge, can you fly up? Take a magnet and go as high as you can. See if you can find anyone." ''Why him? Wouldn''t it be better if I went? I''m smaller, and if something breaks me, it wouldn''t be that much of an issue. Edge''s skills can be more important if anyone gets hurt,'' Scythe suggested. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ''Are you sure? Even if I get hit, I can take more punches than you,'' Edge said. ''I am. It''s better if you protect the Empress,'' Scythe replied. "Ok then. If that''s your decision, I won''t complain but be careful. If things seem dangerous, get back here right away," Hera replied. Scythe flew up as high as she could. It was funny to see the magnet attached to her since the magnet was even larger than the earrings themselves. After a few moments, she talked with Hera, ''I think I found something. I can see some movement.'' "How far away?" Hera asked. ''Three, four hundred meters? Hard to tell. The trees are too big to give me a proper measurement. But it doesn''t look like a monster unless it''s a monkey or something like that.'' "Let''s start moving towards them. I don''t like being alone here. Everyone, make sure to keep a lookout for any monsters or something that might hurt us," Hera said as they started walking. She could ask Nimbus to fly up into the sky, but she still wasn''t sure the kind of thing she would face here. If there were a lot of flying creatures, becoming a target wasn''t a good idea. She passed a couple of trees when she saw a large pink praying mantis that was about the size of a rabbit. It looked almost as if it was made out of cherry blossoms, but it moved like the bug she already knew. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cherry Mantis - Level 25 (Flower affinity) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mylo would have a full day with that one," Hera chuckled. "Should we attack it?" Nimbus asked. "Leave it. At least for now. We don''t know if they are the kind who take care of their family or something like that. Or worse, it''s a baby, and the mother will chase us if we kill it. But it''s good that we know that some creatures here are low-level," Hera replied. "Good call. If we have to deal with a mother now, we will be in trouble," Lurize nodded. As Hera continued to walk, she kept looking at the trees in this place. Their colors seemed more vibrant than that of a regular tree. The brown of the trunks was more intense, the green of the leaves looked more alive, and when she found flowers, they looked so beautiful that they almost looked fake, but their smell and feel were very much natural. Three minutes later, Hera reached where Scythe found movement. Luckily, it wasn''t a monster, but Helena, who was walking around the jungle. "Hera!" the mage cheered and rushed to give the Empress a hug. "I''m so glad you are ok," Hera hugged her back, but she stopped talking as soon as she looked at Helena, "Lena¡­ Your eyes." The mage''s eyes were now partially black. If Hera was to make a guess, she would say that half of her eyes were already showing her curse. "Mine? What about yours? I can only see a bit of white in the corner of your eyes." "Really? Is it that bad?" Hera asked before reaching for her tablet, but she quickly remembered that she didn''t have it here. "Yeah¡­ I think that using the curse''s memory as an anchor point to bring us here made us know a bit too much about the curse," Helena looked around, "Do you know where everyone else is?" Hera shook her head, "I don''t. Scythe is up above the trees, looking for them, but she couldn''t find anyone besides you. Also, I can hear the curse kind of clearly now. So be ready for it." "I can hear it too. Started when we got here. It told me to go to the ziggurat. Not that I know where that is." "Ziggurat? Yeah, I think that this really is the Waperath Jungle. There was a ziggurat there. The curse also told me that, but I''m still a bit iffy if it was the truth or not," Hera nodded. "Don''t go to the ziggurat!" Sammy''s voice reached them before he did. Just as they noticed that the small turtle appeared floating from behind a tree, "I finally found you two." "Sammy, Are you ok? The spell worked, right? We are in the past?" Helena asked. Sammy nodded, "Perfectly. We managed to come to the right place and at the right time. From what I gather, we are sometime before the curse even started. We might even be able to stop it from being created altogether. Also, let me say this again. Under no circumstance should you go to the ziggurat. There are too many people there, and any interaction could create a new branch in the timeline," the real reason for that warning was that, at the present moment, the curse had no solid memories of the ziggurat. If they went there now, it would be easy to see some things that could prove that this wasn''t the past but a memory. Unfortunately, Sammy couldn''t talk to the people he brought here about it. Otherwise, the entire plan would collapse. "Oh, ok. Yeah, it''s better if we stay here then. Do you know where the others are?" Hera had just asked Scythe about it, but she still couldn''t see anything. "I do. I already asked everyone to gather in a specific location. I''ll guide you all there," Sammy replied and started to float to the east. "Was there a reason why it was harder to find us?" Helena asked after some time of walking. "Actually, yes. Unlike how things are when I dive inside a memory, coming to the past and then teleporting around is more complicated. I can''t just jump to one of you. I have to do short jumps around searching for something that has the same mana signature as my spell," Sammy explained. "I see. And would you mind explaining the spell to me? In length, I mean. I think that might be very useful," Helena asked, her eyes sparkling with the possibility. "I''m afraid I can''t. Not this spell. The actual spell is no longer in my mind. After casting it, the system removed it from me as soon as we got here. I think that it doesn''t like when people mess around with the timeline," Sammy sighed. Around five minutes passed before they managed to find the rest of the group. Everyone was by a large maple tree that towered above the others, which was impressive in itself. Hera also realized that everyone was wearing different clothes. Even if some of the differences were not as big as one might expect. First, anything that was made out of metal was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by either stone or bark. That includes Hera''s own boots, her belt buckle, and Alex''s chain vest that she wore beneath her clothes. Second, denim or any mixed thread material was replaced by either silk or leather. Mylo, for instance, was wearing some puffy silk pants instead of his regular pants that had some metal pieces to increase his defense. Blue''s armor was now a stone plate that was surprisingly flexible, but it still looked clunky. Alex, Bonnie, Adriel, and Shane were more or less the same, but there were some pieces here and there that were different. The biggest one was Alex''s shoulders. She had some metal parts that could increase her defense and help her not strain her arm, but now, instead of metal, it was something made out of bone, which gave her quite an intimidating look. As Hera admired everyone, Sammy stepped forward to guide the party to the Hidden Village, the location where the curse was born. 636 - Hidden Village
During the next 30 minutes, the group continued walking through the jungle, being guided by Sammy. Everyone agreed that this place was very strange. The plants looked much more like something from the time of the dinosaurs than anything else. The monsters also had a prehistoric feel to them. Bugs were much bigger than they were supposed to be. Aside from the Cherry Mantis, they Also saw a group of red grasshoppers jumping around. Those creatures could create small bursts of fire under their legs once they were in the air, allowing them to essentially double jump. Luckily, the fire wasn''t able to ignite the dry leaves and twigs that were on the ground or on the trees. It seems like the foliage here was much stronger than the monsters themselves. Hera imagined that those bugs would be even bigger than most rabbits. Their name was Flashfire Skipper, and they were around level 20, but they traveled in packs of at least ten which could prove to be a problem. Another creature they saw was a bush that would roll around almost like tumbleweeds. But they had a very lush green coloration, and some of the green could reach out as if it was a tentacle. It was called Tumblevine, and it was just level 25 again. That only made Hera feel better about their situation. After all, the monsters seemed to be following the level of the 10th layer as they were supposed to be. They saw a couple of those who were somewhat small, or at least compared with all the flora in this place. Each of them was about the size of a beach ball, but some time later, they saw another one much bigger that would easily be 6 meters tall, and that was only what they were able to see between the trees. If those creatures were still keeping the same shape, it would be a giant ball with a radius of 3 meters. The last creature they saw before finding the village was a mix of a gopher, a flying squirrel, and a leopard. The leopard part was only because of the black spots in its fur. Unfortunately, Hera wasn''t able to use her [Observe] on that creature since she only saw it flying by. The biggest issue was that the monster was the size of a Great Dane, and it still was able to glide around the trees with ease. When they finally reached their destination, what they found was a large wooden wall supported by bones and the exoskeleton of various giant animals and bugs. Some of the bones and pieces of bugs were reinforcing the wood, while others formed spikes that would stop any large creature from climbing above it. If a small monster decided to use the bones as stairs, that could be a problem, but Hera imagined that there was another defense that would stop them, or maybe the smaller monsters were not a danger to those inside. Some vines were also being used as rope to tie pieces of it together, and it was hard to tell if those were from the trees or from one of the Tumblevines. As they approached the walls, a voice came from above. "Who goes there?" it was a masculine voice that didn''t sound friendly but wasn''t hostile either. Hera looked up, trying to see what was happening, but she could only see a small pair of white horns moving atop the wall. She felt a bit exposed since Nimbus and Lurize were inside the legacy. Sammy told her to keep them out unless they were needed since having a humanoid griffon would raise some questions. Explaining about her legacy first and then showing him was the best option. "Hello there. We are travelers looking for the Hidden Village. Would this be the right place?" Adriel asked in a yell since the voice was so far away. "Hidden Village?" the voice scoffed, "What kind of hidden village is so out in the open that anyone can just find it? You got the wrong place. Get lost." "No, no. I''m pretty sure there is only one village in the middle of the forest like this. The description we also got matches. Very tall walls made out of wood, bones, and exoskeletons," Adriel pressed, describing exactly what Sammy told them. "You are describing any decent wall. Anyone would use every resource available. If they only gave you that description, they are morons," the voice said. "Hey!" Sammy protested, "Tell him you came to pay off a debt by joining the vanguard." "We came to pay off our debts by joining the vanguard!" Adriel yelled. "Fucking hell," the man mumbled loud enough so those on the ground could hear it, "Why the fuck are you showing up from back here? You know what. I don''t care. Go around the perimeter, I''ll send word, and people will be waiting for you at the gate." "Thank you," Adriel smiled and looked to the sides, "Should we go left or right?" "I don''t care. I''m already doing more than I should. If you take the long way around, it''s your own damn fault. Not like you already walked more than you should or anything. Bunch of dumb¡­" the voice got farther and farther away as he spoke until they couldn''t hear it anymore. "People here seem nice," Alex rolled her eyes. "Maybe it''s not everyone," Hera suggested, but she only got some odd stares from the rest of the party, "What?" "Nothing, I''m just surprised how innocent you are sometimes," Bonnie chuckled. "What? Not everyone is an asshole!" Hera gasped." "True, but in my experience, eight out of ten people are assholes," as Shane finished speaking, Mylo and Blue glanced at her, "Don''t give me that look. I know I''m one of the assholes in this group. It''s up to you to figure out who the others are." They continued talking while walking to the left, which, fortunately, was the short way around. Just five minutes later, they arrived in front of the gate. It was a much more reinforced structure made mostly out of bone that almost looked like a fanged maw of a massive creature. They had to wait about 20 minutes before they saw any movement, and that was only someone on top of the wall looking over. Only then did the gate finally open. The bones raised as if it was opening its mouth like a goblin shark, putting its mandible forward. Inside, there was a group of four people. Two guards wore bone and bark armor, with their heads inside different animal skulls. Between them, there was a large shirtless man with dark skin. But most of his body was covered in some gray fur, leaving only his pecks and some of his abs exposed. He had a wooden mask on that showed some sort of animal bearing its fangs and wore dark leather pants. To his side, there was an older wrinkly man that was holding himself with a walking stick. He wasn''t wearing a mask, but he had a long cloak that went all the way to the ground and seemed to drag behind him. The old man also seemed to have a hunchback, or he at least had trouble standing up straight. His face was friendly, but Hera quickly noticed that he was a beastman, evidenced by the ears covered in hair or fur on top of his head. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Humm... Hi?" Blue waved at the group inside the village. "Are you all going to wait for a monster to sneak by our defenses, or are you coming in?" the man wearing the wooden mask asked. "Oh, sorry, can we?" Bonnie asked. "Just get inside already. Keeping the gate open is a lot of effort," once again, only the man with the mask spoke. The group quickly walked past the gate and realized what he meant by that. In order to open the gate, people had to pull on two sets of chains, one on each side. It also took two people to pull one of those chains, and they seemed to struggle. Their body language made Hera remember people in the gym doing the bench press. She could only imagine that their faces also showed how much effort they were putting in, but just like the guards, each was wearing a different animal skull. "Good. You can drop the gate," the man with the wooden mask said, followed by a loud noise behind them. Hera looked back and saw the wooden part of the gate slamming against the ground. She couldn''t tell what was happening with the bones, but she could imagine they were back in their ''closed mouth'' formation. "Now, would you mind telling us again why you are here?" the old man asked. "Oh, yes. We came to join the vanguard. " To pay off our debts," Adriel repeated, unsure what that meant. "May I ask what debt sent you here? You don''t have to say if you don''t want to. I''m just curious," the old man continued. "Don''t give too much information," Sammy said for the entire party to hear. "I think I speak for everyone when I say If we don''t have to, I rather not say," Alex stepped in. There was a pause, and everyone felt the eyes of the man with a wooden mask staring at them individually. The silence broke when he finally said, "I guess you never know what to expect from people." "Now, now. You know how these things are. Please, walk with me. I would like to talk with you some more before anything," the old man gestured to the party to follow. As they started walking, the guards and the man with the wooden mask moved with them. The guards flanked the group, with the four that opened the gate joining in on the rear, and the shirtless man stayed beside the elder, "Before anything. Do you know what the vanguard is, and what do we do here?" "Not really," Blue replied. "Yeah, they just sent us here," Bonnie added, not to raise suspicion. The man with the wooden mask looked back, "Damn, I really thought I was better at reading people." "Don''t worry. I''ll do my best to explain. You see, there are many things in the forest that can be a danger to people in general, and our job is to ensure that those in the kingdom are not affected by those things. Be it monsters, diseases, or whatever may happen," the group walked through the village as the elder spoke. The place was unique, to say the least. Near the walls, there were some simple shacks. They seemed to have one, or maybe two rooms at most, and a latrine on the outside. As the buildings got closer to the center, they became more luxurious. There were a couple of cabins here and there, but the biggest house was in the middle of the village. It was a hollowed-out tree, and the place had a couple of balconies and a hanging garden on the second floor. Everything seemed made out of wood, almost as if the tree naturally grew to form this house. Hera was impressed. She imagined that it would be hard to find a place like that, even back in civilization. "We must fight monsters and search for any possible danger. Then we remove that danger so the people in the kingdom can live happily and in peace," the old man passed by the houses and reached a small entrance leading to a staircase that went down. He gestured for everyone to come inside, and soon they all started to descend the steps of this cave. The man with a wooden mask and the guards stayed outside, which made everyone feel more comfortable. When some light started to shine at the bottom of the staircase, the old man continued, "As you can imagine, this is a dangerous job, and it''s also thankless. I mean, even in the kingdom, almost no one knows about the vanguard and about this place." "Why is that? And how do you make sure that those dangers never reach the city? We are not exactly on a geographical bottleneck," Bonnie asked. She studied the map of the Waperath Jungle, and she couldn''t think of a single location where a single village would be able to create a barrier. They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out into what looked like a large arena. Wooden walls completely surrounded it, but no bones or exoskeletons were around. However, the wall behind them was made of stone, and it would rise much higher than the rest. Hera looked at the old man, trying to figure out how he would fight. They were brought here for a reason, and in stories, this would usually come with a test where they fought the seemingly weak old man only to get their asses handed to them. "For two reasons. As you may know, people don''t come here voluntarily. Only those who committed crimes and have a debt to pay are sent here. And, of course, only certain crimes earn you a spot in the vanguard. You won''t be sent here for stealing some fruit," the old man laughed but started coughing right away. It took him a few moments to regain his composure and continue, "Now, for your second question. It would be impossible to find everything if we were just running around searching for strong creatures. But we can make them come here." With that line, a loud noise came from above, and two carcasses were flung over the stone wall while still being attached to a rope. Between the two, a large honey-colored crystal started to let out a thin layer of smoke. "What is¡­ where did he go?" Shane looked up at the corpses, but when she was going to ask the old man a question, he was no longer there. Suddenly a loud noise came from the staircase they came through. Everyone snapped in that direction and saw a thick stone grate blocking the entrance with the old man on the other side. "We attract monsters here with food and items. That is the gist of it. I honestly can''t be bothered to explain more to people who are about to die. I''ll come back in the morning if you are all still alive, then I''ll tell you the details. If not, we will bury your corpses. Well¡­ if there are any corpses left to bury," the old man waved at the group and started walking up the stairs. At the same time, the jungle started to make noise, as if countless monsters were starting to move, and the sound was getting louder with every second. 637 - Test of endurance
"Sammy, what the hell is going on?" Blue asked as the sounds of approaching creatures became louder. At the same time, a part of the wall opposite the staircase collapsed, revealing a path directly inside the jungle. "I don''t¡­ I don''t know," the small turtle replied. He was looking around, and he was clearly frazzled by the situation. "Can I have Nimbus take us out of here?" Hera asked. "I¡­ I don''t think so. This is part of the deal. If you want to stay here, you have to pass this test," Sammy replied. "How the hell do you know all of this, but you didn''t know this was going to happen?" Shane yelled. "Because I can''t see the future, but I can tell when something matches the memory that helped bring us here!" Sammy snarled back at Shane, meeting her energy, "And stop talking to me. You don''t know if they are watching!" "Fuck!" Hera gasped, "Everybody out!" she called her entire court, Nimbus and Lurize quickly going to her side when the first of the monsters appeared. It was one of the Cherry Mantis, but this one was bigger, around the size of a capybara. Behind it was a swarm of insects jumping and flying toward the group. "We''ll act as the vanguard. You guys make sure to deal with the ones that go past me. Feel free to use long-range spells but don''t come in the rain!" Hera yelled as she cast an Elemental Poison Storm in front of them, blocking the entrance to this arena, and jumped in the middle of it. Thanks to the Naga Poison variation, being hit by that rain wouldn''t harm her. Instead, it would empower her and her court. "Ok, we got your back!" Helena yelled and climbed a bit of the wall, using some of her shadows to give her a better footing. That way, she could see past Hera and what was going on in the corridor leading to the arena. Blue made a cloud above Hera''s spell and activated something called ''Storm''s Limit.'' This would make it so every storm-based spell could not go beyond the size of her own cloud. This was a way for her to minimize her friendly fire. At the same time, she created a pair of large cloud hands so she could attack the incoming monsters together with Mylo, who was already wielding his staff and creating a field of flowers that would damage any monster who touched them. Bonnie and Shane took a position similar to Helena''s but at a worse advantage point. They prepared spells and got ready to attack Shane with her relic, the sling, and the ammo pouch, and Bonnie with some spells and the elemental motes. She spent a good amount of time watching Blue practice when they were in the Abyssal Depth, and her fist spells were now changing to match actual fighting moves. Not a full-body attack, but things like jab, straight, cross, hook, and even an odd version of the one-inch punch were now a part of her repertoire. The main reason why she wasn''t using those things when facing strong monsters was that it was still very much an experiment. At times things wouldn''t work properly, and other times the damage was much smaller than they expected. However, now the monsters should be weak, and they were in a decent position to fight them off. If she wanted to get some combat experience, this was a very good time to do so. Alex and Adriel had some issues with the entire setup. The assassin wasn''t much of a ranged attacker and wasn''t that strong when defending, either. Her kit was focused on mobility and strong attacks, which she couldn''t do in a space this tight. Adriel, on the other hand, was struggling to think about fighting. Now that he had lost his relic, he had to rethink his approach to combat. On the other hand, Hera was feeling very comfortable and in her element. She had her entire court out with the magnets attached except for Lurize and Nimbus since the two of them could already move about 130 meters away from Hera without any problems. Armory was analyzing the incoming monster, and Scythe was on the lookout for any sneak attacks. For now, the Cherry Mantis were all just staring at the party, but their numbers increased by the second. When about 40 of them gathered beyond the Elemental Poison Storm that Hera created, all of the creatures opened their wings and flew forward. The first couple who jumped into the rain got hit by several droplets and fell to the ground. Hera''s spell wasn''t that powerful by itself, but since each raindrop had a different element, there were times when the combination became deadly, especially for smaller creatures. One of the mantises jumped towards Hera, letting some of the petals that formed its body create an umbrella to protect it from the rain, and tried to slash the Empress. She easily evaded the attack by sidestepping, but to her surprise, it wasn''t the end of the attack. As the monster moved its blade arms, it left a pink trail behind it. Five other Cherry Mantises used that trail to move much faster than usual and try to hit her just like the first one. Hera was able to dodge the initial two attacks but had to use Claw to block while the third, the fourth, and the fifth were stopped by Dao and Frost, who jumped in to protect the Empress. Dao let electricity course through him and slashed at one of the monsters, cutting off one of its bladed arms that was just almost as big as the court member itself. Just as the limb flew off, Frost stabbed the creature''s chest, piercing it and wounding the one behind it. The first mantis who attacked jumped to defend its kin, bringing down both arms at Frost, but Hera was the one who jumped to stop it, blocking the blow with Fang and decapitating it with Claw. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Two other mantises jumped to attack her, but they were stopped by a pair of Shadow arrows that came flying from the arena. Helena was currently holding a bow made out of darkness. This was an advanced version of what she did with her Shadow Grabbers. Instead of focusing on the number of attacks, she would focus on one big one. The mage wasn''t an Archer by any means, but her accuracy was incredible since she was actually controlling the shadows and not just firing an arrow. As the second wave of Cherry Mantises hit, everyone started helping. Things were still relatively easy. Hera''s Elemental Poison Storm was taking care of a lot of the work. For every ten monsters that appeared, Hera, her court, Helena, and Bonnie were able to kill 8 of them, while only 2 reached the arena, and those were quickly dispatched by Blue, Mylo, and Alex. Adriel was focusing more on supporting everyone and telling where the monsters were coming from. His offensive spells, which created small beams of energy, weren''t working well by themselves. In contrast, he still could use his defensive and support abilities without a problem. Because of his job as a delivery man, he had a few buffs that could increase one''s physical prowess and some spells that made him more aware of the surrounding area. It was nowhere near what Hera or Shane could do with their scouting spells, but it gave him real-time information about what was going on around him. In normal circumstances, he would be using that to ensure that there were no falling debris or a stray attack hitting his cargo, but now it was to make sure no monster sneaked by or tried something else. About an hour passed since the Cherry Mantises appeared, and the swarm didn''t stop. However, it also didn''t get to the point of becoming so large that it overwhelmed the party. Even in the worst-case scenario, only 30 monsters attacked at once. At the same time, it was clear that this wasn''t a dungeon. The waves were not stacked in some way that made it seem that the monsters had the intelligence or that someone was controlling when they would strike. Instead, it looked more like several different groups of mantises were being lured here, and they would attack as soon as they arrived. During all that time, Hera maintained her Elemental Poison Storm and fought nonstop. Unlike her blades, there wasn''t a single wave where she didn''t personally kill at least two of the mantises. When the last of the monsters fell, she decided to stop the storm. She still had more than enough mana to keep going, but the ground couldn''t absorb all the poison falling from the sky. A few pools were already covering the ground, and if she kept going, the liquid would end up spilling out into the arena. Apparently, Blue''s spell to stop the storm would only affect the falling rain, and it would ignore it completely when it fell to the ground. In a way, it made sense with her legacy, but at the same time, it felt like an oversight. "Hera, go back. Let us deal with the monsters for a while," Daskka, who was in her giant silver snake form, said. During the fight, she used her massive body to hide the Empress and the court members and kill some of the mantises. "I''m still ok," Hera replied. "But you get more tired because of uz. Go to the arena, and we keep fighting," Lurize suggested. Hera looked at them and stopped to think for a moment. Now that he mentioned it, the Empress realized that she was getting tired. It''s been a long time since she fought for an hour without stopping. The closest thing to this would be her training sessions, but even in those cases, she didn''t have the entire court out. This was one of the downsides of her legacy. Having her court out would take a toll on her stamina. If that wasn''t the case, she could probably fight for hours on end, thanks to her skills. Understanding that they could lose about half the fighting force if she pushed too much, she agreed with the suggestion and stepped back. As she moved, Armory and Scythe left their positions on Hera and floated above the entrance to help the rest of the court better. Seeing that shift, Blue and Mylo stepped forward to hold the line while the court still dealt with those that were outside the arena. Hera barely arrived besides Bonnie and Helena to take a break when a loud popping sound echoed in the forest. Everyone stopped to get ready, but nothing seemed to be happening for a moment, more popping sounds started to happen, and they sounded almost like popcorn. "To the left! Incoming! Lurize block!" Adriel yelled. Hearing the warning, the Royal Tutor took a defensive stance just as what looked like a large piece of wood slammed against his sword. The wood moved after bouncing off, and everyone could now see what it actually was. A grasshopper that looked like a sculpture made out of wood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Barkhopper - Level 20 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as the first monster did its second attack, the sounds of hundreds of popcorn kernels popping echoed in the forest. Unbeknownst to the party, the elder and the man with a wooden mask watched the group from the walls. "They are doing well. We might finally have some new blood in the city," the elder said with a smile. "They have only been there for one hour. It takes much more for them to be able to live here," the man wearing a wooden mask replied. "That may be so, but they are already doing things very well. Especially the blonde one." "Which of the two?" "The one that was leading the group. The other has some potential, and I think she is using this as a training exercise," the elder glanced at Bonnie. "I don''t like that. And the one you are talking about must have a legacy or something like that. She couldn''t make those weapons if that wasn''t the case. I feel no mana coming from them unless they use a spell," the man wearing the wooden mask said. "The one using clouds also is on the same boat. Those are not simple spells. I can tell. Either way, we can have two new legacies in our city. Be it because they joined or because we defeated the monsters who killed them," the elder replied. 638 - Combat Marathon
One hour turned into two, three, six, and ten. During all that time, Hera and her friends didn''t have a single chance to take a break. Or, at least, not a proper break where all of them could rest. Nimbus would help anyone who wanted to go to the bathroom by carrying them out of the arena to the side and then protecting them while they relieved themselves. It wasn''t a pretty job, but it was one that everyone felt thankful for. Another thing that was almost a blessing was the third type of monster that appeared. Instead of being another type of bug, it was a type of rabbit, the size of a Great Dane, with sharp teeth and four ears. Those were called Lionhares, and some of their bodies were currently being exsanguinated so they could eat them later. Sure, in an emergency, they could eat the meat even without this whole process, but then the meat wouldn''t taste great. The smell was something that initially made them worried. However, Mylo pointed out that monsters were already coming after them even without the smell, so there wouldn''t be a reason not to clean the meat properly. That wasn''t all they did to make their lives easier. Because her court was constantly fighting, Hera was exhausted. The Empress created a small bunker large enough to fit two people and took a nap in the middle of the afternoon, with the rest of the party''s approval. She also tried something that she had never tried before. When Hera went to sleep, she left her court out, hoping they would continue moving around and fighting even when their leader was unconscious. She already knew that her blades wouldn''t vanish when she slept, but having them moving around was something she had never considered. Thankfully, the plan worked. While the Empress was taking a nap, Lurize, Nimbus, and all other blades continued fighting, but it wasn''t all good news. A few minutes after Hera went to bed, all of her court was hit by a debuff. It started with a simple minus 1% to their overall abilities, but as time went by, that percentage kept increasing. After 30 minutes, just before the Empress woke up from her quick slumber, the debuff had increased to -3%. Another big issue was that none of her blades were able to use any skills that required mana while Hera was sleeping. Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka were not affected by that since they all had their own mana pools, but they couldn''t give mana to the flying weapons, even after trying for a while. After waking up, Hera had to recall her entire court for a few minutes. All of them were tired, but unlike the Empress, all they needed was a few minutes inside the legacy. From what Daskka understood, this happened more because of a lack of mana than from mental exhaustion. Since Hera had to spend mana to summon them, when she did that, it would recover their energies, and the small break inside the legacy would be enough to let them calm their minds. During that time, Hera activated the Elemental Poison Storm again and took charge of the entrance since the rest of the party was starting to get tired, but even without doing that, they could start to relax a bit. Sometime before Hera went for her nap, the waves of monsters changed. They weren''t coming only in a single species but in a mix of Cherry Mantises, Barkhoppers, and Lionhares, and the monsters didn''t seem to like each other. It wasn''t all the time, but if one of the creatures ended up hitting a different species, they would fight. Thanks to Adriel and Alex''s commands, they could trick the monsters into fighting amongst themselves, lessening the burden on the party. The day continued, and everything seemed to be going well for the most part. No one was getting seriously injured, even when a couple of stray attacks hit them. Despite the large number of creatures, all of them were weak. A simple attack coming from then would only scratch the team, but Hera, thanks to Lurize''s defenses and her own Naga Scales skill, would just feel some pressure on the point of impact. Not that she was making a point of being hit. After all, getting used to something like that was a surefire way to get killed. Another problem was that some of the attacks were much more powerful than she expected. The monsters seemed to have some sort of skill that could increase their power, and it was very hard to tell when they were using them. It was already the middle of the night, while Shane and Mylo were sleeping when a fourth type of monster appeared. However, this one didn''t come in a group, but alone. The trees parted as this creature got closer, pushing those massive 200 meters tall behemoths of megaflora to the side and removing some of the roots from the ground. The movement wasn''t necessarily aggressive, but it was like a force of nature was passing by, and nothing would stop it. Even the monsters weren''t going for the arena anymore. Instead, they seemed more interested in passing through and reaching someplace safe. ''Empress! We have incoming!'' Armory called as she noticed that change in the battlefield. "What are you seeing?" Hera asked. ''I don''t know for sure, but it looks like there''s something big coming. It''s using some of the foliage to camouflage itself,'' Armory explained. "Wait. Is it using foliage, or is it foliage?" Hera instantly thought about the Tumblevines that they had seen earlier. ''Maybe¡­ It''s hard to tell in this darkness. Maybe it¡­ Look out!'' Armory cried, sending an image of Hera crouching down to dodge. The Empress did that right away, but as she lowered her body, she realized that Adriel was behind her. Unsure of how far away the attack would go, Hera used her Stone Shape spell to make a wide barrier between her and the elf. Because she had to focus on something else, she wasn''t able to dodge the attack fast enough, and a large vine slashed the top of her shoulder as it continued piercing through the wall and almost reached Adriel. Hera tumbled to the side, getting clear from the area where the vine just hit, and looked back to whatever was coming. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boulder of Vine - Sultan of the Shrub - Level 30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The creature, if it could be called that, looked like a gigantic Tumblevine that was at least 20 meters tall. The vines and leaves that were wrapped around this form also seemed stronger than the foliage of the room. It was almost as if this creature wasn''t exactly a plant, but there was something more mixed with it. As if there was some sort of polymer covering its shell that would make it much more deadly than the others of its kind. Another stark difference from the other Tumblevines was its color. The leaves, vines, and branches were all in different shades of blue, yellow, orange, and even some red, although it was hard to tell if the reds were just the colors of the leaves or dried blood from monsters. Hera raised her hand and created an Elemental Poison Storm right above the monster, hoping that it would help weaken it. Bonnie quickly rushed inside the bunker to wake Mylo and Shane up. Because of all the noise, Hera had created a reverse soundproof bubble in that area so those inside could sleep properly, but in a situation like this, it meant that someone would have to go inside it to wake people up. Helena used a Shadow Bind to try to stop the Boulder of Vine, but even now, in the middle of the night, when her spells were even more powerful, she wasn''t strong enough to stop the monster on her own. Blue joined in with a pair of cloud hands, trying to hold the massive sphere of vegetation. Yet, it still wasn''t enough. Alex jumped to Blue''s side and threw a couple of wind blades, trying to chip away at the creature, but to no avail. The blades of wind stopped in their tracks the moment they impacted the vines. "Bonnie! We need fire!" Hera called, but the researcher was still inside the bunker. Groaning, the Empress turned her head to the Boulder of Vine and called both Edge and Core over. She activated an Elemental Strength spell on both of them while Nimbus used his frozen ash aura to give everyone some increased defense, "Edge. Stay here and help my shoulder. Core, Risky plan. Dive inside those vines and just burn everything. Leave as much lava behind as you can. I don''t care if you burn down the entire forest!" Hera quickly said, and the two blades nodded. Core even seemed excited about the idea of burning everything. What the Empress didn''t say was that he probably wouldn''t be able to do that. Not with the rest of the forest, anyway. During the day, several spells that could cause a fire were thrown around, but not a single tree was ignited. Another vine lashed out, and Hera jumped away, trying to avoid the attack. She moved while keeping in mind that her shoulder was wounded, but when she accidentally slammed against the wall of the arena, the Empress realized that there was no pain. Looking over, she saw how her armor was damaged, but the damage was mostly there. Only then she remembered that her Wasp armor would take part of the damage before her and that she could use its wings to lessen the damage even more. "What the fuck is that?" Shane gasped, still with a groggy voice. "An enemy," Mylo replied while pulling his staff. "No shit Sherlock!" Shane groaned but pulled a pellet from her pouch and placed it on her sling, ready to fire. "This is not that great, but it''s the best I can do!" Adriel made a circle with his finger, and a golden hula hoop appeared around each member of the party. That was one of his buffs that increased everyone''s intelligence attribute by 15%. "Just fire!" Bonnie yelled as a set of flaming fists appeared around her and flew to the giant monster. Hera joined in, using some different basic elemental attacks, going for the approach of throwing everything into the wall to see what it stuck. Shane started firing, and Mylo created several illusions that would explode near the creature. During all that time, Alex and Hera''s court kept sending long-distance attacks at the Boulder of Vine. Lurize also joined with his Venom Blade, one of the few attacks that seemed to deal some damage and not just push the creature back. Nimbus didn''t have that option, and as he tried to get close to attack, the vines lashed out, trying to grab him and forcing him to retreat and play defense. The Boulder of Vine shook, making some of its leaves fall, but before they reached the ground, the foliage went flying at the party at high speeds. Hera, Blue, and Mylo used her weapons and spells to block them, but even with that, a couple of the leaves managed to hit Bonnie and the others. Their injuries weren''t that big, but it was already enough to reduce their ability to move around. Shane got a particularly nasty cut on her thigh and quickly started healing it with some basic spells. Daskka noticed that and rushed over to help, but the monster didn''t let up and sent in another flurry of vines. Despite all the spells and all the effort, the creature was still pushing forward, and the party was forced to have their backs against the wall. Suddenly everyone felt a small prick on their necks, and their spells became several times stronger. With renewed strength, they forced the Boulder of Vine to move back, and once Core was finally able to start a fire inside it, the monster started to run away. Hera and the others didn''t want to leave it be, but before they could start chasing it, a loud noise came from the staircase as the stone grate was lifted, and the old man walked out. "Leave it. That is not something we should kill. Not right now, at least. But you managed to fight it off for quite a while. Even some of our best warriors wouldn''t be able to do so when they arrived here. Well done," the old man smiled, "Now come. Let''s go inside." "Did we pass your test, or is this another trick?" Bonnie asked. The old man chuckled, "You have a good head, child. But don''t worry. This is no trick. You all passed," he continued walking up the stairs. Soon the rest of the party joined in, still unsure if this was the right thing to do or not. 639 - The Vanguard Hera and her party followed the elder beastman inside the city. This time, people seemed more relaxed. Some would even wave at them, and most were not wearing any masks or helmets. The Empress had the impression that when they arrived here, the people were ushered inside their homes, but now they were seeing the village as it was supposed to be. "Are we okay? Don''t we have to worry about the monsters that were attacking back there?" Bonnie asked the elder. "We have another team to take care of the stragglers, and we deactivated the lure, so it should be fine," the elder replied as they walked inside the treehouse. Unlike what they expected, the place wasn''t just a home. Instead, it was an amalgamation of different facilities, all centered in this massive tree trunk. Right after the entrance, there was an open area that looked like a town hall of sorts, with a small stage in the center that would allow someone to be seen by anyone who was sitting on the small stumps on the ground. To the left, there was a medical bay of sorts. Although calling it a shaman''s hut would be more fitting. There were a number of different plants growing on the trunk of the tree, some odd smells coming out of the door, and several empty vials tied together with string by the entrance. To the right was a room with several pieces of leather with something written on them and even some long chunks of wood with pictures and more writings. The actual houses or bedrooms seemed to be only on the second floor and maybe beyond. It was hard to tell right now if there was a third floor or not, especially since, from Hera''s point of view, the second floor didn''t match the height of the balconies outside. Now, they were heading to a room that was on the opposite end of the entrance, but this looked much more like an office. A place where people would come when they had to talk about something important or something that not everyone should hear. Another interesting thing was that the man with a wooden mask was dragging a large piece of wood toward that room. "What is this place?" Bonnie asked. "I already told you. This is a prison, but most of us are free to go wherever we want," the old man explained. "A prison? Why don''t you all leave then?" Shane asked. "Come inside. Here we can talk," the elder gestured for the party to go in while the man with the wooden mask was setting up the wooden board against the wall in a way where everyone could see the painting on it. It was a large map but before paying attention to it, Hera looked around. As they walked inside the room, everyone noticed how the place was almost cozy. There were a few hammocks and small pillows that could be used to sit down on the ground and a couple of wooden chairs. The elder walked to one of those and sat down while the man in the wooden mask was still standing beside him. "First of all, let''s start with some introductions. I am Multrak. The village elder. Although this is mostly a title because of my age, not because of anything else," the old man explained. "Don''t say that. You know we all respect you. And you are the strongest person here," the man in the wooden mask added. "Sure you do, and I''m only strong because of what I did. Not because I deserve it. Any of you could be much stronger than I am if you had my skills," Multrak turned to the man with a wooden mask, "And would you introduce yourself, or do I have to do it as if you were a child?" "Sorry," the man turned to the group, "I''m Grilat. I''m the captain of the guard here." "Do it properly," Multrak said without even looking at Grilat, "They need to know what can happen here." "But some of them are cute!" Grilat gasped, but Multrak just hit his shin with the cane that was in his hand, "Ouch! Fine, fine." Grilat grumbled and removed his mask, making Bonnie and Adriel gasp. Once upon a time, the man would be considered handsome. He had plump lips and a nicely shaped nose that didn''t bring too much attention to it but helped frame the face, his cheekbones were a little pronounced but not to the point of it being weird, and his one working eye had a beautiful shade of green. However, all that was put to the side when looking at the massive scar that crossed his face. Starting from above his right eye, there was a set of two claw marks that went all the way to his chin. His right eye was also scarred, showing the man was half blind. The nose was split into three, right above and below the bridge, and the left nostril was gone. Both of his cheeks also had some missing spots, which showed everyone his teeth all the time. "See! Now the cute one is afraid of me," Grilat looked at Bonnie and then put his mask back on. "I''m sorry," Bonnie replied. "Don''t be. It''s better to look like this than to be in the ground. And, believe it or not, some people are into this," Grilat pointed at his face. "If there are people like that, why are you saying she''s cute? Are you not with them?" Hera asked, already feeling protective over her friend. Multrak chuckled, "Yes. Why are you and Toraz not together?" Grilat sighed, "Look if a woman gets turned on by something like this, she''s trouble. Trust me." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "I mean, he has a point. I don''t want to offend you, but if you are dating someone who likes scars to that degree, that''s a major red flag," Alex nodded. "Red flag?" Multrak asked, unsure what that meant. "Oh. It''s just an expression. It means it''s a warning sign. Basically, it''s a way of realizing the person is trouble before anything big happens," Alex explained. "That fits her perfectly," Grilat huffed. Multrak laughed, "I''ll be sure to tell her you said that." Grilat stared at him for a moment, "You do realize that there are easier ways to get me killed, right?" "But those wouldn''t be as fun," Multrak smirked and turned back to Hera and her group, "Now, back to the topic at hand. Like I said, this place is a prison. Every single person who is sent here was sent here because they committed a crime. A violent or severe crime. Most of us are murderers, and we have a few serial killers, a couple of rebels, and a particularly prolific identity thief. Despite that, you don''t have to worry. No one is going to try to hurt you. It doesn''t matter what they did in the city. Here we take care of each other. We may be a rough bunch, but if anyone tries to harm you in any way, all you have to do is say, and that person will be banished." "Really? Just like that? No questions asked?" Helena asked. "Of course not. If something were to happen, we would have to figure things out, but we have people who can take a small glimpse into the past, just like the ones that do that kind of thing in the city. Now, it would be better if you told me what you did to be sent here, but I understand that this might not be something you want to do. At times, we have people who neglect children to the point of almost killing them or something that is not well received by most, and they prefer to keep it to themselves. If that''s the case with you, that''s fine, but then we will have to consider that you have the longest possible sentence, which would be life." "Are there many people serving life sentences here?" Mylo asked. "Just one. Me. Also, if I''m not mistaken, we don''t have anyone else serving in a sentence right now. If they want to, they could go back to the city," Multrak continued. "And why don''t they? Why do they stay here?" Blue asked. "Because life here is easy or easier, at least. Sure, we might be in danger, but we know what we have to do, and we know that everyone is trying to help each other. No one''s going to try to get a leg up on you to get a better job or to marry someone better. Not to mention we don''t have to deal with the nobles, which honestly is probably more than half the reason why we stay," Grilat added. "We also don''t have to worry about money. We always have food on the table and a place to sleep; if we need new clothes, all we have to do is ask. After living here for a long time, I realized that when we remove some aspects of the civilized world, life becomes much more pleasant, no matter the situation," Multrak said with a smile. "That does sound nice," Adriel nodded. Hera looked at the elf and thought about his confession and how the guild would oppress new civilizations for money. If that wasn''t something they needed, maybe those people wouldn''t have to suffer, "Yeah¡­ It does." "With that out of the way, let''s talk about what we actually do here. We could come back to any questions you have later. The Vanguard, which is the name of this place, was created to protect the city. And by city, I mean the ziggurat, not this village. Our job is to travel Into the woods and look for any monsters that might be a problem or have the potential to be problems. We also have to control the population of many of the creatures that exist in the jungle. The Boulder of Vine that you fought is one of said monsters. One of the strong ones, I mean," Multrak gestured to the wooden board behind him that had a map of the room, with several marks signaling the territories of creatures and some strong monsters. "But why did you stop us from killing that one? We were struggling, but I think we would have managed to get rid of it," Alex asked. "That''s because of a different monster that we are already planning to defeat," Multrak pointed to a marker east of the city. The marker itself was made out of leather, and it had a name written on it, ''Night River.'' "That bastard is a¡­ Honestly, I don''t even know what it is. Part wolf, part gorilla, part water. We''ve tried killing it several times already, and we couldn''t. The problem is not that it''s strong or anything like that, but since it''s made of water, it''s very hard for us to be able to deal some actual damage. Even with spells," Grilat clicked his tongue, "We spent days tracking it and trying to get rid of it, but every time that thing was about to die, it would just become water and seep into the forest floor to escape." "We don''t have a way of stopping it from doing that, and if we try to dig up the water, we would have to destroy the jungle''s trees. Destroying them is not a problem for some moral reason or anything. It''s just very difficult to do, and by the time we managed to clear an area, we would have lost the Night River''s tracks," Multrak continued, "But a couple of weeks back, one of our Scouts saw something very unique. A fight between the Boulder of Vines and the Night River. The wolf-monkey tried to use that ability to escape the vines, but the sentient shrub was able to stop it from transforming and even pulling it back from the ground. In the end, the Night River won that battle, but he wasn''t able to kill the Boulder of Vine. That''s when we developed this plan. We will attack the Night River and the Boulder of Vine at the same time. When Night River tries to escape, we will lure the boulder of fine to that area in hopes that it will notice its wounded enemy and change focus. As long as we are not appearing to be a direct threat to it, I believe it would do just that." "Honestly, the plan was a bit far-fetched. We were counting on several odd things for it to work. But now, we might have a better shot thanks to the two of you," Grilat gestured to Blue and Hera. "Why us?" Hera asked. "Because, we would have two legacies to help us with this plan, instead of just mine. But before anything, what can your legacy do? We need all information we can get to see if our plans will change," Multrak replied. Hera and Blue glanced at each other. Sharing information about a legacy was always tricky, but Sammy, who was still in the room just staying very quiet, spoke up, "You can tell him. It''s not like they will be able to find your legacies anyhow. Besides, we need their trust if we are going to figure out how the curse started." Hearing that, Blue started to explain what Stormcloud was and how it worked. Hera was still a bit iffy, but then again, this was the past. Sharing that information wouldn''t harm anyone. Besides, she was pretty sure she could run away from this place even if they attacked her. She used her [Observe] a few times as they walked through the village, and no one here was at a higher level than her party. 640 - An ancient Legacy Blue was the first one to start talking. She explained everything about her legacy, with the exception of where she got it. Sammy was the one who told her to avoid mentioning that since it could cause problems with the timeline, "In the end, my legacy is not just about the storm or about clouds. It''s about clouds that can transform into storms. I only realized that recently and I still have to figure out what that actually means." Hera glanced at Blue with a worried expression. She never mentioned anything like that to her, which might mean that the idea wasn''t something she came up with alone, but she got help from the curse instead. "I see. I don''t suppose you would be able to pull the water from the ground, would you?" Multrak asked. "I don''t think so. Maybe if there is a storm going on, but even then, it''s a stretch," Blue replied. "That''s okay. One way or another, this will already be a great help," Multrak smiled and turned to Hera, "And yours?" While Blue was talking, Hera kept thinking about the information she wanted to share. More importantly, she was thinking about the pieces of information she would have to change or that she wanted to keep a secret from the people in this village. Even if they were friendly so far, they still were here to figure out the origins of the curse, and showing her hand right away might not be the best idea. Before speaking, she sent a message to Nimbus and Lurize, ''Let''s not talk out loud while we are here. I''ll say that the two of you are less intelligent than you actually are.'' The two titled blades were also following her, and they were acting as bodyguards the entire time, only trying to look intimidating and not interacting with anyone else. ''I understand,'' Nimbus agreed without moving. ''That might be a good idea. They might talk too much around us if they think we are nothing but mindless summons,'' Lurize said with a proud voice. Not expecting Hera to think about something like this so quickly. Usually, she was the first one to be too trusting. "My legacy is about weapons. I can absorb a blade or a sword to my legacy and then use mana to call them out as constructs. When I do that, the blades can move and act independently. Fight independently and even keep their skills. I can also use spells through those weapons even if I''m not touching them directly. But they can''t get too far away from me. I also have a special kind of summon," Hera gestured to Nimbus and Lurize, "It takes a bit more effort to make them, but they all started as weapons. I managed to grow those two to be my bodyguards. They are great about following orders, and I can tell them a few things they can keep doing even after sending them away and calling them back. Unfortunately, I won''t be able to add the new weapon to my legacy so soon since there is a cooldown on that particular skill. So it will take some time before I can add a new member to my legacy. Not to mention that they get stronger the longer they stay with me, so I don''t know if I should swap one of them right now." The rest of the party just listened to Hera speak, and they didn''t make any remarks as she started to say some things that went against what they knew about her legacy. Shane, in particular, seemed to understand the Empress'' objective and also reinforced her decision of not mentioning anything about her own legacy, especially since it would be the easiest one to hide. Most of what she could do could also be created with spells, but the effort and amount of mana those spells would take would be astronomical in comparison with what her legacy allowed. "I see. And there is a limit of ¡­ Blades, was it? That you can have active at the same time?" Multrak asked. "I can have five plus those two," Hera gestured to Nimbus and Lurize. She wasn''t going to say that Armory and Scythe were part of the court, that way, no one would know that she has eyes behind her head, "And I can have all of them out at the same time," She wanted to say that she couldn''t keep them for long or that there were some restrictions to that ability, but considering that she just spent a few hours without her cord out practically without stopping she decided against it. If she said something. It might make the elder suspicious. Multrak nodded, "Very well. I don''t think you will make or break our plan, but having more numbers is never a bad thing. Who knows. Maybe you and your floating weapons will be enough to kill the Night River before it tries to escape. Now, I think it''s my turn to tell you about my legacy. Also, I''ll tell you a little bit about myself and why I am here. Then you can decide if you truly believe you should have the same sentence as I." The old beastman gestured to the side, and Grilat took a small cup from the shelf and a gourd. He poured a brown liquid and passed the cup to Multrak. "Thank you. It''s not easy talking about the past, and this helps," Multrak chuckled, "All of this happened, I want to say, more than 70 years ago. At the time, I was working in the city as a hunter. Someone who would come to the jungle to search for food for powerful and dangerous monsters and then go back. It was a family trade. My father taught me, and his father taught him, and so on, for generations. Eventually, my little brother joined me. Just like everybody else in our family, we were hunters, and one day, we were searching for a flying monster. A creature that, according to the reports, was killing the cattle and even endangering some of the people who lived on the farms. We spent a few weeks tracking the beast and eventually reached the northern mountains. There we had our first encounter with the monster, a giant bat, and the creature fleed." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Multrak took a big sip and stared at his cup for a moment before continuing, "We tried tracking the monster down again, but we''re unable to do so. Then my brother and I found a place to camp and rested for the night. Or at least, that was the plan. In the dead of night, when clouds were covering the sky, and we couldn''t see anything, the bat returned. He attacked the camp while I was sleeping and snatched my brother. I woke up, of course. But by the time I was holding a weapon, the creature was already flying with the unconscious body of my brother in its claws. I used everything I had at my disposal to track that creature and eventually found its nest on the mountainside. It had been just a few hours since the beast took my brother, and I was hoping he was still alive. I fought with the monster, and after a very difficult fight, I managed to kill it by biting his neck and ripping it out. That wasn''t the best way to do something like that, but it was the only way I could do it at the moment." The old man stopped again, almost as if he was struggling to remember the rest of the story. Shane eventually got curious and asked, "And was that when you got the legacy?" "Correct. The bat had a legacy. A legacy that allows you to gain power from blood. Not in the blood magic kind of way but in a way that if you consume the blood of anything, you can get more powerful. The problem was that the bat had just devoured my brother, and my brother''s blood was fresh in the bat''s body. That made me realize the first thing about the legacy. The increase in power could be permanent. But I didn''t know the actual conditions for it. I had to figure things out on my own." "You didn''t have a Herald?" Hera asked. "At the time, no. I have one today, and the explanation is that since the bat was the original creator of the legacy, it had no speech. How it received information from the Herald was much different than how I could receive it. So it took a while for them to adjust and be able to talk to me," Multrak took another big sip and asked for a refill before continuing. "That''s when the problem started. When I killed the bat, its blood flooded in my mouth, and at the same time that I got the legacy, I felt a rush, a feeling that I had never felt before. It made me feel powerful, invincible, and I couldn''t think about anything else. Actually, no, I could. I could think about whatever I wanted, but I only wanted to think about that feeling. You see, my brother was the last family I had, and without him, I felt lost, abandoned. Anyway, I started to study the legacy. Drinking blood from monsters in the jungle and other creatures, but they never gave me the same feeling. It was good and still is, but it wasn''t the rush I felt with the bat. I thought I would never feel that again until I tasted the blood of another beastman or beastwoman, in this case. She was my partner at the time, and we were getting a bit frisky. We ended up slipping, and she bit her lip while we were kissing. When I tasted her blood, I felt the same rush I felt when I killed the bat. And I couldn''t stop myself. On that day, I killed her by drinking all of her blood. That''s when I learned a bit more about the legacy. First, if I drink the blood of any creature, I will get a temporary increase in my abilities. It will be a significant increase, and the strength of the creature will affect the increase. Second, If I drink the blood of someone like me, someone of my own kind, I would receive either one extra attribute point or a skill. In all honesty, the first time that happened, I knew that all I needed was a drop of blood to get that benefit, but this rush that came with drinking blood was so good that I couldn''t stop. During the one month it took for the city guard to catch me, I drained 100 bodies. I would lure them with my abilities, saying that I could share my power, which is true, but then I would attack before anything else." "That is¡­ a lot," Helena said after letting that sink in. "I know, but that is why I have a lifetime sentence here. And you don''t have to worry. I acquired a skill that was absorbed by the legacy, which removes the rush that I felt when I drank blood. I gained that skill by starving for a while and resisting the urge to have a meal. Today I can never get that feeling again, even if I try to. But I still can share a bit of my power, and if I drink a drop of blood from people that I have yet to drink blood from, I can grow a bit stronger, which in turn would make the power that I share stronger," Multrak paused, giving them a bit more time to digest that information, "That''s why I''m here. I''m a cannibal." "Are you, though?" Blue said. "What?" Multrak tilted his head. " I mean, a cannibal is someone who eats another person. You were drinking them, not eating. Is that still considered a cannibal, or is there another name for that?" Blue continued. "Are you really getting hung up on the semantics of the thing? Now?" Bonnie gasped. "Maybe a vampire," Mylo added. "Maybe, but that''s more about being cursed and having to drink blood," Blue turned to Multrak, "You don''t have to drink blood to survive, do you? How about walking in the sun? Can you do that?" "Yes, I don''t need to drink blood. This is just for my legacy. I can''t spend the rest of my life without drinking a drop of blood, but I would miss a rare steak. I''m not going to lie. And yes, I quite enjoy basking in the sun," Multrak replied, a bit confused. "See, not a vampire," Blue turned to Mylo. "What is a vampire?" Girlat asked. As they continued to talk seemingly without prejudice about the crimes that Multrak committed, the elder couldn''t help but smile at the situation. Even in his 70-plus years of living in the Vanguard, he could count on one hand the number of times when people didn''t judge him for his crimes. Yet, now, he would have to use another hand to count that high. 641 - The end of a long day The group spent about 20 minutes discussing the possibility of Multrak being a vampire or not. Thanks to Blue and Milo, no one got too hung up on what the elder actually did to get sent here. Not to say that any of them forgot, but they were trying to take the man at face value. Despite the tricky initial interaction, he never actually did anything to harm them. As a matter of fact, he was even being polite and helpful. Grilat also seemed a nice guy, even if, according to what they had just learned, he was likely a killer. Still, they continued talking for some time, and eventually, another person appeared to call them for dinner. The meals in the village were always made for everyone. They did that to both make sure that everybody had their share and make sure that everybody was in good shape. Living in this place wasn''t easy, and monsters would attack the village with a certain frequency. Because of that, everyone was required to be in peak condition at all times. Now that the elder had already accepted them, everyone else started treating Hera and her friends pretty well. They would greet them, ask questions about who they were, and even offer some food or prepare their plates for them. They were all very nice, and if it weren''t for the fact that they knew those people were sent to a maximum security prison, there would be no reason not to enjoy this place. "Oh, by the way, Multrak. How do you share your power with others? I don''t think you ever mentioned that," Shane asked during their meal. "I have to make them touch my blood. Usually, I make a few small darts and throw them at people. It''s not something to damage anyone, so even if I hit your eye or something, it won''t do anything," Multrak explained. "That''s the biggest lie you''ve ever told," the cook of the day said as he sat down with his second serving, "If he tries to throw one of those things in your eyes, run. It hurts like a bitch." "Did you do that to us? I remember feeling a prick on my neck before we managed to push the Boulder of Vine away," Alex asked. "I did. Normally I ask before doing something like that, but we didn''t have time. I needed you all just to push it away and let the Boulder live. Sorry about that," Multrak took another bite of his stake, "Speaking of things we can do. Why are all your eyes black?" "Figure out a way not to answer that. Stall and give me a moment to think. I don''t have an idea right now," Sammy quickly said. "This has to do with the reason we got here. You said we don''t have to tell you if we don''t want to correct?" Bonnie quickly chimed in. "That is correct, but¡­ all of you? What? Were you a cult or something?" Multrak pressed. "We are telling you, we don''t want to say. So can we just drop it, or is that rule only applied when it''s good for you?" Alex stared the elder down. A few people seemed upset about that, but others also joined in the stare, feeling that their leader was pushing too much. "You are right. My apologies. You don''t have to say. However, I still have the right to ask this. Is it something dangerous that could affect others in the village?" "Say no. I don''t know if the curse is capable of spreading to them since it''s from a different time," Sammy said. "You don''t have to worry about that. This is something that can only affect us," Hera said with a smile, " but now I have a question for you, if I may," Multrak nodded, expecting a serious question, which he got, just not the type he was expecting, " where''s the bathroom? All this wine is kind of going through me." The elder chuckled and pointed to the left. Hera locked eyes with Sammy and gestured to the outhouse. The village didn''t have private bathrooms, but at least they were already clean enough to worry about washing their hands and having a place to dispose of their waste. Hera walked inside the latrine and snapped her fingers, creating a soundproof bubble. "Oh," she plugged her nose, " I wish I had a spell to make the smell go away. This is awful." "Oh, yeah. You can say that again," Sammy put one of his flippers in front of his nose, "Can you talk quickly?" "Sure. Did you notice anything weird? Anyone who seems to be related to the curse?" "I can''t say I have. I mean, I kind of imagined that it could be something to do with a legacy, but that blood one doesn''t sound right," Sammy shook his head. "Yeah. For a moment, I thought the whole giving you power thing could be it, but he has to touch you. The curse doesn''t. The only part of it that makes a little bit of sense would be the growth, but even then, it sounds like a stretch," Hera nodded, and there was a pause before she continued, "Ok, I think that''s all. Can you leave? I actually have to go." "Oh, right. Sorry. Good luck. There is a stone to the right where you can wash your hands after," Sammy said quickly before jumping back to the table with the rest of the party. Sometime later, when everybody was heading to their own houses, Grilat approached the group, "Listen. Usually, people who have just arrived are supposed to stay in the shacks. It''s kind of like part of the sentence. Then, when they are free or they decide to live with someone else, they can go to one of the better houses. The thing is, we actually don''t have a shack where you all can be together, and you seem like a tight bunch. And since two of you have legacies, we kind of agree to let you guys be a bit more comfortable. So you can choose to split up and take a few different shacks, or we can just give you a piece of land where you can make your own house like you did that stone thing back in the arena. Everyone turned to Hera, who would be the one making the building, "I''m fine with making something. But is it okay if we change it later? I mean, I''m tired, and I don''t know if I can make a good house now." "Yeah, sure, you can change it later. Just don''t make anything too fancy. You''re still supposed to be serving a life sentence," Grilat nodded and gestured for the group to follow him. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He brought them to a place near the main gate where there was an open field that was being used as one of the training grounds. Then, he returned to the treehouse to gather some blankets, hammocks, and materials for a bed. Hera spent the next 30 minutes making the walls with her stone shape spell, resulting in a pretty serviceable house with four rooms and one main living room. It wasn''t pretty by any means, and there was nothing that could be considered a luxury. At most would be a stone bench in the living room. Still, it seemed to be enough for now, and everybody would have a more or less decent night of rest. Grilat also helped make a wooden door, so everyone could go in and out of that house without Hera having to be the one to close and open the place. Before actually going to bed, the party gathered in the living room, and Hera used her soundproof bubble to make sure no one could hear them. As soon as the Empress snapped her fingers and confirmed the spell was active, Blue yelled, "Where the fuck are we!? What the hell is this place?" "Are you ok?" Shane asked in confusion. Blue was the person who seemed the most comfortable out of all of them here. "Of course, I''m not okay! We are surrounded by murderers and serial killers. What the hell are we doing here?" Blue gasped again. "But you were talking with everyone without any problems. I couldn''t even tell you were upset about anything," Alex said. "Of course! I''m not the one who''s going to upset a cannibal! I don''t want to be his dinner. So, yeah, I was friendly. I did my very best to be as supportive and positive as I could, but I''m freaking out here." "I mean, that''s a very fair point. Usually, small things trigger people who go to those extremes. Being more friendly might actually help us," Adriel nodded. "I don''t know. I don''t think they would do anything. It seems like we''re not dealing with Psychopaths, just people who have grudges. I was talking to a guy who massacred an entire gang for revenge after they killed his wife. He''s still technically a serial killer, I guess, but I can''t say I blame him," Shane sighed. "And it seems like Multrak was sort of controlled by his legacy. The way he talked about it kind of made me think of substance abuse. That''s usually not completely the person''s fault," Alex turned to Blue. "At the same time, we didn''t talk with everybody. There might be some people who don''t have morals," Hera added. Her comment surprised everyone, and they just stared at her for a while, "What?" "Nothing, I just never expected you to say that. I think this is the first time where you''re playing the cynical part," Helena joked. "Well¡­ yeah. I don''t know. I just don''t trust them. One of them is going to create the curse or make the curse happen. Or they will be directly related to the creation of the curse. I don''t know who to trust." "The curse could come from a monster like the drinking blood legacy," Bonnie reminded her. "I don''t think so. How would a monster make something that gets stronger the more you know about it? Unless it''s a really intelligent monster, I don''t see that happening," Hera explained. "Well¡­ maybe it was a monster who killed someone and got a legacy. I mean, what if they have a curse-like skill that can merge with a legacy?" Alex suggested. "I don''t know¡­." Hera sighed. "Maybe there are some people here who can make the curse? I mean, we only know what Multrak can do. And sure, he says he is the only one here who has a legacy, but one, that could be a lie. And two, maybe someone else makes a legacy that creates the curse," Helena said. "Can I ask a question?" Mylo had his hand raised. "Sure, and you don''t have to raise your hand," Shane shook her head. "Oh, sorry. I couldn''t find a moment to join the conversation. Anyway, why are we saying that someone will make this? Can people even make a curse like that?" Mylo asked. "I don''t know¡­." Bonnie looked down. "I think that sums up the problem," Sammy added, "We just don''t know anything. Sure, maybe a person created the curse, maybe it was a monster, maybe it was some weird thing the system did, maybe it wasn''t anything like that, and we are about to find something even more strange happening here. The bottom line is there are too many variables, and we don''t know anything about anything." "Yeah, we need more information. Let''s try to get some tomorrow. Maybe I can have Nimbus and Lurize walking around, pretending to be robots to see if they can figure anything out," Hera turned to her titled blades. "We can do that," Lurize nodded. "The main issue is that we can''t be that far away from you. Then again, this village is not that big, so that might not be a problem," Nimbus rubbed his chin. "We''ll see how things go tomorrow. Multrak was saying something about having us hunt. But since we just completed the test, maybe we won''t have to do it so soon. I don''t know. He said he would explain it in the morning," Alex said. "Yeah. Let''s go to bed. Also, I was thinking about leaving Armory and Scythe out while we sleep. They can be on the lookout," Hera turned to her blades, which were now floating to her side. Shane shook her head, "I don''t think that''s a good idea. You are trying to pretend that they are not part of your court. So if anyone was going to try something with us in the middle of the night, seeing them would be suspicious. Also, you have to send them away after you wake up, don''t you?" Hera nodded in response, "Yeah, that would be a problem. If you summon one of them in front of someone else, they might start asking questions. And it''s not like spells that let you put items in an extra dimension or in a pocket bag exist." "Yeah, so I''ll leave some of the blades out then. Nimbus, Lurize, can I ask the two of you? I''ll give you some mana to spend the night. Not that you need to move far away from me, but maybe that can offset the debuff," Hera turned to her titled blades, who nodded and kneeled in front of her to receive the mana by kissing her hand. The Empress wasn''t stingy and gave each of them 1 million points of mana and the Royal Quest to protect them during the night. "Hera, can I ask you one more thing before we go to sleep?" Bonnie turned to the explorer. "Sure, what''s up?" "Can you close the front door a bit? Not entirely, just enough so that no one would be able to open the door. I''m feeling paranoid." "Like this?" Hera used the stone shape spell to reduce the opening on this side, and since the door opened inwards, it became impossible to open. If anything were to happen, people could still break the wood and leave, but that would make a lot of noise. "Yeah. That''s great. Thanks," Bonnie smiled. "Actually, can you open it? I need to go to the bathroom," Mylo asked. "Oh, me too," Blue nodded. Hera rolled her eyes, "Fine," she lowered the stone barriers that she placed so they could leave, "If anyone else wants to go, you have 10 minutes. I''m tired, and after that, I''m closing the door. Either learn how to use this spell or be here before the curfew," she huffed. The rest of the group glanced at each other, and all of them, with the exception of Bonnie, left the house. Hera just rubbed her eyes and asked for her blades to decide who would be the two who would be with Nimbus and Lurize. She wanted to have one of them in each room. In the end, for this night, it would be Ooze and Core. Maybe tomorrow, she would let another group be on the lookout, but today all she wanted was to sleep. Luckily, the party treated her threat seriously, and they were all back before the 10 minutes passed. And less than two minutes later, they were all sleeping in bed. 642 - Split up and search for clues When morning came, the entire party ended up sleeping in. It wasn''t that much of a surprise since they were already awake for hours before arriving at the Vanguard. And after all that, they still had to go through the 10-hour test. Not to mention the time it took for them to learn about the village, eat dinner and build the house. It wasn''t a surprise for anyone that they were taking so long to wake up. Still, at around 10 a.m. Grilat started knocking on their door. "Hey, going to spend the entire day in there? We already had breakfast. Since you guys took so long to come out, you guys take care of the cleaning. Get moving, or you won''t have anything to eat," the man pounded the door and created a much louder sound than it was supposed to. Courtesy of a spell made exactly to wake people who should already be working. The party didn''t hear anything he said, but they heard the noise created by his pounding. This happened because Hera kept the soundproof bubble up the entire night. She considered dismissing the spell, but if anyone woke up, they might want to talk about the curse or something, and it was better to have a safe place to do so. Luckily for them, when the noise started, Sammy went outside and heard Grilat''s message. The turtle passed the information to Nimbus and Lurize, who started waking up everyone so they could start the day. Unfortunately, there wasn''t that much food left, and what was still in the pot wasn''t very appetizing. Still, everyone ate and cleaned up the kitchen area, which was just a place outside near the central treehouse with a large slab of wood resting on the ground and small stumps to form the chairs. One thing that surprised Hera was how a group of people from so long ago still worried about doing dishes. From what she remembered, humans from thousands of years ago were not particularly clean. "I honestly didn''t expect this to happen here. I imagined that they didn''t have that much hygiene, but they even take baths," Hera said as she was washing some plates with soap while using a thick piece of fur as a sponge. "Actually, that''s a common misconception. Humans started using soap before even the pyramids were built. I think the oldest finding was somewhere in Babylon. I don''t know the date exactly, but it might match how far back we came," Bonnie said when she heard Hera''s comment about hygiene. "Be careful when you guys are talking about things like that. We never know who''s listening, and we can''t let them realize that we are from the future," Sammy quickly interrupted them so they would stop that conversation. That was too risky for their current situation. He didn''t have to worry about people listening to what he was saying, so it was an advantage that he could speak his mind without a problem. "My bad," Hera replied. About an hour passed before they were able to finish the work. Even if they were a large group, there were a lot of things to clean. The pot, in particular, was very complicated. It seemed like the cook wasn''t stirring properly, and a black crust of burnt food was at the bottom. When they were done, they went to look for Multrak, who was going to tell them what they were supposed to do while living here. It was very easy to find him since, apparently, he would always stay in the treehouse unless something was going on outside or it was time for a meal. As they started talking, the elder was sitting on the small stage in the middle of the tree house while the rest was on the stumps around it. "I hope your first night was restful. We usually wake up when dawn breaks, but considering your efforts yesterday, I told Grilat to let you sleep for some time. Now, I''ll be honest. I spent quite a while thinking about what I could do with all of you. I mean, sure, you will have to hunt as it''s part of the sentence, but when you''re not doing that, I try to see if I could fit all of you in the same area. After all, you seem to be so close, but I''m afraid that might be more complicated than I expected," Multrak said. "It''s actually even better if we are not together all the time. Not to say that we are having any problems. It''s just good not to be stuck in our bubble," Helena said. They already discussed this before leaving the house. If they stay together all the time, it will be harder for people to open up and for them to get more information. Right now, what they needed was to learn about this place and the people who lived here. They had to search for clues about what, or who, could start the curse. "Oh, that''s great. Honestly, that makes things much much easier. Currently, we need people to make clothing, stand guard around the walls, People to help butcher the monsters and prepare food, and people to take care of the cleaning. And I mean washing clothes, seeing if everyone is cleaning their houses and things like that. Cleaning the latrine is something that everyone has to do at some point, but we will leave you all out of the rotation for a week at least. If nothing among those jobs seems attractive to you, I do have a couple of other options, but they are a bit more nuanced and depend on someone else," Multrak explained. "What are those other jobs?" Bonnie asked, not excited about any of the ideas he put forward. "I could use some help trying to figure out the patterns in the monster''s movements. Every now and then, some packs move around and change their den and hunting zone. It''s complicated to find them when they do that and even more complicated to predict those changes. Honestly, I wanted someone to help me with this for a long time, but people who live here are not that well-versed in seeing those kinds of changes. In simple terms, they are great warriors, but even a pile of rocks is smarter than a pile of them. The only ones who could actually help me with that are already too busy with other things. Aside from that, we could use some help with the traps around the village. Some of the training areas need some maintenance, Kadhan also needs some help with his work. He is trying to grow some herbs to make potions, but it''s been taking a toll on him, but I''m not sure any of you will want to help. I also have a request for you, Hera, but I''ll leave that for after you''re all done with training. I don''t think you have enough time to take care of everything." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Training? What do you mean training?" Blue asked. "Of course. Even if you passed the test, we have no idea if you can work as a group with us. We have some strategies and techniques that help us survive in this jungle, and we must share them with you before you are able to go hunting. If you had done a poor job during the test, we would probably consider that you need a couple of months of training. But since you have all done pretty well by yourselves, a week should be enough," Multrak explained. "What are we supposed to do during the training?" Shane asked. "Every day, Grilat will explain a few of our processes and signals while also teaching some basic survival techniques so you won''t just die in the jungle. There is also some stamina training and combat training, but we''re going to skip that. You are all good on that part. Since the training will be more theoretical, you''ll have it after dinner. I say that, but knowing him, it''s possible, if not probable, that he will ask to fight one on one to see what you can actually do. Don''t worry, we''ll have people on standby to make sure you don''t kill each other, but it will be just a way for him to understand your strength better so he can set you up with a better hunting partner." "Got it. I think we are ok on that front too. This won''t be the first time we live in a jungle, but it never hurts to learn more about the place," Shane nodded, "By the way, who is Kadhan ?" "One moment, I''ll ask him to introduce himself," Multrak got up and walked to the door with potions dangling from the side, " Kadhan, can you come out? I want to introduce you to the group that arrived yesterday." The door slammed open, and from it emerged a man with arms and legs that were closer to that of a monkey than a human. He also had a long tail that was carrying an empty bottle. The man wore a fur waistcloth that went below his knees. His feet were actual feet and not hands, as the rest of his body would indicate, he was shirtless, and his chest and shoulders were covered in scars forming odd and intentional patterns. Some blood-red tattoos on his stomach seemed to be glowing, and he had a large bird skull covering his head. In a way, it reminded Hera of a plague doctor, but the man''s eyes were showing inside the nostrils of the skull. "Yes, why are you calling me?" Kadhan ''s voice almost sounded like it had some natural reverberation to it, as if layers of his voice were placed on top of each other and had their pitch slightly changed. "The new people want to meet you. Well, they probably don''t, but they might need something from you. So, I want to introduce you." Kadhan stepped forward, his body moving from side to side, but his head remained perfectly still. In a blink of an eye, he moved to be face-to-face with Multrak. Hera was able to see some of his movement, but it was too fast for Armory and Scythe to follow it properly. "You wound me, elder. Have I not played my part in this village? Have I not supplied potions, and tonics, and salves for any sort of ailment or injury our troops ever sustained? Why would anyone not want to meet me?" Kadhan''s words came out in a song and a whisper at the same time, and the emphasis he would put on the syllables would change constantly. It was something very unnerving, even if what he was actually saying and doing showed no sign of him being a threat. Multrak whacked Kadhan''s head with his stick, "This is exactly why no one likes being near you. Stop acting like this and, at least, speak normally." "But this is my normal way of speaking, elder." "Then speak like I do! Stop being weird." " If I do that, it won''t be my normal anymore. Also, we are all weird, elder. The world is weird. Finding something that''s not now that would truly be strange," even with the bird skull on its face, everyone was able to notice the large smile forming underneath it as Kadhan spoke the last line. Multrak pushed him away, "Fine, fine. Just stop talking. You are giving me a headache. Anyway, as I was saying, this is Kadhan, our resident healer." Kadhan turned to Hera and the others, "I prefer to be called Witch Doctor," the last two words came out with even more effects on his voice, and now whispers flooded the area coming from all around them, repeating his title ''Witch Doctor'' again and again. "So here he is. I told you I didn''t think any of you would want to help," Multrak rubbed his temple. "They are help? Help for me?" Kadhan asked with a pep in his voice. "If any of them wants to, yeah, they can help you," Multrak sighed. "And can you? Can you help grow plants or make potions? Or salves? Or hexes? Or voodoo?" each time he asked a different thing, he would shift his body to the side, but his head only moved forward as he got closer to the group. "I can, actually," Hera spoke up, but Blue pulled her arm back and whispered. "What are you doing? That guy doesn''t seem normal." "And people avoid him. Which means that if he was doing something strange, no one would know," Hera replied quietly and got an approving nod from Sammy behind Blue. "Just¡­ be careful." Hera nodded, "I will. And I''m not alone, remember?" she turned back to Kadhan, " Sorry about that. But yeah, I know a bit about herbs and potions. I''m not that good with salves, and I have no idea how to make a hex or how to use voodoo, but I''m willing to learn." " Wonderful. Come, Come. We have much to do," Kadhan smiled at Hera and gestured to her to go inside. She turned to Multrak, who also nodded, confirming that she could go. "I guess I found my job. If you guys need anything, you have a way to contact me," Hera glanced at Sammy, the black in her eyes becoming a blessing since it would hide where she was actually looking at. "You too. If that guy tries anything weird, tear him apart," Alex squinted at Kadhan, who didn''t even react to the threat. Hera just waved at the group and walked inside the seemingly small room. As far as she knew, hexes and voodoo were just different types of curses, which could mean that this person could be the biggest clue they had found so far. 643 - Witch Doctor
After entering the room, Hera had to go down a long flight of stairs. Surrounding the walls were several different types of moss and mushrooms that would grow in the dark. She looked up, trying to see Kadhan, but the man was gone. Feeling a bit uneasy, she called Daskka out. Armory and Scythe were already on her head, but they couldn''t do much in a fight. ''How are you doing?'' the Empress asked her herald, who had been very quiet since yesterday. ''I¡­ don''t know, mum. This feels weird. I keep thinking that I shouldn''t be here,'' Daskka replied. ''Why is that? Do you actually think you shouldn''t be here, or is it something else?'' ''I think it''s something else. I know I should be here, and we are doing something good, but it''s like I''m doing something wrong, and I know it.'' ''Do you think that feeling can cause some problems?'' Daskka shook her head, ''No. I don''t think so. If I notice anything holding me back, I''ll let you know. Promise.'' Hera smiled and patted the snake''s head, ''Thank you. How about you two? Everything ok?'' the Empress turned to the court members that were currently out. ''Almost. I''m not feeling anything, but this place is creeping me out,'' Armory replied. ''Why is that?'' Hera asked. ''Look at the ceiling,'' Scythe said. Hera looked up. At first, she couldn''t see anything, but when she paid a bit more attention, she realized that there was a trail of skulls going across the entire ceiling of this staircase. Most of them were animal or monster skulls, but there were a couple that seemed too human to be from a beast. ''Do you think he killed all of this himself?'' she asked. ''Hard to say. If he did, it''s impressive,'' Armory replied. ''If he did, this place is not as safe as we were thinking,'' Scythe added while staring at one of the human-looking skulls. Not long after that, she finally arrived at the bottom of the staircase. To her surprise, the place was very well-illuminated. But it was artificial light or artificial sunlight, to be more precise. In the center of the room was a large stone structure where several pots and vases were spread out with different types of flowers and various plants. Hidden in the shadows, in places where the lights wouldn''t hit directly, there were more flowerbeds, but those were being used by mushrooms and other types of vegetation that could only grow inside caves. The light coming from a mana crystal in the ceiling also heated up the place. All in all, this was a very rudimentary version of a greenhouse. "Welcome!" Kadhan held both his arms out, almost as if he was starfishing in a bed. "Thanks. Wait, how did you get here before me? You were upstairs," Hera asked. "Have a spell. Become one with the moss. The moss take my body, and make me new one here," Kadhan explained, his voice echoing even more when he said the word ''moss.'' "Hang on. The moss makes you a new body? What happened to your old one? The one that was upstairs?" Hera tilted her head. "Yes, yes, yes. To travel fast, it''s quicker to make a new body. All fake, don''t worry, it won''t happen to you" Kadhan started to move around the room, reaching the closest of the flowerbeds, "Come, Tell me what you know about these plants." "What do you mean fake? Is the teleportation thing or¡­ is your body fake?" Hera asked. "Body fake. Made out of moss. It''s easy to make a mistake when I''m experimenting. Better to have a fake one than use my real one. Much easier to recover, much quicker to heal from injury. Much less painful." "So, where is your real body?" Hera walked closer to the witch doctor, who just placed one finger on his lips. "Not telling. Too soon for you, maybe in the future, never in the past, but not in the present," he pointed to a green mushroom that looked a bit like a tulip but had a red center that would grow in tendrils to the sides. Those vein-like structures were moving and reached out for anything that got close to them, be it Hera herself, another mushroom, a plant, or even a pebble falling from the ceiling. However, it wasn''t moving fast, so unless someone were to sleep near one and not realize that they were being grabbed, it should be easy to get away from it, "Now say, what is this for? Pain? Fever? Nausea? Itch? Food? Decoration?" Hera used her [Inspect] on the mushroom, trying to learn more about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reaching Vein of the Emeralds. Very common mushroom that can be used in a variety of potions and other medicinal treatments. It is mostly used as a binding agent, but it does have some minor antipyretic properties. It is not fit for consumption since the red vines that exist inside the mushroom would try to attach themselves to the esophagus. The mushroom is very resilient and can survive being cooked or frozen. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. It grows by spreading its tendrils to anything around it, but it cannot differentiate between what it can eat and what it can''t. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Technically, everything can be a decoration. But this one should work better as other medicine for fever or something to help make other potions," Hera replied. "Better to make others? How so? What makes you say it? Already have an idea?" Kadhan continued with his odd habit of moving his body while talking, almost as if he was a child that couldn''t stand still. In contrast, his head was in the exact same position as it was at the start of this conversation. Hera looked back at the mushroom, trying to remember the things she had learned from Risli. Some of the terms shown in the [Inspect] seemed too advanced for the past, and she wasn''t sure if her knowledge from the future was added to the window, "Those red veins are reaching out to things. Usually, this means that the mushroom itself can eat food very well. If not, it wouldn''t be so aggressive when hunting. When an animal has to be careful about something, they have some way of noticing that thing and staying away from it. A simple example is the eyes of a monster. They can see when something bad is coming so they can run away. If it''s really that strong. The mushroom should be able to eat whatever you put in a mixture and then let the potion be created inside it. I just don''t know how you would safely take the potion out of it." "But these are mushrooms. Why you say they are like animals?" Kadhan got closer to Hera, almost close enough for her to call out her legacy, but she stopped herself. ''If he tries anything, Daskka, I''m counting on you,'' the Empress said mentally. ''I''ll turn that moss into mush!'' Daskka replied while staring at the man. "Because plants can make their own food. If you leave a plant where it has water and light, then that''s that. The plant can live its entire life there without a problem. Mushrooms and fungi can''t. If you lock them inside a barrier with just a little bit of dirt and water, the mushroom will end up dying after it eats everything around it," Hera explained what Risli had told her a long time ago. At the time, she even showed Hera an experiment where they placed a small plant inside of a glass case with dirt and water and sealed it. Then she did the same with some mushrooms. The mushrooms didn''t last very long, while the other mushrooms she was feeding grew for a long time. On the other hand, the plant thrived just as if it was living outside," she hoped that this wasn''t too advanced, but in the end, it was the kind of thing that anyone could have figured out, and knowing that mushrooms were closer to animals than to plants wasn''t exactly the type of science that would revolutionize history in her opinion. Kadhan started to jump around and make a little dance that made him seem even more like a monkey, "Good, good, good. Very, very good. You are much smarter than I expected. You know your plants very well, or maybe too much. What did you do? How did you learn?" he stopped the dance and took a more aggressive stance in front of her as if he was waiting for an attack to come. "I studied under an old shaman. Or that''s what she called herself. But if I''m being honest, I don''t know most of the plants that are here. She only taught me about the ones that grow in deep caves where the sun never shines," That was a partial lie. Hera knew more than just those types of plants, but it would be easier to explain things if she pretended that she didn''t. She said everything with a shrug as if it was something that didn''t matter, but when she blinked for a bit longer than normal, Kadhan''s face, or his bonehead helmet, appeared uncomfortably close to her face. "And why was she teaching you that kind of thing? She want to do something? Or was it just a whim?" "Okay, can you please take a step back? I don''t want to taste your skull thingy," Hera stepped back herself, making sure not to touch the mushrooms in the wall," Kadhan did as she asked, but he was still very close, "She told me those are the basics. I had to start from there and then learn more about other things. Something about everything started underground in the dark, so we have to first learn about that part before learning about those things who live in the light," she was paraphrasing Risli, although the meaning was vastly different. The old shaman was only saying that Hera should learn about the seeds first and then the actual plants. "And do you trust? Was she right? Wasn''t she hiding her meaning?" "I trust her. But I''m sure she was hiding something. After all, aren''t we all?" Hera smirked, trying to seem more cocky than she normally was. Kadhan froze for a moment before starting to laugh loudly, making the cave echo with his numerous voices, "Such truths are real. I must agree. We all have our hidden skeletons, even if some were more visible," he tapped his skull helmet, "But the real secret is what no one else knows, wouldn''t you say?" "Yes? No? I honestly do not understand what you''re trying to say," Hera replied, but that phrase might be a confession. Maybe it meant that he was doing something in secret. Then again, it was hard to follow when half of what he said sounded like either riddles or presumptuous philosophy. Kadhan stared at her for a moment, "Neither do I. No matter. Today I have potions to make. You will help. I''ll teach you as we go." During the rest of the day, they worked and prepared a number of potions that would be used in the next hunts. Whenever Kadhan asked for a specific plant or mushroom, he would explain what they did and why he placed it in the potion. When the first batch was complete, he stopped and went back to the ingredients explaining to Hera how each of them should be grown. The Empress had to admit the Witch Doctor really knew his work. He was almost as good as Risli but had some more unique ideas. Some of the things he was making would increase one attribute or another but at the cost of reducing a different attribute. In some situations, that might be a problem, but reducing one''s charisma in exchange for increasing their strength in the middle of a fight would hardly be an issue. Another thing she never considered was a potion that would heal you but had a drawback of reducing all your attributes. This meant that the potion could be extremely effective as long as you are willing to pay the price. According to Kadhan, those were only kept in the village and used when someone came back injured. But every hunt team had a couple of those potions for emergencies. After all, it was better to get a debuff and still be able to run away than to just lie on the ground and wait to be devoured by a monster. Hera ended up missing lunch, which was not a problem by itself. She tasted a few of the herbs and mushrooms that were in the cave. Only those that Kadhan deemed safe. And when dinner came. She met everyone as they gathered at the end of the table to discuss what they did during the day. 644 - All who hunt During dinner, Hera and her party weren''t able to have a conversation about the curse, so they were just talking about their new jobs. Shane and Mylo joined the guard watching over the walls. Shane was very good at using a few long-range spells to scout the area. Mylo didn''t like any of the jobs, and standing around all day in hopes that something would happen seemed like the better alternative. Adriel and Blue joined the crew that would focus on building. They started working on the training grounds, but the job also included fixing the walls and delivering materials for large traps that surrounded the village. Alex and Helena ended up joining the cleaning crew. The mage was used to that kind of work for the time she worked in the guild. There was a surprising amount of literal housekeeping included in that job. Alex also joined that group but for a different reason. The assassin was getting better at hiding with each day, and since taking care of cleaning would allow her to go inside everyone''s houses, she could sneak out and check if there was anything hidden that could be related to the curse. Bonnie, on the other hand, ended up helping Multrak to track the monsters. It wasn''t a surprise to anyone that she was good at reading data, and having someone close to the leader of this village would be extremely beneficial. They all made sure not to mention anyone they found suspicious, but Hera made a point of complaining about Kadhan''s voice and the way he moved. That seemed to be something that most of the village agreed with, and it didn''t seem to bother the witch doctor. Even if Hera wasn''t the kind to say those things, she felt it would bring more attention to herself if she was already ok with him. Dinner came and went in a flash, and soon Grilat called the group to the training arena, "Come on. I need to explain some things to you," he started speaking as he walked to the newly fixed training grounds. "Do we have to do this today?" Blue asked. She was a bit tired, but more than that, she wanted to talk with everyone about the curse, not because she had any amazing clues, but because it was just something that sounded fun. "Yes, we have. This is supposed to be a prison. You don''t get a say in this unless you have a good reason why you shouldn''t be here," Grilat side-eyed Blue, "Now, for what we are actually here to learn. You all have a job, but you will be doing them only half the time. The other half, you will be out there, in the jungle, hunting some of the creatures that are a potential danger to others." "Everyone here does that?" Shane asked. "Yes, and no. They did that when they got here, but when they were done with their sentences, they could stop that part. Unless we don''t have enough people to fight, then some people might have to be conscripted, but that never happened." "That never happened? Really? You guys don''t have that many people here. Is that enough to hunt?" "You guys arrived at an odd time. Since we are preparing for a big hunt, the Night River, all the hunt parties went out to clear up some problem areas or monsters that might cause issues with the plan. We have about 20 people outside in groups of 5. Their leader is Raynara and¡­ Well, she is a character, to say the least," Grilat sighed. "Is she the one who likes you?" Adriel smirked. "The one who is trouble?" Alex added. "Yeah, yeah. One day here, and the newbies are already teasing me about my love life. That''s great," Grilat rolled his eyes. "You can''t put that on us. Multrak is the one who brought it up," Blue chuckled. "It is my love life. I can put it in whoever I want. No, wait. That sounds bad. I didn''t mean it like that. It''s just my topic. I can¡­ you got it," Grilat waved them off and continued walking. About 5 minutes later, they were standing in front of the training arena. The place was split into a large sandpit where people would fight, a couple of dummies filled with holes by the archers, and some weights on the side. Those were made out of rock or gathered in bags of sand, not the actual weight-lifting equipment that one would see in a modern gym. It was an interesting surprise that a civilization this old was already thinking about strength training. Then again, they were a society of hunters, so it made sense for them to be trying to keep their bodies in peak condition. As they looked around the training grounds, Hera noticed Kadhan approaching with a couple of flasks and two heavy bags under his arms. "Thank you for dropping by. Is this everything?" Grilat asked the witch doctor. "For today. Yes. For tomorrow. No. For the third day. Need more time. You asked a lot," Kadhan replied. "Wait. so you can''t give it to me on the third day? Is that it?" Kadhan shook his head in a way that showed he was mildly annoyed, "I don''t know. If it can grow, I can give. If it can''t grow, there''s nothing to offer." "Oh, okay. And do you need to be here to make this work?" "Don''t need to. But want to. Not often others do something like me," Kadham said with a smile. Grilat sighed, "Suit yourself, just don''t bother anyone, and don''t get in the way. It''s just like the other ones, right? I don''t have to explain anything differently?" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "You have. Old ones making new you. New one makes items too." "Oh, okay," Grilat turned to the group, "Aside from our classes, I''ll be fighting one of you every day, maybe every other day, to see what you can do. we''re going to be using this thing," he gestured to the potions and the heavy bags, "This is something special that we use when we need to go scouting in dangerous places. Kadhan, our witch doctor here, has a skill and some spells that let him make a body double of moss. A while back, he managed to create a potion that can replicate the effects even if the copy is much weaker than we are." "Your moss only has a tenth the strength in you," Kadhan added. "Yeah. That. So I''m going to drink one of those potions and make one body double. One of you is going to drink the other and make the other double, and we''ll fight to the death. I mean, our moss doubles will fight to the death," Grilat explained. "Isn''t that dangerous? I mean, we will feel pain, won''t we?" Helena asked. "Don''t worry about it. Our sense of pain is reduced when we are controlling those things. Unlike Kadhan, here, we have to, in essence, sleep to make the moss body. When we take enough damage, it will be as if we woke up from a nightmare. I''m not saying it will be fun, but we don''t have to worry about being injured," Grilat explained, but he looked at Kadhan and remembered something, "Oh, and apparently, this time, we can also bring our items along. Using the old version, we couldn''t, and if we wanted to, we needed to wear them in the new body, which is a hassle." "Okay. Seems simple enough. And I know that Kadhan wouldn''t give you something that he wasn''t sure worked," even if this was the first day that Hera worked with the witch doctor, she could already tell how much he valued the Integrity of his products. If a potion was a little bit weaker than he was supposed to be, he would consider it a failure and ask her to dispose of the potion instead of giving it to people with a warning that this one was weaker. "Perfect. And you are the first one I want to test. I saw your fight in the arena, and honestly, I wasn''t impressed. Without your legacy, you don''t seem to be able to do much," Grilat said. Hera blinked slowly, "What?" "Yes, you barely participated in the fight. Most of the kills were done by the flying weapons or those two constructs that you have. The only thing you seem to have done was to make it rain, which honestly was a bad move. It made it harder to move around in the mud, and you didn''t have enough mobility to overcome that. The monsters are already used to moving around in such conditions," Grilat continued. "Hang on. I think you''re misunderstanding something. It wasn''t just rain, it was¡­." Blue tried to stand up to her friend, but the Empress made a gesture for her to stop. "That''s fine. I can be the first one," Hera nodded, "Can I use my own weapons?" she gestured to the two daggers on her waist. "Sure, as long as you don''t use the legacy, you can use whatever you want," Grilat nodded and passed one of the potions to her, "Lay down beside one of the bags of moss, drink the potion, swallow, and then spit on the bag. You will feel sleepy, so just sleep, and you will wake up in the moss body." Hera nodded and removed Scythe and Armory, placing them to the side. "You can keep the items. They should appear on your moss body, too," Grilat turned to Kadhan, who nodded in response. "Those two have some skills that protect me from various ailments and some mind effects. I feel like they might get in the way of the potion and the moss," Hera replied. She knew she would have to remember that in the future, but if she didn''t use them in the fight, it could be suspicious and she didn''t want to teach. This man was telling her that she couldn''t do anything without her legacy, and the Empress refused to let such comment go by unanswered. "Would that be a problem?" Grilat turned to Kadhan. "Maybe, maybe not. Only one way to find out," the witch doctor replied. "We can test later. We are testing something else today, aren''t we?" Hera asked, her eyes turning cold. "That''s the spirit. Now, come on. Show me what you got," Grilat walked over to one of the moss bags while Hera did the same. Kadhan walked closer to the Empress and explained to her a few of the details of the process and some of the plants he used. After all, she was his assistant. Before opening the potion, she just stared at it for a moment as if she was trying to prepare herself, but it was just a way to hide her conversation with her court, ''Everyone, this shouldn''t be dangerous, so don''t interfere. Even if you think I''m about to get killed, we know that this is not my real body,'' she stopped, but then decided to add one thing, ''But do protect my real body. Don''t let it be hit or anything.'' After getting a ''Yes, Empress'' from her court, Hera drank the potion and spat on the bag. Apparently, that was how the potion/spell could identify which moss would be used for the effect. Without that, the effect would search for a large clump of moss nearby, which could have unpredictable results, such as waking up buried underground. She quickly felt her eyes becoming heavy, and she fell asleep, only to instantly open her eyes inside a large bag of some sort. Reaching up, she found the opening and removed the bag from around herself. Her body was just to the side, sleeping. Looking at that was an odd feeling, to say the least. She also felt weaker. Much much weaker. But since she was supposed to be only at 1/10 of her strength, it meant that all her attributes should be effectively nine instead of above ninety. Feeling weaker was something to be expected. "How are you feeling?" Grilat asked. His voice sounded far away, almost as if muffled by something. "It''s weird. I feel weak, and things just don''t feel right," she poked her own arm a few times, but it took a lot of pressure for her body to actually register that there was something touching her. " What about your weapons? How do they feel?" Hera pulled Fang and Claw from her waist, she slept with them, and she could see the originals in her body. She was half expecting not to be able to hold them with her current strength, but no, they felt just as light as they always were. The moss replica doing wonders to replicate even the feeling that she had while holding them. She tried using a bloody claw as a test, but that didn''t work. Turning back to Kadhan, she asked, "Weren''t they supposed to be just like the originals? The skills are not working." "Weapons are tricky. Hard to make skills work. Each item has only one and much weaker. Can''t say which. All luck," Kadhan explained. "It''s better for you not to focus on skills right now. I want to know what you can do, not your items," Grilat added. Hera nodded and started walking to the arena, but first, she clicked her heels and tried activating the boots. If they were still working, even at 10% strength, they should give her 6 minutes of gliding, and one way or another, the fight would be over before the effects. Feeling her feet stop touching the ground, Hera smiled and stepped towards Grilat, getting into a combat position. "Someone count us down," Grilat asked. Blue stepped forward, "Ready¡­. Fight!" 645 - A friendly duel Even after Blue called for the start of the fight, Hera and Grilat just stared at each other. Hera was moving a bit but not in an aggressive way, just to get used to this new body. It was odd to think that she was here and somewhere else at the same time. Her mind was perfectly attuned to her current body. Even the amount of strength she had to put in her legs was still the same. Of course, this might be because she got a debuff that reduced everything equally, but still, it was impressive. "She already said go. Are you done?" Grilat asked. Hera rotated her wrist holding Claw, then gently tossed Fang in the air, making it spin around twice before catching it again. During that time, she flicked her wrist as a flourish and got into her fighting stance, "I am." "See, that''s a problem. In a real fight, flourishes don''t matter." Grilat pulled his heavy two-handed sword from the side and stepped forward. Just as he started his second step, the man dashed forward at high speed. Or at least what seemed like a high speed for him and Hera. Everyone else watching the fight saw every move they were making with perfect clarity. They were all used to fighting creatures of the same level they were now, but they were watching two people who could barely be called level one. Despite her reaction time, Hera noticed that dash coming from a mile away. As someone was about to do something like that, their bodies would move with intention, and she could see those shifts before he even started the second step. Dodging to the right, she let her shoes glide over the ground and spun around, hitting the man''s left leg with her daggers. That move wasn''t entirely unexpected, and Grilat managed to move enough, so the cuts were only grazing him and not dealing some actual damage. Hera moved back, her feet still moving over the sand, almost dancing in front of this beastman warrior. Grilat didn''t expect to be hit at all when fighting against her. He was going to use this to show how she was too dependent on her legacy, but now, he was the first one to be injured, even if it didn''t hurt. Seeing the expression on the man''s face, the Empress smirked, "My turn?" She dashed forward, going for a frontal assault that was really obvious. Still, Grilat had to defend. He put his sword on a diagonal to still be able to move it in any direction if the daggers were coming from a different angle. What he didn''t expect was that the Empress changed his destination halfway through the attack. By using the glide effect of her shoes, she went to the left to go around him. Grilat shifted to block an attack on his back, but Hera didn''t stop there. She did a complete lap around the man arriving at the same point she seemed to be aiming at from the get-go, but now, instead of facing the warrior face to face, she had a clear shot to his back. Using both daggers, she stabbed Grilat and pulled Fang up and Claw down, opening large gashes on his moss body. "Shit!" Grilat groaned and tried to hit Hera with his elbow, but the Empress was expecting something and was already backing out, "You are better than I thought," Grilat smirked. "You''re not," Hera replied. Grilat snarled, and the hairs on his body changed to green. Hera wasn''t sure if that was a skill or something about the moss, but she got ready for anything. The warrior with a wooden mask changed how he was holding his sword. Instead of using both hands, he used only one and charged at the Empress. He was faster now and started to attack with a flurry of slashes that was impressively quick for the size of his weapon. Hera blocked and dodged as many as she could, but she got hit a few times when he started adding some punches. None of the attacks was enough to deal significant damage, but it was enough to push her back. She tried to spin around him again, moving back and forth using her glide boots, but now Grilat was able to follow her. The hair on his body kept following her as if they were magnetized. "STOP!" Grilat shouted, and Hera felt her body tensing up as the yell was part of a spell made to do just that. Stun someone momentarily. Seeing an opening, Grilat kicked Hera in her stomach, which sent her tumbling back. He stepped forward with a smirk that no one could see because of his mask, "You are good. But you can''t take your opponents at face value. Just because I''m a fighter doesn''t mean I don''t use spells." Hera chuckled as the man prepared an attack, "I know. And that is exactly why you lost," she clenched her fist, and the poison that was inside Grilat''s pushed all the liquid inside the moss forming his body out. The man instantly fell to the ground, looking like a bunch of dried plants, and his original body got up. "What the? What the fuck was that?" Grilat yelled as he got up. However, because of the violent effect of the poison, he was still a bit dizzy. Feeling all the water inside one''s body be pushed out all at once was very disorienting. "The ''rain'' you complained about. Aside from my legacy, I use poison. These moss bodies are not very sensitive, and when I did a flourish with my daggers, I flung a poison needle at you. Since we can still use our own mana pool when inside this body, I made that needle supercharged and controlled the poison to first spread and then latch on to all the water inside the moss, then all I had to do was tell it to get out of the body. That rain was a rain of that poison, each with a unique effect, and they could overlap and stack. Didn''t you notice how some of the monsters just fell dead to the ground before even doing anything? That is all because of my ''useless rain,''" Hera explained. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I see¡­" Grilat started walking around while looking at the ground. "Apparently, you don''t. If you had seen it, you wouldn''t have underestimated me, and maybe you would have put up a better fight," Hera scoffed. She was still very upset about being called useless. "You only hit me with the poison because you cheated. You attacked me before the fight started," Grilat squinted at her. "I did that after Blue said for us to start. It''s not my fault you waited while I pretended to get comfortable in this body." "So that''s how you fight? You lie and cheat your way to victory?" Hera chuckled, "I don''t go around fighting people. If I''m fighting something, it''s a monster trying to kill me. There''s no lying in cheating when you''re fighting with your life on the line. You walk away after you are done, or you die." "I guess you do have a point," Grilat nodded. "I know, and I don''t need you to tell me that. Next time, ask about what we can do before challenging someone to a fight. You might learn some things," Hera got up and started going towards her body, "Kadhan, how do I get out of this?" Grilat grabbed a spear from the training weapon''s rack and tossed it aimed at Hera''s head. ''Empress!'' Nimbus and Lurize yelled, but they couldn''t move since she ordered them not to interfere. "Watch out!" Adriel and Blue yelled. Hera only had time to turn around and see the wooden spear rushing towards her face before she felt it piercing her moss skull. A moment later, she was back in her real body, gasping as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. She coughed for a few moments, touching her face repeatedly to make sure there wasn''t a hole or something embedded into her skull. When she calmed down, she glared at Grilat. "What the hell was that?!" "You wanted to go back to your body. I just helped," the man replied. "You were just being a sore loser," Hera huffed. "And you were a crappy winner. We are even. And I apologize for underestimating you. It might surprise you, but no one in the village is very proficient in poisons. We''ve tried that before, and it never seemed worth it. It took too long for the poisons to affect our targets, and trying to Poison something only to kill it later hardly ever worked. Most times, it will either result in nothing happening or the creature going through some sort of mutation that would allow it to use poison against us. But like I said, this is only because we never specialize in it. If you can do something like that quickly, we might change a few of our ideas about hunting the Night River," Grilat nodded. Hera sighed and tried to remember their goal here. She was still very angry, but it wasn''t like she could do anything about it, "I''m happy to help if I can, but I don''t know how my poison would affect something made out of water." "That''s fine. It''s at least another thing to consider. The whole idea of using the Boulder to pull it out of the ground is already a stretch by itself," Grilat said, "Now, let''s continue to the rest of the lesson." Grilat Spent the next 2 hours explaining the room to her and her party. The jungle was split into different biomes, and a different type of creature controlled each of them. The thick jungle was the land of bugs and plants. Various quadrupeds ruled the more open forests or plains. From wolves and tigers to gazelles, from bison to foxes, and a particularly large species of sloth that seemed to lord over all other creatures. Luckily, they were herbivores, which could explain why the plains would change from time to time. As those massive beings devoured the trees, the jungle would grow smaller, only to regain its missing land as the sloths went into hibernation during the winter. There were also a couple of plateaus covering a very wide area on two corners of the room. Each of these mountains had different animals living on top of it or on the massive walls that were about 500 meters tall. Surrounding the plateau was a network of caves where bats, vultures, and other large birds would create their nests. Since it was a place generally safe from predators, the flying creatures would form small colonies and avoid attacking each other. On top of the eastern mountain, they could find some species of monkeys and more plant monsters, but those were more tree-like instead of the flower and vine species that were found around the village. Lastly, there were only two types of creatures on the western mountain: bears and drakes. Those were locked in an eternal struggle since they were each other''s only source of meat. Oddly enough, the western mountain didn''t have any flying creatures living around the walls for some unknown reason. He continued explaining more about the place, the forest, and the types of natural dangers they could find aside from monsters. Unfortunately, most of the information went over everybody''s heads. Not because they couldn''t understand it but because they were all tired and without tablets to write everything down, it was very hard to retain that knowledge. When Grilat realized that his effort was useless, he told them all to head back to their house. He would explain things again the next day and try to see if there was another way to make them remember what he was talking about. Hera''s group went back to their home, and once more, the Empress created a soundproof barrier around the house so they could talk about the curse. This was going to be their routine for a while, and it was better to get used to it. 646 - Culprits everywhere On that first day, when they started working their jobs, everyone found out one thing or another that could lead them to the curse. Helena and Alex discovered that a few people in the village were very secretive about something they were doing. By themselves, those people didn''t seem to match anything that the curse could do. But when they were all together, it felt a bit odd. Two of them were oracles. They were able to predict the future to a certain extent, things that were happening far away, and even discover secrets by using certain spells. However, their abilities weren''t very precise and, more often than not, would be wrong or have important pieces of information missing. Another of the sketchy individuals was someone who worked with enchantments and ways to amplify magic. In essence, he could only improve the city''s defenses since everything required a stationary target. The fourth person was a very angry man who had a lot of hatred for a specific kind of monster. Apparently, the Cherry Mantises attacked his family and killed everyone but him. He then vowed to destroy all of them and was actively searching for ways to wipe them out. As Helena mentioned, they did not seem to be the culprits by themselves, but when their abilities were grouped together, it became a possibility. Plus, the way all of them were acting was very suspicious. They would hide around, sneak to each other''s houses, try to hide certain parts of their house when the cleaners were there, and overall, they seemed sketchy. On the other hand, Shane and Mylo figured out something a bit different. The guards constantly mentioned a few odd events they saw around the city. There was a monster leaving some sort of purple trail that was viscous and could consume the roots around it, but it seemed to be harmless to any living organisms that were not plant-based. Again, by itself, that wouldn''t be very worrisome, but when thinking about how Alex described the painting that cursed her, it would match very well with what was being depicted. Adriel and Blue found out that the hunters'' leader, Reynara, was talking with the trap maker about how they could find a way to kill various monsters at once. She was discussing the idea of creating a trap so big that it would cover most of the room, and any beast that could prove to be a danger would be killed by it instead of having people hunt for the creature. Considering her job, it makes sense that she would be trying to protect more people or make her life easier. However, according to everyone, Raynara was a battle-crazed maniac. She would thrive when she was hunting, and if she spent more than a couple of days back in the village without going after a monster, she would start to lose it. That just made her request to make this giant trap very confusing. Then again, no one was able to tell what she was thinking. Even Grilat, who was the person she was closest to, had a hard time predicting her behavior. Bonnie also discovered a few things. For one, Multrak didn''t seem to be related to the curse at all. She couldn''t find anything about him that would make sense for him to create or be involved with the curse. His legacy was about blood and about getting stronger with blood. It didn''t have a way of spreading or talking or infecting anything, and all its effects were temporary on others. Only he could have the permanent effects. The other interesting piece of information was that according to the map and the movement of the monsters, there was a spot in the room where nothing got close. It was in the jungle, nowhere near a water source, but every creature seemed to be trying to stay far away from that location. Even when the destination of a pack of monsters would be on the other side of that area, they would instead take a detour that would make them move to more dangerous paths for some reason. Hera was the last one to speak. She told them all about the witch doctor and how he would make spells, potions, and hexes and practice voodoo, but aside from the names and the fact that he was the closest thing to someone who used curses, she couldn''t bring herself to doubt him. Calling him odd, strange, or weird was an understatement, but he wasn''t a bad person. He was earnestly trying to help the people in the village, and his hexes were used to either help him make the potions or change the potion itself so it would perform its job better at the expense of something else. If he created the curse, Hera believed it was an accident or something that evolved in a way he did not expect. "You know, there''s another thing that has been bothering me," Sammy spoke up. "What''s that?" Shane asked. Sammy stopped himself from speaking. He was going to say that it was weird for a memory to be this detailed, but that would ruin the illusion that they were in the past. Thinking fast, he started talking about something else that worried him, "Why did we arrive here right now? We used a memory to get here, but the curse is not here. How can you remember something from before when he was created?" Everyone stopped to think about that statement for a moment. It was very weird, everyone had to agree, and when it boiled down to it, the answer should be obvious. "The curse is already around," Bonnie said. "That''s what I''m thinking. It seems to be the only option," Sammy nodded. "No, hang on. That''s not entirely true," Alex spoke up, making the entire party turn to her, " it doesn''t mean that the curse is already here. But it means that all those people that we see were affected by the curse. I can''t say this for certain because I''m not the curse, but I''m pretty positive it can read my memories. The curse told me a couple of things that I never mentioned to anyone after I got cursed. So it might have used the memories of those who existed before it did to understand when it started." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Also. It might have something to do with the Night River and the Boulder of Vines. I mean, it''s very weird that we came here now, and there''s this weird hunt being prepared. I think that will be the catalyst for everything. Not necessarily they hunt itself but something that''s going to happen at the same time. Maybe someone will get hurt, and they will have to do some dangerous procedure to help them. Or the night River has some sort of parasites inside its body that''s going to latch on to someone and start to spread. Hell, maybe it''s not even related to the night River at all, but it will be something that we stumbled upon when we are going there," Hera added. "The bottom line is that we are facing the same problem we faced yesterday. We don''t have enough information," Shane sighed. "Yeah. I don''t know why, but I thought it would be much easier to figure this out," Adriel nodded. "Really? I honestly thought it would be harder. I mean, the curse is supposed to have existed thousands of years ago and survived all this. To me, it should be hard even to find people who could be, potentially, related to it," Bonnie replied. Everyone seemed a bit frustrated with the situation, but Helena clapped her hands loudly, "Okay. I know we''re all very stressed, but we are here and making progress. That''s all we can hope for. Everyone had a long day, so let''s just sleep, and we can try to figure something else out tomorrow, shall we?" Even those who still wanted to talk all realized how exhausted everyone looked. It seems like the sleep they had the previous night wasn''t enough to let them rest properly. Accepting Helena''s suggestion, the party went to bed. Nimbus and Lurize kept watch again, but this time, they were joined by Frost and Edge. When morning came, Grilat stopped by to wake them up, this time just at the break of dawn. They walked out, ate, and split off to do their jobs. Hera went straight to the underground ''greenhouse,'' and she found Kadhan already working. "Did you even sleep?" she asked. "I did. I''m sleeping now," Kadhan pointed to the left where another Kadhan was sleeping. "Moss body?" Hera turned to the wake witch doctor. "Moss body. Very helpful, and when most of us are sleeping, it''s much easier to hold a conversation," Kadhan continued. "Oh, so that''s why you speak like that at times? Your mind is split, then you can''t phrase things properly?" Hera asked. "That is correct. Even someone like me struggles to talk and control a few bodies at a time. After all, having one is more than enough some times," Kadhan smiled. "How many bodies do you have active right now?" "More than I''m willing to discuss." "And where are they? Like, what are they doing?" "Preparing materials for potions. Some of the ingredients take a lot of work to make." "I see¡­" Hera still had questions, but it was only the second day she was working with the Witch Doctor. It wasn''t good to press too much, "Wait, is the reason why there are a bunch of voices when you speak because of your other bodies?" she realized that the voices were quieter now, almost as if there were fewer of them. Kadhan nodded, "It''s one of the drawbacks of the skill. The voice comes from all of us, and the moss makes it sure all can be heard," Kadhan turned to Hera, "No one else realized that before. You are smart. That is dangerous." Hera smiled, "Thanks. I think. But if you have those bodies, why did you need an assistant?" she tried to change the subject. "Splitting the moss is not perfect. Making potions requires concentration, focus, attention. With split bodies, it''s hard to do that. I wanted someone to make the simple potions, so I only have to worry about more complex work." Hera nodded and started helping. During the next few hours, she continued helping Kadhan take care of the plants, learn about the potions he would make, and even some of the healing spells he had to use in an emergency. Eventually, the Witch Doctor asked Hera to look for one of the repair team members. He had asked their leader for a few large boulders and pieces of wood, and apparently, he was ready to deliver them. The Empress asked how he knew that, and Kadhan showed a line of ceramic cups. All of them had some moss inside and the name of someone in the city written around it. "They talk in the moss. I listen. Only one way, but effective. I''ve tried allowing for two-way communication, but that never worked," Kadhan replied. "Why? Are they hard to care for?" "Not quite. This moss only receives. Theirs only sends." "What if we made this differently? We get someone from the village, and they are responsible for listening to what people say to the moss and then sending that message to someone else. That way, people who might need to give messages to someone else could communicate quickly. That way, we can talk with the hunting teams too or talk to each other without having to find them." Kadhan tilted his head, "The moss can''t send messages outside the village. Too far away. Who would need to talk in such a hurry?" " I don''t know. The guards? Multrak? You? What if there is an attack?" "Grilat can warn us of attacks. For the rest, nothing is too urgent that has to be said right away. Carrying that would be a hassle. So I only use it when I need something," Kadhan explained and pointed to the door, "Now go. We are making a new field." 647 - Unexpected meeting Hera left the greenhouse/laboratory and started looking for the repair team. It didn''t take long for that, but it wasn''t quick either. She had to ask Multrak and a few other people until someone could tell her they were outside the village, fixing a few traps and part of the damaged wall. To her luck, as the Empress walked towards the gate leading outside, she encountered Adriel going the same way as she. "Hey. What are you doing here?" the elf asked. "Hey. Kadhan asked me to come to get some materials for a new field. Apparently, he already talked with the person in charge," Hera replied. "oh? I think I know what you are talking about. But let''s check with Berylla anyway. She''ll be pissed if I give you the wrong things," Adriel replied. "Berylla?" Hera tilted her head. "She''s the one in charge. And you don''t want to be on her bad side. Trust me." "Ok. By the way, what are you doing here?" "I''m coming from the bathroom. I tend to drink a lot of water in places like this. Old paranoia because I got lost in a forest when I was little," Adriel chuckled. "Really? What happened? You don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to." "It''s fine. It''s been a long time since I talked about this. Honestly, it''s not an interesting story. I was little, my dad took me camping, and I got lost for a week. The jungle didn''t have any good water sources, so I had to figure things out on that part. That was the only problem I had, the room was very safe, and the critters were not actually aggressive. I even ended up sleeping with a giant squirrel in a tree," Adriel shrugged. "I see. Sorry to hear about it, but sleeping with a giant squirrel kind of sounds like fun," Hera chuckled. "It wasn''t that bad, but the smell was rough. Not all species have the care to piss outside their nest," Adriel shivered. "I don''t know if I needed to know that. The image of cuddling a giant squirrel is kind of spoiled now." "Tough luck," Adriel smiled, and they continued walking outside. It took a little while for them to arrive where the other repair team members were located. They were all doing their best to repair a part of the outer wall. The main issue was that what broke during the night was a piece of the top. Usually, that wouldn''t be a problem, but since this particular side of the wall was very close to the trees, it meant that monsters could jump from one of the trunks to the village, and until the structure was fixed, the spells and protections that covered the place would be weakened. However, they didn''t seem to be having that much trouble reaching the top. Instead of the usual struggle of carrying logs up the wall, they simply asked Blue to use her legacy to grab the wood and place it on top. Right now, the controller was holding part of the new, repaired structure with one massive cloud hand while the other picked a few of the materials from the ground and took them to the top of the wall. On the ground, yelling orders to everyone, there was a short, stout woman with ashy gray skin, a pair of pronounced tusks coming from her mouth, and a short trunk in place of her nose, "C''mon you fucking rat, that is not difficult, hammer that nail on the side of the log¡­ NOT THAT WAY, YOU MORON! It''s supposed to go across the wood and come out to the other side. Fuck people. This is not difficult. Even the newbie gets it," Berylla turned to Blue, "You are doing great, honey. Keep holding the logs like that. Sorry about those dumbasses." "Doing well, Blue?" Hera asked. She knew that holding the clouds like that took some effort, and the controller''s face was showing. "I can do this all day," Blue smirked and then noticed Berylla''s glowing face, "It''s just an expression. Help me out here. This is not easy." "I''m trying. These people are sharp as a melon," Berylla yelled more and then turned to Hera, "So, who are you, and what are you doing here?" "I''m working with Kadhan. He asked me to grab the materials you separate for him," Hera replied, but then remembered something the witch doctor asked just as she was leaving, "Oh, and to get the moss. He has to replenish it or something." "Oh¡­ We are kind of in the middle of something here. I don''t think I can spare anyone to help you get the things," Berylla replied. "That''s fine. I can do it myself," Hera summoned Nimbus and Lurize. She found that the two of them walking behind her made people uneasy. "Ah, you are the other one. Are those wings just for show, or do they work?" Berylla pointed at Nimbus. "They do work." "Can you help me here then?" "Nope. I''m working with Kadhan, not you." Berylla huffed, which caused a tiny elephant sound, "Fine. Adriel, take her to the warehouse. On the corner, there is a pile with the things for Kadhan. There is a flower on top of the pile. It''s easy to see." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Ok. Be right back then," Adriel nodded and pulled Hera to walk. She didn''t say anything else but waved at Blue before walking back. When they were out of earshot, Hera whispered, "Trying to skip work?'' "Pretty much. If I stayed there for too long, she would start asking me to help." "I feel that pain. When I worked in a bookstore, I took every opportunity to get away from my boss," Hera chuckled. They continued talking softly, making sure not to make too much noise since they were out of the village until reaching the gate. Just as they were about to go inside, a woman''s voice came from behind them, "And who are you two?" Both of them stopped and turned around, only to be met with a 2-meter-tall woman with vibrant orange hair. Her ears were human-like but also very fluffy, with fur growing around it and from the inside, and she had pale white skin. She had a large scar on the side of her cheek that looked almost as if she had an unnatural smirk. She wore a fitted orange top that showed a lot of cleavage, with some straps going around her exposed ribs. There was also a necklace with different kinds of fangs and teeth resting on top of her chest. Round shoulder pads with some fur around them, a leather skirt matching the same color of her hair, and three fox tails coming out of her back. She also had orange leather wrist straps and boots to complete the look. In a way, Hera expected this look from a character in a videogame, not from a real person. However, what caught her attention more than anything else were her eyes. They were completely black with red irises. "We could ask you the same," Hera replied while talking in her head, ''Everyone get ready. Just in case.'' "No, no, no. That''s not how it works. I live here, and I know for a fact you don''t. So I''ll be polite and ask one more time before I skin the two of you and make a new pair of boots. Who are you?" the woman stepped forward, moving her hands and showing that she had claws instead of nails. The movement made Adriel step back, worried he might be the first target. "We live here now, and as far as we know, you are the one who is not from around. I''m not answering anything before I know who you are," Hera replied. "You live here? Since when?" the woman scoffed but stopped to think for a moment, "Fine, I''ll play along," she turned back to the forest, "You guys go ahead. Ask Grilat or Multrak if we have newbies. If we do, send the signal for fresh water." From the jungle, a group of four walked out and rushed past Hera and Adriel. Armory, already on top of the Empress'' head, noticed them before they were even out of their hiding spot, allowing Hera to continue her staring contest with this new person. At the same time, she didn''t bother with the people who were running to the city. Even if they were dangerous or here for a bad reason, her entire party was in there, not to mention the actual members of the Vanguard. And this woman in front of her seemed much more dangerous than anyone who walked away. The woman didn''t say anything, while Hera did the same. They continued just staring at each other with intense expressions. Armory kept creating more and more plans of attack in case this person decided to do something. Adriel seemed to be more free to move, but when he tried to step back, the woman glanced at him, making the elf stop in his tracks, not wanting to start this battle prematurely. A few minutes passed when a melodic whistle sound reached their ears. With an eerie smile, the woman stepped back and retracted her intimidating presence, "Well, how about that? You were telling the truth. I''m Reynara, the leader of the hunters here, and until you are done with your sentence, you will be working under me every so often." "Oh, you are Reynara? Grilat talked about you," Hera quickly realized why this person was trouble. Her threat of turning them into boots didn''t sound like just a random way of making them scared but something she had done before. "He did?" Reynara smiled, "All bad things, I hope." "Depends on your point of view. I think," Hera replied. "Tell me. Wait, no. It''s not fun if I know. I like the chase," Reynara smiled. "I could tell. You seem the kind who don''t like it when things are easy," Hera nodded. Reynara stared at the Empress with an intense expression for a moment before chuckling, "You know. I like you. You''re fun. People here are afraid of talking back to me. Probably worried I would show up in their house in the middle of the night." "That wouldn''t be a problem. It''s not like you can invade our house without us knowing anyway," Hera shrugged. "Is that a challenge?" Reynara had a glint in her eyes. "Take it as you will," Hera turned around to head back to the city. "Where do you think you are going?" Reynara rushed to stop Hera. "To work. Kadhan is waiting for me." "Oh no, you are not going there. Your sentence includes you hunting whenever asked, and that is exactly what you will do now. We are hunting," Reynara turned to Adriel, "You are coming too, pretty boy. I need to see what you can do." "What is with the people in this village and making us prove ourselves? I beat Grilat. Why do you have to know what I can do?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Because I''m the one who leads the hunters. Grilat is overstepping his job," Reynara snarled, "Now come. I noticed a few packs of monsters nearby, and they are a bit too close for comfort." Hera and Adriel glanced at each other. Neither of them wanted to go to the woods with this woman, especially since she had black eyes. That screamed curse for them, and the last thing they needed was to be picked off one by one. Still, it looked like she wasn''t asking but telling. If they said no, she would mark them, and that could bring a mountain of problems. Not to mention that they still needed information, and Reynara was one of the people who were doing suspicious things. "Fine, but I can''t take too long. I still have a lot to do. Everybody out," Hera said and called her entire court. Nimbus and Lurize were already in front of her, with their hands on their weapons staring at the chief huntress while the rest of her court circled the woman. Daskka was wrapped around the Empress'' neck, protecting her from any attacks aimed at her. "Oh? You are full of surprises, aren''t you? Isn''t that a legacy?" "Yes, and if you get any funny ideas, you will be dead before you can do anything," Hera replied. During all this interaction, she heard her court cuss and threaten Reynara, and she was letting their influence get the better of her. Then again, they weren''t wrong. This woman was aggressive and started the interaction by saying she would kill them and invade their house. If Hera pulled back now, she might look like a pushover in the huntress''s eyes. Reynara laughed wholeheartedly and turned around, "You really are a delight. I would love to see you and your little friends here trying to kill me. Now let''s stop those jokes. We have work to do." 648 - Yet another test Hera kept following Reynara with Adriel by her side. Her court was all kitted with the magnets to allow them to make a wide perimeter around them. Nimbus and Lurize, on the other hand, were close to the Empress, just in case the huntress decided to do something against them. Reynara was aware of the court but was currently focused on tracking the monsters. There was a particular elusive swarm of Cherry Mantises that had been annoying her to no end. The creatures were not doing anything to harm the village, but they followed the hunting parties to eat the scrap they had left behind. By itself, that wouldn''t be a problem, but since they were noisy, Reynara ended up having to chase a few of her marks much farther than she was supposed to. They walked for about one hour. Getting considerably far away from the village until, finally, Reynara gestured for them to come closer but to stay quiet. Moving slowly, Adriel approached while looking for the monsters. Hera already knew where the swarm was, thanks to Edge scouting the area in front of Reynara. Because of that, the Empress moved closer to stopping at a large tree in Reynara''s line of sight. Hera set herself up for a pincer maneuver. The huntress nodded and whispered something, but her voice was too small for anyone to listen. Even Adriel, who was right behind her, couldn''t tell what she was saying. Hera considered sending Nimbus to her side so they could communicate, but that would go against her plan of letting her blades work as bugs around the place. The Empress tried making some gestures with her hands, but that also didn''t work. In the end, Hera turned to the other side and whispered softly, "Sammy, can you help me?" Hearing his voice, the turtle appeared in front of Hera in a poof of technicolored smoke, "You called?" "Yeah. Reynara is trying to talk to me. Can you tell me what she is saying?" "I can try. But I need to have someone close by so I can hear what they''re saying," Sammy explained. Hera tried telling Reynara to say it again, but the huntress was no longer speaking, only gesturing. Frustrated, she decided to do something different, "Sammy. Tell Adriel I''m going in. Ask him to follow my lead. I''ll make sure my court gets their attention. He only has to focus on killing the ones trying to run. I wouldn''t mind getting a few buffs either." "Got it, be careful," Sammy replied. Hera saw the small turtle appear close to Adriel, and after a few moments, both of them turned back to her and nodded, only for Sammy to disappear again. Hera looked around and asked Edge to tell her everything about this area. The Cherry Mantises had created a nest between two very large hedges covered in thorns. And while this provided very good cover against any monsters, It also meant that there were only two paths leading in and out of the nest. One that Hera, Adriel, and Reynara were currently hiding in, and another on the other side. ''Nimbus, Lurize, Frost, Core, take the rear. Avoid using any fire spells. If the hedges end up burning, it might create an opening for the mantises to run. Fly above the tree line and let me know when you are in position,'' Hera told her court, and the four immediately started to move. Raynara noticed a few weapons flying up and tried to tell her to stop but to no avail. The Empress was already focusing on the monsters ahead. According to Edge, the creatures didn''t notice them approaching. They were all moving around as if nothing was happening. After about 30 seconds, the blades she sent arrived at their destination, with Nimbus and Lurize going back to their bipedal forms. Hera turned to Adriel and just pointed at the monsters before stepping out with her court and covering the backside of this area in an Elemental Poison Storm. She made sure not to let the rain fall too close to her location so that Adriel and Reynara wouldn''t be affected by her spell. As soon as the rain started, the Cherry Mantises noticed something was wrong, but they couldn''t realize the biggest threat before Hera started the attack. She dashed forward, with Fang and Claw in her hand, decapitating the pair of mantises farthest away from the group while, at the same time, the rest of her court started to clean up any stragglers that were too far from the main force. However, as soon as the bugs noticed the danger, they all returned to the nest, hoping to be protected from any more attacks. That was both a good and a bad thing. The good part was that all the monsters were now stuck in one place. It was a large ring made of something that looked a lot like wood, but also it didn''t, that was surrounding one of the trees, almost like some avant-garde building created by someone who specializes in conceptual structures. And that was also the bad part. She had no idea how strong that structure was or if there were any dangers or Possible traps in that place. Not that she believed the monsters were smart enough to make proper traps, but even in the animal kingdom, some species would create ambushes and other types of defenses that could very well be considered traps. "Adriel, do you have anything that can help here? I''m worried about using fire," Hera said without looking away. "Maybe we can drown them? I have a pretty decent waterfall spell," Adriel suggested. "Reynara, would that work? Are they capable of living underwater?" Hera asked. "Maybe. Maybe not. That''s not up to me to tell you. You have to figure it out on your own," the leader of the hunters said with an annoyed tone. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "What''s with these people trying to make us prove ourselves? It''s just nonsense if you ask me," Hera huffed and turned to Adriel, "Your call, water or fire?" "Let''s go with fire. I think it''s easier to deal with if things go wrong," Adriel said and threw a couple of fireballs that exploded on the sides of the nest and made it catch on fire. "I was going to ask if you are sure, but well¡­ ok then," Hera sighed and got ready to face the mantises. However, what happened next was very different from what she expected. Instead of the monsters running away and trying to flee the flames, the creatures were still inside the nest, and the sounds of their wings became louder. "That plan would have worked out perfectly if it wasn''t for the fact that this particular swarm is resistant to fire," Reynara said. She spoke out loud, clearly showing her location, but she was far enough away not to be an immediate threat to the monsters. "What? Are they not the same as the other ones we fought?" Hera asked. "No. And maybe if you had tried to observe for a moment, you would have noticed some differences. But you chose to ignore me and attack, so deal with it," Reynara added while picking her nails. "I couldn''t hear you! We''re in the middle of the Jungle, and we are far away from each other. How was I possibly supposed to know what you were talking about!" Hera snarled. This place, or more to the point, the people of this place, were really getting on her nerves. "Hera!" Adriel and Armory gasped at the same time when a group of the mantises inside the flaming nest jumped out and rushed towards her. The Empress spun around, already wielding Fang and Claw, and blocked the Mantis that was about to strike her. The creature still had the pink color of the cherry blossom trees from where its name came from, but now it was also completely engulfed in pink flames. Not wanting to know what those Flames could do, Hera quickly decapitated the first monster. Another one came closer and was blocked by Ooze and Dao, who made quick work of the creatures. However, there was a lot still incoming. A group flew from the nest and came in as if they were mortars. The one spearheading the formation was leaving a trail of fire behind it. The mantises that were following the flames started to grow, and their arm blades became even brighter with the intense heat. Before reaching Hera, ten monsters attacked the air creating fire blades out of their arms and sending those attacks flying toward the Empress. To make matters worse, the attack wasn''t simply a version of Alex''s wind blade but with a fire element. Instead, the fire ignited the air around it, causing a chain reaction that covered the entire area above Hera in flames. "Shit!" Hera gasped and activated her fire elemental armor before jumping toward the burning sky. She would probably be injured, but the flames in her spell might be strong enough to push back the flames created by the bug''s attack. ''HERA!'' Nimbus gasped and activated his Frozen Ash aura around the Empress. At the same time, he covered her with a layer of Mana Shield and triggered the Share the Pain skill so that the damage would go mostly to him. With all that stacked on top of each other, the Empress barely felt any pain while going through the fire. However, the same couldn''t be said for Adriel. He tried to hide behind the tree, but the flames were much stronger than anyone was expecting. A wave of fire covered the ground, spilling out like water, burning most of the vegetation and anything in the area. Including the elf. He yelled, getting severely burned by the attack. When Hera looked back, she could only see his arm already covered in third-degree burns peeking from the tree. "Nimbus!" Hera yelled, and the Sentinel rushed to her side as the Empress dashed to Adriel, only to be stopped by Reynara. "What do you think you''re doing? The monsters are that way," the fox beastwoman pointed to the monsters coming from the nest, which were currently still being attacked by Hera''s court. "Then go kill them. He is more important than this bullshit," Hera snarled, but as she tried to step forward, Reynara grabbed her arm. "You are not done here." ''Daskka, Lurize, pin her down,'' Hera told them mentally while staring this woman down. Daskka quickly changed to her giant snake form and wrapped it around the huntress''s legs. Reynara was caught off guard by that move and jumped back, avoiding the attempt to grapple, but the snake didn''t let up. She tried attacking a couple of times, biting or using her tail as a whip, but not to actually kill Reynara. She knew that doing that would cause a lot of problems. They weren''t here to kill anyone willy-nilly, only the curse. However, the snake forced the beastwoman with black eyes to reach a specific position. Reynara tried fighting back, using her claws to strike, and even attempted to use some sort of illusion spell to split up into several versions and move away. Still, Daskka, being a creature made out of mana, could tell which one of them was the real one without much trouble. The herald continued attacking, making Reynara even more frustrated. She had never faced a snake before and didn''t know what to expect. When the huntress stepped back and had a tree to her right, a massive humanoid golden beetle appeared out of nowhere and slammed her against the trunk. Lurize shoved his arms inside the wood, making a near-perfect trap that stopped Reynara''s movement completely. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" the chief hunter snarled, spit flying out of her mouth. "Saving my friend, now shut up," Hera walked over to Adriel and saw that he was in really bad shape but still breathing. Some of the minor healing spells he knew were already active, holding back the damage, "Nimbus, take him to Kadhan. Take Edge with you and keep the Elemental Strength spell active at all times. I''ll follow as soon as I can. Take frost too, just to hold him while you run," she put out her hand for the Sentinel to receive some mana and made Adriel grab the small skinning knife that could help people heal their wounds, "You''ll be ok. I promise," Hera whispered in his ear before picking him up and placing the man on top of Nimbus, who was already in his griffon form. As she saw Nimbus running towards the city, she turned around and glanced at Reynara, who was still trying to get off of her makeshift restrain, "Let me go, you bitch, or I''ll make sure you suffer before I kill you." "Shut the fuck up. If you keep that shit up, I''ll just leave you here to be burned by those things," Hera scoffed and turned back to the monsters; there were still a lot of them, and she would have to clear them out before heading back to the city. 649 - Power beyond measure "Let me go right now!" Reynara barked again, this time trying to claw Lurize, but his armor was too strong for her, and she couldn''t make move wide enough to get some force behind her attacks. ''Can you hold her down?'' Hera asked without looking in his direction, not because of the Royal Tutor but because of the woman he was currently holding against a tree. ''I can, without a problem. I''m just worried about you.'' ''Don''t be. I''m done worrying about her,'' Hera replied, increasing the size of her Elemental Poison Rain. She also triggered an Elemental Strength spell on all of her Blades, including Lurize himself. More of the mantis were coming out of the nest. She could count about 50 or so already, and they showed no signs of stopping, ''Dao, light them up.'' ''With pleasure,'' Dao started sending his lightning towards the monsters, aiming at the biggest clusters hoping the electricity would bounce around because of the poison rain. Hera jumped forward to start attacking the monsters, followed by most of the court that was still around. Only Lurize stayed back, still holding Reynara down. She ignored all the yelling coming from the huntress, and a small part of her hoped the monsters would change targets and aim at her since she was making so much noise. Lurize was more than sturdy enough to take all the attacks the creatures could give, and even the flame wave was only able to slow him down because it obscured his vision. Still, she focused on the task at hand. More of the mantises started to swarm her, aiming at every opening, but her Fire Elemental Armor seemed to push them away, or at least make them wary of attacking her. With a spin, Hera gathered the blood of all the bugs she killed and sent a set of five bloody claws at the nest where the creatures were still coming out. Ooze moved along, spinning and attacking every single bug that came his way, but when a group started to do the formation that triggered the flame wave before, he used his skill to scream and warn everyone of the danger. Core jumped into action and pierced the leader of that pack, splitting it in half and stopping the pink fire trail from growing. Despite that, the bugs still were able to attack, even if this time, they couldn''t create that massive wave of fire and just send a few flame blades at Hera and Daskka, who were taking care of killing the mantises that were trying to run away. Hera triggered Armory''s buff and used her boots to glide around the area. Just as one of the monsters was about to strike her from the back with two armed strikes aimed at the same point, her armor activated, and a pair of spectral wasp wings appeared behind her, blocking the blow. That wasn''t enough to defend from the entire attack, but adding it to the defenses of her armor, it was as if the insect only bounced off of her. With a smirk, Hera sent her blades to go around the nest. Despite the movement and all the attacks, the mantises were still clumping together in that area, and she could try something because of it. Another seven monsters attacked her, swinging their arms and sending blades of fire in the Empress'' direction. Most blows were dodged, but a few hit only to damage her armor and not her body. Hera noticed a couple of scratches on the Yellow Wasp Carapace that covered her torso. While it was a good thing that it was withstanding the attacks so well, she also had to be careful. After all, it looked like the monsters were able to damage her armor, and if that was the case, it could eventually break under their restless assault. With Daskka''s help to finish up the last details, Hera and her court managed to get into formation and trigger the Pool of Styx spell. Her conditions this time were that any Cherry Mantis inside would be affected by the debuff, and the buff would go only to her since her court wouldn''t count as targets for it. Suddenly, she felt unbelievably stronger; what happened inside the wasp dungeon seemed nothing compared to her current power. Unsure of the reason, she just decided to continue attacking. With a swing of Fang, she split the massive 100-meter-tall tree into two and broke open the nest completely. Inside, some of the Cherry Mantises were charred and burned, meaning that even if they were resistant to fire, they were not immune to it. And the reason why her strength shot up so much was that, inside the nest, there were hundreds of thousands of nymphs. Small larvae-like creatures that would eventually grow into full-blown Cherry Mantises. But right now, since they were only babies, it also meant that each of them should have extremely low attributes. Hera wouldn''t be surprised if they were getting a negative 90 in all of their stats because of the difference between her own attributes and that of the monsters. And if that were the case, each of those nymphs was giving her 54 points that would be split between her attributes. To top it all off, each of those points was equal to a flat 1-point increase and not be counted as the cost to increase an attribute through a level-up. A single nymph should be giving her that much extra strength. And in a nest with thousands, it wouldn''t be a surprise if, at least for this moment, Hera had just become the strongest person ever to exist. With a smile, she took advantage of her newfound strength and put on a show. She cast spells that were numerous times stronger than she was used to. Poison needles that could instantly turn a tree into dust, fire sprays that melted the rocks, and each raindrop from the Elemental Poison Storm were almost like a small meteorite that would destroy anything in its path. Even her court became monstrous; Dao''s chain lighting was like the wrath of a god covering large areas in blue light followed by a sound that made even the trees splinter. Core''s sediment was like a volcano eruption, ash, and sulfur coming from the massive pool of lava; Ooze didn''t dare use his skill for fear of killing Reynara, but each attack destroyed several trees at once like they were twigs. And Daskka''s mist suddenly flooded not just this part of the jungle but half of the entire room. Each of Hera''s attacks seemed to shake the very existence of the MAZE. But all that only lasted for a brief moment. As the creatures died, her increased strength vanished. And after that initial flurry, she was almost back at her regular power. Just as she noticed her strength starting to drop, Hera cast a delayed battle heal that was supposed to restore things to their previous state. Usually, that would only solve small problems, but after she killed the last monster and the spell triggered, the entire environment returned to its natural state. The lava was gone, the poison had vanished, and even the tree she cut in half had returned. She could only hope that the effect was still strong enough to fix the area, otherwise, the entire ecosystem would be in danger. Luckily for her, when the spell triggered, everything was back as it was supposed to be, except the Cerry Mantis, who was still dead. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hera stretched her neck and then walked back to Reynara. During the effects of the Pool of Styx, Lurize also got a taste of that godlike strength and became so sturdy that the huntress struggled to breathe in his presence. All the while, she watched the destruction caused by Hera. The Empress walked closer to Reynara and spoke, "Now, are you going to behave? Or are we going to have a problem? And to be clear, you can still make me and my friends work; just be fair, and if someone gets hurt, they become the priority unless it''s an emergency." "How did you¡­ how did you do that?" Reynara asked. Hera thought for a moment; she couldn''t actually explain the Pool Of Styx spell since that could change the future, so instead, she came up with a ridiculous solution, "It was all an illusion." "What? But the monsters are dead!" Reynara gasped. "Yes, because the illusion was made so they would believe they are dead, and because of that, they die. If an illusion is well made enough, no one can see it as fake. It''s easier to do that with bugs since they don''t notice a few things that would show it wasn''t real. Or what, did you think you would get hurt? C''mon, my spells were hitting this area, and nothing happened to you," Hera replied and glanced at Lurize, who defended against every single one of those spells with ease thanks to his Exoarmor skill that turned his defense into something absurd with all the extra attributes. She finished speaking just as a loud and panicked voice reached her ears. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" Sammy yelled. Hera turned to Reynara, "Give me a moment; I have to do something. Wait here," she told Lurize the same and walked off into the jungle until she was far enough away from earshot to say, "What?" "That thing! What the hell was all that?!" Sammy wanted to say more, but he composed himself. The power created by Hera''s spell almost destroyed the memory, and if that happened, everything would end up going to waste, but it wasn''t like he could just say that, and he had to make sure she would never do something like that again. "I used the Pool of Styx, that spell I told you about that drains the strength of things weaker than me; there were thousands of babies inside the nest, so I got a ridiculous big buff. I have to say it was pretty awesome, and I think I can replicate that. All I need is a jar of bugs," Hera replied with a smile. Sammy frowned. The weird part was that he knew that spell couldn''t do something like this. In the real world, if Hera were ever to double her attributes because of the effects of the Pool of Styx, that would be the limit. It was a limitation created by the system exactly to avoid this type of result. But somehow, that limitation didn''t translate to the memories. Maybe because, at this point in time, that limit didn''t exist, or maybe because the memory wasn''t aware of such rules. Luckily, he quickly came up with an idea to ensure she would never make something like that again, "The guides are all freaking out. Whatever you did goes against so many of the system rules that they are on red alert. Listen, avoid using that spell for a while until they figure out what the system will do. For now, it seems like it will just strip the magic of anyone trying to use something like that again." "Wait, what? Really? But I used it before, and nothing happened. I mean, sure, the effects were a bit different, but I might be able to get a lot stronger with it," Hera pouted. "I don''t know what to tell you; this is just what I''m getting from the guides. Also, remember we are in the past; the system here behaves differently than what it does in our time. I''m pretty sure you know about a bunch of natural disasters and other dangers that happened thousands of years ago, don''t you? We are in that time, and I really don''t want to figure out if those were natural or just the system saying, ''nope, let''s erase this and start again from scratch.''" Hera stopped to consider that for a brief moment with wide eyes and then just nodded, "Ok. I won''t do it again until you tell me to. It''s a shame, but we already have the curse to worry about. I don''t want to add the system''s wrath to it." "Thanks, just go back and take her to the village. I''ll talk to the guides. Also, something good came out of that. Edge managed to help Adriel recover completely. He still has some scars, but that''s it." Hera smiled, "I''m glad to hear it. I wasn''t even thinking about that." "Me too. Now go back to Reynara. And I do like that you said it was just an illusion. If she asks you to show it again, say it''s a skill with a very long cooldown, and you can show it to her later." "Got it," Hera nodded. Sammy waved goodbye and vanished to tell everyone else what had just happened. The Empress returned and, as the turtle predicted, had to say the illusion was a skill that required four months of cooldown. Reynara seemed slightly disappointed about it, but she knew she would eventually see it again. And that made Hera gain some time. If they were still here in four months, she would have to come up with a better excuse, but that was a problem for the future. With that out of the way, the two of them walked back to the village, the chief huntress seeing this newbie in a new light and Hera wishing she would have played a bit more with those powers before they were gone forever. 650 - Visible scars During most of their walk, neither Hera nor Reynara spoke, at least not with each other. The court was in a frenzy. Being able to use that much power out of the blue made them really excited, and they couldn''t stop gushing over how strong they became, even if just for a small moment. ''You were an actual volcano!'' Ooze said to Core. ''What about Dao? That lightning was ridiculous; I didn''t even know something like that could be that big,'' Core turned to the sword. ''I think you are missing Scythe''s skill. Sure, the chain effect is supposed to have a low trigger rate, but I felt like it was going off with each attack.'' ''I think that has to do with the luck stat. I mean, it would make a lot of sense for it to affect things that have a chance of happening,'' Daskka added. ''Right, I didn''t even think of that. And how far did your mist go? I couldn''t even tell,'' Armory perched on top of Hera''s head, peering down at the herald. ''Honestly. Even I don''t know. And I wasn''t even trying to make mist, you know. That was just what was coming out of my body. It''s a good thing that I didn''t try to change sizes. I think I would become a literal kaiju,'' Daskka joked, ''Then again, how would you like that, mum?... Mum?'' ''Sorry, what? I wasn''t listening,'' Hera asked. ''I asked if you wanted to see me as a giant monster. Are you ok, mum?'' Daskka poked her head up to look Hera in the eyes. ''Yeah, I''m fine. Thanks. I was just thinking about the fight back there. I mean, some of those spells were so strong. Maybe I can make something close to them. I just wish I had more time with that power to see how they actually worked. I feel like I''m missing something, the way the mana felt was¡­ different,'' Hera replied. ''Really? Was it? I don''t know if I agree. I mean, everything felt different, but I couldn''t tell if the mana was different in itself. Not more than the difference between before and after you got the title,'' Core replied. ''We can try to do something when we have a moment to rest. Maybe in the evening before bed. I don''t know if we can help since we couldn''t tell that difference, but still,'' Armory added. ''Oh, maybe Sammy can help! He messes with memories, right?'' Scythe added. ''That''s a good idea. But maybe it wouldn''t work now since he is still tethering us to the future. That might be making him use everything he got,'' Armory said. ''Yeah, we can figure something out later,'' Hera nodded. They continued walking for some time, traveling across the jungle. Only now the Empress realized how far away from the village they actually were. Since they were following Reynara as they walked, Hera didn''t pay much attention to the path. It was impressive how deep into the jungle they got while the huntress was leading them. While distracted by those thoughts and the feeling of mana, she felt during that power trip. She didn''t notice when Reynara spoke with her for the first time, only during her second phrase, that the Empress heard her voice. "I understand you are upset, but I don''t think it''s fair for you to just ignore me like that." "Sorry, what?" Hera turned to the side. "Oh? Now you are talking? I don''t want to know anymore," Reynara huffed. Hera let out a long sigh; interacting with this woman was exhausting, "Look, I didn''t hear what you just said, but if you want to be pissed for no good reason, be my guest. I''m not going to stop you." Reynara continued walking for a couple of minutes without speaking, leading Hera to believe she would have some peace until they reached the village, but her hopes were crushed, "I asked how the skill works. Does it make illusions more realistic? Or just makes them bigger?" Hera stopped for a moment, thinking about what she could say. The whole idea of the spells being illusions was all a lie, and she couldn''t exactly come clean about it, "A bit of both. I''m not that good with illusions, but the skill makes it so that I can share an imaginary world with my surroundings. The closer to reality something is, the better the illusion will be. That''s why I used our skills as a base, even if I went overboard. But again, you don''t have to worry. That kind of thing only works with creatures that are not that intelligent. Bugs and other animals that are easily tricked get the short end of the stick. For anyone else, it would be hard to make them believe they were actually being injured. I think the sound and the feeling of the illusions are what makes it hard to affect people, for instance. Usually, it would be the feeling of mana, but since I''m pretty good with that part, I don''t have to focus too much on it," Hera continued talking, mentioning a bunch of random variables that could affect the illusions. She went for the strategy of ''fake it until you make it,'' hoping that if she threw enough information at Reynara, she would either get bored and give up or her brain would fry. As soon as they got close to the village entrance, the two of them saw a group of guards by the gate. All of them were at the ready, waiting for an attack. Grilat was also there, holding a bone spear and waving at them when they got closer, "Are you two ok? Did you see what did that?" "What did what?" Hera asked. "The explosions, the mist, the thunder. We never saw anything like that. No creature in this room can make the jungle shake like that. I¡­ I just hope that beast never notices us," Grilat replied. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Reynara chuckled, "That''s a bit late for that." "Even this is a joke to you?! Just get inside and be ready for battle," Grilat huffed. "Of course, I''ll be ready to attack the big scary monster who can destroy the entire room," Reynara chuckled again, "But I wonder what will happen with the village. After all, you are the one inviting the beast inside." "What the fuck are you talking about?" Grilat turned to Reynara, clearly annoyed by her. The huntress just pointed at Hera, "There is your beast of legend. The creature who can make the jungle shake like no other." Grilat slowly turned to the Empress and removed his mask, "Is she telling the truth? Did¡­ did you do that?" Hera sighed, "Yes, but no. That wasn''t real. It was just an illusion. Look, I''m glad to explain it to everyone, but can I check on Adriel first? He was really injured when I sent him back." "Yes, he was. Why was he like that? And how did he recover so fast?" Grilat asked. "He recovered? Really?" Hera pretended to be surprised, "Maybe he had an item that could save him or something. Where is he?" "Tell me first, where did he get hurt?" Grilat pressed. "Kadhan asked me to get some materials for a new field. I had to go outside of the city to talk with Berylla, then when I was coming back with Adriel, Reynara appeared and forced us to go on a hunt. She didn''t give us any information on the monsters, and we ended up using fire against a group of Cherry Mantis who were resistant to it. Because of that, they made a flame wave, and Adriel got hurt. I managed to dodge it since I also have some fire defenses. Also, Reynara tried to stop me from getting him out of there. That''s not why he was hurt, but I feel like it''s important to say," Hera explained quickly, "Now, where is he?" Grilat just pointed to the central tree before turning to Reynara, "Who told you to take them?! They were not ready!" "Oh please, they managed to fight just fine, especially her. What''s the problem with a trial by fire? It''s not like it''s any different from what we do when they get here." "The difference is that they shouldn''t go alone, and we need to give them the information we have. Why do you think everyone wants to die like you do?! And why did you stop her from helping him? We look out for each other here! What is the matter with you, woman?" "I DO THIS BECAUSE I DON''T WANT TO DIE, YOU OVERSIZED CHIMP!" Reynara yelled back, and the two continued their shouting match as Hera rushed to the tree house. Whatever was going on between them, she wanted no part of it. It didn''t take long for Hera to enter the main building of the village and see Adriel sitting on one of the stumps, with Nimbus, Kadhan, and Multrak at his side. "Hey, thanks for the save," Adriel waved at Hera and smiled. She rushed over to hug him, "I''m glad you are ok," she pulled back only to notice the large burn scars around his neck. Those scars covered most of his body, including his arms and back. Most of the skin was stretched and red and gathering in vein-like patterns of white. The only place that seemed to be mostly unscathed was his face. "Is it that bad?" Adriel gave her a sad smile. "No... It''s¡­" Hera stopped herself, unable to finish her sentence. She didn''t want to lie to him, "I''m sorry." "That''s ok. We can figure out something later. Maybe there is a place that can change how I look," Adriel was thinking about plastic surgeries and how there were healers capable of fixing even the worst scars, but he wasn''t going to say it out loud, "Also, you don''t have to say sorry. I mean, you saved me. If it weren''t for you, I wouldn''t even be here." "But¡­" before she could continue speaking, Alex appeared at the entrance. "Addy!" the assassin rushed over and hugged the elf. Hera was quick enough to step away and not be caught in the middle, "What happened? Are you ok?" "I''m fine. I made a mistake and paid the price. Besides, if it weren''t for Hera and Nimbus here, I would have been a goner," Adriel chuckled, but the effort made him flinch. He was still sensitive even with the healing. "What happened? Who did this to you?" Alex still sounded worried, and Hera decided that it was best for the elf to explain what was going on. Walking over to Kadhan, she asked if any potions could help, but everything the witch doctor could do would only lead to the same result. He had a couple of salves to help with the tenderness, but those also made people sleepy, so it was better to use them only during the night. She asked Kadhan to explain to Adriel how to use it, and after making sure the elf didn''t need anything else, she started walking out, looking for the materials for the new field that the witch doctor wanted to make. Just as she left the tree house, Alex came rushing over, "Hera!" "Hey, are you ok?" "I''m fine. How about you? Adriel told me what had happened. That Reynara sounds like a bitch," Alex said. "You are not entirely wrong," Hera chuckled, "But don''t worry. I''m fine. But I have something to tell you all tonight." "Ok, and can I just ask you one thing? Why were you and Adriel together?" "Are you jealous," Hera smirked. Alex smiled and shook her head, "No, it''s just an odd matchup. I don''t know what happened for the two of you to be together to be caught by Reynara." "I was getting some materials for Kadhan. Honestly, I hoped to get Blue to help me, but she was busy fixing the outer wall. Adriel was free and was going to show me where the things were. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Hera explained. "Yeah, that''s what I figured," Alex looked down, deep in thought for a moment, "Hey¡­ Would it be ok if I did something stupid?" "What are you thinking about asking that thing?" Hera already knew she was talking about doing something with the curse and just took a shot in the dark about what it was. "Seeing if there is anything that could help Adriel. I know he is saying that it''s just a scar, but I can tell that is bothering him." "You can''t blame the guy. It just happened, and it''s ugly. Let me be the one to ask that, I was there, and my¡­ thingy is not as advanced as yours. But let''s do it later. We can''t be doing those kinds of things on our own," Hera added, "Don''t worry, we will fix Addy," she teased. "I was hoping that one sneaked by you. Don''t tell the others. I''m not that much fond of pet names in public, please," Alex had a pleading expression, and Hera just nodded. She never saw the assassin get that close to someone, and she wasn''t the one who would get in the way. However, the Empress could only hope that when the revelation of his real job came along, Alex wouldn''t be hurt. Alex nodded, and the two of them went back to what they were doing. Hera frowned while looking at the meal area. She ended up missing lunch, and dinner was still some while away. With a sigh, she headed to the shed that housed the building materials with Nimbus and Lurize by her side. She could only hope to find the right things; if not, she would have to chase after the repair team one more time. The only good part of all that was that she shouldn''t end up being dragged to hunt something again. Or at least, that''s what she hoped. 651 - After a hunt Hera gathered the materials for Kadhan''s new field, which was nothing more than just another part of the cave where he was placing planters for his mushrooms. Lurize and Nimbus helped her, and the three took a moment to talk about what happened when the Pool of Styx was active. To Lurize, he became much stronger than anything. He even imagined he would be able to take that giant monster that Hera saw during the vision when she met Mr. Beetle. Nimbus also had some unique effects. He became much faster, and his frozen ash aura almost covered the entire village. Luckily, he noticed the change soon enough and stopped the skill before anything was to happen or anyone could notice. Also, since the rumbling started right away, people''s attention should have been whisked away to more pressing matters. Meaning the loud explosions and the sudden appearance of mist. As she returned with all the materials for the fields, she was stepped by Pielle. A beast woman with a lithe, athletic build with powerful legs and a short stubby tail. Her face is mostly human-like but with a pronounced snout and squirrel-like teeth and small, pointed ears that stick up from the top of her head. Her hair is short, sleek, and somewhat coarse, reminding Hera of a large rodent like a capybara, going down all of her back, there was more of that hair/fur forming a line that vanished under her shirt. "What are you doing?" the woman gasped as she saw Hera carrying large pieces of wood to the tree house. "Working?" Hera tilted her head, "Kadhan asked me to get these ages ago." "So? You just went out hunting. It doesn''t matter the situation. If you hunt, you don''t have to work for the day. I thought people told you that, and did you even eat?" Pielle was somewhat aggressive, but not in a way that made Hera feel intimidated. It was more towards the mom friend complaining how you drank too much. "Actually, I didn''t. I looked over to the kitchen, but it was empty, so I figured I had to wait until dinner." Pielle huffed, "Are you kidding me? Who do you think we are?" "Criminals?" Hera replied with a confused expression. "Fair point, but still, no, we are not making you go hungry when you did what you were supposed to, especially if Reynara was the one who dragged you along. Honestly, that girl is going to be the end of us. Come with me; I''ll whip you something." Hera shook her head, "You really don''t have to. I''m fine waiting. I had a good breakfast, and I''m not that hungry." Pielle simply grabbed Hera''s hand and pulled her to the side; the movement caught the Empress off guard, making her drop all the logs on the ground, "Don''t give me that. I''m the cook for the day, and you will eat," the woman turned back to the people inside the tree house, "Kadhan, come get you wood. You don''t have an assistant for the rest of the day!" The Empress was dragged away. Lurize and Nimbus did their best to help Kadhan with the materials, but going down his tunnel would put them at too big of a distance from Hera. After a few moments, Hera was sitting on the communal meal table while Pielle was making something that smelled a lot like bacon, eggs, and steak. Even if she said she wasn''t hungry, no one could resist a smell like that. Even Daskka and her titled blades seemed interested in the meal, but she quickly told them not to eat anything. So far, no one in the village knew how intelligent the constructs she could create with her court were, and she wanted to keep things that way. "Here you go," Pielle came around and gave Hera a place with a full serving: three fried eggs, two medium rare steaks, and ten pieces of bacon. "How do you make them like this?" Hera grabbed the bacon and took a bite; it was so crispy that it looked like something out of a movie. "A while back, we figured out that if we use pure fat to make a few things, they turn hard like that. We''ve been trying different dishes, and so far, bacon has worked out the best," Pielle explained. "Do you have some potatoes here? Cut them small and put them there; that should work great," Hera replied while eating, dreaming about some french fries. Pielle nodded, "That''s a strange idea, but sure, I''ll give it a shot," she glanced over to the tree house, "It''s a shame Adriel didn''t want to join us, then again, it''s going to be hard for him to eat for a while." "Why? Did he get injured in the stomach?" Hera''s eyes went wide, thinking that maybe she had done something wrong, and things got even worse. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. It''s just how things go. When someone has a near-death experience around here, they usually stay away from food for a while. Only eat when they absolutely have to. Grilat was the same when he got his scars. He still doesn''t like to go around without the mask, even after all those years, poor thing." "Yeah¡­" Hera looked down. She was feeling sad, but at the same time, the food was too good for her to stop eating. Seeing her reaction, Pielle chuckled, "I''m glad you enjoy my food. There is more if you want. It''s just a shame that no one else seems to enjoy it as much. "Really? I don''t know why. This is amazing." "Ah, don''t worry about it. They just know how I got here," Pielle stood up and noticed Hera''s confused expression, "I poisoned my husband''s family with some soup. They all died. It was a shame about the children, but I couldn''t let their blood to be running around, they would end up tainting everything," the woman showed a cruel smiled that sent shivers down Hera''s spine, "Feel free to ask for more. There is still some meat. I don''t know what kind of meat it is, but it tastes great. I''ll take care of those dishes." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ''Right¡­ I keep forgetting that this is a prison for the worst of the worst,'' Hera thought to herself. For the rest of the day, she just walked around the village, tried to get to know people, and find someone who might be suspicious. The fact that they didn''t have enough information was really bothering her. A couple of hours before dinner was served, the Empress went to her house when a thought came to mind. She closed the door, securing it in place, and activated her soundproof bubble before turning to her titled blades. "I have a question. Can you guys use spells?" "Of course, we can. I activate the elemental armor all the time. And add the poison needle when I attack," Lurize nodded. "I can, but I prefer not to. Even if the wind feathers could have some synergy with me, I don''t want to waste my mana when I need to do something else, like the mana shield," Nimbus added. "Ok, but those are my spell. I''m asking, can you use spells?" Hera asked again, emphasizing the word you so they would understand what she meant. There was a long pause when neither of them spoke anything; then, slowly, all three turned to Daskka. "I mean¡­ In theory, they should be able to. I can use and make my own spells without a problem. I just don''t share them with Mum because, so far, all of them involve me changing my body to a different shape. It''s not like mum can do that." "But we can," Lurize said. "Yeah, but I''m kind of made out of mist. It''s different for you guys. You started as something solid. But back to the matter at hand. They should be able to make their own spells. I don''t know how strong they will be or how hard it will be to make it, but they should." "Really?" Nimbus asked with a glimmer in his eyes. It seemed like he enjoyed the idea. "Then I have some homework for you two. Try to come up with a spell or a couple. Just do something simple, something I can''t do. Also, this is just a test; you don''t have to push yourself too hard if you can''t do it," Hera said with a smile. The two titled blades nodded and started to think about the spells. To let them talk a bit better, she decided to keep both of them with her, on their weapon forms, so as not to scare the people of the village. In the end, the rest of her break was spent just walking around and talking to her friends. Hera wanted to meet up with everyone soon to talk about Reynara and the curse. However, dinner would come before that, then Grilat''s class. Luckily for her, everything went by quickly. The meal was amazing, the class was simple, and when the fighter faced Bonnie, he was eliminated almost instantly. Again, he underestimated his opponent''s strength. By the time he realized what the elemental motes were, Bonnie sent out a flurry of elemental fists coming from all angles that ultimately destroyed the moss body he was using after giving him a thorough beating. During the night, Hera and her friends gathered back in their house to discuss things. The biggest topic was Reynara, Adriel''s injuries, and what Hera did. "Ok, so here is the thing. If I knew the Pool of Styx would do that, I would have held back to use it only when we really needed it. And, honestly, I should''ve checked my attributes, but I think they were getting close to a million," Hera explained. "A million!?" Bonnie gasped. "Yeah, that''s the only explanation I can give you. I mean, I hit the babies with the pool, and there were so many that I couldn''t even count. So the increase I got from each would be massive." "But that can''t happen again. The spell almost sent us back to the present, and the system is now paying very close attention to this room. We are already doing something that pushes its boundaries; if we push too much, the MAZE will push back," Sammy added. "So, can we use that as an eject button? Like if we need to run away from here fast, Hera can use that spell and toss a meteor somewhere?" Blue asked. "Maybe, but I doubt we would even have the chance. If Hera starts using that spell again, I think the system will just strip her of her magic completely. If it was anyone else, that would already be bad, but Hera¡­ I don''t know what would happen to her legacy if she lost all magic," Sammy hated what he was doing. He was supposed to help people cope with their traumas, not lie to them about things, but he couldn''t risk Hera using that spell again and destroying the memory. And the guides hammered down the importance of getting rid of the curse. Hera''s eyes went wide as she looked at Nimbus, Lurize, and the rest of her court; she then turned to Sammy, "Don''t do it again. Got it." "Speaking of doing bad things. I want to use the curse," Alex spoke up. "What? Why?" Shane gasped. "To see if there is a way to heal Adriel''s scars," the assassin replied point blank. "Alex, no. We agreed that I was the one who would do it," Hera shook her head. "You already saved him. It''s not fair that you are the one to get more cursed because of it," Alex had a serious expression. "But we don''t know what will happen if your curse keeps growing. It''s almost to your neck already," Hera rubbed her temple, "Look, it''s better only to let it grow to the points we know about. Why risk it? What if the next stage is the blob thing." "I''m willing to take that risk," Alex replied with a calm voice. "What? No! Why are we even discussing this? No one is using the curse just because I have a few scars," Adriel jolted up; he was still tender, but he powered through, "This sucks; I know better than anyone, but we don''t have to go after a way of fixing me. All we need to do is remove the curse and find our way back to civilization. I know a doctor who can fix me. It''s going to cost a bit of money, but I have more than enough for it." "But if we can fix this now, why wait? What if it''s something we can only find here and not in the future?" Alex asked. "You mean present," Mylo said. "What?" "Their future, our present." "Whatever. We have resources here. We can use them," Alex pressed. "I don''t care. If you care about me at all, you won''t do it. I''m going to be a teenager now and give this as an ultimatum. If you ask the curse about fixing me, we are over, and I mean it!" Adriel huffed and walked off to his room. There was a tense moment of silence as everyone waited for the assassin''s reaction, but in the end, she just slumped back on the bench. The rest of the conversation died down, and they all decided to go to bed. It was a tense day, and they needed some rest, some more than others. Thankfully, Mylo offered to sleep in the same room as Adriel so he and Alex wouldn''t keep arguing through the night. Everyone did their night routine, going to the bathrooms and activating protection spells, and finally, they all got ready to sleep. A voice crept inside her mind as Hera was lying in bed, trying to sleep. It was a mix of a whisper with a gargle that felt eerie, to say the least, ''I can show you. Show you what you missed. Show you how you felt with all that power.'' Hera knew this voice, it was the curse, and she also could tell what it was talking about. It was offering her a way to see what she did today again, to properly see it. However, as tempting as that was, there was another thing she wanted more at the moment, ''Can you just shut up so I can sleep?'' 652 -Village Chief The next morning, during breakfast, Multrak clapped his hands loudly to get everyone''s attention. It seemed like the village was used to that kind of thing, and they all stopped to listen. "First of all. Good morning everyone. Second, yesterday Hera and Adriel went out on their first hunt. Even if it was something that wasn''t prepared properly, that doesn''t change the fact that they have succeeded and returned alive and well. A bit scorched, but well," Multrak smiled at Adriel, who took the joke like a champ. "Scorched? I think I was way past well done," the elf joked. "I agree, but I wasn''t the one who was going to say that," Multrak chuckled, "A toast to them. They have officially become part of the Vanguard!" "Cheers!" everyone raised their glasses and took a sip. "Now, the rest of the group will have their chance, don''t worry about it. And no one is going to treat you any differently because of that. Going on your first hunt is just a rite of passage," Multrak''s face became more serious, "Now, for the less pleasant news. I''m sure you all know what happened yesterday. The mist and the thunder were all made by Hera here. But don''t worry; it was all an illusion. Just something she was able to do thanks to a skill." "A heck of a skill. I thought the sky was falling," Grilat cheered. "Yes, and we can all drown her in questions about it later. What I want to talk about is why she had to use such skills. Reynara saw them, Hera and Adriel, outside the village. And although I do appreciate her wariness to send people ahead to confirm if they were indeed new additions, I cannot condone her following actions. Without telling anyone, she dragged them both to the nest of the Cherry Mantis that were becoming resistant to fire. That was one of the groups that were already on our radar, but we, collectively, had decided that there were more pressing matters to deal with. But apparently, our chief huntress disagrees." Even if he was serious, the mood was still light enough for people to joke around. There were a few boos and shouts about the mantises being a pain in their ass, but Multrak didn''t take long to raise his hand, asking everyone to be quiet again, which they did to a point. People were still eating and passing plates around, but no one was talking. "We all know that Reynara can be difficult, but she is also very skilled and always makes sure to complete her job. Not to mention that, despite her apparent detachment from everything, we all know that she cares about us and means well¡­ Most of the time," there were some incredulous expressions and gasps from the crowd, including from Reynara herself, "Fine, every so often she cares. Better?" Reynara nodded, but a few still seemed unsure until the huntress stared them down, making them change their opinions immediately. "Moving on. She took matters into her own hands, and although that can prove value on certain occasions, it is not the type of person we need to lead the Vanguard." With that phrase, the clattering of plates and cups stopped completely, and everyone paid attention to Multrak. "Oh? Now you are listening? Good. As you all know, I am old. Very old, and I don''t have the energy to deal with all the bullshit you toss at me every day. I mean, why am I the one who was to solve marital disputes? And honestly, Harrisha, you can''t expect me to be on your side when you made your husband sleep outside because YOU had a dream that he cheated. I mean, you are not an oracle, so it was, quite literally, just a dream. If you ever find proof, that''s another thing entirely, but until then, you do have to control your temper. Anyway, where was I?" Multrak genuinely had lost his train of thought. "You were talking about how you don''t have the energy to deal with this," Grilat replied in a weak voice, almost like a child talking to their parents. "Right, thank you. As I said, I''m tired. I''m old, and quite frankly. I''m weak. It''s been two years since the last hunt I actively participated in, and I honestly believe I did my time at least on that part. So, I am announcing today that after we hunt the Night River and the Boulder of Vines, I will be stepping down. I still will be here, but no longer as the chief, only as a person still serving their sentence. And I would like to use this as a chance to start a small tradition. We all know how powerful legacies can be. Heck, mine makes me strong enough to train with all of you, and my body just can''t take it anymore. So, when I pass the position of village chief, I will also pass on the legacy to a new generation. And that is you, Grilat. The choice was between you and Reynara, as everyone is painfully aware, but yesterday she proved that she can''t be trusted with that much responsibility." "What?" some of the hunters gasped. "Multrak, with all due respect, is that really a good call? Reynara may be bat shit¡­" one of the hunters started speaking, but she stopped to look at Reynara, who just gave a nod of approval, "but she is a damn good leader. She always helps us get back safely and always looks out for us. I mean, she might be a bit overbearing and aggressive, but I don''t think she would be a bad new chief." "Yeah," a couple of hunters and even a few of the people who always stayed in the village nodded. "Really? So you say she always helps you. She always puts your safety first?" Multrak asked. The hunters nodded to each other, "We are." "So you are saying that she never, for instance, would drag two new people away and force them to hunt monsters that are starting to change without giving anyone information, and when one of those new people got hurt, she wouldn''t stop the other from helping the wounded one?" Multrak continued. "Of course not! She would never do something like that!" the hunter proudly announced. "So, Reynara. Do you tell them, or shall I?" Multrak turned to the huntress. "Why Are you changing the subject? Oh, whatever," the hunter asked as she turned to Reynara, "C''mon. Whatever it is, just tell us. That way, we can continue this conversation." ''Multrak wasn''t wrong when he said the people here are not the brightest,'' Daskka said. ''Shush, don''t bad mouth them,'' Hera replied. ''I''m not wrong, though,'' Daskka said and got a flick on her head as a response. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Eventually, the huntress replied, "I did what Multrak is saying. I grabbed two people, Hera and Adriel, and dragged them to fight the fire-resistant mantises. During the fight, they used fire since it was the most effective way to kill a nest, but the monsters used that fire against them. Adriel got seriously injured, and Hera went to help him. I stopped her thinking she was stepping away from the fight, but in the end, she had a way to send him back. Which I didn''t know, so my reaction was perfectly justified." "Then why didn''t you help? Or held the monsters back?" Grilat asked. "It wasn''t my hunt; they were the ones going after the mantises," Reynara replied. "Because you told them to!" Grilat yelled. "Stop it!" Multrak yelled, red veins popping on his neck, making his voice much louder than normal. That effect went away after a few moments, "Now. Like I said, I truly believe that both of you could be good leaders for the Vanguard. Things would be very different if Reynara was the chief and Grilat was the safest choice, even if I do think there would be some changes. But, another issue the chief has to deal with is the relationship with the kingdom, and what happened yesterday proves that Reynara is not ready for that kind of job. If Hera and Adriel were some of the envoys from the kingdom, we would be in trouble, and our next request for aid or supplies would end up not coming. Back to the matter at hand, I will keep the position of chief until the end of the Night River hunt. Then I will pass it, along with my legacy, to Grilat." "May I ask a question?" Adriel raised his hand. "Sure, if anyone earned a voice on this matter is you," Multrak nodded. "Why wait? If you give Grilat the legacy now, wouldn''t that increase the chances of the Night River hunt being successful?" "I see how you would think that, but there are some issues. First, we don''t know if he would have my buff skill available to him. If he didn''t, that would reduce our fighting capabilities by a lot," Multrak saw the confused expressions of most of the villagers, "That would make us weaker. Second, we don''t know what skill he will inherit¡­ get. As you know, part of my legacy makes me crave blood, beastman blood as a drug, and things could become problematic if he doesn''t get the skill that removes that desire right away. It would also take some time for everyone to get used to the new chief, and we can''t have multiple people acting as the leader during the hunt. So, when it''s over, we will have a moment to relax and make all the necessary changes," Multrak explained. "Oh. I didn''t consider any of that. That''s a good call," Adriel smiled. "And that''s why you were not in the running to be the new chief. And the fact that you just got here," Multrak joked. There was some laughter around the table, and some people congratulated Grilat while others went to see if Reynara was doing ok, only to be met with annoyed stares and slaps on their hands to push them away. The huntress had already accepted the decision and didn''t want anyone''s pity. Only when she grabbed someone''s arm and slammed their head against the table that people finally stop. Kadhan was already with a potion on hand, passing it along to the injured person before they were even up. Eventually, Multrak asked everyone to be quiet one more time, "Now for another matter. Reynara is still going to be the chief huntress of the village, and she found out what we needed. Do you want to explain everything?" he turned to Reynara who just waved him off and told the chief to keep going, "Very well. We were setting up to go after the Night River, and our plan was to hunt it next week. She found out that there was a change in the schedule. The Night River skipped a part of its route around the room, so he will be arriving at the spot we need it to be in four days. So, starting tomorrow, we will head out and prepare everything. That includes having a team block the Boulder of Vine from leaving the area. We will leave that to the hunters. Tomorrow, everyone will be setting up the materials for the traps and everything we will use; the day after, most of us will go out and stay in the area, ready for when the Night River shows up. I''ll talk with everyone tomorrow to say what we actually need, but tonight, we feast to our new chief!" Everyone cheered and continued eating. Hera noticed that a few people seemed upset. It was somewhat understandable, but at the same time, something was bothering her about that. It was also decided that her party would be joining the hunt whether they like that or not, and they still would have to help everyone get ready. Sometime later, the party had gathered once again in their house with the soundproof bubble in effect. "Does that mean we have to figure out who made the curse tomorrow?" Blue asked. "Not really, but we might need to pull back our snooping for a few days," Bonnie replied. "We still have tomorrow, and since everyone will be focused on something else, we might be able to catch them off guard," Shane added. Helena shook her head, "I think we might be going in the wrong direction. Alex, as far as you know, did the curse start that powerful? Could it already infect others?" Alex stopped to think for a minute, playing with a couple of pebbles that fell from the bench, "I don''t think so. It grew and evolved." "So maybe we should be doing what they are doing. Preparing a trap for when the curse actually shows up." "But how are we going to know that?" Hera asked. "Sammy, can you feel if the curse is already here? You seemed to know that we came before it showed up." "I more or less can. Because we used one of its memories to get here, I can tell when the being who the memory belonged would arrive, but not where it is," Sammy replied. "Then¡­ What if we start looking into ways to make traps and prepare plans for ambushes? We can still try to figure out where it will arrive, but if we are also preparing something else, it will feel less like we are running in circles," Helena continued; she was clearly frustrated even if they were just starting to look for things. "So, in the end, tomorrow we will only figure out how they make traps and start to think what we can do about it?" Adriel asked. "That''s the idea. One way or another, we have to deal with the Night River to keep our cover, so it''s not like we have many options," Helena sighed. "So, one more time, we are just going to sleep because there is nothing else we can do?" Hera asked. "Pretty much, yeah," Helena nodded. That ended up killing the conversation, but they didn''t go to bed right away, it was still early, and they weren''t actually tired just yet. Hera took a moment to walk around the village and take in the night air of the jungle. She was going around the wall, saying hello to the guards who were no strangers to random people walking around. That was pretty common, especially with those who just arrived. People needed time to think and process what brought them to this place. For the moment, Hera also sent Scythe and Edge to fly around the place and try to hear some conversations that could be suspicious. So far, she didn''t get any information from her blades aside from the need to move to one place or another. She was looking over the arena where they fought during the test when a voice crept into her mind. ''Do you want to seeee? The power you misss?" ''Can you not drag your words? I already had to deal with that when Daskka was learning to speak. I''m very proud of her, but from you, it''s just annoying.'' ''Give me strength, and that goooesss away,'' ''Give me a billion levels, and I''ll do that. If you can''t, just shut up.'' Hera huffed in her own mind. This was much more intrusive than talking with Daskka or her court. She wasn''t thinking about talking with someone else, and she wasn''t putting her words out. Instead, it was as if someone was hearing her thoughts and encroaching on them. To her luck, the curse stopped talking, but she knew that what it was offering was something she wanted. She spent most of the day thinking about that moment, that brief moment when she felt the mana in everything and how it felt completely alien to what she was used to. With a sigh, Hera mumbled, "Man, I wonder if this is what Alex has been dealing with this whole time. I''m not sure I would have the strength to ignore this for months on end." "Mum? Are you ok?" Daskka asked. "I''m fine, don''t worry about it. Let''s just enjoy the stars," Hera looked up, seeing the beautiful milky way above her head, hoping that all of this would, eventually, work out and she would remove that one voice in her mind that was trying to drive her crazy. 653 - Wrong History After having that small ''talk'' with the curse, Hera decided to head back. Her blades were unable to find anything, and most of the village was already going to bed, some not just to sleep. Even if they were in the past and they were trying to figure out who created the curse, she didn''t want to invade people''s privacy like that. But she was also too tired to get back on foot, and she could already see her house from the top of the wall. ''Nimbus, can I be lazy and ask for a favor?'' ''Of course,'' the Sentinel seemed eager to help. ''Could you carry me down? I don''t want to go all the way around just to get back here.'' Nimbus chuckled and appeared in his humanoid form. He took Hera in a princess carry and brought her down with ease. Some guards noticed that, and a couple even got ready to attack, but they soon realized it was just the new girl and her fancy new power. Hera soon arrived back at the house, where she found everyone in the living room with serious expressions. Seeing the Empress arrive, Shane made a gesture that meant to use the soundproof bubble. She pointed up and then made a vertical circle with her hand. It wasn''t something they had agreed to, just something that happened, and everyone ended up doing it. With a frown, Hera activated the spell and closed the door with her stone shape to reinforce the ''lock.'' "What happened?" the Empress asked as the spell finished. "Alex used the curse," Bonnie replied. The assassin looked up, and the black veins almost reached her mouth, with some going down to her neck. A weird pattern was forming on her forehead, not quite like a crown or a tiara, but similar to a turtle shell. "And why did Alex use the curse?" Hera asked. "You don''t have to talk to me like I''m not here," Alex huffed. "Don''t I? Is it still you in there? Dammit, Alex, I told you to let me or someone else use the curse if you really needed it. We don''t know what is the next stage of that thing!" Hera yelled. "I couldn''t! What I wanted to check was something that only I knew," Alex shouted back. "And what was it?" Blue joined the chorus of loud voices, "What was so important that you had to use the curse?" "We are in the wrong place!" Alex got up with an angry expression. "What?" Helena and Shane asked at the same time. "We are in the wrong place. Ever since we got here, I had this feeling in the back of my mind that something wasn''t quite right. That something was out of place, but I couldn''t tell what it was. So I asked the curse to let me relive the moment when I saw the painting and when Kirouhebi told me about it," Alex was yelling the entire time, gesticulating wildly, but when she reached the end of the sentence, she pulled back, "This is all wrong." "What do you mean?" Adriel placed one hand on her shoulder. "Yes, please, tell us, Alex," Sammy floated forward, confused by what she was saying. "Look, Kirouhebi told me how the curse started. We were supposed to be in the kingdom during an invasion of ants. Then a mage with a curse legacy would show up and use the legacy to make a Trojan horse. A curse that would eat away at the monsters, but that curse became too strong, and it just spiraled out of control. There was no Vanguard, no criminals, no Night River, no mention of this place at all," Alex replied. "Are you sure?" Helena frowned. "I wasn''t, but I asked the curse to show me, and yeah. Now I''m positive. This is not where the curse was born or started, or whatever." There was a moment of pause before everyone turned to Sammy. The turtle was in deep thought, as if he was trying to piece things together. Of one thing he was sure, this was the right moment in time for the curse to appear in its original form. The memory told him that, and it matched whit the information the guides gave him. After thinking for a few minutes, Sammy finally spoke, "I think someone is lying to you. Maybe it''s the curse. Maybe it''s Kirouhebi. I don''t know. I can tell that the memory I used to guide us here is right. This is when the curse is supposed to show up. Memories don''t lie. Sure, they can be skewed and altered with time, but I''m a specialist who knows the signals of change. There were no signals in the memory I used." "Are you sure you used the right memory to get us here?" Alex asked. "If I''m being honest, no, I''m not. I had never done something like this before. Not just the time travel, but reaching for a memory inside something that was inside someone was already new. But all the markers are right. All the things that would show that we are in the correct memory are here. I can only believe that, yes, this is the right spot. Or rather, the right time," Sammy explained. "Ok then, we are still in the Waperath Jungle, aren''t we? Let me go talk with Kirouhebi and figure this out. Hera, do you remember how to get there?" Alex turned to the Empress. "Wait. You can''t go there," Sammy interrupted her. "Why not?" "Two reasons; first, if you go there, you will be too close to the system, and that will mess up the spell. Going there will send us all home or, worse, get us stuck here. Second, even if you go to talk with Kirouhebi, he won''t know what you are talking about. We are in the past, remember? The conversation you had with him and the whole ant invasion didn''t happen. Not yet, at least. To answer why he told you that, whether it is the truth or not, you are going to have to wait and go talk to him yourself," Sammy continued. Alex looked up as if she was trying to see the sky, "Yeah. I guess you are right. I''m just so confused right now, and asking about its origins didn''t work that well." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "You asked how the curse was born?" Shane raised an eyebrow. "I did, it showed me, but it was¡­ weird," Alex nodded. She wasn''t going to say anything, but seeing everyone''s expression, she realized that she couldn''t stop there, "It felt like a¡­ Birth? Like actual birth. Everything was dark, stuffy, wet, and slimy. Then I saw a light coming from above. I, I mean, the curse moved towards it, pushing past something, another slimy mass, and then it plopped out in the jungle. But not this jungle, it was close, but the trees and the ground were covered in some weird purple goo. Behind it were some large masses of the same color, and I just remember being hungry. Very hungry." "But how are we here then?" Blue turned to Sammy, "If even the curse doesn''t remember this, why are we here?" Sammy stopped to think for a moment, but his ideas came out flat. They were inside a memory, and it was the oldest memory the curse had, but how could it be like that if the curse wasn''t anywhere around? "I''m sorry. I honestly don''t know. This really doesn''t make any sense." "Ok, let''s try to think. Sammy, how did we get here? You used a memory to pinpoint the right time and place, right?" Helena asked. The turtle knew that was a dangerous line of questioning. If they probed too much about the spell, they might realize that this wasn''t the past, "I can''t say much about how we got here, but I can say that I used a memory from the curse to get us here. It was the oldest memory it had." Everyone went silent for a while, trying to understand what this all meant. Hera''s court was also sharing their theories but nothing that seemed to be able to help them until Dao asked a question, ''Daskka. What is the first thing you remember? I mean, the oldest memory you have.'' ''It''s when mum was hunting some moles with the tiny Chika. Outside Darni''s temple," Daskka replied. "What?!" Hera and Lurize gasped. "What?" Bonnie turned to the explorer. "No. Wait. Give me a moment," Hera turned to Daskka, "How do you remember that? You weren''t there." "I know, but I was kind of watching. And I only remember the last day¡­ Also, it''s weird. It''s not like I remember being there or feeling anything. It''s like I was just watching a TV show. Seeing you and her fight and play. It''s a bit foggy, and I don''t remember much of it. Then I think I remember turning into mist and seeing you crying by Chika''s side." "What are you talking about?" Shane asked. "Daskka remembers something from before I got her. Before I even got the necklace that made her. But I only got Daskka after I found Chika''s body. Meaning that Daskka remembers something about before her creation, but she is young. Much younger than the curse, at least. Her memory is much more recent. And if we consider that other things, constructs or beings that have sentience can do something similar." "Then maybe we are not when the curse actually started, but when whatever came before it started.." Helena connected the dots that Hera was showing, "But that is a stretch, to say the least. It''s some kind of genetic memory thing, and those theories are sketchy. I mean, sure, there are studies, and it''s possible that a skill could do that, or a spell could be able to engrave that kind of thing on someone''s genes, probably. Not to mention a Legacy. That would for sure be able to bring memories along¡­." Helena stopped speaking, "You know¡­ the more I say, the less impossible it sounds." "Ok, suppose you are right, and we are actually seeing the curse''s father, grandfather, or whatever. How are we supposed to know what it is?" Blue asked. "I think I got that answer," everyone turned to Alex as she spoke, "I mean, think about it. I saw the curse being born. I know about the weird gooey things that will be its¡­ cocoon? Womb? Hatching pool? Egg? I don''t know, but I saw that, and I saw how it was spreading. So the curse won''t show up until that thing appears. So, in the end, if we kill that thing before it has a chance to grow, we would get rid of it." "That is a plan, but we still have to figure out where the curse will start," Bonnie nodded. "Can I just say something bad?" Shane asked, keeping her head down not to look at anyone. "You can say we might not like it," Adriel stared at her with cold eyes. "I know how awful this will make me look. But one option we have is to kill everyone here." "Shane!" Hera gasped, "We are not murderers!" "That is technically not true. We all killed monsters, including a few in dungeons that have sentience. There is an argument that we killed people, even if they were fake. But the point is everyone here would end up dying because of the curse. If we kill them all before the curse shows up, we just speed up the process," Shane continued staring at the floor, refusing to look at anyone. "Shane!" Bonnie gasped. "What is wrong with you?" Blue asked. "That is messed up, and I''m the one who looks evil here," Alex crossed her arms. "I agree with all that you are saying to her, but¡­" Helena started talking. "But?" Hera looked at Helena with wide eyes. "But, she is being pragmatic. Think about it. These people would be killed by the curse. They are not supposed to exist in the near future. They are also the people who protected the kingdom, which I''m guessing is the Waperath Kingdom since the name was never tossed around. By killing them all, we would make less of a mess of the timeline. Maybe it would go even ''better,'' and the kingdom would fall, solving that problem as well." "Lena!" Hera gasped. "I''m not saying I like this idea, but it would make sense," Helena replied, "We are in the past, so the more we mess things up, the worst the results can be. Sammy told us that we don''t have to worry about going back, but time travel is already a messy theory by itself. Now that we are actually doing it, I can only imagine it is even worse. So if the curse wiped out everyone in the room, to reduce the chances, we should do the same. With all that being said, I hate that idea. I made my peace with the fact that we might have to kill someone, but not the entire village." "Sammy, what do you think about all this?" Bonnie turned to the turtle. "Honestly, I don''t know. What Helena says is not wrong, but from the knowledge I got from the system, even without the curse in this room, the people here would end up perishing. So we don''t have to worry so much about letting a kingdom thrive here. And Shane''s idea is valid. If we get rid of whatever will create the curse, the curse itself would be gone," Sammy stopped talking; just killing someone wouldn''t fix things. For the curse to believe it was dead, it would have to see its previous form being destroyed, "But honestly, I can''t, in good conscience, tell you to just kill people. Not just because of the obvious mental issues doing that might bring, but also, if you do something like that, you might change things enough, and the curse won''t show up as we expect. Maybe someone will hide because you all went on a killing spree, and that person is who, ultimately, creates the curse. It would be better to just continue trying to find who the person responsible is and only act when you are positively sure of the target." "So in the end, we talked, talked, talked, and we can''t do anything again?" Blue huffed. "At least we have some more information, or what sounds like information," Hera sighed. "Yeah¡­ honestly, hits were a bit too much for my brain. I need some rest," Adriel got up and walked to his bedroom. "I''m going to take a while to sleep, but that''s a good idea," Bonnie nodded. "Me too," Shane got up and walked to her room. A few of the party members stared at her, but no one said anything. They understood why she said what she said, but it still made them feel weird. Without any other option, everyone went to bed, hoping to rest since the next few days sounded like they would be a lot of work. 654 - Preparation "Hera, Blue, it''s time to get up," Nimbus'' voice came softly, as he did when he was going to wake them up. The Empress almost attacked the Sentinel, not because of a nightmare, but because she was feeling exhausted, and to her, she had just managed to sleep. During the entire night, the curse kept creeping into her mind, offering ways for her to see the mana she saw before, to feel the sensation of boundless power that she felt when she used the Pool of Styx against the mantises. The main issue was that it would only say something when she was about to fall asleep. After a couple of hours, Hera became sure that the curse was doing that on purpose, trying to catch her in a moment of weakness or just trying to tire her enough so she would accept the offer, even if just to shut it up. "Mum? Are you ok?" Daskka asked. "Not really," Hera rubbed her eyes; her head was killing her because of the lack of sleep. She got up and sat on the bed before saying, "Edge, come here. I might need you around today," she summoned the small knife and activated the Elemental Strength spell so her natural recovery would improve. It was a far cry from a good night of sleep, but it was her best option, especially since they didn''t have actual coffee in this place. "What happened?" Blue asked. "The curse is being a dick," Hera replied without looking up. "Really? Mine is barely talking to me, and when it does is super supportive," Blue nodded. "Oh wow, I''m so happy for you," Hera''s sarcasm was so strong that even Bonnie, who had just woken up and was walking towards the door, stopped and looked to the bedroom. "Sorry¡­" Blue looked down. "No, sorry. I''m just really cranky today," Hera sighed and got up from the bed before changing into her armor and leaving the house. She still kept the soundproof bubble up, but she didn''t talk with anyone. During breakfast, everyone was in high spirits and talking about the preparations for the hunt, but a couple of people seemed upset about something. Hera spend most of the day with Kadhan, who was oddly anxious. He even messed up a couple of basic potions, which was very unusual for the witch doctor. Because he was busy making the medicine people would need for the hunt, he didn''t have time to teach Hera anything. Since she had just started learning, letting her create the potions herself while unsupervised was not something Kadhan was willing to do. As a result, he showed her a hidden passage in the cave that led to a large room filled with writing on the walls. This was his ''recipe book.'' The place where all his formulas were written down. Hera offered to continue working in the new field, but Kadhan refused; he was very particular about the position of everything. In the end, she would only be able to help by bringing the plants and mushrooms that the witch doctor would need to make the potions and then wait for him to finish. The good part was that after reading each of the potions, they would be added to her Medical Reference. It was a skill that she barely used, but it could let her compare wounds, injuries, and diseases with something she was seeing, but that wasn''t all. She could also have a catalogue of herbs and other materials that could be used as medicine and even the recipes of the potions themselves. By the end of the day, Hera already had every single potion and salve present in that secret room in her Medical Reference. The only recipe she didn''t get was one for honey-infused wild strawberry jam that Kadhan added for some reason. Apparently, it wasn''t something the witch doctor would use to heal someone, but it could heal their soul when they felt sad. At the end of the day, Multrak told everyone to sleep early and that they would start preparing the traps for the hunt in the morning. Hera and the others went home just after eating like the rest of the village, but they didn''t go to bed right away. Helena had some information that she wanted to share with everyone. "Ok, so remember when I mentioned four people who were suspicious?" the mage asked. "Yeah, two oracles, a guy who could reinforce magic and another who was pissed at mantises, right?" Shane asked. "Correct. So we can take them out of the suspect list. I figured out what they were doing." "And what was it?" Adriel was struggling to clean his shoes. He ended up stepping on a rotten fruit, and he still wasn''t able to take out all of the pieces of his shoes. "Well¡­ Kaela and Thorne came to talk to me today; they invited me to one of their¡­. hangouts." "Who are they again?" Blue was double-checking her armor, making sure it was in good condition for tomorrow. "Kaela is that tall woman with silver fur around her neck, the one with the pierced wolf ears on the top of her head. Throne is the short buff dude with a pair of tusks coming from his lower jaw and the.¡­ well, pig nose," Alex replied while making sure her daggers were in good condition. "Boar nose. Don''t let him hear you saying it''s a pig," Helena added, "Anyway, they invited me over, and apparently, all those times they vanished was just so they could bone." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Wait. All four of them? I remember you saying that they would disappear with Nara and Rorik, too," Bonnie asked and noticed Blue''s expression. Before the controller could even speak, she added, "Rorik is that mountain of a man with a lot of hair and fur, so much that you don''t know where is just body hair and where is fur." "The guy who looks like they could split you like a twig, but it''s a sweetheart that tells people not to hurt butterflies?" Blue asked. "That''s the one. And Nara looks a bit like Kaela, she only has fur on her neck and two ears on top of her head, but her ears are usually down, hiding in her hair, and they have those long hairs coming from the edge of the ears," Bonnie turned back to Helena, "those four are a thing?" "Yes and no. So, Nara told me everything. According to her, neither of the four should be here. Their only crime was adultery, but because they were married to important people in the kingdom, those people made sure to tip the scales and make their punishment much worse than it was supposed to be. It''s very unjust, especially for Thorne. He didn''t want to get married again since he lost his first family, but had to for political reasons and pressure from his family," Helena nodded. "I mean¡­ they are cheaters," Bonnie shrugged. "Yeah, so you break up and cut them off. You don''t send them to a supermax prison," Hera sighed, "But what that has to do with anything?" "Let me finish. So, Nara was the first one to have a sentence like that, which caused a problem because it set a precedence then the others joined. But according to her, she didn''t cheat because of love; it was just desire. Her husband was very frigid, and she is¡­ let''s call it sexually inclined. I don''t want to use the same word she used. It started with a w. Anyway, the rest of them were all here for the same reason, more or less. A partner who didn''t want to have sex, and they did so they looked elsewhere. When they got here and figured out that the story was similar, they decided to enjoy themselves since their libido is very strong." "Basically, they are horny as fuck!" Alex nodded. "Really?" Shane chuckled. "Oh yeah. When Lena told me that, a lot of things made sense. Kaela''s house has a full set of strong manacles and some rope attached to the ceiling. I had no idea what was all that, but knowing they like to fuck that makes a lot more sense. The way that rope is set up, it could easily hold a person in a very particular position." "There you have it. They were being sneaky because not everyone likes that kind of lifestyle, but they were just boning. So I think we can mark them off our list of suspects," Helena chuckled. "If we are just gossiping, I also have something to add. I thought people were all in agreement that Reynara shouldn''t be the chief, but not everyone seems to agree with Multrak. I saw a few people complaining and saying that Grilat was too soft and wouldn''t be aggressive enough to deal with some of the biggest threats to the Vanguard," Adriel added. "Yeah, Berylla had to scold a few people for complaining, but after that, they stopped right away," Blue put all of her gear on a shelf and smiled proudly, having finished her maintenance, "How about you guys? Anything different?" she asked the rest of the group. "Not really. Everyone is acting like it''s business as usual. I don''t think the guard is all that worried about this hunt, but according to everyone, they will stay back to protect the village, just in case something happens," Shane said. "Multrak asked me to help him gather all the knowledge he has about the jungle. We are basically making a manual for Grilat. He is doing a lot of things for the hunt too, but it''s not like it''s unexpected," Bonnie said. "Kadhan is on the same boat. I mean, he seems to be stressing out about the hunt and is rushing a bunch of potions. I ended up going to a secret room where he keeps all his recipes; I managed to make a copy of almost everything," Hera was currently applying some oils and polishing her court, not that she needed it, but she liked doing that since it both calmed her and made her closer to her blades. "How? Can Armory remember everything?" Bonnie turned to the Empress with a confused expression. "No. I have the Medicinal Reference skill that I got when I helped Risli. That can track the potions I know how to make. Since we never got seriously injured with things that our spells couldn''t fix, I never bothered using it. It''s not like it could fix a broken leg or something like that. We never found any plants that I already knew about either, so it''s mostly useless for me. Now I have a few different options that can increase one attribute or another while reducing others; that might help," Hera explained. Bonnie just nodded, and they continued their conversation but not much else was discovered. When morning came, Multrak gathered everyone and explained the plan for the next few days. The repair crew would be in charge of carrying the traps to the Night River''s home. The hunter crew would tell them where to place the traps and assist with the installation. Hera and Kadhan would apply any poisons or paralytic agents to the traps, and that was something they would have to do every day since they weren''t sure when the monster would appear. Bonnie and Mylo would be making sure that no other monsters were invading the perimeter, while Helena and Alex would be helping clear out the area for a camp. Another thing that Multrak did was explain how he could help others with his legacy. The buff he had would allow him to share a portion of his strength. It was temporary, but it had no setbacks aside from a cooldown that would only be counted for each person affected by the spell. The buff would last for 20 minutes, and the person had to wait 1 hour between activations. This means that if Hera got the buff, and then 30 minutes later, Blue got the buff, Hera had to wait 30 minutes for the buff to be applied again, while Blue still had a full hour to wait. All his other skills would only affect him, or the monsters, so no one had to worry about it. With all that out of the way, he told everyone to finish their meal and get ready to move out. He also asked Hera if she could make houses for everyone when they arrived at the destination. The Empress said she could, as long as she was in a place with rock or stone. If it was just dirt or roots, she wouldn''t be able to do much. He thanked her, and with most of the village, they all left. Staying behind were just a couple of guards and some people who would help to hunt for food and protect the Vanguard from any monster attacks. Hera and the others just continued walking in silence, unsure of what to expect. If anything, they could only hope that the hunt went well, but knowing her luck, the Empress had serious doubts about that. 655 - Trapping the Night River It took them about five hours of travel to get to the location where they would camp while preparing for the hunt. The actual area where they would attempt to trap the Night River was about one hour out, but if it was too disturbed, it would be easy for the monster to realize something was wrong. Hera understood that if someone had to walk all the way back to the village, it would take just a bit under three hours, but since they were all carrying materials and boxes, their travel time was severely increased. When they arrived at their campsite, Multrak tasked Hera to create some houses using her stone shape spell. The Empress also grabbed Berylla, who was the person responsible for building things in the Vanguard, to help her. As much as she knew how to make some makeshift shelters, she wasn''t an architect by any means. Because of that, larger projects required the help of someone who understood what support beams and other structural features would do. The rock was about 10 meters tall, 30 meters wide, and who knows how many meters deep since it was lodged on the side of a hill. This area was an extremely thick part of the jungle where no one could take two steps without touching some of the roots or bushes that covered the ground. Because of that, only small monsters lived in this area, and those were either herbivores or cowardly creatures that would run away at the slightest notion of a predator. While that was going on, Multrak split the rest of the Vanguard into groups to prepare for the hunt. The hunters were responsible for tracking the Boulder of Vine and ensuring no other dangerous monsters were getting close. Yet, they had to leave some creatures alive. If the Night River arrived and all the beasts were gone, it would realize something was wrong. Another group was in charge of gathering food and water for everyone, while the third and biggest group would be preparing the numerous variations of traps that they brought here. The basics were some pressure plates that would activate sharp spikes of stone and wood to clamp down on whatever stepped on it like a bear trap. There were logs covered in poisonous plants, pointy branches, and spikes tied up on the trees, ready to be dropped at a moment''s notice. They had a few small snares, which were made for the other monsters. The Night River was too big to be captured with rope, and tying it up was simply impossible since the creature was made out of water. Their bread and butter were pitfalls. Most of the people involved with the installation of those traps were so used to making holes and flooding them with spikes that creating those things became second nature. But again, those would not be very effective against the Night River. All those were just the simple ''analog'' traps that used the materials around them to be constructed. The real meat of the plan involved the several magic traps that were brought from the village. Stone plates that could petrify anyone who stepped on them. Their effect wouldn''t last long, and the stronger the creature, the less effective it would be, but what that trap lacked in power compensated in numbers. Another trap would animate the smaller trees to attack the Night River when it passed by, not to mention the elemental traps that would send an elemental burst at the monster when activated. There were so many traps that instead of telling everyone where they were, Multrak and the others were doing the opposite, showing the group the places that were free of traps, and those would be the only safe spaces to move. The first day went on without a hitch; Hera created some shelter for everyone with the help of Berylla, who gave her a few pointers. The beastwoman was very excited when the Empress made a couple of stone bunk beds. She never considered the possibility of making a bed with multiple floors, and her craftsman mind was already flowing with ideas about that. During dinner, Multrak took the chance to explain the plan to everyone. The Night River would follow the river, as it was something it always did. When it arrived at the turn close to their location, Grilat would get its attention and make it chase him through the woods. During that time, no one was to attack the Night River. They needed it to be far enough from the river; otherwise, the fight would be impossible. This monster was, essentially, a gorilla made out of water. It had a wolf-like face and ears and a tail, but its body was much bulkier. That only happened because it would be close to the water. If they managed to pull it away, some of the water would be left behind, and it would become that Wolf-Monkey that was its original form. Grilat would lure it to the trap field, and then they would activate the traps. That was the moment when everyone should attack, but to hinder and delay the monster. No one should go for the kill. While that was going on, the hunters would be luring the Boulder of Vines to the same location that Grilat lured the Night River to. Only when the Boulder arrived would Multrak signal everyone to go for the kill, and their attacks should only be aimed at the Night River. Everyone then went to bed early to start working on everything in the morning. Hera and her friends didn''t have many opportunities to search for anything else, and they were also tired from all the day''s travel. The Empress had made a special dormitory for them, where they would all be in the same room, sharing bunk beds, but it was still a bit detached from the rest. She did that because she did not trust the people in the Vanguard not enough to have a restful night of sleep without someone keeping a lookout. Luckily, Nimbus and Lurize could stay there during the night without any problems, and that wasn''t something anyone else knew about. Yet, despite all their worry and preparation, nothing happened, and morning came without any problems. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. All the people who came in the hunt started working as soon as they woke up, installing more traps, preparing the field, and memorizing the paths they could take and the ones that were a minefield. It was noon, and everyone was eating when one of the scouts appeared, sweat dripping from his face. He had some black fur around his eyes and a pointy nose of a raccoon. He was called Rocky, a name that got some reaction from Hera and her party, not for any reason that people here would understand. It would take a long time before people would associate that with a movie. However, there was no whimsy in what he came to say. "The Night River is getting close; he should be here in an hour at most!" "How is that possible?" Grilat stood up. "I don''t know. Maybe it went for a run, or maybe it chased something for a while. All I know is that it is already passing the mark where we have to be ready." "Shit!" Grilat yelled and slammed his wooden bowl on the ground, making more noise than he should have. "What''s done is done. Now we have to deal with this. How long to get the Boulder here?" Multrak turned to the hunters. "Last we heard about two hours. Half an hour to get to where it is and the rest to lure it here," one of the hunters replied. "I''ll go get it then. My hunters are great at killing things, but making them angry and chasing after you, that''s my specialty," Reynara was already grabbing her weapons, ready to move, but she still took a moment to confirm if she could go. Multrak wanted the huntress with the attack team. Her illusions would prove to be very effective in stalling the Night River while dragging the Boulder here could be done by anyone. However, that was only the case when they had time to prepare. "Go. Try to get it here in an hour. The sooner, the better," Multrak turned to Grilat, "You are going to have to hold on." "We can tag team it!" Blue spoke up, "Between me, Grilat, and whoever else feels confident installing the monster, we can fight against it one at a time to stall. That way, we won''t threaten it too much, and it won''t run away." Multrak looked down as Reynara and the hunters were already running towards the Boulder of Vine, "That can work. How many of you can be toe to toe against a giant monster?" "How giant?" Bonnie asked. "About five meters tall and can punch a tree in half. It''s also completely made out of water. "It''s a physical thing. I don''t think I can do it," Bonnie shook her head. "Me neither. My Explosions might cause problems, and some spells could deal too much damage. I''m better as a plan b in case we need a kill shot," Shane added, but her idea seemed to be dismissed by everyone. No one was able to kill the Night River, and they didn''t expect this new person to be able to do something like that. Of course, that didn''t take into account her legacy since it was something Hera''s group was keeping as an ace up their sleeves. They had already talked about it and tested it out. If needed, Shane could enchant a large area so it would become waterproof. Even water spells wouldn''t be able to penetrate that field, which could be a way to stop the Night River from running away completely. "I think I can work with it. The water is not crystal clear, is it? There are shadows inside it?" Helena asked. Grilat nodded, "Yes, only a few in the middle, but yes. Why?" Helena opened a smile, "Because that''s what I need." "I think I can stall it too," Hera summoned a couple of her blades, "Better than fighting it one on one, I can have a few weapons flying around him to distract. That can be active the entire time if we need to." "I might be able to fight against it too. Illusions don''t care if it''s water or not," Mylo made a lotus flower inside his cup. The illusion exploded, causing the water inside to spill out, "Yeah, that works." "Five people seems more than enough; if we have more, it might run away seeing that we have the numbers. But each of us should be hidden unless we are fighting the Night River," Grilat stood up, "Come, I need to show you the area we will fight in." They all started moving, not just the ones who would fight against the monster but also the ones who would try to make some last-minute traps. As Hera was about to move out with Grilat, Kadhan touched her shoulder, "Here. For you. It will make you stronger and faster, but it will hurt. Good in a pinch as long as you don''t get hit." "Thanks," Hera smiled and looked at the potion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Berserker''s Tonic After consuming this potion, all attributes will be increased by 20% for 10 minutes. The user will be in constant pain while the potion is in effect. The user will receive 40% extra damage when the potion is in effect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wouldn''t it be better to give one of these to Grilat?" she asked. "Only have the one. He wouldn''t run. You? I hope you would." "So this is a way for me to survive in case things go wrong?" "Maybe yes, maybe no. I like my assistant. Dying wouldn''t be good. I think. Not sure, never tried." Hera chuckled, "I got close. It wasn''t fun. Thanks. Try not to die either." 656 - An unexpected battle With the potion in her bag, Hera and the others started running. They were all 1 hour away from the location where the traps were set up. However, that time was counted as people walking at a brisk pace. If they were running, they would arrive much sooner. Everyone was moving fast through the jungle, being somewhat careful with some areas that could have some of the traps they had prepared for the smaller monsters. Grilat was leading the way since he knew more about this and even had made a couple of tests, running from their base to where he would fight the Night River to see his time. Alone, he could reach that area in about 40 minutes while not overexerting himself. If he needed to rush, he could do that in just 30 minutes, but then it would require him to take a break. As everyone moved quickly through the jungle, the fighter kept looking back with a frustrated expression on his face. "Can you guys run faster?" he asked. Hera and her friends were not slow by any stretch of the imagination, but they didn''t have any specific skills to sprint for long periods of time. Hera herself had only one skill that could increase her speed, which only worked when she was running away from something while everyone else was very similar in that regard. "Hera and I can do a thing, but Lena and Mylo can''t," Blue replied. ''Nimbus, could you take two people?'' Hera asked, already understanding what Blue was talking about. ''I can, as long as it''s not Mylo and someone else. He is a bit too heavy to carry with someone else,'' the Sentinel replied from inside the legacy. "I could take Lena, but that leaves Mylo behind," Hera added. "Say that you have a skill that lets you follow them. I''ll show you the path," Sammy appeared right in front of Mylo. "You can go. I have a skill," the fighter gave a thumbs up. Grilat looked back at the man wearing a tank top and carrying a large staff on his back. The Chief-to-be seemed a bit worried about that idea, but he decided to just believe in the group. It was already clear that he was constantly underestimating the newcomers, and this wasn''t the moment to make that same mistake again. "Ok. If you get lost, try to get back to the base. If you still can''t find it, look for the river, find a safe place, and stay put. We will find you later," Grilat turned to Hera and Blue, "How fast can you move?" Blue created a dark storm cloud under her and jumped on top of it without even stopping. Hera called Nimbus on his mount form in front of her, already running across the jungle, and jumped on his back, quickly followed by Helena, who held on. ''I won''t be able to move at top speed here. There are too many roots on the ground, and the trees are too close for me to fly,'' the Sentinel said. ''That''s fine; you are already faster than us,'' Hera said to the Sentinel before turning to Grilat, "Go as fast as you want; if we start to lose you, I''ll say something." "Fair enough. We can talk about that thing later. I kind of want one for me," Grilat smiled and picked up the pace considerably. All that interaction was made while they were still on the move. Sure, they slowed down a bit, but it was a necessary delay. Now that he didn''t have to worry about leaving them behind, Grilat ran like a madman. It was obvious that he wanted to arrive before the Night River and rest. Hera knew that one of the many potions they brought here was a stamina potion. It would help someone recover the energy they spent during a workout session but not the strain on their muscles. By taking that potion, he would still be in perfect shape to fight the Night River even after running so much. The downside was that tomorrow he probably wouldn''t be able to walk since his legs would be hurting too much. No one was saying anything, knowing that conversation could distract them from running and make them lose some time. However, Hera and Armory were having a strategy meeting. They would fight on their own against a giant beast, and it would be better to have some idea of what they should do instead of just going in blind. Daskka was also helping with that since she could become a giant creature made out of mist. Their theory was that the Night River would have similar weaknesses. Twenty minutes went by in a flash, and the enormous 100-meter-tall trees soon broke open into a large clearing. Somehow, the trees became thicker just as they crossed, forcing everyone to dismount and squeeze by the dark brown trunks. The ground in the natural arena didn''t have a single piece of vegetation, but it wasn''t completely flat. It was a small funnel to the center, almost like an explosion cleared out everything that was once in there, including a straight line that went all the way to the river. When thinking about it, Hera realized that this whole setup looked a lot like an impact crater made by a meteor. The part that was hard to understand was why the vegetation never reclaimed the 400-meter-wide clearing. Her only idea was that whatever fell here had some proprietress that infected the area and destroyed everything it touched, some sort of radiation or blight that ate up everything. Either way, this opening gave way for the sunlight to reach the floor, making Hera happy not to be in the dark jungle that didn''t seem ever to be touched by the warmth of the sun. Grilat gestured for them not to move as they squeezed by the rim of the crater. He pointed out that most of the outer layer of the area was flat, and that''s because the traps were all there. As they slowly walked around the crater, Hera noticed the smell of fresh water and turned to the river, seeing it for the first time in all its glory. From what everyone talked about, she expected a small stream or something, maybe 5 to 10 meters wide. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to carry a small boat. However, when it came into view, she was surprised to see something at least five times bigger than she expected. This wasn''t the small river that would eventually connect to a larger body of water; this was the kind of river that could cross a continent and still fight back against the ocean for hundreds, if not thousands, of meters. The speed of the stream was also something she had never taken into account. Anyone who fell inside it would struggle to fight against the current. "Is the Night River walking by the river or in it?" Helena asked. "In it, but it stays close to the shore. If it were in the middle of it, it wouldn''t be able to fight the current from below," Grilat said between breaths; he walked closer to the river, not enough to be dangerous but so that he could see upstream. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "How deep is the middle?" Hera asked. "Don''t know. No one ever managed to check that and come back." "And the Night River does what? Just walks?" "It is known to swim in the middle when trying to reach some place faster, but usually, it only walks along, catching food. There is a funny story¡­ Shit!" Grilat jumped up and pointed upstream. There was a mass of deep blue water that clashed with the green-brown liquid that they were seeing in the river itself. The lump was in the middle of the river, and it was approaching fast. "What do we do?" Hera asked. "Go hide in the forest. I''m the only one with a taunt strong enough to stop it now," Grilat replied. "Are you sure? I also have a taunt skill," Blue asked. "I don''t know, but we only have one chance, and I''m not willing to take the risk. But stay close; if mine doesn''t work, feel free to use yours," Grilat grabbed an orange potion from his belt and downed it at once. His breathing became steady, and his posture shifted, showing that all his tiredness was gone. Hera and Helena nodded and moved back inside the forest. Grilat told them to stay by the path to the river, it would be easier for them to get in and out, and they wouldn''t have to worry about the traps around the crater. With a nod, they all moved away. Blue was close by to try to pull the Night River in case things didn''t work. The fighter waited for the monster to get closer and pointed at it. A strand of red light shot out of his hand and touched the lump of blue water that moved in response. The face of a wolf came out of the water as if it was a crocodile and looked around. When the eyes, or what seemed to be eyes, found Grilat, the creature moved to the side and came ashore a few dozen meters away from the entrance. A loud, gargled roar echoed through the jungle, making some of the trees shake violently. What followed was the sound of heavy splashing, getting closer and closer. Grilat steeled himself while the monster approached, and only when it was close enough not to break the line of sight that the fighter dash towards the crater. When the man passed, Hera had the first full view of the creature. In essence, they were fighting water. A water elemental with two very long and apparently muscular arms and a set of short legs compared to the rest of its body. Hera could see muscles or shapes that resembled muscles. Its face was that of a wolf, with a pair of ears that were much longer than what one would expect and a set of teeth that seemed to be constantly moving, almost like a chainsaw made out of water. The creature was much darker than anyone made it out to be, with the water looking like what one would see in the ocean during a storm. However, she understood why they said that only its center was filled with shadows. When the sunlight hit the creature, most of its body would be translucent, with only a small part in the middle able to stop the light completely. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Night River - Level 35 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The level was much higher than she expected, especially since the room should only have creatures up to level 31. Grilat was in the middle of the crater when the fight began. The main issue with all of this wasn''t just fighting the monster, which was already a problem by itself, but keeping it from turning away by not dealing too much damage, which ended up being just a defensive marathon. Yet, the Chief-to-be did an incredible job. He managed to stall the Night River on his own for 15 minutes before he started making mistakes. When the man pushed the monster away, making it fall to the ground as some of the water on its arm splashed away, the ears of the creature turned into water whips that lashed out at Grilat, pushing him to the side and making him fall into one of the traps. ''Nimbus!'' Hera called even if it wasn''t necessary. The Sentinel was already prepared to intervene if something like that happened or if Grilat got into a position where it seemed, he would be in trouble. Coming out of nowhere, the bipedal form of Nimbus grabbed the man fighting the Night River and flew away with him. As the creature became distracted, Hera tossed a couple of paralyzing bolts at it, as her entire court, empowered by the Elemental Strength spell, lunged at the Wolf-ape, getting its attention as it roared one more time and tried to dodge the incoming attacks. However, its large body wasn''t made for quick movements. The paralyzing bolt hit but wasn''t able to trigger any effects, while Frost managed to freeze a part of its arm. "Take a break. I got this!" She yelled angrily, trying to pretend she was talking with the Night River, not Grilat, who was already squeezing through the tree line and thanking Nimbus for the save. Seeing the effect of Frost, she told the Glaive to pull back and focus on defense. If too much of the Night River was frozen, she was afraid that it would try to run away. Lurize was also there, but in his weapon form to not show they had the numbers. He was also not using his poison since spells like that would eventually deal enough damage to be a problem. Ironically, Hera had to jump around and dodge all the attacks like she was a monkey herself. More than once, she was saved by one of her court members, who blocked one of the attacks when she was caught in a bad position. Hera tried having Daskka help out, but when the monster started to absorb the mist into its form, she had to call the snake back. After ten minutes, she was hit by a similar strike as the one that took Grilat out of the crater. The ears of the Night River turned into whips and pushed her to the edge of the arena. However, instead of fighting back against that force, she leaned into it, using the momentum to hit a tree and jump toward the monster. As smart as she felt at the moment, she quickly realized that this was a massive mistake. The Night River didn''t anticipate that she would move away and instead threw a punch with its full force at the same location where she landed. Now, she was moving in the air, going to meet that fist, and there was nothing she could do to change her trajectory. The arm that was able to crack the ground and break the trees was about to hit her. Her fire elemental armor took a moment to gather enough heat to move her in the air, and Nimbus was back in his Tonfa form. Between changing and running, he wouldn''t be able to reach her in time. Currently, only Core was close to her, and it couldn''t change her path in a significant way by himself. Instead, the fire rapier did something unexpected. It flew at a staggering speed, aiming at the giant fist, trying to stop it in its tracks. Hera saw the blade of the rapier clash against the water, and instead of going inside, it tried to push back. In slow motion, she watched as Core bent and shattered, creating a large fiery explosion. This was enough to push Hera away and the fist back. The Empress tumbled to the side, and before she could gather herself, she asked. "Was that Weapon Break? I told you to stop the legacy from taking that skill!" ''I didn''t¡­'' before Daskka could answer that skill, the Night River roared and put both arms above its head. Then brought them down with power, but instead of it being a physical attack, it pushed out a large quantity of water from its body, creating a small tidal wave that pushed Hera against the trees and forced her to squeeze by. She continued traveling, stuck inside the wave for more time than she could understand until the water finally released her. The Empress coughed, trying to get some air in her lungs, but she was still worried about Core; she also felt that most of her court was far away, as her mana was dropping rapidly, but they were all there except for Core. Armory and Scythe were the only two who were close to her current location. "Daskka, what happened?" she asked as she heard a noise at her side. Looking up, she saw Kadhan walking closer to her, "The Night River pushed us. We need to go back." "No," the witch doctor replied. "What?" "No. The River did what it did. Grilat is there." "So we need to help him!" Kadhan lowered his body to be closer to Hera and placed one hand on her shoulder, "No. Grilat dies. Unfortunately, you follow." Hera felt a sharp pain in her stomach as a dagger held by Kadhan stabbed her in the gut. 657 - Plans that come together Hera''s reflexes were starting to become very well-tuned. She wasn''t someone who was in constant fights and would be risking her life every single day, but she spent enough time having to fight against things that pushed her back to warrant training. That''s why she did various training drills with her court, improving her senses and reactions to incoming attacks. If there were any doubts, all that hard work just paid off. As soon as the dagger sank into her gut, she triggered her armor to block the attack. The spectral wasp wings couldn''t pull the blade from inside her, but it could hold it in place, stopping Kadhan from sinking it deeper into her body. That move surprised the witch doctor, who was struggling to pull his weapon back or keep going with his stabbing. Hera waited a moment, still with wide eyes, processing this betrayal before she clenched her fist and punched Kadhan square in the jaw. That gave her enough of an opening to kick the man back, sending him tumbling toward one of the trees. The Empress quickly got to her feet, already using the best healing spell she had. Daskka followed right after, appearing in her silver mist form while at the same time healing her mum. Hera pulled the dagger out. Luckily the blade only went halfway before it was stopped by her armor, but there was still a solid 7 centimeters of metal covered in blood. She dismissed Edge, even if he was far away, and recalled him on her hand, the same hand she used to press on her wound. Because of the distance between the knife and her, that small move cost almost 1 million mana, but she still had enough. Unfortunately, she couldn''t do it with another of her weapons, not to mention that Fang and Claw were nowhere to be seen. Still, she quickly activated an elemental strength spell covering Edge with regeneration mana so her own wounds would start closing rapidly, thanks to the stacked healing. "Why the fuck are you doing this? I thought you were a good guy!" Hera yelled while trying to get up. The mist was numbing her pain, and she could feel the itchy sensation of her body quickly closing the wound, but it would still take some time before the healing was done, even more time for the cut not to open as she fought. "Good?" Kadhan chuckled as he rubbed his head and stood up, "I am. Criminal, but good." "Then why are you doing this? What is the point?!" Hera yelled again, coughing some blood, showing that some of it ended up on her stomach and her gut was rejecting it. She never realized that, but the worst part of throwing up blood wasn''t the taste itself but the burning sensation that covered her throat. The smell was a very close second place. The mix of bile and blood did not make for a pleasant aroma. "The Kingdom was my life. My reward? The Vanguard. The king drank poison. I failed to help. The third Prince says I gave poison. Used me to steal the crown. Only after torture. Years. Then sent away," Kadhan started walking closer to Hera, but also to the side and vanished from behind a tree to the right, only for him to appear far back, coming from the right, "Fire. Soot. Blood. My wish is... The Kingdom buried," the forest echoed as if multiple voices were saying the same thing at the same time. That wasn''t unusual when talking with the Witch Doctor, but this time, the voices were coming from everywhere, not just from the man''s mouth. Kadhan chuckled when Hera looked around and continued, "I''ll dance. Above the ziggurat. While the little ones swarm." "And what do I have to do with all of this?" Hera was trying to stall for time. The longer she managed to keep Kadhan talking, the more she would heal and the closer her court would be. However, she noticed that there was something wrong. Even with the healing, she could still feel some burning inside, and that wasn''t only on the wound. It wasn''t poison, she already knew well enough how those things worked, and it seemed like her Naga Poison could overpower most venoms. "You are good. Too good. Too nice. If I ask, would you let others die?" Kadhan vanished from behind a tree, only for another him to appear again in a completely different place. "If I tell. Would you help kill Grilat?" As he spoke, another voice crept into her mind, ''A hex is consuming you. I can remove it; I can heal. All you have to do, is asssskkkk.'' "Why do you need to kill him? What does that have to do with anything?" Hera yelled, trying to show she was both angry and to see if her voice could reach anyone else. "Grilat. A stubborn one. Would refuse to help. Would refuse vengeance. We couldn''t accept. Reynara would. We could show her anger. We could turn her. To us." While Kadhan was busy talking, Hera focused on the threat at hand, ''Do it. Take the hex out.'' ''Yessssssss.'' The curse said with glee, almost chuckling. In a moment, the burning sensation was gone. Kadhan vanished behind a tree again, but this time, instead of appearing somewhere else, three Kadhans appeared from the trees. Hera already had a suspicion that all of them were the moss bodies he could use, and this confirmed it. "You didn''t even ask me about it and decided I wouldn''t help. I don''t care about the people in the Kingdom." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Liar," Kadhan smiled. Suddenly, a dagger appeared at her side, aimed at her head. Hera didn''t look at the dagger, but Armory knew what was going on. The tiara was on the ground, a few meters ahead of Hera, pretending it couldn''t move, but she saw everything happening. She noticed the arm reaching out from behind the tree and told the Empress exactly when and how to dodge. She stepped to the side, moving to a part of this area where none of Kadhan''s bodies were around so far. "See. Liar." "Fuck you. Why would not wanting to die make me a liar?" Hera asked. "Sacrifices. Not all will survive." "And I''m the first?" Hera scoffed. "No. Grilat first. Then you. Then the brat prince and his children." "And now you are full-on villain mode. Why do you all insist on killing kids?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Children are a seed. The sapling. But, the seed of weed still weed," Kadhan continued and approached Hera one more time. He stopped trying to go for a sneaky approach and attacked her directly. Hera wasn''t sure why he acted like that. They knew that she was stronger than him. Maybe the hex was supposed to be harming her, but even if that was the case, he should be able to tell that his magic was inactive. Hera wasn''t feeling that burning sensation anymore. She moved her head to the side, dodging the attack, and grabbed the man by his arm, tossing him over her shoulder and twisting the arm she was still holding in hopes it would break. Instead, the arm was entirely removed from its socket and started to unravel, returning to moss in her hands. Seeing that this version was not the real Kadhan, Hera just stomped his head, hoping to thin his numbers. Daskka was already holding his legs together and about to bite the man''s neck when the Empress'' foot crushed its moss skull, making the rest of the body turn back into the fungi it was. ''The hex is gone. To trick the witch doctor I made a fake mark, one attuned to his magic. He won''t know it''s not working,'' the curse added, already understanding her worry. ''Armory, Scythe, come here. Fuck trying to keep hidden,'' Scythe was getting an aerial view of the area, and she quickly came back to Hera. She tried attacking one of Kadhan''s bodies, but the cut was superficial. However, it helped show that the one on the left was made out of moss. Armory followed along right after the earrings, slamming the sharp edges on the exposed shoulder of one of the Kadhans that were in front of Hera. This time, it didn''t reveal more moss but drew blood instead, revealing that this was his true body. "More lies. Just items. Isn''t what you said?" Kadhan''s voice was colder and now seemed angry. The two moss bodies jumped forward. At the same time, Hera felt a pair of hands grabbing her legs. Unfortunately for the witch doctor, his moss bodies were much weaker than the original. The difference wasn''t as stark as the version the Empress used for training, but even his original form would struggle to hold her down. Instead of kicking it right away, Hera punched one of the bodies that were lunging at her while Daskka attacked the other one, slamming her solid mist body against him. The impact caused the body to slam against the tree at an odd angle. The result was him crashing into the trunk and having one of his legs bend in an unnatural way. The punch that Hera delivered removed the jaw of Kadhan''s moss body, but it didn''t change its path, making the version of the man fall on top of her. Despite that, she didn''t flinch. The moss body was still moving, but the Empress just flung it to the side like it was a mannequin. She kicked the hands holding her down away and turned to the true witch doctor, who was now touching several parts of the trees and floor, creating a small army of moss bodies. All in different shapes and forms, resembling Kadhan himself. It would be very hard to kill them all without weapons, and neither Armory nor Scythe was able to find her daggers. ''Empress!'' Frost''s voice rang in her mind as the glaive finally arrived. Without even looking away from her target, Hera reached out with her hand and grabbed the shaft of her blade, getting into a position to fight and clicking her heels to activate her boots. She didn''t use them during the fight against the Night River since she needed to have more control over her movements, and gliding around could end up sending her to the traps. At the same time, she triggered an elemental strength spell on the court member that was now in her hands. "Annoying. You force me," Kadhan said and took two small ceramic vials from his bag. Hera sent out a couple of flaming fists, the spells that Bonnie was used to using, in hopes of breaking those vials, but the moss bodies stopped the magic, allowing the Witch Doctor to drink his concoction. Kadhan tossed the potions to the side, and some purple steam started to come out of him. Several tattoos glowed in a sickly yellow light, and his muscles started swelling. While that was going on, the Empress wasn''t just waiting around. She quickly activated a Poison Elemental Storm and started thinning out the herd of moss bodies. Hera was keeping the glaive close to her body, and instead of going around the group, she dove straight in the middle of it, spinning around, allowing Frost to hit them with the blade and the end of the staff. Each impact was enough to maim those bodies, but not all fell with one hit. Just as Kadhan finished taking in the effects of the potion he just drank, Hera spun and let Frost slide through her hand, increasing his reach and cutting the Witch Doctor''s leg. Because of the ice covering the blade, a part of his shin was frozen over with the first impact. Hera added a few poison needles to make sure Kadhan wouldn''t move around without any issues. Daskka took that chance to continue clearing out the moss bodies, so her mum wouldn''t have to worry about being stabbed in the back again. Hera continued attacking, trying to deal as much damage as possible, but there was a part of her that was still holding back. Even if this was the past, and Kadhan was already destined to die, would she really be willing to kill him? A big part of her just wanted to stop and knock him out. Then drag him back to the Vanguard and figure out why he was doing all of this. Kadhan roared as if he was a monster, his eyes glowing red and his body finally finishing that transformation. If his proportions looked like a monkey before, now that monkey discovered protein shakes. The Witch Doctor was more muscular than any man Hera ever saw before, and that included the people who would be a part of bodybuilding competitions. Having Frost, Armory, Scythe, and Daskka by her side, the Empress steeled herself. Knowing that even if she didn''t want to kill him, it might not be up to her. 658 - Its all the same Kadhan could have become larger and be under the effect of some weird potions, but he still seemed to be able to use his array of skills and spells. He moved around almost like he was doing a mixture of dance and fight, doing cartwheels, spins, and rhythmic movements. In a way, it reminded Hera of Brazilian Capoeira. That was a fighting style she looked into when she started learning how to fight, but it felt like it revolved too much around spinning, which made her dizzy. The biggest problem, however, was that more of the moss bodies would appear each time his hands or feet touched the ground. Some were amorphous blobs of green moss, which would just lash out as she got close, and others were more refined, being a similar version of the Witch Doctor when he wasn''t under the effects of those kinds of spells. Hera had to focus on both attacking the plant-based creations and Kadhan himself, and she only had Frost to work with. Sure, since he was a glaive, a medium-range weapon, she had enough of a reach to protect herself and to deliver wide blows that would destroy more than one of the moss constructs at a time. The problem was Kadhan himself. The man could parry her attacks without much of a problem, and since he kept vanishing behind the trees, it was hard for the Empress to keep track of the biggest threat present in this fight. Even with Armory and Scythe helping her out, they couldn''t track all the creatures and the witch doctor at the same time. The good part was that Kadhan himself was the only one able to hurt her. She got hit with a couple of kicks and punches that really hurt. The armor took the brunt of the attack, but the impact still sent her back. On the other hand, any attacks that came from the moss bodies had so little strength behind them that she couldn''t even imagine being hurt by them. Only when there was a spell attached to the blow that she become worried. Kadhan knew a lot about potions in general, and he could make some simple concoctions with his mana. Nothing that could heal or create a large effect by themselves, but the man was a chemist at heart, and he was more than capable of creating liquids that, when combined, became dangerous mixtures. Hera had to dodge acids, glue, drugs that made her arms numb, and even gas that could burn her lungs. Kadhan''s leg appeared from her right, and the Empress managed to dodge, ducking under the attack and gliding towards the man. With a spin, she slashed upward, hitting the inside of his legs close to his waist. Frost managed to send some ice shards toward him as he moved, courtesy of his Elemental Strength spell. At the same time, Hera felt the drop in her mana lessen, meaning that at least one of her other court members reached the range of the magnets. A couple of the moss constructs jumped on her, forcing the Empress to deal with them before continuing her attack. She used the Fire Elemental armor in hopes of burning the moss away, and just as she managed to get free, the now-hidden Kadhan started to laugh from the jungle. "Don''t bother. The prince already did that. I''m neutered. Like the dog, he calls me!" his last words came in a growl as he appeared barreling through the area, trying to catch Hera with a shoulder charge. Thankfully, this move was too telegraphed, and she jumped back, pushing the moss away and falling to the ground as the man passed and started to stop. The problem with getting larger was that it would also increase the momentum that followed his attacks, making it harder to stop and change trajectories quickly. ''Empress!'' Ooze finally reached the fight, signaling that now the rest of the court should appear soon. They were only taking so long to reach her because of the number of trees covering the area. There were so many that they forced the blades to dodge around, and that made them unable to go at full speed toward Hera. In response, she quickly covered the chakram with an Elemental Strength spell so he could start helping more. ''Howl!'' Hera called the name of the skill just as she spun around, holding Frost by the base as she destroyed a large number of the moss bodies with an arc swing. Ooze understood what he was meant to do and triggered the skill using 2 thousand points of mana, 10 times more than the base version of the skill. The result was an extremely loud scream that made even the nearby trees shake and leaves start to fall over the darkened area. All of the moss constructs that didn''t have an actual shape froze in place, and the ones that looked like disfigured versions of Kadhan ran away in fear, but all the others, the ones who looked like realistic versions of the witch doctor didn''t seem to be affected by the sound. This area of the jungle was very dark, with the trees stopping most of the outside light from reaching her location, but it wasn''t pitch black either. That helped the witch doctor a lot. It was hard to identify his massive body in the dark and easy to confuse a tree in the back as Kadhan himself. It was a shame that his tattoos stopped glowing when the transformation was over, but now his benefit was gone, or at least reduced. Thanks to the falling leaves, small beams of sunlight managed to hit the ground and illuminate the entire area, more than enough to help Hera, Armory, and Scythe to find the witch doctor. During all that time, Daskka was attacking the moss bodies like there was no tomorrow. She focused on the ones that looked like Kadhan, the ones that would give Hera more trouble. She would wrap around them and squeeze until their limbs popped, use her tail as a whip to toss the constructs to the trees and bite their heads off. Unlike the Empress, the herald had no issues with killing others. Not that she was bloodthirsty by any measure, but if someone were attacking them, she wouldn''t pull her punches. Kadhan noticed that he couldn''t use the shadows so well anymore, so he decided to go a different route. He created a few moss bodies that were very different from the rest. They had swollen limbs that seemed to be ready to pop. That ended up being exactly what he wanted to happen. As one of the bodies went closer to Hera while she was mid-swing, the moss''s body with an inflated left arm lunged forward, arm first, letting the Empress pierce it and making all the liquid that was inside of it splash over her. It was an amber-colored liquid that was hot to the touch, but it didn''t hurt. However, it was incredibly sticky, making it hard for her even to let go of Frost. Not that she intended to let him go anytime soon. Ooze flew by her, cutting a couple of heads as another bulbous creature appeared. This time, the flying court member decided to take it upon himself to solve that problem, but just as the chakram popped the swollen head, a green liquid came out of it. Ooze screamed, not because of the skill but because of the pain he felt. It took a lot to hurt the constructs, but acid was still something that could damage them. Worried that her court member could be destroyed, even if it was something temporary, Hera called him back. ''Be careful with the ones that look like balloons. They have weird stuff inside them,'' Hera told her entire court, even if they were not here yet. Armory added a few images of what she meant, but the Empress was only aware of that communication; she didn''t see them herself. Kadhan appeared from her left and made a throwing motion with both arms. Hera was half expecting a pair of rocks, but instead, it was a set of two different liquids, one brown and one red. She didn''t have to think much about them to know that getting hit by either of those liquids would be bad. Jumping back, Hera went towards one of the trees and heard the splash behind her. Right after it, she smelled something foul, and then her nose started to burn. Not as if she ate something spicy, but as if she was inhaling smoke. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Hera moved back into the shaded area of the jungle. Whatever that smoke was, it felt like bad news, and Daskka agreed. Kadhan''s large body approached as the Empress stepped away. He opened his mouth, but only a grunt came out; the witch doctor still could use spells, but talking wasn''t a possibility. The Empress saw the army of moss bodies approaching behind the giant man and continued to step back slowly. She was trying to stall for time, and it seemed like Kadhan had a bit of flair for the dramatic. Pretending to be scared, she started shaking, hoping she wasn''t overselling thing''s too much. Her senses had picked a few things incoming. Three things specifically that would completely change the tide of the battle. Kadhan smiled, seeing her like that, and leaned in the scare factor, roaring loudly, making even some leaves fall because of the tremor caused by his voice. Yet, Hera didn''t budge. Instead, she just smiled. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" a pair of voices echoed as a giant humanoid golden beetle and a humanoid griffon covered in frozen ash crashed onto the witch doctor. Forcing him to tumble to the side. The follow-up came from behind as a golden sword with a flat edge cut Kadhan''s arm before spinning and delivering a chain lightning at point blank range. "Round 2, let''s go!" Hera called, and she jumped into action. Now that she had most of her court with her, she knew that she could push Kadhan back. However, he also was aware of that. The witch doctor jumped back, sending the moss bodies to intercept. He pulled up two potions, the same one he drank before growing, and was about to drink them when Hera yelled, "Stop him!" Dao and Nimbus tried to intercept, but Kadhan was too fast when creating his moss. Instead of a body, he just made a net that slowed them down enough to let him drink the potions. A large quantity of steam came out of him, but it was cold, almost as if someone was using dry ice. The tattoos around his body glowed again in the same sickly yellow light, but this time, they broke as the witch doctor became large, deformed with muscles that ripped through his skin, becoming exposed to the elements. Kadhan''s skull helmet broke, revealing that the skin on his face was ripping, showing his own bones from underneath. The man roared with a voice that sounded a lot like a monster and turned to Hera, his eyes completely covered in blood. It was a surprise that he could even see like that. Any semblance of intelligence was gone from the man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crazed Witch Doctor - Level 31 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Empress could feel mana in her surroundings, and the mana of a person and a monster was very different. Right now, this was no longer Kadhan but a mindless creature fueled by rage. The system also agreed with her, removing his name from his identification. He lunged forward, forcing the Empress to dodge, but he was much faster than she expected. To make matters worse, he broke most of the trunk of a tree with the impact, showing that his strength now was considerably higher than Hera''s. Dao and Nimbus jumped to attack, but their blows weren''t able to cut through his skin. Even Lurize, in his golden beetle form, wasn''t able to deal some damage. The Empress used every single buff she had, with the exception of her [All In] skill, but not even that was enough. Kadhan swung his arm in a wide ark, forcing Nimbus to create a mana shield around Hera while she also activated the wings of her armor. Both were destroyed instantly, but it was enough to save her from taking too much damage. Daskka grew in size and tried to wrap herself around the witch doctor, but he simply grabbed her mist form and tossed her to the side. Hera could still feel the herald, but she was seriously injured. Rage started to boil inside her. She knew it wasn''t only her own feelings but the rest of her court too. They had lost Core, and now Daskka was in danger. Hera pulled the berserker potion that Kadhan himself gave to her. She knew that this was probably another way to get her killed. In hindsight, the berserker potion she saw in the cave would only increase the pain someone would feel, not the actual damage. Still, the buff would work. Kadhan could lie; the system could not. She downed the potion as Lurize and Nimbus kept the witch doctor busy. Her body glowed in a similar yellow light that made Kadhan grow, and she felt her attributes increase. A searing pain shot through her entire body as a plan formed in her mind. ''Nimbus, you are going to deal the killing blow. Lurize, we are going to get punched.'' Hera could feel the confusion in their minds, but she quickly shared her idea, and they jumped into action while activating her All-in, Focusing on her endurance. Lurize and Hera focused on getting Kadhan''s attention. Each time he would attack, Hera and her court would block instead of dodge. Each hit hurt like hell, but Nimbus was currently holding Edge and Daskka, despite being wounded and about to disappear back to the necklace, was healing him. Hera didn''t activate the wings of her armor, instead taking all the damage, and so did Lurize. His golden beetle form now gone. Nimbus was receiving 40% of the damage that came with each strike and gathering a lot of mana for a single strike. He didn''t have any attack skills, but thanks to the mana control that Hera shared with her court, he could cover his tonfas in mana to increase their power. Hera, Frost, and Lurize blocked 10 blows each, Dao and Ooze also blocked one each, but that was enough to almost break them, and Hera had to recall the two. After the last strike, the Empress slammed her back against the tree. Lurize was to the side, struggling to get up, and Kadhan raised both his arms for a final blow. That''s when Nimbus moved; he was using the Share the Pain skill to absorb all that damage and focus it all in a single strike. The Sentinel jumped and aimed at the exposed neck of the witch doctor. The blades didn''t just pierce the skin but cut deep until they reached the middle of his neck. Kadhan was too large to be decapitated by the tonfas, but now his head was being held only by half of his neck, and his spine was severed. Blood started to leak from the wound as the body fell back with a loud thud that echoed through the jungle. The Empress recalled Daskka, who couldn''t move anymore, and Frost, who was showing some cracks after all the attacks he blocked, leaving only Lurize and Nimbus out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crazed Witch Doctor - Deceased ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The three of them stared at the corpse for a moment before Hera turned to the side and called, "Sammy!" "I''m here. I was watching, but I didn''t want to get in the way." "It''s fine. Where is everyone else?" Hera asked, trying to focus on the fact that her friends were somewhere. "Most of them are just hurt; Bonnie could use some help." "Show me the way," she said. Sammy nodded and started moving with Hera, Nimbus, and Lurize following right behind. After a few moments of silence, the turtle spoke up, "I''m sorry for what you had to do. But for what is worth, he was supposed to die anyway. If not because of this, because of the curse," Sammy knew that this was supposed to happen, and the witch doctor never returned to the village after today, but he couldn''t say it. The fact was that he could only tell if the memory was following its path or not after it went in a different direction. "That doesn''t matter. In the end, it''s all the same. Be it in dungeons, in the past, or even in the present. When you kill someone, they become nothing more than memories, and it''s my job to carry them with me," Hera replied, thinking about the elf she killed during the centaur attack and all the people she killed inside a dungeon. There was no difference between them. "I''m sorry," Sammy said, knowing that things would get worse before they would get better. 659 - Rebels Sammy kept guiding Hera to the place where Bonnie was located. They were still running through the woods. Lurize was following along in his weapon form since moving around on his bipedal form would harm their speed too much. Nimbus was also in his weapon form, but instead of just flying around, the Empress was wielding him, and Edge was on her belt, still with the Elemental Strength spell active to help her heal from the wounds she got during the fight with Kadhan. She had lost her weapons, Fang and Claw ended up leaving her hands when the Night River created that massive wave. That was a big blow to her setup. She had been using them for months already, and the twin daggers had been her main weapons for a long time. A large part of her wanted to go back and search for them, but according to Sammy, Bonnie was in trouble, and that took precedence over her items. Hopefully, they could search for them later, or maybe Sammy had a way of noticing where they were; since they came from the future, there should be some sort of energy coming out of them, right? Focusing back on the task at hand, Hera tried to speed up the pace, with Sammy understanding her idea and doing the same," How is Bonnie in trouble? Wasn''t she with the rest of the Vanguard going to the kill zone?" Hera asked. On the side of the crater opposite the river was a group of trees with a couple of detonation traps attached to them. Then when it was time for the Night River to die, they would blast that path open and lure the monster to a wider place with even more traps where everyone else was waiting to help the fight, and that''s where her friend should be heading towards. "Kadhan wasn''t the only one organizing a coup. There were others. From what I gather, I think about a third of the members of the Vanguard are participating in that. As they were walking to that spot, the groups split and used some smoke screens to split off the smaller groups into even smaller ones. Then they started attacking those who they thought would be against them. It seems like they have to finish all this before Reynara shows up," Sammy explained. "Why? If they are doing that, they can just pick whoever they want to lead the village." "I think it''s because of those who were left behind. There are still a good 20 people back in the Vanguard, and if they have to fight them as well, it might be too much. Or they didn''t even think about it. Multrak did say they are not the brightest of groups." "Are you really telling me that a group of idiots is trying to do a coup, and they didn''t even think about who can be the leader?" Sammy glanced back at Hera, "In all fairness, this wouldn''t be the first time in history someone did something like that. Well, actually, it might, considering we are so far in the past." "Fair point, but Multrak is not going to go down easy, and having him die is kind of the main point, isn''t it?" "Why do you say that?" Sammy made a turn that took them out of the densest part of the jungle. Now there were actual paths between the trees that could be followed without much of an issue, even by larger beings. Lurize took the opportunity to change forms. He didn''t like the idea of having Hera walk around alone with just one flying sword behind her. If he was in his bipedal form, then he seemed more imposing and more of a threat. "Legaciez have many zecrets. Multrak only talked about two zkillz. The buff and the added power to him. When we think about how long ago he got it, itz more likely than not that many of the powers he haz are unknown," the Royal Tutor said, trying to be a part of the conversation. "Not to mention, he doesn''t seem to trust everyone. Not to the point of sharing the nuances of his legacy. We tried looking into that, but no one could figure anything out. I don''t think he was expecting this, but I''m sure he kept a few cards up his sleeve," Hera added. "I think he haz a full deck under there," Lurize scoffed, "The man dozen''t ztrike me az honezt." Sammy nodded, "I see where you are coming from, and yeah. He might be ok, but he isn''t close to any of us, and I can''t see things that are not around you guys." "Here''s hoping he''s ok. Having a blood-hungry maniac in the middle of this situation wouldn''t be good," Hera thought about the worst-case scenario Multrak mentioned. Getting the legacy but not getting his restraint skill. If the effect still worked to make someone crave blood as a drug they would have a big problem to deal with. No one said anything for a while after that. They were all focusing on running to see if they could get faster to where Bonnie was. After about two minutes, Sammy asked, "Is it a coup?" "What?" Hera turned to the turtle. "Do a coup. Is that how you say it? Isn''t it make a coup? Or, like, run a coup?" Sammy turned to her with a pensive expression. "Are you really asking me about grammar while people are trying to kill my friends?" Hera raised one of her eyebrows. "Oh, right. Sorry. Time and place," Sammy turned back and focused on the path ahead. It took them just five minutes to start hearing some noise, and not the friendly kind. Instead, it was the sound of small explosions and magic attacks hitting the trees and the smell of burnt wood that followed with it. "FUCK OFF!" Bonnie''s voice echoed. Hera turned in the direction of the voice and sprinted at full speed. She was currently under the debuff of her [All In] skill, but she was still confident in fighting the people of the Vanguard. The Empress arrived at the location where Bonnie was being attacked. She was scrambling behind a tree, yelling at someone while spells blasted the trunk. Someone rushed to her side, which caused the researcher to run away. A couple of flying fists flew through the air, aimed at the assailant, but they missed, not by much, but it wasn''t such a close call either. This was Bonnie''s biggest weakness, she was able to fight pretty well when a monster was far away, and it wasn''t aimed at her, but when the creature got closer and she was the one being chased, she became frazzled and would oftentimes miss her attacks. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ''Lurize, let''s go for a pincer move,'' Hera said, and the two of them split off. They wanted to help Bonnie, but they knew that if they showed up as backup, they would lose the element of surprise. Also, there was a chance that whoever was attacking the researcher could try to run away. If that were to happen, they might lose one of the rebels, and letting them run free could cause problems in the future. ''Do we kill them?'' Lurize asked. ''I¡­ don''t know. If you can think of a way to just stop them, that''s better, but if you feel they won''t stop like Kadhan, then¡­'' Hera couldn''t finish the sentence, but the Royal Tutor understood what she meant. ''For what is worth, Hera. I was the one who killed him,'' Nimbus said. Hera opened a sad smile, ''That doesn''t change things, you know that. And let''s help Bonnie first; then we deal with my head.'' With a nod, Lurize hid behind a tree while Armory and Scythe told them when to move. They waited for a moment for the assailant to be distracted by Bonnie''s spell to rush in. Lurize used his dash ability to shoulder charge the person, making them fall to the ground. Hera jumped on top of them to stop them from moving, placing the bladed tonfa right on top of their neck as an intimidating method. "Pielle?" Hera asked. Below her was the woman who cooked a meal for her after she went hunting with Reynara. She was a bit creepy but very nice. "I knew you wouldn''t be with us on this. You are too nice," Pielle huffed and tried to get away, but Hera held her steady. "Yeah, fine. You are not the first person to tell me that. Can we just stop now? You lost, and Kadhan is dead. You can just let go and keep living in the village," Hera tried to reason with Pielle but only got a maniacal laugh in response. "So I can become a prisoner of prisoners? I''ll pass. If I can''t finish off my late husband''s family, there is only one thing to do," Pielle grabbed the tonfa and pulled it towards her throat while pushing her body forward at the same time. The movement made the woman cut her own throat while under Hera, who tried to pull away but wasn''t able to move fast enough to stop Pielle from killing herself. "What the fuck?" Hera stepped back as the blood gushed out from Pielle''s throat. She was so surprised by the attack that she didn''t consider healing the woman. Not to mention that Daskka, who was the main healer of her court was still recovering. "Hera!" Bonnie called and rushed over to her friend, "Are you ok?" she looked down, seeing the blood covering her body. Not all of it was from Pielle, there was a lot from the Empress herself, but that was already mostly dried up. Seeing Bonnie''s reaction, Hera took a moment to actually take notice of how her body was doing. Daskka wasn''t around, but Edge did enough of a good job to let her keep herself together. She still had a black eye, a busted lip, a bloody nose, and several broken ribs. Her wrist was also banged up, and there was a constant ringing in her ear. Not to mention the constant pain that was shooting through her entire body because of the potion she took while fighting Kadhan. Still, she had to move. "I''m fine," Hera replied when she felt something pop from her mouth. She coughed and spat out one of her molars, "Oh¡­ Well, I''m fine." "No, you are not! What the hell happened?" Bonnie gasped. "I fought Kadhan. It was annoying," Hera started to feel her body slow down, but she didn''t think that was a good idea. She jumped a couple of times, trying to force her body to heat up, "The others might still need help." "What is going on? No, wait," Bonnie turned to Pielle''s body, then back to Hera, "Thank you for saving me. I¡­ I don''t think I could''ve done that." "She did it herself. But I''m not going to think about it now. We need to find the others. Sammy!" Hera called. "I''m here. Sorry, I try not to get in the way of the fights. I don''t know exactly how to help," Sammy appeared by their side. "That''s fine. What about the others?" Hera asked. "They are all heading to the crater. No one is in danger, but that''s the best place to gather up." "Ok, let''s go. Take us there, Sammy," Hera started walking. Lurize and Nimbus seemed to want to say something, but they felt that the Empress knew what they wanted to talk about, and she didn''t want to get into that just yet. Edge was too focused on healing her to participate in any conversation. "What is going on? Why did Pielle attack me?" Bonnie was following Hera, but she was still very confused. "There is a coup going on right now. Some of the people of the Vanguard didn''t like that Reynara was not going to be their leader, and they were trying to use this hunt as a way to get rid of people who would be against their whole plan," Sammy replied. "But why?" "Because the whole ''we are happy here'' thing was bullshit. It looks like a lot of people resented the kingdom and wanted revenge," Hera snarled. "Oh¡­" Bonnie heard the anger in Hera''s voice and didn''t say anything else, unsure what to say to help her friend. "I don''t understand one thing. Why did Pielle choze to die?" Lurize asked. "She did that?" Sammy looked back without stop moving. He had picked up the pace a little bit, just enough to stay at a jogging pace. All members of the party were doing relatively well, and since they didn''t know what could happen, the turtle decided to let Hera pace herself. "Yeah. She pulled Nimbus to her throat. I shouldn''t have kept the blade so close to her," Hera said. She considered calling Nimbus out on his griffon form to take them, but she wanted to keep the adrenaline pumping. The moment she stopped, her body would collapse because of the injuries. There was one more thing she could do, and it was better to do it now than later, ''Curse. Can you lessen my pain and start healing my bones?'' ''Yessss.'' ''Then do it,'' Hera said and felt an itchy feeling around her eyes, but she quickly stopped, and then her pain started to subside. During that small interaction, Sammy was thinking about why Pielle decided to kill herself. He had an answer that applied to memories but couldn''t actually say it. Then again, the best way to lie was to mix it with the truth. He changed one word about the explanation and started talking, "From what I can gather, the timeline has a way of fixing itself. Maybe Pielle was supposed to die during this coup, and when she didn''t, the timeline forced her to kill herself." "Wouldn''t that cause problems for us then? If the curse were to be destroyed, the timeline would fix itself," Bonnie asked. "I don''t think that is the case. The timeline can fix small things. When something bigger happens, it won''t be able to fix it, and instead, it will have to rewrite itself," Sammy explained. "Can we talk about this later? We don''t know if someone else will show up and attack us," Hera''s voice became very cold, but they couldn''t blame her. Right now, they were alone in a jungle full of traps and a massive monster while a group of rebels were trying to kill them. They had to focus on their surroundings or risk getting caught in yet another ambush, and none of them wanted that. 660 - Grilat It didn''t take long for Hera to arrive at the crater, with Bonnie and her being the last members of the party to arrive. Helena was doing fine. She was attacked by Thorne, but she managed to handle him just fine. Unfortunately, he ended up trying to escape and fell into a trap that impaled his neck. Blue also was attacked by someone who they knew, but it was Kaela. Shane and Adriel were in a larger group that was split off before they reached the kill zone behind the crater, and they never actually saw anyone who was participating in the coup, not alive at least. They ended up finding Mylo and Berylla fighting against two members of the guard who they didn''t have much contact with, and Berylla killed both. Not that Mylo was against killing someone who was trying to kill him, but the fighter tried to knock them out while the chief builder just went for the throat, quite literally. Thankfully, they were all together, but at the same time, there were already more problems on sight. For one, the Night River was nowhere to be found, neither was Grilat. The path that would drag the monster to the killzone was now open, but it seemed like the Night River, or whatever broke the trees, wasn''t going to the place filled with traps. Instead, turning to the left and heading to a less cluttered part of the jungle. Sammy suggested they follow the path of destruction. They could try to go back to the village, but since everyone was going towards the Night River there was a good chance of them finding them like that. After all, that was everyone''s destination. With a nod, everyone started walking, while still being careful not to trigger any traps. Even if this wasn''t supposed to be the path, people also considered that the monster could come by here, which meant that it was still a minefield. Moving carefully they pressed forward and noticed more and more signals of fighting. There were trees with large gashes across the trunks. Parts of the ground were cracked, there were scorch marks, and signals that some of the traps were triggered. There were also some blood splatters here and there, which meant that whoever was fighting against the Night River wasn''t doing so hot. They continued following that path for about five minutes until they saw two monster bodies. One was a large puddle with a single crystallized core in the middle, and the other was a large clump of vines that seemed to have dried out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Night River Core ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boulder of Vine corpse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera only used her [Observe] knowing that [Inspect] could make windows that were too large. After confirming that the monsters were dead they continued following the trail of blood. At first it was just some spatter here and there, but eventually it became an actual line of blood. At one point, everyone started to get worried. There was a lot of blood and it was hard to imagine someone bleeding that much and still being able to move around without any problems. No one wanted to say anything, worried that it might lure some of the rebels, or something worse, but they also wanted to call and see if anyone needed help. With those thoughts in her mind Hera couldn''t stop thinking that Kadhan was right. She was too nice. She was just attacked, most of her body was still sore, even with the help of the curse, and her first instinct was to help others. Sure, there was a good chance that they were getting closer to Grilat, and he could be injured, but there were no guarantees. It was very likely that they were going to see another one of the rebels. Suddenly, everyone started hearing a voice. It was faint at first, but when they got closer they were able to notice that it was someone sobbing. They glanced at each other and rushed towards the sound. It didn''t matter if the person in question was part of the rebels or not. If they were crying in the middle of the jungle they needed help. Plain and simple. When they got closer to the sound, the party was taken aback with the sight. Calling this gruesome was an understatement. There was blood everywhere in this small clearing, pieces of flesh, bush, and large puddles of water covered the entire area. To their left, they could see an arm that seemed to have been ripped to shreds. Aside from the clear cut that split it from its owner, they could see the bone in several other places. To make things worse, there was more blood around those wounds than on the part of the arm that would connect to the rest of the body, meaning that, those wounds were not made after the arm was removed. In the center of this clearing, they saw Reynara holding Grilat on her lap and tears dripping from her eyes. Hera walked forward and she quickly understood why she was so sad. Only the upper half of Grilat was intact. There were still several wounds all over what was left of his body, but at least they were all in one piece, from his stomach down, everything had turned into some sort of paste. Possibly caused by the Night River delivering a blow much more powerful than he expected. Yet, despite all that, the corpse was still holding on to his spear. Reynara had already closed his eyes, but she was crying over him while tenderly holding his head. She saw the group approached and looked up with an angry expression, "Go on. Laugh. Crazy bitch Reynara is crying for a man who already dumped her." Hera just walked closer to her and placed one hand on the huntress'' shoulder, "He was a good person. It doesn''t matter why he was here, that won''t change," Reynara nodded and continued crying, "How do you guys deal with death here? Do you guys have a cemetery or something?" This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "Yeah, back in the village. We have an underground mausoleum," Reynara replied between sobs. Hera didn''t say anything, she just nodded, and turned to the Royal Tutor, ''Lurize, grab his arm, and bring it here. Let''s try to bring most of his body back.'' Lurize just nodded and picked up the arm. He looked around to see if there was anything else around but this seemed to be the only piece of Grilat''s body remaining. "I know this is not the best time, but can you tell me what happened with the Night River and the Boulder of Vine? I saw the corpses back there but is it really them?" Hera asked. "Do you think I would be here crying like a little girl if there were still monsters around?" Reynara glared at Hera. "No, but I also don''t think you would chase them if they were clearly running away. And the fact that both of them were close to each other feels very strange," Hera kept her cool, not wanting to make the huntress even more upset. She also noticed how one of Reynara''s arms was completely covered in thorns. Reynara snarled, and turned back to Grilat. Eventually, she answered the question, "Kadhan gave me some poison. It made the monsters fight to the death. I don''t know what it did exactly." Hera just nodded. She wasn''t aware that Kadhan had that kind of poison. Then again, the potion he gave her wasn''t something she knew about either. When Lurize came back, the Empress helped place the arm in the right place, even if it was still detached from Grilat. ''Lurize, ask the others to look around and make sure monster are not being lured by the smell of blood. Also, ask Adriel to stay here. Reynara knows us, it''s not a lot, but we might be able to give her some support.'' The Royal Tutor just nodded and walked back to the group. He whispered what the Empress said and they started moving. About half an hour went by, and luckily, no monster came around. However, they couldn''t stay here forever. Now, the entire party was closer to Grilat''s body, but they were still giving Reynara some space. Only Adriel and Hera still close to her. "Reynara, we need to get back to the others. I think going to the outpost is a decent idea, even with the rebels moving around," Hera said. "What rebels? What are you talking about?" "Oh¡­ right-" Hera took a deep breath- "I know there is a very good chance that you won''t believe me, but some people of the Vanguard attacked us. It seems like they didn''t like the fact that you were not going to be the next chief and wanted to change that forcefully. Kadhan came after me and I had to kill him. He took a few potions that made him lose his mind and I had no other option." That last sentence wasn''t just for Reynara, but for Hera herself. During this time where they stopped, there was only a single thought going through her mind. She had killed someone, and this time, it wasn''t an accident. The chief huntress looked at Hera with an angry expression, "And you expect me to believe you? You who just got here? Instead of trusting the friends I have her for years?" "You can believe what you will. The point is, we need to move back to the outpost," Hera said. "And how can I know that you are not one of those so called rebels?" Reynara asked. "Because if we were, telling you would go against our plans. They apparently wanted to trick you into attacking the kingdom. Telling you that you are a puppet doesn''t seem productive for it. Especially when people know about your temper," Hera explained. "So? Your plan might be something else, you can be telling me all this just to manipulate me," Reynara continued staring daggers at the Empress. "Reynara, we found this nearby," Shane stepped forward and showed a few broken arrows that had some blood splattered on them, "I''m guessing the tips will be in Grilat''s back." Reynara looked up, then down at Grilat. She caressed his face, and just said, "Help me turn him without making this worse." Adriel and Hera tilted the fighter''s body while making sure not to damage his corpse anymore than it already was. As Shane suggested, there were a couple of arrowheads embedded into his back. No one else knew they were here, so even if the kingdom was involved in this, it also meant that there were traitors inside et Vanguard. Seeing that, Reynara helped place Grilat back on the floor and started crying again. After a few moments, her voice came out in a crack. "Why? Why would they do that? He loved the Vanguard more than anyone. He would do anything for these people¡­" "I don''t know¡­" Hera replied. There wasn''t an easy answer to her question. Losing someone close was already hard by itself, having them killed by someone close to you only made things much, much worse. "ARGH!!" Reynara yelled and punched the ground. Blood started pouring from her knuckles, "I''m going to kill them! Every last one of them!" she jumped to her feet and started walking towards the woods. "Reynara, stop!" Hera called. "Shut up! Everything was fine until you showed up!" "I wasn''t the one who killed him, and you don''t even know where they are. Also, are you going to just leave Grilat here?" when Hera spoke, Reynara finally stopped and looked back, her eyes stopping at the body. "Do you have a way of moving him?" "I can make a stone slab and we can carry him like that," Hera suggested. "Hera, may I?" Blue stepped forward, getting a confirming nod as a response, "I can make a storm cloud that can carry him. Like the one I use to move around." "I think that''s better. Can we?" Hera turned to Reynara. "Yeah¡­" the huntress replied. They all worked together to get Grilat up on Blue''s cloud before they started moving. As angry as Reynara was, now that she was more worried with the body of her former lover, she decided to move with the group. They all walked slowly through the woods, making sure not to trigger any traps, and with their eyes and ears peeled, looking for monsters, and rebels. Their destination was the outpost, and they could only hope that nothing would happen until they got there. 661 - A long way back The group was walking and not sprinting, which meant they would take more than one hour to reach the outpost. They were walking through a more open area of the forest in hopes that, if someone were trying to ambush a group this big, they wouldn''t be able to do so. Reynara was by Grilat''s side the entire time; her face would shift between pain and anger when a noise caused her to snap in its direction. No one was talking much at first, trying to be respectful of the fallen fighter, but eventually, Blue started asking about spells that would make something cold. "So no one has one? Something like a way to make ice that stays or to lower the temperature of something without damaging anything," Blue turned to the group. "My spells only deal damage. I''m not good at making cold drinks." "I''m just saying. We are going to take a while to get to the village, and if we are going to keep the body around, we should make it cold. Not just to slow down the rot, but also because of the smell." "It''s not a body! He has a name," Reynara snarled. "Yes, and if we want to make sure what''s left of Grilat reaches the Vanguard, we need to consider how to bring his body with us. If we don''t do anything, the smell will be a problem for us and will attract monsters," Hera said without looking at the huntress. To everyone''s surprise, she was somehow the only one comfortable enough to talk back to her. "I think I can do something about that," Shane stepped closer to the cloud and enchanted the corpse to be frozen, "I never expected that this spell to make drinks cooler during hot days would be useful like this," she said with a sad smile, still trying to pretend that she didn''t have a Legacy. Half an hour went by, and they were still somewhat far away from the outpost when Hera sensed that Daskka had finished recovering. She wasn''t destroyed during the fight, only wounded. Now, the herald seemed to want to come out, even if she still wasn''t completely healed. The Empress was feeling somewhat naked, having only two of her court members out. Even if her friends were around, and she knew she could still fight, not having most of the voices that constantly followed her felt odd. Either way, she decided to call Daskka out, even if it was mostly to know what happened with Core. ''Mum! Are you ok?'' Daskka asked and snuggled on Hera''s cheek just as she appeared. ''I''m fine. How about you? Are you feeling ok?'' ''I am. Still a bit tired, but I wanted to help. What are we doing?'' Daskka looked around as Armory and Scythe quickly gave her the rundown of the situation. ''Right now, there isn''t much we can do, but I have to know one thing. What happened with Core? Why did he break? Please tell me it wasn''t the weapon brake skill.'' Daskka shook her head, ''It wasn''t. He actually broke because of the combat. The punch of the Night River was too much for him.'' ''What about the explosion?'' ''I think he was just about to toss a spell. A big one. Then he broke, and the mana kind of went haywire,'' Daskka explained. ''So he is ok?'' ''Yeah. Well, sort of. He will be out of commission for a couple of days. This is the first time one of your court members breaks, and that''s how it works. It takes time for them to recover. The bigger the difference between your attributes and the attributes they have, the longer it will take for a blade to come back from something like that,'' Daskka explained. Hera just nodded, ''Ok. I''m glad.'' A couple more minutes went by when they heard some noise coming from the side, only for Rorik and Nara to come out from behind a tree. "Are you all ok?" Rorik, the massive bear-human, asked. "Do you have any idea of what is going-" Nara looked towards the cloud- "Is that Grilat?" "Yes," Reynara said with venom in her voice. Nara put both hands over her mouth and continued staring at the cloud with wide eyes, "I''m¡­ so sorry." "Man¡­ he didn''t deserve to go down like this," Rorik shook his head. "And how did he deserve to go down?" Reynara asked, stepping towards the man and stopping right in front of him. "I don''t know, but not like this. I mean, having their legs crushed by the Night River is a sad way to die." Reynara moved swiftly; her clawed hands plunged into the man''s chest and ripped his heart out in a swift motion. "What the fuck!" Nara cried and tried to help Rorik, but to no avail; he was already dead. "The only way to know how Grilat was crushed is if he was there," Reynara replied. "What? He was fighting against the Night River. That is the first assumption that anyone would make!" Nara screamed. "No. The first assumption would be that he drowned or that he got punched until he died. He was too specific," Reynara turned to stare at Nara with a fire in her eyes, "Were you a part of this?" Nara opened her mouth but quickly stopped and, without anything else to say, chose the worst combination of words possible, "Now you can be the chieftain. And he dumped you, so he deserved to die anyway." As soon as Nara finished her sentence, Reynara flung her arm to the side, her claws dripping with blood as the fur covering Nara''s neck was painted red, having her throat opened by the huntress. "Any comments from the newbies?" Reynara asked as she walked back to the group. "You got lucky he let you get that close," Shane said. "And that Nara was on the ground while talking. You could have asked for help. Even if we would let you deal the finishing blow, we could at least trap them," Alex added. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Reynara looked at the two women for a moment and said, "I''ll keep that in mind. Can we keep moving?" Without saying anything else, they continued walking. Aside from a couple of monsters who tried their luck but were quickly dispatched by the group, nothing happened until they arrived at the outpost. In there, most people were inside the dormitory that Hera made, with the ones outside standing guard and with their weapons drawn. "Who goes there?" the guard in front asked. "Reynara, the new kids, and Grilat. Well¡­ what is left of Grilat, at least," Shane waved at the guards. "What''s left of him?" one of the guards asked with worry in his voice. Shane just nodded and gestured to Blue. The controller stepped away from her cloud and lowered his body. The guard who looked over had to step back and hold his mouth, almost throwing up at the sight. Hera understood the reaction. It was hard to see someone with only half their body remaining. "Shit¡­" the other guard shook his head before turning back to the group, "How do we know you are not the ones who did this?" "Do you think I''ll let them live if they were the ones responsible for this?" Reynara almost spat the words, speaking while grinding her teeth. Her black eyes didn''t show the red caused by her tears, but they were still glistening on her skin. "What is going on out there?" Multrak emerged from the outpost and saw the group; he walked closer to them and saw Grilat on top of Blue''s cloud. He touched the man''s cheek with a sorrowful expression, "I''m sorry, my boy. You did not deserve this end." "Why are you all here?" Reynara stepped forward, towering over Multrak while staring him down, "Why were you not there to help him fight?" "We were attacked by the rebels. They used some smoke bombs and other things to scatter us, and when we realized what was going on, the priority became gathering up. I trusted that between you, Grilat, Hera, Helena, Blue, and Mylo, you would be able to, at least, push the Night River back. As much as we wanted to kill the monster, I trusted that you would understand your limits and help each other if the situation called for it," Multrak looked at Hera and the others. "We were holding on without much of a problem, but then I made a mistake, and the Night River used a wave attack that took me out of the crater I think that pushed everyone away," Hera looked around getting nods in response, "When I got up, Kadhan appeared and attacked me," Hera explained. "He was a part of it?" Multrak gasped. "Yeah. The goal was to let Grilat die and have Reynara as the new chief. Then they would make her attack or abandon the kingdom as revenge." "Pielle, Nara, Rorik, Throne, and Kaela were also a part of this," Bonnie added, "We didn''t get the full story from them, but the bits and pieces match what Hera said." Multrak shook his head and kicked a rock with enough strength to get it stuck to a tree. He usually seemed so frail and weak, but now they could see that he wasn''t even using his cane anymore but standing at his full height. "Fuck. Why didn''t they talk to me before doing all this?" Multrak sighed. "You would help them if they did?" Helena asked. "Maybe. Before anything, I would tell them my experience of going against the kingdom. If they still wanted to go through with it and the rest of the Vanguard agreed to it, I would help. What do I have to lose?" Multrak scratched his head in frustration and walked over to Grilat, "What did this? He shouldn''t be this cold yet." "I did, I have a spell for cold drinks, but it''s the first time I ever used it in a body," Shane explained. "Can you keep the spell working through the night? I would rather stay here for another day before heading back. A lot of people are hurt, and I don''t mean just physically." "I can; I just need to top it off later," Shane lied. She could maintain that enchantment for a very long time, but it would be better to pretend it was just a regular spell. "Good," Multrak turned to the huntress who refused to leave Grilat''s side, "Reynara. You might not want to hear this, but you are going to be the next chieftain. There is no one else fit for the job. It has to be you." "Can we not talk about this now?" Reynara asked without looking away from the former future chieftain''s body. "No, we can''t. To defend against the rebels, I had to use a part of my legacy that comes with a cost. I don''t know how much time I have," Multrak explained. "What? You are going to die too?" Reynara gasped. "Not quite. But I''ll be heavily debilitated. I should still last a couple of days with this strength. Enough so that we can go back to the village without a problem. However, you need to be ready. I''ll give you my legacy, and in the worst-case scenario, if I end up going into a coma after the effects of this skill wear off, you need to kill me before I die." "What the fuck are you talking about?" Reynara yelled; even for someone considered crazy like her, this felt like too much. Hera gently touched the huntress'' shoulder, "He is talking about the legacy. There are three ways of getting one, inheriting from someone else, passing a test created by the legacy, or killing someone who was one. Multrak must be thinking that it''s better to speed up the process and make sure the right person has the legacy instead of letting it create a test." Reynara shook her head, "Fine. But stop. I don''t want to have that conversation right now, not over Grilat''s body." "I agree. I just wanted to let you know soon so you can prepare yourself. And I''m sorry. I know that, despite everything, he loved you very much," Multrak approached Reynara. "I''m sorry too. I know you considered him the closest thing to a son you ever had." Hera and her friends didn''t say anything; it didn''t feel like a moment where they could help, and joining the conversation felt disrespectful. Eventually, the conversation shifted to what they would do. A few people were still missing, and they couldn''t tell if they were part of the rebels or just lost in the jungle. It seemed like none of the hunters were participating in that coup attempt, and because of it, they took charge of the rescue mission. Hera and her friends didn''t offer to help. Most of them suffered some injuries during the fights, although no one was in a worse state than the Empress herself. But the main reason for not helping was because they were they new kids. Anyone who found them would be instantly suspicious they were a part of whatever was going on. When she got a moment, Hera stepped out to go to the bathroom and be alone. "Sammy. Can you help me with something?" The turtle appeared out of thin air, "Want me to keep a lookout so no one sees you peeing?" "No¡­ actually, yeah, that would be nice. But I have something else in mind. Can you feel where my daggers are? I lost them before the fight with Kadhan, and I didn''t have a chance to look for them." "I''m sorry. I can''t. Items don''t give a signal like you all do," if this were a regular memory, Sammy would be able to find the daggers, and he would know about it. However, here, their items and anything that Hera and the others brought felt like part of the world from the get-go. He couldn''t understand why and none of his theories made much sense." "Crap¡­ ok, thank you. I really don''t want to lose them, but I don''t think I can look for them right now," Hera sighed and walked behind a tree, "Don''t look, but tell me if anything is getting close." The Empress said that not just for Sammy but for the members of her court that were already out. "Can''t you ask someone?" "Not really. I could ask Nimbus or Lurize, but then I would be less effective, and I think that would be a bad idea. Asking another person doesn''t feel like a good idea either. I will just be sending them to a potential ambush." "Maybe we can come back in the future? If you didn''t have to move with the Vanguard, you and Nimbus would come back and forth without much of an issue. "Yeah, maybe," Hera shrugged. She was attacked by rebels, almost got killed by the Night River, had to kill Kadhan, and found Grilat''s body. Compared with all that, losing her daggers felt like something small, even if it was still a slap on the face. Finishing up her necessities, Hera walked back to the outposts and found the small faucet created by a spell. She washed her hands and went back inside. Just like almost everyone who was there, she needed rest and healing. Two things that required her to stop moving, and that was an idea she really liked right now. 662 - Licking their wounds Thankfully, the Vanguard was able to return to the village without any major problems. A few monsters decided to show up, but since the group was moving together, they were quickly dispatched. In total, 40 people joined the Night River hunt. But only 20 were coming back. 15 of them were rebels who decided to attempt a coup but grossly underestimated the strength of those involved in this excursion. Only 5 people who were not part of the religion ended up dying, and two of them were killed by monsters. Grilat was one, and the other was a guard member who ended up falling into a pit filled with Tumblevines. It was a shame that they lost so many and even sadder that they were betrayed like that. However, the Vanguard still survived and could still do what they were meant to do. Moving back was slower than getting here for one reason. They were bringing the five bodies back to the village, and Blue only was able to take one without any problems. The rest had to be carried in sleds. On the other hand, the bodies of the rebels were left behind. Their fate was to be devoured by the jungle and forgotten by the Vanguard. When they arrived in the village, there was a very tense moment where Multrak explained what had happened. Everyone had lost some friends, be it because they were killed or because they betrayed everyone. The entire population went into mourning. According to Reynara, it was normal for something like that to happen when someone died during a hunt or an attack, but it was the first time that many people died. The result would be a longer period where no one would be hunting, and people would be allowed to stay inside their houses. As long as there was still enough food and supplies for everyone, Multrak wouldn''t bother those trying to process what happened and heal the wounds they suffered. Hera ended up in a weird position. Since Kadhan was no longer around, she accidentally took the village''s witch doctor job. However, she was adamant against that name and forced anyone who needed healing to refer to her as a shaman instead. That was the same title Risli had, and she would rather be compared to the wise old dwarf than the treacherous beastman that tried to kill her. The problem was that she was still very injured and couldn''t help everyone with every little healing they might need. Instead, she was allowed to stay in her house and rest, only being called if there was an emergency, which was very rare, but did happen. In those situations she either made a quick potion, having Lurize go to the greenhouse to gather ingredients, or let the patient hold on to Edge for a few hours. While being stuck in the house, resting and letting her bones heal, the Empress took advantage of the situation and sent Nimbus and Armory to search for her daggers. She sent them on a royal quest, hoping they would be able to find something, but even going back and forth for seven days, with Hera making a new quest every morning, they weren''t able to find anything. After the first couple of days, when the Empress was truly resting and making sure to heal, Adriel suggested that they start visiting Reynara to check up on her. Apparently, most of the village was afraid to talk with the huntress since she would lash out at most comments. The idea was for only Hera and him to go since Reynara was still feeling guilty for hurting Adriel, and seeing Hera''s juiced-up powers made her respect the Empress. They weren''t going there to talk or anything specific, just to keep her company. Every so often, the huntress would ask some questions about spells. Specifically, illusions. That was her main way of fighting, but unlike what Mylo could do, her version would not deal any damage by itself. She could still confuse and apply some mental effects, but hurting monsters was something that had to be done by hand. Unfortunately, Hera wasn''t someone proficient in illusions. She could cast some very basic ones that were very clearly fake. The ''illusion'' she used against the Cherry Mantises only worked because it was a quest reward skill. Mylo, on the other hand, could help her a lot, but Reynara refused the offer to bring him along next time. When she wanted his help, she would reach out herself. When Hera and Adriel left the new chieftain-to-be''s house for the first time, a lot of people stopped them and asked them to deliver gifts for Reynara. Gifts that she begrudgingly accepted the next day but asked them to stop cluttering her house with useless stuff. That wasn''t exactly up to them since every time they left her home, more people would show up. In the end, they were forced to sneak out when they wanted to check up on Reynara. They told everyone what they were doing, but Alex couldn''t help but watch them as they left the house around the same time every day. Four days after returning from the Night River hunt, Hera recovered enough to go back to the underground greenhouse to take care of the mushrooms and start making potions. There were a couple of mixtures that could help her a lot, even if it would come at a cost. One of them would forcibly reduce her attributes by 50% for two days, but it would also help her heal any internal wounds, including bones, and that was exactly the kind of thing she needed right now. Her ribs were still a problem that stopped her from moving around. The only problem with her plan was that one of the ingredients wasn''t around the greenhouse. Kadhan said that he would keep some of his moss bodies working on other projects and take care of components that were more time intensive to make, but she couldn''t find where those other parts of the cave were. As far as she knew, down here, there was only the main greenhouse and the recipe room. Hera tried looking into Kadhan''s house but to no avail. She asked Multrak, Reynara, and everyone she could think of, but no one knew where that secret laboratory was. This was starting to become a very big problem in more ways than one. Looking over the recipes she recorded, the Empress noticed a few ingredients that, when mixed together, could create toxic vapors. It wouldn''t be something that happened right away, and only if the liquid inside the cauldron was starting to run out the toxic gas would be created. The problem was that Hera had no way of knowing if Kadhan put out all the fires when he went after her. If he didn''t, that secret laboratory would be a bomb waiting to go off. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "I can show you the path," a creepy voice emerged in Hera''s mind, making her jolt. "Fuck me, why do you have to do this? Show up like a normal person." "I can show you where the hidden lab is." "Can you show me where Fang and Claw are?" "No. They are lost." "Great," Hera rolled her eyes and waited for a moment, "If you show me the lab, will the marks grow?" "No. Not yet." "Fine, show me," Hera knew this was a bad idea, but they were already going to get rid of this thing. As long as she was here, she might as well use it. All her friends knew that she used the curse during the fight with Kadhan, and although they were worried, no one blamed her for what she did. Having something eat her up from the inside could have resulted in her death, and the pain she was feeling would stop her from getting to Bonnie in time. That being said, they were all adamant against her using the curse again. The Empress was inside the greenhouse when the curse showed glowing blue footprints. They were walking up the stairs, and Hera followed, with all her available court by her side. Nimbus and Armory were trying to find her daggers, and Core was still recovering. Everyone else was by her side. It was just a safety measure in case Kadhan had set up some traps or if he, somehow, was still alive and hiding there. As she walked up the stairs, she saw a handprint on one of the skulls on the ceiling. Hera tried to reach it, but a sharp pain in her ribs stopped it. ''Empress, let me,'' Lurize stepped forward and pressed the skull in question. Even if Hera was the one talking with the curse, her entire court could still see the things that it showed her. Pressing the skull made a small part of the wall to the side shift, moving to the side and revealing another staircase heading down. She followed that path for around ten minutes before reaching a large laboratory. The cave where Hera and Kadhan worked was big, as big as the tree used as a town hall, but this was on a completely different scale. At a quick glance, she could imagine that this place was about half the size of the village. Hundreds of cauldrons were set up in lines, almost as if whoever made this was already going through the industrial revolution. Thousands of pots covered the sides of the room, and there were another dozen or so ''green caves'' that were growing more ingredients. It was baffling to think that a single person was doing all of this. Luckily for her, nothing was still cooking, and all cauldrons were covered with lids. Hera started exploring the area, with her court spreading out to cover more ground. She saw many more ingredients here than she saw outside, and a lot of them didn''t seem to be useful for potions. She understood that most poisons could be used as medicine in the right dosage, but like all rules, that also had its exceptions. There were some poisons that were too powerful and couldn''t be diluted safely. Others acted too quickly, or that would affect someone''s mind in such an aggressive way that no one would accept it being part of a potion. Yet, some of the mushrooms and plants growing here seemed to do exactly that. After about one hour, Dao called the Empress over to show a discovery. Kadhan had another recipe room here, but instead of being about potions, this one was for poisons and buffs. Two things that wouldn''t register on her [Medicinal Reference], but she could do something different. By asking her court to remember those recipes, Hera believed she could keep that information with her until they returned to the present. The main reason for doing so was the variety of poisons available there. Not just different ways of doing the same thing but the various effects each of them could have. Some would make people cough or itch, but others would have a psychedelic effect. A particularly nasty variation would cause the victim''s blood to crystallize, turning their own blood vessels into thousands of needles that would pierce them from the inside. Another poison that caught her attention was an odd mixture of animal and plant poison which would result in a reaction like that of elephant toothpaste when the victim''s blood got into contact with the air. Looking at all that gave her some ideas about what she could do with her own weapons, and ever since getting the [Naga Poison] skill to rank 5, she realized her control over her poisons had grown significantly. However, there was no chance for her to study her options properly, and now, since everyone was resting and she couldn''t move her body as she wanted, she might as well try to train something else. When they got everything they could, Hera and her court left the recipe cave and continued exploring. Somewhat close to that, there was a set of pots with odd names. As the Empress opened one of them, she was greeted by an army of ants trying to come out. Quickly closing the pot, she stepped back and slapped the ants away from her hands. She couldn''t tell what was going on there, but the fact that there were several pots made her think about the story Alex told them of the curse''s origin. Maybe there was some hint of truth to the story. Putting that aside, she continued her work. For the next couple of days, there are no extra changes. Hera continued making some potions and exploring the hidden cave. All the while, the curse kept pestering her, offering ways to show that moment of boundless power. The Empress had to admit this malevolent force knew the buttons it had to push. Whenever it asked, Hera lost a little bit of her confidence about saying no. She knew this was just a fight of attrition, and she had to hope she wouldn''t lose it. Or, if she did, that not only wouldn''t be as bad as she imagined, but they would be able to get rid of the curse soon. 663 - New Chieftain Three days after getting back from the Night River''s hunt, Multrak''s skill finally deactivated. The old man kept working tirelessly through the night ever since he activated whatever power he had. At that point, he just crashed. Not in a violent way, but in a way that someone would collapse after a long day of hard work. Unlike what he was expecting, the chieftain didn''t enter into a coma, but during the next week, he spent most of his time sleeping. Only waking up to eat and go to the bathroom, or to take a shower every couple of days. On the sixth day after they returned from the hunt, Multrak had Berylla bring Hera and Adriel over. He heard that the two of them were making sure Reynara was doing ok and wanted to talk about that. When Hera entered the house on the second floor of the tree house, she prepared herself for something very different than what was actually inside. The bedroom was like a large studio apartment. There were some decorations and some rugs around the place, giving a very cozy appearance to everything. Around the walls there was a very intricate painting with several types of monsters moving around. It wasn''t something scary, but almost as if it was a representation of the jungle itself. In the middle of the room was a large, king-sized bed with Multrak sitting on top with his legs under the covers. His complexion was surprisingly good, too, with rosy cheeks and a glimmer in his eyes that showed he wasn''t about to kick the bucket. "Hera, Adriel. Thank you for coming. Please, sit," he gestured to a couple of chairs by his bed that didn''t match the feel of the room all that well, "Berylla took the stools I use away and gave me these chairs. She said it''s better for whoever comes to talk to me." "Thanks," Hera sat on the chair farthest away from the man while Adriel took the one closer to the bed, "How are you feeling?" "I''m just tired. Honestly, I expected much worse, but apparently, the longer I stay without using that skill, the weaker the penalty for using it will be. It also helped that I got some blood during the fight." "You drank blood during the fight?" Adriel asked. Multrak nodded, "Our teeth are surprisingly useful during combat, and most people overlook that, allowing for some interesting openings if you know where to look." "I see¡­" Adriel pushed his chair back, trying to move away from the chieftain. The man just chuckled and didn''t do anything. It wasn''t unusual for people to worry about that kind of thing, and if he was being honest with himself, he would do the same in someone else''s shoes, "Now. I won''t keep you for long. I can''t even if I try. I''m already feeling sleepy. Anyway, Reynara. How is she doing?" Adriel and Hera glanced at each other before the elf started speaking, "Honestly? It''s hard to say. There are moments when we are talking, and everything is fine. Other times we are all just in the same room without speaking, and the mood is ok, I guess. But that is just about a third of the time." Hera continued the explanation, "The other two-thirds are split into her being incredibly sad. Crying, feeling depressed, just seeming like she gave up, you know? Or she is angry and starts talking about all the signs she should''ve noticed and all the things that went wrong. She keeps making illusions of a map of the area and replaying the events over and over, trying to find ways to stop the rebels or to kill the Night River before it reaches Grilat. In both scenarios, she says that she is going to kill everyone and is prone to breaking things. When she is between sad and angry, she is calm and asks to learn more about illusions and other things. We realized that is possible to keep her in that state for a long time. But it''s a balancing act. If she is getting too sad, we need to mention the rebels; if she is too angry, we mention Grilat. For the record, we do not like or advise anyone to do this. We only do that when Mylo or someone else is nearby, and we don''t want them to get hurt or be more afraid of her than they already are." Multrak heard what they were saying and thought for a moment, "You know. One of the skills in my legacy is, essentially, a way to control our impulses as much as I would rather have Grilat as the next chieftain. I always imagined that this skill would help Reynara much more. Even if she is not doing all that great, I think giving her the legacy now is our best option." "Are you sure?" Adriel leaned forward in his chair, "What if that skill doesn''t go to her right away?" "Then we need people who are strong enough to stop her. And if she is not making sensible decisions, it will be easier to deal with her," Multrak replied bluntly. "Honestly. I think that''s a bad idea, but you are the chieftain. If that''s what you want to do, then that''s what you want to do," Hera was tired of all this politics. This wasn''t something she had to deal with. She came to destroy the curse, and that was it; being a part of this was never in her plans. Multrak just nodded, "I''ll send someone to bring her when I wake up again. Can I ask you two to be here? I''ll have a few others in the room and some people outside in case things go south." Hera sighed, "Sure. Not like I''m busy or anything." "Yeah, I''ll be here," Adriel added. "Very well," Multrak yawned, "I apologize, but I have to sleep now. This penalty is very annoying. I hope I can count on you two." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Hera and Adriel left the chieftain''s room and just sighed. Both of them were tired, and like the Empress, the elf was working a lot. They lost a lot of people responsible for making food, and since he was among the ones who got the least injured, everyone was asking him to help with the more strenuous tasks. "I''ll go back to the farms," Adriel waved Hera off as she walked back inside the potion lab. The Empress called her entire court out when she arrived at the secret area. Even Nimbus and Armory were here. Ever since the curse told her that her daggers were lost, she decided against having the two of them go search for them every day. It really sucked, but they had other priorities, and ever since returning from the hunt, no one was able to find out more about the curse''s origin. "Ok, everyone. You all heard what Multrak said. He wants to give Reynara his legacy, but the legacy is the thing that turned him into a blood-crazed vampire. A juice cannibal, if you will. Someone who wants to shove a straw in you and dry you like a juice box," Hera said out loud. "Now that''s an image I didn''t need in my head," Nimbus shivered. "Well, it was in my head, so it was already in yours anyway," Hera tried to give a playful smirk, but her next sentence was already weighing on her mind, "I don''t want another kill to my name, but if Reynara flips out, we might need to fight. Because of that, I want everyone to look into the poisons we have here, especially the nonlethal ones. I''m going to take a few with me when we get there, but I want to see if I can use a Poison Mana Reinforcement that has a specific flavor or poison. It''s going to be a rush job, but if even one of you manages to make that work, it will help a lot. Pulling out a vial will catch their attention while having an elemental buff can just be another layer of precaution." "What do you want uz to do?" Lurize asked. "I''m giving each of you 100 thousand mana. Use it to make a poison mana reinforcement and try to make that poison do something different. It doesn''t matter what, as long as it is not just killing someone. Try for nonlethal, but if you can''t, try for something weird, and we go from there," Hera walked to a cabinet where Kadhan already had some stock of poisons, "Here, there are several poisons here. Use them as a base, and use the information in the recipe room to know what each of them does. I know it would be much better if we had actual magic in those vials and not just a mixture, but that''s the best we got right now. Daskka. I know you won''t be able to do that, so try to help them see what is happening with the mana they are using." "Mum¡­ I don''t know if that is going to work," Daskka replied. "Me neither, but we figured out that Nimbus and Lurize can use spells that I can''t. Sure, it was just changing the color of a light spell, and if I want to, I can do that, but I never made a red light with purple stripes." "Yeah, but they are titled blades. The others aren''t." "I know, but I never asked them to try making something new. And it''s not something new entirely. I am just telling them to change a spell if they can. If they can''t, that''s ok. I''m not going to be mad or upset at anyone, but we need to be doing something, and I don''t want you all to just stare at me as if you were waiting for a breakdown." Hera huffed. Ever since they came back from the hunt, her entire court seemed to be walking on eggshells around her. They would be very careful not to mention Kadhan or Pielle and make a point of changing the topic whenever someone started talking about the rebels. Worst of all, they couldn''t hide their emotions from the Empress, and she could feel how every single one of them was constantly worried about her. "Hera¡­ We all know you went through something traumatic. We can feel it, and you didn''t stop. Even when you had to rest, you never actually stopped. You kept your mind busy with other things. Spells, theories about the curse. It''s like you are ignoring what happened," Nimbus pressed. "Yes, I am ignoring. I don''t have the luxury to break down now. Especially if I''m going to break down like I did last time I killed someone," Hera clenched her fist tightly, "Do you hear what I just said? The last time, not as in, this was the last time it will ever happen, but as in it happened before. And now I doubled it up! What is going to be next? I kill four instead of two? Then eight? Sixteen? When does it stop?!" at the end, Hera was yelling, but she realized that as the echo of her voice resonated with the cave and took a deep breath, "I''m sorry. I know you are all worried about me, and I''m not angry at you for suggesting this. I''m just¡­ frustrated and going through a lot." ''That''s ok, Hera,'' Armory said with a gentle voice. ''We understand what you are going through better than anyone,'' Ooze added. "And we are here for you. No matter what." Lurize nodded. "Can I just make one last suggestion?" Nimbus knew this wasn''t the best idea, but he had to try. "Sure." Hera shook her head. "There is someone here who is, quite literally, made to help people cope with things. Maybe you can talk with Sammy about this." "I really don''t think this is the best moment to do that. We have a lot on our plate, and trying to fix my shit won''t help right away. Things get worse before they get better," Hera sighed. "But it doesn''t get worse right away. I remember how it was last time, and you didn''t spiral in your first therapy session, Mum." Daskka left Hera''s neck and floated to the table in front of her. "Why not azk him? After all, he has more knowledge about zuch thingz than any of uz," Lurize suggested. "Fine. Sammy!" Hera called. "Hello." the turtle appeared from one of the smaller caves, floating towards Hera. "I have to apologize. I was listening in the conversation." "Since when?" Hera frowned. "Since my name was first mentioned. And I agree with both sides. Yes, you could use some help, Hera. But also, we can''t delve too deep into the issue. Self-reflection is not easy, and it takes a lot of effort. If we start really unraveling some issues, you will be too distracted to notice things happening about the curse," for the first time since they got here, the small flower power turtle looked serious. Not in a worried kind of way, but in a way that someone wise parted with their knowledge. "Ok, so we''ll do that. We can start, and when we are back home, we delve deeper into everything," Hera looked at her court, "Is everyone ok with that?" after getting confirming nods from everyone, including Sammy himself, she continued, "But that''s tomorrow. Today I want that poison thing. Let me know if you need more mana. We only have a day to make it work, and I really hope we can." 664 - Inheritance Hera and Adriel were walking with Reynara through the city. By all effects, they were escorting her to Multrak''s home, even if both of them would categorically deny that claim. If anyone asked, they were just walking along with her as emotional support. As they arrived at the town hall/ tree house, the huntress stopped while looking up at the door leading to the current chieftain''s house. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah¡­ just¡­ am I doing the right thing? Accepting this? It doesn''t feel like the right thing," Reynara grumbled. "I don''t think we can answer that. No one can. In this situation. It''s the type of thing where you have to do it and just face the music," Adriel said. "What music? Are you spouting nonsense just so you can say you are better than me?" Reynara stepped in front of Adriel, staring him down. "Reynara, stop that shit. It''s just an expression. He is not trying to patronize you just because he said something he thought you would understand," Hera rolled her eyes. The huntress antics were exhausting, and the whole idea of this day was already stressing her out. "So you are saying I''m dumb?" Reynara turned back to Hera. "Yeah, I''m saying you are stupid because there is something you don''t know. Unless you know everything, you are dumb. Do you even hear yourself when you talk?" Hera scoffed. "Hera¡­"Adriel tried to stop her. "No, fuck this. We''ve been nothing but nice to her for the past week. We keep quiet every time she lashes out just because we know she is going through some stuff, but I don''t care anymore. Grieving is no reason to be a dick. So she can either apologize or I''m leaving," Hera stepped up to the huntress, "So what is it going to be? Are you still going to act like a child, or are you going to stop thinking that everyone and everything is out to get you?" Reynara looked at Hera, the two of them staring at the black voids that had replaced their eyes. The difference was that Reynara still had red irises, while Hera had the black veins coming out of her eye sockets. That happened when the Empress asked the curse to hold back Kadhan''s magic. After a long, tense moment, the huntress snarled like an animal and started walking toward Multrak''s home. "Are you sure this is a good idea? She is going to be the chieftain," Adriel whispered. "I honestly don''t know. But I don''t think she would abuse her power like that. It will be hell for the newcomers, but anyone she can already trust will be fine. Also, I think this is why she liked Grilat so much. He pushed back; no one else does." "Are you¡­ trying to hook up?" Adriel tilted his head. "What? Of course not! Do you have any idea what the mess that would be? I''m just saying that she doesn''t want to be treated differently from anyone else. Not just because of who she is or how she acts. If you do that, she will act out, but in the end, you get some respect because she won''t think you are being fake around her. Did I get it right?" Hera looked to the bottom of the stairs where Reynara was watching them. Being a fox beastman meant that her hearing was much better than that of Hera and her friends, or in other words, she heard everything they were saying. "I don''t like being analyzed by people," Reynara said in a more subdued tone. "Then don''t force people to analyze you to understand what is going on," Hera shrugged and started walking. There were enough people in Multrak''s room to call it a crowd, even if the wide-area let everyone have a comfortable amount of space. Aside from Hera, Adriel, Reynara, and, obviously, Multrak, Berylla was there, along with three of the hunters that Hera never got to know. Plus, two of the guards. The guards and the hunters were known for being amongst the strongest people of the Vanguard. Seeing the group arrive, Multrak opened a smile, "Thank you all for coming. And Reynara, before you ask, yes, everyone here is to stop you in case things go wrong, but no one is doing that because they think you are a problem. Instead, we are all worried about what my legacy might do with you, or anyone who gets it for that matter." "I was expecting something like this already. And I''m not sure if I believe you completely, but it does make sense," the huntress said. "Before we start, there is one thing I want to give you," Multrak gestured to Berylla, who walked over with something large wrapped around a blanket. Reynara looked at the chieftain, who just nodded, letting her unravel her gift. It was a translucent blue bow that seemed to be made out of crystal or something, with a pair of jagged blades on each end and a dark blue crystal that she would hold to fire an arrow. The string was green and had a couple of leaves here stuck to it as if it was actually the vine of a tree. It took her a moment, but eventually, she understood where this weapon came from. "You used the Night River and the Boulder of Vine to make this?" the huntress asked. Multrak just nodded, "I did. If you have water on hand, you can make water arrows using a little bit of mana or vine arrows using more. You can also use the bow as a staff or change its shape to make it easier to carry, but the string will always be connected. That''s the caveat. Hera and her friends had the presence of mind to grab the Night River''s core and some of the vines from the Boulder. I spent the last couple of days making this for you. As a gift to the new chieftain." Reynara nodded, "Thank you. This¡­ is beautiful." Stolen novel; please report. "I''m glad. I know it''s been a while since you lost your previous one, but I hope this will serve you just as well," the two of them shared a moment with both smiling at each other. Then came the next part of this meeting, "Now. I will pass you my legacy. As everyone here knows, this might cause a problem for a simple reason. To get it, you will have to drink my blood." "I have to bite you?" Reynara gasped. "Oh, no. I''ll place a few drops of blood in a spoon for you to lick it. We are not savages here," Multrak turned to one of the hunters wearing only a leather skirt and scratching his back against a large pillar of wood, "Well, most of us, anyway." "Ah, ok. Is that it?" "Not entirely. Then you will receive a notification. When you accept, a mist of blood will come out of me and go inside of you. I''m told this won''t hurt, but it will feel weird." "You are told?" "Yes, this is another thing. When you get the legacy, you will be able to talk to it in a way. I will go over the specifics later, but don''t be afraid. The most important thing is that after getting the legacy, you must either have the skill of Impulse Control or get it. You can take it to pay it back later; remember that this is the first thing you must do. Ask to get that specific skill. Do you understand?" Multrak was very friendly so far, but when he started talking about this, his voice turned somber, and everyone inside the room could feel the importance of his words. "I do." "Repeat what I just said to you. About the skill." "I''m not a child," Reynara rolled her eyes. "Yet you are refusing to give me a basic confirmation like this. I need to be sure." "After the mist gets inside me, I need to ask the legacy to get me the Impulse Control skill and be ok with paying whatever the cost is. Even if you didn''t tell me what the cost is." "Thank you. For what''s worth, the cost is just taking longer to get more skills from the legacy. It''s nothing big. Are you ready?" Reynara nodded, and Multrak pulled a small knife from the side of his bed, as well as a wooden spoon wrapped around some cloth. He pricked his finger and let a couple of drops of blood hit the spoon before passing it to Reynara, but he stopped as she reached out her hand. "Before anything. After she takes the legacy, the cravings should start. While she struggles, no one is to do anything against her. Let her push back the legacy by herself. If she attacks me, which is likely since the taste of my blood is what will trigger the frenzy, then you can stop her. Not before, not if she seems like she will attack. Only when she does." Everyone agreed, and Hera called her court out. It was a precaution that all of them, even Reynara, understood. What they didn''t know was that the Empress had a different plan. Frost managed to tweak the poison reinforcement enough to give everyone else some insight on how to change that to apply different types of poisons. So far, they were only able to use one other type of poison, but it was the best option for the situation. She wasn''t the only one making preparations. The hunters and the guards also pulled their weapons and got ready. Not directly aiming at her just yet, but prepare to move at a moment''s notice. Multrak turned back to Reynara, "Are you ready?" "No. Just give me the damn spoon," Reynara snarled. "You are really not making anyone feel more comfortable here, but it''s not like waiting will make that change," Multrak sighed and gave her the spoon. Reynara frowned while looking at the utensil before licking the blood. She closed her eyes, almost waiting for something to happen, but everything stayed the same. Only when she opened her eyes did she say a soft ''oh'' and move her hand, pressing something in a window that only she could see. Some odd particles started to come out of Multrak, it wasn''t dense enough to be considered a liquid, but it wasn''t quite a gas either. Everything was red, blood red, to be precise, and Reynara just stared at it for a moment before that weird liquid gas mixture slowly floated toward her. It hovered just above her body before gently landing and being absorbed by her skin. Hera could sense Reynara''s mana being pushed around, opening a path leading to her veins. There was a pause where the huntress just shook her body as if she was getting used to her clothes, then turned to the left, staring at seemingly nowhere. "What are you?" before any reply came, Reynara started sniffing the air and turned to Multrak. More specifically, she stared at Multrak''s finger, the one he had drawn blood from. Her black eyes became bloodshot, with red veins coming out of her irises. She opened her mouth, already salivating, while her eyes locked into the chieftain''s finger. "Reynara, focus. Ask for the Impulse Control skill now!" Multrak called, but his voice didn''t seem to reach her. She opened her mouth and jumped on top of the bed, going after the blood that she just tasted. The moment she moved, everyone else sprung into action. The guards pinned her down as the hunters activated some snares to lock her in place. Hera also sent Dao out, but the blade was too big to reach everyone. Reynara kept snarling and trying to reach Multrak like a crazed monster. Hera walked forward and asked Edge to reach her hand. He was already covered in the new version of her poison reinforcement and stepped in front of the chieftain, blocking the blood-crazed huntress from reaching him. The Empress then just made a small cut on Reynara''s face and felt the poison starting to spread. "Reynara, listen to me. What I did right now is use a paralytic poison that will first start to lock up your muscles, then your mind, and then your organs. The part that locks up your mind is to show you that nothing is wrong. During that time, ask the herald for the skill. You don''t have to talk with your mouth; they can read your thoughts as long as you want them to. It''s weird, but it works, trust me. Reynara snarled again, but she quickly stopped moving. The first stage of the poison would act somewhat fast, taking only two minutes to lock someone up completely. The second stage, where the poison starts to slow down their mind, would take 20 minutes to complete, and the last stage, when everything stops, could happen over the course of one hour. Using her poison control and the [Naga Poison] Hera could increase the speed of those stages, but that would require a considerable amount of mana, and even the early stages could already hinder a monster''s ability to fight back. Everyone waited, and waited, seeing a struggle inside the huntress, even with her being completely still because of all the snares, the poison, and the two guards who were still holding her down. After around half an hour, the huntress'' eyes returned to normal, or what was normal for her, at least, completely black but with black irises. "Keep holding her down. I''m going to pull the poison back. If she still is like that, I can trigger it again," Hera told the group, who just nodded in response. She used the poison control to remove the affliction. Reynara groaned, "I got it. The skill, I mean." "And are you doing well now?" Multrak asked. "Yeah." "Ok, then. Go home; I''ll have a couple of people watching over just to make sure you are not lying, and tomorrow we can talk about the legacy and what you can do with it," Multrak yawned, "Now, if all of you don''t mind. I really need to sleep." Hera didn''t wait for anything; she was tired of all this and decided to leave right away, dragging Adriel along. Reynara could be lying, and if that was the case, she wanted to be close to her friends so they could be ready for anything. 665 - Code Red Hera essentially dragged Adriel back to their house. She asked Sammy to call everyone back, worried about Reynara''s reaction. The Empress wasn''t entirely sure, but she felt like the huntress would do something bad. It was just a voice in the back of her mind telling her that. It was possible that this was the curse messing with her. Ever since the fight with Kadhan, the curse was more present in her mind, even being able to make her feel some things that she wouldn''t feel normally. However, it was extremely hard to know for sure when an emotion or a feeling was coming from the Empress herself or from a less-than-reputable source. Either way, this time, she decided not to doubt her instincts. If she decided against it and something happened, she could never forgive herself. Alex was the first to arrive at the home, getting there before anyone, and she saw Hera dragging Adriel by the hand, "What is going on?" "I''m trying to ask Hera the same thing, but she just keeps dragging me and telling me to shut up," Adriel said while still struggling to keep up. "And since when telling you to shut up worked?" "She has two bodyguards that can pick me up and carry me around. I''m not messing with her," Adriel explained as Hera pushed him through the door. "Go inside and check if there are any spots someone could use to sneak in," Hera turned to Alex, "Where are the others?" "Bonnie and Lena were helping get some food for dinner. Blue is fixing a part of the wall that was broken yesterday because of a monster. Shane and Mylo are on watch, a few guards had to do something, and they were missing a few people." "Crap. Sammy, call everyone now! We need to be together," Hera said before the turtle even appeared. "Hera, I told everyone what you said already. ''Reynara got a legacy, and she is weird. You all should be together from now on.'' However, each of them is doing something, and they said they would only come when they were done." "Shit, I''ll go get them then," Hera stepped back but was stopped by Sammy and Alex. "Hera, what is going on?" the assassin asked. "I told you. Reynara is weird. She got blood-crazed when she got the legacy, and I think she''s lying when she said she got the skill that stopped her from craving blood," Hera explained. "That still doesn''t explain the intensity of your actions," Sammy added. "It''s just a feeling. I''m positive she is going to do something bad." "So we are all dealing with a hunch here?" Adriel asked from inside the house. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" "A little bit. I mean, you almost broke my wrist by dragging me here. And we need to have more information to accept something like that. Going this hard on something because of a hunch is really overboard. Come, let''s sit down and talk before we do anything stupid." Hera frowned while staring at Adriel. She couldn''t understand why they were pushing back on that. All she wanted was to protect all of her friends, and now this man wanted to stop her from doing that. "Sure, let''s talk. How about we discuss what actually brought us here individually." Adriel''s face turned serious, "We agreed not to talk about this now." "Then help me get everyone, or we, the three of us, can talk about our origins," Hera stepped forward, getting closer to Adriel. "What are you talking about?" Alex had a confused expression. "Nothing!" Adriel replied quickly, clearly frazzled by her question. "Addy, what is going on? What is she talking about?" "It''s¡­ Nothing." "Oh no, it is something. And unless you want me to be the one to tell her, you are going after Lena, Blue, and the others and drag them back here if you have to," Hera said. "What is it?" Alex yelled, frustrated from being left out of the conversation like that. Adriel stared at the Empress with an angry expression, "Dammit, Hera!" he turned back to Alex, "Look. We need to have a conversation, just the two of us. But please, can we have that later? I don''t think going into it right now is a good idea. Let''s just get back to our time; then we talk about it." "Is it that bad?" "No." "Yes." Hera and Adriel spoke at the same time, glancing at each other when they heard the other''s answer. "Look, it''s something that might change how you see me. I don''t know how you are going to react, and it might affect our trust. Right now, I prefer that you are suspicious about me and still have some trust instead of risking you being completely against me." Alex kept looking at the elf but turned to Hera instead, "What is he talking about?" "I''m sorry, it''s not my secret to tell. I''m not involved with all that." If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "I do agree that it''s not your secret, but you are involved at least a little," Adriel said. "Much less than you are making out to be," Hera turned back to the elf. "You know what. Fuck you both. You keep running off to Reynara''s or who the fuck knows, and now you are all keeping secrets from me," Alex stormed off. "Alex! Where are you going?" Hera called. "To find the others and drag them here. I need more people to be mad at you two," Alex replied before vanishing from sight, using one of her hiding abilities. "Fine, let''s just go get the others," Hera started moving, but Adriel grabbed her hand. "No, you don''t. You are way too intense right now. Stay here and beef up the defenses or something. I''ll go get them. If you run around like that, you will make the entire Vanguard freak the fuck out, and I think you''ve done enough damage for today." "Sure, but if they are not here in half an hour, I''m going after them. Also, figure out where Alex went," Hera replied, walking inside the house and calling out her court. She was used to not having them out while moving around the village, but this time, she needed all the safety precautions she had in place. Her next step was reinforcing the walls and closing any large gaps in the construction of their house. Following that, she used her little knowledge of traps to make a few but had yet to install them. It would be better for everyone in her party to return before they hunker down. ''I can show you a way to defend against anything. A way to use powers beyond anything. Beyond anyone. Enough power to protect your friends from anything, everything.'' Hera heard the curse dangling that promise of power again. However, this time, her fear was too strong. She was worried that Reynara would go into a frenzy and start killing everyone inside the village. "How long will that take?" Hera asked out loud. "Who are you talking to?" Nimbus asked. Ever since Hera ordered her court not to interact with the curse, they couldn''t hear it even if the curse was talking to her. ''It''s up to you. Maybe a day, maybe a week. But if you ask for my help for more than showing, you can do much more.'' "What do I have to do?" Hera asked. ''Meditate. I''ll help you see that power again when you open your mind.'' "Open my mind to you?" ''I will be there.'' Hera frowned, thinking that this might be a bad idea. She walked to the door and glanced in the direction of Reynara''s house. "Shit," she mumbled to herself and walked to her bedroom. "Hera? What is going on?" Nimbus asked. "Mum, are you talking to the curse?" Daskka added. "I am. I have to do one thing. I just need to see how I can use that power again," Hera replied. "Hera¡­ I don''t like that idea," Lurize looked the Empress in her eyes. "Me neither, but I''m worried about Reynara. Too much to be able to make any sensible choice. If I stay here and just wait, I think I''ll end up doing something even worse." "Do you think the curse is manipulating you?" Nimbus asked. "Probably, but we are going to get rid of it soon. So let it; I doubt it can eat me up faster than we can kill it," Hera sighed, "Please, just look out for me, and don''t disturb me when I''m doing this. Unless you think it''s an emergency." "Ok, mum. Just¡­ be careful," Daskka reached out to Hera''s cheek before flying towards Lurize, staying around his neck as she did with the Empress. "Thank you, guys. And I''m sorry for making you all worry," Hera smiled and then closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing. She had tried meditating before, but it was never something she liked doing. But this time, it was surprisingly quick for her to reach a trance. Suddenly, even with her eyes closed, she could see some light. And not just a small amount of it but enough to be compared with sunlight. Hera opened her eyes to see what was going on, only to be met with a completely different sight from the one she had before starting to meditate. She was no longer in their house, inside her room. Instead, she was now in front of the Cherry Mantis nest, which she had already destroyed some time ago, and that wasn''t all. Nothing was moving; the leaves falling from the trees, the monsters jumping from the nest, and even raindrops were stopped in time. Looking up, she realized she was under her Elemental Poison Rain spell. She could also see Dao preparing to use his Chain Lightning skill. Core was swinging to toss a sediment that would result in something similar to a volcanic eruption, and Daskka was starting to grow, covering everything in mist. "What is this?" Hera asked no one in particular, but she got an answer nonetheless. "This is what happened. The moment of power you experienced," the voice of the curse crept inside her mind once more, but it wasn''t coming from nowhere this time. Instead, she could understand the direction those words came from. Taking a moment to steel herself, Hera slowly turned to the spot where she was supposed to be during this scenario. In her place was a formless shape. An odd mixture of a dark purple mist surrounding what could only be described as a hole in reality. A place where nothing seemed to be present, not darkness, not light, not time, not space, not even nothingness was there. When focusing, Hera could see some semblance of her silhouette in that area, but doing so gave her such a strong migraine that it felt like someone had just hit her in the back of the head with a garbage truck while blowing up a stick of dynamite inside her brain at the same time. The Empress fell to the floor and looked away, which instantly made her feel better, but the memory of that pain still made it linger, "What the hell is that." "That is you." "What?" Hera glanced up, this time not focusing on the silhouette, which seemed to stop her from feeling that pain, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. "To see this, you must use my eyes. While doing so, you see you as I do," the curse continued. "You see me like that?" "Yes. That is you. But also everything. That is how the world exists to me," the curse''s voice almost sounded joyful. Like a kid sharing something they were excited about. Hera shook her head. A part of her wanted to see if the curse was ok, but she stopped herself. She was too nice, but even someone like her refused to be nice to something that was trying to eat her from the inside. "Ok, and you can control this? Is it like a video where you can go forward or back?" Hera asked, looking around again. "Yes." "And you said this is how I can figure out what happened here?" "Yes. I can help if you ask." Hera refused to look back at that hole in reality, "And if I ask for help, you will try to spread even more through me, right?" "To spread is my nature. That will happen eventually," the curse replied. "But it will be faster if I ask." There was a long pause before the answer finally came, "Yes." "Forget it then. Just keep things like that. I''m sure I can figure this out on my own," Hera replied as she started walking around. She could already tell that things were different, that the spells and skills had something about them. Now, all she had to do was to figure out what. That should take little time, and then she could forget about the curse until it was time to get rid of it. 666 - The difference of mana Hera walked around the nest of the Cherry Mantis as time stood still, trying to analyze the mana that was coming out of her blades. The problem was that she couldn''t cast their skills in here to test. Somehow, the curse created this still image of what happened in a way that cut her off from her court. She could still feel them and understand they were doing well, but there was no way to contact them. Which also meant she couldn''t compare their skills with this powered-up version. The only one she could actually try to do so was with her Elemental Poison Rain, but the origin of that spell was far away, making it harder for her to see the details of the magic. She walked around Dao, looking closely at the mana he was gathering. The tiny particles, if mana could be called that, seemed to be connected by small jagged strands of web. If they weren''t so interconnected, Hera would consider this to be actual lightning, but it spread amongst the magic-forming network that didn''t seem to start or end anywhere. Dao was completely covered in that energy, but on closer inspection, Hera also noticed that some strands were reaching out to nothing. She couldn''t understand why the mana was doing that. Each spell was a close circuit, it had all the magic that it would ever use when it was cast. Sure, people could make continuous effects that required a constant supply of mana, and there were ways of adding more mana to a spell that was being prepared. There were also some spells or magic effects that tried to siphon mana from a crystal or something. But a spell that would look for outside sources of mana on its own was not only extremely complex but would have very niche effects, and Dao''s Chain Lightning was not one of those spells. Hera tried to use her own mana to replicate those effects but on a smaller scale. First, making the small particles interconnected by that web and then spreading them out, but not only that, she also tried to create more of those tiny balls. It wasn''t as easy as it looked because the mana was coming out in different forms, which made it hard to manipulate, even harder than normal mana, which was already difficult enough to handle. She also tried to replicate the loose strands, but the mana would just leak from those spots, and forcing them to stop or trying to make them search for more mana just caused the entire structure to unravel so quickly that it was scary. Thinking there was no way to continue with such a small sample, Hera turned around and walked across the frozen battlefield. She reached Core, seeing the rapier that broke to save her and swallowed her sadness. He was mid-swing, gathering his magic on the tip of the blade, about to toss that chunk of lava that would become an eruption, destroying everything on its path. Even before fighting the Night River, Core always did his best and tried everything he could to help Hera. She shook her head, knowing this wasn''t the right time to reminisce. Focusing on the mana he created, she was surprised by the stark difference from what Dao was currently doing. The particles that were held together by the web felt erratic and wild, as if the web itself was the only thing keeping the spell in one piece. What Core was doing, on the other hand, was more like a collective project. Each part of the mana was acting to do something specific but also to assist the mana around it. Some parts seemed to be trying to make it heavier and solid. Other pieces were just focused on heat, but they would spread it evenly between the rest of the magic, tempering it so it could withstand the incoming impact and maybe even more. The outer layer also had some parts that seemed to be reaching out, chasing more mana, but it wasn''t as aggressive as the Chain Lightning. It seemed like the lava was taking the approach of a Venus fly trap, letting the prey come to it instead of over-exerting itself. But there was also another component that didn''t seem to contribute anything to the spell. Hera couldn''t understand what it was, but she knew that whatever it was, it affected the magic''s overall effect. When she thought about it, she also realized that the web was the only thing holding Dao''s spell together. It was odd to think about it, but each skill was split into two pieces. One that would act like the spell itself and another to hold the magic in place, but that also would benefit the effects. The best analogy she managed to come up with was that each spell was a cake, while this new effect was the frosting that covered it. By itself, the cake was still a cake, but the frosting alone wasn''t something that could hold its own very well. However, when combining both effects, things would change completely. That example worked surprisingly well with what Core was currently doing since she now understood that there was a layer of something dense and heavy around the fire and rock spell, almost like mud. Hera tried using this new insight, making a two-layered spell. The primary effect would be inside it with some sort of wrapping around it to keep it together. It felt a lot like her mana reinforcement, and it didn''t take long for her to make it work. However, the cost of the spell increased exponentially. She tried using only 100 points of mana for the chain lightning itself, but it took 10 thousand points to cover the entire spell in a way that it wouldn''t just break the container, so to speak. To make matters worse, the wrapping only served to weaken it. Sure, the spell was protected, and Hera imagined that trying to stop that spell would be tough, but for something this weak, it hardly seemed worth the trouble. Especially when she started to consider the scaled-up versions of it. If she used 10 thousand mana to cast something and then added 1 million mana on top to protect it, she might as well use the 1 million mana to cast it from the get-go since then, the spell would already be too dense to be easily blocked. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Frustrated, she turned to Daskka, wanting to see what the herald was able to do during this fight. Before getting close enough to the mist snake, Hera noticed something else. It was faint and small, but it was all around her. With some effort, she managed to find what exactly she was looking at spread around the battlefield. There were these small pieces of mana linked to each other. She followed the chain until she reached a monster that was being sliced in half by Ooze. Right in the middle of the slash, where the chakram touched, one of those small links seemed to be reacting to the attack. That reaction continued to another point, and Hera followed it again. This chain went around the tree until it found another Chery Mantis being split in half just as the one Ooze attacked. The mana was right in the middle of the creature, in the exact same position as the one her chakram hit, replicating the effect and spreading it to yet another link. Hera followed that path to another two monsters, both being split in half almost like copies of the first. This was Scythe''s effect. What allowed her to chain attacks, making multiple targets take the same damage at the same time? The Empress never expected this skill to work with mana, but it made sense. Anything that had seemingly no explanation could be explained with magic. Unfortunately, this revelation also came with a big problem. There was nothing covering that mana. No wrapping to protect or increase its power. Yet it was here, being affected by her increased attributes. She didn''t even attempt replicating this effect since it didn''t make sense. The mana was just connected and far apart. It wasn''t trying to pull anything else towards it or it had any indication of how those pieces of mana were working together. There was one more thing she could check, and that was Daskka. Even if she couldn''t have the herald herself here, Hera was familiar enough with her snake that could let her see the differences between that and her regular shape. Getting closer to the mist, the Empress was surprised by how natural it felt. Usually, Daskka''s mist was clearly a magical effect. Something that was not supposed to be there. Not that it was a dead giveaway to anyone who looked at it, but her silver mist form was noticeable to anyone who paid a bit of attention. But this version was different. It wasn''t weird or something that looked out of place. It felt like the fog that would appear on cold mornings in the countryside. Paying attention to the mana, she saw another completely different setup. There wasn''t any wrapping here, but instead, it felt like she was looking at a sheet of cloth. However, the mana wasn''t the strands but the empty spaces between the tread. Each particle would leak mist that would, in turn, flow as if coursing through a river, following the line in between the pattern of mana. This time Hera tried to replicate the effect. Using her own mana to create some mist and force it to follow a set path. It didn''t take long for her to make it work. However, she could only make two lines of mist that would be created by the magic. If she tried to make more, the lines would stop existing, letting the mist spread naturally. Hera continued trying, again and again, going between all three uses of mana that she could see, but she couldn''t replicate those effects; it didn''t matter how hard she tried. "Do you need my assistance?" the curse asked after the 12th time the Empress failed to recreate the lava sediment that Core was about to throw. "What kind of assistance?" Hera didn''t turn to look back at the curse, but she didn''t know what to do right now to make this work. "I can go back to the moment when the spell starts. Or move it along so you can see it in full effect." "Allowing me to see the beginning of it would help a lot. Is there a reason why you didn''t start with that?" "If I had, you might not need my help," the curse replied with an amused voice. "Of course," Hera sighed. She knew it wouldn''t be that easy. The curse wouldn''t show her what she needed for free, "How much will you grow if I ask you to help?" "Not more than you already know." "What''s that supposed to mean?" "It''s up to you to understand." "Will you get further away than Alex''s?" "Unlikely, but possible," the curse replied. "Ok, fine. I''ll bite. Help me. Show me the beginning of the spell." "With pleasure," the curse replied with such glee that it felt creepy, which was very much on brand. The images slowly moved backward, the mana moving back inside the weapons. Eventually, only the wrapping around Core''s sediment was still there, and the rest of the effects were gone. "Hang on. Move the time forward now. Slowly," Hera asked and got very close to the mana, looking to the moment when the actual effects of the spell would appear, "Stop!" Just before the actual content of the spell appeared, there was a shift in the mana. For a moment, the wrapping changed to something else. Something she couldn''t understand properly. Not at first glance, at least. "Would you like more help?" the curse asked, its voice almost teasing her. "No. I''ll figure this out, just do what I ask," Hera huffed and continued analyzing the spell. This was what she was looking for, she was sure of it. All she had to do now was figure out what it actually was. 667 - A mistake Hera analyzed the same spells countless times, but eventually, she managed to reach a conclusion that made sense. That didn''t mean it was easy or even that it was a logical assumption, but it was the only possible option. The wrapping that was setting up the spell was no wrapping at all. Instead, it was like a blueprint. Something that would explain to the incoming mana how to act and what to do. In essence, it was a spell that made a spell. It was kind of funny how that ended up being the guide for the spell, but when thinking about it, it made a lot of sense. No one was entirely sure, but people assumed that magic was something created by the system and that the system was lazy. Because of that, having a guide for each spell, so it wouldn''t have to worry about controlling the strength of the more powerful magic, sounded like something the system would do. That being said, replicating the effect was very complicated. Hera never made ''smart magic,'' and the concept itself felt odd. Magic was something very contradictory by default. To make a spell, you had to give orders and instructions, forcing the mana to act in a way that wasn''t supposed to, but the result was something more natural, yet artificial at the same time. However, the instructions had to be given first to allow the rest of the spell to work normally. In fact, many mages argued that the instruction part of the spells did not include mana on itself, but they were a language that would help translate what people wanted mana to do. The concept Hera was trying to follow right now still was, in its essence, the same thing. But instead of just telling what the mana would do, she would have to teach the mana to tell others what to do. Scratching her head, she started by making a spell very small, small enough so it could be part of a single particle of mana. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible. Even if she made the tiny spell circle, the mana wouldn''t go through it. She couldn''t force the mana to do anything it didn''t want to. After some attempts at ordering the mana around, she realized this wasn''t going to get her anywhere. The path to replicate a fraction of the power those spells had wasn''t this, but she didn''t know what it would be. "Do you want my help?" the curse asked, almost as if taunting Hera. She stopped working for a moment and turned towards where she heard the voice. The silhouette was standing there. Still a hole in the fabric of reality, but she didn''t say anything else. After waiting a few moments trying to get a read on the body without actually looking directly at it, she turned back to her work once again and started pushing more mana into the spell. "That won''t work," the curse chuckled. "Oh, and you know what will?" Hera huffed. "As a matter of fact. Yes" "How? Is it all from experience? Are you trying to get better at magic too?" "My purpose is to grow. In any way possible," the curse went back to being cryptic, and Hera couldn''t tell why. "Did you already know how to do this?" "No." "When did you learn?" "A few moments ago." "What?" Hera glanced back again, but this time there was no response, "Did you learn how to do this through me?" There was a long pause, "Yes." "So I already found the answer?" "Not exactly." "What do you mean?" "Are you asking for help?" "Just answer my damn question!" Hera barked. "You have reached a conclusion but took an approach that was a bit too literal. The answer is much more simple than you are imagining," the curse replied, its voice becoming clearer in Hera''s mind. Even without hearing the actual words, the Empress understood what it meant. Her attempts were about making each particle of mana be able to teach the entire spell. But that wasn''t a good way to go about it. She was too focused on the idea that the effect happened like a cake, where a single person had to make it, or in this case, a single particle had to make the entire spell. What if she considered this as a bakery? There was the cook, the cashier, the HR, the janitor, the marketing, and the owner. What if, instead of teaching all the spells to each particle of mana, she would, instead, teach it just a little? Breaking it all down into small pieces could teach or guide the rest of the mana in the right direction. Expanding from her new theory, maybe the mana that was being pulled out was like the produce that the bakery needed. There could be a part of the spell dedicated to pull the ambient mana inside. This would require two more ''jobs'' for the mana. One checked if all the parts of the spell had the same amount of mana, and another told the ambient mana where to go. Feeling energized, Hera started working again. This time, she stopped trying to make a version of the spell Dao or Core were using, instead, she used the spell she knew best. Poison Needle. She started slowly, focusing first on breaking down her spell into its most basic pieces. First, the poison itself, then the movement. Those pieces worked by themselves, but if she tried to cast the spell, it would just plop to the ground. There was more that she needed to realize about the magic so it could work. Hera kept going, inching closer to the result she wanted, but it was always out of reach. After another dozen attempts, the Empress found something weird. By all accounts, she had all the pieces of the puzzle, but they didn''t fit together. She had pieces of mana taking care of the size, the pierce effect, the speed, the direction of the movement, the wrapping of the needle, everything, but when she placed it all together, the spell just crashed as if it was a balloon that just pooped. During this last, she managed to prepare everything very quickly, being almost fast enough to be used in the middle of a fight, and instead of feeling the spell breaking apart from inside, she felt like some outside force was responsible for it. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The Empress stopped and looked back to the ''shape'' where the curse existed, "Are you doing something?" "What do you mean?" the curse replied without missing a beat as if it knew she was going to ask a question. "Are you messing with the spell, so I have to ask you for help?" "Is there a reason to do that?" "Of course there is!" Hera scoffed, "You just want to grow, and I don''t trust for a moment that you can''t lie. Now answer me, are you messing with this spell?" "Unfortunately, you don''t have enough time to hear the answer," the curse replied with a happy voice. "What do you-" Hera was suddenly tossed to the side as if gravity had shifted and, instead of pulling her down, was pulling her horizontally. She felt a burning sensation on her cheek, and just as she was about to be impaled on a nearby branch, she opened her eyes- "What the hell?" Hera groaned. She was currently on the floor by her bed, and she could feel her heartbeat on her cheek, not to mention a sharp pain on the side of her face. Looking up, she saw Blue with a mix of worry and anger and the rest of her party behind her. "Are you back?" Blue asked. "Back? Yeah, I guess." "Did you lose a tooth?" "What?" Hera used her tongue to check if everything was ok, "No. They are all here." "Good," Blue reached out to help her friend get up, but as the Empress did so, she was slammed against the back wall, "Now, what the fuck were you thinking, Hera!" "Fuck! What is the matter with you?" Hera yelled back. "We got here, and you were in some sort of trance. We could see the curse spreading! We tried waking you up, I even slapped the shit out of you but nothing. When the veins started forming that weird pattern on your forehead, I just punched you in the face, hoping you would pass out or wake up," Blue continued yelling. This time, her face was almost touching Hera''s. "I was just using the curse for a thing," Hera tried to push Blue back, but she wasn''t strong enough, not without any buffs. "And that explains it?" Bonnie gasped, "Hera, we all agreed that we wouldn''t do this alone and that if anyone needed to call the curse, they would let the others know." "I told Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka. They could have let you guys know," Hera glanced at her three court members who were by the side. "We couldn''t¡­" Lurize was staring at the floor. "Why?" "Because you told them never to interact or do anything that could make the curse worse. That includes talking about the curse with others," Daskka explained. "What? That doesn''t make any sense. You guys talked about the curse before," Hera looked at Nimbus with a confused expression. "I don''t have an answer for that. Only that when you were meditating, we couldn''t talk about the curse," the Sentinel Explained. "And what was so important that you had to talk with the curse?" Helena asked. "I was trying to replicate that effect from when I got a billion stats," Hera replied. "Did it actually reach a billion?" Bonnie stepped forward, crowding the already crowded room. "I don''t know. I don''t think so. But magic acted in a different way, and I was trying to make it work like that." "Different, how?" Bonnie asked. "Is this really important right now? She is just as bad as Alex," Blue turned around, "Where is Alex, by the way?" "She''s not with you?" Hera asked. "No, she wasn''t here when we arrived," Adriel replied. "Where is she then? Sammy!" Hera called, remembering why she wanted everyone together. "She''s in the woods. I can take you guys there, but we have bigger problems right now," Sammy had a worried expression as soon as he appeared. Before anyone could ask what was going on, they heard shouting and a loud rattling sound from outside. This was the signal that the village was under attack, and they needed all hands on deck. The group got their weapons, but before heading out, Adriel turned to Sammy. "Where is Alex?" "She is outside the village. In the forest, but she is not listening when I call her. It''s very similar to what happened with Hera. I think the curse is blocking me from talking to her," Sammy replied. "And where is she? We need to get her to safety," Adriel pressed. "You don''t. Whatever is attacking the village is ignoring her. For some reason. I don''t want to sound the alarms, but I feel like this is related to the curse, and that''s why she''s safe." "Then what are we supposed to do? Just leave her there?" Bonnie asked. "Yes. That''s what I''m asking you to do. At least for now," Sammy replied. "I knew we should all be together," Hera grumbled as she left the house and noticed the dark sky, "How long was I out for?" "About 7 hours. Everyone was really worried," Blue walked out and looked around. She saw Berylla running toward the entrance gate, "Where do you need us?" "Take the north wall. Those bugs are everywhere!" the beastwoman replied. "Let''s go!" Blue glanced back and started moving, but Shane grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "Hang on. Sammy, are you positive Alex is safe? You said it yourself, the timeline will fix itself, so these people are dead one way or another. Shouldn''t we go after Alex?" Sammy nodded. He knew she was safe because an effect was surrounding her that turned her into what was essentially a ghost inside a memory. It was a very similar effect to what Sammy himself did when traveling through someone''s past, but he didn''t know how Alex managed to do that. Worst of all, he feared that if he or anyone else interacted with her directly now, it would spill the beans to the curse, showing that they were not in the past but inside a memory. That''s why he was trying to believe that all of this was related to the curse. If it wasn''t, then all of their efforts might have gone to waste. "I''m sure. She is fine, no monster will try to attack her. It is like they see her as one of them. Leaving the village might look like a good idea, but it''s not. Even if we assume the monsters are part of the curse because of what is happening with Alex, we don''t know for sure. Until we have more information, we should act like the people here are still suspects." "But if they are suspects, wouldn''t it be better to just let them die? That way, we don''t even have to destroy the curse ourselves," Blue suggested. "That is only the case if we know for sure that the curse was not born yet. If someone is already cursed and a monster kills them, then we might have to chase after that monster through the woods, making sure it wouldn''t spread to other monsters by either being killed and eaten or just procreating. In the end, dealing with cursed people would be much easier than cursed monsters," Sammy replied. "But what if-" before Bonnie could say anything, a loud noise rang in the wall behind their house. Hera sent Armory up to see what was going on, and the tiara gave some intel as soon as she could, ''In the end, Alex wasn''t completely wrong,'' the tiara replied when she got high enough to peek beyond the walls. "Why is that?" ''We are dealing with an army of ants.'' 668 - Ant Army "I''m sorry, say that again," Hera asked. ''The things that are attacking are ants. An actual army of them. They don''t seem that big. Each is about the size of an average adult cat,'' Armory explained. "Ants the size of cats?" Hera said out loud, trying to confirm she heard it right. "Ants?" Blue turned to the Empress. "It seems like it," Hera nodded. "The size of cats?" Shane tilted her head. "Yeah, why are you repeating what I''m saying?" Hera frowned. "Are we?" Blue looked at the rest of the group, "I think we are just confused. Just trying to make sure we are hearing things right." "Yeah, and how are ants the size of cats able to make this much noise?" Adriel asked. ''There are a lot of them. Like, a lot, a lot,'' Armory replied, still floating above the wall. "There are a lot of them," Hera replied. "A lot, a lot?" Bonnie asked. ''Oh. Never mind. This is how. Some are the size of horses,'' Armory added. "Yeah, but there are also a few the size of horses," Hera continued. "Horses?" Helena asked. "Yeah," Hera nodded. "Ants?" Mylo asked. "Yeah, ants," Hera nodded. "The size of horses?" Shane asked. "And cats," Blue added. "Yes. Ants the size of horses and cats," Hera replied. "And they are attacking?" Bonnie asked. "What are you doing?!" Sammy snapped, "Stop asking questions and move!" Hearing the turtle scream surprised the entire party. They all shook their heads and rubbed her eyes, "What the fuck was that?" Hera grumbled. "I don''t know. It feels like I was in a trance," Helena quickly cast a spell that removed the darkness in her mind, letting her think more clearly. If she weren''t under any effect that changed how her mind worked, it would also temporarily remove all of her emotions. Luckily, this time it actually cleansed something that was clouding her thoughts, "Ok yeah, I was in a trance. Hang on." The mage used that spell on everyone, and they all felt this fogginess vanish from their minds. It was then that Hera realized where she felt that before. During her meditation, every time she looked at the silhouette, this odd feeling of not being able to think properly would accompany the migraine that came with seeing that hole in reality. "Shit! It was the curse!" Hera said. "What?" Bonnie asked, getting an annoyed expression from everyone, "I''m not in a trance anymore. I''m actually asking." "That feeling. I felt it when meditating. It was there when I looked at the curse," Hera explained. "How? You were seeing the curse? Like actually seeing it?" Bonnie pressed. A part of her was worried, but the other part was curious about what happened. "Yeah, I was-" A loud crashing sound came from the wall behind the house again, reminding the group that they had work to do- "I''ll tell you later. Let''s move." Hera just glanced at Nimbus, who picked her up and flew towards the wall. If she were going to do anything, she would first have to see what she was dealing with. As soon as she got high enough, she saw the absolute swarm that was trying to invade. No one would be able to count how many ants were attacking. They would reach the wall and try to climb, only to be stopped by one of the many safeguards in place. A magic spell that made the structure too slippery for anything to climb up. Even Spiders would have problems trying to come up the wall. She called her entire court out so they could help fend off the ants from this area. Because of the losses during the Night River hunt, there weren''t enough guards to cover all spots in the wall, and this was one of the few places that no one was taking care of. Still, it wasn''t like the monster army didn''t have any other options; they were forming a ladder with their own bodies. Since they were facing ants, their ingenuity became a problem. These creatures could overcome almost everything. Hera looked up and started casting an Elemental Poison Storm. Remembering that only she and her court could walk around the area affected by the spell, she turned to the side, "I''m taking care of this wall. If anyone is out there, get out! I''m using an area spell!" "Hera, is it that bad?" Blue asked from below. She wouldn''t be affected by the magic, but she was still there, worried about the situation. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Have you ever poked an anthill before?" Hera yelled. "Yeah. By accident." "It looks like someone poked five, and they all came for revenge," Hera finished the spell and let her magic fall upon the ants. The poison rain started falling, hitting the ants that were moving closer. Unfortunately, there were too many of them. The ants were walking over each other, and they still managed to reach the wall before the poison managed to kill them. On the good side, they were dying, but on the bad side, their bodies were still being added to the ladder. "Dao. Light them up!" Hera called. Dao was the only one of her blades that could currently deal damage to a large number of enemies all at once. Lurize and Nimbus could also help, but they would have to actually jump in, and the Empress would rather have them by her side like they were now just as Dao sent off the first chain lightning skill and fried a small clump of ants. Hera felt something reforming inside her legacy, "Core!" she gasped with a big smile. The rapier appeared right away, his voice still a bit groggy, ''I''m up. Damn, that was a long nap. How long was I out?'' Core looked around, ''I leave for a couple of days, and you guys start a war against ants?!'' ''Well, yeah. You are the only one who knows how fire works, so we figured that ants could be good to burn,'' Ooze joked. "I''m glad you''re back," Hera smiled and reached out, so Core could land on her hand, "Thank you for saving me back then. Ready to do it again?" ''Absolutely. Please don''t make me break this time,'' Core replied with a happy voice. "Never again," Hera smiled and gripped the handle of the rapier, already preparing a sediment to throw. Using Core, she started flinging pieces of lava toward the corpse ladders being created. The molten rock wasn''t enough to melt the ants instantly, but it would slowly destroy their bodies and stop them from continuing to create that structure with the dead bodies. Hera also started using a very old spell, Fire Spray. That one never seemed useful unless she was dealing with some sort of plant monster, but here, things changed. Like a flamethrower, Hera kept any of the ants that started getting too close to the top of the wall away. She also sent Lurize and Nimbus to move along the wall using the same spell to push the creatures back. As the Empress attacked, a few of the larger ants appeared, and like Armory told her. They were bigger, the size of horses, and much bulkier. A single one of their legs was the same size as one of the other ants'' heads. Hera didn''t know much about ants in general, but she remembered that some species had variations. Some were workers, and others could be bigger. The queens should even be able to fly in some cases. When that thought crossed her mind, Hera stopped. Looking around, she couldn''t see any anti-air defenses, and even in the guard, very few actually used a bow and arrow. She looked back and couldn''t see the rest of her party to warn them about that possibility. "Sammy!" "What''s wrong?" the turtle appeared by her side. "Can you act like our commns?" "Of course," the turtle nodded. "Thanks. Tell them to be on the lookout for any flying ants. If they show up, I don''t think we have many ways of dealing with them," Hera said just as she stopped using her Fire Spray spell since the noise it made was too much with this many monsters being burned. "Oh, that is a good call. I''ll tell them," Sammy vanished and headed out to talk with the group. Hera continued fighting against the ants for another ten minutes, pushing them back with spells every time they got too close and making sure to use the Sediment skill from Core to destroy the ladders they were creating. Things seemed to be going well, but they showed no signs of stopping. The ants seemed to be endless, and they would ignore all the damage dealt by her spells, only focusing on trying to get up the wall. At one point, one of the larger ones got closer, and Hera jumped away to avoid its pincers. However, the ant ignored the Empress and seemed to continue pushing forward. Lurize came running, and body slammed the ant, sending it back down the wall, but that reaction gave Hera an odd feeling. A buzzing sound reached her ears before she could think more about that. It didn''t take long for the source of said sound to show up. From between the trees, a couple of flying ants, larger than the ones on the ground, appeared. Luckily for her, the aerial monsters were still under the Elemental Poison Storm, and before they reached the village, they were covered in poison. The two creatures crashed behind Hera inside the village wall, but they were struggling to move. She believed they would die because of her poison but decided to speed things along by sending Frost and Dao to finish them off. Sammy popped behind Hera, causing the Empress to jump in surprise, "Oh. Sorry." "I''m gonna tie a bell around your neck," Hera grumbled, using Core to send another sediment to the ants. She had to keep recasting the spell since the monsters would eventually cover the lava with their own bodies. "I don''t think that would help. Anyway, Blue is going to use a big spell. I''m going to warn the others. Can you start telling the members of the Vanguard? Some places are not doing well, and she''s doing that to lessen their burden." Hera nodded, "Hang on. Nimbus!" she put her hand out for him to kiss, "Royal Quest. Run around the village and let everyone know that Blue is going to use a big spell. How long will it take for you to do a full lap?" "Five minutes," Nimbus got up after getting 100 thousand mana. "Perfect. If you see any place that really needs help, use the mana to attack a bit, but focus on telling everyone," Hera said. The Sentinel nodded and went flying off. Sammy thanked her and disappeared to tell the rest of the group. The Empress continued fighting with Lurize and her court by her side. Daskka was around her neck, spraying fire using Hera''s spell through her mouth. No one liked the idea of the snake jumping in the middle of that frenzy of ants. About seven minutes went by, and Hera kept hearing more and more yelling coming from other areas of the wall. She wanted to go help them, but keeping this group of ants at bay was taking everything she had. Trying to take care of another area would only bring her more problems. Seven minutes passed, and she could tell that a few monsters had entered the village. She saw them moving around inside, but the people in the village attacked them and got rid of the monsters, including a few flying ants that were defeated when they tried to grab someone. That''s when Nimbus returned, apologizing for the delay. He helped get rid of some of the ants that broke through, and that''s why it took him longer to get back. Hera was about to call Sammy, but the sound of thunder made the entire village shake as a massive storm cloud appeared in the sky. The cloud was spinning, and it came crashing down as if the entire Vanguard was in the middle of a gigantic hurricane. However, they were in the eye of the storm. Most ants caught in the clouds were crushed by its weight. To make matters worse, the clouds were spinning at high speeds, dragging the monsters along and ripping them apart. Taking a couple of minutes to clear the monsters around the wall, Hera was about to head out to help others when Sammy appeared behind her again. "Shit!" Hera gasped and almost slashed him, "You really need to warn me when you do that." "Sorry, but I need you all to gather. Alex stopped moving, and she found the curse." 669 - Anthill Sammy told Hera to head to the tree house in the middle of the village. She gave one last look at the area beyond the wall, just to confirm that there were no ants still coming, and headed out. As she walked, she called Nimbus and Lurize over, "I want the two of you to be close by. Lurize, you stay near me and Nimbus, you didn''t complete the Royal Quest, right?" Nimbus nodded, "Yeah, I didn''t kiss your hand to give the mana back." "Ok. Daskka, can I give another task in the same quest?" "Well¡­ You can, but it won''t count for the actual completion. I mean, he can still finish the quest at any moment, and if you ask something else, it would be like unpaid overtime." Hera frowned, "Shit... I really don''t like that concept." "I disagree, it would be like asking for help from a friend. We help with no strings attached," Nimbus replied. "Ok, then, if we are going after the curse, I want you to be scouting ahead," Hera turned to Lurize, "And you stay close to help anything that comes after us." "Agreed," Lurize nodded. "Understood," Nimbus replied at the same time as the royal tutor. He still had over 90 thousand mana since he never went far enough away from Hera''s range to spend too much mana, and the attacks he used to kill the ants were using his own mana. It didn''t take her long to arrive at the tree house. Some ways outside it, on top of one of the tables that they used for meals, Blue was standing while moving both arms almost like a dance. "Blue!" Hera called. "Hey, Hera," Blue said while still keeping her eyes glued to something no one else could see, "I have to say. I always thought that camera skill controllers got was kind of bland, but combining with this spell, it''s amazing." "Really?" Hera asked. "Yeah, I can¡­ One moment," Blue waved her left arm, and a lightning bolt came crashing down inside the wall, frying one of the large ants that managed to come through a blindside on the guards'' defenses, "I can use my spells anywhere that camera shows, even if I don''t see it from here." "That is awesome," Hera smiled, but she quickly remembered why they were here, "Did Sammy talk to you?" "Yeah, Alex found the curse, right?" Blue asked. "She did," Sammy appeared beside them, "I''ll explain. Just wait a moment. The rest of the group is almost here." As he finished speaking, Helena and the others came from behind the tree house. They had split up while Hera was taking care of a side of the wall, but since they were on the same side of the city, they all arrived at the same Tim.e "She found it, right? Where is it?" Helena asked. "It''s¡­ Reynara," Sammy replied. "She was infected by the curse?" Shane asked. "No. She created it. I can''t say for sure how, I could only hear a bit of their conversation before Alex''s curse progressed and blocked me from hearing her. I don''t know how it managed to do that, but this thing was already something very confusing by default," Sammy continued. "And where are they?" Adriel stepped closer to the turtle, his eyes a mixture of worry and anger. "On top of an anthill. With the queen by their side." "Fuck!" Hera, Shane, and Bonnie gasped at the same time. "The good thing is that I''m positive that the ants won''t bother you. So you can just walk out and head towards them. I don''t know how to get there, but I know the direction they, or at least Alex, is in," Sammy tried to cheer everyone up. "I''m not going," Blue replied. "What?" Hera turned to the controller. "If I leave here, the village will be overwhelmed." "Blue, these people are going to die, one way or another," Sammy replied. "So? I can tell that I''m currently the only thing between them and a gruesome death. If the timeline fixes itself, it can do that when we are not here. Besides, even if Reynara made the curse, we don''t know all the curse is with her. Maybe she left something behind, or she infected someone here. You said it yourself, Sammy, if a monster gets the curse, it will be really hard to track it down. So we need to cover our bases," Blue moved her hands again, and a few more lighting strikes came down on the ants that managed to break through her Eye of the Storm skill. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Wait, Blue brings up a good point. If the ants won''t attack us, aren''t they already cursed?" Shane turned to Sammy. "No. I heard the beginning of their conversation. Reynara is spreading the curse to the queen, and to stop the ants from attacking the infected queen, or herself, she told the curse to make the queen release a smell that would tell the other ants that the smell that comes from the curse is part of the colony. Again, I don''t know how she did that, but that is what Reynara told Alex," Sammy explained. "Right, then we go after them. That''s the plan, right?" Adriel stepped towards the gate, "Let''s go!" Hera turned to Blue, "Are you sure about this? You know that the people here are already¡­." She couldn''t finish her sentence. Despite rationalizing that, the idea of leaving them to die didn''t sit well with her. "I am. Everyone will die at some point. That doesn''t change the fact that everyone I managed to save counts. Even if to save someone, we have to kill someone else," Blue looked down. "Blue¡­ did you kill someone during the attack?" Hera asked. She realized that after the Night River hunt, she didn''t ask anyone about what they had to do. She remembered that Blue fought against someone that they knew, but not the outcome of their fight. Now that she thought about it for a moment, she understood that she shouldn''t be the only one dealing with things. "Yes. We can talk about that later. Now go, I''m guessing that time is of the essence," the controller turned to Sammy. "I think it is. If Reynara was infecting the queen, we don''t know how long it will take for her to infect others," Sammy replied. "How do we leave? Can we just pass by the cloud?" Adriel asked. "No, but it doesn''t go underground. A tunnel?" Blue suggested. "I can work with that. I can enchant the ground to make one and then collapse after we come out on the other side," Shane nodded. "Ok then. Let''s move," Hera touched Blue''s shoulder, "But please, be careful. If you see you are in danger, just run. You can''t help people if you are dead." Blue just nodded, but she didn''t say anything as the rest of the party rushed out. Some of the people from the vanguard started yelling at them, asking for help or giving orders for them to move to a different place, but they all ignored that. They climbed on top of the wall and dropped to the other side. The area was clear of live monsters, but the corpses still littered the ground, forcing the group to walk over them until they reached the clouds. To Hera, the Eye of the Storm that Blue created looked like a tidal wave moving sideways. A powerful current that would drag everything that went inside of it. Out of curiosity, she even tossed one of the ant corpses in the barrier, only to see it being dragged to the right at high speed. "This might be amazing for some Rampages. Blue might want to check on that. She could make a lot of money, levels, and get some good gear just helping out random places," Helena said. Hera nodded in agreement, but she didn''t say anything. She was worried about Alex and about Blue being left behind. During that small test, Shane used her legacy to soften the ground, then she used another skill from her legacy to dig a tunnel under the massive cloud wall that went up to the sky. Dig wasn''t the right word, but instead, she was enchanting the soil to move and create a natural passage. As they walked inside the seizable underground network that was being born in front of their eyes while they moved, Bonnie couldn''t help but look around in awe, "Your legacy can do some amazing stuff." "I know, right? The weird part is that this is not a skill to make tunnels, just to change the environment. In theory, this is not like a mine but like a natural formation," Shane explained. "Is this as fast as it can do that?" Hera asked, she couldn''t help but feel like they were taking too long. "Yeah, if I try to do it faster, the cave will collapse. I could make it faster if it were a smaller tunnel, but then we would have problems moving everyone through," Shane explained, and they all kept quiet, only hearing the sounds of an army of ants marching above them. They spent about ten minutes making that cave that was just three meters long until Shane stopped the spell, "Ok, a bit more, and we will be outside. In the middle of the ant army." "Sammy, are you sure we won''t be attacked by them?" Bonnie asked. "I am. Mylo and Helena stood in front of a couple of ants, and they completely ignored them," the turtle explained. "Let me be in front. If push comes to shove, I can trigger my All In skill to increase my endurance, use my armor, Nimbus can share the damage, and I have the increased defense from Lurize," Hera said. Shane glanced back to the Empress, "You know. The fact that your legacy, which should be all about offense, gives you that much defense feels unfair." "What? It''s just a couple of skills. I can''t make a cloud barrier like Blue!" Hera huffed. "I know, but it still feels unfair," Shane shrugged. "Says the one making a natural cave in less than half an hour," Hera rolled her eyes. "Can we stop wasting time? Alex could be in danger!" Adriel gasped, and Shane nodded, sending Hera to the front and continuing to open a path with her skill. When the wall in front of them finally opened, revealing the outside, they were met with a horde of ants. They were everywhere, trying to climb above each other, collapsing against the wall of clouds, and moving as if they were hypnotized. Hera was already worried about using her [Observe] because of the amount of ants when she was defending the village. Not because there was a limit but because there would be so many small windows popping up that she wouldn''t be able to see anything. Yet, here, if she used that skill here, she doubted she could even see what was written in the notification. The giant ant approached, its jaws slowly opening as the antenna reached out to Hera. Then it stepped back, moving away from the tunnel. It was hard to tell if this was because of the Empress or because the passage was too small for it. Stepping forward, the group of people opened a small path in the army of ants, who rushed inside the cave right away. They didn''t bother going after them since Shane had already enchanted the place to collapse after they left the tunnel. Hera stepped forward, and the ants moved away, almost as if she was parting the ocean, and the group continued walking. They were slow at first, but as more ants passed by, they felt confident in their stride, and soon, the entire party was running with Sammy in the front, leading them toward Alex. No one was saying anything, just dashing madly through the area while making sure to keep a pace that everyone could follow. The more they ran, the more ants they would see until, after 20 minutes, they managed to leave the jungle. It was odd since the jungle wasn''t supposed to end there, and the trees had been recently uprooted. In the middle of this new area, there was a large hill of sand from where the ants were coming from. On top of it, they could see the ant queen and two people. Reynara and Alex are just staring at them from their advantage point. Alex''s face was completely covered in black veins that would wrap around her head almost like restraints, and Reynara was crying an odd purple goo. A goo that was also falling from the ant queen''s mouth. 670 - The origin of the curse As soon as Hera saw Reynara and Alex, she tried to dash up the anthill, but unlike how it was before, the ants here didn''t give her passage. There were too many of them moving around, and even if they wanted to, they couldn''t change their paths. The only solution was to go back to the bottom of this half mountain and run to the back, where no ants were coming from. While running, she kept Armory, Scythe, and Nimbus in his weapon form out but recalled everyone else. She did that in case she had a chance for a sneak attack. The Empress ran ahead of the group, even if Adriel was behind her, still struggling to keep up. The rest of the party was caught in the ant wave and were strutting to move past them. None of them wanted to attack the monsters for fear that this might trigger their aggression. Hera ran up the hill of loose sand, almost falling a couple of times until reaching the peak, where she saw the ant queen and one of the people she was chasing after. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but the huntress who received the blood legacy turned to her and smiled. They were just behind the opening leading to the ant nest, watching as the troops ran out. "Reynara!" Hera called, "What is going on? The village is being attacked by the ants. Why are you not stopping the queen?" "Because that doesn''t matter. There was only one person there who I wanted to live with, and he is gone. Now, everyone responsible for his death will pay. Honestly, I''m glad you are here, Hera. I know you were not part of the rebels," Reynara said with a smile, the purple goo dripping from her eyes like she was crying tar. "What are you talking about? We killed all of the rebels already. The people in the village are all on your side," Hera replied. "You don''t know that!" Reynara snarled, a purple glow pulsating through the goo. Hera noticed that the pulse happened to the goo covering the ant queen at the same time it happened with the huntress, "You don''t know if the rebels realized they were losing and decided to hide again. And you don''t know how much it hurts to be betrayed by those you care about!" "Oh, please. Do you think you are the only one whit a sob story? My mother kicked me to the ground almost daily throughout most of my life. Don''t use your shit to justify this. How did you even manage to control the queen? If that''s what you are doing." "You like it?" Reynara opened a smil, like a child who was showing a school project to their parents, "I kept thinking why Grilat died, and the result is because he was weak. If he had more power¡­ If he had this power," her hands glowed with red energy and the same thing happened with the ant queen. Reynara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "If he had this power, he would have survived. I know because I could kill the Night River myself now. You see, Multrak didn''t understand a part of the legacy. When he passed it on to me, the attributes he gained by drinking blood came along. Eventually, that increase will be reduced to just a fraction of what it is now, but for the next couple of days, I got a few levels worth of attributes." "Yeah, that''s great, but what does that have to do with the ants?" "Imagine what we could do if everyone had this? The legacy. That''s what I did. I gave my blood to the ant, using one of Kadhan''s hexes to share my senses with the ant queen and a buff that Grilat taught me. It lets me share one of my skills with someone for as long as the hex is active, and I chose the legacy. The entire legacy! That only worked because of the hex, but think about it. If this works with monsters, why it wouldn''t work with people? I know you have a legacy, but others don''t. I can just share this with all of them, and everyone ends up on the same level," Reynara spoke with glee, "Of course, I''m not going to give this to anyone, but this way, I can make sure everyone I care about can be safe!" "This is not a good idea, Reynara. You know the system won''t let this stand." "Won''t it? The system is all-powerful. So if I''m doing something against it, why doesn''t it stop me?" the huntress asked. Hera couldn''t reply. That was one thing she never understood. The system could have stopped the curse, or maybe it couldn''t because it was dealing with a legacy. One way or another, she couldn''t give Reynara a response. "Then that''s that. If you want, I can even share that legacy with you. I know you already have one, but maybe it will still work," the huntress said. Hera shook her head as Adriel got into her view. He was still far, but he was the closest backup she had. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble climbing up the sand. For some reason, Hera knew where to step, to climb up here, almost as if there was something showing her the way. The rest of the team had just now being able to escape the river of ants. "Why? Why would you give it to me and not to the people in the Vanguard? I know you don''t believe that everyone in there is part of the rebels. If they were, their plan would have worked." "Their plan did work. Grilat is dead, and I''m the new chieftain. And even the people who were not on their side, they all call me crazy. Why would they trust me? How do you think the Vanguard will exist now? The ones who don''t trust me will keep arguing with everything I do, and the ones who want me to become the chieftain will just kiss my ass and try to manipulate me to attack the kingdom. There are still a few people who, if they survive, I''ll offer this new power. That includes you and your friends. You never called me crazy unless I acted like it, and you got here too late for you all to be a part of the rebels. And honestly, if you are a part of them, I have to respect the long con you pulled off," Reynara smiled, showing that her fangs were also covered in ichor. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "We are not part of the rebels. But you do understand that this plan of yours doesn''t really make sense. What will you achieve with all of this?" Hera pressed, she was trying to stall and let the rest of the group get here. "I will honor what Grilat wanted. I''ll keep protecting the kingdom, but now with an army that will never betray me. An army that will never try to hurt me or anyone who is important to me," Reynara looked down, for the first time since Hera arrived, she saw some pain in her eyes. "Do you really think this is you honoring him? You are just lashing out! Throwing a tantrum like a child, but this time it will hurt people." "So? I''m crazy, remember? Even if Multrak wanted that skill to rein me in, it only reduced the craving for blood, not who I am," Reynara shrugged, "So, what do you say? Do you want to help? Or are you here to attempt and to fail to stop me?" Sammy appeared behind Reynara, seeing that the Empress tried to pretend like she was thinking about her proposal, "Hera, this is the curse. What she made is the curse. I can tell because of the memory we used as an anchor. And it''s already starting to spread. The ant queen is also cursed, and she is trying to birth children with the curse. I can sense the larva growing inside her, it will be a while before they are born, but I don''t know how long. This is not how ants are supposed to work. Then again, I don''t know if this specific type of ant doesn''t lay eggs. I''m sorry to say, but you have to kill them before the new batch of ants is born." ''Hera, Adriel is almost in range. But if you start now, you will be fighting alone,'' Armory added. "Ok," Hera nodded, "How can I get that legacy?" she looked up to Reynara. "I knew you would understand," Reynara smiled and started walking towards Hera, "Grab my hand, then I can apply the hex and share the skill. It needs to have physical contact, and I think you will need to accept it. To make the ant queen part of the army, I had to almost tame her." "Any hand?" Hera asked, but said something different in her mind, ''The moment she reaches out, all of you should attack. And¡­ aim to kill,'' thinking about that last line made her swallow her spit as if it was a bitter pill stuck in her throat. Reynara put out her hand for Hera to grab, the ant queen watching her intently. Hera was already thinking that the moment she struck, the monster would turn to her, and she would need to run away. The Empress stared at the hand in front of her for a moment, trying to stall and find the perfect chance to strike. Adriel was just a few meters behind her, meaning that if things went south, she wouldn''t be alone. "Why are you hesitating?" Reynara asked. "I''m just steading myself. This is not something small, you know," Hera huffed and took a deep breath, telling her court ''Now!'' With that cry, she slashed using the tonfas as her entire court emerged from her back aimed at Reynara. Unfortunately, it looked like the huntress was expecting something. She managed to step back, dodging most of the attacks, but Nimbus'' blades still were able to make a large cut on her stomach. "I fucking knew it! I can''t trust anyone!" Reynara snarled, but she still had a smirk on her face, "Unless I''m the one controlling them." "Hera, what is going-" Adriel appeared from behind the anthill, but he was greeted with a kick in his spine that sent him tumbling to the side, falling inside the hole where the ants were coming from. Hera looked back only to find Alex, her face almost completely covered in the curse, and her hair flowing almost like it had a life of its own. "Take care of them for me, will you?" Reynara said. "With pleasure," Alex''s voice was filled with venom as if she was staring the person who murdered her baby. "Alex, what is this?" Hera asked, her court moving in to sandwich her, that way, they could protect the Empress if attacks came from either side. "This is what happens with a bitch who just wants to steal other people''s boyfriends!" Alex yelled, and in the blink of an eye, she was pushing Hera towards the ant hole with a dagger, trying to pierce her stomach. Luckily the dagger wasn''t covered in mana or any other spell, which allowed the Empress'' wasp wing skill to help block the attack. But the momentum behind it was too strong and sent her tumbling back after Adriel. The two of them slammed against the tunnel walls a few times until they reached the ground. Around them, a sea of ants kept moving forward, ignoring them but still giving the two enough space to move around. "Sammy, tell everyone what is going on. And find Adriel!" Hera called as soon as she jumped back onto her feet, turning to Alex, "What is the great idea? We need to get rid of the curse!" "Shut up! You are using that just as an excuse to help him cheat! I thought that we were friends, and the two of you kept sneaking off to who knows where. You say you are with Reynara, but no one can tell for sure! I know you have skills to hide, and Mylo can even make some illusions of the two of you," Alex yelled in a voice that almost didn''t sound like her. "Alex, what the fuck are you talking about? We told you where we were going, and we even invited you to come. Besides, you are one of my best friends. Why would I hurt you like that?" "Then what is the secret that you and Adriel are sharing?" "It''s just about his job, it has nothing to do with you," Hera replied. "Stop lying!" this time, Alex''s voice wasn''t alone. There was a second bestial voice coming from her mouth, as if it was one of those movies about possession, "I''m not going to let you betray me like the Vanguard betrayed Reynara. If someone is going to die because of this, it won''t be me," she got into her fighting stance, with one dagger in her hand and another in the sheath that would increase the power of her attacks. "Don''t make me do this," Hera begged, also getting into a fighting stance. It was clear that the assassin wasn''t in her right mind, and she could only hope that this didn''t mean Alex was cursed by the version of the curse that Reynara just created. The assassin scoffed, "You do this? You couldn''t even if you tried," she snarled and lunged at Hera, her daggers going straight for her throat. 671 - Inside the ant nest Alex almost flew through the air, with her dagger aiming at Hera''s throat. Thankfully, the Empress was already expecting things to go south and blocked with Nimbus, stopping the assassin''s arm and making sure the blades didn''t hit her friend. The rest of the court was coming, but they were still not there. When they fell inside the anthill, her blades started following right away. However, even if this wouldn''t be a fight where she was alone for a good part of it, like the one against Kadhan, it wouldn''t be easier by any means. Seeing that her initial attack was blocked, Alex kicked Hera''s stomach to jump back and pulled her dagger out of the scabbard, sending a large wind blade towards the Empress. The problem with fighting against a friend, aside from the obvious moral implications, was that they would know everything you are capable of. This gave Hera an edge, and the moment she saw Alex pulling her left hand to strike, the Empress turned the corner of the tunnel, letting the attack kill a few of the ants that were still rushing out of the nest. "Don''t you dare run away, you bitch!" Alex yelled and rushed after Hera. Just as she turned the corner, a giant mist tail slapped her face, causing the assassin to stumble back. Daskka was now in her silver snake form, towering over Hera and growling while staring Alex down. The assassin hesitated for a moment, which was enough so that Lurize appeared from behind, tackling her and trying to pin her down against the wall as he did with Reynara when they were in the Cherry Mantis nest. However, unlike the huntress, Alex quickly slipped away before she was trapped. "You already have an army of things who cater to your every need. Why do you need more?!" Alex asked as she slashed Lurize''s leg. Making a large gash on his armor. That was a surprise to Hera and the Royal Tutor. They got used to fighting against creatures that were weaker and would only damage him like that when they used a stronger attack. Not to say that her attack was weak by any means, but it wasn''t something special that she could only use every now and then. Alex spun around on her knees after the first attack, and she was about to deal a second blow when Frost intercepted, blocking her arm with the shaft of the glaive. The assassin glanced back, seeing Core about to hit her leg, and jumped away, evading the attack to get some distance between Hera and her. Now that both of them had a moment to breathe, Alex just stood up to look at the Empress, who was letting Nimbus return to his bipedal form and grabbing Core to fight. A constant stream of ants flowed between them, making it so they couldn''t maintain eye contact with each other. "Alex, I''m not hooking up with Adriel. Fuck, I barely even like the guy. I''m much more into women," Hera explained. "Yeah, because you would admit this. You are always on your high horse, acting like you only care about others, but I can see now that''s just a facade. You only care about yourself," Alex replied, her voice calm and steady, unlike what her actions showed. "Fine, think whatever you want. Can we deal with this later? We need to get rid of the curse. Then we can deal with this bullshit," Hera sighed. She really didn''t want to fight Alex, and having a bigger problem to deal with made this even more awkward. "Oh no. You are not getting away with this. We are dealing with this now!" Alex yelled, but her body language didn''t match, being steady and calm, "You always said that your tiara could see anyone getting close. Let''s see if that thing really is that good." Ooze flew towards the assassin, with the intention of getting close enough to use his scream skill to stun her, but as one of the bigger ants passed by, Alex vanished from sight. Hera, Nimbus, and Lurize stood with their backs to each other. ''What is the plan?'' Nimbus asked in their minds. Now that they were fighting against someone that could understand them, the Sentinel wasn''t about to risk it letting Alex hear their plans. ''She is clearly not thinking straight. I think the curse is making one final push to try to stop us from destroying it. Let''s just try to talk to her and make her see reason,'' Hera replied. ''I''m not sure we will have that option. She is much stronger than I expected,'' Lurize glanced at his cut leg. ''Then we run, but one way or another, I''m not going to try to kill her. That is an order for everyone. I don''t care if she is about to kill me. We are not killing Alex,'' Hera glanced at Lurize but knew he wasn''t trying to say that. ''We''ll keep that in mind, but that is the one thing you can''t order your court to do. They will always put your safety above anything else,'' Daskka replied as a wind blade flew from the side. Nimbus stepped in front of it to block the attack, he had to trigger his frozen ash aura and the mana barrier, but he managed to stop the spell completely. ''I can''t stop many of those. Just this one blade already made my spell all of my mana and a good chunk of the one I have left from you,'' Nimbus groaned, his arms feeling the strain of the effort to stop the wind blade. "Hera! Alex! Where are you?" a voice echoed through the cave, loud enough to be heard even with all the noise the ants were making. ''That came from the tunnel on the left!'' Armory announced just as Hera and the others started running there. Alex''s aggression started with Adriel and tThat made Hera worry about what would happen if the assassin reached him first. While dashing through the ants, a dagger appeared out of nowhere, aimed at her eyes, but Lurize and Nimbus pulled the Empress back to make her avoid the attack. Thankfully, that was the only attack that came at them. After about one minute, Hera was able to find Adriel struggling to cross an intersection from where ants didn''t stop pouring out. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Adriel! Alex wants to kill us!" Hera yelled. "Sammy said that, but why?" Adriel asked. "Because you are a cheating bastard!" Alex yelled as she lunged at Adriel, stabbing him in the shoulder before vanishing behind the ants again. "Fuck! What are you talking about? I never cheated on you!" Adriel crouched to avoid being attacked again and started healing his shoulder. "I''ve seen you two!" Alex''s voice came from everywhere at once. "You saw what? We never did anything!" Adriel yelled back. "So now I''m crazy?" "No, but you are acting crazy!" ''Bro¡­'' Hera said in her mind. Even if Alex was acting crazy, which she was, saying it out loud was one of the worst things you could possibly do. Alex also seemed to agree and started attacking him with more anger, slashing at his limbs and stabbing parts of his body. Thankfully, she was either trying to avoid going for a vital spot or she was playing with her food, which meant that while the elf was suffering a lot, he didn''t seem to be in danger of being killed. Hera pushed forward, shoving some of the ants in front of her away, and managed to reach the man, who was now bleeding on the ground. "What are you doing? We need to stop her," Hera asked. She noticed how Adriel wasn''t fighting back and only trying to dodge. "I''m not going to hit my girlfriend. This is not her. It is something else. I know," the elf stood up and opened both his arms, "Alex. I know you are still there. Please, stop this. I love you with all my heart, and I trust you with everything I have. If you really think I would hurt you like that, we can talk about this later. But now, we need to finish this and go home. Please." There was a moment of silence, and for that brief window, Hera even believed that Adriel''s rushed speech worked. But that idea was quickly proven wrong when a massive jade-colored blade of wind flew by and cut the elf''s right arm clean off. He fell to the ground yelling with the pain and trying to hold his now missing arm. The Empress rushed to his side, trying to see what she could do to help. Her heels would never be strong enough to stop something like this, and even Edge would barely do anything to help. Alex appeared a few meters in front of her with a smile on her face, setting up for another strike with the dagger in her scabbard, but she stopped when seeing the elf on the ground. There was a brief moment of hesitation that Nimbus and Lurize took advantage of. They tackled her and pinned her to the wall. This time between their strength and Nimbus'' auras, they were able to hold her down. While that was going on, Hera looked down at Adriel and how he was bleeding profusely. Thinking quickly, she did the only thing that came to her mind. She pressed her hand on the stump where his arm previously was and used a fire spray to cauterize the wound and stop him from bleeding out. He yelled again and passed out, going limp on the ground. "Adriel?" Alex called, her voice now sounding like her usual self, "What did I¡­" she groaned and closed her eyes in pain, only to look up with anger again. But her struggle didn''t stop. She yelled, started crying, tried pushing Nimbus and Lurize away, and tried to reach Adriel as if there were two parts of her struggling for control over her body. During all that time, Hera wasn''t sure what to do. If she attacked her friend now, even if her idea was just to knock her out, and failed, that might tip the scales in the curse''s favor, but if she stalled for too long and Alex lost that struggle, then the Empress would''ve missed a great opportunity to end this stupid fight. Time seemed to slow down as all the possible outcomes went through Hera''s mind, and before she made a decision, Alex went limp. "Alex?" Hera called. "I''m sorry," the assassin replied, tears running down her face. "Apologies won''t do much now. Especially for me. Can we stop this and go deal with the curse?" Hera asked. "Yeah¡­ NO! I¡­ Can''t. I''m struggling to keep control. I need¡­" Alex groaned. "What? What do you need?" "Can you blind me? Do you have a poison for that? I''m going to run inside the ant nest as far as I can, and I can''t know the way back." ''We have one that makes someone extremely dizzy,'' Armory replied. They wouldn''t be able to do that as an enchantment to one of the blades, but Hera could use her poison control to replicate it. "I can make something similar, but that won''t do much. All you need is to stop moving and follow the ants." "I don''t have any better ideas. Just do that. I''ll run and get lost in here. You take Adriel out and help the others. Please. I don''t know how long I can hold on," Alex groaned again. It was clear that she was struggling a lot. "Fine," Hera created a poison needle and tossed it at Alex. The poison didn''t take at first, and the Empress tried again and again until it worked. It took her ten tries, but eventually, she was able to make the assassin dizzy enough that she couldn''t tell what was up and what was down. Nimbus and Lurize carefully let Alex go and pointed her to a tunnel that had a few ants passing by. She stumbled forward like a drunk but refused to look back and forced herself to push forward. Seeing that, Hera moved fast. She told Nimbus to turn into his griffon form and Lurize to help her place Adriel on top of the Sentinel. With everything ready, they ran outside, following the stream of ants that still opened a path for them to pass. Only when they were about to reach the outside did the crowd stop moving away from them. Still, they were able to get outside in less than a minute. Hera told Nimbus to take Adriel to a nearby tree and place him in one of the branches. They were large enough that even if the elf moved, he wouldn''t fall off. Looking to the side, Hera saw Helena on top of the ant queen holding a dozen ropes made out of shadows and holding the monster in place while Bonnie, Shane, and Mylo wailed on the beast. Before the Empress was even able to join, they managed to cut the creature''s head off and turned to the left, where Reynara was watching them. Or at least Hera assumed that was Reynara. It had a bipedal body that was completely purple, as if it was a living ooze. The face still resembled the huntress but was also completely purple, with lighter veins glowing to frame the eyes, nose, and mouth. The only thing that was still Reynara were the eyes¡ªcompletely black eyes with red irises. "Sammy, is that it?" Hera asked. "Yeah, that is the curse, and now that the ant queen is dead, it is the only piece that is left," Sammy replied, hoping that they were able to finish this in time. Now that Reynara was using the curse to control Alex, it was just a matter of time until it realized that this wasn''t the past, but just a memory. 672 - Figthing the curse Hera saw this new version of Reynara and got into a fighting stance. Every fiber of her body was yelling that this creature was a problem. In a way, it was similar to when she saw the curse inside her memory. She was staring at something that was clearly wrong. Something that was a stain in reality. Something that shouldn''t exist, much less be here. Knowing that this thing, or a version of this thing, was inside of her made Hera feel nauseous to the point she had to struggle not to throw up. Helena, Shane, Bonnie, and Mylo were also having the same issues, but they all pushed through. For a moment, no one moved. The ants were momentarily stunned after the death of the queen, the cursed Reynara stared at the people in front of her while Hera and her party stared back at this creature. Suddenly, everything started moving again. The ants spilled out of the nest, not in an ordeal fashion but in a frenzy of madness as if they had lost all semblance of order or rationality they had before. Mylo lunged forward, brandishing his staff to slam the curse''s head. Helena waved her hands, making shadow tendrils emerge from the ground, trying to wrap around Reynara. Shane grabbed her sling and placed two bombs on it, aiming behind their enemy. Bonnie sent out a series of twelve elemental motes that spread out like a constellation. Hera and her entire court rushed forward, the Empress prepared a poison needle doing it in the same way she was trying to do when watching her memory in that moment of boundless power. This wasn''t a conscious decision. She spent so long trying to replicate how magic worked when her attributes were much higher that she followed the same steps she was trying to follow then. Hera realized that when she was about to send out the poison needle, but to her surprise. This time the spell worked. The poison needle used the same amount of mana she expected, but it kept pulling more and more mana to itself from the environment and becoming ever denser. ''Evade!'' the curse voice rang in the Empress'' head, making Reynara turn to her and dodge the spell incoming towards her. However, by doing so, she was placed in the path of Mylo''s staff, and half of Helena''s spell was able to grab her and pull her down. ''Shut up!'' Hera and her entire court yelled at once, pushing the curse to the back of their minds in hopes that it wouldn''t be able to interfere again. Shane''s grenades exploded behind Reynara, creating a massive concave structure of ice, blocking any chance the curse had to run away from this fight. Unless they would be willing to climb about 20 meters up, exposing her back to the group. Bonnie started her next spell, sending energy blasts toward the motes she created that would change their element and trajectory. It looked a bit like lasers bouncing off mirrors, but despite the flair, the attacks were powerful, getting stronger with each mote it passed. Five blasts exploded around Reynara, but when the dust settled, the creature didn''t even seem to be injured. Mylo started hitting its head with his staff again and again, but each blow seemed to be less effective than the one before. In the end, the cursed creature''s head wasn''t even moving anymore as the staff slammed against it. Helena made one of her shadow tendrils reach out to Reynara''s face, covering where its eyes and ears were in shadow. This was Helena''s sense deprivation spells, but it was hard to tell if this would be working or not. Hera tried to use another poison needle, but the being put Mylo between it and the Empress to stop her from getting a clean shot at it. With a growl, Hera dashed forward to join in the melee. Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka were right behind her, already preparing their attacks. The Royal Tutor even triggered his golden beetle form, trying to keep it at its maximum duration. After all of this, the cursed Reynara finally moved to the offensive. She kicked Mylo, who blocked with his staff but was still pushed five meters back. Waving her hand, she made a spear of sand shoot out from the ground aiming at Helena, who evaded it by a hair. Unfortunately, Hera wasn''t as lucky. The sand spear collapsed only to become an arrow aimed at the Empress. Even Armory had barely a second to warn everyone before the arrow pierced Hera''s right leg. She yelled, and Daskka started healing immediately, but the pain didn''t stop her. The Empress stared the cursed Reynara in its black eyes, now covered in shadow, and prepared another poison needle. Instead of moving away, the being created a pair of arms from its back, arms holding a pure white bow. The one that Multrak gifted Reynara. It pulled the string, making a mana arrow that was covered in that purple goo, and shot it at Hera. Nimbus and Lurize worked together to parry the projectile, but even that small attack was enough to push both of them back. Bonnie tossed a few more energy blasts and a couple of mana fists to hit Reynara just as Hera lunged with Core in her hand, aiming at the curse''s chest. The creature grabbed the rapier by the blade, holding it a few centimeters before its skin. It smiled at the Empress with a cocky expression, but she was looking at it with the same smile. From the tip of Core, Hera was charging a poison needle using half a million mana. She let the spell fly, using the same version that made her curse warn its previous form about the danger. If even her own curse was worried about that spell, it would mean that it would deal some damage. The needle pierced Reynara''s chest, and she yelled in a voice that wasn''t known to anyone here. It was a mixture of the cry of a baby with the roar of a bear. The sound was so loud that Hera and Mylo, who were closer to the creature, were pushed back. With that cry, all the ants that were running in random directions stopped and turned to Reynara and started moving toward the top of the anthill. Hera and the others were lucky that, in their madness, the ants all left the nest entrance, but now it seemed like they were all coming back, and no one had the illusion that they would be on their side. Seeing the ants coming, Mylo disengaged and rushed to the back. Without saying anything, Hera understood his idea was to hold off the incoming swarm and leave the rest of the fight to the others. Shane noticed that movement, too, and decided to pressure Reynara, sending more of the projectiles that exploded on contact, burning and freezing the cursed creature. Lurize went for an overhead swing just as the dust cleared, missing it by a hair, but Nimbus was already coming from the other side, slashing with both his tonfas in an X shape. The Sentinel''s attack connected, and thanks to Hera, it was able to deal some damage. The poison used by the Empress wasn''t made just to hurt the curse since she didn''t know if poisons, in general, would work as they should. Instead, Hera used a version of a poison made by Kadhan, who could reduce the target''s defenses and increase the pain they felt. Right now, she was even seeing how her spell was spreading inside the curse and replicating itself over and over, and pulling the surrounding environmental mana to it, becoming stronger with time. She never expected the magic to work like that, but it was a pleasant surprise. Helena took advantage of the sandy hill and started pulling the shadows hidden between the particles, turning them into small spikes and blades that were jetting out from under Reynara. Once more, Hera''s poison proved invaluable. If it wasn''t for it, Helena''s spells would barely do anything, but right now, the cursed being was slowly being stripped of its defenses. Ooze and Frost took advantage of the brief window of surprise created when Reynara was hit by the shadow attacks. The chakram went spinning, aiming at one of the arms holding the bow, while the glaive attacked the other, making the same spinning motion to get some momentum which was only increased thanks to the magnet attached to them. Helena tried removing more of its senses, but that hardly seemed to work, which was understandable. They had no idea how the curse perceived the world, and it might not even use one of the five senses people know about. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ''Dao, the ants!'' Scythe called, noticing how the ants were already starting to attack Mylo in the backline. ''Got it!'' the sword replied and flew towards the back, already launching a chain lightning at the ones in the front of the pack. There were too many melee fighters facing Reynara, and she wasn''t big enough for them all to fight together without being in the way of each other. During all that time, Bonnie didn''t stop using her energy bolts and magic fists. At every opening Hera and her court gave, one of those spells hit Reynara with a different element. Even so, unlike most of the monsters, and people, in this place, this wasn''t enough. The cursed Reynara continued to attack, sending arrows at Helena and Bonnie with deadly precision. She wasn''t able to kill any of them, but each projectile either pierced some non vital part of their body or left big gashes on their skin. Shane was also a target, but her proximity to Mylo made the fighter step in and block, or take, all attacks in her place. After one arrow was embedded into his shoulder, he yelled and slammed his staff to the side, creating an effective wall of flowers to stop the ants from getting closer, forming a funnel that forced a large chunk of them to fight the man himself before reaching anyone else. Unfortunately, this wasn''t enough to stop the entire army. They still had a large opening to the left of the battle. ''Lurize, can you take the ants?'' Armory asked. The Royal Tutor frowned, as best as he could using his wooden armored body, and nodded, breaking off from the cursed Reynara to fight the incoming swarm. He didn''t like the idea of leaving Hera and Nimbus on their own, but he was too big and not agile enough to follow their rhythm. Despite wanting to be there to help, he knew that his presence would be more of a detriment to the fight than an asset. That didn''t mean he couldn''t do anything to help, and what Armory suggested was something that fell very comfortably in the position he would excel in. Being a large chunk of metal, or wood in this case, that could grab their enemy''s attention and make them all focus on him. Daskka also decided to go help with that since they needed the bigger targets to cover more ground. In her silver snake form, the herald was able to rip apart the ants without much effort. The main issue that both of them quickly became aware of was that they couldn''t stop ants from sneaking by. It didn''t matter how big they were or how easily they would kill one of the creatures, each blow would leave an opening that one of the ants would use to pass by. Thankfully, there was one more member of the team blocking the army. Dao was acting like the last line of defense, throwing the occasional chain of lightning to burn some of the ants in the swarm but focusing on killing the ones that were able to enter the perimeter. What Hera expected to be a quick fight, due to the difference in numbers, became a race against time instead. Aside from her court and her, Helena, Shane, and Bonnie didn''t stop attacking Reynara. But the now cursed huntress was much sturdier than anyone expected. Not to mention that she seemed to possess some sort of regeneration skill that would slowly but steadily recover her injuries. To make matters worse, as time went by, Reynara seemed to get more comfortable with her new body, becoming more flexible and creating more arms from the purple goo that was the curse. Helena was already injured but kept going even after three arrows hit her stomach. Bonnie also took a lot of hits, but since she was staying further back, she managed to dodge most attacks. Mylo was covered in blood and cuts that came mostly from the ants he stopped while fighting. Seeing him stand felt like a miracle considering how much blood he already lost. Hera wasn''t in that better of a shape. She dislocated her shoulder more than just a couple of times during the fight and got hit by various arrows in her arms and legs. There was even a hole in her body that probably took out one of her kidneys. Shane was the only one who didn''t seem like she was fighting for her life, and that was all thanks to Mylo blocking most of the attacks aimed at her. ''I think we need something big to make this work!'' Nimbus called as he pushed two of the now six arms Reynara had away with his tonfas. ''I don''t actually have anything big. Unless you have a spare weapon somewhere,'' Hera replied, using Core to pierce one of the arms holding the bow again in hopes of stopping it from firing more arrows at those behind her. "Does anyone have a spare weapon?!" Nimbus called, not wanting to ask about a big spell since that could let the curse know what his plan was. ''To the left!'' Armory yelled at Hera, making the Empress dodge an attack that she couldn''t see. Right by where her foot was previously located, there was a simple-looking dagger with a wooden handle and one blue gemstone in the blade that appeared in the sand. Hera glanced to the entrance of the ant nest, where Alex had just emerged from. This was one of her weapons, the stronger one she had. An epic dagger she bought before they started traveling with the Royal Explorers. It was hard to tell if that dagger was actually aimed at Hera or not, but either way, the assassin gave her what she needed. Hera didn''t think twice and grabbed the blade, swiping Core to her offhand. ''I need an opening!'' Hera called. Right away, Nimbus pushed forward, using his wings to cover Reynara''s eyes and letting three of her arms grab him as he was blocked by another two. He was right in front of her, letting the Empress move to the right. With only one arm and two legs to be a problem, Hera used Core to attack, making the last arm stop her weapon before, from Reynara''s right side, Hera plunged the dagger into her and triggered her [Weapon Break] skill, together with her [All In]. The blast was massive, shards of metal flew out of Reynara, creating a large hole on the opposite side of her body. The piercing attack continued, moving beyond the huntress and shattering the ice barrier behind. Her form collapsed but was still moving, trying to keep it together. Four of the arms were gone, but now she looked like a creature with no torso. Everything from under her shoulders to her waist was gone. Hera jumped back, recalling Nimbus to his weapon form to free him from the remaining arms. At that moment, Shane picked a golden grenade from her pouch and, using her slingshot, fired at Reynara. The blast wasn''t an explosion. Instead, a massive pillar of light came crashing down from the heavens. It was a specialty ammo the explorer had, enchanted with light mana, and made it to be a pillar of pure sunlight that was supposed to burn everything inside it. Taking advantage of that, Helena pulled all the shadows that were under the sand, now much stronger due to the incredibly bright light coming from above, and pushed it upward, forming a set of blades like that of a garbage disposal inside a sink. The spells clashed, pushing each other to their extremes. The burning sunlight tried to break through anything in its path, and the dark shadows became even darker as the light illuminated the jungle. When both spells were finally over, there was nothing left. No curse to continue, no Reynara, nothing. In the place where the creature was fending off the entire group for almost twenty minutes, there was just a sheet of glass in the place where the sand was burned to a crisp. 673 - A battle won Reynara watched the ant queen fight against this group of new people, and she realized that the monster wouldn''t be enough to stop them. Suddenly an idea popped into her mind. She and the queen were now linked, they shared her skills, her legacy, and even her will. Why would this have to be only a give? Why wouldn''t she be able to also take it? Focusing on the giant ant matriarch, Reynara tapped into the hex that was inside it and started to grab what the ant was. Its powers, its skills, its knowledge. She used a skill from her legacy for it. But instead of drinking blood to increase physical attributes, the huntress drank the essence of the ant. That way, she would get everything the monster was for herself. If making her own army was no longer an option, she would become the army herself. Not even Johnny, the guide of this room, could tell why this worked the way it did. But somehow, a grief-ridden Reynara managed to not just share her legacy but also absorb this new share of it. Doing this required a very specific set of conditions that not even the system was able to predict. The ant queen had to be fighting for her life, unable to notice the attack inside her very being. Reynara had to be willing to give up everything she was and expose her very essence to a monster. The hex needed to be something invasive, but that required permission, and the skill shared had to be something unique to one individual, not to mention the actual capability to share the skill itself. To top it all off, it required a legacy that not only could become stronger the more it absorbed from others but also to retain some of that strength across holders and a moment of pure fear from all those involved, not just from Reynara and the ant queen but from those fighting against them as well. Helena and the others were not afraid of the giant ant. Or of Reynara, but afraid of what was happening with Alex and afraid that Hera, or one of them, would be the next to fall to the curse''s influence. When all those stars aligned, something new was created. Something that existed only to fight against that fear. Something that found everything that was not itself to be a danger. Something that could grow without limits, without the need for levels, skills, special powers, or assistance from the system. Something that was afraid, and knew that the only way to stop that was to be the only thing left. Yet, there was something else inside it. A single belief that was so ingrained in the current state of its host that was also carved in the very essence of this new thing. The belief in oneself and only oneself. Unfortunately for it, and luckily for everything else, this new creation was too young to understand the concept of self and turned that belief into something that came from outside, making it so the more others believed in it, the stronger it would get. Thus, the curse was born. Not a creature, not a spell, not an item, but a disease. A plague that infected anyone as long as they came in contact with it. Ironically, it was unable to grow alone since it was unable to consider itself as something that existed. The curse never developed a sense of self, even if it had a will, and this one detail is what gave Hera and her friends a chance to destroy it. If, in its early years, the curse was met with a different kind of opposition. The kind that asked it to be strategic, the kind that managed to push it back, maybe then, it would have the need to consider self-preservation. Maybe then, it could have considered the words ''I need to save myself'' and changed its perception of the world. However, that never happened, and an existence as old as the curse was unable to change its views now that it had grown and endured so much. This was its undoing. The moment Reynara died because of the combination of spells, the young version of the curse was too weak, too inexperienced to jump to a new host. It could do nothing but die along with its host. This fact was only confirmed when Sammy appeared by their side. "Well done, everyone. The curse is dead and gone. I think we still have some time before the ants can move again, but let me send you all back quickly. I can say that with certainty because the memory we used as an anchor is gone. We only have a few moments to get back home now." "Is it really over?" Shane gasped, looking at the bloodied Mylo in front of her. The ants all stopped moving, but they were still close and alive, and the damage they had caused was still on the fighter''s body. "Yes. It''s over. The curse is gone. Meaning that in the future, it will never even exist. I have no idea what kind of future we are going back to, but we won. I''m talking with all of you at the same time so everyone is aware of this. Even Adriel. Talking with someone unconscious is 100% in my wheelhouse," Sammy replied with a smile. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the curse inside of them stopped. The belief that it had died in the past was too strong, stronger than the belief in itself. It tried reaching out to its other aspects, the painting, Kirouhebi, but even they believed the curse was dead. It looked for the ants, the ones it controlled, hoping that among them there was a glimpse, a single drop, a particle that showed one of the ants took a bit more than it should, and the curse could live. Yet, it found nothing. Without any other escape, the curse withered and died. Hera looked to the side and saw the black eyes of her friends disappearing. They all returned to their normal faces for the first time in a while. She smiled and turned to Sammy, "Is Alex ok?" she looked back to the ant nest, but the assassin was no longer there. "Yeah, she is. Tired but ok. Since the curse was with her for a long time, she got hit the hardest because of it, and I sent her back already. Now, we need to get out of here. Fast. I don''t know how long it will take for the timeline to try to get things in order, and I don''t want to find that out," Sammy explained. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Ok. Let''s go," Shane nodded, trying to hold Mylo up. After the fight ended, all the adrenaline left his body, and now he struggled to move. "Right. Actually, let me get Blue out first. Just a second," Sammy disappeared, and less than two seconds later, he was back with an expression of nausea, "Ok. Shane, you and Hera are going to be the last. Sending people with legacies back takes a lot out of me." "I don''t care, take Mylo back first. You can help him when we are back, right?" Shane''s eyes were watering. "I can, don''t worry. He will be fine when we get back," Sammy smiled and sent Mylo on his way. The man became transparent as if he was vanishing from existence in particles of golden light. "Hang on. You said it takes a lot out of you to send them back. Does that mean that you might not be able to?" Bonnie asked before Sammy did the same to her. "No, don''t worry. I can send you all back and still be here. Worst case scenario, Hera and Shane have to wait a bit before I can take them back home. It takes a lot of effort on my part to keep connected to the present, but that doesn''t mean I can''t recover if I have some time to rest." "Oh, ok. Then no one will be stuck here, right?" Bonnie pressed. "No. No one will be stuck. I promise," Sammy smiled, "Can I send you now?" "Yeah, you can," Bonnie turned to Hera and the others, "See you guys soon," as she finished speaking, she started to become transparent and vanished in the same particles of golden light. "Helena, you are next," Sammy turned to the mage. She nodded, "Thanks, and thank you, Daskka. If It wasn''t for your healing, I would have been a goner." With only Shane and Hera left Sammy turned to them, "Ok, I need to be honest. That was a lie. It''s not harder to send you guys. But I have to ask you two to do one thing as soon as you can. Call the guide of my room, and then go to your private rooms to talk to them. Trust me, it''s important. Also, Hera," Sammy looked into the Empress'' eyes, "Kirouhebi is here. Not just the version from this time but the one you saw. The guides had to bring him along so he could see the curse dying. He thanks you for what you did and says he''s sorry for lying to Alex about the curse''s origin. He thought it was better to tell a half-truth. The ants did attack the kingdom, but they were already cursed at the time. His idea was to make the curse slower to spread by making Alex believe she had the information. That way it wouldn''t become a mystery that she would chase after. I don''t think we will ever figure out if that was the right move or not, but it hardly matters right now. Oh, and he asks that, when you can, you go visit him. You and Alex." Hera nodded, "Will do. I think we need to confirm if he is no longer cursed ourselves. I still feel like I am. I mean, there was no pain or anything when the curse died. I honestly don''t feel any different," she mumbled as she dismissed the entire court, worried about what would happen if she didn''t. "Same, it''s a bit weird." "Weird as it may be, that is the truth. Now let me send you two back. I''ll see you soon," Sammy smiled. There was a reason why he was rushing to send everyone out. Now that the curse was dying, the longer they stayed here, the easier it would be for it to realize that they never went to the past, only to a memory. Hera felt herself getting lighter, she looked at her hands as she slowly vanished. It felt weird but comforting at the same time. It wasn''t like she would no longer exist, but as if she was going back to where she belonged. Her vision started to be covered in light, and the last thing she heard was Sammy''s voice. "Also. I''m sorry." Hera was about to ask what he was sorry about when she felt like she had just been dropped from an airplane and landed back in her own body. At the same time, a sharp pain covered her entire being. She yelled and gasped, not even being able to hear her own voice. Something inside her skull was burning behind her eyes. Reaching out to her face, her hands were stopped by whips of water that grabbed her and pulled her body down, forcing the Empress to keep her hands out of her head. She felt her nails digging into her palm, but even that pain was nothing compared to what was going on with the rest of her. It was like something was burning, being purged. For she didn''t even know how long, the agony continued, hurting, burning, ripping her apart. She couldn''t hear or feel Daskka nor her court. Even the water around her wrist was hidden from her senses. Then came a voice, a growling panicked voice that screamed in terror, followed by a sense of such a pure and adulterated fear that made her cry. She would''ve soiled herself if she could move her body, but even those basic functions were blocked to her. Her tears, as hot as they were, felt cold against her skin, but then they started to burn. This was a different burn, not one that came from heat, but one that came from acid, like eating a hyper-concentrated version of sour candies through her eyes. She screamed, her voice joining a chorus that she couldn''t identify, but little by little, she started to hear and feel her body. Her heart was beating like crazy, and she was covered in cold sweat. Her throat was completely dry, and she could feel her nose burning as if someone had shoved a pair of chilly peppers inside each nostril. She could still feel the pain, or the memory of such pain was so intense that it still lingered, but Hera slowly started to feel better. That''s when she noticed the groans. Forcing herself to look around, she realized she was in the same place she was before going to the past. In Sammy''s therapy room, surrounded by her friends. All of them were also struggling with something, but one voice still continued. One maddened and pain-stricken scream continued without even stopping for a breath. Using all the little strength that was still inside her body, Hera followed the voice and found Alex. Her head was mostly purple, but that color was slowly being purged by a golden light. The lonely scream continued for another 10 minutes as the Empress tried her best to recover until all of the purple veins were pushed out of Alex''s face through her nose, ears, and eyes. When the assassin finally stopped screaming, she passed out, too tired to continue. Something inside Hera agreed with that decision, and before any other ideas popped into her mind, she let herself fall into unconsciousness. 674 - To the victor, the spoils When Hera woke up, she had no idea how long it''s been since she passed out. She was still in the room where they met Sammy, that mix of a hot spring with a psychiatrist''s office. Slowly moving her hands, she realized her body was still in one piece, despite what seemed like something''s best efforts. With a soft groan, she pulled herself up, sitting on the bean bag chair she was currently on top of. The Empress felt a splitting headache and put one hand on her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw a mug approaching. "You must be thirsty. Drink," Sammy''s voice was soft, and it came inside her mind instead of out loud. Possibly not to wake the others. Hera looked up and saw Bonnie, Shane, Mylo, Adriel, and Alex still sleeping in the same places they were before going to the past. Then, a thought came to her mind. Was it the past? She wasn''t sure. There was a part of her who remembered something different, but her brain was still too jumbled up. When the Empress opened her eyes, she saw a number of notifications in front of her but just thought about putting them behind her head for the moment. She wasn''t in the mood to read something right now. Bringing the mug up to her lips, she tasted the water and instantly realized how thirsty she actually was, drinking the entire mug in a single gulp. "Mo¡­" she tried speaking, but her throat said no, hurting too much to let her finish the sentence. "Don''t worry. Here, more. Drink slowly. It will get better," the turtle spoke in her mind again. Hera nodded and drank the next cup with more calm, feeling the water refreshing her body. After her third mug, she looked up at Sammy, now at his full size and the flower power pattern covering his shell with numerous flowers. She opened her mouth to speak, but she still couldn''t. A bit frustrated, she pointed to the two empty seats where Helena and Blue previously were. "They are in the back," Sammy gestured to the side, and Hera noticed a door she didn''t see before, "Those are the private quarters I have here in case a treatment takes too long. There is less steam there and actual beds. Unfortunately, I need this place to dive into someone''s memories, so I couldn''t have you all staying back there. You are free to go there if you want." "What¡­" Hera took a deep breath, "What do you mean memories?" "Ah. Yes. This will feel a bit weird. Despite what you believed in there, we were never in the past, only in the curse''s memories. That''s why I took you all out of there as soon as I could. If you had stayed for longer, then the curse might have realized what happened." "Ok," the Empress replied and shook her head, still processing what he said. She was sure they were in the past, but Sammy was saying they weren''t. Her mind felt scrambled, and she didn''t like that. Deciding she needed a better place to clear her thoughts, she pointed at the door and then at herself to signify she would be going there. "Of course. Please, rest. If you need anything, all you have to do is call me. I can make a steam window that we can use to communicate." Hera nodded and walked through the door. She still felt very wobbly, and, for some reason, she didn''t like the idea of calling her court out. Having more voices inside her mind now sounded like a nightmare. Going through that entrance, the Empress found herself in what looked like a common area of a resort. Various chairs and nets spread around, a bar and some vending machines with food that didn''t require any money, but what caught her attention more than anything was a soft sobbing voice coming from one of the rooms on the left. She rushed there only to find Helena crying, tears streaming down her face. "Lena! Are you ok?" her voice barely able to leave her throat, nevertheless, Hera approached, and the mage got up and gave her a hug. "I''m fine. I''m fine. I''m great," she replied, still sobbing. Hera hugged her back, unsure what to do, when she heard some noise from a door in the back of the room, and Blue walked out of the bathroom. The controller saw the two of them and froze. Looking Hera in the eyes, she mouthed, ''Is everything ok?'' ''I don''t know,'' Hera mouthed back. They stood there for a few moments until Helena let go of the hug and saw Blue on the side. She walked towards her and gave the controller a big hug. It was shorter than Hera''s, but there was still a lot of emotion behind it. "Lena? Are you ok?" Hera asked as the two stopped hugging. "Yeah," Helena smiled, "I just. I accepted the reward we got and," she snapped her fingers, and a small ball of light appeared to her side. "What is this?" Blue asked. "I don''t¡­ What? Lena?!" Hera gasped. She could sense mana very well, including the element of mana, which very few people could do without any specific items or spells. What Helena created now was a light spell, but it was her shadow mana like it was supposed to be. Because of the Mage role, almost all of Helena''s mana was of the shadow element. That meant that her spells would first come out as shadow spells and then change to something else. That process would make some of the mana used for that specific magic be spent just in that conversion. Yet, the spell Helena was currently using would start off as shadow but change to light mana naturally without losing any of it. Almost like the spell was being created with light mana from the start. "I don''t get it. You made a light," Blue frowned. "Yes. I made a light. With shadow mana, without wasting any mana to change the elements," Helena explained. "Wouldn''t you need to have half shadow and half light mana for that?" Blue asked, even more confused. "I would." "And do you?" "No, my mana is still a shadow." "Then how?" "The reward. It gave me a skill. Here," Helena pulled her tablet and opened her status windows through it, looking for the new skill and showing it to them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Light Manipulation (Rank 1) - Passive: When in the presence of a strong source of light, your shadow mana will be instantly converted into light mana when using light spells. You can also mix both types of mana in either a light or dark spell to change its effects. The ratio must always be 1:1 for it to work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Lena¡­ does this means¡­" Hera looked up with a smile after reading the description. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "By all effects, I managed to be the Ying-Yang mage I wanted to be. I can use both light and shadow mana like I''ve always dreamed of," Helena had a big smile on her face, and tears started to form in her eyes again. Ever since her mana was stuck to shadow, she searched for a way to fix that, a way to change part of her mana to something else or to have her light spells take the same benefits of her synchronization with shadow mana. Now, she did it. Even if it was a gift from the system, she finally reached her dream. "I''m really happy for you, Lena," Blue smiled. "Me too," Hera nodded. "Thanks. I got some more stuff too. I can make some shadow puppets, and Hera is not the only one with a title. Plus, a level up. What did you guys get?" Helena asked. "I don''t know. I haven''t seen it yet. My head was so much of a mess I couldn''t think straight," Hera replied. "Same. I saw the notification but dismissed them all. Let me check," Blue pulled up her tablet. Hera just thought about the notifications, and they moved around her head. She was surprised for a moment because, like Lena said, there were a lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hidden Quest complete You have destroyed an existence that was a potential danger for all those living inside the MAZE. This accomplishment will be engraved in the memories of those who still remember the destruction caused by that existence forever. The MAZE, the system, and all those affected by this existence thank you for your actions. You will receive the following rewards: 1 Level up Skills: Toxic Mist Title: Wardbearer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current Level 34 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Toxic Mist (Rank 1) - Active: By using your natural poison, you create a cloud of poisonous mist that surrounds you. The mist poisons enemies that come into contact with it, dealing damage over time and reducing their accuracy and defensive capabilities. The mist dissipates after a short duration. Mana cost: 1% m/s Duration: 30s Radius: 10 meters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wardbearer - Title Having overcome a powerful curse that threatened your very essence, you have ascended to a heightened state of resilience and perception. Becoming a paragon of protection against malevolent forces and afflictions. Your profound connection with the magical fabric of your body grants you an instinctive awareness, allowing you to detect the subtlest of disturbances aimed at your well-being. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aside from those rewards, there were also two notifications telling her she got a few other skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have acquired a skill: Poison Coating Mana Vessel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Coating (Rank 1) Active: Thanks to your natural poison, you can infuse your weapons with various poisons, granting them additional properties for a limited time. The poison effects are limited to the types of poison you know. The potency of the poison and duration of the infusion depends on your ability to manipulate poison. This skill can overlap with other elemental buffs or spells. You can spend 1% of your total mana to cover a weapon with poison. That mana cannot be accessed while the coating is active. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Vessel - Passive You have understood one of the basic properties of mana. When putting that in practice, your spells will have an increased effect and will be harder to stop or block as the mana used to fuel said spells become more natural. This effect can only affect skills of rank 5 or above and spells at Expert Rank or above. That requirement is ignored if you have at least 1 thousand points in intelligence. Increased potency + 100% Spells affected can self sustain ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow¡­ this is a lot. Did you guys get a title too?" Hera asked. "I''m just reading it, Wardbearer," Blue said. "Oh? I got that one, too," Helena turned to the controller. "That''s the one I got too. I think we all got the same." "Well¡­ It makes a bit of sense, right? Titles are given to people who should''ve died but didn''t. Since no one was ever able to survive that curse, I think we fit into that category," Blue added, "How many skills did you get, Hera?" "From the quest, only one. I got two other skills, but they kind of fit something I was trying in the past¡­ Or memory. I''m still not sure," Hera replied. "Oh, yeah. The shadow puppet thing was not part of the quest reward. I used some shadows to help clean the houses and got bored, so I changed their shapes to make small dolls to move around," Helena moved her hands, recreating the effects of the spell she used back in the Vanguard. A small clump of shadows appeared, forming what looked like a tiny snowman with long lanky arms and legs. The doll gave a salute and started marching to the edge of the bed to fluff the pillow. "That is cute, in a weird creepy kind of way," Blue replied. "Creepy?!" Helena gasped, "These little guys are absolutely adorable!" "A little, but the long ass arms freak me out. It reminds me of spiders." "Hang on then," Helena shifted the spell, using her new skill to mix some light mana. Now instead of just a shadow puppet, it had an actual shape, including a pair of beady black eyes surrounded by white light. "That is better," Blue nodded, but when the smile appeared on its face, she changed her mind, "Yeah, not that''s worse," the controller stepped back, "It looks like one of those possessed dolls in a creepy Japanese movie." "I can fix this. Just give me a moment," Helena frowned, but she couldn''t help but smile. She was using light mana without wasting any of her magic. To make things better, the light skills that she got before her mana turned into shadow now finally worked. One of the biggest problems for the mage was that the skills she got for light mana were all connected to her [Synch]. It was a double edge sword for Helena, who made a mistake while getting her elemental affinity. Now, thanks to this skill that treated shadow mana as light mana in a specific condition, a previously locked chunk of her skills was finally free. "By the way. What skill did you get, Blue?" "It''s called Combat Reflexes. Just a blanket increase in my reflexes. It''s stronger during a fight but works all the time. And you?" "The one from the quest is called Toxic Mist. I basically can do the same thing Daskka does, but instead of healing or hiding people, I hurt them and strip their defenses. I think this is about what I did during the fight against Reynara." "How did that go, by the way? I woke up not that long ago and didn''t have a chance to talk with Lena about it." "Let''s sit down to talk. Actually, I''ll grab some stuff from the vending machines before that. I just realized I''m starving," Hera replied. "I''ll go with you," Blue turned to Helena, "We''ll be right back." The mage just nodded, still tweaking her shadow puppet to make it cuter. Blue and Hera just chuckled and walked outside. The curse was gone, and this struggle was over. Knowing that lifted a very heavy weight from their shoulders. 675 - Skills all around During the next few hours, everyone woke up. They had a short conversation with Sammy, where the turtle would explain what happened and how they were, in fact, inside a memory and not in the past. What followed was some confusion and a request for time to process things. Then, they would go to the rest area in the back and meet with everyone else. One by one, they arrived, first Shane, then Bonnie and Mylo together, and Adriel being the last. Every single one of them got the same title and a level-up. But each came out of the memory with a different number of skills. It was clear that they were unable to get new skills inside the memory, and now, the system was catching up with their new knowledge. From the quest, Shane got a skill called [Metal Manipulation], which made it easier for her to create her projectiles and change metal in general. But her efforts inside the memory gave her a pair of skills. [Explosive Knowledge] would just increase anything she made that could explode. It was a bit surprising that she still didn''t have something like that since most of her attacks included explosions. [Mana Charge] was something she learned while preparing the traps for the Night River. Now, aside from keeping a spell inside her grenades, she could also create this charge that would attach on contact and siphon the mana out of the target. Transferring a percentage of the current total mana of her victim back to the explorer. Or, she could forgo that effect completely and create something else entirely that would also latch on to her target. Bonnie''s reward was a skill called [Arcane Intellect] that passively increased her intelligence and the power of her spells and allowed her to control her spells better. The increase in raw attributes was minor, being at just 2%, but skills that could do that were extremely hard to come by. The skill she got by herself was called [Analytical Eye], which allowed her to look at something and have a better understanding of what it was and how it got to that point. It was a bit of what one would expect of a detective, helping her to assess a situation just by looking around. Mylo also got 3 skills in total. A version of the barrier of flowers he created when fighting the ant army called [Floral Barrier] that turned that makeshift blockade into an actual wall of protection. This was still an illusion, but one that could stop physical and magical attacks. The second skill was called [Flower Burst], and funny enough, it was his first skill that created actual flowers. Essentially, it allowed him to make a small field of blooming flowers around him that could stun enemies and make them vulnerable to attacks. The more mana he used, the wider the range was, and it had a surprisingly short cooldown allowing him to attempt the stun over and over again during any of the longer fights. One of the guards in the Vanguard used that skill, and during his time working with the man, Mylo tried to learn how that worked. The last skill he got was part of the reward from the hidden quest. [Earthquake Step] let him create a sensory tremor that acted like an actual earthquake while being an illusion. Any enemy caught on it would have trouble moving around and were likely to fall to the ground. It was interesting. The actual quest rewards seemed to be related to that final fight in a way. Blue needed quick reflexes to catch all of the ants that were trying to get inside the Vanguard. Shane couldn''t attack faster because she took too long to make new projectiles. Bonnie used her elemental motes to change her spells trajectory but not their speed. She had to be careful when firing to not hit anyone in melee range with Reynara. Mylo kept trying to topple the ants since when they fell, they would bring down the ones behind them. Helena used her shadow, and the final move baked them with light. Although Hera had the impression that the mage''s skill was more personal. Maybe the shadows were what actually gave the final blow, and that''s why she got a more tailor-made reward. Adriel was the only one who didn''t get any exciting skills. He only got one reward, and it was called [Eidetic Memory], and, as the name suggested. It just helped him remember things. That also included combat tactics and the weakness of enemies. The skill also said it could help him predict attacks during a fight, noticing the patterns that he just saw from an enemy. It wasn''t bad by any means, but it felt a bit underwhelming. During the entire conversation, Bonnie was hugging Ruby as if the red slime was going to run away. Since her pet wasn''t cursed, and the mind of slime was something alien, Sammy couldn''t bring her to the memory, and to make sure Bonnie wouldn''t think about her and trigger any issues with the curse, the turtle also made the researcher forget about her pet completely. It felt mean, but it was something they secretly agreed on before going to the curse''s memory. While they were talking, Blue and Shane mentioned to Hera that their new skills had some integration with their legacies. This made her stop to check, and everyone took a moment to level up. ''Daskka?'' Hera called. The herald let out a loud yawn as she came out, ''Hey, mum. That was weird.'' ''Tell me about it. Can you remember everything that happened in there?'' ''Not everything, but just as much as you,'' Daskka replied. ''Oh. Ok. Can you check the skills I got? Maybe there is something that can be added to the legacy. If you are feeling up for it, I mean. If you want to rest, we can do this later.'' ''No. No. I''ll check. One moment,'' she yawned again and stared into the distance, seeing her own version of the system that was related to the legacy, ''Oh? This one is fun. The Poison Coating can get a very big upgrade. You can also get the Blade Graveyard skill if you want.'' ''What upgrade? And absolutely, I want that. Seeing everyone again would be great,'' Hera smiled. ''The upgrade will turn that skill into something that can actually make weapons. I think it''s having some synergy with the Weapon Break skill, even if it''s not in the legacy. You keep all the effects of the Poison Coating, being able to coat everyone in poison, but you can also make mana weapons. Those won''t be like the rest of the court, just actual weapons, but how much mana you spend will say how strong and how rare those weapons are. The rarity part is why I''m saying it has to do with Weapon Break.'' ''So I could use them to keep triggering a Weapon Break? Even if I don''t add that skill to the legacy?'' ''Pretty much,'' Daskka nodded. ''Well. That sounds great. Not just the breaking part, but the idea of being able to make my own weapons like that,'' Hera touched Fang and Claw, who were on her waist now. She lost them while inside the memory, and that wouldn''t have happened if they were already in her legacy. ''Ok. Here are your new skills, then!'' Daskka said with a smile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venomous Arsenal (Rank 1) - Legacy Passive. All of your blades will be coated in your Naga Poison when summoned, allowing you to poison your targets with any type of poison you can naturally make. This effect can be deactivated at will. Active. You can create a weapon made out of poison. Their scaling is based on your own attributes, receiving 10% of your attributes. This can be increased by using more mana to summon the weapon. The summoned weapon must have a blade. The summoned weapon will not have any skills, but higher rarities might have additional effects. Any skills that could affect regular weapons can also affect your conjured weapon, including the passive effects of this skill. The amount of mana used will determine the % of your attributes that the weapon will receive in each attribute and its perceived rarity. The conjured weapon will last until dismissed, but during that time, you won''t be able to recover the mana spent to create the weapon. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Common Rarity: 1% max mana, 10% attribute scaling. Uncommon Rarity: 5% max mana, 20% attribute scaling. Rare: 15% max mana, 30% attribute scaling. Very Rare: 40% max mana, 40% attribute scaling. Epic: 90% max mana, 50% attribute scaling. Unique: 200% max mana, 60% attribute scaling. Legendary: 500% max mana, 110% attribute scaling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blade Graveyard - Legacy Those who join your court will be forever bound to you, even when they are no longer in this world. Using this skill, you can invoke the spirit of the court members that have been left behind to fight again by your side. These spirits still have the memories of the blades they once were, but any new memory will be lost as the duration of this skill is over. The resummoned court members maintain the same attributes and skills they had when they were dismissed. Duration: 1 minute for each current court member available. Current duration: 9 minutes Cooldown: 168 hours Blades in the Graveyard: Beam - Brute - Executioner - Swift ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled and decided to level up before summoning her venomous weapons. She noticed that the Poison Coating skill was gone, which made sense since its effect was inside the Venomous Arsenal. ''Oh, before I forget. You can also add one more court member,'' Daskka glanced at Fang and Claw, ''I think they count as one since it''s the same window.'' The Empress nodded, ''Ok. I''ll do that later.'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 34 Legacy: Court of Blades Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer Total Stats: 582 Strength: 97 Endurance: 97 Agility: 97 Charisma: 97 Intelligence: 97 Luck: 97 Mana: 3 005 111/3 005 111 Passive Mana Regeneration: 3 937/s Active Mana Regeneration: 7 162/s Remaining attribute points: 0 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal(+1), Blade Graveyard (+1) Passive: Exponential Growth Observe Red Sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 3, Dorohla style 3 Battle Dancer 2, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 2 Dodge 2, Run 3, Improved Stamina 4, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 4, Mana sensitivity 2, Shaper of Mana, Mana Vessel (+1), Reinforced Mana Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 2,Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Naga poison 6(+1), Naga Scales 1 (+1) Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 3, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Toxic Mist 1 (+1) Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint (+1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera summoned a simple orange sword in her hand. The orange color was because of her poison, and since she was testing this out, she made a common weapon. It even had a status window, but she was the only one who could see it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venomous Sword - Common A sword made out of poison Attribute scaling: Strength x 0.9 Endurance x 0.9 Agility x 0.9 Charisma x 0.9 Intelligence x 0.9 Luck x 0.9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was very straightforward, and like she expected, the weapon wouldn''t do much. Even if she replicated Edge using her [Explorer Blueprint], the scaling would be better. Without dismissing that one, she summoned another Venomous Sword, but this time using 90% of her mana to make an epic one. Just by appearance, they were very different. While the first one looked like a training weapon. The second one had a snake in the handle and some engravings along the blade that shifted its shades of orange in the light as if it was made out of bismuth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venomous Sword - Epic A sword made out of Naga poison, made to be deadly against its target. Impacts with the handle can deliver a concentrated dose of poison Attribute scaling: Strength x 5.8 Endurance x 5.8 Agility x 5.8 Charisma x 5.8 Intelligence x 5.8 Luck x 5.8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh wow. This is a big difference," Hera smiled. "What is that?" Helena asked. The Empress explained about her new skills, and everyone continued talking. A few hours passed before a TV screen made out of steam appeared in front of the group. Inside it, they could see Sammy with a soft smile, "Alex woke up. Can you all join me outside?" 676 - Purified Everyone rushed out to Sammy''s therapy room. Alex was sleeping for several hours longer than everyone else, and Hera told them all what she saw happening with the assassin when she got back from the memory only to be told that all of them saw pieces of her pain. Apparently, after Hera passed out, Alex started screaming again, but none of them was strong enough to help her. In fact, no one even knew what to do to help. Having the curse purged out of them was something awful. Even Helena and Bonnie agreed that it felt worse than having their mana burned. When they left the rest area, they found Alex not just sitting and doing well, but she looked even more well-rested than everyone else. She smiled at the group as soon as they arrived. "Hey, everyone! How are you all doing?" the assassin waved. The rest of the party glanced at each other, "We are ok. How about you? Getting rid of the curse sounded rough for you," Hera asked. "Oh, yeah. It was rough, but I''m all better now. Thanks to one of the things I got out of this," Alex said with a big smile. "And what is that?" Shane asked, a bit freaked out about how well their friend was doing. Every single one of them still felt some of the phantom pain left by the curse. "Well¡­ I got some quest rewards, a title, and something a bit extra," Alex said with a smile, but she stopped when she saw Adriel crossing the door, "Addy¡­ I''m sorry. The curse got into my head, and I couldn''t control it," she shook her head, "No that''s not an excuse. I should''ve trusted you more, so the curse wouldn''t even be able to mess with me like that." Adriel stepped forward, "Are you really ok? I''m not going to blame you for what happened back there, but it''s a bit hard to say I''m not weary of you right now." "Man¡­ that''s kind of harsh," Blue said. "She cut off my arm! I have the right to be cautious." "Wait, what?" Blue turned to Hera, "You didn''t say that!" "Adriel didn''t seem to want to go into the details of the fight, so I just respected his wishes," Hera shrugged and turned to Alex, "But really, are you ok?" "Yeah, and sorry for attacking you too, Hera. It wasn''t fair to call you names like that." "Eh, it''s fine," Hera waved her off; she understood better than most how the curse could influence them, "I know that you and Adriel will have to talk about this later. Maybe Sammy can help. But really. How are you doing this well?" "Right. So, I got a few rewards from all of this. Three skills. Two of them are things I was trying to figure out while in the Vanguard, and another from a hidden quest. The ones I worked out myself are called Phantom Step, which lets me disappear when I dodge or parry and attack, and Tempest Dance. It''s a way to move around and deal damage around me. One of the hunters was teaching me this move to deal a lot of damage while still moving, and that''s where it came from, I think. The one I got from the quest is called Wind Walk, and it kind of lets me fly? I mean, it says I can walk on air currents, so I need some testing. Aside from that, I got a title and a level up," Alex started explaining. "Yeah, we all got that title. Wardbearer, right?" Bonnie asked. "What? You all got a title too? But that''s not the one I got," Alex frowned. "What''s your title called?" Helena asked. "Here," Alex pulled her tablet and brought her title to the screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Luminary Aegis - Title Born from a crucible of enduring suffering and long-term affliction, you have transcended the limits of mortal curses. Embracing the formidable mantle of the "Luminary Aegis," you stand as a bastion of unyielding fortitude and indomitable will. Having weathered the tempest of a prolonged curse, your very essence bears the scars of countless trials, forging an unshakable barrier against the malevolent forces that once held you captive. Your heightened awareness of magical energies allows you to instinctively detect and dismantle spells intended to manipulate or harm. Your very existence has become intertwined with the mastery of magic, rendering you nearly immune to its most insidious effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, this is not what we got. Luminary Aegis?" Bonnie asked no one in particular. "But it does sound like a better version of ours, doesn''t it?" Shane asked. "Not better, just different. Ours protect ourselves. This title seems to do more," Mylo added. "How come?" Blue asked. "It talks about Alex being a Bastion of defense. That word means something that affects many people. Or a part of the building. I don''t think the second meaning would make sense," Mylo explained. "Oh¡­ yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Also, She did protect everyone from the curse on her own for a very long time. It would make sense for it to be different," Helena nodded. "We can figure that out later, but there is one more reward, and this is the big one," Alex changed the subject, "I got a legacy." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Really?" Hera asked. It was completely unexpected, but as she stopped to think for a moment, it was completely predictable. The curse came from a legacy, and purging it could mean the original legacy was now exposed. "So, you got the weird blood legacy?" Adriel asked. "Oddly, no. Mine is called ''Purification.'' It''s all about purging effects, apparently. The few skills I currently have let me remove buffs or debuffs and purge some conditions. Like dizziness or nausea," she looked to the side and waited for a moment, "Oh, ok. So those conditions have to be applied by something unnatural. Like a spell, poison, or something like that. If you get food poisoning or are sick because of pregnancy or something. It won''t do anything." "Hang on. You can purge buffs too? Like if I increase my defense with a spell, you can remove that?" Shane asked. "Yeah. But they have to be like active things. I can''t remove passive effects. The idea is that I make something ''pure'' like, turn it to its pure form," Alex continued explaining. "Be careful with that. Anyone who gets into the whole ''Let''s purify the impurity'' rabbit hole usually ends up being a lunatic," Blue crossed her arms. "Oh yeah. I''m well aware of that. I need to be very careful when talking about this with others. But you guys know me, so I can just explain things in a more straightforward way." "Either way, it might be good to have a conversation about this. In fact, I was hoping to be able to talk with all of you, individually and as a group, about what happened inside the Vanguard. It was a traumatic experience, even if the end result was positive," Sammy added. "Do we have to start now? I wanted some time to relax before dealing with all that," Bonnie asked the turtle. "Of course. You can stay here for as long as you want. The rooms in the back also are private, meaning that no sound can get out of it once the door is locked. Oh, but just to warn you. I can still read your vitals when you are there and when you are inside this entire place if I''m being honest. So if anyone is in trouble, I can go in to help," Sammy explained. They continued their conversation for a while, asking about Alex''s legacy and making some small tests to see how it worked. Hera took advantage of that situation and went inside one of the rooms in the rest area. Sammy had asked her to call the guide of the room as soon as she could, and she wanted to get on that. The guide helped them a lot, and she wanted to thank them for everything. She locked the door and used her soundproof bubble, just in case, before saying, "I call the guide of the Thirmal Waters. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." A small portal made out of steam appeared on the side of the bed, and swimming through the air, a white swan came out. It had a long neck but a soft green beak, and the part that looked like black makeup was a soft pink. The swan did a couple of laps around the bed before stopping in front of Hera. "Hera Kingsley. It is a pleasure to meet you," the swan used its wings to make a very graceful bow, "I am Siege. The guide for this room." "Siege?" Hera asked. "Yes. I know my name does not exactly match my appearance or my behavior. Alas, this is the name I was given, and one I am very proud of." "Oh, yeah. Of course. I''m sorry. I didn''t mean anything bad by it. It was just, like you said, surprising." "Don''t worry. I take no offense. Besides, you have done us an immense favor by dealing with that horrendous curse." "Don''t mention it. We had to deal with it too. I''m the one who has to thank you all for the help. We wouldn''t be able to get this done if it wasn''t for you all." Siege nodded, "It was a team effort. I must say. Still, such efforts must be rewarded, and I was allowed to give you said reward." Hera chuckled, "More rewards? You guys are spoiling me. You really don''t have to, but I won''t say no." With a smile, Siege continued, "Yes. We do. The service you have provided us is something no one has been able to do so far. And we already gave some of our input in the rewards your friends would get." "I was thinking that Helena''s was a bit too specific." "Indeed. And some of the benefits will not show themselves right away. But it''s likely that you have gotten the metaphorical short end of the stick." "Why is that?" "We were watching your efforts through Kirouhebi, and we''ve seen how you used the Royal Quest a number of times. Not to mention all of the help that your blades provide during everything. But it was discussed amongst us that the effort put in by your court wouldn''t be here when you came back. Meaning that, for the effects of your gift skill, you did nothing but sleep during the past week." Hera frowned, she didn''t even consider that, "Daskka. Are they right? The royal quest didn''t count?" Daskka appeared out of the necklace and greeted Siege before turning to Hera, "Yeah, mum. It sucks, but that''s how it goes." "And that''s why we wanted to give you something extra. One of the gits is to your entire group, actually, but the other is more personal for you," Siege explained. "Thank you. But I can''t help but feel like you are giving me too much credit. Like, I understand that you all needed someone to take care of this, but at the same time, we had to deal with it, too," Hera scratched the back of her head. "I don''t understand how that is of any relevance. Even if it''s something you had to do yourself, did you not help us fix this issue? How does the fact that you also benefited from it remove the worth of your assistance?" Hera stopped for a moment but realized that she didn''t have an answer for them, "I¡­ I don''t know." "That''s because it doesn''t. Do not sell yourself short. You deserve this addition to your private room." "Addition to my private room?" Hera asked. "Correct. Starting now, when you enter your private room, you can choose to enter the workshop instead. A place where you will have access to basic facilities for crafting and changing your relic. The tools and necessary equipment, like an actual forge, will be available to you. You cannot take the tools away or take any pictures of them. Those tools will always be their most basic versions, without any special skills or abilities that might come with more specialized ones. But you are free to bring what you need from outside. You can enter your room and then pick this new option on the door, which will let you leave the room and wait outside in the corridor while the actual room changes. You will have the option to change the layout of the workshop to better fit your needs. For instance, the version where you can work in your relic would be different from a forge for weapons. You will be able to edit that the same way you can edit your private room. Oh, and while you cannot bring any other person with you when accessing the workshop. You can still have us, the guides, with you inside there. I will also say that this won''t be something that only you will be able to do. There are ways for other explorers to receive their own version of this benefit. So feel free to tell others about this. Shane will also have their own version of it, but we added something a bit more personal amongst the initial presets." Hera stopped, looking at Siege with a surprised expression, "That is amazing. Thank you so much." "There is no need to mention it. You deserve this. Also, the second reward would be something more simple. Directions for you and your friends to go back home." 677 - Siege "Wait, really?" Hera asked, surprised by the information. She would be lying if she didn''t consider asking something similar of the guides when this was over. After all, they showed her that she had the option of making such a request. "Really. Now this will be an exception and not something we could do on a different occasion. Unfortunately, even guiding you here was something that only could happen because we had authorization from the system. And guiding you back to civilization will be your reward for that," Siege continued. "I see¡­ Does that mean that Shane or I will have to use our skills to get directions? I mean this skill to talk to you guys," Hera asked. "Unfortunately, yes. And since your path will take you to the Temple of Sands again, I will be the one telling you the sequence of symbols you need to find." "Oh? Really? That''s kind of good. I think. I was half expecting that room to have a bunch of connections because of its layout," Hera sighed, "It still sucks that I have to use the skill for this. Don''t get me wrong, I''m really grateful, but I kind of wanted to be able to ask about the rooms again. Some of the places we passed by were really interesting. This room included." Siege tilted their head, " Really? You say that, but you have only seen the interior of this cave." "And it''s a massive pool of thermal waters where a psychologist turtle lives who can jump inside people''s memories. If you don''t see how that is interesting, I don''t have much to tell you," Hera looked into Siege''s eyes, seeing the swan process what she just said. "I suppose I am too used to this kind of thing to consider it interesting. But if I look at this from an outside perspective, I can understand how this would be alluring. Not the most interesting part of this room, in my opinion, but still." "And what is the most interesting part of the room for you?" Hera asked. "Unfortunately, I can''t say much. But the steam from this place behaves in a very interesting way. Being hotter than regular air but still falling to the bottom of the valley instead of rising to the sky. One has to wonder what kind of marvels or secrets are hidden in the steam-covered ravine that crosses the room. And, maybe, someone who could use a spell, an enchantment to allow others to see through heavily obscured areas, could prove invaluable in the exploration of such an area," Siege replied with a smile, "Now. I apologize for rambling on things that are not related to your reward. The workshop is already added to your private room. When you return to the Temple of Sands, you only need to add three more symbols to the picture on the ceiling. The last one will be an image of a mask surrounded by blue flames. There you will find a doorway to the next room in your journey." Hera wrote that down on her tablet, "Mask with blue flames. Ok, got it," she stopped for a moment, "Actually, can I ask you a question? About all this." "Of course. However, I may not be able to reply depending on the question." "Why are you the one telling the sequence? This reward is for everyone at my party, right? Shane has yet to call Shiretaa, so she could get that info herself." "Well¡­ In all honesty. We saw how the two of you split the questions. With you having to ask about the destination and Shane asking about the room itself. We decided it was fair to let you keep doing things that way. But you could talk with her and change jobs. Letting her ask about the destination while you question the guide about the room. You could just say that your skill can''t do this anymore, but Shane got a reward that let her do the same to get you all back. I can suggest that to her when she calls me." "I like that idea. But I''ll let you talk to her first. I''m assuming she will have the full 5 minutes of questions?" Hera asked. "She will," Siege nodded. "Ok. I''ll give her one question I wanted to ask, and can I ask you to share the information you just gave me? About the Temple of Sands." Hera smiled. "Of course, and I appreciate you not pushing for it right now. Having to tell you no would be uncomfortable," Siege gave her a soft bow. "No worries. I know how those rules annoy you guys sometimes." "Once more, I thank you for that. And to avoid any unpleasantries. I will go now. I do hope we can have a proper conversation at a later date. If you don''t mind." Hera nodded, "Of course. It was a pleasure to meet you, Siege. Oh. Just before you go. Is there a time limit for how long we can take to get back? I mean, now that we don''t have to worry about anyone getting swallowed by a curse, I was thinking about taking a more scenic route. Maybe run some dungeons." "I don''t believe time frames would be any problems. Especially since now, you are all just a few days away from a place where you can start contacting people once again. Maybe a bit over a week, depending on some weather conditions, but it will be nowhere near as complicated as the rooms you already went through. I''m just talking about an issue with high and low tides." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "I see. That''s fine, then. The only reason we are taking so long to get back is because of the Abyssal Deep. I''m sure if it wasn''t for that, we would end up taking a few weeks at most to get back." "That is very likely. Now, I must go. Once more, it was a pleasure," Siege gave Hera another bow, their long swan neck going far below the rest of their body before swimming in the air again and vanishing in a portal of steam. With that out of the way, Hera also took a moment to call her court and check how everyone was doing. Funny enough, for the blades, everything that happened in the Vanguard felt like a dream. Something they more or less remember, but it didn''t feel as real as it was to Hera. Despite that, the abilities and skills they learned while in the curse''s memory remained there. No one was able to create a new spell, but Nimbus and Lurize felt like they were close. It was a good thing that all their progress wasn''t gone. The Empress also wanted to do a couple of more things before leaving. First, she opened her spell book to check which of her spells could activate the [Mana Vessel] skill. Unfortunately, only the poison needle had reached the expert rank, and she didn''t have any way to boost her intelligence to the thousands. Still, being able to have one spell that worked like that was amazing. She tried flinging a poison needle towards the wall, just to see what would happen. The mana inside the spell felt like a sink swallowing the ambient mana to make it stronger while keeping the needle''s shape. It was much more intense than what happened when fighting Reynara, but at the same time, it didn''t feel like it was getting as much mana as it was inside during the fight against the curse. However, the moment it hit the wall, the spell just vanished, unable to take hold of anything. Hera had a feeling that now the skill was working as it should with the help of the system. Now that she was back, she realized that any of her new attempts at skills were odd. Wrong or wild in a way. The skills there were unbound by rules, which made them more unpredictable. She realized that to continue that kind of test, she would need an actual target, and poison wasn''t something she wanted to use against someone she cared about. Going to the next thing she had in mind, Hera picked Fang and Claw and turned to her blades, "So, what do you guys think? Should I add them to the court?" "I think it''s a good idea, mum. Even if you are wielding them like usual, their attributes will be a bit better, and we can avoid any situations like what happened when fighting the Night River," Daskka said. "Then again, if you bring them into the fold now, you are confirming that eventually, you will swap them out," Nimbus added. ''That is something that is likely to happen anyway. Unless something like a weapon that grows its scaling exists, changing weapons is something that will happen,'' Lurize said. ''I agree. I mean, even if I''m one of the oldest members of the court, I understand how much we are falling behind attribute-wise. And I''m the one who got an extra buff from the Royal Gift,'' Ooze was above Lurize, almost like a halo on top of his head. "Then we agree? I should add them to the court?" ''Actually. I don''t think this is the best idea,'' Armory spoke up, and everyone turned to the tiara, which flew off Hera''s head and took center stage in the conversation, ''Siege mentioned that there was something interesting in the bottom of this valley, and Shiretaa mentioned we are the pioneers of the Temple of Sands. I might be overthinking things, but I feel like we will soon find a dungeon that no one has ever found. That means a couple of extra levels. After that, then yeah, you could add them to the court.'' "Humm¡­ that is a fair point," Hera nodded. "Is it? It feels like a stretch. No offense, Armory, but you are counting on a lot of luck for that to happen," Nimbus leaned back against the wall. ''Is she? We know the Naga went to the Belly of the Beast, and we do know that others have come to this room. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have treated anyone. That being said, the Temple of Sands is extremely unique. Unless there was a large civilization nearby, I doubt anyone random adventurer found all the dungeons that could be there. And like she said, Siege made a very big deal about the bottom of the valley. If we consider how the guides seem worried that the rewards we are getting are not enough. Then I do agree that there is a good chance we can get something special down there. At the same time, I doubt it would be something incredible like a title or something else since those things are usually too costly for them to even mention. So, the logical conclusion is that it would be a dungeon that can give us some good rewards. Since Siege said that there are secrets hidden down there. We can consider that for a secret to be hidden, no one would ever be able to find it,'' Lurize spoke in everyone''s mind, not wanting to have to deal with his buzzing voice during a large speech. Daskka floated up, getting a bit in front of Hera, and turned to the Royal Tutor, "Ok, first. It''s very weird seeing you speak so much. Second, that is still a lot of conjecture. We have no idea what is down there. It could be just a hidden quest that will have no effect on mum''s level. Or it could be something that will let her get a new titled blade. It could also just be a place where we can get a cake or some really good wine." Core and Frost agreed with Daskka and Nimbus, but Scythe, Dao, and Edge were on Armory''s side. They continued that discussion for a while, saying the same arguments over and over but using different words to try to convince the others of their point of view. Hera was listening to everyone''s opinion while thinking about it herself. They were all making good points, but in the end, everyone knew that she had the final say in the matter, and eventually, no one in her court had anything else to say. "Thanks, everyone, but in the end. I think that I should add them to the court now. If I had to swap one of you out, I wouldn''t, but according to Daskka, we also have one more slot to fill. The system considers Fang and Claw one weapon, and the legacy should do the same. I''m still worried about losing them again, and even if I can make new weapons now, they won''t have any skills. Also, I realized that fighting while wielding one of you feels much better than fighting using a regular weapon. You guys help me with the moves I want to make, and I think that would even help me increase the rank of my fighting skills." Daskka reached out to Nimbus with her tail for a high five while the ''other team'' grumbled a bit, but they just nodded and moved back to let Hera add the new court members. 678 - What to do next Hera walked out of her room and went looking for Shane. Her entire court was out, including the two/one new additions. Fang and Claw took only one slot from her court. It was also a bit different than Scythe, who was a single being split in two. Each of the daggers had a unique name and a unique personality. They were similar, of course, but it was like they were twins. Hera also had to give them new names. According to Daskka, she couldn''t keep the same name as the original weapons because they were no longer those weapons. It was almost like they had a trademark claim to the name of the actual weapon. Fang was now Viper due to his ability to use poison, and Claw became Crimson because of her specialty in using blood to become stronger. The Empress also used one more thing when adding them to her court. She used her Royal Seal, trying to add a Naga seal to them. It was the first time she attempted to do something like that, but it was surprisingly easy for her to figure out how to add the specific seal. This meant that they got a couple of interesting skills related to the Naga. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Viper & Crimson - Naga Twin Daggers Attribute Scaling: Viper Strength x 10, Endurance x 8, Charisma x 7, Luck x 5, Agility x 3, Intelligence x 3 Crimson: Agility x 11, Intelligence x 9, Luck x 8, Strength x 3, Endurance x 3, Charisma x 3 Passive Skills: Two fight as one: When wielding both daggers, the daggers will be affected by each other''s scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. Enhanced Poison: When using any poison-related spells or skills with Viper as the catalyst, increase the poison effect by 30% Rending Blade: Crimson''s attacks can cause the target to receive a grievous wound, reducing any healing that it receives by 20% Naga Born: All skills that affect these weapons are considered Naga skills. Active Skills: Alluring Presence: By activating this skill, your target will feel attracted to the daggers. Mana Cost: 300 mana Grasping Strike: Viper deals a blow that binds the target temporarily. The duration of the bind depends on the strength of the target. Mana Cost: 500 mana Bloody Claw: Crimson launches a long-range attack made out of blood. Depending on how much mana was spent, the attack can be performed with one, two, or three claws. Mana Cost: 300, 600, 1 200 Mana. Distance: 50 meters Naga Seal Any Naga-related skills will have their effects increased by 50%. Familiarity: 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera had to admit, they had some amazing stats, and the fact they came from a Naga dungeon only made her like the new court members even more. It was just a shame that their overall scaling dropped by a couple points. Not to say that they were weak by any means, and the naga skills made it clear that they would be much more powerful now that they were part of her court. Still, the new blades needed some time to gather their bearings. The Empress had already introduced them all and made sure to summon them right away, not to do the same thing she did with Dao, forgetting about him and letting him rot away inside the legacy for weeks. But aside from that small greeting with Viper and Crimson telling everyone how they should address them, the daggers were quiet and would stay like that until they felt comfortable enough to join any conversation. It didn''t take long for Hera to find Shane, the explorer was around the main hall of the rest area, looking over one of the free vending machines to pick some snacks. "Hey, how are you doing?" Shane smiled but was taken aback when she saw the entire court out, "Is everything ok? Are we going after someone?" "Oh, no. I''m just letting them all stretch a bit. Don''t worry, " Hera looked back at her 10 bodyguards, "You guys can relax. Do whatever you want, find a nice place to rest, gather some food., whatever you want. Ok?" Nimbus and Lurize nodded, and the court started to spread out, some of them asking for a magnet so they could go farther away, but Viper and Crimson were still by Hera''s side either way. "That''s nice of you. I''m a bit envious, you know. My legacy doesn''t let me talk with a bunch of people. I tried, but enchanting things to speak never worked out well. And they never remember our conversations later," Shane decided on her snack and pressed the buttons that dropped a tall can of chips. She picked it up, ate one of the chips, and offered some to Hera. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The Empress took it but frowned as she tasted the flavor, "Oh, really? Onion sour cream?" "What? They are delicious." "Not for a snack. Unless you are talking about onion rings." Shane shrugged, "You just don''t know how to enjoy life." "I just have taste," Hera rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "Either way. Mind if we step inside a room real quick? I want to ask you about something personal." Shane frowned but followed Hera along, After closing the doors, they had a quick conversation about the guides and what she wanted Shane to ask the guide. That didn''t take long, and they agreed to have her talk to the guide right away. They would talk with everyone about the new reward that could lead them home, the possibility of staying around to run dungeons and test their abilities, and being around Sammy so they could go to therapy for a little while. With that out of the way, Hera left the room and went to the center of the rest area, meeting Alex, who just left another one of the rooms with a serious expression. "Is everything ok?" Hera asked. "Yeah¡­ Adriel just told me about his job," she sighed, "I''m sorry. I get why you didn''t tell me, and it''s not like it is a big deal, I think¡­." "Don''t worry about it. Are you ok?" Hera looked Alex in her eye, only now noticing that her irises were surrounded by a golden ring. To the side of her face, where the black veins were previously located, now there were soft markings that shimmered like golden makeup. "I am¡­ I think. I don''t know. On the one hand, this is a lot. I mean, dating me didn''t do anything to help his job. Sure, he could use it to approach you, but he never actually did. Did he?" Alex asked. "Not really. The only thing he asked was if he could get a referral to work for the dwarves. He helped Lena move her lab well, so I did that, but if I''m being honest, it wasn''t a stellar review. I basically said, ''He did his job and didn''t cause any problems, but I don''t know him enough to say he is trustworthy. I highly doubt he would get anything better than a foot in the door with that, and I have the feeling he could''ve gotten that without interacting with us," Hera replied. "Yeah, that''s around what I was thinking too. Unless he was playing a really long con. Something like using me and us to gather enough goodwill to then do something, but that would go against his whole ''helping the non-human races'' ideology. And if all that was a lie, and he is actually a bad guy, then¡­" Alex frowned. "Then the curse would have no reason to tell us he is a spy," Hera finished her sentence. Alex looked up at the Empress with a confused expression, "You think so?" "Of course. Think about it. If he was a bad guy, then he would believe others were just as bad as he was. Because of that, instead of the curse trying to drive a wedge between us, it would be easier to appeal to his paranoia and make him separate from us. Sure, it wouldn''t be able to do that in the Abyssal Deep, but back then, you were the only one who was really cursed. Everyone else was fine. Those conversations only happened a while after, when we were in rooms where other exits were not just likely, but known. I mean, we saw another doorway in the Obsidian Mines. The curse could''ve just made him run there. Even if he ended up in a random place, the curse itself would be safe from our plans." "That''s fair. But I don''t think the curse ever expected this to work," Alex smiled. "Let''s face it. No one ever expected this to work. I was already thinking about the next thing we would have to do," Hera chuckled. "Did you have any ideas?" "None whatsoever. My only idea was not to let my dad get cursed too," Hera shook her head. "Yeah. But you do have a point. I don''t think Adriel had any bad intentions. Either way, I do need some time to process all of that," Alex stared into the distance for a few moments before snapping back to reality, "Anyway, what about you? Are you doing ok?" "I am. Better than I expected. I hate to say this, but the second time I killed someone seems easier than the first. Or maybe it''s just because this time I felt justified, you know. It wasn''t a random person who was being mind controlled or whatever, but someone who actually wanted me dead," Hera sighed. "Yeah, if we didn''t stop her, Reynara would''ve killed us all. I''m still feeling guilty for not helping in that fight," Alex said. "Oh, I wasn''t talking about her. And you did help. Without your dagger, I wouldn''t be able to give everyone that opening to kill it. I say it because, by the end, I don''t think it was a person anymore." "Who were you talking about then?" "Kadhan." "Oh," Alex looked down, "I completely forgot about those guys." "Yeah. Maybe I''m not feeling as bad because they were already dead, technically. And now I can even say they were just a memory, but still. I don''t like not feeling terrible about this." "I understand," Alex nodded. The two of them just sat there, not talking with anyone and thinking about everything that led them to this. A few minutes passed when Shane appeared. She asked the two of them to stay there and told them she was calling the rest of the team over. They needed to have a serious conversation. Soon, the entire party was in the center of the rest area, waiting for this team meeting. "Ok, I want to talk about our future. Like, near future," Shane started speaking, "One of my rewards was related to that skill Hera and I have, and what it let me figure out was a way to go back to civilization. It should take us just a couple of days, up to a week, if we have to deal with high tide. And I don''t know what that means exactly." "High tide is when the moon''s gravity interferes with the ocean and makes it¡­." Bonnie started explaining in a teasing tone. "I know what high tide is. I mean that I don''t know how we might have to deal with it," Shane scoffed, making the rest of the group laugh. "So we know how to get back home?" Blue asked. "More or less. The same way we knew how to get here," Shane looked at Hera, "But. I don''t think we should rush back. We can now actually explore the places and try to get some extra things for us. I mean, if we just run a few dungeons, we''ll get some good items." "I agree. And I have to confess. I also used that thing we can use and got one piece of information. There is something at the bottom of the ravine. And Shane should be able to help us see what we are looking for down there," Hera added. "I also want to stay here for a while and talk with Sammy. If that''s ok with everyone." The group nodded, all of them had a similar intention. In the end, they all agreed to stay here for some extra time. They all needed to deal with something, and they also wanted to search for places that might give them something good, and thanks to Hera''s and Shane''s questions, they already had two places to start. The bottom of the ravine and the Temple of Sands. 679 - Private Workshop "Can I just ask one favor, then?" Blue turned to the party. "Sure," Shane nodded. "Can we agree on a time frame for this? Like, we will stay here for two weeks before going back?" "Two weeks seems like a small amount of time for a proper exploration," Adriel replied. "I know, but I miss my family, and I don''t want them to worry even more about me. I''m not saying it has to be a hard deadline. And if we find something we all want to do, that''s fine, I just want you all to have this on the back of your minds. I want to go home." "How about this? We stuck around for one week, then we had this talk again. If we think we are still missing something, we stick around for one more week and then go back at the end of the second week. Because, in the end, if some of us want to explore this area, we can just find a way out and then come back," Shane suggested. "I''m ok with that," Blue nodded. Last time, when she was stuck in Boothudurn with Hera, she didn''t have an idea of how long it would take for her to get back. That made her even more anxious. Having a set date when they would go back made her feel much more comfortable. "Just a question. What if we go into a dungeon, and it takes a few days to clear?" Adriel asked. "I think we can deal with that on a case-by-case basis. There is no need to worry about something like that before we have to deal with it," Shane turned to Blue, "What do you say?" "I agree," Blue nodded. "Ok then. It''s decided. Tomorrow, we are going to explore this room. Hera, I need to talk to you about one thing, though. You got that weird notification about the private room, right?" Shane turned to the Empress. "I did. I wanted to check that with you, too," Hera nodded. "What''s going on?" Bonnie asked. "Apparently, our private rooms got a change too. But I don''t know anything else about it. I need to go there alone," Hera explained. "Me too. Also, I''m going right now. I''m too curious to let it slide." "I''ll go with you. We can talk about what we figured out about this room later, especially since it shouldn''t matter right now," the Empress got up, and the two of them left before anyone could follow. They told Sammy about where they were going, and the turtle said that he would make a path of petals showing the way back to his place. The steam coming from the waters was supposed to hide it from people. As the two arrived back in the doorway, Shane shared with Hera all the information she got about this place from Siege. The enchanter agreed that it was her turn to use the guide skill to ask for directions, letting Hera go back to asking about the place. However, to make that more believable, they had to follow the same pattern as before. Hera would be the one with the bulk of information, while Shane only knew the direction they had to go to. Thankfully, this seemed to be a very simple room to deal with. Monsters were not aggressive or territorial unless you provoked them, and there were a few dungeons spread around the area. Another interesting fact was that hidden in the steam and the caves of the room, there were a total of five doorways, not counting the one they used to get here. Shane focused more on getting more information about the monsters than anything else. She sent Hera the description and general fighting abilities of them, as well as some of the environmental issues they could encounter. Unfortunately, since the Empress didn''t mention anything about the bottom of the valley before Shane called Siege, she didn''t get any extra information about that place. Shane also praised Hera for being so quick to notice her hint. She got the information about the workshop from the guide, and tried being sneaky about it. With that out of the way, the two of them touched the doorway and saw the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Temple of Sands - 11th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So far, there was no difference, but the moment she touched the button, another notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter your Private Room or access your Private Workshop? [Private Room] [Workshop] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So that''s how it works." "Would you look at that?" Hera and Shane spoke at the same time. They glanced at each other with a chuckle and chose to enter their own workshops. The familiar feeling of being covered in warm water washed over them, and soon they vanished from the room, only for each to appear alone in a familiar yet strange place. Opening her eyes, Hera saw her private room. It still had the same colors and one of the views she set up as the screen wallpaper, and the layout of it was more or less the same. But instead of a living room with a bedroom attached to it, it was one large office-like place. In the center was a large table, and two walls were covered in various tools. This place was now very similar to where she completed her Crafter role test. The first thing she did was call Daskka out, she never stayed here without her herald, and just as the Empress took a step forward, there was a knock on the door. Looking back, she used the visor on the side of the entrance to see the guides she knew outside. With a smile, Hera opened the door, "Hey guys!" Peaches, Capri, Nina, Talpa, Ms. Jackie, Johnny, Berthellemy, Laika, Shiretaa, Ruma, and Lodi, were in the hallway outside. This wasn''t the full list of guides she knew, but it was already a large number of them. "Hey, kid. Glad to see you without that thing inside of you," Peaches smiled. "We didn''t see each other while I was cursed," Hera huffed. "Yeah, but still." "Hera. I really want to thank you," Johnny stepped forward, "You have no idea how much what you did mean to me." "You don''t need to thank me. If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t have my legacy. I can''t imagine my life without them." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "I do, I really do, bro. Now the system can finally fix this to make sure nothing like that happens again. The thing is, the system couldn''t make new rules to stop a new curse from showing up somewhere while the first curse was still around. I think it''s something about how while something exists, it can''t be changed or something. Because of that, my dude, every time something close to the curse showed up, I had to go check what it was and if it could end up creating the curse. When I said yes, it was a whole mess. We had to work like a bunch of lunatics to come up with plans to stop the thing, call in every favor in the book, and keep making random quests show up for anyone inside the room. It really sucked, bro. Now, the system already fixed that problem, and something like the curse can never be born again. Like, something that would wipe out an entire room still can show up somewhere, but if another nasty thing like that gets crapped by some wendigo or some shit, it will have some limitations, and it won''t be able to leave the room. Or, if it can infect others like that, it will have to be weaker. Like a virus, where some people might get very bad, but others might be able to fight it off," Johnny brushed a small tear that was forming from his left eye. The liquid got stuck into the golden mane of the lion guide, "Now that is over. That nightmare is over." The guide all looked at Johnny with a smile. Hera kneeled in front of him, "Want a hug?" Johnny looked the Empress deep in her eyes, "Bro¡­ I do¡­ I really do, bro," he said before launching himself into her arms. The two shared a hug for a few moments. During that time, Peaches sneakily pulled Daskka to the side and talked to her about something. "Thanks for that, bro," Johnny pulled back, wiping the beginnings of his tears once more. "Anytime, you are surprisingly snug," Hera chuckled and greeted the rest of the guides properly. When they were all done, Laika turned to the Empress. "Now, Hera. We need you to step outside your room." "Yep. Pretty please. We need you to check the layouts you have for the workshop," Lodi said with a smile. "Yeah, mum. Just leave the room," Daskka added, her tail wagging like that of a dog. Hera frowned and stared at her herald, "Ok, I wasn''t freaked out about this until now. What are you trying to do here?" "Hey! Why are you suspicious now? What did I do?" Daskka gasped. "I don''t know, but if anyone here is trying to pull a prank, it''s you." "Well, I''m not ok," Daskka huffed. "Don''t worry. It''s just a surprise we have for you, kid. I had Daskka helping out with the last details," Peaches smiled. Hera stared Daskka down but walked out of her room, going into this hallway for the first time. The feeling here was just like what she felt when doing one of her role tests. This made sense since the system should''ve used the same blueprint to make this place. "Ok, now close the door. When you try to open, a notification will appear," Ruma explained. With a nod, the Empress did as she was told. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter your private room or one of the variations of your workshop? [Private Room] [Workshop - Relic] [Workshop - Forge] [Workshop - Hera''s Special] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera glanced back at the guides," Hera''s special?" "We took the liberty to make you a few presets," Nina started speaking. "One that followed what you saw in the Crafter role test. Peaches is the one who made that one," Talpa added. "And another made by the magnanimous me. Being the ruler of a room filled with master craftsmen, I am well versed in the needs of a forge," Capri announced proudly. "The last one is a group effort. We talked with a few guides who knew about¡­ some stuff and used that to make one thing we think you will like," Shiretaa smiled. "You can change that later if you want, honey. Or add more presets. You can have up to five, and to make a new one, you need to be inside the room," Jackie was in the back of the room, but her voice carried in the hallway. "Ok, so all I need to do is press the Hera''s Special option?" the Empress asked. "That''s correct," Berthellemy nodded. Pressing that button made the door lock, and a small red light appeared above it, but that only lasted for five seconds before the door was unlocked, and the light was gone. Hera looked back and got some incentive nods from the guides, then opened the entrance to her new workshop. Inside, things were very different. The walls all around the place were covered in gilded frames and cushioned glass cases, with a large open space in the center where a table and some simple engraving tools were located. Surrounding that table, several bean bags and soft pillows covered the ground. On the wall opposite the entrance, there was also a throne with a few snake heads on the armrests and a purple and orange motif. She walked forward, amazed by the sight. The idea of it being a workshop made her think that this place would only have simple tools and desks, not something so decorated. When approaching one of the glass cases, she realized how Daskka helped them. Right by the door, there was a single-hand axe, one that she recognized right away. "Executioner," she said before noticing the small golden engraving under the case with that name engraved on it. To the side, there was an information plaque. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executioner - Strength Hand axe Attribute scaling: Intelligence: 3.3 Charisma: 3.1 Dexterity: 2.9 Agility: 1.65 Strength: 1.65 Luck: 1.65 Weapon Skill: Executioner''s strike. Attacks that hit a vital spot in the target will deal 100% more damage. Familiarity: 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As she reached out to touch it, she saw a screen appearing on top of the glass where some of the fights and moments she had with Executioner were playing as if it was the recap episode of a show. Hera smiled while touching the case, "What is this?" "A trip through memory lane," Peaches replied. "We imagined you would miss your old blades. And that, after getting the Blade Graveyard skill, you might want to remember the skills and powers each of them had," Berthellemy was floating closer to Hera. "The Blademaster, as you know them, could do a similar thing with illusions. As a way to remember the fights they had," Johnny walked closer to the first case. "We also talked with other guides that know about your legacy to get some recommendations. Apparently, this is something that could''ve helped many of the previous wielders," Ruma was floating on top of a small surfboard. Luckily there was no water under him. "And since Daskka is the herald, we could connect her memories to the cases. That way, anytime you want, you can come here and remember them," Nina walked to the center of the room with Talpa by her side, who started speaking as they arrived near the table. "You can also use this place to make some engravings, or," she gestured to Laika, who was to the left, on an empty part of the wall. "You can use this to test some things," she tapped the wall, and the illusion that was on top of it broke, revealing a set of double doors that led to a large 7x7x7m room with a training dummy in the center. That part of the workshop looked like the arena of a coliseum. "Even if the tools that are present here are not enchanted. For any prodigy, such as myself or you, a place to train is more than what is required to advance our knowledge," Capri stepped inside the arena and flew to the top of the stone training dummy. "And, while here, you can always do this," Shiretaa reached out to a part of the arena Hera couldn''t see and took out a hand axe that looked extremely familiar. It didn''t take long for her to realize that this was, in fact, Executioner. But before she could comment anything about it, Shiretaa continued, "Keep in mind that this is not your lost blade, only a weapon that has the same size, weight, and scaling. The skill will not be present, but you can use this here to practice combat moves using them." Jackie walked closer to Hera, "It sounds obvious, but the weapons you get from there won''t be able to fly and move on their own, honey. Even if they look like your old blades, they are just weapons." Hera smiled and looked once more through her Workshop if it could be called that. It was her personal throne room. A place for her and her court, specifically, a place that would be more like their home than anything else. She took a few steps to the side and saw how even her current blades were on display, or a copy of them at least. "Guys¡­ This is amazing. Thank you!" she said. And continued looking through everything. The guides just explained some of the features they added here, but soon, the subject changed, now being just like a party where friends were talking and hanging out. The weight of the curse was clearly lifted from everyone, not just Hera, and she was really happy to be able to do something like that. These people were amazing, and she could only hope that, in the future, the guides would still be as close to her as they were right now. 680 - The valley of steam "Soooo¡­ is this it? That''s the whole, ''Making things easier to see'' thing?" Adriel asked as he peered into what was, essentially, a river of steam flowing at the bottom of the ravine. "Can you give me a minute? I didn''t even start!" Shane huffed before closing her eyes again. It was the day after Alex woke up from their ordeal. The curse was now gone from all of them, and the party had some time to analyze and test their available skills to the best of their abilities. Some of the options were a bit too aggressive for them to try out, and using them on the monsters they had seen in this room so far didn''t feel right. Before reaching this place, which should be closer to the bottom of the valley, they passed by a few large green and blue rodents that were like six-legged capybaras and some sort of two-headed monkeys that, instead of having a pair of necks that shared the same skull, but had two faces, one on each side of their head. However, even if they were very weird looking, the creatures were extremely peaceful and seemed to be only enjoying the warm waters in the pools that were formed on each step of this valley. At one point, Bonnie even slipped and was about to fall, but one of the monkeys caught her and helped her to her feet. Then, the monster just walked off, being the gentle giant that it was, and joined a few of the capybaras in one of the pools. Just thinking about attacking a group of peaceful creatures like these ones made them all feel bad. Currently, they were all waiting for Shane since she was supposed to be able to clear the steam or at least make it clear so everyone could look past it. Using her legacy, she was able to enchant pretty much everything with new properties. Her initial idea was to make the steam less opaque, but before that, she had to understand what she was working with. After a couple of moments, she had an idea and put her hand inside this foggy river, then added the enchantment that would make the entire thing clear. For a brief moment, a small part of the steam river became clear, allowing the party to see about 10 meters down and 15 meters across. Seeing both the bottom of the ravine and the other side of the valley. Unfortunately, that didn''t last long, and in just two seconds, the steam returned to normal, and Shane slumped back, sweat dripping from her forehead. "Oh, that was a bad idea," the Enchantress mumbled. "What happened?" Mylo stepped forward to help her. "I tried changing the mist, but my mana went out in an instant. Man, this is worse than a hangover," Shane rubbed her eyes. "Was it that bad?" Hera asked. "Yeah. You know that feeling when you cast a spell that takes more mana than you have, and it all just rushes out from your body?" "Yeah," Helena and Bonnie nodded, but Hera still looked confused. "No¡­ I don''t think I''ve ever used a spell like that. The closest thing was when I was looking at that mana well, but even then, it wasn''t like I was losing my own mana. At most I had a feeling of getting really tired when I asked a question that was too big for yarnball." "Really?" Bonnie asked. "Really. Every time I tried to use a spell that was more expensive than what I had, it would unravel before I spent too much mana. And if I just want to use a spell with everything I have, then I''m the one sending the mana out anyway. I don''t get ''hungover,''" Hera explained. "I kind of envy you on that part. I lost track of how many times I messed up when trying to make a big spell," Helena chuckled and approached Shane, "So, what''s next?" "I need, like, 20 minutes to recover some mana. Then I can try again. I think the best option would be to enchant our eyes. Turn them into, like, steam-free glasses," Shane was looking back at the steam again, trying to think about the things that could work. Helena nodded, and the group continued talking while waiting for the Enchantress to recover her mana. "Ok. So you guys mind if I take this moment to give a quick refresher about the monsters and dangers of this room?" Hera asked. "Sure," Bonnie nodded. "Do we have to?" Blue groaned. "I mean, we don''t have to, but I think it''s a good idea. Even if we talked about this sometime before coming out," Alex poked Blue with her elbow. "I remember what you said," Mylo joined Blue''s side, not wanting to hear another strategy meeting. "Ok, ok, let me just talk about the things we haven''t seen yet," Hera rolled her eyes and pulled her tablet with the info that Shane passed her, "Ok, so we saw the All-seeing monkeys and the Caterpybaras. They don''t have anything too special, mostly physical power and a very strong regeneration caused by the waters. Oh, and the waters can heal us too. It''s not instant, but if we are injured, we can just stick around and get better with time." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Heraaaa!" Blue groaned again, "You said you weren''t going to talk about those. We already know about them." "Fine, fine," Hera skipped the next part about the waters, "Ok, here. This we didn''t see yet. First, some of the pools are much deeper than they look, so be careful when you need to go inside. Another thing is that, every now and then, we will see a completely empty pond. Don''t go in there. If the monsters are avoiding, there is a good reason for that. The temperature might be too high, or there might be a current that will drag you under. Even some toxins that come from what makes the water warm could make us sick." "Oh¡­ I had forgotten about that," Blue said in a whisper, but everyone heard it and just stared at her before Hera continued. "There are two more monsters we might see in here. First, it is kind of like a gorilla with light green fur that can hide inside the water. They are not aggressive unless we enter the same pool they are using, then they will attack. The good part is that they are not pack creatures, so even if we are in the middle of a bunch of them and one attacks, the others shouldn''t do anything about it." "The last one was the steam elemental, right?" Shane asked, even if she already knew the answer. "Yeah, this one should be a rare sight, and even if we see them, it should only be one or two at most. They are creatures made out of magic, and physical attacks will be almost useless. So use magic if you see them." ''You should mention the core that only gets exposed when it will attack,'' Crimson said to Hera. ''Crim, she talked with Shane about that one. That information was too specific, and it would be better if she said she noticed the core when they were fighting. She needs to be a bit more cautious when talking about things related to the guides,'' Viper explained, trying to calm his sister down. ''Viper, Crimson, can you not interrupt me when I''m talking? And yes, I will mention the core, but I won''t confirm where it is until we see the monster. Siege didn''t tell Shane the exact location either, just gave a general idea,'' Hera looked to the side, replying to her blades. "Are the new kids giving you trouble?" Helena asked with a smirk. "A little bit. Viper and Crimson are brother and sister, and that kind of dynamic is very much there," Hera sighed. "Any regrets?" Bonnie asked. "None whatsoever," the Empress chuckled, "What they were talking about was the steam elemental. It should have a core, but we don''t know exactly where. But since it''s an elemental, I think I might be able to notice where the mana is denser, and that''s where the core should be." Everyone nodded, and they paused for a moment waiting for Hera to continue. But she didn''t. Eventually, Blue spoke up, "Is there anything else?" "Not really. The steam here shouldn''t have any different effects, but monsters can live there, including the elementals. But that''s about it," Hera explained. The group talked for a few more minutes until Shane recovered her mana to try something new again. This time, instead of enchanting the actual steam, she tried enchanting her own eyes to make them able to see beyond the steam. It worked surprisingly well, making the river of evaporated water, which was almost completely white and opaque, into a lightly smudged sheet of glass. That allowed her to see much more than her initial attempt. From each side, her range of view was getting close to 100 meters before the smudges became too much, making it extremely hard to see things incoming. But since they were in a room where monsters didn''t have any ranged attacks, this would let them move without any problems. "Perfect!" Shane gasped, "Well, not perfect, but good enough," she turned to the rest of the group and enchanted everyone''s eyes in the same way she did it with her own, "Oh, this is even better. The enchantment is using your own mana, so we don''t have to worry about me having to deal with this for everyone. It shouldn''t be that expensive either. Mine is barely reducing my natural regeneration." "I''m fine," Blue nodded, "Me too," Bonnie said with a smile. "I can manage," Mylo frowned very quickly. It wasn''t a secret that his regeneration was the smallest of the group. "Do you want to have a mana crystal with you?" Hera asked. "No. It will just take some extra time to recover my mana. Nothing that I have to worry too much," Mylo replied. "Ok then. Now we just have to choose, right or left?" Shane turned to the group ''Where is the steam flowing to?'' Armory asked. "To the left. But we don''t know if we want to follow the river of steam or go to the source." "Isn''t the source the steam that falls from the rest of the pools? I mean, it looks like some waterfalls of mist here," Blue looked around, but now, not even the steam coming from the other areas of the room was visible. "In theory, yeah, but we don''t know if there is anything pushing the steam away," Hera replied. "Oh. That''s fair. So what, right or left?" Blue asked. After a few moments, when no one replied, Alex turned to Adriel with her hand closed, "I''m right, and you are left?" Adriel hesitated for a moment but then nodded, "Sure." "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" "FUCK IT! We are going left!" Blue gasped and started heading down to the bottom of the valley. "Sorry," Alex and Adriel mumbled. "It''s fine. You two share the same brain cell, like all good couples do. But having a tie seven times in a row is too much for me," Blue huffed again and continued going down. Adriel and Alex shared a look, both with soft but awkward smiles, but the elf didn''t stare for long. He quickly turned away and started walking. He understood that Alex wasn''t to blame for attacking him, but even so, it was hard to be as comfortable as he used to be around her. In the end, it''s been just two days since she cut off his arm out of anger. Going down to the bottom of the valley, Hera was ready to explore and see what was hiding inside this place. 681 - Steamweaver The bottom of the valley in the Thirmal Waters was very unique. The place was permanently covered in a thick layer of warm steam that fell from the waters of the room, which caused the entire floor to feel like wet clay. Each of their steps slopped on the ground, and if they stopped, they slowly started to sink. It wasn''t like quicksand, but after Hera asked Lurize to come out as a test, the Royal Tutor ended up getting waist-deep in mud before he finally reached solid ground and stopped. Another interesting thing was that there was a small stream of water flowing in the middle of everything. The stream itself was tiny, being less than a meter wide, but it was incredibly deep. Even when testing things out, Hera sent one of her blades just about 50 meters down before the heat and pressure became too much, and it was still going. They could see some of the water that was flowing from the top of the valley, but it seemed to vanish before hitting the ground, turning into more of the steam that covered this part of the room. Another issue they were having was that the air was too thick, making it a bit hard to breathe. It wasn''t to the point where they would have problems moving around, but they had to be a bit careful, and if things got too intense, they could just take a moment to climb up from the valley and get some fresh air. They didn''t see any monsters while walking for the first hour or so. That is until everyone noticed a pastel green sphere moving around. As they got closer, they could see a transparent shape, as if it was the smudging that hindered their vision but a condensed version of it that had a specific shape. Despite realizing that, they couldn''t see the actual form of whatever this was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steam Elemental - Level 38 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Careful, guys. That''s the elemental," Hera announced. "Yeah. I know the levels here a higher than us, but I think we will be ok. I just don''t understand why we are only seeing what I''m assuming is the core," Blue said before trying to use the surrounding mist as part of her storm hands, but that didn''t work. Instead, the spell had to push out the mist and even began to be pulled along the current. "I think that''s on me. The enchantment works on steam, so a steam elemental would also be transparent to us. It''s a good thing they have a core," Shane placed a projectile in her launcher and aimed at the monster, "Can I?" "Explosion?" Mylo asked the enchantress. "Giant icicle." "Let me help," Helena took an archer stance, and a bow made out of light appeared in her hands, as a single shadow arrow was already being drawn by her other hand. ''We got this!'' Crimson yelled, with Viper running right behind her. ''Go for a pincer move!'' the white dagger called and moved to the left. ''Wait! Get back here!'' Hera called, but since she told her court to never consider something an order unless she specifically said so, the daggers continued. Viper came from the left, trying to hit the Steam Elemental, while Crimson attacked from the right at the same time. However, the creature noticed the incoming attack, and the daggers weren''t able to see its actual shape. They didn''t have many options, using their own senses, everything around them was just the same opaque evaporated water that Hera saw before Shane used a spell to change that. While using the Empress'' senses, they could only see the core and something moving around the steam. This stopped them from seeing the extra arms of the creature that started attacking Viper and Crimson, trying to break the daggers. The Steam Elemental roared and created more limbs that were hidden from Hera and her party, but Helena and Shane had their attacks ready. They fired the spells singing as they moved through the air and hit the monster''s core. A giant icicle pierced the pastel sphere, and the shadow arrow followed right after, hitting the ice instead of the core but bouncing inside it almost as if it was a ray of light refracting inside a crystal before disappearing completely, having impaled the creature''s core and shot out from the other side. The monster lost its shape, and the pastel green sphere fell to the ground, motionless. "Did¡­ did your shadow arrow just act as if it was light?" Bonnie turned to Helena with a confused expression. The mage smiled, "Ying Yang, mage. A mage who uses both shadow and light and can make them act like each other. That''s what I always wanted to do." "Isn''t Yin Yang? The name comes from the Chinese philosophy of opposite forces working together, right?" Alex asked. "The philosophy is Yin-Yang. But the name of my thing is Ying-Yang. I wanted that to be my explorer name and didn''t want to steal the name of a cultural thing," Helena replied. "So you just added a g at the end of the first word?" Bonnie had a confused expression. "Well¡­ Yeah¡­" Helena replied. "When did you come up with that idea?" Shane asked. "I was 15," the mage looked away. "Oh, that explains it," Blue said, and everyone nodded in agreement. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Shut up!" Helena huffed and walked towards the now broken monster core. While that was going on, Hera was having a conversation with her court, ''Viper, Crimson. Why did the two of you go after the monster on your own?'' ''I thought we could take it,'' Crimson replied. ''Yeah¡­'' Viper added. ''Why? And I want you to tell me honestly. Why did you think you could take it?'' ''Because we are strong?'' Crimson asked. ''Nimbus, hold both of them,'' the Sentinel did as Hera asked and held on to the two daggers by the handles, ''Now, try to escape him. Since you are strong you should be able to do that.'' The Empress felt like the two of them were feeling cocky and thinking that what she asked was too easy. But, as they tried to move away from Nimbus, his arms didn''t even budge. ''So? Are you strong?'' Hera asked after a few moments. ''We are¡­ Nimbus is just stronger,'' Crimson huffed. ''Yes, and the monsters around here are even stronger. They are higher level than us,'' Hera added. ''Then, what are we supposed to do?'' Viper asked. ''Fight as a group. Don''t rush out on your own, and listen when I tell you something. I don''t like giving orders, but I might have to if you two start acting like that. We never fought one of those things before, and we need to be more careful while we still don''t know what they can do,'' Hera continued. ''Then what can we do?'' Crimson asked. Hera turned to Lurize, who was now in his weapon form, ''Your title is Royal Tutor. I know I chose that thinking more about teaching me and my friends, but do you think the rest of the court would be part of who you can teach?'' ''Absolutely. In fact, I think that teaching the court would be much easier than teaching your friends. Not that I have much experience with that. Even in the Abyssal Deep, I didn''t get to train the party all that much,'' Lurize seemed excited about the idea. ''Ok then. I''ll leave it to you. Teach them the basics of how we do things. Oh, and if you have any ideas about how you can help them improve, go for it,'' Hera turned back to Nimbus, ''You can let them go. Crimson, Viper, I want the two of you to learn from Lurize. Pay attention and follow what he says. It''s fine if you question things you don''t understand or agree to, but if it''s an emergency or we are in the middle of a fight, just do what he tells you and ask about it later. Ok?'' ''Ok,'' Crimson mumbled, clearly upset about this. ''Yes, Empress,'' Viper said with more conviction, but he still sounded like someone who was just scolded by his mother, which hurt Hera''s heart for a number of reasons. Pushing those feeling down, she focused again on the path, and, to her surprise, she noticed something very different from what they were seeing so far. From the destroyed monster core, a trail of mana flowed along the river, following the same direction. This was odd because mana shouldn''t follow the course of a river, not in the way that was doing right now. Even if the mana was the same element as the river, which in this case was, part of it would seep to the ground. Yet everything from the monster core kept being pulled to¡­ somewhere. "Is anyone seeing that?" she asked, but even with the new titles and the seeming connection with magic forces that came along with it, no one understood what she was talking about, "Ok, just follow me. The mana here is acting weird." "What do you mean?" Bonnie asked. Hera started explaining, talking about how mana behaved in nature and how this place was somewhat different, but in the middle of that conversation, they all stopped, having arrived at something different. It wasn''t a sphere this time but a diamond-shaped structure in the middle of the valley. All the mist was being drawn in by this object as if it was a vacuum sucking everything to it, but instead of storing it, it was sent it back down through a constant stream of water. "Is that¡­ peeing water?" Blue asked. "Blue¡­" Bonnie shook her head. "What? That''s what it looks like," Blue crossed her arms. "Ok, but can you not say it like that?" Bonnie continued. "What''s the problem? Am I going to hurt the crystal''s feelings?" Blue huffed. "No, but it kind of takes away the magic from it," Bonnie continued. "But it''s peeing. Peeing green, maybe it should get that checked out," Blue looked back to the crystal. Bonnie groaned while Hera just chuckled and approached the object. It was considerably big, almost half the size of her own body, and it was pulling not just the mana but the steam itself towards it, gathering inside it and letting the steam condense before dropping the water back in the hole under it. Looking inside that opening, she could see more water, the same water that was flowing from the small stream getting caught in a whirlpool bringing it down into the darkness below. She also realized that the entire crystal was stuck to the ground, embedded into some rocks, and there was a thick layer of that smudge representing steam wrapped around it, even denser than the Steam Elemental itself. Focusing on the object again, she used her [Inspect] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steamweaver''s fake loop This object was created by a monster who wished to harness the healing power of the waters to help him recover from wounds. This crystal pulls the steam created by the waters with healing properties and sends it back into the underground source that fuels all the thermal pools, increasing the healing effects. While this crystal is active, all the waters involved in this cycle have their healing properties doubled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok, this is kind of neat," Hera said. "What?" Shane asked and got closer and did the same as Hera, "Oh? A monster made this?" "It seems so. I wonder how it managed to do that," Hera asked, knowing no one would have the answer. "I think we can find out," Alex said, making the entire party turn to the left, where the assassin had her hand out in front of a cave, "This is the entrance of a dungeon. It''s called ''Steamweaver''s struggle.''" "Well. There we have it. Aside from this, which I don''t know if we should mess with, we found a dungeon," Hera smiled. "Do you guys think we are the firsts to find it?" Blue asked, her eyes already sparkling with excitement. "Maybe, this is not something easy to find, and if it wasn''t for Shane, we might have trouble getting here," Helena walked closer to Alex, "But, there is only one way to find out. Shall we?" 682 - The old valley Everyone agreed to enter the dungeon without a second thought. Despite that, they were all extremely aware that the monsters in this place were stronger than they were. However, they now saw some differences between level and actual strength. The Steam Elemental was killed considerably quickly, even if they had the advantage of seeing its weakness right away. This difference was only due to their skills and equipment, which made up for the difference in raw levels. However, Helena made sure to remind everyone that even if they were able to fight the stronger monsters, they should be careful since those beings had more powerful attacks that could pose a real threat. In essence, they should all be treating themselves as glass cannons. Something that can deal a lot of damage but can be broken really easily. The one potential advantage they had above everything else was the legacies. Between Hera increasing their numbers, Blue being able to control the weather to give them an edge, Shane using her enchantments to control the environment or just give everyone more power, and the new addition, Alex being able to remove buffs from their enemies, they should be a force to be reckoned. But that could also be their downfall. Overestimating their abilities would surely lead to someone being seriously injured. They were all inside the dark cave by the fake loop while Helena talked about all that. They were inside the dungeon already, but so far, the only notification that they saw was the one asking if they wanted to enter. Moving towards the other end of this tunnel, it didn''t take long for the group to see some light and smell something different. The Thirmal Waters didn''t have a scent per se, but instead, the heat of the steam overpowered any possibility of a perfume. Inside the dungeon, things changed. Everyone could already recognize the smell of flowers and grass coming from the other end of this passage. As they walked out, they saw how they were on top of the valley, even above the place where Sammy and the doorway they used to get here were located. The entire place looked starkly different. In the actual room, they could only see the pools of water and some plants here and there that the small number of creatures would use as food and the actual small population of monsters. Here, the flora was flourishing. There were several large trees and bushes with berries. The number of thermal pools was also very different, being much smaller here. Not to say that there were few ponds of the heated water, but in comparison with the regular room, where it was hard to walk around without touching water, here the pools of water were more spread out, allowing for movement between them without worry. Another benefit from that was that the dungeon felt much more refreshing. The entire room was extremely stuffy, being always covered in hot steam, but here that was far from a problem unless you ended up downwind of one of the ponds. Bonnie saw one of the capybara-like creatures in a pond and approached carefully to see if they were just as peaceful. The monster allowed her to not only get close but even pet it. However, when it moved, the researcher let out a loud yell as the being kept coming out with a body that was ten times the size anyone was expecting. Instead of capybaras with six legs, the large rodents were called ''Centepybaras,'' mixing them with centipedes instead of caterpillars. Seeing those animals with long bodies and dozens of legs was eerie, to say the least. Despite that, their legs were still animal-like, and, all in all, they were just like very long, wiener dogs. Distracted by the encounter, the group failed to notice a large white monkey with a red face approaching. Only when Mylo accidentally stepped back and stumbled on it that the party realize what was going on. Just like the Centepybara, this creature wasn''t aggressive, and it just looked at the fighter before continuing its path. The monkey was very similar to the one they saw outside, but its limbs seemed longer, and its face, singular, was the biggest difference. The all-seeing monkeys had two faces, one on each side of its head, but this monster called ''Two-Faced Monkey'' had two faces merged into one. They shared one central eye, with another eye on each side of the head, one largemouth that seemed to join at the middle, and a nose with three nostrils. "You know. When you look at them, and at the version we know, you can really see their evolution," Helena said. "Yeah, but doesn''t it feel like it regressed?" Adriel asked. "Not really. I mean, I''m assuming they have more food here, so that would explain the Centepybaras. As food became scarcer, their bodies became smaller to need less food. And for the Two-Faced Monkey, as finding food became more difficult, they might have evolved to have two mouths so, when they found food, they would eat their fill faster," Helena continued. "That could also work in the opposite way. The Caterpybaras could have grown to have longer bodies, and the All-seeing monkey could have its face slowly becoming one," Bonnie suggested, "But that would mean that this is the future, not the past, and I highly doubt that. I don''t remember ever seeing a dungeon where, on normal mode, we would see the future of the room." "I don''t think those are a thing. Not on normal mode, at least," Shane added. "Ok, but what are we supposed to do here?" Alex looked around. The dungeon still had yet to show them what the quest was. "Look at that," Mylo pointed to the other side of the valley. There were a small group of green pastel shapes floating around, being carried by wisps of wind. "Shane, can you deactivate that enchantment just for a moment?" Hera asked, curious about how the Steam Elementals looked in here. "Oh, sorry. I should''ve told you guys sooner. When we came out of the cave, I already dropped the spell. It didn''t seem necessary," the enchantress replied. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "So they are like that?" Hera looked back to the pastel cores on the other side of the valley. "I think so¡­ that''s just weird," Blue frowned. "Yeah¡­." Hera trailed off, but she noticed something approaching. It looked almost like a mix of a snake and a ferret with about a dozen legs altogether. The creature looked around, sniffing the air. Then, it turned to the monkey that had just passed the group, who was now near a tree picking some fruits. It would eat a few and place others on its arms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steamweaver - Level 40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the monster, the Empress gestured to the rest of the group but made sure to tell them all to stay quiet without making any noise. The ferret huffed, barely making any sound and letting some steam out of its nostrils that flowed around its body before dashing at full speed toward the monkey. It jumped and curled itself into a large wheel before hitting the Two-Faced Monkey in the back of the head, causing it to fall down and drop all of the fruits it was gathering. The Steamweaver picked a couple of the fruit with one of its many arms and ran towards the center of the valley, moving down the steps and vanishing from sight. The monkey roared and looked at the ferret as it escaped, and before it turned back to the tree, the Steamweaver popped its head up and stared the Two-Faced Monkey down with a smirk before vanishing again. "Did¡­ did that monster mess with the monkey just for fun?" Blue asked, still unsure if she understood what had just happened. Almost as an answer to her question, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a dungeon quest. Valley Prankster The Steamweaver enjoys messing with other monsters. However, even the most peaceful of creatures have their breaking point. Teach the Steamweaver a lesson before its antics bring it to ruin. First Completion Rewards Thirmal Water''s treasure, 300 thousand gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are the first to ever enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards: Steamweaver shiny treasure +1 Level These rewards are permanently forfeited if you leave the dungeon without completing this quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Now that''s what I''m talking about!" Blue cheered. "Weren''t you the one who wanted to go home soon?" Bonnie asked. "Yeah, but we are here, and the whole point was to get something interesting. This is definitively something fun," Blue replied with a smile. "Ok, but we still need to finish the quest to get the reward. And the wording feels weird, don''t you think so?" Hera turned to the group. "Yeah¡­ Teach the Steamweaver a lesson¡­ it doesn''t say anything about killing it, or defeating it, just teaching it¡­ do we have to tame it?" Shane turned to Bonnie, who was carrying Ruby on her shoulder. "Maybe, but I don''t think what I did with Ruby will work here. I mean, to make this work, I, quite literally, kidnapped her and brainwashed her into being my friend. I don''t think usual taming skills work like that," Bonnie replied. "I don''t know why, but I feel like this is more of a mafia thing," Alex added. "Mafia?" Adriel turned to her. "Yeah. Like, ''Teach it a lesson'' by breaking its kneecaps or something. The MAZE always sounds like a 60''s gangster to me," the assassin explained. "Really? To me, it''s more like a tour guide from a museum. That neutral and calming voice of someone who is just doing their job," Helena chuckled. "I never considered any of that. To me is just like one of those robot voices we can find online," Hera looked to her blades, ''Do you guys have any opinion about it?'' ''I think we all hear it the same way you do. Well, I say hear, but we don''t actually hear it, just read the notification with you,'' Armory replied. ''But it''s kind of fun to think of it like a gangster. It changes a lot of things,'' Frost said with an amused tone. ''Let''s not go there. That will just make things weird,'' Core replied. "OK, then, what do we do?" Hera asked the party. "First, let''s chase after it. Then we figure out what we should be doing," Shane suggested. "That''s a fair plan, who thinks it will be at the bottom of the valley?" Adriel raised his hand, and as a response to his question, everyone else did the same, "Ok then. Let''s head down." "Anyone thinks it is a good idea to have Nimbus bring us there?" Hera looked down to the valley, they were around 100 meters up, and there were several floors for them to go down before reaching the bottom. "I don''t think it''s a good call. I mean, what if the monsters feel like he is a threat?" Helena looked down as well, "Then again. Maybe he can bring us up." "Oh, I didn''t even think about that. The way back is going to be a bitch," Alex sighed. Feeling like they didn''t have any other options, the group started heading down, Nimbus would always try to help anyone who was struggling to climb down the floors of the valley, and Lurize did the same, going ahead in his weapon form and then turning into the armored beetle to catch anyone who would jump down. Everyone was more than able to fall from these small heights without getting injured, but the problem was the soil. Even if they were no longer in the same steam-covered area, the ground was still slippery, and the plants could, at times, be hidden and in the way. Not to mention it was better for them to be careful instead of just jumping down right away. It took them about 20 minutes to carefully go down and reach the lower floors of the valley once more, but now came a new problem. How were they supposed to find the Steamweaver in here? 683 - A lesson to be taught Going down the steps of the valley only accentuated the stark difference between the past and the present. Despite the appearance of the room being a dream place for anyone who enjoyed hot baths, this place truly felt like paradise. Between the trees, the bushes, and the soft wind hitting them, it felt like they were on a tropical island. The hot pools of water were also considerably colder. They were still warm, but it wasn''t the scalding heat that turned their skin red in just a few moments. Testing these waters felt more like just a warm bath and not a sauna like the ones in the actual room. The group was about halfway through the valley when they saw the Steamweaver again. This time, it was running away from one of the Centepybaras, who seemed angry at it. However, the steam-wielding ferret was too quick for the other rodent. It jumped back and forth between a couple of floors, each hop that the Centepybara tried to follow made it get farther and farther behind until the monster gave up and returned to the place it came from. Once more, the Steamweaver looked at the creature that was chasing after it with a cocky expression. Then it started running again, vanishing inside one of the many caves in the valley''s walls. "Do we know what we are going to do with it?" Blue asked. "I hate to say this, but the only idea I came up with is beating the crap out of it but leaving it alive. The name of the dungeon is Steamweaver''s Struggle, and I can only think of that as it that being the struggle. Like it''s struggling because someone hurt it, you know," Alex sighed. "I was thinking the same thing, but if the quest is to teach it a lesson, we would have to wait for it to do something bad, then we pounce," Shane added. "Is this how you guys think we should teach someone? I''m worried about your future kids," Bonnie stared at the two. "You say like I want to have kids," Shane rolled her eyes. "What is your great idea then?" Alex huffed. "Maybe we can do it with what it is doing to others," Bonnie''s idea just got blank stares from everyone. "Really?" Blue asked. "What?!" Bonnie crossed her arms, "They asked for a new idea, I gave one." "Yeah, a very obvious idea, but how will it understand that this is why we are ''punishing'' it?" Blue asked. "I don''t know! It looks smart enough to realize that this is only happening because of what it did." "The problem is that if we do things like that, we won''t do something right as the Steamweaver pranks another monster. I think in that scenario, it will only see us as invaders who are stealing its things. If it even has things," Helena added. "I think it has things. The rewards mentioned the Steamweaver''s shiny treasure, so I''m guessing it''s like a crow. It sees things it likes and brings it to a nest or something like that," Hera added. "Look at that. On the other side," Mylo pointed to the opposite end of the valley. Somehow, the Steamweaver emerged from a small hole in the wall and looked around, finding a family of the Two-Faced Monkeys. It made some oddly shaped and colorful pieces of steam and used that to lure one of the children closer. The small monkey walked slowly, curious about whatever those shapes were, and when it was close to the hole, the Steamweaver jumped out, moving its mouth in a silent roar as if it was about to strike. It also made some dark steam appear around it to give a more imposing feeling. The baby monkey fell backward and tried to run, but the steam grabbed it and started to drag it toward the hole. It tried to scream, but the steam wrapped around its head, stopping the monkey from making any noise. The group saw as the baby became more and more scared, trying to claw away from the grasp of the Steamweaver, believing that the monster was truly about to eat the creature, yet, it didn''t. After pulling the baby monkey almost completely inside the hole, it let go. The small creature scrambled away, crying until its parents came along to see what had happened. The baby just cried and gestured toward the hole, but when the parents looked, the place was empty. As they walked away, and the baby monkey was the only one looking at that small entrance, the eyes of the Steamweaver appeared again, surrounded by red glowing steam, making the baby shiver in fear and start crying again. Some time passed, and the family of monkeys walked away from that area, that''s when the Steamweaver popped out of its hole with an amused expression. Making a replica of the baby monkey as it struggled to run away with steam and jumping around it as if it was happy. Then, it stopped using the steam and just walked off in the opposite direction of the family. "Did¡­ did that thing just traumatize that baby for fun?" Blue asked. "I¡­ I think so?" Adriel replied, still unsure what they just saw. "You know¡­ I don''t feel as bad about my idea of beating the shit out of it now," Alex added. "You never said you wanted to beat the shit out of it," Hera looked to the assassin. "I''m adding that now. That thing is an ass." "Yeah, it was one thing if it was trying to eat the baby monkey. I mean, it sucks, but that''s just nature. Doing that was plain mean," Hera nodded. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "So we beat it?" Nimbus asked. "Yeah, it''s odd that is zayz we zhouldn''t kill it. I''m worried that killing it would fail the quezt," Lurize was still tracking the monster with his eyes. It was now just swimming in one of the empty pools of water. "Well¡­ we are assuming that this dungeon is about the past, so maybe that is what happened. Someone got pissed, beat the crap out of that thing, and then it¡­ made that loop?" Bonnie frowned. "It''s a bit of a reach, but it does make sense. The loop seems to be something to make the waters better at healing. It''s something that tries to concentrate the effect, so maybe the Steamweaver figured that out somehow and then tried to make it on a large scale. The trigger for that might be being wounded or beaten," Helena looked to where the monster was right now. "So we fight it?" Mylo asked. "I think so. But I feel like it will try to run away," Blue turned to watch the monster too. "Shane, do you have any ideas? Any enchantment that might work?" Adriel asked. "Honestly, no. At most, I could make someone more likely to be targeted by it," Shane sighed. "That can work. I have a spell that makes it focus on me," Blue smiled, "Do you all want to go there now?" "I mean¡­ sure. Do you have a way to get us there?" Adriel asked. "It''s been a while, but yes," Blue looked to the other side of the valley and gestured with her hands as a cloud bridge appeared in front of them. "Oh, this is what you did back in the Wailing Valley, right? For us to find the Naga temples," Hera asked. "Yep, I think I can make it sturdier now. And let everyone walk over together," it took just a few moments for Blue to complete the structure. Luckily, they were all far enough away from the pool where the Steamweaver was playing for it to notice, "Let''s go!" the controller called, and they all rushed behind her while still keeping some distance from each other, just in case. They arrived on the other side in less than two minutes, and Blue dismissed her cloud construct. "Here," Shane enchanted the controller to make her more easily targeted by a specific creature. In this case, the Steamweaver. "Ok. I''m going to use a stronger version of what I can normally do. When it comes at me, just wail on it. And try not to kill it," she turned to Hera, "Right?" "I think so. The wording is a bit confusing, so it''s hard to tell for sure if killing it will fail the quest or not," the Empress replied. "Let''s go then. I have a feeling no one will try to help it," Blue nodded and started walking toward the Steamweaver. It didn''t take long for them to get closer to the pool where it was currently playing, and the moment the monster saw them, it stopped and became weary but also curious. Its eyes darted around, almost as if they were analyzing the new creatures that just appeared in front of it. It jumped up and down excitedly when it saw Hera''s court floating around them. Blue waited for a moment when it locked eyes with her and said, "I''m here. Come and get it." The Steamweaver froze for a moment, and its eyes glowed red briefly before it raised its body while keeping its head low and growled. Blue stepped forward, a storm cloud forming around her, almost like armor, and the two jumped toward each other. The controller dodged to the side just as she was about to get hit and punched the monster in the stomach, making it spin in the air, but it was still able to land on its feet, forming some steam around it to prepare for something. Not wanting to give it a chance for it to hurt her friend, Alex jumped into the fight, slashing the creature and using her new legacy to purge the buff that the monster was using. She wasn''t even sure if it was a buff, but it seemed to have worked perfectly. The steam lost its shape and was dragged by the wind, making the Steamweaver confused, but it still focused on Blue. Hera knew that using her poison was a bad idea, so instead, she sent out her court to attack the monster''s many legs. The Steamweaver saw that coming and turned partially into steam, evading some of the blows but not all of them. Helena tried to use her shadows to grab the monster, but the hands passed through the steam, just like some of Hera''s attacks. Nimbus and Lurize started their attacks, hitting the monster''s sides. It had a thick hide, but Lurize''s sword had an edge that seemed to cut through its skin. He was using a version of poison that, instead of dealing damage, would just slow down its transformation power and deal no damage whatsoever. Since he was the only one attuned to poison, he was the only one proficient enough with it to attack without risking killing the Steamweaver in the long run. Viper and Crimson were also fighting, but they were very close to the Royal Tutor, following his moves and doing their best to keep the flow of battle to let the [Battle Dancer] and [Synchronized Battle] skills do their job. Mylo, Adriel, Bonnie, and Shane were trying to join, but it was hard to do something like that against a single enemy that wasn''t all that big. There were too many people moving around quickly, which meant that they would likely get into each other''s way, and hitting someone with friendly fire was not something anyone wanted to be responsible for. They had an even harder time when their enemy kept changing shape, growing, and shrinking as if it was trying to decide what form it should take. Nimbus was hit by one of the steam attacks and became unable to use ice to attack the monster anymore, not that it was working well anyway. Most of his frost abilities were stopped by the intense heat coming from the Steamweaver. Suddenly, the monster''s red eyes vanished, and it realized how it was being trapped by these people. It glanced to Blue again, who tried using her taunt skill one more time. "I''m here! Fight me!" the controller yelled, but to no avail; the Steamweaver jumped into the heated pool and turned completely into steam, vanishing in the small cracks that were responsible for bringing the actual water from the underground to the surface. "Shit!" Alex gasped as she realized the monster was truly gone. "Maybe this is already enough?" Hera said, expecting the quest to pop out and let them know that this was over. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case, and with no notification, it meant they had yet to ''Teach the Steamweaver a lesson.'' "Is this going to be a chase dungeon?" Adriel asked with a groan. "It seems like it. Thinks you can have your drones scouting the area?" Shane turned to him and looked around, trying to see if she could locate the monster. "Yeah, yeah. And here I was hoping this would be a quick one," the elf sighed, pulling out his drones and letting them fly around before changing some settings. At the same time, Hera shook her bracelet and sent the snakes from the Viper Pit chasing after the Steamweaver. If the creature wanted a chase, she was happy to oblige. 684 - Steamweavers Nest
The search was on, but the entire party was painfully aware of how bad things could get. So far, they had no way of going deep inside the valley. All of the caves or entrances they found were too small for a person to pass through, and it wasn''t like they had the option of increasing the paths. Or, at least, that wasn''t a good option. If they started to dig randomly, there was a real possibility they would end up finding another source of water that could flood the passage. Another issue was the danger of stumbling upon one of the monster''s nests. Their objective was to find and defeat the Steamweaver and not the other creatures. There was also a possibility that if they attacked one of the other monsters, all would become aggressive. So far, Hera and her party were nothing more than an invasive species. A nonaggressive invasive species, but that was it. The moment they showed they were a danger to the other creatures, the monsters might see them as a problem that must be removed. Everyone here understood that this might not be how things would play out if they were outside. If they attacked one of the monsters, then it would take some time before others of its kind to see them as enemies. However, inside a dungeon, that changed. If they attacked a random creature that wasn''t related to their quest, others of its kind would also become aggressive because of it. This wasn''t a hard rule that was applied to all of the dungeons, but something that could happen in enough of them for it not to be considered unusual. Because of that, they were being careful with their chase. Adriel was using his three drones to get a map of the area while Hera told all of the snakes from her Viper Pit to look for the Steamweaver. If one of them found it, they would warn the Empress about it. Everyone was still walking together but on high alert. Especially when they passed by a pool of hot water or an open cave on the side of the valley. No one knew where the Steamweaver would pop up from. "Hey, Hera. Why didn''t you use your poison?" Bonnie asked as they moved. "I didn''t want to risk killing it," Hera looked around, with her entire court out and an eye out for the snakes she sent searching for the Steamweaver. "Yeah, but couldn''t you use something different? You can make various poisons, right? What if you made a poison that wouldn''t deal any damage? Then you could track where the poison was, couldn''t you?" "Sort of. I can make the poison not deal damage when I''m close. But if they move away, I lose control over that, and since my poisons can mutate, it''s hard to know if that will result in something that could kill it. For the tracking part, the more¡­ stuff? Between me and the target, the harder it is to recognize it. It can get to a point where I don''t even realize I''m sensing the poison. It''s like one of those sounds that you can hear, but you only realize when they are gone." "Ah¡­ I see. Yeah, if it''s going through the middle of some caves and water, things can get weird," Bonnie nodded, but a noise made her snap to the side, thinking that the monster was about to show up. Instead, they only saw a Centepybara moving out of a cave with its children following along. It would have been almost cute if it wasn''t for the extremely long bodies of those creatures. There was something about seeing a mammal with the body of a snake that gave everyone the feeling of watching a body horror movie, even if there wasn''t anything wrong with the bodies themselves. "While we wait for a ping from the drones or the snakes. Should we keep heading down?" Adriel suggested, "Maybe we can find the Steamweaver''s nest or something like that." "Hang on, Let me add one thing," Helena used her new skill, the shadow puppets, and created a small army of about 50 small black snowmen with chubby feet and arms, but the buttons, eyes, and nose were all made out of light, before telling them all to search for the Steamweaver. She also called her Wasp Guard, who was now just a being of shadows but had a mix of light in the frame. Almost like the yellow of a wasp was replaced by beams of pure, condensed light. This 2-meter-tall guard with four legs gave her an idea, and she told it to just carry her around while she worked. "I''ll check the high ground too," Alex said, and she simply stepped out of the ground, taking advantage of the new skill that allowed her to run in the air currents. The big drawback was that she had to keep moving for it to be active, but the benefit was that she could create the air currents herself if she needed. Adriel and Hera tried to tell her not to do that since it could put the assassin in a bad spot. Especially if the Steamweaver had a way of taking her out of the sky. Unfortunately, they took too long to say anything, and Alex was already moving around before they got even a word in. It took them another hour or so of searching until one of Hera''s snakes gave a ping. It wasn''t directly about the Steamweaver but about a place it had found. On the lowest point of the valley, where a small stream crossed between both sides, there was an entrance. It was a nest, or at least a hoard of strange objects. From some oddly shaped gemstones to weird branches of trees and even a couple of fruits that seemed to have grown in a unique way. Not because they were mutations but because they were either stuck between vines or pressed against the wall. "This is its treasure?" Blue asked. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "I guess¡­ And the mana around here does feel similar to its mana, so I think we are in the right place. I just don''t know where the actual nest is," Hera said. She called her snakes, and they all gave her a ping at the same time. She could see that they were in a cave nearby. The cave was not small by any means, the entire party, plus Hera''s court, Helena''s Wasp Guard, and Adriel''s drones, could all stay here quite comfortably, but the entire place was a mess. The objects were scattered around, almost as if someone had come here and tossed everything while searching for something, but there was no signal of a proper bed. Something soft or warm for the Steamweaver to lie on top of. That was like a missing piece of this place, and without even a mark on the ground to show where the monster would sleep, it was hard to tell if anyone actually lived there or if this place was just a storage unit. Hera told her snakes to look around for any passages or something that could be hidden somewhere around here. Liking that idea, Helena did the same, but this time, she dismissed her previous shadow puppets and made a new set. All of them were, instead of snowmen, armored wasps, or mecha wasps might be a better word for it. They had lances as their stingers and large shields as well as wings. Some of them had different types of armor with matching weapons, like drill hands, long spears without a shield, and even one bigger version, which was still just around 15 centimeters tall, but already three times the size of the others, who only had wings six legs carrying a very wide torso and a large pair of wings. All of them were created with the same mix of light and shadow that the new Wasp Guard had. "Is this what you were working on?" Hera asked as she noticed the shadow and light robotic wasp army. "Yeah. I figured it was better to lean on the theme," Helena replied with a smirk. "That¡­ is not a bad idea, actually," Bonnie nodded, "Focusing on a theme might give you some skills with good synergy." "Yes, and since we already have an Empress here. I can be the Queen Bee. Well. Queen Wasp." "Feel free to do that. I have no problems about not being the only royalty in the group," Hera chuckled. "See, everything will be¡­ oh?" Helena stopped speaking and noticed a small group of her mecha wasps gathered around a crack in the corner of the room, beyond some of the oddly shaped fruit that was already rotting. Hera approached and tried to see beyond it. Unfortunately, the gap was too small for anyone to pass, and even her snakes were too large to go through that opening. Daskka was an option, but she really didn''t like the idea of sending her herald on her own. Instead, she used a pulse spell to try to see what was on the other side. Unexpectedly, she felt the Steamweaver with its ears against the opposite wall and some twigs and branches on the corner. From what she gathered, this should be its nest, the actual place where the monster would sleep. "It''s behind this wall," Hera told everyone, "And I mean it, the monster." "Let me," Mylo stepped forward. "Hang on," Bonnie said from the back, "Alex, can you just go outside then back in?" The assassin frowned but did as she was asked, just moving back and forth between the entrance. Satisfied, Bonnie made a small trail of steam with a spell and tried to push it beyond the threshold of the entrance. There was some kind of barrier blocking the steam, and the researcher turned to the rest of the party, "Ok, if we can bring it here, or at least let me see the entire cave, I can make this barrier wrap around the entire nest. That way, if it wants to run, it needs to be in its physical form." "Oh, good. I have a thing for that too. It''s already loaded," Shane patted her launcher. "Can I do my thing?" Mylo asked, getting a confirming nod in response. The fighter stepped forward and slammed his right foot on the ground, triggering his [Earthquake Step]. It was a solid idea to make it look like the entire cave was coming down, but after a few moments, it was hard to tell if it worked. Hera even used another pulse only to see that the Steamweaver was still with its ear to the wall, trying to see what was going on on the other side. "I think your skill only works if they can see you do it," Shane smiled and placed a hand on the man''s shoulder. Mylo groaned and stepped away. "Mind if I do something stupid then?" Hera suggested. "Go for it. My best idea would be an explosion, and I don''t think it''s a good call when we are underground, even if the exit is right there," Shane sighed. Hera took a few steps back and used her [Venomous Arsenal] to create a spear on her hand that was equivalent to a very rare weapon. It had a snake for the handle with the mouth opened where the blade would appear. The weapon had that same ominous orange color as all of her poison spells. She grabbed the weapon and used her Pulse spell again to make sure she wouldn''t hit the Steamweaver right away. Having a good enough idea of the position of the monster, she tossed the spear, activating the [Weapon Break] at the same time. The strike blasted open the back wall, revealing the rest of the cave. At the same time, Blue yelled, "I''m here! Fight me!" That caused the Steamweaver''s eyes to glow red and lunge at the controller. Taking advantage of the situation, Bonnie wrapped around the entire cave in the barrier that would stop the monster from running away. What followed was nothing short of a massacre. There were way too many people in the cave for the monster to move around without being caught by something, and thanks to Shane''s mana siphon that was fired just after the back wall crumbled, it couldn''t even change shapes. Between strikes from Mylo''s staff, countless spells, a storm cloud appearing inside the cave, half a dozen floating weapons, lasers, blades of wind, and a maddening number of shadow wasps attacking it from everywhere and anywhere, the monster could barely try to move, much less attack. Eventually, the group had to stop attacking to check the mission. The Steamweaver was too beaten up, and they were worried that any more would lead to its death. However, no notification appeared. Rallying, the monster tried to break through the encirclement, but it was stopped once more. It continued trying even when its assailants didn''t seem to want to fight anymore. After trying everything it could think of, only to be stopped by one of the many members of this group, the Steamweaver gave up, collapsing to the ground, ready to accept its fate. That''s when the notification informing them that they had completed the quest appeared for Hera and the others. 685 - Trading Center When the fight was over, and the quest was completed, the group just walked off. They didn''t know if killing or helping the Steamweaver would make any changes in the quest, and no one was willing to take that chance. Outside the nest, they all checked their rewards. Hera left the level up for last and first took a look at the Thirmal Water''s treasure. It didn''t have a letter grade, but what came out was a simple-looking obsidian dagger, if it could be called that. It had some sort of fiber wrapped around the handle, making it look very tribal, but the weapon itself gave off an air of power and danger that was almost unsettling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Obsidian Whisper Dagger Very Rare Level Requirement: 30 Scaling Intelligence x 15 Agility x 13 Charisma x 10 Passive Skills: Enhanced Critical Strike Attacks aimed at the weak spot of a target while using this dagger deal 50% increased damage. Whispering Strikes: After dealing a critical strike with this weapon, the next three attacks can deal 50% increased damage. Both critical effects can overlap. Active Skills: Shadows Embrace: By melding into the shadows, you are able to become invisible. This effect lasts for up to 10 seconds.While standing still, the duration of this effect does not decrease. Cooldown 24h. Shadow step: Using this dagger, you can hop between shadows. You are able to jump 3 times before the cooldown begins. Maximum Distance: 10 meters Cooldown: 1 minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a really good weapon, but Hera couldn''t help but feel this wouldn''t be very helpful for her. Not to say that the increased critical strike wouldn''t be something her entire court would take advantage of, but the dagger was small, just around 25 centimeters long, counting the handle, which was less than half of the actual weapon, but still. She also didn''t know how to use those skills very well. Sure, a small teleport would be amazing, but if she went in by herself and one of her court members was suddenly too far away from her, things could be bad. That kind of thing never happened, but according to Daskka, it would be the same as the blade being broken. The invisibility also felt weird. How was she supposed to stop moving? What about her hair or clothes. Would those count? Thinking that maybe, someone else in the group might be able to have a better use for this weapon, she turned to the next reward and instantly frowned. It was yet another weapon, but a staff, and just by the name, one that someone else could use it better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestial Nova Staff Unique Level Requirement: 35 Scaling Intelligence x 60 Passive Skills Mana regeneration While holding this staff, your mana regeneration will increase by 50%. This effect can be shared with up to 10 people, being equally divided amongst all the affected. Intelligence bonus + 10 points. Simulcasting Amplification: Spells cast through this staff will receive a 30% increase in their potency. Active Skills Stellar Blast By channeling the energy of the stars gathered on the crystal, you are able to unleash a blast of stellar energy. Radius 10 meters Base mana cost 300 thousand mana Astral Barrier By channeling the reflection of the stars, you are able to deploy a barrier that absorbs incoming damage. Depending on the stars used, the barrier can have different effects. Radius 10 meters Duration 10 seconds Base mana cost 200 thousand mana + 100 thousand for each extra star added to the barrier. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh yeah. Bonnie, I''m positive you will want this one," Hera said and touched the notification on her tablet to bring the staff out. It was a pitch-black gnarled branch but didn''t look burnt like charcoal. Instead, it was soft to the touch, as if this was the natural color of the tree where it came from. Reaching the top, there were a couple of swirls that wrapped around a crystal or a piece of glass that seemed to mirror the sky itself, even peering beyond the clouds and steam of the valley. When Hera moved it around, some small shiny particles appeared like stars covering the staff. "I''m the shadow girl. Why are your rewards all in black?" Helena asked. "Ask the system. I don''t freaking know," Hera gasped and pulled out the dagger, "So yeah. I have this staff and this knife. It is classified as a dagger, but it''s a knife, let''s face it. Who wants to trade?" After a few minutes, everyone traded some of the items. The idea of selling them to one another was tossed around, but they were too close for that now. Not to mention they had no idea how expensive one or other of their items would be. Blue got a waterskin that could turn hot water into a version of the thermal waters of the room, which would help them heal their wound, and it would, over time, purify any water put inside it. It was something that required just a few minutes, and it would happen naturally without the use of anyone''s mana. She also got a pair of gauntlets in the trade that allowed her to channel lightning through, both adding elemental strikes to her blows and creating a small rolling thunder that would increase her speed. Funny enough, the gauntlet was called Tempest Torrent. Which was just the beginning of various odd coincidences. Helena got a mana stone that could store 300 thousand mana, and traded in an item called ''Luminous Veil,'' which increased the healing of any spells targeting herself, increased her resistance against shadow and light, and, most importantly, allowed her to create a bright light above her head. It was hardly stealthy, but considering that she needed light for her new skill and to use light spells properly, it was an almost perfect fit. The one thing that bothered her was the size. Since it''s been a few months since they left civilization, her hair had grown a lot, and it wasn''t exactly well maintained when they were constantly fighting and staying in places filled with humidity. She wasn''t looking bad by any means, but it was hard to make the veil fit with her entire aesthetic without some changes to her style. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Alex traded an item called Searing Emberstone with Hera for the Obsidian Whisper and got a piece of raw aquamarine that could become something interesting in the future. While Adriel got a mana stone capable of storing 500k mana and something called Crystal of Reflection. It was a material, and his idea was to add it to his drones to make them stronger and maybe change how the lasers worked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Searing Ember stone Rare This radiant gemstone pulsates with fiery energy created by the intense heat and mineral-rich properties of thermal waters. When used in crafting, this might provide both offensive and defensive capabilities related to fire. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shane eventually landed on an item called Harmonic Echo Shards, they were a solid crystal that she could peel off a single thin sheet every couple of hours and attach them somewhere. Every three places she attached those shards to would resonate, being able to access the type of mana present in any of the other locations. She also got an essence extractor that could break down items into a single material for crafting. But as useful as that may be, the machine was large, about the size of a full backpack with a sleeping bag on the top. Mylo got a vest of elemental resistance with a loud pattern showing several different elements, but the effect was only to reduce elemental damage. Simple but effective. He also got a pair of boots that made him move faster and increased his reflexes somewhat. Both Blue and Alex argued that they could use those as well, especially since they came with a universal fitting skill. But Mylo was adamant against it. Just because the two of them were fast and nimble, it didn''t mean he couldn''t get a bit of a boost in that area. Not every attack could be blocked, and he needed something for those situations. Lastly, Bonnie got a mana crystal that could hold 5 million mana and something called an Aquaflame Pendant. Both were given to Hera, trading for the staff, which was the rarest and clearly most powerful item they got in this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aquaflame Pendant Rare Level Requirement: 32 This is a radiant pendant that combines the essence of water and fire, representing the harmonious coexistence of contrasting elements within the thermal waters. Passive Skills Aquaflame: Fire and/or Water attacks and spells deal 25% more damage. Perfect Symmetry: Charisma bonus + 2 Active Skills: Aquaflame Fusion: You can channel a fire and a water-based spell on the pendant to deliver a powerful blow using this mixture. Range 50 meters Base Mana cost 200 thousand mana. Ebb and flow: Reduces the chance of your spells fizzling or misfiring and increases their overall accuracy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera tried to refuse that trade, saying that the stone was more than enough and that the pendant would work great with Bonnie too, but the researcher vehemently refused. The staff was the rarest item that they got from the rewards, and the flat increase in attributes was something incredible. Not to mention the scaling, which focused only on one attribute, and her desire to find the Astral Witch''s legacy made that staff an absolutely perfect fit. This whole trading spot happened close to the nest of the Steamweaver, and as they were finishing up, the monster emerged from the cave, battered and bruised. This made everyone pause and watch. They shouldn''t lose the rewards now, no matter what happened, but going out of their way to kill it didn''t feel right. They all watched as the Steamweaver dragged a large rock to a pool of water in front of the nest and shoved it inside. The monster then jumped into the pool, making sure to keep its head on the side, above the water. At first, that was it, but slowly, they all noticed how the steam surrounding the area started to gather on the tip of the rock that was half submerged. "I guess this is why the room became like that," Hera mumbled while watching the monster. In the end, they all decided to leave the dungeon, walking back up to the top of the valley where they found the entrance. Everyone left, and they walked back to Sammy''s place. During that trip, Hera also took a chance to level up, reaching 99 in all of her attributes, which felt amazing but also really annoying. She was so close to 100, but there was nothing to do now but to continue leveling up. Another troublesome detail was that the Aquaflame pendant stopped her from using her [Exponential Growth] skill. Since it gave her a flat +2 to her charisma, it broke the equilibrium required for her skill. Not that this was much of a problem since she could just remove the pendant from her necklace and level up, but it was something she would have to keep in mind in the future. When they were about to reach Sammy''s, Hera took a detour. She wanted to confirm one thing about her workshop, and she took the essence extractor that Shane got to test one thing. Inside Hera''s Special layout, there were the glass cases that were housing items, and she never checked what those cases actually were. After going inside her private room, she opened the edit mode of the place and started checking. To her surprise, the glass cases were, essentially, hologram projectors, so they were empty on the inside. But, there was one other item, located right under the central table where she would be using her Royal Seal skill. A large case that could keep tools. When opening it, she saw a small chisel and a piece of paper. ''Hey, kid. I don''t know how long it will take you to notice this, but what is life without a good treasure hunt? This cabinet is the only place in your room that can keep something from the outside. If you want to move it, go ahead, but because it''s a special tool, it can''t change shapes. You can go ham with the colors, though. Another thing, this uses us, the guides, to make sure things are in place. I''m not saying we are messing with your things, but if you put something in here, we will know. And obviously, it doesn''t work for living things, nor does it keep temperature or stop things from spoiling. Aside from that, if it fits inside and you can close it all the way without forcing the door, you can keep as many tools as you want here. Check the internal configurations later. You can put shelves, hooks, drawers, whatever you want. One last thing, this is part of your special. Other explorers can get this, Shane, for instance, is almost there. Feel free to talk about it, but never give any information about how you got it. Just say that you opened the edit mode of the room, and it was suddenly there. We will make sure no one will doubt you. The chisel is a gift from me. I remember how you took care of your weapons in your role test, and I figured I could use the blacksmith from back there to give me some inspiration. That one is for your workshop. You don''t have to keep it in the cabinet and it will always show up with the rest of the tools. One more time. Thanks for everything, kid. You are incredible. Peaches.'' Hera smiled and took a look at the chisel. It was simple and had some runes carved on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Runebound Chisel Private Workshop tool A finely crafted tool made from a blend of enchanted metals. It possesses the unique ability to inscribe intricate runes onto weapons, imbuing them with magical properties. Skills: Empowered Rune Engraving: Empower any runes or spells circles carved onto weapons, granting them additional abilities or augmenting their existing attributes. Elemental Attunement: Allows the user to carve elements onto weapons, providing them with elemental damage or effects without changing the actual affinity of the weapon. Guide-d Rune carving: This tool was created by a guide, you are able to access information on symbols for different elements and basic concepts of carving as long as a guide agrees to your request when using this tool. Just don''t abuse this, kid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She put the essence extractor, a somewhat small oxygen tank with a funnel on one side and a faucet on the other, inside the cabinet and closed it, confirming that it fit. She then left her room, already thinking about what she could do with her chisel and how she could use these new items. Thankfully, as she exited her private room, the essence extractor was still inside. Which meant that, for a while, she would have a place to store things that were too big to be carrying around. 686 - Sammys session "So, Hera. How are you doing?" Sammy asked while they were inside yet another room in his ''office.'' This was a smaller version of the central area that he only used when there was a number of people being treated. As a matter of fact, this was the first time he needed to use this particular room. These sessions were going on since the beginning of the week, but this still felt very much like a novelty. "I¡­ I think I''m doing ok. I''m not thinking too much about¡­ what happened," Hera shrugged while petting Daskka. They had decided that having the Herald here wasn''t a bad idea, but she couldn''t speak anything until the end of the session. "Not thinking much or not thinking at all?" "At all, I guess." "And do you think this is a good idea? I understand why you were avoiding thinking about everything inside the memory and that, after it, you needed some time to rest. But now, is this what is best for you?" Sammy pressed while making a small cup of tea approach her. "I¡­ don''t know. It took a lot of me to get over¡­ that last time." "I remember what you talked about. This has happened in the past, correct? But it was a different situation. Some kind of wide-range spell that turned a lot of people mad?" Sammy asked as Hera took the teacup. "Yeah. It was a mess. A centaur came for¡­ I don''t know, revenge? Hate? Whatever the case, it came after us, managed to sneak past a bunch of people, and just started killing. I think it would be easier to show you, but I don''t have an internet connection in here," Hera sighed. "Oh. That''s a good idea. I''ll read about it later," Sammy nodded. "You have access to the internet here?" Hera looked up from her cup. Sammy frowned, "Well. Yes, but there are some limitations. For instance, I can''t share things with all of you. It''s more of a ¡­ closed network, so to speak. Also, I don''t have access to any information since about two weeks before you and the¡­ Royal Explorers?" Sammy questioned, trying to confirm if he got the name right. He could use spells and skills to make sure his memory was perfect, but doing so felt too impersonal, and he opted to remember things the old-fashioned way. Hera nodded in confirmation before he continued, "Yeah, so I can''t talk about anything from between then and now. I have seen some things during that time. After all, it''s really boring to be here alone, but when you all arrived here, the memories I had about new things during that period were all locked away." "I''m sorry about that¡­" Hera looked away, feeling a bit guilty about this. Having your memories locked didn''t sound like something fun. "Don''t be. This is part of my job, and being someone who can mess with memories, having that done to me is only fair. Now, back to you. While that was going on, the madness with the centaur, I mean. You had an encounter, correct?" Hera just nodded after hearing Sammy''s question, "Would you mind telling me about it?" "Again? I''ve already told you." "Very well. I''ll say what I remember. If I get anything wrong, please let me know," one more time, Hera nodded, hearing Sammy''s question, "During that attack, people started fighting each other like monsters. They didn''t stop unless you had a way of knocking them out or incapacitate them in some way. As you and Alex went back to the hotel in search of a notebook where Alex had written down some information about the curse, which, for the record, I think was a good idea." "You do?" Hera tilted her head. Sammy nodded with a smile, "I do. Despite her actual intentions, if you had left the notebook behind and it fell into the hands of someone else, then someone else might have ended up being cursed, and this whole ordeal you all went through would be for nothing. But let''s move on. After getting the notebook, you rushed out, trying to find Helena and Bonnie, and that''s when something happened. An elf attacked you when you were alone." "And died," Hera replied. Sammy paused, "May I ask you an uncomfortable question?" "Isn''t that part of the whole deal?" Hera chuckled. "More or less," Sammy smiled, "May I?" "Sure." "Why do you always say it that like that? ''He died.'' You always formulate the sentence by removing yourself from it." "Why does that matter?" Hera shook her head. "Because it''s a way to deflect and avoid just like not thinking about what happened in the memory. Another reason is because of horror movies." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "What?" Hera stopped and stared Sammy in the eyes. "When you watch a horror movie, many times, the monster is scarier when you haven''t seen it. Because our mind does a much better job of creating something scary than most artists. It''s the same with words. If you are afraid of saying a specific word, your mind will make it even more dangerous, even more scary. Not to say that it isn''t, but when you hide from it, you give it even more power." "So you want me to say what happened? What I did?" Hera asked. "No. I want you to do well and get better. This is simply a suggestion. A¡­ let''s call it a tool that you can choose to use or not." Hera took a deep breath, "I¡­ I killed that elf. I killed Vulmer Keller. And I killed Kadhan. It doesn''t matter if it was in a memory. That doesn''t change what I''ve done," when she finished speaking, she half expected something to happen. A weight to be lifted from her shoulders, a dark spot in her heart to vanish. Yet, nothing happened. There was no change, no difference between now and 30 seconds ago before she said anything. With a frown, she turned back to Sammy. "Mental health is not that easy, unfortunately. There is no spell or trick to make everything better. What I hope is that this will make things easier. With time, at least," Sammy could tell that Hera was still uncomfortable with the entire situation, so he decided on a different approach, "Let''s change topics for a moment. How are you doing with the rest of the party? You all have been through some traumatic situations together, and some events were not that positive. Between Alex attacking you all and Adriel''s secret job, how is everyone?" "Hard to say. Alex is trying to act as if everything is normal, but she tends to overcompensate. Either being too nice to everyone, or just doing her own thing as if she didn''t matter to us, or as if she didn''t want to bother anyone. Adriel told everyone about his job, as you know, but I don''t know if anyone processed enough about it. On one hand, he was lying to us and trying to use us. On the other hand, he didn''t actually do anything bad or wrong. No one got hurt, no one got anything stolen. It was just part of his agenda, and it didn''t affect us so far. I still don''t know how to feel about it." "And how do you feel about Alex attacking you? You talked about what she is doing but not how you feel about it." Hera stopped for a moment. She didn''t do this on purpose, it was just how she felt like she should talk, "I trust her. I still do. But it''s not the same. Not yet, anyway. When we were fighting, I still felt worried every time she tossed a spell that seemed to go in my direction. I know it''s not fair, but¡­" "But it''s an instinct. She attacked you, and now you are weary. This is not something unexpected." "I don''t like that." "We hardly like the results of trauma. Yet, the scars are still there. They will heal, and with time, you won''t even notice them, but unfortunately, it''s something that you will carry with you forever." "So you mean that once trust has been broken, it can never be fixed?" Hera asked. "Not quite. Trust can be fixed, but just like a vase, it will never be the same as it was before." "A bit heavy-handed with the metaphors today, aren''t we?" the Empress chuckled. "Well, the topic is a bit complicated, and metaphors help us understand more subjective things." They continued their conversation, which was a daily thing, and at the end of the hour, Hera left the office. During the past week, this was their routine. Everyone would have between 30 to 40 minutes sessions with Sammy, then they would explore the Temple of Sands. Trying to find something else in the Thermal Waters didn''t sound like a good idea. The entire place was too peaceful, and the monsters were starting to be annoyed by their presence. If Hera and the others found one of the nests, things could become a problem. Even the most calm of creatures would become aggressive when its home was threatened. In the Temple of Sands, they found a dungeon, the same one that Hera and Adriel saw before finding the right doorway. That one wasn''t that exciting. In essence, it was an escape room where the solution was to match the things in the area they were in with one of the paintings in the hallway just beyond the entrance of the dungeon. The main issue was that the quest only showed up after they left said hallway, and they couldn''t go back, which meant they would have to figure out by following some very cryptic messages that barely were any help. However, thanks to Adriel''s new skill, he was able to remember everything in the paintings, and they quickly completed the dungeon. It was a shame that someone else had completed it before them, but they still got quite a bit of money as a reward. Also, each of them got a piece of a painting, but no one actually took the reward out since carrying a piece of a painting didn''t seem like a good idea here. Not much because of whatever they might actually be, but because they would have to carry it around a place where high tides could be an issue, and if there was one thing that didn''t work well with a painting was water. They already spent a bit over a week here, and everyone agreed that there wasn''t anything else to do. Sure, they could keep trying to search the Temple of Sands, but traversing that place was a nightmare. The only one who could move around without any problems was, again, Adriel. All thanks to his new skill that improved his memory. Aside from him, everyone had to go through so many hoops to avoid getting lost that exploring that place became a slog. Worst of all, they found the doorway they had to go to in two days, by almost complete accident. This only made Blue even more anxious to leave. Soon enough, the rest of the party also started to feel restless, hoping they would go back home soon. Knowing that, Sammy tried to press everyone to have longer sessions, but this was still the last day of it. At least the last day for most of the party. Shane and Hera would be able to continue their sessions with the help of the guides. They could only do so in their private rooms, and it would be, essentially, a video session. Both of them were very grateful, not just because they could continue the sessions, but because they would be able to talk with someone who they could completely trust. Unlike people, beings that were part of the MAZE were bound to a set of rules, and they would not go against that no matter what. Hera was the last one to have a session that day, and they all took a break before gathering in the central rest area. If this was the last time they would see Sammy, this could only mean one thing. It was time for a goodbye party. 687 - A walk on the beach The farewell party was a blast, and they didn''t say this would be a goodbye forever kind of thing, especially since Hera and Shane wanted to come back here somewhat soon. Both of them were still very aware that this could be leading them to the capital of the ancient Naga, and they were not about to let go of that possibility. However, they knew their priorities. Shane called Shiretaa since she had yet to do so, and they got some news that was both good and bad at the same time. Since they were leaving that day, and they should arrive in a specific room in the next 36 to 48 hours, they could reach the doorway before the high tide. If they missed that window, it would take them another 2 weeks of waiting before they could reach the next room. The main issue wasn''t just that the doorway would be underwater but that the current on the other side was absurdly powerful. To the point that even high-level Tritons specialized in underwater exploration would have a problem fighting against it. Shane didn''t tell all that information to most of the group, but she made it clear that they would need to move as quickly as possible. After the Temple of Sands, they passed by several rooms. Burning Visage was a large island of sorts. It wasn''t in the middle of the ocean. Instead, it was in the middle of a large expanse of gray rock, even if the island itself was lush and full of life. Even the sky outside the invisible wall seemed to have vanished as if whatever happened here plucked this island from reality itself, leaving it stranded in this weird in-between space. The reason for the name was due to the volcano in the middle of that piece of land, a volcano that had a face. It was the face of a monster, maybe an Oni, with large fangs and horns. It reminded Hera of the tattoos that she would see in movies when a member of the Yakuza or some badass character from Japan appeared. They didn''t stay there long, however. Shane asked the guide her questions and got directions for the next room. Which was a good thing since that particular place was on the 19th layer. If they didn''t have the confirmation that no monster would appear while they were there, none of them would ever risk going to that place. The next room, called Grayland, was on the 10th layer and dropped them just by the ocean with their backs against a large cliff. When climbing it, they found that it was very much like Iceland or Greenland. A name that was completely opposite to the actual area. The entire room was filled with vibrant colors and rolling hills of various flowers, making this a textbook fairytale scenario. Blue and Hera could almost swear they saw a cartoon rabbit jumping around, which was very much the case. The monsters in this room had some weird lines around their bodies, giving them a look that could only be described as cell shaded. That was fine for games, movies, or cartoons, but when it was something living, it seemed wrong. Continuing their journey, they walked all the way across the hills, passing by two very obvious dungeons. One was a giant tree with a door in the middle, almost taunting them with the possibilities, and another was a circle of flowers with nothing but grass inside. It was very reminiscent of something called a fairy ring, which is usually caused by fungi. Or actual fairies, but neither was the case this time. After reaching the next doorway, which led to a room called Leafshade Botanica Grove on the 5th layer, they had to stop for the night. This was the fourth doorway they would cross, and no one was willing to tempt the three doorway rule. Another reason for them to stop was that they were all tired. Their time in the Burning Visage wasn''t long, but in contrast, it took them about 7 hours of walking to cross Grayland. Sure, if they were in a smaller group, Nimbus could reduce that time in half, but even when using all the available mounts and tactics, they would be leaving at least one person behind, or one person would have to follow on foot. No one liked that idea, and it seemed like if they just walked, there wouldn''t be any problems. Night came and went in a flash. They all slept in the private rooms they had available, although Alex slept with Hera and the girls, leaving Adriel alone at his request. The couple was doing better, but they were not quite there just yet. Both still felt like they had to regain trust before sleeping in the same room again. When they woke up, they confirmed that it had been over 24 hours since their first crossing and went through the doorway. The Leafshade Botanica Grove was a mixture of a greenhouse with a small forest. The kind one would expect to see in peaceful images or childhood stories about visiting the woods. The only problem was that the paths would twist and turn, forming a labyrinth for anyone with a specific destination. One more time, talking with the guide became their saving grace, and they all got specific directions to the next room. It would still take about two hours to cross the entire forest, but it was better than figuring it out themselves. The doorway was under a palm tree, of all things, and led them to the room they were rushing so much to get to, Shellhaven. This room was basically just a beach filled with different types of seashells everywhere and even a line of gigantic seashells that led to the mainland. Shortly after those colossal mollusk exoskeletons, they were met with an invisible wall, but the real prize of this place was a doorway located inside one of said massive seashells. It was one of the lower ones that would be filled with water during high tides, just like a cave. Everyone tried to rush inside, but seeing how the tide was still very low and, according to Shane, they still had a few hours to get there, Bonnie asked everyone to take a break. Ruby seemed very interested in the seashells, and the researcher wanted her pet slime to play a bit. It was hard to say no, so no one did that, and they took a moment to rest and eat before continuing their journey. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Since they had a moment to stop, Hera decided to call the guide of this room. She had done so in all of the rooms they passed by, with the exception of Burning Visage. That place was too high level, and even staying around for five extra minutes only increased the chance of a monster popping out and killing them all. Back there, the guide said they were safe for the moment, but they also said they shouldn''t take in the sights. Hera stepped away for a moment and went inside one of the large spiral seashells that were located on the beach before telling Nimbus and Lurize to stand guard outside. This room was on the 12th layer, evidenced by the mark of a wall splitting the entire room in the middle of the beach. Meaning that before this wall was broken, people who came here never even knew that there was an ocean in this room. Or were never able to see the giant seashells, depending on the direction that led to the lower layers. The good part was that the monsters around didn''t seem too strong. They were mostly a mixture of sand lobsters, shell golems, and giant snails that could spit jets of pressurized water at the group. Luckily even the strongest of the ones they found so far was only level 20. Because of all that, she felt safe being on her own inside one of the giant shells. She used the Pulse spell to make sure no one was around, then activated a soundproof bubble before calling the guide. From the deepest part of this makeshift cave, the sound of skittering legs started to echo. Hera braced herself, just in case, but when she saw what was coming, it was hard to believe it was a monster and not the guide. In essence, she was seeing a crab, a very cute eremite crab with almost cartoony proportions. In fact, his whole body seemed to have come out of a drawing made for kids. Instead of several plates and joints that would create an actual living being, he was just smooth all the way. He had a pair of beady oval black eyes and a small mouth under it that was more of a line than anything else. But what really stole the show was his shell. Instead of something white, or beige colored, it was a completely transparent shell with an actual ocean and a beach inside. She could even see a palm tree, some long chairs, and a small wooden hut inside the shell, all in miniature versions of the actual thing. "Hey there," the crab spoke in a voice you would expect from a kid''s movie. But not in an annoying and high-pitched way, it was innocent and very excited, "You must be Hera, right? I''m Fritz. The guide is here. I''m very, very happy to meet you." "Hi, Fritz. I''m happy to meet you too," the Empress said with a smile, "Oh, and this is Daskka. She is my herald and can''t actually speak with other people. Only with me," she gestured to the snake around her neck. "Hi, Daskka. Don''t worry. I know all about you guys. The other guides told me that this is ok." "I''m glad. I''m always worried that bringing her around will count as a strike, but I can''t not bring her." "You don''t have to worry about that," Fritz stepped back and forth, moving his claw''s around each other like someone who needed a fidget toy. "Are you ok?" "Yeah¡­ I-I-I just want to offer one thing." "Oh, sure, go for it. I can''t say I will take the offer without knowing what it is, though." "Ok," that answer made Fritz settle down, and his entire body shifted to be a bit closer to the ground, "So, I would like to invite you to my place. My home. We can talk there, and you can ask your questions. Then you don''t have to play the host." Hera shook her head, "Can you do that?" "Yeah! Most guides can''t, but my house," Fritz tapped his shell, "Is mobile." "That''s awesome. Yeah, I would love to see it. If that''s ok with you." "Of course it is. I invited you," Fritz jumped up, almost dancing, and reached out with one of his claws, "Come, just hold my hand. It''s a claw, but it works the same way." Hera was about to hold his hand/claw but stopped herself, "Actually, I have a few members of my court outside. They can''t move too far away from me. Should I call them back?" "Don''t worry about it. We are not moving anywhere, we are just changing sizes. The distance we are from them won''t change." "And my skills won''t change the dimensions? Like it''s on meters, wouldn''t it change to centimeters if I change size?" Fritz shook his head, "Don''t worry. The way I do this, it won''t change a thing for you. You are going to get tiny, and so is Daskka, but that''s it. All your skills will stay the same." "Ah, that''s nice. I never knew that changing sizes worked like that." "Well¡­. It''s not all size-changing spells that do this. Especially the ones that make you smaller. Getting bigger is different, but if you¡­" Fritz stopped as if he was hearing something and then lowered his body again, "Sorry. I said too much and got scolded." "Don''t worry about it. I can understand that. It happened before a few times," Hera turned to Daskka, "Are you ready?" "To see a guide''s home? Yeah, I am," the herald said with a smile. "Then, Fritz. We are all yours," Hera said as she held on to his claw. Fritz smiled back, and suddenly, Hera felt like she was on a water slide. There was a rush behind her, a pressure that made both Fritz and her vanish from that area, leaving behind only the crystal clear shell where two figures appeared just beyond the ocean. 688 - Fritzs Place Hera took a moment to gather herself. Being pushed by water out of the blue was not a feeling she wanted to get used to. She carefully stepped forward, trying to make sure the ground wasn''t about to just collapse under her. Not that she was afraid of Fritz and this place, but it became a habit when she found herself in a new place. "Are you ok?" Fritz asked as he got closer. Here he was much bigger than he was outside, being almost as tall as Hera, but he was still not intimidating at all. "Yeah, sorry. The trip here is just a bit disorientating," the Empress rubbed her eyes, "Daskka, are you ok?" "I am fine. That was fun," the snake replied, wagging her tail. "I think it''s easier for us. We are mana, and Hera here isn''t. So we have a better time changing sizes," Fritz walked to the side and pointed to the hut, "Come with me. I know you can''t stay much, but I want to show you my house," the crab started walking through the white sand. Hera followed along, and she couldn''t help but notice how this place was extremely pleasant. The temperature was simply perfect. Both warm enough to make sense of this being a beach but with a colder wind to cool her off. Even the smell was something that she couldn''t think of a way to be better. It was just the right amount of ocean and grass that gave the feeling of a paradisaic island. The cherry on top was the sky. It was blue, and she could see the sun, but she could also see the cave that she just left. Although there were better words than ''left''. "This place is amazing, Fritz," Daskka gasped while looking around. "Thanks! We guides all have a small piece of land to do what we want with it, and I was the first one to make something like this. Now there are a few who carry their homes with them, but it''s not something that many enjoy. They prefer to have either their own place set up like they like. Or just make a building where they can live with others and use their land for something else." "Oh? You guys even have buildings?" Hera asked. "We do. We are very community driven. Especially since most of us can''t even do our jobs because no one found their rooms." "Are you one of those? That never had a job before we got here?" "Not really, but it''s been a long time since I talked with anyone. And can''t say anything more about that, just a heads up." "That''s fine. I already appreciate the info." Fritz stopped and turned to Hera, squinting at her, "They told me you would try to get information out of me. You will never make me talk, you hear me. Never!" he said that line as if he was a captured spy in a movie. Hera stopped, put on her best cold and villainous smile, and said in a firm and paused tone, "Oh, don''t you worry, Mr. Fritz. When I''m done with you, you will beg to talk." Fritz and Daskka stopped and just stared at the Empress for a moment before the herald finally spoke, "Damn¡­ I don''t know if that was more scary or more sexy." "Yeah¡­ I can see the evil villain, but I can also see the woman who should be addressed as ''Mistress'' there." Hera felt her ears starting to burn as her cheeks turned red, "C''mon guys, it was just a joke." "I know, and don''t worry. That won''t work with us, guides, I mean. We can''t feel that kind of love or attraction to you all. But use that one for someone you like. I think it will work," Fritz opened the door, "Now, welcome to my slice of heaven! All DIY." "You made all this?" Daskka walked inside, crossing the tribal-looking door. The outside of Fritz''s house had very much that feeling of being made in someone''s backyard. The entire place was made of logs tied together with vines and some sap to cover some open spots. The roof was also made of wood, but some very large palm leaves were woven together like cloth. There were three layers of that roof, each in a different direction which seemed to be a great idea to stop rain from coming inside. But that left Hera wondering, was there any rain in this place? Unable to figure that out, she walked inside and saw that the entire place was very different from what it looked like outside. For one, it was much, much larger. When walking from the beach, the hut looked to be, maybe, 5 meters wide at most, but the interior was well over 50 meters wide and across. All split into several sections, one central area with several pillows on the ground, a TV space on the left with some video game controllers, there was an enormous kitchen on the back, and even a small saltwater lake for him to swim around if he wanted. Everything was split with curtains that could change colors to let people see the shadows from the other side or to stop the light completely. The walls had a similar wooden look, but the only thing that followed what it looked like outside was the color of the wood. Instead of the round logs, the inside had actual planks that were much better-taken care of and set up. "This is all DIY?" Hera gasped. "Yep. Well, not everything. The water is not, and neither are the electronics. But I weaved the cloths, cut the wood, and even painted the ceiling baby blue with homemade paint. The pillows I just made with magic and then weaved the actual covers," Fritz said while puffing his¡­ chest? "Hang on¡­ when you say DIY, what do you mean exactly? I remember Peaches saying you can just make anything." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Yeah, so I created the materials, the wood, the cloth, the threads, etc. And then, I cut, stitched, and nailed everything together to make this place. I also dug that lake and all that. So you can say I just created the materials and made the rest myself." "That is seriously impressive, this place looks great," Daskka smiled. "Yeah, it does. It has that feeling of old tribal societies with some modern touch," Hera nodded, remembering the time she sold a book about the history of tents to a camping aficionado. "That was exactly what I was going for! The last person I spoke with was from one tribe like that. Can''t say more about it, but that''s where the inspiration came from. And making concrete is sooooo annoying. There Is just too much stuff to make it work, and if the ratio is not right, it won''t settle like you want to, or it will settle too quickly and blah," Fritz blew raspberries and took a deep breath before continuing, "But I am pretty happy with this. And I still do some DIY when other guides ask me. It''s kind of a hobby of mine," he walked to the fridge, "Do you want something to drink? I have soda, wine, coffee, water, tea, whatever you want." "I would love a very cold soda, orange, or pineapple flavor if possible," Daskka replied. "Honestly, that sounds lovely. If it''s not too much trouble. And do the other guides ask for big projects like a house?" Fritz walked back with three glasses floating behind him. One with orange soda, one with pineapple soda, and another with grape soda for himself, "Not a house. They usually ask for furniture, a new rustic balcony, or a gazebo. Stuff like that. I made a really cool table for board games, but it was a bit too analog for a few people. They rather use something with sensors and holograms, but I never figured out circuits," he gave them the drinks and stopped for a moment before groaning, "Fine, fine. Ok, so we have to start the questions. The system is nagging me about it." "Oh, sure," Hera took a sip of the orange soda while Daskka drank the pineapple one, "Can I start, or do you have to make the timer?" Fritz clicked his claw, and a piece of cloth appeared behind him, going all the way to the ceiling. There were some numbers there counting 5 minutes, starting from the bottom like a ruler, "The sun will mark the time. As the light hits the cloth, it will tell you how much time you have left. Oh, and don''t worry, it''s not really the sun, just something that happens in here. I can also control the weather and time of day. But it''s just a visual thing. I''m not speeding up time or anything. Not even we can do that." Hera nodded, "Got it. So, first question. Is it really a high tide that will be a problem for us here? Since it''s inside one of the shells, it feels like there is something more to it. I mean, sure, flooding the place is a problem, but we will be in a closed space. How can there be such a high tide?" "Ah, no. You got it wrong. The high tide is on the other side. Here is more of a pressure problem. The shells have some magic that only affects ocean water. Well, some other things too, but I can''t talk about that. You don''t have enough time, anyway. Basically, the water inside the shells gets the same pressure as the deep sea. On the shell you guys are going to, it will be like¡­ around a depth of about 2 thousand meters after the shell is completely full. To put it in perspective, that is about the same depth that whales dive when they are looking for food." "Oh, crap. So we would turn into jelly," Hera gasped. "Yep, that''s why when the tide gets high here, the doorway is inactive. While on the other side, it works all the time, but the tide there can become a problem. There is where the current is so strong that people who try to fight it usually die." "Is it that bad? Are we going to be ok?" "Oh yeah. The room is¡­ weird. There are a couple of underwater whirlpools around that make the water very dangerous. Only a few areas are suited for living beings. But, once every blue moon, the movement of the waters ends up stopping those whirlpools, and it takes a while for them to regain their strength. That''s your window. That''s why you will be able to get there and move around without too much trouble." "And how long do we have?" Hera asked. "Realistically, about four hours. Then you will have around 30 minutes to get out of the water in the other room." "Ok.. I''ll push it for us to go in two hours or so. I don''t like the idea of cutting it so close." Fritz nodded, "Yeah, that''s a good call," he glanced back, seeing that there were still about 2 minutes left, the sun was still high in the sky, but it was already starting to move to the horizon, "Do you have other questions? Maybe about this room?" "Well. I don''t know. I can''t think of anything that we can use now. I''m sorry. I''m sure there is a bunch of fun stuff here, but we didn''t have a chance to explore." "I have a question, then. Can I ask?" Daskka spoke up. "Sure," Hera turned to Fritz, "Is that ok?" "Absolutely. As long as you say it''s ok." "Then Daskka, go ahead." "If you didn''t have much time but wanted to find one thing interesting about this room. What would it be?" Fritz smiled, "Ooh, I like that one. Can I use up all the time left?" "Of course," Hera nodded. "Then¡­. Head a bit south, to the left of where we are. Find a shell with a green streak on the outside. I don''t mean the one that looks like green, the one you know it''s green. Go inside and look around, there is something really fun there. It''s up to you to find it, but it shouldn''t take more than 30 minutes. That''s all I can say about it." Hera smiled," You really know how to make a girl curious." "To me, that''s the job. Being a guide, I should just give you some tantalizing information to lead you in the right direction," Fritz smiled back. "You are doing a great job at it. And thank you very much for bringing us here. This place is amazing." "Thank you for coming by. Are you two finished with your drinks?" "One moment," Daskka dunked her head inside the glass and finished her pineapple soda, "I''m done." "Me too," Hera passed the cups to Fritz, "It was delicious." "Those are brands we use. But the taste is very similar to the ones you guys made. Without all the additives." "That''s pretty cool," Hera looked around, "Should we go back to the beach?" "You should, after all, your friends are there. We are already outside." Without Hera even realizing it, she was already back at the cave, and Fritz was in front of her with his shell on his back. "That felt much better," Hera gasped. "I figured. Now, you better go, you have a lot to do today. It was amazing to see you, and I hope I can talk to you in the future again." "Of course, you can. It was my absolute pleasure. And your house is amazing." With that, Fritz walked back inside the tunnel while Hera left. She wanted to give everyone a head''s up before searching for ''something really fun'' that Fritz mentioned. 689 - Ghost in the Shell "What are we looking for again?" Blue asked. "For a shell with a green streak on it," Hera replied. She had already told everyone that she might have found a clue to something interesting. However, most of the party was enjoying their break, with Blue and Alex being the only ones who wanted to join her. "How about that one? That''s kind of green," Alex pointed at a giant shell with some bits that could be green, but only when the light hit it the right way. "No, the information I got talked about something you know it''s green. That felt definitive like it was something you would look at and don''t feel any doubt about it being green," Hera looked around. They''ve been walking south for the last 10 minutes, and according to Fritz, she should take, at most, 30 minutes to find whatever he talked about. She wasn''t sure if he was counting on finding the thing and going back or not, but either way, she still had time. "Empress. I think I have found it!" Nimbus yelled from the sky. "How far?" "About¡­ 1 kilometer, I think. Armory could give a better estimate." "Don''t worry about it. Do you mind keeping an eye out up there? Just to make sure we won''t miss it." "I don''t think you can, but I don''t have any problem staying here, the weather is really nice," Nimbus said with a smile. "Zhow-off," Lurize huffed. "Are you ok big guy?" Blue poked the metallic beetle with her elbow. "Yeah. I''m fine. I would prefer not to be on a beach," he raised one of his metal feet to show how much sand was coming out of it, "That getz everywhere." "Are you sure you don''t want to stay in your weapon form? I think you would be more comfortable," Hera suggested. "If he doesn''t need to. Neither do I," Lurize gestured to Nimbus in a huff. "Ok then. You do you," Hera shook her head. They continued walking and talking for some time. The monsters in this room avoided the shells for some reason, but after hearing Fritz''s explanation, she could somewhat understand. If she lived in a place where being dragged inside one of the many, many caves around during a high tide would mean she would turn into a pebble-sized meatball, she would avoid that area too. That''s why the creatures would only appear near the smaller shells or in the paths where the ocean was much lower. Soon, they arrived at the shell Nimbus noticed, and just like Fritz said, it was obvious which one it was. Among all the shells with different shades of various faded colors, there was a single one, in a spiral going up, with a single bright green line from the entrance to the tip of the shell. "I get what you mean by really green now," Blue was looking up, trying to see the end of this cave. "Yeah. Me too," Hera looked inside the cave and used her Pulse spell to see if there was something inside. The magic kept going, spreading inside the shell and going up, but the place was empty, "There doesn''t seem to be any monsters," the Empress told the group. "And what are we looking for, exactly?" Blue asked as they walked inside the dark cave. That single line of green was also present here, and more interesting, it glowed in the dark. "I don''t know. Something unique, I think. Something different. Something that pops out," Hera replied while looking around. The ground seemed stable enough, and there were no markings on the ceiling or the wall opposite the green mark. "Something like this?" Alex moved deeper into the cave but stopped pointing at the wall where the green line became bigger. Hera walked to the side and saw what the assassin was talking about. As the line grew, there were some carvings using the negative space, where the green was no longer present, to make the outlines of the pictures. The first one was a very large and detailed crab, not like Fritz, but a real crab, filled with scars, bumps, and barnacles stuck to its body. It also had one massive serrated claw and a much smaller one. Aside from that, the first image was a regular crab. Large body with small legs and a round shell in the back. The next one was another crab, but a very different one, with massive spider-like legs and two very long arms with small pincers, its body seemed to be spotted, and there was a spiral shell on its back. All around it, there was something, strands of web or maybe a crude representation of electricity. The last of the trio was a middle ground between both. Long legs, but not as long as the second, and a large body that didn''t quite get to the size of the first one. Its pincers were different too. Instead of a pair, it had a set of five, two on each side and one coming from the top of its body, almost like a horn. All the legs also seemed to have some spikes on what would be their knees. Once more, he had a shell on its back, but this one looked different. It was bulbous and had bumps in the round parte and a thin long protuberance that was leaning on top of its head, almost as if it was an antennae. Behind them all was a set of empty shells very similar to the ones they saw outside. Moving forward, they saw the same three crabs again, but they were a bit smaller, and the shells were different. On a closer inspection, Hera also noticed small details that had changed from the previous version. The serrated claw of the first one was a bit less aggressive, and the barnacles were smaller. The last one knee spikes were smaller, while the second one still looked the same, with the only difference being the size. "Are they¡­ the same?" Blue asked. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "It looks like it," Alex touched the drawings, half expecting to trigger a trap, but nothing happened. ''Look at the shells. Aren''t those in the first picture the ones they are using in the second picture? On top of the rest?'' Dao pointed at the second picture and then to the spots in the first one where the second shells were. "You''re right! This is weird. Is it like a timeline? And we are seeing the end of it?" Hera turned to the others, but Blue and Alex didn''t hear what Dao said. Quickly explaining that they turned back to the first drawing before confirming. "Yeah, this looks like those shells. What about the next one?" Blue rushed deeper into the cave. "Is there a next one?" Alex followed along. In fact, there wasn''t just a single extra picture, but several. Each showed the three crabs in different sizes, almost like this was a record of their growth. Eventually, other crabs started to appear. They also had their own unique features, but it was something different from the three, who lasted till the end. Just smaller or larger limbs, maybe some markings on the shells, or an extra limb. Every single one of the crabs followed the same pattern, they would appear in the image with a shell, and in the next one, they would see them with a different shell than they could now find in the previous picture. It seemed like they were moving the opposite way, which made this even more confusing. Despite that, it was very well made. Each carving had consistency with one another, and the details were very well put together. Eventually, they all reached the end of the drawings, where a consortium of crabs appeared, all without any shells moving to the beach in search of their home. "Is this how it ends? Or starts?" Blue looked deeper inside the cave, where there was still a large chunk of this green mark but now without any drawings. "What are you talking about? There is one more drawing," Hera tilted her head. She could perfectly see one last picture. "What? This is empty, Hera," Alex turned to her with a confused expression. "No, it''s not," Hera walked in front of the picture and tried to touch it, but unlike the rest, the grooves here were smooth, like they were actually not there. Paying a bit more attention, she realized that she wasn''t looking at some carvings, at least not in the regular sense of the word. Instead of it being something that was engraved on the wall, it was made with mana. She followed the line with her finger until she reached the center of the picture, where her nail got caught on something. She put a little bit of pressure, and a small oyster shell popped out in her hand. It was only one-sided and completely made out of rock, and it had the same green color where all of the pictures were represented. Just as that happened, the mana that was creating the picture glowed and carved the entire path with the last picture. Hundreds of small crabs were all looking at one another on top of a small platform. This apparent leader crab was showing them all the shell that Hera had just got, which was now a hole in the same shape. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Green Shell A material that can be used to increase the defense of any equipment by 40% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I think it''s showing the first crab to get a shell?" Alex was confused, just like everyone else. "Yeah. It''s a material, and that kind of makes¡­" before Hera could finish her sentence, the crabs in that last picture started to move. They popped out of the carvings like a messed up game of whack-a-mole and started skittering on the ground, climbing over the three women''s legs. Blue yelped and started trying to push them away, but her hand passed right through the crabs, "Are those freaking ghosts?" "I don''t fucking know!" Alex gasped, stepping away. Hera tried her best not to be creeped out and to understand what was going on. Since she constantly had Daskka around her neck and could summon around 30 snakes on a whim, her stomach was a bit stronger when dealing with ''creepy crawlers.'' She focused on the leader, who was walking in the air and getting close to her. When it turned to the side, it was clear to see one big difference between this crab and the others. This one had a shell on his back. The exact same shell that was currently on her hand. Eventually, the leader crab got close to her hand and just stared at the shell. The Empress couldn''t help herself and placed the shell in her hand on top of the crab. It was like a piece of a puzzle, a spot that fit perfectly, and she had to do it. The moment the green shell was let go on top of the leading crab, everything stopped. All the crabs stopped moving and jumped back to the carving. The leader shook its body, and the shell dropped to the side. That''s when it used its tiny serrated claw to grab the shell and place it back on Hera''s hand. Now instead of green, it had a transparent Viridian tint. Hera read the description of the item and couldn''t help but smile, "Ok, this is cool." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ghostly Shell of the Reef Amulet Very rare Level Requirement: 28 When active, it envelops the user and all its equipment in a coral barrier that increases all defensive capabilities by 25% Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 24 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What is it?" Blue asked before Alex, and she checked the information themselves, "Now that''s just stupid. We go inside a cave, and you get something like that?" "I mean, she was the one who found out about this," Alex sighed. "Yeah, but who would put the shell on the ghost? That doesn''t make any sense," Blue looked back to the carving that now was gone, even the shell-shaped hole was nowhere to be seen, "Can I get one too?" she started poking around, trying to take out a piece of shell. "Blue, those things usually don''t work like that," Hera put a hand on her friend''s shoulder, but to everyone''s surprise, another green shell popped out in her hand. "Ha! I got it," the controller celebrated. "Wait¡­ does that mean¡­" Alex just looked at the carving that appeared again, and after a few moments, the crabs all popped out and started crawling over them all one more time, "Just do the thing already!" Blue repeated the same process that Hera did, and just like the first shell, the second one was improved as well. She tried again, but this time, the moment she took out the green shell from the wall, the one she had turned to sand. Alex also tried, and she got one, but subsequent attempts resulted in the shell they already had destroyed. Lurize also tried, but the moment he took the shell, the one in Hera''s possession was gone. "We should call everyone else, right? You said we had a few hours," Alex turned to Hera. "Yeah, I don''t think this is something anyone is going to pass up," Hera nodded as they walked out of the shell cave. "We are telling them how to get this upgrade, but not about the ghost crabs climbing over you, right?" Blue asked when they reached the beach. "Of course. What''s the fun in letting them know everything?" Hera said with a smile. 690 - Golden Dragon Archipelago "I still can''t believe you two!" Bonnie gasped, staring at Hera and Alex. "What? It was funny," Alex shrugged. "To be honest, I didn''t expect you to fall, but then again, it''s not my fault," Hera held a chuckle. "They went inside my mouth, and one of them pinched my nose!" "That was awesome," Blue laughed. "Shut up!" "That''s right. Why are you blaming only Hera and me? Blue was also a part of it," Alex turned to Bonnie. "You can''t expect anything from that one," the researcher pointed at Blue, "I expect the two of you to be more mature." "Says the one complaining about a prank," Shane mumbled. "What?!" Bonnie glared at the enchantress. "Oh, c''mon. It was funny. No one was expecting it, and no one got hurt. You only fell down and didn''t even get a scrape. Our attributes are strong enough to handle that kind of thing. You don''t need to be such a bad sport," Shane continued. "You only say that because you can enchant that shell to be stronger." "That has nothing to do with anything. And I don''t see you dropping the shell you got." "I went through all that. I''m getting the reward," Bonnie huffed. "I, for one, enjoyed that. Having the crabs move around my hair felt surprisingly good. Like a dozen hands going through it," Helena had her eyes closed, remembering the sensation as they walked inside the cave where the doorway was. The tide was still low, but it was already rising. During the last hour, the water went from being about 50 meters away from the shells to being just 20 meters away. They should still have a lot of time since, according to Shane, the time limit was when the entire shell was filled with water all the way to the top, which should still take at least one hour. This also meant that, on the other side, they would have close to two hours to get out of the water before the current became too strong. "Hey, I found the doorway," Mylo called. They didn''t walk much, but it looked like this was a very small cave, and they had already reached the end. "Is it the right one? I don''t know, this feels weird," Shane looked around, trying to find another doorway or a path leading somewhere deeper. "What is the name of the room we are going to?" Helena asked. "Golden Dragon Archipelago," Shane was still searching for another path. "Then this is it," Mylo pointed at the pure white doorway. It had the image of a dragon sleeping on a pond above the doors. "Fuck, this really is it. I mean¡­ the information I got made it seem like this was a deep cave. I guess I''m just disappointed," Shane shrugged and walked towards the doorway, but before they could touch it, Alex spoke up. "Hey, before we go. Are we sure we are safe on the other side? I mean, in theory, the MAZE will never drop us in a place where we can instantly die. Right? But if Hera and Shane are right, we could die if we cross that doorway at the wrong time. Isn''t that weird?" Everyone took a moment to think about that, but when no one seemed to have any answers, they all turned to Helena. "What? I don''t know," the mage crossed her arms. "You usually have some knowledge about this kind of thing. I mean, aside from Adriel, you are the oldest member of the group, and that''s just because no one knows how old he is," Bonnie turned to Alex, who just shook her head. Following that, everyone turned to the elf. "I don''t know either. It is weird but not unheard of. Some of the people I know talked about similar situations. I just don''t know what exactly that means." Hera stopped to think for a moment, "Maybe¡­ Maybe the whole deal is that the MAZE won''t drop us where we will die right away. But it can still send us to a dangerous place. Remember the doorway we took to Boothudurn, Blue?" "I remember what you told me. I was out during that time." "Right, so it was inside a cave that was slowly being filled with lava. From the moment the cave showed up, the doorway should be active, and even when we crossed, if there was anyone on the other side, they could have gone from Boothudurn to that cave. But it wasn''t safe, just safe for the moment, since eventually, lava would fill everything. The Red Dunes were the same thing but on a different scale." "What do you mean?" Shane asked. "Well, it was very hot, and there was no water anywhere. If we left the mines and went there without any supplies, we would''ve died. But one way or another, the MAZE put us in a safe place. It''s not its fault we died right after arriving. The same thing might apply here. It probably won''t make us appear right where the current is strong, but to get out of wherever we are, we will need to pass through it," Hera finished her thought. "That¡­ actually makes a lot of sense. And it fits very well with what we know," Helena nodded. "Look at you being all explorery and finding stuff out," Blue patted Hera''s back. "You do realize she just got all of us a very good item, don''t you? If this is being explorery, then what was that?" Bonnie scoffed. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "I don''t know. It was something," Blue shrugged and walked to the doorway, "Can I?" "Let me go first. I think I''m the one who knows better what to expect. Wait for, like, one minute, then cross," Shane said as she touched the doorway. Her form started to glow softly and become transparent before vanishing in just a few seconds. Despite the possible danger, no one was feeling too worried. They already knew that the Golden Dragon Archipelago had no monsters, but it also had no food, so the rations they had would need to suffice until they reached the next room. After getting inside, Hera would have to make sure to call the guide to learn more about the place. In her mind, something with that name had to be interesting. The minute went by in a flash, and they all started to move to the next room. Mylo first, then the rest. When it was Hera''s turn, she called back Daskka and her entire court before touching the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Golden Dragon Archipelago - 18th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She touched the yes button, and that familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water washed over her. She was enjoying that moment only to be snapped out of it when a cold wave washed over her body. The impact made her bump into someone and slip into the wet rock, falling into the ocean. Despite the current not being insanely strong, the sea wasn''t completely calm, and the Empress could feel herself being dragged by the current. She could still fight against it, but only to delay the inevitable. "Hera!" a voice reached her ears, but before seeing who it was, another wave came crashing down. ''Nimbus! Go out of the water and be ready to catch me!'' the Empress yelled in her mind as the bladed tonfas flew off before transforming into their bipedal form. ''I''m ready!'' the Sentinel yelled. Hera covered her body in fire elemental armor, using the flames to push herself out of the water. It wasn''t enough to make her fly off, but she was able to raise her body enough for Nimbus to grab her by the shoulders and fly up. In the air, he tossed the Empress up and changed to his griffon form. Hera coughed for a moment, spitting out the water that she had almost swallowed. Only then she stopped to look around. The doorway was located on a tiny platform of rocks. Bonnie, Shane, Mylo, Helena, and Adriel were all there, almost hugging each other so as not to fall into the sea. This place was mostly water, but there were massive pillars of stone rising up to the sky, covered in some weird orange-ish moss. Going towards one of those pillars, there were two figures. One of them running in the air and the other flying on a dark storm cloud. "Hera! Can Nimbus take someone else along?" Shane yelled, her voice barely reaching the Empress, thanks to the crashing waves. "Not to fly that high. I can go there and send him back," Hera yelled back, getting a confirming nod from the Griffon. "Ok. Then can you hurry? Blue said she was going to look for a place to make a bridge to, but she can''t make us go up," Bonnie added. "Are you guys ok? Do you need anything?" the Empress asked as Nimbus moved to the side, to where Alex and Blue were going. "I''m keeping us all together with my shadows. Sorry, I wasn''t fast enough to catch you," Helena said. "Don''t worry," Hera turned around, telling Nimbus to move as fast as he could. But before she was out of earshot, she was able to hear the party''s conversation. "Can''t your wasp thing help us here?" Adriel turned to the mage. "No, it can walk and hover but not actually fly. How about your drones." "They are not in a configuration that lets them get that high. I need space and time for that," Adriel replied. Nimbus didn''t move slowly, but Hera was still able to take in the sights. The entire room was made out of those gigantic pillars rising hundreds of meters above the water. She could see some caves and openings that could lead somewhere, but the top of those mountains was mostly flat. Between the gray of the rocks and stones, the Empress could also see that orange moss-looking growth peppered everywhere. The more Nimbus raised the height he was flying, the more pillars Hera could see. She wasn''t entirely sure, but it seemed like there were dozens of them, maybe even hundreds. However, this wasn''t the right moment for looking around. In less than ten minutes, the Sentinel, who was moving at his top speed, reached the plateau of one of the pillars ahead of Blue, but after, Alex had already landed and was now currently sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. "You know¡­ That whole wind walk thing¡­ Is harder than it looks¡­ Especially when¡­ If I stop¡­ I''ll die," the assassin said between breaths. "I can imagine that," Hera dismounted Nimbus and immediately gave him a Royal Quest, "Take 2 and a half million mana and go take the others. Bring them one at a time up here. I''ll send the rest of the court out to make the conga line, so you don''t have to use that much mana for being away." "As you command, Empress," Nimbus kissed her hand to get the mana before returning to his Griffon form and flying off. Hera called her court right away and told them to spread out in a line, keeping on the limit of her range using the magnets so her mana wouldn''t be drained. Even Armory and Scythe had to move out. She trusted her court and believed they would follow what she said, but Viper and Crimson still were acting like overactive children, which led her to give them all an order not to go beyond the limit of the magnet range but to stay as close to Nimbus as possible. Soon Blue also arrived at the top of this mountain, and as the minutes passed, one by one, the rest of the team arrived with the help of Nimbus. Helena ended up being the last one since she had the ability to hold on to the rocks, thanks to her shadow grabbers. This was a part of her kit that didn''t change even with the light abilities she had. It took about 1 hour to get everyone up there, and strangely enough, the ocean seemed to become less violent with time. But as a test, Shane had tossed a rock, enchanted to glow, only to see it being swept away in the current very quickly. From what they understood, the waves were more frequent when the current was weak, but when it became stronger, the ocean would seem calm on the surface even with the storm raging underwater. The doorway they used was an exception to that, however. Maybe because of its location in the middle of the current''s path, but waves would constantly crash against the rocks trying to push anyone who was there into the water. After one of the said waves, Helena noticed something in the rocks, just beneath the surface, but she was unable to see as the shadow cast by the mountains was too intense. Now, with the party on top of one of the pillars, the group took a moment to check if everyone was doing well and looked at the sun, which was starting to set. "Oh¡­This is amazing," Adriel had his back facing the sun, looking over the rest of the room. Hearing that, everyone got curious and followed his eyes. Just as the light hit the rocks, they could see in between the gray and orange of the room where the name of this place came from. Every single one of them was sure that they were looking at the pillars, but from this angle, with the sun reflecting in the water, they could see a massive golden dragon sleeping on its side, formed by the mountains and its reflection in the seemingly calm water. Some of the pillars formed the structure of the wings, whit the light coming from the orange spots filling in for the sails. The rocks looked like scales baked in golden sunlight, and the nostrils were two caves of different sizes that, on the angle they were looking at, seemed to have the same dimensions, even if one of them was much further away. Being in the face of such a wild and beautiful sight made Hera smile. This was the exact reason why she wanted to be an explorer. 691 - Last piece of the puzzle After the sunset, the group made a few lights on top of this pillar while Hera worked on making a place for them to stay. Nimbus did try to find a cave nearby where he could just fly to drop everyone off, but unfortunately, the only cave close by was almost at the bottom of this cliff. The Sentinel could try flying everyone there, and maybe, with the help of the rest of the court, he could make all those trips, but it was likely that he would lose the remainder of the mana Hera gave him either in the last trip or as he was coming back to pick up the Empress. He considered taking two people, plus Hera, down since it should be possible to carry two people as long as he wasn''t trying to get higher. But that also was a gamble, especially when considering Mylo. In the end, everyone agreed that it was better not to do that today, especially since they would have to figure something else out for the morning. They couldn''t depend on Hera and Nimbus to move between the pillars all the time. If they did that, they could only move one pillar a day, and in a place with hundreds, they would take way too long to reach the next doorway. In the end, they decided to sleep on top of the mountain, despite the intense cold and winds, and this was why Hera was making a house. Another thing they were trying to do was to light a fire or a way to warm themselves, but no flame could withstand the open air in this place. The Empress, on the other hand, had no problems with that, thanks to her fire elemental armor. She did offer to use the spell on the rest of the group, but since she never tried doing that with others before, it would take some time to test it out, and they asked her to just finish up the house so they could warm themselves some other way. Hera didn''t take long to finish a place for them to sleep, which was just a hole in the ground instead of a large structure. She felt it was better to lower the floor than to raise something that could break down because of the wind. "So we are sleeping out in the open?" Bonnie asked as Hera told everyone she was done. "What? No. I made a full thing down there. We don''t have a door, though. Come," Hera gestured for everyone to come down the hole and showed the underground bunker she created. It was just a large room with a single entrance, but it wasn''t too deep. In a worst-case scenario where it caved in, they wouldn''t be buried in stone, just mildly annoyed and injured. "Can you make just a stone slab? We can prop it against the opening to keep it closed," Blue suggested. "Sure. I can also just make a sliding door, but unless someone else can shape rocks, I think I''m the only one who can open it," Hera showed how she could make the entrance. "I can probably open it too, but then that''s it. Enchanting the walls to grow wouldn''t work all that well," Shane looked over, "But I can do this," she touched the floor and made it become warm. Not too much, just enough to keep the place comfortable. "Oh, this is brilliant," Helena said with a smile, "But if we are going to heat up food, we should do it outside. Just in case." "Good call, and honestly, I think we should just rest. It''s not like we can do anything right now," Adriel looked around, "I want to change the configuration of my drones. I think I can make it capable of taking two, maybe three people and at least keep the altitude we are at." "How confident are you in doing that?" Alex turned to the elf. "Like¡­ 90%. Maybe a bit less. I''m more worried about the winds than anything else. But after I tweak some stuff, I think they will be able to stay still even by themselves." "Is there a danger you might lose your relic doing that?" Hera asked. "I mean¡­ Maybe. But I''ll be careful. Also, the relic itself has a return function, kind of like an eject button. Only the core comes back to me, but it''s better than losing it," Adriel took out his drones and showed the small piece that would jump back to him if anything were to happen. "Also, if he loses the relic, he can make another one. You have the crafter role, right?" Shane turned to Adriel. "Yeah. You got the blueprint, too, didn''t you? If you ever lose or break your relic, you can make a new one as long as you find the right materials and use enough mana," Adriel was focused on the drones and how to change them to fit what he wanted. Instead of the trio, he was merging them all into one, using the extra rotating engines to create almost a barrier around the new drone. Those side fans would fight off against the wind currents and stabilize the drone, but it was something he would only test out in the morning. Doing that in the middle of the night didn''t seem like a good idea. As they were getting ready to sleep, Shane went outside to ''do her thing'' and get some directions to the next room. Hera used a soundproof bubble to make an area where she could talk without problems before heading back down. It didn''t take long for the enchantress to get back with a somewhat frustrated expression. "Is everything ok?" Mylo asked. "Yeah. I just got less information than I had hoped. Hera, I''m going to need your help. Can you come outside?" Shane was leaning on the entrance, which was still wide open without the slab that would be a door. "Sure," Hera walked out, climbing up the makeshift steps and back to the top of the pillar with Shane right beside her, "So, what is the problem?" Shane gestured around, asking for a soundproof bubble, and Hera obliged, "Right, so, here is the thing. I got the directions to the doorway and one extra piece of information. Well, two, actually. First, we can only use that doorway after we complete a specific dungeon in this room. And that there is only one dungeon here, but I couldn''t get any more information about it. Apparently, that was everything they could tell me. Like, I get it, but it does feel a bit frustrating." "Oh, that''s fine. I can use my questions to find the dungeon. Don''t worry about it." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Yeah. Thanks, by the way. Also, this is a big one. The next room will be in a place where we can find people. Like, not random people, but our people. Our civilization." "Really? We are that close to home?" Hera gasped. "Yeah, but I don''t know where we will end up. We might need to travel for a few more days or weeks to get back to any place we knew. Or we might just be a day away. " "Either way, that''s great. And, in the worst-case scenario, we can just leave the MAZE and take a plane back home. Or to Brilansis since it''s the closest place to Boothudurn." "That''s true. It''s just going to be annoying to get our gear through customs. That is always a pain in the ass." "Really?" "Oh yeah. You never traveled with your equipment to a new guild, have you?" "No." "Yeah, it''s annoying. You need special suitcases and then write down all the information about your items, then pay an extra fee for traveling with them. Not to mention the special locks. And even after all that, sometimes the company loses your luggage, and that is a whole new can of worms. Not something I want to deal with again. But, it might be better to do that than to have to spend weeks traveling just to get back to the Royal Explorers," Shane let out a long sigh, "Anyway, I''ll make sure no one comes up. Call the guide, and I''ll see you soon." "Thanks, I''ll do that," Hera smiled and called her court to be on the lookout. Then, she took out her Safety Cube and activated it while still inside the soundproof bubble. When the dark cube appeared around her, she called out for the guide, "I call upon the guide of the Golden Dragon Archipelago. As an explorer, I''ve proven that my motives are pure." At first, nothing happened, but then she noticed small lights coming from the sky. That was weird since she was inside a safety cube, and above her, there was nothing but darkness. But it matched the room itself since there was no moon here. Yet, the lights continued to fall as if they were coming from someplace beyond. Slowly, those small specks started to approach, and Hera slowly realized that they weren''t just lights but paper lights, or at least miniature versions of them. Some would look like they were from a Chinese festival, others had a more Western look to them, and even a couple very colorful diamond-shaped lanterns that were Brazilian in origin. When Blue traveled there, she came back showing pictures, and those were part of one of the festivals they had.. Suddenly, something seemed to jump from one light to the next, then the next, and the next. Until it jumped towards Hera, spinning on a sextuple somersault before landing with its back to the Empress. They had a long body in a mix of gold and red before turning to her, revealing a face that could only be described as a Chinese new year''s dragon. He jumped around a few times, dancing and keeping with the festive theme until he stopped with his mouth open close to Hera. There was some white fur under his chin, like a beard that formed in a big smile. His eyes were blue, and he had short stubby golden horns. The Empress half expected someone to pop out from inside his mouth, yet, the dragon started speaking. "Hi there! You are Hera, right? I mean, I already know your name. But the others say that asking is polite, but it just sounds like nonsense. I mean, you know that I know your name, so asking again feels like we are both being made fun of," the dragon didn''t stay still as he talked. He moved from side to side as his large head kept facing Hera. "Yeah, now that I think about it, that does feel a bit weird," Hera nodded. "I know, right?! Anyway, I''m Tailou! Nice to meet you!" the new year''s dragon said happily. "Nice to meet you too. I know you know, but I''m Hera. And this is Daskka," she gestured to her herald. "Now that part I get. It makes sense for you to introduce yourself. That''s the polite thing to do," Tailou nodded. "I agree," Hera smiled. "Now, do you have a question in mind, or are you just looking for the information Shane is missing?" "Honestly, the information first; if I have time, then I have other questions." "Ok then, here. This is where you will find the dungeon. It''s the only one in the room, and it''s called ''The Last Moonless Night,''" Tailou showed the map that Hera currently had available to her and the mark where the dungeon was located. They weren''t that far away from it, but it was still on a different pillar, "You need to come to the left and see one of the caves close to the top. There are three caves. You need to go to the left if you are looking from here," he pointed to a different spot to make clear which cave was. "The Last Moonless Night. Is this why we don''t have a moon here?" Hera asked. "It''s related, but it''s not the same thing. You guys came on a weird day. Today there is an eclipse where the moon doesn''t show up. This happens once every 3 months. When one of the moons has no light and passes through the second one." "Second one?" Hera asked. "Yeah, we have two moons here." "Oh? This is cool," Hera smiled. "It''s super cool!" Tailou nodded vigorously. There was a pause before the Empress continued, "Do I have any time for more questions, or this is it? Actually, no. First, is this all the information I can get about the dungeon?" "That and that you will stay there for a few days, but you can get food inside, so don''t worry about that, for your first question. You don''t have time, but you can ask me one question. I wish I could give you more, but that''s the limit. Oh, and don''t get anything too complicated." Hera looked down at Daskka, "I''m going to take a page out of your book," she turned back to Tailou, "If there was one thing about this room you could tell me, what would it be?" Tailou stopped and opened a broad smile, "One thing? I would say¡­ if you wait until both moons are full and overlap, you might find out what happened at the end of the dungeon." "How long will it be until then?" "Around two weeks." "Ok, we also need to complete the dungeon before leaving this room, right? Is that a one-time thing, or do I have to complete it every time I come here?" "You need to complete it every time you come here," Tailou nodded. "Humm¡­ Ok, I''m not sure I will be able to do that soon, but I''ll try." "I think you might have a chance sooner than you imagine. But this is all the time you have, unfortunately. I''m sorry I wasn''t able to tell you anything else. Can I talk to you later?" "Don''t worry about it. It was lovely to meet you, and of course, you can talk to me later. I want to have a party with all the guides I know once this whole thing is over." "Oooh, I would love that. Laika and Nina talked about the last party they went to at your place, that seemed like a lot of fun!" "You already know them? That''s even better. I''ll be sure to invite them too." "Ok, but now I have to go. Thanks for everything, and¡­ take care of Luna," with that, the new year''s dragon jumped into the darkness and vanished in a firework. Hera gave it a minute before dropping the spell and going back to their temporary house. Now that they knew where the dungeon was located, all they had to do was beat it and go back home. 692 - Flying Coach "Ok, everyone ready?" Adriel looked around. "I mean, we will do our best, but it''s pretty windy here," Alex scratched her head. "I know, I think it will work, but if the drone is swept away, I ask you guys to try catching it. Maybe Nimbus could try to reach it if it goes over the edge," Adriel turned to Hera and Nimbus. "I can try, but if they go too fast, I wouldn''t be able to catch it," the Sentinel changed to his griffon form to make sure he would move as fast as he could. "As we talked about. I gave him a Royal Quest with all of my mana. But remember that if he moves too far away, that might be a problem to carry people to other pillars," Hera added before stepping to the side and getting into her position. Everyone was forming a circle around the elf and his now single drone. That way, if the wind blew it in any direction, they would have a chance to stop it. Adriel took a deep breath before he activated his relic, bringing the rotors to life. Increasing the power, the drone lifted from the ground but was instantly pushed to the side. Thankfully, it didn''t shift too much, moving just about a meter to the side, before stopping as the strength of the fans increased enough to fight against the wind on top of the pillar. With a smile, he started to test some things. First, he stepped on top of the makeshift helicopter to see if it would be able to handle his weight. Then moved around, still just a few centimeters above the ground. Only when he felt confident enough that he slowly moved out of the pillar with Nimbus flying by his side, just in case something happened. When the elf finally moved his flying device to open air and was able to maintain its height, everyone let out a large sigh. With that stress out of the way, he started making more tests, including to see how much weight the drones could handle, but since now they knew that plan was working, Hera started to pay attention to other things. More specifically, the sounds. She could hear the motors of the relic and the voices of her friends, but aside from that, the only thing that reached her ears were the crashing waves against the pillars. By itself, that wouldn''t be odd, but the heavy wind should be making some noise. Yet, it was completely silent. She stepped closer to the edge, asking Lurize to hold her hand to stop her from falling as she leaned over, but she couldn''t see anything aside from the water far, far below. Not even fog or something between the top of this pillar and the ocean. Now that she realized this, another thing became evident. There were no clouds here. For some reason, the entire room was just that, an ocean with hundreds of pillars climbing into a cloudless sky. She also noticed the odd orange moss she had seen the previous day growing on the side of the cliff. Taking advantage of the situation where Adriel was now making some tests related to how much weight the drone could handle, she called Nimbus over to gather some of that moss. To their surprise, it wasn''t actual vegetation but a sort of magnetized mineral that latched onto other types of rocks, behaving almost like some sort of ferrofluid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Liquid Vitrine A material that gathers in places with an abundance of light, seawater, and specific minerals. This material can be attracted to other minerals and has a behavior similar to that of a parasite, absorbing other minerals to grow itself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Making a weapon out of this might be interesting," Hera said to herself before the rest of the party called her over. Adriel was done with all the tests, and there was only one left, "Here is the deal, the drones can hold two people and move slowly but on their own, or three people but only manage to keep the height. So, we can either make four trips to move us between here and wherever we need to be. Or two trips if Nimbus can drag us behind." "But do we even know where we are going? Also, does Ruby count as a person?" Bonnie asked. "How much does she weigh?" "About five kilos." "Then no, she doesn''t count for this. But I wouldn''t put you and Mylo on the same trip. I think Helena and him would work out better. Between you, Ruby, and Shane''s gauntlet plus the bags, I think that''s how to distribute the weight better. If we are doing the two trips," Adriel continued. "Isn''t it better to do four trips? Like, I know it will take longer, but it''s better to be safe than sorry. Our endurance is not going to make us survive this fall," Hera glanced at the ocean from the middle of the pillar. "I think that''s up to you and Nimbus. The whole plan is for him to go back and forth. Right?" Adriel turned to the Empress. Nimbus, who was already in his bipedal form to gather the Liquid Vitrine, stepped forward, "That is correct. The number of trips shouldn''t be a problem. How much I''m carrying and how far we are going are the big variables." "And where are we going?" Blue got closer to Hera, already expecting to be shown the map. "Here," the Empress opened the pap on her tablet and pointed to where the dungeon was located. It was just three pillars away, but the actual distance didn''t show in her ''Treasure Map,''" Unfortunately, I have no idea how far it is, so I was thinking about going with Nimbus alone first to make sure we can get there without a problem." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Then do you mind going now?" Blue pressed. "You are really anxious, aren''t you?" Hera gave her friend a comforting smile. "Yeah. Sorry. I just really want to go home." "Don''t worry. I''ll go there now. And if you guys can make some food when I get back, I would appreciate it," the Empress was already climbing on top of Nimbus in his griffon form, "We will be right back." This time, Nimbus did take the scenic route. They flew far from the pillars and would stop when Hera noticed something in a cave or anything, but the room was simply barren. The opening on the sides of the pillars, which were prime locations for actual life, was completely empty. No markings, no signals of plants or bones from long-dead creatures, nothing. ''Something about this place doesn''t sit well with me,'' Viper shook while they were flying. The Empress asked who wanted to come out during this trip just so she could hold on to some weapons. She was also feeling uneasy about this room. ''Why do you say that?'' Crimson asked. ''Things just don''t sit well. The place looks lived in. I mean, the caves are perfect for some type of bird to make nests out of, but it''s empty. The only explanation would be that something happened with those monsters,'' Viper explained. ''And if there are no bones, that probably means they fell into the water,'' Scythe added. "Or that a monster caught them and dragged them under," Daskka was wrapped around Hera''s waist, as she would be every time Nimbus was going at high speed, with her head looking to the ocean. After a moment, she looked back to the rest of the court, who were all staring at her, "What?" "We don''t raise flags," Hera replied with a stern voice, even if she was half joking. "That wasn''t a flag. I didn''t say anything like, ''But whatever it was should be long dead,'' or ''But it''s not like it could catch Nimbus.''" Just as the herald spoke, a loud sound of splashing water echoed through the pillars, causing Nimbus to rush to the top of one of the mountains. They took a moment to look around and found out that it was one of the whirlpools in the water. It seemed like the currents made it stronger and revealed it to the outside, but that only lasted for a moment before the counter flux of water weakened it enough to hide it again. When they felt like it was safe to continue, Hera climbed on Nimbus'' back again and turned to Daskka. "You don''t talk about the water again. Deal?" "Deal!" the snake replied right away, still worried that she might have pushed their luck. Soon they arrived at the three caves where the dungeon should be located. Hera didn''t want to walk inside just in case, but she could see what the entrance was. In the back of this opening, there was a tunnel leading up. That reminded her a lot of the dungeon in the Wailing Valley, the one where she met Darni, the old Naga hero whose legacy was now in Shane''s possession. "Ok, let''s go back to the others. In a straight line this time. No detours. We need to know how long this trip will take." Nimbus just nodded and flew back to the pillar where the party slept. They had the option of going over another pillar or around it, and since they were worried about weight, he decided to circle the stone platform. It took them just a bit over 20 minutes to get back, which meant that a round trip should take 50 minutes or so, counting the time to set everything up. Maybe longer if the weight of the drones slowed the Sentinel down. When they arrived at the pillar where everyone was, the group had already prepared a meal using the rations they had. It wasn''t the best lunch, but it was better than just eating power bars. After the meal, they started their journey to the dungeon. Adriel would create a leash of sorts from the drone that could be wrapped around Nimbus so he could drag it while the relic focused on keeping the altitude. They tried to have three people on each trip, but as they started to move away from the pillar, the drones fell a few meters before Nimbus was able to pull them up. In the end, they decided that Adriel should be accompanied by only one person at a time. However, they wouldn''t need to do so many trips. The Sentinel was still doing a Royal Quest, and that would allow him to take someone else instead of Hera on his back. This would reduce the trips from 4 to 3. "Actually, there is one more thing we can try. Give me a moment," Helena stepped to the side and made a shadow bow. She notched a light arrow and stopped turning to Hera, "You said it was three pillars away. Right, sweetie?" "Yeah," Hera pulled her tablet, "We go here, then here, and here is the dungeon." "Ok, can you send that to my tablet?" "Sure." "Either way, I''ll wait for Nimbus to move to the next area," Helena smiled and drew the bow aiming high in the sky. She fired, and everyone watched as the bright white projectile moved through the air, but unfortunately, her aim was off, and it dropped before reaching the pillar, hitting the water. Helena clicked her tongue and tried again, only to overshot, making the arrow fall beyond the mountain. Her third attempt, however, was successful, and she was able to hit the middle of the pillar, which created a small glowing spot, clear for everyone to see. She turned back to the party and smiled, "See you all in the dungeon," and with a wink, she turned into light and followed the path of her arrow, arriving at the spot she hit. "Did she just¡­ teleport that far with an arrow?" Alex asked. "Yes. Yes, she did¡­" Hera said with a big smile. This seemed like the type of spell that would take a lot of mana, and something told her Helena was only able to do it because of her new skill. After all, when the mage turned to light, Hera could see the mana in her body. A mana that, despite being a shadow, was behaving as if it was light. "Well then, let''s get going then. We are going to need 2 trips now, right?" Adriel asked. "I think so. One with you, Mylo, and someone on top of Nimbus, then another with you, me, and whoever is left. Alex and Blue can get there on their own, right?" Hera turned to the two, who just nodded and started moving. Blue was fine, using her own mount to fly, while Alex would have to follow Helena''s idea and go from pillar to pillar while taking breaks in between, "I''ll stay in the last group so we don''t have to worry about Nimbus running out of mana." Having a journey that would take around 4 hours cut down to 2 made everyone feel happy, and they soon gathered in front of the dungeon, ready to attempt it. 693 - A room full of life "Thanks for the ride, Nimbus," Alex smiled as she got off the Griffon, who returned to his bipedal form immediately. "You''re welcome. And with this, I''m done. Right?" Nimbus turned to Hera. "Yeah. Everyone is here. Thank you, and sorry for working you so much," the Empress smiled apologetically. "Don''t be. I''m glad to be of service, but. Since you are already going to recall everyone as we enter the dungeon, I would like to rest for a few minutes. I''m not in peak condition anymore," the Sentinel approached Hera and kissed her hand, giving the mana back to her. He still had quite a bit left, but to complete the Royal Quest, this is what he has to do. "Of course," Hera nodded and dismissed him. "Right, so if the dungeon asks us to move around the pillars, we will need to find another way to go about that," Shane said. "Pretty much. Then again, if we were going to be dependent on Nimbus for everything, we would be in trouble," Blue walked closer to the tunnel that seemed to be the entrance of the dungeon. "We don''t even know if we are going to need to fly between the pillars. Maybe the dungeon goes on in the middle of winter with the entire ocean frozen, or maybe we will see what actually made those pillars," Hera followed the controller. "Let''s just go. It''s not like we can figure out what we will need to do from out here," Alex went along to the tunnel, but all three stopped before walking inside. They checked to see if they were all at a party using their tablets. It was thanks to this that they could join the same dungeons. Without anything else to say, they all moved forward, going inside the tunnel that headed up. Everyone created a few lights to help them see until a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the dungeon, The Last Moonless Night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I guess it doesn''t ask us if we want to enter," Adriel sighed. "Not every dungeon does," Helena tried to calm him down but was startled by a noise from above. The room was too quiet, increasing the impact of a new sound that didn''t come from the crashing waves or their own voices. "What was that?" Shane asked. "Wings, maybe?" Hera looked around, trying to hear it again but couldn''t. It seemed like whatever made that noise had stopped. "Be careful, everyone," Alex pulled her daggers, and everyone followed, getting their weapons ready. Hera, instead of calling her court, made a couple of hand axes using her Venomous Arsenal by spending 5% of her mana on each weapon. They walked slowly toward the light and the source of the sound. Once more, on top of one of the pillars, they looked around without being sure what was happening. Suddenly, a large creature came flying up from the side of the mountain. Whatever it was, it was large enough to cast a shadow over the entire party. Even so, the creature didn''t seem to care or notice the group. It just continued flying and joined another of the same types of monsters already high in the sky. "Is that... A dragon?" Alex was still staring at the large creature, which should be about 3 meters long. "No," Hera and Shane replied at the same time, making the entire party look at them. "Dragons have four legs and two wings. That one has two back legs and wings attached to the arm. It''s a wyvern," Shane pointed to another monster who was closer, and they could see their bodies better. Another thing they saw was how the creature had blue scales, "Like that one" "Is it that big of a difference?" Blue turned to the enchantress. "Yeah. Wyverns are, basically, giant flying lizards. They generally don''t have anything else going for them. Maybe some poison in the talons, but that''s it. Dragons have some type of breath weapon based on an element. They are also much smarter, and some can even talk," Hera continued. "Wyverns behave more like animals, while Dragons have big egos. Some are kind and benevolent, while others are angry and cruel. People used to think that the color of their scales would tell them what to expect, but that theory was aggressively disproven," Adriel added. "Really?" Helena turned to the elf. "Oh, yeah. Someone found a room with a yellow dragon expecting them to be kind and caring, but the creature just started attacking everyone on sight. And it wasn''t because it was afraid or anything. It was having fun. The stories are horrible," Adriel shivered. "So that''s a dragon?" Alex pointed to another creature, one much larger than the one she had seen before, with green scales, four legs, and a pair of wings. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Yep, that''s a dragon¡­ this might be harder than we expected," Shane had a worried expression. Dragons were considered powerful monsters, it didn''t matter where they appeared. Be it in a dungeon or out in the world. "Everyone, focus! We have incoming," Blue called as she saw a small silver wyvern approaching. Small by comparison, the monster was the size of a Great Dane. The wyvern came flying and tried to land but failed and tumbled forward, stopping a few meters in front of the group while rubbing its nose with one of its wings. Small tears seemed to be forming in its golden eyes. "Ouch. That hurt," the wyvern spoke before looking up to the rest of the group, "Why are you guys waiting here? You are going to miss all the good fish. Actually, I don''t think I''ve ever seen you here. I''m Luna." Hera and her friends looked at each other. They had yet to find the dungeon quest, but if a monster spoke to them, this should be a part of it. "Hi, Luna. I think you can say we are new, and we don''t know exactly what is going on," Hera spoke up. "There is nothing going on, but since everyone is starting to eat, we need to go soon, or we will end up only being able to grab the small fish. They are tasty, but it takes a lot of them to fill you up," Luna spoke, her voice was high pitched, but it shifted every now and then, like a teenager when their voice changed. "I see. And we would need to dive into the water to get it?" Hera asked. Luna giggled, "Of course. Where else did you expect to find fish?" "Aren''t the currents really strong?" Blue asked. "Not really, the sea is very quiet here." "Well¡­ Ok," Blue turned to everyone looking over to the ocean, seeing how they were all on top of a pillar, "I guess that wasn''t the biggest problem anyway." "What''s the problem then?" Luna tilted her head. "We can''t fly. We are going to need to figure out a way to go down," the controller replied absentmindedly. "Oh. Yeah, you guys look young. That makes sense. Hang on," Luna took a deep breath and puffed her cheeks. "Hera, didn''t you say Wyverns didn''t have a breath attack?" Bonnie stepped back "They are not supposed to," Hera assumed a defensive position and triggered her rock elemental armor. Luna then blew towards them. Nothing actually happened, they just felt a gust of wind, "There you go. Now you can get used to the feeling." "What did you¡­." Before Alex finished speaking, a pair of small silver wings appeared on her heel. One pair on each foot. Then, she started floating above the ground, "What is this?" "That is a way for the young ones to learn how to fly when their wings are still not strong enough," Luna turned to the rest of the party, "Each one of you will get a different kind of wing. One that is similar to the one you will get naturally." Just as the wyvern spoke, everyone else got their own wings. Blue''s was just some small clouds around her wrists, ankles, and waist. Adriel had a pair of rotating motors like the ones he used in his drone attached to his shoulder. Mylo had some lotus leaves on the back of his arms, almost as if he was wearing a carnival costume. Bonnie didn''t change at first glance, but as she moved, a silver trail of light appeared like she was a comet. Shane got some gloves and boots that worked like the propulsion jets of a mech suit. Helena''s entire body started glowing, very similar to what happened when she fired that light arrow, but instead of moving around, the particles just floated softly like an aura. Lastly, Hera got a pair of feathered wings like the ones Nimbus had but with even more feathers. "This is just unfair. I get a cloud belt, and you become an angel," Blue pouted. "I mean, it fits. If this is what it''s supposed to be, our wings, it would make sense for it to match things we can do. More or less. That''s why I have drone motors as mine," Adriel said. "And this is why Shane looks like a superhero?" Blue turned to the enchantress, who was already testing out the flying capabilities. It was very intuitive and simple to do so. All they had to do was think about moving to one side or another, and they were able to move without any problem. Another thing that became apparent was that flying was very much like a muscle. The more they practiced it, the better they would be at it. Some minutes passed, and everyone flew around a bit, but Luna started to get anxious. "We really need to go. The fish are going to run out, and we will have to wait till the sunset to get more!" the wyvern gasped. "Right. We need to go down the pillar¡­ How long will this effect last?" Helena floated closer to Luna. "Until you can fly on your own. You don''t have to worry about this running out until that happens. I can''t do that with anyone else until all of you learn to fly, but that''s not a problem," the wyvern replied as she jumped and took flight, moving towards the edge of the pillar before doing a loop and diving towards the water, almost a hundred meters below them. Everyone else flew to the limit of the mountain, but they all stopped before crossing the edge. Hera quickly asked Nimbus if he could still come out if things went south, and the Sentinel confirmed that he could pop out. With a mental nod, the Empress flew off the mountain, moving around with the ocean far below her before moving down. However, she didn''t dove like Luna and instead just slowly lowered her altitude. Soon the rest of the party joined, and they all followed Luna to catch some fish, which was supposed to be their meal. As they were all moving down, Bonnie took a chance to confirm one thing. "No one got the dungeon quest, right?" they all shook their heads, "This is weird, isn''t it?" "A little, but not unheard of. I''ve run dungeons that ended up only showing the quest in the end, or when something was triggered," Adriel was going down in a spiral just to practice the movement. "So, what do we do then?" Blue asked. "I think we should follow Luna. She¡­ I think it''s a she, at least. Anyway, Luna came towards us and interacted with us. There has to be a reason for that," Hera didn''t know how to explain that the guide told her to take care of Luna. "I agree. For now, let''s follow Luna. We can figure things out as we go. Just¡­ be careful. There are a lot of Dragons and Wyverns around," Helena looked to the side where a couple of Lung Dragons were flying with their snake-like bodies and no wings. "Yeah, for now. Let''s go fishing. I''ll stay outside and carry everyone''s bag if you want. That way, they won''t get wet," Bonnie suggested. "Are you saying this just because you suck at fishing?" Blue snickered. "No! It''s because I don''t want to get my hair wet again," the researcher huffed, and they all laughed. They were getting close to the water already, and despite what the quest was here, just being able to fly was already a lot of fun. 694 - A day as a Wyvern Hera and her friends were all back on top of the pillar where they came from, sitting around a small pyre that was currently burning thanks to Hera''s grease fire spell to fuel the flames. With the exception of Adriel, everyone was eating grilled fish. The elf was a bit tired of seafood and opted to take some of the power bars they had as a meal. After all, it wasn''t like they wouldn''t have other chances to have seafood As they ate, Luna came flying by to check on the new kids, "Hey, you managed to get some fish!" she looked around, seeing only one fish for each. The Wyvern frowned, "That was all the fish you managed to get?" Helena nodded, "Yeah. We were lucky to find some big ones," the mage had a large salmon on a stone stick half eaten. It was almost 500 grams of meat, and she was already feeling full. "Big ones? Those are tiny. You can eat them in a single bite, well. I can, your mouth is kind of small," Luna got closer to Helena, but her nose caught a whiff of something else. Turning to Adriel, "What are you eating?" "Oh, this is a food we got before getting here. Want to try?" the elf took another power bar from his bag, opened it, and passed it to Luna. "Sure, it smells tasty!" the Wyvern replied with a smile and took a bite. She started chewing while opening her mouth a lot as if she was struggling, "Iht''s Rheally Drhy." "Dry? Yeah, do you want some water?" Hera pulled her cup, getting a nod as a reply, and poured some water into Luna''s mouth. When she was finally done, she smiled again, "Thanks. It''s tasty, but you definitely need some water." "I agree. Those are too dry. I wish we still had the ones with fruit," Blue sighed. "What is fruit?" Luna turned to the controller. "That¡­ is kind of hard to explain," Blue frowned. "Do you know what sweet is?" Bonnie asked. "You mean someone who is being kind to you for no reason?" "No. I mean about taste." "How can a taste be kind?" the Wyvern asked. "Oh boy¡­ that one is going to take some effort," Shane sighed. "Do we have anything sweet on us?" Blue turned to the group. "I don''t think so. We only have rations and dried meat. Sammy didn''t let us bring the food he made with us. Something about it only existing inside his area of influence or something," Alex tried looking through her bag. After a few moments where the party just talked about different things that she didn''t understand, Luna spoke up, "Well, it''s fine. I came here for a different reason. My friends are going to play tag. Do you want to join? It''s a great way to get used to flying, and it''s a lot of fun." "Is that what we have to do here?" Mylo asked. "Not have to. You can do whatever you want. But since you are new here, I figured you might want to join. That way, you can meet the others, too," Luna smiled. "I think that''s a good idea. But are we in danger of getting hurt?" Helena asked. "Maybe a little bit. We try not to smack anyone too hard, but if you are chasing someone doing some acrobatics, accidents might happen. But you don''t have to worry, the grown-ups are watching over us, so if anyone is about to fall, they will step in." "Let''s go then," Hera got up, "Actually, Luna, could you help us find a place to stay later? I could make one, but I don''t want to do anything that might upset anyone." "Sure! You can sleep with me. My parents gave me a cave already. It''s pretty big and empty. I would love the company." "You already have a cave? Aren''t you kind of young?" Adriel asked. "I am, but that''s how things go here. When you get big enough to fly by yourself, you get your own place until you find a mate, and I have no intention of having one any time soon," Luna stretched and jumped up, beating her wings to get some altitude, "I''m going to go play now. Follow me if you want to join." The party didn''t wait long and followed the Wyvern right away. Soon they arrived where she and her friends would play. There were two other Wyverns called Zakri and Cornelius. Having dark red and brown scales, respectively. Totorino is a Lung Dragon with a wingless snake-like body and green scales. And one full-blown Dragon with black scales called Marron. Luna introduced everyone, and the different dragons nodded, but they couldn''t speak. Not with Hera and the others, at least. Luna herself could understand and talk to them perfectly. The odd thing was, even without being able to talk, the Empress could understand the other dragons, and she wasn''t the only one. They couldn''t hear their words but understood the overall meaning of their sentences. Things like thinking it was nice to meet them or being annoyed to be babysitting dragons who couldn''t even fly. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. With the introductions out of the way, they started their game. Zakri was the first to chase, and they ran after Cornelius, flying around the pillars and making wide curves. At times, it felt more like a race than anything else. Cornelius started making riskier moves to lose Zakri, turning closer to the walls, passing by some of the large dragons to annoy them into interfering, and even diving into the water to try to hide. Eventually, the brown Wyvern was able to hide inside a cave that was just by the water as Zakri dove into the ocean and continued going. Their next target became Marron, who was the closest by. They started doing the same thing, first trying to win over each other with just speed, but when it became clear who was the fastest, they would start going for acrobatics instead. The draconic creatures continued playing, some getting caught and beginning their chase and others able to escape. Luna was the chaser two times before she realized that Hera and the others were not participating in the games. Not because they were not ready for it but because the others just seemed to ignore them, even when they were right there and could easily be caught. She stopped the game and talked with the other four before splitting off and going back to the party, "They are jerks!" Luna huffed. "Why? Are you the one chasing?" Shane was ready to start running. "No. Well, I don''t know. They don''t want to play with you because you are not flying by yourself. Saying they don''t have to babysit a bunch of newborns. I''m especially angry with Marron. He just learned how to fly last week, and we always played with him," While Luna spoke, her tail moved around wildly, almost like she was gesticulating with it. "Oh, that''s ok. We can play amongst ourselves," Bonnie tried not to sound too excited, but the whole idea of playing tag with dragons was not that interesting to her. "No, that''s not right. I told them that if they don''t want to play with you, I don''t either. So here is the deal. We are going to have two of us chasing, and just to make things fair, each chaser needs to chase a different dragon. They can''t both be after the same. That way, we have more of us playing," Luna did a loop to celebrate a good idea. "I like that," Alex smiled. "So do I," Blue nodded and started stretching again. "Even better, let''s make three of us chase. The first ones are me, Blue, and Alex," Luna smiled and turned to Hera, her eyes turning to that of a predator, "I''m going to count to three, then we start. The rest of you can run already." Hera didn''t need a second warning. She bolted or flew away as fast as she could. Soon Luna yelled, ''Go!'' and the chase began. The Empress had yet to understand properly how to speed up, but she did try her best. Remembering the feeling of being on Nimbus'' back. The wind blowing against her hair, and the sound that covered her ears. Luna was kind enough to give Hera a chance, but that had its limits. After just a minute, the Wyvern touched the Empress, making her ''it.'' Hera tried catching Luna back, but it was simply impossible for her. Their new friend was too quick and too used to flying for her to have any chance of catching her. Instead, she went after Bonnie, who was still being left alone. "Why are you coming after me?" the researcher gasped as she tried to move away, still feeling awkward in her flight form. "Because you are too serious. We are flying. Let''s have fun," Hera had a big smile on her face. It was one thing to have Nimbus flying her around, another to be flying by herself. She felt sew-free, so detached from everything. It was a feeling like no other. "That''s the spirit! Don''t think too much, just feel it," Luna was following the Empress and giving some pointers, "Don''t focus on where you need to go. Just get there." Hera was a bit faster than Bonnie, and she decided to do the same thing Luna did. Instead of just rushing to tag her, she let the researcher get used to it and try to escape. When it seemed like both were close in speed, the Empress tagged her and moved away. This time, no one was after her, and Luna was now helping Adriel, who was chasing Alex. They continued playing for a couple of hours, and everyone began to enjoy it. There was an unspoken rule that they shouldn''t use any skills or spells that all of them seemed to follow, but eventually, the chases became more intricate. Not just due to their speed but also the way they were moving. The dragons all were used to making large movements, even when they were trying to hide or dodge. But the adventurers were not stuck to those ways. Blue would fly towards a mountain head-on, and instead of turning at the last second, she would spin, hitting both her feet on the rock and pushing to the side to avoid being caught. Surprisingly, Mylo took a slower approach. When he decided to stop running away, he would just sway side to side, dodging anyone who was incoming to get him. Almost like they were trying to catch a falling leaf. Adriel also had an interesting approach. He would fly parallel to a pillar and run with his own legs stepping on the wall. That allowed him to move around with a bit more freedom when close to the mountain, but he had to watch out for caves, or he would faceplant in the rocks. Despite not being able to be as fast as Luna, she was caught a couple of times through some trickery, and with their abilities to change directions faster than the Wyvern, they were able to tag her. Eventually, the other dragons who refused to play with them came by to watch, even a couple of the full-grown Wyverns and Dragons seemed interested in this new group and started playing tag amongst themselves attempting some of the moves used by the adventureres. A past time that every single being in this dungeon enjoyed. When the sun began to set, they stopped to go get some food again, then followed Luna to her cave, where they would all spend the night. Like she said, it was a very empty space, one that was considerably large, and everyone quickly understood the reason. Luna''s parents, Mond and Fengari, were a pair of massive silver Wyverns getting easily to 15 meters in length. Luna''s cave was so big because she would, one day, be as big as her parents. As they were getting ready to bed and looking for a place to sleep, Luna stopped everyone, "Why are you all so far away from each other?" "We are not far. This is kind of close," Blue gestured to the space between Hera and her. "Oh¡­ Ok," the Wyvern looked down with a sad expression, "I thought we would all be hugging. I was excited about that." Hera glanced at Blue, who just sighed, "Ok, we can all gather up." "Really?" Luna perked up, her tail wagging like a dog. "Really, where do you want to be?" "Back here! Come," Luna showed everyone a considerably large bed of seaweed that she had made. Most of it was already dried out, like autumn leaves, and she took her place in the middle. Everyone else found a nice spot to sleep with her. To make sure they could rest, Hera also called her court out to protect them during the night. Despite not spending any mana to fly, everyone was dead tired, and it took only a few moments before they were in a deep slumber, getting ready for the next day. 695 - Big small changes When Hera woke up, she pushed Blue from over her. The controller moved a lot during the night and was now sleeping almost completely on top of the Empress. After getting herself free from that mess of a nest, she stepped out to the edge of the cave. Luna was no longer sleeping where she was before; in its place, there was only another clump of the dried seaweed they were using as bedding. ''Everyone, how was the night?'' Hera asked her court. ''It was mostly ok. We got a couple of scares when some dragons were moving around,'' Dao got closer to Hera. ''Luna''s parents had a night escapade. They left for a few hours and came back hours before sunrise. I think they went out to do something they didn''t want their child to know about,'' Crimson got closer to Hera, speaking in a low voice like it was supposed to be a secret. ''Crim. We all can hear what you are saying, and don''t say it like that. We have no idea what they did. They might just have gone for a night stroll,'' Viper sighed. ''But what''s the fun in that?'' Crimson huffed. ''Guys, focus. What about Luna? Where is she?'' Hera cut them off before the two started to argue. ''We don''t know. She was there, but when the sun appeared, she turned into that pile of seaweed,'' Lurize moved forward. ''Can you still fly?'' Nimbus asked. The two tonfas looked Hera over expectantly. Hera looked back, and her wings were nowhere to be seen, but after a small moment of focus, they popped out, and she got off the ground, ''I still can,'' she said with a smile. ''Worried you might be replaced?'' Ooze teased the Sentinel. ''More worried about carrying everyone around all the time. And this made me more interested in my other idea,'' Nimbus replied. ''The one about turning into wings to carry her?'' Lurize asked. ''That''s the one. Care to help me out?'' Nimbus turned to the Royal Tutor. ''We can try some things. Maybe it will be easier to do that with me since we are both mana.'' Lurize continued. Hera let the two talk for a while and just flew around a bit with her court around her. She kept it close to the cave to avoid leaving her friends without anyone watching out for them. Suddenly, she saw a large silver wyvern coming from behind one of the pillars, heading straight for Luna''s cave. The Empress flew down, returning inside and getting ready for a fight. The Wyvern got inside and landed, without any problems, before raising her head to Hera, "Good morning, sleepy head. How was the evening?" Hera stared at the golden eyes for a moment, "Luna?" "Who else, silly?" Luna smiled and stood up. She was now just a bit smaller than the Empress. "Oh, sorry. I think I was still sleepy," Hera smiled, trying to cover the whole ''you grew aspect'' of the dungeon. "No worries. But I need your help. We have a mystery to solve!" Luna said excitedly. "What is all this noise?" Bonnie asked with a sleepy voice. It took a moment for them all to wake up, and Luna waited patiently at first, but soon she started to get anxious again and started poking everyone to speed up the process. After a few minutes, she walked to the front of the cave again, "Ok, now you are all awake. Here is what is going on. Some of the grown-ups'' scales are changing, and no one seems to care or be worried about it. Even if it''s not something normal. I want your help to figure out why that is happening." "Is that something we need to worry about?" Shane scratched her head, "I mean, are the grown-ups going to change because of it? Be aggressive or something?" "No one is doing that so far. Well, not more than usual, at least," Luna continued explaining. "Well, ok then," Shane got up, tested to see if she could fly, and started moving to the edge of the cave. "Just one more question," Bonnie rubbed her eyes, "Why are we doing this? If the grown-ups don''t care, do we have to try to figure that out?" "Because it''s fun? It''s something new that has never happened before. I want to figure out what is going on. It''s a mystery, an adventure. Why wouldn''t we try to figure something out?" Luna smiled. That line hit the researcher in her core, and thanks to it, no one else argued about it. Luna warned them to be looking for when everyone started to hunt for fish since it was only one of the few moments when they would have a chance to find something to eat. Hera and her friends made four groups, and they all split off to talk to the dragons affected by the change. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Unfortunately, It wasn''t that easy to find them. Luna never explained what happened, leading to awkward conversations where the Dragons or the Wyverns explained that scales did change colors as you grew. It felt like they were asking something everyone knew about, like a child asking why someone''s hair grew. But after half an hour of asking around, they were pointed to a Dragon who seemed to have their scales changing into a different color. He was red, but the tips of the scales were now turning dark, even some spots that were already completely black. Out of curiosity, Hera used her [Observe] to see if there was anything different about them ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laregard the Dragon - Level 26 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since that led nowhere, they interrogated the monster, asking if he had any idea of the reason for the change. Any changes in habits, anything they ate differently, maybe they were hit by some magic effect, or just spent too long under the sun. However, Laregard had no idea the reason for this change, but he seemed to be enjoying the attention. It was like someone had arrived with a brand-new haircut. That conversation was extremely complicated since they couldn''t hear actual words, only the overall meaning behind his sentences. It took a long time for them to understand how to phrase their questions to get straightforward answers. But even the most egocentric of Dragons had its limits. When the incessant questions became too much, the monster just snarled at them and told them all to get lost. Hera and Bonnie looked for another target, but even after one hour, they could only see one other Wyvern whose scales were changing. The bad part was that Helena and Blue already talked to that particular monster, and she wasn''t interested in answering any more questions. Eventually, the draconic creatures started fishing, and the party did the same, gathering to discuss their discoveries. It was weird how all the answers were similar. According to all their subjects, there were no differences between what they would usually do and what they did the previous days. The scales appeared out of nowhere, seemingly without any reason. Before they were over with their meal, Luna also joined the conversation. She was able to talk with five different inhabitants of the dungeon. It was much easier for her since she could actually talk with them, but the answers remained the same. After lunch, they checked more of the dragons until they had talked with all those with dark scales. Only 25 were affected by whatever this was, and there were no side effects or hints about why that change happened. Luna was frustrated with the result, and to cheer her up, the group played some flying tag. This time, Luna''s friends also joined in, and they had four chasers at a time. The young dragons were also trying to add those maneuvers shown by the adventurers, but their versions were still very crude. It seemed like the creatures here focused a lot on flying and not so much on moving on the ground, which was the core idea of their flight style. Eventually, night came, and they all went to bed. One more time, in Luna''s cave sleeping in the nest that she made, all gathered together, and Hera''s court stayed outside. She would only call them out when they were not doing anything in particular, and all the dragons were far away. It was extremely fun to fly with all of them, but she had to be careful not to present herself as a threat. The third day came, and the morning was very similar to the second day. Luna was no longer there when they woke up, and in her place, there was just a large pile of dried seaweed. Everything was fine as she returned, but the silver Wyvern had grown again. She was now a head, a human head, taller than Hera, and her scales were not as lustrous as before. Not that they were darkening, but they showed a bit of wear and tear, reinforcing the idea that whatever happened in the dungeon happened over a period of time. The one odd thing was that Luna''s voice stayed the same. It still sounded like that of a preteen. In the morning, Luna just took them for a flight with her parents. They would go around most of the pillars, and the way they were talking made things feel like they were just going for a walk. Unfortunately, Hera and her group couldn''t move as fast as the Wyverns, which made them cut their ''jog'' short. Otherwise, they would be too far away from their hunting grounds. Smaller creatures could fish in any location, but the larger ones, who needed more food to survive, had to keep to certain areas not to hinder the meal of others. Another thing everyone noticed was how more and more of the creatures who lived here changed the color of their scales. Without exception, they were slowly changing into black versions of their own kind. But not the same black as the ones who already existed. It was a darker shade that absorbed almost all light, making it impossible to even see where one scale began and the next started. They did try to ask some questions about that, but the result was the same as the previous day. Hera and her party were getting very comfortable while flying, and they could keep up with Luna''s regular pace. She could still leave them eating dust when going fast, but her normal speed was on par with the adventurers'' running speed. When they started to look for fish, it was clear to see that they were missing. "Is this normal, Luna?" Mylo asked. "No. I''ve never seen this happening before. Mom? Dad?" Luna turned to her parents, but they shook their heads, "Never? Have you never heard of this, either? I don''t like this." "This might have something to do with the dungeon quest, right?" Bonnie whispered. "I think so, either this or the whole turning black thing," Shane whispered back, ensuring the dragons were not looking at them. "So let''s see if we find where the fish are. Maybe that will show us what we must do here," Blue suggested. "Even if it doesn''t, I don''t think that doing that can cause any problems," Hera added. The entire party agreed, and they turned to the silver Wyvern. "Luna, I think this would be a mystery. One that only one person can solve," Helena said with a smile. "It is!" Luna flew closer to them, "And I''m going to need my assistants." "We are at your service," Adriel bowed, but because of his ''wings,'' he started spinning around in place. Luna giggled and turned around, "We are going to figure out what is happening with the fish! I know we can stay a few days without food, but hunger sucks." The reply came not just to Luna herself but to the entire party. A mix of pride and happiness about their daughter having good friends with a splash of worry, but still, they supported her decision and wished her luck. They would also go to the other dragons to discuss the situation. As the giant silver Wyverns flew off, Hera and her party turned to Luna. "So, where do we start?" 696 - Missing Pieces The first step in figuring out what was going on with the fish was searching for the marine life in the room. According to Luna, they only moved closer to the surface a couple of times every day. When they were not close to ground level, they would go deeper inside the ocean, in areas where the sun didn''t reach. Thankfully, Adriel had his drones or this powered-up version, and he could change the configuration so it would go underwater. But that also came with a few problems. Luna explained that the current became stronger the deeper they went, which would probably mean that the ocean would, eventually, get to the same point as the room itself. With massively strong whirlpools that swallowed everything and turned the underwater currents into something no one could survive. ''Empress, may I give an alternative?'' Lurize asked. ''Sure, what''s your idea?'' ''Instead of going yourselves, Nimbus and I could go instead. If we get swept away by the current, we can try to see where it leads and then come back out. Unlike all of you, breathing is not something that hinders us. And in a worst-case scenario, you would be without us for a few days, but we would return,'' the Royal Tutor suggested while inside the court. ''That¡­ is a good idea if I''m being honest,'' Hera turned to the group, "I can send Nimbus and Lurize out to the ocean, and we can take care of the outside. That way, we don''t risk too much." "Honestly. I like that," Adriel nodded, "Having the drones keeping us alive is sketchy at best." "Who are they?" Luna tilted her head. "Right, you never met them. Let''s go to one of the pillars; Lurize can''t fly," they all flew to one of the mountains, and the Empress called her entire court, giving a broad explanation about the skill without mentioning the part they were a legacy. Finally, she arrived at the zweihander and the bladed tonfas, "I think you two can introduce yourselves," she said with a smile, and the two weapons turned into mist before assuming their bipedal forms. Nimbus, the griffon who walked on two legs, waved to Luna, "Hello. I am Nimbus, the Sentinel. I am part of that skill Hera mentioned." Lurize took a bit longer to transform since his body was bigger, being essentially a suit of silver, brown, and orange armor with a Hercules beetle motif. But instead of a wave, he bowed to the Wyvern, "And I am Lurize. It is an honor to meet you. I am part of that ability too." "Where were you keeping them?" Luna looked at Hera before turning back to the tilted blades, "They are great. And I''m sorry you can''t fly Lurize. I wish I could help you with this, but I can''t." "Don''t worry. I know why you can''t do that. Either way, you have my appreciation for your care of Hera," Lurize smiled, which was odd. Since he didn''t have any lips, or mouth for that matter when he tried to show his expressions, the metal on his helmet warped slightly. "Right, so the plan is for them to be checking deep underwater while we try to find something on the outside," Hera explained before turning to the duo and putting her hand out for them to kiss, "I just have to do one thing for them to be able to move far away from me." Nimbus and Lurize did the ''ritual'' for the Royal Quest, and both of them received over a million and a half points of mana each. Their mission was very simple, finding out anything about what happened with the fish. Still, they didn''t dove into the ocean right away. First, everyone followed Luna to a location where the fish would first appear, and they were already trying to find something that could explain the absence of seafood. Doing that was very hard because the marine life had seemingly vanished without a trace. They couldn''t see any movement, any scales, or signs of a fight. It was as if the fish had never existed in the room in the first place. Another thing Hera realized was that the orange mineral she found outside was nowhere to be seen, and in hindsight, she couldn''t see it ever since they arrived. Meaning that, maybe, that material could have some relation with the missing fish, or another result of what made them vanish. Unfortunately, that was just a theory and one that didn''t help at all right now. How would a ferrofluid mineral indicate how the seafood vanished from the ocean? After arriving at the place where the fish would first come out, Luna pointed to the location of a couple of whirlpools that existed deep underwater. Locations that everyone noticed as being the same spots as where the ones outside the dungeon were supposedly located. Everyone understood what this meant, and if they didn''t have Nimbus and Lurize, they wouldn''t even attempt to go down there. "Be safe, guys. Even if you don''t need to breathe, if you feel like you can''t fight against the current, you must come back, deal?" Hera turned to her titled blades. "Deal," both replied and hugged the Empress before diving into the water. "You know, it''s great that someone like you is the one who has that legacy," Adriel smiled at Hera. "Why?" "Not everyone would treat their court like that. I know for a fact that a third of people would use the fact they can''t die as some sort of exploit. Sending them to danger just to see if they could find something interesting. While you look like you are sending your sons to war." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "I don''t know if that is the right comparison. I don''t want them to get hurt for no reason, but at the same time, if it was between them getting hurt and me dying, I would take the first option. Not just as my choice, but as theirs too," Hera explained as they followed Luna to a few places she thought could have some fish. Apparently, there were a few low caves where fish would jump in and get stuck, and maybe those places could become food sources for the dragons or give some indication of what happened. When they found the first, they saw a few schools of fish inside an underground lake. But the problem was that the larger dragons wouldn''t be able to come here. In fact, only the smaller ones had any chance of reaching the pool, and if someone tried to open up the palace, it would cause a cave-in, killing the last remaining food they had in the dungeon. Luna took them to another one of the hidden lakes, and again, there were more fish there. All the ones who seemingly got stuck before. This place was smaller, and the fish didn''t seem to be thriving like in the first one. The marine life here was scarce, and all the creatures seemed to be behaving in an ''every fish for himself'' mentality. The main problem seemed to be the actual size of the lakes. Instead of one big one, they were several small ones that struggled to create any seaweed or plankton. The fishes inside would have their own ''territory'' of sorts and attack anything that got close. Either way, this was more than enough for the smaller dragons in the room. Maybe it would be enough for a week or just a few days, but at least the younger ones would still be able to eat. When they left that spot, going towards the third and last of the lower caves in the room, Hera felt such intense pain in her chest that she wasn''t even able to fly and plummeted into the ocean. Thankfully, despite everything going on, the grown dragons were still looking out for the smaller ones. A yellow-scaled Dragon dove after the Empress and managed to catch her before she slammed against the water. She carried the human to the top of the closest pillar and dropped Hera off on solid ground. "Hera!" Helena and Blue called at the same time. "What''s wrong?" Luna asked. Hera felt tears forming in her eyes, not just out of pain but also sadness, a sadness she didn''t know where it was coming from, "Something is wrong!" "Mum! Focus, Breathe," Daskka appeared and floated in front of the Empress'' face, "Listen to me. You are ok. Everything is ok." "How is this ok?" "Because it will stop. Nimbus and Lurize were destroyed. It will take them a week to get back, but that''s it. They are just on a trip and will be here soon," Daskka spoke in the calmest voice she could muster. "What do you mean it''s ok?!" Hera yelled, "Nimbus and Lurize are gone!" "Yes, but just like the other blades, they can come back." "But¡­ why am I so sad?" Hera felt the tears streaming across her face. "Because when one of the titled blades is destroyed, you feel what they felt. Not just the pain but the emotions as well. They were sad because they failed you. And because they knew this would make you sad," Daskka used her tail to brush some of the tears away. "And the pain?" "That''s what they felt when they died. I don''t know what exactly happened, but they will be able to tell you. We''ll have to wait for them to recover before knowing what happened," Daskka continued. "Ok, ok," Hera nodded, trying to gather herself. After a few minutes, she was able to explain what happened, and the group decided to split off. Luna, Shane, Mylo, Adriel, and Alex went to the last cave while Hera and the rest stayed behind to rest. Only then the Empress noticed how the yellow dragon that saved her had that pitch black scales in a few spots around her body. To make matters worse, everyone seemed to be affected by whatever was changing their colors. There was still no other effect, but none of Hera''s group thought this was a good sign. Something was getting ready to happen, and they still had no clue what it would be, only that it was likely something that would wipe out all of the Dragons and Wyverns from the room. As the night got closer, it seemed like Luna warned everyone about the caves. The smaller creatures of the dungeon flocked to those caves but didn''t eat their fill, only getting enough fish to get by. Some even tried to offer their share to the older and bigger dragons, but they were all refused. Unlike the young ones, who still used most of their energy to mature their bodies, the elders could spend a few weeks fasting if needed without hindering their bodies. The only thing they would have to do was to be less active during the day. Eventually, Hera and the others also got a few fish to eat, knowing that one way or another, their participation in that meal wouldn''t change whatever happens in the dungeon. Be it because events were progressing following a set script or because four fish were far from being something that would save or doom the dragons in the dungeon. After that, they headed back to Luna''s cave to wait for her and the others. Hera didn''t like that idea. When one of her court members was broken, she would always feel sad and feel some of the pain they felt, but losing a title blade was much, much worse. Not only were those feelings much stronger but they were also stuck. As if she was broken. As if a part of her own being was missing. This wasn''t something she would ever want to feel again, not just for herself, but for her entire court too. However, she couldn''t do anything about that right now. To make matters worse, not doing anything would make her focus even more on that feeling, but she had no other options. Trying to offset that, Hera was outside of the cave using a couple of hand axes from her [Venomous Arsenal], sparring with the rest of her court. This would be a way to, at least, distract her. Helena and Blue offered to join, but it quickly became clear that the Empress wasn''t pulling her punches which could be risky if they were using dangerous weapons. On the other hand, her court was physically unable to harm her, and she could tell when she was being too rough. After a few hours, Luna and the others finally arrived. The last of the cave was on the other edge of the room, and there was a hidden tunnel behind a rock leading to an even larger pool of seawater, but that one was completely empty of any marine life. As Luna was getting closer, Hera noticed the moonlight hitting her scales, giving the Wyvern the look of an ethereal being. That''s when something clicked in her mind, "Hey, Luna. How many moons do we have here?" "What?" Luna got so distracted by the question that she almost head-butted the pillar before stopping her flight, "How many? Is there more than one?" "Yeah, you are right," Hera nodded, remembering how Tailou mentioned that the room had two moons. She thought this might be something related to the dungeon, but it might be better to wait until the morning since Luna should vanish when they woke up. And now that this was over, Hera just wanted to sleep. She even asked Bonnie to cast a sleep spell on her to help out, and just like that, the third day of this dungeon was over. 697 - Wyvern Festival When they woke up during the fourth day of the dungeon. Luna had turned into a pile of seaweed again and was nowhere to be seen. Hera and the others got up and started getting ready for the day. During that time, the Empress told everyone how she found out that the room had two moons, they weren''t able to see them because once a month they both overlap and that results in a nigh without any moonlight. They all agreed that, if this was a dungeon about the past of the room, the moon should be something big enough to be a part of it, and they agreed with Hera''s decision not to mention it to Luna. The Wyvern was a bit too excited about everything and there was a chance she would just tell them all to fly to the moon. "Aside from that, how are you doing, Sweetie?" Helena placed a hand on Hera''s shoulder. "Like I felt when my grandma passed away. I know it''s not the same thing, and they will be back, but the initial feeling is the same. That helplessness, and feeling of loss," Hera looked down." "Yeah. I get that, but they will be back soon," the mage tried to cheer her up. "I know," Hera just mumbled and turned away, walking towards the entrance and about to jump off when she noticed Luna approaching. However, it quickly became clear that there was something wrong. Her head was down and her tail was hanging behind her instead of her usual more energetic demeanor. The Wyvern ignored Hera completely and just landed inside her cave, sniffing. She was even bigger than the previous day, now towering over ever member of the party but her scales seemed even shinier than before. "Luna? Are you ok?" Blue got closer. "Oh? Hey Blue¡­ Yeah. I''m fine," Luna didn''t even seem to notice the people in her cave before anyone talked with her. "What happened?" Bonnie asked. "My friends. You know, the ones that play tag with us. They are just being very mean today. I don''t know what happened, but they are just awful today." "What do you mean?" Shane stepped forward. "Today is a special day, we have a big festival. Oh, and it''s the first Esbat Jubilee you are going to be a part of. So you don''t even know what will happen." "Esbat Jubilee? What''s that?" Adriel titled his head. "It''s a festival. Today we celebrate the moonless night. It is the death of the moon goddess and we have a party to commemorate her life. Then, tomorrow, we have the second part of the Esbat Jubilee, where we stay up late to commemorate the return of the moon as it is reborn from the shadows. It''s very fun and we usually can play around a lot, but I don''t know why they are being so difficult. I went to ask Zakri and Marron to join us later, but they just told me to get lost, that they didn''t have time to waste with me," Luna sniffed, "I don''t know why they were so mean." "I''m sorry, but maybe there is something going on with them. Are their scales normal?" Bonnie asked. "No, they started to get black too. Well that weird black, not the black that Marron already had," Luna explained. "And what is supposed to happen during the festival?" Blue stepped to the edge of the cave, hoping to see some of the preparations for the festival. "Well, we usually make some trinkets for the dragons we care about and we can eat as much as we want since the fish will stay around for the entire day," Luna explained. "The fish are back? I thought they had vanished," Bonnie looked down to the water and saw the movement of the marine life. "Yeah, don''t you remember? That only lasted for a while. We ended up eating all the fish left in the caves and the following day they showed up again," Luna titled her head with a confused expression. "Right¡­ sorry I guess I just forgot," the researcher scratched her cheek. "I get it, you guys sleep a lot, but either way. That''s what we do during this festival. We make something for the others, eat during most of the day, and just play around. During the night, we will gather and talk about out saddest memories that are related to the moon, as a way to let the sadness die with the moon goddess. Then tomorrow, the grown ups have to prepare something for the night, and we need to hunt the fish, but we can''t eat it until night time, when we have our meal together with the moon''s new light. That''s when we tell a new set of stories, this time, the ones we cherish the most so the reborn moon goddess can share our joy," Luna continued. "So we need to starve during the day?" Blue frowned. "Not really. If you are that hungry, it''s ok for you to eat, but just snack, one or two fish at most¡­" Luna turned to the group and thought for a moment, "I guess for you guys it would be half a fish, or a small one. Then we have a proper meal at night." "I see¡­ and you are upset because your friends are not going to help you make the trinkets?" Hera asked. "A little bit. I wanted to give them one too, and to my parents. And to the elder who helped me fly before my wings were big enough." "We can help you make those trinkets, if you want," Hera smiled. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Yeah, then we can go give it to them. Maybe then they will be less grumpy," Helena nodded. "That''s a good idea! Everyone is happy when they get a trinket!" Luna''s demeanor changed, now opening a big smile. "Before we start. Is it ok if we get some fish? I''m kind of hungry," Mylo walked closer to the edge of the cave, "If you want I can go grab a few myself." "No, no. That''s fine. We can go get some food first, then we start making the trinkets," Luna took off and everyone followed her. They were still far from being able to keep up with her speed, but it was still much better than during the first day, even with her increase in size. The group left the cave and started hunting, it didn''t take long for their meals to be over and the next step became making the trinkets. Which were just stone baubles carved by the dragons. In total, Luna wanted to make seven different ones, but she didn''t have enough time for it. So, instead, she asked the party to help her make the trinkets for her friends, while she made the ones for her parents and Tola, the dragon that taught her how to fly. Those gifts were simple carved things that could take the shape of anything, really. Luna was making a pair of stone bands for her parents, almost like wedding rings and one hollowed out horn that could be worn by a large dragon. Her crafting skills were extremely crude, and the end result was something that could be said to have come from the stone age. Still, she seemed extremely pleased with her trinkets, even if it took her about 4 hours to make them. When the Wyvern finally went to take a look at what Hera and the others made, she was flabbergasted. There were a few crude attempts, like a bowl that Blue made which was just a piece of rock, or a smooth stone made by Alex, thinking it might be a good toy to play with, along with other simple objects that were just stones carved in basic shapes. Bonnie ignored the rocks and took some seaweed to make a few dream catchers. However, Mylo, Shane, Hera, and Adriel didn''t pull any punches. Hera made a few stone bracelets that were made out of a set of two rocks carved one from inside the other. They were beautiful and had a somewhat intricate scale like pattern that was amazing considering the time she put into them. Shane made wings covers, like they were one of those earrings that should go over the ear. Those covers had spiral patterns and hooks giving a somewhat intimidating look to them. Adriel made a wild assortment of children''s toys. Rabbits, a rocking horse, birds and even a bear. Lastly, Mylo was the surprising star of the show. Instead of toys, he made smaller versions of all Luna''s friends, including a small version of Luna herself. He wasn''t the only one who did something like that. The entire party agreed that, since they were already making a trinket, they might as well make one for Luna too. "This is amazing!" Luna jumped around, "Look at the details, and the pose. How were you able to make it look so much like me?" she turned to Mylo. "I like making these kinds of things. Working with wood is easier, but this is fun. If I had time I could make it more realistic," Mylo replied. "This is great! Thank you so much," Luna took her bauble with her mouth and was about to fly to her cave to store it in a safe place when the rest of the party approached. They did their best with the gifts for Luna''s friends, but they worked harder in the ones for her. The Wyvern''s eyes teared up and brought everyone in for a hug before asking for help to wear what she could and then bring the rest to her cave. Following that, they took the gifts the party made, each of the sculptures that Mylo made would go to their respective dragons, and as a gift from the party, they picked the options that fitted the receiver better. The rocking horse, for Marron, the wing covers for Zakri and Cornelius and the bracelet for Totorino. This seemed to cheer the dragons up and they even joined as the group went around giving gifts to other dragons. Night came and they gathered with Luna''s parents, to tell the sad stories about the moon. Luna herself didn''t have anything to contribute, which made the whole experience extremely weird. As the dragons spoke, Hera and the others understood only the feelings and not what actually happened. At some points, they could understand they were talking about a loss, someone who passed away and was no longer here, but most of the stories were just like hearing someone saying ''I''m sad, what happened was very sad and made me sad. I was happy before, now I''m sad.'' Helena tried to participate, thinking about the day when her mana turned to shadow, but Luna stopped her. This part of the festival was something for the grown ups, they were older and had more stories to get rid of. The children would have their chance to speak in the next day. Understating that this wasn''t something they were supposed to interrupt, the party just continued hearing and later, ate more fish before heading to bed after having their fill. They knew that, tomorrow, they wouldn''t be able to eat properly until the evening and decided to eat as much as they could for now. Finally, the last day of the dungeon started, but not close to dawn as they were used to. Instead, everyone slept until noon, when the sun was high in the sky. Luna herself was also there, waking up with the group for the first time. "So, what''s the plan for today, Luna?" Alex was stretching by the cave''s entrance. "We need to get fish, as much as we can. And put them all on top of the pillar. After the sunset, when the first light of the new moon shines across the ocean we will eat, then talk about stories than all dragons who can make lights will make them and send them to the sky, so we can share our own light with the reborn goddess of the moon," Luna explained as she walked to the entrance, "Remember, you can eat if you need to, but just enough to keep going. We should all eat together with the moon." With that, the party started fishing, first trying to figure out a way to be more effective, and landing on the idea of using Adriel''s drones for that. The elf was adamant against it since he didn''t want his relic to be smelling of fish, and they just started going back and forth from the top of the pillar to the ocean, grabbing as much fish as they could. Until, night finally came and everyone joined together on top of the pillar with Luna, her parents, her friends, her friends parents, Tola, Hera, and her party. All watching the sunset and waiting for the moon to appear on the sky. It was a beautiful sight, and even without the orange sediment on the rocks, if one was to look at the pillars from the right angle, they would be ale to see the sleeping dragon. It was just a shame that the sight only lasted a few moments. When the sun vanished in the horizon everyone just waited for what would happen next. If this was a festival there should be something that signaled its start. A roar echoed through the room and Hera turned to Luna with a smile, "Does that mean it¡­" she wasn''t able to finish the sentence as the Wyvern''s face clearly showed there was something wrong. "Mom? Dad?" Luna was staring at her parents who were currently shaking. Their scales turned black as time went by. With a jerk, both of them opened their eyes, that were now red instead of the blue. They pointed their head to the sky and roared, being joined by all the draconic beings in the room, with the exception of Luna. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest discovered. The Change. Protect the last sane Wyvern from the other creatures who went mad due The Change ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 698 -The Last Moonless Night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest discovered. The Change. Protect the last sane Wyvern from the other creatures who went mad due The Change ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mom? Dad?" Luna asked again, her voice made her parents snap towards her, staring the wyvern down with angry red eyes. They jerked, moving as if they were about to strike but stopped themselves for some reason, "You can still hear me, right?" As she spoke again, the parents of Marron growled at her, but Luna''s parents stepped forward growling back at them. There was a tense moment where all the draconic beings on top of this pillar were just threatening each other for a moment. Suddenly, the chaos started. The larger dragons started attacking each other, biting at their necks, using their claws to cut open their skin and using any sorts of spells or skill that were available to them. The smaller ones also fought amongst themselves, but with the battle of titans on the backdrop, their struggle looked like nothing more than a squabble between children, which was the reality of the situation. "What is going on?" Luna gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "We need to get out of here," Hera grabbed the Wyverns by the wing and pulled her to the edge of the pillar. "No, I need to help them!" Luna tried to pull back, but Helena joined in. "Luna, we can''t help them if we are dead. Let''s get out of here first and try to figure out what is going on, then we can help." "But¡­ my parents," "Do you think they would lose here?" Blue asked. "No! They are the strongest!" Luna turned to the controller who just smiled. "Then we don''t have to worry. Not to mention that staying here might get in the way. They can''t fight properly while protecting you." Luna stopped for a moment, which felt too long for the rest of the party as the giant 15 meter tall dragons were fighting right beside them, but eventually, she nodded, "Ok, there is something wrong and we need to figure out what. Let''s go!" Everyone just jumped from the pillar and waited a few moments before starting to fly. Those fights seemed to be going on everywhere, and being a group of people splitting off would surely attract attention. "Where to? Should we go to Luna''s cave?" Bonnie asked. "Maybe, we need to hide first so we can think about what is going on," Shane dove to fly closer to the water. "Why is it so dark anyway?" Alex grumbled in a low voice, not wanting to yell here. "The moon¡­. Where is it?!" Luna gasped, realizing that it wasn''t anywhere to be seen. "It will take a while for it to show up, won''t it? I mean, we usually don''t see it right away," Bonnie turned to the Wyvern. "No! The day after the moon dies it always shows up high in the sky the moment the sun sets!" Luna gasped, but her voice was a bit too loud and attracted the attention of a few small Wyverns and a Lung Dragon that was just about two meters long. They all had the same pitch black scales which made them even harder to see coming in the night. If it wasn''t for the noise they were making and the glowing red eyes, it would be impossible to notice the incoming attack. "Shit! Shane, can you Enchant our eyes? We need night vision!" Hera dodged to the side, calling out her entire court, minus Nimbus and Lurize, ''Guys, don''t use anything that makes a light. That will be a beacon for the dragons to come after us.'' "I don''t know. I never tried that before. Cover me for a moment while I figure something out," Shane replied and touched her temple, trying to make her enchantment work. One of the Wyverns dove towards Hera, seeing the small glimmer created by her court. It was a very soft glow that the Empress herself never realized that happened, but this was the first time she called her blades in such a pitch black darkness. Thankfully, she had already triggered a Sensory Net spell around her and the group, allowing Hera to see the incoming attack. The Wyvern tried to grab her with its talons, but was only able to catch Frost, who intercepted and pulled the legs down. Following that up, Dao and Ooze came slashing the neck of the creature, creating two deep cuts that were already spewing blood. "Wait! Don''t kill them," Hera gasped, and turned to Luna who now had cold eyes. "No, if a dragon attacks you wanting to kill, they should be ready to die. That''s the law of this place," the silver Wyvern said before beating her wings and flying towards the Lung Dragon who was right in front of her. In a flash, she went around the creature and grabbed its body with her legs before biting the neck, killing the crazed monster almost instantly, "I hate this¡­ but I won''t die. Not here!" Another Wyvern came at Hera, who was unable to see it coming now that her spell ended up getting left behind. After all, they weren''t standing still, but still flying at high speeds. Like before, her court intercepted it, but even Armory took too long to realize and the monster just lost its aim, but was still able to headbutt Hera''s ribs. Her armor stopped the sharp scales from damaging her skin, but she still felt the impact and fell to the side, momentarily too stunned to be able to fly. She was only stunned for a brief moment and managed to fly before dropping into the ocean, but the rest of her party was also struggling. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The dragons all could see in the dark perfectly, or at least, that''s what it felt like. Fighting an invisible enemy was hard, and using the sounds to see where they were coming from was just a waste of effort. Growls, roars, snarls, and cries were echoing from each pillar, making even a simple conversation a struggle. Blue and Mylo were the only two who seemed to be able to defend and dodge the incoming attacks, everyone else was getting hit. Even Shane who was being protected by most of the party. The biggest problem for both Helena and Bonnie was that most of their spells would create light. Not to say they didn''t have options, but even Helena, who could remove the sight of others, wasn''t used to fighting when something like that happened to her. Hera took another hit on her back. It was an attempt at a clawing at her lower spine, but her armor blocked thanks to Armory''s warning. The Empress took advantage of the proximity of the black Wyvern and grabbed its neck before firing several poison needles at point blank range. Each strike of the spell made that pitch black scales regain some of its color, but it was only a momentary effect. Almost like a pulse with each of her attacks. To finish it off, Viper and Crimson came flying from the sides and pierced the monster''s eyes. Making it drop like a log, almost bringing Hera down with it. ''Thanks,'' Hera smiled at the double daggers. ''We are here for you, Empress!'' Viper announced proudly. ''It just sucks to not be able to see anything. That''s why we are aiming for the eyes,'' Crimson said with a happy voice. "Hera!" Shane called from behind her, "I got it. Here," she touched the side of Hera''s face and suddenly, the pitch black night changed. Now everything was in shades of green. Shane herself was still dark, but now it was possible to see her properly. Looking to the side, the Empress saw the fight taking a turn. It seemed like she was the last to get the buff, and everyone else was able to quickly dispatch the monster that was coming after them. When the last dragon was killed, everyone turned to Luna, but before anyone could say anything the silver Wyvern spoke. "I think I have an idea where we could find some clues. There is a pillar where the moonlight is strongest. Maybe we can still see the moon there," Luna''s voice was hopeful, but Hera had some doubts about it. "Are you sure? Don''t you think it might be better for us to go back to your place?" Bonnie asked. "No, we need to figure this out, now!" Luna yelled as she flew away. The rest of the party followed along, trying to call to her but the silver Wyvern was either ignoring the or she wasn''t hearing their voice. After about half an hour, everyone just flew low and tried to keep themselves hidden. When they were getting close to the pillar that Luna was talking about, a Dragon roared from above. It flew down stopping in front of the group growling in anger and bearing its teeth. "Tola¡­" Luna whimpered seeing her old mentor with pitch black scales, blood coming out of a few fresh wounds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crazed Dragon - Tola - 30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Luna, I don''t think they can understand you," Hera whispered. "I know," Luna blinked and her eyes returned to that steeled cold expression, "We need to take her down." Tola roared and created some green flames inside her mouth before spewing it out towards the group. Everyone dove away, but the heat was intense even if no one got hit. To make things worse, the bright fire was almost a flashbang to them, thanks to Shane''s enchantment. However, that also came with a benefit. The light didn''t attract any other dragons. It seemed like no one wanted to take their chances and get near Tola, which made them stop worry about their spells and just go for it. Helena started firing a mix of shadow and light arrows, each could deprive or overwhelm one of their senses. The light arrows would do the exact opposite of the shadow ones. Flooding one of the target''s senses so they would be incapable of using said sense. Mylo flew forward, trying to use his staff to pin don the Dragon''s mouth. Blue used her gauntlets and started to punch Tola with all her might, the electricity coursing through both of them, in a way that it was hard to tell who was getting injuries by it. Shane fired a couple of projectiles that attached to the Dragon and started to siphon mana. This made the scales around the area where the attachment was located regain their colors, but they would quickly go back to that pitch black color. It seemed like some sort of mana was affecting the dragons, but it would be hard to understand what it actually was in the middle of a fight. Tola pushed Mylo away, and swatted Blue like a fly using her tail, following that, she almost bit Alex in half as the assassin attempted to go for a sneak attack. Adriel started firing some lasers to at least distract the creature, but it didn''t even seem to notice the incoming energy beams. "Hera, can you buy me some time? I''m going to use my staff," Bonnie got close to the Empress. "I''ll do my best. Everyone, let''s go!" Hera called as she and her court flew at Tola, Viper and Crimson used all their skills, making poison, and blood claws as fast as they could. She also put some 200 thousand mana inside her Aquaflame pendant aiming at the Dragon''s chest. The mixture of fire and water spiraled from the repentant and flew off in a high pressure jet. Slamming Tola who just growled and clawed at the Empress, missing by a hair, but the wind that followed the blow was enough to make her spin around uncontrollably. Before Hera could steady herself, Bonnie flew towards Tola swinging her staff like a club and hitting the creature''s arm. Just as that happened, an explosion that looked like a miniature version of the big bang appeared, making the Dragon shudder and seem momentarily stunned. Luna appeared high in the sky, diving at a staggering speed. After a sonic boom, she did a flip and slammed both her feet against Tola''s head, knocking the dragon out and letting her fall into the ocean. "Let''s go!" Luna called and continued to her destination. They arrived at the pillar in question but it was just the same. The dragons were killing each other and there was no moon in sight. After 10 minutes, the silver Wyvern gave up her search and agreed with the group, "Let''s just go to my cave and wait. They moved quickly, but before arriving at Luna''s cave, they saw something different. Another cave, the one where her parents lived was burning. As if the large dragons had breathed fire there. Inside, two giant silver Wyverns were burning as all the pitch black dragons had stopped fighting and were now looking up to the sky. Luna stared at the flames, and the bodies of her parents for a moment, still flying with the group. Then, she turned around with a smile, "I understand now. I know how to fix this." "How?" Hera asked. "I have to do a thing. And don''t worry. Everything will be fine. Thanks for everything, and I''m sorry," with those last words, the spell that Luna casted on the party vanished and they all plummeted to the ocean. Blue wasn''t even able to call her cloud, just as Alex was unable to walk in the air. They all watched as Luna flew up to the sky and started to glow, becoming brighter and brighter until forming a sphere as big as the moon in the sky. An explosion of light washed over everything, hitting the black dragons and turning them all into dust just as Hera and the others fell harmlessly inside the cold and dark waters of the dungeon. 699 - Lunas cave As Hera fell into the water, she could tell the current was strong, but she never expected it to be this powerful. There was no chance for her to move her arms or legs, almost as if she was held on by some invisible force as she kept sinking deeper and deeper. However, just 10 seconds after reaching the ocean, she was spat out inside a well-lit cave. Hera instantly recognized the place as the same cave where they had slept the previous days. But instead of the nest made out of dried seaweed, there was an almost altar-looking structure. In the back of the cave were three curved shelves of different heights. Hera wasn''t the first to arrive in this place, but soon she saw the rest of her party dropping from the ceiling, which looked like it was made out of stone. Yet they passed through it like it was not even there. "Is everyone ok?" Helena asked, being the last to arrive. She was flying higher than anyone when Luna dropped the spell. "My eyes are killing me. That light Luna made was way too bright. I dropped the enchantment right away, but I still feel like I was staring at the sun," Shane rubbed her eyes, "Did you see what happened with Luna?" Helena shook her head, "All I saw were the black dragons turning to dust in the light. I think I saw a small dark spot in the middle of that light, but I''m not sure." "Where are we, by the way?" Blue looked around, taking one step towards the shelves, when a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest. The Change. You protected Luna, the last sane Wyvern, from the other creatures who went mad due to The Change. Allowing her to purify the dragons by creating a new moon in the sky. At the cost of her life. To receive your first-time rewards, step into the designated location. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What loca¡­. Oh, is that it?" Blue pointed to the shelves where Hera could see a glowing square on the floor. "Do we all have to take turns to get this?" Alex asked. "I don''t know, but why are you looking at that corner? The glowing thing is over there," Bonnie pointed to the edge of the shelves. "I think everyone has a different place; mine is over here," Hera pointed to a spot closer to the middle. "Well¡­ we''ve completed the quest, so let''s just get the rewards and leave. We are so close to getting home," Blue walked to her spot, a bit to the left. Everyone took their positions; Helena was in the center with Blue and Hera by her side. They counted down from 3, and everyone stepped on the glowing spot at the same time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Due to the nature of some of the rewards, you will be able to see them. Your rewards will appear on the shelf in front of you. Picking it up will allow you to take the reward or keep it for later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What is this reward?" Hera frowned, thinking about what could require this kind of setup. "Is this a joke?" Helena frowned. In front of her, there was a bag with 10 kg of fish. Those were already cut and ready to be seasoned and cooked. In front of it, there was a small plaque written ''10 X,''"I got 100 kilograms of fish? Seriously?" she huffed. "That''s all?" Shane turned to her. "No, I also got 250 thousand gold and a mana stone, but it can only store 75 thousand. It''s not that big. And the name kind of stings," Helena replied, noticing Hera''s confused expression, "It''s called Luna''s tear." One by one, they started getting their rewards. They all got the same amount of gold but aside from it, every prize was different. Mylo got a Dragon-themed chess set that, aside from being absolutely gorgeous, would give a buff to the players that lasted a full day. The buff would vary depending on which pieces you were playing as and if you won or lost. It could be an increase in attributes, defenses, offense, or spells. He also got a stone ring that could keep him warm during cold nights but wouldn''t be enough to fight back against sub-zero temperatures. Adriel got a set of black scales, not the odd black ones that stopped you from seeing even the shape of it, but the lustrous black of a dragon before they were affected by the Change, whatever that was. It was enough to make him some shoes or gloves. Maybe a vest, but it would still require some crafting. According to the notification, that particular type of scale could add fear effects to the equipment and increase the power of attacks. He also got a festival lantern that was a consumable light that could also cleanse minor ailments. Shane got a set of playing cards, all Lung Dragon themed, and a set of poker chips. Just like Mylo''s, it had a special effect when playing. People could bet a percentage of their attributes, and the winner would get the ''pot'' as a buff while the others received a debuff. This could last up to one hour, which could be very useful depending on the situation. She also got a bag with 5 kg of fish, all ready to be cooked like Helena''s. Alex got a couple different stone rings like the ones that Luna made, each that could make her life a tiny bit more comfortable. Be it helping her keep dry in the rain or not having to worry about sunscreen. But the real star of her prizes was a pair of dragon scale gloves. They were red, and the closer they got to the tip of the fingers, the more vibrant the scales became. Those gloves gave her a passive boost to her strength, protected her from elemental attacks, allowed her to channel elemental magic through the gloves to increase the power of spells, which caused the red color to get stronger, and had a skill that could only be used when the wearer was fighting for their life. According to the description, it would deliver a massive blow and increase the wearer''s defenses and endurance after it. Bonnie and Blue got something similar. Both of them received a weapon. Bonnie''s was called Dragon Flame, and it was a scimitar. Its blade was a striking crimson red, but the shade would shift in the light, becoming almost pink. The curved blade came out of a delicate flame-like design adorning the hilt. On closer inspection, the entire blade had a very slight dragon-scale pattern that allowed mana to pass through it more easily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon Flame - Scimitar Unique Level Requirement: 28 Scaling Agility x 45 Strength x 35 Charisma x 25 Passive Skills Deadly Prowess: Attacks with this weapon deal 20% extra damage. Elemental attacks with this weapon deal an additional 30% damage. This weapon is 15% more likely to hit a vital spot. Agility bonus +10 Active Skills Dragon Fire Strike: This weapon still remembers the flames that forged it and the tempering it endured. Triggering this skill, this weapon will heat up, increasing the damage dealt. Duration 10 minutes Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.Increased damage + 30% Cooldown: 15 minutes. Forged in Dragon Fire The flames used to create this weapon still dwell within For a limited time, this weapon can ignite, replicating the dragon fire where it came from, increasing the damage it deals. Heats up the blade, adding fire damage to all its attacks. Duration 1 minute Added fire damage + 200% Cooldown: 1 hour ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blue''s reward was a two-handed battle axe. The blade radiated a stunning azure blue hue in a way that made them feel like they would cut themselves just by looking at it. The head of the axe was flat, but there was an intricate carving that showed a pair of dragon heads with mouths open as if the blades were the fire coming from the beasts. But those heads were not like any dragon they saw inside the dungeon. Instead, they had a fin coming from the neck and heading all the way to the bottom of the handle, a darker blue, looking like an old piece of wood hammered by lighting and the elements across the ages and still endured. The entire thing was just engraved in the shaft. The actual shape of it was completely flat, with just a couple of larger spots made out of metal that could be used to grab the weapon itself. When the light hit, they were able to see an intricate pattern that seemed to represent waves on the blades of this battle axe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leviathan''s Crest - Two-Handed battle axe Unique Level Required: 30 Scaling: Strength x 50 Endurance x 45 Luck x 40 Passive Skills Ocean''s Might: 50% of the damage dealt with this weapon is water elemental damage. Attacks with this weapon deal 30% extra damage as water elemental damage. Water spells channeled through this weapon deal 80% extra damage. Attacks aimed at a target bigger than the wielder deal an additional 30% extra damage Strength Bonus + 10 Active skills: Leviathan''s torrent: The current lives inside this weapon. Channeling this skill unleashes torrents of water from each of the Leviathan''s heads or a tidal wave from one of them. Mana cost: 2 million. Draconic Eruption: Those wounded by the Leviathan feel its wrath even after escaping its grasp. When an attack deals considerable damage, the weapon can release a powerful wave, damaging surrounding enemies and briefly stunning them. Mana cost: 500 thousand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hera¡­ close your mouth. You are drooling," Bonnie chuckled. "I don''t care. Look at those things. If you are not going to use it, I''ll buy them from you," Hera''s eyes were wide and unblinking. Both of those weapons were leagues beyond the ones she currently had, and if she was going to change some of her court members, there would be no better substitutes. "Focus on your reward first. Let''s see if it''s something worth trading," Blue smiled. No one in the party used those kinds of weapons, which meant that Hera was the logical option. The controller didn''t have any problem with giving the battle axe to the Empress, but if she could get something out of it, she wouldn''t say no. "Right, I don''t know why it is taking so long," Hera looked to the shelves in front of her again when it finally appeared. "Is that¡­ Orange Caviar?" Alex asked. "I guess," Hera frowned, staring at the large basketball-sized clump of orange caviar in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon Egg Bound to Hera Kingsley. Give enough mana to the egg to complete the binding process. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Say what now?!" Hera gasped. "What?" Helena asked. "It''s¡­ a dragon egg." "Of course it is," Adriel sighed, getting confused looks from the party, "Oh, I''m sorry. Is it bad that I''m a bit upset because the girl with a legacy, two titles, a spirit, some stupid wasp armor, and can become a Naga also got a dragon egg? I''m not saying you don''t deserve all that but fuck me. You get a lot of stuff, and Helena gets fish? It does not seem fair." "I think that''s because of a skill I have. Silver Linings. Every time something bad happens, good things are more likely to happen. Those usually come in the shape of better rewards or stupid coincidences," Hera tried to justify herself. "You don''t have to explain, Hera. Luck is part of being an explorer, and I''m pretty sure you have the most luck out of all of us," Helena smiled, "I won''t say I''m not a bit salty, but we just came out of the ocean, so that''s probably why." "Going back to another topic, Do you still want to trade?" Blue asked with a smile. "Even if I wanted to, I can''t. It''s already bound to me," Hera replied, turning back to the orange caviar ball. She reached out, placing both her hands on the egg, and started to pump mana inside of it. She spent almost all the mana she currently had available, but nothing happened. There was no change in the egg. That being said, they had just fought a dragon, and everyone spent a lot of mana. The Empress stopped and started recharging her mana. ''Mum, do you want me to help? Technically we have the same mana.'' ''Do you think that would work?'' ''Maybe. I don''t see it as being a problem. If you want, I can channel the mana through you. We never use that, but technically I work as a special mana stone too.'' ''We might as well try,'' Hera nodded and channeled Daskka''s mana. It was a bit of a surprise to see that the herald had the same amount of mana as she did, but using it was a bit more awkward than using her own. She used almost all of the mana, but eventually, the egg stopped taking. It glowed slightly and cracked. A pair of light pink eyes appeared from inside before, in a flash, the dragon jumped out of the egg. It was tall, taller than Hera or even Mylo, and half of its body was still on the ground behind it. At first, Hera thought it was a Lung Dragon, but it had no arms, looking very much like a snake. A snake with a shade of blue that was almost gray with long curly pink horns and a darker blue mane. Coming from its back, there were fins, where the membrane was the same color as its body, while the bones connecting them were pink like the horns. When looking down at its body, Hera realized that this dragon, if it was a dragon, had a pair of fins instead of arms. There were smaller fins across the body, but those two seemed bigger and able to move, almost like a pair of wings. When reaching the tail, the pink took over, forming what almost looked like a flexible reef, and instead of the sharp edges of the front of its body, it was curved and wavy, almost like the foam created by the waves while still containing the pink color. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cerulea - Sea Serpent Bound to Hera Kingsley Some dragons prefer the ocean to the open skies. After generations of that preference, their bodies change to something more suitable for underwater life. Cerulea is a mana construct created from one of the many dragons who lived in the Golden Dragon Archipelago a long time ago. She can perform simple tasks and allows her owner to use spells through her as long as they are within a certain distance. Cerulea can be summoned from a pair of earrings which disappear while the Sea Serpent is out. They will return to her owner when Cerulea is dismissed. Cerulea can float on land at a speed of 5 km/h or swim at a speed of 80 km/h. If there is someone riding Cerulea as she dives underwater, she will create an air bubble around them that lasts 1 hour. The air will allow them to breathe. Up to 3 bubbles can be created at once If Cerulea is destroyed, it takes 24 hours for her to recover. Cerulea doesn''t require mana to maintain its form, but it does require it to float and use any of its abilities. Stored mana 0 / 4 000 000 Air bubble cost: 1 300 000 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After reading the description, Hera snapped her head towards Blue, "How much do you want for the axe? I''m 90% sure I can have a new titled blade with it!" 700 - One last obstacle "Again, it doesn''t have an ego. It''s just a construct. A mount," Hera said as they walked down a corridor that appeared when they all got their rewards. This should be the dungeon''s exit. "It''s still a dragon, you have a freaking dragon, and it''s bound to you," Adriel replied. "Yeah, but it''s only worth it to move around with it in the water. If I''m moving on the ground, I should still have Nimbus," Hera continued, but she had to stop for a moment to let everyone pass; the Leviathan''s Crest was a bit too big for the next leg of the passage. Even Mylo''s staff was too tall. Because of that, both of them let everyone walk by before going with the weapons, "Either way. I''m sorry. I know you are upset because of everything I got here." "I''m not upset. I''m jealous; there is a difference. I''m not holding anything against you; I just really wanted something too," Adriel grumbled. "Tell you what. Next time something really bad happens in my life and I don''t get a reward soon after. I''ll give you a call, and we can run a dungeon to see if you can get some nice rewards," Hera suggested. "Oh, I want in on that one too," Alex perked up. "Me too," Shane nodded. "Same," Mylo smiled. "Even I want a piece of that pie," Helena said with a smirk but the way she said it caused everyone to laugh. "How did you turn southern? Aren''t you supposed to be British?" Blue said between laughs. "I''ve been here for a long time. It was about time I lost some of my accent," Helena shrugged, also having fun with the situation. Both Blue and Bonnie agreed to sell Hera the weapons. Blue asked for 20 million gold, which, even if she didn''t have on hand after all the dungeon runs during the last few months, she would likely get, thanks to the percentage of profits they received from the Kobold Road. That wasn''t necessarily a value that Blue would need, but they agreed that she could buy something on the same level of power with that money. Bonnie asked for a lower value, but Hera refused and promised the same. The researcher didn''t have that much money, and she didn''t have the passive income from a deal with the guild, which made the value much more significant to her. With that money, she could live with her mom for several years without having to worry about anything. Not to mention she still had the patent for hair spell circles that Helena, Quinn, and her applied for just before they got stuck without a way to go home. They finally arrived outside the dungeon, back at the cave, where they found the entrance. As soon as they left that tunnel, Blue looked around and stopped. "Ok, I''m not crazy. This is not Luna''s cave." "What?" Bonnie asked. "The shape of the place is different. Luna''s was deeper and more¡­ uniform. This one is more wide than deep, and it has that part," the controller pointed to the left corner where a part of the wall was closer to the entrance, making a deformation in the structure, "Correct me if I''m wrong, but all those changes couldn''t happen because of time, could they?" Hera looked around, "No, I don''t think so. And that odd orange thing is not here, so it couldn''t have an effect." "Also, this is not the location on the map where we were. Look here," Shane was looking at her tablet with an overlay of the map of the dungeon and of the room. Some spots were blank on both maps, but Luna''s cave was still visible on both. It was supposed to be right in front of the doorway they took to get here. "Ok¡­ I think we need to get there. There is something that''s bothering me," Blue said. "What?" "Helena said she saw something falling, and I think that was Luna. Or her remains. She also said that there was something underwater by the doorway, and I want to see if I can figure out what it is," Blue explained. "Don''t you want to go back home?" Alex asked. "I mean, can we? Nimbus won''t be back for a few days; how are we supposed to move around this place?" Blue turned to the assassin. Only now everyone realized the issue with the situation. As they discussed what they could do. Hera stepped to the back of the cave to add the new members to her court. She didn''t have any idea about how to move around now, and carrying both of these weapons as they reached civilization would bring too much attention to them. They were not exactly inconspicuous, and she didn''t want that. She would already have enough of it when arriving at Boothudurn. ''Daskka, Any chance I can increase the court?'' The Herald shook her head, ''No, mum. I''m sorry.'' ''That''s ok. So everyone, come here. I want to talk to all of you,'' the Empress summoned the entire court, ''I know this will sound mean, but I will ask. Is there anyone who thinks they should be the ones to go? I don''t want anyone pointing fingers at someone else. Just say it if you feel you are no longer able to help.'' ''Me,'' Scythe was the first to speak. ''Me too,'' Ooze moved forward. ''And me,'' Armory said. ''Honestly, me too, but since you are swapping two weapons, I don''t know if I should be considered,'' Core said. ''I agree. Core shouldn''t be a part of this. We have others who are bigger problems. I''m one of them,'' Scythe added. ''Scythe¡­'' Doing this was already hard, but Hera didn''t want to hear her court talking about themselves like that even if it was technically what she asked. ''No. Hera, it''s fine. Really. My skill doesn''t do much, and having me as a lookout is redundant with Armory around. I''m not saying I didn''t help, but I know for a fact I only pulled my weight when you asked for some sort of stealth mission. And now Edge is here. Who can do it just as well as I,'' Scythe turned to the small knife. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ''Are you sure? I can barely do anything in a fight,'' Edge was pointing down. ''Yes, because you are our healer. The best situation is when Hera doesn''t need you; the second best is when you can heal something that would''ve otherwise killed her,'' Scythe continued. ''That''s an awful way to put it, but you are not wrong,'' Daskka nodded. ''That''s why I should be the first to go. Besides, my skill is the least useful one. Aside from that thing with the Mantises, I don''t think we ever saw it triggering,'' Scythe finished her thought. ''It actually happened a few times. I noticed it, it would be like a second strike on the same target'' Armory tried to argue. ''Was it enough to make up for Hera having one less warrior in the field?'' Scythe asked the tiara. They didn''t get an answer, but the silence spoke volumes, ''That''s my point.'' ''Ok, I agree with you. You will be one of them. Thank you for everything. And I''m sorry," Hera said, but she didn''t get a reply, not a spoken one at least. She got feelings instead, gratitude, happiness, joy, pride, and wistfulness. Quickly rubbing her eyes, she turned to the tiara floating in front of her, "Right, Armory, let me say. I don''t think I can be without you right now. If I find something else that can take your place is one thing, but I really need someone to be kind of like the general. Looking at the full picture and giving commands,'' Hera said before turning to Ooze, ''And why you? You got that gift a while back, so your emotions are influencing me less than Cores.'' ''Yes, but my attributes are not that great. And my skill is not that interesting. Core has multiple things he can do, I can only scream,'' Ooze explained, and Hera felt it in his voice that he accepted this. ''Ok. If I''m being honest, you two were the ones I was thinking about. Thank you for everything. And hey, at least this is not goodbye forever,'' Hera tried to smile, putting on a brave face. ''Yeah, you can call us on the Blade Graveyard. That you didn''t use so far,'' Scythe pointed out. ''To be fair, I''ve been in a dangerous situation ever since I got that skill. I had to save it for a good moment that never came. The cooldown is very long. And I didn''t know if I could use that skill while fighting the big dragon. Can it be activated on the air?'' Hera turned to Daskka. ''Yeah, it can. But the blades would fall, and take a moment to realize what was going on. It was a good call not to use it,'' the Herald explained. ''Ok then. Ooze, Scythe. Thank you so much for everything.'' ''Thank you, Empress,'' Ooze replied. ''Without you, we would never exist. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life for a while,'' Scythe had a happy voice despite everything. Hera dismissed them permanently, and the shapes of the weapons broke apart into mist as if they were an illusion losing their form. Following that, she wiped a tear that was forming on the corner of her eye and pulled the Scimitar and the Battle Axe. Adding them to her court. She didn''t use the Royal Seal to change their elements right now, knowing she might have a better opportunity to do so when inside her workshop. Also, the weapons already were pointed to a specific element, and she didn''t want to change that. Neither of the weapons had any skill changes when being added to the court. The only difference was the scaling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amber - Fire Scimitar Empress Attributes: 99 Scaling Agility X 24.9 Strength X 19.9 Charisma X 14.9 Intelligence X 2.5 Endurance X 2.4 Luck X 2.4 Familiarity 39% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Livy of Water Two-Handed battle axe Empress attributes: 99 Scaling: Strength X 27.2 Endurance X 24.7 Luck X 22.2 Agility X 2.2 Intelligence X 2.2 Charisma X 2.2 Familiarity 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The scaling of both weapons took a massive hit, but at least Livy would recover and even surpass her strength as she became a titled blade. If that worked like Hera was expecting. Daskka wasn''t able to confirm if the Dragon would be enough without the weapon reaching 100% familiarity, which meant Hera would need to spend a good amount of time practicing with it before getting her new titled blade. The names were made to be short and give her an idea of what each of them would do. In a fight, she didn''t want to waste time calling something like ''Alphonse Henry Esteban III'' or some nonsensical thing like that. Hence her ideas. Amber, which sounded like an ember for the fire weapon, and Livy, short for Leviathan, for the water battle axe that she hoped to be her new titled blade in the near future. Hera called Livy and Amber out and let everyone introduce themselves. ''Empress, it is an honor to serve you,'' Amber bowed slightly, with a melodic feminine voice that Hera didn''t expect. ''Yeah! This is awesome! I can talk! And Fly!'' Livy''s voice was also feminine but deeper, and there was an underline feral tone. ''Nice to meet you two. And thanks for joining. Just a couple of things first. Unless I say it specifically, nothing I ever say is an order. If you disagree with something, you can say so. Second, you can call me Hera if you like. And third, if you ever want to give your opinion about something, feel free to do so,'' Hera said with a smile. It was odd. Changing court members always hurt, and that was true now, but she didn''t feel as upset as she expected. After some pleasantries, the Empress left her court to talk amongst themselves, getting to know the new kids while she went to check on her party. Adriel, Blue, Alex, and Bonnie were gone. Only Shane, Helena, and Mylo were still around. "So, what did I miss?" Hera asked. "Oh, hey. Are you finished?" Shane turned to the Empress. "Yeah. I''m leaving Livy and Amber to talk with everyone so they can get used to everything. It''s always weird to see their personalities taking shape." "Really? How are they?" Helena was leaning over against the wall. "Amber is¡­ I want to say sophisticated. She sounds like one of those women in positions of power in movies. Not the main character, but the ones that give them advice and are a bit snobby. She also is more polite than most. A bit chivalrous, I guess. For now it''s interesting but I see that getting old if she leans too hard on that side. Livy¡­ she is just very excited. Everything seems new for her, and she is very happy to be here." "And Livy is the one who might be a titled blade?" Shane asked. "Yep. She is the battle axe." "Can I ask a different question?" Mylo turned to her. He was sitting on the outside of the cave, with his legs dangling from the outside. "Sure," Hera nodded. "Back inside the dungeon. Why didn''t you ask your relic about the fish?" Hera stopped in her tracks after hearing that, "What?" "Your relic. Since you didn''t ask it anything, I assume there was a reason for it. And the snakes from your bracelet shouldn''t survive the current," Mylo continued. There was a pause where Hera just turned more and more white, realizing what happened. "You forgot about that, didn''t you?" Helena asked with a chuckle. "I did." "Don''t beat yourself up. You are not the first, nor the last, person to forget something that could have helped during a dungeon," Shane smiled. Not realizing that this also meant Nimbus and Lurize were potentially destroyed for no reason. "Okay. I can see your mind is going somewhere bad, sweetie. Let''s focus on a different thing. Adriel is taking Bonnie to the doorway. Alex is going there too. Blue went to check something in the doorway we used to get here. When Adriel comes back, you or Mylo should go with him. I''m going to keep Shane company here since she needs to use enchantment to make us lighter." "I didn''t think of that before, but thanks to that spell, Adriel can move people. Slowly but he can. Each round trip takes about an hour. Nimbus would need only 20 minutes. So, if everything goes well, we can leave here soon," Shane looked to the sky, "But I think it will be nighttime by then, so we might see the two moons." "Oh¡­ Yeah, that would be nice," Hera nodded, trying to stop the thoughts that were currently going through her mind. She focused back on her surroundings, taking them one more time before they left. This should be it; they were finally going home. 701 - Welcome back to the internet It took almost 4 hours for all of them to be able to reach the pillar where the doorway was located. Adriel had to use a lot of mana to keep the drones from being pushed around by the wind, and because of it, he had to rest between each trip. The good part was that this allowed them to see the two moons in the sky. Even if one of them was just a sliver of light in the black sky. In all fairness, the original moon was already close to the third quarter, the in-between point between a full moon and a new moon. However, the second moon was so big and so bright that it outshone the first one. It was so bright, giving off an incredible silver light that covered the entire room. During her turn to be carried by the drones with Adriel, Hera noticed how the light would give off a similar effect as the sunset, but instead of one large golden dragon made by the pillars glowing with the sun, the moon created several smaller Wyverns looking up to the moon with happy expressions. She couldn''t help but wonder if this was made by someone or not. If Tailou asked her to take care of Luna, maybe he also had a hand on the current shape of the pillars. Hera made a mental note to remember to ask him about it later, but one way or another, it was a sight to behold. Just as Hera arrived at the right pillar, her tablet started buzzing, and it didn''t stop for a while. They were already close enough to have access to the internet. Hera didn''t even talk to Bonnie or Alex during that time; the three of them just answered messages and let their loved ones know they were ok. The Empress'' dad, Eridan, also made a video call the second she sent him a message. There were some tears, mostly coming from the man, who never doubted his little girl was doing well, but still felt very emotional. While having that conversation, he also mentioned some problems that were going on in the MAZE, the Last Line of Defense was becoming more active, and the Guild was cracking down on some people who they were considering possible threats. Eridan said he would give her the details in person; after all, they were just two days away from Boothudurn. The connecting room was called ''Farmer''s Delight,'' a wide expanse of natural farms that were constantly growing food with a small city close by. Two doorways away, they would arrive in Dzviery, which had been rebuilt enough to become a large city again. It would still take some time for it to regain the title of a metropolis, but the room was already on the path for it. Eridan''s warning was mostly due to the increased security to cross to lower layers. He remembered how Hera found it odd that people stopped Adriel for no reason when he helped Helena move her lab, and that seemed to have gotten worse. Aside from that, the only thing he said was that people missed her, and the Royal Explorers seemed to be doing well. Rutigan stopped by Eridan''s house about once a week to check up on him and see if he had any news. He also told her how his business motto was now a reality. The dwarven King ordered a bed for himself, and now he could proudly announce that kings lay in a Kingsley bed. That comment earned a hearty chuckle not just from Hera but from Bonnie and Alex, who were nearby. They were doing their own thing, but since the Empress was on a video call, it was hard not to hear the conversation. Unfortunately, Hera had to say her temporary goodbyes. If she kept talking with her dad, she wouldn''t stop, and they still had to go back home. She also wanted to take this moment to understand what was going on with the MAZE. "This is messed up¡­" Alex mumbled a few minutes after Hera started to catch up with the news. "What?" Bonnie turned to the assassin. "Have you read about the centaurs? What happened to them." "No, what happened?" Bonnie got closer to see Alex''s tablet. "Let me see it too," Hera moved to see what the assassin was talking about. "Hang on, let me do this," Alex searched for a moment and found a video with the full explanation of the story. It was a bit long, but over the course of 15 minutes, the reporter told what happened. According to them, a group of rebels that included a few of the strongest humans in the MAZE went searching for the centaur for revenge after what they did in Dzviery. These people went there behind the Guild''s back and executed all the centaurs, including the elderly and children. To make matters worse, it was revealed that a few of them had ties to the Last Line of Defense, being either sympathizers or closely related to people who were already known members of the terrorist organization. Unfortunately, the Guild wasn''t able to figure out their plans in time, but they were able to arrest everyone who was part of the attack. There wasn''t a complete list of those involved, but a few names were mentioned, including two that caught Hera''s attention. First, Insomniac was one of the leaders of this group and someone who apparently had close ties with the Last Line of Defense. Second, Frostbite was presented as the person responsible for bringing them all to justice. She apparently discovered the plans, warned the Guild, and led the charge to capture the murderers. Being able to stop them and trap them with ice since she reached the group just after the attack was over, and they were all weak and wounded. Now, almost all those involved were in jail. Split into groups based on their levels. If their family wanted to get in contact with them, they would have to go through the guild and their actual location wouldn''t be shared to avoid any possible attempts at breaking them out. The reporter went on to describe the details of what happened with the centaurs, which were very gruesome, calling it nothing short of a genocide. After that there was a statement from the Guild apologizing for what happened. Saying that no civilization should be treated like that and how the crimes of one are not the crimes of their people. Hera couldn''t help but feel weirded out about that. It didn''t sound like it was something spoken out of guilt but out of concern about the perception others would have of the Guild. As if they were trying to detach themselves from the circumstances even if their members were the ones responsible for it. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Aside from that, there were no big events, not really. The world kept going; some countries and cities had elections, movies came out, artists performed in their shows, and festivals happened. It was somewhat sad to think that, for the vast majority of people, Hera and her party being stuck here had no effect whatsoever. However, it was also comforting to know that things would still be mostly the same. While they were looking things over, Mylo arrived. Just like everyone else, he grabbed his tablet and started looking over what happened outside. Hera couldn''t help but feel a bit weird about this. Everyone seemed to have a lot of people who they wanted to talk to, but for her, almost everyone she knew was already there. There was Amanda, the granddaughter of the couple who wired her to work in a store when she moved to the city, but they were not that close. Still, the Empress sent her a text, as well as one to Mark and to Leo, who she hadn''t talked to in a while. That''s when she remembered that the Royal Explorers were not using the basic messaging app. Instead, they were using one where they could set up different channels, share files and organize their discoveries better. Opening that app, she was surprised to see how active it was. It was still with the same number of people, but the dwarves had gone wild with some of the channels. They had one just to discuss ideas for a movie night they started having and another to discuss any weird theories they had about the MAZE. As she was reading through the messages, she noticed one channel, ''Messages to Hera.'' Thinking it would be just questions or things they were not sure how to do, she opened that channel only to be surprised by what she was seeing. For one, each message was marked as private, meaning that only Hera and the sender could see them, but if she wanted, the Empress could also reply. Second, were the contents; instead of just questions, there were messages, almost like a diary, and there were thousands of them. She read about how Bralac started working with some other crafters to build mobile settlements and maybe even some vehicles for the Royal Explorers. Callena, on the other hand, sent out various pictures of men and women that she met during her trips back and forth from Boothudurn. She and Farica were still dating a lot and seemed to be enjoying themselves, despite their age. Then again, 100 was not old for dwarven standards. All other Royal Explorers had sent one message or another. A few were just talking about their lives and how it was different now; others shared their ideas, dreams, and discoveries, and a couple went a more depressing route, talking with Hera as if they would never see her again. As she read the messages, Hera noticed the channel about the movie night currently being used. They were trying to decide the genre and were divided between space-based Sci-fi or a Victorian mystery movie. Unfortunately, the vote was split in the middle since Legan, one of the underage kids that were working with the logistics part of their operation before the Empress vanished, couldn''t go. He was currently training to get his role which would allow him to join the actual missions of the Royal Explorers. Hera noticed how everyone seemed to be participating in the conversation and added her own message ''I like both, but I''m in the mood for Sci-fi.'' She thought it would be a funny way to tell them she was close. Pretending that nothing happened and it was all business as usual. However, unlike the constant stream of messages that was going on, as soon as she sent her reply, the conversation stopped. Hera got worried the Royal Explorers felt weird with her in the mix. Maybe it would be like an annoying boss trying to participate in the company happy hour. Her fear was unfounded, and after around two minutes, when the shock of receiving her message passed, the chat exploded, with everyone asking about her and what had happened. She chuckled and tried replying, only to have her answers drowned in the sea of text. This prompted Trillian, who controlled all the channels, to make a new one where Hera, and only Hera, could reply to the other messages so everyone could read what she had to say. He explained all that in a quick private message and added that he was very happy she was ok. In the end, she didn''t want to explain everything through text, but she still answered a few questions, telling everyone that she was ok and that they would be home in a couple of days. She also asked what was going on but said that she would give them all more details in person. She finally felt like she actually had a group of people worrying about her, which warmed her heart. That wasn''t fair, and Hera knew about it. Her friends, who were, with one exception, the people who cared the most about her, were all here, but still having a large group of people waiting for her return felt great. Not that she had any intentions of vanishing like that again. As she was still talking with the Royal Explorers, Blue appeared and asked everyone to gather around. She was dripping wet, but at least she didn''t seem injured," Guys, check this out. I found out what that thing Helena saw is." The controller opened her tablet and showed a few pictures while explaining that she used her storm to make a small hurricane around the doorway to push the water away. In front of that small island, there was a statue, a statue of a wyvern that was extremely familiar. However, it was bigger, much bigger than Luna. Just its head was already the size of the wyvern that accompanied them through the dungeon when she was fully grown, and the scales were all gray, "I managed to inspect it, and it said this was Selene, the silver wyvern who created the second moon. I think this is the original Luna." "And why did their names change?" "I don''t know. Maybe privacy? I remember something about names inside dungeons not matching their original versions," Hera replied. They continued talking for a while until Helena appeared from the light arrows she fired, followed not long after by Adriel and Shane, being the last ones to arrive. With everyone here and Bonnie already having checked the next room''s map to confirm they had hotels in there, they all crossed the doorway, returning to civilization. 702 - Home After leaving the Golden Dragon Archipelago, their trip to Boothudurn went by in a flash. When the group arrived at the Farmer''s Delight, some of the people there were surprised by the doorway being activated since they didn''t have any records of people going inside. They had to explain what happened and answer a small interrogation that revolved around how they got there without the guild''s knowledge and who Adriel was, they were pointed to a hotel. This time, everyone took an individual room. They were not fighting or anything, but after months of sleeping next to each other, everyone wanted a break. The next morning, they passed by another room which was very simple. Just a long stretch of flat land with some monster cows roaming around and the city in the middle. They considered going there the previous day, but the buses that came and went from the city would no longer be around, and walking would take several hours. After that room, they stopped in Dzviery and slept for the night. Going right away to Boothudurn was an option, but no one wanted to risk getting stuck because they went over the 3 doorway limit. The city of doorways was already doing very well, and they couldn''t even see that this place was attacked less than a year ago. Still, being here only brought bad memories to Hera. Alex also felt extremely guilty. Now that she was no longer cursed, she could tell that what happened was mostly her fault. Going after her journal was stupid, and she had no reason to do so, especially knowing that everything she wrote was still in her mind. What she failed to consider was what would happen if the journal survived and some random person found it. In that case, the curse would spread even more, and the whole struggle to eliminate it would have been for nothing. Despite their feelings, both Hera and Alex were doing surprisingly well considering everything. They were able to have conversations and move around seemingly without any problems, only staring into the distance with a grim expression on two different occasions each, when they passed by either the place where used to be the hotel they stayed at or near the place where Hera killed an elf. Thankfully, they didn''t linger on those places and continued moving to the Kobold Road. So far, they didn''t have many problems with the people standing guard. Sure, there was the small interrogation, but it was more about how they managed to go to a room where the other doorway wouldn''t be active all the time than anything else. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as they tried to cross. The guard stopped them because of Adriel, and even Hera trying to pull her weight with her silver guild card wasn''t enough to let them pass. It took three hours of talking, waiting, and having the same questions asked over and over until they finally let them through. If it wasn''t for the fact that one of the superiors who got involved with everything knew Helena personally since she helped him solve a problem he had a few years ago, that could have devolved into something much worse. The group had yet another issue in the kobold road. No one stopped them, not really, but almost all humans were staring at Adriel. "You know¡­ I''ve never been on this side of things," Helena said as they walked inside the subway car, and some people walked away from them. "What do you mean?" Hera turned to the mage. "I mean, having this kind of thing happen, and I''m not the reason for it," Helena looked around, "It feels¡­ just as bad. In this situation, at least." "I''m sorry," Adriel frowned and tried using the remains of a scarf to cover his ears, "I should''ve gotten a hat or something." "Adriel, if you ever apologize for that again, I am going to hit you," Helena said with a gentle voice. "Same, and I think I hit harder. If we are not including spells in the mix," Alex replied. "Thanks," Adriel smiled but quickly stepped behind Mylo as he noticed some stares. Thankfully that part of the trip didn''t take long, and in less than 20 minutes, they were already getting off the station in front of Boothudurn. Despite that, Hera couldn''t help but be confused. People were not this paranoid before, the reason should be the increased activity of the Last Line of Defense, but at the same time, it didn''t make sense. She couldn''t find anything about this ''increased activity,'' nothing that should show they are dangerous at least. Sure, there were a few hacks here and but those were only targeting either the guild website, news channels, or streaming services. And there was nothing about getting people''s data or anything like that. All they did was stamp their logo on top of everything. That could prove that they had some abilities, but that was it. Before she could figure something out, they all arrived at the checkpoint outside of the doorway leading to Boothudurn. Just like always, a few of the higher-level dwarves were here, but there were also some guards from the guild just outside the station. They were not being overly aggressive like the ones that tried to stop the group, but their eyes were clearly tracking them. Either way, Hera focused on the path ahead, greeting the two dwarves who were by the entrance. She didn''t know them personally, but they knew about her and hugged the entire party with warm smiles. Telling them to head inside and that they should be tired. Just as she touched the doorway, she heard one of them saying, ''I hope they don''t mind the smell.'' But the Empress was already frozen by the transfer process. As soon as she regained control over her body, Hera sniffed herself trying to see if there was any bad smell. Sure, some of her clothes were gone, and her hair needed some care, but she took a shower in Dzviery before leaving, and the entire party grabbed some new clothes. They were still wearing their armor, which needed a good, long cleaning, but they were not smelling that bad, were they? Walking through the long corridor connecting the doorway to the city proper, Hera realized the dwarves were not talking about her. Instead, about the city. Not because it smelled bad or anything like that, but because there was a pungent smell of flowers and alcohol in the air. As if a truck carrying perfume fell and all the scents mixed together. Adriel sneezed and rubbed his nose as the group saw the corner of the palace on the right and the guild on the left. But more than that, they saw a giant banner with the words ''Welcome Back'' written in various colors. Under that cloth, there were also dozens of people. Mostly dwarves, including Rutigan, Fethy, Ogryn, Risli, and even Naka, but also Eridan and Renette, Bonnie''s mom, were there, with big smiles on their faces. Seeing her dad, Hera started to run towards the crowd, and that''s when Fethy, the Duchess of Culture, noticed the group coming and gestured for the band to start playing. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Goldilocks!" Eridan gave his daughter a big hug, tears forming in his eyes, "I''m so glad you are back." "Sorryfffff it took me so long, grumpy bear." After a couple of minutes, when the families were reuniting, including Quinn and Helena, the group started greeting the rest of the dwarves. "Hera, it is lovely to see you well. I never doubted you would come back," Rutigan gave her a hug. Followed by Ogryin, his counselor. "Me neither, but there were some close calls. We could also have arrived a bit sooner, but we took a small detour to fix a problem," Hera glanced at Alex, who was talking to the Royal Explorers. "That''s good. Being able to do that means you were not in any danger. Now, I''ll go talk to the others so you can greet everyone, but I hope I can invite you for dinner maybe at the end of the week? I would love to hear about everything you did," Rutigan continued. Hera nodded, "Of course. I want to catch up too. There are some¡­ things I would like to know more about," she glanced quickly towards the guild and knew that the King caught her hint. "It will be my pleasure to give you the rundown of the latest news. Now, if you excuse me, I must say this is a bit too much for me," Rutigan was starting to walk away while rubbing his nose, but Hera couldn''t help herself. "What is this smell, by the way?" The King glanced to his side, "I don''t know what you mean. But I have to go," he quickly walked off, but Ogryn stayed behind, tapping his staff on the ground and creating a small soundproof bubble around him and Hera, and only the two of them. Showing that he was indeed who taught her that spell. "Because of your mission. The one we tasked the Royal Explorers, Fethy, is¡­ Anxious. Her new way of dealing with this is making perfume, and¡­ well. She doesn''t take half measures, nor does she know what moderation is," Ogryn gestured to the side where the duchess was spraying perfume on a few plants that were growing by the sidewalk before she put the bottle in her pocket, noticed Hera and started approaching, "I''ll be going now. Try not to mention the smell." "Got it," the Empress nodded, and Ogryn dropped the spell, vanishing in the crowd. One moment later, Fethy was already by Hera''s side. "Hera!" she opened her arms. "Fethy!" Hera gave her a big hug, trying not to focus on the smell, "It''s so good to see you." "You two, and I have to thank you. We didn''t have any events planned this month. Well, we had, but we had to cancel because of everything going on. It would attract too much attention, apparently. But with you coming back, no one could argue that we should make something special," someone called the duchess from the side, rushing over and whispering something to her, "I apologize, my dear, but the duties of a host never cease. I have to take care of a situation. We''ll talk later, yes? I have a gift for you that I''m sure you will love. It''s a paradise in your nose." With that, the dutchess left in a hurry. Ready to solve another problem. "She really dances to her own tune, doesn''t she," a feminine voice came from Hera''s side. Turning around, she saw a familiar dwarven woman, but she couldn''t quite place her. "Yeah, she does. But she wasn''t like that before I left. I wonder if she needs to talk with someone," Hera replied. "That''s true. I think it''s because we toned down our festivals. Now she spends too much time without anything to do," the woman continued. "That could be it," Hera replied with a frown, still trying to remember who this person was. The woman chuckled, "You don''t know who I am, do you?" Seeing that she was caught, Hera just nodded, "I''m sorry. I feel like I''ve seen you before, but I can''t figure out where." "I can''t blame you. You only had eyes for my daughter, which I do appreciate, but seeing how you didn''t interact with her family, I was sure you two wouldn''t last." "Diesa! I''m so sorry. I didn''t realize it was you," Hera gasped. "Don''t worry. Like I said, I know. Again this is not a problem. I just wanted to be here to greet you in place of my daughter. I know she would have wanted that," the woman replied with a sad smile. "What? What happened to her? Is Silah ok?" Hera''s eyes went wide; how Diesa spoke made it seem like Silah was dead. "Why are you acting like¡­ Oh! No! By the mountain, no! She is fine. It''s just. After you vanished, Silah kept complaining about how she knew that would happen and that if the two of you were together, she would have to wait for who knows how long. Then, about a month ago, the guild was having something called a workshop for crafters in a room somewhat far away. Silah decided to go there to study and become a better blacksmith. We talk every now and then, but it''s mostly through text. She is very busy, and I just really miss her." "Oh? That''s good. I didn''t expect her to travel like that. How long will she be gone for?" "Another month and a half. And starting next week, she won''t be able to send texts very often. Apparently, the program is very intense, and she is already getting tired while they warm up." Hera nodded; she knew that some places had workshops like that, and people usually took them very seriously, "Next time you talk to her, tell her I wish her luck. I''m sure she will do great there." "I will. And I have to say, as much as I complain about her being away and that I didn''t think the two of you would work out. I''m glad you dated my Silah, even if it was just for a little while." Hera nodded with a smile, "Me too. Not the wouldn''t work out part. But I have no regrets about being with her." "Well. I''ll leave you to it. And if you need any gear repaired, stop by. Silah might not be around, but we are still the best family of blacksmiths in the city," Diesa smiled and walked off. Hera watched her go and looked around; seeing her dad and her friends talking, she decided to join them before yet another person appeared, talked for a moment, and vanished into the crowd. 703 - Movie Night Their welcome-back party lasted a while, but the people of the hour only stayed for a short time. Everyone agreed that they should be tired and wanted to go back home. Eridan and Renette went with them, and even Naka accompanied the group, pretending to be an escort, but in reality, she just wanted to make sure Hera and Blue were ok. Despite everything and all the time they butted heads, the guard captain still cared about them. Blue, Alex, and even Mylo only stayed for that one day; they all wanted to go outside to see their families. Blue''s and Alex''s were close by, but Mylo would have to take a plane. He had the option of going through the MAZE, but that would take a couple of weeks because of the crossing limit. The next day, Hera and the remaining of her friends went to the Royal Explorers movie night. Before the movie, they had a meeting of sorts where they explained to Hera, who also had the title of Duchess of Exploration, what their official missions as she vanished were. First, they continued the exploration of the Sthylla Archipelago, trying various combinations until they were able to find another doorway, which happened about two weeks after they lost contact with the Empress. Next was their exploration of this new room. A place called Land of Great Yor. It was another island, but it was just one very large one instead. When they first arrived there, everyone thought it could be a good place for a city, but after a month, they realized that this wasn''t the case. Once a month, a large chunk of the island would sink for two days before reappearing from the ocean. The environment seemed to be able to survive those dives, but anything they tried to build in those places just became rubble by the time they returned. Because of the size of the island, it took a while for them to find anything else out. Another issue was the monsters. The first few trips to that place were mostly scouting missions where the Royal Explorers took pictures of all the beasts they found and didn''t engage in combat. Then, they sent those pictures to the logistics team and, after a day, got detailed information about everything the monsters could be. From skills and spells they might use to hunting tactics and possible weaknesses. Thankfully their level wasn''t that high, being only in the early 20s, but that still proved a bit of a problem to some of the Royal Explorers. While that was going on, they were also doing a separate mission. Having the Sthylla Archipelago locked in the same formation of islands stopped them from continuing to explore the place. To solve that issue, they looked for flying mounts or constructs like the original version of Nimbus, who could, at least, glide. Rutigan also became aware of their search and offered to buy the mounts for the group, the best he could find. Only to backtrack that statement the moment he saw the prices. The best flying mounts people sell were absurdly expensive. And mostly were priced in platinum and not gold. That wasn''t a different type of currency, just a way to lower the bloat of numbers. One platinum was equal to 100 thousand gold, and the best mounts were around 2 million platinum, which in turn became an ungodly amount of money. Then again, the mounts were all unique or legendary grade and had dozens of extra features and combat capabilities, and some even had egos which made the price skyrocket. He then made a more sensible offer where he would be spending around 1 million gold on each mount and give the group of 13 about half a dozen mounts that could carry more than one dwarf at a time. But what made Hera the happiest was that the Royal Explorers refused. They said that before taking that gift, they wanted to try to get it themselves. Everyone knew how the Woolly Plains hard mode could give you a cloud griffon as a mount, and they suspected that something similar was possible in the dungeon on top of the mountain as well. After all, that''s where a legacy existed for a long time, so they should be able to get something there. The Royal Explorers wanted to try to get it by themselves or find another way of crossing the room when the islands were not set up properly. This made Hera unbelievably proud. She wasn''t against getting help, but as explorers in the true sense of the word, she believed that they should try to figure things out on their own first. Doing things this way would give everyone some solid experience in their critical thinking skills, and in situations like the one she found herself in the past few months, where she was stuck in a place without outside help, those skills could save a life. In the end, they managed to get two mounts, both from the Wooly Plains, and Rutigan still kept his promise and gave them another six. This made things much easier, allowing the Royal Explorers to split into two groups. One still tried to figure out what else was hidden in the Sthylla Archipelago, and another searched the Land of Great Yor. A couple of months passed like that before another doorway was discovered. This one led to a thick jungle filled with monsters and dangers called Gartinet Hollow. The description of the place made Hera think about the jungle where she found the golden beetle, but that was a vision, and when seeing the pictures, she realized the only similarity was that both were tropical forests. The jungle was massive and extremely dense. Unlike how things were in the past of the Waperath Jungle, most monsters were carnivorous predators. Forcing the Royal Explorers to move in groups and slowly so as not to attract their attention. Still, they were able to find and run a few dungeons getting some interesting rewards. From good gear to some more situational items that could help their exploration. Like a tent that repelled any predators. It wouldn''t deal any damage or anything like that, but it would create a sort of scent that monsters really hated and kept away from. The only other new thing about this was that Trilian was now working to level up with the guard. His birthday happened, and he was finally able to attempt his role test. Just like he promised, he went for the explorer role, and at one point, he pulled the Duchess aside. "Hera, can I ask you something private?" He gestured to a different room and when both entered he closed the door before using a soundproof bubble. His was much smaller than what Hera usually did, forcing her to sit on a chair so both of them would be affected by the spell. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Of course. I can''t promise I''ll answer, though. Don''t get me wrong, but depending on the question, I might not be willing to talk." "Yeah, that''s fair. Let me see how to phrase that¡­. Thinking about the test¡­ if I say green apple. Does that mean anything to you?" Hera opened a big smile, "With the name of a different fruit?" "One that people use to describe a butt?" The Empress chuckled, "Yep. That''s Peaches, alright. I''m glad you managed to find out about him without my help. I was going to give you some hints about that before your test." "So¡­ is this a common thing?" "Not at all. Shane is the only other person I know that can also use that skill. I mean, you know the rules, right?" "Yeah, can''t talk with people who don''t know about it. It''s very weird." "It is, but have you used that skill already?" "I have. Here in Boothudurn." "Capri is great. A bit too much at times, but he means well," Hera nodded. "Oh? I can even say their name?" "As long as you are talking with someone who already has met them, yes. You can talk about anything you want related to the guide of said room. For instance, I talked with the one in the Sthylla Archipelago. I can''t mention anything else about them to you until you talk with them yourself. Then we can talk about them." "Like talk talk? Full conversations?" Trillian asked. "Yeah, as much as we want. As long as you don''t mention any other guide that one of you doesn''t know about. And to be clear. We can make some theories about what the guide of a specific room that neither of us went to looks like or what they can do, but we can''t do that if one of us has been to that room. Also¡­" Hera stopped for a moment, thinking about her next words, "Do you have the private room already?" "Not yet. I asked about that, but Peaches told me I wouldn''t get that skill now. I need to do some role quests first. Do you still have those?" Trillian scratched his head. "I don''t think so. At least, I don''t remember. I''ll check later. But now to what I wanted to tell you. I can''t say anything else aside from that, and I would appreciate it if you didn''t press me. It''s the same kind of rule as the guide skill. I can''t say about other roles, but for us, we have role skills that can evolve." "Which ones?" "What did I just say?" Hera rolled her eyes, "Besides, you are a Royal Explorer; I''m sure you can figure out what I mean, considering the conversation we just had." Trillian nodded, still with a somewhat confused expression, but Hera could see the gears turning in his mind. She was a bit disappointed the new explorer didn''t connect the dots right away, but he had just gotten his role, so there could be a lot on his mind. The movie night continued, and thanks to the votes of Shane, Helena, Bonnie, and Adriel, who were all part of the Royal Explorers, they ended up watching a Victorian mystery movie. Hera didn''t mind that much about that; her message was more of a joke than anything else. She also called her court out to join them. Everyone met the new court members and asked about Nimbus. The Empress had to explain what happened in the Golden Dragon Archipelago. Since there was a lot to talk about, they weren''t able to get to those details beforehand. Still, since he would return, no one was that worried. They were also excited about meeting Lurize, the new titled Blade. In the next couple of days, Hera''s routine was very simple. She would hang out with someone to catch up, spend time with her dad, and train with Livy either with the guards or in her workshop after reading some of what was happening with the guild and how they were intensifying their surveillance of pretty much everyone. There was a part of her that felt this was too weird, and because of it, she would only use her legacy in private places. If she didn''t want to increase her familiarity with the weapon, she wouldn''t even be training here. Adding the Royal Seal was also a possibility, but before doing that, she wanted to talk with Nimbus and Lurize for their opinion on what she should get. Another thing she was doing was looking through the shops for some interesting weapons or gear she could use to change her court. She also tried to get Kahala to teach her how to add the gliding function to her boots. Her intention was to have a bladed pair of shoes and then get the inheritance skill to pass that ability along. She was also in desperate need of some decent pants and gloves to explore. The ones she was using were all very old and battered after constant use. Friday came along, and Hera went to the palace to have dinner with the King. The dress she wore was actually a gift from Fethy. It was a mix of black and orange spiraling on each other with long sleeves and a long skirt. The measure was also perfect thanks to a spell placed on the fiber that would fit her as she wore. This ended up being a saving grace since her build had changed during her ''trip.'' Unlike before, Hera was much more fit and muscular. Not to the point of being a bodybuilder, but her arms could now put to shame a fair number of people who had less physically intensive jobs. All the council of Boothudurn believed she would get back, and because of it, they all gave Eridan some things they made for her. It was a nice sentiment, and seeing so many people trusting Hera calmed her dad down tremendously. When the Empress arrived at the palace, she expected this to be just a friendly meeting, but as Rutigan guided her to the dining room where he activated a small crystal device that created an illusory version of him and Hera before opening a hidden passage, she realized that there was something wrong. She followed the King, and they eventually reached a teleportation device, which they took, arriving at the secret meeting room where the council would meet to talk about anything that they couldn''t let others know about. Everyone was there, Ogryn, Fethy, Naka, Telanz, Risli, and even Kahala. "I''m sorry for not telling you about this, but since you just came back, there are a lot of eyes on you," Rutigan gave Hera a soft smile, "We do have food here. I didn''t lie about that." Hera sighed, "That''s ok. I mean, I would be upset if we didn''t have food, but I imagine you had your reasons for doing this," she looked around, seeing everyone in a more casual outfit, "I just feel like I''m overdressed." "Nonsense. You look great! I''m glad I got the size right. I was worried about the length of the dress," Fethy had a proud smile. "I do look great. I have to agree," Hera smiled back as she sat on the chair Ogryn had pulled for her before turning to Rutigan, "What is going on?" 704 - Hidden Issues "Before we begin. Let me make everyone something to eat. Is everyone ok with veggie wraps?" Rutigan asked the group sitting around a square table. Unlike the council room in the palace, where they would all be far from each other, this was a much smaller space, forcing them to be almost shoulder to shoulder. There were no decorations around aside from the candles lighting up the place. Since this was a secret meeting room, they made sure to use as little magic as possible to avoid detection. "You are cooking?" Hera tilted her head. "I am. It''s only fair since I''m the one who asked you all to come here," the King replied, "In all honesty. I wanted to make some fried chicken, but Ogryn made a good point against it." Rutigan didn''t say what it was on purpose, not wanting to be the one blamed for forcing everyone to eat salads. When the group turned to the dwarven mage, he just sighed, "As I explained, your majesty, we couldn''t have you making that food outside since that would be something considered odd. We are also avoiding anything magic here so as not to attract attention, and cooking with actual fire here would create a lot of smoke. Doing that in a place with no ventilation would be unwise." "Oh¡­ yeah, that''s a good point," Hera nodded but stopped when she realized one thing, "How are we breathing, by the way? If there is no ventilation here, then we wouldn''t have any air either." "Thanks to these," Ogryn pulled a stone place with a green rune on top, "We are a civilization that is used to living under a mountain. Cave-ins and situations where the air we get is not enough were not uncommon during our early days. These slabs create the air that we breathe. Usually, the amount of oxygen inside this chamber is enough for four of us to have an 8-hour-long meeting, but since the numbers are bigger today, I thought it might be best to bring this along. Just as a precaution." "It was a good call," Telanz nodded. "Yes, we already have enough problems without having to worry about hallucinating due to the lack of oxygen," Risli let out a long sigh. "Are things really that bad?" Hera turned to them. The group turned to Rutigan, who was currently making everyone''s meals, "Catch her up. I will chime in when necessary. For what we need next, I ask you to wait for me." "Very well," Ogryn nodded and turned to Hera, "Sometime after you left, we realized the guild was trying to isolate us from the rest of the MAZE. I don''t mean it in a physical way but in a political one." "Isolate? How? It sounds too aggressive to go on without anyone noticing." "They were not doing this overtly but using trade deals to stop us. Each time we were trying to sell something, be it materials, armor, weapons, or anything, really. When we were setting the deal up, the guild would swoop in and offer a better deal. Most of the time, it would be something about the delivery of goods, and that''s why we never had any suspicions about it. They are closer than the other races, so it would be cheaper to get or send items to one of their warehouses and let them deal with the next step of the process. But after a while, we understood what was happening," Ogryn turned to Telanz and Risli, who were sitting side by side. "We had a healer come by. Two of them, actually, but they were from the same place. A city that is shared by the Elves and the Triton. They wanted to talk about setting up some farms here to grow specific herbs that required cold weather or a large underground space. Since we don''t have monsters here, aside from the Sky Rulers¡­" Telanz got a few stares from the other dwarves that made him stop talking, "What?" "We''ve talked about this. They are griffons, nothing else. Their reign of terror is over, and we must stop calling them by a title that brings fear to our minds," Fethy spoke softly at first but ended her phrase in the commanding voice of someone speaking words that would echo through history. "Right. Sorry. The griffons that reappeared after the rampage are not that strong and don''t travel down to the bottom of the mountain that often. That''s why those healers agreed that a simple guard and maybe some automated defenses would be enough to stop the monsters, allowing us to make that field without any problems," Telanz continued. "That''s where I come in. They needed help making that field, and since no one in this place knows how to grow a plant to save their damn life I had to step up," Risli grumbled, "Anyway. I saw the mess of a field they were building and stepped up to fix all that." "We were doing things just fine before you came along," Telanz said. "If you had set things up that way, you would grow herbs that look like the ones you grow. Small leaves and thin roots that are barely enough for a potion. You need girth, boy!" "I''ll have you know that my roots are perfectly girthy!" Telanz gasped. "Pha! You can''t even sink your teeth in your roots. Flimsy things that are not even hard yet," Risli huffed, causing Telanz to stammer, trying to come up with a reply. Hera leaned over to Kahala, who was right by her side, "Do we need to leave? This feels like something else, doesn''t it?" "Girl, I''ve been wondering that for almost a century already. As far as I know, nothing ever happened, and she was his teacher, but hearing this¡­ think whatever you like," the master armor smith shrugged. "Ok, ok. Here, Telanz, you get the first one, eat and let Risli continue the story," Rutigan gave the man a misshapen veggie wrap, clearly made in a hurry just to shut him up. "Thank you, your majesty," Risli bowed slightly without getting up from her chair, "Now, I was making the field to the specifications of the left and that prick of a triton." "Prick? He was always nice to me," Fethy tilted her head, confused. "Oh, sure, really nice. The little bugger wouldn''t let me work. Kept offering me a seat or to do things for me. I''m old, but I''m not senile. I can take care of my own damn self," Risli waved Fethy off, who couldn''t give a response, not believing what she was hearing, "Anyway. We were halfway there, and the elf finally understood why I was in charge. He never got in the way but always had that look of having a stick up your ass. As if he knew better. When I planted the first herb, he started opening up to me and made a comment that revealed all that. According to him, they, and I mean not just the elves but the other races too, thought we were very sneaky and only cared about ourselves. That was our reputation. People who would pretend to make a deal with one side, only to get a better one on the other. Tell me, who would want to trade with people like that?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Rutigan placed the first proper veggie wrap beside Risli and nodded, "This was my fault. I failed to realize what taking those deals caused. Instead of just getting the best bang for my buck, as they say, I was dragging our reputation through the mud. Not to mention, I didn''t have the foresight to see that others might not trust us enough to give a good deal right away. I know this is not an excuse, but we never had to worry about things like that," Rutigan walked back to the small table on the corner where he was making the meals while still talking, facing away from the council, "I''m not saying we never had to make deals or trade things for the best offer. But, we are a trusting people. Our population is tiny in comparison to other places, and if someone tried to swindle someone else, they had nowhere to run when they were found. When we make a deal, we haggle and negotiate, but once that is done, we never expect to get a better deal in the future." "To be fair, my King. All deals that fell through were nowhere near the closing stages. They were very early on and only being discussed. Even the numbers were only tossed around, not finalized," Ogryn tried to cheer Rutigan up. "That doesn''t matter. It''s one thing to window shop for the best price. Another to walk inside, say you want a cake, but leave with someone else who hears you and offers a cake for cheap," Kahala added. "So this is what the guild was doing. They were helping us destroy our reputation to isolate us. To make it seem like we didn''t want to join the larger MAZE," the King finished, now bringing more of the wraps to everyone, giving the first to Kahala, then Ogryn while leaving Hera''s for last since she was the youngest. "Ok¡­ that sounds bad, and I do believe you. But so far, what you are telling me could be just an aggressive business decision," Hera said, looking around the table, "But your faces make it seem like this is not just a PR problem." "I believe this is where I come in," Naka spoke up, "Kahala, I would ask for your assistance if I misremember anything." "Of course," Kahala covered her mouth since she had just taken a bite out of her wrap. "After the Centaur Genocide, which I''m assuming you are already aware of," Naka turned to Hera, who nodded in response, "The guild and the humans, in general, changed their behavior around us. They became more weary and, at times, aggressive. I believe the term is ''Racist.''" "I think the actual term for that would be speciesism. Since racism is more about humans acting like that towards other humans or dwarves towards other dwarves. But in the end, it is the same thing. But if you let me play the devil''s advocate here, I don''t know if I would call that speciesism. I mean, if you found out that people with black hair had the potential to go nuts because of some weird cult, you would be weary about them," Hera bit her own veggie wrap. From what they were saying, it felt a lot like what Adriel told her about the guild. However, she couldn''t take this kind of thing at face value. If they were trying to take some drastic measures, there had to be a concrete reason for it. Kahala took a large gulp of her glass of water, grumbling about the lack of booze before speaking, "I had a client. A human, she came here and asked for some armor. Paid very well, half upfront, and the King had asked me to make a few things. So, I did that. When it was time to deliver, after the genocide, we were to send some people to her. We did, they were attacked by some bandits, and the armor got stolen. I was pissed, but fuck it, I would make a new one. But the human said no, and asked for the money back. When we tried to talk to the guild to help fix the situation, they told us it was our fault. We shouldn''t have sent people to a room we didn''t belong to. Later this became a whole deal, and the guild apologized for that comment, but their actions didn''t change." "After that incident. Whenever we tried to leave through the Kobold Road, our people would get into trouble. Either direct attacks or an extensive amount of red tape surrounding everything they did. We had no peace. And, apparently, we were not the only ones." "That has been going on with all the other species in the MAZE. Dwarves, Elves, Tritons, Beastman, and the Children of the Sky. The guild is treating us all as criminals. It doesn''t matter our background," Telanz spoke. "Wait¡­ if that is happening with everyone. What about Silah? She went to a workshop somewhere," Hera gasped. "Yes, it was something made by another group of dwarves. They wanted to show the unity of the other species. You don''t have to worry about her, we also sent a couple of guards along, and no humans are in that group. Sure, the guild might be a bit of an issue, but they are all going to a dwarven city to study, passing by places mostly controlled by someone other than humans. We called her here and discussed all the dangers, but she still wanted to go. Said she didn''t want to live in a MAZE divided like that, and this seemed like a good way to show strength. Maybe that wouldn''t help, but she didn''t think it could hurt anyone either," Rutigan did his best to calm Hera, but that didn''t seem to work completely. "They can also say that this is a meeting of the Last Line of Defense." "That''s why this is not happening behind closed doors. The dwarves, the other dwarves, I mean, made a spectacle of it. The Summit for Peace and Unity, they are calling," Kahala rolled her eyes. Hera paused, "Doesn''t that sound like Union City? You don''t think the Last Line of Defense would attack that place, do you?" The entire council looked at her, pondering for a moment, but Ogryn was the one who broke the tension, "I don''t think so. Union City was an attack against humans. This is something that is being done to exclude humans. If they attacked using the excuse of the dwarves being human sympathizers or anything like that, it would just cause problems for them." "That''s fair," Hera nodded. "We are also getting increasingly demanding requests from the guild. From supplies to the construction of outposts or defenses in the guild itself. Those requests are quickly turning into threats, and we don''t have any friends that we can call for aid here. We are too close to the exit of the MAZE and too close to the bulk of the guild," Rutigan looked around the table, "This is part of the reason why I called this meeting. Unfortunately, I believe we will need to speed up the plan of moving." "Rutigan!" Fethy called, "So soon? We don''t even have a place to go." "I know. That''s why Hera is here," the King turned to the Empress, "I do understand you need some rest, but if you can push the Royal Explorers to focus on finding a place, I would appreciate it. Maybe even tell them the real objective," the King stopped eating, "I''m sorry to lean this heavily on you, but we need all the help we can get. And I''m not asking you to go there yourself right now. I understand you must be tired, miss your family, and want to rest. Either way, with you around, you could take over Trillian in the support team. He wasn''t able to go too far because there was no one else to fill in. That way, we can also have these meetings more often. You might be able to realize something we are missing." "That is true. That boy has been a pain in my ass for a while now. He comes by every day asking to learn about wild herbs. Do I look like someone who understands wild herbs?" Risli got nods from everyone around the table, "Well, I''m not! All the herbs I have, I grow them myself." "Either way, we could use an explorer trying to find something there. I mean, ideally, we would find the old city of the Naga, and it would still be in decent shape. That way, we wouldn''t have to rebuild everything," Rutigan sighed. "Yeah, that would¡­ WAIT!" Hera gasped and jumped to her feet. "What? Why are you jumping like that child!" Kahala grumbled, almost having dropped her meal. "Gartinet Hollow¡­ I knew that name sounded familiar!" "What''s that?" Telanz asked. "The last room the Royal Explorers found," Ogryn replied without looking away, "What about it?" "I need to confirm this with Shane, but I''m 90% sure it is supposed to be next to one of the Naga cities. If we can find the right doorway, we might be able to have a clear path to a new home for all of us." 705 - Change of jobs After meeting Rutigan and the council, Hera walked to her home. She didn''t bring her tablet on purpose. Her bracelet could still give her location away, but accessing that information involved a lot of bureaucracy that she didn''t believe anyone would bother with. Especially since it just looked like she was going on a date with the King, thanks to the dress Fethy gave her. During that walk, Hera''s mind was racing. She called Daskka to help figure everything out, and they replayed the conversations to prepare some plans. First, despite the initial suggestion of letting all the Royal Explorers know about their secret mission, Naka felt it was too large of a group to control the information. The Empress argued that if she wasn''t going, someone in the team would need to know, and if both Shane and Trillian knew, they would have the right skill set to search for the right locations. Ultimately, Rutigan agreed with Hera and allowed her to share that with the two other members who actually had the explorer role. Another thing she added to the conversation was Adriel. She had spoken with him beforehand, and they had already agreed to come clean with Rutigan, but now, the situation might be even better than they expected. The elf had connections and knew more or less the modus operandi of the guild, so he might be a good intermediary to talk with the other species. When she arrived home, she texted Shane, who was staying in the hotel, and Trillian, hoping to talk with them as soon as possible. Not long after that, both of them arrived at her place, and she brought them to the dining room, which was currently empty since it was already somewhat late. "Ok, what was so urgent?" Shane asked as Hera arrived with some drinks for the two. "Yeah, I mean, I don''t mind. But I''m a bit worried," Trillian scratched his neck. "Two things. One is bad, and one is really good, but you will be more excited about it, Shane. So let''s focus on the bad part first," Hera sighed and sat down, taking a sip of her wine, "First, this topic cannot leave this room. This is something Rutigan asked me to do. It''s a secret mission, if you will." Trillian sat up straight in the chair while Shane''s eyes got more intense, waiting for whatever was coming next. "You know how our mission as the Royal Explorers was to find a new place to build a second city for Boothudurn, right?" the Empress asked. "Yeah," Trillian nodded. "That''s only a half-truth. We are searching for a new place, but not for a second city. It''s more of a lifeboat. A place we can run to in case things here get really bad. And¡­ well¡­" "Things are getting really bad," Shane nodded. "Yeah." After a long pause, Trillian asked for confirmation, "So we are looking for a new home?" "That''s the essence of it," Hera sighed, "I know it might be hard, but the idea is to be far away from the guild to avoid... Well, all the conflict that is happening. If we are in a part of the MAZE where we are farther away from the main force of the guild, we will have fewer problems." "But then the dwarves will lose some of the things we have access to here. Internet, trading routes, the entire infrastructure for modern society will be gone," Shane argued. "Yes, but they will be ok. You forget that they used to live completely fine without all that just a couple of years ago. And they will be safe. That''s more important. Also, that path won''t be closed off forever. Eventually, it will connect back with the other rooms, and then we can start trying to reach out for help." Shane considered that for a moment before nodding, "Ok, and just to confirm, why are you telling us specifically about this?" "Because I need you two to use your guide questions to figure out how to get to a specific room," Hera replied. "Which one? Is it in Gartinet Hollow?" Trillian took a sip of his drink. "Yep. And that is the good news, Trillian, Shane, I need both of you to search for the room called ''The Old City of Zaxalam.''" "Zaxalam?" Shane frowned, "Why is that name familiar?" "Think about it," Hera smiled and spoke slower, teasing her friend, "Think about it." Shane stared at the Empress with a confused expression, and then her eyes landed on Daskka, making the Enchantress jump from her seat, "FUCK OFF! You are not saying what I think you are saying." "Remember the map we found? The one directing us to the Naga homeland." "They come from Deakoshara, connected to it, is The Old City of Zaxalam, and to it¡­ Gartinet Hollow!" Shane shouted the last name, and Hera activated a soundproof bubble as a reflex. "Exactly. We might be very close to finding the Naga birthplace. And if the city still stands, the people of Boothudurn might be able to use some of their structures." "As long as we preserve anything of cultural value, I''m ok with that," Shane nodded. "How about you, Trillian?" Hera turned to the new explorer. "I mean... It''s a lot, but I''m ok with this. I understand why we should go. We are not being treated well around here¡­" Trillian nodded. "I can imagine. I''ve heard the rest of the team talking about it, and man¡­ this is awful. I''m glad the incidents never crossed the line," Shane patted Trillian''s shoulder. "Sort of¡­ From what I heard, there were two situations where things got violent. One was when a group of human thieves attacked someone who was going on a delivery and stole the item they were carrying. It was an armor made by Kahala, and apparently, it had epic rarity and a bunch of rare materials behind it. The other one was when some of the guards went for a drink in a different room just as a change of pace, and there was a bar fight. According to the guild, the guards started and caused problems, but the story they told is very different. People started harassing them, and only when a guy threw an entire pitcher of beer on one of the guards that the brawl started," Hera explained. "Who was in that fight?" Trillian tilted his head. "I can''t say. Naka''s orders, and I don''t want her to chew me a new one," Hera shook her head, and her reason made the new explorer stop asking. No one wanted to risk the guard captain''s wrath. "On another topic. I just realized one thing. You are asking us to find this new room. Does that mean you won''t be going there?" Shane figured out it was better not to linger on the previous topic. "That''s right. Not right now, at least. We vanished for too long, and I didn''t want to disappear and leave my dad worried again. Not for a while. We talked, and he already knows I''m not going to just be in one place all the time, but it''s too soon to just go off on another adventure. Also, I''ll be here helping out the Royal Explorers, taking Trillian''s logistics job for a while. And helping Rutigan with some other things. Not to mention Rutigan asked me to be close when he talks with Adriel." "Adriel? Why is he talking to the King?" Trillian asked. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Shane and Hera shared a look, both already knew that the elf was a spy for some sort of organization that looked out for the newly discovered races, but they also knew they couldn''t tell people about it without a reason. And, unfortunately, there was no reason to tell Trillian. "Adriel has some experience with what is currently going on. And some contacts that might help us out. But the King doesn''t trust him enough, so I need to be there to prop him up, in a way," Hera continued but quickly changed the subject, "Also, Trillian, I need you to give me the rundown of how you worked. The suppliers you used, the websites, everything. This time you will be the one training me. Are you up to the task?" "Of course! I''ll show you the ropes, boss." Having successfully changed the subject, they continued making plans, talking about the possible questions they could ask and possible ways to make the path there safer for everyone when it was time for them to move. It was good that they stayed within the 10th layer during the trip. The Shtylla Archipelago and The Land of Great Nor were on that layer, and Gartinet Hollow dropped to the 9th. So at least, they wouldn''t see monsters beyond what they expected. During the next couple of days, Hera was very busy. Between the ''training'' with Trillian, the meeting with Rutigan and Adriel to explain who the elf was and what he could do to help, and helping the Royal Explorers prepare for a new expedition, it was a lot. She barely had enough time to practice with Livy. Unfortunately, she couldn''t confirm if the two-handed axe would be able to become a titled blade or not until reaching 100% familiarity, which was starting to make her anxious. Things changed a lot after the Royal Explorers left. Going with only Shane. Helena and Bonnie also wanted to rest for some time before traveling again, and they quite liked the idea of being responsible for the logistics and the R&D of possible ways to safely bring people and materials over to those rooms. Even if they didn''t know about the escape plan, Hera told them the idea was to send families to the new city to help it grow, especially those waiting to have children. This was a lie close enough to the truth that the Empress hoped her friends wouldn''t mind. Over the course of the next week, her life got into a steady routine. She felt even better since Nimbus and Lurize were back. Unfortunately, they didn''t find anything underwater in Luna''s dungeon. What happened was that after being dragged by the whirlpool, they were crushed by the sudden increase in water pressure when they were spat out, which made them, in essence, implode. With the two of them around, Hera also asked their opinions while searching for new gear. She needed a new set of pants, gloves, and boots. It would be a shame to lose the glide function, but the ones she wore were already a mess. Everything was torn and stained with blood, both from her and from monsters. Even the boots were already somewhat rusted due to the prolonged exposure to the ocean air. Another thing she wanted was to change the rest of her court, which was lagging behind. Not everyone, but in the end, she found a replacement for Armory, Frost, and Core. Even If it hurt, she understood that this was part of the legacy, and even her court agreed it was time for them to go. The first was an epic Kris, a long wavy dagger that matched a lot with Hera''s aesthetic since it made it look almost like a snake. The blade itself was almost translucent, making its edge look like a mirage. The handle was made with what looked like simple silver infused with moonlight giving it a hauntingly beautiful pale blue glow until it stopped on its pitch-black half-moon guard. Its original name was ''Celestial Mirage.'' The main draw of this weapon was the Illusory Strikes skill. There was a video showing its effects, and each time someone hit a target, a small illusion of themselves would appear around the wielder in a slightly different position and it would move together with them. This made it harder for enemies to hit them. According to Daskka, since Hera had the Army of One, that would affect all of her court and herself, which would be amazing. To top it all off, the Royal Seal resulted in something that synergized perfectly with it. This was the weapon would replace Core. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chris - Moonlight Kris Empress attributes: 99 Scaling Strength x 19.6 Agility x 18 Charisma x 2.1 Endurance x 2.1 Intelligence x 2.1 Luck x 2.1 Illusory Strikes: After each successful strike, a small mirage is created around the user. By moonlight''s power When active, each strike will deal damage with the power of the moon. This effect is enhanced when the blade is hit by the moonlight. Damage increase: 10 - 100% Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 7 minutes. Seal of the Eternal Moon When active, repeated strikes will cause this weapon to glow with artificial moonlight. Continuous strikes will increase the intensity of the glow. Moonlight effects are only half as effective under artificial moonlight. If real moonlight hits this weapon, the artificial glow will vanish. Familiarity: 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next was a diadem called Serpent''s Gaze, also an epic item. It was as if a metallic snake was around her head, doing two laps before stopping at the top of her head with a black gemstone in its mouth. The serpent itself had a yellowish-golden color that matched Hera''s hair, making it vanish on her head when worn. The reason why this could be part of her court was that, in the back, on the thickest part of the diadem, there was a hidden blade that could appear when one of its skills was active. Hera let Frost go to get this; that way, Armory could teach it the ropes of being the commander during battles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dusa - Reflex Diadem Empress attributes: 99 Scaling Agility x 9.8 Intelligence x 7.3 Charisma x 2.3 Endurance x 2.3 Luck x 2.3 Strength x 2.3 Viper''s Gaze: It can trigger a flash that only affects those looking directly at the user. Briefly reduces the movement of all those affected by the effect. Duration 10 seconds Cooldown 1 minute Serpentine Reflexes: Using a hidden blade, the diadem can block attacks aimed at the user. If the blade is broken, this skill cannot be activated. Seal of Reflection Any attack blocked by this diadem has a small chance to be reflected. Reflect chance: 2% Familiarity: 24% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lastly, at the end of the week, when Armory taught everything she could to Dusa, Hera swapped her for one last weapon. This curved sword was common in ancient Egypt called a Khopesh. It was like someone made a weapon in the shape of a C and attached a handle at the bottom after a straight shaft. The blade itself was metallic silver with what looked like sound waves engraved through it. When one of its skills was active, those engravings would pulsate as if it was a music visualizer, and if she attacked at the right moment of the beat, the damage would increase. Because of this, Hera could only think of one name for it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DJ - Sound Khopesh Empress attributes: 97 Scaling Charisma x 20.6 Endurance x 18.1 Intelligence x 12.1 Luck x 9.6 Agility x 2.1 Strength x 2.1 Sonic Resonance: When active, this weapon will increase its power resonating with any powerful enough sonic frequency nearby. When the resonance passes the threshold, strikes with this weapon will create shortwaves that can stagger and disrupt enemies. Duration: 30 minutes Cooldown: 3 hours Sonic Boomerang: This weapon can be thrown, releasing a sonic blast that damages enemies in its path before returning to the wielder. Mana cost: 100 thousand mana. Seal of Rhythm When attacks made with this weapon follow a specific rhythm, the damage is increased. Damage increase: + 20% Familiarity: 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, she was still waiting for the clothing to arrive. She ordered them all from the same place, and it would take a couple more days to get here. However, after a week and a half of training and about a dozen runs in the Woolly Plains, Livy had reached 100% familiarity, and it was time to add a new titled blade to her court. 706 - Livy Before starting the entire process, Hera made sure to tell everyone that she would be busy for a couple of hours. Not that she actually believed it would take that long, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Currently, the Empress was already inside her Private room, the Workshop - Hera''s Version, to be precise. Where she would be able to see all the blades she had and where she was training in private during the last few days. Hera was sitting in front of the table with the carving tool she got from peaches and the Searing Ember Stone she got from the Steamweaver dungeon. She was currently trying to find out some rune or symbol that could match Livy. "Do you have any suggestions?" the Empress turned to the war axe, who was currently on top of the table and not floating like the rest of the court. "I don''t know. Maybe strength? Or power? Or force? I''m big, so¡­. Something big!" Livy replied. Hera nodded, understanding where she was coming from, but at the same time, that would be too plain. If she was going to give her a seal, she wanted to do something special. It would be the first time one of her titled blades had a seal, and Hera didn''t want to regret her decision later. "How about you guys?" she turned to the rest of the court. "Maybe Dragon? Or Leviathan?" Nimbus suggested. "I don''t think there is a symbol for that, unfortunately." "Are you sure, mum? You did use the Naga seal on Viper and Crimson," Daskka pointed to the two daggers. "That''s true. Do you guys think the seal is ok?" Hera turned to the Naga weapons. "It fits us very well," Viper nodded. "And it makes the Naga skills you have stronger. Not just on us but on you too!" Crimson said in an excited tone. ''Can I ask one thing?'' Lurize stepped closer to Hera, who saw the various seals she could place on Livy as holograms thanks to the Runebound Chisel. "Of course," Hera nodded but didn''t look away. She was essentially flipping through her options and didn''t want to miss something special. "When you make a seal, do you have to have only one element to it?" Hera stopped and turned to the armored beetle, "What do you mean?" ''All seals you made only incorporated a single element. Fire, lighting, reflection, sound. Then you made the moonlight seal which is dancing the line of being multiple elements. Is it not possible to use more than one single element? Something like a charred tree, or a mist snake, or cloud griffon, golden beetle, a compound thing.'' Hera frowned, "I never tried if I''m being honest, but¡­ in theory, it could. Hang on," she pulled her tablet and sent a message to Peaches asking about that very thing. She knew the guides couldn''t tell her many things, but since she had the chisel, maybe he would answer. It didn''t take long for him to reply and ask what the hell she was trying to do. After a quick explanation, the guide just said, ''I''m coming over.'' Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "That was quick¡­ Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Hera looked around, but no one could explain. Either way, she wasn''t going to leave Peaches waiting. Just as she opened the door, not only did she see the talking green apple that she knew so well, but also a new year''s Chinese dragon. "Oh! Hi Tailou! I wasn''t expecting you to." "Sorry, I should''ve asked. Is it ok for me to be here?" Tailou looked at Hera, then back at Peaches. "Of course. It was a good surprise. I wanted to ask you what happened with Luna too, but this has nothing to do with what I''m doing." "You actually know what happened to her. Well, with who she was." "Do I?" Hera looked at the guide, not sure what he meant. "Yes. Your friend found Selene. The giant statue of a wyvern. She was Luna, or, more specifically, Luna was based on her. During that night, Selene used all the power she had on her to try to force the moon to appear again and never go away. However, she didn''t understand where the moon was. Because of it, when she tried to use her power to lock it in place, her intention took over. The idea of making sure the room would never be without the moonlight overwhelmed the power and created the new moon. But doing so turned her body into stone and fell into the ocean. This is what I told you to see. The thing when the light of the two full moons overlaps. You can see Selene sleeping underwater. The statue is unable to be damaged by anything." Hera nodded, "I see¡­ That''s kind of sad but beautiful in a way. Luna, I mean Selene, gave her life to save the room, and now, who knows how long after, the moonlight still exists." "Yeah, I always felt like she''s still around," Tailou smiled but stopped himself before his eyes started to water, "Now, Peaches said you are trying to do something that I might help. What is it?" "Right. Let me give you the rundown," Hera explained to both guides about the inner workings of her legacy. Peaches had heard some of it before, but only bits and pieces. This was the first time Hera ever gave him a full explanation which was very helpful since not even a guide was privy to the details of a legacy, "So now, I''m trying to use the Royal Seal to give something special to Livy. I was thinking about a dragon seal or something, but I don''t know. It doesn''t feel like it''s the right fit. Lurize here gave a suggestion, and I wanted to ask if it was possible. Using more than just one symbol on the seal." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "I see¡­ Well, there are a few types of Draconic symbols. Some are just generic, and others more specific, but mixing¡­ I don''t know," Tailou frowned. Seeing the head of a new year dragon with that expression was extremely cute, but Hera held herself back, even if Daskka, Crimson, Dusa, and even Ember were freaking out inside her mind. "I wouldn''t say it''s impossible, but it''s very tricky, Kid. The main thing is that you need to use two symbols that match, and I don''t mean visually. The mana inside them needs to flow naturally from one to the other. And it can''t just be the same symbol; otherwise, they would be fighting with each other to use the entire effect," Peaches explained. "I see¡­ but it is possible then. And it''s all about the mana. I guess I''m lucky. My title, well, one of them, might be able to help me with this," Hera smiled. Peaches paused for a moment, thinking about what she was saying, "Actually, yeah. That might help a lot. People usually can''t see if the mana between the two symbols is fighting against each other or not until it''s over. You should be able to tell right away." "That''s perfect, then. Actually¡­ Daskka, can I give a Royal Seal to something that is from my Venomous Arsenal?" The herald looked at the Empress, then closed her eyes. After 30 seconds, she whispered, "Oh shit," the eyes of the mist snake shot open, revealing the green and the silver eye, "Yes, you can! I mean, there is absolutely no reason to do that since the weapon is temporary, and making a seal takes a lot of time. But you can use it to test, and if it doesn''t work, just drop the skill and call a new one!" Hera opened a big smile, "Then that''s what we are doing!" she turned to Peaches and Tailou, "I know this might be asking too much, but can you help me? Not to come up with ideas or anything like that. Just showing me the various symbols that can be used for each thing would already make my life so much easier. If it''s too much, don''t worry about it. Really. I''m sorry for making you come all this way here, or if you want to stay around while I work, that''s completely fine too; I just want to get this done today." "We can''t share every single variation, but we can give you some ideas," Tailou turned to Peaches, "Right?" "Right. It''s not like I can say no now. I already gave her a chisel that shows her a bunch of different symbols. As long as we don''t show something hidden or that people still don''t know about, it will be fine," Peaches nodded. "That people still don''t know? Like what?" Hera tilted her head. ''Oh, oh, maybe it''s something like FTL, you know, or some hidden law of quantum mechanics,'' Chris suggested. "FTL? Really," Hera turned to Chris. The new dagger was very into science fiction. "When your scientist figures out everything needed for that, then yes. We can show you that symbol," Peaches paused, enjoying Hera''s reaction as she realized the guide was confirming the existence of that before adding, "If that is a symbol." Hera rolled her eyes, "That''s just mean," she wasn''t the only one disappointed. That joke made Chris so sad that she even stopped floating and just propped herself against the wall. "A little bit," Peaches smirked. As they started talking about the runes, sigils, and symbols that could be used to make the seal, the rest of the court didn''t have much to do, and eventually, DJ spoke up. ''Yo, dawg. Mind if I play something nasty to help you focus?'' Hera stopped and turned to the Khopesh, "Do you mean music, or are you just going to beatbox?" ''I mean music, bro. Without a full crew is hard to go a cappella. Nimbus can help me out to find something with a good flow. Some chill lo-fi or synth wave to get you in the zone, you feel me?'' "Why is Nimbus the one who can help you?" Lurize huffed. ''My man, don''t get me wrong, but you have metal gloves. It''s hard to use a touch screen with those,'' DJ said. While her court was doing their own thing in the back, Hera focused on her work. Thankfully, it took her only an hour and a half to find a decent combination. Like Peaches suspected, when she started making a rune, she could see the pattern of mana, and when she added something different, she could tell right away if it would work or not. What really sped up her process was being able to understand why each mixture clashed. If the first symbol caused the mana to be too wild, adding something aggressive like ''power'' or ''tsunami'' was more likely to fail. While if she went for something calmer like ''growth'' or ''leaf,'' the process would only fail at the end steps. When she finally found a combination that she liked, Hera put Livy on the table again. She used the essence extractor to get a powder version of the Searing Ember Stone, using it to engrave the symbol for Dragon, which was a pair of wings with a dragon head in the center, with the symbol for Whirlpool behind. That created a frame that pulled the mana from the outside to the center, increasing its power. The entire thing had a soft red color, contrasting with the blue of the weapons itself. She also called Cerulea, keeping the small sea serpent cuffs that she became on top of the table. "Livy, you are a new member of the court, but one that I hope will be with us for a very long time. I ask you to become the one who will lead our charge, the one who will push forward against all odds and come out victorious. For you are Livy, and as the source of the powers you possess, shall be known as Leviathan. The unstoppable force, ruler of the ocean," the Empress spoke, finishing the skill. The two-handed axes became soft, then the seal Hera just created was glowing red, and suddenly the entire thing turned to water, washing away the cuffs, making them vanish as well. A couple of moments passed when a geyser appeared from the ground. All the water clumped up, forming the Leviathan. Livy was now bigger than Lurize, towering at almost 3 meters tall with a long bulky body covered in scales that were a mix of pastel pink and a blueish gray. She wore a heavy vibrant blue armor adorned with ornaments that formed waves around her torso. There was a large dorsal fin going from the top of her dragon-like head to the base of her spine, where a pink tail appeared. This was very much like Cerulea''s, with the pink, orange, and blue forming a flexible reef surrounded by the foam created by waves. Her hands were claws with five fingers, and so were her feet, and both had the same kind of mobility. The pants of the armor, which covered about half of the tail, was a dark brown, reminding Hera of the handle of the axe itself. "Welcome," Nimbus smiled as the music continued playing, and some of the blades were dancing around. "We are happy you are here," Lurize reached out to shake her hand. "Thanks! Man, this is going to be really fun!" Livy grabbed the Royal Tutor''s hand and shook it vigorously, almost pulling his arm out. Then she turned to the Empress, "When can I do a test run? This is so weird. I never imagined that having a body was like this." Hera smiled, "Let''s go to the Woolly Plains," she turned to Peaches and Tailou, "Would you mind if I went there? I want to throw a party tomorrow. Just for us, my court and you guys." "Sure, kid. Go have fun. We''ll talk later," Peaches said his goodbyes to everyone and walked out with Tailou. Half an hour later, Hera was walking through the entrance to the Woolly Plains, ready to test not just her new titled blade but her new court. 707 - Traninig the new kids Hera walked through the city with Livy on her back. Before she got stuck, she already did her best to hide her legacy, and now that there was so much tension between the guild and everyone else, this seemed even more important. This is why she didn''t let them walk around in their bipedal shape. On the other hand, she could have the Leviathan use her Cerulea form and walk around, but if anyone was paying attention, they would realize that the two-handed axe was no longer with her as she left her private room. ''Livy, Lurize, Nimbus, I''m sorry. I know it sucks, but I can''t have you roaming around. I know it''s not fair, but we need to be a bit careful now,'' the Empress told them. It wasn''t fair to either of them. Lurize was used to walking beside her, and restricting him was just mean. Livy just got here, and since she never had that freedom, she wouldn''t miss it like the zweihander. Still, Hera felt awful about it; it was like she was punishing them for something they didn''t do. ''Don''t worry. I like this form a lot too. It makes me feel super powerful. I think my weapon form is stronger than before,'' Livy replied. Now that Hera was paying attention, she realized that her voice was very kind, despite her intimidating appearance. ''I think it is. Daskka, can I see Livy''s stats again?'' Hera asked without taking her eyes off the road. She was very used to moving around and having full-blown conversations with her court without making it seem obvious. ''Sure, mum. But it''s better if you stop by some place to read it.'' ''I am a bit hungry. Livy, do you mind if I stop by a bakery to buy some food for when we are in the dungeon?'' ''Not at all! Can I ask for something too? I always wanted to try food.'' ''Of course, just let me know what you want,'' Hera smiled and turned the corner, going to her favorite bakery. She wasn''t the only one there, but waiting in line gave her a chance to read Livy''s attributes again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leviathan Livy of Water Two-Handed battle axe Total Attributes: 594 Strength: 196 Endurance: 179 Luck: 161 Agility: 19 Intelligence: 19 Charisma: 19 Mana: 4 000 000/ 4 000 000 Scaling: Strength X 51 Endurance X 45.5 Luck X 41 Agility X 5 Intelligence X 5 Charisma X 5 Passive Skills Ocean''s Might (Rank 1) 50% of the damage dealt by you is water elemental damage. Your attacks deal 30% extra damage as water elemental damage. Your water spells deal 80% additional damage. Attacks aimed at a target bigger than you or your wielder deal an additional 30% extra damage. Inheritance of Cerulea (Rank 1) You are able to move underwater at high speeds. While you are in the same body of water as the Empress, the range you are allowed to move is greatly increased. If both you and the Empress are underwater and within 5 meters of each other, you are able to breathe for the Empress. Active skills: Leviathan''s torrent (Rank 1) You are the embodiment of the underwater currents. Channeling this skill unleashes torrents of water or a tidal wave from your mouth Mana cost: 2 million. Draconic Eruption (Rank 1) Those wounded by the Leviathan feel its wrath even after escaping its grasp. When an attack deals considerable damage, you can release a powerful wave, damaging surrounding enemies and briefly stunning them. Mana cost: 500 thousand. Sea Serpent Form(Rank 1) You are able to turn into the form of a Sea Serpent. While in this form, your swim speed increases; however, you are unable to use any skills that require a weapon. If there is someone riding you as you dive underwater, you can create an air bubble around them that lasts 1 hour. The air will allow them to breathe. Up to 3 bubbles can be created at once. This form can also glide over surfaces without making any noise. Swim speed: 50 km/h Glide speed: 5 km/h Seal of Draconic Vortex (Rank 1) When striking, you generate a powerful whirlpool effect even when you are out of the water, drawing in enemies in and trapping them briefly. As the vortex intensifies, it erupts into a geyser of scalding water and steam, dealing area damage and knocking back foes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ''The one thing I don''t understand is why the scaling is so different from the attributes. I thought they were related,'' Hera frowned while looking at the window. There were a lot of interesting things and things that she wanted to test to see how well they would work with her [Army of One] skill, but for now, this was the one thing that was confusing her the most. Daskka waited for a moment, checking that information before explaining, ''It is, but a titled blade cannot have more attribute points than you, mum. So, if their stats were supposed to be bigger, then they are equalized to what they need to be to get to the same total attribute points that you have.'' Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ''But how is that calculated? I never thought about it before, but now it seems weird.'' ''Honestly? The titled blade''s attribute will be based on their scaling, with just the decimal point being moved. So Livy''s strength was supposed to be 509. Well, 499 since the bonus ten strength she used to give was just moved to her scaling. But, because your total attributes would be just around 38% of what she would have, then her attributes came down.'' ''So she became weaker because of me?'' Hera asked. ''Of course not!'' Livy yelled, making the Empress flinch because of the volume, ''Sorry. But I am stronger than I was before. I''m sure of it.'' ''Yep. The weapon version of her is stronger, but the bipedal form is weaker than it could have been. But if you want to wait until you can give them the best possible stats, you are screwed, mum. A weapon scaling grows much more than a person''s attributes. You would never catch up. Think about it. Sure, Livy was an epic item, but you can find common ones that ask you to be level 70, and the scaling is in the hundreds already. This means that a titled blade made from one of them would, in theory, have attributes in the thousands,'' Daskka continued. "Yeah, that''s fair," Hera mumbled out loud. "Of course, our prices are fair. Do you have any idea how hard it is to¡­ Oh, Hera, sorry, I thought you were one of the new people who came by," Ignala, the owner of the bakery, said as she appeared at the counter. "People are bothering you? Is that new?" Hera frowned. "No, no. Some people always try to haggle, even when the product is of quality," Ignala continued, "What can I get you?" Hera asked for a few different pastries with different fillings, most were savory, but she also added a couple of sweets to share with Livy. She also ordered a cake for the next day since she was going to throw a party for the guides and use her Blade Graveyard for the first time. With her food in hand, the Empress continued to the Woolly plains. When inside, before she left the tunnel leading to the actual plains of the dungeon, Hera called her entire court out, "Ok everyone. Here is the deal. This will be a training exercise for the newbies. That includes you two," she gestured to Crimson and Viper, "The fights we had since you joined were very weird, and there were a lot of people. Dao, Edge, Nimbus, and Lurize will stay with me, and we are not going to interfere in the battle. Unless we get directly attacked." "Are we going to do the hard mode later?" Nimbus turned to Hera. "That was the idea," the Empress nodded. "That''s good. This place is a bit nostalgic to me," Nimbus smiled and looked to the end of the tunnel. Can we go now? I want to have my own body again, but I can''t actually fit in here,'' Livy turned around. The tunnel was not small, but for her, she wouldn''t be able to stand up straight. "Sure, and you can stay in your Cerulea form in places like this if you want. We also need to do some tests. The skill doesn''t say anything about you not talking, and since the skills you have come out of your mouth, maybe you can also fight as a Sea Serpent." ''If that''s the case, I can show you the ropes!'' Daskka said excitedly, ''Fighting without limbs is my specialty. That and being cute.'' "Cute and cheeky," Hera huffed but still scratched the snake''s head, who had a big smile on her face. ''Oh, let me try,'' the two-handed axe turned into water and, with a wave, assumed the shape of Cerulea again. It was just like Hera remembered. The pastel pink Sea Serpent with some bluish-gray details and the pink coral-foam tail. The only difference was a tiny strand of red framing the dorsal fins, "This feels much better. And hey, I can talk!" Nimbus and Lurize grumbled upon hearing that. The Empress didn''t have to ask to understand why. Both were jealous since they were unable to speak in their animal forms. "OK, so here is what you need to know about the dungeon. You will be fighting sheep, yes, sheep. They are split into groups, and when all of them die, griffons will come from the sky. They are our next targets. I won''t tell you their attacks nor what to expect. These monsters are low-level, but they can still pack a punch. It''s up to you guys to figure things out. Remember your skills and the skills you have, thanks to the Army of One. And Dusa," Hera turned to the diadem. ''Y-yes! I''m here,'' Dusa floated closer. "For now, don''t think too much about blocking attacks with your blade. Focus on what you''ve learned about commanding the field." ''Ok. I''ll do what Miss Armory told me to do. Follow the steps, and make sure no one gets hurt.'' "Right, but don''t be too attached to the steps she taught you. I don''t mean they are not a good guideline, but that''s what they are. A guideline. Not an absolute rule. You need to be able to improvise," Hera turned to the others, "One last thing. For now, all of you will be fighting without the magnets. You need to get used to the distance and learn how to increase your reach by helping each other. When I see that you guys are comfortable enough, I''ll start moving around to make this even harder. Because during a fight, I won''t sit back and watch. I also participate," Hera was about to end it when she remembered one more thing to add, "Ah, and the real last thing. I will be testing your skills individually. I don''t mean like, grading but checking their limits to understand what we can and can''t do. Any questions?" ''What if we don''t know what to do in a situation?'' Chris asked. "You can ask. Knowing when to ask for help is part of the deal. I don''t want anyone to be too proud to ask for help. Anything else?" ''Can we have a beat to fight too? Nimbus and I made a banger playlist,'' DJ asked. "Not at first. The music might distract you guys. When the tests are over, and you guys are doing ok, we can play something. But I will be the one listening to it; you guys will have to hear through me. Blasting music in a dungeon is never a good idea. It attracts too much attention," Hera explained and paused, waiting for another question. When nothing came, she just gestured outside, "Well then. It''s time for my court to go crazy. Have a blast." Livy, Amber, DJ, Chris, Dusa, Viper, and Crimson all dashed forward, and Hera walked slowly behind. Eventually, they would hit the range limit, and this would be another teaching moment. As they moved, Lurize turned to the Empress. "Can I azk one thing?" "Of course." "When we are outzide, can I be in my beetle form? If I can''t be in this one." Hera thought for a moment, "Yeah, that can work. If people ask, I can say it''s just a skill that increases the power of my poisons. Nimbus can also move in his griffon form; it just attracts more attention. Then I can have Livy in my back. At least we would all be out like that." It wasn''t a perfect plan, but at least she didn''t have to keep them stuck inside the legacy. There might be a better option or a place she could actually let them roam around freely. As she was thinking about that, a loud yell broke her concentration. "FUCK YEAH!" Livy''s voice bellowed from the plains, followed by a loud sound of ground being broken by a heavy impact. "We can talk more about that later. For now, let''s see how they are doing," she said with a smile. 708 - Leviathans power Livy slammed the war axe on the ground. Her target was a sheep, but the blow cut the monster like butter. Thankfully, they were inside a dungeon. Otherwise, the sight would be very gruesome. The ground now had a giant crater caused by the impact. Livy turned around, seeing the other Plains Sheep incoming. She opened her mouth and let a torrent of high-pressure water rip apart the one sheep that didn''t try to dodge. Her next attack was intentionally weaker. With two blows using the side of the axe, the other monsters struggled to move as the air became like water, pulling them all toward the Leviathan. On the side, a Woolly Ram started its charge, aimed directly at this attacker. But Livy still wanted to test one more thing. She waited until this larger sheep got closer and did an uppercut, decapitating one of the Plains Sheep and sending a circular wave out of her body. All the sheep in a 5-meter radius were dragged for a few meters until the wave crashed on top of them. Killing most of them and damaging the surviving ones severely. The Woolly Ram, on the other hand, was able to offset some of the damage with its charge, but the impact was too much, and it couldn''t move for now. Seeing that, Livy just approached it and punched the monster''s head, breaking its horns and skull in a single blow. The Leviathan smiled and looked around, confirming that this part of her was already gone. Pulling her war axe to her shoulder, she started running towards the next group that wasn''t currently engaged with anyone else. On the way, she passed by Chris and DJ, who were facing off against a group of three of the Plains Sheep. Unlike Livy, they were less aggressive and would signal Hera that they wanted to use a skill before doing so. This process was very quick since the Empress was already used to it, but it did impose a slight delay to their attacks. In the future, when Hera became more comfortable with the new blades, she let them use mana at their discretion while she was still above a certain amount. Still, both of them were doing very well by themselves. Chris and DJ were glowing softly with the moonlight, even if the Kopesh wasn''t as bright as the skill owner. Another very interesting thing was that everyone was being affected by the increased damage made by the moonlight, even if only slightly. Each blade was also able to maintain or dismiss the glow effect at will, which was a much better option than the effect of the Chris as a weapon by itself. This removed any issues that could arise from the weapons glowing in a situation where they had to hide. Something else quickly became clear and that was that Chris and DJ, being a dagger and a short sword, worked well together. DJ would slash and hook the eyes of the sheep while Chris came to a blow to the neck, killing them without any problems. Hera approached the two when they finished the third Plains Sheep; she noticed how looking at the blades now made it seem like her eyes were out of focus. They were already using the Illusory strikes from Chris, which turned them into a mirage of sorts. However, DJ''s illusion was minor compared with the one from the moonlight blade. While the Khopesh was like a blurry picture, the skill owner had already grown to 50% of her size, making it very hard to see where the real blade was, especially since Chris was already somewhat translucent. When the two cleared out the group of sheep, the Empress approached them, "The glow effects seem to work well. What do you think?" ''It''s great, dawg. Just a shame I have hit something to make it work. If not, I could be my own light show.'' ''We could probably set up a dummy. I don''t think you have to hit a monster for it to activate,'' Chris struck the floor now that the light was starting to vanish, but nothing happened with the glow, ''Or maybe not.'' "We can test that out in the workshop later," Hera suggested, then turned to DJ, "There is one thing I need to test with you. Can you move as far as you can until you feel like you can''t be farther away from me and use the Boomerang skill?" ''Sure thing, ma''am,'' DJ flew off to the edge of the Empress'' range. Even without the magnets, he could be around 65 meters away right now. Daskka had said before that the range would increase with time, but it was a very slow thing. DJ reached the point where he was unable to move forward and prepared the Sonic Boomerang skill. Either it would work, and he would move beyond the range and return, or he would smack against an invisible wall created by the legacy. He prepared himself and activated the skill, being flung out and spinning into the distance. He went past the range limit, but the farther he went, the more he felt a force pulling him back. Soon, as if he was just ammo in a slingshot, he flew backward, still spinning due to the skill, and covered about 40 meters before he could regain control of his body. ''Wow¡­ that was wild,'' DJ said while wobbling, still dizzy. "Are you ok?" Hera got closer. ''Yeah. I''m golden, and it didn''t even hurt,'' he waited for a moment before continuing, ''But one thing is messing me up. Dusa, can you holla real quick?'' ''Y-Yes! I''m here,'' the diadem spoke and rushed over. So far, she didn''t do much, only warned of a few sheep that might be getting too close or too far. ''Can you tell how far I got yeeted?'' ''From where?'' ''The edge to here.'' ''Oh¡­ hums. You moved 8 meters forward and then 40 back. So 48? I think. I might be wrong. Miss Armory was much better at this than I am.'' "She had more practice; that is the only difference," Hera smiled at the diadem. ''Don''t worry, girl. This is the part that matters. I''m going to use that skill again. Tell me how far I get,'' DJ prepared the Sonic Boomerang one more time, but now from the position he already was, just 20 meters away from Hera. When he activated it, he moved in a large arc and then returned to the same position he was in when he triggered the skill, and unlike before, he wasn''t dizzy. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ''That one felt a lot shorter. I think you only covered about 20 meters. Maybe a bit less,'' Dusa said. ''Yeah. I didn''t get that same rush as I did before, too,'' DJ nodded. "Did you feel weaker? Is using that skill to force you out of the range and back something that could be a big move?" Hera was looking around, noticing that there was a Woolly Ram getting ready to charge at her, ''Nimbus, Lurize, we have incoming. Get ready to dodge,'' she said only for them. Even if she was testing things out, she wanted to know how the new blades would react. ''A little. That move doesn''t feel like a good beat drop, you know. It''s more like a curveball that gives a song some spice.'' Hera nodded, but she focused on the incoming ram that was staring at them angrily; the Empress glanced at Dusa to see what the diadem would be doing. She didn''t seem to notice the monster, but Hera couldn''t tell where she was looking at exactly. The logical assumption was that it would be that her eyes were the snake eyes that formed the top of her body. Then again, Armory always seemed like she had eyes on the back of her head, and Hera wasn''t even going to think about Scythe. Maybe, the reality was that her blades saw the world differently from her. The sound of hooves scraping against the ground snapped the Empress out of her thoughts, ''When I say. We jump back,'' Hera said to Lurize and Nimbus only. She trusted that none of her blades would get seriously damaged by the Woolly Ram, but it would be enough to push them away and spook them. The Empress focused on the monster, ensuring not to give the signal too late. There was a good 10 seconds before the creature reached them when she said, ''Now.'' Nimbus, Hera, and Lurize jumped back, getting away from the path of the Woolly Ram, who was a monster that couldn''t turn during its charges. However, she wasn''t completely safe. Because of her focus on DJ and Dusa, the Empress failed to notice Livy approaching and leaping into the air before opening her mouth just a bit and concentrating her Leviathan''s Torrent skill as if it was a pressurized water jet. The water slammed against the ram, breaking one of its horns, knocking it out cold, and making the creature faceplant in the grassy plains. By itself, that would be a great move, but the Leviathan was not expecting Hera and the other titled blades to move back, and she was on course to fall directly on top of them. "Hera!" Livy yelled, trying to figure out a way to stop. She was worried about changing back to her weapon form and attacking the Empress by accident. "What the?!" Nimbus looked up, unsure of what that was. Lurize instantly turned to his beetle form and moved away while Hera tumbled forward, evading the incoming ''projectile.'' Before the Sentinel could get away, the 3-meter tall humanoid dragon came crashing down, sending them both to the ground. "Are you two ok?" Hera got up and moved closer to her two titled blades. "Yeah. Shit, that hurts," Livy groaned. "Imagine being between you and the floor. Now, please. Get off me," Nimbus pushed the Leviathan away with surprising ease, making Hera remember that all of her titled blades had strength as one of their stronger attributes. "I need to fix that," she mumbled to herself and Helped Livy get up, "What happened?" ''Livy just came out of nowhere,'' Lurize flew closer to Hera and returned to his armored form, "Did you notice the Ram from that far?" he turned to the Leviathan. "Nah, Dusa told me there was one incoming," Livy dusted herself off and helped Nimbus get up. "Oh? Are you already giving personal commands? That''s nice, but why didn''t you warn us too?" Hera turned to the diadem. ''Oh¡­ I-I-I thought it was part of the test. And Miss Armory told me not to overwhelm everyone with all the information all the time. So I only asked Miss Livy to help.'' "You are not wrong. We noticed that one incoming, and it was part of the test, but you should''ve warned us too," Hera said, turning back to the ram, which was still unconscious, but she quickly noticed some apprehension and even shame coming from Dusa, "Hey, hey. I''m not saying you made a mistake. It was just an incomplete answer. You did great by asking someone else for help, but even if it was a test, you should''ve also warned us so we knew what to expect in case Livy didn''t get here in time." "Like I wasn''t going to get here in time," Livy huffed. "Your agility is ridiculously low. Don''t overestimate it. And why didn''t you turn into your weapon form?" Nimbus huffed while keeping one hand on his back. "I didn''t want to risk turning into a giant axe that was falling towards the Empress! And I got here in time." "Your skill got here, not you. Also, do me a favor. Jump as high as you can and turn into the axe," Nimbus continued. "Why?" "Just do it." "Fine," Livy rolled her eyes and jumped, turning into her battle axe form when she started falling back down, only to stop in her tracks. ''Wait¡­ This is awesome! I''m flying!'' "You already could fly! Stop being a child!" Nimbus huffed, making Hera giggle. The Sentinel turned to her with a confused expression, "Sorry, Nimbus, but you are a perfect grumpy old man right now. You are even holding your back." Nimbus stood up straight, "I''m perfectly fine." "Don''t worry. It is completely natural for your bonez to be weaker than they once were," Lurize smiled. "And you don''t have to worry about stairs here, old man," Daskka teased. "You are older than me!" Nimbus gasped. "Ok, ok. Let''s stop messing with him. I still want to see how Amber, Viper, and Crimson are doing," Hera started walking but stopped beside Nimbus. "Do you need me to help you cross the plains? I know that people your age can struggle to cross the roads." "I''M NOT OLD!" Nimbus huffed and flew off, trying to prove that he was young by doing tricks in the air. Hera continued walking to check on the rest of the blades, and they were all doing pretty well. Their attacks were connecting, and despite the bickering between Viper and Crimson, their teamwork was on point especially with Amber by their side. Their skills also worked as one would expect and didn''t have any hidden features. This was something that Hera liked a lot. If every skill had some weird, counterintuitive addition, there was no chance she could remember it all. The group, or more specifically, Hera herself, continued running the dungeon through the course of the rest of the day. Doing both this version and the hard mode a few times to get everyone up to speed, only when night came, and her dad sent her a text asking if she would be home for dinner that the Empress left, she still wanted to introduce Livy to everyone and show how now, they had a dragon on their side. 709 - Unexpected visit It had been over a month since Hera returned to Boothudurn. Her dad and Livy were getting along really well. Both enjoyed wrestling, boxing, and fighting competitions, and the Leviathan was a surprisingly good assistant in his woodworking shop. Even if she couldn''t be in her humanoid form when helping due to her height. Lurize was helping with the logistics job when the Royal Explorers asked for supplies, and Nimbus helped take care of the house and everyone''s meals. They were still going to the dungeons to practice, but aside from the day when Livy became the Leviathan, she spent only a couple of hours per day training with her court. Livy''s welcome party was a big hit too. Many guides, including those she met while trying to get back home, showed up. Even Sammy participated in a video call. The turtle was also having weekly therapy sessions with the Empress to make sure she was doing ok. During this time, her equipment also arrived. She got a pair of shoes called Gaia''s Embrace. They looked like dark green sneakers and fitted exceptionally well on her feet, but the reason for this purchase was the extra options. It had a skill that increased natural regeneration by 30% and could stack with any other effects Hera cast on herself, including Edge''s. In addition, she could stomp her feet and create a barrier that would recover her injuries and another called Terraform, which allowed her to temporarily reshape a small area around her. This effect would be continuous, changing the environment as she passed by and allowing her to change things to ice or slick stone, which could be a decent substitute for her gliding ability. Her pants were called Ethereal Veil Pantaloons. Despite the name, it was a very slick black pair of fitted jeans with some ghostly green details on the side. When wearing them, a veil of black energy would come out from the back of her waist like a half skirt, but it wasn''t tangible. It had only one skill: letting her body from ankles to shoulders become intangible for 5 seconds. However, this wouldn''t affect her feet, arms, and head. What actually happened was that the veil that was created warped around her body and teleported anything that hit it to the other side. If the 5 seconds passed and there was still something passing through, Hera would be pushed away from the object. However, there was some danger associated with this. After the initial 5 seconds, there was another set of 5 seconds for her to remove anything that was where her body should be. If she couldn''t, the veil would break, and the object would appear where it was, even if that meant appearing inside her. Lastly was the pair of gloves. Ironically called ''Shadowsteps,'' those black velvet gloves would increase the damage she dealt while targeting something that was unaware of her presence and reduce the noise of anything touching them. Even if Hera dangled a set of keys, the sound would be muffled. It also gave her a 20% speed buff for 1 minute if she attacked an enemy from the shadows without being noticed. It was very stealth-based, but considering that the Empress was going heavily on the Jack-of-All-Trades concept, it made sense for her to have options to sneak around. Adriel had talked with Rutigan and the others showing his hand and offering assistance in whatever they needed. For now, he was the ''carrier pigeon'' of any communications between the dwarves and this secretive political group looking out for the non-human races in the MAZE. Despite everything, the king wasn''t thrilled with the idea of getting their help. Not just because he had never met them face to face but also because organizing with another group of people felt very much like an aggressive move against the guild. The people of Boothudurn didn''t want to fight the humans. All they were trying to do was to protect themselves. Joining another organization could make it seem like they were trying to start something and worsen their relations with the guild. Still, putting his feelings aside, Rutigan did open a communication channel, not wanting to cut off potential allies. Today, on this seemingly normal Thursday, the Empress got a message from Becca of all people. The reporter knew Hera had come back and even sent her a message a couple of weeks ago, but now she was coming to Boothudurn for some reason and asked if they could meet. The reporter has stopped participating in any actual news outlets. She also stopped posting in social media in general. That wasn''t completely unusual since every time she worked on a big story, she would vanish from the public eye. Hera was walking towards the doorway close to the palace when she saw Becca walking towards her. Her hair was longer, and now instead of the various shades of bluish-gray, her hair had some splashes of green in the same platinum/pastel tones. "Hera!" Becca smiled and rushed to give the Empress a big hug that was too intimate considering their relationship, but Hera didn''t mind. It''s been a long time since the two saw each other. "How are you doing, Becca? I loved the hair, by the way." "Right, you were gone when I changed it. It was after the whole centaur thing. I just got upset about everything and started making changes in my life," Becca gave a sad smile. "I''m sorry to hear it. Or not, depending on how things are right now." "They could be better. Actually, this is part of the reason why I came here. First of all, what level are you?" Hera raised one eyebrow, "I''m level 35." Becca thought for a moment, "And what about your attributes if you don''t mind me asking. Actually, do you mind if we go somewhere a bit more quiet? I don''t mean your house, just somewhere in the open with few people." Hera gestured to the side, guiding Becca to the lake since it was one of the places in the city that almost no one visited during this time of day, "I think I know a place, but why do you need to know my attributes?" "Honestly¡­ I need help. I''m involved in something¡­ Something," Becca sighed, "It''s dangerous, and if I tell you what it is, you will be in danger too. That''s why I''m asking. I can''t go to any of my high-level contacts since people would notice them moving around. But, before I tell you, I want to know if you are at least strong enough to handle yourself." "I don''t know how I can help, and I don''t want my dad or my friends to be in danger," Hera noticed the desperation in Becca''s eyes, "But if you really need me. All my attributes are at 99. I have a skill that lets me increase all of them simultaneously, and I have been using it since I started." "All of them? Luck included?" Hera nodded in response, and Becca looked down as they continued walking. It was clear that she was thinking about something, "Ok... That might help a lot," Becca said nothing and continued walking until they reached the beach. Only then the reporter used a skill that was an upgraded version of Hera''s soundproof bubble. Not only would it stop anyone from hearing them, but it would also create an illusion of them talking about something else, "I''m not going to give you the full details now. Just the overall idea, and you can decide whether you want to help. If you don''t want to, don''t worry. There are no hard feelings, and whatever happens to me won''t be your fault." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "You are starting to scare me, Becca," Hera stared into the reporter''s eyes. They were almost gray but showed an intensity that she never saw before. "Probably because I''m also scared. Here is the thing. I''ve discovered a facility that is keeping people captive, a blacksite. It was supposed to be a prison, but apparently, almost no one in there is a criminal. This was made by the guild. I don''t know what they are doing inside there, but I know for a fact that most, if not all, of the people being held there are from the other races." "You are kidding," Hera asked, her voice filled with disbelief. "Do you understand my fear now?" "I do¡­" Hera looked down. This wasn''t her problem, not really, but the thought of innocent people being held captive made her stomach turn, especially because of who was responsible. The guild was supposed to protect people, help others. They were created by one of the three heroes for the system''s sake! How could they do something like that, "Do you have proof? That the people in there don''t deserve to be there. That they didn''t do anything wrong?" Becca nodded, "Sharing that would make you involved. You still can walk away now. I hope you just don''t tell anyone what I''m saying, but aside from that, nothing will come back to you. The moment I tell you more, that will change." "Can I really help you?" Becca nodded again, "The prison is in a room in the 12th layer. According to my sources, the people who work there are all between levels 30 to 40. There might be a couple stronger ones, but I also have a couple of people stronger than that to help." "Are you sure about that?" "I am. My sources are reliable, and it makes sense. People around levels 30 to 40 don''t attract attention, and they are strong enough to be guards but not too strong to make it seem like they are protecting something dangerous. Not to mention that if you are above level 50, people keep track of where you are." "Really?" Hera asked, feeling like that was a stretch. "Where is Naka, the guard captain, right now?" "She''s with Risli, getting some potions and ointments for the guards." "And how do you know that?" "People were just talking about it as I was coming¡­ Oh.." "Exactly. It''s not like we track them, but everyone wants to know about them when someone is that powerful. That''s why you can''t have high-level people around if you want to keep a secret for long." Hera thought for a moment but knew that if she refused to help, she would hate herself, "Ok. I''m in. We can also talk with my friends. Helena might be a very good help." Becca shook her head, "Helena is famous. Bonnie''s father is famous. Blue has a legacy. The only one who might help would be Alex, but she''s not back from Earth yet, is she?" "How do you know that?" "I''m a reporter. That''s what I do. But your friends attract too much attention. You do too, but not that much, not anymore, at least. After finding the wendigo and discovering Boothudurn, you vanished from the public eye. Also, the bigger the group we move with, the easier it will be to be noticed." Hera knew that she, better than most, could handle being alone or in a small group, and she already had some ideas about how her court could help break people out of prison. But all of this still required more information. She couldn''t just follow Becca blindly. "Fine. I''ll go alone, but I need more information, Becca. I''m only doing this if you can prove that this is the right thing to do. If you can''t do that, I''m not helping. I won''t get in your way, but I''m out." "I think I can do that. Is there a place where we can talk in private? For real, this time. And yes, if you are not convinced, we can pretend this never happened." "Come to my house. I was going to be alone for the afternoon." With that, the spell hiding them was dropped, and the two of them walked toward Hera''s home. They were still talking about random things. Becca asked about the Empress'' journey and how it was to be stuck in the MAZE again with an uncanny naturality. Anyone who overheard their conversation would never imagine they were just talking about breaking people out of a blacksite. When they arrived, Hera opened the door and gestured for Becca to enter. "Thanks," Becca smiled but accidentally kicked the floor, stopping for a moment to groan and rub her foot while in the entrance. During that brief pause, Hera noticed a small disturbance in the mana around them, as if someone invisible was entering her home. ''Did you feel that?'' she asked her court, getting confirmation from all of them, ''Whoever they are, they might be after Becca. Let''s get the drop on them.'' Becca apologized and walked in, followed by the Empress, who quickly let Lurize move behind the entryway table in his beetle form. Hera paid attention to the shape, realizing that it was humanoid and seemed to be moving with intent, always staying close to Becca. Possibly to find a moment to strike. Hera stepped closer to the couch and put her foot underneath it, pretending to have hit her knee on the hard part of the armrest with a yell. "Are you ok?" Becca gasped. "Yeah, sorry. It''s an old wound from the trip. A monster did a number on my knee, and I''m still recovering," Hera replied while Livy and Nimbus appeared underneath the couch in their weapon forms. Usually, she couldn''t control where her blades would come from, but if she focused, she could make them appear anywhere in her body, including her feet. "I''m sorry to hear that. Are you sure you are ok?" Becca frowned, starting to get suspicious. "Yeah. Don''t worry. This won''t affect my help. It should only take a couple of days for the treatment to be over. Also, there is one thing I have to show you," Hera raised both her hands and created a halberd using her [Venomous Arsenal] skill, "This is something I learned while traveling, and it might help us. At least we won''t have to worry about weapons." "Oh, that''s nice," Becca approached to see the orange halberd as the invisible figure, who was like a hole in the environmental mana, followed, their feet getting close enough to the couch. ''Now!'' Hera yelled in her mind as two massive dragon hands reached out and grabbed the figure''s feet just as the couch jumped in the air, being pushed by Livy''s body. Nimbus and Lurize appeared in their bipedal forms, grabbing the invisible figure by the arms while tackling them to the ground. Hera followed along, pulling Becca behind her, slamming the halberd on the ground right by the invader''s neck, and pulling the blade to the side, stopping just short of decapitating whoever this was. "What the.." Becca didn''t know what was happening, but a voice came from the ground. "Wow, wow, wow. I''m on your side. I''m on your side!" the figure appeared on the ground. It was a man with plump lips, a small nose, hazel eyes, blond hair, and pointy elf ears, "Becca, help me out here before she kills me!" "Hera, wait!" the reporter snapped out of it, "This is Zestra. He is one of the high-level people who are working with me. I was going to introduce him now." "Oh¡­" Hera looked down, "Sorry? But you kind of invaded my home. And we are talking about blacksites. I thought you were an assassin." "Completely understandable, but how the hell did you find me? And what are those?" Zestra glanced at Nimbus and Lurize, who were still on top of them. "Let him go," Hera told her court, "I think I have some explaining to do, and so do you," she turned to Becca, who just nodded, still processing what just happened. 710 - Those who are gone "Ok, let me see if I got this right. You can summon an arsenal of autonomous weapon constructs with the same intelligence as pretty much anyone, and you can also make a few of them into actual people?" Zestra had an expression of utter disbelief. "That''s the gist of it, but I can only make a limited number of them into people, and there are some requirements for it," Hera nodded. Livy was by her side in her Cerulea form while Lurize stood behind her, still staring at the elf. On the other hand, Nimbus was grabbing some drinks and snacks for everyone. "And how did that let you find out where I am? I''m not much of a fighter, but I can hide from pretty much anything," Zestra leaned back on the chair. They were now in the dining room since Becca didn''t want to risk having someone walking in on them. "During the time I got lost, I also got a title," Hera replied. "A title!" Zestra gasped. "Well¡­ two, actually. One related to sensing mana, which is how I found you out, and another that protects me from ailments, but I didn''t get a chance to see its effects yet," Hera explained. She trusted Becca enough to share all this, not to mention Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy had already shown themselves. Since her cards were already on the table, she might as well show her hand. "Ok, but how did you see me?" "The mana title lets me feel mana better, and you were like a blank spot. As if the mana couldn''t get to where you were. I''m guessing you were following us for a while, but I only realized it when we got here because I''m very used to the mana flow in my house." "Really? That¡­ sounds really hard to do," Zestra scratched the back of his head. Becca couldn''t help but find the reaction odd. The spy was always confident, but seeing him like this was somewhat refreshing. "It is, but like I said. I''m used to this place, Daskka. Can you help me?" ''Sure, mum. What do you need?'' the snake poked from her shoulder. Hera didn''t meet Becca with the herald out, but now that they were home, she called her to participate in the conversation. ''Can you use your mist to make a visualization of how I noticed him?'' the Empress asked as Nimbus arrived with the sodas and snacks for everyone. ''Of course,'' Daskka announced proudly, creating a mist with a humanoid-shaped hole in the middle. "It was kind of like seeing a place like this. Again, I only noticed because I''m very used to this place. If we were somewhere else, I would have to spend a few hours or even days getting used to the area to see it as clearly as it was here. But now, can we change the topic? I want to understand what is going on here," Hera smiled at Zestra and turned to Becca with a firm expression. "I agree. We should have time to talk about this later," Becca nodded and took a sip of the soda, "I already told you the gist of it. Still, there is a place, around 40 rooms away, where the guild is holding people captive. I have the information about that here," the reporter pulled a small metal lighter. She clicked the lid twice and tried to make a light five times before pressing on the sides. Then a hologram of a computer screen appeared above the lighter. Becca placed it on the desk and started moving things around, opening a few files and spreading them out for Hera to see. There were pictures of the place, including a few recordings of the security cameras and a list of all the people locked in there. The facility wasn''t as large as she expected, having only about 150 people crammed into 50 2 x 2-meter cells. They didn''t seem to have a yard or anything of the sort, and according to one of the papers, the prisoners never left their cells, not even for showers. But the cherry on top was that none of them had a reason to be there. The documents were actual prison documents, and they had an empty box labeled ''Reason for Incarceration,'' and most were blank. The ones who weren''t all had the same reason marked ''Last Line of Defense sympathizer.'' People were being locked up for being sympathizers, not even suspects or something like that. This felt dystopian. People were being tossed in cells just for thinking the opposition had valid points. At the same time, Hera knew this was a bit of a stretch. Maybe they were not just thinking that the Last Line of Defense was right but were actively supporting them in some way. But even so, would that be fair? Sending people to prison without a trial, without any evidence, or at least, without showing that evidence to people. "And¡­ there is also this," Becca pulled a single sheet of paper. A list of people who were supposed to be transferred to that prison. Hera didn''t recognize any of the names, not until she reached the last five. They were all dwarves from Boothudurn, and among them was Silah. "How long ago did you get this?" Hera asked, trying to contain her emotions. "Around 3 months," Becca replied. "3 months? But¡­ Silah was still here back then," she glanced at the date on the document. It was from 4 months before the current date, "What the hell is this?" "From what we gathered, they were already thinking about doing something with these people for a while. There is a workshop going on, sponsored by a large government of dwarves. But, we think there is a fringe ground inside their parliament. A group that doesn''t want to show strength against the guild but just thinks they should lower their head and keep quiet to avoid any conflict. I won''t bore you with the details, and there are a lot of them, but basically, whenever the guild asks them for something, they help them. They believe this is what is best for their people." This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "They are just a bunch of spineless pricks if you ask me. Even if their idea was reasonable, there is a line you shouldn''t cross no matter what," Zestra huffed. "And they have. The guild said that they noticed how some of the people registered for that were suspected to be part of the Last Line of Defense. And, their reasoning wa-" before Becca could finish the sentence, Zestra interrupted her. "You mean excuse." Becca turned to the spy with a stern expression. "I''m telling Hera the information we got, not what we think is going on. She''s the one who decides if she can help or not. And if you can''t let me talk without interrupting, it''s better for you not to be a part of this conversation." Zestra raised his hands, showing he wouldn''t do anything, and slumped back into the chair. Turning back to Hera, Becca continued, "Moving on, their reasoning was that if they staged the vanishing of the entire group, they could pretend it was some weird MAZE thing instead of an actual kidnapping. That way, the LLD wouldn''t notice right away." "That''s stupid. If they really were involved, the moment one of them lost contact, they would change all the plans that person knew about," Hera shook her head. "Exactly!" Zestra nodded with a smile, but seeing Hera''s expression, he realized it wasn''t the time for jokes. "That is also something I considered. It was a bad excuse; even the dwarves who agreed to help were suspicious. Some of them reached out to one of my contacts and shared the location where they brought the people they kidnaped. The facility I showed you." "Wait! They already were kidnaped?" Hera jumped up, with Daskka doing the same. "Yes. About a week ago," Becca showed a couple of pictures of a large group of around 50 in front of a bus, "This is the last picture we have of them. The guild dispersed a sleeping potion in the AC unit, knocked everyone out, and then took them to that room." "The dwarves that were on the guild''s side told you about it?" Hera asked. "Yes, they had to help the entire process, but some grew a conscience. Or were just scared of being caught," Becca nodded. "I thought we weren''t going to say anything based on opinion," Zestra smirked. "Sue me then, " Becca rolled her eyes, "The same people also planted a mole in the crew. They changed buses every room, and that prison is around 12 rooms away from where they started. The mole also gave us confirmation of their current location, and he will help us when we make our move." "Didn''t you say it was 40 rooms away? Also, how were they able to make people cross while sleeping?" Lurize noticed what looked like some holes in that story. "They woke them up and told them to cross. If you use the right spell to wake someone up from a sleeping potion, it is easier to make them do things as long as it makes sense... Saying, ''Hey, we arrived. Can you go through the doorway and go inside the next bus?'' Wouldn''t be a hard sell. And our road there would cross 40 rooms. They will likely know we are coming if we use the same path they did." "Ok, but if they are missing for so long, why the rest of the dwarven government didn''t say anything? I talked with Rutigan yesterday, and the workshop seemed to be going well," Hera was still trying to find something that could prove Becca wrong. Something that would tell her that Silah was ok. "Making this workshop wasn''t something easy to do. They used a good amount of favors, and having the participants vanish would prove any of the criticism of their opposition true. In the end, it is bad PR. The only way for them to get out on top is for them to find the participants themselves. Which they won''t be able to do since there are people in their own government who are working against that. Today marks a week since they vanished, and this is the moment when they don''t have another option but say what happened. If they try to stay quiet, people will start asking questions, and when the truth is revealed, it will be worse for them. If you would like, we can wait until the evening. They should be letting people know about the missing participants today. Maybe they already have." Hera frowned, but out of curiosity, she pulled her tablet. It was on silent mode ever since she met Becca. There was one message from Rutigan asking her to meet right away. She sent a question as a reply, ''Is Silah missing?'' The answer came right away, ''Yes.'' The Empress looked up, "Are the people who were kidnapped in serious danger?" Becca paused for a moment and pulled a few documents. Some were about deliveries to that room, and others were files of the old prisoners, "No one ever left that place. The oldest captive on record has been there for around 10 years. They also sent a bunch of materials and equipment that you would expect to be used in animal testing, but the dimensions of the things are not right. They are bigger than they should be. We also have this," another file appeared, with a list of all the people who were there at one point, but they were marked as ''Released,'' "I have no more information about any of these people. Not ever since they were ''released'' from that place. I don''t want to say it, but I think they are all dead. No one vanishes without a trace. No one. If they are alive, they either find a way to escape and vanish inside the MAZE, or they just go crazy and can''t be close to others anymore. They could have also changed identities completely, but someone helped them, and even then, considering the numbers, it''s a stretch." "And how long have we got? To save them. In a worst-case scenario." "The shortest amount of time someone was there before being ''Released'' was three weeks. Does that mean you are going to help us?" Becca asked. "Yeah. I''m in," Hera pointed at the list of people participating in the workshop. Specifically, Silha''s name, "This is my ex. And I still care about her very much." "Oh¡­ I knew this name sounded familiar. I''m sorry to hear it. When I asked for your help, your connection with the people of Boothudurn was part of the reason. If they see a face they can trust, it might help us get them moving faster. I didn''t expect you to know one of them that intimately." "I honestly don''t care about the reason you came after me, Becca. I just want to know how we are going to get them out of there." 711 - Path to Freedom Despite Hera''s wishes, they didn''t leave right away. Becca had to talk with a few people, and Zestra needed to get something from one of his contacts. This gave the Empress one more day to let her dad and her friends know she would be traveling with Becca. She made sure not to mention where she was going since she didn''t want to involve anyone with what she was about to do. Zestra also helped her set up a single sheet of paper in her room to create a message after a set time. However, the spy told her to wait before making that since they still didn''t have a timeframe for when they might return. Hera ended up being more cryptic than she would have liked when talking with her friends and family, but no one pressured her for answers. This was more due to the lie she had to tell them. Instead of saying she would try to break people out of a blacksite, she said she was going to help Becca with an article that she couldn''t say anything about. The next day came along, and the Empress did her best to prepare for her journey. She got a few potions and salves from Risli that could help her heal wounds and cleanse toxins from the body and told Ritugan that she was going after Silah and the others. That was something that both Becca and Zestra agreed to, but she shouldn''t say anything about the location, just that she had a lead. As the three of them left Boothudurn and headed to the Kobold Road, Zestra once again turned invisible. He would be like that during the entire journey, using a lesser version of his invisibility spell that was more cost-efficient but more easily detectable. From there, they went to another room called ''Wallflower Den.'' A place made only by hanging gardens of multicolored flowers. Most of them were actually monsters, and people tended to avoid this room just because of how annoying it was to deal with it, but this was the best path they could take. Only after they had already arrived in that room and were deep into the hanging gardens, away from people, did Becca talk about what they were doing. However, before starting, she used that spell to hide their conversation again. "Ok, so here. You are going to need this, Hera," Becca gave her a silver ring with what looked like a diamond in the center. It was a very simple cut, but very beautiful too. "Oh, Becca. I do, but you''ll have to get my dad''s permission first," Hera gave an exaggerated expression like a character in a cartoon. That move made an invisible Zestra snort and start laughing. Becca chuckled, "I''m glad you are in high spirits. But just to make it clear, I''m not asking you to marry me." "I kind of figured. That would be a bit too quick," Hera smiled and used [Inspect] on the ring. All it did was increase her luck by 1 point. "From what Becca told me, I was expecting you to be more upset," Zestra said in a whisper. "I probably would if this happened before I got stuck. Don''t get me wrong, I''m very upset, and the moment we get closer I will break down the fucking walls to get them out. I just learned how to compartmentalize my anxiety. Otherwise, I would''ve spent months stressed out about everything that was going on there. Honestly, I think I''m even trying to overcorrect here. This kind of joke is not something I would normally do," Hera said, feeling that burning anger inside her chest growing as she thought about Silah. Yet, she locked that down. This wasn''t the moment to let this loose. "I get the feeling, but you are not being literal, are you?" Zestra asked. "I don''t know. We didn''t talk about the plan yet." "Yeah, we are not talking about it for now. We need to get there and scout the area a bit before formulating a proper plan," Becca explained. "I do have some ideas. I think I was one of the people who studied the plans for the prison the most," Zestra''s voice came from between the two women. "But you are not the one making the plan. I cannot stress this enough," Becca sighed. "What? It was because of my plan that we got all of that intel," Zestra scoffed. "Yeah, but that was a stealthy operation. We are talking about a rescue mission now. And your plan involved you attracting a bird to hit the barrier they set up while you jumped over the wall. That''s a half a second window to pass without being seen? Do you expect people who were being captive able to do something like that?" Becca rolled her eyes. "What? Of course not! My plan involves us going in there, taking out all the guards, and then rescuing everyone." "And you think we can knock them all out before any alarms are triggered?" "If we get them in the right order, yes!" "Someone else is in charge of the plan. They have a bit more experience in things like that?" Becca waved the spy off. "You have someone who has experience in this kind of thing?" Hera looked at Becca. "Not this this, but they liberated a few animals from places that were doing experiments on them, and they go around doing dungeons about rescuing people as a hobby." "You forgot to add that he is part of the special forces and has done several rescue missions in the past. Trust me, you don''t want him to be the one to remind you of that. His stories are way too detailed," Zestra sighed, now his voice coming from behind them. "So yeah, they have experience. Now what I wanted to say is how we are getting there. Like I said, we would be 40 rooms away, but since your luck is at 100, we can take a different route," Becca continued. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "What does my luck have to do with anything?" Hera tilted her head. "There is a dungeon in the room we are going to that has a door which can only be opened by the ''Lucky ones.'' This means that everyone has a chance to see that door open, but if your luck goes past 100, it will always be open. That door is a shortcut tour destination. Instead of going through 40 rooms, we will only need to pass 12. The problem was that the lucky door only let two people pass before closing and asking for the next ''Lucky one.'' That''s why I called a friend to help us out. She can have her luck at 100 for long enough to open the door. The cherry on top is that she also has a mount that can carry people over water. The shortcut is across a leg of the ocean, so that was a bonus. Then again, you might be able to take care of that yourself," Becca continued. "Depends on the situation, but between Livy and Nimbus, yeah. I should be able to. Then again, having someone else is better. My court has a limited range of motion," Hera explained. "Right. Can you explain those details about your legacy now? We got the gist of it, but if we are going to rescue people, it would help if we all knew what each other can do," Zestra suggested, his voice coming from a few meters in front of them but still in a whisper. Hera nodded and asked for the same while starting to talk more about her court. She didn''t go into the details about changing blades, and mentioning all the increase in damage felt unnecessary, but she talked about everything else. The distance the court could be from her, how they moved, and the utility skills they had. Hera also mentioned the Viper''s Pit bracelet and how she could create snakes for scouting and the Pool of Styx spell that could lower the attributes of anyone weaker than her. Even adding that Lurize might be able to create spell circles in a large area while in his beetle form. Becca and Zestra listened closely, and when she was done, they started talking about their own abilities. The spy began, and as one would expect, he focused a lot on stealth and scouting. He wasn''t much of a fighter, but if push came to shove, he could use several gadgets to stop people from chasing after him. There was also the option for him to take a more deadly route, killing people with strikes from the shadows. But he said it himself. This wasn''t his fort¨¦. Becca was in a similar position. She was a fighter, and her skills were mostly focused on surviving and running. Not to mention the camera skill she got after completing the challenge of the tower with Bright Night and Dark Star. Her ideal position wouldn''t be participating in the prison break but being behind and ensuring they had a clear escape route. If she had to fight, she would prefer to use her fists but could improvise weapons without any problems. Becca dreamt of being a reporter since she was young. Because of that, most of her skills were focused on surveillance, movement, and the occasional self-defense in strange situations. If rescuing those people were up to this group, they all agreed that Hera would end up doing the heavy lifting. Thankfully, that wasn''t the case. Another half a dozen people were heading to the room where the prison was located and they would be the ones with skills and experience that would make a difference for this situation. After a four-hour journey, the group arrived at a small clearing where the guild had set up a campsite close to the doorway. Since they had to wait a day to use it to avoid the risk of getting stuck somewhere, Becca told them they would be sleeping here tonight. "Do you want me to make a stone tent?" Hera asked while Becca was pulling a small cylinder from her bag. "Only if you want. I have a tent here that is more than big enough for the two of us," Becca turned to the Empress, who just gestured for her to continue. Opening the cylinder cap, a tent large enough for 4 people appeared in a flurry of movement already stuck to the ground and set up, "This also has some monster-repellent properties, internal heating, and it comes with a pair of air mattresses. And a barrier just to make sure we wouldn''t get hurt if something manages to attack us." "Yeah, never mind. My idea was a stone box," Hera shook her head. The three of them went inside the tent and slept for the night, avoiding any kind of hot meal since the smell could let people track them. Zestra slept on the ground to avoid anyone realizing three people were here. Even if there wasn''t anyone around, they were being very careful about their actions. The last thing any of them wanted was to lose the element of surprise. The next day, they crossed another room called ''Lost Ground.'' It was a desolate place where all the trees were dead and charred, yet they still grew. This would be the first place that had no settlements or anything like it. People tried to build houses here, but whatever killed the flora also corroded any structure people tried to make here. When they arrived at the doorway leading to the ''Volcanic Island,'' they stopped to wait for someone. This was the person who would help them open the lucky door in a dungeon. It took a couple of hours, but eventually, they saw something approaching at high speeds. Whoever it was, was mounted on a Lung Dragon that was running through the dead ground. When they got closer, the person on top jumped, doing a flip in the air and landing behind Hera and the others. She had ash blonde hair tied to her shoulder in a half ponytail. Crystal blue eyes with long dark lashes contrasting her light coffee skin. At first glance, this was a petite woman despite being around 1.70 meters tall. However, on a closer look, one could see the toned muscles of someone who spent most of their time doing heavy physical activity. The woman wore a light blue silk shirt with long flowing, off-the-shoulder sleeves, a four-inch thick off-white belt with silver details in a feather-like pattern, and navy blue leggings. Covering her almost non-existing breasts was a light silver chest plate that looked like four wings enveloping her body. There were also some arm plates and knee guards that were part of the same set, following the same wing motifs. As a matter of fact, most of her items had feathers as the theme. Holding all the pieces of armor together were rose vines, and tiny feathers weaved together to create something akin to leather, very reminiscent of the armor the children of the sky would wear. She also had three simple silver bands on her left arm that broke from the ''tradition'' of the rest of her clothes being completely flat without any detailing. On her right hip was a silver dagger with a very long blade in a sheathe resembling a wing. A dark oak staff with a mana stone on each end was held onto her back in a way that didn''t seem to hinder her movements. The last thing that caught Hera''s attention was the small ear cuff depicting a silver dragon with a blue gem in its mouth in the woman''s left ear. "Ok, tell me honestly. How was that landing?" the woman opened a big smile towards Becca. "The flip was good, but the landing needs work. You didn''t even strike a pose," Becca teased before going in to give the woman a hug. When that was over, she stepped back and gestured to Hera, "This is Freya." "Hi, I''m Hera," the Empress smiled and put out her hand. "Hey. Nice to meet you. You seem familiar," Freya frowned as she shook Hera''s hand. "Really? I don''t think we''ve ever met," Hera frowned, too, mirroring the woman''s face. She was sure this was the first time they had seen each other. "A while back, I interviewed her. Maybe you watched it," Becca suggested. "Could be," Freya shrugged, "Should we get going? We have a lot of ground to cover. 712 - The lucky door After Freya joined them, the group crossed to the next room. The Volcanic Island had a very literal name. It was an island being created by an active volcano. The cooled-off magma was under their feet, but it still felt hot despite being solid. At least there was no liquid magma being tossed around. Everything came from an underwater volcano that spat out sediment to the ocean''s surface. It was funny to see how this island looked like the previous room, even if they couldn''t be more different. Lost Ground was covered in shades of black and gray, which was very true for this place too. However, the island was brimming with life and fertile soil that allowed plants to grow freely. Only fire plants could live here due to the temperature of the ground, but still, the contrast between rooms was intense. Walking around the island''s edge, they saw a few birds flying by, which made Freya pause. The woman seemed to be very interested in the monsters, but this wasn''t the right time for studying. "So, I know Becca and Zestra''s deal. What''s yours?" Freya turned to Hera. The Empress turned to Becca, who nodded, "She''s part of the team. It would be good for her to know everything." "Well. I discovered Boothudurn, and some of the people who were kidnapped are from there. My ex included. But if you are asking what I can do, I''m an explorer, and I have a legacy." "Shit, really?" Freya gasped. "Yep." "What is it?" "It''s called court of blades, and it lets me summon weapons. Or a few special versions of them. How about I let them introduce themselves," Hera called her titled blades out. "I am Nimbus, titled Sentinel," the bipedal griffon was flying beside them, not to hurt his feet on the heated floor. "I am Lurize. The Royal Tutor," the large suit of armor with a beetle motif, said as he walked beside the group. However, his weight was too much for the ground, causing the rocks to break, revealing the magma underneath it, "Unfortunately, I am unable to move properly here. Hence, I will change my form," his form glowed orange. He turned back into a Rhinoceros Beetle that could fit in anyone''s palm. Most of his body was silver, but there was an orange skull across his back. The large pastel pink dragon jumped out from under Nimbus, splashing everyone with water, "And I''m Livy. The Leviathan!" Livy roared as a joke, "I have a bipedal shape too, but if Lurize can''t stand there, neither can I. I''m like 3 meters tall and thick with seven Cs. All muscle." "Her thick has 3 Cs at best," Nimbus rolled his eyes. "What? Of course not! I have more than 3 Cs," Livy pouted. "You said I only had half a C. Which is very debatable by the way. Look at my abs! This is not half a C! But either way, your strength is not even double mine, so even if we are not using a linear progression, you can''t be beyond 3," Nimbus huffed. "You are talking about linear whatever. That''s why you are half a C! You can''t be thick and bothered by all those complicated things!" "So you are admitting you are stupid?" Nimbus asked. "No, I''m a sledgehammer. I''m a tool that works very well for one thing, specifically: breaking things. You are a drill bit, great for what you are, and much better for something more precise, but you can''t be thick!" Livy dove underwater for a few moments before coming back. Nimbus waited for her before continuing their discussion. "They are so cool! Oh, and you don''t have to put on a show for me. I get that they are very advanced," Freya turned to Hera. "This isn''t a show. They actually have personalities and do that on their own," Hera was rubbing her temple, "For better or worse." "Really? That''s awesome! You are never alone like that¡­ Oh¡­ you are never alone like that. That might suck sometimes." Hera shrugged, "Honestly, I don''t mind. And when I need some privacy, I can ask them to just sleep for a while." "By the way. I just realized, isn''t Livy kind of similar to the one you have, Freya? What was her name again? Athena?" Zestra asked. Since they got to this room, the elf was no longer invisible. In the Lost Ground, they were already alone. After all, it was a place with minimal resources, and even the dungeons were boring. They consisted in either saving a piece of land from corruption or trying to recover a plant that was still alive. To top it all off, the rewards people usually got were not that interesting. When they arrived here, Zestra scouted the area, and after confirming that no one else was around, he dropped his invisibility spell. "Artemis! And yeah, now that you mention they do look a bit similar. That''s so weird. I got Artemis in a dungeon in the Golden Dragon Archipelago thanks to an item that upgraded her," Freya stopped as they arrived at the edge of the island and called Artemis. Hera wasn''t able to see the dragon properly before, but now she got a good look at her. Artemis'' scales were silvery blue, with small feathers all over her body, almost like a coat of fur. Her tail was longer than the rest of her body, and at the tip was one massive feather made out of several smaller ones following that same mix of silver and blue scales. It was interesting. Just looking at her made Hera think of the moonlight. Not the moonlight as it was seen in the sky, but as it was depicted in the media in general, a blue glow with shades of silver. Of course, another reason for that thought was that on top of Artemis'' head was a single dark blue horn shaped like a crescent moon. However, there was one more detail that caught the Empress off guard. The eyes of this Lung Dragon were golden, a shade of gold that was exactly like the small wyvern that guided her through the dungeon. "Luna?" Hera asked out loud by accident. "You know Luna?" Freya turned to the Empress. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Yeah. Livy was a reward from the Last Moonless Night," Hera nodded. "Wait¡­ didn''t you say you make them? How was Livy part of a reward?" Zestra looked at the Sea Serpent, who was enjoying her time in the water. "Yeah, but that''s only after they are part of the court. Before that, I need to get a weapon that already exists and then turn it into something for my legacy. To make titled blades is even more complicated. I need to find either a weapon and a construct that have good synergy or bind myself to a spirit." "To a spirit!" Becca and Freya gasped at the same time. "That sucks. Not just because you can only do it once, but binding with a spirit is hard as hell," Zestra shook his head. "It wasn''t that bad. Getting Lurize bound with Mr. Beetle was kind of easy. I had to die to save him, sort of, but still." "What?" Becca stopped in her tracks and stared at Hera. "What?" Hera looked at the reporter. "You died?" "Sort of. It''s complicated. You said that we have to travel for some time after passing the Lucky Door, right? I''ll tell you all then if you want," Hera smiled. "Yeah, I want that. Fuck me, how are you making my job as a spy seem boring?" Zestra jumped to a rock that was leading them to the dungeon they had to enter. It was called ''Golden Pearl Hunt,'' and as the name suggested, they had to find a golden pearl in the ocean. This was one of the rare cases when a dungeon didn''t change the surrounding environment, making it hard to know if they entered or not. There were some monsters around, but they wouldn''t have to worry about it. Passing through the Lucky Door counted as completing the hidden quest of the dungeon, and the path was as peaceful as possible. No monsters, not even a storm, would appear. The weather would always be sunny with a few clouds. "You are good at your job. I''m constantly flying by the seat of my pants. I think that''s the difference," Hera chuckled and recalled her court to enter the dungeon. Inside, Livy and Artemis became the stars of the show. Both could carry more than one person and move at high speeds in the water. They moved around the island until they got to a place where the ocean sunk. It was like a crater in the water''s surface. Like what would happen during a whirlpool without the actual whirlpool. Instead, in the center of this odd ocean formation, there was a red double door with a golden four leaf clover in the center. Hera and Becca went in first, riding on top of Livy; thanks to the ring, the Empress'' luck was already at 100, and that guaranteed the door to open. After they passed, the doors closed, and Freya and Zestra soon appeared, riding Artemis. "I''m glad this worked. Becca told me you had a skill to get to 100 luck," Hera smiled as the two got closer. "Yeah, it''s actually a combo. I have a skill that increases my charisma the more the people around me trust me, then I have an item that lets me add a percentage of my charisma to another attribute for a few minutes. Adding those two effects, I can reach the 100 luck we needed. Oh, by the way. Do you want to use your private room, or should we use mine? We won''t be able to sleep there tonight, but tomorrow should work, right?" Freya turned to Zestra. "Yeah¡­Shit, you have a private room, too, don''t you, Hera. Why didn''t we use it yesterday? I could''ve slept in a bed," the spy huffed. "I thought we had to be seen by others. That''s why I didn''t suggest anything," Hera replied. "You might be overthinking things a bit, Hera. But it''s never bad to be careful. And Zestra, don''t complain. We had to share the same room with one bed for weeks. I''m sure the grass was more comfortable than that carpet," Becca shivered remembering the nights she barely slept because of the crappy hotel room they stayed at after getting the intel from the guild. They continued talking, sharing stories about their adventures while moving across the ocean of crystal blue water, with small islands appearing every now and then in case they needed a break. Becca and Zestra talked a bit about how they stole the files from someone high up in the guild. Then Becca talked about the challenge of the tower and all the details that didn''t show up in the broadcast. Freya also chimed in with a few stories about her adventures with Artemis in the MAZE. Eventually, Night came, and they stopped in one of the many islands that were in their path. Hera prepared a campfire while Becca used her tent again, and they all gathered for dinner using their rations. "Oh, by the way. How did you get Artemis? You mentioned it was in the golden dragon archipelago, but did you do anything different?" Hera turned to Freya, whose expression darkened when hearing the question. "Yeah¡­ It''s not a fun story," Freya petter Artemis who was right by her side. "Sorry. You don''t have to say it if you don''t want to." "No. It''s ok. I went to the Golden Dragon Archipelago with my party. We were excited about the ocean and found the entrance to another room. One that was on a small rock in the middle of the ocean. We knew that the current there was strong and that people didn''t know how to cross that doorway in particular. But since doorways only being able to open during certain conditions are a thing we decided to try. There were five of us. We had been a party since our training days and realized we had much in common. I always loved swimming. It was even how I started working with my agency. They had a deal with the gym I used to go to, and I met some of the casting agents there." "Agency?" Zestra asked. "Yeah, I was a model before becoming an explorer. Since I was a teenager. Not high fashion or anything. It was more sportswear, mostly one-piece bathing suits and variations of it. Surfing or diving gear. Things like that. Anyway, two people in my party were from that gym. We met when swimming, and the other two people that joined during training also loved the ocean. The two of them used to swim competitively when in high school. In the end, we got cocky. We all believed that we could handle the currents in that room. After climbing down the closest pillar, which we were only able to reach because of a consumable glide item we had, we dove and tried to make it to the doorway. It took us just a few moments to realize we messed up. I was the last to jump, not for any reason in particular. I was just in the back of the pack. That might have been what saved me," Freya stopped speaking for a few moments, her eyes just staring into the flames, "Still, they were pulled down. I heard their screams and tried to help. Jumped after them, but it was too much. At one point, I was underwater, trying to do anything to get back up, when I grabbed something. It was a bit rough and scratched my hand, but I could hold on for long enough to calm down and use the charisma combo I used to increase my luck to try to survive. Eventually, after¡­ I don''t even know how long the currents threw me against another rock, one of the pillars. I climbed up with my remaining strength and was lucky enough to be near a cave where I could rest." Freya paused again, unable to finish the story. Hera turned to Becca, who just shook her head with a sad expression, confirming what happened with the rest of Freya''s party without saying any words. The Empress gave some time, but eventually, she thought it was better to finish the story so they could move on, "And what about Artemis?" "Right. I passed out when I got to the cave, and I had this stone dragon scale in my hand when I woke up. It was something called Selene''s Gift. Selene is the dragon statue that is underwater by that doorway. The original version of Luna. Anyway, after I completed the dungeon, the scale merged with the dragon egg, and so Artemis was born. She''s been with me ever since," Freya smiled at Artemis. No one spoke for a while after that, but eventually, the conversation returned to lighter subjects until it was time for them to sleep. After this, they would be 7 rooms away from the room where the facility was located, and most of their time would be spent walking around. Thankfully, between Hera''s court and Artemis, they had enough mounts for everyone, which would help them a lot to reach their destination. And the sooner they got there, the sooner they could work on getting the captives out. 713 - The room of a prison It took them 3 days to arrive at their destination, and the closer they got, the more serious their conversations became. This wasn''t because they were fighting or anything like it, but it was hard to continue being light-hearted when they were thinking about kidnapped people and what could''ve been happening to them. Becca had no information about what went down in the prison, but they knew it shouldn''t be normal. For one, people didn''t leave their cells or have any sort of freedom or privacy. They even had cameras inside the cells covering every inch of the small spaces where the prisoners slept and lived. Strange enough, that wasn''t the case for the rest of the facility''s hallways. One would expect that a prison had eyes everywhere to make sure that, if the prisoners tried to escape, they would be caught. Yet, according to Becca''s intel, about 40% of the entire building was in the dark. Another big worry was the yard. On the left side of the southwest corner of the prison, there was an open field marked as ''Yard'' in the blueprint, but one of the reports mentioned a pit that needed to be reinforced to make the rocks stop melting with all the fire that was being used there. Zestra''s theory was that the place was a mass grave, where they would burn the corpses of the prisoners that died to avoid anyone finding out about what happened to them. It was a bit of a stretch, primarily since they could not hide the smoke or smell that would create. Despite that, the possibility of that being true made matters even more pressing. The room where the prison was located was on the 13th layer called Gear Shift Nexus, and its doorway dropped them inside one of the main ruins just outside the limits of the city. The surrounding area was covered with rocks, concrete, bricks, and steel, split into broken foundations of buildings and rubble left behind by what seemed like a massive destruction event. However, On closer inspection, one could see that what happened here was the exact opposite. These were not the remains of a cityscape ravaged by war or a battle. Instead, it was the room itself growing a new batch of buildings like trees. People who lived here or studied this place knew that for one of these new structures to be grown, it would take decades if not centuries. And that was considering that the rubble would be attracted to the buildings closest to completion. No one could explain how that happened. There were no unique features of those bricks or stones that could explain this seemingly natural movement. Yet, that is what happened. Slowly, at a pace that would make a snail seem to be a race car, but it still happened. Surrounded by that forest of growing ruins, the already complete structure was a skyline with five massive clock towers that pierced the heavens, surrounded by houses that looked small in contrast. Clockwork City, as it was known by the locals, was a mesmerizing blend of historical elegance and modern ingenuity mostly created by the MAZE itself. Cobblestone streets wind through a bustling metropolis, flanked by an array of architectural marvels created through the course of eons. Yet, they seemed to channel the spirit of the Victorian era. A particular style that was used primarily in London during that period. Still, it maintained its fantastic allure with giant moving gears blending seamlessly with the facades adorned by intricate carvings and delicate wrought iron balconies overlooking the streets below. Elegant and regal clockwork horses, finely crafted from polished brass and gleaming copper, roamed the streets, pulling carriages through set paths. Anyone could signal for one of those transports and have it act like a cab. Despite what anyone would think, this wasn''t created by a person. It was another example of the MAZE ingenuity when creating this room. And its creativity didn''t stop there. Large bipedal clockwork golems, wearing bowler hats and long overcoats, patrolled the city with the help of clockwork raven drones that flew above the roofs. Those beings were classified as monsters by the system, yet they were friendly. If anyone got hurt or fell in front of them, the golems and ravens would offer their assistance to the best of their abilities. Only becoming aggressive when someone attempted to disrupt the order of the city. Right outside the doorway, there was a checkpoint, a stone and iron building set up almost like the entrance of a prison, where some people would do a simple verification of the people who just arrived. Since there were criminals in the room, the guards had to make sure people with criminal records were not just waltzing inside. Hera and Freya walked towards the guard with smiles, talking about the city and how excited they were to see the place for the first time. The guard would ask them a few questions to evaluate their intentions in the room. The questions themselves were less important than a tool they had at their disposal. An intricate lie detection spell that would warn them if anyone lied to them. But the newcomers were already aware and ready for it. Before starting, the guard pressed a button on the desk causing yellow sigils to appear all around them, "What brought you two here?" "We heard a lot about the things in this room and came to check them out," Freya replied. "Do you know anyone who is in the room?" "I don''t think so. But we have friends who should be around this area. Maybe we will find them here," Hera turned to Freya with an excited smile. "Are you aware that there is a prison in this room?" "Yes," both of them said at the same time. "And how do you feel about it?" "Worried. It''s kind of hard not to be," Hera replied. "Yeah. And I hope we won''t have any problems with it," Freya nodded. "Did you come here with the intention of breaking anyone out of prison?" "I''m not here to help any criminals!" Freya shook her head. The guard just nodded and turned to Hera. "Why would I help someone who broke the law? Anyone who was sentenced to be here should stay here," Hera huffed. Getting no signal from the sigils, the guard nodded with a satisfied expression and turned off the spell. Unfortunately, that required a large amount of mana, and the internet wouldn''t work while this was active. He asked for a moment as he finished the paperwork and started typing away. "What do you want to do first? Go to the clock tower, or take a ride in one of the carriages?" Hera turned to Freya as they waited for the man before them to check if they had any criminal records. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Can''t we take a carriage to the clock tower?" Freya asked with a giddy expression. "I think there is a clock tower right by the entrance. We could do that, but it feels like a waste," Hera turned to the guard, "I''m right, aren''t I?" "Yep. Keep walking here, and you will find a clock tower before you reach the places where the carriages stop," the guard nodded. "See. I think we should see the tower first," Hera looked back at Freya, who frowned. "But I want to see the clockwork horses. That''s a vote each." "How do you want to solve this? Rock, paper, scissors, or we flip a coin?" "Matilda has an ego, right? And it''s not like she always agrees with you. Can''t we let her vote?" Freya suggested. "Yeah, and I wish she always agreed with me. It''s a nightmare to decide what to watch," Hera tapped her necklace, "Matilda, come out. I need you." Daskka popped out of the necklace, but instead of showing in her normal snake form, she appeared in a massive dark mist cloud covering the entire checkpoint in thick black smoke. "What the fuck is that?!" the guard yelled, and two others rushed inside the building. "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I''m sorry! Matilda! Back to snake form!" Hera gasped, and Daskka returned to her regular animal form around the Empress''s neck. "What was that? What are you two doing?!" the guards who rushed inside pulled their weapons and pointed at Hera and Freya. "Sorry! We were doing some dungeons before coming here and needed to quickly hide from this massive monster. I asked my construct to come out in that mist form to help us sneak around," Hera raised her hands, showing she had no weapons. "I can''t believe you forgot to tell her to stop that!" Freya snarled at Hera with both hands up as well. "It''s a new item! How I was supposed to know she''s not smart enough to realize the context of what I told her to do!" Hera gasped. "They are clear. This seems like an honest mistake, and you know ego items can be finicky when you just got them," the guard behind the computer spoke before finishing things up, "Both of you are clear to go. You need a permit to get within 2 kilometers of the prison. There is a dungeon in that area, but aside from that, you are free to move around the city freely. I hope you enjoy Clockwork City." "Thank you, and I''m really sorry," Hera gave them a small bow and left the checkpoint with Freya in tow. Outside, they didn''t say anything for a long time. Only when the checkpoint itself was no longer visible, and they could see the city in the distance, Becca activated her privacy spell. Then she whispered between the two women, "That went better than I expected." "Me too. The trick with Daskka was a great idea," Zestra''s voice came from the same direction as Becca''s. "I told you. If we flood the area with my mana, no one will notice you two teleporting out. Perks of having pure mana," Hera said with a smile. "I''m just glad there was a crack large enough to let Zestra see the outside," Freya sighed. "We already knew about that one. One of our contacts is already here. And, if worse came to worst, Becca and I could appear normally. As far as we know, no one knows we got the data. We are just moving like this to be safe," Zestra added. "Wait? People are already here?" Freya turned to the side but only saw the empty space from which the spy''s voice was coming. "Yes. And before you ask, we didn''t tell you because of the lie detector. It would be better for you not to know," Becca explained. "Ah¡­ I see¡­ I get that, but it feels a bit unfair," Freya pouted. "But are we sure the way we phrased the answers won''t trigger any alerts?" Hera asked. "We are. The guards who take care of the checkpoints don''t work in the prison, and they don''t write the answers down. The form only has checkboxes," Zestra explained. "I see," Hera turned to Daskka, "And sorry for saying you are not smart. You know that was just a distraction." "At least no one called you by the wrong name," Daskka, who was still around Hera''s neck, huffed. "Don''t be like that. It wasn''t that bad," Hera scratched the snake''s head. "You said my name was Matilda. Matilda!" "What''s wrong with Matilda?" Hera asked. "Nothing, I just don''t like it. It''s not powerful or regal," Daskka turned around but kept her head in Hera''s reach to enjoy the scratches. "She didn''t like being called Matilda?" Freya turned to Hera. "Yeah. She says it is not strong or regal." "And Daskka is?!" Freya asked with a chuckle. Hera could feel that Daskka didn''t care about that, but her own feelings were different, "Daskka is a combination of three names. Darni, the Naga hero who had a legacy and saved his civilization several times. Casks, his partner, was by his side from day one and fought alongside him despite not having a legacy like Darni. And Chika, a snake that existed for thousands of years in the Wailing Valley. She survived there alone, without help, even after being driven mad by grief. A room in the 7th layer, yet she grew to level 80 on her own. I don''t think there is a more powerful or regal name than that." What Hera didn''t realize is how her voice was filled with venom as she spoke, giving a very strong feeling of a mother defending her child. Freya couldn''t say anything in response. She had no idea the name had that kind of origin, but more than that, hearing the response made her realize her comment was unnecessary. It wasn''t like she didn''t think Daskka was impressive, especially her various forms, but being unused to the names of the Naga, Daskka sounded a bit odd in her ears. When they were about to get into the city, she cleared the air. "I''m sorry, Daskka. I didn''t mean anything bad by that." "That''s ok. I can''t expect everyone to know where my name comes from," Daskka replied. "She says it''s ok," Hera spoke up since she was the only one who could understand the herald. "And I''m sorry to you too, Hera. I would be upset if someone said Artemis wasn''t a good name." "I wasn''t upset," Hera replied. Zestra scoffed from the back, "Could''ve fooled me," getting an elbow to the stomach from Becca as a reply. The reporter started talking to distract everyone from the invisible coughing by her side. "Do you remember the name of the street we need to get to? Where will our base of operations be?" "Talca Street, number 67, right?" Freya asked while keeping her eyes facing forward. "Yep. All the streets here have names of cities back on Earth. I think that one is from Chile. We will be quiet until we get there, but be careful," Becca was about to drop the spell when Zestra added. "I''ll keep an eye out to see if anyone is following us, but if you see anything weird, say our code. Terracotta for something to be aware of, grapefruit for careful, and papaya for ''shit time to run.''" Hera and Freya nodded, and as the spell dropped, they continued talking as if they were just sightseeing. Pretending to be tourists who just arrived at Clockwork City. 714 - the team gathers Hera and Freya walked through the city, carefully keeping up the ''amazed tourist'' persona. That was proving to be difficult, which was very odd. This room was the kind of place that Hera dreamed about. A city that was grown like trees, clockwork golems that couldn''t exist anywhere else, and mysterious clock towers with countless small clocks inside, each showing the current time in a different room inside the MAZE. Only the first floor was currently active in any of the towers, and even then, a large number of clocks were currently blank. It was just a shame that there was no indication of which clock was connected to which room, but still, people could actually see the progress made in the MAZE while inside those towers. And despite the existence of something so curious and unique, Hera couldn''t stop thinking about Silah. Hoping that she was ok. "Hey, what was the name of that city? The one where the Terracotta warriors were discovered? It was close to a mountain, wasn''t it?" Freya asked. "I don''t remember. It was in China but the name of the city¡­ I don''t know. Why do you ask?" Hera replied, noticing the use of their code. "There, to the left. I thought that street could have the same name as that city." Hera looked over, trying to see what made her use their code word for lookout, but she only saw the plaque with the name of a street in front of the narrow cobblestone road surrounded by three-floor houses in black and blue. They were just crossing Chennai Street, "Sorry to say this, but I''m pretty sure that''s a city in India." "Really? Sorry, I must be with my head in the clouds." With that hint, Hera chuckled and started talking about the room''s architecture, even if she barely understood the subject. They continued walking, and when the sunlight was no longer hiding behind the houses, she pulled her tablet and used the reflection on the screen to look at the roof of the houses on the left. It took her a moment, but she noticed a clockwork construct made out of black metal plates, a plague doctor mask for a face, and an amalgamation of daggers forming its wings. A clockwork crow watched them. Beside it, a man with a bow in hand and a quiver on his waist just looking around. He didn''t seem interested in them, or he was pretending not to care, but knowing that there were people on top of the houses in this room was something they would have to consider. Already aware of the possible issue, they continued walking, passing by a few of the clockwork golems who politely greeted them by taking out their hats and giving a short bow to the two. Despite the bulky bodies, those creatures were surprisingly elegant, with plates on their chest that made it look like they were wearing a dress shirt, tie, and a vest under the long coats. Each of those golems also had their own colors. All metallic and dull, of course, but would vary from dark reds and greens to even yellows and purples. Hera couldn''t help but use her [Observe] in the third of them they saw. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clockwork Gentleman Patrol - Level 39 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To her surprise, the mana she felt from them wasn''t metal or clockwork. Instead, it was protection, the same type of mana that Nimbus used. Somehow, that was a comforting notion. Even if those beings were classified as monsters and could potentially attack anyone at any moment, because of the Sentinel''s personality, Hera felt safer being close to them. After a couple more minutes of walking, Zestra gently tapped on the shoulder of the two explorers twice. Another signal they had prepared, this one indicating that the previous code had been resolved. What actually was the solution wasn''t something they could know now since it would require a code that was too complicated for anyone to learn quickly. But they trusted that the spy wouldn''t say that just to calm them down. Hera and Freya had to continue their acting for another 40 minutes until they finally arrived at their destination. It was a neighborhood made out of mostly hotels. Those were created by the MAZE but adapted by the people who lived here. Instead of using the singular houses as rooms, people broke down the inner walls of an entire block and remodeled them to fit their needs. It was in one of those places they would stay. But not a large one, one of the smaller versions that only took half a dozen houses to create instead of the 30 from which the larger hotels were made. The entire place had been bought out by one of the members of the team. This wasn''t that unusual for this particular hotel, which made their movements even less suspicious, at least for now. As they walked inside and closed the door behind them, a burly beastman with black and white fur covering his arms and two small bear ears on the top of his head appeared. He wore a long coat with short sleeves with red frills covering a halfway-open button-up shirt, exposing his hairy chest. The man also had a simple pair of black dress pants and sandals, which were necessary due to his large panda-like feet, "Welcome! What can I do for you today? This is the Livendark Hotel, but I''m afraid we don''t have any rooms available for the month. Maybe I can assist you in getting suitable accommodations?" "Don''t worry about it. They are with us," Becca''s voice came from the side as Zestra dropped their invisibility, "Hey Eirik, I''m glad to see you are doing well." "Becca!" Eirik, the beastman, smiled and went in for what could only be described as a bear hug, "It''s been too long," he let her go after a moment, and while the reporter caught her breath, the man just glanced at Zestra, "I see you are still alive." "And I see you still keep your nasty feet out in the open," the spy huffed before the two laughed and hugged each other. Becca let the two greet each other before introducing the women who entered the hotel with them, "Eirik, these are Hera and Freya. Both will be helping us. Girls, this is Eirik, our engineer." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Engineer?" Freya tilted her head. Eirik nodded, "That is correct. We will need devices, and gadgets, if you want to call them that. I''m also the one who knows the weak spots of the structure and where we should aim to deal damage." "Oh... So you won''t be participating in the actual rescue operation?" Freya asked. "Correct. I''m better suited for other tasks." "What about the rest?" Hera asked. "For now, we are the only ones here. The rest should be arriving in the next couple of days," Eirik leaned over the counter, the wood creaking beneath his weight, and took four keys, "These are your rooms, take a moment to rest and settle in." "We are not going to just wait until everyone is here, are we? We can already scout the area and start formulating the plan. Also, is this place really safe for us to talk about that? Won''t people randomly walk in? Or find it weird that the entire hotel is booked?" Hera didn''t like the idea of just waiting while Silah and the others were being held captive. There was no guarantee that they were not suffering at the hands of the guards. "Hera, calm down. I know you are worried, but we need to do things correctly. For the hotel, you don''t have to worry. It''s common for a group to rent out the smaller places, even asking the staff to be away. Because of the room, many mages come here to do some research, and you know how paranoid they get," Becca held the Empress'' shoulder. "And yes, we are not going to wait until the rest get here to start checking the area, but we need to be smart about it. I''m the stealth master, remember? I appreciate your help, but you will need to follow my lead," Zestra said with a serious expression, which was unusual for the elf. Hera took a deep breath, "I know. Sorry, it''s just¡­ I''m worried." "We all are, but we can''t rush this. If we do, we will make mistakes, and that will hinder our mission. Trust me, we all want them to be safe," Eirik took Hera''s hand and placed the room key before covering it with his other hand, "We will save them. I''m sure of it." "Yeah¡­ Yeah. I''m going to rest, maybe take a shower. Do we have food here?" "The mini fridges are stocked up, we also have a kitchen here with some food, or we can just order in," Eirik started walking to the kitchen before he snapped his fingers, "Before I forget. Each room also has some robes you can use to sleep. I got those one size fit all kinds of things and made sure to wash them properly. Feel free to use them. The robes are surprisingly comfortable, and well put together enough that it won''t be weird to walk around the hotel with them." "Eirik, you are the best. Thank you. I really don''t like sleeping only in my underwear," Becca smiled as she headed to her own room. A few hours later, Hera and Zestra were discussing the possibilities of what they could do to find out more about the place. The Empress had a specific idea that involved Lurize. The Royal Tutor could stay in his beetle form and look around. Taking in all the details and coming back after checking the area. Bugs were not native to this room, but it wasn''t unusual to see one sneaking in through a delivery of produce or something like that. Another idea was to use the snakes from the viper''s pit. However, to do that, they would need to head to the outskirts of the city first and then let the snakes loose. Clockwork City was too open, and the snakes wouldn''t be able to sneak by the Clockwork Crowns or Patrols. Not to mention that if they were seen by anyone, it might tip them off that there was something going on. This room didn''t have any snakes. In fact, the only monsters in the room, aside from the Clockwork golems, were weird concrete or steel treants that appeared in the outskirts every so often, but even they were very peaceful and wouldn''t bother anyone. This meant that snakes would stick out like a sore thumb, unlike Lurize, who could pretend to be just a random bug. In the end, they agreed to keep the snakes for the actual day of the rescue. When they invaded the prison, the mana reptiles could spread out to find what they were looking for. The confusion of seeing a dozen snakes appear out of nowhere could also be very useful to their plans. Aside from that, Zestra was also joining Lurize in some scouting. He also needed to know how sensitive the sensors in the area would be against his specialized invisibility. The problem with all those plans was that Hera herself had nothing to do. She only created a Royal Quest, gave all of her mana, and had to wait. Seeing the Empress'' restlessness, Becca asked for help to organize all her data about the prison for future planning. Both of them knew this was just something to keep Hera busy, but she was grateful. Late that evening, the next person on the team arrived. Sylvi was a triton with broad shoulders that went against his slender frame. She came wearing a gray jacket and gray jeans that hid the leather armor filled with bright blues and greens she wore underneath with her short dark blue hair tied in a bun. The woman was their healer. The one who would help not just to buff everyone but also to heal any prisoners who were too hurt to move on their own. The last thing they needed was someone, having to carry another person as they escaped. Early the following day, Hornet arrived. No one knew the fighter''s actual name, but his moniker existed for over a hundred years already. The nickname was due to his fighting style, which revolved around strikes made to cause the most pain possible. He also used various weapons but was exceptionally proficient with a hammer. The man was tall for a dwarf, getting to almost 120 centimeters, had short brown hair, a plump nose, and was neatly shaved. Something he only did when working on secretive missions. His armor was completely metallic but surprisingly quiet, thanks to a few enchantments that reduced the clanking noise. He was their brute, the person who would attack the guards when needed and take care of all issues that involved brute force. A few minutes later, Faenethe appeared. He was one of the Children of the Sky, a harpy. Wings instead of arms and legs that were very similar to Nimbus'' and his clothes were much lighter, being only a simple pair of black pants made out of loose silk. He had yellow eyes and brown feathers covering his back. His hair was the same color but it was just like any other sentient species. He was the extraction specialist. Nethe, as he preferred to be called, had helped many people escape from the wendigos once they started appearing and now his talents would be used in a different way. The last one to arrive came just after lunch. Lysandra was the stereotypical elf. Blond long hair, piercing green eyes, long ears, and a face so beautiful that it made others feel betrayed by their genes. Being a controller, she had access to a few skills that would help them during the event, and more importantly, she was the one responsible for planning. Lysandra went around the MAZE doing all dungeons related to rescuing people from secure locations, giving her a unique type of experience for their current objective. Her keen intellect and analytical mind were accentuated ever since she was a child by her parents, who wished for her to be a grand strategist. She was old enough to have seen the end of the devil hunt, and thanks to her plans, a few minor conflicts were resolved with the use of elite forces instead of full-blown armies. With that, the team was complete. Now all they had to do was prepare a plan and rescue the people inside the prison. 715 - One last detail "Do we have any pepperoni left?" Nethe asked, pushing himself off the ground with his wings while using his feet to open the pizza boxes. Hornet reached out from his chair, but the box he was trying to get was a bit too far for the dwarf, prompting Hera to push it in his direction. He smiled and opened the box, taking one of the slices of pepperoni and passing the last one to Nethe, "Here." "Oh, thanks!" Nethe picked up the slice with his feet and turned back to the whiteboard in front of the group, "Man, they really made this in the right place. Right in the corner of the room." "Unfortunately, that is the case. I can''t help but admire their work. Using the invisible walls of the room to reinforce the structure was a stroke of genius. I just don''t know why they bothered making the concrete walls against the invisible ones," Lysandra sighed. She was still staring at the pictures and blueprints of the prison. There was just one part of the plan left to solve. How to get inside the prison. "It should be because nothing can interact with the invisible walls. Despite the psychological warfare that would create, they couldn''t make it perfectly flat against the room wall. There would be some small crevices that would make it easier to escape," Eirik frowned and looked at the pictures again, "We are sure that we can''t just dig our way in?" "The area around the prison is made out of concrete and metal. Digging is an option, but it would make too much noise. Not to mention the amount of dust that would create," Becca shook her head. "And if we try to dig from here or from the basement of any building in the city, that would trigger the Clockwork protectors, right?" Sylvi took a bite out of her slice but groaned as she tasted it, "C''mon. Who asked for anchovies and didn''t warn everyone." "Oh, that was me," Nethe raised his wing, "But that''s the table where the weird flavors are. There is even pineapple." "Pineapple is not weird. It''s an acquired taste," Hornet grumbled. "Stop!" Lysandra called, "We are not having that discussion again. Last time we wasted three hours and broke two chairs." "One of them was an accident," Livy added, still feeling embarrassed. The Leviathan overestimated the chair''s resilience and tried to sit in one, only for it to crumble beneath her weight. "But the other wasn''t, and that''s the point. Focus," Lysandra sighed. "Zestra, how many people can you turn invisible?" Freya turned to the spy. "10 with a basic version of it, and two with a version that would make us completely undetected by the sensor or anything else. Well, almost completely," he glanced at Hera, the first person who was able to see him through that spell without any heavy assistance from tools and sigils. "Ok... So you can do it with all of us for the basic version, but going in and deactivating the sensors would warn them that something was wrong," Freya nodded. "Yeah, especially since Becca and Eirik are staying behind. That leaves just the seven of us," Zestra nodded. "Hang on¡­ Nethe, can you carry someone? While flying, I mean," Hera asked. "Yeah. Maybe Lysandra or Sylvi. Hornet uses heavy armor, so that''s a bit much for me." "How high can you go?" "I''m a child of the sky! I can go as high as I want," Nethe announced proudly. "What are you thinking, Hera? We know that going in from above will trigger their sensors," Lysandra rubbed her forehead, already expecting another idea that wouldn''t work. "Yes, but the sensors only look to the outside, right? The inside is clear." "That is correct, but the sensors will notice anything in a range of 500 meters, and they have several of them spread around the area," Becca pointed to a part of the map showing the triangle shipped prison against the corner of the room and the sensors with their reach. "Yes, but how high are the clock towers?" "What?" Eirik asked. "How high are the clock towers? Do we know? Do people know what the actual shape of this room is? From what I understand, the corner where the prison is located is a literal corner, like one of the edges of a cube. If the room is actually a cube the ceiling of the room would be very high up," Hera looked around to see if anyone knew the answer. Eirik looked at a few files, and when he couldn''t find anything, he took out a computer connected to the internet through a router that would disguise the location of their signal to a different room. Sure, if someone actually tried to track them, they would be able to. But it would require them to look for the right things while Eirik was using the computer. After a few moments, he turned it off, having sent the data to a tablet that couldn''t connect to the internet, "Ok, here is what we know. Attempts to go above a certain height in this room triggered the clockwork crows to attack. However, all the tests were made inside the city, not in the outskirts. As a matter of fact, during the prison construction, there were machines that went beyond the height where the crows attacked. No one thought much of it, but it might mean that in the outskirts, we wouldn''t be bothered. The room also seems to be cube-shaped. At least the four corners on ground level follow that pattern. This is not counting the underground since no one did any type of survey of the area beneath the ruins. Not extensively, at least. They tried finding roots or something like that from where the other buildings were growing but to no avail." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "So going from above is a real possibility?" Lysandra asked. "I mean¡­ There is nothing that goes against it. As long as we can confirm that the invisible walls are an actual cube and not some uneven shape. More specifically, if the walls above the prison are high enough or not and if the sensors wouldn''t detect a large-sized object coming from above," Eirik turned to Hera, "Can you find that out?" "Nimbus, Lurize? Can you guys check that out?" Hera turned to her titled blades. "If Zestra turns us invisible, yeah. Even if I''m small, I would probably be noticed by anyone who is looking in my direction," Lurize turned to Nimbus, who nodded. "Yeah. And if we are together and need to run, I''m more likely to be able to escape than Lurize in his beetle form," Nimbus patted Lurize''s back, who couldn''t say anything against that. The Sentinel''s top speed when flying was close to 80 km/h, and the Royal Tutor simply couldn''t compete. "I can do that, but only with simple invisibility. The whole point is to see if they would notice that," Zestra explained. "I''ll go out for a smoke then," Hornet stood up. They couldn''t let the doors of the hotel open by themselves, and all the windows were currently closed. So, someone had to appear coming out the building to let Nimbus and Lurize pass by. "Get as much information as you can, but don''t get too close. We can''t let them detect you," Hera turned to her blades and gave them her hand for them to kiss. As they did so, all her mana rushed out of her body, giving them around three hours to complete the Royal Quest. "One more thing," Sylvi tried speaking, but she had a large bite of pizza in her mouth. Everyone gave her a moment to finish chewing before she continued, "The sun will finish setting today. So try not to take too long. Tomorrow will start the next 6 months of night. This room''s day-night cycle is super weird." Lysandra nodded, "Yeah, but better for us if we do this during the night. So it means that, starting tomorrow, we can go for it when we are ready. But that comes with another problem. We have two people that can fly, or take people flying. That would mean what? Five people who can be there?" "Four, actually. I can carry Hera and one more person. If we add a third, I won''t be able to get as high," Nimbus replied. "So unless we have more people who can fly. We still need to come up with a way to get the rest of the team inside," Lysandra sighed. "I can fly," Hornet was taking out his pack of cigarettes, getting strange looks from the rest of the team, "What? When you are known as Hornet for as long as I have, you lean into it. What kind of hornet would I be if I couldn''t fly?" "Can you carry someone?" Becca asked. "One person and it''s not something I can do often or for longer times. I can hold on for around 30 minutes," Hornet explained. "So that means we are still one person short¡­" Freya frowned. "Actually. We can work with that. If we reduce the team by one member, we don''t have to worry about getting another person inside, and the one who stays behind can help Becca and Eirik secure our escape route," Lysandra smiled with a glint in her eye. The plan finally coming together. "But who would we take out from the rescue team?" as Freya asked that question, Lysandra and Sylvi looked at her with intention. It took the explorer a moment before she gasped, "Wait, why me?" "You are the logical choice. I''m afraid. Hera, Nethe, and Hornet are our transport. Zestra needs to be there because of the invisibility spell, Sylvi is the healer and essential for the plan, and if we get into trouble, they need someone to formulate a plan quickly, which would be me. I''m not saying I''m smarter than you, but I have more experience." Freya opened her mouth and closed it a few times as if she found a response but decided it was bad until she groaned loudly, "Man, this sucks. I get it, but I wanted to be a part of it." "Don''t be sad. What we are doing is also important. Also, didn''t you say that you had a way to find some information using your relic?" Becca tried to change the subject so Freya wouldn''t be as sad. "Yeah, me and Hera. Hera actually can do that in two different ways," Freya turned to the Empress. "But neither works when we are talking about things people built. Well¡­ sort of. I can try but I can''t promise any answers. I''ve been asking my relic about the sensors, but it can never give me an answer," Hera explained. "Why did you wait until now to tell us that?" Eirik gasped. "Because we didn''t have a plan, and the way we get information has to be very specific. I can''t go into details or I won''t be able to do that again, but it''s very complicated. We talked about this and decided to mention it when we had a plan to iron out any details that might be missing instead of using this as a base for making the plan," Hera continued. "Why are you talking like you can only do that once?" Nethe tilted his head. "Because we can only do that once per room. Not Hera''s relic question, that''s a separate thing, but she''s been using that since we started planning," Freya opened a soda can and took a big gulp. "The problem is any question I''m asking my relic with the weaker skill is not working. And I''ve tried a lot of things," Hera sighed. "Couldn''t you ask about the size of the room with those questions?" Hornet asked. "I can, but not if the sensors will detect us, which I think is part of the reason why we want Nimbus to go. And any question I ask about the clockwork monsters doesn''t work for some reason," Hera turned to the dwarf as she gestured to Nimbus. "Fair enough." Lysandra clapped her hands, "They also told me about that, and I agreed with their suggestion to wait. Zestra, turn them invisible and let them go. We can start ironing out the details of this plan, and if the two of them get back with good news, we can make a list of things we could use so Hera and Freya can do their thing. I''ll say this already, but we won''t be going there tomorrow. Ideally, we go over the plan for a couple of days before starting the operation. We will also do some exercises to consider what to do if things go in an unexpected direction. I''ll explain to you all about this later, and Hera. I know you are the most anxious of us to go there-" Before the elf finished speaking, Hera cut her off, "But we need to make sure we have a solid plan. I understand. I won''t say I like it, but I understand." "I don''t think any of us likes any of this," Eirik said with a somber voice. After a few moments, Zestra turned Lurize and Nimbus invisible as the two of them headed out with Hornet. This was the last piece of the puzzle, and if they found what they were looking for, all they would need to do was make sure everything was in the right place, and everyone knew their assignments by heart before going in to rescue the people trapped. But, before that, Hera and Freya could ask one mighty being for help. 716 - Clockwork Guide "Do you have everything you need?" Lysandra was in front of Hera''s door, having just passed a list of questions for her to ask her skill, or whatever it was. Her golden hair was down and her expression was much softer than when she first arrived. "Yeah," Hera started reading through the questions, "I''m just going to take a moment to see if there are any questions I can phrase better." Lysandra frowned, feeling just a little bit hurt since she was the one who wrote down all those questions, "Is there anything I can do to help?" "No, thanks. The skill is just finicky. I''m seeing if I can adapt something to get more bang for my buck," Hera pulled out a pen and started making some notes. Since she had to tell everyone the skill was related to her relic, the questions were made as if they were an internet search, when in reality, she would be talking to a person. Well, not exactly a person since Guides were beings much beyond mortals, but still. "I see.." Lysandra swallowed her pride, knowing that something like that could save them in the future. After all, rescuing the people from prison wasn''t the only thing they had to do. They also had to take them to a safe place, "Can you explain it to me? How to make the questions better." Hera stopped and looked up at the elf, her piercing sky-blue eyes staring back at her, "Honestly. I don''t think I can. Not because I''m being petty or don''t trust you or anything, but the skill doesn''t let us talk about it. It''s a restriction made by the system. Even saying we have that skill poses a risk. We can only talk about it with other people who have the skill, and even then, we have restrictions," the Empress let out a long sigh, "I think it''s a way the system has to make explorers more inquisitive and teach us how to think about the right things to discover, but at times, it''s very annoying." "I don''t think the system cares enough to teach something, but I understand that this might be annoying," Lysandra nodded, feeling somewhat vindicated, "I''ll leave you to it. The rooms here are all soundproof, but since you have a safety cube, it''s good to use it." "Thanks," Hera smiled before returning to the questions and writing down her ideas. When she was finally ready and alone, she used the safety cube and her soundproof spells and called the guide. Inside the black cube, illuminated by her own dancing lights, the Empress saw a small yet thick round clock tower emerging from the floor. After a few moments, when the building was about as tall as Hera was when sitting, the top of the structure opened almost like a flower, revealing a clockwork sphinx inside. They had a golden plate for its face with lines separating the muscles and a body with long legs and arms that ended in claws, all filled with moving gears. Their fur, if it could be called that, was made from thin metal wires giving it that natural yet artificial look. Behind their back, there were also a pair of golden and blue wings filled where tiny daggers were being used as feathers. The guide stretched almost like a cat for a moment before turning to Hera and smiling, revealing a pair of sharp crimson fangs, "Hello," their voice was melodic and calming. It starkly contrasted with their overall appearance, filled with sharp edges and pointy ends. "Hi," Hera smiled, "I''m Hera Kingsley. Thank you for coming." The guide chuckled, making a sound of metal grinding that sounded like heavy machinery being dragged through the floor, "You do know we don''t actually have a choice, don''t you?" "I do, but that doesn''t mean I can''t thank you for your time," Hera replied. The guide smiled, "I see why the others like you so much." "I like them a lot, too, except Percy. He''s a bit of a prick. Even when he is asking me a favor, he treats me like crap," Hera huffed a little. The guide chuckled again, making the same sound of metal grinding against concrete, "Yeah. Percy is¡­ an acquired taste, to say the least. I just realized I haven''t introduced myself. My name is Isantha." "It''s a pleasure to meet you." "The pleasure is all mine, especially considering what you are about to attempt. And I''m not the only one rooting for you," Isantha smiled, the gears in her face shifting to allow the golden mask to move. "Really? I didn''t get a chance to talk with the other guides about it¡­" Hera paused and shook her head, "No, that''s not true. I just knew I would try to take advantage of our relationship, so I avoided talking with them. But are you on my side?" "In a way. Yes. We cannot interfere, but none of us like the idea of imprisoning someone else. We are even a bit iffy about zoos or keeping birds in cages if I''m being honest." "Even criminals?" Hera asked. "Yes. We understand the need for punishment, but removing one''s freedom is something that we absolutely despise. Not that we have a better solution for criminals. If you ask most guides, we would just answer ''Don''t do crime,'' which doesn''t actually solve the problem." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Yeah, if only it was that easy," Hera sighed, "But if you don''t like it can you give me some information?" "I can answer your questions as per the request of the skill. However, I cannot go beyond what I am allowed to say if that''s what you are asking. Nor can I give you advice on how to proceed. Doing so would veer into the realm of interfering too much or sharing what we consider personal information," Isantha explained while shifting to sit on the top of the open clock tower. "I see¡­ yeah, that makes sense. I wasn''t expecting it to be different," Hera nodded. "For the record. I''m sorry about this. I, and the other guides, wanted to be able to help more," Isantha lowered her head. "Thanks," Hera took a deep breath, "Just so I know, you can''t say anything about the prison?" "Actually, I can. But what I can say is very limited, and it''s up to you to figure out." "Oh? Ok, that''s good, then. I have a few questions, but one of them is really long. Can I ask it, and when I end, we start the clock?" Isantha nodded, reached down to the clock face beneath her in the tower, and pushed the only hand of the clock until it pointed to the number 12, "When you finish the question, I''ll start the timer." "Thank you," Hera smiled and picked up the paper with the questions. The longest one was something Eirik requested since if this data was wrong, it would affect his work, "According to what we know, this is the composition of the structure of the prison considering the materials that were brought here and the construction work. The walls are made with 25% stone brass gravel, 20% cold silver steel¡­." She continued talking about not just the walls but every single part of the prison and the materials used to build them for the next 3 minutes, "-and 0.35% deep sea cobalt. Is that correct?" Isantha stared at Hera for a moment with a hard-to-read expression, "I never expected someone to be this thorough when asking a question. Yes, that information is correct." "Are we missing something? Considering the materials that were used in its construction, is there something I didn''t ask about? Something structural, I mean, not just polyester for sheets or anything like that." "You are, but I cannot say anything else about it." Hera nodded and looked at the next question, "How high is the ceiling of the room?" "A bit over 2 kilometers." Hera held in a gasp, but her poker face was terrible, clearly showing that information surprised her, "And is that the same across the entire room?" "Can I use 30 seconds to give a complete answer?" "Sure." "Yes. The room is a rectangle since it has much more than just 2 kilometers across. But the height of the ceiling is the same. That being said, on the east side of the room, the ceiling is closer to ground level. We are talking around 500 meters of difference between west and east. For reference, the prison is on the southeast corner," Isantha explained, already getting a bit ahead of the next question. "Ok, that''s great. Let''s see¡­" despite Hera''s explanation, most of the questions Lysandra gave her were about the personnel inside the prison, "Just for the sake of saying I asked. Can you give me any information about the people inside the prison, be the guards or the prisoners?" Isantha shook her head, "I cannot." "Yeah. They just asked me to ask," Hera read through the paper and found another question that might help, "Would the clockwork crows bother us if we fly outside the city?" "That one takes a minute. Is that ok?" Isantha looked at the clock still with more than 3 minutes remaining. "Sure." "Ok," the clock in the tower advanced, "The crows only do anything if you are within 200 meters of the city. Beyond that, they won''t bother you. But if you attack the buildings even from the outside, it will aggravate them, and they will attack and chase you. Even then, the more you attack the environment, the more the clockwork golems will consider you a threat that must be eliminated." "I see¡­" Hera nodded, but an idea came to her mind, "Does that mean that if a golem that is outside the city sees someone breaking the ruins, they will chase after the vandals?" Isantha smiled, "That question will cost half the remaining time." "It''s all yours." "Yes. That is correct. The golems protect the entire room, and by that, I mean the room itself. They don''t care about someone who stole something and is running away. Only about people who might be trying to break the structures the room creates." "And would they change targets? Like if someone just scratches a wall and someone else breaks a piece of concrete in the outskirts. Would the golems prioritize whoever is doing the most damage?" "This will cost the rest of the time," As Isantha asked, Hera confirmed that she could use it, "That is exactly what they would do. If you are able to lure them to the outskirts, that is." The clock in the tower reached 12, completing a full lap and showing Hera was out of time. "Thank you for everything. I''ll talk with the rest of the team, and Freya should be talking to you soon." "No problems. And if you don''t mind, a piece of advice. You should try to get the compendium for this room. It should get you to at least 50% completion on your treasure map, allowing you to use a skill that, according to the others, you keep ignoring." "What skill?" Hera frowned, not remembering of anything related to her [Treasure Map]. "I said my piece. Now it''s up to you. Oh, and after you are done here, I''ll text you to let you know if I would want to continue talking with you or not. As much as I respect what you are trying to do, it would be hard to be your friend if you end up destroying large parts of the room." Hera nodded, "That''s fair. I hope I won''t mess this up." Isantha smiled, and the clock tower closed around her, lowering into the ground until it could no longer be seen. Hera waited for a moment and put everything she learned in writing before heading out to talk with everyone. Their current plan was to hold the guards off when they were leaving since there were too many people to rescue for a stealthy extraction. If Freya could talk with Isantha and figure out a way to lure the golems out of the city, maybe they could have an army of clockwork constructs to stop any guards chasing them after they broke everyone out. 717 - Infiltration "Hera, can you hear me?" Lysandra''s voice came through the communicators they were all wearing. This was a simple short-range walkie-talkie radio without any magical effects to it. The prison had several measures to detect and stop any signals going into the building. However, when inside, only the more refined signals would be stopped. Things like magically hidden calls, encrypted signals, or anything they imagined could be used to talk with the prisoners were blocked. To allow for internal communication, less technologically advanced devices were left uninterrupted, and since even if some frequency of radio could be blocked, there was still enough range for the team to hide their own signal. "I can hear you," Hera replied. If the communicator wasn''t in her ear, the sound of the wind rushing past them wouldn''t let her hear anything. They were now around 1.5 kilometers from the ground. Nimbus flew her and Sylvie, Lysandra was flying with Nethe, and Hornet was carrying Zestra. All of them could see the prison in the distance, and each had a way to see beyond the simple invisibility created by Zestra. Some were using special goggles made by Eirik to help with that, but others, like Hera, had their own tools to see the rest of the team. "I don''t mean for this to sound like I don''t trust you, but I honestly can''t remember if we actually had this conversation or not. Do not have your blades in their bipedal form while we are here because-" Lysandra was about to continue, but the Empress cut her off. "They are very easily identifiable. Eventually, people will talk about us, and if we have something that people can easily remember, we might have problems. That''s even why we are using these clothes," Hera spoke in a calm voice. She wasn''t annoyed by this, in fact. It was part of their preparation for the mission. They each took turns sitting in front of everyone and describing what they had to do to rescue people inside the prison. After every few actions they describe, another team member would introduce a problem, or a mistake, or ask for an explanation of a specific step in their plan. Another thing Eirik did to prepare was to make a full-body suit for everyone. One that could go over their armor and clothes without getting in the way of any of their skills. Right now, if anyone could see the team, they would see six people wrapped in black clothes with black expressionless masks. "So we talked about that? Good," Lysandra''s voice seemed a bit relaxed. Hera glanced back, using the [Observe-Red Sight] skill to see things in infrared. This was her way to see the rest of the group during this mission. In fact, she didn''t even need to think about the skill to activate it. When she talked with Isantha, the guide mentioned a skill that could benefit from getting a compendium. The skill in question was called [Powerful Connections]. The Empress had forgotten entirely about this skill. It was something that would increase the power of her explorer''s exclusive skills based on how much of the room was shown in her [Treasure Map]. Every 1% completion rate would translate to a 0.25% increase in her explorer-exclusive skills. When the [Treasure Map] was beyond 50% completion, a random skill would also be affected in this particular room. In this case, the extra skill was [Observe - Red Sight], getting a 16% boost. Currently, they were getting close to the prison. There was still a good kilometer or so, and Nimbus was in the lead of the pack to break the air resistance and make things easier for those in the back. They had seen the place before several times during their planning, but now, even during the months-long night, it was a sight to behold. The prison''s exterior was an imposing structure of sleek dark lines intertwined with reflective surfaces. Sheathed in a metallic material that behaved like a mirror called ''Chrome Brass.'' That was extremely dense and expensive, but few materials were as resistant when hit from the front. Strips of light covered the entire thing, illuminating the area for those close, and so the city would quickly notice any issues with the prison and send in reinforcements. Right in the front was a towering gateway flanked by a pair of floating diamond-shaped crystals that would send out magic bullets to any threat in their range. Each regular shot could stun their targets, not to mention do some severe damage, but if any of the crystals charged before firing it, they were shooting to kill. The good part was that a charged shot took around 30 seconds to reach full power, and it was likely that everyone was already out of range when it was ready to fire. Its regular attack was much quicker, being able to fire about a dozen shots per second. Before they escaped, those towers would have to be disabled, and Hornet was in charge of that. Their destination, however, was an opening close to the east wall. A larger open area that should be the yard where the inmates could exercise and have some sunlight. But according to the team''s intel, this was being used as a place to burn¡­ something. Everyone hoped that it was a makeshift furnace for trash, but they all feared that it was something much more harrowing. "We are getting close to where the sensors would start noticing things on the ground. We know they can''t get that high, but be ready for anything," Lysandra''s voice came through the communicator. No one replied. The elf''s warning was just something for everyone to know. The team had a few things like that: messages that required no response unless something went wrong. After all, the invisibility would hide them from being seen, not from being heard. Nimbus was going nowhere near his top speed since he had to allow Nethe and Hornet to keep up, but they were still going at a pace similar to their running speed. "If this part of our plan is wrong and we get detected, this will happen soon. I don''t believe we are, but be ready," Lysandra''s voice sounded confident, which helped everyone not to worry. Soon, she started speaking again, "Entering sensor range in 5.." As she spoke, everyone held their breaths. By all accounts, they should be safe. The sensors wouldn''t be able to notice them coming from this high up. Even so, knowing that this was the first hurdle they had to pass made them all uneasy. "¡­2, 1. In range." The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. They continued moving, everyone half expecting the prison to light up with alarms and red lights. Yet, nothing happened. Only two guards were at the top of the walls, and they didn''t move a muscle. Everything was business as usual. Continuing their path, they crossed the night sky, holding their breath once more as they crossed the area directly above the prison. "Stop!" Hera called in a whisper, making the entire team stop moving but keep their height, "Someone is looking at us." Down in one of the towers on the corner of the prison, there was a balcony where a guard was looking up. "I might be able to take him down. It will just break the invisibility," Nethe got ready to send out a few feathers that would deal more damage the higher he was. In this case, it would be a sure-kill move, but it would also make a lot of noise. "Wait. Don''t fire," Lysandra''s voice was now more worried, "He might just be looking at the sky." Hera glanced up, and it was a pretty night, but for someone who worked here and could see the stars at any point, this sight wouldn''t be that interesting. Could this be just a coincidence? The entire team waited, barely breathing. The sound of heartbeats drowning out the sound of Nimbus'' and Nethe''s wings. The guard stood there for what looked like an eternity. They could see he was looking up, but it was impossible to tell if he was staring directly at them or not. After what felt like 10 years, the guard yawned and walked back inside. After a few moments, Sylvie''s voice was the sound that broke the silence, "Did he see us?" "I doubt it. He stood there for 145 seconds. That would be too long of a con. And I couldn''t see any movement at all. I think he was just looking up at the sky," Lysandra let out a sigh of relief, "Either way. If they know or not, this is our only chance now. If he did notice us, they would look into any points of entrance from above, and we wouldn''t have another chance. Let''s keep going. We are almost there." They moved forward for less than a minute before slowly descending above the yard. There was a thick smell of garbage coming from that area, which was a bit different from their information. Still, this was within their expectations. The open space had a couple of deep trenches dug up, and large and small black trash cans covered the area. When they reached the 500-meter mark, everyone held their breaths one more time. Despite the sensors only having a 180-degree range, this was another situation where they could have bad intel, which would ruin everything. Yet, they continued without any problems once again. Reaching the ground with little trouble. Hera told Nimbus to stay in his tonfa form since he was still invisible and could help them scout some areas. The team took a moment to look around and locate all the cameras that could potentially see them while hiding behind the piles of trash. There were a total of four cameras, one in each of the corners of the yard. Pulling out a small black marble from their bags, they infused some mana on them and tossed them towards the cameras. A tense moment passed before those black orbs floated up and transformed into tiny glass plates. Then, those marbles moved quickly and attached themselves to the camera, staying directly in front of their lenses in a perfect fit. No one moved while that was happening. Instead, the group was trying to look over the trash. It was what one would expect from a garbage disposal site. Packages of food and supplies, food waste, and some organic materials like orange peels and used toilet paper. However, they also noticed a couple of bags that had a red liquid dripping out from them. Nimbus went in to take a closer look at one of them, which had a large hole in the side. ''Oh, good. This looks like meat, like the meat you would buy in the supermarket. I guess they are rotting, but there are some other parts, bones, and things like that. There were even some bags with brand names here. I don''t think this is a grave,'' the relief in the Sentinel''s voice was palpable. "I never thought I would say this, but I''m so happy that''s just food waste," Hera whispered before pressing the button to speak through the communicator, "It doesn''t look like this is a grave. Just waste disposal." "Good, now all we need is-" before Zestra finished speaking, the new lenses of the cameras flashed white for a moment. It was not emanating light, but it was just a quick color change to white, then back to black. This was Becca''s signal. Eirik and the reporter created those marbles that could be placed in front of a camera. Each marble would record a small looping video, and play it back behind them in an illusion. It was a near-seamless transition with only a flicker to disrupt the image. Making the lens white was the way Becca let the team know that particular lens was already playing the loop. They all moved to the closest door, and Zestra was about to start lock-picking it when Hera got closer, "Hang on. Daskka. Can you turn into mist and go under the door? Don''t show up on the other side, but confirm if there are no cameras at this entrance. The herald nodded and checked, returning just a few seconds later, "The coast is clear, mum." Hera nodded and gave Zestra the go-ahead. For now, their intel was still on point, but they had to be careful since it was already a few months old. As the door opened, everyone quickly rushed inside, staying close together in the corridor with a single path that would turn right in a few meters. When they got to the turn, they would see another camera. Zestra deactivated his spell, revealing the entire party, and recast it on everyone but him and Hornet. Then, he used the better version of his invisibility to make the last two team members disappear, "We are going ahead to take care of the cameras. When that is over, Hornet and I will deactivate as many of the security measures as we can. Hera, keep your map open and mark the cameras we already got. Those are the places you can move through." "Try not to mess with the guards, but if you can take one out, do it quietly. Remember not to kill anyone unless it''s a last resort. The more damage we do here, the worse the guild''s response will be," Lysandra said just before they split up. Getting inside was the easy part. Now came the real trouble. 718 - Prisoners Ward Hera stopped and raised a fist in a signal to stop. The goggles made by Eirik helped Lysandra and Nethe to see the Empress'' movements even while invisible. Everyone started hearing the sound of echoing steps approaching and made sure not to move a muscle. The spell cast by Zestra wouldn''t affect any noise they made. ''How far away are they?'' Hera asked. ''I want to say 15 to 20 meters. I don''t know for sure,'' Nimbus replied. ''Get to a place where he won''t notice you. Maybe the ceiling if he doesn''t have a weapon pointing up,'' the Empress quickly cast a soundproof bubble around the group, making sure to keep it invisible. Doing so was much more taxing than she ever imagined. The mana used for spells tried to emulate certain colors, and asking it to change that wasn''t easy. If it wasn''t for [Shaper of Mana] and her title helping her, she wouldn''t have managed to complete this before the operation. "Camera on sector Alpha Sierra 2-3 clear. I knocked out a guard and placed her in the bathroom. From the smell, they had spicy food today," Hornet''s voice appeared so abruptly that it almost made Sylvi jump, but the triton held her ground. A moment passed, and the guard appeared from the hallway around two meters away from Hera. He looked towards her direction, then back to the other side of the hallway before turning around and walking back to where he came from. Lysandra tapped the Empress'' shoulder and made an inverted V with her arms. Understanding what she was asking for, Hera called Nimbus. ''Do you see any janitor closets or places to hide a body around?'' ''About halfway through this corridor, there is something, but I don''t know what.'' The Empress looked at her map, realizing it should be the armory, and that place would always have at least two people behind the door. Turning back to Lysandra, she made an X with her arms, signaling they couldn''t take this guard out. The elf gave a thumbs up, showing she understood, and they waited a few more moments for this particular guard to turn the opposite corner before moving along the corridor. Towards the armory was the prison entrance, and they didn''t need to go there. Not yet. Instead, they were heading to the prisoner''s ward entrance. The structure was split between the guard area, with lockers, a nice cafeteria, and well-maintained bathrooms, and the area where the people were being held against their will. In quick succession, Zestra gave the clear on another two cameras as Hera''s team passed by another guard without any problems. They were now in a wide area, like a peaceful entryway or just a welcoming entrance. However, this couldn''t be farther from the truth. This was the most reinforced area of the entire prison. It was not filled with alarms and things like that but covered top to bottom with sigils that could trigger in case of a prison break to knock the escapees out. Lysandra stopped everyone from walking forward and pointed to their feet, yet another signal. This meant they should split off and spread one of the devices Eirik made. One of the most essential pieces of gear he created were these small circular transparent stickers with an intricate spell circle engraved on them. When placed on the ground, any magic tools in a 1-meter radius couldn''t activate. This effect would last for 10 minutes and only start counting when the equipment tried to function for the first time. There were a total of 30 of these stickers. Enough to cover the entire floor and the walls, plus five extras just in case something went wrong. It took less than a minute for the team to place all the stickers on the ground. This room was just outside the large metal gates that separated the guards and the prisoner''s wards. As the stickers were being placed, Lysandra also put the final touches on a very simple explosive. She had been carrying a piece of paper in her pocket. If anyone opened the envelope, they would see a simple landscape drawing with a large mountain in the background. This was a talisman, but it worked pretty much like a spell circle. It was great for conceptual mages who didn''t need formulas and rules to create effects, but much harder to learn. Hera had asked Lysandra to teach her how to make those, and the elf agreed, but only after they had completed this operation. When they were done saving the people and had to run away, this would be another one of their tools to stop any pursuers. The mountains would break as a volcano erupted, creating a heavy ash cloud all around the area. Anyone caught in the initial blast or who spent too long close to the ash would also be afflicted with heavy coughing and some chemical burns that itched like crazy. With the stickers in place, they had to wait for Hornet to complete the first part of his mission. Thankfully, they didn''t have to wait long. Two minutes after finishing up with the sticker, the dwarf''s voice came through the communicator, "Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking. The control room is now under my control. So you all better behave." "Is this really the time for jokes?" Lysandra huffed. "Jokes, always. Bad ones like that one, never," Zestra replied through the communicators. With Hornet in the control room, they wouldn''t have to worry about the cameras anymore, "Now, can I stop hiding and start using my second-best skill set?" "I don''t think that having you boast about what you can do will help," Nethe scoffed with a chuckle. "Fine. My third-best skill set. Permission to go wild, commander?" "Not wild. We still can''t be seen. But take out as many guards as you can," Lysandra replied before gesturing for the team in the same room as her to get closer to the gate, "Hornet. Can you unlock the gate?" "Sure can," the dwarf replied, and Hera rushed to deploy a soundproof bubble around the gate itself. Something that big was not going to be quiet while opening. "How many guards are close to the prisoners?" Sylvi asked as the metal gate went through the slow process of unlocking all the automatic locks. "About 18. I can''t give you a precise number because I can only see the ones that are currently wearing their badges. If someone forgot theirs or is hiding for any reason, they won''t show up on the computer." "And what is the largest group?" Nethe was now pulling the gate open with Hera''s help. The Empress got tired and called out for Livy. She was going to stay in her weapon form and just push the gate from the other side to help. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "There are six in one of the cell corridors. Aside from that, they seem to mostly be walking in duos. There are only a few who are alone." "Ok. Guide us through the best path. We need to take them all out before opening the cells," Lysandra didn''t like this part of the plan, but if they let the guards move around, there would be too many variables for them to deal with. Unfortunately, this meant they had to fight with all of them. And they had to be quick about it. If they didn''t, there was a chance the guards would use the prisoners as hostages. "Alright. Just let me finish getting the door open, and I''ll give you the first target," Hornet was focused on the monitors, making sure that no one was around the control room. He was the weak link here. To capture this position, he had to attack people, and Zestra''s advanced invisibility would break with any attack coming from the dwarven fighter, "After the gate, move left. There are two people there. Remember that the moment you strike, the invisibility will be gone." "Not from everyone," Hera turned to Nimbus, "Don''t attack unless it''s an emergency. You will keep being our scout." ''As you wish, Empress.'' "Everyone ready?" Lysandra turned around and looked at her team, her friends. "I am. Let''s save the people here," Sylvie smiled. "You all know what I''m gonna say," Hera nodded, already pulling Viper and Crimson. A pair of daggers wouldn''t be unique enough to make anyone recognize her, not to mention they were the weapons she was the most comfortable using. "These people already waited too long. Let''s get them out," Nethe''s wings turned into steel. He still could fly, but now he was much more dangerous up close." "Remember, killing is a last resort," Lysandra nodded as they crossed beyond the gate. ''Daskka, stay as mist around us. Don''t show your snake form.'' ''Got it, mum.'' A black mist covered the entire group. It was far from being something stealthy, but they would soon break their invisibility anyway. Moving to the left, they saw a pair of guards looking towards the cells and talking. None of them paid too much attention since it sounded like they were just discussing what to eat. Hera and Nethe approached the two from the back and waited to attack. Lysandra started, but the rest followed up right after. The elf used a spell to paralyze both guards, while Sylvie used a life-saving spell. One that would stop someone from dying if they took too much damage, but that was it. Only a shield to stop someone from getting killed, not a heal to recover them from the attack. Nethe grabbed the guard with his wings, wrapping the woman in a choke hold, and pulled her down to the ground, slamming her head on the concrete floor and shattering a soft pink glow around her. At the same time, Hera cast a soundproof bubble around them and grabbed the waist of the other guard, suplexing him with Livy following that up by slamming the side part of the war axe against his face, cracking the ground in the process. A similar pink glow turned to dust with the attack. This meant Sylvi''s spell was triggered, and those moves were able to kill the guards. "That was nasty. I loved it," Hornet chuckled through the communicators. "Focus. Where to next?" Lysandra asked. "Ok, ok. There is a corridor on the other side. There should be one guy there. I don''t see anyone else in the area. There are two more near the entrance, so take the left path and get closer," Hornet explained. They kept going, taking the guards down as quickly as possible, using their soundproof bubbles and spells to immobilize the ones who were the closest. Some of the guards tried to trigger their alarms, but none were able to activate the traps in the ceiling since Hornet had already turned all of them off. The more people they dealt with, the better they got, and the easier the fights became. Sylvie wasn''t using the death save spell she had as often since Hera and Nethe started to get the hang of how much strength they could put behind each attack not to kill anyone. Not having to wait for the healer to recover her mana every two fights made things move much quicker. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as there were still about 10 guards left. Even if Hornet was in the command center, he couldn''t stop the guards from radioing each other. Not without messing with everyone''s communication, including their own. This made the remaining prison personnel gather and move as a group. They were all in a corridor just outside where the cells were located in a defensive formation. Four were in front with shields up, and the remaining six in the back, either with spells at the ready or with arrows notched in their bows. "They don''t seem to be moving," Hornet warned. The team was just around the corner from the guards, thinking about what they could do to pass these people. "Hera, Nethe, let''s do the toaster," Lysandra looked at the two. "You guys have a really messed up sense of humor," Sylvi sighed. Nethe flapped his wings, creating almost a screen of feathers in the path. Daskka followed right along in her black mist form along with Hera, who was holding Livy''s battle axe form like an umbrella. The Empress had the Leviathan covered in Ocean Elemental Strength, which doubled the power of water spells and attacks. Triggering the Leviathan''s Torrent skill, Livy suddenly spat out a jet of water powerful enough to push all the guards back, making the ones with shields slam against everyone in the back. To finish that up. Lysandra jumped ahead and launched a concentrated beam of electricity imbued with a powerful sleep spell. Thanks to all the water that now covered the corridor, all of the guards were electrocuted and passed out. The ones that didn''t were too weak to fight against the sleep spell and fell to the ground unconscious. The team rushed ahead, finally seeing the prisoners. There were more than they expected, but they all had a few things in common. Every single person there was not part of the human race, and they were all living in rooms on the lower layers. In fact, no one in there came from beyond the 5th layer. All of them also were wearing collars that blocked their mana, making them unable to use any skills or spells. Sylvie started doing some first aid as they opened all the cell doors. Eventually, Hera found the guard from Boothudurn, but not Silah. "Where is she?" the Empress asked with a worried expression. "They took her last night. Every couple of days, they come here and drag someone to the back of the building. People usually don''t come back, but the ones who do are in really bad shape," Ptrek, one of the dwarfs from Boothudurn, pointed at the person Sylvie was currently healing. It was a triton, but their skin was wrong. Instead of a shade of blue, it was yellow, like someone with liver problems. There were several scars all around his body, and he had an odd red and infected-looking tattoo around their neck. "Shit!" Hera gasped and created a few weapons using her [Venomous Arsenal] for anyone who was in good enough shape to wield them, not letting herself stop moving. "What happened?" Lysandra got closer. "They are taking prisoners somewhere. They still seem to be here, but they must have a hidden cell or something," Hera explained, her face burning up with anger. "Where?" Ptrek pointed to the end of the hallway, "I saw someone taking a staircase back there once. They were dragging one of the ones who didn''t make it back." "Can you take us there?" Lysandra asked. "Yeah. I think I can. I don''t want to leave Silah behind," Ptrek nodded. "Ok, Sylvie, Nethe. Take care of the people here. Lock the guards in the cells as everyone gets out. Remember to take out their weapons. And look for the keys to the collars. Hornet says he doesn''t have an option there," Lysandra turned to Hera, "Let''s go save your girl." "Thank you," Hera smiled as they bolted to the end of the hallway. 719 - Searching for Silah Moving to the end of the hallway, Ptrek guided Hera and Lysandra to the left, where there was a small entrance. They had to go down a couple flights of stairs, passing by several cells where people were still trying to understand what was happening and why the doors opened. Lysandra told them to follow Sylvi and Nethe, but there was a worry that not everyone would do as they were told. Thankfully, enough of the people here seemed to be part of the security detail protecting the people from the workshop so they could help control the frazzled escapees. Hera also gave a few more armaments from her [Venomous Arsenal], but not too many. There was already around 10% of her total mana pool unusable because of the weapons she created. One that looked oddly inconspicuous for something that would be close to prisoners. The door was marked as a supply closet, but no prison would keep supplies this close to the inmates for obvious reasons. They tried opening the door, but it seemed to be locked. "Hornet, can you unlock the supply closet at the other end of the cellblock?" Lysandra asked. "I can''t see any buttons to do that. Even on the map we have here, there is nothing about a supply closet at the other end of the cell block. It''s only the showers and cafeteria and a now locked passage to the yard," Hornet''s voice was starting to cut as if they were going through a tunnel. "Daskka, can you see if there is a lock or a button on the other side?" Hera asked the mist that was following them. ''Got it, mum,'' the snake tried to push against the door, but the thing seemed to be airtight as she tried to go in the crevasses. Even the lock in the actual wood seemed to be fake. Daskka struggled and found a small hole in the wood where she could actually pass through. However, glued or bolted to that entrance was another heavy metal door without any actual locks. Popping back out, the snake told what was happening, and Hera passed it along to Lysandra. "Ok¡­ this is not great," the elf looked down, checking something in the pack of tools they received from Eirik, "How sure are you that there are people down there?" she turned to Ptrek. "Maybe 60%? I never actually saw the door open. I never even left my cell. This was something people told us about, including someone who came back. That guy that is being healed up there," Ptrek stepped back, unable to look Lysandra in the eye. "So this is just a rumor?" "I mean. Yeah, but do you expect people to get like that out of nowhere? That tattoo wasn''t there when they dragged the guy somewhere." "I don''t know. People are creative when it comes to torture," Lysandra said, staring at Ptrek for a moment before turning to Hera, "We could try to make a hole and break the door, but that would take a while. Every minute we spend here is another minute we risk having the guards wake up or call for reinforcements. We also don''t know if she isn''t just deeper in the facility." "I''m not leaving without Silah. I don''t care if you all decide to run. I''ll figure out a way to go down there if this is where she is," Hera shook her bracelet, summoning the snakes from Viper''s Pit, "You all go to the end of the hallway. Let me know if you find any person," turning back to the door, Hera asked Livy to break the wooden door. She considered using her grease fire spell, but that would make a lot of smoke, and it could trigger the smoke alarms. "Wait!" Lysandra called, making Livy stop, "She will take too long to go through that door. I can use one of the bombs Eirik gave us." "Aren''t those for opening the gate?" Hera asked. "Yeah, we will have a smaller opening if I use it here. It''s your call. Do we do it?" The Empress turned to Ptrek, "Are you sure this is the place?" "Like I said, 60% sure." Hera pulled Yarnball, "Give me a moment," stepping back a little, she whispered to her relic, "Please, please, please, please. Answer this one. Give me an actual answer," she took a deep breath and pumped half a million mana into her relic with her hands trembling in a mix of fear and anger, "Is Silah somewhere behind that door?" A moment passed, and the visor showed the hologram where the answer would usually show up, ''Try again later.'' Letting out a long sigh, Hera was about to turn around when she noticed, on the corner of her eye, her treasure map that was still open. There was something written in big red letters covering most of the map itself that vanished just as she read it. ''She''s there. This is all the help we can give you. Give them hell, Kid.'' Hera smiled and turned to Lysandra, holding tears back, "Do it. Let''s open this door." "Ok then," the elf picked a half circle from her pack and placed it against the ''supply closet'' door, twisting it and running away with Hera and Ptrek to escape the blast zone. After turning the corner, she warned the rest of the team through the communicator, "We are going to make noise, everyone. Don''t freak out." The breaching charge glowed, and with a high-pitched noise, a wave of purple energy spread out from it, forming a sphere with a 1-meter radius before pulling everything in the range back to the center as if it was a black hole, sucking up everything. Hera didn''t bother using her soundproof bubble since that bomb would swallow even the mana from spells in the area. The sound created was strange, like a mix of a blender and a trash compactor. Beyond that door was a long corridor leading down to another room illuminated by an eerie pale red light. "This is not good," Lysandra mumbled. "Let''s go," Hera moved forward, worried about whatever could be happening with Silah down there. Ptrek and Lysandra followed her along. There were some sounds coming from below, a heart monitor, and some machinery, only increasing the nervousness of the trio. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ''Nimbus, can you go first? Daskka, stay with me. Everyone else, get ready to come out. Just in case,'' ''Got it,'' the Sentinel moved forward, still invisible. But as he arrived at the room proper, he gasped, ''Hera! Silah is here.'' "What?" Hera rushed forward, forgetting anything about the idea of being stealthy. Lysandra and Ptrek didn''t understand what was going on and hesitated before following along. As the Empress reached the room, she found herself in a place completely different from the rest of the prison. Directly in front of the entrance, there was just an empty metallic wall, but seeping from the gaps in the wall was the source of that eerie pale red light bathing an imposing apparatus on the ceiling. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, but there were several thick tubes with needles at the ends connected to it and some sort of liquid reservoir that was currently almost empty, only a thin silver line showing at the lower marker in the glass meter. A couple of shelves on the side showed more odd instruments that looked somewhat medical but more twisted. It was as if these versions cared more about easy-to-use functionality than the safety of whatever poor soul was on the other end of the scalpel. Aside from that, there were some notebooks and jars with odd red pieces of flesh. Below the large apparatus and a bit to the left was a small movable table with a tattoo machine and some used transfer paper. However, Hera only focused on that for a short time since she saw a larger metal table in the center and it had her undivided attention. Not because of the table itself, but because Silah was currently laying there, her body covered in scars, a couple of the tubes coming from the ceiling still attached to her veins. They seemed to have removed her clothes, but she was at least wearing a hospital gown. There was also a black tattoo around her neck. Although calling it a tattoo was a stretch. It was just a thick black line, almost like a choker or the prison collar, that would stop people from being able to use skills or mana. Rushing to her side, Hera called Edge out and used an Elemental Reinforcement in the knife, already placing him on Silah''s hand. "Silah? Silah? Can you hear me?" Hera removed her mask and touched the dwarf''s head, gently tapping her cheeks in hopes of waking her up. After a few moments, but before Lysandra and Ptrek arrived, Silah managed to speak up, "He¡­Ra? Am¡­ I¡­ De..ad?" "No, no! You are alive. I''m taking you out of here." "But¡­ Him.." "Wh-" before the Empress could ask who Silah was talking about, she felt Nimbus slam on her arm, pushing her to the side. This wasn''t enough, as a large blade attempted to pierce her stomach. Her armor was able to hold down the sword, but not enough not to let it pierce her body. Hera yelled and called her entire court out while spinning in a backhand to attempt to hit her attacker. The man saw that attack coming and jumped back, blocking DJ and Chris, who went for his throat right away with his arms. Somehow, the man was able to turn his skin into steel, blocking the blades. Amber took advantage of that, going for an upward strike at the man''s chest. She had the [Dragon Fire Strike] skill to increase the fire damage, hoping that this would help lower his defenses. "What the hell did you do to her?!" Hera yelled in rage, grabbing Viper and Crimson as she lunged at the man. He had a similar type of clothing that the guards had, a uniform of the place, but he was also wearing a lab coat over it all. He had a clean, shaved face, short brown hair, black eyes, and a pronounced nose with a scar going across it. "She is helping make the MAZE safer for us. If you know that one, you should be proud. And sorry for attacking you. I didn''t realize you were one of us," the man had a righteous tone to his voice. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" Hera yelled as Lysandra and Ptrek finally arrived. "Them," the man snarled at the newcomers, noticing the dwarf and the pointy ears appearing from the side of Lysandra''s mask, "The MAZE was a paradise until we had to start dealing with your kind! We had everything. With enough resources to go around a way to get rid of hunger and poverty, the Earth could be a Utopia. But you appeared. You stole our rooms. Refused to give us the materials we needed to return home and you stopped our progress at every turn. Each new race that pops out tries to screw us over and take what is rightfully ours." "You can''t be serious. You could have all that, but everyone chooses money over helping others every time!" Lysandra asked in disbelief. "Quiet! You are nothing but a monster created by the system! A creature to be harvested. We are human. We exist beyond the MAZE, and you don''t! This is the ultimate proof that we are superior. Plain and simple," he turned to Hera, "Come. Help me get rid of those fake living beings so we can continue our work here." Hera wanted to jump on the man''s throat and rip him apart, but she was thinking about Silah. She had to figure out what was going on with her to help, "And what is our work here?" "I''ll explain to you later. Help me kill those two," the man turned to Lysandra, getting into a fighting stance. "Tell me now, I''m already doing my own work. I need to know if yours is more important," Hera bluffed. Her poker face was far from being good, but she hoped this man was far enough gone to just accept whatever lie she spat out as long as it seemed she was on his side. Lysandra understood what the Empress was trying to do and made sure not to attract the attention of the man. "Like I said, they are animals to be harvested. And now, we are very close to having them as batteries. Imagine that, never running out of mana again. Being able to use your full power all the time." "And did you do it?" "Not yet. But we are close," he nodded towards Silah without taking his eyes away from Lysandra, "That one shows promise. I did make some mistakes, but she is still alive. I would have made fewer mistakes if she wasn''t screaming during the process to distract me, but anesthesia interferes with the compound we are using, and even loud music wasn''t enough to drown out her voice." After he finished speaking, the man felt a fist slam against his face, making him fall to the ground and into a shelf full of supplies that crashed on the ground. Hera was so angry that she didn''t even use Crimson, who was in her right hand, "I''m going to fucking kill you!" The man looked back at Hera with genuine surprise, only for that to be turned into unfiltered rage, "You fucking traitorous cunt! How dare you go against your own kind!" he slapped his neck, making a glowing red tattoo appear. The entire room flickered, and Silah started to scream as the tattoo around her neck glowed in the same shade of red. The man''s muscles started to swell up, and his veins popped, ripping his clothes in the process. Blood dripped from his mouth as his eyes turned black. "That''s a Daemon! Kill him quick!" Lysandra yelled and started launching ice and wood spikes at the man with her magic, but the man was already over 2 and a half meters tall. A monstrosity of overflowing mana. Hera told her entire court to attack and followed right after them, brandishing her weapons. Even Ptrek fired a couple of spells; they were much weaker than the rest, but it would still do some damage. That is if any of the strikes hit their target. Before any spell or attack connected, the man roared as a wave of red light pulsated from him, pushing everyone back and forcing them to close their eyes. When they were able to see him again, the man was completely different. He was back to his previous size, but every muscle in his body seemed to be made out of stone. His skin was blood red, and his eyes white. Taking a deep breath, he smiled, showing his black teeth to the group, "I''m going to enjoy killing you all." Hearing that, Lysandra froze in place, "You have daemonic energy¡­. How are you talking?" 720 - Daemon Ptrek glanced to Lysandra, his eyes wide. Not because of the man''s transformation, but because so far, the elf seemed calm and collected no matter what she did. Yet, after seeing the man change, he could see drops of sweat forming on her forehead, "What is a daemon?" the dwarf asked. Hearing that, the man scoffed, "Of course you wouldn''t know. Expecting any sort of intelligence from you people is a waste of time," he turned to Lysandra, "You seem to be a bit smarter. Tell him." The elf clenched her fist to stop her hands from trembling, "A daemon is what happens when someone is bound to a spirit and the spirit goes berserk. They gain incredible powers and a near infinite amount of mana¡­ but they are supposed to lose all rationality and the excess of mana would destroy their bodies. Almost no one is able to survive this!" The man smirked, "That is correct. Unless we outsource that frenzy," he glanced at Silah. The blacksmith was still screaming, but it didn''t sound only like pain. It was the mad roar of a mindless beast. Her body convulsing violently being only stopped by the restrains around her body. "Silah!" Hera yelled and rushed over, trying to see if she could do anything to stop this. Seeing the tubed still attached to the dwarf, the Empress pulled them out, using her basic healing spell to close up the wounds made by the needles. Yet, even with the silver liquid no longer entering her body, Silah didn''t stop screaming. The man laughed, "Don''t bother. Once this process starts, it only ends when the battery dies. And those tubes were the only thing slowing down that process. Now, she is going to die quickly. But don''t worry. You will die first." Hera tried to hold Silah down and covered her in a Elemental Armor that would increase her regeneration. Unfortunately, the moment she tried covering her with mana, the spell broke. It seemed like right now she couldn''t be affected by anything that didn''t come from the spirit that was giving her mana. ''Edge, stay there. Keep trying to help her regenerate,'' Hera was still staring at Silah, but she spoke out loud, "And what happens if you die?" "Me? Don''t know. We wouldn''t experiment with our own people. I guess there is a small chance that the connection would be completely broken. But I wouldn''t count on it." "Small chance?" Hera turned around, "Good enough for me," she dashed towards the man again, her face burning with rage. She went for an upward slash with Crimson, with Viper following that up right behind. While the first strike hit the man barely doing anything against his skin, in the second one, Hera triggered the Grasping Strike skill to attempt to bind him. The effect only worked for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for the Empress to step back and dodge an incoming counter attack. What she didn''t expect was that the man imbued his sword with some sort of energy slash that flew out as he attacked. That spell was about to hit Hera square in her chest as Nimbus created a layered honeycomb barrier in front. It was a good idea, and a version of his mana barrier spell he trained to improve, but it wasn''t enough. The energy slash broke through all of those barriers, shattering them without even stopping. Lurize wasn''t about to let the Empress be hit by that blow and tackled her, pushing her away while appearing in his full form. The entire court understood how the Empress wanted to kill this man, and without any witness, they wouldn''t have to worry about being seen. The spell continued, heading straight to Silah, but the man used his mana to shift the path of his energy slash, making it slam against the wall opening a large gash on the metal and exposing more of the red light behind it. Hera noticed something moving back there, but she didn''t have time to worry about it. Before the Empress could get back up, the man dashed forward, brandishing his weapon as red sparks covered his body. He came with a downward slash aimed at Hera and Lurize but Livy appeared in front of it, blocking the enchanted sword attack with her war axe. When the two weapons collided, the ground under the Leviathan cracked. Thankfully, either the floor was sturdy enough to hold them even after being broken, or they were already at the lowest level of the facility. It only took five seconds from the moment Hera attacked the Daemon to the moment Livy appeared to block his sword. During that entire time, Lysandra was still recovering from the shock of seeing someone under the effects of demonic mana and talking like nothing happened. Even more frightening, he seemed to be in control of his own spells. That wasn''t the case when someone became a Daemon. The afflicted would go berserk and used the raw unfiltered mana from the spirit they were bound to to attack and to increase their attributes. Not wanting to leave Hera to face this enemy alone, Lysandra started attacking. Sending elemental spells to hit the Daemon. This was the only kind of strategy people had when facing this kind of enemy. If they managed to use a spell that opposed the spirit directly, it would be easier to make it waste enough mana for it to collapse. The man ignored the incoming attacks, being hit by spears of fire, ice, and stone. Each of the spells was only able to slightly scratch his skin but his focus was still on Livy. He recognized her as the biggest threat since the Leviathan was able to stop one of his attacks. Hera also didn''t want to give him time to think of a way to fight back and returned to the fold. Using Viper and Crimson, she spun around the man and slashed as his back. Following that, she continued her spin to get away while DJ, Amber, and Chris came from above, aiming at roughly the same place. Only to be hit by the man''s fist square in her face. The Empress felt something break on her cheek but she was unsure if it was her jaw or her cheek bone. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Daskka made some mist enter the Daemon''s body, trying to push the red smoke inside his nostrils. However, as she forced her way inside, the mana inside the man pushed her back, expelling the mist with a single breath. As the man stepped back to protect his back, Dao yelled ''Jump!'' Livy, Lurize, and Hera all jumped just as the sword unleashed a [Chain Lightning] on the Daemon. The electricity coursed through the man''s body and spread to the metal floor and walls, making all the electronic equipment around the room spark. Thankfully, Lysandra and Ptrek were still in the corridor which was made out of stone protecting them from the attack. The same couldn''t be said for Silah. Her back was firmly pressed against the metal bed and as the lightning traveled, her body was marked by it. For the first time since the fight started, the Daemon buckled because of the attack. His tough skin unable to stop the lightning from damaging his body. Ptrek also threw the venomous spear that Hera gave him, trying to help the fight, but the weapon just bounced off the man without even bothering him. Lysandra continued to throw spell after spell at him, each with a different element. Fire, water, grass, light, sun, defense, attack, shatter, and everything she could imagine. Yet, every single spell just hit the man''s skin and fizzled out. The strongest ones only able to singe his skin slightly. She saw the lightning cover him and considered using her own electric attacks, but doing so would put Hera, and Silah in danger. Seeing that Dao was able to deal so much damage to him, even while he was empowered by spells that would usually cost his entire mana pool, he decided to stop playing around. That odd sword with a flat edge was right behind the betrayer, the human who was working with the lesser species against his work. Removing her from the picture would solve a lot of the problems, and make sure that only those who understood that the MAZE belonged to humans would be around. The Daemon jumped forward, kicking Lurize out of the way. The muscles in his leg grown due the excess mana, only to have that extra mass compressed into a human leg again. Livy came in to block, swinging her axe, but the room wasn''t tall enough for the Leviathan, and the awkward swing was blocked by the Daemon before he punched the sea serpent in the chest hard enough to make her armor crack. Still, Livy continued her attack only to be stopped by one of the man''s hands who was now holding the blade of the war axe. In a quick motion he continued going towards Hera with a one handed downward swing of his sword. The Empress didn''t have time to dodge, instead she raised both Viper and Crimson to block, the impact causing her to buckle under the weight behind the attack, slamming her knee to the ground. However, the sword was stopped thanks to Dusa using her deflecting blade to help, DJ, Chris, and Nimbus also joined in the defense. Even with all those efforts combined, they only managed to block the sword and stop it from getting to Hera. There was a brief pause when the Daemon continued pressing his sword down, trying to break that defense created by this group with a single hand, while the other was still holding Livy''s axe. The man bared his teeth at Hera, getting very close to her face, some of the madness from the daemonic spirit seeping through his body. Trying to find some weak point, or a way to turn this around, the Empress focused on his red skin. She realized that the color wasn''t coming from the skin itself, instead there was a sheet of mana covering the man. The magic was dense and compacted thousands of points on every centimeter of his skin. It covered everything, his nose, mouth, and even his black teeth, but there was one part of his face that didn''t have the same protection. His eyes. Hera closed her mouth and gathered some mana inside forcing herself not to puff her cheeks and spoil the sneak attack. After a moment with the man still trying to push his sword down with his face uncomfortably close to hers despite everything, the Empress spat out a poison spray directly into the man''s eyes. Activating her [All In] skill to deal even more damage. As the orange poison splashed across his eyes, the man roared in pain, stepping back and waving his sword aimlessly. Hera felt her poison affecting him and she told it to focus on making him weaker and mess up with his mana. Even if he could cast endless spells, if he wasn''t able to control his mana properly, his magic wouldn''t have the same effect. Lysandra also decided to take advantage of that situation and prepared a spell that took a few moments to get ready. She already was working on that while the Daemon was trying to cut Hera in half and now she could fire without worrying about being blocked. A small amber colored orb moved slowly towards the man and when it touched him, it burst almost like a net covering the man completely. Even with all the power and strength the Daemon had, he was now moving considerably slower. Following that, the elf created some sickly gray chains around her hands and threw them at the man, wrapping his limbs. Not stopping his movements, but he once again became slower. The parts of his body around the chains lost some of their color, not just the red but also the pinkish-beige of his skin itself. The Daemon roared at the same time Silah let out a blood curdling scream. Hearing that, Hera jumped toward the man, telling her court to grab him. Livy and Lurize dashed forward. The man''s sword cutting Livy''s stomach but the Leviathan forcing herself to continue as she grabbed one of his arms pulling down to the ground. Lurize went in for the other arm, which was still holding the weapon but the Royal Tutor couldn''t move it by himself. Nimbus quickly joined and together the three titled blades forced the Daemon to kneel on the floor. Hera quickly grabbed Amber and Crimson, getting close to the man who forced his eyes open to see what was actually going on. The Empress didn''t wait and told all her court to activate all their buffs, sharing them with the [Army of One] skill. She yelled, making her voice echo through the tunnel leading back to the prison and slammed the weapons she had on her hands directly at the Daemon''s eyes. She saw those white balls pop, blood spilling out of the sockets, but Hera wasn''t done. She triggered Crimson''s [Bloody Claw], sending three extra blades of blood out front he tip of the dagger, which was currently inside the man''s skull. At the same time, she activated Amber''s [Dragon Fire Strike] and [Forged in Dragon Fire] to increase the damage as much as she could. There was a sickening dull sound of meat being tossed to a wall as the Daemon slumped back motionless. Hera removed her blades from the eyes and his head leaned forward, what was left of his burning and mangled brain leaking from the sockets. His skin returned to normal and the tattoo on his neck stopped glowing. The man was dead, there was no doubt about it. But just as Hera was about to take a deep breath and relax, Silah let out another scream ending in a gurgle. Killing the man was not enough to stop whatever was going on with her. 721 - Escape Hera looked at Silah, unsure what to do to help. She could see how Edge was doing his thing, helping the natural regeneration she already had. But that was the only thing that seemed to be going well. Her face was distorted in an expression mixing rage, pain, and confusion and her body was pulsating red as if the blood was being pushed to the outer layer of her skin. Silah was no longer screaming, but not for a lack of trying. A red, chunky liquid dripped from her mouth, both choking her and showing that the strain in her vocal cords was so intense that the membrane was ripped out from her throat. The Empress tried to pull Silah''s head to the side so she would stop choking. Just as her hands got close, the dwarf tried to bite her, breaking some of her teeth due the strength that her jaw shut close. Her emerald green eyes were now stained with a deep red. Still, that movement was enough for Silah to spit a considerable amount of blood. Most of it fell to the table or to the hospital gown she was wearing, but part of it landed on her reddish-brown hair that was now forcibly cut short and caked in a sweat and whatever mixture was that silver thing dripping from the contraption above her. Almost in shock, Hera couldn''t take her eyes off her ex-girlfriend. That beautiful, strong woman was now reduced to a starved beast who looked a breath away from death. But even with all that, the Empress noticed a thin strand of red mana coming out of her body and flowing toward the back wall. She stepped to the side and tried to see through the gash the Daemon created. On the other side of that metal partition was a giant tank with something inside. Hera tried to forcefully increase the opening, but she was nowhere near strong enough. "Livy," the Empress looked back, now seeing the Leviathan holding her side. There was a cut in her stomach going almost to the middle of her body. If she wasn''t a construct, she would clearly be dead. Pushing her worry to the side, Hera knew she still had to ask more of her titled blade, "I know you are injured, but do you think you can make this hole bigger?" "Yes... Of course¡­ Hera," Livy spoke slowly, struggling with each syllable, but she still walked forward. Placing both her hands in the opening, the Leviathan roared as her almost 200 points in strength went to work. A few moments passed, and Nimbus stepped in to help. As awkward as their positions would be, this was their best chance to open that path. Eventually, the two managed to increase the hole enough for Hera to see what was on the other side but not enough for anyone to pass through. With the job done, Livy returned to the legacy to recover from her wounds as the Empress tried to see what they had uncovered. Beyond that wall was a large tank of red liquid with a dozen tubes attached. A small red bear was in the center, inside a cage of energy. She didn''t have to use her [Observe] to realize this was a spirit. The mana coming from it was simply incredible, not just due to the sheer amount of it but also due to its purity. It felt almost like the mana pool that gave her her title. But her awe quickly changed to worry. The spirit wasn''t peacefully sleeping or something like that. Instead, it was trashing inside that small cage, Silah''s face appearing where its head should be. When the spirit moved, the face was distorted, dragging behind as if it was made out of sand. There was no sound coming from it, but the spirit seemed to be in so much pain. Acting on the first idea that came to mind, Hera created a rare javelin in her hand using her [Venomous Arsenal]. She aimed at the opening and tossed the weapon with a [Weapon Break]. When the spear touched the tank, it exploded in a wave of force and poison that continued traveling through the water, reaching the cage and the spirit inside. A creature like that was typically extremely hard to kill, but that changed when a spirit was under the effects of daemonic energy. It would share the pain of the person it was bound to, and that made it vulnerable. Vulnerable enough for an attack like the one Hera used to kill it. The moment the spirit died, the Empress could swear she saw its original form looking back at her with a grateful expression, but she wasn''t sure if that was just a trick her mind played on her. Immediately after that Silah stopped convulsing, and her skin returned to normal. There was still blood in her mouth, but as Hera tried to move her head to the side, the dwarf didn''t react. Touching the communicator they had, Hera called, "Sylvi, I need you down here. Now!" "I know, I know. Lysandra already called," Sylvi''s voice didn''t come from her earpieces but from the hallway that took them here. She glanced at Silah and stopped dead in her tracks, "What the¡­ What is this?" "She was bound to a spirit and turned into a Daemon, but the people of the prison did something to channel her mana to them. Now fix her!" Hera explained as quickly as she could. "Hang on," Sylvi stepped forward, frazzled strands of blue hair peeking out from her black hood. She placed her hand on Silah and used a spell that would recover recent injuries, but the magic just hit the dwarf and stopped as if it was hitting a wall. Confused with the reaction, she tried a different approach. Casting a spell that focused more on healing old wounds to deal with this situation her mana hit the dwarf, but the effects were the same. She tried dispelling the magic around Silah and then cleansing debuffs and ailments but every single attempt failed in the same way, "Shit." "What''s wrong?" Hera gasped. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I don''t know. My mana is not getting to her. It''s like it''s hitting a wall. I¡­ I don''t think I have a way to heal her right now," Sylvi replied, her voice showing confusion. "So what do we do?" "Now? We leave. We need to get out of here. Zestra told us the rest of the guards started to realize something was going on," the healer replied, turning back to the hallway, but Hera grabbed her wrist. "So that''s it? Are you telling me to leave her here?!" the Empress yelled, tears forming in her eyes. Sylvi turned slowly to Hera before pulling her arm free and reaching for the explorer''s ear, grabbing it like a mother scolding her child, "We''ve known each other for a while already, so don''t you dare think I''m telling you to abandon someone in need! I''m saying there is nothing we can do right now. We don''t have time, space, or, honestly, the calm I required to start to work this out," she let go, pushing Hera away, "You know how healers can tell if someone is close to dying, don''t you?" "Yeah," Hera replied while rubbing her ear. "Well, that skill tells me that she," Sylvi pointed to Silah, "Is both dead and alive right now. What does that mean? I don''t fucking know, but I know we can''t figure that out now. Until today, I had no idea Daemons were real. I only heard stories, and they all sound genuinely insane. I never studied that shit, so I need time to see what I can do about it. Now pick her up and carry her out like a knight in shining armor, and when we reach a safe house, I''ll see what I can do. I can tell that your knife is already doing some work, and that''s all we can do until we get all those people out!" "Ok. Sorry," Hera nodded, already moving to remove the straps holding Silah. "I''m sorry I couldn''t help too, but here," Sylvi used a healing spell to fix Hera''s face. It wouldn''t solve all the problems, but it would at least mend the bones enough, so she wasn''t in constant pain. The spell also solved some of the muscle strain that the Empress was feeling after the fight. During all that time, Lysandra was taking pictures of this lab with a hidden camera she had. Making sure to capture everything, including the man they killed and Silah''s state, both before and after the spirit died. Hera also told Nimbus and Lurize to return to their weapon forms so no one would be able to recognize her. She knew it could be pointless. After all, her mask was broken during the combat. Someone stepped on it, and the item wasn''t particularly sturdy. With all the 200 prisoners out of their cells and without their collars, which stopped them from using spells or skills, any chance of stealth had been tossed out of the window. Lysandra and Nethe took the lead, with Hera and Sylvi keeping to the middle of the pack as they passed through the hallways as fast as they could. The guards they knocked out were still out cold, now wearing the same collars they forced onto the prisoners. The group reached the metal gate where the numerous traps were waiting for them and faced a small contingent of four guards at the other end of the hall. The most senior officer amongst them pressed a button on the wall with a smirk, expecting the traps to activate. However, as the mana started to course through it, the stickers Eirik created were triggered, stopping all the traps and torrents from working. Seeing that, Nethe started to walk forward, his wings working as a shield, when the guard who pressed the button stepped forward with both his hands up. "OK. Do you want to leave? We are not going to stop you." "Captain!? What are you doing?" another of the guards asked. "Making sure we live till tomorrow," the captain turned back to Nethe, "I can only imagine what the people in the back made you all go through, but we only take care of the front. Let us stay in the cafeteria, and you all can go. The path to the gate doesn''t go through there." Nethe just stared them down. Knowing they couldn''t waste too much time here. Still, he was waiting for his team leader to speak up. Lysandra took a step back and hid behind a few other people, "Zestra, how many exits does the cafeteria have?" she spoke in the open channel with their communicators. "Only one. But there are vents. If they leave through there, it would give us 10 minutes." The team leader smiled under her mask, "And can Hornet open the gate?" There was a pause before Zestra''s voice replied, "Yeah, and the outside crystals are fresh out of mana. Even if they try to use them, it would take half an hour for the first shot to be fired." "Nethe, tell them to go." The harpy nodded, steeling his gaze, "This place has seen enough suffering. If you go to the cafeteria and stay there, we don''t need to add to that. But if you try anything, we are killing you all." The guards slowly started to back away, with Nethe and a few of the prisoners following at a distance. Eventually, they reached a long hallway where the harpy decided it was best to wait. After all, Zestra was on the other end. Thankfully, the guards didn''t try anything funny, and after they went inside the cafeteria, Zestra created a magic lock in the door. He wasn''t an expert on that, and anyone with decent magic knowledge would be able to break that lock in around 20 minutes. If they had an expert, this should last only 10, but that would match their other options. Lysandra tried to keep everyone calm, but when the prisoners saw the open gate leading outside, any semblance of order went out of the window. They all started running as fast as they could towards freedom. The leader of this operation called Hera right away, "Can you have Nimbus out as a mount? We need someone to lead them to the doorway. "Sure," Hera called Nimbus in his griffon form while still carrying Silah. She jumped on his back, followed by Lysandra. Carrying 3 people, the Sentinel couldn''t fly, but he could still move at a decent speed. Being on top of a griffon made it easier for the elven team leader to guide the prisoners in the right direction. Just as they left the range of the sensors, she sent a signal to Eirik, Becca, and Freya. Now, they had around 30 minutes to clear the outpost where the doorway was located and lure the clockwork golems to give them cover. After all, no one was expecting the guards to just stay still. As soon as they were able to get out of the cafeteria, they would trigger the alarms, and the entire Gear Shift Nexus would be going after them. 722 - Extra cover "They should get here in 30. It''s time for us to go," Eirik turned to Freya, "Are you ready?" "Not really, but it''s not like I have a choice," Freya sighed. "Don''t be like that. You guys have the easy work," Becca said through her communicator. This wasn''t the short-range version that Hera and the others used; instead, it was a more robust one that could reach the opposite end of the city, even with people on the outskirts. "I know. I know. I''ll stop complaining," Freya turned to Eirik, "Are you sure this will work?" "Positive. I''ve tested this particular trick on people at much higher levels and had specific resistances to it, and it worked. All we need is for them to be in the same place." "OK, OK. And how long do you take to get here, B?" "If I need to run, and I mean really run. 5 minutes, but to make the golems follow me, I have to pace myself, so it will take 20 minutes." "And our thing will last how long?" "Between one to six hours. Depending on how well-equipped they are to handle it. We will have to take them to a safe location, too; don''t forget about that." Freya took a few deep breaths, "Ok, ok. I got this. I hate this, but I got this," she removed her cloak, revealing a red bikini top that would go around her neck. On her waist was the top of a black diving suit tied just tight enough to accentuate her butt and give a clear view to anyone who glanced at her. Her legs were covered by the rest of the diving suit, and her feet were inside a pair of black sandals that mirrored the straps of stilettos without the actual pointy heel. "Go get them, girl," Eirik tried to be supportive, but it felt weird to say it like this. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Make sure to keep the channel open. That I can hear when you give the signal." "I know, I know. And B, I don''t want you talking while I''m doing¡­ that," Freya said. "Awww, but that''s the fun part," Becca chuckled, but they could hear some wind coming together with her voice. It seemed like she was already on the move. Despite taking 20 minutes to get here, she also had to lure as many golems as possible for the plan to work. "No teasing!" Freya huffed and took a pill before she started walking towards the outpost. This checkpoint had eight guards at all times. It was the most well-guarded in this room. The reason for it was the room beyond it. Called Wide Blue, the place was a massive ocean about the size of Spain. However, this increased security wasn''t due to the fear of people escaping there. Instead, it was to stop anyone who tried to escape from going to the room and dying. Despite being mostly water, the room was known for strong currents and was filled with large rocks, reefs, and the occasional monster that would destroy any small boat that tried to sail its ocean. Flying wasn''t a good idea either. Aside from the lack of clouds to hide, the monsters in the room seemed particularly aggressive towards birds. If one were to try to pass through the sky, they would have to fight off constant attacks coming from the depths. There was also the option of jumping between the rocks to reach one of the few islands where the doorways were located, but that required a particular set of skills, and a single mistake would mean death. Ultimately, the best option to travel the room was using a large ship. One that was too heavy to be carried by the currents but still small enough to maneuver around all the rocks that could pierce its hull. Not to mention that the ship''s captain would have to be exceptionally skilled to avoid all those dangers. And that was precisely what Eirik had prepared for their escape. Someone who not only had a ''pocket ship,'' an item that could become a large vessel to carry all the prisoners but also someone who could safely guide that ship to their destination. But this created the problem that Freya was in charge of solving. Since the checkpoint had eight guards, she had to gather them all in the same place for Eirik''s plan to work. If they were spread out, this would become a fight, and they were not confident they would be able to win with just the two of them. Freya walked towards the checkpoint entrance, moving her hips just enough to attract attention but not to seem like she was doing it on purpose. She had her best ''Cover Girl'' smile with glittery makeup around her eyes and a light pink lipstick. The idea was to look like someone ready for a photo shoot on the beach. She approached the group of four guards who were outside. Zestra confirmed that only men were in this shift, but knowing if they would be interested in a woman was another thing entirely. Still, Freya moved with confidence until she reached the group. "Hi, boys. Is this the doorway to the Wide Blue?" she batted her eyelashes and flashed them an innocent smile. "It is, little miss. But I don''t think it''s a good idea for you to go there. By the looks of it, you want to swim, and that is not a good place for that," one of the guards smiled, "I could recommend a different place here in the city if you would like." "Oh, thank you. But I''m not going there to swim. My agency is in a bit of trouble, and they asked me to go there and pose for a few pictures. I''m even the one who has to take these photos," Freya sighed, crossing her arms and trying to make her breasts look bigger. But there wasn''t much to work with, "Would that be ok?" Another of the guards stepped forward, "I don''t think that''s a good idea. The beach is very small, and you''ll have to be close to the water to take the pictures. You are risking being caught by the waves." "That''s not good¡­ Maybe one of you can be there to help me?" Freya smiled, placing both hands behind her back to show more of her body. "Sure, I''ll do it," the first guard replied, but one of the others smacked him in the back of the head. "We can''t leave our post, miss. I''m sorry." "No, no. Don''t be. You are all doing a very good thing here. Saving people''s lives is no joke," she eyed them all as she placed one hand on her chin and bit her finger slightly, "Not to mention you look great in that uniform." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The guards smiled, looking back at Freya, who continued flirting with them for a few moments. "Don''t waste too much time. The pill only lasts for a few minutes." Eirik warned through the communicators. Without signaling that she heard something from someone else, Freya went in for the next part of the plan, "Well¡­ If I can''t go there, my agency gave another suggestion, but I might need some help." "If we can do something to help, I don''t see why we wouldn''t. Right, fellas?" the first guard turned around, getting nods of approval from everyone, even the more strict guard. "Can we go inside and take some pictures in front of the doorway? I would ask one of you to take them so I can pose properly. Then, I cross to the Wide Blue, take a few pictures of the area, and come back without even getting close to the water. The art department can use those pictures to make some magic." The first guard turned around, "We wouldn''t be leaving our post." "You''re not wrong," the strict guard nodded and gestured for them to go inside. It took another three minutes of flirting and talking with all the guards to gather them in front of the doorway. Freya posed for a few pictures just to make them lower their guard when she said, "OK. Now, they also asked me for a pose with Egypt in mind, and I have no idea what they mean. Any suggestions?" Hearing their code word, Eirik moved towards the checkpoint. He took a pill himself and pulled a pair of smoke bombs from his bag. Walking inside, he moved as close as he could to where all the guards were and gently rolled the bombs towards them. Freya continued posing for a few more moments until the guards leaned to the walls and fell asleep where they stood. As soon as the last guard closed his eyes, the model groaned loudly, "I hate this." "You did great. Now help me get them out," Eirik stepped forward, stopping the bombs and using a different one to clear the air before reaching to carry one of the guards. They had a small campsite nearby where they would drop the people they just knocked unconscious. All this effort was to make sure they would be safe. Part of the plan was to keep everyone alive, including the people they had to hurt. Any deaths could be used to stoke even more the fires of anger or justify keeping people locked up. Eirik was able to carry two people at once, while Freya only managed a single person. Artemis also helped, allowing them to take five people on a single trip. As they were heading out with the second group, a loud alarm started to ring in the distance. Freya looked at her watch and frowned, "This is a bit later than expected." "Yeah, but that''s good for us. We should get some extra time. Can you take the rest of the guards? I should be here to reply to anyone who tries to contact the checkpoint," Eirik had already removed all the communicators from the men they knocked unconscious, but someone could try to use the line inside the building itself. As the two finished things up, Becca was running around the city, covered by an illusion to disguise her appearance. There were many clockwork golems and even guards trying to catch her. But that wasn''t something easy to do. The reporter was a fighter, and her [Fury] had changed to something called [Chase]. Instead of an overall buff to her attributes, this allowed her to focus on her mobility and speed. And to recover it, all she had to do was either chase something or be chased by something, which was perfect for the current situation. She was nowhere near her top speed, but it was more than enough to stay ahead of all her pursuers. If the clockwork horses joined, that could change, but lucky for her, they were not a part of the defensive force of the city. She heard the alarm ringing simultaneously as everyone else in the room and turned a corner, now heading directly to the doorway to the Wide Blue. It would take some time to bring the golems to the checkpoint. Considering how long ago Lysandra sent her signal, Becca would arrive together with the escapees. Her actual escape from the city happened without any problems. The golems tried to attack her but failed to land a blow, and the guards focused on running. Between a hoodlum who was annoying the golems and a prison break, the priority was obvious. The reporter spent 20 minutes running. She was making sure to be far enough not to have to worry about the golem''s attacks but not too far to make them stop chasing her. The checkpoint came into view a few moments before Becca noticed the prisoners coming from the right. Everything seemed to be going well. Hera was carrying someone while on top of Nimbus, and there was someone else riding along. Probably Lysandra, but by their size, it could also be Sylvi or Zestra. They all had a similar frame. A couple of guards in front of the pack also noticed the prisoners and started attacking them. It seemed like they were not worried about killing anyone since the spells were quite destructive. Thankfully, they were completely missing their target, thanks to someone diverting the attacks. Looking back, Becca expected the golems to turn around and face the guard, but nothing happened. This was a possibility she was aware of. They wouldn''t change targets because of the amount of spells she launched on the city. Not while she was in this room. Using a boost from her [Chase], the reporter bolted towards the doorway, leaving the Gear Shift Nexus in seconds. As soon as their target was no longer in the room, the golems turned to all the guards and started attacking, catching them by surprise. A few of the prisoners took advantage of the confusion to create large walls blocking the checkpoint path before they went inside. Some of the stronger fugitives took charge to stop the guards who managed to pass the golems, while the weaker and less apt ones all rushed to the doorway. Freya had already crossed a few moments after Becca since they would need people to quickly guide the prisoners to the boat. Hera was moving with the initial wave of people, with Silah still in her arms, when she transferred to the Wide Blue. She arrived on a small island surrounded by water and jagged rocks. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, and there wasn''t a single cloud in sight. Right in front of the doorway was a boat. One that looked either like a ferry or one of those party boats. The entire thing was black with details in gold that gave it a sophisticated look despite the somewhat dingy appearance with some scratches and bumps along the hull. Hera quickly moved to the boat, calling Nimbus and Lurize to help anyone get on board. The Empress herself didn''t help anyone. Instead, she looked for a place to lay down Silah properly and continued fueling Edge with more mana to help the blacksmith recover. Back in the Gear Shift Nexus, the battle continued. Hornet, Zestra, Lysandra, and Nethe focused on knocking out as many guards as possible while Sylvi and Eirik helped the people move to the next room. Surprisingly, it took only 10 minutes for the last prisoners to leave the room, and no one was seriously injured. Some cuts and bruises, a dislocated shoulder here and there, but nothing more severe than the condition they were found in. Everyone still seemed to have some energy to continue if needed, except for Sylvi. She spent the entire time buffing everyone with increased stamina and healing them as they ran to ensure no one was left behind. Her mana was almost gone, and her mind was exhausted. Yet she knew her work was just starting. When arriving on the ship, she would have less than a day to heal the prisoners the best way she could before they split off. That wasn''t even taking into account whatever was going on with Silah. She crossed just as the last fugitive left the room, soon followed by Hornet, Zestra, and Lysandra. Nethe was still outside, activating a particular skill that let out a gust of wind, pushing all guards 50 meters back before a hurricane appeared with the checkpoint right in the middle of it. He rushed to the next room, and now there was just one person left. Eirik made sure there was no one else left to cross, grabbed a large bag on his back, and pressed a button on its side. A timer showing 25 seconds appeared, and he placed it on the ground before crossing over to the Wide Blue. The guards tried to push through the hurricane, but the wind was too strong, and it would mess up most of their skills. Eventually, a couple of them managed to enter the eye of the storm, but before they could get closer, something exploded, and the entire building was encased in a giant block of ice. Even with the best fire spells at their disposal, it would take at least 20 minutes to melt enough of the ice to reach the doorway. By then, the fugitives would be long gone, thanks to the boat the guards knew nothing about. 723 - Victory at a cost As soon as Eirik boarded the ship, it started moving. Leaving the beach was the most dangerous part of this process. Almrak, the beastman who was the ship captain, kept cursing as he tried to move the boat against the current. If he just let the water guide them, they would hit one of the many jagged rocks and crash, sending them all to the ocean''s depths. It was a tense two minutes, with everyone holding on to the ship and Nimbus even going outside to push it in the right direction at Eirik''s request. But thankfully, they managed to pass that initial hurdle and continue their journey through the larger currents in the ocean. It was still a bumpy ride, but the danger was minimal, thanks to Captain Almrak''s skills. When the boat started moving, Sylvi healed a few of the people injured in the fight against the guards. There wasn''t anything dangerous, but using battle heals was easier than healing an old injury. After the ship stopped rocking so much due to the rapids trying to bring them to a rock, the triton started looking after Hera and Silah. It didn''t take long for her to find them in the lower decks, the dwarf already on a bench with Hera holding her hand by the side. "I need water and medical supplies, now! Eirik, come here too. I might need some tools," Sylvi yelled to whoever was willing to hear and got closer to Hera, "I''m glad you managed to wake her up for the transfer. If she was still unconscious, it would have been a problem. Hera frowned, "But she didn''t wake up. I just moved, and she came with me." Sylvi stopped, "What?" "Yeah. What''s wrong? I did that with Blue a while back, too." "You told me that story. In that situation, the doorway was the only path to safety because of the MAZE itself, not because of people," Sylvi looked at Silah and frowned, kneeling beside her, "Give me a moment." The triton took Silah''s wrist in her hand and then moved to her neck. Despite her findings, she tried using a few healing spells. Simple ones that wouldn''t waste too much mana but would at least have a reaction. However, the spells fizzled out. This time, it wasn''t because they hit a wall like what happened in the lab, but right now, there was nothing left to heal. In the eyes of the system, Silah was no longer a person, just a person''s remains. "Hera¡­ I''m sorry," Sylvi shook her head. "For what? Do you need more time? Is there anything I can do to help? I have some mana stones with me if you run out," the Empress started looking for her mana stones, not wanting to understand what the triton was saying. "No¡­ It''s not that. Silah... She''s gone." "No, she''s right here. Heal her, please," Hera''s voice cracked as she held back tears. "Hera¡­ I can''t bring back the dead." "No, no. NO! We don''t leave people behind! We save them all. Nobody dies. That was the plan! If she dies, then we failed. I failed her. Please!" Hera was already starting to sob. She knew Sylvi wouldn''t lie to her. She knew that this wasn''t a joke. Yet, she couldn''t accept it, not after all of this. "I''m sorry." Sylvi got up and walked away. Other people needed her. She wanted to be there for Hera, but a healer couldn''t linger to comfort people when there was more to do. Instead, Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka appeared and held the Empress. Hera continued crying and asking Silah to come back for several minutes while still trying to use her own spells to heal her. It was hard to watch, but no one in the boat complained. They all escaped thanks to Hera and the team, and the explorer wasn''t the only one who had people she cared about involved in this. Even if the connections weren''t as strong. Lysandra knew a couple of elves who were captured a long time ago, Eirik had friends who were part of the seminar, and Hornet trained a few of the guards who were captured along with the crafters. Nethe and Sylvi didn''t know anyone personally, but the two of them were part of their species'' government, which gave them some sense of responsibility. The only one who had no connections with anyone that was captured was Freya. That didn''t mean she didn''t care about what was happening. She got involved thanks to Blade of Dawn, the only person who was a part of the attack on the centaurs, and managed to escape before being sent to prison. The high-level fighter had met Freya long ago, and she was aware of her connection with Becca. Contacting Freya was just a way to get a message to Becca, a message that resulted in the current situation. Because of those connections, all the fugitives seeing Hera cry had complicated feelings. On one hand, they were happy to have been rescued and glad that they survived. On the other, it didn''t seem fair for the one casualty to be someone this close to one of their saviors. Now that they were on the ship, just waiting to reach their next destination, Zestra, Hornet, Lysandra, Nethe, and Freya had almost nothing to do. They gave Hera her space and talked with the prisoners about their next steps. Sylvi was still in a frenzy, going from person to person for a complete checkup. She started with the ones who looked the worst first but had to skip the elf with a black tattoo around his neck. Dealing with that would take a long time, and she didn''t know if her healing would only aggravate his condition. At one point, when Hera stopped crying , Sylvi approached and used a spell that would preserve Silah''s body. That way, the blacksmith''s corpse wouldn''t start rotting or getting into the early stages of rigor mortis. This wasn''t just a way to let her family say her proper goodbyes but also to make it easier to carry the body back. The triton would only need to use that spell once every 7 days, and it was something many healers had at their disposal. Eirik also had a lot of work to do. Every fugitive still had the guild bracelet on them, which could be used to track those people. Removing them was complicated since each bracelet was bound to them with the help of the system. But there were ways to get rid of them. He had already removed the bracelet from the entire team and left them behind in the hotel. They had another contact that would be taking those bracelets away in a few days and passing them along to a few other people before reuniting them with their original owners. All of this was an attempt to hide their involvement in this, even if it was likely that people would realize they didn''t leave the room. After Hera stopped crying, she said nothing but refused to let go of Silah''s hand. Her mind was constantly racing, thinking about what she could''ve done differently. She made so many mistakes during the entire operation, so many things she could''ve done to save Silah properly. The planning took too long. There were moments when they talked like friends instead of finding better ways to get inside. Eirik needed a couple of days to finish making the tools they used, and Hera didn''t help him. If she had studied more about her crafter role, she might''ve been able to speed that up. During the infiltration, they were too careful in areas they didn''t need to. She also took too long to put all the stickers. Fighting the Daemon was also something she could''ve done better. Hell, if she attacked the man right away, maybe he wouldn''t even use that power. Looking for the spirit was also something that took too long. She also could''ve carried Silah better. She jostled her too much while on top of Nimbus and even used poison needles to stop attacks. She had learned to do it in the past few weeks, using poison to attack a spell directly, but she had to focus on doing so. Maybe she held Silah too tightly or in the wrong position during those moments. Or she did something that hurt her and led to her death. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Was she that careless just because they broke up? Would she have acted the same way if they were still together? Would she be there when she was kidnapped or dragged to that lab? Was all of this her fault for opening Boothudurn to the rest of the MAZE? Maybe she should''ve accepted that she would live there for the rest of her life and spent the next 80 years with Silah and the other dwarfs, living happily among them. Hera spent the next few days in a daze. Those questions and possibilities kept going through her head again and again. During all that time, she refused to let go of Silah. She only ate when someone told her to and moved only when Nimbus, Lurize, or Livy guided her. People tried talking with her, but the Empress was unresponsive. Thankfully, the same couldn''t be said for her court, who could still fight and defend the group from eventual monsters or help people who were having some kind of trouble. Sylvi tried helping her and checked to see if the trauma had triggered a psychosis, but Hera was still in control of her mental faculties. She wasn''t doing great by any stretch of the imagination, but there weren''t any signals that showed she was losing touch with reality. But the triton still stressed that Hera should try to talk with a professional when she had a chance. After the Wide Blue, everyone continued moving together, crossing another 5 doorways each day to get as far away from the Gear Shift Nexus as possible. This was a risky move since it exposed them to the possibility of someone getting stuck due to the crossing limit. However, since that limit was followed by almost everyone, the guild would first look for the fugitives in rooms up to 3 crossing away from the prison''s location. Only after checking all of them would they expand the search. Lysandra had organized a path that would lead them only to rooms without settlements until they reached their safe house in one of the minor cities of the elven empire. It was in a room called Crydonia. It was a place covered in snow with unique types of vegetation that thrived in the cold weather. But to get there, they would take 4 days, moving through 5 rooms each day. There was some discussion about moving slower since some of the fugitives struggled to keep up, but in the end, they all agreed to press on. Reaching a safe place was worth the effort. After reaching Crydonia, they would split off. Each member of the team would take the members of their species to places where they would be protected. The dwarves from Boothudurn would have to go with Hornet for now since their home was too deep into human territory, and the guild would be looking for them. Eventually, they would be smuggled back, but that would have to wait sometime. Becca, Freya, and Hera were the only ones who wouldn''t have to go with anyone, but they all agreed to do so. Freya would join Lysandra and Eirik, Becca would accompany Zestra and Nethe, and Hera with Hornet and Sylvi. Unfortunately, the thing they all feared happened when they were just 4 rooms away from Crydonia. Hera was hit by the crossing debuff. Making her unable to leave the room for the next 3 months. They were in a room called Mantis Lair, which only had a tiny outpost with less than 50 people living there. The monsters here were all giant variations of mantises mixed with other types of creatures or elements. "Shit¡­" Lysandra scratched her head when Hera told them about the debuff, "Staying in the outpost is a bad idea. The place is too small, and if they ever come looking for you, it would be easy to spot you. Do you think you can live in the wild for that long?" "Wait, I have a better idea," Eirik said, "There is a dungeon in this room called Pinnacle Mountain. There are monsters there, yes, but they are all from levels 34 to 38. However, she doesn''t have to fight them. The dungeon is about getting the approval of the old¡­ mantis person who lives at the top. You can stay there for as long as you want. A couple of houses are near the master''s mansion, and every morning, a basket of food appears in the kitchen. Being alone there might not be easy, but Hera wouldn''t be alone." "That is a good idea. We can even send someone here weekly to see how she''s doing. But then we need to set up a proper location where it would be safe to talk," Nethe frowned. "I can just send Lurize out. Sure, he attracts attention, but he can be in his bug form until whoever you send gets to a private place or something," Hera suggested, with Silah''s body still in her arms. "Hera¡­ if you are staying here. I think you should let us take Silah with us," Sylvi said, "We can keep her body safe until we find a way to take her back to her home." "I already have some ideas about that," Eirik said. Hera looked down, tears forming in her eyes. She knew that taking Silah''s body to a dungeon was stupid, but still, it wasn''t easy, "Can I have a moment?" she asked, and everyone moved away to give her space. The Empress stared at the blacksmith in her arms, thinking about everything that happened between them, "I''m sorry. I can''t take you home. I failed you again." the Empress kissed Silah''s forehead and hugged her, tears streaming down her face. A couple of minutes later, she joined the rest of the group again, and Ptrek got closer to take the body. After saying her goodbyes, Hera asked Eirik, "Do you have a map of this room? With the dungeon marked on it?" "Yes. Here," Eirik turned his tablet to Hera since the Empress no longer had her own. The only electronic they had available was the one the beastman carried. This was because he was the only device that was properly protected against tracking. "We can take you there," Becca suggested. "No, you need to keep moving. I''m the one who is stuck, so I''ll figure it out myself," Hera turned to the fugitives, "Good luck, and stay safe." With that, she left the group, heading towards the dungeon. Livy was right by her side, with Lurize flanking her. Nimbus, however, stayed behind for a bit and turned to the team, "We will take care of her. Don''t worry. She''s not alone." "Please do. She didn''t deserve what happened. None of us did," Hornet nodded. "I''ll have someone drop by in a week. Eirik, do you have a watch? An analog one?" Lysandra asked. "One moment," Eirik waved his hand in the air, creating a pocket watch with an alarm option, "Here. It''s set up to ring once every 7 days starting today. When it rings, someone will be here. They''ll have the symbol on the back of the watch stamped on their clothes. Probably around the arm or chest." "Thank you," Lysandra smiled since the beastman seemed to have thought about everything. "I appreciate it. Also, if you can tell Hera''s friends and family that she''s ok. It would be very helpful. I know she wouldn''t want to worry them too much," Nimbus added. "We will," Becca nodded, already taking that job as her responsibility. "Well, until next time," Nimbus waved to them as he picked up the watch and rushed back to Hera''s side. The fugitives all stared at the Empress while she left, knowing they wouldn''t be free if it wasn''t for her. They watched her until she was no longer in their view, vanishing in the forest of the room. None of them would ever forget what she did for all of them, and the price she paid for it. 724 - Old City of Zaxalam A few days after Hera left with Becca to rescue the dwarves captured by the guild, Shane and the Royal explorers found a path to the Old City of Zaxalam. Even better, it was very close to the doorway they took to get to Gartinet Hollow. The new room, right beside the Naga capital, was already a treasure trove. Not only did it have an actual city completely built by the Naga, but the room itself also had places that could be used for farmland, both outside and under a mountain. Unfortunately, the weather was almost the opposite of what it was in Boothudurn, which would take some getting used to for the potential new denizens. Surrounded by a tropical forest, The Old City of Zaxalam greeted visitors with a weathered archway that still showed intricate designs of snakes spiraling towards the top. Parts of the stone structure had been broken, but the fact that a good part of the details still survived after thousands of years in an environment such as this was a testament to the Naga craftsmanship. The entrance was perched on the side of a massive mountain blending seamlessly while still being very close to the jungle floor. It was a mesmerizing sight, something that even poets would have trouble describing. Moving deeper into the multiple levels of the city, there was a massive plaza with a large fountain of water that was currently not being used. It was shaped like a large tree, and the water would fall from its branches like its leaves. Beyond it, there was a pyramid-like structure used by the leaders of the place for important meetings and other governmental issues. Shane was the one who found all that out, thanks to her knowledge of the Naga people. There were some monsters inside the city, but the Royal Explorers got rid of them rather quickly. It was good that the room itself was only on layer 7, meaning that monsters in there wouldn''t be above level 18. Even more interesting was the fact that some of the houses seemed to be made by dwarves. The Royal Explorers recognized some of the architecture and even a few of the family crests that were on display. They were the same crests as the ones some families in Boothudurn had. There was a third type of architecture in the mix, one that was completely unbothered by time. Pillars and walls that were still in pristine condition, even if there was dust covering them as if the MAZE itself had created that place. Which was something Trillian asked and discovered that it was half correct. The inner structure of the mountain was already hollowed out when the Naga arrived. There were several chambers with support pillars and walls already there that were turned into the sprawling city they now could see. He also got curious and confirmed that dwarves did live here at some point, but he ran out of time with that question. However, it was hard not to believe they came from Kul Dolor. Especially when they started finding more familiar crests in the neighborhood where the dwarven structures were located. Just a couple of days after getting there, Shane was sure they had cleared any monsters from the city and called the guide. Confirming that the city was clear of danger and making one more discovery. Nearby, in a massive hole in the ground, by the old bones of a creature that seemed almost as big as one of the smaller mountains around the jungle, there was a door. A door with a large snake head carved on it. Touching that door would trigger a notification that looked like it belonged to the system, but the color of the window was wrong. Instead of the regular light blue, it was green with golden letters. Inside it, there was a warning, letting everyone know that only a Naga could unlock the door and that what was behind would be destroyed if the lock was broken. Any attempts to tamper with the door or with the area around it would bounce off a barrier, and if a force too strong tried to break through, an explosion would vaporize everything in a 2km radius, and the doorway that was hidden behind it would be encased in a diamond that absorbed all mana that touched it. What would actually happen if the door was broken wasn''t described in the notification, but it was part of the information the guide gave Shane. According to them, this lock was made with the help of the guides. That''s why it had the notification and such a powerful effect behind it. The guide didn''t say anything, but to Shane, it was clear. Behind that lock was the doorway to the city of Deakoshara, the home of the Naga civilization. After sharing that with the Royal Explores, Adriel asked permission to leave the city for a while. There was something about that door that he had to confirm. Around one week after finding Zaxalam, the guards of Boothudurn started to travel there to find a safe path. Rutigan and the other dwarves were starting to get annoyed with how they were being treated. There were even some humans being rude in their stores and trying to strong-arm the owners into giving them free items. Time passed, and Becca arrived in the city asking for a meeting with Rutigan. She first stopped by Eridan''s place to tell him and the Empress'' friends about what happened. She didn''t go into details but let them know that Hera was safe, just stuck somewhere, and that she had done a very good thing. Everyone was a bit confused since what she said was very generic, but they had no reason to doubt her. Later on that week, when she managed to talk with the King, she explained a bit more to him. Before the operation, she had talked with Hera at length about who should know what happened. And Rutigan was on the list of people who the Empress trusted wouldn''t do anything stupid with that information. She also explained to him about Silah, making sure to spare no detail, Daemon and all. The end of their conversation was about how they could bring the blacksmith''s body back. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. At the end of that day, around 100 humans who were level 40 and above appeared in the room, including a couple who were level 70. Amongst them was a guild representative who demanded to see the King and interrogate Eridan and the humans who lived in his house. During their escape, Hera lost her mask, and while they ran away, a couple of cameras managed to capture her image. This meant that, right now, Hera was considered a wanted person, and anyone who knew her was a potential associate. Rutigan and the guards tried to push back, but it quickly became clear that the guild could call for reinforcements at the drop of a hat. Another 100 humans at level 50 arrived less than 30 minutes after the King started arguing. In a show of force, they stopped anyone from entering or leaving the room and interrogated every person in Boothudurn. Becca was the only one who was spared from the questioning. She was famous enough and liked enough by the guild to earn that favor, but she still had to stay until they were done. During the next month, the dwarves and anyone living in the city were under martial law and communication with the outside was cut. Those invaders would rough up anyone who tried to break their curfew. Hera''s friends and family were all questioned several times with increasing intensity. Thankfully, the Empress didn''t give them any information about what was going on. They weren''t even aware that Silah had been kidnapped, much less about a grand conspiracy. At the end of that month, when the humans were done with their investigation, they left behind several houses that were trashed during their ''inspections'' and many dwarves hating the guild. Yet, it seemed like those people didn''t care. They all looked at the citizens of Boothudurn like they were inferior, not just because of their levels. On the day they left, the guild also issued a statement that Hera and her masked partners were all wanted for having broken several dangerous criminals out of prison, killing guards in the process. Even if Becca didn''t say anything, the Empress'' friends and family, Eridan and the council, and all the Royal Explorers had no doubts that the guild was lying. Or at least hiding some important information. The dwarves from Boothudurn also doubted those claims. Hera was a sweet and gentle person. She wouldn''t have done something like that. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. To avoid something even worse happening, Rutigan had to make some concessions and apologize for the situation. That was something that really didn''t sit well with any of his subjects, but they also understood why he did it. It took less than a day for the guild to mobilize those people. The reason this happened was because they were very close to Earth, allowing people to get there in two days at the latest. This only reinforced the King''s belief in their plan to move. Before, they were close to fun neighbors who would bring new and exciting things to their city. Now, it felt like they were deep in enemy territory, and they would need to move to a safer location. It also helped that there were more rooms connected to the Old City of Zaxalam, meaning they could potentially go much deeper into the MAZE. During the next couple of months, a mass exodus started to happen in Boothudurn. The dwarves gathered everything they could and slowly moved to the place where their new home would be. That wasn''t easy to do, but several factors pushed them to accept this decision. First, they all had faith in Rutigan and his rule. The King had always put their well-being above everything, and he was beloved by his people. Second, no one in the city had experienced oppression like that before. They only heard stories about it from their ancestors. The stories about how rulers and people in power would ask for more and more of them without caring about their well-being. Third, Hera and Blue were still considered two of the best things that ever happened to the city. The dwarves had accepted that not all humans were good, but the two women who opened their room were. There was no doubt in their minds. While that immigration was going on, the guild maintained its presence in Boothudurn. They were doing that to cut off the dwarves from the rest of the MAZE, trying to stop any of the other races from reaching out to help. They also continued with their questioning, asking everyone in the room about Hera over and over again. They were particularly aggressive with Blue and the others. After all, if anyone would know where the fugitive was hiding, it would be her party. Eventually, the guild got tired of waiting and called all of them to a meeting. Blue, Alex, Bonnie, and Helena were there. Shane and Mylo were currently in Zaxalam, and that saved them from this uncomfortable situation. But they were dealing with their own issues. A few representatives of the guild had waited until most of the dwarves had moved and now were trying to take Zaxalam for themselves. Their argument was that this was in human territory and that any city they found here would belong to them. Thankfully, the guild still didn''t know how to trigger the correct path through the Shtylla Archipelago, which gave Shane and the dwarves a way to keep them out. For the rest of the group, however, the problem was different. After they were coerced to spend 2 hours waiting in the guild, the representative walked in. It was Peter, the same person who spent the last months interrogating everyone. "Hello. We really need to stop meeting like this," Peter said with a smile as he walked inside the room. "Then stop coming after us. We told you, we don''t know where Hera is and why she did what she did," Alex had her arms crossed while staring daggers at the man. "Yes, that is what you said, and we know that you are telling the truth. We used some spells to verify that," Peter nodded. "Then what are we doing here?" Bonnie huffed. "We know you are still hiding something. But that doesn''t matter right now. What you need to remember is that your friend is a menace to society, and you are close to her. Even if you say, you don''t know what she was doing. So, here is what you will do. You will go after her. I don''t care how you find her or what you have to do to get to her, but you will find and capture Hera Kingsley." Blue scoffed, "Yeah, right. We are not doing your dirty work. Even if she is in the wrong," the controller didn''t believe that, but she had learned that it was better to pretend that Hera was a criminal when talking with these people. "You are taking the alternative then? Very well," he tapped a button on his tablet, and a screen behind him appeared with a news article, "Then this is the headline for tomorrow." The article was titled ''Hera Kingsley flees using her associates as scapegoats.'' It continued to say how the other people who participated in the prison break were captured, but the mastermind behind it managed to escape. Below it, there was a picture of Blue, Alex, Helena, and Bonnie. The article continued by saying their full names and listing their close family back on Earth. "And, of course, you will all be under arrest. We can''t have the news telling lies, can we?" Peter said with a smile. "So that''s what the guild is doing now? Threatening people''s families just because they don''t get what they want?" Helena squinted at the man. "No one is threatening you. The only person who put you all in any danger was your friend. She joined forces with a terrorist organization to break several criminals out of prison. And we won''t do anything with your families. Now, if people decide to vent their anger on your loved ones, that''s a problem the police of Earth would have to worry about." "Fuck you," Blue snarled. "I''m afraid I''m a married man. But I appreciate the invitation," Peter replied with a smirk, only gaining glares from the group as a reply, "Fine, fine. I''ll be more reasonable. You don''t have to capture Hera. You can just kill her. As long as you record her death, the guild will believe in your innocence. I''ll give you all a moment to decide. Oh, and don''t try to escape. We have people outside to take you to jail. If that is your choice," with that last line, he left the conference room. Blue and the others knew they couldn''t talk properly right now, but they also had to make a decision. Unfortunately, they had no good options, and their time was running out. After a few minutes, they all walked out of the room, having come to a decision. 725 - Finding Hera "Are you sure this is the right place?" Blue turned to Alex, who was hiding on top of a tree. It was the middle of the night, and they had to stay in the dark not to attract attention. "Yes, this is the place. And she should come out today," the assassin shifted, making sure to cover the lens of the camera strapped to her body for a moment. The last thing they needed was for the moonlight to reflect on it and give away their position. "Those things are so annoying," Alex huffed as she moved closer to the tree trunk to avoid the light. "I know, I feel like I can barely move my arms," Blue tried stretching, but one of the straps on her back stopped her shoulder. The guild provided those cameras, but they were far from being top of the line. They looked more like old body cams that the cops back on Earth used a few years ago. At least the quality of the image was good enough not to cause any issues. By itself, that wasn''t a problem, but the harness that they had to use was a nightmare. It was made with very sturdy materials, but the drawback was that wearing it felt like you were constantly being strangled by some vines. The guild used the excuse that it was harder to recognize those cameras and that it would be strong enough to keep them together during a fight. "Don''t talk so loudly, and Blue, stop moving around so much. You are going to give our position away," Bonnie scolded the two. "Helena made a soundproof bubble. Is not as good as Hera''s, but¡­" Blue frowned, her face showing the conflict inside her mind. "Look there! Someone is coming out of the dungeon," Alex warned everyone. A person wearing a black cloak emerged from a large opening inside a massive tree. They looked around, walked over to a nearby broken trunk on the ground, and reached for the tree hollow. A soft glow covered their hand before the person pulled out a small piece of paper. Looking around to ensure no one was close by, the person revealed more of their face. Golden hair and brown eyes on a light pink skin and soft features. It was a face that all four women would recognize anywhere. Helena was the first to rush over, making the figure jump back and pull a pair of daggers from under her cloak. "Lena?" Hera asked with a confused expression. "Hera! How are you? Are you ok?" "Yeah. Well¡­ No, but I''m managing. What are you doing here?" "Looking for you! We heard you were involved in a prison break or some weird thing. What happened?" Helena asked. Hera looked around, "I can explain all that, but we can''t talk here. People might see me. Even if few people are around here, that doesn''t mean they don''t come to the dungeon. Come with me. Let''s go inside." "Ok, the girls are here too. Blue, Alex, and Bonnie," Helena gestured to their hiding spot. Hera frowned, looking over, "I didn''t notice them¡­ I''m getting reckless," she shook her head and smiled, "But it will be nice to see you all. I''m getting a bit crazy being here alone." "Where do we need to go? Back to the dungeon?" "Yeah," Hera nodded, "Call them here. Since I don''t have a tablet on me, we need to hold hands to get inside to be in a party." Helena frowned. That wasn''t the case. As long as they walked close together, they would get inside without a problem, and Hera should know that. Still, the mage felt it was better not to say anything. Going back to their hiding spot, Helena told the rest to join them. They greeted the Empress, but she didn''t say much, only looked around to make sure there was no one else following them before grabbing their hands and walking inside the dungeon. The tunnel inside a tree led to a small cave opening that would give way to a massive mountain range. Valleys hidden by the clouds spread out, forming almost a spider web around the tallest peak. The quest of this dungeon was to climb all the way to the top of the central mountain, using the rope bridges obscured by the mist, and then get the approval of the old master, who was at the very pinnacle of this place, both figuratively and literally. "Can we talk now?" Blue asked after they all went inside the dungeon. "Not yet. Let''s move ahead a bit. Just to be safe. I don''t know if the MAZE is going to consider that being here is enough for other people to get inside," Hera replied while looking around as if she was searching for someone. They continued walking in silence for about five minutes, with the Empress guiding them towards one of the longer bridges that went directly to the inner circle of mountains. "Hera, stop!" Bonnie called, "This is far enough. What is going on!" they could see the rope bridge going for a few meters before vanishing inside the perpetual cloud that covered that area. "What? Why do you want to know?" Hera yelled, anger flaring up in her eyes. She looked at the group and took a deep breath before removing her hood, "Sorry, it''s been tough. How much do you know?" Everyone froze when they saw her. The Empress looked awful. She was never the type to spend hours on end taking care of her appearance, but she always cared about how she looked. Yet, now her hair was a mess. Not only was it cut in a weird way, almost as if she did it herself and without a mirror, but there was something stuck to it. Some type of mud or, the more worrying possibility, feces. Her lips were extremely dry and cracked, and her skin was somewhat yellow. Not to the point of showing something wrong with her liver, but enough to show that there was a problem. "Hera¡­" Alex''s voice was soft and full of worry. "What do you know?" the Empress pressed. The four looked at each other, and Bonnie stepped forward to speak, "We know you participated in a prison break. Getting the criminals out and running away with them. But we don''t know why you did that." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Because of what was happening inside there! And they weren''t criminals, just people the guild wanted to get rid of," Hera huffed. "And what was going on?" Helena asked. "You wouldn''t believe it even if I told you. I wouldn''t believe it. That shouldn''t be possible, and people were so hurt¡­ There was so much pain," Hera looked down, her eyes seeming to stare into something far away. "Tell us. You know you can trust us," Bonnie got closer and placed one hand on Hera''s shoulder. Only then did she notice how the Empress'' clothes were dirty. It looked like they weren''t washed in weeks, maybe even months. "Can I?" Hera looked up, "I''m sorry, but it''s really suspicious. How did you find out I was here?" "We were worried, so we came looking for you," Alex replied. "OK, but how did you figure it out? The only one who would know the direction we took would be¡­" Hera stepped back, with one hand on her waist, holding her red dagger, "The guild." "Yeah. The guild asked us to find you and gave us a general idea of where you and the fugitives could''ve gone. Apparently, they stopped in Crydonia for a while. When people figured that out, they were all gone, but there were signs in their safe house. Since we didn''t have any other leads, we started scouring the rooms between there and the Gear Shift Nexus," Bonnie explained. "You¡­ You are working with the guild!" Hera yelled. That rage that was in her eyes, flaring up again. "Calm down. We are on your side," Helena tried to speak in a soft voice, not to trigger any reaction from the Empress. "Yeah," Blue put both hands up and walked slowly towards Hera, "Look, we didn''t want to work with them, but we were worried about you. Your dad is too, especially after he was interrogated by th-" Before Blue finished speaking, Hera''s fist came crashing down on her face, "What the fuck did you do with my father!" "Hera!" Alex and Bonnie gasped. "Sweetie, please. We are trying to help you. Eridan is-" Helena had to duck to avoid a poison needle the Empress threw at her. "Take my dad''s name out of your mouth!" "Ok, tough love it is," Blue huffed and moved in a flash, grabbing Hera''s arm, "We are taking you home. You need help, Hera." Hera let out a fire spray from her hands aimed at the controller''s head. Blue managed to dodge most of the attack, but the tip of her nose was burned along with some of her hair. During the attack, the Empress slipped away, heading to the bridge. "You are not taking me! The guild is not taking me! I''m not going to let them do to me what they did with Silah!" Hera yelled and started running towards the bridge. Helena used her shadow grabbers, trying to stop her, but the Empress knew that was coming. Alex rushed after her, running in the air to cut her off on the other side of the bridge. Blue also started to chase after Hera, and her agility was high enough to allow her to catch up, but it would still take a few moments. Bonnie tried to use some spells to bind the Empress, but those were new and still not precise enough to catch a moving target. Hera dodged all the initial attacks, trying to make stone walls rise from the ground to give her more time. She also sent a few poison needles towards anyone in sight. That was the most disturbing thing about her actions. The Empress only used poison when she wanted to kill her target. The stone barriers were enough to buy her time until she reached the bridge and continued running, vanishing inside the clouds. Alex tried to follow, but the moment she stepped out of the mountain, she bounced back. Whatever this cloud was, it would stop anyone from flying through. She had to go back around and walk through the bridge to continue following Hera. Blue, on the other hand, was right behind the Empress. They continued running for a few moments until the controller got enough of a feel for the place to have an idea. Using her Stormcloud legacy, she pushed parts of the mist away and made a barrier in front of her. Unfortunately, her first attempt took too long, and Hera passed her first cloud wall. Trying again, Blue sped up the spell, but the clouds still took too long to change. The issue here was that she wasn''t using an already-made skill from her legacy; instead, she was trying to make an incomplete version. Giving up, she dropped that spell only to cast a skill called [Cloud Dome]. It would make the cloud shaped almost like a solid lid, stopping anyone from getting in or out. The only problem was that reinforcing the stopping power of the skill wouldn''t change what was underneath it. "Hera, stop!" Blue called again, but the Empress just slammed against the cloud wall, trying to break through. She slammed her daggers against it, only for the blades to pass through and be spat back out with enough force to make her fall back, dropping the weapons from the bridge. The controller continued getting closer, "Hera, please!" Hearing Blue''s voice approaching, the Empress jumped to her feet and got into a fighting stance, "I''m not going to jail!" "Ok, that''s fine. Just come out here so we can talk." "Do you promise?" Hera''s voice was shaky and full of fear. "I do. We are just here to talk," Blue reached out, giving her hand for Hera to hold. Hera dropped her guard a bit and cautiously took Blue''s. She approached her friend with a more calm expression, but the camera on the controller''s chest made a noise as if it was trying to change its focus. "What''s that?" Hera stopped moving. "Oh... It''s¡­. Er¡­" Blue hesitated, unsure if telling her was the right move. "Is that a fucking camera?" Hera asked, point blank. "Yes, but it''s not-" as Blue tried to speak, the Empress pushed her hand back and kicked her friend on the stomach, trying to hit the camera. She wasn''t able to even move away as the controller grabbed her foot. "You bitch! Who is watching this?!" Hera yelled, trying to pull back, but Blue was too strong. "No one! This doesn''t have a streaming feature. It is one of those old models that just record." "So you are recording me!" Hera yelled and jumped, trying to kick Blue''s face with a spinning kick. As her foot kicked the rope bridge, it made it swing to the side, and her own body went in the opposite direction. She was about to fall from the bridge when Blue grabbed her leg with her free hand, holding the Empress upside down as the rope bridge kept swinging, "Hera! Hold on! I''ll pull you up." "Let go of me! I''m not going to jail!" Hera yelled, her eyes bloodshot as she flailed around, trying to get free. The cloak she was wearing fell and was swallowed by the surrounding cloud. "Fine, I''ll leave. Just let me pull you up!" Blue pleaded, but the Empress didn''t care. She continued hitting the controller until a powerful kick to Blue''s nose caused her to let go. Hera started falling, yelling as she vanished into the cloud of the valley. "Hera!" Blue tried making another lid, but this time upside down to catch her friend. The problem was that it took a few moments for her current skill to disappear before she could use it again. By the time the lid was being made as far away as she could, a dull thud echoed as something slammed against the rocks at the bottom of the ravine. "Blue!" Alex called with Bonnie and Helena right behind her, "Where is Hera?" Blue closed her eyes, and with the bridge still swinging from left to right, she used her legacy to push the cloud away and see what was down there. There was nothing for around two hundred meters. But beyond that was the ground, and illuminated by the sunlight of the room that was able to pierce the cloud all the way to the bottom of the ravine, was a broken body with twisted limbs and a pool of red forming around her. The four women stood there, staring at their friend for a few minutes. Without saying a word, they started to move towards the dungeon''s exit. Every single one of them had a complicated expression on their faces. Hera was dead, and they were the ones responsible. 726 - Guilt Blue, Helena, Alex, and Bonnie were all sitting in one of the rooms in the only tavern in the Mantis Lair. It was a small place, and they only had rooms with two beds, but right now, they had to deal with this together. They had a tablet set up in front of them and were waiting for Peter to pick up the call. "He''s doing this just to be an ass," Bonnie huffed. "Yeah, probably," Alex glanced at the cameras that were inside a drawer in the corner of the room. They had already confirmed with the guild representative that they should call him, but it''s been over two minutes since the annoying ring started, and nothing. Another minute went by until he finally picked up. "Oh, hello. Apologies, Martha had a question about our printer. Now, what can I help you with?" Peter appeared on the screen eating a piece of strawberry shortcake. "Asshole," Alex mumbled. "We found Hera," Helena spoke up. "Oh, lovely. And how long will it take for you to capture her?" Peter asked as he took a bite of his cake. "Forever. We tried to capture her, but she died inside a dungeon," Blue replied. She tried to pretend to be okay, but by the end of the sentence, she had already slumped back against the bed. "I hope you have more proof of it than your word. Otherwise, we will have problems," Peter said with a smile. "Yeah, we have the files from the camera. I checked. It caught her death," Bonnie was stone-faced. She refused to let him see her break. "OK. Send it to me." Bonnie pressed a few buttons and uploaded the file. Thankfully, despite being in a room with little to no infrastructure, the connection here was good enough that the upload was almost instant. Peter looked to the side, clicked a few things, and watched the video. No one spoke for around 15 minutes while he made sure everything was caught on camera, "Well. If it was just her falling into the clouds, I would doubt your words, but Blue was smart enough to get some proof. I understand why you weren''t able to get a better shot, but this should be enough. It was clear that this woman was crazy. This video will work great when we release it." "You are going to show that to people?!" Alex gasped. "Of course. We need to show that people who commit crimes are punished and terrorists are dealt with accordingly," Peter nodded, "But, you did what I asked you to, so your names won''t be related to this. I''ll make sure to distort your voices in the video and frame the shots so none of you shows up. We can''t have people knowing the faces of our bounty hunters, can we? Oh, I just transferred your pay. And don''t even think about refusing. The guild will always give people the rewards they deserve." "Fine," Blue huffed, "So are we done here?" "For now. Yes. We will discuss how you will be reprimanded internally, and I''ll get in contact later," Peter took another bite of cake. "Reprimanded? Why?" Alex frowned. "You all murdered an explorer. She might have been a terrorist, but killing someone should never go unpunished." "You are a piece of shit," Blue snarled. "Thank you for caring, but I''m taking my coffee. I believe it won''t take long for me to take out any shit in me," Peter raised a cup in a toast before taking a sip. "Blue," Helena grabbed the controller''s hand before turning back to Peter, "And where should we drop off the cameras? Any guild chapter?" "Oh, those things? You can just trash them. They are very old models and were already set up to be disposed of. We had to take them out of the trash to give them to you. Now, excuse me. I have things to do. We have a birthday party in the office today," Peter waved and ended the call. The four of them groaned and walked over to the cameras. Grabbing them, they all went outside and fired some spells to break those damn things before tossing them into the only garbage dump this room had. They all walked back to the room and started checking everywhere, just to make sure that the cameras didn''t leave anything behind. When they were confident that they were truly alone. Helena pulled out a black safety cube and triggered it. "I think we are okay now," Bonnie said as a small orange beetle jumped from one of the pouches in her waist and turned into an almost 2-meter-tall armor they knew very well. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "So, I think things went rather well," Lurize smiled. "Me too. When you said you had a way to show her body, I was expecting an illusion or something, but that felt very real," Blue nodded with a smile, all the stress and anxiety of the last few days leaving her body. "Tell me about it. I wasn''t expecting Hera to lean in the crazy so much," Alex chuckled. "She made a good crazy. I''m not going to lie," Helena smiled. "To be fair, she does have several voices in her head," Lurize''s joke made everyone laugh, and that was something they all really needed. A couple of weeks ago, after Peter forced this task on them, the group reached out to Becca for help. Thankfully, they were already working on a plan to help Hera. Like they all had agreed to, Lurize would go out of the dungeon once per week to talk with the person they sent to give him some information. Hera slowly became aware of what the guild was doing, and they were already setting up a plan for her to vanish. What was a bit odd for the people helping Hera out was how willing she was to ''die.'' According to Lurize, she had a way to just disappear right away. The problem was that without showing the guild that she was gone, her friends and family would constantly be harassed by them. The Empress asked if they knew anyone who worked in the movie industry. More specifically, someone who worked with practical special effects and could share a blueprint for a realistic body double for horror scenes. It took a couple of weeks to get it, but eventually, someone shared a blueprint that could work. During that time, they also became aware of what was going on with Blue and the others, but they could use that to their advantage. With Becca as an intermediary, they started to organize the timeline. It wasn''t suspicious to have the reporter helping, thanks to everything they set up. First, her bracelet was taken out of Gear Shift Nexus five days after their escape. Four people were there, each taking a few bracelets while leaving Hera''s behind. By then, some of the spies in the guild already told them she had been identified. Since it was common for Becca to disguise herself when working on a story, the guild didn''t suspect her all that much. After all, even if she took a similar path to Hera to get there, she only arrived days later. Or at least, that''s what the guild believed. Because of her job, fame, and a couple of issues with stalkers, Becca had a special bracelet that could deactivate the tracking for a while. This meant that, ever since she started traveling with Hera, the guild was completely unaware of her location. There were several things that could override that permission, such as a prison break, but before that happened, no one knew where she was. After the escape, they tried contacting the reporter, but she didn''t reply and later explained that she was deep undercover for an investigative article on the Last Line of Defense. But because of the prison break, her contacts vanished. That was her excuse for taking a long time to answer the guild''s call, and everyone seemed to accept it. Not only was she trying to find out more about the terrorist, but she also got close. Her failure was only due to circumstances beyond her control. This allowed Becca to play the spy almost perfectly. Getting information from the guild and helping Helena and the girls find where Hera could be. All the while, she also could hear what was going on with the Empress through her elven contacts. She wasn''t the only one trying to help. Lysandra and the elves, Sylvi and the triton, Hornet and the dwarves, Nethe and the children of the sky, and Eirik together with the beastman were all looking for ways to assist Hera. She saved people from all the races and even uncovered what the guild was doing with the people there. Not to say they were doing that only as a thanks, but every race felt that if they didn''t help her, they would be no better than humans. That''s why any information Hera asked for was given to her. The elves and dwarves were even a little upset that she had ways of escaping her predicament on her own. That would mean they would have to thank her in a different way. That''s how the plan came together: Hera would pretend that her mind was gone and let Blue and the others ''kill her'' only to have Nimbus waiting down below to catch her and leave the area while dropping her body double from a great height and letting this version of her be the dead body. Since the Empress was very careful about sharing information about her legacy, no one knew the extent of her abilities. And Nimbus was supposed to be a mount that could glide but not fly. Only two people who were not involved in this plan knew about it. The first was Becca, who helped set everything up; the second was Eridan. Hera didn''t want to let her father think she was dead again, so she took that risk. However, he wasn''t aware of everything, just that he should ignore what the guild said. Even if they said Hera was dead, he should only believe that when Helena or one of the girls confirmed it. After finishing their talk, Lurize smiled under his armor and hugged everyone," Thank you for helping Hera." "You don''t need to thank us for that. We would do anything for her. We love her," Helena smiled. "Even more than you, big guy," Blue joke-punched Lurize''s arm. "From what I understand, that is literally impossible. Isn''t it?" Bonnie tilted her head. "I¡­ honestly don''t know. I mean, the legacy makes us care about her and gives us the desire to protect her, but I''m not entirely sure if it makes us love her," Lurize crossed his arms. "Interesting¡­ We might study a bit to figure that out later," Bonnie suggested. "I think you will have a lot of things to study the next time we see each other," Lurize chuckled. "That''s true. Any idea how long it will take?" Alex asked. Lurize shook his head, "I don''t know. Hera said she would wait a few days before going to the doorway, and then it is whoever long the whole process will take. She suggested that you guys wait in Crydonia. There is a hotel room set up for you guys. I say hotel room, but it''s more like a villa from what we are told. The palace is called ''Winter Palace and the reservation is on Livy''s name," Lurize explained. "And will we know how Hera looks?" Helena had a worried expression. "Not really. But I don''t think it will change all that much. That wasn''t the feeling I got from it. But we will still be with her," Lurize said as they finished their conversation, and he returned to his beetle form before flying through the window back to Hera''s side. The Empress would have to wait another week after getting ''killed'' before leaving the dungeon. Just to be safe. But then, she would head to the closest doorway and call Tara. After what she saw, being a human wasn''t sitting well with her, and apparently, only a Naga could open the path to their homeland. Seeing no benefit in holding on to her ''humanity,'' there was no reason not to accept the ascension and become a true Naga. Especially since she would keep her legs. 727 - One last lesson Hera had Nimbus bring her down to the ground, far away from the bridge, where her body double was splattered on the floor. She saw Blue parting the clouds and then leaving, letting the mist return to its place. ''I hope this works,'' the Empress said to Nimbus without saying it out loud. ''I''m sure it will. Lurize seems to already be in position,'' the Sentinel nodded. He could feel the Royal Tutor inside Bonnie''s pouch. Unless the cameras they were using had some sort of very sensitive mana sensor, he should be fine. They waited for a few minutes there, still hiding at the bottom of the ravine. It was likely that they wouldn''t have to worry about being seen now that Blue already dropped her spell. But it was better to be safe than sorry. They waited for around 20 minutes, just talking in their minds and moving as little as possible to avoid disturbing the clouds which were quite unique in this dungeon. Any attempts of going over them to reach the other side of the bridge would be stopped, but if they were already inside, Nimbus could fly freely. Interestingly enough, if he tried to leave the cloud, the bouncy barrier that would stop him from getting out was the same one that would prevent him from getting in. When Hera felt safe to move again, Nimbus carried her back to the bridge, and she headed towards the center of the dungeon. This place was split into several rings, with the outer layer being more like individual islands than a full encirclement. No monsters roamed near the entrance or around the central peak. But every other island was fair game. The clouds would also push monsters away, which meant that the ravines were safe as long as no monster chased after someone through the bridges. Again, this had an exception. On the northeast corner of the dungeon, directly opposite the entrance, there was a nest hidden by the clouds. In there lived a powerful Water Elemental shaped like a manta ray. During the first day of the dungeon, it would never leave its nest and then only travel along the clouds, using some tiny underground tunnels to change rings. Despite being the second strongest being in this dungeon, the manta ray would never attack first. Hera found out the hard way that the creature wasn''t a pushover. Around two weeks after getting here, she decided to attack it out of boredom and anger, but the fight was brutal. The elemental was able to control the water particles in the cloud at will and use it to fight. She couldn''t even win that battle, having to run back to the tallest mountain in the center of the dungeon. When the elemental continued the attack, the old master appeared and killed the monster. His name was Grasshopper, and the irony wasn''t lost on Hera. The master was still kind enough to heal her wounds, but he refused to communicate with her after it and a notification let her know she failed the quest. She had to leave the dungeon and enter again to reset everything. Aside from the week she arrived, Hera and her court never stopped training during the four and a half months she was here. Initially, she just searched for a house and spent some days in mourning. If it wasn''t for Lurize, Livy, and Nimbus taking care of her, she might have hurt her body too much. The Empress didn''t seem to have the strength to eat in those initial seven days. The pain and guilt of what happened with Silah destroyed her from the inside. Daskka and the entire court tried talking with her to help, but the progress was extremely slow. What changed her was the news that Lurize brought after his first outing. The guild had identified Hera and was already preparing the reports that she was the mastermind behind the prison break. They were even putting the blame for all the deaths, both of the guards and the fugitives, on her. Hearing that the guild had the gall to say that she was the one who killed Silah, even if indirectly, sparked a fire inside her. A fire that quickly turned into anger. That was part of the reason she tried to fight the manta ray without knowing its strength. Then, Hera kept fighting relentlessly against all the monsters in the dungeon. Since they would respawn every sunrise, she didn''t have to worry about leaving. After the first month, her route was so well optimized that she could kill every single creature in this place before 5 P.M., with the only exception being the manta ray. But that wasn''t enough to soothe her anger. The Empress would climb the mountain halfway to a training area and continue practicing. Sparing with Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy, or just hitting a stone dummy over and over again. On the fifth day, when she was already comfortable in that routine, Grasshopper came by the training area. He was bipedal and had arms and hands with five fingers, but his head was almost a cartoon version of a mantis. Something that would appear in a kid''s show, with large eyes that were much closer to that of a person than a bug. He also had a humanoid mouth and a bushy beard with prominent gray sideburns. He didn''t say a thing and just watched her as she practiced with her court. When she was done, Grasshopper just shook his head and started walking off. "What!? You came here just to watch my training, and now you are judging me?" Hera snarled, annoyed not just with the old mantis but also for not feeling any progress with her training. She was even able to level up once but felt nothing different. "That is no training. You are a child just venting your anger. No, a child knows no better. They still need to learn to control their emotions," Grasshopper turned to the Empress, holding his hands behind his back. "Oh, sure. Way to be a clich¨¦. ''Emotions are bad. You shouldn''t have them.'' Fuck that!" Hera turned back to the dummy and started to wail at it with one of her Venomous swords. Each sentence was followed by an attack. "Being afraid kept me alive. Being worried made me see ambushes. Being sad makes me think about the worst-case scenario. Being happy makes me excited and willing to try new things, and being angry," Hera yelled and used her weapon break, obliterating the stone dummy, "Makes me strong! If I wasn''t angry, the pain in my arm would''ve stopped me." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Grasshopper shook his head, "I said to control your emotions, not abandon them," he walked closer to another of the dummies, revealing a blade that came from his left wrist like the arm of a praying mantis, "Fear tells you when to run, but too much will hinder you," Hera felt something around her throat, a sense of pure dread. She tried moving away but couldn''t, her legs frozen on the spot. Not even her court could move. This wasn''t a magical effect or anything. It was more primal. A fight or flight response that was stuck before the decision was made. "Worry might help you see traps. But too much caution will make you lose the opportunity to strike or run," Grasshopper appeared before Hera, his bladed arm almost reaching her throat. "Sadness makes you think, but if you never leave your mind, you will fail to act." Hearing that, the Empress forced herself to move, trying to kick Grasshopper away and telling her court to surround him. "Happiness will bring excitement, but that will also distract you." Hera felt mana moving behind her and jumped forward, tumbling closer to Nimbus and Lurize. She saw another Grasshopper behind her but quickly realized the first one was just an illusion. "Anger will let you go past your limits, but if you fail, that recklessness will spell your doom," Grasshopper vanished again and lightly tapped on Hera''s arm. The same one she used to strike the dummy. A sharp pain shot through her entire body as if her muscles were being ripped apart. "Fuck! Why are you doing this?!" Hera yelled as she fell to the ground, feeling powerless against this person. Her court jumped to protect her, but the Grasshopper waved, forcing them all to back away and freeze in place. "Balance. You''ve brought too much pain and now must have that pain delivered to you." "Pain?! To whom? The monsters of this place? Were they your pets or something?" Hera snarled between her teeth. "No. Your emotions brought pain. This kind of pain does not bother me," Grasshopper lowered his body to be closer to Hera and pointed to the side, where her titled blades and Daskka were currently struggling against his power, "But they, they feel the same pain you do." Hera froze and looked at her court for the first time in weeks. Actually looked at them. Lurize''s armor was full of scratches and dents. Nimbus'' wings had some feathers missing, and his pants were in tatters. Livy was covered in bruises and had several scales missing. Daskka had some cuts around her body that forced her to wrap herself in mist to stop leaking mana. It was clear that they never returned to the legacy ever since they got here. "What¡­why?" Hera felt her hands trembling. "They are afraid. Too afraid to leave you alone. Too sad to worry about themselves. Too worried to say anything. Too angry to think properly," as Grasshopper spoke, Hera looked up towards him, "You lack balance. Emotions can help you fight, but an excess will hinder you. In the same way, the lack of emotions can seem good, but without them, you lose sight of who you are. Your skills and powers will be little more than machines. Life is about balance, and you have none." Hera felt all that pressure leave her body and rushed to her court, apologizing and asking them to get back so they could heal. They refused at first, but when Grasshopper promised he would be talking with Hera for a few hours, they all accepted. The Empress wasn''t going to be alone, and the old master seemed to be really trying to help in his own way. This was their first interaction, and during the course of the next months, Hera and her court were trained by Grasshopper. He didn''t teach her any new skills, instead only focusing on improving the skills she already had. In addition, the old master taught some meditation techniques that helped a lot with her mana regeneration. When the Empress finally decided to challenge the Manta Ray, a week before, she would ''die'' at the hands of her friends. Grasshopper followed her to watch, yelling some advice to fight against the creature. Eventually, she managed to kill it, but even then, she couldn''t complete the dungeon quest. Sadly, when she came back from her pretend death. Grasshopper had forgotten all about her. Still, the Empress decided to continue her routine. This time, she would also visit the master in his home with some of her food. Instead of asking for training or anything, she just talked with him, taking some time to relax. Even when he decided to pay back the favor and visit her, she stopped her practice session when Grasshopper arrived, never asking for his help. When the week ended, it was time for her to go to the doorway to talk with Tara. She went back to the master one last time to say her goodbyes. This time, however, Grasshopper was nowhere to be seen. But he left behind a book. When she reached out to grab it, imagining it would be some sort of letter or diary, a notification popped up, letting her know the quest was over. She earned the master''s recognition, and he left this place in her hands. The reward was something very unique. A pair of skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grasshopper Slash (Rank 1) You are able to deal a single powerful blow using the technique passed down by the master Grasshopper. The better you follow the technique and the more mana used in the attack, the stronger it will be. Damage x 1 for each 10 thousand mana used. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grasshopper Stab (Rank 1) You are able to deal a single powerful blow using the technique passed down by the master Grasshopper. The better you follow the technique and the more mana used in the attack, the stronger it will be. Damage x 1 for each 10 thousand mana used. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled and thanked Grasshopper out loud before going back to the entrance. It was time to leave this place, and for Hera Kingsley to cease to exist. 728 - Meeting Tara Hera sneaked towards the closest doorway to the dungeon. The same one she used to get here. An additional benefit was that this was far away from the settlement. All this was to keep herself hidden. She knew the people here were not exactly allied with the guild. They were all members of the other sentient species but at the same time, knowing that she was alive could cause problems. Thankfully, it was the middle of the night in the room, and with her entire court scouting her surroundings, she felt confident that no one would notice her. ''Hera, you are going to have scales, right?'' Livy asked. ''What?'' the Empress looked back to the war axe floating behind her. ''When you become a Naga. You are getting scales, aren''t you?'' ''I¡­ I don''t know. Maybe? I do have a skill that says I have scales, but I actually don''t. At least I never noticed actual scales,'' Hera replied as they approached the doorway. She was still wearing the cloak she used when meeting with Blue and the others, covering her face as much as she could. Going to a doorway still came with some risk. If the timing was bad, someone might appear just as she was going to her private room. ''Personally, I think she would look better with feathers,'' Nimbus was floating a bit higher for a better vantage point in his weapon form. ''She''s turning into a snake. How does having feathers make any sense?'' Amber scoffed. ''Oh, I''m sorry. How does any of this make any sense? There are some myths about a flying serpent. I just thought she might lean into that,'' Nimbus huffed. ''That is a fair point, my man,'' DJ nodded in agreement. ''She already has some Naga skills. And us,'' Crimson said. ''That is also true,'' DJ nodded again. ''But she is also human. If she is going to turn into something, it would be a mix of both, not something that is completely unrelated,'' Lurize added. ''Yeah, that makes sense,'' DJ nodded yet again. ''DJ! Can you pick a side? Stop just agreeing with everyone,'' Chris huffed. ''Wow, chill out. Everyone is just making solid points,'' DJ finally stopped nodding. ''Can you all focus. We don''t know what will happen, so let''s just wait to see what Tara is going to tell us,'' Hera sighed as they approached the doorway, ''Daskka, you''re up. Can you get closer and make sure no one is watching?'' ''Sure, mum,'' the herald replied with a smile before turning into black mist and approaching the doorway. It took a few moments for her to look around thoroughly, but after around 5 minutes, her voice reached the Empress again, ''All clear. It doesn''t look like anyone came here recently.'' ''Great. I''ll summon you all when we get inside,'' Hera dismissed the entire court and rushed to the doorway. Daskka jumped back into the necklace as soon as she got closer. Touching the marbled white arch, the Empress saw the familiar notification asking about moving to the next room or to her private room. Picking the second option, the choice of which version of her room she wanted to enter appeared. Before she could press it, a soft glow appeared by her side, signaling that someone was about to arrive. Quickly pressing the first option, Hera saw her vision turn white as the familiar feeling of warm water covered her body. She wasn''t able to see the other person, and she could only hope that they didn''t have the chance to see her face. As soon as she entered her private room, a holographic window appeared in front of her with all the messages she received from the guides during the last few months. Hera let her entire court come and turned on the large TV screen for them to watch whatever they wanted. The Empress herself would be doing something else first. Something she wanted to do for a long time. Take a long bath. Daskka ended up joining her in the tub, with the snake just floating by the surface, playing with the bubbles as Hera replied to all the messages. They started simple, the guides just cheering on her. Then, there were some ideas about their infiltration plans, including a couple of suggestions that might have worked, like hijacking one of the deliveries. However, Capri and Peaches quickly shut that topic down. Hera wasn''t going to see those messages in time, and leaving them there wouldn''t help anyone. The actual infiltration seemed to have been like a movie night for the guides. Most of them watched and cheered as Hera and the team worked to save the people who were captured. Knowing that the guides watched all that gave her a weird feeling. It was a bit as if they were treating her mission as entertainment. But the worried messages mixed in between made her feel better. They weren''t just playing around but watching like a coach watches a fight. Wanting to give advice but unable to do so. From the looks of it, none of them knew what was going on in the prison. Isantha apologized for not knowing or warning Hera about it, and they all seemed angry about the spirit and the Daemon, but that''s when the group chat died down. The next messages came a few hours later. Each of the guides the Empress talked with sent a private text giving their condolences about Silah. They didn''t talk about the dungeon, but there were some worried messages from a week ago when she had ''died.'' But they soon relaxed when they noticed Lurize in his beetle form flying back to Pinnacle Mountain. Sammy also sent a few messages. Unlike the guides, he wasn''t watching her, but he was made aware of what happened. The Empress replied to everyone and let them know what she was going to do. She included Tara in that conversation so she wouldn''t be caught off guard but warned that she wanted to go through the ascension process in the morning. The ancestor replied very excitedly but understood the delay and promised to do her best during the entire process. Hera relaxed in the bath, and when she came out, she called the therapist turtle. She was going through a lot, from the entire infiltration to seeing the guild in a new light. Silah''s death also weighed heavily on her mind, and she was about to change her species. Even Sammy felt a bit overwhelmed, but he did his best to help her cope and understand everything. Then again, this was going to be a long process and not something that could be solved in a day. When the call was over, the Empress talked with her court and prepared a meal with meat from the monsters in the dungeon. There were a lot of drops that she had to leave behind, but at least some of the gold was still with her. It was a bit frustrating that now, all the money she had was likely gone. Even if the guild didn''t freeze her assets, withdrawing could raise some red flags. Maybe she could have her dad inherit her money since he was the closest family she had. Then again, that would likely be split between him and Stella. Unless the guild followed the will she left behind when becoming an explorer. It was standard procedure for anyone who went inside the MAZE to do that. If she was remembering things correctly, she placed her dad as the sole beneficiary of her will. Well, her dad and grandma Triss, but she was no longer here to get anything. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Going to bed early, Hera slept like a log. When she woke up, she wasn''t feeling completely refreshed. Then again, ever since the infiltration, she couldn''t get a good night''s sleep. But at least her back was doing ok. Living in the dungeon wasn''t that comfortable, and there were many days when her body ached as she woke up. After eating some version of bacon for breakfast, she finished the food she had brought here and messaged Tara. The ancestor didn''t take long to reply, telling Hera she should leave her private room and actually open the door like last time. With her court in tow, the Empress followed the instructions, revealing the reception where all her role tests began just outside. Beyond it, there was a passage leading to an open door. "Hera!" a purple snake with a lavender belly wearing a giant blue velvet witch''s hat filled with rings and decorations with a star motif called. "Tara!" the Empress smiled as she approached. "It''s so good to see you. I was a bit worried you were never going to go through with this," Tara paused for a moment and waved her tail, quickly correcting herself, "Not that I didn''t believe you. And I don''t mean that I don''t like the idea that you are going to ascend. I just didn''t expect this," "Don''t worry. It was just a big change. Then again. I can''t say I would''ve decided to do this if¡­ things didn''t happen," Hera''s eyes looked far away for a moment. "Yeah¡­ Peaches told me. I''m sorry." Hera shook her head, "Don''t be. You are helping me deal with all that," she paused, "Actually, can I just ask. Will it hurt?" "Yeah," Tara nodded, "Oh no! I mean, the yeah was for helping you. This shouldn''t hurt, but it will feel weird." "What will happen to me?" "Do you mean right now or during the end stage?" "The end stage. Am I going to have the head of a snake?" Tara glanced to the side, "I don''t know. Not right now, at least. The thing is, we are going to make this new species together. It will be a mix of you, a human, with a Naga. Some details we will figure out with a sort of test. But you can''t fail! Don''t worry about it. You just need to do things so we can see how your body reacts to it and where it can mix. And there are a lot of things we need to talk about. Anything we miss, the system will take care of," Tara explained. "I see¡­ and how does the actual transformation happen? Like, do I drink a potion? Is it an operation?" Tara paused for a moment, "Do you know how a butterfly works?" "How do they fly?" Hera tilted her head. "No, no. I mean, how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly." "Oh, yeah. They go into a cocoon and turn into goo before forming the butterfly¡­ Really?" Hera shook her head, realizing what Tara was saying. "It won''t be a cocoon. Well, it will, but one made out of mana. In essence, you will get inside a mana stone where you will change. But that only happens with people who change like this. If you ever have children, they will be born as this new Naga right away." "And how does that work? Will I lay eggs?" "Do you want to? That''s one of the things we get to talk about," Tara gestured to a couch inside her room. Hera looked inside and realized that the place was very different than she expected. The walls were covered in bookcases and large pieces of cloth going to the ceiling. There was a window looking out to a field with a single tree in the distance. The smell of herbs playfully reached her nose as if trying to surprise her, and a large candelabra mirroring the starry sky hung from the ceiling. Hera also noticed several Naga relics, or replicas, spread around the place, with even the winged serpent sculpture that sent her into a vision where she met Mr. Beetle on the corner. "Honestly. I don''t like that idea. I mean¡­ pushing out a baby is already a struggle. Imagine an egg? Not to mention having to take care of it. I don''t trust myself to keep an egg safe. If it''s inside of me it''s harder to forget about. Also, wouldn''t my parts have to change?" Hera gestured to her crotch, "This is not equipped to lay an egg." "True, but it would change to fit that. Then again, if you want to lay eggs, you won''t be a mammal anymore. So you won''t have breasts." Hera frowned," Well¡­ I don''t like that. I mean, I''m already changing a lot. And I kind of like my boobs. They are not the biggest ones out there, but they are mine," she looked down at her armor. There was never a moment when she found her breasts to be an issue. They were in between a C and a D cup. They were big enough to give her some confidence and small enough not to get in the way during a fight. "So you will be a snake with titties. Is that ok?" Tara asked. Hera paused for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, that''s fine. I''ve seen weirder fetishes." Tara waved her tail, and an illusion of a human woman appeared with a female Naga by its side, "Ok, so keep your genitals. I''m assuming you still want to be compatible with all the other sentient species, right?" "We are making a new species, right?" Hera asked, getting a confirming nod, "Then yeah. I don''t know if I personally want to hook up with all the other sentient species, but I don''t want biology to be in the way of love. Also, since we are around the topic of love. There are trans people in the world. What if one of them wants to become this new Naga? Will their new body be a man or a woman from the get-go, or be a body that transitioned?" Tara stopped for a moment to consider, "We can let them choose. From what I know about it, identity is a big part of them. Like, it''s a big part of everyone, but I mean that they take a lot of pride in being who they are and having gone through what they went through. If, for instance, someone who transitioned to a man wants to have a body that was a man from the start. That''s OK. If they would rather stay in a body that was born female but transitioned to fit who they were later, that''s okay too. I''ll probably have to ask some questions like I''m doing it with you, but it will be more restrictive. We are making the blueprint right now. Everyone else who ascends will just be following that. Also, those are just my initial thoughts, but I think that the best option is for me to talk about this with someone who has transitioned. You are the only non-guide person I''ve ever talked to, so I might be understanding things in the wrong way." "I see. Yeah, I think that''s a good idea," Hera nodded with a smile, "Shall we keep going?" "Yeah," Tara nodded and started to mix the illusions, "What about hair? Do you still want it? Keep in mind that if you say yes, that includes body hair. I can''t remove just one or the other." "So I will have scales and body hair?" Hera frowned. Tara looked at the illusion, "Yes¡­ I''m not sure how that will work yet, but yes." "Ok, now the color. Keep it to the same colors as humans, or will we have something different." "I don''t know¡­ I mean, snakes are more colorful." They continued talking about the details of this new species, with Hera deciding some aspects of her new appearance. The court didn''t say anything during this process. After all, it was something the Empress had to live with. It didn''t feel right to chime in. They all got comfortable to stay there for some time. Tara''s questions were getting very specific, and they would take a while to finish. 729 - Final Touches "OK, I think the last part is. How do you want your tail to be?" Tara turned to Hera. "Do I have to have a tail?" "Yeah. A Naga doesn''t have legs. Your choices are legs and a tail or no legs and just the tail. Sorry." "That''s ok. So what are my options? Just size?" Hera was staring at the illusion. After talking with Tara for a few hours, they managed to get this new version of a Naga basically done. The figure still had two arms and two legs following the proportions of a human, but it had scales around her back, with the thicker ones following the spine. The outside of the arms and legs also had the same scales, with softer ones covering both the hands and the feet. Her nails also differed from Hera''s current body, but were not as claw-like as the Naga. Instead, it would be a long black nail that started right after the last knuckle of each finger. The nail was also thicker and considerably stronger, almost like an acrylic nail. Despite the intimidating sight, the hands would be soft like skin, and so were the feet. However, Tara warned Hera that if she spent too long not wearing any shoes, the scales in her soles would grow to be thicker and more resilient to protect the foot. The inner part of the arms and legs, which would be facing her own body, would be covered with regular skin instead of the scales. The face would have a similar thing, but the scales would be coming out of the nape of her neck, going around the scalp and reaching around the back of her cheeks, jaw, and forehead. Her eyes were another big change. They would have slit-like pupils by default but could shift to round when exposed to intense light. Her nose wouldn''t change much, but her facial features would become a bit sharper. However, the biggest change of all was in her jaw. As unique as being covered in scales was, it would pale when compared with the weirdness of being able to unhinge her jaw. Unlike what Hera always believed, it wasn''t like the bones in the jaw would just detach from the rest of her skull. Instead, the bones in her chin would be able to split apart, pushing her jaw to the side. The skin in her mouth, throat, chest, and stomach would also be able to stretch enough and return to its original shape without worry. Her ribcage could do the same, and her heart and lungs would be longer to occupy less space in a single place. She wouldn''t be able to swallow an elephant whole, but there was a chance she could eat an entire cooked turkey in a single bite. Not that doing so would be comfortable. There was also a pair of sharp fangs hidden inside her canines. When biting someone, she could control those fangs to deliver a powerful poison that was created in an organ that this new species would have. Her ears would also be different. A Naga was more attuned to high frequencies, having only an inner ear. Having an outer ear and keeping that ability required the structure of the ear itself to be different. They were a bit longer and pulled back, the tips reaching where her skull would start to curve. And also covered in scales. However, instead of a single spiral path, there were three long formations that were split into a dorsal fin-like structure, with thicker scales functioning as the divisions. Each segment had a unique spiral that would help filter specific frequencies. Like Tara said, the genitals were still there and were just like that of a human. The one difference was the milk that new mothers would produce. Since they would have an actual organ that produces poison, breast milk would be slightly poisonous. Not too much. Any adult of another species who drank it would have only some mild discomfort. This was a way for babies to start developing some tolerance before the poison sac in their bodies actually started making the poison, which would only happen when they reached puberty. "There is a limit on the maximum and minimum sizes of the tail. Also, it''s girth, and if you want to add things like a rattle to them or not," Tara explained. "No rattle. I saw one cut in half a while back, and that freaked me out. Now size¡­ Can we keep it all sort of random? Like with height. We don''t have control over that, and each person grows in their own way," Hera suggested. "We still have to set a range. Not to say that mutations can''t occur in the future, but this will be the standard," Tara waved her tail, and the illusion was duplicated 10 times. Each had a different size of tail. It would start at one that barely reached the ground from her waist. Going all the way to one that not only reached the floor but also did two laps around the illusion. "Oh¡­ Ok, Let''s not get that big one. It feels like too much. And it will be a nightmare to find a place to sleep. The smallest one also looks a bit silly. Like a kid''s costume," Hera looked around a bit, "Can we keep between the fifth and the eighth options?" Tara looked at the illusions, the shortest tail would still cover around half of the figure''s butt, and there was a good 30 cm of it on the floor. For the longest, only the side of the cheeks could be seen, and there was around 80 cm on the ground. That was enough to reach around to the front, but that was it. "Yeah, that works. We can increase the range a bit if you want." "I don''t think we have to. The fourth''s tail barely touches the tip on the floor, and I''m guessing that will feel very uncomfortable. Like, walking around stones will make you keep feeling the tail hit things over and over instead of a constant feeling. While the ninth completes a full lap around the body. I don''t like that, it''s too much. How well will we be able to move those tails, by the way? Can I, like, pick up plates or hold a weapon?" "With some training, yeah. It won''t be as nimble as an octopus leg, but you can do some basic things without many problems. Holding a weapon might not be the best idea, but I''m sure you can craft something to attach to it. Like some blades or a fork." "So it won''t be able to use random tools, but tools made for it could work?" "Yep," Tara nodded with a smile. "That''s interesting. So this is it, right? Everything we needed to do is done. What do you think, guys?" Hera turned to her court. They all looked at each other for a moment, and Livy was the one to speak first, "Should we tell what we think?" "I mean, she is asking about it," Nimbus sighed. ''Yeah¡­ I think we should answer,'' Amber added. "You guys know I can hear you, right?" Hera rolled her eyes, "Yes, you can say what you think. I know this is about changing species, but I still want it to look good." "I like it," Livy announced with a big smile. "Of course you do. She''s going to look a lot like you. Even more than like me and Nagas are supposed to be snakes!" Daskka huffed before turning to Hera, "I like it too, but the part where the scales and the skin connect is a bit too harsh. Like, there is not a smooth transition." Tara looked at the illusion, "Yeah¡­ I see that. How about this," changing the illusion. She made the scales directly touching the area with only skin smaller and less pronounced. That would continue getting progressively smoother until it was just skin. When the change was over, a larger area was covered in scales, but that gradient formation brought the entire look together. "Wow, this looks much better. I don''t know why I didn''t think about that sooner," Hera smiled as she turned to Daskka, "Thank you." Stolen novel; please report. "No worries, mum. I''ll always watch out for you," Daskka puffed her chest proudly. "It''s a bit of a shame. Now, you won''t look like you have a plate of armor around you. I kind of liked that," Lurize sighed. ''You would be one to like armor,'' Chris chuckled. "What''s wrong with having a preference?" Lurize huffed. ''Nothing, but when we are talking about armor, you are not exactly unbiased,'' Dao tapped Lurize''s shoulder with his pommel. Hera smiled. She ended up ignoring her court during most of this process, and seeing them interact like that warmed the Empress'' heart. She turned back to Tara, "So this is it, right? We are done?" "On the appearance side of things. Yes. Now, it''s the skills. To check them, we need to do the tests I talked about." "Ok, no problem. How do we start?" Hera nodded. "First, can I see your status window? I need to know your attributes." Hera nodded and opened her status window. She had leveled up three times in the past few months. Her attributes were already past 100. Unfortunately, she didn''t get anything extra when crossing that threshold. A few of her skills also increased their ranks thanks to Grasshopper''s guidance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 38 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer Total Stats: 636 Strength: 106 Endurance: 106 Agility: 106 Charisma: 106 Intelligence: 106 Luck: 106 Mana: 3 935 219/3 935 219 Passive Mana Regeneration: 5 313/s Active Mana Regeneration: 10 166/s Remaining attribute points: 17 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard Passive: Exponential Growth (21) Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4(+1), Dorohla style 4(+1) Battle Dancer 3(+1), Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 (+1) Dodge 4(+2), Run 4(+1), Improved Stamina 5(+1), Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 5(+1), Mana sensitivity 4 (+2), Shaper of Mana 2 (+1), Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 (+1) Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1 , Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4 (+2), Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Naga poison 6, Naga Scales 3(+1) Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4(+1), Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon Break 2 Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 (+2) Toxic Mist Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Shaper of Mana] already helped her control her spells with more ease, but the effect was now even better. That skill became even stronger thanks to the increase in her [Mana Sensitivity]. [Reinforced Mana] made her spells a bit stronger and cheaper, but the big benefit was that her maximum mana would increase even faster, thanks to that skill. "Wow, your stats are high! And everything is the same. I didn''t expect that," Tara smiled before closing her eyes. Suddenly, she vanished inside her hat, which started growing bigger and bigger. From underneath it, suddenly, a full-grown Naga appeared. It had proportions similar to Casks, whom Hera saw in the dungeon long ago. A pair of muscular arms with clawed hands, a snake head, and a torso that turned into a long tail. Despite that, the face was still that of a certain small purple snake. And, of course, it was still wearing the same velvet blue hat. "What the¡­ Tara?" Hera gasped. "Yep. That''s me! I''ll be doing the test with you so we can understand the strengths of each species to make the racial skills." "Right. I forgot about that. How does that work? I asked the people of Boothudurn, and almost no one seemed to have a racial skill. The only ones were Risli and Telanz. And both of them had a skill related to healing," Hera frowned, "From what I understand, that also happens with others." "Yeah. So, last time we talked, I messed up one thing," Tara pulled her hat to cover her face, "I''m sorry, but not everyone has a racial skill. However, everyone, aside from humans, can have one. All they have to do is figure out how to get it. For the other new Naga, or whatever the name will be, this will also be true. For you, on the other hand, things will be different. Since you are the progenitor of this new species. You will have all the skills they can have from the get-go, and if the system ever creates a new one for someone else, you will also get it," as she continued talking, she let go of her hat and slowly revealed her eyes again. "Wait. I''ll get skills from others?" Hera frowned. "Not from them. With them. Let''s say someone gets a ''Naga stealth'' skill, and you don''t have it. Then, when they get that skill, you will get it, too. Perks of being the progenitor! Oh, and I don''t actually mean Naga skill. I mean the name of this new species. I don''t remember if I told you, but we won''t be the ones choosing the name. It will be the system," now that she had arms, Tara gesticulated a lot when she tried to correct herself. "Ok then¡­ That skill thing doesn''t feel really fair, but I won''t complain about it," Hera chuckled, "Now. How do we start those tests?" 730 - Test Run "Tara¡­ do you mind telling me why we are in a desert?" Hera had a hand up, shielding her eyes from the sun. "I would also like to know. The last time I was in a place like this wasn''t pleasant," Lurize huffed and crossed his arms. "Really? Why is that?" Livy turned to the Royal Tutor. "I kept sinking," Lurize replied without looking at her. "Sinking?" Livy jumped around a couple of times, but the place seemed solid enough, "I''m heavier, but that is not happening with me." "The problem wasn''t my weight. But that sand kept getting inside of me." "Oh¡­ Yeah... That sounds unpleasant," Livy nodded. "Tara, I apologize, but I won''t be out during this. If you need me, someone else will have to convey my words," Lurize returned to his weapon form. "No worries. And sorry for bringing you here," Tara turned to Hera, "So. The tests. There are a few, so I will explain them as we go. First is a marathon of sorts. All you need to do is run. I''ll be running by your sides following your exact movement to see who deals better with several different environments. This also includes climbing and swimming." "And I supposed I can''t have Nimbus in his mount form helping me, right?" Hera looked back to the Sentinel, who replied with a smirk. Tara nodded, "Right. Actually. During this, you won''t have any skills. They are not gone, just locked during these trials," the ancestor gestured to herself, "This body has the exact same stats as you do. Including mana and mana regeneration. The amount of muscle, weight, and conditions of your organs. Everything is exactly the same." "Except you don''t have legs," Hera chuckled. "Well... You don''t have a tail, so we are even," Tara huffed with a smile. "Yeah, we are. So what are we doing? Just running?" "Pretty much," Tara snapped her fingers, and a large green arrow appeared in the sky, pointing forward, "Just follow the arrow. I will be running, too, following your exact movements. Or their equivalent for a Naga." "And then we see who is better at which part?" "Yep, so we can know what part of the species we could use to make a better body," Tara smiled but quickly opened her eyes wide, "Crap! I forgot one super important thing!" "What?" "Soooo¡­ Do you remember the big problem with this? About you not being able to leave the MAZE?" Hera nodded, "Yeah. I do. There was also a thing about moving through doorways in the first layer, right?" "Yep. And are you ok with this? If you are not, you can still back out. At any point, actually. Even if we are in the middle of a trial, you can say, ''Nope. Changed my mind.'' The point of no return is when you are going to the crystal-cocoon thing." "I appreciate that, but I don''t actually have a choice. The guild is after me, and if I, Hera as a human, shows up alive somewhere, my friends will get in trouble. So, even if you are giving me the option to give up. The rest of the world isn''t," Hera gave a sad smile. "I''m sorry." "Can you tell me why that happens? Like why the species born in the MAZE can''t leave?" Tara looked around, "Well. There is no notification stopping me, so I think I can¡­" she stopped, looking to the side, "Ok, I can''t go into details. But basically, it is because Earth doesn''t have ambient mana." "Really?" Hera frowned. "Yeah. Non-human species need mana to survive. Kind of like people need air. And not the mana you use for spells or make it yourself. That is a more¡­ condensed version. To survive, you need that version that is like air." "And the MAZE doesn''t let us leave because it never sends us to a place where we would die right away?" Hera asked. "Exactly." "Couldn''t we make like space suits or something?" Nimbus suggested. "Not really. You see, ambient mana changes when you see or use it. There is something called a ''Quantum Particle'' that changes when it is observed. It''s the same thing. Any time ambient mana is interacted with, it changes. But this change is permanent. It doesn''t matter if it''s a spell, a skill, an item, or whatever. That''s why even a space suit wouldn''t work. If you try to compress ambient mana into a canister, it will change. And if you just wave an open container and close it, there wouldn''t be enough to last even a second. Any moment when ambient mana changes, the MAZE replenishes that instantly. Don''t ask me how it does that. I don''t really know." Hera nodded, "Don''t worry, you already told me more than I expected. And I''m not sure I can even share that without revealing more than I should," she sighed, "Well, whatever. Let''s start the race. Daskka, want to count us down?" "Sure!" Daskka rushed forward and raised her tail, waving it with some mist in the shape of a scarf hanging from the tip. "Nimbus, Livy. Feel free to join, but don''t interrupt," Hera looked back before getting into position to start like this was a 100-meter dash. Tara was in the same position but using part of the tail as the impulse that would give her some momentum. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Ready! Set!" Daskka looked at both racers and brought down her tail, "Go!" Hera and Tara started running across the desert. Everything was flat and filled with sand as far as the eyes could see. However, directly in front of them, towards the direction the arrow in the sky was pointing, there were some dunes 1 kilometer ahead. The Empress moved as quickly as she could, feeling the strain in her body with her lack of skills. Moments like that made her really appreciate all the help she got from the system. Despite the Empress'' best efforts, she was losing the first leg of the race. Tara was easily moving through the sand. On the other hand, Hera''s feet were always buried in sand, making her use more force to raise a leg than she should. The difference wasn''t that big, but it was noticeable. Nimbus and Livy were also having their own competition on the side, with the rest of the court firing some spells at them, forcing the two to dodge. Hera wasn''t looking at them, but she could feel how much fun they were having. After a bit over two minutes, Tara arrived at the base of the dunes and stopped completely. In a way, it looked like she was frozen in place. "Tara?" Hera called from the back. "Don''t worry. I''m ok. Just keep running." "Why did you stop?" "Remember when I said that I would mirror your movements? Well, I need you to start climbing this to know what I can mirror," Tara explained. "Oh, ok," Hera replied just as she arrived at the base of the dunes, about 20 seconds after the Naga ancestor. She looked at Tara, who just nodded and gestured to the dunes with her head. Understanding that she was supposed to continue, the Empress started climbing the sand. Once more, Tara was able to move faster. Using her tail to climb didn''t force the sand to fall down as much. On the other hand, Hera had to move fast enough to offset the constant flow of sand, and her steps had to be light enough not to disrupt even more sand and hinder her progress. However, when she arrived at the top, things changed. Hera jumped forward and followed the flow of sand, sliding across the dune. Tara tried doing the same, but the tail didn''t disturb enough of the sand to allow for that movement. The difference was almost as if she was taking an escalator, while Hera used a fire poll. There was another kilometer of dunes, and Hera won their race this time. The same was true for the forest, jungle, mountain, and snow areas. Tara was able to win races on the concrete road, the arid desert, the plains, and the ocean. In essence, in a place with obstacles, having legs was better, and on a flat surface, moving only with a tail would be faster. As they finished this test, Hera dropped to the floor of Tara''s room, taking deep breaths, "You know¡­. I just realized one thing¡­" "What?" the ancestor asked. "Why are we doing this? I mean, I won''t have a tail to move like a Naga." "It''s more about physical endurance than actual speed. I needed to know how both bodies moved to see the best part of each." Hera gave a thumbs up but didn''t say anything. She just continued to breathe heavily. Tara offered some water and let the Empress rest for another few minutes before opening the portal for the next test. "What is this one?" "This is different. It is about perception. Just walk inside and look around," Tara smiled and helped Hera up. "OK then. This seems easier," Hera shrugged as she walked inside the portal. On the other side, the Empress found herself in a village filled with Naga. They didn''t seem to notice her and were just having a normal day. Some of them were talking, others trading goods. Children played in the streets, and some warriors held weapons, carried a large boar, and celebrated. The houses were small and mostly made out of clay, with leaves weaved with the last layer of mud to make it look like a house made of scales. This village was small, and only 20 people seemed to live here. However, the Empress couldn''t see anything beyond the village itself. It was like the end of a picture in a book, all completely surrounded by white. "Where¡­ where are we?" Hera turned to Tara. "In a Naga village. Well, one that doesn''t exist anymore. Oh, I don''t mean, like, this village is somewhere in the MAZE. No, this developed into a large city, and the city still is out there, but without any Naga," Tara explained. "I see¡­ and all I have to do is to look around? I don''t have to talk with anyone or anything like that?" "Yep. Like I said, this is about perception. I''ll walk around with you and compare what you feel and see to what I do. Everything from touch to smell. I need to see what the differences are and how they can mix. You can''t interact with them, by the way. The Naga here, I mean," Tara explained. "Ok," Hera nodded before turning to her court, "Everyone. Can you look around and call me if you find anything interesting?" ''Sure!'' Crimson and Viper replied, already moving away from the group. Tara just watched that for a moment while thinking. Hera noticed that and turned to the ancestor, "Is that ok? Should I call them back?" "No. I mean, don''t call them back, that''s ok. In the end, they are not interfering, just letting you know of unique things," Tara shrugged, and they started walking around. Hera knew this wasn''t the reason for the tests, but she was too curious about how the Naga people lived to let this opportunity pass by. She walked inside one of the houses, seeing how it wasn''t divided by walls. Instead, each side seemed to have its own function. The bed was a large rock elevated by smaller stones to allow firewood to be placed beneath it. The wardrobes were built into the wall of the house, and there was a small kitchen on the opposite corner. The objects here were the kinds one would expect from a tribe living outside civilization. Things made out of clay and carved from rocks rather than the mass production that Hera was used to. Leaving this first house, she walked over to the center of the village. There was a large stone with some carvings around it, but she couldn''t understand that language. The Empress half expected that, after all, the Naga wrote in a way that part of the words could only be seen with infrared light. "Tara, can you unseal one of my skills?" The ancestor looked at Hera, confused, "Why? They could mess up with what we are doing here." "I just wanted to read what is written here. I''m not sure I would be able to understand, but still. Without my Observe: Red Sight, I can''t read Naga writing." "Hum¡­ Sorry, I don''t think I could help with that. It''s a skill that affects the senses, and that''s exactly what I''m trying to check." Hera nodded, "That''s ok," she looked around, trying to decide her next destination, when Dusa''s voice reached her mind. ''Hera? I hope I''m not interrupting anything, but I think I found something.'' ''You are not interrupting anything. What''s up?'' ''I think I found the school. Or where the kids learn something. There is an old Naga talking. Well, I mean, I think it''s old. He looks old. Or is it a she? I don''t know, sorry!'' Hera chuckled. She didn''t realize this before, but Dusa had a way of speaking that was very similar to Tara. Especially when they got frazzled, ''Don''t worry. I''m going to check.'' Hera started to walk towards her diadem with Tara by her side. The ancestor was not saying anything right now, just focusing on comparing the senses between Hera and her current form. The Empress wasn''t sure how long it would take to finish all the tests or even how many of them were there, but a part of her wanted to be done with this. Even if she was closer to the Naga now, there was so much going on outside this test that spending more time than needed doing this just felt wrong. 731 - Ritual The old Naga took around twenty minutes to finish his story. Unfortunately, Hera wasn''t able to understand anything he said. Her mind focused on the sound of his voice and how the movements he made to represent the various aspects of the tale being told. Even noticing how a few of his scales glimmered to help. Still, it was nice seeing the children enthralled by his story. Unlike human kids who always were moving around and playing, the Naga kept their torso still, but their tails didn''t stop for a second. Always grabbing one another and poking at random things even when they were supposed to be quiet. When the story was over, Tara spoke up, "Ok this was perfect. I can understand the kinds of things your body focuses on more easily. Let''s go to the next part." "Oh? Was that enough?" Hera tilted her head. She didn''t think she did much during this test. "Yep. I noticed how not only you can''t see some of their writing but also missed some of the sounds he made. Their communication also includes smells, that''s why the children kept sticking their tongue out. But it wasn''t like the old Naga was actually making the smell with his body. He was using a spell for it. It''s not completely necessary, but it is something they can do." "Really?" Hera frowned, "Why don''t we do that. I mean, we can also remember things with smells." "Yeah, but this is something only story tellers would do. Naga story tellers," Tara shook her head, "I don''t know if other species can also do that. But it''s not something everyone would be able to do from the start. Oh! Some scouts also learn this since the smell could help people knowing about dangers in an area." "I see¡­ It kind of sucks that I couldn''t understand what they are saying." "Maybe I can bring you here later. I''m not entirely sure what is going to happen after you ascend," Tara shrugged and opened the portal for them to walk out. There were several other tests after this one. First, a test whee they only had to be exposed to the elements for a few minutes. Things like rain, snow, scorching sun, and such. Then, another physical test, but one in a gym where they tested different machines to see how each group of muscle worked better. This also included a test where they just worked out until they couldn''t anymore. After it, came a test where they just had to walk around in what looked like a club. Loud music was playing at a volume that hurt Hera''s ears and the constant flashing lights made her feel dizzy, but she was able to stumble out on her own. Tara, on the other hand, had to teleport herself since the intense flashing lights and music caused her body to have a seizure. "Are you ok?" Hera asked as she helped the ancestor get back to her feet. "Yeah¡­ I just underestimated clubs. I guess I''m not really a party girl. Sorry." "Don''t worry. And to be fair, this wasn''t a club. Even the most outrageous of parties wouldn''t have lights this intense. I mean, for the last half a minute I couldn''t even see where I was going. I think you really overdid this one." "Yeah," Tara rubbed her eyes. "Ok, just two more. First, reflexes. We are going to be attacked by a bunch of things. Just dodge. And don''t worry about getting hit, nothing will be dangerous." Hera nodded, "Do you want to take a break?" "No, no. I''m good. Do you mind if your court stays here for the next one? From what I understand, they will protect you no matter what, and this test is about reflexes. Having them interfere might mess up the readings." Hera turned to Daskka and the others, "Stay here. Ok? Don''t worry. I''ll be ok." They went inside the next portal. A place where they were constantly attacked by various types of attacks. It started with some rubber balls, but eventually it got to the point of being attacked by clubs, hammers and even swords. Hera was able to dodge them at first, but later the attacks became faster and with slower intervals. To make matters worse, she didn''t have her weapons and Tara said she couldn''t use them. Each cut and bruise was healed after a few moments, but there was still enough time for the Empress to feel the pain they caused. 10 minutes after starting, Tara cut the lights of the place, forcing Hera to dodge while unable to see the incoming attacks. Another 10 minutes later, she also removed all the sound from the place. Half an hour after they began, the ancestor finally took them out of the space. Hera was groaning, rubbing her arms and stomach, "You could''ve warned me." "Yeah¡­ but I had a feeling your court wouldn''t let this happen." "You are right we wouldn''t!" Livy got up and walked closer to Tara, "We felt that she was getting hurt." The ancestor quickly shuffled around and hid behind Hera, "She wasn''t getting hurt. Well, she was, but we needed some information about how her body and mine dealt with taking damage!" "I thought this was about reflexes!" Nimbus got up too and rushed over. "That''s fine. I got healed right away," Hera turned to Tara, "But you could''ve warned me." "We needed a hit where you weren''t bracing yourself. If I said you just had to get hit you wouldn''t be as relaxed." "I don''t think I was relaxed one way or another, but fine," Hera sighed, "What''s the next one?" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "We only have one more. This we don''t even need to leave here. Is about mana. I''ll want to see how you interact with mana, and I''ll do the same." "Oh, that''s easy. By the way. I had a weird idea. How much control will we have over the body?" "What do you mean?" "Like¡­ If I want certain parts of the body to be in a certain way. Would that be possible?" Tara frowned, "Maybe. What do you have in mind." Hera smiled, "So, you know spell circles, and runes, right?" "Yeah." "What if we made things in a way that my body had spell circles and runes embedded into it''s anatomy. Like using the veins to draw the circle and the runes in my body." "Wow," Nimbus and Tara gasped at the same time. "What?" Hera looked at them. "Nothing, is just¡­ That was very¡­" Tara paused, trying to find the words. "Mad scientist," Livy finished the sentence. "Yep. That. Mad scientist. I didn''t expect you to suggest something like that." "It feels a bit icky¡­ that kind of human-Naga experimentation," Daskka nodded. ''Isn''t that a bit like what the guild was doing with Silah?'' Crimson asked. "What! Of course not! I''m only risking my own body and this is being done with my consent. Not to mention I''m only asking about the possibility, and I am very concerned about potential side effects. This is something I would only do if it was completely safe!" Hera protested. She felt outraged by the comparision. "Calm down. I never considered that. Do you have the spell circle in mind?" Tara tried to break up the conversation. "Give me a minute¡­. Do you have a pen and paper?" "Sure," Tara gestured her tail to a table and the writing tools flew towards the Empress. In around 20 minutes, Hera created two spell circles and 4 runes that she imagined could be made using the veins in one''s body. The runes were for protection, defense, and three versions for regeneration. One for stamina, one for mana, and one for health. The first spell circle was simple, and just made mana more efficient. While the second tried to increase the body''s attributes. "And you wanted to add all this?" Tara looked up from the drawing. "Not all, whatever we can. I don''t want to make this new Naga a civilization of mages or fighters. I was just thinking that if we were able to have natural spell circles in us, it might help." After around 10 minutes, Tara nodded, "Look. I think I can do something like that. But you need to understand two things. First, this is how your body will be. And second, doing this this way, might force the species to make spell circles like you. That''s because their mana will be, quite literally, born to act like this." "Could that be dangerous?" "If it is, the system won''t let me finish the body. Also, remember about mutations. If I do this, then some new Naga, in the future, might have a mutation that can remove this. Or change it into something else." "If I do this, could children in the future be sick or something?" "Sick, no, but they might have something different. You said you don''t want to have this species being full of mages or fighters, but a mutation might appear that forces one person into a certain path. Or at least, makes it likely they would take that path." Hera paused again to think, "But they won''t have to. Like, even if someone gets a fire spell circle, they can still choose to go for ice spells, right? This won''t be as if I''m controlling them and forcing them to do something. They will have free will. Also, the spell circle would only be active when given mana." "Yeah. Of course. You won''t be removing the free will, but people might pressure them one way or another." "Then I think it''s worth it. I want them to be able to protect themselves." "Hera, you also need to be careful," Lurize spoke, "If you are trying to make them stronger than the others. This new species might one day believe they are superior." "I know. But it''s also something that the system will be looking at. If it sees it as a good idea to make people stronger, it can nudge other species into the same direction," Hera turned to Tara, "Right?" "I mean¡­ In theory. I can''t say I know what the system can and can''t do." "So let''s do it. In the end, I just want to be stronger so I can protect my friends. And to kill whoever is responsible for what was happening in that prison," Hera admitted. "Mum¡­ Do you realize this is the first time you ever talked about killing a person?" Daskka got closer. "And we know you meant it," Livy kept her distance, unsure if she should step in. "I know. But can you blame me? If we let them be they will continue doing that and making who knows how many suffer like she did." There was a moment of silence before Tara spoke, "I''ll make those changes. Can we check the mana now?" "Yeah. Sorry." "Don''t be. It''s ok to be angry." Hera nodded and got in position. When Tara was ready they started absorbing mana from the environment. The Empress got used to doing that during the Pinnacle Mountain dungeon, it was a mix of meditation with active mana recovery that felt really pleasant. After a few minutes, the ancestor saw enough and moved away not to disturb the future new Naga. She changed the entire place to be a large pool of mana mixed with the essence of both species, which was an honey like transparent liquid. A large 3 dimensional spell circle appeared in the area, but no one aside from Tara would be able to understand it. The circle itself was wrapped in a spell made to make people forget about it the moment they saw it. When that was over, Tara walked over to the only human in the room, "Hera. Are you ready?" Hera opened her eyes, not realizing the place had changed. Instead of that cozy house they were now in a place that looked like a bathhouse, "Sorry. I guess I was too focused. Everything is ready?" "Yeah. And I''ll ask you again. Are you sure you want to do this? You won''t be able to leave the MAZE anymore." Hera nodded, "I''m sure." "Ok, then. Walk to the center of that pool and just lie down. It might be better if you recall your court. Oh, you''ll have to be naked too. Clothes might get in the way." Hera got up and dismissed everyone before removing her clothes and giving a kiss on Daskka''s head before removing the necklace, "I''ll see you soon. Ok?" "See you later, mum," the snake wrapped her tail around Hera''s neck in a hug before letting go. The Empress walked towards the pool of essence and slowly submerged her body until she was lying down, with only her face, the tip of her breasts, and her toes out of the water. Tara started saying something that Hera couldn''t understand, but the sounds were very soothing. Soon, the human in the pool closed her eyes and feel asleep, knowing that the next time she opened her eyes, she would be reborn. 732 - A new me
After falling asleep, Hera barely had any dreams. There were a couple of moments when some images flashed in her mind. The guides, the Naga, her reflection in a mirror, her court. But they never lingered. It felt very much like the type of sleep one would have when sick and under the effects of medicine. The difference is that she never woke up or moved around. Outside, Tara was staring at a large red crystal. There wasn''t anything she could do right now since the system was taking care of Hera''s transformation. The ancestor had done everything she could, including trying to add the runes and spell circles to the new body, but now it was out of her metaphorical hands. She was just staring at several screens that showed Hera''s vitals and the current state of her body. The crystal slowly started to melt, and Tara knew this signaled that the transformation was over and everything was going well. Not that things going wrong was ever something she was worried about. The system took charge of the entire process. All she had to do was input the information. After around 10 minutes, all the crystal was gone, and Hera, in her new body, was lying still in the now-empty pool. Tara let her rest. The process would''ve taken a toll on the Empress''s body, and now she needed rest. Now that the transformation was over, the ancestor received some new information from the system. She was learning the new capabilities of Hera''s body and what part she would have to play in all of this. A number of hours later, she heard a groan and looked over to the Empress. Opening her eyes, Hera needed a moment to understand what she was looking at. The ceiling was more colorful than she expected. The lights seemed to flicker a golden orange while the ceiling was a cold blue. These weren''t the right colors, not the ones she remembered, at least. Unless she had changed locations. But aside from the colors, everything else looked the same. Blinking a few times, the Empress saw her vision change, returning all the shades to what they were. With a groan, she tried to push herself up and felt an odd pressure boosting her waist. The unexpected assistance made her fall forward, hitting her head on the empty pool. "Ouch," Hera groaned while getting up, this time using only her arms and legs. "Hera!" Tara rushed over, no longer in her Naga form, "Take it easy. It will feel very weird for a while." "Thanks," the Empress opened her mouth a few times, "My tongue feels weird." "Yeah, it has more muscles in it. While it''s in your mouth, it will feel like that of a human, but you can make it longer and tinner to grab some smells in the area." Hera nodded, "Yeah. I can smell with my mouth now, too. This will make food weird," she frowned before looking up, "Why did the colors change? Was it my eyes?" "Yeah. One of the things you can do with it," Tara smiled, "Take a moment to gather yourself. I imagine your mind is a bit scrambled." Hera leaned back to sit on the floor, but her tail coiled around her waist, creating a small seat for her, "Oh? This is surprisingly comfortable." "Just don''t stay like that for too long. I don''t want your first experience with your tail being the pins and needles. That feels awful." The Empress tapped her new tail, focusing on the feelings coming from it. Having an extra limb was extremely weird but, in a way, familiar. It was reminiscent of how she could sense what her court felt but more intense. "According to the system, it already gave you all the knowledge on how to move the tail and your new body. As well as how things should feel. So even new things won''t feel wrong unless they actually are," Tara explained. "Got it," Hera nodded but looked around. She was still naked, and even if Tara''s place wasn''t particularly cold, she wasn''t feeling as chilly as she expected, "Am I coldblooded now?" "Not really, but also yes. Instead of the usual 36 to 37 Celsius that your body had, you are now around 11 to 12 Co. People might think you are a bit cold to touch, but you are able to take in the external heat more easily while still being able to withstand the cold without actually lowering your temperature all that much." "Yeah, yeah. I remember that. You also said I would be uncomfortable if I stayed too long in the sun, right?" "Yep, that''s it." "Ok, ok. I''m remembering. My head is getting better. Like, my body feels great, but my head is¡­ I don''t even know." "To be fair, you just came back from being goo, so yeah, that checks out," Tara chuckled. "Right, the caterpillar thing," Hera shivered, "The idea still freaks me out." "Don''t worry, you won''t have to go through that again. I don''t think you even can," Tara looked around, "Yeah, only one transformation per person. A permanent transformation like this one, I mean. Not other temporary skills." "Right. What about the skills? Did I get any?" "Yeah, ready to see them, or do you want a mirror first?" Hera rubbed her eyes, "Give me the skills. I still don''t trust I can stand up properly." "Ok, There are a few of them and a title. I also have to talk about a semi-permanent buff you have. Also, you are not a Naga. The system has named you an Ophidianite. Any Naga skill you had was also renamed." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Scales (Rank 3) Your skin has become as sturdy as the scales of an Ophidianite. Any attacks that hit you will deal reduced damage. When your scales fully develop, they will receive special properties based on your experiences. Reduced damage: - 15% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Poison (Rank 6) You are able to create poison effects as if they are natural extensions of your body. Your poisons can become more varied, and you can imbue different types of mana to the poison itself. The poison permeates your body, changing its temperature to maintain the optimal conditions for its production. When attacking, you can coat the weapons you are wielding with poison at no cost to your mana. When the poison is delivered through non-magical means, it becomes considerably stronger. Poison mana efficiency + 150% Poison effectiveness + 60% Poison resistance + 90% Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.Non-magic Poison Strength + 400% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Vigor (Rank 1) The body of an Ophidianite is better able to grant you increased physical resilience and vitality, and it''s better equipped to utilize one''s attributes. The effects of your attributes are 10% stronger. Current attributes: 106 Attribute base bonus: 96% Attribute bonus with this skill: 105.5% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Sight (Rank 1) The eyes of an Ophidianite have a vision range that extends beyond the ordinary spectrum, allowing you to perceive infrared light. This enhanced sight grants you the ability to see heat signatures and detect hidden creatures or objects that emit heat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Mana Sense (Rank 1) Ophidianites are able to perceive and utilize mana naturally, thanks to the formations in their bodies. Ophidianites have accelerated mana growth. Maximum mana growth rate: +5% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Resistance (Rank 1) As an Ophidianite, you have increased resistance to poisons and toxins. Your natural immunity to many common poisons is enhanced, and you can endure harmful substances with reduced ill effects. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Regeneration (Rank 1) The Ophidianite physiology allows for quick regeneration of small wounds and injuries. Regeneration +10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ophidianite Adaptation (Rank 1) The Ophidianite nature endows you with adaptability. Ophidianites are able to adjust rapidly to new environments and conditions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Title Acquired: Ophidianite Progenitor Being the first Ophidianite in the MAZE, you are recognized by the system as the blueprint of this new species. Any changes made to the species will affect you retroactively. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buff activated: Growing Species. Any biological children you have will be full-blooded Ophidianites, no matter what is the species of the other parent. This buff will remain active until there are at least 50 000 Ophidianites in the MAZE. Current number of Ophidianites: 1/50 000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow¡­ this is... A lot," Hera said after reading all the notifications. She never expected to get this many skills. "Yeah, Mana Sense, Regeneration, and Vigor are the ones that came from the mana circle and runes you tried to make. Everyone who joins the species should receive them. But babies might not because of mutations," Tara explained. "Got it, but Vigor¡­ does it affect everything?" "No. That skill only affects other skills and the passive effects of attributes. Weapon scaling and anything that uses the attribute value specifically won''t be affected." Hera nodded, "Ok. I wasn''t expecting the whole title and buff thing¡­ Basically, the system is asking me when will I have kids?" "Sort of. But you, specifically, have another option. Do you remember how one of the requirements for this was a legendary item from the Naga?" "Oh yeah. We never used it, did we?" "We did. When you were transforming," Tara gestured to the side, and Viper Pit, the bracelet made out of snakes, floated closer to Hera. It was now smaller, being enough to just cover her wrist, and it looked like it was made out of silver. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serpent''s Grove- Bracelet Rarity: Legendary A bracelet was created together with the first Ophidianite. It links the Ophidianites with their heritage and proves that the owner of this item is who should guide the species to the future. 100% increased effectiveness when using Ophidianite skills. 80% increase in mana growth. 80% increase in mana regeneration. 60% reduction in damage taken. 60% increased Ophidianite skill growth rate. Skills: Rattle By shaking the bracelet, you can trigger a sound like a snake rattle. This sound can affect allies or enemies depending on the effect chosen. - Warning Rattle: Can only be heard by those the user considers allies. Cost: 2 000 mana for each 2 km - Battle Rattle: All allies who hear this sound will have their strongest attribute increased by 60% for 30 minutes. Cost: 50 000 mana for each 300 m - Threatening Rattle: All enemies who hear this sound will have their weakest attribute reduced by 50% for the next 21 minutes Cost: 50 000 mana for each 150 m - Death Rattle: All those who hear this sound, aside from the user, will receive 200% extra damage from all sources for 2 minutes. Cost: 300 000 mana for each 100 m Cooldown: 24h Only a single Rattle may be active at a time. Pit of Snakes: You can store mana inside this bracelet to create a number of snakes that will emerge from it when called. The number of snakes is proportional to the amount of mana in the bracelet, and their strength is proportional to the wearer. The bracelet cannot have more mana than its current wearer. The snakes can perform simple tasks and listen to basic commands. They can also be used to create a makeshift altar or ritual circle as long as the wearer presents the image to them. The wearer can also ask one of the snakes to share their senses with them. That can be done with a single snake at a time and said snake will become unable to share their senses again unless they are resummoned. Maximum number of snakes summoned: 30 Current Mana: 3 935 219/3 935 219 Ophidianite Essence Every 24 hours, you can make a small amount of Ophidianite Essence to drip from the bracelet. You can make up to ten 50 ml vials with this skill. By drinking a single of these vials, it is possible to increase the rank of an Ophidianite skill or learn a new Ophidianite skill if there is one available. Drinking the essence daily can increase the chances of getting these effects. A person can only receive the benefits of a single vial each day. Any essence that is not consumed will vanish after 240 hours. Current Available Vials of Essence 10/10 Ophidianite Ascension If a person who has not undergone another ascension drinks the Ophidianite Essence while having at least one Ophidianite skill at rank 5 or higher, they will be offered a chance to transform into an Ophidianite. As per the will of its creator, the bracelet cannot be destroyed by acid. Only an Ophidianite can wear this bracelet. Bound to Hera Only Hera can transfer ownership of this item. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow¡­ This is a lot. And why is it glitching? There is a space after my name." "So, the system gave the option of changing your name. And I don''t mean just in a legal way, but like have a change confirmed by the system. I wasn''t sure if you wanted to." "Oh... Yeah, it might be a good idea. Hera Kingsley is supposed to be dead, and if I have the same name and last name, even as a Na¡­ as an Ophidianite, it might raise some suspicion. Can I take some time to think?" "You can''t leave here before changing, but you can take your time. Ready to see how you look?" Hera nodded as Tara created a mirror on the side. Getting up, the Empress walked over to see her reflection. She still had her now long golden hair, but it was attached to a purple scalp due to her scales that would slowly turn into that soft pink of her skin. Her eyes were still brown, but when she tried seeing things in infrared, it changed. Instead of the round pupils, she now had slit pupils surrounding a yellow-ish green iris. Looking at it, she still could see her face, just a bit more¡­ sharp. Her nose continued to be small but now had a slight point to it, and the same could be said for her chin. The scales all over her body had a mix of lavender with a deep purple shade, going all the way to her tail. It was on the biggest end of the spectrum, a good 30 centimeters of it dragging behind her, and the appendage was thick. Even thicker than her own legs. She was still naked, and her breasts were bare, without any scales to cover it. The same could be said for her genitals. Touching her own body, she tried to get used to this new feeling. Her hands could still be soft, but they were also covered in scales, so it was a new sensation. At the same time, her skin felt a bit rougher and stronger. Hera reached out to her clothes and pulled the necklace where Daskka was, calling the Herald right away. The snake came out and took one look at the Empress before gasping, "Wow, mum. You look amazing! There wasn''t that much change from what you looked like before. Aside from the hands, feet, tail, and scales." "Thank you. And yeah. I''m glad I didn''t change as much. Becoming a new species is already change enough," Hera smiled and waved her tail to Daskka, "And now we have one more thing in common." "And don''t worry, mum. I''ll teach you the ways of the tail," Daskka waved her tail back, "Yeah¡­ by the way," Daskka looked around for Hera''s clothes, "How are you going to use your pants?" Hera blinked a few times and turned to Tara, "Please, don''t tell me I have to get out of here without pants." "Don''t worry. I''ll fix your pants and underwear to fit your new body. But that''s a one-time deal. It won''t happen again," Tara smiled and started changing Hera''s clothes as she tried to get used to her new body. 733 - Home is where your heart is "Hi. I believe I have a reservation in one of the villas," Hera had a hood over her head. It was the only item she received from the people who came to talk to Lurize while she was hiding in the dungeon. "Sure. Just tap your bracelet on the sensor, and I''ll check the reservation for you," the receptionist asked. He barely glanced towards him, seemingly working on autopilot. "Sorry, I can''t. I don''t have a bracelet. They said I could confirm who I was with a password," Hera replied. "You don''t have any identification? No guild card, bracelet, tablet, nothing?" the receptionist looked at Hera with a mildly annoyed expression. Hera smiled, "I''m sorry. From what I was told, I''m a bit of a special case," she pulled back her hood, seeing the world with an infrared filter to make her pupils snake-like, just in case the scales framing her face weren''t enough to give the receptionist the message. "Holy¡­ What are you?" the man gasped but quickly corrected himself, "I''m sorry. I just never saw someone like you." "From what I understand, neither did no one else. I''m an Ophidianite, and I might be the last of my kind," Or the first, she thought to herself. "Ophidianite? Damn¡­ Another new species. At least you are not hostile like the Centaur," he looked over Hera, noticing the color of her scales, "Are all of you purple? Oh, sorry, you said you were the last of your kind. You might not know that." "I do, actually. The scales can change, and they are not always the colors you expect." "How do you know?" "I didn''t pop out of nowhere," Hera chuckled, knowing this was technically a lie. "You didn''t? Where did you come from?" "Well, you see. When a man and a woman love each other very much," Hera noticed in the receptionist''s face that he understood what she was trying to say and chuckled, "I guess you don''t need the end of that explanation." "Yeah. Sorry about this," he composed himself, "You mentioned a password? Yeah, we have it here. There are a few lines, and you start, if you don''t mind." "Sure, it should start with, ''The pearlescent sky waned before me.''" Nodding, the receptionist continued, "As the light from the sea bathes the land." "And the spots in the wind became stringent." "And we finally reached its everlasting meaning," the receptionist looked up, waiting for the last phrase of the password. "Meaning? What meaning? This is just word soup," Hera finished. "Ok, that''s perfect. One moment, and I''ll get your keys. Oh, and the rest of the people in the villa already checked in; you are the last to arrive." "Thank you," Hera smiled. A moment passed as he walked to a back room before returning with a key card, "Here is your key. Just place it close to the door, and it will open. To get there, just turn that corner and follow the signs marked Villas. Your''s is number 8." Hera nodded and headed out to her room. The villa itself was a beautiful two-story wooden house with a slanted roof. In a way, it was the classic wooden home in the middle of a snowy field. However, that changed when considering the sheer size of the place. The ground floor had an indoor heated pool, a sauna, a gym, a recreation area, a TV room, a kitchen, a dining room, and five bathrooms. The second floor had a total of 5 massive bedrooms complete with individual bathrooms, a ''living room''/office space, and a balcony overlooking the city. Before walking in, Hera snapped her fingers, creating a soundproof bubble around the entire place. She had more than enough mana for that, and it wasn''t like her presence here would go unnoticed. Most of her plans of not attracting attention to herself were completely gone one way or another. Now, she was the firstborn of a new species and one that others could join if they wanted to. Not to mention, she was the only person who could turn others into Ophidianites. There was some resistance to the spell, but she still managed to push through. After taking a deep breath, the Empress opened the door and walked inside, "Honey, I''m home!" There was a brief moment of silence when Hera closed the door before she heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. "Hera!" Blue tackled the Empress. The force behind her jump would surely knock Hera to the ground. But things were different now. As the controller slammed against her, the Ophidianite used her tail to support herself and stop from falling. Instead, she took Blue into her arms and spun around. "Blue!" "Are you stronger now?" the controller giggled while holding Hera in a bear hug. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Not stronger, just more stable," the Empress smiled and put Blue down, pointing to her tail that was now in clear view outside her cloak. "Holy crap. You have a tail! Like an actual tail?!" "Wait, Hera has a tail?" Alex and Bonnie started coming down the stairs. "Yep, a big one. Well, it could''ve been bigger, but I thought it would be too much of a difference if it was longer than this." "Wow, this is awesome, and you look amazing. I was expecting you to be much more like a snake," Blue reached out to Hera''s tail but stopped herself, "Can I touch it?" "Sure, but careful. I''m still getting used to it," Hera smiled and looked around, "Where is Lena?" "She went out to buy some groceries. We can order room service here, but she wanted to cook," Bonnie came down the stairs and hugged Hera, "I''m so happy you are ok." "Me too. And did everything work out well with you guys?" "It did. Peter is a fucking dick, but aside from that interaction, we didn''t have to deal with him again. We did get a scolding from the guild for having killed you, but even the person talking with us didn''t seem to care about what was being said," Alex was the next in line for a hug. "But what about you?" Bonnie asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, "How was it? What happened? How different are you now?" "I''m ok. Staying like this is surprisingly comfortable, and I think the system did something to make it feel natural. I never look in the mirror and think it''s weird. I also got a few skills. Well, quite a few, actually, and I know how to make more Ophidianites," Hera explained as they walked to the couch in the living room. "Ophidianites?" Blue asked. "That''s the name of my species. I don''t actually look like a Naga, you know. Also, from what I understood, the system can''t make a Naga again. They are truly extinct. Unless there is a way for a monster to evolve into one of them. But it has to be natural, not with the system''s assistance," Hera continued. "Oh, so you won''t be able to open that door?" Bonnie sighed. "The one in Zaxalam? I think I can. Or at least, that''s what I was told." "By who?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "So, when I was ascending, there was a being that explained to me what was going to happen. I can''t say much about them, and they will only show up for people who are going to become Ophidianites. But I can send them a text asking about things related to my body. Like, I can''t ask how an experimental treatment will work on me, but I can ask if an aspirin would have any weird effects. Or how to deal with shedding. I asked them about that door and they believe I can open it." "Shedding?" Bonnie asked, now truly noticing the scales around Hera''s back. "Yeah. We know that will happen, but we are not sure when. Nagas shed once a year, but since I''m not one, we don''t know if that will be more or less frequent." "What else is different about your body?" Blue looked at Hera''s ears, "Your ear is not scared anymore!" "Yeah, this is one of the differences. Snakes, in general, don''t hear like humans do, so it had to change like this to allow my ears to capture the right frequencies." "Oh? Is there anything weird you are hearing now?" "I wouldn''t say this is weird, but I can hear electricity if I focus. There is a hum when something is turned on. It''s not too much, and I can tune it out if I want. I should also be able to hear an ultrasound exam. I was warned that I should take earplugs if I must go through that." "So¡­ Can you hear a dog whistle?" Alex asked. "Probably, I didn''t have a chance to test." "What else? What else?" Blue almost jumped on top of Hera, excited about all those changes. "Well... My eyes can do this," Hera focused on the infrared light to show her snake eyes, "I can do this with my mouth. And check my teeth," she unhinged her jaw and opened wide while the hidden snake fangs inside her canines popped out, venom getting ready to be deployed, "I have a tail. My hands and feet are different. If I ever have children, they will be Ophidianites, no matter who the father is. Oh, and my lifespan changed." "Your life span?" Bonnie looked at her with a worried expression. "Yeah. I''m cold-blooded now. Or at least, my blood is colder than yours. So, apparently, this makes it easier for my body to last longer. Something about requiring less effort to maintain, so all the pieces take longer to deteriorate. That was the explanation I got from that entity. I''m not sure that would be the same if another species had ascended first." "How long can you live for?" Blue still refused to leave Hera''s side, but she stopped holding on to her hand. Hera scoffed with a smile, but there was no happiness on her face, "Ironically, 300 years." "Oh¡­ Hera¡­" Bonnie pulled her for a hug, "I''m so sorry." "Don''t worry. That wasn''t the main reason why we broke up. It was just one of the excuses Silah and I used." "Maybe this is the system''s way of trying to help?" Alex gave an awkward smile. Hera paused momentarily to think but shook her head, "Honestly. If the system, which is as old as everything, thinks this is a way to help, we are all fucked," she sighed, "By the way. They told me I would have a box waiting for me when I got here. Do you guys know anything about it?" "It''s in the master suite. None of us wanted to take that room. We all feel like you deserved it more," Blue explained. ''I can go grab it for you, Hera. That way, you don''t have to get up,'' Nimbus suggested from inside the legacy. ''I appreciate it. Actually, everyone, get out here. They miss you guys too,'' Hera called her court. Nimbus greeted everyone quickly before flying to the master bedroom. He soon came back with a single white box. Inside, there was a new tablet and a small letter with the password of the tablet and some extra information about what the Empress should do next. Eirik had also set up a new bank account for her with the elves and transferred around half a million gold to it. That way, the guild wouldn''t be a hindrance in her attempts to pay for things. There was also some privacy protection on the tablet that would stop people from trying to find its location, but he added that Hera shouldn''t push her luck. If someone really wanted to invade her tablet, they would be able to. As the group was still talking and the Empress was setting up her new tablet, Helena returned carrying a couple of bags of groceries. Bags that were quickly dropped to the floor when the mage saw Hera''s new form. "Sweetie!" Helena rushed over for a hug, "Look at you. You are gorgeous! I''m not going to lie. I was a bit worried about you turning into a full Naga." "Me too. I''m glad I was able to keep my face, too," Hera chuckled. "Speaking of which. Won''t that be a problem? I mean, people can just assume you are Hera with an illusion," Blue asked. "I don''t think so. Try to Inspect me. I think you will understand what I mean," Hera said. When using [Inspect] in a person, people wouldn''t just read their names, but see a bit about their species. Changing what appeared in that window was much harder and it usually was only limited to names. In Hera''s case, the notification clearly stated that she was an Ophidianite and there was no mention of her previous life as a human. Meaning that no one, even the most suspicious person in the guild, would doubt what they were seeing once it was proven she didn''t try to change anything. 734 - A new room for the guild Peter had a smile on his face. Despite coming all the way here, his life was going surprisingly well. Ever since he joined one of the many task forces created to go after the Last Line of Defense, he had been going up the guild ranks quickly. He started off as just a grunt, doing leg work to chase after the terrorist network. Then, a lucky break let him be in the right spot when someone found one of their bases, allowing him to help capture some people and get his first promotion. What followed was a stream of other situations where he knew people who found the right thing but needed backup. Or small wins used by the guild as propaganda to show how they were already dismantling that organization. Then came his first big job. The first time, he was in charge of a large operation. He was supposed to interrogate the people of Boothudurn in hopes of finding something about Hera Kingsley. She was the only human who was confirmed to be working with the Last Line of Defense. There were other suspects, of course, but no one whom the guild was able to identify so far. Doing this job well would surely get him another promotion, and that almost happened. The video of Hera Kingsley being killed by her friends spread like wildfire through the task forces. They couldn''t actually use it for a report since it showed someone''s death, but internally, it was a different story. People were using that tale of friends who found out one of them was a terrorist and took care of her to boost morale to an incredible degree. Unfortunately, before they could process the paperwork, the upper brass decided that Peter''s mission wasn''t over. They became aware that the dwarves from Boothudurn ran from their home, which only proved how fickle people like that were. After some digging, they also found out that they had discovered a city from an ancient civilization. Historically, finding that kind of thing could not only bring a lot of powerful items, but it was likely that the Naga had a legacy hidden somewhere. And, of course, the guild wanted to be the ones who found it. Giving it to the dwarves or any other species was too much of a risk. Peter understood that they could only trust other humans. Elves, Dwarves, Beastman, Triton, Children of the Sky, and whatever else was hidden in the MAZE were all potential allies to the Last Line of Defense. Peter wasn''t even sure they should be considered people. After all, only monsters lived inside the MAZE. Maybe that''s all these creatures were, intelligent monsters. Currently, he was in the Old City of Zaxalam, in one of the houses inside the actual city, with a couple of other guild members. They were all waiting for Rutigan. After all, he and his people were permitted to live in Boothudurn despite its proximity to the MAZE''s exit. That room was their birthplace, and the guild wasn''t going to kick people out of their ancestor home. However, they left voluntarily and now were squatting in a new place they had no right to claim. If this was up to Peter, he would just come with a large group of powerful explorers and kick them all out, but there was a room they had to cross to come here that could become a problem. The Shtylla Archipelago could change around, and the dwarves seemed to know how to control that change. If they tried to just push forward with a large group, there was a chance that the people from Boothudurn would lock them out of the room. By itself, that wasn''t a problem, but giving them the opportunity to find whatever this city was hiding and creating some defenses in this place could cause some trouble. That''s why he was here, along with a couple of other guild members under his command. One of them was even level 62, almost 30 levels higher than Peter himself. However, this was just a safety measure, not an attacking force. The main issue here was the guard captain. She was level 73, which by itself was already a problem. Adding her age to that meant that her skills should be considerably polished. If things got physical, she could likely take care of the three members of Peter''s team by herself. Not that they would go down without a fight, but if they were going to force the dwarves to leave this place, the guild would have to send in more personnel for it to work. Peter heard footsteps approaching and put his tablet away. His small team was waiting for Rutigan, the self-proclaimed dwarf king, so they could discuss this room. The door opened, and the dark-haired dwarf walked inside; each step filled with intention, "Peter. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" despite his patience, Rutigan wasn''t able to hide his displeasure on meeting the man. Ogryn and Naka were right behind him, but neither of them spoke anything. "Well, Rutigan. We heard rumors about this place being discovered and how your dwarves already started to claim it as your own. Now, I understand that you are new to these kinds of politics, but this is not how things work. You can''t just see a new room and say it''s yours." "We hardly had a choice in the matter. The guild was very uncomfortable with our presence in our own home," Rutigan scoffed. Being this far from the main force of the guild made him less worried about appearing non-confrontational. "Now, this is just not true. We were happy to have you as neighbors as long as you didn''t cause any trouble," Peter replied with a smile. "To you, trouble means disagreeing with what you or the guild wants. Even if you wanted us to give you everything we had for free," Rutigan crossed his arms, still refusing to sit down during this conversation. "You need to understand, Rutigan. These are hard times. We are at war with a terrorist group who seems keen on destroying the peace in the MAZE. When a circumstance arrives where we need certain supplies, we have to ask whoever is close by for them." Rutigan frowned, "Cut the crap, Peter. You forced us out of our home, and you know it. After that witch hunt you started, every member of the guild who came to Boothudurn treated us like we were the terrorists. Fine, we found a new place and left almost everything we had behind. Houses, the gold in our coffers, our blacksmiths, everything. Why are you still chasing us? Just to harass us?" "No. This has nothing to do with you personally. But you came here and discovered a place that might have hidden secrets, powers that could help us fight the Last Line of Defense. You already harbored one of its members. We can''t risk anything powerful getting into their hands. From what I heard, your people already started changing how this city is supposed to look. And who knows what kind of historically important article you are destroying to make those changes." "Really? This is what this is about? The possibility of a powerful item hidden in this place? Fine, if we find anything, I''ll let you know. Now, just let us live in peace. And those changes you are talking about were here when we arrived. Our people were split before we arrived in Boothudurn, and it seems like part of them tried to live here." Peter chuckled, "That''s very convenient. Am I supposed to take your word for it? You already hid a terrorist for years. Who knows how much you supported her while she lived in Boothudurn. No, no. We will set up a checkpoint here, and the guild will start exploring the room. When we clear a place out, you can stay there. Until then, you all will leave this city." "And where are we supposed to stay?" Rutigan snarled. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "That''s not my problem. Stay in the jungle or in the trees for all I care. There is only one path to the rest of the MAZE from here, and if you want to have any contact with anyone, you will obey our orders. This is the only time we will offer you a chance to stay here." Rutigan stepped forward, clenching his fists, "You can shove that offer up your ass, you piece-" Naka held the King''s shoulder to stop him from doing anything crazy. At the same time, one of the guards appeared at the door, stopping all the conversation. "Captain!" Totrak called. "We are in the middle of something here. Can you wait?" Naka didn''t take her eyes away from the king. "I can''t. Ma''am." "What is it?" "The door. The snake door leading¡­ somewhere. The one that we couldn''t open." "What about it?" "Someone opened it." Hearing that, Peter smiled. The guild was aware of that door, and there was no doubt in anyone''s mind that if there was a legacy to be found, it would be beyond those doors, "Well. I suppose we can discuss more about this later. After all, we need to see what is on the other side," the man got up and turned to Totrak, "Take us to whoever managed to unlock that door." Totrak ignored the human, but Rutigan said almost the same thing, "Thank you for letting us know. Can you take us to who managed to open the door? I don''t think any of us were able to." "My king. That''s the problem. It wasn''t us. The door was opened from the other side," Totrak explained. Everyone quickly moved outside and to the giant hole in the ground. Coming out of it was a group of three figures. One was very large, and the other two were smaller, but one of them seemed to have wings as well as two arms and legs. When getting closer, Peter frowned. There was someone familiar with that group. A face with blond hair and chestnut eyes, but this person, or whatever they were, had scales and a large tail. Out of curiosity, he used his observe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth - Level 38 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Hera?" he mumbled as the three figures turned towards him. The Empress frowned, flanked by Nimbus and Livy, and asked, "Yes?" "You are supposed to be dead," Peter replied. "The MAZE is trying, believe me. But I''m much sturdier than I look," Hera waved him off and turned back to Nimbus, talking about the area around them. "Your friends killed you! I have a video of it!" Peter yelled. Hera sighed, "Look. I have no idea what you are talking about. But as you can see, I''m alive." "Fine! I''ll kill you myself. I''m not letting a terrorist like you get away!" Peter started walking towards her, but Naka stepped in front of him. "Stop that. That doesn''t look like Hera," Naka looked back, "Well, she does. But Hera was human. She¡­ doesn''t look like it." "It could be a transformation skill!" Peter yelled. "Oh really? This shit again?" Hera groaned, "Look, people asked if I was that terrorist or whatever. I''m not her. From what I know, the only thing that bitch had going for her was my looks. Also, she is a human. I''m not." "And what are you?!" Peter yelled. "An Ophidianite. A descendant of the old Naga people. My family has been looking for the home of my people for a very long time. That''s the only reason I''m here," Hera replied. "I don''t believe you!" Peter roared. "I don''t give two shits if you believe in me or not. You have the Inspect skill, right? Use it on me." "Fine!" Peter snarled and used the [Inspect] skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth - Level 38 Ophidianite A species descended from the Naga. Their bodies have been covered in scales since birth. Being descendants of one of the oldest species in the MAZE, their appearance is closer to the animals from which they evolved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Happy now?" Hera asked. "No... This is¡­ It can still be a trick!" Peter reached out to his bag, and after a few awkward moments, he pulled out a small black orb about the size of an apple, "Here. This is a canceling orb. If you willingly take this, all the skills or spells you currently have will be deactivated." Hera sighed and glanced at Nimbus and Livy, "Fine," She walked over and grabbed the orb, but nothing changed, "Are we done here?" Peter glanced at the orb and then at Hera, using [Inspect] once more, "You¡­ you still can''t be here! This is not your room!" "Article 43 of the sobering room agreement. Any intelligent species that lost its home can reclaim it as long as their claim can be proven. Once that is done, no one can argue their right of ownership to the room," a voice came from the large hole where the Naga door was now open. Flying from it, a harpy with long silver feathers and a ruby-encrusted necklace emerged, "Also, article 18, a civilization formed by an intelligent species has ownership of all rooms that can be reached within a day''s journey from their current capital, as long as the journey follows the three crossing rule. And that the room in question does not contain the capital of another species. Considering that my kingdom''s capital is just 2 rooms away, even if Hera didn''t have a claim on this place, which she does, I would have mine." "Queen Typhera¡­" Peter didn''t know what to say. Dealing with the queen of the Children of the Sky was leagues above his pay grade. He wasn''t stupid enough to think he had any power in this situation anymore. Especially when he saw the harpy royal guard following their queen. "And just in case you still have any doubts about my right to be here," Hera looked towards the city, "All mechanisms in here can only be activated by a Naga or a descendant," she snapped her fingers while telling Lurize and Daskka who sneaked into the control room of the city to activate the fountain. There was a pause followed by a low rumbling as the snake heads at the entrance of Zaxalam started spewing dried mud like a dam closed for a very long time. After a few minutes, all the residue blocking the canals was gone, letting only crystal clear water come out, framing the city''s entrance. Hera smiled and turned to Peter, "Now, fuck off. I don''t like you and don''t want you in my room." "What the¡­ If you do that, the guild won''t let it slide!" "Don''t care. I lived my entire life without the help of that guild, and I''ll be just fine without it. Besides, Queen Typhera already said she''s going to help me out since we live so close to each other. Not fuck off before I trigger the city defenses." "Oh? This city has defenses, too?" Typhera smiled at Hera. "Yep. They are not as strong as the ones in Deakoshara, but they are more than enough to deal with," she gestured to Peter with her head, "That." Peter and the other two humans didn''t know what to say, but they understood that they had to get away. Fighting against Naka here would already be a mistake. Adding the elite force of the Children of the Sky in the equation dropped their chances of winning to almost 0%. Moving back to Gartinet Hollow, they crossed as soon as they could to tell the guild what was going on. Hera continued pretending that she was someone else until the dwarves took her inside the city to a more private place for them to talk. Only then did she reveal everything that happened to her and how she had turned into an Ophidianite. 735 - Steps for the future Rutigan guided Hera and Queen Typhera to one of the rooms in the city. Not the same one that he let Peter wait at, but one that Shane had already cleared out of Naga relics and any remnants that could have any historical significance. The room was now just a large meeting room with some sculptures and carvings that had yet to be properly studied but wouldn''t be more damaged if people were close to them. Typhera asked most of her royal guards to wait outside and help the dwarves from Boothudurn. There was only a single member who was by her side right now. Nethe. Rutigan apologized, but he had to talk to his people briefly to calm everyone before he could join this conversation. Taking advantage of that extra time, Hera snapped a few pictures of the carvings and sent them to Tara, asking what they all meant. Even the ancestor herself wasn''t entirely sure about the things she could and couldn''t talk about, and this was a good way of testing the limits. "Do you understand what those mean?" Nethe approached after helping his Queen to take a seat on the triangle-shaped table. "Not really, but I can try. Remember when I talked about the being that can tell me about my new body? Well, they are also unsure of the limits of what they can and can''t say. This is not about being an Ophidianite, but maybe it''s about some part of Naga culture that will also affect me. That''s why I''m sending them some pictures." Nethe nodded, "I see¡­ So it''s really like you said before. Since you don''t have someone with experience about¡­ well being an Ophidianite. That being is taking the place of a parent teaching a child about life." "Yep. That''s the best analogy I could think of. And thanks for being so cool with it. I know how worried you all were because of the closed door," Hera smiled. Nimbus and Livy were by her side but refrained from talking out loud so as not to disrespect the Queen of the Children of the Sky by accident. "There is no need to thank us. Well¡­ there is, but consider it a favor already repaid. Knowing that beyond those doors is just an ancient city is much better than the unknown," Typhera said from her seat. After meeting her friends, Hera reached out to the team that broke people out of prison and explained what happened and what she wanted to do. She even mentioned the snake head door near Zaxalam, and that caught Nethe''s attention. Sometime later, he called the Empress and explained that he knew where one of those doors was located. In the Aerie of the First Flight. The birthplace and capital of the Children of the Sky. He explained that he was, in fact, part of the royal guard and that the door with a snake head was a closely guarded secret for his people. No one knew what was hidden behind it, and being closely related to birds, the Children of the Sky worried that something could one day emerge from it to devour their eggs. Nethe had talked with Queen Typhera and explained the situation, including what Hera said about that door. That behind it should be the ancient Naga capital and that now that place should only have monsters, not people. She was the second generation of royalty who advocated for their civilization''s progress. Her predecessor accepted help from the other intelligent species in the MAZE to develop their civilization and start a technological revolution. Typhera herself took things a step further, officially joining the larger MAZE community and doing her best to ally with the other species. Even now, with the terrorist attacks and all the protests, she refused to step back and withdraw her people. They had come too far, and it would be too easy to lose it all due to fear. Still, she wasn''t gullible enough not to be worried about what the humans were doing. However, she had one more thing to worry about. That door with a snake head. Only the Queen and the most elite team of guards knew about that. Typhera also kept a considerable amount of powerful individuals in their capital. Her fear was that the moment she let them move out, those doors would open, revealing a hostile force with a path straight into the heart of her home. Having Hera open the doors and show that the inside was empty would solve one of her people''s biggest problems. Now that she knew beyond that place was only an ancient city and path to Zaxalam, the Queen could use her forces properly without having to worry so much about a hidden attack. Especially since the person who opened the door was an ally. Being able to reach this corner of the MAZE was also a massive boon. "I still feel like I should thank you. You didn''t have to get involved," Hera said with a smile. "Yes, yes, I did. I''m not letting the guild get away with everything they are doing. Be it with my people or with someone else. Besides, if we can unite our forces, we will be much safer. Especially since you can open and close those doors," the Queen replied. "I couldn''t agree more. But what is this about the doors?" Rutigan asked as he walked inside the room. "Since I''m a descendant of the Naga now, I can open and close those doors at will. If push comes to shove, we can use that place as a bunker. One that no one would be able to invade," Hera said with a smile. "If that''s the case, couldn''t we live there now?" Naka entered the room after Rutigan, with Ogryn right behind her. "Now? I don''t think so. I didn''t get a chance to properly explore the place and see if there were any other traps or anything that could get in the way. Also, that room is more dangerous than this one. The monsters there are more aggressive. Another thing, there is some kind of toxic mist in some areas that will be dangerous for anyone who doesn''t have a natural tolerance to poison. I have that now, and before telling people to move there I need to see how to deal with that," Hera explained. "I see¡­" Rutigan listened, but his mind was focused on something else, "I''m sorry. But are you really Hera?" Hera smiled, "It''s me. I didn''t tell you because¡­ well, knowing this is a possibility is a lot. But I got a quest that allowed me to ''Ascend.'' Now, I''m no longer human. I can''t leave the MAZE. It''s a bit of a long story, but I can explain," she turned to Typhera, "I''m not sure I should tell it again now. I know you have already heard it before." "And I don''t think I will ever get tired of hearing it. It is fascinating, to say the least," Typhera smiled. "How can we tell that you are still you?" Naka asked, "How can you prove you are still Hera?" "I can say how we never got along all that well. Or I can talk about how you and the guards ran away when Blue and I faced the Sky Ruler. But, how about this?" the Empress snapped her fingers, calling her blades. She then pointed to the door, "And Lurize is just arriving with Daskka." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. A small golden beetle flew inside and transformed into the armored warrior, followed by some mist that turned into a familiar white snake. "Hello, King Rutigan. It''s a pleasure to see you again. You as well, Councilor Ogryn and Captain Naka," Lurize gave them a bow before walking towards Hera to be by her side. "Yeah, it''s great to see you guys again! I missed you, and so did Mum," Daskka wrapped herself around Hera. "We are happy to see you too. And can I assume that you stopped hiding your legacy? Since you showed Livy and Nimbus to Peter," Rutigan asked while walking towards a seat on one of the sides of the triangle. "Sort of. I still appreciate it if you don''t tell everyone, but I won''t pretend I don''t have it when I walk around. I won''t announce it, but will tell people if they ask. Showing them to Peter was actually Typhera''s idea." The harpy Queen smiled, "Humans are afraid of the other species. If they think that there are more of us hiding from them, they might be more careful with what they do. They might also become more aggressive, but it would help change this stalemate one way or the other." "So you want to force their hand? This doesn''t seem like a good decision for us. After all, we are the ones closest to them," Naka frowned. Rutigan stepped in right away, "My apologies, Queen Typhera. My guard captain is very zealous about her job, and she is just thinking about our people." Typhera nodded with a smile, "Don''t worry. I completely understand where she is coming from," the Queen turned to Naka, "I understand your worry, but now, we are neighbors. My capital is just two rooms away. And don''t think of that as a threat. The Children of the Sky always tried to become closer to the other species in the MAZE. As a matter of fact, before you, and I mean the people of Boothudurn specifically, we were the youngest members of the larger MAZE community. I truly understand the growing pains of joining a world of technology. That''s why I want our civilizations to form an alliance. We are too close to each other, and if we always think that we can be attacked, neither of us will know peace. Also, by joining forces, we will be able to protect this collection of rooms together," she turned to Hera, "All three of us." Rutigan raised one eyebrow and turned to Hera, "All of us?" "Ok¡­ so I guess this is my turn. Let me explain what I am now." Hera started explaining what happened to her, but by the end of her story, it was already too late. Typhera still wanted to talk more about the future, and so did Rutigan, but they all agreed to continue this in the morning. As a show of good faith, the harpy Queen offered to install devices to connect to the internet here. Not the same network used by humans, although much of the content was still available, but a version that the other species used only inside the MAZE. Hera was surprised that they already had something like that in place, and apparently, it was created a long time ago. With this talk out of the way, Blue, Helena, Bonnie, and Alex also got a message to come to the city. They were all in the Aerie of the First Flight. In fact, they had arrived a few days prior and could have come here sooner, but Zestra''s spy network informed them about Peter''s mission and how they might be able to toss a wrench in that plan. Because of all that, Hera didn''t explore Deakoshara, the Naga birthplace. She really wanted to, but it was better to focus on other things first. For now, the Empress moved around Zaxalam, looking for one thing in particular. The house where her dad was staying at. He followed the people of Boothudurn together with Renette since they disagreed with how the guild was treating them. It didn''t take long for her to ask around and find the ''house'' they were staying at. Hera stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath before knocking. There was a tense moment of silence after it. Her mind rushed, thinking about what she would do if her dad didn''t believe it was still her and how she could convince him otherwise. "Yes?" Eridan opened the door, and his face froze when he saw Hera. Her heart sank. His face was that of utter shock. Maybe her transformation was too much. Maybe he wouldn''t be able to deal with what she did, "Goldilocks?" his voice finally came through. "Hi, grumpy bear. Sorry abo-" before the Empress could finish her sentence, her dad wrapped her in a bear hug. "I''m so glad you are okay!" he squeezed her a bit harder and felt the scales around her arms, "Sorry. Am I hurting you?" he loosened his grip, but Hera stopped him. Giving a hug back with the same intensity. "Not even a little. You can hug me tighter if you want," the Empress felt some tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Sometime later, they finally let go of each other and walked inside. Shane, Mylo, Renette, and Quinn were all there and greeted the Empress. They were a bit more doubtful than Eridan, but they all relaxed when they saw Nimbus and the others. "What happened to you?" Quinn asked. "You really ascended?" Shane smiled, a spark of curiosity in her eyes. "Yep. I was already marked as a terrorist, and what we found in the prison was¡­ a lot. In the end, we agreed that more than trying to prove my innocence. The easiest way for me to be able to move around was for Hera Kingsley to die," the Empress turned to Eridan, "I''m sorry dad. I had to change my last name." "That''s okay, Goldilocks. You can change your species, your name, or whatever you want. I just want you to be safe," he never let go of her hand during that entire conversation. "What''s your new name then? Is it still Hera?" Renette asked. "I kept Hera. I don''t think I would be ok with people calling me anything else. But my last name is now Quetzaveth." "Quetzaveth?" Shane frowned but, after a moment, started laughing, "C''mon. I thought you said you changed it." "I mean, I did!" Hera chuckled. "What? I don''t understand," Eridan glanced at them. "The Naga don''t have a word for King. Only one for Emperor, and it''s actually never used on its own. You can put ''Krath'' before to mean grand when you talk about the overall ruler of the Naga. ''Vruk'' for large, that would be someone leading a few rooms or something that spans a large area, but they still answer to the Krath. Or ''Bhasss'' for small. They are the ones who control a single city, who answer to the Vruk. But you would say Krath Quetz, or Bhasss Quetz." Eridan frowned, still unsure what that meant, but Hera continued the explanation, "Quetz means Emperor. And the Naga didn''t have a word for lay. Not like we do. They have one for sleep, but that''s specific for the act of sleeping. They have a few others for ''be on the ground'', but it changes depending on the context. The closest thing to ''Lying in bed'' would be resting. And that''s what Aveth means. My last name means ''Emperor''s Rest.''" "Honestly. I think that''s the best option you have. The closest thing I can think of would be ''Champion''s Respite,'' but that should be about someone''s death. And it sounds just awful for a last name. ''Vkhrass Ssahrlzs.'' I''m pretty sure there is not a person alive who wouldn''t butcher that one," Shane chuckled. "True. We discussed some other ideas, but they never fitted," Hera looked back at her dad only to see tears streaming down his face. "You even thought about that?" "Of course. I''m still your daughter, no matter what. I wanted to be as close as possible. And honestly, I think Shane is the only person who could actually translate the name," Hera smiled. "I love you so much, Goldilocks," Eridan gave his daughter another hug, unable to stop the tears. Hera stayed there for the rest of the night, talking with everyone about what happened and how she became the firstborn of a new species. Later, Blue and the others arrived, bringing some food from the Aerie of the First Flight. For the first time in a while, they just enjoyed the moment without worrying about what the guild was doing or about any of the problems in the world. 736 - A piece that might not fit In the following days, Hera participated in a couple meetings with Rutigan and Typhera. During that time, everyone living in Zaxalam started to talk about removing the bracelets given by the guild. Not all dwarves had accepted the device, but several of them wore them, including the Royal Explorers. Eridan, Bonnie, Renette, Helena, Alex, Quinn, Shane, and Mylo were also thinking about removing theirs. They were already displeased with what the guild was doing lately, and hearing Hera recount what actually happened in the prison only made their feelings stronger. Blue was the only one who still wanted to keep the tracking device despite her feelings since she would have problems going back home without it. She had enough money to grab her family and come live in the MAZE, but it would be a hard sell for them. Not to mention, she had a younger brother who would still need a few years before being able to level up. Helena also pointed out another problem. Now that Peter had failed his mission, it was likely that he would try to harass her. Even if there was no reason to believe that Hera Quetzaveth was Hera Kingsley, he would be the paranoid conspiracy theorist who was actually right for a change. That argument was a double-edged sword. On one hand, if Blue continued here, he could go after her family. On the other, if she went back, he could threaten her family to force her into doing something. The only advantage they had right now was that the guild wouldn''t know where they were located. They could only follow the dwarves up to Gartinet Hollow. Beyond it, it became too far away for their sensors in the Wailing Valley. The same could be said for the Aerie of the First Flight. The harpy capital was out of the guild''s range for security reasons. Instead, they had their own network and a similar way of tracking people across the MAZE. That was true for all the different intelligent species in the MAZE, but each used it in a different way. Hera only knew about the Children of the Sky. They enchanted a piece of jewelry that would usually be around their necks or some sort of piercing in their bodies. But unlike the guild, they were free to remove that accessory without having to worry about anything. After a few days, Typhera invited Rutigan and Hera to come to the Aerie for a meeting with the leaders of the other species. The Empress believed she was going just as part of Rutigan''s delegation. She went with Helena and Alex to have some company while moving around. Bonnie stayed behind to help explore Zaxalam and Blue said that she shouldn''t go. Since she had yet to decide if she would go against the guild or not, she didn''t want to know what was going on in the meeting. That way, if she was questioned by a human later, she could honestly say she didn''t know what was going on. To Hera''s surprise, when they arrived at the actual location for the meeting, she had her own seat, separated from Rutigan. Helena and Alex were behind her, in the same positions as Ogryn and Naka for the dwarven king. Only these three groups were physically here. Typhera, representing the Children of the Sky. Rutigan, representing the dwarves from Boothudurn, and Hera, representing the Ophidianites. The rest would be using a special set of long-distance communicators that allowed them to communicate with each other from their own capitals. When the time came, the room''s devices lit up, spotlighting Hera, Rutigan, and Typhera. Then, the rest of the room became darker as more lights appeared in a circle, five in total. The holograms were very lifelike, but they had that telltale opacity that proved they were just images being projected, nothing else. There were a few shadows behind each of the people illuminated by the spotlight. Typhera explained that each person could bring as many members of their species for these procedures as they wanted, but only three, aside from the one in the center, would be allowed to speak. After the basic checks were made, confirming if everyone could hear each other without a problem, one by one, the members of this meeting introduced themselves. First, an elven woman, directly at Hera''s left, got to her feet. She was tall and graceful, with long silver hair that shimmered like the moonlight. Her emerald eyes matched the intricate dress made out of enchanted leaves of all sizes and shapes covering her body. Giving a gentle bow to the group, she spoke in an unexpectedly deep but soft voice, "Hello. I know that most of you already know me; after all, I''m the oldest member of this group. But I am Elara Sliverfe. The High Councilor of the Elven Realm. This is the title for the highest political position in our civilization. We do have a Royal Family, but they are mages and warriors, not bureaucrats. I hope we can come to an agreement during these meetings, and I promise you I am not as uptight as I may seem." "HA!" the dwarf on the spotlight to her left snorted. "Oh hush, you. I am much better than when we first started. And since you interrupted, how about you continue the introductions," Elara huffed before sitting down. Even in that mood, her movements were calculated and graceful. Hearing her suggestion, Hera took a deep breath. If they kept going around in that direction, she would be the last to speak. "I''ll do just that, love," the dwarf stood up, but there wasn''t much difference in his height. He had a mane of fiery red hair and a beard filled with heavy gold rings reaching his chest. He had blue eyes that pierced beyond his heavy golden helmet that had six long horns forming a crown. His armor seemed ceremonial, in the same shade of gold with a mix of blues and reds, adorned with dozens of gemstones all around it, "My name is Thrain Stonebeard. I am the King of the Dwarven Strongholds. For the new blood, the Dwarven Strongholds are all the cities that we personally protect and build to face off against any army, be it monsters or not. People say I have a bit of a short temper, but I also believe that there is nothing we can''t solve with a beer in hand." From behind him, a couple of voices chuckled, but the king quickly shushed them. Thrain sat back down, and the person to his left got up. It was a large and muscular man with deep rust fur covering his arms that stopped when it reached the side of his torso. His chest and abs were covered in tribal tattoos with a claw and fang motif. Despite all that, what really caught everyone''s attention was the piercing yellow eyes that seemed to peer into their souls. "I am Grimclaw Pathun. The Spirit Shaman of the mountain. I lead the Beastmen spiritually. All our tribes and all our cities follow my teachings." "Only when they have nothing better to do," the woman to his left scoffed. "This is no place for arguing. We came here to decide our future. But please, we must continue the procedures. Tell them who you are," Grimclaw sat back, and almost instantly, the woman he was talking to got up. Unlike most Beastmen, she didn''t have any apparent animal features. Her amber eyes reflected the light almost as if they had flames inside them, and her earthy brown hair would go along her shoulders, framing her face. On closer inspection, Hera realized that this wasn''t simply hair but a mane like a lion''s. It was a bit odd since lionesses didn''t have a mane like that, but she didn''t know enough about the species to question it. Just like Grimclaw, she wore light clothing, mostly made out of leather and furs. "I am Thora Wilmanue. Matriarch and Chieftain of the Southern Beastmen tribes. For generations, we lived in a hostile land where all tribes were enemies. Until, the Southern Tribe waged their war, defeating every warrior but instead of killing the losing tribes, they reached out. Gave them their own food and protection. The Southern Tribe made us whole. Our leader still carries that name to this day. I was granted this name after I proved myself to be the leader our tribe requires," she didn''t say anything else and simply sat back down. After a brief pause, the next person got up, "Well. I guess it is my turn now," a triton with azure skin, webbed hands and feet, and a dorsal fin going across his back got up. A coral crown was resting atop his head, and the rest of his clothes were casual. It was very similar to beachwear, with light fabrics close to the body and with as much exposed skin as it seemed proper, "I am Nereus Stofin, the triton sovereign. My actual title is ''The Sovereign of Dominion,'' but that feels more aggressive than it actually is. Dominion is the name of the ocean we hail from. Well, technically, I''m here right now. Anyway, that''s me. I''m no longer the group''s youngest member thanks to Thora and the new ones," he glanced at Hera and Rutigan, "But I hope we can all get along. Oh, and Thrain. The invitation for our cocktail pub crawl is still open. I know you''ve been busy but we should go out to have some fun some time." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "I might take you up on that offer. Hate to admit, but you do a mean margarita," Thrain smiled and raised a glass that was in front of him like a toast. "Oh, if I could join that, but your room is too damp for me. All that moisture gets into my feathers, and it makes it impossible to fly properly," Typhera sighed and got up. Nereus took the hint and sat back down. He thanked the harpy queen internally since he was the usual reason the conversation derailed, "My name is Typhera. I am the Queen of the Children of the Sky. That''s the title, that''s it. We are likely the youngest civilization here. It''s been only a handful of generations since we stopped being mindless beasts. Hence, we are still in the royal family stage of our development. As customary, I will also introduce the people I invited to this meeting. They will have a chance to say what they want, of course, but I will add some context to their presence. In the Aerie of the First Flight, there was a door with a snake head engraved on it," after speaking that line, the rest of the room seemed to grow with tension. "That¡­ that wasn''t something you ever told us," Elara frowned. "Indeed. We have not told anyone about this. It was one of our closest guarded secrets. If any of your spies figured out its existence, I suggest giving them a raise," Typhera chuckled, "But back to the topic at hand. We knew that door was protecting a doorway, and we couldn''t force it open or risk destroying our home. The door even had a notification from the system letting us know we were unable to open it. Enter Hera Quetzaveth. Although you might know her as Hera Kingsley." "That''s why you looked familiar," Nereus snapped his fingers, "Sylvi talked about you. I know she conveyed that message, but thank you again for helping us get our people back." "I would do it again in a heartbeat," Hera replied. She wanted to add ''and do it better this time,'' but only her court heard that part. "Hera here was able to open the door and connect us to a nearby room where Rutigan, the king of the dwarves from Boothudurn, was staying. I''m sure you are all aware of the room close to the first layer where a civilization of dwarves was found some time ago," Typhera continued. "Yeah, we were trying to get in contact with them, but it was hard to do so without the guild getting in the way," Thrain nodded. "Because of his proximity to my kingdom, King Rutigan and I decided to form an alliance to help us protect each other. Hera, being a member of a new species, is here as their Empress," Typhera finished. "Hang on!" Hera gasped, "I''m not the Ophidianite Empress, nor do I speak for the entire species." Typhera smiled, "You are the only member of the Ophidianites, correct? By default, your opinion is the opinion of the species." "But¡­ but¡­ I¡­" Hera didn''t have an answer to that. "How do we know she is not part of the Beastmen? We have many different tribes who don''t look the same. Bearkin, Tigerkin, Dogkin, she can be just part of it," Thora suggested. "I don''t think I am part of the Beastmen. I came from the Naga, and they were their own people. My body is also very different. I mean, I have an organ that actually makes poison. Without mana." There were some murmurs from the people in the back, but Elara cut them all off, "There is an easy way to confirm this. Thora, when you use Inspect on any Beastmen, it shows they are Beastmen and their subtype, correct? For instance, using it on Grimclaw would show as ''Beastmen - Bearkin.''" "That is correct," Thora replied. "Hera, would you allow us to use inspect on you? This setup allows us to do that kind of thing even at a distance. It''s for when people have to share something physical," Elara turned to the Empress. Hera nodded, "Sure. I don''t see any problems with that." After everyone activated the skill, Hera saw a few notifications but waved them off. She was aware that people were using [Inspect] on her. There was a pause before Thrain said, "Well, there''s that. She is not a Beastmen." "Indeed. I''m sure we have more to talk about it, but for now, let''s finish the introductions," Elara turned to Rutigan. "Thank you, High Councilor. I am Rutigan, the King of the Dwarves from Boothudurn. We were chased away from our home to Zaxalam, a place we found thanks to Hera, Shane, and our own Royal Explorers. I thank you all for giving me a chance to speak at this meeting, and I hope we can all have a good relationship. Also, King Thrain. I would like to make one thing clear. I have no desire to challenge your authority. I understand that you are the ruler of the dwarves. However, I hope you understand that I don''t know enough about you and your rule to accept that my people should live under you. I mean no disrespect, but my people have a history of being oppressed. We can delve into the details at a later date, but I hope that even if you don''t agree with our independence, you at least respect it as we are new in the wider community." Hera stared at Rutigan with a surprised expression. The King never mentioned the idea of joining the other dwarves to her, but the way he was speaking caught her off guard. "Don''t worry about it. The days of us wanting to conquer everything are long gone. I do offer my assistance in what I can, but you don''t need to worry about insulting us just by existing. However, keep in mind that meetings like this generally only have one representative of each species. Unless the meeting is about someone specifically. In this case, that would be you due to your location. In the future, if other meetings are held without you, I hope you can respect our decisions," Thrain took a much more formal tone that seemed to surprise even Elara. Rutigan smiled, "Thank you for your understanding, and yes, I will respect the decisions made by this group if I am not a part of it. A part of me would like to add that this will be true as long as the decision doesn''t directly harm my people, but I feel like that asterisk wouldn''t be necessary." "You are correct, King Rutigan. Any decision that requires a sacrifice from a kingdom or a city can only be made in the presence of those involved," Grimclaw smiled. Rutigan nodded and sat back down. Now, only Hera was left to introduce herself. After taking a deep breath, she got up from her seat. "Hello. I am Hera Quetzaveth, the first Ophidianite." "Also, their Empress," Typhera added. "I''m not!" Hera quickly corrected, "I''m just the first. I''m not the Empress of this new species." "You have people who call you Empress," Typhera pressed with a smile. "That''s a completely different thing!" Hera squealed in a high-pitched voice. Nereus chuckled, "Typhera, can you stop teasing her?" "She was nervous. I was just trying to help her relax," the harpy Queen replied. "I don''t think that''s working," Elara glanced at Hera, who was taking a big gulp of water to calm down. They all waited patiently for the Ophidianite to continue, "OK, sorry, and thank you for your patience. As I was saying, I''m the first Ophidianite, and I''m no one''s Empress." A chorus of voices replied in her mind, ''You are mine,'' but Hera wasn''t phased. "I used to be a human until a few weeks ago. What happened to me is something new. Apparently, I was the first person to ever get that option. I opened the doors that connected Zaxalam to the Aerie. And I also helped break the prisoners out of prison. The ones that were kidnapped by the guild," thinking she had nothing else to say, Hera sat back down. "Now, we have a lot to discuss in the next week. But I believe we all want to know about one thing specifically first," Elara looked around, all eyes focusing on the Ophidianite, "Hera. Can you explain more about who you are? How did you get there?" "Sure, where do you want me to start?" "From the beginning. From how you got that option to¡­ transform into something else," Elara replied. "Hera, if you would let me remind you. This is what I talked about. We do mean the very beginning." Hera scratched her head. She had told the entire story to Typhera, and the Queen advised her on where to start her tale during this meeting, "OK then. It all started after Blue, and I opened the door to Boothudurn. We met a few people who wanted to go to the Wailing Valley, and that''s where I had my first contact with the Naga¡­." 737 - Above my paygrade "... Then, in the desert. I took one of the vials of Naga essence, and one of my Naga skills reached rank 6. The scales. Because of the legendary bracelet that was a relic from the Naga, plus the rank 6 Naga skill, I got the notification about the option to ''Ascend'' as it was called. For the record, I think that was just one of those cases where the system was trying to make it more interesting with the name of the quest. I don''t really believe that one species is better than the other. I mean, we all have our pros and cons," Hera finished her story after around 2 hours and a lot of questions from the leaders of the species. "So the actual requirement was a rank 6 skill of that species and the legendary relic? Would any skill and legendary item would do? As long as both are from the same species?" Elara asked. "That is my best assumption. Again, I am not entirely sure how it was created, and the being I talk to about my new body doesn''t have the answers either. All they know is that they are the first of their kind." "Right, and they work like a Herald from a legacy, correct?" Grimclaw asked. "Yes, but it''s only about my body. I can''t ask about skills unrelated to being an Ophidianite. Or about things that wouldn''t have a direct effect because of my species. Well, I mean, I can ask. They just can''t answer." "Very well. I think we all need some time to process that. I know I do. Can we take a break?" Nereus asked. "That is a good idea. I could use a drink, " Thrain got up, signaling the start for everyone to leave the meeting. Typhera waited for the lights to be completely out before turning to Hera and Rutigan, "I think things went well." "I wasn''t expecting to be in the spotlight," Hera replied. "I think you did great. I just hope King Thrain isn''t upset," Rutigan sighed. "I''m sure he is fine. Thrain is not as temperamental as he made himself to be," Typhera waved her wing as they walked out of the room. This place was located close to her castle. Although calling it a castle was a bit of a stretch. Her home was in a spire at the very top. The lower floors had offices and other places where the officials would help her govern her people and the kingdom. This meeting room was on a spire connected to that larger one, still far enough away to avoid any trouble but not too far to make it a hassle to come here. Helena and Alex got up and started walking with the group, and the assassin got a bit closer to Hera, "Hey¡­ Is it OK if I sit out when you return? I''ll still be in the city if that''s ok, but this is just¡­ kind of too much for me." "Oh, yeah. Don''t worry about it. You can do what you want. I wasn''t expecting this to be this intense," Hera replied with a smile. A part of her wanted to be able to just leave with her friend. This whole thing was a lot. Still, she turned to the mage, "You can go too, Lena. I don''t want you to feel like you have to be here." "I think I have to stay. After all, you wouldn''t be here feeling uncomfortable and exposing your life to a bunch of people if it wasn''t for me. I made you buy that raffle to gain a level up," Helena replied with a smile, but the underlying guilt was still there. Hera just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you are an awful person for making my dream come true, helping me grow as an explorer, and being with me through the most dangerous moments of my life. Most of which were caused by me, by the way. But you really are the worst, Lena," she paused but still refused to look towards the mage as they walked, "And if you think I''m serious and not being sarcastic, I''m throwing you from the bridge." "That is a murder threat in front of a Queen and a King, you know," Typhera chuckled. She wasn''t far enough not to overhear the conversation. "Not murder. Lena can teleport a decent distance, and I''m pretty sure she has some spells to stop her from falling." Helena smiled, "You are not wrong. Jumping here wouldn''t hurt. Probably. But I''ll stop feeling guilty, thanks. Still, I''m here with you." "I''m sorry for butting in, but if one of your friends is not going to be here as your delegation, it might be good to have a replacement. Although this group is somewhat laid back, appearances do matter. If you show up without people behind you, what you say will carry less weight to some," Typhera was looking back at Hera and still walking along the group, even if most of the harpy in the room would fly when moving around. The Queen was trying to be polite and move together with the rest, "I can offer some of my guards to join you, for appearance''s sake. ''Lurize, Nimbus, Livy, would you be ok staying behind me? You know you can''t talk and have to stay quiet,'' Hera asked her court. ''I would be happy to help,'' Nimbus said. ''Me too,'' Lurize seemed somewhat excited. Then again, this was just the kind of thing he liked. After getting to civilization, he started to watch shows about royal politics and other types of power struggle. ''Honestly¡­ That is boring. I wouldn''t mind staying outside with a tablet doing my own thing. If you need it, just let me know, and I''ll search for something for you. Then I can just watch some videos or play some games,'' Livy suggested. "That''s a good idea. But it might be offensive to them," Hera replied out loud, knowing that Typhera would be listening, "Livy is suggesting that she be outside with a tablet. That way, she can search for information if we need it." "Oh, yeah. Of course. Everyone does something like that. I had one of my tech gals doing the same in the back. She didn''t have to do anything, but she was ready for it. I just don''t get why you are asking me about this. I told you and King Rutigan to do that¡­ didn''t I?" "No¡­" Hera replied. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "No, I''m sorry, Queen Typhera, but you didn''t mention anything like that," Rutigan tilted his head. "Shit¡­ sorry. I must have forgotten. I''ll have someone bring earpieces for you. Do you need someone to search for things?" Rutigan turned to Hera, "May I ask Livy to do that? Since she will be doing it for you already?" ''Livy?'' Hera asked. ''Sure. I''ll just need someone to give me a sign of when to pay attention.'' ''I can do that,'' Lurize added. "She can do it. She just needs a way to know when and what to search for." "The earpiece we use can translate your thoughts into text using a spell. So if you need to, King Rutigan, just think about your request, and it should show up on Livy''s tablet," Typhera continued. "That would be lovely," Rutigan smiled. They continued walking and headed to a dining room for lunch. When they returned, Nimbus, Lurize, and Helena were behind Hera while Alex went to explore the Aerie. There were a few flying classes that she could take here, and that would help her move around with her skills better in the air. Everyone in the meeting had a few extra questions for Hera, including Rutigan and Typhera, despite them being more knowledgeable about her new species than the others. However, this part of the meeting only lasted about half an hour. Then, they changed to another topic, discussing the guild''s current movements and what they could do in response. All the while, the Ophidianite just listened. Livy ended up participating more in the meeting than the Empress herself since Rutigan asked her about some topics a few times to chime in during the conversation. During most of the following week, Hera had that same routine. She would just sit in the meeting and watch as everyone kept discussing their plans and reports about various issues going on around the MAZE. Around 4 days into the meeting, the Ophidianite was called again, but this time about her role in the prison break. They called everyone on the team, even if Becca and Freya only sent their recorded testimonies. In the end, this was just to see if anyone had discovered more about what the guild was doing. Unfortunately, there was nothing new for the leader of the species. Even if Hera and Rutigan became aware of what actually was going on. According to their findings and the testimony of the elf who went through the procedure in prison, the guild was trying to force someone to bind to a spirit and use it as a mana battery to increase their powers. Their idea was to both have one spirit-bound subject diluting the spirit mana for a platoon and have several people bound to several spirits, all funneling the mana to a single person, giving them a tremendous boost. According to the spy network, the guild had no success with that so far, but they weren''t entirely sure how close that project was to being completed. To make things worse, there has been an increase in disappearances lately. It was only around 20%, but if that increase was related to kidnappings, it meant that the guild had tens of thousands of subjects currently being experimented on. The cherry on top of this was that they had no concrete leads about where those experiments could be happening. The only one was the prison they had already rescued people from. On the last day of the meetings, when Hera had already accepted that she was here just for show and was feeling much more relaxed, Thora threw a wrench on her plans, "We''ve been talking for a few days already, but I fear one of our newest members didn''t have a chance to speak. So, Hera, what say you?" "Me?" the Empress nearly jumped in her chair when she was called, "I appreciate the worry, but I don''t think I have anything to contribute." "No, no. Chieftain Thora is right. We have been neglecting your opinion. Please, tell us what you think," Elara smiled. "I¡­ don''t know." "C''mon, you must have an opinion about something here," Nereus tried to hype her up. Hera took a deep breath, "Honestly. I do. But it''s not something good, or useful, for that matter." "Still. Tell us. You have that right," Typhera tried to support the Ophidianite. "Ok¡­. And please, don''t take this the wrong way. I don''t mean to be rude, but I don''t understand what I am doing here." There was a pause, "What do you mean?" Thrain asked. "I mean¡­ You''ve been discussing where to send supplies and deploy troops. Battle plans, spy networks, infrastructure problems, political issues with the guild and ambassadors. I have nothing to do with any of that. I don''t rule a kingdom. I don''t have anywhere near enough power to deal with anything like that. So, yeah. I don''t understand why I am a part of this. We are not on the same level. You are all generals, and I''m a soldier. Maybe a lieutenant at best." They all looked at Hera for a moment, and Grimclaw was the one to break the silence, "You are not wrong. But I do believe you have value. Why don''t you tell us what you can do to help? If you need, we can give you some time." "No need, I''ve been thinking about this the entire week. So, first things first. Deakoshara. It''s a room that is protected by doors that even the system recognizes as being impenetrable. I already know that it is impossible to replicate that, but I also know that I can open and close those doors. Maybe I can explore that room and make it safe to send people in the worst-case scenario. Another thing, I don''t know if the members of the rescue team talked about it, but I have a legacy that lets me ''create people'' out of weapons. And those people I create have their own personalities, intelligence, wants, skills, attributes, and spells. So I''m like a one-woman team. If anyone needs someone to go somewhere without attracting attention or an operation that needs a stealthy way to increase in numbers, you can call me. If it''s a small thing, I''m game. Need to break more people out of a lab. I''ll be there. If you want to deliver a sensitive document or an item, I can handle that. But this? This whole preparing for war thing is out of my league. The only thing I know that is even close to this is real-time strategy games. And I used to play on medium while getting my ass kicked more than I would like!" Elara nodded, "That was an oversight on our part. My apologies. The last time we had a new species joining us, they were already established. They had their rules and history. We never met a species that was just starting, and I agree that we gave you a treatment that didn''t fit with the size of your species." "But we still need to know the Ophidianites'' opinion on various topics. Leaving you out of it would be against our principles," Nereus had his arms crossed while looking down in deep thought. "May I make a suggestion then? When the Children of the Sky joined, we were offered the option of attaching ourselves to someone else. Saying that we were under another''s umbrella, so to speak," Typhera said while glancing at Hera. Elara frowned, "I remember that your predecessor was also extremely offended by the suggestion." "Yes, but that happened because we felt we had already proved our independence. That suggestion felt like an attempt to control us, even when we were more than capable of flying on our own, so to speak. In Hera''s case, her civilization is not yet ready to participate in something on this scale. So, the idea of being under someone might not be an offense, only an understanding of her situation." "And who are you suggesting for her to follow? You?" Thora squinted at Typhera. "I was actually going to suggest King Rutigan. And their relationship seems to be on very amicable terms." Rutigan turned to Hera, "If you trust me enough for it. I am willing to watch out for both our people. Well, future people in your case." "I am. I trust you, King Rutigan," Hera smiled, " But I want to add. I want to help the people who were kidnapped. And anything to do with the spirits the guild captured, I want to join. If I''m around the right level for it. Also, if you need me for a covert mission, just let me know. I may be the first Ophidianite, but I have no intention of just hiding while the MAZE is, in essence, being attacked by humans." 738 - Comfort Zone After the meeting with the leaders of the species was over, Hera stayed in the Aerie for a couple of days with Rutigan. The King asked her to stick around while he was there. Typhera also became a common presence in their group. At first, the Ophidianite assumed the harpy Queen was just being kind and trying to keep a good relationship with her neighbors. But, there were a couple of moments where Hera and whoever else was in the group felt more like they were intruding on something more personal. Either way, Hera eventually returned to Zaxalam and was eager to explore the place for the first time. Ever since she arrived here, there was too much to do, and aside from walking around in the city for a bit, she didn''t have any chance to explore. But first, the Empress arrived back in the house where her dad and Shane were staying. "Hera! How did things go?" Eridan asked. "Well¡­ they went. It was just a lot," Hera smiled. She was about to continue when she noticed Blue coming out of the bathroom, "I''ll tell you later." "Hera! Are you back?" Blue closed the door behind her. That bathroom was one of the new additions made by the dwarves. The Naga didn''t have a sewage system, so they used a communal latrine. They also had communal baths, which were the only option they had for a shower right now. However, after coming here, the Royal Explores realized this flaw and warned Rutigan about it. Thanks to that, he also asked Ogryn and the architects to prepare a large number of self-cleaning toilets and water-generating faucets to construct makeshift bathrooms for the temporary houses. The plan was to eventually improve the infrastructure of the place. They already had a few ideas about how to make a power generator using the water stream coming out of the snake''s mouth outside the city and adding some actual sewers and treatment plants to take care of all the water. One large benefit of this place was that it was mostly inside a mountain, which meant the dwarves were very familiar with the kinds of changes they could make without worrying. "Yeah. I''m back. Lena and Alex will be here soon. They just went to grab some food for everyone," Hera nodded. "I''m glad. Like staying here with Shane yapping all the time wasn''t that fun." "Yapping?" Hera raised one eyebrow. "I have to agree with her. Shane has been kind of annoying since you got here," Renette sighed as she came from a room in the back. "Really?" "Yeah, she keeps talking about wanting to explore Deakoshara. And now that you opened the way, she can''t seem to wait," Blue shook her head. "Oh¡­ she really isn''t going to be happy with me then," Hera chuckled. "Why is that, honey?" Eridan was still by his daughter''s side, holding her hand. "I don''t think we should go there just yet." "Why not?" Eridan asked. "Well¡­ Did I ever tell you about the vision I had? When I was bound to Mr. Beetle?" "You glanced over it. You mentioned how that happened but never got into detail." Hera nodded and started recounting her vision. She added as many details as possible, including the monsters and the path she took to get there. Lena, Alex, Bonnie, Shane, and Mylo arrived with some food in the middle of her tale. Quinn had already set up a salon and was working late today. That was a simple way of bringing some normalcy to the lives of those who had to give up their home. They ate while Hera talked about her vision, and by the end of it, she added, "And that''s why I want to explore more about this place before going to Deakoshara." "What!?" Shane jumped to her feet, "You are kidding me!" "I''m not." "Why?" Shane crossed her arms. "You were listening to the vision, right? Remember the city I saw? I''m pretty sure that''s Zaxalam. Or a version of it. I mean, the city''s entrance is only missing the giant stone slabs, but they look very close to the doors blocking Deakoshara. Also, the monster. We still don''t know what that giant monster was. What if it is still around here? It wouldn''t be the first time we found a monster that could live for very long while still getting stronger than the monsters in the room. So I want to be sure that the people who are living here are safe before going there. And there is one more thing, one that I kind of expected you to realize, Shane." Shane tilted her head and thought for a second, "We don''t know who closed the doors to Deakoshara." "What does that have to do with anything?" Renette asked. Hera turned to Bonnie''s mom, "If they all left and closed the place, intending to return later is one thing. But if they were still inside when the doors were locked, something inside wiped out all of the Naga. And the room is way too big. I''m not sure about this place, but Deakoshara has an area of around 200 square kilometers. Including some beaches, mountains, forests, a swamp, and a small piece of a desert. Like a rocky desert, not sandy. Think Arizona, not Egypt." Renette gasped, "The room is really that big? It''s like an entire country." "Yep, that''s why I want to be sure this place is safe before going there. When we start exploring that room, I''m sure it will take time to come back. Not that I want to see everything in a single go, but we need to be careful," Hera finished. Shane was still frowning, but she rubbed the back of her head in frustration, "Fuck. Fine. I agree with you. I still have a lot to learn from here. By the way, can you give me more essence? I already took all of mine. It only lasted five days." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Sure. Did you get a skill or an upgrade? You should only need one to reach rank five to become an Ophidianite," Hera made a few extra vials of essence while drinking one herself. Only then did something click, "Hang on, why did it only last five days? I left nine vials." Shane didn''t say anything but glanced at Eridan. Hera''s dad puffed his chest and took one of the vials, "I left you alone for too long. This time, wherever you go, I''m following. Be it in the MAZE or being an Ophidianite. If things go well, you will be calling me Eridan Quetzaveth soon. As long as you have me, of course." Hera smiled, "Dad," she bumped his shoulder, "If you want to follow me you can. I can''t promise we will be safe, but it will be fun." "I''m 50% sure he is also very interested in having a tail," Renette chuckled. "Well¡­ I''m not against it. I always wondered what it was like," Eridan scratched his cheek. "The extra life span won''t hurt either," Blue laughed along. "Extra life span?" Shane asked, making Hera pause. "Didn''t I tell you guys about it?" "Not about living longer," Mylo shook his head. "Oh¡­ Sooooo¡­ I can live to three hundred now." "What?!" there was a chorus of gasps. "Now I really want to be a Naga!" Shane smiled, downing her own vial, "Shit! Nothing!" "It''s Ophidianite, not Naga. And did you get any increases?" Hera corrected "Only one. My Naga Scales went to rank 3 and changed to Ophidianite Scales. The skill seems a bit better, too." Hera nodded, "Yeah. It is. The problem is that there are more skills now. Well, I say that, but I don''t actually know how many skills the Naga had in total." "And you know how many skills the Ophidianites have?" Renette asked. "I do. I didn''t tell you guys this, too? Oh¡­ I actually have all of them. All the skills, I mean, and because of the Primogenitor title, any ''Ophidianite Skills'' another Ophidianite gets, I will get it too. Like not a skill I already have, but if someone gets a new skill somehow, I will too," Hera explained. "So the more people that become Ophidianite, the better it is for you, right?" Eridan asked with a smile. "Yeah, but I think that was intentional. I think the system wants this species to thrive, so it''s making the idea of spreading more appealing to me. I mean, I even have a permanent buff that says that any children I have will be Ophidianites, no matter who the father is. That''s another thing that you need to keep in mind if you are changing species. If you have any children they will be one of us." "That is true¡­ I suppose if I become an Ophidianite, I would be young again¡­ right? I mean, if you can reach 300 years old, 41 should still be young. Even if not, the worry about getting old before having more children would be very different. Actually¡­ do you lay eggs?" Renette asked while ignoring the side eye Bonnie gave her when she mentioned her age. "That was something I had the option to choose. And I decided against laying eggs. I don''t know. The idea just sounds very weird. Not that it''s weird to do that, but it''s such a fundamental change that I couldn''t think about going through. About the age, I''m¡­ not sure. Hang on," Hera pulled up her tablet and sent a text to Tara asking about that age difference. The reply came right away, "OK, so apparently, you can keep your age. So if you are 41, you still will be 41 years old as an Ophidianite. Thinking in dwarf terms, since they have the same lifespan, that means you are a young adult. Like a human in his late 20s. Dad, you would be in your early 30s. Since 51 would translate to that. According to them, this should also be a way for the system to give an incentive for people to join. But I''m not sure I want this to be widespread. I think it would attract the wrong kind of attention to the idea of being part of the species." "But that wouldn''t affect anyone. Elves and dwarves wouldn''t see any difference. Neither would some variations of beastman. Triton lives to 150, so that''s maybe. I''m just not sure about the Children of the Sky," Helena cut a piece of her stuffed potato while thinking. "They might be interested. They have the shortest lifespan of all. Around 75 years on average," Alex replied, getting an odd stare from Bonnie, "What?" "I just never expected you to be knowledgeable about the Children of the Sky," Bonnie replied. "I''m not. I just talked a lot with people in the Aerie. They were curious about humans, and I was about them. Anyway, the increase in lifespan might be a good thing for them. A lot of the harpies seem¡­ not exactly jealous, but they see how they end up in an uphill battle." "Yeah. I mean, elves have centuries to learn about a topic and branch out to whatever they want, while they get not even a tenth of it? It just sucks," Alex sighed. "You know¡­ I know that there is a possibility of mutations when someone is born naturally as an Ophidianite. Maybe someday, they can get a mutation that will increase their lifespan. I''m pretty sure some people are working on bio-engineering like that," Hera tried to cheer everyone up. They ate in silence for a moment after that, but Shane didn''t take long to return to the previous topic, "So, Hera, what do you want to explore in this room?" "I was thinking about searching for the cave where I ''Died'' in the vision. I think that might be a good place to start looking for signals of that monster. Ideally, we would find his corpse or a dungeon that shows how it died somewhere. Do you feel like joining?" "I want to say yes, but that is a bit of a wild goose chase. I think I''ll stay here until you find something interesting," Shane sighed. "I think you should wait a day or two before going," Blue added. "Why?" "Fethy was helping set up a place for a long-distance internet tower. Apparently, they were developed from the ground up after taking apart the ones the New Dawn made that have that absurd range. We don''t know the size of the room, but from the size of the tower, it should cover a large area," Blue explained. "Well¡­ I do like the idea of being able to warn people if things go south. I guess I''ll stay around for a little bit," Hera said with a smile, "Maybe we can get a new house by then. Don''t get me wrong, I don''t mind staying in a place with many people, but it''s hard to call my court out here." They looked around. There were 9 people here in this house, not to mention Quinn, who should be arriving soon. They were not extremely cramped, but it wasn''t exactly roomy either. If they were to add a griffon with large winds, a large suit of armor, and a 3-meter-tall dragon, that would change very quickly. "Well, you can help me clear out some rooms tomorrow. If we cover enough ground, we might be able to split off into smaller groups," Shane suggested. "You know what¡­ that''s a good idea. Especially since I count as four," Hera smiled. "You count as four?" Shane paused, "Of course you do. Your court can understand the same languages you do, don''t they?" "Yep," Hera replied with a big smile. "Sometimes I wonder if I got the right legacy," Shane sighed. "Could you live without enchanting the bed?" Mylo asked. "You enchant your bed?" Blue turned to the enchanter. "Yeah, I make it softer, more comfy, and just the right temperature," when Shane finished speaking, she realized how everyone''s eyes were shining, "Oh no¡­ Fine, I''ll do that to your beds, too." With a cheer, they continued their meal, talking and having fun. In her mind, Hera thanked her friends. Despite the changes in her body, no one was treating her differently, and that was just what she hoped for. 739 - The last Royal Explorer "OK, just one last time. What''s our mission?" Hera asked the Royal Explorers. All of them were in front of the city entrance, making it a show that they were about to head out. "Make sure the room is safe!" they all replied the rehearsed answer. "And what are we looking for?" Hera asked. Legan, the youngest member of the Royal Explorers who just gained his role, stepped forward, "We are searching for anything that can be useful for the city. As well as making sure no monsters are around that could pose a danger to our city! If we find anything that seems dangerous, we scout it and reconvene before engaging. We do the same with any dungeons we come across!" He had deep-set black eyes that were like two onyxes. His fine charcoal-colored hair was worn in a style that reminded people of a cascading waterfall, contrasting with his pale skill and pronounced cheekbones. When he was younger, he used to be compared to a skeleton by his friends as a joke, and now that he was an explorer, he leaned heavily into that aesthetic. Even if that comparison was only true to his face. Legan had a large frame, and it was all muscle. Now, he joked people should call him ''Powerlifting Skeleton.'' He wore leather armor supported by exposed bones and griffon skulls on his shoulders. Another unique quirk of his was that he decided to focus on fighting with a spear and summoning the undead. He also understood that he shouldn''t be using that type of magic near the city. Despite the knowledge that necromancy was only about controlling dead bodies, people still held a stigma towards it. "Well, that covers my next question. Everyone ready?" "Yes, Duchess!" they all yelled, with cheers coming from the people watching. "Then, Royal Explorers, Let''s explore!" Hera shouted and started walking away, but no one seemed to follow, "What''s wrong?" "Let''s explore? Really?" Trillian asked. "I mean¡­ it''s not a good battle cry," Rayna scratched the back of her head. "Yeah," some people in the crowd agreed. "Does anyone have a better idea?" Hera huffed. "Can I try?" Livy asked. "Sure," Hera sighed, feeling like the moment was gone. Livy stepped a bit forward, not that she had to since the 3-meter-tall dragon towered over everything. She took a deep breath and yelled, her voice almost turning into a roar, "Royal Explorers! Let''s fucking loot this place!" "YEAH!" the royal explorers yelled and started running off. Hera, on the other hand, smacked Livy''s arm, "There are children watching! Why the fuck are you cursing!" "You just did!" Livy protested. Hera smacked her arm again, "I''m scolding you. I get a pass!" she turned back to the families, watching them leave, and made a gesture to apologize. There children were laughing while their parents just shrugged and moved along, with a few staring Hera down, but that didn''t last long. This whole presentation was Rutigan''s idea. The people who came from Boothudurn were sad about having to leave their homes, which was understandable, to say the least. Because of that, the King was trying to come up with ideas to show his subjects that they were in a better place. It was already helpful that the surrounding jungle was vibrant and full of life. Unfortunately, there were a couple of situations that made people weary about their surroundings. One of the children got trapped by some vines when they were looking around the outside of the city. It wasn''t a monster vine, just a natural formation of the forest, but since they were in a layer much deeper than Boothudurn, the vines were stronger, and his parents weren''t able to cut the vines on their own since they were still low-level. Another issue came from a couple who found a small squirrel near the entrance of the city. It had yellow fur with a single red streak of red coming from its forehead all the way to the tip of its tail. They tried to play with it, but that angered the monster, who spat fire at them. Thankfully, they were a bit higher level, and the attack only gave them some light burns. Risli wasn''t even called to help take care of them, but two events in the same week took their toll on morale. Since Hera already wanted to look around the room, Rutigan suggested she take the Royal Explorers out, too. They had turned into celebrities for the people of Boothudurn. Not only were they brave enough to explore the MAZE and go to dangerous places, but they also found their new home and cleared a path to get here. Seeing that same group working to make sure the surrounding area is safe and well-protected would help improve everyone''s mood. Despite the large number of people who were leaving, they split into somewhat larger groups. Hera had already briefed everyone about her vision and what she was worried about. They understood the potential gravity of the situation, even if it was mostly because the Duchess of Exploration was the one worried. That''s why they decided to have larger groups. Hera''s party was the smallest one of the bunch. Blue, Alex, Helena, and Legan, but she had the added benefit of 3 extra members in Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy. Their job was to find out where the giant monster was. The Empress would be trying her best to find the location she saw in her vision, together with Lurize, to search the room. Bonnie was with Shane, Mylo, Farica, and Callena. Their job was to find other Naga structures around the room. Lastly, there were 2 groups of 5 dwarves each that would be looking for dungeons and for anything that could pose a danger. Since the internet tower was already set up, everyone could use their tablets to talk with each other if they found something. Back in the city, Renette would be in charge of following their location on the map. Now that she was here, there wasn''t much to do, and she wanted to help. Eridan would also give a hand, but since people were already getting their definitive homes in Zaxalam, there were a lot of orders for beds and other wood furniture for him to make. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The one reason why Hera asked Legan to accompany her was due to the fact that he didn''t have a chance to be an active member of the Royal Explorers. Just after he got his role, the guild started to harass the dwarves, and the plan of having him level up quickly with the guard was put on hold. Eventually, he was able to run some dungeons, but by the time they left, he was only level 14 and not level 18, as was the plan. The trip here helped him get one more level, but 15 was just the base level for this room. Hera didn''t want to give anyone else the responsibility of taking care of him. It was also a good chance for her to see how he fought and give some points if needed. When everyone split off, the Empress'' group started to move to the mountain to the left of the city. "Ok, I think that''s where I died. In the vision, I mean," Hera pointed to an area covered in grass. "All the way up there?" Blue groaned. "Yeah, it was close to the top. I''ll be able to tell the height when we are looking down at the city. Let''s get to higher ground." "Yes, ma''am!" Legan saluted. "You really don''t have to do that. We are all friends here. Only Naka would be complaining if you are not calling her ma''am," Hera patted Legan''s shoulder. "Oh yeah. We got our asses chewed when we called her by her name during training," Blue chuckled as they started walking. "By the way. How does your necromancy work? I don''t think I ever looked into those kinds of spells," Nimbus got closer to Legan but stopped when he noticed the dwarf stepping back. "Hum¡­ It''s¡­ a bit, how can I put this. Weird, for now. Mr. Nimbus, sir." "Is everything okay?" Alex asked. "Yeah. No problem," Legan replied but didn''t look towards Nimbus. "Hey, short stuff, are you afraid of Nimbus?" Livy asked. "No! Well... I mean. A little. He is a griffon, isn''t he?" "I am, but I don''t¡­ Oh, did you have a bad experience in the dungeon?" Nimbus frowned. "No, I didn''t even get to fight griffons. It''s just¡­ I grew up listening to stories about griffons and how they are terrifying. I guess I''m still scared of them," Legan admitted. Hera nodded, "That''s understandable. A lot of people from Boothudurn get like that when Nimbus is around. But as a Royal Explorer, you can''t freeze up because of a scary monster. Nimbus is a good way to have some exposure therapy. He can understand if you say it''s too much. I''m not saying you need to become best friends, but you should try to at least be able to talk with him without worrying." "Ok, I''ll do that," Legan took a deep breath and turned to Nimbus, "Mr. Nimbus. Necromancy is about controlling bodies. But the best way to use it, according to what I know, is to craft the bodies yourself." Nimbus raised one eyebrow, "Are you going to dig up bodies to make a Frankenstein?" "Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster. The monster didn''t have a name," Helena added while they moved deeper into the jungle. "I know, but if I just ask if he is going to make a monster, it is hard to understand what I mean. Asking about Frankenstein makes it more specific," Nimbus explained. Legan nodded, "Yeah, it does. And answering the question, no, I don''t mean stealing the actual body parts. Even if there is a branch of necromancy about making chimeras. But they are all mindless. I need to make this clear. In essence, it''s like making a golem made out of flesh. So, to actually use it, I need either body. Monster bodies, I mean, I never used anything on people, and I don''t intend to. Or I can use a mix of raw materials that have a similar composition to a body to control it." "So you just walk around with a bunch of meat?" Blue asked. "Not meat," Legan pulled a small bag, "But before everything, I got my hands in some bone powder. This is the kind of thing butchers can sell. Same with blood. There are spells that will let me compress this even more, to the point where an entire skeleton can come out of a single tennis ball-sized thing. For now, I can do this," he tapped the bag, and all the gray powder floated off, forming itself into a small dog with large claws and fangs and some extra bones for its ribcage. "How mana-efficient is this? If you are controlling all that, it must cost a lot," Helena got closer to the dog, whom Legan commanded to approach and act like a puppy. "That''s the draw of necromancy. It takes some mana to animate the body, but after that, it can move it on its own. Bodies are very good at keeping mana so that initial cost is everything I need. To make Timber here, it costs just under 2 thousand mana. Each command requires between 10 and 100 mana, depending on the complexity," Legan looked to the side and saw one of the squirrels in the room. This one with green fur and a blue streak coming from its forehead. He simply pointed at the monster, and Timber, the skeletal dog, rushed out at it. The monster saw the incoming threat and ran away, but Legan used another spell to increase Timber''s speed, allowing him to reach the squirrel and bite down on the top of its skull, killing it instantly. "Effective, but a bit too noisy," Alex said. "I''m not very good at being stealthy, but now I can also do this," Legan walked over the squirrel''s body and reanimated it with another spell. The undead squirrel stopped bleeding and jumped onto his shoulder, "It can''t use the skill or magic it had when it was alive, but it can still use its body." "Maybe we can see you fighting against something a bit stronger," Hera smiled, trying to support him. "I also want to see you fight," Blue turned to the Empress. "What? Why?" Hera tilted her head. "What do you mean why? Ever since you became an Ophidianite, you didn''t get a chance to fight. I want to see what your new body can do," Blue had a large grin on her face. "To be fair. I''m also a bit curious how you handle yourself now," Nimbus nodded. Hera looked down; she didn''t think about it, but it was true. Ever since becoming an Ophidianite, she didn''t try to push her body, not really. With that thought in mind, they continued moving along the jungle, looking not only for the places that she saw in her vision but also for something to give them a bit of a challenge. 740 - Zaxalam It took them two hours to climb the mountain. Not because it was that far away but because the terrain was so uneven that getting up was a struggle. However, that was their choice since they could have flown over. After all, Hera, Blue, and Alex had ways of doing that, and Helena could use her teleport through a light arrow. However, since Legan was with them, Hera asked the group to not help him ''skip'' the actual climbing. Because of that, they decided to just cheer him on while he tried to get to the next safe spot in the mountain. At the same time, they could work as a safety net. If he were to fall, one of them would be able to catch him in time. Hera herself was also climbing by hand. She wanted to know how much her body changed, not just visually or when walking around, but what she could actually do with her new self. Her first idea was to use the tail to grab onto ledges, but that didn''t work that well. Unlike her hands, her tail didn''t have a good grip, especially from the sides. It didn''t take long for her to try a few other things and realize the best way to go about it. In a way, her tail was a third leg. One that could push off against rocks or help lessen the weight on a single part of her body. As a matter of fact, the strength of her tail was one of the biggest surprises. Not only could she hold her entire body weight with it, but she was able to swing side to side using large roots as an anchor point. Doing that didn''t even hurt. Her first attempt to do so left her dangling by the tail while she moved, which was not only awkward but also embarrassing. Trying to change things up, she did a handstand before swinging, making the whole process much more comfortable and practical. Hera already put this on the list of things to practice later. Run, jump, do a half flip to let her tail grab onto branches to fling herself forward, ready to strike. They also faced a couple of monsters, but due to their low level, the Empress couldn''t use them as practice dummies. Still, it was a good warm-up for her and the humans. Legan struggled a bit when a large rodent with long, floppy ears attacked. He used his undead pets to attack, but the monster didn''t seem to care due to their size. Instead, it went directly to the dwarf. He had to fight against it using his spear and the combat styles he learned from the guards. There were a couple of close calls when he was almost pushed down the mountain, but he was able to dodge. Not that he was in any danger. Nimbus was already flying a bit below them to catch the man in case anything were to happen. Hera also had a few court members watching closely and ready to intervene, as well as a potion from Risli in her hand if Legan got seriously injured, but she was hiding everything she was doing. The whole idea was to let him make the mistakes he was going to make, let him fall, and even get hurt. That way, he would gain experience. Proper combat experience and not in a controlled space where he knew someone would bail him out. After reaching the top, Lurize and Hera glanced down at the city. It was a familiar sight for the two of them, even if that only happened at a different time. "I think we were a bit further back," Lurize said after a moment looking at the city. "Yeah, we can''t see the entrance all that well here. Also, that place is missing the defenses, isn''t it?" Hera focused her eyes, remembering the ballistae that were by the doors. "That is true, but the actual stone slab that blocked the entrance should be the door they used to barricade the passage to Deakoshara, right?" Lurize turned to the Empress. "I think so. Unless we find out that the stone barrier is hidden somewhere in the city." "Do you have any idea why?" Helena asked. "I really don''t. I don''t even know what actually happened in the vision. I mean, I wasn''t following someone. Instead, I was just doing what I wanted. At the end of the vision, that giant monster was going towards the city. I think it had some sort of absolute stealth from one side or something. I wasn''t able to see it until it was right over me. And the city had the same problem. I had to yell to warn them. That''s why the monster flooded the cave I hid in with acid," Hera explained. "And what did that monster look like again?" Alex asked. "A centaur scorpion with the torso of a praying mantis," Lurize replied. "And it spits acid?" Blue asked. "And it can''t be seen from the front," Hera added. "You know¡­ I hate everything you just said," Alex sighed. "Me too," Blue nodded "Same here. Are we sure this place is safe?" Legan turned to the Empress. "It should be. That happened thousands of years ago. Not every monster can live that long. Even if I have met my fair share of them," Hera turned around, recognizing the path ahead. There was a single gap in the path, exactly where Scryotra, the giant scorpion praying mantis centaur, killed the leopard that was chasing her when she arrived at this location in her vision. She turned to the left towards the mountain itself and noticed how some vines were swaying in the wind on a spot that seemed to be part of the ground, "I think that''s the cave!" the Empress gasped with a smile. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "That grass?" Legan tilted his head. "Yeah. See how it''s moving more than its surroundings, and it''s not following the direction of the wind? That means an air current is passing there," Hera pointed to the foliage. She waited until Legan was able to recognize that difference before walking forward. As she approached what could be the cave, she stopped and raised her hand, signaling for the rest of the group to halt. "What''s wrong?" Legan asked in a whisper. "I think I''m smelling something weird," Hera licked the air in front of her. When doing this, the muscle from the tongue would stretch much farther than anyone expected. The sight really hammered the idea that the Empress was no longer human. However, it was clear the Ophidianite wasn''t familiar with this motion. Her tongue flailed around awkwardly in the air before coming back to her mouth, "Ok¡­ this is weird, but I think that''s a monster nest." "How can you tell?" Blue asked. "You know how snakes can taste the air to smell? Well, I can do that too. In a way. And I can smell something coming from there." "So¡­ do you taste whatever it is?" Alex frowned. "Not really. Basically, I have a second nose inside my mouth. And that nose is super powerful. The good part is that there is a muscle that I can control to cover or open it, so it''s not always active," Hera explained. "That''s¡­ strange." Legan said but quickly corrected himself, "Not that there''s anything wrong with it. I just don''t know what to think." "Don''t worry. We can talk more about this later. Let''s see what''s in there," Hera walked over, calling Viper and Crimson to her hand while Livy and Lurize walked beside her. Nimbus was still flying, making sure that no monster was coming from above. Slashing the vines, she opened a path towards the cave. Just as the light reached the ground, they all heard some skittering noises of small claws scraping against the rocks. "Let me take care of this one," Hera didn''t look away from the tunnel. "Go for it. The monsters here are, at most, level 18. It shouldn''t be a problem for you," Alex lowered her daggers. She was still ready in case of an attack but in a much more relaxed position right now. "Yeah, I want to see how you fight," Blue crossed her arms and leaned against the entrance. Without looking away, Hera smiled, "I don''t think you will be able to see the beginning of the fight. But I''ll make some light later." No one was at the right angle to see it, but the Empress'' eyes now had slit pupils. She could see the inside of the cave without much worry, all in an infrared light. This place was a nest for some of the large rodents with floppy ears that Legan fought earlier. Right now, they were all cowering in the back of the cave, staring at the invaders. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overgrown Flemish - Level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Only one of them was that level; all the others were weaker. If this was a nest of squirrels, Hera would be a bit conflicted about attacking the monsters, but these Flemishes were too aggressive. Not to mention that they were rabbits. If they reproduced like the ones back on Earth, leaving them alone could cause problems in the long run. Sure, for the room to be like this, there had to be a natural way to control the population of monsters like that. However, now there was a big variable: the people of Boothudurn. Maybe their presence here would give a chance for the Flemishes to grow uncontrollably. That was Hera''s train of thought, her justification for why she was going to kill an entire monster nest. A lot of people wouldn''t bat an eye about killing monsters inside the MAZE, especially when they reached a certain point. To them, it was just nature. Monsters wanted them dead, so they should kill them. It was as simple as that. For better or worse, Hera wasn''t quite there yet. She could kill monsters outside a dungeon when they attacked her, but when they didn''t, she had to rationalize her decision. Even if her logic was somewhat flimsy. Brushing those thoughts aside, Hera dashed forward, moving in a blur. Hera''s tail was pointed back, shifting her center of gravity to keep her balance even as she targeted creatures close to the ground. Twisting the daggers in her hand, she aimed at the neck of the two larger Flemishes. Only when the Empress'' weapons were piercing the first two monsters did the rest realize what was going on and spring into action. There were still four alive, and they jumped to the sides, flanking Hera. The Ophidianite noticed that and closed her eyes, using her flashbang spell to blind the monsters before following up with a couple of dancing lights to brighten the place. The Flemishes were stunned by the sudden light and weren''t able to see Hera''s tail coming at them. The first attack was a wide swing, sending the creatures flying against the wall. The Empress then jumped forward and opened her fangs, sending a jet of poison at one of the other two monsters. The stream of orange liquid splashed against the Flemish torso and started to be absorbed through its fur. The last of the creatures jumped at her, its large, jagged teeth ready to bite down. Hera let go of Viper and grabbed the monster with her hand. She felt the fangs trying to break through her scales but to no avail. As a response, she coiled her tail and used it as a spear. The blow sent the Flemish flying to the ceiling of the cave, and by the time it fell back to the ground, it was already dead. Sniping around, she looked at the two she hit with her tail first, but they were already dead. The impact against the cave wall was too much for their bodies, and the Flemish, who was covered in poison, couldn''t move. It wasn''t dead just yet, but it was a matter of time. Blue whistled, "So¡­ the tail really works, doesn''t it?" "Better than I expected. But that last move wasn''t as strong as I hoped. I thought it would pierce it," Hera replied. "Well¡­ you can add something to the tip of the tail. Like a blade or something to do that," Alex suggested. "Maybe. But we can talk about this later. For now, let''s keep going. I can see a tunnel up ahead," the Empress gestured to a dark corner of the cave. They all nodded and continued walking while Hera thought about the fight that just happened. She never expected to feel this comfortable with her new body. It felt like this was who she always was and who she was supposed to be. 741 - Scryotra Walking deeper into the cave, Hera and the group talked about the last fight, their voices echoing in the tunnel. "Your tail is more useful than I expected," Helena was looking at Hera''s tail. "I know. I keep getting surprised with what it can do. I hoped it would be a good attack, but not that it would be strong enough to kill two monsters with a single swing," Hera said with a smile, but when noticing the stare, she started to feel embarrassed, "Hum¡­ can you stop? I don''t know why, but having you look at my tail like that is making me feel weird." "Oh, sorry. I guess this is kind of like staring at your butt¡­" Helena backed away. "I think your skin is sturdier too. I don''t think I would be able to handle that bite like you did," Blue changed topics. "To be fair, the Naga scales skill was rank 6 already. I think I could''ve stopped that bite even before the transformation. But I agree that it does feel better right now," Hera smiled and pulled her tail, warping around her waist like a belt. "Hera. I''ll be in my axe form. This place is getting a bit too cramped for me," Livy told everyone before changing shapes. Unfortunately, the cave''s ceiling was starting to get low, and a 3-meter-tall dragon wouldn''t have enough space to move around freely. "Don''t you want to stay in your sea serpent form?" Hera suggested. ''I''m still big when I''m like that. If something happens, I might take up too much space. It''s also easier to move as a weapon,'' Livy explained. "Really? Do you all feel like that?" Hera turned to Lurize and Nimbus, who were at the back of the group, making sure nothing was coming to ambush them from behind. "To me, the form I''m more comfortable being is this one," Nimbus replied. "Mine is the beetle form. Maybe because I''m part spirit," Lurize added. "Do you think this has something to do with how they were created? Or is it just personal preference?" Helena asked. Hera thought for a moment, "I think it''s just personal preference. The only one who actually has a reason for it is Lurize. Since he was a beetle before meeting me. I''ll probably have a better answer in the future. When I have more titled blades." "Right, you can have more of them," Blue sighed, "How many can you have in total? You know what, don''t tell me. I''m going to get jealous." "You are getting jealous? You can make clouds. Stop a storm and destroy an entire dungeon made out of clouds in a few minutes. Not to mention fly, and I''m pretty sure you''ll eventually be able to make a cloud mecha. Lena and I don''t have a legacy, and you are the one jealous?" Bonnie huffed. "Well¡­. Yeah," Blue looked away. "I''m not doing this on purpose, even though I want to change the subject, but are you all seeing that?" Legan pointed forward, where a light seemed to be peeking from the corner of the tunnel. "I am," Hera nodded, "Lurize, do you remember this place?" "Not quite, but it is familiar." They continued walking for a few moments before reaching a lake with a single large rock in the center. On the ceiling of the cave, directly above the water, was a long opening leading to the outside. It was close to noon, and the sun was starting to shine like a spotlight on that small island. "Careful, this water doesn''t seem safe for drinking," Hera said. "Really?" Alex turned to the explorer. "Yeah, there is no vegetation around it. There is no current, so the lake has been here for a while. Also, we can''t see any markings from the rabbits. If they lived in this cave but refused to come this deep, there must be a reason for that," Hera explained. "Also¡­" Helena created a light and made it get closer to the water, "Is it just me, or are the stones much lighter in the lake?" "That''s true. This whole part of the cave seems to be in a lighter shade," Alex looked around, noticing how the farther things got from the lake, the darker the stone became. "Could this be because of the acid?" Lurize asked. "What acid? The one Scryotra sprayed on us?" Hera turned to the Royal Tutor. "Yes. We are always going off the assumption that what you did in the vision is not the same thing as what actually happened. But if we think about it. A Naga would have a much better reason to sacrifice themselves to warn their people of an attack than you did," Lurize reached out to touch the water. Since he was made out of metal, if this really was acid, it shouldn''t deal that much damage to his armor, "It must be very diluted, but I can still feel something happening." "Then do you think this hole is the hole Hera helped Mr. Beetle escape from?" Blue asked. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Hera looked up, "You know¡­ maybe. I mean, if the acid was strong enough, the vapors could corrode the path. Then rain came from the other side, and through the course of thousands of years, it became this." "Although I don''t think my presence in the vision was supposed to happen," Lurize crossed his arms in deep thought. "Even if you were not there, the gap in the cave would still be. Sure, you might have helped increase the size of that gap, but smoke wouldn''t care about it," Hera patted him on the back. "Does that help us in some way?" Legan asked. Hera shook her head, "Not really. It''s just interesting to see how the world changed from what we saw. But there is more to this tunnel. But it also proves that the monster I saw in my vision was a real thing," she moved one of her lights to the opposite side of the lake, "There is also that tunnel. It wasn''t in the vision. So it''s either something made by someone, another result of the acid, or a cave-in that resulted in opening a new path." "Let''s keep it going then. If this was a path made by the Naga, there had to be a reason for it," Legal smiled and walked around the lake, followed by everyone else. As Helena passed in front of the large rock, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. There was another opening in the wall of the cave. However, instead of just a single opening, it was a set of eleven, "Hang on a moment, everyone." The mage looked back at the center of the lake, noticing how the top of that large rock was oddly reflective. Using her light spells, she twisted the light coming from the opening in the ceiling to hit that spot. Doing that created several beams of light coming out of that stone. Moving the light around, she aimed the new lights at the openings. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to happen. Wanting to support her friend, Hera asked, "Can you hold that for a moment?" "Just hold it? Yeah, it''s not that hard," Helena still had her hands out, controlling the light. "Nimbus. Can you fly up the hole and see where the light is going?" "I think I can do that with the magnet," Nimbus nodded. "All yours," Hera flipped the lid on Yarnball, and the magnet flew towards him. She also passed her tablet to him so he could take pictures of the actual place. The Sentinel caught it and jumped, flying up through the opening and looking around. After a few minutes, he returned with a sad expression, "Sorry. I couldn''t see where the light was getting out to. Even taking Hera''s position as a reference." "That''s ok. Maybe it was one of those things where I saw a pattern because I looked for it." "Or maybe it''s like the opposite," Alex suggested. "Like when the sun is in the right spot, the light comes from it and hits the rock?" Blue asked. "Or the moon," Alex added. "That''s fair. I supposed we could set up some cameras here to watch this place later. There is no need for us to be here ourselves," Helena dropped the spell, "Sorry for the delay, everyone. I just thought I had found something." "No worries. This is what we are here to do," Hera smiled and continued to walk towards the rest of the tunnel. "Hera, may I ask a question?" Legan approached the Empress. "Of course." "Is what Helena did a good or a bad thing?" "You mean trying to see if anything was hidden in there?" "Yeah." "A little bit of both. On one hand, doing that might trigger a trap or something dangerous. On the other, if you ignore all the weird things you see, the odds of you finding something unique or interesting will be a lot lower. It''s all about how confident you are in dealing with whatever the MAZE is going to throw at you. In our case, we are at a much higher level; we have titles, legacies, and powerful items on our side. So here, we are confident we can overcome most things," Hera explained. "So it all boils down to experience?" Legan asked. Hera chuckled, "Pretty much everything does. Don''t worry, you''ll get there." They continued walking for a few more minutes until they arrived at the other end of this passage. It led them to a thick part of the jungle that was oddly quiet. Understanding that this might mean something dangerous was around, everyone moved closer and got ready for a fight. Even Livy returned to her bipedal form to be able to fight better. Slowly walking, surrounded by large trees and vines, even the sound of the wind seemed to vanish. The shadows surrounding them looked darker as if the sun was unable to reach them properly. "I have a weird feeling about this place. I can''t wrap my finger around it," Lurize said, but Hera could feel his uneasiness. It wasn''t as if there was something wrong, only as if he wasn''t welcome here. More time passed while they were tense about the situation when Hera noticed something strange. A few of the vines and leaves in the area seemed to be dangling from the air itself. While focusing on that, she took a step to the left and bumped into something. Yet, there was nothing there. It was a similar feeling to hitting one of the invisible walls, but unlike the formation that delimited the size of a room, this was bumpy and filled with flaws. The invisible walls were perfectly flat. Taking one step forward, she understood what was happening. She had just bumped into bones. An old black exoskeleton from a gigantic creature. Now that she was no longer in front of it, she could see the remains of Scryotra scattered around the area. The vines she saw dangling from the air were attached to more of the bones. The problem was that this version of the monster was much bigger than she saw in her vision. The previous version of this creature was large enough to climb over mountains, but each of the apparent legs she could see was bigger than any of the surrounding mountains. Wanting to be sure, Hera used [Observe], which retained its rank despite no longer having the red sight option since she had a specific skill for that now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra''s Bone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Is this that monster?" Blue asked. "Yeah, but it''s bigger than I remembered. I think¡­" Hera turned around, feeling something approaching. She looked under the creature and saw a tiny black serpent hidden between the bushes. Instinctively, she triggered her [Observe] again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stealth Spirit - Level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh shit," Hera gasped and looked up, "I guess this makes sense." "What?" Helena asked "This place is home to stealth spirits. Probably because of the bones." "That tracks. If this thing is powerful enough to still hide itself, even after so long, then it does make sense that spirits could be around," Helena nodded. "This also means we don''t have to worry about that giant monster, right?" Legan turned to Hera. "I think so, but let''s keep looking around. I''m sure we can find something interesting here." 742 - Good and bad news Since they were still close enough to the city, Hera sent a text to all Royal Explorers explaining what her group had found. She also included a few pictures and some examples of how they could identify parts of the exoskeleton before passing by them. Things like vines seemingly wrapped around nothing and changes in the ground, showing that there was something heavy lying on top of the grass. She also added that stealth spirits were close to her location, so people should be careful when dealing with them. This wasn''t the first time Hera dealt with spirits. After all, she could find them in the forest of dreams. But this was the first time the spirits would be close to the place where she was living. To make matters worse, they were Stealth Spirits. Meaning that most people would have a hard time noticing them getting close. If they ended up endangering the monsters or making them angry, it would be hard to feel safe even in their own city. Hera had to explain all that in the texts, especially after Bonnie asked if they could grab some of the exoskeletons to bring to the city. If they used that for armor or even tried to set up some sort of protection around Zaxalam itself, they might be able to have a pretty secure fortress. One that only people who knew how to get there could do so. However, since this was home to spirits, they couldn''t risk just taking out pieces of the exoskeleton. That being said, the Spirits didn''t seem to be hostile just because of their presence. They were watching Hera and the others intently, but not in an aggressive way. It was more like they were curious about the strangers. Lurize was the only outlier. He kept feeling more and more uncomfortable to the point where he had to ask Hera to stay in the legacy. Helena had a few ideas about why this was happening. According to what she knew, spirits of different types couldn''t coexist. After all, a spirit was a being of pure mana of a specific kind, and they could only live in places where that specific type of mana was not only abundant but overpowering. The moment a spirit of a different kind got close, they would taint the area. Because of that, spirits would usually be attacked if they approached another kind''s territory. It was a good assumption that Lurize was being affected by that. The other teams also shared some of their discoveries. Bonnie, Shane, and the others found a few overgrown buildings where the Naga might have set up outposts. One seemed like a hunting lodge of sorts, while the other seemed to be some kind of military installation. Unfortunately, that place was completely destroyed, and not just by the passage of time. It looked as if a large creature went wild in the place, breaking every wall before moving along. Callenas'' group discovered a dungeon on the east of the city, while Chiton''s was able to reach the invisible wall on the north. They were going along it to see if there was anything of note and already had noticed a few monster packs that could be a potential threat. But those required more studying. For now, they just looked big and powerful. There wasn''t anything showing they were aggressive. The first group was made out of yellow tigers that generated static electricity as they moved, while the second one was made out of an odd mixture of a kangaroo and an ostrich. They had powerful back legs that they used to jump around, muscular wings that only helped with stability, and a very long neck that ended in the face of a marsupial. It was surreal, and some of the Royal Explorers were calling it their new sleep paralysis demon. Those creatures also were quick, but thankfully, Zaxalam was deep in the jungle, where their speed would be severely hindered. The tigers wouldn''t have the same problem, but they didn''t seem to roam around all that much. Hera''s group also found one more thing, aside from the Scryotra''s exoskeleton, a dungeon. It was right by the foot of the mountain they crossed to arrive at the stealth spirit domain. There was another cave with a single door made out of wood at the end. When touching it, a notification popped up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Guardian''s Rage dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera knew that the guardian could be the guardian of the Naga, but something in the mana surrounding the place made her think it was actually talking about Scryotra, the scorpion-praying mantis centaur. But they decided to wait before going there. Even if Hera really wanted to check it out. The rest of the day was spent exploring the area and filling in every nook and cranny they could find on their maps. When it was time for them to return to the city, Hera went with everyone to the gates, but she and Blue had one more thing to do. They would fly around the room, looking for the invisible walls to know the actual dimensions of the place. Trillian had already figured out the room covered an area of just around 50km2. Meaning that if Hera was riding Nimbus, they could check one of the sides of the room in a bit over one hour. Even less if they had the option of running in the ground. Blue tagging along was just a safety measure and also some practice for the controller. She never had the chance to fly at full speed for long periods of time. It was something that would take a few days to complete, but having an aerial view of the entire room would be a huge help for everyone living there. Alex wanted to join on that trip, but she wasn''t confident she would be able to follow along for hours. Unlike Hera and Blue, who would be using their legacies to fly, the assassin had to run along with the wind. That by itself would already be hard, but when considering the altitude they would be at, it made the idea too dangerous for them to risk it. They were alone outside the city and about to take off when Blue stopped, "Actually. I don''t think It''s a good idea for me to do this." "Why not?" Hera frowned. "Eventually, I''m going back home. The more I know about this place, the more the guild can force me to tell them in order to let me see my family. Honestly, even knowing about the bones might be a problem," Blue explained. "Oh¡­ yeah. Maybe. But you can just not talk about it. And if they ask if we are doing anything to increase the defenses, you can say you don''t know. That wouldn''t be a lie." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Yeah, but if I tiptoe around some answers too much, that will also give information. I don''t know. The more I think about it, the more I think I should just leave," Blue sighed. "Blue¡­. I-" Hera started talking. "Hera. Tell me honestly. Do you think that me being here is worth the danger I might put the people of Boothudurn into?" "To me, you are," Hera replied without missing a beat. "Hera¡­ c''mon. You are the first of a new species. You have been part of the noble houses of Boothudurn since always, and you helped save people from the guild. Now, you are even having big meetings with the Queen of the Children of the Sky. Put your feelings aside and tell me, do you think that my presence here won''t bring any trouble?" Blue looked into Hera''s eyes. The Empress thought for a moment. Sure, Blue was aware of the city and the strength of the dwarves. She also knew how this was connected to the Aerie of the First Flight and what the Royal Explorers were trying to do. Hera wanted to say that she didn''t have to worry; after all, the guild would just believe in what she said. But she didn''t trust that was the case, not anymore. "You don''t have a great poker face, you know. I can tell what''s your answer without you even telling me. Face it, I''m a liability, and while I''m here, any attempt to make Zaxalam safer will come with a big asterisk," Blue finished the thought. Hera squinted at her, "This doesn''t sound like you." "Naka talked with me this morning while I was getting breakfast. She basically said that despite everything, if I''m not staying here, I shouldn''t be here. In less kinder words," Blue chuckled. "Blue¡­" "No, really. She is right. I made my decision a long time ago. I can''t support what the guild is doing, but I can''t just turn my back away from them and leave my family behind, not like Alex and Lena are doing. I can''t keep trying to have my cake and eat it, too. Besides, even if I leave now, it will take me a couple of weeks to reach an exit from the MAZE. Then a plane ride back home." "Are you going today?" "No. I''m going to talk with everyone first. Tell them what I want to do and say goodbye. It''s probably going to be a while before we can talk again, but I doubt this will be the last time we see each other," Blue showed a sad smile. Hera nodded, "It won''t be. Things might get worse before they get better, but we will see each other again," she went in for a hug, holding back her tears. They stood like that for a few moments before Blue pulled away, "I''m going to break the news to everyone else. Go do your thing. I''ll be here when you get back. I promise." "You better be. We are definitively having a going away party," Hera cleaned her eyes and smiled. "I was counting on that," Blue looked back at the city, "Man. I suck at saying goodbye." "You''ll have a lot of practice. The entire city will want to say their goodbyes." Blue groaned, "I didn''t even think about that. This is really going to suck. Go, fly. I''ll see you soon." Hera nodded and took off with Nimbus. Between him, Daskka, and Dusa, they kept talking about Blue''s decision, but it was more to comfort the Empress than anything else. Their first journey to the east invisible was uneventful, and a couple of hours later, they were landing once more in front of Zaxalam. Just as they walked past the entrance, a guard stopped them to let them know Rutigan wanted to talk with Hera. With a sigh, the Ophidianite walked towards the house that was being used by the king for now. She wanted to talk with the rest of her party but knew that if Rutigan was asking for her, there must be a reason. "Hera! I''m glad you could make it. I hope I''m not interrupting anything important," the king gestured for her to sit on a chair to his side. "Sort of. Blue is leaving, and I wanted to throw a party for her." "I see¡­" Rutigan looked down, "It''s a shame, but I understand her reasons. If you wouldn''t mind. I''m sure Fethy would be more than happy to toss something together." Hera smiled, "I appreciate the sentiment, but I think we will plan the party ourselves. It''s nothing against Fethy, but Blue is like family to us." Rutigan nodded, "I understand. Then I''ll say what I want and get out of your hair. Typhera just got a message from the other leaders. They are all interested in Deakoshara and asked if they could send one person from each species to join your exploration. They hope to have these people as part of a task force for any situations that might arise during the incoming conflict." "So they are already considering that a conflict will happen?" Hera asked. Rutigan took a deep breath, "Yes. They don''t think it''s a matter of if but when. Honestly, I''m not even sure the guild will be the one to make the first move. Tensions are high, and if you think we were having trouble, you have no idea what is going on in other places. There were some protests that were just shy of full-blown riots. Some people got hurt, but it was on both sides, but no one crossed the line. Yet." "In the end, people are waiting for someone to die, aren''t they?" Rutigan gave a solemn nod, "It seems like it. And I don''t like that either. For now, we are able to stay away from the center of the conflict. Typhera already made an offer that I accepted. When this war actually starts, the elite guard of the Aerie will be split between there and here. That way, we can protect ourselves. But I digress. They are asking you to make a team. A team that will first explore Deakoshara to be a potential safe space for us. The royal us, I mean. And to work in any covert operation that we might need during these trying times." "And having Lena, Bonnie, Alex, or even Shane in this group wouldn''t work because they are humans, correct?" Hera looked at the king. "Yes. This was something that was brought up. They understand that we trust them, and they agree that not all humans are bad, but they don''t want to risk it. Not if they are going to give you important missions. Even if we vouch for them, they don''t have a way of being sure Helena and the others are not spies. Making this team now would be a way to have you build trust and teamwork with this new group." Hera sighed, "Yeah. Fine. I said I wanted to help, so I really should. Tell them I''m okay, but ask them to at least talk to each other and make a balanced team. I don''t want to end up being with five mages and me as the front line. Even with my legacy." "I will. And I''ll let you know if they give any options. Thank you." "Do you mind if I get going?" Hera asked. "Of course. Go. I''m sorry for taking up your time. And please, let me know the details of the party. Even if you don''t want to make an event out of it, I would like to say goodbye to Blue, too." "I will," Hera thanked the king and left. The day started so well, and things went south so quickly that she got some whiplash. Still, she had to focus on one thing at a time, and Blue''s farewell party was her first priority. 743 - Guardians Rage Blue''s farewell party ended up being much larger than Hera or her friends wanted. At first, it was just a small gathering in one of the larger empty buildings just for the Royal Explorers and the guards. However, once word started to spread, an entire street was closed off for the festivities. Blue groaned a lot, but she enjoyed all the attention. The party itself was great, even if it was something slapped together in just a couple of days. They had music, dancing, a lot of booze, and even a small play about Hera and Blue coming to the room and saving the city from the grasp of the evil Sky Ruler and its minions. It was a very exaggerated portrait of them, but it showed their training and the fight against the giant beast in detail, including the pool of blood Silah created while trying to protect Hera. It was a bittersweet memory, but the Empress was glad that her ex''s bravery would live on through this story. Eventually, things ended, and Blue gathered her belongings before leaving. She was going through the Aerie and then all the way back to Crydonia, which was the place where her bracelet still was. After meeting Hera, her party waited for one of Eirik''s friends to come by and hack everyone''s bracelets and keep their tablets. That way, they could ensure the guild was unaware of their movements. They had agreed on a story to tell them about why they split up. Blue would say that Hera was the glue of the party, and now that she was gone, staying with each other hurt too much. She would say that Bonnie and Helena went together to look for a good place for a lab or something, and Alex just vanished one day. Since they didn''t show up when Peter was around, it was their hope that the guild would accept that answer without a problem. With Blue gone, there was a tangible hole in the group. Everyone felt sad about this and upset that the situation devolved to the point where they had to split the party. However, no one was upset with the controller herself. She decided to stay close to her family, and no one could blame her for it. Still, they continued to work to make sure the city was safe. Hera was able to get the entire perimeter of the room on her map and was sharing it with all the other Royal Explorers. Now, the map of the room was almost complete, with only a few holes around the middle and a few more closer to the walls. Those areas were either hard to reach or just out of the way of their current objectives. It would take the Empress one or two more days of flying to finish that. Maybe even less if someone else were to take care of the areas close to the city. That didn''t mean they were done exploring the place. Having a full map, by no means, signified that they knew everything there was to know about the room. Still, all that information helped everyone feel safer in Zaxalam. The main threats were already recognized, and there were already talks of places that could be used for farmland. That included some of the caves and the underground tunnels underneath the city. After all, the dwarves were much more used to growing crops that didn''t need any sunlight. Aside from that, there were still some questions that required answers. For instance, they had no idea if Zaxalam was the only city in this place or if there were any hidden passages that they were missing. Or maybe something obvious about the room''s weather. Because of that, Shane, Trillian, and Legan gave Hera a list of questions to ask the guide, but the Empress decided to wait some more time before using that skill. For one, she already had Yarnball to try to get some answers, even if, so far, she didn''t get anything useful out of the relic. She also wanted to know more about the room to ask better questions instead of just having the guide explain how the seasons worked here. The idea was to run some dungeons with the royal explorers the day after Blue''s party, but some people were hungover. Thanks to her increased poison resistance, it was harder for Hera to get drunk, and she was able to rally after drinking too much without a problem. And this was considering that the skill was still only rank 1. When it increased, she might not even be able to get drunk, unlike the others. To top it all off, there was a storm outside on the day they were supposed to start dungeon runs. In the end, it was a good moment for people to rest. Many of the dwarves stopped by the city entrance to see the waterfall that was formed by the water as it came down the mountain. The snake heads peeking above the city created two single passages for people to come in and out without getting completely drenched while the rest of it was just a single solid sheet of water. When the next dawn came, the Royal Explorers split off to the various dungeons they found in this room. In total, there were 5: one near the city called ''Trouble in the Jungle,'' another two to the west: One called ''Trapped Tree,'' and the other ''King of the Jungle.'' Then there was one near one of the ruins they found called ''Naga''s Ambition,'' and finally, the ''Guardian''s Rage,'' that Hera''s group discovered. In the end, two teams of Royal Explorers were going to the closest to the city, which was just a 10-minute walk away from the entrance. They wanted to know the kinds of supplies they could get in a place like that, and Trouble in the Jungle sounded like a dungeon that would show them how to navigate the place properly. Shane took her team to the Naga''s Ambition, knowing that this should be related to a past event, not just a natural dungeon made by the MAZE. Hera''s team, which was now Alex, Bonnie, Helena, and Legan, would be going to challenge the Guardian''s Rage dungeon. The Ophidianite believed this was the dungeon that would show her the rest of the vision where she saw Scryotra. There was a part of her that believed this would also show the fall of the Naga or at least the initial crack that led to their empire''s downfall. They were crossing that tunnel with the lake in the middle again and waiting for Helena to finish setting up the cameras. She got in the place when Alex turned to Hera, "So, first, Blue left the party, and the next one is you?" "Not by choice. And I don''t intend to leave the party. I''ll just have another one," Hera sighed. "Why would you leave?" Legan asked. "I''ll be helping the other species around the MAZE. At least, that''s the plan. They wanted to have us go to Deakoshara to work on our teamwork, but I''m not even sure if I should take them there," Hera explained. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "And why can''t we join?" Legan pressed. "Because this is supposed to be an impartial team. A team that can work with any species. So, we will have only one member from each species. Except humans, since the conflict revolves around them," Hera continued. "Around them," Bonnie chuckled, "Look at you already talking like you are not a human." Hera smiled, "Well, I''m not. Either way, from what I understand, the idea is to have this teamwork, kind of like a special task force and a morale boost. We shouldn''t be going to any major areas of conflict but work on the necklines, helping people in trouble and fixing issues that the lack of personnel created. I kind of like the idea, if I''m being honest." "It sounds fun. I would love to help," Alex helped Helena place one of the cameras on a higher area of the cave and jumped down, "But I know I can''t. They don''t trust us." "Not you specifically. Humans in general. According to Rutigan, they understand that not all humans are bad, but they can''t rule out the possibility of any human being a spy. So, any sensitive mission won''t be shared with humans," Hera walked closer to the water and looked at her own reflection. It was still a bit weird seeing her new face, especially her eyes and ears. Yet, she was starting to get used to it. "And you will be doing those sensitive missions?" Helena asked, her voice showing some hints of worry. "That is a possibility. And it''s my fault. I kind of sold myself as ''someone who could move around unnoticed while still being safe, thanks to my legacy.''" "That wasn''t that smart," Bonnie frowned. "I don''t know. It was the best thing I could think of at the time. Still, I will kind of feel better knowing you guys are safe. I just wanted a way to continue sharing the essence with others while I''m not around," Hera sighed again. "Can''t you ask that being you talk to about options? Like if you have another way of sharing that?" Alex suggested. "I''ve tried, but I can''t. The thing is, to raise the rank of the skills, you don''t have to drink the essence. The essence is just a way to unlock it," Hera explained. Bonnie nodded, "Yeah, that does make sense. Like if you get the scales, you can just get hit a lot to raise that skill." "Exactly. Actually, do you mind helping me come up with ways to increase the ranks of those skills? It would be nice to have like a guideline about what to do to speed up that process," Hera asked. The group started coming up with some ideas and continued to do so even as they finished setting up the cameras in this place and moved to the dungeon. As they came out of the tunnel, Hera noticed a few of the Stealth Spirits nearby, but they were just watching them. Unsure why she was able to pinpoint them so easily, she just brushed that thought aside and focused on the path ahead. Less than 10 minutes after leaving the tunnel, they found the entrance of the dungeon again. That small cave with a single wooden door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Guardian''s Rage dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone nodded and pressed yes. As they opened the door, they found themselves leaving the cave. They were no longer in the same deep jungle but now in a small forest overlooking a prairie. Clay huts could be seen in a large group near the horizon, while a few others were right next to them. All the structures were similar: round walls with roofs made of dried leaves and more clay. But there was a strange drawing on the side of the houses. It was like two claws going in a circle with a toothy maw in the center. There were some Naga moving around, all wearing more clothes than Hera expected. They had dark green mantles covering their upper body and chests, all with the same symbol that was engraved in the buildings. They all seemed to be going to a specific location: the largest house, which was also the only one with any paint. It was green, and the claw symbol was golden. Following the flow, the party got ready for an attack, just in case, with the Empress calling out her entire court. At that house''s entrance was a Naga with less clothing than the rest, but he had tattoos all around his body. That same symbol appeared repeatedly, even in his own scales. He was ushering everyone in with a large smile. Seeing Hera''s group approaching, he gestured for them to come over, "Get in, get in. Hurry. We have incredible news! But we must share this with everyone." Alex squinted, "This feels culty." "C''mon. They might just be happy about a new spell," Hera tried to argue against it as they walked inside. Only one Naga was standing up, while all the others sat around in a circle. She had large wooden bracelets adorned with flowers and leaves and a necklace with that symbol that everyone seemed to be wearing, "Brothers! Sisters! Welcome all. I thank you for joining me in this most glorious of days. I would like to announce that we have found it. We found our true guardian!" "Ok, this is culty," Hera whispered in a sigh. "I have no words to describe it, so we shall just show you. Come, my son," the female Naga gestured to the side, and a smaller one that had a similar shade of red to his scales got closer, holding something inside his hands. The female Naga continued, "Now, show them our true guardian!" The boy opened his hands, revealing a small black scorpion with the torso of a praying mantis on top of it. But it wasn''t a toy or a sculpture but a living, breathing creature. "For having found it, my boy shall be its partner. Soon, the kingdoms will understand the error of their ways, and we will-" before the Naga could finish her speech, there was a loud crash coming from outside. The Naga, who was by the door, rushed out and quickly came back inside. "We are being atta-" before he could finish the sentence, a spear pierced his torso, making him fall to the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Chain found Escape the attack with the future guardian. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 744 - Path of no return ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Chain found Escape the attack with the future guardian. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera knew about dungeon quest chains. Those would only happen when the objective of the dungeon changed as they completed different tasks. Quests like this were rare and generally associated with historical dungeons. They also required each objective to be considerably different from each other. She couldn''t remember if there was a limit to the number of quests, but she knew that the more chains, the better the reward would be. Some people also theorized that dungeons with quest chains were better to level up than those without them since they would complete several quests at once. Unfortunately, no one could confirm that. Before the Empress was able to think more about that, something big crashed against the wall of the hut they were currently at. Livy quickly stepped forward to block whatever was coming and to hold the ceiling, giving everyone a chance to run before the entire thing collapsed. The Ophidianite quickly ran towards the opposite wall and slammed her hand against it, using the stone shape spell to open a large hole, "Here!" she yelled not only to her party but to the Naga inside as well. Everyone scrambled to move and leave while the leviathan was struggling to find a good place to hold on to. The hut''s structure was barely holding on together, and Livy ended up becoming its only support beam. Hera helped as many of the Naga as she could to get out of the house that breaking down as more impacts started to happen around the small village. When the last person left the hut, she recalled Livy to make it easier to get her out before running away. "Burn all the heretics!" a voice echoed from the woods. The Empress didn''t stop to look around. Instead, she received the information through Dusa. There was an army of Naga charging in. All wearing leather armor and wielding spears. Behind them was who seemed to be the commander, sending large boulders flying towards the small village. They were all carrying the symbol of a snake with its mouth open, showing its fangs. "Where do we go?" one of the Nagas from the village asked in a yell. "To the cliff!" the leader of the village yelled. Hearing that, the party started following the Nagas, trying to escape. They managed to reach the woods, but not before the incoming army reached them. One of the spears came straight for the Empress, who used her tail to sidestep while Dusa redirected the blow with her hidden blade. Dao and Ember flew at one of the incoming Naga, cutting him like butter despite the armor. The difference in attributes and the increase in Hera''s skills showing. Alex saw one of the boulders being launched and used her scabbard to make a jade wind blade that went flying towards it. The spell split midair, creating a fan of 12 different blades, all in the same color. They slashed the boulder to pieces, and the wind following it was enough to push the debris back, removing all its momentum. Bonnie threw a couple of elemental charge spells at the now-broken rocks, turning them into effective bombs of fire, ice, water, and electricity. The moment they fell to the ground, they exploded, killing a number of the attacking Naga. To follow that up, Helena created an area of shadow around the entire army and covered that in a layer of extremely bright light so that anyone who left the darkness would be flash-banged. As they moved inside the woods, the mage also added a swarm of her shadow light army, those small black shadows with glowing eyes, all around the forest. When they touched anyone, they would explode in either light or shadow to deal damage. Legan also joined in, using one of his spells to command two of the dead bodies to stop the attackers. Just as one of the ghouls started to move, the Naga commander yelled, "Look at this. They even desecrate the bodies of the fallen to their cause. They must be stopped!" Legan felt like he had made things worse, but stopping that right now didn''t seem like a good idea. He dashed forward, passing by the Ophidianite, who was wielding a pair of daggers. Hera and her court were taking care of the ones getting close to the fleeing Naga. Whatever the name of this group, they were being hunted for their beliefs, and that left a bitter taste in her mouth. Using viper to parry another spear, she spun around, smacking a Naga with her tail before using Crimson to stab the neck of another. DJ and Chris flanked the one hit by the Empress'' tail. Each of them stabbing on a different part of its body. They all continued running, ignoring the loot dropped by the attacking Naga. It didn''t take long for the army to be left behind, almost as if the forest itself was making it harder for them to approach. To avoid having people following them, Hera told Nimbus and Lurize to return to their weapon forms while she was being sure to stay close to her friends. Not necessarily out of worry since she trusted all of them to be able to deal with whatever the dungeon was going to throw at them, but Legan was an outlier. The new explorer was lower level than them, and the Empress felt responsible for the man. Still, he was a bit of a surprise to her. Not only was he able to fight the Naga off, as long as it was a one-on-one fight, but he also had Timber running around collecting some of the loot the dungeon monsters were dropping when they were killed. The small skeleton dog wasn''t able to grab everything, but Legan shifted some of the bones of its ribcage to be a small basket. He was mostly gathering gold and gems, but there was also a small piece of cloth in the mix. Eventually, Hera had to take the lead of her group since they were struggling to see the Naga mixed in the trees. Even so, she eventually started to lose track of the Naga she was following; they all seemed to disappear after reaching the forest''s end. She took one step outside and started falling. The ground before the cliff at the edge of the woods was just an illusion, making her fall into a deep, slippery tunnel. The Empress tried to stop, but something in here was blocking her spells. Trying to use her weapons to halt her descent also did nothing. Thankfully, her court was around her, and they could push her up if needed. However, before she did anything like that, the Ophidianite noticed some shapes in the distance. Shapes of Nagas sliding down this tunnel. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Pressing her communicator, she warned the rest of the party, "There is a drop after the forest. It seems like the Naga were coming here. It''s an illusion, but it seems to be the right place." Before she finished the sentence, there was some screaming coming from above her. It was not a scream of pain, but one of surprise, like someone had just arrived at the drop of a roller coaster. "You could''ve warned me a second sooner!" Bonnie yelled after screaming, her voice echoing in the tunnel. "My bad. I was trying to figure out what was happening first. And if something were to happen, I would call Nimbus to fly me away," Hera chuckled. "So we go in the hole?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I''m following the other Naga. They seem to be here. It''s a long slide," Hera bumped into the corner as the tunnel started to spiral to the left. The impact should''ve been enough to scrap her arm, but thanks to her scales, that didn''t happen, "There is a turn to the left, so be careful." The rest of the party jumped inside. Helena, who was the last one to go, saw something changing behind her. As if a part of the illusion above her was replaced by actual rock, but she didn''t have a chance to understand it properly before getting too far away. They all continued going down that slide for around two minutes until they reached a small pool of water that was there to cushion their fall. Hera warned everyone about that so they wouldn''t just wait around and end up getting hurt. It took them a minute to gather their bearings and continue following along this underground tunnel. This place was like an entire village by itself, and it seemed to be recently made. There were still areas being dug up and people moving around, carrying supplies. It was a bit hard to tell if the Naga were already prepared for something like this or if this was just a way for the dungeon to speed up the actual events. They passed by an infirmary with a few people inside being treated for their injuries, then to a temple with that same symbol of the two claws going in a circle with a toothy maw in the center. Beyond it, there were a few other houses and one bigger one at the end of the tunnel. Noise was coming from that last entrance, a specific sound of sobbing. Hera and her party glanced at each other before moving toward the last room in this underground village. Inside, they saw the chief of the Nagas, the one who was making the speech. She was hunched over something while crying, and another Naga was by the side, holding a large cage where the scorpion praying mantis centaur was being held. The creature was almost as big as Timber right now, even if they had just seen it being held inside a child''s hand just a few minutes ago. The Royal Explorers got closer and saw what was under the cult leader. Her son. The child Naga was covered in blood. His left eye and a piece of his tail were missing. The wounds still let out fresh blood. He was a bit bigger than before, but it didn''t look like a full year had passed since they last saw him. "What¡­ What happened?" Legan asked, "Wasn''t he in front of us?" "The Empire dogs found him. They tortured my boy and propped him in a tree to send a message," the cult leader snarled. "I''m sorry, Dormina, we will avenge him," the Naga holding the cage said. "No. We won''t," Dormina looked up, red tears streaming from her face. She stumbled towards the cage and grabbed the iron bars with her hands, "You are. You are our guardian beast, and you will destroy the entire Empire. I give you the name Scryotra. The name of my son that was taken from me. May it fill you with rage as it does me, and may you live while he died. I will train you, feed you, break you, and build you back up until nothing can stop you!" Dormina glanced back at Hera and the others, "We need monsters to feed our guardian beast. Go bring me the bodies that will let it grow. The stronger, the better. Bring them dead or alive. It matters not." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Chain updated Bring 10 monster bodies to Scryotra. The strength of the monsters will influence your reward. The monsters in the dungeon will only drop their loot after they are fed to Scryotra. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They all felt uncomfortable being in this place, and now that they had a new quest, they decided to just leave without saying anything. Dormina was intense, and a grieving mother was something none of them knew how to deal with. It didn''t take long for them to find a way to head back out, but only when they actually left the cave did they start talking about what they saw. "So¡­ This cult led by Dormina created Scryotra? Like, actually created it. Then sent it to kill the other Naga?" Alex asked. "That''s what it seems like. And by the way she spoke, I don''t think she was a caring pet owner," Bonnie sighed. "Yeah. It sounds like she forced it to be strong, even if it hurt it," Legan nodded. "You said that Chika was very smart, right?" Helena turned to Hera as they started looking around the forest. "Yeah, and if I''m not mistaken, Darni said that she got started after they were bonded. So maybe this has something to do with it," Hera nodded. "Did you ever find out what ''bonding'' with a monster meant?" Bonnie turned to her. "Not really. No, I meant to go to that dungeon again, but now it seems hard. I''ll probably have to hope to find something about that either here or in Deakoshara. Why? Are you thinking about bonding with Ruby?" Hera asked. "I mean, it depends on what it does, but I''m open to the idea," Bonnie looked around, searching for monsters. "Where is Ruby, by the way?" Alex turned to the researcher. "Right here," Bonnie pulled a piece of her leather armor up, showing the crimson slime underneath her clothes, "I asked her to be like some padding around my armor. That way, she can block some of the damage I would take. I haven''t tested it yet in combat, but in a controlled environment, it seemed to work." "Well, let''s hope you don''t get a chance to test that here. And I kind of want to see if we can find a mid-boss or something for this. I want that better reward," Hera said with a smile. 745 - Grocery Shopping Hera and her party took half an hour to find the first monster they could hunt, and it wasn''t anything special. It was just an oversized raccoon with red fur around its eyes. It was called ''Redmask Bandit'' and just level 14. Despite the name, the creature didn''t seem that skilled in robbing or hiding. It was just lumbering around awkwardly while trying to chase after some fruits that rolled down the hill. They let Legan attack it, but even the low-level explorer had no trouble getting rid of the creature. All he had to do was send Timber after it and finish it by creating a bone spike on top of his skeleton dog when it went in for a headbutt. "Are we going to give this one to Dormina?" Legan asked. "Honestly. I''m not that interested in the idea of getting a mid-boss like Hera said, but this one feels like it''s too little," Bonnie sighed. "Yeah. But it''s going to take so long to find enough monsters. I mean, the place is barren. It took us half an hour to find one. If we keep that pace up, it''s going to take what, 5 hours to get them all?" Alex shook her head, "I''m not in the mood for a long dungeon like that." "What if we split up? I take Legan with me and fly with Nimbus around. Then we all meet up near¡­" Hera looked around for any landmarks and noticed a single tree with red leaves in the distance, "There. We hunt for, let''s say, one hour and meet up there. If anyone gets a monster that is too big to carry, which I don''t think will happen, you can tell us through the communicators." "Why don''t you think we will find monsters that are too big?" Legan turned to Hera. "Because of the size of the passage to get back to the hidden village. I don''t think the dungeon would make us butcher the monster or have us getting Dormina and Scryotra out here. Not now, at least," Hera explained, "But that is just an assumption. Not a hard rule. It''s perfectly possible for the size of the passage to change, or for when we get here with a big monster, the cult leader will show up outside." "I see¡­ That''s good to know. We can still consider some things to stay the same in a dungeon." "Generally, dungeons still follow some sort of logic. There are exceptions, but you can make some assumptions," Helena nodded and looked around, "Well. I''m calling my guard then," she used the skill she had from the wasp dungeon to summon her Shadow Wasp Knight, this time not using any light mana to increase its stealth abilities. "I guess we are splitting up then," Bonnie sighed. "Legan, do you want to come with me? I don''t think it''s a good idea for you to be alone here," Hera turned to the dwarf. "I would like that. I don''t think I had a proper chance to watch you fight," the man replied with a smile. "Great! Nimbus, do you mind taking us for a ride?" Hera turned to the side as the Sentinel appeared. "It will be my pleasure," he said before turning into his griffon form. Hera and Legan jumped on the mount''s back as Nimbus started to run. He would need to find a place that was more open to take off. The rest of the party did the same, all going in different directions. Alex stepped in the air and started to run with the wind. Helena jumped on the back of his Wasp Guard, and Bonnie was the only one left to walk on foot, grumbling about how unfair all of this was. She was the only one without a good mobility option, and that was starting to bother her. It didn''t take long for Nimbus to find a place to start flying, and they were soon looking around the dungeon for any interesting monster. Nimbus could fly at around 50 km/h now, which let them cover a large area very quickly. It was a bit odd since they seemed to be in the middle of a reverencing forest, but after 10 minutes of searching around, they noticed one thing. Close to one of the mountains, there was gray rock that seemed to be moving. It wasn''t that big, but thanks to it being around a place with very little foliage, they could see it moving. "I think that''s a golem," Hera yelled to Legan. Since this was the first time he was flying, the Empress wrapped her tail around his waist to help secure him behind her. Doing so felt a bit intimate, but she didn''t say anything. "Can Scryotra eat rocks?" the dwarf asked. "Only one way to find out," Hera replied while Nimbus started to move toward the creature. Once they got closer, the two explorers triggered their [Observe] to confirm if this was a monster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Granite Golem - Level 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Granite affinity. Seems about right," Hera mumbled to herself when she realized the type of mana the creature had. Level 16 should also be above the average for the dungeon, which should mean this creature would give them a decent reward, "So, Legan. Do you want to try killing that?" "I''m not that confident fighting against something made out of rocks. My attacks are mostly physical," he replied. "Don''t worry. I''ll take care of this one then," Hera nodded. Nimbus understood what she wanted, and they landed near the creature. Dismounting the griffon, the Empress started to move closer to the golem and called Livy and the rest of her court out. Unfortunately, the Sentinel had reached a point where having her blades out while flying became a problem. If Hera was holding on to them, she would lose her balance, and if they tried to follow him, they would slam against the edge of the range and be dragged along while taking damage. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Livy, think you can handle that one?" Hera asked with a smile. "A big chunk of rock?" the Sea Serpent opened a wide grin while gripping the war axe in her hands, "It''s going to be easy." Livy turned around and started running towards the creature. The golem finally noticed the people approaching and raised both its hands to grab the Leviathan. After placing her axe in her back, the two giants clashed, grabbing each other''s hands in a test of strength. For a moment, they seemed to be even, but the Sea Serpent scoffed. "Is that all? You don''t even deserve my blade," she leaned back and pulled the golem up, almost as if she was bench pressing it, "YOU LACK MUSCLE!" she slammed it down to the ground, cracking some of its body, "YOU LACK POWER!" she yelled and did the same move again, this time, the golem''s legs crumbled under its weight, "YOU LACK STRENGTH!" with a final scream, Livy jumped five meters in the air before doing a flip and tossing the golem back to the ground. The impact turned its body to dust, leaving behind a single gem that was the creature''s core. Legan dropped his jaw as he watched the Leviathan fighting. He turned to Hera, "Does she¡­ always do that?" "Livy is our brute. That''s pretty much her style. But to be honest, I called her because she has water spells, and I figured that would help," Hera turned to the Sea Serpent. "This thing wasn''t worth the mana," Livy huffed, "Ever since the Pinnacle Mountain, I haven''t found a proper challenge. I want a fight. A really good fight!" "We''ll find one. I promise, and I''m sorry I wasn''t able to call you during the prison break," Hera reached up to pat her shoulder. "That''s ok, Hera. I know why you did it. Even if it was kind of a waste. The whole idea was to not reveal your identity, but that happened anyway." "Yeah, but the guild didn''t know about the legacy. So that still worked," Hera nodded and walked over to the golem''s core, using her [Inspect] to see if there was any useful information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Granite Golem''s Core The only piece of a golem that Scryotra can eat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh. That''s great," Hera smiled and turned to Livy, "In the end, we needed to grab this. It''s better than having to carry the whole thing with us." "So¡­ we still need 9, right?" Legan asked. "That is correct, and the Empress also has to show you how she fights," Nimbus nodded. "Hey! This is how I fight," Hera protested. "Even if we are part of you, this is not you fighting. You telling us to fight," Lurize shook his head. "Fine, I''ll take care of the next one then," Hera huffed and looked around, "Can anyone see any tracks or anything? Should I ask Yarnball?" "Oh! I have an idea," Legan spoke up and pulled the bone dust from his small bag, summoning his skeleton dog again, "Timber, can you see if you find any monster around here?" "Can he even smell?" Livy asked. "More or less. It''s like he is attracted to bones. So as long as we are looking for a monster with bones, he can find them," Legan explained. They all waited for a moment while Timber sniffed the ground, waving his bone tail. After around 30 seconds, he pointed to the left, away from the mountain. Legan smiled and told the skeleton dog to continue moving. They followed it around for around 10 minutes, running through the woods with Hera, keeping an eye out for any monster that could be interesting to take back. Eventually, they reached a small clearing where a multicolored manticore about the size of a medium dog was lying on the floor, basking in the sun. It had the classic shape: the body and face of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. A lot of people would confuse this creature with a chimera, but unlike its ''cousin,'' this one only had a single head. The main difference between this manticore and the ones the Empress knew about was the colors. Its hide was almost like it was made out of bismuth. The colors shifted as the light hit it, making the creature resemble a rainbow of sorts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chromatic Manticore - level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I''ll take that one," Hera told Legan. Not because she didn''t think he could do this, but because she promised to show him how she fought. To start, she tossed a single poison needle at the creature. An attack that was so sneaky that the manticore wasn''t even able to tell it was hit. Taking Ember and DJ in her hands, she told the rest of her court to focus on defending. Daskka, who was oddly quiet during this dungeon, dropped from Hera''s shoulder and turned into silver mist, getting ready to attack the monster. The Empress took a few steps back and got ready to try one thing, ''Dusa, can you guide me?'' ''Of-of course. I''ll do my best!'' the diadem replied and helped her get into position, ''I think this is enough space. Maybe.'' ''Don''t worry. If things go south, Nimbus and the others can step in,'' Hera replied and took a deep breath before starting to run. She jumped and did a flip, stopping upside down as her tail wrapped around one of the nearby branches. Becoming a pendulum, her hair brushed against the ground before she reached enough height to let go and fly through the air, aiming to attack the manticore from above. Unfortunately, she didn''t release her tail at the right moment and ended up overshooting the attack. The monster jumped up, surprised by the sudden appearance of someone jumping in front of it. Its instinct was to attack. Dao blocked the claw as Viper and Crimson intercepted the incoming tail. Hera covered her body in a fire elemental armor and used her tail to slap the manticore''s face, singing the creature''s mane. As a follow-up, she swung Ember in a spin that cut the tip of the monster''s scorpion tail. The manticore roared and went in for another attack, but the Ophidianite was already spinning around it, humming a tune to resonate with DJ and increase the power of the attacks while Ember became engulfed in flames. Each time the creature turned to attack Hera, she was already in a different spot. The fight could''ve ended a long time ago, but she was putting up a show for Legan. The way she fought, when not considering the court, was to confuse her opponents and never be in the same place for a long time. It was a shame she replaced her shoes and couldn''t glide on the ground as easily anymore, but her shoes let her cover the area in a thin layer of ice, which was already enough for the moment. To top it all off, she added the battle dancer skill, hitting the manticore in a rhythm while the rest of her court just focused on defense. This was nowhere near the best use of that skill, but it was enough to show it off. After around 2 minutes, with the monster already bleeding and with burns all over its body, Hera decided to end things and made the poison that was spreading inside it freeze all its muscles. The moment the manticore did that, Hera brought Ember straight down its head, breaking the skull and piercing the brain in a single move. Taking a step back, covered in the blood of her enemies, the Empress turned back to Legan with a big smile and asked, "So? What do you think?" 746 - The guardian unleashed
Hera was with Legan on top of Nimbus as the Sentinel ran across the dungeon. Unfortunately, he couldn''t carry everyone and the corpse of the manticore while flying. But after the Empress used her crafting skill to create a sled and a harness, that problem was solved. After realizing how much food and materials she was leaving behind while hunting, she asked for blueprints like that while in Pinnacle Mountain. The elf that was her contact at the time was kind enough to give her an assortment of options, from simple ropes that could be made with few materials to a full-blown luxury carriage with spring-loaded suspension and rubber wheels. That one the Empress was never able to make, but she made a point of creating the simpler ones as she started to let go of the anger she felt because of Silah. Another thing that added to the weight was a small bat Legan found. The creature came flying at them together with a large gust of wind, and the dwarf killed it by accident when trying to make a bone wall to cover them. Despite it looking somewhat weak, the Vortex Bat was able to sneak past Hera''s senses or move fast enough so that she wasn''t even able to sense it approaching. Just by that metric, they agreed this could be a worthy gift for Scryotra. They were already getting close to the red tree they used as a landmark. Unfortunately, they were a bit late. Everyone agreed to meet up after one hour of hunting, and the deadline was very close. If things followed what Hera was expecting, that wouldn''t have happened. The problem was the time it took her to gather enough wood and grass to create the sled and harness. Pure crafters would spend less mana when making something from a blueprint, but even they generally took the mana from a stone rather than from themselves. The reason for that was the sheer cost of creating an item out of nowhere. Even a simple wooden toothpick would be in the hundreds of thousands of mana, and several restrictions were attached to doing that. However, that cost would be lowered if you had the materials on hand, and those restrictions would be mostly gone. All the skill asked was that you already had created the item by hand once. When they finally got to the large tree with red leaves, they were the last to arrive. "Are we late?" Hera asked when Nimbus finally stopped. The Sentinel jumped up while Daskka snapped the harness off to let the sled come to a stop underneath them. Bonnie glanced at the clock on her tablet, "About five minutes. That''s not too bad." "I see your hunt went well. It does feel a bit unfair that you didn''t have to drag the monster here yourself," Alex looked at the dog-sized manticore in the sled. "Says the girl who can run in the air," Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Besides, Lena did the same thing." Helena was sitting on the back of her Wasp Guard, with a couple of large bodies by her side, "I have skills that help me carry things. I don''t see how it''s unfair for me to use them. The same thing with Hera." "Fine, fine. How about we show what we got?" Bonnie stepped forward and gestured to the bodies by her side. One was a green wildcat-looking monster. Its head was severed, but the neck seemed to have closed off, even if the creature was no longer moving, "This one is a Rejuvenating Feline. It has such a strong regeneration that even after I blasted its head off, the body still managed to close the wound. I was worried it would continue moving, so I fried the brain, too. Then we have this one," she pulled a small beetle from a pouch. Its carapace was completely covered in small thorns of different sizes, and its shell looked quite sturdy, "It can shoot out those thorns and make more of them rather quickly. I''m not sure if it''s a regenerating thing or just man-made, but I figured that might be something good. The last one is, hang on," Bonnie had Ruby holding something behind her. It was an odd green ooze that almost looked like a mix of moss and slime, "This one is called Mossy Ooze. Despite its appearance, it is super corrosive. I had to ask Ruby to hold it; otherwise, it would melt anything it touched. When it was alive, it seemed to control that, but after I killed it, it just does that all the time." "And Ruby doesn''t get hurt?" Legan asked. Bonnie shook her head, "No since she''s a slime, she can be ok while touching this. She was the one who tested it, by the way. I didn''t ask her to do it." "Those are interesting. The beetle ends up being the less exciting," Alex gestured to the side where her own pile of prey was, "I''ll make this quicker. We have a sprite, kind of like a fairy, that can reveal things in a wide area. Then, this snake with a clockwork pattern on its scales. It messes with time, I think. Or, like, the possibilities. When it came at me, it looked like it was in several places at once and could choose to appear in the one place I didn''t cover. It would be hard to kill if I didn''t go faster. Those are mine. The snake took a lot of time to find." Hera pointed at the manticore and explained the monsters they found. The Granite Golem, the Chromatic Manticore, and the Vortex Bat. They all seemed good ideas, leaving only Helena for last. "I kind of overlapped with Hera. I found this crab filled with ores in its shell, thinking it might be a good idea for defense. Then, this small lizard. It''s called Lavaflame Drake, and it just breathes fire. The last one is this Frostburn Hog. His tusks are made out of ice, and I figured the ice and fire idea could be a good cover." "Those all seem good. Let''s take all of them. Maybe Dormina can pick the ''worst one,'' or we can just feed it eleven instead of ten," Legan suggested. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Yeah, that''s a good call," Hera looked at the monsters they gathered. If it wasn''t for the ones Helena brought, she wouldn''t even need to make a new sled. Seeing that the Empress was starting to measure sizes with her eyes, Helena said, "I can have my Wasp Guard carry the ones I got. Don''t worry." "Are you sure? We would only need to grab some wood and grass for me to make another sled and set it up." "How many trees?" Alex asked. "Just one. And like, 10 minutes." "We can arrive there by then. Let''s just go," Helena replied and jumped off her Wasp Guard. With Nimbus pulling the sled, they gathered all the monsters and moved towards the hidden Naga village once more. Nothing happened as they returned, and Dormina barely acknowledged their presence when they got there. She was in the same room that she was before, but it had changed. Now, instead of just a regular room, it was a large circular arena with Scryotra resting in a pit in the center. The cultist leader moved closer to the monsters the group brought and analyzed each one before tossing them into the pit for the future guardian beast to eat. One by one, the creatures were flung inside, with the only one who was left behind being the beetle that Bonnie found. Dormina mumbled something about it not working well with the rest. Seeing Scryotra eat the monsters was terrifying, to say the least. The creature was able to chow down the entire manticore in less than a minute. The rest looked like just simple snacks instead of a full meal. With each monster the future guardian beast ate, it would change a little bit. The golem''s core made its shell a bit more dull, and the geode crab turned it into obsidian. The Lavaflame Drake allowed it to puff small embers from the mantis'' mouth. When it was all over, Dormina walked forward with a black box and dropped one last monster for Scryotra to eat. A Stealth Spirit. The moment it ate the spirit, the future guardian beast vanished from sight. It didn''t use any skills or spells. Instead, its signature ability was triggered. Now, no one would be able to see it from the front, only from the sides or from the back. The body of the monster also changed; the pincers became more pronounced, and the line where the scorpion part would meet the mantis part blended more seamlessly. "That''s the one you saw in your vision. Isn''t it?" Bonnie turned to Hera. "Yeah, the size is wrong, and some of the details around the claws and tail are different. But it''s the one I saw," Hera nodded. "Good, good!" Dormina smiled, her fangs peeking out from her mouth, "Now it''s time to move," she brandished a whip, hitting Scryotra''s back, "Go!" The guardian beast flinched and pushed a part of the wall in the pit, vanishing in a hidden tunnel behind it. "Warn the others. Today, their precious city will fall. And tomorrow, the rest of their empire," Dormina entered a room by the side of the arena. The moment the door closed, it instantly opened again with the cult leader dressed in full battle armor. It was a mix of leather with some exoskeletons from large bugs in different shades of black and green. She also had a crown that showed the cult''s symbol, the two claws spinning around each other and a toothy maw in the center. Another difference was that she looked significantly older. Her scales had lost their luster, and one of her eyes was glazed over. Hera and her friends didn''t even have time to rest after this. Dormina started walking towards the exit of the hidden village, and the rest of the cult followed along. Every single Naga here was already wearing their full sets of armor. Some even had small spikes attached to the ends of their tails. Seeing that, Hera walked over to who seemed to be the arms masters and asked if there was a spare. Luckily, he had one. It was almost like a nail for her tail and had no actual attributes. In essence, it would be just a chunk of metal with leather straps. Either way, the Empress'' interest was more on how the blade was made than its scaling or potential skills. Especially since its notification explicitly said that the item couldn''t be taken out of the dungeon. Using a small loophole in her legacy, Hera ordered her court to remember all the details of the tail spike. Doing that would make sure they would remember when she asked about it. Lurize, Nimbus, or Livy might even be able to draw it properly later. Focusing on what was happening, the Empress flowed along the rest of the Naga together with the rest of her party. They marched up to the exit of the village, but instead of leaving in the same location, they were coming from a hole in the ground near a large city. It had stone walls around it and a mesa in the center that was carved out and is currently being used as a castle. The people who lived there were already aware of the cult, and a small army was forming just outside of the wall. Dormina watched the Naga gather, including someone with an adorned armor and several spikes on his shoulder pad, "There he is. General Grostha. The man who killed my son. For those who don''t know. Each spike in his armor represents a victory in battle. He is the best they have to offer," a low rumbling started to spread, making all the Naga, both from the cultist''s side and not to look around. Yet, Dormina didn''t seem to care. She raised her arms, "Now, you shall all see our guardian beast in action. The true guardian of the Naga. SCRYOTRA, BRING DEATH TO THESE HERETICS!" As she finished yelling, the mesa started to shake, and with a blast, a giant creature appeared, bursting through the base. The stone castle toppled forward, forcing the army to run away. The guardian beast dug under the city and brought the main structure of the city down like a tree. Even more impressive was the speed in which it sidestepped from the incoming rubble. Only after it moved did the cultists see the beast since it was able to hide from anything directly in front of it. Scryotra was still a far cry from the mountain it would one day become, but now it could already tower over that city''s walls. The Naga roared and started attacking the monster, but its shell was too strong. Even the general wasn''t able to scratch the exoskeleton of the cultist guardian beast. The monster roared, the scorpion mouth spewing out acid that melted everything it touched while the claws ripped apart anyone unlucky enough to get in the way. Spells were flung around, but most missed. Even the ones that hit only brushed off against the obsidian carapace. The rest of the cultists didn''t even move from their place. All watched in fear and awe as their guardian beast decimated an entire city in a matter of minutes. Scryotra ended his rampage while covering every single Naga, man, woman, or child in acid, be it liquid or in steam form. It was methodical as if it was something trained to do. Not even the bodies of the ones already killed by it were spared. As that scene raged on and some of the cultists realized what they had done, Dormina let out a maniac laugh, "Burn! Die! You all will pay! Every single one of you! Every single Naga shall perish. The new age has come. The age of Scryotra!" 747 - Breaking Point When Scryotra''s rampage was finally over and Dormina stopped laughing like a maniac, the cultists marched back to the tunnel. Hera and the others followed along since they had no new chains in the quest. The moment they got closer to the city, they realized that things were very different. Unlike the small and tight corridors, now they were circling a giant pit, with the houses carved from the stone, almost like this place was the open area of a mine. Scryotra was right in the middle of this new version of the city. The creature had changed sizes once again. It wasn''t the gigantic version that Hera had seen just yet, but now it was getting very close. But this wasn''t what attracted the most attention about it. Despite its incredible power and the increased regeneration given by the Rejuvenating Feline, Scryotra was covered in wounds. Fresh wounds that were struggling to heal. Suddenly, a loud crack of a whip echoed through the entire cave. That came from Dormina, who was by a platform facing the giant mantis head of the guardian beast. She seemed even older and had a cane to the side. Despite that, the cultist leader was launching spells at Scryotra and continued to berate the creature. None of the attacks was actually doing anything against the obsidian carapace. However, when she cracked the whip, wounds appeared around the monster''s body. It was almost as if the guardian beast''s body had been conditioned to damage itself when hearing the sound. One of the cultists approached the group, "I''ll take you to your house. Follow me," after saying that he didn''t wait for a reply and just continued moving along the paths. Hera and the others followed along, but they were still watching Dormina scream and lash out at Scryotra. Legan wasn''t entirely sure why a creature so powerful would just take that abuse. The rest of them knew a bit more about the evil in the world and understood that growing up while suffering at the hands of someone was something hard to overcome. The cultist took them to a house in the top layer of the city and gestured for them to go inside, "Everyone received some supplies after the last battle. Rest, and come downstairs to the training grounds when you are ready. We have much work to do before we assault the capital." Once more, the cultists just moved along, not waiting for them. Hera and the others walked inside the house, and the door closed on its own after the last of them walked in. "Ok¡­ this is weird, isn''t it?" Legan asked. "Which part?" Hera looked around and saw a fruit basket in the center of the room, as well as four beds and a modern bathroom at the back. "I mean, everything. It looks like we are just skimming through a history book. Also, I don''t understand why Scryotra just doesn''t fight back against Dormina. And this room is also weird. Is that a ceramic toilet? Did they have those back then?" Helena walked over to the table and took some grapes, "This room is a rest area. Some dungeons are supposed to run for a long time and give us that. In Pinnacle Mountain, you had a place like this, didn''t you, Hera?" "I did. The bathroom there was also modern. But it didn''t have a shower," the Empress glanced to the bathroom, "and I think that''s the case here too. Also, I don''t know why the system loves giving us fruit. Even in the role tests I always get fruit." "Maybe it''s because it''s easy to eat?" Bonnie suggested, " You know, it doesn''t require any preparation. Or baking. It''s just a pickup and eat thing." "That''s fair, but I wouldn''t mind some chocolate or something," Hera sighed. She thought about the times that she got juice or other foods during her role tests, but in those situations, Peaches was around. Maybe it wasn''t the system that gave her something, but the guide. "For the skimming through a book thing. Yeah, it''s about right. You didn''t get to run a dungeon in the Cold Water Lake, did you?" Alex asked. "No, I didn''t," Legan shook his head. "Yeah, so. There is a dungeon there where a guy is carving a block of ice to make a doorway. He keeps asking us to go to his shed and back, and each time we do that, he gets older. Historical dungeons do that when they are about a long stretch of time. And considering how old Dormina seems to be, that sounds about right," Alex continued. "Oh yeah, do Naga live for 300 years too?" Bonnie turned to Hera. Hera thought for a moment, "Honestly. I''m not sure. I can ask, but it won''t work inside a dungeon, I''ve tried. Either way, we can talk about why Scryotra isn''t fighting back later. That is a more¡­ complicated topic. But about the dungeon itself, we should trigger the next part of it when we leave here. Probably when we reach the training area since that''s where the cultist told us to go." "And we can stay here for as long as we want?" Legan asked. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "Yeah. I mean, I don''t think we will get a refill in the fruit basket, but while we make it last we can stay here. Oh, and the water that comes from the faucet in the bathroom should be good to drink. Usually, there are some cups in the cabinet under it," Hera nodded. The group decided to rest for about one hour. There was a lot of walking, and Legan seemed to be a bit tired despite everything. Unlike the rest of the group, he had yet to get any skills that improved his stamina. The dwarf tried asking about Scryotra during this time, but none of the others wanted to explain such a heavy topic for now. At least he understood their reasoning and accepted that it wasn''t time to talk about that. In the end, they just talked about the Naga, how they showed themselves, and about the tail spike that Hera was wearing. Eventually, they decided to move along. Getting up and opening the door to the rest of the city. However, the moment they did that, they were met with acid smoke, forcing everyone to get low to the ground. They could hear screaming coming from everywhere and the sound of a large creature moving away. Crawling on the floor, they left the room. Hera used her pulse spell to see the area around them. Feeling that energy pulse, Alex asked, "Hera, is it safe for me to use a spell?" "I think so. I can''t sense any monster around," Hera replied. Alex waved her hand in the air, forming a rotating sphere around them. A barrier that would create a safe space from the fumes around them. Now that they were able to move, they had a chance to see what actually happened in the city. Large gashes were all around the walls, clearly made by Scryotra''s claws. The guardian beast should also have made the acid pools, as was the large hole on the opposite side of the city. When arriving at this version of the hidden village, Hera wasn''t able to see the path Scryotra would take to leave this place, but now it was clear it didn''t care about moving as it was commanded. Another thing they saw was Dormina. The cultist leader had been tossed from the lower platform and was now close to their room. She was gasping for air, and her body was completely mangled. Her lower abdomen was almost split in half. Only the bones in her column were keeping her body in one piece. Hera and the others rushed over to see if there was anything they could do. Unfortunately, when they got closer, it became clear there was nothing they could do. Dormina was losing too much blood. The fact that she was still alive was nothing short of a miracle. Yet, despite her current state, she started laughing. "Finally. Now, the guardian beast is complete. Scryotra shall end our entire miserable existence¡­. Finally¡­" with that last breath, Dormina perished. "Did she¡­ want all Naga to die? Like really? I thought it was just those in the empire," Bonnie frowned. "Me too. I guess she suffered a lot," Helena got closer to Dormina and closed her eyes. Just as she did that, a loud noise came from the hole in the village, followed by light flooding the place. Scryotra had just broken through the last layer of ground to the outside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest chain discovered Scryotra is no longer under the control of the cult. Stop its rampage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We have to kill that thing?" Legan gasped. "Not kill. Stop. Killing is an option, but it''s not the only way," Hera said. "Do we have a way to stop it without killing it?" Legan turned to the Empress. "I don''t know. We need to check. Either way. Let''s go. Nimbus, can you carry us to the tunnel it made?" The Sentinel appeared, "If we are going down, yeah, I can carry you, Legan, and Bonnie without a problem." "Perfect," Helena smiled and fired a light arrow at the tunnel, moving along it just as it hit the ground. Following that, she called her Wasp Guard again. "I guess I''ll run," Alex rolled her eyes and jumped, starting to walk in the air. "She says that, but she''s the only one who can just fly without any preparation," Hera chuckled as she mounted Nimbus with the others. They followed Scryotra outside, taking around 10 minutes to cross the entire tunnel. Outside, they reached a jungle with a few mountains spread around. This was clearly the same jungle they saw outside Zaxalam. Unfortunately, the guardian beast was nowhere to be seen. To find it, Hera asked everyone to get off Nimbus and flew up in the sky with the griffon. To their left, she saw the gigantic scorpion praying mantis centaur in front of a mountain, attacking something. The Empress was able to notice some small figures being tossed around and pieces of a stone statue breaking. Not to mention the large cloud of acid smoke coming from underneath it. Coming back down, the Empress told everyone where they should go to. They rushed to climb the mountain to their side, but it took a while for everyone to get to the top. Then, Hera was able to notice a small patch of ground where Scryotra stepped and a cave to the side. The same one that she saw in her vision. However, the cave already had smoke coming out of it, meaning that the Naga who was inside should already have been killed by the acid. Seeing the destruction caused by the monster, Bonnie gasped, "How are we supposed to stop that thing?" Everyone silently tried to come up with a plan, but nothing came to mind. The monster was too far from them for the [Observe] skill, and they couldn''t think of any way of fighting against it. "Maybe we need to just let it tire itself out?" Alex suggested. "I mean¡­ after it''s done killing the Naga, it shouldn''t do anything else. That''s a fair idea," Helena scratched her head. "I don''t like that¡­ but I don''t see how we can possibly stop it. Maybe I can poison it?" Hera suggested. "Aren''t Nagas like poison specialists? I think Dormina would make sure Scryotra has some resistance against it," Bonnie shook her head. "So¡­ what do we do?" Legan continued to watch the monster rampage through the city. The city that his people were now inhabiting. "I don''t know¡­" Hera replied. They all knew the Naga were extinct, but watching this happen was very different. Even if this was only one of their cities. How could something like this happen? How did the cultists spend so long preparing a creature this size and this powerful without being noticed? How was it possible that Dormina, a single Naga, was responsible for so much destruction? Hera continued to question the situation and think of a way out while watching the monster destroy an entire city like a child destroys a sandcastle. 748 - Learning from the past
"Ok. I''m in position," Hera told the group through the communicator. She was flying with Nimbus and a rare venomous pike in her hand, which was made by her [Venomous Arsenal] skill. "I''m starting to run then. I''ll tell you when I''m ready to strike," Alex started moving to get some speed before walking in the air. "Give me a countdown when you are ready. We both attack on go," Hera replied. "Do you mean 3, 2, 1, and then go, or 3, 2, and the 1 is go?" Alex asked as she started flying. "I mean 3, 2, 1, and then go. What kind of psycho makes one do the same thing as go?" Hera gasped. "HEY! That is a perfectly normal way to count," Bonnie huffed. Hera chuckled, "Ok then. I''ll start my thing then," she raised one hand, thinking about all the blades that once were part of her legacy, and called, "Return to me," activating the [Blade Graveyard] skill. When she got the skill, the Empress talked with Daskka about activating it. Since it was something that had a very long cooldown, she didn''t want to use it by accident. Because of that, they came up with a few phrases that were required for the skill to trigger. From the cloud above her, weapons started to come down as if they were rain. It wasn''t just half a dozen either, but hundreds instead. The same ones that appeared during the legacy trial. All the blades that were ever used by the previous holders. However, as they got closer to Hera, each would disappear into small puffs of mist. Only a few remained behind. They were the court members who were part of the Empress'' court once upon a time. Beam, Brute, Executioner, Swift, Ooze, Scythe, Armory, Frost, and Core. As a trick that Dusa suggested, Hera smiled at them and said, "I order you all to know our plan," this was a way for the resurrected blades to understand the situation right away. After all, giving this order was the same as injecting the knowledge of the situation directly into their minds. They had tried that before during one of the times she used this skill to meet with the previous members of her court. ''Empress, we might not be able to count on Daskka here,'' Armory said, noticing something wrong with the snake. Hera glanced down. The herald was tightly wrapped around her waist with her eyes closed, "Daskka? What''s wrong?" "Sorry, mum. I''m just really scared of that thing," the snake wasn''t even able to look towards Scryotra. Hera patted Daskka''s head, "That''s ok. In my vision, this monster was called Naga''s bane. Maybe it''s just your Naga part that is sensing the danger. Would you rather be inside the necklace for this?" "Can I? I don''t think I''ll be able to help like this," Daskka looked up. Hera smiled and pulled the herald up, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead, "Of course. I just want you to be ok. Don''t worry. We got this." Daskka nodded and turned to mist, returning to the necklace. The Empress put her game face on and asked, "Armory, Dusa, can you see any other issues with the plan?" ''Only that we have a single shot,'' Armory replied. ''I-I-I tried coming up with another way, but this was the best I could do. Sorry,'' Dusa shook a little bit while still being on top of Hera''s head. ''I''m not complaining about that. You are doing a great job, Dusa,'' Armory''s voice was warmer, letting her disciple know she had her approval. "I''m starting the countdown!" Alex''s voice came through the communicator, "3¡­" Hera didn''t even have to say anything. Nimbus and the rest of the court got ready to attack. They were flying above Scryotra, waiting for Alex''s signal to begin their dive. The monster had finished destroying Zaxalam and continued its rampage, searching for small outposts and any signals of the Naga civilization to destroy. They had followed the guardian beast for a while, trying to see if it would get tired or if they had a chance to stop it. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case. Even after all the attacks on different settlements and fights against several guards, the monster moved at the same speed as it was always moving. It even continued to search for more Naga when it had already destroyed all the settlements. That''s why the idea of waiting it out was discarded. They had already waited for a while, trying to follow Scryotra around. Luckily, this dungeon was smaller than the actual room, which meant they didn''t have to spend too long waiting for the creature to move from settlement to settlement. In the end, they just waited for the guardian beast to find something that would distract it for long enough to give them a chance to strike. Hera was already flying that entire time, and Alex followed along while the rest stayed close enough to help if their sneak attack didn''t work. The Empress was diving along with her entire court, all moving in tandem and activating every power-up skill they had, except the [All In]. If this attack failed, having her attributes reduced would be a problem. She also covered each of her blades with a different elemental power aura to boost their attack even more. All the weapons, with the exception of Armory and Scythe, got ready to attack, aimed at the back of the neck of the praying mantis. They all focused on a single spot, but Hera was the opening act. She used the [Grasshopper Stab], pumping 3 million mana on the skill. Which increased the power of her strike 300 times. Adding that to a weapon break on the rare venomous pike, the attack strength would be multiplied another 9 times. Maybe that would just result in an attack that was 309 times stronger than it should, but it could also be 2 700 times stronger. It was a shame that the system never specified the details of how this interaction would work. Still, it was the best attack she could create at the moment. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "¡­Now!" Alex said and sent out her attack. A jade-colored wind blade. She was following it along with one of her daggers inside the scabbard she got a long time ago. The assassin jumped along with the wind, riding her strike like a surfboard. Adding several strikes in an x shape directly in front of her, she continued moving at an incredible speed until she was about to hit Scryotra. Only then did Alex jump away, running with the wind and getting far from the monster. At the same time, The Empress threw the pike, aiming at the small gap in the neck of Scryotra. The orange weapon flew through the air, and its speed increased thanks to Nimbus'' dive. Alex''s attack struck first, but the venomous weapon created by Hera hit not even a second later in the exact same spot. The pike exploded in contact, splintering in thousands of small poison shards that covered the back of Scryotra''s praying mantis head. The rest of the court didn''t stay behind and came crashing down on the same spot, trying to decapitate this part of the monster. However, even after all that, they only managed to make a small mark in the guardian beast''s carapace. ''RUN!'' Dusa called as she realized they had failed. Nimbus continued his dive, moving away from Scryotra''s main body and towards the woods. He didn''t even need to look back to know they were in trouble. The guardian beast was already looking around to see what attacked it. Hera and the griffon were far from being small targets, especially when Alex was able to hide amongst the wind itself. The guardian beast had a moment of hesitation while looking at Hera. It could be seen that she was close to a Naga, but not quite the same. Still, the anger it had over that species took over, and with a roar, it started trying to spit out acid. Thankfully, the Empress was already in the middle of the trees, which allowed her to evade the incoming attack. Nimbus was flying as fast as he could, trying to get as far away as possible from the creature. The main problem now was that none of them could see Scryotra. The monster was facing them, which meant they weren''t able to see it. Even the acid was hidden as it came out of its mouth, only when it was far enough from the main body that it appeared. This meant that Hera was only able to see the acid when it was already about to hit the tree line. "Hera! Don''t stop! It''s right behind you!" Bonnie yelled through the communicator since she could still see the monster. "We are trying!" Hera yelled back and flung a few spells, but it was hard to know if any of them were making contact. The only thing she knew for sure was that her poison wasn''t getting inside Scryotra. Nimbus made a hard turn to the left to avoid getting closer to one of the mountains. That move put them dangerously close to one of the monster''s pincers, and a spray of acid that hit some of Hera''s blades. Beam, Core, and Frost, specifically. They noticed how the acid might hurt others and jumped in front of it to protect the other court members. After all, they were just part of the graveyard and would forget everything that happened today after the skill duration was over. Hera did notice their actions and the intention behind them. Even if it wasn''t something she liked, she couldn''t argue against it. Even if she did, it would be for nothing. The next time she used the [Blade Graveyard] skill, they would have forgotten everything about the argument. During that brief moment when Hera was distracted, Scryotra stopped attacking. Or at least stopped attacking the area she was currently at. The Empress looked around, trying to understand what was going on, but the answer came through her communicator. "I managed to block its sight. Get out of there!" Helena''s voice was strained. "Nimbus, let''s go," Hera said, gesturing to the top of the trees. Her eyes stopped when she noticed a very long vine wrapped around one of the branches. Pressing the communicator, she said, "I had an idea! I''m not sure if it will work. Did you block its hearing, too?" "No, just the sight," Helena replied. "Ok then," Hera closed her eyes and thought about a whip with a blade in the tip of the handle. Moving away from the trees, the Empress saw the guardian beast looking away from her. It looked very confused as if it couldn''t understand what was going on. Hera did her best to crack the whip as loudly as she could and as close to Scryotra as possible. The monster flinched, and a small scar appeared on the side of its body. Seeing that it was working, she cracked the whip again, making Scryotra hurt itself even more, now opening bleeding wounds around the scorpion''s body. "Oh crap, that was a good idea!" Legan gasped, "Let''s aim for that opening. If its exoskeleton was strong, the insides should be weaker." "Good call," Bonnie nodded and started sending spells at the wounds. Alex also joined with a similar attack as the first one, but this time it wasn''t as strong. While that was going on, Helena was just focused on removing Scryotra''s sight. Hera decided to try her move again, but this time, she only spent around 500 thousand mana on the [Grasshopper Stab], making her attack 50 times more powerful. This time, the explosion did considerable damage, but as the guardian tried to fight back, the Empress cracked the whip again. That was the cue for it to flinch and stop. Even after killing Dormina and the other Naga, the pain the monster felt at the hands of a whip was still engraved on its very being. Thanks to that easy way to stop Scryotra, Hera and her party continued to attack repeatedly. Some of the Empress'' court members even jumped inside the monster to destroy its organs. After a couple of minutes of a relentless assault, the guardian beast of the cultists finally fell to the ground, too injured to continue. 749 - Resentment
With Scryotra in the ground, Hera and the others gathered in front of the mantis head. The [Blade Graveyard] skill had run out just as the monster fell, and the old court members fell to the ground, becoming gravestones before disappearing into mist. The monster didn''t have two sets of eyes, but it did have two mouths, and the lower one was capable of spitting acid. Looking at the guardian beast, everyone could see the scars and injuries it had sustained not just during the fight but across its entire life. Years of abuse were ingrained into its very being. They could also see the massive red eyes of the mantis head staring back at them, a mix of confusion, anger, and exhaustion showing on its face. Feeling bad about the situation, Hera started to approach Scryotra, but the monster growled at her just after flinching. That caught the Empress off guard, but she realized the reason. The whip was still in her hand. She never actually hit the guardian beast with it, but the sound was enough to harm it. Hera looked at her hand and tossed the whip away, making it disappear while still clearly in sight of everyone. "It''s ok, It''s ok. No one is going to hurt you anymore," Hera raised both hands to show she wasn''t going to do anything against it. "It feels a bit wrong to say that now," Bonnie scratched her head. "I know, but it''s not like we can just put it out of its misery. You saw how hard it was to hurt it," Hera replied without looking away from Scryotra. "Yeah, but we still didn''t get the notification about the quest complete. I don''t think Scryotra is ready to stop," Alex sighed. "Think we should try to put it to sleep?" Bonnie asked. Hera continued approaching Scryotra, but this time, the monster didn''t growled. It just watched her approach. The Empress didn''t walk towards its mouth, instead moving up, closer to the eyes and forehead of the mantis. Everyone else was on edge, especially her court. She was dangerously close to the guardian beast, and if it tried to attack her, there was a big chance of the Empress getting hurt. Getting closer and closer, Hera was finally within arms reach of Scryotra and touched its head. "It''s ok. It''s ok. You can rest now. No one will hurt you anymore," Hera said softly. Scryotra just continued watching the Empress without moving. It was hard to tell if it was even able to understand her or not. Yet, she continued, rubbing its head like she was taking care of a wounded pet. Seeing that, the rest of the party started to slowly approach in the same way. They moved much slower than Hera, but eventually, they all reached the head of Scryotra and started petting it, telling it things were okay. After a few moments, the red mantis eyes started to lose their light, and the guardian beast let out one final breath. They all pulled back their hands, and in a few seconds, Scryotra dissolved like monsters in a dungeon were supposed to do. In the place where the middle of his massive body was located, there was a large rock with a small entrance where a single wooden door was located. The same door they used to enter this dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest chain. First-Time Rewards: On hold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the¡­" before Hera could finish her thought, another notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a hidden quest. Scryotra recognized you as a Naga, leaving behind something for you. If you accept what was left behind, the quest will be considered as the dungeon reward. If you refuse what Scryotra left behind, you will receive the regular dungeon reward. [Accept] [Refuse] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh? I didn''t know this could happen," Hera said out loud. "What happened?" Legan asked. "Apparently, because of my connection with the Naga, Scryotra left something behind that triggers a quest. But this quest will replace the dungeon reward." "Is that good?" Legan tilted his head. "The final reward will probably be much better than most rewards I could get in this dungeon. When the system gives you a quest, you usually can expect something good," Hera continued. "So, are you taking this quest?" Legan asked. Hera just smiled, "I wouldn''t be me if I said no," she pressed the accept button. As soon as she did that, a small black piece of rock appeared in her hand. It was flat with round edges and about 2 cm thick with only 3 cm in diameter. In the center of it, there was a drawing of two claws going around each other with a red toothy maw in the center. Looking at the back, it just showed an uneven piece of rock. It didn''t have any mana or anything of the sort. Just as she used her [Inspect], a new notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have accepted the quest Scryotra''s Resentment. Scryotra still resents the Naga, who brought it so much pain and suffering. It left behind a piece of that resentment. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Solve Scryotra''s resentment Rewards: ???? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra''s Resentment Bound to Hera Quetzaveth The materialization of Scryotra''s resentment. While in your possession, monsters are more likely to be hostile to you, and rewards from dungeons will be reduced. If the materialized resentment is more than 10 meters away from you, it will lose those effects. However, any progress made to solve the resentment will be reset. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ok¡­ this is¡­ bad? Good? I don''t know how to feel," Hera frowned. "Why? What''s that?" Bonnie asked. The Empress showed the resentment to everyone, and they all agreed that this was weird. Having monsters be more hostile wasn''t the end of the world as long as she didn''t try to find something too dangerous. However, the reduced rewards were a big problem. Then again, she had the option of setting this aside and only coming to work on it when she actually knew what to do about it. Hera turned to Nimbus and the others, "How about you guys? Are you feeling any different towards me?" "I''m not," the Sentinel replied. Livy took her bipedal form, "Me neither." "My feelings for you remain the same," Lurize nodded. "Ok. I know that was a bit of a stretch, but I wanted to make sure this wasn''t messing with the legacy," Hera smiled. "But I think it''s a good idea for us to just head back to the city, right?" Alex suggested. "Yeah, staying in the middle of the jungle while having monsters more likely to attack me doesn''t sound good. I might even rush ahead with Nimbus." "Or you can let one of us hold it. Then we stay more than 10 meters away from you," Helena took the rock and stepped away. "I mean, that does work. But we need to be careful about the distance. Either way, what did you all get?" Hera changed topics. "Some materials. They might be good for armor. And some gold. Around 300 thousand," Helena replied. "I got a vial of acid, the gold, and some gems. I think they are more related to that gem crab that Lena found than anything," Alex was looking things over on her tablet without actually taking the rewards out. "I got materials, too. Some of Scryotra''s bones. I think I''ll try to mix it with Timber. Maybe he can get that stealth ability too," Legan had a wide smile on his face. "How about you, Bonnie?" Alex turned to the researcher, who was staring at her tablet with a worried expression. "I got¡­ cultists'' robes. And a whip¡­. Do I look like Dormina or something?" "I''m not sure¡­ Give us a maniac laugh and say you will kill us all," Hera asked. Bonnie huffed, "I''m not doing that!" "C''mon. You are the one who asked. How can we be sure if you don''t try to play the part?" Alex playfully bumped the researcher''s shoulder. "I''m not doing that! I''m not a tyrant like that crazy snake!" Bonnie walked off towards the dungeon''s exit. They laughed for a moment before following her, and this time, they went straight back to the city. The idea of someone else carrying Scryotra''s Resentment worked great, even if it was a bit complicated to remember to stay more than 10 meters away at all times. During that time, everyone was giving ideas on what Hera could do to solve the resentment. Their first idea was to go back to the dungeon and save Scryotra from Dormina. They would likely have to wait until they reached the underground village before attacking the cult leader, but it felt like the right thing to do. And even if that didn''t work, they would at least have a cathartic moment since she tortured the monster so much. Hera and Helena also argued that doing that might be what triggered the hard mode of the dungeon. The other idea of just waiting for Scryotra to tire itself out during the last quest chain seemed like the intended way of finishing the dungeon. When Hera had enough mana, she asked Yarnball how to solve the resentment, but that didn''t work. It was a long shot, and the Empress believed that only the guide of the room could help with that. As a matter of fact, she was seriously considering calling them to talk about that. After all, if this was where Scryotra died, the guide should remember what happened in the guardian beast''s last days. Another thing that could be related to the resentment were its bones. In horror stories, there was always something about finding and giving the remains of ghosts a proper burial to appease their rage. Sure, one in three of those stories would toss a curve ball where doing that only made things worse, but it was something to consider, at least. The main problem with that idea were the stealth spirits that lived around Scryotra''s bones. If they were also affected by the resentment, getting close to that place while carrying the stone could be almost a death sentence. Hera also considered using that essence extractor that was in her private room to try to distill the resentment and maybe split it apart like a chemical. However, that was a big issue by itself. For one, she had no idea if that was even possible. Not knowing if doing that would cancel the quest was the other issue. Either way, theta agreed not to try anything today. After all, they spent a long day in the dungeon and already had a good amount of information for their efforts. Not to mention some materials that could be very useful for the right people. Later that night, when Shane and the other Royal Explorers also got back, they held a meeting to share anything they had discovered. The dungeon closest to the city was a decent source of food, although it wasn''t just meat like the one in Boothudurn. Here, they could gather meat, fruits, and even fish if they were going in the right direction. ''Trouble in the Jungle'' was a dungeon that asked you to pick a side and then help their issues. The sides were all different species of animals who were being attacked by some type of predator. The type of predator they faced would dictate the type of food they would find. Land sharks would give them fish, insects, fruits, and mammals meat. The ''Naga''s Ambition'' dungeon was a place that explained what the large doors protecting Deakoshara were. There was some prophecy about a grave danger that would reach the Naga civilization, and one of its Emperors went a bit crazy because of it. They tried to create a perfectly safe place in their capital by cutting off all access to it. Even stranger was the fact they seemed to use one of the walls of the MAZE as a base to create their own protection. However, the dungeon didn''t have any details about how the doors were actually made, except that they were removed from Zaxalam. The entire dungeon was focused on heavy lifting. Carrying the massive doors around, prospecting them from monsters, and then putting them in place. Shane was a bit frustrated about that, but when she learned more about Scryotra and the cult, she perked right up. This was much more interesting to the enchanter. After that meeting that lasted a couple of hours, they all went back home to rest. Those who wanted could continue searching for things in the room the next day, but those who wanted a brake were also welcome to do so. Hera had one more conversation with Shane, Legan, and Trillian about the guide, confirming if they had any questions they needed answers to or if she could focus on what she wanted to find out. In the end, that was the best way to go about solving Scryotra''s resentment. Instead of just throwing things in a wall to see what sticks, she could ask someone who knew more about the being that was, once upon a time, a guardian beast. 750 - Zaxalams Guide To call the guide, Hera walked deeper into the city, towards the area that was still off-limits. Shane had already taught a few of the dwarfs how to properly store and identify things that could be important. However, the odds of anything truly unique being in that area were very small. It was just a place filled with houses. Rotting furniture and broken down walls were all that they expected to find here. Hera only went about two roads deep when she found the house Shane mentioned when talking about the guide. It was one with a carving of a green diamond by the entrance. The reason I came all the way here was because, in the back of the house, there was a room with a small altar. Unfortunately, whatever statue or painting that was supposed to be there was removed a long time ago. The guide asked Shane to tell the other explorers who were going to call them to do so in this place. Hera still didn''t know why, but she was happy to oblige. She also brought some bread, a bag of chips, and a pot of jam. For drinks, she had some iced tea. Fethy worked with some of their cooks to produce. It used a grape-like fruit that had the same consistency and flavor as tapioca balls. Apparently, this guide was very interested in food, and the Empress hoped that she would enjoy this odd breakfast with boba tea. Walking inside the altar room, Hera activated her soundproof bubble and asked Lurize, Nimbus, and Livy, who was in her sea serpent form, to stay by the door. They would still be able to see the guide and talk to them, but since they were all blocking the passage, no one should be able to see what was happening inside. With everything ready, the Empress took a deep breath and said, "I call upon the Guide of the Old City of Zaxalam. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." From the top of the altar, a large, deep green flower bulb appeared. It was a bit ominous and almost looked like what one would expect out of a carnivorous plant. Slowly, more leaves appeared on top of it as if they were growing. When it stopped, the base of the bulb unfurled, turning into some sort of large cape. Inside it, a pair of green pointy roots started moving. Those were clearly the legs of the guide. From the top, a small dull orange mask appeared. It had two black eyes and a set of three horns but no mouth. There were also some markings framing the top in a brighter shade of orange, turning the horns into a crown. From beneath the larger leaves that were working as a cape, two thin green arms appeared with tiny black hands. The guide placed one hand over her chest and bowed to the Empress. "Hello. I am Veridallion. The guide for the Old City of Zaxalam," the voice gentle but deeper than what Hera expected from someone with such a petite frame. However, she knew that common sense hardly ever was applied to the guides. "Hello, Veridallion. I am Hera Quetzaveth. It is a pleasure to meet you." "The pleasure is all mine. May I call you Ms. Quetzaveth, or do you have a different title that you wish to be addressed as?" Veridallion stood up and placed one hand on top of the other while keeping them in front of her body around her chest. Nimbus smirked, "We call her Em-" "Don''t!" Hera yelled while pouting at the Sentinel, "You guys call me that. I never asked for it, but you insist on doing that," she turned back to Veridallion, "Sorry about that. You don''t have to be so formal with me. Feel free to call me Hera," she glanced back at her titled blades and squinted, "Just Hera." The three smiled but didn''t say anything else. Veridallion looked at them and nodded, "I hope you don''t take offense to this, but I must say that I have been warned about your legacy. Hence, I understand that their presence here does not break the rules of the skill." "That''s ok. Peaches and the others warned me that this would happen. Before we start. Shane mentioned you like to cook. I can''t do much here, but I brought some things to eat. Would you like some?" Veridallion''s eyes grew a bit bigger despite being part of a mask, "Oh? What did you bring?" "Some bread, strawberry jam, a bag of chips that I had, and an attempt at boba tea. I honestly haven''t tried that one myself, so I can''t promise it will be good. But I vouch for the food," Hera pulled the breakfast from her bag and set it up on top of a cloth. Serving two cups of the tea that was in a bottle. "I appreciate the gesture, but¡­" Veridallion stared at the tea for a moment, "It wouldn''t be proper of me to partake. This is a formal affair, after all." "Oh? That''s OK. I mean, I''m not trying to force you or anything," the Empress stopped prepping the ''table.'' "¡­ Unless¡­ you are offering for us to talk freely. And by that, I mean that, although I still will be bound by the skill, we may forgo the rules of formality for our discussion." "Of course. I honestly don''t like that much formality. I feel like having to dance around our words is more trouble than it''s worth," Hera replied. "Thank the system," Veridallion''s entire demeanor changed. She dropped her hands, letting her arms vanish inside her cape, and sat on the altar with her feet dangling from the edge, "It was so annoying to talk with the Naga who lived here. They were also complaining if you didn''t say their titles and whatnot." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Hera was taken aback by that reaction and said out loud, "I''m glad you were pretending." Veridallion tilted her head, "Why is that?" "It feels like it''s bad to say this, but I don''t do very well with all that nobility thing. It just feels like a hassle." "Girl. I 100% agree with you. Having to be all proper because of the Naga was just awful. You have no idea how many times something I said was misunderstood because of all that. Eventually, I got the hang of it, but it really wasn''t like that when they arrived here for the first time," Veridallion sighed before jumping out of the altar and walking closer to the small picnic that Hera created, "May I?" "Of course. I brought it here for you. Well, for us," Hera smiled. Veridallion looked at the three standing guard at the door, "I don''t know if there is enough for all of us." "Don''t worry. We don''t need to eat. We can, and that helps us recover mana, but unlike Hera, we don''t feel hunger," Nimbus explained with a smile, "This one is yours; you can enjoy it without worry." "Ok then, I won''t argue with that," Veridallion''s eyes turned into two happy curved lines before reaching out for the cup that Hera gave her. The moment the guide touched it, the cup changed sizes, becoming small enough for her. The amount of liquid relative to the cup also remained the same. She took a sip without removing her mask, the liquid just passing through the stone like there was nothing there, "This is tasty! I don''t know what I feel about those grape things. I always find them weird." "Oh, so you have had this before?" Livy asked. "Not this this. I had boba, but it was made by guides, and that is not really the same thing." "Really?" Hera tilted her head. "Yeah. Even if we make it ourselves, like actually cooking instead of just making the full dish, it is not the same thing." "Wait¡­ I''ve eaten things the guide made before, and I didn''t notice any differences," Hera frowned. "Were you hungry? Or focused on the taste?" "Usuals I''m either hungry or doing something else. Like watching a movie or something." "So that''s why. If you stop to pay attention, you will realize that the food we make tastes a little bit off. Like if a recipe asked for 10 grams of salt, but you only used 8. It''s subtle, but the difference is there. Also, I''ve realized that food created by us, or by the system as drops or something, is less filling. Not by much, but they are." "Really?" Lurize asked. Veridallion nodded, "Yeah. From what I gathered, the difference is small. If you would eat half a pizza by yourself, you will still want another 2 or 3 bites. I know it sounds like it''s nothing, but I really like cooking, and I had a lot of time to notice those differences." They talked a bit more about the differences between the food the guides made and the food that was grown naturally from scratch. In the end, the difference was so small that no regular person would notice it. It would take someone who has the skills to taste food to perceive those differences. After they finished eating, Veridallion got up and waved her hands towards the altar, cleaning it up and fixing some of the cracks. "Thanks for calling me here. I had a friend who lived here a long time ago, and I promised I would look after the altar every chance I had. Until someone came and tore it down, at least," the guide said. "You''re welcome. But couldn''t you come here without someone calling you?" Veridallion shook her head, "No. Well... Yeah, but only if there was no one, person or monster, in a certain radius. Unfortunately, it''s been a few hundred years since the last time this place was accessible to me. Your friends ended up calling me in different places, even if they knew about this. Well¡­ to be fair, Shane didn''t know. Trillian used his questions to find the city and make sure it was safe. Then, Legan asked about the location of this altar. So It''s not like I can hold it against them." "I''m glad we were able to help," Hera smiled, "Do you mind if I ask my questions now? Or do you have to clean something else?" "Nope. That was it. I''m all yours now," Veridallion reached behind her and pulled an egg timer with an electronic display marking 5 minutes, "When you ask the first question, I''ll start." Hera nodded, "Ok," she reached for her bag and pulled the small black rock that was Scryotra''s Resentment, "I got this from a dungeon and a quest. In the quest, I was tasked with solving the resentment. Do you know anything about how to complete this quest? Yes or no." "Yes." "Are there multiple ways of completing this quest? Again, yes or no?" "Yes," Veridallion nodded, and her eyes seemed somewhat happy. "Are there ways to complete this quest that involve only this room?" "Yes." "More than one?" "That will shave about a minute from your time." "That''s ok." "Yes, there are a small number of ways to complete that quest that only involve this room." "Ok¡­ small number, so there are at least two. Is one of them saving Scryotra from Dormina in the dungeon?" "It will take another minute and a half to answer," Veridallion waited for Hera''s confirmation. When the Empress said okay, the guide continued, "Saving Scryotra from Dormina is part of one solution. Yes. Technically, it''s part of more than one solution," the guide crossed her arms and looked down for a moment, "I''m offering you a deal. You give me the rest of the time, and I''ll give the best advice I can about how to complete this quest. Also, I want to keep in touch with you. Is that ok?" "Yeah, of course. I would like to keep in touch. And I''ll take your offer. All my questions were about this quest anyway." "Right them. So you are thinking about the right thing to start. But you need to think about what Scryotra wanted. And I think that more than anything, it wanted to be loved. Also, that rock, the resentment. Find a new use for it. If you change the materialization of the resentment, it will be a good step into changing the actual feeling." Hera wrote down that suggestion on her table and thanked Veridallion before the guide left. She waited a moment to process everything before putting away the blanket and the cutlery she used for breakfast and headed back home. Even if the resentment was a pressing matter, it wasn''t like there was a deadline associated with it. Or at least, that''s what she thought. 751 - it begins
Hera was walking back to the central part of the city, where the other dwarves were. She had just finished her conversation with Veridallion and was now thinking about how to complete the quest she was given. "Do any of you have any suggestions?" Hera turned to her court, all of whom were already aware of the situation. "She told us to change the stone. So maybe you can craft something out of it? Or use that essence extractor thing to change it," Livy suggested. "Yeah, that''s an idea. I don''t know if it will work. The distiller, I mean. Also, I need to give that back to Shane. Now we are in a place where she can store it," Hera nodded. "I don''t know. Something tells me you can''t distill that item. Remember, we tested a few things, and you couldn''t get the essence of any items that were a bit more complex than simple materials," Lurize added. "You say simple, but Hera used one of those gems with fire inside them to give Ember a seal," Nimbus chuckled. "Yeah, but it was one item. A single material, not a compound thing, or something that was made by a quest," Lurize continued. "Well¡­ think about what you think Scryotra would want me to make with it then. Because, honestly. I have no idea. Not now, at least," Hera sighed and turned her attention to Daskka, talking only in her mind using the connection they had ever since the beginning, ''Are you okay? You''ve been quiet ever since the dungeon.'' ''Yeah¡­ I''m ok, mum. Sorry, it''s just¡­ Being close to Scryotra made me weird. It''s the same with the resentment, but it''s not as bad, at least,'' the snake replied without looking at Hera. ''Are you sure? If it-'' "HERA!" Rayna came running from the corner of a street ahead. Without even getting close, she continued to yell while running, "The king is searching for you. Something is going on!" "Nimbus!" Hera called. Without needing any more instructions, the Sentinel turned to his griffon form and started running towards Rayna. The Empress reached out and grabbed the Royal Explorer, pulling her to the mount. Using the tail to help Rayna steady herself. At the same time, the rest of the court went back inside the Legacy. "The king is in that central building. The one he is using for the council meetings," the dwarf said as Nimbus continued to run. "Got it," Hera nodded but she reached out to Daskka one more time, ''If going to that dungeon, or being close to the resentment is too much for you, let me know. I want to complete this quest, but it''s not worth it if it traumatizes you in any way.'' Daskka looked up, ''Thanks, mum. I''ll let you know. But I''ll try to push through. I get that it wasn''t all Scryotra''s fault.'' ''Don''t feel like you have to push too much. You know I love you very much, right? Don''t tell the others, but you will always be my favorite,'' Hera smiled at Daskka, who created a mist hat to hide her face like Tara did, feeling embarrassed by the confession. Nimbus didn''t hear that conversation and just focused on running at top speed while not crashing into anyone or anything. 10 minutes later, they arrived at the building Rayna mentioned. It was the large pyramid-like structure facing the entrance of the city. Shane and the dwarves knew this was supposed to be like a town hall, a large area for meetings with everyone in the city, and smaller chambers where the bureaucrats would deal with any civic issues. The actual ''palace'' and noble neighborhood was on the top floor. However, everyone agreed to leave that area for last. Noble houses should have a lot of culturally important things like paintings, sculptures, and even some potential records. It wasn''t as if the commoners didn''t matter, but it would be harder for them to be able to afford those kinds of things. When they arrived, Rayna climbed down and moved back to where the Royal Explorers were training as Hera walked inside the pyramid. Ogryn noticed her arrival and guided her to one of the side chambers where Rutigan and Naka were watching something on their tablets. "What''s going on?" the Empress walked inside, realizing that she just passed by a soundproof bubble. "Come watch this," Rutigan gestured for Hera to approach. On the tablet, there was a man sitting in front of a desk, talking to the camera. Behind him was a mural of the three heroes and the word ''Guild'' in golden letters, "¡­ despite their best efforts, the city of Calitalina fell during the rampage. Most of the people who lived there are now dead. Explorers, civilians, and even children. All were killed during the rampage. That is not something that should ever have happened. The guild always sends more than the required number of defenders to a city during a rampage. And it never mattered if the city belonged to humans or to anyone else. What happened was that the elves, dwarves, beastman, triton, and children of the sky that were stationed in Calitalina left after the room was closed. They left the city to protect Wetra, the other city in the River of the Plains room. For those who are not aware, Wetra is a dwarven city. Part of their kingdom. I understand that we have our differences, and there have been some conflicts between humans and the other species that live in the MAZE. However, this¡­. This crosses a line. Their decision to abandon their post covered their hands with the blood of innocents. If they are willing to do such a thing, we must rethink our actions. Our dreams of peace can only work if all sides are willing to cooperate. Unfortunately, this proves that they have no desire for such a world. This proves that the terrorists, known as the Last Line of Defense, have infiltrated even the most trusted bodies of their government. We cannot allow an indirect terrorist attack to go unpunished. But I cannot just accept that there are no good people among them. For that, I am going against the rest of the board and making one final offer to all the other intelligent species in the MAZE. I''ve already sent this message to the leaders of the elves, dwarves, triton, beastman, and the children of the sky. They have until 8 P.M. Guild Standard Time to surrender all the members of the Last Line of Defense to us or to give us access to every single one of your cities so we may flush them out ourselves. If that request is not met, then, with a heavy heart, I will have no choice but to declare war against the species native to the MAZE. I hope you all make the right choice." Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. After that last line, the screen went black only to show Earth rotating with the words ''In the Guild we trust'' framing it. "What kind of bullshit was that?" Hera asked after the broadcast was over. "Typhera had warned me about the situation. That''s why I called you. We have a meeting in," Rutigan looked at the clock in the tablet, "10 minutes. I''m glad they found you in time." "Ok. Did she say anything else? Like, why the other species left Calitalina?" Hera asked. She knew people wouldn''t just abandon a city in the middle of a Rampage. No matter the situation." Rutigan nodded, "Yes. She had some harpies stationed there, and they were chased out by the humans. They said they couldn''t trust people who could be associated with terrorists to watch their backs. In the end, the humans just kicked everyone out. People tried to make some defenses around the city, but even then, they were chased out. Some humans even attacked them, saying that it was better to kill them before the rampage started instead of risking dealing with them during it. People got hurt, and they ran to Wetra. They weren''t able to arrive before the start of the rampage, and a lot of them got grave injuries in the process. Most couldn''t even help the city and only increased the strain on the available healers. Still, a few chipped in and fought, resulting in one of the least costly rampages the city ever saw. Then again, that was already going to be the case since everyone expected the humans to ditch Wetra, so when the Rampage warning triggered, they sent a message to everyone nearby asking for help." Hera just nodded, and they moved to another room further back. This one was smaller and only had a single camera and a screen with a small microphone set up in front of it. According to the King, this was like the meeting room in the Aerie of the First Flight but on a smaller scale. Instead of connecting to all the other leaders, it would connect only with Typhera. She could then place them inside the meeting room for them to participate. Rutigan sent a text to the Queen informing her they were already set up. It barely took a minute for her to turn on the call. Typhera greeted them and had some small talk, but it was clear that she was stressed. Barely a minute later, more people started to appear in the meeting room. Soon, the leaders of all the species were once again having a meeting. Elara greeted everyone but asked them to skip pleasantries and recounted the events of the last couple of days. The rampage, how the humans pushed the other species away from the city, and then how the guild was declaring war against everyone else. They all received that declaration a few hours prior to the announcement, so this was just a way to make sure no one was missing any important information. When the elf finished speaking, Thrain, the dwarven King, spoke up, "So, our options are to give the guild what they want or go to war?" "They want a war. We have no choice in the matter. We don''t have a list of all the members of the Last Line of Defense. If we had, they would have been caught already," Thora, the beastman chieftain, scoffed. "Just for argument''s sake, what about giving them access to our people?" Nereus, the triton sovereign, asked. "That is the worst option," Hera replied, making all the leaders turn to face her on the small screen. That reaction made her hesitate for a moment, but under the table they were sitting at, Rutigan grabbed her hand in support, "If we do that, we give the guild permission to harass and persecute anyone for any reason. And they won''t stop just with those involved with the Last Line of Defense. They will use any excuse to imprison or kill anyone who disagrees with them. Our history¡­ I mean, their history is filled with dictators who did similar things." After Hera voiced her opinion, no one said anything for a while. Eventually, Grimclaw, the beastman spiritual leader, said, "Then this is it. We are going to war." "I''m afraid so," Typhera nodded. "Very well," Thrain stood up, even if it was a bit hard to tell considering his height, "I''m sure we all have much to do. My troops are at the ready, and I''ll deploy them to places where they might be required. We already have come to an agreement. We are in this together. Even if we will need to work more with our own kind at first." Elara nodded, "That is correct, and Hera, we will send your team towards you. The elf that will be part of your team will arrive in 4 days at the Aerie. Is there anyone who will arrive later?" "The triton I had in mind will get there in 7 days," Nereus added. "They will have a place to stay while they wait," Typhera said with a welcoming smile. "I might delay my guy a couple of days then. He needs to finish some things around here," Thrain said. "OK then. In a week, your team will be in the Aerie. Your first mission will be given to you in eight days'' time," Elara turned back to the Empress. The Ophidianite nodded, "If I may. What exactly is going to be our mission? I don''t mean this one specifically, but what will we be doing in general? Just helping out like I suggested?" "Yes. After you suggested this idea, we started to think about it more deeply. In the end, we looked at records for previous wars and realized how many problems the lack of personnel caused in the places that had to send soldiers to the battlefront. Rampages and overpopulation of certain monsters already caused issues in the past, and adding Wendigos to the mix, we realized that your idea was better than it sounded. Because of that, your team won''t be the only one roaming around the MAZE to solve problems in the cities," Grimclaw explained. Typhera stood up and continued the explanation, "Most humans who are on our side will also be on those teams. Not yours, specifically since the team is already complete. But we want our people to remember that not all humans are bad." "Also, having a human in the middle of the battlefield would make the troops restless. Many would worry about the possibility of a spy or a saboteur," Thora finished. "Got it. So in one week, I''ll meet them in the Aerie, and then we start?" Hera confirmed. "Yes. Our intention is for the missions to be focused on helping the various cities and settlements we have around the MAZE. However, we can''t guarantee that you won''t have to fight against humans. Are you sure you are up to this?" Elara asked. "I am. I can''t stay still while this is going on," Hera replied. They all nodded and finished the meeting. There would be another one in the future to organize the troops better, but they had work to do with their own people before that. Hera thanked Rutigan for calling her and talked for a few minutes before leaving. She had a week before she would have to go away, and during that time, she wanted to solve Scryotra''s resentment. Otherwise, she would have to find a way to get rid of it. 752 - On a deadline
After the meeting, Hera went home to talk with her friends and family. A lot of things would happen right now, and she had to make sure everyone here would be okay. Everyone watched the guild''s announcement. So they already knew part of what she had to say. Everyone was already aware of the deal she made with the other species. The deal was to be a part of a team to help out the inner parts of the MAZE during the war. In exchange, when the Ophidianites became a larger civilization, they would help them find their footing and give them a seat at their table. There was also Deakoshara, which could be a place where they could send people to be protected since Hera had the ability to open and close the doors surrounding the room. The Empress was almost sure that this played a much bigger part in their acceptance of her people than anything else, but she wasn''t going to complain about that. At least it wasn''t all bad news. Shane was able to get her own [Ophidianite Scales] skill to rank 3 thanks to the essence she was drinking, and her dad was able to get the [Ophidianite Poison] skill, even if he never used any type of poison mana. Hera couldn''t help but feel like it was fitting. [Naga Poison] was the first Naga skill she got, and her dad getting the same one made her feel a bit closer to Eridan. Quinn also started to take the essence, but she had yet to get any skills. The hairdresser wasn''t sure if she was going to become an Ophidianite or not, but she was open to the possibility, unlike the rest of the group, who were interested in the skills but not in the change of species. As they were eating lunch, Hera told everyone her plans for the next few days, "So. I know I''m going away again soon, but I need to complete this quest for now. I need to solve Scryotra''s resentment. I''m also open to any ideas. You don''t have to tell me right now since I''m going back to the dungeon just after we eat. But I''ll appreciate any suggestions." "What happens if you don''t complete it?" Renette asked. "The resentment stays like it is. Giving a debuff to me and making monsters more hostile. I also get fewer rewards from any dungeons I go to, which will be a problem for this mission. I''m sure of it." "Can''t you just drop the resentment somewhere? If you don''t complete the quest, I mean." Alex suggested. "Probably, but then it might end up coming back to me. I don''t want to make a scenario where I suddenly discover that a random person somehow came in possession of the rock, and now we are in the middle of a rampage with them by my side," Hera replied. "Oh, c''mon. The odds of that happening are almost zero," Shane rolled her eyes. "Shane, I''m the first member of a new species. I have a legacy, three titles, and I''m partially responsible for the discovery not just of the Naga capital but also of an entire civilization of dwarves who were living on their own for hundreds of years. I don''t think the odds really apply to me. Besides, I think my silver lining skill makes weird things more likely to happen, so yeah. I''m not taking any chances." Shane paused for a moment but then nodded, "Point taken." "Why don''t you drop it in a dungeon then?" Mylo suggested. "What?" Hera turned to the fighter. "Drop it in a dungeon. Go alone there, toss the resentment inside, and leave. Then, even if the area of effect can leave the dungeon, all you have to do is stay away from that place. It is not like someone else will be able to enter that dungeon and find the resentment." "That''s actually a really good idea. People do that kind of thing with cursed items. But like he said, this means you can never go back to the dungeon. I mean, you can, but it will be like you never left it," Helena smiled at Mylo. "So it will be like if I sent Nimbus or Lurize to the dungeon by themselves?" Hera asked. "You can do that?" Renette gasped. "Yeah, we tested it a while back, and it worked great. But if I try to go to the same dungeon, I just enter the one they are doing. I''m not sure if I can go to another dungeon while they are already in one. We never had a chance to try that," Hera explained. They finished their meal, and the Empress headed out. Bonnie, Helena, and Alex also mentioned that they would be spending the night in that leading to Scryotra''s bones. Lena''s camera had captured something during the night. There was a moment when the moonlight hit the central rock in the right spot, and the light bounced directly at the holes in the side of the cave. Unfortunately, they didn''t set up any cameras outside, meaning they had no way to figure out where that light pointed with only the images they had. Thankfully, that light didn''t seem to be related to the moon, which meant they didn''t have to worry about missing the day when the light appeared. Cloudy skies were the only thing that could stop their plans. But Hera took care of their worries, asking Yarnball about the weather of the room in the next couple of days. For the next two days, the skies would be mostly clear during the night, only with some spread-out clouds. Her mana only allowed her that much for now, but it was good to know that she could use Yarnball like that. She never tried to do that after the Abyssal Deep, but in hindsight, her phrasing of the question was wrong. Instead of asking about the weather that day, she would ask if a storm was coming. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The Empress also asked if anyone wanted to go along with her, but no one wanted to run that dungeon over and over again. Shane was the only one slightly interested, but she wanted to run the dungeon properly to learn more about the Naga, not just try to save Scryotra. Hera also asked the rest of the Royal Explorers. Legan and Trillian were a bit interested in the idea, but they had other things to do with the rest of the team. Because of the declaration of war, the entire city was focusing on beefing up its defenses. Even Typhera was sending a team here to help with that. She had already suggested that a while back, but since the dwarves were still settling themselves here, Rutigan asked for time. Unfortunately, that was something they didn''t have anymore. In the end, she went alone, which had its good side. For one, she could reach there really quickly, thanks to Nimbus. And she wouldn''t have to worry about attracting monsters because of the resentment. After all, the room didn''t have any flying monsters, as far as she was aware. Because there was only one week until her new party arrived, Hera just bolted to the dungeon as soon as she confirmed she would be going alone. Less than 20 minutes later, she was already flying above the area where the dungeon was located. She was trying to see if there were any monsters around, but she couldn''t see any. Even worse, she couldn''t see any of the stealth spirits around. They were already hard to find by default, and the Empress was sure she was only able to notice them because they allowed her to do so. She was worried about going down there, but without any other options, the Empress told Nimbus to fly down to the entrance of the dungeon. When they arrived at the mouth of the cave, Hera couldn''t believe her eyes. There was a wall there with a few scratches and broken parts. This looked nothing like the dungeon she knew, and it made no sense for there to be a wall there. Faced with that unexpected scenery, the Ophidianite hesitated for a moment. That brief pause was enough for the stealth spirits who prepared this trap to attack. They jumped on her back with sharp claws, trying to get through her armor. Each of the spirits had a different form, from oddly shaped ravens with beaks much longer than they should be to squirrels with large claws in their hands and fangs like a snake. Those small critters also packed a punch, being able to increase the power of their attacks when they caught a target by surprise. Unfortunately for them, Hera''s level was considerably higher, and she had a few powerful defensive skills. Each blow hurt like hell, but it wasn''t enough to deal any significant amount of damage. Not to her body, at least. The repeated impact was also enough to push Nimbus towards the wall. The Sentinel passed through the stones, revealing that this was an illusion. Behind it, there was the wooden door that would lead to the dungeon. That information was passed along to Hera instantly, and she decided to ignore the spirits and just enter the dungeon right away. Her fear was that if she fought against those spirits, they would hold a grudge even after the resentment was gone. Since to make a new titled blade, one of the requirements was to get a spirit on her side, the Empress was considering trying to get a new member of her court here. Not that this would happen right now. Instead, after the war was over, she could start the long process of binding to a spirit in order to get a new titled blade. As soon as she touched the door, the dungeon notification popped up, and Hera pressed yes. Doing so, the door was unlocked, and she rushed inside. Nimbus was quickly dismissed to make sure he wouldn''t get more hurt because of the spirits. After taking a moment to gather herself, the Empress took a deep breath and started heading towards the small forest in front of her while calling out her court. "OK, here is the plan. We walk inside that central hut, and then we steal Scryotra from Dormina as she is running away. " Hera explained to them as they walked. In just a few minutes, it was time to put the plan into action. Unfortunately, during the initial strike of the Naga empire, everyone was too scattered, and by the time the Empress was able to find Dormina, the cultist leader was already jumping inside the tunnel. Frustrated, the Ophidianite walked back to the entrance of the dungeon, killing the Naga army who was in her path before entering again to reset the place. "New plan. We kill the attacking army and then call Dormina back. Then we steal Scryotra," Hera said with an annoyed voice. When the siege in the village began the entire court went wild. They decimated the entire army of Naga, and Hera used the pool of Styx to remove the dungeon monster''s attributes. And Livy had another to go in a frenzy, spending all her mana on big skills that wiped our large groups at once. Again, this didn''t work. After all the invading Naga were dead, she tried to call the cultist back, but no one answered. Once again, Hera left the dungeon for the reset. "Right¡­ so let''s just attack the cultists. I didn''t want to do that but fuck it," Hera huffed. This time, the moment she entered the central hut, she jumped at Dormina. Once more, her plans were foiled as the other Naga inside jumped to her defense. It didn''t take long for the Empress to kill the people trying to stop her, but when she was done, the Naga Empire attacked, giving the cultist leader enough time for her to run away. Resetting the dungeon one more time, she came up with a new plan. "Ok. We going to go through the back wall of the hut. Livy, you break the place open, and everyone goes for Scryotra," Hera was rubbing her eyes, not expecting to have so much trouble just to save the guardian beast. Finally, the plan seemed to work. The Empress had to kill all the cultists and then the entire Naga army, all the while making sure to protect the monster, but she was able to save it. Yet, nothing seemed to happen. There was no notification; the resentment was still the same, and Scryotra just moved around like a bug. Unsure what she was doing wrong, the Empress just sat down on the plains overlooking the village and the ruins of the siege weapons the Naga army brought while trying to figure out what to do next. 753 - Repetition
Hera was sitting cross-legged on the grassy floor of the dungeon, staring at the tiny version of Scryotra that she was able to save from the Nagas. Her entire court was out around her, all watching the monster as well. It was just moving around like an actual insect. All that intelligence that the monster had before was nowhere to be seen. The Empress was trying to think of ways to make it grow faster. The entire dungeon seemed to span a few hundred years, or however long the Naga took to age. She had tried taking the creature to the hidden village and then leaving, but when she returned, it was still there, in the same place she left it. Another thing that she had already tried was to search for the monsters outside of the dungeon. The ones that she fed it the first time, but there was nothing. It seemed like killing all the Naga wasn''t enough to make the special monsters spawn. "Are we sure this is Scryotra? Maybe it''s too young now," Nimbus suggested. Hera looked at the scorpion praying mantis hybrid and used her [Observe] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Future Scryotra - Level 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I mean, it''s name is ''Future Scryotra.'' I don''t think the system is telling me that this is a version of it from the future," Hera sighed. ''But Nimbus might still be right,'' Chris spoke up, ''Maybe we can''t rescue it right now. It needs to be later. ''How much later is the issue. From what we know, we only have two. Maybe three opportunities to save it,'' Ember said. "Three chances? What are they?" Livy was unable to remember the dungeon all that well. ''The first would be when we arrive at the hidden village. Just after Dormina names it. Then, when we come back with the monsters we hunted. And the third would be after we feed it. The next step of the dungeon already had Scryotra as a giant monster, didn''t it?'' Dao asked. ''Bro, what? Getting it out after it eats is a crazy idea. Little dude ate the spirit and ran towards that tunnel. The next time we saw it was when it started destroying that first city,'' DJ got closer to Dao, getting pulled back by Chris, who noticed they were getting too much into each other''s personal space. ''Why does that matter? Can''t we just try every option?'' Crimson sighed. ''We can, but that takes time, Crim. We only have a week to finish this,'' Viper''s voice was a bit tired. Not because he overworked himself but because dealing with his hyperactive twin was exhausting. He had to pull her leash constantly during fights. Crimson would always be over-eager and try to push a bit beyond Hera''s range at the cost of a small drop in the Empress mana pool. Viper knew that Hera wouldn''t order them to be inside the range unless it became a serious situation, but he didn''t want to let them get to that point. Hera nodded, "Yeah. Time is the biggest issue. I mean, we''ve been here for how long already?" she reached for her tablet but got an answer from Dusa. ''A-a-about 4 hours.'' "See," Hera let out a long sigh. ''But staying here doing nothing also makes us waste time,'' Crimson protested. "That''s fair, but we are not doing nothing. Our Empress is taking a moment to rest. Sure, her body might not be tired thanks to all her attributes and the skills she has available, but that doesn''t mean constant fighting doesn''t put a strain on her mind," Lurize explained. This was all he needed to say. Despite their unique personalities and desires, there was one thing that the entire court wanted more than anything. For Hera to be safe and well. After around 10 minutes, the Empress got up and started walking towards the dungeon''s entrance, "Let''s start clearing the options. We''ll try to save Scryotra after we get in the hidden village, then, if that doesn''t work. We go for the last chance. The one after it eats the monsters we bring it. I just really hope we don''t have to get the same 10 monsters it ate back." ''Oh¡­ I didn''t think about that,'' Crimson confessed. ''Me neither,'' Viper sounded a bit down. "I think I was the only one really worried about it," Hera admitted. "I think so too, but if that''s the case¡­ we might have some problems," Nimbus looked around, trying to see if the current dungeon had any similarities with the stage where they had to hunt monsters. "What if you ask Yarnball?" Livy suggested. "I was thinking the same," Hera already had her relic in her hand, "When we reach the part of the dungeon where we need to hunt monsters for Scryotra, what is one of the monsters the original Scryotra ate that are part of this dungeon?" she hated how she phrased this question, but that would usually work, despite the odd wording. She also avoided asking about all the monsters at once since she was sure she wouldn''t have enough mana for that. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A few tense moments went by, and an answer appeared on the screen, ''The Rejuvenating Feline.'' "Ok, we have one. In two hours, I can ask again. If our next attempt doesn''t work, we already have at least one of the monsters for the next one. But again, I really hope we don''t have to get the right combination," Hera was incredibly frustrated with this dungeon. It was one thing if she was just doing several runs, but having to stop midway for something that might or might not work was incredibly annoying. The next attempt was very similar to the first run. Hera just followed along with the cultists, evading the army''s attacks and reaching the hidden village. Inside, the Empress walked straight to the room where Dormina was grieving her son. Without batting an eye, the Ophidianite approached and cut off the cultist leader''s head in a single move while wielding Dao. The other cultist that was in the room was already on the move to attack her when he noticed the intruder moving her weapon. However, Livy, in her weapon form, intercepted him, bisecting the Naga. Hera reached out for the cage, where a version of Scryotra was already there but a bit bigger than before. Walking towards the exit of the hidden village, she heard the sounds of battle as her court had already spread to take care of the Naga here. While leaving this place, she felt like the villain in a movie. Sounds of death and war were all around her while the Empress walked, stone-faced and unbothered by all that was going on around her. Even if she had already made her peace with killing people inside dungeons, this still stung a bit. However, she focused on the loot and the quest she was currently doing. There were a lot of materials left behind from the Naga that she killed, but nothing truly interesting. It was mostly some scales or pieces of armor that could be repurposed. She didn''t bother getting them. Instead, she just took the dropped gold since it would go straight to her bank account. This was a gift from Eirik, who took care of making all the documentation for her new identity. People in the higher ranks of the various governments would be aware of her situation, but for everyone else, she was just a new species that joined the MAZE at large. When Hera managed to leave the village, the dungeon was still in the same state as it was after the attack. There was no more Naga army, but the village was still destroyed. Nimbus even flew towards the sky for a better advantage point but found no movement anywhere. Unfortunately, even with all that, there was no change in the resentment and no new chain quest or anything like that. The final nail in the coffin was when she used her [Observe] on Scryotra. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Future Scryotra - Level 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She should''ve tried to do this sooner, but the name might also not mean anything. Without any other ideas, she left the dungeon yet again for the next attempt. She did everything like she was supposed to and hunted all the 10 monsters. Making sure to have one of them being the Rejuvenating Feline. After Scryotra ate all of them, including the spirit given by Dormina, Hera jumped into action. One more time, she killed the cultist leader before grabbing the guardian beast. This time, the monster fought back, forcing Hera to use a poison to make it sleep. Then, she ran back outside. The fight this time was somewhat harder but still far from being a problem. If this was done by another person, they might have some trouble since there were around 50 Naga warriors coming at once, but for the Empress and her court, this wasn''t an issue. Yet, once again, when she left with Scryotra, nothing happened. There was no notification, no dungeon quest chain, nothing. Hera dropped the poison and waited for the monster to wake up. After a few minutes, the regeneration it had gained from the feline kicked in, and the guardian beast woke up. Instead of attacking Hera right away, it looked up, seeing the sky for the first time in a long while. The monster glanced at Hera once before rushing off toward the forest. Hera waited a few more moments and even looked at the resentment again, but nothing had changed aside from its name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra - Level 15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since it took her around 1 hour and a half to gather all 10 monsters, the cooldown on Yarnball''s question was finally over, allowing for another question. Instead of asking for a different monster, Hera just decided to confirm one thing, "Do I have to find the correct 10 monsters for the resentment to be affected?" ''Yes.'' Seeing that answer, the Empress cursed loudly and headed out of the dungeon. This time, going all the way back to Zaxalam. It was the middle of the day, and she was hungry. Despite the dungeon here offering food, that would only happen after she lost the chance to steal Scryotra from the cultists. For the next two days, this was all that Hera did. Go to the Guardian Rage dungeon, reach the point where she had to hunt the 10 monsters, and try a different combination. Hera also used her relic almost every chance she got to increase the list of monsters she had to hunt for the guardian beast. When she finally got the correct order, there were only 3 of the 10 monsters missing from the list she got through the questions. The main reason why it took so long to complete this was the travel from point to point while she was trying to hunt the monsters. This time, there were two differences. First, the name. Scryotra was now called ''True Scryotra,'' meaning that this was the same version as the original. The second change was that after rescuing it from the village and letting it free outside, the dungeon quest appeared to be completed. Hera''s reward was just a few thousand gold, but the more important part was the next notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have unlocked the hard mode for the Guardian''s Rage dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since she had no other ideas and the guide told her the dungeon was the key to all of this, Hera decided to just run the dungeon. But that would have to happen the next day. It was already very late, and she was exhausted after an entire day of hunting random monsters inside a dungeon. Not to mention that every time she came here, the stealth spirits would try to attack her. At least she was still on schedule. There were five days before her new team arrived. Meaning she still had five days to deal with the quest. One way or another. 754 - Understandable rage As Hera was moving back to Zaxalam, the Empress realized how much she needed a shower right now. She didn''t sweat like she used to, and her body odor seemed to be weaker after becoming an Ophidianite. But still, she was covered in soot and grime from all the fighting in the guardian''s rage dungeon. Monsters and people that came from a dungeon could dissolve after being killed, together with their blood, if any, splatter on her. But, anything she burned or any smoke created by their magic would still continue existing even after its creator was long gone. Instead of going directly to the city, Hera decided to make a small detour to the closest doorway, the one leading to Deakoshara. She wasn''t going to a new room. But instead, to her private room. Despite all the progress that had been made in the city, there was one thing that was still very uncomfortable for her. Baths, or showers in this case. Ogryn did his best; he really did, but so far, they were only able to set up a communal showers for everyone to use. It had a very locker room feeling to it, using specific carved runes to both create water and get rid of it. Thankfully, the city itself already had a couple of self-regenerating mana stones that were being used to fuel those spells. However, despite all that, Hera missed baths. Proper baths with a bathtub and a place where she could truly relax without having to worry about lines or other people. The explorer had one other option: using her own private room. She had been doing that every so often, but usually Bonnie, Helena, Alex, even Renette and Eridan would join her. That wasn''t a problem by itself. It wasn''t like the Empress had to worry about people spending all the hot water or something. The only issue Hera had with all that was that with people around, it became hard to talk with the guides. She wanted their opinion about the resentment, and she didn''t have too many chances to talk with all of them about everything that was going on with the guild. When she entered her private room, Hera sent a few texts to the guides, including Veridallion, who was appearing in her contact list. Hera took a moment to greet them all and then went to business. Asking their opinions about the quest. She expected that most of them wouldn''t be able to give any advice. After all, the guides should be aware of the quest, but to her surprise, things were very different. Most guides were able to talk about it, with Veridallion being the only one who said she was too close to the quest to help. Apparently, since this was related to a specific creature, the guides didn''t actually know what it wanted. Meaning that unless the guide had personal knowledge about Scryotra, it would be impossible for them to help Hera ''cheat.'' After about two hours, she left again, heading back to the city. Only to have to be coerced to go back to her private room by her friends. Thankfully, Shane was also there to split their numbers. Otherwise, they would have to wait a few hours for everyone to take a shower. During that time, Hera took a moment to look at the physical manifestation of the resentment one more time. She had been keeping it inside a small pouch in hopes that the leather would stop some of the effects, but to no avail. That black rock was now a shade lighter. It was still black but different. Instead of looking like a dark cave where no light could be seen, now it had a shine to it. Almost as if someone used a thin layer of paint to cover a white wall. The symbol on the back was also different. The claws were still going around each other, but the toothy maw was less¡­ toothy. Almost like the mouth was closing. However, the shade of red was still the same. Noticing that made the Empress even more excited about the idea of going to the hard mode of the dungeon. Going to sleep early, she got up at dawn and headed to the Guardian''s Rage. Something told her this wasn''t going to be the only thing required to complete the quest. If it was, then the quest would just say, ''Complete the hard mode of the dungeon,'' or something along those lines. The stealth spirits seemed less aggressive now. Not to say they didn''t try to attack her, but that whole illusory wall blocking the dungeon was no longer there. The number of spirits that chased after Nimbus was also smaller. This meant that, despite the description of the Scryotra''s Resentment not having changed, there were some effects that were lessened. Or the spirits were sleeping, but the Empress preferred to believe in the first option. Even if she would be ready for the second when getting out of the dungeon. Blocking most of the attacks and ignoring others, she touched the wooden door, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Guardian''s Rage dungeon? [Yes] [No] or press the button below to enter the dungeon hard mode [Hard Mode] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Without thinking twice, the Ophidianite touched the third option, letting her go inside the hard mode of the dungeon. The entrance was very similar to the regular version. As soon as she opened the wooden door, there was a small passage that opened to a large forest. But this time, it was denser. It felt like she was still in Zaxalam and not in a different room altogether. But the jungle was different. The trees were shorter, and the foliage less diverse. An eerie silence echoed through the sky as if not even the wind was able to make the vegetation rustle. Taking two steps inside the actual forest, Hera called out her entire court, along with her legacy herald this time. ''Daskka, I know you don''t like Scryotra, but I need your help now. If it gets too much for you, let me know, and I''ll send you back. But can you be here for now?'' the Empress was petting the snake to not just calm Daskka but herself. ''Sure, mum. This feels different. I''m not uncomfortable like I am in the normal mode,'' the herald replied. ''That''s good,'' Hera smiled, still talking using their connection. The Empress walked for a couple of minutes, trying to see if she could find a village or something. When she reached a clearing, a notification popped up in front of her. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest chain found. Find Scryotra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She glanced around but couldn''t see anything anywhere. Calling Nimbus, she climbed on top of the Sentinel in his griffon form, and they took to the skies. Scryotra was a gigantic being. Or at least, it was supposed to be. If the version that was in here was somewhat similar, the best way to find it would be to look around from above. While seeing the dungeon from this angle, Hera was positive that this was Zaxalam. The mountains followed the same pattern, and she could even see the old city in all its glory. The place looked empty but not abandoned. Paying attention to the task at hand, the Empress noticed an odd movement in the ambient mana. It took her a moment to focus on that, but to the south, there was an area that had something different. A large mass of mana that was doing¡­. Something. Thinking it should be something related to the quest, she told Nimbus to head in that general area. A few minutes passed, and the Sentinel eventually reached that odd mana. As they crossed the threshold, Hera understood what was going on. Several large obsidian legs formed a misshapen circular perimeter around a mountain. The creature was smart enough to use its own bones to create a place where its ability to hide would always be active, no matter the direction people were facing. Hera told Nimbus to approach that area, flying around it to see if they could manage to find Scryotra. After around a minute, a large tail sting appeared from underneath them. Thanks to Dusa''s warning, the Sentinel was able to narrowly avoid being hit but ended up spinning around in the air. The Ophidianite wrapped her tail around the griffon to avoid falling off. However, they also understood that staying in the air was a bad idea and used the momentum created by the spin to dive towards the ground, hiding in the trees. The Empress asked everyone to stay in their weapon form for a moment and waited. If Scryotra was aggressive and knew their location, it would try to hit them again. Yet, that didn''t happen. Maybe the monster wasn''t able to detect them now, or it thought they didn''t survive the fall. Then again, there could be another reason why it wasn''t chasing after them. Hera slowly started to move towards the location where Dusa saw the tail. As they were moving, they started to think about what was going on. A perk of the legacy was that they could have a conversation without making any noise. ''Maybe it''s hunting?'' Chris suggested ''I don''t think that''s the case. This feels more like a nest,'' Lurize chimed in. ''If this is the nest, wouldn''t that mean it''s protecting it? Or protecting something in it?'' Dao asked. Hera froze when she heard that. She glanced at Daskka, who understood her worry right away. ''What''s wrong? Why did we stop?'' Ember asked. ''If Scryotra is protecting something in its nest. It could be its children. And if that''s the case¡­'' Daskka trailed off. ''We are in a lot of trouble. Few things are as dangerous as a mother trying to protect her children. And I don''t mean just like people. A mother bear gets more ferocious than if she had rabies when trying to protect its cub,'' Hera added. ''Yo, what? Isn''t Scryotra, like, the only one? How can it have children?'' DJ asked. ''Some animals can reproduce without a mate. That''s more common on sea animals like starfish or hydras. It''s also kind of common in insects, ants, wasps, and aphids. But some larger things can also do that. Lizards, snakes, and even sharks were reported to have babies without a mate in certain conditions. Since Scryotra is a mixture of two bugs and can take the power of other things, it might be able to get that ability,'' Viper explained. ''Wow¡­ since when are you so smart little bro?'' Crimson joked. Viper sighed with a voice that made it clear he would have rolled his eyes if he had any, ''Some of us like reading.'' ''If it can take the power of other creatures¡­ doesn''t that mean it''s kind of like a wendigo?'' Edge asked. ''That¡­ is a horrifying idea,'' Daskka replied. ''Are wendigos really that scary?'' Livy asked. She never had any interactions with that type of creature. Her knowledge of them was only what Hera and Daskka told everyone else. ''Yes, they are. Helena spent months without being able to use any magic because of a parasite one of them used. I almost died when I was starting out because of one. They don''t stop getting stronger like other monsters. Now that you mention it. The idea of a guardian beast feels like it would fit the Wendigos quite well¡­ Monsters that protect an entire civilization and learn from them,'' Hera frowned. Could the system have done something like that in the past? Maybe the guardian beasts were an early attempt at a wendigo. Or, the wendigos were guardian beasts that failed. Pushing those thoughts to the side, the Empress continued walking. Dusa saw that tail coming from the foot of the mountain, and that was her destination. After a few tense minutes, she cleared the forest, seeing the tall cliffs in front of her. With a rumble, the ground shifted, and a pair of large obsidian legs appeared in front of her, revealing the giant form of Scryotra. It was just like she remembered in her vision, even if its body position was extremely odd. It was forcing itself to be almost curled up in a ball, with one leg facing each direction. Another thing Hera realized was that the monster was severely wounded. Large holes around its carapace and gashes all over its claws dripped blood. Even one of its eyes seemed to be injured. But Scryotra wasn''t moving. It just watched her with a confused expression. Looking down, the Ophidianite saw something else. The creature wasn''t resting. Instead, it was using its own body to protect a small nest, standing over it like a mother trying to save her child from rubble. Inside that nest, there were two tiny praying mantis scorpion centaurs. Surrounded by five empty eggshells. Hera looked up at Scryotra, "Did someone steal your babies?" The giant monster growled weakly, a sound that almost sounded like someone saying ''Yes.'' The Ophidianite clenched her fist, her claws almost digging into her skin. She went through all that trouble to save Scryotra from the abuse of others, only for its children to have the same fate? "Who? The Naga?" With a nod, the mantis head confirmed. "The ones in the city? Towards¡­" Hera looked around, trying to figure out where Zaxalam was located, when Dusa used the hidden blade to point in the right direction, ''Thanks,'' the Empress said in her mind before turning to Scryotra once more while pointing in the direction of the city, "There? In that direction?" The giant monster nodded again. "Stay here. Focus on healing. I''ll be right back with them," Hera said and walked off, her anger flaring up and spreading to the rest of the court. She always expected the Naga to be better than this. Darni was such a kind person, but ever since starting this dungeon, she only saw the ugly side of these people. A notification popped up, but she waved it off. She would''ve done that even if the quest didn''t ask for it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest chain found. Rescue Scryotra''s children. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 755 - Hunting party
Hera was overlooking the city of Zaxalam, in the same spot that she saw it for the first time in her vision. However, there was no tiger chasing after her this time and no Scryotra to come to help and then try to kill her. The city itself was no longer empty. Various Naga were walking around, no children this time, but a large number of guards patrolled the outside. As she arrived, she also saw a hunting party coming back. Each carrying a different cage with something moving inside. There were about half a dozen, meaning that Scryotra''s children weren''t the only ones who were captured. Aside from that, there were a couple of ballistae around the perimeter, and the large stone gate was ready to be deployed at a moment''s notice. Still hanging far above the main entrance of the city. "Even if there are a lot of them, they don''t seem that strong. I''m sure we can take them all out," Livy said. ''Yeah, bro. Let''s just rush them!'' DJ nodded in agreement. "That''s a bad idea," Hera replied. "Why?" Livy crossed her arms, the war axe shifting on her back. "We don''t know what to expect inside. And this is the hard mode. The beings inside the dungeon usually are more nuanced. There is a chance that if we appear to be a threat, they will lock down the city. Sure, maybe we would be able to open it again, but even Scryotra seemed to have trouble opening that door. I mean, we know that it did attack Zaxalam and that a Naga gave their life to warn the city. But think about it: outside the dungeon. Does the city look like it was hit by acid?" Hera continued to watch the Naga move around. "Not really. But if Scryotra didn''t kill them all, they would''ve fixed any damage, wouldn''t they?" Livy asked. ''If they had the opportunity, yes. But we don''t know how long after Scryotra''s attack, the Naga went extinct. If it still took 50 years or more, they might have been able to fix all the acid. But if it happened faster, then things might be different,'' Lurize continued in their mind. As he did when he had to use long sentences. "I don''t think we ever asked if Rutigan and the others noticed any acid damage in the entrance of the city. But they did mention it was the first place they renovated after making sure they had enough rooms for everyone. We can try to ask la¡­" Nimbus trailed off, his eyes focusing on something on the mountain where Zaxalam was located, "Does everyone see that? The smoke." On top of the mountain, there was a thin trail of black smoke rising to the sky. Very similar to the kind of smoke that one would see coming out of a campfire. Hera turned back to the path they took and rushed towards the closest tree. She fired a small fire arrow spell at the trunk and watched as it just singed the bark without actually making it catch fire, "The trees here are too wet for that to be a forest fire." ''Even in that mountain?'' Ember asked. "It should be. We are in Zaxalam this time, so I don''t expect any big differences in the layout. But I could be wrong," turning back to Nimbus, the Empress asked, "Can you take us there?" "Of course," Nimbus turned into his griffon form, and the rest of the court returned to the legacy. It didn''t take long for them to reach that place. And thankfully, the Naga were too used to the lack of flying creatures in the room to pay attention to the sky. Or at least, they were set up like that for this dungeon. In a couple of minutes, the Sentinel was getting close to the source of that smoke. As Hera said, it was a small campfire. A couple of Naga were moving around while preparing something to eat. But what really caught her attention were the similar clothes they were all wearing. It was a leather pauldron tinted yellow with gray accents covering their right shoulder. A strap would make an inverted Y across their chest, and at the left side, where the band reached under their arm, there was a long piece of cloth forming a side cape that almost reached the ground. That cloth had the same yellow tint as the shoulder guard, but the gray details were unique for each person. They would create a pattern that matched their scales. But only a few of the capes had that. Others were just plain yellow. A moment passed with Nimbus flying above the group, allowing the Empress to realize that most capes didn''t have any other markings. And even the ones that did were progressively more complex. In the group of 12 or so, one cap had the same pattern as the Naga who wore it, two had some markings, and the remaining 9 were plain. Around that small camp, there were a few of those cages where monsters would be trapped and brought back to the city. While looking at that scene, something clicked in the Ophidianite''s mind, and she couldn''t help but gasp, "Those are ranks!" "What?" Daskka looked up. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "The capes. They are how the Naga defined ranks. The one with a larger pattern should be their leader, the two with just some marks should be the lieutenants, and the rest are just grunts." ''That''s kind of smart. Especially since they make each rank personalized to the Naga who has it. It makes it almost impossible for someone to pretend to be from a higher station,'' Nimbus praised. "It also tells us who should be our target," Hera said in a cold voice while creating a venomous longsword, "Livy, Lurize, you take care of the lieutenants. The rest goes after the grunts." Hearing the orders, the court got ready. They waited for a moment so most of this group was clumped together, and when that opportunity arrived, Nimbus dove towards them. Just as he passed through the tree line, and he was sure the Empress'' trajectory was correct, the Sentinel changed to his bipedal form and shifted to aim at one of the grunts who noticed them. At the same time, the rest of the court popped out. Livy and Lurize appear right above the two lieutenants. Every single other court member did the same, aiming at a different Naga. The Empress and her court landed at the same time. All eleven of them triggered the [Grasshopper Slash] together. Every single one of those attacks bisected one of the Naga without allowing them to react. Eleven simultaneous strikes. They should have been twelve, but Hera still had one opening in her court. However, she also had a herald snake. Daskka didn''t stay behind and turned into her giant silver form, biting down the last Naga''s head in a single move boosted by a mist elemental strength spell. Her attack wasn''t as clean as the others, but after a brief struggle that lasted only a few seconds, her prey was also dead. There was a small pause as the attacks landed and the Empress mana plummeted. Everyone looked around, searching for backup or another Naga who was hiding in the forest. Thankfully, that didn''t happen. Whatever this group was supposed to be doing, all their members had gathered together here. After Hera used a pulse spell to confirm that they were alone, Livy opened a large smile, "Ok, ok. I know we are in a dungeon, and we need to be careful. But can we just talk about how cool this was?! I mean, c''mon. We dropped from the sky in perfect synch like the wrath from the heavens. Look at this," the Leviathan gestured around them. The ground had eleven cuts of various sizes in a misshapen circle, "We look like a fucking bladed meteor!" Hera looked around, "Ok, I''ll give you that one. This was pretty damn cool," she said with a chuckle. "But what''s the plan now?" Daskka asked. She took the longest to kill her target, but unlike the rest, she couldn''t use Hera''s skill herself. "Let''s look around. Maybe they have something in this camp that can tell us where Scryotra''s children are," Hera told her court, who spread out, searching for anything that could be useful. Just to the side of where they landed, there were a few boxes. Inside them, there were supplies for camping, including food, a tent, and some extra capes attached to pauldrons. But those didn''t have any markings, which meant they were made for the grunts. Seeing that Lurize found those, Nimbus opened a big smirk and pulled the Empress to the side, making a point of whispering the idea in her ear. Both Livy and Lurize noticed that, but the Leviathan was the one to ask about it, "What is going on?" "Nimbus had an idea on how we can go inside the city without raising any alarms," as Hera talked, the Sentinel called Daskka over and told her the plan, asking her help to grab one more thing they would need. When he noticed the eyes on him, Nimbus continued, "Well. We need a way to get inside, right? And we have some capes here. So, we might be able to trick them into letting us pass if we show up carrying another monster." "How does that work? Wouldn''t they realize Hera is not one of them?" Livy asked. "Not really. Usually, people in the dungeon all assume we are part of the same species. Or consider our presence as a normal thing. Unless it''s a special circumstance," Hera replied. ''Ok, but that still leaves one problem. We weren''t able to find any other monsters in the dungeon. Only Scryotra and its children. I doubt we can just ask for one more to do this,'' Lurize crossed his arms. At this moment, Daskka came back with a large smile, carrying a glass jar with her mist. Nimbus just grabbed the container and turned to the Royal Tutor, "Well¡­ We do have one rare-looking bug here." It took Lurize a moment to realize what he was talking about. He spoke out loud, "You''ve got to be kidding me." Livy choked a laugh, "C''mon, it''s just for a bit. It''s not that big of a deal." "Why don''t you do this then?!" Lurize gasped. "She''s too big, same with Nimbus," Hera tried to appear apologetic, but she was having fun with the situation. "How doez that givez them a pazz?" Lurize gesticulated with his hand in frustration. "Well¡­ Big monsters tend to be stronger. So it''s more believable for a grunt to go back with a small bug than it is for them to show up with a large Sea Serpent," Nimbus gestured to Livy and then to himself, "Or with a griffon." "Besides, they are not from this room. You technically are. We might have a better shot of this if we take something that could exist in this place," Daskka put the final nail in the coffin. But Hera had to say one thing that made the entire situation a little less funny. "I''m not going to order you to do this. If you say it''s a hard no, we can figure out a different way. Maybe I can pretend to be hurt or something. The big thing is the cape anyway." Lurize groaned loudly, "I''ll do it." Hera reached over and gave the armor a quick peck on his forehead, "Thank you. You can pick the movie we watch for the next three movie nights. And the snacks, too." "I''ll only accept that deal if we can take pictures!" Nimbus protested. "That''s my call, not yours," Hera huffed with a smile. She was too angry with the situation, even if it was a dungeon, and really needed something to break the tension. This was just a hard mode. A simulation of one possible future for the events that were put in place in the normal mode. Getting emotional was a bad idea, and even with everything going on, she still could have fun. With a plan of action, the court continued to talk and joke around while they got the Empress ready to play the part of a grunt. 756 - Inside old Zaxalam
Hera started walking towards the entrance of Zaxalam while carrying a jar with a small golden beetle inside. Lurize wasn''t saying anything, and despite not being able to see his face, the Empress knew the Royal Tutor was pouting. ''For what''s worth. You are really cute in that form,'' she said in his mind. ''I''m always cute,'' Lurize huffed, making Hera force herself not to smile at the comment. She approached the entrance, where a set of 8 guards were spread out. Two at the bottom of the ramp leading to the city. Four in the middle and another two at the top, forming a funnel of sorts. The last two were already inside the city itself, close to the main road. All of them had half cloaks like the one she was wearing, but they were all red with gold details and had much more complex embroidery than the one she saw in the leader of the camp. They not only had the pattern of their scales but also small pictures of various events. The coronation of an Emperor, a fight against an army, a Naga defeating a large monster, a wedding, someone lying eggs. Each of those capes was a tapestry of their accomplishments. They all held spears that seemed to be more decorative than pratical. The tip had a golden string attached to the base of the blade and a few places with large guards that seemed to represent fire or water. The Ophidianite climbed up the ramp, paying very close attention to those capes. This was the first time she had a chance to see how the Naga behaved in their time. How their empire truly worked, and seeing those small details brought forth her curiosity. She was distracted, looking at the capes, and didn''t notice the two guards at the top tilting their spears to block her path. "Halt! Who are you?" the guard on the right, the one who had the most images of different monsters and battles all around his cape, asked. "Oh¡­ Hi. I''m a new member of the hunting team. The one that was on the mountain behind the city. The boss sent me down here because I caught this," Hera did her best to pretend like she was a teenager on her first day at the job. Her idea was to disguise her lack of knowledge as inexperience. "The boss?" the guard at the left snarled and got his face very close to Hera''s, "I don''t know what kind of backwater feral village you came from, but here we address our superiors with the proper rank! He is a centurion, and you shall refer to him as such if you don''t want your guts spilled in front of the Gran Emperor''s statue." Hera straightened her back and nodded. The comment about her being from a backwater village made it seem like her plan was working, "Yes, sir! Hum¡­ If I may, what is your rank? I wasn''t given an explanation about that yet. We left just as I got here." The Naga got his face even closer to hers, "We are tribunes. And if you ever forget it, you will be lucky to be skinned alive." "I won''t, tribune, sir!" Hera''s instinct was to click her heels and salute, but she held back. Saluting could have a different meaning, and bringing attention to her feet might make the Naga realize she wasn''t one of them. That last part was a far-fetched idea, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry. "That''s enough, Vriztz. You can see that kid still sheds every month. She already answered your questions. If her Centurion sent her first, it must be because he saw promise in the creature she captured. Let her pass," the tribune on the right pulled back his spear. Vriztz growled but did the same. Allowing Hera to go through. She started walking but realized she wasn''t sure where the captured monsters were supposed to be. Taking a bit of a risk, she turned back and asked, "Excuse me, tribune, sir. Where am I supposed to take this creature?" She was directing her question to the one at the right side of the ramp, but Vriztz was the one who answered by approaching her and grabbing Hera by her face, his claws digging into her cheeks. The Naga pulled her to the middle of the road, making a spectacle of the situation, and pushed her head to the right side of the city, "Do you see those large doors all the way in the back? Those are our stables. Do you know what a stable is, or are you so stupid that even something as basic as this is beyond it?" Lurize started to move around in the jar, feeling the Empress'' anger, but both of them managed to calm down. Still being held by the tribune, she replied, "I know what stables are, tribune, sir!" Vriztz pushed her away, making a deeper cut on her face. Enough to draw blood, unlike what his claws were doing previously, "Then go do your job and stop pestering us." ''I''m the one who is going to get you!'' Lurize snarled while staring at the Naga, but Hera just nodded and started walking. ''No, you are not. When we get out of here, that one is mine,'' the Empress said in a cold voice. ''So the idea is to force our way out?'' Lurize asked. ''I think so. I don''t think we have another plan. The city only has one entrance, which is a good thing to protect it but a bad one for anything that is happening inside. As long as we can create enough mayhem, I don''t think they would just slam down the doors. Especially when you consider this,'' Hera didn''t gesture, but Lurize understood what she meant. The city was bustling. Various Naga were walking around, children playing in the street, and more on the upper floors. If Hera could free all the monsters and cause a stampede, then closing down the city would be much more dangerous than just letting them run away and recapturing them later. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. She continued walking towards the stables, wondering what kind of creature the Naga would use as mounts. Horses didn''t seem likely since they were too tall, and the snake people seemed to be less than interested in using steps. And unlike an actual snake, they wouldn''t be able to just climb the legs of a horse like they were trees. She didn''t bother creating theories right now since her doubt would soon be cleared. A few children tried to approach her, but they were quickly pulled back by their parents, who scolded them for trying to disturb one of the members of the military. The Empress found it a bit odd, but it would make sense for the Naga to be very militaristic. After all, if they were a society that focused on culture, they shouldn''t be able to create such powerful defenses capable of locking an entire room away from the rest of the MAZE. Not to mention the ballistae that were set up in the normal mode of the city. Even if those weapons were missing right now. In around five minutes, the Empress arrived at the stables and pushed the doors open. Inside, it was something very much like she was expecting. A large area with several stalls, but those were all made out of stone and even had multiple floors. On most of them, there was a sort of large lizard with six legs. Each had a different color, and they seemed to be attuned to a specific element. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fire Essence Salamander - Level 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stone Essence Salamander - level 17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thunder Essence Salamander - level 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every single one of those Salamanders had a different element associated with them; their colors seemed to match that, but some were odd, such as the fire salamander being green and the plant one being purple. On a closer inspection, the Empress realized that these creatures had a pair of chains on their back legs, stopping them from leaving their pens. In the back, an iron door opened, and a Naga came out, "Who are¡­ oh, you got another one? Come, bring it inside," she gestured for Hera to follow her and slithered back to the room she was about to leave. The Empress followed along. Inside this back room, there were several crates and cages with various monsters, from small bugs in jars to large wolf-like creatures. The biggest one here was to the right, in a cell. It was a bulky maroon creature with large legs, a set of two horns in front of its face like a rhino, but a long trunk that was twice the size of its body. The trunk was wrapped in chains, forcing the beast to always look up while its eyes continued to stare at the Naga with anger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Siren Trumpeter - Level 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The bugs are there," the Naga pointed to the left, where the glass jars were located. "Thank you. Do you know why we are gathering all those things?" Hera looked around and noticed the three children of Scryotra on the corner. All of them were in cages close together. They had their tails passing through the bars and holding each other like children holding hands to not be afraid. Hera clenched her fist but moved her eyes away from them, not to show anything. "The Gran Emperor''s son is turning 10. And he asked for a pet as a gift. Everyone is scrambling to find something he might like. But I think we already have the winners," the Naga gestured to Scryotra''s children, "The Gran Emperor visited the city just before the birth of his son and saw the mother of those things. Apparently, his kid loves that story, so that one should win. But you know how children are. They change minds the moment they see something more interesting," the Naga shrugged. "I understand," Hera nodded, "Is there anyone else taking care of these?" "No, they stuck me here to clean up their shit. Punishment for being late for training," she pushed some of the excrement to the side, keeping it all on a pile in the corner of the stable. "Good," Hera nodded and summoned Ember. With a quick move, she used a [Grasshopper Stab] to kill the Naga by piercing its skull from the back of the head. The dungeon creature dissolved as the Ophidianite called her entire court out. Lurize waited for a moment for someone to open the jar or at least take him out of the pile so the bugs wouldn''t just get free right away. "What''s the plan?" Nimbus asked as he freed the Royal Tutor. "I¡­Don''t know for sure. If I just let them all free, I think they will start fighting each other," Hera glanced at Scryotra''s babies, "And I think we should keep them, specifically, in the cages for now. That way, we can carry them out." "Oh, oh. I have an idea!" Daskka spoke up, making everyone turn to her, "I''ve been toying with one spell, and I think I can use it to cause some confusion." "What spell?" Hera asked. "It''s like an elemental armor for my stealth form, but instead of protecting me, it''s about scaring others." "Scaring others? So it''s like a fear effect?" Livy asked. "Pretty much," Daskka nodded. "I think we can try that. Should we open everything?" Nimbus looked around. Hera turned to the largest monster in here, "Yeah, let''s do that. DJ, Chris, Viper, Crimson, take care of opening as many of the cages as you can. Start with the small ones. Dao, Ember, Edge, take care of those chains," she pointed at what was holding the Siren Trumpeter''s trunk, "Livy, Nimbus, change to your monster forms so you can be a part of the stampede. Lurize, you carry Scryotra''s babies. Keep them in the cages." They started opening everything, and all the monsters seemed to be too scared to cause any problems. After the large beast in the cell was freed from the chains, Hera used the key that appeared from the dissolved body of the Naga she just killed to open the door. "Before Daskka does her thing. Nimbus, can you carry Lurize and the babies?" ''I can,'' the griffon nodded, knowing that despite the heavy armor of the Royal Tutor, he would still be within the weight the Sentinel could carry. "Ok, so one more thing," the Empress put the back of her hand close to Nimbus and Lurize, "This is a royal quest. The two of you need to take the babies back to Scryotra. If the Naga come after us, we will hold them off, and you go. When the babies are safe, you come back." "Hera¡­" Lurize started, but Hera shook her head. "No discussion. Livy is with me, and we handled the armies without much trouble in the normal mode. Besides, getting them there might be the way to end the dungeon," the Empress peeked her head to the area where the Salamanders were being held and used her stone shape spell to release the chains from the walls before turning to the herald, "Daskka, you''re up." 757 - Stampede
The Naga with keen hearing were the first who noticed something had happened. Yet, none of them batted an eye at the sound. It was a strange cacophony of too many noises overlaying. The kind of thing that could be the fault of children causing a small accident. Among those who heard it, only a couple noticed the eerie tones behind it all. The crescendo was created by a horror song before the scare. The second group who realized there was something wrong were those near the stables. One by one, they froze in place as a gentle dread caressed the nape of their necks. Each was too stunned to speak, too afraid to turn around like a gazelle, feeling the gaze of a pack of hyenas licking its body. The moment they turned, their fear would be confirmed. Whatever was waiting would come after them. They were trapped in a nightmare, a moment of sleep paralysis while being wide awake. Darkness crept into the corner of their eyes. Not a physical shadow but a defense mechanism created by their own minds so they wouldn''t see whatever was about to come. A roar, loud enough to shake the ground, echoed through the entire city, warning even those far away that there was something terrible wrong. What followed was a rumbling. A localized earthquake shook the stones that held Zaxalam together. Pots and pans fell from their racks, brooms, and sticks dropped to the floor as something broke open the stable doors. All the salamanders and the monsters who were captured came rushing out. It didn''t matter if they were large or small, mammal or insect. Every single one of them seemed to have only a single goal. To run. There was a brief second, a moment of hesitation from all the Naga who snapped their heads toward the incoming monsters. This created hope, hope that this was all, that the dread they just felt was just an odd singularity. Two more monsters came out, running along with the others. A weird winged bird with four legs, with a large armored warrior running on top of it. And a beautiful and unique fish snake that looked like a reef and the foam of the ocean with a being of pure darkness riding it. A darkness that looked like a bonfire in front of the last being that left those stables. It was a gigantic shadow, darker than the night, blacker than creatures that a child would believe to be living under their bed. It was hard to gauge its size. The Naga could barely see its form, only the darkness and the wisps of smoke coming out of it. But that just gave me fear. The dread came from its eyes. Two pale silver lights floated in the darkness, so bright that they pierced all the shadows that tried to engulf it at every second. A color that made all who saw it think of a single word. A single action. Death. If there was a Reaper. A being that would take you from this world to the next, this was it. All the Naga who witnessed that scene believed in that to the very core of their beings. And none of them believed that the place they would be taken to would be a good one. Not if this was their chaperone. When that realization dawned across the city, all the citizens started screaming and running along with the monster, hoping to flee from that horrible creature. Hera watched as the Naga ran and jumped inside their houses to hide. She glanced back, seeing Daskka in her shadow mist form. Using the idea of a sneak attack, she added the sense of fear Hera felt so many times during their adventures and the idea that monsters are scarier when you can''t see them to react to this new version of her form. The pale eyes were creating a specific type of charm. An illusion of sorts. It would simply create a suggestion in the minds of anyone who looked at her. In turn, anyone who didn''t have the right amount of mental fortitude would be influenced, and their mind would fill in the blanks to create the scariest thing they could imagine. The initial attempt ended up being too powerful, freezing all the monsters in place, and affecting even some of Hera''s blades. Only after toning it down, and Livy roaring to shock them that the beasts started running. In the end, Daskka decided to add that initial effect as part of the spell. Being able to freeze others in fear was going to be very helpful. ''You are really badass, Daskka. Did you know that?'' Livy said with a chuckle. ''I''m also gorgeous, don''t forget that,'' the silver eyes flickered to red for a moment as the herald lost concentration on the effect, but she quickly returned to her character. They continued running, with Nimbus and Lurize getting a bit ahead of Hera and Livy. The griffon was much faster than the Sea Serpent when coming on land. Either way, Hera''s theory seemed to be correct. As the Naga ran from the small stampede of monsters, the guards didn''t even try to close down the door. Most of them were also running, trying to find a safe place, but only the strongest ones were able to push through the fear spell Daskka created. Unfortunately, the 8 that were taking care of the entrance were all able to move around. They had no choice but to let the monsters pass. However, noticed the Empress and Lurize riding two of the creatures at the back of the pack. The tribunes quickly scrambled to try to stop them, but the Sentinel was too quick. Nimbus passed by them and continued running towards the forest, but when it was time for Livy to go by, they detached the tip of their spears and tossed them to one another. There was a metal string attached at the back of each blade, allowing them to create a wire barrier in front of them. Livy growled, seeing that, and pushed forward, dragging the guards for a few meters, but they managed to stop her before she was able to reach the bottom of the slope. "Hera!" Lurize called. ''Go to Scryotra. Take the babies back to it!'' Hera yelled in her mind as Livy returned to her weapon form, allowing the two of them to dodge under the strings. At the same time, the Empress called the rest of her court out, and the giant form of Daskka appeared from inside the city, flanking the guards. Lurize and Nimbus weren''t happy about the situation, but they did as they were told. Hera did a quick scan of the guards to see their levels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Naga Tribune - Level 18 The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every single one was on the same level, and she couldn''t even see the name of the Naga who harassed her when she arrived. But she recognized him as the one farthest away from her. The Tributes got into position, preparing to fight. Half of them were holding their spear-like one would expect, while the other half kept the edge detached from the shaft but still being held by the metal string. "I guess this is the boss fight," Hera said with a smile. "Then let''s wipe them out," Livy appeared in her bipedal form. Two of the tribunes, using simple spears, dashed at Hera, baring their fangs in an attempt to intimidate her. The Empress replied in kind, doing the same thing and unhinging her jaw just to play around. At the same time, she activated the Pool of Styx spell. Before coming to the city, she had summoned the snakes from her bracelet and told them to make a spell circle around the entire mountain. Thankfully, they had finished, and it was time to put it to work. As the spell triggered and all the Naga inside the city were affected, Hera felt her stats skyrocketing. It was a shame that she could only double her attributes since the system wouldn''t allow her to get past that, but it was still a welcome buff for her and her court. Following that, she created a rare venomous glaive to block the incoming attacks. Since they were using spears, if she used something with a smaller range, she would be at a disadvantage. Especially when considering that they weren''t alone. She lunged at the one on the right, using her [Grasshopper Stab] with just a bit of mana to poke them and already managed to injure that tribune. In response, its partner spun his spear and went for an upward swing, but Hera made a small step close to the ground, stopping the momentum of the weapon. That stone made the Naga almost drop his spear, but he quickly fixed his movement to continue the attack. Despite his effort, the Ophidianite had more than enough time to step back and evade while flinging a few poison needles at them. Seeing that the Empress had this handled, Livy jumped forward, skipping those two and reaching the next pair. They had the spears with the whip tips and waved their staffs to intercept the Leviathan. She blocked the attacks with her war axe, but the bladed tips came flying at her, trying to wrap her head. With a smirk, Livy just hit the hands of the Naga with the weapon to trigger the effect of the Draconic Vortex, pulling the two of them closer as well as the tips of the spears that were going on large orbits. That change messed up with the momentum and caused the two spears to get entangled. The tribunes quickly retracted the whips and tried to recover the control of their weapons, but Livy ducked, getting low to the ground before pushing forward to grab the two by the waist, if Naga had waists. She raised them to the sky before slamming both on the ground. Together with the impact, she triggered the [Draconic Eruption] skill, creating a massive wave from her body that crashed down on both tribunes and pushed the others away. While that was happening, Daskka and the rest of the court handled the other four guards. The herald shifted to her silver mist form, allowing her to have a large physical body, and attacked Vriztz. She tried to bite and slam her tail at the Naga, but the man was quick. He dodged most of the blows, but the speed at which each attack came didn''t give him any chance to counter. The tribune called for his partner, but the other Naga just stared at Daskka with a conflicted expression. The guardian beast of the Naga was a giant snake, and fighting something so similar was something that those devoted to their religion struggled a lot to do, even when the snake was the one attacking them. Lucky for him, the rest of the court also joined the fray, allowing the tribune to focus on the floating swords and daggers instead of the snake. While Hera and Livy took care of two guards each, and Daskka held Vriztz at bay, the remaining seven blades focused on the three Naga left. Between the fire, lightning, and blood attacks flying around, it took less than two minutes for the number of tribunes to be reduced to three. Hera was playing around with her enemies, focusing more on how they fought than on defeating them. She knew one fighting style the Naga used and decided that this was as good a chance as any to see a different one firsthand. But she got bored easily. They were not using something unique, not really. Sure, some movements were odd from what the Empress knew, but they were not far from martial arts and fighting styles that were very well documented. With a sigh, she avoided an attack and used another [Grasshopper Stab] and [Weapon Break] combo to pierce both Naga at once. Their bodies dissolved before completely falling to the ground. With yon Vriztz left, the Ophidianite approached and stabbed him on his back with a venomous longsword. The tribune was too focused on his fight against Daskka to notice the incoming attack. He growled and tried to fight back, but Hera just brought his sword down as she said, "I guess you are the one who got gutted." ''Damn¡­. That was cold,'' DJ gasped. "That guy really annoyed me. And this is the only place where I can do this kind of thing," Hera replied with a shrug, trying not to think too much about when she became this cold. She looked down, but there were no drops from any of the Naga, which frustrated her a little. She expected to at least get some gold. Before being able to think about anything else, several groups of Naga appeared from the surrounding forest. There were about 200 of them, and every single one was wearing one of those yellow capes. Hera took a deep breath and cracked her neck before getting ready for another fight. This wasn''t the first time she killed an army of Naga. At a quick glance, most of them seemed to be level 18, but that didn''t mean she wouldn''t be able to handle it. The Naga started marching towards her, and the Empress triggered all the buffs and spells she had available. The Pool of Styx was still working, but it wouldn''t reduce the attributes of the reinforcements. Suddenly, one entire hunting party vanished inside a hole. Then another, and another. A fourth party was flung to the side at a blinding speed, almost like an invisible truck had just hit them. The Naga who came from the woods were all wiped out in a matter of seconds. Being squashed like bugs. When there was no one left, and Hera started backing away, going back to the city, Nimbus and Lurize appeared from the woods. "Hera! We got it!" the Royal Tutor yelled. "What?" the Empress asked. "We got the children to Scryotra!" As Lurize explained, Scryotra appeared in front of them. The creature was much larger than before, and its obsidian exoskeleton now had shades of green. The praying mantis part of its body had an extra set of arms, and one of the scorpion''s pincers was considerably bigger, almost like a crab with different-sized arms. From its back, five small versions of itself appeared, looking around to the ground and waving at the Empress. Scryotra itself was also staring at Hera with a satisfied expression. Or at least, that''s the feeling the Ophidianite got. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra - Captor''s Bane - Level 55 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled, "From being a tool to a symbol of freedom. Yeah, this feels right." 758 - A shot in the dark After killing all the Naga outside, there was a moment of silence where nothing happened. Hera just watched the giant monster moving and looked around to confirm there were no more threats in the area. One odd thing the Empress noticed was that the Naga it killed were still there. Or at least, their bodies were. Before she had a chance to check why that was going on, Scryotra started moving again. This time, it used its claws to dig large holes in the ground before pushing the dead inside it. Then, it covered the holes with the loose dirt. The monster turned one more time and reached out for a large tree, ripping it from the ground and placing it on top of the hole it had just filled up. With a frown, Hera turned to the Captor''s Bane, "Are you¡­ burying them?" The mantis'' eyes focused on her for a moment before it nodded. ''It has the concept of burials?'' Ember asked in a surprised voice. ''I guess¡­'' Dao was just as shocked as everyone else. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon quest complete Rewards: Due to the presence of Scryotra''s Resentment, you will receive no rewards. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Aw, man. Really?" Hera gasped. She was getting some rewards from the normal mode. Still, it was some small amounts of gold, only reaching a couple thousand for each completion or one random material that she ended up passing along to dwarves to see if anyone could do something with it. She expected to have something similar to it here but clearly wasn''t the case. Taking a look around, she realized that the entrance to Zaxalam was gone. In its place was the wooden door that would be her exit. The Empress started walking towards it, holding back the urge to see if the resentment had changed in any way. She wasn''t sure if seeing the item would trigger something in Scryotra, but it was very likely for it to be the case. Maybe she would even have to come back here and do the dungeon again. After all, there was no notification about completing the quest so far. "Mum, since we are here. Why don''t you try asking Scryotra what it would want?" Daskka suggested. "What?" Hera stopped and looked to the side. Daskka was back on her shoulders, looking at her. "Yeah. I mean, it is worth a shot," the Ophieianite shrugged and turned back to Scryotra, who was still staring at her. Unsure what to ask, she decided to just go for it, "Say, what would you want to happen if you were dead?" Scryotra stared at her for a moment before anger started to flare up on its face. "Wow, wow. I don''t mean I want to kill you! Calm down. I''m asking what about when you die. When you are gone, in the future. You know," Hera stepped back, ready to bolt if the creature tried to attack her. Scryotra calmed down, but it still had a confused expression. Not that Hera could read the face of the mantis, but it was just a feeling she got when looking at it. After a while, the creature looked around; in thought, it turned to its children. "I get that," Hera nodded, "Being worried about your kids is very noble. But what if you didn''t have them? If you died before they were around?" There was another long pause until Scryotra made a motion very close to a shrug. Telling the Empress that it couldn''t think about anything. Hera sighed, "Ok. I get it. It was a weird question. Sorry about that." Seeing her frustrated expression, the monster felt bad. It didn''t want to be unable to help the person who saved its children. Just to not leave her question unanswered, it gestured to the grave it built for the Naga. "A grave? Really?" Scryotra nodded. "Why?" The Captor''s Bane made a few clicking noises as if it was trying to tell a story, but unlike the feelings, Hera couldn''t understand anything. Either way, at least now she had an idea of what she could do. Even if the idea of a grave for Scryotra didn''t feel like something the guardian beast really wanted. She thanked him and started walking to the door. Its children still were just watching her from the back of the monster. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Leaving the dungeon, Hera called Nimbus right away and flew to the city before anything else. Only when she was safely back in her house did she open the bag where she was carrying Scryotra''s Resentment. Right now, in the middle of the afternoon, there was no one else here. Meaning that she wouldn''t be able to ask for any ideas from the rest of the group. Not that any of them had suggested anything. She asked, but everyone was drawing a blank. When grabbing the small rock in her pouch, the first thing the Empress noticed was the change in texture. It was smoother, and it felt much softer than just a rock. It was slit solid, but now it had that slight push that one would find in plastic objects. Another big difference was the color. It was no longer black. Now, it had a shade of gray leaning more towards the white. The red symbol still kept the familiar two sets of claws going around each other, but in the middle, instead of a maw filled with teeth, it was just a single line with two large fangs coming out from the upper jaw. Hera could replicate that sight with her own mouth if she wanted, even if it would be a bit unconformable. That drawing was no longer blood red but a dark orange, almost reaching brown. Despite the big change, the information given by the system was still the same. Still, the Ophidianite couldn''t help but believe that she was on the right track. After all, the resentment was visibly more pleasant to look at now. While its darker version gave off an eerie feeling every time she looked at it. Hera stared at the resentment for a long time. Not having any idea of what to do next. After a while, she remembered how it felt to create her own spell, and that was when a light bulb turned on inside her mind. Scryotra had asked for a grave, and the creature was supposed to be a guardian beast. She could go a step further and make an actual altar, with the resentment as its centerpiece. Looking at her tablet, she realized that in 2 days, her new party would arrive in the Aerie of the First Flight. Typhera had even sent her a text confirming they were coming. Still, considering the dwarves, there was a good chance that she could make it work in just two days. And there was nothing about the quest telling her that she had to do it on her own. Rushing out, she first looked for her dad. She didn''t need weapons or defenses but people who were able to make pretty things. Eridan was with the architects and other crafters, trying to understand the properties of the wood and other materials they found in this place. Seeing Hera, that group took a break to greet her. After all, she was still a celebrity, even more so now that she had become a different species. The Ophidianite took advantage of the situation and explained her quest and her idea. The architects felt extremely interested in the idea. Ever since they arrived here, they were all on repair duty, fixing the broken parts of the city and adapting the houses to their size. The idea of being able to actually create something tingled their creativity, and soon, they were already creating blueprints for the altar. They wanted to make a large temple, especially after hearing Scryotra''s story. However, the Empress was on a deadline, and she couldn''t wait for weeks for them to finish. In the end, they decided to make just an altar on top of the grave, as she suggested. But that wasn''t all. They made it in a way that allowed for expansion in the future. That place could eventually be their mausoleum, and Scryotra could become a ghost guardian beast that protected those who were gone. While they worked on that, Hera prepared the actual tomb, the ''coffin'' where she thought about leaving Scryotra''s body. That came with another problem. The legs that were spread around were too big, and so far, they weren''t able to take pieces out of it. There was also a chance that the stealth spirits wouldn''t allow her to mess with the guardian''s remains. Then came an idea. She could place the actual resentment as the representation of Scryotra. The idea felt odd. After all, she would not only be giving away the item related to her quest but there was also a chance that she would put people in danger with this. If the resentment started to attract monsters or make surrounding monsters hostile again, people who got close to it could get hurt. In the end, this still felt like a better idea than the alternative. After all, they weren''t going to build that altar in the city. It would be outside, at the top of the mountain, where she first saw that creature in her vision. This was suggested by some of the architects, and she quite liked the idea. They also added that the temple could be a landmark for people moving around and maybe even a defensive position if needed. That was more of a way to convince Naka to let some guards go along to protect them while they worked than anything else, but still. Hera and Eridan worked together to make the ''coffin'' and a small wooden sculpture of Scryotra itself to be inside that grave. At the same time, she was telling the other crafters about details and decorations that could fit the guardian beast. It didn''t take long for her to understand that this was just a way to kill time for most of the people working on the project. But she didn''t care. It would be hard for anyone to feel attached to a creature like that just by hearing a story, and they weren''t the type to go run a dungeon just to know more about it. It took them the rest of the day, but the group of builders was able to make a prototype of the altar and grave. It was a small piece about the size of a chair and made out of wood. The actual version would be made out of stone and reinforced with magic and runes to make it whist and the elements. Monster or other attacks would still be able to damage it, but small cracks could be fixed by those spells. When they finished the first part of the work, Hera went to Rutigan to explain her quest and ask for permission to take some of the architects to build that altar. It didn''t take long to convince him, especially when Fethy walked in. The Dutches of Culture felt extremely excited about the prospect of creating something with such a cultural value. She asked Hera to tell her everything about the dungeon and even went as far as to ask if she would be able to do it. Unfortunately, since this room was in a deeper layer, the Empress was against that idea. The Guardian Rage wasn''t a good place to test things out. From the initial attack to the powerful monsters, she had to hunt to the fight against Scryotra itself. Everything was hard, even if the levels would start on the low end of the layer. The alternative was to have the Royal Explorers run the dungeon a few times and record their attempts. This should be enough to satiate Fethy''s curiosity. With that out of the way, Hera went back home to rest and prepare for tomorrow. One way or another, this would be over the next day. The plan of making an altar would either work and complete the quest, or she would have to toss the resentment inside a dungeon so no one would get hurt by it. 759 - Scryotras Tomb It was the last day before the Empress had to meet her new team. In the evening, she would have a farewell party of sorts with her friends and family, but now, she was on top of the mountain to the side of the city. The architects had already come here to build the layout of the mausoleum. It was just the foundation, the ''skeleton'' of the building that would be constructed in the future. Naka liked the idea of that being also a fortification for times of war, which meant the walls had to be properly reinforced, and that required more effort. Hera felt it might be a bit weird to use their future graveyard as a defensive position. However, the guard captain felt differently. Having a place where they kept their dead as a fort would make them more eager to fight if they were invaded. Not to mention, they could eventually make a hidden passage that went underneath that mountain back to the city. After all, this was the plan. The top would be the keep, while the underground area would be the catacombs. Scryotra''s altar would be just by the entrance to the mausoleum, watching over those who walked down the stairs leading to the lower floors. The actual sculpture had some of the ideas Hera had in mind, but Fethy was the one who took charge. She had heard about the Dia de los Muertos and decided to use those decorations as inspiration. The dwarves didn''t have a culture of celebrating death, and the Dutches hoped to change that. Especially if they would be involved in something where many people might die. The base of that altar was surrounded by skulls made with something similar to white limestone. Each skull had drawings of various colorful gemstones all around it. The original version should be made with flowers, but Fethy said it wouldn''t be something close to them. The dwarves were more familiar with minerals, and that should reflect on what they did. Following that, there was a pillar with some decorations that you would find in an ceremonial podium. But half of it was covered by what looked like a silk cloth with a very ''homey'' pattern. It was split into several smaller squares, each with a different drawing. From fruits to animals and plants, even toy cars and random patterns. Hera couldn''t help but think about her deceased grandmother while looking at that. She was sure Grandma Triss had something similar to it in her kitchen. All homemade, of course. But the most impressive thing about that was that it wasn''t actual silk. Instead, the towel was made out of stone and only sculpted to mirror the effect of the cloth. Above it, there were some more skulls, these bigger and even more colorful than the ones on the base, with almost no white in their make. And small orange and yellow crystals fill the empty spots. The crystals were carved to all look the same, but each had the symbol of one of the families of Boothudurn underneath them. There were also a few empty vases and bowls for people who wanted to bring flowers and other offerings for their loved ones. Above it all, there was an arch made out of various shades of green gems shaped like stars, framing the sculpture that Hera made with her dad. It was the only wooden piece of the entire thing, but it had the same kind of protection runes attached to it, so it should be able to last for a long time like the rest. And even if it didn''t, Fethy liked the idea of having one piece needing to be replaced every half a century or something. That would allow them to make an event out of it and maybe a competition for people who might want to carve the next Scryotra sculpture. They made all of this in a single day, even if some of the dwarves decided not to sleep to complete the project. Hera never asked them for that. It was something they did it on their own. In the end, finding the right place took longer than the actual installation of the statue and the foundation. Even with all that, everything was done before noon. The Empress stayed there long after things were over. She already had placed the resentment in the altar itself. It was in a hidden compartment at the base. Right above one of the skulls with the symbol present on the stone. Hera ended up just talking at the altar as if it was an old friend. Venting about her frustration with the guild and complaining about how her life wouldn''t be in her hands for a while. However, there was a lot of good that came along with that, too. She would be traveling a lot and helping people. The Ophidianite was somewhat worried about her new party, but she hoped they would get along. In fact, a part of her imagined that she could have some lifelong friends in this new group. Trauma bonding was a real thing, and she knew that for a fact with her current companions. She doubted Bonnie and Blue would''ve stuck together for so long if they hadn''t gone through so much together already. Hera spent the entire day here; at one point, she even asked Nimbus to go back to the city and bring a picnic basket. This would likely be the last chance she had to rest for a while. She was having fun talking with her court, sharing memories, and messing around. The Empress also added some food as the offering for Scryotra and jokingly said, "If you don''t eat before we leave, I''ll have to take it. We don''t want monsters to come after it." When the sun started to set, she was already a bit tipsy. Nimbus was able to get a new concoction the dwarves created out of the fruits that existed here. It was a super concentrated version of vodka that was still tasty when being the equivalent of something with 150% alcohol content. Seeing that no notification popped out, the Ophidianite let out a long sigh, "I guess we need to get rid of the resentment then. I think I should toss it in a dungeon in the Gartinet Hollow. Shane did mention that there was one close to the entrance. That way, if the effects still work while it''s inside there. At least it will be like a trap for the guild if they ever try to come here." "It''s a good call," Lurize nodded and looked back to the altar, "But we should take out the food you placed there first. Like you said before, we don''t want to attract monsters here." "Yeah," Hera got up and walked over to the altar. However, she stopped as she got closer. Noticing something moving behind the wooden statue of Scryotra. From the shadows, a small stealth spirit emerged. It didn''t have a specific shape, but Hera could see several small tendrils working as its legs and a torso similar to that of a monkey. She had no idea what the face was since it was covered in shadow and completely hidden from her. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Hey, little guy. What are you doing so far from home?" the Empress asked. The stealth spirit moved in a flash, reaching out for the food on the altar with one of its tendrils. Yet, there was a sound coming from the pyre where the offerings were supposed to be. Like a rock had just been tossed inside. Then, the spirit jumped down from the altar and vanished. Even Hera''s senses couldn''t follow it anymore. With a frown, the Ophidianite looked at the receptacle where the food was before. Inside it was a single pearlescent rock, with the drawing of the two claws spinning around each other in a mix of yellow and orange. In the center, instead of the mouth, was a simple tombstone with nothing written on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra''s Gratitude ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was what her [Observe] told the object was. She grabbed it, and another notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a hidden quest. By solving Scryotra''s resentment against the Naga and giving it its role as a guardian beast, you have fulfilled its destiny, allowing it to finally do what it believed it should have done. Reward: Scryotra''s Gratitude Level up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current level 39 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Without thinking twice, Hera used [Inspect] on the item. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra''s Gratitude - Legendary Bound to Hera Quetzaveth An item containing the essence of Scryotra, the guardian beast of the dead. It was also imbued with the powers of a stealth spirit due to the nature of its origin. This item can be combined with an existing item to have it inherit the properties that Scryotra possessed , or it can be used in the production of a new item to increase its capabilities. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before Hera could even finish reading everything, Daskka spoke up, "Hum¡­ mum. This is a bit weird, but you can use that to make a new titled blade." "Wait, really? Who?" Hera turned to the herald. "Yeah¡­" Daskka turned to Viper and Crimson, the two daggers that not only had the Naga elemental affinity but were a reward from Darni''s hard-mode dungeon. A place that was filled with various Naga and very connected to their culture. ''Wait? Really?'' Viper asked. ''We can be titled blades? Both of us?'' Crimson gasped. "That''s what the legacy is telling me. I don''t know how it will work, but that''s the deal," Daskka explained. "Hang on¡­" Hera stopped everyone. She instantly felt how the twin daggers were disappointed with her reaction, "Wait. No. I mean, hang on, I have another idea. Remember that painting we got in that dungeon? The one I used to give you two a small buff?" ''Oh yeah. It was really pretty!'' Crimson nodded. "Do you think I could use it on the gratitude?" "You want to make a legendary item even more powerful?" Nimbus asked. "Yeah¡­" Hera looked away. "That''s badass," Livy smiled. "Just don''t be sad if it doesn''t work," Lurize warned. "That''s ok. I kind of need to use that thing anyway. I mean, what''s the point of saving an item that I''m never going to use?" Hera recalled her court, and they all flew back home. Eridan complained about her arrival since he was preparing things for the party, but the Empress was too focused on the task at hand to notice any of the decorations. She rushed to where her belongings were and found the scroll called Spirit of the Spiral Mural. Before anything, she looked at her attributes. She had a total of 85 points to distribute, which let her increase all her attributes to 110. This would help Viper and Crimson as they became titled blades. After that, she tried to use the scroll on Scryotra''s Gratitude. A single mote of light appeared and started dancing around the picture. It was the mural that was in Spiral. The one she saw in Darni''s dungeon a long time ago. So much had happened that she barely remembered what she did to get this item. But she still had two charges left. Well, one now. The process took a few minutes, and the mote of light danced around, finding more lights and spreading across almost all of the drawings. Then, they gathered in 8 specific ones, and all jumped on Scryotra''s Gratitude. Hera used her [Inspect] again. The entire description remained the same, with only one new line added at the end of the window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scryotra''s Gratitude - Legendary Bound to Hera Quetzaveth An item containing the essence of Scryotra, the guardian beast of the dead. It was also imbued with the powers of a stealth spirit due to the nature of its origin. This item can be combined with an existing item to have it inherit the properties that Scryotra possessed , or it can be used in the production of a new item to increase its capabilities. Darni and the people of Spiral thank Scryotra for its service. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hoping that this would mean the item was improved, Hera asked Daskka''s help to create one or two new titled blades. 760 - One more party member Before starting the process, Hera looked at her status windows to ensure she knew what was going on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 39 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 660 Strength: 110 Endurance: 110 Agility: 110 Charisma: 110 Intelligence: 110 Luck: 110 Mana: 4 356 942/4 356 942 Passive Mana Regeneration: 5 882/s (10 587/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 11 255/s (20 260/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 0 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard Passive: Exponential Growth (21) Observe 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4 Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4 , Shaper of Mana 2 , Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1 , Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 3, Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 1(+1), Ophidianite Sight 1(+1), Ophidianite Mana Sense 1(+1), Ophidianite Resistance 1(+1), Ophidianite Regeneration 1(+1), Ophidianite Adaptation 1(+1) Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon Break 2 Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 1 (+1), Grasshopper Slash 1 (+1) Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Understanding her attributes and how much of them should go to the new titled blades, Hera turned to Daskka. The herald, explained how this would work. It was very much like what she did with Nimbus and Livy. All Hera had to do was place both the weapons and the stone together and perform the ritual. "Before we start¡­ Is this going to count as one or two blades?" the Empress turned to Daskka. "Only one. According to the system, the daggers are a single item, so the legacy follows that logic." "And¡­ will they, like, merge together when they are in their person form?" Hera turned to Crimson and Viper. "I¡­ don''t know. Maybe? Maybe it will be like a two-headed snake," Daskka replied. "Oh¡­" Hera turned to the two in question. Viper and Crimson, "Are you two ok with this? I mean, if the two of you merge in a single entity," there was a pause before the Ophidianite added, "If you want some time to decide, that''s fine too." ''Can we? I think we need to have a conversation in this case,'' Viper turned to Crimson, who nodded in response. "Of course. I''ll be doing some things here," Hera turned around. She still had the scroll, and since it worked with Scryotra''s Gratitude, she wanted to use it on her Ophidianite Bracelet. Using the same process as before, she triggered the effect and watched as the lights started to dance and spread across the drawing. This time, however, the extra motes of lights reached every single one of the pictures, from the jungles to the desert and even the large flying snake in the back. All 10 drawings in the mural glowed, with the lights jumping one by one on her bracelet. When it was over, the shape stayed the same, but now, instead of pure silver, each snake had a colorful pattern. Some were green, others red or blue. Almost like the variations one would see in the wild. Everything was in shades of silver, with the details showing their uniqueness. When it was over, the scroll could no longer be used and was now just a very pretty painting that Hera would hang somewhere in her house. There was no change in the name of the bracelet. However, one of the benefits changed, and it got one very interesting new ability. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serpent''s Grove - Bracelet Rarity: Legendary Bound to Hera Quetzaveth A bracelet was created together with the first Ophidianite. It links the Ophidianites with their heritage and proves that the owner of this item is who should guide the species to the future. 100% increased effectiveness when using Ophidianite skills. 80% increase in mana growth. 80% increase in mana regeneration. 80% increased Ophidianite skill growth rate. 70% reduction in damage taken. Skills: Rattle By shaking the bracelet, you can trigger a sound like a snake rattle. This sound can affect allies or enemies depending on the effect chosen. - Warning Rattle: Can only be heard by those the user considers allies. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Cost: 2 000 mana for each 2 km - Battle Rattle: All allies who hear this sound will have their strongest attribute increased by 60% for 30 minutes. Cost: 50 000 mana for each 300 m - Threatening Rattle: All enemies who hear this sound will have their weakest attribute reduced by 50% for the next 21 minutes Cost: 50 000 mana for each 150 m - Death Rattle: All those who hear this sound, aside from the user, will receive 200% extra damage from all sources for 2 minutes. Cost: 300 000 mana for each 100 m Cooldown: 24h Only a single Rattle may be active at a time. Pit of Snakes: You can store mana inside this bracelet to create a number of snakes that will emerge from it when called. The number of snakes is proportional to the amount of mana in the bracelet, and their strength is proportional to the wearer. The bracelet cannot have more mana than its current wearer. The snakes can perform simple tasks and listen to basic commands. They can also be used to create a makeshift altar or ritual circle as long as the wearer presents the image to them. The wearer can also ask one of the snakes to share their senses with them. That can be done with a single snake at a time, and said snake will become unable to share their senses again unless they are resummoned. Maximum number of snakes summoned: 30 Current Mana: 4 356 942/4 356 942 Ophidianite Essence Every 24 hours, you can make a small amount of Ophidianite Essence to drip from the bracelet. You can make two 50 ml vials with this skill. By drinking a single of these vials, it is possible to increase the rank of an Ophidianite skill or learn a new Ophidianite skill if there is one available. Drinking the essence daily can increase the chances of getting these effects. A person can only receive the benefits of a single vial each day. Any essence that is not consumed will vanish after 240 hours. Current Available Vials of Essence 10/10 Ophidianite Ascension If a person who has not undergone another ascension drinks the Ophidianite Essence while having at least one Ophidianite skill at rank 5 or higher, they will be offered a chance to transform into an Ophidianite. As per the will of its creator, the bracelet cannot be destroyed by acid. Only an Ophidianite can wear this bracelet. Future Ophidianite The owner of this bracelet can remove one of the snakes that shape it and give it to someone else as an item bound to them, being unable to use an of its effects when being worn by another person. When doing so, the number of snakes that can be summoned will be reduced by 1, and the number of Vials of Essence that can be created will be reduced by 1. To recuperate those charges, you must retrieve and reattach the created bracelet to the main body of the bracelet. The new bracelet will be called ''Bracelet of the Future Ophidianite,'' and it will have the following skills: 40% Increased Ophidianite skill growth rate. Can create a single vial of essence every 24 hours. It can also be used to trigger the Ophidianite Ascension. After the ascension, the Bracelet of the Future Ophidianite won''t go through any changes and can be retrieved normally. Only Hera Quetzaveth can transfer ownership of this item. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Well¡­ aside from the extra boost to increase my Ophidianite skills and the look. This solves a very big problem," Hera said with a smile. "No kidding. It''s almost like the system wants you to be able to spread the new species," Daskka rolled her eyes. "OK, fine. I know it''s kind of expected, but at the same time, I didn''t expect it to do this," Hera huffed. ''Hera?'' Viper called, making the entire court turn to them. "Do you have an answer?" the Empress asked. ''We do,'' Crimson nodded, ''We want to be your next titled blade. Even if that might mean we will become someone different.'' "Are you sure?" Hera asked, feeling the uneasiness that the rest of the court felt. ''We are. We''ve been with you for a long time, and we want to be able to help,'' Viper added. Every court member took this opportunity to thank the two and say their goodbyes, just in case. After a while, the Ophidianite continued. "Ok then," Hera took Scryotra''s Gratitude from her pouch and placed both daggers in an X shape, with the stone between the two blades, "Are you ready?" ''Yes!'' the twins replied. Hera closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. No one paid attention to her eyes, but if they did, they would see that they had a swirling shine that followed all the colors of the rainbow. Very similar to the pool of mana where she earned her first title, "Viper, Crimson. I invite you to walk alongside me through my life. This does not come simply due to your origin but also your bravery and dedication to the court. I ask you to become my Spymasters. For even if you two join in a single body, we will never forget from where you came. I hope you can use your powers of poison and blood to protect not just me, not just the court, but all those who we hold dear. Do that which Scryotra was barred from. Become your own version of guardian beasts." With a sound very similar to an egg cracking, the physical form of the gratitude broke, letting out a plume of dark smoke. It was somewhat similar to the form Daskka took during the dungeon run they did last. That black mist covered both daggers, swirling around them for a few moments before vanishing completely, taking the weapons and the stone along with them. "Did it¡­ work?" Livy asked with a confused expression. "I''m not su-" before Hera could finish her sentence, someone else replied. "Yeah, it did. I have fingers!" Crimson''s voice was still very bubbly and excited. "You do know they can''t see us right now, right? You can wave all you want. That won''t change a thing," Viper let out a familiar sigh. His voice was also a bit high-pitched but masculine. Everyone else could still recognize those voices, but they were different. Like they were teenagers who just went through their voice change. Hera could still feel the two of them, including where they actually were, but she had to focus on perceiving the two. She wasn''t able to see them properly, but she could make out their outline. Both of them had bodies very similar to a Naga, with long tails that allowed them to move around instead of legs. They also had two arms, and the shape of their had seemed a bit odd. It wasn''t snake-like, as the Naga should be. The two deactivated their stealth skill and appeared for the group. Viper had white scales all around his body with red eyes. He was lean and not very tall, especially when compared with the rest of the titled blades. The top of his head would be a bit above the Empress shoulder. Like Hera imagined, he looked a lot like a Naga. At least his body was extremely similar. But his face was vastly different. It was covered in scales, and he had no hair, but the shape of the skull was somewhere between an Ophidianite and a Naga. Almost as if it was the missing link between the two species. His mouth was a bit more pronounced, and his lips would split on his chin. There was also another noticeable split closer to his cheek. Unlike Hera, Viper didn''t have a nose or ears. Viper was very similar to her brother. She was a bit shorter and more muscular, and her scales were in shades of Crimson, like fresh blood with a wavy pattern in a darker shade similar to the ones in the dagger form. On a closer inspection, Viper also had the same pattern, although mirrored. However, since he was white on white, it was harder to notice it. Crimson''s eyes were a silvery white, just like Viper''s scales, but those were the only differences. Color aside, their faces were identical. In a way, they looked alien or as if they were one of the lizard people who conspiracy theories said ruled the world in secret. Seeing the two first titled blades that were actually smaller than her, the Empress gasped, "You two are so cute!" "I know! I knew I was going to be pretty," Crimson puffed her chest, showing that, unlike Hera, she didn''t have any breasts. "How can you know you are pretty? Have you seen yourself?" Nimbus asked. "Yeah, actually," Crimson smirked but stopped talking. Viper rolled his eyes, "This is not a secret, and they need to know," he turned to the rest of the group, "Maybe it''s because we are one item, but we can see what each other sees. It''s like that ever since the beginning." "Now that you mentioned, I can do the same things with my tonfas. But I''m not split in two," Nimbus turned to Daskka. "Hey, don''t look at me. I have no clue why that happens like that. I only explain what the legacy is going to do," the herald hid behind Hera''s back. There was a knock on the door, "Goldilocks? Everyone is here already. Do you need more time?" Hera turned to the Spymasters, "Can I introduce you to everyone?" "Of course!" Crimson smiled. "Yeah. I want to talk with everyone," Viper nodded. Hera got up and walked out of the room she was using to create her new titled blade, feeling happy that it worked and that the two of them were able to remain as a duo. Another part of her was happy that they were smaller than the rest. Having her titled blades all being large brutes made things hard, but now, she had even more options when traveling in the MAZE. 761 - Crimson and Viper "I got to say. I''m a bit disappointed," Shane whispered to Hera. They were all gathered in their house. Thankfully, they had moved to a bigger place in the second floor of the city a few days ago which stopped them from being so crowded that Hera''s titled blades couldn''t be in their bipedal forms. Eridan had asked for some help and now he had set up flags and string all around their living room for a proper party. But despite it being for Hera, Viper and Crimson had stolen the show for now. Everyone wanted to talk with the two new court members, which usually came with a bunch of questions to Daskka about how it all worked. "Why?" Hera asked as she filled up some cups with some juice from one of the fruits that were in the room. It tasted like mango, but had a green color to it and was shaped like a melon. The system called it ''Green Zaxalam Fruit,'' which sounded much better in the old Naga language. For now, Fethy was asking the few children to come up with new names for the fruits, since they all followed that kind of pattern, but they still didn''t have the final names. "Well¡­ I hoped you would find something that let you turn Viper and Crimson into titled blades, but I wanted them to be full Naga," Shane admitted. Hera chuckled, "Yeah, I can''t say I wasn''t expecting that too, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. None of my titled blades are like, species that do exist. I''m 99% sure this is intentional." "Well¡­" Shane looked over to where Lurize was talking with Kahala, discussing something about how to improve armor, "He is not exactly a species." "It''s a living armor. Sure, there are monsters like that but I don''t think we will ever see someone with his type of armor unless we are dealing with a doppelganger scenario," Hera passed a glass to the Enchanter, "On another topic. Since you are one of the only two people with legacies that are going to stay here, make sure to take care of everyone. I won''t say for you to wait for me to explore Deakoshara, but be careful. Something killed all the Naga. Maybe it was just a disease or internal conflict, but maybe it was something else. And make sure to prioritize everyone''s safety. Don''t get over excited about whatever you find there and leave this place undefended. Risli also has one but hers is strictly for healing." Shane nodded, "I will. And you be sure to watch your back. The guild probably won''t come here unless they are in a bind, which means that you will likely be closer to them than us. Not to mention the whole idea was for you to help with supply lines, wasn''t it? That kind of job is dangerous during wartime. Besides, there is a small chance that Risli, Alex, and I won''t be the only ones with legacies here." "What do you mean?" Hera frowned. "Bonnie didn''t talk to you?" "Not yet. What happened?" "I''ll let her tell you. Don''t worry, it''s a good thing. I think." "Empress! Can is there a way to share our status window with everyone? I think it''s easier than answering all these questions about what we can do," Crimson asked from the other side of the room. "I can open it on my tablet, hang on," Hera grabbed the tray with full cups and walked back to the group. It didn''t take long for her to pull up the status screen for the Spymasters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Viper & Crimson - Naga Twin Daggers - Scryotra Viper: Total Stats: 654 Strength: 145 Endurance: 127 Agility: 82 Charisma: 82 Intelligence: 82 Luck: 100 Mana 3 568 974/3 568 974 Weapon Scaling: Strength x 14.5, Charisma x 11.8, Luck x 10, Endurance x 8.2, Agility x 8.2, Intelligence x 8.2 Crimson: Total Stats: 660 Strength: 82 Endurance: 82 Agility: 153 Charisma: 82 Intelligence: 135 Luck: 126 Manna 4 111 856/4 111 856 Weapon Scaling: Agility x 15.3, Intelligence x 13.5, Luck x 12.6, Strength x 8.2, Endurance x 8.2, Charisma x 8.2 Passive Shared Skills: Two Fight as One: When within 10 meters of each other, Viper and Crimson will be affect by each other''s attributes and weapon scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. This effect can only be applied to Viper and Crimson. Naga attunement: All skills and spells that Viper and Crimson have are considered Naga spells or skills. All skills and spells that do not need to be converted have their effects increased by 50% Blessing of the Stealth Spirit: Viper and Crimson were blessed by a Stealth Spirit. This allows them to control how hard is to perceive their presence even without any skills active. When using a stealth based skill or spell, the effects are doubled. Unparalleled collaboration: Viper and Crimson work together with a near flawless precision. Hidden Strike: Attacks made without warning the target will deal 50% more damage. Viper''s Passive skills Enhanced Poison: When using any poison-related spells or skills Viper increase the poison effect by 30% Snake''s Cunning: Viper''s mind gains a greater benefit from intelligence allowing him to process information 20% faster than his intelligence would allow. Crimson''s Passive skills: Rending Blade: Crimson''s attacks can cause the target to receive a grievous wound, reducing any healing that it receives by 20% Serpent''s Hold: Crimson''s muscle gains a greater benefit from strength, increasing the force behind her muscles by 20% more than what her strength would allow. Shared Active skills: Alluring Presence: By activating this skill, your target will feel attracted to whoever activates this skill. Mana Cost: 300 mana per target affected Hidden Frontal Screen: When active, this skill will allow the user to hide from almost anything that is in front of it. Mana Cost: 0.5% total mana per second. 2% if the user is moving. Guardian''s Form: Viper and Crimson and join together, taking on a new form. In this form, their attributes are added together, and their skills are 100% more effective. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.Mana cost: 90% total mana. Duration: 1 minute. Cooldown: 24 hours. Forms available: Scryper, Crimotra Viper and Crimson can take this form without increasing their attributes and the power of their skills. Doing so reserve 10% of their mana pool, the duration becomes unlimited and there is no cooldown. Viper''s Active skills: Grasping Strike: Viper deals a blow that binds the target temporarily. The duration of the bind depends on the strength of the target. Mana Cost: 500 mana Acid Spray: Viper can spray acid from his fangs, the gas released by this chemical can also poison those who come in contact with it. Viper is also able to control the type of acid used for this skill to a certain degree. Mana cost: 300 000 mana. Crimson''s Active skills: Bloody Claw: Crimson launches a long-range attack made out of blood. Depending on how much mana was spent, the attack can be performed with one, two, or three claws. If exposed blood is nearby it can be used to increase the power of this skill as long as the blood is not inside a living being. Mana Cost: 300, 600, 1 200 Mana. Distance: 50 meters Demolisher: Crimson can turn her body into an unstoppable force. She gains increased damage against any structure and against shielded targets. The more she is able to destroy, the more powerful her attacks will become. Mana cost: 20% total mana. Initial damage increase: 20% Maximum damage increase: 400% Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 20 minutes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wow¡­ You guys can do a lot of stuff," Alex gasped. "Yeah, but what is that transformation?" Bonnie turned to Hera, "How do they look when transformed?" "I actually don''t know. They just got here. We didn''t have a chance to test what they could do," Hera turned to the twins. Do you even know?" Viper shook his head in a mix of yes and no, "Sort of. Like we don''t know what we will look like but we do know what will happen to us." "Yeah. Crimotra is the form that keeps my skills and Scryper can use Vipers," Crimson added. "She means if we don''t use the full effect. If we do, whatever form he uses will have all skills," Viper finished explaining just to make it clear. "I see, and do you want to show us your forms? Or would you rather not?" Hera asked. "I''m ok with it," Viper nodded. "I guess. I mean, it''s not something I want to be doing all the time, but I''m ok showing," Crimsons sighed. "I don''t want to make you feel bad. If it makes you uncomfortable you don''t have to," Hera said. "No, no. It''s on. One day you will know about it anyway," Crimson let out a long sigh, "Do do you mind if we start with mine? Get it out of the way faster." "Sure," Viper nodded, and the two clasped hands, holding each other''s wrists. Suddenly, they disappeared completely. Just like how they disappeared when they became titled blades. Hera still was able to sense them and see their outline if she focused, but she didn''t. This was a fun situation and she wanted to be surprised with everyone else. When they appeared again, the two were now a single creature. One with the lower body of a snake exactly like Crimsons, and the upper body was insect-like, with a deep red exoskeleton covering a brighter red skin. The arms were that of a praying mantis, but instead of regular claws, the daggers were in its place. One red and one white with the scale pattern that Hera know so well. The face was also very different. It was a mix of the insect and Crimson herself. Her eyes were bigger and more to the side, and her mouth had some extra mandibles that could grab things that got too close. "This is Crimotra. I control the body, and Viper does for me what Dusa does for you, Hera," Crimson''s voice was deeper and it had a skittering to it. A sound that made anyone who heard it feel like bugs were crawling over their ears. "And those are the daggers?" Hera pointed to the claws. Crimson nodded with her half mantis head, "Yeah, the scaling and skills the weapons have are the same. Well, sort of. I can''t use Viper''s skills like this. But I can use my own with either dagger," Crimotra''s entire body shook, "Ok, I don''t like how my voice sounds like. This is worse than I thought. I''m changing to Viper''s form now." Crimotra disappeared, with the twins showing up again in their separate forms. Without giving anyone a chance to say anything, they clasped hands one more time and vanished. When their new form appeared, Hera understood exactly what was going on. The lower half of their body was scorpion-like, including a tail with a stinger, but it wasn''t as long. From where the head of the scorpion should be, Hera could see the abdomen of Viper. There was no change aside from the size. Both alternate forms were much bigger than their separated bodies, getting about the same height as Lurize, but still not close to Livy who towered over everyone else. Viper was holding each dagger in one of his hands. "This is Scryper. Depending on the situation I''m more mobile. I''m also better at facing various enemies since I have many legs here," Viper stopped talking for a moment and rolled his eyes, "Fine! Crim is asking to explain her form since she couldn''t. Crimotra is better at stealth and is much faster than me. There is a reason why people praise mantis for their speed. It''s also better for facing a single enemy since she can use the tail to constrict the target," they disappeared again and returned to their normal forms. "I understand the names now. It''s half you two and half Scryotra, right?" Hera said with a smile. "Yeah, I think so. It makes me kind of happy," Crimson opened a big smile, but that didn''t last long. Everyone else started bombarding the two with questions as the party continued. Later on that evening, while everyone was still drinking, eating and having fun, Hera managed to catch Bonnie in the kitchen refilling the snacks bowls that were empty, "Hey! Before I forget. Shane mentioned something with you and a legacy. What''s that about?" "Right! I completely forgot to talk to you about this," Bonnie quickly closed the rod and made the gesture to ask for a soundproof bubble. Hera frowned with the reaction but used the spell around them, "So, remember that thing Helena found back in the cave? The one with lights?" "Yeah. Did you figure out what it was?" "So, that is pointing somewhere in the room. We are not entirely sure where the light currently hits a few trees. We still need to triangulate the position properly, or cut some of the trees down to clear a path. But that''s not the important part. When the moon is high in the sky, aside from the lights hitting those holes, there is also another picture that is drawn in the cave. A constellation." From the way Bonnie was speaking, it seemed like she was trying to hint at something, but Hera couldn''t remember anything about a constellation. Sure, the researcher had a staff that used star based powers, but that was it. "You don''t remember don''t you?" "Sorry," Bonnie chuckled, "That''s fine. Do you remember which member of the court of heroes I was searching for?" "The Astral Witch, right? OH SHIT!" Hera gasped, finally connecting the dots. "Yes! The only things I had about them was that constellation and the name of a city. When we saw those lights. I double checked and I think people mistranslated that name. If the Astral Witch said she was going to whatever city she was going to, I think they just wrote it by ear. I tried reverse engineering the translation to see what other words could be, and check this out," Bonnie pulled out her tablet and showed a list with about two dozen different phrases. But one was marked in bold letters ''Krath Za Xal Amatro,''"If you split those words differently it will say ''Krath Zaxalam tro'' which means ''I go Old Zaxalam.''" Hera looked at the words, then at Bonnie, "You know, if you didn''t preface this by saying you already found her constellation I would say you are grasping at straws. But having this as a follow up changes things." "I know right." "Man, it sucks that I can''t be here to help. I mean, with Nimbus I probably could track the sigh from above and help setting things up," Hera sighed. "Hey, don''t worry. Worst case scenario. I find a legacy without you. You can help me practice with it later," Bonnie chuckled. "Yeah," the Empress felt a bit down, but she quickly changed the subject, "Oh, but what about Lena? Isn''t she upset? I mean, she found it." "We talked about this. If it really is the Astral Witch legacy, then I''ll take it. If it''s any other, it''s hers. But the big problem is Alex." "Why Alex?" Hera tilted her head. "Well, she''s struggling with her legacy. I mean, after she got it we just rushed back and she wasn''t able to put it in practice all that much. Then, she realized that low level dungeons and monsters don''t tend to use many buffs and things like that. Everything aside from purging effects on others is very defensive and she doesn''t know what to do." "I see¡­" Hera looked at the snacks, "Even when I''m gone, I''ll try to send texts with ideas to her." Bonnie grabbed the now filled bowl, "It''s a good call. Now let''s get back. If I keep hogging you all to myself your dad will give me an earful," the researcher smiled as the two went back to the party to enjoy this moment of peace before what was about to come. 762 - Meeting a new party Hera arrived in the Arie on the first flight at around 2 P.M. Typhera told her the meeting with her new party was supposed to start at 4, and they would spend the day there before starting to travel for their missions. The Queen didn''t greet the Ophidianite, but she sent one of her assistants for that. Apparently, she was busy dealing with some issues related to the movement of troops. Ever since the beginning of the war, there have been no large battles. Both sides were still moving their pieces around the board and doing a whole lot of posture, but they all knew that wouldn''t last. The fact was, the humans were on the back foot during this conflict. Sure, they had the numbers, but they were facing several kingdoms, and it would take at least a few months for them to train new people who would be more than just bodies in a ditch. However, there was one simple reason why they needed to finish this as quickly as possible. Their levels. All doorways connected to Earth were located in the first layer, without exception. This meant that humans were able to control a large area, but they would be on lower layers. Their most advanced stronghold was only on layer 15, but aside from that, most places they controlled were on layers 11 and below. This allowed the newly named MAZE Alliance to grow beyond level 30 at a much better pace than their enemies. Even so, it wasn''t all sunshine and rainbows for the sentient species of the MAZE. If they wanted to make new soldiers, they would have to create groups with people strong enough to carry them through the early levels, and that was an issue. Military experts say the war would only last a few years despite the scale. The reasoning was that if the humans weren''t able to win in the first five years, they wouldn''t be able to recuperate their losses. Their army would be too weak to make a dent in the high-level army of the MAZE Alliance. This was all considering their plans of merging spirits with people wouldn''t work, and they didn''t have any other ''secret weapons,'' of course. But theorizing about those things wasn''t good for morale, so the leadership was being careful not to float those ideas around the population. The Ophidianite was guided to a large meeting room with a few chairs and a small table with pastries, fruits, juice, and coffee. Inside, four people were already sitting in the chairs, making small talk. "Oh¡­ Sorry. Am I late?" Hera asked while looking around. An elf with short, curly lavender hair and a youthful smile pulled her tablet, "No, no. We were scheduled to meet at 3. You are still early." Hera let out a relieved sigh, "I''m glad. And at least I wasn''t the last to arrive," she joked. "Yeah¡­ about that.." A triton with large ears that looked like the fins of a lionfish pointed to a chair with a coat on top of it, "The dwarf went to the bathroom. So you are the last one. But you are not late. We still have a good 15 minutes before that." Hera just nodded and pulled one of the chairs for her to sit while placing her bag on the side. She noticed that the small beastman with a wide streak of white hair in the middle of his head and a male harpy with black feathers, baggy pants, and a transparent cape were chatting, not even realizing that she had arrived. The Ophidianite turned back to the triton, "Do you guys already know each other?" "I don''t, and I don''t think anyone else does it either," the triton shook her head and pulled a fan made out of reef. She started waving it at herself as small droplets of water splashed her. "I believe no one knows each other. Or at least, that was the intention behind this group. Elara told me that this group, in particular, was supposed to be made up of people who have no connection to each other. I have no idea why. I should''ve asked," the elf frowned and looked at the harpy and beastman, "They started to get along well after the harpy asked about what the beastman does to take care of his fur." "Hey!" the harpy protested, "I have a name, you know." "Well¡­None of us actually introduced ourselves, so calling you by your species was the easiest way. I thought that saying ''the guy in the transparent cape'' might make you think I was taking a stab at your clothing. Which I''m not. It''s really pretty," the elf explained. "Yeah, and I loved that top. It''s open back, right?" the triton chimed in, pointing at the harpy''s shirt, which was almost like black, a sleeveless t-shirt that was tucked inside his pants. The big difference from what others would wear was the sleeves or lack of them. His shoulder was completely exposed, and the opening reached the beginning of his spec, only connecting to the rest of the cloth after his sixth rib. The shirt also fit his body perfectly, leaving no cloth to move around. "This? Oh, this is like a simple T-shirt for us. We can''t actually use things with sleeves, or we can''t fly. But if we are talking about clothes. Those boots. I have no words. I mean, is that actual coral?" the harpy asked the triton, who was wearing a pair of knee-high purple boots with several straps going all the way to her feet. And right at the top, there were a couple of coral formations pointing to the sides. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "It is! This is one of the things we use to make our life more comfortable in places without a lot of water. I asked a friend to modify these gorgeous boots so I always feel like I''m walking on water," the triton said with a smile. Hera frowned, "I''m sorry if this is offensive, but I never had that much contact with Tritons. But is that a problem? Like not being close to water? Do you need it to survive?" "Well, we do need to drink water, and if you are asking, if we dry up. The answer is sort of. Our skin gets really dry and cracks a bit, but it''s not exactly painful, just uncomfortable. We do get more thirsty when we are like that, but pretty much every triton learns some water spells to feel comfortable. I''ll warn you that every single article of clothing I have is enchanted to feel wet all the time. To me, that''s amazing, but other species tend to not enjoy the feeling." Before they were able to continue their conversation, the dwarf who had left for the bathroom came back. Seeing that the party was now complete, he started speaking right away, "I know we are a bit early, but since we are all here. How about we all introduce ourselves? I don''t want to be calling everyone you all the time." "Sure," the harpy smiled as he and the beastman pulled their chairs closer to the others, "Who wants to start?" "You are already talking, so go for it," the beastman replied. "Great!" the harpy opened a large smile as he stood up on the chair so everyone could take a good look at him. He had mostly black feathers, but the ones on his lower neck, growling like part of his hair, were pure white and yellow eyes. The baggy pants would reach between his knee and ankle, where they tightened to stop it from moving, and instead of shoes, he had what could be described as fingerless socks, but they were made out of white leather and still allowed his feet to move properly, "I''m Rash, but you can call me Vash. As you can see, I am a harpy. I know it''s a shock to see someone as handsome as me. I''m level 38, and I''m a performer. This means that my skill set is more about communication and sound. But I also have some songs that can buff us or hinder monsters. And my weapon of choice is," he made a dramatic pause and pulled a pair of maracas from his wain using his feet, "The maraca. I can control the sound that comes from them to turn it into various instruments. Aside from that. I''m a pretty open book. You can ask me anything, and I''ll answer. I like music, obviously. Especially musicals. Oh! As my stage skill, I can make a kind of warning system. An array of lights in the sky triggers depending on who is below it. It''s less flashy than you might think, and I can make it invisible to everyone but me." Vash took a bow and jumped, twirling in the air before gently sitting back on his seat. He then turned to the left to the beastman, who nodded and climbed on his chair. The man had a lot of fur on his back and behind his arms, which looked a bit longer than they should be. His eyes were a golden orange like the sunset, and he had a pair of tiny round ears on the top of his head. He was wearing a pair of clawed shoes and brown leather pants together with a beige pelt as a half skirt. The other half of his belt had a few animal skulls, but it was hard to tell which animal they came from. On his upper body, there was a simple white shirt that looked a bit too big for him. "I''m Roan. Beastman fighter. Level 37. I come from the Honey Badger tribe. We are a resilient bunch, and it takes a lot to take us out." Hera nodded, "Yeah," making everyone turn to her with confused expressions, while Roan''s eyes flared up with anger, "Oh. Sorry. I just know about honey badgers. I know badass they are." The answer seemed to calm the man down, and he continued, "Then you know we can take pretty much anything. The skin on my back is loose, so if something grabs me from there, I can spin around to free myself. Also," Roan took a deep breath, "The chieftain told me to tell you everything. So, to keep that promise, I''ll explain one thing. I fight using a pair of hand axes or my hands. I can use a skill called ''Beast Armor.'' It''s something only we can do. Beastman, I mean. Basically, I tap into my animal self, getting stronger and going on a frenzy. The problem is it''s hard to control, and there is a chance that I will see everyone as an enemy. We are trained to have some trigger words to help us regain control, and I''ll share them with you all later, or you can try to knock me out. This is more of an emergency resource, but everyone should know." Roan sat back down and gestured to the next in line, the dwarf. The man nodded, "I''m not getting up. I might be small, but everyone can see me just fine. Then again, in this group I''m not the only one on the smaller side," he glanced at Roan and Vash, both who were just a dozen centimeters taller than him, "My name is Flint. I''m a level 40 crafter," he stopped talking for a moment and groaned, "Fuck I have to get up." The man stood up, letting Hera get a good look at him for the first time. He was about 120 centimeters tall and had long brown hair and a long beard, with the sides of his head shaved and tattooed. His mustache would curl up, showing he paid a lot of attention to his appearance. He put on his long brown coat, which seemed heavier than it looked, and put on a wide-brim hat that was hidden underneath it. "I may be a crafter, but I''m a front liner. I fight with my fists. Well, these fists," he closed his hands, and the coat shifted. It formed a metallic exoskeleton connecting his legs, back, shoulder, and arms. It wasn''t full armor, and most of his body was still exposed. His fists turned into spiked hammers powered by a mana piston, "Now, before you say anything. I know this doesn''t look like the best idea. Armors like this usually can''t handle the strength high-level explorers use and break apart constantly. And you would be right. But I have a skill that constantly repairs any items I''m using, plus some others that can increase the durability. I can also make some bombs and tools on the fly. As well as shields and other smaller weapons, but this," he banged the metal hammers together, "Is my bread and butter." His exoskeleton returned to the coat form, which was now clearly metal, and Flint sat back down, looking at the next in line, Hera. 763 - First assigment Everyone was looking at Hera, waiting for her introduction. She had thought about it before meeting them and replied with her rehearsed answer, "I can go now, but you will probably have many questions. So we can come back to all that after everyone introduces themselves. There are a few things I want to show you and people I want to introduce" the last line raised a few eyebrows, but she just shrugged them aside, "I''m Hera. Level 39, and an explorer. I''m also an Ophidianite, but I was human until¡­ I want to say a month and a half ago. I don''t really remember since I was in hiding and going through some stuff. And jumped right into changing species, which was weird, and I slept a lot after it. Amway, I use various weapons, from spears to daggers and anything with a blade. I also have some poison spells, and my poison is powerful, but I stopped focusing on that a while ago. The reason for that is because I got a legacy," she took a quick glance around, noticing that aside from the triton and Vash, no one seemed surprised, "I''m assuming some of you already knew?" "I did. Elara talked about it but didn''t go into details," the elf replied. "Same here. But it was the King who told me," Flint added. "The Spirit Shaman for me, but he did mention the name. Court of Blades, right?" Roan asked. Hera just nodded, "That''s fine. I kind of figured it wouldn''t be a secret anymore. Basically, I can ''destroy'' a weapon and add it to my legacy. That way, they gain their own egos and can move independently, but they must be within a certain range. I can only have a certain limit of court members at all times. Currently, my limit is 7. I also have special versions of them called ''Titled Blades.'' They are not the same as the other court members. They are permanent and can grow with me," Hera turned to the side and called Lurize out. The sizeable beetle armor appeared and waved at the group. "I am Lurize. The blade with the Royal Tutor title. I hope we can get along," he gave a slight bow. "And this is Daskka," Hera called her herald, "She''s a construct that is now the herald of the legacy. I can talk with her, and she is generally with me all the time. I hope that doesn''t bother anyone." Daskka waved at everyone but turned to Hera, "Just for the record, your limit is 8. You have 7." "What? My limit is 8? Since when?" Hera turned to the snake, who was already around her shoulders. "It happened when we were in the Pinnacle Mountain. I told you about it, but it''s not like we could get a new weapon then. After it, there was just so much going on that I kind of forgot to remind you," Daskka scratched her cheek with her tail. "OK then. One correction. My limit is 8. I''ll have to stop by a blacksmith again before we head out." There was a pause as the group digested the information, but Flint was the one to speak first, "And you say you can have 7 of those? Sorry, 8," he pointed at Lurize. "No, I can have 8 of these," Hera called Ember, who was floating around her, "Lurize is the special case, and he is not included in the count. None of the titled blades are." "And how many titled blades do you have?" the triton closed her fan to pay more attention. "Technically four, but one of them is a special case that counts as one. I should be able to get another 2, but the requirements are a bit complicated," Hera turned to her court members, "Do you mind going back? Just until the introductions are over." Ember and Lurize nodded and vanished in the mist, returning to the legacy as the Empress continued, "Like I said, I imagine you have a lot of questions, and we will have time for them, but let''s meet everyone first," she turned to the elf at her side. "Thank you, but I''m not sure how I can top that introduction. I feel like everything I say will be overshadowed now," the elf sighed but continued, "My name is Skylar. I am a controller, and I also use music to fight, but it''s more about rhythmic attacks and disrupting skills or spells. I think we can do some fun things together Vash," she opened a large smile that almost felt contagious. It was just pure glee to be placed in a group where someone shared that interest that warmed everyone''s heart. The elf wore a light purple summer dress with a few black leather straps filled with various glyphs and spell circles. She had a golden bracelet and chocker with another necklace, but this one was green and had a single pressed white flower in the middle. As she spoke, her dress looked as if it was being constantly caressed by the wind, even if there was none in the room they were in. After reaching out to a small pouch on the side, she pulled a small golden harmonica with green inlays, "This is my weapon of choice. My parents forced me to learn an instrument, and this was the only one that I could keep in my pocket to pretend I was practicing when they arrived. My plan didn''t work, and I actually liked learning this. Only later did I realize that there are things similar to this, but I already had my favorite," Skylar noticed Flint''s and Roan''s expressions and cleared her throat, "Right. It''s not important right now. Sorry. I was very sheltered when I was young. It took a lot to even convince my parents to let me go to school instead of having private tutors, and I only got permission to travel around the MAZE in the last couple of years. When the war was announced, I stepped in to help." "Why did you do that?" Vash asked, "Sorry, it just sounds like you had a pretty good life. I don''t know why you would volunteer for this." "You are not wrong. And this might be a cultural thing, but we elves believe in noblesse oblige. It means that if we lived a good life or a good period of our life, we need to pay it back when needed. Be it helping build houses in less fortunate places, fighting on rampages, or whatever. It''s our duty. But also, war is scary. I wanted to help, but I didn''t know what I would do on the front line. When Elara mentioned groups like this, I felt like it was a good way to help." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "What about you, Vash?" Flint asked. "Me? Oh, it''s kind of similar. I figured that people might be scared, and I wanted to help them realize that things will be ok. You?" Vash turned to Roan. "To prove myself. The chieftain is against having anyone with the Beast Armor skill on the front lines, so this is the best next thing. Flint?" "Crafters are in high demand right now. It was either this or forced me to spend my days inside a forge working on mass production. I also really wanted to punch a human in the face," he glanced at Hera, "No offense." "None taken. I''m no longer a human. And trust me, depending on who we end up finding, Roan won''t be the only one who will need people to stop him." "Why is that?" the trios asked. "I was part of the team who rescued people that were being experimented on. I saw what humans were doing. That''s not something that can be forgiven." "Oh! You''re that Hera?!" Flint gasped, "Things make more sense now. I was wondering why the King trusted a former human with this." "I heard about you too. Weren''t you the first person to find a Wendigo, too? Outside the wall break, I mean," Skylar asked. "Yep, that''s also me. The thing about finding a kingdom of dwarves is also true. And I was in Dzviery when the centaur attacked." "Damn, girl. You''ve been busy," the triton chuckled. "You can say that again," Hera smiled, "But what about you? We ended up going to a different topic." The triton smiled, her dark red lips curling up slightly. Her eyes were blue like the water on a paradisaic island, and her long hair changed colors from a deep purple to a vibrant when reaching the tips. She was wearing a long open shoulder dress with sleeves that started a bit above the elbow, "I''m not sure I can follow up with any of you. But I''m Neria, and I''m a level 35 healer. I use water to heal and attack when I need to, and I know a bit of hand-to-hand combat. I also have a staff that lets me make various types of water. Like salt water, thermal, and even some simple herb mixes, and I use them to improve the best. Even among Tritons, I really love water. That''s why I love people and became a healer. After all, everyone is mostly water. And the reason I''m here is my dad. This is actually my second option. I wanted to be on the front lines to help heal people, but my dad has a high position in the military. He was against his ''little girl'' going to the front lines. We argued a lot, but eventually, he said that he wouldn''t be able to control the troops properly if he knew I was in one of the battalions. So, as a compromise, he let me be a part of these groups since he wouldn''t be in charge of our assigned missions." "I see. Well, for what''s worth. I''m sorry you had to settle for us, but we will have fun! And help many people," Vash said with a big smile. "Of course. I''m not complaining about it. And I hope no one understands this as me complaining about you. I''m happy to be here, and you all seem great!" Neria smiled back. "You seem nice too. Also, it''s not like you are the only one with those issues. From what I understood, Roan is kind of in the same boat. He wanted to be in the front line but couldn''t, right?" Flint turned to the beastman. Roan nodded but then stopped and shook his head, "Sort of. It''s not 100% the same, but the sentiment is very similar." After saying that, there was a pause, and Skylar spoke up, "Ok, does any have any other questions? Or can we deal with this one?" she pointed both thumbs at Hera. "I think we can go for her. I only need to share the trigger words to help me get back if I lose control with the Beast Armor, but I can send you all a message and you memorize it," Roan said. "Oh, I can have my court remembering that. Then we won''t have to worry so much about forgetting about it," Hera replied excitedly. "Ok, we really need to talk about what you can do," Flint sighed. Hera started explaining a bit more about the nuances of her skills. She still kept some details to herself, like the Royal Seal or the Bestow Gift skills, since that was something that wouldn''t matter much to the rest. In addition, she introduced everyone to Nimbus, Viper, Crimson, and Livy, who had to stay on one knee due to the ceiling of the meeting room. She also showed them how she would add a new blade to her court. The Empress also removed Edge and Dao since both were already falling behind the others. Doing that kind of thing now hurts less due to the [Blade Graveyard] skill. Even if they wouldn''t remember things that happened when they became part of the skill, she could still meet them when she missed the blades. The new additions were called Autumn, a large glaive with a green shaft and a blade colored the autumn leaves. The pommel had some small thorns that would create a spectral armor when a skill was active. And Tide, a trident that resembled a sea serpent with the prongs being its tongue. This weapon became more powerful when close to a significant body of water, and Livy, due to her water mana, was considered a significant body of water. Adding that with Neria, the weapon could become stronger than Hera expected. When the important questions were over, they asked more about curiosities, such as what it was like hearing voices in her mind or if she had privacy. Queen Typhera appeared, apologizing and explaining to them about their first mission. "I''m glad you are all getting along, and I''m afraid that I''ll have to ask you to leave in the morning. We just got a message from the Krashak Plains. It seems they have a Wendigo problem. After you deal with that problem, just send a message to the number Milla here is going to give you, and you will receive the next mission. Also, there might be cases where the situation is a bit more sensitive, so we will only tell you where to go and who to look for. You will get the details in person. Milla will be one of your contacts, but you don''t have to worry about saving a bunch of numbers. All the communicator will be done through the same one," as soon as Typhera finished speaking, another harpy whispered something to her, "Now. I wanted to talk more with you all, but I have to go. No rest for the royalty apparently," she sighed, "If you need anything, intel, items, or whatever, just tell Milla. She will see what we can do about it." Milla was a small harpy, even for her species. She was carrying a book in one wing and wore a pair of glasses that were snapped to her head like swimming goggles, "Yes! I''m here to help. Whatever you need, just let me know." Hera nodded, "OK, then we need a list of all the monsters that live in that room. All of them, including the ones that are unique or rare. Also, if anyone went missing in the nearby rooms, we need to know. Especially what they could do and the powers they had," she stopped herself, realizing that the team might not agree with what she was asking, "Sorry. I didn''t mean to take charge." "No, no. It''s fine. I don''t have any experience with wendigos. What about you all?" Flint looked around, but everyone nodded, "Yeah, so go for it. Take point." Hera nodded and continued talking with Milla, listing a large number of things that might make a Wendigo more powerful or more weird. She had studied a lot about the monsters and refused to let one of them roam free. 764 - Krashak Plains "You know. I thought this was going to taste awful, but it''s kind of growing on me," Vash said with a smile, and he slowly glided beside the rest of the group to stretch his wings a bit. "Me too. I''m still trying to figure out what that taste is," Neria looked over the small vial of essence that was now empty. "A few friends and I talked about this. We figured out it tasted like tap water. Like clean tap water, with that hint of metal coming from the pipes," Hera replied as she stretched. They were all in a carriage made by Flint while Nimbus pulled them along. The sentinel was strong enough to do that without a problem, even if that meant he would need to rest for a while before being able to fight. The Empress offered to make the carriage herself, but the version made by the dwarf was not just cheaper but much better. It had a proper suspension and an intricate set of gears that would assist with the movement by using the rotation of the front wheels to rotate the ones in the back. Using something like that rescued the maximum speed that the carriage could reach, but they were not in a sprint at the moment, but a marathon. "That''s it!" Skylar gasped, "It feels like we are drinking through a metal straw!" "Yeah, now that you mention it, I can taste it," Roan nodded. "Is it really ok for us to be drinking this? And using the bracelets?" Flint turned to Hera. "Are you asking because none of you want to become Ophidianites?" Hera asked, her tail dangling outside of the carriage being caressed by the wind. "Well¡­ yes," Flint admitted. "It''s fine," Hera waved him off, "Even if you don''t want to become an Ophidianite, the skills can help. And we need all the help we can get. Besides, I left four of those back in Zaxalam. I decided to keep one with me just in case. Who knows, maybe I''ll find someone who really wants to join my species. As long as I can have my own essence, I''m okay with sharing." "Fair enough, and I do appreciate you giving us the chance to get those skills. Most of the skills you talked about should help us a lot. The poison one is the only one I''m iffy about," Flint replied. "I''m more worried about the scales. The look is great for you, Hera, but I don''t know if I would like to have them," Skyler looked at her arms. "You don''t have to. Even when mine got to rank 6, it wasn''t showing. Well, it was, but you had to be at the right angle against the light and be paying really close attention. And I mean really close," Hera explained as they continued to move with the carriage. Just before leaving the Aerie of the First Flight, Queen Typhera told the group to keep with the three-crossing rule. They didn''t have the luxury to risk one of them getting stuck somewhere. It had been two days since they started traveling, and tomorrow, they would be at their destination, the Krashak Plains. It was just a shame that this was the third room of the day, meaning they wouldn''t be able to sleep in Hera''s private room. Then again, Flint was able to make some pretty decent camps with his crafting skill, and Hera could reinforce any defenses with her stone walls. Not to mention have her court members staying on the lookout for monsters. The blades who stayed up all night would need to rest after it, but just a couple of hours would be more than enough for them, instead of the full 8 hours of sleep that the non-construct party members would require. Despite that, the rest of the party offered to share that burden. They offered to be part of the rotation so everyone could have their full rest, even if Hera herself wouldn''t be bothered by her court being out. The Empress accepted that, especially since it would be a good way to bond with the other members, but on days like today, things were different. Tomorrow, they would have to chase a wendigo, and all of them needed to be in the best shape possible for it. Even if the monsters were from a room in the 11th layer. When they were about 10 kilometers away from the doorway, Hera felt her tablet vibrate. It was an alarm that she had set up to ring every 2 hours. After turning it off, she reached Ariadne . Noticing that Roan asked, "Are you going to ask another question?" "Yeah," Hera nodded. "Can you give us a review of what you already figured out?" Neria requested. Despite the comfort, the carriage was small, and it was hard to have any conversations that everyone couldn''t hear. "Sure. We know the wendigo already is stronger than the maximum level of the layer. So the level is higher than 31. It''s using the tunnels that the rabbits in the room made to hide, and it has already changed the entire color of its body. This means that it ate enough to be something completely different from its original form. Also, it has killed at least one explorer. I tried asking about the number, but it wasn''t working, so either it is on the double digits, or the the information about the exact number costs more than my entire mana pool. Now I''m trying to narrow down the area where the wendigo is," the Ophidianite showed the map on her tablet. It was split into a grid of 8 x 8, "The last question told me it was on the left side of the map. So now I made things smaller, and I''m going to ask if it is to the right or left of the second column." "Wouldn''t that be a waste? I mean, if we are only getting there tomorrow, what''s the point?" Vash landed on the carriage. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "It has to leave tracks. There are no monsters and no missing explorers in the area that can completely cover their tracks," Roan explained since he helped Hera come up with the questions, "If we have a starting point tomorrow, it will be easier than having to comb through the entire room." "Especially since we are dealing with a place covered in tunnels. From the information we have, the city had to be built with a large metal dome underneath it to avoid having those rabbits dug directly under them," Flint added. "I also have one other skill, the one some explorers have to find things out. But it will be a bit of a gamble. If I use it right away, I might be able to narrow down the location of the wendigo, or I might waste it completely and have to use it to gather other types of information," Hera finished explaining and asked the question she said she would ask. The visor in Ariadne lit up, and the word ''Neither'' appeared. "Does that mean you didn''t get an answer?" Skylar asked. Hera smiled. "Nope. That''s the best answer I could''ve gotten. I asked if the wendigo was to the left or to the right of the second column. Neither means it is on the second column," showing the map to everyone, they noticed that there was a large chunk of that area marked as a habitat for the stronger kind of rabbit, as well as the Pyramid Crows who had pyramid-shaped beaks that opened in three sides. They were very intelligent and could shriek to disorient their prey or even mimic other voices. On the corners of the room, the terrain became more rock, and caves were hard to come by. The only ones there were larger and were created by the rain passing through the cracks in the ground and leaving beyond the invisible wall of the room. "That''s great!" Vash gasped, "It means that we can try to narrow it down even more tomorrow. Then you just need to ask if the Wendigo is still in the same place or not. Right?" "I would have to phrase the question a bit differently, but yeah," Hera smiled. The group continued with their travel, bouncing back and forth between discussing strategies and getting to know each other better. Skylar and Vash quickly became friends due to their melodic combat style, but they didn''t share the same taste in music. Vash was more of an electronic and EDM kind of guy, while Skylar preferred ballads or bossa nova. Roan really liked rap, and his love for classic rock was shared by Flint and Neria, but the country was enjoyed only by the dwarf. On the flip side, they realized that their front line was much stronger than their back line. Neria, Skylar, and Vash could function as the artillery, and they were supposed to have another 3 members as front liners. Roan, Flint, and Hera. But when adding the court, the scales tipped heavily toward melee. Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, Viper, and Crimson all fought with their weapons, and there was no mid-range option among them. In the end, the Empress decided to have Nimbus working as a backline support. He would try to protect the three in the back, using his shield spells and skills to stop any incoming attacks. Lurize also noticed the imbalance and was currently trying to teach all the titled blades, including himself, how to use long-range spells. Things like Hera''s poison needle or basic elemental blasts. During most of the trip, they would be in their weapon forms, trying to learn how to use mana differently while getting some advice from Hera and Daskka. They had the freedom to learn spells on their own, and it was time they actually took advantage of it. When they finally arrived at the doorway, they prepared their camp and rested for the night. Hera continued asking Ariadne questions, but it seemed like the wendigo was on the move. She was first able to narrow it down between lines D and E, but then when she asked a question to determine which of the lines it was, she got an answer that it wasn''t in either of those. The Krashak Plains was not a large room, being only around 15 km2, so traveling even from the opposite edge of the D line to the F line in 2 hours wouldn''t be hard, even at a walking pace. Before dinner, the group took another chance to show off their skills just to share what they could do like the previous day, but everyone was aware that this hunt would be a problem, not just because it was a wendigo. They didn''t have a chance to practice their teamwork. Be it in dungeons or just fighting random monsters. Milla explained through texts that the intention was to let them get used to each other first. However, when the information about the Wendigo came to light, they decided to send the closest team immediately. To fight one of those creatures, time was of the essence, and this one was already alive for longer than anyone would like it to be. The entire group was feeling a bit anxious, and when Vash offered to sing them all a lullaby, added with a spell to help them sleep better, no one refused. Viper and Crimson stayed awake to make sure nothing tried anything during the night, and soon, morning came. The Krashak Plains was a vast expanse adorned in a tapestry of vibrant greens that stretched as far as the eye could see. This expansive land was adorned with undulating grassy knolls, their emerald blades swaying in the gentle breeze that swept across the open field. The scent of damp earth and wildflowers lingered in the air, bringing memories of picnics and parks to those who had them. In the center of this landscape lay the solitary city, a haven amidst the natural splendor. Its structures were fashioned from locally quarried stone and yellow timber from the neighboring room. The city''s walls rose proudly, a testament to the resilience of its inhabitants against the dangers that lurked beyond its protective embrace. Yet, amid this serene beauty, an underlying tension pervaded the plains. Large, labyrinthine caves honeycombed the earth beneath, a hidden realm where the colossal rabbits dwelled in shadowy depths. These Behemoth Bunnies, a formidable menace, had carved out their underground sanctuaries, their existence shrouded in mystery and danger. Few dared to venture into the labyrinth of tunnels these creatures called home. Facing those creatures in the open ground was a trivial thing for most capable of reaching this place, but attempting to raid their domain would bring down even a seasoned hunter. Adding to the peril were the Pyramid Crows, sinister silhouettes that dotted the skies with their ominous presence. Their caws carried a chilling warning, serving as sentinels to the unwary, ever-watchful for an opportunity to strike. Luring those fools enough to be caught in their imitation to their inevitable doom. The edges of the plains, where the verdant grasslands met the jagged terrain, marked a transition into a foreboding landscape. Cracked rocks, weathered by time and tempests, jutted from the earth sporadically, bearing witness to an ancient upheaval. Here, large caves pockmarked the landscape, their dark mouths hinting at the unknown depths that lay beyond. And in the middle of all of this, there was a creature capable of unparalleled growth. A being that would become more powerful the more it was able to devour be it a monster, plant, or person. A wendigo. 765 - Hunting Supplies
As soon as they arrived in the Krashak Plains, Hera asked Ariadne another question about the location of the Wendigo. Trying to figure out its skills was a waste of time since the monster wouldn''t have a logical reason for what abilities it would get after eating. She was still following her battleship idea, asking if it was in, above, or below a certain row. But they wouldn''t be going there right away. Instead, their first stop would be in the city. The building that was once the guild had been torn down a few months after tensions started to grow, and almost all humans who lived in this room had left with only a handful left behind amidst the 15 thousand or so inhabitants of the town. Despite that, the idea behind a guild building still existed. A place where people could go to take quests that revolved around supplies or specific items. And most importantly, for the task at hand, it would allow Hera and her group to gather information about the wendigo. They already had some information, but it was one thing to talk through text or through a video call another to have a conversation face to face. The city didn''t have an actual name; it was just referred to as Krashak Plains City, and just like the underground barrier, it was mostly made out of metal. But their first stop was one of the hotels in the city. Every team who was traveling around the MAZE to help solve the various problems they were having could request rooms, and the fees would be sent to the Alliance of MAZE Species when within reason. For now, the group went inside a mid-range hotel and took 2 rooms, 1 for the man and 1 for the women. They agreed that going to a luxurious place was too much, but they had no reason not to enjoy some comfort. More important than any of that, the group came here just to drop off their larger bags. Everyone had their small pouches with small amounts of items and materials for their various spells. Things like potions, bundles of wires, whetstones, or bandages. Aside from that, they had a single bag with clothes, personal hygiene products, and larger camping equipment. Trying to hunt a wendigo while carrying all that was just plain stupid, and it wasn''t something they should do unless it was an emergency. With all that out of the way, the group headed toward the building that had replaced the guild. It was called Alliance Center, and they were getting increasingly more common around the MAZE. Despite the problems caused by the humans, a place like the guild was needed, and this was the best way to replace it. For now, most of the bureaucracy was still being worked on, which removed a lot of the hassle for both customers and those working there. Another difference was the look of the building. The guild had a standardized pattern that every single chapter had to follow. The Alliance Center was supposed to be the complete opposite. Aside from the symbol of the Alliance, which was still being worked on, each city would construct it like they wanted, including as much of their own personality as possible. The only requirement was to have a counter to talk with the clerks, a training area, an infirmary, and a drop-off station for those bringing items to complete their quests. Arriving there, there was already someone waiting for them, or at last, a clerk who had nothing to do but talk to them. "Hey! Are you the¡­ Rescue party? Emergency Group? I don''t know what you are calling this," the man asked. "Now that you mention it¡­ I don''t know either," Flint turned to the rest of the party, who also had the same issue. "Maybe Alliance Handymans?" Hera suggested. "Handyperson? To be more inclusive?" Skylar added. "The Alliance Handyones?" Roan frowned, "No, that doesn''t sound good." "We will figure something out. But yeah, it''s us," Flyin shrugged the ideas away, "Are you the contact? We heard someone escaped the wendigo. Is that you, too?" "No, that''s Merrik. I''ll give him a call. Just a moment," the clerk pulled his tablet and made the call. The conversation took only a few moments before he turned back to the party, "He will be right over. It''s been just two days since he came back, so he is still a bit shaken up. Especially since he lost his party there." "Lost, lost, or lost they are dead?" Flint asked. "Half and half from what I understand. But he can explain things better. Also¡­ try not to ask that question like that. He has been going through a lot," the clerk asked. "I think Vash and I can handle that conversation. It should be for the better. Some of us are not¡­ people persons," Neria smiled at Flint and Roan, who was by his side. "I won''t complain," Roan shrugged while Flint just groaned and waved her off. "Ok. While we wait. The Alliance also asked me to deliver something for you all. One moment," the clerk rushed to a room in the back. Around ten minutes passed when they heard loud clangs and the sound of glass shattering together with a yell, "SHIT!" This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Neria stepped forward, about to head out to the back door, when the clerk came out, "This is not supposed to be a fucking mail service!" He gasped, trying to clean some orange chunky stains on his blue shirt. Under his arm, there was what looked to be a shoe box wrapped in brown paper. He placed the parcel on a table and turned to the party, "And seriously, who mails marinara sauce?! I don''t care how many spells they use to preserve that thing. It just shouldn''t be allowed." Neria chuckled and pointed her coral staff with a large conch on top at the clerk, "May I?" "May you what?" "Clean you up. Or heal you if you got hurt." "The only thing that hurts is my pocket. I''m sure someone is going to ask me to pay them for this. But yeah. I''ll take the help, thanks," he sighed. Neria smiled, and with a quick twist of the wrist, a small stream of water went flying off. It wrapped the man''s chest, pulled all the sauce from his shirt, and then returned to the triton''s hand, floating right above it, "Do you have a bathroom here? Or just a sink? I think this is not chunky enough to cause a clog. I can''t do anything about the stain, though. But some baking soda and vinegar should work. Or cover it with greenvay salt and rub a sliced onion on it." "Toilet is better," the clerk pointed to the left, "Third door on the left. You''ll see the male and female. Just use whatever you want. There is no one else here. And thanks for the help. I think there is a store that sells that salt nearby." Neria nodded and started walking. Vash moved closer to the elven clerk, "What is that thing? The parcel. Also, what is your name? I''m Vash. These are Hera, Skylar, Flint, and Roan, and the girl who cleaned you up is Neria." "Oh. Right, I didn''t introduce myself. I''m Azipre. But people just call me Azi. And these are your supplies," he let the group open the parcel and looked inside. There were about a dozen health and mana potions, each all in small test tube-like vials together with an attachment to their belt where four vials could be kept safe for quick access. This attachment also created a protective barrier around them, but the spell wasn''t that strong. Flint groaned and said he could make something safer. He noticed that underneath all that, there were a few sheets of what looked like copper. This was one of the materials he requested to improve his equipment. It was, in essence, a nod from his king. A way to let him know that his hard work would be recognized and properly awarded. There were only two more things inside. The first was a bag with five sets of bone earrings. Roan instantly understood what they were and grabbed the items. He just said that this was about the trigger phrases, but he didn''t elaborate. Lastly, there was a letter. Or, more to the point, a receipt. After Hera realized that she still had one open space in her court, she tried finding a good blade for it, but due to the war, the best equipment was all being sent to the front lines. Typhera became aware of her request and offered to help by ordering a weapon. Hera said she would pay for it herself since she didn''t want to abuse her position, and they came to an agreement. This receipt let her know that a crafter had taken her request and was making a double-sided spear with blades on both ends. The weapon should be completed in a week''s time from now, and then, Hera could either go pick it up or request it to be delivered to her location. Neria came back as they were checking everything, and she took one of each potion and dumped them inside the conch in her staff. Noticing the odd stares, she chuckled and explained, "One of the skills this staff has is to be able to replicate the effects of any liquids that are placed inside the conch for 7 days. Potions have a reduced effect, but even if they are just 1/3 as effective, I can make up for the quality with quantity. You just might really need to go to the bathroom later." "Couldn''t you turn the potion into a mist so we just have to breathe it in?" Daskka asked, and Hera passed the message along. "I can, but the effect is reduced even more like that. Instead of 33% as effective, it drops to around 10. In that case, it''s not worth the mana I would have to spend to make enough for a full potion. But in a pinch, or heal more people. Yeah, I can do that," Neria explained. Before they could continue that conversation, Merrik arrived. Everyone introduced themselves, and they stepped back as Neria and Vash asked questions about the wendigo. It took a while, but they eventually managed to piece together his story. Merrik was an assassin. His party went inside one of the tunnels to kill a nasty group of rabbits that were causing problems. However, they were ambushed by the wendigo. It chased after them for hours, stopping every attempt at escaping the tunnels. Eventually, the fighter of his party used a few skills to pin the monster to the wall and give the others a chance to escape. Merrik saw his friend getting his stomach pierced by the long back claws of the beast and just started running. Eventually, he was able to leave the underground, but at some point, he lost track of his other two party members. A hunter by the name of Clarisse and a mage named Brator. That happened three days ago. The wendigo seemed to be able to dig its own tunnels and even move through the ground without disturbing it. It also had exceptional hearing and could make spider webs. In addition, its back legs were extremely powerful, and its mouth opened in a star pattern, revealing what almost looked like a garbage disposal, including rotating teeth. Merrik''s fighter friend, Morgan, had a couple of skills that increased one attribute by a lot while lowering others, and he was someone who could control lighting with his sword. Clarisse was a trap maker, always using tripwires and other things to catch her prey while using some skills to remove her scent and reduce the noise as she moved. Lastly, Brator was an earth mage. He was trying to specialize in sand to help make air ducts inside the tunnels but wasn''t quite there yet. Unfortunately, that was all he could say. During the fight, he didn''t have a chance to take a good look at the monster. The last thing he shared was the location where he found the wendigo for the first time. And with all that information, Hera and her new party knew where to start. 766 - krashak Guide
Hera and her party left the Alliance Center just after they talked with Merrik. He showed them the places on the map where he found the wendigo, but unfortunately, that didn''t match with what the Empress was discovering through her relic. Because of those incongruencies, they decided to go for the big guns and have the Ophidianite use her skill to get better answers. To do that, she went back to the hotel, asking the other party members to wait for her outside. She quickly entered the room and called the court to keep a lookout, just in case, and activated her soundproof bubble. Using the skill to call the guide, she watched as a tiny hole appeared in the ground. A rotund black rabbit wearing shorts and white streaks across its fur, almost a Samoan tattoo pattern, emerged from it. It struggled for a bit to get off the actual opening before popping out. "Fuck. I have to make this bigger next time," the guide huffed and turned to Hera, "Hey there. Sorry for the weird entrance. I''m Beizel." "Hi there, I''m Hera. Did something happen for you to make the hole the wrong size? If that''s too personal, you don''t have to tell me. I''m just curious." "Well¡­ It''s been a while since I was called, and I guess I gained some weight since last time," Beizel admitted. "Really? You can gain weight?" Hera frowned. "Depends on the guide. Peaches, for instance, can''t. Or just doesn''t allow himself to. I and some others have a more¡­ Natural agreement with our bodies. Instead of just making a perfect form, we made the entire structure with organs. It took a very long time, but we reached the point of making bodies that can grow. Even if it''s just weight and muscle mass." "That''s very interesting," Hera nodded with a smile but quickly snapped back to the task, "Sorry to cut this short, but we are running against the clock here. Do you mind if I start asking the questions?" "Sure," Beizel pulled a pocket watch from his front pocket, "Five minutes and¡­ When you ask the first question, I''ll start." "Can you give me answers about the wendigo?" "Yes, but they are costly." "Three days ago, the wendigo attacked a group. One of them died, one ran away, and the other two are missing. Is either of them still alive? Yes, no, or can''t answer?" "That will cost a bit of time. Just 30 seconds," Beizel warned Hera, but she confirmed he could use it, "Yes. One is alive." Hera pulled her tablet, already with the map opened, "According to my relic, the Wendigo was moving between D2 and E2, but Merrik, the one who was able to escape that fight, said the monster was on B6. Are any of those options correct? When we are talking about where the wendigo is or where it usually stays?" "Can I shave 2 minutes to give a good answer?" Beizel asked. "Sure." "Split the difference." "So¡­ C4?" "Almost. Also, that is not the location of the wendigo, but the best place to start." "And to save the remaining missing person?" Hera asked. "That will cost the rest of the time. Is that ok?" "Yeah." "Start at C4. Head to E6. You should find them." "Head to¡­ not they are at E6?" Hera squinted. Beizel smiled, "Yep. They did say you were smart." "Thanks," Hera chuckled, "And I''m sorry for not being able to talk properly." "Hey, don''t worry. I understand. Some circumstances are not that great. But¡­ I hope you don''t take this personally, but I don''t know you enough to say we can talk later. Next time you throw a party, ask someone to invite me; maybe that will change in the future," Beizel said. Hera nodded. She understood where the guide was coming from, and she already knew many of them. Not to say she didn''t want to have more of them to talk to, but it wasn''t that big of a hit if someone refused to give her their number. The fact that they could still drop by for parties wasn''t something she knew, but then again, pretty much all the guides she talked with were still open to having conversations. The Empress left their room and headed downstairs with the other party members. "Everyone out," she called as she walked into the street. Her entire court appeared, causing some people around them to gasp and stare in awe. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Oh? Did you get the information?" Flint asked. He only saw her doing something like that once before. When Vash noticed a group of monsters getting close to their carriage, they stopped to deal with them. "Yep," Hera nodded, "Also, one of Merrik''s party members should still be alive. The best place for us to start looking for the wendigo is on C4 on the map," she showed the map in her tablet, "This means we should just leave the city through the east gate and then head north. Well¡­ northeast, but much more north than east." "One of them is still alive?!" Neria gasped and put on her game face, "Let''s move then!" "Did Milla reply?" Hera asked as they started walking to the outside of the city. "Yes. The most up-to-date map of the tunnels is still the one she got us yesterday," Skylar pulled her tablet to confirm that information and turned to Vash, "Oh, and she confirmed that our idea should work. But it will warn the monsters." Vash nodded, "We were already thinking that would happen. Between all of us, I think we can take any rabbit. The problem is the wendigo," Vash frowned. "I still say you do it," Roan looked at Skyler, "The wendigo can move through walls anyway. If we already expect it to be coming at us, we will be on the lookout from the get-go." "I still say we go for the buddy system," Nimbus said. "I can be in my Sea Serpent form. It''s still big but more maneuverable in a tunnel," Livy added. "What about Hera?" Neria asked. "I have Daskka, and I''ll try to have my blades spread around, too. That way, we can have eyes on all directions," Hera explained. They all nodded and continued walking, still discussing the plans of attack. It would be their first proper fight in a group. When they were attacked by the hyenas in the previous room, Viper and Crimson killed most of them before they even left the woods. It was a test of their stealth ability, and they passed it with flying colors. Aside from that conversation, everyone was already looking for tracks or any signals of the wendigo. Even if they were not in the location Hera mentioned, that didn''t mean the monster wouldn''t move around and appear somewhere else. As they approached the forest, the Ophidianite''s heartbeat picked up. Even after all this time, she still was afraid of that type of monster. The idea of having to fight a creature that hunted her for a whole week all the way back in Brinnefront and caused the deaths of dozens of people when the wall broke was starting to weigh in her mind. She''d been through a lot already, many fights and close calls. Yet, despite knowing she wasn''t going to face the strongest enemy she had ever faced, there was a fear in the back of her mind. "Hera, are you alright?" Skylar asked. "Yeah, why?" Hera looked up from her tablet. "You are shaking," Vash was holding his arm and staring at Hera with a concerned expression. The Empress clenched her fist and took a deep breath. In addition, she had already cast an Earth Elemental Armor to increase her defenses, "Yeah. Sorry. I have some bad memories dealing with wendigos. I told you guys how my first encounter went," she reached for her ear. Now, it no longer had a missing piece. However, it wasn''t the same smooth surface she had during most of her life. That made it easier to remember how she had lost a large part of her ear during a fight against a wendigo, "I thought I was over this kind of fear already." "Well¡­ wendigos are the first persistent threat we have in the MAZE. I mean a threat that is the same everywhere. Not just ''monsters'' or ''dungeons,''" Roan nodded. "Well, there are rampages, but I think they don''t count," Skylar said. "Yeah, not every place has a rampage. So it''s kind of like that, but also not quite," Roan continued, "Wendigos are the only thing that everyone, no matter the room, can end up finding. And the idea that it can grow and become more powerful depending on what, or who, it eats makes things a lot harder." "That''s true. I mean, can you imagine what would happen if one of them ate Hera? What could it do thanks to her legacy?" Vash shivered. "Well¡­ I''m not that sure. I mean, it''s all about weapons, and I need to make a ritual to get them. I don''t know if a wendigo could do that," Hera replied. "It wouldn''t matter. The power would still be there," Nimbus nodded, "Even if you are not a mage, some spells could be created based on your abilities." "That''s true. And we don''t know if they would need a ritual. We only know what happens when we kill a monster with a legacy," Flint said. Hera gulped. The idea of having to fight a monster that could have its own court made things much more complicated, "If that''s the case¡­ Can I ask for a favor?" Neria looked back at the Empress with a stern expression, "No, you cannot. Our options are kill it, or run. No ''die trying'' options are available. And especially no ''Kill me before it gets my legacy'' option." "That would be a smart move, actually," Flint said. "I don''t care. While I''m alive, we are not killing someone for the greater good or whatever bullshit you want to say," Neria huffed and continued walking. After about 30 minutes, they arrived at an area filled with rabbit tunnels. Vesh and Nimbus took to the sky for a different advantage point while the rest of them searched for any tracks that could lead them to the wendigo. Since it was a creature that shouldn''t be here, all they had to do was find some markings that didn''t match the rest. Or at least, this was their initial idea. If this plan didn''t work, they would have to think about something else. "Hey, can someone check the tunnels over there? I found something," Skylar said as she approached one of the tunnels. "I''ll go," Viper walked closer. "Is it something we can use?" Hera asked through their communicators "Not really," Skyler crouched down and took a photo of something written in the dirt. Sending it on their tablets, they saw the words ''Viv, I''m sorry.'' "Damn, was this the last message of the party member who died?" Crimson asked. "It kind of looks like it. Or it''s from the one who is alive. They might have reached here and decided to run back to try to save their friends," Neria suggested. "If we don''t find any decent hints, we can follow that tunnel. For now, back to searching," Flint said. Everyone agreed and continued searching for anything. Unfortunately, after half an hour, they felt like they had combed the area pretty well, and there were no markings that revealed the location of the wendigo. In hindsight, it made sense. After all, if the monster could move through the earth, it would be able to roam without leaving any tracks behind. With no other option left, the group gathered at the tunnel where Skyler found the message and slowly entered the network of caves where the wendigo and a horde of monstrous rabbits lived. 767 - Inside the tunnel
Before walking in, Skyler and Vash pulled their instruments, a harmonica and a pair of maracas, respectively. They tested their sound for a moment before harmonizing and playing a quick song right at the mouth of the tunnel. It wasn''t a tune that Hera or the other party members knew, but it had a somewhat familiar rhythm that one would expect from a nursery rhyme. Suddenly, both of them created a loud high note that echoed inside the cavern. Skyler had left her tablet with Neria, who was looking at their maps. The paths of the tunnels were shown as the sound waves traveled underground, spreading to almost the other side of the city. Unfortunately, that echolocation wasn''t able to detect what was a wall and what was a living being blocking their path. Even so, there were a few educated guesses they could make. But the group didn''t have time to properly look at this map. What followed that melody was a roar coming from underground. It was a sound they had heard before. Milla sent them all the information available about the monsters in the room, and that included the noises they would make. Hearing that, they jumped into position. Flint, Roan, Livy, and Lurize flanked the entrance while Hera stood by Nimbus directly in front of it. Behind them, Viper, Crimson, Skyler, Vash, and Neria were ready for anything. The idea was to lure the rabbits out and kill them one by one in an open area. This wouldn''t be a problem since the Alliance Center also had a quest posted for population control of those monsters. The party waited for a minute, then two. Four minutes passed with them all at the ready. Each time they thought the rabbits had given up, a roar or a rumbling would sound closer. Seven minutes and their bodies were starting to get sore due to the constant tension. At every moment when two or more would start to relax, the Behemoth Bunnies would make more noise. "Viper, Crimson. Go inside, and use your stealth if you need to. Take the magnets and see if they are coming," Hera said. The two half-Naga started to move, and unlike the Empress, they noticed the stare that Flint was giving them. The two walked inside the tunnel carefully. The deeper they went, the louder the sounds became. After almost 100 meters, the limit of Hera''s current range for them, Viper noticed a path to the left. It was from those walking in, but thanks to the map they got, they had an idea it was there. ''Crim, cover me,'' he said in his sister''s mind before activating the [Hidden Frontal Screen] skill. He peeked the corner while trying to have his head as close to the ceiling as he could. His hope was that the rabbits would be lower to the ground, and something coming from above wasn''t something they would expect. However, just as he leaned to the side, he came face to face with one of the Behemoth Bunnies. It had large, striking turquoise eyes with an intense gaze that gave off a small glimmer. An elongated muzzle served as a support for a large, almost pig-like nose that witched, taking in all the smells coming from the tunnels. Beneath it was a wide open jaw filled with rows of curved teeth designed for both gnawing on vegetation and ripping flesh apart. It had enormous upright ears with tattered edges. It was hard to tell if that was just their natural shape or if they were scarred after several fights. Especially now that the ears were pushing against the ceiling due to the Behemoth Bunny being almost 2 meters tall. Its fur was a mix of earthy browns and moss greens. Something very similar to the tunnel itself or the grassland outside. The creature was similar to a kangaroo in a way, with large muscular back legs and shorter frontal ones. But its arms had large, sturdy claws covered in a crusty layer of dirt, clay, and dried blood. ''Shit, there is one right here!'' Viper gasped. Warning both Hera and Crimson. ''Did it notice you?'' Crimson asked. ''It''s trying to smell me. I think the skill is still holding.'' ''Is it alone?'' Hera asked, her face showing to the rest that something was happening. Viper looked beyond it, ''No. There are another four. Almost as big and ready to pounce.'' ''Step back and run to the entrance. Don''t try to be a hero,'' Hera replied. ''But Hera! We are stronger than the monsters here. We can take them!'' Crimson protested. ''Not the point. If we are going to fight them, we need everyone to be aware of what is going on,'' the Empress said in a stern tone. ''Got it. We will start moving back now,'' Viper turned around and saw Crimson''s face. Realizing his mistake, he only had enough time to say "Fuck," before all hell broke loose. The Behemoth Bunny roared and jumped forward, letting out an ear-piercing scream that affected even those above ground. Thankfully, Vash quickly used his maracas to nullify the sound by playing an opposing tune. It was the same principle as noise-canceling headphones. While Viper was hurt by the sound, Crimson jumped forward, brandishing her red dagger form and using her tail to slap the monster away. Triggering a full-powered bloody claw, she aimed at the ears of the creature since they looked like the most exposed area of its body. The blow was quick enough to hit and strong enough to cut the ears off, but that only made the Behemoth Bunny angrier. It slammed its claws at her, forcing Crimson to return to her weapon form so as not to be hit by the creature. Viper did the same, and the two flew back to the entrance as fast as they could, with the first Behemoth Bunny and the ones behind it chasing after the twins. To top it all off, halfway through the tunnel, something broke open the wall to the side, revealing another fluffle of those monstrous bunnies from the left. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The two-half Naga dodged the incoming attacks, but some of the cave started to collapse due to the impact caused by the newcomers. Outside, the party heard the commotion and even felt the ground start to shake. Hera wanted to rush after her Spymasters, but she knew that was a bad idea. If there was a cave-in, two flying daggers would have a better chance of managing to escape than an Ophidianite. A lot of dust was kicked up, being pushed by the movement inside the cave, which forced the people flanking the entrance to step back. ''Why the fuck did you turn around?!'' Crimson yelled as she ducked under a large rock. ''I forgot the skill only worked from the front!'' Viper yelled back. Despite the situation, they could still have a conversation without worrying about any noise. ''How dumb are you?! That''s the most basic thing about the skill!'' ''I fucked up, ok?! Stop nagging me and run!'' Viper went closer to the ceiling to avoid one of the Behemoth Bunnies, but this caused his pummel to be hit by the falling debris. He spun around in the air, sending an [Acid Spray] behind him to try to stall for time before he continued to fly. ''Stop bickering and focus on running!'' the Empress yelled, but just as she was about to finish the sentence, both Spymasters came flying out of the tunnel. Behind them was a group of eight Behemoth Bunnies. The first was met by Flint, who already had turned his coat back into his power armor. Both arms were covered in that metallic exoskeleton with an intricate network of pistons around the wrist and three large spikes on the metallic plate covering his finger. The ones on his right hand flared up, letting out some steam as the dwarf went in for a punch on the first monster that came out of the tunnel. With an uppercut, the entire piece of metal covering the top of his fingers was launched forward. Slamming the spikes into the Behemoth Bunny''s body, creating a large hole in its stomach. The armored hand retracted, covered in cracks, but as the pistons reset to their original position, the damage was covered in a warm orange glow, almost like metal that was being tampered with inside a forge. The second monster came out, going straight for Flint, but Roan was ready for it. Using his two hand axes, the beastman parried the claw, jumping forward and slicing the Behemoth Bunny''s neck in a single precise move. A third one came after the man from the honey badger tribe, trying to bite its neck, but Roan shoved his arm on the monster''s mouth and twisted his entire body, allowing his muscles to spin around the skin and straddled the monster''s head before bringing his Handaxe down on the spine of the Behemoth Bunny. The next group came out, but they were instantly hit by a couple of invisible attacks. They were sound waves from Skyler, who was blowing on her harmonica without making any noise. Each note was aimed at a different part of their bodies. Those attacks were not enough to kill them off but enough to stun them for Livy and Lurize to come crashing down. Vash created a strong gust of wind with his wings to remove the dust that was obscuring some of their vision and started playing flamenco with his maracas, sounding like a guitar. The upbeat music gave the entire party a 20% buff to their agility and a 10% buff to their strength. Now, with a clear view, Neria waved her hand to the side, pulling the moisture from her clothes into a whip of water, and started attacking. She only aimed at the monsters who were far from the rest of the party in fear of hurting someone on her side. Another issue was that her attacks were far from being powerful. If she was to focus on killing an enemy, she had a few ways to do that, but those would be more towards the indiscriminate destruction side of the spectrum. Hera, Nimbus, and the rest of the court were all taking care of the monsters who managed to break through that initial line of defense. The rabbits were hit by spells and blades relentlessly. Even their best attempt at fighting back was met with nothing but failure. No one was hit by their attacks, be it because they were able to block or because someone else came along to kill the monster before it could harm anyone. Roan was the only exception, but due to his nature as a honey badger beastman, being grabbed by his enemy was part of his fighting style. That made Neria very confused. Several times during the fight, she aimed a healing spell at him only to have to stop it when her healer skill let her know that Roan had suffered no damage whatsoever. Soon, the entire fluffle of bunnies was dead on the ground surrounding the entrance of the tunnel. Everyone waited a minute for more monsters to appear, but this time, the noises didn''t appear again. It was all quiet. Letting out a sigh of relief, the party dropped their guard while still keeping an eye out for more monsters. Before they actually took a moment to gather themselves, Flint walked over to the Ophidianite. "Hera, why did you send Viper and Crimson to the tunnel without talking with anyone about it?" Hera looked at the dwarf with a confused expression for a moment, "Because they are good at stealth. And, as much as I hate saying this, if they get injured, it is not that bad. It will hurt them, and I will feel guilty, but they can come back. Even if they are ''killed,'' at the end of the day, it''s just temporary," she wasn''t going to tell them that Viper messed up. Not right now, at least. If this were to happen again, the situation might change. Flint paused to think and eventually nodded, "OK. I understand, but even so. I would appreciate it if you would communicate with the rest of us before doing anything. I wasn''t sure if I should''ve helped or not, and knowing they were going inside, we could''ve set up our position differently." "Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Sorry. The more titled blades I have, the more internal conversations I have. I need to remind myself that not everyone can hear those conversations." "If you need help remembering you need to talk with us, I can help!" Vash said with a smile. "I would be willing to help, too," Neria added. "I appreciate it," Hera smiled back. "Ok, ok. Can we keep going? We still have a wendigo to hunt." 768 - Priorities
Since the tunnel had collapsed, Skyler and Vash used their echolocation spell one more time to see if they still had a way to go deeper through this entrance or not. Luckily, despite the cave-in, there was a new path to the side from where a group of Behemoth Bunnies appeared. Another benefit was the lack of any response from the monsters inside. Maybe after that initial fight, they had cleared out every creature in this territory or scared away the ones who lived here. This time, Hera didn''t walk in ahead. Instead, she waited for Flint''s signal for them to start moving. The dwarf was the oldest member of the group and the one with the most experience when fighting, which made them all agree that he should be their leader in this kind of situation. Still, everyone followed Hera''s buddy system idea, with each titled blade moving along one of the party members. Hera herself had Daskka and the rest of the court close by. For around 25 minutes, they continued walking, scouring every area of the tunnels and trying to locate some markings or a signal of the wendigo, but to no avail. Before every corner, Hera, Viper, and Crimson would lick the air to see if there was anything nearby. For the two half-Naga, this was a natural thing to do, while the Ophidianite was still learning the ropes of doing that. On a couple of occasions, they noticed a scent of something more than just the surrounding stone that indicated a living creature. This triggered another small fight. This time, the numbers of the Behemoth Bunnies were significantly smaller, being in groups of five at the most. Only one or two would be fully grown to make things even easier. The others were babies that barely would put up a fight. Even so, the party had no choice but to kill them. On the occasions when they tried just to move away, the small monsters continued chasing after them and crying for help. This resulted in another larger fight, but again, only against three grown Behemoth Bunnies. The rest were more of the small ones. They looked through the entire map that Vash and Skyler revealed but found no traces of people or the wendigo. Following what Hera had discovered with her skill, they were now walking towards the E6 area on the map. It was a bit hard to do that since they didn''t know when a tunnel would curve or reach a dead end, and this made them spend another hour before it looked like they were making some progress. Eventually, they reached a pair of tunnels that went deeper inside the cave network. On the left, there was some dried blood and footprints. To the right were claw marks that didn''t fit what the Behemoth Bunnies would create. These were thinner but much deeper and in sets of eight. "Hera, can you ask your relic where we need to go? In which of those two paths is our target? I mean," Flint turned to the explorer. "I can try, but just to make it clear. What is the target? The wendigo or the person who might still be alive?" Hera asked. "The wendigo," Flint replied, but Neria said something else at the same time. "The missing person," the triton paused and turned to the dwarf, "What do you mean the wendigo?" "That is our mission. Finding and killing the wendigo," Flint replied bluntly. "Someone is hurt! They need help. Are we just going to abandon them?" Neria gasped, her eyes flaring up in anger and her ear fins showing tiny spikes at the tips. "No, we are not. We will kill the wendigo and then go help them." "They might be dead by then!" "And the wendigo might kill someone else while we chase after this person who may or may not be alive," Flint replied. "I''m with Neria. I vote to help them first," Vash said. "This is not up to a vote! We need to kill the wendigo first. If we go after this person, we will help them and then have to bring them back to the city. During that time, the wendigo can move and make any tracks we find useless. We already wasted too much time in this place," Flint continued. "So? We will just have to spend more time to find it. Using Ariadne , Hera can pinpoint its location. It might take a few days, but eventually, we can catch it. It''s not like the wendigo can change rooms," Neria continued. Flint turned back to the Ophidianite, "Hera, you are our wendigo specialist. Can we do that without making things significantly worse?" The Empress thought for a moment, "It''s hard to say. Wendigos are¡­ odd. They evolve, and I don''t mean just the small changes that they go through when they eat something. Their claws can get a little bit bigger and sharper, their skin can slowly change colors, and their muscles might grow a bit, but all that happens just after they devour their prey. But after one of them eats enough, it will go through a more significant change. An evolution. They will change their bodies and become stronger. Think of it like phase 2 of a boss fight in a game. They not only have their basic attacks but something else. The problem is, as far as anyone can tell, there isn''t a limit on how many times they can do that. Because each time it evolves, it becomes significantly harder to kill. I remember reading about one that was confirmed to have evolved at least four times. At first, it was just that white and red thing, but weak and ran away. The second form was bothersome, but no one got seriously injured. Its third stage already posed a danger to the area, and people had to be weary of moving outside the city. When it reached the fourth form, the monster became a serious threat. It could attack the city itself, even with all the defenses and people in there. It took 50 people who were at least ten levels higher than the room they were in to kill it. Even then, five were killed by the wendigo." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "How do they evolve like that? Do they just shed their skin or something?" Skyler asked. "No, they turn into a sort of cocoon. It''s kind of like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. It''s just more¡­ Fleshy. There are some pictures online if you want to look them up," Hera replied. "So what you are saying is that we might have an opportunity to find it in a vulnerable state before it can grow to destroy the city?" Flint smirked, feeling that he had won the argument. "No!" Hera shot his idea down, "I am telling you what happened in one situation. The fact is, we don''t know how the wendigo got to that point. And the variables are wildly different. It was a much larger room with a more diverse biome. We also don''t know if it truly only had those four evolutions. Maybe it had 5 or 6, hell, maybe it had 20 forms before that last one. Those were just the ones that people saw. We are lucky that other explorers confirmed that only one wendigo can appear in a room at a time. But that doesn''t mean they won''t be able to figure out a way to cross doorways or reproduce. Another thing, this happened after the guild opened its ranks to civilians. This means that the death rate was at an all-time high everywhere across the MAZE. Including the room where that wendigo was. Does that mean every single death was caused by it? I don''t know. Maybe, or maybe just a few. My point is, wendigos are fucking weird and extremely dangerous. We don''t know what to expect, but the longer they stay alive, the worse it is." Roan frowned, "So you are saying we should go after it?" "No. I mean, we need to go after it, but I don''t know if it''s that urgent. Then again, it''s already killing people. There is no right answer here." Neria stepped closer to the Empress, "But what do you think we should do?" Hera let out a long sigh, "Look. I really hate those things. They hurt a very good friend of mine, and I think every single wendigo should be killed on sight. Also, we don''t know who is lost in the tunnels and what is their state. But if they managed to run away three days ago and are still alive, they should be stable enough to last a few more hours. If we can''t find the wendigo by today, then yeah, we should find that person before heading back. But now, we should go after that monster." Neria looked down, processing the information, but that didn''t take long. She understood where Hera was coming from, and the longer it took for her to make her peace with the decision, the longer that person would suffer. "Let''s go then," the triton started walking towards the tunnel with the claw marks. "Hang on. Let me ask Ariadne if this is the right path," Hera stopped her. She took the relic from her waist and asked, "Between the two tunnels that are ahead of us, which one should we take to find the wendigo?" she pumped two million mana into the question. A part of her wanted to give more, but she couldn''t risk being tapped out if they were just about to face that monster. The screen went black, and the answer appeared for her, ''The tunnel on the left.'' "Isn''t there where the person should be?" Neria asked. "Maybe the wendigo is chasing after them," Roan suggested. "It''s a possibility. Let''s keep moving," Flint took the lead with Viper right behind him, Just as they started moving, Neria approached Hera and gave her a mana potion, "This is the one made by my staff. It can recover about 15% of your maximum mana." "How much does it cost you to make it?" the Ophidianites asked as she took the vial and drank it. "About 20% of my mana. But my recovery is faster than yours. It will take less than a minute to recover that. And like I said. I also have a very large ''extra mana pool,'' but that takes a while to recover." "How large? I don''t remember you telling us the actual numbers." "It''s about ten times my regular mana pool. But it takes about four days to fill up completely, and only a few specific potions can help me recover that. Those are back in the hotel." "I see," Hera nodded, "I have more questions, but we can talk later. And thanks for the top-up. It does make me feel better." The group continued walking for a few minutes. Each step echoed in the dark tunnel, lit only by their spells. In this part of the underground, the wind howled across the passage, making them hear ghastly screams from all directions. Suddenly, they heard someone crying for help, begging anyone who could hear them. Neria tapped Flint''s shoulder, who just nodded in response. It was one thing to actively search for someone who might or might not be alive, another to ignore someone nearby who was clearly in a bad situation. Everyone triggered their stealth skills and moved along, following the increasingly worrying screams. What started as just a desperate request for help was turning into what could only be described as someone being eaten alive without being able to fight back. The party moved quicker and quicker, eventually dropping the stealth completely in hopes of reaching this person before it was too late. They finally arrived at a large cave where the sound was coming from, but there was no one to be seen. The voice was still there, screaming and asking for help or to die so the pain would stop. Everyone was looking around, but it was a light that brought them answers. A small hole in the ceiling was covered by a pyramid-shaped beak that was currently open, creating that voice in place of whatever sound it was supposed to be making. When the beak started screaming louder, a small hole on the back of it opened, showing the sky outside. However, it was clear that it wasn''t a crow who was doing this. On the ceiling, they could only see the beak without anything else attached to it. "Did¡­ did the wendigo figure out how to use a crow''s beak as a trap?!" Vash turned to the party with wide eyes. Before anyone could answer, the wendigo appeared from the wall to Hera''s left, slamming its front paws on her shoulder and pushing her to the ground. The monster came at her with too much force, and the Ophidianite was mid step, which led to her falling back. She braced herself for the impact, but as her body hit the rocks, it just continued to move, passing through it as if it were water. This all took less than a second. Less than a second for Hera to vanish together with the wendigo into the rocks. Even her court was gone. After a brief moment of shock, the rest of the party started to move, hoping they could find the Empress before it was too late. 769 - Underground Wendigo
The moment Hera felt her body sinking into the rocks, she yelled in her mind, ''Pluto!'' This was a ''safe word'' she had set up with her court. A word that told them to drop whatever they were doing and return to the legacy. During the time she was playing with different ways to call everyone at once, she also added this as an emergency button for the exact opposite. However, she never had to use it, not until now. In the split second it took for the wendigo to start pushing her through the earth, she considered how it might take her for a long dive. If that were the case, then her court would be too far away, and since they all had magnets attached to them, this would drain all her mana in a single moment, not to mention that she would be facing the monster on her own. As her vision went dark, and she continued to be pushed down, the Empress started to get worried about oxygen. If the wendigo had some way to breathe while inside the rocks, she might suffocate before she had a chance to fight back. Thankfully, that was a worry that only lasted for a brief moment. The monster shoved her out of the earth into a new, larger cave. The Empress managed to spin around and land awkwardly just as she fell. Everything was dark, and if it weren''t for the large amount of mana flooding the entire area, she wouldn''t have had a sense of where the floor was. Just as she regained her soothing, the Ophidianite lowered her head and covered her eyes with both hands before firing a flashbang spell. If the wendigo was living in a place without any light, it should be sensitive to brightness. That worked like a charm. After Hera landed, the beast was right behind her, ready to pounce, but instead, it was blinded by the flashbang. The wendigo roared, a sound closer to the caw of a raven than what the Behemoth Bunnies would make, and fell close enough to the Empress that she felt the ground rumbling. Not wanting to be hit by any sort of flailing, she jumped away and activated a couple of dancing lights to illuminate the place while creating a pair of venomous hunting knives. She didn''t have a chance to see her surroundings properly, and using a longer weapon might be more trouble than it was worth. Now, Hera was able to see the actual size of the place. It was big, yes, but not as big as she hoped. Livy would have a hard time moving around properly here, and Lurize would need help to wield the zweihander. But that was only considered if they were in their bipedal forms. ''All out!'' the Empress called, summoning her entire court in their blade form. With a quick thought, Viper and Crimson understood that they should have their bodies as well since the two would be able to move around without an issue here. At the same time, she wanted to confirm one thing and took a chance to analyze her enemy. The wendigo was a for-legged creature, but unlike the Behemoth Bunnies, which had stronger back legs, this creature didn''t have a set of limbs that was more powerful than the others. Each of its paws had eight fingers, with a small nub that was the start of a thumb, but it wasn''t quite developed just yet. On its face, it had a beak split into four pieces that could open and reveal rows of teeth, just like the rabbits that created these tunnels. It had four eyes, two large and pitch black, with another set of smaller ones just above them that were similar to a cat''s. Its snout curved, peeking over the beak in what looked like a Frankensteinian attempt at merging a bird and an anteater. The creature''s skin was brown, almost the same shade as the walls, but it had small grayish-green spots that reminded the Empress of moldy cheese. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendigo - Behemoth Earthen Crow - Level 38 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ''That''s not great,'' Viper said. ''Then let''s not give it a chance to become worse!'' Crimson yelled in their minds and used her stealth skill to get closer. She was about to bring down her dagger, aiming at the monster''s neck, but it just sunk into the ground, vanishing from sight. Hera was about to trigger a stone elemental armor but decided against it. If the monster could move around through the earth below, maybe that specific armor wouldn''t do anything to increase her defenses. Her next idea was to use a fire one, but that came with a different problem. The cave could be big, but she couldn''t see any tunnels or paths heading somewhere else. If this place was truly isolated from the rest of the area, then the air inside her was limited. Instead, she swapped for a river elemental armor. It was just moving water, which could help her parry the attacks. Viper jumped to the side to be away from the Empress and triggered his [Alluring Presence] skill. For Hera and the court, nothing changed, but any monsters watching him would think the half-Naga was particularly delicious. A moment passed as the Ophidianite tried to find the wendigo but to no avail. While under the rocks, no skill or spells seemed to be able to detect it. Finally, Viper''s gamble worked. Coming from below, the monster jumped out, trying to bite the Spymaster''s tail. What it didn''t expect was that the reaction time of a snake was so much better than its own. Jumping to the side, the half-Naga evaded the attack almost completely, only getting a couple of scratches on its body. Crimson and Hera took the chance to charge the monster. Using the [Grasshopper Stab], both tried to injure the wendigo. Just like Viper, the creature was able to dodge the brunt of the attacks, only having two small lines on the side of its body being cut. In response, it lashed out with its front paw, clawing at the Empress. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Nimbus'' tonfas appeared before her, using the mana shield spell to block the attack. Even with the Sentinel''s help, the force behind the attack was strong enough to push Hera away. Crimson, on the other hand, took advantage of an opening and pierced the wendigo''s stomach. Livy followed that up with a downward swing while Lurize came from below, both intending to bisect the creature. The beast dodged the Royal Tutor''s attack and created a thick layer of rock on top of it to stop the blow from the war axe. The damage was almost none, and with the force of the impact, the wendigo dove into the earth again. ''Shit! We can''t keep going like this,'' Nimbus gasped. ''I know, I know. I''m thinking¡­ Wait. I know! When it comes back up, try to keep it away from the ground just for a few moments.!'' the Empress asked her court. Everyone nodded and waited, with Daskka and Dusa making sure not to miss any movement around them. Before anything else could happen, a distant explosion could be heard somewhere above Hera, but she didn''t look away from the ground. The last thing she needed now was to be caught in another trap. The wendigo appeared again, this time from the side in a jump at the Empress. Livy quickly moved towards it and appeared in her bipedal form, grabbing the monster in a bear hug. The creature didn''t like that one bit and started clawing and screaming. Even the Leviathan, with all her strength, was having trouble holding the wendigo down, and its claws were already opening gashes all over her body. Still, this was enough for Hera. She took Autumn in her hand and slammed the glaive on the ground. The new court member had only two skills: one that would create a spectral armor around the Empress, covering her thorns. And another that could make the surrounding vegetation grow quickly. That effect would be temporary, but it was more than enough for what Hera wanted. Before using that skill, she triggered her boots that now could shape the surrounding area to her will. And this time, her choice of terrain was that of a jungle, completely covered with underground vines. Adding Autumn''s skill to that made most of the cave to be covered in vines. They were dried and would only last for a handful of minutes. But during that time, the wendigo wouldn''t be able to move around the ground. Or at least that was the hope. Even if it could swim through rocks, the skill should have limitations, and having something else, like vines or tree roots, in its path could be one of them. Seeing that the spell was in place, Livy tossed the monster towards one of the walls, revealing that most of her torso was scratched up and leaking mana. She returned to her weapon form as Daskka enveloped her in a healing mist. A big problem of Hera''s court, and something she only realized now that she had Neria by her side, was that no one else could heal her court. Only the Empress or another court member was able to do that. The wendigo tried escaping again, but Hera''s plan worked. It was only able to sink a few centimeters into the ground before being stopped in its tracks. The monster groaned, and before it had a chance to understand what was going on, Viper and Crimson flanked it, both using a [Grasshopper Slash] that finally hit its mark. The attacks were deep enough to create a bleeding effect, which allowed Crimson to double down and make a few bloody claws to increase her power. That skill wasn''t just around her dagger but also around her arm, creating a second blade in her hand. Hera and Lurize used that opening, and a barrage of strikes and swings was delivered upon the monster. DJ strengthened himself with the rhythmic beating of the attacks and joined the fray, followed by Chris and Ember. Tide also wanted to be included and came from above, trying to impale the monster to the ground so the rest could continue their attack. However, the wendigo wasn''t done. It opened its beak and let out a shriek that forced Hera to drop her weapons and cover. She could feel something popping inside her head and a warm liquid coming out of her ears as she lost all hearing. As a human, she mightn''t suffer this much damage, but an Ophidianite had better hearing, which became a problem in a situation like this. The rest of the court was also affected but far from as strongly as their leader. Seeing the Empress fall to the ground enraged the twins. Crimson grabbed Hera''s venomous dagger from the ground and used the weapon break skill with it. The monster dodged the blow yet again, but it wasn''t enough to make it safe. Its right shoulder was mostly gone, but the creature was still moving. Viper didn''t let that chance slip through his fingers and jumped on top of the beast. He used his tail to steady himself. He placed both hands on the now open wound and used his acid spray to cover the wendigo''s insides with his own brand of poison. A mix of arsenic and mercury. Hera couldn''t hear, but she still could get her court messages inside her mind, and she could sense what each of them was doing. Calling Autumn to her side, she lunged forward and triggered the [Spectral Armor] skill, covering the glaive in small thorns that could shoot out in command. The attack went right inside the wendigo''s mouth, and when the Empress felt that her weapon was deep enough, she triggered the skill. Thousands of tiny spikes flew from inside the body, ripping it to shreds. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Hera called Livy to her side and used the Leviathan''s axe to decapitate the beast before slumping down to the ground to catch her breath. 770 - First Mission Complete
Even with the moment to breathe, the rest of the court didn''t stop watching the body of the wendigo. Hera could have used her [Observe] and confirmed that the monster was now a corpse, but they still had their suspicions that it could be a trick. After all, the monster had used a beak to make a trap. Maybe it was able to play dead as well. Just for good measure, Livy and Crimson cut the creature up into several pieces. Taking the body back to the Alliance Center was an optional part of their mission, but no one ever specified the condition it had to be in. While that was going on, the Empress started to look around the area. She found a few chewed-up pieces of bone, pieces of Behemoth Bunny skin, and even shards of weapons. But what made her stop was on the corner of this cave. It was a large cocoon, very similar to what people reported to be the ones used by the wendigos when they were evolving. Could this mean that there were two of them here? But the mana coming from it was different. Too different. She used her infrared sight and was able to notice a bipedal body. One that should belong to a person. By the size, it wasn''t a dwarf or a harpy. But it was possible for it to be of a beastman, an elf, or a triton. As she got closer, the Ophidianite realized one more thing about it. The mana she was sensing was somewhat familiar. It was the same type of mana she felt while carrying Silah''s body after the escape. The mana that leaked out of a corpse. Clenching her fist, she reached, called Viper over, and asked him to open the cocoon carefully. When the Spymaster revealed what was inside, Hera''s suspicions were confirmed. There was a body inside the cocoon. Her [Observe] confirmed that. The corpse was very well preserved, and not even a putrid smell came out of it. Still, she tried checking the pulse just in case it was some sort of weird effect of being in the cocoon, but to no avail. That person was indeed dead. The body had a wound on his stomach, and half of the right leg was missing. He was also wearing his underwear, which was a bit odd. Looking around, the Empress saw a few pieces of metal on the ground. This made her think about Merrik''s story. There was a fighter in his party who gave up his life to give the rest a chance to run away. That fighter also wore heavy armor, and it seemed like the wendigo had removed that armor before shoving the body into the cocoon. Stepping back, Hera continued to look for a way out. Things would be a bit harder now since she wanted to take the body along. Leaving it here felt wrong. His family deserved to give him a proper burial. Not to mention, they had to make an autopsy to confirm if the wendigo was just keeping him here as a food source or if it was trying to do something different. Just by thinking about the second option, the Ophidianite felt a shiver run down her spine. A few meters ahead in this smaller corner of the cave, there was another cocoon. Viper helped again, and inside, there was yet another body, but this one was very different. The man had his eyes closed in a peaceful expression. But this one, a woman, had her eyes open wide in an expression with a mix of horror and pain. Half of her neck was missing, as well as a large chunk of her torso, including her left shoulder, left breast, the heart, and most of her left lung. She was wearing more clothes made with various fabrics that were glued to her body due to the blood that covered her limbs. There were also several claw marks covering her skin. Some even seemed unnecessary. It didn''t look like the type of wound something would make while trying to kill its prey, but what an orca would do with a seal. The type of twisted pleasure in seeing whatever it was hunting suffer and panic. Hera just closed the woman''s eyes and continued searching for an exit. Her entire court was doing the same, but after 5 minutes, it became clear that there was no way out. The only possible path was a tiny hole on the top of the cave from where the air was coming through, but it was so small that not even the snakes from her bracelet could pass through. Daskka tried following that along, but the path would beach out really quickly, and it didn''t look like it headed to any decent-sized passages. To make matters worse, Hera realized that the amount of air that was coming through that opening wasn''t enough to keep up with her own breathing. If she were to stay here for too long, she would eventually run out of oxygen. "Dusa, or anyone for that matter. Do you guys know where we came from? Like, from which wall and direction," Hera asked her court. "I think it was around here," Daskka pointed at a wall on the upper right side of the cave. "OK then. I need everyone''s help. Lurize, can you teach the entire court how to use the stone-shaped spell? We are digging our way out, and the more people we have working on it, the better. Also¡­" Hera shook her head, "Never mind. Can you do it?" Lurize nodded, "I believe so. I''ve never tried it, but I watched you make enough bunkers to have an idea how that works," he then added one last phrase, but just to Hera, ''We need to learn before you can no longer move. Correct?'' Hera didn''t reply out loud but nodded in confirmation, "Dusa, pass along everything you see about this spell to them as they practice. As soon as someone figures out how to use it, come help me," the Ophidianite started to use that spell to dig upwards. Making a tunnel that was large enough for her to pass through. She couldn''t waste time making something bigger, and using fire to melt the rocks or having Livy break the walls could result in something worse. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The Empress continued digging, focusing on her work and on helping her court understand the spell. Even so, it was hard not to let her mind wander. If the problem was water, she could make some. Sure, water made with magic wouldn''t quench her thirst like actual water, but it would at least help her out in a pinch. Food wasn''t as big of a necessity as water, and in the worst-case scenario, she could eat the wendigo. It would be only fair since that monster ate everything. Air, however, was a completely different problem. She tried looking up spells to allow for water breathing, but they were all too complicated or too costly to be useful. Maybe she should try to figure out a way to make air out of magic. Actual oxygen and not just wind. After 20 minutes, Hera was starting to breathe heavily due to all the effort, and she was around two and a half meters deep into the tunnel. Her biggest problem was the density of the stones around her. Using the spell on soft ground was easier, as there was less resistance from the rocks. Compressing the minerals was easier the less packed in the area was. Here, she was facing the direct opposite situation. Everything was too dense, and pushing it away was a struggle. She did try pulling the stones out to the cave and then moving forward, but that was even slower. Finally, Viper stepped in to help, and he was quickly joined by Nimbus. Both already able to use the stone shape spell. This allowed Hera to take a break to steady her breathing. If she overexerted herself, the air would run out even faster. Her court wouldn''t have to worry about it since they didn''t need to breathe to survive. Crimson joined the rotation while the Empress was still resting, and Lurize let Livy work on the spell by herself to help as well. The titled blades could even use stone shape while in their weapon form, making the size of the tunnel a nonissue. As long as Hera could pass through herself, they would be fine. After almost an hour of digging, with the Empress starting to feel delirious due to the lack of oxygen, they heard noises coming from above. The sound of digging and of earth being pushed out, and voices. They were still too far away for them to understand what they were saying, but they didn''t care. Nimbus started pounding on the wall to attract their attention as the rest continued pushing through. Hera tried to help, but she was feeling too weak. Livy tried to slam against the ceiling of the tunnel, but she didn''t have enough space for a proper swing. Suddenly, a crack appeared above them, and the rocks started to fall. The Sentinel moved quickly to place a barrier around the Empress and protect her from the debris. From the hole, two familiar faces appeared. Flint and Skyler. Both were covered in dirt and soot, like two people who worked in the mines for days on end. "We found her!" Flint looked back and yelled as the elf reached out to help Hera climb up. "Are you OK?! What happened? What about the wendigo?" Skyler asked. "Dead. Wendigo. Air. Me," Hera couldn''t speak properly. She was having trouble staying awake. "The wendigo is dead. We killed it, But the cave didn''t have enough oxygen for Hera, and now she''s like this. She needs some air!" Viper explained quickly as the rest of the court climbed out after the Empress. "There are some cocoons with the bodies of the people who died down there. And the wendigo, too," Crimson was helping carry Hera towards Neria, who was already rushing down the tunnel. "Is it safe down there?" Flint asked. "Yeah. The wendigo is dead. The air is the problem," Nimbus took his bipedal form and rushed along to Hera. "I''ll check it quickly. I''m used to this kind of thing," Flint jumped into Hera''s tunnel as the Ophidianite was tended by the triton. Neria didn''t take long to understand what was happening. But instead of bringing the Empress outside, she simply cast a spell that instantly made her feel better. "Oh¡­ wow, what ¡­ what did you do?" Hera frowned, trying to get her bearings. "You were poisoned. I used a cleansing spell." "Poisoned? How? I''m an Ophidianite. I should be resistant to most poisons," Hera blinked and tried to stand up, but she almost fell backward. "Take it easy. I just removed the poison, but you still need a bit of time to recover. And it''s not the type of poison you were thinking. My skill told me you had carbon dioxide poisoning." "Carbon dioxide?" Hera asked her mind still a bit jumbled up. "Co2?" Viper asked, "Isn''t that the air people breathe when they exhale?" "It is," Neria nodded. "Oh¡­ so maybe you still had oxygen down there, but there was no way for the carbon dioxide to escape, so it all was just there," Nimbus suggested. "Could be. But on a different topic. Where is Vash? And Roan?" Lurize looked around, not seeing the two. "Vash and Skyler were using their songs to locate where Hera was. In the middle of that, Vash noticed something weird. He thinks that''s where the survivor is, so afterward, we were more or less sure of Hera''s location. Vash couldn''t help that much with digging, and Roan said the same thing. "That''s good. I hope they find them," Hera rubbed her eyes, "Man, this feels worse than fighting the wendigo." "Is it dead?" Neria asked. "Yeah, and the bodies of the other two party members are down there too. They were in cocoons. I think it was just a way to store and preserve the food, but we should ask for a proper autopsy just in case," Hera explained. "We will take care of that. For now, stay seated and rest. And get ready," Neria smiled. "Ready for what?" "Well¡­ Apparently. Roan was very excited about fighting a wendigo. I''m sure he will be a bit salty when he learns you stole his prey." Hera chuckled, "To be fair. I had no choice in the matter." "I don''t think he cares," Neria smiled back at the Empress, her blue eyes shining like the morning sky due to the light spell around them. "I''ll try to apologize. And next time a wendigo tries to split one of us from the rest, he can be the one falling for its trap," Hera leaned back to take a break and properly catch her breath. 771 - Next Shift
After getting Hera out of the wendigo lair, the group also removed the bodies from the cocoons to take them back to the city. Vash and Roan were also able to find the remaining party members. It was a mage who managed to use an ice prison skill on himself. That created an ice tomb with him inside it. That was too strong for the wendigo to break. Another benefit of that skill was that whatever was inside would be in stasis as long as there were no living creatures nearby. However, that was just a temporary measure. That skill cost more than his regeneration could cover, but it would only take mana away if he were awake. When the stasis was in effect, his mana would also freeze, allowing him to stay there forever as long as no one got close. It was something anyone would only do if they had other options, and this was the case. The triton mage was very injured. It wasn''t to the point of being unable to survive, but he couldn''t fight anything at the moment. Especially with the small amount of mana he currently had. He only stayed inside the ice prison in hopes that someone would be able to reach the city and ask for help. Vash gave him one of their healing potions before bringing him to Neria so she could take care of the men properly. Seeing his teammates dead ended up being too much of a shock for the mage, and he passed out inside the tunnel. Thankfully, Hera had her court, so they had more than enough hands to carry everything out. Back in the Alliance Center, Neria took the three bodies to the infirmary. She had already done a quick diagnosis of the mage, and he seemed to be doing well, albeit suffering from exhaustion. Now, she was studying the bodies of the two people who were found in the cocoons. As cruel as it might sound, she had to make sure they were just ''stored food'' and that the wendigo didn''t do anything else with their bodies. The group had split again. Flint, Roan, and Skyler were in the butchery disassembling the rest of the wendigo while Hera and Vash were with Neria. The Empress was requested on both locations, but since she still remembered the parasites that were eating up Helena''s mana for a while, she wanted to be here to help confirm the type of things the wendigo could''ve done to them. Neria took blood samples while Hera scanned the mana inside the bodies and Vash used a spell to make a more precise ultrasound on their bodies. So far, nothing seemed to be out of order. The bodies were just that, mangled bodies, but that was it. There was nothing that could show they were being changed or used to incubate something else. However, this was just the start. This group wasn''t the most well-versed in this kind of thing, but the Alliance requested a preliminary study while they sent a team to gather the bodies. Unlike Hera''s party, they would be specialists in wendigo physiology. As they continued with their testing, Merrik arrived. Azi had told him the hunting party was back, and he came to see what had happened with them. The elf entered the infirmary and saw the two bodies, with a third one hidden behind a curtain. He closed his eyes, holding back some tears, and turned to the three people alive in the room. "Thank you for bringing them back. I¡­ I couldn''t imagine that even their bodies would be gone. I didn''t know how to tell their families that," he glanced at the body hidden by the curtain, only the silhouette appearing due to the light. "I just have to think of a way not to let their parents see them like this¡­ It doesn''t feel right," he could only imagine how bad the mage would be if he was hidden like that. Neria, who thought she found something odd in the blood sample, quickly glanced back. From her point of view, Merrik was looking at the woman who lost part of her torso, "There are some people who can make some natural prosthetics. That way, they can at least have an open casket." "Oh¡­ thank you. I just¡­" before Merrik finished, he saw the body behind the curtain getting up slowly. Like a zombie who was rising from the grave, "FUCK!" he yelled and flung a dagger at the moving body. Hera caught the movement from the corner of her eye and yelled, "Nimbus!" The Sentinel was able to appear and create a mana shield to stop the attack. The Ophidianite turned to Merrik, "What the fuck was that?!" "That thing is moving!" Merrik pointed at the body behind the curtain. "Oh, excuse me! Next time I''ll stay dead, you fucking prick!" the mage grumbled and pulled the curtain. "Simon?! You are alive?" Merrik gasped. "Despite your best efforts. Yeah, I am," Simon huffed. "I thought you were dead! You were behind that curtain, and I thought your body was in the worst shape of all," Merrik protested. "Oh no. When he saw the bodies of your friends, he passed out. We put him behind the curtain to avoid giving him another shock when he woke up," Vash explained, "That kind of didn''t work." Merrik walked over and gave Simon a hug, holding his face with both his hands, "I''m sorry I left you there¡­ I ¡­ I just¡­" Simon gave him a sad smile, "It''s fine. I understand. None of us was ready for that thing. And you saved me, didn''t you? If you didn''t make it out and asked for help, I wouldn''t be able to escape," the mage got up, but he stopped when he saw Hera and Nimbus over the body of the woman, "What the fuck are you two?" Hera sighed, having lost her concentration again, "I''m an Ophidianite. A new species in the MAZE, and he¡­" Hera glanced at the Sentinel, "Honestly. I''m too tired to explain. He is on our side, and he helped me kill the wendigo. That''s all you need to know," she rubbed her eyes, "Look. I know I''m going to sound like a bitch right now, but do you mind continuing your talk outside. We need to focus here." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "What are you doing with their bodies, exactly?" Merrik asked. "We found both of them in the¡­ Nest? Lair? House? Somewhere, the wendigo put them in, and they were inside cocoons. We are now just making sure it was a spider situation. You know, keeping food fresh for later. And not something that will make a baby wendigo burst out of their chest or something," Hera explained. Simon just stared at her, "I was already going to have nightmares about that monster. I didn''t need that idea in my head." Hera looked up, "Sorry about that. I just really hate those things and don''t want to leave anything to chance." "I understand that," Merrik nodded, "We''ll be outside. Sorry for disturbing your work." "Thank you, and I''m sorry for what you went through," Hera gave them a sympathetic smile. Remembering the time she fought against a wendigo herself. She couldn''t help but think that now, the two survivors were at a crossroads. They would either give up their life as explorers or become better at it than they ever were. That was the same decision she had to make a few years ago, although it wasn''t a question to her. She wouldn''t stop exploring just because a wendigo almost killed her. The Empress spent another half an hour trying to see if there was anything wrong with the bodies, but she couldn''t find anything. By all accounts, their mana was undisturbed, and the viscous fluid that was covering them was something organic, not a magical thing. Vash and Neria were still working, using some of the tools they had in the infirmary, like a mini centrifuge, to perform some tests. This was way beyond the Ophidianite''s knowledge, so she just gave them a copy of her report and went to the butchery to help the others. However, help was a strong word. Roan and Skyler had already completely disassembled the rest of the body and were now just trying to identify some organs that didn''t match with any creatures they knew about. Roan could be a fighter, but he was well-versed in monster anatomy. Skyler spent years studying that same subject, and Flint could create some tools on demand, including jars that could seal the organs in a vacuum. Hera joined and tried her best to help, but there wasn''t much else she could do. Trying to see if she was missing something, she opened her [Hunter''s Catalog] to see if she could compare this version with the ones she fought before. The Empress had killed three other types of wendigos and participated in a rampage where she helped fight against a 4th one, making this the 5th of this kind of monster she had ever fought. Apparently, this meant that she was already above average when talking about the number of wendigos she faced, which wasn''t something she was particularly happy about. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hunter''s Catalogue Wendigo - Level range: ????? Cannibal Beast - Devour Affinity Bonus effects: 23% A creature capable of growing as it feeds out of other beings. The more it eats, the stronger it can become. Unlike most creatures in a room, the wendigo is not restricted by the level limit of the layer. Variations: [Chameleon Panther] [Snapping Frog] [Blood Bear] [Frost Monkey] [Behemoth Tunneler] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wait¡­ what the fuck?!" Hera gasped while looking at the window. She barely used her [Hunter''s Catalogue]. In the end, after getting that skill, she never spent enough time in an area where hunting a specific monster was required. She didn''t even check the wendigo entry, assuming that each of them would be on a different page. Yet, they were all being considered the same type of creature. Even more surprising was the bonus effects. It was way too high for a creature she had only fought a few times. When she got the skill, the Empress kept track, but it took dozens of Sky Ruler Spawn kills inside a dungeon for the bonus effect to increase by 1%. It also didn''t seem to matter if she hunted something inside a dungeon or not. Bosses increased a bit faster, but it usually took between 1 and 5 kills to increase by the same 1%. But the wendigos? It was growing at a staggering rate. She killed 3 of them by herself, the Chameleon Panther being the first one she faced. The Blood Bear was the one Silah encountered outside the city of Boothudurn and now the Behemoth Tunneler. The Snapping Frog was a single entity she fought during a Rampage in Brinnefront. The Frost Monkeys were a group she helped destroy during the first Rampage in Boothudurn. Even so, it was around a dozen, maybe twenty at most. Even if she was considering that they had all the same weight for the skill as a boss, there was no reason why the skill would have increased so much. "What''s wrong?" Skyler asked when the Empress gasped. Hera shook her head, "Are you guys done here? I think it''s better if I explain this to everyone at once." They asked for a few more minutes, but soon, they left the butchery and headed back to the infirmary. In there, Hera explained about her skill, adding that she wasn''t aware the increase was that big and that they should all get some of the benefits of her skill since it was something she could share. "That''s really good. Do you think the Alliance knows about this?" Vash asked. "I really don''t know. I mean, I never heard anything about it, but it sounds like too much of a big thing for people not to know about," Hera sighed. "We should tell them either way," Flint nodded. "I agree, but that comes with a problem," as Hera replied. Everyone looked at her with confused expressions, "After I tell them, they will likely ask what is the bonus my skill is giving me. And since I''m on the high end of people who fought against wendigos¡­" "They will likely put us in wendigo duty," Roan finished the thought. "Exactly. I want to ask if you are all ok with this, or should I push for not doing that." "I''m ok with it. Those things are awful, and fighting them sounds like a good way to get stronger," Roan replied quickly. "I don''t like that very much. Hunting a monster that powerful is not my style. Especially if we have to go after them inside tunnels all the time," Vash added. With that, they started a discussion about the topic. Each of them had varying opinions, and it would take a bit of time for them to come to an agreement. At least this wasn''t something urgent, so that they could talk calmly about it. Hera couldn''t help but enjoy the situation. When she was traveling with her friends, they would never argue much when deciding something. It was somewhat refreshing to be around people who would have different opinions. Another good thing was that they were done. Their part of the mission was over. They would send their report at the end of the day and get their next task from the Alliance. Hopefully, it wasn''t another wendigo hunt, but one way or another, they were doing their part to alleviate the problems brought by the ongoing war. 772 - Getting to know each other
In the end, the party decided to ask not to be exclusively hunting wendigos, which was something the Alliance accepted. But, if it were an emergency situation like this, they would still ask for their help. The information about the [Hunter''s Catalogue] skill was also shared. A few people already knew about that increased rate for the bonus, and some teams were formed that would mostly be dealing with the wendigos. However, each of those teams had a hunter among them. Since Hera only had the explorer version of the skill, it wouldn''t be as powerful as a true hunter''s. Not only was there a cap to the bonus she could get, but her party only received a small percentage of the effects. Because of this, her team was a solid backup for dealing with that type of monster but would likely not be called in as a first option. All of this was reported directly to Queen Typhera since the possibility of no one realizing the benefits the hunter''s skill would bring when dealing with the wendigo existed. On the other hand, the information about their next mission came from Milla a few hours later. A city in a nearby room was having some problems due to an infestation of bugs. They could clear the insects without a problem since they already knew it would happen around once a year during the summer, right after the rainy season. The issue was the pathogens they could carry. If the mosquitoes bit monsters with a specific disease, that virus would mutate inside them, and when they did the same with a person, that individual would get very sick very quickly. It would take a healer several times more powerful than the creatures in the room to completely cure someone. In contrast, those in the same level range could, at most, keep people alive. There was a known antidote, but one of the materials required for it could only be dropped by the boss of a dungeon. It was possible to make the antidote without that, but the alternative version would take longer and be much more expensive to make. Not to mention that it would be less effective. The item was a horn dropped from the boss of that specific dungeon. A single horn could create around 100 doses of the antidote. But since the number of people protecting the city was smaller than usual, this also meant that more people were bitten by the mosquitoes, and more people ended up getting sick. They had expected this, but since the horn could also be used to make some decently strong accessories that protected people from various types of ailments, their stock was smaller than they had hoped. To top it off, the initial migration of the bugs happened a couple of weeks earlier than they predicted. This cascade of events resulted in the city not being prepared to deal with the infestation and more people than they expected getting sick. As a result, they ran out of supplies for the antidote. People hadn''t abandoned the place completely. They still had guards and sentinels to defend the city against monster attacks or protect the crops that grew on the farms. However, they were already stretched thin and couldn''t afford to form a group to run a specific dungeon on repeat, even if that meant that a couple of dozen people would suffer. The mission Hera and her team received was to go to that run and spend two weeks running that dungeon, trying to get the horn to drop so they could save the people. If they couldn''t finish that during that time frame, they would have to warn the Alliance so they could send a high-level healer to try to cure the patients. Almost all high-level healers were close to the front lines, ready to help any soldier who was injured. They were also working as another line of defense, but one specialized against chemical warfare. If the humans tried to poison a water well or something along those lines, the healers could cleanse the poison and detect its source. Taking even one of them out of their posts would create a gap in their defenses that could be exploited by their enemy. Despite all that, the Alliance wasn''t about to abandon its people. If Hera''s team wasn''t able to find the horn, they would send someone over to cure them. Curing those people would also free up a couple of healers who were deemed too weak to stay on the front lines and were currently working as wandering medics. The larger cities around the MAZE wouldn''t need their help since they had proper hospitals and doctors. However, it was different for the smaller settlements and villages. They depended on healers or crafters who specialized in potions and ointments to keep their population healthy. Due to the heavy reliance on those people, anyone who was stationed at one of those smaller places would level up quickly, and now, during a war, they were asked to help the front lines. Hera and her team would leave in the morning together with a shipment of food and supplies. They would take three days to reach their destination, and during that time, they would be working as the escort for the supplies. However, calling them escorts was a bit of a stretch. From the city, they would be taking a truck to the entrance of the next room, and the few next rooms would allow the same luxury. Then, they would swap to smaller cars and would be on their own on the final day. For today, the group was done with their work, and they decided to get some drinks. It''s been just a couple of days since they''ve known each other, and they didn''t have a chance to hang out in a more casual setting. This time, instead of talking about their skills or capabilities, they just chatted about themselves, their families, and the things they liked and didn''t like. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Hera was the only member of the group who didn''t have siblings. Vash had two brothers and three sisters, all of whom were born from the same clutch. That was something no one in the party knew about how the Children of the Sky had, well, children. That was one of their more bird-like features. A female harpy could have between one and eight eggs at a time, and their babies were tiny. His family was very close, even if each of them ended up on different paths in life, but they all lived in the Aerie of the First Flight. Vash himself was the only one who craved traveling. Roan was a bit of a special case. His tribe followed what he called the ''old ways.'' Even if they were living in a city like everyone else, basically, when a child was born, they would be a child of the tribe, not of the parents themselves. They would grow up with their parents for a few years and then be placed in the care of the tribe to learn, grow, and eventually decide their careers. Most people of his tribe didn''t have memories of their parents from when they were young and would only properly get to know them after they were already old enough to be on their own. Instead of having a close relationship with their mother or their father, the people of his tribe would be close to their brothers and sisters, who were, in essence, their childhood friends. Neria''s situation was more standard; she had a younger sister trying to be part of the triton guard, but she was still too young even to have her first level up. Then came Skyler and Flint¡ªthe two who belonged to the species with the longest life span. Hera was somewhat curious about how their families worked when instead of living for a hundred years or so, you would live for three hundred to a thousand. Flint had six siblings, but they were, on average, twenty-five years apart from each other. From what the Empress understood, every thirty years or so, a dwarven couple had another child. If they wanted, of course. There were cases when they would have them closer together, but that was rare. In a way, Hera understood that. Raising multiple children at once sounded hard, but if you only lived to a hundred, waiting eighteen years to have another could bring some issues. Skyler was the last, and she was the youngest among her siblings. She was also a noble, but due to their long life span, they had a very unique perspective in life. Being nobility didn''t mean they were better or more worthy than others. It was quite the opposite. Nobles had more responsibility. They were required to think always about what was best for the entire species and the MAZE itself. It sounded like a pressure-filled existence, but according to the elf, it wasn''t as bad as it sounded. Living for a very long time forced one to learn how to think before acting. Patience wasn''t a skill but a necessity. It wasn''t uncommon for someone to spend years mulling over big decisions. Another big issue elves had was population control. Elven women had a similar situation to dwarven women. While the latter would only be able to have children once every year, the former could do so only once every three years. Even so, elves understood that if they just started to multiply willy-nilly, they would have problems. In theory, the MAZE was infinity, but the elves knew the current number of safe places to raise children wasn''t. Because of this, eleven parents were limited to five children. Nothing would happen if the last pregnancy resulted in twins, triplets, or something beyond that. But if a family insisted on having more children, then they would have to pay increasingly higher taxes on pretty much everything. Legally, that was just a slap on the wrist, but culturally, it was a mark of shame. Proof that they were unable to follow their rules and were unwilling to act as proper elves. The elven controller had everyone''s undivided attention while talking about her life. There was something alluring about knowledge of such a long-living species, and the entire team let her talk as much as she wanted about her culture. Skyler herself was the fifth child and the youngest one, and the usual stereotype was true. Her parents let her roam around wildly and do whatever she wanted while treating her as if she was precious at the same time. She knew her three brothers and one sister were a bit annoyed by that. However, since they never lived together, they didn''t have as many problems as other families with siblings usually did. Lastly, it came Hera''s turn. And being the only one without siblings felt a bit weird. She didn''t dump everything that happened during her childhood but mentioned that she didn''t have a good relationship with her mother, and now her parents have divorced. With that ''speed dating'' round over, they continued talking about their likes and dislikes, the things they wanted to do before the war, and the things they liked doing to have fun. Everyone agreed to have a movie night when they had a chance, and thanks to a karaoke night in the bar, they started singing some old classics. Hera enjoyed her time with the group, even if the singing was rough. Everyone got a bit tipsy except for the Empress herself since her poison resistance would stop her from getting to that point. Eventually, they went back to the hotel and slept, getting ready for the following day. In the morning, as they were about to leave, Neria had to tap Vash and Roan with a detox spell to fix their hangover, but that was it. They had a few days of travel before reaching their next destination. 773 - Beast Armor The first day of their travels went out without a hitch. Hera and her team were just along for the ride. They sang road trip songs, played odd car games, and talked like teenagers. Vash was the spark that made everyone regress for a few hours. His energy was contagious, and Skyler, despite being on the older side of the group, was an elf, and by Elven''s standards, she was barely considered an adult. Neria was surprisingly easy to coerce into joining their shenanigans. Hera also joined, mostly because her court already had their own game sessions apart from the team. If possible, they would also participate, but the truck lacked the necessary room for the title blades, along with everyone else. Not to mention, Nimbus and the others didn''t want to leave the court alone while they had their fun. When it came time to cross to the next room, the group just waited for the delivery people to set everything up. During that time, a few monsters would appear, but they needed to be more aggressive or desperate to attempt something against this large group. During that brief moment of seriousness, Roan mentioned that since the monsters didn''t know that the truck trailers were not alive, it was likely that the massive objects would be more scary than the number of people around. On the second day, they were taking pickup trucks instead of actual trucks. The weather in one of the rooms was very nice, which let some of the party ride in the back and enjoy the trip. They were all high-level enough to handle the speed without any worry. Even if an accident were to happen, they would be able to either land safely or not be too injured in the fall as long as the car didn''t topple over them. In that case, things could be more dire. Unfortunately, it was pouring down in the second room, forcing the party to stay inside the cars and in a less animated state. The same happened in the final room of the day, and a few monsters tried to attack them. Oddly shaped foxes with extra limbs and two mouths split in the nose''s middle. Those were very aggressive, and Roan took the opportunity to show off a little bit. He was still a bit upset for not being able to fight against the wendigo. The beastman was the most battle-hungry member of the team, without counting on Livy, and he took the opportunity. Neria was also ready in case something went wrong, and Hera had her entire court out for the same reason. As the Twinned Foxes got closer, Roan triggered his Beast Armor skill. Taking advantage of the chance to show his trump card skill in a less dangerous environment. He was suddenly covered in spectral black fur, which made his actual shape look like a blur. A large spectral mandible and a long snout also appeared around his mouth. The monsters roared, and Roan did the same back, letting out a primal sound that didn''t seem to come from a sentient being. If anyone had doubts, that skill would mess with his mind; this simple act cleared any doubts. Roan lunged forward without waiting to be attacked, covering about 50 meters in a single step. He swiped his left arm at the first fox, who was too surprised to move in time. The monster''s head, upper body, and lower body were split with that one move. The rest of the pack jumped at Roan, angry and scared. The beastman didn''t flinch even when the beasts bit and clawed at his armor. Instead, the spectral teeth opened and closed shut quickly, almost like a bear trap. The unlucky fox that was caught by it instantly died by having most of its spine and internal organs crushed. Another Twinned Fox let out a howl that created a sonic shock wave to push him away, but the spectral fur rustled like a tree in a summer breeze despite the attack, creating a ring crater around the monster. Roan jumped and disappeared. The fox jumped side to side and tried to find its enemy again. After a moment, the beastman landed on top of the beast, crushing the lower back of the Twinned Fox. The creature was still alive and obviously in pain, but Roan didn''t put it out of its misery right away. Instead, it slowly slashed each of its limbs, almost skinning it alive. When the fox was bleeding so much that it couldn''t even cry out in pain, Flint threw a rock at its head, empowered by his armor to finally kill the monster. "That''s enough, Roan." The beastial Roan growled at the dwarf and slowly started to move towards him. "Roan. Stop," Neria called. She didn''t immediately use his trigger phrase since the beastman himself asked not to do so. He needed to be able to control that skill and regain his sanity without that trigger. "Roan!" Flint yelled again. ''Livy, Lurize. Get ready to hold him down. Just in case,'' Hera commanded without saying anything out loud as she and her court started to flank the beastman. Roan continued walking towards the dwarf menacingly. His spectral snout opened and closed repeatedly. The movement barely made any sound, but it felt like they should be hearing a metallic clang as it snapped shut. For a thing called Beast Armor, parts of the skill were surprisingly mechanical looking. "Roan!" Flint snarled, ready to fight the beastman. This wasn''t the trigger phrase he had told the rest of the team, but somehow, it worked. Roan stopped. He shook his head, and something in his eyes changed. The spectral armor around it faded a bit. He stomped his left foot on the ground and roared. The sound shifted midway, returning to something more like a yell of a person. When he finished screaming, the armor slowly came out of him as if the wind was carrying it away. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Roan groaned and rubbed his eyes, "Sorry about that. But this is what happens with the skill." Everyone pulled back their aggression while still being on the lookout for any stray foxes who could be moving around. "It is quite strong. Those monsters were level 30. It would take an active skill of mine to beat them in a single move. And those are not that cheap," Flint nodded. "Same here. And my one-shot ones are a bit of a hit or miss," Skylar added. Roan seemed satisfied with that, but he glanced at Hera, wanting to know what the unofficial wendigo hunter would say. Feeling she had to speak up, the Empress thought for a moment. She scanned the creature''s mana and realized that they were more offensive than defensive, and some parts of their bodies were not as strong as the rest, "Honestly¡­ I would need a skill to one-shot them, too, unless I was overlapping a lot of passives. Livy might have an easier time killing them, but she would need to hit them. I think those foxes were a bit fast." Livy frowned upon hearing that answer. "I''m not saying you are slow; it''s just that they seemed faster. You are the heavy hitter, with big swings and a lot of damage, but when talking about speed, you fall behind pretty much everyone in the court." "Fine, but that still hurt," Livy huffed and looked away. "C''mon!" Hera had an exasperated expression and started buttering up the Leviathan, talking about how strong, big, and powerful she was. That made the rest of the team laugh, and the delivery drivers laugh. Few people had intimate knowledge about legacies, and seeing that it could create people who were that close to each other was a bit surreal. At the end of the second day, they arrived at a small village with just two thousand or so people living there at the moment. They spend the night in an inn and leave early in the morning, going back to the setup they had with Nimbus pulling a carriage made by Flint. Everyone on the team was still talking, but now they were less energetic. Instead of sharing stories about their adventures together or about how they got one particular item, they split off into duos and were just talking about random things. Vash and Roan were on the edge of the carriage, talking about their culture. The two of them had very different lifestyles than the rest of the group, which made them quickly create a bond. Neria and Skyler were talking about their parents and how it was to be treated too preciously while also being required to be better than others. While Hera and Flint talked about crafting and the various materials they saw on their trips. Flint was particularly interested in the Temple of Sands, expecting that the river of sand that moved to the sky could give his armor some interesting properties. At the same time, Hera was poking his brain about the [Venomous Arsenal] skill. She saw his power armor in action and was considering making something similar. She has some pre-made pummels, handles, and shafts for various weapons while adding just the actual blade from her skill. The dwarf liked the idea and agreed to help her when possible. The big problem was the use of her [Weapon Brake] skill as a big burst thing. That skill would destroy everything, not just the blade itself. So, in order to solve this issue, she would either have to stop using that skill or make those parts of weapons easily replaceable. The options vary wildly for what she could add to those parts of the weapons. From simple boosts to damage, one attribute or an element, to adding specific skills. Flint''s most interesting suggestion was a skill that could only be used once. It was called ''Rinse and Repeat.'' A skill that a lot of people attempted to change and tweak. The original version, however, was all Hera needed. The skill would replicate any effect used on a weapon. But it would do so as many times as it could until the item broke. People used to offset that by attaching the skills to gems or parts of the weapon that could easily be removed. Like a tire of a car that could be quickly removed. Flint already knew that the skill would work with [Weapon Break], but very few people were willing to use it like that. It was very hard to find someone who treated weapons as easily replaceable. Most people would spend more money on their weapons than most of the rest of their gear. Making an attachment for the Rinse and Repeat skill always came with a danger. If it would malfunction or take too long for the part of the weapon that had that skill to be ejected, the skill could force the weapon to break. Daskka also added one interesting tidbit of information. Apparently [Rinse and Repeat] could work with Hera''s court. If any of her blades used it, they would just repeat the previous skill over and over until their form couldn''t handle it anymore. But, the biggest difference between this and [Weapon Brake] was that the former wouldn''t destroy the court member permanently. The legacy would only act as if they were broken during a fight, not as if they were being obliterated. That conversation with Flint lasted for a long time. Even after the rest of the team had swapped talking partners, the ophidianite and the dwarf were still talking about the skills. They only stopped at the end of the third day, when they arrived at the city where their new mission was waiting for them. The city of Bysten. A place where art supplies were abundant. The fruits and ores in the area could easily become paint just by adding some water or colorless oil, the furs of the monsters were easy to weave into beautiful dresses and rugs, the wood and stone could create the most marvelous instruments, and the same could be said for the dungeons that existed inside. Each of them was dedicated to a specific type of art, from dancing to writing, from theater to ceramics, sculptures, and songs. Anyone who wanted to delve into the arts could hope for no place better than this room. Endless supplies, ways to fix mistakes, and even dungeon and quest rewards that could be attached to an art form. This was all part of the room called Gallery Pathway. 774 - Plans for a dungeon
Vash was flying beside the carriage, moving like a hummingbird and gasping at every little thing he saw. It could be a new plant or a tree he had seen a thousand times before, but this one had slightly different leaves. Different how? According to the performer, they were more alive. Whatever that meant. After about half an hour of constant wonder at everything, the harpy landed back on the vehicle, turning to the rest of the group, "I just realized, why did no one tell me we were coming here? Didn''t you know how amazing this place is?!" The team glanced at each other, and Flint said, "You didn''t ask. And you could''ve read the mission information we got. It was all there." "Also, when I realized you had no idea where we were going. I decided I wasn''t going to be the one to tell you," Roan said with a smirk. "That ended up as an unspoken agreement," Hera nodded. She realized Vash was clueless about their destination as they talked in the bar. But a knowing glance from Neria made her give up the idea of telling him. "Why would you do that?!" Vash gasped, but he jumped away to see a few monsters nearby, "Look at them! Furry Piglets! Their leather and fur can make the most amazing clothes," he turned to the left, seeing another of the monsters appear from the woods, "The fur of that one is longer! That is amazing! Oh! And that one is shorter!" He continued mentioning everything he saw for a few more minutes before returning to the group, "And why didn''t you tell me?!" "Because of this," Skyler waved her hand in Vash''s general direction, "That reaction is very entertaining." Vash rolled his eyes, "Oh, I''m glad I can entertain you all. It''s not like you can do anything else! I mean, Hera has two dozen movies on her tablet. Go watch something." "To be fair, your role is all about entertaining others," Neria smiled, her ear fins wiggling slightly. "Well¡­ I ¡­. Shut up!" Vash huffed, but his anger was quickly forgotten as they passed by some singing trees. These were used to make several instruments like flutes, saxophones, and almost anything that asked you to blow on it to make a sound. Naturally, those trees grew in a shape that already created a melody as the wind passed inside it. After marveling at that, the harpy turned back to the group, "Still. I wish you told me. I didn''t even check the places we could visit while we are here!" "Oh, don''t worry about that. I have a list here," Skyler opened a large smile, "From the best stores for harmonicas and small brass instruments to a shop specializing in maracas and instruments made for the Children of the Sky. I also marked a few museums showing a bit of the history of music and marked down any cover bands that might interest us while we stay here." "We are not here to hang out. We have a job to do," Flint said bluntly. "I know. That''s why all those cover bands are playing in restaurants. A couple are part of a fair they have every weekend, too. Usually, those only happen once a month, are bigger, and there are many more people on those things. Still, because of everything that is going on, they scaled down and made it permanent," Skyler explained while looking at her tablet with all that information. "And that''s what you want to do? Go watch a show while people are dying. This is not a vacation, girlie," Flint scoffed. Hera didn''t look towards her, but she could feel the elf seething. Yet, she didn''t lash out and took a deep breath. "No, Flint. I know we are here for a job. And we will spend most of the day running the dungeon to get the materials. However, we also need to rest and eat. There is no reason to just order takeout and stay inside the hotel staring at the walls. As long as we do as many dungeon runs as possible, if we have the energy after it, we can eat in a pleasant place. The stores might be open while we are still in the city, and I''m more than willing to, " Skyler said in a tone that showed she was used to people trying to rile her up, and she wasn''t going to let that happen. "Pleasant place? We should be sleeping as little as possible and keep doing dungeon runs. Just because the Alliance has a backup plan doesn''t mean we should let them use it. If someone were to leave the front lines, we might lose a lot more people!" Flint yelled, but this time, the entire team turned against him. "What''s the point of killing ourselves to try to complete this mission? This is not do or die. This is do or create problems," Roan shook his head. Neria: "Also, not sleeping enough will only bring trouble. If we are tired we will take longer to finish the dungeon, make more mistakes, and get hurt. The result will be completing the dungeon fewer times. And the odds of us getting that drop reduced," Neria''s tone was much warmer than Roan''s or Skyler''s, but she still made it clear that she didn''t approve of his idea. "Yeah. Why are you like this? Everything was ok until yesterday. Is this mission something personal?" Vash asked. Flint groaned, "No, it''s not. I don''t know anyone who is sick or whoever the fuck they are going to send here to cover our asses if we fail." Vash landed on the carriage, "Then why are you this invested? Don''t get me wrong, I want to help people too, but the way you are acting makes me feel like there is something else." "It''s¡­ Nothing. Fine, we can do it your way. How far away the dungeon is from the city?" "It''s a 30-minute walk, or likely 10 minutes if we have Nimbus doing this. Well, 15 to 20. There is a small climb, and the path is not that wide," Skyler replied. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Probably between 10 and 15 then. Nimbus can fly and carry two of us at a time. Livy probably can just jump that entire path, but I''m not sure it would be conformable," Hera added and turned to Flint, "Are you sure you don''t want to talk about it? This came out of left field." Flint groaned but gave in, "It''s a bad childhood memory. I lost a brother because some people didn''t take a request seriously. They were always drinking in town instead of doing their job." "Were they skipping work, or were they doing what we are going to do right now? Rest so they could be at peak condition?" Neria asked. "I don''t fucking know. They didn''t complete a request, and my brother died. That''s that." "We are not going to let that happen. We will save the people in the city. And if we don''t, a high-level healer will show up to fix this. Nobody dies," Skyler said resolutely. "Yeah! Besides, depending on the size of the dungeon, we can have a second team running it while we sleep," Hera added. Everyone looked at the Empress with a confused expression, "What?" "What do you mean a second team? Is there someone else coming to help us? We didn''t get any information about that," Neria frowned. "What? No. I mean my court. Remember the Royal Quest skill? The one where I can give the titled blades a mission, and then they can just go do it without worrying about being close to me?" Skyler nodded, "Yeah, you said Nimbus flew to a city in the sky or something, right? They can run dungeons by themselves?" "Yeah. I told you that. The ship dungeon that we were using to get food. I could have them run it by themselves." "You said you were in charge of running it alone since you had them. That it was better so you didn''t have to run several times," Vash replied. Hera nodded, "Only because if they go in a dungeon, it counts as if I was there too. So, if I tried to enter one, they were already in, and I would join. But if I don''t go. They can just run it and leave." "And they can get drops?" Flint asked. "Yeah. They can''t get any dungeon quest rewards. They can see the notification and what the dungeons ask them to do, but there will be no quest reward if I''m not there. But we are only worried about the drops that still show up. I have no clue if the drop rate is affected, but if it does, the difference is negligible. I never sent them to a dungeon and was like, ''The drops are horrible!'' Well. Not more than usual. Then again, the only time I used that¡­ let''s call it feature, was when I was back in the Abyssal Deep," Hera explained. "Can you explain a bit more about that skill? How does it work?" Neria moved closer to Hera, her blue eyes shining under the sunlight. Hera nodded and gave them all a quick rundown of the skill. Explaining how each of the titled blades that went in a mission would receive some mana and then could move around. The imitation was just that they couldn''t move to another room. And the farther away they got, the more mana they would spend. Hera also added what her titled blades had told her. That when they had the Empress mana, and they tried using a skill or a spell, that mana would be used first. She also remembered to include the cooldown of the skill. Letting them know that if she was able to send them out for a few dungeon runs, it could only be done once every other day. Neria listened to what Hera was saying closely, and when she was done, the triton asked, "How is your mana? Not the amount, but is it just the basic version, or do you have some of it compressed?" "Compressed?" Hera asked. "Yeah," Neria looked around, seeing everyone''s expression, "Do none of you know about compressed mana?" They all shook their heads, but Skyler snapped her fingers, "Isn''t that like a mana core? Like having a mana crystal inside of you?" Neria nodded, "Yeah. We call it compressed mana. It''s basically a skill that lets you have a mana crystal inside of you. It''s not an actual crystal, but it''s like the equivalent of it. I know most roles don''t care much about it. And I get it. If you are fighting, it''s only worth using the mana you can recover quickly. But healers tend to have this compressed mana, mana core, mana storage, whatever you want to call it. It''s an emergency tool for either saving someone who got hit in a bad way or when we have to do something for a very long time." "That sounds useful. I wonder why I never heard about it," Flint frowned, no longer upset about their previous argument. "I hear that this kind of mana is not that helpful for crafters. Something like it is working differently. So it''s like you are trying to mix two materials," Neria scratched the back of her head, "If you want, I can try to teach you how to get that skill. One warning: this reduces your natural mana growth, and the recovery rate is prolonged. Spells cast with that are also more expensive, but the skill compensates by growing a lot more than the normal mana. I thought about teaching Hera how to use it since it might greatly help her¡­ Court?" Hera gave an approving nod, and Flint nodded vigorously, "That''s a good call. Especially considering what they are. I remember you saying they are sort of like golems. Well, all golems have a core. And they don''t seem to have any." The Empress glanced at Nimbus. It was true. He didn''t have a core. And if she was able to share that skill with them, maybe the amount of time they could be in a Royal Quest would be longer. It might be a stretch to have this helping this mission but in the future¡­ "Daskka?" Hera called, "Do you think this can work?" The herald looked into the distance, having a small ''conversation'' with the legacy, "Yes? That can work. I mean, using that mana to give them quests. But the cost will change. I don''t know how." "Well. It''s worth a shot," the Empress looked at Nimbus, then back at Neria, "Actually. When we are doing that, do you mind if I have them with us too? They can learn skills by themselves, and if they manage to get a skill like that, maybe they can actually have a core! Whatever that will do." "You are kidding me! A core is the most important part of a golem. It''s where all the magic and power comes from!" Flint gasped. His reaction was the same as if he had seen someone asking what two plus two was. Hera smiled, "I know. But I don''t know what will happen with my court. They are like golems but not actual golems. So I don''t know what will happen." "That''s¡­. Fair," Flint frowned. "Well, just let me know when you want to learn. I''m more than happy to teach. As long as we are not busy," Neria smiled. "I mean... We are free now. We still have what, 2 hours before reaching the city?" Hera said. "Two and a half, actually," Vash corrected. "Sure. Anyone else wants to learn?" Neria looked around. "You can do it. Someone has to keep an eye out for monsters," Flint turned around. "I can have most of my court looking out for it. If anything were to happen, they would let me know. Actually, do you mind if the titled Blades also listen in? Since they also have mana, maybe they can make their own compression instead of just copying mine." Neria nodded, and they all shifted to be in more comfortable positions for the lesson. Getting skills was always weird; some could become your staple. Like [Naga Poison] was Hera''s for a long time. At the same time, others could barely ever see the light of day, like the [Nature Connection] that was supposed to help her grow plants. But, the more you had, the better. After all, there was no way of knowing if something could help or improve someone''s power considerably unless you gave it a shot. 775 - Monarch of the Glen
"Before we start. Here is the deal. Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, Viper, Crimson, you will be on the backline this time. I want you all thinking about how you would run this dungeon without me," Hera had her titled blades in a line, but she noticed Livy''s disappointed look, "I''m not saying you can''t fight, but be on the defense. Don''t push ahead. We, and by that I mean the team, need to practice our well. Teamwork." "We are still going to protect you," Nimbus added. "I sure hope so," Hera smiled, "But seriously, I want to ask you to look at this dungeon, thinking how to beat it without help. And without using mana if you can." "Why are we not using mana? We all managed to get a Blade Core," Viper asked. Neria''s lesson on compressed mana was way more successful than anyone could imagine. The idea was simple: gather your mana like you were trying to cycle it, or do whatever you did when you meditated to increase the maximum, and then push the mana together. The triton explained how people would focus on a specific part of their bodies and then place all mana there, like a box, or a vault. In just one hour, Vash was able to do that, followed by Skyler, Roan, Hera, and Flint. Each of them had a different name for the skill, a version a bit more tailored to their intention. Skyler and Roan had something called Mana Reservoir, the most simple version of that kind of skill. An extra pool of mana they could use when they wanted. The recovery of that extra mana was around 0.2% of their natural recovery. This meant that when the reservoir reached the same capacity as their regular mana, it would take around two days to completely fill up. In addition, any spell that used that mana would take 20% more mana. However, according to Neria, that skill increased the amount of mana that could be stored quite quickly, while the regeneration increased only as the rank of the skill increased. The penalty would be affected by the rank, too, becoming smaller and smaller. At rank 9, spells should only be 2% more costly. Flint got one named Mana Storage, and although the name sounded the same, it had an extra effect. If he used that extra mana to create an item from his blueprints or used an item, the increase in mana cost would only be 10% instead of 20%. Vash''s skill was extremely similar, called ''Mana Tour Bus'', which allowed him to have the same reduced increase in the cost of spells that were affected by his perform skill, which already made those spells cheaper. Hera''s version, on the other hand, was wildly different. Initially, it was called ''Mana Well, '' and it had a higher regeneration rate. It would be equal to 0.5% of her passive mana regeneration plus another percentage-based recovery. But that secondary recovery would be based on the Mana Well itself and the layer she was currently at. While at the 1st layer, she would have an extra 0.001% mana regeneration. If she were in the 12th layer, the number would change to 0.012%. There was no mention of a cap, but this also meant that if she could reach the hundred thousandth layer if that were a thing, she would recover the entire Mana Well pool in a single second. But that wasn''t all. Daskka recognized that the skill could be added to the legacy. Doing that removed her ability to use spells or normal skills with the mana from the Mana Well. Instead, it would allow her to use any skill that belonged to her blades, or that was part of her legacy with a 5% increase in their cost. In addition, if any of her blades used a skill, they would first reach for the Mana Well and not Hera''s natural mana. The cherry on top was that each of her blades would also help increase that maximum mana regeneration from the skill itself. It would be a 0.001% increase from each blade and a 0.01% from each titled blade that was out. The whole ''increased with the layer she was at'' and would also continue to work without a problem. In the end, Hera really liked that idea. Not just because it would allow her to use her mana without having to leave some for her court, but she wouldn''t end up falling for the trap of ''I have so much mana!'' and end up forgetting how much mana she could recover in a pinch. Accepting Daskka''s offer, the Ophidianite gained a new legacy skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Empress Core - Mana Well - Rank 1 Legacy By creating a core, the Empress can now fuel the power of her court while keeping her own mana to herself. The more the court uses that core, the more mana it will be able to contain. Current Mana available: 10 000/10 000 Current Core recovery: 52/s (0.5% of your Passive Mana Regeneration 10 587/s) Being a Mana Well, the Empress Core has an increased total mana regeneration. That regeneration is influenced by the depth of the layer the Empress is currently at and the amount of court member out of the legacy. Extra regeneration by layer depth: 0.001% per layer depth. Extra regeneration by court member: 0.001% per blade current out of the legacy. Extra regeneration by titled blade: 0.01% per titled blade The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Current extra mana regeneration: 6/s (0.059% of maximum core mana) (0.012% Layer + 0.007% Court Member + 0.04% Titled blade = 0.059%) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the first hour, they all got their skills, but no one said anything since it was all about meditation. Neria had warned them all that she would let them try for some time before checking their progress. "Everyone? The hour is up. Can I continue the explanation? I''m sure you are all having some problems pushing the mana into the right spot. It will take a while to get the skill, but you should all be able to get it in a few weeks. Also, when you get the skill, remember that if it gets a passive regeneration, that''s fine and all, but you can still use your natural mana to fill up the compressed mana," the triton asked. "Actually¡­ I got it. The skill, I mean," Hera replied. "Same here," Roan nodded. "Me too!" Vash puffed his chest. "And me. It''s been like 40 minutes. I was working on increasing the space. I figured I could do the same process to make it work," Skyler added. They all turned to Flint, who was the only one who didn''t say anything. "What? I got it, too. It''s only been two minutes, but I got it, ok?! Feel free to say I''m the slow one because I''m short. I know I heard enough jokes about it," he huffed. "SLOW? SLOW?" Neria gasped, "The four of you got a skill that takes weeks of constant training for most people in one fucking hour, and you are calling it slow?!" the healer wanted to continue talking, but she just kept opening her mouth and closing, giving up any argument midway only to try again, and fail. "I¡­ think we broke her," Vash waved his hand in front of Neria but to no avail. She was just staring at a random point on the carriage floor. "I just¡­ I didn''t even have a chance to talk about the differences in types of that skill¡­ How did you all get it so fast?" Neria grumbled. "I don''t know. It was just super easy to concentrate mana," Skyler replied. Hera thought momentarily, "That might have something to do with my title. Ever since I got it, It''s been much easier for me to use mana. But I never saw it happening with someone else. Then again, ever since I became an Ophidianite, I didn''t stop to meditate like this." "What title? The Ophidianite Progenitor? Why would that affect mana?" Neria asked. "No, not that one. One of my other titles," Hera replied. "Other title?" Roan raised one eyebrow. "One of?" Vash added, realizing what that meant. "Yeah, the Mana Touched. I didn''t talk to you about it?" Hera tilted her head, receiving a synchronized ''NO!'' from the rest of the team. Hera explained about her titles and also regaled the group with the stories about how she got them. After dealing with the curse, she didn''t have to worry about it spreading again; even the guides confirmed that. During that time, the titled blades continued trying to make their own Mana Core, and they got it. Each of them had a personalized core, although they were basically the same; they just changed the names and elements to match each of them. To make this easier, they unofficially named them ''Blade Cores.'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lurize Core - Mana Well By creating a core, the Lurize can now store the mana given by the Empress to move around without being limited to the range. In addition to that, the mana inside the core can also be used to fuel spells or skills of the poison element. Empress Mana available: 1 000/1 000 When doing a Royal Quest, the rate at which the mana inside the core is spent due to distance is reduced by 50% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They weren''t able to recover that mana themselves. After all, this wasn''t their mana but Hera''s. Still, this meant they could use their own spells and skills without worrying about anything else, adding that to the increased distance they could be at, making the skill perfect for the situation. Nimbus''s core allowed him to use protection element spells, Livy water, while Viper and Crimson had the Naga element. There was one more surprise in the middle of all of this. Maybe it was due to the [Army of One] skill, it could also be a weird interaction with Lurize''s [Ancient Weapons Master], or just because they could sense what each other was doing, but everyone, including Hera, was growing their Cores at an incredible rate. In just the three hours that it took for them to reach the city, stop by the Alliance Center to report and gather a few supplies, and reach the dungeon entrance, the titled blade''s cores had reached beyond 100 thousand. At the same time, Hera''s was already about to reach 150 thousand. The Empress also could fill up her blades'' cores by using her natural mana, just like what she could do with her own. Even better, she could do that without giving them a Royal Quest. This meant that they could move around without worry. All she had to do was fuel them with enough mana. Again, "Why are we not using mana? We all managed to get a Blade Core," Viper asked. "Yeah, but the core can only take a small amount of mana. We don''t know if you can complete the dungeon with just 100 thousand mana. This is just a safety measure. If we end up with a lot more mana tomorrow night in our cores, you can use your own." Viper nodded, "That makes a lot of sense. I''ll try to figure out how to fight without mana." Seeing that the Ophidianite wasn''t talking anymore, Flint clapped his hands, "Great. Can we go then? Everyone ready." The entire team nodded. This would be their first and likely worst attempt at completing the dungeon. But the more they ran it, the better they would get. People said it took about 30 minutes to complete an entire run. However, no one mentioned how long it would take for people who just got here to complete the quest. The answer was closer to 2 hours but despite all that. Hera and her team were aiming to kill the boss in 20 minutes. Touching an archway carved inside the rocks, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter the Monarch of the Glen dungeon? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 776 - Dungeon Art As soon as the team entered the Monarch of the Glen dungeon, a notification popped up for everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a dungeon quest. Monarch''s assault. The Monarch of the Glen is angry that people keep invading his domain. Defeat him and his generals before they can gather enough forces to attack. First-time Rewards: Hoard of the Monarch, 150 000 gold. Time Limit: 6 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The team was inside what looked like a massive tree, and in front was an opening to the woods themselves. However, before continuing, Skyler called everyone. "Just to remember, the time limit is 6 hours, but we should be able to complete it in 1 or 2 hours, at most. Experienced parties finish this place once every half an hour. We have a map with the usual route people take to kill all five generals and the Monarch self. However, the suggestion we got was to run first without looking at the optimal path. After all, what each party finds easier or harder varies a lot," the elf explained and sent everyone a message with the map. The dungeon wasn''t that big. It should only be one or two kilometers wide and five across. Or, at least, that was the important area of the dungeon. Beyond the woods, they were currently inside was an expansive grassland that seemed to stretch into infinity. Going there was a way to trigger the hard mode. There was a monster outside the forest that, when killed, allowed the grove to grow considerably. But this wasn''t what they needed to do right now. What they needed was the horn of the Monarch of the Glen. No, the Tyrant of the Glen, which was the version that would appear in the hard mode. Because of that, they had to complete this quest. They also had a few options here. The quest asked them to kill the Monarch and its generals, but the drop didn''t require the death of the generals. Killing them was just a way to make the final fight easier. Since each of those monsters would be connected to one of the abilities the Monarch of the Glen had, however, they should complete the quest this time, since the Hoard of the Monarch had the potential to be one of the horns that the Monarch shed. If that were the case, their problems would be over. The shed horn would be like a concentrated dose of the medicine. It would be the equivalent of 50 regular horns. As far as anyone knew, getting it from the hoard was the only way to get it. To be fair, it was possible that the regular reward, called ''Treasure of the Monarch'', was also given it, but it''s been ten years since the last time someone got from that reward. To top it all off, the broken horn, which was their objective, could only be a drop and not part of any other reward. They would have to decide if they were going to kill all the generals before going for the Monarch or not, but for now, they would just follow the quest. "Let''s not think too much. Which general is closest?" Flint continued moving towards the exit of this large tree. "The territory of the one to the west is the closest but can also be the farthest away. The one that is close and shouldn''t be an issue to find is to the north," Neria was looking over the map Skyler had sent them. "I vote north, then. I want to move my body a bit. And I mean not just walk," Roan replied. "I''m okay with that idea, too. Also, we can have Nimbus flying over the area to see if he finds any of the generals," Hera suggested. Leaving the tree, they arrived in what could only be described as a living painting. The colors were vibrant and meticulously created in harmony with those who were connecting it. The trees also had this sort of ethereal feel, almost like they were not solid but something else. However, that was just a visual difference. As they left the large tree, the feeling of touching something solid was still there. Everything felt a bit greasier as if they were touching paint that was just shy of being completely dry. The forest sprawled like a canvas, carrying the hues of soft ochre and verdant greens. Each tree resembling impressionistic strokes of a brush reaching for the sky with slender brunches intertwined, forming a canopy that filtered the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of colors. Each step they took created ripples in the ground as if they were walking on a lake, but it wasn''t the ground that moved, only its colors. Almost as if their feet could desaturate the area beneath them. In response, the blades of grass and the petals of flowers would pulse in more vivid color, doing the exact opposite that the team steps would create. "This place is amazing," Vash gasped, but he realized that Flint might complain about his reaction. To his surprise, the dwarf nodded in agreement. "It really is. I know it''s obvious, but I feel like I''m inside a panting. I get why so many people would come here often, even if it was just to see this," the crafter smiled. Hera didn''t say anything and just watched the area; it truly was a marvel to see. As she stared at the group, she noticed something forming around her vision. A mahogany frame, turning whatever she was seeing into an actual painting. When she looked away, the frame was gone, but if she spent too long looking in the same direction, it would return. "Are you guys seeing this?" the Empress asked. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "What are you talking about?" Neria turned to her. "When I stop moving my head and focus on a specific area, there is a" "Frame? Yeah, I see it too. Milla told me specifically to watch out for it but added a footnote to the file she sent to everyone else. I told her to stop doing that and to give everyone the full rundown next time. It''s better like that. I forgot to warn you all about it, but it''s just a visual effect. It might even help us. If you see that frame and something comes into view, but it would be blocked by it, the frame will shift to show it," Neria explained. "Oh, ok. At least I''m not going crazy," Hera chuckled. "We are going to the general that has the smallest territory then. We are heading north. Watch out for any monsters. They should be painted animals," Flint told everyone before they started to move. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived in a large meadow. The flowers had a range of colors that would put even the best garden to shame. However, in the middle of this sea of flora was a small animal, a deer. It had a thick black line, almost like a children''s cartoon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Animated Deer - Level 16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The monster looked at the group for a moment but continued to munch on the grass without caring about the people who arrived. "I''ll take care of it," Roan said and slowly started to move towards the creature. "I''m behind you. Just in case," Skyler moved along, preparing a few spells to interrupt any skills the deer could use. All that preparation ended up being for nothing. The beastman approached slowly, putting out his hands to calm the deer down. The monster didn''t seem to mind his approach, but the moment they touched each other, it was all over. Roan slashed the neck of the creature in a single move, killing it on the spot. "Let''s move on," he said without looking back. They found another three monsters. Two deers and one dove, all with the same odd line around their bodies. All of them were below level 25 and were quickly dispatched by the group. The odd thing about being in one of the layers with a very wide range of levels was how the difficulty of a dungeon would spike in odd ways. After around 10 minutes, they arrived at the territory of the first general. The Golden Armadillo. It wasn''t hard to find it; the general was sleeping in the middle of a clearing right at the foot of a small hill, and the creature was true to its name. It was a golden being, with each plate of its carapace looking like an autumn leaf. The rest of his body was a similar color but a bit more dull. Its eyes were pitch black, while its claws were pearl white. The team was already aware of how to deal with this monster. It had a very powerful defense and only one attack that could actually damage anyone. Still, the best way to deal with it was to kill it before it could do anything. Hera and Flint were the two tasked with doing that. Both of them had powerful skills to deal a single blow. The Empress could use her [Venomous Arsenal], [Weapon Break], [Grasshopper Stab], and [Explorer''s Assassinate] combo, while Flint could trigger his [Pile Driver], [Armored Boost], [Point of Impact], and [Breaking Point] skills to create a similar effect. If the Ophidianite used a rare or below weapon, she wouldn''t get to the same level of power as the dwarf, but something above that would tip the scales of power. They slowly approached, trying their best not to wake the general up. They split off and flanked the monster, both aiming at the neck of the beast and away from each other. Hera already had a spear in her hand, and Flint had prepared his exoskeleton punch. But before they were able to activate their skills, something else happened. "Achoo!" Roan sneezed due some ink pollen that was falling from the trees above. Flint and Hera glanced at each other, "Fuck," they said at once before jumping away. Their dodge happened right in time as the Golden Armadillo jumped, turned into a ball, and landed with a heavy impact directly where the two of them were preparing to attack. The armadillo sphere started to spin and tried to slam against the dwarf, who was unlucky enough to be the one the mounter decided to chase. The crafter started running, using the exoskeleton legs to help him move faster, but the Golden Armadillo was relentless. It would try to slam him again and again, jumping even while in its ball form and trying to squash Flint with its weight. The man ran uphill, hoping the incline would affect the monster''s speed. His idea worked up to a certain point. But eventually, the creature started to gain on him. When he was almost at the top of the hill, Skyler was able to hit the Golden Armadillo with a tune that slowed its reaction speed. That would only last while she held on to the note, but that was enough for Flint to dash back down to the rest of the group. The elf held on as long as she could, but she could only make that sound if she were blowing her harmonica as hard as she could. Because of that, she only stopped the monster for a few seconds before having to drop the spell. Sniping around, the Golden Armadillo rushed after Flint one more time. Seeing that, Hera stepped forward and used a stone-shaped spell to create a ramp behind the dwarf. Due to the speed at which the monster was coming, it just flung itself into the air. Before the creature landed, Neria waved her hands, creating a large amount of water with her staff. The water wrapped around the armadillo and started to spin with it inside. The triton waved her hands, her eyes sparking in the sunlight. One of her hands was making a circular motion as if it was controlling the water while the other held on to the staff member who was still letting out water. The Golden Armadillo didn''t move and continued in its defensive position, but that wasn''t enough. The pressure of the water started to bend the shell, breaking it apart little by little. Neria started giggling, then let out a maniac laughter. It''s the type of thing one would expect from a villain in a movie. She had a massive grin on her face as some of the water rained down on top of her, making her clothes stick to her skin. Watching that scene, Vash leaned closer to Hera and Skyler, "Is that doing something for you, too, or should I look for a therapist?" "Yes, and you should," Skyler replied while still watching Neria. "Yeah¡­ this is oddly attractive," Hera stared at the triton''s lips that were formed in that wide smile. It was such a pure expression of joy that it was hard not to feel attracted by it. After a few minutes, Neria dropped the spell, letting the Golden Armadillo fall back to the ground. It was now covered in bruises and broken shell plates. Roan was about to ask if it was dead when the monster dissolved into the ground. Neria smiled at the team and asked, "Ready for the next one?" Hera nodded, but she could only focus on Neria and her grin. 777 - The second general "This was easy enough," Neria said with a big smile. She looked at Vash, Skyler, and Hera, who turned away quickly, "What?" "Nothing, don''t worry about it. Did we get anything?" Hera moved to the place where the armadillo had dissolved and found one of the plates of its shell. It was golden, but it had a gradient like a piece of minimalist art, "Flint? Can this help you?" The dwarf walked closer to her and took a look at the item, "By itself, probably not. If I have a few, maybe. I need to make some tests later. Can I?" he turned to the rest of the party, all who nodded in response. "OK then. What comes next?" Vash asked, trying to move his mind away from Neria''s display. "The best option should be going clockwise. So the Spotted Squirrel is next," Roan said. "Right, let''s go then. We wasted what? Five, ten minutes to kill this one?" Hera asked. ''Eleven minutes and twenty-two seconds, Empress!'' Dusa replied, excited to help. ''Thanks, Dusa,'' the Empress turned to her court. They had been outside since they arrived in the dungeon. ''And sorry for not calling any of you to help. That happened fast.'' ''Don''t worry, Empress. We understand,'' Tide replied. "It''s been about 12 minutes," Skyler answered Hera. "Oh. Thanks. Dusa already told me, but I need to remember to pass what they tell me along," Hera frowned, thinking about the times she just forgot to say what her court was telling her. She couldn''t remember if that happened a lot or not, but it seemed likely. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the domain of the next general. And lucky for them, this one was also easy to track. The Spotted Squirrel would leave behind paw prints in various colors. The more the color clashed with whatever was around, the closer the monster would be. It took them just about another 10 minutes following the tracks to find the monster. Another benefit of this area was that there were no other monsters. Those Animated Deer seemed to avoid this particular territory for some reason. When they finally found the general, Vash and Flint got squeamish. Not because the being was an abhorrent creature or anything like that. No, the Spotted Squirrel was a prime example of pointillism. Its entire form, that was as large as an adult capybara, was made out of small colored dots. The colors were exactly the same as an African Ground Squirrel, and from an artistic point of view, the monster was also made to be hyper realist. That combination turned the general into the best and worst example of trypophobia that any of the team members ever saw. The dots were not just superficial but went all the way inside the monster. As it moved, the space between each of the tiny spots of color would show the layer underneath, which in turn would react the same way and show the next layer of ink, and the next, and the next. Eventually, it would reach a point where there was so much ink and so many dots that no one could see beyond it. However, that didn''t help with the odd feeling that this triggered in everyone. "Let''s just get rid of that thing quickly," Vash shivered and looked away. "Yeah, I agree," Flint nodded and reactivated the upper area of his exoarmor. When walking, he only kept the armor on his legs and feet, still working. Using the full setup reduced his flexibility, too, and it wasn''t like his armor had a particularly good defense. "Flint¡­ I don''t mean anything bad by it, but can you fight it? Like, can you actually look at it and fight?" Hera turned to the dwarf, who seemed to flinch every time he looked at the monster. The crafter looked at the monster but closed his eyes and looked away quickly. Not wanting to see this creature like this, "Honestly. I don''t know. If it was a life or death situation, maybe." "Then stand back. You had to run from the Golden Armadillo. Let us handle this," Roan tapped his shoulder with a smile. Despite his pride, Flint nodded and walked back, staying close to the titled blades who were watching the team run the dungeon without saying anything out loud. In their minds, they were already talking about plans and ways to fight against each of the monsters they saw so far. Vash also joined him, but he was closer to the rest of the group. The Spotted Squirrel made him uncomfortable, but he didn''t have the same visceral reaction as Flint. "Hera, let''s do this quick," Roan told the Ophidianite before he started to move. Hera just nodded and prepared the same combo she was going to use against the Golden Armadillo. Skyler pulled her harmonica and got ready, too. She was going to use a spell using sound waves to make the monster dizzy. That wasn''t something she could do against the previous general since it had some sort of resistance against that effect, but the squirrel wasn''t so lucky. The team had to recognize even if Milla was just being their contact with the alliance. She was doing an amazing job of warning them about potential issues they could individually find. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Roan and Hera got closer to the squirrel now that it was eating something it found in the trees. The beastman raised his hand and started to count down from 5 with his fingers. When he reached 0, Skyler played that loud note with her harmonica, using a spell to bounce the sound around. The squirrel got spooked, but before it could run away, Roan and Hera jumped at it. Slamming their weapons on its sides. They weren''t able to hit the vital spots they wanted, but as Hera''s spear broke thanks to the [Weapon Brake], the right leg of the general was completely decimated. Small dots fell out of the gaping hole on its body as if they were leaking from a bow. Roan''s attack wasn''t as effective, but he was still able to open a large gash on the side of the monster. Vash started to play his maracas to buff the strength of the party, and Neria created a couple of barriers around the two who were facing the squirrel. That was just in time, as the creature slammed his tail on the ground, creating a wave of dots that crashed down on Hera and Roan. Tide and Autumn attempted to block the attacks, sniping around the Empress to push the dots away, but there were too many of them. This attack, or spell, whatever it was, made more dots than the Spotted Squirrel had inside its own body. By themselves, those particles didn''t hurt, although much of it was due to Neria''s barrier. However, in volume, not only did those dots weigh heavily on top of their bodies, but they also let out an abrasive scent that made it hard to breathe. Tumbling back and shifting some of his loose skin around, Roan managed to escape the torrent of dots and groaned, "I fucking hate the smell of oil paint." ''Oil?'' Hera thought with a smirk, ''Ember, you are up,'' the sword flew closer and used its skills to ignite itself, burning the dots away and allowing the Ophidianite to break free from the avalanche of ink. Hera tumbled to the side, using her tail to prop herself up, and yelled, "Neria! We need water!" before the triton could even ask why, Hera used a fire elemental armor and jumped towards the squirrel. Seeing only a single enemy, the monster felt it had a chance and clashed with the Empress head-on. Or at least that was its intention. Just as the two were about to collide, Hera focused the flames on her feet and jumped, doing a flip above the monster. Just as she was directly on top of it, she opened her mouth, unhinging her jaw and revealing her Ophidianite fangs, and used a spell in a way that she had only done once before. From inside her throat came a fire spray, an altered version of her grease fire spell, that covered not just the Spotted Squirrel but the surrounding area in what could only be described as an oil fire in the middle of the ocean. The general roared as the Empress landed and ran away from the fumes. The monster tried to find its assailant, but as it attempted to move, it slipped, falling face-first into more fire. Skyler''s spell is doing its work and causing it to be too dizzy to do anything. Hera sent out Ember to continue attacking together with DJ and Chris. Tide and Autumn stayed behind. After all, one was based on water, which could work against the flames, and the other had an affinity related to vegetation. A roaring sea of fire wasn''t the ideal spot for her to be. With the general basically out of sight, Flint also decided to join. He slammed his hands on the ground and instantly made a crater around the monster, who fell about half a meter down in the process. All the fire that Hera had created was now slowly dripping to the center of that crater, and the creature continued to be unable to escape. It took almost a minute, but the Spotted Squirrel eventually perished in the middle of the orange flames. After hearing from her court that the monster was gone, Hera tried to stop her grease fire. It worked to a certain extent, but most of the flames were no longer her creating. The surrounding vegetation and, more importantly, the oil created by the squirrel were now fueling that inferno. Neria thought about stepping in but remembered Roan''s comment about oil. If she tried to use water, things could go south very quickly. Instead, Vash was the one who came to the rescue. He flapped his wings a few times and created a temporary vacuum around that area. It lasted for only a couple of seconds, but each time he did that, the fire would grow smaller and smaller until there was nothing left but the crater and a single brush in the place where the general dissolved. Everyone took a moment to breathe while Neria used a couple of water spells to put out the fire that spread to a few of the nearby trees. With another general killed, Skyler stretched her arms while turning to the crafter of the group, "Hey, Flint. Just out of curiosity. Did something happen for you to get trigger like this? It just felt like¡­ a lot. You don''t have to answer it if you don''t want to. I was just curious." Flint groaned, "I used to work in a demolition factory. We made the explosives to tear down buildings. One day, there was an accident. Someone put a crate of explosives that were already ready to ship near a furnace that was making some ball bearings, and the whole thing exploded. I got hit, fucked up my hand, but that wasn''t the issue. A guy who worked there took the brunt of the explosion. He was tossed to the other side of the factory and went through a wall. The ball bearings were embedded into his skin. Having to see healers pluck those things out of his body one by one¡­ that stays with you," Flint shivered, "You could see the bones in some parts." "Fuck me. That''s awful," Skyler gasped. "Visually, yes, but he ended up fine, like a couple of weeks in a hospital being treated by the best healers and then six months of paid time off. Plus, he sued the factory and retired after he got back. And do you want to know the kicker?" Flint chuckled. "What?" Roan frowned. "That bastard didn''t even remember what happened. He passed out the moment everything exploded and woke up back in the hospital, almost completely healed. That fucker testified he couldn''t sleep due to stress and PTSD, but he slept like a baby the entire time. Didn''t even need some meds," Flint started laughing, and soon the rest of the party joined. It was such a bizarre story that made it hard not to. Despite everything, this dungeon was a lot more fun than they expected, and hopefully, it would continue like that. 778 - Monarch Generals Their next target was the general called ''Chromatic Moose.'' It was a bit far from their current location, and unfortunately, they were likely to find more monsters on the way. According to their information, the Spotted Squirrel was the only one that scared the other creatures of the dungeon away. Not that this was much of a problem. The team moved steadily, either ignoring the monsters that showed up or quickly dispatching them. Hera didn''t say anything at first, but Vash and Roan eventually started to worry about their situation. According to what Milla sent them, they would have to fend off waves of monsters while moving from territory to territory. She wasn''t wrong. There was a constant stream of monsters running toward them. But before they could reach the team, Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, Viper, or Crimson would kill them quickly and quietly. Hera asked them to stop and let the monsters come. After all, the whole idea was for the team to complete the dungeon. However, the titled blades argued that this wasn''t the important part. And that this run wasn''t going to be the same as the one they would have to do by themselves later. As a matter of fact, the Empress realized that this was a different run than they would do by themselves. But at the same time, it was good for them to learn about the generals. Since each of the monsters was connected to a specific skill the Monarch of the Glen could use, they might need to remove that ability from the equation in order to kill the boss. In the end, she allowed them to take care of the incoming monsters, but she didn''t interrupt the fight against the generals. Unless it was a dangerous situation. No one else interfered with that decision, but the Ophidianite warned the rest of the team about the small change. This helped everyone relax a bit more since it didn''t mean there was something wrong with the dungeon. A few more minutes passed, and they arrived in the Chromatic Moose territory. Instead of tracks or anything of the sort, what caught their attention was the noise the general was making. It sounded very much like the sounds a bull would make, but there was an underlying growl that resembled that of a bear. But what made the entire team pause was the auto-tune. It was like someone recorded a Moose call and was trying to turn it into electronic music. "The actual fuck?" Vash looked around, unsure if he was hearing things correctly. "This is just weird," Skyler shook her head. Before anyone else could comment, Roan yelled, "Incoming!" and stared at the open area in front of them. The place was very similar to the rest of the dungeon, that same forest with vibrant colors. But no one else could see what was getting closer. Slowly, they all felt rumbling, heavy footsteps that would make the ground shake ever so slightly. Worried they might be caught in a weird position, the entire party tried to hide behind the trees. The light in the area started to shift, slowly being covered in shades of lavender, pink, and blue. The light became stronger as if its source was getting closer. At the same time, the soft rumble became stronger. Not to the point of feeling like they were about to see a gigantic monster, but enough to make them all worried. Hera glanced to the side and saw Flint approaching Skyler. They traded a few hushed words before the elf turned to Vash, who was on the tallest branches of the trees, and said something through the communicator. It seemed like they agreed at first but then started to argue about something. Eventually, Vash''s voice came out of the earpiece the Ophidianite was using. "Hera. You have a skill that lets you give commands to others, right? And your court can move around close to the ground to see what is ahead. Right?" "Yeah, to both questions. But the skill just makes my orders easier to be heard. Why?" the Empress replied in a whisper. "Can you tell us when the moose gets past the tree with the blue fruit? I mean, command us." Hera frowned and looked to Skyler and Flint, who nodded in response, "Sure." Before the Empress could even say anything, Chris flew up and moved through the trees to get a better view of the situation, ''I got this.'' "Just get away from there after telling us to go. You don''t want to be in the way of that thing," Vash added. "Is it really that big?" Hera asked. ''Yeah¡­ That thing is taller than Livy,'' Chris replied. Hera just took a deep breath and prepared herself, "Neria, Roan, watch out for when we move," she added through the communicator. No one added them to the conversation, which would surely cause problems. Moments like this made it clear that part of the group wasn''t used to working in a team. The lights became brighter and brighter, and the shaking was strong enough to make the group worried. Until finally, Chris let out her warning, ''It passed the tree!'' "NOW!" Hera yelled, using the chain of command skill. Flint, Skyler, and Vash sprung into action in perfect sync thanks to that command. Thanks to the Empress'' skill, if they were following what she commanded, their bodies would react a bit faster. Hera also jumped off her hiding spot, moving towards the general while still keeping some trees between her and the creature. Through the glimpses, she managed to see the moose in its entirety. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chromatic Moose - Level 35 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a moose, plain and simple, a very big one standing close to 3 meters tall, but its body didn''t have anything unique or different. No extra set of legs, sharp fangs or claws, no oddly shipped horns or teeth. The difference was the color or, more to the point, the light it was emanating. It was a bit hard to tell where those lights were coming from, but the entire creature was covered in sharp shades of lavender, blue, and soft pink, contrasting with dark black shadows. Staring at it was like staring at the cover of a Vaporwave album. Or just a painting made to follow that aesthetic. The moose noticed Hera when she screamed. It was tracking her with her eyes and slowly turning to follow her. Flint was moving at the same time, ducking under the monster and preparing an attack. The only thing they couldn''t let this general do was run. Milla was very clear on her information about it. The more the Chromatic Moose moved, the stronger it would become. If it was running towards someone, stopping it would be like stropping a bullet train. But when it was moving slowly, or it had stopped completely, like right now, all its abilities would be severely reduced. Skyler played a quick tune that made the moose even slower, while Vash used a similar melody to buff Flint. This was a special skill he had that could only trigger when participating in a duet, but thanks to it, his buff was considerably stronger. Under the general, the dwarf was pulling back his arm as the metal frame that covered his hand shifted into a large katar. A couple of pistons appeared on his back and instantly triggered. With a punch that almost looked like it was going to rip Flint''s arm out, the man pierced the heart of the general and shattered its spine. The moose roared and collapsed on top of the dwarf. Thankfully, his armor was sturdy enough to help lessen the weight; otherwise, just that drop would have injured him. A creature just 3 meters tall wouldn''t make the ground shake like it was doing unless it had a lot of mass. Everyone jumped to help Flint come out from under the beast, but it dissolved before they were able to move it. Unfortunately, the drop this time was just a pile of gold. It wasn''t exciting, but money was money. As the team gathered themselves and prepared to move, the titled blades got closer. "Hera¡­ I think I messed up?" Livy said while scratching her neck. "Are you ok?" the Ophidianite turned to the Leviathan with a worried expression. "Oh. Yeah. Don''t worry about it. I''m fine. It''s just¡­" Livy raised one hand, which was behind her back. She was holding a perfectly symmetrical fox by the tail. Instead of individual strands of fur, the monster had small patches weaved together, forming a beautiful orange and blue mandala all over its body, "Isn''t this one of the generals?" Hera frowned, "Is it?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mandala Vixen - Level 35 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera gasped, recognizing the name, "Oh shit. It is. What happened?" "When Flint was buried under the moose, we heard something behind us. We turned to see what was going on while Livy stayed behind, ready to help you if you called for her. That''s when the fox jumped her," Viper started explaining. "Yeah, but then, instead of letting the fox go after it bit her neck, Livy held it down and jumped, crashing back neck first on the ground. Well, Fox first, then her neck." "Didn''t you say you weren''t hurt?!" Hera gasped and pulled the Leviathan down to look at her neck. "I''m not. Daskka made a healing mist and fixed this. I think the fox deals more damage when it hits a sneak attack, but Dusa warned me about it before it could reach me." "Dusa did?" Hera looked up, trying to see her diadem. ''Did¡­ did I mess up?'' Dusa asked. ''Not at all. You did great!'' Hera replied with a smile and turned back to Livy, "I''m not sure if that is the boss, though. Even if the name seems right, maybe it has multiple bodies or something." "We have a quick way to figure that out," Skyler walked over, pulling her tablet, "The dungeon quest currently says we killed 3 out of 5 generals." Livy didn''t say anything. She just pulled her war axe and cut off the Mandala Vixen''s head in a swift motion. After a moment, the body dissolved, leaving behind a small piece of cloth in the form of a floral mandala. It was called the ''Rug of Inner Self'' and allowed whoever was on top of it to meditate more easily, but that was it. "Ok, that worked," Skyler nodded, "That''s the general. Only one left." "I''m kind of happy this happened like this. Milla said that if we didn''t find the fox in its territory, it could be roaming around the entire dungeon. I wasn''t in the mood to deal with that," Neria stretched her neck after finishing healing Flint. He only had a couple of minor bruises. His armor did its job and took most of the damage. "Same, but Roan is a pretty good tracker. Right?" Vash turned to the beastman. "I am, but I''m not sure if that would work properly here. This dungeon with all the paint and art feels very weird." "Well. Either way, let''s go for the last one. We are not far from it," Skyler looked at the map and quickly found the direction they should be heading. "What''s the name of that one again?" Flint asked. "Brush Owl. I don''t know why, but I''m kind of picturing one of those novelty pens with an owl on the tip," Skyler chuckled. "Really? I was thinking more about an Owl that Paints," Neria admitted. "I think you are both wrong. Isn''t that it?" Vash pointed to the sky. There was a black shape moving around. At first, it seemed formless, like just a blob or a cloud. But after a brief moment, everyone understood what they were looking at. It was like one of those Japanese paintings made with a single stroke of a brush. A simple line that created a picture using the negative space of the canvas. Although the line would split off every now and then as the monster moved. "Yeah, I think that''s it," Flint nodded, "Think you can take it alone, Vash?" "Alone¡­ I''m not sure. Owls are great hunters. I''m more of a long-range attacker." "What if you had one more person with you," Hera gestured to Nimbus, "Someone who can use wind, barriers, and a pair of tonfas to be the front line." Vash opened a big smile, "Then my odds would increase by a lot!" 779 - Monarch of the Glen Nimbus and Vash flew through the air, with Hera making the conga line with her blades to avoid having the Sentinel reach Hera''s range limit. The harpy cast a few spells to initiate the attack while the Sentinel stood close to him. Wind feathers darted at the Brush Owl, which was able to dodge the initial flurry, but a few of the projectiles still hit its body. The monster flew up and dove towards Nimbus. But instead of blocking, the Sentinel grabbed Vash and flew up, following the height of the Owl. The general stopped its attack midway and looked around. Confused by the reaction, it tried again, but once more, its targets just kept up with its altitude. The Brush Owl didn''t know how to deal with other flying creatures, and it always used its aerial superiority as a way to fight. Having to face someone else on the same playing field stopped it from being able to fight properly. Vash and Nimbus didn''t miss that and decided to continue their assault. Now, they are more aggressive since both understand what they have to do. Vash used his maracas to create sound wave blasts that shredded some of the paint, forming the general away, while Nimbus started to do flybys¡ªslashing the monster with its tonfas a few times before moving back to protect the performer behind his back. The battle dragged a little bit, Vash being unable to deal a finishing blow but slowly chipping away at the monster''s body. Nimbus was more or less in the same boat. He could use the Grasshopper series skills, but he had a feeling that it was better to let the harpy deal the killing blow. That decision came as part of a conversation he had with Lurize while he was pulling the carriage that brought them here. Since this was a new team, the court should try to avoid taking charge when working together. They should treat them like they would treat Hera during the early days of the court. During that time, they focused much more on defense, which allowed the Empress to gain confidence and improve her teamwork. Back then, it wasn''t something intentional, but the results spoke for themselves. They were a bit biased about it, but none of the court members could have imagined anyone better to be their leader. With that in mind, they might as well try to help others get to the same level as the Ophidianite, even if Nimbus knew that no one would ever be as amazing as Hera in his eyes. Those thoughts distracted the Sentinel a bit. Not enough so he would get injured, but enough to give the Owl an opening to attack Vash. The general flapped its wings, gaining some altitude, and dove towards the harpy at a blinding speed. Vash was in the middle of casting a sound-based spell, but when he saw the incoming monster, he fumbled the notes and jumped to the side. However, the spell didn''t just fizzle out. Instead, it changed from a powerful beam of concentrated sound to a wave that hit the general''s beak with enough force to divert its attack. The power behind this spell was minimal compared to what should''ve actually happened, but it was better than losing all that mana for nothing. The Brush Owl continued diving toward the ground, and for a moment, it slowed down. That''s when it noticed someone else, a small bipedal creature with black and white fur on top of its head. It was just about the same size as the flying one that was giving it so much trouble, but it was on the ground. As the last general continued to dive, aiming at Roan, Hera and the rest of the team got ready to intercept. Not that they were worried about the beastman. He would be able to stop that attack, but they wanted to finish off the creature. "Nimbus. Grab me and dive after it!" Vash called. The Sentinel couldn''t read his thoughts like he did with Hera, but he understood what the performer wanted. In a quick motion, she held him by the waist and dove after the Brush Owl. Nimbus was significantly faster, and the request came just a few seconds after the general failed its attack. While being carried, Vash continued playing his maracas, creating an extra pair of wings in front of them. That was a song blade, a physical manifestation of music. They got closer and closer to the Owl, and Nimbus realized that the monster wouldn''t get hit by a killing blow due to its speed. He quickly came up with an idea. "I''m going to throw you. Don''t fight back," the Sentinel warned. Maybe it was because of the fight or because of the absolute trust Hera put in the titled blade, but Vash felt like he could go along with this plan, whatever it may be, and just nodded in response. Nimbus didn''t wait and grabbed the harpy by the waist, lifting him up and throwing him towards the Brush Owl with a spin. The Sentinel returned to his tonfa form to avoid being hit by the song blade that was now sniping in the air, and Vash did multiple somersaults. The added impulse made him move much faster and cut the general like a spinning saw. Unfortunately, he quickly became dizzy and continued moving down until he crashed against the trees, still spinning his song blade in the air. "SHIT! Sorry. I think I used too much force," Nimbus flew after him to help the harpy get back to his feet. "That''s ok. Did it-" Vash put one hand in front of his mouth, holding in his lunch for a moment, "Did it work?" "Yeah. That was great! It dropped this weird-looking scarf," Neria grabbed a black scarf that looked like a brush stroke. She quickly looked at it and smiled, "This is kind of fun. Anyone who wears this scarf is struck by inspiration. That will last one hour and can only happen once per day." "Great. That sounds very useful. Good thing every one of us is a painter or some shit," Roan rolled his eyes. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "It really is. This is not talking about art. Just that you will be struck by inspiration, I think it would work with anything. Spells, crafting, writing, training," Neria continued. Roan looked at her and paused, "Ok, I retract my sarcasm. That can be very useful." They continued talking while walking towards the location of the final boss of the dungeon. The Monarch of the Glen. With the last of the generals dead, the boss would leave its normal territory and stay in the center of the woods, in a large clearing close to the exit of the dungeon itself. As they approached, the team saw the monster. It was a large stag, not as big as the Chromatic Moose, but still bigger than almost all of the members of the group. The creature was extremely beautiful, like a painting of a guardian of the forest, various shades of green contrasted against each other making the creature blend with the surrounding area, and still be the only thing anyone could see. Its horns emanated a pale light, giving an ethereal feeling to the entire area. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monarch of the Glen - Level 36 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as Hera and the others used their [Observe], the boss noticed them approaching. It made its horns glow brighter, clearly preparing an attack, but before long, the spell fizzled out. Without the Brush Owl, the paint stroke spell couldn''t be used. Hera, Flint, and Roan didn''t wait and rushed towards the creature. Behind them, Vash had already started singing to give them a boost to their power. Without missing a beat, Neria joined in, casting a few protective shields around the group. Skyler might not have used any spells, but she was ready to interrupt the Monarch''s attacks. Roan quickly reached the monster and slashed at its legs, spinning around to attempt an extra hit on its hind. Unfortunately, the boss expected something like that and tried to kick the beastman, missing the first strike, but a secondary blow came from the ground. It was an ink copy of its body, but it collapsed on itself before it could do anything else. If they kept the Spotted Squirrel alive, they would have to face a duplicate of the boss. It would be a bit weaker and make the exact same movements as the Monarch, but it would still be a problem. Flint jumped and brought both hands down like a hammer on the nose of the stag, breaking some of its bones. The red streaks of blood against the green fur seemed to glow as the monster''s eyes flared up. Vines and roots came from the trees and grabbed the dwarf, holding him in place for the Monarch to attack. DJ and Chris slammed against the sides of the creature''s face, trying to hinder its sight, but they missed. Still, the attack was strong enough to cut the skin and distract the creature for a brief moment. During that opening, Ember cut Flint loose, using her fire to burn some of the roots. Hera grabbed Tide and tried to attack the monster''s side. Livy''s presence allowed the trident to create small whirlpools of water around its prongs to increase the damage he could deal. Just as the blow was about to hit, a trio of flower mandalas formed in the Monarch''s fur, allowing him to parry the attack, not just making Tide jump back as if it had become a bouncy ball but also dispersing the water of the skill. Right after that, the mandalas cracked, and parts of them vanished, leaving behind a mark that showed that skill couldn''t be used again. The stag jumped away and tried to run, gathering speed as a violet light covered him. But before the shade could completely take over, the monster stopped dead in its tracks, and the colors returned to normal. Without the Chromatic Moose, the Monarch was unable to channel the same power it had. Hera took advantage of that moment, created a Very Rare Katana, and took a page from Alex''s book. She made the same motion the assassin would make when drawing her dagger from the sheath and triggering the [Grasshopper Slash] together with a [Weapon Break]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Skill Acquired Grasshopper Draw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The weapon exploded when it made contact with the front leg of the stag, and the strength behind the attack was able to cut some of the trees behind the monster. Hera spent almost 80% of her total mana in this move, half for the creation of the weapons and half for the skill. Yet, it wasn''t enough to kill the Monarch. Its frontal right leg was mangled and unusable, and there was a large open wound on the side of its body that was oozing out a green liquid, but the creature was still moving. The Monarch spun its head for a headbutt, making his horns glow a vibrant green, creating a large blade of grass between the tips. Skylar took that as her cue and played a sharp note that clashed with that spell, stopping the attack and forcing the creature to stumble back. Neria took advantage of that and sent some water toward the open wound, forcing it inside the stag''s muscles. There wasn''t much she could do once the liquid was inside the monster''s body, but just that unexpected excess of weight and pressure would make it harder for the Monarch to move. Ember, DJ, Autumn, Tide, and Chris joined in the attack, piercing the stag''s body at any angle they could find. Roan mounted the creature and started attacking its neck repeatedly while Flint prepared something. It took just a moment, while Hera was stepping back to breathe, for the dwarf to finish whatever he was making. He lunged forward and, with the help of the piston on his armor, punched the open wound with all his strength. But it wasn''t a regular punch. Instead, he had attached a small explosive to the tip of his gauntlet. "TIMBER!" he yelled, and everyone understood what he meant. They all jumped away from the Monarch, and a second later, the creature''s body distorted. The explosion happened inside the monster but wasn''t enough to go through his skin and muscle. However, the blast was enough to break some of its bones and make a mess of its insides. The Monarch of the Glen fell to the ground and dissolved a few moments later, leaving behind a large blade of grass. "Shit, that''s not the horn," Roan grumbled. "To be fair, I wasn''t expecting to get it on the first run," Neria patted his shoulder. "Yeah, Yeah. Let''s get the reward. We still have a chance to drop the horn," the beastman reached for his tablet. Before doing that, Hera was curious about her new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grasshopper Draw (Rank 1) You are able to deal a single powerful blow using the technique derived from the master Grasshopper''s teachings. The better you follow the technique and the more mana used in the attack, the stronger it will be. This skill can only be used when drawing your weapon. Damage x 2 for each 10 thousand mana used. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was an extra condition for this skill, but it had double the strength of the other skills. It also said it came from the basics that she learned from Grasshopper, which could mean that there were more skills to get from her teacher. Putting a pin on that idea, Hera turned to the reward. It was time to see if she got lucky or not. 780 - First round of rewards
While looking over the rewards, no one got the horn they wanted. It was a shame, but that was to be expected. After all, if it was an easy item to get, the alliance wouldn''t have sent them here. Still, they got some loot that was interesting. Hera got a set of inks that could swap the color of something permanently. There were some minor restrictions, and it couldn''t be used with living creatures. But it would be a way to swap the pallet of an object if they needed it. Not very helpful for the group, but it could be worth some money. Roan and Skyler got a few materials. Again, nothing was that exciting, especially since the materials were supposed to make better art supplies, but it was still worth something. Flint got a set of three potions that could have a temporary effect on someone. They could see a broader range of colors, have perfect pitch, or have synesthesia. Those would last only a few hours, and a warning was attached to the increased range of color. Apparently, it could be addictive. Then again, that made sense. Hera thought about those color-blind filters, and if she were in that situation and suddenly became aware of all colors, it would be hard to get back to how things were. And if that potion would give germ more cone cells to detect colors, then it might be even harder to explain to others how the world really looked like. The next two items were a bit more interesting. Vash got a green easel. One of those supports for people who were painting. Attached to it was a small tray of paints. It said paints would be replenished every 24 hours, and the entire tray would be cleaned again. If there was a specific color one might want, all they had to do was mix it and place it in a slot to the left, and that color would appear in the next replenishment. In addition, while painting with those colors, you could remove a stoke by touching the side of the easel, almost like a ctrl+z command in a computer. That could only take back a single stroke, no matter how long it was, and if the canvas was removed from the support, the effect wouldn''t work on it again. The item seemed amazing, but unless someone wanted to paint, it would be better to sell it. Lastly was Neria''s item. She got something that could actively help them. It was called ''Canvas of Creation,'' and as the name suggested, it was a canvas. However, any time someone places an item they created themselves on it, the canvas would generate a blueprint of the item. Not one like a crafter could make that allowed other crafters to just make it with mana, but a blueprint that anyone could follow to replicate the item in question. After a few tests, they realized that this worked with pretty much anything that was created. From Flint''s armor, telling every single material that was used on it, to Neria''s staff potion, where each ingredient and the process to make said potion was on display. That canvas even worked with Hera''s [Venomous Arsenal], although the materials that appeared were all things that the Ophidianite herself knew about. Still, this could give her some idea of how to improve that skill. The Empress also tested one of her court members, but nothing happened. It seemed like the canvas didn''t recognize the blades as a created item, or they also recognized them as a living creature. Still, just by using that with her [Venomous Arsenal], Flint already suggested some things she could try. For one, the materials used in the creation of her weapons could change. It wouldn''t be a physical change, but if she could control the skill to the point that the canvas recognized something as being made out of copper instead of iron, for instance, her control would increase. And who knows, maybe she will eventually be able to attach full skills to the weapons she creates. Another benefit this could bring the Empress, specifically, was the idea of using her [Explorer Blueprint] skill to make the handles and pommels of those weapons. This could let her create some unique combinations that could be used by someone else. Either way, the group left the dungeon and headed back to the city. The idea was for them to have a meeting to come up with strategies to speed run the dungeon, which, in this case, would simply be ''How to find and kill the Monarch of the Glen as quickly as possible.'' Flint grumbled a bit about how this wasn''t a good use of their time, but there was another issue. Everyone was a bit tired, hungry, and out of mana, and they were now carrying somewhat large items. Between the scarf, the rug, the easel, and the canvas, it was a bit too much. In the end, this was the best idea. Flint and everyone didn''t realize how tired they actually were and ended up resting for the rest of the day. The people in the Alliance Center were already aware of their presence, and they even suggested the group start in the morning before they headed out. During that first meeting, the team suggested that they leave one hour a day, be it after lunch or before dinner, to look around the city. Vash and Skyler spearheaded the idea, but when the argument was made that they could find items and other things that could help with the dungeon runs, that felt like less of an issue of responsibility. Neria also added that if they were constantly going on dungeon runs, they would get stressed. Stressed people became angry and snippy, and that could lead to problems and accidents. Taking care of themselves, resting, and relaxing were part of what they had to do to operate in peak conditions. It took a bit of convincing, but eventually, Flint agreed with that decision. After dinner, the group gathered in their hotel apartment. This place had individual rooms for each of them and a small living room where they could talk and strategize properly. Some ideas were tossed around, including how to deal with the Monarch''s moose-empowered charge. According to the information Milla sent them, the more the monster moved, the stronger it would get. But they could just stop it. Not by putting a wall or something it could break, but by either lifting it up to the sky or trapping it inside a giant ball of water. That didn''t have to last long. While under the effect of that skill, if the Monarch stopped for any reason, the moose power would be deactivated and enter a long cooldown. It was just 10 minutes, but fights rarely lasted that long. They circled back to their own abilities to see if anyone was missing something that could obviously help them. During that time, Vash turned to Hera, "And how about that gift thing you can do? Couldn''t it give a skill that helps us deal with the Monarch?" "Maybe, but it''s been a very long time since I could give a gift to one of my blades¡­ Actually, it''s been way too long, Daskka?" the Empress turned to the herald. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Yeah, now that you mention it. That''s weird, hang on," Daskka frowned and started looking over some things. The rest of the team continued their conversation. Only after they were done, and Hera had returned to her room to rest for the night, her snake spoke up, "Soooo¡­ I did something wrong." "You did something wrong? Do you mean you made a mistake, or you did something bad? I don''t think that phrase works. Like it technically does, but it sounds off," Hera tried to break a bit of the tension she was feeling coming from Daskka. "Both. Remember when you gave Nimbus the gift?" Hera nodded, "I do. He wanted to be a guinea pig for us to understand the skill." "And remember how you asked around, and everyone said they would wait as long as they could for the best possible skill?" Hera nodded again, "I do." "Soooo, they are waiting. Because of the way I set up the skill trigger, it wouldn''t show up unless one of the court members could get a legendary skill. In Nimbus''s case, it would never appear since the next upgrade would be from common to uncommon." "Really?" the Empress tilted her head, "So who has a gift to receive?" "Right now, Nimbus can get the upgrade. Lurize can get a very rare gift, and Ember can have a common gift. Viper and Crimson could have gotten a very rare gift, too, but when they became titled blades, the gift resets," Daskka explained. "Well then. Let''s check with everyone," Hera turned to the rest of the court. They were all there, and the titled blades even participated in the strategy meeting. Currently, they were all under Lurize''s tutelage to improve their cores, and things seemed to be going extremely well. Even Hera''s own core was growing a little bit while she was focused on other things. There was one more thing the Empress and her court realized about those cores. They could be charged without a Royal Quest being assigned to them. However, the amount of mana they would have inside their cores would slowly trickle down. The rate at which that happened was extremely slow when close to Hera, but if they tried to move away, it would drop rapidly. The benefit of this was allowing the Ophidianite to charge their cores in stages. Sure, she would eventually spend a considerably higher amount of mana, but in the end, she would be able to give them quests when their cores were completely full. "I don''t have much to say; just, yeah, give me the upgrade," Nimbus said. Hera crossed her arms and smirked, her tail warping around her own leg like a blanket, "Is that how you thank your Empress for a gift?" Nimbus jolted up, "No! I''m sorry, I¡­" he patted himself down to clean any dirt and placed one hand on his chest while keeping the other close to his body, "Thank you for the gift, my Empress. I will treasure it for the rest of my life, and I hope this skill can protect you from harm." "Oh? So now you are asking me to get hurt? That way, you can use the skill. Good to know where your priorities lie," Hera gently tossed her hair to the side. "NO! What? I didn''t say that!¡­ Did I?" Nimbus looked around the rest of the court with puppy dog eyes. Hera couldn''t help herself and started laughing, "I''m just messing with you. Don''t worry about it. Your skill is great, and any upgrade is more than welcome," she gestured for him to get closer, "Give me your hand." Nimbus was still a bit distraught but did what the Empress asked. Hera then took his hand into her own and gave it a gentle kiss, much like what they would do to her when getting a Royal Quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Share the Pain - (Rank Uncommon) When the Empress or any of the court members is hit, part of the damage that would be inflicted on them is transferred to you. Your next attack will deal extra damage based on the damage that was transferred to you over a certain period of time. Damaged Transferred: 50% Damage Transfer from other court members: 20% Extra damage to the next attack: 60% of the damage transferred. Maximum duration of the extra damage storage: 30 seconds Mana cost: 600 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is nice! And I think I can still pick and choose who I''m protecting at one time. Or at least, that''s the feeling I get," Nimbus had a large smile. Hera let go of his hand and let the Sentinel return to the group. She noticed how Lurize was about to get up to come to talk to her but made a gesture for him to wait, "First, let''s go for an easy one. Ember, do you want your gift to be common?" "I''d rather wait for something a bit better. Maybe uncommon or rare," the curved sword replied. "That is completely fine. If you ever decide you want the common instead, let me know," Hera smiled at the weapon and turned back to the Royal Tutor, "Now, Lurize. How about it? Want to go for the very rare or wait around for the epic." ''I believe I should take the gift now. Even if I understand the logic behind waiting for a better one, we don''t know what might happen tomorrow. And if we are going to run dungeons by ourselves, I''d rather have all my tools at my disposal,'' the Royal Tutor explained while talking inside everyone''s mind. "Very well, come here then," Hera asked and waited until he was close enough to trigger the skill. It''s been a long time since she used this, and the Empress had forgotten how it worked. However, as soon as the three markers appeared around the Royal Tutor''s body, memories came flooding back in. Each of those markers represented a skill, and touching them showed what they actually were, with the last one being above Lurize''s head and offering a random gift. Hera looked over them one by one. The first was on his left shoulder. It was a skill called ''Armored Onslaught,'' and it was basically a slightly different version of his [Rhinoceros Form]. A temporary buff that increased his physical prowess. Doubling down could be interesting, but Lurize wasn''t that interested. Next was something called ''Guardian of the Keep,'' located on his left arm. This would increase his power when fighting inside a certain area and allow him to create traps and other defenses. Unfortunately, they couldn''t know the details until after they got the skill. If he could designate an area around Hera as the location, that could help. But if it had to be a location, things would chafe. He put that one below the Armored Onslaught on his list of choices. The third skill was located in the back of his ear, and it was called ''Whispers of the Ancients.'' This skill allowed him to tap into the legacy and bring back any fighting style that one of the court members had used. That would have a limited duration, and Lurize would never be able to learn the fighting style skill. But that made it clear that Lurize couldn''t. If he could tap into a style and teach it to someone else, it was likely that the second person could learn it. After hearing the entire description, the Royal Tutor didn''t hesitate. ''I choze that one. Whizperz of the Ancientz,'' he said, his excited voice coming through and the sounds of Ss turning into Zs. Hera nodded and touched that option, giving her second blade a new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whisper of the Ancients (Very Rare Skill) It allows you to tap into the legacy and temporarily bring back any fighting-style skills that were used by one of the previously titled blades. While this skill is active, you will be able to use a weaker version of the skill used by the fighting style you requested. Duration: 10 Minutes Cooldown: 24 hours. Maximum rank of the recovered skill: Rank 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
781 - Try and try again In the following days, the group kept running the same dungeon repeatedly. Ignoring all the generals and going straight for the boss. At first, they would get some minor injuries and had to be healed by Neria, but after their 20th run, that stopped happening. When they reached their 50th attempt, fighting against the Monarch of the Glen became something mechanical, almost like a well-rehearsed choreography. Everyone knew the moves they had to make, the reactions the stag would have, and the follow-up required. It wasn''t fun, it wasn''t exciting, it wasn''t interesting. It was just work. Dangerous and potentially deadly work where one mistake could cause any of them to lose a limb, or worse, but work nonetheless. Flint compared the situation with his previous work in an explosive factory. The danger was more or less the same, even if there were fewer safety measures inside a dungeon. Four days after they started, Hera received the weapon that she had commissioned. This was supposed to complete her court, filling the last of the 8 slots she had left. But once again, she miscounted. Currently, her court consists of Ember, Dusa, DJ, Chris, Tide, and Autumn, with this spear being the 7th. But she still had one more slot missing, which led her to search the stores in the room for an interesting weapon, which she did find. It was a dagger called Inkwell Blade, which became Ink as he joined the court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ink - Dagger - Ink affinity Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 110 Agility x 20.1, Intelligence x 13.6, Strength x 12.1, Endurance x 10.1, Charisma x 2.6, Luck x 2.6, Passive Skills: Whispering Ink: Enemies struck by the Ink are marked with a shimmering glyph. Landing three successive attacks on a marked enemy deals bonus damage and temporarily disables one of their skills. Bonus damage is based on 15% of the target''s second-strongest attribute. Skill disable duration: 7 seconds. Stained Words: While the Ink is drawn, the wielder gains a bonus to magical damage based on the number of enemies with active ink marks. Damage bonus: 2% per marked enemy. Maximum bonus: 10%. Active Skill: Penumbra Dance: By channeling the blade''s shadowy essence, the wielder can become shrouded in a veil of ink that blinds enemies within a small radius and increases the wielder''s movement speed for a short duration. While shrouded, the wielder''s attacks leave behind ink trails that deal area-of-effect damage. Duration: 7 seconds. Movement speed increase: 40%. Area damage scaling is based on 80% of the wielder''s intelligence. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Mana cost: 300 000 mana. Familiarity 35% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What Hera liked the most about this weapon was its ability to deal increased damage after a few hits. Thanks to the [Army of One], every single blade would gain the 3-hit bonus damage. Sure, it would be just 1.5% of bonus damage, but the mark wasn''t unique to each blade. Meaning that every single court member was able to mark an enemy, and strikes by another member of the court would also count towards the 3 strikes required. Even better, as long as Ink was responsible for one of the 3 strikes, the damage dealt would always be based on his own skill and not the version the rest of the court was using. The Penumbra Dance also had a very fun and powerful synergy with that skill. If Hera were to use that skill, the entire battlefield would turn into a minefield. Every single court member would be leaving that trail of ink behind. Unfortunately, it was something useful only for when she was alone. That ink trail didn''t distinguish between friend and foe. Anyone who touched it would be damaged by it. The only exception was the one using the skill, or the entire court, since the [Army of One] made this kind of thing recognize the entire court as a single entity. While Ink had some unique and interesting skills, the spear Hera commissioned was an absolute unit. It was originally called ''Whispering Aeolian Spear'' and now had the name Gale. The Empress tries to maintain the pattern of making the names easy to be called. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gale - Spear - Wind Affinity Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 110 Agility x 25.7, Intelligence x 22.7, Endurance x 22.7, Strength x 10.2, Charisma x 6.7, Luck x 5.2. Passive: Storm''s Whisper: The wielder gains a 10% chance to dodge incoming melee attacks. Active: Galeforce: Unleash a powerful gust of wind, pushing enemies back and inflicting 150% weapon damage. Mana cost: 3 000. Cooldown: 1 minute. Whirlwind Dance: Enter a whirlwind for 5 seconds, becoming untargetable by spells and attacks that require a specific target. Attacks far beyond the wielder''s strength can bypass this protection. Additionally, any enemy that enters a 3-meter radius around you is attacked by rapid wind strikes for 50% of the damage this spear would inflict in a regular attack. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.Mana cost: 50 000. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Echoing Strike: Pierce your target with a strike that echoes through the air, dealing 200% weapon damage and inflicting a stacking debuff that reduces movement speed by 5% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack up to 5 times. Mana cost: 15 000. Wind Fury: The wind envelops you and follows your steps, creating between 2 and 5 copies of all your attacks during the effect of this skill. Each of the copied attacks deals between 80% and 150% of the damage dealt by the original. You luck stat influences the number and damage of the attacks. Duration: 30 Seconds Cooldown: 1 hour Mana Cost: 2 000 000. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was the first blade Hera had that would get an effective scaling of over 100. After all, since all her attributes had the same value, they would stack on each other perfectly. When adding skills, things would get much more skewed, but still. Livy was still the strongest member of the court stat-wise, but Gale took the second place. The passive would make a constant breeze flow through Hera and the rest of her court. If someone was holding Gale himself, then the gust would be stronger. Relying on chance was never a good idea. But having a chance that an attack that was about to hit miss because of the wind was a welcome effect. However, the star of the show was the last skill. Hera expected the [Army of One] to work the same way it did in all other skills, allowing the rest of the court to get a very weaker version of it. Instead, [Army of One] wasn''t active during that skill. For some reason that neither Hera nor Daskka could explain. When active, the [Wind Furry] would cover every court member in wind. Or at least, it would do that if Hera was holding on to Gale while activating the skill. Their best hypothesis was that just like the Penumbra Dance recognized the entire court as a single entity, this skill was doing something similar to it. Sure, it was wildly expensive, but for a boss or a situation where Hera could burn everything she had in a moment, this was absolutely perfect. One week into their mission, the group had long passed the 100-kill mark. Hera''s [Hunter''s Catalogue] had already capped out the bonus she could get while fighting the Monarch of the Glen. Yet, they were unable to get the drop. This was frustrating, especially when they encountered someone related to one of the people who was sick during lunch. The man asked if the team had found the horn that his daughter needed, but they had to say no. His sunken eyes seemed to sink a bit deeper, and it was clear that he hadn''t had a good night of sleep in weeks. Despite that, he just nodded and thanked the group for all their work. He even offered to help in whatever way he could. All to see his little girl getting better. When they explained that there was nothing he could do, he nodded and politely moved away. A tear fell from his face as he left the building. That wasn''t a bad interaction. The man didn''t blame them for eating, asked them to push harder or anything of the sort. But somehow, that made things worse. Every member of the team knew they were doing everything they could. They would wake up, have breakfast, and go to the dungeon. Their lunch break lasted for 1 hour, but 20 of those minutes would be spent moving back to the city and then to the dungeon again. They would leave the dungeon close to 9 P.M., and the only reason for that was that most of the stores where they would replenish their supplies and places that could help them clean and care for their equipment would close at 10. Before breakfast, Hera walked into their hotel room with a deck of playing cards in her hand. The party had come to an agreement: they would enjoy the breakfast the hotel offered while the other meals would be had outside. "We need to play poker," the Empress slammed the deck on the table, "Ideally now and while we eat. We are betting money. Actual money. For you, each chip is worth 1 gold. For me, it is 100. Meaning I have to pay 100 gold for each chip I lose. Card Draw or Hold''em?" "What are you talking about? Why do you want to play poker," Flint groaned while staring at the empty pot of coffee. They still had to wait around 20 minutes before the kitchen would open and then another half an hour to get their meal. "I don''t want to, I need to. And you all need to beat me," Hera replied while shuffling the deck. "Somehow, that makes even less sense. What is going on?" Skyler yawned. "Remember when I said I had a luck skill?" Hera asked. "Yeah. Something about good things coming after bad things, right?" Neria was double-checking her gear. She had to confirm if all the enchantments to keep everything wet were still working properly or needed some extra mana. "Exactly. And a good thing will be getting the right drop. But for that to happen, I need bad things to happen. Going out to get blackout drunk is a bad idea. Not to mention, it wouldn''t work, thanks to the poison resistance I have. Running with no armor in the middle of monsters is just stupid. So I figured, what is one thing we can more or less control. Gambling. The house always wins and stuff. Unfortunately, there are no casinos here, and I don''t have time to find out people who have their home games. So, enter you all. We play, you rob me blind, and we might have a better shot at draping the horn," Hera was about to start giving everyone their hands but stopped, "Hold''em or Card Draw?" "Let''s go with hold''em. It''s easier to read people when they see the cards being flipped," Vash sat in one of the chairs around the large table in the middle of the living room. "Ok, I''m down for free money. It''s not like you are going to try to win, right?" Skyler joined the table. "I am. If I lose on purpose, then the skill might not work. Since it''s not something bad happening, just something intentional. I won''t be using any skill or anything, though. Feel free to do that against me. Just don''t make it too obvious. That enters a gray area. Like if I see you cheating and don''t say anything, would that be something bad or a decision I consciously made?" Hera frowned but kept dealing with the cards. "And the money? Any reason why your chips will be worth so much more?" Flint sat down as well. "I figured it would make the bad thing worse for me. Like losing 100-200, gold is not that bad. Losing a few thousand, that would hurt." "Then wouldn''t it be better to make larger bets?" Neria asked. "Well¡­ Maybe, but I also don''t know if this will work. And I don''t want to be broke because of an idea that didn''t change anything. If we start seeing better drops or things start to be easier for me, then I can try increasing the bet." Hera pulled two sets of chips. They had the same pattern of colors: red, green, blue, and black. But while the ones the team was using had a white center, the ones that belonged to the Empress had a purple snake in the middle. A bit on the nose, but she couldn''t help herself when she saw it. Vash looked at his cards, then at the table, "That is a good idea. Let''s hope we drop that item before you have to bet your house. Raise 5 gold." 782 - Courts first outing "Fuck, not the right thing again," Flint groaned. "What did we get this time?" Hera appeared behind the tree she used to evade the Monarch''s gaze. One thing they realized was that when the monster would use the Chromatic Moose skill, it would lock into one of the group members and chase after them. But, if that person was able to hide from it, the dungeon boss stopped running to try to find them. This was just a plan B for them since making it stop moving was still the best option. Unfortunately, this time, that idea didn''t work. It was late, and Neria''s spell was missed since the Monarch was too close to the rest of the group. "Another verdant pelt," the dwarf sighed. This was considered a rare drop from the dungeon, but it wasn''t the horn. Ever since they started playing poker, they would get better rewards, but not the one thing they were trying to get. "Really? C''mon, I''m tired of losing money!" Hera gasped. "I mean, the first-time reward of this dungeon still got you covered, didn''t it?" Vash asked. Hera rolled her eyes, "Oh fuck you. You alone already got 70 thousand gold from me." "It''s not my fault you have such an obvious tell. And this was your idea," Vash snickered. "Yeah, but I can still be annoyed," Hera huffed as they started to move out of the dungeon. This was already the 10th day of their mission, and they had over 200 drops, but no horn. However, this run happened without any of the Empress''s titled blades. The reason was simple: their cores had reached a point where they felt comfortable enough to do a few runs on their own. They even had a ''test run'' where everyone came inside, but only Nimbus and the others fought. Hera and the rest of the team waited close by but didn''t interfere in any situation. Their cores only reached about 2 million mana each, but thanks to the combo of Lurize teaching what he was learning and the [Army of One] skill making their skill double dip into each other, Hera''s core was already reaching 4 million. She could only use that mana for her legacy, which was likely part of the reason why it was increasing so fast, but it was clear that speed was changing. She spent the last few days topping up the mana in her titled Blades, and this was the time to try if the whole idea of an extra team running the dungeon would work. Hera and her team left the dungeon, and the Empress called the titled blades out. "Are you guys ready?" Vash asked. "Fuck yeah, I am! This is going to be awesome!" Livy pounded her with a massive grin. "OK, calm down. We need to be careful there," Lurize sighed. "C''mon. Stop being a wet blanket," Crimson rolled her eyes. "We don''t use blanketz!" Lurize huffed. "To be fair, you don''t use blankets. We do, we snuggle when we are watching something," Viper added. "The hotel doezn''t have a decent blanket for me, Livy, and me!" "Are you all going to be ok?" Hera asked. "Oh yeah. Don''t worry about it. This is just bantering. We got this," Nimbus said with a confident smile. Hera looked back to the team, "Do you mind if we wait here? Just for their first run. I''m really worried." "That''s fine. That shouldn''t last more than an hour, and the entrance of the dungeon is not in a particularly dangerous spot," Roan said and sat down at the side of the entrance. "Do you want to play cards while we wait?" Vash smirked at Hera, who just rolled her eyes. "OK, everyone. Come here. I''ll give you all the quest," Hera called her court. They all kneeled in front of her. With Viper and Crimson just lowering their bodies to mimic that motion, "What I ask of you, my noble blades, is for you to get the horn of the boss of this dungeon. Unfortunately, that is only a drop. You cannot get it any other way. So please, help me find that drop so we can help the people who are sick and in need of a medicine made with that horn. You can keep trying until morning. I should be waking up at 6 am, so this is when you should be back. If you get the horn earlier, you are to come back with the drop. If you feel like the item you got has some value, feel free to come back to the city and leave things in the hotel room. But it''s more important to get the horn than a bunch of random materials," finishing the request, the court members took turns kissing Hera''s hand and getting just around 100 thousand mana each to finish completely filling up their cores. "Did that work?" Skyler asked. "We will be going now. Empress," Lurize gave a quick bow and started walking inside the dungeon. Followed closely by the others. "Thank you all for doing this. And remember to focus on yourselves first. If you realize you can''t do this on your own, that''s okay," the Ophidianite smiled and turned to the elf. "It did, why?" "I thought you had to be all noble and stuff when doing that kind of thing. The beginning of your request kind of followed that, but then it just turned into explanations for a job," Skyler continued. "Yeah. I mean, if I start properly and then shift to be more pragmatic, it works, and the skill doesn''t understand itself in the wrong way. Not that it usually does, but I''ve seen it happening," Hera explained. "Really? I thought legacies would always do what the user wanted," Neria sat on the ground and took out a set of collapsible cups and a couple of tea bags, "Tea, anyone?" "I''ll take a cup. Thanks," Hera said, sitting beside the triton and finishing her explanation. "For the most part, the legacy does what I want. But occasionally, some things are a bit off. For instance, there was this day when I asked Nimbus to go grab something to eat back in the city. Later, he told me that after getting a single grape, he felt like the quest was complete. The same thing happened when I gave Lurize a quest to teach some of the dwarves back in Zaxalam, well. In Boothudurn at the time, how to brew tea. That was just to test the limits of the quest skill, but as soon as he finished the explanation, the quest seemed to be complete, even if that wasn''t all I intended him to do. There was also¡­" Hera continued talking about her legacy, and soon, the subject shifted to other things. About 40 minutes later, all the titled blades walked out of the dungeon carrying a long piece of wood. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "How did it go?" Daskka asked before anyone else. "It went pretty well, actually. Livy can stop the Monarch''s charge even when he uses the moose skill. We just took a bit longer because the fox showed up in the middle of it all, and we had to deal with that," Nimbus proudly announced. "The fox dropped another one of those small rugs, but this one is pink and red! It works just like the other one thought," Crimson showed the item that was in her waist. "How was the mana use?" Hera asked. "Pretty good, actually. We used about 40 thousand from our cores each. Comparing that with the 200 thousand that we spent when we tried doing this without the royal quest, the difference is massive," Nimbus had a large smile. "Yeah, and I could just go hog wild with my spells. I ran out of mana twice while I was there!" Livy chuckled. "Twice? Why?" Neria frowned. "I tried shooting it. Put everything I had into a single skill but it didn''t work. I missed it. The good part was that the amount of mana I was using from the core didn''t change. Like the skill said, we can''t use that mana to fuel our spells and skills." "And that stick?" Vash got up and walked closer to them, his eyes sparkling. Skyler followed without saying anything, her eyes glued to the loot. "It''s something called Singwood, it''s-" Viper started speaking but was interrupted. "SINGWOOD?!" Skyler and Vash almost jumped on top of Viper. The spymaster moved back quickly, "Yeah¡­ Why?" "That is the best thing to make a musical instrument. I mean, there might be a couple of other materials that are better, but those are on much deeper layers," Vash explained. "Well, we have that now. Just find someone to make you two something," Flint groaned before getting up, "Can we go back to the city now? I''m starving." They nodded and said their goodbyes to the rest of the court, who was going to stay behind, continuously killing the boss to try to get the drop. Now that they had enough mana, they would stay there for as long as possible. It was likely that the drain in their cores would increase as Hera moved away, but they should at least be able to do a few more runs before they started running out of mana. Just as they arrived in the city, they sent a daily report to Milla, who told them Queen Typhera needed to talk to them but was currently in a meeting. As soon as she could, she would call them. It was also a sensitive topic, so ideally, they wouldn''t be out in the middle of the town. Understanding the request, the group quickly stopped by one of the many restaurants and ordered take out to be delivered. Back in their hotel room, Hera also got a video call from Helena. "Lena!" Hera opened a large smile, seeing her friend. "Hera! How is my favorite Ophidianite?" Helena was in a different house from the one the Empress knew. It felt more personal. It looked like the dwarves had managed to clear up some more houses, and more people were getting their definitive homes. "I''m the only Ophidianite," Hera rolled her eyes, but she still maintained the wide smile on her face. She missed her party. Even if this was important, she spent the last years seeing her friends every day, and hanging out with the team just wasn''t the same. "Not for long. Shane and your dad have been drinking the essence every day, and their Ophidianite skills are growing. Shane is even acting like a sandbag for the guards to see if she can improve the scales even faster." "Hey, Lena!" Daskka perked up and waved her tail. "Daskka says hi too," Hera added, "Just to make sure, is everything ok?" "Oh yeah. Everyone is doing great. We miss you like crazy, and Shane complains about not being able to go to Deakoshara without you sometimes. But then, someone pops up and tells her about a new finding, and she gets busy for a few days. But to be honest, this is not just a check in. If that was the case, I would''ve kept it through text like we were doing." "Yeah, I kind of imagined. You are not someone who really likes video or phone calls," Hera chuckled. "You can say that again. But you are right. There is a reason why I''m calling you. I know you are avoiding telling us much about what you are doing. Just in case anyone is spying on us. Which I completely understand. Information is power and stuff. But, we''ve been told you killed a wendigo. Also, that might not be the only one you deal with while doing all of this," Hera didn''t confirm it with her voice but nodded in reply, "A little bird also told me that your hunter''s catalogue also registered all the wendigos as the same thing. And I wanted to ask you. Can you tell me what their affinities were?" "Their elemental affinities?" Hera frowned and opened the catalogue. After a moment, she had the answer, "They are all marked as ''Devour Affinity.''" "YES!" Helena shouted, "I was hoping that would be the case. I think I can help everyone deal with that. Not many people can mark down affinities, and the ones who do usually get it from quest rewards or are hunters who completely filled out a specific entry and got the rest of the information as a freebie. Anyway, it looks like the only thing that has a devour affinity is a wendigo. I''m going to try to build a scanner that looks for that affinity, specifically. So let me know if you have any ideas of finding anything about all that." "That''s an amazing idea, Lena! That would help so much! Ok, I promise I''ll let you know," the two of them talked for a few more minutes until Vash knocked on Hera''s door to let her know Queen Typera was calling. The Empress said to her friend and walked over to the living room. "Ah, Ms. Quetzaveth. Hello. I apologize for disrupting your evening," Typera was being cast on the TV in the living room while Vash''s tablet was being used as a camera for her to see the group. "Your presence is never an inconvenience, Queen Typhera. I apologize for making you wait," the Ophidianite replied. The harpy queen chuckled, "I see you are learning political flattery. That will help you in the future, I''m sure. Now, I wanted to talk with you about a specific topic better said in person. Since that is not possible, a video call is the next best thing. I won''t be able to say everything about this, but I''m sure you, Ms. Quetzaveth, can fill in the blanks. There is a development that might interest you. Some of our Information suggests that the events that led you to witness a crime and tailing someone are happening again, not exactly in the same way, but in a similar fashion. When we talked with the council, you showed interest in continuing this work. And I would like to know if that offer still stands. Also, if your team will join you or not. If so, we will set up a meeting place where you could receive the full report and prepare to join this assignment. You don''t have to tell me right now, but please think about it and give me an answer as soon as possible. Just tell Milla if you will join the feather operation or not. And my apologies, but I still have much to do today. I won''t be able to answer any questions about this. Thank you once again for all your help, and please be safe." The call ended, and the entire team turned to Hera, confused. The Empress just nodded and used a soundproof spell around them all, "I believe she was talking about the prison break I was a part of. I told you all about this, right?" "The broad strokes," Neria said, "How are you sure about this?" "First, she said, Ms. Quetzaveth. Not Hera. The name Hera would be attached to that event. If it was something else, I don''t think she would be careful about the name like that. Second, she said, ''I tailed someone after witnessing a crime.'' The crime was my own death, and I tailed someone. In the sense of putting a tail on myself," Hera gestured to her own tail. "Finally, she said I showed my interest in continuing this work. Which I did when I was meeting with the Council of MAZE Species. Now, I want to participate in that. Let me give you the full story, and I think you will understand why. If any of you want to help, that''s great. If not, that is completely fine as well. No hard feelings, and I understand why you decided that." With that phrase, Hera started to tell the story, the full story of the prison break. How they did it, what they saw in there, and what she lost that day. 783 - Monarchs Full Power It''s been 12 days since they started this mission, and tension was rising. After hearing Hera''s full explanation about the prison, Neria, Roan, and Skyler immediately agreed to help. They were disgusted by what the humans were doing and couldn''t let this stand. Vash was a bit more conflicted. Not because he agreed with the humans but because he wasn''t sure if his presence would help. Flint was still unsure if he would help. His reason was almost the same as Vash''s but a bit more nuanced. He understood what the expectation placed on him, a crafter, for a mission like that would be. Before saying yes or no, he asked Hera to tell him more about what Eirik did during that first prison break, and he was currently using his free time to test his skills, making tools that could help a situation like that. Since Typhera did say she could wait for their reply, the group decided the deadline for their answer was the last day of this mission. It was currently 3 A.M., and Hera was sleeping, just like most other members of the team. Her titled blades, however, were in a different place. They were outside the dungeon entrance, sitting on the ground to rest for a little while. They might be constructs, and their entire bodies were made out of mana, but they still could feel tired. Or, at least, some of them did. "Are you all ready?" Livy was jumping from one foot to the other, her tail being used to give her a bit more height. "We just sat down. Give us a minute," Nimbus grumbled. He could be the first titled blade, but the Leviathan''s stats were much better than his. When she became part of the court, there were even a few attributes that had to be lowered, or Livy would have more total attribute points than Hera herself. "Oh. My bad. I thought most of us were focused on endurance," Livy scratched the back of her head and sat down to rest with the others. ''We are, but yours is much higher than ours.'' Lurize replied in their minds, his habit of not saying things out loud to avoid using the Z sound instead of the S still active even when he was among the titled blades. "Right¡­ my bad. I''m still not that used to things like this. Usually, Hera only calls me when things are about to go down or to hang out," Livy sighed. "Don''t worry about it. Lurize and I kept butting heads when we started working together," Nimbus patted the Leviathan''s shoulder, even if he had to reach up to do it. "Really?" Viper asked. ''Yeah. Nimbus was a bit of a prick,'' Lurize replied. "And were are an egocentric dick!" Nimbus scoffed. ''It''s not my fault you couldn''t see the truth.'' "Pah! Truth? You were just trying to give yourself more importance than you actually had." "What did Lurize do?" Crimson asked, looking at the two blades like her older brothers were fighting. "Lurize kept saying that he had been with Hera for longer than I had. So he should be the ''Senior Titled Blade,''" Nimbus crossed his arms. ''That is a fact. I was Hera''s first blade,'' Lurize nodded. "The hell you were! Brute was her first. You were just the freebie that came with the legacy." ''She chose me during the trial!'' "And you can''t even remember what happened during the trial! And even after that, you could barely talk properly for ages. You had the personality of a dry white wall." ''Oh, and what? Are you going to say that you remember what happened while you were just a cloud griffon? And do you want to talk about personality? Before joining the court, you were literally a cloud! You had the same substance of water vapor,'' only Lurize and Nimbus were talking, but they weren''t standing up. Instead, I had this small argument while sitting down and completely relaxed. "Face it, you are not the senior here," Nimbus huffed. ''Neither are you; if anything, Daskka is the one who was with Hera for the longest since she is the legacy.'' "Yes, she is," Nimbus replied. There was a pause, and both of them turned to each other, speaking at the same time, "Don''t you dare tell her I said that¡­. I won''t if you won''t¡­ Deal!" They laughed and continued talking, sharing some of the stories from before Livy, Crimson, and Viper joined the titled blades. After a while, the group was rested enough to continue trying to get the drop from the Monarch of the Glen. Walking inside the dungeon, they saw the painting-like forest that was so familiar to them. They were so comfortable with this place that they didn''t stop; just continued walking toward the territory of the dungeon boss. Nimbus flew above the trees to both locate the monster and make sure the Mandala Fox wasn''t roaming around. Usually, the general would be sitting on a rock or an open field. If that wasn''t the case, the titled blades should be on the lookout for the creature to come after them. This happened a few times before, and none of them was particularly dangerous. However, they still had to worry about it, and there were a couple of combo moves between the Monarch and the fox that could cause problems. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Luckily, it didn''t seem like this was the case on this run. The fox was sleeping on top of the large rock in the forest, basking in the sunlight. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at their destination. The territory of the Monarch of the Glen. Everyone turned into their weapons forms, with Nimbus guiding them from above as they approached the boss. Even while doing a [Royal Quest], they still had full control over their transformations, which was very helpful, especially in situations like this. The large green stag was walking through a path, one of the many it would take as the dungeon started. Each step made ripples in the ground, but unlike the ones created by Hera or her court members, where the colors of the grass would become dull and gray as the ripple moved, the dungeon boss made its surroundings more vibrant. Each color seemed to be energized with each step it took, and that energy would spread around to the rest of the forest. The blades waited until the monster approached their hiding spot. Only then did Lurize ask. ''Everyone ready?'' getting a confirmation from the other blades, he turned to the red dagger, ''You said you wanted to practice with your guardian form. Is that still the case?'' ''Yeah¡­ if that is ok. Our form seems to be the most suited for combat, and we wanted to get used to fighting while in it,'' Crimson replied. ''I had a few more chances to use it, but Crim still feels embarrassed about her look. The idea is some exposure therapy with people she trusts," Viper added. ''You didn''t have to say it,'' Crimson grumbled. ''I''m just making sure everyone understands what we are doing,'' Viper gently touched his sister''s blade form with his pommel. ''Fine, just¡­ don''t do that again. It felt weird for some reason,'' Crimson quickly cut him off and moved to a better position. ''Whenever you are ready. Try activating your Hidden Strike skill,'' Lurize added as the two half-Nagas moved a bit closer but still waited. The stag would stop every now and then to eat or just admire its surroundings. In one of those moments, Viper and Crimson dashed forward, activating their [Hidden Frontal Screen] for just a few moments to guarantee a sneak attack. They aimed at the back of the stag''s leg, making large cuts on it. Unfortunately, they knew that this wouldn''t stop the creature. The Monarch tried to kick them and missed by a hair. At the same time, Crimson and Viper joined, taking in the guardian form of Crimotra, where their upper body would be a mix of Crimson and the mantis part of Scryotra, and the lower belonged to Viper. With the two daggers now being part of her arms, Crimotra slashed at the monster again, pulling the blood from its first wound to create some extra [Bloody Claws]. The new attack cut the boss'' side, letting some of the ink that was its blood drip to the floor. A heavy scent of paint started to cover the area. After being hit, the Monarch jumped back, leaving behind a translucent copy of itself. A copy that now mirrored its every move. Crimotra tried to jump to the side and avoid the duplicate, but the boss was already preparing a new attack. Its horns glowed, and it just waved its head, sending out a large brush stroke-shaped wave at the Spymasters. Nimbus jumped into action, using his [Mana Shield] to slow the attack down while grabbing the twin''s guardian form and jumping into the sky. Unfortunately, this wasn''t enough. A large mandala appeared in front of them, blocking their escape. Livy appeared under the Sentinel and triggered her [Draconic Eruption], sending in a wave of herself to face off against the one created by the Monarch. It was water against paint, and it was hard to tell which one should win. A few small green projectiles flew from the side of the forest. Lurize, still in his zweihander form, sent out a few Venom Needles. A version of the spell Hera used. The effect was essentially the same, with the only difference being the type of mana to create the magic. The first of the needles hit its target, but the next ones were all stopped by the mandalas, which were working as barriers to stop not just attacks but also their movements. As soon as the waves fell back to the ground, having reached a stalemate, Livy jumped towards the boss, spinning her war axe and bringing it down with the [Leviathan''s Torrent] coming out of one of the carved dragon mouths in her weapon. The high pressure managed to push through the mandala barrier and hit one of the legs of the Monarch. Livy groaned; the intention of the attack was to end this fight, but the stag moved enough in the last second to turn a sure kill hit into little more than a glancing blow. The boss used the ink wave again, this time the spell coming from both him and the copy. At the same time, he slammed his hooves on Livy''s chest a few times, pushing the Leviathan back. She tried grabbing its legs and holding on. Which worked for a moment, and that was all the rest of the court needed. Nimbus continued to hold back the duplicate, but Crimotra sidestepped and dashed towards the Monarch like a madwoman. With a jump, she made an X with her arms and cut down, aiming at the creature''s neck. A golden blade suddenly pierced the side of the boss, as Lurize appeared in his [Rhinoceros Form], also known as Golden Beetle Form. His two-handed sword was empowered by a [Venom Attack], a skill that made his strikes filled with Venom mana. The ink wave finally triggered, pushing everyone away from the Monarch. Having a moment to be free, the boss suddenly glowed with a golden light and jumped. It jumped much higher than the trees, becoming almost invisible in the middle of the large blue sky. Everyone continued looking up, trying to see where the two monsters would land, but the only one who was able to do that was Nimbus. He realized that the boss was going to fall a few meters behind them, but the copy was aiming at Crimotra directly. The monster was dropping too fast, and there was no time to explain. Instead, the Sentinel tackled Crimotra, making her fall to the ground. There was a brief pause before the Spymaster in control of the body let out a desperate scream and pushed Nimbus away with all of her might. The Sentinel was too close, too close to her face. Embarrassed about letting him see her this close, Cimrotra pushed the Nimbus away. The sudden push caught him off guard, making him tumble back directly below where the duplicate would fall. Nimbus tried to move away and jump, but he felt a mandala pressing him against the ground. It was a different one, and one that this boss never was able to learn. He only had enough time to glance to the side and see a fox staring down at him while a green stag surrounded by a purple and gold light came crashing down on the Sentinel''s head. Killing Nimbus on the spot. 784 - Sentinels Fall Hera woke up with a splitting headache. But she only had a chance to open her eyes before the feeling changed. She could feel pressure in her head as if something incredibly heavy was pressing against her. Slowly, the pressure increased, at first just like an annoying weight, but soon, she felt her eyes being pushed deeper inside her head and her skull starting to crack under the weight. The Ophidianite tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The only thing she could do was to keep her hand on her face, trying to hold it together. The pressure increased, and she felt her eyes pop just as a gust of air ruptured her eardrums, and then the upper side of her beak cracked. Then, her brain. She could feel every neuron being squashed under the weight of whatever this was. Her mind was blank. She could only think about the pain and the fear of dying. Another set of¡­ feet? No, hooves slammed into her chest, pushing her stomach towards the rock-hard bed. She felt part of her digestive tract being pushed to the sides while her stomach and bile forced themselves towards her mouth, ripping her lungs apart and pulling her heart out of her veins. The last thing that passed through her mind was a deep sense of shame. As if she had failed someone. As if she had failed Hera. Just as suddenly as it all started, the feelings vanished, and the Empress recovered control over her body. She was no longer feeling any pain, even if the memory of it still lingered. Hera could speak, although she could only sob. Looking around, she noticed Daskka trying to speak with her, and only then the Ophidianite realized she could hear. "Mum! Are you ok?" "I¡­I¡­" Hera couldn''t reply. She just reached out and hugged her closest friend. After a few moments whit the snake trying to calm the Empress down, she managed to say one word, "Nimbus." "I know, Mum. He died. I felt it, too." "He''s¡­. Coming back¡­ Right?" Hera knew this was how her legacy worked; if one of her court members died or was destroyed in battle, they could return. But what she felt was so much more intense than what happened last time. The pain, the fear of death. She couldn''t help but wonder why Nimbus was even afraid of dying. He couldn''t. The only way for him to die was for either Hera herself to die or for her to pass the legacy to someone else. "He is mum. It will be a few days, but he will be back," Daskka snuggled closer to Hera''s chest. They stayed like that for some time while both cried silently. Unfortunately, they weren''t quite enough. After about half an hour, someone knocked on the door. "Hera? Are you ok?" Neria''s voice was full of worry and an underlying note of confusion. The Ophidianite tried to speak up, but her voice was too weak. The fear she felt still held her back. Daskka understood what the Empress was going to say and turned her tail into mist, stretching it towards the door before slowly opening it. Neria, still waiting on the other side, was surprised by the sight. Hera was on the bed, wrapped around the covers while holding Daskka close to her chest, both faces touching each other. The tears that were falling from all two pairs of eyes stained the sheets. The triton became more worried and approached carefully, closing the door behind her. She didn''t know whether Hera wanted to share this with the rest. After she sat on the side of the bed, Neria reached for Hera''s shoulder before asking, "What happened?" "Nimbus died," the Empress replied with a sniff. "Oh¡­ I''m so¡­" Neria paused, remembering a bit about Hera''s legacy, "Sorry? Can he die?" Hera took a deep breath and tried to focus, "Not really. Just for a while." The triton frowned, "I understand you are upset, but if you don''t mind me asking. Why are you this upset? He is coming back. It sucks, but he will be back." With a nod, Hera tried speaking again, but a sob held her back. A moment later, she continued, "I know. But I felt it. How he died. I felt the same things he did as if they were happening to me. The pain, the fear, the death. It''s¡­ not easy." Neria''s eyes went wide, "You¡­ felt him dying? You felt as if you died?" the Ophidianite only nodded in response. Neria just hugged them both and let them cry. As a healer, she had seen her fair share of death. But this was different. It was survival. Survival with the trauma of knowing you died and were brought back was one thing. Having that memory and still being able to live like you used to was another thing entirely. For now, the best thing the triton could do was just be here while Hera calmed down, and she did just that. After almost an hour, the Empress managed to regain her composure. It was already close to sunrise, so she and Neria decided to just start their day. Soon after, the titled blades arrived at the hotel room. They could sense that Hera wasn''t doing that well and gathered to tell what happened. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Since Neria was also around to hear the report, Viper took charge, "We were going for another run, and this time, Crimson and I asked to practice fighting in our guardian form. We didn''t have any opportunities to use that skill in an actual fight. And we agreed that this was a good idea." "We all agreed," Lurize added. "Yes, everyone was on board with the idea. Fighting the Monarch wasn''t that hard. I mean, it could be, but we were not having any problems. Possibly due to the number of times we already beat it along with the rest of the team. Anyway. We were fighting. Nothing unusual. But then, the Monarch suddenly jumped. That gave it a golden aura, which we believe was the skill the Golden Armadillo would use. Alongside that, it used the Chromatic Moose ability. When it came back to the ground, the Mandala Fox used a skill to trap Nimbus, and he was hit by the Monarch," Viper concluded. Crimson flinched hearing that last part, but Livy placed one hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Unfortunately, the difference in size between the two didn''t help, making the gesture even less threatening to watch. "That jump wasn''t dangerous by itself. It tried doing it again against me, but even when it hit, the impact was almost weak. But that time, it didn''t have the Chromatic Moose aura. We think that when it jumped, which was a really fucking high jump, by the way, the distance it traveled helped boost the purple aura thingy. That''s how it was able to kill Nimbus in a single sudden move." "I believe the Mandala Fox waz key for that. Nimbuz froze for a moment when he noticed it. If he hadn''t, maybe he could have used the protection skills he has. I think that fox had the ability to freeze him momentarily," Lurize tried to maintain his composure, but some of the words he had to say out loud made him die a little bit inside. Finishing a word with a Z sound was one thing. Saying zkillz instead of skills was another. He wasn''t that worried about Nimbus. Not really. Like the Sentinel, he had been destroyed once before. It was far from being a pleasant experience, but it was something they could overcome. "Yeah. We might kill that fox before going for the Monarch in the future. That combo is something that could kill one of you if we are not careful enough," Livy added. Hera just listened to the entire explanation before nodding, "And did you manage to kill it? The Monarch, I mean." "We did. After it killed Nimbus, we went a bit nuts. Crimson and I were in the Crimotra form, and we just started attacking nonstop. We got a bit injured in the process, but that only messed up our guardian form," Viper continued. "Ok, and did you get the drop?" Hera asked. She was slowly regaining her composure. Even if she did that, she had to push down all of her emotions for the moment. "We got a drop. Not the horn," Lurize said. "More materials?" Neria asked. "Yeah, this cloth¡­leather?" Lurize pulled a roll of mossy green cloth. It was one of the drops they had already seen before, a material that was great for making dresses and other clothes. It was sturdy as leather but malleable as silk. Unfortunately, it was a bit too hot, and it had almost no defensive capabilities. There was a pause, and Hera didn''t know what to say. She was trying not to focus on whatever happened with Nimbus and kept trying to control her emotions. Hera was also a bit tired; after all, she wasn''t able to sleep properly, and the fear and pain the Sentinel felt was still very fresh in her mind. There was a lot of tension in the air, not intentionally, but the court was worried about the Empress'' reaction. Wanting to end this conversation, she asked. "Is there anything else you want to say?" Crimson raised her hand, "I do. This was my fault. Nimbus saved me from being hit by an attack, and he ended up very close to me in my guardian form. I felt embarrassed and pushed him away. This made him fall into the trap of the fox. I''m the reason he died." Hera nodded, "Anything else?" "Wait. What?" Crimson gasped, "That''s it? You are not going to say anything?" "Crim, what am I supposed to say? Scold you for messing up? Trust me, there is nothing I can say that will change how you are feeling right now. I could sense your guilt when you turned the corner to come to the hotel," Hera sighed. She didn''t like the idea of having to ''punish'' someone for making a mistake. The court was not her children, except maybe Daskka, but the rest were her partners, her friends. Their relationship should be one of trust and camaraderie, not of a master and servant, despite what the legacy seemed to lean towards. Crimson hesitated for a moment, "Can you order me not to do that again?" Hera shook her head, "No. I get why you are asking, but one thing that wouldn''t be learning and improving. That''s taking the easy way out, which could be the right idea for you all or not. I don''t know, and I''m not in the mood to figure that out now. Another issue is that this opens a Pandora''s box. If I start using orders to change how you behave, when do I stop? When all of you become perfect little dolls doing exactly what I want? That is not how I want the court to be." Crimson nodded, processing what the Empress said. It was hard to not be guilty, but wishing it didn''t happen wouldn''t solve anything. This was a lesson and something she would have to be careful of in the future. Viper wasn''t saying much. Usually, he would tease his sister for her mistakes, but this wasn''t the moment for it. The rest of the court was also worried about the Sentinel, even if they all knew he would be back soon. Hera looked at the clock. It was still too early for what she wanted to do. Changing her idea, the Empress pulled up the tablet and started to look through the stores in the city. "You are trying to buy something?" Neria asked. "Yes," Hera replied. "What?" "The biggest mana stone I can find." "Why?" the triton frowned. "That fucking Monarch killed Nimbus. I''m killing it back," revealing the underlying rage that the entire court was feeling due Nimbus'' death. 785 - A simple revenge Hera''s first thought was to get the mana stone herself. But Neria wanted to help. In fact, she suggested that the entire party chip in. If they had a very large mana stone, even if it could not recharge on its own. A mana stone could allow the triton to use more powerful heals. For a moment, they would be safe. That way, she could do some emergency procedures without tapping into the mana she had compressed for a more pressing emergency. Another argument was made about the other uses the mana stone could have, from helping Flint craft larger objects and improve his armor to supplying various tools with mana. Ultimately, they all agreed to give some money to the cause. Even if most of it was money, they had won from Hera herself. The Empress still paid for most of it, even without considering the gambling. If it was up to her, she would buy the entire thing herself, but after dying as Hera Kingsley, she lost all of her money. Even with her numerous dungeon runs before starting to travel with this team, her finances could have been better. Actually, buying the mana stone wasn''t an issue. Hera was a woman with a mission, and she was a woman with a mission. When she went into a store and asked for it, the seller took one look at her and gave up the idea of haggling. After spending close to half a million gold, they got a small stone that could hold up to 40 million mana. That was considerably more than anyone in the team could create, but it didn''t matter. The main reason why Hera picked this store is because they sold the mana stones already charged. The Empress'' intention was to use the mana stone right away. After buying that and a ''potion of the berserker,'' which gave her a 50% buff to her strength for one minute, the drawback was that after the duration, her strength would be reduced by 50% for the next 10 minutes. With that out of the way, she marched back to the dungeon. The rest of the team was a bit worried due to her intensity. However, when Viper asked what they would do if something killed one of their friends, the team understood. About forty minutes later, they arrived in the dungeon, and they quickly moved to the Monarch''s territory. In around 8 minutes, they found the dungeon boss. Hera didn''t waste time and asked for every single buff the team could give her. She also drank the potion in a single gulp. With all of that setup, she created, for the first time, a legendary-grade venomous weapon. It used almost half of the mana inside the mana stone, but that didn''t matter. The Ophidianite wanted nothing more than to obliterate the Monarch. Her weapon of choice was a dagger. One that she placed in a simple scabbard, with no skills or stats to its name, that she bought from the store. "Neria, trap it, and I''m going," Hera said, her eyes cold and snake-like. Her own voice was filled with hatred, which scared Vash and Skyler slightly. They''d never seen her like that, nor did they know she was capable of such a strong anger. As a matter of fact, they were not the only ones surprised by that. Daskka, Lurize, Livy, and Amber, the only court members who were around the Empress before she became an Ophidianite, were also concerned. They were silently discussing if this was something related to the court''s emotion, to be a different species, or if it had to do with the guild and what happened with Silah. While that was going on, Hera also used a Fire Elemental Strength spell in her venomous dagger to increase its damage. With all the buffs active and the Monarch of the Glen in her sights, she just waited for Neria''s signal. The triton knew they didn''t have long, so she just went for it. She pulled some water from her staff and sent it to the Monarch. The water wrapped around its body and lifted it up from the ground. Hera took the chance and dashed at the monster. Triggering her [All In] skill to increase the power of her strike. At the same time, she grabbed the legendary venomous dagger and used [Grasshopper Draw], spending not just her own entire mana pool but also the 20 million mana that was still left inside the mana stone. To top it all off, she also added a [Weapon Break] as she swung the dagger. The combination of skills, along with the flood of mana boosted by her [mana Touched] title. Created an effect that was both terrifying and precisely what she expected. The moment the blade of her dagger touched the neck of the boss monster, there was a flash, turning the entire world black and white for a split second. A massive jet of fire was created, along with the destruction of the weapon. It was a combination of the flammable venom that was part of the weapon with the fire that was boosting its strength. The flames started white, turning blue, then orange, and finally read in the distance. Everything in front of Hera was carbonized in an instant. The trees, the Monarch, and even the ground itself melted due to the intense heat, forming small pools of lava. That fire was part of the result, but it wasn''t everything the attack did. There was also a considerably large opening on the ground, currently being filled by the molten ink that was covering the ground. It seemed like the ink even helped spread the flames, which were growing with each second. ''Empress!'' Dusa''s voice finally came through. "Sorry, what?" Hera asked, but she realized she couldn''t hear her own voice, ''What is going on?'' ''The rest of the team is calling you back, and¡­ Flint was telling you to pick that up quickly,'' Dusa said with some uncertainty. ''Pick what up?'' the Empress looked down and saw a large green horn with small flowers painted on it, almost as if they were growing from inside it. The horn was also about to fall into some of the lava that was spreading under her feet. Hera moved quickly, grabbing the drop and moving back to the rest of the team. She could see their mouths moving, but there was no sound coming out of it. Or she wasn''t able to hear what they said. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Neria slapped Flint, who seemed to be yelling and grabbed Hera''s hand, pulling her away from the flames. ''Flint is cursing. Saying that it was too loud and that you should''ve warned him. Skyler and Vash are asking if you are okay, Roan is asking about the skills you used, and Neria is yelling for everyone to shut up so she can focus on healing everyone''s ears. ''Why are their ears a problem?'' the Ophidianite asked. She didn''t hear anything when using the attack. ''Because it was loud! Really loud, loud as fuck girl!'' DJ said with an excited voice. ''I think you didn''t get to hear it because the pressure changed too quickly. That popped your eardrums without you even noticing,'' Autumn added. ''Oh? Really?'' Hera reached out to her ears and felt something warm and a bit sticky coming out. She didn''t even feel that happening. Neria slapped the Ophidianite''s hands away and said something else, but Hera waited for one of the court members to translate. The healer was casting spells the entire time they were walking. ''She is saying that you shouldn''t poke it and that we need to leave the dungeon before she can heal. Apparently, your eardrums are completely gone. According to her, fixing an eardrum is one thing; making a new one grow is another entirely, and she needs peace and quiet to make it work properly. Outside the dungeon, Viper took the job of being Hera''s translator while she was treated by the healer. They double-checked, and the horn they got was the drop they had been trying to get for over a week already. It was called ''Pristine Monarch''s Ivory Horn.'' Which was a mouthful. There was also a passing mention of the antidote when they used [Inspect] on it, but it looked like a footnote, not its main use. She also told Roan about her skills and added that she didn''t expect the result to be that strong. Vash praised the attack, but Skyler warned her not to use that combo outside a dungeon. The destruction it could cause was too big, and the fallout would be too much of a problem for anyone to deal with. It took Neria about 30 minutes of constant healing to fix Hera''s ears, but in the end, it worked. She could hear again just as well as she could before killing the Monarch. "Are you hearing ok?" Neria asked. "Yeah. I think so. Thanks for the help. And sorry for this," Hera turned to the rest of the team, "Sorry to everyone. I was just really angry." "It''s fine. In the end, it worked. And the money we spent was mostly yours anyway," Roan shrugged. "Again, don''t use that skill outside. Unless you are ready to destroy a large chunk of a room. Even if you go to deeper layers, be careful. If you are strong enough to do that right now, I can only imagine what will happen when you are stronger," Skyler shivered. "Also," Neria smiled and held Hera''s head with both her hands. Giving a warm smile that caused the Empress to blush a little. Only to be hit by both of the triton''s hands at the same time. Neria aimed right for Hera''s freshly healed ears, making them ring like crazy, "Don''t use fire to do that again! Or sound. If you are going to use a skill like that, at least make something that is not going to hurt you." "OW!" Hera rubbed her ear, "Now I can''t hear anything again. What did you just ask me to do? Always use fire?" she teased, but Neria slapped the back of her head again, "Ok, ok. I got it. Stop hitting me!" "Stop being a brat! That was dangerous." "To be fair, I had no idea this would happen like that. It was the first time I used an attack that powerful." They continued talking for a few minutes just to make sure everyone was rested and without any injuries before heading back to the city. Things were looking up. They got the horn sooner than expected; they got a large mana stone that needed charging, but still, now they could take a day for Skyler and Vash to enjoy the city before going to their next mission. Unfortunately, that wouldn''t be the case. Halfway through their walk back to the city, all of their tablets rang. A message from Milla asking them to call her as soon as they left the dungeon. She would never ask them something like that unless it was urgent, so they gathered around Flint and called her. The harpy took the call before it rang twice, "We have a problem!" "What''s wrong?" Skyler asked. "A rampage is going to start three rooms away from you. It''s not that big of a place, but there are two cities, and they don''t have enough people to protect both." "Shit, are they evacuating one of them? To make sure no one gets hurt?" Roan asked. "Yeah, but there is another problem. One of those cities has most of the residents and the other the infrastructure. Power plants are being used to refill the mana crystals going to the front lines. A few vertical farms make food for a few rooms. And that second city is nowhere big enough to protect everyone who lives there. "Can''t they just leave? Go to a different room?" Vash asked. "Potentially, yeah. But the closest city is 3 rooms away. Taking an entire city of refugees through several rooms is going to be dangerous. Stop the quest you are doing and head there. I''ll ask the healer to leave the front lines to fix this." "We just got the drop. Let us confirm with the healers here if this is what they need. We need to head back to the city anyway to get our things," Skyler replied. "Really? That''s good. OK, while you are going, I''m checking a route for you all to take. With Nimbus''s help, you should get there soon," Milla said, turning to a different screen and typing away. "Nimbus won''t be here to help. He was killed¡­ broken. It will take a few days before I can summon him again. But we do have Livy. So if the route would go through water we can probably make an even better time than if we were with Nimbus, " Hera turned to Flint, "As long as we have a boat or something like that." "I have some rafts, but I can get the blueprint for a proper boat and the materials for one if the Alliance helps with the bill. It shouldn''t be that expensive, but I don''t know." "Right. OK, ok. Got it. Go to the city and finish things up. I''ll double-check if you can make it on foot and keep you updated while I work," Milla ended the call. Just as soon as she did that, the entire team started to run. Not desperately, but they might need all the time they can get. A rampage wasn''t easy to deal with, and if it was aimed at a place that was important for the army, they couldn''t afford to abandon it. 786 - Loren After dropping off the horn at the Alliance center, they called the healers and chemists to confirm if this would work. Hera''s team asked the clerk to just let them know if it worked or not. They were going to their hotel room to get ready to leave. Before heading out, the group took a chance to take a quick shower. They might not have enough time to do that during the rampage. Not a real shower, and they were still waiting for Milla to give them the route. Hera also had one more thing to do. She asked Livy to sit in front of the door; that way, no one could walk inside her room and leave her tablet in the shared space. She did all that for a simple reason. She wanted to call the guide for this room. It wasn''t like Hera had anything she wanted to ask, specifically, but she just wanted to meet more of them. Just not to waste the skill, she had one question to ask. But it wasn''t related to anything in this room. Not really. With her preparation ready, she used the soundproof bubble and used her skill. An ink spot appeared on the floor, and from it, a form started to take shape, almost like a creature coming out of a bog. First appeared a pair of tall horns framed by two large bunny ears, but those shapes collapsed into themselves, almost like a cake that couldn''t handle its own weight. It tried to reshape itself, becoming a pair of curled horns and large bear ears. Once more, the shape collapsed. Its third attempt worked, forming a black hairless skull and a long white duck beak. The rest of the body was thin and lanky, its limbs moving almost like they were attached to invisible strings. The guide was eyeless, and the connection between the white beak and the black head became an oddly mixed gray, showing a smile. "Wow," Hera gasped absentmindedly. "Hello," the gray spot moved as they spoke. Hera cleared her throat, "Hi. Sorry about my reaction. I just¡­ didn''t expect this." "Were you expecting someone different?" the gray spots became less ''clean'' as if the mixture between the two paint colors wasn''t properly made. "No, no. Nothing like that. Your entrance is just¡­ intense. I wasn''t expecting something like that," the Empress replied. The guide smiled, the gray ink mixing smoothly again, "Well. I am the guide of a room that focuses on art. Not making a proper entrance would be a disservice." "That is a very fair point. And you seem to be doing great. I''m Hera, by the way." "Loren, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I''ve heard a lot about you," the guide waved again, their hand making a trail after it moved. "All good, I hope," Hera smiled a bit awkwardly. It always felt weird to hear that the guides talked about her. "Most of it is good. With just the right amount of bad," Loren chuckled. "Bad? Like what?" Hera asked. Loren stared at the Empress for a moment, crossing their arms, "Is this your first question?" Hera shrugged, "If you want, it can be. I don''t have any big questions." Loren shook their head, "No, no. That would be unfair. This information I give you for free. After all, it pertains to yourself," they created a small ink-stained journal in their hands and flipped through the pages. Hera understood that this was just a performance. All the other guides had told her they could just access any memories they had at any given time without any tools. Still, the Empress appreciated the care. Loren has perfected the expressions and body language of someone trying to read through a journal. Even if they didn''t have eyes or a nose. After a few seconds, the guide snapped their fingers, "Ah. Here. Let''s see Hera Quetzaveth''s flaws. First, she''s a giggle drunk." Hera felt her cheeks turn red, remembering the times she drank too much with the guides. It was true. When she overdid it, she would turn into the type of drunk who found everything funny. Or someone who gets very sad very fast. "Reckless and too kind for her own good," Loren continued. "To be fair, most of the reckless things I do are necessary due to the circumstances I find myself in," Hera protested. "Either way, that flaw is correct. Also, if you are making decisions that result in situations that force you to be reckless, that is, by itself, reckless." Hera squinted, "That feels like a roundabout way to get to a point, but ok. Fair." "No comment about the being too kind part?" "Not really. But at the same time, most of the good things I got only happened because I was kind. Getting Daskka, Viper and Crimson, Livy, and even Lurize. I think Nimbus is the only one that happened because I was cruel, and it wasn''t even that at the time," Hera shrugged. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "That is true. But still, you should be a bit more careful in the future," Loren added before turning back to his journal, "The last two flaws are ''easy to distract'' and ''is rude.''" "Stuff happens, and I lose track of what I was doing. I don''t think that''s a huge problem." Loren nodded, "I agree. And the mention was more focused on your build. You''ve become quite the jack of all trades, never focusing too much on a single thing. Even now. Any comments about the rude part?" "Was it Percy? If not, I want to know who and how I was rude so I can apologize later. If it was him, then I really don''t care." "Really?" Loren asked with a chuckle. "Yeah. I don''t know what bug bit him, but he was out to get me from the get-go. If he is not making an effort to at least try to be nice and get to know me. I won''t do it either," Hera shrugged. Loren nodded, "I can respect that. For what it''s worth, they also have a number of good qualities for you. Smart, brave, has a heart of gold. Worries about snacks for a party and doesn''t expect us, guides, to bring all the food. There are other opinions, of course. For instance, some really like your taste for music and movies, while others say those are severe character flaws." Hera chuckled, "OK, I''ll tell Ruma that not all movies have to involve the ocean. I mean, c''mon, there is a whole series about a desert planet with giant sandworms. And that one is pretty good." Loren opened a big smile, which was just a large gray mark on their face, "Oh, I agree. And let me tell you a secret. I helped design the flying vehicle they used in the escape scene. That was just after the system gave some explorers the option to call us to their private rooms. The artists responsible wanted some references to flying monsters, and since they were just pictures without any relevant information about the creatures, I could share them. The way the wings move back and rotate when the vehicle lands. My idea." "Really? That was a nice touch! But if I''m being honest I was more impressed with the upper and lower set of wings idea." "Me too. That was an inspired design. I would like to say that it is nice to meet someone who can appreciate intricate designs, but considering the room we are in, that might feel less impactful than it actually is. I''ll say that I''m excited to talk more about various movies and designs in the future. Now, unfortunately. I have a job to do." Hera nodded, "I will like that too. And yeah, let''s get to the questions. I''ll probably have to run soon." Loren gestured to the side, and a timer appeared made out of ink, "Five minutes on the clock. We start with the first question." "Ok. This is a weird one and very¡­ theoretical, if you will. Suppose there is a wendigo in the room, and it has a devour affinity. With the current technology and knowledge about that kind of thing, would it be possible for us to create a sensor or a radar to detect the presence of said wendigo in this room?" Loren paused for a moment, just staring at Hera. That made the Empress a bit uncomfortable, especially since she couldn''t tell where the guide''s eyes were. Eventually, they spoke, "You weren''t kidding about it being theoretical. That one will cost about half your time. Is that ok?" "Yeah," Hera replied. The timer behind Loren shifted to 2:20 before continuing to count down, "OK. To answer your question. If there was a wendigo here and if that wendigo had a devour affinity, it would be possible to create a way to track it using the knowledge you have. And I''m using the royal you in this case. Also, I''m considering the combined knowledge of all the civilizations you know about. This could include things about Naga, other extinct civilizations, or any of the sentient species that are still around. I may be saying this because it''s knowledge all of you have or because it''s a secret that only one of you has. I won''t specify, and you don''t have the time to ask me to do so." "Got it," Hera glanced at the clock; there was still a bit over a minute, "OK, I don''t have enough time for much. So this is the last question. If someone was trying to build something like that. What would be the one thing you think they should be careful about?" "That''s a good question," Loren''s gray spot shifted to a smile again, "Let me think for a moment." Hera nodded and gave the guide some time, ''At least we know that Lena is not trying to do something impossible,'' she said to her court. ''Yeah, but can she do it? Or will there be some hidden tech stopping her from finishing the project?'' Daskka asked. ''I genuinely don''t know. I hope she can make it work. It would help so much.'' ''Would it? I mean, if we were chasing that one underground. Could something like that find it?'' Viper asked. ''I think it depends on the strength of the scanner. Some are able to reach the underground, but that would be at the cost of range,'' Lurize added. ''Then again. If it works, it''s already enough. The moment the wendigo would get out of hiding, the scanner would get it, and then people would know to be ready. It''s a win-win either way,'' as Crimson spoke, Viper turned to his sister with wide eyes, ''What?'' ''I just didn''t expect you to say something smart,'' Viper smirked. ''Oh fuck you!'' Crimson snarled, turning to her twin in a quick motion. ''Stop it, you two. Don''t start in front of a guide. Not when I''m using the skill,'' Hera scolded them just in time as Loren turned back to her. "I gotta say, this feels weird. Usually, we are able to hear anything, even mental conversations. But now, all I can do is see you are talking with your court. I wouldn''t even be able to tell who was speaking. If it wasn''t for your body language, I would be completely lost," Loren shook his head, "Anyway. To answer the question. The one thing to watch out for is interference. I understand that it sounds obvious, but there would be interference happening in places you wouldn''t expect when making something to detect a specific type of affinity. If you can overcome that, it will be easier. Not easy, just easier to make what you want." Hera nodded, "Ok. I''ll keep that in mind. Thanks for everything, Loren." "Thank you for being a good friend to us. Not many explorers who can talk to us spend this long without ever getting one of their strikes." "I can say the same. About being a good friend. Not a clue what would be the equivalent of a strike for me." Loren chuckled and waved to her one more time and vanished inside the puddle of ink beneath their feet. Hera sent a quick message to Lena, telling her that she got some information from her skill and headed to the shower. It was going to be a quick one. After all, she still had to run towards a rampage today. 787 - Cinderspire Citatel After talking to the guide, Hera got ready, and the entire party went back to the Alliance Center just to confirm they had completed their mission. Thankfully, everything worked well; the horn was larger than they needed, and with their time frame, everyone could take the antidote. Milla also had prepared a route for them to take to the room where the rampage was going to happen. It was a place called Cinderspire Citadel, and according to the information they got, things would be very weird depending on where they were stationed. If they joined the group defending Hearthome, the residential city, it would be a standard affair with monsters coming from all directions and the people there working in shifts to protect it. The defense would be a mess if they stayed in the Core Spire. For now, Milla didn''t explain what that meant. The important part was for them to reach that room, and if they were assigned to the Core Spire, then they would be briefed about the entire situation. Their supporter was working to organize everything she could about the room and would send them a message with the details as soon as she could. The team left the city and followed the route Milla had given to them. Unfortunately, having the option for Livy to carry them across the water wouldn''t help in this situation. They had to move on foot through most of the trip. Everyone was focused on moving quickly, which meant the playfulness was at an all-time low. There was one more thing they had to figure out. Who was going to join the efforts to face the new prison/lab the Alliance had discovered. Hera, Neria, Skyler, and Roan already had confirmed they wanted to help, leaving only Flint and Vash to decide. They had to do so before they started the rampage. Those things could last a while, and the pattern that was happening was weird. The last five rampages in the Cinderspire Citadel had increasingly shorter durations, with the last one ending in just two days. If the pattern continued, it would be over in a day. If not, the rampage might last for a week, if not even more. Because of all that, Typhera and the other Alliance leaders asked to let them know whether Hera''s team was going to be a part of that operation before they were cut off. That way, they could consider them for the planning or not. There was also a slim possibility that something forced their hand, and the operation had to be pushed forward. However, due to the sensitive nature of the situation, they were hoping to be able to have as thorough a plan as possible. The path to the rampage room was easy, just tiresome. First, they left the city in the Gallery Pathway, heading north until reaching a room called Zenith''s Cradle, a small archipelago of floating islands in a sea of clouds. The place was beautiful but very small and dangerous. Strong winds attempted to push them from the edges of the isles, which would send anyone who couldn''t fly tumbling to their death. To add to the struggle, there were several kinds of man-eating plants all around the place and a gigantic butterfly that patrolled the entire room. They moved stealthily and quickly through it, having just a couple of fights in the path before reaching the next doorway. One that would lead them to a room called ''Fractured Moonlight,'' a strange place where the ground had a unique reflective property that made it seem like the moonlight was always covering the area, even in the middle of the day. In the middle of those light-up chunks of rock, there were cracks and scars, splitting the fields. There weren''t that many monsters around, and most would only come out at night, but the biggest issue for the room was the actual travel. It was easy to get confused when moving in a place like this, and the strange light would play tricks in everyone''s minds. Yet, after a few hours of walking, they reached the final doorway, leading to the Cinderspire Citadel, the room in the 13th layer where monsters would be from levels 37-40. It was a bit above Hera''s current level, but she felt confident she could handle herself. Just as they crossed, a few people who were in charge of meeting the cavalry greeted them and pointed them to their assigned station. Hera''s team would be helping protect the Core Spire, which was completely predictable for the Empress. She never got the easy jobs, even when she tried to get them. As they moved to the city proper, Flint and Vash sent a message to Milla. They had decided to participate in the operation. What the guild was doing made both of them very angry, and they decided they could contribute to the situation. Flint got the right blueprints for a few tools he was worried about, and Vash decided that if there were people stuck there, they might need someone to lift their spirits after they were rescued. Additionally, he understood sound very well, and that could potentially help them during any stealth mission. The Cinderspire Citadel was a volcanic room. In its center, there was a large active volcano that never exploded, but the hot magma flowed constantly inside the caldera that was 3 kilometers wide. Around it was a field of cooled off lava with a few patches of fire or heat elemental plants growing here and there. To the east was a large city where thousands of people lived. It was called Hearthome, and there were several enchantments all around its walls to protect those who lived inside from the heat and the fumes. But the biggest landmark of the room was the spire that gave it its name. The Cinderspire was a massive obsidian tower rising from the middle of the volcano. It started deep underground, below the magma, and rose up into the sky until it vanished into the black clouds created by the ash and soot that was constantly being created by the caldera. Inside the spire was a complicated network of tunnels and caves covering not just its 500-meter radius but also another 100-meter radius on its outer perimeter. At the very center of the spire was a waterfall of lava that was constantly flowing. Nothing and no one was ever able to figure out where that magma came from or how it moved that way. Much less why people could get closer to that inside the spire and not be hurt. Unless they actually tried to touch it. The center of the spire was an unstoppable force of nature. A marvel that seemed to exist here since the beginning of time and would stay there until the end of everything. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The city of Core Spire was located in the actual center of the spire. The power stations used the magma to generate electricity. That waterfall of lava was also used for vertical farms. Taking advantage of the rich soil of a volcano, together with the constant light coming from the melted rock, created an environment where the crops not only would grow but thrive. Despite the benefits, rampages here were particularly dangerous. Monsters would come from both above and below and even from outside of the spire. Even worse, it was common for a rampage quest to be created where a group of monsters tried to stop the flow of the magma waterfall. They would be able to halt its progress for a while, and when that meat damn broke, every floor below would be flooded by lava. The last time that happened was decades ago, and the entire Core Spire had to be rebuilt. The problem was that if this were to happen now, the Alliance wouldn''t have the resources to rebuild the place while the war raged on. It wasn''t a small room by any means, the Zenith Archipelago being at least 10 times smaller, but even so, the diversity of monsters in the room was staggering. Cloudwing Striders, agile avian creatures with razor-sharp talons and the ability to control lightning strikes. Glimmering automatons called Magma Constructs guard the spire''s core, utilizing beams of focused heat as their primary weapon. On the lower floors, shadowy figures known as Void Weavers lurk, manipulating darkness to steal memories and emotions. Beneath the city, in the caves and tunnels of the spire, dwell Gloom Bats, monstrous chimeras with bat wings and spider-like bodies that feed on bioluminescent flora. In the highest floors, nests of Cloud Serpents, serpentine creatures wreathed in ash and lightning watch over the room. Magma Crawlers, hulking creatures with molten rock armor and claws that drip burning ichor. The ashen skies above were patrolled by Ember Wyverns, winged beasts with fiery breath and feathers that smolder like embers. And within the volcano''s core, in the middle of the caldera lurks the Forge Lord, a colossal being of living magma, its every movement causing tremors and small eruptions. And that was just to name a few of the monsters who lived in the room. There were a number of others who would not only come in their own packs but be mixed with others. The big advantage they would have here was an extremely wide and all-encompassing network of surveillance cameras along with an announcement system that could create a ''mock system'' window in front of anyone who was around it. Thanks to that, people wouldn''t need to memorize everything about every monster. For now, Hera''s team was already being guided to the entrance of the Core Spire. The doorway that took them here was in the middle of the obsidian tower that existed in the center of the volcano, but to reach the city, they would have to follow a path on the outside of the spire. A long incline that spiraled around the structure until the were closer to the top. If Nimbus was around, he could just take Hera up in a few minutes, but without him, the trek took a while. As soon as they arrived, they were led to the command center of the area. The Core Spire was a city where all houses and buildings were carved out of the obsidian and the dark rock that surrounded the place. People were very careful when building the place. Any sharp edge was made from the cooled lava, while the smooth surfaces were carved from the actual obsidian. Due to this unique formation, there were a number of traps spread around the tunnels. Any monster or person who wasn''t careful while moving around would easily get injured by the spikes and jagged edges that were intentionally left alone. The vertical farms were located on the outer ring of the spire in a few of the more open chambers, which allowed people to see the entire extension of the tower. A small handful of those plantations also had openings to the outside. That was a very problematic weak spot for the rampage, even with the blast shields that would be lowered to protect the area. Any monster who managed to break through those defenses would be in the heart of the city. On the other hand, the power plant was located in one of the most well-guarded locations in the entire room. The lava waterfall was the main source of electricity, and thanks to a chamber where that molten rock would gather in a pool before finding the next opening, it was virtually impossible for anyone to attack that building without dying before reaching it. Unlike other rampages Hera participated in, the defenders could stay in a proper hotel here. One that was evacuated as soon as people became aware of the danger. Still, it wouldn''t be a luxurious bedroom. Those who worked here lived in Hearthome but would spend a few days up in the Core Spire during their shifts using the houses provided by the company that owned the power plant or the farms. A hotel wasn''t high on their list of priorities and would generally only be used by inspectors, people who came to do some specialized maintenance, or those who came to give training about something new to the current employees. Thankfully, Hera and her team wouldn''t be taking the first shift. After all, they just spent around 17 hours traveling, almost without rest. They had the right to be placed in the last part of the rotation. That way, they could sleep and rest, and when they woke up, they would head out to defend the city from the onslaught of monsters. 788 - All eyes on me When they arrived in their temporary hotel room, Hera almost instantly collapsed on the bed and slept, as did Neria. Both of them were much more tired than anyone else on the team. Unlike the others, they didn''t have a full night of sleep, not to mention all the effort it took to deal with Nimbus'' temporary death. Even if only the Empress felt it happening, the triton was still there for her and stayed up while Hera mulled things over. For that same reason, and a small bonus from her [Ophidianite Regeneration], she was the first to wake up. It was still a good 5 hours before their shift, but she decided not to waste time. Taking a quick shower while using the soundproof bubble, the Empress geared up and left the hotel. The one thing she knew she had to do right now was to learn about the rampage and this place in general. But first, her stomach required attention. Just as she was leaving the hotel, it growled loud enough to make some of the people in the reception jerk, thinking there was a monster close by. Some people turned to the Empress, and their worry turned into confusion, seeing a bipedal snake-like being for the first time. Having an actual snake around her neck didn''t seem to help it either. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been observed X 27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera thanked herself mentally for having set up repeated notifications to appear with a counter instead of having it show up for every single instance of a message. However, she quickly realized that it''s been a long time since she saw that notification. Even when she was meeting people after becoming an Ophidianite, that message didn''t pop up. "This is weird," she mumbled to herself. "What, mum?" Daskka turned to her. "I''m getting a lot of notifications. All about how people are observing me. I know why they are doing it, but I don''t get why I''m getting so many more notifications. That didn''t happen before." "Could it be a skill? Or something one of your blades have now?" Daskka suggested. "I don''t know. No one has any perception-based things. The only thing that may affect this would be a skill Viper has. Snake''s Cunning." "The one that increases what his intelligence does? Yeah, that one may have something related to this. Or maybe it''s something else. Maybe the rampage makes the system show more of the smaller notifications. The ones you wouldn''t see before." "Could be. It just feels weird," Hera frowned and continued to wonder why this was happening. As she was talking with the herald in the middle of the reception, a woman approached her. A human woman. "Excuse me," the woman meekly said. The Empress turned to the human, her eyebrow-raising as a reflex. At the same time, she gave a quick warning to her court, just so they would be ready for anything. Ever since the war started, the only humans she had seen were the ones who stayed in Zaxalam. Seeing another, especially if they were in the middle of a rampage, could spell trouble. At the same time, she knew that there were some humans helping the Alliance. Those who didn''t agree with what the guild was doing. According to Typhera and the council, they would be a part of the support teams like the one Hera joined, but they wouldn''t ever get any secret or vital missions. Things like delivering supplies to the front lines or helping the most key part of their infrastructures. But for smaller missions, like the ones she just did. Killing a wendigo or getting a specific drop from a dungeon. Those were all open for humans. "Yes?" Hera replied, still ready for anything. The human noticed that reaction and quickly tried to calm things down, "Oh. Sorry. I know seeing a human in this situation might be weird. The guild is filled with assholes, and what they are doing is just not right." "I''m glad we are on the same page. And I hope you don''t take this as an offense, but just words won''t be enough to make me trust you. Not really," Hera replied. The human nodded, "You would be too innocent if that was enough. I''m glad you aren''t. I''m actually here with my team," she pointed to a table with about 10 people. A mix between the species and another human sitting on the opposite side of an empty chair. There was a lot of food on the table: bread, butter, cheese, and some cold cuts. Around the table were a few pitchers with juice, water, milk, and a small pile of fruits in the center, "I stopped you because I never saw someone like you, and we were wondering if we could talk to you for a bit. I mean everyone. Not just me and the other human." Hera glanced at the other tables. None of the others had the same spread, but this was also the largest group currently eating, "Sure. I don''t see a problem with that. My team is still sleeping," she started following the human, "Before I sit. How is the food situation here? Do they have a buffet set up or something?" "Oh no. If you want something, you just go back there to the kitchen and order from the menu. They don''t have anything fancy, but you can still get some spaghetti, fried rice, or a burger. Things like that. We know a few people who live here and managed to get this spread to talk since most of the people in our two teams know each other. I think it wouldn''t be a problem for you to eat with us, but since I wasn''t the one who brought this here, it''s better to ask them." The Ophidianite shook her head, "Don''t worry. I''ll get something from the kitchen later." Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Don''t be like that. I''m sure they won''t mind." Hera didn''t say anything and walked towards the table. The human, called Beatrice, was a healer. Their last mission was one of the permanent ones. Running dungeons to get mana stones to drop. Many tools, from cars to phones and even generators, required mana stones, and to keep up the demand, they needed a constant flow of them from various dungeons. It was also a job that, if known by a human spy, wouldn''t bring any problems. "Still. It''s kind of hard to prove we are one of the good ones if they don''t give us a chance to gain their trust. Getting this kind of mission feels kind of bad," Beatrice sighed. "We are still doing some good. Each self-regenerating mana stone we get is part of a generator for a hospital. Or part of a power grid that lets a city continue operating when they have power problems," Zachary, a male triton on Beatrice''s team, said. "I know, I know. You''ve said it all before. But you can''t say that we would be doing this mission if we didn''t have a human on the team," the healer replied. "You are right, I can''t," the man replied bluntly. While Beatrice was introducing everyone, Hera ended up accepting a cup of coffee and some pineapple slices. Before focusing the conversation on her, the group let her eat in peace. But now, she had just finished her small meal. "Anyway," Lator, a dwarven fighter with thick rings around his biceps, turned to the Ophidianite, "What are you?" "Lator! You can''t just ask what people are!" Beatrice gasped. "Why the fuck not? She is not something I''ve ever seen before, and it''s not like there is a good way to ask what species someone is. Harold here already said that beastmen don''t have scales," Lator said, gesturing to the tiger beastmen by his side. "It''s fine," Hera waved her hand, "I''m an Ophidianite. If you ever heard of the Naga, you could say I''m their descendant in a way." "I remember reading about them. Someone found some ruins a few years ago, didn''t they?" Valerie, an elf with long dark hair, asked. "Yep. I''ve met the person who found those ruins, and we became friends," Hera continued between sips. Her eyes weren''t focused on anyone in particular. Each of her answers had a bored monotone behind it. That wasn''t intentional at first, but speaking about herself like that wasn''t exactly fun. Especially when there was a lot she had to hide from people. "Right, and what is your name? Sorry, I forgot to ask," Beatrice was putting some butter on a piece of bread. "Hera Quetzaveth, but considering the number of people who used their Observe on me and the number of people who are here, I imagine some of you already know," the Empress glanced up from her cup with accusatory eyes. She was again leaning into a persona that wasn''t exactly her, but she was starting to enjoy it. "Sorry about that¡­" Beatrice looked away, and so did a few others at the table. But not all felt like they did something wrong. A tall Harpy with long feathers spoke up. "Are you really an Ophidi¡­ whatever, or are you that Hera? The one that started all of this." Hera put her cup down and stared at the harpy, "Your name was Breakhut, correct?" "Yes." "You are the second person to ask me that. The other one was a human. One that, from what I understand, stole the home of a group of dwarves and was trying to steal their new home. The home they found after being chased away. And all of this happened before this war even started. So, I doubt one person started all of this. The guild was looking for an excuse and simply used that person for it. And it''s not like I can be upset at her for having the same name as me. It is a great name," Hera smirked before looking at the harpy dead in the eye, "But I am not her. I am an Ophidianite, and she was a human." "Could be a disguise," Breakhut replied, getting angry stares from the rest of the table. "I have scales. My ears are like this. My eyes can become slits," Hera showed each of the attributes she mentioned as she spoke, "And I can also do this," she picked up an apple, unhinged her jaw, and swallowed it whole. It took a few moments for the fruit to get down to her stomach, and the Empress knew this would take a while to digest, but kept a stork face, "If you still think this is not enough, I can knock you out with my tail. Only my tail. As a way to prove it''s not just an illusion. Now, if, despite all that, you still believe that a human girl somehow died and was reborn as a member of a different species, please, just tell us how. I would love a laugh today." ''Mum, I think he''s going to lay an egg,'' Daskka said in her mind after watching the man''s reaction. ''Don''t make me laugh!'' Hera protested, but a half smile curled up on her lips. That seemed to set off the harpy even more. He apologized and got up, leaving the table in a hurry. "Sorry for ruining your meal. I should go," the Ophidianite tried to get up but was stopped by Beatrice. "No, no. Don''t worry. He was being a dick." "Please, stay. I know it sounds rude, but we still have some questions," Valerie pleaded. "I''ll stay if I can make a sandwich," since they were curious, Hera might as well get something for her troubles. "Sure, sure. Here!" Beatrice quickly passed the bread, butter, and everything one might need for a simple sandwich. After a small pause, Lator was the first to ask, "Where are you from?" Hera started making her sandwich, "That is a bit of a complicated and personal thing that I don''t want to get into with a bunch of people I don''t know. But I''ll give you a simple answer by saying that I was able to escape something and that I am now trying to save my people. If it works, you should start seeing more of us in the future. If it doesn''t. I might be the last of my kind," she wasn''t lying. Not really, but it wasn''t the truth either. Still, she continued making her meal while the table asked various questions. The Ophidianite didn''t answer the ones about her past or her parents but was honest when it was something about her body and how it worked. Including the expected ''Why do you have boobs if you lay eggs?'' Before even asking if she laid eggs or not. A few minutes passed, and the questions stopped her from being able to eat. During that time, she had an idea and was multitasking by talking with Ember. Surprisingly, the sword not only accepted her idea but said that Helena, Bonnie, and even Blue had asked her the same before. Eventually, Neria appeared at the reception and called her. The Empress thanked the table for the meal and the company and got up with the plate where her sandwich was. She summoned Ember and used a fire enchantment before using the sword to toast the bread. Just as she left, she heard a gasp from the table. "What the hell is that?!" Beatrice, Lator, and Valerie asked at the same time. Hera just smirked and glanced back at them, "A complicated and personal thing." 789 - Volcanic Rampage Hera and Neria were walking towards the building, which was being used as the command center while talking. The triton wanted to eat as well, but she wanted to confirm how things were going with the rampage before anything else. "Sorry to take you away from that group. Do you know them?" Neria turned to the Empress. "Not really. I was walking by, and they wanted to know about who or what I am," Hera said as she looked over at Neria; her blue eyes were a bit red. Signaling that the healer didn''t have the best night of sleep. "I see¡­ does that happen a lot?" "Honestly. Less than I thought it would. Today was the first time people actually stopped me to ask ever since I met you all. Also, there was something weird. I got a bunch of notifications telling me that I had been observed. I really can''t explain why that happened. But I''m more worried about how I acted." "Why?" Neria tilted her head. "I mean. Since I''m this strange new species and can''t say everything about what I am, I default to being more blunt than usual. Almost to the point of being rude." The healer chuckled, "You? Being rude? That''s a first. Hera, you are one of the sweetest people I know." "Thanks for the compliment, but seriously. I don''t know why I felt I shouldn''t be my usual self. Like I had to be more¡­ intense? Imposing? I don''t know how to describe it. My court calls me Empress, and I''m not saying I should act all noble, stuffy, and such. But maybe I should be more¡­ Regal? Have that dignity of an actual Empress. So I tried doing that." "And it didn''t work?" "I think it did. Or at least a version of it. I still have to figure out how to do this properly, but it was a good first step." "Then what is the problem?" Hera looked to the floor, "I kind of liked it." "You liked acting like that?" "Yeah, not worrying about being nice or whatever. Just swaying what I wanted and biting back any time someone tried to pull something against me. But not just being angry, you know. Twisting their words to make their argument crumble. I''m saying all of this, but it was nowhere near as interesting as I''m making it sound like. A dude asked me if I was the Hera that started everything. You know, the one that, according to the guild, was a terrorist." Neria raised one eyebrow, her ears fins shifting slightly. She was aware that both Heras were the same person, "And what did you say?" "I said I''m an Ophidianite. And that if he can give an explanation of how someone died and came back as a different species, I would like the laugh about that." Neria chuckled, "That wasn''t the best comeback, but it wasn''t a bad one either." "It was better how I said it. Then Daskka started making jokes, and I smiled a little." "But why is that all a problem?" "I don''t know. I am me, so changing that feels¡­ Weird. I don''t know how to explain it." "Oh, please. You know better than most that people change. If you think you might enjoy being like that, go for it. Just be ready for people to treat you differently," Neria rolled her eyes and stopped walking. They were in front of the command center. It usually was an auditorium. A place for presentations, large meetings, and the occasional company party. There was a lot of traffic coming in and out of the building, and the two of them joined the small crowd. It didn''t take long for them to be able to talk with someone responsible for assignments. All they had to do was wait in line for a couple of minutes before reaching one of the people sitting at a desk taking care of the logistics behind the rampage defense. "Hi, we arrived before the rampage started and should have our shift in," Neria glanced at a close in the wall, "About four hours. Where should we stay?" The clerk nodded without looking away from his notebook, "Hi. What''s your team name?" Neria and Hera exchanged a look, "We don''t have one." The clerk let out a long sigh, "Fine. You should get one. Makes our job easier," he tapped a few keys, "OK. Who is the leader of your team? No, scratch that. Who is the most influential person on your team? The name the people who set you all up would use to refer to your team." Neria looked at Hera, "Probably yours, right?" "Maybe, if not, I think it would be Skyler or yours. We are the only ones with a connection with the leadership. Well, I''m not sure about Vash," Hera crossed her arms. "That''s great and all. What are the names," the clerk asked. "Try Hera''s first." This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "It''s Hera Quetzaveth," the Empress replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been observed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned as the clerk stared at her. Seeing that reaction, he just said, "It''s easier than asking you to spell it. And honestly. After dealing with Count Zevad''s name. This is more practical." "Count Zevad? Never heard of him," Neria said. "Me neither," the Empress added. "While I''m checking that one, just for fun. How do you think that name is spelled?" the clerk continued tapping away, trying to find the team in the database. "Well¡­ it starts with a Z-" Neria began but was instantly cut off. "Nope. It starts with a silent K, then an M, and a hyphen." "What the fuck?" Hera gasped. "That''s why I use observe. But your name is not here. Who is next?" "Let''s try me. Neria Seichal," the healer said. "Seichal? That''s a pretty last name," Hera added. "Thanks!" Neria smiled, "It''s supposed to be something related to waves, but the explanation was too complicated. I never understood." "That''s not it either," the clerk sounded a bit annoyed, but that wasn''t aimed at them for now. They said every single name of their group. They even had to call Flint and Roan to get their last names, but none worked. After a moment thinking about it, Hera let out a loud groan, "Please, let me be wrong," she turned to the clerk, "Try Empress." "Empress?" the clerk frowned. "Yeah. Just humor me. If it doesn''t work, we will try to figure something else out." The clerk shrugged but soon got a result, "There is one here. Ophidianite Empress." Hera rubbed her eyes, "If that wasn''t going to cause a political conflict, I would smack Typhera. Yeah, that''s us. I''m an Ophidianite." "Oh, so that''s what you are? Never heard about it," the clerk looked back at the screen, "And you are their Empress?" "Sort of¡­ not really. Look, it''s complicated. Don''t worry about it," Hera was feeling embarrassed with every fiber of her being. "Well, I can confirm that this is indeed your team. All the names you mentioned are listed here. So let''s see¡­." He paused for a moment, double-checking everything he needed before nodding, "Ok, you will be assigned to the cave on sector 3B, 87th floor," he showed a hologram of the entire spire with the location they were supposed to protect. "87th floor? How far is that?" Neria gasped. "Not that far. Every 10 meters you climb the spire, you go up a floor. We are on the 98th floor. The cave in question has 3 tunnels leading to it, and those are the places you should defend. Stay in front of the metal doors. You are free to make traps or whatever you want to help your defense. Just make sure to warn the next team about them when your shift is over. You should go there in a few hours. So eat, rest up, and be ready to go. Also, I just have to ask. Does anyone in your team have a skill or something that could help a large number of people? Maybe some wide area buff or something." "Vash might have something. I just don''t know the duration," Neria said. "I have one spell, but it takes a while to prepare. Could you give me access to that hologram? Just a simple map. I might be able to make it work. But I need to draw the spell circle first and see if it would function." The clerk shook his head, "Undermine then. We don''t have enough people to make a large spell circle." "Oh, don''t worry about that. I have an item that lets me make some snakes, and they can handle that part," Hera replied. "Your snakes can make spell circles? Ok then, if you manage to make it work, let me know. I''ll send a message for people to let your snakes alone as they travel around the place," the clerk shrugged and pulled out a miniature book, "Here is the compendium for all the monsters that are part of the rampage. Try to keep them in mind, but there are too many for anyone to remember, so try to focus on what you are facing. Compare it with the rampage quest, and let me know if there is any missing. I don''t think that''s the case, but you never know." "Will do, thanks!" Neria took the compendium and walked back. "Good luck out there, and try not to die." "Thanks, you too," Hera said with a smile as they left the command center. When they arrived back at the hotel, the rest of the team was already getting something to eat for everyone. "Did you manage to figure out the team name?" Skyler asked. "It was marked as ''Ophidianite Empress.'' We need to come up with a new one," Hera replied before starting to eat her pasta. Neria quickly noticed the devilish smirk appearing on Roan and Vash''s face and before the conversation could get to where it was going. They had a lot to do, and having them tease each other didn''t feel like the best idea, "By the way. Did you get the rampage quest? It''s¡­ a lot." "Yeah, I saw it. This place is a mess," Flint nodded. "Oh, right. I forgot to check. I remember seeing the notification when I woke up to go to the bathroom, but I was so tired that I just waved it off," Hera said, pulling up her tablet to double-check the notification. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Core Spire Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 250 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Cloudwing Striker - 600 gold Magma Construct - 850 gold Void Weaver - 700 gold Gloom Bat - 30 gold Cloud Serpent - 100 gold Magma Crawler - 200 gold Ember Wyvern - 3 000 gold Ash Gremlin - 300 gold Soot Golem - 650 gold Magma Spider - 50 gold Whispering Crystal - 350 gold Ash Reaver - 700 gold Molten Elemental - 4 500 gold Smoke Weaver - 500 gold Cinder Hound - 900 gold Forge Magma - 800 gold Sky Leaver - 900 gold Skystone Watcher - 3 000 gold Ember Garuda - 6 000 gold Forge Lord - 30 000 gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Holly shit. Those are a lot of monsters," Hera gasped. "Yeah, and from what I heard, that''s not even all that can appear in the room. There is another half a dozen or so that are missing from the quest," Roan replied. "Really?" Neria tilted her head, but before she could ask why, the beastmen continued. "Yeah. We talked with someone who lives here. Apparently, the ones that are missing will appear to try to plug up the lava waterfall during the rampage. The reward attached to the monsters also can signal their strength. The more money we can get from it, the stronger they are. Some of them would really spell trouble for us. The Forge Lord and the Ember Garuda, specifically." "The guy also said that there is one other strong monster that should appear. Something called a Cloud Cragshard. It''s supposed to be another bird, but stronger than the Garuda. Losing only to the Forge Lord." "Oh great, I''ll see if my court can look over the compendiums, and maybe Lurize can yell out the dangers of any monsters we see," Hera suggested. The group continued talking about the rampage and coming up with plans based on what they knew. At the same time, she was using her tablet to draw the spell circle around not just the spire but the city at the foot of the volcano. Since she was going to try something this big, she might as well cover everything. If the spell worked, it would be a massive boon for everyone. Even if she was limited to only getting twice as many attribute points, the reduction in the stats of the monsters would save lives. 790 - Sector 3B floor 87
"For the last time, we are not calling ourselves the Bandage Brigade!" Skyler protested. "But why not!?" Vash gasped, "We either kill things easily and without any problems, or someone gets seriously beat up." "When did that happen?" Roan turned to the harpy. "Well. There is Nimbus. I don''t have to explain that. Hera almost died when we fought the wendigo. There was also the whole thing when we first fought the moose and all the times someone got hit in a bad way during the dungeon runs," Vash explained. "We would only get hit every once in a while," Flint protested. "Yeah, but we never got lightly gazed, you know. It was always a hitless run, or someone would be beaten up," Vash continued. "I mean. He does have a point," Hera nodded. "Please don''t agree with him," Neria sighed. "What? I''m just saying he has a point. I also don''t like the name. Even if it is a bit fun to say," the Empress shrugged. They were currently walking towards their station. The cave in sector 3B is on the 87th floor of the spire. Then again, calling it a floor was a bit of a stretch. There were so many tunnels and odd caves that almost every passage spanned multiple floors, according to what people had set up there. Everywhere they looked, they would see another group of people moving around. It wasn''t like they were staring at a massive crowd, but there were enough people to remind them of what was currently going on. Not that they really needed that kind of thing. No one could forget that a rampage was going on. Even the most callous of them all could feel the tangible tension in the air. Rampages were situations that anyone who lived in the MAZE already knew about. They knew how to deal with it and knew the many protocols that existed around them. However, it was also one of the most dangerous things anyone could participate in. The issue wasn''t just the countless hordes of monsters that would continuously attack. Almost like being driven mad by something. Or the variety of creatures that worked together, or at least side by side, when that wouldn''t be the case in the wild. No, the biggest danger of a rampage was the time it took. Spending 2-3 hours in a fight nonstop was already a problem. Having that number go up to 8 was almost maddening. The number of mistakes people would make increased exponentially the more time it passed. In a perfect world, each shift would last for 6 hours at the most. But even in normal circumstances, that was a bit of a stretch. Having enough people to get that many shifts was always hard. Especially when people had to worry about the quest that would come on the last day. Walking along the obsidian corridor, illuminated by a pale blue light that bounced off the smooth stone surrounding them, the group was getting close to their assigned location. The sounds of battle already echoed in the halls together with small flickers of mana. Those were mostly imperceptive to everyone, but one particular Ophidianite not only had stronger senses related to mana but also a title that made her more attuned to that kind of change. Whoever was fighting nearby wasn''t pulling any punches. "Fine, what is your suggestion then?" Vash asked the group. "How about Whispering Winds? Kind of like a mix between my spell and Vash''s," Skyler suggested. "I think Cacophony Crew would be better if we were thinking about your music," Flint scoffed. "HEY!" Vash and Skyler protested in a single voice. "Let''s avoid using a name that works only because of one or two people. We don''t know how things will go down in the future, and maybe the team will change. If we end up with a name like that and no one uses sound or wind, it''s kind of a mess. Besides, I don''t like the idea of having the name of the team explaining what we do. It just feels like a trap," Neria added. "I have two suggestions, " Roan said as something exploded somewhere. They were not in danger, but the blast was strong enough to let them feel a small rubble and the obnoxiously loud noise, boosted by the formation of the tunnel. They paused for a moment, just waiting to see if there was any other sound following that explosion, but nothing came. Roan then continued, "We could be the Zenith Guardians. Or the Unforged Fellowship" "Both of them have a nice ring. But¡­ I don''t know," Flint crossed his arms before turning to Hera, "How about you? Do you have any ideas?" "I could only think of one, and it''s pretty bad. I''m not that good at naming things," the Empress confessed. "Don''t you have to name every single new court member?" Neria asked. "Yeah. But I try to be practical. Their names are short, ideally in a single syllable. And the name has something to do with who they are or what they do, so it''s easy to remember," Hera explained. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Then what is the name you came up with?" Vash walked closer to Hera, his eyes full of expectation. ".... Band of Blades." the Ophidianite caved. "Oh¡­ That is really bad," Neria shook her head before fanning herself. The droplets from her fan were cold to touch, which helped a lot in this room. Despite the dark and well-cared-for appearance, they were still essentially inside a volcano. The heat would be one of the biggest issues they would have to deal with. "Yeah. I''m sorry for your court. It must be rough," Skyler smirked. "Hey! I''ll have you know that every single one of them likes their names. Ok? No one ever complained." "But would they?" Flint''s question was genuine, and the way he spoke made Hera pause. She never thought about it, but it was true. If one of her court members didn''t like their name, could they say anything about it? Or did the legacy make them like whatever they were called? Before she could find an answer, they arrived at the gates. It was a large set of metal double doors embedded into the actual stone around it. There were also a few bells and whistles that would warn people on the other side when someone was arriving. It was clear that this place was already built with the rampages in mind. Flint got closer and knocked on the door five times with the same wait between each knock. This was a signal that the command center warned them about. A way to confirm that yes, you came to help, and the people on the other side could try to leave. The worry was that if they just opened the door right away, a creature could sneak by and head inside in this particular corridor. That wouldn''t be much of a problem. Another large set of metal doors would block anyone trying to reach the Core Spire. However, this was a universal signal, and some places being defended didn''t have the same backup barrier as they had. After a few moments, the door opened. A group of three beastmen and two elves came limping out. One of the beastmen was being carried by another while one of the elves leaned on the other with her arm around his neck. "Are you ok?!" Neria gasped and rushed over, ready to heal them. The beastman carrying her friend nodded, "We are fine. This is just exhausting. The last wave lasted for almost a full hour, and Brak here had to use a big spell to wipe them out. The problem is that the spell makes him pass out. Can you handle this? It should be clear." "We got this. Go rest and take a shower. Actually, shower first," Roan took two steps back. "Tell me about it. I don''t know why those damn imps like to jump on you before they die," the male elf grumbled. Neria still used a couple of healing spells, but they didn''t take hold. There was nothing for her to heal, not like she was trying to do, at least. They passed through the doors and closed them behind them, being now in the large cave where they would stop any monsters. The floor and the ceiling of this place were also made out of obsidian, but the walls and pillars weren''t. Or at least they had a layer of cooled magma covering them. Several lights were spread around the area, all of them white and very bright, almost like an attempt to go against the overwhelming black color that covered the entire place. There were a total of four entrances to this place, but one of them shouldn''t be a problem. Three tunnels on the opposite end would lead outside. To where the monsters were coming from. The fourth passage was to the left, near the door. But it was, in essence, just a mine shaft. They were supposed to drop any of the corpses that were still around there. This would lead them to a large cave where people had already set up a few spells and skills to keep the freshness of the bodies. Just to stop them from rotting. After the rampage, or when it became full. Someone would go there and clear, harvesting every useful material they could find. Only a few monsters could be tossed there since the shaft wasn''t that big, and the command center asked people not to cut the creatures before sending them down. There would already be enough blood in there as it was. In fact, some of the larger monsters had to be pushed to the side, completely obliterated, which wasn''t that hard to do since a lot of monsters here were made out of fire or lava or flung out of the spire entirely. Hera instantly called her entire court out, except for Nimbus, since he was still recovering. The Sentinel couldn''t come back for another 6 days. Either way, the Empress sent her blades to the tunnels, trying to see which ones were clear. "The one on the left, Flint. There is nothing getting close, even from the outside," Hera said. "Got it. I''ll start there," the dwarf rushed over and started making some traps. Nothing major, just some spikes and small explosives. Together with some concussion mines and snares, they were able to stop some of the stronger creatures. Or at least, that was the hope. Vash and Skyler were playing their instruments on a low note, using the sound waves to map the area and scout ahead. Roan simply sat down in the center of the room and placed both his hand axes to his side. He closed his eyes in almost a meditative state and just stayed there. Neria paced from side to side, feeling a bit useless. Her buffs and shields were great for quick battles. But for something more prolonged, she would have to conserve her mana. "Something is coming from the right!" Skyler called. Roan pulled his weapons and jumped into a fighting position. But Hera had something else in mind. Some of her court was still around her, and she sent her blades to the tunnel. After that, she overlapped two spells. The Spore field forced anyone in there to sneeze, and the slow net made people move slower. In addition, she rushed over and activated a skill she had yet to test. One that was with her for a while already. Opening her mouth, a pair of orange-green droplets flew from her exposed fangs. Those drops reached the ground where she placed the spells and exploded into a mist of orange and green poison. In less than a minute, her court saw a group of Gloom Bats, Ash Gremlins, and Magma Crawlers, scorpion-like monsters with their bodies covered in magma. All of them saw the spells pushed through, only to be found by the [Toxic Mist], which, thanks to the [Ailment Mastery] skill, killed them all in seconds. Hera smiled, seeing what had happened, and Neria walked over to make sure she was okay. After a moment of silence, the Healer said, "You know, I was more scared before this all started. Maybe this won''t be-" The Empress quickly covered Neria''s mouth, "Don''t say those words. Not here. Not right now. We can''t handle a flag." "What''s a flag?" Neria asked, But the answer came in a roar together, with Skyler and Vash gasping, "We have a lot in coming. Can''t even tell how many." "That! That''s a flag. Why did you have to start by saying this would be easy?" Hera gasped and called her court to surround her team. They would have to be the defensive barrier for a moment, and she could only hope that this wave wouldn''t be that long. 791 - Figthing in the tunnels It''s been around one hour since their shift started, and the monster assault was relentless. The team barely had more than a couple of minutes rest between each wave of enemies. To avoid wasting energy, they were taking turns dealing with the incoming beasts. Thanks to Hera''s court, they could split into two groups of five people. In one of them, the Empress would fight with the rest of the team, and in the other, the titled blades would accompany Vash. The split was like that because they were being overly cautious. If something were to happen and Hera got hurt while all of her court members were fighting, it was likely that they would stop trying to help her. But if they were working on different rotations, that possibility lowered a lot. Not to mention, it was a good chance for Lurize to use his new skill. He had been testing it out during the runs against the Monarch of the Glen, but it was mostly focusing on him using the skill for himself. Using that ancient knowledge to change how he fought. Another thing that this allowed him to do was to use either a venomous weapon made by Hera or one of the other court members as his weapon. This was a bit of a revelation for everyone. Even Daskka. No one thought about letting the other titled blades use another weapon. After all, they were weapons themselves for almost everyone; that didn''t matter all that much. Even if they could use another weapon, they would never be as effective as they were with their own bodies. But, for Viper and Crimson, that solved one of the biggest issues they had. The twins were supposed to work in a pair. Both agreed that they were more effective in a fight when only one of them was in their bipedal form. Not because they had to be together but because, for them, it felt natural to work as if they were holding two large daggers. Adding a blade from the [Venomous Arsenal] solved that problem completely. Sure, they still worked better when they were close to one another, but now, they could each have their own body and still be fighting at peak conditions. ''Hera, jump, tilt your body to the left, then spin. Keep your elbows by your waist and your arms steady while holding the spear,'' Lurize said in her mind. Passing along the thought of the motion. He was currently using the [Whisper of the Ancients] skill to ''remember'' a fighting style that was effective against aerial enemies. The Ophidianite followed the instructions, using the side of the tunnel to get a bit more height. Spinning in the air, she cut one of the Cloudwing Strikers. It was a bird-like monster with razor-sharp talons and feathers made out of crackling lightning. Each of them would be a mix of blues and yellows with long beaks that looked like small lightning bolts from the side. Those beings were swarm monsters, appearing in the dozens at a time, and despite being in a tunnel, the ceiling was still high enough for the creatures. Hera''s spin cut the first striker, and as Lurize told her, she continued her movement. Moving at this angle allowed her to maintain her air time for longer. The extra time and motion let her slash another two of the creatures. A fourth one came closer, but the Ophidianite''s tail had a venomous tail blade attached to it, allowing her to cut the monster''s head off. With Tide, Autumn, and Chris getting another three. Unlike the Empress, the court members didn''t have to worry about landing on the ground. As soon as the Ophidianite''s feet touched the floor, a bolt of lightning came flying at her. Hera was able to dodge it by the skin on her teeth, leaning back. The electricity dragged a few of her strands of hair along its trajectory. She almost fell backward, but her tail helped her steady her body. Unfortunately, that also made her stop for a moment. And that was all the monsters needed. After the lightning bolt, a flurry of feathers came rushing at her. All vibrating with energy. Those projectiles peppered the entire area. The court didn''t struggle to avoid the attacks, but the same couldn''t be said of the Empress. She spun the spear in a defensive maneuver, but her attempt was far from successful, even with the help of Dusa''s defensive blade. Only a few of the feathers stopped, with the rest slamming against her. Thankfully, she had her stone elemental armor on, which not only made her scales sturdier but also stopped some of the electricity. Still, that wasn''t enough to completely nullify the attacks. Some of the feathers made small cuts on her skin, while one of them hit an already wounded scale, ripping it out completely. Hera yelled. Losing a scale was like a weaker version of having one of her nails forcibly removed. And just because it was less painful, it didn''t mean it wasn''t agonizing. ''INCOMING!'' As the next five strikers got closer, Gale came flying from the other end of the tunnel like an arrow. The glaive was able to cut off one wing of two different monsters, which allowed Ember and DJ to finish them off. At the same time, Ink struck one of the remaining five, letting its bonus damage repeatedly apply, ''Hit, hit, blast, hit, hit, blast, hit, hit, blast, hit, hit, and, dead!'' the dagger was spinning like a buzzsaw, and that allowed it to apply the debuff several times in a row before dealing the final blow. It was a bit hard to tell if the kill was due to that skill or not; after all, the damage Ink was able to deal, even without that effect, was likely enough to end the monster by itself. With only The next two Cloudwing Strikers were able to pass by the group, but they quickly arrived at the trap field Hera set up to protect the cave. It was a mix of a spore field to trigger allergies on the monsters. A slowing net, to slow them down, and a blinding mist, courtesy of Daskka, to hinder their eyesight. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered x2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seeing the two monsters become slow and sluggish, Hera just fired a few poison needles at them. Before the two were even able to pass the area traps she set up, they fell to the ground, dead. "Right tunnel clear!" Hera yelled. Skyler was in the back, watching out for any monster with Neria by her side to heal anyone who got too injured. Part of their plan was to have one person take care of each of the three tunnels while the other two would stay behind for support. That way, those who were resting wouldn''t have to step up, and if needed, one of the two could help against a particularly nasty monster that was coming from the tunnel. "Do you need healing?" Neria yelled. The right tunnel had a curve to the right a few meters beyond the cave, then a straight path for around 30 meters, where Hera was currently, before a sharp turn to the left before reaching outside. All other tunnels were mostly straight, allowing the people in the cave to see the situation without having to ask about it. "I wouldn''t say no for some healing," Hera ran past her trap fields. Thankfully, the slow net and the blinding mist wouldn''t affect her. For the spore field, all she had to do was cover her mouth and nose while running, and everything would be fine. As soon as Neria saw the Empress state, she gasped. She might not have been seriously injured, but even with her armor, the feathers did a number on her, mainly on her legs, tail, and neck. The triton quickly started healing while the remaining team members continued their fights. Flint was facing a small group of Cinder Hounds in the central tunnel. Those were close to elementals but still had a fleshy body, with fire literally running through their veins. The black dogs that were taller than the dwarf were almost pitch black, with cracks in their bodies that glowed a fiery orange and yellow. Their eyes were not like small torches but had a glow as if the iris were so hot that they could emanate their own light. Each of them also had what looked like a metal harness around their chest. A metal harness that protected some weak points. Who or what created that armor was a mystery. Some even believed that the monsters were born with one. Yet, not one was ever able to figure that out. The first of the hounds jumped towards Flint, who dodged to the side and slammed his power fist on the side of the monster. The pistons on his back trigger an increase in the power of the blow. Unfortunately, part of the metal was melted away as part of the creature broke open. Each drop of blood from the hound was at a temperature that could melt iron and steel. Flint quickly activated his [Item Regeneration] skill. It usually had a passive effect that slowly fixed everything, but now he couldn''t afford to wait. The active version would chip away at his mana with every crack, but it had no cooldown and no drawbacks to using it. Another of the hounds jumped towards him, flames emerging from its claws and fangs. Flint kicked the ground, making a spike appear from his foot on an angle to hit the creature before it could reach him; without being able to change its trajectory while already in the air, the monster could do nothing but be impaled by the metal and die. The third one tried a different approach. It jumped to the side and tried to body-slam Flint while he was defending against the second one. The dwarf wasn''t fast enough to stop the third attack and tumbled back after being hit by it. With the man on the ground, the fourth and final hound rushed towards him, flames appearing on its fangs. Flint punched the ground, using the impact to prop himself up and punch the fourth hard enough to cave in its skull. Turning to the final hound, the only one that was able to hit him, the dwarf lunged at it, briefly scaring the monster who jumped back. Unfortunately for it, it was close to the wall, and the jump was cut short just as Flint spun around for a roundhouse kick, boosted by his armor that made his leg move at a much higher speed than normal. "Central tunnel clear!" Flint called between breaths. Unlike Hera, he didn''t need any healing. The one hit he took barely dealt any damage, and if he was to let it recover naturally, the skills he had related to that kind of thing would increase. Roan was the last member protecting a full tunnel, and he was facing a monster called Magma Crawler. Small versions of fire scorpions. The type that would never be bigger than a watermelon. But it could reach that size. The added benefit of facing a creature like that was that he didn''t require any sort of backup. All he had to do was kill the biggest one, and they all lost control. Almost as if they were troops who had just lost all their generals and command posts. The beastman didn''t care about any of that. All he did was brandish his two hand axes and start swinging. There were so many of them that it became hard not to hit something. And unlike the smart birds that tried to rush to the research lab, those would just leave anywhere, saying that ''the universe will fix things.'' After about 10 minutes, Roan was the one to yell, "Left tunnel clear!" "Need healing?" Neria asked. "No, but maybe an antidote. One of the scorpions got me good back there," Roan looked back. "Ok, come here then. I''ll heal, then you can go back," Neria replied. This was just the first day, the first few hours of the rampage, and everyone was already tired. They could only pray that their shift would end soon. 792 - End of first shift "Shit, Skyler! Help me out here!" Roan yelled he was struggling to keep a Molten Elemental in check. It was a large liquid being with no set shape or color. The monster came alone, but it was powerful. It could meld not just the ground but also items and even monster bodies. With each thing it could melt, it could increase its power. Elementals were much closer to magic, which also meant that they were more vulnerable to Skyler''s interruption spells. "I''m busy!" the elf replied while she spun around. Whacking a few tiny gray monsters with long limbs and claws. They would constantly cackle and jump around. Their attacks didn''t damage as much, but they were annoying. Each strike from the Ash Gremlins would leave behind a small clump of ash that would stick to whatever touched it. Every single party member was able to break free from that, but the ''ash glue'' lingered and forced Skyler to jerk her limbs in order to break free. The main problem when dealing with those monsters was that the gremlins would use the ash glue that was already on a target to spread it around more. If left alone, eventually, they would start spreading that on Skyler''s face. That''s when things would get dangerous. If the ash glue was stuck to her mouth and nose, it would be hard to breathe. And if she accidentally got that inside her throat, it could be a death sentence. "Just kill those things! Roan gasped as he dodged a full body slam from the Molten Elemental. Its form covered almost all of the tunnel, and even a few of the monsters who were stuck in the cave''s entrance were caught by the attack and started to melt inside its body. "I got it!" Hera yelled and made a venomous javelin before throwing it while using her ''break combo.'' This is how she was calling the mix of a venomous weapon, with something from the Grasshopper series and the [Weapon Break] skills. What made her confident in the skill was her mana sense. She could tell where the core of the elemental was located. The only reason why she didn''t intervene before was because she had to clear out her tunnel before helping everyone in the cave. At this point, she had fought against a few Cinder Hounds that proved to be more resilient than expected. There were a couple of bruises around her body and a few fang marks from the places where the monsters managed to pierce her armor. Her attack missed the core, but it was close enough that the blast created by the combo damaged the core enough to make it visible to the naked eye. Roan didn''t waste that option and grabbed a large rock before jumping at the one solid piece of the monster. Using the rock as a weapon, the beastmen threw it at the core before landing on it with both feet. The impact finished crushing the heart of the monster, and it was finally destroyed. At the same time, Roan continued his movement, using the rock as a stepping stone to jump to the cave, far from the molten body of the creature. It would still take a few moments before all that liquid cooled off and became solid and harmless once again. He watched as a large bird-like creature, with green wings coated in orange flames and dark metal talons, and a pair of large yells eyes, came flying from a tunnel to his right, diving towards their healer. "Neria!" Livy yelled and pushed the monster down with one hand. The towering sea serpent almost reached the ceiling of this cave. Ember Garuda tried to break free, but the Leviathan was able to hold it in place for long enough to bring her waraxe from her side and made a large cut against one of its wings. She even wrapped her weapon in an elemental strength spell. A version of it that created a tiny aura of pressurized water around the blades of her axe. However, this was one of the strongest creatures that could appear on the rampage. Losing only for the Forge Lord. The monster tried to bite Livy, but she pulled away and replied in kind. Biting its already wounded wing before using her [Leviathan''s Torrent] to create a massive burst of water, ripping out the wing completely. Even so, the monster was still moving. Taking a deep breath, the Ember Garuda was ready to use its own breath attack, but Lurize jumped on top of it, using all his weight to sink the large zweihander into the bird''s torso. The attack stopped, and before the beast could try anything else, Livy used the [Grasshopper Slash] to open a large gash on the creature''s neck, dealing the finishing blow. Still, just for good measure, Lurize brought his own weapon down on the back of the garuda''s neck and finished decapitating it. "What took you so long?" Livy groaned with a smirk. "I waz helping the twinz," Lurize gestured to the side, where Viper and Crimson now fought against a small group of Sky Leavers. Those monsters were, in essence, butterflies that traded their wings for a set of eight spider-like legs coming from their backs. Using those, they could attack, defend, and even attach a small membrane together to create an illusion. Each of those creatures had sharp pincers, and their antennae had a barbed tip that could deliver a poison capable of burning people from the inside. Dealing with those was complicated for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest one was their speed. Each of those wingless butterflies was incredibly quick, and hitting them was a struggle even for the two fastest members of the group. It was easier to fight them with big weapons or spells that could cover a large area, making them the natural counter of the twins. "Vash, Skyler! We need an AOE!" Viper called. "Got it!" the elf replied as she took a deep breath and played a single note on her harmonica, sending a cone of sound waves toward the Spymasters. Seeing that, Crimson jumped at her brother, tackling and pushing him out of the way. While in the air, both of them returned to their weapon form, increasing their speed as they flew off, dodging the spell. The monsters behind them were not so lucky, and all those Sky Leavers died due to the strength of the sound waves. Flint was tossed back into the cave by a small wyvern. The dwarf tumbled back and got to his feet quickly, his armor assisting with his movements. Just as the monster''s snout peeked beyond the tunnel, Hera started running towards it. She jumped and spun, this time with Gale in her hand instead of a venomous weapon. A few cuts appeared on the wyvern''s neck as the spinning Ophidianite delivered a couple of quick blows with her glaive and her tail blade. The monster looked around and opened his wings to roar. Or at least tried to. Daskka was with the Empress, and just as she arrived, the snake quickly turned into mist and wrapped herself around the wyvern. When it tried to move, she became solid to hinder its movements. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Seeing the opening, Flint didn''t waste time and rushed the creature, slamming its jaw and neck repeatedly with the piston punches. Hera didn''t stay behind, calling all of her regular court members to come attack this monster. Each of the blades slammed against the glowing leather of the creature. It took a few moments, but the wyvern succumbed to the numerous wounds being created by Flint, Hera, and her court. Dropping to the floor for a moment, the Empress asked between breaths, "How¡­ Long¡­ Until¡­ we¡­ leave?" Skyler glanced at her tablet, "They are three minutes late. But that''s not much. Especially in a place as confusing as this one." "Should we be worried?" Roan, who was one of the first ones to finish his enemy, was looking over the tunnel he had to cover. If the next team was late, they might need to continue defending this area for a while, and dropping their guard wasn''t something that would be helpful. "I don''t think so. Like Skyler said-" Neria was cut off by someone knocking on the door leading to the city. With a sigh of relief, the triton rushed over and opened the door. "Hey, sorry for the delay. We took a wrong turn in a tunnel back there¡­ Is everything ok?" a male triton, who was seemingly the leader of this next group, looked over to the rest of the team and saw how they were all on the floor, close to the monster''s bodies. While a large armored man and a giant lizard woman pushed monster bodies toward the drop shaft. "Yeah. We just got a stream of enemies in the last few hours. We couldn''t even rebuild some traps. And we don''t know if this is going to keep happening. So be careful. Also, try to stay in the cave and not in the tunnels. It''s harder since the monsters can clump together, but in the tunnels, we got screwed more than a few times," Neria explained as she called everyone to follow her. "Thanks for the help!" Crimson said with a smile, making the new team even more confused. As they were finally leaving this place, a dwarven woman who arrived with the triton couldn''t stop staring at Hera and her court, "What are you? Like all of you. Since when have we had people like you in the MAZE?" "Me? Since I was born. Them? Probably a few thousand years," Hera snapped her fingers, and all the court returned to the legacy, with the exception of Livy, who turned into her Sea Serpent form to carry the Empress back to the hotel. "Wait, what? Where did they go?" the woman asked again. "Nowhere. They are still here. Good luck. I need sleep," Hera jumped on Livy''s back and the two started moving through the tunnel. The Leviathan was nowhere near as fast as Nimbus was on land, but her regular pace was already faster than walking. And even better, she could carry six people when on land and only get a bit slower. After all, when on land, the difference between her top speed and that slow pace was negligible. When arriving at the city, the group played a round of rock paper scissors to decide who would shower in the hotel and who would stop by one of the gyms that were open for that specific reason. Unlike the previous place they stayed, their current hotel room only had a single bathroom. Vash ended up being the winner, but they were too tired to complain. Every member of the team took a shower, and in less than 20 minutes, they were all back in their hotel room, already lying in bed. Just before going to sleep, Hera took a moment to check the quest''s progress. She wanted to know how many monsters she ended up killing today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Core Spire Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 250 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Cloudwing Striker - 25 Magma Construct - 3 Void Weaver - 8 Gloom Bat - 93 Cloud Serpent - 8 Magma Crawler - 13 Ember Wyvern - 2 Ash Gremlin - 15 Soot Golem - 9 Magma Spider - 53 Whispering Crystal - 12 Ash Reaver - 8 Molten Elemental - 1 Smoke Weaver - 3 Cinder Hound - 24 Forge Magma - 2 Sky Leaver - 12 Skystone Watcher - 0 Ember Garuda - 1 Forge Lord - 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a single day, she had killed or participated in the kill of almost 300 monsters. Those numbers seemed to be counting her blades since she never fought the Ember Garuda herself. The Molten Elemental should also be the one that Roan killed. Unless she managed to get rid of one before even realizing it. Still, if things kept going like this, they would have problems. If this happened again, she would have less than 2 minutes to kill each monster as she fought nonstop. She had to figure out a way to make this easier. But that would only happen in the morning. Right now, the Empress could only think about the soft pillow under her head and the warm blanket covering her body. 793 - Warm and Cozy Hera slept through the whole night. Or whatever time it was. During a rampage, almost everyone messed up their sleep schedule. When she finally woke up, she didn''t say anything. Slowly opening her eyes, the Empress reached for her tablet. It''s been almost 10 hours since her shift ended. She slept a lot, especially when considering her skills. Ever since she arrived in the MAZE, Hera realized that her endurance attribute would slowly reduce the amount of sleep she needed. It wasn''t a big change at first, but when she got skills like her [Improved Regeneration], her sleep was reduced by around 30 minutes. Each rank of that skill would shave off a little bit of extra time, and when she became an Ophidianite, she broke through the 1-hour mark. Now, for her, a full and proper night''s rest would take only 7 hours. For a brief moment, she considered doing the math of how many hours she would''ve slept at level one, but that idea quickly left her mind. She was never that good with calculation, and this particular one sounded a bit more complicated than it was worth. The Empress just shifted to her back but quickly had to change positions again. Even if it''s been a few months, there were times she forgot she had a tail. That wasn''t something she wanted to change. Her balance was much better, and having an extra limb in a fight was simply amazing. But there were some things that bothered her. For instance, being unable to lie on her back in a regular bed. The dwarfs of Boothudurn, well¡­ Zaxalam now, made a special one for her. Across the middle of the mattress, there was a ''slot,'' a place where she could place her tail without hurting the bones connecting it to her spine. They based the idea on a pillow with an armhole and worked their way from there. In truth, Hera was almost positive the right way to have a mattress for her would be to make a large gap in the area around her waist. That way, she could use her own tail as a cushion. It was one of the things that didn''t make a lot of sense about her new body. Her tail was nowhere near as soft as a bed, yet it was the most comfortable thing for her to sit on. No matter the situation, the best chair would always be her tail. Hera blinked, still under the covers, while hearing the soft breathing of Neria, Vash, and Roan, together with the not-so-soft sounds coming from Flint and Skyler. It was a bit funny. The crafter was the stereotypical grumpy dwarf who made a lot of noise when sleeping. And the elf was the perfect subversion of expectations. The more elegant and whimsical of the group who should look like an angel during a slumber. But in reality, it was hard to tell which of the two was the loudest. She sipped to think about her court and how none of them snored. Then again, they didn''t actually need to breathe, so that might be the case. Suddenly, a realization came to her. The Empress could feel all of her court. All of them were outside and under her bed. Not just the titled blades and Daskka, but everyone else too. Nimbus is the only exception. It would still take a bit over 4 days for him to be back. Pinching the bridge of her nose, the Empress turned to the side, giving her back to the rest of her teammates, and spoke with her court silently. ''What are you guys doing?'' There was a soft thud as something heavy hit her bed. As if someone tried to get up and hit their head. Luckily, that wasn''t enough to wake anyone up. ''Livy? Are you ok?'' Viper asked. ''Yeah. Sorry. That scared the crap out of me,'' Livy replied. ''I''m scary now?'' Hera raised one eyebrow even if the court couldn''t see her. ''No, no. Not at all. Not one bit. This is a completely normal situation, and I was just caught by surprise,'' the Leviathan replied quickly. ''OK, what are you all doing? You are being weird,'' Hera asked with a mental sigh. ''Livy!'' Crimson and Tide gasped. ''You really need to improve your poker face,'' Autumn added. ''I''m a waraxe! I don''t have a face!'' Livy protested. ''You literally do. You, Nimbus, and Dusa are the only ones who have actual faces in your weapon form,'' Lurize said. ''I¡­ But¡­ Shut up!'' the Leviathan would walk away if she could. But for some reason, they all refused to leave from under the bed. ''As fun as it is to watch you fumble like that. The question remains, what are you all doing?'' Hera asked. ''Hum¡­ Empress¡­ We-we are at-at-attempt-attempt¡­ trying to ma-ma-ma-make a spell,'' Dusa spoke up. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ''Oh? What kind of spell?'' Hera was still lying on her bed, not feeling like getting up right now. There was a pause; it was clear that the court was trying to decide who would say the next part. In the end, the job fell on the herald. ''The Pool of Styx, mum. We are not trying to change it. Just make it work in this place.'' ''I see¡­ and how are you doing that?'' ''Well,'' Daskka glanced at the rest of the court, begging for help. ''I''ve seen you using that spell enough times to have an idea how the formation is set up,'' Lurize said. Ink followed it up. He spoke slowly, adding pauses that complemented his gravitas even in simple phrases, ''And between Me, Gale, and Chris, we were able to set up an illusion of the room. Using the map you got as a reference.'' ''Then, Lurize will tell us about the actual spell circle. Daskka made the lines with her mist, and the rest of us focused on making each part work,'' Ember finished. ''That''s amazing. How''s the progress?'' Hera smiled and adjusted herself. If they were going to show something, she would have to go to the bathroom. To avoid waking up the rest of the group. ''Well¡­ Sort of good, sort of bad?'' Crimson replied. Hera held in a chuckle, ''Am I supposed to answer that?'' ''No. No. I was just asking everyone else. I mean, I''m not sure if I would call this a success,'' Crimson explained. ''Well¡­ It depends on our intention. If it was just to help Hera. Then I would say it''s a success. But we didn''t complete it,'' Gale sighed. ''Yeah. There is still something wrong. It doesn''t seem like the mana is going to flow with the spell circle we set up. Can you even call this a spell circle if it looks more like a funnel?'' Tide sounded confused. Which gave the impression that maybe this was too much for him. ''Do you want to take a look, mum?'' Daskka asked. ''Yeah, sure,'' the Empress paused, ''Can you give me five minutes? I''m really comfortable right now.'' ''Of course!'' a few of the court members said at the same time. ''That''s chill. We get that. You get in a nice spot and just want to mellow out. We''ve been at it for hours; let''s all take a break, then we cook,'' DJ added. ''Thanks,'' Hera closed her eyes, but they shot up right after, ''Hang on. When I went to sleep, everyone was inside the legacy. Only Daskka was out. How did you all leave?'' ''Daskka let us out. She asked first, so don''t worry about us being dragged against our will,'' Chris replied. ''Can you do that?'' the question was directed at the herald. ''Yeah. But I need to be out. If I''m inside the necklace, that won''t work. But since I can come and go as I please, it doesn''t mean much,'' Daskka slithered away from under the bed and into Hera''s arms. ''I see. And you all can hear her inside the court? Actually, I don''t think I ever asked. What is it like inside there? Something like my private room?'' the Empress asked. ''Not really. It''s more like a void,'' Ember replied. ''A void?'' Hera sat up on the bed. The idea of living in a void, a place with nothing, felt awful. ''Ember is not entirely right. It''s more like sleeping. Or being in stasis,'' Lurize added. ''Yeah. We can''t see or do anything when in there. And we don''t even know we are inside the legacy,'' Crimson tried to be more upbeat, but it was clear that she found it odd. ''I think it''s more of a quantum physics situation. We sort of don''t exist until someone interacts with us,'' Viper sounded more confident, but there was still an underlying doubt in his words. ''I''m sorry. I''ll try to not keep you in the legacy. That doesn''t seem like it''s a good place to be,'' Hera frowned. ''Don''t worry about it. We don''t mind. It doesn''t feel bad. It''s just weird when we think about it,'' Chris tried to cheer the Empress up. ''The only thing that makes me upset is that we can''t dream when we are resting in the legacy,'' Lurize sighed. ''You can dream?!'' Gale, Tide, Autumn, Ink, DJ, Viper, and Crimson gasped. ''You can''t?'' Dusa, Livy, Lurize, and Ember asked. There was a brief conversation where the court debated why some of them were able to dream, and some weren''t. In the end, they agreed that this was a coincidence and all of them should be able to dream. It just didn''t happen for a few of them. While that was going on, Hera sneaky talked with Daskka, ''Do you think we can change how the legacy is for them? Make the place they stay like my private room or something?'' The herald thought for a moment, ''There isn''t a skill in the legacy for it. Not that there are that many left. But to make something like that would require you to spend mana continuously.'' ''What if we use my Empress core? Reserve a part of it to do that.'' ''Maybe. But I have no clue where to start,'' Daskka admitted. Hera smirked, ''It''s a good thing we have a few friends who are good at making spaces made out of mana.'' Daskka smiled back, and after a few more moments, the Empress got up, called her court, and headed to the bathroom. Where they could talk and show the progress of the spell. This time, however, together with the mist construct Daskka was making, Hera drew everything in the image of the spire on her tablet. As the court said, there were some issues with the spell. When trying to stretch the spell circle, the connection would be too thin to withstand the magic. And making it just on the ground could help those in the city, but it wouldn''t do anything to those in the Core Spire. After about half an hour of trying, they couldn''t come up with a way to fix that problem. Since she was already here, Hera decided to call the guide. She asked all of her courts to stay outside since the bathroom wasn''t large enough for everyone, and she wanted them to stop anyone from trying to get inside. Not that she believed anyone in the team would force their way inside, but she needed a good excuse to be alone when talking with the guide. She wanted to ask about the idea of a ''private room'' for her court when they were inside the legacy. This was supposed to be a surprise, not to mention she didn''t want to risk giving them hope only to say that there was nothing that could be done. After casting the soundproof bubble around the bathroom, the Ophidianite got ready to call the guide, hoping that asking for them to deliver a message to Peaches and the others wouldn''t be something that reduced the amount of time she had for her questions. 794 - Guide metallurgy
With everything ready and Daskka using some mist to hide the shape of the toilet and the garbage can, Hera spoke, "I call upon the Guide of the Cinderspire Citadel. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." There was a clanging sound as if something metallic was being tossed inside copper pipes. That noise echoed everywhere around the bathroom. Eventually, focusing on the ceiling. Hera paid attention and started to hear a small voice along with all those clangs, clunks, and pangs. The guide seemed to be¡­ hurting. With each loud bang, they would give an ''ouch,'' or a ''dammit,'' there was even a ''c''mon'' tossed in the middle. After almost a full minute, with the sounds getting louder and louder, the voice started a scream from above. A lump of scrap, plates, gears, and wires fell screaming from the ceiling, slamming against the tiled floor of the bathroom. Hera blinked a couple of times before reacting, "Are you ok?" An arm shot up, with the hand giving a thumbs up, "I''m fine." The voice was a bit muffled, but before they could understand what was going on, the clump of metal changed. Hera and Daskka watched as the pile of scrap shifted, each plate, spring, and gear attaching to a different part of the complete mess of metal. Little by little, the form of the guide appeared. They had two arms and a torso like that of any person who lived in the MAZE. But coming from their back, there were three extra limbs. One was almost like a tentacle with a pincer at the tip. The second was another arm, but longer, sturdier, and with a more limited range of motion, while the last one was, in essence, a hand attached to a spring. When moving, that spring would go back and forth, but the guide seemed to be able to control it properly instead of it being just a snap punch. When looking at their waist, any semblance of that of a person went away. For one, they had six legs. Two of them were spider-like, the two in the middle. The front left one had a small wheel, just like the back right one. While the remaining two had long caterpillar treads connecting them both. To make everything even more confusing, despite the guide appearing from a pile of scraps. When they finished ''building'' themselves, their form became sleek and pristine. The copper covering its body didn''t have a single scratch, blemish, or unpolished part. The connections between plates had a cobalt blue hue, representing the metal that filled in the gaps. Each visible bolt and gear had intricate carvings with a mix of gothic aesthetic and futuristic lines of minimalism. The guide was a case for incongruity. They were made out of scrap but completely brand new, old but futuristic, complicated yet simple. A mess that wasn''t even symmetrical, yet it had such harmony that it could be called either a piece of art or something made by an assembly line. "This one was a mess and a half," the guide spoke. His voice was soft and not at all mechanic, even if it had a bit of the reverberation of sound going through a speaker. "Are you entrances always like that?" Daskka asked, getting a glare from Hera. "Not always. I''m trying to make this tube system work, and I don''t get enough practice. It worked fine back home, but I didn''t consider some of the differences in weight the pipes would have here. Or the changes they would go through because of the heat. Not to mention the whole issue of passing through obsidian and the molten stone. I mean, even if I''m a guide, I still don''t like diving into magma. It gets really stuffy really fast," the guide continued. Their tentacle-like arms make notes in the air. "I see¡­. I don''t know why, but I never pictured that you would have that kind of issue. Of not considering something about your own room," Hera admired. "Oh, we do. More than you can imagine. The reason why you might not see that as often is simple. We have a lot of experience. So it''s hard to find a guide who is struggling with something new that they have never tried before. In my case, it is to make a water slide. Well, a slide without water. I tried using water, and trust me, that was even worse. The place was filled to the brim with steam. People coughed a lot; it wasn''t a good idea," the guide continued, making notes in the air. Hera could feel a bit of mana from their tentacle arm and how they were actually writing, not just playing around. After a moment, the robot realized one thing, "Right. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Stewart. The guide of this room." "Stewart? Like steward bot?" Daskka asked. "Daskka!" Hera huffed. The herald usually wasn''t this talkative when dealing with the guides. Stewart chuckled, "Yep. You got it right. I don''t think I''ve met the person who coined that name, but I wouldn''t say it''s impossible for me to have a connection with them. Still, I like that compassion. A steward bot is there to help, just like I am. They are usually in odd shapes and sizes. Like I am. And they generally are either very helpful, very weird, or very dangerous. And I''m three for three on that part." "Wait, and don''t take this the wrong way, but can you be dangerous? I mean the guides in general," Hera asked. "Absolutely we can," Stewart nodded, the arms on his back following along with the motion, "Before, when we could interact with anyone, the system had some barriers in place to stop us from harming anyone. However, after, people captured one of us and started to experiment when the MAZE made the skill and the setup we currently have. We also have one more thing. The right of self-defense. It''s kind of redundant since if someone without the guide skill sees us, they are frozen. Just like if they were going through a doorway. But, if they somehow are able to avoid that, we have free reign to fight back. Killing is frowned upon, but it is not a rule we have to follow. Also, we can never harm the person who called us with the guide skill. So you can be at ease." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Ok¡­. Hang on, what if I invite someone to my private room? Can they harm me?" "I think so. There are no rules about that." "That''s kind of terrifying. From what I know, you are basically omnipotent when you want to," Hera crossed her arms. "Well¡­ sort of. We are when we are in our own territory. When we are in someone else''s, we have some constraints. But still. No explorer, no matter the level or the species, would be able to hurt one of us. Not physically, at least. If you tell a guide who paints that their art sucks, that''s another thing." "I would only say that if they asked for criticism. And not just they suck, but the parts that I didn''t like," Daskka said proudly. "I think you should toss in some praise. Like, talk about what you did like. Just hearing the bad is never a good feeling," Hera suggested. "I like that," Steward nodded again, "Anyway. Time to do my job. Do you have your questions?" "I do. Well, it''s mostly one question and some potential follow-ups. But I also have a favor to ask," Hera replied. "A favor?" "Yeah. Only if you can do it. And it won''t mess with the questions. I can wait if I need to. I just wanted to speed things along." "That''s a first¡­ what''s the favor?" "Do you know about my legacy? I know you all talk about me when I''m arriving in a room." "I know the broad strokes," Steward replied. Hera nodded and took a moment to explain her legacy more thoroughly. Then, she talked about her court and how they would be in a ''void'' when inside the legacy, "Then we come to the favor. I wanted to ask if you could just ask Peaches, Capri, Nina and Talpa, maybe Kelp, and Fritz. Definitely, Fritz, if they have an idea about how I can make my court a private room inside the legacy. Kind of like my private room but just for my court. I''m not talking about having any benefits aside from a comfortable place for them to stay. I just wanted them to think about that for a little bit and tell me if they have any ideas on what to do or how I can make that work. I''m going to send them a text as soon as I can, but in the middle of a rampage, it is hard to reach a doorway." Stewart thought for a moment, "That''s easy enough. And if you don''t mind. I''ll add Ruma, Shiretaa, and Laika to that list. They are good with constructs and settings in general. I mean, Shiretaa literally lives inside a lamp, and it''s massive inside." "Oh, that''s perfect. Thank you. Feel free to tell any other of the guides I know. I was just thinking about the ones who might be able to help me." "I get Peaches. He''s kind of a leader. But why Capri, Nina, and Talpa?" "Nina and Talpa love to dance, and I figured they have a good idea of how to make stages and things to set up their dance moves. Maybe even like lights that move in a rhythm. I was thinking about using that to make a day-night cycle inside. Maybe just in the windows, if it will even have windows. Capri¡­ well. I''m kind of taking advantage of him. He really likes me a lot. And I really like him too, but I feel like if I ask him about this, he will go above and beyond to help me out," Hera explained. Stewart opened his mouth and closed it without saying anything. "You know what. That''s very fair. He is already crazy about you. You might as well get something extra." "That was the idea. But I''ll thank him properly and tell him why I asked him to participate in it later. I don''t want to be sneaky about it," Hera added. "Ok, ok. I can do that. No worries. No time from your question is required. Can we go for the actual question now?" Hera nodded, "Ok. Here," she showed the spell circle Daskka and her court tried to make in the map of the room. It was stretched across the entire spire and the city underneath it, "Can you help me make this work? The mana is not working like it should. When I set this up, some of the areas of the array are too thin or too twisted for the mana to pass through." Stewart looked at the map for a moment. It took just a few seconds before he replied, "Oh yeah. I can help you. The time you have only lets me give you a hint. And it will use the entire 5 minutes." "That''s ok. What''s the hint?" "When you make the spell on flat ground. How high does the effect go to? I mean actual height." "It works like a sphere. So, it follows the same radius. Well, sort of. If the circle is in a different shape, it''s kind of proportional. Like a large rectangle turns into a brick." "Exactly." "That''s it?" "Yes. Now, all you need is a change in perspective." Daskka gave Steward a blank stare. "Really!? That''s it?!" The robot smiled, "Yes." "I''m so angry at myself right now," the herald groaned. "What''s wrong?" Hera turned to the snake. She didn''t even have time to process what the guide said, and Daskka would always be more important than making a spell work. "Here," Daskka made her own mist illusion of the room and drew the spell circle above it, however, instead of placing the array on the top of the spire. She flipped the map, making it sideways. Changed the shape of the spell circle and placed it along the length of the obsidian spire. The herald even made it wider at the base, using some of the chains and wires that connected the caldera to the sprite itself as part of the spell. And despite the slightly phallic shape, the strands of mana were no longer stretched. "So¡­ all we had to do was make it on its side?" Hera asked. "Yes. Now, the finer details are up to you. I don''t know if you will be able to make it work. But that problem is solved," Stewart said with a smile as a small hatch appeared on the ground, "I''m sorry, but I''ll have to go. I''ll send you a text with a list of all the guides I talked about your idea." "Thanks, and I''m glad I''ll be able to talk to you again," Hera smiled just as the robot guide opened the hatch and jumped inside. Soon, the clangs started ringing again for a moment before vanishing completely. Daskka was still staring at the new spell circle, extremely frustrated for not being able to figure that issue out herself. Hera just picked up the snake and put it around her neck again before leaving the room. They now had an idea about how to make the Pool of Styx work during the rampage, and if they managed to use it, everything could become much easier. 795 - A spell to change the tide After talking with the guide, Hera actually used the bathroom before leaving. She was already here after all, and aside from relieving herself, she could brush her teeth and be ready for the day. Even if there was a rampage going on, it would still take several hours before her shift started. When she was done, the Empress walked out of the bathroom only to see Skyler sitting on her bed, staring at the door blocked by the floating weapons. The elf pointed to herself and then to the bathroom, asking if she could go in. With a nod, Hera told her court to move away. And started to get dressed. A folding screen in the corner of the room allowed her to do that without worrying about someone seeing her. Adding that with the court working as her bodyguards made her much more comfortable. Hera also kept the soundproof bubble in the bathroom and around herself to avoid disturbing anyone else. When she was ready, Hera waited for the elf to leave the bathroom. It didn''t take long, and Skyler understood the Ophidianite''s idea and also got dressed. Soon, they left their hotel room and finally could talk properly. "I''m sending a text to our group chat. Just to let them know we left," Hera said. "Good call. How did you sleep?" "I just passed out," the Empress chuckled. "Same. Oh, and sorry if I snored a little bit," Skyler sheepishly said. "Don''t worry about it. It was fine¡­" Hera looked away. "On a different note, would you mind if I cast a soundproof bubble around you when you snore?" "Was it that bad?" "You and Flint might have been fighting for the who is the loudest prize," Hera admitted. "Shit!" Skyler groaned, "Look, I''m sorry. I usually don''t snore. But when I''m really tired, my body just relaxes a bit too much." "No worries. But can I?" "Oh yeah. Sure. I don''t know why you didn''t use that spell on Flint before." "Honestly, it just never occurred to me," Hera replied, "Since we are on the topic of spells. Do you think you could help me set one thing up?" "Sure, we have time. Do you mind doing that over breakfast? Or¡­ whatever meal they have for us right now," Skyler asked. "Of course," they headed to the dining room that was being used as a canteen for the people protecting the Core Spire; as they walked, the Ophidianite realized something, "Hey¡­ this was supposed to last just a bit over a day, right. The rampage, I mean." "Now that you mention it, you''re right. The prediction was that it would either last around 30 hours or¡­ oh¡­" "Yeah¡­ It''s like 34 to 35 hours since the rampage started. So that means.." Hera didn''t want to say it. "That we should be stuck here for a week," Skyler sighed. "Yeah. At least we are making some good money." "That''s true," the elf tapped a few things in her tablet, "We already got over 91 thousand gold. Just from one day." "If that week thing is true, we should get more than a million gold. Not counting the ranking rewards," Hera nodded. They continued discussing what they could do with the money while getting a meal. They had a choice of lasagna, soup, or fried rice today. As they ate, Hera explained the plan for using her Pool of Styx spell and how she intended to set it up. Skyler helped her make the proper spell circle, and eventually, Neria and Roan joined the two. With the group of four, they could develop a working version of the spell in the shape they wanted. All they needed was a way to set it up. Unfortunately, Hera couldn''t just do it right now. She had to talk with the people in charge of the defenses so everyone would be aware of what they were doing. If she had just sent the snakes, people might have thought they were monsters and attacked them. But they would first finish their meal and grab some coffee. When they arrived at the building being used by the Alliance as a base of operations, the mood was troubling. The clerks talking with the people tried their best to act like everything was normal, but they couldn''t avoid making some worried expressions when they thought no one was watching. To their credit, Hera wasn''t looking at them directly when they did that. This was just information sent to her by Daskka, Dusa, or Chris. The one weapon she decided to carry along with her while in the city today. Hera ended up finding the same clerk she found the day before. He looked at his notebook with a serious expression, "Hey there. Sorry to bother you, but do you have a minute?" "Oh, hi¡­. Hera, wasn''t it?" The Empress nodded, "Yeah." "Is it urgent? I''m kind of in the middle of something." "I just wanted to know who I can''t talk to about a room-wide spell I want to cast. I can handle pretty much everything. I just need people not to kill the snakes I send out to make it," Hera replied. "Right¡­ how does that spell work again?" "Basically, it''s a combo buff and debuff. Every monster in the area of the spell will have their attributes reduced by the difference between their attributes and mine. As long as mine is higher. Then, for every 10 points that the spell reduces, a person in the area of the spell will receive a flat 1-point boost to one of their attributes. That caps at double their current amount. But that will require an absurd amount of monsters in the area." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Oh¡­ that doesn''t sound all that great. I mean, maybe the bats will give a decent buff, but the rest won''t. You are focused on what? Strength?" the clerk glanced at Hera''s weapon. "Nope. I''m not focused. All my attributes are at 110," the Ophidianite replied. "What? What do you mean?" "All my attributes are at 110. That is their flat value without any skill or buff being applied. That is the attribute that will be considered when the monsters are being affected. If one of them has a 40 endurance, it will be reduced by 70. I just don''t know if attributes can go to the negatives. Still, locking them at 1 is already a benefit," Hera stopped for a moment, "To be fair. I don''t know if it can get that low. There is a chance that it can only reduce their attributes to half of what they currently are. In that case, the endurance might only go down to 20 at most. I never got a chance to properly test that. But since there is an upper limit for the buff, it makes sense to have one for the debuff, too," she looked toward Skyler, who nodded in confirmation. "That is¡­ holy shit. That can really help us right now. Does it affect only monsters and people? Or can you specify more? Actually, hang on. I need to call someone," the clerk got up and rushed to a room in the back. After around two minutes, he returned in a rush, "OK. Please, follow me." "Sure. These are the members of my team, by the way. Skyler, Neria, and Roan," Hera introduced the group. "Oh, nice to meet you. I''m Dave." "Dave?" Roan asked. "Yes. What is the problem?" "It''s not a problem; I just never heard about an elf named David," Roan replied, getting a smack on the back of the head by Skyler. "Elves can have any names. Stop being a prick!" "I didn''t mean anything bad by it! You lot just live for the fuck, I know how long. I can''t imagine what it is like to be ''Dave'' for that long. Like it''s not a bad name, but it doesn''t carry the vibe of a wise and centuries old sage. Can you imagine? ''I am the great wizard, Dave." "He is not wrong," Dave added, "Thankfully, I just go by Dave. My real name is Daverin''astre. But most people butcher it. Or get hung up on stupid things like the apostrophe." "See! I wasn''t wrong!" Roan protested. "It was still bad to say," Neria added, with Hera nodding in agreement. After a few moments, they arrived at the conference room where the people in charge of the defenses of the city were gathering. They had several holograms spread around, including a large map of the Core Spire, with marks and arrows as they tried to remake some of the plans. "Dave? Who are they?" a triton woman sitting in front of the map asked. "She is the one who can make that spell." "I thought it was just one person. Why are there four?" the woman tilted her head. "They are part of the same team. Even if we were asking Hera here not to share what we are going to talk about. I doubt she wouldn''t tell her team," Dave glanced at the Ophidianite, who nodded. If whatever was happening here would affect her team, Hera wouldn''t think twice about telling them. The triton rubbed her eyes, "Fine. Hera, what is that spell, and how can it help us?" Hera approached the holographic map, "Can you put another layer on the map? That way, I can draw on top of it, and it''s easy to remove it." The triton just tapped a button on her tablet and gave the go-ahead. With a nod, the Empress made an outline, "My idea is to make a spell circle that will affect this area. I can make some mana snakes that are able to follow my orders, and as long as I have a map large and detailed enough, I can draw it and have the snakes set everything up." "I''m not asking how you are going to do it. I''m asking what it is," the triton groaned. "I''m drawing to show the area of effect. And before anyone thinks I''m joking around. I''m not. I understand that it looks like a penis. But I tried to envelop the city on the spell, too, instead of leaving only the spire. It''s not my fault that this is the shape," with that out of the way, the Empress explained the spell just like she had explained it to Dave. Even using the same example of 40 endurance. In the end, however, she had already cleared up one thing: "The reason why this helps is because my attributes are all at 110. I have a skill that lets me increase all of them at once at a cheaper cost. Been doing that since level 2." "How specific can you be about who is getting the buff? And the debuff," the triton asked. "I can specify one or the other. I can say every person gets buffed. Everyone else will get the debuff. Or the opposite. Decide that monsters get the debuff, and everyone else gets the buff. I can be very specific about it, too. Say that only blond people gets the buff, or those with scales, or feathers. Same with the debuff. I never tried with a piece of clothing. Something like everyone wearing a hat, but it might be possible. Also, the buff will only consider the monsters that are present in the area at the moment of casting it. If another monster walks into the area, the attribute bonus won''t change." "But if a new monster enters the area, will they be affected by the reduction?" "Yes," Hera nodded, "I had to swap a few things about the spell, but I managed to make it work at the cost of a smaller radius. But with the scale of the spell, this won''t matter. Also, I''ve tested it before, and monsters that are under my level will always be affected by the spell. If they are above, there is a chance they are able to resist the effects. This spell is made to make easy fights easier. Not to fight strong enemies." The triton heard the explanation intently, but at the end, she glanced at Hera and shook her head, "Look. I appreciate you trying to help. And I don''t know if you are already aware of the situation we are in. Truth be told, the rampage is not going well. The attacks are more intense than we expected and we will have problems if this keeps going for too long. People will get tired, and we will have to sacrifice some ground. Even so, I don''t feel comfortable letting someone, who I don''t even know which species they are, cast a spell at this scale. Especially if it''s something you are trying for the first time. Not to mention, you might be trying to sabotage us, or worse. I don''t know the agenda of your kind. I don''t even know if you are part of the Alliance." "I''m an Ophidianite. And I''ve cast this spell before. But as I explained, the bigger the area, the better. Also, why would I sabotage this? If I do that, I''m in danger too." "Still, I don''t-" "Sapphira, let her do it," the dwarf at the head of the table said. "Vazor?" the triton gasped. "Hera is not just an Ophidianite. She is the leader of her people. She even has a chair on the council table. Thrain told me about her while we chatted. She deferred her right to participate in the decisions because she wanted to be here on the ground. She also sacrificed a lot for our cause already. More than most. We can trust her," the dwarf explained. Hera just raised one eyebrow," King Thrain told you all that?" "His tongue gets loose when drinking with friends. Or family," Vazor explained. "Fine," Sapphira groaned, "We have another meeting room across the hallway. A smaller one. You can use that one to prepare the spell you need. You can access the best maps we have available. Make the drawings and when you are ready. Give us a heads up so we can send the messages to leave your snakes alone." "Thank you," Hera smiled and turned to Vazor, "And thank you for the vote of confidence. I won''t betray your trust." The team left the room and walked across the hall. Now that they all understood that things were not going as well as they hoped, everyone wanted to help the Empress prepare the spell. After all, even if it would only help against the weaker enemies during a rampage, every little bit counted. 796 - Cracks already appearing
Hera walked back to the command center with Flint and Vash in tow. It was late already, and their shift would start in a bit under half an hour. However, her snakes were still moving around the room, preparing the Pool of Styx. To be activated. Ideally, she would be there to trigger the spell when it was ready, but she was worried this wouldn''t happen. That''s why she set up a secondary nexus in the area they were protecting, sector 3B floor 87. That way, the spell could be activated either in the command center or down there. For now, the Empress was coming back from a supply run. Getting some water and food to leave behind the reinforced door. During their last shift, they didn''t do that. Luckily, Neria and Vash had some power bars that they shared with the group. Now, however, they would have the option of making a stew or eating a few sandwiches. Everything would be inside an enchanted container that stopped it from spoiling, but it didn''t affect the temperature. That would require too much mana. That''s why Vash decided to add cheese to almost everything. Since they were, in essence, inside a volcano, they might as well use the heat to melt the cheese. The people who were walking along the streets seemed tired and sad. A few even resorted to drinking in the middle of the afternoon or whatever time it was. At least it looked like those who were intoxicated would be taking over their shifts. But still, it was a rampage. Everyone needed to be aware of the danger at all times. The blacksmiths and crafters responsible for repairer people''s gear were clearly overworked. A few looked like they hadn''t slept since this all started. Hera frowned as she noticed the cracks she saw in people''s morale. Were things really that bad already? Or was this normal, and her mind just focused on the bad? It was hard to tell. This was only the third rampage she participated in, and the situations were all wildly different. As they got back to the meeting room they were using, Vazor and Sapphira, the commanders during this rampage, met the rest of the group. Everyone was following the snakes around in their sensors. It wasn''t a hard thing to do, especially since Hera called the constructs in that room. Most of them were more than halfway through their path already, but a few would still take at least an hour to complete their part of the spell circle. The Ophidianite got a bit too confident in her snake''s hiding capabilities. Because of that, she didn''t tell them to hide as a monster passed by. As a result, a few of the constructs were destroyed, forcing Hera to ask them all to stop and reorganize their paths. "Do you need to be here to cast that spell?" Sapphira asked the Empress. "No. I made it so I can cast it either here, in this room, or in an area where we have to defend." "That was some good foresight," Sapphira nodded with a smile, the first time the elf smiled at her. "And did you decide how you are going to target those involved?" Vazor asked. "Yeah. I think it''s better to target every person as the receiver of the buff. Even if there are noncombatants. If their attributes are stronger, they might be able to help with other things or survive an attack if something bad happens. Also, I saw a few ants in the street. Is that a common thing?" "Ants?" Vazor asked, "I mean. Yeah. It''s hard to find a place that doesn''t have ants." "Do the spire, or the city, have other bugs too? Roaches, flies, bed bugs, maybe rats," Hera asked. "I think so. Not a large amount. We are not infested, but it''s hard for any city that size not to have vermin. And here, well, it''s a farming place. Bugs are part of the course. There is even a bee lab. Some people are trying to see if they can make a type of bee that can thrive in this temperature," Vazor replied. With a smile, Hera continued, "Then we might be getting a bigger buff than I expected." "That spell works on bugs too?" Sapphira''s eyes went wide. "Yep. I had a dream/vision dungeon thing I was a part of. Like I was there, but I wasn''t. In that dungeon, I used this spell in a nest of bugs. Every larvae was affected by it. And I was the only one being buffed by it. The buff capped in an instant. I''m kind of hoping you all missed some nest of bugs down there. If we have a few dozen ant nests, we might be able to get close to 100 thousand points in our attributes as a buff. Distributive among everyone who is being affected, of course." Vazor stared at the map hologram. The spell was very complicated, and considering the shape, it would need a very good mage or a researcher to replicate the effects. But if it was possible, "Say, do you have any interest in sharing the spell? I can only imagine how helpful this could be in other situations." "I''m not opposed to the idea. But I need to check with a few people first." "Why?" Sapphira frowned, "This is clearly something that would help us. Imagine if we could use this on the battlefield. And someone who was really high-level used it. Not only would the other side get a massive debuff, but our side would be extremely more powerful. All we need is to have a few million bugs in crates, and that''s it. We would win this war in days." "Only until humans figure out what we are doing," Skyler replied. "And imagine if a spy or someone else figured out how to use the spell first? Then we are the ones in trouble," Roan added. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The Empress nodded, "Exactly. I didn''t think about this before today, but if I am ever able to share this spell, it will be when I can do it safely. When I can either encode it enough to make it viable to be used in front of humans, or when I can make it hidden enough to be used without being seen. Also, it would only work for ambushes, if that. You can''t expand the area of the spell to beyond the circle itself. And a smart enemy can see that the effect will be over if they leave the area. So they will just retreat." "Right¡­ I didn''t think about all that," Sapphira admitted. "I know. And don''t worry, you were only thinking about helping the alliance. It''s just more complicated than that," Hera sighed. An alarm rang from Flint''s tablet, "That''s time. We should be going to our post." "Good luck. I''ll keep an eye out and let you know when the spell circle is ready," Vazor told Hera. "Don''t worry about it. I can sense it. My snakes can tell when the spell circle is ready." The team left the command center and headed to their post. They didn''t run or hurried towards it. Instead, make sure to walk at a slow pace so as not to overexert themselves. That''s why they were leaving so early, not that it would make any difference, considering how long the snakes would still have to travel. As they were getting closer, they started hearing the bangs and the sounds of battle. Filled with yells and roars. The team rushed forward, all worried that the other group might be in trouble. When they arrived, the door was still closed, and they still had to knock and wait for someone to open it. More yells and screams of pain followed, together with sounds of magic being flung around. Hera could hear lightning crackling as it hit different targets and smell the flower petals and the cold mana from ice shards on the other side of the wall. Roan was the first to knock. A moment passed while the noise from the other side continued, and then Flint slammed his hand against the door, scintillating that pattern to let people know they were the next team. More yelling followed, and the dwarf started to get anxious. He constructed his metallic fists and slammed them against the wall. If it was anyone else doing that, they would likely break the door. However, a crafter like Flint knew the amount of force this material could handle. Finally, this seemed to attract the attention of the people on the other side. One of them, an elf who was heavily injured, with one arm severely burned and blood gushing out of his leg, opened the door, revealing the madness on the other side. There were dozens of corpses all around the cave, with even more living monsters attacking. The team, which also had 5 people, was on the back foot. Aside from the elf who opened the door, there was one more person who wasn''t fighting. A harpy that was just lying on the ground in a pool of blood. It was impossible to tell if all that came from him or from the surrounding corpses. Smoke Weavers, large tortoise-like creatures with several chimneys on top of their shells, slowly approached. The smoke lashed out like whips. Behind them, there were some Whispering Crystals, flying gemstones that used mind-based attacks to force their enemies to make mistakes and stop attacking them. The scariest part of their attacks was the fact that those attacks were completely invisible. There wasn''t any way to realize you were being targeted until you felt the effects. Among them, there were a few Cinder Hounds coming from the tunnels, together with several Gloom Bats. "Lurize, the harpy! Livy, block the monsters. Viper, Crimson, go for the crystals!" Hera ordered as she dashed forward, summing her entire court. The other team was caught off guard, especially when seeing the new kinds of people who arrived. But they understood that everyone was on the same side. Hera jumped at the Smoke Weavers, brandishing Chris and using [Grasshopper Stab] aimed directly at their heads. Following that, the rest of the blades appeared as arrows, aiming for the remaining tortoises. At the same time, Viper and Crimson jumped over the shorter monsters, grabbing the crystals. Hera''s command was able to supersede the mental magic of the creatures. Livy went straight for the cinder hounds, cutting them like butter with her massive axe. "Hera, can I go wild? Please!" the Leviathan asked after her third swing, finishing off the eight hounds. "Fuck it. Go for broke. Just don''t leave the cave or hit us. Also, be careful. Try not to get hurt," the Empress was a bit worried. Livy only asked for that once before while they were stuck in the Pinnacle Mountain dungeon. The result ended up being a bloodbath that rivaled the ones Hera created when grieving. The difference was that Livy did all that by herself and ended up seriously injured in the process. Still, this was a bit of a different situation, and she could tell the Leviathan understood that. Flint, Roan, and Vash joined her fight a few seconds after Livy''s request. They first helped the other party get out, only to then jump into the fray. After killing the last of the tortoises, Hera jumped back to take a small breather, letting the rest of the team take care of the new wave of monsters. She saw Neria and Skyler close together, preparing a few buffs, and asked. "Is the other team ok?" "Yeah, they left. They should be able to reach the Core Spire without a problem," Skyler replied. "What about the harpy? Are they in a bad shape?" Neria just shook her head, "He was their healer. A Skystone Watcher sneaked by when they were dealing with the crystals and fired that piece of obsidian at him," she pointed to the wall close to the door. There was a large piece of rock stuck to the wall, going almost half a meter deep. It was a long piece of obsidian, but not that wide in comparison, having a similar circumference to a soccer ball. The triton confined, "That thing hit their healer on the chest and went right through him. He was dead before even hitting the ground." "Shit," Hera grabbed Neria''s hand and used a large amount of mana to give her an earth elemental armor. Using that spell on others made it considerably less powerful, and it would have a set duration depending on the amount of mana used, "Don''t let that happen with you. If you see a Skystone Watcher hide," the Ophidianite turned to Skyler, "I don''t think I can use this defensive spell on more than one person. Sorry." "Don''t be. I agree with you. Protecting the healer is more important." "I have ways of protecting myself, you know," Neria huffed. "Better than this spell?" Hera asked. "No, but-" the triton was interrupted by a loud roar coming from Livy. "COME HERE! STOP RUNNING!" the Leviathan yelled before using her [Leviathan''s Torrent] to flood an entire tunnel with high-pressure water. "We can talk later. If that spell runs out, let me know to cast it again. You can feel it, right?" Hera started walking towards the fight once more. "Yeah, I got this. Go," Neria cast a couple of barriers around the group just as more monsters came running from the two tunnels that were not blocked by Livy. This was going to be a long shift. 797 - This is a rampage, right?
Livy rushed to the side, dodging a few of the Cinder Hound attacks. Her target was the row of Forge Magmas, metallic constructs that had lava inside them. They looked like robotic furnaces, with the mouth being the opening where fuel would be shoveled into, a set of four thin, spider-like legs, and a pair of more robust arms. Of the eight monsters in front of her, the four on the ends of the line opened their mouths and started splitting our fire. However, they weren''t aiming at anyone in particular, but just in front of them. The Leviathan stepped away from the side of the tunnel, rushing head-on toward the monsters. The remaining four Forge Magmas started to open and close their mouths. At first, nothing was happening, but as Livy got closer, she realized that they were all working together to create a large ball of magma behind them. Before she could reach them, the monsters sent their attack. A large, rolling ball of molten rock was tossed forward, dragging even one of the Forge Magma''s along. Livy halted her advance and spun her axe. She wasn''t going to use the blade but the side of the weapon. With a mighty swing, she hit the magma ball that was almost as big as her, like it was a gigantic baseball. If this was done by anyone else, they would likely fail the attempt, but the Leviathan was not only the strongest member of the team but also one of the two water specialists. That allowed her to push the magma ball back instead of breaking it apart or just failing completely. Her blow sent the flaming boulder flying back, slamming against three of the Fore Magmas and leaving the remaining four on the edges open for an attack. Livy didn''t waste time and stepped forward, spinning with her war axe to cut the monsters in half. Most of the damage was thanks to the high-pressure water that was coming from the blades of her weapon. Just as she finished the Forge Magmas, a pack of cinder hounds appeared to attack her. They behaved like wolves, spinning around the Sea Serpent and snapping their jaws at her. It seemed like they were trying to force her to move in a specific direction, but Livy didn''t care about that. With a roar, she triggered the [Draconic Eruption] skill, creating a large wave that crashed down on the monsters, stopping them in their tracks. She lunged at them, wielding her war axe with a single hand while using the other one to grab the monsters and slam them against each other. A group of Gloom Bats appeared and swarmed the Leviathan, hindering her vision. At the same time, the remaining Cinder Hounds retreated. Livy used her breath attack and another [Draconic Eruption] to try to get rid of the monsters, but the bats were able to dodge the attacks. Widen by the cloud of monsters, two dark shapes, almost as big as Livy herself approached. They burst through the shadows, trying to grab the Sea Serpent. Bipedal monsters made of pure soot and grime, with a single large eye in the center of their head and no mouth or nose to be seen. Those were the Soot Golem, lumbering giants that were the sturdiest enemies in the room, aside from the Forge Lord itself. Thankfully, it was also very easy to avoid being hit by them. Their bodies were too soft to properly crush anyone, and their movements too slow. Anyone could hear them coming from a mile away, and since the other monsters seemed to avoid them, one would never have to worry about being cornered. Yet, all that changed in a rampage. The two creatures managed to grab Livy. One latched onto her free arm and the other to her legs. Even with all her strength, the two monsters were too much for her. She tried to push them away but to no avail. And that wasn''t the only problem. The hounds, bats, and now even a few Cloud Serpents, flying snakes made out of the dark plume created by the volcano rushed at her. Not wanting to get hit without being able to fight back, the Leviathan returned to her weapon form. Being a court member meant that her body, her true body, was the war axe, not the bipedal form that was currently trapped. As an axe, she spun around a couple of times, using her breath skill, the [Leviathan''s Torrent], while spinning like a record player as the water came from both dragon heads, one on each blade of her form. Some of the hounds, bats, and snakes were killed by the blow, but the two soot monsters still remained, along with a horde of the smaller creatures, including hundreds of Magma Spiders. ''Livy, get back here!'' Hera called in the Leviathan''s mind. With a nod, she changed shapes one more time. Now becoming the pale blue Sea Serpent with accents of pastel pink. She moved around the tunnel, hitting as many monsters as she could while activating the [Seal of Draconic Vortex] to pull all the creatures closer as she dashed back to the main cave. It seemed like the change disrupted the creations, which started trying to catch the Leviathan to no avail. When Livy finally left the tunnel, almost all the monsters she passed by were chasing her. With a smile, she returned to her bipedal form with a jump. In the air, she prepared the strongest [Draconic Eruption], creating a wave large enough to cover the entire tunnel. What really made this word was the couple of Smoke Weavers that were caught off guard. The large tortoises were close enough to the ground to hit the legs of the Soot Golem, causing it to topple. With such a large creature being dragged by the water, the rest couldn''t do anything except be dragged along. "I''m sorry. The monsters are acting weird. We need to stay close," the Empress replied. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "What do you mean?" Livy asked. Hera blinked and tossed a few poison needles at the last monsters coming from the tunnel Livy came from. They had managed to clear this area, and it seemed like they would have a small break. "Don''t you remember what we talked about yesterday? About the monsters we would fight?" "Remember that most of them are weak to water and stuff," Livy scratched her cheek. Hera let out a sigh, "OK. I''m sorry for having to do this. Livy, I order you to know everything we discussed about the monsters in this rampage." The Leviathan was forced to close her eyes as the information rushed inside her mind. It wasn''t a pleasant feeling, but at least it only took a few seconds. "Ugh, this is not fun," Livy groaned. "I know. I''m sorry," Hera replied, "but do you understand now?" "Yeah¡­ Cinder Hounds don''t retreat. Never¡­ And the Magma Forges don''t work together. They are supposed to fight each other when they see another one of their kind. Gloom Bats and Magma Spiders are deadly enemies and should fight when they see one another. Is that information right when there isn''t a rampage going on?" the Leviathan had a confused expression. "No. This was all based on the last rampage," Skyler got closer to Hera, realizing the conversation they were about to have, "We don''t understand why things are happening like that either. It doesn''t make any sense." "Is it just here? Maybe this entrance has something special about it," Viper suggested. Vash, who just finished a call with the command center, approached, "No. There are a couple of other areas that are seeing that kind of thing. But not everywhere." "Are they connected in any way? Each area, I mean," Lurize asked. "Not as far as anyone can tell, but they are not 100% sure about it. Those who are waiting for their shifts in the Core Spire are looking over records to see if they find a connection," the harpy turned to Hera, "They also asked how far your spell is from being used. According to Vazor, this is the only plan that wouldn''t have any drawbacks. Anything else they try to do will come at a cost. Hera closed her eyes to sense her snakes. With the exception of a single one, all others had finished their jobs and were now hiding. They would stay there to help guide the mana when Hera triggered the spell. Only then could they be dismissed. However, the last order the Ophidianite gave them was to hide if a monster was getting close, and that seemed to be happening a lot. Almost as if the monsters were looking for something. "I still need maybe half an hour. I think. If the monsters stop trying to get the snakes. It could be faster." "OK," Vash sent a message, "If that is too long to wait, they will let us know whatever else they will do." "And we have more monsters coming!" Skyler called. Another wave of creatures appeared, but it soon became apparent that something was different. The creatures came rushing in, seaming against each other, fighting amongst themselves before even reaching the main cave. This time, the patterns that were shared with them seemed to be correct. If two monsters were supposed to fight each other, they did. If a species refused to run away or would be scared when faced with a specific effect, they would. This only made things even more confusing. Time kept passing, and monsters continued to come, but now they continued to act like wild creatures, fighting as if they were part of a stampede. Vash warned the command center about the change, and they replied that the city below seemed to be under siege. A proper siege, not just a random attack of monsters. Some of the Forge Magmas were even working as blacksmiths, making crude tools and weapons for some of the monsters. Nothing too advanced or even useful, but the action itself was already worrying. Hera was a bit worried, and she told the snake that was still hiding from the monster to make a break for it. There was a moment of tension when the Empress worried about what could happen, but this was the only thing she could do to help the city down below. Thankfully, the monsters seemed to have stopped caring about the snake and allowed it to reach its location. The Empress quickly called Vazor, letting him know she was ready to cast the spell. The dwarf didn''t wait and just told her to go for it. With a nod, Hera turned off the call and moved to the spot where she would have to cast the spell. "Don''t let any monster get me," she told her court, but the rest of the team was also going to help. Focusing on the spell circle around her, she started spreading her mana, but even after emptying her reserves, she was barely able to cover this floor. Understanding that if she was to wait around to recover mana before continua, the spell would take days to finish, the Empress tried something else. She had made one more change in the spell circle aside from the size. To stop the need for a constant flow of mana, it had a way to gather the environmental mana. This should only work to maintain the spell as it was already working, but maybe Hera could attract the mana. She had a skill for it, and her title made Mana more ''interested'' in her. Trying to open that specific connection first, the Ophidianite started to sweat. Even if this wasn''t a physical exercise, the amount of concentration required to do something like that was staggering. Without even realizing it, the seconds of casting became minutes, and I kept going. Little by little, she was able to focus on a specific part of the spell and call the environmental mana to fill it. The more areas of the spell she completed, the easier it became to fill the next one. After around 90 minutes, the spell was ready, and Hera triggered it. All across the room, covering the entire length of the spire and the city below, wisps of green, purple, and orange started to appear, sapping the power of the monsters and giving it back to the people. Hera felt a rush of energy surging into her body at the same time that the monsters around them suddenly started to mess up. They fail to complete movements or accidentally trip and cause problems for other creatures. The Pool of Styx was in effect, and the tide of the rampage was about to change. 798 - Organized Attack Carlos and his team were doing everything they could, but the current wave of monsters was unlike anything he''d ever faced. The Triton was used to rampages. Being one of the few people who chased after the skills, one could get to become more powerful during these events. His team was just the same; they were all rampage specialists. This, however, didn''t feel as if it was a rampage. The monsters were supposed to be coming at them in a frenzy. It was dangerous, of course, but they should all still behave like animals. Controlling, or at least directing, their behavior wasn''t that complicated. All one had to do was to prey on their basic instincts. Especially since rampages would turn even the smartest monster into a mindless creature, he had fought against Dullahans and a skeleton army, including a general leading them all. But even in a situation like that, the creatures just tried to brute force everything. And now, Carlos watched as a group of Ash Gremlins, ridding Cinder Hounds, went around the city walls, tossing their weird ash glue at the windows. Those windows were stations where hunters and people with long-range attacks were barricading themselves before attacking. Following that, the Void Weavers, lanky bear like creatures with a large arm in the place of the tail, created large chunks of liquid obsidian and tossed at those same windows, turning the ash into actual blocks of obsidian. This was supposed to be a reaction that was only recently found out since the Ash Gremlins always stayed very far away from the Void Weavers. The Forge Magmas were working together with the Magma Constructs to create¡­ something. It was hard to tell since they were all far in the distance, but it looked like some sort of siege weapon. Not a trebuchet or some sort of long-distance weapon. But a battering ram or a mobile tower to allow the monsters to climb up the walls of the city. A few groups did try to stop whatever was going on, but the moment anyone got closer, the horde of monsters turned to attack them. It was clear this was their highest priority. "I just got a message from the command center. They also don''t know why this is happening. And without a connection, the internet doesn''t work during a rampage; we can''t ask around," Kaylin, a dwarven woman, said with a sigh as she took her position. Without even waiting for a reply, she drew her bow and sent an acid arrow at one of the cinder hounds in the front of the pack. The projectile struck the creature''s front leg and made it fall to the ground. However, instead of dropping the Ash Gremlin and causing a pile-up, the rest of the pack simply moved away, with the gremlin that was riding the injured hound jumping to another. "Shit, not even that?" Charon, an elven mage, gasped, "Aren''t the hounds supposed to halt if the leader of the pack falls?" "Maybe it wasn''t the alpha," Kaylin scratched her cheek. "C''mon, don''t tell me you fell for that crap. The whole idea of alphas is bullshit, and you know it," Charon huffed as he clasped his hands, electricity crackling around his body. He took a deep breath as a spell circle appeared around him with the assistance of that current. He aimed at a group of monsters who were flying high. There were some Cloudwing Strikers, and it was hard to tell if they would go for the spire or try to attack the city. Either way, they couldn''t take the chance. Tossing his hands towards the creatures, he activated his spell, ''Plasma Chain,'' a hyper-concentrated burst of pure energy flew to the sky, hitting the first of the electric birds, then jumping to the next, and the next, spreading to all 24 before they fell to the ground. If the spell itself wasn''t enough to kill them, the impact finishes them off. Charon puffed his chest, "This is how you clear them." "Oh, stop being a child," Kaylin huffed, but in response, she fired off a dozen arrows in quick succession. All of them hit the pack of Cinder Hounds only to explode in jagged shards of ice a moment later. This was enough to clear the monsters, including the gremlins riding them. Charon huffed, "And I''m the one being a child." "Shut up and focus!" Carlos stopped the two, "Something is going on back there." "What are they doing?" Ariel, the second Triton and only healer of the team, stepped forward and used [Far sight], a skill to see the movement of the monsters in the distance. He watched as the Forge Magmas continued building their weapon. About 50 of them spread around this large tube structure, emanating heat. From behind them, two large Molten Elementals appeared, lumbering forward with heavy steps. Yells all over the walls warned the people of their appearance. Those creatures would be a problem no matter who tried to fight them. Slowly, they approached whatever the Forge Magmas were doing and started to climb inside the structure. Confused, Adriel narrated what was going on, but he also failed to understand what was going on. From above, a pair of Ember Garudas came down and positioned themselves as if they were about to do the same. Climb inside of whatever was being created. But instead of doing that, they stopped and opened their mouths. Flames roared inside their throats. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "What the hell are they doing?" Charon asked. "I don''t know, but a bunch of Gloom Bats just rushed inside the cylinder," Ariel replied. That made everything inside Carlos'' mind click, making him yell at the top of his lungs, "IT''S A CANON-" Together with the end of his phrase, a loud explosion roared, shaking the entire city. Siege weapon was truly that, a siege weapon. But not one as rudimentary as a battering ram or a plain tower. They had built a cannon, and the Molten Elementals were the ammo. With the Gloom Bats being able to use a suicide skill that turned their bodies into highly explosive gas, all they needed was a spark to ignite everything. And to avoid wasting the force behind the explosion, they used something that could overpower it. The breath attack of the Ember Garudas. The result was a single shot. A single shot broke the cannon, killed the Forge Magmas that were created, and hurt most of the creatures protecting the construction; even the Ember Garudas were injured in the process. However, the results spoke for themselves. With the Molten Elemental shells, the frontal wall of the Hearthome was broken open. More specifically, it melted open. Smoke was billowing out from the wreckage created by the attack. The towers and the walls, as well as all of those who were defending it, lay broken on the ground. The monsters roared and started charging towards the city. All of them, without exception. The hundreds of Cinder Hounds, thousands of Gloom Bats and Magma Spiders, and the three Sky Watchers seemed to be the generals of their army. Along with all the other monsters there could be found in the room, they were all charging non stop, swarming the city and attacking anything in their path. Carlos didn''t know how long he was out for. When he woke up, Charon, Ariel, and Kaylin were beside him, all battered and bruised. Some of their limbs were broken, and there were pieces of rebar sticking out of Kaylin''s arm. Looking up, he saw Zachary, the bear beastmen, and Tibold, the harpy. The fighter and controller pair were holding on to the rubble, making sure that they were not buried under it all. "You are finally awake. There is a gap behind you. Either leave to get help or open a path to take everyone out," Zachary said. "A path would be better. I don''t think we can wait for help," Tibold buckled under the weight for a moment but was soon able to steady himself. Carlos quickly cast a couple of healing spells on everyone. He might be an explorer, but he had taken healer as one of his role skills. Unfortunately, he focused more on battle heals, which wasn''t the best thing for this kind of situation. Looking back, he saw a small gap between all the rocks and pieces of broken wall. Struggling a bit, he pushed through them and slowly started to open a path. From the outside, he could hear the screams of people and the roars of monsters already inside the city. It seemed like they were falling back to the secondary line of defense. Which should mean not many of the noncombatants were harmed. But it also meant they were running out of options. It took him about two minutes before he was able to open a gap large enough to take his friend out of it. Just as he did so, he saw a large piece of the spire behind the city breaking apart. For a moment, he was scared that the rock would hit them, but its trajectory was different. Instead of going straight down, it was moving almost like a glider, going past the city and crashing on top of the monster army. He glanced up again and saw how the spire now had a massive hole on its side, a hole that was a new entrance for the monsters to enter through. He looked back and started dragging some of his team members outside. He had to do that to allow Zachary and Tibold to leave that place. The two might have been able to withstand the attack, but they were not in the best of shape either. After pulling Ariel and placing him in a hidden spot close to the rubble, he returned to grab Charon. Silently cursing at his low-strength stat. That''s when he saw wisps of green, purple, and orange all around him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Pool of Styx empowers you. While under its area of effect, you will receive the following buff to your attributes. When you leave said area, the buff will vanish, never to return again. Strength + 43 Agility + 22 Endurance + 20 Intelligence + 15 Charisma +10 Luck + 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feeling the surge of power on his body, he quickly dragged the mage out, only to see Ariel already waking up, also surrounded by the wisps of light. He quickly started healing himself and Charon as Carlos went back for Kaylin, only to discover Tibold getting her out. It seemed like Zachary was able to hold on to everything by himself now. And soon, the beastmen left the hole, letting it collapse behind him. As the group was still trying to understand the situation, they saw a Soot Golem appear from the side. The monster raised both arms as the party scrambled to get away. However, the weight of the monster was too much for the debris. It was standing on top. Some of the rubble collapsed, forcing the creature to stumble back. The Golem fell to the ground, large pieces of rock impaling it. The impact also caused the ground to shake enough to cause the collapse of one of the only tall structures that still stood. Not only that, but the piece of wall also fell on top of the monster, killing it in the process. Carlos looked around and noticed how that kind of thing started happening a lot. Monsters that were passing by dangerous places would slip and fall. Ash Gremlins would toss their ash glue only to be intercepted by other attacks, making the glue fall to the ground and become a trap for their own side. It wasn''t like all the monsters were suddenly making mistakes. Only those who were trying to do something risky or moving across a place that could collapse on its own. Almost as if someone had forced Murphy''s law on each of them. "What the hell is going on?" Tibold asked. "I don''t know, but whatever it is, let''s not waste it. We don''t know how long this is going to last. 799 - The last day of a rampage After Hera finished the spell, there wasn''t a massive change in what was happening with her team. Even if they did get a decent buff to their attributes, occasionally, some of the monsters would trip over another, but that was it. Still, the buff they got was somewhat decent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 39 Legacy: Court of Blades. Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 660(+127) Strength: 110 (+12) Endurance: 110 (+1) Agility: 110(+29) Charisma: 110 (+33) Intelligence: 110(+1) Luck: 110 (+51) Mana: 5 275 321/ 5 275 321 Empress Core: 6 500 189/8 753 111 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The buff she got was pretty significant, even if she got the biggest overall buff on the team. As usual, her court wasn''t affected by it, but the titled blades would get some benefits. Aside from that, there were no big events during that day of fighting. No big monsters appeared, and every single creature was considerably weaker. If they were not slower or physically lacking, their reflexes seemed to be all over the place. The rampage became considerably easier. It was still a dangerous situation, and there were moments where the sheer amount of creatures was a lot to deal with, but things had improved somewhat. As they left, the people who took over seemed worried but also happy somehow. Hera didn''t bother asking about it. For some reason, she was feeling very tired. ''Did I get hit by something?'' Hera asked her court. Maybe she had missed something. A monster might have struck her with some kind of poison or ailment that forced her to be like that. ''N-n-n-no, Empress. Not anything that you didn''t notice, at least,'' Dusa replied. The Ophidianite closed her eyes as she walked, having Dusa guide her along. Hera did her best to focus her senses, trying to see what could be happening with her. She couldn''t feel much out of the ordinary, but eventually, she realized one thing was out of place. Or at least one thing that was a bit different than she expected. She could still feel the Pool of Styx in effect, which was supposed to be the case, but also there was something else. A connection with the spell circle that was tugging at the back of her mind. Still, it didn''t sound like the worst situation. Besides, the spell seemed to be helping a considerable amount. Just as the team returned to Cora Spire itself, Sapphira sent Hera a message, thanking her for the spell and telling them what happened during this shift. An army of monsters arrived in the city, and they started their siege very intelligently, even including using a siege weapon. This forced the command to do one of the things they didn''t want to do. Break apart a part of the spire to use it to kill a large number of monsters. However, doing so created a large opening in the center of the spire, a place that monsters could use to enter and invade the city. Even if it was a far-away opening, the amount of mana inside would leak out and lure the creatures, even during a rampage. However, after the Pool Of Styx started, things changed, and people were able to fight back pretty well. They were also tracking how many attribute points, and it averaged at around 100 points per person. Some got smaller buffs, but some also got bigger ones. Sapphira also apologized for her previous behavior and offered to help Hera spread that spell to other cities. Hera just rolled her eyes and typed, ''I appreciate the offer, but first, I need to be sure that giving this spell to others will be safe. If I can''t confirm that, then I won''t share it with anyone. And we both know you took pictures or saved the design to try to replicate it. I just hope that you understand why I''m worried and don''t do anything rash.'' The Empress thought this would be it. Sapphira wouldn''t give any answer. Yet, to her surprise, the woman replied in just a few moments, ''We are not the guild. You asked us not to share this, so we won''t. Not to say we won''t have people trying to come up with similar spells, but even if we do, we will be making our own version from scratch.'' With a shrug, Hera continued walking with her team. They were already exhausted again, and all they wanted was to rest. The next few days were much similar. With the Pool of Styx in effect, everyone seemed to be less tired at the end of the day, but even with that help, the situation was slowly deteriorating. This was a battle of attrition, and if it lasted for too much longer. They would lose. For the Empress team, things got slightly easier on the 6th day of the rampage since Nimbus was able to return to the fold. However, Hera was irritable. She hasn''t had a single decent night of rest ever since casting the Pool of Styx. It was like a part of her mind was forced to stay awake. That being said, it wasn''t like she was sleep-deprived or anything of the sort. When fighting, she could focus on her surroundings and avoid making mistakes, just like the rest of the team. Her mood was the only thing affected by this effect. Or at least that happened at first. After the third day, the Ophidianite became more prone to make mistakes, and so did her court, which revealed another aspect of the spell. The reason why she was able to keep the Pool of Styx up nonstop was her legacy. She would share the mental burden with her court, allowing each of the blades to take a bit of the effort of casting and maintaining the spell. Being snippy had the side effect of giving the Empress a bit of a reputation. Everyone knew that if they wanted to ask something of the Ophidianite, they couldn''t come up with dumb or obvious questions; otherwise, they would get just a cold stare as a reply. There was even a small group of people who seemed to enjoy that kind of thing and would show up to ask her nonsensical or very personal questions. But, after Livy and Viper stepped in, threatening to cut off people''s tongues, those questions stopped. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. There was one more thing that changed during the last few days. It seemed like Hera was getting credited with a large number of kills. More than what her team was facing. Her tally was going up even when she was resting or sleeping. It was also clear that she wasn''t getting credit for all of the kills happening under the pool of Styx, but by Vazor''s estimate, she should be getting around 1 in a thousand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monster Rampage - Core Spire Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward. Rewards: 250 000 gold Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster. Cloudwing Striker - 215 Magma Construct - 52 Void Weaver - 32 Gloom Bat - 993 Cloud Serpent - 8 Magma Crawler - 83 Ember Wyvern - 4 Ash Gremlin - 165 Soot Golem - 79 Magma Spider - 553 Whispering Crystal - 72 Ash Reaver - 58 Molten Elemental - 5 Smoke Weaver - 33 Cinder Hound - 104 Forge Magma - 2 Sky Leaver - 12 Skystone Watcher - 1 Ember Garuda - 2 Forge Lord - 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was getting around 30% more kills than the rest of her team. When the 7th day came, the sky turned red, signaling the last day of the rampage. At the same time, the entire room received a quest depending on their location. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest - Region - Core Spire Don''t stop the flow. A group of monsters, led by a wendigo, is marching towards the top of the spire in order to stop the flow of magma that streams all the way to the volcano. If they are able to do so, eventually, the pressure will be so strong that it will burst open, creating more sources for the flow of magma and destroying the spire. Stop the monsters in order to complete the quest. When all regions complete their quests, the rampage will end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was odd not just because a wendigo was leading this group, but there was even a mention of how the rampage would end after the last. Hera remembered Brinnefront and Boothudurn, and neither place had this kind of phrasing. "We should go," Skyler stood up from her bed. They were all resting in their room now before their shift. "Yeah. The sooner we finish this, the better," Flint nodded. "I agr-" before Hera could finish her phrase, her tablet rang. It was a call from Vazor, "Hello?" The dwarf appeared on the screen, "Hera. How many people in your team can fly?" "Just Vash. Well, I have a way, too, but it''s more of a mount. Why?" the Empress replied. "And yours, is it permanent? Or temporary?" "Permanent while the mount is in one piece." "OK, you and Vash will need to head down to the Hearthome. The rest of your team can come to the command center. We are getting every person available in order to protect the top. We have already had a couple of teams up there since the start of the rampage. They can hold down the fort until the rest of you arrive," Vazor explained. "What about the quest?" Vash asked. He knew that the final quest had a different type of reward. "If you move to a different region, you will receive the new quest. Don''t worry about it," Vazor continued, "The army that was attacking Hearthome is still there, and their quest is different. We need to protect the current Forge Lord from the next one. The problem is that the Forge Lord can''t deal with flying creatures very well, and no one can approach them unless they are flying. Hera glanced at Vash, "Are you up for this?" "We are flying above a volcano, right? Do you have a way to protect us from the heat? And to let us breathe without worrying?" Vazor nodded, "Yeah, for both questions. Usually, when we are going to fight the Forge Lord, we do it like this. We get a team of flying attacks and strikes from above. We have around 50 sets of gear made exactly to protect someone from the heat and let them breathe during a fight like that." Vash stood up, "OK them. Let''s go. Do we have a path going down, or should we just drop from the side of the spire?" "Your call. Dropping will be faster but more dangerous. We have the elevator that will take about half an hour." "Let''s get the elevator," Hera replied, "No reason to risk ourselves like this." "Yeah," Vash nodded as everyone quickly got ready. They walked together to the command center, but the Ophidinaite and the Harpy split off to go to the Hearthome. "Be careful," Neria asked the two who were going on their own. "I know you have more numbers than we do, but still, try not to get hit," Flint added. "Also, watch out for the obsidian shards. If they are going after the Forge Lord, I wouldn''t doubt they had some Skystone Watchers in the group," Skyler added. "Be careful, too; you remember how there were a few monsters missing from the rampage? Those are the ones who should be going to the top, so you won''t have the experience of fighting against them, " Hera replied. "You all be safe. We''ll have a drink when this is over," Roan cheered with an invisible mug. "Yeah, and I would love to find a hotel with a pool. Seriously, all this ash is messing up my feathers," Vash patted himself down, sending a small plume of smoke away from his body even if it hadn''t been that long since he had taken a shower. They didn''t say anything else and continued their paths. One way or another, this was the last day of the rampage. 800 - Protect the Forge Vash and Hera were on the elevator, waiting for it to arrive on the bottom floor. The entire elevator only had 15 people, and it did not continue with them. Mostly harpies who felt like they could help defend the Forge Lord. After a quick chat, Hera understood why this was the case. There were many more Children of the Sky in the Core Spire, but Vazor didn''t want to break apart too many teams. After all, worst case scenario the rampage could still last for days. Hera and Vash were an exception. The dwarf had understood that without the Ophidianite, her team wouldn''t be able to protect their station. Their levels were a bit lower than the average of the teams, and according to some reports he got, the only reason they were able to hold on without any casualties was because they were splitting the workload between the team and Hera''s legacy. If that wasn''t the case, he would likely have to send another team to help them since day 2. That was also the reason why he asked Hera to help. Having to reserve one of the 50 sets of gear and getting the equivalent of 5 people to fight in exchange was better than most of the other options he had available. Hera was looking at everyone inside the elevator. They all seemed a bit worried, which was understandable, of course, but there was also a fire in their eyes. The confirmation that this was the last part of the rampage fueling their drive to fight. Vash, on the other hand, didn''t seem to have the same dedication. The harpy was glancing from side to side, trying to see the glimpses of the outside world they could occasionally see in the elevator. "Are you ok?" Hera asked. "Y-yeah. I''m great," Vash replied but only got a raised eyebrow in response. That makes him break, "OK. I''m not fine. This is scary. I mean, when we are fighting together, I know you have my back, but it''s going to be just us two out there. What if something goes wrong? From what I understand, we are fighting a full aerial army. And in an open space. It will be very different from what we have been doing so far. And I''m not exactly good at fighting." Before the Empress could reply, she heard Someone whispering, ''Bet you 5 she makes him cry,'' her fame of being rude seemed to be spreading to more than just not liking dumb questions. Maybe people truly believed she was mean. Holding herself back so she would not roll her eyes, Hera said, "You were doing great back there. Yes, you were more focused on scouting, but that doesn''t mean that it won''t be helpful even in an open area. Besides, nothing changed. I''m still there, and I got your back, just like you got mine. Also, two of us?" the Empress snapped her finger, calling out her entire court. The titled blades were still in their weapon forms since it would be too crowded for them here, "We are all here. Honestly, the rest of the team is who should be worried about their numbers." Vash looked up and chuckled, "Yeah. Can they fly, too?" "With the exception of Nimbus, only when they are like this. They can''t keep up with the Sentinel''s top speed, but to fight, they are more than able to do whatever they need." "Yeah¡­ Yeah! You''re right. We are still together. Everything will be fine," Vash nodded with a smile. The talk seemed to have cheered him up a bit, even if there was still some fear in his eyes. Knowing that pressing on the matter right now would only make things worse, Hera smiled and looked forward. She waited a few moments before speaking loudly, "Someone lost a bet. You better pay up," A harpy and a dwarf tried to hide in the corner and stopped talking while the elevator continued its trip. Almost one hour later, they arrived at the ground floor. Or at least, what they considered the ground floor. It was still almost 300 meters up from the city, but it was the last part of the spire where people had built an outpost. Anything below this and the fumes became a problem. They still were a problem here, but they had set up an air purifying system that took some of that smoke and extracted the good parts of it before sending it back inside the area. Doing so closer to the actual magma would become too costly. As Hera stepped out of the elevator, she saw a notification about the quest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have left the Core Spire region during the rampage quest. Said quest will no longer be available for you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest - Region - Hearthome Lonely Lord of the Caldera The Forge Lord, who lives inside the caldera at the bottom of the spire, is threatened by a new Forge Lord who wishes to take its place. If the new lord succeeds, it will cause an eruption in order to erase everything marked by the hands of the previous lord. Protect the current Forge Lord from the aerial assault and defeat the new lord in order to complete the quest. When all regions complete their quests, the rampage will end. Stolen novel; please report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The group didn''t have to go to the city. Instead, they had brought the gear here and one person to explain how this all worked. The Forge Lord was considered a natural force of the room, a creature that couldn''t be defeated by a single person or party. In modern terms, it would be called a raid boss. The type of monster that required several teams working together to kill it. Usually, this would require fifty people on the front lines, flying and using the gear to protect them, while another hundred or so would be on the mouth of the caldera. Surrounded by barriers to ward off the toxic gas and using long-range attacks to help with the damage. Unfortunately, this time, they wouldn''t be able to have the secondary team. Especially since the idea wasn''t to kill the Forge Lord but to protect it. Going for indiscriminate damage wasn''t the way to go. And trying to hit the flying army wasn''t the best idea. For one, it would be very hard to hit them from a long distance. And two, any spells or arrows that flew off and hit the ground could attract the ground army towards their position. If that were to happen, the defenses of the Hearthome would have to shift, and that transition might expose them too much. That was even the best-case scenario. In the worst case, the ground army just decides to swarm the people at the mouth of the caldera, locking them between the magma and the unstoppable swarm of monsters. The idea was just to protect the Forge Lord until the new one appeared. Then, they could redirect some of their forces to kill it. Getting people to go after it right away wasn''t the plan simply because they didn''t know how long it would take for the new Forge Lord to appear. Hera and Vash walked to the side, where a group of people were helping the new arrivals to get their gear and explaining how to set it up properly. A large triton with tattoos all over his arms approached them, "Hey. Can you tell me your names?" he paused when seeing the Ophidianite for a moment but quickly returned to what he was doing, "Just to confirm you are the people we called here." "Sure, Hera Quetzaveth and Vash Skychild," the Empress replied. "Ok, got it. Come here, Zach, short for Zachary, will set you up. I''m Carlos, by the way, but we don''t have time for a better introduction." "No worries," Hera just nodded and walked towards the beastmen who were passing along the gear. It was a half mask that only covered the lower half of one''s face and part of the neck, and a red vest with an orange belt. Zach was showing how to wear the mask and how to activate the heat protection. On a closer inspection, the Empress realized that the masks also had a visor that would form a seal around her eyes while keeping her ears exposed. "Are you two clerks?" Vash asked the pair who was helping them. "Clerks?" Carlos tilted his head. "Yeah, clerks. People who just do this kind of thing instead of fighting. I don''t mean anything bad by it. It''s just that you look like you were supposed to be fighting," the harpy explained. "Vash¡­" Hera sighed. "He ain''t wrong," Zach replied, "We were fighting, but we had a few members of our team injured when the monsters broke the outer wall. Our mage took the worst of it. We were able to defend some places for a few days, but eventually, our healer said we didn''t have a choice but to stop. Charon was in bad shape and needed time to heal." "We are also off duty right now. So we can be here to help in case a monster tries to show up here. Things became much easier after that Styx thing," Carlos turned back to Hera and Vash, "By the way, do you know what that was? I asked around, but no one knows for sure. Aside from it being something that started in the Core Spire." "Oh, that''s a spell I made," Hera replied absentmindedly. "You made that?" Zach and Carlos gasped at the same time. "Yeah. I would love to say it''s not as complicated as it sounds, but it really is. Not to mention stretching it to cover the entire spire, the city was a mess. Keeping that shit up is also not easy, and I''m probably the only one who can do it for such a long time," Hera continued speaking as she put on the best. It didn''t look great, but she could already feel a bit more comfortable. This was a minor effect of the cloth used to make those pieces of equipment. "Wow¡­ that is amazing. Before you go, can I just say one thing?" Carlos asked. Hera let out a long sigh, "No, I''m not teaching you how to do it. If we weren''t at war, maybe, maybe I would have a different answer. But right now, The spell doesn''t have any protection against people copying or hijacking it. Unless I can be sure that the humans won''t end up trying to use this against us, I won''t be sharing this with anyone." "Ok¡­ that has nothing to do with what I wanted to say," Carlos frowned. "Oh? My bad. What was it then?" "Thank you. You saved our lives. The moment that spells hit, a Soot Golem was about to attack us, and I don''t know if we would''ve been able to escape with our lives. Not all of us." Hera gave a half nod, "No worries. This is what the spell was supposed to do." "Do you think I could buy you a drink when this is all over? As a thank you," Carlos asked. The Empress let out a sigh, "Look, I don''t even know if I''m going to have a day to rest after this is over. So n-" Before she could finish the answer, Vash poked her with his wing. The harpy tilted his head towards Carlos and then raised his eyebrows. After rolling her eyes, Hera continued, "Sure. If I''m free when this is over, you can bring me a drink as a thanks. But for that to happen, we have to actually end this rampage. So we should be going." Without waiting for a reply, Hera and Vash walked out with their gear. Once they were close to the doors leading outside and far enough from earshot, the harpy finally spoke, "Just because we are in the middle of a war, you don''t have to ignore a guy who is hitting on you." Hera scoffed, "He wasn''t hitting on me. He just wanted to say thanks." "Girl, I saw the way he looked at you. He wasn''t offering just a thanks." "Either way, it''s not like I''m interested. If you liked him, feel free to shoot your shot," Hera summoned Nimbus on his griffon form and climbed up his back. "We don''t know if he likes men, much less if he likes harpies. And don''t you think you should look into dating again? I mean, you haven''t been with anyone since Silah. Right?" "Can we not talk about my love life, or lack of it, just before we are about to fight an army of flying creatures?" "Can we talk about it later, then?" Vash smiled. "As long as that shuts you up now, sure," Hera sighed as the two took flight. There was already a large amount of monsters flying around and fighting with the people who would defend the Forge Lord. Hera took a deep breath and flew off with Nimbus, ready to fight the flock. 801 - Flight of the bumblebee
Just as Hera and Vash were starting to fly into the formation, both riding Nimbus for now, one of the mission''s commanders approached. "Hey, you two. Do you think you can take a wide area by yourself? The back of the spire is mostly open, and even if there are going to be fewer monsters there, we need people who can take care of it all." Hera turned to Vash, "I think we can do that. Maybe being away from the front line will be better." The harpy nodded, "Yeah. If there are fewer monsters, I can support you better." The Ophidianite turned back to the commander, "We can do that." "Great, go around the pillar. There is someone there to help you organize. Back there, you probably won''t have to worry about hitting our Forge Lord by accident, but be careful nonetheless." Arriving at their spot, there was a very brief conversation with the person leading that area; in the end, Hera and Vash were responsible for taking care of the region directly opposite the city. That should be the easiest place to defend since everyone was expecting the monsters to come along with the army, but for that reason, it was also the place where the least amount of people would be. Either way, for Hera and Vash, this was a good place. The performer could set up a stage in an area using his role skills. That was something he wanted to do for a while, and the Empress had seen it once before, but unless they were dealing with a defensive mission, it wouldn''t be worth it to have something like that. Now, however, he had his chance to shine. Vash quickly used the [Personal Stage] skill to create the area where his skills would shine. He created what was a mix of a circus tent with an obstacle field made for a bird. There was a large pole in the center, holding up a half tent going about 30 meters in the sky, together with another long stretch of tarp covering another 100 meters in front. Several large rings floated around, waiting for whoever was going to jump into them. Trumpets, trombones, and tubas, along with drums, cymbals, and xylophones, appeared. Spotlights came from all around the tent, mixed in the small string lights that illuminated the entire setup. In the back, there was also a small stage together with a mixing station like one would see in an electronic concert. The music quickly started with an upbeat rhythm like a modern musical. In the middle of it all, Vash was dancing and singing, flying through all the rings, almost as if he was warming up for the show. Creating this wasn''t instant, taking the better part of an hour while everyone else watched and waited for the incoming monsters. Only a few of the monsters, who should have been the scouting party, appeared, and none of them reached the back of the spire. "Well¡­ if the idea was to not attract attention, that ship has sailed," Hera mentioned. ''That''s true,'' Nimbus nodded, speaking on the Empress'' mind while in his griffon form, ''but I kind of want to follow him along those rings. It seems fun.'' "Really?" Hera smirked, "Hey, Vash! Nimbus wants to participate. Can he join?" "Of course! Just don''t use the rings I haven''t crossed yet. But this is the whole point of this skill. Each time you pass through a ring, you get a buff. They run out quick, but pack a punch!" Without even saying anything else, Nimbus started following the rings. It was a good thing that Hera now had a tail. Otherwise, she wouldn''t be able to hold on to the Sentinel as he picked up speed. Each time he crossed a ring, both he and the Ophidianite received a considerable buff from an 80% increase in damage to receiving a barrier that reduced damage by that same amount. The downside was the duration. Vash wasn''t kidding when he said they ran out quickly; each of them lasted just for 30 seconds, and with each second that they went by, the buff would decrease proportionally. Additionally, if they did a flourish or performed in some way while going through the rings, another of Vash''s skills would trigger, which would increase the power of the buff. "Vash, does this tent stop rain?" Hera asked. "Normal rain, yes. If it has something else, it will damage it, but I can fix things if needed. Why?" "I have another spell that can help." Hera cast a small Elemental Poison Storm near the edge of the tent just to see what would happen. After a moment, Vash nodded, "OK, this is not that bad. I can probably repair it with my mana regeneration without worrying too much. As long as it doesn''t cover the entire tent." "How about this then?" Hera dropped the spell and cast it again, this time surrounding the tent while making sure that no rain would fall directly on top of it. She couldn''t do much with the droplet''s trajectory. After all, this was rain. Wind or any other factors could shift their direction as they fell, but there was essentially a large donut-shipped raincloud above their heads. "Ok, this is not awful. But it takes more than half my regeneration," Vash said. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Are you ok with that? This hurts monsters; it also can trigger ailments, and if a few different stack, I have another skill to make them even worse. That spell doesn''t care if you are a friend or foe, so be careful, and if you need me to drop it, just say the word. I can move around since it world to give me a buff instead of hurting me because of my species." The harpy, who was still flying around, stopped moving and just stared at the Empress for a moment, "You are one scary lady. Do you know that?" "Why?" Hera frowned. "Your best abilities are about making you stronger while making your enemy weaker. And you have a literal army by your side all the time. I''m just glad you are on my side. "It''s not an army. A squadron at most," Hera huffed. The other people who were covering this area heard their shouted conversation and understood that, unless they were inside the tent, they would also be affected by that odd rainbow-colored rain. Hera tried to maintain the spell, but even with her current mana pool, something this big, spanning an area of over 150 square meters, was too much for her. She had never used this spell on this size before, but she would still get a 5% buff to her attributes. It was a small thing considering the other buffs she had available, but when they stacked, every small increase became larger. As they were getting used to all of the differences the buffs were making, they heard some yelling. From the opposite side of the spire, the monsters started to appear. Screams and the sound of battle echoed, and slowly, the monsters started to spill out to the back. Hera and Vash were the last two to face any of them, but that didn''t take long. The whole circus tent was attracting the creatures, which also helped the other people defend the area. Not only were they less likely to be swarmed by the monsters, but they also allowed them to pepper the creatures with long-range attacks as they moved along. Now that the monsters have started attacking, Hera warns the court that this would be a strange situation. She didn''t give them the magnets and allowed the Sentinel to move as fast as he could, dragging the court members when they reached the limit of her range. It was better to do that than to risk being completely out of mana by accident in the middle of a fight. Still, she asked Nimbus to be careful and move at a pace that the others could follow. A dozen Cloud Serpents approached, and the court quickly killed them all off. With the Sentinel, in particular, eating one and using his claws to kill another two at the same time. The rest were killed mostly by the titled blades and Hera, who was using a large venomous glaive because of its reach. Gale, Tide, and Autumn also killed one each without any trouble. The entire fight lasted just a few seconds before the snakes, who looked like they were made out of clouds, were dead. "I''m going to assume that this is just for the rampage, and there were no extra feelings in the mix. For my sanity, ok?" Daskka shuddered. Seeing a bunch of creatures very similar to herself being killed that quickly wasn''t exactly a great feeling. Hera chuckled as she dove inside Vash''s tent while asking the system not to show one particular notification. It was clear that this would flood her view if she let it stay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered X 67 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A large group of Cloudwing Striker dove from above, trying to pierce the tent, but the magically created tarp just bounced them back. All the while, they were being hit by the various elements of the Elemental Poison Storm. Hera passed through a ring to boost Nimbus'' speed and flew towards the monsters, finishing them off just as the wave of creatures appeared. This time, it was the Ember Wyvern''s turn. They were much more resident than the rest of the monsters and didn''t seem to mind the rain, even if Hera could tell they were getting poisoned. The problem was that the poison was flammable by default. Which meant that the moment it entered their bodies, it would just become more fuel for their internal fire. There were only two of them, but it was more than enough to give Hera trouble. Especially when fighting in the sky. The wyverns were used to fighting like that, and the Empress was not. Realizing that she decided to go for a brute-force approach. ''Nimbus, go back to the tent; let''s fight while getting buffed.'' The Sentinel didn''t say anything but followed the plan along. Pivoting to the left once both wyverns were behind him to get some distance before diving. As he did his fly-by, most of the court slammed against the monsters, opening large gashes on the side of their bodies, even if not all attacks were successful. As he dove, Nimbus passed by a small swarm of Gloom Bats. Due to their speed, it felt like bugs were hitting the windshield, with Hera even needing to cover her eyes so as not to be blinded by the gore that was splattering all around her. Most of the remaining bats were killed by the wyverns who were hot on the Sentinel''s heels. He spun around as he arrived inside the tent, already passing by one of the rings. That bumped the buff to an 85% speed increase, which made passing through a few other rings even easier. That wasn''t something Nimbus was doing by himself, but Vash spent long enough with Hera to understand some of the plans she might come up with. To help with his skill, the harpy weaved the rings together, making them dance around Nimbus, who was speedily crossing them, accumulating the various buffs they would give. The Sentinel pivoted just before passing through the final ring, just as Hera prepared to toss a pair of venomous javelins with her ''break combo.'' Vash took a chance to shine the spotlights on the monsters with a specific light that increased the damage taken by those under the light. With a loud crack, both javelins hit the monster square in the head, exploding with the impact and ripping the two to shreds. Hera let out a heavy sigh. In order to kill the wyverns, she had to use a lot of mana to make sure those creatures were gone. She would have to either fall back for a while or stop the Elemental Poison Storm. As she pondered her choices, she noticed something coming from the clouds in the distance. It was a large group of flying monsters, Gloom Bats, Skystone Watchers, Cloudwing Strikers, Cloud Serpents, Ember Garudas, and even more of the same Ember Wyverns she just killed. Leading that battalion was a single creature with wings made out of motel rock, large fiery claws, eyes that glowed red with the same heat as the caldera, and pearlescent white skin. "Of course," Hera let out an even stronger sigh. She didn''t have to wait for her [Observe] to know what that was. She told Nimbus to move towards the stage, where the mixing table was, grab the microphone that was set up on the side, and yell, her voice being carried by the invisible speakers that boosted the sound of the music, "WENDIGO!" 802 - Dont let them fight With Hera''s warning, everyone started to gather closer to the tent. They were still giving a wide berth from it, not wanting to be hit by the rain that seemed to hurt anyone except for the caster. Or, in this case, the snake woman who was flying on her griffon. Still, it didn''t take long for everyone to also see the Wendigo. A couple of the people fighting had evolved their [Observe] to reach longer ranges, which allowed them to confirm two things. First, it truly was one of the abhorrent creatures whose only desire was to devour everything, but also, the monster was already level 41 and still growing. The army was a good few kilometers in the distance, but even then, people could see how a few of the flying creatures moved in front of the monster only to be eaten by it. Unlike what happened in other rampages, it looked like this monster was accepted as part of their army. Not only that, but the members of the army were willing to give themselves up to make it stronger. "Do you think the idea is to have it eating the new Forge Lord too?" Vash asked. Hera''s eyes went wide as she turned to the harpy, "I really fucking hope not. Can you imagine? A wendigo that ate two Forge Lords?" "Two? Why two? I was just thinking about the one that''s already here." "I don''t think it would stop there. Not the way those things behave, at least. It would probably keep going and eat everything." "Oh¡­. Yeah, that''s bad," Vash''s face was drained of some of its colors, realizing their danger, "Wasn''t there a whole thing about if they got too strong, they might be able to cross doorways?" "Sort of. That happened during the devil hunt. That was the last time monsters could grow, but even then, that was different from what was going on with Wendigos," Hera continued. "Really? How so?" There was a loud shriek as more monsters started to get closer. "We''ll talk later. And be ready to drop this stage. If the Wendigo targets us, I don''t think we can handle it." "Got it," Vash nodded, and they continued their fight. More of the flying creatures appeared, trying to kill them. The Empress and Nimbus continued their dance, attacking the monsters while under the Elemental Poison Storm to make sure she could kill as many of them as she could. Despite that, the waves of creatures were relentless. For each one that the Empress was able to destroy, another three would take its place, and that seemed to be only increasing. The sounds coming from the other side of the spire also seemed to be increasing. In the middle of the noise, the Ophidianite was even able to gather that the new Forge Lord seemed to have appeared. To make matters worse, the current one started using one of its few skills to defend itself against flying enemies. Pillars of lava were rising from the caldera, trying to reach those in the sky. Hera and Vash only saw that happening but didn''t have to worry about the attacks. Their setup was already too high up for even the tallest of the pillars to reach them. About 30 minutes passed until the main force of the army arrived, all led by the wendigo. A barrage of spells and arrows flew at the monsters, who started to fall like flies. At the same time, the creatures around the Empress tried to flee. Even if they had no problem throwing themselves against her, for the first time, they showed some version of a self-preservation instinct. With the rest of the monsters running, Hera started to move towards the army, killing any creature she could before they got too far away. When the larger creatures came close, she pulled back. It was stupid to fight them one on one. The best way to deal with one of those creatures was to lure them towards a larger group of people. Allowing the defenders to overwhelm quickly and with no injuries. Unfortunately, it seemed like those monsters had learned about said strategy. Every time someone tried to lure one of the more powerful beasts into a trap, the creature would pull back. That didn''t mean it was without success. After close to an hour of battle, the army started to diminish. The monsters were no longer rushing at them mindlessly, yet none of them retreated. Not completely. To make matters even more worrying, the wendigo was still around, waiting and stalking the defenders. Every now and then, it would launch an attack on someone. It could be just a small fire bolt. The kind of thing that wouldn''t hurt even someone at level 5, or a molten lance capable of killing even a few of the more defense-oriented people in the area. Thankfully, it was very easy to see the kind of attack that was coming, which allowed the target to decide if they would block or dodge. However, slowly, the wendigo started making more complicated moves. It would hide behind other monsters and send the attack using their bodies to hide it. Or, it would try to change the shape of one attack to pretend it was something different. The creature was still very far from being able to make one skill look like the other, but there was a visible improvement already. At this point, it didn''t just feel like they were facing the creature but the future threat. The worst part is that if it had managed to reach the Forge Lord, the creature would have had a lot more experience to evolve its abilities. Then again, that moment of evolution could''ve been the best chance to kill it without hurting anyone. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. As Hera thought about what the wendigo was doing, someone screamed from behind, "They are asking for help against the new Forge Lord! And there are no more monsters coming. This should be all they have. Clear them out so we can help defend the city!" "Sure, easy for you to say," Hera mumbled as Nimbus spiraled downwards, evading about a dozen creatures'' attacks. Some of the magic attacks exploded as if they were hitting something invisible. Vash was working his magic to interrupt the mana and make the attacks fizzle out. The Empress also had to drop the Elemental Poison Rain since the battle was too hectic for people not to be able to move around the tent freely. ''NIMBUS GO UP!'' Dusa yelled out of the Blue at the top of her metaphorical lungs. Knowing that the diadem would never have that reaction for no reason, the Sentinel flapped his wings as a large white mouth with glowing orange teeth snapped shut right under him. ''What the fuck was that?'' Vash was terrified. "Something that I have no idea how it got here," Hera gasped, looking down. It''s been a while since she saw it, and this was the first time the creature was this close, but the wendigo looked like a giant crocodile floating in the air thanks to a set of six magma wings coming from its back. There was something about its mouth that seemed wrong. The teeth were sharper, and the maw was larger than it should be. Not to mention that there were glowing markings around the wendigo''s face, neck, and legs. The same marks that the Ember Wyverns had, "Shit, it ate the wyverns!" the Empress yelled to everyone that could hear. Vash didn''t wait a moment to replicate the message using the sound system of his [Personal Stage]. The wendigo roared, trying to catch Hera repeatedly, but Nimbus was too quick for it. Even with all the levels and the skills it had gained from the other monsters, it seemed like speed wasn''t one of its main attributes. ''Nimbus, I have a bad idea. Would you be able to be just out of its reach while running away?'' ''Unless it has a sudden burst of speed skill, I think I can. What''s the plan?'' ''I''m going to make it chase us,'' Hera replied, preparing a spell. It was a variation of what Blue used to do to attract a monster''s attention. In essence, the Empress was changing the effects of a poison needle to create a version of a berserker effect. Something that would make the target see red and tunnel vision with Hera as the goal. Why would Hera be the goal? Because making this effect required a point of focus, something for the poison to make it look clearer. And the easiest thing to do was to make the source of the poison the focus. After the spell was done, the Empress tossed the needle towards the wendigo. Just as expected, the creature caught it with its mouth. None of the poison needles she used so far were enough to even pierce its hide. And that''s why, this time, the spell wasn''t trying to reach the bloodstream. Instead, it would dissolve in its mouth like candy. There was a moment when it stared at the Empress, confused. Then it let out a roar of pure rage before the monster started chasing after the Empress with everything it had. Nimbus started running from the monster, with Dusa helping him not to go too fast so the wendigo felt like it was always just about to get its prey. "Vash! Tell everyone the wendigo is chasing me. I''m going to be flying around the spire. Ask people to hit it as I go by!" Hera yelled to the harpy, who quickly stopped the music and sent out the warning. Only then did he speak with the Ophidianite "This is crazy! Is it working?" "Yup, and we have its full attention," Hera smiled as Nimbus dodged another molten lance. For now, they were still moving around the tent to give everyone a chance to understand what was going on and prepare for the attack. "How long does the spell last?" Vash asked. "I don''t know. I don''t think it lasts that long." "So you are banking on us killing the wendigo before the spell ends?" "Pretty much. This thing was too sneaky, and no one was able to hit it properly. I''m guessing it''s not that sturdy. Ok, I''m going now. Be safe and run if you need to," Nimbus flew up, picking up some speed and staying above the rest of the monsters; that way, everyone would be able to see them coming and aim properly at the wendigo. Three arrows and two ice spikes suddenly slammed against the white monsters, dealing some damage to the creature, "Go. We''ll look after your teammate!" a harpy and a beast with a pair of winger shoes appeared. Vash seemed much less worried now, and Hera just nodded and started to move. It took a few passes before all the defenders understood the plan. They would first try to stop the monster, forcing Hera herself to block their attacks. Her route was going all the way to the east side of the spire, then spinning around and heading west, all while keeping to the south side. If she suddenly showed up in the front with a wendigo on her back, she had no idea how people would react. The attacks were not constant. The Empress had to slow down every once in a while so the monster would be in range, and some people didn''t seem to want to risk attacking the Empress, or they were too busy with their own fights. However, in the middle of the 12th pass, one arrow struck the right wound on the wendigo and made it stop moving completely. As the monster fell, Hera didn''t want to leave anything to chance. Nimbus was tired, his body was covered in injuries and burns, and the Empress was no better. They were able to avoid getting bitten by the creature, but most of its attacks hit them, even if they tried to dodge. Preparing a ''break combo,'' Hera asked Nimbus to dive towards the monster. She tossed a javelin using almost half a million mana in the [Grasshopper Stab]. The impact blasted a hole in the side of the creature''s body and sent it even faster toward the magma of the caldera. According to the information they had, no monster could survive that heat. Not even the Molten Elementals or Ember Wyverns. And Hera hoped that this was also the case for the wendigo. She looked up and saw how the army that was attacking the back was already very thin. Only a few dozen stragglers still came to challenge the defenders. On the other side, people were screaming, trying to stop the Forge Lord, who seemed to be trying to handle things personally. "Don''t let them fight!" some yells reached the Ophidianite''s ears. Hera just shrugged and asked Nimbus to return to Vash and the tent. Whatever was going on back there, it wasn''t her responsibility. Besides, she did her part, and considering how tired she was, going there would not add another body to the casualty pile. Her decision was correct as in just a few more minutes, a very welcome notification appeared for everyone in the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Complete ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 803 - No time to rest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rampage Quest Complete Region - Hearthome Hidden quest complete - the Empty Caldera The Forge Lord, who lives inside the caldera at the bottom of the spire, was killed after he left the volcano itself, and the new Forge Lord never managed to reach the magma. Instead, the wendigo controlling the army was killed and fell into the hot lava before it was able to withstand it. Now, the caldera lays empty and will remain so for the next 6 months. The contribution of all those involved in the fight has been tallied. Your reward will be proportional to your contribution. Rewards 8th place - Forgotten Forge Passkey Gloom Bat (30 gold each): 1350 kills = 40 500 gold Magma Spider (50 gold each): 954 kills = 47 700 gold Ash Gremlin (300 gold each): 256 kills = 76 800 gold Void Weaver (700 gold each): 48 kills = 33 600 gold Cloudwing Striker (600 gold each): 268 kills = 160 800 gold Magma Crawler (200 gold each): 105 kills = 21 000 gold Soot Golem (650 gold each): 82 kills = 53 300 gold Cloud Serpent (100 gold each): 19 kills = 1 900 gold Magma Construct (850 gold each): 64 kills = 54 400 gold Ash Reaver (700 gold each): 69 kills = 48 300 gold Cinder Hound (900 gold each): 163 kills = 146 700 gold Molten Elemental (4 500 gold each): 6 kills = 27 000 gold Whispering Crystal (350 gold each): 80 kills = 28 000 gold Smoke Weaver (500 gold each): 37 kills = 18 500 gold Forge Magma (800 gold each): 4 kills = 32 000 gold Ember Wyvern (3 000 gold each): 12 kills = 36 000 gold Sky Leaver (900 gold each): 14 kills = 12 600 gold Ember Garuda (6 000 gold each): 6 kills = 36 000 gold Skystone Watcher(3 000 gold each): 3 kills = 9 000 gold Forge Lord (30 000 gold each): 1 kill = 30 000 gold Rampage completion bonus: 250 000 gold Total gold rewards: 1 061 800 gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up. Current level: 40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was going back to the Core Spire with Vash; they were on the elevator going up, which would take a while. During this time, she took a moment to check the rampage reward and to check if there were any notifications that popped up during the fight that needed her attention. "Are you ok?" Vash asked. "Yeah. I''m just looking over the things I got. I made over a million gold in just a week¡­ It feels surreal." "Dam, you got a lot more than me. I reached just a bit over 700k. And that is with the completion bonus." "It''s probably the Pool of Styx. Because of it, even monsters I never saw ended up counting. But not all of them. Maybe one in ten or one in a hundred was added to my tally." "Still, considering how many monsters showed up here, your final reward makes sense," Vash nodded. "Yeah, I agree. What place did you get? In the total ranking, I mean." "I''m 45. I think the stage and having helped with the Wendigo made it that high. Still, you should be higher, right? I mean, between what you did with the wendigo, the spell that covered the entire place, and everything else. I wouldn''t be surprised if you are in the top 5." Some of the other people in the elevator pretended not to listen, but they were all curious. The mention of one million gold and the spell covering the entire place made them connect the dots that this snake woman was the one responsible for the buff they all received. "Actually, I''m not. I got 8th place. I imagine that the commanders are higher up. And the people who killed the forge lords. I wouldn''t be surprised if there was a healer in the mix, too, especially after that attack in Hearthome. A lot of people were hurt," Hera said. "I heard that a crafter who got second place. He managed to make more walls in the inner city and rebuild most of the buildings that were broken during the attack," an elf who was in the elevator replied. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. I remember there was this dude in a different rampage who got in the top 10 by just repairing things. He never even saw one of the monsters. By the way, did anyone else get two levels from all of this?" a dwarf added. People in the elevator continued to talk, and Hera just thanked them for not focusing on her. She was very tired, and her mind wasn''t doing that well. She wasn''t the only one, and most of her court also shared her irritability. All because of the Pool of Styx. Maintaining the spell still took a lot of her. Yet, she didn''t think it was the best idea to drop it right now. People were still organizing things, and there should be healers still working. She decided to leave it for a few more hours and drop it before going to bed. "Did you level up too?" Vash asked in a soft voice, not to attract attention to them. He could tell the Ophidianite wasn''t that comfortable in the spotlight. "I did. I haven''t put on my attributes yet, but I know what I''m doing." "Using that skill to increase all of them?" "Yep. I stuck with that build so far. No reason to stop it now. Besides, it makes my blades much more powerful." "And spells like this one," Vash nodded, "You are level 40 now, right?" "Yeah. I remember you saying something about leveling up a couple of days ago. You are level 39, right?" "40, actually. I got to 39 while we were killing the Monarch of the Glen." "Really?" Hera frowned. She was 39 for a while already, but somehow, Vash was able to not just reach 39 but even pass it, "Do you have an exp increase skill or something?" "No, why?" "I just think it''s a bit weird¡­" Hera stopped to think for a moment. Her level was very close to her friends. Well, aside from Helena, who was a bit higher. But even then, she was already at a higher level when they met. Sure, that difference decreased considerably after some of the Empress'' adventures, but eventually, they got close enough to fight together. However, that still didn''t explain why she was leveling up slower now. Then again, now that she really thought about it, the last journey she did with her friends, after getting the legacy, they mostly leveled up by running dungeons that no one had run before. Another thing was that she would always be doing much more than them while leveling up at the same speed. Even if they were doing the same amount of dungeon runs, because of the court, her kill count was much higher. Maybe a drawback of her legacy was that now it would be harder for her to level up as if the experience was shared or reduced because of her court. The Empress always believed that the drawback of her legacy was just ''consuming'' weapons, but considering everything she could do, it made sense that there was more to it. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "What?" Vash asked after watching Hera think for a while. "I think I just realized that my legacy makes me level up slower. And the more blades I have, the slower it should be." "But their help should offset that, right?" Vash tilted his head. "Maybe, but I don''t think so. Like, I was level 39 before we started everything, and I just got to 40 today." "I see..." Vash nodded, not knowing what to say about that. Hera decided just to finish her level up; she was going to wait to get the reward from the rampage in a more private place, just in case. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 40 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 672 Strength: 112 Endurance: 112 Agility: 112 Charisma: 112 Intelligence: 112 Luck: 112 Mana: 5 659 021/5 659 021 Empress Core: 3 032 158/9 110 397 Passive Mana Regeneration: 7 640/s (13 751/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 14 619/s (26 314/s with items) Empress Core Regeneration: 8/s (14/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 17 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core (+1) Passive: Exponential Growth (21) Observe 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla Style 4 Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4 , Shaper of Mana 2 , Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1 Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 3, Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 1, Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 1, Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon Break 2 Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 1, Grasshopper Slash 1 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unlike the previous level, Hera only got a single new skill this time, but she still got a decent amount of bonus points. 54 in total, which was enough to increase all her stats by 2. There wasn''t anything else happening in the elevator, so Hera just started to reply to texts on her tablet. Everyone seemed to be doing well, and they were worried about her. Shane managed to increase her [Ophidianite Scales] skill to rank two and get [Ophidianite Vigor] and [Ophidianite Adaptation]. On the other hand, her dad got [Ophidianite Poison] and increased it to rank two already. The construction of the city in Zaxalam was going well, with the dwarven even starting to expand outside of the city. Making some farming fields, which was already part of the plan, and ranches to try to tame the monsters who lived there. After a long ride up, they eventually arrived back in the Core Spire and met up with the rest of the team. They were all happy for being ok, even if battered and bruised. Hera herself wasn''t any better; she was covered in wounds and bruises and would likely have even more if her scales could change color when struck. They talked a bit and headed to the hotel to rest. Vazor asked them to drop by after resting since he and the other commanders wanted to thank them for their help. More specifically, they all wanted to thank Hera. In the hotel, they got something to eat and showered, taking turns since they only had a single bathroom in their room. During this time, everyone got their final rewards. Neria ended up getting rank 87, likely due to the amount of healing she performed during the last part of the mission. The wendigo that went towards the waterfall used a very nasty combination of smoke attacks that could burn people''s bodies from the inside. Her reward was a necklace called Ocean''s Embrace. It increased the effectiveness of her healing spells, allowed her to create that calmed those who sensed it, and also made anyone affected by her healing spells temporally able to breathe underwater. It lasted only five minutes, but it was a nice benefit. Flint got rank 845 and got something called Adaptive Alloy Coating. It was a vial that he could apply to his armor to give a specific property. After applying it, his armor would get a temporary increase in defense against the last attack that hit it. This would last 10 minutes and could stack, meaning that the more he got hit by the same attack, the harder it would be to hurt him. However, if another type of attack hits him, the buff will reset and start counting from the start again. The good part was that the was a permanent effect. Skyler got something called Whisperwave Cloak for being at rank 695. They would stop most sound-based attacks and allow her to absorb any sound magic and recover her mana in the process. Roan got a skill in the form of an elixir. It was called ''Scent of the Wild,'' and it would simply heighten his senses. The effect wasn''t that great, but now he could see a bit farther away and detect more subtle smells. Despite it sounding underwhelming, the beastmen were incredibly happy with the result, saying that this could make some of his abilities even stronger since it was a baseline increase. Vash got a music sheet. It was called ''Melody of the Phoenix.'' In essence, it was a spell for him to learn. When singing or playing that melody, his allies would gain an increased regeneration of both mana and stamina. It would also help them heal smaller wounds by themselves. However, there was also an intricate dance attached to the sheet. He could perform any one of those versions of the melody for the effects to work. If he was able to sing and dance or play the instrument and sing at the same time, the effects would be increased. And if all three were performed to perfection at the same time by the same person, it would give something called a phoenix mote to all those affected by it. That would last for 24 hours, and if the person holding the mote was gravely injured, the mote would erupt into flames, healing the person and doubling the previous buff for a few minutes. Lastly was Hera''s reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forgotten Forge Passkey Grants you access to the forgotten forge of the Forge Lord through a doorway. This won''t count as one of your daily crossings. Inside the forge, you will be able to pick one item from the vaults and take it out with you. Once you enter the forge, you can only stay there for 15 minutes. If by the end of that time, you have not picked an item, you will receive a random item and be kicked out of the forge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking at that, the idea seemed great. But she was too tired to think about what she might want. Everyone went to bed, hoping to stay here for a few days, resting in the hotel. However, by the time they woke up, Milla had already sent a text, "The prison mission will start in two days. If you leave now, you can still make it!" 804 - Passkey Hera wasn''t the last one to wake up, but she wasn''t the first, either. When she saw Milla''s message, her first instinct was to wake everyone up so they could move, but she realized this wouldn''t be a good idea. Not right now, at least. After the rampage, they were very tired, and if they didn''t get the chance to sleep properly, they might not be in a good enough state to even help those who were kidnapped. However, the Empress did send a message asking why Milla said it so straightforwardly. They were very careful about not mentioning the exact situation before; doing this now felt strange. The reply didn''t take long to come. Apparently, one of the guild''s spies had managed to capture one of the scouts who was watching over the new compound where the experiments were going on. The scout died before it could reveal anything, but even so, the humans were able to find out that this wasn''t new. Because of that, they were now rushing to move everything and everyone necessary for the lab to a different place. They already had caused an ''accident'' inside that killed everyone and were on the move. Almost all prisoners were already dead, and the equipment that was left behind was too destroyed to be recognized. But, apparently, they had some success with a few of their subjects. Those were being carried to a different place to continue the project. The Alliance had some intel about a few of their possible escape routes. One of those would overlap very close to Hera''s current position. All of them had a low likelihood of being in the right place, and to avoid attracting too much attention, the guild, or whoever was responsible for those experiments, were splitting up their teams. Smaller groups would be carrying the subjects in larger crates while the most elite members of that project were carrying the data itself. Apparently, those people were already on the move. During the first two days, they had crossed five rooms each day and now returned to 3 in order to blend with the traffic. The spies and informants the Alliance had were able to indicate some of the rooms they would be going to but not their final destination. That''s why they were asking Hera and her team to go to one of the checkpoints the checkpoints the humans would have to go through. It was clear that Milla had no idea what the project actually was, just that the guild was using the other species as guinea pigs, and that was enough for her. She had already sent them the necessary information, including the location they should go to, in an encrypted file. One is that they shouldn''t open it before reaching the target room and deactivating the internet connection. According to the harpy, if anyone tried to hack the file, it would take them at least five days to crack it. Saying the actual room was already a problem since the guild could have bugs in their network, but there wasn''t much they could do about it. Hera got up and got dressed before leaving the hotel room. Vash noticed that and followed along, leaving only Roan behind, who was still lying in bed resting for the moment, even if he was already awake. Once they were outside, the performer asked, "Where are we going?'' "I was going to the doorway. To check my reward. It said I could go there through a doorway. If we had a day to rest, I would go to the next room and check if I could go to this forge, or whatever, from anywhere. But we won''t have that chance so soon. So it''s better to just get it already," Hera explained. Just as she called the elevator, she turned to the harpy, "If you are tired, you can stay. I know that yesterday was hard." "I''m ok. I feel like I''ve slept enough. And after this week, it feels weird to just stay doing nothing," Vash shrugged, "Let me just send a message to everyone else." "Good idea." Getting to the doorway took almost half an hour, and things were slowly getting back to normal in the room. Some people were already coming to their homes, and the farms and buildings were working. There were even a couple of stores doing a ''end of the rampage'' sale as an attempt to cash in the money people got. Now that people were less worried about fighting, they were more likely to notice this weird person with scales and a tail walking around. Thankfully, Hera''s reputation was still strong as someone who you shouldn''t mess with. This allowed her to continue moving around without anyone stopping her, aside from the eventual thank that one person or another who knew she was responsible for the spell that buffed everyone during the entire rampage. Eventually, they arrived at the doorway. There was a line with a decent number of people coming and going already, but after a quick conversation with the person responsible for organizing everything, Hera was able to cut in the short line. After all, she wasn''t going to leave. "I''ll be right back," Hera told Vash before approaching the doorway. She touched it, and a new option appeared, asking if she wanted to head to the Forgotten Forge. Touching it, she felt the familiar feeling of warm water covering her body. When she opened her eyes, she was in a different place, but one that fit the room very well. Cavernous halls, carved from the obsidian rock that formed the spire reflected and eerie glow of lava pulsating beneath the cracked floor. Despite all her skills, the Ophidianite was assaulted by an oppressive heat that hung heavily on the air. No fire was lit, and no spell was in place to maintain this temperature. This was the natural state of the forge. Hera shivered, thinking about what this would be like when the furnaces were blazing. The smell of iron, sulfur, and smoke drowned out anything else that could exist here. A smell almost familiar to Hera, who spent so many days with Silah in her forge. Even if the system was calling this place a forge, the structure didn''t look like one. Yes, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of weapons, armor, accessories, and any type of gear that one could think of, but it wasn''t a single floor. Instead, it had three large floors, spreading out in the shape of an X. Almost like a library, with shelves upon shelves revealing several of the works made by those who used this place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have entered the Forgotten Forge. You can only take a single item as your reward. Once you make your choice by picking the item, you will be transferred back to the place you came from. You can only stay inside the forge for 15 minutes. If you go over that time, you will be transferred back to where you came from. If you have not picked an item when this happens, a random item will be given instead. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking to her left, the Empress noticed that the items seemed off. There was a sword on top of a table. It had a golden pummel with deep blue details in the guard, and the blade was a pristine silver, but the inscription on it was incomplete. Not in an intentional way but in an unfinished way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Incomplete Sword of the Azure Depths Very rare Incomplete item This item is incomplete; its full power was never achieved. In addition, it is not a finished product that still exists inside the Forgotten Forge; the information you are able to see is limited. This item possesses the power of the ocean and a way to protect your allies. It scales with Strength, Endurance, and Agility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera nodded, understanding how this place worked. Things like that were common in stories. A place that was too big for a single person to scour during a certain time frame. However, she wasn''t exactly alone. "Everyone comes out," she called, already giving each court member a magnet to let them move farther away, "Can you see the notification on this thing?" she pointed to the Incomplete Sword of the Azure Depths. There was a brief pause before they all confirmed, "Perfect. Spread out and look at all the items you can. If you see anything that is either a complete item or, above all, very rare, let me know. Otherwise, only warn me if you see something really interesting. Oh, and none of you can touch any of the items unless I say so. That is an order. The last thing we need is to get one item by accident. If there is anything inside a box or something called the titled blades, they can help move things around. As long as it''s not one of the possible rewards." Hera looked at her court, all who were listening to what she had to say, "That''s it. C''mon, move, move, move. We have 14 minutes!" The entire court spread out, scrambling to find things. Hera and Daskka didn''t stay put either. They both moved to the center of the forge, trying to figure out where the most precious items would be. "Do you think they hid or put it on display?" the snake asked. "Well¡­ the best place for a display would be right¡­ Here," the Empress walked to the center of the X that shaped the forge. There was nothing there, just an empty space. No decorations, no shelves or benches. It does not even mark that something was there in the past. It looked more like a busy intersection. "So hidden?" the herald asked. ''Hera, I got something. It''s epic, a lance. Uses the power of metal to absorb the metal armor of the enemies,'' Chris said in her mind. ''That''s interesting but a bit too niche. Keep track of where it is and keep looking.'' "Hey, bird brain. Can you fly to the ceiling and see if there is anything hidden there?" Daskka yelled. Nimbus huffed but didn''t argue and just did as she asked. They had little time here, and their usual banter would get in the way. After a moment, he shook his head, "Nothing here. Just the obsidian rock." ''Yo, how about a ring that makes a barrier and heals? This one is epic too,'' DJ asked. ''Maybe, keep track of where it is and keep looking,'' Hera replied. They continued moving around, with the Empress trying to find any secret places and the rest of the court checking the items. Various ideas were thrown around. A sword that could extend itself, a katar that allowed her to teleport short distances, and some metal pants capable of creating mirror images of her. There was even a bow blade. A bow that had two edges that should be allowed to enter the court. Ammo wasn''t something she would have to worry since the bow also was able to make arrows using mana. But each of them was ''only'' epic ranked, but also an incomplete item. So far, no one found a complete one. With three minutes on the clock, Hera was about to go for the bow when a voice rang in her mind. ''We found a door!'' Crimson had an excited tone. ''It''s behind a shelf in the lower south. We need help moving the thing,'' Viper''s voice sounded strained. It seemed like he was trying to push the shelf away. ''I''m close. Don''t worry,'' even when talking in their minds, Livy shouted, making everyone flinch. Hera hurried along. When she arrived there, they had already pushed the shelf away, and the door was open. On the other side was the forge, the actual forge. With the furnaces and the fire pit where metal was heated before whoever owned this place made it bend to their will. There were some tools here, but all of them were common and had nothing special about them. To the opposite corner of the entrance was a box filled with various materials, all epic-ranked. There was a large anvil in front of the forge and, on top of it, a hammer. A bronze hammer with small details in black and gold. One large flat surface on one side, and on the back, two pieces, one round one and another a bit more pointy, but still very smooth. Both were likely tools to shape the metal. The handle was wrapped in brown leather and red treads, and the pommel was a small knife. Probably made to cut string or something small; that part didn''t seem to be part of the original item but an addition that was made later. It was as if the owner realized they needed something like that and got frustrated to the point of adding to their tool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cinder Kissed Forging Hammer Unique Scaling: Strength x 28, Endurance x 27, Intelligence x 26, Charisma x 13 Skills: Echoing Enchantment: When active, any item struck by this hammer will receive a temporary enchantment. This boon is random, but it will be something that is usable for the item. This effect cannot happen more than once in an item during the same use of the skill. Skill Duration: 1 minute Enchantment Duration: 5 minutes Awakened Potential: Once per day, an item that is hit by this hammer can be pushed to the limits of the material used in its creation. Cooldown: 24 hours Phoenix Touch: This hammer can temporarily bestow the essence of a phoenix on other items. All items affected by this skill can deal bonus Phoenix Fire damage and regenerate any damages with time. In addition, this hammer is able to use a Phoenix Fire wave attack one time. Cooldown: 7 days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Daskka, do you think this could be a part of the court?" Hera turned to the herald "Yeah, we''ve got members for less than an actual knife in the pommel. You should be able to add the hammer to it." "Perfect, I think I have my choice. We could really use a blacksmith in the court," Hera replied with a smile. 805 - Organizing the court Hera thought about going to her private room, the workshop version, to give this hammer a Royal Seal, but that would require one crossing, and they still weren''t sure where they would end up staying. Instead, she just carried it in her hand despite the weight. The hammer would easily be 50kg. Even with all her strength, wielding it would be hard work. Still, she wanted to ask Flint if he had any material to help her give it the seal. Maybe the Empress could add this weapon to her court when they stopped to sleep. She had already been kicked out of the Forgotten Forge, and was now walking with Vash back to the hotel. They were not talking, not to each other, which allowed her to check one thing with her herald. ''Daskka, how many blades can I have at the moment?'' ''Eight. And I just checked; it''s not going to increase right now.'' ''Why? Is that the limit?'' ''Not really. I had some trouble sleeping during the past week, and I ended up checking a lot of things about the legacy. The maximum number of court members was one of those things.'' ''And?'' ''And¡­. I don''t have an answer. Apparently, one of the previous holders had only five court members, plus the titled blades, while another had 30, plus the titled blades. So, I think it depends on the holder. Or there is a limit, but no one was able to reach it.'' ''I see. What else did you check?'' Hera asked. ''The skills you can still learn. If there was any skill you currently had that could be merged into something else, and if we were missing anything about the legacy.'' ''What are the results?'' ''Well¡­ you can get three skills still and one skill that can be merged. All the different ''X weapon combat'' skills can become one, but you still need a few more different variations of the skill. Then it will become a more generic weapon combat skill that will affect any weapon you have.'' ''That''s kind of nice. What else?'' ''There is a two for one. Remember how you can assign a skill to be inherited by other blades? Well, the skill related to that will let you make ''houses'' for your court, like giving them a noble title. Like duke, count, or marquess. Each house will have a buff and an inheritance. The buff you can pick but it can never change. That house will always have the same buff, and the inheritance you need to take from one of the members of the current house. That will change the skill but allow it to be passed to the next generation, as well as the current one.'' Hera nodded, ''That is better than I expected. Can I get it now? I mean, it''s been a while since I got a legacy skill. The last one was the¡­ blade graveyard,'' the Ophidianite stopped walking. "What''s wrong?" Vash asked. "I¡­ just remembered¡­ I have a new skill that I can only use once a week. And it could''ve helped SO MUCH against the fucking wendigo. So fucking much," Hera let out a mixture of a groan with a roar that made even some of the people nearby step away. The performer just stared at her for a moment before starting to laugh. Hera frowned, but the harpy didn''t stop, "C''mon, you killed the wendigo, and now you are complaining because during the fight, while you were super pissed and tired, you forgot a skill? That''s just too good. I''m glad you are a mortal." "What''s that supposed to mean?" "You worked like a machine during the entire rampage. Never stopping, sending your court to every place where we needed help. Even when you stepped away to rest, you continued giving commands and kept some of the spells you used up. I honestly was half thinking that you were a construc yourself. But now I see that you can also make mistakes. And it makes a lot of sense that you would forget about something you had. Especially if it''s new and has that long of a cooldown." "Thanks?" Hera tilted her head. "It makes me less worried about traveling with you. We were doing okay, but then this happened, and I wasn''t sure how to feel about you. I''m sure you felt the same way about us. We all got tired and angry during the rampage," Vash shrugged her off. "Not really. I was worried about you all, but that was it. I actually never noticed any of you getting upset, but my head wasn''t in a good place during the rampage anyway." "That''s¡­ Fair actually. We knew the spell was taking a toll on you. I mean, you had massive bags under your eyes. They are gone now. You really need to tell me what cream you used." "I think that is a combo of my Ophidianite skills and having 110 points in charisma and endurance. Well, 112 now. I didn''t use any cream, but Daskka might have used some healing mist on me while I slept." "Can she do that to me, too?" Vash asked. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Hera turned to the snake, who looked down for a moment before nodding, ''As long as he is sleeping close to you. Yeah.'' "We need to be close, but she says she can. On a side note, do you mind if I stop talking now? I was checking something with her about my legacy." "Oh yeah, sure. Sorry if I interrupted." "No worries," Hera smiled and turned back to the herald, ''Okay. So, I can''t get a new skill right now. What are the other two?'' ''First, it''s one called ''Hunting Contest,'' while that one is active, any time you or a court member gets a kill, they get a stacking buff to one of their attributes for a while. Scaling in the case of the court. Each member gets only the buff for their own kill, but because of the army of one, that would bleed out to everyone else.'' ''That is nice, great for long fights. Like here, it would''ve been amazing,'' Hera sighed. ''I know, right? Especially if you used the pool of Styx on top. Either way, the last one is called ''Temporary Alliance,'' and¡­ it''s weird,'' Daskka frowned but quickly continued, ''Basically, it lets between two and four of the regular court members form an alliance. When they do that, they merge into a single weapon, adding all their skills and scaling, plus some extras depending on how well they work together. Once they do that, they can stay in this new form indefinitely, but they can''t swap back and forth. They are stuck. To go back to their own separate versions, they need to break the alliance. Then, it will take some days for any of the court members who were part of said alliance to be able to make a new one. And again, this only works with the regular blades, not the titled ones like Nimbus and Lurize.'' ''Okay, and why is this weird?'' Hera frowned. ''Well¡­ it''s weak. When I see the skills, I can get a sense of their strength. I never mentioned anything because so far, all the skills had a similar¡­. Power level. Yeah, I think that fits. Anyway, all skills had a similar power level. Some of the ones you created are also there. Like Venomous Arsenal, Army of One is considered to be a bit weaker, but not by much. It should be still on the same level as the rest, just like at the lower end. But that one is just¡­ bad. It''s so much weaker than the rest.'' ''Really? I mean, it does sound a bit powerful. If I need a big attack, I can add all the scaling of the weapons into one big burst,'' Hera replied. ''Mum, you are probably the only person who can actually use that skill to the fullest. And from what I understand, the extra boost is really not that big. That skill feels like it doesn''t fit. Like it was not supposed to be part of the legacy, but someone kind of forced it.'' ''Can you force the legacy to have a specific skill?'' ''Sort of. You can brute force it, I think. Like, if there is a skill you really want to make a part of the legacy, it should be possible for you to keep trying it again and again until it works. But I wouldn''t recommend that,'' Daskka explained. ''Because it gets weaker?'' ''Yeah, if a skill is forced to be part of the legacy, it won''t be as strong as the regular skill, and it kind of stops anyone from ever being able to get a better skill that does something similar.'' ''How does the skill I made fare against the others? I mean, I created what? Three skills?'' Hera asked. ''Yeah, Venomous Arsenal, Empress Core, and Army of One. Royal Seal, you didn''t create exactly. That one already existed, but you got it without getting it from the legacy. Either way, they are all on the same level as the rest. Considered as powerful as any of the other skills. Except that one.'' ''Got it, is there anything else?'' ''I was thinking if we were missing something about the legacy. I didn''t think about anything during the week, but in that forge, I think I realized something.'' ''Well, we were tired. It makes sense you couldn''t think much about it. What did you realize?'' ''Every court member knows how to wield itself, right? I mean, even if you don''t have a skill about that specific weapon, they still know how to fight properly using moves that one would use the weapon they are,'' Daskka looked Hera in the eyes. ''Yeah¡­ I mean, to a certain point. Some moves they do only work because they can move freely.'' ''Exactly, so the court could get stronger if we used various complex and weird weapons. Like a nunchaku, a whip sword, a scythe. We saw something talking about how scythes are shown in media but are stupidly hard to use in a fight. Also, we really could look into getting a bow blade. If it has the skill to make arrows, we could have someone helping at long range. And since we are on the topic, which blade are you removing to add the hammer? Ember?'' ''She is the oldest one, but isn''t there a way to increase the court now? How about using the Empress core? Can''t I use it to maintain the court member? Reserving the mana or something.'' Daskka frowned, ''Let me check,'' her eyes glazed over for a few moments before she returned, ''Oh. Actually, yeah, there is one thing. You can spend an amount equal to your regular max mana to increase how many court members you can have by one. But, if you ever try to do that again, you will need double your regular max mana. Then four times, then eight, sixteen, and so on. ''Oh.. That is a lot. I would probably only get two, maybe three slots with that. But it will just take a few days to recover all of that. Let''s do it.'' ''Sorry mum, but no. It''s not just spending the mana. You are reducing your Empress Core by that value. So your core now will go from over 9 million mana to a bit over 4.'' ''That makes it a bit more complicated¡­ but let''s do it. Even if it''s a hit to the core, it''s better to do it now. The longer I wait, the more mana I''ll spend to increase the number of court members I can get. As you said, I will still have a bit over 4 million mana on it, meaning I can use the big spells I was using,'' Hera replied. ''Okay then,'' Daskka nodded, and her eyes glazed over again. Usually, she would just close them, but it seemed as if something had changed. Or was it just a personal preference? The Empress made a mental note to ask about it later just as she felt her mana core, a small round shape in the center of her chest, being quickly drained and filled with mana simultaneously. When that feeling was finally over, the herald spoke, ''Done. Now you can have nine court members.'' ''This felt weird. But thanks. We can add this one later,'' the Ophidianite glanced up, realizing they were already in front of the hotel. She turned to the harpy that was flying by her side, "Sorry. I didn''t even realize I was talking with Daskka for so long." Vash tapped the side of his neck, "No worries. I kind of realized your talk was going to last a while, and I started hearing some music. Is everything okay?" "Yeah. I worked out what we needed, and I think we are ready to go." "Good, because the rest of the team is already coming down with our stuff. We are eating, dropping by the command center since Vazor asked, and then leaving." 806 - Moving Fast Before leaving the Cinderspire Citadel, Hera and her team stopped by the command center. Vazor was having lunch, but when he heard they were leaving, he went to meet them. Together with Sapphira, he called the other commander and her second in command, the ones who were in the Hearthome at the feet of the volcano, and they thanked Hera and her team. They also gave them an extra 400 thousand gold from their own pockets. 100 thousand from each. In reality, they wanted to give them something more special, an item or something. But since they were leaving now, none of the commanders had the chance to look for a gift. This was off the books; it was just a personal thank you since they knew how much that spell helped during the entire rampage. Sapphira also asked Hera again about sharing it with them, but the Empress was adamant. Not only did it have the potential to be too dangerous, but now she also knew the mental strain that it would place upon the caster. She had a way to share that strain. Others didn''t. It wouldn''t be a surprise if she was the only person who could cast that spell and still fight. With that out of the way, the team walked out of the building and checked Milla''s message again. The instructions were simple: they were to turn off any internet connection and only then open the file. To make things safe, they should only open that file on one of the tablets. After checking things, they could turn on the internet on the other tablets as long as the one that had the open file was still offline. Their supporter also added that they shouldn''t talk about their destination while any of the tablets had a connection. This wasn''t part of the orders but a worry that she had since people could''ve hacked their devices and been listening in to their conversations. The directions to their destination were quite simple, actually. They headed down to the Hearthome, where Flint would make a carriage, and Nimbus would be pulling it as they moved towards a doorway. From there, they would pass another two rooms, sleep, and then another three quick rooms in the morning. The second day would go by quickly since the doorways were all 30 minutes away from each other. Sunken Splendor was the name of the room that the people of the guild should be crossing. When they arrived there, there was another file for them to open. This time, everyone should turn off their tablets completely before reading them and then only turn them back on after the number of days mentioned in the new file has passed. Again, there was a warning that this would likely be a wild goose chase. There were several possible paths for the guild to take, and the Alliance still didn''t know their final destination, which meant that there was a high likelihood that they were being sent on essentially a camping trip. Hera didn''t care about that; even if she ended up not doing anything, the chance of helping people who were kidnapped, tortured, and experimented on was more than enough for her. They moved to the elevator, and after a long ride, the team arrived at Hearthome. Following that, they just headed out to the doorway. "How about Harmony Guardians?" Vash was lying on the floor of the carriage, looking at the clouded sky. It''s already been more than an hour since they left the city, and they still had a lot of ground to cover. If it wasn''t for the rampage, they would have a lot of trouble with the monsters in the room. However, after a big event like that, even the creatures that lived here felt tired and slept for most of the day. "What are you talking about?" Roan turned to the harpy. "The name of our team. Harmony Guardians. We protect nature and the peaceful life of those who are in danger." "That''s not bad. It''s close to my family motto," Skyler stopped speaking, waiting for someone to ask. "Fine, I''ll bite. What''s your family motto?" Neria sighed. "Harmony is our greatest treasure," Skyler replied with a big smile. "You mean, like, being in harmony with others or with yourself?" Roan stretched her arms before laying down on the carriage as well. "Both. Self-reflection and external happiness," Skyler continued talking about how her family always tried to balance everything to make sure there was always harmony, including how the clothes and colors of her house were part of this all. During all that time, Neria and Roan were mostly distracted, only mentioning anything on occasion. Vash, on the other hand, seemed interested since it could benefit his idea. After some more discussion, the elf turned to the two members who didn''t participate in the conversation, "What do you two think?" Hera and Flint were by the side, talking about the seal the Empress wanted to give her new blade. The Ophidianite was the first to turn towards the rest of the group, "What did you say?" "I asked what you think about Vash''s suggestion. For our team name," Skyler said with a sigh. "Oh. Did everyone agree?" Hera replied, still thinking about the possible seals. Flint had some really interesting ideas about the kinds of materials she could use to engrave on the hammer and the effects they might create. "We did. Are you even listening?" Skyler crossed her arms. "Yeah, yeah. I''m ok with that. We need a name anyway," Hera turned back to Flint and her tablet, continuing the drawing of the seal. The dwarf had shown her some runes that meant ''masterwork'' and ''masterpiece,'' and giving those to a blacksmithing hammer might give it an extra boon to crafting. "What about you, Flint?" Skyler asked, half expecting him not to know what they were talking about. "I really don''t fucking care. Just don''t make a short joke at my expense," Flint''s reply was a bit more aggressive than anyone expected, but that wasn''t directed at anyone in particular, just at the topic. Vash was like a dog with a bone, and any chance he had, he would talk about it with the rest of the team during the rampage. At least he had the good sense of not bringing it up while they were fighting, but it was clear that the crafter was just done with all of this. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Happy that his suggestion was finally accepted, Vash even started coming up with a song about their accomplishments so far, like a bard of old. Skyler and Neria felt a bit inspired by the idea and began working on an emblem. Something they might engrave in their armor just to show that they were a team. They would likely never use that, but it was still a fun and relaxing project they could do while on the move. Roan continued resting, using his newly enhanced senses to make sure nothing was trying to attack them. Hera and Flint were mostly oblivious about all that had just happened and continued focusing on the seal. Close to sundown, they arrived at the doorway, quickly crossing over to a room called ''Mirror Plains,'' a wide and open place that had a constant thin layer of water covering the ground, creating a mirror on the horizon. Here, monsters were more likely to appear, but they were all slow. They focused on traps and luring their prey to specific areas, which meant that for Nimbus and the carriage, they were hardly a problem. A couple of times, the Sentinel had to swerve away from one of the traps, but it wasn''t anything to worry about, even if they had to fight. This was on the 9th layer, where creatures would only be level 27 at most. Another thing they had going for them was that the sun here was 1 hour behind the sun in the Cinderspire Citadel. They only had to travel for around 40 minutes, keeping them ahead of the sunset. The next room was also quick to pass through. It was called ''Mountain Side,'' and it was quite literal in its name. The doorway let them arrive at the foot of a mountain, and the entire room was set up only on its side. People could reach around 50 meters deep into the rock before reaching the invisible wall, and to the other side, where there was no mountain, it was the same distance before being blocked by the barrier of the room. Here, they wouldn''t use a carriage, but the doorway wasn''t that far, just a few floors up the mountain before they crossed to the last room of the day. Named ''Waves of Sunset,'' it was a beautiful place. The room itself was made out of a long cliff that followed the shoreline. The unique colors of the rock beneath their feet made the ocean turn a beautiful shade of orange, giving the place a permanent sunset feel. There was no change to the actual water, and the materials here were not that exciting. But it was still an amazing place. Even better was that there were no aggressive monsters in the area, not on the clifftop, at least. If one were to dive into the ocean, things would change, but all creatures that lived on land were herbivores and very friendly. The Harmony Guardians moved along, not wanting to use the carriage here since they would sleep in the room anyway. The miniature bear-like creatures with green and white fur approached the group with curiosity, following along in the journey. So did the emu-flamingo hybrid creatures that would run on the edge of the cliff. Every now and then, those birds would, essentially, get the zoomies and run a few laps around everyone before stopping to follow along once more. Even Flint had to stop to enjoy the experience. Everyone was so used to fighting to their death against any monsters in the MAZE that seeing them like this warmed everyone''s hearts. Especially since they were all so cute. A lot of people had an unexplainable urge to pet a bear cub, but doing so was, on most occasions, a surefire way to get killed. Here, they could give in to those urges without having to worry about repercussions. At night, when they were already in their tents, Hera and Flint worked together to draw one last seal. It would combine three runes and sigils. ''Production'' and ''Empowerment'' were the runes wrapped around a ''Mastercraft'' sigil. One that a lot of crafting groups used on their emblems. Hera also used some materials Flint had available. Those were just leftovers from his upgrades, but she still paid for them; after all, money wasn''t an issue. When she was ready, she added the new court member. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forge - Forging Hammer (Strength) Scaling: Strength x 27.4, Endurance x 26.9, Intelligence x 26.4, Charisma x 19.9, Agility 13.4, Luck 13.4 Skills: Echoing Enchantment: When active, any item struck by this hammer will receive a temporary enchantment. This boon is random, but it will be something that is usable for the item. This effect cannot happen more than once in an item during the same use of the skill. Skill Duration: 1 minute Enchantment Duration: 5 minutes Awakened Potential: Once per day, an item that is hit by this hammer can be pushed to the limits of the material used in its creation. Cooldown: 24 hours Phoenix Touch: This hammer can temporarily bestow the essence of a phoenix on other items. All items affected by this skill can deal bonus Phoenix Fire damage and regenerate any damages with time. In addition, this hammer is able to use a Phoenix Fire wave attack one time. Cooldown: 7 days. Master Crafter. Items crafted with this hammer can potentially enhance their skills. Buff given by this hammer to other items will be increased by 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Welcome to the court, Forge." A low and gruff voice came through the hammer, ''This is¡­ new. I guess I''m out of retirement.'' "Oh¡­ Did you want to stay retired?" Hera asked, confused about the reaction. ''Nah. I spent a long enough time not doing anything for ten lives. I''m glad to be useful again, Empress.'' "I''m glad," Hera smiled. "Can you ask about that?" Flint pressed. One of the main reasons he was helping was the hope to learn something from Forge. "You can ask for it yourself! He can hear you, just not reply to you." "Really? Ok then," Flint turned to Forge, "Do you remember anything about making items? Any old techniques or blueprints?" ''Can I answer him?'' Forge asked, his voice showing that he didn''t understand the situation properly. ''You can. Well, you can''t, but you can tell me, and I''ll pass it along to him.'' ''Very well. I can''t recall any techniques, none that you are not already aware of, my Empress. But¡­ maybe I can indicate when you are doing something wrong¡­ Maybe. It''s just a feeling I''m having, but only when we are actually working will I be able to figure that out.'' Hera passed the message along, which only made Flint grumble. Still, he promised they would look for a forge when they had a chance to see what secrets the hammer had. After this somewhat long day, they all rested. Tomorrow, they would go dark and wait for a chance to ambush the guild. 807 - Underwater ruins The Harmony Guardians had arrived at their destination. A room called ''Glimmering Graveyard'' was one of the more unique places Hera ever stepped foot on. It was almost a direct competition with the Moon Base. The entire room was underwater, but not inside the water. The invisible wall created an air bubble, letting people essentially walk on the ocean floor. It was also eternally dark here, only some bioluminescent plants gave any light to the area, revealing an eerie sight. The sky was pitch black, or the sea in this case. Showing that they should be hundreds of meters underwater. However, instead of what one would expect to find on the ocean floor, like coral, thermal vents, or just sand, they were surrounded by ruins. Remains of a civilization that either existed here or, at least, that was the impression the place gave. There was a decent chance that this place was just a MAZE creation, like the moon base. Or at least, that was the information they got from the Alliance. Broken walls, towers, and other structures littered the entire place, all looking decrepit and worn out, with some algae growing from the cracks. The vegetation still acted like they were underwater, growing tall and swaying softly in rhythm with the current of the water above. From their current position, which was in the outskirts of the room, they could see the remains of a palace or a temple. It was hard to tell from this distance in the low light only created by the luminous plants that were spread through most of the room. Some of the algae grew an odd egg-shaped object that glowed in a shade of pale green. Those ''stalks'' of algae were almost like light poles, appearing every few meters on what once had been the roads. Another issue they had to worry about was the monsters. The room was in the 14th layer, meaning that monsters here could go from level 42 all the way to 48. That was significantly stronger than anyone on the team, but at the same time, they should be able to fight those creatures. As much as people would avoid punching up when going against a monster, well-organized parties of five should be able to fight against beasts up to 10 levels above them. Hera''s team, thanks to her legacy, could probably go beyond that, but it was still dangerous. Any fight against a higher-level enemy had the potential for a dangerous one-shot attack that could kill them, like what happened with the healer of the team who took the shift before them in the rampage. And in that case, the monster wasn''t even stronger than the healer. Both were at the same level. In the details of their mission, they also had some information about the creatures that could be found here. Large crabs, about the size of shopping carts, jellyfish that pretended to be vegetation and a weird, almost ghostly creature that could go through walls. Apparently, there were reports of more monsters, but they didn''t have enough information about them. Either those beings would hide when someone got close, stopping them from getting information, or the light was playing tricks on them, which made the reports dubious at best. After taking a gander at their surroundings, the team turned off all their tablets except one. Skyler''s, since she was the one who had opened the previous file. She opened the next one, with the information about what they had to do there. Inside, there was a map of the current room, which Hera made sure to add to her [Treasure Map]. That way, they had access to it even without tablets, along with more information about the people who might be coming here. The Alliance was able to find out the checkpoints used by the people from the lab/prison. But not their final destination. One of the checkpoints was around five rooms away, and it was supposed to be well-guarded. When looking into the path the humans had to take, the Alliance realized that the Glimmering Graveyard and another two rooms were the ''narrow path'' those people would cross. All routes from the location of the now destroyed lab to the checkpoint had to cross one of those 3 rooms, one way or another. Part of the intel also made it clear that the human teams were already heading this way, meaning that either they had discovered a new room that led to their destination, or they would have to pass by this ''narrow path.'' This was, of course, a roundabout way to do this. With the knowledge of the checkpoint, it was possible for the Alliance to just attack it. What gave them pause when coming up with ways to deal with that human outpost was its location. Not because the room was special in any way but because the humans would be too deep into the Alliance territory. If they made a bold move, the guild could attempt to answer by attacking some of the less protected cities. If the fear was just a fight, the beastmen and the dwarves would likely already have pushed for it, but they were dealing with one of the labs. One of the places where heinous experiments were being conducted with almost every nonhuman species. Without more knowledge about what was actually going on in those labs, they were worried about attacking the outpost, letting the wrong person escape their attack, and in response, the guild used some sort of weapon or spell that could harm them on a large scale. If that happened close to the front lines, it was one thing. All of their best were already there, and they could handle whatever was thrown their way. But doing the same in cities that already had their guards and defenses downscaled could cause a catastrophe. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Hence, the current plan. The Harmony Guardians were to stay near the center of the Glimmering Graveyard; there were even a few suggestions of spots they could use to hide and wait. Keep an eye out for the humans, and if they were seen, Hera''s team was to engage, kill the humans, and steal any materials that came from the laboratory. Then, they would need to run to a different location away from the current room and the Cinderspire Citadel. There were a few cities marked as options, but the result would be to send the experiments, data, or whatever they could salvage from the humans to the Alliance intelligence agency. Whether they were the ones to take the salvage to them or not was missing from the information, but it was likely that this would be decided when they reached their own checkpoints. In addition to the location of the doorways the humans would use, there was a brief description of them, along with their known capabilities. Since that was a lot for them to remember, Hera did something she didn''t actually like. She ordered her court to remember that information. That was a cheat way to make sure no one would forget anything. If they saw one of those people, they were supposed to ambush them. And if they were not able to, there was a backup plan, but it was risky. They were supposed to use a specific spell that had to be prepared days in advance to freeze everything inside a wide area for a few days, including themselves if needed. Then, the ones who were free had to run back to the closest city and call for backup. That was a last resource, a plan Z only to be used if everything else failed. The last part of this new file was a program. One that would essentially break the tablet. In order to fix it, they would have to reach one of the checkpoints for one of the people responsible for their tech to fix it using a specific spell drive. If that wasn''t done, no one would be able to access the tablet or its contents. The idea was that if things went south and Hera''s team perished, the humans wouldn''t be able to get any information from their communication devices. Even the most skilled hacker or tech person would need weeks, if not months, to undo that without the spell drive, which would give the Alliance enough time to deal with the checkpoints. Skyler groaned, but she ran the program to ''break'' her tablet after Hera''s court could remember everything in the file. The Empress didn''t wait and also sent out the snakes from her bracelet, all of them a mix of silver and a metallic color appearing around her feet. She quickly opened her treasure map and drew the Pool of Styx spell circle over a large part of the room before telling them to move around the room and prepare the spell. In addition, she gave the mana creatures two more orders: first, to try to move while hidden and not be attacked by monsters. Second, to warn them if they see any humans or anything that could have been made by humans. Even if the monsters were higher level than the Empress, she should be able to get a buff to her team, thanks to her attributes. After all, even a level 48 monster shouldn''t have all their attributes above 100, not to mention the humans that would also be affected. Lowering their attributes before attacking would be a massive boon for the Harmony Guardians. After starting that, the team slowly moved towards the center of the room. It would be one of the best locations for them to hide since there were more ruins there than anywhere else, not to mention the few standing buildings that could give them a bird''s eye view. ''He-he-Hera. Remember to stay close to the others. Th-th-the monsters here are ambush hunters,'' Dusa said. Hera just nodded, "Guys, let''s move in a clump. The monsters here are supposed to focus on ambushes, and a large group might ward them off." With that reminder, the team moved closer; Vash was walking beside Flint and Roan, with Neria, Hera, and Skyler right behind them. Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, Viper, and Crimson positioned themselves around the group with a final outer layer where the flying weapons that made Hera''s court were. That made things a bit safer. On a couple of occasions, a monster emerged from the forest of algae, but it moved back as it noticed the large clump of people walking together. After about two hours of slow and careful movement, they arrived close to the center of the room, where the largest structure of the ruins was located. Even at this distance, it was hard to tell if it was a temple or a palace. Once, large towers crumbled against the main body of the building, opening massive holes in its walls, while at the same time, the rubble became part of the new decoration. There were no carvings, pictures, stained glass, or anything to give any hints on the people who lived here. Then again, if this truly was a sunken city, it was likely that the water washed everything away, leaving behind only the granite and limestone. Their hiding spot wasn''t in the center. Instead, they would be a bit further along, closer to the doorway, on a tower in an area that was good for camping. This was close to the doorway the humans would take to leave the room. In addition, there was also a tower with a few floors still standing close by. It was one of the areas that the Alliance suggested to them to prepare for their ambush. The last part of the instructions was about the time frame. According to what the spies knew, if the humans were to arrive, they would do so in the next three days. Hera''s team was supposed to stay here for 5, just in case they got late for some reason. After that, they would go to one of the closer cities for further instructions. Going from a rampage where fights were constant to a mission that revolved around waiting for something to happen was going to be very weird, but it would be a welcome change for the group. 808 - Humans Arrive The Harmony Guardians had set up their camp inside one of the ruined buildings in the room. What might have once been a large house or some sort of office was now just a broken-down box made out of limestone. Four walls and a mostly covered ceiling, which was better than most of the alternatives. There were also a few walls around the place, even if every single one of them was broken or cracked in some way. Still, they endured, withstanding the test of time and the war against the elements that brought them here. They were not too close to the center or the doorway where they would ambush. The reason for that was simple: if the humans appeared and noticed signs of other people, they would be wary, and any idea of a surprise attack would go down the drain. They spent the next couple of days just watching, getting ready for the humans, and trying to come up with better traps or other things they could use to make their ambush more successful. During that initial day after they set up their camp, Hera also asked Forge to use his skill for the first time. Not the [Phoenix Touch], which had a 7-day cooldown, but the [Awakened Potential] that could be used once every 24 hours. The skill description was a bit vague on what it actually did, and using it during a fight, hoping it would be something good, didn''t sound like a good idea. Nimbus and Livy volunteered to be the test subjects, but Hera was against it. She didn''t know how that would affect a titled blade, so it was better to start smaller. Instead, she asked Ember. Forge already had some fire-based skills, and a dragon breath scimitar had the potential to have something interesting as part of its awakening. Also, Ember was currently the weakest blade she had. If this skill messed with her senses or changed the scimitar''s personality in any way, this was the one that could do the least amount of damage. The moment Forge lightly tapped Ember, triggering his skill, the red blade was engulfed in flames, turning almost white. The delicate flame design adorning the hilt grew and shifted, forming a dragon head mid-roar. Lastly, the scale pattern around the blade was gone, now replaced by moving engravings that flickered in the light like actual flames. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ember (Awakened) - Fire (Dragon Fire) Scimitar Empress Attributes: 97 Scaling Agility X 29.3 Strength X 29.3 Charisma X 24.3 Intelligence X 11.6 Endurance X 11.6 Luck X 11.6 Passive Skills Deadly Prowess: Attacks with this weapon deal 20% extra damage. Elemental attacks with this weapon deal an additional 30% damage. This weapon is 15% more likely to hit a vital spot. Agility bonus +10 Active Skills Dragon Fire Strike: This weapon still remembers the flames that forged it and the tempering it endured. Triggering this skill, this weapon will heat up, increasing the damage dealt. Duration 10 minutes Increased damage + 30% Cooldown: 15 minutes. Forged in Dragon Fire: The flames used to create this weapon still dwell within For a limited time, this weapon can ignite, replicating the dragon fire where it came from, increasing the damage it deals. Heats up the blade, adding fire damage to all its attacks. Duration 1 minute Added fire damage + 200% Cooldown: 1 hour Familiarity 100% Awakened: The Scaling is doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. The cooldown is reduced by half. Ember is permanently wrapped in fire. Every attack will already include fire damage. Any mention of fire in the skills will refer to true dragon fire. Additional Skill: Dragon''s breath: The dragon''s breath that was used to create this weapon has been harnessed and can be used as an attack without harming the weapon itself. Mana Cost: 3 500 000 Cooldown: 1 Minute After using the dragon''s breath, this weapon''s damage will increase by 500% as it will ignite with Dragon Fire for 1 minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "How are you feeling, Ember?" the Empress asked, her eyes full of worry. ''I''m feeling great! Holly shit, this is amazing. I''m so¡­ powerful. My body is so easy to move. I just¡­ I can''t even describe this,'' Ember moved from side to side, making the flames around its blade dance. Suddenly she stopped, ''Ok¡­ Let me rephrase that: it''s like I''m using a skill. A powerful skill that makes me be like this. It still feels like me, but I know this is not my original body. It''s more like when you use the elemental strength spell,'' Ember explained. Hera nodded and looked at the scimitar''s status window again, "Dragon Fire? That is an element?" she frowned, not expecting a second word to show up as the elemental affinity. "Sort of, but not really," Flint replied as he used his own [Inspect] on the weapon. They had figured out that no one could do that without the Empress'' permission, but she had allowed the entire team to see the blades'' status window before the rampage and had no intention of removing that permission for now. "Really?" Neria asked, "How does that work then? Why is Ember showing up as having dragon fire?" the healer wasn''t the only one curious about this as the rest of the team leaned over to listen to the answer. Flint looked around and nodded before speaking, "So, some elements can be found in¡­ I don''t know if that has a name. They are special versions. Those are usually only found in specific and powerful monsters or items that come as rewards from a dungeon or a quest given by the MAZE. This happens because we, people, just can''t do that. I mean, if it was a skill, we can still use that skill. But items, even if you use and make something out of them with the best techniques and materials, will return to the regular element. It will be very powerful, but no longer ''Dragon Fire.'' It will be like the skills said, something made by dragon fire that gains power from it." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "So it''s just a way to say, ''Hey, this is powerful?" Vash was preparing some veggie wraps for the team. They avoided using fire so as not to attract attention or change the smell of the area. Everything here smelt like the ocean, and something burning would be too out of place. "Kind of, but it also tells us a bit about the material and how it''s used. Like dragon fire, that one is pretty well known. It''s more destructive, so it can''t be used with anything too delicate. But it can also make something that will deal a lot of damage. Dragon Fire is more about either explosive bursts or continuous, unrelenting destruction. Also, not all fire that is made by a dragon is Dragon Fire. A dragon can just breathe regular fire. It takes a powerful one to make Dragon Fire. Even Undine and her fire legacy couldn''t make that at first. I mean, according to the stories, she eventually managed to get some skills for it. But that is some perspective. Not even the one person famous for having a fire legacy could make Dragon Fire as she wanted," he turned to Hera, "Now that you have something that can just make dragon fire, you should be able to make some very good items. Hell, you can even just rent this in a large forge. I''m sure there will be people paying an arm and a leg for it. I''m already itching to ask you for that." Hera chuckled, "We can do that later, but are there a lot of things like that? Special Elements, as you called it." Flint shook his head in a mix of a yes and no answer, "Kind of. We know we don''t know all of them, but some of the more basic elements have some variations. For instance, Dragon Fire is destructive and powerful. Sacred Fire is the fire used by a Phoenix. Again, a strong one, not just any Phoenix. That fire is the opposite of Dragon Fire. It''s delicate, concentrated, and peaceful. Sacred Fire has some healing properties, too. It''s more about cleansing, but it can still do some damage, but it''s directed and aimed. Dragon Fire will destroy anything on its path." "What other special elements are there?" Roan was preparing some tea to go along with the veggie wraps. Flint blew raspberries, "I don''t remember what any of them do since I never saw them, but there is¡­ Clear and Deep Water. Primordial Earth? Then¡­ Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn Breeze, but those come from the wind element, not the breeze. There is also an ice one¡­ Permafrost? Absolute Zero? Something like that. And there is one related to electricity, but I have no fucking idea what it is. Or what any of those do." "Do you think all the awakenings will be like this? Will you be able to get a special element for each of the court members?" Skyler turned to Hera as Vash started passing the plates with their meals. "I don''t know¡­ Forge?" Hera turned to the hammer responsible for Ember''s temporary awakening. ''That is not likely. My skill brings forward the materials used in the creation of each item. Ember already had Dragon Fire inside her. I just brought it to the surface. If other blades have those materials inside them, I should be able to do the same,'' Forge explained while he still flew around Ember, looking over the scimitar''s new appearance. "Ok. So, it depends on the weapon. If the original was made with one of those materials, then yes. Or at least it''s likely for their elements to be like that," Hera explained. "That''s kind of amazing. I''m curious about what the rest of the blades can turn into," Skyler opened a big smile after taking her first bite of their meal. "Me too, but we are going to wait for a few days before doing this again. I want to save this for the humans," Hera replied, getting nods in response. Ember''s transformation lasted for around one hour. But that was only due to Hera herself. It took mana to maintain the awakening, and the Empress was the one who supplied it. Forge also was able to cut it off whenever he wanted, and he did that as a test. In the case of the scimitar, the cost was a bit over Hera''s mana regeneration, which let her spend so long in this new form. The next two days went by without a hitch. They continued waiting around. After Hera''s snakes finished preparing the spell circle, the Ophidianite gave them another order. They would split into groups; some would be around the routes the humans were likely to take, and others would be close to the doorway, waiting to give Hera a message the moment anyone entered the room. The Empress was also having one of her court members constantly outside, near their location but as high as they could be without taking away her mana. That way, they had someone on watch constantly. "Can I ask one thing?" Vash was looking up towards Ink, who was on watch duty at the moment, but his question was aimed at the rest of the group. "Sure," Hera thought he was talking to her. After all, he was looking at one of her court members. "Do you even need us?" Vash turned to the Empress. "What?" "Seriously. Do you need us? I mean, you can scout with your snakes and use your blades to keep watch. You fought a wendigo on your own, basically, and in the rampage, you cast a spell that covered the entire room. Like, are we even helping you? Or just holding you back?" "Of course, I need you all. I was almost dead after the Wendigo. If it weren''t for you all, I wouldn''t be able to get out of that hole. I wouldn''t be able to kill the monarch on my own, either. Not as many times as we killed. And you all had my back in the rampage. Neria saved my ass more times than I can count with healing or barriers. Flint and Roan were there in the middle of the fight with me and several times killed something that was about to hit me. You and Skyler provided so much cover fire that I didn''t have to worry about half of the monsters that I saw. What are you even talking about?!" Hera gasped. Never once she thought she could do any of this by herself. Even if she was considering her court." "Well, yeah, but you don''t actually need us to do anything. Maybe just Neria for the heals. I heard about jack of all trades before, but you take that to another level," Skyler nodded. Vash nodded, "True! I mean, look at this. Roan can look out for humans. Skyler and I made some traps around the room, small sound-based traps that will lure other monsters close to try to wear the humans out. Neria and Flint prepared everything we were going to use for our ambush. The trap with the loose rocks and hidden spikes is hidden by the water. But you, you have the snakes at the entrance and Ink up there on the lookout. You prepared the Pool of Styx as a trap, and for the ambush, you can have your court spread out to come from different sides or something else. You are a one-woman army!" "Still¡­ that doesn''t mean I don''t need help. What if-" Hera stopped getting a ping from one of her snakes. She quickly saw through their eyes and watched as a group of five humans appeared in the room, all wearing long cloaks, with one of them carrying a large box on their back. Their number, and more importantly, the large box with dark metal hinges and deep blue runes all around it, confined that this was the group that left the lab, "We can talk about this later. They are here. They just arrived from the doorway to the west." 809 - Lab Rats Loud clacking noises came from the algae forest to the west. They heard some shouting, but the voices were drowned by the sound of what could only be described as a waterfall suddenly coming to life. Hera glanced at Vash, who was in her line of sight, hidden on top of one of the towers close to where they were setting up their ambush. With a knowing nod, Hera told her court to land on their hands. Everyone was close by, but they were hiding in the middle of the ruins just before the tunnel that would lead the humans to the doorway they had to take. However, to make sure they were all hidden, they weren''t able to see each other. The solution was to use the court to give them signals. During the last few days, they realized that the room was too quiet, and the natural sounds of the place were very unique. It''s not exactly scary or sinister, just very close to white noise. Because of that, voices and spoken words are carried farther away. Or at least, that was the impression they got. When one of them spoke, everyone else was able to realize that there was someone speaking close by. That was why Hera suggested using her court for signals. Landing on top of their hands meant they had to get ready. A soft pushback meant that the humans were getting close, and a tap meant it was go time. More yells and sounds of spells being tossed around echoed across the area, and they seemed to be escalating. A small part of Hera hoped the humans would get defeated by the monsters. It would be easier to get the research materials, whatever they were, from the monster than from people who could actually try to run away in order to complete a mission. She frowned for a moment, thinking about her reaction. In this fight, she would have to kill the humans, but there wasn''t a part of her that saw a problem with that. Maybe it was because of Silah and the anger she still felt about the experiments that the guild was doing, or maybe she had become numb to the idea. And it wasn''t as if she wanted to kill anyone. She wouldn''t feel pleasure doing so. Their deaths would just be a means to the end. All other team members were also on board with this. Even if they didn''t like the idea, what the guild was doing couldn''t be allowed to continue. According to the intel they got in the file, this group of humans was also part of the experiments, and not just some random people who were tricked into participating in this. Killing them would also give the Alliance a better chance to pretend they had nothing to do with this as long as Hera and her team were able to hide their tracks, which was very much the plan. And so far, things were falling into place. The humans were only attacked by the monsters because of the trap Vash and Skyler set up. By using the call of one of the weaker monsters here, they were able to lure the crabs to their position, and a secondary spell made them angrier than usual. The noise stopped, and soon, Viper warned, ''They are coming here. One of them is injured; their arm is hurt, but it''s already being healed,'' the Spymaster was flying as high as he could while using the hidden frontal screen to stay hidden while out in the open. Hera nodded and told the rest of the court the same. The ones who were working as messengers gave a soft push to the rest of the team. The Empress also told Forge to use his skill. He was inside one of the ruins, surrounded by a soundproof bubble with Gale by his side. This was the weapon that was going to be awakened this time. He didn''t get a new element like Ember, and the awakening effect was the same, doubling all the scaling and making skills more powerful while the cooldown was lower. The spear was also visibly different. Before, it had a brown handle with a silver edge engraved with flowing green lines to trigger the wind ability. Now, the handle turned almost translucence, and the blade was a beautiful shade of green. There was also a pair of long jade strands coming out of the greed edge in a spiral. He also didn''t get a new skill, but there was one skill that changed significantly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Awakened Wind Fury: The wind can understand your intentions even better than you do. With this skill active, the weapon creates 2 wind clones to follow up your attacks. The wind clone attacks deal between 80% and 150% of the damage dealt by the original. Your luck stat influences the number and damage of the attacks. Duration: 1 minute Cooldown: 30 minutes Mana Cost: 3 000 000. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The skill became more expensive, but even so, Hera believed it was worth it, especially since the effect would also duplicate her court. Gale got closer to the Empress, allowing himself to be wielded by her just as the humans got close enough for them to hear their voices. "I still don''t get what the fuck was that. Since when are those fucking crabs this aggressive?" a man complained while looking at his exposed arm. The sleeve of his armor had been ripped out. "Just shut up, will you? We killed it, and we moved on," this time, a woman spoke, but it still wasn''t the person carrying the box. "Fuck you. This still hurts. It doesn''t matter if you can heal it," the man scoffed. "Fine. I won''t heal you next time, then," the woman started stomping her feet, moving a bit ahead of the group. "Can the two of you wait to bicker when we are done? No one is enjoying this," the man who was carrying the box said. They stopped talking for a moment and continued getting closer to the place where they would be ambushed when one of the other five raised their hand, making them all halt. He was the only one wearing a dark red cloak, while the others all wore black. "There is something wrong." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "What?" the woman asked. "I don''t know. It''s just a feeling," the man replied. "Now you have a feeling. Where was that before the crab showed up?" the man without a sleeve huffed. "Shush!" the last of the five, a woman with long black hair, walked forward, her head down, looking at the ground for something. Just as she crouched, Roan poked Ink, who was by his side, giving the signal to go. He was one of the three members of the team who could do that. The beastmen had his enhanced senses, the harpy was in a tower, getting a better view of the area, and the Ophidianite had her court spread around the area. When Roan gave the signal, all the court members poked the team, telling them it was time to strike. Everyone sprung into motion. Skyler triggered a spell aimed at the humans to disorient them with a high-pitched sound; Neria pulled the water from the surrounding area to create a wave and make them fall. Roan and Flint both jumped at the closest people, the long-haired woman and the man with a dark red cloak. Vash jumped and dove down, playing a tune to buff the team while he got closer. Unfortunately, he was the farthest away from the rest, which meant he would still take a few moments to arrive. Hera also had a brief delay. She was connected to the pool of Styx spell, and despite the size of this one being much smaller, with a radius of about 50 meters or so, it still took a moment for her to connect every strand of mana together and trigger it. That didn''t mean she left her team alone since her court was with them, providing cover and helping during the fight. As the humans realized that there was something going on, the one carrying the box tried to run away while the others moved to protect him. Skyler''s spell was only able to make them a bit dizzy, but they were strong enough to overcome it. With Roan and Flint being blocked and Skyler and Neria being attacked by the remaining pair, it looked like the courier had a clear path to escape. Or that is what he thought. Just as he split from the group and started to gain some distance, a pair of tonfas flew from the side, slamming against his legs and making him fall. As a follow-up, a large two-handed axe came crashing down. The man spun to the side, avoiding the blow, but he was stopped by a recently materialized pair of thick armored legs of the Leviathan. Without missing a beat, he triggered a skill that let him dash forward, turning into mist even from that precarious position. Unfortunately for him, mist was the one thing that he shouldn''t have used. As his body became that fog, a massive silver snake made out of the same material appeared from the shadows, wrapping herself around him and squeezing. Since both were currently mistreated, one could interfere with the other. Daskka opened her mouth and was about to snap it shut around the courier''s head when the man regained his physical form in an attempt to escape. He slammed on the ground since the snake had pulled him up and noticed wisps of purple, orange, and green floating around just as some of his attributes suddenly dropped. Before he could understand what was going on, a pair of large feet slammed against his back as Livy jumped on top of the courier, voiding the box on his back. There was a loud crack sound, but it wasn''t enough to break the man''s spine, only damaging some of the bones. Lurize, Viper, and Crimson appeared right after that, aiming their weapons at the man''s neck. The first handful of attacks were stopped by various barriers and protections he had in place, but after a few moments, they wore out and allowed the court to finish him off. Nimbus also didn''t waste time and grabbed the box, getting it away from the body. "You filthy creatures!" the man in the red robes snarled as he kicked Roan to the side, used the vegetation to pin Ink down, and dashed towards Nimbus and the titled blades, brandishing a katana to attack them. But just a few meters after leaving Roan, he was blocked by someone else. "Don''t talk shit about my kids," Hera used Gale to push the katana down to the ground and force the man to spin around, stopping with his back against the titled blades who currently all had a single mission, take care of the box. "Are you running a monster orphanage?" the man snarled and pulled his katana back, going for an upward swing. Hera parried it, but there was another strike following it up. She tried to block it again, but this time, the tip of the blade grazed her armor, triggering the wasp wings to protect her. Tapping her foot on the ground, she turned the water on the floor into ice and started sliding, using the Dorohla Style made by the Naga to fight. Even then, the attacks of the man with the red robes didn''t stop, nor did they become any easier to defend against. With each move, he seemed to become stronger, faster, and more precise. He should be a fighter or an explorer with the rage skill to improve his abilities. Or worse, someone who had a ramp-up skill and the worst was still to come. Trying to avoid getting hurt, the Empress triggered her earth elemental armor, but even that was cut by the man''s weapon. She wasn''t getting a chance to strike back or even cast spells, and it wasn''t as if the rest of the court could come help. They were all fighting against the other humans who were more powerful than they expected and realized the flying weapons were trying to come to help the Ophidianite. The man struck again and again, making progressively bigger cuts on her body, and his katana seemed to grow with each strike, doing something similar to what Crimson did, absorbing her blood to grow stronger. Realizing that if things kept going like this, her titled blades would intervene and potentially lose the box, the Empress triggered Gale''s [Awakened Wind Furry], creating two copies of herself to fight by her side. The entire rest of the court also got one copse thanks to the [Army Of One]. In addition, seeing that she was far enough away from her team members, she activated [Toxic Mist], creating a thin layer of orange mist that started to spread from her body, covering an area of 10 meters. Finally, Forge also used the [Phoenix Touch] skill, igniting all the court members and their copies with Sacred Fire, the fire that could heal their wounds and damage their enemies. The man in the red cloak coughed in the mist and tried to attack again, but he was blocked by the two copies of Hera, who pinned his weapon on the ground. Any advantage he had in this fight was now gone, and Hera was going to make the most out of it. 810 - Whats in the box? It took just a moment for the man in the red cloak to realize he was in trouble. One breath inside the mist created by Hera made his lungs burn, his skin itch, and his eyes water. He tried moving away, but the wind clones intercepted the movement, blocking him from leaving that area. The Empress knew the clones would be there for only a minute, and the mist she created lasted 30 seconds unless she was to use the skill again. With Gale in hand, she lunged forward, going for a stab while triggering the [Galeforce] skill to deal more damage. At the same time, the two clones also used the same skill, starting to cut the man in the red cloak with its effects. He jumped toward one of the clones, bringing down his katana with an overhead slash. The clones worked together to block the attack, but a wave of red energy flew from the blade, damaging the wind versions of Hera. Not wanting to waste her opportunity, the Ophidianite rushed forward, the flames created by Forge''s skill licking the side of her hands and boosting her recovery. She used a [Grasshopper Stab] trying to hit the man, but despite everything, he still managed to defend against the blow. The Empress already suspected it, but it seemed like this person was at a higher level than her or at least more specialized in combat. She tried to sweep his leg, forcing him to step away, but she cloned the same, kicking him twice. That move gave a small opening for the Ophidianite to hit the man; she quickly spun Gale, making a small cut on the human''s arm. As the wind created by the spear fanned the flames of Sacred Fire, it increased the damage dealt by the strike. Following that up, the clones did the same, striking with their spears simultaneously, coming from opposite directions. Raising the sheath of his katana, he tried to block the attacks, but despite his best efforts, his position was too awkward to deflect the blows completely. Still, he managed to brace himself enough to stop them from dealing too much damage. Or that was what he expected to happen. He believed that clone skills were always weaker than the original, but that wasn''t the case here. Not only did the clones have the same attributes as Hera, but they also dealt almost 50% more damage than the Ophidianite. Hera covered her tail in a venomous spike from her [Venomous Arsenal], an elongated blade, almost like a scorpion''s stinger. She used it to attack the man along the clones, aiming at his legs; in addition, she sent out a couple of poison needles but aimed at his legs. The last thing she wanted right now was to hit one of her teammates by accident. However, the spells hit a barrier that seemed to be protecting him from magical attacks. Why the clones were able to hit him even with that in effect was something that the Empress didn''t understand, but now wasn''t the time to think about that. The man with a red cloak sheathed his katana; a second later, he drew it while spinning in a circle and creating a large wave of energy coming out of him. His cloak now changed, becoming much shorter while the weapon in his hand grew to almost double its size as it glowed in a menacing red. Both clones created by Gale blocked the attack, taking some damage in the process, but Hera ended up being the one who got the most hurt. The katana itself didn''t hit her, but the energy wave did, cutting the side of her armor and making her topple to the side as blood started to flow from the wound. Not wanting to miss his chance, the human ignored the wind duplicates. He tried to bring his katana down to kill the original, but a few centimeters before reaching his target, a floating hammer together with two wind clones of the weapon appeared; the clones made a V shape with the handles pouting up while the original Forge appeared from underneath them, holding off the attack completely. "The fuck is that?!" the man snarled and tried to push the katana down, but he quickly had to give up that idea, jumping over Hera as the Empress'' wind clones tried to strike him. As he flipped in the air, three small blades shot out from the diadem on the Ophidianite''s head. They were covered in flames, just like the entire court, and were able to make some cuts on the human''s face. At the same time, Dusa triggered her [Viper Gaze] skill. A flash of purple light came from the eyes of the snake carved in the diadem, and the man instantly felt his body slowing down. Hera jumped to her feet as Forge, and his duplicates came swinging just as the man landed. All of them quickly tapped both Gale and Dusa to give the [Echoing Enchantment]. Both got the same effect, an increase in the likelihood of chance-based effects, and that effect would stack depending on how many weapons had that effect at the same time. This was the ''Echoing'' part of the skill. Once he buffed someone like that, all other buffs during the duration of the first one would be the same, and the more of those buffs were active, the stronger they would be. Spinning Gale again, the Empress used a [Grasshopper Slash] to respond to the attacks, but she wasn''t able to hit. Instead, her blow was parried by the man who used the heat to push the spear to the side. Thankfully, the katana was now too big for him to wield it with one hand. He also seemed to be making a point of not letting the blade touch the ground for some reason. Hera''s clones dashed from the side, about to strike at him using the [Whirlwind Dance] skill of the spear, but before they were able to hit the man, they vanished. The 30 seconds were over, and the duplicates were now gone. "Ha!" the man smiled and started attacking again. Despite the size of the katana, he was able to move it considerably fast, even if it was still slower than when the fight started. Hera could see that his eyes were still watering, and his skin was slightly red. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With a flick of her hand, the Ophidianite tossed a spore field around the man, trying to trigger her [Ailment Mastery]. Apparently, the [Toxic Mist] was considered to be a single ailment even if it was able to do several things at once. The man with the red cloak didn''t seem to care, as if he now was already aware of the possibility of being hit by some ailment, and continued pushing forward, trying to slash Hera with his now almost two-meter-long katana. Thankfully, his speed didn''t seem to be increasing anymore, allowing the Empress to push for a stalemate. All she had to do was wait for the rest of her team to finish their fights and come to her aid. If that took too long, she would call one of her titled blades. But for now, she didn''t want to risk giving the humans an opportunity to escape with the box. Another 20 seconds went by, with the Ophidianite evading most attacks by a hair but still being hit by a few. Each strike from this long katana cut her armor like butter and made her skin sizzle and dry out at the same time. As if her own blood was literally boiling before leaving her body. That didn''t happen all at once, and it would take several blows to actually make her skin crack like paper, but it was still something she had to worry about. ''We are coming!'' DJ, Chris, and Ink said at the same time. The Empress had a rough idea of where they were located, even if she wasn''t paying attention. DJ and Chris were coming from the left, while Ink came from behind her. That flicker of distraction was exactly what the man was looking for. He stepped forward, closing in the distance as the katana changed, returning to its original size but now emanating a blood-red light that was strong enough to change the color of the surrounding area. Making an upward swing, red energy started to detach from his weapon. The Empress wasn''t entirely sure what was going to happen, but he was sure that being hit by that was the last thing she wanted. Tipping her body back, she used her tail to pull herself back even faster to dodge the blow. If this worked, she was going to evade the skill, spell, or whatever it was by a hair. Dusa also realized what was going to happen and sent out the hidden blade of the diadem to attempt to block or at least change the direction of that magic. As the red energy blade touched the hidden blade, for the first time since being part of the court, Dusa''s [Seal of Reflection] was triggered. The attack created by the human suddenly flipped, going back to the man in the red cloak instead of continuing to follow Hera. After using that skill, the man was exposed. He wasn''t able to move fast enough to block, dodge, or do anything about the attack, his own attack that came back at him, opening a large gash across his chest. Hera tried to pull herself up to follow up that blow, but she wasn''t in a good position to do that. Luckily, this was a one-on-one fight. Roan came rushing from the side, slamming both of his hand axes on the side of the human''s chest, opening up even more the gash that was created by his own attack. Just after him, Flint came running from the direction that Hera was looking at. He jumped, triggering his piston fist to deliver a powerful blow imbued with electricity to the back of the man''s head. Neria also joined in, sending an arrow of high-pressure water that pierced the man''s chest but wasn''t enough to go through him. Skyler''s spell was next, a sonic boom that slammed against the man''s head, making his eyes pop. What Hera wasn''t able to realize was that during the entire fight, not only the Pool of Styx was helping, but Vash was constantly buffing the party, even using his new tune, the Melody of the Phoenix, to help them heal and maintain her stamina. He still wasn''t able to perform it perfectly to give them the phoenix mote that could function as a second life. However, that wasn''t necessary for this fight. Hera jumped back, using her tail to prop her up as she pivoted forward. Pushing with her left leg, the Ophidianite lunged forward, using the [Grasshopper Stab] skill with Gale aiming at the middle of the man''s body. In all reality, the man in the red cloak was likely already dead, but she didn''t want to risk it. The human fell to the ground, his katana clattering to the side and the red cloak returning to its previous long shape. The Empress looked down, sweat dripping from her neck and blood still coming out of the various wounds that covered her body. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Human Corpse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Her [Observe] confirmed that this person was now dead, and she turned around. All the other members of her team were done with their fights. They had killed their targets without exception. "Are you ok?" Neria rushed over, and as soon as she saw the wounds, she started healing the explorer. "I''m ok¡­" Hera replied between breaths. Even with all the skills, spells, and effects increasing her stamina, she was still tired. Vash landed by the Ophidianite''s side, "Can I just ask one thing? Why didn''t you use that graveyard skill? The one that lets you bring more blades? Your court ended up helping us and not you. Did you forget again?" "I wanted to use that skill as a surprise move," Hera said between breaths before sitting on the ground and asking for a moment. After a few seconds, she continued, "I didn''t have a chance. That skill takes a moment to set up, and I was worried that asking one of my titled blades for help would give them an opening to go for the box and run." "Ah¡­ Maybe you should use it as an opener if it takes that long," Flint suggested, now also sitting on the floor. "It doesn''t take that long. But I didn''t have a chance to think, only to react. The last time I used that skill in a fight, I was fighting a dragon in the sky, and I managed to pull it off without a problem. This was just¡­ too much," Hera replied. "But you are ok now, right?" Livy''s voice was full of worry. She and the other titled blades were still close to the box, unwilling to move away until the rest of the team confirmed that the danger had passed. "I am. Thank you for looking after the box. That should be really important," Hera patted herself down, thanked Neria for the healing and got up, moving towards the titled blades. It was time to figure out what was in that box, what was so important for the lab that the humans were willing to die trying to protect it. 811 - Laboratory Supplies After confirming one more thing, the people they just faced were all dead. The team pulled all the corpses close, just to make sure that, if they had something connected to the box, they would notice. For now, the currier''s body was still there, even if its head was about a meter away. Before anyone was able to get close to the box, Roan stopped them, "Before we do this. Do we know anything about what can be inside it?" "Things from their lab, right?" Skyler replied with a frown. "Yeah, but¡­ any traps?" the beastmen asked. Flint looked at the box, still surrounded by Hera''s titled blades, "I didn''t think about that. Maybe? Do you think they would have time to trap the box?" "Do you think they wouldn''t have a trapped box at the ready?" Roan turned to the dwarf. "That''s a rough one¡­" Skyler glanced at the box, "Does anyone have a way to detect traps? Or should we just bring the box with us to the Alliance?" "Can we do that though? Like, can we take the box without triggering any traps? What if it has one that will trigger just because someone who is not a human touched it?" Vash asked. "We really should''ve asked about this. And the Alliance should''ve given us some ideas, but let''s do one thing at a time. Can anyone check if there are any traps?" Hera looked at the box using her [Ophidianite Sight], which allowed her to see in infra-red. Unfortunately, she got nothing out of it. The box was just blank as if it was empty, or whatever was inside was protected by something else, "I can use my pulse spell to see if I get a reading, but I think that''s a stretch. The spell usually works like a mana sonar. It can go through some things, but not everything." "I can try to detect life. It''s the same thing, but more specialized," Neria added. "I''ve never dealt with traps," Flint sighed. "What I can do would be the same as attacking the box. I would use an echolocation spell, but that is not delicate at all. It would probably trigger any traps that were there," Skyler explained. There was a pause with no one knowing for sure what to do next when Hera clapped her hands, "Ok. I''m using my spell. Then Neria can try hers, then Skyler. If nothing works, we just open it." With a nod, they started. First, Hera''s pulse and sensory net spells. Neither of them worked, only giving the impression that the box was solid. Then Neria used a skill called [Heart Beat Monitor], a healer-exclusive skill that allowed her to sense life in the vicinity and their state. "What the¡­" Neria stepped back while staring at the box. "What''s wrong?" Hera asked. "I¡­ don''t know. It''s weird. I can sense life there, but also¡­ not. It''s like¡­" "Whatever is inside there is both dead and alive at the same time," Hera didn''t need to wait for her to finish the sentence. She already knew. The same thing happened with Silah after she was experimented on, "Skyler, do your spell. And everyone, be ready to see something bad. I don''t want to think about it¡­ but there is a chance that one of the people who were experimented on is inside. "Inside that box? But¡­ it''s so small. Not even a dwarf or a harpy could stay there," Vash looked at the box. "Yeah. Not unless they didn''t have arms or legs," Flint scoffed. "I know," Hera replied bluntly, the seriousness of her voice making them all freeze, "Skyler?" The elf nodded and used the spell to check what was inside. No trap was triggered, but she also wasn''t able to get any more information. After another brief conversation, they agreed to just open it, but instead of having one of the team members do that. The job was left to the titled blades. "I''ll do it," Lurize said with a sigh. "No, let me. I''m the one who can use barriers," Nimbus replied. "Let''s not do this now. I''m the one with the bezt defenze in the court. You can uze barrierz to protect me." With a nod, the Sentinel agreed, and everyone walked away from the box, leaving Lurize behind. As much as Hera hated the idea, she knew that if one of her titled blades got hurt, they would come back, which meant that they were the best option for something like this. Lurize removed the box from the corpse and placed it on the ground. Nothing happened, so he continued, slowly opening the lid. No traps were triggered, but¡­ "What the hell?" the Royal Tutor gasped. "What?" Hera called from almost 100 meters of distance, behind a barricade made by Flint and her. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "There is another box. A metal one." "So, a box inside a box?" Vash tilted his head. "Yeah, let me open this," he pulled the lid of this second box. It had some give, but it seemed stuck. There was even a bent corner, which could be the reason. It wouldn''t be that much of a surprise if the humans had faced something that caused problems. Maybe the outer box wasn''t even the first one they used, but something they had to do in the middle of their journey. Using a bit more power, Nimbus forced the lid open. Before he could even see what was inside, something jumped out from it, slamming against his head and hitting it repeatedly. Whatever it was, it was small and had a long tail that kept shifting. In fact, the entire form of the creature didn''t seem to be steady. It would grow multiple arms, legs, and heads, become elongated and short, muscular and skinny, jagged and soft. Yet, Hera understood what it was, not by looking at it, but by sensing the mana. "That''s a Spirit. And a Daemon. It''s in between the two. Actively morning back and forth like a pendulum," Hera told those around her. ''That''s great, but can someone help me? This thing is strong!'' Lurize told in her mind. Scrambling up, the Empress rushed to help the titled blade. When she got closer, the Spirit/Daemon seemed to calm down for a moment. Its eyes now showed intelligence, not just a wild beast. But as the rest of the team, including the rest of the court, approached, the creature leaned more to the Daemon''s side again, attacking Lurize one more time with a powerful punch before jumping back. "Wait, wait, everyone, stop," Hera gestured for the team. She recalled Lurize and also sent him back before taking off Dusa as well. Turning back to the Spirit/Daemon, who was looking towards her and constantly shifting, slamming his sometimes few, sometimes numerous fists on the ground, she said, "Hey, hey. It''s ok. It''s ok." "Hera?" Neria asked. "My title. I think I can help," the Ophidianite quickly replied and continued walking forward. "Hera¡­ Are you sure?" Livy asked, her hands tightening around the war axe. "That''s not a good idea. Look at its level," Skyler didn''t want to step forward after using her [Observe.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Strength Spirit - Daemon - Spirit - Daemon - Level 74 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The creature kept changing from Spirit to Daemon even in notification, and the level made the Empress weary, but after taking one look at Lurize, she calmed herself. The Royal Tutor''s metal helmet was bent in a weird shape. This was caused by the repeated strikes. However, a Spirit, a Strength Spirit that was almost twice her level, should be able to kill any of her court members in a single hit without even batting an eye. The monster was weak, weak enough not to be as much of a danger as it seemed. Maybe it was the place they were at, maybe it was the box it was in, or something else entirely. But that didn''t matter. She glanced back one more time, seeing everyone with worried expressions, but her eyes stopped on Lurize. Maybe¡­ just maybe this could work. Maybe this was even why Forge was the only unique item inside the hidden forge. The MAZE might not like what was going on as was trying to give her a hand. Quickly sending a mental idea just to the hammer, she got his approval to try. "Hey," the Empress talked with the Spirit, "I know you are hurting," she moved forward, still on her knees to be close to the Spirit, "I''ve seen another one that was suffering like you are. I couldn''t help them at the time. But maybe. I can help you." The Spirit stopped shifting as quickly; it still happened, but now it was a gradual thing. The extra limbs would grow and shorten, and the fur and scales replace one another in a more ''natural'' way. "What they did to you is not right. And I, we are trying to stop that. So no Spirit suffers like this again. And I could use your help. But for that, you will have to bond-" "HERA!" Neria, Skyler, Nimbus, Lurize, and Daskka yelled at the same time. "You are not bonding with a Daemon. Are you crazy? That''s how people die!" Neria added. "Exactly, this is ridiculous. I''m killing that thing," Nimbus was about to step forward along with Daskka when the Empress commanded. "You three stay there," she glanced back to the Spirit, worried that the yelling might have scared him, "I''m not the one that is going to bond with them," gesturing with her hand, she called Forge over and presented the hammer to the Spirit/Daemon, "You need to bound with him." "Hera¡­ We don''t know if that will work. We can be bound to Spirits, not to Daemons. What if this messes up the entire court? Daemons are forces of pure emotion. Emotions are one of the drawbacks of the court. You can influence ours. Do you even know if this will work?" Viper spoke, his voice full of worry. "Daskka, can I be bound with a Daemon?" Hera asked. There was a long pause before the herald hissed, "Yes." "And don''t you think my titles can help deal with the issue? Mana Touched makes me a calming presence for Spirits. And Wardbearer protects me and all the court. It makes me, us, a paragon of protection against malevolent forces and afflictions. Can someone tell me that this shouldn''t apply to what happens with a Daemon?" "Titles are weird. No one knows what is going on with them!" Skyler gasped. "Yeah, and what if it doesn''t work? What if the new titled blade can''t be controlled?" Nimbus protested. "Then I can let them go. I know I''ll never be able to get that position filled again, but I think it''s worth the risk." "Why?!" Neria shouted, "Why is this worth the risk? Just to save a spirit? Fine, let''s find a new lab, and you can save a bunch of others. This is ridiculous!" "Lurize remembers things from when he was a Spirit," Hera replied. Everyone paused and turned to the Royal Tutor, "I don''t remember much. And all my memories include you. Maybe I can only remember the things you were a part of." "Or maybe you were a newborn Spirit, Mr. Beetle. Also, your memories are thousands of years old. We don''t care about things that far back, only about things more recent," Hera explained. "Even so¡­ this is too much of a risk!" Skyler protested, but her voice didn''t carry the same certainty as before. "Skyler¡­ they killed my ex. They experimented on her, forcibly bound her to a Daemon, and used her as a buffer to pass the power along. It was my ex, but I still loved her. And she died in my arms. I can''t let them get away with this. Not this," Hera replied, her eyes resolute. Seeing that nothing could be said to change her mind, everyone gave up and let the Ophidianite do whatever she wanted. Still, they prepared themselves to attack in case anything were to happen. Hera turned back to the creature and asked, "So? Do you want to try? You will be a friend until I die, or pass the legacy to someone else. Then you will return to your home," the Spirit looked at her still struggling to fight against the transformations and the frenzy inside them, "If it helps. I intend to kill everyone who did this to you." The Daemon looked at her with a smile, showing a row of teeth piercing the skin of their upper lips, and lunged at Forge. 812 - Forge When the Strength Spirit/Daemon slammed their body into Forge, both of them turned into a red mist. In a way, it looked like the impact turned them into just a blood spray. Slowly, that red fog grew, becoming almost as large as Viper or Crimson. No one said anything. They just watched as that red cloud changed and changed unit it suddenly stopped. It wasn''t even moving anymore, just staying still like a drawing. Suddenly, it jerked towards the Empress aggressively, spikes made out of mist jetting from various parts of the form. It stopped, almost like it was waiting for something before doing the same thing again, this time getting even closer to Hera. "What is going on?" Vash asked. "I don''t know. This is not what was supposed to happen," the Empress turned to Daskka, "Do you have any idea." The herald stared at the Ophidianite for a long time before replying in a monotone voice, "You didn''t do the thing." "What thing?" "The thing you have to do to add a titled blade. The speech." "Oh! Right," she was too overwhelmed with everything and forgot the most basic part of this. Actually, using her [Bestow Title] skill, "Forge, you have just joined our team but have already proven to be an invaluable ally. In addition, you have the same affinity as the Spirit we just found, a Spirit that was being tortured by the humans who worked in that lab. I can''t help but think that the MAZE itself is pulling some strings to make all of this happen. I can''t say much about its reason, but I can say that I hope you two travel with me to discover it. I ask you, both of you, to join my court as our forge master. And the title of your position shall be Vulcan, in honor of the ancient god of fire, volcano, and metallurgy. Do you accept my invitation?" The mist shifted once more, and this time, slowly starting to take shape. First was a pair of very long feet with claws at the end. However, these were, in fact, boots, although Hera could tell that this was the actual form of Forge''s new feet. The legs were thick and incredibly muscular, the type that could be seen even through the thick black leather pants he was wearing. Pants that had a hole in the back to give away to a thick brown tail. A blue shirt was tucked into the pants. But the color of this fabric was faded, as if it had been worn for countless years on end. He had a pair of muscular but thin arms, especially when compared with his massive legs. His pecks were extremely well defined, but not in a bodybuilder way. More in the same way, a lumberjack, or well, a blacksmith, would have defined muscles. A tuft of ginger fur coming out of the man''s cleavage formed by the V cut of his shirt. When his neck started to form, a large and incredibly thick apron plopped in front of him, covering the entire front side of his body. Finally came his face. It was marsupial-like, very reminiscent of a kangaroo, but with a shorter snout. But, the expected symmetry wasn''t there. The right side of his mouth was closed, with the lips closing where one would expect; the left had his lips open wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth that were permanently in the display. His left nostril was black and almost dog-like, but the right one was not white anymore like that of a person. The pupil of the right eye was white, surrounded by a red iris and a vibrant green sclera instead of the white most living creatures would have. The left eye was a simple brown. Both ears had the same shape, but the left one was scarred, with holes, marks of claws, and bites. The other had a red pattern, almost like a natural tattoo, creating the image of scales and feathers. His entire head was covered in fur. At the base of the neck, it was still the brown that followed the rest of the body, but as it went up, the colors turned to ginger, then to red, with the tip of the ears having the same color as fresh blood. Despite the bulky and imposing appearance, Forge was small. In fact, he was a bit shorter than Flint. While still being wider. Hera waited for a moment as the newly titled blade seemed to look around its own body. She wanted to give him time to understand this new situation, but Crimson''s anxiety got the better of her, "Forge? Are you still you, or are you crazy?" "Can I have a fucking moment to understand this shit?!" Forge snarled back, his voice in a half growl, "This is my voice? Scratchier than I expected," he said. Even when he was talking normally, the half-growl was still there. "Sorry," Crimson replied meekly. "Just shut up for a moment!" Forge snarled again, but this time, he noticed Hera raising one eyebrow, "Sorry, give me a sec. This is weird and¡­ Why am I so angry? Everything annoys me." "Everything?" Hera asked. Forge rolled his eyes, "I just said it was fucking everything. Do your ears work?" Hera was taken aback, but before she could say anything, Vulcan added, "Sorry, Empress. I don''t know what is going on." "I''m going to check your attributes. OK? See if there is anything there. You can do the same," Hera replied and opened his status window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forge Vulcan - Strength Forging Hammer Total Attributes: 672 Strength: 137 Endurance: 135 Intelligence: 133 Charisma: 107 Agility: 80 Luck: 80 Mana: 6 000 000/6 000 000 Scaling: Strength X 30.3 Endurance X 29.8 Intelligence X 29.4 Charisma X 23.5 Agility X 17.7 Luck X 17.7 Active Skills: Echoing Enchantment: When active, any item struck by this hammer will receive a temporary enchantment. This boon is random, but it will be something that is usable for the item. All subsequent applications of this enchantment will be the same as the first one. The effect will increase based on the number of targets that are under this effect. This effect cannot happen more than once in an item during the same use of the skill. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Skill Duration: 2 minute Enchantment Duration: 10 minutes Awakened Potential: Once per day, an item that is hit by this Forge can be pushed to the limits of the material used in its creation. Alternatively, Forge can activate this skill on two items at once, but doing so makes the cooldown 10 times longer. Cooldown: 12 hours Phoenix Touch: Forge can temporarily bestow the essence of a phoenix on other items. All items affected by this skill can deal bonus Phoenix Fire damage and regenerate any damages with time. In addition, this hammer is able to use a Phoenix Fire wave attack one time. Cooldown: 84 hours. Hearth of a Phoenix: Due to the essence of a phoenix that was used in the creation of the Cinder Kissed Forging Hammer, if Forge is destroyed, he is able to return to life once every so often. In addition, the time he requires to recover after being destroyed is reduced. Rebirth Cooldown: 7 days Recovery time reduction 50% Sacred Flames: Forge can imbue his attacks with Sacred Fire. In addition, he can create waves of fire to both harm his enemies and heal his allies. Imbue mana cost: 100 000 mana/s Damaging wave mana cost: 300 000 Healing wave mana cost: 600 000 Daemon Form: The Daemon that joined Forge still lingers inside of him. By activating this form, Forge is no longer able to use any skill or spell that does not use strength mana. He becomes more aggressive and may be unable to differentiate friend from foe, with the Empress being the only exception. In exchange, his attributes and scaling are doubled. After the duration of this form, or if he is dismissed while in this form, Forge will return to the legacy to recover. Duration: 30 Minutes Time to recover: 12 hours Passive Skills: Spirit Bound: When the Empress uses a spell that asks for Strength Mana, Forge can pay half of the mana cost of the spell desired. Doing so will make him spend only a quarter of the total mana cost for the spell. Forge himself only requires a quarter of the total mana cost to cast spells with Strength Mana. Daemon Bound: Forge was bound to a Daemon and was able to maintain his sanity due to the Wardbearer title held by the Empress. However, the Daemon still exists within him, giving him strength but also heightening his more aggressive emotions. He gains a 1% buff to his scaling and attributes for each % of Daemonic influence. If the Daemonic influence reaches 100%, Forge will be forced into his Daemon Form, any buffs applied by him will be removed, and he will attack everything in sight, with the exception of the Empress. However, he won''t be compelled to protect her, even if she is in danger due to his actions. His attributes and scaling will triple instead of double, and he will be constantly damaging himself as his body is unable to contain that power. In addition, the time it will take for him to recover after using his Daemonic Form will be 4 times longer. While Forge is out of the legacy, the Daemonic influence will continuously increase depending on his surroundings. Once he recovers from the Daemonic form, the Daemonic Influence will return to 0. Current Daemonic influence: 86% Master Crafter. Forge is more likely to bring out the special attributes of the items he creates. Buff given by this Forge to other items will be increased by 40% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They read everything in silence, Hera liked a lot of the things she was seeing, but the Daemonic Form and the Daemon Bound parts worried her. At least it did say that it would only increase when he was out of the legacy. This means she could keep him in there if she was in a situation where triggering the form could be a problem. "That¡­ makes some sense. Fuck I got the short end of the stick," Forge grumbled. "You have a revive skill. How is that the short end of the stick?" "I''m going to be angry all the time. How is that any good?" "No one said that you will be angry, and I don''t think you are angry right now. Just grumpy," Hera replied. "Even so. That is not great," Forge mumbled. "Moving on to another topic, do you know if the recovery reduction is already applied to the [Hearth of a Phoenix] skill?" "I don''t know," Forge just shook his head. "Daskka?" Hera turned around, but the herald just stared back at her. It didn''t take their connection for the Empress to feel the rage coming from the snake, "Look. I get that you are angry with me. We can talk about that later. For now, can you help? Please?" Daskka paused for a moment before huffing, "Fine," she floated over and, after a moment, replied, "OK, right. So it works like other things. If an item or a skill says ''reduce cost/cooldown of X,'' then that reduction is already applied to the skill or item itself on the notifications." "Got it, I thought it was the case, but I wanted to make sure." "Empress. Can I ask for a favor?" Forge''s voice was calmer, but the growl was still there, showing that it wasn''t something related to his mood. "Already asking for favors?" Hera smiled, but seeing Vulcan''s intense eyes, she stopped joking, "Of course." "Order me to always know how much Daemonic Influence I currently have. I can tell if it''s a lot or a little, but I don''t know the exact number." Hera nodded, understanding his worry, "OK. Forge, I order you to always know how much Daemonic Influence you currently have without looking at your status window." Vulcan hesitated but then smiled, "Thank you." "Is he OK? I mean, is he going to go nuts?" Neria asked. "Forge? How about you tell them. Honestly, that''s an order," the last line was more for the rest of the team. If they knew she was giving an order, they would believe what Forge said. "I''m not going to go crazy, not any more than any of you, at least," Forge huffed, "But there are some things I have to control," he gestured to his face, the exposed teeth and the ear filled with scars, "Being a half Daemon comes with some issues. I have to use a skill that makes me lose my mind, and if I don''t use it, things can go south." "How about your memories? Can you remember things in the lab?" Flint asked. Hera also turned to Forge expectantly. Understanding what they were asking, Vulcan nodded, closed his eyes, and started to think, "I remember¡­ a room. White and red, someone was talking and... UGH!" Forge growled, slamming his feet on the ground, cracking some of the stone beneath him, "I''m at 90%." "OK, stop. You can remember, but maybe because of what happened with you or the Spirit, the Daemonic Influence grows very fast. We can try this later, and little by little. OK?" her question wasn''t just directed at Forge but at the rest of the team. Everyone agreed, and they decided to wait a bit before asking more questions. Instead, they turned to the bodies of the humans. "He has to get rid of their bodies, right?" Roan asked. "Yeah," Skyler replied "How about their gear? Spoils?" "I mean¡­ It feels weird, but I guess that''s the best option. At least we should take everything with us. Maybe they have something else that can help. If everyone is OK with it," Skyler nodded. "If no one wants it, I''ll take the katana," Hera said, getting strange looks from everyone, even her court, "What? Those bastards killed Silah and tortured Forge, but that doesn''t mean their items are bad. That katana had some cool features. Also, I have an open space in my court, so I might as well fill it up." 813 - The dead need no pants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crimson Fang Katana - Epic Scaling: Strength: X 32 Dexterity: X 28 Endurance: X 15 Charisma: X 10 Active Skills: Crimson Deluge: Channel Crimson Fang for 5 seconds, releasing a wave of blood energy that damages and knocks back all enemies in a cone-shaped area. The damage dealt equals 20% of the damage you suffered in the last 5 minutes. Cooldown: 5 minutes Blood Sacrifice: By reapplying all the damage you have received at the last minute, you can trigger a devastating attack that ignores 50% of the target''s defense. Killing people with Blood Sacrifice grants while at max frenzy stacks a permanent +1% damage bonus to Crimson Fang, stacking up to 50 times. Cooldown: 3 minutes Current damage bonus: 50% Passive Skills: Blood Thirst: Each attack with the Crimson Fang that is able to draw blood gives it a frenzy stack, increasing its size by damage by 5% and the scaling by 1%, stacking up to 25 times. When the frenzy stack reaches 25, the next skill deals an additional 50% damage, and the blade returns to the original size. When Crimson Fang reaches its maximum size, the blade glows red. Crimson Edge: Every critical hit with Crimson Fang applies a bleeding debuff to the target, dealing damage over time for 5 seconds. The damage dealt is equal to 10% of the initial critical hit damage. Corrupted Blood: Bleeding effects caused by this weapon change how the target behaves in relation to healing. The area around the bleeding becomes corrupted, and any healing will instead damage that wound. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was staring at the katana on the ground. The team had gathered the corpses and brought them to their temporary camp. They needed a safer place to go through all of their things. For now, the Empress was unsure if she should add this weapon to her court. It was powerful, but it killed a lot of people. Also, it was unique enough to possibly cause problems. Not many people walked around with a completely black katana, from the scabbard to blade, with only a thin red line going along the cutting edge as if it had just drawn blood. The [Blood Sacrifice] skill bothered her since it talked specifically about defeating and killing people. The human could''ve gone to a dungeon that had people to stack that buff, but she doubted. However, what made her even more uncomfortable was the cloak that was beside it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crimson Embrace - Cloak - Absorption Active Skills: Scarlet Shroud: Wrap the cloak around any weapon, causing it to grow in size and gain increased damage for 10 seconds. The bonus damage scales with the user''s Strength, and the duration increases with the weapon''s size. Cooldown: 2 minutes Blood Pact: By taking 20% of the damage you received at the last minute, you can bind the cloak to a nearby ally again, sharing a portion of the damage you take for 30 seconds. While linked, both wearer and ally gain a +10% bonus to movement speed and attack speed. Defeating enemies while Blood Pact is active grants a stacking +1% damage reduction to the cloak, up to a maximum of 5%. Cooldown: 5 minutes Passive Skills: Crimson Bulwark: When taking damage, the cloak absorbs a portion (20%) and converts it into a temporary shield that lasts for 5 seconds. The shield''s strength scales with the user''s Endurance. Vampiric Bite: Whenever the wearer is severely injured and strikes an enemy, the wearer siphons a small amount of life force to heal themselves: 1% life steal per successful strike. Bloodied Fury: As the wearer takes damage, the cloak''s red hue deepens. Each threshold of damage grants a 2% bonus to Strength and Dexterity, stacking up to 5 times. This bonus resets upon healing by other means than the ones given by the Crimson Embrace. The cloak pulsates with a faint red light in combat, increasing the user''s chance to parry or dodge attacks by 5%. Echoes of the Fallen: Upon landing a killing blow in an intelligence species that leaves a corpse behind, part of the slain enemy is absorbed by Crimson Embrace, granting a temporary buff based on the enemy type for 1 day. Each effect can stack up to 10 times. Buffs: Human: +10% Attack speed Beastmen + 2% Critical hit chance Dwarf +10% Defense Elf: + 10 % magic damage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All in all, it was a great cloak, but that last skill made her stomach turn. If there were any doubts about what was considered an ''intelligent species,'' the list of known buffs spelled things out for her. This was an item made for killers, for people who quite literally wanted to use others to get stronger. In a way, it was hypocritical of her to judge them for this, but at the same time, her reason for killing them was different. Or at least, that''s what she had to tell herself. "That is one nasty item," Flint, who was also staring at the cloak, mumbled. "Yeah¡­ but why are Triton, Children of the Sky, and Ophidianite not on the list?" Neria frowned. "I think this means that he, or whoever used this cloak, never killed one of us," Hera replied. "And¡­ I don''t want to be the one to say this, but this feels a bit racist. It''s not just because it''s something that gets stronger if it kills us. But why does every beastmen give the same buff?" Roan grumbled. "I know what you mean. Elves giving extra magic damage is so stereotypical that it hurts," Skyler crossed her arms. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Yeah. The other skills seem pretty great, but I can''t think about using it," the Empress sighed. "How about the katana? Are you going to use or should I melt it down?" Flint turned to the Ophidianite. "That one I''m more ok with using. The idea of having to kill people to make it stronger is not great, but maybe it can be done inside a dungeon. After all, there is no mention of ''leaving a corpse behind'' in that one." "Fair enough. How about the rest?" Flint gestured to the other weapons the humans used, a longsword, a spear, a pair of daggers, and a pair of gauntlets. They had checked their attributes, but none of them was particularly interesting. They had mostly movement abilities. Things made to help you escape. Unfortunately for them, their job was to carry the box, and without it, they couldn''t just try to run. "Does anyone want this girl''s pants?" Skyler was looking at the body of one of the two women in the human group. She stopped after seeing everyone''s odd looks, "I know this sounds really bad, and I''m not going to wear this right now. Not before washing this thoroughly! But her pants have some good skills. Besides, they are pretty and my size." "Don''t¡­ people crap their pants when they die? I remember hearing about that, and by the smell, it seems to be the case," Vash turned to the dead bodies. "I said, I''m washing this thoroughly!" Skyler huffed. "Are the skills really that good to make them worth all this trouble?" Neria looked over the bodies. More than anyone, she wasn''t taking their actions well. Even if the triton understood that they had to do this, it still wasn''t easy. "Yeah, two movement-based skills. One of them is great for running away and an auditory illusion skill to make it seem like the sound I make comes from a different place. Considering the type of magic I use, those are amazing, especially on pants," Skyler explained. In fact, they had found a handful of interesting items. Mostly accessories since the katana was the only weapon the team decided to take for themselves. They also had some potions and other consumables that could be useful or give them some insight into what the humans were up to. But the most important find, well, the two most important finds, were Forge, being able to remember what happened with the Spirit, and a couple of handwritten notebooks that were in the box. Those were hidden inside a thicker side of the metal case. Unfortunately, a good part of that material was encoded, which stopped any of the team members from understanding it. But that was a problem for the Alliance. They were the ones who had to figure out. All the Harmony Guardians had to do was find these materials and take them to them. After getting every potentially useful item from the humans and leaving them behind in their underwear and cloaks came the next and more gruesome part. Nimbus carried the bodies one by one, flying around in the room, and dropped them near various monsters. They were close enough to make it seem like they were caught by creatures and then dragged around. In addition, the team also used some fire and acid spells to damage the bodies and the black cloaks that had no skills. This was suggested by Neria since finding traces of bodies but not their clothes would be strange. Then again, even if some of the monsters here were capable of using acid, their spell wouldn''t be all that powerful. It was very likely that the first thing the humans would think was foul play. Still, it wasn''t like they wouldn''t think the Alliance was the reason for this group to disappear. Doing this with the bodies was just a way to stall for time, remove the evidence, and make it harder for anyone to figure out who they were and where they were going. In addition, to leave the room, they had another plan. Nimbus would carry everyone, one by one, to the doorway they would take to reach the closest Alliance-controlled city. Vash didn''t need that help, but everyone else did. They all crossed to the next room, with Hera being the last one to go. Before heading out, she had one more thing to do, "Nimbus, get back to the legacy. Forge, you come out. Daskka and Dusa, both of you, should also be in the legacy. Just in case." Everyone obeyed the Empress. Vulcan reappeared in front of her while the rest of the members of the court vanished. "How are you feeling?" Hera asked. "Fine," Forge grumbled, already knowing what was about to happen. "OK then. Are you ready? Do you have any questions about what we are doing?" "I do have a question. Nothing to do with this. Why did you give me the title of Vulcan? Everyone else has a ''The something.'' Why was I different?" "Oh?" Hera was taken aback by that question, "Honestly. I just felt like it fit. Like Forge is less of a name than what everyone else has. If I could change, I would''ve swapped. Called you ''Vulcan the Forge.'' But that wasn''t an option. Once you become part of the legacy, I can''t change your name later. I''m sorry if it bothered you." "No¡­ that is ¡­ quite nice actually. You gave me a name that I can use with others. People can address me as Vulcan, thinking I''m a person like the rest of the court. Thank you." "To be fair, Crimson is not exactly a name, and Viper works more as a nickname." "Don''t you have a friend called Blue? How is Crimson different?" Vulcan stared at Hera like she was crazy. "Fair point. But I''m glad you liked your title/name. Would you prefer if we called you Vulcan or Forge?" "Vulcan. It makes me feel more on the same level as the others." "Will do. I''ll ask the court and the team to do the same," Hera smiled before glancing at the doorway again, "Now, do you mind if we do that? I don''t want to leave the others waiting too much." "Of course," Vulcan nodded and turned around. He took a deep breath and activated the [Daemon Form] skill. His fur started to change to a deep red as his muscles inflated in an unnatural way. The areas of his face that were not scarred and wounded shifted to mirror the other side. Rows of teeth became exposed on the side of his face that was usually hidden by his cheeks, and the apron turned red, unraveling from his body and warping around the hammer, making the handle longer. Forge roared and slammed his weapon on the ground, saliva dripping from his mouth like an animal with rabies. He jumped forward, trying to swing at the air, then at the nearby ruins, lashing out wildly. "Vulcan? Can you hear me?" "Yeah!" he growled, his eyes filled with rage. Hera called Dusa on her head, testing to see if Forge would attack something she was wearing. The titled blade didn''t seem to mind and just continued slamming the surrounding area. The Empress still wanted to do more tests, but she realized that the marks could become a problem. Maybe the humans would notice this and connect the dots that they left through here. "Vulcan, we''ll test more later. Come back now." Forge returned to the legacy, and Hera turned around to cross to a new room. Before she touched the notification to start the transfer, she realized she could already call Vulcan again. This probably meant that the [Hearth of a Phoenix] skill would still work when using the [Daemon Form]. That was one more test she could cross out, but there were still many more to go. 814 - What comes next After crossing the doorway, Hera and her Team continued moving, passing through another 2 doorways before stopping. Their next destination was 20 rooms away from the Glimmering Graveyard. That wasn''t where the closest Alliance-controlled city was located, but it was a place the leaders of the species trusted to be secure. Only then would they give the lab materials to someone who would, on their turn, bring said materials to one of the hidden intelligence places the Alliance had. However, the Empress knew that there was a good chance things wouldn''t work like that. That plan considered only that they had the materials, not that they had, somehow, saved the Spirit and given it a voice. Hera wasn''t feeling great about it. She didn''t regret having Vulcan join her titled blades, but the ramifications were starting to worry her. So far, not many people know about her legacy. Sure, they could have some idea she was a one-woman army, but the details were still a secret. Considering what was going on and how much the Alliance already knew about the experiments, it wasn''t a stretch to think that some scientists would be involved with the spies, and there lies the problem. Telling people who studied spirits that she had a legacy capable of turning the elemental creature into something closer to a person would make them go wild. Maybe she could lie and say that all of this was due to a skill she got from the MAZE or an item, but it would be a hard sell. Anyone who started to look into this a bit more would realize that her story was iffy, and that could result in any information they got from Vulcan being questioned. That would go against the whole point, and the longer they waited, the more people would suffer. She mentioned her worry to the rest of the team, but unfortunately, no one had any idea about the best way to go about it. One way or another, more people would start getting to know about her legacy, and trying to hide that information might just make it more tantalizing. Hera wasn''t the only one who was struggling with something. Although the issues were wildly different. Neria and Vash kept their heads down and spoke very little during the last three days. The team was now eight rooms away from the Glimmering Graveyard. They were sitting in a wide-open field with a massive brown mountain to their side. It was the kind that simply started and went up into the sky and not the ones that had a steady incline. If there were more, this place would feel like a canyon, but here, it was just like looking at a gigantic wall. The room was called the ''Valley of Morning Dew'' because every morning, it didn''t matter where or how well protected you were. You would become a bit damp. Not wet, not drenched, just damp. Out of the blue. As if the mana inside the room created that dew that covered everything. They didn''t have any intention of experiencing that, not because some of the team wasn''t curious, but because they would leave the room before nightfall. It was lunchtime, and they were on the ground, eating some stew with monsters they hunted here. It was a nice change of pace after the last few days where they only had power bars to fill their bellies. They also already could use their tablets, which allowed for them to watch something while traveling. Yet, Vash and Neria were both not really paying attention. When a fight was about to happen, or they had to do something, the two would work like normal, but any time the team could rest, the triton and the harpy would just stare at a random thing with a somber expression. Everyone noticed that, and they had talked a bit about what was going on, but never at length. Escaping the Glimmering Graveyard and making sure they didn''t leave behind any tracks took precedence over anything. But today was different. They were more relaxed, and after crossing to the next room, the next doorway was less than 500 meters away. Knowing that today they had time and could waste some of it talking, Hera sent a message to Skyler. They had decided to be the ones to talk with Neria and Vash. Flint wasn''t exactly the nurturing and sentimental type. His advice would be mostly, ''Just suck it up.'' While Roan was too used to killing. His previous job included dealing with roaming bandits near the large cities of the beastmen, and the first time he killed someone, he was just 16. Skyler noticed the text and nodded to the Empress, walking over to the cart where Vash was eating and staring into the horizon. At the same time, Hera refilled her bowl with the stew and moved closer to Neria. "Hey, do you want more?" Hera asked with a smile, offering her hand to pick the triton''s bowl. Neria looked down. She still had more than half of the stew to eat, but she wasn''t particularly hungry, "No thanks. It''s tasty, but I just don''t feel like eating." With a nod, Hera sat by her side, "I understand you are not doing so hot. Well, I mean, you are, but I mean in a different way." Neria blinked, the weird phrase seemingly able to bring her out of her stupor, "What?" Hera stared back at the triton, "C''mon. You can''t be wearing that and not know you are hot. Even if you are not doing hot, you still are hot, and there is nothing you can do about it." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I never pegged you for liking the depressed type," Neria chuckled. Hera let out a genuine sigh, "It''s been a while since I was pegged in any way," she flushed a bit, realizing what she just said, "Sorry, that just¡­ came out. Let''s go back to you. I can see that you are going through some stuff. Do you want to talk about it?" Neria paused, also caught off guard by the Ophidianite''s initial remark, but she quickly went back to her serious expression. "Would talking about it change anything?" "Yes." "What?" "It will help you." Neria scoffed, "Yeah, sure." "Seriously. I have a friend who is a really great therapist, and he explained to me why talking about things helps. When we are thinking, it doesn''t always follow a logic. It''s not like we are writing a journal. Our thoughts jump, loop, go back and forth, change to something completely different, and use smells, colors, or senses to convey something to us. That''s why we think faster than we speak. Our minds don''t limit themselves to just language; they use all kinds of inputs to make us understand what we think as quickly as possible. And I''m not even talking about people who have ADHD. In those cases, it''s all that while a monkey is playing the piano and a fish doing the macarena, and both are making a presentation about the life cycle of a fruit fly." Neria frowned, "That was¡­ oddly specific." "I had some weird dreams in the Cinderspire Citadel. But the point is, while that is super helpful when we are fighting or doing something, we need to think fast. If we have a problem and start to overthink, all those feelings and sensations get in the way. So, talking about it helps us organize the ideas we have. It helps us make sense of what we are going through since we have to explain it to someone else. Maybe you''ll already know everything you say, and there will be nothing new. But usually, there will be something, even if it''s something small, that will help you understand what is going on a bit better." "Do I have to?" Neria looked Hera in the eye, her face clearly showing discomfort. "No, you don''t. If you don''t want to, that''s okay." "Thanks. If I want to talk, I''ll let you know," Neria ate a bit more of the stew while Hera was by her side, doing the same. After around two minutes of silence, the triton spoke up, "Was that your first?" "The first time I killed someone?" Hera glanced over, getting a nod in reply. She looked to her stew once again and told the story, "No. The first time was in Dzviery during the centaur attack. There was an elf, his name was Vulmer Keller. He was affected by the madness spell, skill, or whatever it was that the centaur did. He came at me. I tried to fight him off, but he didn''t stop. In the end, he walked into my glaive. I didn''t swing, just held it there, and he just¡­ ran at it." "That''s¡­ awful. And it wasn''t your fault. I mean, so many people died in that attack," Neria was now looking at her with wide eyes. "I know. Thanks. But I spiraled a bit after that. I spent a couple of months exclusively running dungeons here. I had to fight people. Humans, in that case. I was angry at everything, upset for acting like that, and I almost let Lurize go. My first blade was the only one that came from a previous legacy holder. Yet, in a fit of anger, I wanted to get rid of him just because he was getting a bit weaker than the others. I didn''t even have a replacement." "How did you get past that?" "Therapy, a lot of it. It helped me understand that it wasn''t my fault, and even if it was. This was the MAZE. Things like that can happen, and we all know that. Two, my anger wasn''t just about killing him but for being too weak and too indecisive to knock him out before it came to that. And three, that I really hated when people forced others to suffer. That one is a bit of a given, but it really does strike a nerve. That man was the second person I killed. Well, if we are counting real people. There were a few I had to kill inside a weird vision thing, and at the time, I did believe they were actual people," Hera noticed Neria''s confused expression and just chuckled, "It''s a long story. I''ll tell you later. Either way, in my mind, it was simple. He was helping humans torture people. If we let them live, more people would get hurt, and their blood would be in my hands. After I saw what they did with Silah, and she died in my hands because of those experiments, I decided to stop caring about killing. It''s not easy, and I don''t want to go on a murder spree. But¡­ if I start to feel guilty, I remember what those people did with Silah and how much the prisoners suffered. Using anger to not feel bad about that may be a crutch, but It''s one that I intend to keep using." Neria nodded, "I get that. Crutches help when we need them. Just be careful not to become dependent on them. Also¡­ Did you say a friend of yours is your therapist?" "Yeah." "You know that''s not a good idea, right?" "Well¡­ It''s complicated. Basically, this friend is a giant turtle that lives on the MAZE. I can give you a referral, but getting there is very tricky. If we are in my private room, I can call him, but the rule is that I can only do that if everyone with me also knows him." "Your therapist is a giant turtle? Hera, what the hell?" Before the Empress could answer that question, Roan jumped to his feet, "We have a problem!" he turned his tablet to the rest of the group. There was an S.O.S. message from a team that was in the same room as they were. It seemed like they were delivering supplies but were attacked. There was no mention of who attacked them, but only one type of creature was aggressive in this room. They were called Myradions, bipedal jackals with elongated limbs and green hair. It was rare to see them, but they were always in groups when they attacked. This was a weaker room for Hera and the others. Monsters here were at most level 24, but if the people asking for help were around the same level, they were in trouble. "Let''s move!" Flint yelled as everyone jumped in the cart, and Nimbus took his griffon form to carry it again. "What if this is a trap?" Skyler asked. "Then we make sure no one else falls for it," the dwarf replied as the carriage picked up speed. 815 - You need a hero Aground 20 minutes after they got the message, Vash was already able to see the group being assailed by a pack of Myradions. The monsters had surrounded the people who were huddled around a large carriage and were doing their best to fend off the creatures. "We need to move faster. I don''t think they can wait much longer," Vash said as he came back to the team. "How far are they?" Flint got up but still couldn''t see the group being attacked. "I would say, about two or three kilometers." "We should get there in about 4 or 5 minutes," Skyler replied, refreshing the buff that Nimbus was currently having. "I don''t think they have that long. There were three people on the ground, and only one facing the monsters," Vash replied. "Shit," Flint groaned, but he still didn''t move, just stood there. "Hera, how fast can Nimbus run?" The Empress turned to the Sentinel, ''While carrying you all, I''m at my max speed of 40 km/h already. If I carry just you, Hera, I could get to around double that with all the buffs on me.'' "He''s already at max speed. The only way to make him faster would be for him to drop you. Even then, that''s two minutes." "What if you awaken him? With Vulcan? Doesn''t that double his stats and skills?" Neria suggested. "We never tried with the titled blades. But maybe." "Then do it! Go on ahead, and we run the rest of the way there," Flint almost barked the order. "Are you telling me to go alone?" Hera blinked, unsure if she was hearing it correctly. "You are never alone. Isn''t that the point of your legacy?" Flint huffed. "Fair," Hera turned around and summoned Forge, "Vulcan do you need-" Before she could finish the hammer replied, ''Nope.'' And gave Nimbus a soft hit on his bottom. ''Hey!'' Nimbus protested, but his body suddenly shifted. He didn''t stop running, but his griffon body grew, clouds formed under his wings, and small sparks of lighting appeared with each of his steps. His beak became longer and curved while his eyes grew sharper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sentinel Nimbus - Protection Bladed Tonfa - Griffon Total Stats: 608 Strength: 102 (204) Endurance: 203 (406) Agility: 156 (312) Charisma: 40 (80) Intelligence: 46 (92) Luck: 60 (120) Mana: 6 621 395/ 6 621 395 Sentinel Core: 9 365 621/ 9 365 621 Weapon Scaling Empress Attribute 112 Endurance x 23.9 (47.8) Agility x 19.6 (39.2) Strength x 14.8 (29.6) Luck x 11 (22) Intelligence x 9.7 (19.4) Charisma x 9.2 (18.4) Passive Skill: Defender Fire and Ice Cold Burn Call of the Wind Wind Front Active Skill: Griffon''s call Frozen Ash Griffon Form Mana Shield Share the Pain Awakened Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. The cooldown is reduced by half. Nimbus becomes the personification of a griffon. Clouds wrap around his form, increasing the protection he can provide. All of his attacks and skills deal cold, fire, and wind damage. Extra Skill: Cloud Sentinel: Nimbus creates a cloud around himself. Anyone damage dealt to an ally who is in the area of the cloud will go to Nimbus instead. In addition, the clouds are able to reduce any incoming damage to Nimbus and his allies by 20% Passive radius - 1 meter Mana cost for each extra meter - 1% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daskka knew that Hera wouldn''t have time to read the status window. Instead she just forced the information inside the Empress'' mind. It wasn''t a good feeling, and she could only do this with this kind of thing, but they couldn''t go fighting without knowing the capabilities of the Awakened Nimbus. After a brief moment for Hera to gather herself again, she jumped on top of the Sentinel, dismissing Forge while summoning Viper and Crimson. She slashed the side of the harness that was currently attaching Nimbus to the carriage, and the two of them just bolted. In that initial burst of speed, the Ophidianite almost fell from the griffon, but before she could even use her tail to grab onto something, a cloud appeared on her back. Not only was this giving her the support she needed to withstand this speed, but it was also quite cozy. ''I got you, and be careful with the eyes. I''m picking up the pace,'' the Sentinel said. Despite the situation, it was clear he was enjoying his new powers. His speed was staggering. Forget double. Nimbus was moving at a pace that could rival some race cars. Or at least that was the impression Hera got. She only got a handful of seconds to realize how much she trusted the Sentinel. After all, if she were to fall or be dropped at the speed they were going, she would likely die. Her attributes wouldn''t matter. Yet, she was comfortable. There wasn''t a single thought in her mind that Nimbus could harm her, even by accident. It felt nice to trust someone like that, and she had even more people who she trusted as much. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as she saw the group of monsters attacking those few warriors. There should be over 50 Myradions, including a chieftain. Against them was a small team of 5 people, 3 of whom looked human. And another 3 people in the carriage, seemingly hiding from everything. According to the S.O.S., this team was escorting some supplies. That meant that some of the people here should not be battle-ready and just be in charge of the shipment itself. A couple of seconds passed, and the Empress got a better look at things. Of the 5 people, only one was still standing, and they all were very hurt. Blood was splattered on the back of the carriage, and small pools covered the floor. All the while, the Myradions cackled, making a sound very similar to that of a hyena but less human-like. Their voices had some reverberation that messed with one''s head. Thankfully, the Empress not only had a title that protected her from this kind of thing, but her attributes were also strong enough to fight back against whatever effect this cackle of Myradions had. Nimbus slowed down, not to pass them or to hurt any of the people who were already fighting. Hera jumped up, standing on top of the griffon, and created a [Venomous Glaive] on her hands. The Sentinel jumped over the Myradions, and, at the same time, the Ophidianite jumped off of him, doing a flip to keep her back to the people being attacked. Just as she landed, the Empress yelled, "Hydra''s Coil!" using a new command phrase to summon her entire court. Lurize, Livy, Viper, Crimson, and Vulcan all appeared in their bipedal forms, creating a semi-circle of protection around the injured team. Gale, Ink, Tide, Autumn, Chris, Ember, DJ, and Juuchi, the katana that had joined the court recently, all popped from her back, quickly passing in front of Yarnball to get a magnet before flying out after the monsters. Dusa was the only one who didn''t do that since she was already on top of the Ophidianite''s head. ''Vulcan, attack or defense?'' the Empress before she started moving. ''I''m at 20%, I''ll defend,'' during the last few days, they tested a few things out and discovered a couple of things. First, the more Daemonic Influence he had, the quicker it would increase. Second, if Forge was focused on making something, the influence would grow at a reduced rate. Lastly, there was one way to lower the influence without using the [Daemonic Form] skill. And that was to let Vulcan fight freely without worrying about strategy, objective, or whatever. If he could just go wild and act as if he were in that form, the Daemonic Influence would slowly go down. Unfortunately, that only worked if he was below 50%. After that, going on a frenzied state would only halt the growth, not reduce it. Hera glanced back and saw three humans and an unconscious man on the ground wearing robes. A short-haired woman in leather armor, who was trying to feed a potion to elven men leaning against the carriage, seemed delirious. There was another man on his knees throwing up, but Hera couldn''t tell his species. In the middle was a blond girl who should barely be 18, maybe 19 at most. Wearing heavy armor and holding a longsword. She was the one who was the most injured, yet she was the only one still standing. It was clear that at some point, she decided to take the brunt of the attacks to protect the others. All in all, she was lucky. The Myradions had one very bad habit of playing with their food, which allowed her to last this long. All the monsters roared and started cackling even louder, angry about the presence of this new group and how their hunt was being interrupted. However, Hera didn''t even acknowledge the noise they were making, even if it almost made the blond girl drop her sword. The Empress reached for a small pouch around her waist and tossed it to the human girl, "There are some potions here. A healer is on their way. Don''t worry, you are safe now. Give me just a minute, and I''ll help you tend to everyone''s wounds." Hera turned around with fire in her eyes. Not exactly angry with the monsters. After all, they were just that. But her entrance, the creature''s low level, and the starry eyes of the girl pumped her up. Since she was appearing like a knight in shining armor, she might as well play the part properly, "Wipe them out!" Most of the court was already engaged with the monsters. Each of the 6 flying weapons was about to kill one of the Myradions. Nimbus didn''t waste time. He quickly changed back to his bipedal form, which was almost the same. He still had a muscular bare chest that had a grayish blue color and the loose white pants around his waist. However, his wings had a considerable difference. They were bigger, and clouds formed the feathers on the inside. In addition, those clouds circled his form, showing the area of effect that his awakened skill created. Usually, Livy was the juggernaut of the team. The unstoppable force that just mowed down the weaker enemies like they were made out of paper. But now, the Sentinel was simply more powerful. He needed one single attack to kill any monster. At one point, he created a box of mana barriers around one of the Myradions and simply started pressing the barriers against each other, essentially turning the protective spell into trash or, in this case, a meat compactor. Hera didn''t want to be left behind and used the [Grasshopper Slash] to dispatch a few monsters in an arc around her. After that move, she spun around, using her tail to cut the throat of another creature before tossing the glaive with a broken combo. Livy was doing her best to keep up with Nimbus, not wanting to be outdone by a defensive expert. She swung the battle axe with force, not just cutting but also crushing the monsters as she attacked. At times, she would even let go of her weapon completely, only to rip the Myradions apart with her bare hands. Crimson was the less flashy of the bunch, but she was almost as deadly as the rest. Taking advantage of her stealth ability and the [Dorohla Style] tailor-made to the body of a Naga, she vanished in the swarm of monsters, leaving behind a trail of dead and badly injured creatures. After arriving, Hera and her court took less than a minute to kill all the 50+ Myradions. The chieftain, who was supposed to be a stronger version of them, died before anyone could even realize which creature was different. By the end, the Empress was even slightly frustrated. Not because the fight was easy, but because she got really close to being able to kill 1 monster each second. Turning back to the injured group, Hera asked Daskka to use her purple mist form to help with the healing while she talked about what happened. "Are you all ok?" the Ophidianite asked the one human who defended the rest of the group. "I-I am¡­ Who are you," the blond girl asked, still shell-shocked. "Hera Quetzaveth, the Ophidianite Empress." 816 - A helping hand "Are you all OK?" Hera asked as she helped the people responsible for the supplies to come out from under the carriage, two beastmen and one dwarf. "Yeah. Thanks for that," the bear beastwoman smiled, her clothes covered in dirt. "No worries," the Empress glanced under the cart, "But you really shouldn''t hide there in the future." "What else were we supposed to do then? We are not fighters!" the dwarven woman yelled, her nerves still raw from the ordeal. Hera didn''t let herself be phased. She was dealing with new people, and she might as well continue the new version of her. The Ophidianite version, "Hide somewhere else, run, or next time make a better carriage. Look at those beams and the suspension. If the monsters tried to jump on top of the cart, you would turn into minced meat." They all looked to where the Empress pointed. Just like she said, the cart''s undercarriage was a mess of beams, jagged parts, and pointy tips. It was made in such a way to help it move around more freely, being able to trigger some of those parts to clear debris, snow, and other obstacles. "D-d-did," the bear beastwoman stared. "J-j-just," the beaver beastmen continued. "A-a-a-almo-mo-mo-" the dwarven woman tried to go on, but Hera just sighed. "I''ll talk to you when you can finish a sentence," she wasn''t trying to be mean, but the people behind her were injured; these three were just scared. It was clear who the priority was. "How are they looking, Daskka?" ''Not great. I can at most keep them steady for a while, but every time they move, things get worse,'' the snake replied in the Empress'' mind. "Can you all just stop moving?! Daskka, the mist, is trying to help, but she is not a proper healer. Not for this kind of thing," Hera snarled at the wounded. During the rampage, she realized that people with injuries in a battle would obey the directions of the healers better if they were being aggressive. Kindness seemed to freak people out a bit more. Maybe they thought that if someone was speaking softly, it meant their wounds were too serious, and they were about to die. After that small outburst, the people stopped shifting so much and just stood there for a moment, waiting. "OK, now stay like that. My team''s healer is coming. Actually," Hera turned around, "Nimbus. Go grab Neria and bring her here," she put out her hand. The Sentinel didn''t say anything, just nodded and took a knee in front of her. Kissing the back of the Empress, he had to receive five million mana and the quest and turned into his griffon form again, running back to the rest of the team. "Who are you?" the blond girl asked. "Hera Quetzaveth," the Ophidianite replied, "I did introduce myself earlier, right? I said it out loud, not just in my head." "No, I mean, yeah, you did. Just¡­. That answers so little. What are you? A new intelligent MAZE species? Are all of you part of a new species?" the girl asked again; this time, the other members of this team were also paying attention. The ones who were able to do so, at least. The elven man was still on the ground, and the other man was curled up in a ball, groaning and trying to stop throwing up. Leaving only the three humans. The blond girl, the short-haired woman, and another man whom Hera had barely noticed before. He was holding the pieces of a broken bow and had some large cuts on his arms and legs. "That''s not entirely correct," Viper scratched his cheek. "I''m part of an intelligent MAZE species that most people have yet to come in contact with," Hera pointed to herself, then gestured to her court, "They are part of my legacy." "You have a legacy? That''s why you are so strong," the man holding the bow said. "The rest of my team would be able to deal with this pack just as easily. The only reason I rushed ahead was because of numbers," the Empress explained. "What level are you?" the girl asked. "40, and thank you for asking. People have been just using their Ob-" Before she could finish the sentence, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been Observed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She glanced back to the man with a bow, expecting it to be him, but he was just confused, shifting to the short-haired woman; she also seemed to not be the one responsible for that. The elf and the other man were not even looking at her. Shifting her head to the right, she noticed how the dwarven woman who jumped when their eyes met. That was enough for everyone to understand what was going on. And even the injured team glared at her. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" "Isn''t it obvious?" the short-haired woman asked. "Not really," Hera glanced at her, "From my point of view, I see three humans who tried to attack a supply cart from the Alliance in a time of war but bit more than they could chew," the Empress didn''t really believe they were members of the guild, but trust wasn''t something she could just give to any human. It was one thing to find them in the Cinderspire Citadel, a place where the Alliance sent people. Another to find them in the middle of nowhere, with no information about other teams that could be in the same vicinity. "Wait, no! That''s not what happened! We sent the message in the Alliance network; how would we be there if we were on the side of the guild?" the short-haired woman gasped. "You could get a tablet from one of the people who actually were here to protect the supplies." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Actually¡­" the bear beastwoman spoke up, but Hera simply raised one finger, her black claw glistening in the sunlight. "I''ll be with you in a moment," the Empress'' commanding tone made a few of her court members go wild. Despite Hera''s insistence that this was just a quirk of the legacy, the blades all enjoyed seeing their ruler act the part. "Our name!" the blond girl replied, "We have a team name. It should be available to anyone who has access to the network." Hera nodded, "OK, that is true. What is the name of your team?" "It should be ''Beyond the Scale - Willful Blades," the girl replied. Hera stared at her for one more moment before saying, "I''m going to pull up my tablet to check that. Vulcan, if they try anything, show them your full face," it was an empty threat, and all the court knew, but the people in the area were not privy to that information. Forge just smiled, showing more of his teeth and doing his best to seem intimidating, which wasn''t hard considering the daemonic features of his face. The Ophidianite quickly pulled Milla''s chat and asked about this team. The reply came almost immediately, showing that the harpy was already waiting to hear about the S.O.S., "OK, the name is right. What is the name, role, and level of the members?" Hera asked. The blond girl started speaking, "I''m Katarina, Level 22 fighter. Jessica, level 21 hunter. Harold, Level 24 hunter. The elf is Javier, a level 23 healer, and the triton who is curled up in a ball is Mack, a level 25 mage." Hera double-checked the information not just on the tablet but also by using her [Observe] since that was the most secure way to learn someone''s name. All the data matched, with the exception of Katarina''s level. According to Milla, she should still be level 21. But there were a few bodies in the middle of the pack, meaning that they might have killed a few monsters, which could explain that difference. "OK. I believe in you. And I''m sorry for doubting," the Empress finally said. "No, that''s OK. I completely understand. I think I would think the same thing if I were you," Katarina replied. "Kat! Why are you saying that? No one treated us like this before," Jessica protested. Hera sighed. She understood where the human was coming from. Her own self from the past would likely find the same situation unfair. If she was still a human during this time of war, she would also be trying to help the Alliance. And she would be the one hearing people doubt her intentions. "No one? Really?" Hera squinted. More than anything, people who were living in the cities wouldn''t be trustful of the humans. Not at first. "Well¡­ some people did, but not the ones who were also helping the Alliance," Jessica huffed. "That''s because they knew we were coming and who or what we are," Harold replied. With a smile, Hera nodded, "Yeah. If people warn us about you, that''s OK. My team was in a rampage, and there were humans around. But everyone knew about them. Well, not every single individual since we were thousands, but that we had humans helping us." "But then¡­ wouldn''t you be worried that there were some spies in the mix? If it was such a large group," Katarina asked. "We had to trust the Alliance and that they wouldn''t send anyone who could be a potential danger there," Hera glanced back. Nimbus was already getting closer, and she could even hear Neria''s voice in the wind, screaming like she was in a roller coaster, "There are times when blind trust is our only option. Whenever it isn''t, you shouldn''t give it away so easily. Also, that''s my healer. She might be able to help you. Daskka, can you still hold on?" "For a little bit. I''m using a lot of mana for them. Some of those wounds are too old for me, and I''m more used to your body than to theirs," the herald replied. "How so? You should be used to that," the Ophidianite didn''t say the full sentence to avoid mentioning her change of body. "I don''t know. I think that when you ascended, the knowledge I had about your body shifted to match the new version. We need to ask Tara about it later," Daskka replied. "Yeah, let''s do that." "Hum¡­ can I ask a question?" Katarina raised her hand. "This is not a class. You can ask what you want. I just might not answer," Hera replied, turning towards the human. "Who are you talking to?" "The snake, well. The mist that is healing your friends. She is actually a snake, and this is just one of her forms made to heal. Apparently, the reason she is struggling so much is because your body is very different from mine." "Is that your pet?" Harold asked. "She''s a friend. But it''s a construct. Part of an item that is bound to me. We can talk, and she can talk with my legacy, but other people can''t understand her." Nimbus stopped beside them, and Hera went over to help Neria. The triton was shaking and seemed pale. Quickly grabbing her fan, the Ophidianite did her best to help the healer. "Thanks. Fuck, Nimbus is fast now. This is so stupid. He didn''t say anything just grabbed me and ran. What is going¡­" Neria looked to the side and instantly went into first aid mode, "Daskka, give me space. Your mist messes with my healing. What happened to them? Skip the story. I''m asking how they got these wounds and effects." Jessica and Harold started explaining while Katarina was still talking with Hera, asking about where she came from and the usual ''wow, you are a new species'' questionnaire. Neria worked fast, and in less than two minutes, Jessica, who had a large wound on her stomach, was already stabilized, and so was the elf. He was no longer delirious because of the toxin the Myradion Chieftain infected him with. The triton, on the other hand, was a bit more of a problem. "Hera, can you make your poison target other poisons?" Neria asked. "Yeah. I''ve done that before. But it still hurts whoever is poisoned." "Don''t make it super potent, that I can outheal the damage. That is the quickest way to get this out of him." Without arguing, the Ophidianite prepared a poison needle and flung it at Mack, where Neria was pointing to. "What the hell are you doing!" Jessica got up, but she moved too quickly, and her wound opened up again. "Saving a friend. Now shut up and stay quiet. I''m nodding you again until he is fine," Neria didn''t even look away from the other triton. Noticing the words, Hera walked closer and crouched beside Neria to better control the poison. At the same time, she asked the rest of the court to stop the humans from trying to stop them, "Do you know him?" she turned to her teammate. "Yeah. I used to babysit this little shit. I can''t believe he is a healer now," Neria had a sad smile on her face. Both of them focused and continued working for a couple of minutes before the Empress cleared all the poison inside the man. However, more appeared from his stomach. Just as she was about to mention it, Neria gasped, "Macky, you are a fucking idiot!" she slapped him on the back of his head. "What?" Katerine tried to rush over, but Livy gently stopped her. "I always told this dipshit to stop trying to eat everything he sees. He has a magical tapeworm. It usually only gives him the shits, but since his life was in danger, the adrenaline in his body made it go wild. Now, the tapeworm is trying to push out of his body. Macky, choose. Do you want to eat shit or throw up through your ass? If you don''t pick one, I''m making you do both." The triton struggled to come up with an answer, but he eventually managed to mumble, "Mouth. Acid ass is worse." "Good call," Neria''s hand was enveloped in water, and she slapped the man''s back with all her strength. The water suddenly disappeared inside him. There was a pause, and then Mack started retching. He coughed repeatedly, throwing up more, including some blood, which made Hera worry, but Neria didn''t seem fazed. After about two minutes, he threw up this almost meter-long white creature that was spasming. "Burn it!" Neria started rubbing the man''s back, who passed out on top of his vomit. Hera used her fire spray spell to kill the creature before turning back to the rest. Everyone was a bit spooked, but aside from that, they seemed OK. In the distance, Vash was starting to get closer, which meant the team should get here soon. Then, they could continue dealing with all this mess. 817 - Old connections After that initial interaction and a slight freakout on the part of the human team because of Mack, things cooled down. They accepted the healing without any complaints, and Hera walked over to talk with the people responsible for the supplies. Everything seemed to be ok, and nothing was damaged in the process. The Empress also asked Daskka to go inside every nook and cranny in the cart to see if there wasn''t anyone hiding in there. Luring monsters to attack a shipment and use the mayhem as a distraction to hide among the cargo was textbook infiltration. Everyone had seen a movie, a book, or a game where either the main characters or the villains would do something like that. Thankfully, nothing was there. Moving back to the rest of the team, Flint, Roan, Vash, and Skyler had arrived. They were now sitting on the ground drinking some water since they ran all the way here for nothing. "Couldn''t you have sent Nimbus to pick us up?" Roan, who was lying on the ground sprawled out like a starfish, asked. "Sorry, I didn''t think about it," Hera admitted. She was worried about helping these people, and since there was no danger, she figured out the rest of the team would arrive without a problem. "Don''t be. You don''t want to ride Nimbus when he is like this. Trust me," Neria replied. She was now back at Jessica, healing her and trying to make sure she wouldn''t end up with a scar. Flint was resting, but he was already talking with the two beastmen and the dwarven woman who was responsible for the supplies. They were talking about what they could do with the cart and the things to make their journey easier. Hera decided to rest a bit as well while everyone gathered themselves. According to Katarina, they were heading to the same destination. Since there were some medical supplies in the cart that required temperature control, the Harmony Guardians quickly agreed to go along with them. Strength in number and all that. Her court gathered around her, each looking in a different direction to keep a lookout. There were a lot of monster bodies around them, and it wasn''t like they could stop butchering them all. So, aside from claws and fangs, everything else would be left behind. Doing that would surely attract more monsters, but they couldn''t just rush out before double-checking everything. "Nimbus, how long are you going to be in that form? Don''t get me wrong. I like it, but Vulcan''s skill doesn''t have a timer." "Honestly¡­ I''m not sure. I can feel the power slowly getting away from me, but I should still be able to continue on this ''form'' for a few hours," the Sentinel said, staring at his hand, opening and closing it slowly. "One hour and 15 minutes. Or around 75 minutes. To be precise," Vulcan added. "You can say how long this will last?" Hera turned to Forge. "I can. Also, I can say that when using this on the titled blades, specifically, the cooldown is different. Not of the skill itself, but Nimbus won''t be able to awaken for one week." "It''s a bit of a shame, but eventually, we should be able to always have at least one titled blade with the awakening available," Hera smiled. "Actually, no. We only have 5. Viper and Crimson should still count as a single one. And Vulcan can''t awaken himself," Daskka added. "Really?" Hera turned to Forge. "Yeah. To use that skill, I need to hit the target with the flat part of the hammer. I can''t hit myself like that," Vulcan shrugged. "Sorry to hear it. I think you would have an amazing awakened form," Hera smiled, but Forge didn''t seem to care. "I''m fine as I am, thank you very much. I don''t need or want to be changing more than I already do." "Excuse me," a voice came from behind the group, "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to say one thing," Harold was looking a lot better. His clothes were still in tatters, but the wounds were no longer bleeding. "That''s ok. What do you want to say?" Hera turned around, together with the rest of her court. She was in the center of the group, which made her visage even more impactful. Harold took a step back, feeling some pressure from the court after he was somewhat hostile in their initial interaction. Still, he pushed through his feelings, "I just wanted to say. Thank you. For saving us." Hera smiled at him, her chestnut eyes shining under the sunlight, "Don''t mention it. Saving someone is always something I will try to do. Life is too precious to be wasted just because it might be inconvenient for me," she was painfully aware of her hypocrisy. Saying how life was something important while she killed people just a few days ago. Despite that, her words were still her truth. Life deserves to be lived. There were just people whose actions made them less deserving than others. The man nodded and turned around. A few minutes later, they all gathered their things and left the area. They wouldn''t keep moving for long, but they all wanted to get away from the pile of bodies that was surrounding the caravan. Hera and her court pushed those corpses aside and cleared a path for the carts to move along. Nimbus continued to be the one carrying the Harmony Guardians, but he struggled a bit to find the correct pacing while in his awakened form. The other cart was being pulled by spectral horses, also created by an item. But unlike the Sentinel, those beings had no sentience. They were regular constructs, not the ones that Hera could make. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Roan and Flint were on the cart with the supplies. The team decided to split to make sure both areas were covered. Hera''s court also split between both vehicles to make sure they would be safe. On the cart being pulled by Nimbus were Katarina, Mack, and Javier, plus Hera and the rest of her team. Mack was able to talk again, and he was getting scolded by Neria on the corner. Javier was sleeping. The effect that turned him delirious also caused him to get very tired, which left the Empress and Vash to keep Katarina company. "Can I¡­ can I ask one thing?" Katarina turned to Hera with a sheepish expression. "Sure, like I said before. I just might not answer," the Ophidianite replied. "Your name¡­ Do you know about the other Hera? The one that the guild called a terrorist?" Hera pretended to think for a moment. Luckily, the human was staring at her. If she had turned to Vash, she would''ve seen his expression. The harpy had an awful poker face for some things. Quickly asking Viper for help, the dagger moved closer to Vash, returned to his mortal form, and gestured for him to stare into the distance before going back to be a dagger. "Oh yeah. There was this one dude who thought I was her. Just because of my name. I forgot to look into her. She was like a human who betrayed you, right?" Hera replied, hoping that Vash wouldn''t start laughing out of the blue. "No!" Katarina jumped up and almost fell from the cart. Hera grabbed her arm and pulled the girl back down, "Thanks¡­ I mean, no. That Hera never betrayed us. She found out that the guild had a nonhuman prison and that they were just sending people there, and they weren''t even criminals, just people the guild managed to sneak out. Honestly, I don''t imagine the guild was going to do anything good with those people. Maybe use them as a bargaining chip, if not something worse. Anyway, Hera found that out and rescued those people. But then the guild labeled her as a terrorist just to push their agenda. That was just bullshit." "I see," it was the first time that Hera heard what the people of the Alliance were telling others about her. She knew that the whole lab thing was still a secret. Not just because the Alliance didn''t want to cause mass panic but also because they didn''t have any proper evidence. Sure, the existence of the lab could be proven, but its connection with the guild was the issue, "Why did you ask about her?" "Oh¡­ I just¡­ I know it''s stupid, but that Hera kind of made our organization. She is the one responsible for us being here. I just thought that maybe you knew her and could tell me something about her." "Sorry. I never saw that Hera face to face," the Empress enjoyed making those comments. They were not lies. After all, how would someone meet themselves face to face? " But what do you mean by that? And what organization are you a part of?" "Right, we didn''t introduce ourselves. You saw our name right? ''Beyond the Scale - Willful Blades.'' Willful Blades is the name of our group, specifically. Beyond the Scale is the organization we are a part of. It''s kind of like the Crimson Coalition or the New Dawn Scouts. But we are just starting. Our leader and the person who made this organization is from the same city, Hera, that Hera, not you, is. Well¡­ was. They met a few years ago, and Hera autographed a pamphlet. What she wrote there is what became our motto." Hera did her best to keep a blank face, but she did remember the interaction. It was on the day she came back from Boothudurn when she went to visit her dad. One of the last days, she saw Stella, her mother. There was this girl who shouldn''t be more than 14 years old at the time. But it hadn''t been four years since that interaction for the girl, whose name she didn''t remember, to get her first level. It was 2, maybe three years at most. Still, if she was to bring that up, she couldn''t just mention that. Instead, the Empress went on a different route. "I see. That must have been a stroke of luck. From what I understand that Hera wasn''t that old. If she could inspire your leader, she must have said something wise. After all, the older you get, the more set in your ways you become." "Oh, no. Our leader is even younger than me. She is 18, even if her face says she''s younger. People say I still look like a teenager despite being 20, but she gets it even worse. People don''t believe when she says she''s 18, just because of her face and size," Katarina explained. "The fact she''s flat as a board doesn''t help," Mack added but instantly got a slap on the back of his head that made even Hera flinch. "Bitch! You don''t talk about anyone like that. I taught you better than that," Neria yelled. "I was just helping your Hera understand!" "She understood just fine!" Neria turned to Hera for confirmation, getting a nod in response, "You didn''t have to say anything. And why are you listening to other people? I''m telling you to stop eating everything you find in the MAZE. You never know what might be inside. Maybe it''s a bug or a parasite, fuck, even a monster can be inside a fruit¡­" Neria continued berating the male triton like only someone who helped raise you as a kid could. Seeing that reaction, Hera turned to Katarina again, "Well. Ok, so your leader is pretty young. She must be very charismatic then." "She is, and an idealist. Always thinking the world is a bright and shiny place. But there is something about that. Something that makes us want to follow her. It helps that she is the kind of person with a pure heart who is eager to help and thinks everything is incredible. From what she tells us, she was never good at sports, being outdoors, or anything like that. Even if she enjoyed it all very much, when she turned 18, she didn''t have a single stat above 10. And no skills, either. But she aced every test during training and was even able to almost beat that kobold simulation. Only the big boss was left when they defeated her. When she got to the role test, she became a controller, went inside the MAZE, and never looked back. She''s already level 17, and doing that in just a few months without anyone actively helping is a lot. Our organization was created a bit before the war started. Which was a bit of a problem at first, but when we talked about joining the Alliance, things became easier. Even if there are just three groups right now, we are still growing in numbers." "And what''s the motto?" "Your stats do not define you. Your actions do." Hera remembered writing that. She never expected that just that random phrase would be guiding people like that, "It''s a good motto," she was a bit embarrassed about saying this, but it felt like the right thing to say. "Would you be interested in joining?" Katarina smiled. "Thank you for the invitation, but I don''t think I can. Not right now. There is too much going on, and my people need me," hearing Hera''s reply, Katarina lost her smile, clearly disappointed about it, "But if you ever need help. I would be willing to lend a hand. If I can, of course. I don''t know if you have any, but you can consider me an ally." That made Katarina perk up again, "Of course! Can I get your number?" "Sure," the Empress shared her contact info as they continued traveling. This small detour didn''t mess up with their schedule, and soon, they would be in the city where they would talk with the Alliance intelligence agency and figure out what Vulcan could do to help save more people from the labs. 818 - Intelligence agency The rest of the journey to the closest Alliance Controlled city went off without a hitch. After Hera told Katarina she would be their ally, the Willful Blades became even more friendly with her team. Having Neria act like a big sister to Mack also helped quite a bit. However, the Harmony Guardians were still careful not to mention their actual mission, just as Hera refused to explain anything too deep about her legacy. Arriving at the city, Milla set up a meeting with the team who would take the materials from the lab out of their hands, but since it would still take a while for the anointed time, they joined the Willful Blades in finishing up the delivery of the supplies. It was just a lot of waiting and paperwork, but it wasn''t like they wouldn''t have time to spare. The Intelligence Agency had to finish up a few things and would only show up later that afternoon. When that part of the day was over, the two teams walked towards the hotels in the city and split up. "Thanks again for everything," Katarina held Hera''s hand with a big smile. "No worries. It was fun," the Ophidianite replied. "I wish you all luck in your next mission. And do try to be more careful. That pack of monsters shouldn''t be able to sneak up on you like it did," Roan said. "Tell me about it. I really messed up in not noticing them," Jessica sighed. "You were not the only one to mess up. I have some of the blame, too," Harold looked down. "Now, now. Stop it, you two. It was a mistake, and you already spent the last few days beating yourself up for it. Things like that happen in the MAZE. Now you know what to do and what to look out for," Skyler patted the two on their backs. "And we have to get going now. I really need a shower," Mack gestured to his clothes. They had been cleaned, but some things required more than just magic to clean properly. "Yeah, and please, if he starts eating anything he sees again, someone knocks him out," Neria sighed. "Knock me out!? Not even just smack me?" Mack gasped. "Yes. Since we already know that hitting you won''t stop you, they should make you unconscious," the healer huffed. "We shouldn''t have any problems with that. I''m positive that our next mission won''t go south like this one," Javier opened a big smile. Hera, Katarina, Jessica, Harold, and Vash all replied at the same time, "Stop raising flags!" and then started laughing. The teams split up. The Harmony Guardians went to one of the higher-end hotels, while the Willful Blades looked for a mid-tier one that was being paid for by the Alliance. As Hera and her team walked into the elevator, Skyler turned to the Empress, "You really are a bad influence on those kids." "What did I do?" the Ophidianite pretended not to understand. "Flags? Really?" the elf just stared her down. Hera chuckled, "Say what you want, but it''s funny. And you could''ve been talking about their motto." "So it really was you who gave that autograph?" Neria asked. "Yeah. But honestly, I had no idea this would end up like this. And their leader looked no older than 14. That was just two years ago, I think." "How about that? Fate is strange sometimes," Skyler said with a smile. The group got to their room, which had three bathrooms, which helped everyone to take showers faster. Aside from that, they walked around the city for a while, looked into various shops, searching for better gear and items that could help their travels. Unfortunately, no one found anything that useful. They did get some extra supplies for camping and some food to make more pleasant meals. By late afternoon came the time they had to meet the intelligence agency. The meeting was going to happen in one of the city''s office buildings. There were a lot of people still working there, but a considerable amount of space was empty. A considerable number of troops were made out of those who retired from their life of adventures or who would just explore the MAZE as their vacation plans. Every member of the various intelligent species had, at some point, been trained in combat. Of course, the most vital jobs and positions in the companies still had people there, but things like event planning, sports journalism, and game design ended up being put on the back burner. After talking with the receptionist, an elderly elephant beast woman, an elf with sun-kissed skin and long brown hair approached them, "Hello!" "Hi," Skyler replied and greeted the man. "You are the Harmony Guardians, correct?" the elf asked, his eyes seeming to linger on Hera. "That''s us. You are the guy from the agency?" Skyler continued. "Yep, that''s me. My name is Ka''mal. We have a room upstairs, please, follow me," the elf turned to the receptionist, "I''ll take care of the register for this group, Agnes. You don''t have to worry about it. And are you sure I can''t take you out tonight? I know a great tango place." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The receptionist scoffed, "Like these old bones can still dance. I appreciate the help, but as I always say, I''m not going out with you. We never forget, and I still remember how long it took you to remember my name." "One day, you''ll change your mind," Ka''mal smiled. Agata didn''t say anything else, just waved him off, but there was a smile on her face. Getting the attention of someone young and attractive like Ka''mal was something she seemed to enjoy very much. Turning him down like this was just the icing on the cake. The group took the elevator and had some small talk with the elf, who was part of the intelligence agency. However, it wasn''t anything relevant, just mentions of nice places in the city and things to do when staying here. It didn''t even seem like they were from where they said they were. "Ok, right this way," he gestured to the third door on the left. Inside was a small meeting room of sorts with a coffee table, a few chairs, and another door in the back. "I don''t know why, but I expected a place a bit different when you said it was a meeting room," Vash looked around, trying to pick a place to sit. "Oh, sorry, it''s through that door in the back; I thought I left it open. This was a psychiatrist''s office, and we are just using it temporarily," Ka''mal closed the first door and opened the one in the back, gesturing for everyone to go inside. At the same time, he moved to the coffee table, opened a locked drawer, and started flipping a few switches. Hera realized that there were a few spells being activated. Their format was similar to the soundproof bubble she would usually use but more complex. This was the first time she truly felt she was in the right place. Walking inside, they saw a table and two people in there, already waiting. On the other side, there were a few chairs for everyone. "Welcome. Sorry for the smoke and mirrors, but we try to keep this place hidden. Please, have a seat," the dwarf sitting on the chair gestured to the empty ones, "I''m Luthvrol. Your contact. You''ve met Ka''mal, and this is," he pointed to the female elf behind him, "Is not important. She is here for my protection, and the less you know about her, the better. Now, can you give me the materials you got from the humans and recount what happened during your fight?" Skyler quickly spoke up, "First, you were supposed to say a password." Luthvrol smiled, "Thank you. I wanted to check if you remembered that step. I just wanted to know if you are a group that we can count on for future operations. The password is, ''The mountain flows with the ocean.''" "And the wind halts the volcano," Neria continued. The password was a bit convoluted and possibly unnecessary since it was large enough that people would take time to memorize everything. The third and final phrase should come from the dwarf. "Unless aided by the moonlight," Luthvrol finished. "Ok then, here are the materials," Roan pulled the notebooks from his bag, "They are encrypted. We attempted to decode it, but honestly, none of us knew what we were doing." "One moment. Just as a warning, we are recording this conversation. That way, a team can go over all the information more carefully. Is everyone ok with that?" Luthvrol asked, getting nods in response, "Very well. Thank you for the notebooks." Flint reached into his bag and pulled out a few tablets, "And these are the tablets those people had and almost all their gear. We just kept one of their weapons and the pants one of them used." "The pants?" Luthvrol tilted his head. "They were nice, had some good skills, and were just my size. We also double-checked, and there isn''t any tracking magic or anything of the sort on it," Skyler explained. "I see. Now, please tell me what happened during the fight." The team started recounting the events of the fight, one by one, since each faced a different enemy. All the while, Hera realized that there was a thin strand of mana connecting Luthvrol and the elf behind him. Every now and then, the mana would pulse from the elf to the dwarf, and a few moments later, he would ask a more specific question or something that was a bit different. During each tale, he would interrupt to ask questions that seemed unrelated. Things about what we saw in humans, how they moved, or if they reacted to a specific thing. The whole conversation lasted almost two hours. Ka''mal even walked inside with a few cookies, tea, and coffee at one point. But no one complained about all of this. They understood the gravity of the situation and how the more they talked, the better the result could be. When they were finally done, Luthvrol smiled, "Thank you very much for all the information. I will pass this along to the relevant personnel. Please," he gestured to the door. "Hang on. There is one more thing," Hera spoke up. Luthvrol retracted his hand and waited for her to continue, "And this¡­ I''m going to take a stab in the dark here, so I apologize if I''m wrong. But I''m going to say to your boss, her," she pointed to the elf in the back, "I can see she has been sending you signals during the entire conversation, and I''m assuming she is the one to make decisions. Or maybe I''m just with a mind focused on clich¨¦s." "You can see that?" the elven woman asked and sent another pulse. "Yep. It''s bright enough to be distracting if I''m being honest," the Empress replied. "I''m sorry to say you are wrong. I''m the leader of this operation. At least here, she was just telling me if any of you were lying or if the story you told felt off," Luthvrol explained. "Oh. Sorry. I didn''t mean to offend." "You didn''t trust me. The whole, the boss is pretending to be the servant is pretty spot on, in most cases." "And on this," Ka''mal said as he walked inside the room, "But in this case, I''m the one in charge." Hera glanced at him, then at Luthvrol, then at the woman in the back before turning to the rest of her team and sighing, "Oh, now this just feels like bad writing." "I have to agree. This is way too convoluted. I don''t believe it would benefit the secrecy in the least," Neria nodded. "Yeah, and like all of you, you have to know a decent amount of information about this for that to work. And in that case, if someone was to target who they think is the boss, then whoever they get, they can get information from," Vash added. "Well, that is a topic of discussion in the agency, but we do have data that shows that this is marginally better than other ways of working, but I don''t think this is something you want to talk about right now," Ka''mal turned to Hera, "You mentioned there was something more?" "Yeah. How much do you know about my legacy? Just the basics, or do you know how I get a titled blade?" after saying those words, the Ophidianite sensed the hesitation of the agency member, "Look, you are an intelligence agency, and I''ve told enough people about the specifics of my legacy to believe that a spy network could have that information. So just tell me if I have to explain it to you, or we can speed this along, and I can just go to what really matters?" Ka''mal and the other two exchanged a glance before giving up, "From what we know, the titled blade you mentioned requires either some specific synergy of items or a Spirit." "Exactly. In the box, we mentioned there was also a Spirit, well, a Spirit in the process of becoming a Daemon. I added them to my court and Vulcan, the titled blade in question. Can remember things about his life as a Spirit." "That really changes things. Please tell us more," Ka''mal said, pulling another chair. It seemed like the conversation was going to take a bit longer than they expected. 819 - Setting up the rules Hera passed a small notebook to Ka''mal. This was the one she was using to write down everything Vulcan could remember about his life as a Spirit. Flint made this for her; it was one of his more simple crafts and one that Hera even learned in the last few days, along with pencils. He showed her how to make ballpoint pens, but it was a lot more complicated. Making an entire pencil using only mana took around 400 thousand mana. When that changed to a pen, due to the various materials and the processing to turn the raw versions into something else, not to mention the ink itself, all in all, without any of the materials, it would take something close to 15 million mana to make. Flint did know about some variations that were considerably cheaper to make, but he didn''t have the blueprints himself. Either way, the Ophidianite wrote down everything that Vulcan said in the letter, including the stuttering and mad ramblings from when he was starting to lose his reason. There wasn''t that much information, just vague mentions of the lab where the Spirit was trapped and some of the experiments. But Hera admitted she wasn''t the best interrogator for those things. She didn''t know how to help Vulcan remember important details and would generally just ask, ''What can you remember.'' Ka''mal and Luthvrol read through the small notepad, with the elven woman still in the back, just watching. She still would send a signal every now and then to Luthvrol and look at Hera, testing different ways of using that spell or skill in order to hide it from the Ophidianite. Yet, every time, to the Empress, the pulse worked just the same way. A bright flow of mana from the elf to the dwarf. Every single time, Hera had to shake her head, signaling that she still could see it. "OK¡­ This does have potential. Especially this bit about it being captured and dragged away. We might have some people who can help with memory recollection, either with skills and spells or just questions. I''m not sure which would be more effective or if the skills would even work on your titled blade," Ka''mal turned to the Empress. "Honestly, me neither. I never tried to have someone else use spells or skills to mess with their memories." This wasn''t entirely true; after all, Sammy did something like that. But since he was a MAZE being, it was harder to quantify if that would count, especially considering the addition of a hallucinogenic mushroom. The elven woman stared at Hera and raised one eyebrow before flicking her finger in a very obvious motion. Another pulse moved and reached Luthvrol, who glanced up to the Empress, but she simply looked at the woman in the back, then at the dwarf, and didn''t say anything. "OK then. We can try that when we get there. But you mention something a berserker form or something. Care to explain it a bit better?" Luthvrol asked. The Empress nodded, "Of course. Because of the state the Spirit was in, Vulcan, the titled blade in question, is half Spirit and half Daemon. This means he is constantly battling the effects of the daemonic influence. There is a charge bar we have to worry about, and when it reaches 100%, his Daemonic Form is forcibly triggered. That is how he resets that influence, assuming that form. Usually, he can more or less control himself when in that state, but he will be much more aggressive and more prone to hurt others nonetheless. If the daemonic influence reaches 100%, then it''s a completely different beast. He will attack anyone who is not me. In all honesty, I think the only reason I''m safe is because of the legacy since it forces my court to be unable to hurt me." "They can''t hurt you?" the elven woman asked. "No, but we came to the conclusion that there is some nuance. If they are, for instance, cutting me for an operation, they still can do that. Or if I''m being controlled and they need to slap me out to get me out of that state. All that is fair game. They just can''t actively try to hurt me in a way that the benefit is smaller than the injury." "Oh¡­ OK, that is better," the woman nodded. "Vulcan''s daemonic form has a few more issues. For one, remembering what happened increases the daemonic influence faster, and it does come with a mental toll. Second, I can, at any time, recall him. That includes when he is in his daemonic form, but if I do that, the influence won''t reset to 0. It would end up at 1 to 15%, depending on how long he was able to run wild. Another thing is that if he has a monster or an enemy to fight, the daemonic influence takes longer to rise. Lastly, and this is a hard rule. If you are questioning him, that will only happen once a day. After spending the daemonic form, he enters a dormant state for a while. He has a skill that can shorten that state every so often, but we won''t be forcing him to do it twice in a single day." Ka''mal frowned, "And why is that? He is a construct, isn''t he?" A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation."Yes, but he is a member of my court and I won''t force him to go through his trauma repeatedly. Imagine if you had to relieve torture over and over again," Hera replied with a cold expression. "Aren''t you being a bit too precious with constructs? They are just part of your legacy, not actually people," the elven woman scoffed. Hera looked up, calculating if the height would be enough, ''Livy, do you mind coming out?'' behind her, a 3-meter tall bipedal dragonoid appeared. She had blue scales that changed to soft pink at the edges of her limbs and back and was wearing heavy armor that seemed to be made out of seafoam. "You called, boss?" Livy said with a smile, her head scraping against the ceiling. "Does she look like a simple construct to you?" Hera asked before getting up, "There is a bathroom in the adjoining room. Feel free to talk to her and see if she is not actually a person," the Empress left the room without waiting for a reply. The rest of her team looked worried but agreed with her methods. They all had some reservations when first hearing how her titled blades were like people, but only after actually seeing them did any preconceptions about how they should treat them go out of the window. "Well¡­ I''m not sure this changes anything since, according to our intel, you can communicate with her mentally. But still, it''s a pleasure miss¡­?" Ka''mal put out a hand for Livy to shake. Instead, she just slapped his hand in an aggressive greeting, "Livy, the Leviathan. I''m the muscle and the strongest member of the court. At least when no one is being buffed to hell and back," she huffed. "Wait. Who got stronger than you with the buffs? Lurize?" Vash turned to Livy. "No, I think it was Nimbus. Wasn''t his strength higher?" Roan suggested. "No, no, no. Crimson had the second highest, " Skyler added. "You''re wrong. It''s Viper who has the second highest. The twins'' attributes are not the opposite of what you expect them to be," Flint replied. "All of them, OK!" Livy huffed, "Everyone can get stronger than me with that new buff, but I''m still leagues better than anyone on our regular states. And if you want to talk about awakened forms, then mine is also stronger than any of them," Livy crossed her arms in a huff. Her face turned into a pout. The agency members were looking a bit surprised. They didn''t expect a construct to be this expressive and be able to not just handle a conversation but have their own personality. And even show jealousy. "How can we know this is not a trick? I mean, Hera could be outside telling you exactly how to move like this," the woman stepped forward. Livy raised one eyebrow, "Well¡­ I guess you can''t? But we can have full conversations with the entire court out. With every single one of us talking with a different person. Even if Hera is controlling us all and telling us all what to say, just the ability to do that is already impressive, isn''t it?" "Well¡­ I think that believing you are actually a person is better. If Hera could do that¡­ I think she would be scarier," Luthvrol admitted. "True, and we do have a few people who can pull that off. But only with illusions, not with physical beings. And¡­" Ka''mal gestured to the ceiling that had a small dent where Livy''s head was pushing against it, "Still, do you mind if we talk a bit? Just to make us understand things a bit better. "Sure. I kind of don''t like you since you don''t seem to believe Hera, and miss dark and broody back there kept trying to test the Empress. But she asked me to talk, so I will." "Don''t you have to do what she says?" Luthvrol asked. "Only if she gives me an order, which wasn''t the case. This was an ask. If any of you starts acting like a dick, I''ll just shut up and wait for her to get back," Livy replied with a smirk. "Livy! We are trying to help them," Neria gasped. "What? They started it. I''m just telling them how I can finish it." "Can you tell where Hera is right now?" the elven woman asked. "I can. And usually, I wouldn''t say anything, but I think this is important, and she wouldn''t say this to avoid looking weak. But she is in the bathroom splashing water on her face. Hera said there was a mental toll, and that doesn''t stop on Vulcan. She can feel our emotions, and something that intense also bleeds out to her." With a nod, they started to talk, asking the Leviathan various questions, from simple things like how she fought. Little by little, they started to see her a bit more like an actual person and changed it to more personal questions like her taste in movies and food. After a few more minutes, Hera came back. "... - Fighting games are my jam. Hera even got me a personalized controller, which is just a big one since my hands are too big for the regular-sized ones. I kind of wanted one of those Fight Sticks, that mirror game cabinets, but to order one in a large size was harder to find, and we would have to wait for a couple of months. I don''t think we ever got around to that," Livy said, speaking a bit more openly, but she was facing the team and not the agency people. "Actually, I did order that one, but we had to leave and then everything started," she glanced at Livy and spoke only in her mind, ''I ordered it a bit before Becca showed up. But it didn''t arrive before Dad and the rest of the people of Boothudurn had to leave.'' "Can''t you check online?" Ka''mal asked. "We can''t," Hera replied, not wanting to give any more information. "OK then. I do believe I understand the situation. If you are willing, we can take you to one of our¡­ I don''t want to use the word lab because of its connotations in current events, but it would be a specialized office building. Would that be OK?" Ka''mal asked. "I can explain things to Vulcan, but I need to warn you that I''m not sure how well he will handle things. Things might not work out great at the start. Or we might need to change the location for those interviews," Hera added. "That can be arranged," Ka''mal nodded, "Do you have any more questions or requests? I can''t actually say where we are going to go. Not here at least," no one said anything and they just waited, "OK then. We leave in the morning!" 820 - Hidden path BEfore leaving the city together with Ka''mal, Luthvrol, and Emery, the elven woman who was both their bodyguard and the stealthy one of the trio, they had a chance to sleep for a night and then left, passing by two rooms, which were somewhat close by before reaching the frozen forest. Not in the sense that the trees were actually frozen, but more to the type one would find in the northern parts of Canada and Russia. Sparse vegetation and a lot of snow, with howling winds that seemed to come from the emptiness of space itself. Hera had heard before that after a certain temperature, you stopped feeling more cold. Instead, it was about how much more it hurt. And she had to admit, that felt real right now. Even if she wasn''t entirely sure if this was only how cold worked or some odd effect of the MAZE. Even so, she was the one doing better than anyone else. Flint ended up creating some large fake fur coats for everyone, but it wasn''t enough to fight against the temperature. Neria was able to use her control over water to make the snow around them less cold, but that, too, wasn''t enough to make things better. After around one hour of traveling, 10 minutes after the healer had to start using spells to cure frostbite, Luthvrol stopped the group. "OK, people, now, this is the part of the journey that I warned you about. From here on out, all the Harmony guardians will have to be under a sensory deprivation spell. You won''t see, hear, smell, or taste anything. And your sense of touch will be reduced. All of you hold hands so we can start." Flint groaned, "I really don''t like this. What if we are attacked by something?" "We won''t be. We have people taking care of that," Emery replied. "Is that why we''ve been moving in circles for, like, 10 minutes?" Vash was shaking like a tree in the wind. His feathers didn''t seem to make him less cold than the rest. "We are not moving in circles, just taking the long way around," Ka''mal said with a smile, trying to seem upbeat. But he was also shivering. "Anyway, are you all ready? And Hera, we can''t actually stop your court from coming out, so we will just be working on an honor system here. OK? You don''t have to send your tiara crown thing away since it has the skill to block attacks, but we are using this skill on it as well," Luthvrol explained. "It''s her, not it. But I understand, that''s OK," Hera replied, ''Dusa, is everything ready?'' ''Y-Y-Yeah, my hidden blade is on your t-t-tail. I hope this works,'' anyone could tell the diadem was worried about this idea, but thankfully, Hera was the only one who could hear her. ''Don''t worry. Everything will be OK,'' the Empress trusted the Intelligence Agency. Well, actually, she trusted the Alliance, but only to a certain point. She also used to trust the guild, and they messed up badly. Now, she was trying to take everything in good faith while still making sure she was protected. Luthvrol explained to them how they couldn''t show the actual path to the agency. At one point, they would have to blind them with some spells while the team was being guided in the right direction. That wouldn''t last long, and it was just a way to keep the actual location of the shortcut a secret. However, Hera had an idea before they left the city and decided to always move with a [Venomous Tail Spike], one of the weapons the Naga used to attach to her tail. All the versions of this weapon were the exact same shape and size, with the pair of blades located on the sides, being exact copies of the Dusa''s hidden blade. That way, when the day came, she could just place Dusa''s actual blade on the spike, and part of the diadem might not be affected by the spell. Hera turned to the rest of the team, "Let me stay at the end." "Why? I figured you would want to be first," Emery asked. "My tail. When I''m frazzled, worried, or scared, it moves a lot, and I don''t want to hit anyone with the spike. I still can''t control that very well," the Ophidianite explained. There was no need to be coy about her identity since they already confirmed they knew about her species and how it came to be. "Just take it off," Emery scoffed. "Look, you are already removing most of my senses. Can I at least have something to make me feel a bit safer? I get that this is a spy operation, and it''s all cloak and dagger, but it''s one thing to know about it and follow along and another to be chill with it," Hera let out a long sigh. This wasn''t part of the plan to deceive them, just her honest feelings. There was still something in the back of her mind telling her that since she was the first new species, people could try to kidnap and experiment on her at any point. Sure, most of that time, that voice was quiet enough for the Ophidianite to ignore it completely, but in a situation like this, things changed. She was being led to a secret facility by spies who should be specialized in getting rid of their tracks. And they were going to a lab that had some sort of connection to Spirits. It didn''t matter how much trust she had in the Alliance; there was no way that she wouldn''t be thinking that this could be some sort of trap. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Fine, fine. Let''s just start. Everyone hold hands. It''s easier for you to follow us like that," Emery walked over to Flint, who was the first in line. She first gestured with her hand as if she was tossing something on his face. A dark shadow covered his eyes, ears, and nose, almost like a mask, and then she put a dark bag over his head, "As we said, we are doing this with both a skill and an actual object to stop you from seeing. In a perfect world, we would have some noise-canceling headphones too, but we didn''t have any available." She walked over to Vash, then Neria, Skyler, and then Roan. All who were already holding hands as asked. She walked over to Hera and made the same motion, which was clearly part of a spell or skill she was using. Yet, when she did that, no mask appeared over the Empress'' face. Instead, she just felt as if Emery had just tossed some sand at her. Hera blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes to clear the particles that seemed to have entered it, "OK, I hope this was just a joke because you like me or something. If you are doing this to be annoying, it really feels unprofessional." "What¡­" Emery stared at the Ophidianite with a stunned expression, "That wasn''t a joke. It was the same skill I used on them. What the hell?" she triggered the skill again, and Hera felt a spattering of dirt again. This time, some of it went up her nose, and she sneezed. For a moment, she heard everything getting muffled, and her sense of touch started to numb, but it quickly bounced back. "Right, I think I know what is going-" the Empress was interrupted as she felt more ''dirt'' hit her face. This time, the impact was strong enough to even sting a bit. One more time, her senses became weaker. But that lasted for a moment, longer than before but still under a minute. She just cleaned her face and stared Emery dead in the eye, "Ouch. Can you stop that?" "But¡­ how are you stopping this? Even monsters who are hit can''t just shrug this off this easily. Not without using a skill or something." "Can I explain, or are you going to toss that spell on me again?" Hera tried to keep her cool, but this was starting to get annoying. "You know what is happening?" Emery finally looked at the Empress properly and not just at the black specks on her skin. "Yes. It''s my title." "You have a title?" Ka''mal asked. "Three, actually. Only one is relevant here, though. Wardbearer. It makes it harder for ailments to harm me." "But this is a curse!" Emery gasped. "And I got the title exactly because I dealt with a curse. I''m guessing that curses, specifically, are even weaker against it. Since ailments, in general, still work. I have a friend who can do something like this, and her skill lasts longer, but it is still weaker than it was supposed to be," Hera continued. "OK then¡­ Now what?" Luthvrol turned to Ka''mal while Emery was still stunned, staring at Hera. The person who stopped or noticed her best skills twice. "Let''s keep it analog. We use the bag, and I can give her my earbuds. Is that OK?" Ka''mal turned to Hera, already offering his earbuds "Can I at least pick what I''m going to hear?" Hera asked with a sigh. This was bringing way too much attention to her, and it wasn''t what she wanted to happen. Ka''mal tapped his tablet a few times, "Sure. Classical, Electronic, or a playlist with the soundtrack of various animated movies played by a symphony?" "I''ll take the symphony playlist. That sounds fun," Hera replied. "Great, if you like it, I can share it with you later. Now, excuse me," she put a black sack over Hera''s head as the music started playing in her ears. They started walking, and while the sack and the music were enough to stop Hera from seeing the path, Dusa was still able to watch over everything. Not just that, but focusing on the ambient mana, the Empress managed to get a sense of her surroundings. It was far from being a sonar, or what she felt when using her pulse spell, but she could more or less tell the direction of nearby trees, snow, and rocks. Still, she focused on what Dusa was telling her. First, they walked for a few more minutes, but the weather became less of a problem as a group of people approached them with some torches made to warm those around them. Around 2 kilometers away from where they were blindfolded, the group approached the entrance of a cave. However, they didn''t stop there. In fact, that was only a landmark to guide them, nothing else. They continued, turning to the left between a pair of trees that were oddly similar, almost mirroring each other. Dusa missed that detail, but Hera felt how the ambient mana became a single thing instead of the usual random mess that it is. Another half a kilometer after those trees, Ka''mal reached down into a random spot in the snow and opened a stone hatch, revealing a set of stairs heading down. He guided the group through the tunnel, and the trapdoor closed behind them, leaving the people holding the torches outside. Another 20 minutes passed before they finally stopped and started removing the sacks and the curse that Emery had placed on them. ''H-H-Hera. Remember to be s-s-spoked,'' Dusa said. ''Thank you,'' Hera held on to a smile. After a few moments, she felt someone touching her shoulder and flinched a bit too aggressively, even pointing her tail in that direction. "Calm down. It''s just me," Emery''s voice came through as the music stopped. "My bad. I should''ve turned that off sooner. We are here. Well¡­ Ish," Ka''mal sighed. Looking around, they were in a dark cave, only illuminated by the lights created by the trio of spies. Aside from that, there were no discerning features to be seen in the place. No specific type of rock or stone, no moss, no smell, nothing. It was the most generic cave Hera had ever seen. "This is it?" Vash asked. "This is the path. Actually," Luthvrol sent his light a bit ahead, revealing a doorway, "That is the path. It is a room, a secret room that we hold. In there we can move through the pit, a large shaft with various doorways that led to other places. We just have to wait now since they only open that room at certain times. "How can you keep an entire room a secret?" Skyler asked. "Well¡­. We sort of don''t. Most of the upper echelon of the Alliance knows about it. But every single doorway connected to this place is located in a hidden location. And our headquarters is in one of those doorways," Luthvrol explained. "What about the other doorway? To the headquarters room, I mean." "That one was only found recently, and we are positive that it won''t be a problem," the dwarven spy continued. "Why is that?" Roan asked. Luthvrol turned to Ka''mal, who nodded in response, permitting him to speak, "Because the other doorway takes us to the 27th layer. Inside a cave, blocked by the next MAZE wall. 821 - Steps to danger Hera and everyone ended up having to sleep in that tunnel. It wasn¡¯t that comfortable, and Ka¡¯mal didn¡¯t let the Empress make her bunker, or a campfire for that matter. Even so, they had sleeping bags and still had some sandwiches that Flint packed. Since they were already in a safe place, Hera also awakened Dusa. She wanted to go through her entire court to see what skills they could have. The first different was the look of the diadem. It was still a metallic snake around her head, but it no longer was a perfect match to Hera¡¯s hair. It was more golden. The black gemstone in the head of the snake also changed. Now it showed a galaxy inside it. It was a subtle change, but it became much more regal. Next came the stats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dusa - Reflex Diadem Empress attributes: 99 Scaling Agility x 10.5 Intelligence x 8 Charisma x 3 Endurance x 3 Luck x 3 Strength x 3 Viper¡¯s Gaze: It can trigger a flash that only affects those looking directly at the user. Briefly reduces the movement of all those affected by the effect. Duration 20 seconds Cooldown 30 seconds: Serpentine Reflexes: Using a hidden blade, the diadem can block attacks aimed at the user. If the blade is broken, this skill cannot be activated. Seal of Reflection Any attack blocked by this diadem has a slight chance of being reflected. Reflected attacks can stun those hit by them. Reflect chance: 4% Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Extra skill: Serpent¡¯s Coil: Dusa creates a spectral barrier around herself, protecting those inside it. The barrier can block attacks and spells from the outside while letting projectiles and other attacks coming from the inside to pass through it. Additionally, the barrier can trigger the Seal of Reflection with a 40% chance when blocking attacks, but it will reduce the power of the reflected attacks by 40%. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 6 hours. Familiarity: 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stared at the diadem with a surprised expression. She wasn¡¯t expecting much from any of these awakenings. Even if so far they all had been amazing. But the increase in the Seal of Reflection and that barrier were both very interesting. So far, the only ¡®oh shit¡¯ button she had was the earth elemental armor, and she really could use some things to help her survive dangerous situations. The Empress only did that late at night, when people were already asleep. Thankfully, Vulcan only had to touch its target to awaken it, so even in the silence of the tunnel, the skill didn¡¯t make any noise. Hera still was a bit distrustful of the Intelligence Agency. Maybe it was just because of the situation, maybe it was Forge¡¯s influence, or maybe she just watched too many spy movies with a double agent, but she simply couldn¡¯t believe that everyone in that place would be on her side. It might be unnecessary, and she truly hoped it was, but it was a way to calm her nerves, especially before bed. After waking up, they still had to wait a couple of hours, since that was the schedule of the room. Twice a day, for about 20 minutes, they would unlock the room to allow for travel. Then, about 2 hours later, they would open the room again, to let the people who arrived to leave for their destination. It felt a bit excessive in a way, but at the same time, it was a good way to make sure no one invaded the shortcut. Furthermore, a sensor outside each doorway monitored every connecting room to ensure that the reported number of people aligned with the actual information provided by the teams. When it was finally time, the doorway started glowing, the same soft white glow that emanated from every single doorway. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s move,¡± Ka¡¯mal gestured for the group to head in first. Hera walked over and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Underground Babel - 17th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°17th layer?¡± Hera turned around, ¡°Is this safe for us?¡± ¡°Yeah. There are no monsters in that room. Don¡¯t go inside any of the dungeons, though. Those are very dangerous even for people who are higher level than the room itself,¡± Luthvrol replied before transferring to the next room. The Empress thought for a moment and nodded. Ka¡¯mal and Emery were higher level than her, but the dwarf was still on at level 35. If he was confident enough to go without hesitating, the place should be safe enough. Pressing yes, she felt the familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water slowly cover her body. Closing her eyes to enjoy the sensation, she focused on it, trying to see if there was any mana involved in that process, but she couldn¡¯t feel anything of the sort. Whatever power transferred her from one room to the next didn¡¯t seem to be related to magic. Or at least, not a type of magic that she could detect, even with all of her mana sensitivity. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. When her eyes opened again, she was in yet another tunnel, but this was wider. Much wider. Even a pack of elephants should be able to move around this place without worrying about getting stuck. A couple hundred meters in front of her was also something different. Looking towards that area, the Empress saw as the ground reached some stairs and then a large hole leading to a massive shaft that went on for several kilometers. The entire thing was lit up by artificial lights coming from magic lamps that floated in the central opening, flowing almost like following the course of a river. Around said shaft was a spiral staircase that moved in both directions, up and down. The staircase seemed almost like a natural formation, something that was created by the MAZE using the same type of stone as the tunnel itself. But there was a tall railing all around those stairs made of some kind of metal. ¡°Be careful here. The steps are fine, but if you go over the edge you will have a few minutes to think about how much you messed up before reaching the bottom,¡± Emery walked towards the staircase and started heading up. ¡°Can I fly through the middle?¡± Vash asked. ¡°It is possible, yes. But you need to warn people, or it needs to be an emergency. If you don¡¯t want to walk, just fly alongside us on the stairs. Telling people that someone is gong to fly would be too much of a hassle,¡± Luthvrol replied. ¡°How far do we have to go?¡± Flint looked up, seeing only the endless stream of floating lamps vanishing into the darkness above. ¡°About 500 meters,¡± Ka¡¯mal sighed. ¡°That means¡­.¡± Skyler looked up. ¡°Since we are not in a rush, we can take our time. We should be there in 15 minutes, since it¡¯s not a straight shot up,¡± Emery replied. The entire group groaned loudly. No one was happy about this, but they continued moving nonetheless. Hera thought about asking Nimbus, Livy, or anyone to come out and carry her for a while, but even if the spiral staircase was large, it wasn¡¯t large enough for one of her mounts. Everyone moved ahead, passing by a few other groups who had their own destinations. The Underground Babel was more busy than Hera expected. Since this was a hidden room, she thought it would be just a place where a handful of people stayed on guard to open and close the place. Instead, with a quick glance, she was able to see around 30 people. Some going up, others going down. Everyone also seemed to be in high spirits. There was no tension in the place. It truly felt like one of the transition rooms. Like the Kobold Road. One thing she noticed was how the conversations were just casual. No one was talking about their mission, skills, items, or anything that could be potentially an issue. Instead, she could hear the types of conversations she would hear while on the train back on Earth. Harmless gossip about someone¡¯s clothes or a weird taste in food. Complaints about a game night. Talks about books, shows and music. The group ended up stopping by one of the entrance leading to one doorway around 10 minutes after they started climbing the stairs. Roan, Neria, and Hera were mostly fine, even if their legs were starting to get tired. Skyler and Flint, on the other hand, were already suffering. Vash didn¡¯t count since he was flying. Everyone sort of expected that the elven controller would have some trouble. She could more or less run for a while, but she was the weakest amongst the Harmony Guardians in terms of stamina. The surprise was the dwarven crafter. Considering his job, and his combat style, everyone assumed that he could move around like the others, and yet, here he was almost begging to stop for a while. ¡°I have to ask, how are you so weak?¡± Roan said with a smirk. ¡°Yeah my ass, you punk! I just fucking hate stairs.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be used to staying on your feet?¡± Vash floated beside the dwarf. ¡°Yes. Stalin on my feet. Not walking up stairs. You want me to spend 12 hours in the same position hammering a piece of metal? I¡¯ll do that. But now climbing these fucking steps will kill me,¡± Flint leaned against the wall. ¡°Is it really that bad? I can use something to help you with the muscle pain,¡± Neria suggested. ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll manage,¡± Flint replied. ¡°Is there a reason why you are not using your armor?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°What?¡± Flint turned to the Empress. ¡°I mean, part of the exoarmor covers your legs, right? And they help you run faster, and jump higher. Wouldn¡¯t they make this easier?¡± ¡°I¡­ Fuck,¡± Flint groaned and activated the armor on his legs. A set of five long metal structures covered his lower limbs, with some gears and springs around the knee and ankle to allow it to move freely. Everyone waited for a moment but the dwarf just stared at them, ¡°What? I¡¯m still tired. Don¡¯t give me that look, I just did this so I wouldn¡¯t forget.¡± ¡°But you really didn¡¯t think about this?¡± Ka¡¯mal asked. ¡°It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t think about it. When I first started using this armor, I used it for everything. But then my body started to be the problem. I got fat and lazy without it. So, I stopped using for just anything, and kept it only for when I¡¯m crafting or when I¡¯m fighting.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s fair,¡± Hera nodded, trying to end the conversation since it was clear Flint wasn¡¯t happy about it, but it didn¡¯t work. They continued talking about it while they rested and then moved up another three floors to reach their destination. Apparently, it was also one of the busiest doorways in this place since there were another five groups there. Everyone waited a couple of hours before it was finally time to go. Whoever was in charge of the Underground Babel unlocked the room and all doorways started glowing again. Everyone started crossing as more people would come out, and eventually, it became Hera¡¯s turn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Hilltop Windmill - 21st layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera stopped for a moment, she turned to Emery, ¡°Is this really safe?¡± ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry. The monsters that roam the room are from levels 13 to 45. Even if the layer generally has some up to level 69.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± Vash and Skyler said at the same time. ¡°Really?¡± Neria stared at the two, who just shrugged in response. ¡°Ok then. Here is hoping I won¡¯t get killed,¡± Hera let out a sigh and pressed yes, feeling the familiar feeling of warm water wash over her body. 822 - Unseen city When Hera regained her senses, she was facing a small forest with vibrant colors, or that was her first impression. The green leaves shined in the sunlight, flowers bloomed in a rainbow of reds, yellows, and purples and all the mixture of colors that they created. Looking to the sky, she could see the most beautiful blue spreading into infinity. Yet, the trunks of the trees were a dull brown, and the grass was almost gray with a hint of green. Even the ground had lost some of its color. It was almost as if someone removed the saturation of only parts of the room, while increasing it on others. All those who looked at this felt an odd feeling. As if there was something wrong here, something that was in the wrong place. As if two very different people were responsible for creating this place, and they never discussed anything about how they should go about this project. Behind her was a rock, a large, moss-covered boulder with the doorway on its side, and beyond it, a hill. A single lonely hill surrounded by that forest. On top of it was a windmill. Everything around that hill differed from the rest of the room. The colors were not as vibrant, but at the same time, there was nothing muted about them. Lush greenery carpets surrender the slopes dotted with wildflowers that swayed in the wind. Deep green vines climbed over the roughs exterior of the building, obscuring the small boarded windows. Thorough the gaps of those plants, one could see hints of yellow and purple, the paint that covered the outer layer of the windmill. The entire thing wasn¡¯t that big, having only two windows beneath the massive wooden fan blades that were currently not spinning. Yet, they moved slightly as the wind pushed them, showing that despite the somewhat decrepit appearance, the gears were still working. In front of it, facing the Empress, was a slightly ajar red door, and inside, she could see what looked like old flour bags. The strangest part of it all was that instead of it being something odd, it felt natural, like something she could end up finding back on earth. Nothing about that hill, or the windmill screamed MAZE. ¡°Hera, this way,¡± Ka¡¯mal gestured for her to follow. ¡°Oh, sorry. The windmill distracted me. This feels so weird for some reason.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know half of it,¡± Emery replied, ¡°That is the entrance of a dungeon, and inside it¡¯s just a mess. Everything is fake. Ever heard about a mimic?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t those like, monsters disguised as treasure chests?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Sort of. They can disguise themselves as anything. Now imagine an entire dungeon that is just filled with those things. And you have to work the mill and gather enough flour to complete the quest. And if that wasn¡¯t enough¡­¡± Hera thought for a moment and turned to Emery, ¡°The flour can be a mimic too, right?¡± ¡°Yep, and if you take too long, the mill reveals itself as a mimic too. Oh, did I mention they are all level 69?¡± Emery finished. ¡°That sound awful,¡± Skyler gasped. ¡°Yeah¡­ but let me ask you one thing,¡± Roan spoke up as they continued walking. There was another group of people nearby moving together, but they were still far enough away not to intrude on their conversations, "What are we supposed to do while we are here? I mean, when Hera tested things out, Vulcan could, at most, have a 10 minute conversation. Even if you manage to make it last longer, I don¡¯t see it going beyond 1 hour. And that is being generous. Are we supposed to just sit around twiddling out thumbs?" ¡°I was actually thinking about that. I need to confirm this, but considering your help, we should be able to put you in the power level program,¡± Ka¡¯mal smiled, already pulling up his tablet and sending a message to someone. ¡°What is that?¡± Neria turned to the elf. ¡°I can¡¯t say too much about it without first getting the approval to share that information, but we have a dungeon in this room that has no combat, and poses no significant treat. Well, unless you try to mess with them. But I¡¯ll explain things better when we get permission,¡± Ka¡¯mal continued. ¡°Oh? That can be helpful, even if our overall attributes would be lower,¡± Roan nodded. ¡°Actually, it wouldn¡¯t be that much lower. We know that we get extra points when completing a dungeon for the first time, going to a new room and learning a new skill, right?¡± Ka¡¯mal was still looking at his tablet, waiting for a reply to his message. ¡°Yeah. Did you discover another way?¡± Hera asked, her curiosity perking her up. ¡°No. Nothing like that, but we can do one thing. Tell me, during your training, how long did it take you to learn the map skill?¡± ¡°A few hours,¡± almost everyone replied at the same time. Vash was the only exception. ¡°A month and a half,¡± everyone turned to the harpy with blank stares, ¡°What? We fly. The map skill we get is not just showing the map, we also need to know the topography and the wind currents of the area,¡± he huffed. ¡°Well, that is a specialized skill. But the basic one should only take a few hours. And here is the kicker-¡° Ka¡¯mal was starting to get excited, but Luthvrol interrupted him. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°There are hundreds of basic skills out there.¡± Ka¡¯mal stared at the dwarf, ¡°Dude. Really?¡± ¡°My bad. I got excited,¡± Luthvrol scratched his cheek. ¡°I know, but saying that is the best part,¡± Ka¡¯mal huffed, ¡°Either way, yeah. There are a lot of basic skills that are easy to learn. They are simple things like cooking, sharpening, knitting, climbing, stuff like that. Most of them would have no actual use outside what they are supposed to do, but some can help in other ways. And we worked on making training programs for a good number of them. So while you might lose the extra points for completing dungeons and going to new rooms, you can still get some extra just by getting those skills. To make things clear. This will be a way to reduce the problem, not to fix it. You would still gain a lot more attribute points if you were traveling around and running to various dungeons. When you have a chance, go travel around the lower layers. Go to as many places as you can, and run as many dungeons as you can to offset that lower bonus point count.¡± ¡°Is the difference really going to be that big?¡± Hera asked. Luthvrol nodded, ¡°Yeah, at level 40 it¡¯s not unusual for people to get at least 20 bonus points, and that is just by traveling around. If you are doing dungeons and completing quests, then a person should be getting about the same amount of bonus points as the base attribute points. If not more. The higher level you are, the harder it is to level, which in turn makes it easier to accumulate those bonus points. I remember reading something about Insomniac having somewhere close to 400 bonus points at one point. And I think that was a low ball. I mean, the man spent more than a year before he managed to level up. All he had to do was to travel for around 4-5 months and he would get those points. And I¡¯m talking just travel here, no monsters, no dungeon, no skills.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair,¡± Hera nodded. She tried to remember her previous level up. She had only gotten 54 points to spend, which meant around 15 bonus points. Maybe she wasn¡¯t as wordly, or well.. MAZEly as she expected. Thinking back at the time she traveled with Alex to find her legacy, she remembered how many points she got on that level up. With a frown, she mumbled, ¡°Why is the MAZE doing that¡­¡± ¡°Doing what?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Pushing us to be¡­ Nomads? No, that¡¯s not the right word, drifter¡­ sort of, but not quite. Vagabond? Same problem with drifter,¡± Hera struggled to find the right term. ¡°Explorers?¡± Vash suggested. ¡°No, it¡¯s not saying, hey go explore. It¡¯s just telling us to try everything once. Which, fine, I guess the word fits, but the sentiment is not there. It¡¯s something else. It just feels¡­ Like the MAZE is doing this intentionally. I mean, why would it give bonus points just for being in a new room? Is that something related to the doorways? The transfer? Or just the act of moving from one place to another. If its that, then would a room that is large enough to give you a bonus point just for walking from one edge to the other?¡± Hera¡¯s mind was all over the place, she felt like this was something big, some big realization about the fundamental order of the world that was right in front of her face, but just out of reach. ¡°The nerds in the lab will love you,¡± Emery sighed. ¡°Hey!¡± Skyler protested. ¡°What? I didn¡¯t say anything about you!¡± ¡°Yeah, but you are talking about nerds in a lab. I¡¯m sure those are researchers, my people,¡± the elf with lavender colored hair huffed. ¡°I mean, you are not wrong, but still. They call themselves that.¡± Hera completely lost track of her thoughts with that brief conversation. Whatever answer she might be close to get vanished in the wind. The groups continued walking for another hour, getting very deep inside the woods. They were also not following the main path, instead walking around some bushes and small platforms that would crumble after they passed by until suddenly the city appeared in front of them. It came without a warning, suddenly the vibrant colors of the trees vanished, brick, metal and what looked like a dark green cobblestone replaced the muted browns of the trunks. The houses were modern, yet simple, not the extravagant structures one would see in the more idyllic rooms, but they also were roomy, unlike the apartment complexes in the most populated rooms. Each of the buildings had two or three floors, which were split into separate living spaces for three groups of people. Near the central square, one could see a market, a fountain, a couple of restaurants, one of which was clearly a burger joint, a library, and a pharmacy. There was nothing too advanced, or too technological in sight. By all accounts, this place was a hidden village, nothing else. It had over a hundred of those simple three-story houses, but still, it couldn¡¯t be called an actual city. ¡°Oh, shit¡­ is this silent moss?¡± Flint turned to Ka¡¯mal. ¡°You know about it?¡± the elf smiled. ¡°Of course. All crafters who worked with anything stealth related know about this. A material found in the 26th layer. Rumors say it radiates an aura of silence,¡± Flint replied. ¡°Close, but not quite,¡± Ka¡¯mal gestured for them to move along. A few meters in front of them, they saw a couple of guards wearing heavy armor with a sword on their waist and a shield on their back. They were on top of the moss and when the elf that was guiding them approached, his voice vanished. Hera looked around, noticing that the rest of her team was also confused and focused on the mana. She tried to see if there was a spell or something affecting the area. Just as she did that, she felt it. A massive pillar appeared in front of her, spreading in an odd pattern around the village. Even with the shape, the Ophidianite could tell this was somewhat familiar. When Ka¡¯mal came back, his feet made noise again as soon as he left the cobblestone path. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± the elf gestured for the group to follow. Seeing that, something clicked in her mind and the Empress gasped, ¡°It can¡¯t be!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you figured this out, too,¡± Emery huffed. ¡°I think I did,¡± Hera walked forward, entering the range of the cobblestone and the odd pillar. Just as she expected, that effect didn¡¯t spread inside, she turned back to the group and said, ¡°It¡¯s a soundproof bubble!¡± ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t hear you,¡± Roan, the last to enter the range of the effect, said. ¡°It¡¯s a soundproof bubble. Like the one I use. But this is more natural. And bigger.¡± ¡°Of course you have something like this,¡± Emery grumbled and continued walking. Ka¡¯mal patted the elven woman¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Emmy. And Harmony Guardians. I¡¯m sorry to say you can¡¯t rest just yet. My boss wants to talk with Hera and see what Vulcan can give us. Then we can talk about having you all power level.¡± 823 - Heading to the interview ¡°Are you sure you are not too tired to do this now? I understand you traveled here and even if you are not sleepy, it can be tiring,¡± Vathrik, the triton who was Ka¡¯mal¡¯s boss, asked. Hera shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s ok. Like I said, Vulcan won¡¯t be able to talk for long each day and the sooner we start this, the faster we might get the information. Also, thank you for letting my team participate in the power leveling program.¡± Vathrik smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. It was the least we could do. And it¡¯s beneficial to us too. If you are higher level, then we can give missions that mirror that.¡± ¡°That is true, and I imagine that high-level people are lacking everywhere,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°You can say that again,¡± the Triton sighed, ¡°But who knows. Maybe Vulcan can give us the silver bullet to finish this war.¡± Hera let out an unenthusiastic chuckle, ¡°Can that even happen?¡± ¡°Honestly? It¡¯s a hard, maybe. Try to keep this to yourself and your team, but according to some of our spies, and some of hacking to connect with the Earth¡¯s internet, not many people are siding with the guild on this war. Maybe if we find actual proof of what the guild is doing, we can leak it and let the humans bring their army down.¡± ¡°You are being a bit too optimistic. I want you to be right, I really do. But¡­ I don¡¯t think the civilians would have enough pull to stop the guild. Especially since they seem to have a decent backing.¡± Vathrik turned to the Empress, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Everything I¡¯m about to say is purely hypothetical and I have no proof of anything. But the New Dawn was investing hard on the guild. And I don¡¯t know, it felt weird.¡± ¡°Weird?¡± ¡°Yes. They were doing some shady things. A crate of special mana infused oranges was ¡®accidentally¡¯ put on the market. A lot of level 1 people got really sick, including a friend of mine. Then when those people leveled up, they coincidentally had a mana based innate skill. Even though those kinds of things are extremely rare for people born and raised on Earth. The New Dawn offered to pay for their treatment and their level up as an apology. It was too much for something like that. It was strange how they were also connected to the guild leadership. Then a bunch of guild centers started using New Dawn training rooms and equipment. Even the bathrooms had New Dawn toilets. It felt like they were pushing a bit too hard,¡± Hera explained. ¡°I see¡­ I can say that is still going on. To a certain degree, and I¡¯m not saying that they are not on our radar, but sadly, war is expensive. And someone will profit from it. Maybe New Dawn started to realize the guild was going to push for something like this and they decided to pounce. But¡­ I will talk with the other directors. Maybe it¡¯s worth to intensify our operations related to that company.¡± Hera raised one eyebrow, ¡°You don¡¯t have to butter me up. I¡¯m already here to help.¡± ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s not that. We had enough suspicious reports to put them on our radar, and that thing with the oranges is ringing some alarms in my mind. I had read about them, but didn¡¯t know that those who ate it ended up with skills,¡± Vathrik continued. ¡°Someone probably swept that under the rug. I think it was the New Dawn, but if it was the guild, that¡¯s even more proof. Back then, I already felt like it was too convenient for it to be a mistake. Especially since the kids who got that skill ended up joining their company as explorers.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that feels weird. I¡¯m going to see if we can have more ears in their ranks,¡± Vathrik nodded as the elevator door opened. The city was purely residential, but inside the library was a hidden passage that led to the entrance of the actual headquarters. Inside there, elevators would take people into the facility where they had analysts going through any information about the movement of the humans, spies getting their disguises and tools before missions, several floors of research and development going to anything from items, enchantment, to spells. And an entire floor related to the experiments the humans were making. They had medical rooms for the victims, scientists trying to come up with countermeasures, and people searching for the possible locations of the prisons and hidden labs. Silent moss also surrounded the entire structure, making sure that no sound would leave this place. They walked through a long corridor that was on the edge of that floor. This was the path that anyone who wasn¡¯t part of the medical team had to take to reach any of the labs or offices here. People could take the main elevator directly to the medical bay where the few rescued individuals were recovering. Vathrik told Hera that the only person who already had the tattoo and was still alive was the same triton that she rescued from the prison. All other subjects they found died before even leaving the room they were in. The rest of the people in intensive care were those who were ¡®lucky¡¯ and only suffered physical abuse and malnutrition. Still, the triton she saved was still in a coma, and some of his wounds didn¡¯t stop bleeding. Hera was no healer, but maybe with her Wardbearer title, she could do something about it. It was a long shot, and Alex was more likely to do something about it than her, even so, the offer was on the table. They reached a checkpoint and Vathrik asked her to wait a minute. He had to get a visitor¡¯s pass to allow her to go to the next area. She would get her own card key in the morning, but they needed something for today. While waiting, the Ophidianite saw two men approach, one dwarf wearing a lab coat and a pair of thick glasses, and wore his long hair in a ponytail. The other was an elf with brown hair and blue eyes, walking with both arms behind his head. It was a bit odd, but the elf seemed too comfortable in this area. It was one thing to not let the weight of the work to overwhelm you, another to be happy about the situation. She also came to the realization that the man was more powerful than her. During the entire time she was in here, continued to focus on mana of the place and the concentration of mana inside his body was incredible. Even Vathrik who was level 61 paled in comparison. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Hello. You must be Hera, correct?¡± the dwarf asked, putting out a hand for her to shake. ¡°Yeah. And you are?¡± the Empress shook his hand with a soft smile. ¡°Baldun, one of the Spirit experts working on this mess,¡± the dwarf replied. ¡°And I¡¯m Ziltan, don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll get the information we need,¡± the elf stepped closer to Hera with an enormous smile, but there was something in his eyes. A glint that made her extremely uncomfortable. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Hera asked, hoping that this wasn¡¯t what it sounded like. ¡°I mean that after a few hours with me. That Vulcan guy will be singing like a canary. And since it¡¯s a Spirit, we won¡¯t even have to waste time cleaning up the blood,¡± Ziltan winked. He was clearly trying to be friendly with her, despite what he was saying. Hearing that Hera snapped, she called her entire court out, except for Forge. At the same time, she used her tail to grab Ziltan¡¯s leg and pull it up, making him fall to the ground. Livy and Lurize jumped on his shoulders and growled with their faces close to him. Viper and Crimson wrapped their tails around the elf¡¯s legs and started to squeeze. Nimbus was beside Hera, his wings covering her sides to protect the Empress from any attacks. The rest of her court all appeared around Baldun, the tips of the blades ready to pierce his throat, eyes, and torso. ¡°No one is touching him!¡± Hera snarled between her teeth before screaming, ¡°Vathrik, is this what you are trying to pull?!¡± The triton came rushing out of the checkpoint together with a couple of guards that already had their weapons drawn, ¡°What is going on here?!¡± ¡°You are going to torture him? That¡¯s why you dragged me here?¡± Hera asked without looking away from Ziltan. ¡°What? No! Why do you¡­ Ziltan? What are you doing here?¡± Vathrik gasped. ¡°Boss¡­ you said you needed someone for an interview, that there was a Spirit that wasn¡¯t telling what we needed. And I was already talking with Ziltan so I brought him along,¡± as Baldun spoke, the court got closer to his skin. ¡°From trauma! I needed someone from trauma for an interview! Vulcan is a victim, not a prisoner!¡± Vathrik yelled, his eyes shown an anger similar to Hera¡¯s even if much less intense. The triton turned to the Empress, ¡°Hera. I am so, so, so sorry. They shouldn¡¯t be here, and I swear on my life that no one is trying to hurt Vulcan. Ziltan, get the fuck out of here!¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Ziltan, who was on the floor still with a large smile despite everything that was going on, shifted, trying to get up. However, between all the titled blades holding him down, he wasn¡¯t able to just move, ¡°Oh?¡± he opened an even bigger smile and suddenly appeared a few meters behind Hera and Nimbus, ¡°Aw. And I really hoped you could keep up¡­ but maybe you can.¡± The Empress noticed that Ziltan was trying something. After shifting, mana enveloped his body and flew past her. It was clearly a teleport skill, or maybe a spell. Either way, her eyes could follow his movement and she was already looking at him before he even appeared. ¡°Well. I won¡¯t bother you here. The boss told me to leave,¡± Ziltan waved and continued walking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A skill has ranked up Awareness Rank 2 You are able to notice more about yourself and your surroundings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Why is that popping out?¡¯ Hera frowned while still facing the elf, even if she was no longer paying attention to him. ¡®Isn¡¯t that the skill you got when you and Silah broke up? Remember how you hid it because it hurt to think about it?¡¯ Daskka replied. ¡®Oh¡­ right. I guess it shows up since it wouldn¡¯t appear on my status screen,¡¯ Hera replied, trying to cool off after this entire situation. ¡®S-s-sorry, Hera. I-I-I got too angry,¡¯ Dusa said. Hera didn¡¯t even realize that she was being influenced by Dusa, but even if she was, she felt like her reaction was very on brand with herself. But this did create a problem. She would need to change her court soon. Especially if she was going to be power leveled. ¡°Hera?¡± Vathrik noticed the change in her demeanor, ¡°Are you ok? Again, I¡¯m really sorry. This was just some miscommunication.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± the Empress waved him off, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, too. I just heard that someone was going to hurt Vulcan, and I snapped.¡± ¡°That is completely understandable. I would have a similar reaction if anyone talked about torturing someone important to me,¡± Vathrik nodded. ¡°Do you really do that? Torture people?¡± Hera looked at him, all the titled blades turning to the triton. The triton stared her in the eyes and gave a solemn nod, ¡°For the record, it¡¯s not our first option. Nor second, third, or fourth. Hell, it¡¯s not even our hundredth option. We only do that if we are truly desperate. And Ziltan¡­ well. We need someone who knows how to do that.¡± ¡°Is he the only one?¡± ¡°No. We have 5 people in total. He is the only one in the headquarters right now, but I can show you the list of people if you want.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. I want that. It would make me and Vulcan feel better.¡± ¡°Ok, I will show you the list before we start everything. Are we still ok to interview the Spirit?¡± Vathrik went straight to the point. ¡°We are. This is too important to just blow everything just for this. But let me be clear, if anyone tries to harm him on purpose, this is over. I¡¯m leaving. If you try to stop me, then either I get to leave after hurting people, or someone gets my legacy,¡± Hera didn¡¯t have to say anything else. The implication was there. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Sovereign Stofin explained to me your position. Despite not being part of the Alliance Council, you have an honorary seat, being the leader of your own species. I can''t disclose information beyond a certain security level, but we will give you the respect your position deserves. You are also trying to help us, and we don¡¯t want to force you to do that. There is no need to be rude if you are already willing to do all this,¡± Vathrik said with a smile. ¡°I appreciate that,¡± Hera smiled back, her anger finally subsiding. ¡°Great. Soooo¡­. Do you mind letting Baldun here go?¡± Vathrik gestured to the side. Her blades, who were ready to rip him apart, still surrounded the dwarf. ¡°Oh! Sorry, yeah, everyone, come back. Don¡¯t hurt him,¡± the Empress called her court back, but she didn¡¯t recall them. It made her feel safer to have the entire court around. ¡°No, no. It¡¯s ok. No one got hurt,¡± Baldun let out an awkward laugh, ¡°I¡¯ll go get the trauma team. Also..¡± he turned to Vathrik, ¡°I¡¯m taking PTO for the rest of my day.¡± Vathrik nodded, ¡°You don¡¯t even need to put a request. Just go home.¡± ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Hera said just before the dwarf skittered away. ¡°Well¡­ I have you visitor¡¯s pass, so let¡¯s just head to the room we have available.¡± Hera nodded and started following the triton. She hoped that at least now, she could just help them figure out how to stop the guild. Or at least have Vulcan give them some useful information. 824 - Trauma filled interview ¡°Are you ready?¡± a voice asked through a speaker, but Hera could see who was it. A man with tiny round glasses and a sweater that screamed ¡®I¡¯m a grandpa,¡¯ was sitting in a room beyond her. He was an old elf, which meant he was ancient. Around him were a few chairs, a couch and a very cozy looking office. Even some plushies could be seen on top of a small bookcase. The empress was on the other side of a reinforced piece of glass, also surrounded by furniture. A detailed rug depicting the Starry Night was in the center of her side of the room, together with a comfortable blue couch and some soft and warm blankets. This was a psychiatrist¡¯s office. It was a psychiatrist''s office designed to make people feel comfortable. In fact, Dr. Ithil Willowsong was the one who created all the furniture according to the patient¡¯s preference. He was an explorer who focused on the Healer role and the Crafter role. He then spent most of his life studying the mental ailments that trauma could cause. The Intelligence Agency invited him to join because of all of his credentials, which included two dozen P.H.Ds on various specific topics. Not to just take care of their mental health, but to help people who went through extreme situations cope with the events, and help those who were captives to relive those moments specifically to extract information without making their trauma even worse. Hera and Vulcan met with Dr. Willowsong for the first time yesterday. But they didn¡¯t have an actual session. Instead, they talked about boundaries, preferences and what could help with Vulcan¡¯s interview. He also saw what Hera was doing, and how the titled blade would go berserk when his [Daemonic Form] was active. Besides all that, he also made one suggestion. One that they were going to use right now. Forge shifted on his seat when he heard the voice and turned to Hera, ¡®I am ready¡­ I think.¡¯ Hera nodded and held Vulcan¡¯s hand, ¡°We are ready.¡± ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll be flooding that room with strength mana now. It looks really ominous, but I promise you it¡¯s ok. And remember, at any point you can ask me to stop and I¡¯ll vent the mana out of the room.¡± Vulcan and Hera nodded. There was a pause before the sounds of fans picked up. Initially, nothing seemed to be happening, but slowly, a vibrant purple mist spread from the corners of the room. The two inside looked a bit confused and turned to the doctor who quickly explained. ¡°Apologies, I forgot to mention. As we talked yesterday, strength mana, pure strength mana, has a red color. But since Vulcan associates the red to the place he was, I asked the boys and girls in the R&D lab to splash some ink and try to change that. Ideally, they would make it green, blue, or just colorless. Unfortunately, red is hard to wash out, so the best they could do on such a short notice was add blue to turn it purple. But we tested it and the mana is still pure.¡± Vulcan took a deep breath, ¡°Yeah. It is. I can tell. It does calm me a bit. Feels like I¡¯m in the right place,¡± he turned to Hera, ¡°Not that being with you is not the right place. This is just¡­ a place that I¡¯m naturally comfortable at.¡± Hera smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can feel that. And even if you feel better here than just with me, with us. That¡¯s ok.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad this worked. Still, let¡¯s just let the mana spread a bit more before we start. Would that be ok?¡± Dr. Willowsong asked. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s ok,¡± Vulcan replied. Hera wasn¡¯t taking the lead here, after all, Forge was the main topic. She was there only for some emotional support. ¡°While we wait. Do you mind if I continue the conversation we were having yesterday?¡± Dr. Willowsong continued. ¡°Sure. I don¡¯t see a problem with that.¡± ¡°You mentioned you have a desire to craft things. Anything in particular?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Maybe weapons? Feels like that¡¯s what I should do, but I never tried making something. We didn¡¯t have time, unfortunately,¡± Forge glanced at Hera, ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining. I understand the circumstances.¡± ¡°And if you could make something right now. If you had all the materials and tools in front of you. What would you make first?¡± ¡°Well¡­ probably a dagger. It¡¯s simple, easy, and I can ask Hera for a blueprint to guide me. Then¡­¡± Vulcan continued talking about possible items he wanted to forge. It was a topic that he really enjoyed. Which was expected, since he was literally a forging hammer. But the Empress understood what Dr. Willowsong was doing. Sammy used to do that. If she was too anxious, the flower turtle would calm her down by asking about something she was passionate about. Something she could talk for hours on end. That would usually help her get in a good mindset for the session. About 10 minutes later, the entire room was full of strength mana. The Ophidianite could sense how Vulcan was feeling. It was something similar to being in a warm bath, surrounded by bubbles, without the added issue of his skin absorbing the liquid. When there was enough mana inside the room, Dr. Willowsong changed the type of questions he was asking. He started with philosophical things like ¡®Why do you want to make items,¡¯ followed by, ¡®What is an ideal place for him, the place he can call home.¡¯ Vulcan replied to those questions without a problem, and his [Daemonic Influence] didn¡¯t change. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Do you remember your home? The place you stayed when you were a hammer?¡± Dr. Willowsong Asked. ¡°No. I remember everything from the moment Hera added me to her court. Before that, I didn¡¯t have a mind to remember things,¡± Vulcan replied. ¡°How about when you were a Spirit? Do you remember where you first appeared? Or where you were created? We are still a bit iffy on those specifics,¡± the doctor. Continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I was born, but¡­ I think I remember some bits and pieces.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°There was a beach¡­ but it didn¡¯t smell like salt water. So maybe it was a large lake. I also remember some rocks and a cave. A cave full of¡­ red. Red.. Bubbles, dark, hurt, can¡¯t breathe, pain, scream, hurt, hurt,¡± Vulcan shook his head violently, trying to get rid of the images. ¡°Did you pass by the forges we have here?¡± Dr. Willowsong changed the subject, but his voice was still calm. There was a pause, Vulcan struggled, but managed a reply, his emotions subsiding, ¡°We didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think I ever seen a proper forge. Not in person.¡± ¡°Really? But you can picture one so well,¡± Dr. Willowsong smiled. ¡°Yeah, Hera showed me some pictures, and we talked about it. Flint also shared some things he knew. He showed me pictures of a few places he worked.¡± Hera glanced to Vulcan¡¯s status window. The [Daemonic Influence] had grown from 5% to 48% during that small outburst, but unlike what happened with her, the elven doctor stopped Forge from going berserker instantly. The Empress could never do that, but she also never tried asking about something else to distract him. After a few more questions he tried reaching for some informations again, but Vulcan instantly remembered something bad and started to lash out. It took longer for Dr. Willowsong to be able to distract Forge again, and he was already at 94%. Seeing that, Hera looked towards the elf, ¡°Doctor. I think we should stop here.¡± ¡°I can still do it!¡± Vulcan snarled. Without being phased by the reaction, Hera turned towards him, ¡°What is the daemonic influence right now?¡± ¡°94%,¡± Vulcan looked away. ¡°Exactly,¡± Hera turned back to the elf. ¡°I agree. It¡¯s better if we take things slow. This was already very productive,¡± Dr. Willowsong smiled. ¡°But we didn¡¯t figure out anything!¡± Vulcan yelled. ¡°We did, first the strength mana seemed to help you, second we know about one of your triggers. And we know that your kind is from a room with a beach and a lake. And there is a cave that is red. That is already more information than we ever got about the location of the Strength Spirits,¡± Dr. Willowsong explained. ¡°And why do you want to know that!?¡± Vulcan got to his feet, ¡°Are you going to hunt them like the humans?¡± ¡°Vulcan, use your Daemonic Form. Now!¡± Hera ordered Forge as she saw the [Daemonic Influence] raising once again. Vulcan shifted, his entire body becoming more scarred and his muscles bulging, almost like they were struggling to maintain their shape. He roared and lashed out, attacking the walls, the furniture and even the rug. During that time, Hera and Dr. Willowsong talked a bit about the interview. The elf also asked how she was doing, since he noticed a few signs that this was affecting her to a certain degree. She said she was fine, but that she would be talking to her own psychiatrist when she had a chance. Not because she didn¡¯t like him, but she was used to Sammy, and getting that kind of trust would take time. Another thing she explained was the rebirth skill Vulcan had, and how, even with it, she wouldn¡¯t be going through more than one session a day. Dr. Willowsong agreed with that, mentioning that it was clear this took a toll on them. After 30 minutes, Vulcan finished his frenzy and returned to the legacy. Yet Hera called him right away. His [Hearth of a Phoenix] skill triggering and instantly bringing him back. The doctor wanted to say something to him before the end of this session. The titled blade speared once more, rubbing his eyes like he was hungover, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for this, Dr. Willowsong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We were already expecting a reaction like this, and it was enlightening. Still, I would like to make one thing clear. We have no intention of hunting down your people,¡± the Dr. frowned, ¡°I mean, you kind? The Strength Spirits. Knowing their location would only allow us to try to protect them and stop the humans from going after them. Since it seems like all the experiments require a Strength Spirit, specifically.¡± ¡°I know. At least now I do. Before¡­ it¡¯s hard to be rational when the daemonic influence gets too high,¡± Vulcan sighed. ¡°That is to be expected. From what we know, Daemons are, in essence, beings that cannot handle emotions. So they lash out. Since you are a mix of a Spirit and a Daemon, it stands to reason that when the influence gets higher, you become less able to control your emotions,¡± Dr. Willowsong gestured to the side, ¡°Now, please, come here. There is no need for you two to be isolated anymore. Not today, at least.¡± Hera and Vulcan left that room and talked a bit more with the Elven psychiatrist. This time, he focused the conversation on how he would be conducting the sessions once more. As well as explaining his early discoveries. About one hour later, Hera left. She stopped to talk with Vathrik since he asked to be aware of the progress. Then, she headed back to the house her team was currently staying at. It was still before noon, and the scheduled time for them to start running the dungeon was by the middle of the afternoon. Getting the training for the basic skills would still take a day or two since the process to get approval wasn¡¯t done just by the Intelligence Agency. That was a project being made in collaboration with the elves and the beastmen, which also meant that there was more red tape to go through before they got permission to share that part of it. The moment the Ophidianite walked into the house, Vash came flying towards her with a huge smile on his face, ¡°Hera, Hera, Hera, Hera.¡± ¡°What? What is going on?¡± the Empress took a step back. ¡°They just told us a bit about the dungeon they have here,¡± Vash was almost shaking like a kid who was on a sugar high, ¡°It¡¯s a dance off!¡± 825 - Unusual power leveling It was only after lunch that the Harmony Guardians received a text telling them it was time to head to the dungeon. It didn¡¯t mention the specifics, only where they should go. Vash was still vibrating with energy, flying around everyone like it was the best day of his life. ¡°Where do we need to go?¡± Roan asked. ¡°The house beside the burger joint. Apparently there is something there that leads to the dungeon,¡± Skyler was looking over the message, ¡°There is an elf who is going to be in front of it waiting for his. His name is¡­ Ziltan.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± Hera turned to the researcher. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Ziltan? That¡¯s the elf that talked about torturing Vulcan,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Oh¡­ Fuck,¡± Skyler sighed, ¡°Why do people insist on doing this kind of crap?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hera sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with. That guy should just explain the dungeon, right? He won¡¯t be going in with us.¡± ¡°Correct. They said they didn¡¯t have the personnel babysitting people in the dungeon. Especially since it¡¯s mostly safe. Also, you need to be considered on a certain level of strength to enter the program. Not actual strength, but you know what I mean,¡± Skyler continued. ¡°Mostly?¡± Neria turned to the elf. ¡°Yeah. They just said, ¡®As long as you don¡¯t attack anyone, no one will try to harm you,¡¯ so, mostly safe,¡± Skyler stopped walking, noticing that Hera had done the same. The Empress stood frozen, her gaze fixed on something. Following her eyes, the elf saw another elf. This one with brown hair and blue eyes who was happily eating a burger. Unlike Hera, the rest of the team didn¡¯t have skills to gauge someone¡¯s ability. Not unless they were using [Observe]. Yet, they could all sense that the man was dangerous. He wasn¡¯t hostile, or anything of the sort, but there was something about his movements. They were too quick and too controlled. Even when he was just eating, it was hard to follow what he was actually doing with their eyes. ¡°Is that the guy?¡± Flint leaned to Hera. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°A torture specialist, huh? Doesn¡¯t look like much,¡± Roan¡¯s voice was shaking a bit despite his words. Ziltan looked up, towards the group and spoke in a soft voice, ¡°I can hear you. I¡¯m not going to say anything back since you are half right, but like, at least don¡¯t talk shit in front of me, you know.¡± The Harmony Guardians looked at each other, realizing they all could hear him. Speaking to them wasn¡¯t all that strange, after all, skills that allowed for short distance conversations existed. But the fact that he could hear them was what scared them. This meant his senses should be well beyond any of their own, even Roan, who got a specialized skill for it wouldn¡¯t be able to hear a conversation this far away. Combining that with the speed he moved at, even when doing something minor as eating, confirmed that he was much stronger than them. No one said a thing as they continued to walk closer to the elf. Once they gathered around his table, Ziltan gestured for them to seat, he had already set up chairs for the entire group, ¡°Please, be comfortable. Do you want to eat anything? My treat.¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Hera replied before he even finished his sentence. Roan, Flint and Skyler sat down, but Neria and Vash stood by the Empress. Ziltan let out a sigh, his expression becoming more serious. The kind one would expect from an executive on an important meeting, ¡°Ok. Before we start,¡± he put down his burger and wiped his mouth with a napkin, ¡°Hera. It¡¯s Hera, right?¡± The Ophidianite didn¡¯t say anything, she just nodded. ¡°Right, Hera. I¡¯ve asked to be the one to explain to you about the dungeon because there was something I wanted to say to you. First, I apologize for our previous interaction. I had no idea Vulcan was your Spirit. Now, I understand that my enthusiasm was misplaced, and I realize this is not an excuse. And I generally say things like that since the prisoners that come to me are the worst of the worst. The idea of making them suffer usually makes people happy, or at least relieved. Even if I do enjoy my job, I understand how bad that looks. So, once more. I am sorry,¡± Ziltan looked Hera dead in the eye during the entire apology. His eyes were different now, more calm and focused. Whatever dangerous feeling the Empress felt before was no longer there. ¡°Ok. Thanks, but if you are expecting me to apologize, that¡¯s not going to happen. I still defend everything I did. Maybe not with Baldun, but I know I didn¡¯t even hurt you,¡± Hera replied. Ziltan¡¯s eyes shifted, that dangerous glint returned, sending a chill through the Empress¡¯ spine. He opened a big smile before continuing, ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t want you to. Honestly, I¡¯m impressed with how quickly you went to me. Even though I was distracted and didn''t expect to be attacked, I was amazed by the whole thing with the creatures you summoned! Especially for someone half my level.¡± ¡°How do you know my level? Did you look at my file?¡± Hera frowned, she was still very weary of the man. But if he wanted to harm her, there was nothing she could do to stop him. Not that she wouldn¡¯t fight back, but if what he was saying was right, he should be at least level 80. The Ophidianite wasn¡¯t dumb enough to think that she actually had a chance to win that battle. Ziltan didn¡¯t break eye contact and just stared at her for a moment, ¡°Well. I think it¡¯s clear you can¡¯t see what I¡¯m doing. Observe is a basic version of the skill. A better version let¡¯s you use it on people without being noticed. Especially if you are higher level.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°And are you really level 80?¡± Skyler picked one of his fries, but the potato vanished before reaching her mouth. ¡°83 actually. And I never said I would share food, only that I would pay for yours. Don¡¯t mess with a man¡¯s meal,¡± Ziltan huffed before eating the same fry the researcher tried to eat. ¡°Oh.. Sorry. I¡¯ll have some fries then,¡± Skyler replied. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll order the party sized portion of the ¡®atomic fries,¡¯ it comes with cheese, bacon, and has some jalape?o poppers mixed in there,¡± Ziltan turned to the side and moved his mouth slightly, causing the waiter inside to jump before he nodded and walked to the kitchen. The high level elf turned back to the group, ¡°Ok. Now that we are done with the serious part. Here is the fun one. The dungeon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about dancing, right?¡± Vash asked. ¡°It¡¯s not just about dancing. It¡¯s just dancing. But I¡¯ll first give you a bit of a backstory on the dungeon itself. It¡¯s honestly very interesting,¡± Ziltan leaned back and continued eating his burger. Because of his speed, Hera¡¯s team didn¡¯t have to wait for him to chew and swallow properly between phrases, ¡°First, you need to know about Spy Alley. A few years ago, a group of people who worked here, and still do, decided they wanted to have a place to party. A club to let out some steam without having to move to a different room. They got permission from the boss and picked a place just by Chef¡¯s Kiss. That restaurant on the other side of the street,¡± the elf gestured to the place, which had a mixed theme of Italian, Japanese, with some sprinkle of a steak house. ¡°Do you mean that door on the left?¡± Roan pointed to a small door with a picture of an eye painted in the front. ¡°Yeah. That is a joke on that ¡®I spy with my little eye¡¯ game. Stupid, but people liked it,¡± Ziltan sighed and chugged his drink in two seconds, ¡°Anyway. They got permission, found the place, and started digging. They were very into the whole underground scene and took things a bit too literally. In the end, they found a door. A regular ass door. And inside it was the dungeon. But here is the thing. The first time people went there, it was a large gathering in a more wild scenario. It was like jungle or something with a lot of drums and shit. Anyway, they continued the construction and opened the club while people kept going to the dungeon to level up. A year and a half after the grand opening of Spy Alley, the dungeon itself changed. Instead of it being that wild tribal competition, it turned into an actual modern dance competition. The monsters even started wearing clothes, and the music we could pick became much more interesting. Why did that happen? No one knows for sure, but the prevailing theory suggests that the nearby area influenced the MAZE dungeon, resulting in a mix of a normal dungeon with a historic one. ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t really make sense,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°So? Half the shit we deal with the MAZE makes no sense. Some monsters don¡¯t follow any rime or reason to their evolution, dungeons are weird as fuck. Rooms are weird as fuck. Do I even have to talk about the walls and the wendigos?¡± Ziltan crossed his arms, having finished his meal, ¡°Can I continue the explanation?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± Hera huffed, not wanting to apologize just because he was being prickly. ¡°Anyway, now we come to what you actually can do in the dungeon. When you get there, you will be participating in the dance competition. There are 20 teams, 21 with you all, and you need to dance against each team once. On a 1 on 1 dance battle. You get to pick the music for each battle, but they don¡¯t have a delay between them. Once one is over, the monster leaves the arena and the next one goes up. If you take more than 5 minutes to pick the next song, they will pick a random one and start dancing. You need to beat at least 4 teams to complete the quest. And of course, the more of them you beat, the better the rewards will be. The important thing is, don¡¯t try to hit anyone, and don¡¯t interrupt the monster¡¯s dance. If you do, they will become hostile and attack you. Questions so far?¡± Ziltan glanced over at the group as the waiter brought the fries. ¡°We can¡¯t dance together?¡± Neria asked. ¡°No, going for a team battle is part of what you need to do for the hard mode. You also need to match the right music to the right monster. There are some hints around the dungeon that you can search for. But if you decide to do that, you won¡¯t complete the quest. By going in a group, or challenging the monsters in groups, you break the rules and fail the dungeon quest automatically. Even if doing that can trigger the hard mode,¡± Ziltan continued. ¡°What¡¯s the hard mode?¡± Vash took a fry from Skyler¡¯s hand before flying to the opposite side of Hera. ¡°Like I said, to unlock it, you need to challenge and win against the previous winners of the competition, and it has to be in the type of music they used to win. Also, it has to be a team challenge. The actual hard mode stops being harmless. You need to fight against the previous champions. Or you try to go for another dance off, but then the champions will play dirty. Trying to attack you while you can¡¯t attack them. There is an item that makes that a bit less dangerous. It¡¯s an upgraded version of something you can get in the regular dungeon, but you still need to take some hits. So don¡¯t go there,¡± Ziltan grabbed a few of the fries he ordered for the Harmony Guardians and put them on his plate. ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Hera asked, not cementing on the fact hypocrisy of him taking their fries. ¡°Pretty much. I¡¯m not giving any tips. You figure that out, it¡¯s part of the program. Do you have questions that are not ¡®teach us how to beat this?¡¯¡± the elf gave the group a once over. ¡°I do,¡± Vash raised his wing, ¡°Do we need to use their music, or can we use ours? Like, is it ok if we play the music?¡± ¡°You can use your tablets, but the dungeon has pretty much all songs ever created. Don¡¯t ask me how they managed to copyright that, but then again. I don¡¯t think anyone would know how to sue the MAZE for it.¡± ¡°Ok, but can I play an instrument, or mix the songs live? Would that count as two people participating instead of one?¡± ¡°Oh. No, you can do that. That even makes things easier if you can make a decent song, at least. If you just make noise, then they won¡¯t accept it and you¡¯ll forfeit the round,¡± Ziltan leaned back, balancing himself on the two back legs of the chair, ¡°Now my job is done. You are all grownups and can deal with the rest yourselves, and I have better things to do. Unless,¡± his eyes shifted to Hera, ¡°You want to go for a sparring match. We can go a few rounds in the arena, or back at my place.¡± ¡°Hard pass. To both. I have a strict rule of not getting involved with psychopaths,¡± the Empress replied without missing a beat. Ziltan chuckled, ¡°Preachy, preachy. Go on, stay on your high horse like that,¡± the elf moved, and he was suddenly behind the Empress, glancing back at the team. This time, it wasn¡¯t a spell, only his raw speed assisted by his skills, ¡°But don¡¯t forget. We are all murderers here. Well, maybe not some geeks down there, but around this table, yeah, I can tell I¡¯m right.¡± He walked off, moving at a normal speed this time, leaving the Harmony Guardians to just stare at him. Hera waited for him to be far enough away before using a soundproof bubble around them, ¡°Was I exaggerating?¡± she asked. ¡°Not at all. He is a dick,¡± Neria shook her head. ¡°Yeah¡­ but at least we got free fries,¡± Skyler smiled. ¡°Did we?¡± Roan turned to her, ¡°I didn¡¯t see him paying his tab.¡± As if he was waiting for his cue, the waiter came out of the building, holding the bill in his hand. All the Harmony Guardians let out a long sigh as Flint walked over to pay for their meal and Ziltan¡¯s. It was better to do this than to have to deal with that elf again. 826 - Dance battle dungeon Inside the Spy Alley, the team found a long staircase heading down. The place was small, and the walls were close to each other, giving off a claustrophobic feeling. All over the sides of this passage were posters, signatures, old photos, magazine covers, and graffiti. All related to music and bands. Hera had to admit, they nailed the old underground vibe they were aiming for. Halfway through the staircases, there was a fork on the path. One side led to the actual club, while the other led to the dungeon. After knowing about this place, Vash insisted to come back here when there was an actual party going on. But that wouldn¡¯t be today. They moved to the left, and the path became bigger. The underground aesthetic was still there, but it was more comfortable for people with heavy equipment to pass by. Then again, Hera didn¡¯t believe anyone would have problems coming down wearing plate armor or carrying long weapons. Sure, they might need to move in a different way, but the size of the staircase wouldn¡¯t stop anyone from bringing something to the dungeon. Unless it was a drum set. Focusing back on the dungeon, Hera walked with the rest of her team to the dungeon door. The dungeon door was just a simple set of double metal doors with a bar going across each side that the team would push to open. Inside was another corridor, but now there was more noise, a rhythmic thumping of a muffled beat. Halfway across that path, a notification appeared in front of everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a dungeon quest Ultimate Dance Rumble You have entered the competition to decide who is the best dancer. To maintain its status among the other groups, your team must win at least 4 dance battles, otherwise the competition will bar your team from ever participating again. First completion rewards: Ultimate Dance Rumble Prize, 10 million gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Holy shit,¡± Hera gasped. 10 million gold for the first reward was a ridiculous number. Sure, she never came this deep into the MAZE before, but even then, it was just absurd. ¡°Am I seeing the right number of zeros,¡± Vash asked. ¡°You still have the rewards show up as numbers?¡± Skyler turned to the harpy. ¡°Well¡­ Yeah. Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No, I changed to words. It makes more sense and I don¡¯t have to worry about reading it wrong, since it usually is just a bunch of zeros,¡± the elf replied. ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Vash closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened he nodded, ¡°Yeah. I had miscounted. Ok, this makes more sense.¡± ¡°How much did you think we were going to get?¡± Skyler gasped. Vash started walking faster, ignoring the question completely, ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t think we talked about this, but do any of you know how to dance?¡± Roan shook his head. ¡°Do I look like a dancer?¡± Flint huffed. ¡°I can try. My mother forced me to learn ballroom dancing when I was 8. She wanted me to be on those little miss whateverthefuck competitions but it never worked out,¡± Hera¡¯s admission made everyone turn and stare at her. ¡°You know¡­ you don¡¯t talk much about your mother, but every time you mention something she somehow seems worse,¡± Skyler just stared at the Ophidianite, shaking her head, ¡°I¡¯m really glad she didn¡¯t rub off on you.¡± ¡°You need to thank my dad, and my grandma,¡± Hera gave a sad smile, remembering the old days with Grandma Triss, ¡°Anyway. Consider a maybe for me.¡± ¡°I did learn a bit, but never practiced all that much. Also, I¡¯m more of a country girl,¡± Skyler said. ¡°I know how to dance. It was part of the curriculum in my class. I went to a few competitions, got first prize and everything,¡± Neria admitted. ¡°You won dance competitions?¡± Vash gasped. Neria squinted at him, ¡°Is that so hard to believe?¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s just a surprise,¡± the harpy quickly turned around, ¡°Let¡¯s just keep goings everyone. Between all of us, I¡¯m sure we can win at least 4 times. Let me go first, ok? Then we can have an idea of what is going on,¡± the performer announced proudly. ¡°Are you going to play your own music for us from the get go? Or do you want to see what is like when we are doing this on their terms?¡± Neria walked a bit faster to keep the harpy¡¯s pace. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about the second option. I wanna know if these monsters can dance,¡± Vash was grinning from ear to ear. That corridor was long, much longer than the one they used to get there, but they finally arrived at the end. Another set of doors. Beyond them was a crowd of several monsters. Some were Arachnes, centaur like creatures that, instead of having the lower half of a horse, had that of a spider. Their face also had a distorted appearance, with hair replaced by hundreds of eyes and large mandibles that clacked as they talked. But what they wore could only be described as idol dresses. Pink frilly bows on their neck and short checkered pink skirts covering their spider torso. They even had knee-high socks on each of their legs. The next group Hera noticed was a crowd of EDM zombies. They were all wearing bright colors, contrasting with the gray, putrid skin under the clothes. Large atomic yellow or neon green shutter glasses and caps with a flat brim. The rest was all just as strange. Rocker Golems were fairly self explanatory. Clockwork drones with thin limbs wearing those old timey clothes when people started hearing jazz. There were too many monsters to get a proper look and the moment the Harmony Guardians walked inside the room, all the creatures turned to the newcomers opening a path to the stage. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Vash took the lead and walked to the stage, with the rest of the team to the side cheering on him. It was odd to be in the middle of all these monsters, all of which who were at least level 67, but the energy in the place was contagious. A bipedal tortoise slowly approached the stage as a microphone came down from the ceiling. Everyone just watched him, yelling and calling out various names of the groups or their members. It was easy to tell that the people doing the dungeon were the underdogs. No one was cheering for them. Someone gave Vash a tablet for him to pick the song. The turtle slowly reached out for the microphone. Hera wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the 5 minute delay between battles was all because this creature took too long to say anything. ¡°And the Underdogs finally take the stage. All other groups have already finished their matches and the leader board is in place. Yet, my dear creatures, we still have one more round!¡± the booming voice of the turtle made the crowd explode. Despite the slow movements, that announcer had more energy than anyone in here, and his speech sounded as if someone had put a video on 1.5 speed. ¡°And here are the Underdogs¡¯ first opponent, who is currently number 8 on the ranking. Give a round of applause and clacks for The Mythical Mixers!¡± On the opposite side, a Chimera walked forward. The creature had a lion¡¯s body and head, with another head coming from its back, this one being that of a goat, and its tail was a long snake. It was still moving on all fours, but it had some black pants from where the snake appears and hoodie on the goat''s head as they moved closer to Vash, who was at the center of the ¡®arena.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with,¡± the Chimera spoke, each word being said by one of the heads in perfect sync. An upbeat hip hop song began, and the monster stepped from side to side before it started to break dance, flipping from side to side, spinning on its front legs. Hera didn¡¯t know much about dancing, and the fact that these were monsters made even harder for her to grade their performance. But the crowd seemed to enjoy, they were screaming and would shout even louder after every move. After some time, the Chimera landed back on their feet and stepped back, giving the floor to Vash. The Harpy started with both his wing around his body, opening his arms and shaking them three times before returning to that initial position as he got in the rhythm of the song. To start, he spun, doing a flip before landing on a single foot. Then he jumped from the side and did the same move that the Chimera did, using his wings to hold his body while his lower legs moved around him. He continued like that for a few moments, picking up speed until he started to spin on his head. While still spinning, he beat his wings to start flying upside down, and was able to get a good half a meter above the ground before he had to flip and land properly. There was no sound at the end of his routine. All monsters just stared in silence until the cheers exploded. The sound was deafening and Hera could feel the ground shaking from the sheer volume of their voices. ¡°Would you look at that? The Underdogs had to bring it to continue being a part of our show and they BROUGHT IT! But will they be able to ride that wave or will they lose that steam? Let¡¯s bring up their next challenger,¡° the announcer called. ¡°I¡¯ll go next. I already know the song I want to pick,¡± Skyler had a smile as she used the tablet to pick her song, ¡°Flint, can you make me a cowboy hat?¡± Flint thought for a moment, ¡°Sure, here,¡± he produced a white cowboy hat. ¡°You had a blueprint for that?¡± Hera asked. ¡°What? People like what they like. If someone asks for an enchanted helmet that has a specific shape, like a fedora or a top hat, I need to start from somewhere. Same principle,¡± Flint shrugged. ¡°Ok then, I got this,¡± Skyler announced proudly. Her opponent was a Minotaur like creature made of pure lava. And unfortunately, they were also wearing a cowboy hat, leather pants with a very large silver belt buckle with the image of a bull being lassoed. He also had an open jeans jacket but no shirt underneath it. ¡°I may have overestimated my chances,¡± the elf admitted to the group. ¡°Now the Underdogs face of again the Molten Ranch!¡± ¡°Yep, I¡¯m screwed,¡± Skyler sighed. The molten Minotaur started dancing, a classical line dance. It would look better if there was a group following him, but he was doing it well enough by himself. His hooves mirrored the sound of cowboy boots. Hera didn¡¯t pay attention to that dance, instead she tried to look around the place, hoping to find some clues about the previous champions. Maybe it was on a poster in the walls, or something. She tapped Flint and gave a heads up about what she was going to do and walked away. There were a lot of monsters in the area and vanishing out of the blue didn¡¯t seem like a good idea. For the next 10 minutes, or 3 battles, she focused on the area. The walls were much cleaner than the ones in Spy Alley, there were no pictures, or anything, only some flags of each of the 20 groups located where the bulk of their members were. Hera also asked to some monsters, a group of treants, living wood beings with two arms and two legs, wearing a very solar punk style of clothing. Loose fabrics, bandannas and cloths around their heads, lots of rings with some flowers and vines weaved all over their body to support the rest of the outfit. But they just waved her off. The argument was that they had nothing to say to someone who couldn¡¯t even dance. When she returned, Neria was doing her dance. It was a full-blown flamenco dance, including castanets in one of her hands to follow the beat of the music. The triton waved her skirt and clacked her feet. Facing her was an idol, Arachne, and by the look on her face, she was about to lose. Hera focused on her friend, enthralled by the dance until the song was over. The crowd cheered, and the Underdogs won their second battle. Skyler, Flint, and Roan all lost their own battles. Vash turned to the Empress, ¡°You are next.¡± ¡°I am?¡± ¡°Yeah. The message told us that everyone had to participate in the dance battle. At least once.¡± ¡°Oh ok,¡± Hera sighed and picked a song, she didn¡¯t have any idea what to do, and instead, just decided to pick something random. Against her came the Bone Chills, a group of skeletons with four arms and two heads. They danced to a pop song, but the Empress could only pay attention to the crowd. Everyone was staring at her, cheering her opponents and saying that she sucked. When her turn came, she took a deep breath and started to dance, hoping to prove everyone here wrong. By the end, the Ophidianite just wanted to vanish from existence and erase the memory of her ¡®dance¡¯ along with her. 827 - An expert kind of help ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rhythmic Gauntlets (Dance Affinity) Very Rare Level Requirement: 60 Defense Scaling: Agility X 48 Endurance x 45 Passive Skills: Shine Under Pressure: When you are in a critical condition, you gain a boost to strength and agility: Strength and Agility increase: + 20% Active Skills: Dance of Destruction: When attacking while following a specific rhythm, you can charge the gauntlets with each blow, even if you are holding a weapon. After charging to a certain point, you are able to trigger the skill to reapply the damage dealt by those blows. Minimum charge to use: 30% Mana cost: 5 million mana Cooldown: 1 hour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was in her room, staring at the only good thing that came out of the dungeon. In all fairness, she also leveled up, but she had yet to look at her status screen. Her dance was so bad, so bad that she even blocked out the memories. All she remembered was how everyone was laughing at the end, and the sheer embarrassment that she felt. She groaned and shoved her head into the pillow, screaming into it like a teenager. She knew she was better than that; it was just a dungeon, and the monsters were not real. But that situation hit too close to nightmares. Nightmares of embarrassment that every teenager would have when growing up. Nightmares that she often had, especially in her last year of school after the guild rejected her. That didn¡¯t matter anymore. She was no longer that same kid. She was the fucking Ophidianite Empress! Yet¡­ She screamed again, her voice muffled by the pillow. ¡°Hera? Are you ok?¡± Neria¡¯s voice came from behind the door. ¡°I still exist, so no.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon. It wasn¡¯t that bad,¡± Neria tried to cheer her up. ¡°Yeah, right,¡± Flint''s scoff was followed by the sound of someone giving him a slap on the back of the head. ¡°You are not helping!¡± Neria yelled before speaking softly again, ¡°Can we do anything to help?¡± ¡°No. I know I¡¯m just being dramatic. Just give me some space, we are not going there again today, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, Vash is tired. He had to dance almost ten times in a row, so he is just down for the day,¡± Neria continued. ¡°Ok, then just give me some space. Please. I¡¯ll be better soon,¡± Hera replied. ¡°All right. If you need anything, let us know.¡± A minute or so went by with the Ophidianite not moving, with her head still stuck to the pillow. She then got up and created a soundproof bubble around the room before calling her court out. ¡°Can you all keep watch in the room? Don¡¯t let anyone come in. I¡¯m going to call the guide,¡± Hera said. ¡°Will do, are you ok, Empress?¡± Lurize asked. ¡°Did you see anything during the dungeon?¡± ¡°Not really. But I can fell your distress. What happened?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m not hurt, no one did anything bad to me. I just don¡¯t want to talk about,¡± Hera looked at the armored figure, who nodded in response. It didn¡¯t take long for them to get everything set up and allow the Empress to call the guide. She was in her room, a suite actually, with a queen size bed in the center, a white wardrobe was in the corner and a small desk along with a single chair was on the wall beside the entrance door. Or at least, that¡¯s how it was supposed to be. What changed was a small wooden double door, about 40 centimeters tall, appearing beside the bathroom. It suddenly burst open and a tiny armored knight came rushing through, pointing a large spear ahead of them. ¡°You shall not devour me, oh foul beast!¡± the knight yelled and swung his spear, spinning on his heels, before facing the Empress, ¡°Oh. Apologies, my good lady. I was facing one of the most heinous windmills I have ever seen.¡± ¡°You were¡­ fighting windmills?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°Correct, those are nasty creatures.¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± she didn¡¯t say anything, but this guide reminded her of an old crazy knight from a book. Maybe it was a sore spot, and she needed to ask for a favor. One that she was dreading just to think about it. ¡°Why are you looking at me in such a way? Those windmills are dangerous creatures. If you are not careful, they will lash out with tentacles filled with teeth, or worse, create a multitude of arms to grab you and pull you to their maw.¡± ¡°But they are¡­ OH! Do you mean the mimic windmills?¡± Hera remembered about the dungeon that was just by the entrance of the room. ¡°Yes, yes. Ah, I see where your confusion stems from now. Understandable, and I apologize for not being clearer in the situation.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to, it was just a misunderstanding. But I was under the impression that guides didn¡¯t have to fight against monsters.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You are correct. However, some of us do enjoy the thrill of battle. Hence, we venture into dungeons while limiting our own powers to match that of our room. Purely for the hunt, we are unable to get any rewards, of course. Alas, doing such a thing also makes us unable to answer the call of an explorer. That is why, when someone like you uses the skill to contact us and we are in the middle of a dungeon, we simply leave there to answer you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to get in your way.¡± ¡°Fret not. This was hardly the first time it happened, and I am certain it will not be the last. Also, the battle was nowhere near as exciting as I had hoped. I supposed I should start lowering my power even more next time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself. I¡¯m Hera,¡± the Ophidianite gave the guide a nod. ¡°Of course. My name is Lancel Ott,¡± the guide bowed to her. ¡°Lancelot?¡± ¡°No, Lancel Ott. Those are two separate words. You may call me Lancel, my Lady.¡± ¡°Does my Lady work?¡± Vulcan turned to the Empress. ¡°What?¡± Hera and the guide both asked. ¡°Sorry. I was thinking out loud,¡± Forge shook his head. ¡°But what do you mean? Now I¡¯m curious,¡± Hera replied. ¡°So am I, good sir.¡± ¡°I was just thinking if calling Hera ¡®My Lady¡¯ was also a correct term. We call her Empress since she is our Empress, but she also introduced herself as the Ophidianite Empress. So, is my lady the right term, or would that be an offense?¡± Vulcan explained. Lancel turned to Hera, ¡°My apologies, your majesty. I did not realize your title was beyond the scope of Lady.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize. You can just call me Hera. My lady is fine too,¡± she turned to Vulcan, ¡°And you hush. Next time, don¡¯t talk about that in front of a guide.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I believe one should not question an Empress¡¯ command.¡± Hera let out a long sigh, ¡°Because of that. Lancel, you don¡¯t need to call me Empress, your majesty or anything like that. You can just call me Hera.¡± ¡°I cannot do that. It would be an offense against your position,¡± Lancel shook his head. ¡°Ok, ok. How about using my lady? Would that be ok?¡± Hera pleaded. ¡°That is¡­ agreeable, if that is your wish, my Lady,¡± Lancel bowed to the Empress. ¡°Yeah, please,¡± Hera rubbed her temple, ¡°This is like Tom all over again. Anyway. I don¡¯t actually have any questions for you, but I do have a favor to ask.¡± ¡°A favor?¡± Lancel tilted his head. ¡°Yeah. I remember another guide telling me that you can watch what happens in dungeons. Correct?¡± ¡°That is half correct. We need permission from those involved in the dungeon. Or we can watch what the development of said dungeon is without seeing the people involved. And that is¡­ quite strange. But to watch what a group did inside a dungeon after they already left it¡¯s more complicated. I could only do that by spending a significant amount of time with your questions.¡± ¡°Perfect. I give you permission to see what I did in the dungeon today. The favor is, could you record my¡­¡± Hera took a deep breath, trying not to remember what she did, ¡°My dance¡­ if you can call it that? And give it to the kobold sisters? Nina and Talpa. I need to learn how to dance properly and they are the best dancers I know. If, along with the video, you could tell them that it would be wonderful.¡± ¡°You want¡­ their help for that?¡± Lancel sounded off. But Hera couldn¡¯t put her finger around for the reason. Then again, it was hard to read a living suit of armor. ¡°Yeah. I mean, they are the only guides I know who really like dancing. Vash, one of my party members, was already talking about teaching me, teaching us. But I think I¡¯m going to need a more intensive lesson for it to work,¡± Hera admitted. ¡°That is¡­ commendable. In order to do that¡­ considering the requirement of me watching the video and also recording it¡­ It would take the entire five minutes of questions,¡± Lancel explained. ¡°Perfect. In all honesty, I didn¡¯t have any other questions to ask. I don¡¯t even know if I should be trying to find out things about this place. With the headquarters here, any extra information I get feels like it is a risk.¡± ¡°Understandable. Especially considering the current circumstances in the MAZE. But¡­ may I ask you a question, my Lady?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Do I appear unreliable to you in some way?¡± ¡°What? No, not at all!¡± ¡°Then why¡­ why have you not requested my assistance in improving your dance abilities, my Lady?¡± Hera was taken aback, she froze for a moment before replying, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you would be skilled at dance. Also, this is your room. I figured that if I asked something like that. Something that is so vital to beating the dungeon, you wouldn¡¯t be able to help.¡± ¡°Ah. I see¡­ I must say, you are not entirely wrong. Even so, I would be willing to help you improve your dance, if you would have me. My Lady,¡± Lancel took a knee in front of the Empress. ¡°I would love your help, Lancel. But¡­ look at the dance first. If you don¡¯t feel like you can¡¯t help me, I will understand,¡± Hera wouldn¡¯t blame anyone if they felt like she was beyond hope. ¡°Fret not, Empress. I will help you no matter what. Also, I will contact the sisters with your request. I am sure they will be more than willing to assist you. They have sung your praises several times already.¡± ¡°They talked about me?¡± ¡°Indeed. Due to the nature of the very dungeon you are trying to beat, the sisters became good friends of mine. We are even part of the same dance group.¡± ¡°Oh! I had no idea. They mentioned the group, but since I didn¡¯t know everyone in it, they couldn¡¯t tell me much about it.¡± ¡°Perhaps we will be able to show you some of the dance routines we have created. But now, I must go,¡± the tiny double doors on the side of the room opened and Lancel pulled his lance up, ¡°We shall meet again soon, your majesty.¡± With that, he dashed out before Hera could even complain about his farewell. Before leaving the room, the Empress quickly pulled her tablet and sent a message to Vathrik, asking if she could go to the doorway in order to access her private room. While waiting for the answer. She went back to her team, just to prove that she was doing ok. She wouldn¡¯t let that dungeon win. Before Forge could find all the information hidden in his memories, and before they were done with this whole power leveling. Hera was going to be the able to beat half the monster teams in dance battles on her own. And that was a promise. 828 - Its been a while After talking with Lancel, Hera went to see the rest of the team. Vash was taking a shower and resting for a moment, but everyone else was just hanging out in the living room. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Neria asked, her voice full of worry. ¡°Yeah. I am.¡± ¡°Up for another dance?¡± Flint smirked. Hera just ignored the comment and walked to the kitchen to get some coffee, ¡°Do we have any sweets? Or pastries? I want a snack.¡± ¡°I think we have some bread, but not pastries. Want to order some?¡± Skyler suggested. ¡°Sure, it¡¯s not like we are short on money,¡± Hera let out a small chuckle. Aside from the gauntlets, they also got more money than she knew what to do with. Skyler tapped a few things in her tablet, ¡°There, use the link I just sent you to pick what you want. I put it on the group chat. By the way, we all leveled up. You did too, right?¡± the elf turned to Hera. ¡°Oh right. I forgot to do that,¡± Hera finished putting the sugar on her drink and opened her status window. She had a round 80 points, but unlike most people, she never had to worry about deciding what to do. Increasing her attributes by 3, she read through the entire thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 41 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 690 Strength: 115 Endurance: 115 Agility: 115 Charisma: 115 Intelligence: 115 Luck: 115 Mana: 5 932 012/5 932 012 Empress Core: 9 540 132/9 540 132 Passive Mana Regeneration: 8 008/s (14 415/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 15 324/s (27 584/s with items) Empress Core Regeneration: 8/s (14/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 11 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest , Bestow Gift , Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core Passive: Exponential Growth (23) Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1 Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4 Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4 , Shaper of Mana 2 , Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1 , Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1 , Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1 , Lava Mastery 1 , Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1, Awareness 2(+1) Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 3, Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 1, Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 1, Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break 2 Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 1, Grasshopper Slash 1, Grasshopper Draw 1 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She wasn¡¯t able to improve her skills, and that should change soon. Even if it would be just a bunch of odd skills. During the time she would be here, she also wanted to increase the types of weapons she could wield. After all, every single one of them would help her court. Maybe there was ¡®all weapon combat¡¯ skill or something like that. She would have to check in the agency database if they allowed that. Another option was to have Lurize using his [Whisper of the Ancients] skill. That could help her learn more skills related to specific weapons. And with the [Venomous Arsenal] all she needed was to see a weapon and make it, letting Lurize trigger his skill to learn more about it. Their order arrived, and the group started eating it. It was a nice spread with some sandwiches, pastries, cake, and sweets. While having their afternoon snack, Vash came out of his room holding his tablet. ¡°Ok! I think I managed to figure out an excellent training program for everyone. It¡¯s going to be tight, I¡¯ll be helping you all learn how to dance better until we can beat all the other groups. We will train for a couple of hours every day. I think we should do that at the end of the day. And it¡¯s better if we split the lessons. First, I¡¯ll teach everyone and then just Hera,¡± Vash turned to the Empress, ¡°You need a more focused teacher.¡± Hera was looking at her tablet. Vathrik had just answered her text. Going back to the doorway wasn¡¯t the best idea, but he could give her permission to go to the doorway leading to the 27th layer. He added that despite the place being safe, she shouldn¡¯t cross to that room, and would be trusting that she wouldn¡¯t go there. ¡°Vash, that¡¯s ok. I¡¯m pretty good at learning things on my own, and I can have my court practicing with me. I¡¯ll use my private room and some videos to learn.¡± ¡°Hera¡­ that¡¯s not a good idea. I mean, you are the one who needs more help than any of us,¡± the harpy tried to push ¡°I know, but what is better? You spending half the time trying to make me able to move without looking like I just grew limbs, or actually helping the people who are not completely hopeless? If we want to win more of the battles, we should focus on the people who have a shot,¡± Hera replied. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Why are we going to practice? I mean, what¡¯s the point, we get the experience as long as we participate,¡± Roan asked. ¡°Because of the reward. And most people say that the better you do in a dungeon, the more experience you get. Even if we don¡¯t have a way to prove that. Also, if you get some dance skills, you should offset that power leveling issue,¡± Vash turned to the beastmen. ¡°Ah. That¡¯s fair,¡± Roan nodded. ¡°And this is why I will be practicing on my own at first. When everyone else can win the dance battles, then you can teach me Vash,¡± Hera pressed again. She forgot to think of a reason she would be in her private room, but now, this was the best excuse she could come up with. ¡°I suppose¡­¡± Vash looked away. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Neria turned to the Empress. ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry,¡± the Ophidianite picked some of the food and headed to the door, ¡°I¡¯ll be going there now. If you need anything, just send me a text.¡± She left before anyone could say anything else. It was better that way, and she could use the excuse of not wanting to dance in front of them. For now, Hera walked directly to the library in order to reach the doorway. It didn¡¯t take long and Vathrik had already given the proper permission to her ID card. She had to go to one of the bottom floors. Apparently, they had discovered the doorway as they were expanding the structure. Knowing that something like that could happen made her think about how many more passages between rooms would be berried in the ground of another room. And it wasn¡¯t like they had a way to detect them. Even to this day, no one was ever able to make a machine to locate doorways. Then again, a while back, Bonnie acquired a spyglass that could locate those passages, but it had the drawback of also revealing dungeons, and she could only utilize it once a week. However, Hera wasn¡¯t entirely sure if that could find a buried doorway. Maybe it could only see active ones. This also meant that there was a real possibility that somewhere in the MAZE, there was a dungeon, a quest, or a challenge that would give an item similar, if not more powerful, than the spyglass. The issue was finding it. Hera had enough time to think about all that while trying to reach the passage to the 27th layer. The doorway was located behind what she could only describe as a quadruple airlock. A set of four heavy metal doors completely covered in protection spells. She had to go past one of those doors, wait for it to close and lock, and only then the next would start opening. Not to mention the countless offensive magic circles that covered the walls of each room between those doors. Yet, the security didn¡¯t feel excessive. The doorway would lead to the 27th layer. A room where monsters would be from levels 90 to 95. A room where monsters that were stronger than the strongest person alive existed. If anything could come through the doorway, it would be a massacre. And anyone who could reach that doorway to invade the headquarters would be extremely powerful. Still, Hera wasn¡¯t that worried. Not for now, at least. Vathrik explained that the other end of the doorway was located in a cave, and directly in front of it was the next wall of the MAZE. Nothing should be able to reach the doorway unless they could break through that wall. And that shouldn¡¯t happen, not now, and not anytime soon. The last attempt took a combined effort of hundreds of people who were at least close to the level of the room the wall was in. Trying to pass through another one in a time of war was like asking for a disaster. When she passed through the final of the airlocks, she walked over to the doorway. On top of it, there was a symbol that looked like an eye made out of tentacles. Or an eye with spiral tentacles around it. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look ominous at all,¡± Hera sighed and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Tunnels of the Abyss - 27th layer: [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just reading the name scared her and she quickly touched the private room option. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to enter your Private Room or access your Private Workshop? [Private Room] [Workshop] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choosing the workshop, Hera felt the familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water wash over her body, and soon she was in her workshop. A copy of the court members she removed from her court since the last time she came here was now on display in the cases around the throne the guides made for her. It¡¯s been a few weeks since she had a chance to be here, and the Empress took a moment to look over everything. When she was ready, she pulled her tablet and send a message to Nina, Talpa, and Lancel. While waiting for the reply, she also talked with the others. Peaches, Capri, Veridallion, and Berthellemy were looking into her request. The idea of making a ¡®pocked dimension¡¯ for her court. A way for them not to be just in the void. They already found a few possibilities, but those were very complicated and required her getting a certain reward in a certain dungeon, or triggering a certain quest in a room that was very far away. Still, they had some leads on simpler solutions. After replying to everyone, there was a knock on her door. Outside her private workshop, she found Nina, Talpa and Lancel, but also Capri and Peaches. ¡°Oh. Hi!¡± Hera was a bit surprised, but she still opened a big smile. ¡°Hey, sorry about them. We said that it was a private thing, but when Lancel showed up they insisted on coming,¡± Nina gestured to Capri, Peaches, and Tara. ¡°But of course. My first explorer spends such a long time without contacting me and now refuses to see me in person? Something must be wrong!¡± Capri huffed, stomping his feet on the ground. ¡°I was worried too, kid. We only saw you coming out of the dungeon, but it seemed like something really bad had happened. Are you ok?¡± Peaches asked. ¡°I am. It¡¯s just¡­¡± Hera sighed, ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed. The dungeon was about dancing and it was bad. Really bad.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, it can¡¯t have been that bad,¡± Tara tried to cheer Hera up, but he saw how Nina, Talpa, and Lancel were looking at her, ¡°Was it?¡± ¡°Can we show it?¡± Talpa turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°Sure, just do it in a place I can¡¯t see. I know that people say you should watch what you do to learn from your mistakes, but I don¡¯t think I can learn anything from that,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°I agree with that. There is no point in trying to learn something when you already know nothing. It¡¯s better to just start from scratch,¡± Lancel nodded in agreement. After seeing Hera¡¯s ¡®dance¡¯, everyone understood why she was asking for help. The good thing was that they had a training room in this workshop that was wide enough to be used as a dance studio. And the Empress could shift the walls to be mirrors and make things even easier. It might take a while, but Hera was sure that she would be able to win at least one of the dance battles before leaving this room. 829 - A man on a mission - I During the last year, Romeo Ballester¡¯s life felt like a roller coaster. He went from being the chairman of the guild to losing his left leg and right eye. Only to be shunned and branded as a traitor of humankind afterward. Not officially, of course, there were no charges placed against him. But in the court of public opinion, the fact he was against the war being waged on the non humans turned him into a heretic. Yet, he truly did not care about what people said about him. For the first time in years, decades, he was sure of his actions. His eyes were open and all the lies had been laid bare. He was finally true to himself, and finally able to be proud of what he was doing. Not just because of what it meant, but because it was his decision. An attempt to correct mistakes that were caused by him. ¡°Romeo? Are you ok?¡± a feminine voice called. The ex chairman turned to the side, seeing a woman with short blond hair and golden eyes wearing a set of pitch black armor, ¡°I am ok. Just thinking about things. How everything got so messed up. How I let things get to this point.¡± The woman shook her head, ¡°We both have some blame on that. Don¡¯t beat yourself up too much. Not now, at least. When this is over, then you are free to wallow in your own guilt.¡± Romeo chuckled, ¡°Your disposition is much bleaker than your name suggests, Blade of Dawn.¡± ¡°Call me Blade,¡± the woman replied. ¡°I guess I really am awful. Since you don¡¯t even want me using your name,¡± Romeo sighed, looking outside the small cave they were in. It was high in the air, in a room filled with various mountains and very few structures to be found. Blade rolled her eyes, ¡°Ok. Stop. I¡¯m not saying anything like that. But we are talking about the guild, and the New Dawn. One organization gave me that name, and the other shares part of the name. I was talking with other people and everyone found it confusing to call me Dawn while also talking about the New Dawn. So, call me Blade. I¡¯m not trying to say you don¡¯t deserve to say my name or anything. I¡¯m just being pragmatic.¡± ¡°But you are still asking me to refer to you as part of your given title, not your actual name. Despite you knowing mine.¡± ¡°My real name is Dawn.¡± Romeo blinked slowly, ¡°And the guild decided to call you Blade of Dawn?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Damn. I knew they would sometimes get lazy with those pseudonyms, but that one feels rough.¡± ¡°Oh, tell me about it. I used to just be a fighter that used light. Only when they gave me that name I started leaning into golden light or sunlight. I won¡¯t say I never learned how to enjoy it, but it was annoying in the beginning.¡± ¡°Here is hoping that we can give you a new name after all of this is over,¡± Romeo raised his bottle of water. ¡°Sure,¡± Blade did the same with a shrug. She didn¡¯t like Romeo, not just because of his part in the current situation. He was the one who let the New Dawn get so intertwined with the guild that they were practically one and the same. Which also meant that the values of the company became the values of the guild. With a quiet sigh, the fighter looked beyond the opening of the cave. They had set up an illusion in front of them so that if anyone were to look in their direction, they wouldn¡¯t be able to see anyone inside. Yet, there was a worry that someone would figure out their location. About 2 kilometers in front of them, there was another mountain, one that was currently being used by the guild, and the New Dawn for something. Something big. Becca found out this information and passed along for them. The initial plan was to wait for backup before storming the facility, whatever it might be. However, they intercepted a message talking about guards, and how in a couple of days a battalion of 500 people would be coming here to protect the place. If they had any hopes of seeing what was inside, they had to act before the reinforcements arrived. Dealing with 50 odd guards would be much easier than hundreds. The only two people who were stupid, or resentful enough to attempt something like that, were the two watching from this cave 2 kilometers away. But it wasn¡¯t time to move. Not yet. They spent a day observing the pattern of the guards on the outside, and the best moment to act was just after dusk. The evening guards were much more lax than the ones taking care of the morning shift. Their shift would change before sundown, and only a few hours into the evening, they would be actually alert for some reason. The problem was that there were still a few hours before sundown. Which meant the two fighters had to be in that awkward position of keeping each other company while not wanting to be there or not particularly caring about each other. After almost an hour of silence, Blade was the one who spoke first, ¡°Why did you do it? Why did you sell out the guild like that? Was it money? Greed? Did you want power?¡± ¡°Would you believe if I said none of the above?¡± Romeo turned to Blade, his red hair was now longer, almost reaching his shoulders. And one of his big green doe eyes had been replaced by a completely blue mechanical eye. Blade just stared at him, raising one eyebrow. Romeo turned back to the outside, ¡°But that is the truth. I believed that I was doing good. Genuinely. The guild, being ancient, is very set in their ways. I thought that I was helping it reach the future. I thought that all the actions I was taking would make the guild better.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Seriously? Are you trying to tell me you didn¡¯t know the messed up shit that was happening? The people being arrested, the people dying after that already short and basic training became even more crappy? The countless new explorers who basically sold their souls in order to enter the MAZE? Being tossed in mountains of debt that either forced them to reach level 80 to pay back or spend their entire lives under the guild¡¯s thumb?¡± Blade snapped. Romeo shook his head, ¡°No. My sin wasn¡¯t ignorance or shortsightedness. My sin was naivety. I saw what was happening, I saw the sings that the guild was going in a dangerous direction. But when I asked, when I questioned. I accepted the first answer that was given to me. If I flagged a problem with the training, and someone told me it was just the growing pains, I would take that answer as the truth,¡± he stopped for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°No. Even that is a lie. I knew that there was something wrong. Yet, I wanted to believe in those lies. I wanted to believe that I was doing something good, and that everything would turn out fine.¡± Blade pinched the bridge of her nose, ¡°Ok. Fine, you were a hopeful dumbass. Who thought he was doing good, despite all the signs saying the opposite. Fuck it. Hell is full of good intentions. What I don¡¯t get is where the New Dawn gets in the mix. Why them? I know there were other companies. Bigger companies, at the time at least, that also were trying to get the guild¡¯s business.¡± Romeo smiled, ¡°Hell? I never imagined you to be a woman of faith.¡± ¡°My mother raised me like that, but don¡¯t change the subject. Why them?¡± Blade pressed. Romeo sighed, ¡°Do you know Morgan Waaberi?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he the owner of New Dawn?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one. When I was use starting college, Morgan gave a lecture. It was just a single class, and honestly, I don¡¯t even remember what the lecture was about. All I know is that the man was charming, still is. And his words, the way he spoke it was just¡­ Enthralling..¡± ¡°You were in love with him?¡± Blade asked. ¡°Not romantically. I don¡¯t see men like that. But I did fell in love with him. His dreams, his hopes, his aspirations. It suddenly became everything for me. After that lecture, I tried to ask him if I could reach out with some questions. Just to get council from someone with experience. Instead, he offered to be my mentor. Said he saw something in me that reminded him of himself. He took me under his wing, taught me everything about businesses, personal relations, finance and, well, life. He even offered to pay my tuition. I refused, of course, but later, when my mother got sick and she required some very expensive medication, Morgan came and paid for everything. He even bought her house, which was rented, and put it on my name. The man was my idol. And from my point of view. I was his apprentice. When he suggested for me to join the board of the guild, I worked my ass off to fulfill his expectation. Hoping to make great things together. I suppose I just didn¡¯t want to break the illusion I created in my mind. But after the attack in Union City. They cast me out simply because I saved some leaders of the other species. To be honest, that wasn¡¯t intentional. I was protecting myself and they were there. But that was enough to disturb Morgan¡¯s plans and for me to be tossed in the trash like a filthy rag.¡± ¡°So you are not doing this to make right on your mistakes, but for revenge for being betrayed?¡± Blade crossed her arms. ¡°I don¡¯t see how those are mutually exclusive. I can be trying to do the right thing and also getting my revenge at the same time.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± ¡°How about you? What¡¯s you stake in all of this?¡± ¡°The guild tried to arrest me. But I escaped and went on the run for a long time until I found people who believed my story. Are you telling me this is not enough?¡± Blade squinted her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that. But from the little I¡¯ve seen you, you don¡¯t seem to be doing this just out of a sense of justice. It feels personal.¡± ¡°They tried to toss me in jail! How is that not personal?¡± Blade got up and almost yelled, her voice echoing through the chamber. ¡°This is exactly the reason I¡¯m asking. Yes, it¡¯s personal, but not that personal. You are acting like the guild, or the New Dawn killed someone close to you. Or, well, betrayed you like Morgan did me. It doesn¡¯t feel like this is just because you were almost kidnapped,¡± Romeo replied in a calm voice. He wasn¡¯t about to start a fight with the only person who would have his back in this situation. ¡°That¡­ is not entirely wrong,¡± Blade sighed and slumped back on the floor, ¡°The guild betrayed me too. Sort of¡­¡± she paused, trying to find the words. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to share, that¡¯s ok,¡± Romeo replied. ¡°We don¡¯t have anything else to do for a while, and if I don¡¯t say it, it will feel like I¡¯m cheating. You shared your tragic back story. Might as well share mine,¡± Blade took a deep breath, ¡°I always had a strong sense of justice, always tried to help the little guys and to protect those weaker than myself. While at the same time, I always gave people a second chance. I never met anyone who didn¡¯t deserve one. Or that is what I thought. About a week before the centaur attack on Dzviery, someone killed a friend of mine. The culprit was a criminal that I had captured just a few months back. Someone who I could, and should, have killed. People told me that if I didn¡¯t kill him, he would be back on the streets in just a few days, but I tried to believe in the system. And that no one would let a murderer roam free. Then there was the attack. I had more friends there. A few got injured, others died. One in particular was affected by that madness spell or whatever the centaur used. He ended up killing a few other people and then himself once he realized what he had done. Not long after that, the guild came to me talking about the centaur homeland and what they were doing with the envoys. I felt like I couldn¡¯t just fight for justice anymore. I had to make sure that people who were that dangerous wouldn¡¯t harm anyone else. Only to be subsequently thrown under the bus. That made me rethink what we did. Maybe the centaurs were not that bad. Maybe we could¡¯ve found a way to make peace. In the end, the guild just preyed on my emotions. Found me in my darkest moment and pushed me to kill innocents. And I didn¡¯t like how that made me feel.¡± ¡°I see¡­ I supposed we were both betrayed by those we trusted,¡± Romeo looked out of the cave again, seeing the sun approaching the horizon, ¡°But no matter what we do now. Our previous actions won¡¯t change. All the hurt, all the pain, and all the problems we cause will still exist. The best we can do is try to fix those things. It doesn¡¯t matter how long it takes.¡± ¡°I know. And I¡¯m not deluding myself into thinking that this will make my wrongs right. But I know that beating the crap of the assholes who are responsible for all of this will make me feel a bit better,¡± Blade glanced outside, to the entrance of the facility they were about to strike. Romeo smiled, still staring at the same place as his temporary partner, his eyes burning with rage, ¡°With that, I wholeheartedly agree.¡± 830 - A man on a mission - II In the last moments of sunlight, Romeo and Blade were getting ready to leave their cave. There wasn¡¯t much to do, they didn¡¯t leave any marks or tracks in the cave, and even if they had, it wouldn¡¯t change a thing. Still, the former chairmen couldn¡¯t help but fall back to his habits of his old explorer days. ¡°Do you mind if we go over the plan?¡± he turned to the woman who would follow him in the attack at the facility. ¡°I remember it,¡± Blade replied. ¡°I believe you, but can we go over it, nonetheless? Maybe there is a detail don¡¯t match between our understandings and it would be better to be on the same page.¡± Blade sighed, ¡°Fine. Sure. Step one, we go to the entrance and try to get inside.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be using my previous position as the reason I am here, and you are my bodyguard,¡± Romeo continued. ¡°And what are we going to do if they realize that it¡¯s a lie? Or if they ask why a traitor is there?¡± ¡°The traitor part is simple. I¡¯ll just say it was part of the plan. That way, we have a man on the other side. Everyone who knows about the labs thinks they are so smart and self important that it would sound obvious that they would be able to do that. If they don¡¯t believe, then we go for Plan B.¡± ¡°Break in and start destroying everything,¡± Blade nodded. ¡°Yes, but it wouldn¡¯t be ideal. Sure, if we are able to destroy the facility, it will stall their plans. But finding a place that has information and extracting that, that would be the best result.¡± ¡°I know, I know. Even if I really want to break them, I understand the priorities.¡± Romeo just nodded, ¡°If they do, let us in. I¡¯ll try to ask for a tour of the facility. Or at least directions to some of the important places.¡± ¡°And those places could be the lab, the cells, or the archive. Right?¡± ¡°They are calling it Grimoire, not archive.¡± Blade gave him a blank stare, ¡°You are kidding me.¡± ¡°I wish I was. According to Becca, they are referring to any library or place where they keep documents and files as Grimoire.¡± Blade scoffed, ¡°It¡¯s like they are trying to be pretentious pricks.¡± ¡°And yet, it¡¯s awfully on brand, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Blade sighed, ¡°But that¡¯s it, right? When we find that Grimoire, or whatever the fuck. We either steal the documents, or use the copy drive to copy the files and then bolt,¡± Blade pulled a small device about the size of a nail from her pocket. It was a tool created by a hacker that could copy files of any computer and network at incredible speeds. According to the creator, the copy drive could copy the entirety of the internet in less than a month. Anything around a few petabytes would take less than a minute. ¡°And we destroy everything we can on our way out. Ideally, killing most scientists in the process,¡± Romeo nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t like that part,¡± Blade twisted her nose. Romeo stared at her and was about to say something when the armored knight continued, ¡°But I¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s the same situation as the criminal. Those labs are too awful. I give the guards the benefit of the doubt if they know what is going on, but the scientists¡­ they know.¡± Romeo just nodded. They double checked their gear and waited for the last ray of sunlight to vanish on the horizon before jumping from the cave. It was a good 50 meter drop, but both had ways to slow their fall. Romeo had an item, while Blade had a skill for it. After landing, the two walked towards the facility entrance. The idea was to seem like they were supposed to be here, which also meant they had to move calmly, even if both were more than willing to run right now. They made that small trek in silence, with Blade always walking behind Romeo, as a bodyguard should. Eventually, they reached the large door, protected by two guards in heavy armor. ¡°Hello,¡± Romeo opened a large smile, ¡°I¡¯m glad we have properly protected this place. I¡¯m Romeo Ballester. Former guild chairman.¡± ¡°Hi¡­ Yeah, I know who you are. But this is a restricted area. I have to ask you to leave,¡± one guard replied. ¡°I know that. I¡¯m here to inspect the facilities.¡± ¡°Why would we let a traitor go inside?¡± the other guard scoffed. Romeo just widened his smile, ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t believe in everything you hear. Think about it, the chairman responsible for uniting the guild and the New Dawn somehow saves a bunch of people from the other species and then he is kicked out. Why would someone who worked with the New Dawn to do everything they did would care about what happened with the leaders of non humans?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. Leave,¡± the second guard pressed. Blade was about to step forward and go for Plan B, but Romeo continued. ¡°That wasn¡¯t rhetorical. Think about it. Why would I help the non humans if I was on New Dawn¡¯s side?¡± ¡°Because you are stupid,¡± the second guard snarled, but the first one raised his hand, telling his partner to stop. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Or¡­ because you never saved them,¡± the first guard started to think in silence. No one said a thing, after all, the best way to make the guard believe them was to make them think they figured something out. Eventually, the man continued, "I mean, you never meant to save them. It wasn¡¯t about that. We needed someone on the inside, and who is better than someone who is about to be the fall guy for the Guild? Someone who would have access to all the classified information the guild has, and could use it as leverage to see what the non-human were up to.¡± ¡°That¡¯s almost correct. The best way to go about it is to only feed them fake information while steering them from the right intel. For instance, telling the non-humans about a plan already in place to attack one room that had little importance to us, but housed many civilians on their side. After hearing that, they moved troops to defend that place. While they scurried off to protect their own, we could strike on more meaningful locations and take those strategic positions to ourselves,¡± Romeo smirked, twisting some of the recent events. It was common knowledge that the Alliance was protecting their people, especially those areas with lots of children that were close to the battlefront. Their large presence in those rooms caused some other flanks to be weaker, and made them lose positions that, although strategically significant, would only be helpful when defending against an expanding force. Behind him, Blade couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Romeo was truly on her side. He was acting too naturally with those people, as if he had done that before. What was even more scary was the utter lack of any fear or hesitation in his words. The first guard looked at him in awe, ¡°That is very well done, sir.¡± The second guard looked at the first, then at Romeo, ¡°Yeah. I guess.¡± ¡°Now, would you allow me to enter and inspect the place? I¡¯m afraid that if I have to get a written approval or something it would take too long and my absence might be noticed,¡± Romeo asked. The second guard was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the first one, ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll just have to ask someone to be your tour guide. As a precaution, and to show you the place properly. But who is¡­¡± the guard looked at Blade, seeing the entire black armor. He noticed how the armor was bigger around the chest, which was a trait only present for female armor, ¡°¡­her?¡± ¡°That is my bodyguard. Even if non-humans some accept my help, my presence is not always welcome. Hence, I have some protection close by at all times. She also helps me with my work and has a keen eye able to notice some of the more pragmatic details that allude me. I can¡¯t even tell you how many times her insight helped us avoid any problems,¡± Romeo continued. The guard nodded, ¡°Ok then. Just give me a moment,¡± he pulled back and started typing something on his tablet. After about a minute, he opened the door and gestured inside, ¡°Please, there is already someone waiting to guide you just beyond the third set of doors.¡± ¡°Only three sets? I thought we would have more,¡± Romeo commented. ¡°The first one is the only one that matters. It¡¯s heavily reinforced, making it near impossible for someone to break inside. The other two are made to slow people down. That way, if we have invaders, we can blow everything up and bury them under the mountain. And if it¡¯s something from the inside that is trying to leave, the personnel have enough time to leave while we do the same,¡± the guard explained. ¡°From what you are saying, this setup is much better at keeping things in than keeping things out. Then again, as long as you don¡¯t lose the room, you wouldn¡¯t have to worry about a large invading force, so the priority does make sense,¡± Romeo walked to the door and started heading inside, with Blade right behind him. The first door was just a way to pass to the actual entrance. Where a massive 5 meters tall and 20 meter wide set of double doors stood. It was an imposing sight of dark metal, with several carbon fiber bars going across each plaque, reinforcing the structure even more. In front of it, a single guard stood. Less armored than the ones outside, but still wearing some sort of leather that would allow for better movement. They exchanged some greetings before their guide moved to the side, where a control panel was located. It was a biometric lock, where one would scan their fingerprint, their eye, and their mana. If any of the three inputs didn¡¯t match, the alarms would trigger and a net of mana disruption would fall over the entire facility, draining all the mana of those inside and stopping them from being able to regenerate. The same lock was present in other important places inside the building. ¡°If someone who works here is inside when the net is deployed, what happens to them? They will be unable to defend themselves and trapped with something that is trying to break in, or out?¡± Romeo asked. ¡°That is a problem that people smarter than me are trying to solve. Maybe they will change the mana part. But for now, everyone is carrying a small mana crystal with enough mana to pass through a lock. Since each of the entrance doors has its own scanner, this should be safe enough until a better solution comes up. In anything were to happen, they would have options to hide in safe places until the problem is solved,¡± the guide said with a smile. Whatever the guard outside said made this person very interested in helping Romeo inspect the facility. As they said, the next door also had its own biometric lock. And between opening and closing each door, it took them 5 minutes to pass through all of them. ¡°What is stopping someone from digging through the sides of the mountain in order to enter?¡± Blade asked the guide. ¡°There is a 30 meter thick wall of cobbleflame titanium reinforced with trifrost carbon fiber around the outer layer of the facility. The top doesn¡¯t have it, since it would be too heavy, but the outer layer goes up about 200 meters from where we are standing. And we have sensors covering the entire mountain. Especially the less protected areas above. The ceiling here only has a 10 meter thick wall of the same material. That will stall any attempt to break in for enough time for the sensors to detect something,¡± the guide explained. With the last door open, they started walking through the massive laboratory. Polished obsidian, reflecting distorted figures of those walking by, covered the floors, each step echoing louder than it should have been possible against the sterile silver walls. The air hanged heavy with the faint tang of chemicals along with the distant hum of the arcane machinery working non stop. Moving deeper, tubes filled with various liquids appeared on the top of the walls, flowing in a constant stream. Small sparks of pure mana crackled inside the mixtures, revealing the raw power contained behind those glass pipes. The guide showed the living quarters for those who slept in the facility, the dining hall, and meeting rooms. In the next floors below were the simple research labs, where they created various compounds in order to supply the needs of their work. Each floor showed more intricate equipment, putting in evidence of how the work became more complex. But slowly, they started to look more and more ominous, contrasting even harder against the sterile look of the place. Small microscopes became larger, and eventually were placed on top of chairs covered in straps and manacles still stained with red. Centrifuges were no longer small, and made only for small vials, and now were tall enough to fit a person and had its sides covered in needles, like a twisted attraction in a hellish carnival. Needles no longer were there just to inject small quantities of anything, but now could almost be confused with vacuums. It got to the point where it wouldn¡¯t surprise Blade if someone used those needles to pluck out the eyes out of someone¡¯s head. They continued walking until they reached another set of double doors, very similar to the one at the entrance, but on a smaller scale. The guide then turned to the two and smiled, ¡°And this is the end of our tour.¡± 831 - A man on a mission - III ¡°And this is the end of our tour,¡± the guide said as he approached a door with another pair of guards in front of it, ¡°Beyond here we have the cells, and the labs making the actual experiment with the Spirits.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we go there? I need to make a thorough inspection. Especially in the most important part of the facility,¡± Romeo replied. The guide shook her head, ¡°Not without the proper permission. I¡¯m sorry. The rules about what goes on down there are much stricter.¡± ¡°Ah, I understand, you don¡¯t have access to that area either. There is no shame in admitting that. We all must play our part,¡± Romeo nodded with a smile. ¡°Oh no. I can go there. I just can¡¯t take you. Sorry, Mr. Ballester,¡± the guide smiled back. ¡°I see. It is a shame,¡± the former chairman glanced back, confirming that no one else was in the corridor. In a quick motion, Romeo slammed the palm of his hand on the guard¡¯s chin, making her head flip backwards, exposing her now broken spine to the air. ¡°What the..¡± Before the two guards could even process what just happened, they felt their armor being pulled towards the red-haired fighter, who grabbed both their heads and made their helmets squeeze in an instant, breaking their skulls. ¡°Romeo! What the fuck!?¡± Blade gasped in a whisper. ¡°We got too far to go back. Help me get their bodies to that janitor¡¯s closet on the side,¡± he pointed to a door a few meters back that the guide mentioned was full of cleaning supplies. ¡°We still don¡¯t have a way to open the door! And I thought we were not killing the guards, just knocking them out,¡± Blade protested. ¡°Blade, we really don¡¯t have time for this. You didn¡¯t want to kill the guards. I made no such promise. And to open that door,¡± Romeo finished, ripping the guide¡¯s head out and tossed it to Blade. He followed that up by doing the same with her left hand, and pulling the mana crystal that was around a necklace, ¡°Here you can open with that.¡± He quickly shoved the bodies inside the janitor¡¯s closet and used a spell to control metal to clean the blood out of the hallway, by making the red liquid move by itself. Blade didn¡¯t say anything, but she used the keys to the door to open it. To make matters worse, the blow Romeo delivered made the guide¡¯s eye roll inside their sockets. Which, in turn, forced Blade to dig out the eye in order to use it. When the door opened, there was a single guard on the other side. Not waiting for Romeo to come back, Blade rushed over to the guard and decapitated them in a single clean move, already cauterizing the wound with a skill that super-heated her sword. They might be deep into enemy lines, but both of them were above level 70. Very few people should pose a treat to them. Especially if they were caught off guard. Romeo rushed over, pushing a janitor¡¯s cart. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Blade asked. ¡°We are going to need someone else to open the door when we leave, so,¡± he ripped the hand of the decapitated guard from its arm and tossed both the head and the hand inside the cart, where one would put the trash, ¡°Put that body in the closet back there,¡± without waiting for Blade, he opened a thermos and spilled the coffee that was inside all over the floor. He made sure to be far enough away from the door so that it wouldn¡¯t seem weird. When Blade returned, the former chairman was placing a ¡®wet floor¡¯ sign together with a small plaque that read ¡®went for supplies¡¯ on the ground near the spilling. ¡°This is your great idea?!¡± Blade gasped in a shouted whisper. ¡°This is not just about getting in. We need to get out, too. So unless you want to hunt down someone as we are running away, this is the best idea I got. Also, here. Keep those bags in a safe place,¡± Romeo pulled a pair of zip-lock bags. Each had one eye, one finger, and a mana crystal inside. One eye was in good condition, but the attack had deformed the other, ¡°Those are from the guards. I don¡¯t know if the second eye will work, but the first one should be fine.¡° ¡°What the fuck? What the fuck!?¡± Blades gasped. ¡°We are going to need to leave here. So yeah, we are doing this. Now stop freaking out. You¡¯ll have time for it later. Let¡¯s go!¡± he moved back to close the door. Leaving it open would be too big of a sign that there was something wrong. A missing guard would be nothing strange in most places, ¡°Also. Don¡¯t run, pretend that we belong.¡± Blade followed along, still shell-shocked by the situation. She was familiar with killing, but taking out people¡¯s heads or eyes to use them for something else felt awful. The two continued walking at a brisk pace when they could, but at every turn, they would slow down as if they were taking a stroll. Without a guide, the biggest problem became to find the things they were looking for. Still, despite being focused on fighting, the two still had skills to help them navigate labyrinths. In less than 5 minutes, they found the stairs. And, for the first time since getting inside the facility, it was a staircase that went down more than one level. The cells were in the next level below, but ignored that floor. As harsh as it sounded, they had no way of helping those inside there. Not right now. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Even when they were able to continue searching for the Grimoire, they didn¡¯t see anyone. A fact that started to gnaw on Blade¡¯s nerves. ¡°There is something wrong. Why is this so empty? I think it¡¯s a trap,¡± she said. ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case. We don¡¯t have other options now. Let¡¯s just keep going.¡± ¡°But it was too easy to get inside!¡± ¡°They are probably used to that kind of thing happening. Morgan had the habit of never telling people what he would do. I lost count how many times people suddenly appeared in front of me saying Morgan had scheduled a meeting between us when I was the chairman,¡± Romeo turned a corner and noticed a large door at the end of the hallway. One that didn¡¯t look reinforced enough to be protecting anything dangerous, but had enough decorations to make it seem important. ¡°That is stupid. This would just make more trouble for you. Why did he do that?¡± ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t know. I used to think it was a test. A way to train me to deal with unexpected situations. Now? My best guess is that he thought everyone was beneath him and unworthy of knowing his plan. That or he did that as a power play. To show that he has that much power over you and that your only option is going along. It¡¯s probably both, but more towards the latter than the former.¡± They arrived in front of the door, but it was locked. They still had two ways to pass those sensors, three if counting with the deformed eye. But using it now meant they would even more to leave this place. After a brief moment of internal deliberation, Blade stepped forward. ¡°Fuck it. They probably already know we are here. We are not leaving without a fight. We kill someone upstairs and get their head to open the door to the outside,¡± she used the head of the last guard they killed to open the door. Inside the Grimoire there was a single large pillar in the center of the room. Lights blinked from everywhere and holographic books floated around. ¡°Oh¡­ the Grimoire is not just a data center. It¡¯s a supercomputer,¡± Romeo gasped, ¡°This design¡­ I¡¯ve seen it before, but it was called Codex.¡± ¡°Their naming sense sucks. Codex? Really?¡± ¡°Prototypes never get a marketable name. It¡¯s always something grandiose that sounds fancy. Only then the marketing team would come up with something decent,¡± Romeo shrugged and pointed to a small pedestal in front of the pillar, ¡°That should be the interface. Do you have the copy drive?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s right here,¡± the two rushed over to the pedestal and placed the small rectangular device over the screen. There was a pause before the device started to work. Downloading all the information inside that computer at an incredible speed. However, it still felt like it was going at a snail¡¯s pace. Romeo and Blade were too focused on the pedestal to realize that little by little, the holographic books stopped moving. When the last of them froze in the air, all the lights of the room turned red, and an alarm started blaring. ¡°Shit, shit, shit,¡± Blade gasped. They looked back and saw the entrance starting to close. Romeo rushed over and held the door open. It wasn¡¯t that heavy, especially for someone like him, who already held an entire building above his head. Still, he needed both hands to stop the mechanism from closing. The now red floating books came to life once more, but this time being enveloped in elemental energy and started flying towards the invaders at high speed. Blade noticed the incoming attacks and dodged a few, only to realize that they were also targeting the copy device. Which forced her to block some of the books with her sword. Roman wasn¡¯t as lucky. He couldn¡¯t move his arms, so every strike was a clean hit on his body. The only good part of all of it was one of his passive skills that reduced the damage he would take from any attacks. After an agonizing 3 minutes, which would mean a staggering amount of data, the copy device was finally done. Blade didn¡¯t struggle much, but Romeo was hurt. It was clear that the defenses were more powerful than the guards protecting the place. The various attacks ended up burning, freezing, and covering parts of his skin and armor in acid. Yet, he endured. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Blade asked as they left the Grimoire. The books still following them. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Romeo pulled a potion and downed in a single gulp, ¡°We have what we need. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Somewhere else in the facility, a door was flung open as the alarm continued to ring, revealing an office with an array of screens. All the security cameras that covered the entire lab. ¡°Sir!¡± the two guards who were inside the room stood up. ¡°Where are they? Show me!¡± the man¡¯s voice resonated in the entire room, making even the chairs vibrate. ¡°We found them here. In the lower levels. This image is from 10 minutes ago. Beyond this point we don¡¯t have any cameras,¡± the guard pulled an image showing a man with red hair and someone in black heavy armor killing a three guards. The man first broke the neck of one guard, then crushed the heads of the other two. There was a small argument that couldn¡¯t be heard since the camera was video only before they opened the door to the lower labs, and the armored person killed yet another guard. The red-haired man then came pushing a janitor¡¯s cart, and the two left the screen. ¡°Romeo¡­ it seems I expected too much from you. Even after all I¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°We already called the rest of the guards, sir. Including the elite team. They should arrive in 13 minutes. We are ready to deploy the anti magic net,¡± the guard replied. ¡°Don¡¯t. Tell the lab to prepare subject Alpha and Beta for activation. We wanted to make some tests, a perfect guinea pig just walked inside. Send all the guards to that door. I don¡¯t want anyone leaving the lower labs. Also, tell them not to go inside. I don¡¯t want anyone interfering with the results of the experiment. Have the science team meet me in the lower lab control room. I want their help to analyze the results.¡± ¡°Mr. Waaberi?¡± the guard asked, ¡°Are you going there yourself?¡± ¡°Of course I am. My old prot¨¦g¨¦ decides to come on the same day I¡¯m here. I wouldn¡¯t be polite to ignore that,¡± a cruel smile formed on Morgan¡¯s face. He started to leave but stopped before crossing the door, ¡°When I¡¯m done with this minor issue. I will want to know why it took 10 minutes for them to be detected.¡± With that, he left the security room, leaving the guards behind in a cold sweat. 832 - A man on a mission - IV Romeo and Blade rushed through the lower levels of the lab. There was much to be seen around them, various rooms filled with tests, reports, and experiments still in progress, but they didn¡¯t have time. With the alarm active, the entire facility was aware of their presence. As if to remove any doubt of that fact, some sections of the lower labs closed automatically. Heavy metal walls rose from the ground, blocking a few corridors. They also locked every single door and window with a similar barrier. If they had time, Romeo and Blade might break through one of those thinner plates, but that would still take a few minutes, and they had no way of knowing if the room on the other side would have an exit or not. ¡°Shit, here!¡± Blade gasped, as one of those barriers blocked the third path she was trying to take. Romeo was running right behind her, ¡°You know they are leading us somewhere. Right?¡± ¡°What? Are you saying the evil organization that experiments on people and can control the layout of the floor is trying to lead us to a trap? Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± Blade rolled her eyes. ¡°I was just making sure you don¡¯t have to be mean about it. To the left,¡± Romeo called as he noticed another path being closed. ¡°Yes, I do! Don¡¯t you think that they might have noticed the trail of dead bodies that we left behind?¡± ¡°No! Look, putting bodies in the janitor¡¯s closet is effective.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a clich¨¦, and you know it!¡± ¡°Clich¨¦s work! There is a reason everyone uses them.¡± ¡°But everyone knows about them! So everyone knows what to look for! Left,¡± Blade pivoted and continued running. This time, the corridor didn¡¯t change, it just kept going for a while. ¡°Wait, wait. Stop,¡± Romeo grabbed the woman by the arm. She just looked at him with a confused expression when he placed a small sphere in her hand, ¡°Pepper. That¡¯s the safe word. If I say this, you use it.¡± ¡°We are both leaving this place,¡± Blade tried to push away the sphere. It was an item only found in the 26th layer. A rare drop from a hard mode dungeon in the deepest part of the MAZE they had reached. When breaking this orb, she would be teleported to a location they had decided yesterday. Right in front of the dungeon that was part of their escape plan. It would take only one person and it was a single use item. However, as she tried to give the item back, the former chairman held her hand. ¡°Blade. They need that data. They need to know about this place. That is more important than anything, and you are better at sneaking by them. You¡¯ve proven that already.¡± The woman paused, understating the gravity of the situation, ¡°Pepper?¡± ¡°Pepper,¡± Romeo nodded. He was sure they would need to use the Emergency Escape Sphere. The walls were no longer moving. They were trapped. The only thing that might save them was the hubris of the guards. Maybe they thought they could overpower them with numbers. It was a long shot, but that was his only hope. Blade nodded back, and the two of them continued running. After a moment, it was clear that the walls stopped moving, but the path they were following was going back around itself. Forcing them to walk by corridors that were parallel to the ones they already passed by. They did this to stall them. Maybe the facility had some safety measure that stopped it from being completely closed off, but it was unlikely. The guards, or whomever, were controlling all of this needed time for¡­ something. And changing the layout was the best way to do it. After a left turn, they saw a large room at the end of the hallway. That would be either their chance to escape, or the place where the guild would spring their trap. If it could even be called that. Romeo and Blade arrived in what looked like an arena. Metal bars blocked two passages to the right and left, while the sterile steel walls were smeared with dried blood. Just as they walked inside, a door closed behind them. ¡°Here we go,¡± Blade mumbled, already expecting something to happen. ¡°Romeo, Romeo, Romeo,¡± a voice echoed. On the 10 meter tall ceiling of this room, there were 9 drones, one in each corner of the room, another four in the cardinal directions and the last one in the center. Each of those flying robots had a small camera attached to them, as well as a speaker and a small microphone. The voice continued, coming from all of them at the same time, ¡°It is a shame that the first time you could ever surprise me is by doing something so utterly foolish and pointless.¡± ¡°Morgan,¡± Romeo snarled, ¡°I never imagined you would be willing to get your hands dirty like this.¡± ¡°And that is exactly your problem, Romeo. You lack vision. Your mistake was, and still is, not focusing on the big picture,¡± Morgan¡¯s voice sounded almost bored. ¡°Vision? Pah! My only mistake was not seeing the insufferable asshole you are sooner,¡± Romeo yelled. ¡°And here I thought we ended our relationship on such nice terms,¡± Morgan''s voice sounded a bit more amused. Blade realized that this was probably another way to stall for time and started looking around, trying to see if there was some time she could do to leave this place. A switch, a passage, something. ¡°Nice terms!? You son of a bitch, you used me and tossed me to the side. Made me look like an incompetent villain in the entire story, even after I lost a leg and my eye!¡± There was a pause, then Morgan¡¯s voice came through once more. However, it was no longer that bored tone. Each word now was accompanied by outrage and venom, ¡°I used you? What use would I have for you? You were nothing when we first met. No one. And without my help, that is all you would have amounted to. You would have found a mediocre job, in a mediocre company, and lived a mediocre life that would¡¯ve been forgotten in less than a generation. No, Romeo. You tried to use me, and I allowed it. I let you fly on my coattails earning the respect and power that came with simply being near me and my accomplishments. I showed you how to be more, how to become someone that matters. And how do you repay me? By betraying me, betraying everything I stand for. And even despite all that, I gave you the chance to walk free. My last gift to you was the permission to continue on with your life, using all that I provided. All the opportunities, all the levels, all the power that came from me and my company. And what do you do to thank me? You try to ruin my life¡¯s work. The one thing that can wipe out all the non humans from the MAZE. The one thing that would allow us to take what is rightfully ours as real people instead of sharing resources with a bunch of fake beings created by the system.¡± Romeo started yelling again, debating every point Morgan made, but Blade stopped listening. That was just a waste of time. She moved towards one passage and saw something moving beyond the metal bars. It looked alive, bipedal. Maybe it was a person? She pulled her sword and superheated it again, trying to cut the bars so they could pass through them. It was a stupid idea, but she didn¡¯t know what else to do. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t enough. When she tried to cut the metal, all she could do was heat it as well, but she couldn¡¯t cut it. Even after, the entire bar glowed white due to all the heat. Blade tried to push them, but she wasn¡¯t strong enough. Unlike what many thought, her attributes focused on agility and endurance and not strength. The fighter tried calling Romeo over to help, but the former chairmen was too distracted, having a shouting match with someone who wasn¡¯t even there, to pay attention to her. ¡°Sir, we are ready,¡± an unfamiliar voice came from the drones. ¡°Perfect,¡± Morgan replied, returning to his bored tone, ¡°Now, Romeo. You will help me with one last thing. We need to confirm if our tools will do what we need them to. And you will be the first barrier they are supposed to break.¡± Just as he finished speaking, the two passages blocked by metal bars started to open. Blade jumped back and watched as a hulking figure slowly walked towards her. On the other side, the same thing was happening, although the figure was a bit smaller. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Let me introduce you to our brand new line of engineered soldiers. They are able to fight nonstop for up to eight weeks, and due to their connection with a Daemon, don¡¯t have to worry about mana cost. In addition, even the body of a level 40 person can become strong enough to face level 70s. Or at least, that¡¯s what our projections say. Now we will be able to confirm that theory. So, do me a favor and be helpful one more time by dying and making our marketing promises real,¡± Morgan said. The large figures rushed out of the passage. One of them almost ran Blade over, but the fighter dodged the attack. Both attackers were human, one man and one woman, and they were wearing black fitted gym clothes likely made of a very elastic fiber. In contrast, their skin was red, a vibrant red that almost seemed to glow. Over their chest, right where their heart should be, was a black circle tattoo. Either one of those people could win bodybuilding competitions just by showing up. As long as the organizers didn¡¯t care about whatever the New Dawn had pumped into their system. But it was also strange. While staring at them, one would feel that their muscles were wrong. They were too big and likely about to tear, like a balloon that was over inflated. Yet, they moved without any worry or discomfort. There was no restriction or stiffness to their movements. ¡°Wait¡­ I know you. I saw you when we were being arrested!¡± Blade pointed at the man. He had green eyes, a buzz cut, and a tattoo of a tree on his neck. The man gave her a blank stare. Not replying to the comment. ¡°Alpha, Beta. Kill them. Let¡¯s see if you are truly able to overcome the level difference.¡± The two red people suddenly vanished. Each appearing in front of one of the invaders and punching them with all their might. Blade wasn¡¯t ready for it and was flung to the wall, bending it slightly with the impact. Romeo, on the other hand, was more well prepared. He activated the metal plates around his arm to form a gauntlet using the magnetic force of his magic and defended against the blow. Even so, he was pushed several meters back. Blade landed on her feet, her golden eyes started to shine and her entire body was covered in radiant light. She lunged forward, towards Beta, the man that attacked her. Her sword became overheated once more, then she swung down. The first strike was blocked. Hitting this person¡¯s skin was like hitting a piece of rock. Blade shifted her grip on the longsword and went for an upward slash. Adding a couple of skills to disrupt magic with the attack. Beta was too slow to defend, and a cut appeared across his torso, the skin around it turning back to normal, but that was just for a moment. When the red took over, the wound was instantly closed, and the soldier went for a straight punch. Blade ducked under it and tapped the man¡¯s arm, activating a couple of binding spells in order to slow him down. She could feel the magic taking, but it barely did anything. Beta continued to attack, now in a flurry of jabs and straights forcing Blade to focus on evading. Every now and then, she was able to make another cut, using the same combination of effects, but the wound would close up almost instantly. The only proof of her successful attacks was the blood that was being splattered on the ground. On the other side of the room, Romeo was facing Alpha, the woman. She was a bit smaller than Beta, and also less bulky. Yet, her strikes didn¡¯t seem to be any weaker than her partners, nor was she slower. In fact, she was more limber, able to twist her body more while attacking. This allowed her to both use more muscles in each blow and made it harder for Romeo to hit her back. To make matters worse, the former chairmen couldn¡¯t use her magnetism powers properly. There was no metal on her for him to use, and he could only control the blood that was outside one¡¯s body. He used a couple of buffing spells, increasing his defense and power, but his offensive options wouldn¡¯t work against Alpha. Romeo focused on corroding his opponent¡¯s equipment, which was utterly useless in a fight against someone unarmed. His saving grace was his [Sturdy] skill, being at rank 8 and reducing all damage he took by 80%. He also could shift the density of his body to a certain extent, making sure to make his limbs weigh less when he was going for an attack and increasing their weight just as he was about to hit. Even with all that, he could barely do anything against Alpha. Hitting her was not just difficult, but almost impossible. The woman also struggled to deliver a proper blow on Romeo, but when he overstepped, or tried to take advantage of a big opening, she was able to punish him for his greed. The worst part was that both Romeo and Blade could tell these people couldn¡¯t fight. Not properly. Their movements were too by the book. There were no faints, no attempts at a different combo. These people were amateurs when compared to Romeo and Blade¡¯s technique was leagues beyond Beta¡¯s. Yet, they were overcoming that gap with sheer physical strength. And these were just the test subjects. If the New Dawn was ever able to give this¡­ spell? Skill? Whatever it was to the proper soldiers. People who had trained properly, the balance of war would shift fast. Blade noticed how Romeo was being pushed back more and more. Alpha was slowly trying to pin him in the corner of the room. Not wanting to leave the former chairmen to die, she came up with a plan. Beta was cocky, he would gladly take damage if it meant he had a good shot at her, and even if he wasn¡¯t successful so far, he was getting close. Blade went for an upward swing once more, one that was clearly out of range. But hitting him wasn¡¯t the intention. As she hoped, Beta didn¡¯t move and just let her sword go wide. Just as the tip of the weapon reached his eye line, Blade channeled a spell called Blinding Sun. A powered up version of the more common flash bang spell. Beta yelled as the light flooded his eyes and started to swing in every direction, unable to see. Wounds were quickly healed, but something like this would take longer. Using that opportunity, Blade lunged at Alpha, her sword covered in a brilliant golden light. Her attack caught the red woman by surprise, and the sword pierced the right side of her abdomen. Blade continued, finishing the skill. The skill that was responsible for giving her the name Blade of Dawn. A skill that she had refused to use for some time due to its name. ¡°New Dawn,¡± she whispered and pulled her sword up, creating a massive blade of radiant light that cut Alpha¡¯s arm clean off, while also making a large gash on the reinforced wall behind the test subject. ¡°You bitch!¡± Alpha yelled. The arm that was separated from her body returning to a natural color. Yet, the hulking woman was still standing. Even with half her torso exposed, the red aura worked its magic, closing the wound. The one good thing that came out of it was that she wasn¡¯t growing a new arm, not right away at least. Blade stepped in front of Romeo who was now covered in bruises, blood coming out of his nose and one of his eyes completely swollen, like a boxer after a match, ¡°C¡¯mon. We got this,¡± she tried to sound confident, but had no idea if that really was the case. Romeo chuckled, ¡°Yeah. We do. Thank you. And Blade,¡± he looked at her, who gave him a quick glance as Alpha and Beta started to approach, ¡°Pepper,¡± the former chairmen lunged forward, the metal plates that formed his gauntlet spread out flattening themselves and creating a wall between Blade and the rest of the room. At the same time, Romeo used one last skill. One that he used several times when he was the chairmen in order to get people¡¯s attention, or make a meeting room quiet down. [Command], but this time the skill was aimed only at two people. ¡°Kill me!¡± he yelled. Not wishing for death, but knowing that while the skill was active, Alpha and Beta would be unable to chase after Blade. Not before they fulfilled that order, and they would have to work for it. The two test subjects pummeled Romeo repeatedly. He did his best to fight back, but with the skill active, Alpha and Beta were not holding back or trying to get used to their bodies. They were using their full strength. After ten long minutes, the broken body of the former chairmen collapsed on the ground. Most of his bones were broken, his organs ruptured, and life had left his eyes. Romeo Ballester was dead. When getting her senses back, Alpha snapped back towards the corner of the room, where the metal wall still stood. She ripped the plates out with a single kick, but there was nothing behind it. ¡°You let her go?!¡± Beta yelled. ¡°I let her go?! You were the one who couldn¡¯t keep that bitch occupied. If anyone let her escape, it was you!¡± Alpha yelled back, the veins in her face becoming more visible by the second. ¡°If you weren¡¯t so weak that you had to push him to the corner, she wouldn¡¯t have tired of helping him,¡± Beta yelled even louder, half of his words barely making sense. ¡°Weak? I only have one arm, but I can still kill you!¡± ¡°Try it then!¡± Alpha and Beta started to fight. Not that this could be called an actual fight. Before they threw the first punch, it already devolved into two mindless beasts trying to kill each other. Morgan was in the lower labs¡¯ control room. Watching all the events unfold. He saw when Romeo protected Blade, and a brief flash of light just after that metal wall was created. Following that, the readings in the room no longer showed 4 people inside. Now only 3. ¡°Sir. Should we activate the gas to knock them out?¡± one of the scientists asked as Alpha and Beta fought each other. ¡°No. This fight can still give us some valuable data. I suppose the concentration of Daemonic Essence is still too strong. Hence why they are so easily angered. Note that down for Gamma and Delta,¡± Morgan replied. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but the subjects from Gamma to Zeta already have received their tattoos. We can make that change starting with Eta and Theta,¡± another scientist replied. ¡°Very well. Mark subjects Gamma through Zeta as one use consumables. Use Eta and Theta as a test case for the lower essence concentration. If there are no problems. We can start to accept candidates for the numbered soldiers,¡± Morgan nodded and continued to watch as Alpha and Beta brutally beat each other to death. Despite all the setbacks and the potential stolen data, he was calm. That minor setback wouldn¡¯t change anything. He knew that soon the MAZE would belong only to humans, as it was always supposed to be. 833 - Closing act Hera could hear the screams of the surrounding monsters. In most situations, this would be terrifying, but not right now. After all, she was also screaming at the top of her lungs while following the beat of Vash¡¯s music. The Harmony Guardians were by the side of the stage, watching Flint face of a team called Rage the Machines. A group of robot like creatures that normally dance something called popping. The idea was to do quick and sharp moves, making the dancer jerk while combining waves, tuts, and various other sequences. In the end, whoever was dancing would almost look like a machine doing precise movements over and over again. Yet, it wasn¡¯t the robots who were receiving all the praise of the crowd. Instead, after two months of rigorous training under Vash. Flint was the one dancing on the stage, and wiping the floor with the competition. The dwarf shifted from quick and short jerks to longer, more natural-looking movements, only to quickly return to those small steps. He did that again and again, increasing the complexity of the moves until the song was over. The already loud crowd exploded into cheers when he finished, making the winner of this battle clear. As he walked back with a smile, Neria turned to Hera, ¡°So, that¡¯s 19. Are you confident you can win us the last one?¡± Hera smiled, ¡°I am. And why are you talking like this is going to be the first time? I¡¯ve won plenty dance battles before,¡± she huffed. Her words were true. After the second week of practice with Nina, Talpa, and Lancel, Lurize got a skill called simply [Dancing]. In possession of the skill, the Royal Tutor could teach it to all the titled blades. Including Hera herself. One thing that they realized with the blade core skill was that the more court members had a certain skill, the faster it would grow, and the easier it would be for the others to learn it. [Dancing] wasn¡¯t a skill that just helped with actual dance. But also increased one¡¯s ability to control their movements, especially now at rank 3. Which was great for fighting overall. She also got a few other skills, even if some of them were not that interesting. But it wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that. Hera still had to win her battle. While the announcer was still talking, the Ophidianite stepped up to the arena. She was to face a group called Sisterhood of the Siren. They were mermaids that leaned more towards the fish side. Gills on their neck and eyes to the side of their heads, and the only monster group that sang while dancing. Calling out her court, the Empress sent them up in the air. The Harmony Guardians learned they didn¡¯t have to wait for their opponent to dance. They could start the battle themselves, and if their dance was good enough, the opposing team would give up before even trying. And that was what Hera was hoping for. She spent the last month and a half practicing this routine every day with the guides. Beings that had thousands of years of experience under their belts, and they were more than willing to share what they knew. Looking back, she gave Vash a nod. It was the signal she was going to start. The performer had his personal stage already out, but he killed the lights and waited to start the song. Suddenly, while the announcer was still talking, Hera dropped down, her right leg was straight to the side while the left was under her body. Daskka, who had left the Empress neck during Flint¡¯s dance, pulled a large switch in the corner of the club, killing all the lights inside the dungeon. There were some boos and shouting, but everyone stopped making any sound when they heard the sound of the set of six golden bangles that were on each of Hera¡¯s wrists. She shook them once and waited a few seconds before doing the same thing again. On the third time, Vash activated some of the spotlights, but ensured that the light only revealed their aimed locations as they moved around the stage. The crowd could see small glimpses of Hera. Her blond hair flowing to the sides of her face framing a snake diadem that was almost invisible in her head. Her purple scales shining against the light, and the pair of amber colored venomous chackrams she held in her hand close to the ground, right below the shiny golden bangles. Hera started to shake her wrists in a certain rhythm, as she slowly got up, dragging her leg across the floor and gently rotating the circular blades. A secondary ringing sound appeared. The Ophidianite smirked and made a point to let the spotlight hit her tail, revealing another set of bangles around it, serving as an additional instrument for the song she was creating. Vash shifted the spotlights, now aiming at the court members flying in the air. They reflected the lights to each other and then to the ground, creating a disco ball effect of varying intensity. Hera started to shake the bangles more frequently and raise her hands, making the sound more and more intense. Her semitransparent orange skirt in display, revealing a pair of parachute pants below that had the exact same color as the skirt, but in a more solid tone. Her stomach exposed, and she wore more of the same see-through fabric covering her chest and arms, with a matching top underneath made of denser fabric. The jingling became louder and louder until Hera had both arms above her head. She shook her hips twice in the same direction, following the movement of a belly dancer, and Vash dropped a strong beat. Using the chackrams to control how the light hit her, the Ophidianite continued moving her hips while she slowly waved her arms from side to side. Spinning to the left, she dragged her tail on the floor, causing small sparks to appear because of the bangles and continued moving her hips back and forth as she slowly went to the ground once more. Remembering to keep her eyes focused on the Siren. A trick that Nina taught her. It made the dance feel more personal, as if the rest of the crowd was watching something intimate and, with that, it became more intense. Hera quickly popped back up, shifting her hips from side to side again, the amber colored chackrams positioned to stop anyone from seeing her actual waist. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Above her, DJ ignited in red flames and dove towards the Empress, who continued and, with a quick spin of her hands, parried the incoming ¡®attack,¡¯ making some of the fire to fall to the ground. The kopesh flew back to the formation to reflect the spotlight once more. Hera continued her belly dance routine, moving her arms sensually to follow along the rhythm. As the dance went on, the ¡®attacks¡¯ became more frequent, and the element associated with them more varied. The Empress blocked every single one of them and slowly let some mist trail behind her hands. Creating shapes with her movements that formed pictures as the sparks flew. Images of the moon, snakes, swords, a heart, and the last being the landscape of a beach with a few mountains on the horizon. That was only possible due to the shadows created by her court and Vash. When the music started to die down, she shook her bangles once more and, as part of the routine, went back to the same position that she started. At the same time, the last note of the song was played and Daskka flipped the switch again, leaving the entire arena in the dark. Hera waited a moment with her eyes closed. She knew that 2 months were not enough to learn how to dance. Not to the point of winning a real competition. The moves she learned to beat a few of the teams were just that, moves that played against their weaknesses. However, this routine was different. It was something she tried to work out, using her strengths instead of leaning against the monsters. Instead of focusing solely on the dance, she added some flair that only she could add thanks to her court. But if it would work or not, it still remained to be seen. Enough time had passed for her to realize that things were not over, and the Ophidianite was about to tell Daskka to turn on the lights when the crowd started cheering. They yelled, shouted, and then began chanting her name over and over again. The herald flipped the switch. Everyone was clapping, including the Harmony Guardians. ¡°There you have it, folks! I don¡¯t think the Sisterhood can beat that presentation. The Underdogs win the battle, and the entire competition with a score of 20 wins and 0 losses!¡± the turtle announcer shouted as the entire crowd erupted into cheers once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed the dungeon quest: Your team won first place in the dance competition. Rewards: 400 thousand gold. Bracelet of Dancing Style Upgrade - Siren Charm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was just the third Charm Hera got for the bracelet. It was an item very similar to Nimbus, which had a unique effect inside a specific dungeon. Here it would allow her to take the form of one of the monsters in order to dance. She already could become an Arachne and a Zombie, and now a Siren. When used outside, she would be covered in a spectral armor of sorts while also getting some of the abilities of the monster in question. Arachnes allowed her to climb walls, Zombies dulled her sense of pain, and Sirens increased the power of spells that affected emotions and thoughts. It was a nice item, but the best transformations still eluded her. She really wanted the elementals or the Minotaur one. Aside from that, there was one more notification for the Empress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up. Current level 56 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°That was great!¡± Vash rushed over to congratulate Hera. ¡°It really was. I didn¡¯t think you had it in you,¡± Roan nodded. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t blame me. I still remember your first attempt.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame you, but I¡¯m still offended,¡± Hera huffed. ¡°Either way, congratulations. Who had the idea to use the sparks like that?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Daskka. She saw a video about optical illusions and suggested it,¡± Hera smiled and petted the snake as she came back to her neck. ¡°Did you level up?¡± Flint asked. ¡°I did. We can go home now. I think our new gear arrives today,¡± Hera said with a smile. The group left the dungeon, still talking about Hera¡¯s routine, and headed back home. During the last two months, this was basically all they did. Woke up, came to the dungeon and occasionally tried to get some new skills. Hera herself had a few upgrades. First, she got the skills Cooking, Cleaning, Polishing, Sewing, Climbing, Throwing, and Blocking. Those were all the simple ones that helped do exactly what their name suggested. She could get a few more, but unlike the rest of the team, her focus was on dancing. Speaking of which, she also got Acrobatics, which improved her balance and overall control over her body. There was also Cutting, something that worked for both food prepping and fighting. One skill she acquired after taking a class was Lock Picking. She was in a place filled with spies, and it seemed like a good idea. Some dungeons had locked doors, and if she ended up in another lab, she could try to save people. Hera also got a few upgrades to her skills. Battle Dancer increased by 1 rank, Grasshopper Stab and Slash also increased by 1 rank, which made their multiplier go from x 1 per 10 thousand mana to x 1.1 per 9 thousand mana. It was almost a 20% increase in power and also showed how they could grow even more in the future. Lastly, was a legacy skill. The Empress tried to learn a few more ¡®weapon combat¡¯ skills. Namely, Lance and Scythe combat. After getting them, all of her 15 weapon combat skills consolidated becoming [Bladed Weapon Combat] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bladed Weapon Combat (Rank 3) Improves your ability to use any bladed weapon during combat. Techniques that you already learned can be used with muscle memory alone. However, using a technique like this lowers the strength of the attacks. When using an unfamiliar bladed weapon, you are able to underhand the basics of how to use them. This skill also improves the user¡¯s ability to learn new bladed weapon techniques and skills. Bladed weapon effectiveness increase: 12% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a bit weaker than the individual weapon combats, but the bonus of always knowing how to use the weapons would be massive. Even better, during this dungeon run, Daskka told Hera that she could get the last two skills of her legacy now. And considering how she was about to change her entire court, it was the best moment for it to happen. 834 - Noble Houses
Back in their home, there was a large pile of boxes by the entrance. All of them were items for the Harmony Guardians. Everyone was changing pretty much all of their gear, only keeping some items. For instance, Neria still held her staff due to the ability to store liquids to be used later. Flint was the outlier. Instead of buying new equipment, he got some rare materials to upgrade his armor. Since everyone had to check their purchases, they all just took the packages to their rooms to make sure everything was in place. Hera had her titled blades helping her carry all the boxes since she had more than double the amount of items of the other team members. The Empress sat down in her bed and opened her status windows before doing anything else. She had leveled up 15 times in the last months. From levels 41 to 56. And her attributes jumped from 112 to 143. Not to mention the various skills that she got to make up for the lack of bonus attribute points. That wasn¡¯t enough, of course. According to the people in the intelligence agency, she would be a few hundred bonus points behind someone at the same level. But thanks to her [Exponential Growth] the difference in attributes wouldn¡¯t be that big. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 56 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 858 Strength: 143 Endurance: 143 Agility: 143 Charisma: 143 Intelligence: 143 Luck: 143 Mana: 8 513 321/8 513 321 Empress Core: 20 179 300 /20 179 300 Passive Mana Regeneration: 11 493/s (20 687/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 21 993/s (39 587/s with items) Empress Core Regeneration: 11/s (21/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 0 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core [Handaxe Combat 3, Chakram Combat 3, Glaive Combat 3, Sword Combat 3, Two-handed Sword Combat 2, Dagger Combat 3, Scimitar combat 1, Axe combat 1, War Axe Combat 1, Knife Combat 2, Tonfa Combat 2, Rapier Combat 1, Short Sword Combat 1(+1), Lance Combat (+1), Scythe Combat 1(+1)] -> Bladed Weapon Combat 3 (+3) Passive: Exponential Growth (29) Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4 Throwing 1(+1), Cutting 1(+1), Blocking 1 (+1), Battle Dancer 3(+1), Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2, Climbing 1(+1), Acrobatics 1(+1) Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4 , Shaper of Mana 2 , Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1 , Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1 , Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1 , Lava Mastery 1 , Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1, Awareness 2, Lockpicking 1(+1) Dancing 3(+3) Cooking 1(+1), Cleaning 1(+1), Polishing 1(+1), Sewing 1(+1), Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 3, Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 2(+1), Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 1, Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break 2 Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 2(+1), Grasshopper Slash 2(+1), Grasshopper Draw 1 Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer¡¯s Assassinate Explorer¡¯s Map Hunter¡¯s Catalogue, Explorer¡¯s Hunt Explorer¡¯s Research Explorer¡¯s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Daskka, how about the new skills? Can I get them?¡± Hera turned to the herald. ¡°Yeah. Those are the last two skills in your legacy, mum. To get another, you are going to have to figure it out by yourself. I¡¯ll help, but you get what I mean,¡± Daskka replied. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s see what they are.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Noble houses Assigning your court members to the various noble houses of your court will allow them to gain benefits depending on the rank of their house. Each house can have more than a single court member. The houses must have a name and a theme given by the Empress. If the Empress does not give a theme, the legacy will create one. The theme will affect the possible skills and bonuses of the house. Duke - House yet to be named. 0 out of 1 members. Marquess - House yet to be named. 0 out of 2 members. Marquess - House yet to be named. 0 out of 2 members. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ House Heirloom You can assign a skill from a member of one of your houses as an heirloom. When doing so, the house will incorporate the skill, and any member of the noble house can inherit it. However, each house can only assign an heirloom to a single member at a time. Current Heirlooms: Duke - House yet to be named. - None Marquess - House yet to be named. - None Marquess - House yet to be named. - None ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the skills a couple of times. Trying to make sure she understood everything. Unfortunately, she still had a lot of questions. Looking towards Daskka, the herald was just staring back, already waiting to be called. The Empress chuckled, ¡°You already knew I wasn¡¯t going to just say ok, right?¡± ¡°Of course. The skills barely go over anything. I would be surprised if you didn¡¯t have any questions.¡± ¡°Ok. First things first. Are those all the houses I¡¯ll ever get?¡± ¡°No, just like your court, you can grow them. Oh, and your titled blades can¡¯t be part of a house. They are already your retainers.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°My retainers?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°Yeah. It means they are like the people who work directly under the Empress. While Noble houses have their own things to do. Or that is how it¡¯s supposed to be in the actual empires. For us, that analogy kind of breaks since the titled blades are more independent than the rest of the court.¡± ¡°Got it. And what about the house rank? Is it already in order?¡± ¡°Yep. It goes Duke, Marquess, Count, Earl, and Baron, being the last one. Not in real life, but the last one of your court. Apparently, you can have at most 2 different Duke houses, 4 houses for the Marquess, then 12 for the Counts, 36 Earls, and like¡­ at least 100 for the Barons. But¡­ it was a bit weird. I don¡¯t think those numbers all happened at once. Also, this doesn¡¯t feel like a hard rule. There might be ways to go around it,¡± Daskka explained. ¡°Wow, that is a lot. I mean, I doubt I would even get enough court members for all those houses. Even now, if I had one more Marquess house, it would already almost be enough for the entire court. And the number of blades in each house can increase. Right?¡± ¡°Yep, and I don¡¯t think there is an actual limit. Also, the growth will be based on the blades¡¯ actions, so if you ask them to do a bunch of small day-to-day things, it shouldn¡¯t take long for all of them to have a house. Oh. Another thing, once they join a house, they can¡¯t go to another one. But you can take them out of the house if you want. They just won¡¯t be able to get back.¡± ¡°Got it. And Dukes get the best buffs, right?¡± ¡°Exactly. Also, the heirloom can scale with the house it is in and the blade that gets it. It won¡¯t be a perfect thing, but if a skill from a low level weapon keeps being passed on, it can eventually reach the same power level as skills weapons you have now have.¡± ¡°Right¡­ this is a lot of information,¡± Hera stopped to think for a moment, ¡°Hey¡­ do you think that if I have Vulcan awakening a blade I can have an awakened skill as the heirloom?¡± Daskka stared at the Empress for a moment before opening a big smile, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it sounds like a good idea.¡± Hera turned to Forge and called Gale over. During the past months, Hera was trying to learn more about this skill and she had more or less decided on the heirlooms. First Ink¡¯s [Whispering Ink]. The ability to disable someone¡¯s skill was too powerful to let go. Especially if she was facing against a person. She could imagine sealing a fighter¡¯s [Fury], or maybe a mage¡¯s [Sync] during a fight. That would toss their entire combat style in disarray. Her next idea was Autumn¡¯s [Armor of Fallen Leaves]. It was a skill Hera never used during a fight and only tested it out properly while training in her private room. The spectral armor would work similarly to her current armor. But instead of wasp wings that would move to cover her, the leaves would take that place. By itself, that was already a great thing, since each cast of the skill would create about 50 large leaves, but they could also stack on top of each other to increase the protection against a single blow. The other skills she considered were damage based, but she didn¡¯t like the idea of keeping those kinds of skills. Generally, the reason a weapon attack skill was strong was not just by the skill itself, but the various passives and bonuses the weapon already had stacked on top of each other. That¡¯s why one item she got had buffing skills and one of them was even more valuable than Autumn¡¯s. However, when considering all her current blades. Gale had the best awakening skill. The awakened Wind Furry, allowing her entire court to have copies of themselves, was too good to pass up. Luckily, today was the day that Vulcan was reborn due to his skill. But before upgrading the skill, Hera decided to add Gale to the first Marquess house. She knew her naming sense wasn¡¯t the best and simply called it Verdant House. Opting not to pick a theme to see what the Legacy would create. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Verdant Marquessate was created. Gale has been assigned to the Verdant House as its Marquesas Verdant House theme - Winds of change. Verdant Marquessate skill created. Ever-Evolving Tactics Members of the Verdant Marquessate grow when exposed to varied scenarios, gaining an ever-increasing scaling bonus depending on how many unique creatures they faced. Extra scaling per creature + 0.01 Additionally, when facing a new type of enemy for the first time. Members of the Verdant Marquessate receive a 10% bonus to their damage for 10 minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Ok¡­ this is pretty cool,¡± Hera smiled. ¡°It really is,¡± Gale nodded excitedly. There was something about being the first Marquess of the Verdant House that really made him feel good. ¡°Right, now Vulcan, can you?¡± the Empress turned to Forge, who nodded and gently tapped Gale, awakening him again, his physical form shifting and the wind itself forming a solid shape around the blade of the glaive. ¡°Now¡­ how do I do this?¡± Hera turned to Daskka. ¡°That¡¯s¡­. Oh? Ok, weird. Gale is the one who has to do that. Weird, but he still needs your permission to change the heirloom.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of fun. Makes the houses more independent,¡± Hera nodded and turned to Gale, ¡°Can you make the awakened wind fury as the heirloom of the Verdant House?¡± Gale focused and after a moment, ¡°Yes. I just did.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Heirloom of the Verdant House This skill can only be used if the user is in an awakened state. Awakened Wind Fury: The wind can understand your intentions even better than you do. With this skill active, the weapon creates 2 wind clones to follow up your attacks. The wind clone attacks deal between 60% and 130% of the damage dealt by the original. Your luck stat influences the number and damage of the attacks. Duration: 1 minute Cooldown: 1 hour Mana Cost: 4 million mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Ah¡­. That sucks?¡± Hera stopped to think. It actually didn¡¯t, It meant that anyone who was part of the Verdant House could have two awakened skills, and it also didn¡¯t say anything about requiring Vulcan to awaken them. If she somehow found a way to awaken her blades without using that skill, maybe she could trigger this version of Wind Fury. It was a shame that the skill became a bit weaker, the cooldown increased a bit, and so did the mana cost, but it was still amazing. ¡°Ok, now Ink. You are up. And because I want your skill to get the best possible result, you will be the Duke,¡± Hera called Ink over. The dagger nodded, ¡°It will be a pleasure, Empress.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to use colors for the houses. Just to keep a pattern. If one is Verdant, the other is Wolf, and the third is Tech it¡¯s going to feel weird,¡± Hera said and stopped to think for a moment, ¡°You will be know as Duke Alabaster, and your theme is Silent Disruption.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Alabaster Dukedom has been created. Ink has been assigned to the Alabaster House as its Duke. Alabaster House theme - Silent Disruption. Alabaster Dukedom skill created. Subtle Sabotage Members of the Alabaster Dukedom are experts at hindering their target¡¯s movements. Each strike has a chance to disrupt the target¡¯s mana, making it harder for it to cast any spells for 3 second. When the target also has one of its skills sealed, the disruption increases to 1 minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera also gave permission for Ink to add his [Whispering Ink] skill as the heirloom. The theme ended up fitting perfectly the dagger, which meant the two skills now complemented each other. Hera also knew that if someone¡¯s mana was disrupted as they were mid casting, the spell would likely fizzle out. Or, in a worst-case scenario, it would rebound, causing a backlash to the caster. Calling this combo perfect was an understatement. Unlike what happened with the Verdant house, the heirloom was an exact copy of the skill Ink had with no reduction in any of its effects. It seemed like Dukedoms could maintain the same power as the skill. Or maybe this happened because of the awakened version of Gale¡¯s skill was too strong for the legacy. For the last Marquessate, she decided to wait. The skill she intended to give it was in one of her new items, but first, she had to say her goodbyes to her current court. 835 - Sad upgrade
Just as Flint walked by Hera¡¯s bedroom, he heard a soft sobbing coming from the other side of the door. He frowned and knocked on the door, ¡°Hey¡­ are you ok?¡± ¡°Yeah. Do you need something?¡± Hera¡¯s voice seemed normal, but she was still between sobs. ¡°Can I come in?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Sure,¡± when the dwarf opened the door, Hera was wiping out her tears with a tissue that Crimson had just passed to her, ¡°What can I help you with?¡± the Ophidianite asked. ¡°Nothing. I just wanted to be sure you were doing ok. I heard you crying,¡± Flint replied. ¡°Oh, yeah. Sorry, letting go of my court members is not a fun thing to do,¡± Hera sniffed and tossed the tissue away. ¡°Right, I remember you talking about them. I imagine that it would be like putting down a pet,¡± Flint nodded. ¡°A pet?¡± Hera tilted her heard and scrunched her nose. The other titled blades, who were all sitting around the room, had a similar expressions staring at the dwarf. ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t understand exactly how does that works. When you explained to me, that¡¯s what I felt like. I didn¡¯t mean to be rude,¡± Flint said quickly. Hera took a deep breath, her initial reaction was to be offended, but that was mostly because she just lost all of them. She thought it would be better than saying her goodbyes one by one, but in the end, it hurt just as much, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I get why on are saying this. But it¡¯s not like a pet. It¡¯s closer to a friend, but if I¡¯m being honest, not as hard as losing another person I know. I still can see them later, but it does suck.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear it. Is there anything I can do to help?¡± Flints scratched the back of his head. ¡°No. Thank you,¡± Hera paused, ¡°Actually. I wouldn¡¯t say no to some tea. Can you just put some water on the kettle and turn it on?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sure. I was going to make some more coffee for me,¡± Flint stepped forward but stopped, ¡°Can I ask you one thing about your legacy? It¡¯s just something I realized.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Hera nodded. She wanted a break before adding the new court members. A distraction could help. ¡°You mentioned that letting one of your weapons go was like killing a monster. Right? That someone did that to level up.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. Or at least that¡¯s what Daskka, the herald, says. I don¡¯t know them, so I can¡¯t confirm that with a 100% certainty.¡± ¡°Ok, ok. But would that work with a weapon you make with mana?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, you are an explorer, and you have the blueprint skill. If you make a dagger using that skill, can you use that one to add to your legacy and then let them go as a way to level up? The daggers would be at your level,¡± Flint asked. Hera frowned, but she understood where he was coming from and there was a part of the question that she wasn¡¯t entirely sure of either. Turning to Daskka, the herald took it as a cue to answer. ¡°In theory, that would work. I don¡¯t see any reason why weapons made with a blueprint skill can¡¯t be a part of the court. But what is the level to scaling ratio is something I don¡¯t know. Maybe you need to get weapons that need a certain level, or a certain skill. I don¡¯t know. Besides, that¡¯s not the biggest problem with that idea,¡± Daskka glanced at the empty boxes of items. ¡°Yeah,¡± Hera nodded and turned to Flint, ¡°In theory that could work. But, to put that in perspective. Could you go to an animal shelter and kill a bunch of puppies as a way to level up quickly? Oh, and those puppies can talk.¡± Flint stared at her for a brief moment before nodding, ¡°Ok. Got it, yeah that would be awful. Sorry to bother you. I¡¯m going to boil water before I shove another foot in my mouth.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. And thank you for looking out for me,¡± Hera replied as the dwarf left. Nimbus, who was closest to the door, got up to close it before they continued with the process of changing the court. But before that, she turned around to the titled blades, ¡°How are you all?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to miss Ember. I¡¯m not going to lie,¡± Livy said with a sad smile. The Leviathan was sitting on the ground, taking a lot of space in the room, but it was the only option she had since the house wasn¡¯t made for people 3 meters tall. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss messing with Dusa. It was fun, and she was really growing out of her shell,¡± Daskka sighed. ¡°It¡¯s always hard to lose friends. But we understand why this needs to be done,¡± Lurize looked at Hera. ¡°Especially because of me,¡± Vulcan added, getting odd stares from everyone, ¡°I know none of you is willing to say it. But the fact that I have the Daemonic Influence was messing things up. We were not doing anything big, but I could tell how my emotions were impacting the other members, and in turn, Hera. Especially when we got frustrated with dancing practice.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Hera couldn¡¯t say anything against that argument. She had noticed how, in the few days that Vulcan was participating in the training, she would be more snippy, and so would her blades. And the more levels were between her and the court, the stronger that effect was. When he was not there, it was less evident, but she could still hear the court members leaning a bit too much on their emotions. Bad things became worse in their eyes, small gestures like someone offering the Empress a cup of hot cocoa made Dusa, Ember, and Chris choke up. Even Ink, the most calm and collected member of her court, would find amusing things hilarious or become stressed with a minor setback. Hera never saw things get this bad, but she was also never this far ahead of one of her blades in terms of attributes. ¡°Vulcan. That is not your fault. Like, ok. You exacerbated an issue, but this is part of the legacy. The bigger the difference in attributes, the less able to control their emotions the court becomes. It¡¯s part of the deal,¡± Hera patted Vulcan¡¯s shoulder. He was on the floor by the foot of her bed, engraving some sigils on every weapon that had just arrived. All of them were still missing a single small line for the symbol to be completed, but the Empress was the one who had to do it to trigger her [Royal Seal] skill and give her new court some extra power. He had just finished the last one, on the tiara she got, and it was time to add the new members. First, it was the tiara, the item that Hera wanted to add to the currently empty Marquessate. She chose it because of the skill, calling this new house the Cerulean Marquessate. Along with this house came a skill that was perfect for the commanding role she intended the new marchioness to have. The tiara was made out of a specific type of silver known for its ability to spread mana, and increase the range or area of spells cast through it. It was a simple band of metal that came from the back of her head and rested against the ears. Above that were what looked like dried branches that would cup the Empress¡¯ head with two larger branches that were flattened and turned into blades, pointing up at Hera¡¯s request. She invited the tiara to her court, trying to already add her to the right house and setting up the heirloom all in one go. It all worked, and now the Cerulean Marquessate was born with the theme of ¡®Strategic Command,¡¯ and the heirloom already in place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twiggy - Tiara - Metal affinity Marchioness Cerulean Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Charisma X 26.5, Intelligence X 35.5, Strength X 4, Agility X 4, Endurance X 4, Luck X 4 Active skill: Silvered strength: Increases wearer¡¯s strength by 30% for 10 seconds 10 minutes cooldown. Passive skill: Urgent Orders: Any order or command given by Twiggy to the court will have its priority understood. Cerulean Marquessate Skill Commanding Position: Members of the Cerulean Marquessate are the generals of battles and leaders of armies. Their mere presence can increase the scaling of their allies by 2% for each member of the Cerulean Marquessate within 30 meters In addition, when a member of this marquessate gives an order, those who are following said order to gain a bonus 10% to their scaling while following said order. Once the order was completed, the decays over the next 10 seconds. Only one of said effects can be active at a time. If a court member received this benefit, it cannot receive it again for 1 hour. Cerulean Marquessate Heirloom Bathed in Eternal Silver: For the next minute, the scaling of this item is tripled. Mana cost: 5% of user¡¯s total mana Cooldown: 1 minute Familiarity: 80% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Bathed in Eternal Silver] was the reason for Hera to get this tiara. Most people will try to get something like that in a weapon, but for some reason crafters were more likely to give skills similar to this one to defensive items, or worse, accessories. By itself, that wouldn¡¯t be great, but Hera had the [Army of One] skill. Which meant that every skill that affected one of the court members would affect all of them at 10% of their strength. The translation became that by using this skill, she could give a 30% scaling buff to her entire court almost permanently. Sure, it asked for her 5% of her total mana, more than the 2% that was before Twiggy became the Marchioness. However, according to some tests, Hera could still use the mana from her [Empress Core] for it. And the total mana was referring to her normal mana, not what was in the core. The [Urgent Orders] skill was an unexpected benefit of her [Royal Seal], but a very welcome one. All in all, the Empress was very happy with this first new addition. ¡°Hello, Twiggy.¡± ¡®Hi there! Wow, you¡¯re pretty!¡¯ the tiara turned to the side, ¡®And you are big!¡¯ she gasped when looking at Livy, her high-pitched voice bubbling with excitement, ¡®And I¡¯m really happy to be here.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m happy you are here, too. But I have a very important job for you. You will be our general, the one looking out for everyone and making sure we are doing well in a fight. And telling them what to fight, and where the priorities are. Do you think you can handle that?¡± Hera asked. She could just give an order, but that never felt right. Besides, the Ophidianite was sure that doing things this way would work out better. Twiggy stopped to think for a moment, then nodded, ¡®Yeah, yeah. I can do¡­ WAIT! Does that mean that everyone will have to do what I tell them to?¡¯ Hera could swear she saw the tiara smile somehow, ¡°Yes, but behave. Don¡¯t go playing pranks or abusing your authority.¡± ¡®Ok! Thanks mom!¡¯ Twiggy rushed forward to give Hera the best version of a hug she could. ¡°Hey!¡± Daskka snarled, ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can call Hera mum here. Do you hear me?!¡± her snake eyes staring down the tiara. Hera nodded with a smile. It¡¯s been a long time since she had accepted this, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that is true. You can call me Hera, Empress, or whatever, but mum, or any variation of it, is just for Daskka.¡± ¡®Got it. Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to step in your¡­ you don¡¯t have toes. So I¡¯m going to say tail. Yeah, step on your tail, that feels better,¡¯ Twiggy nodded while looking at Daskka. The snake just huffed and floated over to Hera, taking her spot around her neck. The Empress chuckled before asking, ¡°Twiggy. Can you sit here?¡± she tapped the bed, ¡°I still need to add a few members to the court and then I¡¯ll talk to all of you a bit to explain some things.¡± ¡®Sure, sure. They will be the ones I can tell to do stuff, right?¡¯ Twiggy leaned over, looking at the weapons on the ground. ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t be mean. I don¡¯t want to order you to do that, but I will if you start to make them upset. Ok?¡± ¡®No worries. I¡¯ll just start practicing my drill sergeant yelling,¡¯ Twiggy cleared up her ¡®throat?¡¯ and tried to make her voice deeper, to no avail, ¡®Now listen up, you maggots. There are five D¡¯s in defense. Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge! No, wait¡­ that¡¯s 2 dodges. What else can I say that starts with a d?¡­ four d¡¯s doesn¡¯t have the same ring to it.¡¯ Lurize rubbed his metallic helmet where the temples should be, ¡°Why can¡¯t we have zomeone normal in the court for a change?¡± ¡°Says the dude who yells ¡®I¡¯m Mr. Beetle,¡¯¡± Nimbus smirked. ¡°To be fair. I¡¯m technically talking to myself right now. So I don¡¯t think we can expect anything different,¡± Hera chuckled and looked over at the other weapons. There was a falchion, a chain sword, a scythe, a longsword, a spear, a bowblade, and a tail spike, ¡°Ok. Who is next?¡± 836 - Deployment
Aside from weapons, Hera also got some new armor. Although calling it armor was a bit of a stretch. She got padded leather pants, custom made to fit her tail, and also give a bit of cover to that area. There was also a small bag that she could carry around her waist and the base of her tail. Her chest piece was an armless top that wrapped around her body in a tight fit, with the cloth going all the way to her neck on both sides. This meant that she had no cleavage to show, and the sides connected high enough that she didn¡¯t have to worry about her breasts poking out while moving. After her shoulder, there was a thicker piece of fabric, going all the way around the entire opening. If she was in a cold place, she could trigger a skill in the top that would turn that into actual sleeves, or in this summer version. The entire thing was a dull green with some details in yellow, giving a very forest noble feel. Lastly, was her new pair of running shoes, custom made to fit her clawed feet. But more importantly, it had a skill that allowed her to hover above the ground when it was active. She could finally use the Dorohla Style properly and now, with a tail, she should be able to move around with more ease. Roan was the person who suggested that she use something like this. Not this type of clothing, but to change from a heavier armor. A large number of Beastmen also gave up heavy clothes for lighter armor. The reason was simple, since they already had defensive skills, like [Thick Hide] or [Loose Skin] putting on armor, caused that skill to be mostly ignored. Getting a self regenerating shirt was cheaper, and more importantly, since it was also made out of animal products, it could have skills that amplified their natural defenses. In Hera¡¯s case, the shirt and pants would make the defensive capabilities of her [Ophidianite Scales] 3 times stronger. Meaning that her scales would already reduce any damage she took by 45%. Adding that to Lurize¡¯s [Exoarmor] skill increased Hera¡¯s defenses by another 20% or so. The Empress didn¡¯t make this decision on a whim. She was able to test it out and confirm that, as Roan said, her natural defense with these clothes was on par, if not better than what it would be with proper armor. And, by actually using her scales as a defensive tool, she could allow the skill to grow and maybe finally reach maturity, as mentioned in the description. A day after getting their new gear, the Harmony Guardians were called to Ka¡¯mal¡¯s office before Vulcan¡¯s scheduled therapy session. Apparently, there was something going on and the intelligence agency needed their help. They were already on the elevator, heading to their meeting while the Empress talked with the two court members that were out. The first was Twiggy. Since it was just an accessory, no one would bat an eye. And the second was Pyro, the one weapon that she didn¡¯t buy. Instead, it was something Vulcan made during his free time. With Ember¡¯s help, he crafted a tail blade. An attachment to Hera¡¯s tail that had a twin spiral of orange blades covering 20 centimeters of her tail with two larger ones blades at the tip forming two prongs. The inspiration came from some drawings of dragons, and it fit quite well. Especially with the details to match Hera¡¯s scales. It almost looked as if part of her body was becoming more Draconic. His name was Pyro, and he truly embraced the idea of being a dragon tail. The fact that its element was actually Dragon Fire didn¡¯t help with his illusions of grandeur. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pyro - Tail Spike - Dragon Fire Empress Attributes: 852 Agility X 20.5, Strength X 17, Intelligence X 13, Endurance X 8, Luck X 3, Charisma X 3 Active Skills: Inferno Burst Unleash a torrent of dragon fire from the tail spike, engulfing enemies in a searing blaze. Deals damage based on 30% of your intelligence attribute, while also applying a burning effect that deals additional damage over time. Cooldown: 4 minutes Mana cost: 4 million mana Serpentine Strike Coil the tail spike around the target, piercing through their defenses with serrated blades. Ignores 50% of the target¡¯s defense and inflicts bleeding damage based on 20% of your total agility attribute. Cooldown: 3 minutes Passive Skills: Draconic Fury Each successful attack with the Draconic Tail Spike fuels its flames, increasing its damage output by 5% for 10 seconds. Stacks up to 10 times. Dragon¡¯s Resilience Grants resistance to fire-based attacks and effects, reducing incoming fire damage by 20%. Additionally, the Draconic Tail Spike is immune to being extinguished by water or other means. Seal of the Infernal Wyrm Upon reaching maximum stacks of Draconic Fury, unleash the fury of the infernal wyrm. The Draconic Tail Spike transforms into a blazing serpent, increasing its size and power for 20 seconds. While in this state, the damage dealt is increased by 50%, and the tail spike has a chance to engulf enemies in dragon fire, causing additional damage over time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Can you please behave? I¡¯m trying to be still here,¡¯ Hera huffed. ¡®But I also wish to see what is around us. How can you deprive me of such wonders?¡¯ Pyro gasped. ¡®Dude, it¡¯s an elevator,¡¯ Twiggy¡¯s voice was already annoyed. ¡®And we are not alone. It¡¯s the second time you almost hit someone in the team just to get a ¡®better look.¡¯ The idea was for me to get used to a tail spike so you can do your thing in the future, not for you to actively fight me for control of my own tail!¡¯ Hera huffed. ¡®But¡­ Sorry.. Can I at least be pointed up? I don¡¯t want to be staring at the ceiling, or be dragged across the floor,¡¯ Pyro asked. ¡®I¡¯ll do that for a while. And when I get tired, I¡¯ll dismiss you. Deal?¡¯ ¡®Can¡¯t I stay?¡¯ if Pyro had eyes, he would be doing his best puppy eyes now. ¡®Not in here. We are in the middle of spies. Even having you out now might be seen as hostile. The only reason I¡¯m getting some leeway is because they know this body is still kind of new to me,¡¯ Hera replied and turned to Skyler, ¡°I¡¯m sorry again. I scolded Pyro for the second time. If he almost hits someone again, I¡¯ll send him away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It didn¡¯t hit me. And I get it, you need to practice,¡± Skyler waved the Empress off, but the elf had already shifted positions to stay away from the rogue tail. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The elevator doors opened, and the group walked to an office nearby. Ka¡¯mal was already there, sitting beside Vathrik. Seeing that, Hera stopped in her tracks. ¡°Ok. This is not good.¡± ¡°You are not entirely wrong, but it shouldn¡¯t be as bad as you are expecting,¡± Vathrik said with a smile, ¡°Please, have a seat.¡± The group took their places around the table before the Ka¡¯mal started speaking, ¡°Two days ago, a shipment of various supplies to the front line left their origin. Unfortunately, the team that was protecting that shipment had an issue midway through their journey. Three of their members were attacked by powerful named monsters and got injured. They were still able to reach the next city over, but now we don¡¯t have anyone to escort the supplies.¡¯ ¡°Oh? And you need us to do it?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Exactly. If you go through Underground Babel, you should arrive in the city the caravan is currently staying at by the end of the day,¡± Ka¡¯mal explained. ¡°The team escorting them was around level 36. Because the monsters are not an issue. However, since those supplies were going to the front, we had another team of level 60s that was supposed to meet them closer to the destination to provide extra support. Just in case the humans tried something. The room that is the destination, and the one before, are both active war zones. Even if the conflict is far away from the doorway, there is always the chance of being attacked by the humans. However, since there was a delay, the high level team no longer can provide support. This is why we want to send you, who are now also considered a high level team, to take over,¡± Vathrik added with a somber tone. ¡°That means we will potentially fight humans?¡± Neria frowned. ¡°Yes. Unfortunately, that is the case. Any other team we try to send will either be low level, which increases the danger of an ambush, or be too far away. And the supplies we are sending are crucial. We are talking rations, potions, and mana crystals,¡± Ka¡¯mal added. ¡°What about the team that was already working on it. Only some of their members were hurt, correct. Will the others be providing support?¡± Roan asked. ¡°That can be arranged. But don¡¯t expect them to do much. They lost their fighter, their controller, and their hunter. They still have a mage, a healer and a crafter,¡± Vathrik explained. ¡°That works for us, we barely have a back line,¡± Flint nodded, getting glares from Neria, Skyler and Vash, ¡°What? We have Hera. That¡¯s already 8 people, plus me and Roan that makes 10. 10 people on the front line with 3 in the back. And I¡¯m not even counting Daskka and the floating weapons.¡± Skyler opened her mouth but gave up, ¡°Fine. You are not wrong. But we can handle ourselves.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying you can¡¯t! But if we I have to pick between more back line or more front line, I know what I¡¯m getting,¡± Flint huffed. ¡°So, can I take it you accept this mission?¡± Vathrik asked. The Harmony Guardians looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Thank you. You are making my life a bit easier here. And helping our soldiers. By the way, Hera. Dr. Willowsong is aware of this mission. He also mentioned that for the past week and a half, there was no progress with Vulcan. Correct?¡± Vathrik turned to the Empress. Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. We got some information, some of the plants and a couple of landmarks of where the strength Spirits live. But we hit a wall. Any time we push beyond what we already know, the influence get¡¯s too strong. Dr. Willowsong says that we found the main source of Vulcan¡¯s trauma, that¡¯s why we can¡¯t progress.¡± ¡°That is not a problem. We could narrow it down to a couple hundred places. It sounds like a lot, but it¡¯s much better than scouring the millions of rooms we know about. Also, last week that number was in the thousands. We should be close to finding their home,¡± Vathrik smiled. ¡°Thank you. Vulcan will be happy to hear it. And when you decide to take that place, please let me know. I would like to help, if possible,¡± Hera added. ¡°Some places are above your level, but if its in an area that you won¡¯t be in danger just by existing, I¡¯ll let you know,¡± Vathrik turned to Ka¡¯mal, ¡°Do you mind if I leave the details to you? I have another meeting soon.¡± Ka¡¯mal rolled his eyes, ¡°Oh sure. You¡¯re the boss. Doing paperwork is beneath you.¡± Vathrik chuckled and gave Ka¡¯mal a pat on the back as he left, ¡°I¡¯m glad you know how things work.¡± Ka¡¯mal waited for his boss to leave the room before he let out a loud groan, ¡°This really sucks. I hate the paperwork,¡± he turned back to the Harmony Guardians, ¡°Ok. You have two hours before the Underground Babel is open. Then, another 3 hours inside to reach the right doorway. You will be going down a few dozen floors, but you shouldn¡¯t have any problems getting there in time. After that, you will pass by a room called ¡®Calypso Beach,¡¯ leave the doorway, turn east and head straight until you see a large statue of a lion. There is a path on the left that will take you to the Kalandria Empire. In that last room, you will find the caravan. They are in a city close by called Zinctorum. You can check in with the Alliance Center there to see where they actually are. Any questions?¡± As he explained, he sent a file to their tablet with all the details and a map for the journey to Zinctorum. He also had the names of the rooms the caravan was going to pass through, the levels of each area, and how likely they were to be ambushed by humans at each stage of the journey. The actual route of the caravan was not shared, since the more people knew about it, the more likely it was to leak. ¡°When we reach the front lines. Do you think we will be close to an actual battle?¡± Roan asked. Neria also listened to the answer intently. ¡°I have no idea. You can say that there is a battle going on in the front lines at any given point, but that doesn¡¯t mean that every single room is fighting all the time. Both sides need breaks. Hell, some of the rooms only see actual combat once every few weeks. I really hope you don¡¯t. Delivering supplies during a battle is less than ideal. But I can¡¯t say anything about the odds,¡± Ka¡¯mal sighed. ¡°How about our supplies? Can you spare anything for us?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Sure, what do you need? I hope it¡¯s not gear since we already helped you get a new set of items at cost.¡± ¡°Whatever you can spare. Potions, consumables, things to ward off monsters or deployable barriers. A flare could help if we are in a bad place,¡± the elf continued. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll put the requisition of supplies for you. But potions are going to be tricky. If you want special effects, like turning invisible for a few minutes, changing you hair color and things like that, it¡¯s easy. Buffs and heals will be more complicated. All the good potions are being sent to the front lines. We do have some more basic ones, but anything Neria does will work better than what we have,¡± Ka¡¯mal explained. ¡°Another question. Why the high level team is not going to help us in the front line room?¡± Roan asked. ¡°That team is going to be on a different operation. They would be there to help while they waited for the rest of the relevant personnel to arrive. Thar operation is more urgent than the delivery of supplies.¡± ¡°Are we the only option for this, then? I¡¯m trying to ask if things are that bad,¡± Roan pressed. ¡°Oh. No, don¡¯t worry. You are not. You are the easiest solution, not gonna lie. But, if you say you don¡¯t want to be a part of it, that¡¯s fine. We will have to shuffle things around and have a different team helping. Maybe delay the supplies another day. We said that this is a critical delivery, but it¡¯s not an emergency one. If it gets delayed for a few more days it won¡¯t affect the troops that much,¡± Ka¡¯mal looked up from his computer, ¡°Can I confirm the mission is yours? Last chance to say no.¡± The Harmony Guardians looked at each other, but they knew this was part of the job, and the least they could do after being able to level up so quickly. ¡°Go ahead. We got this,¡± Skyler said with a smile. 837 - On to a new mission
¡°How about this one?¡± Hera gave flint another arrow, this one was supposed to turn into lightning when fired. Flint looked it over a few times, ¡°It¡¯s close, but not quite there. Try to shoot it.¡± Hera took the arrow and placed into the notch in the center of Robin¡¯s body. ¡®Thank you, Empress. Now let¡¯s make that pole longer, shall we?¡¯ Robin, the bowblade, said. He was an elegant bow made of something called Azure Oak. Because of that, his entire form had a deep blue hue, and the fibers shifted to a vibrant teal. The bow itself was almost split into two pieces that mirrored each other. Starting from the center, where the arrow was located, the wood curved back for a few centimeters before meeting a series of black metal sheets sculpted to create a pattern of large leaves all the way to the tip. Those metal leaves also had bladed edges that could be used to attack, even if the weapon didn¡¯t have any skills to improve those strikes. At the very tip was a golden string attached to the opposite end. However, that color would shift if Robin used a skill called [Arcane Barrage] to fire magically created arrows. In those cases, the golden string would emanate a greenish-brow color as the magic of the rest of the wood passed through it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robin - Bowblade - Arcane Cerulean House Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Intelligence X 20.5, Agility X 18, Luck X 25, Strength X 3, Intelligence X 3, Charisma X 3 Active Skills: Seal of Mystic Resonance The blades on the tips of the bow create spectral arrows allowing the wielder to fire an additional volley. These arrows seek out the weakest points in the enemy¡¯s defenses, ignoring 25% of their resistances, but are only 50% as strong as arrows fired by the actual bow. Duration: 1 minute. Cooldown: 20 minutes. Passive Skills: Arcane Barrage Robin can fire magic arrows that can be more powerful the more mana is used to fire them. Ethereal Resistance Grants resistance to magical attacks and effects, reducing incoming magical damage by 20%. Arcane Battery Robin can store mana to use as part of his attacks. Current Mana stored 3 000 000/3 000 000 Cerulean Marquessate Skill Commanding Position: Members of the Cerulean Marquessate are the generals of battles and leaders of armies. Their mere presence can increase the scaling of their allies by 2% for each member of the Cerulean Marquessate within 30 meters In addition, when a member of this marquessate gives an order, those who are following said order to gain a bonus 10% to their scaling while following said order. Once the order is completed, the bonus decays over the next 10 seconds. Only one of said effects can be active at a time. If a court member received this benefit, it cannot receive it again for 1 hour. Familiarity 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bowblade fired the arrow at a tree about 50 meters away. Lightning crackled around the projectile before it hit the back of another arrow. The third one in a line. Robin hit the exact same spot four times in a row. Each arrow being embedded at the back of the previous one. However, a few moments after this last attack, the horizontal totem pole that was being created collapsed, the arrows falling into the ground. ¡°See? It can deal elemental damage, but not turn into a bolt of lightning. There wasn¡¯t enough of that mana in the making,¡± the dwarven crafter explained. ¡°This is really hard,¡± Hera huffed. ¡®The creation of arrows might be. But hitting them like I did is child¡¯s play,¡¯ Robin¡¯s voice was filled with a snarky pride. The Empress rolled her eyes. Ever since she ordered the bowblade, she started learning how to make arrows. She could create a few basic ones out of wood, metal, or plastic. That last one was just for show since it was wildly inefficient to make. Not only it would be weaker than ones made of wood or metal, but it required almost 10 times more mana for a single projectile. However, the Empress realized one thing. She could use regular arrows in a dungeon without a problem. But outside of them, things changed. She would leave every arrow she created behind. Her options would be either find the arrow and retrieve it, or leave it to decompose. Sure, that could work with wood, but what about metal? She didn¡¯t want to leave a trail of arrows for people to follow, or hurt themselves by accident. The worst-case scenario was that one of the projectiles was in a good enough condition to be used again and another person used it to kill someone. And that wasn¡¯t something she wanted to have in her conscience. Hence why she was trying to make elemental arrows. Bolts that changed into pure forms of elements as they flew and dissipated after hitting their target. Up until now, she has only managed to make three kinds of arrows. The first was fire, although she cheated. Instead of turning the arrow into flames, she made a small spell circle inside the projectile that would ignite and convert all the wood into elemental energy. The second one was ice, and it followed the exact same concept, but after igniting, she also added an order to flip the temperature and freeze the surrounding air. Lastly, was a mud arrow. That was a bit more complex. By starting with an arrow made out of dirt, she added water and let it change its shape. However, unlike the fire and ice ones, this wasn¡¯t exactly a prime example of offensive power. Hitting something with that arrow was like hitting something with a ball of mud, sure it could have some force behind the impact, but it lacked damage. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Flint made sure to explain that this wasn¡¯t how elemental arrows were made, but it was a step in the right direction. He also offered to reach out to some contacts and get a blueprint for the Ophidianite since he wasn¡¯t an expert in projectiles, but she refused for now. If she understood how to make something, it would be easier to tweak it. Skyler got up and called the Harmony Guardians, ¡°Let¡¯s go. The doorway will open in 10. We should stay by the entrance.¡± Hera quickly rushed to pick up the arrows she created before walking back. Flint could use one of his skills to break down those items into raw materials so they could use them again later. ¡°Did it work?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Not really, but I¡¯m getting there,¡± Hera smiled. As they approached the doorway, she turned around to the titled blades. All of which were walking along the group, ¡°Sorry everyone. We have the whole set number thing. The sensors might give a bad reading if you are around.¡± They all nodded and returned to the legacy. Even Twiggy and Robin, the two blades walking along them, were sent back. ¡°How are they holding up with the changes in your court?¡± Vash asked. ¡°They are ok. Nimbus and Lurize are more used to that. Vulcan didn¡¯t have enough time to get to know them. Viper and Crimson are doing well, too. I guess it¡¯s because they are twins, but they don¡¯t open up to the others that much. Livy¡­ Honestly, she makes me worried. I added Ember to the court at the same time I got her, and they were closer than I expected. They even said their goodbyes before I let Ember go. That was the first time this ever happened and I have mixed feelings about it.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ you court can do things you don¡¯t know about?¡± Roan asked. Hera frowned and shook her head in a half yes and half no, ¡°Sort of. I can hear everything they say to each other if I want to. But I can also give them their privacy. Which I do. Like, Daskka, Nimbus, DJ, and Chris had a prank war going on and I ended up caught in the crosshairs a couple of times because I didn¡¯t know what they were doing.¡± Roan blinked slowly, ¡°You know, every time I think your legacy can¡¯t get any weirder, you one up it.¡± Hera shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m a former human who became a half snake and now is the matriarch of a pseudo lost civilization that is currently trying to grow by letting others change species. I gave up trying to be normal a while ago.¡± ¡°When you put it like that¡­¡± Roan sighed. ¡°And how are the new court members feeling? Are they ok?¡± Neria asked. Hera paused, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Hang on,¡± she put out her hands and called out to the new Duke Alabaster. Due to his position in the hierarchy, all the other court members seemed to lean into him for their troubles, ¡°Shadow, can you come out?¡± Appearing directly on top of her hands was the scythe. It had a long curved shaft made out of a metal with such a deep black color that it was impossible to see any of the details around the weapon. The blade was made out of something similar, hiding its shape completely. Looking at this court member was almost like looking at a glitched part of the world. Something that couldn¡¯t reflect light, or that was completely immune to the changes of color in its surroundings. The one thing that was different was by the connection between the blade and the shaft, there was a single transparent bead with a grey ferrofluid inside that moved as if it was inside a lava lamp. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shadow - Scythe - Stealth Affinity Duke Alabaster Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Agility X 20.5, Endurance X 18, Luck X 18, Strength X 3, Intelligence X 3, Charisma X 3 Active Skills: Shadowstep Strike - Seal of Umbral Convergence Teleport behind your target and deliver a strike from the shadows. This attack ignores 50% of the target¡¯s armor. After teleporting, Shadow leaves behind a 2m3 lingering shadow at the point of origin for 5 seconds. Allies standing inside the shadow gain increased critical hit damage. Cooldown: (10 seconds) 3 minutes Extra critical damage + 20% Passive Skills: Shadow Mastery Grants a 20% increase in critical hit chance when attacking from stealth or while the target is affected by a debuff. Cursed Edge: Enemies struck by Shadow have a chance to be cursed, reducing their damage output by 15% for 10 seconds. Alabaster Dukedom skill Subtle Sabotage Members of the Alabaster Dukedom are experts at hindering their target¡¯s movements. Each strike has a chance disrupt the target¡¯s mana, making it harder for it to cast any spells for 3 second. When the target also has one of its skills sealed, the disruption increases to 1 minute. Alabaster Heirloom Whispering Ink: Enemies struck by the Ink are marked with a shimmering glyph. Landing three successive attacks on a marked enemy deals bonus damage and temporarily disables one of their skills. Bonus damage based on a 15% of the target second strongest attribute. Skill disable duration: 7 seconds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Is everything ok, Hera?¡¯ Shadow asked, realizing he was the only one out. His voice wasn¡¯t as deep as his imposing appearance showed, which somehow made his form even more intimidating. ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t call you because of a fight. Neria asked me a question, and I didn¡¯t know how to answer. How are you all doing? The new court members, I mean.¡± ¡®Oh? I believe we are all doing well. But we are still getting used to everything. None of us had a mind before, you know. But thank you for letting us stay out of the legacy while you were sleeping. We were able to talk and start to figure some things out,¡¯ Shadow replied. ¡°I¡¯m glad. Just be careful not to spook anyone again. I¡¯m pretty sure not even a soundproof spell would be able to drown out Skyler¡¯s scream from last night,¡± Hera chuckled. ¡°Hey!¡± Skyler protested as Shadow turned to her and lowered his blade. ¡®Once more, I¡¯m sorry about the scare. It¡¯s already hard to see me under more general conditions. At night in the dark, I¡¯m near invisible,¡¯ Shadow replied. ¡°He¡¯s saying sorry again,¡± Hera explained. ¡°I¡¯m fine with him. I don¡¯t want you talking about my scream,¡± Skyler huffed. ¡°To be fair, even the guards showed up,¡± Roan added. ¡°Shut up!¡± Skyler yelled again, gaining some stares from the other groups waiting for the doorway to appear. Luckily, that didn¡¯t take long. A few seconds later, the doorway behind them became active. Hera thanked Shadow again and sent him away, while doing the same with Daskka before crossing to the Underground Babel. There was more movement than they expected on that path. Still, they avoided talking with anyone, since this was part of the rules. The less they knew about other missions, the better. About one hour later, they arrived in front of the doorway they would be crossing. ¡°Calypso Beach¡­ You know, it¡¯s been a long time since I went to the beach for fun,¡± Roan sighed. ¡°Me too,¡± Neria nodded, getting odd stares from the rest of the group. ¡°What? The room I live in didn¡¯t have a beach. It was just rocks,¡± the triton huffed. They continued talking, reminiscing about the times where they could stop the smell the flowers while they waited for the room the be unlocked once again. 838 - Beach episode
¡°Wasn¡¯t this place supposed to be chill?!¡± Hera jumped to the side, tumbling forward and brining her tail down with Pyro attached to it on the head of a Deep Blue Crocodile. It was a level 40 monster, much weaker than her, but that wasn¡¯t the problem. Even after killing this one, there were a dozen more coming out of the water. ¡°Should I start taking people to the statue?¡± Nimbus asked as he created a barrier inside the mouth of a crocodile to stop it from trying to bite people. ¡°Better not. We don¡¯t know if the area around the statue is clear,¡± Hera replied, she could see the statue of the lion, but they should still be a few kilometers away. The thing was just massive. ¡°Maybe we arrived at their mating season?¡± Vash suggested as he flew above a group of the monsters, all of which tried to jump and bit him. ¡°Get. The. Fuck. Off. My. Tail!¡± Vulcan snarled, hitting a couple of the crocodiles in the head and breaking the skulls. ¡®Mr. Vulcan, are you ok? What¡¯s the influence?¡¯ Twiggy asked, making sure to keep an eye out for everyone. ¡°I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s at 13%. This is not the influence making me pissed. I¡¯m just tired of this damn gators coming for my damn tail!¡± Forge swung his hammer again, killing another crocodile. ¡®Those are crocodiles, not alligators,¡¯ Glacia flew past him just as Vulcan jumped back from a group of monsters. She was a falchion with a blade made out of cold iron and was eternally covered in a thin layer of ice, making the blade even sharper. The hilt appeared to be a carved-out chunk of black ice, resembling the kind one would see at the bottom of an iceberg. Her voice was soft and nurturing despite the intimidating appearance. ¡°Do you think I care what they are?¡± Vulcan yelled, but the frozen weapon just kept going. She reached an area close to the water and swung in a wide arc while spinning. The attack killed a couple of monsters and injured many others, but the main part of her idea was about what she left behind. Using the [Frozen Whirlwind] skill, she froze all enemies in range and left an aura that would continuously freeze part of the ocean. Blocking the crocodiles from coming out of the sea. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glacia - Falchion - Ice Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Strength X 19.5, Agility X 17.5, Charisma X 16, Endurance X 3.5, Intelligence X 3.5, Luck X 3.5 Active Skills Glacial Strike: Channel the power of frost into the blade, delivering a freezing strike that slows the target¡¯s speed by 50% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 3 minutes Frozen Whirlwind - Seal of Glacial Protection Perform a spinning attack, creating a whirlwind of icy winds that damages and freezes all enemies within range for 3 seconds. After using Frozen Whirlwind, Glacia leaves behind a frigid aura for 8 seconds. Allies within the aura gain increased resistance to cold. Additionally, enemies touching the aura have reduced speed. Aura size: 5 m3 Cold resistance + 20% Reduced speed: - 30% Cooldown: 4 minutes Passive Skills: Frozen Heart: Grants resistance to cold-based attacks and effects, reducing incoming cold damage by 20%. Chilling Blow Successful critical hits with the Frostbite Falchion have a chance to freeze the target in place for 2 seconds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Nice going Glacia!¡¯ Twiggy cheered. ¡®I¡¯m at your command, Twiggy,¡¯ the falchion replied, obviously happy with the praise. ¡®Go to Viper, he¡¯s better when he¡¯s dual wielding,¡¯ Twiggy looked to the corners of the battlefield. Viper and Crimson were there, clearing the monsters who were trying to sneak around them. The problem was that the pair of half Nagas required two weapons to be effective. And having only one of their bodies out right now wouldn¡¯t be enough. For that reason, Twiggy, being the commander of the court, had also sent Storm towards Crimson. She was a longsword, but except for Glacia, it was the closest thing the court had to a dagger now. Her plan was working pretty well. The red Spymaster was thriving, using a mix of the battle dancer, and the dancer skills that Hera had to weave around on the battlefield. Each movement would cut a piece of the crocodiles, mostly parts of tail, arms or legs, but she could also add some tongues, mouths, and even heads in the mix. ¡°Viper, cover me for a moment!¡± Crimson called just as Glacia landed on her brother¡¯s hand. When he got closer, the half Naga simply held Storm in front of her, with tip pointing to the sky. Hera wasn¡¯t sure what kind of material was used to make Storm¡¯s blade, but it was transparent and there seemed to be lightning trapped inside it. The current always flowing back and forth in a closed circuit. The guard had the appearance of a classic golden lightning bolt, while the handle was soft and covered with rubber, likely to isolate all the electricity coursing through the weapon. For 5 seconds, Crimson held that position and the energy inside the blade started to build up more and more. ¡®Ooh, this is going to be a really good one. I can feel the clouds above wanting to join in,¡¯ Storm¡¯s voice was loud, and she had a wildness to it very similar to Livy¡¯s. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Storm - Longsword - Lightning Marchioness Verdant Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Agility X 21.61, Strength X 18.11, Luck X 11.61, Endurance X 4.11, Intelligence X 4.11, Charisma X 4.11 Active Skills: Crackling Strike Unleash a swift attack infused with lightning, dealing high physical damage and having a chance to chain to nearby enemies. Cooldown: 30 seconds Tempest¡¯s Fury After channeling for 5 seconds, Storm creates a swirling storm around you. Enemies caught within the storm take continuous lightning damage and have their speed reduced. Cooldown: 2 minutes Passive Skills: Storm¡¯s Blessing Dodging an attack while wielding Storm¡¯s Whisper generates a small burst of lightning damage around you, potentially damaging nearby enemies. Seal of Chaotic Furry Each successful attack made by Storm builds power within her. After a certain threshold of power is reached, every attack will have a chance to send out a chain lightning to a nearby target. The more power is stored, the stronger the chain lightning will be. Verdant Marquessate heirloom This skill can only be used if the user is in an awakened state. Awakened Wind Fury: The wind can understand your intentions even better than you do. With this skill active, the weapon creates 2 wind clones to follow up your attacks. The wind clone attacks deal between 80% and 150% of the damage dealt by the original. Your luck stat influences the number and damage of the attacks. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.Duration: 1 minute Cooldown: 30 minutes Mana Cost: 3 000 000. Verdant Marquessate skill Ever-Evolving Tactics Members of the Verdant Marquessate grow when exposed to varied scenarios, gaining an ever increasing scaling bonus depending on how many different creatures they faced. Extra scaling per creature + 0.01 Additionally, when facing a new type of enemy for the first time. Members of the Verdant Marquessate receive a 10% bonus to their damage for 10 minutes. Current extra scaling + 0.01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the 5 seconds passed, Crimson raised Storm to the sky, releasing a torrent of crackling electricity from the blade, activating the [Tempest¡¯s Fury] skill. The Spymaster tightened her grip on the longsword and started moving again, attacking the crocodiles while the lightning continuously struck at them. ¡®Let¡¯s fucking gooooo!¡¯ Storm yelled as the power coursed through her. Crimson also took advantage of the blood all around her to use her [Bloody Claw] a few times, sending out blades of electrified crocodile juice towards the others. Yet, despite the dozen of kills made not just by her, and the court, but all the Harmony Guardians, the number of monsters didn¡¯t seem to get any smaller. ¡°We can¡¯t take this for much longer. It¡¯s better if we bail!¡± Skyler yelled. ¡°How? Those fucking things already have us surrounded,¡± Flint yelled back. ¡®Hera! I can open the way,¡¯ Sun impaled one crocodile, tossed it aside and moved closer to the Empress. His voice carrying like that of a champion in an arena. The Ophidianite looked at the spear for a moment, trying to remember his skills. Sun was forged with something called sun-touched metal. Apparently, it was part of a meteorite that went close to the sun and was able to survive. The shaft had an iridescent shine to it on top of an orange structure, and the blade was pure white, the same color that people saw when looking straight at a light. The base had a yellow globe that emitted a faint glow. Before, that was a permanent effect, but now Sun was able to control the intensity of that light or put it out completely. ¡®The Solar Flare. A cone shaped burst of radiant energy. It¡¯s one of the skill in the court that has the highest mana cost. Only losing for Pyro¡¯s Inferno Burst, but,¡¯ Twiggy started speaking, but Hera cut her off. ¡°Fire is not as good against those things. Thanks Twiggy. Ok, Sun, let¡¯s try that,¡± she held on to the spear, and felt the skill she wanted to activate. But before that, she triggered Twiggy¡¯s [Silvered Strength] and the Cerulean Marquessate Heirloom [Bathed in Eternal Silver] to increase not just the court¡¯s scaling, but also her strength stat. In addition, she covered Sun in a radiant elemental strength spell to increase his power even more. ¡°Everyone, we are running at my signal!¡± the Empress yelled just before pushing Sun forward and triggering his [Solar Flare] skill. ¡°What¡¯s the signal?¡± Flint yelled, but he was interrupted by what came next. A light so bright that almost burned their eyes appeared as a massive cone of pure energy blasted in front of them. This cause a pause in the combat, with everyone surprised about the attack. When the light finally vanished, there was a 150 meter long mark on the sand in front of them, and only some carbonized pieces of crocodile remained. ¡°That¡¯s the signal. Move it!¡± Skyler yelled and bolted with all her might, followed by Neria. Flint and Roan were faster than the two, and Vash has flying above them. Seeing that, Nimbus realized that the two women would end up lagging behind the group. He quickly rushed over and tossed the two up before turning to his griffon form and running to catch up with the rest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sun - Spear - Radiance Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Strength X 20.3, Endurance X 18.3, Charisma X 13.3, Agility X 4.1, Intelligence X 4.1, Luck X 4.3 Active Skills: Solar Flare: Thrust the spear forward, unleashing a burst of radiant energy that damages and burns enemies in a cone-shaped area. Cooldown: 1 minute Mana cost: 2 million mana Burning Aura - Seal of Eternal Radiance: Sun creates a burning aura around himself. Enemies within the aura take continuous fire damage, and Sun¡¯s attacks with deal bonus radiant damage. When taking damage while Burning Aura is active, the duration of the aura is extended slightly. Additionally, defeating an enemy while Sun¡¯s Fury is active grants a temporary buff to your Charisma while the aura is active. Cooldown: 3 minutes Extra radiant damage: +30% Charisma buff + 10% Duration: 30 seconds Passive Skills: Unyielding Spirit: Taking damage while wielding Sun¡¯s Fury increases your attack power and grants a temporary shield that absorbs incoming damage for a minute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They continued running for a few minutes. The statue getting closer and closer, but the crocodiles didn¡¯t seem to lose interest. And some were even starting to gain some ground. ¡®Don¡¯t stop. I can slow them,¡¯ Clay, the last member of Hera¡¯s new court, said. He was a chain whip. A sword composed of various segments that could be detached from each other to increase its reach. Basically, no one used this kind of weapon for actual combat. The reason was simple, it was too hard to control, and too easy to hurt yourself when using it. To make proper use of something like this, they would need to control the entire body of the chain whip all at once. The time and effort that would take for someone to learn the basics of how to wield it would be enough to become an experienced user of a different weapon. But this wasn¡¯t something Hera had to worry about. Clay was made out of various minerals that strongly resembled dirt, everything in shades of light brown with some darker parts in the middle. A rope of weaved roots connected all the segmented blades together, held in by an enchantment to increase their flexibility and their resistance. The hilt was a stylized bear¡¯s claw carved from petrified wood. Showing how the maker of this chain whip had practice in creating decorations. Clay made a circular motion, extending the reach of the blade from that of a longsword of maybe a meter to seven meters and slammed the top of the whip on the ground, creating a large fissure that snaked towards the crocodiles. The moment it hit the first of the monsters, more fissures appeared. Every time a new creature was stuck by that attack, another crack on the ground would appear, a bit weaker and smaller than the one before. The chain reaction didn¡¯t stop and continued until the rupture seemingly hit all the creatures. That wasn¡¯t enough to kill most of them, only the first three or so crocodiles perished. However, the openings in the ground were more than enough to slow them down, letting the Harmony Guardians finally escape this ambush. ¡°Clay, that was awesome,¡± Hera said with a smile, without stopping. ¡®I only did my duty, Empress,¡¯ Clay replied as he flew back towards the group, ¡®And if I may. Next time we find ourselves in a situation like this. Especially on a beach. Roll in the sand. That way, my skill will be able to give you a proper buff.¡¯ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clay - Chain Whip - Mud Verdant House Empress Attributes: 852 Endurance X 32, Strength X 15.5, Luck X 8.5, Agility X 3, Intelligence X 3, Charisma X 3 Active Skills: Earthen Cleave Unleash the chain whip in a powerful swing, shattering the ground and dealing earth damage to enemies caught in its path. Each successful hit creates a small fissure on the ground, slowing enemy movement for a short duration. Mana Cost: 300 thousand mana Cooldown: 30 seconds Crushing Grip Launch the chain whip forward, wrapping around an enemy and constricting them with dense mud. This deals significant physical damage and reduces the enemy¡¯s speed for a short duration. Cooldown: 45 seconds. Passive Skills: Unyielding Ground: While wielding Clay you gain increased resistance to physical damage and a chance to deflect incoming melee attacks with a well-timed block. 20% physical damage reduction 25% chance to deflect attacks with a parry Earthen Resolve: Successfully blocking an attack with Earthen Maw grants you a temporary buff that increases your armor, creating a layer of mud around your body that does not hinder your abilities. Seal of Tectonic Might: The more earth covers your body, the stronger your attributes become. 1% attribute increase for each 5% of your body that is covered in earth. Verdant Marquessate skill Ever-Evolving Tactics Members of the Verdant Marquessate grow when exposed to varied scenarios, gaining an ever increasing scaling bonus depending on how many different creatures they faced. Extra scaling per creature + 0.01 Additionally, when facing a new type of enemy for the first time. Members of the Verdant Marquessate receive a 10% bonus to their damage for 10 minutes. Current extra scaling + 0.01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°I will keep that in mind. Sorry for not remembering everything right away. I¡¯m also getting used to the change,¡± Hera smiled, trying to be clear that she wasn¡¯t trying to forget what they did. ¡®It is understandable. We don¡¯t remember everything about each other either,¡¯ Clay nodded. They continued running for a few more minutes before reaching the statue, and by following the map given by Ka¡¯mal, they soon arrived at the doorway to the room where they would meet with the supply caravan. 839 - Bad call
Randolf rushed towards the Alliance Center. Apparently, the team that was supposed to take over the escort mission had just arrived. Whoever they were, the harpy wanted to be sure that they could protect his people. He understood that they were at war, and there were certain priorities to be considered when getting an escort. But he wasn¡¯t about to bring his people to one of the active battlefronts if the group sent by the Alliance proved to be a bunch of morons who couldn¡¯t even defend themselves. Walking fast right behind him were Drew and Veronica, the two elves who completed the caravan. Normally, they had a much larger group of people working with them, but due to the danger of the situation, only the strongest members were allowed to come. All of them were really worried about the entire situation. Just accepting this job was already something that made them tense. Knowing they wouldn¡¯t have the level 60 team protecting them at their destination was the cherry on top. They arrived at the Alliance Center and moved towards the meeting rooms. This city was a regular spot for their travels and the people working here already knew them well. Because of that, the receptionist that told him about the arrival also added the location where this group was waiting. Unfortunately, inside the building he couldn¡¯t fly to move faster, forcing the harpy to walk. Just as he turned a corner, he bumped into a wall that was slightly sticky. Taking a step back, he looked up and saw a bipedal lizard that was over 3 meters tall. ¡°What the?¡± he gasped as he saw its eyes focus on him. ¡°Are you Randolf?¡± the lizard asked. ¡°Y-Yes,¡± the harpy replied in shock. ¡°Great,¡± the lizard replied and, with a quick motion, grabbed Randolph with both hands, holding the man in front of it. The lizard turned around and walked straight towards a closed rod as Drew and Veronica started shouting for help while following along. Just as they were about to hit the door, they opened. Revealing a pair of people with scales, two arms, but a snake¡¯s tail instead of legs. ¡°I found Randolf,¡± the lizard said while placing the harpy in a chair. Randolf and the other caravan members were staring at a group of 13 people. A dwarf, a beastmen, an elf, a triton, a harpy, and another 8 different species of people. They were all covered from head to toe by blood, a pungent mud-like substance, and a green viscous thing that was very similar to something easy to find on the floor of college parties. They all looked miserable with the exception of the harpy, who was still perfectly clean with his black and gold shirt, parachute pants and a pair of maracas hanging from his waist. ¡°Livy, people generally don¡¯t like being handled that way,¡± one of the species Randolf didn¡¯t recognize said. ¡°People also don¡¯t like having to wait like this, but here we are,¡± the Leviathan huffed. Hera just nodded and turned to the recently arrived harpy, some of that mud dripping from the tip of her ears, ¡°Now, Mr. Randolf. I understand that you wanted to talk to us as soon as we arrived. Do you mind being quick about it?¡± ¡°Are¡­ are you the new escort team?¡± Randolf asked while Drew and Veronica just stared at this group. ¡°Fuck me, are you that slow? Yes, we are the fucking escort team,¡± the dwarf yelled, the only things that could be seen from his face were the whites of his eyes, everything else was covered in various substances. ¡°Flint, behave. You are starting to sound like Vulcan when he¡¯s above 80%,¡± Hera turned to Forge, who was using his tail to prop himself up while keeping his head low, ¡°How are you, by the way?¡± ¡°39%. It was 30 when we got here, but then we had to wait,¡± Forge grumbled. ¡°Skyler, Skyler! My nose, please!¡± Neria suddenly yelled, the triton was sitting on a chair leaning her head back looking up to the ceiling, not moving. ¡°Calm down,¡± Skyler waved her hand and cast another spell on the healer, forcing her nose to smell only a specific scent. Cheese balls was the current choice. It was the only thing she could make that was strong enough to overpower what covered them. Skyler sighed and turned back to Randolf, ¡°Look. We had a really fucking long day. And we didn¡¯t think we would be going on this mission when we woke up. We had to rush here and killed I don¡¯t know, 600 monsters in total. Right?¡± she looked at the rest of the group. Roan, who was the entire time with his head pressed against the table, replied without looking up, ¡°You kept track? I stopped counting after the crocodiles.¡± ¡°Either way, it was a long one, and we really wanted to take a shower. So, since you threatened to just abandon this mission and leave unless we talked with you as soon as we arrived. We are here. What do you want to talk about?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°I¡­ I just wanted to know if you were strong enough to protect us.¡± ¡°We are,¡± the entire group replied at the same time. Randolf was starting to gather his bearings and could have a proper conversation, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s hard to just take your word for it.¡± Hera groaned and stepped forward, making the two elves who were by the door to step back due to the smell, ¡°Look. I¡¯m level 56 and I¡¯m the lowest level of the group. I also have a legacy that can make them,¡± she pointed to the titled blades, ¡°And each of them is either as powerful as me or stronger. In addition,¡± she snapped her fingers, her claws making a louder noise than she expected as the entire court came out, ¡°I have these. Sentient weapons that can talk, plan and fight on their own. And again. I¡¯m not the strongest member of this group. Just the most versatile. So can we go clean this literal shit up and have you not threatening the army or do we still have a problem? If you really need to talk, we can come back in like an hour after we cleaned ourselves up.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Neria raised a hand with two fingers out, ¡°Two. I need two hours. One for the shower, and another to heal after all the scrubbing I have to do,¡± she paused and with a haunted voice added, ¡°It got everywhere.¡± ¡°Can you heal us, too? I wouldn¡¯t mind a stronger scrubbing,¡± Flint asked. ¡°Sure. After me.¡± ¡°Ok, so three hours. After that, we can talk. How about it?¡± Before Randolf could reply, one of the people who worked in the Alliance Center walked inside carrying a pile with 20 towels, ¡°Hi. Sorry it took so long. We didn¡¯t have any clean towels here. I got these from a hotel nearby.¡± Nimbus walked over and created a barrier under the towels to work like a serving tray, ¡°Thank you very much. If it¡¯s not too much of a bother, could you also get us some clothes? We will need to send our gear to a cleaner,¡± his voice was calm and mellow as he passed the towels along to everyone. Hera tried to clean her face. Just a single wipe was enough to turn the soft white fabric into little more than an old, used rag. There was a good half centimeter thick layer of sludge all over her body. After a moment staring at Nimbus, the clerk turned to the rest of the group, ¡°We have a place here in the center made to clean larger things. Carts and stuff, but since that,¡± he gestured to the sludge, ¡°Is a more or less regular occurrence here, we can set up some partitions for you to take a shower there. High pressure water and industrial grade soap, and you won¡¯t have to worry about clogging the drain. It¡¯s also easier for us to clean later.¡± ¡°Perfect,¡± Hera nodded and turned to the Leviathan, ¡°Think you can lower the strength of your breath attack?¡± Livy nodded with a smile, ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Wait. I¡¯m still not done,¡± Randolf regretted his words as soon as they came out of his mouth, when the entire group aggressively shifted their heads towards him. ¡°Can I make a suggestion?¡± Vash raised his wing, turning the anger of the group towards him. ¡°Be very careful with your words. You last suggestion put us in this mess,¡± Skyler was staring daggers at the harpy. Vash took a step back, ¡°You go take a shower, and I¡¯ll talk with Randolf.¡± ¡°Is that fine with you?¡± Hera turned to the caravan leader. ¡°I guess¡­¡± Randolf frowned. Still unsure if this was the best idea, but the Harmony Guardians didn¡¯t give a chance for him to change his mind and quickly started to leave. ¡°And don¡¯t worry about the cleaning clothes and towel. I¡¯ll pay for everything,¡± Vash said. ¡°That¡¯s a given,¡± Flint huffed. ¡°I¡¯ll order food too. You will be hungry later, right? Do you want anything specific?¡± Vash asked, trying to find a way to apologize. ¡°Wings!¡± the rest of the group replied, all at the same time making their harpy companion flinch. A few moments passed, and the clerk suggested for Randolf and the others to use a different room, since this one was still covered in sticky footprints. No one would use this place before a thorough cleaning. Now that the shock had passed completely, the caravan leader realized how awful the smell in here was. A mixture of old sewage with sulfur and rotten fruit. While they walked to the new meeting room, and the clerk called someone over to clean that mess, Vash noticed how Randolf was a bit quiet, ¡°Is everything ok?¡± ¡°Yeah.. I mean. No. I just¡­ this was a lot and I don¡¯t know if that mention of them wanting to eat wings was racist or not,¡± Randolf admitted. ¡°Oh. It wasn¡¯t. They just know I¡¯m a bit squeamish around wings as food. They are delicious, but the visual is¡­¡± Vash opened his own wings, ¡°Not great.¡± ¡°Ah. I see. I have the same reaction with chicken feet,¡± Randolf nodded. ¡°Really? That one never bothered me,¡± Vash admitted. ¡°Sorry, but what happened with all of you?¡± Drew finally spoke. They arrived at the meeting room and sat down before Vash started explaining. ¡°So. We were close by, but we had to pass Calypso Beach. There, a bunch of crocodiles started attacking us like crazy. Hundreds of them. After that we got here, and since we were tired, I suggested for them to pass through the woods instead of going the long way around. I flew above the place and everything seemed clear.¡± ¡°You mean the forest up north? But that¡¯s Sludge Frog territory,¡± Veronica asked. ¡°Yes¡­ We didn¡¯t know. And apparently the path we took was right between the Sludge Frogs and the Rolling Boils. Those giant balls of flesh that keep spitting¡­ something? Anyway, they also can create illusions around their territory to make it look normal and not the mess that they actually are. They passed through the forest while I flew above them.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t stop to help them?¡± Drew frowned. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find them. I could hear them in the communicators, but from the outside I couldn¡¯t see them. And they couldn¡¯t see me from the inside. So I didn¡¯t have a way to find them.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have a way to pass by a small illusion like that one?¡± Randolf was clearly starting to doubt the strength of the Harmony Guardians. ¡°Ok, look. If I really wanted to, yes, I could¡¯ve helped. But when they started yelling about ¡®it¡¯s in my mouth,¡¯ and ¡®this is disgusting,¡¯ I wasn¡¯t feeling like helping. They were not in danger, I mean, the most those monsters were able to do was push them to the side and make them slip. But then they fell in the pool of¡­ what I hope was mud.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t. If the Rolling Boils were involved, it wasn¡¯t mud,¡± Drew added. ¡°Well¡­ Then they have every reason to be pissed at me. Besides, this is new, I don¡¯t want to get it that dirty,¡± Vash pinched his clothes. ¡°Wait. You said there were a couple hundred crocodiles. Did you kill all of them?¡± Randolf asked. ¡°No, no. We got maybe 100 in total between all of us.¡± ¡°So the other 500 monsters that the elf mentioned were all here? How long did you stay in that forest?¡± ¡°Oh. Like an hour. But the fight only lasted maybe 20 minutes, spread across a few intervals. With one big free for all with like 200 monsters that lasted around 10 minutes. The rest of the time, they were just cussing and trying to leave without touching anything. No one even had to use their big cooldown skills. Actually, no. Neria did when a piece of something got in her mouth. She flipped the lid a bit. But that was just a big wave. But anyway. What can I do to make you more comfortable with us? I know you don¡¯t know our strength, but I assure you we got this,¡± Vash tried to change the subject, realizing that they might tell the others that he didn¡¯t help them, even if he could. ¡°Honestly. I am calm now. If you can do all that in 20 minutes, I don¡¯t think I have to worry,¡± Randolf felt a weight fall off his shoulder. Individually, the Sludge Frogs and the Rolling Boils were not dangerous. But if they attacked in groups, even experienced parties would struggle. If it was a swarm of 50 or more, people were advised to stay away from the forest until a high level team got rid of the monsters, and the bigger the group, the stronger the team had to be. If the Harmony Guardians could take 200 of them, even if it were 100 of each, they were already stronger than the elite teams the Alliance would call to deal with that kind of problem. And likely strong enough to protect the caravan from any attack.
840 - On the road Hera cleaned herself up three times after reaching Zinctorum. The first was at the large cleaning area the Alliance Center offered. She, along with all her titled blades and the rest of the Harmony Guardians, minus Vash, power washed themselves to the point of drawing blood. There was a point the Ophidianite even felt as if her scales were going to come off. Then she took another shower later, after eating the wings they got for dinner. The sauce covered her hands and mouth, and that sticky feeling was enough to remind her of what happened in the afternoon. Before actually going to bed, she took a bath. A long bath that made her feel as if even her scales were getting wrinkly. When the day was over, the team had already forgiven Vash. Or at least, forgiven him enough to stop punishing him by telling the harpy to pay and do everything for the rest. The reason they were being this harsh was because they knew Vash could¡¯ve helped them. Even if he didn¡¯t want to get dirty, he could¡¯ve buffed the group, or attacked from above. But he chose to stay away. Then again, no one was actually angry or upset, thinking that he had left them to die. Things never got that dangerous, and they still trusted him to have their backs. Not to say there weren¡¯t plans of revenge being tossed around. Roan and Flint wanted to drop Vash in a latrine when they got to the army camp. Hera decided not to help either side, and told her court that they could do what they wished, since Crimson and Vulcan were also pissed, but that they were not supposed to hurt anyone. Not physically or emotionally, at least. Aiming for the harpy¡¯s pride was fair game. Early the next morning, Randolf asked to meet everyone again. They had already talked with all the members of the caravan, being him Drew and Veronica. And the extra three people from the escort team that would split up. A dwarf called Kalahan, their healer, a harpy called Britta, the crafter, and a ferret beastmen called Remy, who was the mage. They were happy to meet the group and see that the mission wasn¡¯t completely failed due their mistakes. However, Hera found the way they looked at her very weird. It wasn¡¯t just the curiosity of seeing an Ophidianite for the first time, but there was a certain reverence to it. However, she wasn¡¯t even the highest level member of the group, since the rest of the Harmony Guardians had reached level 60 at least. The reason for that was likely her legacy. It should be one of the drawbacks. She was splitting the experience with her court. Which meant this new group of people wouldn¡¯t see her as the highest level person in the group. Hera was also not the leader because there wasn¡¯t one. Every decision was made by the entire group, and each took charge of different things. In fact, the Ophidianite only had a leading role in battle because of Dusa, and now Twiggy. She even asked if they were part of Beyond the Scale, that organization that she had a role in creating. If Katarina was talking about her, it could mean something. After all, having someone appear on a griffon to save you from a pack of monsters would leave quite the impression. But no, they never even heard about that organization. Without an answer, she just watched as Randolf, Drew, and Veronica prepared the transportation. The three of them were combining their skills and items to carry a large container from one room to the next. It was almost like the back of a truck, including the wheels, attached to 3 mounts very similar to the version of Nimbus that existed before he joined the legacy. Outside a warehouse, the group watched as some people helped the large metal container be pulled out of storage and placed in the street, already pointing in the direction they had to go. The entire thing was painted in a camouflage pattern. That made the metal box blend with its surroundings as if seen from a certain distance. It wouldn¡¯t do anything for the mounts or if anyone was close to them, but this even allowed people to ride above the container without a problem. On each side was also a set of seats large enough for three people. With a larger space on the back before the doors of the semitrailer, where a group of 10 could stay comfortably. Lastly, the front had some cover, and the driver¡¯s seat, that wasn¡¯t attached to an engine but instead space for three creatures of different sizes to be placed in harnesses and pull the truck. Hera couldn¡¯t help but be surprised, this felt like an odd mixture of modern and old style delivery that kind of looked amazing. Even if it was like a plane with stubby wings when looking from above. With that all off the way, Randolf was the first to summon his mount. It was a reindeer that he could bring out from a ring. He also had enchanted the mount to be able to illuminate the path in a red light that came out of its nose, just to lean in on the Rudolph''s joke. Drew called a stone lion from a jade pendant. It was something that seemed to have been plucked out of old Chinese buildings, but the creature moved without any problems despite its mineral look. Lastly was Veronica, who summoned a black and yellow rhinoceros with a long horn that curved backwards at the tip. Together, the tree mounts were able to drag the semi-trailer at a speed of 50 km per hour. A speed that Nimbus was able to keep up with allowing the Empress to be running along instead of be seated in one of the many seats. After a brief discussion, they decided how they were going to split everyone. In the front, along with Randolf, Drew, and Veronica, would be Vash and Roan. Neria, Britta and Crimson would take the left side seats, while Skyler, Kalahan, and Viper would stay on the right side. Everyone else would be in the back area, including Hera¡¯s titled blades. The Empress would be riding Nimbus to be more mobile, while Vulcan stayed at the top of the container, along with Twiggy. That way, the tiara would have a clear view of all the surroundings. Forge asked to be there, worried that being in a tight space could trigger his PTSD and increase the [Daemonic Influence]. The rest of Hera¡¯s court, namely the blades that didn¡¯t have a bipedal form, would be resting against various parts of the half-trailer to allow themselves to keep up with the movement and to work as an extra pair of eyes. This spread should give them plenty of time to react in case they were ambushed, or some monsters showed up to attack them. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. With them all in place, Randolf touched his neck to trigger the communicator that everyone was wearing and asked, ¡°Ready?¡± getting a confirmation from everyone they departed. Just a few minutes after they started moving, Nimbus, who was keeping up with the caravan on the side, spoke to Hera, ¡®If you get tired you can swap with anther of the Harmony Guardians. Skyler, Neria, and Vash might not be interested, but Flint and Roan could do the same thing you are doing now.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s a good call. I¡¯ll ask if any of them want to swap later. And I think Neria is the only one who shouldn¡¯t be part of the rotation. After all, it¡¯s better to have a healer on each side of the caravan,¡¯ the Empress replied with a smile. ¡°We will be her a while. Anyone wants to play a road game, talk, or should I pull up one of the audio books I have?¡± Randolf asked. ¡°For the love of the system, can someone just toss a topic for us to talk about? I can¡¯t take another 7 days of the history of fermented fish or whatever the fuck was that,¡± Britta groaned. ¡°Hey! It was the impact of surstromming in modern history. Don¡¯t come after me because I listen to more than just fiction,¡± Randolf huffed. ¡°To be fair, it was a bit interesting. I had no idea there was a whole trade deal surrounding it,¡± Remy added. ¡°You are free to offer something else next time,¡± Randolf continued, clearly upset about the complaint. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, boss. But I have other options if anyone is interested,¡± Drew said. ¡°What do you got?¡± Roan asked ¡°What do you want? I have fiction, thrillers, detective stories, spy stories, science fiction. Or, if you prefer, I have like 100 episodes of a dozen different podcasts. I¡¯m sure we can find something everyone wants to listen to.¡± ¡°I still think we should be more focused on the path ahead than what we are listening to,¡± Veronica crossed her arms. ¡°C¡¯mon. We pause whatever we are listening to when we enter one of the orange zones, ok? We still have a few rooms that will be safe,¡± Randolf replied. ¡°I agree with Randolf. If we are always on high alert, we will get tired more easily, and more snippy. We might end up making mistakes. It¡¯s better to be more relaxed when we can,¡± Hera nodded along with the entire court. And so, their journey continued. They would be crossing 21 rooms in total, stopping in 5 different places to get more supplies that were already waiting for them, and take a chance to sleep in a settlement. In the end, this also meant they only had to camp outside during one day of their travels. And between Flint, Britta, and Randolf, they had enough crafters to make a pretty decent place to rest. But this also meant they would have to take turns to be on watch, to make sure no monster or human tried anything. The first day went by without a hitch. They talked, listened to some audio books and podcasts. And the people in the side seats and the back of the container could even watch some shows. As long as one of them was paying attention to their surroundings. Hera used that time to help her new court members to find out who they were. She played some music to know their tastes, talked about different shows to see what could interest them. The titled blades also helped, joking around, playing small pranks, and doing anything they could think of to make them more used with the world. It wasn¡¯t all fun and games. There were a couple of situations when monsters appeared and trying to attack them. However, they were weak enough that a single spell could take care of the creatures. And thankfully, this happened after they left the Kalandria Empire, which meant they didn¡¯t have to worry about the monster creating any kind of toxic sludge to attack them. Hera also realized that the trio, Britta, Kalahan, and Remy, continued to give her that weird look. As if they were seeing someone incredible, but every time she tried to talk to them, they awkwardly ended the conversation. Yet, when they were talking with one of her titled blades, they didn¡¯t seem to mind. That kind of interaction was slowly getting on the Empress¡¯ nerves. It would be one thing if they were just acting like that because she was of a different species. But they were sending way too many mixed signals for her to understand. And it wasn¡¯t like she could just corner them and ask the question. Not when there wasn¡¯t a moment she could talk with one of them alone. Either way, she decided to focus on other things. For instance, how amazing it was to see Randolf transferring the entire container from one room to the next. She had only seen people do that with boxes, even large ones, but something this big, that was easily 15 meters across, was something else. According to the caravan leader, he had two things that let him do that. First was a skill that was not part of any role, which would let him carry more things when crossing a doorway. Next was an enchantment on the container itself related to that same ability. This would make the skill think that every two centimeters of semi-trailer would actually be one. Essentially, doubling the size the skill could affect. In addition, if he, Veronica, and Drew all touched the caravan and the doorway at the same time, they could ¡®split the weight,¡¯ which made all of this possible. That¡¯s how the Harmony Guardians escorted the caravan for the first few days. They would leave a city in the morning, and arrive in the next one at late afternoon, or the beginning of the evening. Then, Randolf would find members of his crew in the storehouses that already had checked the crates with everything and load them up in the container. After sleeping, the entire group would leave in the morning again and rinse and repeat. This happened for the first 5 days. With only two days left on their trip, came the hardest parts. The rooms where monsters were more aggressive, serving as a natural defense against any human invasion, and the night they would have to spend in the open before passing through places that were active war zones. 841 - Drowned bog During the entire trip, the caravan only pases by rooms that were on the pleasant side of the spectrum. Field with small hills and large open areas, forest with large paths already created by people in charge of infrastructure. Even the arid desert wasn¡¯t that bad and had a few rest spots with water and bathrooms, all working thanks to mana stones. However, the room they would spend the night in today wasn¡¯t that kind. Some monsters were moderately aggressive, being marked with an orange label on the list that Ka¡¯mal gave the Harmony Guardians, but it still wouldn¡¯t be the most dangerous place for them. This room was called ¡®Drowned Bog,¡¯ and was a stark reminder that the MAZE wasn¡¯t only made out of beautiful and lush locations. For starters, an eternal dark cloud and constant rain covered this place. Although it wasn¡¯t enough to plummet the room into an endless night, but it got close. A layer of water covered every part of the floor in this room, there were no large rocks, elevated ground, or anything that could give a small reprieve from the freezing bog. Trees and large pieces of vegetation were also missing, the only things that could be seen were reeds and bushes growing in the water. Because of that, travel here was dangerous. Unless you knew the path, or had a skill to show it to you, it would be hard to not fall into the holes and open lakes hidden by the dark murky waters. If that wasn¡¯t bad enough by itself, the entire room had a strong smell that caused anyone who stayed here to be slightly disoriented. It was like a bedroom that was kept closed for years. Still air and water, along with old mold. The combination was on the verge of making you sneeze, but not enough to push one over that edge, giving that permanent feeling of wanting to sneeze but being unable to do so. The icing on this uncomfortable cake was a unique visual effect caused by the awkward reflection of the clouds in the water that would create silhouettes very similar to that of the monsters in the room. There was a single place here that could give them a break from the water, and that was the abandoned village in the middle of the bog. No one knew the name of that place, and according to Randolf, it should be something created along with the room itself. The waters here had an odd property. Anything that was left in the room for a long time would eventually sink and be swallowed by the bog. Towers, houses, benches, carts, shoes, everything. Some years back, someone even tried to build a hotel in a boat, hoping that since it floated, it wouldn¡¯t end up sinking, but after a few months, that vessel was clearly being dragged down. People tried to figure out the reason, maybe replicate the effect for traps or even to know more about the MAZE, but that didn¡¯t work. In the end, the bog consumed everything. With the exception of that village. There were wooden paths going around two dozen of buildings, some big and other small. Each house was half rotten and filled with holes, not to mention permanently drenched. On the walls close to the water, both inside and outside those structures, people found hundreds of barnacles of various sizes. And they were dangerous. Not that they would attack, or anything of the sort. But the kind of barnacle that existed here could attach itself to someone¡¯s skin. If someone touched them with their bare hands, or have any direct contact with them, they would likely see those crustaceans coming out of their bodies in the next few weeks. They would not only trick healing spells to understand the creatures as part of the host¡¯s body, but also attach themselves to someone¡¯s skin, making the removal process complicated. And the new ones that grew on a person could spread to others. There was a real life horror story about the first group of people who came here, discovered those things and went back to their city. A few weeks later, almost every single inhabitant of their village was infected, and the barnacles were growing all over their bodies. At leas that story had a happy ending. No one died, and people were able to rally healers and doctors to cure them. Still, it became a warning for anyone who came to this room. And because of that story, Randolf decided against sleeping in the village. It would be too easy for someone to end up touching one of the barnacles by mistake. Instead, they headed to one of the larger open areas with a wall of reeds around a path and set up the caravan to be in what he called ¡®sleep mode.¡¯ Several tall metal rods raised from the sides of the container and he placed a heavy tarp over them all. It was almost like making a tent, including a few partitions for people to have more privacy and some windows to look outside. In addition, Flint and Britta crafted some walkways organized around the container so people who stayed on watch could actually move around the upper area instead of just staying on the ground with water up to their ankles. Hera also did her best to help, trying to move the earth underneath them to make the support pillars more stable, but her stone shape spell was too simple to work here. The entire caravan split off into three groups. Each would be on watch for 3 hours and when the last watch was over, they would get out of this place. They all wanted to finish this as soon as possible. And on the way back, they wouldn¡¯t need to come here again. Each day they spent with the supplies was a day that things could go wrong and the humans could disrupt the Alliance army. But when everything was delivered, they could go the long way around. It would take 5 extra days to return to the Kalandria Empire, but they would be able to sleep in a city or village in all those days. They could even reduce one or two days of their journey if the people driving the caravan were willing to take turns driving through the night. Either way, this was a conversation for later. And Hera ended up taking the first shift. She spread the court around the container and found a nice place to stay seated. The titled blades were also split, each of them joining one of the three teams. For now, the only one of them that was with Hera was Vulcan, since if the influence got too strong, the Empress would have to stop him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. About one hour into her shift, the Ophidianite noticed how Kalahan, who was also part of this team, seemed more comfortable when she passed by, and he wasn¡¯t as stray eyed when looking at her compared with his two party members. Thinking that there would be no better time than this to ask about it, she approached the dwarf. ¡°Hey. Mind if I sit here?¡± Hera smiled. ¡°Of course. It will be my pleasure to keep you company,¡± Kalahan gestured for her to sit. ¡°Have you ever been here before? Or around here?¡± Hera asked as she sat down. ¡°Not at all. This is the farthest I have ever been from home. How about you?¡± ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t even know. I¡¯ve never been here, or to any of the rooms we passed by, but I don¡¯t know how far I¡¯m from home. Then again, my home is also kind of new to the MAZE.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Kalahan turned towards her. Hera paused for a moment, she couldn¡¯t tell about the whole situation with Zaxalam without mentioning that she used to be human. Doing that wasn¡¯t part of her plans, not until the war was over, at least. Thinking about the fake back story the Alliance council helped her create, she replied, ¡°It¡¯s complicated. Ever since I started traveling, I didn¡¯t really have a home. Mostly because I had no idea where my people used to live. So I never stayed around in the same place for long. Unless I was stuck there for some reason. The place I currently call home is related to maybe my old, old ancestors. Or at least, a species that has the same ancestors as I do. I have no clue I am part of their evolution or not.¡± ¡°How old is this civilization?¡± ¡°Maybe 10 thousand years old or something. We never managed to pinpoint an actual date, but apparently it¡¯s among the oldest, if not the oldest, civilization on MAZE,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Damn. Don¡¯t tell that to Drew or Veronica. Elves pride themselves on being the oldest ones. But from what you are saying, this civilization is significantly different from you. Right?¡± The Ophidianite nodded, ¡°Yeah, they didn¡¯t have legs, and their face was more snake like than mine.¡± ¡°Then you are likely just part of the same branch, but not someone who came from them. Evolution takes a long time. Hundreds of thousands of years for even small changes. If the difference is that big, it should take millions of years. Which means that the only way the time lines match is if you are both branches from the same path,¡± Kalahan glanced at Hera, realizing that maybe he was saying too much, ¡°Sorry. I quite enjoy the biology part of my work, and I learned a lot about evolution.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I appreciate the information. But why were you learning about evolution? I feel like if you say you like the topic, you either have a specific goal, or want to play god,¡± Hera asked, knowing full well that she might be a hypocrite for the comment. After all, she quite literally tailor made her body, even including spell circles created with the position of her veins. ¡°I have a brother that was born with a genetic anomaly. That happened when I was young and I got curious about why that happened and at the time, if we could control it. I quickly realized that line of thought was stupid, but the curiosity about the subject remained.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear it. Is he ok?¡± ¡°Oh yeah. He had something called lipomyelomeningocele. A fancy word for a vestigial tail.¡± ¡°Are you going to say that having a tail is a genetic anomaly?¡± Hera playfully huffed, crossing her tail over her lap. ¡°One like yours, no. Of course not. That¡¯s simply evolution. But an odd flimsy growth on the end of someone¡¯s spine is,¡± Kalahan smiled. ¡°That¡¯s fair. I can understand that curiosity,¡± Hera nodded and looked into the distance, trying to see if there were any monsters coming. A few minutes passed with the two in silence before the Empress finally approached the topic she wanted to, ¡°Do you mind if I ask a weird question?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°You, and mostly Britta and Remy, keep looking at me with a strange expression. Why is that?¡± ¡°Oh. My apologies. They are not used to be in the presence of someone such as you. I am a bit more experienced in that. I¡¯ll ask them to be more careful. We meant no offense.¡± Hera shook her head, surprised with the response, ¡°None taken, but why are you doing that? I¡¯m the only Ophidianite out there, it¡¯s not a surprise you are not used to be near me.¡± Kalahan stopped and stared at Hera, ¡°No. I mean royalty. Not to say that your species is not something new to us. But Britta has never been to the aerie and beastmen in general don¡¯t have the same culture of nobility as we do.¡± ¡°Wait.. What? Why do you think I¡¯m nobility?¡± ¡°Are you not the Ophidianite Empress? That¡¯s what the Alliance told us. Besides, you have a court, and they call you Empress.¡± Hera let out a loud groan, ¡°No. Look. I¡¯m only the Ophidianite Empress because I¡¯m the only member of my species. So yeah, technically I speak for the whole species, but only because I¡¯m the only one! And the Empress and court thing is about my legacy. I didn¡¯t choose that theme, it just came with it.¡± ¡°Oh! So you are not like a noble with history of being a noble, retainers and all that stuff?¡± Kalahan asked. ¡°No! Well, sort of, my legacy does consider Nimbus, Vulcan, and the others with full bipedal bodies as my retainers. But again, that¡¯s not me. I was never raised to be a princess or anything like that. My parents were also not royal blood or something.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Kalahan looked back to the tent, ¡°Britta is going to be so sad. She was really excited about meeting royalty.¡± Hera shrugged, ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell them if you don¡¯t want to. It¡¯s not technically wrong, but far from being what she expects. And now that I know why you are looking at me like that, it makes things easier.¡± ¡°We were making you that uncomfortable?¡± ¡°How you would you feel if people who never met were constantly looking at you like you were some celebrity? If you were closer to my level, I would be freaking out. But I¡¯m a bit cocky now and I think I can handle myself,¡± Hera realized why this felt so weird now that she had more context. ¡°Ok, I get the point. Sorry.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± the Empress replied as she started into the murky waters beyond the rest area they found. After having this conversation, all she wanted was to end her shift and take a nap. When that time came, she plopped onto the makeshift bed created by flint, too tired and only wishing for a good night of rest. Unfortunately, she was also too tired to realize, she just raised a flag. 842 - A restless night ¡®Hera!¡¯ a voice called, but it wasn¡¯t enough to wake her up. ¡®Empress!¡¯ another voice came, only able to make her shift positions. ¡°HERA!¡± Livy opened the tent and yelled inside, making everyone wake up. ¡°What? What?¡± the Empress jumped to her feet, ready to fight. ¡°We have incoming. A lot of them,¡± Livy explained. ¡®I believe the plan was to call her more quietly. We needed confirmation if this is enough to wake everyone up,¡¯ Shadow added. ¡°Well, you took too long, And Robin is freaking the fuck out. Also, it¡¯s better to warn everyone and give them a bad night than having them die while they are sleeping,¡± Livy huffed and looked at the Empress, ¡°Come check this out.¡± ¡®I would just like to say. I¡¯m not freaking out. But even my mastery over the arcane energies of my arrows is failing when facing this murky waters,¡¯ Robing grumbled. Hera rubbed her eyes and walked outside, with the rest of the caravan slowly getting up behind her, ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡®There are a number of monsters circling us. But they are underwater. Robin attempted to hit them, but his arrows weren¡¯t able to get deep enough to harm the creatures,¡¯ Shadow explained. ¡®That is not entirely correct. My arrows can damage them, and I can let one fly deep enough to hit the creatures. However, the issue lies in the speed that is lost when the projectiles break through the water. Which, in turn, gives a chance for the monsters to evade my attacks.¡¯ ¡°Ok, ok. But why is that a problem? I¡¯ve seen some monsters roaming around. They stayed in the water, why are you¡­ oh,¡± Hera stepped out and instantly saw what was happening. All around the container, there were dozens of glowing pale green eyes staring back at them from among the reeds. Those would be the only source of light in the middle of the dark room, except for the torches the caravan had. Some monsters would try to get closer but stop when she turned towards them. As if they were trying not to move while being watched. It was clear those creatures wanted to hide, but maybe they were too used to fighting against other monsters in the bog, and the glow in their eyes was never a problem. Not until now. ¡°Fuck,¡± Hera mumbled, ¡°Do we know what they are?¡± ¡°They are called Drowned Kappa,¡± Flint replied, he was also looking away, trying to keep them at bay with his eyes since they seemed to be trying to move only when no one was looking at them. ¡°Kappa? Like the old Japanese monster thing?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°Yeah, but as far as I know, they are from the MAZE, but more common in rooms close to that part of earth.¡± Flint shrugged. ¡°Ok¡­ In how much trouble are we?¡± Hera asked, also joining in looking towards the creatures. ¡°Just a bit. Kappas are not aggressive. They are more towards tricksters. Sure, now and then one will kill someone and eat them, but they are cowardly,¡± Flint shrugged. ¡°That doesn¡¯t apply here,¡± Remy said through the communicator. ¡°Why not?¡± Livy asked loudly, the titled blades didn¡¯t have their own communicators since they would always drop it when changing forms or going back to the court, but they could hear everything that Hera said when she allowed it to, so they could be a part of the conversation. ¡°The Drowned Kappas are more like deep sea monsters. They live in the dark, and are attracted to light. Once they see a prey, they never give up. You can tell they are going to attack because of their eyes. When they use¡­ something to make them glow, it means they are preparing to attack,¡± Remy explained. ¡°And the light we are seeing is that something?¡± Flint asked. ¡°It seems like it,¡± Remy said. Hera thought about calling Storm and letting her lash out at them, but that would cause another problem. There was some kind of giant monster living in the bog, and any big electric attack would lure it. The monster would should be level 50, the maximum level of layer 15. Some powerful groups were sent here to get rid of it, but the creature pulled them under the water and killed a few of their members. The rest had to flee. Even tritons would struggle to swim in this water since it was denser than a lake or an ocean. ¡°Remy, you know a lot about them, right? What was the plan to deal with these if they showed up?¡± Vash asked. He wasn¡¯t a part of this shift, but with all the yelling, everyone else also got up to see what was going on. ¡°What we are doing now. They only attack when they think they are not being seen. So we would just stare at them and head to the next room,¡± Remy explained. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Even if that meant you got no sleep?¡± Neria frowned. ¡°Yeah. The other team was supposed to be already waiting for us at the entrance of the next room. So if we had to leg it, we should. We then would cross to the next room where there are people instead of staying in a place filled with angry monsters. Worst-case scenario, someone gets the crossing debuff and would have to wait for whoever long before they could leave the room, and the odds of the 4th crossing fucking us over are pretty small. The problem might start at the fifth,¡± Remy continued. ¡°So you would be willing to have someone stuck in a high level room?¡± Roan got out of the tent. ¡°If it came to that, yeah. And if someone got stuck in the next room. Well.. We knew this was a risk,¡± Britta left the tent right after him. ¡°Impressive, but that is not an option right now. Sleeping in the next room would be too dangerous and we then need to go straight to the actual camp we are delivering the supplies. We can¡¯t risk 6 crossings in a day, Hera was already hit by the debuff once,¡± Roan sighed. Britta, Drew, Veronica, and Kalahan stared at the Ophidianite for a moment after that revelation. It was somewhat uncommon to meet people who got hit by the crossing debuff. Before they could ask anything, Skyler changed the subject, ¡°Remy, you know a lot about those things. Right?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say a lot.. I read about them when we got the mission.¡± ¡°Ok, so what can we do? Is there a way to scare them off?¡± ¡°No, they are pretty nasty when it comes to hunting prey.¡± ¡®What about luring them in? Can we taunt them into coming after us? That would turn those pitiful hunters into our preys,¡¯ Pyro suggested. ¡°That¡¯s an idea,¡± Hera nodded and turned to Remy, ¡°How about provoking an attack? Can we do that?¡± The ferret beastmen thought for a moment, ¡°Yeah, if we show them we can see them. When they are seen, they stop trying to pretend to be hidden and go for it.¡± ¡°Ok¡­ and how do we do that?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°We can get closer. Or attack them, but then not all will think they are being seen. If we had a way to make a really bright light, that could work, but it had to be like. In the level of sunlight,¡± Remy replied. ¡®I believe this is my cue,¡¯ Sun appeared on the top of the tent, Hera already felt her mana being pulled towards the spear. ¡°Not yet!¡± she quickly yelled. ¡®But why? I am, quite literally, made for this job.¡¯ ¡°Yes, but give us a chance to set up first. It¡¯s better if we get ready for a fight,¡± Hera sighed. ¡®Very well. I¡¯ll wait to show my power,¡¯ Sun replied and floated back towards the Empress. ¡°Randolf, Drew, Veronica. I think it¡¯s better if you all enter the container. Or at least one of the side seats since the front is a bit too exposed,¡± Skyler turned to the only three that didn¡¯t leave the tent. Before waiting for a reply, she turned to Britta and Kalahan, ¡°For the rest of you three. And I¡¯m talking to you too, Remy. What do you want to do? Support us, or stay with Randolf and the others to protect them?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay here. Even if they are higher level than me, I can repair the walkways, or the tent if it gets hit,¡± Britta puffed her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll stay too. Two healers are better than one. Even if the one is weaker,¡± Kalahan nodded. Remy looked back to the tent, ¡°I¡¯m with them. I¡¯m an offensive spell caster, and my mana is fire. I can also use a lot of lightning two elements that won¡¯t be as useful here. With them, I can at least be a defensive line if one of the kappas sneaks by.¡± They nodded at each other and looked back at Skyler, who just stared at them for a moment before gesturing with her hands for them to go, ¡°Ok, then. Move it. I¡¯m not evaluating your choice. Just pick a lane and go!¡± The three scrambled. Remy and the caravan drivers all moved to the back, and with Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy looking over them, they jumped inside the container. Which was the safest place to be right now. There were various spells and enchantments to protect anything that was inside. The biggest danger would be getting stuck there if the rest of the Harmony Guardians and the rest of Remy¡¯s team were killed. But even then, they could likely stay there for long enough until the rescue arrived. As long as they could at least send an S.O.S out. With that out of the way, it took only a couple of minutes for everyone to be properly set up and ready for a fight. Flint and Britta made a few traps around the container, some nets that would make it harder for the kappas to approach, and a few barricades to top things off. Hera also joined in, but mostly with Daskka¡¯s help, creating a layer of mist around them, while leaving a radius around the walkways completely clear. Almost like the eye of a hurricane. For now, the herald made sure that the mist was thin, but she could make it thicker at a moment¡¯s notice to make it even harder for the monsters. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Hera asked. Getting a yes from almost everyone. Robin was the only one who said no, since Britta had made a few arrows for him. They waited, but unfortunately there was one problem with the idea of giving arrows to the bowblade. He couldn¡¯t hold them by himself. And having someone else load it for him was just a waste of their numbers. After giving up the idea for the moment, he got into his position above the tent to relay everything that was happening to Twiggy so the two of them could command the entire court. With the exception of Storm. The longsword was too easily excited, and since the massive creature could appear if they used lighting, Hera decided against having her out. With everyone finally ready, Sun took his stage and fired his Solar Flare into the sky. A large cone of pure radiance exploded, washing out any color in the surrounding area. When she used it before, Hera didn¡¯t realize this was so bright since it was the middle of the day, but here, at night in a place that was constantly rainy and cloud, the contrast was stark. The moment the skill was over, splashing sounds could be heard from the water. The three dozen Drowned Kappas jumped out all at the same time and started walking on all fours over the water. Hera noticed the creatures were nowhere near what she imagined they would be. They had long segmented fins instead of limbs, their body was longer than that of a person since Kappas were supposed to be bipedal, and there was a long tail that moved as if it was a scorpion. On their back was a shell covered in loose skin that kept flopping in the wind, and their heads were elongated and distorted. The top of their skull was almost a horn that sharply dipped back and together with their ears formed a bowl like shape that still retained water. Inside that were their gills, constantly breathing through that same water over and over again. Hera summoned a long venomous glaive to attack and prepared herself for the first wave of monsters to collapse against the barriers made by the crafters. 843 - Things going too well If anyone were to ask the people in the caravan to describe the fight against the swarm of Drowned Kappa, they would likely all reply with the same word, ¡®Underwhelming.¡¯ Not that the monsters were weak, they were close to level 50 and a real danger. But considering the amount of people they had protecting the container, dealing with them was barely an inconvenience. The defenders killed the first wave of monsters before they even reached the walkways, and the second wave didn¡¯t get much farther. The third and last wave was the only one to get into melee range, but even then, it was easy to kill them. Kappas weren¡¯t very smart, and they just jumped from the ground, trying to reach the walkways. Which, in turn, gave everyone enough time to aim and strike at them, killing the last wave of creatures before anything was even damaged. They could have done something with the bodies, but they decided against that. They didn¡¯t have a good place to butcher them, and their shells didn¡¯t look all that interesting, even if Flint did get one of them to test some things. In the end, Nimbus became responsible for the ¡®air drop¡¯ of the bodies. Sleeping near a source of free food like that was a surefire way to get in trouble, and this wasn¡¯t what they wanted. At least he didn¡¯t drop one by one. Instead, Britta made a quick net for him to grab a number of the kappas and then drop farther away from the group, in the middle of the bog. Despite his level and new strength, it still took him around an hour to finish dropping everything. People went back to bed, and soon morning came. No more attacks, likely due to the fresh bodies that were spread around the room. After all, something like that would attract a large number of monsters and, in turn, make them fight amongst themselves. The ones that emerged victorious would already have a full belly. Once morning came, they simply put away the tent and dropped the walkways to the side before heading out of the room. Today was the most dangerous day of their journey, and the sooner they were able to finish this, the better. The next room was called ¡®Forgotten Wasteland,¡¯ which was quite ironic. People who lived nearby could never forget the existence of that place. It was a room in the 19th layer, and the monsters would be from levels 55 to 60. Over 20 levels above the monsters in the adjacent rooms, with the exception of the Drowned Bog. People considered that room to be a barrier. A wall only a few could pass by, thanks to the violent and ruthless monsters that roamed the room. To help with that, Nimbus suggested being attached to the caravan. That way, they could move a bit faster and maybe clear the room without any trouble. Randolph liked that idea, he had been a merchant for a few decades already. Despite the danger that raids and ambushes posed, he was still more wary of monster attacks than anything else. Little did he know that their travel across the Forgotten Wasteland was the most uneventful part of their journey. Quite literally, nothing happened. They arrived, saw the ashy desert with dried trees and rocks all over the place, and rushed to the next doorway. Two hours later, they were there, and heading to the next room. They saw a few monsters here and there, but they were too busy in their own battles to care about the caravan blasting through the room. And then they were already close to their destination. All they had to do was cross a small part of the ¡®Lilyfield Valley.¡¯ Despite the name, it didn¡¯t have a single valley, but a multitude of them. The two cities that existed here were built on top of one of the mountains, which made them extremely good defensive positions. The problem was that one of them was controlled by humans, while the other belonged to the Alliance. They were a few kilometers away from each other, but the area between the two cities didn¡¯t turn into a battlefield. Sieges would end up just making things worse for the attacking force. The forts were built around dungeon entrances, and when adding the drops from it, the cities became self sustainable. The result was that this room was in a state of cold war. Spies and sabotage crews would always go back and forth between the cities, trying to finally be able to cause the enemy fort to collapse. Which also meant it was hard to know when there would be a team of people trying something. The doorway the caravan passed by was close to the Alliance city, but their destination was about a few kilometers away, towards an area that wasn¡¯t controlled by either faction, which was a problem since they would be heading to another battlefield. Both sides could send more support to the next room or receive that help from them, and exactly because of that, controlling the doorway was nearly impossible. But they did have people watching over both sides. Or at least, the caravan needed to assume that they would be under surveillance. Another thing they had to do was follow a specific path created by Randolf himself. He knew the area considerably well and figured out a route that would keep them off the beaten path and, hopefully, not find any humans until they were already heading to the next room. About two hours into their travels, Hera was now on the back of the caravan since Nimbus was also helping pull the container. They were passing by one of the smaller valleys, with two mountains just a few meters taller than the vehicle itself. Hera suddenly felt something weird, like something prickling in the back of her head. She looked around, glancing at the top of the valley. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I feel something weird. Almost as if there is someone watching us,¡± Hera frowned. Vash gave a slight shake of his maracas, making a very soft sound of pebbles falling. He closed his eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, they shot open, ¡°We have incoming. They are going to intercept us at the end of this path. A group of 6, and they seem strong.¡± His warning came through the communicator for the entire crew. ¡°Randolf, can we change routes?¡± ¡°The path is too narrow for a turn, our options are: speed up or slow down,¡± Randolf replied. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Think we can outrun them?¡± Roan asked. ¡°They are in mounts. I don¡¯t think we can,¡± Vash replied, already noticing how Birtta¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°Ok, Randolf. Speed up. I don¡¯t want the fight to happen in this valley. We need to be in a more open place,¡± Skyler ordered. ¡®Twiggy. Who do you think we should awaken for this?¡¯ Hera asked the tiara. She had a few ideas herself, but during this journey, she used fights to test and teach Marchioness Cerulean the ways of commanding the court. When they had time, she would add Robin to the conversation, but it didn¡¯t sound like this was the case. ¡®Lurize,¡¯ Twiggy replied. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®We need numbers. That means a titled blade. Nimbus is pulling the caravan, and he will be way too fast for the rest to follow. Livy is not a stealth fighter, just her yelling will warn others of our position. Viper and Crimson would need to hide and then ambush the ambush, which takes too long. And Vulcan can¡¯t be awakened. Lurize is the best choice by default,¡¯ Twiggy quickly explained, gaining an approving nod from the Empress, who also had the same idea. ¡®Vulcan, awaken Lurize. Everyone get ready for a fight,¡¯ Hera ordered. ¡°Are we going for the kill?¡± Daskka asked. Hera glanced at the herald, hesitating to answer for a moment. However, she knew deep down there wasn¡¯t a choice. Every report they saw talked about how humans always tried to kill all the members of a different species. And if they were doing that, telling her court to spare their attackers would only cause problems. Still, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to give such a cold-blooded order. ¡®Only if you have to. If they are weaker, we just knock them out and move. But if they are too strong or don¡¯t seem willing to stop¡­¡¯ Hera took a deep breath, ¡®Go for the kill. But if they are running, let them. Just¡­ don¡¯t tell the Harmony Guardians. I know Roan and Flint won¡¯t approve.¡¯ Everyone nodded and got ready. Vulcan and Lurize were already close to the Empress in their weapons forms. The forging hammer gently tapped the side of Lurize¡¯s body, and Hera watched the transformation again. It was something she never grew tired of seeing. Lurize was a Zweihander. A large two-handed sword with an adorned guard shaped in a wide U. Above it, there was a blunt part of the blade before a secondary guard that stopped other swords from sliding all the way to the base of the weapon. It would then be just a simple edge all the way to the top. The one thing that changed after Mr. Beetle joined the weapon was a small engraved skull right in the middle of the metal where the secondary guard was located. When awakened, it changed drastically. The U-shaped guard shifted, showing two Hercule Beetle horns, one on each side, becoming larger in the middle as a pair of symmetrical open beetle wings appeared before connecting back in the center of the blade. The blade itself was no longer silver but now golden, with vibrant orange skulls all over it, and the skull that was present in the base version became pitch black with red eyes. Another change was the secondary guard. It wasn¡¯t just a pair of spikes, but now segmented pieces that moved like the bug legs, reaching out to any weapons that dared get into their range. Lastly, the entire weapon was covered in an eerie orange glow. Something that screamed danger to anyone who dared get closer. When the transformation was over, Lurize also appeared again in his bipedal form. His armor was sharper, with more spikes and jagged edges. The horn on the top of his helmet grew, and a secondary one appeared from behind his head. His entire body grew a few centimeters, but the biggest difference was that he was now almost as bulky as Livy. His armor changed colors, becoming golden and orange to match the weapon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lurize of poison - Venom Zweihander - Rhinoceros Beetle Stats: 852 Strength: 167 Endurance: 145 Agility: 138 Charisma: 134 Intelligence: 134 Luck: 134 Mana: 6 581 562/ 6 581 562 A two-handed sword that excels in duels thanks to its parrying hooks. Weapon Scaling: Empress attributes: 142 Strength x 17.5 Endurance x 15.3 Agility x 14.8 Charisma x 14.5 Intelligence x 14.5 Luck x 14.5 Skills: Ancient Weapons Master Being part of the court of blades, Lurize learned almost all simple combat styles of weapons that have been a part of the court before. He can teach the court members simple fighting styles at an accelerated rate. When teaching those who are not part of the court, he can only share his knowledge of weapons that were a part of the current court, not previous ones. Venom Edict When using a Venom spell or skill with this weapon, the effects are increased by 80% When infused with mana, this weapon deals an additional 60% Venom damage with all its strikes. All weapons wielded by Lurize will be under the effects of the Venom Edict. Awakened: All Venom-related spells in the entire court will become venom spells. This includes elements such as poison, toxin, disease, etc. Venom Blade Lurize can create a cover for his Zweihander. The amount of mana used by this skill will dictate the increase in strength and range of the weapon. Minimum mana cost: 10 000 mana. Winged Boost Using his wings, Lurize can move at high speeds for a dash. Movement speed increase: 100% Cooldown: 1 hour Beetle Form Lurize can become a small golden Rhinoceros Beetle. In that form, venom spells are 20% stronger. He is able to fly and increase his ability to move stealthily. Exoarmor Rank 5 Lurize¡¯s body takes the benefits of an exoskeleton of the Rhinoceros Beetle. Half of his total weapon scaling is used to increase his defenses based on the attributes present in the weapon scaling. Defense scaling: 91.6 Defense + 458% Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Awakened Skill Awakened Spirit Bound When the Empress uses a Venom or Poison-type spell, Lurize can pay half of the mana cost of the spell desired. Doing so will make him spend only a quarter of the total mana cost for the spell. Awakened: Any Venom or Poison-type spell cast by the court will be cast at half the cost. Additionally, Lurize can channel the magic through him, using the connection to the Venom Spirit to forgo half of the new cost. As a result, any spell cast with Lurize¡¯s help will only require 1/4 of the original mana. Rhinoceros Form ->Golden Rhinoceros Form Golden Rhinoceros Form Lurize becomes the embodiment of a Rhinoceros beetle while in his awakened state. All attributes and scaling receive an additional 70% increase. However, once this state is active, the awakened form can only last for 10 seconds. New attributes: Strength: 567 Endurance: 493 Agility: 469 Charisma: 455 Intelligence: 455 Luck: 455 New Scaling Strength x 59.5 Endurance x 51.9 Agility x 50.36 Charisma x 49.3 Intelligence x 49.3 Luck x 49.3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°What is that?¡± Britta gasped. ¡°One of my secret weapons,¡± Hera winked at her and turned to Lurize, ¡°How are you feeling, big guy?¡± ¡°Great. I¡¯m ready for the fight, Empress,¡± Lurize said, the last word filled with pride. When in his awakened form, he no longer had to worry about his Ss sounding like Zs when speaking out loud. ¡°Glad to hear it. Because the humans noticed something changed. They are about to reach us!¡± Vash yelled a moment before the human ambush appeared at the top of this small valley. 844 - Human Ambush Everyone thought they had more time. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case. The humans noticed Vash¡¯s spell, and they picked up speed to meet the group. Hera saw them arriving at the top of the valley on four different mounts. Two wolves of different colors, carrying a single person each. A large motorcycle with two people, and a bull carrying the remaining two. They were running along the small mountain, following the caravan with ease. ¡°Look at we have here! Monsters pretending to be people,¡± one of the humans riding the wolf laughed. ¡°It would be cute if it wasn¡¯t so pathetic,¡± the other wolf rider replied. ¡°Stop messing around and let¡¯s just kill them. Take it seriously. We don¡¯t have time for games,¡± a woman on the back of the motorcycle said. ¡°C¡¯mon. Let me have some fun. It¡¯s been ages since we saw one of those things begging to live,¡± the one in front of the woman scoffed. ¡°Kai, stop being a dick. It¡¯s fine if you enjoy that, but not everyone shares your tastes,¡± the woman on the back of the bull shook her head. ¡®Are they really treating us like dungeon monsters? As if we couldn¡¯t even understand what they are saying?¡¯ Nimbus asked. ¡®I think so. Well, tough shit, I¡¯m not waiting for them to strike first,¡¯ Hera waved her hand, sending a large spray of poison needles at the humans. Most of them realized the attack was incoming and sidestepped to evade the attack. The ones on the motorcycle couldn¡¯t do the same. Still, they deployed a barrier to stop the attack. But it wasn¡¯t fast enough. A few of the needles passed through and hit them, and Hera could already feel the poison on them. ¡°Oh, look. The snake has poison,¡± the one in front of the bike rolled her eyes before shrugging, small scintillating lights fell from her shoulders and covered the pair before the feeling the Ophidianite had vanished. It seemed like they had just detoxify her poison. Skyler¡¯s voice came through the communicator, ¡°Everyone be ready. Randolf is going to pull the brakes. When we stop, we go for them. Leave this for the Harmony Guardians. The rest of you stay back and just try to not be caught in the crossfire.¡± ¡°That one is one ugly bastard. Those blue skins freak me out,¡± the one on top of the bull pointed to the side car where Neria was located. ¡°Well, don¡¯t fight them then. But how about we stop¡­ Oh crap,¡± before the person riding with them could finish the sentence, Randolf pulled the brakes and the four mounts in front of the carriage helped the container to stop. The humans continued running for a few meters as they found a good place to turn around and come down the valley. Not all of them did that. Some continued on the top of the mountain to not lose their advantage. ¡®Viper, Crimson, you two are going up. Nimbus, stay with the caravan. Try to block anyone from messing with the container. Everyone else, let¡¯s intercept,¡¯ Hera avoided saying anything out loud not to ruin her plans. ¡°Honestly, can you stop? You are only making this harder on yourself. We know how this end,¡± the man in one of the wolves said as he approached the now stationary container. ¡°You talk as if they would understand us, they are just animals,¡± Kai, the man driving the motorcycle, said with a sinister smile. He seemed to be the youngest member of the humans. Hera quickly used her [Observe] they were too cocky for this to be a normal group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kai - Shadowdancer - Level 60 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cyrus - Technomancer - Level 62 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anya - Whirlwind - Level 62 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zara - The Crimson Fury - Level 61 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bren - Thunderheart - Level 63 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elara - Starlight - Level 60 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They were all higher level than Hera and her group. And they had an assigned title. Like Insomniac or Frostbite. The system only recognized those extra names when they became well known enough. It was a point of pride for those who had it. And it also meant they were notorious enough to be famous. ¡°Now that¡¯s just rude,¡± Bren, the man on the bull, huffed as he saw the notification telling him someone used [Observe] on him. He had a large war hammer across his back and some light armor that exposed his muscles. ¡°Any chance we can just talk this out?¡± Vash asked. The human laughed, ¡°Sure, you can talk. It won¡¯t change the result. You all die here, and we get your supplies,¡± Cyrus, one of the wolf riders. He had various gadgets dangling by his belt. All looking dangerous and unstable. ¡°Fuck this then,¡± Skyler sent out a sonic boom from the side that caused all the humans to cover their ears. Each of them felt as if someone had just slapped both of their ears at once. Seeing that moment of distraction, the Harmony Guardians sprung into action. Flint, Roan, and Hera, with her court, dashed across the field to reach the humans. The Empress had already created a pair of venomous daggers. Lurize, now in his awakened form, dashed towards Bren. Being the strongest member of their group, the Royal Tutor wanted to take care of the problem while he still had a chance. After all, his current attributes should be closer to level 70, if not more. Reaching the man, the titled blade pushed him out of the bull and dragged him to the other side of the mountain. Eventually, the human was able to stop the movement and push Lurize away. Then, he brandished his war hammer and struck at the armored beetle. His attack missed, but opened a large crack on the ground. In repose, the Royal Tutor imbued his zweihander with venom and attacked back. But the man evaded the attack with the same ease. The pair continued to strike and gauge each other with every blow while the battle raged on the opposite side of the mountaintop. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Nimbus was still with the caravan, and he would stay there, only helping with some barriers here and there. Livy went to help Flint deal with Zara, The Crimson Furry. The human seemed to be heavily focused on strength, allowing the Leviathan to have a contest with her. Viper was trying to help Vash face Cyrus, the human who was betraying his name. After all, that was the name of the second Hero, and the creator of the guild. Someone who preached teamwork and how all people should be treated fairly. Yet, here this man was, with the same name and attempting to remove several civilizations from the MAZE. Vulcan was with Roan, both going after Kai, the assassin. He would come in and out of shadows, but between the beastman¡¯s senses, and Forge¡¯s fire, they were able to pinpoint the man¡¯s location. Skyler and Neria were doing some long range fighting against Elara, blasting spells and barriers back and forth, showering the battlefield in mana. Which left Hera to face the Anya, the one called Whirlwind, together with Crimson. The Empress gave a mental nod to the Spymaster, and both rushed to meet the human. At a first glance, this woman didn¡¯t seem to be anything special. Leather armor and an earth colored staff on her hands. Suddenly, Hera felt a looming sense of danger coming from behind and ducked, avoiding a strike that came out of nowhere. Yet, it wasn¡¯t a person behind her, just the end of a staff. The weapon turned into sand and returned to Anya, reassembling itself and increasing. This was the first reason for the human¡¯s given title. Her attacks would come from every direction, as if her enemies were trapped inside the eye of a hurricane. Crimson took that chance to vanish, using the [Hidden Frontal Screen] to not be seen. When she was close enough, she lashed out with a [Rending Blade] aimed at the woman¡¯s stomach. Unfortunately, the human evaded, being able to see the attack at the last moment. Crimson only managed to graze her target, but that was fine. The most important part of her skill was the reduced healing, and considering the humans had a proper healer in their team, the Harmony Guardians would need that debuff. Hera wasn¡¯t just waiting around, either. When she saw the Spymaster moving in, the Empress tried to distract the human, firing off various spells. Mostly poison needles in the hopes of being able to exploit that power against her target. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t work. Even with the boost coming from Lurize¡¯s awakened form, the human managed to block and parry all the projectiles. Once the sneak attack failed, the Ophidianite lunged forward with a pair of venomous daggers and a venomous tail spike. If the woman could make her staff appear at any location, trying to match the weapon¡¯s range would just cause problems. Anya twirled her staff, making both ends target Hera first, then Crimson. She was still unsure what these new kinds of being were. If they were part of a new species or just some monsters wearing clothes. As her staff turned into sand and solidify just before the strike, she changed to a more hand to hand approach. Going for punches, jabs and kicks at the two snake-like creatures in front of her. Initially, her strategy worked, being able to hit both Hera and Crimson repeatedly before they could block or fight back. Yet, the damage was minimal. Even if these kinds of attacks were more than enough to deal with some monsters close to her level, these two level 56 snake beings didn¡¯t seem to care. After the fifth hit, Hera¡¯s [Attack Pathing] came into play. She became able to recognize where the mana of the staff was and where it would be formed. Which also meant she was able to block, dodge, or at least lessen the blows coming her way. For Crimson, that was a bit harder, since she would have to lean into Hera¡¯s feelings instead of her own, but she was still able to show some progress. With a frown after seeing this duo able to fight back, Anya triggered the second reason for her given title. She tapped a yellow strip on her leg. A talisman that turned into sand and covered her surroundings in a localized sandstorm. Hera held back a smile while she felt the tiny particles of sand slamming against her body. They didn¡¯t hurt, not really. It was a similar feeling to rain on a windy day. Small pricks that were annoying, but not to the point of being a problem. The main issue was visibility. Or it would be if Hera couldn¡¯t use [Ophidianite Sight] which focused more on the temperature. Anya¡¯s talisman didn¡¯t bring sand from a desert or a beach. It created sand with mana, and that sand was created at a much colder temperature than the human body right in front of the Empress. She wasn¡¯t the only one benefiting from it. Seeing the sand cover an area, all the blades rushed inside, not all to help Hera, but to be covered in sand and let Clay¡¯s [Seal of Tectonic Might] empower them. After all, he had suggested for them to roll around on the beach to be covered in earth. A sandstorm was even better. For a brief moment, Anya thought she had the upper hand, but then Crimson jumped out of the sandstorm, attacking the woman¡¯s legs and vanishing on the other side. Before the human could answer to that blow. Hera did the same, with a pair of slashes aimed at the arm and her tail spike aiming at the leg. As quickly as she appeared, the Ophidianite returned to the sandstorm. Anya turned around, trying to understand how they were able to see her like that, only to have to block a chain whip that came out of nowhere. Clay¡¯s [Crushing Grip] quickly wrapped around her staff and while the woman struggled. Crimson came for another attack, stabbing her in the shoulder. Anya yelled, asking for healing, but her healer couldn¡¯t see her due to the sandstorm. Instead, she raised her hand towards Crimson¡¯s tail and made the entire sandstorm to gather around it and solidify, encasing the Spymaster in a tomb. When everything cleared, Elara, the human healer, noticed Anya¡¯s situation and tried to help, but the little healing she was able to cast before Vash blocked the spell was reduced thanks to Crimson¡¯s early attack. Hera moved towards the woman¡¯s back while Clay still held on to the staff and used her Break Combo with the [Grasshopper Stab] aimed at the woman¡¯s spine. The Empress didn¡¯t like this, but she felt, with each of the blows of the sand staff. If it was anyone else, this human might be able to knock them out in a few strikes. The only reason she was able to take them was the benefits coming from Lurize¡¯s awakened form. To make matters worse, she could tell everyone else was having trouble. Livy was being pushed back by the Crimson Fury while part of Flint¡¯s armor had broken. Vulcan and Roan were unable to even touch Kai, who kept weaving in and out of the shadows. And the rest were hardly doing better. If she wanted to win this fight, she wouldn¡¯t be able to pull her punches. Hera¡¯s combo struck true, blasting the human woman with a powerful attack, but despite the close to a million mana Hera spent there, she was still alive. Just barely conscious. Shadow came flying from the side and cut a small part of her leg, then smacked the back of her head with the base of the weapon. With a spin, he continued and pierced the right side of her chest, right between a couple of ribs. It didn¡¯t take a doctor to know the attack hit one of her lungs, if not her heart. When the Scythe pulled back, Anya fell to the ground, unable to breathe properly, as her strongest recovery skill had been sealed. Crimson was set free, and she lunged at the opportunity to finish the job. Stabbing the woman¡¯s back and biting on her neck with her snake fangs. Some of the human yelled, calling for their fallen comrade, but before anything could be done. Bren and Lurize broke through the middle of the mountain. The Royal Tutor was holding the man¡¯s head with a single hand in front of him, clearly having used the human to forcibly dig that tunnel. He then dropped Brenn to the side, his head mostly gone and his body covered in bruises. A single clean cut split into two pieces the large war hammer he held. Lurize was different now. His armor was wider and the golden color now shined as if it was made out of light. His double horns now had a split at the tip and created the prongs of a Hercule beetle. The Royal Tutor, and Hera¡¯s first court member, had just activated his awakens skill. For the next 9 seconds, nothing would be able to hold him back. 845 - Army Camp After Lurize appeared in his awakened golden form, the fight was pretty much over. His attributes skyrocketed to the point of rivaling someone at level 80. Even if that lasted just a few seconds, he killed Bren by using him as a battering ram to dig a hole through the mountain, then bisected Anya and tackled Zara, The Crimson Fang. His horns pierced the human¡¯s skull before his form ran out, and he returned to the Legacy. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t like he had been destroyed, but the Royal Tutor would still need a few hours before being summoned again. Having lost their front line, the humans tried to escape, but the Harmony Guardians weren¡¯t about to let them go. Cyrus and Elara were jumped by the remaining titled blades, who were able to pin them down as Roan and Skyler finished them off. Kai, the one known as Shadow Dancer, managed to escape at first, but Sun used his [Solar Flare] to remove any nearby shadow that could be hiding the man, which allowed Vash to tag him with a spell that forcibly revealed his position. The assassin still tried to run, but now Nimbus had a moment to shine by catching them and letting Flint deliver the killing blow. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have much of a chance to wait around there. The fight was anything but quiet, and if one team was able to ambush them, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to expect another to do the same. Still, leaving the bodies here was a waste. The Harmony Guardians quickly gathered the corpses, or what remained of them, and tossed them in the caravan before Randolf started moving again. During the next leg of the journey, as they rushed to the doorway, Hera, Flint, and Roan, with the help of Kalahan and Britta, took out their equipment and items that could still be useful. Around one hour later, they arrived at the doorway that was currently empty. Everyone was aware that both the Alliance and the Guild had people watching everything that passed through here, but controlling it was too much effort for what it was worth. This place was too far away from any of the cities to have proper support, and being right on the side of a mountain meant that any army that tried to hold on would be cornered. Another issue would be the possibility of an opposing force coming from the doorway itself. While they were preparing to leave, Hera took that chance to pull all the bodies out of the caravan and place them neatly side by side, a few dozen metered away from the doorway they were about to use. ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± Flint asked. ¡°I¡¯m assuming the guild will send someone to retrieve the bodies,¡± Hera explained. ¡°They are our enemies, why are you even bothering with that? If you are worried about their families, just toss their heads in a pile,¡± Roan rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m doing this out of respect. I think they deserve this much,¡± Hera placed Kai¡¯s body on the end of the line, ¡°Even if he sounded like a psycho.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand you. We fed another group to the monsters in a room. Why are these any different?¡± Roan asked. ¡°They were helping a group that is experimenting on people and Spirits. They lost the right to be respected when they crossed that line. These people were just doing their jobs as soldiers. Besides, it is not just them. Their families deserve this, too. Not knowing what happened with someone is worse than knowing they are dead,¡± Hera walked back to the caravan. ¡°How do you know that? How do you know they are not involved in that?¡± Roan snarled. ¡°I don¡¯t. So, I assume they are not. I might be wrong, but they are dead. I would rather make a mistake here, hoping for the best, than make people suffer needlessly,¡± Hera glanced at Vulcan, who was waiting for her near the caravan. He didn¡¯t help the titled blades. Staying close to humans wasn¡¯t good for him, ¡°There has been too much suffering already.¡± Roan stared at her for a long moment before sighing, ¡°Do what you want. Just don¡¯t expect my help.¡± In a couple of minutes, they crossed to the next room. A place called Eternal Prairie. Just as the name suggested, it was a massive expanse of tall grass spanning over 300 kilometers in a near-perfect circle. Just like in the previous room, there were two cities here, one controlled by humans and another by the Alliance. The doorway they were using was located at the side of the room, closer to the Alliance city, but still far enough to be considered on neutral ground. As soon as they arrived, Randolf made the caravan run at full speed. They would be on the edge of the battlefield for a while, which could only lead to trouble. Then again, if a human group attacked them here, it would devolve into a massive battle with both sides sending in their army. Despite that, no one wanted to stay there for long. It was the second area they had to clear while hoping the stalemate of the war would be enough to protect them, and no one liked those odds. The caravan moved fast, with Nimbus helping pull it to increase the average speed. Hera could see some movement on the opposite side of the plains, towards the human city and the various army camps spread across the length of the room. Both sides had spread their troops in a line to block any incoming attacks or battalions from sneaking in, but they also had a central command to organize everything. And that was the caravan¡¯s destination. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After a few moments, when the group was already on the road they had to follow to reach the Alliance army, a whistling noise came out of nowhere, and an arrow hit the ground a few meters from the container. What followed was an explosion that tossed the entire vehicle to the side. Everyone inside tossed their weight against the direction they were flung towards in hopes that they wouldn¡¯t end up toppling. What saved them was another explosion on the other side of the caravan, the difference being that the first blast was made out of fire, while the second was lightning. ¡®I see them! A kilometer back. On top of a tower!¡¯ Twiggy yelled in the court¡¯s mind. ¡°Robin, can you hit an arrow out of the sky?¡± Hera called as the bow blade floated to her side. ¡®For you, my Empress? Absolutely!¡¯ Robin¡¯s voice was filled with confidence. ¡°Crim, Viper, hold me down so I won¡¯t fall. Robin, you fire, I load,¡± Hera created a frost arrow and placed it on the bow blade, which quickly fired at an incoming projectile. His arrow hit another just a few meters before it landed, creating a massive explosion at the back of the caravan. Everyone who was in the back had to cover it, since it was the most exposed of all the seats in the vehicle. ¡®I¡¯ll use a Solar Flare. Even if I can¡¯t reach them, my light will blind our attackers!¡¯ Sun started preparing the skill. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Hera yelled, and she placed a thorn vine arrow on Robin, ¡°It¡¯s too much mana, and that light will tell the entire room where we are.¡± ¡®Then what can we do?¡¯ Sun asked. ¡®Nothing. I¡¯m the only long ranged attacker in the court. And we don¡¯t need anyone else. I¡¯ll keep you all safe,¡¯ Robin fired not just the thorn vine arrow, but also two more coming from the edges of the bow as he triggered the [Seal Of Mystic Resonance.] ¡°Someone grab me!¡± Vash¡¯s voice came through the communicator just as he flew past the side of the caravan. Thankfully, Kalahan was fast enough to reach out for him and hold the harpy by his feet before pulling him back to the back of the container, ¡°Thanks! Now I can help,¡± Vash smiled and used a sound blast to intercept a couple more arrows. But one of those projectiles wasn¡¯t physical. A whirlwind spell blasted just by the side of the caravan, immediately creating a powerful gust of wind that tried to pull the supply truck to itself. Due to the weight, speed, or just luck, that didn¡¯t happen, but it was enough to make them shake violently once more. ¡°Vash! Focus on spells. I can make a shield!¡± Neria pulled a large chunk of water from her staff and formed a semi-circle behind the caravan. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop the arrows completely, but the spell would either force the attacks to explode or slow them enough to make it easier for Robin to knock them out of the sky. Skyler also helped make a secondary layer to that barrier, but since she was using sound waves, it was nowhere near as effective as the triton¡¯s. ¡°How are they hitting us? They are so far away!¡± Remy was panicking, holding on for dear life in one of the side seats. ¡°Archers are better than you imagine. Even I have a skill that can show me where they are, I just never focused on long range fights,¡± Roan groaned. He couldn¡¯t do anything to help now. During that time, Flint jumped on top of the container and quickly started making a larger version of his power armor arms. He attached it to the metal top of the container; that way, if it looked like it would tip to one side, he could activate the pistons and, quite literally, punch the ground to tip the entire thing to the opposite way. It was crude, badly balanced, and it only could help if the entire thing was about to tip over, but it seemed effective. And he had a chance to test it almost instantly as another massive explosion hit the side of the caravan, almost making it topple to the left. The piston arm slammed against the ground, forcing the container to go back to the center of the road. Yet, that one save was enough to break down the metal joints. Flint went straight to the repairs, and as they continued moving. Initially, the attacks became more frequent, but the farther away the caravan got from the doorway, the fewer projectiles started hitting until they were finally out of the range of the humans. A couple of the tires had been damaged, and large parts of the container were bent due to the impact. No one fell off the vehicle or got serious injuries, but there were plenty of bruises and cuts to go around, even with Kalahan trying his best to heal everyone. Neria didn¡¯t have a chance to do that since she had to focus on keeping the shield up and rebuilding it every time the barrier broke. Still, thanks to Nimbus, they were able to continue moving the caravan until they crossed the Alliance army blockade. There was a quick inspection of their identities before they were allowed to continue to the main camp. Randolf was supposed to deliver all the supplies to the same place, and the army would take care of splitting the crates amongst themselves. The main camp of the Alliance in this room was made out of a large wood structure created from the bushes and the grass in the plains. There were other tents made out of stone, cloth, clay, and even metal in various different styles, showing how all species were trying to help each other. In the main camp, there was not just the command center but also large barracks, a few warehouses, and the central medical tent that took care of the patients in critical conditions that could be moved. The ones that couldn¡¯t were on the emergency tents near each of the individual camps spread all around the blockade. There was a quick discussion when they arrived and another inspection of their identities before the group was free to roam around. It would take a couple of hours to finish unloading the supplies since they had to check if everything was safe and if nothing broke during the attack. Only then would Randolf head to the city where the Harmony Guardians would stay the night. At that time, the team was free to do what they wanted. Neria went straight to the medical tent to help heal the soldiers. Roan was nowhere to be seen, but he was likely going to meet the beastmen in the area to see what he could do to help. Skyler apparently saw a few people she knew and was already greeting them, and Flint moved to the crafting area where people were repairing their gear and making more weapons and ammo for those who needed it, which left Hera to find something to do. She could just sit back and relax, but it felt off doing something like that in the middle of a battlefield, and she might be able to help someone. She just had to find out who. 846 - Repairs Hera walked around the camp, seeing how the army was setting up. She wasn¡¯t in the trenches, but even then, she could see people injured and dirty from being stuck in a place without a chance to clean themselves properly. The haunted eyes of people who saw death on a daily basis. Still, things were looking good. The spirits were high, or as high as one would expect them to be in a war zone. From the little she could gather, it had been a few weeks since the last big battle. Only a few skirmishes were happening here and there, and nothing got close to the camps. Still, the Empress got worried that something was going to happen while she was here. There was no way to prove that, but Hera believed her [Silver Linings] skill would make bad things happen more frequently in order to trigger. If that was really the case, then she might be attracting danger to the army. Logically, the Ophidianite knew that this was just superstition. She wasn¡¯t a bad luck magnet, but it was hard not to think about that kind of thing when so many things seemed to go wrong in her life. From not being able to be an explorer to finding Boothudurn, even Alex¡¯s curse was mostly her fault. And so were the months they got stuck in the Abyssal Deep. Pushing those thoughts away, Hera called her court out and sent them all into the sky. They made a conga line to increase the range as much as possible, with Robin staying at the very top. Thanks to everyone, including the titled blades, the bow blade reached a height of 400 meters and had a nice view of a large area of the room. ¡®I can see some movement, but no one is getting closer,¡¯ Robin said after a moment. Hera was about to ask something when an elf came rushing over, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°What?¡± the Empress stared at the woman. ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± she gestured to the floating weapons above, ¡°You can¡¯t do that. I saw you summoning those weapons. Send them away now!¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry,¡± Hera dismissed the entire court, ¡°Why is this a problem?¡± ¡°Because you will give away our location to the humans!¡± the elf huffed. Hera blinked slowly. She glanced back towards the opposite side of the room. From the ground, she could see the skyline of the human city and some tiny things moving a few kilometers away. Not the people exactly, but maybe some flags or structures that were being built or moved. The Ophidianite looked around the camp, seeing several tall tents, over 3 meters tall, and the command center, a structure made out of small branches with at least four floors that should amount to a total height of about 10 meters. ¡°Sorry to say this, but I think that ship has sailed. Besides, the base camp doesn¡¯t move, right? Like it¡¯s not mobile,¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s been here ever since the war reached this room.¡± ¡°Yeah, so I¡¯m sure the humans already know about our location,¡± Hera saw the woman was about to complain, but continued, ¡°I¡¯m not saying I¡¯ll do that again. You said I can¡¯t do that, so I won¡¯t. The reason just feels pointless.¡± The elven woman huffed, her ginger hair held in a tight bun, not unlike what you would see in a ballerina, ¡°I don¡¯t care what you think. Those are the orders, the harpy can¡¯t fly above a certain height, and you can¡¯t do whatever the fuck you were doing. Who is your captain? I will remind them to properly drill our rules.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a captain, sorry. I came with the supplies as their escort,¡± Hera replied. The elf clicked her tongue, ¡°Of course. You are one of the cowards who are too scared to see a real battle. If you can¡¯t even help your crew take out the boxes, just find somewhere to sit and stay out of our way. We don¡¯t have time to babysit you spoiled brats,¡± the woman turned around and walked away. ¡°What a bitch,¡± Daskka huffed. ¡°We are on a battlefield. Tensions are high, and I think she just needed to vent,¡± Hera shrugged and walked away. It was funny. She never expected to not be affected by someone like that. If this was the old her, she would either break down and feel bad about herself or argue and explain that the elf was wrong. Yet, right now, she didn¡¯t care. Watching that woman walk away was an oddly introspective moment. ¡°Mum? Are you ok?¡± Daskka asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine,¡± Hera nodded and continued to walk around the camp. She found a few soldiers talking and resting, others preparing some food, and even a small group playing cards. Eventually, a harpy from one particular battalion approached her. He asked who, and more to the point, what she was. The Empress answered and asked more about the overall situation in exchange for sharing more about her kind. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The war here was in a complicated situation. Because of the way the room was set up, it was impossible to attack without letting the other side see the attack coming. This meant that any attempt to break through the opposite side had to move quicker than their enemies could react. Larger battles only happened on the rare occasions when mist covered the middle of the room. That was a moment when either side could risk sending a larger amount of troops without having them battered by the watchtowers that protected each army. However, it wasn¡¯t easy to predict when those things would happen. And it also came with the danger of monsters who emerged from the mist. According to the harpy, the worst conflict that happened here was during a rampage. Neither side could leave their position, which forced them to fight not just against the army but also against monsters that continuously spawned everywhere. But it didn¡¯t seem like things would change anytime soon. The Alliance army had entrenched themselves in this position, making it harder for the humans to advance. Even if they had superior numbers, another thing the harpy showed her was a few watchtowers that were even taller than the command center. Seeing that only made the Empress find that previous interaction with the elf even weirder, but she wasn¡¯t about to mention it. There was one more thing that became apparent during that conversation. This wasn¡¯t a real army. Not in the proper sense of the word. Basically, most of the troops deployed here were made up of people just like her. Random adventurers who were exploring the MAZE and, once the war started, refused to take the human abuse and lie down. Each battalion was made out of several parties that came together instead of one cohesive unit. People were not as well versed in following strict rules and commands as one would expect, and their organization wasn¡¯t the best. Especially when it came to a chain of command. Still, it wasn¡¯t like everything was horrible. Hera could see people receiving orders and scoffing, only to be reprimanded by their friends. That showed how some people were getting the hang of things and helping everyone else follow along. If that was actually the best option for how to behave during a war, the Empress had no idea. She was never the kind to enjoy thinking about large-scale battle tactics or about the history of conflicts. But if it worked for thousands of years of civilization, she wasn¡¯t about to question it. After thanking the harpy for all the information, Hera went to look for Randolf to see if he was ready to go to the city. Ever since they got here, she didn¡¯t have her titled blades walking by her side. It was one thing to show up in a city with a crew of different species, another to do that in the middle of an army camp. She was already unique enough to make some people uncomfortable. After all, there wasn¡¯t a rule that said new species would join the alliance. Considering what happened with the centaurs, it was easy to understand why some would be uneasy with her presence. Adding a griffon, a living armor, a giant sea serpent, a pair of half-Naga, and a kangaroo with anger issues wouldn¡¯t help. Randolf was close to finishing up the delivery, and the Ophidianite took the chance to gather all of her teammates so they could leave soon. There was a tiny voice in the back of her mind saying that she would end up having to fight against some humans if she stuck around for too long. The easiest ones to find were Neria and Flint; both were in the same place they told they would be. The medical tent and the crafter¡¯s area, respectively. However, it was much easier to bring Flint along than it was to take Neria out of the tent. The triton desperately wanted to help the wounded. By itself, that wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but the healer seemed to be struggling with something. She refused to move away even when another medic appeared to take care of the patient. It got to the point where she was escorted out of the tent. ¡°What was that?¡± Flint was staring at the triton. ¡°I¡­ I just want to help. I can¡¯t stand seeing people hurting and no one doing anything!¡± Neria gasped. ¡°Do you know why they are not doing anything? Maybe it¡¯s part of the treatment,¡± Flint crossed his arms. ¡°What kind of treatment leaves people suffering?¡± Neria yelled and got some angry stares from the guards in front of the medical tent. Hera pulled the triton away, ¡°Pretty much every treatment. Even battle heals leave some pain behind. I get that you are trying to help, but maybe you are confusing this with something else.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Neria shook her head, ¡°You might be right.¡± ¡°Want to talk about it?¡± Flint offered. ¡°Maybe later. I need to get my head straight,¡± Neria sighed and just followed along, not saying anything else. Hera and Flint shared a look but didn¡¯t say anything else. Vash wasn¡¯t that hard to find, the harpy was doing a small performance near the ¡®cafeteria¡¯ to lift up people¡¯s spirits. And with his help, locating the other became much easier. Not because he could fly, but his sound based spells let him pinpoint locations better. Especially if he was used to how someone spoke. With the Harmony Guardians together again, they headed back to Randolf, who was ready to depart. Even in the current state of the caravan, along with Drew and Veronica, the merchant made enough repairs to keep the vehicle operational until they reached the city. In there, they could fix everything properly before going back to Zinctorum. However, he had already warned the group that it would take at least two days to get everything in order, even if it was a best-case scenario where all the parts he needed were available. If not, he hoped that at least the materials were there, which would let him craft the parts himself and not worry about a longer delay. ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ do you think we can come back here tomorrow? Or Nimbus can just come to drop me off?¡± Neria turned to Hera. ¡°Let¡¯s climb on the caravan, then we talk. Ok?¡± Hera replied. The Harmony Guardians stayed on the back this time as the container started moving. It was hard to tell why Neria was so insistent on helping the soldiers, and it didn¡¯t feel like just something out of the goodness of her heart. There was another reason, something deeper and more personal. At least, that was what everyone was thinking as they got away from the command center. But it would still take a few more minutes before Neria was ready to speak. 847 - Reason to help Neria took longer than anyone expected to speak up. Hera and Flint did try to ask her about what was goon on again, but she didn¡¯t reply, and simply said she needed a bit more time to properly explain things. Still, after a long wait, she was finally ready. ¡°Ok¡­ this is going to sound super weird. But what do you all know about prophecies?¡± the triton asked. ¡°What?¡± Skyler turned to face the healer. ¡°I know you heard me,¡± Neria replied. ¡°Are we talking like¡­ a proper prophecy skill?¡± Hera tried to ask, as absurd as it sounded. That kind of thing didn¡¯t exist. Not even the System could predict the future. Sure, it could make skills like [Attack Pathing], something that helps you understand the logic behind a movement and ¡®predict¡¯ its direction. But that wasn¡¯t seeing the future. It was using the information available to reveal the most likely scenario. And even then, it wasn¡¯t foolproof. ¡°No. Nothing like that. I know those are not a thing. I mean generally. Do you know what a prophecy is?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s someone predicting the future. Beastmen have shamans who say they can do that by using bones, runes, smoke, tea, crystal balls, tarot cards, you name it. No one has a skill for it, though,¡± Roan added. Neria nodded, ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s pretty much it. We have a very famous prophet back home. He is known for being right very often. Out of 10 predictions, he hits the mark on 2, and 3 are right, but you have to interpret the prophecy in a specific way. Another two are kind of right, but it¡¯s a bit of a stretch. The last three are completely wrong or are just so generic that anyone could make them.¡± ¡°How generic? Like it¡¯s going to rain?¡± Flint asked. Neria shook her head, ¡°More like, ¡®after a storm without end, the land will be poisoned, and nothing will grow.¡¯ Which, like, yeah. If a storm keeps going for months, it can change the soil enough to kill any plants living there. Especially if they are already in a harsh environment or if the storm drags the trees away. Then all the nutrients will be gone, and there is nothing left to return to the ground.¡± ¡°Ok¡­ what does that have to do with you wanting to heal people? Did he make a prophecy about you?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Yeah. When I was little, he said that I would be too weak to heal the right person during a war, and my failure would cause the death of many. That¡¯s why I became a healer. Why I wanted to be healing the people in the war. I feel like it is my responsibility not to let that many people die.¡± ¡°What the¡­ how is that your responsibility? Just because a crazy old man said that doesn¡¯t mean you are to blame,¡± Skyler huffed. ¡°Even so, this is why I became a healer. To make sure I didn¡¯t kill that many people.¡± ¡°You keep saying many, but do you even know an actual number? Like, many can be from three to 20 billion,¡± Vash said. Neria shook her head, ¡°No, the prophecy doesn¡¯t specify.¡± ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t,¡± Hera sighed, ¡°What did the prophecy actually say? Those things are usually super annoying to understand. At least in movies.¡± ¡°Hang on,¡± Neria opened her tablet and found the file, ¡°In the depths where waves meet stone, amidst the echoes of war, a healer born of Triton blood shall face a trial unseen. Though her heart beat with compassion¡¯s tide, her strength shall falter, and the currents of fate will pull her under. From her grasp, life shall slip like sand through fingers, and in its wake, a shadow shall darken the waters, claiming hundreds of souls in its somber embrace.¡± Hera waited until the triton was done before letting out a loud groan, ¡°Why? Why can¡¯t people just say, ¡®Hey, it¡¯s like this.¡¯¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think his power works like that,¡± Neria replied. ¡°What power? People can¡¯t predict the future! He is just lucky to get it right so often,¡± Skyler huffed. ¡°Even if he¡¯s just lucky and is scamming everyone. I don¡¯t want that on my conscience. It¡¯s talking about hundreds of people,¡± Neria sighed. ¡°Souls,¡± Hera corrected. ¡°What?¡± the triton looked at her. ¡°The prophecy you mentioned talks about hundreds of souls, not people. Which could also mean monsters,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Do monsters have souls?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Do any of us? Like seriously, this is already a mess. Are we getting philosophical?¡± Skyler crossed her arms and leaned back. ¡°I mean¡­ you do have a point. But going back to the prophecy. You mentioned that you only became a healer because of it?¡± Flint asked with a frown. Neria nodded, but Vash was the one who continued speaking, ¡°Ooh. I think I know why you asked that. It¡¯s a self-fulfilling prophecy, right?¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking,¡± Flint smiled. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Vash raised his wing like a kid trying to speak up in class, ¡°Can I? Can I?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Flint shrugged. ¡°Think about movies. How when the evil King hears a prophecy about how a young lad from Horse Creek or whatever will topple his rule. What does the King do?¡± ¡°Destroys the village and kills everyone inside,¡± Neria replied. ¡°And by doing that, the young lad will somehow survive and eventually grow to lead the rebellion that will kill the evil King. That¡¯s self-fulfilling. One that only happens because the moment you hear about it, your actions changed in order to make that a reality,¡± Flint added. ¡°So¡­ you are saying that if I never became a healer, I might not end up killing hundreds?¡± Neria asked. ¡°You still might not!¡± Skyler shouted, ¡°Seriously. Don¡¯t tell me you dedicated your entire life to that nonsense.¡± ¡°Skyler!¡± Hera protested, but Neria shook her head. ¡°No. I already wanted to be a healer. I wanted to help people, and that seemed like the best way. This was just a last push. If I wasn¡¯t a healer, I would be a fighter.¡± Everyone froze when hearing that and turned to the triton. ¡°You? A fighter?¡± Roan asked, holding back his laughter. ¡°Yes. Is that so hard to believe?¡± Neria raised one eyebrow. ¡°No, no. Of course not,¡± Vash pulled his maracas from his waist, ¡°Hold this for me, please.¡± ¡°What are you..¡± THUNK! The moment Vash let go of the instruments, the maracas slammed on the floor of the caravan. Neria quickly raised them, ¡°What the hell are those things? How are they so heavy?¡± ¡°They are made of metal, and there are various minerals inside to create the sounds I need. Each is about 5 kilograms. No, too heavy for me, but I suppose not everyone has enough points in strength; miss almost a fighter,¡± Vash replied with a big smile, which caused Roan to burst out in laughter. They teased Neria for a while, and soon they arrived at the alliance controlled town. It was a walled off city with an oval shape. Inside were another two sets of wall with the bunkers and heaviest fortifications in the center, together with any vital infrastructure like the water supply, the power plant, and a few of the vertical farms. The livestock was kept in the buildings, but the plants stayed on the underground levels, with sunstones replacing actual sunlight. Randolf drove the caravan to one of the outer gates that focused on deliveries. The process of getting in was very easy since the army had already sent word of their arrival. In just a few minutes, the group was already looking for hotels to stay the night. Before dinner, Randolf would send them a text letting them know how long they would have to wait before leaving. Still, it was a good thing. Neria had already convinced the rest of the team to go back to the army camp to help them the next day if they ended up staying there. She also promised to behave properly. The Harmony Guardians knew that there was no arguing with the triton, especially after the revelation of her motives, and decided to agree. It was better than doing nothing in the city, anyway. They already spent a few months having enough time for themselves. Sure, they were power leveling, but it wasn¡¯t stressful or dangerous. Being a part of the army, even if for a few days, could be all they needed to feel like they were giving back to the alliance. They were all worried about how they gained so much from the intelligence agency but had done nothing to them back. No one asked them to, and it was clear that they would be going on more dangerous missions in the future, but for now, it still felt like things were too easy. But that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t rest and have nice meals. Taking advantage of the fortune they made thanks to the Ultimate Dance Rumble dungeon, they found a nice restaurant to have dinner, and they would stay in the best hotels available. They also paid for Randolf, Drew, Veronica, Britta, Kalahan, and Remy. After all, the prices were not an issue, and it would mean that each member of the Harmony Guardians would pay for one extra room. During their meal, the caravan leader also took the chance to give everyone the bad news. ¡°Ok¡­ So, we are stuck here for the next five days. The container is more damaged than I expected. Some of the axles that hold the wheels are just mush. The fact we didn¡¯t break down on the way here is nothing short of a miracle,¡± the harpy sighed. ¡°Wait. Aren¡¯t the axles, like, made out of metal?¡± Vash asked. Randolf nodded, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And they become mush? Like soft and gooey?¡± ¡°Yep. And that¡¯s not because of heat. It¡¯s cold to the touch, but it¡¯s still like that,¡± Randolf just stared at his lasagna, clearly uncomfortable with the words coming out of his mouth. ¡°The humans were able to permanently liquefy the metal? Or did that happen in the Drowned Bog?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Reinforced metal. And everything was fine when we left the bog. I checked,¡± Drew replied. ¡°Fuck me¡­ they must have some strong mages on their side,¡± Flint shook his head. ¡°Anyway. In theory, I can make some simple repairs to the caravan, but I don¡¯t think it will hold the right amount of weight. Then, we will break down halfway between one city and the next. We can also end up getting stuck in a minor settlement until someone is able to bring us the materials for a proper fix. If we stay here, we have all the parts. Well, we will have all the parts. They lack some of the raw materials I need, but they can get them in a few days. Then, I can make the proper repairs and build the right axles, suspensions, and breaks that will hold for a very long time. As long as we don¡¯t get blasted by whatever the fuck hit us this time.¡± ¡°Well. Then we have some time,¡± Neria looked at the Harmony Guardians, who all nodded in response. It seemed like they would be helping the army for a few days. ¡°At least we are here in the city. And from what the soldiers told me, the humans shouldn¡¯t try to attack us anytime soon,¡± Remy said with a smile. However, his optimist was met with an annoyed stare coming from Hera, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you just said that.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that was a low blow, my guy,¡± Veronica shook her head. ¡°What? I didn¡¯t say anything wrong, just that things are looking good and we won¡¯t have to see an army attacking us,¡± Remy protested, only making the rest of the table groan with the exception of Britta and Kalahan. His two party members seemed just as confused as the beastmen. Roan tapped the man¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Remy, let me give you some advice. You never say things like that.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°We won¡¯t get attacked. Everything seems fine. It¡¯s not like this will go wrong. At least it is not raining. Anything to the sort.¡± ¡°But... Why?¡± ¡°Because when you say that, you make something go wrong,¡± Drew replied. Britta laughed, ¡°C¡¯mon, you don¡¯t really believe in that. Do you?¡± ¡°I do. Nine times out of ten, if someone raises a flag. Something bad happens,¡± Hera nodded, but saw the confused expressions from not just the low level team, but also the caravan members, ¡°Saying that kind of thing. That¡¯s raising a flag.¡± ¡°Oh, Ok, yeah, that makes sense,¡± Drew nodded and turned back to Remy, ¡°Raising a flag, as Hera put it, always makes things go wrong. It¡¯s like you are predicting the future.¡± Neria suddenly jumped up, ¡°See! Prophecies can be real!¡± Skyler rolled her eyes as she let out a loud groan. Hera chuckled, and she knew that the next few days would at least be interesting, with or without a flag. 848 - Encroaching Storm Everything went surprisingly well in the next few days. In the morning, the Harmony Guardians would check up on Randolf and see if he needed any help, which translated to seeing if there was anything Flint could do to help. Then, they would gather some food and go to the alliance center to help with the daily deliveries to the army. Things like toiletries, produce, and the occasional raw material. If Flint was going to stay behind, he would still make a carriage for the team to use, and when they were ready, they would go back to the central command of the army. In there, Neria would stay almost exclusively in the command tent, and Skyler would assist with some of the battle plans for the smaller battalions since she had a background in military strategy. Vash would find a place where people gathered to play some music or help them relax and lift up everyone¡¯s spirits. Roan would be helping train the more rowdy battalions, and Hera would just help with whatever she could find. At times, it was carrying boxes from place to place. It could also be making the beds or having Nimbus help with some repairs. On the first day after the delivery, the Empress talked with a few of the commanders and gave a loose explanation about her court, offering their help with anything the army might need. Flint could also help here, but he was with Rudolf, creating a set of arms for the sides of the caravan. The idea was to make something that could not only help when the container tipped, but maybe even help with steep climbs and maybe even some defense. In the end, it was more of a robotics project than just engineering, which was the dwarf specialty. When it became clear he was in over his head, he left the caravan leader to come up with different designs and talk with his contacts to come up with better attachments. In hindsight, Randolf realized he could¡¯ve tried to figure out that kind of thing a long time ago, but he was always too worried about the total weight of the container to think about putting more things on top. Either way, after the second day, it became clear that Flint couldn¡¯t help with all that, and he started coming with the rest of the team to help the army. This is how they spent four days after they arrived at the room. Neither army attempted any attack, nor were there any large explosions. Instead, everything was peaceful. Tense but peaceful. The morning of the third day was cloudy, and soon it started to rain. Even so, Neria insisted on going to the camp despite that. Since it wasn¡¯t pouring down, everyone agreed to go. The army couldn¡¯t hide from the rain, so it wasn¡¯t fair that they did that. The court was becoming famous among the soldiers. Especially when the details of what they were started to spread around. Going to see the legacy constructs became something everyone in the camp tried to do at least once a day. They even made a game out of it. They tried to prove the constructs were like robots and couldn¡¯t think like actual people by asking random questions. Whoever was able to make the titled blades get stuck in a loop would ¡®win.¡¯ Nimbus and Lurize were fine with that; they were very patient with the questions. Even if Nimbus would occasionally prank people by repeating the same thing over and over again, pretending to be an NPC in a game to let someone win the bet. Very few tried to do that with Livy. The Leviathan¡¯s size was enough to intimidate most people. She also got annoyed quickly and would start telling people to fuck off if they kept asking the same thing over and over again. Viper and Crimson had a different approach. They leaned towards Livy¡¯s attitude, quickly getting annoyed with the questions. If they wanted it to stop, all they had to do was find an opening to hide and vanish from sight. In some situations, they had to use the [Hidden Frontal Screen], but more often than not, they were just able to disappear without any skills. There was a reason why they were the Spymasters of the court. Even Vulcan was walking around, but he was with the crafters and Flint fixing up armor and weapons and making arrows for the army. Hera made sure to warn everyone who interacted with Forge that he had a link with a Daemon, so people shouldn¡¯t be trying to push his buttons. That worked for some, but the curiosity of others was stronger than their respect for her wishes. Because of it, Vulcan ended up getting a high [Daemonic Influence] the previous day and had to use the skill. Killing a few monsters that lived on the path between the army and the city. His revival skill triggered, which allowed him to come back right away, but it was something they had to worry about. Late afternoon, when the sun was already behind the army and the shadows grew longer despite the clouds in the sky, people noticed some mist rolling in. At first, it was a bit worrisome, but not to the point of it being an attack. Things like that could happen in the room. If this was something done by the humans, it would affect only a part of the battlefield, not the entire area. Or at least people would be able to tell that the mist wasn¡¯t natural. There would be signs that it was a spell created by a group of people. The Empress was among the first to suspect that there was something wrong with this. The mist wasn¡¯t rolling in all at once; it would slow down and then continue, but its movement wasn¡¯t following the air current. Not perfectly. Even when the winds kept blowing, the mist could be just there. Almost as if it was being held by something. She also heard a soldier mumbling something about seeing some movement in the sky. A harrowing thought crossed Hera¡¯s mind as she looked beyond the rain. She quickly touched the communicator and spoke, ¡°I think we have a problem. We need to get together. Now!¡± ¡°Hera?¡± Skyler¡¯s voice was full of worry. ¡°What is going on?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I think we are about to be attacked,¡± Hera explained, looking back at the mist and summoning the rest of her court. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°The commanders are on high alert, too. Even if some are saying this fog is natural.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it is, but I can¡¯t prove it,¡± the Empress replied. ¡°I agree with you, mum. There is something weird about that mist. It feels¡­ kind of like the mist I can make,¡± Daskka added. ¡°Daskka agrees with me. I hope I¡¯m wrong and you can complain about it later. But for now, we should-¡° Before the Ophidianite could finish her sentence, a bolt of lightning came crashing down on top of one of the nearby tents. The thunder echoed across the camp. People rushed to help those who got injured, but Hera¡¯s court noticed something else. In the distance, the mist started to pick up speed and become more and more solid. It was no longer just air with a lot of humidity, but it looked as if the very clouds had come down from the sky. ¡°Please, no,¡± Hera uttered a whispered prayer. Arrows started flying by, forcing the Empress to duck down. She used her stone shape to create a small barricade where people could take cover. Her titled blades turned back to their weapon form to avoid being hit, but the entire court was close by. A good amount of people got hit by the projectiles, and a few even died on the spot. Being unlucky enough to be hit in the eye or having an arrow that exploded in thorns lodged in their throats. Only after that initial attack struck that the warning bells started to ring. ¡°Humans! It¡¯s an attack!¡± some people yelled. ¡°Roan, Flint! Go to Neria. Vash, look for Skyler, then go towards everyone else. Watch each other¡¯s backs. And don¡¯t try to be heroes,¡± Hera commanded through the communicator. ¡°What about you?¡± Neria asked. ¡°I¡¯m never alone. My court is here. I¡¯ll meet you as soon as I can, just say where,¡± there was another reason why Hera didn¡¯t want to go back. She had a suspicion about this attack. One that she had to confirm, one way or the other. Robin started to fire arrows back at the attacking archers, but they were all hidden by the cloud of mist. Even the bowblade struggled to hit his target while they were obscured like that. More humans came out, shouting in a charge and brandishing their weapons. Despite everything, the assault didn¡¯t look organized. The people were not running in formations or in actual groups. Instead, they were just rushing ahead. Not to say the humans were stupidly dashing to their deaths. Blocking some of the defensive attacks and dodging from the area of effect defenses they had available. With a quick glance, the Empress could confirm that the human level ranged from 24 to 41. But none of them looked like a commander or someone with a significant rank in their army. A couple of the attackers noticed the Ophidianite and rushed at her. She was close to the edge of the camp and by the only destroyed tent so far. In addition, being a member of a species that was not well known might have made them more keen on killing her. She knew that she would find it easier to attack someone who she believed to be a monster and not a person. The Ophidianite didn¡¯t have to move to defend herself. As three humans approached, empowering their weapons with spells or skills, the court sprung into action. Sun flew towards the man in the center and was able to hit his shoulder. Taking advantage of that, Pyro flew like an arrow piercing the neck of the same man. Due to his superheated form, the human wouldn¡¯t bleed out, but with a side swing, the tail spike decapitated the man. On the left, Glacia and Livy flew out and cut a woman with two crossed slashes. Making a large X on her torso. Livy also finished the job by crushing her skull with the side of her war axe form. Shadow suddenly appeared behind the third human, who had their face hidden under a cloak. The Scythe swung at his back as Viper and Crimson both embedded themselves in the human¡¯s chest. When they fell to the ground, the only thing Hera was able to see was a lock of blue hair slamming against the rocks. ¡°No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,¡± the Empress rushed over. Terrified by the possibility of this being her friend. She carefully pulled the hood back, her hands trembling. Daskka and Nimbus, who returned to their bipedal form, were by her side, both equally worried. After taking a deep breath, Hera pulled the hood back and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn¡¯t Blue. It was just a girl with black hair and a single blue lock in her bangs. ¡°Thank the system,¡± Nimbus sighed. ¡°Yeah,¡± Hera nodded and thought of an order, ¡®Everyone. Be careful when you attack. Do not kill Blue if you can. Don¡¯t even attack her. And if you are not sure whether a person is Blue or not, you need to clear that doubt before trying to hurt them. This is an order. Understood?¡¯ ¡®Yes, Empress,¡¯ they all replied in unison. It was very uncomfortable to hear that, but despite everything, Hera still didn¡¯t like the idea of killing people. There would be no recovery if she killed one of her best friends, even by accident. More humans started to come after her. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of this, even if she already was, the Ophidianite turned away and started heading deeper into the camp, letting the Alliance army face the attackers again. Still, she didn¡¯t want to be that far away. The way those clouds moved reminded her of Blue and her legacy. If her friend was around, she had to know. Because of her proximity to the actual battle, some of the enemies took the chance to go after her. After all, she was alone in an open area and should be an easy target. That¡¯s when the titled blades stopped hiding. They all returned to their bipedal shapes and fought off the humans. A couple of minutes went by, and Hera was confused as to why those people were trying so hard to attack her. She was clearly at a higher level than any of them. It didn¡¯t make sense for them to go after the strongest person they could see. At one point, a group got closer, which allowed the Ophidianite to look at them properly. There was something about them, something in their eyes. It¡¯s not a color or a weird marking. But fear. And it wasn¡¯t fear of her. They were scared. Something made them so terrified that they reached the point of being willing to launch themselves into danger. Before she could even try to understand the situation better, a blue flash caught her eye. There was a woman with heavy armor and blue hair moving around, and the cloud seemed to follow her. ¡°Blue!¡± Hera yelled as she punched a man in the stomach, knocking him out in the process. The Empress rushed towards the blue-haired woman, hoping she was wrong and that she wasn¡¯t her friend. She ran for about 30 meters to the left, reaching a less crowded area of the camp, when she saw a redheaded elf flying past her and slamming against the ground. It was the same woman that complained to her about the court. And the being who flung her like a doll was walking closer. A hulking figure with red skin wearing nothing but a pair of stretchy pants. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delta - Level 43 - Strength ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 849 - Delta Hera saw this man with blood-red skin, swollen muscles that looked about to pop, and a frenzied look in his eyes. Despite his level, her senses told her this was a dangerous enemy. Once anyone had spent long enough fighting the MAZE, they would develop a sixth sense about those things. Still, this man was just level 43. It shouldn''t be something that she couldn''t handle. ''Livy,'' Hera said in their mind as the Leviathan rushed over to the human, jumping and bringing the war axe down on the man who was almost a meter shorter than her. To ensure she would get rid of him, she added a [Grasshopper Slash], not wanting to leave a chance for him to recover. To everyone''s surprise, this person didn''t try to dodge what was clearly a powerful attack. Instead, he blocked the blow with his arm and let the energy from the skill splash onto his body. But it wasn''t enough. Livy''s strike was stopped before it reached the bone, and the mana wave that continued to his body only created a small cut on his torso and neck. Every single cut regenerated almost instantly. "What the-" before Livy could finish her sentence, Delta punched her face, sending the Leviathan, along with the war axe flying towards Hera. The Empress had to dodge out of the way and let Livy slam into the ground a few meters back. As she glanced back at the monstrous human with red skin, she could see the large open wound on his arm recovering at a staggering speed. His blood was still dripping from it as the flesh mended itself. ''Vulcan, Awaken Livy!'' the Empress yelled in her mind as she told everyone else to attack. "You fucking monster!" Vulcan yelled and dashed towards Delta, slamming the forging hammer on the man''s head over and over before anyone else could reach them, "What have you done with them? What have you done with my people!?" he continued yelling as his entire body shifted. He was no longer the kangaroo with a few scars but now almost completely covered in scars and red glowing energy appearing from his wounds. "Vulcan!" Hera yelled, but Forge [Daemonic Influent] was growing quickly. Maybe enough to trigger his form instantly. Clicking her tongue, the Empress yelled, "Vulcan, awaken Livy. That''s an order!" if he transformed, his skills would be gone. If Hera wanted to awaken the Leviathan, she had to send him away as soon as possible. An order was one of the few things that could overcome the frenzy of the [Daemonic Form] but wouldn''t change much. The Leviathan would have to do part of the legwork for Vulcan to actually awaken her. As that was going on, Lurize, Nimbus, Viper, and Crimson were also running towards the human. They went around him and started swinging, creating large cuts all over the man''s body. Blood sprayed everywhere, but the wounds were closed before the next strike hit. They never participated in something like this, but it felt like they were hitting one of the MAZE walls. Something that could instantly recover all the damage that was dealt to it. Delta didn''t seem to care about any of the attacks. The only one who was actually giving him some pause was Vulcan. The blows were strengthened because his [Daemonic Essence] appeared to be doing something. Or maybe it was something else. By Forge''s scream, this person was using the Strength Spirits in some way. Seeing the man as having a Strength affinity only made that more likely. Livy managed to get up and rushed towards Delta. She jumped behind Vulcan and slammed the hammed with the flat side of her axe. At the same time, Forge raised it to deliver another blow. That allowed him to trigger the [Awakened Potential] on the Leviathans and slam his weapon form on the human''s head once more. With Livy''s boost, the impact was so strong that it caused the man to fall to one knee, and some of the redness around his face seemed to vanish. However, Forge was also weakened by it. His mana plummeted, and even his [Daemonic Essence] was reduced, being absorbed by Delta. Behind him, Livy was going through her transformation. Her body didn''t change sizes, but her scales became sleeker, and her eyes turned pitch black. Her tail also grew longer, and her mouth opened all the way to the middle of her throat. The Sea Serpent now looked much more like a deep sea creature. The war axe, which was her original body, also changed. The twin dragon heads that held the two-sided blades of the weapon grew, and their eyes turned black like Livy''s. The handle stayed mostly the same, but the actual blades of the axe became significantly bigger and serrated, with a constant stream of high-pressure water coursing through them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leviathan Livy of Water Two-Handed battle axe Total Attributes: 852 Strength: 231 Endurance: 215 Luck: 199 Agility: 69 Intelligence: 69 Charisma: 69 Mana: 11 687 318/ 11 687 318 Scaling: Strength X 32.1 Endurance X 29.8 Luck X 27.6 Agility X 9.6 Intelligence X 9.6 Charisma X 9.6 Passive Skills Ocean''s Might 50% of the damage dealt by you is water elemental damage. Your attacks deal 30% extra damage as water elemental damage. Your water spells deal 80% additional damage. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.Attacks aimed at a target bigger than you deal an additional 30% extra damage. Inheritance of Cerulea You are able to move underwater at high speeds. While you are in the same body of water as the Empress, the range you are allowed to move is greatly increased. If both you and the Empress are underwater and within 5 meters of each other, you are able to breathe for the Empress. Active skills: Draconic Eruption Those wounded by the Leviathan feel its wrath even after escaping its grasp. When an attack deals considerable damage, you can release a powerful wave, damaging surrounding enemies and briefly stunning them. Mana cost: 500 thousand. Sea Serpent Form You are able to turn into the form of a Sea Serpent. While in this form, your swim speed increases; however, you are unable to use any skills that require a weapon. If there is someone riding you as you dive underwater, you can create an air bubble around them that lasts 1 hour. The air will allow them to breathe. Up to 3 bubbles can be created at once. This form can also glide over surfaces without making any noise. Swim speed: 50 km/h Glide speed: 5 km/h Seal of Draconic Vortex When striking, you generate a powerful whirlpool effect even when you are out of the water, drawing in enemies in and trapping them briefly. As the vortex intensifies, it erupts into a geyser of scalding water and steam, dealing area damage and knocking back foes. Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Awakened Leviathan''s torrent You are the embodiment of the underwater currents. Channeling this skill unleashes colossal tidal wave from your mouth. Enemies hit by the attack will be trapped inside a small bubble of deep sea water for 5 seconds. Mana cost: 8 million. Jaws of the Leviathan: A Leviathan''s bite is known to break entire worlds. Livy is able to replicate a fraction of that power. She can create a large water jaw that crushes anything caught in its toothy maw. Mana cost: 90% of Mana. If she uses her own mouth to attack, the damage of this skill is increased by 50% Survivor of the Deep The Leviathan can not just live but thrive in the extreme conditions of the deep sea. Even when she is out of the water, the essence of an ocean still follows her. Livy is constantly covered in a thin layer of water that cannot be affected by electricity. While covered in that water, her spells and abilities become more powerful. Extra potency: 40% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Livy roared, opening her much larger mouth, and punched Delta with all her strength. The impact pushed the man away about half a meter before she swung her war axe at him. He stopped the attack, even if the Leviathan was much stronger than she was before, with one hand holding on to the blade. The man sighed, "And here I was hoping for an actual challenge," he pulled Livy closer and punched her twice, breaking a couple of teeth in the process. Nimbus and Lurize jumped to the Leviathan''s aid as Twiggy triggered all her buffs, including the Cerulean Marquessate Heirloom, to buff the entire court, increasing everyone''s attributes and strength. Despite that, Hera could see that Forge wasn''t doing that great. The fact he was half Strength Spirit seemed to be working against them. ''Vulcan, get back. Focus on healing yourself and buffing the court,'' Hera called as she dove forward with a venomous halberd covered in a poison elemental strength. She swung up, seeing an opening on Delta''s left side. It didn''t matter that all of his wounds would heal instantly. The point wasn''t to deal any lasting damage but to see if her poison could enter his body. But the fact was, Hera wasn''t confident about that move. Crimson had a skill that allowed her strikes to reduce a target''s healing. If that wasn''t enough to stop the man, the Empress'' poison might be their only other option. Her strike was true and opened a gash on Delta''s side, but it quickly healed again. However, Hera was able to feel her poison inside him for a moment, which meant that there was something she could do. Storm flew back to Vulcan, who gave her a tap with the hammer, triggering the [Echoing Enchantment] with added elemental damage to the longsword''s attacks. She tried to call down some lighting from the sky using the [Crackling Strike] skill, but the thunder didn''t hear her call, or something was blocking it. Either way, she continued the attack, sending the lighting strike at Delta. Livy followed that up with an upward swing booster by the [Draconic Eruption]. The combination was able to deal the first damage that seemed to not be recovered instantly. After the Leviathan made a large cut on the man''s leg, the electricity fried the area and jumped inside his body thanks to the exposed blood. But that was a brief victory. The healing was slower, but it was still there, and the injury didn''t seem to matter to the man. "I really thought that making you angry would make this fun. I guess it was a waste," Delta sighed. After punching Livy, he didn''t attack again and just took all the hits that were coming at him. But now, he was done with the games. He dodged a stab and grabbed Viper''s hand before using the Spymaster as a club to hit Lurize and Crimson in a single move. Nimbus tried to block the attack, but his barriers were shattered the moment they came into contact with the half-Naga. Turning back to Livy, Delta held on to her war axe, stopping the Leviathan from moving around. With a smirk, the man head-butted her before slamming the shaft against his knee to break the weapon. "Fuck!" the human yelled. Despite his strength, Livy''s real body was too sturdy to be broken like that. Taking advantage of that pause, the Leviathan opened her mouth and triggered the [Awakened Leviathan''s Torrent], creating a tidal wave that was 20 meters high and 10 meters across in front of her that crashed down on Delta. The impact pushed the man away for almost 50 meters before all the water vanished. Even when the skill was over, the human was still trapped inside a water bubble. But that only lasted a second, and with a punch, he broke free. Still, that brief window was enough to give Hera and her court a small reprieve. They gathered around as Vulcan activated the [Phoenix Touch] skill, giving every single court member a damage buff and an incredible regeneration ability. Unfortunately, that still paled against Delta''s recovery, but at least it would slightly level the playing field. Livy growled, tightening her grip on the war axe, "Time for round two you fucker." 850 - Round Two ¡®Hera. I can awaken someone else, but it will increase my skill cooldown,¡¯ Forge said to the Empress while they were watching Delta be dragged away by the water. ¡®Let¡¯s awaken Shadow. I¡¯m hoping the Heirloom can awaken too. And even if it doesn¡¯t. I think sealing skills is our best shot,¡¯ Hera quickly replied as the wave died down. They still had precious moments with Delta trapped inside the bubble. Shadow approached and received the awakening from Vulcan. He already looked like he was an error in the world. As if reality itself was glitching. But it was a solid form. Now, he emanated that dark, unnatural shadow like an inverse light. When Hera moved him, she could see the flickers of the shadow as if they were flames in a bonfire. It reminded her of some effects Dark Star would create during her shows, but more ominous. To anyone else, looking at the scythe might be unnerving, as if they were staring at something that shouldn¡¯t belong in this world. But for Hera, it was just curious and beautiful. She trusted Shadow completely, which stopped her from needlessly worrying. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shadow - Scythe - Stealth Affinity Duke Alabaster Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Agility X 20.5, Endurance X 18, Luck X 18, Strength X 3, Intelligence X 3, Charisma X 3 Active Skills: Shadowstep Strike - Seal of Umbral Convergence Teleport behind your target and deliver a strike from the shadows. This attack ignores 50% of the target¡¯s armor. After teleporting, Shadow leaves behind a 2m3 lingering shadow at the point of origin for 5 seconds. Allies standing inside the shadow gain increased critical hit damage. Cooldown: (10 seconds) 3 minutes Extra critical damage + 20% Passive Skills: Shadow Mastery Grants a 20% increase in critical hit chance when attacking from stealth or while the target is affected by a debuff. Alabaster Dukedom skill Subtle Sabotage Members of the Alabaster Dukedom are experts at hindering their target¡¯s movements. Each strike has a chance disrupt the target¡¯s mana, making it harder for it to cast any spells for 3 second. When the target also has one of its skills sealed, the disruption increases to 1 minute. Alabaster Heirloom Whispering Ink: Enemies struck by the Ink are marked with a shimmering glyph. Landing three successive attacks on a marked enemy deals bonus damage and temporarily disables one of their skills. Bonus damage based on a 15% of the target second strongest attribute. Skill disable duration: 7 seconds. Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Awakened Cursed Edge: Enemies struck by Shadow have a chance to be cursed, reducing their damage output by 20%, and their attributes by 1% 5 seconds. The reduction in attributes can stack. Umbral Disruption: Disruption skills are more likely to occur. In addition, any skill that requires a certain number of strikes to be hit has that number reduced by 1. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, Hera didn¡¯t have the time to admire the scythe. Delta punched the liquid sphere, releasing him from its watery prison. He was taking a moment to catch his breath after the sudden drowning attempt. Not wasting time, the Empress used the [Blade Graveyard] summoning all of her previous court members. Beam, Brute, Executioner, Swift, Ooze, Scythe, Armory, Frost, Autumn, Tide, Dusa, DJ, Chris, Dao, Edge, Ember, Gale, Ink, and Juuchi, all emerged from the ground, like zombies coming out of their grave. At the same time, Vulcan triggered his [Phoenix Touch] to buff the entire court at once. Livy growled, tightening her grip on the war axe, ¡°Time for round two you fucker.¡± That ended up being the signal for Hera¡¯s private army to spring into actions. Every passive skill her court had would be shared across all the blades due to the [Army of One] skill. Unfortunately, aside form the original owner of the skill, everyone would only be able to trigger 10% of the effects. Which meant that when someone else triggered Shadow¡¯s [Awakened Curse Edge], it would only reduce Delta¡¯s attributes by 0.1%. But since the effect would stack, they could likely lower his stats a significant amount. More importantly, the Heirloom skill also worked. But it would have a 10% chance of sealing a skill. All of this was aimed at a single goal. To seal either the regeneration, or whatever skill was binding this man to the Strength Spirit. The former court members, understanding that they were only there due to the [Blade Graveyard] skill, dove into battle with reckless abandon. They were already gone, being destroyed here wouldn¡¯t mean anything. Besides, some of them were much, much weaker than the current blades. All they could hope to do was bother the Empress¡¯ enemies. Robin started firing arrow after arrow, using the [Seal of Mystic Resonance] to increase the number of attacks. Storm and Shadow both arrived at the same time, aiming at the human¡¯s arms and legs, trying to interrupt his attempt to catch his breath. Glacia was next, already spinning to trigger the [Frozen Whirlwind] in hopes of slowing Delta down. Taking advantage of his shape, being a chain whip, Clay tried to hit with his various segments one at a time, going for a quantity over quality approach. Crimotra, the guardian form of Crimson and Viper, finally joined the fight and used the mantis arms to attack the human repeatedly. Despite the awakening, Livy only arrived after the twins, but her strikes were the ones that truly gave the human pause. He seemed worried about being hit by the massive war axe, and focused only on the Leviathan when she was nearby, ignoring all other strikes. Even if every single blow coming at him was now fueled by a phoenix¡¯s sacred fire, making his regeneration take even longer. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. As the blades from the graveyard attacked, Vulcan called them over to add a layer to the [Echoing Enchantment.] Daskka was close to Hera, in her mist form and already healing the Empress. The attacks Delta was delivering were too dangerous, and the herald didn¡¯t want to risk losing her mum for not being fast enough. Lurize was flaking the human, trying to slash at him only when the man was about to strike. His idea was to lower the effectiveness of the blows. After all, even if this person could heal instantly, he should still be able to feel pain. A decent amount of pain in the right moment could make him lose some of the power behind his fists. Lastly, Nimbus was close to the fight but staying back. He had a skill to take in the damage dealt to others, and his barriers to protect anyone who was about to get clobbered by the human. Hera was a few meters back, sending in some spells. There were too many people surrounding Delta already, and if she got close, the rest of the court wouldn¡¯t be able to fight properly. They would be worried about her safety and try to defend against strikes aimed at her. Another reason for her position was to give her a better view, and to test which ailments she could use to hinder Delta. It¡¯s been a while since she tried focusing on that aspect of her abilities, but seeing someone who could shrug off any attack, this felt like the best idea. She tried her spore, and slow fields, and the usual poison, but her ailment mastery didn¡¯t trigger. The only ailment that was still on the man was her poison, but it was struggling to spread. While thinking about something different to do, Hera noticed that in the back, a few hundred of meters away, a large cloud hand came down from the sky, slamming in the ground and spreading the clouds. The man wasn¡¯t on the defensive anymore. He was constantly trying to attack Livy, specifically. It was like he had a bone to pick with her and refused to let things go. Yet, he couldn¡¯t deliver a proper blow. Every time he got close, one of the flying weapons would get in the way, either by getting in front of his fists, or going for his eyes and forcing the man to dodge. To make matters worse, every now and then, one of his skills would be sealed, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to use them. At least all the ones that were affected by that were useless in that situation. Still, his rage was slowly increasing. After a combo where he got hit by an oddly shaped spiral weapon, a spear shining like the sun, a wide sword covered in electricity, a pair of tiny scythe shaped earrings that wet for his eyes, and the Leviathan at the same time. He growled and spun, ignoring the attacks of the biggest treat and grabbing Lurize. Yanking the Royal Tutor¡¯s arm, Delta punched the living armor in the chest, making the metal sink into itself. He then grabbed the armor¡¯s other arm and slammed Lurize on the ground, pulling the hand until it was ripped off the body. The Royal Tutor yelled in pain as Crimotra jumped in, her two dagger arms glowing red thanks to the bloody claw that was fueled by all the blood they were spraying. She cut Delta several times in succession, but the man just kicked the base of her tail where the guardian part of the body combined with lower body. To follow that up, the human grabbed Crimotra¡¯s mandibles with both hands, staring deep into the mantis¡¯ eyes before snapping them off. For Crimson and Viper, that was the equivalent of having their jaws ripped apart. ¡°Crim!¡± Livy yelled and opened her mouth, the rows of teeth going halfway down her neck. She bit down so fast that it sounded like a thunderclap as the [Jaws of the Leviathan] were activated. She was able to remove a chunk of Delta¡¯s shoulder, enough to expose the bone, and it was clear it wouldn¡¯t regenerate right away. Yet that only slowed him down. The man punched the leviathan in the stomach and when she bowed forward due to the pain, he grabbed both sides of her mouth and started to force them open. Livy tried to fight back, but even with part of his muscles missing, Delta was too strong for her. The court started attacking even more rapidly, trying to help the titled blade, but the man was resolute. He wanted to rip the Leviathan¡¯s in two. Yet, Livy wasn¡¯t afraid, she adjusted her position, placing her tail on the floor while holding her ground. Both of her hands were now trying to stop him, not just from forcing her mouth open, but from moving altogether. Delta didn¡¯t notice that change at first, and when he did, it was too late. Hera saw what was going on and used Livy as a ramp to jump over the man with an epic venomous spear in her hand. Just as she passed over the man, she used her break combo, aiming the weapon with a [Grasshopper Stab] at the exposed bone, landing to his left. It didn¡¯t matter how powerful someone¡¯s regeneration was. Once a bone was broken, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to recover from it. The attack shattered the shoulder, collarbone, and collapsed part of Delta¡¯s lungs. He gasped, struggling to breathe and turned to face Hera. Livy tried to stop him, but the man kicked with enough strength to send her flying almost a hundred meters back. In a swift motion, he grabbed the Ophidianite by the throat and held her up, not letting even her tail touch the ground. ¡°Fucking bitch. Do you think that¡¯s enough? Do you think you can kill me? I¡¯m a human hero! Books will be written about my part in this war, and you won¡¯t even be a footnote!¡± Delta roared, half of his words incomprehensible. He squeezed harder, as if he was trying to make Hera pop like her head was the cap on a toothpaste. The Ophidianite struggled to breathe, both her hands were trying to pry the man¡¯s grip on her. She was kicking and calling her court to help. Nimbus started running towards her, but he stopped and fell to the ground, holding his own neck. His [Share the Pain] skill taking the brunt of the damage aimed at Hera. Crimotra and Lurize tried to go for Hera¡¯s aid, but they were both seriously wounded and struggled to even maintain their forms. Daskka was trying to get between Delta¡¯s hands and the Empress neck to change forms and forcibly make him drop her mum. The Ophidianite started to feel her consciousness drift as her brain was deprived of blood and noticed another cloud hand in the distance. This time, one clearly being controlled by a blue-haired woman. Suddenly, what seemed to be a meteor came from the sky, slamming against Delta¡¯s writs, and cutting it clean off. Hera fell to the ground, and the hand lost its red color and enlarged size. She took a deep breath and saw a harpy in front of her, attacking the human. Following that up, a dwarf and a beastmen joined the fight, pulling the attention away from her. Hera recalled the entire court, with the exception of Nimbus, ¡®I¡¯m sorry. I saw Blue. I need your griffon form.¡¯ Nimbus nodded and changed forms. He was still able to do so since Delta didn¡¯t get a chance to rip one of his limbs off. The harpy that saved the Empress said something, but Hera didn¡¯t listen, she had already jumped on Nimbus back and was now rushing to the location where she saw her friend. Despite what just happened. Despite how close she got to being killed, her thoughts were elsewhere. In her mind, she could only hope that she saw things wrong, and the Blue was not in the middle of this mess. 851 - An unfortunate meeting Hera moved quickly across the battlefield. More specifically, Nimbus was the one running, with the Empress on his back. It didn¡¯t take long for them to locate the blue-haired woman they saw before. She attacked one of the warehouses and was now running back towards the mist, followed by a large hand that carried a few boxes. If this person was Blue, she could¡¯ve flown away with one of the clouds, but maybe the weight of the boxes was too much for her. Or she was worried about being attacked by the archers spread around the army camp. Diving inside the mist, which should be just a large cloud, Nimbus followed the woman for a few more meters. When they got close enough, Hera leaped from the Sentinel, tackling the human and rolling on the ground with her for a moment before they were able to face each other. The Empress held on a scream when she saw the woman¡¯s face, but still spoke in a shouted whisper, ¡°What the hell are you doing, Blue?!¡± ¡°He-Hera? Why are you here?¡± Blue gasped. ¡°There are my people! Why are you here? Don¡¯t tell me you believe all that crap about humans being better than everyone else,¡± Hera huffed. ¡°No. No! Of course not. But¡­ I can¡¯t,¡± Blue looked around and made a gesture with her hand. One that they would use when they were in the Abyssal Deep when asking the Empress to make a soundproof bubble. Hera squinted, but did as the controller asked. At the same time, some of the surrounding mist became more solid and formed a spinning dome around them. One of the skill that Blue used before. It was a defensive barrier that stopped people from coming in or out. It also had the benefit of hiding whatever was happening inside. The Ophidianite knew that this could also work as a localized storm to make Blue¡¯s legacy even more powerful. ¡°Now talk. Are you really on the guild¡¯s side?¡± Hera asked, still on top of Blue, holding her friend down. Blue weakly shook her head, ¡°No. At least not by choice,¡± she glanced down, ¡°Can you get off me? It¡¯s hard to breathe like this.¡± ¡°Are you going to talk? Or are you just saying this to run?¡± Hera asked. Blue paused for a moment, ¡°Talk¡­ Do you really don¡¯t trust me anymore?¡± Hera stepped back and helped her friend get up, ¡°I¡¯m not saying that, Blue. Things are just... A mess. My team was ambushed before they got here. And there was this dude with red skin that kept regenerating. He almost killed me,¡± the Empress admired. Blue¡¯s eyes went wide, ¡°Are you ok? Your court couldn¡¯t help you?¡± ¡°They did, but he was still able to neutralize all of them. Nimbus is the only one that is not too injured to move around. Among the titled blades at leas. Oh, and Vulcan too, but he couldn¡¯t get close.¡± ¡°Vulcan?¡± Blue asked. ¡°It¡¯s a new one. I hope you can meet him someday, but he is not great with humans. There are other two new ones too, the dagger that I got from the Naga hard mode dungeon,¡± Hera explained. ¡°I can¡¯t blame him. Humans aren¡¯t great. And I¡¯m sorry you faced Delta. I¡¯m glad you are ok,¡± Blue sighed. ¡°You know him?¡± ¡°I know about him,¡± Blue made sure to emphasize the word ¡®about,¡¯ ¡°And that information only reached me today.¡± ¡°What is he? That red skin. I didn¡¯t see any tattoos or something of the sort. Did he take something or what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure. I heard him say something about a tattoo that had the same color as his skin. He is a prototype of the Soldiers Of Strength program that the New Dawn is working on. They are saying they found a way to bind a Spirit to a person without having to worry about it turning into a Daemon. Honestly, the propaganda is really well made. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would think this is a great idea.¡± ¡°Really? You would say that this is a good thing?¡± Hera frowned. ¡°The way they are marketing it, yeah. New Dawn is saying they found the Strength Spirits and created a massive green house around their habitat, and are using the energy that leaks out of them to create tattoos that connect people to the habitat in general. The idea is to train soldiers, help them learn a skill to make it easier to cast spells constantly and use the tattoo as a catalyst for the mana. Delta is supposed to be a prototype because he can¡¯t control how much mana he takes at any time. Which means he will eventually go past the point where his body can withstand that.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not what they are doing!¡± Hera yelled. ¡°I know!¡± Blue rubbed her forehead, ¡°Dammit, Hera. I know. I know those are all lies. I know they are using the other species as the middleman and I know that the program is making Daemonic Soldiers. I know the guild and the New Dawn are the bad guys.¡± ¡°Then why are you working for them?¡± Blue looked down, unable to face her friend, ¡°Things are not going great back on Earth.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°The guild is making a lot of propaganda about what happened. Using the Last Line of Defense like a bogeyman that is going to steal our planet. The explorers know that¡¯s bullshit, and some did try to say it was a lie, but the guild cut them off and it¡¯s hard to go against media companies that are controlling the narrative. Every civilian is scared of the dangerous species that live in the MAZE, and the explorers either join the ideal, afraid that they will lose their place in the MAZE. Or they just vanish. I imagine that a part of those are going to the Alliance, but I¡¯ve heard about some ¡®free cities¡¯ that are no longer affiliated with the guild, while not going against the other species, too.¡± ¡°How did they change all that so quickly? I mean, it¡¯s been what? 3-4 months since the war started. That¡¯s way too little time to brainwash people like that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Some people say they are using some mind control magic. Not like, do what I say kind of thing, but making their words more believable, and making the fear people feel stronger. It¡¯s subtle enough to go unnoticed, which means that shouldn¡¯t affect anyone who traveled through the MAZE for a bit. But people who are still level 1¡­¡± Blue shook her head and finished the thought, ¡°Or at least, that¡¯s the only possibility that makes sense. Because like you said, it¡¯s only been a few months. The change was too drastic. Is too much of a mob mentality kind of thing.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°And where do you fit? I know you don¡¯t believe that bullshit, and the mind control shouldn¡¯t affect you or whatever. Why are you here?¡± Hera pressed. She realized that after they recognized each other, Blue refused to look into her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m not as strong as you.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with anything? And you always were stronger than me. Maybe not if my court helps, or right now after the power level I went through, but still,¡± Hera replied. ¡°You were power leveled? What level are you now?¡± ¡°56. How about you?¡± ¡°Damn. I¡¯m still at 48. It¡¯s no wonder I couldn¡¯t break free right away when you tackled me. Wait. Not I should. Do you have any active buffs right now?¡± Blue asked. ¡°I had a couple, but they ran out. One was a pure Strength buff,¡± Hera blinked slowly, ¡°Stop changing the subject. What you being strong have to do with anything?¡± Blue sighed, ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about levels. You gave up everything, and everyone, to save Silah, then to become an Ophidianite. I can never do that.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Hera frowned. ¡°You left everyone behind, everything. I can never do that. I can never abandon my family.¡± Hera rubbed her temple, ¡°Blue¡­ What exactly do you think I gave up?¡± ¡°Your family?¡± ¡°My dad is in the MAZE, my grandmother is dead, and you know about my mother. Again, what did I gave up?¡± ¡°Your friends?¡± ¡°I barely talked with anyone when I was back on earth. The people from my school were all assholes, and the people I worked with were coworkers at best. The people who I truly consider my friends are those I met during training.¡± ¡°Your¡­ freedom? Like you can¡¯t travel around the world anymore,¡± Blue¡¯s voice had lost all her confidence, and she knew this argument was a stretch. ¡°Oh no, if I want to see something on Earth it can anly be through videos, or pictures. I guess I¡¯ll have to be satisfied with the endless number or rooms that can take us from the depths of the ocean to the literal fucking moon,¡± Hera rolled her eyes. ¡°Then¡­ what did you give up on?¡± Blue frowned. ¡°Nothing! I¡¯m not asking why you are helping the guild to judge you. I want to understand what is going on with you. I know you wouldn¡¯t be trying to kill people if there wasn¡¯t a good reason for it. I just want to know the reason,¡± Hera replied. Blue looked into Hera¡¯s eyes for the first time since they met, ¡°Hera¡­¡± she lunged to give her friend a hug. Despite being in the middle of a battlefield, they needed that moment. Eventually, the controller let the Empress go and brushed away a tear, ¡°But I¡¯m sorry to say, it¡¯s not a good reason. It¡¯s a selfish one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. No one needs to be a saint,¡± Hera was getting more worried by the minuted. She couldn¡¯t be mad because of the possibility that Blue helped kill members of the Alliance. After all, she had killed humans. But that didn¡¯t mean she liked the fact that her friend was involved in all of this. ¡°Do you remember Peter? That asshole that was threatening us because we are close to you after you saved those people in the lab?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°So, after I came home, he started harassing me. Saying I was lying about having killed you, which, like, fine, he was right. But he didn¡¯t know that. Eventually, he went after my family. He cornered my dad at his work and kept asking if we were part of the Last Line of Defense. I got pissed and went to the guild. Telling them to hold back their dog. They did as I asked, but apparently that made information about me going up the command chain. Including the fact I have a weather-based legacy. A couple of days after I got Peter to stop messing with us, another person came. Janna Ivanova,¡± Blue sighed. ¡°Frostbite? Why is she making house calls?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Apparently she was on vacation, or something, and they asked her for help since she met me before. At least, it was better than speaking with one of the bureaucrats. She was more direct. I was being drafted into the army. If I refused, they would draft my family. Her words were, ¡®Four people should be enough to cover one legacy holder at my level.¡¯ Well¡­ she said your level, but you get the point.¡± ¡°Can the guild even do that? Draft people like that?¡± ¡°Can they do that? I don¡¯t know. But they are doing it. If someone refuses, one of their servers is ¡®hacked¡¯ and the list of people who refused to help the guild is leaked. Then the public pressures them into either leaving the city, or joining. My dad has his shop, and we own our house. We could give all that up, but the problem is my baby sister. Sure she is 14, but if an entire family is forced to go to the army, who is going to take care of her? Best-case scenario, she is shipped to live with my grandparents in Brazil. In the worst case¡­ people are talking about this boarding school, controlled by the guild where all the kids of families that are in the army are being sent to. I can only imagine the kind of brainwashing that is happening there. Leaving wasn¡¯t much of an option.¡± ¡°Did you talk with them? I don¡¯t think they would appreciate you sacrificing yourself just so it won¡¯t be annoying to them.¡± ¡°I did. We decided to run, but it would still take a while for us to leave, and Frostbite was waiting outside of my house. I went out and said I was going to join, as a lie, of course. It was just a way to send her away. But she added that if I refused or lied about that, they would draft my family. And if they refused, she would personally leak the information that my family was conspiring with the Last Line of Defense. That was basically a death threat. Even if we were in a small town in the middle of nowhere. That kind of things is all over the news. And since I have a legacy, I know they would just send a high level explorer to kill me so that power is still in play. Trying to tell people about what is going on ¡± ¡°Fuck, Blue. And no one is going against all that?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°People try, but anyone who dares ask ¡®are the other species really that bad,¡¯ is shunned. Some of the explorers tried to organize a protest. But a mob of civilians showed up and started attacking them. Not even the police of the guild. The civilians themselves were going after them.¡± ¡°What level were them? I mean, a bunch of civilians shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the problem, Hera. We still have rules about not hurting civilians, you know that. And if we hurt them on purpose or even by accident, it¡¯s considered more of a crime than if we fought each other. So the moment one person fought back, the police got involved, arresting all explorers. Then all the guild had to do was label a few of them as terrorists and Alliance sympathizers. Any other groups hoping to join the protest gave up. The only thing that stops things from being completely hopeless is the fact that other countries are giving more push back to those ideas. So most of the guild¡¯s armies are focused on the rooms around here.¡± ¡°Which means we might be able to redirect some of our troops,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Maybe. Or maybe they were hoping someone spills that information so they can deploy troops on weakened areas,¡± Blue admitted. ¡°Do you think that¡¯s what they are doing?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. Aside from what Frostbite told me, and the thing about the Soldiers Of Strength, the guild is not telling me anything. That information is just news, and things I saw myself. But if they are controlling everything to the point of brainwashing people, who¡¯s to say I¡¯m not being controlled to say this.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. I can understand. Still, I¡¯ll share that information. What the Alliance does with it is beyond me. I¡¯m not high enough to have an actual say.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that? I heard some rumors about the 7th seat of the Alliance Council. Apparently it belongs to the Snake Empress.¡± Hera groaned, ¡°Oh, fuck me.¡± The two of them chuckled, in a rare moment of peace during this conflict. Still, they knew this couldn¡¯t last. Not right now. Maybe when this was all over, they could talk about their days, about their new items or skills. But today, despite everything, they were enemies. The realization dawned on both of them just and Blue spoke up. ¡°I need to go. The longer I stay here, the more likely I am to get in trouble. Besides, my legacy is holding the cloud in the ground to make the mist.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Me too. I left some people fighting Delta. They seemed stronger than me, so I don¡¯t think they are hurt, but I should check on them.¡± The two women gave each other a hug one more time and left. Each taking half of the supplies stolen by Blue. The humans would be getting some of the ammo, a few blankets and some soap, while the medicine and mana crystals stayed back with Hera. With a bittersweet smile, the Ophidianite and her friend exchanged a glance before dropping the barriers and returning to their side of the conflict, hoping they would never meet like this again. 852 - Brave Warrior Miller The human attack was over. There were a few casualties on the Alliance side, but apparently, the guild got the worse of it. However, several warehouses and important infrastructure were hit, which meant the army was more vulnerable for the moment. After she said her goodbyes to Blue, Hera moved back. She tried to find Delta and the people who saved her during the fight, but couldn¡¯t. Even the raid haired elf was nowhere to be found. Still, she didn¡¯t stop to smell the roses. A lot of people in the area needed help and despite everything, her injuries were minor despite of everything. There was still a large bruise around her neck, but that was about it. The court took the brunt of the damage. As a matter of fact, among the titled blades, only Nimbus and Vulcan were out. All the others had to retreat back to the legacy to recover. Shadow, Twiggy, Pyro and the others were moving around, but they couldn¡¯t help properly when it was about saving people. The only one who was going against the Empress¡¯ wishes was Daskka. Instead of helping, she was focusing on healing Hera and Nimbus from the wounds they received. For a couple of hours, the army dedicated itself to reorganizing and assisting all those who were injured. Once that happened, the Ophidianite was called to the command center. Roan was the one who found her and explained how the high command wanted to talk to her. ¡°Did they say why they were calling me?¡± Hera asked as they walked through the camp. ¡°Not really, just that you might be involved in an important part of the battle,¡± Roan replied. ¡°Ah. OK, I think I know what it is,¡± Hera nodded. From what Blue told her, Delta was just a prototype. Which meant there couldn¡¯t be many of them. If they were following the Greek alphabet, this would be the fourth one, with Alpha, Beta, and Gamma coming before. Maybe they were also somewhere around the battlefield, and now they had a chance to gather all the intel about those ¡®Soldier of Strength¡¯ as the New Dawn was calling them. They waited in a reception room of sorts for a few minutes before the doors opened, and two soldiers gestured for Hera and Roan to enter. There were three people in there, a harpy, a dwarf and a beastmen. The same three people who saved her from being killed by Delta. The beastmen in particular stared at Roan for a moment, communicating something to him without words. ¡°These are Eldrin Oakheart,¡± Roan gestured to the dwarf with short, brown hair and a clean, shaved face. Which was somewhat uncommon for his kind. His armor was completely made out of wood, but it seemed to stretch without hindering his movement, ¡°Pilla, the Clawed Wind,¡± he gestured to the female harpy that had bright green feathers and silver gray wings that almost seemed made out of metal, ¡°And Brave Warrior Miller,¡± the beastmen was sitting at the head of the table. With an armor made our of bone and fur. His nose came up in a point almost like a rhino and the skin around his face had a grayish coloration. Hera gave them all a nod, ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Hera Quetzaveth. If I¡¯m not mistaken, you three saved me while I was fighting with Delta. That enhanced human. Thank you for that. I don¡¯t think I would be here without your help.¡± ¡°What?¡± Roan looked up with wide eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, someone had to take that dude out,¡± Pilla replied. ¡°Yeah¡­ I still don¡¯t know what was up with him,¡± Eldrin sighed. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that you were not in such a state of shock that you weren¡¯t able to remember what happened. Still, I thought you to be a coward when I sew you running,¡± Brave Warrior Miller tilted his head, studying Hera¡¯s reaction, ¡°But then I realized your movements had intention. You were going after something, or someone. Care to illuminate us about your actions?¡± The Ophidianite understood that she was in hot water. Maybe not hot, but at least warm, ¡°Of course. Mr. Miller,¡± before she continued speaking, she noticed a shift in the mood of the room. Brave Warrior Miller frowned while Pilla and Eldrin seemed to take a step back. Roan¡¯s eyes grew even wider, and he poked the Empress to get her attention. ¡°Brave Warrior is a title in the beastmen army. It would be the equivalent of a general in an elven or dwarven army. Or the tip of the spear for harpies,¡± Roan quickly explained. ¡°Oh!¡± Hera felt her cheeks getting red, but quickly recomposed herself, turning to the general, ¡°My apologies, Brave Warrior Miller. I was unaware of the significance of your title. Please don¡¯t take my ignorance as intentional offense,¡± she ended the phrase with a bow. Brave Warrior Miller seemed to accept the apology, as the intensity he displayed lessened, ¡°That is understandable. We had similar issues here before. Nonetheless, I still want to hear your report.¡± ¡°Of course. After the fight with Delta, which is something called a Soldier of Strength. I followed a human. One that I believed to be a friend of mine. She had stolen some of the supplies and was now trying to escape with them.¡± ¡°You are friend with a human? We¡¯ve read your file, and there was no mention of an association with a human on the guild¡¯s side,¡± Eldrin asked. ¡°I am. Before the war started, or before I was involved in it. I met a few humans. Most of them stayed on the Alliance side, but this one in particular couldn¡¯t afford to do so.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± Brave Warrior Miller asked. ¡°She has a family back on Earth. We are friends, but asking her to abandon her father, her mother, and her siblings that is too much,¡± Hera replied. After getting a slight nod as a response, she continued, ¡°I was able to catch her, and we used a combo of skills to create a soundproof barrier and a visual barrier around us. That way, we could communicate without the risk of being watched. She shared with me some information about Delta. Such as he being a prototype of the Soldier of Strength project. Apparently, the final version will be less capable of instant recovery, but it won¡¯t come with the drawback of eventually reaching the point of no return. From what I understood, this prototype would just be taking in mana non stop. And because of that, it would break down at one point. I also want to add that I know about the reality of those soldiers. They are the ones being benefited by the experiments happening with our people in the labs.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Did she tell you anything else about them? These, Soldiers of Strength, I mean. Even if they are weaker, if they are still somewhat like that dude, we are fucked, and we need all the help we can get,¡± Pilla asked. ¡°Just that they are not sharing what they actually are to the humans. They are marketing this project as a Spirit Greenhouse. And not the daemon bound intermediary they are using. Our conversation then shifted about her situation and the general situation back on earth.¡± ¡°And how is it? We have some information, but it¡¯s good to know if it matches,¡± Eldrin asked. Hera gave a brief overview of things, she included how Blue was being blackmailed into being a part of the war, but didn¡¯t go into details. She was also very careful not to mention anything about her friend¡¯s legacy. She wasn¡¯t deluding herself into thinking that the Alliance would leave Blue alone just because she was her friend. If she was participating in battles like this one, or worse, she was risking getting killed. But right now, she was just another random human in the army. If Hera was to say ¡®oh and she has a legacy,¡¯ it would paint a target on her back. ¡°And can I take it that you didn¡¯t kill that human?¡± Brave Warrior Miller asked. ¡°That is correct. She is a friend. I wouldn¡¯t kill her, especially knowing her situation. That¡¯s part of the reason why I asked not to be in the front line. I knew that something like this could happen, and hesitating to kill someone in a war will result in more casualties.¡± Brave Warrior Miller stared the Empress down for a moment, analyzing her movements before sighing, ¡°I suppose I should at least praise your self awareness. You also mentioned supplies. Were you able to recover all of them?¡± ¡°I let her go with half. A crate with non enchanted ammo, mostly arrows with a few pellets for slingshots. And another with soap and some blankets. The other two crates that had medicine and mana crystals stayed with me. If I let her go without anything, it would be suspicious, but among the items that we had, those should be the least impactful to be stolen,¡± Hera replied. Pilla turned to Brave Warrior Miller and gave him a nod. With a sigh, the army general replied, ¡°I suppose this is better than having everything stolen. Now, Delta, that¡­ Soldier of Strength that you mentioned. He was the only one in the entire attack. We saw some of his abilities, but since you were the one who fought him for longer, I would like a more detailed report,¡± he gestured for the empty chairs on the opposite side of the table. One for Hera and one for Roan. Hera sat down and started recounting the battle with excruciating detail. She even called her blades out, the ones that could be called, to give more information, considering they saw him from different angles. That part of the conversation lasted almost two hours, and by the end, Roan had a pretty good idea of how dangerous Delta actually was, and how close he got to killing Hera. Thankfully, the three leaders of this army were notified of the man in time and were able to reach the Ophidianite before it was too late. However, even this trio of people who were all level 70 and above, with Brave Warrior Miller being at 85, still struggled a bit in the fight against Delta. It wasn¡¯t a situation where they appeared and killed the man right away. And he was injured, which only made the idea of those Soldiers of Strength even scarier. Sure, they would be weaker if the information Blue provided was correct, but that didn¡¯t mean much when a level 43 could face someone double their level. When they were done with the conversation. Roan and Hera left the command tent, ready to call the rest of the team and head back to the city. The beastmen had already confirmed that everyone was ok, but convincing Neria she had to go would be a bit of a struggle. He still insisted for Hera to just stay near the command center and rest. She didn¡¯t feel like she had to do that, but it was so rare to see Roan worried that she couldn¡¯t bring herself to say no. As she was sitting on a chair, an elven woman with red hair approached her, ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Oh, hi,¡± Hera smiled at the woman. ¡°Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there,¡± the woman said. ¡°I saved you? When?¡± ¡°When you fought against that red human.¡± ¡°Right, you were the one that I saw being tossed around,¡± Hera paused and took a good look at this woman. She recognized her from a different place, ¡°And also the one who complained about my floating weapons. Right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ sorry about that.¡± Hera shrugged, ¡°No worries. Everyone is tense. But are you ok? His punches were no joke.¡± ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t break anything. One of my skills saved my ass. Again. Thank you, and I¡¯m sorry. I just ran after you showed up. Thankfully, I was able to find Brave Warrior Miller and ask for help.¡± ¡°Again, it¡¯s not a problem. And if you were the one that called Brave Warrior, then you saved me, too. I would¡¯ve died if it wasn¡¯t for him.¡± ¡°You¡­ almost died?¡± ¡°Yeah, wasn¡¯t that why you ran? Because you saw me getting my ass handed to me?¡± ¡°No¡­ I just ran when you stepped in. I¡¯m really sorry. I should¡¯ve stayed to help or something.¡± Hera waved her off, ¡°Don¡¯t be. I don¡¯t think you would¡¯ve helped all that much. Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m not calling you weak. Delta was just¡­ a problem. The big dragon lady that was with me had a skill to double her attributes and even then, it wasn¡¯t enough to push him back.¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think I could¡¯ve helped. But if there is anything I can do to help, please, let me know.¡± Hera looked at the woman. She was pretty, green eyes and a red hair that was no longer in a tight bun but now fell to her shoulders. Aside from the fact she was an elf, she could¡¯ve been that stereotypical Irish woman. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± the Empress asked. ¡°Alessandra. How about yours?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Hera,¡± the Ophidianite smiled, ¡°Are you staying in the camp today or going to the city with the people who were injured?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going to the city. At first it was just for a break, but I just got a message that I need to see a therapist before being cleared for active duty again. Just to see if facing that red man didn¡¯t cause any PTSD.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I see. Tell me, do you know a good bar in the city?¡± ¡°I think so. There are a couple that are really famous among the troops.¡± ¡°Then how about, as a thanks, you buy me a drink?¡± Hera smiled at Alessandra. The elven woman looked at the Ophidianite, pausing for a moment before the realization dawned on her, ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m¡­ Thanks but¡­ How can I say this¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m into your kind. Is that ok to say?¡± Hera shrugged, ¡°Rejections are never fun to hear. But if you are worried about offending me on a deeper level, don¡¯t be. I understand that inter species relationships have a few more barriers. Just like someone might not like men, or women, they might not like harpies, tritons, or, well, me. Don¡¯t worry, but I would appreciate the names of the bars, nonetheless. I feel like drinking tonight.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Alessandra pulled her tablet, ¡°The best one for the army is ¡®The Awkward Swan.¡¯ It¡¯s close to the entrance and they serve a lot of strong drinks. You know¡­ I have a few friends that are more¡­ adventurous than me. If you want, I can have them meet you there.¡± Hera smiled at the elf, trying not to show how that idea bothered her, ¡°There is no need. I liked you. That¡¯s why I shoot my shot. If you say no, I¡¯m not into the idea of a random hookup,¡± Hera got up, ¡°Either way. I¡¯ll be on the Awkward Swan later if you change your mind,¡± she winked and walked away, trying to save the little pride she had left. 853 - Breakfast meeting ¡°There she is. Had a fun night?¡± Skyler smirked as the Ophidianite walked into the cafe they were meeting at. The Harmony Guardians decided to have a conversation about what happened during the human attack. That¡¯s why they had reserved one of the private rooms in this store. Here, they could have Hera using her soundproof bubble to make sure their conversation wouldn¡¯t be heard by anyone else. ¡°I saw that red-haired elf leaving your room this morning. She was still flushed, and what was the thing you showed her to make her run back to the door?¡± Vash joined in. ¡°She forgot her underwear,¡± Hera smiled and sat in one of the free seats around the table before activating the soundproof bubble, ¡°But honestly, it was weird.¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t into it? Or was she inexperienced?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°No, for the first question. I¡¯m not sure about the second one. But I was weird. It was the first time I did something like that with this new body and like¡­ what do I do with my tail?¡± Hera explained. ¡°I can imagine one thing you can do with it,¡± Roan joked, but just got a blank stare from the rest of the group. ¡°And you made it gross. Thanks,¡± Vash huffed. ¡°Just for the record,¡± Hera raised her tail. Even the tip was about the size of her fist, ¡°This is the size. Do you want to test your idea?¡± Roan stared back at the Empress, ¡°Point taken, my bad.¡± ¡°Anyway. Since the topic of Hera¡¯s first time was ruined, let¡¯s move on,¡± Neria gave Hera a playful smile. ¡°Hey! It wasn¡¯t my first time,¡± the Empress huffed. ¡°Technically, she isn¡¯t wrong,¡± Vash teased, ¡°But yeah. Let¡¯s move on.¡± ¡°Ok, so do we have any new information about Delta, or what the humans are doing?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Sort of. We do know some of the movements humans are making. They seem to be gearing up for another attack. A bigger one this time. Probably in the next few days,¡± Roan replied. ¡°Or, they are doing all that to keep us on edge and will keep running drills and threatening to attack for months to make our morale plummet before the actual attack,¡± Skyler added. ¡°So we are in the exact same place we were before the attack?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Roan and Skyler slumped back. ¡°About Delta. I got some information,¡± Hera was the one to speak up this time, ¡°Brave Warrior Miller sent me the file as a form of courtesy for my contribution. Also, apparently we are getting, like, reputation or some form of points for our missions. Kind of like a ranking. For now, that means nothing, but we will get some rewards when the war is over. We got some extra because of Delta. Anyway, when he died, all that red from his body vanished, revealing a tattoo on his chest and another on his neck. They are trying to see what that tattoo actually is, but it seems to be connected to the experiments. Another reason for that is that some of the people who were rescued also had tattoos that they didn¡¯t have before.¡± ¡°I remember you mentioning that. They think those are connected? Wasn¡¯t the tattoo on the survivors just a thick black line?¡± Neria asked. Hera nodded, ¡°It was, but that doesn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t just hiding something underneath. Maybe that line was just a way to hide the ink. Like a way to safeguard their original tattoo.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t they do the same thing with Delta then?¡± Roan frowned. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s too much interference. Or the black line would make the effect weaker,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Or it could be a pride issue. If the humans are being super racist against us, maybe even sharing the same tattoo as someone like us would be an offense. If that¡¯s the case, then having the black tattoo band makes the soldiers less likely to feel like they are on the same level as the victims. Or it could just be a way to brand our people. Many civilizations in history are known to like tattoo criminals, brand slaves and such,¡± Skyler heard a ring coming from the side. She opened a small slot on the wall and saw their order for breakfast. They got that before the Empress arrived, but it was a nice enough spread not to have to worry about anything. And if anyone wanted something else, they could still order it. ¡°Lovely. Not happy with experimenting on us, they are also treating our people as slaves,¡± Neria shook her head. ¡°I mean¡­ technically, they are not. They are lab rats,¡± Vash started getting food on his plate. He also pulled the pitcher with orange juice and poured a glass. ¡°Is there any difference? Being a guinea pig is just as bad,¡± Neria crossed her arms. ¡°Ok, ok. Let¡¯s not go there. Both scenarios are absolutely awful, we don¡¯t need to debate, which is worse,¡± Hera jumped in and noticed what Vash was working on, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The Harpy had just dropped a full shot of espresso on his glass of orange juice, ¡°Some people in the army suggested this and I got curious.¡± Everyone just watched the man as he finished mixing the concoction and took a sip. He frowned at first, but then nodded with a surprised expression, ¡°You know¡­ this is kind of nice. Weird, but nice. Anyone wants to try?¡± They all raised their hands and started to pass the glass around the table. Flint took a sip and frowned, not liking it one bit, ¡°Ok. Did you get any other information?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s all. Apparently, they are still waiting for the results. The body is in the morgue for now and they are worried about sending it away. So it¡¯s likely that someone will come here to analyze it,¡± Hera started spreading butter on her bagel. ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of dangerous? What if the humans send in a team to retrieve it?¡± Roan sipped the orange espresso and quite enjoyed it. After passing the glass along, he made his own to drink with the meal. ¡°So far, no one was able to invade the city. The army is covering the entire length of the room, so it will be almost impossible for someone to sneak inside. Which means this is likely the safest place for the body,¡± Skyler explained as she started to cut some fruit for a salad. ¡°Also, I am 80% sure that information is fake. Something they are saying to anyone who asks while they do something else with the body,¡± Hera took the orange espresso glass and took a sip. It was weird, but pleasant, maybe not, It was very hard to describe. This wasn¡¯t like fries with ice cream that just worked. It was as if both liquids were still separated, but not in a bad way. Even then, it was hard to say it was a good thing. ¡°Ok¡­ so what about us? What are we going to do?¡± Vash asked, having just started to eat his bacon and sausages. ¡°I mean, we are still doing a mission. We need to take Randolf, Remy and the others back to the Kalandria Empire. I sent a text to Milla, and she is checking if there are any missions that we can do on the way. Minor things like dealing with a specific monster. Or helping people fix something. Nothing that would make us get delayed for more than a day,¡± Skyler pulled the tablet, ¡°Yeah, she didn¡¯t say anything aside that she was going to look for the missions.¡± ¡°But is that what we want? I mean, after Delta, this battle and everything. Is everyone fine with continuing to do what we were doing?¡± Vash pressed. Hera leaned back, ¡°Honestly. I don¡¯t know. I do know that I don¡¯t like being here. The front line is not a place for me. I won¡¯t shy away from a fight if I see one, but I rather not be involved with this part of the war. And honestly, I do want to help the Strength Spirits. And the people who were captured, of course.¡± ¡°I do want to continue helping people. But I don¡¯t know if staying in the front line is the best option. I mean, I really lost my mind here, and I don¡¯t see that changing even after we had that conversation,¡± Neria drank the orange espresso and almost spat it out, ¡°This is disgusting!¡± ¡°Hey! Just because you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t have to be that harsh,¡± Roan huffed. After passing the cup, he promptly dumped his coffee on his orange juice to enjoy the beverage. Flint spread some butter on his toast, ¡°Honestly. I think everything is still a bit too fresh. I¡¯ll give you my answer after we finish this mission. Then I¡¯ll know for sure what I¡¯m feeling about all of this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good plan. I think we need some time, and we will have a week, anyway. We also don¡¯t know if the agency will ask us to do anything specific to repay the power leveling we did,¡± Skyler nodded. ¡°I do remember Ka¡¯mal saying that they would ask us to deal with problems in higher-level rooms. He didn¡¯t specify if those would be just regular problems or something specific,¡± Hera took a bite of her toast. ¡°Yeah. He talked about that, and when we reached the level, they asked us to reach. 60. Or 56 in Hera¡¯s case. I think the intention was to give us a couple of days off before actually sending us away. We spent 63 days running the same dungeon over and over every single day. Even during wartime, people need to rest,¡± Roan added. ¡°So are we done? Is this everything serious we had to talk about?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I guess so. Why?¡± Skyler tilted her head to the harpy. ¡°I have some tea! Did you know that Pilla apparently is dating a captain who is here? But here is the juicy part, Brave Warrior Miller asked her out. She refused, saying that she wasn¡¯t ready for a relationship. Then bam, two days later that captain swooped out of her feet, and now they are a thing.¡± ¡°Miller should be pissed!¡± Skyler giggled. ¡°Really? Are you gossiping about the Brave Warrior?¡± Roan frowned. Vash turned to the beastman, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Put some respect to the title,¡± Roan grumbled. ¡°C¡¯mon. I¡¯m not being disrespectful. I would follow his orders and knowing about his personal life won¡¯t interfere with a thing. It¡¯s just fun,¡± Vash smiled, but the beastmen still complained. While that was going on, Neria scotched closer to Hera and whispered, ¡°Hey. I know it may not be my place. But can I make a suggestion about your sex life?¡± Hera raised one eyebrow, she didn¡¯t think they were that close. But then again, getting to that level of intimacy with someone required a first step, ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Have you seen tentacle porn? That might give you some ideas.¡± The Ophidianite blinked, ¡°Are you saying my tail is like a tentacle?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s an appendage. I never thought about what would be the most similar thing, but since we had this conversation. The idea popped into my head. Maybe there is something there,¡± Neria continued. Hera stopped to think for a moment. She knew about those kinds of videos, mostly animated, but she never watched any of them, ¡°Ok¡­ I get your point. But I have no idea what is a good one. Do you have a suggestion?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send you a few links later,¡± Neria smiled. Hera smiled back and chuckled, making the triton give her a look of offense, ¡°I¡¯m not laughing at you. I was just thinking, if we were working in an office building. I think this conversation is when someone calls HR.¡± Neria laughed, ¡°Fair, but that¡¯s only if either you or me call them.¡± ¡°Or anyone around the table. C¡¯mon, at our level, you can¡¯t expect everyone not to be able to hear our conversation,¡± Hera tilted her head to the side. Skyler and Flint looked up and gave the two a knowing nod. That made Neria turn a shade of purple almost instantly, ¡°I¡­ should¡¯ve talked to you later.¡± ¡°No one is going to think any less of you because of what you like. Besides, you are a triton. Everyone looks up to your kind for resorts and ways to relax. It may be bad of me, but I kind of always imagined that you were very sex positive because of all that,¡± Skyler said. ¡°We are, it¡¯s just¡­ Different when you are admitting something,¡± Neria glanced up, catching Flint¡¯s smirk. ¡°You didn¡¯t admit a thing,¡± the dwarf paused and took a sip of his coffee, ¡°Until now.¡± 854 -Guide meet up Hera jumped to her feet as soon as she heard a knock on the door. She was in her private room three days into their journey back to the Kalandria Empire. This time, the caravan was staying in a city built around the doorway. Since it¡¯s been a while since the Ophidianite slept in her own quarters and the next day of travel would only make them cross a single room, she told everyone she would stay here for the night. In reality, that was only half the reason. The other half was to talk with the guides. She talked with them almost every day during the power leveling, but since they left, she didn¡¯t get a chance to do the same. There was another reason for her to talk with them. Delta. That man was too much of a problem. His very existence seemed like something the MAZE was against, yet here it was. Maybe this was a situation like the curse. And if that was the case, she could try to get some help to solve that problem. She took a deep breath and opened the door. On the other side were Peaches, the green apple slime. Capri, the sheep with fluffy wool wings. Nina and Talpa, the kobold sisters. Kelp, the goldfish in a robotic suit of armor. Fritz, the heremit crab that carried his home on his back. Tara, the snake that helped Hera become an Ophidianite. And to her surprise, Lodi. The bipedal pink slime that had a small obsession with Peaches. ¡°Hey everyone! How are you?¡± Hera opened a big smile. ¡°I¡¯m doing great, kid. Thanks for asking.¡± ¡°I still feel sadden about my room. The dwarves of Boothudurn were much more pleasant to look after than the humans that current occupy the place,¡± Capri huffed. ¡°Tell me about it. People stopped going to our dungeon completely. It was already bad after they found the kobold road, but now. It sucks,¡± Nina sighed. ¡°I know, right? And it really doesn¡¯t make any sense. The kobold battlefield is a great place to train for a war. And it¡¯s not like they can just send people who just started exploring the MAZE to the front lines,¡± Talpa nodded. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s exactly what they are doing,¡± Kelp said. ¡°What?¡± Nina and Talpa gasped. ¡°Yeah. Humans are just getting new people and tossing them into the meat grinder right away. You didn¡¯t know?¡± Lodi tilted her head. ¡°No! Why are they doing that? It¡¯s basically a death sentence,¡± Talpa asked. ¡°Because the humans are being mind controlled. Or at least influenced by mind control,¡± Hera took the chance to join the conversation. ¡°Really?¡± Peaches frowned, looking back at the Empress. ¡°That¡¯s what Blue told me. The guild is using some minor mind control effect to make people more angry at the Alliance, and the other species as a whole. Apparently, that is aimed at civilians, people who are still level 1. But when a crowd of people is telling you that something is wrong. You tend to accept that as the truth.¡± ¡°I thought you, well, the previous you had laws against using magic on people at level 1,¡± Lodi crossed her arms. ¡°Humans are supposed to have that. And I¡¯m pretty sure the Alliance does too, even if for them is a bit different. We can argue about the reasons and what is actually happening back on Earth all we want, but in the end, it doesn¡¯t change the facts,¡± Hera added with a sigh. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s not go there. You¡¯ve been through a lot,¡± Fritz said. ¡°And are you ok?¡± Tara looked up at the only Ophidianite in existence. Hera sat on her tail to be closer to the Ophidianite Ancestor, ¡°I could be better. Not gonna lie. But I¡¯m ok. Thanks for looking out for me.¡± ¡°Who wants to eat? We have snacks!¡± Crimson shouted from the small kitchen before appearing, holding two trays, one with drinks and the other with various chips and other kinds of finger food. ¡°Oh. I want some!¡± Lodi jumped and rushed towards the half-Naga. Hera glanced back to Tara, ¡°If you want, Viper should be in the kitchen. He is trying to make some sweets.¡± The Ancestor nodded and headed to the back of the private room, going after the second Spymaster. During the months that Hera was power leveling, Tara and Viper got closer. The snake was curious about the Naga and hoped to learn more through him. Unfortunately, that idea didn¡¯t work. After all, the titled blades didn¡¯t know what it was to be a Naga. Still, the two talked a lot and since both were introverted, they ended up enjoying each other¡¯s company. As Hera watched the scene of the two reptiles talking in the kitchen, she noticed how all the guides spread out, each talking with one of her titled blades like old friends. It was such a surreal situation that she couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°What¡¯s the joke?¡± Kelp asked. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking how weird this is. Even by my standards. I¡¯m technically having my multiple personalities talk with beings that are as close to imaginary friends as one can get, in a room that I can control like it¡¯s a home makeover game. If I focus on the details, this is just wild.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Kelp looked back and nodded, ¡°Yeah. When you put it like that.¡± They had that small party for about an hour. Just talking about random topics and joking around while Capri took charge of the music. But eventually, they had to come back to business Peaches asked everyone to sit around in a circle, and started talking, ¡°Ok. We know Hera needs to sleep a bit early since she is going out first thing in the morning. So what do you want, kid? You said you had a question. Want to get that out of the way, or leave it for the end?¡± ¡°It¡¯s two questions, actually. But one is quick. Let me ask mine, then you can tell me what you wanted to tell me. Is that ok?¡± Hera asked, getting approving nods from all the guides, ¡°Ok. First thing. Do you all think I,¡± she paused and gestured to the court, ¡°We know how to fight?¡± ¡°What?¡± Livy, Capri, and Kelp asked. ¡°If you didn¡¯t, you would¡¯ve died a long time a go,¡± Lodi replied, making Tara stare at her with wide eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be mean, but Hera keeps doing stupid shit that can get her killed. So yeah, she needs to know how to fight.¡± ¡°Why are you asking that? We fought very well during this mission. Do you think someone is not pulling their weight?¡± Vulcan asked. ¡°Hang on. I¡¯m not trying to blame anyone. Let me rephrase that. Nina, Talpa. Would you say I can dance?¡± Hera turned to the kobold sisters. ¡°I mean¡­ Sort of?¡± Nina said. ¡°You know a couple of dances, but if we were to throw you in a club or something, I don¡¯t see you just dancing to any song full of confidence,¡± Talpa added. Hera nodded, ¡°Exactly! I know a couple of dances, but I don¡¯t know how to dance. Now, thinking about that. I¡¯ll ask again. Do you all think we know how to fight?¡± ¡°I see. You are not questioning your ability to survive, but your mastery in actual combat,¡± Capri looked at Hera in deep thought. ¡°Exactly. Capri, Peaches, you¡¯ve watched over me for a long time. Do you think that, right now. I¡¯m a better fighter than I was when I was starting? Like if old Hera and new Hera fought each other, both at the same level, same items, skill, and everything. Would new Hera win easily?¡± the Empress asked. There was a pause and eventually the two guides shook their heads, ¡°The magnificent me cannot say that would be the case. New Hera would still win that fight. But it wouldn¡¯t be an easy win.¡± ¡°I have to agree, kid. Don¡¯t get me wrong, you have more experience. But I can¡¯t say you are a better fighter.¡± ¡°I disagree,¡± Talpa spoke up, ¡°If the two versions of you were fighting, you would win. 100% of the time and without any issues.¡± Nina crossed her arms, ¡°Hang on. What are the terms? Cause if it¡¯s to the death. Yeah, new Hera wins almost right away. The problem comes if you are sparing. You know how to win a fight, Hera, not how to fight.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Ok I wanted to hear if I was crazy for thinking the same,¡± she turned back to the titled blades, ¡°I¡¯m thinking that once a day. For at least an hour, we take a moment to practice some fighting style. Actual fighting style, not just flailing around. Delta was level 43, 13 levels weaker than me. Weaker than us. There is no logic that says we should¡¯ve lost that fight. I don¡¯t care whatever the fuck drugs and buffs he was on. With Livy Awakened, and the Phoenix Touch, plus all the buffs, we had to be stronger. But in the end, we are not fighting as a unit. Not really. Sure, we can follow up each other¡¯s attacks, but that¡¯s just because we are, in essence, one being. That gives us an edge and I think that edge became a crutch.¡± The court nodded, and Nimbus added, ¡°You know you didn¡¯t have to ask the guides about this, right? You could¡¯ve just talked with us, or told us that¡¯s how you felt. No one would be against the idea of training.¡± ¡°I know, but I also didn¡¯t know if I was just being weird for having lost that fight. And I thought an outside perspective would be better,¡± Hera gestured to the guides. ¡°I will always be here to assist you,¡± Capri covered his chin with one of his wings and gave a small bow. ¡°And what is the other question? Or what that it and we can talk about the skill?¡± Peaches asked. Hera tilted her head with a smile, ¡°Peaches? If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would say you are anxious.¡± ¡°So what if I am? It was a lot of work to make this work,¡± Peaches huffed, his green cheeks turning a bit brown. ¡°Ok, the next question. Is the MAZE ok with what it¡¯s happening with the Strength Spirits? Or is it something like the curse that it needs to get rid of?¡± The mood instantly shifted from the light and happy to a more serious tone. Each of the guides glanced at each other without saying anything. After a pause of almost a minute, Kelp spoke up, ¡°The MAZE¡­ doesn¡¯t care. Or at least, it never showed any interest in that kind of thing.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Hera was taken aback. The only thing she wasn¡¯t expecting was indifference. ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s not like the curse. We felt that was something the system wanted to fix. But as fucked up as it sounds. The MAZE already solved the problem with people abusing Spirits a long time ago.¡± ¡°How?¡± Forge stood up. ¡°Vulcan, they are our friends. Don¡¯t lash out on the messengers,¡± Lurize put a hand on his shoulder just to comfort the half Spirit. In response, Forge just nodded and sat back down. Waiting for an answer. When things calmed down, Kelp continued, ¡°A very long time ago. The MAZE created a contingency plan for Spirits. When one of their habitats is attacked or targeted. The mana will start to dissolve. Eventually, the place will no longer birth new Spirits. Once that happens, a new place, somewhere in the MAZE will be flooded with that type of mana and new Spirits of the same kind will appear there.¡± ¡°So MAZE¡¯s plan is to just cut its losses and start fresh somewhere else?¡± Hera asked. Hoping that if she was the one to say Vulcan, would be less agitated. ¡°Calling it a plan is a stretch, but in essence. Yeah,¡± Kelp nodded. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we approve of that. Guides that have Spirits in their room are usually very protective of them. They would do anything they can to protect their own,¡± Fritz explained. ¡°Right¡­ I just¡­ don¡¯t know what to do with that information. It¡¯s not like you can help me fix that, or just tell me where they are,¡± the Empress sighed. ¡°Actually¡­¡± Peaches glanced at the sides, sending a few messages for the other guides that only they could see. Hera had noticed that before. At times, they would confirm with each other if they could say something before speaking. Eventually, the green apple continued speaking, ¡°Yeah, that can work. We can potentially get you a quest related to that. It will also be a great way of giving you what we prepared. That is the one thing we weren¡¯t sure how to go about. But now, we can put it as a reward for the quest, if you like the way it is.¡± ¡°Ok¡­ now you are making me curious. What did you prepare?¡± ¡°The skill to give your court a home inside the legacy,¡± Tara said with a smile, stealing Peaches¡¯ thunder. 855 - A home for the court ¡°You found a way!¡± Hera gasped. ¡°We did, a way for you to make a private room for your court,¡± Peaches nodded. ¡°But there are some restrictions. If we do something like that, or the MAZE does it, then you have more freedom. For you to do it, only a few things will be possible.¡± Fritz added. Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. I wasn¡¯t expecting to make a one-to-one copy of things. I just wanted to be able to let them still be around while they are not out.¡± ¡°Yeah, that part would work. At least we think so,¡± Lodi was sitting on the ground, with her arms and legs crossed, ¡°The thing is¡­ Legacies are finicky. Even for someone as amazing as Peaches.¡± ¡°What does that mean, exactly?¡± Nimbus asked. ¡°It means my winged friend. That even without combined efforts, we will never be able to make a skill directly for the legacy itself. Alas, fret not. For we are neigh omnipotent and were still able to create a skill that would serve as a home for you and your brethren,¡± Capri opened a big smile. ¡°Really? The skill you came up with is not even part of the legacy?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°Yep,¡± Nina nodded, ¡°We did try, but it was a moot point. Like Capri said. We can¡¯t interact with a legacy directly. So we can only make something that might seem like a good idea to add to itself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of like fishing. And the skill we make is just some bait we are dangling in front of it. Even if we believe the bait is perfect for the fish, it might just decide it doesn¡¯t want it,¡± as Kelp finished speaking, everyone was starting at him, ¡°What?¡± ¡°I just¡­ didn¡¯t expect a fishing analogy from the fish,¡± Livy tilted her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why. In all honesty, it just seems more likely,¡± Kelp huffed, crossing the arms of his water fueled suit in front of him. ¡°Why is that?¡± Hera asked, ¡°I mean. Why can¡¯t you make something directly for a legacy?¡± Peaches thought for a second, ¡°That¡¯s a bit complicated, kid. Do you mind tellings us what do you know about how legacies come to be so we know how to explain?¡± ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s see¡­ Legacies are what happens when someone¡­¡± Hera paused, ¡°Actually. I don¡¯t know if it has to be a person. Can a monster create a legacy?¡± ¡°They can. It takes much longer for them to make one, but they can,¡± Lodi added. ¡°Lodi! Can you say something like that?¡± Tara gasped, knowing about all the restrictions they had surrounding sharing information. ¡°I can. I already told Hera about the monster. And it was pretty obvious that what it could do was related to a legacy. If she didn¡¯t connect the dots, that¡¯s not on me. Besides, the system isn¡¯t nagging me, so it¡¯s fine,¡± Lodi shrugged. Lurize snapped his fingers, ¡°Oh! Do you mean that monster that was guarding a doorway in your room?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one. The whole fake system window it could do. Part of its legacy,¡± Lodi nodded. ¡°Well, then¡­ fuck. That makes me worried about the higher layers. How many monsters will have legacies up there?¡± Hera frowned. ¡°More than you would like, but less than you might think,¡± Nina quickly replied, but all the guides refused to elaborate. ¡°Ok. Back to the topic at hand. Legacies are what happens when someone, or something. Raises a skill to the maximum rank, and then goes beyond it. That rank increase, from a skill at master rank to something else is what creates the legacy. And it will be related to the actual skill, but also expand based on the skills that the person used to improve that master skill. So like. If someone is going to make a running legacy. The other skills that helped increase the rank of that running skill will influence the legacy. So maybe, stamina, improved regeneration, sprinting, parkour. All those will be bundled up and become a legacy,¡± Hera continued. ¡°That¡¯s about right, kid. But why it does that?¡± Peaches asked. ¡°Why?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. It just does. The system rewards people for their hard work. Isn¡¯t that it?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Peaches shook his body. ¡°Ok. Do you remember the curse? How it was something the system couldn¡¯t handle?¡± Talpa asked. ¡°Yeah. It was like a loophole. Something that was able to go between the laws the system had in place to fuck with it,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Right. Legacies are kind of like that, but not loopholes. How can I put it¡­¡± Talpa frowned. ¡°It¡¯s something that is part of the system, while it isn¡¯t. Like a not all everything that lives underwater is a fish, but all fish live underwater,¡± Kelp said with a smile. The guides seemed to agree with what was being said. Livy rubbed her temple, ¡°I think I say for all of us when I ask. What?¡± ¡°What what?¡± Kelp turned to the Leviathan. ¡°That. What you just said. How can something made by the system not be part of the system?¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Tara raised her tail, making sure to keep her witch hat covering most of her face, ¡°Can I try to explain?¡± ¡°Go for it,¡± Peaches gave an approving nod. Hearing that, the Ophidianite ancestor pulled a small notepad and started reading. ¡°So, from what you told me. Legacies are like self contained version of the system that have their own set of rules that are less restrictive than the actual system. However, legacies have a ¡®budget¡¯, of sorts. A certain amount of rules they can bend to create more powerful effects. Using that budget also requires the legacy to give a penalty to its holder as a way to balance things,¡± Tara looked up. It took her just a moment to realize that she was the center of attention, making her pull her hat down and mumble, ¡°Or at least that¡¯s what I understood when we were talking about it.¡± ¡°That is actually a pretty good way to put it,¡± Peaches smiled. ¡°The information might be correct, but your presentation lacked flair. Still, the magnanimous me approves,¡± Capri nodded, ¡°Alas. I must add one piece of knowledge that was missing from your speech. The reason a legacy is created is because the owner of a skill that has been fully mastered is able to push that skill to a state that the system itself did not account for.¡± ¡°So, a legacy is created when someone breaks the system?¡± Crimson asked. ¡°That is one way to put it. And it has to be related to a skill. If you break something else, then we have a curse like issue,¡± Nina grabbed a few of the chips that were still in the middle of the table but no one was eating them. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind. I have a side question about this,¡± Viper moved forward to be more visible to everyone. ¡°Sure, shoot,¡± Lodi replied. ¡°Can any skill become the origin of a legacy? Even the ones that can¡¯t rank up?¡± ¡°All skills can rank up. And the master rank of any skill is 10. Well, technically 11. Since the 11th is the actual ¡®master rank.¡¯ Oh, but that doesn¡¯t apply for legacy skills. Those have their own rules. And role skills. Those only have the base rank,¡± Talpa explained. ¡°Wait. Really? I have skills that know for not having another rank,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°Which ones?¡± Nina asked. The Empress quickly opened her status windows and checked, ¡°Exponential Growth, Mana Vessel, Treasure Map, Elemental Mana Mastery, and Toxic Mist. None of them are showing their rank.¡± ¡°That means that you, specifically, can¡¯t increase the rank of those skills. You are missing something to be able to do that. I can be another skill, or you have to do a certain thing in order to unlock the ability to rank them up. It is rare to find a skill like that. But that means the skills can get significant boosts when they rank up,¡± Nina explained. ¡°I see..¡± Hera stared at her status screen, trying to figure out what were the requirements for those skills. ¡°Kid, before we lose you. Can we talk about the skill we figured out?¡± Peaches asked. ¡°Yeah. Sorry we got really sidetracked. What do you need to tell me?¡± Fritz took a step forward, ¡°Ok. So the skill we want to teach you is called ¡®Mana Palace.¡¯ Well¡­ actually, it¡¯s a variation on that one.¡± ¡°You probably heard a similar term before, Mind Palace. It¡¯s famous in detective stories. You know, that thing about imagining files or books with the topics you know about to then pick them up when you need? That is a skill that exists, but in this case it is for spells,¡± Kelp added. ¡°People use that one as a quick way to remember a spell or an enchantment. We tweaked that one to store summoned weapons and creatures. But, to store one ant, you would need about 5 billion mana per second. But that¡¯s only because it is a living creature. If it was just a dead ant, the cost would drop to just a few hundred,¡± Nina explained. ¡°You killed something to check that?¡± Hera asked. ¡°No, we found a dead ant and tested with it,¡± Talpa corrected. ¡°But inside,¡± Lodi turned to the screen on the wall of the private room, ¡°Do you mind if I use this?¡± after getting a nod of approval, she changed the view. From a mountain top view to a simple corridor, with a blank room in front of it. There was only a table and a bed inside, ¡°Here. This is what it can look like. Together with the skill, a few guides worked to make a program that lets you visualize how things look inside. Kind of like one of those house building games. This is just a way to help you, since the interior will be based on how you think about things. But having a house plant ready, you can just tell the skill ¡®make it like this,¡¯ and it will work. Also, you can have like a garden, a pool or whatever. Just keep in mind that everything has its mana cost.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Hera nodded. A part of her wanted the court members to be able to change things in their rooms, but having to make any modifications herself wouldn¡¯t be that bad. ¡°Again, we don¡¯t know for sure how this will interact with your legacy. And things might change if the skill gets added to it,¡± Kelp continued, ¡°But we also managed to add one thing. This is the reason why the amount of mana needed for each thing inside the palace can get so high. You said that your court shares their senses with you?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s the other way around. They can see through me and through each other. I can¡¯t do that. But I can know what they know during a fight or something.¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s what I meant. So in addition to all this. Inside the Mana Palace, every member of your court will get a tablet or something similar that they can access. Through it, they can watch what you are doing, hear what you are hearing, and send you messages from inside the palace. Otherwise, you won¡¯t be able to communicate with them,¡± Kelp finished his explanation. ¡°That¡¯s really cool. Will they be able to use those tablets, or whatever they are to watch movies and things like that?¡± Peaches nodded, ¡°They can, kid. That was one thing that I worked out with Tara. Basically, the Mana Palace can use the game they made as a router to connect to the internet. But you need to have your tablet with you and be able to connect to the internet. Another thing. Games are more complicated. Single player ones, or things that don¡¯t use the internet will work fine. If they want to play something that has a lot of players that becomes more of a problem. You need to connect your tablet to a computer and then the computer will be recreated inside. Sending messages to other people is also something they can¡¯t do all the time. A specific app will have to be open in your tablet to allow for that communication. And it has to be open, not just running in the background. The tech part is really complicated, but basically sending a message to someone and searching for something are very different things even if they look like they are similar. Doing anything like that will drain some mana, unless you have the files already downloaded on something that is on you. I know it sounds a bit weird, but that¡¯s the only way we managed to make this work.¡± ¡°Wow, that is amazing! Thanks! It must have been a lot of work to make this skill,¡± Hera opened a big smile. ¡°Yeah, it was. But it was fun. It¡¯s been a while since we had to figure out something like that,¡± Nina smiled back. ¡°Alas, if you accept this, then comes a different problem. How to deliver said skill to your self. Even the magnanimous me is unable to simply give it to you,¡± Capri shook his head, ¡°However. We can give you a quest for it!¡± ¡°A quest?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s going to sound kind of big. But it has to match the type of skill and this is a big one. So, if you liked the way we set everything up, we can give you the quest. If not, we can go back to the drawing board to see what else we can come up with,¡± Lodi said. ¡°No need. I loved it. What is the quest?¡± Hera was smiling from ear to ear. ¡°Like we said, it¡¯s a big one. But one that will be solved one way or another,¡± Peaches turned to Tara, ¡°You are the ancestor. Care to do the honors?¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Tara nodded and looked towards the Ophidianite. There was a pause, and a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Acquired Struggle of the Strength Spirits The Strength Spirits are struggling to survive in their home. End their struggle. Rewards: Skill: Mana Palace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 856 - Unexpected quest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quest Acquired Struggle of the Strength Spirits The Strength Spirits are struggling to survive in their home. End their struggle. Rewards: Skill: Mana Palace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the quest three times to make sure she wasn¡¯t going crazy. She never expected the guides to tell her to help the Spirits. Especially after they told her that the MAZE didn¡¯t care about them enough to do something about it. ¡°Are you really telling me that I need to go save the Strength Spirits? Don¡¯t get me wrong. I want to help them, but aside from not knowing where they are, I know I¡¯ll be way in over my head if I go after them,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Oh no. We are not saying that. The phrasing is weird because that¡¯s what the system does. But that quest will be completed relatively soon. Even if you don¡¯t do anything about it,¡± Tara explained. ¡°What? But it says ¡®End their struggle.¡¯ Doesn¡¯t that mean that I need to end their struggle?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Not really, kid. Besides, you already did your part. Doing anything else will just be extra. Even if the things you and Vulcan discovered end up not influencing anything,¡± Peaches added. ¡°So¡­ this will eventually just give me the skill?¡± Hera paused, ¡°And give me a way of knowing when the Strength Spirits are either all gone, or have been saved from the human experiments?¡± ¡°Pretty much. You just won¡¯t know if the result was good or bad by the quest alone,¡± Nina nodded, but glanced at Capri and gestured for him to speak. ¡°However. We must confess that giving this particular quest is also of interest to us,¡± the winged sheep spoke, ¡°Even if the system does not care about the Spirits, we do. Spirits are one of the few creatures in the MAZE that do not have a set lifespan. Some exist ever since their territory was created. And in one particular case, there is a Spirit that is just a few years younger than the guide of their room.¡± Hera stared at Capri, letting that information sink in, ¡°Are you saying that there is a Spirit out there that is almost as old as the universe itself? Or the MAZE itself, we kind of assume they both came to be at the same time.¡± ¡°I can not say anything about the second part of that question. But the first is correct. We are free to say this because in order for you to reach that Spirit would take lifetimes of constant travel. And I do mean your new lifetime.¡± Hera slumped back, ¡°So it¡¯s that far away?¡± ¡°The distance you would have to walk would be similar to the distance from Earth to Pluto. If you are lucky, it would take around 60 thousand years. That is, considering you stop to sleep,¡± Kelp added. ¡°Holy shit,¡± Nimbus and Daskka gasped. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Hera just stared at the guides, her eyes focused somewhere else. ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. Is that really that surprising?¡± Lodi crossed her arms. ¡°No¡­ I mean¡­ sort of,¡± Hera scratched the back of her head. ¡°We always did hear that the MAZE was infinite,¡± Viper nodded. ¡°Yeah, but hearing them say this like that gives a very different sense of scale,¡± Crimson seemed to be in a similar state as Hera. ¡°Either way. You like Spirits, and are giving that quest in hopes that we do something about what is going on?¡± Livy asked. The revelation didn¡¯t seem to bother her one bit. ¡°In essence, yes. But we never intended to trick Hera, or any of you, into doing that. Our idea was to be upfront about it from the start. I hope we didn¡¯t offend you,¡± Peaches nodded and turned to Vulcan, ¡°Or you. I know that because of who you are, this entire situation feels much more personal.¡± Forge shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I agree with Hera about everything. I really wanted to help my kind. But I just can¡¯t. If the humans are trapping us somewhere, or harvesting us somehow, then¡­ They wouldn¡¯t leave that area unprotected. Delta was just a prototype. It¡¯s likely that the final products are the ones standing guard. We can¡¯t take them. Even if they are a bit weaker than Delta was.¡± Livy stared at Vulcan with an angry expression, but after a moment let out a long sigh, ¡°Yeah. I agree. As much as I hate that.¡± ¡°And so you don¡¯t think we are giant assholes. No one is telling you to fix it by yourself. Go in a group, hell, bring an entire army. We just don¡¯t like seeing the Spirits like that,¡± Nina said. Talpa put a hand on her sister¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Or do research. Help with supplies for the ones actually going there. Whatever you decide to do to help is a step in the right direction.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Hera nodded, ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll see what I can do. But no promises. The entire thing is super complicated and I don¡¯t know what I can do to help. I was already thinking about checking with the agency, anyway.¡± ¡°And again, kid. You don¡¯t have to. You already did your part. No one is asking you to do more,¡± Peaches added. The Empress just gave him a blank stare, ¡°You are literally asking me to do more. But I get it. ¡° With that, the party died down. The guides felt bad for the way they handled that situation, and the court still had a bad taste in their mouth. Hera knew that they didn¡¯t have bad intentions, but they could¡¯ve just asked her to do more instead of attaching it to a quest. Or explained the quest before creating it. Still, it was something to think about. To try to take her mind off things for the rest of the night, she opened the house building app Lodi sent her and started making what one day would be the court¡¯s home. Of course, everyone was allowed to give their own opinions, and they could change anything they wanted for now. The actual final details would only be done when she had the skill and knew what it could do. Early next morning, the Empress woke up and left her private room to meet the rest of her team. Milla had sent a message to the Harmony Guardians. It seemed like there was a pack of giant rats messing with the crops in the city. Randolf also received the message about that problem and they agreed to delay their journey for a few hours while they took care of those monsters. Finding those creatures was easy, the tracks were very obvious. In the most chicle way possible, they led to an empty cellar in one farmhouse that was currently not in use. The family that took care of that area was human, and when the war started, they left back to Earth. ¡°Who wants to go in first?¡± Neria asked as they approached the entrance of the cellar. ¡°Me,¡± Livy, Vulcan, and Roan spoke at the same time. Neria glanced back at the doors, ¡°I¡¯m not sure you can move around inside there all that well, Livy. The area looks wide, but not that tall.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay in my weapon form,¡± before anyone could reply, the bipedal form of the Leviathan vanished, leaving only the war axe behind. ¡°OK then. Go ahead. I¡¯ll be on the back to heal anyone if needed,¡± Neria replied, but she wasn¡¯t really worried. They were in a room where monsters could reach level 24 at most. For one of those monsters to become an actual threat to the Harmony Guardians, it would take a lot of carelessness and bad luck. Even then, it was a stretch to think about that. ¡°Vulcan, if your Daemonic Influence gets too high, you come back. 80% is the cut point,¡± Hera warned. Even if Forge was currently sitting at only 26%, it was better to be safe than sorry. The trio, or duo plus floating weapon walked inside. Once they were far enough away, the Empress let out a sigh and sent Robin to inside the cellar to cover them. Just in case. ¡°Sorry about Livy, everyone. She is upset ever since our fight with Delta. While we were coming here, she kept saying she wanted to punch something squishy,¡± Hera said. ¡°Really?¡± Vash turned to the Empress, ¡°Honestly, I barely noticed any difference. If anything, she is less talkative lately.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been asking her to be careful. To her credit, she is doing that, and making sure she is not lashing out at anyone without a reason, but it could be better,¡± the Ophidianite explained. ¡°She¡¯s mad because you guys lost the fight?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Not exactly. She is more upset because I almost died. Now she¡¯s blaming herself. There was something I talked with them about yesterday that didn¡¯t help either.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°I realized I never learned a proper fighting style. I messed around here and there with a couple of things. But even the one I use the most is still at rank 3. So I said we need to focus more on learning how to fight. We discussed some options and agreed to focus on a style that is good against people for now,¡± Hera explained. Flint nodded, ¡°That¡¯s a good call. Even if the war ends tomorrow, there are a lot of people shaped monsters. Not to mention dungeons with people, or monsters acting like people.¡± ¡°And if we are facing monsters, it¡¯s generally easier to outsmart them. Since I have the court, I can pull some stunts that they won¡¯t expect,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Skyler nodded as they continued to talk about the ways in which they could improve. A about 20 minutes later, Livy emerged from the cellar in her weapon form, blood dripping from the blades. She stopped close to the entrance and turned back into the Leviathan, ¡°It¡¯s done. Do we need to get the bodies?¡± Hera frowned, unsure if that was part of the mission. They all instinctively turned to Flint, who grumbled, ¡°Sure, the crafter will know what to do with the bodies.¡± ¡°Well¡­ do you?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Yes. Grab them. The people here can use the pelts for blankets in the winter, even if it¡¯s just from rats. And the bones can be used to create a surprisingly strong version of concrete,¡± Flint nodded. ¡°Concrete?¡± ¡°Yeah, you can substitute for either sand or gravel. Only one or the other. The result is pretty damn good in most cases. Unless the bones have some weird property,¡± Flint finished. Knowing that, everyone went inside to help bring out the rat bodies and place them in the cart they were using. Less than two hours later, they had already delivered the good news and the dead rats to the people in this city and were heading out in the caravan with Randolf. A couple of days later, they had to make a detour since a room they were supposed to pass by was in the middle of a rampage. That increased their trip by another three days. They stopped in a room with a large dam where they were asked to protect the workers as they did some repairs in the dam itself. Neria used a spell to let Skyler and Roan to breathe underwater while Hera, for the first time, could use Livy¡¯s Sea Serpent form for what it was intended to do. They swam in the lake, with the Empress not needing to breathe thanks to the Leviathan and killed a few dozen monsters. Even with the small number of creatures. The actual repairs took a while to complete, which made them spend the entire afternoon there. Adding yet another day to their journey. In the end, what should be a trip of a little bit over a week ended up being closer to two. Still, they were able to arrive back in the Kalandria Empire, where Randolf and the caravan said their goodbyes. Kalahan and his group also thanked for the help and went to meet the members that were injured. The Harmony Guardians had nothing else to do for the day and decided to just retire for the night. They had already warned the agency they were done with the mission and now had to wait for Milla to give them another task. 857 - Is it enough? Early next morning, the Harmony Guardians were once more having a meeting over breakfast. But instead of going out to eat somewhere, Hera was the only one who left. She went to a bakery nearby and came back to their joined room with bags of pastries. After placing everything on the table for the team to pick what they wanted, the Ophidianite found her own seat. When everyone was comfortable, Skyler spoke up, ¡°Ok then. So, what do you all feel about the missions we just did on the way here?¡± ¡°I understand they were important, but¡­ It feels like we are punching down,¡± Neria sighed. ¡°Yeah. Not to talk shit about the job. After all, we know someone has to do it, and there is no shame in that. Besides, we were already there, so we might as well do it. But still, it felt¡­ off. Like we were no longer doing anything to help with the war effort,¡± Roan sighed. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t feel that, and I¡¯m the one that barely did anything. We are doing the things that would take large teams on matching levels to do. I don¡¯t mind doing something else, but I don¡¯t feel like it¡¯s a waste,¡± Vash took a bite of his croissant. Skyler nodded, ¡°I have to agree. Taking care of the small things is a big part of the job, even if it doesn¡¯t feel like it. Then again, I wouldn¡¯t mind being a part of something a bit bigger. But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not satisfied with what we are currently doing.¡± ¡°How about you, Flint?¡± Hera turned to the dwarf. ¡°Honestly? If I¡¯m making ammo for the army or making plaster for people to fix a dam. It¡¯s all the same. I¡¯m just doing this so this bullshit can be over so I can go back to my work.¡± ¡°That really helped, thanks,¡± Neria rolled her eyes. ¡°What? You asked for my opinion. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Hang on. Let me ask this. Who prefers doing what we did during the trip back? The smaller missions instead of participating in a larger operation. Raise hands,¡± Hera asked, Vash was the only who raised his wing, ¡°Now who would prefer to be part of big things instead of these smaller ones,¡± Neria, Hera, Roan, and Skyler raised their hands this time. ¡°And who doesn¡¯t care either way?¡± Flint asked, but he was the only one with his hand up. ¡°So Vash. If we try to be more active, would you be ok?¡± Neria asked. The harpy shrugged, ¡°As long as we are not going to fight in the front lines. I¡¯m fine with that. Even if it means we are going to face some danger.¡± ¡°With that I have to agree. I want to do more, but not being in the front lines. Or on missions to assassinate someone,¡± Hera added. ¡°This makes it sound like you have something in mind,¡± Roan turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°I do. I wanted to help the Strength Spirits. Not just for Vulcan, and to save those being experimented on, but to make sure that people like Delta don¡¯t show up anymore,¡± Hera admitted, but she held back on the fact she had a new quest for it. Not that it would make any difference to her decision. In the end it was a just the cherry on top. ¡°Ok then, so we need to tell Milla to check the missions we can make for those who are more involved,¡± Neria nodded. Skyler pulled her tablet and chuckled when she saw a notification, ¡°In the end. All this talk might have been for no reason. Milla just sent a message. Someone from the agency is coming here to talk to us about a couple of bigger missions we can do. Apparently, these are the ones Ka¡¯mal wanted to send us to before the caravan.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! When they will get here?¡± Hera opened a smile. ¡°Later today. Close to sundown, it seems. Also, they will be moving along early tomorrow since they are a part of one of the missions they will offer us,¡± Skyler continued. ¡°It does feel a bit weird. Doesn¡¯t it? Like giving us choices of missions,¡± Vash crossed his arms. ¡°You think so?¡± Neria turned to the harpy. ¡°Yeah. I mean, we are not special. Not really. So why are they treating us like this? Giving us this much leeway on what we can choose to do. We are at war, it wouldn¡¯t be weird if they just told us to do something specific. It¡¯s not like soldiers can pick where they are deployed,¡± Vash continued. ¡°Honestly, I have a couple of theories,¡± Hera took a chocolate donut, ¡°First. They are doing this with everyone when they have the chance. If it¡¯s an emergency, they just talk about a single mission. Like when we came to the caravan. The reason for that is to keep the spirits up, and make sure they are not being absolute assholes like the guild,¡± Hera took a bite out of her snack, ¡°The second theory is that I¡¯m the reason. Since I have an honorary seat at the council table, they are thinking about how things will go once my species starts to grow. It¡¯s a way to have the Ophidianites in their good graces already. Not to mention the possibility of the bunker.¡± ¡°What bunker?¡± Flint asked. ¡°I never talked about that?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°I don¡¯t remember,¡± Neria replied. ¡°Oh¡­ Well, don¡¯t spread the word, please. It¡¯s a bit of a secret topic still. But Deakoshara, the room that the old Naga civilization lived in, has three sets of two doors near the doorways connected to it. Each doorway has two extra doors, made by the Naga. I mean like. One door in Deakoshara, and another in the room those doorways lead to. And if needed, a Naga, or an Ophidianite, can close those doors and lock them. They are made in such a way that it should be impossible to break in or breakthrough. Any successful attempt would trigger a spell trap that turns the area around the doorway into a solid block of mana that cannot be destroyed. Or at least, that¡¯s the idea. The records we found only had people up to level 60 trying to break through the earlier stages of that spell. Which was the highest level they had at the time. So basically, if the guild truly starts to win, we could, in theory, bring everyone back to Deakoshara and lock the entrance that leads to human lands without having to lock the entire room,¡± Hera continued eating as she spoke. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, but then again, every room could do something like that. If the idea was to just hunker down, we could just lock the rooms,¡± Roan shrugged. ¡°Yeah¡­ but I think they want that as a second layer of protection. Not to mention that in that case, you can just block some of the doorways while still leaving one open. Also¡­¡± Flint turned to Hera, ¡°You mentioned that if the trap is triggered, the doorway becomes inaccessible. Right?¡± ¡°I did, why?¡± ¡°I heard rumors about a lock picking legacy. One that could open closed rooms. And it seems like it¡¯s with the humans,¡± Flint was just staring at a piece of bread with butter on his plate. ¡°So even if we did lock the rooms, there is a chance the humans could still invade?¡± Vash asked, getting only a nod as a reply, ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°You know¡­ that never crossed my mind. But now, it does sound odd. The whole idea of needing to a bunker room. And it also explains why the council was interested in Deakoshara. Then again. If we do have to go there, we will need to do something about the roaming clouds of poison.¡± ¡°The what now?¡± Skyler stopped mid bite. ¡°Don¡¯t know much about it. All the information I have about that came from scribbles on a wall in an outpost near two of the doorways. But basically, after the Naga locked themselves inside, they started getting paranoid. And started making things to block and harm people who tried to invade the room. Even if, in theory, no one could reach them. One of the things they did was creating poison storms that could occur naturally. I have no idea how, but it worked. The poison was just stronger than they expected, and killed a lot of people, including all the children. Only the ones with a higher poison resistance skill could pass through them. So we have to deal with that before going in there. That¡¯s probably part of the reason why the alliance didn¡¯t ask me to just start clearing that place. I mean, where do I even start? But honestly, I really want to try,¡± Hera¡¯s eye shined with the idea of exploring the Naga homeland. ¡°Can you even move around there?¡± Neria asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I would have to test. But my natural poison skill also makes me more resilient against poisons. And it¡¯s at rank 6 already, and some poison spells I have can even buff me because of that. So I think I have a good chance of being immune to that poison.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind going with you when this is all over. Looking into an ancient civilization sounds amazing. And I have a few spells to remove poison,¡± Neria smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t say no to that. But this is only after this whole mess is over,¡± Hera sighed, bringing the team back to reality. They talked for a few more minutes before the entire team headed to the Alliance Center. They were actually going to use the training rooms to practice their fighting. Despite it not being enough to traumatize anyone, even Hera, who was almost killed, they all realized that if they didn¡¯t improve their abilities, it would be hard to survive until the end of this war. The encounters they had against humans showed they lacked experience. Everyone agreed that the best way to go about it would be to spare against each other, Roan, Flint, and Skyler were doing exactly that. Vash, Neria, and Hera focused on the fundamentals first. Sparing would come later. During the trip back, each of them took some time to find a martial art that could help them. In Hera¡¯s case, she decided to focus on the Dorohla Style. She sent some texts to Shane about it, and the enchanter did find some tomes that people used to practice. In addition, there was also a historic dungeon in one of the outposts around Zaxalam where they would be helping defend the small village, along with some guards. After a few runs, Naka was able to get close to the Naga captain, and he offered to teach her a fighting style, which was a version of the Dorohla Style that hear learned from Rris. They were even able to record the lessons to let others learn the fighting style, but no one was able to. The main issue was the movement that required a tail instead of legs. Still, there were enough videos of not just the captain but the other warriors fighting to cross reference with the tomes and try to improve what the Empress already knew. Some of the Harmony Guardians spent the entire day there, while others left sooner. Only when the message letting her know that the contact sent by the agency had arrived that the Ophidianite left the training room. That person wanted some time to rest before meeting the team, so Hera took a quick shower to clean herself. When they finally met the person, it was someone Hera only saw in passing. A dwarven man called Balthazar, but went by Balto. He was a level 63 assassin, and he brought three flash drives with the information of the possible missions. The first was the do more supply runs to the front line of the army. Having a high level team could shave off a day or two on each route, which could be beneficial in the long run. But the danger of being ambushed, or being in a camp while there was a battle, was very much present. He added that this would just open up some lower level teams to work on various tasks. According to Ka¡¯mal himself, it wouldn¡¯t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. The second option would take them to a deeper layer in the MAZE. In one specific room was a group working on new weapons and spells to be used in the war. The Harmony Guardians would be one of two teams responsible for testing the weapons and spells against the high level monsters and in the dungeons that had human enemies. Balto added that the room in question was mostly covered in undead due to what Emperor Xu Jiayi did a long time ago. Hera recognized that name. It was the same person that she was sent to kill during her assassin role test, and part of the reason she fought against the undead while in her original explorer test. From what she remembered, Xu Jiayi had a necromancer like legacy that trapped the souls of people in their bodies, allowing his undead to still use the skills they had during life. King Gwendelan managed to kill the Emperor, but in doing so, took his legacy and somehow became an undead while still having the legacy. She had no idea if the undead version of the king was still ¡®alive¡¯, but it did make her curious about the situation. Lastly, the third option would take them to a location where the Alliance believed some of the Strength Spirits were being experimented on. It wasn¡¯t a lab with prisoners, or at least not many as the others were, but one with dedicated to Spirit research. If they went there, they would be close to an area where the agency believed the Strength Spirits were born. Hearing that, Hera glanced at the rest of the team, and they all came to an agreement without words. They had already dealt with the lab, and any hits they could deal with that research were a good thing in their books. ¡°Ok then. Here are all the details,¡± Balto passed the flash drive to Skyler, ¡°My mission takes us to a similar location. So I will be traveling with you for a while, if that¡¯s ok.¡± ¡°Sure. We don¡¯t mind the extra luggage,¡± Flint smirked. ¡°I would imagine so. You are a full shipment of bullshit while I¡¯m just a carry on,¡± Balto replied almost instantly with a smile. Flint grumbled something, but their interaction was playful enough to be clear there wouldn¡¯t be problems. Having decided on their next task, the group prepared for a new journey. 858 - Meet cute Once they confirmed the mission they would take, Balto destroyed the flash drives using a small vial of acid. It was a very exaggerated safety measure, but one that the agency was happy to do if it lessened the chance of data leaking to someone who shouldn¡¯t know about it. The Harmony Guardians thanked the man and agreed to meet with him early the next morning to leave. Even before the team looked into the mission, Balto confirmed that his task would be in the same direction, and they could do part of the journey together. Back in their hotel room, Hera and the others opened the files inside the flash drive to check the details of the job. All in all, it was very simple. An operation would happen in a few days. One that targeted a laboratory that researched about the Strength Spirits. According to the intel, it was the one of the firsts facilities that the guild, or the New Dawn, used in that research. That could mean one of two things. Either the place barely had any important information about what the Soldiers of Strength were, or it was still one of the vital pieces of their network of labs. Even the best research facilities would put a lot of care into old documents. Most even had a paper trail and that could be the holy grail the agency was looking for. More to the point, there was one specific thing they hoped to find. An access key for a supercomputer. There was no more information about that supercomputer, or why they needed the access key, but it wouldn¡¯t be hard to imagine the possibilities. The Harmony Guardians would go to a room called ¡®Frostmare Peak,¡¯ like the name suggested, the room was on the top of a mountain range. With the titular Frostmare Peak being the tallest of them all. In there, they would meet the other crew that would be helping them break into the lab. Then they would travel a couple of days to the ¡®Verdant Labyrinth.¡¯ That place was perfect to hide a facility like the one they were looking for. There was a mix of hedges, corn fields, canna lilies, and various types of excessively tall plants forming a labyrinth that could put Daedalus to shame. However, Hera¡¯s team would be the hammer, while this new group was the nail. While the Harmony Guardians dealt with the guards, and the stronger monsters or creatures that were there, the others would sneak inside and grab all the intel they could. If possible, they would also save anyone who was trapped in there. And potentially even let the Spirits loose, even if they were daemons. All in all, things were somewhat straight forward. The only big issue was to actually find the facility in the Verdant Labyrinth. The Alliance didn¡¯t have a full map of the area, and if someone tried to fly above the plants, the room would create an illusion that covered all the paths for those beyond the vegetation. When Hera finally went to bed, she lost some sleep, thinking about her hypocrisy. She said she didn¡¯t want to fight against humans, yet here she was ready to be the muscle for a team of people who would go after scientists. Then again, they were experimenting on Spirits. For that reason, she wasn¡¯t feeling bad about her decision. Instead, her feelings were more focused towards her conflicting actions. But after a while, she decided to not let this bother her. When the war was over and she had time to rest, she would talk about all of this with Sammy and try to figure out some things. Morning came, and they left the Kalandria Empire. The rest of the trip with Balto went on without a hitch. Hera was half expecting to be attacked by monsters, or humans, all the time, but nothing of the sort happened. Even when they had to camp outside. Eventually, they reached a room called. Sands of Mirage, where Balto was supposed to meet some people before splitting off. The sands in that place would constantly create mirages of oasis, cities, forests, and various other things. Illusions happened with such a frequency and covered such large areas that it was even hard to tell they were in an actual sandy desert. Thankfully, Balto knew his way around the place and soon, they arrived in the actual city, hidden in the middle of all mirages. After reaching the central square, the dwarf who tagged along started saying his goodbyes. However, he was interrupted by a loud shout of someone who dashed through the crowd and tackled the Ophidianite. ¡°Hera!¡± a familiar voice range and the Empress felt the impact on her stomach. Using her tail, she stopped herself from falling and hugged the woman, who charged at her. It was a familiar feeling, after all. After she left Boothudurn for the first time, the same thing had happened. ¡°Alex!¡± Hera picked her friend up and twirled, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± The human assassin laughed, ¡°Last time I tackled you, I managed to drop you and Blue. You got stronger!¡± she landed back on the ground, ¡°The agency followed your advice and they called me to test if that would work against the tattoos. And it does.¡± ¡°Nice! We needed a way to remove them safely. I¡¯m glad that worked,¡± Hera nodded, understanding they were talking about Alex¡¯s legacy. ¡°Me too. I barely had the chance to practice that part of the whole thing. So it still takes a while for it to work. But being able to help people is already amazing. The training is just an extra. I¡¯m actually here looking for a dwarf named Balthazar. He¡¯s taking me to a place where my talents are needed.¡± ¡°And I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t shout that for everyone to hear,¡± Balto sighed and turned to Hera, ¡°You were the one who recommended Alex?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the Empress replied, not wanting to elaborate. ¡°Thank you for that. My brother was one of the victims and she was able to help him,¡± put out his hand to shake Hera¡¯s. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The Ophidianite shook his hand, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m glad to help. But¡­ from what I remember, the only person with a full tattoo we rescued was an elf.¡± ¡°Recently we got a few more people. It¡¯s just hard to move them from one room to another,¡± Balto explained. ¡°Enter me. The traveling cleanser,¡± Alex smiled. ¡°Alex!¡± a voice called from the back. Bonnie was rushing over, she wore long robes and a large brim witch¡¯s hat with a night sky stamp, ¡°Hera!¡± ¡°Bonnie!¡± the Ophidianite smiled and gave her friend a hug. ¡°I give up,¡± Balto threw his arms up, and turned to Alex, ¡°We do need to talk, but we can do that over dinner. Ok? That way, you can catch up with your friend.¡± ¡°Thank you, Balto,¡± Hera said, getting a grunt as a reply. She then turned to the Harmony Guardians, ¡°Do you guys mind if-¡° ¡°Go. If we need anything, we¡¯ll call you. Balto mentioned that there is a hotel here that rents out small villas. Get a room there so you can talk,¡± Skyler suggested. ¡°Will do,¡± Hera nodded and turned back to Alex and Bonnie, ¡°Is Lena with you? Or someone else?¡± ¡°No, Lena is with a research team working on a tool to locate wendigos in a room. She¡¯s working in some sort of secret weapons lab, since that¡¯s where the equipment she needs is,¡± Alex explained. ¡°Everyone else is back on Zaxalam. Your dad and Shane are doing great, by the way. They continue to drink the Naga essence every day. Both have skills on rank 2 already,¡± Bonnie added as they walked to the hotel, ¡°What about you? How are things going?¡± Hera told them the basics. The news about her level, she introduced them to Vulcan, who was only at 12% daemonic influence today. And talked about her non secret missions. Being sure not to mention any sensitive information. Once they actually arrived at the hotel room, the Ophidianite activated the soundproof bubble and told them about Blue. ¡°Fucking Peter,¡± Alex snarled, ¡°I should¡¯ve killed him.¡± ¡°Could you?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Maybe. Together we could.¡± ¡°What is done, is done. We can¡¯t actually do anything about that. And I get her, if it was my mom the one being threatened I would also help the guild. Besides, they wouldn¡¯t let a legacy holder away from their grasp.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why Blue is in trouble,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about her,¡± Bonnie had a shit-eating grin on her face. ¡°Wait¡­ what? Did you-¡° before the Empress could finish, Bonnie jumped to say. ¡°Find the Astral Witch legacy? Fuck yeah I did! It¡¯s called the Starlight Court,¡± the researcher opened her hand and a small constellation appeared in her hand. The stars glowed and the outline of a cup formed before an actual cup of water appeared in Bonnie¡¯s hand. ¡°Did you just¡­ made glass?¡± Hera asked, knowing that glass was a particularly costly thing to make, even with the blueprint skill. ¡°Yes, and no. The glass itself is temporary, but the cup will always be full of refreshing water. And if I were to dump it all out, it wouldn¡¯t stop. Not until the spell is over, or I drop it, at least. But here is the kicker. It¡¯s not a continuous mana drain. It¡¯s a onetime pay, and that¡¯s it!¡± ¡°That is amazing, Bonnie!¡± Hera gave her friend a hug, ¡°You have to tell me how you found it later.¡± ¡°I will, but let me ask both of you something. Ever since you got the legacy, did you feel this powerful? Like you could do anything?¡± Bonnie opened and closed her hands, the cup of glass floating in the air. ¡°Well¡­ My legacy doesn¡¯t have that many skills just yet. And the conditions are a bit finicky for it to truly hit. But when it does. It. Fucking. Hits!¡± Alex smiled. ¡°Yeah¡­ Knowing that I always have an army by my side, especially with everything they can do lately, is amazing. Ever since I got the legacy, I lost a lot of the fear of being an explorer I had before. Now I feel almost invincible. Even when I almost get killed.¡± ¡°You what?¡± Alex and Bonnie gasped. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. How long does it last?¡± Hera gestured to the cup. ¡°Two hours,¡± Bonnie passed the cup to the Empress, who took a sip. It was surprisingly refreshing and she could even feel a minor boost to her mana regeneration. It was a very small bump, but still. ¡°So you use constellations?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yeah, but I can only access a few of them right now. Some are their own skills, others are parts of a bigger one. For instance, the chalice. It¡¯s part of a skill that lets me create objects that have one effect or another. Like Libra, allowing me to weight two different things based on conditions I set. Like if one thing is more valuable than the other, or the amount of sugar on drinks. Another option is this,¡± Bonnie tapped her wrists and a red slime appeared from her sleeve. ¡°Hey Ruby!¡± Hera waved at the creature, who waved back, using a pseudopod from the side. ¡°Ruby, Lepus,¡± Bonnie created another constellation in her hand. This time a rabbit. Each of the eleven stars of the constellation flew out and reached Ruby, who stretched herself to have the shape of a hare. Once that was done, the stars glowed, and the slime changed again. Fur appeared around her body, and the limbs became more lifelike. If Hera didn¡¯t watch the entire transformation, she would believe that there was a red rabbit in front of her, and not a slime. ¡°That is awesome. That skill gives a buff, too?¡± Hera looked back at her friend. ¡°It does. It depends on the constellation. Lepus, or Hare, gives some extra agility and increases the power of your legs. I can use a few animals constellations like Canis minor for a dog, Cancer for a crab, Equuleus for a pony, and Dorado for a swordfish. There are a few other that I don¡¯t recognize, and until I can locate them in the night sky, I can¡¯t use their power. Funny enough, some animals have their own skill. I know of Draco and Phoenix, but there seems to be more.¡± ¡°And did you figure out the drawbacks? Both of you,¡± Hera asked. ¡°I did. Since my legacy is all about purification, my body has to be pure. Meaning that I can¡¯t dye my hair, tattoos won¡¯t stay, and if I eat too much junk food, I¡¯ll get really sick. So my legacy forces me to be healthy. It¡¯s not that bad. Aside from the possibility of it not letting me have children,¡± Alex explained. ¡°Why?¡± Hera tilted her head, ¡°Because a baby is not that much different from a parasite. Biologically speaking. It¡¯s a foreign object inside your body that is draining the nutrients you consume. I didn¡¯t test that, but it was a possibility that was floated around.¡± ¡°I see¡­ well, at least you can still adopt if that¡¯s the case,¡± Hera tried to change the mood. ¡°Relax. I was always more keen on adoption. Being pregnant never sounded like fun. But how about you, Bonnie? Did you figure something out?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Nothing so far, but I got this just a few weeks ago. I¡¯m sure something will show up,¡± the researchers stopped to think for a moment, ¡°Actually. I realized that is harder to cast spells normally. If I try, I end up using a skill from the legacy. Maybe that¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Could be,¡± Hera nodded, ¡°But tell me more. What are your skills? I have a few new ones, too.¡± The trio smiled and continued talking throughout the night. It¡¯s been a long time that they were together like that, and they wanted to enjoy every second of it. 859 - Frostmare Peak Hera really wanted to stay with Alex and Bonnie. Especially now that they were actively helping the Alliance. But they were just a bit above level 40. Even if both had legacies now, with the Ophidianite tagging along, it would just end up as a one woman show. Well, one woman plus her army of floating weapons. That wouldn¡¯t help anyone. The alliance would lose someone strong, and her friends wouldn¡¯t practice enough to become stronger and properly learn how to use their new abilities. That¡¯s why they left on the next morning without any fuss. Hera had taken a smaller villa for her and her friends, so she they could talk more and have a proper goodbye. In addition, she also sent some texts to Lena, her dad, Shane, and a number of the dwarves from Boothudurn, who were now in Zaxalam. It was nothing big, just some mentions that she was doing well and that she would likely be unable to contact people for a few days. This room was the limit of possible communication. Beyond it, the mission asked them to activate the ¡®stealth¡¯ mode in all of their electronic devices. That would be more effective than putting a phone in airplane mode, and cut off any connection with any other device. The only devices still online were the communicators, and that was only because they used mana stones instead of radio waves. However, to keep the footprint of those messages to a minimum, they could only cover a distance of a bout 1 and a half kilometers. Two uneventful days later, the Harmony Guardians arrived at the Frostmare Peak in the middle of a snowstorm. That wasn¡¯t great, since the infiltration team was waiting for them to arrive before leaving. And they were supposed to be staying at a cave near one of the lower peaks. While looking at the map, Vash mentioned that the location they were supposed to meet at could be a problem. If there was an avalanche in one of the surrounding mountains, that would trap anyone who was currently in that cave. ¡°We should move quick then,¡± Flint replied and started to walk into the snowstorm. He quickly made some rope for the group and snow shoes that would attach under their boots. Vash couldn¡¯t handle this kind of weather very well and, because of it, Hera was currently carrying the harpy. Wanting to help, the Empress called Livy out and had her attempting to clear the way. Oddly enough, she was moving faster than one would expect and was able to go well beyond her regular range. Even Hera was surprised. After a few moments, they understood what was going on. Livy¡¯s [Inheritance of Cerulea] was buffing her a little. Increasing her movement speed when she was in the same body of water as Hera. They had a feeling the effect was weaker than if they were in actual water, but it seemed like snow also counted for the skill. With that in mind, the Leviathan shifted to her sea serpent form. Unlike Nimbus, who could only carry two people, Livy could do that with 10 without losing speed. Then again, when on the ground, she was slow, but here, that could give them some help. Especially for Roan, Flint, and Vash. The harpy couldn¡¯t fly, and his legs were not exactly made to tread snow. While the Dwarf and the Beastmen were both short, standing at a bit below a meter and a half. Skyler and Neria also jumped on Livy¡¯s back since it didn¡¯t make sense for someone to move by their side if they had a better way to cross this snow. Following the directions on the map, it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive at the cave where they were supposed to meet the other team. However, the lower peaks were slowly being covered in snow. If they took too long to get out of there, they might end up trapped inside the cave. There were also a few monsters around, but they seemed worried about their own circumstances, not about the large group moving around the room. 30 minutes after they arrived in the room, they reached the meeting point. However, the entrance of the cave was already half buried due to the snowstorm. Still, the Empress could tell that there were some people inside it. Livy quickly moved inside, which caused whoever was waiting there to scream and get ready to attack. ¡°The fuck is that?¡± a small harpy with sky blue and storm gray feathers gasped, a spear being held by one of her talons as she took flight. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t want to know what it¡¯s like inside its stomach!¡± a tall beastmen put out his claws. Black fur covered his skin and his yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, like a panther. ¡°Wait. Wait,¡± Skyler called, ¡°We don¡¯t want any trouble!¡± ¡°Yeah, this is Livy. She is not going to eat anyone!¡± Hera jumped from the back of the Leviathan and sent her back to the legacy. Just in case. ¡°You have a tail¡­ and scales¡­ Oh! Are you the Ophidi? Are you guys the other team?¡± an elf with emerald green eyes stepped forward, her silver hair coming from the sides of her neck from under her cloak. Oddly, the hair would change back and forth to leaf green as she moved. ¡°It¡¯s Ophidianite, but yeah. And what is the name of your group? We are the Harmony Guardians,¡± Hera asked, following the protocol to confirm that information before saying anything else. Then again, being recognized should already be enough to confirm their identity. The existence of another species was, despite everything, somewhat of a secret. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Shadow Talons,¡± a stout dwarf replied. He had short gray hair with a long beard of the same color that was braided with silver bangles. The man had blue eyes and broad shoulders, even for a dwarf. Skyler nodded, ¡°Ok. That checks out,¡± she glanced back, ¡°Where should we go now? We were just told to meet you and the destination, now how to get there. I would like to talk a bit to know what the plan is, but I don¡¯t think this is the right moment.¡± The snow continued to pile up, covering up more and more of the cave¡¯s entrance. ¡°We are kind of screwed. Without any information about the weather here, there was no way to predict this storm. Now, both doorways we could use are too dangerous for us to get to,¡± the elf sighed, ¡°I¡¯m Liraelle, buy the way.¡± ¡°But why is that?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Korrin,¡± the panther beastmen walked forward, ¡°The first doorway had a lovely view of the room, but it was also near the peak of one of the mountains. In this storm, we will end up as kites without a string.¡± Vash nodded, and the other harpy continued, ¡°The other one is closer, but it¡¯s in the middle of a Sleyti nest.¡± ¡°And why is that a problem?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to become their food for the winter. If you want to go there, that¡¯s fine,¡± the harpy shrugged. ¡°Right, and what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Neria,¡± the triton asked. ¡°Syrinx,¡± the harpy replied. ¡°What¡¯s the level of those Sleyti?¡± Hera asked. ¡°60. And I¡¯m Borin,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Oh? Ok. Where is the cave, then?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what we just said? Those monsters will eat our bones. Even if you are closer to their level, there are just too many of them in a nest.¡± Syrinx huffed. ¡°Hundreds?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Dozens,¡± Borin replied. ¡°Yeah, then I think we are ok. Just point us to the cave. We¡¯ll send a signal when we are done,¡± Hera nodded. After the fight against Delta she, like Livy, was itching to face someone strong but that she still could beat. Even if those monsters were level 60, she could take them. After all, even humans that were above level 60 struggled to fight against her. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Liraelle asked. ¡°If they want to die, let them,¡± Syrinx flew to the back of the cave where they had a small fire going on. ¡°We kind of need them to help to get to the lab. We are great for going in, taking stuff out will be the problem,¡± Korrin sighed. ¡°You said dozens, right? If you are worried about the difference in numbers,¡± Hera snapped her fingers, summoning the entire court. All 5/6 titled blades, and the 8 floating weapons, ¡°It won¡¯t be that great.¡± ¡°What are they?¡± Liraelle rushed over. ¡°My backup. Each of them can take a level 60 human on their own,¡± the Empress boasted a little. ¡°Besides, the whole idea was that you were the spies, and we are the muscle. Let us show how much we can lift,¡± Vash smiled. ¡°I wanna see that. Can we go along? Maybe we can help,¡± Liraelle moved towards the Harmony Guardians. The rest of the Shadow Talons sighed and followed her. The cave where the next doorway was located wasn¡¯t that far. Just a 10 minute sprint to the east. Unfortunately, due to the storm, they took almost 30 minutes to get there. Livy couldn¡¯t carry everyone anymore, and splitting the groups wasn¡¯t the best idea. Especially since the visibility here was absolutely terrible. Syrinx had some spells, or skills, to control air currents, but even her abilities were not enough to fight off against the snowstorm. When they arrived, they saw how the entrance of this cave was completely clear. It was located on the side of the mountain that was directly opposite to the direction of the wind. Inside, were large white fluffy balls that could be clearly seen even from the entrance. Their sizes varied wildly. From tiny ones that were close to a watermelon, to one massive all the way in the back that should be at least 3 meters tall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleyti - Level 55 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baby Sleyti - Level 35 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleyti Patriarch - Level 60 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flint glanced back at Borin, ¡°I thought you said they were all level 60.¡± ¡°The one that matters is,¡± Borin replied and got closer to the walls at the entrance. Every member of the Shadow Talons did the same, grouping up before starting to blend with the shadows. It was clear that they had no intention of participating in the fight. Which wasn¡¯t a problem. Especially when the big one was the only at level 60. ¡°Anyone wants the patriarch?¡± Hera asked the Harmony Guardians. Livy was already begging to take on the beast herself. ¡°All yours, Empress,¡± Neria said with a smile and the rest of the team nodded. Hera smiled back and turned to her court, ¡®Let¡¯s split off. Livy and I take the patriarch, everyone else is free to go for whoever they want. Pyro, Storm, come with us too.¡¯ ¡®Fuck yes!¡¯ Livy cheered. ¡°Actually. How about an opening salvo?¡± Skyler suggested. ¡°Sure,¡± Vash smiled. Understanding the idea, Neria pulled yellowish water from her staff. It was, in essence, juice. An extremely concentrated citric acid that could burn the skin and be quickly absorbed by the body. It was also lemony fresh. Skyler and Vash prepared a combo attack using sound waves that would bounce around the cave, overlapping with itself. It would likely be over soon since there was a lot of fur in the area, but even so, it was enough damage to give them an edge. Hera also prepared an Elemental Poison Storm that would be firing the projectiles horizontally. Just because she wanted to focus on fighting styles lately, it didn¡¯t mean she was going to give up her poison spells. Especially since she could then shift the rain to be just on top of her and her target when she didn¡¯t have to worry about other people getting involved. Flint and Roan didn¡¯t have any attacks like that, so instead, they counted the group down. ¡°3¡­2¡­.1¡­Fire!¡± they said together. The spells exploded inside the cave, killing almost all the babies and damaging most of the adults. A few that were close to the entrance also perished without being able to react. And before the others could even move and reveal themselves. The Harmony Guardians jumped inside the cave, ready to wipe out all of these monsters. 860 - The muscle Hera and Livy used the bodies of the smaller Sleyti as stepping stones as they rushed ahead. The Elemental Poison Storm following them, buffing the two thanks to the [Ophidianite Poison] skill that turned all the venom in the spell into a power up. Hera also had a rare venomous war axe on her hands. One that looked a lot like Livy¡¯s, minus the special effects. In addition, there was a single metal band on the pummel. This was the only addition she was able to make so far using her [Venomous Arsenal]. That band would increase the strength scaling of the weapon by a flat 5 points. It was something very basic, and minor, but it was a start. Two of the Sleyti noticed the duo rushing to their patriarch and tried to intercept, but Pyro and Storm quickly broke off and slammed against the monsters. The tip of their blades cut their necks like butter before the monsters fell to the ground. That happened so quickly that Hera wasn¡¯t even able to take a good look at the creatures. But that changed as the Sleyti Patriarch raised from its slumber. It was sitting on top of an elevated area overlooking the entire cave. The creature was curled up in a ball, but when standing, it was much taller than they expected. It had a pair of muscular massive legs that came out from the sides of its body, almost like a crab that only did leg day, even if there were barely 60 centimeters tall. His torso was elongated, covering the remaining four meters and a half of its height. And its face was that of a snow monkey, covered in fur and red like a beet, with two curled tusks coming out of the sides of its mouth that seemed to be made out of pure ice. From the shoulder was a pair of arms that were three times longer than the legs, and even more muscular. Like a gorilla on steroids. Below them was another set of arms, but this was bony and longer, but much smaller at the same time. Each of the hands only had 3 fingers forming a triangle. From their midsection there was the third and final set of arms, two stubby appendages that didn¡¯t even had elbows before hands with 8 fingers and long dark blue claws in place of nails. Hera didn¡¯t wait for it to start moving. She rushed ahead with an upward swing, aiming at the leg joints. Stepping back with a surprising speed, the Sleyti dodged the blow, but this gave Livy an opening to slam the war axe on the side of its body, between the second and third set of arms. This strike landed, but the thick fur and hide lessened the damage it would deal. Even with the power of the Leviathan behind it. In response, the Sleyti Patriarch tried to punch the two attackers using his upper left arm with a wide motion. It swiped close to the ground, forcing Livy to jump over the attack. Hera jumped forward, spinning to land on her back and pushing with her tail to go under the creature and get up behind it. At the same time, Pyro flew in, aiming at the smaller of the arms, the one with the large claws. He parried two of them that were constantly clacking and struck a third, the blade of the tail spike starting to glow even more due to the heat. Storm, on the other hand, flew towards the face of the Sleyti Patriarch, she struck a few of the monsters on the way to charge up the [Seal of Chaotic Furry] and like an arrow flew past the creature. The skill didn¡¯t trigger the chain lighting, but the attack cut the upper right eyebrow, making blood pour out. ¡®Shit! I aimed for the eye, but that still works,¡¯ Storm spun around and tried to do the same on the other side, but the monster parried the incoming blow. Using the longer arms, the Sleyti Patriarch lashed out, trying to strike Livy and the two flying weapons. At first, that didn¡¯t work, each attempt was slow and easily predictable. However, it seemed like the skin in those bony arms was not properly attached. The long arms picked up speed as they flailed around. Quickly, the strikes became so fast that Livy and Storm didn¡¯t have a single opening to attack, being forced to focus on dodging. Pyro decided to continue on close range, fighting against the smaller arms in hopes of destroying those claws. They looked too gnarly to be left alone. A single blow from one of them could likely put Hera or Livy out of commission. In addition to that, as long as he did some damage, his [Draconic Fury] would continuously stack, increasing the heat coming from his blade. Hera didn¡¯t ignore the struggle of her court. Jumping on the back of the Sleyti, she started to climb, using her tail as a third leg to help her push on the steep path. With each step, she left behind a small slow field, in hopes of hindering the creature. The Ophidianite knew she didn¡¯t have to worry about the poison, since the Elemental Poison Storm spell was still raining down on them. If the monster could be poisoned, it would be, eventually. When she reached the head of the Sleyti, Hera brought down the venomous war axe, aiming at the monster¡¯s ear with a [Grasshopper Slash.] Since Storm, Pyro, and Livy, had the creature¡¯s focus, it didn¡¯t notice the incoming attack until it was too late. The blow created a large gash on its face and exposed its inner ear. Feeling the pain of this new attack, the Sleyti Patriarch roared and tried to grab Hera, who was standing up on his neck. However, his first set of arms couldn¡¯t reach her and the longer ones were still working to keep Livy and the two flying weapons at bay. With a groan, the monster jumped, twisted its body and curled up in a ball, ready to drop all of his weight on the Ophidianite. She wasn¡¯t just going to stay there. Pushing off with both legs and her tail, Hera jumped to the side, aiming to land in one of the dead adult Sleytis. However, her aim was unnecessary as Daskka triggered her silver mist form, the one that was more tangible than the others to grab the Empress before she fell. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Thanks,¡± Hera smiled at the mist form of the snake. ¡°Any time, mum. But now I¡¯m joining,¡± the herald replied. She was trying to focus more on healing, but she couldn¡¯t help herself. Seeing everyone fighting and not being a part of things didn¡¯t sit right with her. Just as she finished speaking, the Sleyti Patriarch landed back on the ground. Slamming his back against the rocky floor and cracking the raised ground that was underneath it. Daskka pounced right away. Using her mist form, she pinned down the longer arms. Stopping them before they could pick up momentum again. Pyro had reached the 10 stacks to max out his [Draconic Fury] and triggered the [Seal of Infernal Wyrm.] His form shifted, but it wasn¡¯t like Nimbus, or Livy¡¯s transformation, where a completely new body was created. Instead, the coil twisted and broke, turning the tail spike into a metallic blazing serpent. Or at least, the head and upper body of one. There was no tail, but now, after each attack, Pyro ignited the Sleyti Patriarch¡¯s fur. He also added one of his attacks, the [Serpentine Strike] by coiling his body before lashing out, opening a large wound on the side of the monster¡¯s legs. ¡®Fear my might! You are nothing before a dragon!¡¯ Pyro yelled as he finished the attack. The Sleyti Patriarch roared again, and tried to push Daskka away with its smaller limbs, but the herald was made out of mist. It was very hard to get a good grip, even if she could hold her target down. Still, the monster still head one ace up his sleeve. It looked down, towards the head of the ethereal snake and Livy who was mid jump holding her war axe above her head. The Sleyti¡¯s eyes and tusks glowed a pale blue before it opened its mouth, letting out a torrent of snow and ice that sent Daskka flying off. As the ice breath spread through the cave, some of the other monsters started to collapse, unable to handle the intense cold. The Harmony Guardians evaded the attacks and so did most of the court. The only two exceptions were Glacia, who took it head on, and Livy, who was mid jump and couldn¡¯t dodge. However, both of them took less damage than they should. There was an obvious reason why the falchion didn¡¯t take that much damage. She was mostly made out of ice. That natural resistance against the element protected her. Livy, on the other hand, didn¡¯t have the same type of defense. Yet, because it was all water, she could reduce the damage and the impact the attack caused. Instead of being flung backwards, she continued her trajectory and brought the war axe down using the [Draconic Eruption] to send a wave of seawater inside the monster¡¯s body. ¡°Roar all you want. You can¡¯t stop the Leviathan!¡± Livy yelled as the attack connected. Still, that wasn¡¯t enough to kill the beast. The Sleyti Patriarch tried to get up, only to be hit in the eye by an arrow, courtesy of Robin and Twiggy. Unlike Dusa, who had some protection skills, the tiara only buffed the group, and when the fight started, she flew up to have an aerial view of the battlefield. As soon as she realized the Sleyti Patriarch was trying to attack again, she asked Robin to step in to blind his other eye. Taking advantage of the situation, Hera jumped towards the monster, followed by Livy. Both of them followed the same move side by side, preparing another [Grasshopper Slash] to send a wave of energy out of their weapons aimed at the creature¡¯s neck. However, Hera¡¯s version also had the [Weapon Break] skill which sent on a blast so powerful that cracked the wall on the other side of the Sleyti Patriarch. Even so, he was still alive. Heavily wounded, and struggling to get up, but still moving. Storm suddenly appeared from the side and embedded itself on the gash that once was the creature¡¯s ear. A thunderclap echoed in the cave as she triggered both the [Crackling Strike] and the chain lightning of the [Seal of the Chaotic Furry] frying the creature¡¯s head from the inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ailment Mastery triggered Sleyti Patriarch ailment bonus effects x 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the Sleyti Patriarch fell to the ground, motionless. Hera tried to double check what ailments affected him. He was poisoned, burning, shocked, drenched, bleeding, and slowed. All of which made sense considering the last few attacks. Coming out of his wounds was not just blood, but the water that Livy sent inside it with her attack. That seventh ailment is the one that she couldn¡¯t figure out what it was, and now the Sleyti Patriarch was already dead. Her [Observe] wouldn¡¯t give any extra information about its situation. Glancing back at the rest of the group, they all had finished off the other monsters. Nimbus, and Neria in particular, were close to Hera, ready to jump in if something went wrong. The Empress felt satisfied with the results, but that was only until she looked at Livy, Storm, and Pyro. The two blades had cracks all over their bodies, showing how even the parries of those longer arms were deadly. The Leviathan¡¯s body was covered in wounds and bruises, and one of her arms was clearly out of its socket. Not that she had bones, but that is what it looked like. ¡°Daskka! Heal them,¡± Hera rushed over, trying to cast the few healing spells she knew. However, they were so basic that barely could help with a paper cut at this point. ¡®As much as Daskka, healing is nice. I think we should rest,¡¯ Storm replied, a lethargic tone replaced her usual energetic voice. ¡®Even a dragon needs rest after it faced a might foe,¡¯ Pyro nodded. Livy just glanced at them, ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are talking about. I¡¯m fine,¡± she grabbed her arm and put it back in place, groaning with the pain, ¡°Completely fine.¡± ¡°Livy¡­ don¡¯t you think it¡¯s better to rest? What if we have another big monster to fight later? I will need your help,¡± Hera tried to look weak, but it was hard to do that while she was covered in the blood of a giant monster. The Leviathan stared at the Empress for a while before letting out a groan, ¡°Fine, but only because I know you won¡¯t stop pestering me,¡± she huffed before returning to the legacy, followed by the Verdant Marchioness and the flaming tail spike. Before the group could continue to the doorway, Vash called the Shadow Talons and asked with a smile, ¡°So, what do you think of your muscle?¡± 861 - Grand operation Together with the Shadow Talons, Hera and her team crossed the doorway that was located beyond a small tunnel in the cave. However, they didn¡¯t do that right away after killing the monsters. Instead, they took around one hour to harvest any useful materials from the creatures, like the frozen tusks of the patriarch, and push the bodies out of the cave. If they didn¡¯t, the meat here would attract other monsters that could decide to use this place as their own nest. Korrin was the one who insisted on tossing the bodies down the mountain, arguing that even if nothing bad happened, they would be leaving a cave that eventually would be filled with putrid, disease infested corpses for the next group that ended up here. He wasn¡¯t able to convince the entire group about that, but won by sheer insistence. Still, it wasn¡¯t exactly hard work. Using the Sleyti Patriarch¡¯s body as a giant shovel, they just pushed most of the other bodies out of the cave, letting them fall to the bottom of the mountain. During that time, the teams just had some small talk. Questions about what they liked to do, or the kind of food they enjoyed. Nothing too personal, but still enough to be on a friendly basis. Once that was done, they crossed to the next room, ¡®Mountain Blossom.¡¯ Once more, they were near the peak of a mountain, but the weather was completely different. Instead of the cold and ruthless winds, there was a soft summer breeze that constantly cooled off the sun kissed peaks. In addition, no matter where they looked, recently blossomed flowers in various types, sizes, and colors covered the mountains. The two teams slowly climbed down the peaks while keeping the conversation to a minimum since their voices echoed in this height. Not wanting to be alone, even if the monsters that existed here would drop to level 40, Vash and Syrinx decided against flying ahead. Which was also the best option to avoid being detected by anyone who could be here. Right now, they were still in neutral territory. A room that neither the humans nor the Alliance had laid claim to. But they were close enough to the border of the human influence to potentially find some patrols. Maintaining places like these, despite their beauty, was complicated. Here, the problem was the plants. Regardless of what was built around them, the plants would still grow. Even if someone were to burn a large area, in just a few days, they would reclaim their lost territory. The cost of maintenance was too steep, and even if there were interesting dungeons and materials to be found here, it wasn¡¯t worth the effort of creating an outpost. Frostmare Peak had a different issue. The harsh conditions, steep incline, and aggressive monsters made any attempt at making a base there too much trouble for what it was worth. Liraelle also said that was the case for the next room they would pass by. It was called ¡®Fairy Teapot.¡¯ Everything in there was either an illusion or an attempt at deception. Even if someone were to build a house, the house they built themselves would also start to play tricks on the people inside. Once the team was able to reach the ground, they looked for a safe place to rest. It had been a good 4 hours since they arrived here, and the Harmony Guardians still didn¡¯t know the details of the operation. It didn¡¯t take long for Borin to find a rock wall that he could shift to create a temporary cave for the group. Once inside, he closed most of the entrance, and Liraelle placed an illusion for anyone who was outside. With everyone in place, Korrin passed some food for everyone before speaking, ¡°Ok. First things first. You all are incredible! I wish I had some beer to give you a toast,¡± he glanced at the jerky in his hand, ¡°Oh, screw it. Here, here!¡± he raised the rubbery piece of meat and took a bite out of it. ¡°Yeah, we are kind of awesome. You should¡¯ve seen us during a rampage. Man, we popped off. Specially during the last day,¡± Vash nodded and started recounting the fight against the wendigo. However, Skyler cut him off. ¡°Before you go there, is it ok if we know more about the operation? We only knew that we should come here and help you. But not how we are supposed to help you.¡± ¡°Right, right. The agency is like that,¡± Korrin sighed. ¡°You just have to cause problems for the guards. We take care of the rest,¡± Syrinx replied. Liraelle chuckled, ¡°Syrinx, sweetheart. I know you are not trying to be a bitch, but you are being one.¡± ¡°Am I wrong?¡± the harpy huffed. ¡°No, but that answer really doesn¡¯t help,¡± the silver-haired elf replied. Korrin sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll catch you up. As usual. Honestly, I should ask for an extra pay for this,¡± he shook his head, ¡°Anyway, do you want me to star with the plans for the lab, or everything that is going on?¡± Skyler glanced at the rest of her group, as if asking for their opinion, and Neria was the first to reply, ¡°Let¡¯s start with everything. If we know the bigger picture, that might affect how we see the actual plan.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Good call. But I would say that either way,¡± Korrin took another bite of his jerky, ¡°There are about a dozen of different facilities that will be hit at the same time. They are somewhat close to the Verdant Labyrinth, but it would still take three or four days to get there. An in the span of two days, all the operations targeting those facilities will happen, one after the other. Some are like ours. A break in to steal something, others are rescue missions, and a couple are purely about destruction. Not gonna lie, I kind of wanted to be in one of them.¡± Hearing that, Lurize frowned. Hera had called the court out as they arrived here, including Livy who had already recovered from her injuries. Storm and Pyro needed a bit of extra time. The Royal Tutor found the plan a bit strange and asked, ¡°Why? Why are delaying the attacks? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to do them all at once? If not, after the first, the other facilities will be on high alert.¡± ¡°That would be the case if we only had a couple of operations going on. But due to the sheer number of them, this is more likely to mess with the human¡¯s minds. After the first attack, they won¡¯t think we are doing another one. And if we are lucky, some of the backup that could help defend against the second attack will be routed to go help the first. Once we showed that there are more operations going on, the humans won¡¯t know how many. Or where we will hit. That will make them scared, paranoid, and more likely to make mistakes,¡± Korrin continued. ¡°But that also means some places will have more defenses. They will have more backup, and maybe even activate some sort of emergency protocol,¡± Lurize pressed. ¡°Do you seriously think the agency didn¡¯t consider that?¡± Syrinx scoffed. She was about to say something else when Liraelle gave her a look that made the harpy stop talking. ¡°If they do that, then those are resources not being used in a different facility. And we will know that they have something worth protecting. Also, each team has a report on the expected defenses of their targets. If the defenses go beyond a certain point. Our orders are to not engage and retreat,¡± Korrin continued. ¡°I see,¡± Lurize nodded, but Hera could feel he was still hesitant about this. ¡°The whole idea is to go for quantity over quality. With the exception of the rescue mission, that will kick everything off. All others have smaller priorities,¡± Liraelle explained. ¡°Why is that? Korrin mentioned more than one rescue mission. Is the agency saying that some people are worth more than others?¡± Neria stared the elf down. ¡°Actually yea. But not in the way you are thinking. The priority is about their situation. The first rescue is to bring back people who are being sent to one of the labs. The others are targeting war prisoners,¡± Liraelle continued. ¡°I thought the humans were not capturing anyone. Not publicly. The people they imprisoned were all going to the Spirit experiment,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°It¡¯s a recent development. We are not killing all the humans who are at war. Some surrender, and others are just knocked out. Which means we have a lot of war prisoners, while the humans have none. They realized that they didn¡¯t have anything to offer for those prisoners, and liking it or not, it¡¯s bad for morale not to help them. So they started capturing us to trade for their people. We do believe that some of the prisoners they have will be going to the labs anyway, but we know for a fact that some of them are treated fairly. Well¡­ as fair as you can be in that situation,¡± Liraelle started drinking her tea that was finally ready. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should say that¡¯s a good thing or not,¡± Hera slumped, leaning against the wall. ¡°I say good? Maybe,¡± Nimbus sighed, ¡°Yeah it¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Now that we have the context, what about the actual plan for the operation?¡± Viper asked. Korrin finished his jerky, ¡°Right, I was getting there. First, we need to actually find the laboratory. We know that it¡¯s in the Verdant Labyrinth, but not where exactly. But the agency told us Hera might be able to help with that.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I have a couple of options, but they are not guaranteed. And for them to work, you need to both give me space to do what I have to, and trust me.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, you can share your explorer secrets with little ol¡¯ me,¡± Liraelle batted her eyelashes. ¡°No. I can¡¯t. If I do, I lose that ability,¡± Hera shot her down. ¡°What? How so?¡± Liraelle pressed. Hera had a brief mental conversation with her court to find a good way to explain it without getting a strike. She had a feeling that the elf wouldn¡¯t let go with the usual, ¡®It¡¯s related to my relic, and I can¡¯t say more. But the information is correct. Trust me, bro.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s a skill that has very harsh restrictions. If I try to go against them, I will lose the skill. With that skill, I can potentially get information about the room I¡¯m in. The information will always be correct, but it might be incomplete,¡± she paused, trying to figure out how to say more, but gave up, ¡°That¡¯s all I can say about it. I¡¯m already too close to the restriction line and I don¡¯t want to mess up and lose a skill we will need soon. Aside from that, my relic can also answer questions as long as I pay the mana cost. One option is to pump a truckload of mana into it and ask to mark the lab on my map. I just don¡¯t know how much it will take for that to work. And if it doesn¡¯t, we need to wait 2 hours for the next attempt.¡± ¡°Wait, are those two different things?¡± Liraelle asked. ¡°Yeah. I have two information gathering skills. One is better, full of restrictions but more reliable, and I can only do it once per room. Also, I can¡¯t ask about anything personal. It has to be something about the room itself, not the things that people did to change it. The other is weaker, but I get multiple tries,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Damn, do all explorers have those kinds of things?¡± Liraelle was staring at the Empress. ¡°From what I know. If someone wants to, they can have variations of it,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Interesting,¡± Liraelle smiled. ¡°Ok, but after that. When we actually find the lab. What are we supposed to do?¡± Viper asked again. Borin stood up and walked to the center of the circle. Creating a small miniature version of the lab they were going to search for, ¡°I¡¯ll explain,¡± he said before laying out the plan. 862 - Verdant Labyrinth The Fairy Teapot was more annoying to go through than they expected. Even if the room wasn¡¯t that big, being just around 10 kilometers wide. What really made it complicated was the frequency the plants and monsters would create illusions to hinder their progress. On one hand, the area was beautiful, filled with vibrant colors and plants that grew in impossible shapes. Flower beds forming arcs, trees that had their trunks split into four pillars before connecting back at the roots. Even the unassuming grass was softer than the clouds. ¡°Ok everyone. Let¡¯s take a break. We¡¯ve been walking for what? Five hours already?¡± Korrin said. If this was a normal room, they would already have reached the doorway. But the illusions in the place extended beyond sight. They tricked most of their senses, which made their pace slow. By itself, that wasn¡¯t much of a problem, but the room had enough deep pools of water and holes that led to caves hundreds of meters deep to be a problem. Each step they took had to be double and triple checked to make sure they were not about to fall into a trap. That¡¯s why Korrin and Roan were taking the lead. The two had the best senses out of the group, and they were more likely to notice anything that was out of place. Hera was right behind them, using her eyes that allowed her to see in infra red to notice other details that the beastmen missed. Everyone else was following close by, trying their best to step exactly where the leaders stepped. In addition, they were all tied by a sturdy rope made by Flint. That was just a safety measure in case someone dropped into a lake or a hole. Even if the room could trick their senses to the point of feeling that someone else was touching them or make them not feel when they were touching something, being yanked by someone falling was too violent and abrupt for the illusions to hide it. Because of all that, Hera didn¡¯t have any of her court members out. The room also tricked them, and having that extra layer of confusion directly in her mind did not help. ¡°Are we safe here? I don¡¯t want to see those fucking Fairy Moths again,¡± Vash shuddered, the small insect creatures could mimic voices and lure people away. When that didn¡¯t work, they turned into nasty teenagers that started to pick apart their appearance. If that still didn¡¯t work, they would pretend to be dead people who were cursing the living from beyond the grave. And they appeared and disappeared out of nowhere. One moment there was no sound, and all of the sudden a bone chilling scream rang from the corner. Or a voice saying that someone¡¯s haircut was awful. The strangest part of it all was that the monsters didn¡¯t understand language. At least, they didn¡¯t seem to understand it. Which left two options. Either the skills or spells the creatures used had some sort of automatic translation function. Or the monsters were parroting something they learned from people who came here. And both options sounded awful. ¡°We should be, this is treant territory. They are more the classic pretend to be a tree and kill you when you get closer. As long as we don¡¯t get closer to any trees, we should be ok,¡± Liraelle replied. ¡°Great, I need some time to rest,¡± Skyler sat on the grass after confirming that it was safe. ¡°Don¡¯t get too comfortable. We need to move soon,¡± Flint grunted. ¡°You know, I never understood that idea. Even if we are going to move soon, why shouldn¡¯t I be comfortable? Just because I might not want to get up?¡± Skyler turned to the dwarf. ¡°I guess. Having to complain about you not getting up would be annoying,¡± Flint continued. ¡°So it¡¯s all about willpower. Or a sense of responsibility. And I¡¯m confident enough in myself to get comfortable here,¡± Skyler leaned back, laying flat on the ground. However, the moment she did that, the area changed. Instead of being on a soft grassy meadow, she was not laying on top of billions of maggots that were not just under her. The trees, the hills, even her friends, seemed to be made out of a pulsating mass of tiny bugs. She only had a moment to take in the sight before feeling the maggots climbing on top of her body, reaching for her ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. With a jolt, she stood up and started to swat at her body. ¡°Get it off me! Get it off me!¡± Skyler yelped. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Neria jumped forward, worried that they were being attacked, but she only saw her elven friend hitting herself a bit too hard in the attempt to get rid of something that wasn¡¯t there. Hera noticed Skyler was using more strength with each slap, to the point where a small cut appeared in her hand. Not wanting to let her teammate get seriously injured, the Empress rushed over and grabbed the elf¡¯s hands. ¡°Stop. Stop. What are you trying to do? There is nothing on you.¡± Skyler finally opened her eyes and looked around, seeing that the maggots were gone and she was back in that idyllic grass meadow close to a forest, ¡°What the¡­ I¡­ I saw maggots everywhere. Everything, you all. They started crawling on top of me¡­¡± she looked around, ¡°I hate this room.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°You know¡­. Since everything here is an illusion, there is a fair chance that you saw the actual true face of the room. Maybe we are, right now, being swarmed by maggots that create the illusion of not being here,¡± Liraelle said with a smirk. Everyone stared at the silver-haired elf with disgust, but Syrinx was the first to speak, ¡°Why do we let you talk?¡± ¡°Because without me you would be bored out of your mind during the trips,¡± Liraelle replied with such a confident that people would think that was a fact. Korrin shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have the same definition of being bored. For one, I like not having nightmares when I sleep.¡± ¡°How far are we from the doorway we need to go through?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Two hours,¡± Borin replied without looking away from the ground. He was also trying to see if this was grass or maggots. ¡°How about we just leave and rest in the next room? Who votes yes?¡± Skyler raised her hand, together with everyone else in the group. Without saying anything else, they continued walking, focusing on the path so their time could be better. Yet, despite the mood, Liraelle started speaking again, ¡°That¡¯s a good call. Going through the doorway will remove any maggots that might be crawling on top of us. Well¡­ almost all of them. I know that if parasites get inside you, they move to the next room. So here is hoping none of them crawled inside our mouth, nose, eyes or-¡° ¡°SHUT UP!¡± the entire team groaned, which only made the elf giggle. With renewed motivation, the rest of the journey went by smoothly. They had a few moments where someone would step into a hole, or a large pool of water, but thanks to the rope, no one was injured. When they finally arrived at the doorway itself, they realized that going there would make them go over the three crossing rule. However, thanks to Liraelle¡¯s constant teasing, no one was willing to sleep in this room. They were also against the idea of going to Hera¡¯s private room, since coming back to this room might get them stuck. In the end, they decided to take the calculated risk of going forward. Which worked out as no one was hit with the crossing debuff. The next room wasn¡¯t great either, being an island in a constant sandstorm. But at least, they were able to set up a proper place to sleep and rest in shifts. The next couple of days were very much the same. Moving from inhospitable room to inhospitable room. They faced storms, quicksand, areas that didn¡¯t have any mana, which gave them a feeling similar to asphyxiating if they stood around there for too long. Monsters that were highly aggressive or extremely persistent. It made sense why they were in the neutral zone, or the edge of human territory. The combination of rooms made a natural blockade against any large army, which allowed the people to be less worried about defending or patrolling this area. Not that they had completely abandoned the place. In one of the rooms they passed by, they found an empty bag of chips, and some other wrappings of mass produced food in the middle of a desert room. That trash was loosely covered by dirt, but had no signs of it being disturbed by the monsters of the room. Which meant that it was recent enough for nothing to have found it already, but not so recent that things were undisturbed by the environment. Thankfully, that wasn¡¯t the case in the last rooms. In order to reach the Verdant Labyrinth, they would be going through a path that the humans had yet to discover. One side of the doorway was located on a lake underwater, beside a particularly strong current that most people would avoid. However, following currents like that was a sport for some tritons. For them, who could breathe underwater without any issues, it was like kayaking on rapids. Halfway through that path, the current would split. On one side it would seem much stronger, to the point of it being dangerous even to the most experienced triton. But that was just a visual trick. Yes, there was a span of about 10 centimeters where the current was extremely strong, to the point of jettisoning anything that got close at a high speed. But beyond that, the water was calm and led to an underground cave where the doorway was located. In order to get there, the Shadow Talons had a few items to help them swim better and breathe underwater for a while. Those items were also able to expand their range and affect the Harmony Guardians, but Hera and Neria also had their own way of going about it. Once more, Hera called Livy to guide them there, and for the first time, she had a job similar to Nimbus. Where she would be taking the lead and pulling the rest of the group with some rope. Since Hera didn¡¯t need to be inside the Leviathan¡¯s air bubble, they let Vash, Syrinx and Korrin to be the ones using the bubbles. The two harpies were the ones who would be less effective while underwater, and if the panther beastmen fur got wet, he would struggle to move properly. Still just by herself, Livy was able to carry 5 people, which left Hera, Liraelle, Neria, and Skyler to swim behind her. All attached by the rope. Swimming through that underwater river was surprisingly easy. Having solved the issue of breathing, all they had to do was let go of their bodies and be carried by the current. The split path came out a bit of nowhere, but with Livy taking the lead, she was easily able to make the turn without anyone getting injured. Once on this new path, it was a quick swim to the surface of the underground lake and the doorway was right there. Crossing it, they arrived at another underground cave, but this one had a single opening above. Borin used a ¡®pocket ladder¡¯ to reach that opening before they started climbing out. The reason why no one had found that doorway so far was its location. The only way to get there was to climb inside a hollow tree trunk that was sticking out from the ground, going well beyond the other vegetation. And the view from the top of that entrance was that of an endless expanse of grassland, as it was above the layer of illusion projected by the labyrinth. One by one, the group climbed out of the cave, with Hera being the last one. The reason for that was that she wasn¡¯t going to go there just yet. Instead, she would take this chance to call the guide and try to find the location of the lab in this place. 863 - Asterion As everyone left the cave, Hera walked to the corner, away from the doorway, and used her stone shape spell to make a small box. She left her titled blades outside to stop anyone from getting closer and also activated the safety cube. With only Daskka by her side, the Ophidianite created a couple of lights inside this area and took a deep breath. It had been a while since she called a guide of a room she was in. The last one being Lancel back at the Hilltop Windmill. In an ideal world, she would¡¯ve used that skill in every single room she passed by. Especially the ones that made her more curious, like the Fairy Teapot and the Drowned Bog. Hera had a realization, actually, she knew this wasn¡¯t new. But it was the first time she was putting that feeling into words. She missed exploring. She missed going out into a random room and discovering the wonders it hid. The odd behaviors of the dungeon beings, the strange patterns of monsters, the mysteries left by old adventurers, everything. Being in the middle of a war stopped her from doing anything of the sort. It was a very selfish thought, but one that she had, nonetheless. Then again, she wasn¡¯t about to beat herself for it. Just because they were in the middle of a war, it didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t miss more simple things. Focusing back on the task at hand, she was about to start speaking when Daskka interrupted her, ¡°Mum? Did you forget the soundproof barrier?¡± ¡°Oh! Yeah. Thank you. I don¡¯t think anything bad would happen now, but it¡¯s good to be safe,¡± Hera patted Daskka¡¯s head with a smile before triggering the spell. Now, no one should be able to see or hear her. Doing a quick test with Nimbus who was outside the safety cube, she confirmed that no noise from inside could be heard before saying ¡°I call upon the guide of the Verdant Labyrinth, as an explorer I have proven my motives are pure.¡± A rumbling started to echo in this small space as the ground in front of her shifted. It split into dozens of thin slabs and started to move, slamming against each other and sniping to form an actual labyrinth on the floor. After 30 seconds, the paths connected, creating a puzzle that could actually be solved, and a staircase leading deeper into the dirt appeared. At the end of it, a set of double doors flung open. From them, a black Minotaur emerged. He had long horns curved up, adorned with golden rings, a golden net rested on top of his face going halfway to his nose, with large open areas for his eyes and two longer strands of gold and jewels that dangled from the sides of his mouth. He wore a simple yellow and blue tunic, with one shoulder exposed and a sash wrapped around his waist. Each of his steps carried echoed as his hooves hit the rocks. The Minotaur kept eye contact with Hera as he climbed up, one hand at his side and the other close to his chest. He walked forward for a few more steps, clearing the path of his entrance, and gave a small bow. ¡°Greetings, Ophidianite progenitor. I am Asterion, the guide of the Verdant Labyrinth,¡± his voice was deep and filled with gravitas. The Empress stared at him for a moment, but realizing that might offend him, she quickly replied, ¡°Greetings, Asterion. You may call me Hera. We may speak more comfortably if you prefer.¡± He nodded, ¡°I will speak naturally, then. Even if that can swing from formal and informal at times.¡± There was a pause, but Hera just continued to stare at the guide, her mind going wild with speculations. Eventually, Asterion frowned, ¡°Do I make you uncomfortable?¡± ¡°What? No, not at all. Sorry, I¡¯m staring,¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s just. You are a Minotaur, in a room that is a labyrinth. That is super on the nose. The whole thing about Daedalus and his labyrinth. I was going to ask if you liked the story, but then I realized that you should be much older than that story and I was trying to figure out what that meant.¡± Asterion chuckled, ¡°It means that Daedalus got the inspiration for that story from here. He did try to replicate my room back on earth, but according to the pictures I saw, it wasn¡¯t a great replica. Then again, I only saw the destroyed version. While the whole structure was intact, people weren¡¯t able to bring back depictions that truly made the construction justice.¡± Hera was surprised by that, ¡°People had reached this deep into the MAZE back then?¡± ¡°Indeed, this is merely the 13th layer. During his time, people had broken through a few of the walls. After the first one fell, it didn¡¯t take long for the next ones to follow along. Eventually that slowed down, but people seemed to have been speeding up that once again.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ That is awesome! But is it ok for you to tell me that? That Daedalus came here?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be? That happened long enough ago, and he didn¡¯t make any contribution to this room that would make information about him, something to be protected.¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°That¡¯s fair. So the guides have kind of like a concept of public domain information? Things that, after a while, become free game to tell us?¡± Asterion nodded, ¡°Exactly. I will not tell you specifics about him, but borderer facts or small curiosities are not an issue. That is the same for a number of subjects.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Do you mind if I ask you a question about that? Not using the skill, I mean.¡± ¡°You may ask, but depending it might require the skill for me to answer.¡± ¡°Was the part about a ball of yarn real? Like, did he do anything whit that here?¡± ¡°That was actually his relic. It was called Compass Spool. He could use its treads to guide him to certain locations he had visited before. A way for him never to lose the path home, as he would say,¡± Asterion had a sad smile on his face. Hera blinked hearing that, ¡°You know¡­ my relic is, well, was very similar,¡± she pulled Ariadne from her waist, ¡°It used to have a tread that I could use for traps, or it could point to something I wanted. Like a compass, and it is called Yarnball,¡± she paused, ¡°Actually no. This is Ariadne. When I upgraded it a while back, the name changed. I¡¯m just so used to calling it that. Anyway, those changes made it be more of a question based compass, but still! Was there anything like that here?¡± now that she was saying this out loud, she felt a bit silly. Her relic should be an item created out of her desires. She wanted something to let her find her path in the MAZE. Making it a based on the old tale of the Minotaur, Theseus and the ball of yarn was likely just a coincidence. Asterion looked at the relic for a moment before starting to chuckle, ¡°Old Daedalus is probably rolling in his grave right now. He always complained how his relic could never help him find something new. Only the things he already had discovered. But to answer your question, not quite. Back then, one of the crops of the room was a type of red cattail that would unravel in a long string. That one didn¡¯t work as well with the rest of the room. I try to make each area to be surrounded by similar colors to confuse more those traveling through it. Having a red spot in the middle of green and tan didn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Did you come up with the idea of a labyrinth or was it the MAZE and you just work with what was given?¡± ¡°The MAZE came up with it. I just work within the constraints of the room. If I make the place too easy to navigate, the MAZE will override my set up and replace everything with hedges. And that is just bland and boring,¡± Asterion shrugged, ¡°Now. I¡¯m sorry, but we do have to start with the questions. The system is starting to nag me,¡± a timer carved into a stone slab appeared behind Asterion. Hera nodded, ¡°Ok. Give me a yes or no. Can you tell me about the lab?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Is my relic able to find the lab with the right question?¡± Asterion glanced at the relic that was on her hand and after 10 seconds smiled, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Can you help me find the right question?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But it can¡¯t be directly. Only by saying if I¡¯m on the right track or not, correct?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ok then. I already have a few ideas. If I ask for it to mark the lab location on my map, will it work?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Though so,¡± Hera nodded, ¡°What about pointing to the direction where the lab is?¡± Asterion frowned, ¡°Yes, but..¡± Hera continued with what she thought was the problem, ¡°Not the best idea. I would need to use that once every 2 hours and the path to get there might be super tricky.¡± ¡°If I may?¡± Asterion asked, getting a nod as confirmation, ¡°You are thinking about a singular question. One that has a simple one time answer. Is there any rule that says you can¡¯t ask a question that will have a continuous answer?¡± ¡°A continuous answer?¡± Hera frowned. ¡°Yes. For instance, ¡®tell me when I need to take a dish out of the oven.¡¯¡± ¡°I never tried something like that¡­ But in that case¡­ tell me when I have to follow a path to reach the lab?¡± Hera asked. ¡°That one is too close to my example. It would take too much mana. Think of a broader question. One that can work with the relic the way it is now. Now as it was before.¡± Hera stopped to think, the time went down to 3 minutes before she came up with an idea, ¡°Working as a radar until we reach the destination, can you show me which path will take me to the laboratory I¡¯m searching for?¡± Asterion nodded, ¡°That will work. A bit on the expensive side, but,¡± he glanced back, and the time dropped to a minute, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have time to refine for a better one.¡± ¡°Thanks! Let me think of another question. I wasn¡¯t even considering I would have extra time.¡± ¡°I do have a suggestion. I can mark something on your map. I understand you probably won¡¯t be able to go there now. But when you can, you might find something for Ariadne.¡± Hera tilted her head, ¡°Sure. Like you said. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to go out of my way to go there. But once this whole war is over, I¡¯ll try to come back. That¡¯s just one more thing for the list of things I have to do when I can.¡± Asterion nodded, ¡°I understand. And it isn¡¯t anything big, but maybe it will help,¡± the timer went to 0 and Hera pulled her map. The page about the Verdant Labyrinth was mostly empty, with only the hollow trunk marked for now. But to the west, close to the southern edge of the page, was the bust of a black Minotaur with a golden net over his face, winking at her. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No, Hera. Thank you. It¡¯s been a long time since I was able to talk with someone here. At least someone who was kind. And I do hope your mission is a success,¡± Asterion smiled and turned around, walking towards the staircase. He stopped on the third step and glanced back, ¡°I will be messaging you in the future. If that¡¯s ok.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Hera nodded. The guide smiled and walked back inside his labyrinth. The ground shifted again and soon returned to its natural state, as if the moving rocks were never there. The Empress waited a few more moments before dropping the spell and deactivating the cube. She also used the stone shape to return the slabs of rock back to where they belonged before recalling her court and climbing up the ladder out of the hollow trunk. Now, she had an idea to find the lab, and if luck was on her side, they could reach there before sundown. 864 - Always turn right Reaching the top of the ladder, Hera pressed the button to bring it back, turning the tool into a small brick of metal about the size of her hand. But before jumping out, she took a look around. It was an eerie sight, as if she was staring at an ocean of leaves. Not trees, bushes, or branches. Just leaves. An endless expanse of leaves in a repeating pattern, like a bad image edit. She couldn¡¯t feel any of them, she tried to pick them up and nothing happened. Her hand passed through them with no resistance. Even the smell wasn¡¯t what it was supposed to be. There was no grassy scent around her. Which was odd since her torso was passing through the leaves, making them much closer to her face than one would expect. Shaking her head, she turned in the direction the hollow trunk pointed at. That was where Korrin told them to jump to, which she did. The drop shouldn¡¯t be that high, and if it was, she could just call Nimbus. With her current attributes, any height that was too small for the Sentinel to appear and carry her away wouldn¡¯t be enough to hurt her. Just as she moved, the scenery changed again. No longer she was in that sea of leaves, but now in the labyrinth proper. To her left was a wall of sky pencils. It was a thin shrub that reached 8 meters tall in this room. Back on Earth, they generally stood at only 2 and a half meters. The same type of plant was all around the area, forming a box with one single opening. Both the Shadow Talons and the Harmony Guardians were already there, not hidden but also on high alert as the Empress landed, her tail helping spread the impact of the fall. ¡°Did it work? Your skill thingamajig?¡± Korrin asked. Hera nodded, ¡°More or less. It gave helped me figure out something to ask my relic.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t the skill supposed to just mark it on the map?¡± Syrinx asked. ¡°It was, but I realized that doing that wouldn¡¯t help. Even if it says ¡®it¡¯s here,¡¯ we are in a labyrinth. What if the actual path to get there was on the other side of the room?¡± Hera replied. ¡°Oh¡­ didn¡¯t think of that,¡± for the first time since they met, Syrinx looked impressed. ¡°But it will be expensive. Mana wise. So Neria, I need that mana stone. If that¡¯s ok. You can have mine instead,¡± Hera passed the two belt attachments to the healer. She had gotten those stones in the agency, and together they could store around 20 million mana. It was an impressive amount, but it was there just as a backup. One that she didn¡¯t have to use so far. The triton sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of not having some extra mana in case we need, but ok,¡± she swapped her two stones with Hera¡¯s. The ones carried by the healer were a group purchase. Each with 50 million mana. In a tough spot, Neria could just slam someone with a series of supercharged heals to save them. Extra mana could only do so much, but when it came to saving a life, every little bit counted. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll work on charging them up right away,¡± Hera nodded and pulled Ariadne. Taking a deep breath, she thought about the question Asterion helped her come up with, ¡°Working as a radar until we reach the destination, can you show me which path will take me to the laboratory I¡¯m searching for?¡± For a brief moment, nothing happened, and the Empress barely felt a trickle of mana leaving her. She started worrying that the phrasing was wrong. By asking if the relic can do that, it might just come up as a yes answer. But if that was the case, Asterion should¡¯ve said something. Just as she was about to start spiraling, she felt the mana from the stones rushing to her relic at a speed that she never had seen before. From the 100 million mana, only a bit over 8 million remained. The small screen on Ariadne came to life as a sonar pulse appeared. Hera turned slowly to see if there was any difference, and once she pointed the relic towards the only passage leaving this area, the pulse became more frequent. However, due to her connection with the item, she could tell that the option of asking questions to her relic would be on cooldown for a full day. ¡°I guess it worked,¡± Hera sighed in relief. Everyone nodded as they started to move. This time, Hera called Nimbus, Viper and Crimson to be in their full forms, while Lurize and Livy kept to their weapon forms. Vulcan was, unfortunately, waiting inside the legacy. They would be going after a lab and had to be stealthy right now. The Empress couldn¡¯t risk having him lashing out due to the Daemonic influence. Korrin, Viper, Crimson, and Syrinx took turns scouting ahead. They would warn the group of monsters on their path. When that happened, they waited, or used a spell to make the creature sleep. Killing them was an option, but any fight could expose their location. Even if they finished the monster off in a single strike, its body could attract other creatures. Or worse, if the humans had a patrol somewhere and found the carcass with wounds clearly made by something that didn¡¯t belong, their entire idea of a surprise attack would go out of the window. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The path took them a bit towards the west, making Hera hopeful to stop by what Asterion showed her, but it didn¡¯t take long for Ariadne to ask them to turn to the right and return through a spiraling path. The Empress even confirmed that after the ninth right turn they did in a row. For her, that meant they were getting closer, but unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case. Once they arrived at the center of that spiral, they found a tunnel heading underground that took them even more to the east before Ariadne continued guiding the path. The sun was already setting once they saw the first signs of a human structure. That was in the form of small cameras placed in the corners of the labyrinth. Luckily, that was already expected, and they had a few tools that could force the devices to loop images for a while. The only problem was that it required someone to get closer. Or that would be a problem if Viper and Crimson weren¡¯t a part of this expedition. Borin cast an invisibility spell over the two, and let their [Hidden Frontal Screen] take care of the rest. Despite being stealth specialists, that one ability was much stronger than what any of the Shadow Talons could do. The reason for that was its limitations. Hiding things from only one side, and with a high mana cost, made it be ineffective in most scenarios. In a one-on-one fight, that was great, but any time their target had more than one angle to see them, its power was severely reduced. Viper went in first and moved somewhat quickly through the corridor. He stopped just before peeking over the curve to the left and activated the device. It sent a tiny ray of light towards the camera and activated the looping mechanism. Everyone waited another 10 seconds for the camera to record what it needed, and an extra 5 just to confirm that it worked before the Spymaster dropped his skill and waved the group over. In the next corridor, Crimson did the same thing while leaving her brother to recover his mana. They kept leapfrogging over each other as they continued to find more cameras, and in the early hours of the night, they arrived at the last curve before the lab. Right now, they couldn¡¯t afford to make noise. So instead of talking, they were communicating through hand signs. A few they had prepared beforehand. After a couple of checks, everyone was ready. And the star of this show, at least on the Shadow Talon side, would be Borin. The grass of this labyrinth wouldn¡¯t let anyone pass through them and come out on the other side. Any attempt would leave the person who moved inside the tall grass walking for a few minutes before they were dropped back on the same spot they left. Even if someone were to turn and move to the sides, the results were the same. Borin had, through a couple of quests, rewards and dungeons, got skills that allowed him to move on paths like that one. He still wasn¡¯t able to walk to the other side, but he could move along the wall inside the hidden layer of grass. It was supposed to work in dungeons, and until today, he had no idea if it would work in this room. But as soon as they arrived, he tested and confirmed that the skill still worked perfectly. He held the hand of the other Shadow Talons, who made a neat line before vanishing inside the grass walls. Now it was time for the muscle. Or what was their current job, the distraction. Calling Livy out, the Empress waited for Neria¡¯s signal. When they were ready, the two jumped out of the corner, seeing the lab in its full view. It was a four story high structure with no walls and only a single entrance in the front. There were a couple of guards leaning against the sides of the door and very strong lights that washed away almost all shadows. Anyone who appeared from the path would be blinded while being completely exposed. However, the security in this place was lax. According to the reports, they spent so long here without ever being disturbed that the guards didn¡¯t see much action. Even the monsters in the room stopped showing up. Neria pulled some water from her staff and created a small tidal wave, as Livy, in her full bipedal form, opened her mouth and let out a jet of pressured water aimed at the wall of the laboratory. The two attacks even seemed to merge together, the water from the wave being pulled in by the spiral jet. With a ringing metal sound, the impact sent the two guards tumbling to the sides and opened a small hole in the door. The outer wall was also damaged, but despite it looking like a large gash, the destruction was only superficial, and the actual structure had no issues withstanding the attack. If this was a normal fight, the Harmony Guardians would jump in and kill the guards during this moment of confusion. However, this wasn¡¯t the plan. Instead, they gave them enough time to gather themselves and stand up to fight back. Livy and Neria were acting as if they had just overexerted themselves. Once the Leviathan saw the guards standing up and drawing their weapons, she told the Empress, who appeared from the back as if she was running, about the situation in a loud voice. ¡°Sorry, they are all still alive.¡± The rest of the team was right behind them, all pretending to gasp for air. Vash was the one who came up with this small routine, and in all honesty, no one believed it would work. Pretending to be a bunch of random people who were just angry at humans and found them here was stupid, but the Shadow Talons said that it could help. Liraelle was the most vocal supporter of the plan, which made Hera think it was all just a prank. ¡®Remember. Don¡¯t overpower them. We need them to call for backup,¡¯ Hera warned Livy and the rest of her court, all of which who were now in their weapon forms. The humans fired a couple of spells at the invaders, but the magic was weak. Even without using [Observe] everyone could tell that these people were not powerful. This could be a good thing, maybe the people who controlled the lab didn¡¯t think someone strong would show up here. Then again, it could be bad. If they had anything of value here, security would be stricter. Pushing those thoughts away, Hera focused on the fight, making sure to use enough strength in her blows to look like a threat but one that could be defeated. The Shadow Talons were the ones who had to worry about finding something useful. 865 - B&E While the Harmony Guardians ¡®fought¡¯ against the guards, the Shadow Talons quickly moved behind the laboratory. There was no entrance in the back, but that was only the case now. According to the blueprints the agency found for this place, after the research in spirits that was being made here developed past a certain point, the entire structure went through renovations. Before, it was a much more open and welcoming place, at least in comparison to its current state. The side where Hera and the others were still was heavily fortified, with sturdier walls than the rest of the place, but the entrance itself was on the opposite side, facing one of the hedges. The idea was that it would be safer. By forcing people to try to go around the facility and reach the narrow paths on the sides, it became easier to see if anyone, or anything, was approaching. Defending those choke points was also much easier than the alternative. Borin guided the Shadow Talons along the grass walls, and soon they reached the place where the old entrance was located. Now it was just a massive wall with no windows. Anyone looking at the lab from the outside would just see a massive block of stone and not a building. He confirmed that no one was around and used the same tool to make the cameras on the back be stuck on a loop. Then he left the grass walls and walked with his team towards the back of the building. Without saying a word, Korrin approached the structure and closed his eyes, using a couple of skills and a spell to confirm if there was any kind of trap or sensor that could see them. With a thumbs up, he confirmed his team that they were good to go. Syrinx was next, she opened her mouth with a silent word. The sound wave washed over the building like water hitting a sponge and was quickly absorbed by it. After a few moments she walked to the left, staying not exactly in the middle of this wall but just a bit off center, and used the air currents to draw a large rectangle against the structure. Without saying a word, Liraelle stepped forward. She closed her eyes for a moment and placed one finger in the marked area. To anyone watching, nothing happened, but that was only on the outside. The elf had a particularly nasty skill that, in essence, reversed the clock on objects. It wasn¡¯t a finely tuned process that could resharpen an axe. Or one that could remove dirt and grime from it. Her power was more akin to unbaking a cake from the inside. The ingredients would break down, returning to their raw form while maintaining all the effects that brought the object to its current state. For a cake, the eggs would still have been heated, broken, crushed and mixed, and so would the flour, butter and sugar. But for those materials, that would have happened individually, not in a mixture. The eggs would become scrambled, and the sugar caramelize, the butter melt, and the flour ignite. Doing this with the wall had the same effect. Together, the different pieces of the mixture that created the structure were strong, but if the same degree of heat, mix, and grinding was applied to each individual component, that would change very quickly. The unfortunate part was that this took a while. A full minute passed before Liraelle could feel the insides of the wall changing. Only after five minutes that she glanced back to the team and nodded. She reached to the wall but paused, noticing that Vash¡¯s music was coming to a lull. He had been using his stage skill for a while now as a way to make noise and cover any sounds the Shadow Talons could create. However, he warned that some of the songs would have low points. If he kept everything at a high intensity the entire time, it would be easier for the guards to notice other sounds. Once the beat dropped, the elf smiled and gently tapped the wall in front of her. It instantly crumbled into dust, leaving some sand, gravel, and pieces of bones on the ground. The debris was so close to dust that the sound was much softer than even Liraelle expected. Behind that opening was an old set of double doors. Borin moved closer again and started lock picking them while Syrinx and Korrin made sure that it wasn¡¯t barred from the other side. It took them another two minutes to get the door open, not because of the lock, but because of the heavy weight that was behind it. Whey they finally were able to open the door enough for one of them to pass, they realized what happened. This was a storage room, and there was a large file cabinet leaning against the old entrance. This was also a stroke of luck to the Shadow Talons. Being able to find a place like this was part of their plans, and they could go over any documents inside, searching for that one piece of information that could help the Alliance. They quickly went inside and started going through the files, making sure to close the door behind them. They wouldn¡¯t be leaving from there, anyway. Outside, the Harmony Guardians continued their fight. But it was getting harder and harder to pretend they were being pushed back. The guards here were weak, at least in comparison with Hera and her team. They also were clearly not fit for the job. None of them knew how to fight and relied heavily on either items or one single skill. The Empress dodged under another horizontal slash coming from the long-haired guard that came out of the facility a few minutes after their assault started. It was the 12th time the same attack came after her. Every single one of those blows was exactly the same. At the same height, speed, angle, and strength. Being able to replicate the same move over and over again would be impressive if it wasn¡¯t so underwhelming. The attack packed a punch, but it was slow, and the energy wave lost a lot of power as it moved. There was value in practicing the same move, but all that effort was wasted on this man. It was like he was following along a tutorial without understanding any of the content. He could replicate the effect, sure, but it would never be his own. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hera had to dodge out of the way in an increasingly less convincing fashion every time. Her act this time was pretending to slip on a non existent banana peel. These guards were around Level 42, and they should be seeing the Harmony Guardians as a bunch of people in the mid 30s. That was all thanks to a ring that hid their actual level. It wasn¡¯t a powerful item, even if it was on the rarer side, but it wasn¡¯t infallible either. A strong skill could easily break through the illusion, and the notification window was clearly fake. The shape was a bit tilted, and the color was too dark, and the font was wrong. However, at a quick glance, or during a fight, people could fail to notice those mistakes. From the corner of her eye, the Ophidianite saw Skyler gesturing to the path lead out and the two jumped away. Everyone was doing that from time to time, when they had to ask something or they felt they were pushing the humans too hard. Hera had set up a soundproof barrier around the area to let them talk without worrying about being heard. ¡°They are inside,¡± Skyler said as the two walked inside the spell effect. ¡°Just now?¡± ¡°About a minute ago. The door gave them some trouble,¡± the elf replied. ¡°Why is it always the door?¡± Hera sighed, realizing that it was one of the oldest clich¨¦s in existence. ¡°Beats me, but at least we know they are inside. And since the guards are still here, no one noticed them.¡± ¡°How long we give them before stopping this?¡± Hera asked. ¡°As long as we can. The more time they have, the better,¡± Skyler sighed. The two nodded and jumped back into the fray. Just as they came out of the labyrinth¡¯s path, they saw the door opening and another human walking out. He was older, likely around his 40s and had a simple but sturdy leather armor. The only amongst all the guards that seemed to value more usability than looks. ¡°Why the fuck are you taking so long? Just kill them!¡± the man groaned, his face showing he only found this annoying. ¡°Captain, those fuckers are worse than roaches!¡± the man wearing an eastern tunic, the same one that kept sending that wide horizontal slash over and over again. Just to make sure they weren¡¯t going over their heads, Hera used her [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Derrik - Level 56 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Rude fuckers,¡± Derrik groaned and payed back in kind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been Observed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That notification meant the captain was able to go through the illusion of the ring. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t show up. Another thing that confirmed that was the man¡¯s movements. There was a brief moment of surprise in his eyes, and his entire demeanor changed. He pulled a heavy-looking sledgehammer from his back and turned around before yelling, ¡°Code Gray!¡± When he turned back forward, Livy and Hera were both almost on top of him. Nimbus, Lurize, Viper, and Crimson were going after the rest of the guards. In a few swift motions, they killed all of them but the captain. Derrik was able to block the first couple of strikes coming from the Leviathan and the Ophidianite, but the man didn¡¯t expect the floating weapons to join in. It quickly became too much, and he perished under the assault. ¡°Fuck, they got us?¡± Flint rushed over. The move surprised him, but it wasn¡¯t completely unexpected. Everyone agreed that if someone was able to see their actual levels, they should just kill them. ¡°Yeah, his Observe got through,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Right, then let¡¯s get going. We need to storm the place and capture their command center, or whatever is in charge of communications and cameras,¡± Flint gestured to the rest of the team that was already getting closer, ¡°Plan B everyone!¡± ¡°Wait.. plan B? Aerial assault?¡± Vash asked. ¡°No, that¡¯s C. B is getting inside and taking control,¡± Roan replied. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. That¡¯s just the followup of both plans,¡± Vash shook his head. ¡°Whatever the number is, Roan is right. We go inside and try to serve as backup for the Shadow Talons. And we will be sure to defend against any human back up. We can stop the looping of the cameras to know if someone is getting closer,¡± Skyler was the first to walk inside the lab. ¡°Also, we can use the communicators again. The humans already know about us and are under gray code, whatever the fuck that is,¡± Neria shrugged. Hera nodded and touched her neck, to talk with the Shadow Talons, ¡°Ok, we are inside. Going to the command center. How are things on your end?¡± ¡°Odd.. we found some of the scientists, but they are already unconscious, bound and gagged. We might not be the only ones hitting this place,¡± Korrin replied. ¡°Is that going to be a problem?¡± Flint was moving along the corridors, looking at the cameras to find where they led to. ¡°Hopefully no. But it¡¯s hard to tell. We don¡¯t know for sure how strong, or how many of them are. But they seem skilled. There are almost no signs of fighting. They also don¡¯t seem to care about data, so we are cleaning up the hard drives before moving to the next-¡° Korrin¡¯s voice was interrupted, but Lerialle¡¯s scream, ¡°The fuck is that thing?!¡± Her voice didn¡¯t come from her own communicator, which meant that she was either extremely loud, or extremely close to the beastman. Skyler, Flint, and Roan turned to Hera and said at once, ¡°Go!¡± With a nod, the Empress recalled her with the exception of Nimbus court and bolted through the facility. This was already part of the plan, she was the one woman army and any team who found trouble could count on her support. 866 - Collision Hera was riding Nimbus, who was on his griffon form, as they speed through the facility. The path would lap around the entire structure, ending in the center where there was a set of stairs. One going up, and one going down. In his mount for, Nimbus was able to run without a problem. When it came time to turn, he would return to his weapon form as Hera kicked the wall to jump to the side. She wouldn¡¯t even hit the ground, and instead, land on the back of the Sentinel¡¯s griffon form once again. Both hesitated in the first turn, being unable to move as quickly as they could. But with each corner, they became more and more comfortable with that. It reached a point where it felt like they were both part of the same body. As if they were not two people moving, but limbs of the same person. Hera couldn¡¯t explain how that happened. Maybe it was the clear vision of the movement in her mind, or the trust she placed on her first titled blade, but she never had felt this connected with him before. That feeling didn¡¯t last long, and only in the last three turns they reached that peak of teamwork. As they were about to reach the last corner, where they would see the staircase, the Empress saw Liraelle being pried off a wall. Something splashed her with a large ball of goop that hardened as it hit the wall. ¡°What the hell?¡± Hera gasped as she dismounted Nimbus and he returned to his bipedal form. ¡°Get this off me! It smells,¡± the elf gasped. ¡°What happened?¡± Hera asked. ¡°There was this large ball with eyes that showed up and spat on her. There were some people with that thing, and they all rushed downstairs. That¡¯s where the cells should be located. I can tell that the floors above are empty, but there is something blocking spells from reaching below.¡± Syrinx explained. ¡°Ok, what do you need to do?¡± Hera asked as Borin and Korrin finished taking Liraelle out of the wall. Even if she was still sticky and covered in an unpleasant odor. ¡°They should have data upstairs that we can get, but since people are going downstairs, we might need to follow,¡± Borin replied. ¡°Did you catch their levels?¡± Hera glanced at the staircase going down. If they were not too strong, her court could take them. She could also awaken someone in a pinch. ¡°I only saw two, a 41 and a 43. There were a couple of others that I missed. All humans,¡± Liraelle groaned and used a device to clean herself quickly. The original function of the item was to clean an area off any tracks, but it worked to get rid of the remaining goop. ¡°Ok, then go get the data on the floors above. I¡¯ll take care of them,¡± Hera turned to Nimbus, who gave her a nod. They started moving to the staircase as the Ophidianite summoned a pair of uncommon daggers with her [Venomous Arsenal] ¡°I¡¯ll go with Hera. In case there is something she can¡¯t do,¡± Syrinx quickly flew towards the Empress, who just nodded. Understanding that her skill set might not be enough to actually find things down there. ¡°Be careful, we¡¯ll do a once over and go help you,¡± Korrin nodded as the two groups split up. Hera took the lead and started walking downstairs with Nimbus by her side. Robin, Glacia, Pyro, Viper, and Crimson were also out, but on their weapon forms. According to the blueprint, the underground was narrow, and large weapons would struggle to move properly. Along with Syrinx, the Ophidianite moved quickly but quietly, reaching the next floor without seeing or hearing anyone. Hera even noticed when she the noise created by Nimbus¡¯ footsteps vanished less than a meter behind her, only for the sound to return after he got closer. It seemed like there was a sound dampening spell in the area. The Empress was somewhat sure that this wasn¡¯t just a single effect, or a onetime barrier she was crossing. She couldn¡¯t hear anything coming from the basement, no footsteps, no doors being opened or close, nothing. It was more likely that several layers of soundproof barriers were placed here. Maybe so different people could work on different experiments without being disturbed by nearby sounds. That might be great for the scientist, but it was awful for Hera and Syrinx. They wouldn¡¯t be able to hear the other team getting close until it was too late. Still, neither of them hesitated. They quickly reached the bottom of the stairs and saw a few marks on the ground where something wet had passed by. Maybe it was a pet of one of the humans, or a skill they were able to use. Either way, they didn¡¯t have time to worry about it and continued moving forward. The cells here were simple, and better set up than the Empress expected. The last time she was in a lab, the captives were packed inside tiny rooms with only one or two beds for half a dozen people. Here, the beds were wide and well maintained, and there was nothing that made it seem like more than one subject ever inhabited each cell. However, everything was empty and clearly not used in a while. A thin layer of dust covered the bedsheets and the bars. The trio passed by three of those cells before Hera saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. ¡°What?¡± Syrinx asked. ¡°Are we supposed to go after them or find something useful here?¡± the Empress asked. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Both? But it would be better if we found something before them. Our goal is to get shit and leave, not fight,¡± the harpy replied. ¡°Ok, then come here,¡± Hera walked to a room other right. This place was different, it looked almost like an empty storage room, but what caught her eye was the back wall. Metal beams were placed in an X shape and between them, a tinted glass that made it extremely hard to see what was on the other side. Even so, a glint caught the Empress¡¯ attention. As she approached, the dark screen lightened, not by a spell or some device, but an optical effect that made this casing to darken the farther away someone was. Behind it were some large metal tubes with small glass openings, revealing an eerie red liquid that glowed with power. Hera couldn¡¯t forget that light. It was the same light she saw when she found Silah being bound to a Daemon. The same light that was inside the container where the Spirit who became Vulcan was. The surrounding structure was also similar to the previous lab. And for it to be here, there had to be a test subject in the area. She wasn¡¯t sure if it would be another version of the Soldiers of Strength, or one of the people that were forcibly bound to the Daemons. ¡°Do you see a lock? A doorknob or something?¡± Hera turned to Daskka who floated to the sides. ¡°I don¡¯t, but this is a door. There is a groove on the ground, but it¡¯s sealed too tightly for me to pass through,¡± the herald replied. ¡°Shit,¡± Hera grumbled and started to think. Her only idea was to break the wall, but that could kill the person who was inside. ¡°So? Is it a door?¡± Syrinx asked. ¡°It seems so. Electronic I think. The mana coming out of the tubes should be too strong to allow any sort of magical lock to work,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Back off,¡± Syrinx reached for a pouch in her belt and pulled a small device that looked like a calculator, ¡°Move! Let me try this. If it doesn¡¯t work, we need Liraelle.¡± Hera took a step back and watched as the harpy placed the device in the middle of the wall. She pressed a couple of buttons and moved away. There was a tiny flash on the screen of the calculator looking object before a current of electricity visibly coursed through the entire metal structure. A loud ¡®clunk¡¯ noise followed and the entire wall shifted to the side, revealing that same eerie red light from beyond it, and a considerable amount of red liquid splashed onto the ground. The energy was so strong that the Ophidianite didn¡¯t need to pay attention to understand what that was. Liquid strength mana. But it was weird. It felt stronger than the one inside the jar where Vulcan¡¯s Spirit stayed. More wild and aggressive. ¡°Be careful with that. It is pure mana, but¡­ on steroids?¡± Hera said. ¡°Is it toxic?¡± Syrinx asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. But it might have a bad effect on us. Maybe that¡¯s the type of mana that Daemons use, not Spirits,¡± Hera wanted to call Vulcan out, but that felt like a bad idea. Syrinx glanced down, the harpies wore little to no clothes, and their talons were exposed almost all the time, ¡°Then you go inside. I¡¯ll keep watch.¡± Hera nodded but noticed the liquid being drained. It seemed like the door was not just airtight, but also a way to dispose of the liquid. Unfortunately, trying to look through the small gap was useless. Beyond it was just another path that led in a diagonal. She pulled the metal wall to the side, hoping the mechanism wouldn¡¯t stop her from doing so. Nimbus helped, but it was hard, not just due to the weight of the door, but also their position. They were pulling it from the side instead of pushing away so as to not be in the way of whatever was inside. Once there was enough space for Nimbus to pass through comfortably, the Ophidianite asked Daskka to peek through the door. In her black mist form, the herald moved quickly. Unfortunately, her stealth form wasn¡¯t as well hidden against the black light, but it still worked. ¡°There is a man inside. He is strapped to a gurney and¡­¡± Daskka moved back and floated up, getting a view from the top of the door, ¡°Yeah, I think he has the black line tattoo. It¡¯s hard to tell, his hair and beard are really long and his skin looks charred.¡± ¡°Any signs of the Spirit?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Not from this angle, but the light is stronger to his left, our right.¡± Hera turned to the harpy, ¡°Syrinx, stay here. If something goes wrong, run back to the team. I think we have another hostage here.¡± Without waiting for a response, Hera rushed inside. Like Daskka said, there was a man here, but he was human and the tattoos he had were very different. They weren¡¯t the line, but various different black shapes. His skin wasn¡¯t charred, instead, the tattoos were being used to cover something. Not even the soles of his feet were free from the black ink. Only a few spots on his shoulder, neck and hands were still showing the natural color of his white skin. Aside from it, the man was in a rough shape, and that was being kind. He was so thin that his ribs were sticking out, and the smell was putrid. If it wasn¡¯t for the heart monitor on the back connected to him, Hera would assume this was a corpse. She didn¡¯t know what to think, but focused on the task at hand. Turning to the side, she saw the Strength Daemon, clearly already transformed. Its shape was twisted with limbs of various creatures mashed together and various different faces spread all over its body. Thankfully, it was sleeping. All its numerous eyes closed. But, in a stroke of luck, Hera realized that the Daemon was inside a carrying crate. The same kind that was used to carry Vulcan¡¯s Spirit. ¡°Nimbus, help me,¡± Hera said as they tried to work out a way to detach the thing from the rest of the tubes. The design was very intuitive and in less than a minute, the Daemon was free. Still inside the case, but no longer attached to the wall. The Empress called Viper and Crimson to carry the crate while Nimbus and she pushed the gurney with the man out of this place. When Syrinx saw the man, she gasped, ¡°What the fuck are you doing? How are we supposed to take this man out of the room?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we can¡¯t leave him here. Even if we have to kill him later. It¡¯s better than whatever they are doing to him. Let¡¯s just go and we figure this out later,¡± Hera replied without stopping. Syrinx groaned but didn¡¯t stop her. As the Ophidianite moved the gurney out into the hallway and was heading upstairs, she heard a squeaky toy behind her and felt the rush of air being pushed in her direction. Moving quickly, she summoned a venomous spear to block. Her move was just in time as a gigantic rain frog, the size of a panther, slammed against her, a couple of the barriers Nimbus created helped slow the creature down. A spear came flying towards her face, but she was able to move out of the way and parry the strike with her tail. Shifting back, she glanced at the frog¡¯s rider only to be met with a familiar face. A man with short black hair, now sporting an unshaved beard and brown eyes on a suntanned skin. He was carrying a spear in one hand, and a shield in the other. ¡°Leo?¡± Hera turned back to the rain frog, ¡°Tiger?¡± 867 - Old Friend ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Leo asked, still pointing his spear at Hera. ¡°It¡¯s me. Hera. Why are you here? Are you with the guild?¡± Before Leo could reply, Syrinx came flying from the side, trying to claw at the man. He blocked with the shield, and an arrow came flying towards the harpy. Nimbus created another barrier to stop the projectile before it made contact. ¡°Leo!¡± a male voice came from behind. ¡°Why the fuck are you attacking us!¡± another voice range, a woman¡¯s this time. ¡°You are humans in this lab. That¡¯s all I need,¡± Syrinx replied and started casting a spell, but Hera stepped in. ¡°Stop!¡± she turned back to Leo, ¡°Are you with the guild?!¡± ¡°No,¡± he replied without lowering his spear. ¡°Ok then. Come with us, we are not with them either, obviously,¡± Hera gestured to herself. ¡°Why would I follow-¡° Leo froze when his eyes landed on the man on the gurney. Even if he was trying to be stoic, his eyes quickly started to water, filled with relief, sadness, and anger. Noticing the heavy emotions, Hera glanced back at the tattooed man. She could only think of one person who would make Leo come all the way here, ¡°Holy shit. Is this your uncle?¡± That line made Leo snap out of his state, ¡°How do you know about that?¡± Hera rolled her eyes, ¡°Fuck me. It¡¯s me. Hera. We became explorer together. Mr. Grayson praised you during our first test. You got a 23 I think. When we went inside the MAZE, you saved Tiger from a big ass frog, and I had to run to the guild and drag a healer out to heal him from poison. Your uncle raised you, and your parents suck. Trust me, I know a thing or two about having a bad parent. Do I have to go on?¡± she realized that she spilled the beans to Syrinx about being human before, but it wasn¡¯t like she had an alternative. Not one that would let her solve this quickly enough, at least. Leo¡¯s face finally relaxed, swiping the intensity for confusion, ¡°But how are you¡­¡± ¡°Long story. I¡¯ll tell you later. Did you find anything back there?¡± Hera asked. ¡°No, everything is empty.¡± ¡°Great. Follow me. We are going back to my team, then we bolt out of here.¡± ¡°Leo! What is going on, who are they?¡± a third voice asked, another woman. The hunter glanced back, ¡°They are friends,¡± but when he turned around, Hera could see him mumble, ¡®I think.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Hera said and continued moving. Syrinx was staring at her, and at the humans as well, but she started flying either way. After Tiger passed by the secret room, Viper and Crimson came out carrying the Daemon, which made the humans yelp. However, they didn¡¯t attack once they realized they were all going in the same direction. Leo had climbed down from Tiger and was now running by the Ophidianite¡¯s side, making sure his uncle was safely strapped to the gurney. ¡°What happened to you?¡± the hunter turned to Hera without stopping. ¡°Later. I promise I¡¯ll explain it.¡± ¡°Ok¡­ what about the others? Blue, Bonnie, Alex, Mark? Are they ok?¡± ¡°Bonnie and Alex are great. I don¡¯t know about Mark. After he confessed to me, we drifted away. And Blue¡­ she¡¯s participating in the war. On the guild¡¯s side,¡± Hera sighed as they approached the staircase. Nimbus moved ahead to pull the gurney from above. ¡°What? Why? Did she believe in them?¡± ¡°No, nothing like that. She¡¯s being blackmailed. I¡¯ll tell you the details later,¡± Hera said as they moved to the ground floor, ¡°How did you figure out your uncle was here?¡± ¡°I found an old safe house of his a while back. There was a journal talking about him being bound to a Spirit. A Strength Spirit. When the war started and the New Dawn paraded the Soldier of Strength project around and mentioned that kind of Spirit I figured that could lead me somewhere,¡± Leo looked at the half dead form of his uncle, ¡°I guess I was right.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this. But we found him, and this time this is the only prisoner I have to worry about. I¡¯m not losing another one. I promise,¡± the words that came out of her mouth surprised Hera, but the sentiment was real. Silah was the first and would also be the last person she lost because of these experiments. Leo just nodded as the group continued moving until they reached the command center, where the rest of the Harmony Guardians had gathered. ¡°The fuck are they?¡± Flint asked when he saw Leo and his group. ¡°An old friend of mine,¡± Hera replied, pointing to Leo, ¡°I trust him. And this,¡± she gestured to the gurney, ¡°Is his uncle. This should be enough to understand where they stand.¡± Seeing the state of the man, Neria rushed over and started casting some healing spells, it didn¡¯t take long for the Triton to shake her head, ¡°What did they do to him? His body is a mess. There are so many sigils, spells, and just random crap interfering with my healing that I can barely do anything.¡± ¡°He¡¯s the first test subject for the Soldier of Strength project,¡± the archer who was part of Leo¡¯s team said. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°How do you know that?¡± Roan turned to the man holding a wooden bow with a green string and wearing a long black cloak with a hood. ¡°We found some documents talking about him. In all fairness, we can¡¯t know if he really is subject zero, but we know he¡¯s been here for at least 10 years. Maybe more,¡± a woman replied. She wore dark leather clothes that stuck to her body and had a pair of daggers on her waist. It was a classic assassin look, but her mana was more similar to Neria¡¯s than it was to Alex¡¯s. Skyler just shook her head, ¡°Fuck.¡± The second woman frowned, her gear was more towards the stereotypical mage. But not the long robes and wise, kind, more the modern with short skirts and stockings, ¡°Fuck? We tell you this is being going on for years and that¡¯s all you have to say?¡± ¡°Sorry. We didn¡¯t have that confirmation, but we kind of expected it. Projects like that take a while, especially if they have to start on the experiment phase,¡± Skyler explained. ¡°I guess you are high up in the Alliance to know that,¡± the mage said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been observed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera frowned, seeing that notification, and looked to the humans. She wasn¡¯t the only one as all the Harmony Guardians were now staring at the woman who looked like an assassin. ¡°Really?¡± Neria gave a blank stare. ¡°Sorry¡­ I just wanted to confirm. But fuck, level 60? Even if she is just 56, I don¡¯t think we can take any of you even if we tried,¡± she said. ¡°You think you have a better shot at fighting Hera than any of us?¡± Roan snorted, ¡°Good luck.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± the archer asked, only to feel the cold metal of a dagger pressed against his throat. ¡°It means that if you try anything, there is an army ready to kill you at any point,¡± Viper appeared behind him. Hera shook her head, ¡°Viper, stop that. We don¡¯t have time. And they are our allies. But yeah, try anything and I won¡¯t need my army to kill you. I¡¯ll do it myself,¡± the Empress¡¯ eyes turned to slits as she stared the man down. Leo just looked at Hera with a confused expression, ¡°What happened to you?¡± ¡°Got stuck in the MAZE again. Went to the past. Almost died. Saw a woman I loved die because of the guild. Actually died. Changed species. And in the mix of all that, I got a legacy. Oh, and did I mention I killed like five wendigos in total already? Yeah,¡± Hera shrugged while holding back a smile. It was fun to mess with a friend like that especially when she noticed the shocked expression of the other humans, but she quickly went back to business, ¡°How about the Shadow Talons?¡± ¡°They are finishing up the third floor and will be here in a few minutes,¡± Vash replied. ¡°Human reinforcements?¡± ¡°None, as far as we can tell, but we will take at least 30 minutes to reach a branching path of the labyrinth. Also, if we are taking him, we can¡¯t take the same route we used to get here,¡± Flint gestured to Leo¡¯s uncle. ¡°Yeah, even if we can make him cross a doorway, he can¡¯t take being underwater,¡± Skyler turned to Neria, ¡°Can we make him cross a doorway?¡± The triton let out a heavy sigh, ¡°I think we can, but that will not be good for him. I have a spell that will forcibly wake him up, but that comes at a cost.¡± ¡°What kind of cost?¡± Leo asked. ¡°It won¡¯t be good for him. It will be like I¡¯m giving him a shot of adrenaline. I can try to lessen the strain on his body, but that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°I think he can cross without that. I¡¯ve done that with Blue before. We were in a situation where she couldn¡¯t physically cross a doorway, and she did. Even while unconscious,¡± Hera said. Skyler thought about that for a moment, ¡°I remember that, but it was a different situation. We can try, but it¡¯s better if we have a Plan B.¡± ¡°Plan B for what¡­ and who are they?¡± Liraelle appeared with the rest of the Shadow Talons. ¡°Taking this guy out of here,¡± Flint gestured to Leo¡¯s uncle. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s easy. We have something for that,¡± the elf turned to Borin, who pulled a pair of bracelets from his pouch. The dwarf stepped forward and was about to put the trinket on Leo¡¯s uncle, but the hunter stopped him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°This will let him cross,¡± Boring replied and stepped to the side, ignoring Leo. ¡°You are not putting anything on him without explaining what is going on,¡± Leo shouted, but Hera simply placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Leo, breathe,¡± the Empress turned to the dwarf, ¡°And Borin. A bit more explanation please. This is his family.¡± Korrin was the one who stepped forward, ¡°Ok, so this is something new. The Alliance created it recently, and it allows us to sort of bind two people together. Only when crossing the doorway. What the person who is wearing this,¡± he took the green bracelet from Borin¡¯s hand, ¡°does in a doorway will also affect who is wearing this,¡± he picked the white bracelet. ¡°What¡¯s the catch? If it was only that, people would be kidnapping others right left and center,¡± Neria asked. ¡°The white bracelet only works if the person wearing it trusts the one with the green bracelet completely. Generally, that wouldn¡¯t work, but when you just saved someone from being a lab rat, people tend to trust you more,¡± Korrin continued. ¡°Then let me wear the green one,¡± Leo asked. Hera nodded, turning to the Harmony Guardians, ¡°He is his nephew. It is more likely for him to trust Leo than it is for him to trust us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming the person needs to wake up to accept the link,¡± Neria turned to Borin who just nodded, ¡°Ok then. Leo was it? Get ready. I¡¯m waking your uncle up. Make sure he accepts the link. I¡¯m knocking him out right after it,¡± She glanced at the human who gave her a worried stare, ¡°It¡¯s just a figure of speech. It¡¯s going to be a sleep spell, not an actual blow to the head.¡± Leo glanced back at Hera, ¡°If you are not who you say you are. I¡¯m killing you first.¡± Hera nodded with a smirk, ¡°I don¡¯t think you can, but I understand.¡± The hunter just stared at the Empress and shook his head, ¡°You are not helping,¡± he glanced back to his uncle and gave Neria a nod. Using a spell that looked a lot like someone using a defibrillator, a flash washed over the unconscious man. There was a small delay before his eyes fluttered open. He tried saying something, but he was too weak to do anything. He glanced at Leo, who quickly started talking. ¡°Uncle? It¡¯s me. You¡¯re ok. You¡¯re going to be ok, but I need your help to get you out of here. We put a bracelet on you and it will let you move to the next room with me. Just accept the notification. Please, uncle Marco. Trust me.¡± His uncle tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a barely audible sound of wind coming out of his lungs. It almost sounded like someone¡¯s last breath, but the man still lived. His eyes focused on Leo, and the corner of his lips twitched slightly. However, even that motion was too much for him, and he closed his eyes again. Neria glanced at the hunter, who nodded. ¡°He accepted it.¡± With a quick spell, she put him to sleep again and turned to the Shadow Talons, ¡°Ok. Do you have everything? We need to go, now!¡± ¡°We got everything, but go where? We can¡¯t take the same route we took to get here,¡± Korrin gasped. ¡°We know a way out. One that the other humans don¡¯t know about,¡± the woman wearing assassin gear spoke up. ¡°Can we take him there?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°We can, we just need to protect him on the other side.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡± Leo almost shouted and marched towards the exit of the facility, pushing the gurney with his uncle. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t want to be here when the bombs go off. Burned hair does not go well with my look,¡± Liraelle followed the man. Hera was right behind him, worried about Leo¡¯s uncle, but also extremely happy with the success of this operation. Not only had they gotten rid of a lab, but they also helped one of her friends find a lost relative. Not just that, but for the first time, the Alliance had a chance to see one of the Daemon bound test subjects together with the Daemon itself, and that had to help them somehow. 868 - Escape The three groups left the facility and moved along the long path, leading them out of this part of the labyrinth. This branch of the place was very long, and it was one of the reasons the Shadow Talons were worried about this operation. It would take them some time to reach a crossroads, or any place where the path would split. After almost an hour of travel, they were just a few hundred of meters away when a group of humans appeared. Once they saw the Alliance members, they attacked without even saying anything. However, both the Shadow Talons and the Harmony Guardians replied in kind. The group of humans was somewhat large, having about 10 people. That would make them have a one-on-one match against the alliance members. Or so they thought. Leo and his group were in the center, being protected by the others, since the hunter refused to stay away from his uncle and the rest of his team insisted on staying by his side. From the outside looking in, it made it seem as if they were prisoners that had been captured. Even so, that group of four humans and one giant rain frog didn¡¯t participate in the fight. They focused on protecting Marco. Roan was the first to reach the reinforcements, swinging his double hand axes at their tights. The first human failed to see that coming and a large gash appeared on his leg, but the second one tried to block the blow. When their weapons met, the woman¡¯s arms were flung backwards violently. Just the impact was almost enough to take her shoulder out of its socket. Right behind that was Flint, using the exoarmor to get closer. He slammed his fist against a tower shield being held by a man in the frontline. A loud ringing sound echoed as the metal of his gauntlet clashed against the human defenses. Without moving his arm, the pistons on the dwarf¡¯s armor triggered, piercing through the shield and sending the one holding it flying backwards with a mechanical fist. Using the now broken metal of the aegis destroyed by Flint as a step, Hera jumped above the humans, landing in the middle of the group. In her hands, a pair of rare venomous chackrams appeared at the same time Pyro and Clay were summoned. The tail spike on her tail and the chain whip mid swing. The trio spun around, slashing at all the humans nearby before she called the rest of the court behind the group. The towering forms of Livy, Lurize, blocked the human escape route as Vulcan jumped and started kicking everyone. The large claws in his feet working to rip their armor to shreds. Anyone who got close to the kangaroo would face the heavy hammer that was on his hand. Viper and Crimson were nowhere to be seen. If anyone doubted their presence, a sudden appearance of five blood red claws of energy that bisected one of the humans was more than enough to confirm their participation. Storm, Glacia, Shadow, and Sun were also fighting, but they were on the less flashy side of things. They were not using any skills or powers, only going for the kill with the edge of their blades. Robin and Twiggy were floating above everyone. The tiara continuously behaved as the general, telling everyone where the enemies came from and where they should aim while the bowblade focused on interrupting any projectile that came from the humans. Skyler and Vash stood back, only sending spells or buffs to their team to serve as support. Neria, on the other hand, never even glanced up from Marco. She was completely focused on healing him and trying her best to at least keep his condition steady. The moment the humans appeared, she knew they were no match for the Harmony Guardians, not now. After power leveling, they were no longer just a random team that was going on missions, but now an elite force that few could pose a threat to. ¡°What happened to her?¡± Leo gasped as he watched Hera cut the throat of a man who go close. She spun around and continued for an attack against someone else, not even stopping to confirm if her first target was dead. ¡°A lot,¡± Neria replied as she was finally able to protect Marco¡¯s lungs from the outside air. From what she could tell, the man spent years in some place where oxygen was scarce. That forced his body to pull much more air than it was used to, even his lungs grew to accommodate more air. Because of that, now that he was in a place with abundant oxygen, his body was pulling more than it should have . Without proper care, he would quickly be affected by oxygen poisoning. If the Triton ignored that, the flood of symptoms that would follow would hinder anything else she tried to do. Leo glanced at Neria, ¡°She was such a sweet girl. She could fight monsters, sure, but people¡­ I remember when she had to kill someone to defend herself and that almost broke her.¡± ¡°She still is very sweet. In my opinion, at least,¡± Neria used another spell to scan for the other issues with Marco. There were so many that she didn¡¯t even know where to start. He was severely dehydrated, but at the same time, had signs of overhydration as she noticed pockets of water inside his body. But those were old and stale. The best way to go about it would be to let him sweat, but it seemed like there was something wrong with his Eccrine glands, or even worse, his nervous system. He was burning up but wasn¡¯t sweating, ¡°Fuck. Why didn¡¯t you bring a healer?¡± Neria groaned. There was too much for her to do at once and she couldn¡¯t focus on solving the problems. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I¡¯m a healer. Well, explorer with the healer role,¡± the woman with tight leather armor and a pair of daggers said. The triton turned to the woman, ¡°What¡¯s you name and level?¡± ¡°Sophia, level 45. Healer was the first role I got, so it¡¯s the one I know the best,¡± the woman replied, almost as if she was talking to a drill sergeant. Neria turned back to Marco and continued speaking, ¡°Keep his temperature at 35 to 36 Celsius. Ideally close to 36. He is frying so aim for lower so his core will cool too. If you feel you can do more after five minutes, tell me. This is a marathon, not a sprint, make sure you can hold that for as long as we need.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Sophia replied, and quickly cast a spell. It was very different from what Neria was doing. The triton was controlling the temperature of the water inside Marco¡¯s body while Sophia was covering him in a layer of cooled air. ¡°Anyway, you asked about what happened to her. Ask her about it. It¡¯s not my place to say, but she told us about you and Tiger. How she helped the two of you connect,¡± the triton shifted her attention to the pockets of water inside Marco¡¯s body. She carefully controlled them in a trickle, removing it by going through his pores. Only someone with an exceptional control over liquids could do something like that, and luckily, Neria was that someone. ¡°She did?¡± Leo glanced back at the fight. Only one of the humans remained, and Roan executed her without hesitation. The Harmony Guardians and the Shadow Talons quickly went through the humans belongings. Checking if they had any good weapons or useful items and grabbing all their tablets. Everything they decided to take was placed inside a box made by Flint that would stop signals from getting out. ¡°Yes,¡± Neria glanced up and asked, ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yeah! We are just deciding what to do with the bodies,¡± Skyler replied. ¡°Let¡¯s just toss them in the tall vegetation. Best-case scenario, they vanish forever. If not, they will pop out here in a few minutes. Either way, we will be gone,¡± Liraelle suggested. Everyone looked at each other, and once they realized no one had a better idea, they went with it. Pushing the bodies to the side so Tiger and the gurney could pass by without much trouble. They continued moving, this time, Paige, the human mage that came with Leo, took the lead to point to the right direction. It took the group a good four hours to get there. During that time, more human reinforcements came along and triggered an alarm loud enough to be heard throughout the entire room. At a couple of different points, they also heard shouting from the opposite wall, but thanks to the labyrinth, they were able to continue moving without meeting anyone else. Hera was constantly watching the map to see where they were. And once Paige said their destination was close, the Ophidianite felt her heart skip a beat. They were very close to where Asterion marked something on her treasure map. And everyone was tired. If they found a safe place to rest, she could take a moment to do some actual exploring to find whatever the guide told her to find. They ended up passing directly on top of the mark on her map, but she couldn¡¯t see anything. Only the grass and the green cornfields on either side. As a last attempt, she even sent her court inside the walls of vegetation, but to no avail. There was nothing to be found. Sending Viper into the sky also gave them no information, not related to what Asterion told her, anyway. Instead, once the Spymaster in his dagger form broke through the top of the walls, he was able to see some humans flying around. They would dive inside random areas before coming back up. It was clearly a faster way to search for them, even if it would be at the cost of their numbers. ¡°Shit. The humans are flying above the grass. They check an area, fly up and go to the next wall,¡± Hera told everyone. ¡°How close are they?¡± Flint asked. ¡°They are far away for now, but they are moving fast. Viper wasn¡¯t seen because of the hidden frontal screen. We need to be careful not to do anything that would show beyond the illusion,¡± Hera continued. ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Paige spoke up, We are close to the doorway. Just a couple more minutes,¡± she glanced at Marco, ¡°But the gurney might be an issue.¡± ¡°Do you mean to cross to the next room?¡± Syrinx asked. ¡°That won¡¯t matter. The gurney is like a small vehicle. If someone is on top, they just move together. It¡¯s the path to get there. We are going underground and there is a very narrow curve,¡± Sophia explained. ¡°I do have a couple of spells to move rock and dirt, but I use them more to make camp. I don¡¯t know if it will work there,¡± Fernando, the archer of Leo¡¯s team, added. ¡°I have some too, we can figure something out. Worst case,¡± Hera turned to Flint, ¡°Can you remake the gurney? If you use it for the materials.¡± The dwarf frowned, ¡°Not one like that one. I can make something to carry him, and the materials will help, but it won¡¯t be as mobile.¡± ¡°I thought you were a crafter?¡± Paige gasped. ¡°I make weapons and armor, not beds. That¡¯s a completely different thing,¡± Flint huffed. ¡°How about you, Hera? Your dad had a mattress store, right?¡± Leo turned to the Empress. The question made her pause, ¡°Yeah¡­ and I do know he made some of the bed frames by hand. But I never tried to make one. But now I think I should.¡± ¡°Either way, we have options if we can¡¯t take the gurney along. Let¡¯s just move,¡± Neria had fixed some of the bigger issues and there was no excess water inside Marco anymore. But he was still far from being well. His bones were too weak, and his skin too thin. Anything could become a problem and she was sure that if he was wounded in any way, the infection that would follow would be beyond her abilities. Part of her couldn¡¯t even believe this man was still alive. It showed an enormous amount of resilience, or a very cruel individual who knew exactly how much they could push before someone broke. Neria hoped that Marco was simply this strong willed. If not, she prayed she would never meet the person responsible for the man¡¯s state. 869 - A guides gift The group continued to walk, but suddenly Paige stopped. She wasn¡¯t even at the end of a path in the labyrinth, but against one of the grass walls, there was a specific area that allowed people to pass by and reach a new area. According to the mage, the way to locate that was by following the mana. If they let mana out, just mana without any spell, it would float around like a mist. When it touched the grass, it would move, following the solid form of the vegetation. But in this particular 3 meter wide space, the mana would simply pass through the labyrinth walls as if nothing was there. In a way, it made sense that a place like this would have that kind of trick. After all, they all knew about an illusion that covered the entire room. But still, Hera couldn¡¯t help but think how wild it was that someone would ever find this particular path. The effort required to not just locate, but to discover a consistent way of revealing the hidden passage, was tremendous. ¡°Oh, actually no. We¡¯ve met someone who found out about this place by coming to the doorway on the other side. Inside the tunnel we are going in, there are a bunch of those fake walls and that¡¯s where this person figured out the mana thing,¡± Paige explained, removing some of the mystic of the situation. Beyond that fake grass was another path that turned back in the direction they came from. After a few dozen meters, was a large sand garden with large rocks spread everywhere. The sand was in a spiral pattern, and as the human mage walked over it, her footprints were slowly being hidden as the patterns returned effortlessly. Paige moved toward one of the rocks to the left. Not the biggest one, nor the smallest one. If someone didn¡¯t know exactly where they were going, their destination would be almost impossible to find. Once more she let out some mana steam from her hand and found a small square that was just large enough for a hand hidden in the rock. She reached inside and pressed something that caused the entire boulder to shift back, revealing an underground tunnel. ¡°Take a deep breath, everyone. It will be a couple of hours before we get some fresh air,¡± Fernando was the first to walk inside. Syrinx and Borin followed him, and so did Skyler and Flint. Both teams still had some reservations about trusting the humans. Not because they had proven to be untrustworthy, but because of the general paranoia caused by the war. Hera shook her head, wondering if things would ever get back to normal. Even after this conflict was over. The rest followed soon after. In just a couple of moments, they reached a sharp U turn on the tunnel. And, as the humans mentioned, the gurney was too big to pass through. Even if they tried to make it stand upright, the ceiling here was too low. Any spell they used to increase the space they had failed as the room itself refused the change. Livy couldn¡¯t be here, Lurize was also too big, and even Nimbus, who was just a few centimeters taller than Hera, struggled to move properly. In the end, they decided to take Marco out of the gurney. Leo picked up the malnourished and scarred form of his uncle and took him to the next part of the path. But once they crossed that narrow curve, things became easier. The tunnels had various different passages, and places where they could stop and rest for a while. The two who needed that the most were Neria and Sophia. They spent the entire 4 hour trek constantly using mana to perform what would be the equivalent to a surgery while moving. And Flint needed a bit of time to create a proper mobile bed to carry Marco. Their location was perfect for it. Hidden, easily defensible, and with natural choke points everywhere. Even better was the fact that several of the wall in the tunnels were illusory. You could touch and feel them, but if a part of your body touched the right spot, the entire spell would stop working for a few moments. This is why the doorway was hidden. No one had found the correct chamber where it was located in the middle of all these illusions. When they stopped to rest, Hera took a chance to look for the place Asterion told her about since she was close by. It didn¡¯t take long for the Ophidianite to reach the marked spot, but finding the illusion was another thing entirely. Luckily, her mana sensitivity showed her the exact location where the magic would break and she found the right rock she had to push against. Carvings filled the walls of the chamber she discovered. It took her a moment to realize they were blueprints for a massive labyrinth. But it wasn¡¯t a map for the current room, or at least she didn¡¯t think so. Each segment was small and had old Greek letters around them. Some said ¡®sand¡¯ while others mentioned ¡®stone¡¯ and ¡®marble.¡¯ In the middle was even a temple, one that was clearly supposed to have been made in ancient Greece. Some of the paths on this blueprint made words. While other symbols seemed to represent monsters, traps and other dangers in the labyrinth. The Empress could even see the makings of a spell circle in the structure itself. Maybe something to replicate the effect of this room? Or just to stop people from going above the walls completely. Hera saw a phrase in the corner of the chamber. It took her a moment, but thanks to her researcher skill and her knowledge of ancient languages, she was able to translate it. ¡®Daedalus Great Labyrinth.¡¯ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a location with a strong connection to your relic. Ariadne can absorb the lingering desire in this chamber to receive an upgrade. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. [Accept] [Refuse] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera blinked, reading the notification, she didn¡¯t expect something like this. Sure Asterion talked about Daedalus and how her relic was loosely connected to him. But it wasn¡¯t a certain thing. And according to what she knew, there was nothing that made her and the ancient inventor similar. Aside from maybe both being explorers. That being said, she would never refuse an opportunity like that. After pressing yes, she saw all the carvings glow ever so slightly and the light quickly moved to her waist, where her relic hanged from her belt. Once that was over, she pulled up Adriane to see what changed. Visually, everything was mostly the same. Ariadne was already basically just a long visor with a flap that she could turn to face her. And the magnets that attached to her court would be shot out from the sides. It still looked very much the same, but the visor now had rounded edges, and there was a soft pattern of textured sound waves all around the relic. The biggest difference was a new skill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ariadne - Hera¡¯s relic This relic can help you find answers as long as you are willing to pay the price. It also helps you to send mana across small distances and control the direction mana moves. Passive effects: Magnet attachment Ariadne will generate a magnet every so often. These magnets can be attached to any mana that originated from Hera herself. Once attached, the magnet will last for a few hours. After that time is over, the magnet will break off and dissolve. If the magnet is returned before the duration is over, it can be repaired by Ariadne at a faster speed than it would require to make a new one. These magnets work as a mana delivery system supported by the mana that is being constantly siphoned from Hera. The farther away the magnet is from Hera, the more mana it will require to maintain the connection. Maximum number of Magnets stored: 15 Magnet duration: 2 hours. Magnet repair rate: 10% every 10 minutes. Only 3 magnets can be repaired at a time. If more require repairs, they will be on hold until a repair slot becomes available. Magnet creation rate: 1 every 5 hours. Individual mana siphon cost: 10m/s Long-distance mana cost: When the magnet is farther than 200 meters away, the siphon cost doubles every 10 meters. Active effects: Magnetic pull Once the magnet is attached to a part of Hera¡¯s mana, it can be activated to pull or push the mana around. This activation requires only a command from Hera or the mana that it¡¯s attached to and can be done as many times as required without reducing the duration of the magnet. However, there is a brief delay between activations of this skill. Cooldown: 1 second Ariadne¡¯s Inquiry By injecting mana into Ariadne while asking a question. The relic can give an answer through the screen. The amount of mana required for each answer will vary; if not enough mana is used, the reply will inform that. If the question is related to a location or something too big for the screen, the information will show in your [Treasure Map] or as a notification. The amount of details acquired by the inquiry depends on the owner¡¯s strength. On extremely rare occasions, you may get the answer to a question that goes far beyond the amount of mana used to ask the question. When this happens, the cooldown will have a massive increase. Once this cooldown is over, the cooldown time will return to normal. Cooldown: 1 hour. Cooldown when a question beyond the cost is answered: 24 hours. Echolocation Ariadne, can send imperceptible pulses of mana to map the surroundings. The resulting map will be shown in the [Treasure Map] tab ¡®Local Map.¡¯ This pulse can precisely shown the topography and nearby structures. Illusions that are weaker than Hera¡¯s power will also be revealed in this map. However, people, monsters, insects, spells, magical traps, and spell circles will not appear on the map as the low frequency of the pulse does not affect them. In addition, when the magnets are not inside Ariadne, they can also send their own pulses to expand the range of the map. Ariadne¡¯s pulse range: 50 meters Magnet pulse range: 10 meters Mana cost: 1% of maximum mana. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera smiled and tested the new skill. Since it didn¡¯t have a cooldown, she could use it as much as she wanted. All she had to do was spend the necessary mana. Besides, she naturally recovered more than 1% of her maximum mana every second, which made this an unlimited resource. She opened her [Treasure Map] and there was a new tab simply called ¡®Ariadne,¡¯ she touched it and saw a blank screen. Once the skill was active, however, that changed. The mana pulse gave form to her surroundings and the chamber she was currently inside came into view. Then was the corridor, and the nearby chambers. The 50 meter range wasn¡¯t simply a radius, but how much the mana pulse could travel. If part of it hit a wall and bounced back to an area that was already mapped, the 50 meters that strand of mana could move through would still be reduced. That made a lot of sense. This wasn¡¯t supposed to be something to let her see through walls. Instead, it was a sonar. A way to check her surroundings ¡®Twiggy. Can you access my treasure map without me opening it?¡¯ the Empress asked, realizing she could make this even better. ¡®Sure can, boss!¡¯ ¡®Ok. Let¡¯s try one thing. I¡¯ll use this again. Check the map and send that information to me. Not with words, just send it to my head,¡¯ Hera asked. She walked to a nearby chamber since the one she had just used was still on the map and triggered the skill again. Slowly, Twiggy sent what she was seeing to the Empress. Having information shoved inside her head was an odd feeling, but still, it worked. She could tell exactly where everything was, including some of the hidden handles to open more rooms. The Ophidianite smiled and thought, ¡®I really need to thank Asterion later. This is amazing!¡¯ ¡®I agree! He is great. And sooo yummy!¡¯ Twiggy replied excitedly. Hera paused, ¡®You think he¡¯s hot?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t you?¡¯ ¡®I mean¡­ I don¡¯t actually look at the guides with that in mind. I¡¯m pretty sure they don¡¯t even have, like, genitals,¡¯ Hera frowned. ¡®So? Neither do I. That doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t think he¡¯s hot,¡¯ Twiggy huffed. ¡®Fair point. We can talk about that later, but let¡¯s get back to the group. If Leo¡¯s friends get lost I can serve as backup.¡¯ ¡®Oh, oh. How about you don¡¯t tell them about Ariadne? Just for now. Let them struggle to find the doorknobs and then just point at it like it was suuuper obvious,¡¯ Twiggy chuckled by only imagining the situation. Hera smiled, ¡®That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡¯ Soon, she was back with the group, who were all discussing where to go after this. They needed to reach an alliance controlled room, but to do so while carrying someone in Marco¡¯s condition would require some proper planning. 870 - The Purifying Light Alex sat in front of a woman who was lying on a hospital bed. It was an elf and her body was mostly ok. She looked somewhat malnourished, but nothing strange for people who were in a coma for a while. Aside from that, she had no issues. No diseases, wounds, or anything that could explain why she wasn¡¯t waking up. Or at least, that would be the case if it wasn¡¯t for the massive black ring around her neck. It was one of the tattoos the guild was using to hide whatever they were doing to the people they were experimenting on. Alex was able to remove the tattoo and the connection to the Daemon of two people already. One of them even woke up recently. The other wasn¡¯t as lucky. It was a dwarf that apparently had been experimented on a while a go. Even with the purification power of her legacy, it was hard to tell if she could truly remove the connection created by being bound to a spirit. Another problem was the fact that the tattoos covering those two were different, and now she was looking at a third variation. One that was much bigger than the others, and whatever was underneath it was much more intricate. If that wasn¡¯t enough, there was one more issue. Alex¡¯s ability had to remove everything. The entire tattoo and not just the upper layer. The benefit of this situation was that no one would ask her to just take out the ring and let the person affected by it continue suffering as they studied it. On the other hand, having to remove everything made the process much more complicated than it could to be. ¡°Is she going to just stare at her, or is she going to do something?¡± a voice came from behind the assassin. Unfortunately, that was not the first small comment, and she reached the point where it became enough to distract her. With that, she lost track of where she was while following the mana in the tattoo. With a groan, Alex turned around, ¡°Are you going to keep talking?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, are you going to keep doing nothing?¡± a young elf scoffed and crossed his arms. He had light skin and wore tailored clothes that reeked of ostentation. Alex rubbed her face with both hands. This elf who, from what she understood, was considered a teenager for his people, had been complaining about her ever since she arrived in the Pink Coast Forest. She understood that the elf she was trying to save was someone important to him, but the guy was nothing but rude and irritating. With him was an older elf that tried to calm the men down every time he spoke, but she wasn¡¯t able to do much. Bonnie was in the corner of the room, just staring at the interaction. She had promised not to intervene unless Alex was in danger, but the assassin could tell her friend was a breath away from launching an elemental fist in the elf¡¯s face. ¡°Oh poor you, you have work to do. Stop staring and start doing something,¡± the man groaned. ¡°Do you know how to fix her? How to solve all this?¡± Alex snapped. ¡°No, if I did I wouldn¡¯t have reached to someone like you,¡± there was venom in his words, emphasizing the ¡®you,¡¯ to make it clear what he was talking about. ¡°Listen here, you little shit. I¡¯m here to save her, and so far I¡¯m the only one who managed to do something like this. So you either shut up and let me work or you can fuck off,¡± Alex snarled as she got to her feet. ¡°How dare you?! Do you know who I am?!¡± the elf gasped, but the assassin didn¡¯t care. She marched towards the door and opened it with more strength than she should. After poking her head out, she saw two guards by the entrance. The same ones that helped her meet the mayor of the city and come here to help his daughter, ¡°Hey. Can you get that bitch ass prick out of here? If I keep hearing his voice, I¡¯m going to toss him out of the window.¡± Both guards seemed shocked at the request, but the one on the left said, ¡°The windows here are bared.¡± ¡°We can send him out in pieces,¡± Bonnie huffed as she walked closer to the door. ¡°Great, that solves a problem. So are you taking him out, or are we?¡± Alex smiled and turned to the guards. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the mayor¡¯s son. You can¡¯t do that,¡± Thaddeus, the guard on the right, said. ¡°So that¡¯s his sister? I get why he is upset, but even so. I need peace and quiet to work,¡± Alex continued. ¡°She is his aunt, not sister. Well, technically, she is also his sister,¡± Viccor, the guard on the left, added. ¡°Come again?¡± Bonnie tilted her head, and even Ruby seemed confused. ¡°So, the mayor¡¯s daughter. The one in the bed married a guy and then that guy¡¯s younger sister married the mayor,¡± Thaddeus pointed inside, ¡°He is the son of the mayor and his daughter¡¯s sister-in-law.¡± Alex blinked a few times, ¡°And like¡­ is that normal? I know elves live for a very long time. Maybe the way we see relationships is different.¡± The guard nodded, ¡°We are less focused on age difference between relationships. As long as they are all adults, of course.¡± ¡°But that set up is,¡± Viccor looked inside and stopped himself from finishing that sentence. Quickly changing to, ¡°Unique.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Well then. Call the mayor and tell him I can¡¯t help his daughter with his son around. If he asks why, just tell him I asked if he really doesn¡¯t know. If he says he doesn¡¯t, then I¡¯ll talk to him,¡± Alex continued. The guards nodded, and Viccor stepped away to make the call. In less than a minute he returned, ¡°The mayor says he understands. We will escort young master Vaeril out of the premises. He did ask to let his mother stay inside.¡± Alex nodded, ¡°That is completely fine. She is a very sweet lady.¡± The two guards walked inside and grabbed the young elf by the arms before dragging him out, kicking and screaming. With a sigh of relief, the assassin walked closer to the elder woman, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that, Lady Faunalyn. Your grandson was too disruptive, and this is a delicate process.¡± The old elf nodded, ¡°Worry not, child. I understand the reasoning behind your actions. I am afraid my old age became a problem when attempting to connect with the youth. My great-great-great-grandson is among those who do not care for the opinion of an old woman.¡± ¡°And that is a shame. Great wisdom comes with age,¡± Alex smiled, remembering the summers she used to work in a retirement home. Most of her time was spent just talking with the residents, all happy to have someone new to interact. She quickly snapped back to reality to do what she came here to do, ¡°Lady Faunalyn, what I¡¯m going to do might take a while. If you would prefer, my friend can use a spell to stop your voice from reaching me. That way, the two of you can talk while I work. You will still be able to hear me, I just won¡¯t hear you. Or if you don¡¯t mind the silence, you can stay here. I just need a lot of focus for this to work.¡± The old elf nodded, ¡°I will stay here.¡± Alex nodded back and sat in front of the elf in the bed again. She looked at the tattoo on her neck, trying to see beyond the ink to where the impurities were located, but to no avail. This was part of a skill from her legacy, one that allowed her to see the things that should not be a part of someone¡¯s body. This also worked with objects, but to a lesser degree. Only if a substance had seeped into the material that it would be flagged as an impurity. The problem was, the woman was a mess. There was so much alien mana, so many overlapping spells, buffs, debuffs and random effects that Alex couldn¡¯t tell where one of those impurities ended and the next one started. Right now, she could only cleanse one thing at a time. Maybe that would change in the future, but her legacy was too weak to take care of large clumps of random bullshit. To make matters worse, she could tell that some of the spells in effect were helping to keep this woman alive. If the assassin was to take them all out in the wrong order, there was a chance the elf wouldn¡¯t make it. Alex had made that mistake the first time she tried to remove these tattoos from someone, and now, that patient was still in a coma. Not wanting to let that happen again, she prepared to trigger another of her skills. The [Visions of Corruption] helped her understand what she was looking at, but [Steps of Purity] helped her break down everything she was seeing. The only problem was the long cooldown of 10 days for a short 10 minute effect. ¡®Ley? Are you ready?¡¯ the assassin asked in her mind, calling for the herald. From the behind the pillow, a small mushroom appeared. It had a golden cap, two beady black eyes in his white body, and a long mustache that fell to the sides of what should be his mouth. There was also a pair of stumpy legs and arms with tiny fingers that could barely hold anything. ¡®I am at your disposal,¡¯ Ley, the herald of her legacy, nodded. His voice sounding like the most stereotypical aged wizard that ever lived. Alex smiled, ¡®Thank you for all the help. We have another tricky one.¡¯ Ley walked on top of the elven woman. Unlike Daskka, this herald didn¡¯t have an actual body. Not one that could be seen by others or even interact with the world in any way. It was, in essence, a hallucination. Still, Alex felt a bit weird letting him walk on top of someone else and put out her hand for him to sit there. The herald understood her intention moved to be carried by her. Despite knowing that Ley wasn¡¯t really there, the assassin couldn¡¯t help but feel the mushroom man¡¯s feet tapping on her fingers as he walked around her hand. ¡®I see why you want my help. This truly is a complicated endeavor,¡¯ Ley waved his hands trying to find the right path to remove the spells affecting the elf but to no avail. ¡®Yeah. I know that the skill is supposed to be like training wheels. Something to help me figure out the details of enchantments, and that I shouldn¡¯t rely too much on it. But this one is¡­¡¯ Alex frowned. ¡®Beyond you. I understand,¡¯ Ley tilted his head back and cracked his neck, even if a mushroom shouldn¡¯t have any bones, ¡®I am ready when you are.¡¯ Alex nodded and took a deep breath. To Bonnie and Lady Faunalyn, the assassin was silent the entire time. They couldn¡¯t hear the conversation between the herald and the legacy holder. But the intensity was palpable. Her eyes glowed with a golden light and the entire room changed just as she triggered the skill [Steps of Purity.] It would dissect any enchantment she laid eyes on and show her how to unravel the mana that was woven together. It could also do that with many other things, such as poisons, corruption of many kinds, and even some diseases. But to Alex, there was one more reason to use this skill. When she was under the curse¡¯s influence. That evil magic started showing her colors she couldn¡¯t see before. It preyed on her insecurities. Once people in her school discovered she was colorblind, a group took it upon themselves to bully her relentlessly for it. And the curse showed her how the world truly looked. That¡¯s part of the reason she let it spread so fast. Not to mention the constant voice of paranoia offering to tell her the things she wanted to know. Alex didn¡¯t regret getting rid of the curse. Not one bit, but saying she didn¡¯t miss the colors she could see back then would be a lie. However, once the [Steps of Purity] was activated, all the different shades of yellow, brown, and baby blue once again returned to her eyes. According to Ley, that skill should improve with time and effort. The higher its rank, the longer should be the duration with a smaller cooldown. Eventually, it would change from an active skill to a passive one. When that happened, Alex would no longer be color blind. She already had accepted that part of her. Partially thanks to Hera, who reached out during training. But it was one thing to never know what some colors actually looked like. Another was to see them, only for them to be taken away from you. Focusing back on the task at hand, she watched as Ley pointed towards the black tattoo on the woman¡¯s body and a single strand of white appeared in the corner. It slowly moved along while Alex used another skill to unravel the mana attached to that string. Ley would make sure to mark as many paths as he could while the assassin worked on breaking down the spells and effects even after the skill was over. The Alliance was calling her the Purifying Light, and she wanted to prove she was worthy of that moniker. 871 - The Astral Witch Bonnie stayed with Alex in that hospital room for about 4 hours. She left a couple of times to get something to drink and go to the bathroom, but aside from it. She just stood in the back, reading a book about stars in her tablet. Being the newest member of their group to get a legacy felt both exciting and scary at the same time. The reasons for being happy were obvious. She was now the Astral Witch. She had found the court of stars and passed the test created by the legacy. But on the flip side, she was part of a group who was known for being powerful and having legacies. Between Blue, Shane, Hera, Alex, and now her, she had felt the pressure of pulling her weight. Legacies were powerful and not just because of their abilities. They were symbols of hope in times of despair. They were supposed to represent courage, virtue, and inspire those who gazed upon them. It was an achievement, of course, but it was also a duty, a lineage of honor. Even if someone took a legacy that was used for evil in the past, that still held meaning. Every action of the new holder would be weighted against the actions of the legacy¡¯s past. And those were extraordinarily large shoes to fit. Especially for a human. Especially during a war. Bonnie knew about the three heroes, like all explorers did, but she also read about the other six. The ones that belonged to the other species. During her research, she realized that the human heroes had one major difference from the rest. Each of them had a legacy. Khan was the wall breaker, and according to history books, his legacy was tailored to destroy barriers and walls. Undine, the Firebringer, had a legacy of the same name, capable of calling fire to her aid. And Cyrus, the golden knight, had the Golden Army. A legacy made to support large groups, empowering them while also boosting his own power. That was proof of the value humans placed on legacies. And despite the argument that people without them were also able to be heroes, it didn¡¯t change the weight a legacy carried. While for the other species, a legacy wasn¡¯t required. Some of the other six heroes didn¡¯t have one, or if they did, it was not part of who made them who they were. Bonnie didn¡¯t want to be left behind, or to be the reason why people started to doubt the strength of her friends. Having seen Hera reaching level 56 in just a couple of months only made the new Astral Witch to feel even more pressure. Not that there was anyone asking more of her. If anything, once she acquired the legacy, people left her to her own devices. Even Lena acted in ways to give Bonnie more freedom. After a conversation with the mage, the researcher understood what was going on. She now had a brand new set of powers to master. Something that had its own rules and conditions. If Lena, or anyone else, kept bothering her, the Astral Witch, would never be able to learn about her new abilities. There was also a decent chance that she ended up hurting someone by accident. ¡®Hey, B? Are you having trouble with something in the book? I can try to help. If not, and you are done, do you mind going to the next page?¡¯ Ruby¡¯s voice brought Bonnie back to reality. When she got the legacy, Ruby was by her side. And her herald became the slime that was her partner. Apparently, that couldn¡¯t work with animals or monsters in general. But the malleable nature of a slime was different. They were particularly proficient in adaptation, which meant that becoming a herald that was completely bound to a person was within the realm of possibility. However, that didn¡¯t mean Ruby was now immortal. She still had her own body, and if its core was destroyed, her physical form would vanish, leaving behind only the herald. Or maybe that wasn¡¯t the case. From what Bonnie understood, heralds should only attach themselves to items that couldn¡¯t be used by people who were not the legacy owners. Ruby was still its own being. It had needs and some form of free will. However, it was still a slime. Which was, by all accounts, just a giant single cell organism. That also meant it was very easy to control or trick her. Maybe by using the small lights of stars, the legacy made Ruby move as it wanted for it to pretend to be the herald. Or Maybe because of the [Slime Companion] skill she got, her pet was directly bound to her somehow. The skill also mentioned Ruby by name, which could be another sign that this was really the case. ¡®B? Are you ok?¡¯ Ruby called again. Her voice was young, and sounded like a mix of all of Bonnie¡¯s friends, but a bit more girly. ¡®Sorry, I¡¯m just thinking about some stuff,¡¯ Bonnie sighed. She could tell that Alex also had a moment of introspection before she started working. Even if their reasons and thoughts were likely wildly different. Every person who the researcher knew that had a legacy said the herald was a being they could trust completely. Ruby should fall in the same category, even if she didn¡¯t understand how the set up actually worked, ¡®I think I¡¯m just super bored here.¡¯ ¡®The book is not helping? Sorry I suggested it,¡¯ Ruby¡¯s pseudopod lowered apologetically. Bonnie just smiled and patted the slime, ¡®Don¡¯t worry. The book helps. Knowing the constellation will be useful, but it is one thing to read about them, or see a picture or a drawing, another is to look at them in the night sky. It¡¯s just¡­¡¯ ¡®Not the same,¡¯ Ruby nodded in agreement. ¡®Exactly.¡¯ ¡®But you need to pay attention to things. You can¡¯t just keep staring at the sky, even with that new skill. Alex is already upset you kept ignoring her yesterday. Like, ok, the show she was talking about sounded super boring, but still. You need to be a good friend,¡¯ Ruby continued. ¡®I know. I know. It¡¯s just¡­ a new toy for me to play with. She does the same when she founds out something about her legacy. But I¡¯ll be careful. Besides, for now, using the Starlit Eye constantly gives me a headache, even if I can maintain the mana.¡¯ Using that skill, the Astral Witch could watch the night sky even during the day. She couldn¡¯t do anything to look at it through walls or the ceiling, but it was something that the legacy could offer later on. Still, unlike Alex, who was in the process of discovering the drawbacks of her new abilities. After unlocking the complete set of ¡®Grand Constellations¡¯ as they were known, Ruby got more knowledge about it, including the basic issues Bonnie would have going forward. For one, she lost the ability to cast spells regularly. That didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t use magic anymore, but all the magic she used had to go through the legacy. When using a spell, she would have to channel the power of a constellation in some way. It could be by following its shape, the idea, or the image it was supposed to create. Thankfully, the legacy was very generous when it came to that. For instance, she could use the constellation of Aquarius or of the Cup to cast her water fists. Since both constellations could have water inside. Or she could cast all the range of elemental fists through Lepus, since a rabbit had fists. But that wasn¡¯t all. If she used a fire spell through the Furnace, or the Phoenix constellation, the power of the spell would increase, since it matched well with the stars she drew power from. On the other hand, using a water spell with those constellations would lower its strength considerably. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! All that Bonnie had to do was to think about the constellation itself before casting the spell. The more she understood about that particular constellation and the more she could connect it with the spell, the stronger it would be. Meaning that the Astral Witch legacy would work better in the hands of someone who was willing to study. Another drawback was that now, Bonnie was bound to the night sky above her. If she was in a part of the MAZE that didn¡¯t have a specific constellation, any ability attached to that set of stars wouldn¡¯t work. Later on, she would be able to capture a snapshot of a part of the sky and carry it with her through a different ability. But for now, she had to work with what she had. Lastly, there was a considerable mental strain to use any of the legacy skills. The ones that were a fire and forget kind of thing were easy, but buffs, especially self buffs, would quickly drain her mental fortitude. Even so, when using Starlit Eye, she felt those effects for the first time. All the other buffs she gave to others didn¡¯t strain her as much. This was likely something to do with how the first person who created the legacy behaved. They seemed to be very keen on the support role, or were the type who didn¡¯t want to risk themselves. Bonnie¡¯s reasoning for thinking like that was the legacy trial. She found the legacy in a small room at the top of one of the mountains of Zaxalam. In there were some carvings and a pedestal where the start chart of the previous Astral Witch slept. Once she touched that star chart, she was teleported to the trial proper. In there, she found a group of people, all waiting to receive her blessings. Each of said blessings was connected to a constellation. The entire chamber was one large map, with the ceiling representing the north hemisphere and the floor on the south. Most of the stars were like the ones she saw on Earth, but not all, there were a couple of smaller ones that she couldn¡¯t recognize and it took her a while to understand that. Beyond the chamber were hallways with various murals depicting the stories that surrounded the constellations. At least there was no time limit for the trial. However, she couldn¡¯t bring anything. Bonnie had tried to prepare herself for the test before going in and took a bag full of supplies, including food, water, and first aid kits. Unfortunately, as she arrived inside the chamber, she realized her bag was gone. Bonnie ended up staying there almost a full day, with no water and no food, but eventually she blessed enough people to be accepted by the legacy. Even if she wasn¡¯t able to do that to all of them. And when she returned, the start chart was gone. Now a part of her very being. Later on, Ruby explained that the legacy trial had a grading scale. And how many skills were available from the get go would depend on her results. The researcher got above a passing grade, but still far from a perfect score. Still, she already came out of there with more skills than Alex had. The one thing that still confused her was the connection to courts that were also present in the skill of an Astral Witch. She didn¡¯t have court members like Hera, but she did have positions. The constellations could be given nobility rankings that were a bit of a mixed bag when considering their origin. On the very top was the Maharaja, then came the Pashas, followed by Boilas. But then the nomenclature did a hard pivot to Japanese. Under Boila were the Daimyos, then the Shogun, which Bonnie was pretty sure to be in the wrong order. From what she remembered, a Shogun should be above a Daimyo. Either way, below them were the Dawala, with Squires being the last tier. Despite knowing all that and already having the skill to assign constellations to those ranks, Bonnie still couldn¡¯t use them. There was a minimum number of constellations she had to unlock in the legacy before starting to place them where she wanted them to be to increase the power of the skills. She always knew that legacies were supposed to be these powerful branches of power that follow their own rules. However, she still expected there to be a set of rules for her to follow. Being the Astral Witch had its limitations, sure, but most of her abilities relied too much on creativity or point of view. In other words, everything was too subjective. And having another skill with a list of ranks that were in the wrong order felt just wrong. Still, Ruby said that she might be able to change the name of each rank when she was about to add the first constellation to said rank. Meaning that maybe Bonnie could fix that mess. Already had an idea on how to go about it. After all, there were 7 different rankings in her legacy. Coincidently enough, stars also had 7 different classifications. ¡°Shit¡­ I need to stop here,¡± Alex said, making Bonnie rush to her side. ¡°Is the treatment over?¡± Lady Faunalyn asked. Alex shook her head, ¡°No. What I do removes anything that is affecting a person. It is supposed to work spells and outside skills. But the constant exposure is also starting to affect her passive skills. Including something that was helping her fight back against what was going on. If I keep pushing, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll deactivate her passives. It should only be a temporary thing, but even then, it¡¯s a risk.¡± Lady Faunalyn nodded, ¡°If such a thing is possible, it is prudent to let her rest and recover before continuing. Was it within your capabilities to reduce the strain her body is under?¡± Alex turned with a big smile, ¡°Oh yeah. I got about 30 to 40% of what was affecting her. You can even see how that black tattoo is not a single thing, but four thin rings now.¡± ¡°When do you believe it will be prudent to continue?¡± Lady Faunalyn asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s up to her,¡± Alex turned back to the elven woman, ¡°I think I should let her rest for the day. We can come back tomorrow and check her condition.¡± ¡°Very well. Do you require assistance to find lodgings?¡± Lady Faunalyn looked at Alex, her eyes warmer despite everything. ¡°No need. We already have that covered.¡± ¡°That is good. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.¡± ¡°Actually, there is one thing,¡± Bonnie said. Alex glanced at her friend but didn¡¯t stop her, she more or less knew what the Astral Witch was going to ask. ¡°Alex''s legacy is somewhat new, and to make it stronger, she needs to practice. We heard about a dungeon filled with vampires in the city, and that might be just the kind of condition to give the kind of experience she needs. But, going in a large group would defeat the point of training and practicing, and going alone would be too dangerous since we might get hurt and become unable to continue the treatment. So the best solution would be to have a strong healer by our side. Do you know anyone who could help with that?¡± Bonnie tried not show too big of a smile, but if they could get a very powerful healer to bring them to a high level dungeon for a few days, both the Purifying Light and the Astral Witch could improve their legacies quickly. Not to mention their levels. 872 - Astral Light Alex and Bonnie were waiting in front of a sandwich shop just outside the entrance to the vampire dungeon. Each of them had ordered something and were now just chatting and trying to ignore the stares from the people who walked by. The Pink Coast Forest was deep inside elven territory, which also meant that most people who lived here were elves. Occasionally, a dwarf, a triton, or a harpy would pass by, but their numbers were few and far between. In addition, the overall sentiment the Alliance had about humans was getting worse and worse. They understood that there were some humans on their side, but even so, it was hard not to be suspicious. At least no one was being openly aggressive towards them, only weary. For Bonnie, it was, unfortunately, a somewhat familiar feeling, but it was something new for Alex. After getting their second sandwich and drink combo, an elf finally approached them. It was a woman with long hair like a rainbow. It started off silver near the roots, but as it went down to the edges, the colors would shift from one hue to the other. That wasn¡¯t just a light effect or some spell. Instead, it looked like the elven woman carefully dyed her hair in those colors that blended perfectly together. She had a small button nose and long ears, with emerald green eyes and plump lips. She wore a blue and gold sleeveless high neck top, revealing her thin but muscular arms while hiding her ample breasts. Her top left her bellybutton exposed, revealing her skin until a bit below her waist where a white, pink, and teal skirt appeared, covering everything until her ankles. However, there was a long slit on both sides that stopped halfway in the elf¡¯s rump, making so that each step revealed almost the entirety of the elf¡¯s legs. ¡°Hello, I am Elistrae. Lady Faunalyn asked me to help you,¡± her voice was melodic and had a hint of flirt that caused even some of the passersby people to freeze on the spot. Neither Bonnie nor Alex ever understood stories like the Trojan war. How one woman would be pretty enough to drive entire nations to such extremes. But right now, those tales felt like accurate historical descriptions than stories that might not have happened. Alex watched the elf for a moment, processing the sight. After almost half a minute without answering the greeting, the assassin nodded, ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m straight.¡± Elistrae blinked slowly, ¡°Ex-fucking-cuse me?¡± ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean anything bad about it. I was struggling with my sexuality lately and you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever seen. But I¡¯m not attracted to you like that. Then I think about the guys I am attracted to and¡­ like in comparison to you, they are so bland. But I¡¯m still attracted to them. So yeah. I think I¡¯m straight,¡± Alex nodded. Elistrae shook her head slightly, ¡°Well. You are welcome for giving you that revelation. Good for you for being straight,¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. Not completely,¡± Bonnie chimed in, but at how eager her reply was, it made her want to dig a hole and hide there until she died. The elf just smiled and started walking towards the shop. When she was far enough away, Alex snorted, ¡°Smooth.¡± ¡°Fuck you,¡± Bonnie groaned, ¡°Is this how guys feel? When they see a pretty woman, their minds just turns to mush?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. As I just established, I¡¯m straight.¡± Bonnie rolled her eyes, ¡°Let¡¯s just go. And do you think we can trust her?¡± ¡°Lady Faunalyn said it was someone trustworthy, and that I could use my legacy without the fear of it being stolen by someone stronger. I think we are ok,¡± Alex nodded. It didn¡¯t take long for Elistrae to return, carrying a plastic bag with a few sandwiches inside, ¡°I got us some food for the road. Shall we get going?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Bonnie nodded quickly. ¡°Are you going to be like that for long?¡± Alex sighed as they started walking. ¡°What? It¡¯s not my fault. I¡¯m more into men, but just look at her,¡± Bonnie gestured to Elistrae," She¡¯s just¡­ Fuck." The elf smiled at Bonnie, who started to giggle in response. Glancing at Alex, who was more stoic, she couldn¡¯t help but speak, ¡°I¡¯m really not used to seeing your kind of reaction. Her¡¯s I understand. And honestly, I don¡¯t think I enjoy the indifference.¡± Alex frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t think I will be fawning over you like Bonnie, but I can pretend if that would be better. I¡¯m Alex, by the way.¡± ¡°A pity compliment would be even worse. But yeah, I don¡¯t like this. It¡¯s like you are ignoring all my effort. Which, fine, you do you. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don¡¯t mean you are the first to not be attracted to me, but at least people agree that I¡¯m pretty.¡± Elistrae continued as they walked inside a large building where the dungeon entrance was located. It was a small house with a vampire motif. Several books about vampires and magic that used blood were on display. Each wall was covered in fake spiderwebs, magic candles, and other decorations in black and blood red. ¡°But you are pretty. I said so. And you do this all on purpose? Is it just for show or does it have an effect? If it doesn¡¯t do anything, I¡¯m not sure I think it would be worth the effort,¡± Alex asked. ¡°Sweetheart. Everything we do is just for show. More often than not, we are showing off to ourselves. I just accept that fact. And the effort is for me. I like being pretty, and I like having pretty boys,¡± Elistrae turned to Bonnie, ¡°And girls, admiring me. So judge me all you want. I¡¯ve been around for long enough to be beyond those kinds of existential crisis.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to judge,¡± Alex replied, ¡°I just don¡¯t get it. Even when you put it as something for you.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Elistrae shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s a shame. You have some potential. A lot of people like the androgynous look. But you do you.¡± They didn¡¯t say anything else and continued walking towards the dungeon entrance. It was on the basement level of this building and the elves who ran the place created a large coffin that served as a door for it. After one last quick check if everyone was ready, the three women walked inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are entering the Bloodmoon Manor dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They crossed a small hallway before reaching a fire exit in the back. Once open, they were in the middle of a modern city. Buildings were everywhere, with the light posts shining from above. A distant sound of cars moving, likely in a traffic jam, could be heard, and they saw some people walking around. All elves wearing the random mixed bag of clothing one would see in a metropolis. Looking towards the left, they could only see more of the streets, and the buildings on top of small stores, restaurants or other commerce. Turning right, however, things changed a lot. There was a long street where the structures became more sparse, even showing some trees. All the way in the back was a Gothic mansion with five floors, tall black towers on the sides and a massive bat statue looking over it. Above that bat, in the sky, was the blood-red moon shining in the night sky. ¡°Wow¡­ that is kind of awesome,¡± Alex gasped. Elistrae rolled her eyes, ¡°Sure, the bat makes you excited. I don¡¯t think your problem is being straight. You are just a furry.¡± The Purifying Light frowned, ¡°You are really salty about what I said, huh? I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to upset you and you are truly breathtaking. But like¡­ do you really need my approval?¡± The elf looked at Alex and let out a sigh, but she still keep her head high, ¡°I don¡¯t know why what you said upset me so much, and I may be old compared to you, but that doesn¡¯t mean my ego is invulnerable. I¡¯ll try to be less snippy about everything.¡± ¡°Thank you. And I¡¯ll do my best to not¡­ Make you jealous?¡± Alex replied with a confused expression. Her reply was just a similar gesture. Making it clear that Elistrae didn¡¯t understand if that was the case, either. After the two were just staring at each other for a moment, and Bonnie had already started mapping the night sky with her legacy, the Astral Witch turned to the duo, ¡°So. How do we get the quest? Do we have to go somewhere or¡­?¡± ¡°Just give it a minute,¡± Elistrae replied. Almost as if on cue, someone let out a scream of pure fear from one of the alleys nearby. The three of them turned to face the direction and watched as a woman in a neon green skirt, fishnet stockings, and wearing small fluffy coat that didn¡¯t even reach the midsection of her torso appeared and started running away from the mansion, ¡°Oh? It¡¯s the factory party this time. That is one of the most fun ones.¡± ¡°Why is that? The dungeon has different quests?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Not really, it has different endings. And on each run, there will be a big event going on. It can be a gala, a protest, a red carpet, an award show. There is even this big Italian food festival. It¡¯s a shame it¡¯s not that one, the pasta they serve is out of this world. The factory party is one of the events. We don¡¯t have to go there to finish the quest, but there is one way to solve this that will take us there. The party itself is pretty fun. People dancing, drinking, and¡­ other things. Just be careful not to take any drugs, those pack a punch.¡± Elistrae explained. ¡°And for now we need to go to that alley?¡± Alex gestured to where the woman came running from. ¡°Yes, also. Do you want me to just tell you the solution to this quest or do you want to try it yourselves?¡± Elistrae asked. Bonnie and Alex looked at each other and gave a knowing nod before the Astral Witch spoke, ¡°Let us try for ourselves. If we get stuck or start to take too long. We¡¯ll ask for help. Is that ok?¡± ¡°Sure. But I will say, if the whole point was to just level up. Killing everyone is a way to finish this,¡± Elistrae started walking to the alley. ¡°But how are we going to find who is a vampire and who isn¡¯t? Or is everyone here a vampire?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Who said anything about finding out? You can just start killing. The vampires, the people, even the hunters. If we are the only ones left in the city, the quest will be complete. It will probably happen before that, but if we go on a killing spree, the people won¡¯t just sit idly by. And for the record, if you decide to do that. I won¡¯t judge you. I¡¯ve done that before. It¡¯s a good way to experience being wanted by an entire city. Or a good way to use massive spells if you have that option,¡± the elf stopped in front of the alleyway, ¡°I think you two should go in first.¡± Alex and Bonnie walked forward. It didn¡¯t take long for them to realize what had happened. There was a body on the ground. It was a male elf, and it was deathly pale, it also looked dehydrated. As if to stop any possible confusion, there was also a pair of small incisions on the side of his neck. Another elven man appeared from behind one of the large dumpsters wearing a long black coat, heavy duty boots and a scruff on his chin. He walked towards them with purpose and before saying anything, he tossed an odd whitish powder at them. ¡°What the-?¡± Alex couldn¡¯t continue speaking before she started sneezing. Bonnie sneezed a couple of times and started to rub her eyes, ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck,¡± she felt an intense taste in her mouth as she gasped for air, ¡°Who the fucks toss garlic at people?!¡± ¡°A vampire hunter,¡± Elistrae said with a smirk, already aware of the man¡¯s introduction. ¡°Use something else then! A cross, holy water, an UV light. Don¡¯t waste food,¡± Alex groaned. ¡°He¡¯s not wasting, this one shouldn¡¯t be used as a spice,¡± Bonnie was rubbing her tongue against the inside of her cloak, trying to get rid of the taste. ¡°I grew that one¡­¡± the man said with a somewhat sadden voice. Bonnie didn¡¯t care and continued, ¡°You should stop. I don¡¯t know what you are doing with that poor plant, but this is absolutely disgusting. How did you make it taste like old pickles?¡± Taking a step back, the man grumbled, ¡°I like pickles.¡± ¡°Then buy a jar! Don¡¯t mix it with garlic! And you are using it as a weapon. Why are you trying to change the flavor?¡± Bonnie complained again, even if, by now, she had recovered from the ¡®assault.¡¯ Alex took a swig of water, ¡°Ok, I this was a test to see if we were vampires, right? I¡¯m assuming we passed. So who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Uav Silenteden. Vampire Hunter. We live in harmony with the vampires of the city due a treaty created generations ago,¡± he glanced to the body, ¡°But it seems one of them broke it. Since you saw the body, the one that killed it will try to get rid of any witness. Usually, I would offer shelter until this is sorted. However, you seem capable enough and we are short staffed. A group of hunters went to the mansion, and we lost contact. I was the only one who stayed behind and now I¡¯m the sole hunter in the city. So, I ask for your help. We need to figure out if this was just the act of a rogue agent. Or if the vampires are going to break the treaty and the city will become their feeding grounds.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have discovered a dungeon quest Vampiric Feast The league of vampire hunters worry that this is just the first body of many. Help them discover the fate of the missing hunters, locate the vampire criminal and deal with the threat. First time rewards Vampire Hunter gear set, or Vampire Lord gear set. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Take this. It¡¯s a tracker. If you die, or go missing, it will give us an idea on where to start looking,¡± Uav passed an old flip phone to Alex, ¡°And do you have a team name? We give each group of hunters a name to know who is going where.¡° ¡°Do we have to use a specific name?¡± the assassin turned to Elistrae. ¡°You can use whatever,¡± the elf replied. ¡°We are the Astral Light,¡± Bonnie said with a smile, using the same name that the Alliance used to refer to the pair. 873 - Alex and Bonnie - PI in training Bonnie stared at the quest window for a moment before tuning to Elistrae, ¡°Two sets of gear? Is it random or how we end the quest affects the rewards?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about how we deal with things,¡± Elistrae nodded. ¡°And which one is better? I assume the difference is not just cosmetic,¡± Bonnie continued. The elf smiled, ¡°You are right. The Vampire Hunter set is about dealing damage to vampires. And fighting against them. It¡¯s a niche set of gear. But basically it makes you deal five times more damage, and be between five and ten times more resistant to a vampire¡¯s skills. It¡¯s great, but again, a niche. Even if it will work against vampires in other dungeons. I will say that the hard mode is likely balanced for those who have that set. The vampires in there are nasty. Then again, it does have its uses outside dungeons. When you face any enemy that is being affected by a drain ability. Like mana drain, or energy sap or whatever. The buff is still there. Reduced to just a 30% buff, but that still counts. That will work for both people using that skills and being targeted by the skill.¡± ¡°How about the Vampire Lord set?¡± Alex asked. ¡°That one is better for general use. Some pieces give mana drain, the daggers heal you as you deal damage. The crown can make you hide in the shadows, the cape gives you a low level flight ability. There is a short range teleport, stuff like that. People like the vampire lord set better, but the look is more¡­ unique.¡± ¡°Edgy as fuck, right?¡± Alex asked, getting a nod in reply. ¡°Yeah, the vampire hunter has that mix of apocalypse survivor mixed with what you would call an Old England vibe. A bit different, but not that strange. The Vampire Lord, on the other hand¡­ Think Gothic nobility that wants everyone to know who they are with just a look. If you get one of the accessories, or the cape, it¡¯s not that bad. But the crown or the other things¡­ it¡¯s not for everyone,¡± Elistrae finished the explanation. Bonnie turned to Alex, ¡°Vampire Lord?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think we both want the same one. Mana drain.¡± ¡°Or the cape, so I can fly. Being able to do that would be helpful,¡± Bonnie shrugged. ¡°To get that one, we need to help the vampires, right? Where is the lord?¡± Alex turned back to Uav. ¡°Today, he is in the factory. His daughter is playing,¡± the vampire hunter explained. ¡°Oh shit. That¡¯s her? That explains it,¡± Elistrae nodded. ¡°What?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see. Come, I know how to get there,¡± the elf turned around and started walking across the city. She turned here and there, moving with purpose and the confidence of someone who had walked these streets dozens of times before. After around 15 minutes, they arrived in front of a large warehouse looking structure with some tall exhaust towers on the back. From the outside, the place looked abandoned. However, some lights could be seen from the windows. Not enough to show an actual party was happening inside, but it still confirmed that people should be there. They approached the entrance and saw a line of people outside. Without even worrying about anything, Elistrae continued walking directly towards the door. She approached the bounced and smiled while playing with her hair, ¡°Can my friends and I go inside?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ No, I mean. You need to go to the end of the line,¡± the man quickly composed himself. ¡°Oh. Can we stay here, then? I would feel safer near you than all the way in the back,¡± even the elf¡¯s voice had shifted. Now being a bit more high pitched, which made her sound younger. ¡°Is anyone giving you trouble?¡± the bouncer asked. ¡°Not really, but you¡¯ve heard the rumors going around the city. The streets are not a safe place at night. I¡¯m just worried I¡¯ll get in your way. But I promise I¡¯ll do my best not to keep talking to you,¡± she paused and bit her lower lip, ¡°Even if I really wanted to.¡± Alex just glanced at Bonnie and clearly saw her getting flushed. The assassin just rolled her eyes, to her this was more cringe than flirty. ¡°You are right. It¡¯s better for you to be safe,¡± the bouncer glanced at Alex and Bonnie, ¡°Those are your friends? Come, you can go inside,¡± he turned back to Elistrae, ¡°I¡¯ll check on you later tonight. Maybe when my shift is over.¡± ¡°Thank you so much,¡± the elf opened a large smile and walked inside. The two humans were right behind her, hearing the boos and complaints of the crowd outside. Once they were far enough away, Elistrae turned back to her companions, ¡°Sorry about that. I know I said I wasn¡¯t going to help, but staying in line would be boring as hell. And we would lose the best part of the show. Besides, it¡¯s always a good way to practice that kind of thing.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°What if it didn¡¯t work? Or the bouncer was gay? Actually, can he be gay? Or is it always the same guy?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Same guy, but he can be gay. If that was the case I would just use this,¡± Elistrae pulled a small concert ticked that read ¡®Bloodmoon Manor,¡¯ in large red letters and a picture of the mansion with the red moon behind it on the background, ¡°This is a VIP ticket for all the events in the dungeon. As long as you show it to security or whatever, you and four people can enter any secure area in the dungeon. Well, with the exception of the manor, there things are a bit different.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use that, then?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°It¡¯s more fun like this, besides,¡± Elistrae glanced at Alex, ¡°I needed the ego boost.¡± The assassin didn¡¯t say anything and just continued walking. Soon they passed a set of double doors that opened into the real party. There should be a few thousand people in this small space, with bars on the sides, and in the back of the room. A stage was located on the other side of the room where a group was playing rock music. ¡°Shit¡­ that¡¯s a lot,¡± Alex said. ¡°Yeah¡­ how are we going to find the vampires in the middle of all of this? Maybe I can use the Pyxis, or the Octans constellation. They are more about navigation, being a sextant and a compass, but it could work,¡± Bonnie looked around. ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that. I already know who is a vampire here. There are just a lot of them,¡± unlike Bonnie, the Purifying Light could see all the vampires in the area. The [Visions of Corruption] skill could show any ailment, debuff, and magic based poison in someone¡¯s body. However, that was just a side effect. The main function of that skill was simple. Finding curses and other forms of corruption. Vampirism was, by every definition, a curse. Sure, it came with its benefits, but this was the exact kind of thing that her legacy was made to fight against. Just by scanning the area, she could see the vampires. For Alex, they all had red lines all over their bodies. And it wasn¡¯t just on the skin, those lines were still present over their clothes. ¡°Are you going to be ok?¡± Elistrae turned to the assassin. ¡°Yeah. I just see the issues, there is nothing pushing me to fix them. If that happened, I would have to avoid people with tattoos like the plague,¡± Alex shrugged. Her eyes landed on the guitar player on stage. It was a brunette woman with long hair, black ripped jeans, a leather jacket, and a leather top. A pair of spiky bracelets and a thick black collar around her neck. Her makeup was heavy and there was a line of red coming from the side of her mouth. But that was just makeup, not part of the lines Alex was seeing. How the Purifying Light was so sure of that? Simple, the lines pulsated like a heartbeat. And the pulsating lines that covered the guitar player followed a rhythm that was inexistent in the red mark. ¡°Can you tell who is the vampire lord?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Alex looked around once more and froze, "Scratch that. I know," she pointed to a man who was backstage, watching the show. He looked like an older rock star. Long hair, leather clothes and a hat that could only be described as unnecessary. It was very large, white with a black stripe round and the brim was perfectly flat. But the red lines covering his body were starkly different. They glowed like rubies, or precious gems, and instead of the randomly drawn pattern, his lines had a style to them. Each strand left the center of his chest, warped around his body a couple of times and connected back to where they started. And there were thousands of those lines, which created almost like a crystal heart in the middle of his torso. Alex turned to Elistrae, ¡°Do you mind if we use that ticket?¡± ¡°Not at all. I can¡¯t get us backstage without doing some things that I don¡¯t feel like doing now,¡± Bonnie turned to the elf and raised an eyebrow, making Elistrae to continue speaking, ¡°I¡¯m not going to fuck anyone. I just have to dial my dumb innocent girl routine to eleven, and in that case, even I cringe at what I say.¡± They quickly shuffled towards the side of the stage, flashed the ticked and walked over to who Alex believed to be the vampire lord. ¡°Excuse me. Can we talk for a moment?¡± Bonnie asked as she approached the man. ¡°I¡¯ll give you an autograph soon. Just let me enjoy this song,¡± the vampire lord replied without even looking at the Astral Witch. ¡°We need to talk about the treaty,¡± Bonnie replied without missing a beat. That line made the man turn to her and nod. ¡°I understand, but this is the last song of my daughter¡¯s band. Can this conversation wait just a couple of minutes?¡± Bonnie turned to Alex and Elistrae, and both nodded in confirmation, ¡°Sure.¡± They watched as the band continued. The song was pretty good, even if rock wasn¡¯t the favorite type of music of any of them. While they waited, the vampire lord didn¡¯t make any attempts to run, he just stared at the guitar player with a proud smile. A couple of minutes later, the song was over and the band left the stage, being replaced by a DJ that would continue the next part of the party. The guitar player came out and hugged her father, but before she said anything, the man gestured to Bonnie and the others. Without saying a word, they walked back towards the dressing room, accompanied by the ones running the dungeon. ¡°Thank you for letting me watch my daughter¡¯s show. Now, what can I help you with? If you came to me, I assume you know who I am,¡± the vampire lord asked. ¡°We found a body in an alley today. Killed by a vampire,¡± Alex replied. ¡°What?!¡± the guitar player gasped. ¡°That is some very serious accusation. I hope you have proof to validate your story,¡± the vampire lord Alex and Bonnie glanced at each other but Elistrae pulled up her tablet, ¡°Here is the picture,¡± the elf winked at the two humans who were not expecting this kind of thing. ¡°This is¡­ Who else knows about this?¡± the vampire lord asked with wide eyes. He clearly wasn¡¯t expecting this to be real. If Elistrae didn¡¯t tell Bonnie and Alex that they could help the vampire lord, there would be some doubt if this was just a setup and the man was behind everything. But since they already knew this was an ally, they didn¡¯t have any suspicion. ¡°One other hunter, for now. The other hunters are missing. They vanished after going to the mansion,¡± Bonnie explained. ¡°I¡­¡± the vampire lord shook his head and steeled his resolve, ¡°This is not something that we condone. Whoever did that is a rogue agent. I can help you with anything you need, just tell me what. Also¡­ if, when you find this person, you can bring them to me instead of bringing them to the hunters, I will be eternally grateful.¡± They nodded, but Alex also spoke up, ignoring the quest for a moment and focusing on what she came here to do, ¡°Actually. Aside from any help with the case, do you know any vampires who are willing to be test subjects? I might be able to cure vampirism.¡± 874 - Alex and Bonnie, Vampire Hunters After Alex said she could cure vampirism, the vampire lord whisked them all away to a penthouse. He didn¡¯t do that out of the blue and asked for everyone¡¯s permission first. Now, he had prepared some drinks, simple cocktails for his guests, and something with blood for him and his daughter. ¡°Thank you for allowing the change of scenery. This topic is not something we can discuss out in the open. Even if the music was loud back in the factory, I don¡¯t believe our conversation could be kept in secret there,¡± he turned to Alex, ¡°Are you sure about what you said?¡± ¡°Not really. It¡¯s going to be a test, but I¡¯m a curse removal specialist. Part of the reason I came here was to see if I could remove someone¡¯s vampirism. But I don¡¯t want to force that on anyone, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking for help.¡± ¡°Dad¡­¡± the guitar player glanced at the vampire lord, who just sighed. ¡°Calm down, honey. First, let me introduce myself properly. I¡¯m Victor. The elves here know me as Victor Damascus. Yes, like the metal. But my real name is more on the nose. Victor Dracul. This is my daughter, Vanessa Damascus,¡± the vampire lord gestured to the guitar player, ¡°Same thing with the last name. Some people know, others don¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure. I¡¯m Alex, these are Bonnie and Elistrae,¡± Alex gestured to her companions. ¡°Are all of you vampire hunters?¡± Vanessa asked. ¡°Honestly? No. We just came into town because we hear about vampires being here and I wanted to test this ability,¡± Alex explained. ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡± Vanessa was staring deep into Alex¡¯s eyes. ¡°No. But I¡¯ve cured worse things in the past,¡± the assassin replied in a half lie. She did get rid of her curse, which was significantly worse than being a vampire. But she didn¡¯t use the legacy for that. ¡°Vanessa¡­¡± Victor reached for his daughter¡¯s hand. ¡°Dad, no. You know how I feel about all of this. I just¡­ can¡¯t take it anymore,¡± she turned to Alex, ¡°I¡¯ll do it. If it¡¯s something that might make me stop being a vampire. I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ what?¡± Elistrae gasped, ¡°Aren¡¯t you his daughter? Why do you want to stop being a vampire?¡± ¡°The situation is a bit more complicated. She is my daughter because I saved her. There was an accident and she would die. So I offered her an alternative,¡± Victor started. ¡°Which I took. I was eighteen at the time, and I didn¡¯t want to die. Also¡­¡± Vanessa took a deep breath. Which only made the rest realize that she had yet to breathe in front of them, ¡°I had. Have, a son. He was two, and I was the only one that could take care of him. But¡­ being a new vampire is hard. I couldn¡¯t handle the thirst. One day I almost bit him. Victor stopped me in time. I dropped my son with my sister and vanished since I couldn¡¯t actually tell her about what was going on. Better for them to think I¡¯m a deadbeat than a monster who was willing to eat her own child.¡± ¡°How long ago was it?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Ten years,¡± Vanessa turned to Victor, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I love you like a father. You know that. But¡­ I can¡¯t just leave Samuel.¡± Victor nodded, ¡°I understand. And even if you are no longer a vampire, you still will be my daughter. And I would love to meet my grandson again.¡± ¡°Can you do that now?¡± Vanessa turned to Alex, who nodded in response. They set everything up, preparing a bed, and letting the vampire of the hour to change into more comfortable clothes before Alex started to work. She couldn¡¯t use [Steps of Purity] but she didn¡¯t need to. Working against a curse was much simpler than undoing spells. It took her just a couple of minutes to break down what the red line was and even less time to confirm what she had to do. Using [Purifying Brilliance] a light washed over Vanessa and after a couple of seconds the glow narrow down, being directly on top of the red lines. In just a few seconds, those lines became weaker and weaker until they were completely gone. Vanessa suddenly gasped for air and started coughing as Alex just said, ¡°Neat.¡± ¡°What, what happened?¡± Victor rushed towards his daughter. ¡°It worked. She¡¯s not a vampire anymore. She is probably having to breathe for the first time in a while, so that¡¯s why she¡¯s like this. Oh, and since her heart is beating again, that will probably feel super weird,¡± the assassin said with a smile as she stood up, walking towards Bonnie and Elistrae, ¡°And now I can do that with a single skill. It¡¯s on the list of removable curses I have. That rogue vampire will get a nasty surprise.¡± ¡°Right, this is the skill you were trying to level up, right? Hoping that as it ranks up, you can also add debuffs or something related to the tattoo to it,¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Thank you, thank you so much,¡± Vanessa had tears in her eyes. ¡°No worries. We can do that with any other vampires that want. Could you set something up, lord Victor?¡± Alex asked. She needed more targets to practice. Sure, she could just go around doing that with every vampire she could find, but eventually they would either come after her, or run away and hide. She felt this was the easiest way to go about it. Victor nodded, ¡°It won¡¯t be hard. Especially if I can show Vanessa as proof. I can have that set up soon.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Great, and while you do that, we are going after the rogue vampire,¡± Bonnie said with a smile. She held a spyglass in her hand that was surrounded by a glowing constellation. She looked through it and eventually her sights stopped on the mansion, ¡°There! Kind of obvious, but it¡¯s the vampire is in the manor.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Elistrae asked. She knew the location was right, but usually there were a few steps to be taken before discovering that. Not that people couldn¡¯t just go there and solve the issue, but this was the human¡¯s first time. ¡°I enchanted this spyglass to point towards the vampire that killed that guy. Used the constellation of the Reticulum. The crosshairs in a telescope. Changed the effect from finding dungeons and doorways, to finding that vampire,¡± Bonnie walked to the balcony, ¡°Ruby, Aquila!¡± The slime jumped out of Bonnie¡¯s clothes and took the form of a giant eagle that was hovering just outside the building. Bonnie jumped over and gestured for Alex and Elistrae to come, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The elven healer blinked before walking over, ¡°If you can do that, why do you want the flight item from the set?¡± ¡°Because this takes a fuck ton of mana, and if ruby can be on the ground fighting. I can be the aerial support,¡± the Astral Witch replied just as her two companions jumped on the bird. Ruby no longer looked like a slime but now but now a crimson eagle with black talons and beak. Her feathers crackled with electricity, but that didn¡¯t harm any of the passengers. With a flap of her wings, they started moving quickly towards the mansion. A lot of people were looking up, gasping and taking pictures, but those were only the beings inside the dungeon. ¡°Hey Alex!¡± Elistrae yelled over the wind. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°That skill. To make them stop being vampires. Is it a single target?¡± Alex nodded, ¡°It is. And the cooldown is five minutes.¡± ¡°Ok, save if from the big guy, then.¡± ¡°Big guy?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°We are just above the mansion. Ruby is landing!¡± Bonnie warned as the slime started her descent. They dropped into the courtyard, right in front of the entrance of the mansion. Ruby returned to being a slime and Bonnie used the spyglass again. Unlike its normal use, that is a once and done effect, with her enchantment she could use it repeatedly, as long as she was still pumping mana into the tool. From what she could see, the rogue vampire was inside somewhere on the east wing, between the third and fourth floors. After pointing that out, Elistrae asked, ¡°Ok. I know I said I wasn¡¯t going to help. Which I kind of did already, but no one complained. Do you want to fight inside, and go through it the regular way. Facing the vampires one on one and stuff. Or do you want to fight them here, and have them all coming at you?¡± ¡°What level are they?¡± Bonnie asked, she would prefer to stay outside. Using her legacy indoors had a reduced effect. ¡°40, the boss is 45,¡± the elf replied. ¡°And is the boss coming out right away?¡± Alex asked. ¡°No. They only show up if all the others are gone, and we continue doing something.¡± ¡°How many?¡± ¡°24 or 30, but they come in waves. First is either one or two, then two or four and so on. The last wave will have either 12 or 16,¡± Elistrae continued. ¡°Do you think 16 is too many for us?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°If you can¡¯t take them. I can, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Alex turned to the Astral Witch, ¡°Let¡¯s go ham then. We can go back and hopefully, Victor will have everything set up.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Bonnie nodded, ¡°How do we do that?¡± ¡°Do you see the statue behind the mansion?¡± Elistrae asked. ¡°You mean the giant bat that is bigger than a skyscraper? Yeah,¡± Alex rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just bigger than the mansion, the buildings nearby are bigger. Anyway, attack it. When you do that, the vampires will come out of the woodwork to defend the statue.¡± ¡°Why is that? Is that statue protecting them or something?¡± Bonnie frowned. ¡°Exactly. It does two things. First, it casts a shadow over the entire city, forcing the place into an eternal night. Second, it casts an illusion on the shadow itself. One that doesn¡¯t affect vampires, and shows the sky above the way it is right now.¡± ¡°So.. We are not actually looking at the sky?¡± Bonnie glanced up, seeing the constellations she could use. ¡°Yes, and no. With the exception of the moon. That really is not here. It¡¯s just part of the effect of the statue.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Well, either way, my legacy is still working, so let¡¯s just go for it.¡± ¡°Just try not the break the bat. Victor would get upset, and you are trying to work with him.¡± Alex and Bonnie nodded, and the two prepared an attack. The assassin used an old classic, a wind blade, but not using the dagger on the scabbard that increased the power of her draw attacks. Bonnie went for a similar thing, using a fire first through the Lepus constellation. That wouldn¡¯t increase the power of the spell, just change its shape slightly. The two attacks slammed against the wings of the bat, barely doing anything to the giant statue. But there was a roar coming from inside the mansion as two vampires jumped out of the windows on the ground floor. Unlike the ones they saw in the party, those had bat like faces, with long sharp fangs and claws, sickly gray skin and were hunched over. Both were dashing across the courtyard, snarling at the two humans who attacked their precious statue. ¡°Let¡¯s give them an old enemy. Ruby, Full Cerberus,¡± Bonnie knew about four constellations related to dogs. Three variations of the Canis, being Major, Minor, and Venatici, the last one being a pair of dogs. And, of course, Lupus. The wolf constellation. Because of their similarities, she could overlap the buffs each of them gave. They were, respectively, increased strength and damage, speed and agility, intelligence and perception, and lastly, endurance and recovery. As a combination of all those constellations, Bonnie taught Ruby a specific form. One with two furry and muscular legs, a humanoid torso with arms that ended in clawed hands, everything covered in fur, and three wolf heads. Just as the four sets of stars overlapped inside the slimes¡¯s body, she became the equivalent to a werecerberus. A three headed werewolf. As a bonus, she also added the Furnace constellation, Fornax, in the center of Ruby¡¯s new form, to give her access to some extra fire damage. Unfortunately, that was the limit of her power at the moment. Five constellations active at once was all her legacy permitted. Or, more precisely, four minors constellations and one major one, being Lupus in this case. Ruby howled and dashed at the vampire on the left, slamming both claws on its stomach before the three heads spewed fire on top of him, incinerating the creature on the spot. Alex didn¡¯t move, but she looked the remaining vampire dead in the eye and said ¡®expunge,¡¯ triggering the skill of the same name. That would remove any buff, curse, debuff, and ailment affecting a creature and damage it depending on the strength and quantity of the effects. White flames appeared around the vampire, attempting to consume the bloodsucker. That lasted only a moment and when the fire was gone, the creature was covered in burn marks. Still alive, but already struggling to move. Alex jumped forwards, using her [Wind Chase] and decapitated the vampire with a swift motion. ¡°I just realize. Don¡¯t we need wooden stakes?¡± she asked as she walked back toward Elistrae and Bonnie. ¡°It works, but so what you two did. I guess I was worried for nothing,¡± the elf shrugged and summoned a chair using one of her rings. At the same time, more roars came from the mansion as the next four vampires jumped out. ¡°One wave down. Three to go,¡± Bonnie smiled as she prepared her next spell. 875 - Alex and Bonnie - Boss Killers Four vampires rushed out of the mansion. They all looked very similar to the first ones, feral and with elongated limbs. However, unlike the ragged clothes of the first wave, those were wearing better attire. Jeans pants and some novelty t-shirts. One of them was wearing T-shit that had a coffee mug with the O+ in red letters. Ruby jumped towards one of them, as Alex triggered her [Expunge] skill again on the two heading towards her. Before her attack was over, she created a jade wind saw. An upgraded version of the wind blade that also added a circular motion to the attack, turning it into a buzz saw. Using [Wind Chase] she also followed along the attack, dropping off in front of the other vampire she attacked. With a quick motion, she decapitated it using her dagger. Bonnie channeled a few fire fist spells through the Furnace and Lupus constellations, turning the spell into a fire fang that flew from the left head of the werecerberurs and bit down on the vampire moving towards the Astral Witch. With the last one already in Ruby¡¯s grasp. ¡°Not bad. How many times can you use that skill in a row, Alex?¡± Elistrae asked. ¡°Pretty much as much as I want. The skill costs more mana the more effects I¡¯m ending, but there is no cooldown,¡± the assassin replied, jogging back to the center of the courtyard along with Ruby. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you double down on the spell? It¡¯s already leaving the vampires very close to death,¡± the elf frowned as more growls and snarls came from the mansion. ¡°Two reasons. First, this skill can¡¯t kill. It can leave someone at the point where they will die if left alone, but not kill them outright,¡± as Alex spoke, the next wave jumped from the windows on the second floor. This time, the 8 vampires that appeared were less monstrous. Their faces were more elven, with the one exception being the nose that still pointed upwards like a bat. Their clothes were also more elegant, and so were their movements. These vampires floated down instead of landing in a frenzy, clearly not just mindless beasts like the ones before. Bonnie didn¡¯t even have to tell Ruby what to do. The slime-werecerberus rushed to a pair of the vampires, trying to bite and claw at them. The first target wasn¡¯t fast enough to escape and quickly fell to the ground when the three heads broke its neck and separated it from the rest of the body, but the next was ready for the attack. Jumping back, the vampire tried to escape, but a stone fist came from the side, slamming on her head and giving Ruby an opening to decapitate another of the attackers. One of the remaining vampires waved his hand and sent a small wave of bats towards Bonnie. She didn¡¯t move, but pulled a staff from her back. The same one she got from Hera after they got rid of the curse. Using [Stellar Blast], a wave of cosmic energy expanded from Bonnie in all directions. As soon as the bats touched the area of that skill, they were completely obliterated, allowing another elemental fang to bite down on the vampire¡¯s neck. He looked around, trying to see where the attack came from, only to once more be hit in the neck. Two more of the same attacks hit him from different angles. But only when the last strike was biting on his neck did the vampire understand what was going on. All around them were dozens of small specks of light in various colors. Two of Ruby¡¯s heads kept firing those elemental fangs at those lights. Once the spell hit, it would change elements and direction, gaining a bit of power and speed with each conversion. His eyes landed on the fourth vampire, or more specifically, their mangled body on the ground. While he used the bats to attack, the fang spells battered them until they couldn¡¯t handle anymore. This was a spell that Bonnie was able to bind to the legacy called [Star Path]. It created a star field imbued with the elemental shift mote. She could aim spells at those tiny stars and control where it would bounce to. Even if that was powerful, it didn¡¯t come without its risk. Anyone could attempt to aim at the stars to empower and redirect their spells. The difference was that others would have a hard time knowing where their spell would fly towards. It was unlikely that this would be a problem during this dungeon, but when facing other people, it was something she had to keep in mind. Alex used the same idea as before. Triggering the [Expunge] skill on all the vampires and jumping towards them. She added a buff on herself that could increase her speed and damage. Using the wind saw as an opener towards two of the vampires. One died right away as the attack arrived while the white flames were still around. The second spell sent by the assassin was just a second behind, but that was enough for the monster to dodge and evade the attack in the nick of time. Still, the creature had to launch itself to the ground to survive. Alex didn¡¯t focus on the one she almost killed. With a twirl, she reached the third vampire and decapitated it with a swift motion. The last one of her targets turned to the assassin, yelling in rage. It let its nails grow as it tried to lash out, but between the damage dealt by having its buffs removed, and the speed Alex could move, the monster missed all the attacks until it fell to the ground. As an act of ¡®mercy¡¯, the Purifying Light finished the vampire out, before sending another wind saw at the one that survived the first attempt. That vampire was in the middle of standing up and failed to see the attack coming. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. With the monsters dead, Alex walked back to Elistrae and continued speaking, ¡°Second, that skill works on a target only once every hour. That still should happen even if I rank the skill up. But it¡¯s already plenty powerful, don¡¯t you think?¡± The elf nodded, ¡°It is. The one problem is how you have to aim one target at the time. Also, what would happen if someone else buffed the monster? Would the damage increase?¡± Bonnie nodded, ¡°It would. But it needs a strong buff. For some reason, buffs from other people don¡¯t damage them as much.¡± ¡°Barriers work too. The damage is more or less equal to half of what the barrier can take. But the barrier also protects from the attack, so unless the timing is just right, it¡¯s not worth using it,¡± Alex added. ¡°Want to test it on this next wave? From what I understand, the skill you want to practice is not that one. And it¡¯s kind of boring to just wait here,¡± Elistrae suggested. ¡°Sure,¡± Alex shrugged. Just as the next 16 vampires jumped from the mansion. This time it was a mixed bag of versions. Some were the feral creatures, while others were the more elegant ones. Two even had elven features, with the only thing showing they were vampires being their fangs. Elistrae instantly covered all of them with one of the strongest barriers she could muster. However, Bonnie wasn¡¯t expecting that she would do that to all enemies. The Astral Witch sent a few attacks to one of the new versions of vampire and a couple of the more ghoulish ones. The blows hit the barrier, which made the elven healer apologize. Right after that, Alex pointed from left to right, triggering the [Expunge] on the vampires one by one, including the ones that Bonnie was supposed to face. The numbers were not in their favor this time, and because of it, the human decided to help her friend. The first three vampires, all ghouls, were not damaged by Alex¡¯s skill at all. Elistrae wasn¡¯t able to drop the barrier before the flames disappeared, blocking all the damage from the [Expunge]. The next ten, including the two elven vampires, had the barrier dropped at the right time while the flames still roared. With the combo of the barrier, the power of the skill was much stronger. But the last three vampires, all ghouls again, didn¡¯t get the extra damage, just the regular effect of the skill. When it was finally over, all but three of the dungeon creatures were on the ground, severely burned and struggling to stay alive. Since only three creatures were in fighting shape, Bonnie sent Ruby to one, and took care of the second, leaving Alex to deal with the last. It didn¡¯t take long for them to be killed, and the rest of the vampires couldn¡¯t recover in time to fight back. The two humans didn¡¯t want to rush things and methodically finished the remaining ones. Starting by those who were less damaged. Around a minute later, they had cleared the last wave. ¡°OK, so what now? Can you still see the boss with the spyglass?¡± Alex turned to Bonnie. ¡°No, the enchantment is over and now the item is on cooldown,¡± the Astral Witch replied. ¡°Just wait,¡± Elistrae said. They grabbed the loot from the vampires, mostly gold with a few bags of blood, that worked as quick meals. Anyone who drank one of the vials would be satiated for 10 hours. Some time after they were done, Uav appeared, walking from the gate towards the mansion. He was covered in bruises and wounds. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ got ambushed by a few of the vampires outside. Bastards almost got me. I see you managed to kill the ones hiding inside the mansion. Good. I¡¯m trying to find the missing hunters,¡± he groaned, shaking his hand. His fingers were swollen, and he was forced to take off his wedding ring. The moment he did that, Alex tossed her [Burning Purity] at him. It was the one skill that could forcibly remove a curse she knew from a target. The ring was hiding the fact that Uav was a vampire. One that was close to a vampire lord. As soon as the accessory was off his finger, the Purifying Light saw the countless red lines over his body and triggered her skill to remove his vampirism. The lines shattered one by one at a rapid pace, clearly hurting the man as they went along. In a follow up, she used [Expunge] to cut any buffs the man had. Bonnie didn¡¯t wait, the moment Alex attacked, the Astral Witch followed it up, trusting her friend knew what she was doing. Still, both of them used their [Observe] to see what they were looking at. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uav Silenteden - Vampire Hunter Hunter - Level 45 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just bullshit,¡± Alex groaned as the white flames were snuffed out. Uav¡¯s body was different now. Much bigger, around two and a half meters tall. His limbs were longer and his bones protruded from his form, but there was some muscle around his body. His face was now more bestial as well, with the bat nose and a deformed skull. ¡°What have you done?!¡± Uav groaned. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Bonnie replied with a smirk, ruby had sent several elemental fangs out during the time they were waiting, slowly increasing the power of the attacks that suddenly slammed at the dungeon boss. Before he could even reply, Alex appeared behind his neck, ¡°You are already dead,¡± she said with the same smirk Bonnie gave him before pulling her dagger with a massive jade blade of wind attached to it. Thanks to the curse and buff removal, Uav¡¯s defenses were too weak to stop the attack and after the barrage of spells that pummeled his body, the jade blade finished it off by separating the man¡¯s head from his body. The notification about them completing the dungeon quest popped up, but they ignored it. Grabbing the ring that Uav wore to hide himself on Elistrae¡¯s advice and walking back towards the vampire lord penthouse. They might have completed the quest, but there was still work to do here. 876 - Alex and Bonnie - Secret Weapons There was a large crowd just outside Victor¡¯s building, and when the group approached, people started cheering. ¡°I think they like us,¡± Elistrae said with a smirk. ¡°Probably just Alex. They won¡¯t care about our presence,¡± Bonnie shrugged and continued to walk towards the entrance. The crowd parted to let them pass, and soon they were back at the penthouse. ¡°You return. How did you fare?¡± Victor asked. ¡°Everything worked out great,¡± Elistrae walked towards the vampire and produced Uav¡¯s wedding ring from her pocket, ¡°Here.¡± The vampire lord nodded, ¡°This¡­ Uav¡­ I didn¡¯t know he was back in town. I should¡¯ve killed him a long time ago.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have helped the Vampire Lord. Dungeon quest rewards not yet claimed. Dungeon quest rewards altered to: Random piece of the Vampire Lord gear set. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Oh! That¡¯s why you told us not to get the rewards,¡± Bonnie gasped. ¡°Exactly. If you had, you could get either the vampire lord set, or the vampire hunter one,¡± Elistrae nodded. ¡°You could¡¯ve just explained things to us,¡± Alex sighed. Elistrae just shrugged, ¡°Too much work. I warned you, if you decided not to do what I suggested, that¡¯s on you.¡± Alex turned back to Victor and asked to check with Vanessa. The former vampire was being interviewed by someone else that was part of the community. As soon as the idea of a cure was floated around, it spread like wildfire. A lot of people wanted to become mortal again. Immortality wasn¡¯t as much of a lure for elves. After all, their average life span was 500 years. It was hard to even see an elf that died of natural causes. Most would end up getting sick, being attacked by a monster in a bad spot, or have an accident. Being a vampire could give an improved regeneration against wounds and such, but it also had its own slew of problems. From having to avoid the sun, to being hurt by crosses and garlic. Not to mention the massive target on their back that attracted vampire hunters. For most, it was more likely to survive for longer as a regular elf than for a vampire. There was also an issue of hierarchy. Bonnie and Alex talked with a few vampires and they realized that nobility was very much a thing. But that had more to do with the fact that one vampire couldn¡¯t harm the one that created them. As a result, a caste system was created even if people tried to give all equal rights. However, that was just on paper. In practice, things were much more complicated. Especially since that rule also applied to the one that created their creator. In the end, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for two vampires to get into a conflict, only for one of them to realize they couldn¡¯t do anything to harm the other. Their community was too large, and keeping track of who created who was an art in itself. Thankfully, Victor, being the vampire lord that was directly connected to most, if not all, vampires in the city, gave a single order to solve the issue. Any vampire that wished to become mortal again could do so, and no one could stop them. Alex had her work cut out for her. She wanted to practice her skill, and there were a few hundred of subjects for the assassin. This also meant they would stay here for a while. Vanessa helped set up the ¡®mortalification¡¯ room for those who were giving up their vampire side. And not to be bored out of her mind in here. Bonnie, with Elistrae¡¯s help, set up a makeshift arena for people to fight against Ruby¡¯s various forms boosted by the constellations. The healer would cast a barrier on both fighters and the first to break the opponent¡¯s barrier would lose. They spent over six hours in the dungeon after killing Uav. With Alex working almost non stop while Vanessa was being her assistant. Bonnie let Ruby fight for a while before stepping in herself to give the slime some time to rest. Eventually, they had to open the stage since, even with the tag team, they grew too tired to continue. Once the final vampire was cured of its curse, a notification appeared for the three members of the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the vampires who desired to leave their shackles have been cured. Dungeon quest rewards not yet claimed. Dungeon quest rewards altered to: Two random pieces of the Ancestral Vampire Lord gear set. A new dungeon variation has been created. Goldenmoon Manor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°What?¡± Bonnie and Elistrae asked at the same time. ¡°Is that¡­ a thing?¡± Alex turned to the two. ¡°Define that? The set? Not that I¡¯m aware. Not even in the hard mode. The new dungeon? Never heard of it,¡± Elistrae shook her head. ¡°No. I mean, dungeon variations. Is that supposed to happen?¡± Alex was still staring at the notification. Elistrae stopped and looked at the assassin for a moment before frowning, ¡°Now that you mention it¡­ I don¡¯t think so? Maybe. I¡­ I think I remember something about making new dungeons out of the ones that already exist. But I heard that a long time ago. I need to check.¡± ¡°Did you also get the new loot?¡± Bonnie turned to the elf, who just nodded in response, ¡°One piece or two?¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Just one, why?¡± ¡°We got two. I guess it¡¯s because it¡¯s the first time we run this dungeon,¡± Bonnie replied. ¡°Probably. I wonder what is the effect. Just an upgraded version?¡± Elistrae¡¯s eyes were sparkling, but she shook her head, ¡°Don¡¯t open now. Let¡¯s do this outside. Just in case the MAZE wants to give us another upgrade.''¡° Bonnie chuckled, ¡°Now that¡¯s just being greedy,¡± but she didn¡¯t take out any of the items. Who knows, maybe being greedy had its value. They finished things up in the penthouse and left, walking all the way back to that fire exit near the alley where they met Uav for the first time. However, nothing happened as they left the dungeon. No other notification appeared or anything of the sort. But what changed was the corridor they took to enter the place. Right after the door inside the coffin was another hallway. This one moved left and at the end was another fire door. One with golden details on the corners. Just in front of it was a group of people talking. Once they noticed the trio leaving, a man nearby asked them. ¡°Hey. Do you know anything about this?¡± Alex and Bonnie glanced at Elistrae, unsure if they should talk about this, but the elf didn¡¯t hesitate, ¡°Yeah. We finished the dungeon in a different way and got a notification of a dungeon variation being created. It said the name was Goldenmoon Manor.¡± ¡°Golden moon?¡± the male elf turned back, noticing the door, ¡°Yeah. This might be it. Sorry to say, a group already rushed inside. We were going in right after them, but they saw the hallway appearing and thought it was a secret dungeon or something. You won¡¯t be getting that free level up. If it even gives that.¡± Elistrae just shrugged, ¡°I leveled up last week. Getting another wouldn¡¯t be worth it. Besides, we are tired. We wouldn¡¯t be going there today.¡± ¡°What did you do to make a dungeon variation appear?¡± an elven woman in that group asked. ¡°That¡¯s between us and the Alliance. Good luck,¡± Elistrae walked off, with Bonnie and Alex following right after. As she said, they had to talk with the Alliance about the new dungeon. It was a change, a place to get new resources, and it could be dangerous. There was no way to just hide what had happened. In addition, they also talked with the owners of the house where the dungeons were located. After a long set of interviews with a few people from the Alliance, the trio left, heading back to a restaurant to finally check their items, all of which ended up being in epic grade. Elistrae got the Ancestral Vampire Lord Cuirass, an obsidian chest plate adorned with red ancient runes. It could create a protective aura of darkness that reflected some damage back to attackers, and it had a stacking increase to the damage of attacks dealt by who wore it. Bonnie got both the boots and the helmet. The boots were made out of black leather with metallic sheets placed around it to increase the protection they provided. It gave her the ability to phase through objects for a short duration, and a brief immunity to physical attacks. The helmet, forged from bones of accent vampires and crowned with red gems that pulsated dark energy, increased the power of any drain abilities and melee attacks gained a chance to drain the life force of the target, helping her heal, and recovering her mana. Alex got the gauntlets made out of dark metal and adorned with jagged spikes. Arcane symbols were inscribed on each finger with a red ink, or, more likely, blood. It could let out a set of 10 strikes where each rune would glow and create an ethereal version of the gauntlets to attack. Each of those blows also helped the user recover from any injuries. Lastly, was the cloak, a long piece of black silk that shimmered with starlight. It could summon shadow tendrils to immobilize enemies and empower the abilities of other parts of the set and could, once a day, reset the cooldown of one of the skills from the Ancestral Vampire Lord set. In the end, Alex traded the cape for the helmet, since it required a melee attack, and bought the cuirass from Elistrae. As much as the elf wanted a piece of that set, nothing that came out was interesting to her. Only when the assassin put on all three pieces of the set that another notification appeared. The Ancestral Vampire Lord set, was an actual set. Giving benefits depending on how many pieces one wore. The three piece set gave her a small boost to her attributes, increased the power of the skills on the other pieces of the set, and gave another skill that gave melee attacks a chance to drain the life force of the target, helping her heal, and recovering her mana. After a couple of days of testing, she confirmed that the drain ability wasn¡¯t a single effect that was boosted, but two different skills that could happen at the same time. That was all about the items, but not everything that the Astral Light was doing. They visited the elven woman, who was still comatose, and realized that she was too weak for another session of ¡®decursing.¡¯ Her condition lasted almost a week until the doctors said it should be safe, even if not optimal, for Alex to continue her work. However, seven days was too much for the Purifying Light. She couldn¡¯t remember where she had to continue to remove the tattoo and all the enchantments applied on the woman. Instead, she opted to wait another 3 days to both let the elven woman rest more, and to let her skill get off cooldown so she could have Ley helping her again. During that time, they continued running the Bloodmoon Manor. The new dungeon sounded interesting, being about a city that became the capital of ¡®Vampiric healing,¡¯ thanks to an old sage. People took pictures and there was a painting depicting someone that was really similar to Alex curing Vanessa. But what you actually had to do was complicated, and dangerous. A group of vampire hunters were trying to kidnap the people who could cure vampires and turn them into weapons. While, at the same time, the vampires became paranoid. They wouldn¡¯t trust anyone who came to help, always thinking they were hunters in disguise. From the reports they were able to read, very few people were able to protect the sages who could cure vampirism. The main issue was that they needed a larger team, and it wouldn¡¯t help Alex training the skill she needed to train. When the cooldown of her [Steps of Purity] was over. The assassin finished healing the elven woman. After the treatment, all tattoos and spells were gone and everyone agreed that for the elf to wake up, all that she needed was time. Still, the Alliance told Alex and Bonnie to stay put and continue practicing. They had a few people they were able to rescue being treated for their injuries, and once they were stable, the Purifying Light would be called. For now, the Alliance secret weapon against the people who became bound to Daemons had to lay low. And that¡¯s what she did for the next two weeks. Only then, after leveling up a couple of times, she received a message. A group had brought someone for her to heal. She had to meet them at the hospital, in the same room used by the elven woman, who was now awake and going through psychological treatment for all the abuse she suffered. The moment Alex opened the door to that hospital room, something slammed against her, sending the Purifying Light to the ground. ¡°Alex!¡± a woman with blond hair, horizontal irises and purple scales slammed into her, laughing. She quickly got up and gave a hand to her friend, ¡°Sorry, you are always the one tackling me when we met. This was my turn.¡± ¡°Hera?¡± Bonnie gasped as Alex got up and gave her friend a big hug, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Bringing the gang back together. Almost,¡± she gestured to the room where Leo was by the side of the bed. Alex turned back to Hera with a confused expression, ¡°Come in, this will be a long story.¡± 877 - Tale of a journey In the hospital room were Leo, his crew, Hera, Neria, Bonnie and Alex. Elistrae felt that this was too personal for her to be involved, asking to be called once Alex started to work so she could help. The rest of the Harmony Guardians were already aware of the entire story, but decided against being in the hospital room. There were already too many people there, and it wasn¡¯t like they could do anything to help. Leo was by his uncle''s bed, while everyone else was using the chairs and the couch that was in the corner. Alex and Bonnie were seated closer to Leo, with Hera by their side. ¡°Ok, so what is going on?¡± Alex asked. Hera turned to Leo, ¡°Do you want me to just give them an overview? I know it was hard for you to tell us the full story.¡± The hunter shook his head, ¡°No. It¡¯s good for me to tell this. The Alliance will want to know the details, and if I¡¯m too emotional, it will be hard to be interviewed.¡± ¡°Is it that bad?¡± Bonnie asked, getting only a defeated smile from Leo. ¡°I¡¯m going to explain this from the beginning, and,¡± the hunter turned to Sophia, Paige, and Fernando, ¡°Feel free to add anything that I miss.¡± The crew nodded, and everyone let Leo take a few deep breaths before starting. During that time, Hera went towards the door that was still open, and sent Viper and Crimson on a Royal Quest to get some coffee, water, and soda for everyone. They would go to an actual shop, not the hospital cafeteria, which meant they should take a while to come back. Hopefully, their return wouldn¡¯t interrupt the story. When the Empress sat back down, Leo looked towards the group and started speaking, ¡°As you all know. I became an explorer to find my uncle. He vanished seven years ago now. People assumed he was killed in action, but no one ever found a body. I refused to believe he was dead. Something in my gut told me he was still alive, and well,¡± he glanced at the man in the hospital bed with a sad smile, ¡°I was right. But I don¡¯t know if that was the better alternative.¡± ¡°I joined the Crimson Coalition as soon as I could. You know this. That was the organization my uncle was a part of, and where he worked before he vanished. While there, I asked around, but people didn¡¯t know anything about him. And the ones that did know told me they couldn¡¯t share anything since his mission was classified. I figured that he vanished while searching for a legacy, or in one of their secret dungeons. In theory, the guild was supposed to have information about all dungeons in the MAZE, but even as a new recruit, I realized that wasn¡¯t the case. The Coalition was hiding some good training spots. Dungeons that were either easy, and helped people level up quickly. Or that were sources of a specific material that could be sold at high prices.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Like, Green Iron Bark. Which is a material for a lot of low-level armor. It¡¯s light, strong, and easy to be enchanted. But it¡¯s a rare drop from a couple of dungeons, and it can only be found there. Or so people are led to believe. The coalition has access to a dungeon where monsters drop that bark pretty regularly. They give smaller pieces, but a single run would give about 5 times the amount people could get as that rare drop. And I know, if they sold the raw materials it would be obvious what was going on, but instead, they sent it to some of the people who worked for them to make armor, and then sold it at a discount calling them ¡®faulty products.¡¯ Even if those bad versions of the armor were almost as good as the ones other people would sell. Because of the price, they made a lot of money,¡± Leo Explained. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t people suspect that? If the coalition could make that many sets of armors, wouldn¡¯t people start to question where they got materials?¡± Alex frowned. ¡°They did, but there are over 100 thousand members in the coalition. They just said they had teams dedicated to farming that item. To be fair, they did have a couple of teams there. Since the dungeon in question was good for people around level 15. But still,¡± Leo shook his head, ¡°Either way. That doesn¡¯t matter. All you have to know is that they are sketchy on a good day, and I now I know they were criminal on a bad one,¡± the hunter let out a long sigh before continuing. ¡°Now, I did my best to raise in the ranks, and people were starting to scout me. Sending me to better training camps, and to more dangerous quests. Nothing super important, but not the random mundane stuff, either. At one point I was with a group that worked only on Rampages. The goal was to get a skill related to them, but we needed to participate actively in 6 of them over a 6-month period. Unfortunately, we missed the mark and only completed 5. After that, I ended up meeting one of my uncle¡¯s old squad mates. Someone who worked directly under him and considering uncle Marco a good friend. But he was very¡­ What is it called when the person is paranoid but the word you want to use is not as heavy? Like when they keep looking around, as if someone was watching them and are really suspicious of everything.¡± ¡°Skittish? Jumpy?¡± Sophia suggested. ¡°I was thinking jumpy. But both work. Either way, he was jumpy. It took a while, but I was able to find him in a secluded place. In a room controlled by the tritons, away from any of the member of the Coalition. There, he explained how some of the things I heard about my uncle were not what they seemed. Before that conversation, from what I understood, my uncle was a well-respected and beloved member of the top brass of the Coalition. Everyone was sad about his disappearance and before that, he was helping the organization move forward. But, this friend of his told me that was far from the truth. According to him, uncle Marco was upset about the direction the Coalition was heading, and constantly argued with other members of the top brass. Especially the general, which is the leader of the entire organization. This friend also said he didn¡¯t believe uncle Marco¡¯s disappearance was an accident. He believed the Coalition had him killed to avoid any issues in the future. Ever since then, he, my uncle¡¯s friend, left the organization and was doing his own thing. Making sure to stay away from any business with the Coalition. He also had something that my uncle left me. A diary. One that he was never been able to make heads or tails off since everything was just gibberish. But it wasn¡¯t, it was a code that I made up and taught my uncle when I was little and really into spy movies.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Aw, that¡¯s sweet,¡± Paige said with a smile. Everyone turned to her, ¡°What? I know the topic is heavy, but it is sweet. And Leo never told us that part.¡± Leo coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed, ¡°Either way. I got the diary and went back home. On earth. To grab the decoding key. It was an old thing I made when I was little. First, I changed all the letters of the alphabet to random ones. So A became N and N became P and so on. Then added a bunch of nonsense rules like, if the first or the last letter appear in the middle of the word, then it has to be written backwards. Or how two-letter words needed to repeat the second letter but also change the second letter to the coded version of the next translated letter of the alphabet. It was stupid. I made those rules when I was twelve and I only remembered that code because of the way his name was written on the first page. I asked for a vacation, went home, found a box with the rules for that nonsense and spent the next month translating everything in that diary. And that¡­ made things much more complicated.¡± ¡°The fact that you were able to make a code that no one cracked is impressive. Even if it was nonsense,¡± Bonni nodded. Hera turned to Bonnie, ¡°That¡¯s what I said. He wrote a couple of passages for me to try to decipher, and I couldn¡¯t. Sure, I am better at old languages, but still. I have the researcher role.¡± ¡°What was the name that was written on the first page?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Knigt, without the h. That¡¯s how you spell Marco on this stupid code,¡± Leo turned to his uncle with a smile. After a pause, he turned back to the group, ¡°The diary painted a very different picture. The Coalition, which was supposed to be a group of guardians and pioneers. People who protected those in the MAZE and that explored the outer reaches in search of potions, material, and items that could help those on Earth, was now turning into a mercenary group. One that had the New Dawn as its main client. That really didn¡¯t sit well with uncle Marco, and he kept butting heads with the other members of the top brass. Eventually, it reached a boiling point. After the Coalition was hired to pressure some factory workers into stopping their protest for better work conditions, my uncle couldn¡¯t take it anymore and tried to take down the general. It was a sort of uprising, but only among the leadership. Unfortunately, no one wanted to help him. Once it came down to it, he was the only member of the top brass that didn¡¯t like the current state of things. Everyone else enjoyed the money, and the influence that being part of the Coalition gave them. The diary ends with him talking about one large meeting where he is going to try to convince everyone to stop one last time. If that didn¡¯t work, he was going to take all the documents he had about everything and expose the Coalition and the New Dawn.¡± Bonnie frowned, ¡°Ok¡­ but how did you find out? Like, sure, it is very likely that either he spoke about the documents trying to threaten the Coalition, or they realized he had access to that information and decided to capture him. But there is no proof.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Leo nodded, ¡°In the last page of the diary, there was one more code. A login and a password to be used on a cloud service. Funny enough, it was a free version of it, so nothing was deleted and there wasn¡¯t a payment for them to track. Inside was a single audio file. Let me play it.¡± Leo walked over to the group and hit the button. There was a pause and some shuffling before a voice could be heard. ¡°What do you mean, I can¡¯t leave? Is that who we are now? We keep prisoners?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my uncle,¡± Leo said. ¡°No, Marco. We don¡¯t. But you are still not leaving. You know too much, and we know you downloaded some of the files about our dealings. Thank you for suggesting to improve our cyber security. You were right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the general,¡± Leo said, his face contorting in anger. What followed were 10 minutes of what could only be described as sounds of combat. Various people were shouting, explosions, large impacts and things being broken. Screams of pain, people asking for healing or buffs. There was also the occasional shout of a skill name, but it was too gargled to be understood. After everything was over, a third voice appeared. ¡°How the fuck did he do all that?¡± ¡°I guess the rumors about him getting bound to a Spirit were correct,¡± the general replied. His voice showed he was injured during the fight. ¡°Fucking Marco. I¡¯m getting rid of him,¡± the third voice continued. ¡°No. What he did was very interesting. A difference of 15 levels between him and me. Not to mention he was fighting against all 9 of us. And he is the weakest in terms of power. If we can figure out how he managed to be so strong. I¡¯m sure we can replicate that effect. Call our contact in the New Dawn. Tell them we have a new test subject for them to play with.¡± The audio finished, and no one said anything for a long time. Fernando was the one who broke the ice, ¡°Mother fucker. That¡¯s movie level villain right there. How can such a massive asshole be real?¡± ¡°Beats me,¡± Neria shrugged, ¡°But it doesn¡¯t surprise me. Not after what we saw.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Sophia nodded. ¡°But we have proof now, don¡¯t we? Can¡¯t we have the New Dawn and the Coalition pay for what they did?¡± Paige asked. Hera shook her head, ¡°I doubt it. The audio is garbled. Is from a person who vanished years ago and now is unrecognizable. And it would be coming from someone who has every reason to create a conspiracy theory, and spent the last seven years denying a known fact. Even if there wasn¡¯t a war going on, it would be easy to refute any of this. Unless Marco wakes up, we have nothing,¡± the Empress turned to Leo, ¡°But you didn¡¯t mention he was Spirit Bound.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know. According to the diary, that happened 17 years ago. He found the Strength Spirits when I was still a kid and kept their location a secret. Being bound to them for that long likely made him figure some stuff out. Maybe that¡¯s why he was so strong.¡± ¡°And the New Dawn used that knowledge to make the Soldiers of Strength. Shit,¡± Hera slumped back. ¡°But how did you go from discovering all that to finding you uncle?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°That¡¯s less interesting. Research, asking some questions, bribing some people. And a lot of legwork. That was like the 64th research facility we looked into. And the 12th that we invaded to see what was going on,¡± Leo replied. ¡°And how did you meet up with Hera?¡± Bonnie turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°It was an accident. Kind of weird, but I¡¯m not complaining. We were going to attack the same facility for the Alliance, and when we¡­ Hang on,¡± Hera got up and opened the door, Viper and Crimson walked inside, bringing various beverages for everyone. As they got more comfortable, the Empress continued telling her story. She was going into a lot of detail and even Daskka joined to help. It was an intentional thing, since Leo clearly needed some time to cool off before anything else. After all, he still wasn¡¯t sure if Alex would be able to free his uncle or not. 878 - 3 weeks of walking ¡°¡­ And then we arrived here. It was a total of¡­ 57 rooms, if I counted right. All in all, it wasn¡¯t that bad. We managed to see a lot of amazing places. If the situation was different, it would have been a fun trip,¡± Hera finished telling her tale. She talked about every single room they passed by and the issues they had to carry Marco on a gurney. ¡°Having Nimbus work as a rescue chopper was a good idea. Especially since you could send him ahead with Neria as he carried Marco up and down complicated terrain,¡± Alex smiled. ¡°I agree. Sophia was the one who suggested that once I explained a bit about my legacy,¡± Hera smiled at the human explorer who helped so much during the journey. ¡°I wonder what would happen with Nimbus if I buffed him with Aquila. Ruby was able to carry three people. Considering the size difference, maybe he will be the size of an actual chopper,¡± Bonnie smiled. ¡°What is Aquila?¡± Fernando asked. ¡°A constellation. I need to use them for my legacy,¡± Bonnie replied before taking a sip of her drink. That comment made Paige almost choke on her iced coffee. She coughed for a moment, ¡°Wait. Wait. You also have a legacy?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Bonnie turned to Hera, ¡°You didn¡¯t tell them?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t tell anyone. I only mentioned Alex¡¯s because it was relevant to the situation. It¡¯s your secret, I¡¯m not the one going to share it,¡± Hera was always careful when it came to talking about her legacy. She only shared that with people that she trusted. Now, she felt more comfortable mentioning to others. After all, she was strong enough to be considered a high level explorer. And with a couple of skill used at the right moment, she could even double the attributes of her court members. If someone were to try to steal it, she felt confident to at least being able to run away, no matter their level. However, that was the case for her. She wasn¡¯t going to decide for Bonnie, Alex, Shane or Blue. If they wanted to share their powers, it was up to them. ¡°Oh¡­ Well. The cat is out of the bag. And I trust Leo,¡± Bonnie glanced up," Well, we haven¡¯t talked in a while, so maybe. But I trust you, Hera. If you told them about yours and felt everything was ok. I¡¯m fine too." ¡°I think the situations are a bit different but, ok. We¡¯ll talk later,¡± Hera sighed. That was one answer she did not expect. ¡°Still, I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t end up facing any human patrols,¡± Alex changed the subject. ¡°Oh, but we did,¡± Neria replied. ¡°Yeah,¡± Paige sighed. ¡°A couple of rooms after we found Marco, we encountered one that was after us, specifically. We killed them. Days later, we found another, but that one just assumed we had captured some humans. Once they saw Leo, Fernando, Paige, and Sophia fighting on our side, they ran away,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Those we let run away,¡± Sophia added. ¡°Actually,¡± Neria scratched her cheek, ¡°The Shadow Talons went after them. We were too close to human territory back there, and close to the lab, too. If we let them go, they would tell others about us, and then the people who were searching for us would be on our tail.¡± Sophia leaned back, some of the color rushing out of her face, ¡°But¡­ they didn¡¯t look like soldiers.¡± Hera replied with a solemn nod, ¡°We know. But in that situation, we couldn¡¯t take the chance. If the New Dawn, the Guild or whoever was responsible for this sent their forces after us. We wouldn¡¯t be able to run.¡± ¡°To be fair, the Shadow Talons were going to deal with them one way or another. They never asked for permission or our opinion. Not that it would have made any difference. We never intended to lie to you, but we felt it was better to tell you later,¡± Neria added. ¡°Soph, I know it¡¯s hard, but that was the right call,¡± Fernando grabbed the explorer¡¯s hand. Paige nodded, ¡°I did think it was weird how we spent so long without any other group showing up to chase us. Did you kill that other one too? The one in the valley?¡± Hera thought for a moment, ¡°Oh. No, that one we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Sophie asked, ¡°What was the difference between those groups? Both were just made out of random people who were nice.¡± Hera looked at the human explorer, ¡°The difference wasn¡¯t about them, but about us. The first group saw everyone. The Harmony Guardians, the Shadow Talons, and your group, plus Marco. The second group only saw you all, me, Syrinx, Flint, and Roan. And I had a spectral spider armor around me that make it impossible to tell my species from a glance.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Sophie frowned. Hera took a sip of her coffee, ¡°After leaving the lab, we did scrub the footage, and we killed a group that tried to stop us. But we have no way of knowing if they had a way to see what happened there. Maybe there is a spell, or a skill, or something. Hell, they could even have other cameras somewhere else that managed to see us. Not to mention they had a lot of time to send a message about who was invading the place. But, since our faces are not showing up in the news. I¡¯m assuming that they weren¡¯t able to get that. Either way, they should be aware of the makeup of our group. How many humans, elves, tritons, harpies, dwarves, and about the weird snake lady. So that group we didn¡¯t let go could¡¯ve warned the guild about our presence. While the second group only saw a handful of humans, along with a harpy, a dwarf, a beastmen and someone using a skill to walk on walls. And we were already almost a week away from the lab. The chance of them telling people about us, and those people connecting us to the break in was minimal. Not to mention, going after them could bring more attention to our location. That¡¯s why Syrinx let them go.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Sophie tried to argue, but she didn¡¯t know what to say. It was frustrating, but she understood where Hera was coming from. Still, the Empress couldn¡¯t help but be astonished by her callousness. Since when did she start talking about killing people so nonchalantly? ¡°On a side note. Why didn¡¯t we passed by any cities even after reaching Alliance territory?¡± Fernando asked, trying to change the subject. ¡°We were worried about spies,¡± Neria replied. ¡°What? Do you think any member of the Alliance will want to join the Guild?¡± Fernando looked at the triton with a surprised expression. ¡°Not really. But we do imagine that some humans might have infiltrated some cities. Or hacked our security systems. Or they can watch us from afar. Or even have a way to access our communication network. Since by the time we arrived at Alliance territory Leo had told us about Marco and how he was important for the Soldier of Strength program, the Shadow Talons reached out to see where we could take him, and the rest of us continued moving while trying to stay hidden,¡± Neria explained mid bite. ¡°Right¡­ yeah, that does make sense,¡± Fernando nodded. Everyone stopped talking and focused on eating for a few minutes. With the exception of Hera, who continued despite not saying anything out loud, was having a conversation with her court, most of who were behind her seat. During this trip, she wasn¡¯t able to continue her martial arts training and instead focused on something that was more of a mental exercise. They were mostly ideas about spells and since she could work on spells while on the move, she did just that. Focusing on the Elemental Strength and Elemental Armor variation of spells, the Ophidianite worked on changing them into more powerful versions. The current result was that she could use 4 new variations of weapon buffs and 3 magic armor spells. For the weapons, her options were: Serrated Ice, which would cover a blade in jagged pieces of ice that exploded in contact. Grasping Flame, that would ignite the weapon and make the fire work like a vine, trying to trap her enemy. A simple Numbing Poison that stopped those affected by it from feeling pain from the wounds. At first, that sounded like a bad idea, but that was only until you realized how moving regularly with an open wound could make things so much worse. Lastly, was Splitting Lightning, which made her attacks chain to a nearby target, hitting the second enemy for a portion of the damage dealt by the initial strike. The defensive options were a bit more simple. The Frozen Rock armor increased her defenses, both against physical and elemental attacks. Using the Burning Wind armor gave her a low grade flight ability and made it much harder for projectiles to hit her. And the new addition, Stained Shadow armor made her more stealthy while also slowing down those who tried to attack her. There was a fourth type of armor she was working on, something that mixed the Arcana mana from Robin to the Radiance from Sun. Her hope was to make something good against magical effects, and that could also protect her from any debuffs. In addition, the Noble Houses increased in size. The Alabaster Dukedom was now made out of Shadow, the Duke, with Pyro and Sun being the house members. Filling up the 3 slots of the house. The Cerulean Marquessate also increased by 1, being able to house 3 blades, and Glacia was the one who jibed. Not so much because of the skill, but because of her color. Hera felt that the ice falchion would fit well in that house. The Verdant Marquessate only had 2 slots, but considering that the Empress was able to add 3 seats among all the Noble Houses, she was more than happy with the results. ¡°Alex, can you take a look at my uncle?¡± Leo broke the silence. He was finally ready to let the Purifying Light do her job. The assassin nodded and walked towards the bed. She took a long look at Marco before turning to Leo, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But can you step back? This is¡­ a lot and anything that is close is giving interference.¡± Leo stepped back and watched as Alex analyzed things. After almost 10 minutes, the Purifying Light leaned back. ¡°Can you do something?¡± the hunter asked, his voice wavering. ¡°I¡¯m going to be honest. I¡¯m not sure. He is a complete mess. There are so many spells intertwined that I don¡¯t even know where to start. But I do have a skill that can let me see the starting line, at least. But before doing anything, I should call Elistrae,¡± Alex turned to Neria, ¡°You could heal him from inside, right? Using water?¡± ¡°Heal is a strong word. I managed to stop him from dying,¡± the triton replied. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we need. So if you can, I would like your help too. Another thing, Leo. This is going to take a long time. My skill has a 10 day cooldown for a 10 minute use. Normally I can still do things after it since the skill shows me the path, but considering,¡± Alex just glanced at Marco, completely covered in tattoos and various spells, ¡°All of this, I don¡¯t know if I will be able to remember the right path I should take to get rid of all of this. So I might only have that 10 minutes window until a large part of this mess is over.¡± Leo nodded, ¡°I¡¯ve waited years. I don¡¯t mind waiting for more time. Especially if this is going to make him better.¡± ¡°Bonnie, can on call Elistrae? I want to talk a bit with Ley to see what he thinks of this mess,¡± Alex called the herald of her legacy. But before saying anything, she turned back to Leo, ¡°Do you know if he had any tattoos? My skills will remove them too. Is that ok?¡± That question made the hunter burst out laughing, ¡°What? If we are getting rid of all that crap killing him, why would that matter?¡± Alex shrugged, crossing her arms, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Things have sentimental value.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry. You are right. Thanks for looking out, but don¡¯t worry. Feel free to get rid of whatever tattoos he has. I think he also had some work done in his teeth. Not sure if that is going to affect anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on that, but for now. I¡¯ll way till Elistrae is here. This is not going to be easy,¡± Alex replied, focusing back on Marco. Hera felt a bit useless, despite all her sensitivity to mana she had no way of helping with all that. Still, she understood that everyone had their strengths, and her job was over when she brought Marco here. Leaning back, she just watched her friend work and thought about what she was going to do next. 879 - An interesting idea Once Elistrae arrived, everyone else left the hospital room, including Leo. According to Alex, she needed peace and quiet to work, in addition to that, anyone who was close could cause some interference with her skill. When dealing with one of the victims from the labs, that problem could be more or less ignored since it was only one bundle of spells and effects she had to remove. But with Marco, things were wildly different. Even without using her skills, the Purifying Light already could tell that the sheer number of things she would have to remove were on a completely different level. Instead of eight or nine intertwined effects, Alex was clearly staring at over a hundred. At least, some were not as complex, and there were a couple of spells that felt very similar. Those were likely variations of the same effect, only with some improvements. However, that didn¡¯t make things easier. According to Ley, the herald for the Purification legacy, at some point whoever did this to Marco started to run out of space to tattoo his body. Instead of stopping, they would remove the tattoo and make a new one over the scared skin, but the underlying spell was still active. Just broken. Which made things even more confusing. Still, Alex pushed through and thanks to her [Steps of Purity] she was able to start working on cleansing Marco. Even better, she managed to spend a full half an hour working before being unable to remember the correct strand of magic to continue her job. During all that time, Elistrae and Neria had to heal Marco nonstop. The man needed the help of medical equipment to stay alive by himself. With Alex removing the tattoos and spells, his already unstable situation became even worse. But that was the only chance he had. A few different doctors took a look at the human, and they all agree there wasn¡¯t much they could do. Unless they knew the actual spells and potential drugs he got, anything they tried would be a risk. At most, they could make him comfortable, and even that could cause issues. Since they had Alex, it was safer to let her work instead of putting Marco through the necessary invasive exams that could allow them to help him. Once that was over, the two healers continued for another 15 minutes, slowly reducing the amount of spells they were casting to be sure nothing was going to go wrong. Only when both of them felt it was safe to leave, they called Leo back to explain the situation. ¡°So, what is the diagnosis, doc?¡± Leo tried to joke and lighten the mood as he returned, but that didn¡¯t work. He was too worried to be playing around. Alex was drinking some water, the mental strain of the skill still making her sweat, ¡°Good news first. I was able to start. One of the tattoos on his chest is gone. And not everything is bundled together, so some parts will be easier. Now, for the bad part. First, his connection with the Spirit is significantly stronger than the one the other test subjects have. That makes what I¡¯m doing a lot harder. There is more resistance against my skill. Second, there is¡­ something covering his entire body. It¡¯s not a single spell, I¡¯m not even sure if it is a spell or something else. That thing is connecting some of the other spells and making it harder to remove them. Because it¡¯s making one thing be affected by another, as if they were linked. So, without the [Steps of Purity] I can¡¯t actually try to continue.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ok. I really appreciate all the help,¡± Leo turned to his uncle, now seeing an misshaped square of empty skin, without any ink or tattoos near his left shoulder, ¡°Really, thank you.¡± ¡°No worries, and the 10 day break between sessions might be good. It gives him time to recover since this is hard on him, too.¡± Alex, along with Neria and Elistrae, left the hospital room, leaving Leo behind. With the exception of the hunter¡¯s crew, everyone also decided to give the man space. The situation was, though, and it would take a long time for any significant progress. Hera and Neria talked with Bonnie and Alex a bit more before splitting off and going to their hotel rooms. They¡¯ve been moving for days without stopping and really needed some rest. The Empress also made a point of letting Vulcan walk around, even if he was still near her. During most of the journey from the Verdant Labyrinth to here, Forge was kept inside the legacy. Being in that proximity to a Daemon would surely spell trouble and they couldn¡¯t risk that interaction. Said Daemon was in the hospital too, but on a floor away from Marco. As they traveled, they discovered that if the two got too far from each other, things would go south. The former spirit would start to wake up and enter a frenzy while the spirit bound human had minor convulsions. However, getting too close wasn¡¯t good either. If they did that, the Daemon would start to mutate, more limbs and faces would appear around his body while Marco¡¯s temperature would rise. Thankfully, the ideal distance wasn¡¯t a single number, but a range. This allowed them to prepare a separate room for the Daemon where people could study it and try to find a way to bring the creature back to its natural state without interfering too much with Marco. For the next two days, the Harmony Guardians rested and went sightseeing in Carnation, that was the name of the city in the Pink Coast Forest room. Milla was aware of their situation and had told the Alliance about their availability for other missions, but even they told the group to rest. Apparently, there were a few things going on and they might be called soon, but for now, staying close to the Astral Light, the name of Alex and Bonnie¡¯s duo, was the mission they had. Since the assassin was the only person who managed to save those bound to Daemons through their tattoos, the Alliance wanted her safe. According to Milla, bodyguards were not a necessity when Alex was in a city, that was something for when she would travel. Even so, having powerful teams in the same place as her put people¡¯s mind at ease. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. During their third day, Hera woke up late. She took the chance to have small parties with her court, especially since Vulcan never had a chance to do something like that. They ate, played some games, ate junk food and kept watching movies through the night. During moments like this, the blacksmithing kangaroo didn¡¯t seem to struggle with his emotions. Even when he was getting his ass beaten in a racing game. That lessened the Empress¡¯ worries. If small things like that could increase the Daemonic Influence, she would have to be constantly looking out for Vulcan to stop him from going berserk. Thankfully, he could have a normal life without a worry. At least as normal as one of her titled blades could be. The Empress gave all the titled blades a Royal Quest to just do whatever they wanted for the day. They could come with her, stay inside, or explore the city. The only restriction was not to leave Carnation or go inside any dungeons, or go close to the hospital without her. Hera had even asked the Alliance to give her some extra debit cards, so the titled blades could spend some money on their own if they wanted. In the end, everyone stayed behind in the hotel room. Just as the Ophidianite reached the elevator, the doors opened and Neria was about to step out. ¡°Hera! Just who I was looking for.¡± ¡°Hey, did something happen?¡± ¡°No, no. I just had an idea and wanted to run by you.¡± ¡°Sure, do you want to stop by a place and talk, or can we do it while I go get some food?¡± Hera hold the elevator door open, waiting for Neria¡¯s decision. ¡°We can walk and talk. It¡¯s nothing secretive, just complicated,¡± Neria stepped back into the elevator. ¡°Ok then. BY the way, do you know any place here with some good curry? We were watching a movie yesterday and man, I got a craving,¡± the Ophidianite used her tail to press the button for the ground floor. ¡°I read about one in the north district,¡± Neria quickly pulled her tablet and sent a link to Hera, ¡°That¡¯s the location.¡± ¡°Thanks, so what do you want to talk about?¡± ¡°Would it be ok if I tried to heal Vulcan?¡± Hera tilted her head, ¡°I mean, you have healed him before. Haven¡¯t you? We know that healing spells work on the court, but they are not as strong as we expect them to be.¡± ¡°No, no. I mean healing him from the Daemonic Influence.¡± ¡°You¡­ you want to get rid of the influence? Neria, I appreciate the intention, but that is part of him. It¡¯s not something you can just heal. It¡¯s like saying you want to heal me from being an Ophidianite.¡± Neria¡¯s eyes went wide, ¡°What? No! I don¡¯t mean to get rid of it. I mean, heal him in order to lower the influence. You mentioned it was percentage based. So like turning it down from 10 to 9%.¡± ¡°Oh! My bad,¡± Hera thought for a second, ¡°Do you think you can do that?¡± ¡°Maybe. I had an idea, and it might work,¡± Neria said as the elevator doors opened and the two walked off. ¡°Do you mind sharing? The decision will be Vulcan¡¯s, but I¡¯m not going to even put the offer on the table without knowing what might happen to him.¡± ¡°You know how that Strength Daemon that we found with Marco is sleeping all the time, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, because of the liquid strength mana in the glass box they put him in.¡± ¡°Exactly. Ever since we figured that out, I¡¯ve been working on a strength heal. A spell to heal someone¡¯s strength. Yesterday I managed to make it work, but¡­ it doesn¡¯t do anything. It doesn¡¯t actually make someone stronger, or less tired, or anything. But the spell is complete and by all metrics, it works. It¡¯s a spell that does nothing.¡± Hera stared at the triton, ¡°Which is not possible. A spell has to do something. If it doesn¡¯t, the spell doesn¡¯t work. It fizzles out. But you are saying the spell worked?¡± ¡°I knew you would understand. Yeah, it did. I think I made a spell that heals Strength Spirits.¡± ¡°Do you think that would be able to turn a Daemon back into a Spirit?¡± Hera asked. ¡°In an ideal world. Yeah. But I doubt it. The one I made was too simple. It¡¯s the equivalent of a basic heal that you would teach to new healers. Still, if it works on Vulcan, it¡¯s a step in the right direction.¡± They turned the corner, leaving the hotel, ¡°That is¡­ amazing, Neria. Really. We need to ask Vulcan, but if he is ok with that, I think it¡¯s fine. If it works, I¡¯m even going to ask you to teach me that one. But he is just the test subject, isn¡¯t he?¡± The triton nodded, ¡°Yeah. I will tell him that, of course. But we know that the Daemon Marco is bound to is making him worse. So I thought that if I was able to heal the Daemon, then it would be easier to do the same with Marco. Also¡­ remember that prophecy? Maybe it was talking about this. Maybe if I can complete this spell, the version that changes a Daemon back into a Spirit, then I will save everyone instead of letting so many people die.¡± Hera sighed, ¡°Look. You know I don¡¯t believe in that prophecy. But I do think this is a good idea. If we were able to find where the Daemons are located and change them all back into Spirits, maybe the all the Soldier of Strengths will stop working like they should.¡± ¡°Do you think so? Don¡¯t you think that doing that might just mess everything up and make them stronger? Like without having to worry about breaking down.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I do think it¡¯s worth to test that. If we have the chance. But one way or another, if Vulcan accepts that, it would be better to test inside a dungeon. Just in case he goes wild.¡± ¡°I agree. We can go to the vampire one. Alex and Bonnie made it sound like a fun one.¡± Hera thought for a moment, ¡°Or¡­ we could try the Goldmoon Manor instead. They did say that they didn¡¯t try that one since it requiters a large team.¡± ¡°And any team with you turns into a large one,¡± Neria chuckled. ¡°Oh jeez. Thank¡¯s for calling me fat,¡± Hera rolled her eyes in a joke. Then again, since her court was part of her, her weight was technically the weight of all her court members plus her own combined. ¡°I¡¯m sending a text to everyone to see who wants to join. Alex and Bonnie were dying to check that dungeon, and maybe even Leo¡¯s crew wants to join. It would be good for him to get his mind off his uncle for a while.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I agree. But tell them we are going in a couple of hours. I want my lunch first.¡± 880 - Take care Hera met the Harmony Guardians, the humans, and Elistrae in front of a sandwich shop close to the dungeon. They greeted each other, but soon, it was clear that someone was missing. ¡°Where is Leo?¡± the Empress turned to Sophia. ¡°He¡¯s not coming,¡± she replied. ¡°What? Why not?¡± Bonnie stopped talking with Skyler and turned around. ¡°He says he doesn¡¯t want to leave his uncle alone. He¡¯s been sleeping there ever since we got here,¡± Paige explained. Everyone nodded, with sad expressions, but Hera just frowned, ¡°So he intends to be by Marco¡¯s side the entire time?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it sounded like,¡± Fernando nodded. ¡°Yeah. No. That¡¯s not going to work. I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Hera marched off towards the hospital. Nimbus saw her intensity and quickly turned into a mount for the Ophidianite. ¡°Wait. Hera, what is so wrong about him staying there?¡± Neria grabbed the Empress¡¯ shoulder. ¡°Staying there? Nothing. Doing only that will end up messing him up. I¡¯m not going to force him to come here, but the sooner I talk with him the better,¡± as she replied, the triton just nodded and let her go. Hera quickly jumped on top of Nimbus, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in 15 minutes. With or without him.¡± Before anyone else could say sometime, they took off. Nimbus already had a permit to fly in the city and they arrived at the hospital in just a couple of minutes. Hera quickly went inside, the staff already recognized her, which allowed the Empress to move quickly. She reached the intensive care unit, where two doctors and three nurses were on call at all times to take care of the ten patients in less time than it took for one of the staff to fill up a glass of water. The people here were all beyond what normal healing could do, and the ones taking care of them focused so much on the medicinal way of healing that they couldn¡¯t help in the front lines, not as much as other healers. Once in front of the door to Marco¡¯s room, she knocked. ¡°Come in,¡± Leo¡¯s voice came from the other side. ¡°Hey,¡± Hera walked in and approached the bed, ¡°Any changes?¡± ¡°Not really. He¡¯s just sleeping,¡± Leo looked up to Hera, ¡°Did you come here to ask me to join the dungeon too?¡± ¡°That too, but I wanted to ask you a question first. What do you want to do?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Hera asked again. ¡°About?¡± ¡°Your life. You wanted to find you uncle, and you did. What comes next?¡± Leo frowned, ¡°Next? You talk as if this is over. Look at him, Hera. This is far from being over.¡± ¡°Yes, his struggle is not over. But your part in this is Leo. You are not a healer. You can¡¯t do anything to help him. Not anymore. I¡¯m not saying you shouldn¡¯t be by his side, but are you going to spend the next months, or years, here? What if the Alliance solves the Soldier of Strength issue and they decide to stop paying the bills for this place before Marco gets better?¡± ¡°I have money, Hera,¡± Leo replied in a cold voice. ¡°Do you? Or is your money stuck in a human bank that you couldn¡¯t access right now?¡± Leo looked away and Hera continued to talk, ¡°I¡¯m not saying you need to leave today, but you can¡¯t treat this like a run to the ER because he got a bad case of the flue. Where you spend a few hours, watch over Marco as he gets some medicine through an IV and then goes back. This will take a long time.¡± ¡°Hera- ¡° Leo was about to reply but was cut off. ¡°I¡¯m not just saying this. Let me tell you a quick story. My grandfather died before I was born. He had a stroke, and then he deteriorated a lot. It got to the point of having to amputate his leg due to some complications and it ended up with him dead. And that wasn¡¯t a one day thing. It took months. My grandma was by his side the entire time. Every day she would sleep in the hospital, wake up there and refuse to leave. It got to the point where the nurses offered her to take a shower in their locker room because she wouldn¡¯t go home for any reason. That went on for almost six months. She watched as the love of her life struggled to survive and declined with each day. In the end, my grandfather died. Grandma Triss said he passed peacefully in his sleep, but according to my dad, that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± ¡°Hera, what¡¯s the point of that story? Are you trying to say my uncle is going to die, so this doesn¡¯t matter?¡± Leo frowned. ¡°No, the story is not over. Can I finish it?¡± Leo crossed his arms with a long sigh, ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Ok, so. After all that, what do you think happened to my grandmother? After one of the worst moments of her life, how was she?¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Sad?¡± Leo had a confused expression. ¡°Well, yeah. Of course, but what else?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Tired? Frustrated?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. And sick. Staying with my grandfather took a tool in her body. And that illness destroyed her. Her knees and back were never the same, neither was her health. She wasn¡¯t old back then, but she wasn¡¯t young either. Grandma Triss went from someone who was always walking around and doing things to someone who couldn¡¯t move all that much. My dad even had to cook for her for a long time. And all of this is not even mentioning the depression that followed. It took her years to get some of the light back in her life. She even told me that I was a big part of that, even if I wasn¡¯t the first grandkid she had,¡± Hera finished the story. ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Leo groaned. ¡°My point is. During all that time, my grandma acted as if she was going to stay in the hospital for just a couple of days. Even when her body was telling her to rest. Can you imagine what it would be like if my grandfather survived? He would have gone back home to a sick wife while trying to cope with the changes. And he would have to accept that his wife was only that sick because of him. Even if people say it¡¯s not his fault, that would be in his mind. To be clear, I¡¯m not saying my grandma should¡¯ve just waited at home. I understand why she stayed with my grandfather. And I¡¯m not saying she should¡¯ve left him there and moved on with her life, but if she found some balance, what happened after might not have been so bad,¡± Hera reached out to hold Leo¡¯s hand, ¡°We¡¯ve found your uncle. He is not ok, but he is safer now. You need to take care of yourself, too. Don¡¯t just spend the next whoever many months inside this hospital room beating yourself up for not finding him sooner.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll keep that in mind. But I¡¯m still not going to the dungeon with you all today.¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s fine. We can handle things. But take care of yourself. If you need, take it slow. Go to the cafeteria to eat. Walk around the garden in the back. Also, did you even check on Tiger ever since we arrived?¡± ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t,¡± Leo looked away. ¡°So go see him. I know the stables here looked really good, but I¡¯m sure he would rather be with you. And if you want company, just ask. I¡¯m sure Bonnie and Alex will be up for it, too. Not to mention your crew. We can go eat, get some drinks. I can even be your wingman. Check out the snake lady is a great icebreaker.¡± That line made Leo chuckle, ¡°Yeah.. I got to agree with that one.¡± ¡°Just take care of yourself, ok?¡± ¡°I will. Thanks for looking out for me.¡± Hera smiled, ¡°Anytime,¡± she started walking away but stopped before reaching the door, ¡°I have to check one thing, but maybe if he turns into an Ophidianite all of this would be gone. I mean, I basically went inside a cocoon and I¡¯m pretty sure I was soup at one point during the process. So all we need to do is make him able to wake up to accept that offer and take him to a doorway.¡± Leo glanced back to his uncle, ¡°Do you think that would work?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ it was just an idea. I¡¯ll double check. Maybe that is an option.¡± ¡°Ok, but this would be up to him, and I don¡¯t think we can explain what you are properly before he wakes up.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I know, and I¡¯ll check with Alex, but I do have a couple of skills that might help and they would be related to doing this. Racial skills, I mean. I¡¯ll check with her and come back to you later today, ok?¡± ¡°How many racial skills do you have?¡± Leo frowned. Hera paused, ¡°Everyone is waiting for me, I should go,¡± she stepped out of the room and just as she was closing the door, she added, ¡°I have eight.¡± ¡°YOU HAVE EIGHT RACIAL SKILLS?¡± Leo¡¯s voice echoed, but Hera was already leaving the place. She quickly flew back to the sandwich shop, where everyone was still waiting for her. Once she landed, Neria passed a drink for the Ophidianite, ¡°How did things go?¡± ¡°Is he coming?¡± Paige asked. ¡°No, he¡¯s staying there. But he said he¡¯s going to think about not being there all the time. And I think he meant it.¡± ¡°Damn, how did you manage that? We tried talking with him and he just said no all the time,¡± Fernando asked. ¡°I told him a story about my grandfather and my grandma. But I think I only hit the mark when I asked about Tiger. He realized he left him in the stables ever since we got here,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Right. Why didn¡¯t we think of that?¡± Sophie turned to her friends, but no one had an answer. However, the subject wasn¡¯t over as Alex froze and kept staring at Hera, ¡°He still has that thing?¡± ¡°Thing? Tiger is a sweetheart!¡± Paige protested. Alex shivered, ¡°Nope. Don¡¯t care. If we are running the dungeon, let¡¯s just go,¡± she walked off, heading to the building where the dungeon was located in a hurry. ¡°What bit her?¡± Fernando asked. ¡°She hates frogs,¡± Bonnie replied while shaking her head, ¡°At least she doesn¡¯t freak out when we see one anymore. It was fine after Leo got Tiger, but we spent a while away from them. Then we had to deal with that a group that was aggressive and coming after us. I was the one that had to kill them while Alex just hid on top of a tree.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Vash started laughing. ¡°She would have hated the Kalandria Empire,¡± Skyler smiled. ¡°Did anyone enjoy the Kalandria Empire?¡± Roan groaned. Vash was about to say something but the entirety of the Harmony Guardians started at him, stopping the harpy from uttering a single word about the subject. Everyone continue walking towards the dungeon as Bonnie gave everyone the run down the regular dungeon. ¡°I played it cool, but I¡¯m a bit sad we didn¡¯t get the extra reward for being the first to ever complete the new dungeon,¡± Elistrae said as they entered the building. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You wouldn¡¯t be able to anyway,¡± Hera replied. ¡°What? I can gather a team large enough to beat it,¡± the elf huffed. ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean that. When you make a dungeon, you can¡¯t be the first one to enter it. Neither can be your descendants,¡± Hera explained. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fernando turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°I made a dungeon before. It was a historical one, I think. About a griffon that terrorized a room and stopped any dwarf from harming its kind by using a legacy. Anyway, because I was a part of the events that led to the creation of the dungeon, I couldn¡¯t participate in the first clear. The dwarves had the same issue with a different dungeon. Because the events in there happened with their entire civilization, and it happened only a few generations ago, everyone was too close to what happened and they couldn¡¯t enter the dungeon. I¡¯m guessing this is the same situation, even if it¡¯s not a historical dungeon,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Oh, really? I didn¡¯t know that,¡± Elistrae replied. ¡°Yeah, even though there are so many people around, those details about making dungeons seem to be hard to come by,¡± Hera continued to walk after Alex. She was curious about how Alex was able to affect this dungeon to such a degree. It was likely related to her legacy, but that created its own question. Could she do similar things using her legacy? Maybe this dungeon had the answers to that. 881 - Goldmoon Manor Everyone walked through the tunnel in a unit. They had to wait for their turn since the new dungeon became a hot spot for the teams that were still in the city. It was something new, exciting, and the scenario inside was close to a guerrilla warfare situation, which was good practice for similar situations. That wasn¡¯t just a mindless fear, but a reaction to the fact that a couple of cities had fallen in the past weeks. One wasn¡¯t that big, and all civilians were able to evacuate before anything happened, but the second wasn¡¯t as lucky. The city in question was called Kertal, and it shared its room with a human city. The problem was the location; it was in the center of a large crater, and there were no doorways nearby. This allowed the guild to set up a siege and constantly batter the Alliance defenses until they took over. Some people managed to flee during the assault, but most ended up stuck there. The one positive side of all of this was that the people in charge of the human army didn¡¯t seem to be attached to the Soldier of Strength project. Or they were worried about how killing all the non humans inside a city that large would affect the morale of their army. Meaning that a large number of people ended up being used as bargaining chips. However, those who were stuck there still fought back. They were constantly attacking the occupying force with all they had. Using home-made weapons and anything they could do to get rid of the humans. Ultimately, the Alliance made a deal with the humans. In exchange for the people who were trapped there, they would give up two cities, including the one in the room where Hera fought against Delta. But that wasn¡¯t the end of the issues. Among the civilians that were captured were many children. Said children wouldn¡¯t be able to cross a doorway until they turned 18, which forced the Alliance to make another deal to allow them to make a minor settlement in the room where their people would stay until the children could leave. The humans accepted that deal, but everyone knew this wouldn¡¯t be the end of things. At any moment, the guild could use the lives of those living in the settlement to try to get something else from the Alliance. The only way to save those people would be to divert troops to take control of the entire room. Both sides knew that, and for now, were pretending not to do anything about it even as more and more people gathered in nearby rooms preparing for a massive confrontation. People were acting as if this would be the largest battle in the war so far, which probably meant the Soldier of Strength would finally make a proper appearance. So far, aside from the prototype, no one saw any of them. A few of those who knew about that project were even starting to consider them just a rumor. Not the fact the humans were experimenting on people, but the idea that they were successful in creating this super powered type of soldier. The threat of those beings was already enough to hinder the Alliance movements, and that could be all the humans could do. Hera was more or less aware of the entire situation, being informed by both Milla and Ka¡¯mal, who still treated her team as part of the intelligence agency. She wasn¡¯t sure what to believe in relation with the Soldiers of Strength. On one hand, it was completely possible for the humans, more specifically, the New Dawn, to be up selling that project hard. Trying to avoid losing investors, and refuse to admit a failure. But, on the other hand, Hera saw the power of Delta first hand. That didn¡¯t feel like a simple prototype. If the only issue was how people would break down after the procedure, fixing that shouldn¡¯t be that much of an issue. And if it was, there wasn¡¯t a shred of doubt in her mind that the humans would consider those in the project as necessary sacrifices. What else to expect from a group of people willing to torture and experiment on people. ¡°Hello! Ground to Hera,¡± Bonnie waved her hand in front of the Ophidianite, who just blinked. ¡°What?¡± she was distracted by the thoughts of current events and didn¡¯t notice anyone talking to her. Right now, her entire court was in the legacy to avoid crowding the place even more. ¡°It¡¯s time to go. Let¡¯s move,¡± Bonnie gestured to the corridor. ¡°Yeah, sorry,¡± Hera nodded and started walking behind her. ¡°What is the deal with this dungeon again?¡± Paige asked. ¡°Basically, we need to protect the purifiers. A group of priests or something close to it that can cure vampirism. There are three factions aside from them, the vampire hunters, the vampires against the cure, and the ones in favor of the cure,¡± Elistrae explained. ¡°And we need to protect them just from two of the three factions, right?¡± Fernando asked. Alex shook her head as they turned the corner. The fire exit door with golden details on the border at the end of this new corridor, ¡°Not necessarily. It depends on the mission. From what I know, it can be one, two, or all three of those factions that are going after the purifiers.¡± ¡°Even the ones that want to be cured?¡± Vash asked. ¡°They seem to be the worst ones when they get angry. In some versions of the dungeon, the vampires are very desperate for the cure and will start attacking, trying to kidnap the purifiers to get cured sooner,¡± Bonnie explained. ¡°I also saw that there is a variation where the purifier organization is corrupt, and they only cure those who pay very well. That makes the ones looking for a cure more dangerous than a starved vampire,¡± Elistrae added. ¡°Either way, we are about to find out,¡± Alex pushed the door open, revealing the same street she saw in the regular version of the dungeon. In fact, everything was just like she saw in the Bloodmoon Manor. With one significant exception. The moon on top of the mansion wasn¡¯t red, but golden. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What do we do here?¡± Flint, the last one to enter, asked. ¡°Hang on,¡± Bonnie closed her eyes but was quickly interrupted. ¡°Do we need to follow the shouts?¡± Roan turned to the researcher. ¡°Yeah, can you hear them already?¡± ¡°Yep. Follow me,¡± the beastmen started guiding the group, and soon everyone heard the noise. Initially, it sounded a lot like cheering, but after a loud crash, it became clear that wasn¡¯t the case. Without saying anything, everyone just glanced at each other and started running, with Roan still taking the lead. ¡°Bonnie, do you have anything to defend an area?¡± Alex asked as they moved. ¡°Two things. Either the shield or a boat and,¡± she looked up, ¡°Forget about the shield. I only have the boat right now. The stars are different from the other version.¡± ¡°Ok, be ready for that,¡± Alex nodded, but she failed to notice Hera¡¯s preparation. As everyone was running, the entire court came out, including Vulcan. In addition, the Empress shook her bracelet, letting the snakes out and told them to spread around the entire city, forming the necessary set up for the Pool of Styx spell to cover everything. Hera and her titled blades also became covered in some odd liquid shadow, something that looked like ink but moved as if it was inside a lava lamp. But instead of turning everyone black, it was like they were simply eternally covered by the shade. Even when standing under one of the streetlights. ¡°To the left!¡± Roan shouted and turned the corner. At the end of that road, they saw the source of all that noise. There was a large golden barrier surrounding a bus while strange vampires attacked them. They all had longer limbs and pitch black skin, and their faces were a mix of elf and bat. Some had bat eyes and regular mouths, others were mostly animals, and a couple even had the wing membrane attached to their arms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a dungeon quest The vampires in the room have mutated due to some unforeseen circumstance. Locate and destroy the source of the mutation and save the purifiers. First time rewards: Ancient Vampire Lord set piece, or Legendary Vampire Hunter set piece. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Legendary?!¡± Fernando gasped. ¡°Calm your horses, it¡¯s just the name of the set. The rarity will be epic,¡± Bonnie said. ¡°Oh¡­¡± the hunter looked down, but he was still running at full speed, not wanting to be left behind. ¡°So, is there anyone we shouldn¡¯t kill? Aside from the purifiers?¡± Skyler asked. Elistrae shook her head, ¡°No. This is the most annoying one to deal with. We need to kill everyone who is not a purifier. The vampires are all infected with the drug that makes them mutate, and the vampire hunters are responsible for the mutation. If anyone is alive, the mutation is still going.¡± ¡°How did they infect everyone?¡± Paige asked. ¡°They put the drug in the water supply,¡± Elistrae explained, being the one who knew the most about this dungeon. Bonnie and Alex were curious, but they didn¡¯t want to spoil the experience by seeing things beforehand. The elf, on the other hand, didn¡¯t see a problem doing that. Vash frowned, ¡°Wait, but how? Vampires don¡¯t need to drink water, do they?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t, but they take showers.¡± ¡°Oh, so the drug can get them through their skin. That sounds nasty. Do we have to worry about that?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Not from what I understand. It seems vampires are the only ones who are affected,¡± the elf continued. ¡°Got it,¡± Hera replied as she created a legendary venomous spear in her hand using a considerably large chunk of the mana inside her [Empress Core]. It was completely bronze, with a long piece of cloth attached to the base right after the edge. The blade itself was golden and shaped like a mountain, including the jagged peaks with a hint of silver to illustrate the snow. She added the Splitting Lightning spell to make attacks chain to nearby targets and threw it with a [Grasshopper Stab] and the [Weapon Break] aiming at one of the sides of the crowd, not to harm the barrier around the bus. However, she got a nice surprise instead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Skill Acquired Grasshopper Throw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The spear flashed through the air as electricity crackled around it. The attack took the vampires by surprise, and when the first one was hit, the spear shattered in an explosion of lightning and thunder. The building behind now had a large hole in its side and the entire street became littered with vampire body parts. Where once was the pavement now was a large opening leading to the sewers. On the opposite side of the bus, most of the vampires were also gone, all killed by the lighting that spread out and chained towards them as the attack hi. ¡°Holy baby llama, what the fuck was that?¡± Paige gasped. ¡°I wanna know too,¡± Alex turned to Hera. ¡°A combo of skills. Including that weapon break one. Remember when we fought the giant?¡± Hera turned to the assassin. ¡°Oh yeah. The rarer the weapon you break, the stronger the attack gets, right?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°And that one was a legendary. I can make various rarity weapons with a skill. Just in name, though. The attributes are not that great and they don¡¯t come with any skills.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like something that¡¯s not great!¡± Bonnie yelled, pointing at the building. It looked like someone used a massive wrecking ball to crush the three lowest floors. ¡°My level is higher than this dungeon. It¡¯s not my fault the place can¡¯t handle that kind of attack,¡± Hera shrugged, trying not to show that she was equally surprised by the attack. She quickly glanced at her skills and noticed how [Weapon Break] reached rank 3. This time instead of increasing the chance of the weapon not breaking, it increased the damage the skill dealt. ¡°Hey! Hurry, we can move now!¡± a voice came from down the road. It was the bus driver. They had dropped the barrier since the vampires scattered and were now calling for the people who saved them to go inside. Elistrae picked up the pace, making everyone understand that this should be part of the dungeon. Even if she never came in here herself, the elf had really done her homework. Once everyone climbed inside, and Hera sent her court away one more time to save space, the bus driver stepped on the gas and started running from that place. ¡°We need to reach the headquarters. We will be safe there,¡± the driver said. ¡°Yeah, that thing might have attracted the vampires,¡± Bonnie squinted at Hera. ¡°Hey, I killed them, didn¡¯t I? Besides, maybe they started running away in fear after that,¡± the Empress huffed. ¡°I doubt it. It would take something much bigger to scare crazed vampires.¡± A cracking noise echoed in the street as the building that Hera broke open tilted and collapsed, covering the street in a cloud of dust. Everyone just stared at the nothing that could be seen outside as the bus continued to move and slowly turned to Hera, who was also looking back with wide eyes. ¡°Maybe that enough to scare them,¡± Vash asked. 882 - Vampire Cure Project ¡°Thank you so much for your help. We don¡¯t know what would¡¯ve happened if that kept going for long,¡± one of the purifiers bowed to the group. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s part of the job, but can you just wait one moment?¡± Skyler turned back to Hera, ¡°I¡¯ve seen you using that combo before, why was that so much stronger?¡± ¡°Because I used a legendary grade weapon. The weapon break effect scales with the rarity of the weapon itself. For a legendary one it currently becomes,¡± Hera paused, calculating what a 2 500 000% increase would actually be, ¡°25 thousand times stronger than the regular effect. And the skill ranked up when I used that attack, it was supposed to be just 10 thousand times.¡± ¡°Oh wow, just 10 thousand times stronger. That is much weaker,¡± Flint rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not a hard skill to learn. I checked, the one issue is making the weapons,¡± Hera turned to the dwarf. ¡°Not everyone can make legendary weapons out of thin air. I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s possible to have a blueprint of one,¡± Flint huffed. ¡°Yeah, but I know people can make weapons with much better skills and a better scaling than what I did. I mean, I made a legendary weapon, which was supposed to be the strongest weapon anyone can make. But the scaling didn¡¯t even break 100, and that was split into 6 attributes. Also, I spent almost my entire mana core on making that weapon. I can¡¯t do that often.¡± ¡°Is there a cooldown for those skills?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°Not a cooldown, but to recover the mana in my core is going to take almost a month. That one attack kind of tapped me out,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Why did you use it then?¡± Alex asked. ¡°I realized that I never used an attack like that before. And I wanted to try it out,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to save that mana for something else? Like for a big mission or something?¡± Elistrae frowned. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s a fair point and,¡± Alex turned to the elf and stopped, ¡°Why are you sitting on that man¡¯s lap?¡± Elistrae smiled while the purifier that was hugging her just had a stupid smile on his face, ¡°It¡¯s comfortable.¡± Alex just shook her head, already used to the elf¡¯s antics, but Hera gave a questioning look. The assassin shrugged, which only made the Empress glance back at Elistrae, who seemed to be enjoying herself. ¡°What¡¯s the point of waiting for something that might never happen? Anyway. What should we do next?¡± Hera turned around. ¡°We need to reach the headquarters and make sure everyone is ok,¡± one of the purifiers spoke up. ¡°Are you safe there?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Yeah, we have some wards to stop anyone from going inside. Unless they are with us,¡± she continued. ¡°Are you really safe there? What if someone tried to do-¡± Vash pointed to the back of the bus, even if the collapsed building was still hidden by a cloud of dust, ¡°That?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone can do that here.¡± Everyone glanced at Hera again, but she pretended not to notice. She knew they were not being serious and just messing around. Even if the attack she threw was stronger than what everyone could do at a short notice, every single member of the Harmony Guardians still had ways of dealing similar damage. Some might just need a bit more time to do so. Around 10 minutes later, they arrived at the headquarters of the purifier organization. A building very familiar to the trio that completed this dungeon before. But this time, they were heading to the underground parking lot. ¡°Isn¡¯t this where you cured Vanessa?¡± Elistrae turned to the assassin. ¡°Yeah. In the penthouse,¡± Alex nodded. ¡°So it is you!¡± the purifier that had Elistrae on his lap gasped, ¡°I thought you looked similar to the paintings,¡± ¡°What paintings?¡± Alex frowned. ¡°There are a bunch of them in the headquarters. They all show you curing the vampires, including our leader. Vanessa,¡± Elistrae smiled and started stroking the man¡¯s head, trying to see how much she could distract him during the conversation." ¡°Vanessa is still around?¡± Bonnie asked. The man was just staring at the elven woman in his lap. Only after she was satisfied with his reaction, she pointed back at Bonnie, allowing her to ask again, ¡°Of course. She might not be a vampire anymore, but that doesn¡¯t mean she just died. She¡¯s just older,¡± the purifier continued. ¡°How much older?¡± Hera asked, trying to pinpoint the time frame difference between the two dungeons. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh¡­ it¡¯s been. Around 100 years since the VCP started, and another 53 since Vanessa became an elf again.¡± ¡°So, 153 years in total?¡± Skyler asked, getting a nod in response, ¡°And what does the VCP stand for?¡± ¡°Vampiric Cure Project,¡± the driver said as he parked the bus in front of the elevators, ¡°I think you should go to the penthouse. Things are really weird now and we need all the help we can get. Besides, we don¡¯t even know where the other teams are. Maybe you can help them.¡± Everyone nodded, and they walked inside the elevator. They had to split up into groups, but eventually they reached the penthouse. There, they saw the core of the VCP. It looked like a proper business mixed with a war room from a movie. There was a reception and places for people to make calls, cubicles where some were typing away as if they were in a regular nine to five. But also a large map of the city in the center of the area with various markers. In addition, to the left, where Bonnie once set up the fighting ring, were a few beds. Usually those were given to the vampires that came to be cured, but now a few purifiers were there as healers worked to fix some of their wounds. ¡°Who are¡­ Alex?¡± a voice came to the side, and the group turned, meeting with Vanessa again. She still looked very much the same, long black hair and almond eyes, with pale skin and a black lipstick. The difference now was in her clothes. Instead of the full black get up, she swapped it for white leather, and the once silver metal spikes and chains were replaced for gold ones. It still gave off a ¡®rocker¡¯ feel but in a completely different color palette. ¡°Vanessa?¡± the assassin smiled, ¡°Damn, you look great for 150!¡± ¡°210, actually, but what are you doing here? I thought I would never see you again. Humans are not supposed to live this long,¡± Vanessa went over for a hug. ¡°Do you think she could understand that she¡¯s in a dungeon?¡± Bonnie whispered to Hera. ¡°I think so, but I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s a good idea. Not on this version, at least. You mentioned that her dad was the vampire lord, right?¡± the Empress replied. Bonnie just stared at her friend for a moment before she finally understood what the Ophidianite meant. If all vampires were affected by the mutation, that would include the vampire lord. ¡°What is going on here?¡± Alex asked the former vampire. ¡°The hunters decided that no one should be saved. They made some weird drug that turned them feral and spread everywhere. And to really fuck us over, they spread rumors that we were the ones doing all that. So everyone ended up coming after us. The hunters, to be able to kill all the other vampires, also jumped in the aggression. It¡¯s us against everyone.¡± ¡°What about your dad?¡± Elistrae asked. Vanessa lowered her head, ¡°He¡­ is also affected by it. But he is holding on inside the mansion for now. When the mutation advances too much, he will become part of the mob, and that will be a problem.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a problem just because of how strong he is, or is there another reason?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Being a vampire lord means he can empower other vampires. We don¡¯t know what will happen with that ability once he mutates,¡± Vanessa explained. ¡°So, what do you want us to do?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Victor made me promise that if he mutated, I should purge the entire city. For now, the whole mutation thing is contained in the city, but if expand to the other vampire communities, we are facing a doomsday scenario.¡± ¡°Really? It would be that bad?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Pretty much, vampires makeup for around 20% of the global population. And that is only considering the civilized ones. If we add the ones that don¡¯t like the setup, that should grow to 25 or even 30%.¡± ¡°That many?¡± Neria frowned. ¡°Yeah, and here. This is something that Victor gave me to find all vampires,¡± Vanessa passed a small locket to Alex. It was a cross with a red gem in the center, ¡°When you tap the gem you will be able to see if there are any vampires in a 50 meter radius and their direction. If there are none, it will point to the closest vampire within 100 kilometers. It¡¯s something that only vampire lords can get. In addition,¡± Vanessa pointed to the map, specifically four golden flags in various spots in the city, ¡°I have purifiers out there on these locations. If you can help them, we can start turning this building into a fort. If you manage to bring all of them, we can use a large scale attack.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you cure them? Or you can¡¯t do that?¡± Alex asked. ¡°We can¡¯t do that. Can you?¡± Vanessa asked. ¡°I can try. If we can test with someone, maybe I can at least get Victor back,¡± the Purifying Light replied. ¡°Alex¡­ If you get close to him, he might be unable to suppress the mutation. But if you can cure him of that, then it will be a big help to us,¡± Vanessa tried to suppress a smile, but the idea she could save her vampiric father gave her some hope. That things were not as dire as they seemed. Hera opened her [Treasure Map] and saw the golden marks already there, even if she had yet to unveil those parts of the map. ¡°Ok then,¡± Bonnie turned to Hera, ¡°Mind if I try turning Nimbus into a plane?¡± The Empress blinked and called the Sentinel, ¡°Let¡¯s see with him.¡± ¡°See what?¡± Nimbus asked. ¡°I have a skill that can turn a slime into a giant eagle to help her carry people. Can I try that with you too?¡± Bonnie explained. ¡°Oh, sure, it might be fun. Is it better if I¡¯m in my mount form or can I be like this?¡± ¡°I think the mount will work better, but let¡¯s go outside. You might get really big,¡± Bonnie nodded. Nimbus walked out of the balcony and jumped, turning into his griffon form. The Astral Witch added the Aquila constellation to him, covering his body in stars. His wings started to grow, becoming a green nebula cloud. His eyes were now glowing and his entire form became bigger, but not on the same scale as the wings. It took almost two minutes, but the Sentinel eventually became bigger than a bus. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Hera asked. ¡®Hungry¡­ My mana is draining fast,¡¯ Nimbus replied, his voice deeper than usual. ¡°That takes a lot of mana, but I can probably keep that up for ten minutes or so. With Ruby that was enough to get to the mansion on the other side of the city,¡± Bonnie replied, thinking that Hera was talking to her. ¡°How about yours, Nimbus?¡± ¡®About the same. And I do feel like I can carry everyone.¡¯ ¡°Ok, Nimbus things we can move, but we have to go now,¡± Hera warned everyone. The group didn¡¯t wait long and decided to go with the Sentinel. They didn¡¯t want to waste more time, and flying on a giant griffon sounded a lot of fun. In just a few moments, the group was heading to the first of the golden flags to not just save the purifiers, but also see if Alex was able to heal those vampires. 883 - Strength Healing ¡°We are about to reach the point. Can anyone see them?¡± Hera yelled through the wind. They were not as fast as Nimbus regular mount form, but the difference wasn¡¯t that big. But each time the Sentinel would flap his wings, a large gust of air washed over the group on his back, making them struggle to keep their footing. ¡°I can!¡± Roan shouted and pointed a bit to the left, there was a large horde of mutated vampires and some elves attacking from a distance trying to break open a large golden dome. ¡°Nimbus, take us down there,¡± Hera yelled, but also talked in the Sentinel¡¯s mind. ¡®I can only land on top of the dome, then you can drop off,¡¯ Nimbus replied. His current size wouldn¡¯t allow him to land on one of the regular streets. Unless he dove, but then they would be free falling for a few hundred meters. In that case, even the Harmony Guardians with their high level and attributes wouldn¡¯t be able to land without getting injured, if not worse. Hera agreed to that idea and turned to the rest of the group, ¡°He¡¯s going to land right above the dome.¡± ¡°Hurry! I don¡¯t think they can keep that up. The dome is already showing some cracks,¡± Vash was leaning over the side, with his legs being held by Paige so he wouldn¡¯t fall. ¡°Try to keep at least one alive. I want to see if I can remove the mutation,¡± Alex said. ¡°Got it!¡± the group replied as Nimbus started his descent. It took a while, and people started jumping off at different heights. Vash was the first to go, he could already fly and didn¡¯t have to worry about falling. Alex was next, using her wind chaser ability as a way to descend quickly without hurting herself. Fernando followed, using a rope arrow to latch on to a nearby building and swing like a super hero between the large structures. All the other Harmony Guardians jumped soon after. Skyler had a spell that could cushion their fall, but it only affected a certain number of people at once. Seeing that, Elistrae followed along, bringing Bonnie, Paige, and Sophie with a similar spell. As they landed, Hera called her entire court and let them all go wild. She did ask them not to kill the vampires if possible, but it wasn¡¯t a hard rule. Creating an uncommon venomous longsword, she covered the weapon in a Grasping Flame while pieces of frozen stone covered her body to create an armor. The blades and their Empress landed right in front of the golden dome, making some of the vampires pull back in fear. Since they were more monster than elf right now, their instincts could tell when they were facing someone stronger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mutated Vampire - Level 44 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Ophidianite rushed to the closest monster, and using her tail for support, she spun around it before slashing twice at its back. Each attack illuminated the area as the flames from her weapon formed an arc. She wasn¡¯t the only one doing that, the entire court was also affected by the spell thanks to the [Army of One] skill. The vampires quickly struck back, trying to avenge their fallen comrade, but their attacks hit the frozen armor, scraping the rocks and ice without hurting the Empress herself. Vulcan, being the one who ended up cooped up inside the legacy for longer, really wanted to stretch his legs as the fight began. He jumped, kicking the vampires and spinning around to hit the ones he passed by with his tail and hammer. The biggest danger of that move was not the strength behind each attack, but the large bronze colored claws on his feet. With a single strike, he could easily gore the monsters, and hitting them in the stomach would disembowel them. If that wasn¡¯t enough, he also constantly kept sending out the sacred flame from his arms and weapon to heal wounds of his allies and burn his enemies. That was a scary move, since even if a small wisp of fire hit the vampires, Forge¡¯s white flames would soon cover them. Livy, and the twins, Viper and Crimson, also jumped into the fray right away, opening a large path on the norther side of the road, but Lurize kept his distance, focusing more on protecting the golden dome. Nimbus took a long time to return to his regular form due to the buff given by the Astral Witch. The rest of the Harmony Guardians took care of the western side, while the humans took the south, leaving Bonnie, Alex and Elistrae to cover the east. In just a short few minutes, this group of vampires were either dead or unconscious on the ground. Hera and the others had a quick conversation with the purifiers, who also had their own bus and said they could reach the headquarters without a problem. But they were asked to wait a bit since they might have more people for them to take soon. During that time, Alex kept trying to remove the mutation from the vampires that still lived while keeping their vampirism. They spent around 15 minutes there, which gave Purifying Light around 15 tries with her skill but to no avail. ¡°Hang on. I don¡¯t understand. Why are you trying to remove just the mutation?¡± Fernando glanced at the people who no longer were vampires being helped to the bus. ¡°Because of the Vampire Lord. Sure, I can just be nice, heal him and move on. But if we want help, having him keep his vampire powers would be much better,¡± Alex explained. She also glanced to the side and saw one of the bodies being burned by Vulcan¡¯s [Sacred Flame]," Hey, what is that?" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s my skill. Nice, isn¡¯t it?¡± Vulcan had his arms crossed, and a satisfied expression, proud of his work. ¡°Yeah, can you bring that over? I think that fire is kind of similar to what I do,¡± Alex asked as she stared at the unconscious vampire at her feet. ¡°Oh? This is easier,¡± Vulcan stepped closer to one of the nearby bodies and let out a tiny amount of the flame from his hands. Then he pushed the dead vampire closer to Alex, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be careful. My flames only hurt my enemies. For allies, they can heal.¡± Alex blinked slowly and mumbled, ¡°Now that¡¯s just cheating,¡± with a sigh, she focused once again on the fire. ¡°How are you feeling, big guy?¡± Hera asked Forge as they waited. ¡°Having you call me big is kind of condescending,¡± Vulcan huffed, he was, after all, shorter than an average dwarf. ¡°To be fair, I called some dwarfs big guy, too. It¡¯s not just about height, but size in general. Even if you are short, you are big. And before you say anything, no. I¡¯m not calling you fat,¡± Hera rolled her eyes, but focused on Vulcan again, ¡°And you avoided my question.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ doing fine. It¡¯s weird to have a month missing in my life. Actually, are we alive? Ah, who cares,¡± Vulcan shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m just trying not to let this get in my head, but it¡¯s hard. While you and the other blades were around, I was in a limbo. I know it is a very different situation, but it feels a bit how it was like when I was being experimented on. Only being woken up when shit was about to go down. I¡¯m also not saying you only call me when bad things happen. I know that¡¯s not the case, it¡¯s just¡­¡± he sighed. Hera nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I get that. And I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know what else to do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you had an alternative. Letting me be close to Marco and the Daemon that he is bound to wasn¡¯t doing anyone any good. I just wish we could already see what¡¯s happening outside when in the legacy.¡± Hera shifted the conversation to a mental one so she could talk about the guides without a worry, ¡®The funny thing is, once we complete that quest, you will probably have to worry less about the influence.¡¯ Vulcan understood the reason for the change in the conversation and followed along, ¡®Why is that?¡¯ ¡®To get the reward from the guides, we need to save the Spirit homeland, or give them a new one. Once we¡¯ve done that, you will know that others of your kind are not suffering. That might help you with the anger you feel about all that.¡¯ ¡®I honestly think I¡¯ll be much better once we kill all the assholes who are part of the Soldier of Strength project,¡¯ Vulcan glanced at Hera, rage burning deep inside his eyes. ¡®Me too,¡¯ the Empress nodded, giving him the same intensity in reply. They watched Alex work for a few moments before Hera spoke again, ¡®How much is your influence right now?¡¯ ¡®32%. Why?¡¯ ¡®Neria had an idea about healing you. Like lowering the influence with a heal. How do you feel about that?¡¯ Vulcan paused, ¡®Depends, is the idea just doing that to me or using that to heal the Spirits that became Daemons later?¡¯ ¡®From what I understand, it¡¯s option number 2. She wants to fix the Daemon bound to Marco. If that works, then we might be able to do the same with the other spirits.¡¯ Vulcan looked back at the group still helping the elves to the bus, ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to her,¡± he said out loud, getting a nod from Hera as they moved. While Alex continued to work, Forge and the Empress talked with Neria, discussing her idea about the Spirit healing. In essence, the triton wanted to hit Vulcan with a heal made of strength mana. She realized that, in order to pacify the Strength Daemon, the humans were using liquid strength mana. That made it sleep, or be in a state similar to stasis. However, the liquid mana couldn¡¯t enter the Daemon form, because it wasn¡¯t like water that could be absorbed by skin. On the other hand, heals were made to affect the target¡¯s body. That had the potential to be a path to solving the Daemon problem. And not just the ones being used by the humans in the experiments. If this worked, it might stop any Daemon from being born ever again. As long as the people involved were able to learn that kind of healing spell. Vulcan accepted to be a guinea pig, since it would be better to use him than an actual Spirit. Then again, everyone was aware that his situation was different. Even if things worked for him, that might not be the case for the other Spirits. Neria spent the next 10 minutes trying the various healing spells she already had prepared. Unfortunately, none of them worked as they hoped, but by the end, there was some progress. Initially, all spells worked like regular heals. They would just try to cover the wounds in Forge¡¯s body, and when they found none, they fizzled out. But, by the end of that session, the healing became targeted. It wasn¡¯t aiming at the physical form itself, but something more profound. According to Neria, she was using things similar to the spells used to treat mental illness. But that area was still very much experimental. There was no magic wand to cure depression or anxiety, and spells had to fundamentally change the chemistry of the brain in order to make that work. Neria¡¯s ¡®Strength Healing¡¯ followed the same concept, but it didn¡¯t stop at the brain. Despite the unsuccessful result, there was a bit of good news. Vulcan¡¯s [Daemonic Influence] didn¡¯t have a single change during the process. Which meant that, at least, Neria wasn¡¯t making things worse. ¡°Finally,¡± Alex gasped as the vampire in front of her woke up. He was back at his regular self, no more mutation, and still with the vampirism. ¡°What was the issue?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°The mutation is intertwined with the vampire curse. But it¡¯s behaving like a parasite in a host. So if I treat it the same way, I can target it. The one problem is that this takes a while, and I¡¯m assuming against the vampire lord it will take even longer,¡± the assassin replied. ¡°Then are you ready to go after him?¡± Elistrae smiled, she left the purifiers and the elves that were fawning over her back in the bus and was focused on the dungeon again. ¡°I think so. We need to get to the mansion, right?¡± Alex got up, helping the vampire to his feet as well. ¡°How do we get there?¡± Paige asked, getting blank stares from everyone. ¡°Paige¡­ The mansion is that way,¡± Sophie pointed to the sky where a giant golden moon could still be seen peeking over the buildings." ¡°Oh¡­ right,¡± the human just nodded awkwardly. Hera quickly asked Neria to stop experimenting with her heal, they could test that again later, but now she wanted to know if a vampire lord really was all that or not. 884 - Awakened Spymasters There were still a couple more vampires unconscious on the ground. Instead of just leaving, Alex made sure to test the mutation removal on them first. Doing the same with a vampire lord wasn¡¯t going to be easy, and the more practice she had, the better. In addition, the now cured vampires could work as bodyguards for the purifiers that were heading back to the headquarters on the bus. After that, Hera and the others had to move on foot towards the mansion, which wasn¡¯t a problem. One of their possible paths would take them close to another group of purifiers. It was so close that making that small detour would barely delay them. At least when not considering the time it was going to take to clear out the mutated vampires or the vampire hunters, of course. As they approached this second cluster of enemies, Hera called the Spymasters, ¡®Hey, do you want to be awakened for this dungeon? It¡¯s been a while since the two of you got that buff.¡¯ ¡°Yes!¡± Crimson yelled out loud, making her brother roll his eyes. ¡®I suppose I can¡¯t say no now,¡¯ the male half Naga sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! I feel awesome when we do that,¡± Crimson stared Viper down. ¡°Is everything ok?¡± Paige turned to Hera, confused about the outburst. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s just a thing they want to do,¡± the Empress chuckled and turned to Crimson, ¡°Just wait until we are closer to the vampires. Let¡¯s not waste too much of the duration.¡± Livy and Nimbus could stay a few hours in their awakened form. So could Lurize, however, he had an option of going out in a blaze of glory. For the Spymasters, that was a bit different. They could only keep their awakened form for 45 minutes. That should be more than enough time to deal with this next horde of enemies and the vampire lord that was just 10 minutes away. According to Vulcan, this lowered duration happened because the effect was split in two. Or four, depending how one looked at it, since the twin daggers would become four, and each Spymaster would be holding a pair of them. Just as the group turned a corner, revealing the agglomeration of vampires at the end of the road, the Ophidianite gave Forge the signal to awaken the two. He moved to the half Naga siblings as they raised their weapons to the side. Vulcan gave a gentle tap on both daggers at once, allowing the transformation to start. Normally, the Spymasters had a face similar to Hera¡¯s, but leaning more towards the snake side. Their features were very similar to that of any of the sentient species in the MAZE, but they didn¡¯t have ears or a nose. Those being replaced by small holes where they should be located. However, once the skill took effect, their entire physique changed. No longer were the twins the half Naga, an in between the ancient species and the Ophidianite. But now they were full Naga. Even more than that. Their faces became truly snake like, and their arms grew like tentacles, becoming almost an extra pair of tails that could move just as well as the rest of their bodies. They also gained an extra set of fangs on their upper jaw that were always sticking out. Both Spymasters were also carrying two daggers. Their own, original body, and a copy of their sibling¡¯s. This was thanks to one of the Awakened skills that made them both have permanent access to each other¡¯s skills while in this state. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Viper & Crimson - Naga Twin Daggers - Scryotra Viper: Total Stats: 750 Strength: 161 Endurance: 143 Agility: 98 Charisma: 134 Intelligence: 98 Luck: 116 Mana 7 354 984/7 354 984 Weapon Scaling: Strength x 16.1, Charisma x 13.4, Luck x 11.6, Endurance x 14.3, Agility x 9.8, Intelligence x 9.8 Crimson: Total Stats: 759 Strength: 98 Endurance: 98 Agility: 170 Charisma: 98 Intelligence: 152 Luck: 143 Mana: 9 397 322/9 397 322 Weapon Scaling: Agility x 17, Intelligence x 15.2, Luck x 14.3, Strength x 9.8, Endurance x 9.8, Charisma x 9.8 Passive Shared Skills: Two Fight as One: When within 10 meters of each other, Viper and Crimson will be affect by each other¡¯s attributes and weapon scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. This effect can only be applied to Viper and Crimson. Naga attunement: All skills and spells that Viper and Crimson have are considered Naga spells or skills. All skills and spells that do not need to be converted have their effects increased by 50% Blessing of the Stealth Spirit: Viper and Crimson were blessed by a Stealth Spirit. This allows them to control how hard is to perceive their presence even without any skills active. When using a stealth based skill or spell, the effects are doubled. Unparalleled collaboration: Viper and Crimson work together with a near flawless precision. Hidden Strike: Attacks made without warning the target will deal 50% more damage. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Viper¡¯s Passive skills Enhanced Poison: When using any poison-related spells or skills Viper increase the poison effect by 30% Snake¡¯s Cunning: Viper¡¯s mind gains a greater benefit from intelligence allowing him to process information 20% faster than his intelligence would allow. Crimson¡¯s Passive skills: Rending Blade: Crimson¡¯s attacks can cause the target to receive a grievous wound, reducing any healing that it receives by 20% Serpent¡¯s Hold: Crimson¡¯s muscle gains a greater benefit from strength, increasing the force behind her muscles by 20% more than what her strength would allow. Shared Active skills: Alluring Presence: By activating this skill, your target will feel attracted to whoever activates this skill. Mana Cost: 300 mana per target affected Hidden Frontal Screen: When active, this skill will allow the user to hide from almost anything that is in front of it. Mana Cost: 0.5% total mana per second. 2% if the user is moving. Viper¡¯s Active skills: Grasping Strike: Viper deals a blow that binds the target temporarily. The duration of the bind depends on the strength of the target. Mana Cost: 500 mana Acid Spray: Viper can spray acid from his fangs, the gas released by this chemical can also poison those who come in contact with it. Viper is also able to control the type of acid used for this skill to a certain degree. Mana cost: 300 000 mana. Crimson¡¯s Active skills: Bloody Claw: Crimson launches a long-range attack made out of blood. Depending on how much mana was spent, the attack can be performed with one, two, or three claws. If exposed blood is nearby it can be used to increase the power of this skill as long as the blood is not inside a living being. Mana Cost: 300, 600, 1 200 Mana. Distance: 50 meters Demolisher: Crimson can turn her body into an unstoppable force. She gains increase damage against any structure and against shielded targets. The more she is able to destroy, the more powerful her attacks will become. Mana cost: 20% total mana. Initial damage increase: 20% Maximum damage increase: 400% Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 20 minutes Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Awakened skill: Always Together: While awakened, a copy of their twin¡¯s dagger will appear in their hand. While holding that dagger, Viper and Crimson have access to each other¡¯s skills. Awakened Guardian¡¯s Form: Viper and Crimson and can transform individually. In this form, their attributes are added together, and their skills are 100% more effect. Mana cost: 90% total mana. Duration: 2 minute. Cooldown: 48 hours. Forms available: Scryper, Crimotra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crimson let out a hysterical laughter as she rushed ahead of the group, moving extremely quickly towards the vampires, ¡°Bleed for me!¡± she swung both daggers, the one with a white blade that now had lines of red almost as if it was bleeding, and the one with a red blade that gave off a white glow. The vampires didn¡¯t even notice her coming, as the [Hidden Frontal Screen] stopped her from being seen, and the noise caused by the crowd drowned out her voice. Crimson¡¯s arms moved like whips, slashing at necks and spines with deadly precision. Every couple of strikes, a pair of large energy blades made out of blood, went flying, carving a path in the swarm of vampires. Viper wasn¡¯t far behind her, but his methods were silent. No one saw him moving, or anything happening for that matter. Not until a few seconds later, when a large chunk of the vampire crowd suddenly fell to the ground, already dead. They were all affected by the [Grasping Strike] skill and died standing up. Only when the Spymaster¡¯s skill was over they were allowed to rest. Once the rest of the group reached the first group of dead vampires, Viper and Crimson appeared on opposite sides of the golden dome that protected the purifiers. The Spymaster faced away from that light and towards the crowd of mutated creatures that still moved and spat out what looked like a fire hose of an acid towards the monsters. Each droplet was able to melt even bones. To finish things off, the twins created six massive [Bloody Claws] each and sent it flying to the rest of the vampires, clearing this entire swarm before Hera and the others could even reach the battle. The Harmony Guardians, the humans, the Astral Light, and Elistrae all stopped running and slowly turned to Hera with annoyed expressions. ¡°In my defense. I had no idea they wanted to go that hard,¡± the Ophidianite took a step back. Everyone groaned, and they had another few minutes talking with the purifiers while Viper and Crimson continued being heightened versions of themselves. Crimson became something close to a jock, wanting to test her strength against everyone, while her brother continued being more quiet, but now somewhat brooding and with the intensity of someone who would kill for being disturbed. Soon after, they rushed to the mansion. The surrounding area was not just empty but showed no signs of battle like the rest of the city. There were no claw marks, dried blood, holes, not even spots of dirt where someone dropped their drink. It seemed like someone was taking very good care of the place, or everyone knew they should stay clear of the area. Once they crossed the gates, everyone got a feeling of danger. Even the Harmony Guardians with their higher levels. Then again, it wasn¡¯t to the point where they were worried, it was just more dangerous than the hordes of vampires. As they walked along the courtyard, Hera turned her attention to Viper and Crimson. ¡®This time, try not to do everything by yourselves. This is supposed to be a way for everyone to relax.¡¯ ¡®Boooo. This is me relaxing,¡¯ Crimson groaned. ¡®Understood, Empress,¡¯ unlike his sister, who didn¡¯t change all that much on the way she spoke, Viper also became more formal for some reason. Hera was sure this was intentional, and not just a side effect of the skill, but she wasn¡¯t going to mention anything about that. If the Spymaster was trying something new, it was up to him. ¡®Can we at least use the guardian forms?¡¯ Crimson asked. ¡®If you want, just let everyone else fight, too. Besides, we can¡¯t kill the lord,¡¯ Hera replied. Once the group was getting to the entrance of the mansion, they saw a man with long black hair, and a wide brim white hat with a single black line going across it. He still sported what could only be described as the ¡®old rock star look¡¯ and appeared like a typical vampire. With the exception of his hands that were longer and the nails had turned into long claws, almost 10 centimeters long. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mutated Vampire Lord - Level 45 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The man turned around, showing his glowing red eyes to the group, and roared. A silent scream that caused blood to pour out of the windows of the mansion, forming waterfalls. From that red liquid that continued to flow without end, armored knights, hell hounds, skeletal horses, and bats made out of blood emerged. Just like Hera, when the vampire lord fought, he was never alone. 885 - Vampire Lord As the vampire lord called its blood army, everyone got ready to fight. Still, they waited for the mutated ruler to finish its summoning spell before doing anything. Bonnie quickly changed Ruby¡¯s form and the Ursa Major constellation to buff her, turning the slime into a bear that had a similar color scheme as the blood army. That was the first major constellation she had access to, and the first one that allowed her to create her own version of a noble house, or position, in her case. Using the Ursa Major opened a Daimyo level house for the Astral Witch. But that was still four rankings below the highest one she could muster. Still, the buff was already considerably more powerful. Ruby became taller than most people while on four legs, once she stood up, she even towered over Livy. And the tamed monster now had attributes that could rival the Leviathan. ¡®I can still take her,¡¯ Livy mumbled in the court¡¯s mind once the massive red bear formed in front of them. Hera just smirked and saw Paige, Sophie and Vash casting a few buffs over everyone. They already had organized what they could do without interrupting each other¡¯s spells. Everyone in the group felt the effects, it was a bonus to a few attributes, as well as an increase in defense and damage of attacks and spells. The only ones that were not affected by that were Viper and Crimson. The two already had a buff that was stronger than what anyone else could do, and when there was an overlap, only the strongest buff was applied. At least, thanks to Hera¡¯s [Army of One] they still got a bit of the benefit, even if it was just 10% of the effects. Skyler and Fernando were the two who started the fight, the human man fired a couple of arrows at the hellhounds that started walking towards them. The elven controller, instead of being aggressive, used the water from the fountain to turn part of the field into a quagmire, stopping the blood red skeletal horses from rushing them. ¡®Hera! Can we?¡¯ Crimson turned to the Empress with sparkles in her eyes. ¡®Sure, take care of the army, let the boss for the others,¡¯ the Ophidianite rolled her eyes. She knew the Spymasters wanted to use their guardian forms. Normally, Crimson would be against using that skill, but in their awakened state, that changed. Crimson didn¡¯t wait and quickly transformed, since she didn¡¯t need the help of her brother to do that. Her lower body grew, her tail becoming longer, and some spikes appeared on the sides, almost like the carapace of an ankylosaur. From her waist, a deep red exoskeleton appeared. However, unlike the normal version that replaced her torso with the body of an insect, this was closer to armor. Her hands turned into the claws of a mantis, but when considering the current tail like structure of her arm, that wasn¡¯t much of a change. Still, those weren¡¯t actual claws, but the daggers that were the true body of the wins. One red and one white. Crimotra¡¯s face wasn¡¯t a mix of a bug and a snake anymore. Instead, it was Crimson¡¯s face with what looked like mantis inspired helmet from a sentai show, something that she leaned in heavily during the transformation. Without the awakening, the twins would vanish and then reappear in the complete guardian form. However, now, Crimson spun her arms, forming a circle in front of her before pointing the left hand to the sky and the right one to the left. She held the pose as the red and black energy covered her body and shifted her appearance to Crimotra. She also became considerably faster as Viper¡¯s attributes were added to her own. The other Spymaster had a much less extravagant transformation. He simply walked forward, long black scorpion legs appearing from the back of his tail in a burst of green and black energy. Only when enough of them appeared that they lifted him from the ground, but the legs were harder to see, almost as if they were made out of smoke. A large scorpion stinger that had a dangerous looking green liquid coming out of the tip hang about a meter above his head. Strangely enough, the actual tail that connected the stinger to the rest of his body was nowhere to be seen. The Empress knew the stinger wasn¡¯t just floating, but there was something hiding the body of the tail completely. Viper¡¯s torso didn¡¯t change much, only becoming more muscular and the twin daggers were still firm in his hand. The one thing that changed on his face was that now he had another pair of fangs coming out of his mouth. In a swift motion, the twins met the blood army in the middle of the quagmire, neither of them felt bothered by the difficult terrain. Everyone else was hanging behind, waiting for the blood creatures to clear that area and meet them in a more open field. The Vampire lord was the first to do so. He simply jumped over the field, a pair of blood wings appearing from his back. Roan and Flint quickly went after him as Ruby rushed to intercept a group of blood knights. Hera asked her court to play defense and focus on the enemies that were not being targeted by anyone else. Even if she didn¡¯t do it herself, because of her, everyone lost the chance to kill an entire horde of enemies, it was only fair that she let them fight without a worry this time. The one exception for that command was Vulcan. He could join the fight as he wanted, as long as he didn¡¯t kill the Vampire Lord, of course. Having someone to cover everyone like this would be more than enough for the group to relax and do what they wanted, and considering how the blood army was still emerging from the waterfalls, this should be a long fight. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Or that was what Hera thought for a moment. Flint and Roan seemed a bit too excited about the fight. The beastmen jumped to the side and brought down his hand axes on the vampire lord¡¯s left arm, hoping only to damage it a bit, but the limb was cut clean off before Victor even landed on the ground. The dwarf, on the other hand, was already preparing a punch when that happened, and only had enough time to shift his aim. Instead of slamming the mutated lord square in the chest, he hit the vampire¡¯s right hip with such strength that the dungeon boss spun in the air like a ballerina before collapsing on the ground. That combination of attacks was enough to knock the vampire lord out, which also caused the entire blood army to vanish less than a minute after they started appearing. ¡°Really?¡± Alex groaned. ¡°Sorry, I¡­ he was the boss. I thought I could go a bit harder,¡± Roan stepped away from the body of the vampire lord, unsure if the dungeon boss was still alive or not. It was hard to tell, after all, a vampire didn¡¯t need to breathe, and didn¡¯t have a pulse. Flint was just staring at his fist, ¡°Yeah¡­ sorry about that. We got some materials on the way here and,¡± he looked at the vampire lord and back to his arm, ¡°They are good.¡± Alex started walking towards the pair, ¡°Elistrae, can you see if Victor is still alive? I can remove the thing now, but if he is dead, there is not much I can do about the mutation.¡± The elven healer had her eyes closed and bobbed her head rhythmically, moving her lips without saying anything. ¡°Elistrae?¡± Alex asked again, this time louder. ¡°What? Sorry. What do you need?¡± the elf snapped out of whatever it was doing. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Bonnie frowned. ¡°Yeah. That scene just made me think of a song and I started singing. It¡¯s been a while since I heard it,¡± the elf said with a smile. ¡°Ok, can you help here? We need to keep Victor alive here.¡± ¡°Sure, sure,¡± Elistrae walked forward, still humming the tune and gently swaying her hips from side to side. Hera realized that as the elf walked, her entire leg came out of her skirt, almost showing the side of her curvy butt cheeks. It was very odd to see someone in a dungeon wearing revealing clothes like that. It was one thing to be a beastmen that could improve a skill by being hit, but this was clearly something made to attract a different kind of attention. Looking around, the Empress saw Flint, Roan, Skyler, Paige, and Fernando all with an expression of confusion similar to her own. But Sophie, Vash, and Neria stared with a very different interest in mind. Being close to her triton friend, Hera couldn¡¯t help but approach and clear her throat, which caused Neria to look away in a hurry. ¡°So, tentacles and ass? That¡¯s your style?¡± the Ophidianite smirked. ¡°Shut up and stop putting me on blast like that. She doesn¡¯t need to know I was looking,¡± Neria huffed, but quickly realized that no one was looking at them. Hera winked, ¡°Soundproof bubble. Just around us, and it¡¯s invisible this time.¡± Neria frowned, ¡°Why did you always make it green then?¡± ¡°So everyone knows where it starts and where it ends. But it¡¯s been a while since I managed to make them invisible. Just never needed to do that, if I want to tell my court to do something, I have better ways of communicating. Don¡¯t worry, Elistrae didn¡¯t hear me talking about how your eyes were glued to her.¡± ¡°Oh, shut up. I talked with her earlier and she likes the attention. And besides, are you telling me you don¡¯t enjoy the view?¡± Hera glanced to Elistrae, the elf was now bending down in a very suggestive manner while healing Victor, ¡°That part is nice, but the backdrop kind of ruins for me. Not to mention the smell,¡± behind the elf were large pools of blood that were once the army created by the vampire lord. The mansion now had red stains coming out of the window as if it was a horror film. Neria took a look around, ¡°Ok, fair. But still, you have to agree she is hot.¡± ¡°She¡¯s gorgeous, and I wouldn¡¯t give up a chance to be with her. But I don¡¯t know, the classic beauty is not my style. I tend to go more for the quirky type,¡± Hera sneaked a glance at Neria. ¡°Yeah, that tracks. That elf girl you hooked up with had a more small-town girl look. Not a¡­¡± Neria trailed off while staring at a very specific part of Elistrae. ¡°The clap of my cheeks can bring world peace look?¡± Hera replied. The joke seemed to land as Neria started laughing out loud. But the Ophidianite felt that maybe it wasn¡¯t just the joke, but the fact she never said something like that before. The surprise effect made it funnier. Before they could continue the banter, Elistrae spoke up. ¡°Ok, he¡¯s ok enough now that if he turns into an elf, I can heal him still. Go for it,¡± she had even managed to fix Victor¡¯s arm, reattaching it to his body. Hera poked Neria with her elbow, ¡°Get yourself together. I¡¯m going to drop the spell.¡± ¡°Hang on. Gimme a minute,¡± the triton quickly recomposed herself before the Empress dropped the soundproof barrier. By then, Alex already had finished removing the mutation from Victor. The vampire lord thanked the Purifying Light and looked around, ¡°There are still many mutated vampires in the city. I understand you can¡¯t cure them all, Alex. Instead, I¡¯ll give them rest.¡± He clapped his hands and the blood army was reformed. This time, there was no waterfall of blood or anything of the sort. Instead, the knights, hellhounds, bats, and skeletal horses all appeared from the blood in the area. But their numbers were on an entirely different level. During the small fight, they saw maybe 100 units walking around. But now, not just the garden and the mansion, but even the streets were filled with the blood constructs. There had to be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of them. ¡°It¡¯s time to clean my city,¡± Victor said in a snarl before the army started moving. It seemed like even if the group wanted, they wouldn¡¯t be able to fight all that much anymore. With that in mind, everyone just followed Victor along as he headed to the purifier headquarters to see Vanessa. The questions were, were they going to complete the dungeon quest before or after reaching the old penthouse? 886 - Do I bring bad luck? Once the group arrived at the penthouse, Victor greeted Vanessa, who thanked Alex for saving her family again. There was a brief conversation about Vanessa¡¯s son and how they got closer and he had his own family now, which, according to Elistrae, was very quick for elves since the man wasn¡¯t even 100 years old yet. At the tail end of the conversation, Hera felt the snakes she sent out to prepare the Pool of Styx spell reaching their destination. However, there was no need for that anymore. A bit frustrated, she just called them back. The quest was basically over, there was no need to even try using that spell. Besides, it would take a while for all the snakes to gather again. Leaving them here would just stop her from using the skill, and telling them to kill themselves didn¡¯t feel right. ¡°Do we know where the other mutated vampire hordes, or the vampire hunters are?¡± Flint walked closer to the map the purifiers had available. ¡°They should be-¡° Vanessa was about to point somewhere, but Victor interrupted her. ¡°Dead. The last vampire hunter was just killed by my army.¡± Along with his phrase, everyone saw a notification appearing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a dungeon quest. The purifiers have been saved, and all threats to their existence have been dealt with. Reward: Random piece of the Legendary Vampire Hunter set. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Yes!¡± Bonnie gasped as she pulled a necklace from mid-air. Everyone looked at her and she just smiled, ¡°I got the necklace for the Ancestral set. It gives me a low level flying ability.¡± ¡°So everyone got one of the types of items? I got the Legendary set,¡± Hera replied. Most people ended up with the Ancient Vampire Lord set, only Flint, Fernando, and Hera got the Legendary Vampire Hunter ones. The group stayed in the dungeon for about one more hour. Victor and Vanessa insisted on giving them some food and drinks as a thanks for all the help, and that also gave them some time to check the rewards properly. Funny enough, Hera also got an item that could allow her to fly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Legendary Vampire Hunter Cape Epic Active skill: Wings of light: Grants the wearer the ability to take flight at half the speed they can normally run. If the wearer is more than 20 meters away from the ground, the wings cannot increase in height and will slowly descend until reaching that height limit. While airborne, wearer gains increased maneuverability, evasion and bonus damage against vampires. The bonus damage is applied when facing non vampire enemies that have any sort of drain, or leech ability at a quarter of its original strength. Duration: 20 minutes Cooldown: 2 hours Chance to evade attacks: 5% Bonus damage against vampires: + 200% Bonus damage against targets on the receiving end of a drain of leech effect: + 50% Passive skill: Shadowbreaker Aura: This cape emits an aura that disrupts shadow related magic and weakens vampire¡¯s abilities. The weakening effects is applied is applied when facing non vampire enemies that have any sort of drain, or leech ability at a quarter of its original strength. Radius: 20 meters Skill effectiveness to vampires and shadow magic: -80% Skill effectiveness against targets on the receiving end of a drain of leech effect: -20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cape was made with what looked like a dull and worn out brown leather, but it felt like silk. It could easily be used to cover Hera¡¯s body during the cold, but it was breezy enough not to be a problem while under the sun. Inside it, there were several golden runes that gave off a ¡®holy¡¯ feeling, as if they were blessed by a priest, or it was something created by the purifiers. To make things even better, the cape split about halfway down the back, which would allow the Ophidianite to move her tail around without having to go under the cape. ¡°That¡¯s a bit stupid,¡± Paige frowned. ¡°What? The skills are not that powerful, and very conditional. Unless I can maybe make a spell that lets others drain me or drain something, but it¡¯s gong to be tricky. Like giving mana to my enemies doesn¡¯t sound like a great idea,¡± Hera replied. ¡°What if you make them drain your poison? I mean, you do have poison glands, right? Can¡¯t you use them,¡± Skyler suggested. The Ophidianite stopped to think for a moment before nodding, ¡°There might be something there. It does say receiving end of the effect, so if they¡¯re being poisoned, still applies. I just need to see how to make that work.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but I¡¯m not talking about that,¡± Paige waited for everyone to turn to her before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m talking about why the vampire hunter set has a flying ability. It just doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°Maybe it is for them to chase bats. You know. When a vampire transform,¡± Vash replied. ¡°That¡¯s actually correct,¡± Victor nodded, ¡°It¡¯s pretty common for us to run away as bats. Or at least for the ones who have a decent grasp of their power to do so. Most vampire hunters can¡¯t follow us when we do that. But the good ones can.¡± ¡°See! I already knew that,¡± Vash puffed his chest with a grin, This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The Harmony Guardians knew the harpy was full of shit, but none of them said a thing. This was just a minor thing, and there was no harm in letting him have his fun. The items the rest of the group got could be useful for them, but no one decided to keep it. Hera also agreed that nothing was better than what she was already wearing. Most of her defensive gear would increase her natural defenses, meaning her scales. Changing that to something different wasn¡¯t worth it unless the new item had a strong skill. Once they left the dungeon, Hera, and all other Harmony Guardians, received a text from Milla. They were supposed to head to a specific hotel in a city to meet someone. When getting there, the hotel room was different, First, there was a partition blocking the view of anyone who tried to look inside. They had to move around it. The bed was still there, but in the corner, together with most of the furniture. In the center was a table, some chairs facing the wall, with a large TV screen. And there were runes scribbled everywhere. The TV came to life and Ka¡¯mal appeared. ¡°Ok, now this makes sense. But why all the cloak and dagger? Couldn¡¯t you have just called us in the Alliance Center?¡± Skyler asked. Ka¡¯mal was moving his hands, and there was a sound of paper ruffling, in addition, he wasn¡¯t looking at the screen, but he still replied, ¡°What we are going to talk about is more sensitive. A few of our people took care of making the room you are in secure. It¡¯s harder for anyone who is trying to hear us.¡± ¡°Should I add a soundproof barrier?¡± Hera asked. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt, but there is already one in the room you are,¡± Ka¡¯mal replied as we wrote something. Hera nodded and activated the spell either way. Helping even a little was more than enough for her. ¡°Ok, and what is this mission, I¡¯m assuming?¡± Flint asked. ¡°All of you are aware of what happened in Kertal, correct? In the room Crater of Sky,¡± Ka¡¯mal continued, looking down. ¡°The humans took over the city, and we left the room. But some families are stuck there with their children who can¡¯t cross a doorway,¡± Neria replied, her voice taking a somber tone. ¡°Exactly. You should also know that we intend to save them. We are going on a large scale battle to take over the room. What you might not know is that we have a time frame for that. The intel we got paints a picture of when the best time to attack will be. We know how long it will take the humans to send people there and when we should have the larger force.¡± ¡°Can you tell us that? Besides, isn¡¯t crossing already a problem? I¡¯m sure the humans are all preparing attacks for when people get there,¡± Roan asked. ¡°We are not naive enough to believe the humans don¡¯t know that. Their spies likely already told them the danger of the situation.¡± ¡°Do we really have people who are on their side? I mean, they hate all of us,¡± Vash asked. That made Ka¡¯mal pause and look up with a confused expression, ¡°What? No, I mean, not really. It is possible that one of us is working for them, but those cases should involve hostages and blackmail. I don¡¯t believe anyone is agreeing with their idea that our species are lesser,¡± for the first time since the call started, the elven spy looked at the group. He noticed how they all looked more or less the same, but their equipment was far from being in a pristine condition. Taking a deep breath, he put aside the papers and continued, ¡°What I called to say is. I know that you can reach our armies if you want to participate in that battle. I know some of you are against going to the front lines, but this is a different situation. The idea is to take over the room, save the people that were left behind, then leave. A couple hundred people will stay behind and they will lock the room. Cutting themselves off from the rest of the MAZE for the next 6 months. Then they will open the room for just a minute to contact us and see if the war is still going on. If it is, the idea is to close the room once more and try again in another 6 months. Also, there are human families in one of their cities. People confirmed the presence of children during one of the scout missions. The humans want to use the lives of those in that room that cannot cross over as chess pieces. But we want to remove from the board entirely.¡± ¡°So¡­ you are asking us to go to what should be the largest battle that ever happened in this war?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I am asking if you want to go. Your group will not make or break the operation. I believe we can push the humans back fast enough to get them all out of the room before their reinforcements arrive. But, I will say that most of the army that is there is around level 35 to 40. That¡¯s the average across the board. I won¡¯t say numbers in case we someone is listening but people around level 60 will not be as numerous as the rest. Then again, we will have stronger individuals than any of you there, too. Including a couple of familiar faces to you, Hera. I¡¯m asking this because I know that you are strong, and have experience with a few things that I believe will show up during the battle.¡± Hera frowned, ¡°You mean that we might see the thing that brought us to this room?¡± she didn¡¯t want to say anything about the Soldiers of Strength out loud, just in case. Ka¡¯mal nodded, ¡°Yes. The intel says they are ready and should appear soon. And if we are thinking about who is behind all that, doing this now would be very good for them. If they are able to defend the room, that is. You have that experience in dealing with them. A worst version of them actually, and I know you are capable of doing things that frankly, not many others can do. So, even if you won¡¯t make or break the battle, I do think you would be a good addition to it.¡± ¡°And if we don¡¯t want to go?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Then you don¡¯t have to. You have until,¡± Ka¡¯mal looked to the side, ¡°Minus three¡­. 9 P.M. to leave. So let¡¯s say 6 P.M. for you to confirm if you are going or not. The place is a bit far away and there is a chance that we need to speed things along and start sooner than expected. So the faster you leave, the better. If you don¡¯t want to, that¡¯s fine. Rest for the day and I¡¯ll get you a mission tomorrow. We do have a few things going on that could use the help.¡± ¡°Ok¡­ do you mind if we stay in this room, then? To talk?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Feel free. You are the only group I¡¯m talking to in the Pink Coast Forest. Just don¡¯t go out and order food. If you need anything, ask for room service using the menu that¡¯s in that room. They will send someone who knows about that place and how careful they have to be,¡± Ka¡¯mal replied. ¡°Thank you. We will tell Milla if we accept the mission or not soon. We just,¡° Skyler looked around the group, everyone with very different expressions, ¡°Need to talk.¡± ¡°I understand, take your time. Well, not really, but you understand what I meant,¡± Ka¡¯mal glanced to the side, ¡°Oh, there is another thing. King Rutigan became aware of something and asked me to pass you a message, Hera.¡± The Empress perked up, it¡¯s been a while since she talked with the dwarven King, and for him to send a message like that it had to be important. ¡°The message is this, ¡®Helena is going to Crater of Sky. She has family there.¡¯¡± Hera stared at Ka¡¯mal through the screen as all the color drained from her face. Up until this point, her vote was not going to that battle. She had no interest in participating in a large scale assault in a room, but that changed everything. How could she live with herself if something happened to Helena? But that was followed by yet another question. Why the hell were all the people she cared about getting involved in the bad parts of this war? 887 - Not really a decision Once Ka¡¯mal hung up, the Harmony Guardians looked at each other, but no one said anything. It seemed every one of them needed time to process what the elven spy just asked of the group. ¡°I¡¯m going to get the menu so we can order something. It¡¯s always better to talk in a full stomach,¡± Style stood up, already searching for the menu that should be somewhere in this room. ¡°Why bother, we are going to go,¡± Flint leaned back on his chair while clicking his tongue. ¡°What? We still have to talk about it,¡± Skyler frowned. The dwarf raised a single eyebrow, ¡°Do we? Roan and Neria will vote for us to go. They want to be in the front lines. I¡¯m voting no, and so is Vash. He is going to say he thinks is too dangerous and would rather be doing something else, and I just don¡¯t want to bother with that kind of thin. I much rather wait until this all blows over and continue improving my power armor. I would say Hera¡¯s vote was also a no. But Helena is the name of her friend, and by the look on her face, she is going there with or without us, so she¡¯s a yes too. This will leave you Skyler, who probably will say something like, ¡®I don¡¯t really care either way, I just want to continue helping the Alliance,¡¯¡± Flint looked around the room, ¡°Did I get anyone wrong?¡± ¡°Damn¡­ are we that predictable?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Or are we that close already?¡± Vash winked at Flint, getting an eye roll in response. ¡°Was he right, Hera?¡± Roan turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°Yeah¡­ I need to go help Lena. Do you remember the last wall break? When the Wendigos first appeared? She was there, and she was missing for a while. Back then I was barely level 1, and I already tried to go after her to help. My friends stopped me, and she came back ok. This time, I actually can be there for her. So I really want to go,¡± she turned to Flint, ¡°But we are a team. If we say no, I won¡¯t go on my own.¡± ¡°You are not going to try to help her? You?¡± Flint squinted at Hera. ¡°I never said that. If we don¡¯t go, I¡¯m calling everyone I know who is strong or has some pull to send people to protect her. I have an honorary seat in the Alliance council, so if I can¡¯t go, I will be abusing that power,¡± the Empress replied without missing a beat. Flint let out a half chuckle, ¡°Great incentive for us not to go. But in the end, your vote is yes?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Ok, so let¡¯s vote then. Just get it out of the way. Who wants to go?¡± Skyler raised her hand. Neria, Roan, and Hera followed her right after. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, so did Vash. Flint stared daggers at the harpy. Vash stepped back, ¡°What? I don¡¯t like the idea, but we are going because of the children. I have a soft spot for them.¡± ¡°Fine. I can make something to help the people there,¡± Flint groaned and slumped back in his chair, a slight crease forming between his brows. ¡°So¡­ do we call Ka¡¯mal again, then?¡± Vash asked, quickly trying to change the subject. ¡°No, we need to let Milla know,¡± Roan pulled up his tablet and type the message, but before sending it, he stopped, ¡°Can I?¡± Everyone nodded in confirmation, and he sent the text. In less than a minute, Milla replied, letting them know where they should go to. For starters, they would pass by 7 rooms and them meet with a group that was heading the same way. Like Ka¡¯mal explained, they had to leave today, but not right now. As long as they were on the road before 9 P.M. they should get there in time. Once they confirmed their destination, Skyler got up, ¡°Well. Since we are about to head out, let¡¯s go get some supplies, shall we?¡± ¡°Yeah, we need some rations and I would love an actually pillow for camping,¡± Neria stretched as she got up. ¡°Can you do that first part without me?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Is everything ok? If this is about your friends, I wanted to say bye too,¡± Vash turned to the Ophidianite. ¡°No. Since we are going to a large battle, I have to do a thing with my court. It will likely take some time, and it¡¯s better to do now,¡± Hera followed the group as they walked out of the room. This wasn¡¯t the hotel she was staying at, and she needed a place to be comfortable. ¡°You are going to get another power up?¡± Roan gave her a blank stare. ¡°I mean¡­ yeah? It shouldn¡¯t be a big one, but maybe it will be.¡± With the exception of Hera, all Harmony Guardians groaned. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°The world really isn¡¯t fair sometimes,¡± Skyler shook her head. ¡°What? This is about the legacy. It¡¯s not my fault it does that kind of thing. Besides, it¡¯s not like I-¡° before she could finish the sentence, a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up Current level 57 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone stopped in front of the elevator and stared at Hera. ¡°You were going to say leveled up, weren¡¯t you?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°And you just did. Almost as if you asked for it,¡± Skyler added. ¡°¡­Yes¡­¡± Hera stared back at the group. ¡°Yep. The world really isn¡¯t fair,¡± Roan shook his head as the group entered the elevator. A couple of minutes later, Hera was in the hotel room she was staying at. She had already told Skyler and the others the list of supplies she might need. And also asked them to call her if they found anything interesting. The Empress wants to use the [Bestow Gift] skill on her entire court. The only current members that already had the effects of that skill were Nimbus and Lurize. The reason why she waited so much to do that was the rarity. The more her court members did for her, the better the rarity of the gift would be. In an ideal scenario, she would always wait for a legendary option. But right now, since she was about to go to a war zone, every little bit helped. But first, she had to level up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 57 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 858 Strength: 143 Endurance: 143 Agility: 143 Charisma: 143 Intelligence: 143 Luck: 143 Mana: 9 001 654/ 9 001 654 Empress Core: 173 648 /48 359 130 Passive Mana Regeneration: 12 152/s (21 874/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 23 254/s (41 858/s with items) Empress Core Regeneration: 12/s (22/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 199 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One, Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core Bladed Weapon Combat 3 Passive: Exponential Growth (30) Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4 Throwing 1, Cutting 1, Blocking 1, Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2, Climbing 1, Acrobatics 1 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4, Shaper of Mana 2, Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1, Awareness 2, Lockpicking 1 Dancing 3 Cooking 1, Cleaning 1, Polishing 1, Sewing 1, Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 4 (+1), Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 2, Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 2 (+1), Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break 3 (+1) Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Poison Coating 3 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 2, Grasshopper Slash 2, Grasshopper Draw 1, Grasshopper Throw 1 (+1) Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer¡¯s Assassinate Explorer¡¯s Map Hunter¡¯s Catalogue, Explorer¡¯s Hunt Explorer¡¯s Research Explorer¡¯s Blueprint ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera had forgotten that she gained a rank in her [Ophidianite Scales] which made her damage resistance go up to 20% or 60% with her current armor. The [Ophidianite Mana Sense] was also a nice addition that was helping her recover and store more mana between her mana pool and her Empress Core. She was also a single point away from having 200 attribute points to distribute. Although that decision wasn¡¯t something she had to worry about. She increased her all her attributes six times, spending 177 attribute points in the process. It sounded like a lot, but if she was increasing each attribute manually, it would take 90 points per attribute, and 540 in total. The Empress already understood that she would never have the highest attribute of any group she was a part of. Skyler, Roan, and Vash, the ones who focused more on a single attribute, were closing in on 200 with their primary stat. While the secondary would be closer to what Hera had right now. Neria and Flint, who went for a more balanced build, only had a few points more than the Ophidianite in a couple of attributes, while the rest was lower. If there was ever any doubt, this confirmed how strong [Exponential Growth] actually was. With that out of the way, Hera had to call her court to start using the skill, but first, she called Daskka by herself. ¡°Hey, how are you?¡± the Ophidianite had the herald on her lap who slowly looked up at her owner. ¡°Hey, mum. Thanks for that, I really needed the rest. Sorry, I didn¡¯t help in the vampire dungeon. Was it fun?¡± Daskka spent a large portion of the trip here constantly using her mist to hide the group and heal Marco. Even when the group was sleeping, the snake was working nonstop. Because of all that, she asked Hera to rest inside the necklace for a while. If something happened, she was still there to help, but if it wasn¡¯t urgent, she needed the break. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Hera patted Daskka¡¯s head, ¡°It was fun. Viper and Crimson went a bit wild with their awakening. And I demolished a building. In hindsight, that was a really bad idea.¡± ¡°How did you do that?!¡± Daskka gasped, any sleepiness in her voice completely gone. ¡°A legendary venomous spear, the weapon break skill and a new skill called Grasshopper Throw. I don¡¯t think a wrecking ball would be as effective,¡± Hera chuckled. ¡°But why it was a bad idea,¡± Daskka moved a bit, still staying close enough to receive head pats, but now on the bed, stretching her silvery-white body. Hera quickly explained what happened during the meeting with Ka¡¯mal, including about how Helena was going to that battle, ¡°And the problem is, it takes almost a month to fully heal the Empress Core. So I won¡¯t be able to replicate that.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that might be a good thing. If you used something that big in the battle, you might get a target on your back,¡± Daskka replied. ¡°That¡¯s true. But now we also have a different thing to deal with.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I want to use the Bestow Gift skill on everyone. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen, and I want to be able to use all tools in my belt,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Oh¡­ yeah that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Daskka nodded and slithered towards Hera¡¯s neck. The snake was large enough to go from one the Empress¡¯ arms to the other and still be able to move her head, ¡°Call everyone. Let¡¯s see what they got!¡± 888 - Just like christmas morning The entire court popped out, and they quickly got comfortable around Hera¡¯s bed. This room had a few chairs and even a couch. Perks of not having to worry about money anymore. ¡°So, since we are going to a war. Like actually a war, I wanted to give you all the gifts you have available with the Bestow Gift skill. We might need all the help we can get,¡± Hera told everyone. ¡°We are going where?¡± Lurize gasped. ¡°Wait¡­ right, you weren¡¯t there. Sorry, my mind is all over the place,¡± Hera glanced to Daskka, ¡°I should¡¯ve called all of you before explaining.¡± The Empress quickly recounted the events of the last hour again. She talked about Ka¡¯mal¡¯s request, the discussion with the Harmony Guardians, and the fact that Helena was going to be there. ¡°Did you talk to Lena?¡± Nimbus asked. ¡°I sent her a text on the way here. Also called her, but she¡¯s not answering. If she already is with the army, it¡¯s likely that they already went dark, stopping all but the necessary communication,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Ok then,¡± Livy nodded, her serious expressions showing she wasn¡¯t just thinking about all the fighting that was about to happen. Or at least, wasn¡¯t excited for it as it was usual, ¡°I¡¯ll take the gift.¡± ¡®Same. The more options I have, the better,¡¯ Storm floated closer to Livy, the two sharing a look. ¡°I was half expecting you two to be a bit more hyped about this,¡± Daskka admitted. ¡®I think I speak for both of us when I say it¡¯s one thing to have a fun fight, another to go to war. That won¡¯t be just a place to joke around,¡¯ Storm explained. ¡°You are absolutely right, sorry for expecting something different from you,¡± Daskka nodded with a smile. ¡°Before anything. I would like to add. I¡¯m not forcing anyone to take the gift. If, for some reason, you really don¡¯t want it. That¡¯s fine. But this is a very dangerous situation. So, here is what we are doing. I¡¯ll start with Livy and Storm since they already agreed to it, then everyone can form a line and I¡¯ll give the gifts one by one. If by the end there is someone who doesn¡¯t want to get it, you just have to say it when it¡¯s your turn.¡± The Empress gestured for Livy and Storm, and the longsword was the first to move, but before starting, she turned to Daskka, ¡°One thing real quick. How will this work for Viper and Crimson? Do each get a gift, or does it count them as one member?¡± The herald glanced at the Spymasters and after a moment, replied, ¡°It¡¯s a single gift for both of them. I don¡¯t know what that will be. One shared skill, one for each, or even one just for one of them.¡± Hera turned to the half Nagas, ¡°Ok then. You two have to decide together. I¡¯ll only give the gift if both are ok with it.¡± The twins looked at each other and nodded, already having a discussion in their minds. ¡°Right then, what level of gift can Storm get?¡± Hera turned to Daskka. ¡°An uncommon one,¡± the herald replied. Hera asked Storm if she wanted a gift and after a confirmation, triggered the [Bestow Gift] skill. Four spots appeared around the longsword. One in the cross guard, that would give the weapon a dash ability. The second was in the blade, and it would enhance the [Crackling Strike] skill. Then was a smaller one on the hilt that would allow Storm to have her attributes increased to match Hera¡¯s current ones, plus a small buff to agility. Lastly, right at the pommel was the random upgrade. It could be anything, from a flat power up to some attributes to an actual legendary skill that was beyond anything else the weapon could do. ¡°Which one do you want?¡± Hera asked Storm. ¡®I¡¯ll take the upgrade to the Crackling Strike,¡¯ the longsword replied. With a nod, the Empress chose that option, and Storm¡¯s blade changed slightly. Now the blade seemed to have even more internal cracks, but they were just the pure lightning that existed inside the blade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crackling Strike - Enhanced Unleash a swift attack infused with enhanced lightning, dealing increased physical damage and having a higher chance to chain to nearby enemies. Additionally, each chained strike now applies a minor stun for 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Livy, you¡¯re up,¡± Daskka called the Leviathan over going on full assistant mode, ¡°You have an¡­ Epic upgrade! Well done.¡± ¡°Epic?¡± Nimbus and Lurize gasped. ¡°Yeah, I think¡­, it¡¯s probably due the fight against Delta. The skill takes into consideration how much everyone helped, and since there was a good chance we wouldn¡¯t make it without her, the rarity is higher.¡± Hera triggered the skill and saw the four options, explaining them as she went along. The random one was located on the tip of her tail. There was one on the left side of the Leviathan¡¯s hip that would power up her [Ocean¡¯s Might] skill. Another on the center of her chest that would increase her strength. With the last being on her right hand, a new skill called [Tsunami¡¯s Wrath] ¡°Give me the one on my hip. I already have enough skills that make a wave, making a passive stronger seems a good idea,¡± Livy explained. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ocean¡¯s Might - Enhanced (Rank 1) 70% of the damage dealt by you is water elemental damage. Your attacks deal 50% extra damage as water elemental damage. Your water spells deal 120% additional damage. Attacks aimed at a target bigger than you or your wielder deal an additional 50% extra damage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the effects of the skill were almost doubled. And the skill was still at rank 1, which meant it could become much stronger. But unlike Storm, there was no visual change on the Leviathan. Robin came next, he only had an uncommon upgrade. The first was on the top of the bow, a new skill called [Mystic Flurry]. On the central grip was the next. It would make the [Seal of Mystic Resonance] stronger. Then came another on the blade that would increase Robin¡¯s intelligent with the random upgrade located on the string. His decision took a while, but eventually, he took the random upgrade. The rarity of his skill was low, and there was a chance of getting something better. The gamble worked, and instead of an uncommon gift, he got a very rare one. This turned the single string of the bow into two, but there was no change in the actual power of the arrows. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Active skill Spectral Guardian: Summons a spectral guardian that follows the wielder, providing additional protection by intercepting attacks. The guardian also fires a weak arcane beam at nearby enemies, dealing minor arcane damage. Mana Cost: 1 million Duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glacia the ice falchion took the gift located on the tip of her blade, a new skill. This created almost a mace on the tip of the falchion, as a star of ice was now embedded on the blade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Active skill Icicle Barrage: Launch a volley of icicles from the blade, dealing moderate ice damage to enemies in a straight line. Each icicle has a chance to pierce through enemies, hitting additional targets behind them. Cooldown: 2 minutes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shadow, being Duke Alabaster, was able to get a rare gift due to all the use of his heirloom skills, and he chose an upgrade located on the head of the scythe. Now, instead of being made of pure shadow, there was a single piece made out of obsidian around the crystal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Active skill Shadowstep Strike - Enhanced: Teleport behind your target and deliver a strike from the shadows. This attack ignores 70% of the target¡¯s armor. After teleporting, Shadow leaves behind a 4m3 lingering shadow at the point of origin for 7 seconds. Allies standing inside the shadow gain increased critical hit damage and attack speed. Cooldown: (10 seconds) 2 minutes and 30 seconds Extra critical damage: +30% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, the upgrade didn¡¯t change what he wanted. The cooldown of the teleport was still 10 seconds, but at least the time it took for him to be able to leave the shadows behind him was shorter, and the extra damaged increased. When Sun¡¯s turn came, he didn¡¯t like any of the options, all uncommon and decided to go for the random. Unfortunately, the gift became common, but it was still an interesting addition. This added a thin layer of blue to the tip of the spear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Passive Skill Frostfire Infusion: Adds a frost element to Sun¡¯s attacks, causing enemies hit by Burning Aura to also suffer from a minor slowing effect for 3 seconds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This meant that not only the spear could deal extra damage to those around hit but also make it harder for them to escape. Clay was another surprise, getting a very rare gift. Apparently, since he had a few of the widest attacks, he gained a lot of praise from the skill. And the moment he saw one of the options, he immediately took it, without even hearing the other ones. The chain that connected the blades internals became darker, as if they were made of some kind of ancient stone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Active Skill Earthen Cleave - Enhanced: Unleash the chain blade in a powerful swing, shattering the ground and dealing earth damage to enemies caught in its path and releasing shortwaves that deal a portion of the damage caused by the shattered ground. Each successful hit creates a small fissure on the ground, slowing enemy movement for a duration. Mana Cost: 500 thousand mana Cooldown: 25 seconds Slow duration: 5 Seconds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once Pyro¡¯s turn came along, he admitted to be very nervous since he would most of the time be ¡®wielded¡¯ by the Empress. However, that seemed to benefit him as he also got a very rare gift. He chose the one located on the internal plating of his form, where Hera¡¯s tail would be touching him and would give the tail spike a new skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Passive Skill Dragonfire Mastery: Increases the duration of the burning effect applied by Inferno Burst by 50%. Additionally, enemies affected by the burning effect now have their movement speed reduced by 20% for the duration. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was simple and yet another source of slow. Hera realized that her court was becoming a perfect way to chase after her enemies. The last member of her blades moved forward. Twiggy, the tiara. She was trying to play around and sound confident, but since she wasn¡¯t participating in the actual fight, and only giving commands, the worry was very much there. However, that quickly showed to be unnecessary. Just like Livy, the Cerulean Marchioness got an epic gift due to all her contributions. There were two interesting options, a new skill called [Summon Silver Sentinel] and an enhancement to the buff she used the most, [Silvered Strength]. In the end, she decided against getting a new skill. If the summon went to Hera it was one thing, but the tiara knew her attributes would pale in comparison. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Active skill: Silvered strength - Enhanced: Increases strength by 50% for 15 seconds and grants immunity to crowd control effects for the duration. Cooldown 8 minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After finishing gifting the skills to the court, Hera turned to the titled blades. First, Nimbus could finally increase the rank of his previous gift to rare. Like Daskka had explained a long time ago, increasing a gifted skill took a lot longer than gaining one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Share the Pain - (Rank Rare) When the Empress or any of the court members are hit, part of the damage that would be inflicted on them is transferred to you. Your next attack will deal extra damage based on the damage that was transferred to you. Damaged Transferred from the Empress: 80% Damage Transfered from other court members: 50% Extra damage to the next attack: 85% of the damage transferred. Maximum duration of the extra damage storage: 30 seconds Damage taken reduction: 10% Mana cost: 3 000 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, Lurize still couldn¡¯t increase his skill, then again it wouldn¡¯t make that much of a difference right now. The Royal Tutor¡¯s gift was about learning new combat styles, not something that could help on an active battlefield. Viper and Crimson could take a rare skill. It was hard to tell why they got such a high rarity, unless the skill was giving ¡®points¡¯ to both of them individually, but tallying them up together. One of the options was on Viper¡¯s left hand a buff to the [Grasping Strike] skill, while another on Crimson¡¯s tail, an attribute and scaling increase. The random option was located on Crimson¡¯s red dagger, but there was another enhancement. One that showed on both their bodies in the middle of their forehead. An upgrade to the [Two Fight as One] skill. There was no need for a conversation as the two just nodded and accepted that skill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two Fight as One: When within 20 meters of each other, Viper and Crimson will be affected by each other¡¯s attributes and weapon scaling. In the case where both have the scaling for a specific attribute, only the highest one will apply. When under the effect of the skill, Viper and Crimson¡¯s agility will be increased by an additional 10%. Additionally, attacks aimed directly at them when they were within 5 meters of each other have a 15% chance to miss. This effect can only be applied to Viper and Crimson. When wielding both Viper and Crimson, the bonus to agility and the chance of attacks missing are also applied to the wielder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With only Vulcan left, he stepped forward, ¡°Before anything. Once you see the gifts, can you stop the skill?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°No. Well, yes, but if I stop, the gift is gone and can¡¯t be given later.¡± ¡°Ok, what is the rarity then?¡± Daskka glanced at Forge, ¡°Uncommon. Considering how long you¡¯ve been with us, that¡¯s pretty good. It should be because of all the buffs.¡± ¡®Can you imagine if it¡¯s the awakening that gets improved?¡¯ Glacia said with an excited voice. ¡°May I not receive the gift now?¡± Vulcan asked, causing everyone to look at him with surprised expressions. ¡°That¡¯s fine, but is everything ok?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ I just¡­ What if the options are to improve the Daemonic Form, or the Daemon Bound skill? An uncommon upgrade shouldn¡¯t be able to lessen the effects of the influence. They would likely attenuate that issue.¡± Hera paused for a moment before nodding, ¡°Ok. I don¡¯t agree with that, but I understand your fear. I also think that those skills can¡¯t be affected by this. Same with Spirit Bound. Honestly, even Awakened Potential might be too much for this skill, maybe if it was a legendary gift. But if you are worried things might be worse, you don¡¯t have to do this now. We can come back later when you feel more confident.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Vulcan smiled at Hera. They had a brief 10 minutes discussion just to share the new skills amongst everyone and test whatever they could now before the Ophidianite left the room. Neria had sent her a text about the stores they were going and she still needed to get her supplies before heading out. It was time to go to war. 889 - A girl worth fighting for Once she felt comfortable with everyone¡¯s new abilities, the Empress headed out to meet with the Harmony Guardians. They were now in a store that sold some interesting camping supplies, including something called ¡®Dehydrated Tents.¡¯ It didn¡¯t take long for her to arrive and the owner of the store started talking about his creation. The name was actually a lie. The tents were not dehydrated or anything of the sort. Instead, the man was able to condense the tent into a small bag about the size and width of a credit card. Using a vacuum spell and a very thin but durable mesh, he was able to create this. All tents had a basic defensive layer, a monster repellent spell attached to it, and a third spell that made it harder for other people to notice the tent itself. Not to mention, the tent was already pre-pitched. Meaning that once you put mana into it, it would return to its original size, ready to be used. In addition, there were some spells that would fix any damage the tent received to a certain extent. But that was only the basic model. He also had bigger options, with more defenses, better hiding, air purification, temperature control, and even a ¡®Super Deluxe Premium Set¡¯ that was not only large enough for 10 people but also came with air mattresses, pillows, and magic sheets that could be warm or cold. In addition to a water gathering spell that would not just take the moisture of the air and turn into drinkable water, but also do that with any rain that fell on top of the tent. There was even a detachable rug that could create a small bonfire. When stored, this version was a bit bigger, about the size of a journal, but considering everything it could do, it was amazing. Even better was the actual page of paper present when opening the cover. In there, you could pick one of the configurations and, by putting a bit of mana inside, the tent would appear. The only issue this had was that the tent itself had no way of generating mana. Every function was pretty well optimized, but for 12 hours with all its effects active, someone had to charge the tent with 10 million mana. Plus the 10 thousand necessary to change it from journal form to tent form and vice versa. However, the price was a bit steep even for the level 60 Harmony Guardians. 4 thousand platinum, or 400 million gold. Even with all the wealth they accumulated in the past few days, this wasn¡¯t an amount any one of them had available. But if they were to split, it wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue. Which is exactly what they did. The tent in question was big, and could even be set up in various configurations depending on the part of the spell circle that was activated first. This store had a space where it showcased the various options and everyone really liked the idea of getting it. Once that transaction was over, they finished up a few minor details of the shopping trip. Things like bandages and potions that would likely be hard to find in the middle of a battlefield. Hera also got a couple of enchanted arrow tips. They had either a silencing spell on them, or could create fog. In a pinch, she could make the arrow and use Robin to fire them, but she didn¡¯t trust in her aim enough to do anything more than hit the ground. Milla had already set up their travel plans, at least for this part of the journey. As it was with any mission where location was a sensitive information, they would only know about their next destination after reaching their current goal. But before leaving, they had one more place to stop by. The townhouse that was being used by Alex and Bonnie. Hera also asked Leo and his group to meet them there. In the end, they agreed to gather everyone in around half an hour. Which was enough for the Harmony Guardians to stop by their hotel and grab their belongings. It was better to just leave as soon as they were ready. Besides, Roan was starting to become insufferable with his constant nagging about taking too long to leave. The beastman was really keen on going to the battlefield for reasons that were very different from the rest of the group. It was a good thing that the constant traveling taught Hera to pack light, even if she had bought a new backpack, it was still small enough not to bother her movements, and all her belonging were there. Some changes of clothes, and underwear, toiletries like toothbrush, soap and a small bottle of shampoo, plus a first aid kit, her water bottle, and tools to care for her weapons. She didn¡¯t have to do that, but it was relaxing to polish her court after a long day. Arriving at the meeting place, Alex was the one who opened the door. ¡°Hey! What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked before even allowing anyone to enter. ¡°Is everyone here? Mind if we come inside?¡± Hera asked with a smile, making sure not to speak about anything while outside their house. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Come in,¡± Alex nodded. As the rest of the Harmony Guardians entered and closed the door, Leo, who was already inside, frowned, ¡°Are you leaving?¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Bonnie asked. ¡°They have their bags. There is no need for them to bring that here if they are just changing hotels or something,¡± the hunter replied. Neria glanced at Hera with an amused expression as the Empress snapped her fingers and created a soundproof bubble around everyone. ¡°Yeah. We are leaving. Everyone wanted to say bye.¡± ¡°And where, pray tell, are you all going?¡± Elistrae was to the side, standing in the open kitchen. She reached out to the fruit basket. ¡°Eli, this seems serious. Can you please not eat a banana right now?¡± Alex asked as she noticed what the elf was about to do. Elistrae rolled her eyes, ¡°I was going for an apple.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Alex shook her head and glanced back to Hera, ¡°Why this feels serious?¡± ¡°Do you all know about Kertal?¡± Skyler asked, getting nods in response. But she didn¡¯t say anything else. There was no need. Talking about that place only meant one thing. If it was a different situation, then she would¡¯ve explained. ¡°Are you really going there?¡± Bonnie turned to Hera. ¡°I am. Lena is there,¡± Hera replied. Alex groaned, ¡°Of course she is.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I guess this time we can¡¯t stop you from going,¡± Leo chuckled, remembering what happened after the wall break. Hera smiled, ¡°You can try. I just don¡¯t think it will work.¡± Bonnie and Alex glanced at each other for a moment before shaking their heads, ¡°We can¡¯t go,¡± the assassin sighed. ¡°I know. It¡¯s better for you to be here. If you can heal Marco. It¡¯s going to help more than what you might help if you came with us.¡± Vash turned to Leo and his group, ¡°And for you all. We would need to vet your presence. I have no clue how long that would take.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving my uncle,¡± Leo replied. ¡°But you are already leaving the hospital. It¡¯s progress,¡± Paige nodded. ¡°He only came here because we dragged him along. And he was with Tiger,¡± Sophie sighed. ¡°Hera¡­¡± Alex was staring at her friend, her hands trembling ever so slightly, ¡°Did you call us here because you are worried about not coming back?¡± The Empress paused, the notion that she wasn¡¯t going to make it never crossed her mind. She turned to the Harmony Guardians and saw they all shared the same slightly confused expressions, ¡°No. Not really,¡± the Ophidianite shook her head, ¡°Like. I know it¡¯s dangerous, but I think¡­ We are ok. I¡¯m not saying anything else because I don¡¯t want to raise a flag.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ ok,¡± Alex¡¯s relaxed a bit, her stiff shoulders lowering. ¡°Yeah, we just asked everyone here to say bye. I mean, we¡¯ve been traveling together for a while,¡± Skyler faced Leo and his group. ¡°And Hera was going to go come either way. So we just tried to say bye to everyone,¡± Neria added. They nodded and talked for a few more minutes before the Harmony Guardians left. They still had a long road ahead of them. First, two days until reaching a room called ¡®Ruin of Kath¡¯alk.¡¯ A place that, unlike the name suggested, was actually a bustling city that surrounded a ruined capital. The ¡®Ruin¡¯ was actually an aqueduct. Or at least part of it was. After the construction of such a massive structure, their water supply was completely connected. As a result, a sudden outbreak of cholera was all it took for society to collapse. Everyone drank water from the same place, and the healers didn¡¯t have a way to upkeep with the massive influx of patients while they themselves were also suffering from the disease. With modern technology, that was no longer a problem, and the old ruins had become home to stone golems that walked around the old city. Around it, people had created a thriving society of crafters, since the mineral of the monsters was incredibly useful. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have time to explore the place, and headed out to another room almost right away. Only stopping in a massive room with a river so large that could easily be considered an ocean. Yet, it only had fresh water. There, the Harmony Guardians waited for a boat to come pick them up. That took a while, and they even had a chance to test their new tent, which was just as good as it sounded on paper. When morning came, they were no longer the only ones there, as a small battalion with about a thousand people arrived. Soon after, came the boat that was already filled with another few thousand individuals. But unlike the thousand on the shore, those in the boat didn¡¯t wear the same kind of armor and weapons. Everyone had their own items and parties. Yet, they were all heading to the same place. Kertal. The boat ride ended up being a lot of fun. The boat was large enough, so no one felt too crowded, but there were still a lot of people. Some were performers, like Vash and they started singing and dancing. Turning the place more into a cruise than a ship heading to a war. The people in charge didn¡¯t say anything. It was always good to keep morale up, but they still made sure to shut down anyone who was exagerating too much. However, that stopped the moment they arrived at their destination. Aside from a few people in the top brass, no one knew the boat was going to drop them off near a doorway to Kertal. And the sight around this entrance was harrowing. There was a large army there already, about twice the size of the one in the boat, but the area became a refuge camp for those who were forced to run away from their home. Several tents had been pitched and now the people walked around, carrying the few belongings they were able to salvage. Some were just staring into the distance, unable to forget the horrors they¡¯d seen during the attacks. The people were not hurt or injured, at least, not for the most part. A handful of unlucky ones had lost limbs, or were still being treated, as their wounds wouldn¡¯t be recovered quickly. Some healers who arrived here early had already taken care of that, but the survivors were still haunted by the recent past. It was easy to see it in their eyes. Even the cheerful mood of those in the boat was completely gone now. Everyone focused on what they were going to do. Giving these people their home back might not help them deal with their memories, or bring their lost loved ones back, but at least, they would make the humans pay for what they had done. 890 - Meeting Once they arrived at the camp outside the doorway, everyone had to pass through a checkpoint to confirm they were who they said they were, and to deactivate the internet connection of their tablets. This wasn¡¯t an optional thing, everyone had to do that if they were going to stay here. Communication would be done through messages or spells. In addition to a short range communicator that had a closed connection. While talking with the guard at the checkpoint, Hera asked, ¡°I have a friend who is supposed to have come here. Can you check if she already arrived?¡± ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± the elf asked. ¡°Helena Ditrro, two Rs,¡± Hera looked around. She was the last of her group to be checked. The elf tapped a few keys on his tablet, ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s here. Working with the crafters, it seems. Go to the south until you see the forges and ask around the area,¡± he took Hera¡¯s tablet from the table and deactivated the internet connection, ¡°Here you go. Youre team has been assigned to the green street, plot 87. Head down this road, we have street sings. The crafters are on Red street, towards the lower plots.¡± ¡°Got it, thanks,¡± Hera took her tablet back, but the elf hold on to it looking at his own tablet for a moment, ¡°Is anything wrong?¡± ¡°Actually¡­ Yeah, you are being summoned to the command tent.¡± ¡°Oh? Ok, I¡¯ll grab the others and head there.¡± ¡°Sure, but you are being summoned by name. Just you. I don¡¯t know if the rest of your team will be able to join.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± The elf shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know. And you should go there before looking for your friend. Some of the generals don¡¯t take like having to wait for others.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll head there now,¡± Hera sighed. She didn¡¯t expect to be called by the leadership of this force. Hopefully, it would just be something about her being an Ophidianite or a minor issue. She really didn¡¯t want to have to leave because she was the only Ophidianite or anything like that, not without Lena. Hera quickly talked with her team, with Skyler deciding to go along with her while the others found the lot they were assigned. Finding the command tent wasn¡¯t hard. It was the only one with a large flag on top with a symbol in the center. The background was made out of various shades of blue, that created the illusion of waves, with a white pair of wings shaped like a laurel. Inside that was a light gray mountain with verdant branches coming from behind it, forming the canopy of a tree. Light brown claw marks in a zig-zag were located at the foot of the mountain, as a path led toward it. That was the first time Hera saw an actual symbol for the Alliance, but this one felt right. A little bit of all species that were a part of it. Eventually, when the Ophidianite grew in number, the Empress would have to talk with the council to add a little thing about them in that mix. Maybe the wings could have a scale pattern, if Queen Typhera would allow that kind of thing, of course. ¡°Since when do we have an actual symbol?¡± Skyler asked as they approached the tent. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it was something they were working on?¡± Hera suggested. ¡°I mean, you know how people in marketing are. Everyone thinks they have a better idea than everyone else. And that is if they are all working together. Can you imagine how complicated everything should be if we are talking about five different governments?¡± Skyler shuddered. ¡°I never worked in an office, but I can imagine,¡± Hera chuckled as they approached the entrance. There were a couple of people standing guard who gave the incoming pair an inquisitive look, ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Hera Quetzaveth. They told me I was summoned.¡± The guards nodded, and one of them walked inside. A moment later, he came back out and gestured for Hera to go in, but Skyler had to stay behind. Walking inside the tent, Hera was met by a group of eight people. ¡°Is this her?¡± an elf with short gray hair and a bushy beard wearing leather armor and a green cloak asked, turning to a dwarf that Hera was able to recognize. It was Vazor, the man who was in command during the rampage in the Cinderspire Citadel. ¡°It is. Hello Hera. Apologies for not letting you rest, but time is of the essence,¡± Vazor nodded to the Empress. ¡°Very well, I am Thalion Skor¡¯ide. The commanding officer of this army. Vazor here says you have a spell that can help us during the battle?¡± ¡°The one you used during the rampage,¡± Vazor added. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Oh. Yeah, that can help. But it¡¯s something that will only do anything against the weaker groups. The ones who are stronger than me won¡¯t be affected by it,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Allowing the bulk of the army to have an easier time would give enough room for the stronger soldiers to take care of the bigger problems,¡± a harpy with golden feathers and gilded talons spoke while using her wings almost like a cape, ¡°I am Aella Skydancer. Our aerial forces are under my command. Your file says you can fly, if that¡¯s how you are going to fight, we¡¯ll work close together.¡± A woman with large ears and a black dog nose leaned forward from her chair, ¡°I¡¯m Kaela Swiftclaw. In charge of reconnaissance. Before we say this will help. Can you explain the spell? Including what you can do to cast it.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Of course. The spell is called Pool of Styx. And it basically creates an area that can debuff people inside while buffing others. The debuff is based on the difference of attribute between me and the ones being affected by it. The weaker they are, the weaker they will get. To cast in a small range, I need just a couple of seconds to create the spell circle. But for something large, I need to actually draw the spell circle. I have an item that creates a number of snakes that can draw that for me, and channel the mana through their bodies to make it work faster, but it still takes a while.¡± ¡°How long?¡± a triton with deep blue skin, pitch black eyes and wearing a long mage¡¯s outfit asked. ¡°Depends on the size of the spell. In the Cinderspire Citadel, it took me a few days to make the spell circle work due to the shape. If I¡¯m dealing with a mostly flat area, it¡¯s more about the speed my snakes can move. But I need a map of the room to confirm things and prepare the spell before anything,¡± Hera explained. ¡°And how long would you need to prepare the spell? I¡¯m Nessia Wavel by the way. Head of magic artillery.¡± ¡°Magical operations. Not just artillery,¡± Kaela sighed. ¡°In this battle, it¡¯s basically all artillery. And defensive spells,¡± Nessia rolled her eyes. ¡°If we are talking about a flat room, just a few adjustments. If there are mountains and things, it might be trickier,¡± Hera replied without missing a beat. While traveling with Leo and his team, any time she got bored or tired of trying to come up with something new, she would come back to this spell and try to improve it. ¡°And you need to be in a specific spot, right?¡± Vazor asked. ¡°Not anymore. I can leave one of the snakes in that place and continue to move around. I just can¡¯t leave the area of the spell. So while the spell is active, I still can help in the battle.¡± ¡°If that spell really is that strong, why would we risk sending you to battle?¡± a dwarf with a shaved face and short black hair asked. ¡°Because, Durin, we need to move quickly. I agree that it would be better to leave Hera hidden somewhere because of that spell. But she is also a powerful soldier, and I say that knowing her strength when she was around level 40. Now, I imagine she is much stronger. We need that kind of power if we are going to sweep the entire room in a single day.¡± ¡°Fair,¡± the dwarf nodded, ¡°I don¡¯t know why we are saying this, but I¡¯m Durin in charge of the tactics we are going to use and the extra equipment.¡± ¡°She has a seat in the council, Durin,¡± Thalion explained. ¡°Then why the fuck is she here?¡± Durin turned to Vazor, but Hera was the one who replied. ¡°Because even if I¡¯m the only one of my kind. I wasn¡¯t going to just sit back and watch while this war is going on.¡± The group gave an approving nod. Hera realized that there were still two people who didn¡¯t introduce themselves, but they were clearly just assistants. ¡°How about the buff? How strong is it?¡± Nessia asked. ¡°Considering the only condition I can use to cast the spell, it will be minimal.¡± ¡°What do you mean condition?¡± Aella asked. ¡°I have to give a condition for the spell. Only one. And it can be either for who is going to get the buff, or who will get the debuff. I can say like, red monsters or young insects, get the debuff or people of the alliance get the buff. One or the other. In this case, I can only use the condition ¡®Human Soldiers.¡¯¡± ¡°Why is that? Why not use the option of buffing us?¡± Kaela frowned. ¡°Because of who it would affect. If I use anything other than ¡®Human Soldiers¡¯, or ¡®Humans with a role¡¯, it will affect all the humans,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Why is that a bad thing?¡± one of the assistants asked. ¡°Because it will affect all the humans. Without exception. Since we had children there, I¡¯m assuming the humans also have,¡± Hera turned to the assistant, who nodded in response. However, the other assistant, a triton, still pressed. ¡°So? They killed our children. And you are just going to give them a debuff. Is this some kind ¡®not be as bad as them¡¯ crap?¡± ¡°Cadion,¡± Nessia turned to the man, staring daggers at him. ¡°For the record. No, this is not about being as bad as them. It¡¯s about not being worse. Yes, I heard that children were killed, but they were all casualties, right? No one was dragging them to the street and executing them in cold blood, or aiming a fireball at a school,¡± Hera paused and turned to Thalion, ¡°Right?¡± ¡°Right, that didn¡¯t happen. The ones that did die were not the target of the attacks, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,¡± Thalion replied. ¡°Exactly. If I use this spell and let it affect the children, then all of them will drop their attributes to 1. Which means..¡± ¡°Their attributes will have a negative 90% modifier. Tripping stops being just something that happens to being a potential danger to their life,¡± Nessia sighed, ¡°Yeah, I understand why you don¡¯t want to do that.¡± ¡°Here is the map,¡± Kaela passed a tablet to Hera, changing the subject to avoid letting anyone dwell on that kind of thought, ¡°It¡¯s a topographic one. How long do you need?¡± The Empress glanced at the map, the room was large, but not too large. It was just about 50 kilometers across, but they would be getting out close to the middle, ¡°I would say somewhere around 24 hours. A lot less if I can have someone dropping off half the snakes on the other side of the room. Then maybe the time can be cut by close to half. The spell circle should be easy to make, the problem is how long it will take for the snakes to travel.¡± ¡°I think I can help with that,¡± Aella nodded, but just one trip. If we do more, it can attract too much attention to what we are doing." ¡°Ok then. Work on that, when you confirmed that the spell works, let us know,¡± Thalion turned to the rest of the group, ¡°Check if everything is ready and report back to me. I¡¯ll make the decision once you gave me your reports. You are all dismissed.¡± Hera nodded and left the tent, heading out to the crafter area. She might need to prepare a spell, but her priority was something else. 891 - Hello Sweetie Once she was done talking with the leadership of the army, Hera grabbed Skyler and walked towards the crafter¡¯s area while explaining what they discussed in that quick meeting. ¡°Hang on. So you just walked into an army as a nobody. A random high level soldier that is here just to help a friend, and now not only is on a first name basis with the entire top of the chain of command, but also are going to play a pivotal role in the incoming war?¡± Skyler was staring at Hera with her arms crossed, her fingers tapping impatiently just above the elbow. Hera glanced at the elf, ¡°I¡¯m not sure we are on a first name basis, but yes. Is that bad?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ there¡¯s protocol. People need to rise the ranks and shit. My father took ages before he was able to get a meeting with people on the upper echelons of society and you just¡­ walked into a tent.¡± ¡°To be fair, I¡¯m the only one of my kind. So I¡¯m already known as the Empress by default. We were talking about a spell I can do, which they only knew because Vazor was there and mentioned it,¡± Hera shrugged. ¡°Yeah, but you didn¡¯t have to spend years going to boring ass parties and kissing ass to climb the social ladder,¡± Skyler huffed. Hera chuckled, ¡°Sorry about that, feel free to use my name if it helps in the future. Just don¡¯t abuse it.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± Skyler nodded with a smile. Soon, they arrived at the area where the crafters were preparing everything. Some were working on weapons, armor, and ammo for the archers. In addition, some were creating large siege weapons and defensive structures to be placed in areas where the Alliance was able to take control. The bigger items would have to cross to the next room in pieces, and would need to be taken to the right place before being fully assembled, but it was good to have some proper defenses for places that needed it. Especially wherever the families were being kept. The humans might have said that they were treating everyone fairly, but Hera didn¡¯t believe that. Sure, there were a lot of people, which meant it would be hard to do anything too outrageous, but what if they were all on the same page? What if all the humans in that room were ok with everyone else being experimented on? During the travel here, Hera let Daskka out. A number of people had their pets around and a snake wouldn¡¯t be that strange, not more than the Ophidianite herself, at least. Once they reached the crafter¡¯s area, they were about to ask someone for help when the herald perked up. ¡°Mum, over there!¡± Coming out of one of the tents, talking with a few different people, was a woman with dark skin, and long braided hair wearing thick leather clothes. Despite the change in appearance, Hera could recognize that person anywhere. ¡°There,¡± she pointed to Skyler. The elf paused for a moment, ¡°You never mentioned she was that pretty.¡± ¡°Oh, she¡¯s gorgeous. And really smart to boot,¡± there was some pride in Hera¡¯s voice. As the two approached, the mage noticed them getting closer, ¡°Hera?¡± Helena opened a huge smile and rushed over, giving the Ophidianite a hug, ¡°It¡¯s been so long. How are you?¡± her face turned serious, ¡°And what are you doing here?¡± ¡°What do you think? I heard you were coming here, so I figured out a way to come help.¡± ¡°Sweetie¡­ you shouldn¡¯t have. Go home, or do something else. I know you didn¡¯t want to fight humans, and you don¡¯t have to.¡± Hera paused hearing that, not because of the comment, but because Helena was one of the few humans that were on this army. The crafters that she was talking with, Skyler and a few other people who were passing by and heard the conversation all froze and stared at the mage. After a long pause, Daskka started laughing, and she was soon followed by the Empress. ¡°C¡¯mon, you can¡¯t say that. Not you,¡± Hera said between breaths. ¡°Hey! Of course I can. I¡¯m worried about you,¡± Helena frowned. ¡°Did¡­ did I miss something?¡± Skyler asked, she was getting more confused by the second. ¡°No, this is just her,¡± Hera replied, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye, ¡°Lena, look around. Who do you think should be bothered about fighting humans, you or me?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Helena looked around, seeing the crafters that followed her shaking their heads, ¡°What?¡± ¡°C¡¯mon. You really can¡¯t be that dense,¡± a harpy shook his head, ¡°You¡¯re the human here. You are the one who should be the most bothered by the situation.¡± ¡°Why? What the guild and some of the other humans are doing is bad. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡± ¡°Ok, ok,¡± Hera waved Helena off, making her huff in the process, ¡°Sorry to bother you, but do you mind if I steal Lena for a bit?¡± ¡°Go for it. We were already done here,¡± the harpy turned to Helena, ¡°Come back in three hours so we can make some tests with that elemental combo spell.¡± ¡°Will do. I¡¯ll see you later,¡± Helena turned back to Hera, ¡°Where can we go to talk? This is not the best place for that,¡± she turned to Daskka and patted her head, ¡°And I missed you too.¡± As if to confirm what Lena had just said, the sound of hammer hitting steel started to echo through the area. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Let¡¯s go to our lot. We have a big tent,¡± Hera replied and started walking. She first introduced Skyler properly, and the three talked while moving Hera gave a brief rundown of what had happened to her in the last few months. Helena was aware of some parts, but the details couldn¡¯t be shared through text or video calls. Then came time for the mage to talk about herself. After the Empress left Zaxalam, she assisted Bonnie in getting the legacy. They also made a deal that Helena would have the second shot at it in case the researcher failed, but things didn¡¯t come to that. During that time, she also started working on a prototype device to find wendigos. It would work almost like a radar and be able to see anyone with ¡®Devouring¡¯ mana as the monsters had. Once she was somewhat successful in making the device find specific kinds of mana, Rutigan and Typhera talked to the intelligence agency and they offered her a research position in the engineering division. There, they made various devices and tools to help with the war effort. It was mostly spy and defensive tools, but a couple of people tried to push for biological and magical weapons of mass destruction. Those ideas were quickly shut down. Not just because of the potential danger that they brought, but also because doing something like that was against most warfare laws that were accepted by everyone. Even the humans. Or at least, that¡¯s what was widely accepted. Helena mentioned that even within the agency, not everyone knew about the origin of the Soldiers of Strength. Which might cause people to change their opinion about committing war crimes. In a sense, Hera agreed with keeping that information a secret. Anger could make people cross lines that shouldn¡¯t be crossed. Once they arrived at the lot assigned to the Harmony Guardians, Hera gave Lena a quick tour of their tent, which still had room in case she wanted to be there. A suggestion that she quickly accepted. The mage had been staying at one of the tents offered by the army and those were rough. After some time, Hera and Helena walked outside to where they had set up the fire rug. They sat on a couple of stumps that another soldier had created as a thanks for Flint helping him out with his own tent. ¡°So, can you tell me what are you doing here? And don¡¯t give me the crap about helping the children. You are kind, but not kind enough to go to war because of people you don¡¯t know,¡± Hera asked. Helena gave her a sad smile before turning to the flames, ¡°Did I ever tell you about my family?¡± ¡°Only some surface stuff. Like you don¡¯t talk much with them, but you don¡¯t avoid it either. But it¡¯s more about things that happened, nice or funny memories. Never what is going on right now.¡± The mage nodded, not looking away from the fire, ¡°Yeah. There is a reason for that. My family doesn¡¯t really like me. Or at least, don¡¯t like my decisions. I guess I never felt it was my place to trauma dump on you.¡± ¡°Lena¡­ really? I¡¯m basically the poster child for bad families. You can talk to me. I know our ages are different, but we are at the point where that really doesn¡¯t matter. Not after all we¡¯ve been through.¡± Helena turned to Hera, her jaw hanging open, ¡°I was going to say how I was kind of a role model to you. A mentor of sorts, or at least when you started I was, but thanks for calling me an old hag,¡± she huffed and crossed her arms, ¡°34 is not even that old, especially for you.¡± ¡°No! I didn¡¯t mean it like that. You still look great for your age,¡± Hera froze and looked down, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡± Helena just chuckled, ¡°I know. Don¡¯t worry, sweetie. I¡¯m just messing with you. But you are not wrong. Our ages are very different and there is a degree of worry that comes with it. Or it did at first. Later¡­ I don¡¯t know, maybe because I know how bad your mother was, I felt like my problems didn¡¯t matter. That¡¯s not the right way of saying it. My problems weren¡¯t as big as yours, so I shouldn¡¯t waste your time with them.¡± ¡°Lena-¡± before Hera could say anything, the mage cut her off. ¡°I know. Don¡¯t worry. It was never you who made it seem like I couldn¡¯t talk about it. That was a me problem,¡± she turned back to the fire, focusing on the light and the shadows created by the flame. But Helena didn¡¯t say anything, she just stared for a few seconds. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, you don¡¯t have to,¡± Hera said, still looking at her friend¡¯s eyes, even if Lena wasn¡¯t looking back. ¡°No. You should know. You came here because of me, you have the right to know,¡± Helena sighed, ¡°My family doesn¡¯t like the fact that I came to the MAZE. They never liked the danger that came with that and always preferred the idea of staying back on Earth. ¡®There are enough wonders outside the MAZE for us,¡¯ my dad used to say. But that wasn¡¯t the case for me,¡± Helena took a sip of her drink. It wasn¡¯t alcoholic, the army had a strict no booze policy before a battle. That was for the celebration of victory. Or to help cope with defeat. ¡°When I turned 18, I got checked in the guild and my attributes were good enough to join. So I did, without talking with anyone. Once that happened, I was pretty much kicked out of the house. Which was fine since I was going to the MAZE. But it still hurt. Then, about eight years ago, a cousin of mine wanted to become an explorer too. He did the exact same thing I did and had the same result. With people kicking him out. Then I helped Alan to get himself set up as a hunter. Gave him some pointers about jobs, let him crash at my place. Eventually he wanted to travel and his level was as high as mine back them. Which wasn¡¯t hard since I didn¡¯t focus much on leveling up, but still,¡± Helena took another sip, pausing once more. ¡°Is he ok?¡± Hera was worried something happened with Lena¡¯s cousin. ¡°What? Oh, yeah. He¡¯s fine. Got to level 30, I think, before he found a nice girl and settle down. They got married here in the MAZE, and my family only knew her from video calls. But she had to wear a disguise because of the whole ¡®information block¡¯ policy the guild had. It¡¯s super stupid, but he couldn¡¯t tell his parents that he was marrying a beastwoman. Five years ago¡­ or was it six? It doesn¡¯t matter. Back then, he had his first kid. A little boy named Brian. Cutest kid I¡¯ve ever seen, and also a beastmen. Because of that, Alan couldn¡¯t visit his family, nor introduce the baby to them. That is until the ban was lifted.¡± Hera nodded in understanding, ¡°They gave you a lot of shit before then, didn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Not just before. When I left that was it, but helping Alan was somehow ¡®trying to destroy our family,¡¯¡± Helena rolled her eyes, ¡°Later they blamed me for his lack of communication, and for them not going to visit them. To be fair, Alan did try to defend me, but he couldn¡¯t tell the real reason and that only made things worse. Even after the ban was lifted and he shared everything, I was still in the wrong for not telling them.¡± ¡°And he lives here with his family, right?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Helena sighed. ¡°Ok, that makes sense,¡± the Empress took a sip of her own drink, a bland of tea that one of the people who came with her in the boat gave to her group. ¡°That was enough? Don¡¯t I need to explain how I feel guilty for being on his side when he decided to live here?¡± Helena turned to Hera. The Ophidianite shrugged, ¡°Maybe to someone else. I know you well enough to understand that someone you care about is in there. That¡¯s all I needed to know. Honestly, if you just said ¡®My cousin is in there and we were close,¡¯ I would already have understood.¡± ¡°So why did I talk about my family and all that stuff?¡± the mage frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was probably eating you up from the inside,¡± Hera replied with a smile. She couldn¡¯t help but feel happy for Helena being able to share something like that with her. ¡°I really need to learn how to shut up,¡± Helena sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t. I like hearing your voice,¡± Hera winked, getting a groan from the mage. They continued talking and later were joined by the rest of the Harmony Guardians. They would soon be going to a battle, but for now, it was like camping outside with some friends. 892 - Battle plan After the small picnic, where even a few of the soldiers that were nearby joined in, Helena had to go back to the crafter area. She had to test the spell on their weapons so they could have two buffs working together at once. Doing that with someone¡¯s weapon was one thing, but they were trying to add that mixture to the defensive structures that would be built once inside Kertal. Hera, on the other hand used the map data that was given to her to make the spell circle. Like she imagined it was pretty easy, and since the place was too big, she could even take some liberty with the position of the snakes. Especially the one that would be acting as herself being the catalyst of the spell. This didn¡¯t mean that she wouldn¡¯t have to do anything, but instead of having to stay in the same place while the circle was being drawn, she could move around and when the time came, cast the magic through that particular snake. And because of the sheer scale of the spell, the Empress was even able to add a few redundancy tweaks, so that if someone discovered one of the snakes, or they were killed by a monster, it wouldn¡¯t affect the Pool of Styx. She spent about an hour and a half working on it, and also using the spell on the other Harmony Guardians to make sure it worked properly. Once that was over, she headed back to the command tent to report her success. Once there, she told the guards she came to see the commander, and they asked her to wait. But instead of him, one of the assistants walked out of the tent. ¡°Hello,¡± the elven man said. ¡°Hi, Cadion, right?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yes. The commander asked me to give you the next orders. Were you able to complete the spell?¡± The Empress nodded, ¡°Yeah. Made some extra adjustments so it will be harder to interrupt it too.¡± ¡°Great, in that case, please head to,¡± Cadion looked to the left and saw another large tent, but this one mostly brown instead of the tan of the commander, ¡°There. I¡¯ll let Scout Swiftclaw know you are on your way.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Thank you.¡± She quickly reached that second tent, after all, they were not really far away. There was also a guard in there that allowed her to enter right away. Unlike the place where she met with the commander and the other leaders of the army, this was cramped. There was a table with a map, but no markers, a cabinet, and several large objects covered in black tarps. ¡°Hera, thank you for coming. The spell worked?¡± Kaela, the dog beastwoman, asked. ¡°It should work. I can only say for certain when I cast it. But it should be ok. I just never made something that big before.¡± Kaela nodded, ¡°If we had time, we would do a test somewhere else, but that¡¯s not the case,¡± she walked over to the map, pulled a pair of glassed and gave them to Hera, ¡°Wear these, please.¡± The Empress did as she was told and the map was suddenly covered in tiny red and blue dots. Those were the positions of the human army, their defenses, and the allies the alliance had inside. As well as any landmark or environment they could use to their benefit. ¡°Can you show me how the spell will be placed?¡± Hera nodded and sent the image from the tablet. It became an overlay on the map, and the two discussed the best places to actually place it. Mainly, where the snakes would be located. There wasn¡¯t much that could be done, but rotating it so that the important places were not directly on top of the major defensive positions was important. ¡°Ok then. This will work, I hope. And you are level 56, right? The rest of your team are on their 60s?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Are you all willing to help liberate the camp? Where the families are being kept?¡± ¡°We are,¡± the Ophidianite replied, ¡°We¡¯ve already discussed that possibility, and yeah, that¡¯s where we would be better used. But, one of us is a performer. Most of his spells involve being able to hear them. We do have some options using a soundproofing spell I have, but that is not exactly mobile.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We will be moving with a mobile soundproof spell. And we have people who are specialized in that kind of spell. Once we start the attack, the entire camp will be muted from the outside.¡± ¡°OK, by the way. I have a friend who has family there. Could she join? She¡¯s the human mage with spells that can remove the senses,¡± Hera asked. ¡°I heard about her. What¡¯s her level?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°41, but she can also buff weapons to take two elemental buffs.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too low. All members of the team that¡¯s going are level 50 and above. I don¡¯t want anyone weaker than the average human soldier. We are already going to have to fight while protecting people. We can¡¯t bring another person we might need to protect.¡± ¡°She was able to hide from wendigos during the wall break along with a group. They all survived because of her. That might help when we are rescuing the families.¡± Kaela paused for a moment, ¡°I¡¯m calling the rest of the team. Have her come along. You mentioned the buff, right? Can she do our weapons? And for her to come along, if she can hide from me, she can come.¡± ¡°Got it, where do we meet? Here?¡± ¡°No, we are using the dining tent. We had some intel about the room and we need to move quickly. I know a lot of people just got here, so we will have a meeting, everyone is to sleep for 8 hours after it and then the operation starts.¡± ¡°Already? I thought we would have more time,¡± Hera gasped. ¡°We did too, but a large human army was seen closer than we were expecting. It seems they are crossing more than 3 rooms a day and leaving behind anyone who got stuck. There still is a limit, and five crossings are very dangerous unless they are willing to lose half their forces. So we need to rush.¡± ¡°Shit¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why we are having the meeting. While we wait for everyone to arrive, I¡¯ll test your friend. So go get her.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Hera nodded and was about to walk out but she stopped, ¡°I have a really fast flying mount. Can I use it here in camp?¡± Kaela typed a few things on her tablet, ¡°What kind of mount?¡± ¡°A griffon.¡± The scoutmaster tapped a couple more times and sent a file to Hera¡¯s tablet, ¡°Leave that one open as you fly. Our watchtowers can confirm if you are allowed to be there or not. If you are not, you will be shot down.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Hera gave the glasses back and flew off. First, stopping by the lot where the Harmony Guardians were and telling them about the meeting before rushing to grab Helena. It didn¡¯t take long to find her, and even less time to convict the mage to come along. Arriving at the dining tent, there was already a nice group of people inside, but it was clear that the team was still incomplete. Kaela quickly introduced herself to Helena before walking inside the tent. ¡°Everyone listen up! We are going to have a small game before we start this,¡± she gestured to Helena, ¡°This is a mage that could hide from level 90 wendigos. Whoever finds her gets first pick on gear. And don¡¯t think about placing a tracker on her now. That¡¯s not the idea. Especially since she¡¯s a human, it is less likely for them to do something like that to her.¡± ¡°You said she had to hide from you,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°She does, and I¡¯m using what I have at my disposal. Besides, she will be hiding from a number of people in the camp, and the location is pretty similar. We won¡¯t find a better testing ground than this,¡± Kaela turned to Helena, ¡°You have two minutes and stay within a radius of 50 meters. Go.¡± The mage didn¡¯t even have a chance to say anything as the scoutmaster showed a timer on her tablet. Despite that, Helena still knew what to do. She quickly rushed out and found a small spot between a couple of crates, it should work, but not in the way that proved she could be an asset. Instead, the mage found a nearby tent. A small one, but still one that could have a few people inside. Casting a couple of spells around it, she made it so the entrance was pitch black, but also that would force people to close their eyes when looking at it. It was a similar effect to what she did against the wendigos, that caused the monsters to avoid looking at that place unconsciously. In addition, she used a light spell to make it seem like the tent was exactly like the tents on either side, down to the smallest detail. That way, once someone looked at it, they would think they¡¯ve already seen it before. The two minutes passed and the people who were about to participate in the operation rushed out of the tent. They all looked around the best they could, each using a different kind of spell or skill to try to locate her. Some got close to the tent and moved away, while a couple decided to inspect it closer. When that happened, the mage used an illusion to create movement nearby, as if she was trying to run. About five minutes later, Kaela, who was also walking around, also searching, suddenly entered a tent. The one with a pitch black entrance. ¡°Not bad,¡± the scoutmaster smiled at Helena. The mage sighed, ¡°What gave it away?¡± ¡°No one was getting close to this tent, and every time someone did something attracted them away. Also, the magic here is pretty intense. A couple of others had already noticed by they thought a human in the team could be an asset,¡± Kaela said as the two walked out of the tent. ¡°And are you ok with them going against your orders?¡± ¡°In a matter like this? Yes. The people who did that are those I trust, and that I gave enough freedom to act this way. If it was someone else, things might be different.¡± Hera heard the tail end of that conversation. She was just waiting inside the dinner tent. If she walked around, there was a chance she would realize what Lena was doing and she didn¡¯t want that, ¡°So, where does that leave her?¡± Kaela turned to Helena, ¡°Hera also mentioned a spell that can make elemental buffs overlap, how long does that last for?¡± ¡°If I¡¯m doing directly on the weapon, as long as the person can handle the upkeep. If I¡¯m doing on something that is going to be used later, a few hours at most. Depends on my mana.¡± ¡°Oh? Ok then, you can come along. You might be able to move around better in the mayhem and gather the people in the camp more easily. And you seem to be able to handle yourself. The benefit outweighs the risk. How does that work, by the way?¡± Helena pulled a small dagger, ¡°Basically I cast a coating on the weapon that treats what is placed on one side as the light, and on the other as the shadow. Then both elements will act as two parts of the same thing. This lets the both buffs to work together,¡± she placed a fire buff on one side and a wind one on the other and showed how both effects shared the same space, as if they were mirrors of each other. ¡°I see. I will ask for your help later, now if you excuse me,¡± Kaela walked to the other side of the tent as the last people who would be a part of this operation arrived. Once she moved, the entire place turned quiet. All painfully aware of the stakes surrounding what they were about to do. All waiting for her to explain how they were going to save the families and take over the room. 893 - Operation Start Kaela swiftly jumped on top of one of the tables, her cape fluttering with the motion, ¡°Listen up, the plan is simple, but a lot of things can go wrong. We are crossing the doorway and moving quickly and quietly through the room. The soundproof spells we can use will be turned off but everyone will have one of these,¡± she showed a small earbud, ¡°We have a couple of people who can send messages through them without speaking out loud. They will guide everyone. We will be splitting into 3 groups the moment we cross. All are heading straight to the camp but on deferent approaches. The goal is to cover all the entrances.¡± The Scoutmaster showed an illusion of a crater that had been covered from both sides, leaving only two ways to get inside the camp that was right in the center of that place, ¡°They¡¯ve set up our people here. Two teams will be taking care of the guards placed on top of this man made valley, and the third will be going in through the tunnels that led directly to the camp. According to reports, the families have to ¡®pay¡¯ for their stay by working on the mines down there. For those going from above, make sure not to use any flashy or bright attacks. Focus on quick and stealth kills. Shadow, poison, anything that doesn¡¯t attract attention. The ones going in the tunnels need short weapons. Staffs and two-handed swords are a bad idea. Harpies are also not the best option for that group.¡± She dropped the illusion and looked around, ¡°I don¡¯t do speeches, and you will miss the one commander will give the troops in the morning. Just remember why we are doing this. Humans attacked us. They suddenly decided that we were lesser, and that they owned the MAZE. All we are doing is proving how wrong they are. We go in, we save the families and then keep the area safe while the rest of the army moves in. No one is to leave that camp until backup arrives. Then, we can swap and go help take over the cities,¡± Kaela glanced at Hera, ¡°Also. I don¡¯t think I have to say this, but I¡¯ll say it, nonetheless. The rules of war still apply. We take prisoners, and we don¡¯t execute people who surrender. I would add that we don¡¯t hurt children intentionally, but I know none of you are monsters like the humans. That¡¯s it, before you leave everyone should take a sleeping candy. Check the label to know the one you should get. I don¡¯t want anyone getting here late because they took one for those with 200 endurance while only having 50. Go to bed, and in 9 hours we meet here again. The teams will be assigned, and so will the gear, once we organized all that we are starting. Any questions?¡± No one said anything. Scoutmaster Swiftclaw just nodded, ¡°You are dismissed!¡± The Harmony Guardians, along with Helena, headed back to their tent, had a small dinner and went to bed right away. Everyone taking the sleeping candy, which was basically a tart cherry gummy, enchanted to make you fall asleep. Morning came quickly and everyone moved towards the doorway. Kaela had already organized all the teams. She would be taking the west plateau along with a group and having a smaller team, made out of the strongest people in this operation to take the path through the mines. It was just 10 people, all above level 65. The teams on top had 30 members each, Hera and the Harmony Guardians would be going with the one heading to the east plateau. Unlike how the Scoutmaster made it sound, they didn¡¯t get full sets of armor as gear, but smaller earrings, necklaces or bracelets. Those had passives that lowered the amount of noise anyone wearing them would make. In addition, they all had an active skill that was an invisibility spell, but it would only last for 1 hour, and 40 minutes of that time were already reserved for a couple of locations everyone would have to pass by. Once everyone was equipped, each team leader pulled their troops to the side and explained the path. Each group would be moving on their own instead of going on a single unit. 30 people crossing a room was already risky, but 70 was much, much worse. With everything ready, the teams crossed the doorway. As soon as Hera arrived in Kertal, Kaela pulled her to the side. ¡°Start that spell. It won¡¯t help us during this, but it will help the rest of the army.¡± ¡°Got it, but what about the idea of going to the other side of the room with some of the snakes?¡± the Empress shook her bracelet, allowing all the 28 snakes to come out. It was supposed to be 30, but she had left 2 back with Shane and her dad so they could try to become Ophidianites themselves. Hera already had made some calculations and knew that she only had to send 10 of the snakes to the other side of the room. Adding the travel time from the doorway to the other side, this would be the fastest way to trigger the spell. She would even have 2 snakes inside the central area of the circle to allow her to cast the spell, even if one of them was damaged. The good part of this was that the room was just on the 12th layer, which meant that no monster would prove to be a danger to those constructs. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Can I send them out already? These 10 are the ones that will go to the other side,¡± the Ophidianite looked at the tiny snakes, all in various colors, but every single one of them had the same eyes as Daskka. One green and one silver. In addition, all snakes had a pair of purple stripes going along the length of their bodies. ¡°Yeah,¡± Kaela gestured for someone as 18 of the snakes ran out. Each of them had a single mission, draw the spell circle with their mana and reach a designated spot. Hera also could sense if something were to happen to them, and if needed, she could also swap her senses to scout the area. ¡°Yes, Scoutmaster?¡± a small harpy with beach feathers approached. ¡°Vishan, you have the bag, right?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s right here,¡± the harpy turned around, showing a backpack. ¡°Ok, take them and go to the other side of the room. Reach the invisible wall and open the bag. The snakes know what they have to do. Then, go meet us in the camp where the families are being kept,¡± Kaela quickly said. ¡°Are they¡­ dangerous?¡± Vishan asked. ¡°No, they are mana constructs. But they have the shape of a snake. Kind of in the nose, I know,¡± Hera explained once she noticed the stare coming from the harpy. ¡°Right¡­ ok,¡± Vishan nodded, but her expression showed uncertainty. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ We harpies are weary of snakes. They eat our eggs. It¡¯s going to take a bit of mental fortitude not to freak out as they wriggle around inside the bag.¡± ¡°Let me see that,¡± Hera reached out for the backpack and quickly created a thin metal sheet before placing it directly against the area that would touch Vishan¡¯s back, ¡°is that too heavy?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s perfect!¡± the harpy smiled. ¡°Ok, and you 10, come here,¡± Hera reached one hand down, only keeping the other one just above the open backpack. The snakes quickly climbed over the Ophidianite¡¯s limbs and dropped on the container. ¡°That¡¯s not unsettling at all,¡± Vishan sighed and closed the bag before putting on her back again, ¡°Ok the weight is manageable. Can you tell them not to move? Or try to be in the same position all the time? If the mass keeps shifting, it might be a problem in certain parts of the trip.¡± Hera nodded and gave the mental command to the snakes. They all moved, forming almost a block that was attached to the straps inside, ¡°Done.¡± ¡°Do you remember the location you have to drop them at?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°The general area, yes. It doesn¡¯t have to be a specific spot, right?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Just the area, they will get to the end of the journey. Also, do you have any sort of spell that wouldn¡¯t damage them? Like making them cold, splashing them with water or something?¡± ¡°I can make water, why?¡± ¡°If you need them to jump, just open the bag and splash them with water. We¡¯ll say that¡¯s the signal for them to go,¡± Hera explained. ¡°They are that smart?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°Not really. They can warn me if something specific happens, and then I can give them a new command. In this case, if they are splashed with water once they are in the right spot. I can just tell them to dive. But I¡¯m not sure how they would handle the fall.¡± ¡°So do that on a low flight. Got it,¡± Vishan turned to Kaela and gave a salute, ¡°At your command, Scoutmaster.¡± ¡°Go. And don¡¯t get caught.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± the harpy took flight, going really far up into the sky and vanishing against the night sky. ¡°Now it¡¯s our turn. Everyone move out!¡± Kaela said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear her, but not to the point of being a shout. Helena had already finished applying the buff to everyone¡¯s weapons. Or at least, all the members of the teams that wouldn¡¯t be close to her. They all used buffed that could become more powerful if more mana was used, wish also meant they could hold a weak version indefinitely and increase their power when it was time to fight. The groups split off, and for the first time, Hera was able to take a look at the room called Kertal. It was hard to tell why it had that name, but some people said it was a word in a lost language. The most accepted theory was that there was a massive war in this place and powerful mages caused a collapse of the civilization using large spell circles and insanely huge mana batteries to call forth meteors. Or that there was an actual meteor that fell here. But that since no one ever saw a meteor coming from beyond the invisible walls of the MAZE, it was hard to believe that theory. Then again, looking at the room itself, it did make sense. There were craters everywhere. Which made it harder to move in the middle of the night. A couple of them were much larger to the point where people, even buildings, could be hidden inside them. As they traveled, they would have chances to hide in those craters, but that could also be a problem. If they were caught in the middle of one of those larger craters. Hera¡¯s team moved quickly, or as quickly as they could, while remaining hidden. The doorway they used to arrive was in the middle of a forest, hidden inside a large tree in one of the flat ground areas of the room, which was also part of the reason why the humans had yet to find it. People of the room tended to focus on the craters, not on the areas unaffected by whatever impact that created them. The Ophidianite understood why, if she was here just to travel, then the large craters would be much more interesting that a random forest that she could see anywhere else. But that oversight ended up being what gave them this opportunity. Focusing back on the task at hand, Hera did her best to continue to move and make sure no human was seeing the group. If anyone was caught, they would lose the element of surprise, and that could mess up the entire operation. 894 - Stealth Treck Hera¡¯s group walked for a couple of hours, using the invisibility of their equipment a couple of times. Everything was going fine, even if they had a couple of close calls when their team had to stay very quiet as a group of humans walked by. Luckily they were in a forest and the team was able to quickly climb on top of the trees to avoid the patrol. Aside from that, there were no close calls or any issues. Once they were passing by a wide open area with no one in sight, Helena took advantage of the mobile soundproofing spell that was covering the group to talk with Hera. ¡°Hey, are you ok?¡± the mage asked. Hera gave her friend a puzzled look, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Why?¡± ¡°I was just worried about what we are about to do. I remember how bad killing the elf made you feel.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah, I¡¯m not happy about this situation. But it¡¯s not going to be the first time I kill people again,¡± Hera looked around and whispered in an even more hushed tone, ¡°They are all part of the lab, but still.¡± ¡°So you won¡¯t be upset because you had to kill people now?¡± Helena pressed. ¡°I never said that. I don¡¯t like that we have to do this, but it¡¯s not like we have another choice. Then again, the fact that the humans here are using children as bargaining chips does help. If this was just a regular prisoner¡¯s camp, I might struggle against everything much more,¡± Hera glanced at the mage, ¡°How about you? I know I struggled with killing people, but I don¡¯t remember you saying you had to do something like that before.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°That¡¯s true. I never killed someone, not directly at least. But I also never had that much of a problem with the idea. Some people are just bad, and if someone is coming at me, trying to kill me. Then it¡¯s just a matter of defending myself. Besides, even if I never killed someone, I ran my fair share of dungeons with humanoid enemies.¡± ¡°If you are having a hard time dealing with that, let me know. I might be able to contact Sammy,¡± Hera said with a somber voice. "How?" the make asked. Hera hesitated for a moment. She couldn¡¯t just say that it was an extension of her guide skill. But then again, she didn¡¯t want to lie to Helena, ¡°You know how I can change the environment in my private room? I tried changing that to Sammy¡¯s office one day, and there he was. We could talk as if it was a video call. To be fair, seeing him when I wanted only happened that one time. After that, any time I tried, I could see that office where we took care of the curse, but Sammy only showed up when I called him.¡± ¡°Damn, I wonder if you can do that with more people.¡± ¡°I tried calling other people. My dad, for instance, but that didn¡¯t work. Even Shane. A while back, we both went to our private rooms and tried calling each other, but nothing.¡± ¡°Still, just being able to see Sammy is nice,¡± Helena nodded with a smile, ¡°I would like to talk with him when I have a chance. Not even for a session just to see how he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Pipe down, we are getting closer,¡± another member of the team whispered to the two. Soundproofing spells were, in a way, like doors that stopped sounds from going beyond a certain point. However, just like doors, some people were experts in breaking and entering. Which meant that it was possible one of the humans had a spell, or a skill to peek inside the area of silence that was created by the team¡¯s controller. In the distance, Hera could already see the top of the valley. Like Kaela explained, it was a massive crater about 400 meters wide. Inside that formation were a pair of tall mountains reaching around 20 meters above ground level. There was no movement on the top of that area, only on the sides, where the path to the bottom of the valley started. A voice came through the earbud in Hera¡¯s ear. It was Tania, the triton in charge of this team, ¡°Charmaine, cover everyone with a personal silent spell. Make it small just to affect each of them. Everyone spread out in a line. Make sure that there is nothing between you and the mountain. We don¡¯t want anyone making turns. On my signal, activate the invisibility and run to the mountain. But don¡¯t go too fast. We need to get there quickly but also quietly. Harpies, keep a low flight but high enough not to cause dust clouds on the ground.¡± Everyone spread out in a line a few meters before the forest came to an end. A few people had to be farther away so as not to be stopped by a large rock or something that was in the path. Charmaine, an elf, quickly passed by everyone, giving the quick taps on their shoulder while casting the spell. His mana wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for a long time with this many effects at once, but for the 10 to 15 minutes¡¯ run, it would be enough. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Everyone is seeing that small alcove? Just behind the largest rock that is on the path. First reach the mountain, then walk along it to that location. We will all go inside and wait for Kaela¡¯s signal. Beryl, I¡¯m counting on your illusion to make it seem like the alcove is just another part of the mountain. You can hold that for as long as we need, correct.¡± Hera glanced to the left, a few meters away, after Flint, Skyler, and one more person, an armadillo beastman raised his arm in a thumbs up. The Ophidianite realized that the place was very dark. She had an easier time looking around since now, her eyes were made for the dark, but she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the rest of the group was having problems seeing everything. ¡°Invisibility,¡± Tania waited a few moments, ¡°Now. To the mountain!¡± Hera triggered the invisibility while having Twiggy on her head, with Viper and Crimson tightly wrapped around her waist in a pair of scabbards that she made. Daskka, unfortunately, wouldn¡¯t be able to be hidden by the spell of the earrings the Empress got. But with this trio, she had more than enough eyes to watch everything around her. Dashing through this open field at a high speed, she realized how much better it was to run now than it was before her transformation. She was never slow. After all, there were enough skills to help her move faster. But thanks to her tail, it was easier to maintain high speeds while keeping the noise to a minimum. Not only would her tail help her balance her movement better, but it could also push her from side to side for quick changes in the direction if she noticed a hole, some dried leaves, or an area that could be a problem on the way. ¡®Hera, to the left. Trouble!¡¯ Twiggy warned. Like the tiara said, there was someone coming from the left. It was a human, but they seemed to be alone. Maybe it was just a random scout, or maybe it was something else. The Empress quickly opened her [Explorer¡¯s Map] and saw all the dots of the 30 team members. This was a party function that allowed her to see the location of the people she registered. The actual range of that was pretty small, only 300 meters, and any walls between her and the dots would cut the connection. But right now, she could see that human approaching and four people between her and the possible patrol. However, no one was moving to intercept. She wasn¡¯t sure what was the plan for this kind of situation. Maybe they had to just ignore and continue, or maybe this human could spell doom for all their plans. Not wanting to give a chance for things to go wrong, she broke off from the formation, making sure to not get close to the other members of the team and cause them to trip and fall, and approached the human. At the same time, she sent out Daskka in her black mist form towards Tania. Even if she wasn¡¯t completely invisible, the herald was very good at hiding, especially at night. The only reason Hera didn¡¯t keep her outside was for the slim chance of someone showing a light in that area. The invisibility spell would protect them from being discovered, but a black mist moving around would be revealed. A few moments passed, with Hera reaching the mountain. The human was still getting closer, but they didn¡¯t seem to have noticed anything wrong. That person got closer and closer as the members of the team slowly reached the alcove pointed by their leader. Daskka eventually found Tania and pointed towards the human, trying to warn her of the situation. ¡°Shit. We have a human coming from the right. It should be a patrol. If anyone can confirm they are alone, you are free to take them out. If not, wait. Continue with the plan and we hide in the alcove,¡± Tania¡¯s voice came through the earbud once more. Hera looked around, but neither she, Twiggy, nor the twins could see any other human nearby. To make matters worse, Helena and a couple of the other mages participating in the operation were trailing behind the group. From what the Empress could tell, there was a good chance the human would eventually get too close to them. Not wanting to let that happen, Hera triggered the [Hidden Frontal Screen] skill of the Spymasters and moved towards the human. It was a woman with dark skin carrying a long spear on her back, and with her long hair in braids that went to her shoulders. The Empress steeled herself and walked upright towards that woman. Viper and Crimson were already in her hands. Once close enough, with twin stabs, Hera pierced both eyes of the woman and let her daggers sink deep into her head. Triggering a soundproof spell around them at the same time. The human didn¡¯t even have a chance to respond, and just fell limp into the Ophidianite¡¯s arms. Not wanting to waste time, Hera grabbed the body, using her tail to keep her torso upright while leaving the daggers embedded into her eyes, and rushed towards the alcove. If she were to take them out now, blood would go everywhere, and the whole idea was not to leave any tracks. Less than a minute later, Hera arrived at where the rest of the team was located. Everyone was still silent when they saw the body being carried by an invisible person. Quickly checking her [Explorer¡¯s Map] again, the Empress confirmed that everyone was there and used a soundproof barrier before speaking, ¡°We are all here, captain.¡± ¡°Thank you, Beryl. Make a one-way illusion in this alcove.¡± The armadillo beastmen nodded and did as he was asked. Tania continued, ¡°Hera, put that body here in the back. I¡¯ll freeze her so the blood doesn¡¯t attract anyone.¡± Once the human was in the right place, Hera dismissed Viper and Crimson without removing them from the woman¡¯s head. That way, the blood wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere. Tania quickly cast a spell that turned the body into a large block of ice and took a couple of steps forward. Hera just kept looking at the human body. The human she had just killed. ¡°Sweetie? Are you ok?¡± Helena gently placed one hand on the Ophidianite¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t like how easy it was to do this. And I¡¯m not talking about the level difference.¡± One of the other team members, a burly elf called Lialtan, carrying a dangerous looking greatsword, nodded with a solemn smile, ¡°That¡¯s good. Even if killing someone is easy, you should never forget that it is something bad. We have to create some calluses on our soul to do this kind of job. The moment you stop feeling them is when you should worry.¡± Hera nodded back and after a moment, Vash asked, ¡°So what now? We just wait?¡± Tania nodded, ¡°Correct. We wait for Kaela¡¯s signal. Then we go up the mountain and kill everyone in sight.¡± 895 - The plateau It took just 10 minutes for Tania to get up and speak to the group, ¡°Everyone get ready. All teams are in position, it¡¯s go time.¡± No one said anything, they all just prepared themselves, getting the buffs from who they could get. In this case, Helena used the spell called twin elements to allow their weapons to have more than a single buff. Vash cast a minor sound dampening effect. It was nowhere near as good as a full soundproof spell, but it would reach a wider area and also affect those around the group instead of just the individuals. Neria gave everyone a small barrier to block attacks, and another caster, a controller, used a general attribute buff that gave a 10% bonus to all attributes. Hera summoned her entire court, letting the titled blades choose their own twin elements while using a simple Venom Elemental Strength, and Strength Elemental Strength on all other members of her court. The new buffs, even if stronger, would cost way too much mana for her to keep up for a while. That¡¯s why she was using the two elements that were associated with the Spirit blades she had. Lurize and Vulcan. Casting those spells through them made them cost a fraction of the mana they would normally require. In addition, the Empress also created a pair of rare handaxes to use as her own weapons. ¡®Viper, Crim, get outside and check if the coast is clear of both sides of the mountain. Stay hidden,¡¯ she asked the twins who used [Hidden Frontal Screen] to become invisible while scouting ahead. After a moment, the twins gave back a confirmation, which Hera passed along to Tania, ¡°The coast is clear outside.¡± The triton nodded, ¡°Lialtan, Goshkra, the two of you are going around the mountain. Kill everyone on the way then hold down the entrance of the valley. Two people from Kaela¡¯s team will be doing the same. We can¡¯t have people going to ask for help. Beryl, I want you to focus on hiding the bodies. Make a rock on top of them or something. Just make sure that if someone were to look back or from a different direction, they wouldn¡¯t see our trail. And everyone, confirm your kills. I don¡¯t care if you hit them hard enough to maybe kill someone. Slit their throats, smash their heads, or pierce their brains like Hera did. Make sure the people up there won¡¯t get back up to come after us.¡± The burly elf and a slender dwarf wearing black clothes and a long scarf that screamed ¡®edgy¡¯ both nodded to their leader and then to each other. Everyone approached the entrance of the alcove that was hidden by the illusion, staying just inside it as Tania did. Having recovered his mana, Charmaine tapped every member of the team with a personal silence spell once more. Making sure that their sounds wouldn¡¯t be heard. In addition, if they were discovered by the humans on the top of that plateau, he would cast a barrier similar to the one Hera could use covering the entire area, so Vash and anyone else could use louder spells. Things that made too much light or that were too big were still not supposed to be used, since it would be like a beacon in the middle of the night. A few moments went by before their leader spoke again, ¡°The underground team started moving. They will have a head start.¡± Close to two minutes later, Kaela¡¯s voice came through everyone¡¯s earbud, ¡°Go!¡± In a flurry, the teams started moving. The harmony guardians left the alcove and started climbing the mountain with speed. Each of them was using some sort of spell to make things easier. Hera was doing that not just for her but for anyone who was following along by using the stone shape to create a rock climbing path. Vash, Nimbus and another 3 harpies were flying close to the group, helping anyone who was struggling. Once people started to arrive at the top, they would carry those lagging behind. Tania, a couple of beastman, and an elf, were the firsts to arrive at the top. Hera could hear weak sounds of battle from above as the four killed a couple of humans who were close by. Down below, she could also see Lialtan finding a human and quickly sending them off to the next world with a mighty swing of his sword. Despite his speech earlier, the man didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment as he bisected the guard that he came in contact with. It took Hera 3 minutes to reach the top, and the people following her were not far behind. Nimbus had already carried Helena, Neria, and Flint to the plateau and they were on the move. Once the Ophidianite reached the top, she took one quick glance around. There were around 500 meters for her to cover until the opening to the valley. Looking to the sides, there were two humans near the edges of the plateau. They were likely making sure that no one was getting closer to the entrance of the valley and not paying attention to whoever was climbing from the back. However, they were very far away, so reaching them would take a while. ¡®Robin, can you hit them?¡¯ ¡®I think so,¡¯ the bowblade replied. Hera quickly pulled one of the silence arrow tips and created a wooden arrow. She drew the bowstring and triggered [Seal of Mystic Resonance] to fire more projectiles with the same move. But the actual aim part was left to Robin himself, who quickly found a good position. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡®Fire four more times in succession. Try to get their neck,¡¯ the Empress asked and when she felt the bow was ready, she let go of the string. The first three arrows flew past everyone, some of the team members giving her confused looks. Right after that, another four volleys of three arrows flew past. All a dull blue color that didn¡¯t create any light in the middle of the night. The silence arrow was the first to strike, which caused the human to yell in pain. However, the magic attached to the arrowhead was already in effect. No one could hear that person, only see how they were groaning and moving around. They turned only to be hit by another set of 3 arrows, one getting their neck and two their chest. The next volley also hit their torso, but the two last ones missed completely. After all, after the third set of strikes, the human was already on the ground, not moving. Still, Hera asked Robin to send 3 more volleys, all aimed at the human¡¯s head to be sure they wouldn¡¯t get up later. Those who were able to watch that scene gave approving nods to Hera and pointed to the other side, where someone was even farther away, also looking beyond the plateau. The Empress didn¡¯t waste time and created another silent arrow using the arrowhead she had on her. Robin took a moment longer to aim, but again, the strikes were true. But the reaction was different. First, they tried and failed to dodge the second volley before it could hit them. And the third was a complete miss. The human yelled and tried to bang something on the ground to make noise, but the arrow that was still embedded into their back stopped any sound that came from an area around them. Robin continued his assault, firing arrow after arrow aimed at that human. Thankfully, since they were all made out of magic, the bowblade was able to make them vanish once they missed the target, instead of letting them fall down the mountain due to the proximity of this particular human to the edge. Pulling another arrow, Robin was finally able to imbue an elemental effect on the projectile, and a strength powered bolt flew through the sky at high speeds. The attack hit the human square in the jaw, sending them backwards a few meters, and making them fall from the plateau. Hera froze for a second, waiting to hear the noise that would create. Thankfully, nothing happened. Which meant both that the silent arrow was still in effect, and that the human didn¡¯t end up tumbling down and causing small rocks to fall, which would generate noise. She only hoped that Goshkra, the edgy dwarf, wasn¡¯t directly under the human as they landed. Either way, she didn¡¯t have time to waste with that right now. Rushing to meet the rest of the team, she arrived, as they were already halfway through the plateau. Various bodies were already on the ground, all human. So far, everything was working fine, but this was also the easier part. These people were not as worried about someone trying to rescue the people in the camp as they were worried about people in the camp trying to run away. Which was a big oversight on their part. But that hubris was what gave the Alliance this opportunity. Moving quickly, Hera continued running across the plateau. Helena was using her spells left and right. Before one of the humans was hit, she would take away their sense of touch, and if someone turned around, she would take their sight. Vash, Skyler, Flint, and Roan, each were quickly killing the people standing guard here, and there were a large number of them. 15 or so were already dead, but another 30 were still spread around. All closer to the opposite edge of the mountain. Charmaine finally reached the point he needed to silence the entire area and did just that. Now, no one that wasn¡¯t in this part of the plateau would be able to hear their noises. This made the Alliance team move even faster, killing everyone in sight and worrying less with potential noise. Movement and light were the only things hindering their progress. Hera sent her court out, forming the conga line to take out the few humans closer to the right edge of the mountain, while Robin continued to fire arrows at any human who was already engaged in a fight. Suddenly, the people at the very front of the area turned around and saw the incoming attackers. They screamed, which warned all other humans since the spell Charmaine cast was only stopping sounds from coming out of the plateau, like what happened with those inside Hera¡¯s soundproof bubble. In addition, a couple of them tried to send messages through their communicators, but that also failed. Tania, Kaela, and Bert, the leader of the underground team, each had a device that was activated before the operation started. That was a connection disruptor that would stop any attempts to send messages to each other, or to the various troops that were still in the room. However, there was nothing that could be done to stop the visual effects. Which meant that if one of the humans did anything to create a flare, people would know something was happening in here. That wasn¡¯t something the humans on top of the plateau considered before they were killed by the Alliance troops. Every single one of them now lay dead on the ground and covered by an illusion that made them look like rocks. On the other side of the canyon, the battle was also about to be over. But a single human tried a last resort. Jumping down to reach the camp below. ¡®Nimbus! Grab him,¡¯ Hera yelled in her mind, giving a magnet to the Sentinel, who flew at high speed towards the human. Before he could even start his descent, the bipedal griffon reached him and tossed him back on the opposite side of the canyon from where the Empress was. But that was all Nimbus could do. He immediately was dismissed as Hera saw her mana plummet due the distance he traveled with the magnet. On the other side, a couple of people from Kaela¡¯s team killed that man before he could do anything else. The Scoutmaster scanned the area and found Hera. Giving her an approving nod for her reaction. The teams on both sides walked closer to the edge of the plateau now that no human could disturb them and waited a moment. The underground team had to move a bit more before reaching the surface. While waiting, a couple of people on both sides cast slow falling spells on those who couldn¡¯t fly. Kaela eventually raised her hand, her silhouette illuminated by the starlight, and counted down. 3¡­ 2¡­ 1.. Swinging her arm forward, everyone jumped. Directly below them was the camp where the families were being kept as hostages. The humans in there would be focusing on the troops coming from the mines instead of noticing the battalion coming from the sky. 896 - Hostage camp While waiting for Kaela¡¯s signal on top of the plateau, Hera approached Helena, ¡°As soon as we land, go after the people. Don¡¯t try to fight, it¡¯s easier for you to move around. Just grab as many as you can and try to hide in a safe location.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Helena chuckled, ¡°Sorry it¡¯s just a bit odd having you looking out for me. It was the other way around.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah, but just because I couldn¡¯t do much to help you. Not because I didn¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°I know, sweetie. But still, it¡¯s going to take some getting used to.¡± ¡°I really hope you don¡¯t get a chance to get used to that,¡± Hera glanced down at the camp. It was filled with beat up tents, some with visible holes even from this height. It was clear that the people down there were not being treated well. Even if someone wanted to argue that working in a mine wasn¡¯t that bad, the state of the camp confirmed any suspicion of the bad situation the families that stayed behind were being put through. ¡°Yeah,¡± Helena glanced down, ¡°I¡¯m really worried it¡¯s not just this.¡± Hera looked towards the mage, and after a pause, nodded. Neither of them had to say the words out loud. It was a well-known fact that in times of war, people could suffer more than just physical harm. Since children were involved, they hoped that the humans were a bit more careful not to cross certain lines. According to the Alliance, that is what was happening. During any fights against the army, or conflicts, the humans were being kind. If you could call it that. They were not torturing people or harassing anyone or even mistreating prisoners. Not anymore than usual at least. However, Hera and Helena knew more about the situation. They knew how some of them were willing to performer harrowing experiments on people and on Spirits to achieve their goals. It was hard to trust they wouldn¡¯t do other kinds of heinous acts. Kaela finally raised her hand and began to count down. Once she lowered her hand, everyone jumped. Those who couldn¡¯t fly already had a buff to allow them to fall slower, while the ones with wings could simply use that. Hera expected this entrance to be both slower and faster than what it actually was. On one hand, they were not going down at a speed that make her, or anyone in the teams, worried about getting hurt when they landed. On the other, it felt like it was taking a long time, even if the whole journey would last less than 20 seconds. The big problem there was that by simply falling, they could reach the ground in less than 4 seconds. The difference was massive and that extra time was just a bigger opportunity for a human to notice them and start attacking, while they could do very little to defend themselves. Thankfully, humans were not the kinds of people that were used to looking up. That was also the case for dwarves and beastmen. For some reason, if any member of those species heard a noise, they would look around and, more often than not, forget to look up. Elves also had that, but to a smaller degree. Since their culture had a lot of focus on tall structures with interconnected paths, they were less likely to miss the danger that came from above. Tritons and Harpies had no such problems. Both species were very used with three-dimensional fights, even if the circumstances were very different. Once the team was about two meters above all the tents, the slow fall spell was deactivated. Hera instantly told the titled blades to turn into their full forms, but all of them were far away from Helena. The idea was to use that distraction to allow the mage a chance to hide properly. Livy was the first to land, her massive frame spooking some of the humans and the children that were nearby. She saw someone turning away from her and rushing towards a specific tent. They were wearing heavy armor and carrying a longsword on their waist. That was clearly a human, but the fact that he moved with such intention worried the Leviathan. Not wanting to give them a chance to do whatever they were trying to do, she rushed forward. Swinging the war axe at the man¡¯s legs. The first strike was a miss, and instead of being able to throw the second one, she had to pivot and block a couple of spells aimed at her head. The man was now too far away and apparently heading to a specific tent. One that wasn¡¯t as beat up as the rest. Knowing she wasn¡¯t fast enough to reach him now, the Leviathan grabbed her war axe with both her hands and threw it. The weapon spun through the air, and just as two more spells were about to hit her, Livy dropped her bipedal form, becoming only the double-headed axe. Using the momentum of her throw, she controlled the direction and slammed the man straight into his chest just as he opened the tent. The Leviathan quickly came back to her person form and pushed the weapon forward, finishing the blow to bisect the human. Glancing inside, she noticed what looked like a guard tent with some weapons, armor, and an old radio. Something that wouldn¡¯t be able to send messages to a different room, no matter what. ¡®Hera! They are trying to send a message to someone!¡¯ Livy yelled in their minds, which was the best way to cut through all the noise. ¡®Don¡¯t let them, then! Verdant, Cerulean, go help Livy protect that tent. Twiggy, stay on her head.¡¯ ¡®Roger!¡¯ the members of the Verdant, and the Cerulean Marquessate all replied in unison and started moving towards the Leviathan. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Livy held back a smile, feeling satisfied with her discovery, but there was no time to focus on that. A woman wearing red clothes came swinging at her, her black hair tied tightly in a bun. Unfortunately, this human didn¡¯t consider that the three meter tall sea serpent was much stronger than her. The Leviathan snorted as she grabbed the glaive with one hand, and just spun the woman around tossing her towards the center of the Alliance team that just appeared. The human went flying, passing by Glacia, who gave her a ¡®love tap¡¯, slowing the woman¡¯s movement with a [Glacial Strike]. Robin and Twiggy were the next ones to go by, but the human still showed no sign of stopping. Finally, after going through Clay and getting another attack from Storm, one without any skills attached to it, the woman fell to the ground close to Hera, Flint, and Roan, who were engaged in their own fights. For a brief moment, the human struggled to understand her situation, but that was already too much time. As she tried to get up to continue fighting, Vulcan stomped her neck and pulled back, ripping her throat out with his claws. Forge yelled and jumped forward, bringing the thick hammer down on a man¡¯s shoulder before pulling it back and slamming his head, making the human drop. Vulcan could¡¯ve confirmed the kill, but that rule only applied to the plateau. Here, it was more important to neutralize everyone as quickly as possible. The longer the fight lasted, the more likely the humans were to be able to call for help. Forge moved towards one of the tents, where he saw a human rush inside and found a group of three men, surrounding five people. Those five were all of different species and ages. With the smallest one, a triton, looking no older than 12. ¡°Take one more step and they are dead!¡± one of the humans was pointing his longsword at the child. Vulcan squinted, he could tell that weapon was crap from here. The blade wasn¡¯t uniform; the materials used to make were not properly mixed, which made the steel more brittle, and the handle was too light. Using that weapon would be awful for anyone who knew what they were doing. ¡°Good! Now you are going to get the radio, or they die! Do you hear me?¡± the human yelled again, pressing the blade on the kid¡¯s cheek. It wasn¡¯t enough to hurt him, but another triton, likely his mom, pushed the blade forward, cutting her arm in the process to protect her child. The human just looked down and kicked the woman, before turning back to the kangaroo man that was in front of him, ¡°Go! I¡¯m warning you.¡± Vulcan took a deep breath, trying to seem dejected. If his apron wasn¡¯t covering his stomach, they would see the fires of a furnace forming in his belly. He then let out a wave of [Sacred Fire] towards the group. One charged with about ten times the regular mana cost and an enchantment spell he was working on called simply ''Strength''. The humans were hit hard, screaming as the flames fused their flesh and armor together. The tritons, the elf, and the two dwarves also screamed, but it was only out of fear. Vulcan¡¯s skill only harmed his enemies, and for his allies, it was a healing effect. Once the white flames were gone, the humans were still alive, but now on the ground, agonizing due to the pain. While the people from other species were being healed. The cut in the mother triton was no longer visible. ¡°Sorry about that, folks. Couldn¡¯t warn you without showing them my hand,¡± Forge winked at them. Before anyone could reply, another human appeared from behind him, grabbing Vulcan by the throat with a staff. He was pulled back, out of the tent and tried to jump, or to free himself, but that was an awkward position and there was no way to get enough strength to push the human away. Suddenly, something moved past Vulcan, and he felt the grip of the human fail. Using his elbow to attack, he hit something else instead of the human, but that was enough for him to push away. ¡°Ouch! What the hell?!¡± Viper groaned as he appeared. The half Naga was wrapping the human with his tail like a snake. ¡°My bad!¡± Vulcan stepped but quickly jumped inside the tent again as a human entered it through the back. Viper opened his mouth and bit down hard on the neck of the human he was holding. Just as his fangs pierced the skin, Crimson jumped towards the same man. The twins wrapped themselves like a twisted version of the caduceus, with each biting one side of the human¡¯s neck. Even then, it was taking too long for him to drop. Not wanting to waste more time, they used their daggers to pierce the man¡¯s heart from the front and back before dropping him to the ground and moving to the next target. They saw a woman who had a pair of daggers blocking one of the elves from Kaela¡¯s team and pushing him away. Before she could follow up, Crimson sent out a [Bloody Claw] to intercept. Rushing to her, the twins weaved their paths together, zig zagging to confuse their enemy. That didn¡¯t work as well as they hoped. Once the two Spymasters were crossing in front of each other, forming a line, the woman threw a dagger aimed at them both. However, Viper parried the attack and approached in a flash. He went for an upward swing with his of dagger, but that was just a faint, as Crimson jumped with an overhead attack. Unable to react in time, the woman¡¯s barrier blocked the blow. Which didn¡¯t matter to the twins. The entire court could work very well together as a unit. However, the teamwork of the Spymasters was on a whole different level. They fought not as two people helping each other, but as if they were part of the same body. Crimson would go for a feint, but Viper was the one who followed up the attack. Once one of them showed an opening, the other was there to provide cover. That was too much for the woman who was killed after a few moments. With their quarry dead, the twins hesitated for a brief moment before continuing, not because of what was going on with them, but what was happening with Hera. She, along with Nimbus and Lurize, was facing against three people who seemed to be a problem. With a quick nod to each other, Crimson and Viper continued attacking the humans who controlled the camp, trusting that the fight wouldn¡¯t be a problem for their Empress. 897 - Elite guards ¡®Did you two notice that this kind of thing keeps happening to us?¡¯ Nimbus jumped back, parrying a strike that came from one of the three humans the trio was facing. He was now a few steps away, getting a moment to breathe. ¡®Do you mean the fact that even with all these people fighting we somehow, get the undivided attention of three of the strongest guards in the camp?¡¯ Lurize pushed a man back after blocking his sword. To follow up, he went for an upward slash with his Zweih?nder, but the human jumped back, doing a backflip to escape. ¡®Yeah. I think I attract that kind of thing. Sorry you have to be stuck with me,¡¯ Hera stepped to the side and tried to swing at the man that just attacked her twice with her hand axes. One of them managed to hit him, but it was blocked by a barrier, while the second attack just missed. Still, she added a kick to push him away. The humans were trying to circle the three, but Hera and her blades wouldn¡¯t let that happen. Sun, Shadow, and Pyro blocked their attempts to move, while the Empress herself was constantly aware of everyone¡¯s position. ¡®I blame the Silver Lining. That skill is always trouble,¡¯ Nimbus huffed as he dashed forward, attempting to go past the man in front of him. Among the three humans they were fighting, this was the weakest. The problem was the fourth member of this group. A healer that was buffing and protecting the front line. However, the humans noticed the attempt and moved to intercept the Sentinel. All three jumping towards him brandishing their weapons. Without even seeing that moment, Hera was already ready to follow along. She blocked the woman Nimbus was facing before with a spinning kick, followed up by a tail slash. Pyro was attached to the appendage and assisted with the aim to reach the hand holding the human¡¯s spear. Taking advantage of the momentum, the Empress added a slash with one of her hand axes, but this one aimed at the same man that she kicked a few moments ago. Yet again, the strike was stopped by the barrier cast by the one in the back. Making Hera hiss in anger, her jaw unhinging, showing the face of a snake about to strike. That move was enough to spook the humans, who became frazzled but continued the strike. Seeing that, the Ophidianite decided to lean on the idea. Activating [Toxic Mist] she also quickly sent an idea to Daskka, who moved right away. The herald turned into her purple mist form and shot out of Hera¡¯s mouth like a cloud of venom, which only made the humans even more spooked by the situation. Even with that interruption, it wasn¡¯t enough to clear a path for Nimbus, who had to use [Mana Shield] to block the attacks from the third man, and the awkward blow the second man still attempted to connect with his war hammer. The woman with a spear was able to follow up, but Shadow moved to block the attack while Sun aimed at the man with the sword to stop him from doing anything. That became a jumbled mess with all three humans entangled with Hera, Nimbus, and the members of the Alabaster Dukedom. And that was exactly their plan. Forcing them to be in this close proximity made all the humans suffer the effect of the Ophidianite¡¯s [Toxic Mist] boosted not just by [Ophidianite Poison] but also [Poison Mastery], and a certain beetle¡¯s [Venom Edict]. In addition, Hera felt another skill being attached to the mist, [Mana Vessel]. That was the skill she was able to create while trying to replicate the effects of what had happened in the vision when dealing with Alex¡¯s curse. The effects of she used the Pool of Styx to gain an absurd amount of attributes. But she could also tell that only [Ophidianite Poison] was being affected. This turned the venom in the air considerably more deadly, almost to the point of corroding their armor. Seeing the state of his partners, the human in the back started to cast cleaning spells to get rid of the toxic mist. He could do so, but since Hera was continuously letting that airborne poison seep out of her, he had to cast the spell continuously. Which became his downfall. The man was unable to notice a large metal armor turning golden and rushing at him. Lurize slammed on the healer like a train going at full speed. He sent the man flying, but before he could get away from the Royal Tutor, a large gloved metal hand grabbed the human¡¯s leg and slammed him into the ground. As a testament to his prowess. The barrier surrounding the healer blocked all the damage caused by the attack. But that was all it could do. Spells like that stopped someone from being hurt, but the action of being violently tossed around still could mess with someone¡¯s body. In this case, the man got a concussion due to the whiplash he suffered in just a few seconds. With the caster unconscious, the barrier that was hindering the fight vanished. In addition, the mist that surrounded the Empress pushed back against the humans once more. Not wanting to give them a chance to escape, Hera swung her hand axe at the clumsy man¡¯s chest using [Grasshopper Slash]. The attack broke his wooden armor, cut open his skin, and shattered part of his ribcage. As soon as she pulled back the blade, it became obvious that the wound was already festering. Courtesy of the combo of Venom and Strength buffs on her weapons. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Nimbus didn¡¯t wait around and send a few frozen feathers towards the woman by using a spell. The move forced her to protect her face from the assault, and gave enough of an opening for the Sentinel to slam both bladed tonfas on her stomach, essentially gutting her. Proving the human¡¯s resilience, she still tried to attack him even as the blood flowed from the gash in her torso. But having a spear for such a close range fight wasn¡¯t helpful. She could only struggle for a few moments before Nimbus delivered a final blow, cutting open her neck and letting her bleed out on the ground. The last human, the man with a sword was coughing due the mist created by Hera. Daskka also helped by making sure the poison was concentrated around him. But it was Shadow, benefiting from the debuff already applied to the human with his [Shadow Mastery] who delivered the finishing blow, decapitating the man in a swift motion. With the battle over, Hera glanced down, taking a brief moment to process what she had just done. Killing people wasn¡¯t something she enjoyed. Not in the slightest, and the brutal way they died¡­ No. The brutal way in which she had killed them, didn¡¯t make this any easier. Still, this was war. Both sides knew what they were getting themselves into. At least she just fought. She never went out of her way to make them suffer more than they had to. Hopefully, that would have given them, and the Empress some solace. Lurize walked back to Hera, Nimbus, and the Alabasters having already finished the healer off. Amongst all the humans they fought, that man was the most annoying to deal with. ¡°Hera? Are you ok?¡± the Royal Tutor noticed her expression. ¡°Not really, but let¡¯s keep going,¡± Hera took a couple of steps and stopped, turning to Nimbus, ¡°By the way. Don¡¯t talk shit about Silver Linings. That skill is likely responsible for me finding the legacy and meeting you all. It can do whatever it wants with us.¡± The Sentinel groaned, but no one believed his reaction. All court members agreed with that sentiment. If that skill really brought them all together, it was worth it. The battle continued. Each member of the Alliance having to face two or more of the humans. The camp was massive and there were easily a couple hundred troops stationed here. Which also sounded small when comparing the five hundred people who were imprisoned here. In the middle of all of that. Helena rushed through the tents. Glancing inside each of them, she tried to find her cousin, but so far, only saw a few guards, and the families trying to protect themselves. Some even showed aggression towards her, even if she didn¡¯t do anything. Not that the mage blamed any of them, of course. They were in a terrible situation and it was the human¡¯s fault. Anyone in their place would be suspicious of a random human running around, looking for something. Because of the attack, and the yells of how it was the Alliance, none of the guards seemed to pay attention to Helena as she ran through the camp. It was just one more person trying to help with the fight. The clock continued ticking, as the sounds of battle increased more and more. The families started to get involved in the combat. Some hoping to help the Alliance, others just being unlucky enough to be in a tent that was hit by a spell. The louder the fight became, the more Helena¡¯s anxiety grew. What if her cousin was in one of the tents hit by a nasty spell? Or if his son was hurt. He was only here because of her. Shaking her head, the mage continued her search. Until she noticed a large group of people carrying children rushing inside a door connected to the mountain. Were the people trying to hide inside the mines? That had some potential, but it would also be very dangerous if anyone ended up using an attack that was too strong. At least this wasn¡¯t a place where people took out coal or some sort of fuel. Even if there was a spark inside, it wouldn¡¯t blow the entire mountain up. Helena quickly moved through the tents and to the door. Just as she was about to open, someone came out. Blocking her from getting to the door. ¡°What?! No! You are not getting the children!¡± an elven man yelled and pointed a stick at the human in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m with the Alliance. Do you know someone name Alan? He¡¯s a human married to a beastmen.¡± ¡°I¡­ I do. No, shut up. You are just trying to trick me!¡± the elf yelled. ¡°Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake,¡± Helena groaned and called her shadow army. The small black dots with glowing eyes and told them to pick the man up and place him to the side, ¡°If I wanted to hurt you I would have. I¡¯m just looking for my cousin. Have you seen Alan? He has a kid called Brian.¡± Helena¡¯s voice was louder, not enough to be a yell, but enough to be heard from inside the mines. The door suddenly opened revealing her cousin. ¡°Lena?! What are you doing here?¡± Alan opened a big smile, he was wearing what were essentially rags. There were a few wounds on his arms and face. Helena could tell that he should be covered in bruises, but it was hard to see that due his dark complexion. ¡°Alan!¡± the mage rushed to give him a hug, being careful not to squeeze too much, ¡°Are you ok? What about Brian and Celeste?¡± ¡°Both are fine. I¡¯ve been working on the mines and they were ok. The guards here were more careful with the members of the other species. Humans got the short end of the stick,¡± Alan looked around, ¡°Come, we can talk inside. What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m helping break you all out,¡± Helena glanced back and told her shadow army to bring the elf inside. ¡°Breaking out to where? What is going on?¡± Alan asked with a confused expression. Helena snapped her fingers, creating a shadow barrier around the two that stopped anyone from see or hear what was going on inside. Just in case, ¡°The Alliance is taking over the room today. We came first to make sure they don¡¯t use you all as hostages. By the end you should be able to go back to your house.¡± The mage dropped the spell right away, leaving Alan with his mouth open, ¡°Are¡­ are you serious?¡± the man asked. A loud crash came from outside as one of the guard towers collapsed during the fight, ¡°I am. We wouldn¡¯t be making this mess otherwise. Everything will be ok,¡± Helena replied. Not just to calm down Alan and everyone who was listening, but also herself. 898 - Defensive Measures Once they were inside the mines, Alan explained to Helena what they were doing. As the fight started, some of the people working in this area rushed here to hide. They had the option of going to the one on the opposite side of the valley, but it was more dangerous there. According to the man, monsters would occasionally get inside the tunnels, and that didn¡¯t happen here. After arriving, some of the people who didn¡¯t come with their families, or the ones that were brave enough, would leave in order to bring the others here. But it was clear that this wasn¡¯t an option anymore. The fight was getting increasingly more hectic and if they kept going back and forth; it was more likely for them to attract the wrong kind of attention. Doing that hurt, and there were a number of people who just left to look for their loved ones, but people were scared. More than anything, they were scared that a stray spell or attack would hit one of the children. They all had yet to gain their first level up, which meant their attributes were currently extremely low. A strike that would injure the parents could kill one of the children with ease. It didn¡¯t take someone specialized in reading people¡¯s expression to realize that decisions were weighing on the group. Helena just patted Alan¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It was a good call.¡± A loud blast made the entire cave tremble. ¡°Should we stay here or go deeper inside?¡± Alan turned to Helena. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Does anyone here understand caves?¡± the mage faced the crowd of 40 or so inside. A fox beastwoman in the back raised her hand, ¡°I¡¯m an earth mage. No one used spells to make the mine, but generally, the deeper you go, the more dangerous it is.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the shock of the impacts be smaller if we went deeper?¡± a triton asked. ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s only the case if the space between the surface and where we are is completely filled. If there are caves, or small gaps, then the impact might dislodge something, and that can trigger a cascade effect.¡± ¡°Like a landslide?¡± one of the kids asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Ok then. We stay here,¡± Helena glanced back to the door, thinking if she should use her spells to make it harder for people to notice it. On one hand, that could help the group hide. But seeing the door might make people be more careful with attacks aimed at their general direction. The noise became even louder. It was clear that the fight outside was picking up momentum. But unfortunately, they had no way of knowing which side was winning. Not from inside the cave. Helena tried sending her shadow army outside, but unlike Hera¡¯s court, she had no way of communicating with her summons properly. Those constructs also had very limited intelligence. As a result, any attempts to talk with them ended up being a waste of time. Still, the mage had nothing to do but to wait. Which was almost as bad as the anxiety she felt once she found out about Alan. Unable to do anything else, the group just stood there. All in silence while hearing the sounds of battle outside. At one point, the sounds grew louder, showing that the fight was getting closer, but thankfully, it just continued moving. After an extremely long 20 minutes, the place became silent once more. ¡°We are doing a roll call. Answer me when I call your name with your status and location,¡± Tania¡¯s voice suddenly came from the communicator. When they started this operation, it was configured so it only could receive signals, but now that the fight was over, Kaela had removed that restriction. She went down a list, calling everyone and giving a few seconds to hear a reply. It was in alphabetical order, which means that Helena would be the Second to be called amongst the people she knew. Flint came first, and he grumbled that he was ok, just tired and by one of the entrances of the camp. ¡°Helena?¡± Tania called. ¡°I¡¯m ok. Inside one of the mines with some of the prisoners. Is it safe to leave?¡± ¡°Yeah, bring them out. We are gathering everyone in the central square. Now, Hera?¡± When no one answered, Helena froze, could Hera be hurt? Did something happen to her? How? She had the entire court, how was the Ophidianite too injured to speak? Could she be¡­. ¡°Hera?¡± Tania called again. ¡°Here,¡± the Empress coughed, her voice really raspy, ¡°Sorry. Was drinking water,¡± she coughed again, ¡°It went down the wrong pipe.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Girl, you scared me,¡± Tania¡¯s relief was palpable, ¡°If something was able to bring you down we would be in trouble. Where are you?¡± ¡°In one of the ends of the camp too. But I don¡¯t see Flint around, so it¡¯s probably the opposite end.¡± ¡°OK, go to the square. Also, I don¡¯t know if I have to ask this, but is your court ok? Does that matter?¡± Tania asked. ¡°More on a personal level than what you might be thinking. But they are fine. The twins got hurt and are resting for now. They should be good to go in a couple of hours.¡± ¡°What happened? Did they find someone that strong? Is that person dead?¡± ¡°No, no,¡± Hera cleared her throat, her voice finally returning to normal, ¡°They got greedy, jumped in the middle of a dozen humans at once with no backup and no one else to distract them. It was too much for those two and they got a bit beaten up because of it. But they managed to win.¡± ¡°Got it. Next, Kristal.¡± ¡°Here. Literally by your side, Tania,¡± an annoyed voice replied. ¡°I know, but it¡¯s part of the procedure. Let me just continue,¡± Tania huffed and continued the roll call. From the 30 members of her team, 26 replied. The remaining four were quickly found as people started to search. Two were hit by sleep spells that knocked them out, and one was injured to the point of losing their conscience. The last one was killed during the fight. The Harmony Guardians were all doing fine, and so were the people who went alone to cover the exits of the valley. Later Kaela also gave them all the rundown of the situation while the groups gathered in the central square. Among all the 70 people participating in the operation, three were dead. Five people were injured to the point of not being able to fight for a while, and ten were momentarily incapacitated by various spells ranging from sleep and paralysis to a nasty petrification effect. Still the healers already started working on them and it seemed like soon they would all be able to fight again. Helena accompanied Brian, Alan, and Celeste, along with the rest of the people inside the mines, to the central square. Only now she saw the full extent of the damages caused by the attack. About half of the camp was destroyed, or in the process of being destroyed by whatever leftover spell was still acting. On the flip side, there were only a handful of prisoners that were hurt during the battle, and no one died. According to what people said, that was a funny situation. Every member of the Alliance team wanted to protect the families for obvious reasons, but it looked like the humans were also following similar orders. Once an attack of a fight got too close to the people living in the camp, the combatants would stop what they were doing and walk away before resuming their clash. That fact left a weird taste in everyone¡¯s mouth. Since it would mean that the humans here were not as bad as they thought. Still, war is war. And all members of the team already accepted they were doing something they didn¡¯t want to do. Once most of the people involved in the operation arrived at the center of the camp, Kaela started to designate tasks for everyone. The first step of the plan was over, now they had to prepare defenses in this position so the humans wouldn¡¯t gain control over the area again. ¡°Crafters split into two groups. Group one is making the defensive weapons. Ballistas, any sort of arcane torrent and things like that. Group two is making weapons and armor for the families. We are also taking any item that was with the guards and can help. For the people who live here. You don¡¯t have to participate in the fight, but I advise all of you to be armed. We don¡¯t know how many humans will come to try to take us out. Harpies, I need you to cover the plateau. Work with the crafters to set up the long-range weapons up there. We are also going to use barbed wire or anything of the sort all around the mountain to stop them from climbing. We are also lining up the entire valley with traps. I¡¯m talking spell traps, pitfalls, barricades, whatever we can do. Don¡¯t worry about being able to leave later. We can go from above if we need. In addition, we need people to fuel a large scale barrier we are placing here in the center of the camp. This will stop people from dropping from above like we did,¡± Kaela looked around. The people just stared back at her. With a nod, she added, ¡°One last thing. We are collapsing part of the mine. We don¡¯t want the humans using the same path we did to get here. Now move people, we are already behind schedule. Go, go, go!¡± Flint quickly moved with the crafters to set up the defensive weapons with Vash, while Neria was with the healers helping those in need. Roan and Skyler turned to the traps. Hera and Helena were also going towards the valley to help with the traps when Alan stopped them. ¡°Hang on. Why are we doing this? I thought the Alliance had figured out a way to bring people somewhere safe. Or they already had taken over the room.¡± ¡°Thats¡­¡± Hera looked around and noticed Tania close by. The team leader nodded. ¡°At this point, you can tell him. We already sent a signal, everyone should arrive soon,¡± the triton said. ¡°Ok, so no. We didn¡¯t take over the room. Not yet. We had to come save you first to stop the humans from using you as a bargaining chip. Now an army is coming to take over the room. But in order for that to work, we also need to protect this place. Well actually, no. We need to protect you, and this is the best place to do that,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you just take us to the doorway so we can stay behind the army, then?¡± Alan pressed. ¡°Honey¡­¡± Celeste placed a hand on her husband¡¯s arm, trying to calm him down. ¡°Alan, it took us. A team of people with specialized gear for hiding hours to get here without being seen. How do you expect us to do the same with this many people? Or how were we supposed to hide from the humans? There is also the case of monsters. For us, we could scare them off of quickly kill them. But with a group this big? I don¡¯t think we can protect everyone. Even if we could. Why would we leave this place? This is a very good defensive position,¡± Helena said. ¡°Besides, doing this close to a doorway is not the best idea,¡± Hera added. ¡°Why not?¡± Alan frowned. The Empress turned to the man, staring deep into his eyes, ¡°Because it¡¯s an escape route. It¡¯s an oh shit button that people can press if things go south. Even if those with families here would stay behind, that doesn¡¯t mean everyone else would act the same way if we had an escape route. Fighting here means we have to defend the position. There is no other choice.¡± 899 - Protect the camp A couple of hours later, the biggest parts of the defense were already set up. Aside from the crafters, who were still making various structures to help with any incoming attacks, the rest of the team focused on resting. Every extra second they had to recover their energy could make a difference in a prolonged fight. And since no one knew exactly how long any attacks on the camp would be, they were all preparing for the worst. Their plans also had changed a lot. Initially, they were going to split their teams into four groups. Two would take care of the plateaus, while the other two covered the two openings of the valley. However, one of the people here made a different suggestion. The humans had him working on some better defenses for the place. A spell circle that was supposed to be carved on the rock above the plateau. The idea was to combine two effects, one that made that area have an increased degree of pressure as if they were underwater, and another to push the air away. Not to the point of it turning into a vacuum, but simulating the effects of being high up in a mountain. Lastly, was a slow effect to make those crossing the plateau take longer to reach the valley. With that combination, anyone who tried to reach the center of the valley from that path should asphyxiate before reaching them, and due to the nature of the spells, simple things like air bubbles wouldn¡¯t help. People would require a very specific set of spells to circumvent that. However, the dwarf didn¡¯t want to help his captors. Because of that, he was stalling for time, just out of pure spite. The actual spell circle had been completed several days earlier, but he continuously made slight changes that caused the magic to fail. Now that this was supposed to help his people, he was very happy to fix those mistakes and share his work. With the combined help of the harpy, and the few explorers in the teams, carving the symbols on the ground was very quick. In just one hour, the spell circles were completed, and each line went almost 10 meters deep. During the next 30 minutes, the people with strong earth based spells covered the carving so the humans wouldn¡¯t know what happened. With that, people would still be atop the mountain, but closer to the valley. In addition, their numbers would be smaller and the amount of defensive weapons placed there would be reduced. They would also be adapted to be able to turn around the attack on both sides. Unfortunately, the spell required a specific height for it to work, so it couldn¡¯t be created in the paths leading to the camp. On the flip side, letting the crafters focus on defenses around the valley allowed them to create various traps and arcane turrents directly attached to the walls of the mountain. Hera had a bit of knowledge about traps, but it¡¯s been so long that she used that kind of thing that the best she could do was follow instructions. Even so, between her and her court, the Empress was a great help. One thing she noticed, however, was that Viper wasn¡¯t doing much to help with the actual construction. Instead, he was with a group of people discussing the barriers and defensive spells that would be used. The Ophidianite didn¡¯t say anything since it did look like he was contributing to the conversation at first, but once she was called to the other side of the camp, things changed. ¡°Viper, we have to go,¡± Hera called as the group moved. ¡°One moment,¡± the Spymaster asked the group of mages and moved towards the Empress, ¡°Can I make a request?¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Could you give me a royal quest to stay here? I want to help the mages,¡± Viper replied. ¡°Really? Don¡¯t get me wrong, but can you help? All the spells you use come from me, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°They do, but they don¡¯t have to. Nimbus has spells that he knows and you don¡¯t. I wanted to lean in on that since one of my skills allows me to think faster than most. That can be useful to cast complicated spells that need a lot of focus.¡± Hera nodded, it was the first time the Spymaster asked to do something like that, but the timing was just awful, ¡°I like your idea. But I can¡¯t afford to use that skill right now. Not for this. We don¡¯t know what will happen later and maybe we are going to need to split up,¡± she placed one hand on Viper¡¯s shoulder, ¡°But I¡¯ll support you with all I have. We can talk about spells as much as you want, and there are Lena, or Skyler and Vash. I¡¯m sure they will be happy to help too. Especially if you are thinking about disruption. Skyler is kind of an expert on that kind of thing.¡± Viper was a bit frustrated with the answer, but he nodded. He knew it was a selfish request, and that wasn¡¯t exactly the situation for it. While walking, Kaela saw the Empress passing by and called her over. ¡°Hera, your spell. How long do you think it will take?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Hera closed her eyes to get a feeling for the snakes, since they were too far away, they wouldn¡¯t show in her [Treasure Map]. Some of them were already in position, but the ones traveling to the north and south were nowhere near close their destination. In fact, she could sense four groups of two snakes still moving together, which meant they would still take a while. ¡°Shit. I¡¯m guessing we still have to wait around 3 hours. Maybe less if we are lucky,¡± the Empress replied. ¡°Fuck. Ok, keep me posted. And hurry with whatever you are doing. Our army is already marching into the city. If the humans are trying to take this place back, it should happen soon.¡± ¡°Should I warn people?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Tell your group. And if you are passing by, warn Helena and the people with the families that they have to make a decision. Are they fighting or hiding? But try not to scare anyone. We don¡¯t need panic,¡± Kaela turned back to the map in front of her, ¡°After you are done with whatever you were going to do. Grab your team and head to the north entrance. You¡¯ll be stationed there.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Hera nodded and left the area, leaving the Scoutmaster to continue the planning. In an ideal world, nothing would happen. The team would be here just wasting time instead of helping in the battle. But no one was naive enough to think that would be the case. During this war, the humans were more than willing to go for underhanded tactics. Then again, this was war. It was hard to call anything an underhanded tactic. Whoever won would be right in the eyes of history and all that. Frustrated with the situation, Hera just walked over to the group of tents where the few hundred of former prisoners were, and where Helena spent most of her time. She was doing her best to show that not every human was bad, and that she truly wanted to help others. The mage noticed the arrival of the Empress, mostly due to the reaction of some people as she walked inside the tent. ¡°What brings you here, sweetie?¡± Helena opened a smile, but Hera could tell she was hiding her emotions. There was some sadness in her eyes. ¡°Bad news, I¡¯m afraid,¡± the Ophidianite gestured the mage to come closer, ¡°Our army started marching, the battles should start soon. Which means the humans might send someone here to fight us. People need to make a decision, if they are fighting or hiding.¡± Helena¡¯s expression turned grim, ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll let them know.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be the only one,¡± the Empress pointed to a few of the other team members who were helping the families, ¡°I have a feeling not everyone will accept that coming from you.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°Where are you going to be?¡± ¡°North side. I don¡¯t know if you can pick. But if you can, having you by my side would be good.¡± Helena showed a weak smile, ¡°Just like the old days, huh? Except we are fighting people instead of random monsters.¡± ¡°Old days, you make it seem like it was years ago, not just a few months,¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°But you are wrong. It still is the same thing. We are fighting monsters. Just a different flavor of them.¡± The mage nodded but didn¡¯t answer. A moment later, the Empress walked out of the tent, going back towards the south entrance to finish helping to set things up there. On the way, she encountered Vash and Skyler, gave them a quick rundown of what was going on, and went back on her way. To Hera, the next hour went by in a flurry. She helped finish up some of the traps, walls, and trenches on the south entrance, stopped by the communal kitchen to get some food, and found her team back at the north entrance. She checked with her snakes once more, but there was no change. All four sets of two were still moving. Maybe they would be lucky and the humans wouldn¡¯t show up until the spell was active. A murmur suddenly started as the team noticed a group approaching the entrance of the valley. The human army had arrived to recover their lost camp. Hera sighed, cursing her luck for not giving them more time. Glancing around, she realized how much of a mess this was. The team that came to free the camp was in front, looking imposing and well armed, but behind them, where the former prisoners wearing mismatched sets of armor and holding whatever weapons they could use. Even after raiding the guard¡¯s armory, there wasn¡¯t enough to army everyone, which forced the crafters to spend time making mass produced gear for them. Their defenses were also far from being well organized. Instead of focusing on making things look good, they just made sure to cover as much area as they could. Roan mentioned this felt really familiar to him since it was the type of defensive battle the beastmen would fight among themselves. ¡®Robin, I¡¯m counting on you.¡¯ ¡®Just tell me when to start, Empress,¡¯ the bowblade replied, his voice cold as the steel of his form. There was no time to play around. Not now. The humans wouldn¡¯t send a random group to take back the camp. They would send a group of their best warriors. A group much like the group Scoutmaster Kaela set up. This wouldn¡¯t be a fight where they were punching down like it was when they attacked the guards. Hera expected that this time, their battle would be against people of a similar level. And while the humans only had to worry about winning, the Alliance also had to protect the families and their position. ¡°Hera,¡± Helena suddenly appeared behind the Empress. ¡°Lena! Are you ok?¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry. Brian didn¡¯t want me to leave.¡± ¡°Glad to have you with us,¡± Flint smiled as he prepared a small shrapnel bomb. ¡°What about your cousin and his wife?¡± Nimbus asked. ¡°They are taking care of the children. Both are too low level for this,¡± Helena replied. ¡°Makes sense. Someone needs to stay with the kids. Are they in the mines?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Yeah, it felt like the safest place. We set up some supporting pillars and some stone walls to stop them from exploring the deepest parts,¡± Helena nodded. ¡°Head¡¯s up. I think it¡¯s about to start,¡± Vash was flying just above them. He noticed how more people approached the humans from the side. Likely the teams who tried and failed to go from above. One of the humans stepped forward and raised a sword, saying something, but he was too far away for Hera to hear it. He then pointed at the camp and all the humans shouted and started running. This was it. It was time to see if all the preparation was worth it. 900 - Human attack The first group of humans rushed towards the camp with everything they had. Sure, they could see the defensive structures, arcane turrents and walls placed by the entrance, but that was it. All the traps, ditches, and spell circles the Alliance created were hidden. If this was a regular fight, then people might be wary of that kind of thing. But according to Tania, the human propaganda machine was flaring at all cylinders. People were saying the other species were lesser, stupid, unable to make plans, or that they required a human leader to be effective in any way. Neither the triton nor the Scoutmaster, for that matter, understood how people could believe in those lies. It was one thing if the civilians believed, after all, they had no experience with the other species. But for those who already lived in the MAZE, that made absolutely no sense. Hera, however, wasn¡¯t as clueless as them. Thanks to their work with the intelligence agency, and the conversation they had with Leo and his group, they had an idea of what was going on. Even then, this new information could mean something harrowing. From what they knew, the videos played as propaganda to the humans had a weak emotion control effect to heighten the fear people had. Then, by using that fear, they could push for more radical possibilities. However, if it was getting to the point where the people who were part of the army were starting to be affected, that manipulation was growing stronger. Seeing the humans acting like fanatics, rushing head on towards a valley that was clearly well defended, only increased that worry. If that effect was already on the level of making people lose their sense of self preservation, it was hard to tell what could happen. Thankfully, Hera¡¯s worries were quickly lessened. It didn¡¯t take long for the humans to start being hit by the traps. A couple of people in the first row fell into the pitfalls, and by their reaction, it seemed like one of them even died after someone else landed on top of them at an odd angle. Just as the group halted, another of the traps was triggered and two large boulders flew from the sides of the mountain, slamming together in the center. No one was hit by the collision directly, but the debris that flew off peppered those who were right in front of that trap. One of the people in the lead started yelling something before the battalion of humans slowly moved back, keeping their backs to the entrance of the valley in order not to be attacked by the Alliance. A few people did try to hit the humans with arrows or spells, but with the distance, it was easy for the projectiles to be intercepted. Soon, the humans all moved away from the entrance and vanished. A few minutes passed and there were reports of more humans appearing on the plateau, but the spell circle stopped all. The ones who tried to find the source of the magic were attacked by the people protecting that area, which forced them to leave. Not long after, Kaela sent out another warning to the teams. The humans now were gathering in the south entrance. However, no one was to change their position. After all, the Alliance had prepared their defenses on both sides of the valley. Hera just waited, she heard some noise from the opposite side of the camp but it soon stopped. It seemed like once more the humans found the traps. After that, nothing happened for almost one hour. Tensions were high and the fact the attackers vanished made everyone uneasy. ¡°Vash, do you have a way to make my eyesight better?¡± Hera turned to the harpy. ¡°I do have an eagle eye song. Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking about flying up to see if I can find the humans,¡± the Empress explained. ¡°Why are you going? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to ask one of the harpies that are up there already?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°No, because that would create an opening in our defenses. If I go up, we don¡¯t really lose anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good call. Just tell Tania first. We can¡¯t just be doing our own thing here,¡± Flint said. Along with Vash, the Ophidianite moved quickly and found the team leader. ¡°Why do you want to do that?¡± the triton frowned. ¡°I have a bad feeling. I don¡¯t think the humans just gave up. They might be doing something, and if they see someone going up in the sky, maybe they will take the chance to attack and we can pinpoint their location.¡± ¡°You want to be the bait?¡± Tania''s frown grew even deeper. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think they will be able to hit me. Even if they do, between Nimbus and me, we can take a hit.¡± ¡°What about Vash?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay on top of Nimbus too. I have a tune that can help us see what is going on.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Tania glanced around and then nodded, ¡°Ok. Go. Just be careful.¡± The duo nodded and jumped on top of Nimbus. In just a few moments, they were already on top of the Sentinel, going high into the sky. They passed by the plateau, which was already about 50 meters or so away from the ground, and continued. Only when they reached a height of almost 150 meters, they stopped to look around. ¡°Can you see anything?¡± Hera asked. There was nothing that caught her eye in the scenery. She could, at most, see the top of the two cities, since the camp was in between both. ¡°Not really. Hang on,¡± Vash started to hum a tune that was almost like a lullaby. Hera and Nimbus suddenly felt their eyes becoming sharper. They could see things that were far away, as if they were close. Well, not close, but closer than they actually were. It was almost like having a pair of cheap binoculars. ¡°We should¡¯ve gotten a spyglass or something,¡± Hera sighed. ¡®Empress, there!¡¯ Nimbus pointed his beak in a certain direction. It took both Hera and Vash a moment to understand what they were looking at. But in a forest to the north, the one that grew over the nearby craters instead of around them like the others, they could see some movement. Some of the birds in that area were flying away, and a there was a small cloud of dust moving. Hera squinted a bit, and thanks to the buff, she was able to see a couple of humans running. Followed by several monsters. ¡°What are they doing? Is this the time to level up?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case¡­¡± Hera frowned. ¡®Hera! They are using the monsters!¡¯ Nimbus gasped. ¡°What do you mean by using the monsters?¡± Realization dawned on Vash, ¡°Shit! They are bringing the monsters here to deal with the traps!¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Hera told Nimbus to dive. As soon as they landed, she shared her suspicion with Tania, who passed the message along to Kaela. If the humans were really about to use monsters to attack, they would be in trouble. Everyone got ready, the tension raising even more. It didn¡¯t take long for the Empress to start feeling a rumbling on the ground. She forced herself not to appear worried, even if that was far from the truth. The path in the valley between the camp and the exit of the formation was a good 500 meters long. For her to be able to feel the tremors from this distance, the size or number of creatures should be staggering. Not that they would actually be a problem. The Ophidianite had full confidence in the team¡¯s ability to deal with the monsters. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. A large number of monsters walking forward would end up triggering all the traps they had set up. All the ditches and pitfalls might end up completely filled, opening a path for the humans. If that were to happen, it meant they wasted all the time they spent preparing these defenses. Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Hera walked forward and aimed at a spot about a hundred meters ahead and twenty meters up. She cast the Elemental Poison Storm and let the rain fall on the valley. ¡®Viper, help me out here. Overlap your spell so we can make more poison.¡¯ The Spymaster nodded and used the same spell, the power of the attack even stronger since it used [Naga Poison] and his [Naga Attunement] strengthening the magic even more. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Tania asked. ¡°Making sure we can push the monster¡¯s back. I¡¯m filling up the trenches with poison,¡± Hera replied, her eyes full of confidence. ¡°Fine, just warn me next time,¡± just as the team leader scoffed, three humans appeared at the opposite end of the valley. They were running like crazy and an odd pink aura around the trio. Right after them, the first line of monsters appeared, and it was a wide variety. Green gazelles with golden horns, massive lizards with eight legs, giant pill bugs with shells that looked like brains, squirrels with five tails the size of a great Dane. It was incredible to think that all those monsters lived in the same forest, and that might not even be the case. Maybe the humans were running around a large area to gather all of them. The monsters got closer and closer as Hera kept a close watch in the level of poison in that area. A few others even joined in when they heard her idea. No one knew the extent of her plans, but they were not about to question her. Not after the battle in the camp. As the humans moved deeper into the valley, various traps were triggered, harming the three men. And Once they were about 300 meters away, one by one, those people started to fall. Either due to the traps or the injuries caused by them. That didn¡¯t hurt them too much, but they were swallowed by the stamped of creatures that refused to stop. ¡°Vulcan! Awaken Livy,¡± Hera called as she intensified the spell. The Leviathan grew to her awakened form once more, becoming even more Draconic as she walked towards beyond the defensive walls, in front of everyone. Yet Hera didn¡¯t say anything. A couple of the trenches were almost full of poison. When the monsters were about 20 meters away from the Elemental Poison Storm. ¡°Now!¡± the Empress called. Livy opened her mouth and a flood of water came rushing out. This was the [Awakened Leviathan¡¯s Torrent] a skill that created an actual tidal wave. And thanks to all the poison and speed in which the wave came out in addition to Livy¡¯s [Seal of Draconic Vortex] that was added to the attack, the water pulled the liquid in the trenches before slamming against the monsters. The first few rows of creatures continued moving and pushed through the wave. Not by choice, but because the ones behind continued to push them. However, as the wave washed over the creatures, more and more were caught but the tsunami and pushed back towards the edge of the valley. Once the spell was finally over, about half of the monsters ran away, regaining their senses. A quarter of them turned to the humans who were at the end of the valley, and the last quarter turned back to the camp. This was the best Hera could do, and it felt like it was good enough. Even if she almost spent her entire mana pool in the attack. At least now, part of the traps was still intact, and anyone who attempted to walk across the valley had a chance to be poisoned not just by the liquid, but by the fumes that were created as the water evaporated. Not to mention that the last hundred meters or so were still untouched by their enemies. That was the part of the valley they had put the most effort into, and where the strongest traps were located. People cheered that result and Hera felt proud of herself. Even if that only lasted for a moment. The humans quickly reorganized and started rushing towards the camp, this time, the traps wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop them. 901 - Relentless Assault Even with the combo of Livy¡¯s tidal wave, the wall of bodies that was created because of it and the traps that were still active, the humans didn¡¯t give up. While they dealt with the monsters who turned against them, the creatures that still remained in the valley continued pushing towards the camp. All alliance members who were capable of long range attacks fired everything they had at the remaining wave of monsters. Everyone had hopes of killing those beasts before they triggered the last cluster of traps. Unfortunately, a few of the monsters broke through that area, and some of the spells were activated, blasting the remaining creatures back to the valley entrance in pieces. Only after that did the humans try to come forward again. And this time, they were using the monster bodies as defensive walls. But that wasn¡¯t much of a problem. The piles of corpses were gathered mostly in the entrance of the valley, not the area near the camp. With each few meters, they would stop and aim at the arcane turrents placed around the mountain walls. Once the humans got close, they tried a few different ways of triggering the remaining traps, like tossing bodies and launching spells at the ground. There were a few attempts that worked, clearing more of the path for them, but the Alliance members knew the road was not empty. Still, the humans had no choice but to charge ahead. The first wave was made out of the bulkier of their members. People wearing thick heavy armor and large tower shields, all hoping that would be enough to hold against all the attacks and traps that would be on the way. To their credit, the plan worked at first. The barrage of arcane projectiles, arrows, spells and the first couple of traps weren¡¯t enough to stop them. However, once they reached the final layer of spells carved on the ground, that changed. Not only were the defensive warriors blasted repeatedly with various attacks, but the barriers protecting them were destroyed, and they fell to the ground without reaching the camp. Once they triggered the last trap, a pair of massive stone boulders flew from the sides of the valley, one from the entrance and one from the camp. Both rocks shot out at high speeds, going on a collision course with each other. Several of the humans were not expecting such a rudimentary kind of trap. A few even thought it to be stupid and attempted to stop the boulders, only to find out that those giant balls of stone themselves were enchanted with spells to make them near unstoppable. Even so, the trap wasn¡¯t enough. Between the bodies of the monsters functioning as ramps and the ditches filled with poison, guts, and spikes, a large number of humans were able to survive the incoming attack. They quickly got to their feet and rushed to the camp. The healers doing their best to cleanse all of them from the poison and other spells that were constantly being thrown. Some people also added slow effects, and other debuffs in the area just before the last barricades of the camp, but the human mages were doing their best to dispel those affected before they reached them. Less than 10 minutes after the monster wave first arrived at the valley, the humans were finally able to clash with the Alliance army that was protecting the camp. Livy took the front of the pack, blocking a couple of people at once while swinging her war axe in a wide arc. The impact was strong enough to cut the first target, but the idea of cleaving through the humans was, unfortunately, unsuccessful. Once they saw what was going on, the second fighter triggered a few defensive skills to stop the blow. Even so, he was unable to stop the momentum as the group was tossed to the side, giving a large opening for the rest of the team to strike at the incoming humans. ¡°Stay close to Nimbus,¡± Hera told Helena before she jumped into the fray to clash with the attackers. People were yelling on all sides, and her ears could only hear the clashing metal and wood as the weapons collided. The Empress had a pair of rare venomous hand axes in her hand again. She would rather have a glaive or a spear, but considering how many other people were around, it was too risky. A woman came jumping at her, brandishing a sword with a shield in her other hand. Taking a step back, the Ophidianite evaded the blow and stomped the tip of the sword to stop it from moving. In addition, she also swung Pyro, who was in her tail to reinforce her grip on the blade. Despite that, the woman was still able to pull back the weapon. But her movement was slow. Slow enough for Hera to step forward and slash at her throat. At the very last second, the human pulled her shield up, blocking the attack. That should¡¯ve returned the battle to a neutral state, but the woman didn¡¯t expect the flying blades. Glacia came from below, slashing at her legs, aiming at the soft, unprotected area on the back of her knees. The woman fell down, allowing Shadow to deliver a strike aimed at her armpit. With that, she became unable to hold the shield. Still, the human tried to go for a wide swing with her still usable hand, triggering a skill that increased her strength several times. Hera was forced to block with both her hand axes, but unlike everyone else, she had one more limb to attack aside from her arms. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The Ophidianite¡¯s tail moved quickly and Pyro pierced the woman¡¯s neck, igniting himself once it was already embedded into her spine. With a quick motion, the human was dropped to the ground as the next enemy quickly approached. This time, it was a man covered in a blue leather armor wielding a halberd. He yelled something and came in for a stab, but was met by a pure white arrow. Courtesy of Helena, who was providing support to the front line. Hera barely had time to mentally thank her friend before having to dodge another blind strike from the man. Tendrils of fire exploded from the tip of the halberd, reaching in every direction. In response, Glacia spun around the man activating [Frozen Whirlwind] to offset that heat. In addition, she attacked his chest, hitting him square in the armor. Several shards of ice hitting him and going through the human. That was an [Icicle Barrage] but unlike what it looked like, the projectiles didn¡¯t leave holes on the target. They dealt damage, of course, but after finding too much resistance, they phased through the man and continued, hitting a few people in the back. Still blinded by the arrow, the man pulled his halberd up, dangerous looking flames licked the side of the weapon, turning a deep orange with the heat. But before he could strike, Forge flew above the group in his weapon form, hitting the man square in the jaw with enough force to make him turn around. He still brought his weapon down, but this time, half the attack hit the other humans, while the other half reached the area with a few members of the Alliance and Livy. Neria noticed what was going on and placed a defensive array of water to protect her allies from that attack. The battle continued, some areas of the defensive line started to be pushed back as more and more humans appeared. Forcing the people from the camp to join in. Not many people on the Alliance side had died just yet, but it was enough to worry. Hera¡¯s side was amongst the ones losing ground, but other sides were gaining on the humans. This meant that soon, they would be able to do a pincer move to attack the ones that were able to push through the defenses. Or that¡¯s what Hera thought. Suddenly, the side that appeared to be winning started losing very quickly. People were dying left and right, and some bodies were being tossed so far into the air that it seemed impossible. ¡®Hera! I need help!¡¯ Livy suddenly called. The leviathan still was in her awakened form. Having her ask for help wasn¡¯t a good sign. ¡°Flint, Roan. Hold the line. Livy needs help!¡± Hera yelled. The duo nodded and took charge of the defenses in that spot. Helena also joined in, calling her Wasp Guard in the battle. The large shadow construct joining the battlefield catching a few targets off guard and giving Flint an opening to deal a crushing blow to their arms. Despite the added member, the group was in a dire situation. Most of the members of the actual Alliance army in this small part of the battlefield were either dead or were forced to assist other areas which gave an opening to the humans. ¡°Hold on! There are not many left!¡± Vash called from the back. He spent the entire fight doing a small performance to buff every single member of the team. ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done!¡± Skyler yelled back as she interrupted yet another spell. Since the humans first clashed with the defenses, she had been focused on stopping all magical effects she could see, and for now, it worked. A woman noticed what the elf was doing and jumped over the defense line, aiming at her with a mace. There was no one to intercept the attack, and if Skyler stopped now, she would let a powerful buff go through. Believing the strike was the lesser evil, she continued focusing on the spell as the human approached. Yet, the blow didn¡¯t come. Before the woman reached her, a pair of half Naga appeared out of nowhere. Viper wrapped himself around the human¡¯s arm while Crimson brought down the dagger to the back of her skull. ¡°Are you ok?¡± the Spymasters asked at the same time. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Ok, we are going to help Hera!¡± Crimson quickly moved along. Now was the only time when the Harmony Guardians noticed that the court was rushing towards their Empress. Even Nimbus, who was back with Helena, started dashing forward. As soon as he passed Roan, he said, ¡°If you want to go wild, now is the time. Odds are you get knocked out before you hit an ally.¡± The beastmen saw the Sentinel walking away and nodded with a smile. His body was covered in a green light as he activated the spectral armor. Every single one of his attributes was considerably increased and his senses became sharper. Nimbus was right, there were a moment to use this skill was now. There were so many enemies that it would be hard to end up hitting a friendly. With a bestial roar, Roan jumped on top of the closest human. Slashing their face like a wild animal. Once he was done removing their eyes, his body slammed another human nearby, making them crash against one of the broken walls. Parts of the of jagged stone piercing not just the woman, but also his body. He shifted again, going for another target, and this time, a few other beastmen noticed what he was doing. Liking the idea, they triggered their own version of the spectral armor. A lesser version that didn¡¯t give as big of buff, but still made them more savage than normally. Including a few of the people who already lived in the camp. Those who were being pushed back suddenly became able to hold their ground. But there was still one variable in the field. Once Livy called for help, Hera rushed over. What she found was something that made her skin crawl. The Leviathan was on her own, facing a pair of people. Two men with the same type of white leather armor, carrying the same type of longsword and skin red as lobsters that emanated a soft light. It was a sight that Hera had seen before. Only one time, when she was almost killed during this war. And back then, Delta looked wrong and was almost naked, unable to wear any piece of gear. Now that was very different. This meant only one thing. They had done it. The Soldiers of Strength were here. 902 - Soldier of Strength As soon as Livy called, Hera rushed over. She got by the Leviathan¡¯s side in time to see her being kicked in the stomach by one of the humans, pushing her back several meters. Even if the man had to jump to hit her properly, the blow still had enough force to force Livy to make a large drag mark on the ground. Hera jumped to her side, holding the two hand axes as the two humans stared them down. ¡®Are they stronger than you?¡¯ the Empress asked Livy, through her intention it was clear she was talking about the Leviathan¡¯s awakened form as it was now. Instead of her regular strength. ¡®Yeah, but not by that much. I can still hold my ground. If it¡¯s a one-on-one fight.¡¯ ¡®Better than Delta, then,¡¯ Hera sighed in relief. The complete version of the Soldiers of Strength might not be able to show the same raw power as the prototype. Focusing on the two humans, she noticed some small differences between them. Both wore pure white armor, which gave a very strange contrast to their glowing scarlet skin. Their weapons were also the same, a white longsword with blood red runes going across the blade. However, one of them was bulkier and had short hair in a military cut, while the other had longer hair and a more lean build. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Soldier of Strength - Level 52 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Soldier of Strength - Level 51 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Yeah, they are higher level than Delta,¡¯ Hera nodded. ¡®Can you take care of the thin one? I¡¯ll take the-¡® before Livy finished her sentence, the bulkier human dashed at her. Swinging his sword upward, he forced the Leviathan to parry. At the same time, the thin man rushed towards Hera. She saw the blade coming from above and triggered the hovering function of her shoes before using her tail to move around the man, appearing behind him almost as if she had teleported. Ever since getting these new shoes, and her new body as an Ophidianite, she could finally use the Dorohla Style to its full effect. Which was the only thing saving her right now. Even if she was facing the weaker of the two soldiers, for one of them to be stronger than the awakened version of Livy, meant that their strikes would be several times more powerful than anything Hera herself could handle. The man growled and went for a wide swing, forcing the Empress to pull back. While getting away, she also opened her mouth, letting her fangs appear and spat out a Poison Spray. The orange venom splashed on the man¡¯s armor but it just slid off, unable to permeate the material. Hera didn¡¯t give a chance for him to recuperate from the scare and went back in for a couple of strikes using [Grasshopper Slash] at the same time, she called the blades that were once part of her court to join. This wasn¡¯t a moment where she could pull her punches, even if the day was just starting. As [Blade Graveyard] started to appear, and the old blades slowly formed around them, the human lunged at Hera once more. She dodged the first and the second strikes, but the third came at such a speed that the Ophidianite couldn¡¯t respond in time. Thankfully, Glacia, Shadow, and Pyro stepped in to help. The three blades pushing the sword away enough of its course for their Empress to duck under it. ¡°Fuck you!¡± the man snarled as he kicked Hera on her shoulder. Even if his attack was awkward enough to make him lose his balance and almost fall back, it still had the power to throw the Ophidianite tumbling a few meters back and pop her shoulder out of its socket. Thankfully, by the time he recovered, the [Blade Graveyard] was already in effect. All the 17 blades jumped into the battle. They might be extremely weak when comparing to the Soldier of Strength, but it was still annoying to deal with them. And that was all Hera needed. Quickly popping her shoulder back into place, she lunged forward. Taking advantage of an opening created by the attacks, she tried to hit the man¡¯s neck, but was only able to get his ear instead. The hand axe, buffed by the [Grasshopper Slash] and the Grasping Flames buff, was able to cut through his skin, but it wasn¡¯t enough to lob the ear off. The man ignored the weaker flying blades who were using everything they had to damage him and went after Hera. Swinging his sword repeatedly in wide arcs. It wasn¡¯t a practiced style, and it felt more like he was just acting out instead of actually fighting, but the sheer speed and power behind each strike forced the Empress to pull back. Once she was able to take a wider step away to prepare for a new attack, Twiggy yelled in her mind, ¡®Duck!¡¯ Hera didn¡¯t think, just acted. She felt some of her hair be cut by the swing the other Soldier of Strength had just delivered. Livy, with the help of Storm and Clay, parried the strike, but the continuation of that attack went straight for the location where the Ophidianite stopped. The second human saw what was going on and used the momentum to his advantage. If it wasn¡¯t for Twiggy¡¯s warning, Hera might have, quite literally, lost her head. Livy refused to let that move go unpunished. She used the pommel of the war axe to hit the man¡¯s groin and followed it up with a slash that cut through some of the armor. However, the metal slowly started to reform, just like Delta¡¯s flesh once did. ¡®They can heal!¡¯ the Leviathan warned as she created a spectral mouth from the side of the axe that chomped the human¡¯s weapon, cracking it with the sharp teeth. Hera glanced at the man¡¯s ear. The one that was covered in blood due to her attack. But it didn¡¯t seem like it was healing. Not as fast as it was with Delta. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ the Empress went for a double kick, using her tail to support her body just like Vulcan did. Instead of an attack, the result was more similar to jumping off a rock. The man didn¡¯t move at all while Hera did a backflip and got some distance between the two. The Soldier flipped his broadsword to a backhand grip and lowered his body, getting closer to the ground. He was clearly about to do something big, but before he could continue, Crimson appeared, jumping on the man¡¯s back. She quickly started to wrap him with her tail, trying to trap the arm holding the sword against his body, and slam her dagger on the exposed skin. ¡®Crim! Don¡¯t!¡¯ Viper yelled, but it was too late. With a flick of his wrist, the man brought the weapon down, creating a large gash on Crimson¡¯s tail, and making the Spymaster drop to the ground in pain. He continued his move, lunging like a monster towards Hera and spinning in the air. The Empress tried to get away, but her legs were frozen, just now realizing that the preparation also included a way to snare her in place for a moment. Bracing herself for the blow, she called all the blades around to her aid, with the exception of Livy, Storm, and Clay, who were entangled in their own fights. All 17 court members reborn thanks to [Blade Graveyard] formed a defensive line, as Twiggy used both [Silvered Strength], and [Bathed in Silver] to buff the court¡¯s attributes. The final back up was Lurize, who used his [Winged Boost] to cross the distance between him and the Empress, taking the front of the attack. All that happened in the seconds after the Soldier of Strength left the ground and an ominous white light with a thin red line around it emanated from his weapon. Viper was trying to disrupt the spell, but his mana wasn¡¯t able to pierce through the magic of the human. Even with all those defenses, and all that preparation, it still wasn¡¯t enough to stop the attack. The blade sunk deep into Lurize¡¯s arm before tossing him on top of Hera and sending both flying across the battlefield. Only stopping when they slammed against the valley wall, leaving a large crater behind. Amongst the blades helping block, Dao, Ember, Brute, Beam, Frost, and Autumn all shattered with the impact. The rest went flying off, cracked but not broken. The man stepped back in a smirk, cracking his neck as he got ready to finish the job. But before he could reach his target, Crimotra, the guardian form of the Spymasters, appeared. The twin daggers attached like mantis claws swung rapidly at the man and still using the Dorohla with the serpent¡¯s lower body. Both Viper and Crimson agreed to use this form, since it looked like Hera was doing well against the man while fighting like this. Hera struggled to get up and so did Lurize. Both were already injured, but they couldn¡¯t stop now. Daskka, who was unable to do anything to help so far, was already covering the two, healing them as much as she could with her mist. As she finally gather her bearings, the Empress saw Livy being tossed to the ground. After one big swing that both the Soldier of Strength¡¯s sword and the Leviathan¡¯s war axe clashed, the sword shattered. Forcing the man to use his fist to continue the fight. Unfortunately, he was proficient in that kind of battle. Livy got up with a groan, but her form shifted, getting smaller and reaching her regular height of 3 meters tall. ¡°What the-¡° before she could finish the sentence, the human tackled her to the ground and started beating her face repeatedly. However, that only lasted a moment. A large figure, not as big as Livy herself, covered in red marks, flashed through the battlefield. It slammed against the Soldier of Strength on top of the Leviathan and started clawing at him with madness in its eyes. Vulcan had reached 100% on his Daemonic Influence and now was lashing out at the biggest source of his anger. The people who were experimenting on his kind. Thanks to him being also a Strength Spirit. Or a Daemon in this case, his strikes were able to overcome some of the defenses of the human. Not just that, but being attacked by a Daemon of the same kind seemed to interrupt the connection between the man and whatever was supplying him with the power. Still, that Soldier wasn¡¯t about to take this lying down. He pushed Forge away and started a melee with him. Both were punching each other with such strength that cracks were forming on the ground, blood and mana being splattered around the place. Hera glanced around, thinking about what she could do. She wasn¡¯t strong enough to hurt the Soldiers of Strength. There wasn¡¯t enough power behind her blows. And she couldn¡¯t use the break combo right now. The blast could damage the valley to the point of causing a landslide, which would be a danger for those in the camp. ¡®Hera!¡¯ Nimbus rushed over, the last of the court, to arrive. Everything happened too fast, and he was protecting Helena. Only when the Empress was slammed against the wall that he moved. ¡®Nimbus?¡¯ Hera glanced at him and an idea came to mind, ¡®Mount form. Now! Livy, come here, weapon form.¡¯ Without questioning, the two titled blades followed the orders. Hera had the remaining court members from the [Blade Graveyard] to work as the conga line as Nimbus quickly ran away from the camp. Once they were close to the limit, the Sentinel turned around. ¡®Gather them!¡¯ Hera asked her court. Vulcan was now losing the fight, already on the ground with the human on top of him, beating his head mercilessly. Even with Sun and Storm trying to hold the man back, he didn¡¯t seem to care. Robin also fired arrow after arrow at the Soldier, finally being able to join the fight without being a danger to the court. Crimotra quickly guided the other Soldier of Strength towards his partner, and when they were close enough to each other, Clay wrapped himself around both of them, pulling the two to the side and making sure Vulcan wasn¡¯t on the path anymore. The segmented blades held on to the humans for a moment, but in just a moment, the two men grabbed the metal with their gauntlets and pulled it apart, shattering the chain whip in a quick motion. Vulcan, still moving and under the Daemonic Influence, jumped at the man he was fighting, pushing him against the jagged barricade. He grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his face against the wall again and again. Removing some of the buffs as he did so. Lurize and Crimotra quickly joined in, using the opening created by Forge to start cutting up the man in hopes of finishing him off. While that was going on, Hera wasn¡¯t just waiting around. Once Clay started moving to grab the Soldiers of Strength, Nimbus dashed back to the camp at full speed. Not even a high level explorer would be ok after being run over by a car at almost 100 kilometers per hour. And in this case, it was a war axe with over 50 strength scaling, buffed by a Serrated Ice spell, a [Grasshopper Slash], and Hera¡¯s [All In]. Her hope was to hit both of them with that attack, but Vulcan took one of them out of the area just a second before the Empress arrived. Whit a mighty swing, Livy came in an arc from below, slamming the lean human on the stomach and pulling him upwards. Or at least, that was the plan. Once the blade connected to the armor, the force behind the attack was so strong that it cleaved right through him, citing the man in two pieces. Nimbus stopped right away, which made him tumble to the ground, with Hera still on top of him. When the Ophidianite looked up, she saw Lurize and Crimotra walking away from a body as Vulcan returned to the legacy. She had won. It was a hard battle, but Hera could proudly say that both Soldiers of Strength were dead and she was the one who killed them. 903 - Defense successful The two Soldiers of Strength were bringing up the rear of the attack. It was hard to tell why the humans thought that to be a good idea. Maybe the hope was to have them cleaning up after the rest of the army, or to tire out the Alliance before coming to deal with whoever still remained or who proved to be a problem. Either way, they were now gone, and that also created ripples across the battlefield. Hera wasn¡¯t able to help with that final wave of enemies, then again, she didn¡¯t have to. While the Soldiers of Strength were alive, the humans received a buff that made them stronger. The buff was nowhere near the same level as the one the Soldiers of Strength had themselves, but it was enough to change the tide of battle. The same could be said for the moment when that buff stopped working. Suddenly, every person who was defending against the attack felt their attacks were packing more punch, and their enemies became slower. Only half of that was true, of course. The blows delivered by the Alliance members didn¡¯t change; it was the humans who lost their defensive capabilities. With that change, the battle finished quickly. Nimbus carried Hera away from the front line to make sure no one would take advantage of her current weakened and injured state. Thanks to Lurize¡¯s [Exoarmor] and her own [Ophidianite Scales] the damage she took was reduced, but that wasn¡¯t enough to stop the blows from the Soldiers of Strength. The Empress was covered in bruises, and there was a chance her ribs had been broken. Still, she was awake. Neria saw the fight, but she was unable to help due to the distance and the situation in front of her at the time. Too many humans tried to move away from their apparent secret weapons. Possibly in fear of being caught in the fight by accident, or just wanting to prove themselves. But once the battle died down, she quickly rushed over to the Empress and started healing her. Luckily enough, aside from the ribs, Hera¡¯s bones didn¡¯t break during the fight. Which also meant she wouldn¡¯t be out of commission during the rest of the day. Even if she would still have to be careful. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± Hera suddenly groaned. ¡°What? Is everything ok?¡± Neria gasped, looking over the Ophidianite to see if there was any serious wound she missed. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s just. My snakes arrived at their location. I could use the Pool Of Styx now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that,¡± Neria huffed and went back to healing, now the Empress¡¯ legs, who were more bruised than one would expect. Nothing that could be seen by the naked eye, but internally the muscles were a mess, ¡°Daskka, do you mind clearing the mist from her feet? I need to take a look at them,¡± the triton turned back to Hera as the mist opened near her feet, ¡°And isn¡¯t that a good thing? ¡° ¡°Not right now. I had to use All In during that attack. So I have a debuff for a while. And I¡¯m not sure if the spell would be affected by that debuff or not.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that buffing wouldn¡¯t do anything for that spell?¡± Neria frowned as she noticed a couple of large splinters embedded near Hera¡¯s ankle. The fact the explorer wasn¡¯t screaming in pain, and could walk seemingly without any problem, was almost scary. ¡°Buffs don¡¯t help, but debuffs hinder it, and I still have,¡± Hera glanced to status screen to check the timer. To her surprise, the skill had ranked up. Now being at rank 3. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All In (Rank 3): The user can increase one of its attributes to perform a single action, as if all the available bonus points were allocated in the relevant attribute. The attribute will have bonus increments and, at the same time, reduce all other attributes to 86 (30 + level - 1) for 3 hours. Value of attribute when the skill is used: 209 Cooldown: 20 hours Remaining (19:48:35) Debuff duration: 2 hours Remaining (2:48:35) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cooldown had been reduced, and the debuff was a bit weaker, but it was still a massive drop from her regular stats. Using the spell now would end up wasting too much of its potential to be worth it. ¡°Three hours. Maybe I won¡¯t even have time to use it,¡± Hera gave a weak smile. She didn¡¯t believe in her own words. There was no way this battle would be finished in just a few hours. It was unlikely the Alliance was able to take control over even one of the cities in the room during that time. Not long after, the rest of the team gathered while Helena went to check on her cousin. Roan and Flint had some bruised but nothing close to Hera¡¯s state. Skyler and Vash were mostly fine, having only been hit by a couple of strikes. Perks of being in the back line. ¡°What about your court? I¡¯m only seeing Nimbus and some of the blades out, but I feel like there are a couple missing,¡± Roan looked around. ¡°Yeah, Vulcan got overwhelmed by the Daemonic Influence. The Heart of a Phoenix skill triggered, but his mental state is not great. Crimson got a really nasty cut on her tail. Livy was beat to shit, and Lurize wasn¡¯t looking that hot either. Viper can¡¯t be outside without Crimson, so he¡¯s letting her rest,¡± Hera explained. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. We can recover quickly from those injuries. Lurize should be able to join the next fight. Livy and Crimson¡­ Maybe. Depends on the time frame,¡± Nimbus added. ¡°When I can cast the spell, all of them should be ok to move. Clay, on the other hand¡­ he is the only one who broke. Like was actually broken by the Soldiers of Strength. It will take a couple of days for him to get back. Storm, Pyro, and Shadow are also recovering but they will be ok in a few minutes,¡± Hera looked down, only now noticing how her purple scales were hidden because of a sheer number of purple bruises all over her body, ¡°Damn¡­ I¡¯m a mess.¡± ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Neria rolled her eyes, ¡°Also, no one can give her a mirror until I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°Wait. What? Why?¡± Hera looked at the triton with a worried expression. ¡°You don¡¯t want to know, trust me. Can you even see through your left eye?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hera reached up and flinched as she touched a swollen temple. Most of her left eye was covered by the engorged skin. She could also feel pieces of dried blood around her face, and some scales were extremely sensitive to the touch, as if they were about to fall off, ¡°You know¡­ I think you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t need to see this.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t,¡± Neria turned around, ¡°Anyone knows if we have a harpy healer here? What¡¯s going on with her scales is something I don¡¯t know how to handle.¡± ¡°We do have a couple. But only one of them was part of the team. He is currently helping a few people who were injured by the monsters on the other side of the camp. The humans sent their people to this entrance, but a couple lured monsters to the other side. I guess they wanted to use the creatures for a pincer maneuver,¡± Kaela appeared out of nowhere by the group. ¡°Can you call him? Tell him it¡¯s not life threatening, but I don¡¯t know if this has a time frame,¡± Neria asked. ¡°Sure, what should I tell him?¡± Kaela touched her earbud ready to send a message. ¡°That someone with scales got punched and now some of them are loose. Feathers were the closest thing I could think of that maybe act the same way,¡± Neria turned to Vash, almost as if to ask for confirmation. ¡°I mean.. Yeah, that can happen. It usually either hurts like a bitch, or they just fall off and we don¡¯t even notice,¡± the harpy explained. ¡°I can say that this is hurting like a bitch, but only when I touch it,¡± Hera said as she touched the scales again. ¡°So stop touching it. What the hell?¡± Skyler was just staring at the Empress with a confused expression. ¡°It¡¯s the first time this happens, I need to know what it feels like,¡± Hera defended herself, but she stopped poking her loose scales. It was a bit weird to have something like this to happen. She always assumed that her scales were more similar to snakes, but being able to have a single loose scale maybe meant that her body was closer to a dragon for some reason? Then again, she didn¡¯t really feel like she was touching a single scale when she poked it. ¡°Stop that!¡± Neria swatted Hera¡¯s hand away from her face as she was about to touch the scales again. ¡°As entertaining as this is, I need to ask you a question, Hera,¡± Kaela spoke up, making them stop with the cheesy comedy routine. ¡°Can we talk here, or is it a private situation?¡± the Ophidianite turned to the scoutmaster. ¡°We can talk here. First, I wanted to ask you about the spell. Any progress?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s ready, but during the fight I had to use a skill that gives me a debuff. If I trigger the Pool of Styx now, it won¡¯t be as powerful as it could be, since my attributes are much lower for the next couple of hours.¡± ¡°How much lower?¡± ¡°Close to half. They are supposed to be 149, but now they are just 86.¡± Kaela frowned, ¡°That¡¯s a big decrease. How long until that debuff is gone?¡± ¡°About 3 hours.¡± ¡°Ok, wait then. From the information that was passed along to me, the army won¡¯t be moving to the next city so soon.¡± ¡°Next city? We already have one under control, then?¡± Roan asked. ¡°We do. The one that already belonged to us. It seems like the humans didn¡¯t want to use our structures, so they left it mostly unprotected. Even if it was ransacked for the most part. Getting that city under our control again was easy, now we are already pushing their armies to their city, but that is a slow process. Mostly because we are making sure not to leave any groups of humans behind our lines.¡± ¡°Are they going to pass by us? We are between the two cities, after all,¡± Skyler asked. ¡°They are. Once that happens, we will send the families back to their city. Our teams will split, some will go with the army while others will follow the families as an escort and to protect them,¡± Kaela turned to Hera, ¡°My intention was to ask you all to go with the army, but considering what you did here, I understand if you need to go to the city.¡± ¡°Honestly. I¡¯m not in a state to answer that now. I need to rest and recover for a while. Even then, I wouldn¡¯t be able to help the front line,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You don¡¯t have to answer now. And it¡¯s ok if you need to pull back. But that brings me to the other reason I was looking for you. I need a report of what happened. The fight with the Soldiers of Strength.¡± Hera nodded and started explaining everything she saw and felt. During the fight, she didn¡¯t have the time to analyze the situation, but now, looking back at it, there were several things that caught her attention. First, the two men leaked out Strength Mana. It was easy to tell if one was looking for it and was more sensitive to mana in general. She also mentioned how Vulcan was able to interrupt the connection by slamming them with the exact same type of mana. But it would be hard to replicate that effect. After all, one had to be a Daemon in order to do that. Twiggy was exceptionally helpful during this conversation, adding several details that Hera missed due to the intensity of the situation. About half an hour, Kaela thanked the group and left to make her own report of the situation. At the same time, the healer harpy flew over. ¡°Hey, I was called here. Who is- Holy crap!¡± he gasped as he saw Hera. ¡°Damn¡­ do I really look that bad?¡± Hera chuckled, but her smile made a piece of her skin to painfully peel off. ¡°You look terrible, but I can help,¡± he glanced to Neria, ¡°We can help.¡± They tried healing a bit more, but it quickly became clear that there wasn¡¯t much they could do right now. The fight was so intense that forced Hera to change skins even if she wasn¡¯t ready for it. Her options now were to finish the job or cut the loose pieces and deal with that a later date. Hera took the second option. Changing skins for the first time felt very personal, and a very vulnerable situation. She wasn¡¯t about to do that in the middle of a battlefield. Which left the strange option of cutting pieces of her own skin off so they would stop trying to fall on their own. Then again, that wasn¡¯t the strangest thing that ever happened in her life. 904 - Friends for life One hour after the battle was over, people were already preparing for a possible second wave of attacks. It wasn¡¯t entirely out of the realm of possibility, but it was something that everyone hoped wouldn¡¯t happen. According to Kaela¡¯s intel, the humans were now focusing on defending their own city, and no large groups had been seen moving around. Even then, the Scoutmaster told people to remove the bodies from the traps, and reset the ones that could be reset. Not so much because she was afraid of another attack, but because if people had nothing to do in a tense situation like this, they were more likely to cause problems or to try something stupid like running away. The last thing anyone wanted to happen was to survive the human attack, only to have people running out in the room and being killed by random monsters. Helena stayed with her cousin for a while, but once Brian and the other kids calmed down, she went looking for Hera. After the fight with the Soldiers of Strength, the mage did stop to check on her friend, but seeing as she was in the hands of a good healer, decided to go after her family. During that time, Helena realized that her priorities were wrong. Sure, she wanted Alan, Brian, and Celeste to be safe, but they were part of the group that everyone was trying to protect. While Hera only had her team to support her. Even if she did have someone to look out for her, it wasn¡¯t the same. Being here with her family would do nothing to help her friend, and staying with her cousin would do very little to calm them down. As the mage looked around, it took a while to figure out where the Ophidianite was. She had left the area behind the barricades and was now in one of the converted medical tents for people who needed some rest or time to recover from their injuries. A couple of Healers had cast an increased regeneration spell in the area to help. Hera herself was drinking a potion while sitting on a bed, when Helena arrived. If it wasn¡¯t for the red logo that said ¡®Healing Potion V8¡¯, people would think she was taking a sip of a can of soda. ¡°Hey, sweetie,¡± the mage said with a sad smile. The Empress finished her drink, ¡°Ugh, why cranberry? They could make it taste like orange, lemonade, grapes, heck even strawberry if they wanted to keep the red,¡± she turned to Helena after crunching the can and tossing it on the bin to the side of her bed, ¡°How is Brian, and everyone else?¡± ¡°They are ok. A bit scared because of all the noise. But that¡¯s all. We told the kids they shouldn¡¯t go outside just yet because of all the bodies,¡± Helena sat on the bed. ¡°Good call, that can traumatize some of the little ones,¡± Hera nodded. She was more or less numb to seeing monster bodies on the ground. But the corpses of the people who were killed were still not a pleasant sight. Hera pulled a plate with an assortment of fruits that was on a small table by her side and pulled up her tablet to double check the report Kaela was going to give to the rest of the alliance about the Soldiers of Strength. Helena just nodded and continued to stare at her friend. It¡¯s been over two years since they met. It sounded like very little time, but there was an entire lifetime in those days. Two if one were to consider a certain someone¡¯s change of species. When they first met, Hera was crying on the ground in the middle of the rain. Her hopes and dreams crushed by the world. Helena reached out to her, not because she saw something special on the woman. It was just an act of kindness. If the mage had found anyone else in a similar situation, she would¡¯ve done the same. With Hera winning the raffle, which was a stupid name for the kind of game that was being played since it involved a vending machine and not an actual draw, Helena figured that blond woman would be just another person who she knew in the MAZE. Nothing more. Yet, they got closer. Not just because of the mess that was Hera¡¯s first level up, but also because she ended up getting a mana sickness due to the bad oranges New Dawn sold. It was a natural friendship, but then, Helena herself had to go help with the wall break. Which was a mess, she spent days stuck in a room filled with extremely powerful creatures that even to this day she had no hopes of fighting against, and ended up being afflicted by one of the worst kinds of parasites ever seen in the MAZE. One that ate away her mana, which was almost a death sentence for a mage. Once she returned, Helena was ready to give up almost everything. But this woman saved her. Just like Helena did when she found the Empress crying outside in the rain, Hera reached out and did everything she could to keep her dreams alive. It was hard, and very much a painkiller to numb all the suffering she was going through for not being able to use magic. Having a willing assistant was the one thing that kept her sane during that time. Then it was Helena¡¯s turn to be worried. With Hera vanishing inside a battlefield dungeon, the mage spiraled. She spent months trying to find the Empress, months of sleepless nights and favors being asked in hopes of finding her assistant once again. No, by then, Helena already considered her one of her best friends. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Once Hera returned, it was hard not to be surprised. Not only was she stronger, but also had found an entire civilization of dwarves that was stuck under a mountain. In addition, she even helped Blue get a legacy. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the Empress also figured out a way to cure Helena of the parasites that still held their grasp on her. What followed was pretty simple. Hera helped people find the remains of an ancient civilization. Found yet another legacy, one that went to Shane, in that case. Befriended a giant snake, saw that snake die and got a version of her spirit as a companion. Traveled far away to discover her own legacy. Helped the dwarves of Boothudurn find their place in the MAZE, and started helping them to look for a new home, just in case something bad were to happen. Not to mention the fact she was there when the centaurs attacked Dzviery. Of course, after all that, she didn¡¯t stop. Along with Helena this time, they all explored a bit of the MAZE, got stuck and Hera discovered a path to cure Alex from a curse that existed for thousands of years. That weird discovery worked, they saved their friend by going to a memory of the past, who they believed to be real, and finally returned to civilization. Only for the Empress to discover her ex was kidnapped, and join the operation to save her. As a result, she became a target for the guild who was using a prison to experiment on people and had to give up her humanity, becoming an Ophidianite to survive. Even then, she didn¡¯t stop. She helped the dwarves of Boothudurn yet again, joined the Alliance as the Ophidianite Empress, and started helping with the war effort. First by protecting some people, fighting on rampages but then pivoting to going after the laboratories and trying to discover where the Strength Spirits came from. Hera became one of the few people who fought a prototype of the Soldier of Strength and lived. And still came back here, facing the final version of those fighters. All because Helena decided to come try to help her cousin. Now, after being beaten up, having part of her court broken and the other injured to the point of having to stay away to recover, which Hera herself also had to do since she wasn¡¯t in any condition to fight or move around too much at the moment, she still didn¡¯t stop. The Ophidianite noticed the long stare from her friend and looked up from the tablet, ¡°What? I know my face is a bit weird now, but it¡¯s not like I can do much about it. Apparently, I¡¯m changing skins, and I don¡¯t know what that means for me.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that, sweetie. I just¡­ How do you do this?¡± Hera glanced down and started speaking with a smirk, ¡°Well, I¡¯m doing something called reading. It¡¯s when you look at letters grouped in various ways to understand what is being told.¡± Unfortunately, Helena was too preoccupied to have fun with the joke, ¡°I¡¯m serious. How do you do this? You jumped into that fight with no hesitation. There was no fear, you just went. And that¡¯s not something new. Once you got the level up, you didn¡¯t stop, you just moved, changed your attributes and joined the guild the very next day. You saved Blue from dying in the Kobold Battlefield. You saved the dwarves from Boothudurn. You gave up everything to find Silah, and here. You jumped into that fight without any fear. How do you do that?¡± ¡°Without any fear? What are you talking about? I was terrified the whole time,¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°All those things. Saving Blue, joining the guild, helping the dwarves. Silah¡­. I was scared shitless the entire time.¡± ¡°But you still moved, you fought against the Soldiers of Strength without hesitating. I¡­ don¡¯t know if I could do that. Actually, I do. I watched you go help Livy, but it took too long for me to react and try to help you.¡± ¡°Were you not doing anything? I mean, were you frozen?¡± Hera asked. ¡°No, I was still fighting and defending the people around me. A part of me wanted to force an opening and go help you, but I was scared, Hera. I kept thinking about it later, if I really wanted to, I could¡¯ve pushed through and helped you, but I didn¡¯t. A part of me said you could manage, but that was just an excuse. I abandoned you even after you came here to help me.¡± ¡°Lena, c¡¯mon. Why are you distorting things?¡± ¡°What do you mean, distorting things?¡± ¡°You were fighting for you life, and you trusted me enough to face the Soldiers of Strength by myself. Well, not just myself, my court was there, but you get the point. You didn¡¯t abandon me, you trusted me. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I wouldn¡¯t have complained about the help, but things worked out. We won.¡± Helena shook her head, ¡°Still, I don¡¯t know how you do this, Hera. How you keep going like that. Always jumping into danger without hesitation and with confidence that things are going to work out.¡± Hera adjusted herself to sit properly on the bed, ¡°Lena, look. I¡¯m not doing that. Not in the way you think, at least. I¡¯ve been flying by the seat of my pants ever since I leveled up for the first time. The only two things that I chose to do myself and wasn¡¯t tossed into were finding my legacy and helping the dwarves find a new home. Everything else was just a reaction. And about my lack of hesitation, it¡¯s not that. From the moment I stepped into the MAZE, my fight-or-flight response was locked at fight. I guess the years of just going through the motions with my life made me snap and now I don¡¯t know what else to do,¡± she chuckled, ¡°But seriously. This is not planned, and I¡¯m not trying to be a hero. I¡¯m just doing what I can and making sure I don¡¯t make a decision that I would regret later. That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make what you¡¯ve done any less amazing,¡± Helena smiled. ¡°I¡¯m the fucking Ophidianite Empress. Of course I¡¯m amazing! And so is my court,¡± Hera announced proudly. Helena paused for a moment before bursting out in laughter, ¡°Where is that shy girl that I found in the pouring rain?¡± Hera smiled and pulled a piece of her skin from her neck that was bothering her a lot, cutting it with her claws when it started to hurt, ¡°Considering how much skin I¡¯m leaving behind I don¡¯t think there is anything left of her. But seriously, I¡¯m still the same girl. There is just less bringing me down now.¡± ¡°I know, I can still see her, under the snake at least. And thank you,¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me, Lena.¡± ¡°No, Hera. I really do. You wouldn¡¯t be here if it wasn¡¯t for me, so thank you.¡± Hera didn¡¯t reply, she just nodded. Helena stayed there for a while longer, talking with her friend about the adventures they had. For a moment, they enjoyed the peace and quiet after a battle, even if the day was far from being over. 905 - I can do this all day The Alliance army arrived at the camp, the families cheered and quickly set themselves up to leave. Hera was still in the healing tent and she was feeling better, but it would take some time for her to be back in peak condition. Her court, on the other hand, was mostly ready to go. Only Crimson was still too injured to come out, which also meant that Viper was out of commission as well. Helena was with her cousin, helping everyone get their belongings, mostly clothes, to leave. They would be going back to their home, the city that they were taken from. However, the humans did a number on the place. Some buildings had collapsed, and a few houses were ransacked. At least a few districts were spared, as the invading army wasn¡¯t going over everything in a hurry. Still, there would be a lot of rebuilding needed, and the Alliance had already organized the people who were supposed to stay behind once they locked the room. But that wasn¡¯t something Hera had to worry about, she had discussed that with Helena already and the mage had no intention of staying in this room after the battle, neither did any of the Harmony Guardians. As the team in the camp started to be absorbed by the larger army, preparing for the final push to completely take over the room, Hera looked for Kaela. The Pool of Styx was finally ready to be activated. A part of her wanted to trigger the spell right away, but being part of an army also meant following the chain of command. The last time they talked about it, the Scoutmaster asked her to come talk to her once the spell was ready not to activate it right away. The Ophidianite knew there were a few reasons for something like that. For one, using the spell now would warn the humans that there was something going on. And having the debuff hit them during a fight would have better effects than if she were to give them time to get accustomed to their reduced attributes. Hera finally found the Scoutmaster inside one of the tents with a few guards outside. She asked to be announced, and they quickly allowed her inside. Kaela wasn¡¯t alone in there, Thalion, the elven leader of the entire army, was also by her side. Both looking at a holographic map on the table that showed their forces in blue and the humans in red. It seemed like almost all humans were hunkering down in their city. ¡°Ah, Hera. What can I do for you? Is it about the spell?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°It is, it got ready a few minutes ago. I can cast it when you say the word,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Does it have a time limit? Or can you hold it for as long as we need?¡± Thalion turned to the Empress, not even greeting her before starting to talk. ¡°As long as the snakes are still in place, I can hold on to the spell for as long as we need. So far, no one batted an eye at them. Well, a couple had to deal with monsters, but they are strong enough to send them away.¡± ¡°Then I was thinking about asking her to wait until we were actually attacking. It will make it harder for humans to find her snakes and they won¡¯t have time to understand what is going on.¡± Kaela turned to the Commander. ¡°I agree. It¡¯s better to have that as a surprise for them humans,¡± Thalion nodded. Kaela glanced at the table, her eyes focusing on the city. She tapped a couple of times on her tablet, changing the display until it landed on the power grid of the city. One central crystal supplied most of the power that went to the various defenses, including the barrier and some arcane turrents around the walls, ¡°Also¡­ Hera, you mentioned your court could go on missions themselves, right?¡± ¡°One mission, it takes a skill, and that has a cooldown. But yes.¡± ¡°Do they have to be in their people''s form for that?¡± the Scoutmaster asked. ¡°To activate the skill, yes, but after it, no. They can be in whatever form they want.¡± ¡°Can they handle a dirty job? It¡¯s a stealth mission to infiltrate the city and solve one issue,¡± Kaela said with a smile. ¡°Mind if I call them? They are the ones going. It¡¯s better to hear it from them.¡± Kaela turned to Thalion, who nodded in agreement. Hera quickly called her entire court. Viper and Crimson still couldn¡¯t show up, and Livy had some bruises, but she was more than willing to participate. The Scoutmaster quickly explained the situation. A large power plant was located in the heart of the city. In there, a gigantic mana crystal would be taking in the mana of several smaller ones to not just supply electricity to the city, but also power the defenses. Including the barrier. Everything went through the big crystal in order to maintain it completely topped up for situations just like this one. When the city was in danger and had to be protected. Thalion and her were currently discussing who to send inside the city on their own to sneak inside the plant and deactivate the energy. That way, the army could start their siege. The alternative option would be to just continue to attack the city over and over until the mana inside the crystals was depleted, but that could take several hours, if not over a day. Which also brought another problem, the longer they took to finish this, the more likely the human were to be able to send in reinforcements. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°We also know that the barrier has a small flaw. There is a place on the east side of the city where, after a taking a big hit, the barrier will flicker for a moment. It is a small opening that a person shouldn¡¯t be able to pass through. But if your court can become weapons,¡± Kaela smiled. ¡°How big of an opening is it?¡± Hera asked. ¡°It¡¯s about 20 centimeters wide and 20 centimeters tall. This opening is actually down on the sewers of the city. It¡¯s basically an overflow drain, made just in case the city¡¯s pipes couldn¡¯t handle the water inside their treatment plants. It¡¯s basically a hole in the main barrier, with a secondary one placed on top of that. They made it like that to be able to use it even when the main barrier is active. But if we hit the main barrier with a strong spell that will send out a shortwave through the entire thing, that second one will open for a few seconds,¡± Kaela explained. ¡°So we will be going inside the sewers?¡± Nimbus frowned. ¡°I did say it was a dirty job,¡± Kaela smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m out,¡± Livy sighed, getting weird stares from the rest of the court, ¡°What? Stealth is not my style, and I can¡¯t pass through that,¡± she showed the war axe. From one blade to the other were a good 80 centimeters, ¡°And my Sea Serpent form is too big for that too.¡± Hearing that, everyone turned to Lurize, the second biggest member of the court, ¡°Why are you all looking at me? I can be a beetle,¡± he huffed. ¡°I¡¯m out too. This is a stealth mission and I can¡¯t guarantee I¡¯ll be able to control the influence,¡± Vulcan had his arms crossed. ¡°So Nimbus, Lurize, and the twins, if Crimson finishes healing in time. Are you two ok with that? I can send Twiggy, or someone else, with you.¡± ¡°It¡¯z better if you stay with them. Even if Livy iz going to be around you, itz better to have the court there too,¡± Lurize replied. ¡°Ok, so the two of you? Or maybe four, are the twins a single person?¡± Kaela turned to Hera. ¡°No, but kind of yes. Just consider either a duo, or four people if they can heal in time,¡± the Empress looked to her shoulder, where Daskka was resting, ¡°Any clues how long that will take?¡± ¡°An hour, maybe two. I don¡¯t have a good sense for that. It¡¯s not like they were destroyed. Injuries don¡¯t have a cooldown.¡± ¡°Yeah, we don¡¯t know, two hours, maybe more. It¡¯s finicky,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°That¡¯s still a good plan A. And we should arrive there in about three hours. Hopefully, that will be enough time for them to heal,¡± Thalion said. ¡°Plan A, so you already have a plan B?¡± ¡°Yeah, we do. An aerial strike at the power plant. The problem is that the people casting the spell will be very vulnerable, and it will take a lot of mana to pierce the barrier. Also, it¡¯s not a guarantee,¡± Thalion explained. ¡°Plan C is digging a tunnel under the city. If we go deep enough, the barrier shouldn¡¯t be there, but that¡¯s also has its own risks and issues. D is just bombarding the shield until it breaks,¡± the Scoutmaster continued. ¡°At least we have options, but I trust them. They should be able to get into the power plant and disconnect everything.¡± ¡°And make sure no one gets after them. In a perfect world, the damage to the plant will be minimal. We don¡¯t want to leave people here with more problems than they already will have.¡± Nimbus stepped forward, ¡°Ok then. Do you have the plant of the plant?¡± he frowned, ¡°That¡¯s a weird thing to say. Anyway, do you have it? And a map of the city so we can plan the path?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Kaela changed the map and started explaining things. Thalion thanked Nimbus and Lurize for helping and walked out. This was the Scoutmaster¡¯s expertise, and he had other things to do. Hera and her court spent around 30 minutes discussing the plan and to make sure there were few mistakes made during the operation, the Empress ordered her titled blades to remember the plan and the maps that were shown. It felt very uncomfortable for Nimbus and Lurize, but it was the best option for them not to get lost. Once that meeting was over, the army was preparing to head out. Some would go back to the city under Alliance control while the rest marched towards the human bastion. When Hera left the tent, she gathered with the Harmony Guardians. It took less than a minute for them all to confirm they were going with the army to the city siege. Helena, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t aware of that decision. And once it was time to split up, the mage just stopped and stared at the Empress. ¡°Hera¡­ why are you going with that part of the army? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve done enough? Aren¡¯t you still hurt?¡± ¡°Yes, no, and yes. I still have a job to do, but I¡¯ll be on the back this time. Focusing on long range and defending the mages and archers,¡± Hera replied. ¡°Then I¡¯m going with you,¡± Helena frowned. ¡°If you want to, that¡¯s fine, but are you going to be ok leaving Brian, Alan, and Celeste?¡± Helena glanced back to her cousin, ¡°That¡¯s not fair.¡± Hera just shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s a war, Lena. It¡¯s not supposed to be fair. But everything will be ok. I promise. If I see another Soldier of Strength, I¡¯m staying the hell away from them. I¡¯ve done my part.¡± ¡°I have to agree with that. You killed two of them, that¡¯s more than enough,¡± Skyler nodded. Not long after, they split off, with Hera and the Harmony Guardians marching towards the human city and Helena following the group that was going to stay in the room. Even if it wasn¡¯t that far away, it still took almost two hours to reach their destination. By then, Viper and Crimson were fully recovered, and already aware of the plan. While still hidden by the forest on the outskirts of the settlement, Kaela found Hera and asked her to prepare for the operation. She quickly gave Nimbus, Lurize, Viper, and Crimson a Royal Quest. Each of them taking about 4 million mana from her core. That should be more than enough for them to move around that far away, and they still had their own cores to use the mana while fighting. This was it, the battle to decide the fate of the room. Once it was over, they could leave knowing the children would be safe. It was almost time for this very long day to end. All they had to do was one more thing. 906 - Dirty Job On the edge of the forest, just a few meters before one of the craters, there was a small opening. One that led to a massive hole in the ground. That was a path to an underground water source that was constantly being cleaned by the treatment plant of the city. When looking towards the canal, they could see a tunnel made out of large pipes. Those were wide enough for the group to walk on their bipedal forms, but they still decided to continue like they were now. It was better, just in case the humans had a way to scan the area. However, even if they had decided to become bigger again, it would¡¯ve been a waste. Around 10 meters in front of them, the tunnel started to get smaller and smaller, reaching about twice the size of the opening they would have to cross. To make matters worse, it was filled with wastewater. ¡®I guess this is it. Take a deep breath, everyone,¡¯ Nimbus called as they jumped inside the pipe. ¡®Sure you say that. I¡¯m the only one that can smell right now,¡¯ Lurize huffed, as he moved back, and grabbed on to Nimbus. While outside, he could be faster than everyone, however, due to his diminutive size as a beetle, it became hard to fight against the current. A couple of minutes passed with them all inside the waste. Every now and then, one of the team members would yelp. Not because they were hurt, but because a particularly large piece of¡­ something brushed past them. It was hard to see in the murky green waters, but they still could tell they were going in the right direction. Eventually, they reached the even smaller opening. It was surrounded by an expertly carved three-dimensional spell circle that really looked like something else. Viper even got an itch to stop and study the structure, but he held back against that. This wasn¡¯t the time for him to do something like that. ¡®Crimson, can you warn Hera we are in position?¡¯ ¡®Sure can,¡¯ Crimson quickly covered her entire body with a mana reinforcement spell. The very first buff that Hera ever figured out. Doing that had nothing to do with their path, or what they had to do to enter the city proper. Instead, it was a signal to the Empress. Just before they left, and after she gave them all a Royal Quest, the Ophidianite also cast the weakest version she could make of that same spell on every single one of them, except Lurize, since he would go to his beetle form. The moment Crimson cast the same spell on top of the existing buff, the stronger one would take over and the weaker vanished. This would tell Hera that they were in position. And in turn, she would tell Kaela it was time to attack. Which was exactly what happened. The Scoutmaster told the mage battalion to fire the spell they already had prepared. Little by little, a spell called Elemental Meteor started to form above them all. The first sign of that was a crackling sound. Like the sky itself was splitting open. Next came the heat. A warmth so intense it felt like a summer day in the desert. This wasn¡¯t a new spell, but a spell that the mages had been perfecting for a while. Lightning crackled around the molten rock and the wind picked up, enveloping the magic in a perfect sphere. Even the moisture in the air seemed to be attracted, as if it was caught in the gravity of a black hole being unleashed. But that was only the beginning. The meteor had yet to fully form. As the ball grew in size, the pressure continued to build. Until the meteor was almost 30 meters in diameter. Only then would they fire the spell. The moment the sphere was at that point, Kaela, who was waiting for the signal, turned to her army and yelled, ¡°Let¡¯s show those bastards who is really beneath who!¡± With a single motion, the mage in charge of the artillery raised her hand, pointing towards the barrier. At the same time, her battalion released the spell, and the meteor flew. It wasn¡¯t simply like a comet coming down from the heavens, but as if the elements themselves were anger at what was going on. As if the very nature of the MAZE wanted to destroy the humans for the sins they had committed. Then again, this was the nature of the spell. Instead of simply taking in the mana of each mage, it also brought along their affinity, and their emotions. What the humans were seeing now, in the form of a second sun, bigger, brighter, and emanating a prism of light, was the unbound rage felt by the members of the alliance. The pure fury and indignation to everything they had done so far. The war, the killings, the effort to wipe out all different intelligent species from the MAZE. All that was funneled to this one singular massive spell that spent the last 30 minutes being prepared. The meteor crashed against the barrier. It didn¡¯t try to destroy it or cause a rift in its defenses. The goal of this spell wasn¡¯t to kill, at least, not directly. Even if the people who cast it really wanted to deal with some damage. The real objective depended on a secondary attack placed in the center of the Elemental Meteor. A condensed ball of resonance mana that would crash along with the meteor and spread all the way across the barrier. Cracks quickly appeared along the shield, but they were being fixed at an incredible rate, thanks to the ample supply of mana present in the power plant. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. For the humans, and those who were unaware of the true intentions of the spell, the shock wave was just an attempt to overwhelm the barrier itself. Distribute the damage all over its surface in hopes of breaking it. After all, if the shield was destroyed, it would take a long time to be redeployed. That didn¡¯t happen, of course. Despite the spell scaring some of the humans, the barrier held strong, seemingly unaffected. But that was part of the plan. The spell wasn''t made in a way that it would outright destroy that secondary shield. If it did that, the humans would receive a warning and be aware of the invasion. Instead, it would simply resonate with that smaller barrier disrupting its existence for a few precious seconds. Once the shock wave reached the drainage pipe, the secondary barrier that protected that one specific area and could be quickly turned on and off flickered for a moment. Nimbus, Lurize, Crimson and Viper noticed the flicker and jumped through as fast as they could. They were already waiting for it, which helped them to cross the threshold of the barrier in the precious few seconds they had. Still swimming in waste, they followed the path they had planned beforehand. First going towards one of the storm drains that led out of the sewers. It was a small entrance, but the tunnels were large enough for the group to grow into their larger forms. If they needed. Lurize and Nimbus were the first to come out. Using the momentum from the current, they jumped, pushing themselves off the ground, and shooting like rockets, aiming for a nearby building. Both of them stopped just before hitting the structure and quickly climbed towards an open window on the second floor, but stopped before entering. They were very careful not to leave a trail of slime in their wake, but some of the wastewater came along for the ride. ¡®Ugh, we need a shower,¡¯ Lurize shivered, opening his wings in an attempt to get rid of the excess waste. Viper and Crimson were not far behind, but the twins used [Hidden Frontal Screen] while keeping their backs to each other so that no one would be able to see the flying daggers going towards the same building. After checking if the room in front of them was really empty, they went inside. It was an office space for a gym. The reason for them to have picked this structure, in particular, was the presence of a pool on the ground floor. Moving around while being covered in filth would cause problems. Even a human could smell them coming from far away, and leaving a trail of waste wouldn¡¯t be a good idea either. But cleaning themselves wasn¡¯t easy. If they tried to use any showers, that would make a lot of noise, and it might attract people. In the end, the best solution they came up with was the gym. A quick dip on a chlorine filled pool could remove most of not all the sewer water from their weapon forms, and mask the smell decently enough for them to continue the mission. ¡®I¡¯m gonna need to clean my blade with some scented oils when we get back. I don¡¯t care that the sewer water will be gone once we are dismissed. My soul still feels it.¡® Viper complained as they moved through the office. ¡®Tell me about it. This is disgusting. I don¡¯t think anyone else would be able to go through with this plan. The smell should be a thing of nightmares.¡¯ ¡®It is. It really is,¡¯ Lurize groaned as he reached the door. After a quick scan to make sure they were alone, they continued moving. It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the pool area. But just as they were about to jump in, a man walked out of the locker room wearing a tight red swimming brief. ¡°What the hell?¡± he gasped, looking at the three floating weapons and the golden beetle by the poolside. Without hesitating, Viper, Crimson, and Nimbus jumped the man. The two daggers going straight for his neck while the Sentinel gutted him, opening his stomach like a fish. ¡®Did you have to make all that mess!?¡¯ Lurize gasped as the man¡¯s body fell to the ground, his innards spilling out together with a river of blood. Nimbus paused, looked at the man and then at the Royal Tutor, ¡®I¡¯m not going to lie. I panicked a little bit. Someone going for a swim while the city is under siege freaked me out. I genuinely thought he was going to put up a fight.¡¯ ¡®You know... that¡¯s fair. Who the hell is this guy and why is he in the gym during an attack?¡¯ Crimson loomed over the body, trying to see if she could come up with something. ¡®Hum... We might have a problem,¡¯ Viper was in the locker room. He walked out on his half naga form holding a military uniform. It was dark blue, had several medals on the chest, and an odd golden rope tied from the shoulder to the lapel of the jacket, ¡®Usually who has something like this is a high-ranking officer, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®Fuck... I think that¡¯s a general? Or a commander of some sort. But why is he so weak?¡¯ Lurize turned to the man again. ¡®Maybe he¡¯s more the strategy kind? It¡¯s clear he had no intention of joining the fight,¡¯ Crimson suggested. ¡®Whatever is the case, we need to move fast now. Everyone, jump in the pool. We need to get clean and move!¡¯ Nimbus was the first to jump, the two bladed tonfas splashing around and spinning underwater to remove any waste still on his body. Viper, Crimson and Lurize did the same right after him. All three rushed to get clean and leave this place. When they were finally ready, they left the gym through the back entrance. They had been there for just 5 minutes, but they had a schedule to keep. The longer they took to deactivate the barrier, the worse things could get. That time frame was even smaller now. After all, if that man was really a high-ranking officer, it wouldn¡¯t take long for people to come looking for him. And the moment they found him, everyone would know that someone had invaded the city. To make matters worse, if there was an infiltration team, there was only a single location that could be their target. The power plant. Anything else would be a waste of resources and the humans knew that. The clock was ticking, and that small stunt had just shaved off a large chunk of time for the infiltration team. 907 - Crossing the City After having killed the general, or whatever the rank of that human was, the titled blades rushed out of the gym while back in their weapon forms. They couldn¡¯t waste any more time. Leaving through a window on the opposite side of the building, they floated down and continued following the path they set up during planning. The entire city had been evacuated to a few bunkers that were used during rampages. Anyone who was outside was a member of the human army, which made things easier for the titled blades. First, they crossed the streets, with Viper and Crimson working as lookouts. Jumping from alley to alley, slowly getting closer to the power plant in the center of the city. They were still several blocks away from it and, to make matters worse. People started shouting. It seemed like they had found the dead officer. ¡®That¡¯s a problem,¡¯ Lurize sighed as they had to wait behind a large garbage dump in one of the alleys. ¡®What do we do now? The patrols are increasing,¡¯ Crimson asked as they hid from a small group of humans who were searching for something. They were talking about finding someone, but at the same time, they didn¡¯t know who. Nimbus looked up and around before pointing to a structure a bit to the north, ¡®Everyone remembers the blueprint of the city, right? Isn¡¯t that building the one with a walkway just by the park?¡¯ Everyone turned and paused for a moment. ¡®Yeah. I think that¡¯s the place,¡¯ Crimson nodded. ¡®You are thinking about taking the path through the park?¡¯ Viper turned to the Sentinel. ¡®That¡¯s what I thought. A lot of vegetation, easy for us to hide, and the shade from the trees will stop us from being seen by anyone who might be working as a lookout.¡¯ ¡®I like that, let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t stop to come up with various plans,¡¯ Lurize nodded. Viper and Crimson took the lead, making sure the coast was clear again before the group dashed out. They went inside the building and Nimbus pointed out through one of the windows on the side. However, instead of arriving inside an office or something like that. They found themselves in a hallway. One that looked very much residential. It showed that this wasn¡¯t an army camp, or a place made to be protected. All around them were apartments, homes, places where families would gather, have meals. Children ran around, played, learned, and grew. Everything was looking well kept. There were no signs of fights, or anything in this place. In fact, the entire city was in perfect condition. Not completely pristine in an eerie way, but the good condition that people would see in a well-kept town. ¡®This kind of sucks,¡¯ Crimson sighed. ¡®Yeah. Let¡¯s just keep moving,¡¯ Nimbus nodded. The four of them quickly weaved through the corridors until they found the walkway leading to the other side of the street. It was completely covered from above and there was a tinted glass covering the sides of the path, with only its upper half being completely transparent. This allowed them to move through the walkway while being almost invisible to anyone from the outside. Reaching the next building was easy, and without any problems. But once they got there, things changed. As the group moved towards the staircase, they came face to face with a patrol of 3 humans. Viper and Crimson flew at one of them, going straight for her neck and cutting it open before she could even react. But the other two were some steps behind. That gave them enough time to respond to the attacks. Lurize jumped, turning into a zweihander, and going straight for the second human¡¯s chest. He had been aiming for the heart, but his attack was parried by the man. Without missing a beat, Nimbus rushed to the last member of that team. The bladed tonfas spinning around in an attempt to cut the man into ribbons. ¡®Don¡¯t forget the noise. The longer this takes, the worse it will be for us,¡¯ Nimbus said as the tonfas had to pull to the side, narrowly avoiding the human sword. This small combat was already echoing in the long stairwell. ¡®We won¡¯t,¡¯ Lurize replied, having to stop his body from slamming against the human¡¯s sword again. Instead, he pivoted and came down towards the man¡¯s legs. Viper and Crimson were moved to help the Royal Tutor, but the body of the woman they had just killed collapsed into the steps and started to roll down. Not wanting to make matters worse, Nimbus jumped and transformed into his titled form. Using the wings in this narrow staircase wasn¡¯t easy, but he was nimble enough to catch the woman and still continue his battle against the last member of the patrol. However, there was a big difference between continuing a fight and winning it. The second human was a much better swordsman than the ones they faced during the invasion. He was easily keeping the two blades away and was already trying to go on the offensive. It didn¡¯t help that his partner was already on the floor and rage fuelled his moves. He was able to parry the attacks of Lurize, Crimson and Viper and was slowly getting the hang of the fight, becoming a bigger danger by the second. While Nimbus, who was just a few steps down, tried to reach the bottom of the stairs while still holding on to the corpse of the woman. He wanted to drop her on even ground so they wouldn¡¯t have to worry so much about the noise anymore. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Unfortunately, things didn¡¯t go as planned. Nimbus was able to reach the bottom of the steps, but when trying to get his footing, his foot was caught on the dead woman¡¯s hair and he slipped. Not only that, but his fall also pushed him back, making his back hit the railing, and his drop to the ground. The human lunged at him with a downward swing, but the Sentinel simply returned to his weapon form. Escaping the strike but letting a loud clang echo through the staircase. ¡®Shit,¡¯ Nimbus cursed. ¡®Crimson, take him!¡¯ Lurize ordered, rushing towards the human engaged with the Sentinel. The daggers flew towards the man, who was still holding his sword, ready for an attack. What he didn¡¯t expect, however, were the twin daggers he was fighting against turning into half Naga creatures, each holding a pair of daggers. This was a copy of Hera¡¯s [Venomous Arsenal], but they couldn¡¯t replicate the insane scaling the weapons of the Empress had. Instead, they had a watered-down version of the skill that worked mostly to supplement their fighting style. The extra limbs and strange visages of the Spymasters were enough to break the flow of the human who started to lose ground, and soon, was hit several times by the twin half Nagas. The man yelled as his sides were caught by a [Grasping Strike] from Viper that bound his movements for a couple of seconds. Following that up, Viper used [Bloody Claw] empowered by all the blood around them and cut the man¡¯s head clean off. At the bottom of this flight of stairs, Nimbus was still trying to finish his fight. But he made sure to stay in front of the human, blocking and parrying the strikes while trying to create openings when possible. Not that he was actually going to use those opening. The Sentinel already had noticed Lurize coming and was doing that, only to make sure the man wouldn¡¯t notice. In a matter of seconds, Lurize jumped towards the man, who had his back turned. The zweihander pierced through the human¡¯s chest, coming out on the opposite side. Using that moment of surprise, Nimbus also struck. Aiming at man¡¯s neck, he cut it open with a double slash and held the body down before it felt to the ground. ¡®That could¡¯ve gone better,¡¯ Viper groaned from the top of the stairs, where he and crimson were pushing the body up to make sure it wouldn¡¯t go tumbling down the stairs. ¡®Yeah, but it worked. Let¡¯s keep moving,¡¯ Lurize ordered. ¡®Sure. But we might need to pick up the pace. This place is not so safe anymore,¡¯ Nimbus nodded. But as they were about to reach the ground floor, a noise caught their attention. It was coming from under the last flight of stairs. Without missing a beat, the four of them, in their weapon forms, flew over, ready to strike at whoever was trying to hide. But to their surprise, it wasn¡¯t a member of the army. Doing a bad job of vanishing under a table was a little boy wearing a blue jumper and holding a toy of a man with wings and a bird helmet tightly with both arms on his chest. He saw the four weapons aimed at him and his eyes started to water. Nimbus quickly turned to his titled form again, the bipedal griffon suddenly appearing in front of the boy, ¡°Hey there, little buddy. How are you?¡± The boy continued to stare at the Sentinel, his eyes still watering, but seeing the griffon seemed to calm him a bit. ¡°Are you hiding from your parents?¡± The boy shook his head. ¡°From the army?¡± The boy shook his head again. ¡°From us?¡± He nodded, shaking a bit. ¡°That¡¯s ok. You are being very brave right now. Do you know where everyone went?¡± the boy paused and stared at Nimbus. Realizing he was getting the wrong idea, ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to take us there. Don¡¯t worry. I just want to bring you to your family.¡± Jack frowned and held the toy even tighter, ¡°That¡¯s a lie. You want to kill them.¡± ¡°Who told you that?¡± ¡°My mom, my dad, the tv.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Nimbus paused, unsure what to say. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to leave the boy here. Not only he was very close to several dead bodies, but when the Alliance started their attack, he could be caught in the crossfire. ¡®We are not leaving him here, are we?¡¯ Crimson asked. ¡®Of course not!¡¯ Lurize replied. ¡®I agree. I just need to think about how to make him trust me. If we tell him to just run, he might get hurt. Also, don¡¯t show up now. I don¡¯t think more people will be better,¡¯ Nimbus added. ¡®Ask if he knew anyone from the alliance. And tell him that his parents are wrong,¡¯ Viper suggested. Nimbus looked back at Jack, ¡°They said anyone who is not a human wanted to kill you?¡± Jack nodded. ¡°And did you know anyone who wasn¡¯t a human before that?¡± ¡°I did...¡± ¡°Who were they?¡± ¡°Vishan, a friend from school. And Miss Plar. She is the teacher.¡± ¡°Do you know where they are now?¡± Jack shook his head, ¡°They left.¡± ¡°And if they were here. Do you think they would try to kill you?¡± Jack paused and looked deep into Nimbus¡¯ eyes, ¡°No. They are nice.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nice too. I don¡¯t want to hurt anyone.¡± ¡°But my mom and dad said you are bad.¡± ¡°I understand, but that¡¯s not true. I¡¯m not saying they are wrong, just that this is all a big misunderstanding. Do you know what that means?¡± Jack nodded, ¡°When I say pop and you hear poop.¡± Nimbus chuckled, ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s a misunderstanding. It¡¯s the same thing, it¡¯s just a lot bigger,¡± he paused and looked outside. There was a window to the left they could use to get out of here. Viper and Crimson were already there, scouting the area, ¡°So, buddy. There is a lot going on right now, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe for you to be here. Can I take you to a safe place?¡± ¡°Are you not going to hurt me?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, I promise. Tell you what, if we see someone who you trust, or someone else that you think will take you to the right place, you can scream and go running towards them. I will not do anything about that. Aside from running away. Ok?¡± ¡°What if you are lying?¡± Nimbus smiled, ¡°What is his name?¡± he pointed to the toy. ¡°Capitan Hawk.¡± ¡°Does Captain Hawk lie?¡± Jack shook his head, ¡°No, he is a hero!¡± ¡°Well. I¡¯m trying to be a hero, too. I even have wings and I tried using the helmet, but,¡± Nimbus knocked on his beak, ¡°My nose is too big.¡± That made Jack laugh, and after a moment he glanced back at his toy, before turning to the Sentinel again, ¡°Do you promise? You are not going to hurt anyone?¡± ¡°I promise I¡¯m not going to hurt anyone when I¡¯m with you. Even if they try to hurt me,¡± Nimbus replied, knowing that the rest of the titled blades were not a part of this promise. Just in case things went south. Jack nodded and raised his arms as if asking to be picked up. Nimbus did just that and quickly left the building. This mission had just become several times more complicated, but it was for a good reason. Even if they were at war, acts like this were what made the Alliance different from the humans. They would never use the life of a child just to gain an advantage. 908 - Enter the Power Plant ¡°Hera, do you have any news about your court?¡± Kaela approached the Ophidianite. ¡°Nothing after the signal that they crossed the barrier.¡± The Scoutmaster looked at her watch, ¡°They should¡¯ve arrived at the power plant by now. Maybe something went wrong.¡± ¡°Could be, but I know they are still around. If they were destroyed, I would know.¡± ¡°All of them are still alive?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. I can¡¯t tell if they are too injured or not, but if they were captured or something, they can just waste all their mana and they will pop back to me. Even if that forces them to rest for a while.¡± ¡°Ok, at least we have that. Let me know if things change. The next signal they sent should let us know they got to the power plant.¡± ¡°Will do. How is every-¡° before the Empress could say anything else, another large blast echoed through the room. Another Elemental Meteor had just hit the barrier. Part of the plan was to make the humans think the Alliance was stuck outside, and the constant barrage of a powerful spell did just that. In addition, it also forced them to keep troops around. Even if they realized that there was a team trying to take out the shield from the inside, leaving the front of the city wide open was a recipe for disaster. However, it would not last long. The barrier was powerful and could take the brunt of the attacks, but the people inside were starting to get desperate. If they saw an opportunity, they would fire back with whatever powerful spell they had. The only reason why they had yet to do that was the barrier itself. In order to make it as powerful as it was, most of the functionality had to be stripped down. In other words, the only reason the shield was this strong was because it affected both sides equally. The Alliance might be unable to enter the city, or do anything against those manning their walls. But at the same time, the humans could do nothing but hope the barrier would last long enough for the reinforcements to arrive. Hera watched, hoping her titled blades were able to complete their mission soon. That had been the third time Kaela asked or sent someone to ask about Nimbus and the others. Even if the Scoutmaster was completely aware of the time frame of the operation, she pestered the Empress with questions about updates. One could say that she was simply being careful, and wanting to start the next plan as soon as something went wrong with the first one, but Hera knew better. If Kaela was acting like that, it should mean they were running out of time. Maybe a group of humans were getting too close, or the whole battle was taking longer than it should have. One way or the other, they had to finish this quickly and then move on. The Ophidianite looked towards the city, the shimmering shield that protected it still standing strong. If they would need to break that open, it would take a long time. Her hope was that Nimbus, Lurize, Viper, and Crimson were able to reach the power station soon and turn off the shield generator. At the same time, in a park near the center of the city, three flying weapons dashed through the area, following a golden beetle. A large rock crashed by their side, forcing the group to dodge, but they continued going forward as fast as they could. ¡®Shit, shit, shit,¡¯ Nimbus weaved between the trees, trying to make it harder for the pursuers to find him. ¡®Can you stop that! It¡¯s distracting!¡¯ Lurize gasped. A ball of fire exploded right behind the twins, who did a loop in the air before steading themselves once more. They really don¡¯t give a crap about burning the park to the ground, do they?¡¯ Viper was turning the [Hidden Frontal Screen] on and off repeatedly, doing his best not to be seen by the humans running after them. ¡®Yeah, and I don¡¯t get why. We helped the kid. Couldn¡¯t they at least give us a head start?¡¯ Crimson huffed, she was the most annoyed by the situation out of anyone in the group. They had just done a really good thing by helping a lost child find his family, and what was their reward? Being attacked and chased by a group of humans dead set on destroying them. ¡®We are at war Crim. No good deed towards the enemy goes unpunished,¡¯ Viper replied. ¡®We can discuss the philosophy later. Look ahead. That¡¯s the power station, right?¡¯ Lurize¡¯s wings were beating extremely quickly, even for a beetle. A few meters in front of them was a hill, and on top of that a building with two towers surrounded by a small fence. ¡®Yes, that is the one,¡¯ Viper nodded, ¡®Let¡¯s go up.¡¯ ¡®Are you mad?!¡¯ Lurize gasped, ¡®If we try to go up, they will have a clear shot at us!¡¯ If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡®What¡¯s your idea then? Run across the field? If we go up at least we won¡¯t be hit by the splash damage when the miss!¡¯ just as Viper replied, an avalanche of snow was created right on top of them. The titled blades were able to clear it just as the first bit of snow hit the ground. For a brief moment, they were hidden from the humans, but that wouldn¡¯t last long. ¡®Bug, turn into the armor. Grab the twins and ride me!¡¯ Nimbus yelled. ¡®What? That¡¯s even worse!¡¯ Viper gasped. ¡®We need to be fast. I¡¯m the fastest, but I¡¯ll be exposed. Lurize is an armor, and between the two of us we can burst open the door. We don¡¯t have time to argue, just do it!¡¯ before anyone else could say anything, the Sentinel turned into his griffon form. Seeing as he just acted, ignoring any arguments, the rest followed along. The Royal Tutor took in his titled form, the full body of his armor shining in the sun as he placed the Zweih?nder across his back. Quickly jumping on top of the griffon, he grabbed the Spymasters just before the group dashed out of the park. The humans were already there waiting for them. Some were preparing spells, but none were powerful enough to be a concern. Even then, Nimbus created a few mana barriers to stop the incoming attacks. The snow might have been tall enough to hide their small forms, but the moment a griffon the size of a horse, and an armored warrior that was almost 2 meters tall, showed up, the snow cover became useless. They moved extremely quickly through the hill; the Sentinel being able to reach almost 100 km/h in just a couple of seconds. However, a mage appeared by the gate, wearing a white and blue robe and a hood covering his face before the griffon was able to pick up speed. He slammed his hands together and motioned as if he was tossing something to the sky. A massive stone wall appeared right in front of them. Nimbus thought about stopping for a moment, but Lurize¡¯s intentions were sent to him with a different plan. Knowing what was about to happen, the Sentinel simply covered the front of his body with a couple of layers of mana barriers, hoping to lessen the impact. The Royal Tutor triggered his [Rhinoceros Form] increasing his attributes and the power behind his attacks, as well as [Winged Boost] to move even faster. Or at least that was his intention. What actually happened was something none of the titled blades ever knew to be possible. Hera¡¯s court could share buffs with each other. If someone got a 10 point increase in Luck, everyone else would receive 1 point in that attribute. This was something they knew since the early days of the court, and the reason why the Empress always looked for weapons that had interesting passives, or skills that increased their attributes. The compound effect of various buffs overlaying each other made them much more powerful. But each blade could only use their own skills. And their skills could only affect themselves, unless the skill itself said otherwise. For instance, Twiggy and her buff were able to affect Hera and the weapons she is currently wielding, even if they are part of the court, they still get the full benefits of the skill. What everyone believed was that each court member could only use their buffs on themselves. Until now. As both Lurize and Nimbus moved as a single unit, acting without even the need for words, something incredible happened. Instead of the Royal Tutor himself getting the effects of his combination skill to become the raging golden beetle that could crush everything in its path, Nimbus was the one affected by both skills. [Rhinoceros Form] created a metal horn on the Sentinel¡¯s head and covered his entire body in metal while [Winged Boost] created a wind under his wings that increased his speed tenfold. Going from the roughly 40km/h he was currently moving at to almost 400km/h for a single moment. Nimbus didn¡¯t crash into the wall, he bulldoze through it as if it was made out of paper. The human who created that defense turned into a thin mist after being skewered by the metallic horn. The four continued moving, taking advantage of the momentum for the precious few seconds the skills were still active. Just as he passed under the thick metal gate that was closing, the effects vanished. With the sudden loss of speed, the Sentinel tripped and fell, tumbling with Lurize. But they were now inside the power plant, and the gate in front of them closed before any other human was able to enter. ¡®Holy shit,¡¯ Lurize stared at the door, then back at Nimbus. ¡®Yeah¡­ We need to talk about that later,¡¯ the Sentinel¡¯s eyes were wide, both still processing what had just happened. ¡®Yeah, I want to talk about that too,¡¯ Viper spoke up, ¡®But first. Do I need to get rid of the buff? Since you lost yours when you turned into a griffon.¡¯ Nimbus turned back into his weapon form, ¡®No, we still need one for when we are about to deactivate the barrier. That was supposed to be me, but we swapped places. We¡¯ll say that my buff was the signal that we went inside the plant.¡¯ As the four of them started to search the building for the control room, Hera, back outside, had two surprises almost at the same time. The first was one of the buffs she cast being dropped. Since it was the second one, it should mean the team arrived at the power plant. The second was a skill, and an upgrade to one of her best skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Battle Bond - Legacy - Rank 1 When two members of the court are in perfect synchronicity, they can temporarily share their skills. This powerful connection allows them to channel their active skills through each other. The bond lasts until the end of the battle or until one of the members loses focus. When a skill is cast like that, it only takes 90% of the original power, while the cost and cooldown increase by 10% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Army of One - Legacy - Rank 2 When the skill is active, you and your court will function as a single entity. Most effects that would target a specific blade can be shared or redirected to one or more specific members of your court, including yourself. Buffs cannot overlap because of this effect and they are shared with only 19% of their strength. You can activate and deactivate this skill at will. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera was extremely surprised with the skills, not just the unexpected new legacy skill, but also the first rank 2 legacy skill she had. Still, there was no time for her to enjoy the moment. The Empress quickly rushed towards Kaela to tell her about the progress of the operation. Her team had arrived at the power plant, which meant they could start making the final preparation for the actual assault on the human city. 909 - Operations End ¡®Left or right?¡¯ Nimbus asked. ¡®Right,¡¯ Viper replied as they all turned to follow the path. The Alliance was able to get a map for the city, but the blueprint for the actual power station was a different story. They tried their best, but the intelligence agency was only able to find the manual for operating the controls. Considering how much time they had to gather all the intel, that was already impressive. But this created a problem for Nimbus, Lurize, Viper, and Crimson. They had no idea how to navigate the structure and find the control room. In order to find the place, they quickly came up with a plan. By taking turns picking the direction to move, they could try to abuse their luck. No one actually knew how the attribute worked, but it was generally accepted that being lucky wouldn¡¯t happen several times in a row. It also helped to avoid any attempts to stop and discuss the plan. Hera always tried to ask the court for their opinions about various things. And, although they all thanked her for the consideration, it created a bad precedent for this kind of situation. An urge to stop and talk about the possible paths on each turn. That wasn¡¯t something that would help right now, hence splitting up the decision somewhat solved that issue . ¡®We keep moving forward or go left?¡¯ Viper asked as they reached another intersection. All the walls of the place had the same industrial look, concrete walls with a pastel yellow line on a blue background. It looked good, but there were no signs, no arrow pouting to the control room, nothing. The worst part of it all was that the place wasn¡¯t built to be a labyrinth. It was just a very poorly designed building. Whoever made this was focused on making it look pretty, but never considered the people who would be working here and how easy it was to navigate the place. The titled blades were inside for over 10 minutes, moving at full speed, and they had only seen a single bathroom near the entrance. It was madness. They continued moving, at times finding a dead end, and at times only finding more paths, including several staircases. A constant alarm ringing, with red, rotating lights on every corner, became the background for their infiltration. ¡®Crap, crap, crap,¡¯ Crimson gasped. All of them were getting anxious, but the red scaled Spymaster was the most affected by that. ¡®Crim, calm down. We will figure this out,¡¯ Viper said. ¡®I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s been a long time. Wasn¡¯t there something we could do to find the command center? What did Kaela tell us? Something about it being the central part of the plant and the vents?¡¯ Crimson pressed as they turned a corner, only to find another dead end, with only a supply closet behind a door. ¡®She said the vents should be pushing air towards the command room. And since it¡¯s a secure location, they would have only a single vent in there,¡¯ Lurize replied. ¡®Yeah, but it¡¯s hard to follow the airflow from here. Right,¡¯ nimbus didn¡¯t wait for anyone to ask this time since he knew it was his turn to decide. ¡®Then why don¡¯t we move through the vents?¡¯ Crimson asked. ¡®Right again,¡¯ Viper said, since he knew they came from the straight path, ¡®They are too small for a person,¡¯ he explained. ¡®But we are not people sized,¡¯ Crimson reply made the entire group stop dead on their tracks. There was a long pause before Lurize shook his beetle head, ¡®We are morons.¡¯ ¡®Absolute dumbasses,¡¯ Nimbus sighed. ¡®Idiots. Complete Idiots,¡¯ Viper agreed. ¡®So¡­ No one thought about that?¡¯ Crimson awkwardly asked. ¡®Let¡¯s just go,¡¯ Nimbus looked around and found one of the vents on the top of the wall a few meters ahead of them. Getting inside was extremely easy, they barely had to bend the horizontal grate. Once they were inside the actual airflow, it became much easier to follow. Despite that, it still took a while, which was another display of the hostile architecture of the place. About 5 minutes later, they reached the last stop of the airflow. A vent dropping in the center of a large circular room where all the controls for the power station were located. There were six people inside. Four of them looked like regular workers, wearing simple jeans and cotton shirts. The other two were better equipped. One had a short sword, while the other a pair of spiked gauntlets. They seemed to be just working the controls, there was no tension in the air, but that was about to change. Bursting through the grate, which was a bit smaller than the one they used to enter, the titled blades spread out and popped into their titled forms, their full bodies coming into display. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± one of the workers gasped and rushed away from the console in front of him. ¡°Get them!¡± the human with the gauntlets yelled and jumped towards Lurize. However, the Royal Tutor simply held the man¡¯s both hands, and head butted him, knocking him out cold. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Viper attacked with a grasping strike, binding the second human warrior before Nimbus and Crimson delivered a pair of punches to the man¡¯s head at the same time, also taking him out of the picture. ¡°Did you kill him?¡± Viper asked. Nimbus checked, ¡°No, he¡¯s still alive.¡± Crimson turned to the Sentinel, ¡°Is that a good idea? What if they try something?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nimbus took one of the chairs and dragged the man he knocked out towards the edge of the room. Breaking the metal armrest of the chair, he pinned the human¡¯s arms above his head against the wall after removing his gauntlets and armor, leaving the man only with a shirt and boxer shorts. He did the same with his feet, making sure he wouldn¡¯t be able to move properly. Nimbus helped him also bind the other armed human and remove his equipment. All the while, Viper and Crimson made sure the workers were not doing anything. Once they were done, Lurize moved towards the control panel, double checking if everything was the way they learned about. Nimbus walked over to the workers, ¡°Please, stay here,¡± he gestured to an empty space on the side of the room, far from where the other two humans were being held. ¡°Why?¡± one of the workers asked. ¡°Because this makes it easy for us to see if you are going to try anything. As long as you just stay quiet, nothing will happen with you,¡± the Sentinel explained, doing his best to maintain a soothing voice. ¡°Yeah, right. You are just saying that for us to drop our guard and be easier to kill us,¡± the worker scoffed. ¡°What?¡± Nimbus frowned, ¡°How does that even make sense? Like,¡± he gestured to the two unconscious men, ¡°Do you think you could do better than them? No offense, but none of you look battle ready.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably just some twisted game you¡¯re playing. You enjoy the cruelty,¡± another worker replied, her eyes burning with rage. ¡°Girl, who hurt you?¡± Crimson asked. ¡°No one, and I intend for it to stay that way,¡± the woman replied. Nimbus rubbed his eyes, but before he could say anything, Lurize spoke up. ¡°Who is going to send the signal? I lost track,¡± Viper raised his hand, ¡°Then I¡¯m all ready. This set up is just like what we saw.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m doing it,¡± Viper glanced back to the humans and back to Lurize, ¡°Remember, you have a number minutes equal to the number of titled we have,¡± his words were purposeful cryptic to make sure the humans didn¡¯t understand what he was talking about. Lurize frowned, but after looking at the humans nodded, but paused right away, ¡®We can still talk like this. You and Crimson count as one or two?¡¯ ¡®Oh, right. We count as one. I was thinking about the number of titles. Either way. Five minutes. I just used the mana reinforcement,¡¯ Viper scratched his cheek with a finger. ¡°Yeah, do that,¡± Nimbus waved Lurize off and turned back to the humans, ¡°Now, like I was saying, we don¡¯t want to hurt you. Any of you. No one here, and no one outside.¡± ¡°Oh, this is a peaceful invasion, then?¡± the woman scoffed. ¡°No, but you started it! All we want is to kick out the army and reclaim the room. But everyone who lives here can stay, as long as you don¡¯t cause any trouble,¡± Nimbus continued. ¡°So you want us to be prisoners? Great,¡± the woman rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s better than what you did to us!¡± Crimson gasped, ¡°We are letting you stay at home, you tossed our people in a camp, and ransacked their homes.¡± ¡°They deserved it!¡± another worker replied. ¡°Why?¡± Nimbus crossed his arms. ¡°They were terrorists,¡± the man continued. ¡°Says who? Most of the people in the camp were families with children, people who never hurt anyone. We are not the ones that started this war, you did, and that¡¯s all because you are saying every single one of us is a terrorist!¡± Crimson snapped at the man. Even so, the human didn¡¯t pull back. ¡°Then what are you doing right now? Is this not a terrorist attack?¡± ¡°We are at war! Things are different once that declaration is made. If you are saying that this is a terrorist attack, then what you did to take over our city is the same thing!¡± Crimson yelled. ¡°Of course is not. We did the right thing. You are just doing this to win,¡± the woman replied. Crimson was about to snap but Viper put a hand on her shoulder, ¡°Calm down. We know why they are like that,¡± he turned to the humans, ¡°You said that we just want to win, right? Then tell me, how keeping you alive helps us with that? We don¡¯t need you to operate the power station. If anything, we might need your tablets or IDs, but that¡¯s it. ¡° The woman stared at Viper, then looked down, clearly confused. ¡°Believe us or don¡¯t. I really don¡¯t care. Just stay quiet and don¡¯t try anything funny. We don¡¯t want to hurt you, but we will if needed,¡± the Spymaster said as he sat down directly in front of the group. A few moments later, a loud buzzing sound echoed through the room, along with the red rotating lights stopping. The noise made the workers jump, and a moment later, a loudspeaker could be heard. ¡°Alert ended. Lock down will now be lifted.¡± ¡®Shit. We need to barricade the door. We should only need to last enough for the Alliance to get over the barrier,¡¯ Nimbus announced as the group started to pull tables and other furniture towards the door, trying to hold it in place. ¡®How long will that take? Do you know?¡¯ Crimson asked. ¡®I think it¡¯s around 20 minutes after the barrier drops. There are a lot of people out there.¡¯ Viper said. ¡®That¡¯s a lot of time,¡¯ the red scaled blade sighed. ¡®But we can do this. We need to hold,¡¯ Viper pulled his dagger, but he still was staring at the workers. ¡°I can help,¡± a soft voice came from the group of humans. It was the woman from before. ¡°And why would you do that?¡± Nimbus turned to the human. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die. And... I, I think there is something wrong with what I¡¯m thinking. My head is been fuzzy for a while already. A friend of mine told me she could help, but I refused. Called her a sympathizer. Maybe she was right,¡± the woman held her head with both hands, ¡°My head is hurting so much.¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯s the mind control wearing off, or is she playing us?¡± Crimson asked, staring daggers at the woman. ¡°There is some mana leaking from her head. It¡¯s hard to tell,¡± Nimbus replied. ¡°How can you help?¡± Viper asked. ¡°On the main console. There is a lock down override. It¡¯s supposed to be able to open the gates, but you can also use it to force the doors to remain closed,¡± the woman replied, the more she spoke, the more strained her voice became until she started to scream. The humans glanced at Viper, who just replied, ¡°You can help her, I¡¯m not risking this be a trap.¡± ¡°Found it!¡± Lurize activated the override, and the alarms started to ring again. Seeing that, Crimson walked closer to the human and started casting a healing spell. It was a very basic spell that she barely understood how it functioned, but by pure brute force, it seemed to work, and the woman stopped her yelling. Viper didn¡¯t say anything, but continued keeping his watchful eyes on the workers. He still didn¡¯t trust what they were doing, and he would be sure that they didn¡¯t cross any line. 910 - Taking over a city The moment the barrier dropped, the Alliance was ready to attack. They pretended to fire a weaker Elemental Meteor, as if they were running out of steam but instead attacked with a barrage of various spells, all aimed at the battlements of the city. Still, the humans were able to answer to the assault quickly enough to reduce the damage by a considerable amount. But the Alliance troops didn¡¯t care about that. They rushed forward, shouting rallying cries and using their skills to attack the human army. The final battle for the Crater of the Sky had truly begun. Roan was running with the initial charge, while Vash started a show to buff all his allies. Skyler was with the mages, steadily going forward and intercepting the spells sent by the humans, and Flint was with a group focused on breaking the actual walls. People could jump, fly, or teleport inside with their skills and spells, but if they were able to open an actual path to the city, things would be much easier. Behind everyone, together with the supply line and the healers were Neria, Hera, Daskka, Livy, and Vulcan. The triton was there to help the wounded. She was a healer at heart, not someone who specialized in barriers. While Hera was too injured to participate in the large-scale assault. It wasn¡¯t as if she was having problems to move around, but she was still recovering from the fight against the soldiers of strength. The Empress was also waiting for Kaela¡¯s signal to trigger the pool of Styx. It felt like it was already time, but for some reason, the Scoutmaster had yet to give the order. ¡°Can you see them?¡± Hera asked. She was worried about Roan and Flint, the two should be the closest to the wall at this time. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think you would be able to see anything from here. There is too much dust and smoke from the explosions,¡± Neria replied. ¡°Robin?¡± Hera looked up, the bowblade was high in the sky, firing at the humans from a distance and doing his best to help the Alliance, but the reality was that they were too far away for his attacks to be of any danger. The best he could do was to intercept the projectiles coming their way. ¡®I can¡¯t see anything, sorry,¡¯ the construct replied. ¡°Shit. Nothing,¡± Hera grumbled. ¡°That¡¯s the hardest part of being a healer. When you have to wait around for people to get hurt,¡± Neria turned to the Ophidianite, ¡°We learn some tricks. Such as focusing on other things. In this case, can I ask you to make sure no one is coming to attack us while I test something with Vulcan?¡± ¡°What do you want to test?¡± Vulcan asked. ¡°Remember when we talked about healing with strength mana? Well, because of the Soldiers of Strength I had a chance of seeing their mana up close. I¡¯ve been trying to replicate that and I think I got it,¡± the triton replied. ¡°You¡¯ve managed to replicate strength mana in just a few hours?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ what¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°No problem. I jutes heard that I¡¯m amazing for figuring some stuff out with mana every now and then. But it takes me weeks, and you did it in a single day. I guess that¡¯s the difference between being talented and being a genius,¡± the Empress smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not a genius!¡± Neria protested. ¡°If you did that, you are. Sorry to tell you,¡± Vulcan nodded. ¡°I agree,¡± Livy spoke up. ¡°They are right, you know,¡± Kaela appeared almost out of nowhere and joined the conversation. ¡°Is everything ok?¡± Hera turned to the Scoutmaster, her face full of worry. ¡°Yeah, I just dropped by to tell you to use that spell. It¡¯s time. I wasn¡¯t sure if you would need some support so I brought a few people to defend you,¡± she gestured to the side where a group of 10 scouts was there. In this battle, they wouldn¡¯t be as effective while the walls had yet to be breached. Once that happened though, this team could move around the battlefield taking out important targets, ¡° Also, you did say you would need a lot of mana, so here,¡± she gave a bag with almost 100 mana stones inside. All filled to the brim. They all had a range from 30 to 80 million mana each. ¡°That will help. I need to focus for a moment,¡± Hera sat on the ground and opened her [Treasure Map]. In there, she could see all the snakes she sent to the various parts of the room. Using an overlay, she placed the spell circle on top of the map and adjusted it to the positions of the constructs. As she got everything ready, Livy, Vulcan, the court and Kaela¡¯s team approached, covering her from all sides. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Hera took a deep breath and closed her eyes, keeping the image of the map in her mind. First, each snake lit up like a pyre as all the remaining mana that Hera had in the [Empress Core] and in the numerous mana stones on her lap started to flood the constructs. One by one they ignited and the mana slowly started to follow the path of the spell circle. Said path was partially created by the snakes themselves, but it would mostly have to be done at the same time. Thankfully, Hera didn¡¯t have to do it alone. After the rampage on the Cinderspire Citadel, Hera realized that controlling the mana in a large scale spell like that was extremely difficult, and it took too long to be used during a battle. While talking with her court, they came up with ways for them to help her. The Empress still had to control all the mana, but instead of having to remember the path and follow it perfectly, her court would guide the mana while Hera herself only had to follow. It still took a lot of offer and brain power. In essence, she was still multitasking like crazy. Having to control nine different strands of mana was a humongous task, and there was still much to improve. In a perfect world she would flood the path of the spell circle, letting the mana split on each intersection, covering all the parts of the runes as soon as possible. But that would require a fine control of hundreds of strands of mana if not thousands. While working on the spell, Hera could sense the room, the craters, the forests, the monsters that were on the path of her mana. Everything moved at an extreme speed, passing like a race car from point to point. The advantage of moving something that had no mass was that increasing its velocity was simple, natural, and effective. The Empress watched as her mana, her power, cover the room. Every single snake keeping to their location unimpeded by anyone, or anything. She opened her eyes, looking at the map. For a moment, she could see herself in there. Her own mana, where the source of all this magic was coming from. It was almost as if she was a guide looking down on the room and making a decision about what to change. After almost 5 minutes, the last connection was made, and the spell circle became complete. She raised one hand and activated the spell. Aiming the debuff at the human army, while everyone else in the area of effect would receive a buff if possible. ¡°Pool of Styx,¡± the Empress said when she opened her eyes. Not that she had to do that, it was possible to trigger the spell silently, but doing like this made sure that no problems would occur. Small specks of purple and a dark green started to float around everywhere. They were very sparse and people could only truly notice them when looking into the distance, but there were there. To make sure things were working, Hera opened her status screen. She only got a single point into intelligence as a buff, but that was already better than she expected. Shouts coming from the city confirmed the humans were caught off guard by the debuff and were now on the back foot. Kaela thanked the Empress and walked off, going back to her position with her team. Not long after, an explosion opened a large hole in the side of the walls that surrounded the human city. The Alliance troops flooded in, clashing with the human army. They were making sure not to hurt the civilians, but still doing their best to destroy any defenses they could. Part of the plan was to make this city exposed. As both a punishment and a way to ensure that humans wouldn¡¯t have any bright ideas once the room was closed. The battle continued, and despite the large numbers of the enemy, the Alliance had several advantages. The Pool of Styx was helping a lot, and the soldiers of the humans were struggling with their strength being taken from them. Neria took the chance to test her strength healing with Vulcan. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell if the spell was a success or not. On one hand, it didn¡¯t increase Forge¡¯s Daemonic Influence, and he did say it felt nice when she was using the spell. But on the other, there were no visible effects. The influence didn¡¯t change, there were no buffs, no benefits, nothing. Still, it was too early to give up that idea. Sure, this time it didn¡¯t work, but there still could be something there. Hera suddenly heard some shouting, and Thalion himself rushed to the battlefield accompanied by several of the other commanders of the army. She wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but it didn¡¯t take long for a rumor to reach her ears. Apparently, a team of Soldiers of Strength had appeared and were pushing back against the tide of Alliance members. Once that became clear, the strongest people in the army rushed to deal with the elite squadron. Despite the strength of the humans, they couldn¡¯t compare to the true elite members of the Alliance. And after a couple of minutes, the threat was neutralized. The Empress felt the need to cheer, but her gut was telling her it was too early. Another Soldier of Strength appeared, this time on her own. She was stronger than the others, being at level 58, and the Alliance commanders struggled to defeat her. Even then, it was only possible to win after Aella and Vazor got close to sacrificing themselves to give Thalion an opening to strike and finish the fight. The two wounded members had to be rushed to the healing tent, where Neria and a few other healers did their best to save the duo. Despite the losses, with the last of the Soldiers of Strength dead, the humans lost their momentum and slowly but surely were defeated. The battle, the actual battle, not just the moment when they were sending teams to invade the power plant, was over. Hera ended up not doing much during this fight, with was fine by her. She used a massive spell and sent her court to do a mission, having a break felt fair. ¡°Hey, Hera,¡± Vash approached her, looking a bit worse for wear. Even more scary, the harpy was walking and not flying. ¡°What happened?¡± the Ophidianite rushed to his side. ¡°A guy with the short sword, he managed to stab me a few times. I tried to help the generals during the fight. It didn¡¯t work as I hoped,¡° Vash gave a weak smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You did great. Come with me, I know where Neria is. While we walk, Daskka is going to heal you, is that ok?¡± Vash just nodded as the small white snake turned into mist and started healing him. Not long after, they arrived at the healer¡¯s tent to a grim sight. There were about two dozen people taking up the beds with varying degrees of wounds. But that wasn¡¯t the reason for that. Aella, the harpy in charge of the aerial division, had succumbed to her wounds. She became one more victim of this war. Hera passed Vash to Neria while clutching her fist. Another person she knew had lost their life in this war. Hera could only hope that this was the last time this would happen, but a part of her doubted that. 911 - Battle End Once the squad of Soldiers of Strength fell, the Alliance was able to push through the rest of the human army without that much trouble. The Daemon bound warriors had used a buff when the fight began to empower the human troops. And once they were defeated, Hera¡¯s Pool of Styx was able to press down even harder on the ones affected by it. With the lowered attributes, very few people managed to withstand the Alliance assault. Even so, they made sure to go down swinging. Every four people the humans lost, the Alliance lost one. That was better than the projection, but not by that much. Once enough of them were defeated, and the leaders of the human army were either killed or captured, the rest of the army collapsed and gave up. ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± Hera asked while walking towards a group that was bringing some prisoners towards the back of the camp. The humans looked shell-shocked and walked almost like zombies, but their wounds had already been treated. ¡°Neria is still healing the people, Vash is resting, Flint and Roan should be in the front lines cleaning up the stragglers, and Skyler... I don¡¯t know,¡± Vulcan sighed. ¡°Maybe we should go to the power plant?¡± Livy suggested. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we can, not now, at least. And Kaela seems to be busy,¡± Hera looked around, she was able to recognize the Scoutmaster in the distance, but she was giving orders and helping people move around. With the actual battle over, they had to make sure the human army was properly dismantled. ¡®I¡¯m worried about the others,¡¯ Sun sighed, the entire court was still outside. The battle might be over, but they couldn¡¯t just rush after the titled blades. Hera wasn¡¯t in a good condition, not to the point where she could just risk going behind enemy lines. Instead, they continued to hang back, helping with anything they could. Mostly carrying those injured to the healers and moving rubble around to clear a path to the city. Even if the fight was over, things were not going to slow down. The members of the Alliance understood that, but their rush only made the humans living in the now occupied city more restless. About one hour later, there was a commotion near the power plant. The humans seemed to be gathering around it. Hera tried to listen in on what was happening, but they were too far away. It didn¡¯t take long for the noise to spread, and she understood the reason for the turmoil. The title blades were back, and with them, almost 100 members of the human army in a daze. ¡°What happened?¡± Hera rushed over, unsure of how things ended up like that. She trusted the titled blades, of course, but that was an entire battalion. Without the awakening, the buffs Twiggy and she could give, and their teamwork, she doubted the four of them could handle that many people. ¡°Hera!¡± Crimson gasped and ran towards her, giving the Empress a hug, ¡°Are you ok?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Crim. Now what happened? How did you do this?¡± the Ophidianite looked around again. Nimbus and Lurize were talking with one of the commanders to pass the prisoners. ¡°Well, we did have some trouble getting to the power plant. We found this lost kid and helped him get to one of the bunkers, but that made the humans find us. While trying to outrun them, we reached the power plant. Spent way too long, trying to figure out the layout of the fucking place. Once we got into the vents, it became easy. Holding the control room wasn¡¯t that much of a problem. Well.. sort of. There was this woman who kind of snapped out of the brainwashing. I think. Viper was a bit of a dick to her, but things worked out in the end. ¡° Hera frowned, ¡°What do you mean snapped out of the brainwashing? Is it really that bad already?¡± ¡°I think so. She got a killer headache. I even had to try healing her,¡± Crimson looked back and pointed to a woman who looked haggard amongst the group they brought. Her eyes sunken and her hair without any sheen, ¡°That¡¯s the one. She¡¯s a bit better now, but I really thought she was going to die.¡± They watched as Lurize pointed a healer to the woman, and she was separated from the group. Nimbus and the others started to walk in Hera¡¯s direction right after. Having passed everything along to the Alliance. ¡°So they are using a stronger mind control? I really hope it¡¯s just in places like this, not everywhere,¡± Hera sighed. ¡®I don¡¯t think they will be using that kind of thing everywhere,¡¯ Twiggy replied. ¡°Why is that?¡± Daskka looked up at the tiara. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t make sense. Like, if they used a powerful hypnosis spell, then the humans back on earth would all be going nuts. Imagine a spell that is strong enough to do that to someone level, what? 30? 35?¡¯ Twiggy turned to Crimson, which was a bit odd to do while on top of Hera¡¯s head, forcing the Ophidianite to turn around as well. ¡°28 actually.¡± ¡®Oh, ok. Still, if a spell can affect someone at that level that much, imagine what it can do to a bunch of people at level 1. Not to mention children,¡¯ Twiggy explained. ¡°That¡¯s fair. If that happened, I don¡¯t think the people back on earth would be just accepting everything if that spell or whatever they are using was turning people into zombies,¡± Hera nodded. She glanced back at the people that were just following the alliance soldiers without saying anything and added, ¡°But what about them? It was another mind control thing?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Crimson shook her head, ¡°To be honest, they did that to themselves.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Vulcan frowned. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Hey everyone!¡± Nimbus arrived with Lurize and Viper right behind him. They all stopped the conversation to greet everyone and make sure no one was injured. Once that was over, the Sentinel continued with the explanation. ¡°Ok, so, after we got control over the power station, people tried to come back inside the control room and stop us. At first, they tried breaking the door down, but that didn¡¯t work since I used a few barriers on the door itself. Eventually, they gave up breaking in and tried something different.¡± Lurize stepped up to continue the explanation, ¡°They activated a trap that released a numbing gas. It¡¯s kind of like an air borne anesthetic from what we¡¯ve been told. But instead of just knocking you out completely, it makes you lethargic and very susceptible to orders. They flooded the vents with that in hopes of making us open the door, but we don¡¯t need air.¡± ¡°And instead of realizing something was wrong, they just thought that we had a higher tolerance and continued pumping more and more gas. When the command room looked like a sauna, where we couldn¡¯t even see our hand in front of our faces, the humans that were there started to collapse. Because of all that, we couldn¡¯t watch over the controls and they kept trying to restart the barrier. In the end, we decided to open the doors to vent the place. The entire group of humans was right outside the control room and the gas caught them. Because of the high concentration, they didn¡¯t have a chance against it, and the ones that tried something to fight back were knocked out by us. Then, all we had to do was to wait for the Alliance to show up and tell them to follow us,¡± Viper concluded the story. ¡°I see, well done,¡± Hera smiled at her titled blades, ¡°Do you want to finish the quest or do you still want to be able to move more or less freely?¡± ¡°I think we should complete the quest. It¡¯s better for us to be together now,¡± Nimbus replied. Nimbus and the twins nodded in agreement. They all kneeled down in front of the Empress and took turns kissing the back of her hand, as it was necessary for the skill itself. A few people stopped to watch the scene. A large portion of the army heard about one of the members of the council who was participating in the battle. It didn¡¯t take long for the rumor mill to expand that. Now, a lot of people thought the Ophidianite Empress was supposed to be the commander of the entire operation, but she refused the job to join the rescue team. People even heard about how she sent her most trusted adviser to take over the power plant, and about a spell that could change the tide of battle. Almost no one knew for sure what spell that was, some mentioned the Elemental Meteor, while others said it was an army wide buff that only someone with a legacy made for a ruler could use. Seeing that scene only increased the rumors. People watched as the titled blades brought an entire battalion of humans in a daze and then went to greet the Ophidianite by kissing her hand. Any chance Hera had of going unnoticed was completely gone. The next couple of hours were just as busy, if not more than anything else. The Alliance army had to quickly wrangle all the human armies and take it to one of the doorways that led out of the room. At the same time, they separated their own army into two groups. Those who would stay locked in this room, and those who would go back. During that time, the Harmony Guardians gathered. Everyone was ok, even if Roan and Flint had some minor injuries. The dwarf made sure to be only helping with the demolition, and during the fight, he retreated to the second line of defense. While the beastmen was able to trigger his bestial armor and go wild against the humans. The increased defense and power that the skill gave him was more than enough to protect him during the clash. It also helped that he wasn¡¯t close to where the Soldiers of Strength appeared. He had no illusion of being able to fight them off and get out without injuries. Eventually, they were called to a small guardhouse by the walls that was being used as a temporary command tent. Inside, they found Kaela and Thalion. ¡°Hello, Harmony Guardians. I want to thank you for all the help you¡¯ve given us today,¡± the elven commander wasn¡¯t wearing armor or a shirt. He only had a jacket and pants. The reason for that was the large wound on his shoulder. Most of his upper torso was covered in blood-soaked bandages, and there was a bandage on his left eyebrow and cheek. It was clear that he almost lost the entire eye. ¡°What happened?¡± Vash asked, getting a slap on the back of the head from Skyler right away. ¡°Don¡¯t ask that!¡± Thalion chuckled, ¡°That¡¯s fine. This was the work of the Soldiers of Strength. We¡¯ve managed to defeat them, but it wasn¡¯t without cost,¡± he looked down and mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m not even sure if it was worth it.¡± Hera¡¯s eyes went wide, she glanced back, worried that someone heard them but noticed a familiar magic surrounding the group. Kaela had placed her own version of a soundproofing spell around them and no one outside would be able to listen to their conversation. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Roan asked. Thalion opened his mouth, but he couldn¡¯t say the words. Instead, Kaela stepped in, ¡°We lost a number of powerful individuals. Aella, Vazor, Marisha, Goshkra, and that¡¯s just to name a few. In total, of the 78 people above level 50 that came here, only 53 are alive. The problem is¡­ the humans only had 12 above 50, and none of them were high enough level to be able to handle all of us easily. If it wasn¡¯t for the Soldiers of Strength, we wouldn¡¯t have lost as many.¡± ¡°That brings me to you, Hera. You were the only person who was able to fight with not one, but two of them on your own and survive. Actually, that would be three, if we consider the prototype,¡± Thalion looked in the eyes of the Empress. ¡°Ok. I know that look. No, I¡¯m not that strong. The only reason I could do all that is because of a skill that makes one of my titled blades get double their attributes. And we figured out that Vulcan is a counter to their power. His Daemon side can interrupt the connection and weaken the Soldiers of Strength for a few moments.¡± ¡°Why didn''t you tell us that?¡± Kaela frowned. ¡°Because we figured it out during the fight and there is nothing that can be done about it. Vulcan needs to be in a specific condition where he fights against anyone, be it friend or foe. And he needs to use a skill that lasts only a few moments. What¡¯s the point of sharing something like that if there is no way to use it? Besides from what I heard, the ones that attacked the camp were not as high a level as the ones here," Hera continued. At least one of The Soldiers of Strength that showed up here was level 60, while the ones she faced were just bit above 50. ¡°I see,¡± Kaela looked down, deep in thought. ¡°Still, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you did something that no one was able to accomplish. I want to thank you for it nonetheless,¡± Thalion continued, ¡°In addition, your team will not be staying here in the room, correct?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Neria nodded. ¡°Then go to the doorway we took to get here. You are free to cross and wait in the next room for the rest of the army. We will be finishing up what we need to do here and leaving before the human reinforcement arrive. But don¡¯t go away. I believe I know what your next mission will be,¡± Thalion finished. The group thanked him and left the tent with mixed feelings. Like the commander had said, it was hard to call this a win. Even if they were successful in their tasks, the price they had to pay was very high. Still, this was over. The families were safe and now they could go to the other room and rest after this extremely long day. 912 - What next? Once the Harmony Guardians left the Crater of the Sky, they were back at the camp where the army rested the previous night. A few people already roamed the tents, most of them were part of the supply lines that didn¡¯t participate in the actual battle. Others were those who were injured or under the effect of powerful debuffs that took them out of commission for long enough to not be worth being on the battlefield. Hera and her friends started walking towards their tent, the luxury campsite they bought just a few days ago. While moving, a few people recognized them, some thanked Neria for her healing, or Vash and Skyler for the help defending against spells, even Roan and Flint got a few thank yous here and there from people who they helped either when they were in the camps or during that final assault. But most of the attention was directed at Hera. She was the Ophidianite Empress. The only person who was able to face not just one, but two Soldiers of Strength alone and survive. Sure, some people knew that she didn¡¯t fight completely on her own, but very few understood the intricacies of her legacy. To most, Livy, Nimbus, Twiggy, Sun, Robin, Shadow, and all the others were all mana constructs. Summons that had to be controlled by a single summoner. Hera. The fact that her court, in the eyes of the army, her summons were able to invade the city, sabotage the power plant and still bring back an entire battalion of captives on their own only increased the rumors. Just in the small walk from the doorway to their tent, Hera heard variations of that story. From saying she had killed an entire squad of Soldiers of Strength, to her summons invaded the city and destroyed an entire garrison before deactivating the power plant and holding it against half the human army. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. People are just making the story bigger than it actually is because not many people who were there are here. Once they come and they can share the truth, the rumors will die down,¡± Skyler tried to cheer Hera up as they arrived in their tent. It was a very long day, but the group didn¡¯t feel like sleeping. Not yet, at least. For one, everyone wanted to take a shower, which they could do in the tent as it was part of the deluxe version they got. ¡°I really hope you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t want to be stuck in something like that again,¡± the Ophidianite sighed, slumping down in one of the hammocks while still wearing her armor. ¡°Like what?¡± Roan asked while going towards his bag and pulling a bottle of hard liquor, ¡°Who want¡¯s a drink?¡± all Harmony Guardians raised their hands as the beastmen started to pour in some glasses and pass them around. ¡°Do you all remember when the Wendigos first appeared? After the wall being broken, I mean,¡± Hera thanked Roan for the glass and took a sip while getting a nod in response from the others, ¡°Well. Yeah, They did a whole interview with me because I was the first person to find one in a lower layer of the MAZE. It was all propaganda. Just a way to make people feel more comfortable. I even got a silver card back then.¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t want to be a tool for propaganda again?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Exactly. Even if I¡¯m already one. More or less,¡± the Empress let out a groan as she took another swig of the drink. ¡°Oh. No, that¡¯s a sipping whiskey,¡± Roan warned, but it was too late. Hera was already coughing because of the burn. ¡°How is that possible? My Endurance is at 149 for crying out loud!¡± ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I got the good stuff. Skyler and Vash got theirs with a lot of water to dilute a bit,¡± Roan explained. ¡°Thanks for looking out for us,¡± Vash raised his glass half teasing Hera. ¡°No worries,¡± the beastmen replied with a smile. Neria shook her head and gave Hera a different glass. One with a healing water to solve that burn. It wouldn¡¯t do anything with the alcohol in her stomach, but at least numb a bit of the feeling in the back of her throat. ¡°Thanks,¡± the Empress smiled as she finished the glass of water. ¡°But why are you so upset about that? I mean, being the poster child for something is not that bad. Even then. You didn¡¯t get famous enough. Not to be rude, but I had no idea who you were before I met you,¡± Skyler continued. ¡°I just knew you as the girl the humans were saying was a terrorist,¡± Flint added. ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of being famous. It was never my intention. I just want to be free to do what I want,¡± Hera shrugged. ¡°And then you get dragged into this. Yeah, it kind of sucks,¡± Vash walked to the side, ¡°Can I take a shower first? My feathers are a mess.¡± ¡°No,¡± Hera¡¯s reply made the harpy stop his movement, ¡°Sorry. You can take a shower. I mean, no. I wasn¡¯t dragged here. I want to be here. This sucks, I¡¯m not saying otherwise. If there wasn¡¯t a war, things would be better. But if there is one going on, I want to do my part. Even if I wasn¡¯t thrilled about the idea of a battle like this.¡± ¡°Oh, ok. I understand. Sort of. But can I go?¡± Vash pointed at the bathroom. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yeah, sure. I¡¯ll take the last turn. I still have to figure out what to do with my scales and I don¡¯t think it will be quick,¡± Hera warned everyone. ¡°If you clog the drain, you are the one cleaning that up,¡± Flint said. ¡°Yes sir,¡± Hera shrugged. ¡°But do you really not want to be famous?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Not really. Having people watching everything I do never sounded fun. Besides, interviews are annoying as hell. Becca was great, but I still don''t want to go through that again. Why?¡± Hera turned to the elf. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Most people dream about being famous. I¡¯m just surprised you don¡¯t want that.¡± ¡°My dream was just to explore the MAZE. I¡¯ve done a bit of that, but honestly. Every time I start to look for something interesting, shit hits the fan. First was the Kobold Battlefield, then the whole mess with the Centaur attack, later I got stuck near Zaxalam. Maybe next time I try to just explore I can go around without finding trouble,¡± Hera was looking down, but hearing her own words made her face darken. Every time something weird happened, it was worse than what happened previously. First being stuck in a city, then being attacked, stuck again, and now even a war. Could something even worse be waiting around the corner? ¡°I don¡¯t think we are lucky enough for that,¡± Vulcan said. Crimson gasped, ¡°Dude. Read the room.¡± ¡°What? Am I wrong?¡± Vulcan huffed. ¡°No, but you didn¡¯t have to say it,¡± Crimson shook her head. Hera just stared at the two, before rolling her eyes, ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence.¡± They continued talking, and eventually, Helena arrived. She was doing fine and so was her family. Unfortunately, their home had been ransacked during the human attack, but they only lost some of the larger things, such as enchanted gear or some jewels that were more valuable. Their belongings, the things that were irreplaceable, were still there. Helena herself was exhausted. Her endurance wasn¡¯t that high and the massive undertaking that was this operation was too much for her. She was barely able to take a shower before collapsing into the bed. Not long after everyone else followed. Part of them wanted to sleep for a week, but they wouldn¡¯t have that chance. Just a few hours later, there was a commotion in the camp as some of the human prisoners crossed through the doorway. A few tried to make a run for it, but they were quickly captured. Unfortunately, due to the intensity of the previous day, all the Harmony Guardians were on the edge, and that small event was enough to wake them up completely. Once they started moving around the tent, someone walked over, letting them know that Thalion was calling them in his personal tent. Hearing that, the group moved right away. ¡°Harmony Guardians. Thank you for coming on such a short notice,¡± Thalion was still covered in bandages, but these had been cleaned and his face looked both better and worse at the same time. For one, there was more color on his cheeks, but his eyes had sunken even more. ¡°Are you ok?¡± Hera asked. ¡°The wound is healing. Or at least it stopped bleeding. I¡¯m just very tired. Despite knowing that a good night¡¯s rest is important before an operation, there was just so much to do that I didn¡¯t have a chance to get one,¡± the elf smiled for the first time, breaking the stoic face of the commander of the army. ¡°You still need to sleep. Even if you are high level, you are still mortal,¡± Neria said with a frown, her healer side showing. ¡°And I very much intend to do that. Some sleep today, and once I¡¯m back home, I intend to enter such a deep slumber that people will believe I have died,¡± Thalion laughed at his own joke, ¡°But that¡¯s not what I called you here for. First, I would like to ask for your help as we transfer the prisoners to a secure location. A large part of the army will be moving with us, but more people are never a bad thing in these situations.¡± ¡°Sure. I mean, we need to get back to a city, anyway. Is it far?¡± Skyler nodded. ¡°Not really. It will take about 4 days to get there, and we leave in 2 days since we need a proper boat to cross the ocean here.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s easy enough,¡± Vash looked at the other Harmony Guardians, all nodding in agreement. ¡°Very well. Now, one of the reasons I¡¯m asking you specifically is because of what comes next. I believe we will be going to the same place after this,¡± Thalion paused, but realized they didn¡¯t understand what he meant, ¡°Have you not received the invite?¡± ¡°What invite?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Did you have someone unlocking your tablets? So they can access the internet once more?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Right, we had to do that. Sorry, we completely forgot,¡± Hera admitted. ¡°Fair enough. Could I borrow one of your tablets?¡± Roan passed him to the commander who quickly deactivated the restriction to access the internet and opened a message that was sent by the Alliance HQ, ¡°Here. And don¡¯t forget to remove the restriction from the others.¡± The group gathered to read the message. It was extensive and had the Alliance symbol in the background. The message was unnecessarily long and an excessive use of complex words, which didn¡¯t help the tired Harmony Guardians. Still, they were able to get the gist of things. In two weeks¡¯ time, there would be an award ceremony for those who were vital to the success of this operation. And amongst those who were going to be celebrated would be the Harmony Guardians. They were going to travel to the triton capital where the entire council would gather for the ceremony. Along with other members of the army. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± Hera groaned. ¡°I assume you don¡¯t enjoy the spotlight?¡± Thalion smiled. ¡°No, I really don¡¯t. Specially since this was clearly already planned,¡± Hera huffed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Vash turned to the Empress. ¡°Look at the time the message came. It wasn¡¯t even half an hour after the battle was over. The council likely already had all this prepared and were just waiting to hear we won to send this out.¡± ¡°She is not wrong. But the fact is, we needed a win. The war is not going as well as we hoped, and this will be good for the morale of the troops,¡± Thalion turned to Hera, ¡°Having someone take the role of an unsung hero who was able to save children from the Soldiers of Strength, will play very well with the public, and our troops.¡± ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Hera groaned again. She kept trying to think how to get away from this, but in the end, she didn¡¯t have a choice. She was part of the council and if she wanted the future Ophidianites to have a say in what happens in the MAZE, she would have to accept being used as a propaganda tool again. So much for doing what she wanted. 913 - Talking prisoners Just as Thalion said, most of the army was going along to take the prisoners to their prison. Unlike what the humans were doing, the Alliance had a proper facility to house them. It was leagues beyond the one prison that Hera discovered. From what Kaela told them, every human would have individual rooms that were on the same level as newly established outposts. It wouldn¡¯t be full of luxury, but it was more than many people back on Earth had. In addition, the entire facility was constructed inside a mana dead zone. Usually, that would be a problem only for the non humans who worked there, but this particular room was different. The mana around the area wasn¡¯t gone, instead it became extremely dense and viscous to the point where it was impossible to cast any spells in the area. People couldn¡¯t even use the ambient mana to recover their own. For any member of the alliance, that would be equal to walking through a sauna, or a swamp filled with fog, uncomfortable, yes, but manageable. For humans, it would be like trying to walk through mud. The actual building had some protections in place to make life more pleasant inside, but to power those effects, the walls themselves would be draining the mana of any human inside. Of course, there were a few generators that could keep the entire facility running for a while, but that was supposed to be an emergency thing. That being said, Hera herself barely had any interaction with the prisoners. They were being held by members of the army who had some experience with that kind of thing. All the Harmony Guardians, and Helena, just spent the next two days resting and licking their wounds. The Empress had a couple of broken ribs, and even with Neria¡¯s healing, and the help of other healers who specialized in fractured bones, it would still take a few days for her to be completely recovered. During that time, she did her best to help Viper with his intention of focusing on spells. Crimson hardly used mana, and the two of them could share since they were, according to the system, a single entity. Using her own experience with magic as a base, the Empress showed how to make a light spell and asked the Spymaster to tweak it in order to change its behavior. Viper had his first class just after lunch, and before dinner, he was already able to make the light move, change its color, intensity, size, and focus, he managed to extend the shape of the light as if it was a neon sign. He could only make two-letter words for now, but that was already well beyond what Hera ever tried to do. Then again, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to replicate the effect. Especially since, because of their connection, both the Empress and the blades could send spells directly into each other¡¯s mind. But Viper wanted to learn how to do things by himself. On the last day of rest, Helena offered to teach him about spells, since that was her specialty. In the end, Skyler, Vash, Hera, Vulcan, Lurize, Neria, and even Flint joined the class. Still, Viper was the focus of the lesson, and the others only chimed in with one question or another about a more advanced topic. By the end of the day, the Spymaster had learned another three spells. The basics for buffs with Mana Reinforcement, Magic Armor, which was a more basic version of the Elemental Armor that Hera used. And a third one that went away from what the Empress knew called Shadow Lash. It was the basic version of one of Helena¡¯s favorite spells. Basically, it controlled the shadows to attack as if they were a whip or a tail. He was happy with the results and already had some homework to add an element to all those spells. The buffs would be easy, but the Shadow Lash was a different thing entirely. Hera also decided to try the same thing since she learned the spell, but they chose not to work together. At least for now. A bit before dinner on the second day, the boat that would take everyone finally arrived. Unlike the barge that the Harmony Guardians took to get here, which was more or less a civilian vessel, this ship was military. It had a reinforced hull with magic turrets all across the sides, as well as cannons and a large door on the side that could be open for smaller crafts to perform various jobs. The army made sure to prepare the holding cells, which ended up being the cargo hold of the ship. Since they would spend two days in that vessel, people had to prepare places for everyone to sleep, which took a while. It was late at night when they finally left. Just as they entered the ship, Kaela pulled the Harmony Guardians to the side. ¡°So, I know we said you wouldn¡¯t have to do much, but I have a job for you,¡± the scoutmaster tried to seem casual, but she was clearly upset about something. ¡°Is everything ok?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ Sort of. Look, there is a group that is causing some trouble. Well, one single person, actually.¡± ¡°And you want us to deal with that person?¡± Skyler tilted her head. ¡°I do. Mostly because of you,¡± Kaela pointed at Hera. ¡°What did I do?¡± the Ophidianite gasped. ¡°You, nothing, but apparently your court did a number on her while taking over the power plant. I¡¯m pointing at you because I imagine that when they are not outside they are inside you,¡± Kaela explained. ¡°You are not wrong, but what happened?¡± Hera stopped herself from calling her court out. They were in the middle of a corridor leading to the barracks and there wasn¡¯t much space even for her tail, much less six more people. ¡°Basically, something they did made her snap out of any mind control that was affecting her. And I don¡¯t mean just for the moment. If we try to use any spell, or skill related to mind control or hypnosis, there is something very strong pushing back. We asked her about that, but she¡¯s being sketchy. She says she doesn¡¯t know what happens, but it¡¯s very obvious she is lying.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Ok¡­ but why us?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Hera¡¯s court knows her. And they were part of the reason why she snapped out of things. So, use that. Try to figure out how she got immune to that mind control. Something tells me it¡¯s a title,¡± Kaela continued. ¡°A title?!¡± Skyler and Roan gasped. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing I can think of that would make someone act like that. Or a legacy, but getting a legacy like that feels very weird. Anyway, she is in the brig. Not because she is dangerous or anything, but she keeps starting fights with the humans and we had to split her from the others. Also, she¡¯s not going to the prison. We will be taking her to the agency so we can figure out how to make others immune to that mind control. She brought her sister and the boyfriend along. They are all in there.¡± ¡°She convinced her boyfriend to come along?¡± Hera asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s the sister¡¯s boyfriend. I didn¡¯t ask, the situation seems messy,¡± Kaela shrugged and looked at her tablet, ¡°I have to deal with some stuff. See you all later.¡± ¡°Wait, what are we supposed to do with her?¡± Vash asked as the Scoutmaster walked away. ¡°Just take care of her. Keep them out of trouble and try to figure out why she is immune to mind control,¡± Kaela yelled as she turned the corner. ¡°Well¡­ At least we have something to do for the next couple of days,¡± Roan started walking but stopped after just a few steps, ¡°Does anyone know how to get to the brig?¡± It took them almost half an hour to find the cells. Hera was the first to walk inside, along with Viper, Crimson, Lurize, and Nimbus. As soon as they approached her, one of the two women in the cell stood up. It was the one that the titled blades met in the power plant. ¡°You!¡± Nimbus glanced around, ¡°Which one of us?¡± ¡°Any of you,¡± she turned to the Ophidianite, ¡°Except you. I don¡¯t know you.¡± ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Hera. Nice to meet you,¡± the Empress smiled. ¡°Nice to meet you, too. I¡¯m Ashley. Why are you all here?¡± ¡°We came to talk to you, actually,¡± Crimson stepped forward, closer to the bars, ¡°Do you know why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m not believing in everything the guild tells me anymore.¡± Viper scoffed, ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start from the start,¡± Hera stepped forward. Viper¡¯s reaction caught her off guard, and she was worried the Spymaster would do something to push the woman away. ¡°Who are you? Like Hera. Ok but why are you here?¡± ¡°She¡¯s our Empress,¡± Nimbus said. ¡°An Empress!¡± the other woman in the cell perked up, ¡°So you are like. Nobility.¡± ¡°Of the highest kind. We are part of her court,¡± Viper announced proudly. ¡®I appreciate it, but tone it down, ok?¡¯ Hera told the Spymaster without looking away from the humans. ¡°That¡¯s so cool! You do have a regal presence,¡± the second woman nodded in agreement. ¡°Thank you. But now, let¡¯s talk about what is happening ok? Ashley, let me ask you this. Were you under some kind of mind control?¡± ¡°Of course not! I told the other people who came here. I was not being mind controlled. I would know if I was,¡± the human huffed. ¡°And your sister?¡± Hera turned to the other woman. ¡°Oh. Hi. I¡¯m Kimmy. And no, I was never mind controlled. Unless you did something like that. I wouldn¡¯t put that past your kind. Even if you are royalty.¡± That comment made everyone frown, including those who were outside listening in. Hera, however, was able to control her expression. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s try something different. Do you remember before the war started? Did you agree with what the guild was saying about us? The royal ¡®us¡¯, if you will,¡± Hera winked at the second woman. She hoped that being friendly would make it easier for the human to open up. ¡°Before¡­. Like, a little. The terrorists were targeting humans, and that was scary. Then you all took advantage of the battle against the centaurs to get rid of the strongest humans. Of course, we would be scared and think you are a threat,¡± Ashley replied. Hera nodded at hearing that. She wanted to argue that they were not the ones responsible for what happened with those who fought against the centaurs, but that wasn¡¯t the moment for it, ¡°Ok. Is that all? Did they say anything else? Something more specific?¡± ¡°That you are just monsters created by the MAZE for us. The MAZE is just a giant dungeon. One that we can take advantage of, and whatever happens with you doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t get why that is so hard to understand,¡± Kimmy scoffed. All the friendliness she showed before vanished. ¡°No, but¡­ That¡¯s not¡­ It doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Ashley frowned. ¡°What are you talking about? Of course it does. Think about it, they can¡¯t leave the MAZE. We can, ergo they are not real people,¡± Kimmy pressed. ¡°But they don¡¯t drop things, Kimmy! If you kill one of them, the body is still there. Just like the monsters we see outside dungeons,¡± Ashley gasped. ¡°So what? Dungeons are weird, a large one like this should be different,¡± Kimmy shrugged. ¡°No. Kimmy, think about it. Can a monster in a dungeon have children?¡± Ashely asked. Kimmy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, ¡°Of course they can. A bunch of dungeons have baby monsters.¡± ¡°I mean, get pregnant and have the babies. Can any monster, or even a humanoid monster inside a dungeon, do that? You were studying for that test to teach in the guild. So tell me, what are the differences between a dungeon and a room?¡± ¡°In dungeons monsters vanish and leave behind drops. There is a dungeon quest, the environment and creatures have more freedom to mess with the laws of nature. Monsters inside a dungeon cannot reproduce, nor grow unless it¡¯s because of a dungeon effect.¡± ¡°Exactly, even if you spend years inside a dungeon, you can¡¯t see a monster grow from a baby to an adult. But¡­ we saw that. We saw elves, dwarves, triton growing. How are they not people?¡± Ashley pressed. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t,¡± Kimmy suddenly grabbed her head and started to scream. Neria rushed over and started healing. Her spells were much more effective than the one Crimson tried to use in the power plant. ¡°What is happening? Kimmy! If you hurt her I¡¯m killing you!¡± the man on the other cell, who was sleeping till now, woke up with all the screaming. But Hera just ignored it. ¡®This is what happened in the power plant. Once she started to doubt what the guild told her, that pain came,¡¯ Viper told Hera. ¡®It¡¯s still early to say anything, but this might be a step in the right direction. Maybe if you doubt the guild, they lose control. A spell that hits that many people has to have its issues,¡¯ Lurize nodded. ¡®Yeah. That is a possibility. But let¡¯s wait and see, for now. It¡¯s up to Neria,¡¯ Hera replied, her eyes still focused on Kimmy. It felt like it was too easy, but then again, not everything had to be complicated. Besides, as simple as a solution that seemed to be, making someone doubt their beliefs was extremely difficult. Either way, maybe this led to some good. And for the next couple of days, they could try to discover more about this mind control. 914 - Mind Control ¡°How is she?¡± Thalion asked. Neria, who had just left the brig, was taken aback by the presence of the commander, ¡°Sir! She¡¯s¡­ Ok, I think. If we have healers specialized in mental afflictions, it could be good for them to take a look.¡± Kaela rubbed her eyes, ¡°Ok¡­ I¡¯m not trying to accuse anyone, but what the fuck just happened? I asked you all to talk to human and see what you could find out and got a dozen of reports of pained screaming coming from here. We don¡¯t torture people, you know that, right?¡± ¡°Of course we know that!¡± Skyler gasped. ¡°Do you? Because someone recorded what they heard and it sure as fuck looks like someone is begging for mercy,¡± Kaela stared the elf down. ¡°Maybe you should¡¯ve used the soundproof bubble, Hera,¡± Flint suggested. ¡°Oh yeah, because making sure no one heard us here would make us look innocent. Besides, I was worried about Kimmy, the last thing in my mind was hiding the yelling,¡± the Empress huffed. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone expected that kind of reaction,¡± Helena put a hand on Hera¡¯s shoulder, trying to calm her friend. ¡°Everyone calm down,¡± Thalion sighed, ¡°I also received that report. But I don¡¯t believe any of you would engage in something like that. Especially considering everything you¡¯ve seen.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Vash pointed to a room on the other side of the corridor, ¡°Can we talk in there? I think it¡¯s better if they don¡¯t hear us.¡± Thalion nodded along with Kaela as the two walked towards that room. There was supposed to be a guard stationed in there, but due to the high number of prisoners, they were all in the cargo hold, making sure the humans were not causing any trouble. ¡°Crimson, Viper, stay here. Let me know if anything happens and make sure Ashley stops talking. At least until we come back. I¡¯ll keep Sun and Robin out so you can move around more freely,¡± Hera told the Spymaster just as she summoned the court members. ¡°Will do. If anything, I¡¯ll just have Viper disagree with her about something. That should give you a couple of hours,¡± Crimson replied, getting an eye roll from her brother. Hera ended up as the last to arrive in the room to the side. There was only a single chair, but no one took it, it was already too crowded as it was. To make sure their conversation wasn¡¯t heard, the Ophidianite also triggered a soundproof bubble around them. ¡°Ok. We are here. Now explain what is going on,¡± Kaela commanded. ¡°First the screaming,¡± Neria spoke up, ¡°We were not torturing anyone, because of course we weren¡¯t. But, it¡¯s related to the mind control. The spell, or effect, or whatever the fuck is it, is doing that. Once the person starts to push back against what its trying to tell them to believe, they get a sharp pain in their head. Or at least, that¡¯s what we think is happening.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± Thalion asked. ¡°We don¡¯t, but it¡¯s the only thing that makes sense. The woman that broke the mind control earlier. Ashley, she is a very logical person. And I mean that she is the kind of person who breaks everything down to logic. So if you say ¡®the sky is blue,¡¯ she is the type to look for things that are blue and compare to see if that statement was true or not,¡± Neria continued. ¡°Why is that relevant?¡± Kaela had her arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. Hera also noticed the bags under her eyes. Maybe someone woke her up to deal with this. ¡°Because that¡¯s how we might have figured this out. When Hera¡¯s court was taking over the power plant, they argued with Ashely. And after that, she got a headache. It was weaker than the one Kimmy is having, from what she told us. But that¡¯s probably because Ashley has a couple of skills that protect her from mental attacks,¡± Neria continued. ¡°Her sister, Kimmy, was the one yelling. She is also a logic person, but not as much as Ashley. When I started asking her about things, Ashley pressed a few topics and bam. She got the same headache,¡± Hera added. ¡°So that only happened when Ashley pressed?¡± Thalion asked. ¡°Correct,¡± Neria nodded. ¡°Then why the reports say the scream keeps stopping and starting?¡± Kaela frowned. ¡°That¡­ is what we are trying to understand,¡± Hera sighed. Skyler pulled her tablet, ¡°I made notes about everything that happened there. I can send them to you since they are pretty extensive, but here is the order of events. First, Hera asked if Ashley was mind controlled. The human denied that. Then Hera asked about what the guild was telling them about us. During that conversation, Ashley started to poke holes in some of the statements made by the guild. Kimmy joined the conversation to defend the guild, but as Ashley pressed, the headache started. Neria stepped in to heal her and she calmed down. But she was still unconscious for a few minutes. After waking up, Kimmy was disoriented and unable to remember the details of the conversation they just had. Ashley asked the same questions again, and the headache restarted. Neria healed her once more, a couple minutes went by, and Kimmy woke up. Every time she suffers from the headache, they become stronger, she takes longer to wake up, but she is also able to remember more about the conversation.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Are the headaches truly dangerous or just painful?¡± Kaela asked. ¡°They are more painful than dangerous, but that doesn¡¯t mean they are harmless. Pain can be traumatic, and honestly, I wouldn¡¯t put it past the guild to be using that as a failsafe,¡± Neria sighed. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Thalion frowned. Neria glanced at the Harmony Guardians, unsure how to explain everything. But Helena raised her hand, ¡°May I?¡± ¡°Please, this is super confusing,¡± Vash sighed. ¡°Right. For starters, here is what we know about this mind control. First, we don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a spell, a skill, an item, or what. But I¡¯ll refer to it as a spell just to make it easier. We know that this spell preys on the fears that already exist. The doubts that are already there. It¡¯s more of a mind push than a mind control. Second, we know the people affected by it don¡¯t know they are under its effects. And the ones that are able to resist have to hide that or be a target of harassment.¡± ¡°Everything I¡¯m saying going forward is based on assumptions. We don¡¯t have true knowledge of anything, but for the purposes of this conversation, I¡¯m going to speak as if those assumptions are correct,¡± Helena paused to take a deep breath, ¡°We think the spell is working the same way a cult would operate. It figures out what scares you and shows you a world without that fear. But, just like a cult, there are things that can happen that will make you doubt if this is the right path. In a cult, when that happens, other cult members are supposed to punish you or convince you to forget those doubts. The spell can¡¯t compel others to calm you down. If it did, that would go beyond the simple ¡®mind push.¡¯ It¡¯s beyond the scope of the spell in question. However, it can punish. Those are the headaches.¡± Kaela blinked slowly, ¡°Am I the only one confused about all of this?¡± Roan shrugged, ¡°I know what the words mean, but that doesn¡¯t mean I get what they are saying.¡± Thalion rubbed his eyes, ¡°So, the spell targets the fears, and makes it easier for you to accept someone else¡¯s opinion. But, when you start to doubt that, you get a headache in order to what? Stop you from questioning? How does that work? Wouldn¡¯t the pain make it more clear that the line of thought is something important?¡± Helena nodded, ¡°This is where the analogy breaks a bit. Yes, in a cult, those doubts would be heightened. But imagine that you think about something that seems harmless and all of the sudden you get a massive headache. And unlike what happened here, that was a onetime thing. Do you think you would remember what you were thinking about, or the worry about the headache would be enough to make you forget.¡± Kaela snapped her fingers, ¡°So in this case, the punishment is a distraction?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Then how the spell is broken? You mentioned the woman is getting headaches, but she is still under its influence,¡± Thalion asked. Helena shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s the part we don¡¯t know. Ashley was able to snap out after one headache, that we know of, at least. Kimmy had several but is still trapped. Maybe it¡¯s about how susceptible you are? Or the skills they have.¡± Kaela looked down, ¡°Ok. I¡¯m saying something bad. What if we don¡¯t heal her? Let her ride it out.¡± ¡°We tried that. At Ashley¡¯s request,¡± Neria sighed, ¡°I kept an eye on Kimmy, but it came to a point where the pain was too much. If we let her continue, there was a decent chance of this developing into a serious trauma. Then again, it¡¯s not like this whole thing is a better option.¡± ¡°Then, what next? What can we do to help her break out of the mind control?¡± Thalion asked. ¡°Honestly, we don¡¯t know. Ashely keeps insisting that Kimmy needs to realize how the guild is wrong, but she freaks out when her sister gets a headache,¡± Vash sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll call a couple of healers. Some of them can numb pain, maybe if we are able to just stop the pain itself, it will work,¡± Thalion suggested. ¡°Right. I¡¯m going to see if there are-¡° Kaela started talking, but the commander quickly interrupted her. ¡°You are going to bed. I know beastmen are resilient, but you haven¡¯t slept since the battle. Go rest. That¡¯s an order.¡± The Scoutmaster looked at Thalion with a confused expression before saluting him and walking away. Just as she crossed the door, Hera could swear she saw a smile on Kaela¡¯s face. They all finished talking with Thalion and soon, they were back at the brig. Thankfully, Viper and Crimson were able to calm Ashley down. Instead of frantically pacing beside her sister, she was just sitting by the bed, staring into Kimmy¡¯s face. ¡°Are we¡­ really being mind controlled?¡± the woman asked. ¡°Of course we are not. Stop talking crazy!¡± the man on the other cell yelled. ¡°Shut up Greg! I¡¯m not talking to you,¡± Ashley turned back to Hera, ¡°Are we?¡± ¡°From what we can tell, you, specifically, are not. Your sister and Greg is a different story.¡± ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s the exact kind of thing that you would expect from an opposing army. Saying that my side is in the wrong and we are being controlled,¡± Ashley looked away. ¡°That¡¯s true. And I can say that we wouldn¡¯t do that and that we are nice, but you have no reason to trust me. But let me ask you this. Is your mind clearer now than it was before? Can you notice any signs of things you did that don¡¯t seem like you?¡± Hera asked. The weeks of therapy with Vulcan gave her some insight into this kind of conversation. ¡°I¡­ Maybe,¡± Ashley shook her head, ¡°No. There are things I did that I would never do. I¡­ I think I called a kid a monster¡­ Fuck me.¡± ¡°For what is worth, it wasn¡¯t entirely your fault, at least I don¡¯t think so,¡± Hera said. ¡°What about my sister? Can you help her?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. We still don¡¯t know how you snapped out of it. We have theories, but no concrete evidence,¡± Hera continued. Ashley looked at Kimmy then stood up, walking towards the bars, ¡°People were asking how I stopped that mind control. I also don¡¯t know, but if it¡¯s going to help my sister, just tell me what you want to know. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± Hera raised a single eyebrow. ¡°Everything. Everything I saw in the city, what the guild told me. Fuck, if it¡¯s going to help, I¡¯ll even tell you about the last time I wet the bed.¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to get that personal, but,¡± she glanced at Skyler, who was holding her tablet with a list of things they could try to figure out, ¡°We do have some questions in mind.¡± 915 - The world keeps turning During the journey to the Alliance prison, the Harmony Guardians continued to try helping Kimmy and Greg break free of the mind control. Some other specialized healers, mages, and researchers even joined in. Everyone did their best, but so far, Ashley was the only one who was truly free from the hypnotic effect. There were two main differences between the sisters. First, Ashley was more cynical. Which made her doubt most things that were told to her, no matter the source. Secondly, she also had a set of three skills that fought against mental influence and illusions. They were [Mental Fortitude], which was a common skill that simply made it harder for various effects and situations to hinder one¡¯s ability to think. [Emotional Anchor] made it harder for any skill or effect to influence her emotions. Ashley got that skill because of a second, minor benefit it brought. People that had it could deal with stressful situations better. They wouldn¡¯t be influenced by the mood of other people as easily. That wasn¡¯t a quantifiable effect, but something that was agreed upon amongst those who had the skill. Lastly, was a highly controversial skill, especially amongst psychologist and therapists called [Echoes of Freedom]. In essence, the goal of that skill was to make it harder for bind effects to take place, whatever the form they took. But people who went through traumatic events could also get the skill, so it pushed back against the mental entanglements formed around those memories. Some doctors argued that relying on the skill was the same as treating the symptoms of a disease without treating the disease itself. While others considered trauma as a chronic disease. And exactly because of that, any treatment that could lessen the symptoms with no side effects was a good thing. Ashley only got that skill thanks to a doctor that helped her after a traumatic car accident back on Earth. That was even part of the reason why she decided to come live inside the MAZE. Vehicles with motors were a rare sight. Mostly due to the hassle that was to make one and take it across several rooms. Not to mention the general lack of roads fit for something like that. Kimmy, Ashley¡¯s sister, only had one of those skills, [Emotional Anchor], which both acquired after the accident to better deal with their families. [Mental Fortitude] was easy to learn, and with the right help, so was [Echoes of Freedom], but that created a new problem for the Alliance. Were they willing to spend resources making their potential enemies stronger in hopes of them snapping out of the mind control? Even if that worked, and the effect was no longer there, there was no guarantee that Kimmy wouldn¡¯t still agree with the guild and be an enemy to the Alliance. It was a messy situation, and in the end, above the pay grade of everyone in the boat. Including Thalion. So, their only choice was to continue looking for alternatives that did not include giving the humans more skills. Little by little, that worked, Kimmy slowly became able to go against parts of what the guild told her, but only the smaller details. The core values were still fighting back when she tried to break free, causing another bout of headaches. Greg, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t even able to get to that point. He was adamant the Alliance was in the wrong, and seeing his girlfriend suffering due to the tests only made him angrier. Still, that only lasted two days. After that, the next days were spent moving from room to room. Which meant no time to attempt to break the mind control. What bothered Hera the most about all that was how boring everything was. They had to move at a slow pace since there were so many people around, and there was nothing to do. Monsters didn¡¯t show up, not even the most aggressive of creatures would risk going against thousands alone, and Thalion made sure no one was splitting off from the main force of the army. Once they arrived at the room where the prisoners would be kept, the Harmony Guardians were sent to the city in order to meet with a team from the Intelligence Agency. The actual location of the prison wouldn¡¯t be shared with them, even if it wouldn¡¯t be that hard for anyone in the room to find. Still, there was no need for them to know, and they had other things to do. After passing Ashley, Kimmy, and Greg to this new team, Hera received a message from Thalion asking them to wait for him before heading out to the triton capital. The elf, as well as Kaela and a few troops, also were going to the ceremony. Going alone would be a waste, but the Commander promised that this time, the Harmony Guardians wouldn¡¯t be moving as part of the army. Instead, they would be treated like their own independent group that was heading the same way. This time, the journey was much more pleasant. People only had to worry about the potential monsters in the way, there was no need to keep an eye on prisoners, and no looming threat of a large battle hanging above their heads. Not to mention, they were all going to the triton capital to be celebrated. Most had never been there, but a few were familiar and kept singing the high praises of the place. The only moments when the mood soured were when someone mentioned people who were not coming along. Unfortunately, this was a small victory. The war was still going, and the Alliance couldn¡¯t afford to call back an entire army worth of troops. Some would have to stay back and go help on other fronts, while others needed to rest and prepare for the next battle. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Neria, are you excited to go home?¡± Helena smiled, they were hearing some of the people in the army ask a similar question to a triton who quickly started reminiscing about his childhood. They were just one room away now. After spending almost a week traveling. And they even took a shortcut through the Underground Babel. ¡°That¡¯s not exactly my home. I lived in a room adjacent to it. The problem is that it¡¯s very far from the capital. It takes a couple of days by boat to reach it. But it will be nice to be so close. Maybe my parents will show up,¡± Neria smiled while looking into the distance. ¡°Don¡¯t they know you are going there?¡± Vash asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I hope they do,¡± Neria sighed. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell them?¡± Roan turned to the triton. ¡°No? We can¡¯t talk about that¡­ can we?¡± she frowned. Roan sighed and turned to the side, facing the people from the army and yelled, ¡°Hey, Kaela?¡± ¡°What?!¡± the Scoutmaster shouted in an annoyed voice. ¡°Is this ceremony a secret or something?¡± ¡°What? No, are you stupid? People know about this, it¡¯s going to be televised and all. What¡¯s the point of doing something for morale if you don¡¯t show it to everyone?¡± Roan just turned to Neria, ¡°See.¡± The tuition blinked slowly, ¡°Fuck. Hang on,¡± she quickly pulled up her tablet and sent a message to her parents, ¡°Does anyone know when the ceremony will happen? Like, is it just for us to get there and it will start? The capital is in the next room.¡± ¡°Hey Kaela?¡± Roan yelled again. ¡°The fuck you want now?¡± the Scoutmaster shouted again. ¡°Is the ceremony going to happen tomorrow?¡± ¡°No. We still have a couple of days. And we are far from the capital. We need to reach the waterfall and go down it first, then take a boat!¡± Kaela explained, ¡°Can I get back to my conversation does or your royal ass needs cleaning now?¡± ¡°You can relax, but I will want some fresh tea when we stop,¡± Roan replied with a smile. ¡°I still don¡¯t know how you won that bet,¡± Skyler shook her head. Two days ago, all the beastmen in the group started playing some games that were famous amongst their people. It was a mixture of a treasure hunt with hide and seek. Each person had to hide a personal object around the camp. Then they all, at the same time, could go around searching for the object while protecting their own. If someone found your object and touched you while holding it, you were out of the game. Despite not being an expert on hiding and finding things, Roan somehow ended up winning a tiebreaker game between him and Kaela. The prize was being able to order the other around until they reached the capital. Kaela attempted to lose with grace, but after the third time Roan complained about his drink being too hot or too cold and asking for another, she gave up on that. Still, she was a woman of her word, and would continue paying the bet, but she wasn¡¯t going to do it with a smile. ¡°They answered it! Oh.. They already knew. Apparently someone sent them a message about it, an official one and¡­ Seriously?¡± Neria groaned. Her mother had just sent a picture, one with the official invitation to the ceremony that would reward her daughter for her outstanding valor in the face of danger, framed right above the entrance of her house. Neria¡¯s mom had a huge smile on her face and was pointing at the framed picture. ¡°Aw, that¡¯s sweet. You are still mommy¡¯s little girl,¡± Hera joked. ¡°Fuck off. I¡¯m sure your dad would be no better,¡± Neria huffed. ¡°He wasn¡¯t. He¡¯s now calling me ¡®the fourth Hero,¡¯¡± Hera rolled her eyes, ¡°I still prefer Goldilocks, though.¡± ¡°Why Goldilocks?¡± Flint asked, ¡°I mean, sure you are blond, but it can¡¯t be just that, can it?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s silly. When I was little, I had a lot of trouble sleeping. The bed had to be just right, the covers heavy enough and stuff. I went to a cousin¡¯s house for a night and people teased me about it, so I got really sad. A few days later, my dad came with a book. The one about Goldilocks. He read it and said how she was just like me, and she still found a family that loved her. In that version, she ends up being adopted by the bears. After that I started calling him grumpy bear, because his food was always super hot, and his bed really hard. It¡¯s not a big reason, but the nickname stuck.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really sweet, actually,¡± Helena nodded. ¡°Silly, but sweet, either way,¡± Vash noticed something in the distance and took flight. A few moments later, he came back, ¡°I see the doorway!¡± A few minutes later, they were setting up camp near the white frame that would take them to the room where the capital of the Triton was located. The room was called Oceancrest Falls. From what Hera heard, it was a massive ocean, large enough to be a continent like Australia back on Earth. Most of it was underwater, but there were a few large islands around the room, and a single landmark that could be seen from almost everywhere. A gigantic waterfall that went so high up in the sky that the top was hidden by eternal clouds. They would be arriving there and then going down to the boat. After that, they would move across the waters to one of the islands where the port district of the actual capital, Neptara, was located. Neria also mentioned that most of the city was underwater, but a few buildings would be always above the sea level. They finished setting up their tent, and were discussing what to have for dinner. The options were to have everyone eating some power bars and travel supplies, or to form a group to go out hunting for monsters and fruit. In the current room, both were plentiful. People would be spoiled for choice between a red mane rabbit that had a bit of a minty flavor to its meat, a venison that seemed to come prebuttered, or thick and juicy pieces of chicken from the flying creatures. Everyone was leaning towards the idea of hunting, but before they could come to a decision, a notification appeared in front of Hera. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a quest. Struggle of the Strength Spirits Go to your private room to receive the rewards from the Guides. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 916 - Struggle of the Strength Spirits ¡°Hera? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Helena noticed the change in the Empress¡¯ expression. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I have to go to my private room,¡± Hera replied, still shell-shocked. ¡°Why? Is everything ok?¡± the mage pressed. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I just,¡± she glanced around, noticing people taking out various pots to prepare some food, ¡°It¡¯s my stomach. I need to go,¡± she recalled her court, which caused whatever they were holding to fall to the ground. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t anything fragile. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Neria got up, noticing something was wrong. ¡°I need to go to the bathroom, and I¡¯m using the one in my private room,¡± Hera replied, already walking towards the doorway but was stopped by the triton who held her arm. ¡°Do you need someone to go with you?¡± Neria asked with a worried expression. ¡°NO! I mean, no. I just need to be alone. It¡¯s private, it¡¯s not gonna be pretty,¡± Hera tried to pull back. Flint, who walked over due to the commotion, snorted, ¡°I told you not to underestimate dwarven spices. Even if you are an Ophidianite, it¡¯s your own fault. ¡° Hearing that, the Empress leaned in the idea, ¡°Yeah. I thought I was ok but I guess my resistances just slowed down the process. I have to go,¡± she turned away and ran towards the doorway, vanishing in just a few seconds. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t have to worry about the crossing limit. Sleeping here would be much more comfortable than in the Oceancrest Falls. In that room, they would be so high in the sky that it would be akin to sleeping at the top of a mountain. Not to mention the humidity of the place. The army also had a couple of explorers in their ranks, and that made the sight of someone randomly going to their private room not that uncommon. Just as Hera regained her movements, now already inside the room where she met her friends so many times, she pulled up her tablet and texted them. Thankfully, the guides were ready for the Ophidianite, and less than 10 seconds after the text, there was a knock on the door. The Empress yanked it open, ¡°What happened with the Spirits?!¡± ¡°Hello to you too, kid. It¡¯s been some time,¡± Peaches rolled his eyes. ¡°Sorry, yeah. Hi. But you can¡¯t blame me for my reaction.¡± ¡°Indeed, we can¡¯t. It is a fallacy of your good heart,¡± Capri nodded. ¡°Hey, I got bingo!¡± Lodi cheered with a large smile. ¡°What?¡± Hera looked at the pink slime girl with a confused expression. ¡°Sorry, we were playing a game. Everyone made bingo cards about each other. I just needed ¡®Capri uses his word of the day in the first sentence after meeting someone,¡¯¡± the sheep guide groaned something about not talking about something anymore, but Hera wasn¡¯t able to pay attention. ¡°That sucks, I was so close. All I needed was Tara hides under her hat,¡± Nina sighed. ¡°Hey! I only do that if I¡¯m around people I don¡¯t know,¡± Tara protested. ¡°Yeah, I figure someone new would drop by. I had no clue you were so popular,¡± Nina shrugged. Hera blinked a couple of times, ¡°I¡¯m happy that you are all friends, but can someone please tell me what is going on with the spirits?¡± ¡°Yeah, we should. Can we come in first?¡± Fritz, the hermit crab with a translucent shell, asked, ¡°it¡¯s a bit awkward to do this in the hallway.¡± Hera stepped back and gestured them to get inside, but she was still standing up while the guides found places to sit on the floor or on the couch. Once they were all ready, they looked at the Empress, who was getting more anxious by the second. ¡°May I?¡± Kelp, the goldfish inside a diving suit, raised his hand. ¡°Go for it. We don¡¯t have much to say anyway,¡± Nina sighed. ¡°Can someone please just tell me what is going on? Are the Strength Spirits ok?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°They are,¡± Kelp nodded, ¡°The quest was completed because the Spirits are currently safe. They are still in the same place, it wasn¡¯t a case of destroying their home so they ended up somewhere else. And what was threatening them is gone. And I don¡¯t just mean they ran and can come back at any moment. They are actually safe. At least for now. Things might change in the future,¡± Kelp crossed his arms while taking two laps around the fishbowl head of the suit, ¡°But that¡¯s all we can say.¡± ¡°What do you mean, that¡¯s all you can say? What happened? Who saved them? Was it the Alliance or someone else?¡± Hera protested, that wasn¡¯t enough. She had to know. ¡°Those are the rules, kid. We can¡¯t tell you anything else,¡± Peaches shook his head and looked into Hera¡¯s eyes, ¡°But you can figure that out. Trust your connections. You did a lot of networking with people in the upper echelons. It won¡¯t even be hard for you to find out that information. Just come up with a good excuse for why you know about it.¡± Hearing that, the Ophidianite nodded, ¡°Yeah. I can talk with Ka¡¯mal. Maybe even Sovereign Nereus.¡± ¡°Stofin,¡± Lodi corrected, ¡°The way to address him would be Sovereign Stofin, Nereus is his first name. Sure, he will be annoyed and ask you to call him Nereus or just ¡®Dude¡¯, but that¡¯s the formal way to address him.¡± Hera pointed at Lodi while turning to Kelp, ¡°Ok, what the fuck? She just told me about the personal preference of the triton leader, but you can¡¯t tell me about the Spirits?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Hey! I was just trying to help,¡± the slime girl huffed. ¡°And what she told you is basic information. Anyone can figure that out in a few minutes on the internet. What we would need to tell you is much different and only a handful of people know about it,¡± Kelp explained. ¡°Fine, I get it,¡± Hera sighed and turned back to Lodi, ¡°And sorry. I¡¯m just worried.¡± Lodi waved her off, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I get how some things seem odd about what we can and can¡¯t do.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. You are helping me, and I snapped. Sorry,¡± Hera slumped down and sat on the floor, using her tail as a stool, ¡°Do you mind telling Vulcan about this? It doesn¡¯t feel right to not tell him. And it¡¯s better form him to hear it directly from you.¡± ¡°Right, his situation is complicated, but also,¡± Kelp turned to Peaches, who nodded in reply. ¡°Because of who he is, we can say a bit more. Not much but, still.¡± ¡°Great! I¡¯m calling him, and if he ends up going to his Daemonic form, can you all make a barrier or something around you? He won¡¯t hurt me, but he might attack you. It¡¯s a berserker situation, not anything else.¡± ¡°I think we should stay outside then. In the corridor, just as we talk,¡± Tara suggested. ¡°I agree. That way, no problem can happen. Aside from him breaking things in the room. That¡¯s better,¡± Nina nodded. The guides, who had just sat down, moved back to the hallway and kept the door open. Hera never could go to that corridor, since it was a space only available for the guides. With everyone ready, the Empress called Forge out. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s going on?¡± Vulcan asked once he realized he was the only one outside the legacy. ¡°Vulcan, the guides are going to speak a bit and you are not allowed to react or interrupt until I say they are done. You will stay completely still and listen to what they have to say. I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s an order.¡± Hearing that, Forge¡¯s eyebrows that were in the middle of being raised stopped and the tip of his tail was just a bit above the ground. Hera gave him an apologetic smile and turned to the guides, ¡°You can tell him now.¡± Capri cleared his throat, but Talpa quickly started speaking. She knew that if she let this to the flying sheep, they would stay outside for at least half an hour, ¡°First, everything is fine. Everyone, well, everyone who is there, is safe. Keep that in mind. The Strength Spirits are now safe. Whatever was happening to them that attempted to force all of them into becoming Daemons is over. They still have their home and can stay there without a worry. For now, we don¡¯t know what will happen in the future. And the humans that captured you are no longer there. Most are not even alive, but a few did escape. The bad part of this is that not all Strength Spirits returned. Some died, others¡­ are somewhere else. We cannot say more than that, but thanks to you being here we already were able to say more than what we told Hera,¡± with that, she turned to the Ophidianite, ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Ok, they are done. You can move now, and again, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Vulcan regained control of his body, ¡°Ugh, that felt really weird,¡± he stared daggers at the Empress but then shook his head, ¡°Despite everything, that was a good call. The influence jumped to 86% from 21. Some of those assholes escaped, and they took my kind. Yet, the quest is over? Just like that?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yes, the quest was about freeing your people, not saving every single one of them. That is a good thing, is one less problem to worry about while we try to find the rest of them. It¡¯s a win, and a big one at that.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. We are still going after the others, right?¡± ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t know how or when. But that¡¯s the plan. I mean, let¡¯s face it. The only reason I¡¯m participating in this war is because of the whole issue with the Soldiers of Strength. And now, after all of this, I still want to save the people who are trapped,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°But we don¡¯t even know where to start,¡± Vulcan huffed. ¡°Sort of, we are technically not even supposed to know the Spirits are safe. When we reach the capital, I¡¯ll talk with a few people to see what we can do. Maybe we should even go there to take a look ourselves. I¡¯m sure everyone will agree that getting you there will be a good thing.¡± Forge looked at Hera. His ember eyes glowing almost like there was a fire inside of them, ¡°Thank you for that, Hera. I don¡¯t know if going there will be good or bad for me, but I do know I have to go.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. We are more than just a court, you are all part of me, and I¡¯ll always do whatever I can to help you.¡± Vulcan smiled at her, and the two stayed there for a moment. Eventually, Capri cleared his throat again, ¡°May we return inside, or would you like to continue this moment of understanding? It is a beautiful sight, but one that we could also watch from the comfort of the couch.¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°Yeah, come back inside. Sorry for all that,¡± still she turned to Forge once more, ¡°Vulcan, warn me if you get past 90. I don¡¯t want to risk you lashing out at the guides.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± the kangaroo blacksmith nodded, but his expression had softened. Despite everything, this was a weight off his shoulder. ¡°Now for the fun part,¡± Tara turned to the guides as they went back to their spots inside the room, ¡°Right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Like Peaches said, when you got the quest, you already had put in the work by helping the Alliance figure out where the Spirits could be. Now all that¡¯s left to do is to get the spoils,¡± Lodi smiled. ¡°Right, the¡­ Mana Palace, was it? Actually, just a moment,¡± Hera waved her hand and called her entire court while dismissing Vulcan. She gave them a quick rundown of what happened before bringing Forge back. There was no need for an order, everyone understood that any conversation about the Strength Spirits should not include the newest titled blade unless absolutely necessary. ¡°So, Mana Palace,¡± Fritz spoke up once the Empress finished catching everyone up to speed, ¡°Originally, the skill was made with the idea of storing magic. You can precast spells and save them for later. There are restrictions, of course, things like maximum mana, you can¡¯t change their direction or any other aspect of the spell. They can only be of a certain size, and a few more volatile spells won¡¯t work. I¡¯m talking about things like a hurricane, an explosion, a lightning. Those things can¡¯t be stored. But especially for buffs and complicated spells, that¡¯s when this skill shines.¡± ¡°Part of the skill involves picturing an actual palace, or a structure to store all those spells. Some people make an apartment building, other create like a shelf with various divisions. There was one person who made a zoo. Which was kind of cool, especially when the leaned in and created phantom animals,¡± Kelp showed an illusion of those versions of the spell. ¡°But since you have a legacy, and are trying to make the skill enter the legacy itself. We talked with a few other guides who had good relationships with legacy holders. Veridallion was one of them. Along with Shane, they¡¯ve been having a lot of meetings about Zaxalam,¡± Tara continued. Hera chuckled hearing that, ¡°Yeah, that tracks. The MAZE is at war and Shane is exploring ruins.¡± Tara replied with an awkward laugh and continued, ¡°So, we talked with them to figure out how to make it more likely that a skill fits a legacy. And we have an idea. Did you have a chance to make the court¡¯s home with that app we put on your tablet?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I did. Most of the basic layout, at least. I also had an idea about the place and I wanted to know if it¡¯s possible-¡° ¡°Ok, we¡¯ll talk about it soon, just let Tara finish, kid,¡± Peaches interrupted, and the Ophidianite stopped talking. ¡°Right, so the idea is to have the Mana Palace be represented as something that matches the legacy extremely closely. In your case, we figured an armory could work. Or, even better, an actual palace where each room has both blacksmithing tools and Golem making tools.¡± ¡°Those tools can be there too?¡± ¡°You can have anything inside the palace, as long as you spend enough mana for it,¡± Nina added. ¡°I see, and can I change it later if I want to?¡± ¡°Yeah, the palace can be changed any time it¡¯s empty.¡± Hera nodded and pulled her tablet, opening the blueprint of the palace she created with her court, ¡°Ok then. Because in the end I wanted to make something like this.¡± The guides looked over and glanced back to Hera, eyes wide. But Peaches started laughing, ¡°Kid, you really know how to surprise me.¡± 917 - Mana Palace ¡°Hera¡­ what exactly are you trying to do here? Because it looks like you are trying to poison everyone, but also make sure they are not poisoned?¡± Lodi scratched the back of her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not right, this is more like a mist. You want to make poison mist? But why are you adding things related to a storm?¡± Fritz tried to understand what he was seeing. Hera kept the original idea of the skill to some degree. Using the layout of the palace where her court would stay, she created a garden around it that formed a spell circle. One that she had been working on with Daskka for a while. Pool of Styx was great, but it was a way to punch down. If the Empress was going to face the Soldiers of Strength, she needed something to help her when facing enemies stronger than her. The flower beds worked as the lines of the spell circle. Ponds, lakes, a pool, the training grounds, a small field to play sports, and even a race track all around the palace, along with a river that marked the outer ring of the spell circle. That was the limit of the palace itself. The central structure was much more complicated, and that¡¯s where Hera put the bulk of the spell. Everything in the graden was just supposed to be containing the magic and supporting its effects while the actual commands were placed along the roof of everyone¡¯s rooms. ¡°Isn¡¯t this going to be a nightmare for them to walk around? I mean, look at all those hallways. To get to one room to the next, you need to come all the way from here to here,¡± Nina gestured to two of the towers in the blueprint. ¡°Actually, this is just the view from the top. The roof is genuinely a mess, but the actual structure inside is like this,¡± Hera tapped on a button to hide the roof tiles and the internal structure of the palace came into view. Unlike the winding paths of the roof that would snake around themselves, forming the runes and symbols of the spell, this was extremely simple. The entire thing was shaped like a dodecagon, a polygon with 12 sides that looked mostly circular from above. And it was also split into three floors. Most bedrooms were on the first or second floor, but a couple, like Vulcan¡¯s, were placed on the ground floor at their request. In the center was a large hall with some couches and seats for the court to have any meetings they might need, then four sets of stairs, one in each cardinal direction, going up. On the first floor, they connected to the stairs leading to the second floor seamlessly, being about half the width of the one before. Each floor looked narrower than the previous one, however only the mezzanine was affected by the change. All rooms, with one exception, had the same size. The room that was bigger was Livy¡¯s on the second floor. She took over two sides of the dodecagon since she was the only court member that towered over everyone else. Her sea serpent form also wouldn¡¯t be comfortable in a regular room. Hera was really worried about how the rest of the court would react because of that, but no one complained about anything. Everyone understood why Livy needed more space, and it was hard to argue against it. Aside from bedrooms the palace also had a library, game room with pool, darts, and various board games, a kitchen, a dining room, a ballroom, a throne room, mostly created due to the insistence of the court, a few offices, a library, and various rooms for people to either rest, have meetings or just hang out. Everything was completely furnished, and everyone had decorated their own room. But they also knew that those details were not necessarily going to be there in the final project. Especially with the games and electronics, Hera had no clue if those things would be able to be a part of the skill or not, but it was fun to build the place. ¡°Ok¡­ But can you go back to the roof for a moment? I¡¯m trying to understand what the hell are you trying to do,¡± Talpa asked. As soon as Hera returned to the roof view, the wolf kobold pointed at a particular rune, ¡°Here. What the fuck is this? You are converting storm into mist instead of just going directly to mist and then pass it through this element sigil. But you forgot to say which element. If you don¡¯t, it just makes random bullshit.¡± ¡°You are thinking about that spell, right?¡± Tara almost jumped up when she realized what Hera was trying to do, ¡°The one that buffs you?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah. Elemental Poison Storm. It has a synergy with my Ophidianite Poison skill. With the skill at lower ranks, I take less damage from the rain, but now, at rank 6, being in the area of the spell also gives me a buff. It¡¯s just a 5% buff, but maybe if the focus is using that to make me stronger, then it will be a bigger increase. I still wanted to keep the option of picking who would be affected by the spell, so I can use it without worrying about hurting my friends. And the random element part is to trigger afflictions. I focused a lot on that early on and some of my skills make that even stronger. It feels like a waste to just leave those skills there. Also, it doesn¡¯t matter how strong someone is, if I make them start sneezing in the middle of a fight, it will be easier to deal with them.¡± Kelp nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fair, but why are you mentioning sneezing, in particular?¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just the most common effect that got triggered during the tests. I¡¯m not sure if that has to do with the mixture of mist and various elements, or if there are a lot of elements that can make you sneeze,¡± Hera explained. ¡°So, this mess works?¡± Lodi gasped. Hera nodded, ¡°It does, but like you said, it¡¯s a mess. So making the spell circle takes like half an hour. You had mentioned that the skill was supposed to save spells, and I thought this could be a good exercise. And if it didn¡¯t work to give them a place to stay, at least I still had something for it.¡± The guides nodded in agreement, but Peaches spoke up, ¡°Kid, clear one thing up for me. Why are you still using the symbol for the Naga here?¡± the slime shaped like a green apple shone a small green light on top of the center of the spell, where the Naga Poison symbol was. ¡°Oh, because it works. I thought about changing it to the Ophidianite symbol, but¡­ I don¡¯t know what that symbol is. Do we even have one? I tried writing the name Ophidianite, but that didn¡¯t work, then I tried a bunch of other things, but nothing worked.¡± Peaches turned to Tara, ¡°Did you make a sigil for the Ophidianite?¡± The snake looked around and lowered her eyes, ¡°Wa-was I supposed to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. You are the first to make a new species. Did the system tell you anything?¡± Peaches asked. ¡°N-n-no. I don¡¯t think so.¡± Peaches smiled, ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure you are the one who can make that work. Or Hera, for that matter. Symbols for specific species, monsters, or thing likes that, were created by people, not by us. The problem lies with the numbers.¡± ¡°What do you mean by numbers?¡± the Empress frowned. ¡°Oh, I know!¡± Lodi raised her hand, but she started speaking before anyone asked her anything, ¡°Those symbols, sigils and runes were created and with time they spread amongst their population. Only a long time after, people started making spells or enchantments with those. Which means we don¡¯t know if the symbol already worked from the get go, or if only after people accepted it, the System decided to accept that as their symbol. That¡¯s why it would be better for Tara, who basically made the Ophidianites to create that rune,¡± everyone just stared at the pink slime girl, who lowered her hand while looking away, ¡°Sorry for being rude.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ok, and you are not wrong,¡± Peaches nodded. ¡°Right. Ok! I¡¯ll work on that. Give me a minute,¡± Tara vanished under her hat to work. ¡°While we wait for her, let¡¯s give you the skill, we can talk more about that spell later,¡± Fritz spoke up. Hera nodded, and the guides got closer to Hera, asking her to hold out of her hand as everyone grabbed on to it. Since they wanted to make sure the skill became part of the legacy, they also had to give her the skill in a specific way that required physical contact. Once they were ready, the guides triggered the reward, a notification appearing in front of Hera right away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Acquired Mana Palace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Skill Mana Palace can be added to the Legacy: Court of Blades. Would you like to add the skill to the Legacy? [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°It worked!¡± Hera cheered, and the guides clapped like they had just landed a spaceship in the moon. ¡°Really? The Legacy accepted it?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Hera nodded as she pressed the yes button. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mana Palace -> Empress Palace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Empress Palace You are able to create a Palace for your court members to exist when they are inside the Legacy. Inside the Palace, the court members cannot cast spells or use any skills. They are also able to see them through the Empress¡¯ eyes, and communicate with her through messages sent by their tablets. While inside the Palace, the court members are considered inside the legacy and can slowly recover from wounds. If they decide to sleep, that recovery speed is increased. In addition, the court members cannot be damaged while inside the Palace. The Palace is able to replicate any real life object inside it by spending an equivalent amount of mana. Objects that require a connection to the outside world can only be used if the Empress is inside her private room. The court is able to share the view of what is happening inside with the Empress as long as she is in her private room. Food created inside the Palace will not bring any benefit aside from the flavor to the court. The Empress is able to control the appearance and available furniture and appliances. Mana cost: 20% of Empress Core ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°That¡¯s a high mana cost,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°How big is the hit?¡± Kelp asked. ¡°20% but of my mana core. So it¡¯s less bad, but still. It means my mana will always be lower than it should be.¡± ¡°Can she get rid of the skill? You don¡¯t have to waste so much for us,¡± Nimbus spoke up. The court was out and about during most of the conversation, but they decided not to interrupt until now. ¡°Don¡¯t answer that,¡± Hera rolled her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s not a waste. And I¡¯m not complaining, just making a statement.¡± ¡°Ok then, so now you have to trigger the skill and create the Palace. If you have the blueprint on your tablet, it should be accepted right away.¡± Hera nodded and triggered the skill. She felt the mana being drained from her core, but at the same time, the core itself shifted. Something was created around it, a small circular thing. Because of the blueprint in her tablet, she realized this was the actual palace. It was being built with her own mana around her Empress Core in the center of her chest. The process took almost 10 minutes, and the Ophidianite focused on it, completely ignoring any attempts to talk with her. Once the construction was over, she turned to the court members, ¡°So, ready to see your new home?¡± They all nodded in agreement and returned to the legacy. Even Daskka went along. She had her own room there and, being the Herald, she had access to the place just like the others. The one difference was that the snake was able to leave on her own and return to the necklace. Hera waited for a moment, and the screen on the wall of her private room changed. Now showing a view of the Empress Palace inside her. The quest was over, and the Spirits were safe. Now it was time for a house tour. 918 - Home sweet home Hera was still in her private room, surrounded by the guides. But no one was talking. Not right now. They watched as one by one, the members of the court appeared on the screen in front of them. They were in a unique room. One with various stained glass pictures of weapons. The old members of the court. Hera herself had created this. Since the rest of the court wanted a throne room, she made sure that the members that were no longer around still had their place. From the point of view shown on the screen, they couldn¡¯t see the actual throne, only the several pieces of artwork all around the walls. Hera had scaled up those pictures to cover everything. She didn¡¯t want empty space that would remind the court some of them could one day be on that wall. Daskka was the last one to appear in the room and after a quick look around, her eyes turned towards the camera, ¡°Oh man. Mum¡¯s going to hate that.¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Livy chuckled, ¡°How do we show it to her?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just unfair. I¡¯ve been with her the longest,¡± Nimbus crossed his arms. ¡°No, you haven¡¯t,¡± Daskka protested. ¡°How can they show what they are seeing?¡± Hera turned to the guides. ¡°If this is working as we hoped it would, they can use their tablets. They should¡¯ve appeared with one,¡± Fritz said. Capri pointed his wing to the screen, ¡°Indeed, they have them. Just by their waist. The court has one following them.¡± ¡°Then all you have to do is send them a text. There should be a new app for this, specifically. That will work everywhere and it¡¯s a way for the court to talk to you while inside. It¡¯s not really an app, just an interface the System created.¡± Kelp explained. Hera pulled her tablet and saw the new app. She quickly sent a message to all the court members. It was just a ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ In the end, it was Clay who answered it. He only came back a few days ago, after being destroyed during the fight against the Soldier of Strength. Ever since then, he had been quiet and introspective. Hera did try talking with the chain whip to make sure he was doing well. In the end, he was sad for not being able to be there for the entire fight, even if his actions allowed Hera, Livy, and Nimbus to deal the final blow to the two humans. He was trying to figure out how to improve his endurance, but unlike the titled blades, the regular court members had a harder time improving their capabilities. The reply was simple, ¡®We are looking at a statue. I¡¯ll show it to you,¡¯ Clay simply willed his tablet to move and chose the camera option. The screen in front of Hera shifted, and they were now watching everything from the chain whip¡¯s point of view. On the opposite side of the door was a simple wall with a simple arch and a window to the garden outside. In front of that was the throne, one that seemed to be made out of scales. Maybe hundreds of snakes formed that chair? No, it didn¡¯t take long for the Ophidianite to realize that wasn¡¯t the case. Instead, the throne was supposed to be her own tail. A much, much, much, longer version of her tail that would go back and forth several times. The reason why she could tell that, is that sitting on the throne was a statue of her with a neutral face looking over the blades. She was sitting perfectly still, with her clawed hands and feet and the webbed ears. Her hair was a single long braid going almost to her stomach, which wasn¡¯t a style she used often. The marbled figure was imposing, and bigger than Hera herself. And by the position, she wouldn¡¯t be able to sit in something like that, since her tail would be in the way. Which confirmed that her tail was the throne itself. Around her neck and shoulders was a white snake winking towards the screen, with only its green eye showing. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± Hera huffed, ¡°I agreed to a throne, not a full statue! What the fuck is that?¡± ¡°That should be your Empress core. It¡¯s the heart of the skill, so it makes sense that it should be there. The representation ended up being something that fits the area, a statue, in this case,¡± Nina said. ¡°It is quite a fitting display of your power. Sure, it lacks a certain charm or a sense of nobility. Both could be easily solvable if you swapped the display of a snake on your shoulders to my magnificent self on your lap,¡± Capri nodded, feeling as if the Empress already accepted his offer. Hera turned to the sheep guide, ¡°Capri, you are amazing, but I¡¯m not swapping you for Daskka. I¡¯m not even trying to do anything. It will either stay that way and hopefully I can ignore it forever, or I¡¯m changing it so you can only see me with a microscope.¡± Capri shrugged, ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A text came through the court group chat. It was Daskka, ¡®Mum? Did you see that?¡¯ ¡®I did. It sucks,¡¯ Hera replied. ¡®I think it looks great, Empress,¡¯ Sun¡¯s message came first, but right after it, all court members started to agree and asked her not to change that. Hera wasn¡¯t entirely sure if she could even change it. Since it was her [Empress Core] maybe it was something that was stuck like that. Either way, she decided to table that for later, ¡®Ok, ok. Fine. How about a house tour? I want to see how this place looks.¡¯ ¡°Of course!¡± Crimson spoke up and started moving out of this room. She started speaking in her best British documentary voice, which wasn¡¯t good, ¡°We delve into the new home of the strongest force of the MAZE. Follow along as we discover its magical wonders.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not going to get old soon,¡± Viper rolled his eyes, getting only a shush as a reply from Crimson. Leaving the throne room, made them arrive in the central area of the palace. The large circular room where all four staircases lead up to the next floors. One thing Hera refused to add was a basement area. Crimson talked about how this was a place for them to rest, but she didn¡¯t linger too much on that area. To the sides, she showed the kitchen, which already had a stove, a fridge without any food, and a pantry. Next came the three game rooms that only had a pool table, a darts board and some tables, the library that was still empty, the dining room that was mostly empty, but it had a pile of clean dishes for some reason. There were also two large rooms that were completely void of any furniture. Both of them had mirrors along one of the walls. Those were supposed to be the gym and a training room. Lastly, was the ballroom that could be used for parties and large events. But even then, the place was empty. The only thing that made the palace look like an actual palace was the decorations on the walls. Everything was a mix of white and gold, with details in purple, red, green and silver. Unfortunately, this was just a bland pattern and not the intricate drawings the Empress had created in the blueprint. Maybe she could change that in the future, but for now she wanted to see the rooms. On the ground floor, there were only two court members who would be sleeping. Vulcan, the court¡¯s forge master, and Clay, the chain whip. They decided to first head to Clay¡¯s room, since it was closer to their location. Each of the court members had their own rooms, with a bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a closet. In addition, all rooms were suites, with a bathroom attached to them. The main difference was the lack of a toilet. The court members didn¡¯t have to relieve themselves like that, so it left more space for a large bathtub and the sink. However, all the doors were still closed, meaning they couldn¡¯t actually see how they looked. As a matter of fact, the doors couldn¡¯t be opened by anyone except its owner. Clay took a bit of time to allow everyone to go inside his room, which was also something they had control over. Once the door opened, they saw a modest bed on one side, a desk with a few drawers on the side, some shelves and empty frames, ready for pictures or paintings. Curtains that were of an earthy brown color and a wallpaper depicting a large arid desert like that of a western movie. All that was clumped on half of the room. In the middle of the place there was a divisor and on the other side was a large mud pit of orange earth. That was what Clay asked for, a place for him to be more connected to his element. Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t use actual clay since it was too solid, but the mud pit was a very good approximation. Sun, Robin, and Storm gasped while seeing the place. They were the only three court members that had never seen this place in the blueprint. Everyone else had more or less an idea, but even then, seeing this in real life, or as real as they could, made the blades even more excited about their own rooms. Next came Forge¡¯s quarters. Like everyone expected, it was an actual blacksmith. Including a furnace, an anvil attached to the ground, a water battery attached to a wall, and various areas that were already allocated for a specific object or piece of equipment. Vulcan did have a bed, a queen-size one, and a wardrobe. But that was it. Since they knew what had just happened, none of the court members teased the forging hammer, which only served to make him even more annoyed about the situation. He quickly ushered everyone out of his quarters and to the next floor. If he could change the focus of the conversation, he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with all that crap. In less than a minute, everyone was standing in front of Shadow¡¯s room and the blade gave everyone permission to enter. ¡°We must stay quiet now, as we enter the lair of the dreaded angst scythe,¡± Crimson said to the screen as they started moving ahead. ¡°Hey!¡± Shadow protested. ¡°If you close your eyes, you might even hear his voice as he sings the emo hits of the last ten years,¡± Crimson continued, holding back some laughter. ¡°Those are good songs, fuck you,¡± Shadow huffed and removed Crimson¡¯s permission to enter his room. While everyone walked inside, the Spymaster stayed out complaining and slamming her fist against the invisible wall. Hera couldn¡¯t hold back her laughter anymore, and the others soon joined in. She had to admit. It was nice seeing her court members interacting with each other like that, and even the guides seemed to be enjoying the banter. Shadow¡¯s quarters were very dark, and it did look like the bedroom of an angsty teenager, but there was also a very powerful light that he could use to practice using his powers to fight off that type of illumination. The bed was single, and it wasn¡¯t that big, but it still had human proportions, which also meant they were massive for individual weapons. The next room was the Spymaster¡¯s quarters. Since they were twin daggers, their room had a more medieval theme to it, but everything was in a darker and colder color palette, mixing red and green. The room had a fireplace, a writing desk, and a few bookshelves. And a pair of beds, each in opposite corners of the room. Lastly, it also had an enchanted curtain that stopped sound from traveling to the other side dividing the bedroom in the middle. They continued exploring, showing each and every room. Once that was over, some decided to continue there, while a few returned to Hera¡¯s side. Now, her court wouldn¡¯t simply vanish as they were recalled, and Hera could hear their thoughts about various subjects at any moment. 919 - A completed spell Hera ended up spending several hours inside the private room. She did got a couple of messages from Helena or the Harmony Guardians, but she made sure to tell them everything was fine and she just needed time. Part of the reason it took so long for her to leave was her court. She couldn¡¯t watch them while outside her private room. That was a special function of the wall screen there. But more importantly, the guides gave her some ideas about the spell she was trying to make. And Tara was able to create the Ophidianite rune. In the end they came up with a version of it that could be quickly deployed because of a mixture of the Empress¡¯ role skills. She mixed [Explorer¡¯s Blueprint] to created the actual spell circle drawn by the mana palace, with [Treasure Map] to control the placement, and a fringe use of [Explorer¡¯s Research] which allowed her to update information on real time. With that combination, Hera should be able to cast two versions of that spell. First in an area around her and have the spell move around with her. Alternatively, she could spend less mana to make a static version of it. Strangely enough, adding the option to limit those who would be attacked by the spell didn¡¯t reduce its effectiveness or changed the mana cost by that much. Which was a pleasant surprise. By the end, the Empress was able to create her first ever expert rank spell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shroud of Tartarus Expert Spell Creates a localized layer of poison mist, imbued with an assort of elements that match the affinity of the caster, the area, nearby magic, or those affected by the spell. Your enemies in the area of effect will receive damage and be afflicted by various ailments. You can target a specific group to make them immune to the effects of this spell. Ophidianite Variant This spell was created with Ophidianite Poison. The strength of the poison is increased by 80%, the amount of mana used is decreased by 40% and the odds of inflicting the target with an ailment is increased by 20%. Someone who has the Ophidianite Poison skill will receive a 5% increase in their attributes while in the area of effect of this spell. The buff will increase by another 5% with each rank of the Ophidianite Poison skill. Someone who has the Ophidianite Poison skill at rank 5 will also receive a 10% increase in their damage dealt while under the effects of this spell. The buff increases by another 10% with each rank of the Ophidianite Poison skill beyond 5. Base Radius: 15 meters Base Mana cost: 150 000 mana/s Empress Palace: The mana cost can be split between the titled court members. All members of the court receive the same benefits that the Empress receives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera decided to call it ¡®Shroud of Tartarus¡¯ she was already leaning into Greek mythology with Pool of Styx anyways. And it somehow fit. Tartarus was a prison made to torment those sent there, and there were stories about it being an actual being. She felt like it was a fitting name. While the Empress continued working on the spell, Livy tested what would happen if they damaged the palace. She wasn¡¯t able to attack the walls directly. It was almost as if she was attacking Hera herself. But if she tried sparring with someone, Lurize, in this case, they wouldn¡¯t have any issues fighting and collateral damage would still happen. Or try to happen. Their attacks scraped against the walls, and the ground outside harmlessly. Hera couldn¡¯t even tell they were fighting inside her. So much so that she only realized they were practicing once Daskka showed them on the screen. There was one more thing she double checked before¡¯ leaving, and that was Vulcan¡¯s Daemonic Influence. While inside the Palace, they tested some things and realized that the influence could still increase. But if it reached 99%, Forge would be shunted to his bedroom and sleep entering the equivalent of a stasis. This meant he would never lash out while inside the palace, but also that this wasn¡¯t a way to circumvent that issue. With all that out of the way, the Ophidianite thanked the guides for all the help but she had to leave. There was a lot of people outside that knew she was in her private room. Sure, not everyone should be aware of her excuse, but being know as someone with stomach problems wasn¡¯t a fun thing. As soon as she left, Helena was the first to hurry over to Hera, ¡°Are you feeling better, Sweetie?¡± ¡°I am, sorry for worrying you.¡± ¡°No worries. I was just a bit shocked with your freak out. I mean, I never saw you running away like that,¡± Helena chuckled. ¡°Hey! It was an emergency, ok?¡± Hera huffed, trying not to act overly dramatic. She hated that she was lying to Lena, but it was something she had to do. The whole thing about the guides giving her a quest was a secret, and she had still to come up with a good lie about it. Or at least one that she could tell her friends. Telling Sovereign Stofin about it would be easier. ¡°That¡¯s ok. We did save you some food. Roan hunted and there is some chicken. We didn¡¯t use any spices aside from a bit of salt but there is still some sauce left if you feel like eating it,¡± Helena said. Hera ended up eating a bit with the guides, who made some snacks for them while they talked and she wasn¡¯t particularly hungry, ¡°Maybe later. My stomach still needs to settle a bit. And I have to let Vulcan turn into a Daemon for a little while. His influence is almost at 100%.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What happened? He wasn¡¯t that bad before you went there, was he?¡± Helena turned to the Empress. ¡°No, I called them out just in case I needed some help. They watched some movies while waiting for me and something triggered him. It was something about a prison and a lot of red lights,¡± Hera explained. ¡°That sucks. I hope he feels better soon,¡± Helena sighed. Hera just nodded and walked over to the Harmony Guardians tent. She told them quickly that she was doing well and about Vulcan before calling Nimbus and heading a bit deeper into the forest in order to let Forge lash out as a Daemon. Helena went along, worried about her friend. They were less than 200 meters away from the camp once they climbed down from the griffon. Hera quickly gave Nimbus, Livy, Lurize, and the twins a Royal Quest to protect Helena. The Empress would walk a bit farther away from them so Vulcan wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the mage, ¡°By the way, there is one more thing I want to do. I¡¯m trying a new spell I finished up in my private room.¡± ¡°You finished that? But weren¡¯t you on the toiled the whole time?¡± Hera scratched the back of her head, ¡°Sort of. You know when you are no longer doing anything, but you still don¡¯t feel confident enough that you can get up from the toilet?¡± Helena thought for a moment, ¡°Sure. Those are usually bad.¡± ¡°They are, so yeah. During that time I started trying some things to distract myself and the spell is done. I think. I tested there, but it would be nice to test it against a monster.¡± ¡°I see. And what is it called?¡± ¡°Shroud of Tartarus. Figured I could lean into the theme,¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s mostly buff spell for me. It focus on the Ophidianite Poison skill. So anyone who has it can get it. I¡¯ve been giving all the Harmony Guardians the essence but so far, none of them got a skill. Aside from the buff it should be triggering various ailments based on the mana nearby. The one thing I wanted was like, a random mana generator to get even more ailments out of it since it all depends on what¡¯s around.¡± ¡°That sounds pretty good, and all it takes is the Ophidianite Poison skill?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Then I have it too, would it affect me?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Since when do you have that skill?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°Since before you became an Ophidianite. I got it when we were trying to deal with the curse. Before we even got to Sammy. Remember? It was Naga Poison back then. After you became an Ophidianite and gave me the essence a couple of times the name changed, but the effects remained the same. I thought I told you about that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember you telling me that,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°Maybe I forgot? It happened when we were in Zaxalam and there was just so much going on that it might have skipped my mind.¡± ¡°Could be. Either way, let me just let Vulcan lash out then we can test that,¡± Hera smiled to her friend and walked far enough away so Vulcan wouldn¡¯t be able to get closer to Helena. She also made sure to not have the titled blades into view so Forge didn¡¯t have a target to chase after. As she was already used to, the Ophidianite called the Daemon titled blade and told him to use [Daemon Form]. Vulcan¡¯s scars grew, covering his body and red cracks appeared all over his form. The apron now fused to his skin. He jumped and started attacking the ground, punching the air and the nearby trees. All that noise quickly attracted a predator, a large white haired gorilla with an extra pair of limbs and a long tail like that of a monkey. It noticed Hera, first and thought she was invading its territory. The monster roared and rushed towards her, but the Ophidianite barely glanced at it. Despite being in his [Daemon Form] Vulcan still was a titled blade. Any threats to the Empress were a threat to himself. Before the monster could even get close to her, he was body slammed by Vulcan who used the talons on his feet to rip the creature apart. Following that, he started jumping, again and again on the monster¡¯s head. Splashing blood everywhere while Hera just stared at him with a neutral expression. After a couple of minutes, there was nothing left of the creature. It¡¯s body wasn¡¯t even a paste anymore, just smudges on the forest floor. Vulcan fell to his knees and his eyes rolled back on his head before vanishing back to the legacy. Unfortunately, it would take 12 hours for him to return since the [Heart of a Phoenix] skill was in cooldown. Hera walked back to Helena and the titled blades with a frown, calling Daskka back on the way. ¡°Mum? Are you ok?¡± the herald asked, noticing something wrong with the Empress; ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just thinking about something.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Vulcan, and what he did back there. I mean, that was a mess, but I didn¡¯t feel anything. Not bad for the monster, not scared because of the violence. I¡¯m just wondering when did I became so cold.¡± ¡°Probably when you stopped being a human,¡± Daskka smirked. Hera stopped walking and stared at the snake, ¡°Really? A cold blooded joke? You are better than that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really not,¡± Daskka replied. Hera chuckled and walked back to Helena. She explained how the spell worked again and they walked around for a few minutes looking for more monsters. Once they found one, the Empress quickly cast the Shroud of Tartarus. Mist seeped out from her, forming a layer on the florets floor that stopped anyone from seeing the ground. Still it was very thin, not even reaching the top of their toes. The mist itself was a mix of green, purple with strands of gold and on a close inspection, it moved not as if it was wind, or a cloud, but as if it was made out of thousands of snakes. Snakes who would bite anyone who walked inside the field relentlessly. For the Empress herself, and each of the members of her court, that didn¡¯t happen. Instead, they got a 30% buff to all of their attributes. Hera¡¯s stats went from 177 to 230. Alone, she could keep that effect for about a minute. But if all court members shared the cost, that changed to about 8 minutes. And that was not even considering their cores. Which was a good call since spending the mana from there in a constant effect like this wouldn¡¯t be a good way to go about things. In addition, [Ailment Mastery] started triggering like crazy, increasing the effects of the various effects covering the monster that was being used as a testing dummy. It seemed like thing were exactly as Hera hoped, down to the fact that she could move around and the shroud followed her along. Helena also received the buff, a much weaker version of it being only at 5%, but still. When adding the awakening, Hera would likely be able to face against anyone. Her mind also started to wonder. Right now, she was the only Ophidianite that existed. But if her people grew, if they eventually became an army. This spell could turn all of them into an unstoppable force. That was both an exciting and a terrifying idea. As long as good people, kind people, just people had that spell, her people would always be safe. But the moment a tyrant took charge, maybe this could be used to march on yet another war like the one the humans created. Either way, that was a problem for the future, and now, Hera was just happy to have another ace in her sleeve when facing powerful enemies. 920 - Oceancrest Falls At sunrise, people were woken up by some members of the army. It wasn¡¯t an alarm or anything of the sort. Or at least, not one due to some kind of emergency. The boat that was supposed to take them to the triton capital had arrived, and since the trip from the doorway to the city would take more than a day, the sooner they got there, the sooner they could relax. Another reason for the rush was the time frame. The ceremony was supposed to happen in two days, and since it would take one day to reach the Neptara, people would barely have any time to rest or prepare. The members of the army had a set of formal clothing, but they didn¡¯t carry that everywhere. Everyone would need to take the clothes that were available in the city, and if anything happened, there was barely time for a proper fitting. Which meant getting to the ship fast was important so everyone could get some clothes. Hera herself didn¡¯t think about that until the previous night, when Vash started asking about the kind of outfit they were going to wear. To be fair, Milla was working with some tailors and dressmakers in Neptara to set everything up, and since Hera was the only one who didn¡¯t mention anything about that, she just assumed the Empress already had something in mind. After realizing her mistake, the Ophidianite quickly asked Milla for help, and she started looking around for options. However, that also came with one big issue. No other species in the MAZE had tails. Not like Hera¡¯s. Sure, some beastmen had one, but their size and shape were significantly smaller than what a half snake would have. Her claws also caused some issues with available shoes, but Milla had already found a solution. It wasn¡¯t anything special, just someone who specialized in that kind of thing, since clawed feet were much more common for beastmen. Still, the problem was not yet solved, but it wasn¡¯t as if Hera could do anything right now. She could look up online as much as she wanted, but without going there and trying it on herself, it was impossible to get things right. Once all the tents were properly stored, the large group moved towards the doorway but before anyone could cross, Kaela got to the front of the pack, ¡°Listen up everyone! Beyond this is the Oceancrest Falls. The room where the Triton capital is located. Everyone must be in their best behavior. Whatever you do while we are on that side of the doorway will reflect directly on the army. If you mess up, I¡¯m going to get an earful, and if I get an earful, I¡¯m making you wish you had died in battle. Do I make myself clear?¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡± there was an echo from all the soldiers. No one wanted to face the Scoutmaster¡¯s wrath. ¡°One more thing. The other side of this doorway will drop us into a very tall mountain. Winds will be harsh, be careful not to fall. And do not go in the water. I don¡¯t care if you can fly, swim, or fucking teleport. Don¡¯t go in the water up there. The current is too strong and we will have to scrape you off the rocks at the bottom of the waterfall. If you even get that far. You are more likely to turn into a paste the moment you hit the water,¡± she paused, waiting for any questions, but the soldiers remained silent. With a satisfied nod, Kaela turned around, ¡°Then we are moving. After you, commander.¡± Thalion nodded and touched the door, vanishing in the white light. The rows of people followed along. Hera and the Harmony Guardians ended up at the back of the pack, simply for not wanting to disrupt the formation that was naturally created. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Oceancrest Falls - 21st Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, Hera felt that familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water. It was nice to think that despite everything that was going on, despite all the changes in her life and her body. Some things remained the same. It was a peaceful thought. That was instantly broken as she felt the cold wind and water splashing her. It happened so fast, and Hera became so wet so quickly that part of her thought she had fallen into the waterfall. But that wasn¡¯t the case. Up here, on top of this pillar that couldn¡¯t even be called a mountain, the army appeared. A layer of mist so thick it was like walking through rain hid the apex of the mountain. The eternal spring, gushing out so much water that made them feel like they were on top of a rock where a wave had just crashed. Oo on the side of a theme park attraction made to splash water everywhere. Hera felt another wave crashing over her, forcing the Ophidianite to adjust her footing, or more specifically, her tail, ¡°Yeah, this is too violent for a theme park,¡± she mumbled but quickly realized one thing. If this was enough to at least mess with her balance. What about the physically weaker members of the team? ¡®Everybody out! Grab the people who might be falling!¡¯ the Empress commanded as the court sprung into action. The first person Hera looked for was Helena, but the mage was doing fine. She had her shadow grabbers helping her hold steady. Helena spent so long dealing with things more powerful than her, and having to make up for her shortcomings that this kind of thing had already become second nature. Flint and Roan were doing fine, so was Neria. Skyler and Vash, on the other hand. The harpy was almost tossed to the side, but Lurize caught him, and Skyler was helped by Helena. Who was already spreading her shadow grabbers to help those struggling. Livy walked over to the members of the army who seemed weaker and started moving with them, becoming a wall to protect the group from the wind and water while Nimbus took to the skies, even if the wind here was powerful, the Sentinel was even greater. He took the job of Overwatch, warning Hera and the others about any group that was having problems. In addition, he would step in himself if someone got too far away from the rest of the pack. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The court was not the only ones working to help, most members of the army had one way or another to assist those in need. Aside from that initial surprise of the change in scenery, nothing happened. They marched as a unit, following Kaela and Thalion. Even they had some trouble moving. Kaela didn¡¯t care about appearance that much, but the commander, who always moved in an elegant manner, was now focusing more on not toppling over. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t have to spend too much time at the top of this mountain. To the left was a small entrance enchanted to repair itself and ward off any water so it wouldn¡¯t flood. Once inside, things became very straight forward. It was just a long tunnel going down. They would walk a few dozen meters forward, then do a U-turn to continue, rinse and repeats. For two hours, they did nothing but walk down. Some of the crafters tried making carts, bikes and skateboards to speed up the process, but the turn was too sharp, which caused them to crash on the wall every single time. After the two hours, they didn¡¯t arrive at the bottom. No, they reached the viewing deck, which was just under the part of the mountain that was hidden inside a cloud. From the viewing area that was directly behind the waterfall, they saw a beautiful ocean of blue water stretching out into the distance. Even though the waters could reach incredible depths here, they never became oppressively dark. Not when looking from above. They could also see three islands, one to the east with a white sandy beach that looked paradisaic, another to the west with pink sand, of all things, and the last was towards the southwest, but very far into the distance. Only a volcano could be seen, an active volcano that let out a thin plume of white smoke, almost as if it was creating the clouds of the room themselves. People were starting to get hungry, but it wasn¡¯t time to stop. Not just yet. About 5 minutes beyond the viewing deck was a massive elevator. One that would take them to an alcove on the opposite side of the waterfall. Even with the elevator, it took about a full hour to reach the bottom. Not just because of the sheer height, being at almost 4 thousand meters. But also the elevator itself wasn¡¯t that fast. Which gave everyone a chance to eat and rest. Reaching the alcove, they were met with one of the crown jewels of the triton. A large pearl white ship with a round front like the head of a sperm whale. Oddly enough, it was called the Moby Dick. Hera thought it was a bit strange to name a ship after a whale that drove a sea captain mad, but to each their own. The trip to Neptara was uneventful to most. Neria was one of the few ones who actually had something to do, but even then it was a minor issue. Despite the peaceful look, the ocean in this room was somewhat rocky, and that caused a few people to get seasick. All it took was a single spell to cure them and make them stable for a few hours. During that time, Hera just relaxed for the first time in a while. The Moby Dick was a modular ship that could easily be outfitted for war or for leisure. In this case, it was made to be almost exclusively the latter. The only weapons inside were a few cannons and harpoon guns to ward off monsters. After all, being on the 21st layer meant that creatures here could reach level 69. According to Neria, that never happened. Not in this room, at least. The strongest monster anyone ever saw was level 46, and even then it was just a lobster that died of natural causes, becoming too big and too heavy to move. Which meant they had a pool, various game rooms, a casino that supplied people with fake chips so everyone could have fun without spending, or winning, any money. A few bars and restaurants, and a movie theater playing a few of the latests releases. The triton were known for being excellent hosts and for the vacation spots; they were the hospitality experts, and this ship was yet another proof of it. Hera decided to spend most of her day in the pool, enjoying the sun. Vash and Skyler joined her, both also wanting to enjoy the situation. There was something special about being on a boat, surrounded by water, and still choosing to swim in an artificer lake instead of the ocean. It felt extremely gaudy, but every once in a while, it was nice to feel like that. Helena and Flint were on a tour of the boat to see the spells and enchantments in the weapons and defenses, while Roan went to the theater watch the 12th installment in a racing series that had completely forgotten it was supposed to be about racing. The court, on the other hand, decided to stay in the palace. They had yet to truly enjoy their new home, and it was a good opportunity for that. Especially since there were a decent amount of people outside. While relaxing in the sun, an elven man with red hair, freckles and green eyes approached Hera while holding a pair of glasses with a clear liquid and some limes inside. He was part of the army and the Empress noticed him glancing at her at various moments during the trip here. ¡°Hi! I mean, hello. Can I¡­ I mean¡­ Do you want a drink?¡± Hera was lying on her stomach and looked up. She was wearing a bikini top, and some swimming trunks with a hole cut for her tail. One day, she would have to figure out proper bathing suits for the Ophidianites. She glanced at the man; he was a crafter, and he was cute. There was something endearing about that awkwardness. Maybe it was just like seeing herself, ¡°Do you mind if I ask what is that drink first? It¡¯s clear, and vodka with lime doesn¡¯t seem that good.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. No, it¡¯s something else. Called¡­ Ca¡­ ca¡­ Caipirinha? It¡¯s not vodka it''s something different. Sweeter,¡± he looked down and mumbled, ¡°Like you.¡± Hera pretended not to hear that last part, mostly because she noticed his ears turning red, ¡°That would be lovely. Thank you. A friend of mine told me about that drink. It¡¯s from Brazil, right?¡± ¡°Y-yeah!¡± the elf gave her the drink. Hera smiled in response and took a sip, humming softly as she enjoyed the drink. But before she could say anything else, the man spoke up, ¡°Well. You can get more at the bar. C¡¯ya,¡± he then turned around and rushed away. Hera just blinked a couple of times, stunned as the elf left the pool in its entirety. She turned to Skyler and Vash, ¡°The fuck did I do? I know I suck at this, but still!¡± Vash lowers his sunglasses and stared at her, ¡°Suck? Girl, are you stupid?¡± Skyler nodded, ¡°Yeah. That wasn¡¯t about you sucking. I¡¯m pretty sure you overloaded the poor boy.¡± ¡°May I,¡± Vash reached out to the glass Hera was drinking, she gave it to him for him to try, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. Anyway, I¡¯m sure that guy never expected you to be receptive. He shot his shot but couldn¡¯t follow through. It happens if we go for someone way above our league and it works.¡± Hera rolled her eyes, ¡°Very funny, you don¡¯t have to patronize me.¡± ¡°Hera, have you not seen yourself? You are hot! You have that look of someone who would ruin your life and you would enjoy that. Then you get all smiles and kindness. The gap is just,¡± Skyler made a motion of ¡®chefs kiss.¡¯ ¡°Yeah, yeah. Right,¡± Hera laid back down, not truly believing her friend, ¡°It¡¯s a shame though. He was kind of cute.¡± Vash and Skyler glanced at each other and sighed. Hera was in an awkward situation herself. She changed species and it might take a while for her view of herself to change. Still, that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t be her wingmen. With a silent agreement, they vowed to help those love birds to hook up before reaching Neptara. 921 - Neptera, the triton capital ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Skyler gasped while looking over the dark ocean on the edge of the ship. It was the middle of the night and she had a very long day. Vash was by her side, sitting on the ground holding a bottle of wine with his clawed feet, ¡°You know, I used to be good at this. All my friends asked me for help when they struck out. If the person they were interested, wasn¡¯t into them, I always found someone else they liked,¡± he took a large swig. Skyler lowered her head, and softly banged it against the railing repeatedly, trying to ignore the story Vash was counting for the 8th time, ¡°That just doesn¡¯t make any sense. How? How?¡± ¡°Life was easy back then. I could dance, sing, and things worked out,¡± Vash took another swig, but the bottle was empty even after he tried tilting it upside down. ¡°I thought she had game. She hooked up with that girl. The one she saved from Delta. I thought she was smooth, but maybe¡­ maybe it was just a white knight syndrome on the part of the girl, right?¡± Skyler asked, knowing Vash wouldn¡¯t have an answer. The harpy started to laugh maniacally, ¡°Why are you trying to make sense of that? Nothing does anymore! The world is chaos! I can jump into the ocean and my feathers will still be dry! Look,¡± Vash struggled to get up and started to climb over the railing, only to be stopped by Skyler, who quickly held him. ¡°Get it together, man!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t!¡± Vash hollered, almost tipping over the side of the boat. Not that this would make him fall into the water. They were on the upper deck, and if he were to fall, he would simply land on the floor below. In addition, the Moby Dick had a few barriers in place around it that stopped anyone from jumping overboard, ¡°No one can be together anymore. The laws of the MAZE shifted and we will all be alone forever.¡± ¡°What the hell happened to you two?¡± Neria asked as she approached, she had just left the infirmary. The healer was stopping there every few hours to see if people needed help. ¡°The world is broken. Nothing else matters, nothing else makes sense,¡± Vash started laughing maniacally again, but was quickly hit with a strong sleep spell coming from Skyler. ¡°Tone it down, dude. It¡¯s not that deep,¡± she huffed and placed his unconscious body on the ground, ¡°We are just frustrated with Hera.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Neria leaned over against the railing. ¡°A cute elf tried to talk with her earlier, she seemed to enjoy it but the guy was too nervous to keep up. So we tried playing matchmakers. But man, that dude really has some issues. Every time Hera spoke, he ran off. And the one time he mustered the courage to talk, what¡¯s the topic Hera decides to talk about? Shedding. She started talking about how weird it is to change skin,¡± Skyler rubbed her eyes, ¡°Seriously? Shedding? It took us ages to overlap enough spells to make the guy able to listen to more than a single word without freaking out and running away.¡± ¡°You used spells for that? That feels really sketchy,¡± Neria frowned. ¡°Vash started singing, a song to boost people¡¯s courage and suppress fear. It¡¯s not mind control or anything like that. Even if we did focus a lot on the elf.¡± ¡°I mean¡­ it stills feel borderline wrong, you know.¡± Skyler looked at Neria and paused for a moment, ¡°You¡¯re right. I think we drank a bit too much, and got too invested.¡± ¡°At least you stopped before anything happened. Even if that wasn¡¯t the intention. Just don¡¯t do that kind of thing again. It¡¯s one thing to cast that spell on Hera, if she asks, but another to hit a random guy that doesn¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on.¡± Skyler nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right. We got too close to crossing a line. Or we did cross, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Hard to tell, it depends on how they feel about that,¡± Neria nodded and turned to Vash, noticing five empty bottles of wine around him, ¡°But isn¡¯t this reaction a bit much?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think he¡¯s having an identity crisis. From the little he mumbled, he was supposed to be a good matchmaker back home. Everyone who asked for his help either got with who they wanted to be with, or if the person really wasn¡¯t interested, he would help them find someone else. It was a point of pride for him. Failing made him¡­ well,¡± Skyler just gestured towards the harpy. Neria glanced at Vash with a confused expression, ¡°He never mentioned anything like that.¡± ¡°To be fair, despite everything, we don¡¯t know all that much about each other. Like we know the big things, but not the small details.¡± Neria nodded, ¡°I never thought about it, but you¡¯re not wrong.¡± The two of them glanced at the ocean, the waves reflecting the moonlight in the distance. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Maybe we can change that,¡± the triton said after a few moments. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Us not knowing that much about each other. I know we are a team, and I trust you to have my back, but I would like to think we would still keep in touch as friends after all of this.¡± Skyler looked into Neria¡¯s eyes and smiled, ¡°I would like that. Just¡­ ask again tomorrow. I have no clue if I will remember anything in the morning.¡± Neria chuckled, ¡°Sure. But tell me, did she really not realize what the two of you were doing?¡± ¡°What were they doing?¡± Hera¡¯s voice came from the side as the Empress got closer to her friends, emerging from the staircase to the side, ¡°Are you two ok? You vanished, I got worried.¡± Skyler stepped back, ¡°Yeah, yeah. No, we¡¯re fine. Don¡¯t worry about it. Vash just had way too much to drink. I¡¯m going to take him to his room,¡± she quickly picked up the harpy and ran off. Once they were far enough away, Hera started laughing, ¡°Ok that was really fun.¡± Neria stopped, blinking slowly, ¡°What exactly are you talking about.¡± ¡°Messing with them like that. They deserved it after what they put me through today,¡± Hera replied. ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°C¡¯mon Neria. I¡¯m not that clueless. Sure, I didn¡¯t realize the first couple of times Galin came to talk to me, and I don¡¯t think they had anything to do with the very first time he approached, but still. The two of them might be good in social situations, but if they put spells on the mix, they are as subtle as a train crash. That last one they used was so thick I couldn¡¯t even see Galin through all the mana.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡± ¡°Because I realized Galin needed the practice. And it wasn¡¯t annoying. Besides, he¡¯s cute. If it worked out, I wouldn¡¯t complain. But that¡¯s not gonna happen.¡± Neria nodded, ¡°Because of the shedding?¡± ¡°Oh? They heard that? No, that¡¯s not it. Galin asked me about that. He used to have a pet snake and always wondered how it felt. The problem is something else,¡± Hera looked out to the ocean. After a moment, the triton huffed, ¡°Are you going to tell me, or am I also being punished?¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°Sorry. I got distracted. He is from an old part of the elven kingdom. People there still have arranged marriages. So, he never flirted with anyone, much less anything more. But once he came here to help, his friends pushed him to try something different. The thing is, he is not equipped for anything that is not a serious relationship. And I don¡¯t want that. Not now at least.¡± Neria nodded, ¡°Too much is going on to think about anything serious.¡± ¡°Exactly, I¡¯m up for some fun, but that¡¯s about it,¡± the Empress replied. They just stood there, staring into the distance, but eventually, Neria broke the silence once more, ¡°I¡¯m up for some fun.¡± Hera turned to the triton, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be messy?¡± ¡°Only if feelings get involved. And we should have a couple of rules. First, I don¡¯t care if the others know about it, but I wouldn¡¯t want to announce it. Also, never during a mission, only when we are not working.¡± Hera raised one eyebrow, ¡°And you are already saying I¡¯m going to come back for more?¡± Neria gave the Empress a devilish smile, ¡°Oh, I know you will.¡± The Ophidianite chuckled, shaking her head while taking Neria¡¯s hand, ¡°It¡¯s always the quiet ones.¡± ¡°Right back at you. Also, do you remember a particular taste I have?¡± Hera didn¡¯t reply, and simply wrapped the Triton¡¯s waist with her tail, tightly. That caused Neria to almost jump, but she steady herself and glanced at the Empress. ¡°You might not be the only one coming back for more.¡± Early next morning, the Moby Dick sounded the bells, letting everyone know they were arriving at their destination. The Harmony Guardians all gathered on the deck to see the city coming into view. According to Neria, the real spectacle would be once they went underwater, but even then it was an incredible sight. The island was big, but it could be viewed in its entirety from this distance. Several colorful buildings, with various tarps and long pieces of fabric, stretched over the city to create some shade. Looking at that felt odd, by every metric, a structure like that one should break at the first storm. But the entire thing was enchanted with materials made from the bottom of the ocean. The kind of thing that could withstand the massive power of the oceanic currents. Each house was flat with a cone shaped roof made so that water would just drip down back to the ground. There were also a few massive ships, two of them in a port by the east side of the island, and another five spread around it. Far enough away from the city to not seem like a threat, but close enough to protect it in case something happened. The ships were also entirely made of a glistering blue material, reflecting the sunlight like a prism. Near the middle of the island, the buildings parted ways, and a large spiral road led down to the ocean. Long flags were placed around the entrance and they spiraled downwards as if being pulled by an unseen force. ¡°That¡¯s the Jet Stream,¡± Neria spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s kind of like a whirlpool without water. It just sucks the air in and it gets trapped in the city.¡± Beyond the pier, on the other side of the island, emerging from the ocean, were a couple of tall structures breaking through the waves. The soft yellow walls had occasional pops of pinks, blues, and purples in strands of coral that helped solidify the structure. All the way in the very top of the tallest building was a trident adorned with a golden seashell that functioned as a lighthouse, a sight they couldn¡¯t see now, but that, according to all those who visited before, was simply magical. The air on the island was incredibly humid, the sun stared brightly down the sky, but still, that combined with the strong breeze from the open ocean somehow didn¡¯t make the people here sweat. Instead, it made the temperature just perfect to make you want to go for a swim. If this was the triton capital, the home of the triton, it was easy to understand why they became so proficient in the hospitality business. ¡°Holy shit! Is that¡­ Sovereign Stofin!¡± one of the triton form the army gasped and pointed at the pier. There was a small group of people all adorned with elegant clothes and a couple of guards, with a man in the center of the group. A man that Hera had seen one before. He had azure skin, webbed hands and feet, a dorsal fin going across his back and wore a coral crown. However, his attire was anything but casual, a fitted robe of deeper blue with gold trimmed edges covered his body and a clearly ornamental and extremely gaudy golden and gem encrusted trident held firm on his hand. The man was looking at the people in the Moby Dick, and his eyes met with the Ophidianite Empress¡¯. ¡°Oh fuck,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Helena turned to her friend. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure any hopes of sightseeing I had just went out of the window.¡± 922 - Sovereign Stofin Hera was by Thalion''s side, as a request from the commander. Apparently, someone who was part of the Sovereign''s PR team reached out to the elf and asked the Ophidianite Empress to be by his side once they disembarked. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take too long for someone to find Hera after that information was relayed to Thalion. With the help of Vash, Neria, Skyler, and Helena, the Empress got dressed up. Flint and Roan also assisted by finding some accessories for the crafter to make. If she was going to appear in a more official setting, it would be better to have her showing some signs of wealth and power. People in a leadership position usually had a different attire to stand out from everyone else. Thankfully, they were no longer hungover due to the previous day. Everyone drank a bit too much in the celebration, especially Vash and Skyler, but having a healer at the party had some perks. In the end, all they could do was brush Hera¡¯s hair and braid it with Twiggy, as well as adding a few clay flowers along the hair. There wasn¡¯t much she could do about clothes, though. The Empress currently only had a casual outfit, a black shirt and a pair of pants, or her armor, which was also considerably revealing since it was made to enhance her [Ophidianite Scales]. The somewhat baggy pants that accompanied that outfit really made it seem like she was from one of those old tales about people who lived in the desert. Hera didn¡¯t think that was a bad look by any means, but if this was going to be her first official appearance as an Ophidianite, whatever she was wearing would end up being seen as the kind of clothing her people wore. And Deakoshara wasn¡¯t exactly an arid room. Not from what she had seen from it, at least. For that reason, showing up in armor could be better. People would understand a different style more easily since people agreed that the skills of the equipment were always more important than the looks. As the ship arrived at the port, Hera groaned before getting close to Thalion. Whatever was about to happen wasn¡¯t something she wanted to be a part of, but heavy was the crown of a leader. Or that of the only member of a species. Thalion was also wearing his armor, plus a royal blue cape that was supposed to be worn only in more official settings. Despite his position, it was a simple attire. Green metal shaped his body without any details or decorations. If anything, it looked like a mundane piece of armor, without any spells or skills. But Hera could tell that wasn¡¯t the case with a glance. Thanks to the [Mana Touched] title, the Empress had a sensitivity to mana that went beyond almost anyone. And looking at Thalion now was like staring at a mana crystal that was about to break. The magic seeped from every opening in his armor, the internal effect almost becoming visible in her eyes. Seeing that almost made her feel that her own gear was improper. As if the right thing to do was to have something like what the commander wore. But those thoughts were quickly pushed aside. After all, if she were to pack all the magic coming from her entire court in a single item, the effect should be much greater than what she was seeing. ¡°Thank you for being here,¡± the commander nodded to Hera as she took her place by his side. Hera just gave him a defeated smile, ¡°It¡¯s not like I have much of a choice in the matter. Sovereign Stofin asked for my presence and we are literally in the center of his kingdom.¡± Thalion chuckled, ¡°I underestimated how much you dislike these kinds of proceedings.¡± The Ophidianite shrugged, ¡°You know who I am, and who I was. This kind of thing never sounded fun. Too much effort, and no one says what they want to say. It¡¯s just¡­ annoying.¡± ¡°If at all possible, avoid saying that in the presence of Sovereign Stofin and his retainers. Your position here is higher than mine, but you are also technically working under me, since you are part of the army. So if you offend anyone, they might ask me to reprimand you, which will be a problem on itself.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have no plans of causing any trouble,¡± Hera thought for a moment, ¡°But at the same time. Almost no one knows about where I¡¯m from,¡± she glanced at him with an impish smile, ¡°There is very little they can do if I make a scene saying they offended my ancestors with a specific action. Or some other excuse.¡± Thalion sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. But please don¡¯t.¡± The bridge connecting the ship and the pier was finally lowered, and the two started walking down. Hera made sure to keep up with the commander¡¯s pace and to not keep her tail on the ground as she became used to. For some reason, dragging it felt too casual for the situation. ¡®Hey, he¡¯s hot!¡¯ Twiggy¡¯s voice sounded as excited as always, ¡®Ok fine, almost everyone else is saying that Neria is hotter, they like her burgundy stripes.¡¯ One interesting effect of the [Empress Palace] was that the court could still communicate with those inside. Meaning that, even in a situation like this, where Hera walked alone with Twiggy, she could still have the input of all of her blades. Hera knew that it was likely she had a few ways to abuse that effect, but she didn¡¯t exactly know how. ¡®Just to confirm, you really couldn¡¯t see anything yesterday, right?¡¯ ¡®We couldn¡¯t. The screen to watch you was dark the entire time,¡¯ Twiggy replied. ¡®Are you sure? Because Neria always wears long sleeves, which cover the stripes on her arms. And there are none in her face. Sure, she uses skirts, but her legs are clear too, or at least until you go up to her¡­ I¡¯m going to stop talking now. Can¡¯t have my mind going there,¡¯ Hera held the urge to shake her head. ¡®Was it that good?¡¯ Twiggy asked. ¡®It really was. Now shush,¡¯ the Empress pushed all those thoughts aside. The last thing she needed was to talk with one of the members of the council while thinking about something so¡­ distracting. ¡°Empress Quetzaveth, Commander Skor¡¯ide, welcome to Neptara. It is my utmost pleasure to be the one greeting you,¡± Sovereign Stofin smiled and gave the two a very soft bow, barely even lowering his head. Stolen novel; please report. Thalion answered in kind, but his bow was more what one would expect, lowering his head completely, ¡°It is an honor to be greeted by your majesty.¡± Hera also bowed, but hers was more moderate. Still a wider motion that what Stofin did, but nowhere near as subservient as the one given by the commander. This was the kind of thing Hera hated. Not the bowing itself, but the fact that there were so many rules around it. As an honorary member of the council, she had to greet the ruler of the land in a way that showed respect, but that her position wasn¡¯t below him. If she lowered her body too much, articles with titles like ¡®The Ophidianite Empress bends the knee to the Triton¡¯ would spread like wildfire. All of that because she said hi in the wrong way. That was just annoying. ¡°I greet Sovereign Stofin. It is an honor to be received with such a warm welcome,¡± Hera was copying what Queen Typhera said in her last meeting with a member of the council. People knew the Children of the Sky were the ones who first found the Ophidianite. So it made sense they were the ones who taught her some of the etiquette surrounding everything. ¡°Please, there is no need for such formality. Come, I know you must be tired from your long journey. Tell your troops to disembark and I¡¯ll guide you to the place you will be staying myself.¡± Stofin didn¡¯t wait for a reply and turned around, a few of his guards quickly stepping closer to stop anyone who would try to harm their ruler. Hera and Thalion simply followed along, a couple of steps behind Stofin as the rest of the army left the Moby Dick. In the end, Hera had her chance to sight seeing. Despite saying they should be tired, Sovereign Stofin gave the Empress and the commander a tour of his city. They passed by farms, which mostly produced bananas, coconuts, and pineapples. As those were the best crops for the weather on the island. There were also a couple of chicken farms, but no pastures for larger animals. From there, they walked to the beach on the opposite side of the pier. The island of Neptara had an odd shape. Very narrow at the center, allowing people to go from one side to the other in a matter of minutes, but the edges were massive, growing to a few kilometers wide at the largest points. Their tour, however, focused on the central narrow path. After seeing the beach, and hearing about the beautiful waves, festivities, and surf competitions that happened there, they went back around, passing by an entertainment district filled with clubs, bars, and open areas for people to dance. Adding that to the large fabrics creating some shade over the city gave the entire place the permanent look of a music festival. Sovereign Stofin continued to work as a tour guide, mentioning the difficulty in building some clubs and how he had to approve one law or another to finish the district. He also made a point of talking about at least one large artist that performed on each of the stages. Hera knew a few of the names, but only truly recognized two; Bright Night and Black Star. That made her realize how detached from the MAZE culture she was. Ever since she first stepped foot in Brinnefront, her only focus was the MAZE itself, not the people and what they did. Maybe when the war was over, she could try to change that. Beyond that district was the Jet Stream, the opening that would lead to the rest of Neptara. The bulk of the city was actually underwater. Most of it was wrapped in an air bubble created by the MAZE itself, but a large part of the buildings were simply in the middle of the ocean. Something that was no problem for the tritons. ¡°I am aware that this is the first time both of you have come to Neptara. So allow me to give you a safety briefing. The MAZE created the air bubble itself. So you need not worry about it collapsing. However, we also created a structure encapsulating the bubble to stop any stray fish or debris from falling into the city. In addition, thinking about our brothers and sisters from different species, all structures inside the air bubble also have spells in place that would protect anyone inside if the bubble vanished for some reason. This was a highly controversial move on my part, the resources and cost to create a safe space for all were debated at length. However, we are Triton. Hospitality is our way of life, and if we were not able to allow those who come here to sleep without a worry, we would go against the very thing that made us be who we are today,¡± Sovereign Stofin said before they walked into the Jet Stream. ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about Neptara. It is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in all the MAZE,¡± Thalion said. ¡°I will not comment on that, after all, my opinion would be highly biased. But I would love to hear your opinion on the matter later,¡± Stofin chuckled. ¡°If we have ways of breathing underwater, would it be ok to look around outside the bubble?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Of course. You will need a permit, though. Just so we are aware of the kind of spell or effect being used. We do that as a way to be able to help people if they run out of mana, or if their spell runs out. In addition, there are tours and services that allow you to explore the underwater city,¡± as he spoke, they entered the spiral path leading to the center of Neptara. It was extremely windy, but the gust didn¡¯t have force behind it. The road leading down was unassuming. It had some paintings, screens and decorations and that was it. There was nothing special or anything of the sort. It was a tunnel, like all others. After 10 minutes of walking, they reached the ground, and all that changed. ¡°I would like to welcome you, to Neptara,¡± Stofin said with a smile. Nestled within a massive, transparent air bubble spanning several kilometers was the triton capital. This bubble, shimmering with iridescent hues, created by the sun and the glass protecting it from the ocean, was the most prominent feature to be seen. The city¡¯s architecture seamlessly integrated with the surrounding coral reef, creating a vibrant and harmonious blend of natural beauty and Triton craftsmanship. Just like the buildings that were seen from the outside, everything had a sandcastle look, pulling people back to their childhood of playing on the beach. The city¡¯s skyline was dominated by elegant, flowing structures reminiscent of seashells and marine creatures, all crafted from a combination of coral, bioluminescent algae, pearlescent materials, and white sand. Outside the air bubble, towers spiraled gracefully upwards, their surfaces adorned with intricate carvings of various creatures and vistas. These towers also served as homes, public buildings, and observatories, offering breathtaking views of the surrounding ocean. Pathways made of luminescent coral lead through the city, connecting various districts. The streets were adorned with vibrant aquatic plants and outside the bubble they were teeming with colorful fish that were considered inhabitants of the city. The central plaza was a grand open space featuring a majestic fountain that drew water from the sea, creating a mesmerizing display of cascading streams and floating bubbles. Once said bubbles reached the top of the bubble, or more accurately, the glass protecting the bubble, they would break, creating colorful ripples that spread all over the city. After everyone had a moment to appreciate the area, Sovereign Stofin gestured to the side where a few buses were waiting, ¡°We have prepared transportation to take you all to the palace where you will be staying. However,¡± he turned to Hera, ¡°Empress Quetzaveth, I would ask you to accompany me in my car. We have something to discuss in private.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Hera nodded, she had no idea what Stofin needed to talk to her about, but if they had a moment alone, she could ask about the Strength Spirits without having to worry. She asked Thalion to tell her friends about what she was doing just before walking inside the car, where Sovereign Stofin insisted to drive and left all his retainers behind. A few moments after they took off, and when they were already a few hundred meters away from Stofin¡¯s guard and entourage, he let out a long sigh, ¡°Fuck me that was annoying,¡± he turned to Hera, ¡°Now we can talk. It¡¯s very nice to meet you in person, Hera! You look great. Also, are you down for a burger? I¡¯m starving!¡± 923 - Room Service ¡°I want one double cheese, one double bacon, one eggonator, two single patty burgers, fish and chips with extra garlic butter, a deluxe supreme and a 12 piece chicken nugget. Oh, and a large orange soda, please,¡± Nereus, the triton Sovereign, told the clerk through the speaker box of the drive through. He brought Hera to one of the most famous fast-food chains in the MAZE, called Room Service. He turned to the Empress, ¡°What about you? My treat.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Hera felt a bit worried about taking that offer, but Nereus Stofin was very different now that they were alone. No longer the noble and stoic ruler, but now the cool uncle that just wanted to hang out. ¡°Being a bit of a dictator for a moment, this is my city. No one makes more money than I do. Look at my order,¡± Nereus pointed at the display above the speaker box listing all the food he already asked for, ¡°I have meals like that at least three times a week. You are fine. Just order.¡± ¡°Ok, it¡¯s your wallet¡¯s funeral,¡± Hera shrugged and Leaned a bit closer to the speaker box, while still being careful not to get too close to the Sovereign, ¡°I want two double cheese, a veggie burger, one double bacon, one supreme deluxe, and the cheesy fries. Oh, and a diet soda,¡± the Empress went back to her seat as Nereus stared at her with wide eyes. Unable to resist, she joked, ¡°What? I¡¯m watching my figure.¡± That caused Sovereign Stofin to burst out laughing, ¡°And here was I thinking you would get only one thing,¡± he turned back to the speaker box, ¡°Also, add two sundaes, one chocolate and the other,¡± he pointed at Hera. ¡°Also chocolate. But add another 6, two vanilla, two strawberry and two chocolate.¡± ¡°Ok, now you are just being greedy. You are not eating all that,¡± Nereus rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not for me. That¡¯s for my court,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Oh? And your court is¡­ part of your legacy? They are the ones who show up and fight and stuff.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah, but they can talk and eat. They don¡¯t have to, all they need to sustain themselves is mana, but they can taste the flavor. I wasn¡¯t going to ask you to pay the bill for all of them, but a dessert felt like it would be ok, if it¡¯s too expensive I can pay for my part.¡± ¡°Dude, I¡¯m the Sovereign. Trust me when I say that money for personal expenses is not a problem,¡± he turned back to the speaker box, ¡°That will be all.¡± A voice came through, ¡°Ok, it will take a few minutes to finish the order and your total will be-¡° ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s fine. But can I ask for a favor? Can I drop by the window to pick up whatever is ready? Like the fries and the soda. Then, if you are not too busy, could you have someone drop by the rest to us in the parking lot? If not, we can come grab it, just send me a text.¡± ¡°Of course, Mr. Stofin. We can do that,¡± the voice replied. Hera just shook her head, ¡°I can¡¯t believe what I¡¯m seeing. Sovereign Stofin abusing his power to get better service,¡± she joked. ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not abusing my power as Sovereign. I¡¯m abusing my power as their best flipping customer. I¡¯m pretty sure I am like half their profit,¡± Nereus huffed. They stopped by the next window, got part of their meal, and Stofin drove the car to the mostly empty parking lot. It was early morning, and the store had just opened. Not many people had the stomach for such a heavy meal first thing after waking up. Once the car stopped moving, Nereus removed the seatbelt and got a bit more comfortable, ¡°Ok, so I have two things to talk to you about. Do you mind if I talk about one of them first? It might mess up with our appetite.¡± Hera was about to eat one of her fries, but stopped, ¡°Ok¡­ is it that bad?¡± Nereus looked into Hera¡¯s eyes, the almost silver irises shining in the light, ¡°You tell me. That battle. The place where the humans were keeping our people. How bad was it? My advisers only say that it was necessary, and that I shouldn¡¯t worry since people are now safe and stuff like that. No one is giving me the actual details. I want to know how angry I should be at the guild.¡± ¡°Oh?!¡± Hera gasped, out of all the possibilities of why he had asked to talk to her, that one never crossed her mind, ¡°Honestly, it was bad, but not as bad as you might think.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°The attack in our city was brutal, a lot of people died. Including children. The humans ended up attacking a school. And even though they say that was an accident, just a spell going wrong, it¡¯s hard to trust them. But, after the city fell, the children were not harmed. Those who were captured and shoved in the camp were traumatized, sure, but that was it. They were forced to work the mines, and the humans did threaten to hurt the children if people started to act up. No one actually did that, though, it was just a threat. I don¡¯t know if that would change if we didn¡¯t step in, but let¡¯s not think about that. But that was basically it, people were scared, worked to the bone, and taken from their houses. But there was no other form of abuse going on. The humans didn¡¯t cross any lines, not after the battle was over, at least.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°And during the battle?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t know. All I heard about was the damage and the killing. I didn¡¯t hear about anything else.¡± Nereus nodded, ¡°That¡¯s good. That¡¯s good. Well, not good, but you get what I mean.¡± ¡°I do. I thought the same things when I heard what was going on.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the Sovereign took a large swig of his drink, ¡°Ok. I¡¯m feeling much better. I was super worried about that, but it¡¯s that kind of thing that I had to know. Thank you for that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad I could help. And I understand.¡± ¡°Now, you also said you wanted to ask me something. It¡¯s only fair that y-¡° there was a soft knock on the window. The man who took their order was holding a large tray filled with various burgers. ¡°Mr. Stofin, your order, sir.¡± ¡°Wow, that was quick! I thought you said it would take a few minutes.¡± ¡°I did, but once the cooks heard it was for you, they sped up the process. The only thing missing here are the sundaes. I figured it would be better to give you that as you finish the meal,¡± the man replied with a smile. ¡°Marrow, you are too good to me. By the way, how is your daughter?¡± Nereus took the tray and passed to Hera, who noticed a depression between the two seats. One that could fit the tray perfectly. ¡°A pile of nerves, she has a competition next week,¡± the man finished passing the food and looked into Stofin¡¯s eyes, ¡°Thank you for helping her. We don¡¯t have enough money for a healer, and with a broken leg, she wouldn¡¯t be able to go to the competition.¡± ¡°Stop that, you already thanked me enough. That was the least I could do for a friend.¡± Marrow chuckled, ¡°You know you can¡¯t be saying that kind of thing, sir.¡± Stofin shrugged, ¡°Look, with how often you and everyone in the kitchen feed me, you have to be my friends. If you are not, I don¡¯t know what friendship is.¡± They laughed, and the server walked away, thanking Sovereign for whatever he did once more. As soon as he closed the window, Nereus said, ¡°I know what you might be thinking. I¡¯m a very different person than my public persona.¡± Hera took a bite of her veggie burger first, ¡°Not really. The first time I¡¯ve met you was during that council meeting and you were the most casual of the bunch. If anything, I¡¯m thinking how can you just turn off being serious so quickly.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the easy part. All you have to do is relax. Turning it on again that took time to master. Even now, I still need a couple of minutes to really get into the groove of things. Now, back to you. What do you want to talk to me about?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Hera wiped some of the sauce that was on the side of her mouth. Not wanting to have a serious conversation while dirty, ¡°Do you know anything about the Strength Spirits?¡± ¡°I am aware of what is going on with them, yes.¡± ¡°Including how something happened in their home? Recently,¡± Hera asked. Nereus stopped, his relaxed face turning serious, ¡°And how do you know about that?¡± ¡°To answer that, I need to ask you another question. Do you know how my legacy works?¡± ¡°You make sentient beings out of weapons. Some are special and have their own bodies.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it, but there is one more thing. There are a specific set of conditions to give them bodies. One of the options is to have a Spirit become part of the court. Which I did with a Strength Spirit that was turning into a Daemon.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± The Empress did her best to remember the story she had prepared. It would be hard to ask to go to the Strength Spirit home out of the blue, ¡°A bit. There was a chance the titled blade would just go berserk all the time, but when we found that Spirit during a mission, I felt like it was worth the risk. As a result, the actual blade is a bit grumpy, and he does have some anger issues now and then, but that¡¯s about it. However, the system gave me a quest because of him. One that asked me to solve the struggle of the Strength Spirits. It was very vague, and in theory it wasn¡¯t talking about just saving them, if I killed all the spirits, or destroyed their home that should also work. Just before we arrived in Oceancrest Falls, that quest was suddenly completed. I assumed that by helping the Agency I already contributed to helping the Spirits, and I guess that confirms it. But I do want to know if they are safe, or were they destroyed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember hearing about that quest.¡± ¡°Because I didn¡¯t tell anyone. I wasn¡¯t sure how people would take my interest in helping the Spirit if I had a quest attached to it. Also, I wasn¡¯t entirely confident the guild didn¡¯t have a spy in our ranks. If they caught wind that I had a quest that could tell if they did something big with the Spirits, they might put another target on my back.¡± Nereus took a bite out of his burger, ¡°Not telling people about that might have been a mistake.¡± ¡°I agree, but now that¡¯s already done. There is not much I can do about that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.. Well, ok. I can tell you this. The Strength Spirits are safe, for now, and we are setting up some defenses to protect their home. But we haven¡¯t been able to rescue or kill the ones that were captured.¡± Hera smiled, ¡°That¡¯s good. At least some of them are safe. Is there any way I can go to their home? Vulcan really needs that.¡± ¡°And Vulcan would be¡­ the one that was a Strength Spirit?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Nereus thought for a moment, ¡°That can be arranged. Saying no would be close to saying you can¡¯t see your family after they were rescued. If I understand how your legacy works.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty spot on. It will be really good for him to see the other Strength Spirits.¡± Sovereign Stofin finished his first burger and took the next, ¡°Ok, now for the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. We have a council meeting later, and you need to be there.¡± ¡°Ok? Why? Is everything ok?¡± Hera frowned. ¡°Sort of. I think you are going to hate it. If you are anything like me, at least. We decided to make your honorary seat in the council a permanent thing, and during the award ceremony you will be declared Aspirant Hero.¡± Hera choked the on food, coughing violently and need a moment, and a drink the recompose herself. ¡°Do you have any questions?¡± Nereus asked, holding back a smile. ¡°Yeah! What the actual fuck?!¡± 924 - Aspirant Hero ¡°¡­ And so, today we celebrate the brave souls who fought against the humans in order to protect our children. As well as honor those who lost their lives in order to save them,¡± Sovereign Stofin continued his speech. Now began the long process of giving the medals to each and every single one of the army members who came here. The Harmony Guardians were already on the field, being thanked by the triton ruler, and so was Helena. Hera was behind the stage with Thalion and Kaela, the leaders of the army would be called before her. After all, she was now an Aspirant Hero. A fucking Aspirant Hero. Hera could barely believe she heard that right. No one had that position in thousands of years. Only during a brief period in time people actually had Aspirant Heroes. It was after Khan for one, maybe two generations, and that was it. It clearly became evident that the position was too much pressure and would only cause problems. Some even said it was cursed. Aspirant Hero. Aspirant fucking Hero. As the name suggested, it was a position given to people who were believed to be on the path of becoming Heroes. Not just a random hero as someone who saved someone else, but someone who should stand beside Khan, Undine, Balkan, Eruwan, or Cyrus. That was the weight of the position. They also made Hera an official council member. What they discussed before was that she would only have a seat once the population of Ophidianite grew. But now, since she was, somehow, playing a prominent part in the war effort, they wanted to make that position more official. Hera still would be free to move about, and she wouldn¡¯t be required to participate in all the meetings, just like things were right now. But she would have the authority to take over any operation or battle. Which, in her mind, was just stupid. There were countless of other people who would be better leaders. And the Empress made it clear that she would never take over the command of someone who had more experience than her. Which was exactly what the council hoped. They wanted to show how even their leaders understood that other people could be better suited for various tasks. And having one of them be in the trenches would be good for the troops. They would see their leaders truly were doing everything they could. Despite Hera¡¯s constant objection, Torah, the beastmen matriarch, put the final nail in the coffin. ¡°The fact is, Hera. None of us can say we¡¯ve been as willing to risk ourselves to help with the war as you have. And none of us have faced the Soldiers of Strength, the best weapon of the human army, and lived to tell the tale. Not giving you a position would make it seem we were trying to suppress you, and that is even worse.¡± And that was the same argument for giving her the position of Aspirant Hero. Fucking Aspirant Hero. When that was used, way back when, people died in droves soon after receiving that nomination. It was a mix of people being jealous, political issues, and the sheer pressure that came with being in that big of a spotlight made people keep trying to prove themselves. More often than not, that resulted in their death. In the end, all of that was just a PR move, and the council said that explicitly. They agreed that, although the Ophidianite had shown her bravery, no one believed her to be on the same level as the Heroes. Not yet, at least. Her actions were not big enough to shape the reality of the MAZE. Not really. So far, her biggest accomplishment would be finding Deakoshara, but that wasn¡¯t really Hero material. The end goal was to make the alliance think they had a Hero watching over them. Or someone who would one day be one. A guardian angel watching over everyone. It was purely a morale boost, something that the Ophidianite was, annoyingly, used to being. The one potential issue that was brought up was the guild¡¯s reaction. Having Hera being an Aspirant Hero would turn her into a target, but since she would still try not to be in the front lines, that might help them distract the humans. As long as they spread rumors about her being in a battle or another, they would try to find her, and that could give the alliance an opening to strike back. Thalion and Kaela were called to the stage and Sovereign Stofin continued his speech, praising them for their efforts and thanking them for saving the families. He also spent some time praising them for being able to create such a cohesive army in such a short notice. Hera was barely listening to all that, she had Twiggy, Daskka, and the twins out to help her notice any cues and remember what she was supposed to say. She wasn¡¯t the only one with weapons in hand. Kaela had a pair of daggers around her waist, hidden by the cloak in a way that was just in view enough to make people curious. And Thalion had a ceremonial long sword on his hip. It had a dull blade, but it had various mana stones encrusted in the hilt, making it seem exceedingly magical. Even if, in reality, it was just a fancy battery. ¡®Fuck, what did Dr¡¯lyar do?¡¯ Hera grumbled in her mind for whoever wanted to hear. ¡®Dr¡¯lyar?¡¯ Daskka turned to her. ¡®Yeah, the triton Hero,¡¯ Hera replied. ¡®Wasn¡¯t that Fakili? The healer who destroyed several plagues and created antibiotics?¡¯ Viper asked. ¡®No, no. The triton have two Heroes. I think¡­. Yeah, they have two. Fakili is the healer, Dr¡¯lyar he was a fighter, but I¡¯m pretty sure he was a harpy,¡¯ Crimson added. ¡®Ok. Hang on, we have Khan, the Wallbreaker, who broke the wall. Cyrus the Golden, who created the guild to face an army of monsters. Undine the Firebringer, she single-handedly cleared the devil hunt. Those are the human ones, despite everything, people still respect them. Then, Eruwan, the North Star. The elf who basically created the Alliance. Balcan, the Lucky. A beastmen who¡­ what did he do again?¡¯ Hera frowned. ¡®He¡¯s the weird one!¡¯ Crimson spoke up, ¡®He kept causing problems where he went, but those problems were always much smaller in scale than what they could become. He doesn¡¯t have one single thing that made him a hero, but a bunch of smaller things.¡¯ Hera nodded, Nereus was still going on and on about all the challenges Thalion and Kaela had to go through. Daskka continued, ¡®Then we have Kroaan, the Unbroken. A revolutionary that fought against a tyrant hell bent on ruling the MAZE. He and the revolutionaries were able to steal the key to a room and trap the tyrant¡¯s troops there for 50 years. While the rest of the MAZE recovered and prepared for a counterattack. Not to mention how the tyrant¡¯s army was severely weakened since they were in a room that didn¡¯t have as many available supplies as one would hope. But by stealing the key, Kroaan was captured and tortured during all the 50 years while the tyrant tried to get information on the key¡¯s location.¡¯ Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡®Got it¡­ so back to Dr¡¯lyar. He.. Built? No, he was the classic warrior. The one who fought against the bugs, right?¡¯ Viper asked. ¡®Yes!¡¯ Hera almost gasped, ¡®He¡¯s the harpy that asked for help when a type of bug, kind of like a mix of ants with beetles, started to grow too much. They marched across a room, aiming for a large nest used by the Children of the Sky. He asked for help but held down a pass for 1 week on his own, against creatures who were higher level than him. They say he killed 100 thousand monsters before reinforcements arrived and that half of all harpy eggs were in that nest he saved.¡¯ ¡®So that leaves¡­ Casper?¡¯ Daskka frowned. ¡®What did they build again?¡¯ Crimson asked. ¡®Oh shit! We¡¯re dumb, they build this city!¡¯ Twiggy gasped. ¡®Oh fuck, you¡¯re right. There was a massive tsunami in the room that drained all the water here. It even covered the waterfall. People fled in time, but all the buildings were destroyed. Then Casper came back alone, and rebuild Neptara by herself. She¡¯s the one who created the idea of mixing coral and sand to make their version of concrete. That is used everywhere were we build stuff underwater,¡¯ Hera nodded. ¡®Mum! You¡¯re up,¡¯ Daskka pulled Hera¡¯s hand forward, making her start moving. The Ophidianite didn¡¯t doubt the herald by a second and simply walked forward. The flashes of cameras reflecting against her scales the moment she stepped onto the stage. Nereus had helped her get some clothes for the occasion, she had a long deep blue dress that wrapped around her tail, hiding the base but showing the rest. The dress left her back exposed, with only a string tied around her neck to hold the fabric in front of her chest. She had a pair of sandals of the same color as the skirt that kept her claws out in the open, but protected the soles of her feet. Over her shoulders was a translucent pale blue shawl that went halfway down her torso, making her scales even harder to see, but it also gave an ethereal feeling to the look. Daskka was also under the shawl, making those in the audience unsure if that was a real snake or not. ¡°This is Hera Quetzaveth. The Ophidianite Empress. She is a member of the council who is assisting with the war effort, fighting in the front lines with our troops. Not just that, but she has fought and defeated three of the Soldiers of Strength on her own, while being at their level, if not lower,¡± as Nereus continued speaking, gasps spread out through the press. Rumors about Hera¡¯s feats were spreading already, but hearing a confirmation like that was very different. After a brief pause, the Sovereign continued, ¡°Although, on her own might not be the right way of saying things. Empress, could you call your court?¡± Hera gave a slight nod, part of the deal was to show her legacy that way people could recognize not just the Ophidianite, but also her blades. With a steady voice, the Empress said, ¡°To me.¡± Nimbus and Livy appeared on her left, while Lurize and Vulcan took the right. The other blades all appeared, flying above them, almost forming a crown. Viper and Crimson were still as daggers on her waist. While discussing this ceremony, the council mentioned that having the twins show up might cause some disturbance, since they looked so much like a mix of an Ophidianite and a Naga. That discussion could take away from what they wished to be the focus of the announcement. ¡°Empress Quetzaveth is not simply the ruler of her people, but also the holder of a Legacy. One that makes sure she is never alone, and can always fight against unsurmountable odds. For that reason, and for all her accomplishments during the war. Killing not one, but two wendigos, one by herself and another during the rampage in the Cinderspire Citadel. Helping uncover a secret lab where the humans were experimenting with new weapons. Delivering supplies to an active battle front and protecting our troops from a Soldier of Strength, helping the battle in Crater of Sky, killing another two Soldiers of Strength, and having her court play a pivotal part in the siege of the human city, and helping us locate the source of the Soldier of Strength project. For all of that, we, the alliance as a whole, have decided to give her an honor never seen in over a thousand years. Hera Quetzaveth, the Ophidianite Empress, now has one more title to her name. Aspirant Hero.¡± The gasps were even louder, Even Thalion and Kaela were caught off guard. The only people in the room who knew about this, aside from Hera herself and Nereus, were the Harmony Guardians and Helena, who started cheering right away. Others soon followed in a rousing applause. Hera did her best to not show anything on her face. Apparently, she should look regal and confident, instead of showing her true emotions which were telling her to dig a hole, jump inside and never leave it again. Nereus gave the people a moment to celebrate before stepping to the side so Hera could approach the microphone. ¡°Empress Quetzaveth, do you have a few words to say?¡± that was a rehearsed question, and so would be Hera¡¯s answer. She stepped to the podium and looked at the crowd. Even with the light on her, she could see them more or less clearly. The Ophidianite already had forgotten everything she had to say, but thankfully her court was there to help. Once Sun gave her the line, she started. ¡°It is a great honor to be called a council member, and an even grater one to be considered Aspirant Hero. But I must admit, I am not sure I am deserving of such a position. However, discussing that will come at a later date. Now, we have a bigger problem in our hands. The MAZE has never seen a threat like this, and to make matters even worse, it is a threat being created by someone who we used to call our own. Humans are calling us monsters, mindless beings that cannot leave the MAZE, and believe it¡¯s their birthright to own not just all rooms, but our very lives,¡± Hera paused, she knew what she had to say next, but she didn¡¯t agree with the statement. The idea was to demonize the humans in a way. It was the idea of fighting fire with fire. But the council had given her authority. She wasn¡¯t about to go directly against what they asked her to say, but maybe she could already plant a seed of truth. Which meant she had to ad lib. ¡°In all honesty, their actions make little sense to me. Not just because of how abrupt their change was, but because of the fanaticism that follows their steps. I¡¯ve met many humans, kind souls who would want nothing but peace. In fact, some of them are even here today. They helped us liberate Crater of Sky,¡± Hera noticed Nereus¡¯ reaction to her going off script. The Sovereign of Dominion kept half his face neutral, the half that was facing the press, while the other half had a small smile. He seemed to understand and approve of the direction she was going. Even if most of the council didn¡¯t think sharing about the mind control was the right move. ¡°But I cannot believe in good conscience that all my previous interactions with the humans were lies. Something must have happened to make them change in such an unnatural way. Unfortunately, I have no proof of what I¡¯m saying. And it might all just be a na?ve hope. But that hope still exists, and I do wish to be correct. To find someone pulling the strings in the back. Someone who, once defeated, will stop all the fighting,¡± Hera gave the crowd an amused smile, ¡°Maybe this is already the position of Aspirant Hero going to my head. After all, things become much easier if all it takes to stop a war is for the Hero to defeat the villain. But that is something I intend to keep an eye out for. Any path that leads to a quicker end to this war with less suffering is a path I¡¯m willing to take. Either way, this is my promise to all members of the Alliance. I will not rest until all members of the Alliance can sleep soundly at night, until all children can play without fear. This is not a war we started, or that we wished for. But it is a war we will end.¡± There was some applause, not the same rousing kind when they announced her as an Aspirant Hero, but it was still more than what the Empress expected. She was never good at public speaking, and if she was going to be front and center of this kind of thing in the future, maybe she had to work on that. 925 - Pillow Talk ¡°Hera, you have a text,¡± Neria said as the Empress was in the bathroom. ¡°Is it my dad again?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Hera sighed and slowly pulled some scales from the back of her knee. It was embarrassing to have found that out now. It made her feel like she didn¡¯t take a proper shower, which wasn¡¯t the case. She was supposed to be done with shedding, but somehow, she missed this spot, ¡°Just leave it. I¡¯ll talk to him later.¡± Neria locked the screen and turned around, there was some smoke coming out of the bathroom, ¡°Is everything ok there?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m just burning the skin I shed,¡± Hera replied. Neria blinked slowly, ¡°But¡­ Why?¡± Hera walked out of the bathroom, ¡°I don¡¯t know. What else am I supposed to do with it? Keeping it feels weird, like I¡¯m keeping my nail clippings, or hair. And throwing it in the trash, fells just wrong. It¡¯s still a part of me, you know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t some snakes eat their skin for sustenance?¡± Hera gave Neria a deadpan stare, ¡°I¡¯m not eating my own skin.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying you eat it! But maybe, I don¡¯t know. Recycle? Your scales are supposed to be sturdy, right? Maybe some armor or something?¡± Hera huffed and dropped to the bed, laying on her stomach above the covers, ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out later. Besides, this is the first time that happened. And it was all patchy. I still think the fight made this happen sooner than it was supposed to.¡± Neria gently passed her nail over the Ophidianite¡¯s back going back and forth from her neck to the base of her tail, ¡°How does it feel?¡± ¡°This is nice. It¡¯s a bit of a shiver, but a good one,¡± Hera replied with a smile. ¡°I mean, the shedding,¡± Neria chuckled. ¡°Oh¡­ It¡¯s strange. First, it feels like I¡¯m exposed when I change. Like¡­ am naked, you know?¡± Neria didn¡¯t answer. She just gestured to Hera¡¯s current lack of clothing, ¡°Yeah, yeah. But I mean even more than this. It also feels like it is something super personal. It¡¯s the kind of thing that no one should see. About the actual feeling¡­ you know that feeling when you have a fever? The skin being more sensitive?¡± ¡°I do, that sounds awful.¡± ¡°Yeah, but now keep it more sensitive, but remove the feeling of fever. It¡¯s kind of nice, actually. Similar to a thorough exfoliation.¡± ¡°So you are saying you are more sensitive here?¡± Neria created some cold water with magic and sprayed it on the back of Hera¡¯s knee. The one that she had just taken the old scales off. ¡°You bitch,¡± Hera groaned, but she didn¡¯t move. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Neria said with a smile and kissed the Empress¡¯s leg, gently. Hera waited a couple of moments, enjoying the feeling and letting Neria focus on what she was doing. But that was only a distraction. The Ophidianite quickly moved her tail, wrapping it around the triton¡¯s waist and pulled her to the middle of the bed, flipping the healer around as the Empress landed on top of her, holding both her wrists. ¡°My turn,¡± Hera said in a melodic voice. Their lips touched as their bodies intertwined. Later that day, the Harmony Guardians and Helena gathered in a fancy restaurant near the palace. The event ceremony was boring and there was a party later where people could mingle. However, Hera didn¡¯t have the chance to enjoy the food and drinks. She spent the entire night talking with the press and with some of the high nobility of Neptara. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you went against the council like that,¡± Skyler shook her head. Hera had told them what her speech was actually supposed to be like. A rallying cry against the humans, not her putting some doubt on their motives. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something tells me Queen Typhera would agree with what Hera did,¡± Vash nodded in approval. ¡°She did, and so did Nereus and Grimaclaw. Thora, Elara, and Thrain, were the ones that disagreed with that. But since I have the backing of three people, my vote makes that the fourth, so the council decided to start talking more about the mind control. Slowly, at first. They don¡¯t want to make people less inclined to fight against the humans,¡± Hera explained. ¡°It¡¯s still hard to accept you are calling Chieftain Wilmanue, and Shaman Pathun, by their first names,¡± Roan grumbled. ¡°I mean¡­ they asked me for it. Said I should call them more casually. Since they don¡¯t want members of the council to be able to talk with each other without worrying about the position. Even if my place there is less¡­ Solid, I guess. They still wanted me to follow the same rules. Otherwise, it would seem I was just a puppet.¡± Helena took a sip of her coffee, ¡°You know, sweetie. I don¡¯t think you should be saying ¡®they¡¯ anymore. Isn¡¯t it ¡®we¡¯ now?¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. That line made Hera let out a loud groan, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°How is it? Being a member of the council? Must be hell,¡± Flint snorted. ¡°Honestly, I still don¡¯t know. And from what I understand, there won¡¯t be much of a change. If anything, getting information should be easier for me. Since now any request comes with a permission. Sure, I can¡¯t just call the Intelligence Agency and ask about anything, they have their own protocols about ongoing missions and stuff like that, but I can more or less get intel about whatever. Our job still remains the same. We help with whatever comes by. Going to the front lines like we did is something that we don¡¯t have to do unless there is an emergency,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Don¡¯t you have to participate in council meetings and stuff?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Only if I¡¯m near one of the others. Those meetings have a lot of security behind it and having someone join in from a random location is a problem. When I get to a city that has a safer network, they will pass me a summary of their decisions, and ask about anything I might need to vote on. Nothing that will be important since the things that are important need to be decided quickly. The one thing I have control over is Deakoshara and Zaxalam, but I told them King Rutigan could make all the decisions about Zaxalam. He is living there with his people, it¡¯s only fair. For Deakoshara I asked that no one tries to explore the place. We don¡¯t know the kinds of traps placed by the Naga, and since they had a barrier that only one of them could open, it makes sense that there are similar things inside,¡± Hera continued. ¡°Then¡­ isn¡¯t that too beneficial for you?¡± Flint frowned. ¡°It is, but I think they are doing that because they feel sorry. They are basically using me as a tool. My face is going to be plastered everywhere, people won¡¯t leave me alone and the guild will try to take me out whenever they can,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°And the guild is likely to make their own Aspirant Hero soon. And send them to kill Hera,¡± Helena looked at the Empress, ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to protect you, Sweetie.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Hera smiled. ¡°You know¡­ if this war is over before the two Aspirant Heroes fight, we could arrange a cage match. That could make a lot of money,¡± Vash took his cup as if it was a microphone, ¡°Two Heroes go in. One comes out, the battle to decide who is the true 10th Hero!¡± ¡°If that happens, we can make it a charity. To help the people who lost something in the war,¡± Hera suggested. Flint and Roan groaned while Neria laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t you want any of the money?¡± ¡°Not really. I already have a lot of it, and Deakoshara is massive. Since the entire room is ¡®mine¡¯, I¡¯ll probably be filthy rich once I start exploring that place. Besides, as a council member, the Alliance is now paying for my bills. Any gold I make can go back to my gear while not worrying about expenses,¡± Hera shrugged. ¡°So¡­ why are we paying for this?¡± Vash gestured to the table in front of them. ¡°Who said we are? I gave them my new card to pay for this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting a bottle of wine, then!¡± Vash smiled. ¡°It¡¯s noon, my guy,¡± Skyler rolled her eyes. ¡°Hera? Can I?¡± Vash made puppy eyes at her. ¡°No. It¡¯s too early and it will reflect poorly on the new council member,¡± Hera replied bluntly. It was more for the joke than anything else. She really didn¡¯t care what the council thought about her actions. They were using her, she might as well use them in turn. They continued eating and talking, mostly about the party last night and everything Hera missed while doing ¡®official work.¡¯ Things like how Vash was challenged by another performer, and they ended up going through a series of bets. Or how Flint found an old fling, she was a triton on her 60s and slowly getting gray. She introduced him to her family, which ended up including one of Neria¡¯s cousins. Which meant that, if things were a bit different, Flint and Neria could¡¯ve ended up being related. Neria also talked about her family, how they showered her with praise and told her how proud they were of their little girl. Which got a good laugh from the rest of the group. Even Helena had a good night, despite some people being wary of her presence. Others were happy to see that now all humans were accepting what the guild said and following them blindly. Eventually, the topic landed on their next steps, ¡°So. What do we do now? Ask Milla for a new mission? And what about you, Lena? Are you coming with us?¡± Skyler asked. ¡°Actually. I have something I have to do. And while talking with Nereus, he mentioned that it might be better if I split off for a bit,¡± Hera said. Everyone looked at the Empress with a surprised expression, except Neria, who was already aware of the situation. ¡°What is it?¡± Helena asked. Being overly cautious, Hera tapped her finger on the table and created a soundproof bubble, ¡°It¡¯s about the Strength Spirits. The agency found them and liberated them from the humans. I need to go there, Vulcan needs to see how they are. But it¡¯s very far away, and it¡¯s not like the Alliance can have a high-level group like ours. Just stop helping for a while.¡± ¡°How far away is it?¡± Roan asked. ¡°10 days to get there. It would be 30, but the Underground Babel will let me cut a good chunk of it. Getting back will vary. Depends on where all of you are.¡± ¡°Do you need to go there right now?¡± Vash asked. ¡°Need to? No, but it might help. The agency hit a wall in relation to the Soldiers of Strength. They don¡¯t know where people are being kept. The hopes would be that with Vulcan¡¯s help, we could pinpoint where he was sent to, and maybe get some more clues from there,¡± Hera explained, ¡°Also¡­ It will be really good for him to be there.¡± The group stayed silent for a moment, understanding the ramifications of what she said. Without Hera, their ability to solve problems was severely reduced. But on the other hand, they had been leaning on the Empress and her court a lot. A change of pace might be better in the long run. ¡°Sweetie, is the path to get to the Strength Spirits, dangerous?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Not really. Most rooms won¡¯t go beyond level 30. And the ones that do have ways to be skipped. Even if that would increase the travel time for a day or two. Why?¡± ¡°Then do you mind if I come along?¡± Helena turned to Skyler, ¡°I was not going to stay with you. Fighting is not my strong suit. My talents might be better suited to trying to uncover whatever the guild left in that room. I was a damn good clerk back when, and I know a few of their patterns pretty well.¡± Hera smiled, ¡°I would like that. It will be nice not to do that journey alone. Well, I wouldn¡¯t be alone either way, but talking with the voices in my head all the time would make me go a bit crazy.¡± ¡°Tell me about it, you¡¯ll end up talking to a snake. Do you know how weird that is?¡± Daskka spoke up. ¡°Ha, ha. Very funny,¡± Hera patted the herald and gave her some food that was on her plate, ¡°Either way. I still need to be here for two more days. Nereus set up another dinner with the nobles of the city and I¡¯ll have to make an appearance. As well as a meeting with the council again.¡± They continued their meal and talked about plans, about their battles and skills. It was nice to have a moment like this after such a hard fought battle. While they were waiting for dessert, Neria created an illusion on Hera¡¯s lap. A few words, ¡®Does that mean my bed won¡¯t be empty tonight?¡¯ Hera replied in kind, but using mist as Daskka taught her, ¡®Not if I can help it.¡¯ 926 - On the road again
Two days later, they boarded the Moby Dick once more. All members of the army who came here, including Kaela and Thalion, were heading back out to perform their duties. They climbed up the waterfall and crossed to the previous room again. Everyone continued to move together until reaching the Underground Babel. Only then did the groups split off. The army headed down to one passage leading closer to the battlefront. While the Harmony Guardians moved up, Hera and Helena still went along with them since they were in the same direction. But after a couple of floors, they split off. The Harmony Guardians would be going to help clear out some roving bands of monsters that were attacking one of the high level forges of the Alliance. No one was having trouble defending against those attacks, but the need to have a more robust defensive force detracted from the number of escorts shipments would have. That was starting to cause problems, but to go after the nest of the Birdhounds, wolves with wings covered in ice, would take a strong team. Those creatures lived in large packs and even if the people in the city could protect them from attacks, charging towards their home would be too much for the level of the protectors. ¡°You all be safe, ok? Don¡¯t get distracted and make me regret not being there to save you,¡± Hera told her team as they approached the doorway. It would still be about one hour before the doors opened, but Helena and her had to move already. ¡°You too. Don¡¯t let the fact you have a legacy get to your head, making you bite more than what you can chew,¡± Flint replied. ¡°C¡¯mon. You know me. I¡¯m obviously going to do that. It¡¯s part of who I am. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t be much of a future Hero if I just kept punching down,¡± Hera chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about you letting the whole Hero thing get to your head,¡± Neria admitted. Hera looked at her for a moment before nodding, ¡°Yeah. Me too, and not in a good way.¡± ¡°Be careful out there. And keep us posted. I know you won¡¯t be able to talk about your location, but let us know what is going on,¡± Roan added. ¡°We will, and you too. You have fewer restrictions on sharing information,¡± Helena smiled. Everyone waved at each other as they split off. The Empress and the former guild clerk climbed up the steps for another 20 minutes. They just talked about the old days, the things they did when traveling together, and the funny stories they shared. During the last week, they had enough time to catch up with most of their lives. Helena had made some nice progress with the Wendigo detection system thanks to the help of those in the R&D department. It still had an unacceptable fail rate of 20%, but at this point it was just about ironing out the kinks. The reason they couldn¡¯t accept that error margin was because of the error itself. The system wouldn¡¯t give a positive result when it should be a negative, but it could give a negative signal even where it was positive. Another interesting development was the indirect creation of an affinity lens. Helena¡¯s old research ended up being instrumental in that project. But instead of using stones to change one type of mana into another, it was just a way to see a specific affinity by flooding a lens carved with a specific spell to make it so the mana would gather inside the lens when pointed at the same type of mana. There was a range, of course, but depending on the lens, it could cover an area of several kilometers. The big issue now was to make it constantly reusable. Currently, after a few scans where it caught something, the mana would end up gathering on the same spots over and over again. The mana was somehow lingering on some parts of the carving, as if the material absorbed them. However, both those issues were minor when compared with actually building the entire thing. Which was why Helena didn¡¯t need to be there for things to progress anymore. It would help, of course, but not to the point of the project being unable to move along without her. Hera also talked a bit about the [Mana Palace] skill, which only made Helena frustrated. ¡°Sweetie, how did you get that skill?¡± the mage gasped. ¡°It was a reward for a quest. One that Vulcan ended up triggering. Why?¡± ¡°That explains it. You are infuriating at times, you know that?¡± Helena chuckled. ¡°What did I do? I just got a skill!¡± ¡°Yeah, a skill that many people, including myself, worked their ass off to get, only to end up not being able to.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Hera frowned, ¡°I looked that skill up. There are some ways to get it.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, there are ways to try to get it. But those are more likely to give you a different skill instead. There is one related to memory, and another that speeds up your casting time. And if you get one of them, any attempt to get Mana Palace would go to the progression of the new skill instead.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡° Hera looked down. Not long after, they crossed to the next room, arriving at the Twisting Tower. It was a place split into three parts. First, the upper terrace, a sprawling balcony mostly consumed by farmland. A peaceful area where people could live without much worry basking in the sunlight. Then, the actual tower, located in the center of this land. It had two paths leading down, forming a double helix with a large hole in the center. Near the top, the hole was empty, but the deeper someone went, the more vines and foliage would take over that opening. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. People could move about halfway down the tower and still see windows peering to the outside, where there was just a wide expanse of nothingness but blue sky. No one couldn¡¯t even see the terrace from inside the tower, but that was merely an illusion. Or, at least, that was the theory. In reality, no one could go there. If anyone were to try to go over the windows in the tower, the invisible walls of the room would meet them. The same would happen before reaching the edge of the terrace from above. Finally, at the very bottom of the towers, there were a couple of paths leading to a massive underground cave complete with a bioluminescent forest. The monsters of the room would all live down there after being chased out from the floor above. Because of that, creatures who lived there were extremely aggressive. Still angry at being pushed out of their homes. All of this meant the room had, strangely enough, an hourglass shape. It was extremely rare to see something like this, and once upon a time, several researchers and scientists did their best to study the invisible walls in hopes of unveiling a secret of the MAZE, but to no avail. Luckily for Hera and Helena, they didn¡¯t need to get close to the lower floor. Arriving at the basement of one farm, which was mostly a cover for the path leading to the Underground Babel, they simply had Nimbus take them to the doorway leading to the next part of their journey. At this point. They were a week off from the home of the Strength Spirits. Even with the Sentinel, it took them a few hours to cross the terrace, and with their destination being quite literally at the opposite end of the room, they decided to stop in the small city by the tower itself. It was well past noon once the duo arrived, and the first thing they did was stopping at a diner for lunch. The meals here were mostly veggie based and freshly made. Which made a lot of sense considering there were no cattle in the area, but there were some options for meat lovers, although they were considerably more expensive since acquiring meat would require someone to go down the tower to hunt. In the end, Hera decided to go for some pasta with sauce and cheese that was imported from somewhere. Helena, on the other hand, ordered some steamed veggie buns. The Empress wanted to have her court out for the meal. After all, they barely had the chance to eat anything in Neptara. But it would attract too much attention, more than she was already attracting by just being there. The fact she was an Aspirant Hero, already spread like wildfire. It was all over the news, social media, and even the printed press in places where that kind of thing still existed. Once they finished ordering, the waiter spoke up, ¡°I¡¯m sorry if this is rude, Aspirant Hero, but would you be so kind as to take a picture with me?¡± Hera paused, but shook her head, ¡°Apologies. During this time of war, disclosing my position might cause problems. I understand that it is impossible to stop the spread of such information, but the harder we make it for the humans, the better,¡± she spoke in a voice loud enough for other people in the diner to also hear. There were a few who already had their tablets out, trying to sneak a picture. The fact was, not just Hera, but the entire council already knew this kind of thing would happen. To get ahead of that issue, they had a small PR team, which right now was made out of only two people, using some advanced softwares to scrub the internet for pictures of the Aspirant Hero. Once they found that picture, they could hide it in a way that no one could access it, and remove that protection at a later date, making it seem like Hera was in a room she left a long time ago. The more pictures appeared, the harder it would be their job, but also, the better they could confuse anyone trying to follow her path using social media. The entire council agreed that this was a borderline abuse of power. They were, in essence, hacking those services and changing data. But that was all related to a single person who was in a unique position during a very serious situation. Which meant that people were more likely to accept the extreme measures once they came to light. The server looked a bit sad after hearing the denial, but he accepted nonetheless. Once he returned with their drinks, some freshly squeezed juice, Hera pulled up a small stone carving of a snake, very similar to Daskka, but with a couple of differences. The shape of the eyes, and the size of the nostrils, underneath it the Empress signed with her full name, ¡°It¡¯s not a picture, but I hope it makes up for it.¡± A perk of having the [Explorer¡¯s Blueprint] was that she could make a few trinkets like that as often as she wanted. This was the kind of thing she would make when she was bored, or just felt like working with her hands in something more delicate. The only recent addition to the small sculpture was her signature on the bottom. ¡°Of course! Thank you so much,¡± the server gasped and left Hera and Helena while staring at the small stone snake. Helena just chuckled at the interaction. If this was the Hera she first met, she would¡¯ve been bothered about being asked for a picture and likely unable to eat. While the Hera of now, was advancing on the breadsticks and her watermelon juice, ¡°So. You and Neria?¡± Hera choked on her drink. ¡°Are we that obvious?¡± ¡°Not really. I wanted to at night the day before we left Neptara, and I saw her picking you up and kissing you as you entered your room.¡± ¡°Oh¡­. Yeah, we should¡¯ve been more careful.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want anyone to know?¡± ¡°Not really. It¡¯s not serious. It is basically just us letting off some steam. There is a lot going on and we need a way to vent.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°Can¡¯t blame you. There is a lot riding on your back. Or your front, I imagine,¡± she smirked. ¡°Lena!¡± Hera gasped before laughing; ¡°How about you? Seeing anyone?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. But there was this really cute guy in the R&D department. He¡¯s sweet, very focused on his work, and oddly proud of his tastes. He has this tablet cover of a very cute anime character who¡¯s a maid. And I¡¯m pretty sure I can get a pretty good version of that costume. I was going to show up at a costume party dressed like that and shot my shot. But then the issue with my cousin happened.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he would love to see you in that costume even without the party. Actually, maybe even more than at the party.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°Oh. I know, and that is in my to do list, just not a priority right now. Being the Aspirant Hero escort will always be more important than boys. Even really cute ones.¡± ¡°Fear not, my noble squire. Your job as my companion will be uneventful. You shall return to your paramore in no time.¡± Helena didn¡¯t say anything, just raised one eyebrow. ¡°Ok fine. With my luck, it¡¯s likely that we will end up either stuck in a room, or in the middle of a war between two factions we don¡¯t even know exist. But it¡¯s going to be fine. We¡¯ll figure something out,¡± Hera laughed it off, but quickly stopped staring into the table with a haunted expression. Could things really go south like that? Helena started laughing as their meal arrived, the two friends just having a moment of fun in the middle of the MAZE without a care in the world. 927 - Dunes of isolation
Hera and Helena, and the titled blades, were walking by a beach, their bare feet shuffling through the sands. In just two days, they should reach the home of the Strength Spirits. It should be four days, but in the past few months, the Alliance had found a room that served as a small shortcut to connect this path. It was a bit higher level for Helena. Monster here could Reach 48, one level beyond the mage. ¡°What is the next room called again?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Dunes of Isolation, I believe,¡± Vulcan said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound ominous at all,¡± Crimson rolled her eyes." ¡°The name makes it sound worse than it actually is. According to reports, it¡¯s one of those beach dunes, with a few lakes here and there, and a bit of sparse vegetation. The big problem is the monsters that hide in the sands, but we can just fly over everything with Nimbus,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Then why does it have that name?¡± Livy frowned. ¡°Maybe the monzterz only attack if you are alone?¡± Lurize suggested. He was more comfortable about talking out loud near Helena. He still felt very self conscious because of his inability to say the letter S in his titled form. Even when they were in Hera¡¯s private room, he would opt to speak in their minds instead to avoid buzzing. However, Helena, being Helena, slowly chipped away at his poor self confidence related to that. He was still far off from being able to talk with a large group of people without measuring his words, but it was progress. ¡°Could be, and it¡¯s a good thing we won¡¯t have to figure that out. I¡¯ll get us to the next room in less than an hour,¡± Nimbus walked ahead proudly. ¡°Please don¡¯t. I love you, but we are supposed to take three hours to cross that room. For you to make it in one, we will need to awaken you, and I don¡¯t have the stomach for that speed today,¡± Hera grumbled while rubbing her stomach. ¡°That really did a number on you, didn¡¯t it?¡± Viper asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ I think that fruit salad wasn¡¯t a good call. Too much citrus. My stomach is burning like crazy,¡± the Ophidianite grabbed her water bottle and took a sip, hoping to help with the burn. ¡°Is it that bad?¡± Helena asked, her face full of worry. ¡°It¡¯s just uncomfortable, and I feel like burping all the time,¡± Hera tried, but nothing came. ¡°I wonder why that happened. You had oranges before and you were ok,¡± Vulcan frowned. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because they warned us that was really acidic? Those were not regular oranges, but some odd variation,¡± Daskka suggested. ¡°Daskka is right. It might have been about how acid they were. I remember reading that snakes can¡¯t handle citrus very well,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°We are here,¡± Crimson was walking a few meters ahead of the group, pointing to the left. She was under an arc, one of several that were spread over this beach, connecting the ground with the cliff above. Beneath it was a small passage that someone had carved that out and now was a path leading to the doorway. One with the symbol of a dune covering a couple of palm trees on the white frame above. ¡°You know, finding this kind of doorway is wild. It was literally inside a hidden cave in the middle of nowhere,¡± Viper gasped. Hera nodded with a smile, ¡°Yeah, I wonder how they discovered it. Was it a tip from a quest, or something, or just a random stroke of luck?¡± ¡°You miss this kind of thing, don¡¯t you?¡± Helena turned to Hera. ¡°I do, I really do. I mean, those times I got stuck somewhere in the MAZE sucked, but there was a part of me that was so happy. Being able to walk around like that just exploring and trying to find something exciting was so much fun.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°I get that. Not about the same thing, but I do.¡± ¡°Yeah, At times¡­. Never mind,¡± Hera shook her head, but her eyes met back with Helena. They didn¡¯t need to say the next part to understand. And there was a reason they didn¡¯t say anything. After all, speaking the words out loud was the same as asking the MAZE to do something. After a beat, they started laughing, ¡°When did we get so superstitious?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Probably after the fifth time we said something we didn¡¯t want to happen, and it did. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t raise flags,¡± Hera joked. ¡°Ok, ok. Let¡¯s keep going. The idea is to reach the room after this one before sundown, right?¡± Helena walked closer to the doorway. ¡°Yeah. After we leave this one, we can stay in my private room for the night. But we might need to hunt for some food first. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m in the mood for eating rations again,¡± Hera sighed and gestured her court to come back. She had yet to try to cross to a different room while they were out, but according to Daskka, that would be the same as having the blades break. And the Empress never felt like that was worth testing. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Hera and Helena touched the doorway, and a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Dunes of Isolation - 14th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After pressing yes, Hera felt the familiar feeling of being slowly dipped into warm water. She could never get over how comfortable was. Part of her desire to explore was just to feel this over and over again. Maybe she could check if there was a blanket or something that could mirror this effect. As the feeling vanished, the new room came into view. White sand dunes rolled all the way to the horizon, while a river of pure blue water cut through them. Several palm trees and small bushes were spread around, signaling small spots with lakes. Some were shallow and barely able to fit a single person, while others were massive, large enough to fit a boat. The type of boat one would see at a lake, not the massive liners that braved oceans, but still. The temperature here was perfect. Warm enough to make you want to go for a swim, but not to where walking around was too much of a hassle, and the small breeze would rub their skin, refreshing the Empress every time that it seemed like the heat was starting to win the fight. ¡°Wow, this is like one of my dream vacations,¡± Helena gasped. Hera nodded, ¡°I agree,¡± she glanced back to the doorway that was attached to a tall pillar in the middle of this room. Looking around, there were a couple of other similar structures in the distance. Natural structures, they were just mountains, but still there was something about them. With a sigh, she called Nimbus, ¡°As much as I want to look around. We have to go.¡± The Sentinel quickly took his griffon form and let the duo climb onto his back. ¡°At least we can add this room to the list of places to visit once this is all over, Sweetie,¡± Helena smiled. ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± the Ophidianite nodded as they took flight. From above, the room was just as beautiful as from the ground. It looked like the ideal place to vacation, calm and relaxing. If it wasn¡¯t for the occasional monster that burst out of the sands. From this angle, they looked like some sort of sphinx, but instead of the face of a person or a lion, it was that of a rhino, with one long horn coming from their nose. Those creatures were big. Bigger than Livy, and they fought against some kind of bug, an odd mixture of an antlion and a scorpion with no tail. The sphinx-like creatures would usually win, mainly because of their size, as they towered over the other creature. But sometimes, a large group would catch them and they would succumb because of their numbers. Another thing Hera started to notice was some sort of pattern in the pillars. They almost formed a spiral in the way they were arranged, but it was hard to tell. Nimbus wasn¡¯t flying that far up, he wasn¡¯t even going past the mountains themselves. The Empress opened her [Treasure Map] and started looking over what she could see. Trying to find out what those structures were doing. She didn¡¯t ask Helena about it because of the wind. It was too loud and they wouldn¡¯t be able to have a conversation unless they were yelling at the top of their lungs. A few hours later, they were getting close to the doorway when the Ophidianite suddenly felt Helena poking her back. Glancing back, she understood why. There was a massive sandstorm roiling in. It swallowed everything in the room, covering the entire place in white sand. ¡®Nimbus, we have to move!¡¯ Hera told the Sentinel while summoning Vulcan. Before triggering the awakening, she turned back to Helena and yelled, ¡°Hold on to me! Use the shadow grabbers. This is going to get weird.¡± Helena nodded and did as Hera asked. Nimbus jerked up for a moment before changing to his weapon form to allow the awakening. For a brief moment, the two people on his back were on free fall, but that only lasted until Forge hit the bladed tonfas. Appearing once more under Hera and Helena, Nimbus was now in a larger, more robust griffon form, with a trail of clouds coming out of the tips of his wings. Without the need to say another word, Helena added more shadow grabbers, these binding Hera and herself to the Sentinel. After being secure, the Ophidianite yelled one single word. ¡°Go!¡± Nimbus flew. Much faster than he ever had before. Not just because of the situation, but because he was finally getting used to this form. After hearing some complaints from the titled blades about the awakening, Hera understood the biggest issue with it. The one who was awakened wouldn¡¯t be comfortable in their new body. Which made them unable to move around as freely as they should be able to. To circumvent that, Hera had started awakening one of them once a day to give them time to get accustomed to their new form. When possible, she would also add a Royal Quest, which was mandatory for Nimbus, but not for everyone else. This was the first time the awakened Sentinel felt in control when flying in this form. The wind wasn¡¯t just keeping him in the air, but it was actively helping him move faster. Hera and Helena were screaming on his back, but even their voices were being left behind, in the cloud trail coming out of the tip of his wings. What should¡¯ve taken 30 minutes was completed in less than 5. He crossed the room in record time, dodging the pillars and curving around to reach their destination. The incoming sandstorm loosing ground against the Sentinel, who landed in front of the pillar where the doorway was located like a meteor. Sand being pushed out, forming a crater around him. ¡°Next time, let me die,¡± Helena groaned and stepped off Nimbus. She held on to her stomach but wasn¡¯t able to keep it together and threw up to the side. ¡°Same,¡± Hera, who wasn¡¯t having a great stomach day, hurled on the opposite corner. Nimbus turned back to his titled form, the awakening still active, making him taller and more muscular as clouds circled his torso, ¡°Sorry. It sounded like you wanted that.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I did. But never again,¡± she looked inside the pillar and saw the doorway. But before she dismissed the Sentinel, she noticed something else. The doorway wasn¡¯t glowing. Every single doorway would give off a soft white glow, no matter the location or circumstance. Unless¡­ ¡°No, no, no, no,¡± The Empress rushed forward and touched the doorway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Doorway inactive due to the Isolating Sandstorm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°FUCK!¡± she yelled. Even if she had just figured out why the room was named like this. It was one crappy way to do so. 928 - Claw of Night
¡°So we are stuck¡­ For how long?¡± Helena asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but hang on,¡± Hera pulled Ariadne from her waist. The relic hadn¡¯t seen much use lately aside from expanding the range of her court. Even the new ability of echolocation was yet to be used in any form that helped. She did use it every now and then, but all attempts at finding a hidden path ended up failing. Still, what Hera wanted now as a more basic function, ¡°How long it will take for us to be able to leave the room?¡± The Empress pumped a couple million points of mana into that question. Hoping it would be enough. Thankfully, that was the case, and the screen flashed with an answer. ¡®10 days.¡¯ ¡°Fuck, really? 10 days?¡± Hera groaned. ¡°This is going to keep up for 10 days?¡± Helena glanced outside. For now, they were in the cave by the doorway which somewhat protected them from the sandstorm outside. ¡°It seems like it,¡± Hera huffed and slumped to the ground. ¡°Can we stay in your private room during that time? We have enough food, water is the big issue. Not to mention it would be more comfortable than here,¡± Helena turned to the Empress. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Not through here, at least. When I touched the doorway, it doesn¡¯t even show the option of going to my private room. Even if we go back to where we came I don¡¯t think it will make that much of a difference. The notification said ¡®Doorway inactive.¡¯ Not this Doorway. Which makes me think that¡¯s happening on all Doorways in the room.¡± ¡°And the only way to figure that out would be to brave the storm,¡± Helena glanced to Nimbus who still was on his awakened form, ¡°Actually, can¡¯t we just wait for a couple of hours for you to ask Ariadne again?¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not that bad of a ride,¡± Nimbus huffed. Hera and Helena both pointed to the spots outside that still had stains of their throw up, ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you two have a weak stomach,¡± he grumbled. ¡°It quite literally is. You didn¡¯t have to make such sharp turns. It wasn¡¯t as if there was anything on the way,¡± Hera huffed. She then turned around, to the exit, the wind was picking up rapidly, with more and more sand being kicked into the cave, ¡°I should make a bunker here¡­ Actually. Lena, can you give me a moment? I¡¯ll make a box and get inside. There is one more thing I can try.¡± ¡°That question thing that no one can be close for you to do? Ok. Do you need me to remove my senses?¡± Hera shook her head, ¡°You don¡¯t need to go that far. Just don¡¯t come inside here. I¡¯ll trigger the safety cube too, just in case.¡± ¡°Ok, is Nimbus going with you?¡± ¡°No, he stays outside. If something happens, he can warn me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we had a chance to talk with a new guide,¡± Daskka spoke up, getting a smile from the Empress. Helena nodded and Hera quickly used her stone shape spell to create a small house out of the rocks. She had become quite proficient at that kind of thing. When the Harmony Guardians had to stay in a place that had a storm, or that had some aggressive monsters, she would always make that, just in case. Once inside the stone box, Hera put up a soundproof barrier and activated the safety cube. Even if it was a tool to protect people and not used to hide from others. Making a couple of dancing lights above her just to be able to see things, she triggered the skill. ¡°I call upon the Guide of the Dunes of Isolation. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure.¡± From the shadows created by the safety cube, a shape emerged. Whoever they were, had their face covered by a dark hood. Robes of the same color as the darkness surrounding them. There were two pair of sleeves, one that ended before a large pair of orange pincers, and another that showed two tiny legs, or arms, in this case, placed over one another. The robe continued down their waist, and covered the rest of their body, appearing from behind with another two sets of legs and a large tail warped in black bandages with a stinger on the tip. This was a scorpion guide. One wearing the kind of clothes you would expect to see in ancient China. A surprisingly silky masculine voice emerged from the guide as he bowed, ¡°This Zhao Ye greets the weary traveler.¡± Hera quickly tried to remember the cultivation stories she knew, ¡°This Hera Quetzaveth greets the noble guide,¡± the Empress bowed in kind, but quickly corrected herself, ¡°I mean this Quetzaveth Hera. The last name comes first, right?¡± Zhao nodded, ¡°That is correct, Lady Quetzaveth. I must say, the tales spun by my brethren do not make you justice. You are truly exceptional.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Hera smiled, feeling a bit flustered, ¡°I apologize for being sick in your room. It wasn¡¯t intentional, and it did not reflect my thoughts on it.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fear not. Lady Quetzaveth. This one understands it was a situation beyond your control. My hopes are that you feel better already.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Thank you, Guide Zhao. I feel much better already.¡± ¡°Hearing that brings me joy. And this one thanks Lady Quetzaveth for following the customs of this land.¡± The Empress paused, ¡°Customs¡­ You¡¯re right. This would be part of your customs.¡± ¡°What do you mean, Lady Quetzaveth?¡± Zhao Ye, the shadow scorpion guide, asked. ¡°Sorry. I just never thought of it that way. I always acted as if the way you show yourself is just your personality, but it makes a lot of sense to think of it as something more cultural.¡± ¡°This one is happy to have been of service,¡± Zhao bowed again. ¡°No. Thank you, Guide Zhao. I just need to rethink how I interact with your brethren,¡± ¡°If this one can offer some advice. There is no need to do such a thing. My siblings appreciate the interactions they had with you,¡± Zhao paused, his head turning to the side before adding, ¡°For the most part.¡± ¡°Percy is still talking shit about me? Damn. I figured he would¡¯ve let go by now. I mean, it wasn¡¯t even that bad. I just didn¡¯t bring anything to him.¡± ¡°This one shouldn¡¯t speak ill of its kin. Even if the Lady¡¯s insight was able to discern the words hidden between words.¡± Hera frowned, repeating that line in her head for a moment, ¡°I think that was a yes. But do you mind if we get to business? I have a friend waiting outside and I don¡¯t want her to be buried under the sands.¡± ¡°Of course. How can I assist you, Lady Quetzaveth?¡± a sundial appeared between Hera and Zhao, the representation of the five minutes she had. ¡°Ok. The sandstorm will last for 10 days, and during that time, doorways are locked. I want to know if there is a way to get out of here sooner. It¡¯s a lovely room, but we are in a bit of a rush. If there is a way, what is it? Give me as much information about that as you can within the 5 minutes,¡± Hera said. ¡°An auspicious question. One that can be answered by this one,¡± Zhao Ye paused, staring at the sundial. After a few moments, he grumbled and pulled his hood back, revealing a surprisingly cartoony face. His beady black eyes almost looked drawn in and his mouth wasn¡¯t the one of a scorpion, but just a line near the bottom of his round head, ¡°Crap.¡± ¡°Is everything ok?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Yeah, yeah. It¡¯s just¡­ the answer is complicated and keeping up with the character won¡¯t help. So have to explain it normally.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Sorry.¡± Zhao shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s ok. It¡¯s my own fault for doing this. I still like it but sometimes I have to put my work first,¡± he sighed, and the sundial vanished. ¡°That sucks! I liked the character. Felt like we were talking with one of the spy sects from the stories. Not the beggar one, that other that worked out of bars and brothels, you know. But you were like, the spy spy from them, not one that is hiding in plain sight,¡± Daskka spoke up. Zhao opened a big smile, ¡°That was exactly what I was going for. I based the whole thing on the Hao Sect. Or at least a few versions of it from stories. There are probably other names, but at some point, everyone started agreeing that that was the name of the spy sect.¡± ¡°I know! It¡¯s super weird how that happened,¡± Daskka gasped. Zhao nodded vigorously as he pulled a scroll from his tunic. It was a bamboo scroll with the usual green slabs of wood protecting the paper inside, ¡°You have no idea. This is not new, old civilizations had stories with spies. For some reason, their name was similar to Hao. Either the translation or meaning matches with what people have today, or the sound does. No one knows why that happened. And we tried to figure out, but there is literally no explanation.¡± ¡°Maybe some sort of collective consciousness. Is that a thing?¡± Hera suggested. ¡°Maybe, but we don¡¯t know anything about that. Or is just the System doing something weird in the background,¡± Zhao stopped, looking to the side, ¡°I called you weird. Are you going to nag?¡± he frowned, ¡°One day. I¡¯ll make you answer,¡± with a huff, he opened the scroll revealing a partial map of the room. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Daskka leaned forward. ¡°This is a map of the room. But you should only be seeing what you already know. If there are things you haven¡¯t found, those places should be blank.¡± Hera nodded, the map that she got for this place wasn¡¯t complete. Only a part of the pillars were displayed, and the invisible walls were nowhere to be seen. ¡°Ok then. There is a dungeon here,¡± Zhao pointed to a pillar to the southeast of Hera¡¯s location, ¡°You should take two hours to get there. Or much less if the big guy outside takes you as he is now. One of the possible rewards of the hard mode of this dungeon is a token that can halt the sandstorm in an area. Using it near the doorway will make it work again.¡± The Ophidianite glanced at Zhao, ¡°I¡¯m sensing a but. It can¡¯t be that easy.¡± ¡°Well¡­ do you want the good news or the bad first?¡± ¡°The good.¡± ¡°The good is that it¡¯s a guaranteed reward for the first time ever clear of the hard mode. Which will be the case if you beat it. The bad news is that no one figured out how to get into the hard mode yet. So that¡¯s up to you.¡± Hera sighed, ¡°Do you have any hints?¡± ¡°Just one, and that¡¯s all I can say. Consider the penguin.¡± ¡°Consider the penguin?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Zhao nodded. ¡°Ok then¡­ Consider the penguin. We¡¯ll figure something out. Can you just tell me how many tries do we get? Cause if the whole thing takes longer than 10 days is not worth it.¡± ¡°You have between 3 and 4 attempts of the normal mode. And 1 or 2 of the hard mode. I can¡¯t say the actual time it takes because your timer is out, but it is possible that it makes this faster for you,¡± Zhao glanced to the side, ¡°Now you say something,¡± he groaned and pulled his hood back up, ¡°Lady Quetzaveth. This one asks for your forgiveness, but this one¡¯s return was requested by the master. May the sands bless your steps,¡± Zhao Ye bowed once more and stepped backwards, vanishing in the shadows. Not long after, Hera stepped out of the bunker and saw Helena, eagerly waiting. ¡°So? Did you find anything?¡± ¡°Do you want the good news, the bad, or the worst first?¡± ¡°The good,¡± Helena replied without missing a beat. ¡°I found a way to get out of there. It¡¯s in a dungeon. It¡¯s a guaranteed drop from the hard mode, and it will be a first time clear so we can even get a level up. And we have a few chances to clear the dungeon before it makes no sense to continue. The bad news is that no one found a way to trigger the hard mode.¡± ¡°And the worst?¡± ¡°The dungeon is about two hours southeast, or,¡± Hera turned to Nimbus, ¡°A shorter trip.¡± Helena lost all the color in her face, ¡°Can¡¯t we walk?¡± Nimbus crossed his arms, ¡°I don¡¯t even want to take you.¡± Hera sighed, but the three headed to the door, despite all the jokes, they knew there was only one real option to get there. 929 - An Escape attempt Qing Yulan looked back at the road, her eyes full of worry. It was hard to say if they would move fast enough, and even harder to believe they would escape their pursuer. But there wasn¡¯t much she could do. Her mission was to bring back Yu Yuwei. No matter the cost. Those were the words Elden Huo said to her. It was only due to bad luck that they encountered some from the Ironwood Fortress Sect. And an even worse luck made that person be one of the promising young masters on the way to the Sky Sword meeting. Cultivators like him brought shame to their name. People who would oppress the weak for no other reason than they could. To make matters worse, Yu Yuwei had caught his eye in the worst way possible. That despicable man who was in the Nascent Soul Realm only cared about making others play with what was in his pants. Both Qing Yulan and Yu Yuwei would rather die than to perform such an act. Their only saving grace was the fact that a merchant was leaving Jade Sky city and, even better, he wasn¡¯t going directly to Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, but to the Moonlit Harbor instead. The young master from the Ironwood Fortress Sect had no reason to follow them here. But Qing Yulan¡¯s hopes were shattered once she glanced out of the cart. A figure dashed through the air, approaching at a staggering speed. The brown robes with orange trim signaling their origin. The Ironwood Fortress Sect. Somehow, the young master caught their trail. Somehow, he was able to chase them all the way here, even days after they had left. The figure landed like a meteor, a wave of dirt moving rapidly through the ground until it reached the cart, stopping just under the wheels, stopping it from moving. The Qi required for such an attack should be staggering, and the control that followed was so precise that it wouldn¡¯t surprise Qing Yulan if this person was in the Void Projection Realm, or even In the Heavenly Ascension Realm. Maybe she would be dealing with one of the seniors from the Ironwood Fortress, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Walking with a grin towards the cart was Feng Tianhong, grandson of the third elder of his sect. The same young master that had his sight on Yu Yuwei. His brown robes flowed with each step, the orange trimming almost glowing under the sun, or maybe that was an effect of his very own power. Qing Yulan knew she couldn¡¯t let him take Yu Yuwei, she would fight, even if it was pointless, to protect their honor. With luck, she would be dead instead of just crippled when he made it past her. But what happened next was far from what she expected. A groan and a huff came from the forest to her right. At first, Qing Yulan thought this was supposed to be the Misty Eye Jungle. A place known for its various animals and nurturing mist. However, they had crossed the threshold of that jungle a couple hundred meters ago. Now, this was the Forest of Lost Souls. The one place in the entire spiral that no one, not even the strongest elders, dare to cross. There were tales of monsters so ancient and so powerful sleeping on those hills that even someone in the Eternal Void Realm would have nightmares thinking about it. Yet, two people walked off the forest, talking and complaining like this was nothing. One of them had a beautiful black skin, with her even darker hair raising from her head like a cloud. She wore an unusual set of clothes, tight on the top and loose in the bottom and mostly black, clearly made to show her figure, with streaks of white making her seem slimmer. The other was blond, wearing a small shirt that kept her arms mostly exposed, and some long, fitted pants that were just as strange as her companions. Yet, that wasn¡¯t the oddest thing about her. This woman, this¡­ person, if she could be called that, had a snake like tail and light purple scales covering most of her body. ¡°I still don¡¯t get it why Nimbus couldn¡¯t have just taken us out of there,¡± the black skinned woman groaned. ¡°The trees were too close together, you saw how he could barely move,¡± the¡­Snake? Woman replied. ¡®What kind of cultivation could change your body in such a way?¡¯ Qing Yulan asked herself. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we have just pushed them aside? Or even taken one down?¡± the woman in black asked. The one with a tail turned at her with a confused expression, ¡°You didn¡¯t notice that mana? Everything there was so tangled up in each other. If we tried that I don¡¯t know what would¡¯ve happened. The entire forest might have exploded.¡± The black skinned woman stared at the snake lady, ¡°No I didn¡¯t. Why didn¡¯t you say something.¡± ¡°But I did,¡± there was a pause, ¡°In my head.¡± The woman wearing all black sighed, ¡°Sweetie. I get that¡¯s how you talk with your court, but you really need to share those things with the rest of us mortals that can¡¯t communicate telepathically.¡± ¡®Were they talking about destroying the Forest of Lost Souls? Was such a thing possible? And was the black woman a mortal? I can¡¯t feel their cultivation,¡¯ Qing Yulan¡¯s thoughts stopped as she noticed Feng Tianhong approaching the newcomers. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Who dares stand in my path!?¡± the man howled. The two women looked at him before their eyes went wide in confusion. They looked back at each other, ignoring the young master completely. ¡°Lena¡­ is that a cultivating Orc?¡± the snake woman asked. ¡°I think it is,¡± the black woman glanced back at Feng Tianhong, ¡°You know, I always imagined that since their fangs are that big, they would¡¯ve been careful with them. Like brush properly instead of letting it turn all yellow like that.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon Lena. It¡¯s clear that they don¡¯t have that much technology here. Personal hygiene might not be a priority for these people. Even if it looks nasty,¡± the snake lady shrugged. Qing Yulan held in a gasp, ¡®They are disparaging the pride of the Ironwood Fortress! Their students spend years cultivating their Qi on their tusks to use it during combat. The concentration of energy causes it to change color to that pale brown.¡¯ ¡°You worthless vermin! I shall flog you myself for such offense!¡± Feng Tianhong growled, stomping towards the two women. With each of his steps, the ground trembled. But when getting closer, he stopped. While Feng Tianhong talked, the two women continued their conversation. Almost as if he wasn¡¯t even there. ¡°So this is a Wuxia dungeon?¡± the snake lady asked. ¡°Xianxia. Not Wuxia,¡± the black woman replied. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°But I am a magnanimous scholar,¡± Feng Tianhong glanced towards the one wearing all black, ¡°I had some with a complexion similar to yours before, but you.¡± Without even acknowledging what was just said, the black woman continued, ¡°One is high fantasy, the other is low fantasy. Wuxia is like civilians or low-level people being noble. Xianxia is the one with the whole, defy the heavens motif.¡± ¡°I see. Man, I miss reading those stories. I know we kind of live one, but it was fun. I need to get some time to read when I have a chance,¡± the snake laid sighed. ¡°Well, we are at war. It¡¯s understandable, but even before you didn¡¯t stop all that often,¡± the black woman nodded, ¡°Yeah, I agree with that, Sweetie. You do need to stop and smell the flowers. Especially now that you will live for much longer. If you keep going like you are, you will end up running out of steam and having to deal with a long life after it.¡± Feng Tianhong was a bit flustered about not being addressed, but he continued, turning to the snake lady. His hand reached out to her shoulder, ¡°It will be the first time I enjoy someone with the cultivation of a snake. I will give you the honor of warming my bed ton-¡° Before he could finish speaking, the tail of the snake lady wrapped around Feng Tianhong¡¯s leg. His initial reaction was of amusement, as if he had proven he was right. But that was only until the powerful tail wiped around, holding him upside down, that his face changed. ¡°I would say respect people¡¯s personal space, but it doesn¡¯t matter anyway,¡± the snake lady grumbled before her tail cracked like a whip, slamming Feng Tianhong on the ground. It moved to the other side, doing the same thing again. And again, and again, and again. All the while, she continued her conversation. ¡°I mean, part of what I did felt like a vacation. Like traveling with Alex. That was super fun. Even if we ended up cursed at the end.¡± The black woman nodded, ¡°That may be. But what are your plans for when the war is over?¡± ¡°First check if everyone is ok. My dad, the dwarves, Blue, Leo, and his uncle. Well, that¡¯s probably going to be the second thing. I will have to deal with a bunch of bullshit related to the council. Either way, after that, I want to explore Deakoshara. Who knows what the old Naga left behind? I¡¯m pretty sure Shane is going to have an aneurysm if I take too long to start.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but notice the lack of ¡®resting¡¯ on those plans,¡± Helena frowned. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll take things easy. Besides, Shane only needs one or two ruins to get off my back. Trust me, she is going to have a full day when she can go there,¡± the snake lady lifted Feng Tianhong from the ground, his face a bloody mess and one of his tusks had broken off completely. ¡°You¡­ will¡­ pay¡­ for¡­ this¡­ The¡­ Ironwood¡­ Fortress¡­. Sect¡­ Will-¡° Feng Tianhong struggled to speak each word, blood flowing from his mouth. ¡°Oh shut up,¡± the snake lady tossed him to the side, sending the young master flying in the air. Following that, she manifested a Qi dagger in her hand and tossed at the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. The dagger hit its mark and exploded, destroying not just Feng Tianhong¡¯s body, but even his clothes were gone without a trace. ¡®They must be in the Immortal Soul Realm! No, even higher! That¡¯s why I can¡¯t see their cultivation. Divine Manifestation? No, Eternal Void?¡¯ Qing Yulan¡¯s eyes went wide, staring at the two women who looked like mortals in her eyes. Still in her stupor, Qing Yulan watched as the snake lady turned around and waved her right hand a couple of times. All footsteps, all distortions and impact craters on the ground were quickly fixed. Even the rock under the cart, which was stopping it from moving, vanished with no trace that it was ever there. ¡®That¡­ Such a profound understanding of the earth. She must be in the Celestial Sovereign Realm, a step away from ascension!¡¯ Qing Yulan screamed in her mind. Her heart pounding wildly. If she was right, these two would have no problems killing her and her entire sect. Especially once they discover Yu Yuwei was the reason for their encounter with the young master from the Ironwood Fortress Sect. ¡°You are not even getting the drop?¡± the black woman asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want whatever he dropped. Even if it¡¯s a good item, it¡¯s not worth the greasiness,¡± the snake lady huffed as the two walked towards the cart. Qing Yulan quickly came out and laid on her hands and knees, her forehead touching the floor, ¡°This Qing Yulan thanks the masters for protecting us from Feng Tianhong. If I may be so bold, please take my life as payment. I only ask that you let the young lady continue her journey to the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit.¡± The two women looked at each other, and the snake lady kneeled down by Qing Yulan. ¡°Yulan, right? We don¡¯t need any payment. That guy was clearly a bad guy, and we only did what we had to do. We would only ask to accompany you on your travel to the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, as that is also our destination. As I said, we require no payment, but if it will ease the burden on your heart, your company on this travel shall be the payment,¡± the snake lady reached one hand out to help Qing Yulan get up. The black woman chuckled, ¡°You say you hate that kind of thing, but you are becoming an expert on politics, Sweetie.¡± ¡°Not by choice,¡± the snake lady grumbled, and turned to Qing Yulan again, ¡°My name is Quetzaveth Hera, you may call me Hera. And this is Dittro Helena, and you may call her Helena.¡± 930 - Moonlit Harbor
Hera was on the cart, with Helena by her side, talking with Qing Yulan. She, like everyone who was a part of this dungeon, was an Orc. But instead of the burly barbarians that one would expect, here, all Orcs were very proper and acted like characters in a Chinese story about martial arts. Long flowy robes with bright and specific colors signaling their sect. In Yulan¡¯s case, it was the classic jade green with some light pastel tones of beige and white. But oddly enough, Yu Yuwei¡¯s clothes were different. Her dress was in shades of yellow with small orange splashes, giving her the look of a summer flower. Both of them had that deep green skin, but unlike the man the Ophidianite had killed, their tusks were pristine. Yuwei was sleeping, but she seemed younger than Yulan, even if it was hard to tell by how much. The petite Orc laid down on the floor of the wagon as soon as she arrived and fell asleep, seemingly undisturbed by the noise and the movement. According to Yulan, they were traveling to the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, to find one of the elders during the Sky Sword meeting. Helena was quick enough on the uptake and asked about that meeting. Saying that they were away for a long time and couldn¡¯t remember an event that went by that name. That seemed only to increase Yulan¡¯s awe, who now looked at the pair as if they were gods walking among men. Or Orc in this case. The Sky Sword meeting was actually a tournament where the junior disciples of each sect would exhibit their progress. There were prizes for the winner, of course, but the real reason for all of this was something else. Every young member who participated had hopes of catching the eye of one of the wandering masters who would attend. Those were elders without a sect, people who were able to reach the peak of power without being helped by an entire organization. Which meant they had a vast amount of personal wealth and resources that could all be funneled to a single person. Yulan didn¡¯t question how they knew where they were going, but the Empress had to thank the quest of this dungeon for that. Without it, once they arrived and saw someone being chased, it would be hard to tell who they were supposed to help. And the last thing she wanted was to help those young master types. While the cart was moving, Hera opened the quest window again to double check things. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest - Protect the princess A caravan is taking a young lady to the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit. Protect her until she finds her master. First time rewards: Wandering Elder¡¯s gift 3 million gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only problem with that quest was that it didn¡¯t make it clear who they should escort. Qing Yulan, or Yu Yuwei. It was also very subjective. Was her master the person who sent them here, or the one who raised them? Or would their task be to have one of them be accepted by one of the wandering masters? Maybe all options were correct and bringing them to any of the masters would work, the only difference being the kind of reward they got. ¡°Lady Hera, we are getting close to the riverways. Would you allow us to close the flaps of the cart? Master Chen, the driver, wishes to protect his wares from the damp air,¡± Yulan asked. The Empress glanced at Helena to ask for confirmation, just in case, and got a nod in reply, ¡°Sure. This is Master Chen¡¯s cart. He has all the right to act the way he feels it would be better for his goods.¡± Yulan smiled and reached out, closing the two flaps at the back of the cart. The front had a similar curtain, but the merchant Chen Haoran¡¯s back would usually be seen there. Right now, they could only see the cloth that covered the entirety of the wagon, making them completely hidden from the outside world. Yulan went back to her seat, but one second after she adjusted herself, the Orc woman stood up again, opening the flaps to reveal a grand port city. There were dozens of houses in the old Chinese style and hundreds of people walking back and forth. A good number of them were merchants either setting up small stands, or looking over freshly delivered goods. There was a smell of herbs and spices in the air, and it looked like it was just a few hours after dawn. ¡°I hope the trip was enjoyable, Lady Hera, Lady Helena,¡± Yulan bowed to them as she stepped out of the wagon. Yuwei followed right after. Now that they were side by side like this, it truly looked like they were sisters. With Yulan being the oldest one, in her early 20s, while Yuwei could be anywhere between 12 and 15. Hera felt a bit discombobulated with the situation. She knew that some dungeons sped up travel or time in order to skip the ¡®boring¡¯ parts, but it still was an odd experience. ¡°It was,¡± Helena nodded as she climbed out of the cart, ¡°I hope we were not boring company.¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± Yulan protested, ¡°Seeing the two of you in deep meditation was enlightening. This Qing Yulan thanks you for the honor.¡± The merchant Chen Haoran approached before anyone could say anything else, ¡°Lady Hera, Lady Helena, Lady Qing, Lady Yu. I hope your journey was comfortable. Now I have some business to take care of in the city, but we can leave for the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit in the morning, if that is agreeable.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Yulan glanced at the two travelers that were accompanying her waiting for their response. ¡°That would be lovely. Thank you for letting us accompany you on this journey,¡± Hera gave a slight bow, as people used to do in the stories she read. Merchant Chen became a bit flustered, his cheek turning a shade of brown. He bowed, back, an awkward gesture, not because he wasn¡¯t used to that kind of thing, but because he was clearly unsure of the correct move. As he never had been on the receiving end of gratitude from such esteemed masters. Once the rotund merchant took the cart away, Yulan asked, ¡°If I may be so bold. Lady Hera, Lady Helena, have you ever been to the Moonlit Harbor?¡± Helena shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. At least from what I remember there was nothing here,¡± the mage was having fun with the concept of ¡®a sage from ancient times,¡¯ she was playing up. ¡°In that case, this Qing Yulan will gladly show you around. If that is acceptable, of course.¡± ¡°Of course it is,¡± Hera nodded, ¡°It would be great to have such a knowledgeable tour guide.¡± Yulan¡¯s eyes sparkled as she took charge and started showing the place. They stopped by a few restaurants, then went to the central market. Yulan showed the great theater, an open circular stage where various Orcs would show off their art. From music, to dances, to paintings and even actual plays, although the latter was a rarity this close to the Sky Sword meeting. The truly good presentations were all being saved for the event. With only small snippets being shown as to increase the interest in the tale to be told. ¡°Man. I think my court would love this place, but I¡¯m not sure if they will freak people out. And Livy won¡¯t be able to get inside most of the buildings we passed by,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Call them. We are in a dungeon and it¡¯s better for us to know what is going on and how they will react than just to do nothing,¡± Helena replied. ¡°You really don¡¯t think Yulan is going to freak out when she sees them?¡± ¡°Oh no, she will freak out. I¡¯m sure of it, but maybe she won¡¯t just collapse.¡± Hera shook her head with a smile, ¡°You know, I forget that side of you sometimes.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Helena replied with a completely innocent smile. One that could fool anyone who didn¡¯t know the mage and her trickster streak any better. The Empress called her blades, all who appeared as quietly as possible, while Yulan guided them to the next spot on her tour. The harbor itself. It was a massive port with at least two dozen large boats sitting on the docks. Every one of them vessels that could be used to either brave the ocean, ferry thousands of people across the water, or defend the city against even the strongest of armies. But the real crown jewel of the place wasn¡¯t docked. Or at least it wasn¡¯t close to the shore. About one kilometer or so into the water was a massive ship. It towered over twenty meters above the waves, and it was so wide that it almost looked like an island in the distance. The entire thing was made out of an ominous dark wood, with a gigantic sail emblazoned with twin golden koi fish. ¡°And this is the Ghost Carp. The best ship in the Emperor¡¯s navy. They say it can even climb up waterfalls and once it does, the ship will turn into a dragon itself, and¡­¡± Yulan turned around and froze. Her eyes wide and mouth ajar. Yuwei had noticed the court a few moments ago, and her eyes were locked on Livy. The large form of the sea serpent was so similar to that of a dragon that the girl couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Helena asked, holding back a laughter. ¡°Are¡­ Can you see this?¡± Yulan asked, her eyes darting from titled blade to titled blade. Only then she noticed the various floating weapons moving around. ¡°What?¡± Hera played along, even if she was already starting to feel a bit bad. ¡°Those¡­ they¡­ what are they?¡± Yulan pushed Yuwei behind her. Getting in a fighting stance, ready to protect her charge. ¡°Oh? The little one thinks she can stop us?¡± Livy snarled, but her voice didn¡¯t sound serious. There was some laughter between her words. For everyone who knew the Leviathan, this would be enough to understand she was playing around, but for someone who had just met her, it gave the impression of seeing someone cruel and sadistic. ¡°Lady Hera, Lady Helena, there are monsters behind you!¡± Yulan said, confused as to why the two masters didn¡¯t notice them. ¡°We know,¡± Helena said with a smirk that drained all the color from Yulan¡¯s face. The Orc woman was sure she had just brought ruin to the Moonlit Harbor. ¡°Ok, ok. Joke is over,¡° Hera stepped forward, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, they are with me. And no, they are not going to attack anyone. I just thought they might like to see the harbor.¡± Yulan blinked slowly, and focused her eyes on the court, ¡°Qi beasts? Is that why I can¡¯t feel your cultivation, Lady Hera? You have given it to them?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to answer that. But yes, they gain their power through me. And I¡¯m sorry for not letting you know beforehand,¡± Hera glanced at Helena, ¡°Someone wanted to play a prank.¡± The mage huffed, ¡°It was funny, and it¡¯s not a big deal. You are too serious sometimes.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± Yuwei pointed at the Leviathan, speaking for the first time since they met her. ¡°I am Livy, the Leviathan, little one,¡± the titled blade replied, her voice full of pride. ¡°Are you a dragon?¡± Livy nodded, ¡°A sea dragon.¡± ¡°Can you take me to the Ice Island?¡± Yuwei asked. ¡°Yuwei¡­ you know she¡¯s not there. Right?¡± Yulan turned to the smaller Orc. ¡°Who?¡± Helena asked. ¡°My mom. She left for the Ice Island. She said she would come back when she learned how to control her power, but that happened before my 6th birthday. I¡¯m worried she was hurt. Or forgot how to get home. She never had a good sense of direction,¡± Yuwei explained. ¡°Yuwei, we can¡¯t ask that kind of thing. They can¡¯t take us all the way there. And we don¡¯t know if your mom is still on the Ice Island. She likely already left,¡± Yulan sighed. It was clear this wasn¡¯t the first time she had to say this kind of thing. Hera and Helena glanced at each other. ¡°A master of ice lost on an island?¡± Helena tilted her head. ¡°It could be,¡± Hera nodded and turned to the Sentinel, ¡°Any chance you could take all of us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Too much weight. But since we are going to an island, we could split the groups. One with me, and the other with Livy,¡± Nimbus glanced at the Leviathan. When in the water, she was almost as fast as the Sentinel was in the air. Almost. Hera nodded and turned to the two Orcs, ¡°Sure, we can take you there. How far is it?" 931 - Ice Island
Hera and Helena decided to split up. The mage would fly on Nimbus, who had a [Royal Quest] to allow for him to be a bit farther away from the Empress without causing problems. Riding along Helena was Yu Yuwei, her yellow flower dress looking like a streak of sunlight across the sky. Just below them, Livy was taking Hera and Qing Yulan. In reality, the Leviathan was more than capable of taking everyone just by herself, but Yulan vehemently refused to let Yuwei travel in the cold water like that. Apparently, the younger Orc had some health issues, and whenever it got too cold, she would get sick. So, she would be taken to a different family estate during winter to escape the cold weather. In addition, the possibility of sea monsters made Yulan protest so much that they decided to go with the original plan of splitting up. But that didn¡¯t mean they were far away from each other. Nimbus was moving just a few meters above Livy, who dashed through the water unimpeded. Even some of the nearby monsters would rush away when seeing the Leviathan approach. Hera herself was having a blast, she didn¡¯t get that many chances of being carried by Livy and there was something special about feeling the waves splash on her legs as the Leviathan cut across the ocean. The water was a bit cold, despite the afternoon sun and the warm temperature of the place. Then again, that was pretty common for the ocean. Hera realized she was only expecting something different because of Neptara. Around the triton capital things felt warmer, and more comfortable. Yulan, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem to be having such a good time. Her clothes were drenched, and she was starting to shiver due to the cold. To Hera, that was a bit odd, after all, in the stories, cultivators wouldn¡¯t be affected by the elements like that. ¡®Livy, let me know if this makes it harder for you to swim. I¡¯ll ask Nimbus to slow down if that¡¯s the case,¡¯ the Empress said in the Leviathan¡¯s mind before tapping Yulan and casting a Fire Elemental armor on not just her, but also herself and Livy, just for the hell of it. She had more than enough mana to keep that for a few hours, and it would make them warm during the entire time. Something that, ever since she became an Ophidianite, wasn¡¯t as easy as it used to be. Having her blood being colder than that of a human¡¯s was a weird feeling, one that she only realized in situations like this. Hera was hot all the time, and having a chance to get close to the water felt amazing. If it wasn¡¯t for Yulan, she wouldn¡¯t have even used that spell on herself. But touching someone with that specific magic armor, without one similar, would end up hurting. They continued traveling for a few minutes, only then the Orc woman stopped shivering and realized what was going on. The flames surrounding her body startled her at first, but then brought something else. Yulan started to meditate while watching the fire, and quickly, the mana around her body stabilized. Hera only noticed that because of her affinity to mana. Without it, that difference would¡¯ve sneaked past her. Out of curiosity, she triggered [Observe]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qing Yulan - Level 24 - Wind Affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qing Yulan - Level 25 - Wind Affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qing Yulan - Level 26 - Wind Affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera raised one eyebrow, seeing someone level up in real time like that was strange. Even by her standards. After stopping at level 26, Yulan continued meditating for a few more minutes before turning around. ¡°I thank you for your guidance, master Hera.¡± The Empress smiled, ¡°There is no need to thank me. This was not my intention, only a happy accident. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, where are you right now? I head some mentions of various stages, but Helena and I classify our power in a different way.¡± ¡°I am still in the Core Formation realm. But thanks to your display of power, I was able to move from the 3rd step to the 6th step. Usually, one takes years to move a single step. But thanks to your insight on the nature of the world, I was able to improve much faster,¡± Yulan tried to bow to Hera, but it was hard to do something like that while riding Livy. ¡°I¡¯m happy to help. By the way, any ideas where Helena and I would be in the classification?¡± Yulan stared at Hera for a moment, ¡°It is hard to tell, master Hera. The cultivation realms are, Foundation, Spirit Refinement, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Void Projection, Heavenly Ascension, Immortal Soul, Divine Manifestation, Eternal Void, and Celestial Sovereign. Each of them is made up of 10 steps. It is said that once you go beyond the 10th step of the Celestial Sovereign Realm, you ascend, becoming one with the stars, and gaining the ability to create your own domain. But it¡¯s been eons since no one was even able to go past the Divine Manifestation Realm. People tend to¡­ Hit a wall, for the lack of a better term. A barrier that, no matter how many resources are utilized, cannot be broken. But to answer your question. I don¡¯t know. It is very hard to gauge the realm of someone stronger than you. The best thing I can say is that your power feels similar to one of the elders of my sect. He is in the 2nd step of the Heavenly Ascension Realm. But saying you are close is just a guess. Trying to say that for certain would be the same as looking towards the ocean and saying there is more water to the east or to the north.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hera nodded, if she understood that correctly, those cultivation realms were actually breaks that happened every 10 levels. So the Heavenly Ascension Realm should be from levels 51 to 60. Which meant that Yulan¡¯s guess was close to reality. Hera should be at the 7th step of the Heavenly Ascension Realm, since she was level 57. The odd part was the mention of the Divine Manifestation Realm. That meant no one was able to go past level 80 for some reason. As far as the Empress knew, there wasn¡¯t a barrier or something stopping people from leveling up beyond that. Maybe it was something related to the dungeon? ¡°Hera! Look there. To the left,¡± Helena shouted through their communicators. They had yet to need to use that during the travels, and when riding Nimbus they were mostly useless due to the sound of the wind, but the message still came through. In the distance, emerging from a thick layer of fog, was a massive island made out of the most pure blue ice any of them had ever seen. Calling it an island was a disservice, it was closer to a full blow palace. The seemingly jagged peaks would connect and spread, forming magnificent towers that raised up as if defying the heavens themselves. All around the island were shards of ice protecting it from invaders, yet there were small gaps that allowed for the wildlife to thrive, monsters that looked like tiny seals, polar bears with blue fur, and large monkey like beings walked around those small crevasses. Yet, despite the size of that landmass, the water didn¡¯t seem any more cold than it was supposed to be. They started to move around the island, watching as how ice shards would shoot out from the water at anything that tried to approach through. Be it a sea monster, a bird-like creature or just some random derbies carried by the water. Yet, the monsters of the island moved through, unmolested by the ice itself. Once Nimbus and Livy reached the opposite side of the landmass, they found a massive cave like structure, so big that any of the ships from the Moonlit Harbor could go inside, except for the Ghost Carp. However, that vessel would only have problems because of the sail, everything else should still fit inside. ¡°Master Hera. If we really are going there, can I ask you to use this spell on Lady Yu?¡± Yulan asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Hera nodded and looked up, ¡®Nimbus, can you hear me?¡¯ ¡®I can, -press¡¯ the Sentinel¡¯s voice was choppy. He wasn¡¯t in the normal range, but he was still close enough to communicate. It was like talking through a bad walkie talkie. ¡®Can you use the Fire Elemental armor on Yuwei and Lena? I¡¯ll take over once we land,¡¯ the Empress asked. ¡®Sorry. Wha-,¡® Nimbus replied. ¡®I said, can you use the Fire Elemental armor on Yuwei and Lena?¡¯ Hera tried again. ¡®I can¡¯t -stand -ou¡¯ the Sentinel tried his best, but the connection wasn¡¯t good. ¡°For fuck¡¯s,¡± Hera grumbled before touching the communicator around her neck, ¡°Lena. Can you ask Nimbus to put a Fire Elemental armor on you, Yuwei, and himself? I¡¯ll take over when we land.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good idea. Want me to handle that? I have a similar thing.¡± ¡°Sure, but if you feel you can¡¯t handle it, tag Nimbus in. If you are using light, maybe it won¡¯t be enough to deal with the cold.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± a moment later, the Sentinel, as well as the two riders, Helena and Yu Yuwei, were covered in a bright light. Becoming a pair of flares in the sky. ¡®There goes any chance of not attracting attention,¡¯ Livy shook her head as they started to turn towards the opening. There were no ice shards in that area, but that didn¡¯t stop the Empress from sending the snakes from her bracelet through the water to make sure there were no traps. Only once that proved to be the case did the group advanced. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the island, a powerful wave of cold hit everyone¡¯s bodies. Even Hera, with the Fire Elemental Armor, started to shiver. She glanced up, trying to see if Nimbus and Helena were ok, but the two just sped up, reaching the ice shore in just a couple of seconds. Livy went right after her, but it still took her around two minutes to get there. The moment Hera arrived, she saw that Yu Yuwei wasn¡¯t looking great. She was trembling, and her fingers were quickly turning blue, even if her skin was supposed to be green. ¡°Lena, change with me. Let me use the fire armor,¡± the Ophidianite did just that, but there wasn¡¯t much difference, Yuwei was still shivering and looking worse by the second. ¡°We need to leave this place!¡± Yulan cried. ¡°No! I need to find my mom,¡± Yuwei protested. Hera and Helena exchanged a look. As cruel as it sounded, this was likely related to the hard mode. A dungeon wouldn¡¯t have this kind of interaction otherwise. ¡°I have an idea. Vulcan, come out!¡± Hera quickly called. Forge appeared, in his full titled form, ¡°Hera, what do you need?¡± ¡°You have a pouch, right? A marsupial pouch, I mean. And you can make fire in your stomach. Can Yuwei fit in there? In the pouch.¡± Vulcan nodded, removing his apron, ¡°Yeah, she can. It will be tight, but she can.¡± ¡°Ok then. Make sure to keep her warm,¡± Hera turned to Yuwei, ¡°You are going to stay whit him, and we will try to find your mom, but the moment we confirm this is too much for you we are leaving.¡± Despite everything, Hera couldn¡¯t bring herself to, essentially, torture the girl just to find the hard mode. Yuwei nodded and climbed into Forge¡¯s pouch. Vulcan igniting his internal furnace to heat up even more. Yuwei¡¯s complexion seemed to improve, but she still required Hera¡¯s Fire Elemental armor not to freeze to death. ¡°Let¡¯s move,¡± Helena said. ¡°Nimbus, you are free to move around, see if you can find anything ahead while we move,¡± Hera turned back to the path before pulling Ariadne from her waist and asking another question. The cooldown of that skill was over and she might as well confirm one thing. Pumping 20 million mana by using some of the stones on her along with her mana, she asked, ¡°Is the way to get to the hard mode of this dungeon on this island?¡± The screen flickered with one single word, ¡®Yes.¡¯ 932 - Invaders
Nimbus took to the skies, but as he passed by the opening on top of the cave, the island started attacking him. Shards of ice and large chunks of frozen water flew at the Sentinel with deadly precision. If it wasn¡¯t for his barriers, he would have a hard time flying around. Even then, he didn¡¯t have that much time as the longer he stayed in the sky, the harder the attacks became. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take long for him to notice a path heading deeper into the island. As he came back to the ground, Hera and the others were already running across the path, leaving the cave. For now, everything was just ice, but it was clear that snow would also be a problem, or maybe their saving grace. Running over ice wasn¡¯t easy. Helena wasn¡¯t really running, but using her shadow grabbers to carry her. Hera, Vulcan, and Yulan were all leaving small pieces of molten ice behind as the Fire Elemental Armor still burned. Even with that, it was still hard for them to run properly. The floor was too slippery. Hera almost fell to the ground a couple of times with her tail being the only thing that saved her. Yulan, on the other hand, tumbled three times, having to roll around on the ice to get back up. Vulcan didn¡¯t have that kind of problem since he was just staying still as Sun, Glacia, and Clay worked together to pull him. Letting the kangaroo skate through the ice using his bare feet. Before Nimbus even came back from the opening above, Hera asked everyone to stop near one large ice rock that could help them steady their footing. ¡°Give me a minute,¡± she quickly opened the [Explorer Blueprint] skill, searched for the simplest shoe she had saved and started tweaking a few details. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Helena glanced to Yuwei, who was currently breathing slowly while in Vulcan¡¯s pouch. She was doing mostly ok, but that wouldn¡¯t last long. ¡°Some snow shoes,¡± the Ophidianite glanced at Vulcan, ¡°Or ice skates. For you, that might work better.¡± ¡°Oh. Can you do that? I thought it took a long time for you to get a blueprint yourself,¡± Helena asked. ¡°It does, but I can edit the ones I do have to some degree. Those are not going to be good snowshoes, and I would much rather make something different, but it¡¯s what I can do for now. If it¡¯s cheap enough, we can at least swap them as we need,¡± Hera explained as she started moving the details of a particular shoe in the skill. She wasn¡¯t going to change the sole, but instead the decorations on the outside to transform them into spikes. ¡°Is this really the best option? Can¡¯t you use a spell to make your boots better to walk on ice?¡± Helena asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know one like that. Do you?¡± Hera asked. The mage shook her head. ¡°Then¡­ Viper, start trying to make a spell like that. An armor type spell and focus it on feet. Think you can handle it?¡± Hera asked the pair of floating daggers. The entire court was out, ready for anything that could show up. Viper hesitated, ¡®I don¡¯t know if I can make it in time to help here, but I¡¯ll try!¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking. Don¡¯t worry if it takes too long. We can always try something later. Worst case, we see about getting some ideas when we are back in civilization,¡± Hera smiled at the white dagger. Viper nodded and flew to the Empress waist. It would be easier to work if he didn¡¯t have to worry about moving around. It took Hera around 10 minutes to finish up the shoes. Most of that time was spent on her own pair and Vulcan¡¯s, since the two had the largest changes. One of the disadvantages of having claws instead of nails. Yulan had surprisingly big feet, which made her pair of shoes cost a bit more mana than expected. Still, Hera was able to make them for everyone. Nimbus had already returned, and they soon continued moving forward. Walking became easier, but it was still hard. In all honesty, Hera wasn¡¯t sure if the delay was worth it, but she wasn¡¯t going to bring that up. The path led them, seeped into the island, then up, towards an ice tunnel. Only after that, they were able to see the outside. A snowy path led them to the left, going around the massive ice block in the center of the island. Outside, the ground became mostly snow, which made the shoes Hera created not very useful. Thankfully, all they had to do was take them off. Yuwei was no longer looking at all that comfortably, but she still put on a brave face. ¡®Hera, I think her body is fighting back against the cold, that¡¯s why her temperature keeps rising,¡¯ Vulcan spoke in their minds, as he noticed Yuwei starting to struggle.¡¯ ¡®Is she still awake?¡¯ Hera asked. ¡®Yeah. But it¡¯s not looking good.¡¯ ¡®Nimbus, can you fly again? See if there is any place where we might be protected from the cold. Maybe there is a house or something,¡¯ Hera asked without stoning her movement. From the jagged pieces of ice on the left, a group of seals with sleek fur that shimmered in the light appearing almost crystalline emerged. The seals growled at the group and jumped under the snow, vanishing from sight. It almost looked like they were small rodents digging through the ground as they approached. ¡®Empress!¡¯ Nimbus stepped between her and the incoming seals. ¡®Go. We got this. Vulcan, you take care of Yuwei. That¡¯s your priority, Clay and Sun, you cover Vulcan. Everyone else with me,¡¯ Hera quickly gave her command and the group split off. Nimbus begrudgingly took to the skies once more before the seals made contact. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The monsters popped out almost like dolphins jumping from the water. A small trail of ice being created right after their bodies, showing that this was the effect of some sort of skill. One of the seals jumped right to Hera¡¯s side, its mouth opening with a white glow before it tried to bite down. The Ophidianite evaded the attack, moving backwards, but the very air around the bit seemed to freeze and fall to the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t let them bite you!¡± Hera called, but the rest of her group didn¡¯t need that warning. Helena was swatting the seals away like flies, using a series of shadow and light whips that seemed to move on their own. In addition, she summoned her [Shadow Wasp Guard]. Or guards in this case. Two black wasp knights emerged. One of them had six legs, with two of them in the front and another two on the back, carrying the abdomen of the wasp. On its hand, there was what looked like a large broadsword. But instead of Yellow and Black, the wasp guard was mostly black, with a small line of white light coming out as if the shadows were struggling to contain the light inside. While the first guard was large enough to even carry Helena if she needed, the second one was smaller. It only had two legs and two arms, but also a pair of wings. The wasp guard carried a honeycomb shaped shield, and a lance. Its whole body kept the pattern black shadows trying to trap the light. ¡°That is incredible!¡± Yulan gasped. ¡°Since when can you make two?¡± Hera asked as she dodged an attack from a seal, letting Pyro cut the creature in half. ¡°I got the skill to rank 3 the day after the battle. That¡¯s the first time I call the second one,¡± Helena replied as one of the wasp guards crushed a seal with the shield. ¡°You are going to need to start naming them,¡± Hera smirked. ¡°Probably, I¡¯ll ask for help if no good idea comes to mind,¡± the mage chuckled, ¡°We should keep moving, the seals don¡¯t seem to be stopping.¡± Hera glanced back to the part of the ice where the seals were coming from. Like Helena said, they still rushed out in waves of 5 or 6 at a time. ¡°Yeah, maybe it¡¯s a proximity trigger. If not,¡± Hera paused, ¡°Let¡¯s just hope its proximity.¡± They continued moving along the path, trying to run from the seals that still continued to attack as Nimbus flew up to see if there was any place where they could rest. He was barely five meters above the ground once the ice attacks started again. But this time, it wasn¡¯t simply ice shards or blocks of ice. But weapons, swords, spears, staves, and glaives. Every single one of them is made out of pure ice. In a way, the Sentinel felt as if he was being attacked by another version of the court, but at least those blades didn¡¯t have the same maneuverability. They just continued forward in a single direction. Once he blocked, dodged, or parried them, the weapons would continue flying off into the distance. Or so he thought. After reaching a certain height, Nimbus realized the missed attacks weren¡¯t just continuing randomly. Instead, they were almost caught in a wide air current that went all the way around the island before going back to him. Even with all his defenses, barrier and stats, if one of those weapons hit him after getting this much momentum, the Sentinel wouldn¡¯t come out unscathed. And if all of them hit, it was likely he would be destroyed. Which means, he had to figure out whatever he needed to figure out soon, before the ice blades did a full lap around the island. Quickly changing tactics, Nimbus changed to his griffon form and started flying as fast as he could. The eagle eyes helping him noticed anything that could be hidden in the area. At first, nothing came into view, but after a moment, when he was about to dive in order to return to Hera, he saw a small pagoda in the center of the ice formation in the middle of the island. Not just that, but there was grass and flowers near that building. The only area on the entire island that had anything of the sort. To get there, he could risk flying people over, but doing that with Yuwei would be a problem. Alternatively, there was a path directly north of the pagoda that stopped in an ice wall. Maybe that ice was thin and brittle enough to let them break through. With that information in hand, the Sentinel dove, a few moments before the first group of ice weapons made a complete lap around the island. He landed on the ground and spun around, going back to where Hera and the others were. Nimbus arrived just in time to see Livy wrestling with a bear with blue fur that constantly created ice with its claws. Even so, they were no match for the Leviathan, who slammed the creature so hard on the ground that the ice underneath the snow cracked. Behind everyone was a swarm of monsters, the Frostling Seals, the Azure Polar Bears, and the Frostbound Apes, primate creatures with shaggy white fur and elongated limbs. There were some blue streaks all around their body, mixed between their hair and the skin. All monsters rushed towards them. However, despite the number of creatures, no one seemed to be in danger. Hera and the court were all several meters away from the creatures and they were making sure to be at the end of the pack to stop any monster from trying anything. Vulcan was right after Helena, who was being carried by one of her [Shadow Wasp Guards] ¡®I think I found something,¡¯ the Sentinel told Hera as he returned to his blade form. He wouldn¡¯t be able to run properly through all the snow. ¡°What did you find?¡± Hera asked. ¡®About 200 meters ahead, there is a thin wall of ice to our left. That might take us to a house.¡¯ ¡°A house?¡± Hera frowned. Hearing that, Yulan, who was also being carried by the Shadow Wasp Guard, spoke up, ¡°If a cultivator is living here. They should be in a proper house. Not just in the wild.¡± With a nod, everyone redoubled their efforts, making sure to gain some ground over the monsters so they could attempt to enter this passage or whatever it was before being caught by them. It didn¡¯t take long for Nimbus to warn them they had arrived, but there was nothing there. No thin layer of ice, just the same clef going up to the top of this massive ice block in the middle of the island. Still, Hera trusted her blade. The Empress told her court to spread around the wall and triggered Ariadne¡¯s [Echolocation]. The mana from her relic bounced off the ice, unable to reveal anything, until a wave coming from Vulcan reached a small tunnel a few meters ahead. It was a tight fit, but it was clearly an illusion. Hera had to dismiss Livy, while Vulcan passed Yuwei to the Empress. The tunnel was too tight for a kangaroo to jump around. Helena crossed first, with the rest of the ground right after her. Everyone hoping that the monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to follow them. And to their luck, they were correct. Just as they arrived on the other side of the tunnel, the temperature changed drastically. They were no longer shivering due to the biting cold, and now, just a bit chilly. ¡°What the-¡° before Helena could continue her question, a voice rang in everyone¡¯s head. ¡°Come to my house at the top of the hill. We have much to discuss.¡± Yulan¡¯s face lost all color the moment she heard that. Only after a long pause she was able to explain her reaction, ¡°I¡­ I think that was Lady Yu¡¯s mother''s voice.¡± 933 - Master Yu
Everyone walked slowly towards the pagoda. Yuwei still being carried by Vulcan. The girl wasn¡¯t able to wake up, but her complexion was improving. According to Forge, her temperature also was decreasing now that the harsh cold of the island felt more subdued. It was strange. There was nothing around the area that should be able to increase the temperature like that. Yet, that¡¯s what happened. As they stepped across this small path, if it could be called that, leading to the pagoda, the group looked around. Tiny patches of white grass and flowers were growing from the snow itself. More and more vegetation appeared the closer they got to the structure, but it was still curious since there was no actual land here, only ice and snow. The pagoda itself was a sight to behold. It had seven floors, all made out of what could only be described as wooden ice. Each layer was a marvel of crafting, with intricate carvings that utilized even the smallest pieces of the sunlight to refract and create incredible patterns of iridescent blue and white across the surrounding landscape. The way the light bounced showed even more vegetation on the sides of the pagoda, but not all of it was real. A good amount of the grass and flowers were but illusions generated by this unique light display. The base of the building was a solid, immaculately carved block of ice, radiating a faint otherworldly blue glow from within, and a thin layer of mist rolled down from under the steps leading inside. Massive ice columns, as clear as polished glass, supported the weight of the entire structure. Those columns were adorned with carvings of ancient runes and symbols, their meaning lost to Hera and Helena, but still able to emanate energy, not just containing the ice, but reinforcing it. Each floor of the pagoda was a bit smaller than the previous, as one was to expect. The dark blue roof tiles contrasting against the blue sky, almost like a wave frozen in time that defied the heavens themselves. But on a closer inspection, each of the tiles had delicate patterns carved on to them, sunflowers, calendulas, marigolds, and morning glories were depicted. Every single one of those shingles had a unique version of one or a combination of those flowers. Along with carvings of butterflies and moths, grass with morning dew, and pictures of fields of wheat. Without exception, every one of them had one unique image. Icicles hang from the edges of the roof, glistening like natural chandeliers that chimed softly in the cold wind. In the very last floor stood a slender spire, tapering to a fine point that vanished in the sky. The spire was capped with a sculpted ice lotus, but it was unfinished. At the very center of that flower was an empty seat, waiting for something, or someone, who would be able to complete the arrangement. Inside, every chamber was bathed in a cool, calming blue light. The walls were smooth and translucence, allowing the light from the outside world to filter through while also dimming it, so the structure never received the full force of the sun. Each floor was connected by a spiral staircase carved directly into the ice. The steps adorned with even more carvings, but these depicting ancient legends of ice dragons, snow spirits, and celestial guardians. Small alcoves lined the walls, each holding delicate ice sculptures. Some of mythical creatures, others of warriors, or monsters. And others of people, orcish people that Hera couldn¡¯t recognize. Everything in the pagoda was masterfully carved. Created by someone with decades, if not centuries, of experience. But those sculptures, the ones in the alcoves, didn¡¯t have the same polish. Some were crude, clearly the work of someone who has yet to truly understand their craft. Even so, they slowly improved. From the misshapen chunks of ice that attempted to replicate a bear, to the more detailed flower, simple yet elegant. Made with a technique that required precision even if the result didn¡¯t look as impressive as other sculptures. Aside from that, various chairs, rugs, couches, and tables were spread out, creating an elegant ambiance in every room. Yet, all the furniture was made out of ice and snow. Even if it didn¡¯t look like it on a first glance. ¡°Leave the child in the room to your left. The rest of you may meet me upstairs,¡± the voice rang in their minds once more. The one that Yulan said belonged to Yuwei¡¯s mother. This time, Hera noticed two things. First, the voice was commanding, but kind. It showed no hostility or annoyance. Second, it wasn¡¯t like she was talking to her court. As if the voice was going directly into her mind. Instead, it was as if she heard it through earbuds that were even closer to her inner ear than the one she was already wearing. Before anyone had a chance to ask, one of the walls to their left shifted. What seemed like solid ice instead being a sliding door that revealed a second room. One that went directly against many of the clearly intentional effects of the pagoda. Instead of dimming the sunlight, inside, the light from the outside was empowered, becoming even brighter and even warmer. The color also shifted. The blues gave way to whites that now looked more like yellow as the sun refracted on to the walls. In the center of this room was a futon placed on top of a thick layer of some sort of fiber that stopped the cold from going all the way through it. After getting a confirmation from Hera, Vulcan stepped forward and gently placed Yuwei on the bed. He pulled the covers over the girl¡¯s body and turned to the Empress, who replied before he even asked. ¡°Do you want to stay here to make sure she¡¯s ok?¡± ¡°May I?¡± Vulcan asked. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Hera nodded, ¡°Sure. We¡¯ll do the conga line to keep the connection.¡± Forge smiled, his eyes showing an unusual kindness. Vulcan wasn¡¯t the type to lash out for no reason unless the Daemonic Influence became too strong. However, he was the kind of person to keep it to himself, and always made sure to keep some distance between him and everyone. Yet, now, with this young girl, he acted like a concerned parent. Hera notice all that and felt it was better to let him continue. Letting the titled blade explore this new side of him could bring benefits, and she could tell he was just worried about Yuwei. Along with Yulan and Helena, the Ophidianite started going up the stairs. Leaving one of her blades on each floor, but making sure that Nimbus, Lurize, Livy, and the twins were by her side. They climbed only two floors, being guided by a small gust of cold wind to a large room in the center of the third floor. ¡°You may enter,¡± a soft but icy voice rang from the other side of a sliding door disguised as a wall. The block of ice shifted and revealed the interior of the room. It was much like the rest of the pagoda. All furniture made out of ice in a way that it was hard to believe. The tapestry moved like proper fabric, even if it was simply packed snow, the chairs and tables didn¡¯t radiate the cold that one would expect of ice. There were three chairs a few steps beyond the door, and on the opposite end of a long corridor, a woman stood looking at them. She had pale green skin, something similar to how Yulan¡¯s skin looked after a thin layer of snow covered her arm. But for this woman, that was her natural state. She wasn¡¯t as bulky as one would expect from an Orc, however, that was only on a first look. Despite her lean build, this woman was extremely toned, her muscles seemed to be carved in granite, or, in this case, ice. Her clothes allowed the group to notice that. Long flowing robes of deep blue and white embroidery with silver threads creating patterns of frost and snowflakes covered her torso, but unlike the classic cultivator that Hera knew, her clothes were sleeveless. The robes were also extremely thin, and in some places, almost see through. The only part of her clothing that looked actually made for the cold weather was her boots. A pair of fur-lined boots that went almost to her knees, clearly made with parts of the monsters that lived on the island. Yuwei¡¯s mother had sharp and chiseled features with high cheekbones and a jawline that gave off a regal apparency. Her tusks were smaller and more refined than most Orcs, looking almost like inverted vampire fangs instead of the imposing teeth of a warthog. Around her neck was a simple pendant with a piece of deep blue ice encasing something metallic that none of them could make it from this distance. Her eyes were piercing icy blue, a blue that made all the surrounding colors seem dull. Hera, Helena and Yulan stepped forward once their shock dissipated and sat on the chairs, as the eyes of this Orc woman seemed to be commanding them to do. ¡°I thank you for escorting my daughter so far. That being said, I do not appreciate you bringing her to my doorstep,¡± the woman said, her voice carrying through the hallway perfectly even if those listening were at least twenty meters away. Yulan quickly got up and bowed, placing one open hand over a closed fist in front of her, ¡°My apologies, master Yu. Lady Yu was adamant about searching for you, and I assumed that humoring her request would lead us nowhere. Once she grew tired, we could simply return to the Moonlit Harbor. I had no idea this island was truly here.¡± Master Yu nodded, ¡°That is not your fault, Qing Yulan. I was unaware the Moonlit Harbor was this close myself. The island must have drifted further west.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a floating island. Ok, that makes much more sense,¡± Helena turned to Hera, who nodded in response. ¡°What do you mean, floating island? It¡¯s an iceberg. What did you expect? The ice to reach the bottom of the ocean?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°Sort of? I mean, people were calling this ice island, so I kind of figured there would be actual land here. Even if everything was covered in ice,¡± the mage explained. ¡°Even then. You and your companions should¡¯ve left once they realized this place was not for Yuwei, lady Qing,¡± master Yu cut the conversation. Hera turned to the master, ¡°Yuwei protested against us coming back. And personally, I felt like trying to just bring her away could make her do something even more stupid on her own. So the plan was to try to find you and if we failed by the point where we felt Yuwei¡¯s condition was getting serious, we would bail and leave the island.¡± ¡°In fact. When we found that passage, we were just looking for a place to reinforce some of the protections from Yuwei before leaving,¡± Helena added. Not needing to talk to Hera to understand what she was going for. However, the mage didn¡¯t expect the Ophidianite to continue. ¡°And honestly, it¡¯s very funny to see you concerned about her wellbeing. It took only what? Ten years?¡± Hera turned to Yulan, ¡°That¡¯s about it, right?¡± Yulan¡¯s eyes went wide, but she still nodded in response. ¡°Yeah, ten years and only when Yuwei showed up with a fever at your doorstep, you, the alleged mother, seemed to care enough to even acknowledge her.¡± ¡®Mum¡­ You are projecting a bit here,¡¯ Daskka warned. Despite the warning, the Empress continued, ¡°Let me guess. You are doing this for her own good? Because you know better. Of course.¡± ¡®Hera¡­¡¯ Nimbus tried to stop her, but the Ophidianite got up and took a step forward. ¡°Or is it just because you couldn¡¯t take being her mother for more than a few years? What happened? Did she complain about chores one too many times and you grew tired of being a mother?¡± ¡®Empress. Can you just¡­ Chill?¡¯ Livy spoke up, trying to crack a joke to break the tension, but her attempt was ignored. ¡°Oh, oh. I know! Did you finally realize the sorry excuse for a mother you are and decided she was better on her own? At least you got that right!¡± At the end of her sentence, there was an explosion of movement. Master Yu dashed forward, slamming her open palm onto Hera¡¯s stomach. Or that was the target. Instead, Viper and Crimson flew to the Empress¡¯ hands to block the attack. Still, the impact sent her flying out of the pagoda, crashing through the ice wall. Nimbus had to move quickly to catch her and help the Ophidianite land safely. But that wasn¡¯t all. Once they reached the ground, master Yu jumped from the pagoda, hundreds of blades of ice forming around her, every single one tracking the woman who just berated her for being a bad mother. Hera stared at that with rage in her eyes, she didn¡¯t care if this was supposed to be a master, or whatever she was. If there was one thing Hera knew well, it was how it was to have a bad mother, and this master Yu was certainly one of them. 934 - Where is the milk?
#### Author''s Note #### Ok this was a really fun fight to write. ################## Hera watched as Master Yu leaped from the pagoda, floating in the air. The cold wild serving as a foothold as the Orc woman stood on snowflakes that were mid descent. Dozens of floating blades of ice hovering behind her. All weapons of different shapes and sizes, much similar to the ones in the Empress¡¯ own court. However, their movement was stiff. It took her but a moment to realize she wasn¡¯t facing someone with a similar ability. Instead, Master Yu was simply preparing for an ice attack. No different from the kind of attack she could expect from Bonnie and her elemental fists. Sure, the Orc woman was clearly capable of controlling a large number of attacks at once, but Hera didn¡¯t believe for a second she would be able to mirror the versatility of the court. All of which were already out, with two notable exceptions. Vulcan was still with Yuwei, and it was better like that. If Forge was to follow along with Hera¡¯s emotions, he would likely end up triggering the [Daemonic Form] and that wasn¡¯t what she wanted right now. The intention wasn¡¯t to turn Yuwei into an orphan, just to give a good beating to her so-called mother. The other court member who was told to stay on the sidelines was Glacia. Not by Hera, but by Twiggy. The tiara realized that someone would need to make sure Vulcan stayed in range of the Empress and the ice falchion would likely be fighting against her element in this space. Master Yu watched Hera from above, her eyes colder than the ice of the island itself. She watched as this snake woman with an odd colored skin called her own blades of Qi. Yet, they were different from her own. Not just extensions of her will, but possessing their own intentions. Each moved freely from each other, untethered from the need for commands. Yet, still incapable of not working in perfect harmony. However, her hesitation lasted but a moment. This woman had come to her house, endangering years of hard work, and still laughed at all the turmoil created by the situation. Even if she would be kind enough not to kill the rude woman, Master Yu was more than willing to carve this memory on the woman¡¯s bones. The memory of why one should not insult others in such a way. There was a pause as the two women stared at each other. Master Yu, standing still in the air, with her hands by the side of her body and a torrent of ice blades ready to move at her command. Hera, holding a pair of rare hand axes, and her court floating around her, all in their weapon forms at her request. Despite her anger, she didn¡¯t want to escalate the situation to a death match, and having an extra five people on her side could lead to that. However, five powerful floating weapons that were just as powerful as people? That was more than fair without crossing a line. In addition to that, she also called a skill the moment Master Yu revealed her ice blades. Since she was going to try to suppress her with numbers, the Empress might as well even the odds. [Blade Graveyard] was in the process of being triggered. The weapons slowly being created under all the snow. But before they emerged, one of the icicles dangling from the house was unable to withstand the wind and fell. The moment it shattered on the ice below, the two women sprung into action. Master Yu sent out her avalanche of ice blades, all floating along the wind. While Hera and her court jumped towards her, Livy working as a catapult to propel the Empress upward. Clay was right by her side, moving the chain whip to intercept the incoming ice, the segmented blades moving like a snake in full control of every inch of its body. The movement also had another effect. The blades still under the snow, summoned by the [Blade Graveyard] all jumped out, dragged by the limit of the range they could away from the Empress. Seeing the new 17 blades, all with their own intent and various levels of strength appear, finally made Master Yu¡¯s face change. It was just one raised eyebrow, but even as she attacked Hera, this was the first time her expression had changed in any way. The Ophidianite blocked a few of the straggler blades of ice, while Nimbus took care of the rest, creating small mana shields to parry the attacks. Hera got close to Master Yu and brought down her hand axe on an overhead swing. But the Orc woman simply stopped floating and plummeted to the ground, evading the blow completely. Not done with her attack, the Empress told Lurize to become her footing. She spun in the air, her feet now pointing to the sky when they connected with the zweihander. Hera ¡®jumped¡¯ down, attempting to meet Master Yu before she could respond. Spinning horizontally, she went for another overhead swing, one that was blocked by the sudden appearance of another blade of ice. But the Ophidianite wasn¡¯t done. She continued her spin, bringing down Pyro, who was attached to her tail. Once more, her blow failed to meet its mark as the Orc woman took a step to the side. While Hera was still in the air, getting ready to land, Master Yu slammed her open palm on the woman¡¯s stomach. Sending the Ophidianite flying across the field and slamming her back against the ice in the perimeter. Nimbus, Twiggy, and Robin followed her, but the rest of the court started their assault. Master Yu wasn¡¯t the only one who could send in a barrage of attacks. From above, Yulan watched with wide eyes and a worried expression. She turned to Helena, ¡°Master Helena, are you not going to help?¡± Helena glanced at Yulan, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They¡­ are not going for the kill,¡± she was sure Hera was pulling her punches. At least a bit. She had yet to use any of her big buffs, or the break combo that could cause some serious damage. As for Master Yu, her attacks might as well be deadly. The mage triggered her [Observe] one more time to make sure she saw things correctly. Stolen story; please report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yu Bingqing - Level 80 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Going by levels alone, Master Yu should be able to defeat Hera. But she didn¡¯t have any weapons. Helena¡¯s eyes shifted to the opposite end of the pagoda. To the back wall of the room where they met the master. Hidden amongst the ice was a very subtle silhouette of a glaive. A glaive that emanated a deadly cold energy capable of sending chills down the mage¡¯s neck just by looking at it. If Yu Bingqing truly wished to kill Hera. There was no reason not to use that weapon. So until that came into play, Helena would let them fight. After all, the battle was still undecided. Even with the legacy, Hera might not be able to do anything against the attacks. There was a 20 level difference between the two. Then again, the Ophidianite was the only person who fought against a Soldier of Strength that was close to her own level and won. Hera didn¡¯t take long to recover. She could feel the bruise in her stomach, but at least her bones were still in one piece. [Ophidianite Scales] doing their work. Nimbus also received a quick mental ¡®thanks¡¯ as he took around half of the damage from the blow. Taking one step forward, she triggered the Shroud of Tartarus using the setup in her [Empress Palace]. A thin layer of miasma instantly appeared around the field. All the blades gained a buff thanks to the effects of the spell, and the attacks became even stronger. Master Yu was struggling a bit to evade all the blades. Not because they were dangerous, but due to the sheer number of strikes coming in all directions. She was used to fighting against groups, but none that worked so well together. Especially with a few unorthodox weapons, if they could be called that. A tiara, a diadem, and a pair of earrings. Those three were giving her pause, as she had never faced that kind of attack before. With every step, she was forced to twist at an uncomfortable angle to escape the next stab. Even worse were the two daggers that were seemingly able to come out of nowhere to strike. They were unable to scratch her so far, but her robes were slowly being cut by the twin blades. Annoyed by the situation, she flipped her hand upwards, tossing all the snow into the sky and obscuring her presence for a moment. The weakest blades tossed to the sky due to the force of the movement. Master Yu dashed towards Hera, but was met by the twin headed axe of the Leviathan. The dragon heads glowing as a torrent of water exploded from below with [Draconic Eruption] sending a massive wave of water into the air. Parts of it were frozen before they even landed back on the ground, but the damage was done. Master Yu might have escaped the main part of the attack, but she was now soaking wet, and the cold weather quickly froze her garments in a way that even the powerful ice cultivator struggled to move. Twiggy activated [Silvered Strength] and [Bathed in Silver]. At the same time, Robin fired a barrage of arrows with [Spectral Guardians] and [Seal of Mystic Resonance], Clay unable to use his [Earthen Cleave] due the lack of actual earth, once more wrapped around their opponent with a [Crushing Grip]. Storm triggered a [Crackling Strike] to destroy all the ice blades in the area, the lightning chaining from one ice blade to the next, giving the Empress a clean path to Master Yu. Pyro¡¯s [Inferno Burst] melted the ones that survived as the flames expanded in a fan around the area. Sun slammed the back of his form beside Master Yu, activating [Seal of Eternal Radiance] to increase the power of the court as Shadow desperately attempted to interrupt the defensive abilities of the Orc woman with his both [Subtle Sabotage] and [Whispering Ink]. Lastly, the twins appeared, finally coming into Master Yu¡¯s view and activated their [Alluring Presence] in hopes of distract her for long enough. During that combination attack, Hera dashed forward, Lurize appearing on her back, triggering the [Winged Boost] to give the Empress more power, and Nimbus covering her body in small mana shields. She reached Master Yu before the Orc woman could notice and with a final skill [All In] delivered a punch directly to the icy face of Yuwei¡¯s mother. The impact echoed through the area as Master Yu fell to the ground, a small line of blood slashing the blue ice. However, that was quickly covered by the falling snow from the master¡¯s previous attack. Hera was breathing heavily, mostly due to her wounds than anything else. She took a deep breath and snarled, ¡°If you are leaving for milk, you get the fuck back, bitch! And bring the damn milk.¡± Master Yu was on the ground, still in shock at what had just happened. It had been decades since someone, or something, was able to make her bleed. She had been the strongest cultivator around for so long that no one dared to defy her. Ever since she reached the Divine Manifestation Realm, not even several masters were able to tire her. And yet. This woman, halfway through the Heavenly Ascension Realm, had wounded her. Had made her bleed. Touching her lip, she felt the warm red liquid, a warmth she never believed to be inside her, and started to laugh. Still on the ground, with the snow falling over her body, Master Yu. No, Yu Bingqing turned to Hera, ¡°I supposed I did forget the milk. Yuwei and I have much to discuss,¡± she paused and shook her head, glancing back to the pagoda with a warm expression ¡°We have much to talk about,¡± turning back to the snake woman, Yu Bingqing nodded, ¡°Thank you for reminding me of what truly is important.¡± Hera hesitated, she honestly didn¡¯t expect this to happen this quickly. Then again, this was a dungeon. If this was part of the setup created by the MAZE, things like character growth had to be sped up, ¡°It¡¯s fine. It just sucks to have a bad mother. Trust me. I know,¡± the Empress reached out a hand to help Yu Bingqing up. The Orc woman took the hand with a smile, ¡°But, I cannot leave things like this. I have a reputation to consider.¡± Hera frowned, ¡°What are you-¡° before the words came out of her mouth, Master Yu spun around and with the sound of a whip crack, delivered a spinning kick to the side of the Empress¡¯ head. The Ophidianite only felt the pain for a moment, before everything spun and went dark. Nimbus following the same motion as he took half of the damage. Before she even hit the ground, the entire court vanished, their Empress left unconscious. 935 - Meaning of isolation
Hera woke up with a headache and some pain in her neck. But all in all, she was doing fine. The bed was comfortable and warm, and there wasn¡¯t any looming sense of danger over her. Slowly getting up, the Ophidianite pulled up her tablet to check the time. It looked like only a couple of hours had gone by. Still in bed, she called Daskka out of the necklace. ¡°Hey, are you ok?¡± she asked as the snake blinked a couple of times, looking groggy. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine, mum. That wasn¡¯t fun. How about you? Are you ok? You were the one that took a beating,¡± Daskka rubbed her tail on the side of Hera¡¯s face. The same one that got kicked by Master Yu. A healing mist already coming out of the snake. ¡°I¡¯m ok. Just feels like I slept in an odd position,¡± Hera stretched her neck a bit, ¡°What about the others? Are they ok?¡± Daskka closed her eyes, and in a couple of moments nodded, ¡°Yeah, they are fine. Everyone was sleeping. Which is more common for them now. They are frazzled and worried about you, but that¡¯s all.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°We¡¯ll call them later. I want to understand what is going on now, and if Master Yu is still pissed, showing up surrounded by weapons might not be the best idea.¡± The Empress got up, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she felt the cold wash over her once more. It was so intense that it permeated her shoes. After quickly triggering a Fire Elemental Armor, she slid the ice door to the side and walked out of the room. By the looks of things, she was on the fourth, or maybe fifth, floor of the pagoda. At least from the height. Hera stepped to the side, where a large, open area led to a balcony. It was a marvelous sight, the ice island, as it was called, looked like a fortress from outside. But from inside, it was a sprawling kingdom of frost. Trees made out of ice created small areas of protection for the monsters that inhabited the space. Ariadne had told Hera that this was the location where the hard mode was triggered. But she still wasn¡¯t able to see any penguins. Not ever since she arrived here. Why would the guide have told her that tip if there was nothing like that on the island? Distracted with those thoughts, she almost didn¡¯t notice as Yulan came walking up the stairs, ¡°Master Hera! I¡¯m so glad you are up. I was getting worried.¡± ¡°Worried? Why? I think a waking up after a few hours shows I¡¯m resilient enough,¡± Hera replied with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Hera, but¡­ You slept for an entire day.¡± ¡°What?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°Yeah¡­ Even Master Yu was worried her kick was too strong, but she couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with you,¡± Yulan explained. ¡°But¡­ what about Helena? Is she ok?¡± Hera felt her heart start to beat faster. Could Master Yu have attacked Helena after their fight? ¡°She is fine. Master Yu is a great host, they are back on the first floor having some tea with lady Yuwei,¡± Yulan explained. ¡°Everyone is¡­ having tea?¡± Hera asked, trying to make sure she heard it right. ¡°Yeah, Master Yu sensed you using fire in the pagoda and asked me to come check on you. I¡¯m sure everyone will be thrilled you are back on your feet. Come, follow me. I¡¯ll rake you to the tearoom,¡± Yulan gestured down. Hera followed the Orc woman, but she still wasn¡¯t sure if she liked the situation. Master Yu might have apologized in a way, but she still kicked her hard enough to knock the empress out. And that was after they seemingly were done with their fight. It was a cheap move, and maybe Master Yu still hold a grudge. As they walked down, the Empress heard laughs coming from one of the room. ¡°Can you imagine? One baby making all the elders of the sect tremble, just because no one wanted to change her diapers. That¡¯s how bad it smelled,¡± it was Master Yu¡¯s voice, and Helena laughing in the background. ¡°Mom!¡± Yuwei protested. Soon after, Yulan showed Hera to the tearoom. Everyone was sitting around a table, with Yuwei on one side, and Master Yu all the way on the opposite end, with Helena in between them. The mage was the first to notice their arrival. She quickly rushed over, giving the Ophidianite a hug. ¡°How are you feeling, sweetie?¡± ¡°A bit sore, but I¡¯ll manage. What is going on here?¡± Hera looked around, still weary. ¡°I¡¯m taking your advice, spending some time with my daughter,¡± Master Yu smiled and poured another cup of tea. This one for the Empress, ¡°Please. Sit. Join us.¡± ¡°Ok¡­¡± Hera frowned and was guided by Helena to their seat. As they moved, the Ophidianite noticed how Master Yu made a point to move back as Yuwei had to move over to let them pass. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I am happy to see you up and about. I feared my¡­ jab was a bit too strong. Apologies for that,¡± Master Yu said as she passed a tea cup to Hera. Despite the smoke coming out of the liquid, the cup itself was ice cold as it reached the Empress hands. ¡°Thank you, and I didn¡¯t expect such a cheap shot. To me the fight was already over,¡± Hera replied. Master Yu chuckled, ¡°One must always expect trickery from their opponents. May that be a lesson to you.¡± Hera rolled her eyes, ¡°Thanks.¡± Helena placed one hand on Hera¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Still, I think you should hear the reason why Bingqing is here. It might give some context to what happened.¡± The Empress frowned. Helena knew the reason why Hera was this upset. Even if her reaction was a bit much. So if she was asking her to listen to this, there had to be a reason for that. ¡°Ok¡­ Why are you here?¡± Hera turned to Master Yu. ¡°The simple version of it is that I¡¯m attempting to break through the Divine Manifestation Realm. And have been doing so for the past ten years.¡± Hera glanced at Helena, ¡°I¡¯m assuming I should hear the long version then.¡± The mage just nodded and turned to Master Yu, who let out a sigh, ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken with people about this in years, and now I¡¯m repeating this story for the second time in the same number of days. Very well.¡± Yu Bingqing moved back, gliding through the floor, and created a small ice sculpture of a woman with a large glaive on her hand. Her clothes were wild and unkempt, ¡°Once upon a time, there was a woman who grew up in the outskirts of society. Scavenging for food and hunting in the forests since a young age. Due to the lack of opportunities, she became a bandit, stealing from the rich to fill her belly.¡± The figure changed, now wearing a white tiger coat and a headband with the same fur, ¡°She quickly became the leader of the bandits in the area, someone even the merchants learned to respect. That is until a particular sect decided to increase their standing in the world. They started a righteous crusade to rid the land of all kinds of thieves and hooligans.¡± Another shift, instead of a single person now two groups, both fighting tooth and nail. Leading those groups was the woman with the tiger fur, and a man with long hair, ¡°Eventually, the sect cleared most of the bandit fortress, leaving only one left. The one controlled by the woman, who proved to be a fierce enemy. After long months of constant battles, one of the elders came to solve the issue.¡± All the sculptures connected, forming one single person. A woman with a pixie cut, one single tusk on the left side of her mouth, and long robes. She had a war hammer on her back and a large snowflake framed her head, ¡°The elder was powerful. Extremely so. It took her a few hours to subjugate all the bandits. All but one. A woman who continued to get up again and again, facing against the snowstorm created by the elder.¡± Now the elder was looking at the body of the bandit woman, but there was a clear cut on the elder¡¯s cheek, ¡°Eventually, the bandit woman lost. But during her final attack, she was able to do something no one had done in decades. She drew the elder¡¯s blood. A mortal, without any Qi, was able to wound the elder. During the fight, the bandit woman took over a bit of the ice created by the elder. She did that with pure instinct, using the Qi in the environment and not her own. Seeing that potential, the elder took the bandit woman as her apprentice.¡± The sculpture changed again, now showing a younger Master Yu with a large snowflake framing her entire body, ¡°The bandit woman was a prodigy, and she quickly rose the ranks of the sect, becoming as powerful as the elders themselves in just a few short years.¡± With another change, the figure became smaller, now a woman holding a baby, ¡°Next came the clich¨¦ part of the story. The woman found a man, they fell in love, and had a baby. However, that baby was special. Unlike the entire sect, and her parents, all who were well versed in controlling ice, the baby was born with a unique disposition. One that made her Qi radiate heat. Because of that, she was unable to train in the same arts as the sect, but that didn¡¯t matter. The bandit woman and the baby¡¯s father loved her, nonetheless. So much so, that when the baby grew enough to undertone Qi, the father took her to a sect specialized in a similar art. One where her Qi would be refined and thrive.¡± Yu Bingqing closed her hand, the sculptures vanishing, ¡°During that time, I visited daily while continuing my training. Seeing an opposite force to my own Qi helped me ascend the steps of the Divine Manifestation Realm. But, because of the intense ice energy in my body, my touch became poison to Yuwei. Once she became stronger, her constitution became more sensitive to the cold. And as I grew more powerful, the very air around me became colder. Unfortunately, this is a drawback of my cultivations. Unless I reach the Eternal Void Realm, my very presence is able to change the environment, turning it colder. And the longer I stay there, the colder it will become. This island is proof of it. At first, it was just a single sheet of ice that I used to meditate on the ocean.¡± The Orc master took a sip of her tea and looked at Yuwei, ¡°There is nothing I want more than to hug my daughter. But unless I¡¯m able to break through the barrier that no one was able to break through in centuries. If I do that, I will also kill her. Which is why I left 10 years ago.¡± ¡°Ok¡­. Now I feel really bad for what I said,¡± Hera admitted. ¡°No, no. I appreciate your words. I did not need to stay here for so long without even visiting. Just because I cannot touch her, that does not mean I should avoid her completely,¡± Yu Bingqing smiled at Yuwei, ¡°And that is something I will rectify.¡± ¡°Thank you, mom. I really missed you,¡± Yuwei said with a smile. ¡°And I you, little sun,¡± there was a pause before Yu Bingqing continued, ¡°I have called an old friend of mine to help organize that. He can make a formation that will send me to Yuwei¡¯s home. He can also send you back to where you came. As a thanks for everything. This friend of mine will also be very interested in Yulan.¡± ¡°Me?!¡± Yulan gasped. ¡°Yes, I can see your constitution is very similar to his, and he was heading to the Sky Sword meeting in hopes of finding someone to learn his teachings,¡± Yu Bingqing smiled, ¡°Consider this introduction my thanks for you having taken such a good care of my daughter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Yulan stood up and bowed several times, ¡°Thank you, Master Yu!¡± ¡°For you, Hera and Helena, is there anything I can do to help you?¡± Yu Bingqing turned to the due. ¡°Actually, yes. Do you know where we can find some penguins? Or something related to them?¡± Hera asked. Something told her this wouldn¡¯t be enough to trigger the hard mode. In the end, they were still doing what the quest asked. Finding a master for Yulan. ¡°Penguins? I¡¯m afraid they don¡¯t live this far south. Maybe my friend can send you their way. If he has the right formation,¡± Master Yu suggested. ¡°We appreciate that. It¡¯s all we can ask,¡± Helena nodded with a smile, but she also felt like this wasn¡¯t the right move. They were missing something for the hard mode. And now, they had already wasted an extra day here. 936 - A masterfull gift
After they finished drinking tea, Master Yu¡¯s friend arrived, and everything progressed very quickly. The man was also an Orc, of course, but he was very cagey about getting close to others. Still, he did introduce himself to the group. Huo Jingyun was his name. Both Yulan and Yuwei were in awe when they heard that, which made Hera understand this man was a much bigger deal than she imagined. It was truly a shame that he didn¡¯t seem to care about them, and once Master Yu explained the situation, he quickly tested Yulan for something. Leaving barely enough time for the Empress to notice the slender build hidden by a large brown cloak that looked a lot like a sac of potatoes. The Orc¡¯s skin was a bit dull, not in a pale way, but as if had lost its shine through the years, and there were bushy gray sideburns along the side of his face. The test he performed was quite simple. He let out some Qi, which Hera understood it was just mana, and checked to see if Yulan shared the same affinity. Space affinity, or was it Warp? The Ophidianite wasn¡¯t entirely sure. Both elements, at least how Huo Jingyun was using, were very similar. Once that was done, he asked about the others, meaning Hera and Helena. Master Yu said they only needed a way to get back to where they were supposed to be and the man simply waved his hand, sending them back to the Forest of Lost Souls. Exactly in front of where they had entered the dungeon, in front of a large rock with a carved tunnel directly in the middle of it. All of this happened before they had a chance to protest or ask something else. And to confirm that they had completed the quest, a notification appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeon Quest Complete - Protect the princess You have helped not just Qing Yulan, but also Yu Yuwei, to find the masters they were searching for. Master Yu¡¯s gift (S) 3 million gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°Crap. No hard mode,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Yeah, but we did find something about it. And we got an S rank reward,¡± Helena tried to cheer her friend up. ¡°I know, I know. It just sucks that I didn¡¯t have a chance to to try to look for the hard mode. I didn¡¯t expect to get knocked out like that.¡± ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m glad that¡¯s all that happened. Even for you, fighting against someone at level 80 is a lot. And I did my best to search for something, my shadow guys didn¡¯t find any penguins,¡± Helena replied while walking out of the dungeon. ¡°Wait¡­ she was what level?¡± Hera gasped. ¡°You fought against Master Yu without even checking her level? Yeah, she was 80.¡± Hera just stared at Helena, rethinking a few of her life decisions. Maybe next time she saw a bad mother, she shouldn¡¯t start dumping her own trauma on her. After the mage was almost out of the dungeon, the Empress moved along, not wanting to stay behind. Back in the Dunes of Isolation, the sandstorm raged on, but thankfully the two of them were inside one of the pillars, which was a shelter against the elements. ¡°Should we check the reward now?¡± Helena asked once her friend arrived. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this quickly so we can go back. I¡¯m kind of hungry and we can stop by some of the restaurants in the Moonlit Harbor,¡± Hera nodded. ¡°You are right! Those dumplings were amazing!¡± ¡°The pork ones or the chicken?¡± ¡°Both!¡± Helena smiled. ¡°They were, but I think I want the noodles this time. And maybe some of the beef. It looked really good on the table next to us,¡± Hera nodded as she pulled up her tablet to take the reward. Her pockets were getting full once more. A single dungeon gave her 3 million gold. Before becoming an explorer, it would take a lifetime to get that much. Putting those thoughts away, she clicked on the reward and opened Master Yu¡¯s gift. In her hand, a large robe mostly dark blue appeared, the parts closer to one¡¯s body looking almost like the undershirt were instead a pastel yellow that reminded her of the sunlight. On the blue parts, there were small snowflakes and a depiction of frost made with gold thread. And on the yellow undershirt, the soft stamp of a reflective cobalt blue formed small flowers. Across the back, there was one larger image that could only be seen by folding the sleeves. A sun with a massive snowflake around it, acting like the rays of sunlight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nexus of Duality (Dual Affinity - None/None) Unique Level Requirement: 40 Defense Scaling: Intelligence X 84 Agility X 74 Passives: Empowered Opposites: The Nexus of Duality can receive the mana from two opposite elements. Once that happens, the potency of the two opposite forces is increased based on the last spell cast. Once an affinity is given to the Nexus of Duality, it cannot be changed. Elements: ¡ª¡ª/¡ª¡ª Increased spell power if the last spell was of the opposing element: + 40% Active: Balance of Power: The Nexus of Duality generates a fluctuating field that alternates between the two elements present on the robe. While in the ¡ª¡ª element, all damage dealt is increased. While in the ¡ª¡ª element, all damage received is reduced. Increased damage while field is on the ¡ª¡ª element: +40% Reduced damage taken while field is on the ¡ª¡ª element: -40% Mana cost: 1% maximum man? Duration: 10 minutes. Fluctuation duration: 15 seconds. Harmony Wave: The Nexus of Duality can harness the twin elemental energies of opposing force to unleash a devastating attack. In addition, allies hit by the attack will have their wounds healed, for destruction also brings life. Mana cost: 20% maximum mana. Range: 10 meters. Cooldown: 5 hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After reading the description, Hera couldn¡¯t help but sigh, ¡°Lena. I think I got something amazing for you.¡± The mage chuckled, ¡°I was about to say the same thing,¡± on her hands was a large glaive that seemed to be completely made out of ice. But not the transparent kind that would come in a drink, but the dark ice from the core of a glacier. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Both laughed and swapped rewards. Checking the item before confirming if they were going to make a swap or not. Then again, Hera wasn¡¯t about to get the robe back. It fit too well with her friend and the shadow and light aspect of her skills. Focusing on the glaive, she triggered [Inspect]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chillsoul - Permafrost Glaive - Unique - Bound to Hera Quetzaveth Scaling: Agility X 87 Strength X 75 Endurance X 45 Passive Skill: Chilling Aura: Chillsoul emanates a constant icy aura that reduces the speed of those struck by it. Speed reduction: -10% Duration: 3 seconds. Active Skill: Frozen Stasis: Chillsoul taps into its permafrost nature to freeze enemies solid and shred their defenses. Freeze duration: 10 seconds. Target defenses: -35% Cooldown: 15 minutes. Frostbit Strike: A single devastating thrust that focus all the permafrost energy from Chillsoul into a single point. The strike is able to freeze even the target¡¯s mana. Mana cost: 10% maximum mana. Base freeze duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 5 hours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera read the description a couple of times. Not only was this one of the weapons with the highest scaling she ever saw, but also, it was the first piece of gear she ever saw that reduced the defenses of others. That kind of effect was extremely rare. Sure, you could find something that said ¡®ignore X percent of armor¡¯s defenses¡¯ or things like that, but those affected only the gear, not everything as this glaive seemed to be doing. Looking towards Helena, her friend had a similar surprised expression looking at the robes. They looked at each other and said at the same time. ¡°Deal!¡± Helena quickly put both Shadow and Light mana on her robe, letting it have the dual affinity that she used. At the same time, Hera called Daskka out. ¡°Hey, mum! Wow, this is a cool weapon!¡± ¡°Yeah, and how is the court looking? Any open slots?¡± ¡°Not right now. Even if all Noble Houses got an extra space. But you could increase the number of court members by sacrificing mana from the Empress Core,¡± Daskka suggested. ¡°That¡¯s true. How much will it cost?¡± ¡°Three times your regular maximum mana. So¡­ you have 13 026 497 mana. And you need three times that, so 39 079 491 mana in the core. The core currently has 49 609 883 mana. It was supposed to be over 60 million, but because of the 20% reduction with the palace, that took a hit. I think we should¡¯ve increased the numbers before getting the skill,¡± Daskka sighed. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think about that either. And it¡¯s my fault. I was the one who asked you to wait until I would have some extra mana in the core after adding the slot. I know I got it recently, but it makes life so much easier that it feels like a waste to drop it back to 0.¡± Daskka nodded, ¡°I know, and it¡¯s not like we can stop and wait a few weeks to focus on increasing the mana in the core. You need to stay in the best shape you can as much as possible.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe we can change that after this is all over,¡± Hera sighed and sat down, ¡°Either way, we can do it, right? It will leave me with around 10 million mana.¡± ¡°Sort of. The reduction from the palace applies after it. So you will have around 8 million.¡± ¡°Oof. That¡¯s a lot. Still, it¡¯s worth it, let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°Just as a confirmation. Do you want me to increase the number of court members you can have?¡± Hera nodded, ¡°I do.¡± It was strange, despite spending that much mana, Hera didn¡¯t feel like she was using any of it. Then again, it was all still there, just in a different place. ¡°All done. Now you can have nine court members in total. Plus the five titled blades. Well, six if we consider the twins two.¡± ¡°Thanks, Daskka. There is one more thing I want to do, but for that I need help. Vulcan, care to join me?¡± Forge appeared by her side, he was still spooked since ever since Hera was knocked out, no one from her court had been summoned. Then again, they were all watching what was going on from the [Empress Palace] ¡°Are you ok?¡± Vulcan asked. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Really. Sorry for scaring you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. I¡¯m just glad Yuwei is safe. Well, fine, she is part of the dungeon, but you know what I mean.¡± ¡°I do, don¡¯t worry about it. Now, really quick, before we go see her again. Can you help me make a seal for this weapon? I¡¯m not sure how to carve ice without breaking it.¡± Forge looked over the weapon, doing his best to understand the material, ¡°I think I can do something, but what are you thinking?¡± Hera quickly pulled up her tablet and found a specific sigil, ¡°This one. What do you think?¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a nice idea,¡± Vulcan smiled, the fire of a crafter burning on his eyes, ¡°Give me a couple of minutes,¡± using the back of the forging hammer that was his body, Forge started to created the sigil on the glaive¡¯s shaft. He didn¡¯t want to risk messing up the blade, since working with ice in all its forms was extremely complicated. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Helena asked, already wearing the robe. The dark blue and yellow fit her very well. Especially with the cultivator look that it gave off. Then again, Hera couldn¡¯t remember a time when Lena didn¡¯t look great. ¡°This one,¡± Hera showed something Ogryn taught her a long time ago, when she was still stuck in Boothudurn. ¡°Snowstorm?¡± ¡°Not quite. It¡¯s a trapped snowstorm. I hope to make the seal affects that Frozen Stasis skill. If I can make it an aoe with the defense reduction, it will be amazing.¡± Helena nodded, ¡°True, it¡¯s always good to go through the enemy equipment. Especially in times of war.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t read the skill properly, did you? It¡¯s not equipment defense. It¡¯s just defenses.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s hard to come by.¡± ¡°Yeah, and if it works. Daskka, any chance I can have a new Noble House? Having that skill as an heirloom would be great.¡± ¡°I mean¡­ technically you can get one position from either the Marquessates and make a new house below them. After all, you can¡¯t have more on that level. So it would be a County¡± ¡°Ok. Let¡¯s hold off on that for now. But I might want to make one.¡± ¡°Empress, I¡¯m done,¡± Vulcan called. The sigil was exactly like what Hera pictured. But before going forward, she called Glacia out, ¡°I want to ask you a question. This weapon will be ice based too. Are you ok with that? I don¡¯t want you to feel like I¡¯m stepping on your toes or something.¡± ¡®Don¡¯t worry, Hera. They will be a younger sibling that I will be more than happy to help.¡¯ Hera smiled, ¡°Thank you,¡± not wanting to waste time, she quickly triggered the [Royal Seal] and the [Courtship] skill to add this new weapon to her court. The results were even better than she expected. Which made her quickly add this new court member, called Eira, it was an old Norse word for snow and a bit of a joke of calling something so chilling simply ¡®snow.¡¯ The skill [Frozen Stasis] changed due to the seal, giving an amazing result. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Permafrost Vortex Eira taps into her permafrost nature to freeze all enemies around her solid and shred their defenses. Freeze duration: 5 seconds. Target defenses: -20% Range: 15 meters. Cooldown: 20 minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was barely weaker and gained a massive range for the kind of attack it would be. In addition, since Hera liked it so much, she created a new Noble House. The Fiord County. It was a shade of gray that barely tilted to blue, and it gave off the feeling of ice. But the cherry on top of everything was the skill that became attached to the County. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shredding Winds Members of the Fiord County focus on stripping their enemies of their defenses, so their attacks can hit that much harder. Every two strikes by the same member of the Fiord County reduces the defense of the target by 1% This effect can stack a number times equal to the number of blades in the Empress¡¯ court. Current max stack: -14% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With all that over, Hera and Helena quickly turned around and entered the dungeon once more. Both of them wanted to test their new toys and there was a certain Orc that would be a great test dummy for it. 937 - Second Run
Hera and Helena came out of the forest again. For a place called ¡®the Forest of Lost Souls¡¯, it was surprisingly peaceful. They didn¡¯t find a single monster in the entire area. No bugs either. Just the vegetation and a soft layer of mist that gave an ethereal feeling to everything. The first enemy they found was that Orc man chasing after Yulan and Yuwei. They never learned the name of the ¡®Young Master¡¯ type Orc. And in all honesty, neither of them intended to waste time with that. Here he was once more. Talking about how it would be an honor to warm his bed. While looking at Yulan and Yuwei with lecherous eyes. Hera and Helena stepped forward, getting between him and the cart where the two Orc women were trying to hide. Turning to the mage, the Empress asked, ¡°Want to go first?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s better if you. Or Eira, in this case, to go first. My things are more destructive,¡± Helena replied. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a rare thing for you to say. Isn¡¯t your whole kit about debuffs?¡± Hera smirked. Helena made an exaggerated offended expression, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that ever since I got my dual elements, I¡¯ve been improving my damage capabilities. Thank you very much.¡± Hera chuckled, ¡°Ok, ok. Eira will go first. Are you ready?¡± she turned to the side. During the entire time, she was carrying the glaive while Glacia was sitting comfortably on her waist. The two ice based weapons were talking, discussing how to fight and what was more important about their skills. At the same time, the Empress also checked the attributes of the new court member one more time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eira - Permafrost Glaive Attribute Scaling: Empress Attribute: 177 Agility X 48.8 Strength X42.8 Endurance X 27.8 Intelligence X 5.3 Charisma X 5.3 Luck X 5.3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since it was a bound weapon, it got the maximum bonus to her attributes as she became part of the court. ¡®I am, master Hera! I will make you and Senior Sister proud!¡¯ Eira announced as she sprung to life, floating by the Empress¡¯ side. ¡°Is¡­ Is that supposed to intimidate me?¡± the Orc man asked while stepping back, clearly worried about seeing a flying weapon. Hera didn¡¯t say anything, but her annoyance was clear. Eira flew across the field, going for a wide swing that was skillfully dodged by the Orc. However, he didn¡¯t expect the butt of the glaive to also be part of the attack. The blow hit the side of his face, making him stagger. Eira continued, spinning to the side and coming back in an upward swing that opened a large gash on the Orc¡¯s torso. ¡°You lowly bitch!¡± the Orc snarled and jumped towards Hera. ¡®You dare?!¡¯ Eira shouted as she triggered [Permafrost Vortex] to freeze him in place. Cold air formed an almost invisible hurricane around Eira. It quickly enveloped the man and a thin layer of ice appeared. He wasn¡¯t encased in frozen water, but instead it looked like he had jumped in a river and then stayed inside a freezer for a few hours. This meant that there was no extra protective layer on the man. Following that, Eira moved between the Orc and Hera before activating another skill. The edge of the glaive glowed in a cold light. The magic energy coalesced on the tip of the weapon and, with a mighty push, Eira triggered both [Frostbite Strike] and [Grasshopper Stab]. Hera noticed the move she was going for and added a single rule for the fight, ¡®Try not to kill him.¡¯ Shifting the aim a bit to the left, Eira shot forward, piercing the shoulder of the Orc. The impact created a hole where the man¡¯s shoulder previously was located. ¡°That¡¯s enough, Eira, come back,¡± Hera called. The glaive seemed a bit frustrated, but obeyed nonetheless, ¡°You did great, but Lena also wants to test what she got.¡± ¡®Very well,¡¯ Eira nodded. ¡°Lena?¡± ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not entirely sure what¡¯s left for me to test, but ok,¡± the mage sighed and created a shadow bow on her hands. Pulling back the string, a light arrow appeared as she trailed at the Orc who was no longer frozen, but it seemed like the effect of reducing his defenses was still active. Hera made a mental note of that. She assumed that if people were weaker than her, that defense reduction could last for a while longer, even if the freeze seemed to be fixed at 5 seconds. Helena let the arrow fly as the internal, yellow part of her robes started to glow ever so slightly. The [Balance of Power] skill activates to empower the light-based attacks. The spell slammed against the Orc¡¯s leg, making a large hole already cauterized where the impact hit. Even if Helena was lower level than the room, this specific creature ¡°So the shadows are for defense, and light is for attack?¡± Hera turned to her friend. ¡°Yeah, my shadows work better for control based effects, so I¡¯m leaning more into the light for actual combat. Also, step in front of me, I want to test the other skill,¡± Helena gestured to the position she wanted Hera to be at. ¡°Sure,¡± the Empress nodded and took a few steps forward, staying a bit to the side of the orc while still on the path of the skill. In addition, she also used her claws to make a small cut on the tip of her fingers. Something that wouldn¡¯t take long to heal, but could be sped up if needed. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Helena gasped, seeing the small drop of blood on the Ophidianite¡¯s finger. ¡°Just to check the skill properly. It says it heals, so we need to know how much.¡± ¡°Sweetie, I¡¯m sure we will have many chances to test that. You didn¡¯t have to hurt yourself like that.¡± Hera just shrugged, ¡°What is done is done. And this is nothing. So c¡¯mon. Hit me so we can go get some food.¡± Helena sighed and fired off [Harmony Wave] light and shadows coalescing around the sleeves of the robe before pouring out in a torrent that turned the entire surrounding area into a light show partially shrouded by darkness. As the magic washed over Hera, the small wound was quickly recovered and the powerful wave of light and shadow mana slammed on the orc, who dissolved before even hitting the ground, leaving some gold behind. ¡°So? What do you think?¡± Hera asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty great. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t hope for a better piece of gear. And the defense scaling is just stupid. It¡¯s really rare to find armor that scales this well with intelligence and agility. How about you?¡± Hera turned to Eira, who also seemed to be expecting a review, ¡°She is great. And fighting on her own, she was able to do a lot of damage. I can¡¯t wait to see what she does when we are in a group.¡± ¡®Thank you for the praise, Master! This Eira will be sure to do her very best to assist you.¡¯ Satisfied with their new items, the pair turned back to the wagon that carried Yulan and Yuwei. They had to introduce themselves again, which was always something bittersweet. Especially when they were talking with those that became close to them. At least their initial interaction was very much the same. With the two Orc women in awe of their power. And once more, arriving at the Moonlit Harbor took only a few minutes. After a conversation, they closed the flaps of the wagon, and suddenly they were already there. Since both Hera and Helena were hungry, they stopped by the restaurants to have a meal. Yulan paid for everything after all she had a large amount of money that could be used in the dungeon. After that, they asked Yuwei if she knew anything about an ice island which was more than enough for the Orc girl to spill the beans about her mother. This time, she even went through the trouble of explaining the entire situation. Including about how she had a special constitution that went directly against her mom¡¯s and how they couldn¡¯t touch anymore. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We can find that island, and we promise you will be able to see your mother soon,¡± Hera said with a smile, ¡°But first, if you don¡¯t mind answering a question. Do you know if your mom likes penguins or something?¡± ¡°Not as far as I know. Why?¡± Yuwei tilted her head. ¡°Oh, we are just looking for something. We don¡¯t know exactly what it is, but it¡¯s related to penguins. If either of you know anything about that, please let us know. Ok?¡± Helena asked. ¡°We will, master Helena!¡± Yulan said with a smile. ¡°Now, how about we head to the ice island? Unless you want to buy a gift for your mom,¡± Hera turned to Yuwei. The Orc woman nodded, and they spent an extra hour looking around for something for Master Yu. Once that was over, they headed to harbor itself, seeing the Ghost Carp ship in the distance before starting their journey once more. Since this time they already knew where to go, Nimbus and Livy picked up the pace a bit, even if the Sentinel was forced to move slower to let the Leviathan keep up. However, they also changed something in their group. Hera and Helena were with Livy while Yulan and Yuwei rode Nimbus through the sky. As soon as they arrived on the island, Nimbus landed near the ice beach for long enough for Vulcan, who already had received a Royal Quest along the Sentinel and rested on Hera¡¯s lap, to get to his titled form, place Yuwei on his pouch and cast the fire armor around the two. While Nimbus took off towards that hidden passage and Master Yu¡¯s pagoda, Hera and Helena took the scenic route. They spent the next few hours exploring the island, killing monsters, and trying to find anything that could be related to penguins. The Empress also asked Ariadne a question two more times, but all her attempts resulted in nothing. It seemed like she would have to figure out how to trigger the hard mode without the relic¡¯s help. Eventually, they got to the pagoda, and met Master Yu. Who was still cold towards her daughter as she was when they first met in the other dungeon. ¡°I thank you for taking care of my daughter. However, you have endangered her by bringing her here,¡± Master Yu said. Helena nodded, ¡°We know, but in the end, it¡¯s your fault.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You abandoned her. Even if you argue that it wasn¡¯t intentional, or that it¡¯s better for her. Staying here and leaving her for years to grow without her mother is the same as abandoning her. When you really didn¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°My touch can kill her. How is keeping my distance not a necessity?¡± Hera sighed, ¡°You could¡¯ve talked with her. Even if you can¡¯t touch her, you still can have a conversation, and tell her you love her. Something she might not even know. And before you say ¡®of course she knows¡¯ or something. Does she? Can you say for sure she knows that you, a mother who left several years ago, when she was still a toddler, love her? There was no need to stay this far for this long.¡± Master Yu paused, ¡°I am not entirely sure I agree with you, but you have given me much to ponder. Thank you. I hope you can stay for the night and in the morning I¡¯ll call a friend of mine to help you reach your destination.¡± ¡°Thank you. By the way, are there any penguins on the island?¡± Helena asked. ¡°None that I am aware of. They only live to the north.¡± ¡°I see¡­ it¡¯s a shame, but thank you,¡± Helena nodded. Just before Master Yu asked for some privacy. They spent the rest of the day going back and forth between exploring the island and checking with Yulan and Yuwei, but they were unable to find any hints about the hard mode. Eventually, night came, and they decided to rest in one of the pagoda rooms. Hera and Helena were looking over the island under the moonlight hoping that this would finally help them get to the hard mode, but nothing. ¡°This really sucks. Ariadne said the hard mode was on this island, but there is nothing here,¡± Hera groaned. ¡°Maybe we should think about what the dungeon wants. My best guess is to help Master Yu break through the wall she is facing,¡± Helena said. ¡°I thought about that too. But I don¡¯t have a clue how to even start.¡± ¡°Me neither. What was the hint again?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Consider the penguin,¡± Hera replied. ¡°What?¡± Master Yu¡¯s voice came from behind them. ¡°What?¡± Hera turned around, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t see you there.¡± ¡°No¡­ what did you just say?¡± Master Yu asked again. ¡°Consider the penguin?¡± Hera tilted her head. ¡°That¡­ A colony that gathers in the winter facing the cold on the outside while keeping their eggs warm. That is¡­¡± Master Yu¡¯s eyes glowed in a pale blue light and the icy winds surrounding the pagoda suddenly stopped. The ice that made up the entire place was still solid, but not as unrelenting as before. Now it was almost warm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have unlocked the Hard Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Master Yu¡¯s eyes returned to normal, and she smiled to Helena and Hera, ¡°Thank you,¡± before either of them could reply, the master dashed out, finding Yuwei and giving her daughter a long hug for the first time in years. 938 - Hard Mode
Helping Master Yu breakthrough the bottleneck of her cultivation, as odd as it sounded, was the way to trigger the hard mode. And with that, the dungeon was over. Master Yu¡¯s friend appeared and sent everyone away in just a moment, leaving the mother and daughter to catch up on several years¡¯ worth of stories. It was really heartwarming to see the two of them like that. But the abrupt ending to the dungeon still felt jarring. Hera found it even stranger that the guide gave her the exact line she had to use to unlock the hard mode. It was a lot, especially considering all the questions she asked. Then again, that shouldn¡¯t be the only way to go about it. If she made Master Yu think about penguins using a different phrase, things would reach the same result. But it was still strange to get a ¡®cheat code¡¯ like that. Unfortunately, the rewards of the dungeon this time were not nearly as interesting. Even if they did get the same S rank gift from Master Yu, Hera only got a pill that increased her mana regeneration by 20% for a couple of hours, and Helena got one that boosted her endurance for the same duration. The money was also very small in comparison with what they got before, but hey 300 thousand was still a massive amount. Once they reached outside, Hera and Helena decided to take a nap outside of the dungeon. Technically speaking, they had completed two runs in a single day. When the Empress woke up after being knocked out by Master Yu, it was already after lunch for the mage. And they went through all the dungeon, from the start until reaching the island and searched the place until it was late evening. Which meant they were both tired after a long day. Thankfully, they were not that tired, and only a short late afternoon nap was enough for them to continue. ¡°Hey, Hera, can you explain one thing to me?¡± Helena asked as they prepared to sleep in the bunker. Nimbus was on his griffon form to function as a pillow for the two. ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Why did your court vanish when Master Yu knocked you out? I first thought that it was because you were unconscious, but you can sleep while they stay out, so what happened there?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Exactly what you said, I got knocked out. Because of that, the court vanishes. There is a big difference between passing out and going to sleep. When I sleep, I¡¯m still in control of my body, but if I black out, then I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Was it always like that?¡± Helena frowned. ¡°Yeah. Why?¡± Helena shook her head, ¡°I was just thinking. I don¡¯t remember them ever vanishing like that. It spooked me. After Master Yu kicked you, I jumped to attack her, even if it was stupid. Only after she checked to make sure she didn¡¯t hurt you in any way that I pulled back. But she even said that she couldn¡¯t feel any signs of mental damage, so I calmed down. Yulan and Yuwei helped a lot. I¡¯m not going to lie.¡± ¡°Sorry for worrying you. I think Vulcan is rubbing off on me,¡± Hera chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Sweetie. I¡¯m glad you are ok and that I wasn¡¯t wrong about worrying once they disappeared.¡± ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, I will be more careful in the future,¡± Hera nodded. Helena paused, staring at her friend before bursting out laughing, ¡°Yeah, right. As if you could be careful. Sweetie, I love you, but by the system, you are reckless.¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m better lately!¡± ¡°Are you? From my point of view, you are just the same, but you are better able to handle whatever crazy situation you end up in. I mean, fighting Delta, the Soldiers of Strength, hunting Wendigos. Should I go on?¡± ¡°Fine, fine. But I can handle myself just fine,¡± Hera huffed. ¡°That¡¯s why you are our Aspirant Hero,¡± Helena smirked. The Empress let out a loud groan and turned around to sleep. A few hours later, they woke up, they slept for much longer than what they expected, but it wasn¡¯t a full night¡¯s rest. Even so, they woke up ready for the dungeon. Walking towards the entrance, which was a slab of rock that shifted to the side once they confirmed their entry, a notification appeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conditions met for Spiral Hills hard mode Choose the version of the dungeon you wish to enter [Normal Mode] [Hard Mode] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Touching the hard mode button, the stone moved to the side, allowing the two to go in. ¡°I hope we can get some food soon. I¡¯m kind of hungry now,¡± Hera said as they emerged in the Forest of Lost Souls. ¡°Me too, Master Yu could¡¯ve at least given us dinner before sending us away,¡± Helena huffed. The woods were very similar to they were before, a large bamboo forest with some other types of vegetation peppered around the area. From here to the road was a ten-minute walk, and they decided to do that instead of just running out. After all, this was the hard mode, the dungeon could have other types of danger. Hera tried to think what could be going on, and considering the cultivation setting, she expected some sort of attack by the Blood Demon Cult, or something along those lines. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. As they got closer and closer to the road, the pair heard a couple of voices. ¡°It was here, right?¡± the first voice asked. ¡°No, no. A bit more to the front. It wasn¡¯t at the very limit of the Forest of Lost Souls. There was no doubt they came from there,¡± the second voice replied. They might be a bit far away, but it sounded very much like Yulan. ¡°Right. So¡­¡± there was a pause, and the voice yelled, now a further away, ¡°Here?¡± ¡°I think you overshot. It¡¯s probably around¡­ here,¡± the voice that definitively came from Yulan continued. ¡°Ok,¡± the first voice said and after another pause, sounded to be much closer, ¡°We need to be quick right?¡± ¡°We do. We are already a bit late because someone wanted to spar against half of the Azure Cloud Pavilion,¡± just by the tone of voice, Yulan was rolling her eyes. ¡°But it was fun! And they were not that strong.¡± ¡°Yuwei, you still don¡¯t underhand the politics that revolve around those bouts. They wouldn¡¯t send the people who could pose a challenge. At least you didn¡¯t show any of your techniques,¡± Yulan sighed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to. I know that. I need to save those kinds of things for the right moment. Now let¡¯s do it,¡± the person who Yulan called Yuwei clapped her hands while facing the forest. It was hard for Hera to believe it to be the same girl, since her voice was so different. ¡°We shall,¡± Yulan nodded and followed the same motion. ¡°Master Hera, Master Helena. I, once again, thank you for all your help. I never expected to be able to live with my mother again,¡± Yuwei said in a bow. ¡°And thank you for helping me find my own master. I will never forger your kindness. It would be an honor if you could watch us in the tournament,¡± Yulan added. Helena and Hera poked their heads from a tree to the left of the two Orc women. ¡°You two are going to participate in a tournament?¡± Helena asked. ¡°That sounds fun. Is it the Sky Sword Meeting thing?¡± Hera added. ¡°Master Hera! Master Helena!¡± Yulan gasped. She looked very much the same. Still with brown eyes and long hair flowing along her back with a tiny braid forming a crown on the back of her head. But instead of the pastel tones of beige and white, she replaced them with orange and blue. Still somewhat pastel colors, but they had a glow to it, not as if they were creating light, but as if there was energy coursing through her clothes. ¡°See! I told you they could hear us! It was worth coming here every year,¡± Yuwei said with a large smile. The Orc girl was now a fully grown woman who was even more developed than Hera, Helena, or Yulan in certain areas. But her clothes still had the same soft yellow and white colors, even if they were now longer and included a scarf around her arms that seemed to float on its own. Hera frowned, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say, but we didn¡¯t hear anything. Aside from what you just said. We don¡¯t live here, we were just passing by.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Yuwei paused as her face flashed various emotions in quick succession. First confusion, then sadness, then excitement, ¡°So that means your were not ignoring us!¡± ¡°Of course not. We would never do that,¡± Helena huffed. Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah, we were just not here.¡± ¡°Then we can tell you all about our adventures! The tales of the Sun Flower and the Vanishing Lake!¡± Yuwei announced proudly. ¡°The who and what now?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Those are nicknames that were given to us. Yuwei is known as the Sun Flower for¡­ Well, obvious reasons,¡± Yulan explained. ¡°And Yulan is the Vanishing Lake because she started tossing large amounts of water on people that were annoying us. People kept saying she was the spirit of a lake,¡± Yuwei had a large smile on her face. ¡°It is an unpleasant nickname, but it does give me a certain notoriety,¡± Yulan sighed. ¡°And how did you do it? Weren¡¯t you going to learn teleportation?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Portals, not teleportation. And to do that, I simply created a static portal at the bottom of a waterfall. I just have to open it on top of someone else,¡± Yulan pointed to the side and a small blue circle appeared a few meters above the ground. A stream of water came flowing, rushing out of it like a damn that had just broken. She only kept that portal active for a couple of seconds before deactivating it. ¡°That is really impressive!¡± Hera gasped. ¡°Thank you, Master Hera!¡± Yulan opened a big smile, ¡°But I¡¯m still far from my master. I can only handle three destinations, and all of them have to be prepared beforehand. Master can do several dozen and he doesn¡¯t need to prepare the locations. As long as he visited the place before he can return there.¡± ¡°Still, this is incredible,¡± Hera smiled back. ¡°But what are you doing here?¡± Yuwei turned to Helena, ¡°Did you come for the tournament, or just passing by searching for penguins?¡± Helena turned to the girl, a bit surprised that she still remembered their question about penguins, ¡°We are just traveling. No specific destination in mind. Do you have a suggestion?¡± ¡°You could come with us to the tournament!¡± Yuwei jumped to answer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have found a dungeon quest. The Sky Sword Meeting. A tournament is being held, and the winners will receive marvelous prizes. Reach the end of the tournament. First time rewards. Sky Sword Meeting prize Breakthrough talisman +1 level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera and Helena glanced at each other, and the mage replied, ¡°I think that¡¯s exactly what we are going to do. If you don¡¯t mind the company.¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± Yuwei smiled and turned to Yulan, ¡°Right?¡± ¡°It will be our honor to travel with you, masters. Although, the travel itself won¡¯t take very long,¡± Yulan smiled and created a blue circle in the air, large enough for any of them to pass through. On the other side was a room, one that should be a hotel, considering the simple decoration, ¡°Shall we?¡± Yuwei stepped forward, ¡°It¡¯s really good to have someone like Yulan. We can skip the boring parts!¡± she crossed the portal as if she was just stepping through a door. ¡°Master Hera, Master Helena. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not strong enough to keep the portal for long. Nor am I able to maintain it after I crossed,¡± Yulan told them, already starting to struggle with the strain. Hera and Helena quickly passed through the portal, arriving in that simple bedroom with Yuwei. There were two small beds, a balcony and a small table. Behind them was a light orange circle before the environment shifted back to the road by the Forest of Lost Souls. Yulan quickly stepped through that portal and stopped, keeping it open. A simple talisman was placed in the wall behind her. ¡°Welcome to the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit!¡± Yuwei proudly announced as she opened the window, revealing the city below. 939 - heavens Edge Summit
Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit was a sight to behold. Hera had been through her fair share of incredible places. Ancient Zaxalam during a vision, the Sand Temple, the Moon Base, Neptara, the Abyssal Deep, the Golden Dragon Archipelago, Clockwork City, and many more. And this was on par with the best. The city of Heaven¡¯s Edge was built around the mountain, with various places that were carved out, leaving large terraces where buildings could be raised, mirroring the rock formations. Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit was actually the very top district of the city. It was a large terrace, carved around the very peak of the mountain itself. The outer layer of buildings had the same shape as the mountain once had, before people arrived, creating almost what looked like a prosthetic version of the stone and rock that was lost. It was a place where cultivators would gather. Sects would create alliances, and warriors would prove their mettle. Every sect had their own individual buildings with unique designs, organized to display the kind of power and influence they had. To the east, was a red and gold pagoda raising into the skies, it stopped shy of the peak of the mountain, representing an old second summit that the formation once had. Located in the perfect place to have the sunrise shining behind the structure. Small paper lanterns were spread around the entire compound, every single of one them illuminating the area even during the hours of sunlight. Those who utilized that facility were members of the Celestial Phoenix sect. It¡¯s members controlling fire and powerful healing techniques. To the north was the Azure Cloud Pavilion, with their long building with only two floors at the edge of the mountain. Several balconies were even peeking over the stone underneath. Unlike the rest of the city, which had large walls around them to stop people from accidentally falling from Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, a pastel green and white wall stopped people from getting inside their domain. However, their members didn¡¯t have the same care. Everything was open, giving an amazing view of the valley below, while also letting those who were part of the sect practice their wind and sky based moves. To the west, people could see various shades of blue reflecting the sunlight as it hit a structure that mirrored a lotus flower. Several ponds of freezing cold water filled in the empty spaces between buildings, but the gates were open for all who wished to pray for enlightenment on the altar located directly in the center of the compound. That was Yuwei¡¯s home. The Serene Lotus Temple. And just like Yuwei¡¯s mother, most of its members practiced an ice or water-based cultivation. While others focused only on achieving inner peace and becoming enlightened. To the south was a large wooden structure very different from everything else in the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit. It had no grace, no flair, no pomp. Nothing. It was simply a large wooden block in the middle of the southern district. A block made of brown, uneven wood and a thin orange line made out of sap connecting the corners. That was the domain of the Ironwood Fortress, warriors who had the fame of being just as ruthless as bandits. Yuwei made a point to clarify that the fame was unfounded. People from that sect were generally really nice, even if their appearance was on the rough side. But the fact that their fortress here looked a lot like a prison, with only a few small windows spread around for airflow, certainly didn¡¯t help with the rumors. But their cultivation focused on defensive techniques, earth and wood based attacks, and the best place for their specific training was underground, or in areas completely devoid of sunlight. Lastly, was the Eclipse Moon Sect. But unlike all others, they didn¡¯t have a grand compound, a palace, or a fortress. Instead, their domain was the thin inner circle of the city. All around the terrace, touching the mountain itself, was a single long black building where their members gathered. There was a simple network of tunnels going from one side to the other, but everyone was strictly prohibited from wasting time there, and only in emergencies that someone was allowed to move through the tunnels. As one would expect, considering their name and building, the sect focused on stealth, secrecy, trickery, and illusions. They were most often seen during the night, while resting during the days. Despite all the grand structures and all the show, the various sects put into displaying their power and wealth. All of those marvelous buildings were mostly used by the inhabitants of the city. Usually, only a few members of each sect would stay there, focusing on caring for their property so it wouldn¡¯t fall into disarray. There were no training areas, no large arenas, and no grand libraries filled with secrets in any of the sect buildings, except the Eclipse Moon Sect, but the information they gathered here focused on people and bandits, not on powerful techniques. Basically, the structures of each sect were glorified hotels to be used exclusively during tournaments and other meetings that took place in the city. The only thing a bit out of the normal were the medicine halls which housed some powerful herbs capable of healing wounds of those who participated in the duels. Even then, the rarest of all were back in the main sects and not in a place like this. Hearing all that, Helena turned to Yulan, ¡°So we can¡¯t take a look at any books or scrolls about the skills of the sects?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. Even if we were to ask, they just don¡¯t have any lying around. Maybe there is a technique as a prize for the tournament. Or, if we find someone who brought it, we can try asking, but there are not many who would willingly share their secrets with strangers,¡± Yulan explained. Helena glanced at Hera before letting out a sigh, ¡°I tried. It¡¯s a shame. I really wanted to read one of those books.¡± ¡°Me too, We could end up finding something really good hidden among the texts.¡± ¡°So, what do you guys want to do first? We can go to a restaurant, we can see the stalls, we can see a play. The word is our oyster, as they say, at least until noon,¡± Yuwei asked. ¡°Why noon?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Because that¡¯s when the tournament will start. At least the junior bracket will. That¡¯s where Yuwei and I will fight,¡± Yulan Explained. ¡°Both of you are in the same bracket? Does that mean we are looking at the finalists right now?¡± Helena teased. ¡°No, no. We are in different divisions of the junior bracket. Everything is split by age. Unless you¡¯re fighting one of the Masters, then it¡¯s all about strength,¡± Yuwei explained. ¡°Oh? so the Masters do fight? Do you think we still have a chance to sign up for it?¡± Hera was thinking about the quest. How it said they had to reach the end of the tournament. From what she understood, it meant that she had to participate and reach at least the finals. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yuwei shook her head. ¡°There is a chance. However, we need to check with the organizers first. I do believe that the Masters bout requires you to make a team. And each sect can only have one member per team. This is a change they made for this tournament in order to incentivize teamwork and friendship between the sects,¡± Yulan explained. ¡°Where does that leave us? Helena and I turn on the part of any sect,¡± Hera asked. ¡°I believe that means you are both independent. Because of that, as long as you form a team, you can participate in the tournament. However, since the Master¡¯s bout is tomorrow, today is the last day for anyone to register,¡± Yulan continued. ¡°Do you know how many members each team must have?¡± Helena asked. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, between five and eight. It¡¯s supposed to be one Master from each sect plus three slots for the independent Masters per team. But the fights are one on one, and if one team has five members while the other has seven, those teams will only have five fights. It focuses on whoever has the least amount of members,¡° Yuwei was the one who answered. Helena smiled at Hera, holding back a chuckled, ¡°Well¡­ We do have eight.¡± Hera nodded, already laughing, ¡°We do. I love when things just work.¡± They left the inn and headed towards a simple looking building. It was grand and well kept, having walls around the three story tall structure in the center. This was the headquarters of the tournament itself. It was an organization that wasn¡¯t controlled by any of the sects. Instead, it was managed by the city of Heaven¡¯s Edge itself. Hera made sure to call her titled blades out before entering the office, that way she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about people arguing against them being part of the team, even if all dungeons tended to treat them as individuals. Together with Helena, she had a quick conversation with one of the organizers about creating her own team to join the tournament. Since they already had the numbers, it was very easy to register. The only thing they needed was a name for the team. But before anyone could say anything, Helena quickly wrote a name down in the form. Peeking over her friend¡¯s shoulder, Hera looked at the name, ¡°Really? Empress¡¯ Chosen?¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m not wrong,¡± the mage smiled. Hera groaned, but she didn¡¯t make any fuss about it. She was more or less used to her Court calling her empress and understood that it was just a joke. The clerk responsible for registration thanked the group for joining and mentioned that if there were fewer members, he could point them to a couple of the Masters, but it will be up to them to convince said Masters to participate in the tournament. Hera quickly understood that this should be the challenge of the dungeon. Not just the fight itself, but also making sure that whoever was running the dungeon was able to gather in time. The group then went to a restaurant so they could talk and catch up until it was time for the tournament. Yuwei and Yulan were very nonchalant about the entire situation. The reason was simple, both were confident in their skills of winning the respective brackets. Yuwei had a unique constitution that made her fire-based movements much more powerful even than the first class disciples of the Celestial Phoenix sect, whom she trained with. And she will be fighting against those who had just become second class disciples. Yulan, on the other hand, didn¡¯t really care about the tournament itself. The training that her master had put her through included various bouts against a number of much more experienced cultivators. She also spent most of last year roaming around the mountains and wiping out entire camps of bandits on her own. There was another reason for their lack of worry. They were under no pressure to win whatsoever. None of their Masters truly care about the glory of winning a tournament like this, not in the junior brackets. And the rewards paled in comparison with any resource they already had freely available thanks to their Master. Halfway through the meal, a loud gong echoed throughout the city. This was a signal for all the participants of the day¡¯s duels to head for the arena. They all quickly got up and started walking the steps leading to the very peak of the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit. The location for where the tournament would take place. ¡°I just realized your mom is not here. What happened? Is she okay?¡± Helena turned to Yuwei as they walked up the steps along with the other warriors. ¡°She is. She had to deal with a small problem but she will be here tomorrow for the finals, and to watch the Master bracket,¡± Yuwei announced with a big smile. Hera didn¡¯t say anything, but there was a satisfied expression on her face. This dungeon was going to be much simpler than she expected. Not only did she have a very nice place to rest, good food, and good company, but they should be able to complete the quest without any problems and finally reach the home of the Strength Spirits. 940 - The tournament begins The arena located at the very peak of the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit was, in one word, magnificent. To enter it, one had to cross the gates that blended seamlessly with the mountain. It was to the point that Hera could barely believe she was seeing things correctly. The very rocks were opening a path for the cultivators and the audience that would watch them battle. Inside, pillars of red, black, and gold spread around like roots of a tree who fought against the stone for dominance. Yet, those battles formed perfectly shaped tunnels and hallways. Every single one of them with that mix of vegetation and mineral covering the walls. The public moved through those passages, finding their luxurious seats waiting for them. Well maintained benches made out of various large pieces of gemstones, with cushions eagerly anticipating those who would use them on these rare occasions. In here, there was no social class. The wealthy merchants sat beside the beggars, the scribes chatted with the thugs. In here, they were all friends. There was no bad blood among anyone, not inside this arena. The only difference was between those who came to watch and those who came to fight. Yulan and Yuwei moved past the countless lines and floors of seats and continued to the inner rings of the audience. Where those who would fight had the right to stay in the front row. The elders of each sect had their own section on that area, however the same wasn¡¯t true for the rest of the sect members. Everyone was not just incentivized to mingle with the other sects, but they were expected to do so. The center of the arena was completely flat and made out of gray rock. The rock that was part of the mountain since its formation. There were no blemishes, no scratches, nothing on that slab of stone. Yulan explained that this had been the case ever since the first tournament. Nothing, and no one, was able to break that part of the mountain. People said that as long as the arena remained unblemished, the hills would prosper. From the ground floor, where all the battles would take place, the surrounding stadium rose another 30 meters into the sky. However, that didn¡¯t mean people felt like they were trapped at the bottom of a well. In each of the cardinal directions, there was a gap showing the sky and the view from the top of the mountain. That gap aligned perfectly with the sun, meaning that the arena was illuminated from dawn to dusk. On the edges of some of the floors, there were long flags leading down, some signaled the various sects, but others were there to represent the winners of previous tournaments. Each of those long pieces of cloth emblazoned with a specific symbol picked by the winners. A man wearing long white and gold robes walked from the side, taking the center stage of the arena. He cleared his throat, the sound reverberating through the entire structure, ¡°I would like to thank all of you for being here today. This is the 789th Sky Sword Meeting. And I, being the mayor of Heaven¡¯s Edge, have the honor of starting the procedures.¡± He turned around, facing a different part of the crowd, ¡°As you all know, this tournament was created in an age of strife. It became a way for the sects to solve their differences without going to war. At the time, most had doubts about this. If a tournament would truly be enough, and if the sects would honor their loss, even if they had bigger numbers and more masters willing to go to war. Yet, despite all the opposition, all the doubts, and the fear. The Sky Sword Meeting became the most important aspect of our lives. With it, we achieved peace, and we work towards a millennium of boundless prosperity.¡± The mayor put both hands in front of his body while turning once more, ¡°And for that. I thank you,¡± he bowed, his arms pouting to the north, ¡°and I thank you,¡± he shifted, now to the east, and bowed again, ¡°And I thank you,¡± once more, he turned, now facing south, ¡°and I thank you,¡± the last of his bows was aimed at the west. A way to thank not just all of those in the arena, but also those living on the plains themselves. Clearing his throat once more, the mayor continued, ¡°I apologize for the brief introduction, but I¡¯ve been made aware that last time, I may have overdone the speech. Now, let us start the tournament!¡± he shouted as the entire crowd started clapping. ¡°How long was the last speech?¡± Hera turned to Yulan. ¡°From the moment he stepped foot in the arena until he left¡­ About three hours. That ended up delaying the entire tournament. The finals only happened two days later,¡± the Orc woman replied. ¡°Yeah. But there were some good parts. I liked the story about how all the old masters tried to fight and the mountain split in four ways,¡± Yuwei added. ¡°So, this is something that happened by accident?¡± Helena looked around. She noticed a couple of mirrors on the very top of each of the sections of the arena. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Yeah, and here is the best part,¡± Yulan smiled. The mayor gestured for a few people who started shifting the mirrors. At the same time, the four rays of light hit a specific spot on the side of each structure. Another network of mirrors was hiding inside and one by one, at a staggering speed, the benches made out of precious gems started glowing as the sunlight illuminated the stones. Hera and Helena had to hold back, not to laugh. Sure, it was an incredible sight, and if they were not part of the modern world, this would be one of the most amazing things they ever saw. However, since they were used to technology, they couldn¡¯t help but think that the entire arena had ¡®gamer chair¡¯ seats covered in led lights that did nothing but look pretty. The mayor left the arena, leaving someone younger, an Orc with a long hair in a tall pompadour style, of all things. He wore a similar white and gold robe, but the colors were reversed. Instead of predominant white, gold was the color that covered most of his body. He got to the center while moving slowly, and then burst into motion, turning to one of the sides of the arena with every word. ¡°Ladies, gentlemen, everyone in between and to the side. Welcome to the 789th Sky Sword Meeting. Are you ready to ruuummmbllleeeee!!!??¡± The entire crowd cheered, and the announcer continued, ¡°The first duel of the day is one that will be remembered through the ages! Starting with our junior brackets. From the east corner, the fiery son of the flames. The genius spark of light. The inheritor of the phoenix himself. Representing the Celestial Phoenix Sect, Huo Jingyun!¡± A younger Orc, likely in his early 20s, came from the east entrance. He had a red banana on his forehead and a plume of fiery red hair resting on top of it. His sleeveless vest was of dark red, with yellow trim showing a lean build. He walked forward, jumping into the air while letting some fire come out of his feet to boost his motion, and landed in the center of the arena. Throwing a few punches in the air. ¡°And on the west corner, the icy damsel of the sea. The calamity of snow, the frozen heart of the tundra, the youngest priestess of the Serene Lotus Temple, Xue Lianhua!¡± Walking slowly from the west entrance, another Orc who should be in her early 20s, if not younger, emerged. She had long flowy blue robes and an aura of frost around her body. Her steps were slow, calculated, and void of any emotion until she reached the center of the arena and simply stared at her opponent. The announcer jumped up and stood in the air a few meters above ground, ¡°Fire and water, a battle as old as time. Who will win this time? Will the cold be enough to cut off the heat? Or will the ice melt away? We shall have the answer soon!¡± he said something else that only the two cultivators in the arena could hear. A confirmation if the two were ready, and after getting a nod from them, the announcer shouted, ¡°Ready? Fight!¡± It didn¡¯t take long for Hera to realize the fight was extremely boring. Sure, this was just the junior bracket, and she wasn¡¯t expecting massively powerful skills or anything of the sort. Since these people were cultivators, she imagined they had trained for several years. What she wanted to see were extremely well practiced martial arts, and maybe use that to figure something out herself. But what was happening was very far from that idea. Xue Lianhua seemed to have practiced the same half a dozen moves to perfection, but she had to return to a neutral stance after every attack. That caused her to lose any momentum, and in fact, it made her look very much like one of the training dummies the Empress used in the past. Huo Jingyun, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t following any set martial art. He was just flailing and hoping to hit his opponent with whatever he could do. It very much reminded Hera of her early days as an explorer. Both of them had some elemental abilities, with the man shooting fire from his hands, and the woman freezing the surrounding air to lower his body temperature. But their mana, or Qi, as they called it, was all over the place. Most of the magic they used was dispersed once the effect was created. Meaning they only cared about sending out the spell, or skill, not about making sure it maintained its strength until reaching the target. Eventually, Xue Lianhua ended up winning as the man from the Celestial Phoenix Sect ran out of steam and collapsed due to the cold that surrounded his body. The next fight was equally underwhelming, which made Hera and Helena focus more on talking with Yuwei and Yulan than anything else. There were a couple of moments when Yuwei had to leave for her own match, but she finished her battles in just a few moves. All of them were simple and without any special technique behind them. She was making a point to reach the finals without showing any of her real abilities, as her mother asked. Which she was able to do, as each fight only lasted around 10 minutes. Yulan was the opening act for her bracket. Even if the name was odd. She was in a stronger group than Yuwei, but it was still called the junior bracket. Just the second junior bracket. She was also able to finish her fights in record time. Before the tournament started, she had set up a teleportation location outside of the arena, and every time someone got close, she would just open a portal for them to fall through. The rules clearly stated that leaving the arena was the same as forfeiting the duel. A lot of people protested against her way of fighting, and even the crowd booed her a few times. But the judge already had an answer for that. Yulan¡¯s master had won a previous tournament using the same technique, and that was allowed. Which meant that it would be unfair to ban that skill now. Once the fights were over, the group moved back to the inn. None of them were tired, but things got a bit rowdy after the tournament and, unlike almost everyone else, they couldn¡¯t party to their heart''s content. Then again, that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t enjoy some of the festivities. They still had time to enjoy the plays, the music, the dances, and, most importantly, the food stalls. 941 - Finals After the tournament Hera and the group stayed out, enjoying the festivities. More specifically, they were enjoying the stalls that were everywhere in the city. From food stands, to game stalls, to small shops selling various books, accessories and knickknacks. Every other sect was also there, each of them joined by their own groups and taking part in the grand festival. Eventually, Hera and her group decided to stop by a proper restaurant. In there Twiggy gave everyone an idea about what they could do during their own fights the next day. Her suggestion made the entire court very excited, all who quickly started to discuss plans since it was the first time they would fight one-on-one in a setting like this. Later that evening, they went back to the Inn. Yulan and Yuwei had drank a bit too much but they should still be healthy enough to fight in the finals. There were a couple of moments during the evening where either Hera or Helena noticed a few odd things, but they agreed to discuss only once they were in a safe location. It was hard to talk about something grand if they were in the middle of a crowded area where anyone could listen. And after putting the two Orc women in bed, that time had come. They went to the adjacent room where the two of them would be sleeping. The entire court was also there as they participated in the whole festival. At first, none of them realized that something could be happening. But Viper was the first to notice and the rest soon followed. ¡°Ok, should I start?¡± Helena asked. ¡°I think that¡¯s a good call. When I mentioned to you the first thing I noticed, you said you already had realized there was something going on before,¡± Hera nodded just as she created a soundproof bubble around them. ¡°Yeah, did anyone realize that there was almost no one from the Eclipse Moon Sect in the tournament?¡± ¡°What do you mean? We saw a few of them fighting,¡± Crimson asked. ¡°I said almost no one. Every other sect had at least 15 members participating in total. But the Eclipse Moon Sect only had four people. First, I thought this was just because of who they are. You know, a spy sect doesn¡¯t want to show their hand and reveal their tricks. But there was no one in the crowd either. And that felt really odd,¡± Helena explained. Hera nodded, ¡°Yeah, that doesn¡¯t really make sense. Knowing what the other sects are capable of should be one of the top priorities. There is absolutely no reason for them to miss an opportunity to watch the young generation fighting and possibly discover more about their abilities, unless there¡¯s something really big going on.¡± ¡°Does anyone have any ideas about what should be going on? Their members were all over the place, but they were not participating in the festival,¡± Nimbus asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell, all that I was able to see where few sect members walking around in a hurry,¡± Livy sighed. ¡°Me too. And a few of them seem to be searching for someone,¡± Vulcan added. ¡°Viper, did you see anything?¡± Crimson turned to her brother ¡°I heard a couple of things. But only pieces of conversations. The Eclipse Moon Sect seems to be searching for something and they are having trouble communicating with someone. But all its members seem to be in a rush,¡± Viper had his arms crossed while looking at the teapot in the center of the room. Once the group started heading back to the Inn someone had prepared some tea for Hera and Helena. It was, frankly, incredible. How the different establishments could communicate in a way to make their guests have such a pleasant and worry free stay. Then again, this was a cultivation dungeon. If those clich¨¦s that cultivators had no problems killing people just for looking at them the wrong way were true, it made sense that society would figure out a way to keep them appeased at all times. ¡°Yeah, we would need something more than just stealth to be able to listen in on their conversation,¡± Nimbus turned to the twins, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, you¡¯re great at that. But in a crowd full of people, it¡¯s easier to notice you two walking around with your skills.¡± Crimson nodded, ¡°Yeah, the whole ¡®you can¡¯t see me from my front¡¯ is great in a fight. But if we are in a more general stealth mission, it can cause problems. Especially because we rely too much on it not to be seen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m working on a couple of spells that could help us with that, but they¡¯re still not already,¡± Viper added. ¡°Not to change the subject or anything, but has anyone seen Lurize?¡± Livy looked around. Hera smiled as she took a sip of the tea, ¡°Just give a couple minutes. I can feel him getting closer.¡± ¡°You sent him on a scouting mission?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Yep. Despite everything, people would be much less likely to find a bug than they would be to find Viper or Crimson. I thought about sending my snakes, but that also didn¡¯t seem like a good idea. A bunch of snakes in the middle of a festival. If one was seen by a person, people would freak out. I can only imagine the chaos.¡± ¡°When did you send him? I can¡¯t remember which point in the night he vanished,¡± Vulcan asked. ¡°It was around the time Yulan started to sing,¡± Hera replied, ¡°He mentioned he saw a few people going inside the Eclipse Moon building and figured he could sneak inside without triggering any alarms,¡± she glanced outside, ¡°Speaking of which.¡± A small orange beetle appeared in the window. It had a golden symbol on its back of a skull with two bones forming an X. Once he passed through the soundproof bubble, the beetle changed shapes taking back the titled form of Lurize. ¡°Hera,¡± he nodded. ¡°Did you find anything?¡± the Sentinel asked. ¡°I did. Apparently, they¡¯re in trouble. I overheard a few older folk talking. They can¡¯t reach a good number of their buildingz outzide. Even the equipment they employ to communicate in critical momentz failed. The final update they got warned of a threat, but there were no additional detailz. Whoever gave that warning met their end before they could explain further.¡± ¡°Was that all? Did you get any sense if that danger is coming now or is something that will happen after the tournament?¡± Daskka asked. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know. ut they looked frightened. From what I can tell, the danger iz conziderable,¡± Lurize added. Hera glanced at Helena, ¡°Let¡¯s face it. Whatever danger this is will probably reach us. It¡¯s a hard mode and just participating in the tournament is too easy. Even if you have to win it.¡± ¡°I agree. The hard mode is always complicated and since it told us to reach the ending of the tournament, I¡¯m guessing it meant ¡®survive until the end,¡¯¡± the mage sighed in agreement. ¡°This is probably because of the demon cult, right?¡± Livy asked. ¡°What?¡± Hera turned to the Leviathan ¡°What?!¡± Vulcan snarled, quickly standing up. ¡°Calm down, I¡¯m not saying Daemon cult, I¡¯m saying demon cult. This is a cultivation dungeon. Facing the demon cult is kind of a staple of that genre,¡± Livy explained. ¡°Shit,¡± Hera and Helena said at the same time. ¡°I know it¡¯s bad, but I was kind of enjoying having a break from the war,¡± the mage slumped back. ¡°Me too. Like it¡¯s bad. I know that. People are suffering and we shouldn¡¯t be off on vacation. But going back to dungeons just exploring and having some fun felt so relaxing,¡± Hera added, getting some nods from almost all of her court. With one exception. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you¡¯re not going to be able to enjoy as much as you would like. But the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can continue fighting and the sooner the war is over,¡± Forge spat out in a half growl. ¡°Vulcan, I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I want to help too. It¡¯s just¡­ A lot. This break was welcomed, but I wasn¡¯t going to go out of my way to be stuck somewhere just so I can avoid fighting and avoid helping the Strength Spirits,¡± Hera turned to Forge, using their connection so he would understand her intention. ¡°I know, I know. I just¡­ I¡¯m glad this helped you relax. But I can¡¯t do that, not until I know that all my brothers and sisters are safe or at least no longer suffering,¡± Vulcan groaned, ¡°I¡¯ll be in the palace. Call me when it is my turn to fight or when we have to deal with whatever is going to come here.¡± Before her I could say anything, Forge went back into the Legacy. After that interaction, everybody was left with a sour taste in their mouths. They understood where Forge was coming from, but they also had to consider their own side. Everyone was stuck here one way or another, and it was up to them to decide if they would let all the stress fester and grow or if they would let themselves relax for just a few days and renew their energies. Despite the situation, everybody went to bed knowing that in the morning they would have a lot to do. Thankfully, this part of the dungeon wasn¡¯t a time skip or something like it. It seemed that the MAZE would allow them to rest before, wherever was about to happen, happened. Hera and Helena were woken up by the smell of fresh dumplings and noodles. Yulan and Yuwei were feeling much better and not even slightly hungover after the previous day. This time, their meal was quick since the finals would happen in the morning while the competition between the Masters would be taking place in the afternoon. In total, there were going to be four fights. The two junior brackets and two senior brackets. However, the organizers shifted the scheduling to make it so the duels that look to be the most exciting happened later. Strangely enough, this meant that the finals would start with one Junior bracket where Yulan would face a member of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. Followed by the two senior brackets, And Yuwei, would be the closing act. The main reason for that was her opponent. It was Xue Lianhua, another member of the Serene Lotus Temple. Since both belong to the same sect, people were excited to see what was the difference between someone who followed their tradition and cultivation and someone who had to take a different path while maintaining the values and methods created by the temple. Just like on the first day, Yulan¡¯s fight was incredibly boring. Her opponent tried to fight against her teleportation ability. But eventually, the Orc woman simply tossed the man from the Azure Cloud Pavilion down the mountain. Being a junior member of that sect, he wasn¡¯t able to fly just yet, but he managed to glide his way down. Which was unfortunate as it took him almost a full hour to reach the Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit once more, and by then Yulan had been declared the winner. The two senior fights were equally uninteresting. Aside from a couple of flashy attacks there was no real substance to the combat and all four warriors ended up spending a good 5 minutes on long speeches about how they were more powerful because of a secret technique or another that they promised not to use until the moment was right. Hera couldn¡¯t help but think that if people truly stop to monologue before fights, it will be just so easy to finish them off before they could even move. But eventually came the main event. Or at least, the main event of the morning show. Yu Yuwei versus Xue Lianhua. The two women exchanged a few blows, but it quickly became evident that on a martial level, they were evenly matched. After all, both of them had been taught the exact same movements for pure combat. The only difference would be their Qi infused attacks. After a couple of minutes, Xue Lianhua stepped back and shouted so the entire arena could hear, ¡°Yu Yuwei! Let us not waste time on meaningless exchanges. I challenge you to deliver your most powerful blow and I shall answer in kind. Let us confirm once and for all who is stronger. You and your Heaven blessed constitution, or me and all my years of effort and training.¡± Yuwei thought for a moment before nodding, ¡°If this is what you want, Xue Lianhua, then this Yu Yuwei, is happy to accept the challenge.¡± The two faced each other from opposite sides of the arena, mana swirling around their bodies as both condensed energy in order to attack. Xue Lianhua guided the magic to her sword, making it become colder and colder until you reached the point where it looked, on the outside, just like the glaive used by Master Yu. Unfortunately, it was clear to both Hera and Helena that this attack only focused on the outer layer of ice. It didn¡¯t have the same substance, the same primordial frost that Master Yu¡¯s glaive possessed. In fact, Eira was able to tell the ice sword was merely an imitation that was unable to understand the real power of the permafrost, focusing only on its appearance. On the other side, Yuwei prepared for the first time a mana infused ability. Light energy started to swirl around her fists, but he wasn¡¯t the same light that Helena used. It had a yellowish golden shine that moved almost like a part of the wind itself. The speed at which the energy gathered did not change, but it got denser and denser until it looked as if Yuwei was holding strands of light in her bare hands. But unlike what anyone was expecting, the Orc woman jumped high in the sky, getting to the same level as the third floor of the arena in a single leap. She raised her right leg up, almost touching her forehead, and wrapped the strings of light around her shin in a swift motion. Only to then come back down like a meteor, a burning star falling from the heavens towards Xue Lianhua. The other member of the Serene Lotus Temple Face that attack head on. Without lifting one foot off the ground, she aimed her sword at Yuwei¡¯s feet and trusted forward, the two attacks colliding with a massive impact that sent Sun Mana flying out all over the arena. For a brief moment, no one was able to see anything due to the intense light, but when they recovered their senses, a mixture of cheers and gasps echoed through the arena. Xue Lianhua was on her knees, her sword shattered to her side. Yu Yuwei was standing in front of her with a single cut going from the side of her leg all the way to her tight. It wasn¡¯t a deep wound, but there was blood streaming out of it. However, the main reason for concern was between them. The unblemished and unbroken stage of the arena had a single scratch pointing from the north to the south. Before anyone could check what that meant or what had happened, screams echoed from below the mountain as loud bells started ringing, bells that were only used when Heaven¡¯s Edge was under attack. A member of the eclipse moon set rushed to the arena and shouted, ¡°The demon cult is attacking!¡± Hera turned to Livy who had a smug smile on her face, ¡°Called it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m never going to hear the end of this,¡± Hera rolled her eyes as, together with Helena and her court, rushed down to help fend off the so-called demon cult. 942 - Demon Cult #### Author''s Note #### Ok there were a couple of moments here where Hera felt really badass. Was I the only one? Also, I''m doing something a bit different when editing the chapter, I hope it lower the amount of mistakes but let me know if you see something odd, or if it feels better. ################## Not just Hera, her court, Helena, and Yulan, but all the sects there were participating in the Sky Sword Meeting rushed out of the arena. The elders were yelling orders, calling for the servants to bring the weapons from their armories while summoning their own swords. At the same time, the disciples all went in a mad dash towards their sacked buildings. They were not allowed to carry weapons in the Heaven''s Edge Summit. Not during the festival. The idea was to protect the mortals and make sure that no minor brawls turned into something more serious. Yuwei, along with everyone who was a part of the first junior bracket, were given the task of protecting the summit. From the little information that was shared, the Demon Cult was here in mass at the base of the mountain. Which meant that would be the most dangerous place during this conflict. Exactly for that reason, the weaker disciples wouldn''t be allowed to participate in such a gruesome fight. Hera''s group was reaching the side of the mountain, ready to jump down when Helena stopped and grabbed both Hera and Yulan''s arms, "Wait, wait a moment." "What? Master Helena, we need to go help them. We can''t let that the Demon Cult continue their attack. The mortals down there are probably being slaughtered," Yulan gasped. "No, wait. Are we sure this is the right thing to do?" Helena asked. "What do you mean?" Hera stared at the mage. "I mean, what if this is what the Demon Cult is trying to do? Take us out of the summit?" Helena continued. "Why would they do that? There''s nothing of value here," Yulan explained. " I don''t know," Helena sighed. "Livy!" Hera called. The Leviathan materialized by the Empress as the court was inside the palace to speed up their movement. Most of the cultivators were already halfway down the mountain, but a few of the stragglers jumped when they saw the sea serpent in her title form. Ignoring the reaction, the Ophidianite asked her question. "You read more stories about this than I did. Why would the Demon Cult lure people away from the summit?" "Why? Come on, it''s a classic. There is a strange rock here that no one seems to be able to break and a core of a mountain that is protected by all the sects. Of course that there''s something hidden inside the mountain and the Demon Cult came here to steal it or take it. It''s the most classic of clich¨¦s that there is. Especially since we are leaving the weakest people behind. It''s a text book revenge story prologue. The Demon Cult kills everyone, steals what they have to steal, destroys all the sects and whoever survives the assault will go on a journey to become strong enough to fight back against them. The survivor will be either someone who has a special power like Yuwei, and her special constitution. Someone who is extremely devoted and hard-working and who gave their life to their sect. Or a nobody that was always bullied and just had a very good day for the first time in what feels like forever. We should look for one of those people. The leader of the Demonic Cult will probably show up right in front of them and make them watch as they do something horrible." Hera, Helena, and Yuan glanced at each other, but this time, the Orc woman was who started moving. "Follow me!" she quickly created a portal to the side that led them straight back to the arena. "Right. You can make portals. Why didn''t you make one so we could just reach the bottom of the mountain?" she harassed as she followed Yulan. "Everyone was running, I didn''t think. Just followed," the Orc woman admitted. Taking a moment to look around them, Hera realized they were not in the arena proper, but on the bleachers. This was the location that Yulan kept sending her opponents during most of the tournament. Quickly rushing to one of the open areas to see the ground below, she watched as the junior disciples, Yuwei included, were toyed with by a group of 10 people. They were all clad in black cloaks that hid their appearance. Most of the disciples were on the ground around them trying to get up, but an unknown force stopped them from moving. One of the figures stepped forward. She grabbed a male Orc that was trying to get up and pulled him closer to her face. From this angle, Hera wasn''t able to see what she was doing, but once she tossed the man to the side, it became clear. That figure had given the man a concentrated dose of poison, maybe through a kiss, and now he was convulsing on the ground. "So the five-person minimum would mean that each of us would have to take two of them," Helena mumbled. "Yeah. But at least we have the maximum number of people. Even if I don''t think we can count on the junior disciples doing much," the Empress triggered her [Observe] and confirmed that all but 1 of the 10 cloaked figures were level 48. Each of them had a name and a title of sorts, something that, in a cultivation story, would mean they were very powerful. "We can use the same plan we had for the tournament," Twiggy suggested cheerfully. "The same plan? I like the idea," Hera smiled. Helena answered in kind, also excited at the prospect of using one of Hera''s blades. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Yuwei!" Yulan suddenly yelled and rushed out of their hiding place. The poison user had changed targets and was about to reach the Sun Flower. Seeing that, the Empress called her entire court out and rushed after Yulan. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? More disciples for us to play with?" the figure who poisoned the man let out a sinister cackle, her voice somewhat melodic, but parts of the laughter sounded like someone dragging their nails on a whiteboard. "Even a disciple will be more than enough to deal with the likes of you. Nevertheless, this Leviathan will entertain you now. Be glad for the honor," Livy announced, already playing along with the setting. Hera couldn''t help herself and joined in, "Now, now. Don''t be greedy. There is enough for everybody," she glanced at the 10 cloaked figures, "Even if this lot will only be good for a warm-up." "You dare?" The tallest of the figures, who also seemed to be a man by his voice, growled and pulled back his hood. He had a shaved head and his skin was a mossy green hue, almost like he had come from a swamp. Across his neck and forehead were various tattoos depicting some type of sigil that emanated a sickening aura. Livy stepped forward, holding Eira in her hand. Even if the Orc man, who was called Drakvar, the Iron Fist, was the biggest member of this group, he still paled in comparison to the Leviathan, who was a good 80 cm taller than him. "Calm down, little one. You''re fighting me." Drakvar snarled, "What makes you think you have the right to challenge me?" With a smile, Livy lowered her head, baring her teeth at the man. "I''m stronger." In a flash, the Leviathan disappeared and shoulder-checked the burly Orc. The impact sent him flying to the walls of the arena. Now that she was in the center of the group of cloaked figures, she swung Eira around, the attack causing all the remaining nine figures to jump back. As they spread out, everyone on Hera''s team jumped on top of one of them. Only two were left unattended. The first had a metallic glove and a thick smell of iron coming from him, but he wasn''t alone for long. Yulan and Yuwei jumped on the opportunity to fight, taking advantage of their excellent teamwork, honed across years of travel. Xivrok, the Bone Warden, was the only invader that didn¡¯t seem to be picked for combat. That was very much intentional. Hera had seen that he was only level 45, and she felt an energy from him that she had only felt once before. It was during the very first explorer test when she fought against King Gwendelan, or as he was known, the Skeleton King and his warriors. Because of that, the Empress figured Xivrok would use some kind of necromancy. And if he was truly the summoner type, the junior disciples would be more than enough. If not, they should at least be able to stall for time until the other fights were over. As a matter of fact, the Empress was able to get a sense of the power of every single one of those invaders, and her court made sure that each of them would have the advantage in the matchups. Hera herself rushed straight to the woman who poisoned the young Orc. It was clear that she utilized toxins, which made the Ophidianite her natural enemy. Selrith, the Venomous Kiss, cackled once more as they were split off. With a flick, she removed her robes, revealing her skimpy outfit. Clothes that hugged her curves and had openings that showed her jade-like skin in places dangerously close to being inappropriate. It didn¡¯t even look like proper battle attire, more akin to what someone would draw in an erotic game. Her face was sharp, and her makeup was immaculate. Blood-red lips contrasted with her black hair flowing like liquid shadow, "I''m flattered, but I don¡¯t like women. Although," Selrith looked Hera up and down, "I might be willing to make an exception." "I¡¯m not that desperate. But if I ever lose any semblance of self-esteem, I¡¯ll let you know," Hera looked Selrith up and down, doing the same thing the Orc woman had done to her, "No, even then, I¡¯ll love myself too much to touch you," Hera shrugged, Pyro was sitting on her tail and already preparing an [Inferno Burst] to start the fight. The Venomous Kiss¡¯s eyes flared red as sinister energy came out of her body. "No one rejects me. One way or another, you¡¯re going to be on your knees when I¡¯m done with you. Like all those before you." "Yeah, that¡¯s not going to happen. For one, that fragrance you¡¯re wearing is making me nauseous, and I don¡¯t even want to think about what the rest of you smells like. And two, you seem like the type who just lays there and does nothing." Daskka covered Selrith¡¯s face in a dark mist as Hera ran over and struck the woman¡¯s back with a venomous cutlass she had just conjured before the Orc could even react. With a smirk, Hera continued, "I like people who can keep up." Selrith growled in pain, her body twisting as she pulled out a couple of daggers, going straight for Hera''s face. Stepping back, the Ophidianite evaded the attack while flicking her tail towards the Orc woman. Pyro activated [Inferno Burst] just as the Venomous Kiss narrowly evaded his tipped blade. But that didn''t matter. A torrent of fire spread out, hitting the woman, who was only able to dodge after large parts of her skin burned from the intense heat. Selrith yelled as some of her clothes burned away, revealing a tattoo on her skin that followed the exact same pattern as her outfit. "You bitch!" "Only when I want to," Hera continued her attack, swinging her cutlass a couple of times but finding no purchase. In response, Selrith spat a green liquid that ended up hitting the floor. ''Hera, watch out,'' Twiggy called. Every step taken by the Orc woman was leaving behind footprints of that same strange goo. "Too late." Selrith made a gesture with her hand, causing all the mucus she left behind to evaporate. As she controlled those vapors, she shoved them all inside Hera''s nose. "Now, let''s see how beautiful you''ll be as you squirm on the ground." Hera wasn¡¯t expecting to be attacked that way, and if it were up to her, she would have tested the waters first to confirm if the poison this woman used would be dangerous to an Ophidianite or not. But apparently, she was going through a trial by fire. Which was a very apt description of what she was feeling. Not the type of fire that hurt or charred her skin, but one very similar to eating raw peppers, specifically the type used in those hot sauce challenges. Selrith walked closer to the Empress, a smug expression on her face. "You''re handling this much better than I expected. But soon your head will be beneath my feet." Once the Orc woman was close enough, Daskka, in her silver mist form, wrapped around the woman to make sure she wouldn¡¯t try to dodge. Following that up, Hera sent Pyro and the cutlass up, both aimed at Selrith¡¯s chin, and triggered [Grasshopper Stab] twice. The impact made the Orc woman''s head explode from the back. Thick green blood covered a large part of the arena, but the color quickly changed to red as the energy that turned it into venom was no more. With one of the enemies down, the Empress looked around to see who else might need some help. Ignoring the drop of the dissolved member of the demon cult. 943 - Alternate tournament Vulcan jumped towards one of the cloaked figures. They were on the taller side of the group and had an aura of heat coming from their body. At first, the idea was for Livy to face this person, but the Leviathan ended up getting tangled with the bald man. Brandishing the forging hammer, which was his original form, in one hand and Clay in the other, Vulcan attacked the demonic cult member. For now, he asked Clay to pretend to be a regular sword and not reveal the segmented blades of the chain whip just yet. The first strike was enough to push the hood away, revealing a woman with dark and leathery green skin. Aside from the color, it looked a lot like someone who spent way too much time getting tanned. From the top of her head, there was a mane of long, flowing black hair with streaks of fiery red seemed to glow as she moved. After spinning, she whipped her armored hand, blocking Clay and causing the steel from her gauntlet to melt. That wasn¡¯t something caused by the chain whip. Instead, the woman¡¯s hands were ignited with deep red flames. "I pity you. Of all the mistakes in your life, this is certainly the worst," the woman removed her cloak, revealing a simple gi that was burned at the edges, "You shall find no mercy, for my fire knows no such thing. Tell the name of your killer in the Underworld. Tell them all that Vrexira, the Soulflame, has sent you to the abyss." "Why do all of you talk? I don¡¯t care. Let¡¯s just finish this," Vulcan groaned and dashed forward. He quickly tapped Clay with the hammer, triggering a fire resist buff of all things, just before he attempted [Grasshopper Slash]. The woman ducked under the attack and slammed her fist against Forge¡¯s stomach. A burst of flames erupted from the point of impact, yet Vulcan didn¡¯t flinch. His apron was able to withstand much stronger heat, forged for working with metal. Bringing down the hammer on Vrexira¡¯s shoulder, he activated [Sacred Flame], making his own fire fight against the Orc woman¡¯s. She screamed in pain, feeling the heat sizzle her skin for the very first time and attempted to pull away, but Clay stepped in. He detached the segmented blades, taking his full form of a chain whip. Vrexira attempted escape, was blocked as [Crushing Grip] was activated, the weapon warping around the woman. Unable to escape, and still burning thanks to the sacred fire from Vulcan, the Orc woman snarled and ignited her entire body, trying to out burn the flames coming from Forge. With a groan, he pulled Clay closer, making Vrexira fall to the ground, and started jumping on her chest. With each impact, he also added a powerful blow with the forging hammer aimed directly at her head. Vulcan jumped again, and again, and again. His Daemonic Influence raising with each strike. The woman on the ground became a bloody mess, her face unrecognizable. ''That was a step too far,'' Clay said in a way that only Vulcan could hear. ''She is part of the Demonic Cult, and just something from a dungeon. I haven''t hurt anyone,'' Forge huffed. ''Following that logic, neither are we. So Hera, or anyone else, can hurt us as much as they want, and it won''t matter. Be it attacking us, or cussing at us, or breaking a promise. Which she hasn''t done, in case you forgot.'' Vulcan groaned again, ''For someone who is usually quiet, you know how to be annoying.'' ''And for someone who is a crafter, and puts an extreme amount of patience in each work, you are too quick to let your Daemon side influence you,'' Clay added. Forge refused to respond and instead focused on what Vrexira had left behind after dissolving. But instead of grabbing it, he just pushed it out of the way as he looked around for another fight. At the same time, on the East side of the arena, Lurize slowly stepped to the side while carrying Shadow on his hands, his real form, the Zweih?nder, resting across his back. The reason for this particular grouping was simple: a scythe was very difficult to wield, and the Royal Tutor was the only one who had any sort of skill to assist with that. In addition, their enemy, Vaalor, the Bloodforged, emanated blood mana as their name suggested. This meant that the best way to fight him was to send in someone who didn¡¯t have blood, or any of the court members, but also someone who could interrupt his control over the blood in the surrounding area. Lurize moved slowly toward his enemy. Unlike most other court members, he wasn¡¯t the type to rush into battle. Instead, he was more methodical, wanting to gauge his opponents before launching a full-on attack¡ªor at least, that¡¯s how he fought when he had a cool head. Vaalor, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. As soon as he noticed the Royal Tutor approaching, the Bloodforged opened his arms, pulling the blood spattered on the floor into his hands, forming one massive spiked club. "Do you really think your armor can stop me?" Vaalor said with a mad smile. Lurize chuckled. "Do you really think your toy can break my armor?" ''That line could¡¯ve been better,'' Shadow spoke up. The Royal Tutor rolled his eyes. ''Really? What would you have said?'' ''Funny, I don¡¯t see anything that needs to be stopped. Just a child waving around a stick.'' ''That¡¯s too long. I like mine better,'' Lurize huffed. While they were having their conversation, Vaalor lunged forward. He stopped a few centimeters before the Royal Tutor and slammed his club against Lurize¡¯s stomach, his red eyes glowing with madness contrasting his ashy gray skin. However, hitting the armored court member was like hitting a mountain. The impact sent shockwaves back at Vaalor, which caused him to tumble backward. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Once he looked up, the Royal Tutor had changed. His armor shifted, now with several thicker plates around his arms, shoulders, back, and abdomen, while his horn became longer and now had two prongs. This was the [Rhinoceros Form], activated to last for a minute, which was all the time Lurize needed to finish the fight. Vaalor went in for another strike, but this time was parried by the scythe, which pushed him away as if he was nothing more than a small critter. Lurize continued his assault, using Shadow as a spinning staff, empowered with a different combat style thanks to [Whisper of the Ancients]. The blade, made of liquid darkness, struck again and again, disrupting Vaalor''s skills. Soon, in just a few exchanges, the blood that formed his spiked club collapsed, unable to hold its form. Between the Alabaster heirloom [Whispering Ink] and the skill given by the Alabaster Dukedom, [Subtle Sabotage], in addition to Shadow¡¯s own [Shadow Mastery] and [Cursed Edge] to deliver more powerful strikes, there was enough disruption to stop Vaalor from controlling his powers. "I was wrong. I didn¡¯t even need a full minute," Lurize shook his head. Using [Winged Boost], the Royal Tutor dashed toward Vaalor. Shadow activated [Shadowstep Strike - Enhanced] to close the gap even faster, allowing Lurize to attack with a single upward swing, empowered by [Venom Blade] and [Grasshopper Slash] before Valor could even react. As a result, the member of the Demon Cult was cut clean in half, a flood of blood spilling out in a much greater quantity that someone that side should have. Those were the reserves Vaalor didn¡¯t even have a chance to use during the fight. Outside the arena, but still int he summit, Yulan and Yuwei dashed through the bleachers. Behind them, a figure walked slowly, keeping a moderate pace. Even several meters behind the two women, he was able to attack them again and again using floating weapons. Malrok, the Iron Tyrant, had spent years in hiding, perfecting the ability to control metal with his Qi, and now each of his daggers moved as if wielded by an expert. His large frame was accentuated by an even larger set of armor beneath his robes, everything made of pitch-black demon-forged iron. Spikes and jagged pieces of metal protruded and pierced through the cloth. His steps were casual and without a care in the world, but his deep brown eyes stared at the two Orc women with intent. Malrok enjoyed the chase. More specifically, he enjoyed the helplessness and despair that scarred the faces of those who realized all their efforts were in vain. It was quite simple, really. No matter how far they ran or how fast they were, as long as a single piece of his metal was already on his target, he would never lose track of them. This was very much the case now. In the initial outburst, after the giant dragon-like creature pushed the demon cultists away, he noticed the two Orc women getting closer and recognized them from the rumors. The Sun Flower and the Vanishing Lake. A famous pair for their age, people who believed they were stronger than the average warrior. How sweet their screams would be once they realized where they truly stood in the world. From the corner of his eye, he saw how his companions seemed to be struggling against their opponents. It was a shame, but Malrok wouldn¡¯t be able to enjoy his prey like usual. After all, they had a job to do. With a flick of his wrist, the entire arm of his armor turned into a chain that moved like a snake. The metallic creature rushed away, reaching the two women in a split second. Yulan saw the incoming attack and created a portal, trying to send the metal away. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t at the level where she could close the portal, cutting someone¡¯s limbs in the process, which forced her to keep it open until the metal chain came flying back toward Malrok, only to return for a second attack. This time, Yuwei answered. She ducked under the tip of the chain, narrowly evading the strike, and focused her energy into the tips of two fingers, which quickly turned white with heat. In a swift motion, she used her hand as a blade, melting part of the chain and splitting it in two. If her opponent had been anyone else, that would have been a good idea. But for the Iron Tyrant, it meant nothing. What was once a single moving chain became two, each aiming to capture the two Orc women. Yulan created another portal and jumped through it, closing it before the chain could follow, but not before the meta struck her back like a whip. Unfortunately, Yuwei didn¡¯t have the same chance as the metal bound her arms and legs, turning from a chain into thin metal wires that dug into her skin, causing droplets of blood to emerge. She dangled in the air, watching the demon cultist get closer. "I guess your little friend abandoned you," Malrok smiled as he approached. Feeling that Yulan wasn''t able to even escape the arena, even if she was on the other side now. "And I guess yours are dying," Yuwei tried to turn her head to the arena, but the metal wire stopped her. She could hear that a couple of the fights were already over, while others still continued. But there was no doubt in her mind who was winning. "A shame, but I am more than enough to deal with the rest of you." Malrok called all the metal he had sent out back, reforming the armor around his arm while keeping Yuwei trapped in the metal wire. "You¡¯re not getting away with this. We¡¯re going to stop you. All of you," Yuwei snarled. "I would love to see you try. What can you do now that you¡¯re trapped, hidden from the sun? The special constitution you¡¯re so proud of is worthless here," he gestured to the shadows that covered this section of the bleachers. The Demon Cult spy network was very good, and they discovered that Yuwei could only use her special Qi if she was in sunlight. "True, but that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t have a card up my sleeve." "And what, pray tell, is that card?" "My ability to stall," Yuwei smirked just as a portal appeared directly above Malrok. From it, a thick blob of tar dropped, covering not just the Iron Tyrant but all the metal around his body. With the added weight and stickiness of the black liquid, his ability to control the small and fine pieces of metal waned, and he struggled to move even a gram of it. At the same time, three more portals appeared, one on each side and one behind Yuwei, all of them pointing directly at the sky, or, more specifically, the sun. All of them created by Yulan, who was on the other side of the arena watching through a small gap. Every ounce of strength left in her body focused on keeping the portals open. The energy coming from the star washed over the Sun Flower, whose entire body started to glow white with pure heat. The temperature rose so much that the wire holding her up melted away, burning her body in the process but also freeing her from her temporary prison. Taking advantage of Malrok¡¯s situation, she gathered all that energy into her fist, which for a moment became even brighter than the midday sun. With a shout, she put all her weight behind the punch that struck the man square on his face just as it was cleared from the tar. The impact created a solar flare, one that was met by the exact same move coming from below. The twin attacks incinerated Malrok, who became entombed in his own metal armor as he was cooked by the intense heat. Yulan and Yuwei had just won, having faced one of the generals of the Demon Cult, and survived. But the fight wasn¡¯t over. Nimbus and the spear in his hand were still fighting somewhere on the floor below, just as some of the other court members still faced their foes. 944 - The last demon cultists As the fight started, Nimbus held a spear tightly in his hands. His opponent, one of the easiest to identify, the cloud and the Sun, would be facing a storm. More specifically, Zultar the Stormbringer. A short but imposing figure dressed in long gray robes with electric blue details. Lightning crackled around his limbs, ready to discharge at his command. The Orc man opened his mouth to speak, but he didn¡¯t have the chance. Nimbus thrusted Sun repeatedly, delivering a quick flurry that forced Zultar to focus all his attention on dodging. The relentless strikes came one after the other, each deadlier than the last, every movement faster, and each target coming closer to hitting its mark. Such intensity wasn¡¯t without reason. Nimbus did enjoy this type of setting. He would have loved to banter with his opponent, flaunt his power, and prove he was superior. However, all that was secondary to his main goal. As the Sentinel, his job, his purpose in life, was to protect the Empress and the Court. He had been willing to participate in a one-on-one fight when each battle would happen separately and interfering wouldn''t be allowed. But now, with everyone fighting different enemies at the same time, there was no option to play around. He had to be swift and decisive. He had to finish off his enemy before anyone got hurt, because he wasn''t there to protect them. It was a shame, and he knew that. The concept of the fight was incredible. Being able to face someone who controlled storms could have been very helpful, not just because of his own origin, but also so he could be a better sparring partner with Blue in the future. Zultar tried to speak again and again. At first he was simply upset for the lack of proper respect, but soon he was just trying to find an opening to take a breath. The Orc man triggered an ability, one that functioned as a short-range teleportation. From the center of the arena, he suddenly appeared on the first floor of the bleachers. In response, Nimbus put Sun in his mouth, shifted into his griffon form, and charged toward the man, matching the speed of Zultar¡¯s teleportation. With a gasp, the Orc jumped back, trying to avoid the collision. But Nimbus wasn¡¯t done. He switched back to his titled form and triggered Sun¡¯s [Solar Flare] in an upward thrust, adding a [Grasshopper Stab] for good measure. The attack missed as the Stormbringer created a small burst of lightning in front of him to push himself away, but the power of the flare was evident. The ceiling melted from the heat, revealing a statue of tar that was struck by Yuwei at the same time. "How can you¡ª" Zultar began, but was interrupted as Nimbus hit him in the back of the head with a [Mana Shield], slowing the Orc¡¯s escape. Nimbus pressed his advantage, using Sun¡¯s [Seal of Eternal Radiance], which started to burn Zultar. The pain from the searing heat increased as [Cold Burn] weakened the Stormbringer¡¯s defenses. [Call of the Wind] and [Wind Front] both triggered, adding wind damage and then another layer of both fire and ice damage, further amplifying the power of the assault. With one final [Solar Flare], the Sentinel burned Zultar away before he could launch even a single attack. Leaving a melted hole in the side of the arena. The very center of the arena hosted a battle of pure power. Livy and Eira, the two court members with the largest strength scaling, fought against the brute of the Demon Cult. Drakvar, who, despite being called Iron Fist, utilized volcanic mana. However, he refused to do so in this fight, as his opponent was only attacking with physical prowess. He would do the same. They clashed repeatedly, their fists connecting in a contest of strength. Eira, the permafrost glaive, didn¡¯t say anything, but her frustration leaked out towards Livy and the rest of the court. She was slowly getting more upset by the fact that she wasn¡¯t truly participating in the duel. Yet, her complaints went unanswered. The two juggernauts continued pummeling each other, neither gaining a clear advantage. Being able to hold off Livy alone meant that Drakvar was, without a doubt, the strongest enemy they were facing. Even though he was eight levels behind Hera, he fought as if he was the Leviathan''s equal. Eira noticed that a few of the other fights were already over, and people were beginning to jump in to assist those still struggling. This was the first time she had participated in something this important, the first time she was ever told to fight against a real enemy. As the newest court member, and one who should be among the strongest, the glaive knew she couldn¡¯t allow anyone else to help, especially with Livy by her side. When the next clash happened, Eira triggered [Permafrost Vortex], freezing Drakvar in place and reducing his defenses. However, instead of simply stopping him for a few moments, he was actually frozen solid, his entire body turning to ice. The defense reduction was also several times greater than what Eira had expected. She couldn¡¯t have known that a drawback of Drakvar¡¯s cultivation was that, without his Qi, he was extremely vulnerable to magic attacks, and even more vulnerable to ice. This compounded weakness turned Eira¡¯s skill into a deadly strike. Unaware of what was about to happen, Livy continued with an uppercut to Drakvar¡¯s jaw, shattering his head completely. "What did you do that for? I was having fun," Livy grumbled, looking at the weapon made of ice in her hand. ''People are already finishing their fights. I didn¡¯t want to be the one needing help,'' Eira huffed. "Still, you didn''t have to help me. I could have finished the fight at any moment." ''But you didn¡¯t, and that¡¯s why I stepped in. If you still want to fight, we have others to face.'' "Fine," Livy grumbled and looked around to see who might need assistance. When the fighting began, Helena had some issues with her opponent. Hera had organized the Court to face off against the best matchups, but she hadn¡¯t had time to share her plan with the mage. Instead, Helena was dragged by Robin toward another shadow user among the Demon Cultists. Normally, this would have been a good idea. Fighting another shadow user was something Helena knew how to do. The problem was that this person wasn¡¯t just a shadow user. She was also an assassin, something that was generally known as the bane of mages. Both were glass cannons, capable of dealing massive damage in seconds, but just as easily taken down. Lythara, the Shadow Blade, had a particularly nasty way of moving. She could jump into the shadows and appear in any other connected shadow. This meant Helena had to defend herself not just from visible attacks but from those that could come from her own magic. The first thing Helena did was call her [Wasp Guards], but that ended up benefiting her opponent. Lythara appeared from inside the guards themselves, her dark mask coming into view just before one of her arms lashed out to attack either Helena or her constructs. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. In response, Helena created a thin net of Shadow Grabbers across her spells and shadows, making it difficult for the assassin to maintain momentum after each attack. At the same time, Robin fired magic arrows relentlessly at the enemy. A few of the Shadow Grabbers created light arrows and drew the string of the bow, increasing his firing rate and clearing away places where the assassin could hide. She was forced to jump back and evade a few attacks, and the constant assault stopped her from approaching. Changing tactics, Lythara used her own ranged attacks, throwing tiny strands of darkness that turned into daggers flying through the air. Helena dodged the first few attacks, but the assault was relentless. Robin started firing arrows to intercept, triggering [Seal of Mystic Resonance] to release even more projectiles. He also activated [Spectral Guardian], which detached blades from the edges of the bow to block the incoming daggers of shadow. Even with this, it wasn¡¯t enough. Helena narrowly avoided the attacks until they began scratching her skin. The Nexus of Duality, her robe, altered the surrounding air into shadows, increasing her defenses. But this turned into a disadvantage. With an extra layer of darkness close to Helena''s body, Lythara was able to fire tendrils of shadow directly from the new pieces of darkness. Feeling the pressure, Helena activated [Harmony Wave], hoping the shadow aspect of the skill would be able to follow Lythara. But she never got the chance to find out. The assassin leaped into the air, avoiding the attack. Before she could land, a chain whip wrapped around her. The surprise attack from Clay gave Robin the opening he needed to fire a light arrow directly into Lythara''s head. The projectile didn¡¯t finish her off, but Helena quickly covered the lance and sword held by her [Wasp Guards] in pure white light. The constructs attacked the Orc woman, waves of energy shooting out from their weapons. The energy hit Lythara, separating her arms, torso, and head from each other. The Shadow Blade crashed to the ground in four different pieces. Meanwhile, the twins, Viper and Crimson, were up against another pair from the Demon Cult. These two had different types of mana, but seemed almost intertwined. Because of their close connection, the Empress assumed they would fight together. What she didn¡¯t expect was that the two Orcs were also twins, even if they were extremely different. The first was called Kaelgor, the Soul Reaper. He wore dark robes adorned with chains and pale green gems. His entire body seemed to shift in and out of existence, like a ghost. The second was Morgath, the Devourer. Despite his name, he didn¡¯t use devour mana like a Wendigo. Instead, it was a strange type of consumption mana that was hard to pinpoint. Hera could only tell that he absorbed something to strengthen his powers, and his mana gave off an unsettling feeling. That feeling only grew when he removed his cloak. Unlike the other members of the Demon Cult, Morgath barely resembled an Orc. His skin was still green but deformed and undulating, as if something lived inside it. He had eight tusks instead of two, most of them protruding from his cheeks, and arms that were too long to belong to a person. As the battle began, Kaelgor sent a couple of gems toward the Spymasters. The attack had a simple stunning effect, which Viper and Crimson dispelled in a second. However, their momentary distraction caused Kaelgor to believe the stun had worked. "There, brother. It will take hours for them to regain their senses. Now let me prepare your meal. Their despair will be exquisite," Kaelgor turned to Morgath, who growled incoherently with an insane smile on his face. ''Play along?'' Crimson asked Viper. If the attack was supposed to take hours to dispel and they had done it in seconds, whatever else was coming might not be too dangerous. Viper paused, considering their options. ''Play along. Let¡¯s see if they come closer.'' With a mental nod, the twins waited. Time passed, and they observed most of the other battles ending around them. At one point, Helena''s [Harmony Wave] even hit the two, healing wounds they didn¡¯t have. It got to the point where Viper had to ask the rest of the court not to interfere unless they requested help. Eventually, whatever spell Kaelgor had been preparing triggered. Crimson and Viper saw mana swirling around their bodies, only to dissipate immediately. Nothing had affected them. The benefits of the Wardbearer title once again proved their strength. "Come closer, my minions," Kaelgor smirked. A beat passed, and nothing happened. No one was entirely sure whom he was addressing. "I said, come!" Kaelgor yelled. ''I think that¡¯s us,'' Viper said, starting to walk, keeping his face blank as if he were being mind-controlled. Crimson followed, staying close to her brother. "There, enjoy your feast, brother," Kaelgor patted Morgath on the back. Morgath quickly approached, opening his mouth, which revealed five rows of teeth. His jaw stretched almost to his chest, and the inside of his throat writhed with what looked like tiny worms. ''Kill it?'' Crimson asked. ''Please. I don¡¯t want to throw up my lunch,'' Viper sighed mentally. As the Devourer was about to bite Crimson, she raised her dagger along with Glacia. She unleashed a [Glacial Strike] that had been prepared while waiting. Simultaneously, taking advantage of all the blood on the battlefield, she activated [Bloody Claw], the three crimson red blades decapitating the aberration. Morgath dissolved into the ground moments later. "What! How are you free?! I bound your very souls!" Kaelgor snarled. "Oh, so that¡¯s what you tried to do," Viper shrugged, "You will never be able to do that to us." "Why?!" Kaelgor yelled, more enraged by his failed binding than the loss of his brother. Crimson smirked. "We are already bound to someone else. And you could never break that bond." Viper dashed forward, sending a [Crackling Strike] from Storm at the Soul Reaper, stunning him for a moment. That was all it took. Viper closed the gap and attacked with both his dagger and longsword. [Grasshopper Stab] and [Grasping Strike] hit in quick succession, ripping Kaelgor¡¯s body to shreds. As a final blow, Viper took a deep breath and spat out an [Acid Spray] directly onto the Orc¡¯s face. The intensity of the acid and poison was so strong that even Hera and Lurize flinched, remembering the same attack from the vision where they first encountered Scryotra. With all the individual battles finished, they turned toward the last surviving Demon Cultist: Xirvork, the Bone Warden. The junior disciples had done their best to fend off his skeletal warriors, but they weren¡¯t strong enough to face such creatures. A few of them even had perished, only adding to the undead army. "You think you can stop me? All you¡¯ve done is give me more bodies," Xirvork gestured with his hands, and nine more skeletons appeared, each with a faint resemblance to the other Demon Cult members. It was clear they weren¡¯t as strong as the originals, but they still possessed some of their abilities. In addition, there were another 20 regular skeletons surrounding them. "That¡¯s true. Let me change those numbers, then," Hera invoked the [Blade Graveyard]. The irony of using her ''dead'' blades to fight the undead wasn¡¯t lost on her. Xirvork tried to stop them, but Helena¡¯s [Wasp Guards] blocked the incoming attackers. Once all the blades were in the air, the Empress gave another command, "Vulcan, would you be a dear and awaken Storm?" Understanding her intention, Forge grinned, "But of course, my Empress," He tapped Storm, activating [Awakened Potential]. This allowed the Verdant Marchioness to use her heirloom skill, [Awakened Wind Fury], a power originating from Gale that could create two copies of every court member. Between the six titled blades, the nine Court members, and the seventeen blades in the graveyard, plus Hera, Helena, and Daskka, their small group was now one member away from being a hundred strong. With a devilish smile, the Ophidianite faced Xirvork. "Now, let¡¯s see how long you last when you have the smaller numbers." 945 - Heavenly Demon The battle against Xivork, the Bone Warden, ended so quickly that [Awakened Wind Fury] still had more than half of its one-minute duration remaining. Dealing with the skeletons was extremely easy for Hera and her court. Each undead creature wasn¡¯t even strong enough to face a single blade, much less three at once. In addition, their summoner followed the usual convention of being weak and frail. No other junior disciples were killed in the process, but those still standing joined in the battle, even if they were barely of any help. It took five of them to just hold back one skeleton. Once that was over, everyone cheered and started tending to their wounds. Hera and Helena also paused, half-expecting to receive the notification that the dungeon was complete, yet it never appeared. "What are we missing?" Hera frowned. "Maybe we also have to help the people down the mountain?" Helena suggested. "Master Hera, Master Helena!" Yulan yelled as she rushed to the center of the arena. Yuwei followed right after, and with them was another Orc. A short and stout man with short hair and short tusks, wearing the simple garments of a mortal. "Yulan, Yuwei!" Hera rushed over, already telling Daskka to heal the duo. "Are you two okay?" "We''ll manage. But Lei Ming here has some information I think you should know," Yulan gestured to the small Orc man. "This Lei Ming greets the masters," he bowed. "Don¡¯t worry about formalities. We don¡¯t care about that, and this isn¡¯t the place for it. What¡¯s going on?" Helena quickly jumped into the conversation. "Yes, of course," Lei Ming bowed again. "Once the Demon Cult members arrived, I was cleaning the bleachers, and I heard them talk about their plan. There were actually eleven of them. One told them all to stall for time, and he vanished in the north section of the arena," he pointed to the north. "So there¡¯s one more?" Hera turned toward the area where the last cult member should be. "He¡¯s not done," Yuwei turned to Lei Ming. "Just tell them everything." "Right, sorry. I heard them talking about something hidden inside the mountain and how that could help the Heavenly Demon finally go past the Divine Manifestation Realm. And if he had enough time with it, he would rush past the Eternal Void Realm and even reach the Celestial Sovereign Realm in just a few days. From the way they were speaking, it seemed like the person who left them was the Heavenly Demon." "Divine Manifestation Realm? That¡¯s¡­" Helena paused. "Beyond level 80. Then reaching 90 and past that," Hera frowned. The Heavenly Demon would become much stronger than what the dungeon was supposed to allow, even for hard mode. That meant there was some hidden condition to complete the quest, something they had to figure out in order to stop or defeat him. "Yuwei, the last time we saw your mom, she was just entering the first step of the Eternal Void Realm, right?" Helena asked, thinking about where level 81 would be in this setting. "Yeah. She¡¯s on the 6th step now. She also helped a bunch of her friends reach the Eternal Void Realm, including Yulan¡¯s master," the Sun Flower announced proudly. "Perfect! Where is she now? Can we send a message? Don¡¯t you have transmission stones or something to warn her that something is going on here?" Helena continued. "She was chasing someone from the Demon Cult. I think those were decoys to lure her away," Yuwei pulled a necklace from under her shirt. "This is how I can talk to her. If I put my Qi here, I can send a message, or if I break this, she will know I¡¯m in danger. But I¡¯ve been trying to talk to her ever since this started, and something is blocking the message." Yulan nodded. "They placed a barrier around the mountain that blocks all forms of longs range communication. My portals aren¡¯t affected because they work a different way." "Okay. Take Yuwei somewhere far away, call your mom, and tell her to come here," Helena said. "I can¡¯t, Master Helena. The fight drained my Qi too much. It will take me a few hours to create another portal." "Shit," Helena grumbled. "What about the restaurants?" Hera asked. "What?" Yuwei tilted her head. The Empress turned to Lei Ming. "I noticed that when we left the restaurant, the people in the inn we were staying at got a message or something to prepare. How do they do that?" "The pipes. We have hundreds of metal pipes running all over the mountain. We mortals use small capsules to send messages to one another," Lei Ming explained. "How far do they go?" Hera pressed. "I think the farthest ones reach the inns on the outskirts of the city below," Lei Ming replied. "Which ones? Are you talking about the Jade Garden, the Riverside Peak, the Fox Forest Mist, or the Old Valley, the Green Grass Ocean, and the Azure Cloud?" Yulan asked, showing surprisingly extensive knowledge of the city¡¯s establishments. "The Old Valley and the others. The ones outside the city," Lei Ming explained. Hera turned to Yulan. "Would that be far enough to get outside the barrier?" "I think so. There¡¯s a decent amount of road between those establishments and the city itself. From what I can tell, the barrier reaches the gates," the Vanishing Lake explained. "Perfect. Lei Ming, take Yulan and Yuwei somewhere they can send her necklace through the pipes to a place outside the city. Yuwei, write a message explaining what¡¯s going on, and tell them to break your necklace as soon as they get it," Hera commanded. "What are you going to do, Master Hera?" Yuwei asked. "We¡¯re going to go inside the mountain and try to stall the Heavenly Demon as much as we can. If we¡¯re lucky, we can hold on until the cavalry arrives," Hera said, turning around and getting a nod from Helena before the two of them rushed to the north side of the arena. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The first thing Hera did when she reached the north section of the arena was tell her entire court to spread out as much as they could. Once everyone was in position, she triggered the [Echolocation] skill from Ariadne, hoping to find any hidden passages or small gaps that could reveal a tunnel or something. Since [Blade Graveyard] was still active, her court was large enough to cover the entire section of the arena. Quickly opening her [Treasure Map], the Empress checked the area revealed by the skill. Instead of it being on the first floor as she expected, on the second floor, there was a bench by the side of a wall sitting on top of a plate that could shift to reveal a staircase heading down. As soon as the passage was open, Hera, Helena, and the court all rushed inside, hoping they would be quick enough to stop the Heavenly Demon. It took them a good five minutes to cross through various corridors and hallways. Every single one of them had the remains of multiple traps that were utterly destroyed by whoever passed through. Eventually, they arrived at a large chamber with a structure in the center that mirrored the four-section division of the arena. However, this one hung from the ceiling upside down, matching the outside perfectly but on a smaller scale. Underneath it was a large spiral engraving on the ground with several tiny pillars spread out, each holding something on top. In the very center, sitting on a mountain-shaped stool, was an Orc with long dark hair, black eyes with red irises, and wearing a regal tunic of black, red, and gold. One of his tusks was black and the other solid gold. The Empress watched as the mana surrounding the place gathered violently on top of the man. There was no natural flow to the magic; it acted as if it were being dragged, trying to escape but unable to fight against an unseen force. And a barrier covered the entire structure, stopping their approach. "It''s a funnel," Helena gasped. "Indeed," the man replied, his eyes trailing to the two invaders, "I assume your presence means my generals are gone. But I''m afraid you''re too late. The ritual has begun, and nothing can stop it now." [Heavenly Demon - Level 75 - Obliteration Affinity] "What is this ritual?" Hera asked while Viper and her court worked to figure out how to stop it. Keeping the man talking could buy them some time. "This is the true purpose of this land. The first Heavenly Demon built these hills, giving his life so that one day he could take it back after letting it grow. I am merely reclaiming what is rightfully mine," the Heavenly Demon explained, his face serene. ''This isn''t just taking mana from the environment. It''s going to drain everything¡ªplants, animals, even people,'' Viper realized how powerful this effect was. "And what about the people who live here?" Helena asked. "Their sacrifice will be remembered. Each one of them will live forever as a part of me, no matter how pitiful they are." ''Shadow, can you teleport inside that?'' Viper asked, his eyes focusing on a specific pillar. ''Maybe. I¡¯d need to try. Why?'' the scythe replied. ''The pillar with the jade brooch on top. It''s acting as a lid for the mana. If you can interrupt it, the pressure will be too much, and the mana will flow back out,'' the Spymaster explained. ''Are you sure?'' Hera asked. ''No, but I think I¡¯m right.'' Hera grabbed Helena¡¯s hand, signaling the titled blades to cluster so they wouldn¡¯t be swept away by the torrent of mana. The mage looked at her friend with confusion, but Hera quickly told Shadow, ''Do it.'' The Alabaster Duke vanished, appearing right in front of the pillar with the jade brooch. He struck it a few times, trying to break either the jewel or the stone itself, but the structure was too sturdy. However, his ability to interrupt the mana flow and seal skills was enough. For a brief moment, the pillar flickered, and the effect stopped, causing the entire formation to unravel and send the mana back out into the world. The Heavenly Demon froze for a moment, staring at the formation that had just been stopped, before he started to laugh. "What¡¯s so funny?" Livy snarled as Shadow tried to rush back to the group. "I never imagined there would be someone here who could stop the formation. Especially in such a clean way. Not a drop of Qi was lost. Everything simply returned to the land, and the formation remains intact. Which means all I have to do is start it again. Congratulations, you¡¯ve delayed me by a few mere minutes. Alas," the Heavenly Demon flicked his wrist, sending out a blade of red, black, and gold energy. The attack flew through the air and sliced Shadow in two without resistance. Hera felt the pain of losing one of her court members, but she held down her scream. Yet the leader of the Demonic Cult wasn¡¯t finished. He stood up and swiped his arm, sending another energy blade. This time, it was several times stronger and aimed directly at the group. Every single blade took a defensive position as the Empress activated all her defensive abilities, spells, adding a Frozen Rock armor to cover the titled blades. Helena, noticing the incoming attack, wrapped everyone in a thick layer of shadow, hoping it would offset some of the damage. The blades from [Blade Graveyard] were the first to meet the attack, but their resistance was futile. Helena¡¯s [Wasp Guards] tried to help, but they were destroyed just as quickly. Sun, Storm, Pyro, Clay, and Glacia came next, all shattering with the impact, while the rest were thrown aside violently until they reached the limits of the Empress¡¯ range. Nimbus, Livy, and Lurize endured the obliteration energy, but despite their defenses, they were unable to stop it completely. Large gashes opened across their bodies, causing them to break down, unable to continue outside the legacy. What remained of the energy blade slammed into Hera, Helena, Vulcan, Crimson, and Viper, throwing them against the wall. They were all covered in wounds, and the mana continued to burn their bodies, but they endured. Daskka quickly came out and started healing everyone as best as she could. The Heavenly Demon¡¯s eyes sparkled as he watched Hera and Helena survive his attack. A smile that was too wide for his face appeared as he stepped forward. "Good, good. This is how people should be. Surprise me more. What else do you have in store for me? Show me what else you can do!" He produced a sword with a red and gold handle and a pitch-black blade, "Show me how to survive the Heavenly Demon¡¯s Blade!" He performed the same motion again, a practiced strike repeated a million million times. From the angle of his arm to the strength behind every movement, everything was exactly like his first attack. The only difference was the sword in his hand. Emerging from the tip of the blade, a single line of red, surrounded by black and trailing gold, appeared. It wasn¡¯t an energy wave, but rather a fracture in reality, causing ripples to spread across the room, blocking any chance of escape. It was extremely fast, covering the entire distance in less than a second. But to Hera, it felt like an eternity. All she wanted was to protect Helena so they wouldn¡¯t have to face another dangerous threat. This was supposed to be a place they could survive. Even if they failed the quest, they should make it out alive. What would happen to the people outside if they didn¡¯t? What would happen to her legacy? To the Ophidianites? She had worked so hard and sacrificed so much. But this couldn¡¯t be the end. Hera refused to accept it. She wasn¡¯t done. Not yet. Creating an epic Venomous Handaxe in hand, she slashed at the incoming attack, triggering [All In], [Grasshopper Slash], and [Weapon Break]. Along those skills she covered the weapon in a Serrated Ice spell, and pumped every last drop of mana she had, pulling from every single mana stone in her possession into the blade. The added mana had no shape or spell behind it; it was just raw magic. She hoped it would be enough to allow them to survive the blow. Multicolored energy erupted from her handaxe as it connected with the Heavenly Demon¡¯s Blade. All the magic behind the strike tried to replicate the man¡¯s attack. And it worked. The tear in reality was halted by Hera¡¯s attack, or so she thought. As the Venomous Handaxe shattered, creating a large explosion that threw Hera against the wall, the Heavenly Demon¡¯s blade continued on its path. Helena, without a word, created a Shadow Grabber to hold Hera¡¯s hand, as there was nothing else they could do. But suddenly, the tear in reality stopped. It was no longer moving forward. Instead, it was frozen. "You¡¯ve done well, old friends. But now, you can rest. We will take over from here," Master Yu¡¯s voice echoed in the chamber as she, along with five other masters, all above level 85, walked forward. With a wave of her arm, the Heavenly Demon¡¯s Blade shattered. Both the one destroying reality and the one in the man¡¯s hand. The crazed man roared in anger, but the four remaining masters surrounded him, piercing his body with their weapons. Master Yu followed shortly after, decapitating the Heavenly Demon before he could do any more harm. With the fight over, she turned to Hera and Helena. "I¡¯m glad you two are safe." Hera coughed, feeling her entire body sore and the pain of having her court members destroyed while staring Master Yu down, "You¡¯re late." 946 - Aftermath Once the Heavenly Demon was killed, one of the Masters walked over to Hera and Helena. Introducing himself as the Ghostly Doctor, he quickly started to heal the pair. Despite being in a dungeon and being healed by someone on level 86, the recovery wasn¡¯t instant. Instead, he only patched them up enough to ensure they were out of danger. Following that, Yulan¡¯s master created a portal for them to reach the outside. This time, he didn¡¯t send them directly to the dungeon''s entrance but to the inn they were staying at. Master Yu came along, and started using her Qi to communicate with Yuwei. "I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay. Master Hera and Master Helena are back in your room. It¡¯s better if you come here too. The Ghostly Doctor will heal them properly later, and I want him to make sure you¡¯re also okay," Yu Bingqing dropped her Master persona as she spoke with her daughter. Once that conversation was over, she turned back to the two women who had fought against the generals of the Demonic Cult. "Thank you for everything, and above all, for protecting my Yuwei." "We just did what we had to do," Helena groaned. Even though she had received some healing, the mage was still struggling to move and talk. "Yeah. It¡¯s a shame the tournament didn¡¯t happen," Hera groaned as Daskka continuously tried to heal her. Her magic was working, but it was just a slow process. "I don¡¯t think anyone will be itching for a fight after today," Yu Bingqing looked out into the city, noticing how the summit was completely intact, "But it is only fair to repay those who defended this city. I¡¯ll talk to the other Masters and make sure that the two of you receive rewards that will be even better than the first prize of the tournament." Hera frowned, "Just like that? No one is going to complain that we got first place without fighting?" Yu Bingqing chuckled, "They won¡¯t. Trust me. All I have to do is explain how you were able to slow down the Heavenly Demon Blade. The man was in the Divine Manifestation Realm, two full realms above your own. I can¡¯t think of anyone who could block an attack like that, even in a group. Once that fact comes to light, no one will complain about giving you two first place," Hera opened her mouth to say something, but Yu Bingqing signaled her to stop. "Don¡¯t worry about anything. I was supposed to be here when this happened. They tricked me, and I wasn¡¯t. If it weren¡¯t for the two of you, I¡¯m sure I would have lost my daughter, and this time, I wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to get her back. Let me handle the politics. You two just rest. You deserve it." "What about the rewards?" Helena asked. "We can talk about that tomorrow. Today, there¡¯s still a lot to do, people to help, and remnants of the Demonic Cult to turn into snow," her face became cold again as the Orc woman assumed the mask of Master Yu. Without another word, she jumped out of the window and vanished into the city. Helena dragged herself to the bed before turning to Hera, who was still staring at the window, thinking about Master Yu "Sweetie, are you okay?" "Not really, but I will be." "Is it because of your court?" "Yeah. When one of them breaks, I feel pain. And it¡¯s not the kind of pain you can numb or heal. It¡¯s something deep. It feels like my soul is hurting." "Is there anything I can do to help?" "No. It will just take time for them to come back. And it¡¯s the first time so many of them¡­ broke," she refused to say they were killed or destroyed. That felt too final, as if she would never see them again. But the Ophidianite pushed those thoughts away, forcing herself to remember that this was only temporary. After some time, her court members would be back, good as new. Helena nodded. "Tell me if there¡¯s anything I can do to help. Okay?" "I will. Thank you." "And Hera?" The Empress frowned. It was very rare for Helena to call her by her name. "Yeah?" "Thank you for protecting me. I don¡¯t think I would have survived even the first attack on my own." Hera rolled her eyes. "Really? You¡¯re thanking me for that? C¡¯mon, I was ready to go after you when the Wendigos first appeared, and I wasn¡¯t even level 10 back then. Do you really think I wouldn¡¯t have your back now?" "I never doubted that, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you saved me. So thank you." "And you saved me when you forced me to get that lottery ticket, which, for the record, was the wrong name for the game. That was more of a raffle or a gacha, not a lottery. So, we¡¯re even." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "No, we¡¯re not!" Helena protested. "You saved me when you got rid of the parasites in my body. I still owe you." "No, you saved me when I got that overdose of mana because of the oranges. So, we¡¯re even." "What about the rampage on Brinnefront? You didn¡¯t have to come back." "And you didn¡¯t have to protect me from Ash when he found me in the Three Heroes Chamber. But you did!" Hera huffed. The two continued arguing, recounting all the times one had saved the other. Daskka knew this conversation would go nowhere. Even if Hera wasn¡¯t normally stubborn, she wouldn¡¯t let any of her friends feel indebted to her. And Helena was just the same. Still, their talk distracted them enough so that the snake could continue healing them. Not long after, Yulan and Yuwei arrived in the room. Both of them looked pretty beat up, but they were happy. Not just because they survived the ordeal, but also because they had defeated one of the generals. The four of them basked in the glory of their victory, sharing moments of the fight they thought was impressive or interesting. Hera didn¡¯t let the strangeness of being this close to beings from a dungeon escape her, but at the same time, she had done several things with Chika, Darni, and in a sense, her court. Eventually, the people from the inn prepared a few baths for them, which the group gratefully accepted. It was only near sunset, when their afternoon tea was ending, that the Ghostly Doctor showed up. He was grumbling the entire time, complaining about how Master Yu was abusing her power by sending him here. Still, he did his job to perfection. Yulan and Yuwei were healed, left without a single scratch on their bodies. However, Hera and Helena weren¡¯t as lucky. He was able to fix all the big wounds and injuries, but some of the more delicate ones were beyond him, or at least, beyond him now. The man was also very tired, having spent most of the day running back and forth healing those in critical condition. He left the pair with a single pill called Immortal Path First Step, which, despite the name, didn¡¯t actually bring immortality, though it was a very powerful healing concoction. They had to take it within the dungeon according to Hera¡¯s [Inspect]. Eventually, they went to bed, too tired to stay up late. It was around 10 a.m. when Master Yu appeared in their room once more. She told them to get ready and follow her downstairs. A couple of minutes later, the four women were heading out, only to be met with something unexpected. The streets were packed, filled with people who started clapping the moment they emerged from the building. There were cheers for all their names, people tossing flowers and chanting their titles: Sun Flower for Yuwei, Vanishing Lake for Yulan, Scientist of Shadows for Helena, and Bladed Hydra for Hera. "Why Bladed Hydra?" Hera frowned. The people of the dungeon didn¡¯t know about her legacy¡ªnot really. "Sweetie, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to like the answer." "Do you know?" "I have a hunch." "Then tell me," Hera asked. "Those names are probably what they call us outside of the dungeon," Helena explained. "What? Since when are you the Scientist of Shadows?" "Since the people in the lab that worked to make the Wendigo detector system saw me working with my Shadow Grabbers to prepare some things." Hera paused. "So¡­ people call me the Bladed Hydra? I know I¡¯m half-snake, but that feels really on the nose." "Well, yeah. I mean, Khan the Wall Breaker broke a wall. Undine the Fire Bringer could summon fire. Do I need to tell you what color Cyrus the Golden¡¯s aura buff was?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess. But I honestly thought ''Ophidianite Empress'' had a better ring to it." They continued walking, hearing cheers and praises not just from the cultivators but also from the mortals who lived in the city. Master Yu made a point of guiding them all the way around the city until they reached the staircase to the summit. Reaching the arena, they were greeted by an even larger crowd, everybody clapping as they arrived. The four Masters who had killed the Heavenly Demon were already waiting in the center, with an empty space in the middle for Master Yu. Once she was in place, a man with white and gold robes came from the side. He was the mayor of Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, and he carried a pillow with two boxes resting on top. "Master Hera, Master Helena, Yu Yuwei, and Qing Yulan. For your bravery, power, and sound judgment, we, the Grandmasters of the Spiral Hills, thank you for all your effort and for protecting the city." The five Masters bowed, followed by the entire arena. There was a pause of about a minute before they stood back up. Yulan¡¯s master was the next to speak. "Yulan, you have made your master proud. And for that, I will give you this." He pulled a small book from his robes. On the cover was written. Yulan¡¯s smile was so wide that Hera became worried her tusks might fall out. Master Yu was the next to speak. "Yu Yuwei, you have made not just me, your mother, proud, but also the entire Serene Lotus Temple. Your bravery and courage will forever be remembered." She pulled a small box from her pocket and passed it to Yuwei. Inside was an ember gem that radiated heat. Hera had no idea what it was, and her [Observe] wasn¡¯t able to give any information, but from Yuwei¡¯s face, it was something truly incredible. "Master Hera, Master Helena," the mayor spoke up, "I would like to express my most sincere gratitude for all your help. Without you, I have no idea how much damage could have been done. For that, Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit offers you two of our most valuable treasures." He opened the box, revealing a notification inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have completed a dungeon quest. The Sky Sword Meeting. You have survived the attack of the Demonic Cult and stopped their nefarious plans. First-time rewards: Sky Sword Meeting first prize Breakthrough talisman +1 level ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have leveled up. Current level: 58 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They had still not been teleported out of the dungeon, which probably meant they had a few moments to test things out here. It was exactly the kind of thing Hera really wanted. After all, she had gotten the first prize in a hard mode. How could she not want to know more about it? 947 - Level 58 The notification wasn¡¯t the only thing inside the box. The Breakthrough Talisman was also there. It was a simple piece of yellow paper with red markings that formed a tribal pattern. Hera quickly triggered her [Inspect] to check if this was what could help them leave the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Breakthrough Talisman - Unique This talisman is able to help someone in the dungeon Spiral Hills break through their current realm and reach the Divine Manifestation Realm, or level 71. If used outside of the dungeon, this talisman will disperse any kind of storm. This effect will last for 10 minutes. Once that duration is over, the storm will return to its normal strength. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So this doesn¡¯t help us find hard mode," Helena mumbled. "That¡¯s true. It¡¯s probably to help us with the tournament team, or we can give it to Yuwei on the normal mode and have her mother freak out," Hera chuckled. "As for the other effect, it¡¯s kind of weird that this would be a perfect counter for Blue." "You¡¯re right! I didn¡¯t even think about that. This has the potential of paralyzing her legacy, doesn¡¯t it?" "Maybe. We should test it out when we have a chance," Hera smiled. Before they could continue the conversation, Yulan approached the duo. "Master Hera, Master Helena, I thank you once more for all your assistance. I apologize for not giving you an exciting tournament, as I had promised." "I mean, this was probably more exciting than the actual tournament," Yuwei spoke up, her mother just shaking her head at the interruption. "Nevertheless, I was the one who invited you here. I¡¯m afraid I will have to be rude once more. Considering the number of people who perished during the attack, the elders have decided to prepare a proper burial for all of them. I am unsure of your customs, but to us that kind of ceremony is open only to those who were close to the deceased. In addition, the entire proceeding will take a couple of weeks. During that time, I will be unable to be your host. Many of my brothers and sisters gave their lives to protect Heaven¡¯s Edge Summit, and I must pay my respects," Yulan explained. "And so must I," Yuwei added. "You are free to stay and wait until we are done, or if you wish, I can send you back to the forest where we met," Yulan gave them a sad smile, already anticipating their answer. "We should go," Hera turned to Helena, who nodded in response. "Thank you for showing us this incredible place, even if the circumstances¡­ sucked," Helena sighed. Master Yu was the one to reply. "No, thank you for defending our home. You may have come from faraway lands, but know that in our hearts, you are part of the Spiral Hills." She placed one hand over a fist and bowed to Hera and Helena. "Thank you, great protectors." The Masters behind Master Yu followed along, bowing and reciting the same words. Yulan and Yuwei did the same. Then the entire arena shouted, "Thank you, great protectors!" Thousands of voices, all filled with gratitude and awe, hit Hera¡¯s ears. This wasn¡¯t simply grand, it was overwhelming. The Empress never imagined feeling this sort of response from anyone, much less people who existed only inside a dungeon. Noticing how the Ophidianite was frazzled, Daskka chuckled, "You¡¯ll have to get used to this kind of thing, Mum. You¡¯re an Aspirant Hero, after all. This won¡¯t be the last time people are thanking you like this." Hera used every ounce of willpower not to roll her eyes at the comment and graciously accepted the praise. They said their farewells to Yuwei and Yulan before the Vanishing Lake created an orange portal for them to cross, one that dropped them off directly in front of the Forest of Lost Souls. They waved at their friends, keeping smiles on their faces until the portal closed. Only then did Helena let herself go, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. There was no sound here except the distant cries of cicadas and the ruffling of the wind. A start contrast with all the noise from a big city. "This¡­ kind of sucks. I know we barely met the two of them, and they¡¯re just people inside a dungeon, but I¡¯m going to miss Yulan and Yuwei." "Me too," Hera glanced around, looking at the same road where they met for the first time. "It kind of makes me wonder how dungeons like this exist. How are they so alive?" "Fuck if I know," Helena pulled out a small tissue to blow her nose, "Do you mind if we take a moment before we go? I want to check the rewards, level up, and pull myself together first." Hera nodded, "That¡¯s a good idea. I think I¡¯ll do the same." The first thing she did was level up. This was the easy part. After all, there was no secret to what she would do. She had 88 attribute points to distribute. To increase an attribute by itself it would take 36 points, yet, to use her [Exponential Growth], she only had to spend 29 to increase all attributes by 1. It was truly an incredibly powerful skill. She increased all attributes by 3, reaching 180 across the board and leaving a single point left for the next level. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Hera Quetzaveth -- Role: Explorer Level: 58 Legacy: Court of Blades [Blades] Title: Mana Touched, Wardbearer, Ophidianite Progenitor Total Stats: 540 Strength: 180 Endurance: 180 Agility: 180 Charisma: 180 Intelligence: 180 Luck: 180 Mana: 13 026 497/13 026 497 Empress Core: 9,224,117/9,224,117 Passive Mana Regeneration:17 586/s (31 654/s with items) Active Mana Regeneration: 33 652/s (60 573/s with items) Empress Core Regeneration: 18/s (32/s with items) Remaining attribute points: 1 Skills: Legacy: Court Ruler, Courtship, Bestow Title, Army of One 2 (+1), Revocation of Nobility, Royal Quest, Bestow Gift, Royal Seal, Venomous Arsenal, Blade Graveyard, Empress Core, Noble Houses, House Heirloom, Battle Bond (+1) Empress Palace (+1) Passive: Exponential Growth (29) Observe: Red sight 3 Treasure Map Bladed Weapon Combat Wire Trap Style 3, Subtle Strike 4, Dorohla style 4 Throwing 1, Cutting 1, Blocking 1, Battle Dancer 3, Attack Pathing 2, Synchronized Battle 3 Dodge 4, Run 4, Improved Stamina 5, Flee 2, Jump 2, Climbing 1, Acrobatics 1 Mana Recovery 5, Mana sensitivity 4, Shaper of Mana 2, Mana Vessel, Reinforced Mana 2 Improved Regeneration 3 Ailment Mastery 3, Poison Mastery 2, Allergy Mastery 1, Chain Mastery 1, Regeneration Mastery 1, Earth Mastery 1, Lightning Mastery 1, Sound Mastery 1, Frost Mastery 1, Lava Mastery 1, Steel Mastery 1 Elemental Mana Mastery Earth resistance 2, Wind resistance 2, Water resistance 2, Sturdy Body 4, Magic Armor Proficiency 3 Nature connection 1 Silver Lining 2 Ancient language 5 Pathfinder 1, Awareness 2, Lockpicking 1 Dancing 3 Cooking 1, Cleaning 1, Polishing 1, Sewing 1, Ophidianite Skills: Ophidianite Scales 4 (+1), Ophidianite Poison 6, Ophidianite Vigor 2, Ophidianite Sight 1, Ophidianite Mana Sense 2 (+1), Ophidianite Resistance 1, Ophidianite Regeneration 1, Ophidianite Adaptation 1 Active: All in 2 Inspect 2 Hide 4, Sneak Attack 3 Weapon Maintenance 4, Weapons Rebalance 3, Weapon break 3 (+1) Etching 4 Medical Reference 3, Identify Ailment 1 Green Thumb 2 Chain of Command 5 Toxic Mist Grasshopper Stab 2, Grasshopper Slash 2, Grasshopper Draw 1, Grasshopper Throw 1 (+1) Role Skills: Local Guide Private Room, Meeting Room Explorer''s Assassinate Explorer''s Map Hunter''s Catalogue, Explorer''s Hunt Explorer''s Research Explorer''s Blueprint The Court of Blades - Legacy Empress: Hera Kingsley Leviathan: Livy - Two-handed Axe Spymaster: Viper & Crimson - Twin daggers Mistress of the Hunt: Royal Tutor: Lurize - zweihander Vulcan: Forge Sentinel: Nimbus - Bladed tonfas Royal Adviser: Daskka - Ego Item Court Members 9/9 Twiggy - Tiara - Metal Shadow - Scythe - Stealth Robin - Bowblade - Arcane Glacia - Falchion - Ice Storm - Longsword - Lightning Sun - Spear - Radiance Clay - Chain Sword - Mud Pyro - Tail Spike - Dragon Fire Eira- Glaive - Permafrost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera made sure to go over and read every single skill she had. There were a lot of them, and a number of them she had just stopped using. Sure, she didn¡¯t have to worry about the passive ones, as they triggered no matter what. And things like [Sneak Attack], [Hide], and [Chain of Command] just happened when the conditions were met. Not to mention the ones that were very conditional like [Green Thumb], [Medical Reference], and [Identify Ailment]. However, [Toxic Mist] was a skills that she always forgot about. Making a mental note to remember to use those skills, the Empress turned to the final reward from the dungeon. She selected the option on the tablet, which materialized her prize. It was a beautiful cloak pin, apparently made out of bismuth. A rainbow of colors naturally blended into the object. There was one long part, thicker than a needle, that would serve to hold the cloak in place. Then it reached the base of a head, which resembled a deer with long horns curving upward and ending in a sharp point. A red jewel was set on the forehead of the face, followed by strands of gold weaved in a net moving up the scalp. Behind the face, a mane of gold hair flowed and ended in two thin tips about halfway down the shaft of the pin. And on the back of it all, there were a pair of feathery wings, each feather with a different blend of colors while the muscles of the wing had a golden shade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sphinx''s Gatekeeper Cloak Pin Unique Active skills: Decipher Me or I Will Devour You: The Sphinx in the pin traps a target inside a cage of mana based on the wearer''s attributes. Inside the cage, the target is unable to interact with the outside world and they are unable to leave until they solve a riddle posed by the Sphinx. If the target fails to answer in three attempts, the cage is reinforced and lasts for an additional 4 hours. If the target answers the riddle correctly, the cage vanishes. Cooldown: 24 hours. Duration: 4 hours Gates of Mana: The wearer of this pin can attempt to enter the Gates of Mana. To do so, they are required to enter the cage of mana from the skill [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You] and correctly answer the riddle in a single attempt. Once that is done, the cage will be flooded with mana, increasing the user¡¯s mana regeneration. The Gates of Mana last for 1 minute before the cage vanishes, closing the Gates of Mana. The increased regeneration will start to decay after the Gates of Mana are closed. Mana regeneration while inside the Gates: +10% per second. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "This is kind of interesting," Hera gasped. "What is it?" Helena turned to the side, holding a book about formations. "Take a look," the Empress passed the item to her friend. "I understand what you mean. That Gates of Mana might be a good place to increase your total mana or to prepare very big spells," Helena nodded. "That''s what I thought. And maybe I can make enemies waste their big skills by trapping them. What about yours? Is it interesting?" "It is. It talks about how to set up formations and how a few have a cost and effect going on. If you swap formation for spell circle, it should work. It''s just a shame that it¡¯s not a full skill or something like that. I actually have to study to make this work," Helena sighed. "You say that like you hate studying," Hera rolled her eyes with a chuckle. The two of them stood there for a few moments before heading back out of the dungeon. They had a chance to leave this room earlier than expected. It would be just one day sooner than the week they had to wait, but it was better than nothing. However, as soon as they walked outside of the dungeon, they realized a big problem. Without Nimbus to take them to the pillar, the two of them would have to brave the sandstorm on their own. "This sucks," Helena huffed as they got ready to leave the safety of the cave. "We can wait if you want. I mean, it¡¯s already been 6 days. What¡¯s one more?" Hera shrugged. Now things didn''t feel all that pressing. "No, let¡¯s just go. I¡¯m just annoyed because after these days, I¡¯m going to have sand even in my underwear. I thought I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with that kind of thing unless I was at the beach," Helena groaned a few moments before the two walked off into the storm. 948 - Twin Shores
Without Nimbus, Livy or Lurize, they had to rely on the [Wasp Guards] created by Helena to carry them through the sandstorm. Unfortunately, Vulcan, Crimson, or Viper wouldn''t be of much help in a situation like this. They were not big or strong enough to protect the group from the heavy winds. It took them a couple of hours to cover the distance between the pillar where they found the dungeon and the pillar where the doorway was located. They might have made better time, but it was very confusing to travel while being assailed by a relentless sandstorm. The main problem was the lack of any sort of landmarks and the poor vision, making it near impossible to know when they were changing their course. Hera tried to guide them using her treasure map, but even then, it took time for her to realize they were heading in the wrong direction. Eventually, despite all the issues, they arrived at the pillar where the doorway was located. The entrance was halfway covered in sand, but after crossing the threshold, the effects of the storm were considerably lessened. "Finally. Ready to get out of here?" Hera turned to Helena, already pulling the Breakthrough Talisman from her pocket. "I am. But let me be the one to use the talisman, or at least, take mine." The mage replied. "What? Why?" Hera frowned, not understanding why that mattered. "We only came here because of me. If you are alone, you¡¯ll be able to take a different route. And I know you got some rewards that were good and all, but let me at least give you this." "Lena, that¡¯s silly. You don¡¯t need to give me something for this." "I know, I know. But I feel like you¡¯d have more use for it than I will. If I¡¯m facing a storm, I¡¯d just stay home. You might be out in the open or dealing with another storm-based monster. The talisman can help," Helena insisted. "Fine, fine. You can use yours. Want to do the honors?" Helena nodded and took the talisman. The way to trigger it was simple: she had to put some mana into the paper for it to activate, as with most rewards given by the MAZE. The moment she did that, the yellow talisman with red writing turned into sand, or at least particles that looked just like sand. That small cloud of dust started swirling and flew outside at a staggering speed. In less than 10 seconds, the storm suddenly stopped, and the skies became clear again. At the opposite end of the cave, the pure white doorway started to emanate a soft light, showing that it had once again been activated. "We have 10 minutes. Let¡¯s go," Hera said as she walked over and touched the frame. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: Twin Shores - 10th Layer [Yes] [No] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera noticed that the option to enter her private room wasn¡¯t even available, likely because of the temporary effect of the talisman. It begged the question: if she were to try to enter her private room when she was about to get stuck, would the MAZE allow it? That was a topic for a different time. The Empress waited until Helena started to disappear before touching "yes." A familiar feeling of being submerged in warm water covered her body, followed by a stronger heat, one that came without the sensation of being surrounded by liquid. Emerging in the Twin Shores, they were met by a clear sky and blazing sunlight. The gray sand beach was so warm they could feel the heat even through their shoes. Hera instinctively summoned Eira and Daskka. Calling the herald was already something like a reflex. The Ophidianite could barely remember the last time she didn¡¯t have her snake accompanying her. Eira, on the other hand, was summoned for a simple reason, she was cold. Not personality-wise, but physically cold. She didn¡¯t just look like she was made of ice, she was made of ice. Some sort of magical ice that behaved like steel, meaning she radiated a cold aura. ''Master Hera, I¡¯m not sure if this is the best use of my abilities,'' Eira protested once she realized there was no fighting going on. ''If this makes you uncomfortable, that¡¯s okay. I can send you back. But it¡¯s really hot, and I¡¯d appreciate the help. It¡¯ll also be a good chance for you to understand how we travel. Being part of the Court isn¡¯t just about fighting and facing strong enemies, it involves a lot of walking around,'' Hera explained. ''I see¡­ I shall consider this part of my training then, to fend off the heat coming from above and below.'' ''That¡¯s a good idea. We generally try to keep ourselves busy somehow. Some of us talk, some come up with new spells, or we make up games as we walk. But if you feel uncomfortable or too bored, let me know, and I can send you back to the Palace,'' Hera added. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ''I will. Thank you, Master!'' Eira announced proudly. "Everything okay?" Helena asked. "Yeah, just making sure Eira¡¯s okay being here," Hera gestured to the glaive on her back, the cold emanating from it spreading to the mage. "Is she?" "For now, yes. It¡¯s the first time she¡¯s going to be outside while we travel, so there¡¯s a chance she might just find it boring and go back inside the legacy." "Fair enough. How long will we be here?" "With Nimbus, it should have taken us three hours to reach the doorway. Without him, it¡¯ll probably take the whole day." Helena nodded. "Do you have any idea how long it¡¯ll take for them to recover?" Hera turned to Daskka, who just shook her head. "I don¡¯t know, Mum. I can tell the Blades will take around two more days, but the Titled Blades have their own time, and it¡¯s not something I can predict." "But I remember that you had an idea of how long it would take for them to come back after they broke," Hera said. "Yeah. I can have an idea if they are far or close to getting back to full health, but not an exact time frame," Daskka explained. "Got it," Hera nodded. It had been a very long time since one of her titled blades had broken. She always made sure to be careful not to let them harm themselves too much. As the small group continued walking, Hera summoned the rest of her remaining blades: Viper, Crimson, Vulcan, Twiggy, and Robin. Even with nine of them in total, it felt lonely. Too many were missing. Still, this should be a much safer place than the one they had just left. Monsters here would be level 28 at most. Not long after, they reached an area that explained the name of the room. Out in the ocean, there was a line where the waters changed colors. The effect wasn''t necessarily caused by magic, but the stark difference between the clear blue ocean and a dark, almost black sea made for an incredible sight. Viper even insisted on taking a look at the line from underwater. However, just like outside, the water had an abrupt change. But unlike what one might expect from magic, if you traveled into the darkness of the black ocean, small pieces of light would still filter through the water for a few meters before vanishing completely. Satisfied with his discoveries, the Spymaster returned, and the group continued walking. "Empress, should I activate my Daemonic Form before we get to the next room?" Vulcan asked as they turned towards the grassland beyond the beach. "It might be a good call. We should be arriving at your old home tomorrow, so resetting the Daemonic Influence could be better," Hera nodded. "Do you have an idea when we should be arriving? I''d prefer to be there when we meet the Strength Spirits," Forge explained. "Are you sure? Don''t you want us to talk to them first and prepare you for whatever might come?" Hera turned to Vulcan. The kangaroo shook his head. "No. I want to be there when everything happens, if you allow me." "This is not about allowing you. I''m just worried. But if you want, you''ll be there. Should we look for a few monsters so you can fight and not feel as bad?" "I would appreciate that, as long as it doesn''t mess with our time frame." Hera shook her head, "Don''t worry, it won''t. We''re going to end the day either in this room or near the doorway of the next one. Which means we''ll spend the night in my private room," the Ophidianite explained. It didn''t take long for them to find a monster, but unfortunately, it wasn''t one Hera or Helena could attack without hesitation. The creature was called ''Red Spore Cap,'' a giant walking mushroom. Its body was mostly beige, and the cap was red with cute little flower-shaped pink dots. Its face had tiny, beady black eyes above a small mouth that seemed frozen in an eternal smile. Adding that to the stubby arms and legs and it truly looked like a plushie. "Those are really cute," Helena frowned and looked at Vulcan, "Do you really have to fight them?" "It would help, but if the two of you are against it, I can hold off. We just need to find a place where I can lash out," Forge explained, his ears drooping a bit. Even without the high Daemonic influence affecting his body, Vulcan enjoyed fighting. But with it, he felt even better. There was something liberating about turning off his mind and going berserk. "Maybe there''s something less cute around? Look over there, there''s a weird mix of a squirrel with a boar," Hera gestured to the side. A chubby orange squirrel with the nose of a pig and large tusks coming out of its mouth lumbered along. The creature could be considered cute, but it was also terrifying. Its bulging stomach seemed to wriggle like something inside was trying to get out, but it wasn¡¯t simply pregnant. Whatever was inside moved not just around its stomach but along its back, almost wrapping around its spine. Adding to the eeriness was its name: Grease Climber. The group watched as the Grease Climber slowly approached a Red Spore Cap, expecting it to attack. But as soon as it got close, the mushroom opened a mouth beneath its face, looking like a tree branch had burst through, leaving a large jagged hole. The Red Spore Cap clamped its mouth down on the Grease Climber¡¯s head with a sickening crunch. From the squirrel¡¯s belly, something emerged, a long millipede with wriggling tentacles all over its carapace. According to [Observe], that was still the Grease Climber, and perhaps its true form. The strange insect rushed towards Hera''s group, but before anyone could react, a small glowing projectile connected with the monster exploding in a fiery blaze. Everyone turned to the side, seeing Viper with both hands out as if he had just cast a spell. "Did you just cast a fireball?" Hera asked. "Yep. I was testing a few ideas, and when that thing started moving, I didn''t want it getting near me," Viper admitted. Everyone looked at the charred remains of the monster and nodded. "Yeah, you did good," Hera said. They took advantage of the moment and split up. Hera gave a [Royal Quest] to Crimson and Viper so they could stay close to Helena, while the Ophidianite walked away to let Vulcan enter his [Daemonic Form]. Unfortunately, the skill that would allow him to revive right away was on cooldown. He had used it the day before they arrived at the Dunes of Isolation. By the end of the day, they arrived at the next doorway, but instead of crossing over, they stayed in Hera''s private room. One more day, just one more, before they would arrive at the home of the Strength Spirits. But first, both of them were in desperate need of a shower to wash out all the sand from their clothes. 949 - Duskwild Enclave It was the middle of the afternoon when they finally arrived at the doorway, the one that would take them to the room where the Strength Spirits lived. But before crossing over, Hera summoned Vulcan so they could have a quick conversation. ¡°We¡¯re not in your old home . The room is just beyond this doorway,¡± the Empress started, not even giving Forge a chance to speak. ¡°Before we go, I want to talk to you a bit.¡± Vulcan nodded. ¡°Ok. Did I do anything wrong?¡± ¡°No, not at all. But we don¡¯t know how you¡¯re going to react once we¡¯re inside. So, I¡¯m asking you to tell me if anything feels off or if it becomes too much for you. I¡¯m not going to give you an order for this. I want you to talk to me,¡± Hera continued. ¡°I understand. I¡¯m not entirely sure how I¡¯ll react once inside, either. It''s strange. I¡¯ve never had any flashes about my life before being captured, but being present in a place like this might change things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m talking to you. We don¡¯t know how you¡¯re going to react, and I don¡¯t want you to hide anything from me. More than helping the Strength Spirits, I want to help you. You are my priority.¡± Vulcan stared at Hera, sensing the depth of her feelings through their connection. Hearing it spoken aloud, knowing how much she truly cared, hit him differently. He now understood why Daskka always called the Ophidianite ¡®mum.¡¯ There was a long pause as Forge let those words sink in. ¡°I will, Hera,¡± Forge said with a serious but soft expression. The Empress smiled, breaking the tension. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so serious. This is a good thing. You¡¯re visiting your old home. Just let me know if the influence starts to go up. How much is it right now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s currently at 0%,¡± Forge replied as they walked back toward Helena and the Spymasters. ¡°Good, good. And what do you want us to do if you have to trigger the Demonic Form? Of course, we¡¯ll step away and let you do that somewhere quiet, but should we stop interacting with the Spirits until you¡¯re better, or pause whatever we¡¯re doing?¡± Without missing a beat, Vulcan replied, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the decision to you. I trust you, and I know you¡¯ll have my best interests in mind. So, whatever you decide, I¡¯ll agree with.¡± ¡°Thank you for the vote of confidence. I¡¯ll do my best to¡­¡± Hera sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I¡¯ll just do my best.¡± Forge chuckled as they headed back to the group. Touching the doorway, they were transferred to a room called Duskwild Enclave, on the 13th layer. This meant the monsters would be around level 40 at most. It was a bit dangerous for Helena, but not enough for them to worry too much. As soon as they crossed, their tablets buzzed with messages, finally reconnecting to the internet. Before anything else, Hera answered a few of those messages, all coming from Milla. She had access to a specific secure connection in order to contact the Ophidianite during their travels. But instead of sending a full report, Milla simply forwarded all the messages from the Harmony Guardians or anyone else who had tried to contact them. The final message each day was from Milla herself, providing a summary of how everyone was reacting to Hera and Helena¡¯s sudden disappearance. During the first few days, there were no mentions of them being stuck somewhere, everyone understood that delays were common in the MAZE, so no one was particularly worried. But when they missed the expected arrival date by three days, concerns grew. The Harmony Guardians, her friends, her dad, and even members of the Alliance became worried. There were even messages asking about Helena from the R&D division. Sovereign Stofin reached the point of sending messages apologizing for giving Hera the title of Aspirant Hero, citing rumors of the cursed nature of the position. Reading that line made Hera laugh. Sure, it was mostly due to a superstition, but even if there was a curse placed on her, there was a good chance [Wardbearer] would be able to help her with that. The last two people who said anything on the first day were Typhera and Rutigan who offered whatever help they could give. By the fourth day, Milla had managed to get in touch with someone close to their last known location. This person planned to search for them, though it would take a couple more days to gather information. Unfortunately, this was the sixth day since they¡¯d gone ¡®missing,¡¯ which mean that their efforts would end up being wasted. The best-case scenario was if they reached the Dunes of Isolation while it was still locked, that way whoever went after them wouldn''t have to search for the pair inside. Hera quickly replied, explaining what had happened and how the Dunes of Isolation could trap people during a storm. She assured Milla that they were safe, that nothing had happened, and that they had simply been stuck in the MAZE for a few extra days. She also mentioned the dungeon and how they had used one of its rewards to break through the storm but would provide a full report upon reaching the Alliance outpost. Milla¡¯s response came almost instantly, as though she had been watching her messages for any sign of life. ¡®I¡¯m really glad you¡¯re okay. I¡¯ll let everyone know. And stop scaring us like that.¡¯ Hera showed the message to Helena, and they both laughed before the Ophidianite sent a reply. ¡®I don¡¯t try to get stuck in the MAZE, you know. But I¡¯ll do my best to avoid it happening again.¡¯ Now that they had put out the fire caused by their student disappearance, the two friends finally had a moment to look around. Duskwild Enclave was a dense forest eternally bathed in the orange glow of dusk. The light didn¡¯t come from a fixed sun, though. Instead, some magical effect created the soft, warm hue. During the day, the shadows moved, suggesting the presence of a sun. At night, most of the light came from the ground, glowing up through the mossy floor or deeper within the earth. The room spanned around 15 square kilometers, and a thick forest covered everything. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Mist lingered on the branches of the trees, moving as if it were alive. The cold air filled with the soft sounds of rustling leaves, distant bird calls, and the occasional rumbling of the earth. A canopy of intertwined foliage created a surreal play of light and shadows, making it hard to navigate through the forest. The light coming from both below and above further confused the senses. Hera and the group turned west, using her [Treasure Map] as a guide, until they reached a gentle stream of silvery water. The liquid looked like diluted mercury, but according to the Alliance, it was safe to drink. They followed the stream, heading deeper into the room and noticing a few ancient structures overtaken by vines and moss. Hera''s map marked the area as the Verdant Ruins. According to the map, it was supposed to be a place where a couple of dungeons were located. No one could tell if these crumbling stone buildings were remnants of an ancient civilization or just something placed here by the MAZE. Sometime after passing the ruins, they found the building the Alliance took over. It was a massive greenhouse attached to a lab, with circular corners splitting the wings of the structure. Both sides looked nearly identical, except for the last one, which had pipes leading back to the glass frames of the greenhouse. "Vulcan, are you okay?" Helena asked. "I am, for now," the kangaroo replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the structure. "Just remember that the Alliance might be a bit tense, so our reception may not be that great," Viper added. "Why is that? They know we''re coming," Crimson frowned. "Yeah, but this is supposed to be a secret location. Even if they know we''re coming, seeing anyone might put them on edge," Viper explained. Crimson seemed uncertain and turned to Hera, who nodded, "There''s a good chance they know we''re on the way, but since we¡¯re late, they might think we¡¯re spies or something." As they approached the structure, a group of people emerged from the door, all holding weapons and wearing serious expressions. "Stop there!" a dwarf at the front of the group shouted. He waited for Hera and the others to halt before continuing, "Who are you?" "Hera Quetzaveth, Aspirant Hero and honorary member of the Alliance Council. With me are Helena, a friend and ally, and my court, part of my legacy." The dwarf studied them for a moment. "If you are who you say you are, you were supposed to arrive several days ago." "That¡¯s correct. We got stuck in the Dunes of Isolation, but we managed to make it here, nonetheless. I imagine you¡¯re going to say you can¡¯t trust my word and ask for proof. May I send a message to my contact to confirm my story, or do you have another suggestion?" A triton from the team stepped forward, showing something on a tablet to the dwarf. "We know that part of your legacy involves weapons turning into monsters. Can you show us that?" Hera frowned. "That¡¯s not exactly how it works, but sure." "Okay then. Call the griffon." "Sorry, I can¡¯t. We got stuck in the MAZE, and while we were fighting our way out, several of my court members were damaged. They¡¯re recovering and can¡¯t be summoned until they¡¯ve healed. Right now, I can show you the praying mantis or the snake man with spider legs," Hera gestured toward Viper and Crimson. The triton flicked through images on the tablet, shaking his head, "Can¡¯t you do the dragon?" "It¡¯s a sea serpent, and no, she¡¯s one of the wounded ones too." He continued flicking through the screens, "What about the red kangaroo monster? It¡¯s him, right?" He pointed at Vulcan. Hera placed a hand on Forge¡¯s shoulder to calm him down, just in case, "It¡¯s possible, but his specific form makes him go berserk. He helped us find this place because he was a Strength Spirit, but once he turns into a Daemon, he can¡¯t control himself very well. I have no idea what would happen if he goes into that state near all this." "Okay¡­" The triton frowned and kept searching until he stopped, "Is this...a praying mantis?" he asked the dwarf. The dwarf squinted at the tablet, "Sort of? I think? It''s hard to tell. it''s mostly hidden." Hera couldn¡¯t help but notice the pride radiating from Viper and Crimson. Of course, it would be hard for anyone to get a good picture of the [Guardian Form] of the Spymasters. "Shall we, Crimotra?" Crimson asked. "Yeah," Hera nodded. In a quick motion, the twins darted back and vanished, causing the guards to tense and prepare for a fight. They didn¡¯t attack, though. The Ophidianite felt the twins changing forms while [Hidden Frontal Screen] was active. When their transformation was complete, they dropped the skill. Suddenly, a creature with the torso and head of a praying mantis, red and white daggers for arms, and the lower body of a red snake, appeared. "Holy shit!" an elf gasped, her voice more shrill than she intended, drawing strange looks from the others. "Is this the thing you were looking for?" Hera asked. The dwarf and the triton looked between the tablet and the creature several times before the dwarf finally said, "Yeah, I think that¡¯s it." "You two can drop the form," the Ophidianite said as the group guarding the structure cautiously approached. "I¡¯m sorry about all this, Empress Quetzaveth, but considering the importance of this place to the humans, we have to be careful." Hera and Vulcan both smiled, appreciating the seriousness of the situation, even if it wasn¡¯t purely because of their care for the Strength Spirits. "Don¡¯t worry about it. I understand. I think I¡¯d be more upset if you just let us waltz right in. And please, call me Hera." "Thank you, Hera. Please, follow me. This facility has a very comfortable housing area if you need to rest. If not, we can start showing you around," The dwarf turned to Vulcan, "I understand you might have a particular insight into the situation." Forge chuckled, his calm demeanor slowly vanishing, "I suppose that¡¯s one way to put it." The dwarf nodded, "I apologize if I¡¯m being rude, but I don¡¯t fully understand who you are or how you exist. I''m told considering you¡¯re supposed to be a Strength Spirit. It¡¯s a bit confusing." "As far as I know, information about how Hera¡¯s legacy works is considered top secret," Helena chimed in, "Not because of the legacy itself, but because of her position." "Yeah, and I¡¯m grateful for that. But basically, I can attach Spirits to weapons, which in turn gives them physical forms. Vulcan was a Strength Spirit we rescued from humans. He was in the process of turning into a Daemon. I made him an offer: I could try to save him by adding him to my court, or we could kill him so he wouldn¡¯t suffer. I think Vulcan¡¯s presence says enough about which choice he made." "Oh¡­okay, that makes more sense. What we heard was that you were gathering Spirits and turning them into weapons," the dwarf replied. "That¡¯s not wrong, but it sounds worse than it is. I¡¯m not forcing them to become my weapons. It¡¯s something they choose if they want to stay with me. It¡¯s a legacy," Hera sighed, "It¡¯s complicated," deciding not to go into further detail. She wasn¡¯t about to share the intricacies of her abilities. "Either way, I appreciate the explanation. I¡¯m Bolgo, by the way." "It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you," Helena smiled. "And to meet you," Bolgo smiled as he opened the doors to the lab where the Strength Spirits were being kept. 950 - The state of the lab They walked slowly across the lab. It was a strange place that, in many ways, looked more like a wildlife sanctuary than an actual lab. Flowers and oddly placed windows showed a view of the area where the Strength Spirits would live. Even if right now those tunnels and passages only had dirt and small pieces of vegetation. But that was only to a certain point. Every now and then they would cross over an open door, revealing a harrowing experiment room that still had marks of dried blood and tools made to harm and dissect, while keeping the subject alive. The walls were mostly a calming green, but the red strength mana illuminated more than the lights themselves. That display created an environment where everybody looked like they were covered in blood, or as if they were part of a cult horror movie. It didn¡¯t take long for Vulcan to start walking while gripping his forging hammer with as much strength as he had. He was clearly being affected by the environment. And not in a good way. Hera noticed his rising emotions and took his free hand in her own, making sure to comfort the Titled Blade as much as she could. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ Forge smiled. Despite having someone to protect him, he still felt everything he felt when he was captured by the humans. The fear, the pain, the helplessness. Everything came flooding back, which started to raise his Daemonic Influence. As they continued to walk, Bolgo explained what they had found out about the place. ¡°There¡¯s too much that we don¡¯t completely understand. For instance, the way they are connecting people through the tattoos is still a mystery to us. We have found the actual spell circle to use and all the equipment they used, but something is missing. And I don¡¯t mean in a physical sense.¡± The group passed by another corridor. This one led to an area with an even more oppressive red light. Several pipes were coming from a massive tank of mana. Inside it, they could see a shape moving around wildly. Forge instantly tensed. Without even seeing whatever was inside, he could tell there was a demon in there. His anger flared up, and the demonic influence grew by 10% in a moment. Hera¡¯s hand was a comforting presence, but it wasn¡¯t enough for the blade bound to a Strength Spirit to calm down completely. The scars on his face and body started to grow red, emanating an even more sinister light than the one coming from the pipes. ¡°Vulcan, close your eyes. We are stepping away from that area,¡± the Empress gently asked. At the same time, Daskka turned into her purple mist form and started using a healing spell that Neria taught her. The actual healing effect was minimal, but the main purpose of the spell was to numb the emotions of those affected by it. Forge was already aware of this particular effect, so he wasn¡¯t fazed when he felt the external impulse pushing his anger deeper into himself. It would work for now, allowing him to focus on the situation at hand instead of lashing out. But that rage was still there, bubbling inside a locked box that could only hold so much. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± Bolgo asked, as they quickly moved away. ¡°Could be better. Can we just leave this area? It¡¯s not good for him to be so close to a demon,¡± Hera quickly explained. ¡°Is he going to go berserk?¡± an elf who was with the group asked. ¡°Not right now. And we are making sure to pay attention to when he¡¯s getting close to that,¡± Hera said, trying to calm the man down, but it didn¡¯t seem to work. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If anything were to happen, we can stop him,¡± Crimson announced. ¡°And even if we can¡¯t stop him, we can at least delay him long enough so you all can get out of the way,¡± Viper added. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to worry all that much. He ended up going berserk a couple of times near me and still was able to direct his focus somewhere else,¡± Helena said, remembering a specific moment when Vulcan triggered his [Daemonic Form] near her. Hera simply ordered him to stop and go attack something else, which worked perfectly. Bolgo nodded, but still had something to say. ¡°Do try to warn us if he¡¯s going to start attacking things. If we get a heads up with enough time, we can at least take him out of the facility. Like I said, there are a lot of things here we don¡¯t fully understand and for now, the greenhouse is the only thing keeping the Strength Spirits alive.¡± Vulcan frowned. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Exactly what it sounds like. If we try to remove the greenhouse to set them all free, they start to lose their strength. It seems like the humans destroyed their habitat to the point where they can¡¯t live here without assistance,¡± Bolgo explained. ¡°Is there anything we can do to fix that?¡± Helena turned to the dwarf. She hadn¡¯t said much ever since they arrived at the lab, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t paying attention. In fact, from this group, the mage was the one better suited to understand the intricacies of the facility. ¡°We are trying, but we¡¯ve had no luck so far,¡± the Triton that showed Bolgo the pictures said. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Marion, the one in charge of the protection of spirits.¡± ¡°Have you tried flooding the area with strength mana?¡± Vulcan asked as they made a turn, now crossing a large warehouse-like structure with heavy machinery producing sheets of glass. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°We have, but the environment doesn¡¯t take. It lasts for a few minutes, but then it disperses. The problem is that whatever was creating the strength mana in the area was removed. Or more likely, destroyed,¡± Marion explained. ¡°Why would they do that?¡± Crimson frowned. ¡°They probably wanted to lure the Strength Spirits here. And the best way was to create a better home for them and then destroy the old one. Spirits would be attracted to this location and then be trapped here,¡± Viper turned to Marion. ¡°Did I get anything wrong?¡± The Triton gave an impressed smile. ¡°Just one thing. It¡¯s likely that they did not destroy the old habitat all at once, but instead did it through a slow process. We even found some signs that they created a line of strength mana for the Spirits to follow. Destroying the source of the mana was likely a way to make sure the Spirits had no other options.¡± ¡°But then how are we supposed to help the Spirits?¡± Vulcan gasped. ¡°That¡¯s what we are here to figure out. With your help, we might be able to craft something that creates Strength Mana,¡± Hera said with a smile. Her voice had no doubt that Forge would be able to produce something like this. ¡°Hera, you can also try that question thing, can¡¯t you?¡± Helena asked. ¡°Question thing?¡± the elf who yelped at the sight of Crimotra asked. ¡°Yeah, my Relic can do a thing that allows me to ask a question, and it will give me a proper answer. But I can only do that once per room,¡± Hera explained. At the mention of questions once per room, the elf¡¯s eyes changed to understanding, ¡°Oh? I can do something similar, but it¡¯s not with my Relic, it¡¯s a different skill. Explorer exclusive. We can talk a little bit before you use yours. That way our information won¡¯t overlap.¡± Hera nodded with a smile. She couldn¡¯t even remember the last time she had found another Explorer who had the guide skill. ¡°That can actually help a lot. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Villia, it¡¯s a pleasure,¡± the elf replied. They continued walking across the lab, passing by a couple more strange rooms. One of them looked very much like an operating theater, with a large stretcher in the center, various surgical tools around it, and a balcony where people could watch. Directly after it came one that could only be described as a tattoo studio. Eventually, they arrived at the entrance of the greenhouse. It was a massive glass wall made out of several glass sheets, each of them enchanted in a way to increase the potency of the Strength Mana. ¡°Now, here is the Strength Spirit territory. The entire structure is made of two layers of glass installed back to back. It has to be like that because the spell circles carved on each sheet degrade over time, which means we have to keep replacing them every few days. Otherwise, the Strength Mana is not concentrated enough for the Spirits to live,¡± Bolgo gestured to a group on the left, replacing one of the panels high up on the wall. ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem very sustainable. We passed by the machinery that was making those pieces of glass. How much more can they make?¡± Helena asked. ¡°The supply should last us another month or so. We have found most of the materials required to produce this glass in the nearby dungeons. But there are a couple of specific gems and solutions that need to be brought from the outside. We are trying to figure out a way to do that, but we still don¡¯t have a good plan for that,¡± Bolgo sighed. ¡°Even then, those materials will be expensive. As much as it hurts to say this, there were talks about simply breaking everything down and letting the Spirits perish. After all, the odds of them appearing in another human controlled room are ridiculously small. The MAZE is endless,¡± Marion added. ¡°What?!¡± Forge snarled, the influence jumping another 10%. The people who were giving the tour jumped back, all of them ready to fight or run, whatever was necessary. ¡°Vulcan. Stop and think. Do you think anyone here wants to hurt the Spirits?¡± Hera gently said, using one of the techniques they had learned during his therapy sessions. ¡°No,¡± the kangaroo huffed. ¡°Then why would you say that we might need to give up the Spirits?¡± Forge took a deep breath. ¡°I can think of two reasons. First, because we might not be able to protect the lab from the humans, which means that letting the territory be destroyed would protect the new generation of Strength Spirits, wherever they may appear. The second is because it¡¯s too expensive, and they think it¡¯s a waste of money to save my kind.¡± Hera just nodded. ¡°And what¡¯s the more likely answer?¡± ¡°Both. And the ones saying to abandon the Spirits are just being pragmatic.¡± Viper and Crimson patted Forge on his back, trying to support his comments. Even if Vulcan felt being treated like that was somewhat demeaning, he had to admit, it was an effective way of calming him down. There was something about asking questions, as if he were a child who couldn¡¯t understand things that forced him to prove otherwise. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re getting angry,¡± Helena rolled her eyes, getting a confused look from pretty much everyone. ¡°All of this is happening because the Strength Spirits don¡¯t have a home anymore. Not a permanent one, at least. All we have to do is craft something that¡¯s going to make Mana for them.¡± ¡°That is true. But it doesn¡¯t solve the problem of humans taking over this room again,¡± Viper said. ¡°We have a solution for that,¡± Marion spoke up again. ¡°There are enough people here who will be willing to stay and study the Spirits while locking the room after the actual warriors leave.¡± ¡°See, big guy? All we have to do is figure out a way to let the Spirits stay here permanently. After that, we can leave and be sure that they will be safe,¡± Crimson frowned. ¡°Unless we end up losing the war. But then it won¡¯t really matter anyway.¡± Forge let out a long sigh. ¡°You really know how to cheer someone up. But fine. Making something that is going to either create Strength Mana or convert ambient Mana into Strength Mana? Sure, I can figure something out. Never mind that we barely started figuring out how to make specific types of Mana. All I have to do is complete the work that no one has ever completed before to save my kind. No pressure.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Helena protested. ¡°We¡¯re not telling you to do this all by yourself. In fact, you¡¯re going to have not only the first person who conceived the idea of producing specific types of elemental Mana, but also the help of the first person to ever be able to identify affinities with her Observe. Or at least the first confirmed case of that.¡± ¡°And have you forgotten about our title? Mana-Touched. We are better at handling Mana by default,¡± Hera added. ¡°Not to mention you have an entire laboratory and a full staff dedicated to studying the Strength Spirits,¡± Bolgo smiled. ¡°See, Vulcan? If we can¡¯t save the Spirits, no one can,¡± Viper playfully pushed the kangaroo. Forge took a deep breath and slapped both his cheeks at once. ¡°Okay then. There¡¯s no time like the present to start. I need all the information you have about those glass panels and anything else that might talk about creating Mana. Hera, save the question for a bit. For now, I need help to control the Mana. Helena, can you try to figure out how to make Strength Mana? I don¡¯t mean just with what we have but all the ways that are possible to make that.¡± Everyone said in unison, ¡°Yes, sir,¡± and they started working. Vulcan was directly in front of his kind, and a large part of him wanted to go inside and say hello, but that would have to wait. Once they were safe, truly safe, he would have the chance to greet them. 951 - Forging Strength Vulcan was standing in front of a large table filled with various tools and materials. Most of them came from the various parts of the lab, but the alliance members who were already studying the Strength Spirits brought a couple in. In fact, together with Hera and the rest of the court, they had already spent several hours reading through all the data that was present in the lab. Even if the files on the computers were being decrypted, people brought in everything that was still on paper. It would usually take several weeks, if not more, for someone to go through everything. But Hera, more specifically her court, had a way to cheat that. They could each read something, and then the Empress could order the entire court, or a specific member, to learn everything they read about a topic. This was far from being a pleasant experience, as having memories and knowledge shoved into one''s mind felt extremely intrusive. However, it sped up the process considerably. Especially since now, the regular court members who were damaged had recovered. The biggest issue was to figure out a way to let the floating weapons read the files. That''s where Helena stepped in. She used her Shadow Grabbers to flip through the pages once every few seconds after they all agreed on a time frame that was good enough for all of them to read through a page. If anyone needed more time with a specific passage, they could just hold the paper down. The Shadow Grabbers would feel the resistance and stop moving. Which meant instead of reading only one file at once, they could read 13. And then funnel all that information into Vulcan. Passing the information that way made the kangaroo to have strong headaches. Still, he asked for the Empress to do that once each blade finished a full file. Forge didn''t want to waste his time trying to find a good piece of information. He wanted to help the Strength Spirits no matter the cost. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to find anything truly helpful after spending the entire day reading. Most of the files were talking about different effects caused by the tattoos or other experiments. Any mention of how to deal with the strength was likely inside the computers. It was very frustrating for everyone, not just Hera and her court, but also the alliance members. And the encryption was proving to be much more complicated than anyone was expecting. It was almost as if there was something changing the configuration of the files every so often, but they were still unable to find out what. Once night came, Helena grew tired and went to sleep in one of the bedrooms that were being used by the humans. Hera, on the other hand, stayed in the lab Vulcan was using. The Title Blade had no need for sleep, meaning he could be working through the night without any issues. Or at least that was his argument. Vulcan wasn''t entirely wrong, as the Titled Blades didn''t need to sleep or rest in the regular sense of the word, nor did the rest of the blades. But mental fatigue would affect them if they spent too long without going back to the legacy. Still, the amount of time the court could spend working on something before needing that break was much longer than what a person could manage. This was one of those things that hammered down the fact that they were not living creatures but Mana constructs. To let them continue their work through the night, Hera simply asked for some help to bring a mattress to this lab. She set everything up in a small corner, even making a makeshift tent with some extra blankets, and crafted a sleeping mask so they wouldn''t need to worry about the lights. The last addition to her ''bedroom'' was a soundproof bubble around herself that stopped outside noise from coming in. With that, the entire court could remain outside and continue their work reading and trying to figure out how to create something that would generate Strength Mana. Before going to sleep, the Empress also changed her order. Instead of waiting for her command, now every 30 minutes, Vulcan would have to receive all the knowledge acquired by the Blades. She even crafted an hourglass for him to know when the information would come. More specifically, when his headaches would start. The only problem with this new setup was the lack of the Shadow Grabbers to assist the Blades in turning the pages, but this only served to slow their process down. Unfortunately, after working the entire night, they got no closer to figuring something out than they were before they started. Objects that created Mana were already rare. It usually took a living creature to generate Mana naturally, or a Mana crystal. The problem was that every time you would try to create a Mana crystal that exuded a specific type of Mana, the effect wouldn''t work. Mana crystals required a specific spell to pull the Mana from inside them, and they were perfect batteries. Once Mana went inside one, it wouldn''t leave or dissipate until it was used. Vulcan started working with the idea of grafting some plants, creating a new species that could potentially create the Strength Mana. However, that would take too long, even if he managed to make it work on the first try. He considered the idea of using bamboo or a plant that would grow ridiculously fast, but that came with its own set of problems. For one, the time to germinate a seed would usually take much longer. And plants that germinated quickly generally would take a long time to flourish. In the end, he gave up that idea. They had enough Strength Mana crystals here. Mana stones that generated Strength Mana by themselves. A lot of them were being used by the pipes that pumped the liquid Mana around the facility. But there was a decent stockpile in one of the storage rooms. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Vulcan was a forging hammer, something made to work with metal or magic materials. He wasn''t a gardener. Maybe he could try his hand at that on a different date. It was best to work with something he was comfortable with, which meant creating an object that was able to generate Strength Mana. Like a smoke machine or a humidifier, something that would allow that Mana to spread, seep into everything, and eventually help the environment mutate to become better for the Strength Spirits. Hera woke up early the next morning. But because of the presence of her Court, she ended up sleeping late. The comforting presence helped her rest. People had already come by and dropped off breakfast, simple toast with jam. Once the humans left the lab, they torched the food supplies. It was so obvious that it wouldn''t be enough to make the alliance leave, but it would be a hassle for a little while until more supplies were delivered. In other words, the humans were petty. "Did you figure anything out?" Hera asked while eating the meal left by the other members of the alliance. Helena had yet to show up. She was gathering some materials around the lab, ready to start working on a few ideas. Vulcan shook his head, "Not yet. I have ideas, but nothing I can actually start working with." "Anything I can help with? Even if you just need a soundboard to bounce off," Hera suggested. "I don''t know if there''s anything to bounce off. I need to figure out a way to make a Mana crystal let the mana out. Not a spell, just the magic. Not just that. It also has to work with some other object and do that in a sustainable way. If whatever final product we come up with has a cooldown between emissions, then that brings a whole slew of problems." "How so? Wouldn''t the Mana stay in the area until the cooldown was over? You would only have to worry about synchronizing the items," Hera said. "That''s not the case. The Mana won¡¯t stay in the greenhouse. Not forever. And we need to consider the environment. Rain, wind, heat, everything will affect the Mana in a different way. If we make something that doesn''t give off a constant emission, then the Strength Spirits won''t have a place where they can be safe. An area that they can hunker down in if the overall environment is fighting off the Mana." Hera nodded, "I didn''t think about that. But what if we make birdhouses, then? Small places with some Strength Mana that can help them last until whatever is going on outside is over?" "Maybe. But I think we will be playing with the line of what they consider a home. There''s a good chance they won''t like it and just go outside. If that happens, then they can give up the room entirely." "I see. Yeah, that¡¯s not so great. Do you think we should keep trying to find something in these reports or go for another angle?" Vulcan frowned, looking at the various pieces of paper in front of him. "I''ll continue this for a little while. If nothing shows up after lunch, then we can try something else." "Okay then. By the way, all of you are going back to the palace while I''m eating lunch." "What? Why?" Forge gasped. "That''s not up for debate. You all spent the entire night reading data-heavy reports. Even if you don''t get tired, your mind is exhausted. I can feel it from here. So you''re all taking the equivalent of a nap," Hera commanded. It wasn''t an order, just a stern talking-to. For the next few hours, they continued reading, using the same setup they had during the night. Yet no useful information came about. At least nothing that could help the Strength Spirits. There were various statements about what the soldiers of strength could possess and tests to make their skills better. In addition, there were also a few graphs talking about the power of a soldier of strength related to their level. It seemed like level 40 was the sweet spot. If someone at level 40 received the right tattoos, they would be able to face off against someone at level 55 to 60, an increase of almost 20 levels. If they were weaker, their power wouldn''t grow as much. And for those who were stronger, the difference between levels became too stark, resulting in diminishing returns. Was this something they could use to save the Strength Spirits? No. Was this something the alliance would be very interested in having? Absolutely. Eventually, lunchtime came around and Hera called back her blades while joining the rest of the alliance team in the cafeteria. A couple of people had left to hunt and were able to gather a decent spread of meats. Mostly a version of chicken and a couple of small critters that looked like spiders but tasted like rabbit. The Empress was at the same table as Helena, talking to her friend about the possibilities and what they discovered during the night. "¡­ And that''s basically it. Nothing that can help with what we are trying to do, but something that can help the alliance. How about you?" The mage opened a big smile, "We got a few very interesting things. Basically, the humans, it''s so weird saying this. Anyway, the humans figured out a few ways to create Strength Mana. That''s how they created the Mana crystals." "That''s great! Do you think you can use the process to emanate the Mana? Using other types of crystals?" "I''m afraid not. It falls on the same problem. Mana stones and crystals want to be used by something, not just let the Mana leak out," Helena sighed. "Yeah. As Forge even said, covering weapons with the energy from the crystals would be too stable. The amount of Mana they would leak out wouldn''t be enough to sustain the Strength Spirits." "It''s really annoying that when we don''t want the Mana to leak out, it does, and when we do want it, we can''t make it work," Marion shook his head. "You were able to make the Mana leak?" Hera asked. "Yeah. When I was studying, that happened all the time," the Triton nodded. "Do you know how?" Helena turned to the man. "Not exactly. It''d always happen when I made some sort of mistake in a spell circle. There were a bunch of different small things that could happen. A bad connection, making the circle in a way that wouldn''t cycle things properly, stuff like that." Hera and Helena turned to each other with wide eyes, "It''s not wrong. That happens," the Empress remembered the times her spell circles failed. "Call Vulcan! I''ll go get some Mana crystals," Helena said with a smile. "What happened?" Marion looked at the two, his eyes filled with confusion. Hera quickly took one of the bowls of chicken soup and started walking out, "You might have just solved our problem. If it works, I''ll buy you a coffee!" 952 - Mana Emission Hera and Helena rushed back to the lab they were using. The Empress didn''t call Vulcan just yet because it would be easier for her to move around the facility without him. The kangaroo was able to keep up with her speed, but that wasn''t the problem. He struggled a bit to make sharp turns while moving quickly. Even in fights, if he had to follow an enemy or something, he would stop and turn instead of just turning while running. It didn''t take them even five minutes to arrive back at the lab. The Ophidianite quickly called Forge out together with the rest of the Court, as Helena started working on a few spell circles for them to test their theory. "Empress? Is everything okay?" Vulcan asked, Viper and Crimson behind him, also with worried expressions. "Yeah. Everything''s fine. We just had an idea. What happens when we mess up a spell?" Forge frowned, "When we mess up a spell? It doesn''t work." "I know, but specifically, what happens?" "Many things. From the Mana just vanishing to the spell going crazy and doing something different. There''s a list too long for me to specify every option." "Okay. But isn''t one of the possibilities that instead of the magic triggering, the Mana dissipates in a puff, like it goes out in a gust?" Hera asked. Viper frowned, "I mean. Yeah? That¡¯s happened to me before." "Sure, making a puff of Mana is one possible result of a bad spell. But what does that have to do with anything?" Vulcan asked. "What if we make that happen intentionally? Instead of trying to make a full spell, we focus on making a bad one. One that''s going to go wrong and then let out Strength Mana," Hera said with a big smile. Vulcan''s eyes went wide as realization dawned upon him. But that only lasted a brief moment, and he instantly turned to his craft. The possibilities and ideas were already running through his mind. With a jerk, he turned to Viper, "Do you remember how the spell circle that you made was? The one that just created a puff of Mana?" "I''m trying to think about that, but I can''t remember. It''s not the kind of thing we pay attention to. I fixed the mistakes one at that time and remembered the right way to do it later. Honestly, I''m not even sure if an order from Hera would be enough to help me remember this. " "Yeah. I have the same problem," Vulcan frowned. "Here!" Helena walked up to the group and slammed a piece of paper on the table. There was a very simple spell circle inside. One that would create a buff to increase your strength, using Strength Mana, of course. Its shape was a circle with a line going across it and an X splitting the formation into six pieces. Four of them were very narrow while the other two took about 30% of the space each. In the very center, overlapping with the line of the X, was a triquetra. It was one of the most basic spell symbols there were, almost looking like a flower with three points. That symbol could represent self, body, person, power, and many other things. It was hard not to find a basic spell circle that didn''t use that particular symbol as part of its construction due to the sheer versatility it had. "This is a complete one," Hera turned to the mage. "I know. But I don''t know exactly how we need to break it to make the Mana come out. So everybody uses this as a base and we start making mistakes on the circle. I figure we start simple," Helena explained. "That was a good call. If we are all working on the same spell, it might be easier to find a way to make it work. I mean, not work the way we want it to," Viper explained. Crimson turned to her brother, "You know that still sounds confusing, right?" Viper nodded with a sigh, "I know, but this is all a bit messy." "Either way, let''s start. Crimson, I know you''re not one for spells, but we could use your help, too. Especially since the rest of the Court won''t be able to help as much," Hera said. "That might not be the case," Helena took the paper and walked over to a copy machine to the side. "The ink they use here is made from materials from the MAZE, which means it''s very Mana-friendly." Forge frowned and spoke up, not even letting the mage finish, "Are you saying you can print the spell circle and it will just work?" "Sort of. If you print the spell circle and put some Mana on it, the circle will activate. It will be destroyed right after and all the ink will be gone. The effect of the spell is going to be pretty much worthless. Like, if you try to make fire with it, the ink will only be able to make an ember. But, we can print them and have the rest of the Court change the spell circle. And someone just needs to put a little bit of Mana on the paper to see if it works," Helena explained. "That can actually help a lot," Hera turned to Vulcan, "What do you think?" "I agree. And I have a feeling that Crimson would get very bored very quickly. We can leave her in charge of making more copies and testing the ones made by the Court," Forge turned to the spymaster, "What do you say, little one?" Crimson froze and slowly turned to face Vulcan, her eyes glowing an ominous red as her neutral expression hid an insurmountable rage. Her reaction was so strong that everyone else also felt the sudden tension in the air. "We are trying to save your family, and you have a lot to do, so I''m not going to do anything about that now. But if you call me ''little one'' again, I''m going to make sure that the good side of your face is the one currently filled with scars." The red half-Naga walked over to the copier and took a moment to understand how the machine worked. She never really tried using something like this. Trying to break the tension, Helena approached and pointed at the display, "You press this button to enter copy mode. Here you put how many copies you want and then press this one to confirm. The copies will come out on that tray and that''s it. If it runs out of paper or ink, then we have a problem because I have no idea how to refill those on this model." "And we keep the original there so the copies don''t end up worse and worse, right?" Crimson''s voice was completely normal, almost as if she had never gotten angry in the first place. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Helena nodded with a smile and walked back to work. As did the rest of the Court. Everyone was already organizing a table for them to make the changes to the circle. While that happened, Viper passed by Forge, giving a gentle tap on the shoulder, "I think there are easier ways to kill yourself, but it''s your funeral." "I... I thought I was just being friendly," Vulcan stuttered, still staring at Crimson. "You''re kidding. Little one? You think that was being friendly?" Viper shook his head. "I mean she is¡ª" Hera suddenly appeared from behind Forge, quickly holding his mouth shut. "Don''t say that. Never say that." ''Is it really that bad?'' Vulcan asked in her mind. "Yes. There are some things you just don''t say," Hera replied, and let go. "What do I do now?" Forge turned to Viper. "Make your peace with the system and pray that she doesn''t want to play with her food. I''m going to miss your ugly mug," Viper said, preparing his table. Unlike the rest of the Court, he didn''t need the copy, but he was still going to use it to make sure nothing went wrong. "I''m sure there''s something we can do," Forge gasped. Viper continued preparing without looking away, "There''s no we. It''s you." "Maybe, maybe, Hera can order her not to do anything," Vulcan turned to the Empress, who also refused to look in his direction. "A ruler must believe that those around her are able to solve any personal issues by themselves. The only situation when they step in is if their subjects are planning a revolt. Spymaster, are there any rumors about a revolution, or is this just an issue between two members of the Court?" "All the subjects are happy, my Empress. They all adore your rule and wish you nothing but the best. This is merely a private matter that I assume will be resolved soon," Viper replied, doing his best impression of a noble. Hera nodded, "Very well. We shall hold a grand funeral for our youngest Titled Blade. He was taken from us too soon," she raised a water bottle that was by her side, "In his name." "In his name!" Viper and Helena said, raising whatever they had around in place of cups. "Hey! I''m still alive, damn it!" Vulcan protested. "Not for long," Crimson replied, making Forge drop his ears and grumble as he started working. During the past few days, when fewer members of the Court were able to move around, everyone realized that Forge wasn''t as angry as he seemed. Sure, the Daemonic influence caused problems, and there were moments where he couldn''t control his anger. However, that didn''t mean any random reason would irritate him, not unless he was already on edge. Since the Spymasters were previously the youngest members of the Titled Blades, they were happy to have a little brother to tease. Playing around helped everybody relax, and once they started working again, they felt more focused. For the rest of the day, they continued to focus on this approach to create a spell circle that would emanate a specific type of Mana. But no matter how much they tried, no one was able to replicate that effect. At one point, they even got help from the rest of the alliance team, but no one was able to find the right solution. Eventually, Helena created a different spell, a more complex one with more options to break or make a bad connection. But the results didn''t change. No one was able to figure out how to create something that just exuded unfiltered Strength Mana. Frustrated, Forge decided to start actually making something instead of just planning. His main body was a forging hammer, which meant he was a crafter through and through. Instead of focusing on the spells, he started grabbing the materials and one of the weakest Mana crystals. It would only generate about 60 points of Mana every hour, but for what he wanted, this was more than enough. This was a test case, not the final product. He took a few pieces of metal and started hammering them together, trying to make sure that the Mana would connect to itself, forming a closed circuit. His hopes were that by adding the broken spell circle, he could make bubbles of Strength Mana. The idea more or less worked. After he engraved a simple spell, it would constantly fire off through the center of the ring. The problem now lay in not casting a spell, just releasing the Mana while maintaining its attribute. He kept working, trying to create this effect directly on the material he was using instead of making a spell circle first. This was his domain, and that made him come up with a few unique solutions for the problem. Despite his creativity, none of them actually worked. Not for what they were trying to do now. In the future, some of those techniques could be used to create incredible things. Weapons that were constantly firing off different spells, armor that would have a buff running at all times, and even a shield capable of breaking apart any magic that was thrown at it. But emanating Mana wasn''t in the cards. Getting more and more frustrated, Vulcan had to lose a few hours to go outside and trigger his [Demonic Form]. Thankfully, the cooldown of [Heart of a Phoenix] was over, meaning that he immediately recovered after reducing the influence to zero. On the fourth day after they arrived at the lab, as everyone was still struggling to figure out a way to convert the environment back into a place where the Strength Spirits could stay, Hera received a message. A message that made her face drain of all color. "Shit, shit, shit, shit," the Empress groaned as she read through the message. "What happened?" Helena was on a chair beside her friend, working on spells. "The humans are fighting back because they lost this place. They are marching to the Beastmen capital. We already lost a dozen rooms, and the Harmony Gardens are going to help defend the rest," Hera explained. "Can we get there?" Viper asked. "According to Mila, yes. In three days if we take a shortcut. The rest of the team should arrive in four." "But, are we just going to leave the Strength Spirits here?" Forge asked. "We might need to. We''re not making any progress on this, and right now there are people who need us. Our team is going to fight on the front lines, and I don''t want them to be alone," Hera replied. "But they''re not going to be alone. They have each other!" Vulcan protested. "Yeah. But the human army is filled with Soldiers of Strength. I''m not saying other people can''t fight them, but I''m one of the few who has some experience." "Can''t we delay for a day or two? I think I''m close to figuring this out," Forge begged the Empress. "You''ve been saying this ever since we started. I want to help them¡ªthe Spirits, I mean¡ªbut we might need to go deal with this and then come back. There are enough materials here to keep them alive for the rest of the month, so we have until then to come back." "Give me one more day, please. I had a few ideas. This may work," Vulcan turned to the herald, "Daskka, you said Nimbus and the others should be waking up soon. If we wait a day, would that make a difference?" Daskka paused, "I think it will. They are very close, so they should be up in the next few days. One extra day might guarantee that everybody is ready to fight in the war," she turned to Hera, who looked at the clock and sighed. "It''s already 10:00 p.m. So here''s what we''re doing. You have this night and the morning. At 10:00 a.m., we are leaving. No argument, no discussion, we''re going. If whatever you''re making didn''t work, we''ll come back later and try something else. If it did, but you''re still not sure, we''re going to leave the people here to figure out a way to make that work. I know you want to help the Strength, but they are not the only ones who need help. Deal?" Hera was trying to be fair, but it was hard considering the map that Mila sent. The humans had just carved a massive spike into alliance territory, and they were now getting closer to one of the capitals. If they were unable to stop the guild, there was a good chance they would turn to another capital that was close to their territory. And the room closest to it was where her father and the dwarves were staying. Vulcan nodded, "One night. That''s all I need. I promise." He didn''t wait for another reply and just started working. Now there was a time frame, and he had to make it. 953 - A Guiding hand While Vulcan was preparing for another set of tests, Hera walked to a different room. She had to make the conga line with her court to make sure they could be this far apart, but it all came for a good reason. Just because they were going to leave in the morning, it didn''t mean Hera wanted to give up on helping. And she still had one tool at her disposal that could give them an idea of what to do. Although she would never use those words. After all, the Ophidianite was about to call a guide. During the last couple of days, she had already discussed with the other explorer who had talked with them some things that they had found out, but she was waiting until they had something specific to ask about. That changed since they had to figure something out soon. There was nothing else to do but ask for help. As usual, Hera went through all the stops to make sure she could call the guide into a safe space. The doors were locked and anything that could be a camera was covered. She activated the safety cube and the soundproof barrier. In addition, she had Viper and Crimson waiting on each side of the door, one inside and one in the corridor. There was a couch and a table in the room, since it was another lab. It wasn''t very often that Hera was able to call one of the guides while having proper seating in a comfortable place for them to talk. She even got a few sweets that the alliance members had prepared for dinner. After double-checking everything, she gently rubbed Daskka''s head, who was on her lap, and took a deep breath. "I call upon the Guide of Duskwild Enclave. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." For a moment, nothing happened. The Empress half expected something like that. Every guide that she met seemed to have a more intricate entrance than the last, and this time was no different. After a few moments, parts of the shadows around the safety cube started to gather and move, leaving off a trail almost like a plane making a show. Little by little, the source of that trail of darkness became visible. It was a small creature, as most guides were, but it had four legs, a pair of large leathery wings, and a face that was a mixture of a fox with a lemur. It took a moment for her to realize that it was actually a fruit bat. Or at least their head was that of one. They had with four legs, a pair of wings, and a large black fox tail. The guide glided down, doing a few more spirals and creating almost a tornado of darkness in the middle of the safety cube. Only after they reached the ground did they turn to Hera and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hera, Aspirant Hero and the Ophidianite Empress. It is with great satisfaction that I welcome you to my domain, even if said welcome was delayed." Hera and Daskka bowed back, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Sorry, I don''t know your name." "My apologies. I am Noxis, Child of Night, Warden of the Duskwild Enclave, and Master of Shadows." "It is a pleasure to meet you, Noxis. And I do apologize for taking so long to call you. We were waiting for a moment where we had a better idea of the kind of help we might need," Hera explained. "We still don''t know, but it''s not like we have much of a choice now," Daskka added. The fox-bat smiled. "There is no need for apologies. I understand how valuable my assistance can be. And more importantly, how noble your pursuit is. Many a guide have told me about your accomplishments and your desire to help us. You have my utmost gratitude for everything, including your part in freeing the Strength Spirits." "I didn''t do all that much. I''m just happy they are okay, even if we are dealing with a different kind of problem now," Hera sighed. "It is understandable. But I will say that you do have the chance of finding a solution. All you have to do is ask the right question," Noxis smiled, his bat eyes turning into small half-moons, which made him seem a bit suspicious. But that didn''t bother Hera at all. She had complete trust in the guides. "Sometimes when I''m talking to a guide, they just give me the answer. From what you said, I''m guessing you won''t be able to do that, right?" she asked. "Unfortunately, that is correct. Any information about how to save the home of the Spirit will cause ripples that require too much causality for it to be simply offered. But the time you have can be used as a currency that would allow me to share." "Causality?" Hera tilted her head. It was the first time she had heard a guide mention that. "That is simply the term I use to refer to the value of our information. The more impactful a piece of information will be, the more causality it will require. Other guides have other names for it; others still, don''t even mention it." "Oh, that makes sense. Okay, so I''m going to ask the question now, and if you can answer with yes or no to start, that would be great. But if I veer off too much from the direction I need to go, give me a heads-up. Is that okay? And feel free to take any sweets," she gestured to the table with a few cookies and brownies. Noxis nodded. "But of course," he waved his wing and the shadows behind him became denser, allowing Hera to see them even against the black backdrop of the safety cube. The shadows had a timer marking five minutes. "I await the first question." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Than¡ª" Before she could finish the sentence, a voice rang in her mind. ''Hera, did you get a copy of the spell circle we''re using?'' Vulcan asked. ''I did,'' Hera replied. She opened her mouth to ask Noxis a question, but the voice didn''t stop. ''Don''t forget to ask if the spell circle is simple enough or if it needs to be more complicated,'' Forge continued. ''I won''t,'' the Empress replied, her voice mildly annoyed. ''And ask if we can complete this project with the tools we have on hand, or if we need to get anything from a dungeon or something,'' Vulcan said. ''The guide is right in front of me, and the skill only gives me five minutes to ask questions. If you keep interrupting me, I''m going to waste that time. I understand your worry, but stop.'' The Ophidianite made sure not to sound too angry in her mental voice, but that was a bit trickier than she would have liked. Still, the line worked, and Forge stopped talking with her. "Sorry about that. One of my Court members was reminding me of a few things we needed to ask," Hera smiled at Noxis. "That is very curious. We guides are used to seeing the world freeze if the one who summoned us talks to another. It is interesting that you''re able to circumvent that," the fox-bat had an amused expression on his face, almost like a cat who just found a new toy. "A few other guides commented on that, too. They all assume it''s because they are part of my legacy. So technically I''m not speaking with anyone else, I''m speaking with myself," Hera scratched the back of her head. "It''s the same thing when I''m talking to Daskka." "That is very interesting. I will have to discuss it more with my brethren. Now, shall we solve the business at hand? Even with my help, I believe you are in a time crunch," Noxis sat down, his back legs on the floor while the front ones made him stand up. "Of course. First question, yes or no unless you need to say more, but try to keep it short, please. Are we on the right track to make this work?" Hera asked. "It can be." The Empress pulled out the spell circle. "Is it possible for us to make a small change to this spell circle so it would emanate a specific type of Mana, even if the change would stop the spell from working?" "No." "Is that just not possible, or is the circle the problem?" "The circle is the problem." "Ok, before anything else, emanating Mana like this. Would it solve the issue?" Noxis shook his head. "Not entirely. You will require one more thing." "Is it something we have access to?" "Yes," Noxis'' eyes sparkled at that answer. Somehow, that made Hera feel as if they didn''t just have access, but they already had whatever it was in their possession. "Are we able to come up with a solution and make that solution today, before we have to leave?" "If you work fast enough, yes." "Can you explain to me why this specific spell circle wouldn''t work to emanate Mana when it fails?" "I can do that, but it will require all the time you have available." Hera paused. "Would that explanation help us save the Strength Spirits?" Noxis shook his head with an amused expression. "Unfortunately, that is not a question I can answer." "Okay, let me rephrase that. If we figure out a way to make something emanate Strength Mana constantly, would that be enough to allow the Strength Spirits to continue living here?" "Yes." "Would that be something temporary, or would this tool we create eventually change the environment enough so it becomes sustainable by itself?" "With enough effort and tools, the latter," Noxis smiled. "Perfect. Then yes, please explain to me how we can make a spell in general that emanates a specific type of Mana." Noxis waved the timer away with his tail. He took a bite of one of the cookies and walked over to Hera and the spell circle she had placed on the table. "First of all, well done. I expected no less from the one who saved the Strength Spirits. Your questions were sublime." "Why do I get the feeling you''re buttering me up for something bad?" Hera frowned. "I''m doing no such thing. It is simply that the answer to your question is a bit simpler than you might expect." "Ok..." Hera frowned. She watched as Noxis started changing the spell circle with his tail. "When you use something like this, a spell circle, what do you imagine the Mana does?" "It flows from wherever we put it to the rest of the circle. More complicated ones can have an input, so the Mana follows a specific path." The Empress replied without missing a beat. "Correct. It flows. You, better than most, understand that even if Mana cannot be considered having a proper state of matter, its behavior is similar to a liquid or, more to the point, a gas," Noxis added a couple of markers that would force the Mana to follow a specific path on the spell circle. "And we can consider the lines that were used to draw this spell, the pipes that are housing the Mana. Now, let me ask another question. How would you make a pipe burst?" "It''s a buildup of pressure. The gas gets stuck somewhere and doesn''t have a way to escape, so everything just pops," Hera replied. Noxis nodded and added a couple of lines to the spell circle. One of them was extremely thick, where all the Mana would gather before going into a thin line that should already have Mana passing through it. "Exactly. Your previous attempts broke the pipes, which caused the entire structure to collapse. But if you keep it running while simply forcing a few pipes to take in more Mana than they were able to, you get this." He tapped the spell circle, putting just a bit of magic into it. A tiny puff of red Mana came out of the paper before the ink vanished. "Was it really that simple? We didn''t have to break the spell, we had to make it keep going and just... waste Mana?" "Waste mana in the right way. But yes, I''m afraid that is the case. Hence my attempt to make you less upset," Noxis smiled. "You could have left the spell circle, you know. Now we have to make a new one," Daskka grumbled. "I''m afraid the time wouldn''t allow that. I am able to teach, not to give you the solution," Noxis took a brownie. "Please, give my compliments to the chef. The cookies were delicious. I will take my leave now, as I know you have much to do. And Hera, would you give me the honor of visiting you at a later date? Although I am unable to give you anything, I still would like to express my gratitude for everything you''ve done." Hera opened a big smile. "Of course. I''m glad to help. And I''m sorry we didn''t meet under better circumstances." "Fret not, our meeting came at just the right moment. And so will the next one." With that, Noxis vanished into the shadows. Hera barely registered when the guide was no longer there. Somehow, he was able to enter the darkness in such a natural way that it felt like he was always there. After confirming that Noxis had truly left, the Empress dropped all the spells and the safety cube. They finally had a way of creating the spell circle they needed. She could only hope that there was enough time for Vulcan to create everything they needed. 954 - a strong seed As soon as the safety cube was deactivated, Hera rushed out towards Vulcan. She had already sent him all the information about the spell circles that Noxis had told her, but even with her command, it was different than seeing the spell itself. It took very little time for her to replicate the spell. Overloading an area of the circle while keeping it running. Just like when you put too much pressure on a pipe, the machine would continue to work, but steam or water would constantly be coming out. It was such an obvious idea that everyone participating in the attempts to solve the issue felt stupid for not thinking of it first. Actually replicating the effect on an object was a bit harder. Vulcan had to use a Mana crystal that could supply enough Mana every second to maintain the effect while simultaneously ensuring the amount of Mana being emitted by the overflow wasn¡¯t higher than what the crystal could produce. The main problem was that there was no math that could help them in this situation. Fluid dynamics was already complicated enough by itself, but trying to convert that into Mana was something that would take a team of PhDs to even begin to unravel. Which meant the only way to make this work was to brute-force it. In other words, trial and error. If the amount of Mana being spent was too little, it wouldn¡¯t trigger the effect of emanating Mana, as the mana channels would be able to hold off the pressure. Or the effect would be intermittent, which could allow the Mana to disperse too much for the Strength Spirits to be able to live there. On the other hand, if the amount of Mana went too far beyond what the spell needed, the buildup would eventually be too much for the item and cause it to break down, losing all its effects. The cherry on top of this mess was the fact that almost none of the crystals they had available would generate the same amount of Mana. A few worked close to each other, but even a five-point difference was enough to throw any semblance of calculation out of whack. And of course, the bigger the crystal, the more expensive the spell had to be, which in turn meant that the more Strength Mana would emanate from it. Even if the idea worked, they wouldn¡¯t be able to replicate any effects if they succeeded in creating the item unless the Mana crystal had the exact same amount of Mana. Everything would be different because the ratios were not compatible. Using the same spell with more Mana led to diminishing returns. In other words, the value of Mana taken by bigger versions of the same spell increased exponentially in a way they couldn¡¯t predict. After about three hours of work, Vulcan was able to create a flowerpot with a spell to help anything inside it grow, courtesy of Risli and the days Hera spent working on her garden. Along with it, there was a Mana crystal on the lower end of mana regeneration, but it was still enough to constantly create a solid plume of Strength Mana. The idea was that using something like this and planting something in the pot would naturally create a plant that generated Strength Mana. "Okay, all we need to do is make a few more of those, right?" Crimson smiled. "That¡¯s easier said than done," Vulcan sighed. "And unfortunately, that¡¯s not all. Remember? There¡¯s something else we need to complete this. It should be something we already have access to," Hera frowned while looking at the pot. It was made out of clay they created here in the room. There was nothing too special about it except for the spell circle at the bottom and the Mana crystal on the side. "But what? What can we do to make this better?" Helena asked. "I don¡¯t know," Hera stared at the pot as if it was going to run away. "Let¡¯s try reverse-engineering this," Viper suggested. Vulcan smiled. "Consider the flaws and then work from there? It¡¯s a good call." "Okay then. What¡¯s wrong with this?" Crimson asked. "It doesn¡¯t generate much Mana. It is constant, but it¡¯s a slow trickle. If we were to place this somewhere out in the open, I don¡¯t know if it would be enough to fight against the wind by itself," Vulcan explained. "It¡¯s also a bit... thin?" Hera frowned again. "Yeah, that¡¯s the best way to describe it. The Mana is not very dense. Not like it is in the greenhouse." "Would making more of them solve the problem?" Helena asked. "Yes, and no. We could solve this issue with quantity. But again, we¡¯re shooting blind here. And if we waste the Mana crystals, then we won¡¯t have a way to continue supplying the facility or to keep the Daemon sleeping. Not to mention the chance we can just run out," Vulcan replied. "Then what if we try to increase the amount of Mana it can generate? I mean, there are items that increase your Mana recovery. Can¡¯t we make something that increases the recovery of an item?" Crimson suggested. Helena thought for a second. "That is not impossible, but it¡¯s very tricky. Also, the effect will be much weaker than whatever we try to make. Items don¡¯t take recovery effects as well as people." "It will also mess with the spell circle itself. Increasing the Mana it generates would result in it overflowing too much and breaking down," Vulcan sighed. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. For a few minutes, no one said anything. All of them were just staring at the pot, trying to come up with a solution. But nothing came to mind. They were just a group of people burning a hole in a clay pot with their eyes, hoping that it could give them answers. ''So, our best option would be some sort of buff that only affects the final result or just the area where the emission comes from,'' Eira said. ''We need something like a gust of wind to strengthen the flames. Something that makes the original power stronger. Like a speaker but for Strength Mana. Something that amplifies the original signal,'' Pyro grumbled. ''Amplify! That''s it! We need to amplify that!'' Twiggy gasped excitedly. "Did you figure something out?" Hera glanced up, trying to see her tiara, even if that was impossible, as Twiggy was on top of her head. ''Yeah. Amplify. What does the glass around the greenhouse do?'' "The glass? It increases the potency of..." Hera trailed off, her eyes going wide as the rest of the group came to the same realization. "Strength Mana!" they all said in unison. "We need some of that glass!" Helena gasped. "And to see if we can make it in a different shape," Vulcan said. ''The material is very porous, so we don¡¯t have to focus only on the inside or outside. Anything we make could be placed both inside or outside of the pot. Trust me, I understand the material,'' Clay confirmed. Forge nodded. "That¡¯s even better. Instead of covering everything, we can just make a small window over the crystal where the Mana is coming out from." Everyone rushed towards the workshop area where the glass was constantly being produced by a few machines. Almost everything was automated, but there were a few parts of the process that had to be done manually. One of them was engraving the spell circle that created the amplification effect. Luckily, they had a mold to use, so there was no risk of making a mistake while carving the actual circle. It took very little time to explain the situation and set up the machine to make smaller pieces of glass. The materials that were used for a single sheet that would go to the greenhouse could make a few dozen smaller ones that could be used for the pot. In addition to that, the presence of a Crafter who could replicate the mold and change its size made things progress even faster. Less than an hour after they asked for a piece of glass, it was already in their possession, with the spell circle carved and waiting to be attached to the pot. Vulcan took a deep breath and slowly attached the glass panels around the crystal. They were on both sides of the pot, connected by a few holes where he drilled in studs to keep everything in place. As soon as he finished, the Mana coming out of the pot became several times denser. It was to the point where people were able to see a red mist coming from it with their naked eyes. Hera, on the other hand, could see that in just a few seconds, the Mana covered Vulcan completely, even though the mist was still hovering around his hands. Forge stared at the pot for a few moments, a smile plastered on his face as tears started forming in his eyes. Noticing that, Hera walked over and patted him on the back. "You did it. We can help the Strength Spirits. Really help them now." "We did it," Vulcan replied, turning towards the Empress. "Thank you. I know what I asked wasn¡¯t fair." "Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s been a while since anyone asked me something that was fair. Perks of being an Aspirant Hero, I guess," Hera shrugged. "Are you finally accepting that?" Vulcan asked. "It¡¯s not my choice to accept it. People are already saying it. Might as well just lean into it," Hera took a step back and raised one hand. "Also, I give you a Royal Quest. Take the pot and go plant something in the greenhouse." Forge placed the pot on the table and took a knee before kissing the Empress''s hand to receive the quest. Once he stood, he glanced at the pot. "But what should I plant?" "I got you covered," Helena smiled and pulled a large crate from the side. There were a handful of plastic pots with some dirt in them and a small case with a couple of seeds resting on top. "These are some samples they had separated. Apparently, these plants have a high compatibility with Strength Mana. They were trying to see if they could make it turn into something that created Mana by itself. Half of our work is already done." Vulcan smiled and didn¡¯t say anything. He simply transferred the dirt to the pot with the spell circle and gently planted one of the seeds in its new home. After that, he walked alone toward the greenhouse. Some of the Court members wanted to follow, but Hera was against it. Forge had been through a lot. He was taken from this place and transformed into something else. By all accounts, what happened to him would be similar to torture. And now it was clear he wanted a moment alone with his former family. He walked slowly through the building, reaching the greenhouse. A couple of people responsible for watching over the place opened the door for him to enter. Inside, the former spirit felt the Strength Mana wash over him. Every step was filled with a sense of belonging, a sense of home. It didn¡¯t take long for a few of the other Spirits to approach him. It was something that never happened whenever another person walked inside. But right now, Vulcan wasn¡¯t a person. He was one of them. The floating creatures had a myriad of forms, each representing a unique version of strength. Some were powerful animals, others were tiny mythical creatures, but in his eyes, they were all one and the same. A couple of Spirits even approached his scarred side, touching it with pained expressions. Even if the Spirits were unable to feel a multitude of emotions, they could still feel one at a time. Vulcan found a place close enough to one of the sprinklers so that his plant in the pot would be properly cared for. He carefully dug a small hole in the ground, just enough to sustain the pot while keeping the crystal outside. He watched as the Spirits moved closer to the new Mana coming from his creation. This place made him feel peace and happiness for the safety of his kind. The Spirits were safe, and they would continue to be as long as the alliance was able to continue its work. But this place was no longer his home. He could see that now. Ever since he became a Titled Blade, his home was somewhere different. With someone different. "One day, I¡¯ll meet you all again. I¡¯ll have stories to tell. But for now, my Empress needs me," Vulcan told the Spirits. He walked back, leaving the greenhouse ready to face whatever came next. He might have been born a Spirit and then transformed into a daemon, but now he was Vulcan Forge, Titled Blade of the Ophidianite Empress. And it was time to prove to the world why she was an Aspirant Hero. 955 -Dechiper me or I will devour you Once Vulcan came back from the greenhouse, he was clearly feeling better. And it wasn¡¯t just something purely emotional. Because of his nature as a half-daemon, his face was permanently scarred. His left cheek was mostly gone, forcing him to constantly have his teeth exposed to the air. His right eye, instead of the regular brown that a kangaroo would have, was white with a red iris, and the sclera was a vibrant green that gave him a monstrous look. Even his left ear was mangled. Not by something physical, but by the sheer pain and suffering his Spirit form had endured. No matter how much healing he received, or how long he spent inside the Legacy, those wounds always looked fresh, like they had just happened. Or at least, that¡¯s how things used to be. Now, his ear was able to stand up by itself a bit better. The claw marks and holes were starting to smooth out. The vibrant green of his eye was becoming duller, and the red was turning more pastel instead of the color of fresh blood. The skin around his left cheek no longer had that inflamed red look, but was beginning to blend toward the natural coloration of his light brown skin under his fur. Forge knew that his scars would never leave, not completely. They were part of who he was, just as much as the hammer that dangled from his waist. But after coming here, helping the Strength Spirits, and understanding that his place was no longer among them, Vulcan was able to let go of some of the anger that still burned deep in his heart. That flame would never go away, and he understood that. Part of him always assumed that he had no place where he belonged. He was in between two beings that couldn¡¯t mingle, and his very existence was a danger to both sides. The transformation into a daemon was halfway done when he joined the Court, forcing him into this limbo state where he was neither a full daemon nor a full Spirit. But after seeing others of his kind, he understood that his thoughts were completely wrong. Ever since he joined the Court, he was no longer a Spirit. And he was also no daemon. He was a Titled Blade of Hera¡¯s Court. And because of that, he had a place where he belonged. A place that would accept him no matter what. While walking back toward the lab, Vulcan started reminiscing about all the conversations he¡¯d had with the Empress and the other court members. They couldn¡¯t just talk, but also feel each other¡¯s emotions. That wasn¡¯t something he ever paid attention to. Now he realized that every time someone spoke to him, they were happy. They trusted him, they were worried about him. There was never a moment when someone tried to push him away. Never a conversation where another member of the Court was putting up barriers between them. They were just there, completely open, accepting who he was for who he was. Once he finally arrived, Hera and the Court were still preparing materials for another version of the ceramic pot. Everyone understood that a single one wouldn¡¯t be enough to create a comfortable environment for the Strength Spirits, but at least now they knew how to get there. Crimson was by the door, holding a stack of papers with the spell circle they were using. She stopped and stared at Vulcan for a long moment. "Since when can we change how we look? ''Cuz if everybody can do that, I want to be taller," she said, turning to Hera, ignoring Forge, as she was still mad at him for calling her ''little one.'' "What do you mean by changing?" Hera turned to Forge. "Oh? Are you okay?" "Yeah. I¡¯m great." "Are you sure? Because I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but you look different," Hera gestured to her own face. Vulcan nodded. "I can feel I¡¯m different. I changed somehow, but I don¡¯t know exactly how." "Huh. Daskka?" The Empress turned to the Herald. "Don¡¯t look at me. I¡¯m not the one who changed. And I can¡¯t explain why he did. Maybe his daemon side got mellower, and that changed things?" Daskka suggested. Hera paused. "Yeah. I guess that makes sense. Maybe," she turned back to Vulcan. "Do you want to talk about what happened in the greenhouse?" Forge nodded. "I do, but we don¡¯t need to do this right now. I still want to try to make a few more pots before it¡¯s time for us to leave." "Okay. Do you need my help with that? I think I should be rested for tomorrow, and I also want to test Sphinx¡¯s Gatekeeper skill," Hera replied. "Why are you testing that now?" Helena asked. "Because we might need to use it to fend off the guild, and doing a test run in the middle of a war doesn¡¯t sound like a great idea." "You can go ahead. Don¡¯t worry, I can handle making the pots. If Viper and Crimson could continue to help me, that would be great," Forge replied. "We can help," Viper nodded, earning an eye roll from his sister, who, despite grumbling, still continued to work. Hera found a place in the corner of the room far enough from the rest of the group so the barrier wouldn¡¯t cause problems for them. She had no idea how big this would be. In addition, she made a point of bringing Daskka along just to see what would happen with the Herald once the barrier was activated. After getting a confirmation nod from the rest of the group, the Ophidianite triggered the skill [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You]. Suddenly, something came out of the cloak pin. A black wave of energy that pushed Daskka away from Hera, leaving the Empress inside a 3x3 box. But instead of being completely dark, she could see what looked like stars. They were everywhere, above, below, and to the sides. It was as if she was walking around in space with her own private piece of the cosmos. But she barely had a chance to understand what she was seeing when the stars shifted, creating words out of the constellations. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ''I am both trap and weapon, a curse woven into words. Spoken aloud, I twist and bind, halting even the mightiest of mages. What am I?'' "Well, shit," Hera grumbled. She was half-expecting the riddles to be the classic ones that everybody knew, not something she had never heard before. Just as she finished speaking, one more word appeared. ''Incorrect.'' The Empress paused, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. It was clear that this effect would consider anything she said as the answer, which was great for when she used it against her enemies. Walking to the side, she tapped the barrier itself. It was completely solid, and it didn¡¯t look like she could break it. Then again, she had little doubt that it could be broken. The only type of absolute barrier in the MAZE were the invisible walls around the rooms, and she didn¡¯t get this item in a room high-level enough to consider this a perfect effect. She couldn¡¯t hear or see anything outside, which was both scary and interesting. Using this in battle, she could simply trap someone and prepare a powerful spell to catch them off guard once they broke free. But there was another thing she could do. When talking to a guide, she could speak to her Court without triggering the safeguards against sharing information about the guides. And if something that closely intertwined with the inner workings of the MAZE could be bypassed, this barrier didn¡¯t stand a chance. ''Daskka, can you hear me?'' Hera asked in her mind. ''I can, Mum. Are you okay?'' ''I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s kind of beautiful inside here,'' Hera focused on the Spymasters. ''Viper, there¡¯s a riddle here for me to answer. Do you think you can look it up online or just give me an idea of what it could be?'' ''Of course!'' Viper quickly told Helena what was going on and opened a browser to try to help solve the riddle. ''Ready when you are.'' Hera repeated the words that were in front of her. "Curse woven into words¡­ Isn¡¯t that a spell?" Helena turned to Viper. "I guess, but then why would it stop even the strongest mage?" the Spymaster replied. "Maybe it¡¯s a counterspell," Crimson suggested. "What does the internet say?" Vulcan asked Helena. "Nothing that can help. A really weird porn site showed up, and I really don¡¯t want to know what ''cursedfreaks.com'' is all about," Helena sighed. "How do you know it¡¯s porn?" Crimson frowned. Helena didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she turned her tablet toward Crimson, letting the half-Naga read the description of the website herself. "Holy crap. What¡¯s wrong with people?" "I wonder how that ''Eternal Piston'' works," Vulcan mumbled as he read the description. Everyone turned to him with wide eyes. "No! I don¡¯t mean to ride it. I mean, like to use it as a forging hammer. Having something that¡¯s constantly beating down metal would help." "I mean, it¡¯s clear someone¡¯s getting battered," Viper shook his head. "Anyway, if we don¡¯t have anything from the internet, what else could it be? What is the bane of mages? Is there a spell or something that can stop every mage?" "The only thing I can think about is a dead mana zone," Helena replied. "It¡¯s worth a shot," Viper shrugged. ''Mum! Try a dead mana zone,'' Daskka said. The Empress nodded and spoke the answer, "A dead mana zone." Another word appeared beside the riddle. ''Incorrect.'' ''Nope. Only one try left,'' Hera told her court. ''Why just one?'' Hera frowned. ''Anything that I say here is considered an answer. I cursed when I realized I had never seen that riddle before,'' Hera explained. ''I remember when you didn''t curse. What happened to my sweet and lovable mum?'' Hera put her tail on her head in an overly exaggerated expression. ''She died and grew a tail,'' Hera replied, rolling her eyes. Even if her court couldn''t see her, the intention behind the motion was passed along. Despite the joke, an idea came to Hera''s mind as she read the riddle again. ''Can someone ask Helena what is the name of the most famous spell that stops someone from moving? Because if you stop a mage from moving they can''t cast spells. So maybe that''s it.'' "The most famous?" Helena thought for a moment after the court relayed the message, "Well, the most classic one is called Halt. It''s even used in magic classes to show how you can adapt that entire spell to a single word. You say it, and people get paralyzed for a moment." ''That sounds about right. If it doesn''t work, I''m going to sleep inside here since it takes 4 hours for the barrier to drop,'' Hera warned the court before saying out loud, ''The spell Halt.'' The third and final word appeared amongst the stars. ''Correct.'' The letters changed, rearranging themselves into a much bigger and more elaborate font. ''Opening the Gates of Mana.'' All the stars in the sky started to swirl around Hera. They moved as if they were being dragged inside a black hole. A black hole that was the empress herself. While they picked up speed, the Ophidianite realized that her mana regeneration was increasing rapidly. Not wanting to waste her opportunity, she sat down and tried to focus on her active recovery. She meditated for a little bit under a minute, since she ended up wasting the initial few seconds. When that was over, the star simply faded away, revealing the lab once more. "Did it work, Sweetie?" Helena asked. "Yeah. We did. If it hadn''t, I would still be stuck there." "Right, my bad. They said you weren''t answering, and I didn''t know what to think," Helena scratched her cheek. "Yeah. Sorry about that. It started flowing mana, and I really focused on trying to understand the feeling," Hera opened her status to double-check how much she recovered. The problem was that she didn''t spend that much mana, so it was hard to tell when her mana became full. However, her [Empress Core] was a surprise. It recovered about 100 thousand mana in those 60 seconds. In other words, it recovered the equivalent of an hour in just a few moments. "Mum? Was that really all that happened?" Daskka asked, her eyes wide. "Yeah, why?" "Before you started that Nimbus, Livy and Lurize were still recovering, but now they are ready to come out. I think that mana gate thing can help your court heal!" 956 - the court returns
The first thing Hera did after learning about her Titled Blades'' recovery was summon them. She was worried about Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy, and it had been too long since the Empress had been able to talk to them. Not to mention, she still had to thank them for trying to protect her. Hera greeted them with a hug, but after a quick conversation, it was clear they still needed more time to rest. Even if they had spent time in recovery, for them, the last few hours were spent fighting the demon cultists. Their bodies might have been rested, but the mental strain was still very much present. Usually, that wouldn¡¯t be the case. Once a Titled Blade was back, they were properly rested, but it seemed like using the [Gates of Mana] skill had changed that behavior. Hera honestly had no issues with this. It was a drawback, of course, but it was still worth it. According to Daskka, without the skill, it would take some time for the Titled Blades to fully recover. One way or another, Hera now felt much more comfortable with the idea of going to help against the human attack. Without her entire court, the Empress felt she would be fighting with a handicap, but now she was back at full strength. After making sure everything was okay, Hera decided to sleep for the night. Vulcan, Viper, and Crimson stayed up, trying to replicate the clay pot they had managed to create a few hours earlier. By morning, they were able to create two more flower pots. The first was more or less on the same level as the original, only able to sustain a small area around itself. But the second was considerably stronger. The vessel was large enough for an entire tree, not just a flower, and the amount of Strength Mana it was able to create matched its size. It was still far from enough to maintain the Strength Spirits¡¯ territory indefinitely, but it certainly helped with the issue. As she woke up, Hera swapped out the Titled Blades, letting Vulcan, Crimson, and Viper rest while Nimbus, Lurize, and Livy walked with her. She was just making sure the people who were staying behind had everything they needed and double-checking if there was anything in the lab that could help her face the Soldiers of Strength. She was talking with a few people in the kitchen, asking about that, when Bolgo spoke up, "Actually, we found something that might help. Give me a minute." The Ophidianite was offered some rations to take on the trip and started making herself something to eat before leaving, just as Helena walked in. "Hello, Sweetie. Ready for the trip?" "Ready is not quite the right word, but I think I have everything I need. Bolgo is going to get something they found that might help against the Soldiers of Strength. Once he gets back and I finish my breakfast, I should be heading out," Hera sighed. Helena just nodded. "I know. It would be better to stay here. But don¡¯t worry, Crimson did a good job on making her report about the whole process of making those pots. I¡¯m sure the people who stay here will be able to make more of them." "Yeah, I hope so," Hera paused. "People who stay here? So... you¡¯re leaving?" "What?" "What?" "Sweetie, I¡¯m coming with you. I¡¯m not going to let you march into war without my help," Helena frowned. "What? No, you¡¯re not. You can¡¯t come," Hera shook her head. Helena crossed her arms. "What do you mean, I can¡¯t come? I proved to you that I can handle myself in a fight during the last operation. Of course I can go." "No, Lena, I¡¯m not talking about that," Hera sighed and turned off the stove so her eggs wouldn¡¯t burn. "We¡¯re going to fight against humans who are pushing into alliance territory. Because there¡¯s such a large number of people participating in those battles, the alliance isn¡¯t letting any human allies join the ranks. It makes it much easier for the guild to send human spies among us. It¡¯s easier if they just assume every human there is an enemy. If you want to help, that¡¯s fine, but you have to stay behind. Either escort the supply caravans, help a room that¡¯s going through some trouble, or maybe even participate in a rampage if there¡¯s one happening. But in the actual battle, you can¡¯t be there. The alliance won¡¯t let you. Milla told me about that in a message. Didn¡¯t I tell you?" "No, you didn¡¯t," Helena paused before letting out a long sigh. "Fine. That kind of makes sense. Maybe I should go to the R&D department again." "I can go with you until we reach Underground Babel. I asked Milla this morning, and there¡¯s a faster way to get there now. We couldn¡¯t take it before because there was a rampage going on." Helena gave Hera a blank stare. "So we ended up getting stuck in the Dunes of Isolation for nothing?" "Not really. The rampage ended two days ago, which means we still would have gotten here later than we should¡¯ve." "Okay, I guess. But I¡¯m still frustrated about that. I wanted to be there for you, Hera," Helena grumbled. "Lena, being there for me isn¡¯t just about fighting by my side. Sure, that might be part of it, but it¡¯s not all. Besides, you¡¯ve already done so much for me. I wouldn¡¯t be here if it wasn¡¯t for you. And don¡¯t take this the wrong way, please, but I would prefer it if you stayed very far away from that fight. Honestly, if my team wasn¡¯t there, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be going either. I¡¯m going to have to kill people again, Helena. And I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be just Soldiers of Strength. All I can hope is that I don¡¯t end up finding someone I know in the middle of that madness. Not having to worry about you being around will actually help a lot." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Helena stared at Hera for a long moment before she finally gave up. "Fine. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything I can say to change your mind, anyway. And even if I did, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that they won¡¯t let me get closer." "I''m sorry about that. But if you want, we can still travel together for a little bit," Hera replied. "How long?" Helena asked. "Two days. Then we¡¯ll reach a room that can take us to Underground Babel." "Okay." "I don¡¯t mean to step in between you two, but if you stay, Helena, your expertise would be appreciated. We don¡¯t really have anyone who understands the minutiae of changing affinities," Villia, the elven explorer, suggested. Helena looked at the elf. "I never changed my affinity. I got a skill that lets me pretend that it¡¯s something else." "Still, it would help a lot in trying to figure out a way to stop the Soldiers of Strength. As far as I¡¯m aware, every avenue we¡¯ve explored didn¡¯t directly involve affinity. Maybe that¡¯s what we should be looking into," Villia explained. Helena thought for a second. "You make a valid point. Maybe there is something I can do to help." "So, you¡¯re staying?" Hera asked. "I think I am. At least until they need more supplies and a group goes to gather them," Helena turned to Villia, who nodded, confirming that was a possibility. Hera nodded and gave her friend a sad smile. She wasn¡¯t exactly happy about the situation, but there was nothing else she could do. "I¡¯m going to finish making my breakfast then. Do you want some?" "That depends. What are you making?" "Scrambled eggs." "Then sure," Helena nodded. "What do you mean, then sure?" Hera frowned. "Sweetie, I love you, but if you were making an omelette or a sunny-side up, I wasn¡¯t going to eat it. I don¡¯t know how you do it, but you manage to mess them up really badly." "Hey! I¡¯m a good cook." "You are. Just not when it comes to eggs. The last time you made an omelette, you managed to both burn it and leave it raw. And the last time you made a sunny-side up, the yolk was basically boiled." "If you don¡¯t want it, you don¡¯t have to eat it, okay?" Hera huffed. "Your scrambled eggs are fine. I just don¡¯t want the other ones," Helena chuckled. "Too late. No eggs for you. If you want them, you can make them yourself," Hera said, turning the stove back on. They continued arguing while the Empress prepared her food. There was enough for not just Helena, but another two or three people if they wanted to. Unfortunately, people were somewhat rationing the supplies they had, meaning her court wouldn¡¯t be able to partake, but they understood the reasoning behind it. About ten minutes later, when they were already halfway through their meal, Bolgo returned, carrying a small case. "Sorry it took me a while to gather everything," he said, opening the box to reveal eight frisbee-like devices. They had wavy lines going around the edge, with a metallic plate covering the center. "What am I looking at?" Hera asked between bites. "They call this the Spirit Pacifier. According to the data and some videos, they paralyze Spirits within a certain radius. It also makes Spirits who are affected by it more easily transform into daemons," Bolgo explained. Helena frowned. "That really doesn¡¯t sound good." The dwarf nodded. "You¡¯re not wrong. From what we understand, they¡¯re using a pulse that basically slows down your Mana. Since Spirits are made of Mana, they just lock up. As a reference, trying to use Mana under a similar effect feels like you¡¯re pushing large clumps of mud through your veins." "That¡¯s awful," Livy didn¡¯t voice it, but she was glad that Vulcan wasn¡¯t around to hear this. "It is. And I hope it¡¯ll be just as awful for the Soldiers of Strength," Bolgo nodded. "Here¡¯s to hoping," Hera said, closing the case and pulling it closer to her. "As soon as I finish this, I¡¯ll probably leave. With Nimbus back in the game, I¡¯ll likely make better time than I was expecting." "Just make sure to keep it to three crossings. That includes the private room. The last thing we need is for you to get stuck somewhere," Villia recommended. "Don¡¯t worry, I will," Hera said, turning to Helena, who looked like she was about to say something. "And I promise I¡¯ll be careful. You don¡¯t have to worry." "I know I don¡¯t have to, but I will anyway. If you need anything, call me. And there¡¯s no shame in running away." Hera smiled. "You don¡¯t have to tell me twice. Despite having the whole ¡®Aspirant Hero¡¯ title pushed on me, I have no intention of trying to be a hero and getting myself killed." "And if she does try, we¡¯ll take her out of there," Nimbus added. "You don¡¯t have to worry. We will protect her," Lurize announced, a hint of pride in his voice. But then he switched to talking in Hera¡¯s mind, ''Speaking of which, that last battle increased the rank of my Exoarmor.'' ''Oh? What rank is it now?'' Hera turned to the Royal Tutor. ''Rank four. My defense now scales with my total attributes, making them about a hundred times stronger. In addition, I get another boost that makes it four times stronger.'' ''So... your defenses are 400 times stronger?'' Lurize nodded with a satisfied expression. ''That¡¯s about right.'' ''And because of Army of One, everyone gets 20%, which means everyone has 80 times more defense?'' "Man, the numbers the MAZE throws at us sometimes are just wild," Daskka gasped. "You can say that again. Eighty times, really?" Hera turned to Lurize, who just nodded. "Eighty times what?" "Lurize got a rank-up in a skill that makes his defenses stronger. And because of another skill, the rest of us get some of the effects, making our defenses 80 times stronger." Bolgo nodded. "That¡¯s a lot, but it sounds about right. Defenses are weird. Their scaling is all over the place. People generally divide by ten to compare what the equivalent would be in attributes." "So we¡¯d have eight times more endurance?" Livy asked. "About that. It¡¯s still a lot, but it sounds more feasible," Bolgo sighed. "Okay, let¡¯s not get into that. Not today. My head¡¯s not in the right space to try to figure out what the system and the MAZE are doing," Hera said, finishing her meal and getting up. She quickly said her goodbyes before walking out. This small break was nice, but unfortunately, it was time to march back into the war. 957 - War torn room
It took Hera four days to reach the alliance army, and two key factors contributed to her making such a good time. First, thanks to Nimbus, she was able to take a route that most people wouldn¡¯t be able to access. This path, usually reserved for harpies, required a considerable amount of time spent in the air between two mountains. The Sentinel¡¯s incredible speed also played a critical role, allowing them to cover ground in a day that would normally take others two. The second reason was far less pleasant: the humans had broken through several of the alliance¡¯s defensive positions. They were now just three rooms away from the Beastmen capital. The fact was, they were not ready to face the Soldiers of Strength. Some members of the alliance had dismissed these soldiers as mere rumors meant to scare the troops. Those skeptics were the first to fall¡ªslain by the very enemies they thought were imaginary threats. The lack of proper calls for backup, not being able to recognize those enemies as they marched ahead, played a significant role in their defeat. When Hera arrived at the room where the alliance was making their stand, she quickly sought out one of the commanders. This was standard procedure; everyone who participated in the war had to register to keep track of who was involved. More importantly, it allowed the alliance to know who came back, who had been captured, killed, or lost during the fighting. After registering, the Empress gathered some information about the location of the Harmony Guardians and quickly dashed off. She had to leave the area near the command center before calling Nimbus again, but that only took a couple of minutes. Reaching her team took another hour. Being in a room on the fifth layer meant that the monsters here only reached level 15, which was manageable, but the room itself was enormous. It was large enough to fit ten big cities and over a hundred smaller ones. Though the conditions made it difficult to establish more settlements, as the area was harsh. The vast, empty plains were seared by intense heat, with pockets of cooler weather near clusters of vegetation or one of the rare oases. She was not in a desert but the room escape the definition by a narrow margin. As Hera flew across the sky, she saw other harpies darting back and forth, delivering critical equipment, information, or messages. Below her, thousands of people were organizing in lines, protecting the empty land in front of villages with hastily constructed walls and barriers. She watched as countless others digging trenches and preparing defensive structures, ranging from ballistas and trebuchets to pitfalls and spike traps. No one was sitting idle, waiting for the humans to make their move. Every edge the alliance could take, they would do so. In the distance, Hera could see flashes of explosions and spells flying from one side to another. Harpies risked their lives in bomb runs, dropping mana-charged explosives onto the human lines. Most managed to return, flying high enough to evade many projectiles, but a few were shot down, their bodies becoming yet more casualties in the growing toll of the war. The closer Hera got, the louder the screams and shouted orders became. Even from her height, even from the distance, the sound was overwhelming. The chaos and destruction below were devastating. There was too much going on. Too much death and destruction. ¡°Nimbus, to the right. Six battalions down near the green banner. Can you see it?¡± Daskka asked. The Sentinel squinted, his birdlike eyes able to see at great distances. It took him a moment, but soon he spotted what the Herald had pointed out. Among the masses, he recognized a familiar elf with pastel purple hair, a triton dressed in deep blue clothes, a harpy seemingly dancing in midair, a dwarf wearing a metallic exoskeleton, and a beastman surrounded by spectral green energy. ¡°That¡¯s them!¡± Nimbus gasped. But right after saying that, he noticed three people covered in a red aura attacking the group, while another two made sure no reinforcements could get close. ¡°They¡¯re fighting the Soldiers of Strength!¡± ¡°Dive!¡± Hera commanded. The Sentinel did just that, tilting his body down before speeding up even faster. Hera shared her plan with Nimbus through their bond. Which wasn¡¯t something completely new, though the approach from above was a bit different. It took about a minute to get closer, the wind rushing past their ears, making them deaf for a few moments as Hera called one of her blades out. Nimbus was still a good five meters above the ground when Hera dismissed him and Daskka just as she triggered [Shadowstep Strike] with Shadow in her hand. She vanished from the sky, reappearing behind one of the Soldiers of Strength who was about to strike Flint. Some of the momentum from her dive had dissipated, but she still had enough to spin the scythe directly on the man¡¯s midsection. The blow opened a large gash on his stomach, sending him flying back toward the human army. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I told you to stop any reinforcements!¡± one of the Soldiers of Strength yelled, attempting to tackle Flint. But Roan intercepted the attack, his spectral armor taking the form of a gorilla. ¡°That thing came from the sky! I can¡¯t fucking fly,¡± another Soldier of Strength shouted as he brandished his weapon at Hera. Vulcan, Lurize, and Nimbus appeared, blocking the attack. Viper, Crimson, and Livy materialized behind the soldier, and in a quick, synchronized motion, they decapitated him. ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Neria shouted. ¡°I missed you all too,¡± Hera chuckled as she lunged toward the third Soldier of Strength with Eira in hand. The rest of the Court followed closely. Thanks to the permafrost glaive shredding the man¡¯s defenses, the damage they dealt was significant. It seemed like his healing couldn¡¯t keep up with the cuts that now covered his body. The Soldier of Strength shouted in frustration and released a wave of energy from his hand. Before it could cause any damage, Forge stepped in front of it and breathed in the energy¡ªbeing a Strength Spirit, it was just a light snack. ¡°What the fuck?¡± the man gasped before sound waves slammed into him one after another. The sonic attacks came from Vash and Skyler, who had realized the humans struggled to defend against such assaults¡ªespecially those that rattled their brains. Taking advantage of the situation, Hera swapped Eira with Storm and Glacia, sending a [Crackling Strike] to briefly stun the man before following up with a [Glacial Strike] together with a [Grasshopper Slash] to finish him off. Now, only the two Soldiers of Strength blocking the reinforcements remained. The woman on the left barely had time to react before Flint hit her with a three-punch combo¡ªjab, cross, and hook¡ªall empowered by the piston in his armor. The last punch sent her flying into the air. A dwarf from another alliance team suddenly leaped up and, with a spin, slammed his hammer onto the woman¡¯s head, sending her crashing back down. She was too wounded and disoriented to defend herself as the surrounding alliance members quickly killed her. On the opposite side, Roan dodged and jumped erratically as the other soldier tried to catch him. His spectral armor now took the form of a chimp. The man yelled in frustration and swung his longsword in a wide arc, but Roan leaped over him, grabbing the soldier¡¯s head and pulling it backward. As the Soldier of Strength fell to his knees, he struggled to break free, shouting in frustration. Before he could react, a stream of water shot into his mouth. Neria, controlling the water, attempted to force it into the man¡¯s throat, creating a continuous stream. With his head pulled back, the man struggled to close his airway, but even though he was a Soldier of Strength, his position made it difficult. With a desperate move, the man clapped his hands together with such force that he broke his wrists. The sonic boom disrupted Neria¡¯s concentration, and the water stopped. If Roan was in full control of his body, he wouldn¡¯t have let go, but the beastial armor heightened his animal instincts, which forced him to let go. The Soldier of Strength gasped for breath, coughing up water, but before he could fully recover, Hera stepped forward, ready to strike. The human tried to get up, but he was struggling to breathe as he had just been waterboarded. Livy was already halfway toward the man when that happened. The constant stream of water on the ground activated [Inheritance of Cerulea], making her faster while in the water. She reached the Soldier of Strength and brought down the two-handed war axe with a [Grasshopper Slash] directly on top of the man¡¯s neck. In the nick of time, the human was able to move away and avoid being decapitated by the Leviathan. But the attack was still enough to cut off one of his legs. The man shouted just as a harpy appeared by his side. With a spinning kick that glowed like the moonlight, she left a massive wound on the human¡¯s neck. Following that up, a Triton, in a lunging strike, impaled the man through his chest using his trident. Livy nodded as thanks and brought her war axe down on the Soldier of Strength¡¯s head, decapitating him so he wouldn¡¯t be able to recover from the wounds. This small battle was over, but the war still waged on to the sides. Hera glanced toward the first Soldier of Strength she attacked¡ªthe one that went flying back toward the human army. She saw him being tended by a couple of healers and a woman by his side, helping him get up. The Empress couldn¡¯t help but feel that she was oddly familiar, but before she could do anything about that, Flint gave a rallying cry. ¡°To me!¡± the dwarf shouted as they pushed into the left flank of the human army. Hera waited just for a moment to see if the back line of the Harmony Guardians was doing well. ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± ¡°No. But no one is hurt,¡± Neria replied, her eyes filled with sadness. The Ophidianite didn¡¯t need to ask more. She knew Neria hated being this deep in a battle. The healer never wished to harm anyone, and here she was, helping people kill themselves. Hera gave her an understanding nod. She had already made her peace with killing the Soldiers of Strength, but killing regular people still hurt. Turning to Skyler, she asked, ¡°Do we need someone to cover the back?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say no, but our allies on the other side seem to be doing better,¡± Skyler replied. ¡°I also have a few strings making sure to tell us if someone breaks off from that side,¡± Vash added. ¡°Got it,¡± Hera turned to her court. ¡°Nimbus, stay back. Make sure everyone is okay. Robin, you are the conga line. Everyone else, let¡¯s push these bastards back!¡± ¡°Yes, Empress!¡± the court replied in unison. There was a lot that Hera wanted to say to her team. And a lot she had to do to make sure they were safe. But now, in the midst of this gigantic battle, she had to focus on doing one of the things she hated the most¡ªkilling humans. Her only hope was that this wouldn¡¯t last long. 958 - Another team
Hera slashed at the human to her right. She spun around, whipping her tail to pull another one''s leg, making him fall to the ground. Storm pierced the man''s throat in a swift motion, but the Empress was already engaged with another enemy. She dodged a couple of slashes before using the man''s chest as a jumping pad so she could tumble backwards and gain some distance. While in the air, the Ophidianite created a simple common venomous dagger and threw to the side, aiming at a woman who was about to kill a dwarf. The dagger had both [Grasshopper Throw] and [Weapon Break] on it. But still, it was simply a common weapon. There was no massive explosion or widespread destruction with the attack. Instead, the blow was enough to shove the woman to the side, making her fall while holding her arm. Was she dead? Hera wasn''t sure. But it wasn''t like Hera had a moment to properly check. The man she had just pushed away was rushing back towards her, spear in his hands, trying to impale her. Sun came flying from the left, parrying the strike and giving an opening for Glacia to finish the job. A couple of arrows flew through the air, aiming at the Ophidianite''s head, but they were intercepted by a flurry coming from Robin, almost every projectile being able to meet its match. The ones that passed by were too far away to be a danger to the Empress. Daskka was to the left, her silver mist form crushing a few humans, while Livy and Vulcan destroyed another group in a few movements. To the right, Lurize was facing yet another clump of humans. He focused on defending and attracting attention, so Viper and Crimson were free to do their thing. They came in and out of sight. Every time a flash of white or red appeared, another human fell to the ground. The rest of her court continued to attack, Twiggy making sure that no member of the alliance got killed within their range. But of course, her main focus was the Empress. Every time it looked like she was about to get overwhelmed, the blades would appear to force some of the attackers to break off. Something reached Hera''s ear. A voice, but it wasn''t angry, scared, or worried, which meant it wasn''t important. The Empress spun around, using her tail to swipe the leg of another two humans as Shadow materialized in her hand. With a [Shadowstep Strike], Hera teleported, appearing behind another group of humans, the scythe carving their backs in a single swing. Shadow was quickly replaced by Eira, who triggered [Permafrost Vortex], taking advantage of the fact that they were a bit deeper into enemy lines. ''Empress!'' Twiggy called. ''What?'' Hera ducked under two attacks and felt fire spells slamming against the side of her torso. Thankfully, she had a Frozen Rock armor spell covering her body. In addition to Lurize''s new [Exoarmor] rank, she didn''t take a considerable amount of damage. ''Vash is telling you to retreat,'' Twiggy replied as another fireball hurled through the air, landing behind Hera in a large explosion. ''Why?'' the Ophidianite barked, not so much because of the order but because the blast caused her to tumble forward. Quickly getting up, she triggered [Toxic Mist], letting a thin layer of her poison cover the area. ''He says it''s time. We''re working on shifts,'' Twiggy explained what Robin heard from the harpy. Hera groaned as she put both hands together and let out a massive fire spray. For a moment, the Empress became a flamethrower. Large clumps of burning venom spilled out towards the human army. The spell continued to burn even as she pulled back. The moment she broke free from the battlefront, she noticed the change. Almost everybody who was around her was wearing cleaner clothes without the stains of blood or any marks of recent combat. While the few who she recognized were also retreating. She called her Court, who quickly followed along, Nimbus turning into his griffon form so they could run away from the battle even faster. In just a few moments, she reached the rest of her team, everybody looking ragged, blood, grime, and sweat covering their bodies. "What happened?" Hera gasped, already sending Daskka to heal them. "Our shift is over. We needed to swap with the other teams," Vash explained. Hera blinked. "What are you talking about? Why are we pulling back? If there are more people, shouldn''t we just grab everybody and push?" Skyler grabbed the Ophidianite''s arm and started walking towards the back of the army. "We were trying that, and humans were able to last longer. Those Soldiers of Strength don''t get tired. So the top brass decided to go for a different approach. Now we have shifts. If a battle is going on for too long, we swap with someone in the reserve after a few hours. That way, we can rest and continue to fight off the humans." "If you''re doing that, why don''t the humans just overwhelm us?" Hera frowned but still let herself be dragged along. "Because we have bigger numbers. But they don''t know that, or at least they don''t realize it," Roan replied. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "That doesn''t make any sense. If they know we have more numbers, wouldn''t they just push harder?" Hera asked. "That doesn''t seem to be the case. I heard some people talking about how one of the Soldiers of Strength burned out from using too much power at once, so they have to pace themselves in order to keep on fighting. Ironically enough, that gives us the opening to make this plan work. And because we have various teams that are always somewhat rested, it''s harder for them to push as hard as they were pushing," Neria was already creating a specific kind of water from her staff. She waved her hand around, and a small stream reached out and wrapped itself around everyone''s necks. It wasn''t stopping anyone from breathing or anything of the sort, but the effect of the liquid was to relax the muscles and speed up their rest. "This is also a new plan. We only started doing this yesterday," Flint explained. "So the humans didn¡¯t have time to adapt. Okay, I think I understand. But it shouldn¡¯t take long for them to figure out a plan to fight against the strategy," Hera said. "That¡¯s true. But we need to hope that it takes them a while," Skyler nodded. "C¡¯mon. It¡¯s the middle of a war. They¡¯re not going to figure this out in just a day," Vash shrugged with a smile. A large circular blade came flying towards the group. Nimbus and Flint noticed the incoming attack and jumped to intercept, but the weapon changed course at the last moment. It jumped over them, going straight for Skyler. Hera and Roan quickly stepped in, not just ready to block, but expecting the circular blade to move again. Yet it connected with their weapons, letting out an enormous sound of metal hitting metal that made their ears ring. The attacking weapon jumped back and rolled on the ground until it reached its owner. It was a woman with black thigh-high boots that didn¡¯t have any heels, pants with colorful stripes, a corset around her stomach with a white and yellow shirt underneath it. Covering her arms was a burgundy vest with puffy sleeves that also had a colorful patchwork of tiny squares, each of them with a different imprint. Her blonde hair was tied into buns shaped into points. Her face was painted with white. In contrast, underneath and above each of her eyes was the symbol of a suit of cards¡ªhearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades in shades of green and purple. On her neck there was a tattoo glowing red, a mark that only the Soldiers of Strength had. Beside her were two other humans, but they had a much more mundane look¡ªmetal armor and two-handed weapons. "Fucking hell, Vash, we don¡¯t raise flags!" Hera groaned. "Don¡¯t blame me! I¡¯m not the one who invited the reject from the circus!" Vash protested. A small dagger flew towards the harpy, but Nimbus blocked it with a mana shield, even if the impact ended up dealing more damage than he was expecting. "The only rejects here are you. Monsters who want to be people," the woman spat her words as the ring blade returned to her hands and grew, becoming large enough for her to step inside the ring itself. Flint rubbed his eyes, "She¡¯s going to start spinning around in that shit, isn¡¯t she?" Almost as in reply, the woman tilted her body to the side and moved with the circular blade, which now was a massive bladed hula-hoop. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was trying to kill them, it would be a very beautiful circus performance. Before she got to them, Hera tried to get some information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Victoria - Human - Level 50 - Illusion Affinity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "She uses illusions! Watch out!" the Empress called. The other two humans rushed along with their leader, but before the Harmony Guardians could react, Victoria jumped with her ring blade and landed directly in front of Hera, almost hitting her in the process. "It¡¯s not nice to spoil things," the human woman said in a sing-songy voice. She then whipped out the ring blade to the side, catching it with the tip of her fingers before spinning, trying to hit the entire group. The Harmony Guardians jumped away, opening a wide circle to avoid the bladed hoop, but the woman was gone. Hera suddenly felt mana pushing closer to her and attacked the air in reflex, Eira appearing in her hand. But instead of going white, the glaive struck something¡ªthe ring blade with Victoria inside it. "What the fuck?" Hera mumbled. ''Illusions! That was an illusion!'' Twiggy called. Hera pushed the woman away, throwing a few bolts and needles at her but to no avail, as the human continued to spin around the ring blade. The Empress''s attacks all missed their mark. ''I couldn¡¯t even tell. Her illusions are that good?'' ''I guess so,'' Twiggy replied, but quickly changed subjects. The Tiara noticed how the Harmony Guardians ended up splitting. Flint and Vash were fighting one of the other humans on one side. On the other side were Roan and Skyler, with Neria in the middle, taking care of everyone. To make matters worse, the skin of the two humans was turning red. They were also Soldiers of Strength. She quickly sent all that information to Hera through their connection without the need to speak words. Victoria spun in a wide arc, doing movements you would expect from an acrobat in a Cyr Wheel. After a couple of seconds, she came back towards Hera at blinding speed. Just before she reached the Empress, her form split into three. The two new Victorias went for a pincer maneuver. The Ophidianite tried using her snake eyes, but even through the infrared side, all three versions looked real. So instead, she sent her court out to help. Livy and Vulcan blocked one on each side, while the blades went for the one in front of her. But all three of them vanished the moment the attacks clashed, the weight behind the blows hitting all of them equally. Crimson and Viper moved to the side, getting ready for a sneak attack as soon as they found an opening. Nimbus and Lurize, however, were given a different task. Each of them went to help against the fight with another of the Soldiers of Strength. Hera didn¡¯t want to leave the rest of the Harmony Guardians without her help, but she trusted enough in her abilities to face this crazy circus lady on her own. Making sure to send Robin to be the conga line that increased the range of her titled blades, the Empress stepped farther away from the group, enough so that her next move wouldn¡¯t harm her allies. A thin layer of mist with small purple and green particles emerged from her as she activated Shroud of Tartarus, which not only increased her stats, but also would try to poison anyone who was in the area. This should be even more effective against a woman whose head kept getting closer to the ground. And hopefully, it would help her realize which of her versions were illusions and where she could strike to kill her. 959 - Victorious Despite the layer of poison mist that was covering the ground, Victoria, the human, continued to spin in her Cyr Wheel. She was seemingly unbothered by the effects of the Shroud of Tartarus. But that didn¡¯t matter. Poisoning her enemies was only one part of the spell. The other part, the most important part, was the buff that would boost all of Hera¡¯s attributes by 30%. The extra 20% increase in damage she would get was just the cherry on top. Before she had a chance to think about that, the woman vanished. A part of the mist was pulled up and started swirling in a vertical circle. The Empress considered attacking that moving ring of fog, but it was too obvious. The human clearly used illusion-based attacks, and she seemed proficient with it. Not wanting to be caught in a trap, Hera focused her senses on the surrounding area. There was still nothing coming from Victoria¡ªno smell, no heat, no mana. More specifically, nothing that made her different from the background noise. Just like when Viper and Crimson were using [Hidden Frontal Screen], the human was able to blend perfectly with the environment. Or almost perfectly. Out of the corner of her eye, the Ophidianite noticed something strange. A small trail in the shroud''s mist. Not a visual trail, but instead a tiny path where the mana seemed to be pushed away. She wouldn¡¯t have been able to catch that if the floor wasn¡¯t flooded with her own mana due to the spell. ''Everyone, to the left. Pretend you don¡¯t see it,'' Hera told her Court, sending the feeling of Victoria¡¯s location to them. All members, with the exception of Nimbus and Lurize, were standing around her, watching over her back. ''Got it,'' Twiggy replied, already tracking the woman. The tiara was ready to command the rest of the court when it was time for them to act. Victoria continued spinning, moving around Hera and coming out on the other side before she charged at the Empress. Everyone burst into motion. Livy and Vulcan blocked the incoming attack while Viper, Crimson, and most of the blades slashed and thrust blindly in the area they expected the human woman to be. Yet, almost all the attacks found no purchase. Only two of the blades were able to hit their mark¡ªPyro and Storm. Even then, their attacks did almost nothing. They bounced off the woman¡¯s clothes and skin as if they were hitting a wall. The tail spike flew back and attached itself to Hera once more, while Storm went back in for another blow, having a better idea of where the woman was. Hera wasn¡¯t just waiting while that happened. She moved to the side, tumbling across the mist and firing a couple of poison needles towards the human woman. Her attacks missed, but they were also going towards the Soldier of Strength that was fighting Flint, Vash, and Lurize. The human laughed, her voice coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once, "That is it? You are the big, bad, scary snake that was killing the Soldiers of Strength? Pathetic." "Says the one who keeps hiding instead of coming for a fair fight!" Livy snarled. "That''s rich coming from you. You always outnumber your enemies. That¡¯s hardly a fair fight. But it makes sense. It¡¯s not like any of you could handle yourselves on your own. After all, even working together, you can¡¯t pass my defenses." Just as she finished speaking, four circular blades appeared from nowhere, two of them going for Hera while the other two aimed at Livy and Vulcan. The Empress blocked the first strike while Shadow and Clay defended the second. Vulcan jumped above the one coming at him, but Livy wasn¡¯t able to move fast enough, the circular blade cutting her arm. ''Daskka!'' Hera called right away, the Herald already turning into her purple mist form to heal the Leviathan. Three more circular blades came flying from random directions, but this time, everybody was ready for them. They all moved to the side, letting the projectiles fall to the ground harmlessly. But Victoria was still nowhere to be seen. Hera decided to try something else. Covering the area in a spores field, she hoped it would be enough to show where the woman was. Even then, the illusion was too strong. There was no way for the Ophidianite to see the woman moving around. More smaller circular blades came flying out, some even enchanted with spells that exploded in contact. Everyone did their best to defend against the attacks, but the added magic made it much more complicated. ''Fuck it. Livy, boost me up!'' Hera called and rushed towards the Leviathan, who quickly put both hands one over the other and launched the Empress into the air as soon as her foot reached the Leviathan¡¯s hands. The Ophidianite flew into the air, dismissing all of her blades except Robin, Lurize, and Nimbus. Using her tail to bring herself around, she got into position to strike without any weapons in her hand. Twiggy, who was told about the plan through their connection, waited until they were at the right distance from the ground. ''Now!'' the Tiara called, triggering [Silvered Strength] and [Bathed in Silver] to boost their attributes even more. Hera quickly summoned Sun and Vulcan, letting Forge awaken the spear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sun - Spear - Radiance Attribute Scaling: Empress Attributes: 852 Strength X 20.3, Endurance X 18.3, Charisma X 13.3, Agility X 4.1, Intelligence X 4.1, Luck X 4.3 Active Skills: Burning Aura - Seal of Eternal Radiance: Sun creates a burning aura around himself. Enemies within the aura take continuous fire damage, and Sun¡¯s attacks with deal bonus radiant damage. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.When taking damage while Burning Aura is active, the duration of the aura is extended slightly. Additionally, defeating an enemy while Sun¡¯s Fury is active grants a temporary buff to your Charisma while the aura is active. Cooldown: 3 minutes Extra radiant damage: +30% Charisma buff + 10% Duration: 30 seconds Passive Skills: Unyielding Spirit: Taking damage while wielding Sun¡¯s Fury increases your attack power and grants a temporary shield that absorbs incoming damage for a minute Awakened: The Scaling and Attributes are doubled. All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half. Super Flare: Thrust the spear forward, unleashing a burst of radiant energy that damages and burns enemies in a cone-shaped area. Cooldown: 30 minute Mana cost: 4 million mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Empress barely registered the changes in the spear awakened form. The only thing she noticed was the empowered version of the skill she was about to use. Triggering [Super Flare] a massive radiant spotlight was created. It covered the entire area affected by the Shroud of Tartarus, where Victoria was still standing. The ground around the area started to melt with the intense heat generated by the attack. Even without being hit by the skill, the surrounding had all their color washed away for a moment. Replaced by a blinding white light. Anyone looking from the distance would see a pillar of light as if a divine being had descended. Victoria was ready for something, but she wasn''t ready for this kind of attack. The radiance energy blasted from above. The sheer force behind the attack sending her to the ground. Even then, after the initial hit, she was able to create a barrier to protect herself. Once the skill finished, the Shroud of Tartarus was still on the floor, as Heras spell wasn''t affected by her own mana. But there was something new. A circus tent, of all things, near the western edge of the area. Surrounded by the molten rock created by the [Super Flare]. Before even landing, the Empress called the entire court. All of them going to attack the tiny tent that was just barely bigger than the Cyr Wheel the human was using as they appeared. But before they could reach it, Victoria blasted out of it, her skin glowing an ominous shade of red. Her white face paint was still there, fighting against the color behind it. The woman was also in clear view instead of being invisible, and the circular blade spun around her waist. ''Vulcan!'' the Empress called, already understanding that this was her Soldiers of Strength form. Forge was halfway towards the woman when the Empress called. He slammed her with his hammer, sending a wave of strength mana into her body. But that barely had any effect. To interrupt this, he would need to trigger his [Daemonic Form]. Unfortunately, the daemonic influence was still too low for that. It wouldn''t take long for him to be able to use his form, but they had to hold on for a while. Despite the powerful attack, Victoria didn''t withstand that much damage, and Hera could clearly see that. A thought crossed the Empress'' mind. The woman mentioned her defenses were strong, and she might have said it literally. Throwing Sun at an angle, the Ophidianite tried to trap the human in her own weapon. Since she was wearing it like a hula hoop, there was a chance she could be yanked if something were to block her path. And that was exactly her intention. Make the blade work as a parking lot barrier. The spear was able to hit the large target and stick to the ground, making the Cyr Wheel slam against him. However, Victoria barely lost momentum. She did a cartwheel to the side, freeing her weapon that moved along with her, and continued running towards Hera. Livy went in for a [Draconic Eruption] that covered the ground in water. This was finally enough to make the human lose her footing, allowing the Leviathan to come down with an overhead swing. Even then, the strike missed, hitting the ground just behind her. But the sea serpent wasn''t done. She triggered [Seal of Draconic Vortex] which pulled Victoria back as the water was dragged to the point of impact before bursting upwards. That gave an even better opening for the rest of the court. All members started attacking relentlessly at the woman, who now had lost all her momentum. Hera now had Eira in her hand, [Permafrost Vortex] already active in hopes of shaving away Victoria''s defenses. The moment they clashed, a cut appeared on the human''s skin, but it was quickly regenerated by whatever skill the Soldiers of Strength gained. However, Victoria wasn''t expecting to be hurt by a simple slash, much less she was expecting that the other attacks from the courts were starting to wound her. Especially Clay and Vulcan. The chain whip wrapped itself around her leg and pulled the blades, creating a large spiral gash on the limb. Forge, on the other hand was able to damage her bones instead of her flesh. One of the skills she gained after becoming a Soldiers of Strength made her skin almost turn to metal. The problem was that metal resonated with each of his strikes. The human roared and started spinning rapidly, the Cyr Wheel hitting all the blades and Hera and smaller versions appearing from all directions. She was moving too quickly for them to defend completely. The court was barely able to avoid getting struck by more deadly blows. Seeing the Empress bleed was enough to push Vulcan''s daemonic influence to the max, allowing him to trigger his [Daemonic Form]. Just like Victoria, his skin started to glow red, but it wasn''t the same light. While the woman looked like a light bulb made out of blood, Vulcan was closer to a piece of bark still glowing red with the heat inside it. His muscles bulging, and the scars on his face becoming more pronounced. Forge slammed his fist on Victoria, causing her skin to return to her normal pale shade. But that only lasted a moment as the red took over again. With each impact the mana that made her a Soldiers of Strength faltered only to rush back. Hera and the rest of the Court tried to help, slashing and thrusting at every opportunity, but it was very hard to do so when Vulcan was in this state. He became too wild, too unpredictable. And yet to attack the human would also put him at risk. At least, for the court. Victoria kicked the kangaroo away, jumping back to her feet and holding the Cyr Blade so tightly that her hands were bleeding. But before she could do anything else, she let go of her weapon and covered both her ears with her hands, screaming in pain. Vulcan didn''t let up. He rushed back, tackling her to the ground and started jumping on her, slamming both feet in her torso with every landing. The woman continued to scream, flailing around wildly but unable to move away from the blows. After a couple seconds, while Forge was in the air, the yelling stopped and she fell limp as Victoria, the Soldiers of Strength, died. Hera turned back to the harmony Guardians ready to help them fight their enemies, but there was no need. They had finished their fights. Flint and Roan were walking away from the body of a human while Vash was just staring at a woman with the circus makeup another corpse behind him. "Holy shit," the harpy gasped as Vulcan dropped to his knees and vanished. "Don''t worry, he''ll be okay. Are you okay?" Hera asked. "What? Yeah. I''m fucking great. That bitch had a legacy!" Vash couldn''t help but open a large smile. "It''s mine now, and it''s perfect." 960 - A new legacy
"What do you mean she had a Legacy? Are you talking about this bitch, or one of those?" Hera pointed to Victoria''s corpse, then to the other two Soldiers of Strength that were closer to the rest of the Harmony Guardians. "That one. The one with the clown makeup. It''s on brand now that I know about this," Vash pointed at Victoria. "What''s going on?" Neria asked as the rest of the team approached. "Vash got a Legacy," Hera replied. "What?" Skyler and Roan gasped. "Okay, talk while moving, people. We''re still in the middle of a combat zone," Flint gestured for everyone to continue walking before turning to Vash. "Did you kill that guy before I finished him off?" "No. It wasn''t that one. It was the one Hera was fighting," Vash replied, but his eyes were focused somewhere else. No one except Hera understood what was going on. He was likely meeting his Legacy herald for the first time. "So you stole the Legacy that was supposed to be Hera''s?" Neria asked. "What? No! I didn''t steal anything. Besides, she already has a Legacy!" The harpy turned to the Empress. "Did I steal it?" "I mean, you sort of did. But that''s okay. If I got the Legacy, then it would be gone. Some of the skills might get integrated into mine, but that''s about it. Having someone with an entire new Legacy is more helpful," Hera shrugged. It wasn''t the first time she almost got a Legacy only for it to end up being someone else''s. But it had happened with Blue and Shane. Not to mention she already had her own Legacy and she wouldn''t change that for the world. "But Vulcan might be pissed. I think he wanted to kill that one," Viper said. "Yeah. It''s kind of unfair. All our work was stolen like. What''s the Legacy called? What if it was something that could really have helped us? Like a master of all weapons or something," Crimson suggested as she quickly picked up all the weapons and gear Victoria was wearing. During the war, everybody was allowed to take the equipment of those they killed. But it was recommended to bring the body to a safe location before taking the gear. If that didn''t happen, the gear would later be gathered by a specific crew once the opportunity arose. Only then they would pass it along to the people who were responsible for the kill, if they were able to register the information that is. If not, it would go to a place where people of the army could get the items if they wanted to use them. That''s why most people focused only on getting the weapons or accessories from the bodies. In this case, the Cyr Wheel and the smaller circular blades that were on Victoria''s waist were free for the taking. Someone using a Legacy had to have a good weapon, and Crimson didn''t want to waste that. Especially since they already lost the Legacy. "I honestly don''t think anyone else would want this one. It''s called [Arcane Cirque], as in an Arcane Circus," Vash explained. The Harmony Guardians exchanged a look before they all shrugged. "Yeah. It''s perfect for you," Flint scoffed. "I know, right? My own personal stage is already a circus tent. I''m sure there''s something related to in the Legacy," Vash''s attention was pulled to a random spot in the air as he heard something intently. "Really? Variations, you say?" There was another pause. "Oh, come on. Why can''t I get that one now?" "Oh, the struggles of a new Legacy. I kind of miss that, having to ask about skills and not knowing what I can expect. It''s a shame that I don''t have any more skills yet for my Legacy," Hera paused and turned to Daskka. "I don''t have any more skills to get, do I?" Daskka shook her head. "No, you don''t." She stopped and then frowned. "Actually, scratch that. There is another skill you can get, but it''s one you didn''t want." "I didn''t want it?" Hera tilted her head. "Yeah. It was the skill that let you combine the blades into a mega weapon of sorts. But I explained it looked really weak. The skill was more or less shoe-horned in the Legacy, which resulted in doing something fun but a bit useless," the snake explained. "Oh yeah. I remember that. Why is it useless?" "Because you can only make either a sword or a spear with this. And all the blades involved in the fusion lose most of their skills. The only thing they do combine is their attribute and one skill from one of the blades. But that''s not even empowered or anything, it''s just the regular skill but stronger because of the scaling. And it can only happen with the blades. The title blades cannot be a part of this," Daskka continued. "But like, is there any benefit in not getting the skill? What if we find something else that we can merge with it to make it even stronger?" Hera glanced to the side at the snake wrapped around her shoulders. "That''s possible, but I don''t know where to start." "Let''s check the skill when we reach the tent. But for now, does anyone have any ideas what we might be able to do to make this stronger?" Hera glanced to the sides of the circle of weapons around her. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. To her right, Vash was going through a similar conversation with his own herald. The rest of the Harmony Guardians only hearing parts of their conversation as most of the participants could only be heard by those who the Legacies belonged to. "Fucking hell. There''s two of them now," Skyler rubbed her temples and turned to Flint, Roan, and Neria. "Please tell me the three of you are not talking with voices in your heads, too." "It is not so much talking as it is understanding. The bestial armor has its own personality, depending on the animal I''m trying to channel," Roan admitted. "I only hear the voices of the materials I''m working with. They tell me what they want me to do and what they want to become," Flint said with a satisfied expression. Neria stared at Skyler for a moment before smiling. "The waves have much wisdom to share if you''re willing to listen." "This is a madhouse. A madhouse. I''m with people who should be committed," Skyler groaned. That conversation happened while the group was moving towards the command tent at the back of the army. Aside from getting a chance to rest, they also had to report about all the Soldiers of Strength they fought, and especially Victoria. She seemed to know about Hera and there was a chance that she was even chasing after the Empress. It took close to an hour for them to finally be ready to rest. Not only did the group have to cross a distance of about 5 km, but it also took time to find someone with a high enough position to report to. Which only served to make Hera upset with the situation. It seemed the Alliance had information about hit squads chasing after the Ophidianite Empress. She was, after all, the Aspirant Hero. Getting rid of her would be very good for morale and a blow to the Alliance at the same time. However, the people who she met when she arrived in this room weren''t aware of that information, which is why no one told her there was a hit on her head. If she knew, she would have been more careful. But now the cat was out of the bag. People knew she was around and it was likely that more and more people would be coming after her. Eventually, the Harmony Guardians arrived at their tent so they could rest for a few hours. They were lucky the fight would be over before they had to get back into the field. Even if the humans would constantly be attacking, they also needed to sleep and rest. It was expected that when night came, everyone would return to their camps and prepare for the battles the next day. After dropping their weapons in their tent, the same one the team had gathered their money to buy, Skyler, Neria, and Roan went to get something for them to eat and drink. Flint, on the other hand, was going after the cleaning crew. Both of them, the one responsible for gathering the corpses and their equipment, and the ones that could clean their gear. Everyone was covered in a deep layer of blood, sweat, and grime, and it would take some specialized spells for the armor to be properly cleaned. That left Hera and Vash to talk with their respective Legacies and figure more things out about them. No one said anything, but it was an interesting contrast. On one side, someone who just got the Legacy and would start to learn about everything they could do. On the other, someone who was about to take the very last skill the Legacy had to offer. There was a part of the Empress who was excited about the idea of teaching someone the ropes. She wasn''t there to help Bonnie since there was so much else going on and Alex created the Legacy by herself, meaning that the whole process of getting the old Legacy skills back was not available to the assassin. Either way, the Ophidianite had one thing to check, and Vash needed time to hear the explanation from the herald. Even if Hera was able to give him some tips, nothing would be what the herald could tell him. "Daskka, can I just get the skill I''m missing? That way, we don''t have to keep playing this guessing game." "Sure, Mum!" Daskka nodded and pulled the skill from the Legacy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Convergence Of Blades - Legacy With a command, fuse the power of multiple court weapons into a single blade, uniting their unique skills and scaling into a singular entity. Only one special skill from all weapons will be accessible, balancing their combined strengths without overpowering the blade. The fused blade gains an aura dealing extra damage based on the elements of all combined weapons. The converged weapon can only be a sword of a spear. Maximum number of blades in the convergence: 4 Duration: 5 minutes Cooldown: 2 hours. All blades who were affected by skill become unavailable during the cooldown period. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Okay. I understand why you''re saying this is kind of bad. But the skill does have its good points," Hera nodded. "I guess, but it''s weird. Not to mention the convergence thing is not supposed to be a new weapon. All your blades are just going to stack on top of each other," Daskka explained. "Well, I guess we have one way to figure out. Who wants to test the skill?" Hera turned to her court. Sun, Glacia, Twiggy, and Robin stepped forward. "Twiggy and Robin? I really don''t know how the two of you are going to fit in this." ''We don''t know either. That''s why we want to try it out,'' Robin replied. ''Besides, it sounds fun! We''re going to become like a super giant robot combination!'' Twiggy added. "Okay then. Let me know what you guys think later," Hera focused on the [Convergence Of Blades]. When she called the skill, there was something telling her she should say the names of those involved. "Glacia, Robin, Twiggy, Sun." The Empress did not think about the kind of weapon they would become, but as soon as she finished calling the skill, the four blades rushed towards each other as if they were being pulled by a magnet. Sun became the shaft, Twiggy and Robin were on the butt of the spear, first the bow, then the tiara like a latch. At the tip of the spear, Glacia became the actual edge of the weapon. In the end, it wasn''t the cool-looking combination that everyone was expecting. Instead, it was as if a child had just glued the weapons together. The end result was too big, unwieldy, and ugly. Still, Hera took a look at the combination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Converged Blades] - Twiggy - Robin - Sun - Glacia Scaling: Intelligence X 63.6 Endurance X 60.3 Charisma X 58.8 Strength X 46.8 Agility X 43.6 Luck X 36.8 Arcane Barrage: Robin can fire magic arrows that can be more powerful the more mana is used to fire them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I mean, the scaling is great, but only one skill. Robin, can you try to fire your arrows?" ''I can''t. The part of my body that uses that skill can''t move,'' Robin replied. However, it wasn''t just his voice. Twiggy, Sun, and Glacia all said the same thing at once. That created a cacophony inside of the Empress''s mind. "Yeah..." Daskka gave Hera a look that said ''Told you so.'' "You were right, this sucks. Maybe we can fix it with another skill. Keep an eye out if we ever get one that might interact with this," Hera sighed. "Will do, Mum!" The Empress glanced towards Vash. Seemed like the harpy would still take some time before he was ready to talk about his Legacy. Not that she would pry, of course. Legacies were extremely personal, but she would be there in case he needed some help. Since she had time, she decided to take advantage of the moment and take a shower. Even if she was about to go back to her dirty clothes again, it was never a bad thing to feel refreshed. 961 - Arcane Cirque
"So, what you''re saying is that I can get a loan?" Vash asked. "Pretty much. But instead of having to pay some points back, you''re just going to stay without a new skill for longer. Like, a lot longer," Hera nodded. The two of them were in the living room of their tent, talking about the intricacies of having a Legacy. "That''s good to know. My herald didn''t tell me." "They might not be able to tell you. Daskka only became aware of that option after I already had a few skills." "Really? So there are things the herald doesn''t know? Even if they''ve been with the Legacy for a very long time?" Hera nodded. "Yeah. You can think of them resetting when the Legacy changes holder. They still know how it works, but a lot of the information is forgotten. Especially things such as the best way to use a skill or some combos you can make. Unique use cases. Stuff like that. It''s not as if a vital part of the information is missing, it is more the personalized pieces that belonged to the previous holders." "Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. We don''t want to be stuck in the same pattern the previous holders had. We need to make it our own," Vash had a smile stuck to his face the entire time. He mentioned he didn''t know many harpies who had Legacies. Getting one likely put him in a very exclusive club, and he was over the moon about it. "Exactly. But there are times when the herald can tell you a little bit more about how the others used the Legacy. For instance, Daskka told me about a previous holder that focused on quality instead of quantity. So they only had a handful of blades. Those are the flying weapons. But they were super powerful. And it was another who did the opposite. They had dozens of different blades and all fought together." "So you follow in the footsteps of the first one. Makes sense." Hera shook her head. "Here''s the thing. I didn''t. That first one had fewer blades than what I have now. I don''t know how they were able to make their weapons stronger, but I''m sure there was a different skill set related to it. And I mean non Legacy skills." "Oh wow. I can''t imagine how much stronger theirs were," Vash gasped. He turned to the side, listening to someone who only he could see for a moment. They already had talked for a while. Flint had even come back and was outside with the cleaning crew, who were washing their equipment. It was likely the rest of the Harmony Guardians wouldn''t take long to arrive. Realizing that, the Empress turned to the new Legacy holder. "The others should be getting back soon. Do you have any other questions? I know they gave us some time alone exactly for this." "Actually, I do. If we die, the Legacy goes to whoever kills us, right?" Vash asked. "As far as I know, yes. And if you die of old age, disease or something, you will leave behind something that can become the trial for the Legacy. Why?" The harpy''s eyes became more focused and serious, and his voice lost all the excitement it usually had. "Do you think asking someone to kill me if I''m about to be killed by a human is a good idea? I don''t want to give them more power." Hera was taken aback by the question. She never considered something like this. Not because she had some sort of delusion that she wasn''t killable or anything of the sort. But she simply never thought about what would happen after she died. "Honestly, Vash, I don''t know. I get why you''re saying this, but then you''re putting a lot of trust in someone who might end up killing you out of fear when you still could have survived. If there''s anyone who you think knows you well enough and you trust enough to ask that, then sure, ask them that. I, personally, don''t have anyone who would do something like that to me, and I don''t think I want to." "So, it wouldn''t be selfish of me not to have someone ready to kill me so my Legacy won''t fall in human hands?" Vash asked. "That was a very convoluted way of asking if it''s okay for you to want to live," Hera chuckled. "No. I don''t think it''s selfish. And even if it is, who cares? You have the right to want to live. And I have the right to not want to be killed by someone close to me. I think it would hurt more than giving a Legacy to a human," Hera admitted. "Oh, yeah. I didn''t think about that. Those last moments would be brutal." "And they might even be a waste. What if they try to kill you but don''t finish the job? Then the human still gets the Legacy. I don''t think that''s worth it. Biting your tongue off or something might be more effective, but let''s not enter a conversation about the best ways to kill ourselves. Please." Vash nodded as Roan, Skyler, and Neria arrived. They would have some steak sandwiches for the meal, a bit of a benefit for fighting in a room where cities still stand. Their food wasn''t just the processed kind, but at the same time they didn''t have the option of gourmet meals. After a couple of minutes, they were all sitting around in the living room. That''s when Vash took the opportunity to tell the group about his new skills. "So, I told Hera I didn''t want to have to explain this twice. Since we are fighting as a group, I think it''s better if everybody knows the kind of things I can do now. It''s also super cool when I want to gloat," Vash admitted. "Are you going to be taking questions or is this your own show?" Skyler asked. "I will be taking questions. But let me explain things first," Vash took a bite of his sandwich before continuing. "So, right now I have access to three skills from the Legacy. The first, I think you already saw, Hera. It''s called [Circus Tent]. For now, it''s basically just a barrier."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Was that the thing she used to block Sun''s attack?" Hera asked, remembering the moment when Victoria appeared from under a circus tent. Vash nodded. "I think so. But I have a benefit that she didn''t have. Because of the performer role and my ability to make my own stage, I am not as restricted with a foundation as she was. Basically, the skill asks for a place to create the tent. It needs to be large enough for someone to go inside. You can''t just make a massive tent out of nothing. And saying just ''the ground'' doesn''t work. I think she was using the Cyr Wheel for that. But I don''t have to. The skill got attached to my personal stage and I can just plop it down following what I already have." "And how strong is that barrier?" Flint asked. "Pretty strong, it seems. It scales with my own power, and it can also have a monster repellent function or a stealth function. The defense works no matter what, but I can pick if I want the barrier to be even stronger, if I want to be stealthy, or if I want to shoo monsters away." "Does it cost Mana to maintain?" Skyler asked. "Sort of. Setting it up costs mana to make, and then every time it blocks something, it chips at my mana. But if I make the barrier, it''s just going to stay. Both the stealthy and the monster repellent version are a bit different. They have an actual upkeep, but it depends on the strength of the effect and I need to pay it up front. Then, only if the tent gets hit that I have to pay mana myself. Or I can reverse the tent." "Reverse?" Roan frowned. "Like making it inside out?" "Yes. I can drop someone inside again and make it so people can come in but can''t come out. The regular version does the opposite. All that with my permission, of course. If I say you can come in and out, you can move freely." "That actually sounds very useful, especially if we are traveling. Maybe not so much during a war unless we are going against a big explosion or something," Neria nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking the same. It''s good if we need to protect ourselves from a big attack, but otherwise it''s more for day-to-day life. Which brings me to the next skill," Vash put one of his wings in front of his body, hiding from the rest of the group. With a flourish, he appeared again, with his clothes changed. They were still the same shape, but the colors shifted. Everything now in bright shades of yellow instead of his usual black and white look. Yet, he looked vastly difference. His features became sharper, more alluring, and his movements flowed more naturally in an almost hypnotic way. "You can change your clothes?" Flint raised one eyebrow. "Yes, but more than that. This is called Costume Change, and it lets me create a few ''costumes,'' specific tailor-made buffs. I can make three of them for now. These buffs can get very specific. They only have to keep some sort of balance. Like depending on what I want to increase, there needs to be a drawback so we can work. For instance, this yellow thing. It makes my charisma six times bigger, but it reduces all other attributes by 99.9%. I don''t want to use this for anything. It was just a test." "Can you change that buff later?" Skyler reached out to grab another sandwich, but her hand was swatted by Roan, who had his eye on the one she was about to pick. They argued for a moment before playing rock paper scissors to decide who could get the last one with that specific sauce. The elf won and with a smug expression, she took a bite of her prize. "I can. Every time I make a costume it gets a cooldown for me to be able to change it again. The time depends on the effect. This particular one will take another 15 days before I can change. The other two costumes I have are one blue and one red. The blue one doubles your defenses but makes you do half damage with every attack. And the second is an attempt to replicate the affinity Vulcan has with his daemonic form. I thought that maybe we could use it to kill the Soldiers of Strength more effectively. Also, I can put that costume on anyone. I can only give the buff if they are inside one of the tents, but aside from that, it works like any other buff." "That''s amazing. Did it work? The daemonic strength buff," Hera asked. "I honestly have no idea. That''s why I asked about Vulcan a few minutes ago. But he''s still out for the count, right?" The Empress nodded. "For a few hours. His skill to make him revive quicker is still on cooldown. It should be over later today." "Then I can test it later. But the buff does give you a strength affinity, so in theory it should be working. I just don''t know if the daemonic effect of removing the Soldiers of Strength connection would work," Vash scratched the back of his head. "Working or not, it was a nice attempt. I don''t think I would have thought about that," Neria smiled. "Thanks," the harpy blushed. "You said three skills. What''s the last one?" Flint asked. "The last one is the most simple of them all. It''s called Hat Trick, and what it does is this," Vash reached out and took one of the small plastic cups with sauce and turned to Roan. "Catch." The harpy started to move as if he was throwing the sauce to the beastman. However, he changed the way his leg was moving and threw the plastic cup to the left. Instead of the object following the direction everyone was expecting and splattering on the floor, the sauce disappeared, landing on Roan''s hands. "What the hell?" Skyler frowned. "How did you do that? There was no spell attached to the teleportation." Vash smirked. "It''s magic. But basically I can throw something in a direction and make it appear from a different place. This works with small objects, sounds, my voice, and even spells. There''s a limit on how big the thing is. I can''t, for instance, grab Flint and throw him somewhere else. I also don''t think I can do this with living creatures." "Those are all really good abilities, and you probably will have more in the future. Which then begs the question," Skyler turned to Hera, "can I get the next legacy?" The Ophidianite frowned. "Why are you asking me?" "Because you attract legacies," Skyler replied matter-of-factly. "What? What are you talking about?" "Your friend''s group all have legacies, with the exception of Helena. But that''s only because she spent her entire life trying to figure out a way to change her affinity, and you managed to do that too. So yeah. You attract legacies. Do you have a skill for it?" Skyler continued. "First of all, Blue was the first one to get a legacy. Second, we joined an organization that chases after Legacy so that''s its own separate thing. Alex''s situation was wild. There was a curse involved, it was a mess. And I don''t have a skill that makes me more capable of finding legacies. That''s ridiculous." "You really don''t have something that makes you lucky or something?" Skyler asked. "No, I don-" Hera froze, thinking about [Silver Linings]. "Okay, even if I did, it doesn''t mean it''s a skill that makes me more likely to find legacies. It just means if something bad happens to me, then something good happens at some point later." "Right, that monkey paw skill right?" Vash nodded. "It''s called Silver Linings." "Same thing," Vash shrugged, "Holy crap. If finding a legacy is the something good. What the hell was the something bad?" Roan gasped. Before they could continue the conversation, loud bells started to ring across the camp. Everyone who was there already knew what that meant. The humans were attacking the base. 962 - Tunnelers Hera and the Harmony Guardians rushed out of their tent. It was very strange to think that the humans were attacking the camp. Any team that tried to get here would be sandwiched between two armies. Even if part of that army would need to cross a large area to arrive, that didn''t change the fact that they would be trapped. No general worth their salt would be stupid enough to send a hit squad to the middle of the enemy camp, knowing they would accomplish nothing. The Empress might hate what the guild was doing, and she thought the humans were fools for falling for the propaganda related to the other species. But they were not stupid. Which meant they were up to something, some kind of trick or angle that would benefit their goals. As they left the tent, everyone was already moving to intercept the incoming attackers. But things were also very chaotic. People were running in different directions, which stopped the group from understanding the actual location of the trespassers. "Nimbus, check the skies. Tell us what is going on," Hera said just as she summoned her entire Court. "Do you think there¡¯s some Soldiers of Strength here?" Vash asked. "That is a safe bet. I don¡¯t see why they wouldn¡¯t use their best weapons against us in an attack like this," Skyler looked around, searching for an officer or someone in a leadership role. They could move independently, but it would be better to know where everyone was going. But he couldn¡¯t find anyone who might be able to tell them more. ''Hera! There¡¯s a group to the left. They are coming out of a tunnel.'' "A tunnel?" Hera frowned. That sounded extremely stupid, especially considering it would just pop them in the middle of the camp. "Something¡¯s off," Flint frowned. "Yeah. Why would they be doing this?" Roan turned to the dwarf. "A distraction maybe?" Hera suggested. "Can Nimbus see if there¡¯s anything else going on?" Skyler asked. The Empress passed the message along to the Sentinel, who looked around but couldn¡¯t find anything. Going for a different approach, she called him back down and gave him a [Royal Quest] to scout the camp. Using his griffon form, he could cover a very wide area in just a few moments. While they waited for him to get back, the group rushed to the side, following the largest flow of people. They all arrived at one of the tunnels seconds later. There were a couple dozen humans making a perimeter around the entrance as more and more continued to pour out. They were already encircled by the alliance, who was relentless in their attacks. If the humans wanted to take advantage of the dropped guard from those in the camp, they should have come here just after the shift change. But now, everybody was more or less rested. More importantly, a lot of the members of the army were getting ready to take a nap, and those invaders had just stopped them from sleeping. Unfortunately, the Harmony Guardians weren¡¯t able to enter the melee. There were already too many people surrounding the humans. They were relegated to firing long-range spells and trying to intercept any attacks that went straight. Even that only lasted a couple of minutes, as Nimbus quickly returned from his mission. He landed by the group and returned to his titled form. "We have a problem." "Another?" Neria asked. "Yeah. One of the tunnels didn¡¯t stop here. I only noticed it because of the mana flow. It keeps going about two or three kilometers north, towards the city," the Sentinel explained. "Towards the city? What are they trying to do?" Hera frowned. "Oh no. Do you think they¡¯re doing that again?" Skyler turned to Roan and Flint. "It¡¯s possible. Last time it worked. Even if we have some defenses in place, we don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be effective," Roan replied. "What is going on?" Hera turned to the Beastman. "When we arrived, they told us how the humans were able to push so deep into our territory. They were using chemical warfare. They would send a group towards one of the cities, drop a bomb filled with toxins, poisons, and diseases, and let it fester. After a couple of days, everybody would be infected, and they would send a few people who could do more damage to those who were poisoned or suffering any ailments, kind of like your Ailment Mastery skill. At first, we didn¡¯t notice because those diseases were mostly harmless. People would feel their throats scratchy, but nothing serious. But the last couple of times, they used something much more vile. People quickly got sick, and the children took the worst of it," Roan explained. "So much for not harming the kids," Hera sighed before turning to Nimbus. "How many can you carry?"If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Two in the air. I need to get out of the camp through the air before hitting the ground and running," the Sentinel explained. "Who¡¯s going first? We need someone here to warn the alliance about what we found," Hera asked. "You and Vash," Flint replied without missing a beat. "What? Why me? I should stay here and find someone to warn them." "Hera has the numbers, and you can buff her. Your legacy can also help. Vulcan is still out for the count, so we might need to test that costume that makes us interrupt strength mana," the dwarf explained. "I¡¯ll find someone. You two go. Send Nimbus back as soon as you can to get the others," Roan added. With an outcome decided, everyone started to move. But before Nimbus returned to his griffon form, he said, "Try to find a place at the edge of the army. If we¡¯re on the ground, I can carry you all in one go." Nimbus, Hera, and Vash quickly took to the skies. Even the Sentinel would take a few minutes to reach the tunnel he found. That wouldn¡¯t be their final destination, as they also had to find whoever came out of it. It was very likely that someone else also noticed the tunnel, especially its opening, and there was also a good chance that the people from the city would be able to see the humans before they reached the walls. But it wouldn¡¯t sit well with any of them to pretend they hadn¡¯t seen something this dangerous, especially if the safety of the children was involved. Not that there were many children in the city. Most of the civilians had already been evacuated. They were all in the villages and settlements closest to the doorway, opposite where the humans were coming from. But there was still a handful, mostly the children of people who had to stay behind and had no one else to take care of them. But for Hera, the main issue wasn¡¯t simply the number of children or people who would be affected by this chemical warfare. The problem was that if it worked, the humans would start escalating. The more successful they were with those kinds of tactics, the more they would appear everywhere. And if they were too successful, even the alliance might start doing something similar. Hopefully not when children were involved, but if they got desperate enough, she wouldn¡¯t put it past them. Any animal would lash out when it was cornered. This meant that this was a Pandora¡¯s Box starting to open, and maybe, just maybe, if they were fast enough, they would be able to close that box before its contents started to spill out. But before doing all that, came one big problem: how were they supposed to find the group that was trying to sneak to the city? Nimbus hadn¡¯t found the people, only the tunnel. Locating a random group of people in the middle of an open field who were probably trying to be stealthy wasn¡¯t going to be easy. But that¡¯s what they had to do. Finding the actual tunnel wasn¡¯t hard. It was just far away from the camp and in the middle of some rock formations that made it blend with the environment. But, as Hera expected, there were no tracks leaving the tunnel. Maybe people didn¡¯t even come out of it; this could have been just something they set up to use later. Yet, Vash and the Empress weren¡¯t about to take their chances. Still, neither of them was particularly great at finding people who were hiding. But one thing the Ophidianite had on her side was numbers. She called the entire Court out and summoned all the snakes from her bracelet, sending them to spread out toward the city and ping her if they saw anything. "Nimbus, we¡¯re going to look for them. Go get the others. If possible, get Roan too; someone else can go after an officer," Hera turned to the Sentinel, who nodded and dashed away. He never left his griffon form to make better time. Vash, Hera, and the Court slowly started walking toward the city. Even if they couldn¡¯t see any tracks or people, they had some knowledge of stealth missions¡ªenough to know that those doing a task like this would generally go for the shortest paths. They moved quickly but methodically as they tried to find this group, this infiltration team that could be heading toward the city. Their pace had to be fast enough to keep up with the hypothetical humans but also slow enough to allow them to properly observe their surroundings. Yet, the minutes slowly went by, and there was nothing for them to find. No trace of a human, no footprint, no sound, no scent, nothing. Not even the trails of mana themselves could give a hint of what was going on. The longer it went without anything coming into view, the tenser everyone became. Could they be too late? Maybe the attack on the camp came after this group had already started to move. Maybe they were already in the city. Hera¡¯s heart kept pounding in her chest. She was supposed to be an Aspirant Hero¡ªsomeone who saved others, who protected others. Could she have already failed? If that was the case, what would happen to the future Ophidianites? If she couldn¡¯t even stop a single team from getting to a city, how was she supposed to lead or protect an entire civilization? Distracted by those thoughts, the Empress failed to notice the growing rumbling coming from beyond the army. Only when a massive lightning bolt struck the ground, illuminating the entire area, did she realize there was something going on. "What the hell was that?" Hera gasped. "I think that was Thor," Vash replied, floating down since he was taking an aerial view of the area. The Ophidianite blinked slowly. "As in, the god of thunder?" "No. Well, sort of. One of the highest-level dwarves is a mage called Thor. He¡¯s kind of leaning into the idea of God of Thunder really hard, so his spells are more lightning-based. He was here, but they were hiding him until they found something. I¡¯m not sure exactly why, but there was a specific target he had to get rid of. That¡¯s probably him." ''Hera!'' Robin called. ''Back there, near the tunnel. I just saw some movement.'' ''Are you sure?'' the Empress glanced up. ''Positive. Someone was coming out of the tunnel.'' Hera turned to Vash. "It seems the tunnel team came in first. Robin saw some people leaving the tunnel. Let¡¯s go back." The harpy just nodded, and the two of them rushed toward the entrance of the tunnel again. It had already been more than enough time for Nimbus to come back, which meant that something was going on back at the camp. Maybe the situation was too bad, and he had to help the others, but a more likely answer was that the humans did something so no one would be able to leave. Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t the right time to try to figure that out. They were getting close to the tunnel, and there was a group of five coming out of it. Five humans, and it was obvious they were trying to do something to mess with the alliance. Something that Hera, Vash, and the Court would be sure to stop. 963 - Old Friend As Hera and Vash approached the humans, they were finally able to take a good look at the team members. It was a group of five in total. Three of them radiated an energy that clearly came from strength mana. Their almost glowing red skin, unsuccessfully hidden by their clothes, was just a confirmation of their abilities. But the other two people were a bit strange. One of them was a man carrying an odd-looking backpack. It was white and seemingly made of a hard kind of plastic. There was a visor indicating temperature, but what made her freeze was the Red Cross on the side. There was a rule of war followed for centuries, if not longer. A Red Cross always indicated medical equipment. It could also be used to mark a healer who focused on civilians, people who under no circumstance were participating in the battles. The rule dictated that no one could use that symbol for anything but its intended purposes. No one should hide as one of them or try to pass a weapon or any kind of item as something meant to heal. All that care was because of a simple reason. People dedicated to saving lives, and only saving lives, should never be suspected of being spies. If that were to happen, then any attempt at helping would be met with aggression and suspicion, which would only increase the casualties of war. Yet, if the humans truly wanted to give some sort of supplies or equipment that could help heal the civilians, they wouldn¡¯t have come in the dead of night, hidden by a tunnel. Even more proof that this was not a friendly visit was the fact that the three Soldiers of Strength were walking alongside these people. "You lot are going that low, and we¡¯re the monsters?" Vash shook his head, having a similar train of thought as Hera. "No. We came here to deliver these supplies to someone in the city," the man carrying the backpack replied. "And why are you here in the middle of the night while the humans are attacking our camp?" Hera asked. She had dismissed the Court before getting here in order to make the group lower their guard and catch them by surprise. "We took advantage of the attack to sneak by. Our people were not okay with us delivering these supplies," the man continued. "That''s fair. Give it here, and I¡¯ll take it back so you can go home without raising any more suspicion," Hera gestured to the man. "No. You don¡¯t know who our contact is. The supplies have a specific need, and we can¡¯t afford to mix it with anything else," the man shook his head, his eyes darting between the Empress and his group. Vash landed on Hera¡¯s shoulder. It was something they¡¯d agreed to do a long time ago. If they ever needed to talk without speaking, the harpy would just land on someone and press the right or left back claw of his foot to say yes or no. "Oh? So you¡¯re like double agents working with us?" Vash asked. "Exactly. We need to give this to a specific person. They know what to do with it," as the man replied, Vash pushed his left claw slightly on Hera¡¯s shoulder. But he really didn¡¯t need to do that. The Empress also caught the lie. If they really were spies, they would never refer to humans as "our people." Much less would they say they were spies outright. Since the Harmony Guardians worked with the intelligence agency, they knew the specific code phrase to answer a question like that. "That¡¯s even better, then. We¡¯re also part of the agency. I assume your contact is expecting you, so just let us take it, and we¡¯ll give it to them," Hera nodded and continued, holding her hand out, waiting to receive the backpack. "Fuck that. Let¡¯s just kill them and stop wasting time," the last member of the human team said¡ªa woman with a black scarf covering most of her face. The only things visible were her eyes and a red bindi in the middle of her forehead. The Empress felt that was strangely familiar. The eyes seemed to be the same as the woman she¡¯d seen earlier today, pulling a Soldier of Strength out of the battle. But there was only one person she¡¯d met who had a bindi, and saying it was her just because of that was the same as saying ''all elves look the same.'' "Yeah, we kind of figured you weren¡¯t spies," Vash sighed. "Honestly, you¡¯re pretty bad at lying." Hera was about to complain about Vash talking during a conflict when a notification appeared in front of her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have been Observed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She turned to the woman and answered in kind, "Rude." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anaya Varty - Level 38 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡®Holy shit. It really is her,¡¯ Hera thought to herself.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "I don¡¯t need to be polite to a snake pretending to be a person. Especially one with the bounty on its head. One that I¡¯ll be more than happy to claim," Anaya spat her words. Since the woman, if she could even be called that, hadn¡¯t changed, Hera decided to answer the way she should have done all those years ago. "That¡¯s what this is about? You¡¯re jealous because I¡¯m more famous than you?" Anaya¡¯s eyes flared up. "I¡¯m not jealous of some monster pretending to be something else. And by the time I kill you, everyone will know my name." Hera smirked. "Could be. But even if you do, there¡¯s one thing that¡¯ll always be true. You¡¯ll only be famous because of me. Because I was so famous that killing me mattered. No matter what you do here, you¡¯ll always be an afterthought." The human screamed and rushed towards the Empress, swinging a pair of double daggers as she tried to attack her. But the difference in levels, attributes, and skills was too big. Hera barely had to make an effort to dodge the attacks. Anaya was an assassin, someone who should focus on sneak attacks and a stealthier approach. Going for a frontal assault made most of her abilities useless. The human swung wildly, clearly letting her emotions get the better of her. After the third missed attack, the Ophidianite swiped the woman¡¯s leg with her tail, causing Anaya to fall flat on her face. Turning away from the attacker, mostly due to the lack of threat she represented, Hera asked, "I noticed most of the Soldiers of Strength follow orders from someone else when they fight. What''s the matter? Being attached to a daemon makes you lose your mind? Or is it just because the guild doesn''t want their dogs off the leash?" "I have no reason to answer you," one of the Soldiers of Strength replied as he unsheathed a katana. Hera nodded and glanced toward Anaya. "See? That''s how you do it. You don''t fall for taunts like a child." Following that, the Empress cracked her tail across her old classmate''s face, knocking her out. Before anything else happened, Vash turned to Hera. "You know, I just hate what you''re wearing." "Help me change, then," the Ophidianite replied before bursting into motion. Between her and the rest of the humans, a small circus tent appeared. It was just a few centimeters taller than her and about two meters wide. Hera stepped inside, calling all of her Court behind her to allow them to also get the buff. On the other side, the humans only saw a red and yellow tent appear before five people emerged from it. All their weapons and armor were now covered in a dark red hue with vibrant crimson accents. Lurize and Livy charged forward, passing the Empress and tackling two of the Soldiers of Strength. The impact sent the humans a few meters back. Hera aimed at the third one, summoning the rest of her Court while taking Eira in her hands. She had seen how powerful the ability of breaking the soldiers'' defenses was. She started with an upward swing, already triggering [Permafrost Vortex] that forced her target, a woman, to block with her double sabers. Hera was now in the middle of the group, which meant that after the initial impact, she was surrounded by three people: the Ophidianite Empress, the Leviathan, and the Royal Tutor. Defending against a single strike wasn''t enough. Pulling their weapons, Livy and Lurize came at the woman from opposite sides while Hera kept her hands busy. Between impacts, they made large gashes on the soldier''s arms. The unnatural shade of blood red that covered her skin became paler as the buff created by Vash interfered with the Strength mana inside her body. Seeing the effectiveness of the attack, the Empress ducked as Sun triggered his [Solar Flare] at the same time that Pyro fired an [Inferno Burst], both attacks hitting the woman in her face at point-blank range. Even with the increased regeneration of a Soldier of Strength, it was too much, and she fell to the ground, already dead, her face carbonized by the attacks. "Hera!" Vash called, his voice full of worry. The Empress glanced up and saw the remaining three members of the human team putting on gas masks before the man carrying the backpack moved to open it. She dashed forward, hoping she would reach him in time. The entire Court was moving to intercept him, but even Viper and Crimson, who were just a few meters away, wouldn¡¯t be able to get there in time. If that was the chemical weapon being used by the humans, there was a good chance it could do some damage even from this distance. They couldn''t allow that to happen. If it spread, both the Army and the city could be affected by this weapon. Banking on her skills and her title, Hera yelled, "Make a tent around us! Now!" She had no idea if that would work to stop gas or mana, but it was the best plan she could come up with. In a situation like this, Vash wasn''t able to argue against the command. The Harmony Guardians had already discussed that if those on the front lines called for a barrier of some sort, they should all deploy it, no questions asked. The performer quickly created his stage, covering both Hera and her Court, as well as the human team. The only one left outside was the unconscious woman that the Empress had knocked out a few moments earlier. But he also created the "inverted tent"¡ªone that trapped those inside, not protected them, with his teammates being the only ones able to move freely between the boundary. The red and yellow tent materialized in an instant, just in time as the man holding the backpack turned a dial. In response, the backpack started to let out a green steam that quickly enveloped the entire area. It was such a thick liquid that it was hard to even see beyond it, at least through normal means. The Empress switched to her infrared sight, thanks to her Ophidianite eyes, which revealed the positions of the humans inside the fortification. They were already moving toward the walls, trying to find a way to escape. But before she could do anything about that, she had to focus on the toxins. It was clear that when the smoke touched her body, it would try to sink into her skin. Something was stopping it from being able to do so, but even then, she didn¡¯t trust this would be a permanent effect. The longer she stayed inside, the more likely she was to be infected by whatever it was. Maybe her attributes would be enough to fight off the disease and the poison, but there was a chance even her levels wouldn¡¯t be enough to protect her from the attack. She now had to figure out a way not just to get rid of the toxic mist, but also to deal with the humans inside the tent. In addition she had to do all that before she would succumb to this chemical attack. 964 -Inside the tent
Inside the tent, Hera looked around. Everything was a strange shade of green, thanks to the smoke coming out of the human''s backpack. Despite being an Ophidianite for a while already, using her infrared sight was still a bit odd. Either way, she could still see the three remaining humans on the other side of the tent. The one who activated the backpack was slamming his fists against the tarp. He had already tried to open it from below, but no matter how much strength he put behind his back, the tent wouldn''t budge. The other two also attempted to escape, but quickly realized the tarp was actually a barrier, and it wouldn''t be as simple to free themselves. Instead, they turned toward the Empress and slowly walked in her general direction. By the way they were moving, it was pretty obvious they were struggling to see. Each step was slow and calculated, only taken after making sure nothing in their surrounding area was an immediate danger. Hera and court, on the other hand, had no such issue. They all could use her [Ophidianite Sight] to see everything in the same infrared light as the Empress. Viper and Crimson moved to the side, flanking a Soldier of Strength whose weapon of choice was a pair of gauntlets. The pair vanished as they got closer, thanks to [Hidden Frontal Screen]. By creating strange movements in the mist, the twins slowly guided the man away from his companions. At the same time, Livy and most of the Blades were moving to intercept the one with the katana. But the Leviathan''s approach was much less subtle. She gave a few moments for the Spymasters to be far enough away before charging the man at full strength. With a body slam, the Soldier of Strength was tossed backward, but he landed on his feet, already in a stance prepared for the next attack. Livy went for a wide swing with her war axe. The human jumped over the attack, only to be met by Storm and her [Crackling Strike]. "Let''s fucking go!" the longsword shouted, as the blow connected to the man''s leg. The damage wasn''t that great, especially considering his regeneration, but the real value of the attack was in the brief stun it caused. That was enough for Robbing to send a couple of arrows coming from deep inside the mist toward the man. Sun also joined, flying through the air before hitting the man''s shoulder. His big attack was on cooldown, but with [Seal of Eternal Radiance], he could increase the power of those around him. The last to join that small battle was Eira, who also was unable to use her more powerful skills at the moment, but that didn¡¯t mean she couldn''t assist with the barrage. Yet, the Soldier of Strength was able to parry most of their attacks, dodging the ones that he couldn''t met with his blade. The court was only able to make small cuts on his skin that were quickly recovered thanks to his regeneration. As the seconds went by, Livy and the others started to become frustrated. They were several levels higher than this man, but even with their combined efforts, he was able to keep them at bay. It didn''t help that they were not fighting at their full strength, with Nimbus gone and part of the court facing a different battle. In addition, everyone was also feeling the pain caused by the toxins. They might be just beings made out of mana, but that didn''t mean they were immune to those effects. And if they were struggling like that, Hera would also be affected by this. On the other side of the tent, Viper, Crimson, Shadow, Glacia, and Clay attacked the man with the gauntlets. The twins, along with the Alabaster Duke, kept disappearing between strikes, all of them able to blend with the environment better than the other fighters. Clay took the position of a defender, using his segmented blades to block any counterstrikes coming from the man. While Glacia focused on attacking the joints. Even if a Soldier of Strength was able to recover, if she could break a ligament or a nerve, it would take a while for him to get back to his feet. The man blocked the incoming blows, moving quickly with martial arts designed to defend against weapons. He wasn''t able to intercept all the attacks, but even the ones that hit him were a far cry from being dangerous. Twisting his body in the right direction, he was able to minimize the damage he would receive from the blades at first, but things quickly turned dire as the damage piled up. Viper and Crimson were the most dangerous threats to him, especially once it became clear that they were able to interrupt his connection with the Strength daemon ever so slightly. To make matters worse for the man, Shadow was able to trigger his interruption abilities, causing the skills used by the Soldier of Strength to stop. If it was a passive, it would just be turned on again as soon as the effect was gone, but for a buff or an attack, all the energy put into it would be gone. Frustrated with the situation, the man slammed his gauntlets together, covering his entire body in bandages, making him look like a mummy. Clay and the others didn''t think much of this new skill, but it quickly became clear that their fight had become considerably more difficult. Now, every strike was met by several layers of something close to toilet paper. By themselves, they were essentially worthless, but there were too many compressed together. So much so that by the time the attack reached the man''s skin, most of the power behind it was gone. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. However, the man became slower as he activated that skill. The thick layers of paper also worked against him when he attempted to move. That resulted in a stalemate, neither side being able to damage the other enough to finish the battle. ''Empress! You need to leave!'' Lurize gasped, noticing some of the poison creeping inside her. ''No. I can still handle this,'' Hera frowned. She wasn''t hurting, but her entire body felt like it was being covered in filth. The sensation was strange, like an itch that she couldn''t scratch, but it wasn¡¯t unbearable. The poison in the air wasn¡¯t as potent as her own, and because of her resistance to that kind of attack she wasn''t worried about the situation. ''Are you sure?'' Daskka asked. The snake had already shifted into her purple Mist form, trying to help heal the incoming damage. ''Yeah. We need to figure out a way to deal with this toxin. Maybe I can¡­'' Hera turned to the side and triggered a fire spray from her hand. Her poison, after all, was flammable. That spell only existed thanks to poison spray which worked as fuel for the flames. Unfortunately, the effect was less than effective. The flame burned away some of the toxin, but only the parts it touched. All the other gas in the area was completely fine. ''In hindsight, this is a good thing,'' Hera mumbled to herself. ''Did you just try to blow us all up?'' Twiggy asked, her voice a half laugh. ''That wasn''t the intention, but yes,'' Hera admitted. ''That''s awesome. But we should find a way to protect ourselves first,'' the tiara chuckled. Just out of curiosity, Hera fired another poison spray to the side. She saw the orange liquid splattering on the ground, barely interacting with the mist. But her senses told a different story. The liquid had attached itself to some particles as it fell, almost as if it grabbed them on the way down. ''Lurize, is poison supposed to be a good binding agent?'' ''Not really. That''s why you''re able to wash away poison in some circumstances. The whole idea of people washing hazmat suits before leaving a quarantine zone is because of that,'' Lurize replied. Hera shot more poison into the Mist, ''Then why is this happening?'' She passed the feeling along to the Royal Tutor, the one person in the court who knew more about poisons than anyone her. Mr. Beetle stopped to consider what she was saying. He was a poison spirit, after all, and this was his area of expertise. Even then, it took him a moment to realize what was going on. ''Holy shit. Your poison works as a oil!'' ''When I''m using a fire spell, yeah. It is kind of like oil. But what does that have to do with anything?'' Hera asked, feeling her skin begin to burn slightly. It wouldn¡¯t take long before she started feeling the full effects of the toxins. Even with the high concentration of poison inside the tent, the fact that she was already feeling this meant the humans had created something truly nasty. ''Exactly. Your poison doesn¡¯t act like poison. It acts as fuel. So it¡¯s a great binding agent. If you can make an airborne version of it, we should be able to spread it and make the toxins bind to your own poison,'' Lurize¡¯s voice was practically brimming with excitement. Hera smiled, "That''s the easy part." She triggered [Toxic Mist], creating a thin layer of orange fog around her. Just as the Royal Tutor said, her poison started grabbing the toxins as it spread, turning to a dark brown shade. As soon as she realized what was happening, she called to the court, ''Lurize, Viper, Crimson, Livy, I need all of you to use my [Toxic Mist] and start moving around. We need to cover everything with my poison.'' The circus tent was large, with a 15-meter radius and a height of 5 meters. There was a good chance Hera could cover the entire area by herself, but time wasn¡¯t on their side. She couldn¡¯t wait around. Hera¡¯s eyes darted to the two Soldiers of Strength, who were still engaged in their own battles. But the third human, the one who had triggered the backpack, was in the back, still holding the device, trying to hide from all the fighting. If they could capture him, and the device, they might be able to develop better countermeasures against these chemical attacks. With [Toxic Mist] still active, Hera rushed toward the third human. He barely saw her coming through the fog before she struck him in the stomach, cutting off his air supply. Grabbing his neck, she quickly sent poison needles from the palm of her hand, telling the specific poison designed to put him to sleep. She glanced back and saw that the majority of the tent was now covered in the brown smoke. Her own poison, mixed with the human toxins, was spreading quickly. With a quick message through the communicator, she instructed Vash to open the tent so she could leave while carrying someone. It took a moment before the performer could make that specific rule work, after all, it was the first time he had used the Legacy in an active battle. But eventually, the opening of the tent allowed for Hera leave carrying both the human and the backpack. Once outside, she recalled her entire court and fired a simple fire spray into the tent. The flames ignited instantly, turning the entire structure into a massive ball of fire. The two Soldiers of Strength, who hadn¡¯t been able to recover in time, were caught in the blast. But despite the power behind the explosion, the stage created by Vash still held strong. The Legacy had proven itself once again, as the circus tent''s magic barrier protected those outside from the chaos inside. The Harpy flew down to check on Hera, and both of them noticed Anaya starting to wake up. With a glance back toward the now-destroyed tent, Hera had an idea that could delay the next chemical attack and walked toward the assassin. 965 -Change the tide. ¡°Okay, everyone, I¡¯m going to need your help,¡± Hera announced as she approached the slowly awakening Anaya. ¡°Daskka, head back to the tent and spread some silver mist on the ground. White would be better, but I¡¯m not sure if you can manage that. Viper and Crimson, stay behind me and make sure you¡¯re not in Anaya¡¯s line of sight when she looks at the tent. Use hidden frontal screens to stay out of view. Lurize, take the guy with the backpack and pull Vash aside. Ask him to make some lights inside the tent so Daskka¡¯s mist has a shade of dark green¡ªlike the human toxin. He might not know the exact color we need, but you and Daskka can figure it out. Keep the human far enough away that Anaya can¡¯t try to kill him.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Livy asked as everyone received their orders. Hera handed her tablet to the Leviathan. ¡°Start the report. The Alliance will want to know what happened here.¡± Then, silently in her mind, she added, ¡®Pretend you¡¯re writing something important. When I give the signal, go to the tent and open the flap. Cover your mouth and nose with your arm and keep the flap open. Don¡¯t block the entrance; we need her to see what¡¯s inside.¡¯ ¡°Understood,¡± Livy nodded, and the group dispersed in different directions. Hera moved confidently toward Anaya, her steps relaxed. As she got closer, she saw the woman trying to get up and quickly sent her blades to pin Anaya down. Sun and Eira formed an X above the assassin¡¯s neck. ¡°You woke up sooner than I expected. I guess I took it too easy on you,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Fuck you. I¡¯ll make you pay for this, you monster!¡± Anaya snarled, her eyes blazing with fury. ¡°You and what army?¡± Hera smirked. ¡°In case you haven¡¯t noticed, you¡¯re the only one left. Your friends are gone.¡± ¡°They ran?¡± Anaya¡¯s confusion was palpable. ¡°Not quite. I didn¡¯t give them that chance. The Soldiers of Strength that came with you are dead. And your little friend with the toxin? He¡¯s our prisoner now. Not that we even needed him,¡± Hera shrugged dismissively. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Anaya demanded, rage flaring in her eyes. Hera crouched down in front of the assassin, sitting comfortably on her coiled tail. She shifted just enough to allow Anaya a clear view of the tent behind her, following Viper and Crimson¡¯s subtle cues. ¡°Nothing you need to know,¡± Hera said with a sly smile, and at that moment, she mentally signaled Livy. Livy opened the tent flap, making a show of covering her mouth and nose. Hera pretended not to notice Anaya¡¯s eyes flicking away from her to peer inside. Hera gave it a moment, letting the assassin process what she was seeing. Then, casually, the Empress patted her own shoulder, pushing away the last remnants of the toxin from her skin. It had been a calculated act¡ªshe kept the small amount on her body for this exact moment, a theatrical move to sell the deception. Even if it was making her itch like crazy. The entire ruse was simple: make it look like they had already found a solution to the toxin. That there was no need to research or develop an antidote because Hera herself was the answer. The message was clear¡ªthe Empress could handle the toxins, even if others couldn¡¯t. ¡°Now, you should really go,¡± Hera said nonchalantly, pulling Eira from the ground as Sun floated up beside her. ¡°You¡¯re letting me go?¡± Anaya¡¯s voice wavered between disbelief and fear. ¡°Yeah. We already have what we need,¡± Hera paused, glancing Anaya up and down with a look of disdain, ¡°and you¡¯re not worth the effort.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Anaya yelled as she struggled to her feet. ¡°I¡¯m not going to repeat myself. You have one chance¡ªeither tuck your tail between your legs and run, or try something stupid and die. I couldn¡¯t care less either way,¡± Hera turned her back on the assassin and began walking towards Livy. Twiggy and the rest of the court kept their eyes on Anaya, ready to react if she attacked. Anaya took a step forward but hesitated, her eyes darting back to the tent. She saw the bodies inside¡ªSoldiers of Strength, still in their masks, who had fought within the toxic cloud and still lost. There was no way she could win against that. But then, her gaze shifted to the Ophidianite Empress. Information is more powerful than any weapon, Anaya thought. The snake woman had been foolish enough to let her escape with it. Running away wouldn¡¯t be a complete waste.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°You¡¯ll regret not killing me,¡± Anaya spat before bolting towards the tunnel, which was still a few hundred meters away. ¡°Buy a book of villain quotes! That one isn¡¯t just a clich¨¦, it¡¯s bad,¡± Hera called after her as the assassin vanished into the night. Moments later, Vash and Lurize returned, making sure the man and the backpack were secured. ¡°You let her go?¡± the harpy asked with a frown. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m setting a trap. Or something. I¡¯m not sure what to call it. I¡¯m trying to make her think that we at least have an answer to the toxins. If she goes back to the humans and says that we have a way to stop those attacks, maybe they won¡¯t try anymore. Or at least they will come up with something new, and that will give us enough time to study the toxins and come up with an antidote.¡± ¡°That sounds like a stretch. There¡¯s nothing saying that they wouldn¡¯t just double down or try to attack everywhere at once. Was that really the only reason you let her go?¡± Vash pressed. Hera looked at the harpy, noticing the worry in his expression, and let out a long sigh. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I don¡¯t know if you could tell, but I knew her. She was in my class when I graduated from the guild. She was still a bitch back then. But I don¡¯t know. Killing someone I know is weird. Maybe we should have just captured her, but that also feels strange. I also can¡¯t help but think that her reaction was a bit too extreme. Don¡¯t get me wrong, she was always annoying, self-centered, and an awful person. But she never struck me as the type to murder innocents just for kicks. Maybe the mind control is getting stronger.¡± ¡°I honestly can¡¯t say much about that. Killing someone you know sounds awful. But I do agree with you about the mind control. The humans always felt a bit like fanatics, but in these past few battles, they seem worse¡ªalmost as if they didn¡¯t care about getting hurt as long as they completed the mission.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get much of that, but you all have been here longer. Everything seems crazy to me.¡± ¡°Either way, what do we do now?¡± Vash looked around. ¡°I think you can drop the tent, and we go back to the camp. There¡¯s probably something still going on there. When we get there, if we can¡¯t pass the prisoner to someone, we¡¯re going to have to handle it until we find someone to take care of that. I doubt the Alliance won¡¯t want to talk with this guy,¡± Hera said, turning to the unconscious human. Without Nimbus to carry them back, it took them a good 10 minutes of walking to reach the camp. They could have made better time, but it wasn¡¯t easy dragging someone unconscious along. Not to mention, they were worried about jostling the backpack too much and triggering the release of the toxins again. Once they got closer to the back line of the army, the reason for the lack of backup became clear. There was a massive barrier covering the entire camp. People were trying to break it with no success. It was likely the humans were responsible for this, meaning they¡¯d need to kill the casters to release the spell. Not wanting to risk their ¡®prize,¡¯ Vash created two new tents: one for housing the human and another exclusively for the backpack. Hera also kept one of her blades in each tent to sense what was going on without her presence. At least the barrier didn¡¯t block sounds, allowing them to communicate with the people inside. They were able to find a lieutenant who gave them a specific number to contact so they could arrange for an escort for the prisoner. Meanwhile, Milla had already reached out to the agency to find someone specialized in poisons and toxins to create an antidote or some countermeasure to the chemical attack. The next couple of hours were mostly uneventful. Even if the battle was still ongoing, Vash and Hera had a different job¡ªmaking sure the human wouldn¡¯t escape and the backpack was safe. Eventually, the barrier around the camp collapsed, indicating that either the humans had given up or the Alliance managed to kill the casters. Not long after, Nimbus appeared, carrying the entirety of the Harmony Guardians. ¡°Hera, Vash!¡± Skyler gasped as she dismounted the griffon. ¡°Sky!¡± the harpy gasped and flew over to the elf. ¡°Are you all okay? What happened?¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine. After Nimbus came to get us, the humans erected that barrier. Then it became a hunt for not just the casters but the flags they were using as catalysts,¡± Skyler explained. ¡°Flags?¡± Hera asked. ¡°Like this one,¡± Flint produced a small red flag from his pocket. It was barely bigger than his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but when you said flags, I thought it would be something bigger,¡± Hera frowned. ¡°It would have been a lot easier if it was. Finding those things was annoying as all hell,¡± Roan grumbled. Next, Vash and Hera told them about what they did. Everyone had mixed feelings about Hera letting a human go, but they understood where she was coming from. Killing someone they knew would be hard, and they had to agree the Empress¡¯s idea had some potential. Another loud thunder echoed across the battlefield, likely created by Thor. Not long after, rally cries could be heard from the front lines, loud enough to reach the camp a few kilometers away. Information came soon after. Thor, together with a few other high-level Alliance members, dealt a crushing blow to the enemy. Now their chain of command was shattered. This was the chance the Alliance had to push back and kick the humans out of this Room. But for the Harmony Guardians, a different type of order came. They were to continue protecting the prisoner and the backpack. Then, they would be on scouting duty, making sure no human was trying to dig toward one of the Cities again, as Hera had proven her capabilities in finding hidden movements. For the next three days, the entirety of the Harmony Guardians stayed on the back lines¡ªhelping with the supply chain, healing those in need, crafting what the army needed, and ensuring the humans were not advancing toward the Cities. By the end of the ordeal, the Alliance was able to recover the entire Room and was now pushing back, trying to reclaim some of the territory it had lost. But the Harmony Guardians had yet another mission. The agency had just contacted them with a plan¡ªa plan that might finally turn the tide of the war in their favor. 966 - Cyr Wheel Once the Harmony Guardians got the message from the Agency, they left the room. It had already been a day since the humans retreated, leaving only a handful of stragglers behind. According to reports, the same was happening in the two adjacent rooms. Despite the progress, it wasn¡¯t even half of the territory the Alliance had lost to the Guild during this assault. But it was still progress. If things went well with the Agency, they might be able to widen that gap even more. However, despite all their effort and success in helping the army, the Harmony Guardians wouldn¡¯t make a significant enough difference here to justify staying. On the other hand, the Agency seemed to have a plan that could really use their help. They made a point not to share anything about the mission aside from the location they should meet, which was back at headquarters. This meant they would have to go through the same shortcut Hera had taken to get here. One of those rooms specifically required them to use the Nimbus shuttle again. The Sentinel would take two at a time to cross the mountains, but even at top speed, it still took about an hour and a half for a round trip, which resulted in most of the day being spent just waiting around. During that time, Hera checked the Cyr Wheel that Victoria had used once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cyclone Edge - Unique - Movement Bladed Cyr Wheel Level Required: 50 Scaling: Agility x 40 Strength x 33.5 Endurance x 30 Passive Skills: Momentum Mastery Gain increased damage and evasion the longer you remain in motion. For every second the user maintains high speed without stopping, gain a 2% boost to damage and a 1% boost to evasion, stacking up to 10 times. The effect resets if the user is stationary for more than 2 seconds. Aerial Acrobatics Cyclone Edge enhances the user¡¯s airborne mobility, allowing them to perform advanced aerial maneuvers. Jump height is increased by 50%, and attacks made while airborne deal 20% more damage. Active Skills: Windstep Utilize the Cyclone Edge''s mobility to dash a short distance in any direction, evading attacks and repositioning instantly. Can be used up to three times in rapid succession. Dash Distance: 10 meters Cooldown: 30 seconds per charge Vortex Dance Spin rapidly with the Cyr Wheel, creating a spiraling zone of slashing attacks. Enemies caught within the zone take continuous damage based on the user¡¯s Agility and Strength. Duration: 10 seconds Cooldown: 60 seconds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hera had to admit, it was a good weapon. Not only was the scaling great for the level, but the skills also made it very powerful¡ªnot so much for the damage it could deal, but for the possibilities of movement it could give her. A 10-meter dash on a 30-second cooldown was nothing to scoff at. But those were the benefits of the weapon itself. If it was added to the Court, things would change in a way that the Empress couldn¡¯t even imagine. Everyone would get the extra damage from [Aerial Acrobatics], since her blades were always in the air, and the stacking bonus of [Momentum Mastery]. Thanks to [Army of One], those two skills would give about 20% of their effects to the rest of the Court. Turning this weapon into one of her blades would result in an 8% increase in overall damage. There was also the ¡°allowing them to perform advanced aerial maneuvers¡± part. If something like that was included in the skill description, it meant the effects were considerable. It could enable her entire Court not just to fly better but also to learn how to do so without the skill. The problem was, if she were to add this weapon to her Court, she would need to let someone go. Daskka had already confirmed that she couldn¡¯t increase her maximum number of blades right now. Hera couldn¡¯t decide if it was worth changing the Court or not. Part of the Ophidianite wanted to ask the opinion of her own blades, but that felt morbid. She would basically be asking who wanted to die. Even if she could bring them back with the Blade Graveyard, it wasn¡¯t the same thing. But she had to be objective about it, especially considering the situation. That¡¯s why she pulled Neria to the side as they waited for Nimbus to return. The entire Court was out, but the Empress created a soundproof bubble around them so she could have a private conversation. ¡°Okay. I need some help to decide if I¡¯m going to keep this giant bladed hula hoop, or if I¡¯m going to sell it to someone else,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°And you¡¯re struggling to decide which of the blades you need to let go of?¡± Neria asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s start with the ones that you absolutely can¡¯t be without. If you end up saying that there is none you can part ways with, then you have your answer.¡± Hera nodded, ¡°Starting is easy. First, Twiggy¡ªshe¡¯s the commander. Then Robin is the only one with a long-range attack. Shadow¡¯s ability to interrupt spells is too powerful to let go. Same thing with Eira and her defense reduction.¡± ¡°Anyone else? And consider only the ones that you absolutely will not change.¡± ¡°No. Or at least no one that¡¯s on the same level of ¡®will not change.¡¯¡± Hera looked back, making sure the Court wasn¡¯t listening in. ¡°Right. Now let¡¯s go for the ones that you would rather not change. They¡¯re not hard no¡¯s, but if you have the option, you¡¯d keep them,¡± Neria continued. ¡°Well, Sun has one of the most powerful skills among all of them, especially if I awaken him. Clay is on a similar level, but he is more of a horde breaker¡ªnot as good against a single target. And lastly, there¡¯s Pyro. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m using something like that. Having a weapon that can be my body without occupying my hands is amazing,¡± Hera explained.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°If I¡¯m counting this right, that leaves only two options for you to change, right?¡± Hera nodded. ¡°Yeah, it would be either Storm or Glacia.¡± ¡°And what do you feel about that?¡± ¡°I think the logical option would be Glacia. There¡¯s too much overlap with Eira about what she can do, and since she¡¯s an ice weapon, it¡¯s hard for her to do a proper combo with anyone. Storm, for instance, can just attack after Livy covers someone in water. But¡­ Glacia is Eira¡¯s teacher. I don¡¯t know how she will react to this.¡± "Do you think she''s going to complain about it?" "I''m not sure. When we''re talking about that kind of thing, the blades are a bit¡­ zealous. Like, they accept anything I say if it¡¯s going to make the entire Court better. Even the one who will be gone seems fine with leaving, as long as it helps the Court. I get that this is how things work, but it does feel a bit weird." "So? What are you going to do?" Neria asked. With a sigh, Hera replied, "I''m going to talk to them and see what they think about this change." The discussion didn¡¯t take long. Once they saw what the Cyr Wheel could do, they all agreed that adding it to the Court was a good idea. Storm and Glacia offered themselves before Hera even explained her thought process for picking them. Their understanding was much simpler: every member of the Court had a specific role to play, even the ones that were similar, like Sun and Eira. One was focused on dealing damage, while the other was about stripping defenses. But when it came to them, the falchion and the longsword had the same function¡ªdealing damage. Sure, they also had some utility; Glacia could slow people down while Storm could briefly stun them. But when they were fighting, both of them only focused an attacking with those extra effects being mostly afterthoughts. After a brief conversation, they both agreed that Glacia was the one who should go. Hera had Eira now to trigger anything related to ice. It also didn¡¯t help that the falchion¡¯s personality was the type that liked to take care of others. As had happened every time she had to let one of the blades go, the Empress cried as she finished triggering [Revocation of Nobility]. The rest of the blades were also sad about the farewell, but they took it much better than the Ophidianite. To them, this was part of life and one of the greatest sacrifices they could make for their Empress. Not wanting to dwell on the pain, Hera quickly added the new blade to the Court. The Cyr Wheel would be called Hoop, since she couldn¡¯t help but think of a hula hoop every time she saw it. In addition, with Vulcan¡¯s help, they carved a spell circle on the inside of the wheel, attempting to increase the passive buffs it could provide. Instead, it created a new skill that would add to the buffs when they were maxed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hoop - Bladed Cyr Wheel - Movement Attribute Scaling: Empress Attribute: 1080 Agility x 24 Strength x 20.7 Endurance x 19 Intelligence x 4 Charisma x 4 Luck x 4 Passive Skill Perpetual Motion: Increases the maximum stacks of [Momentum Mastery] by 10. In addition, every 10 stacks of [Momentum Mastery] increase the bonus to speed and damage by another 5%. This effect doubles when Hoop is airborne. Familiarity: 20% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That was the only new skill. Everything else remained the same, but it was still a wild difference. The bonus would cap at 50% extra damage and 30% extra speed¡ªor 60% extra damage and 40% extra speed when Hoop was flying. Or so they thought. After a few tests with the new blade, they realized the double effect wasn¡¯t just about the increased bonus at every 10 stacks, but also the stacks themselves. This meant that when Hoop was in the air, he would have a maximum of 30 stacks of [Momentum Mastery], which could give him up to 60% extra damage and 30% extra speed by itself. In addition to the bonus from the second part of [Perpetual Motion], he could get another 30% extra damage and 30% extra speed. In total, once the stacks were in place, Hoop would be dealing 90% extra damage and moving 60% faster. The rest of the blades could get 20% of that, which translated to an 18% boost in damage and a 12% boost in speed. That would affect everyone, including Nimbus in his griffon form. Sure, the effect required a small buildup, but 30 seconds of movement wasn¡¯t that much, especially since the stacks would only drop if they were standing still. Hera deiced to place Hoop with Eira on the Fiord County. Mostly due the county skill. It made it so every two attacks reduced a bit of the target defenses. And [Vortex Dance] was a skill that could deliver several blows in quick succession. ¡°This is kind of amazing,¡± Crimson gasped as she skidded to a halt, testing the effects of the new speed. ¡°It really is. But running at high speed is not as easy as I expected. It seems the skill doesn¡¯t take into account the environment, so it expects you to be near your top speed no matter what,¡± the Empress looked around. On top of this mountain, there were many trees and jagged rocks, which made it very hard for her to run properly. ¡°You think you¡¯re having problems? I keep losing my stacks when I jump,¡± Vulcan grumbled. Being a kangaroo, in order to run he had to use both legs to propel himself forward. To make matters worse, [Army of One] also reduced the time it took for the stacks to clear to under 0.4 seconds. On uneven terrain like this, he wasn¡¯t able to gather enough momentum without spending that time sitting still. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Vulcan, sir.¡± Hoop apologized, bowing to Forge. It was very strange to see a floating giant Cyr Wheel lowering its top half in apology. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s good for us to know the restrictions of the skill. You are doing a great job," Forge shrugged. "T-Thank you!" Hoop''s voice was a bit child like, and there was an eagerness behind it. Like that of a teen who wanted to prove themselves. ¡°Are you happy with the change?¡± Neria turned to Hera. ¡°Happy is a strong word. I do like the skills that Hoop has, and I¡¯m glad he¡¯s with us. But I¡¯m still sad I had to let Glacia go. Then again, I don¡¯t think it will take long before I have to change most of the Court. The difference in attributes is too great. I think I¡¯m doing a good job of keeping my emotions in check, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they also got angry if I lost control or something,¡± Hera sighed. ¡°Are you thinking about getting more weapons from the Agency before this mission?¡± ¡°Maybe. If we have time, and depending on the mission. If we¡¯re just going back to help people in need, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be upset. But if we¡¯re going after the Soldiers of Strength and the labs¡ªwhich is very likely¡ªI might need to make that change before we go. Again, if we have time.¡± Neria nodded in response just as Nimbus arrived to pick them up. This time, Flint and Vash would be the ones going. Even if the Harpy could fly, the winds in this area were too strong for his frame, and the dwarf had his power armor on him, which became a problem due to the weight. Neria and Hera would be going last, but before Nimbus flew off, the Empress introduced the new blade to the Sentinel and explained the bonus speed he might get. Thanks to Hoop, this part of the journey ended up being a bit faster than expected. And in one less day than they expected, the group arrived at the Agency headquarters. 967 - A plan to end the war Once they arrived at the Agency, they had a chance to rest properly before heading to a meeting. Since they were a day ahead of schedule, there was no rush, but the Harmony Guardians decided not to wait too long. After a meal and a shower, they went to headquarters. In just a few minutes, they were greeted by Ka''mal, who guided them to a private reception. "Before anything, I need to ask a question. Are you all in or out?" the Elven spy asked. "What?" Skyler frowned. "Just like that? No more information?" Roan asked. "Just like that. This mission is that important and dangerous. Just knowing about it could put you in jeopardy. If you say no, there are no hard feelings. We still have other things for you to do. And for this particular situation, we would allow your team to split up," Ka''mal turned to Hera. "But I¡¯ll also say that you were one of the big reasons why we called for your group. But still, no pressure. If you don¡¯t want to participate, you don¡¯t have to. That¡¯s fine. No pressure." Hera scoffed while rolling her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You called us mostly for me, but no pressure." Ka''mal rubbed his neck. "I mean, when you put it like that... Still, I¡¯ll give you a few minutes to discuss." "There¡¯s no need," Flint spoke up. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want to help. The sooner this war is over, the better." The dwarf turned to the rest of the group, all nodding in response. "I guess I really underestimated you all. And you¡¯re not even the first ones that surprised me like this," Ka''mal shook his head. "Either way, starting right now, you¡¯re all going dark. You¡¯re not to speak with anyone about this operation, and your tablets should be kept here at the Agency. You¡¯ll receive replacement ones with all the information you might need for this mission and the ability to send short-range messages to each other. Until we leave, you will be sleeping here in the dormitory, and we¡¯ll take care of your meals and anything you need." "Starting now? Are we supposed to leave today?" Vash asked. "In two days, actually," the elf replied. "Then we can¡¯t even watch something during those two days?" Vash frowned. "There are TVs in the dormitory, and a couple of video games. You¡¯re free to use them as you wish; you just can¡¯t play anything multiplayer. Well, online multiplayer, that is. If you want a specific book or anything, just let us know, and we can get a digital version for you," Ka''mal gestured to the door at the back of the reception. "Now, follow me. We¡¯re not having the briefing here. It¡¯s not secure enough." "We¡¯re in the headquarters. How much more secure can it get?" Neria asked. Ka''mal smiled at her. "You¡¯ll see." He guided the group through a few corridors, reaching a cargo elevator. Inside, he pressed three specific floors, including the one they were currently on, and held down the open and close door buttons simultaneously. This revealed a small side panel where the elf input a code, followed by a fingerprint scan. Another panel then appeared, requiring a specific key. Ka''mal used one of the two keys on his keychain and spun it three and a half times. All of this happened after the doors were closed, but before the elevator started moving. The moment the key was turned, they began their descent. "This feels very excessive. Why do you need to do all that? We¡¯re already in a spy agency," Vash crossed his wings. "I think that¡¯s exactly why we do all this. Being spies makes us very untrusting. We learn to expect betrayal at every turn. I honestly suspect there¡¯s no one in the entire Agency who knows everything that goes on here. Besides, there¡¯s also another reason for all this," Ka''mal explained. "What?" Roan asked. "Complicated locks like that are really cool," Ka''mal said with a smile that made everyone roll their eyes. The elevator descended for a couple of minutes, not only because they were going very deep underground, but also because the lift wasn¡¯t moving that fast. Hera was pretty sure they were just a couple of levels below where Vulcan had his therapy sessions. They walked through a corridor and passed a set of 12 different doors, but these didn¡¯t have intricate locks like the elevator. Instead, they had to wait in small rooms between each door as the previous one closed. It was a system similar to an airlock. Finally, the group emerged in a wide area that looked very much like a regular house, even if it was very open concept. Almost no walls separated the environments from the kitchen to the living room. Only the bedrooms and bathrooms were not on full display. Sitting on a large blue couch was an elf with shoulder-length, messy brown hair and blue eyes. Someone the Harmony Guardians had met before. "Ziltan," Hera almost spat the words. That was the elf who had suggested torturing Vulcan to get information. The one who seemed all too happy with the idea. "Hey. How¡¯s your Spirit? I¡¯m glad things worked out without me having to step in," Ziltan waved to the group. The Empress once more noticed the density of Mana inside the man. Despite leveling up several times since the last time they saw each other, he was still much stronger than her. However, the gap had narrowed; she just couldn¡¯t tell by how much. "What is he doing here?" Neria turned to Ka''mal.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "He¡¯s also going to participate in this operation. I was supposed to tell him the specifics alone today, but that¡¯s only because no one else would have arrived in time. Except, you made better time than we were expecting, so I asked him to wait so I wouldn¡¯t have to repeat myself too much," Ka''mal explained. "Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to wait for everyone before having this conversation then?" Roan asked. "Yes, but that¡¯s bad for morale. It¡¯s still going to take a couple of days until everyone¡¯s here. Leaving you all waiting would likely cause problems. There¡¯s actually one more person here for the explanation," the elf turned to Ziltan. "Do you know where she is?" "The Mistress is taking a bath, and I¡¯m supposed to stay on the couch until she¡¯s done. I have to say, I really don¡¯t care for how I¡¯m being treated. There¡¯s only one person here who has a genuine reason to be angry at me," Ziltan glanced at Hera. "Everyone else is just judging me for enjoying my work. It¡¯s not my fault it¡¯s so fun to hear people scream." Ka''mal rubbed his eyes. "You say shit like that, and then you complain because people find you weird. That¡¯s on you, my guy." "So am I supposed to lie about who I am? Pretend that I¡¯m a goody two-shoes who wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly?" Ziltan leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "And how am I worse than anyone here? Every single one of us has taken a life. We¡¯re all killers. It¡¯s really hypocritical for you to act like everyone else is better than me." "Oh, for fuck''s sake. I don¡¯t care about how you feel. As long as you can work together, I don¡¯t give a shit about how you treat each other. This is not fucking high school, and this is not even a blue-collar job. We¡¯re at war here. If you have problems, figure it out. And just to throw this out there: we are a fucking spy agency. Lying is something we do on a daily basis¡ªthat¡¯s the whole point of what we do here. Also, your job is to torture people. If lying is where you draw the line, go to therapy, seriously. You know what? Just go to therapy either way. I''m tired of hearing you nag!" Ziltan stared at Ka''mal for a moment before his entire demeanor shifted, now back to his jovial and free-spirited self. He laughed and turned towards a door on the side of the large room. "Told you I could get him to snap." "Damn it," a voice grumbled from the other side of the door. Coming out was a human woman with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a simple pair of black leggings and an oversized gray hoodie. "Seriously, Ka''mal? That¡¯s all it took? I thought you were supposed to be the mediator." She walked over to the couch and handed a single gold coin to Ziltan. Ka''mal stared at the two but focused on Ziltan. "You¡¯ve been driving me nuts with that self-loathing act for two months because of a bet? And you, Blade. I expected more from you." Blade stared at him for a moment before turning to Ziltan. "We only made that bet this morning. Why were you doing that to him for months?" The elf with shoulder-length hair smiled. "It¡¯s fun." "Holy shit. You really are a sociopath," Blade sighed. "It¡¯s a good thing you don¡¯t have to like me to trust me. Ain¡¯t that right, boss?" Ziltan turned to Ka''mal. "Fuck. You. And I¡¯m not the boss, I¡¯m just a messenger. Now everybody shut up and sit down. I¡¯m going to start explaining shit," Ka''mal grumbled. "Mind if I grab a drink?" Roan gestured to the fully stocked bar in the corner. "Make me one too," Ka''mal nodded, just before everyone started ordering different drinks. In the end, they only had two options: scotch and soda, or on the rocks. That was the extent of Roan¡¯s mixology knowledge. Once everyone had their drinks and was sitting down, Ka''mal stood up, introducing the Harmony Guardians to Blade. He then turned to Hera¡¯s group. "You already know Ziltan, but this is Blade, also known as the Blade of Dawn." "No relation with the New Dawn. My name came first, or at least before their rebranding," Blade added. "Wasn¡¯t that like ten years ago?" Hera asked. "Yeah. So?" Blade turned to the Ophidianite. "If you already had that name back then, how old are you? You look to be in your mid-twenties." Blade smiled. "And that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to tell everyone from now on." "Either way, Blade was part of a mission that recovered a lot of information about the labs where the Soldiers of Strength are being created. It just took us a while to decode it. Romeo Ballester was also part of the mission that recovered this intel, and he gave his life for it. But now, we have credible data about the main laboratory being used by the humans. This mission involves infiltrating the place and using a live stream to show everyone what the humans are doing. All the heinous acts they¡¯re committing against the Spirits and the people they¡¯ve kidnapped. If possible, we¡¯ll destroy the entire facility after saving as many as we can. But unfortunately, rescue is a secondary objective. The live stream will be our primary goal." "You¡¯ve got to be kidding me," Skyler gasped. "Why are we even bothering with a live stream? Are you saying that publicity is more important than saving people?" Ka''mal shook his head. "No. Our intention is to use the mind control the humans are employing against them. It¡¯s not something that directly influences their decisions, but it heightens their emotions. If we hijack one of their broadcasts and show what they¡¯re doing to our people, and apparently even to some humans, we should be able to turn the public against the Guild and the New Dawn." "But how do we know that¡¯s going to work?" Neria asked. "Because of the three humans you brought: Ashley, Kimmy, and Greg. We were able to break the mind control on Kimmy with Ashley¡¯s help. For Greg, we had to do something different. We used a similar broadcast to what the humans are using to show him the situation inside one of the labs. Old videos from places we had already liberated. It upset him, but not enough to completely break the mind control. However, when we showed him a human who was captured. Not even those being experimented on, just in prison. That finally shook him enough to break free from the mind control," Ka''mal explained, letting his words sink in before continuing. "According to the data we recovered, emotions aren¡¯t the only things being heightened by the broadcasts the humans are watching. There¡¯s also a subliminal message of ''human first''. Something that implies humans are superior and should be treated as such. We assume this is to prevent defections to our side and to push those who are on the fence over the edge. Showing humans in those conditions, even if they were supposed traitors, creates a feedback loop with the effects. It¡¯s subtle, and it would require constant exposure to truly break the mind control. But if we add a couple of specific similar effects, we can amplify the feedback loop to the point where it overwhelms the control entirely. It would also make the person painfully aware of what was happening to them. And yes, I do mean literally," Ka''mal continued. "Are you saying you¡¯re going to kill a bunch of people just to break mind control?" Neria frowned. "No. I¡¯m saying you¡¯re going to give pretty much every human a mild headache. We tested thoroughly to ensure no one would be seriously affected. We also added an age lock to this effect, meaning only those old enough to have leveled up will be affected. If the humans are mind-controlling their children, we¡¯ll deal with that later," Ka''mal finished. "So the plan is to find the lab and live stream from inside it?" Hera asked. "That¡¯s a gross oversimplification, but yeah," the elf nodded. "Then why do you need me specifically?" Hera frowned. That sounded like something pretty much anyone could do, and she wasn¡¯t exactly the most stealthy individual. Ka''mal turned to the Empress. "Honestly, I¡¯m hoping that those snakes you control can hold a camera." 968 - The actual Plan Ka¡¯mal grabbed his tablet and displayed a presentation on the big screen. It showed a central structure surrounded by eight rings. ¡°This is a representation of the lab. This square in the center is the actual building. The rings are the many barriers placed around it. I have to say, the humans outdid themselves. They created these massive spell circles with mana crystals, and rare materials to enhance their effects. But because of that, we are sure it won¡¯t be easy to change the effects. Each ring is responsible for a specific type of protection, ranging from physical effects to magic, and blocking any communication signals trying to get in or out.¡± ¡°Communication? Wouldn¡¯t that mean we can¡¯t do a live stream if we¡¯re inside?¡± Vash asked. ¡°That is a problem, yes. But we¡¯ve figured out a way to circumvent that issue,¡± Ka¡¯mal said, advancing to the next image. It was a pair of long black transmitters connected through what looked like a thick rubber pipe. ¡°Is that a double-sided strap-on?¡± Neria asked. ¡°What?¡± Ka¡¯mal turned to the monitor. ¡°I see it,¡± Blade nodded. ¡°That long thing in the middle is the belt, and the antennae are the dicks.¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not!¡± the elf protested. ¡°I mean, they don¡¯t look like the most interesting dildos, but yeah. I can 100% see how it could be a double-sided strap-on,¡± Ziltan added. ¡°Who made this device? They might have some penis envy to solve during therapy,¡± Skyler suggested. ¡°It¡¯s not a strap-on!¡± Ka¡¯mal gasped, rubbing his eyes. ¡°Listen, you can see whatever you want here, but just pay attention for now, okay? We¡¯ll figure out the appearance later.¡± He got some boos from the group, but everyone quickly quieted down. Even though this was a dangerous operation with the potential to end the war, adventurers were still adventurers. They were the kind of people who would make jokes no matter the circumstances. It was that or letting the weight of their actions overpower them completely. ¡°Moving on. These transmitters will help us relay the images we get inside. We¡¯ll have a pair of them between each of the barriers. One of the antennas will be inside the barrier and the other on the outside. The rubber pipe connecting them is what actually passes through the barrier. Internally, they have a series of spell circles and runes set up so that the signal isn¡¯t disturbed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming we can¡¯t just leave these transmitters stationary. There are probably patrols or something that would force us to move them. And that¡¯s where I come in¡ªmore specifically, where my snakes come in,¡± Hera said. ¡°Exactly. There are patrols, cameras, and sensors that could detect the transmitters if left on their own. I was thinking about using your snakes in pairs to hide and ensure there¡¯s always one on each side of the barrier. If needed, we can extend the rubber pipe up to two meters. Anything beyond that length will start to disrupt the signal and deactivate the protections,¡± Ka¡¯mal explained. ¡°You keep calling this a rubber pipe, but it¡¯s just a cable,¡± Flint frowned. Ka¡¯mal let out a long sigh. ¡°Look, that¡¯s not up to me. I asked the people in R&D who designed this, and they insisted I call it a pipe. They gave me a 20-minute explanation about why this is a pipe and not a cable. I¡¯m just saving myself some trouble.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s flexible and can be tugged or slackened like a rope, right?¡± Flint asked. ¡°Yes. It behaves exactly like a cable. But it is a pipe. Just bear with me.¡± ¡°Why call for Hera specifically? Her snakes are useful, but she¡¯s not the only one with skills like this. Many people can create constructs that can move and follow orders,¡± Vash noted. Hera didn¡¯t seem bothered by the question¡ªit was something she was curious about too. ¡°That¡¯s true, but not many have constructs that can act independently like hers do. Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but if you tell your snakes to hide from monsters, they can identify what a monster is and hide without you having to specify each one, right?¡± Ka¡¯mal turned to Hera, and the rest of the group followed his gaze. ¡°That is true. But they¡¯re not infallible. If I don¡¯t recognize something as a monster, neither do they. And monsters can still sneak up on them,¡± Hera explained. ¡°Sure, but if their environment changes, they will adapt without your input.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ka¡¯mal nodded. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we need. But Vash is still correct¡ªthere are others with similar skills, some who could create better-suited constructs for this task. However, Hera¡¯s ability has two major advantages. First, the number of snakes she can summon. We have eight barriers, so we need at least sixteen snakes, and we aren¡¯t entirely sure if there are more barriers inside the lab.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°And the second advantage?¡± Hera asked. ¡°The area where the lab is located has a decent number of snakes. If the cameras or patrols see them moving around, it won¡¯t look suspicious.¡± ¡°Sure, there¡¯s nothing suspicious about a pair of snakes connected by the belt of a strap-on,¡± Skyler rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not a strap-on!¡± Ka¡¯mal exclaimed. ¡°And do you really think we didn¡¯t consider that? This is basic infiltration strategy. The exterior structure has spells to make it invisible, blend its temperature with the environment, reduce noise, and even make it smell like a forest.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. That actually makes a lot of sense,¡± Skyler nodded. ¡°Anyway, do you think your snakes can handle it?¡± Ka¡¯mal turned back to Hera. Hera nodded. ¡°Probably. But I¡¯d feel much more comfortable if we could test it first.¡± ¡°We have a small-scale model for testing. I say small-scale, but it covers about 300 meters. Since we¡¯re dealing with something that spans a few kilometers, it¡¯s different, but it should be enough to work out the kinks,¡± Ka¡¯mal paused. ¡°Actually, now that I think about it, there might be one more job suited for you.¡± ¡°Another? Aren¡¯t you putting too much on her?¡± Neria crossed her arms. ¡°I agree. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good call,¡± Blade replied without even looking in the Ophidianite¡¯s direction. ¡°Maybe. But I honestly think Hera might be the best option for this. Let me explain the rest of the operation. The idea is to have a team sneak into the facility. The way to do that will be provided by other members arriving here later. Once inside, the team should split into two. One single person will enter a protected area through a vent and head into the heart of the laboratory, while everyone else goes for a more frontal assault, if you will.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t we supposed to be sneaking?¡± Roan asked. ¡°Yes. But considering how many people we are sending, we don¡¯t believe you will be able to stay hidden for very long.¡± ¡°How many?¡± Ziltan asked. ¡°The infiltration team will have 20 people. In total, there will be 35. We will have 15 protecting our escape route and ensuring the transmission stays steady. There¡¯s also another group handling the images once they reach here, but that¡¯s not something we have to worry about. They were already briefed and taken to the studio where they will be working,¡± Ka¡¯mal said, changing the slides to show the numbers and the breakdown of each team. Aside from the 35 invading the lab, there were another 50 people working on logistics, supplies, and processing the images. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain why Hera should go,¡± Neria pressed. ¡°I¡¯m getting there,¡± Ka¡¯mal changed the slide again, now showing an internal view of the facility, including a floor plan. The place was massive, but there was something odd¡ªa single ventilation duct leading to a small, separate area with a couple of large rooms and three cells. ¡°Here. This is the layout of the laboratory. As you can see, there is something out of place. From what we know, the Soldiers of Strength are all in the main facility. But this part,¡± he pointed to the separated area, ¡°we have no information on, aside from its existence. That¡¯s why we¡¯re sending a single person who can handle themselves well here.¡± ¡°But why do we care about that place? There are enough cells in the other areas. We should be able to get plenty of footage of people being experimented on,¡± Vash asked. Ziltan answered, ¡°That side area feels like someone¡¯s playground¡ªa part of the facility used for personal research. Trust me, if someone needs a private section inside a lab like this, whatever they¡¯re doing is much worse than what we¡¯re seeing everywhere else.¡± Ka¡¯mal nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. But we¡¯re also considering the possibility that they¡¯ve separated the human prisoners. The whole point is that we need to show humans as prisoners. We need to expose that the Guild is using their own people as lab rats. We know this blueprint is a few months old. If this side area was an expansion, it¡¯s possible they are splitting up the humans and non-humans. Or, like Ziltan said, something even worse could be happening here.¡± ¡°So one person will go there to verify if it¡¯s a hidden human prison. What about the rest?¡± Roan asked. ¡°The rest of you will spread out through the laboratory, searching for cells or people being experimented on. Your goal is to do a quick sweep and record everything. On your way back, you can attempt to rescue people. Because of the size of the structure, we need a lot of people to cover the ground quickly.¡± ¡°There has to be more to this. You wouldn¡¯t be sending that many people for a stealth job,¡± Ziltan pressed. Ka¡¯mal sighed. ¡°I was going to wait to tell everyone, but you¡¯re right. We have reason to believe that all the Strength daemons are connected in a single network, so by destroying their containment cells, we expect to be able to destroy all Soldiers of Strength in one blow.¡± ¡°Why the secrecy? We¡¯re already here,¡± Roan frowned. ¡°Because we still don¡¯t know if that¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. We don¡¯t know the ramifications of killing all the Strength daemons. It¡¯s possible that everyone connected to them will die as well. The Alliance is waiting on a decision from the Council. But even if they decide against it, the large number of people is intended to help rescue as many prisoners as possible,¡± Ka¡¯mal explained, his voice showing how much he was struggling with the information. ¡°So the Alliance is going to decide who lives and who dies?¡± Neria asked. ¡°After the last battle, where the humans nearly reached the Beastmen capital, yes. The situation has become one of sacrificing the few to save the many. It didn¡¯t help that every person we saved told us they were constantly begging to die while connected to a Strength daemon,¡± Ka¡¯mal continued. There was a long pause as everyone processed the information. If they were going to kill all the Soldiers of Strength like that, it would come at a heavy price. ¡°Ka¡¯mal, that still doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re suggesting she¡¯s the one to take that job,¡± Blade said, turning to Hera. ¡°I mean no offense, but you don¡¯t look strong enough to handle whatever might be in that separate area.¡± ¡°What level are you?¡± Hera asked Blade. ¡°High 70s.¡± The Empress nodded. ¡°Okay then. I¡¯m level 58. Let¡¯s spar.¡± ¡°What?¡± Blade looked surprised. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what I just said? I¡¯m almost level 80.¡± ¡°I did. I¡¯m assuming you have no idea what I can do. And I¡¯m guessing you wanted to go to that area yourself. Instead of arguing back and forth, it¡¯s easier for you to see it firsthand. For the record, I don¡¯t think I will be able to win. But you might be surprised at how close the fight can get,¡± Hera turned to Ka¡¯mal. ¡°Do we have an arena here?¡± The elf sighed. ¡°Yeah, follow me. I knew this kind of thing would happen, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be the first one to ask for it.¡± 969 - Its time to d-d-d-duel Ka''mal led the group down a side corridor to a wide, open area that could be used as an arena. It was originally meant to be a place to test various abilities and, to a certain degree, the teamwork of those involved in the operation. The elf was under no illusion that people wouldn''t end up sparring in this arena, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to happen so quickly. Everyone gathered behind the protective glass to watch the fight while Hera and Blade walked to opposite ends of the room. "I hope you understand I wasn¡¯t trying to offend you. I just don¡¯t believe you are strong enough to handle this task," Blade spoke up. Hera raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you¡¯ve got to hear how that sounds, right? It¡¯s the most backhanded way of saying I¡¯m weak. But don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t care about that. Honestly, if you think you¡¯re better suited for this part of the mission, I¡¯m fine with you going. We should send the person with the best odds of getting the job done. But I¡¯m not sure you¡¯re the right person for that either." Blade frowned. "And why not?" "Because the way you¡¯re acting, I¡¯m assuming you didn¡¯t even read my file." "What file?" Hera rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Do you really expect me to believe that an intelligence agency doesn¡¯t have files with the abilities of everyone who works for them? And that you didn¡¯t go through mine once we were called for this mission?" "I don¡¯t have any file. And it¡¯s really sad that you¡¯re so distrusting that you think the Agency keeps files on everyone," Blade huffed. "Actually, the Agency does keep files on everyone who works here. It¡¯s part of the deal. But we don¡¯t share those files with anyone unless we either have the authorization of the person in the file or their abilities are specifically relevant to the mission. In this case, the only thing I told them was that you have your snakes, Hera," Ka''mal explained through the intercom. Hera frowned and turned back to Blade. "So you didn¡¯t even read my file." "No," Blade said, looking vindicated. "That¡¯s even worse. You didn¡¯t read my file, you didn¡¯t use [Observe], or at least, I couldn¡¯t tell if you did, and you just assumed I was weak." "I didn¡¯t assume anything. I can tell you¡¯re weaker than me. Once you reach a certain degree of mana sensitivity, you¡¯re able to tell without using any skills." "Oh, I understand that. I can tell you¡¯re much stronger than I am. I can also tell that you¡¯re stronger than Ziltan, who¡¯s stronger than Ka''mal. But I can also tell that the difference in strength between you and Ziltan isn¡¯t as big as the difference between Ziltan and Ka''mal. Trust me, mana sensitivity is kind of my thing. But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you took a cursory glance and decided I wasn¡¯t fit for the job without knowing my skill set or anything about me, really. That shows a lack of foresight and critical thinking that might be a problem for a solo mission. And I mean no offense by this. Maybe you¡¯re just having a bad day, or you want revenge for some reason, or there¡¯s someone in there you want to save. I don¡¯t know, but that doesn¡¯t justify acting like that." "The Guild tricked me, tricked us, into attacking the centaurs. After that, they arrested everyone. I was able to escape, but here¡¯s the thing. No one has been admitted to a prison. But no one knows where those prisoners are. There¡¯s every possibility that the people I fought with, the people who were by my side, are all being experimented on. Or worse. So yeah, I do have some emotional attachment to this. If that area is more well-protected, maybe that¡¯s where they¡¯re being kept," Blade said, her voice rising. Her yell wasn¡¯t directed at Hera but at the situation itself. The Empress gave her a nod. "That¡¯s understandable. And that¡¯s even more reason why you shouldn¡¯t let your emotions guide you now. What if they are there, and because you got distracted, you fail to notice a guard or someone triggering a deadman switch that kills everyone?" "And you¡¯re saying you¡¯d be able to notice something like that?" "If I¡¯m more likely to stay focused, then yes." "Fine then," Blade said, drawing her sword. "Let¡¯s see if you can beat me." Hera sighed. "I don''t think that I can beat you. But I do think you¡¯re going to struggle more than you expect." She created a venomous longsword, a weapon very similar to the one Blade was wielding. Her Court was still inside her legacy. Not because the Ophidianite intended to fight without them, but to use their presence as a surprise tactic. "Before you start, just a reminder. The arena has placed a barrier around each of you. If the barrier gets broken, you lose. No arguments, no second chances. This is supposed to be a spar, not a death match," Ka''mal¡¯s voice came through the intercom once more. "Are you two ready?" "Yes," both replied at the same time. "Then fight!" Ka''mal shouted, signaling the start of the duel. The initial moments were completely still. The warriors measured their opponent, waiting to see who would make the first move. For what felt like an eternity, not just to Hera, but also to those watching, the two women simply stared at each other. After a very long 40 seconds, there was a change. A minor one. The Empress noticed a small wobble in the mana surrounding Blade. It was such a subtle movement that most would chalk it up to interference or their own poor proficiency in sensing mana. Moving on instinct, the Ophidianite shifted her body to the side and raised her sword to block an attack she wasn¡¯t even sure was coming. The two longswords collided, the impact so strong it almost sent Hera flying backward. The only reason she wasn¡¯t pushed away was her tail, which provided the necessary support to withstand the blow.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Blade raised an eyebrow, surprised by the reaction. She hadn¡¯t attacked with her full strength. After all, Hera was more than 20 levels weaker than her, but she still hadn¡¯t expected the Ophidianite to block the attack. Taking advantage of her opponent¡¯s hesitation, the Empress flipped backward, kicking Blade away. Her tail worked as an anchor so she wouldn¡¯t fall, and as the extra appendage left the ground, Pyro appeared on its tip. The tail blade slashed at the fighter known as the Blade of Dawn. The woman jumped back, evading the attack completely. She now noticed that Hera had a tiara on her head, which hadn¡¯t been there previously. However, her confusion was overshadowed by what the Ophidianite was doing. Hera unhinged her jaw and let her fangs pop out as if she was about to spray poison on her opponent. Blade held her sword in front of her, keeping the flat side facing the Empress. The weapon began to heat up with radiant energy, preparing to form a shield to protect against the presumed attack. But instead, Hera created a flashbang spell inside her mouth. A cone of light burst from her jaws, like something out of an old monster movie. Blade had not expected this kind of attack and instinctively looked away. It was just for a moment, but it was enough for the entire court to appear in their weapon forms. When the human regained her vision, she found herself surrounded by floating armaments. "What the¡­" Blade mumbled just before the weapons charged at her. She blocked, parried, and dodged as fast as she could, but some blows still landed on her, causing her barrier to shimmer as tiny webs of flames wrapped around her. Hera didn¡¯t wait idly while her court attacked. She joined the assault, slashing at Blade with both Pyro, still attached to her tail, and her venomous longsword. The Ophidianite was considering that this was a fight simulating conditions inside the lab. This meant she had to be careful with noise, her mana, and the cooldown of her skills. The flashbang she had used was already pushing the limits of what would be too much. Hoop came flying horizontally, spinning in a wide arc. Though he was far from reaching the maximum stacks of [Momentum Mastery], his speed had already increased considerably. Slamming into Blade¡¯s legs, he managed to sweep her off her feet. As the human was airborne, Viper and Crimson shifted into their titled forms. Crimson wrapped herself around Blade¡¯s right arm, preventing her from wielding her longsword effectively, while Viper coiled around her legs to stop her from regaining her footing. The human was unable to recover from the fall, landing hard on her back. As she hit the ground, she saw Forge, who had transformed from a forging hammer into an anthropomorphic kangaroo, land feet-first on her chest. Forge immediately jumped back, giving Livy and Lurize room to bring down their weapons. The Zweihander and the war axe slammed into Blade¡¯s chest, causing her to snarl before disappearing in a flash of light. She reappeared a few meters away, surrounded by a glowing radiance. The entire court jumped to intercept her, but this time she was ready. She deflected the floating weapons with bursts of radiant sunlight that looked like miniature solar flares erupting from the air. It was a very different interpretation of Sun¡¯s skill and one that worked brilliantly. When the titled blades stepped in, Blade blocked their attacks herself. Her movements were so precise and fast that it was hard to believe she was wielding only a single sword. She used every part of the weapon, from the tip of the blade to the handle and even the pommel, moving fluidly to counter the incoming attacks. Hera rushed toward Blade, prepared to use a Break Combo. With a common weapon, the damage would be minimal, but she could quickly create another and continue the fight without issue. However, this time, it was Hera who failed to anticipate her opponent¡¯s move. Blade lunged with a stab, missing the Empress by only a few centimeters. The tip of Blade¡¯s sword hovered in the air, directly in front of Hera¡¯s eyes. Blade activated a spell called Blinding Sun. The light was so intense that Hera¡¯s ears began ringing as her mind struggled to process the overwhelming sensory input from her eyes. The same effect struck the entire court, even those who had their eyes closed or were looking away. Despite being blinded, Nimbus quickly deployed several barriers around the Empress, hoping to block any incoming attacks. It wasn¡¯t enough. Blade triggered a skill called Ray of Sunshine, which imbued her weapon with radiant light and allowed her to deliver a rapid succession of powerful strikes. This skill was a lesser version of her signature ability, but using her full power would likely have broken the arena¡¯s barrier and left Hera in critical condition. As Nimbus¡¯s mana shields shattered under the relentless blows, the rest of the Court continued their attacks. They were able to sense mana through the Empress, which allowed them to target Blade even without seeing her. Blade ignored their attacks and pressed on, taking the hits without diminishing the power behind her own strikes. On the fifth blow, the barrier around Hera shattered, sending her crashing to the ground. Everyone froze as Ka''mal¡¯s voice rang through the intercom. "Stop. The fight is over. Blade is the winner." The human took a few deep breaths before sheathing her sword and extending a hand to help Hera up. "I underestimated you, even if you cheated." She turned to Ka''mal. "I thought you said only one person was going through that air vent." "I did. That is why Hera is the better choice," Ka''mal replied. Blade frowned and turned back to Hera, who smiled. "Technically, this was a one-on-one fight. My Court is part of my legacy. They are sentient weapons that can take their own forms and act independently." "Oh, shit. So you¡¯re literally a one-woman army?" "I think we¡¯re more like a one-woman squad. Maybe a battalion if Hera uses a specific skill," Livy added. "I see why Ka''mal suggested you take the mission now. It might actually work," Blade nodded. "That is exactly why I said it!" Ka''mal exclaimed. "Also, Blade, your barrier was about halfway to breaking. Sure, it only took you a couple of swings to break Hera¡¯s, but you took a lot more damage. She can handle herself just fine. In addition, you are the strongest member of this team, so my idea was for you to act as bait. If we show the lab personnel that you are the bigger threat, they will send their strongest guards after you, leaving Hera to deal with the ones left behind." Blade paused, staring at the elf through the glass for a moment. "Why didn¡¯t you say that sooner? That¡¯s actually a good plan. We wouldn¡¯t have needed to do all this." "You didn¡¯t let me finish!" Ka''mal snapped. The entire court laughed at the elf¡¯s exasperation before Hera turned to Blade. "So? Are we okay with these roles? I¡¯m fine if I¡¯m not the one going through the vents." "Yeah, that might work. And I do agree that having a group go there is better than sending just one person. You know, this plan is really starting to take shape. We might actually complete this mission without any problems!" Blade smiled excitedly. Hera, her Court, and the entirety of the Harmony Guardians let out loud groans. "She had to say it," Flint grumbled. "I know. We are screwed now," Skyler sighed. "I¡¯ll start making some potions. We are definitely going to need them," Neria said, heading back to the main room. "What did I do?" Blade asked with a confused expression. "You raised a flag," Hera replied. 970 - Preparation Once the duel was over, everyone headed back to the central room. They still had a day without any additional arrivals, and another two before the full team was assembled. This meant that, for the rest of the day, they could rest and prepare for the operation. In Hera''s case, this meant talking with Blade. During the fight, the human had used a flashbang spell that was far more powerful than the one the Empress could use. Hera wanted to talk about that and see if there was anything she could do to improve her own abilities. Blade was also a seasoned veteran who had earned a nickname from the Guild long before Hera had even begun her journey inside the MAZE. Meaning she would likely have invaluable advice for the Empress, if she was willing to help. Still, Hera did not rush to talk to the human. They had just fought, and both needed a moment to rest. This time, Ziltan took charge of the bar. And as much as the Ophidianite did not like the man, she had to admit he was a damn good bartender. Neria was on the other side of the room, near the kitchen, with a tablet open beside her as the Triton went through various materials laid out on the counter. "Hey, is everything okay?" Hera asked as she approached. "Yeah. I am just seeing what I can use here to make potions. Ka''mal already knows what I needed, but it is going to take a while before he can get everything. So, I figured I would try to make some makeshift stuff to get a head start." "Is that a good idea? I mean, anything you make now will not help during the operation, will it? Also, why are you the one making potions? Do not get me wrong, but we are in the Intelligence Agency. It is one of the best-supplied organizations in the entire Alliance. They should have a few excellent apothecaries on the payroll," Hera frowned. "I know. I just need to do something. Also, I had an idea. What if I can make a potion that counteracts the strength mana?" "That is an interesting thought. Are you going to use the basis of that liquid they kept the strength spirits in?" Neria stared at Hera for a moment. "I did not think about that, but yeah, that is a great idea. After that, I was hoping Vulcan could help me test some stuff about the strength healing potion I was working on." "Okay. So, what are you going to do?" Hera asked. "I just told you. First, I am going to make the potions or antidote against the Soldiers of Strength. Then I am going to finish the strength healing potion with Vulcan''s help." Hera sighed. "Neria, look. You are not going to do both of those things. I mean that in the kindest way possible. You have been trying to figure out the strength healing for a few weeks now. And now you are talking about creating something completely new that acts like a temporary antidote or a neutralizer. You are amazing, you are a great healer, and I know you could do both if you had time and resources. But right now, you only have one of those. We''re leaving in two, maybe three, days. I honestly don''t think you''ll be able to complete both of those ideas before we have to go. Doing one of them will already cut it close." The Triton paused, turning to the Empress with a shocked expression. But that expression quickly shifted. Neria stayed quiet for a few moments before sighing. "Yeah, you''re right. I need to focus on one thing specifically. If it works and I have time, I can try the other. Thank you. I think I''m just worried." "You don''t have to explain yourself. The only reason I''m not freaking out right now is because I just let off some steam in the fight," Hera said, pointing to the door that led to the arena. "But we need to be careful. Let''s not think about this as the mission to end the war. It''s just another job we have to do. No pressure. No high stakes." Hera spoke louder than she needed to, hoping the others were listening, and took the hint. Everyone needed to bring their best to the operation, and if they got stressed out now, they would all be too tired when it mattered most. "That''s a good call. I''m going to check the bedrooms later," Neria said, leaning closer to Hera and whispering, "Maybe if we have some privacy, you can help me let off some steam." A moment after she said that, a message appeared on her tablet from Ka''mal. ''If you are going to bang, do it today. Starting tomorrow, people will be sharing dormitories. And yes, I know this feels intrusive. I didn''t want to hear you two talking about that, but everyone here has good hearing, and you said it right after Hera made a point to get everyone¡¯s attention.'' Neria turned purple, and Hera noticed Flint and Skyler shaking their heads with small smiles. The Empress chuckled and wrote on Neria''s tablet: "Later?" The Triton nodded before asking Vulcan for help. She had decided to focus on her ongoing project rather than starting a new one. Hera called Forge and told him what was happening before splitting off to talk to Blade. "Hey, Hera. I don''t think I said this before, but it''s very nice to meet you. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier," Blade said with a smile, raising her glass filled with a drink that was a mix of orange and blue. "You whooped my ass. I think that was a pretty good introduction," Hera chuckled. Before she could say anything else, Ziltan passed her a glass of wine.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Thank you," Hera said. "You''re welcome. I enjoy making cocktails, but I don''t know your taste, so I''m not going to take a chance here." "Wine is perfect. I only go for fruity drinks when I''m relaxing," Hera said, taking a sip. "That feels a bit like a waste, but you do you," Ziltan shrugged and walked away from the bar. "Either way, that was the last drink I''m serving for now. Anyone else who wants one is free to come here and make them themselves." Hera turned back to Blade, leaving the elf alone. "I know you must be tired, but do you have a moment to talk about the duel?" "Oh, I¡¯m not tired. Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Blade asked. "A couple of things, but first, that flashbang spell you used. What was that? It was very different from the one I used against you." Blade nodded. "Yeah. From what I saw, I assume you¡¯re using some sort of light-based spell as the core for your flashbang." Hera took another sip of wine. "It started off as a basic light spell, something to illuminate a dark place. The idea was just to make it brighter." "Exactly. That is not the best way to go about it. Do not get me wrong, the effects are great. The flash really messed me up for a moment, but you had to protect yourself from the light, didn¡¯t you?" Blade asked. "I did, and it did not feel as strong as yours. When I use mine, I just blind people. You messed with my head." "That is because the fundamentals of the spells are different. Yours creates a flash of light. Blinding someone is not the main objective of the spell, just an added effect. The primary function of your spell is to illuminate a wide area, even if you are not using it for that. Because of the elemental base behind it, that is what happens." Hera listened intently. "So, the intent is the problem. Even if the idea behind the spell was to blind people, since the base of the spell was designed for something else, the effect does not go beyond the basics." "Sort of. You can make something better, but you need to tweak the spell. I could tell it was very basic. I''m assuming it is an intermediate spell at most." "It''s novice, actually," Hera admitted. "Oh, girl. Yeah, that''s not going to cut it. It''s too basic. If you want a more advanced effect, you need to modify the spell further. Combine it with another element or add more effects. You cannot expect a spell that simple to do more than the basics." Hera paused, realizing a big mistake she had been making. Aside from a few buffs, she had not attempted to improve most of her spells. The only truly advanced ones she had created were Pool of Styx, Shroud of Tartarus, and Elemental Poison Storm. Those spells were much more complex than anything else in her arsenal. However, complexity did not always mean better, and she knew that. Even simpler spells, like Poison Needle, were using techniques she had long since outgrown. Yet she had continued using the same obsolete spells without considering how to improve them. "Holy shit," Hera gasped. "By the look on your face, I''m guessing you just realized that most of your spells are outdated," Blade said with a smirk. "Yeah. And it''s not like I stopped making new spells. I created a few really good ones, but even one of those is kind of old now. I should be able to make better versions of them at this point." Blade smiled. "I''m happy to help. If you want, I could give you the code for Blinding Sun. That''s the name of the spell you asked about." "I appreciate it, but I''m a conceptual mage. The code will not help me much." "Then you are on your own. I have no idea how you do magic, and honestly, it doesn''t make sense to me. You say you are a conceptual mage, and you don''t need codes or math, but you still use spell circles, runes, and things like that. What''s up with that?" Hera shrugged. "I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s just how it works for me. But if you don¡¯t mind, there was something else I was hoping you could help with." "Sure. It¡¯s not like I have anything better to do." Hera gestured for Nimbus to come closer. "This is Nimbus. He is my first titled blade, meaning the first member of my Court who got a body. My Court are the weapons that fight with me. Those are the names the legacy gave them, not me, just to be clear. Anyway, he had some questions about that barrier you created, the one that parried their attacks. Could you show it to him again or explain how it works? We are hoping it''s a spell, not a skill, so he can try to make something similar." "I would really appreciate your help. As the Sentinel, my job is to protect Hera and the rest of the Court. A power like that would make a big difference. I can create mana shields, but they don''t have the same versatility as the flares you used," Nimbus added. Blade stared at the bipedal griffon in front of her, wide-eyed. "You really are independent, aren¡¯t you?" "I am, but I do have some limitations. I cannot stay too far away from Hera, for instance. And except for a few unique circumstances, I''m unable to learn new skills. Spells, on the other hand, are a different story. That''s why I am hoping you can help." Blade downed her drink. "I won¡¯t say no to that. Especially because I kind of want to see you figure out a new spell. That flare is a mix. It is a spell I attached to one of my skills." She frowned. "No, that¡¯s not a great way to describe it. It''s a spell I made to interact with the skill. I can''t just use the skill and have the spell appear automatically, but if I activate them at the same time, they work in tandem." "That sounds fascinating. Do you mind if I join?" Viper appeared behind Nimbus, startling the griffon slightly. "Sure. The more the merrier. Actually, no. I think three is my limit. If too many people join, I''ll feel like I¡¯m teaching a class, and I''m not doing that again," Blade said, shaking her head. Hera noticed Lurize was about to ask if he could join, but pulled back after Blade spoke. The Empress smiled. "Would you be okay with teaching, or at least showing, how to do that to Nimbus, Viper, and Lurize?" She pointed to each of them to make sure Blade knew their names. "The stuff about spells made me think, and I really want to work on my own ideas." Blade nodded. "Do they all have that distance restriction?" Hera turned to the trio and gave them a Royal Quest. Everyone else found the sight odd. The three kneeling and kissing her hand, but once it was done, she turned back to Blade. "Not anymore. Sorry about the theatrics. The skill that lets them move freely needs that kind of ritual." With a chuckle, Blade started walking back to the arena. "Don¡¯t worry about it. I have a skill that requires me to say its name out loud to activate it. It sucks, especially because it¡¯s my strongest skill. Now come on, boys." She paused, looking at the trio. "Actually, are you boys? Never mind. That sounds like a can of worms I don¡¯t want to open. Let¡¯s get started." "Tell me how all of that works later," the Empress told the trio telepathically. She figured Blade would understand that the weapons could share the information with her, but it felt rude to say it out loud. While they worked, Hera turned her attention to her own task. She wanted to remake some of her older spells to make them more powerful. 971 - Upgraded Spells For the next couple of days, Blade kept teaching Hera¡¯s Court how to connect spells and skills. The process was simple in theory¡ªall it required was copying the mana signature from the skill into the spell. But that was nowhere near as simple as it sounded. The problem wasn¡¯t just copying the signature, but finding it in the first place. Skills behaved differently than spells. The way they interacted with magic wasn¡¯t through any kind of rune or spell circle; it was something much more fundamental, almost primal. Understanding how a skill activated was akin to understanding a law of nature. It was possible, of course. Throughout history, many people had discovered various laws of nature. But it had never been easy. This meant that for every skill, they would need to make a similar discovery before they could seamlessly connect a skill and a spell together. When it came time to leave, as all the participants in the operation had arrived, the trio had barely made progress in their studies. Lurize and Viper were still stuck in the discovery stage, trying to understand the patterns created by their skills. Nimbus was a little ahead. He still couldn¡¯t fully understand his [Mana Shield], but he could now make it so a couple of spells he cast afterward would gravitate toward his barrier. While the titled blades were essentially trying to draw water from a stone, Hera was a dam that had burst open. The Empress wasn¡¯t trying to do the same thing. The moment she heard Blade¡¯s explanation, it became clear to her that mixing spells and skills like that was extremely difficult. Even without knowing all the details of how it worked, she already believed it wasn¡¯t something she could grasp in just a few days. Instead, the Ophidianite focused on reviewing her spells, trying to identify areas she could improve. The first one she tackled was, of course, Poison Needle. It was the spell she used the most, aside from her buffs, and one of her oldest. Using a notebook she got from Ka''mal, Hera wrote down all the pieces of the spell. The first step was identifying the parts of the spell she already knew how to improve. This transformed Poison Needle into Poison Arrow, a larger version of the spell that required slightly more mana but was several times more powerful. Despite what one might assume, the reason for the increase in power wasn¡¯t just the size. Hera condensed the poison, making the single arrow contain five times the volume of its original shape. That alone was a major upgrade, but the Empress wasn¡¯t satisfied. Moving to the second step, she started tweaking areas of the spell she wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to improve. Her focus was on two specific aspects of the attack: its trajectory and the effects of the poison. A large part of the spell¡¯s power came from Poison Control, another spell she used to manipulate the effects of the poison once it entered a target. Since she could also use Poison Control to increase the amount of poison inside a target¡¯s body, she had overlooked an important factor¡ªhow much poison was wasted when she converted it after hitting the target. By preparing the spell with the specific type of poison she wanted beforehand, the final effect would be far more powerful. Once that issue was solved, Poison Arrow became Poison Talon. This new spell allowed her to imbue it with any type of poison she wanted, as long as she knew how to create it, and even increase the potency of the venom. She still had the option of using Poison Control later to modify how the poison behaved. Feeling like she was on a roll, Hera also worked to tweak the spell¡¯s possible trajectory. Her aim was good, but there were times when a monster moved too fast for her to land the poison. Fighting in a group also presented problems. Without a clear shot, she risked harming one of her allies. To address this, she tried to create a guiding system for the spell¡ªsomething that would allow it to curve to hit the target or veer away from someone she didn¡¯t want to harm. Surprisingly, this ended up being easier than expected. All she had to do was add the rune for ¡°snake¡± to the spell. There was an intrinsic synergy between poison and snakes, which made perfect sense. Snakes were the most venomous animals in the world. Some might argue that cone snails deserved the title since, unlike snakes, they didn¡¯t have non-venomous variations. Still, if anyone were to think about poisonous animal, which was the most common way of saying it even if it was wrong, people would think about snakes. With just a few more minor adjustments, Hera developed the final form of her upgraded spell. She called it Poison Fang. Casting it would fire a pair of fangs made entirely of poison, which would clamp down on the target. The spell could also angle and curve mid-flight. There were some limitations on how much it could adjust its path, but it would easily track any target as long as it didn''t have to shift more than 30 degrees. At once. Additionally, if Hera poured enough mana into the spell, its form would evolve. Instead of just the fangs, the bones of a snake¡¯s jaw would materialize. At even higher mana levels, a full snake skull would appear, the entire construct made of concentrated poison. In this case, the spell would deliver all of its venom into the target upon impact, along with an empowered initial strike. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poison Fang Rank: Advance Creates a pair of fangs capable of delivering poison mana to a target. Creatures struck by that projectile can become poisoned. The amount of mana spent on the spell increases the amount of poison and the damage dealt by the initial impact. Poison Fang is capable of correcting its course in order to hit the desired target as long as the target is whiting 10 meters of caster.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Range: 40 meters Base mana cost: 3 500 mana ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite all the changes, the base cost of the spell only increased by 100 times. To Hera, it was wild to think that someone like her, who had millions of mana available, was still using a spell that only cost 35. After finishing that first upgrade, the Empress went into a frenzy, doing the same thing with various other spells she had yet to look at. Her Fire Spray became Flamethrower. Since the base for her fire spells was her poison, the flames stuck to the target. But she decided this wouldn¡¯t be a spell she¡¯d use against a person¡ªit felt too much like a war crime. Next, she turned to Spore Field. It was originally just something that made people sneeze, but by changing the type of spore present in the area, the spell became Fungal Spread. The new version could not only cause allergic reactions, but also had a minor paralytic effect. Hera did attempt to make the spell capable of controlling someone¡¯s body¡ªeven if just for forcing involuntary reflexes¡ªbut it quickly became clear that was still beyond her capabilities. Pulse, the spell she used to better understand her surroundings, received a minor overhaul that changed it from a single active effect to a rhythmic, constant spread. It was now called Sonar and worked exactly like one. The only problem was that it still didn¡¯t provide much information about whatever it found. Hera only got a loose idea of the shapes of objects hit by the mana pulses, and any spells being cast in the area caused interference. Unfortunately, the results felt underwhelming, especially since her Relic had a similar effect that was far more powerful, though it didn¡¯t detect living creatures. Some of her old spells¡ªspells she didn¡¯t even remember until she opened the file where she had noted them down at the start of her journey as an explorer¡ªreceived straightforward upgrades. This was mostly because she hadn¡¯t used them enough to develop a clear sense of what she could do differently. Mend, a very basic healing spell, became Heal, which had the same effect but was significantly more powerful. Bark Skin, one of her first defensive buffs designed to make her skin sturdier, was adapted to her current form, turning into Adamant Scales. The basic concept remained the same, increasing her durability, but now it affected her scales, which were already resilient by nature. Fire Arrow had a bigger change. Hera felt that Poison Fang already covered her need for a quiet single-target attack, so she changed Fire Arrow into something that packed more of a punch. Thus, Flaming Cannon was born. A spell that hurled a large fireball, which exploded on impact. Another spell she updated was one she had promised never to use: Mana Burn. By itself, it was simply torture, requiring constant physical contact, which wasn¡¯t practical in a fight. Using the core idea as a base, Hera reduced the intensity of the effect and made it so she only needed to stay near the target for it to continue. The resulting spell, Burning Agony, caused anyone affected to feel as though they were poking an open wound whenever they used mana. It was annoying and painful, but not impossible to overcome. Not like the Mana Burn, where you had just to accept the pain and pray it would end soon. With Poison Spray, Hera tried something different. Using the same idea she had with Poison Fang¡ªadding the rune for "snake" along with the concept of hunting¡ªshe created Snakes of Venom. When casting this spell, snake constructs would appear and chase her targets. If they got close enough, they would bite, turning into a poison that directly affected the victim. But unfortunately, Hera had been spoiled by the snakes from her bracelet. Unlike those, the constructs from Snakes of Venom followed her commands to the letter, even to their detriment. She couldn¡¯t alter their behavior either. Once they were created and the orders were given, that was that. The only spell she created completely from scratch was one to replace her flashbang. With Daskka¡¯s help, she developed a mist that could irritate a person¡¯s eyes to the point of temporary blindness. While it didn¡¯t cause true blindness, it unfocused their vision completely. As if they really needed glasses but didn''t have them on. It made it so seeing during a fight became almost impossible. Having this spell take the form of a mist also eliminated the problem of attracting attention with a bright light. To make it even better, Daskka was able to incorporate it into her own forms. The last spell Hera upgraded during those two days was Elemental Poison Storm, the newest spell of the bunch. Instead of letting the rain fall randomly from the sky, Hera attached parts of the Poison Control spell to allow her to move the droplets around herself. The end result was almost like a snow globe¡ªa swirling area around the Empress where countless droplets of poison, imbued with elemental effects, spun rapidly in all directions. This change forced her to remove the completely random elemental effects originally created by the spell, as the lack of direction caused too many problems for practical use. Now, the droplets were imbued only with a few basic elements: fire, water, wind, earth, and electricity. The change was so significant that the spell earned a new name, Quetzalcoatl¡¯s Wrath. It also became the first spell Hera had ever created to reach the expert rank. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quetzalcoatl¡¯s Wrath Expert Rank Drops of poison float around you, rapidly circling and striking anyone who enters the area. Each droplet is imbued with one of the following elements: fire, water, wind, earth, or electricity. Targets hit by the droplets take increased damage and become more susceptible to the elemental effects they were hit by. Ophidianite Variant This spell was created with Ophidianite poison, increasing the poison¡¯s strength by 60% and reducing mana usage by 30%. Anyone who possesses the Ophidianite Poison skill takes 25% less damage from this spell for each rank of the Ophidianite Poison skill. Someone with a rank 4 Ophidianite Poison skill is immune to the effects of this spell. Someone with a rank 5 Ophidianite Poison skill receives a 10% buff to their attributes while under the storm. This buff increases by 10% for each rank above 5. Base radius: 20 meters Base mana cost: 125,000 mana/s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Even the variation became more powerful. Making it even easier for Ophidianites to stay under it without getting hurt. And that was the last spell Hera was able to improve before they had to gather for the final meeting. In just a few hours, the operation would begin. 972- Vital Information "Okay everyone, settle down. This is the last meeting we''re going to have before you leave. I''m not going to go over the plan again since everybody''s already sick of hearing it, but I am going to talk about the expected threats you''re going to find in the lab," Ka''mal said as he walked into the room where all 20 members of the assault team were gathered. It was the second time he was doing that. After the last members arrived, he explained the plan to everyone. After that was done they stopped for lunch before continuing. It took a few moments for everyone to assemble, including those who had been in the dormitories, the bathroom, or the training area. Eventually, though, everyone was seated in the central room, facing the large monitor. There were only two other individual teams aside from the Harmony Guardians. The first to arrive was a seven-member group called the Wandering Scale. Meeting Hera drove them nuts, since she was the only one who actually had scales. They specialized in adaptive combat and unconventional tactics¡ªbasically the kind of people you called when you had no idea what you were walking into and needed people who could think outside the box. The second team, Stormcrest Company, had five members. Their focus was on defensive formations and precision operations, almost the opposite of the Wandering Scale. They were the types to create a plan, follow it to the letter, and make sure no variables interfered with the mission. Seeing those two groups so adjusted and confident in their own specialties made the Harmony Guardians slightly uncomfortable. Unlike the other two teams, they didn¡¯t have a specific skill set. As Flint would say, they were just "a bunch of morons in over their heads who have no idea what they¡¯re doing." On the other hand, according to Vash, there was something called "failing upwards," meaning succeeding through mistakes that somehow worked out. Ka''mal walked over to the monitor. "What I''m sharing with you is the most up-to-date information we have, but don¡¯t expect it to be completely accurate. It¡¯s very likely things have changed since we got this. Even if we had obtained this information today, always consider it incomplete." He glanced up from his tablet and froze. "Why are there a bunch of equations written on the wall?" he asked, turning to the large team. "Oh! Sorry. I did that," a dwarf with a prosthetic left arm and armor covered in gears spoke up. His name was Brok Anvilhand. "Why did you use the wall? We have a bunch of notebooks, and there¡¯s a whiteboard in the corner," Ka''mal said, pointing to the left side of the room. "I know, I know. I was sleepwalking when I did that," Brok said with a sheepish shrug. Ka''mal paused for a long moment before asking, "You do math when you¡¯re sleepwalking?" "Yeah. I know it¡¯s weird, but that¡¯s what happens ever since I was a kid," Brok replied. Ka''mal did a double take at the equation on the wall. "Is it at least correct?" "Not really. I messed up the order. I was supposed to first do what¡¯s inside the parenthesis, then the multiplication, and then the addition. But I canceled out the square root of 64 with the square root of minus 64, even though only one of them is being used for a straight addition. That made the whole thing wrong," Brok explained. "If you say so. I¡¯m not going to try to figure that one out," Ka''mal said as he tapped his tablet. An image of the lab¡¯s exterior appeared on the screen. It was hard to even call it an entrance. It looked like nothing more than a white pillar covered by moss standing in the middle of the jungle. "First things first, this is your destination¡ªthe entrance to the lab. We¡¯ve checked and confirmed that there¡¯s no other way inside. You should all be able to go in together. The problem here is the guards." Ka''mal shifted the image, now displaying a group photo of people in the Guild. "From what we know, the security of this place is being handled by a highly specialized group of former military personnel." The image changed again, showing a battalion of about ten people wearing camo and holding various types of weapons. "They used to be part of a special team¡ªthe kind that would only show up for black ops missions. They¡¯re also the kind of people no one would care about if they vanished, which tells you what kind of organization we¡¯re dealing with. We don¡¯t know specifics about their individual skills, but at least one of them has a group buff. It¡¯s a smaller-scale version of what Cyrus could do." "Wait. You¡¯re not actually saying that the legacy of one of the Nine Heroes is with them, are you?" Zephyr asked. The harpy, with multicolored feathers and ribbons attached to his long cornrows, wore a heavy frown on his face. "No. As far as we¡¯re aware, no one knows the whereabouts of Cyrus¡¯ legacy. What they do have is just something created with those powers in mind," Ka''mal replied. He tapped the screen again, bringing up a new image. It showed two Soldiers of Strength standing in the middle of an army, side-by-side with a comparison to two individuals from the previous photo. "We believe these two are not the only members of that group who became Soldiers of Strength. So expect that most, if not all, of them have similar powers." "Do we know their levels?" Skyler asked. "No concrete information, but we¡¯re assuming they¡¯re at least around level 60," Ka''mal answered. "Fuck," Blade gasped. "While being a Soldier of Strength they are supposed to be able to fight people 20 levels above them, right? So that would mean level 80. Aren''t most of the people here a bit under level for that?" Ka''mal shook his head. "We don''t expect all of them to be there at the same time. Like I said, they are working as guards in the facility, which means they should be working on shifts. In addition, everyone here has a history of being able to handle the Soldiers of Strength. Some overpowered them, others disrupted the effects surrounding them, and some specialized in fighting enemies stronger than them. The agency didn''t pick you because we consider you expendable. We called you because you are a group of people who have a high likelihood of winning this fight." "That doesn''t mean you wouldn''t be better if we had stronger people involved." "That is true, but if we waited, we would lose an opportunity that we''re going to have. Not to mention that we would have to remove people protecting key points around the MAZE and leave large holes in our defenses."Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "And what exactly is that opportunity? You mentioned it a few times but never really explained what''s going on," Selene, an elf from the Stormcrest Company with silver hair and a specific pattern of scars going across her arms, asked. "Wait. I didn''t say it?" Ka''mal frowned. Everyone shook their heads in response. "Oh, my bad. I honestly thought I had talked about this. According to a report, The New Dawn is preparing a big presentation of their newest ''weapon,'' which should be a new version of the Soldiers of Strength. How they are doing that, I don''t know. We were able to liberate the Strength Spirits but maybe they still have enough in storage to create more of those soldiers." "Either way, according to the information we have, they will be taking this enhanced version to a different place for the presentation. And there will be a detail made out of those same security guards accompanying the prototype. Which means they will have less people inside the lab giving us a better opportunity to strike. We expect that at least a third of the guards go to the presentation, but there is a world where we are only facing half of them inside the lab." Blade nodded. "Okay. That changes things. Twenty of us versus five or seven of them feels more doable." "Exactly. And aside from those guards, you should also expect more people working there. Probably scientists and possibly other guards that are not as high level. But I think the biggest issue will be the defenses of the facility itself. We have some blueprints that say they have robust lockdown protocols, which include closing the sequential corridors to stop anyone from getting in or out. But we do have an answer for that, don''t we?" Ka''mal turned to Grimm, a dwarf from the Wandering Scale. The man nodded with a smile, stroking his beard, that always seemed to be covered in soot. "You don''t have to worry about that, boss man. My Beatrice will be more than enough to open a hole in those walls. And if she can''t get the job done, they''ll have to face Penelope." "What?" Vash asked with a confused expression. He was not the only one as half the group was just staring at the dwarf. A beastman of tall stature with a mane of red coming not just from the top of his head but going around his face sighed. "Don''t worry about that. He is the demolition expert, but for some reason he names his explosives after his exes. According to him, the worse they hurt him, the better they explode. Whatever that means. I''m Raxus by the way. Leader of the Wandering Scale. Sorry for not introducing myself when I arrived, but I ate something that really didn''t sit well with me." "Speaking of which, Penelope is the worst one, isn''t she?" another elf, this one also from Wandering Scale with platinum blonde hair and wearing a set of black leather armor. "No, no. I think you are wrong Iris, the worst one was Josephine," Ivy, Iris''s twin sister who had the same platinum blonde hair and wore the same set of armor, replied. "You are both wrong," Grimm spoke up. "The worst one was Cassandra. But if I have to use her, not even the forest will be left standing." "Right... Anyway. Once you get there, you''ll be using a set of cloaks that will only last for a few hours. They are extremely powerful, super expensive, but because of the magic inside them being so strong, it will start to destroy the fabric as you walk around. It''s completely safe for you, but once the spells are active, you will have 149 minutes to reach the lab. That should be more than enough time to cover the distance from the outer layer of their patrols to the inside. But try not to take too long. The longer you have the cloaks on you, the better your chances are of reaching the prisoners inside without being seen." "Can''t we just take another set of cloaks, then? That way, we swap to the new one after the first gets spent," Hera asked. "Unfortunately, no. If there is another one of those cloaks being affected by the effects of the first one, they trigger a strange resonance and both are canceled out. The R&D department spent a long time working on these. And they are still upset to this day that they were unable to make the duration reach 150 minutes. And honestly I can''t blame them. It would piss me off," Ka''mal said. "Yeah, I get it," Flint nodded. "I think that''s about it, at least for the dangers in the lab. The rest is pretty standard. People trying to fight against you, lesser Soldiers of Strength that are not as high level. Anyone who is there getting the skills to become a Soldier of Strength can also be a problem," he paused, double checking the information on his table. "Actually, there''s one more thing. It says here that maybe Morgan Wabeeri, the chairman of The New Dawn, will be there for an inspection. But I don''t think he should cause any problems. I mean, the guy was level 30 the last time I heard anything about it." Hearing that name, Blade''s eyes turned sharp. "If he''s there, then we might have bigger problems." "What do you mean?" Neria turned to the human. "He was there when I stole the files. He kept taunting Romeo while we fought the Alpha and Beta. Something tells me that if he''s responsible for all that, he will also have some power." "He is also richer than the System. Isn''t he funding the entire war effort? I can only imagine what kind of gear someone with that kind of money would have," Kros, a beastman with gray fur and a scar over his left eye, said. "Frostbite might also be a problem. She was there during the assault on the centaur homeland. During the fight, I killed their Chieftain, and they had a legacy. But the Legacy also came with a wendigo skill. I couldn''t handle the idea of having something like that and gave the Legacy to her. And before anyone calls me stupid, trust me, I know. But at the time, I didn''t know she would betray us and capture everyone involved in the assault. Later, I discovered that she is not exactly Morgan''s right arm, but she''s one of his favorite goons," Blade explained. "Do you remember anything about the legacy?" Ka''mal asked. "Only that it was about tattoos. Each tattoo gave a specific kind of power. And the older the tattoo, the longer it would take for me to get access to the skill behind it. The wendigo tattoo is the only one I remember. It could take people''s abilities as long as I ate them. It felt sickening." "What?!" the Harmony Guardians and Ka''mal gasped. "What?" Blade asked back. "Tattoos that give power? And one that can take someone''s powers away? Why did you never say anything about that?" Ka''mal asked. "I told people that I gave her a legacy, but the specifics weren''t relevant. Especially since I barely understood what it did," Blade defended herself. "Are you kidding me? Did you read the file about the Soldiers of Strength?" Ka''mal gasped. "I did. What about it?" "And even after seeing that the tattoos connect them to the people who are bound to daemons, you didn''t think you should say anything about it?" Ka''mal pressed. "I saw that there was something about tattoos, but I figured it was just about identifying them. But since their skin is red, there''s no need to worry about what''s on their bodies, so I just skipped that part." "You have got to be kidding me. If that was just to identify them, why would we make a new part of the file specific about tattoos if we already had one about appearance?" Blade shrugged. "I don''t know. This is an intelligence agency. I thought you would just say everything you knew." While that was going on, the Harmony Guardians were all staring at Hera and Vash. They had questions, but it was clear that the two were already thinking about something. "Fuck, that might be it," the Empress finally said. "Yeah," Vash nodded with wide eyes. "If that''s how they''re making them. That''s it." Ka''mal heard the commotion and turned to the two. "I was about to ask you. Is this as big as I think it is?" Hera nodded. "It should be. Just so everyone understands, Vash and I have legacies. We were asking our Heralds about this. If the Soldiers of Strength are being created with the help of a legacy, and that legacy is in any shape or form actively interacting with the connection between the humans and our people, the moment someone else takes the legacy, that effect will be gone." "Does that change the operation, then?" Brok asked. Ka''mal frowned. "I don''t know. It''s still possible that the Legacy just helped them create the tattoos, not that it''s actively doing something. I should talk to my superiors, but they''re going to take ages to come up with a decision." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know what? Fuck it. I''m adding a priority target to the mission. If you find Frostbite, or whoever the fuck has that legacy right now, kill them. Even if it changes nothing, we are at least taking a big piece off the board." With that, the meeting was over, but instead of creating more anxiety and worry about the upcoming operation, the entire team had renewed dedication. After all, as long as they were able to get rid of the Soldiers of Strength, the war would shift in their favor. 973 - A few questions Once the teams left the agency, they continued moving for a few days. They had already gone dark, meaning no one was able to send messages to anyone outside of this operation. The only moments when they got any information about what was going on in the MAZE and with the war were when they found the checkpoints prepared by the agency. These were spots where other people also working on this operation were organizing things and making sure they would be able to do the live stream without any problems. If they didn¡¯t take these precautions, it was possible for the humans to block the signal, which would be a massive problem for the plan. Or at least, that¡¯s what it was supposed to be. With the new information that Frostbite, or someone, had a legacy responsible for the creation of the Soldiers of Strength, things changed. The live stream, as useful as it might be, was still a long shot. They were banking on the loose mind control the Guild was using in order to make people see the truth behind the Guild¡¯s actions. It could be a make-or-break kind of situation, something that solved all the issues. But it could also end up amounting to nothing. Maybe the Alliance was wrong, and the real reason why the humans were so fanatical about killing everyone else was because that¡¯s who they were. The mind control wasn¡¯t influencing them to follow a doctrine they didn¡¯t believe in. It could be something they already thought and were just finally showing to the world. However, destroying the entire project of the Soldiers of Strength in a single blow was a different story. That wasn¡¯t a long shot or something that might have a good result. That was something that, if successful, could change everything. The Alliance was more powerful than the humans. That was a fact. The only thing the Guild had going for them was their numbers. But a few months of war were nowhere near enough to bring the new recruits to a level where they could fight against seasoned warriors from the various species who inhabited the MAZE. Projections dictated that the Alliance would maintain their superior position for at least a year, and that was being pessimistic. A year and a half to two years was the more likely scenario. Even then, the amount of resources the humans would need in order to catch up would be massive. Even if they were able to get their troops to the same average level as the Alliance¡¯s, they wouldn¡¯t be able to repeat that effort anytime soon. Not without getting a lot of territory from the Alliance. The human answer to that issue was the Soldiers of Strength. People capable of punching above their weight and winning. If they were able to remove that weapon from the equation, the war would likely end before the humans could recover from that blow. And that was something every single member of this team understood. At the same time, they weren¡¯t about to give up a plan that was already in motion. Especially since having the humans lose their biggest weapon wouldn¡¯t automatically mean everyone would stop fighting. There would still be those angry enough or fanatical enough to continue pushing against the Alliance. By themselves, each of the plans had a decent chance of helping the Alliance, but neither was a complete solution to the war. No one expected this one mission to solve everything. That was still true, even with both plans combined. No one thought the war would end the day after the attack. That was not how these things worked. But while individually each plan could tilt the scales in the Alliance¡¯s favor, together they became something more: the kind of pivotal battle that could truly end a conflict. Alone, each of these operations could be like the siege of Troy. But together, they became the Trojan Horse itself. The one act that triggered the end of the entire conflict. That might be wishful thinking, but it was something every member of the team believed in. And they would do absolutely everything they could to turn that dream into reality. Five days after they left the agency, the team arrived in front of a doorway to the room called Ashen Root. This was where the laboratory was located and the last checkpoint they would pass through before the operation properly began. As it had been explained, this particular doorway led to a passage that was blocked from the inside. Which meant that after someone left the tunnel, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get back. The Alliance had discovered this room and the specific entrance a long time ago. Before the war even started. According to the information they had, the Guild was unable to find this specific entrance. And the Alliance had kept forgetting to share the report about this hidden passage, since the room itself had nothing worth mentioning. It was, for the MAZE, a barren place. There was nothing interesting to be gained from the dungeons. The materials in the area had no particularly interesting properties, and neither did the monsters. The only thing of note were the occasional gray roots that peppered the ground. A couple of explorers had even used the guide skill, hiding it as something else, to discover the history of the place. But it was nowhere near as interesting as one might expect. Once, there had been a very large tree that was hit by lightning, caught on fire, and blanketed the entire room in ash as it burned down. From that destruction, the room grew new life and gained its current name. And that was it. No large battle, no catastrophic power gone wrong. Nothing. Just something so mundane it might as well have happened on Earth.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The last checkpoint was located just a few minutes away from the doorway. The group didn¡¯t stay directly near it, more out of habit than anything else. Usually, people avoided sleeping too close to the doorways to prevent getting in the way. But here, that wasn¡¯t something they had to worry about. If the humans somehow managed to find the entrance to this room now, it wouldn¡¯t change anything. They would still go along with the plan. The only thing that a human presence would do now was to speed up the entire process. After arriving, the team met with the group of people responsible for the area. Every checkpoint had at least three people. One to take care of the signal and two to protect the first. But this one, the last checkpoint, had five people, mostly because two of them would need to be on the other side of the doorway, making sure the devices placed there wouldn¡¯t have any problems. One of those people, a Triton named Sirlo, approached the entire team of 20 after they finished their greetings. "Quick question. Who is an explorer?" Hera, a harpy with steel-blue feathers and sharp golden eyes, called Vyra, who was part of the Stormcrest Company, and Ivy, one of the twins, raised their hands. "Perfect, all of you, come with me." They walked to a specific tent, and Hera noticed how the entire thing was protected by a soundproof barrier. But it was different from the one the Empress used. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t quite wrap her finger around how this one was different. Maybe it was something to ask about later. Sirlo turned to the three and said, "I¡¯m going to ask this one time. If you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m talking about, please leave. It¡¯s the kind of thing that if you know, you know. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯m sorry, but you don¡¯t, and that¡¯s about it. The question is: Do you have the skill to ask questions?" Ivy frowned. "What?" "Did you not understand what I said?" Sirlo asked. "No, I did. I just don¡¯t understand." Sirlo nodded. "Then I have my answer. Please leave the tent. I know this sounds rude, but we don¡¯t have that much time." Ivy shrugged. "Okay." She walked off, mumbling, "That was weird." Sirlo turned to the last two people inside, Vyra and Hera. "And how about you two?" Hera nodded. "I have it." Vyra smiled. "So all three of us can talk about the guides? Well, cool, and that¡¯s my confirmation." "That was kind of risky," Sirlo frowned. Vyra shrugged. "I know, but I already got one strike. If I¡¯m going to mess up, I¡¯m going to mess up. I¡¯m not going to be worrying about everything I say. It¡¯s going to suck losing the skill, but I won¡¯t have any memory of it, so it kind of evens out." By the way the harpy spoke, the Ophidianite realized she couldn¡¯t talk to the guides in this private room. For this person, the skill was a one-off thing, and the guides she met would never talk to her again. At the same time, recognition flashed through Sirlo¡¯s eyes, revealing that the Triton might not be in the same situation. "It¡¯s your skill. I¡¯m not going to argue about it. But here," Sirlo said, pulling out a tablet, "we have a few questions written down that I need you to ask the guide of the room, Ashen Root. Go down the list. Feel free to use it anytime you need better answers, and if you need to ask for clarification, that¡¯s okay. But try to stick to the questionnaire. We didn¡¯t have that many chances to scout the area, so a lot of information is coming from the guide." Vyra nodded and started going through the questions. It was good to understand the kind of information they were after, especially since the guides couldn¡¯t say anything about another person, the defensive structure of a city, or in this case, the lab. This meant they had to figure out the details in a roundabout way. In this case, that took the form of learning about the monster patterns in the room. If they could identify the areas the monsters were avoiding, they could infer where human presence was strongest. "And once she gets back, I should go to try to find the rest of the information?" Hera asked. Sirlo nodded. "Exactly. For the record, there¡¯s no pressure here. This information can help, but it¡¯s not vital for the operation to work. It¡¯s just something extra to give us an edge." "Okay then. I¡¯m ready. There are a couple of questions I think I can reformulate to get better answers. I¡¯ll try and let you know if it worked," Vyra said to Hera, showing her how the file had all the questions Sirlo and whoever else had been here had asked, along with their answers. The harpy then turned to the Triton. "Is that okay?" "Yeah. Everybody has their own experience with that kind of stuff, so you¡¯re free to do what you think is best. Just stick to the information on the script. Unless it¡¯s really relevant, don¡¯t ask about something else you thought might be interesting. Let¡¯s go to the doorway. Both of you have two crossings left for today, right?" Hera and Vyra nodded. "Perfect. Hera will stay on this side while we cross. Once Vyra finishes asking the questions, she¡¯ll come back and tell Hera to go over. I¡¯ll stay on the other side as backup, just in case." With that plan in mind, they walked toward the doorway, all of them ready to do their tasks. Hera watched as the two explorers crossed to the next room, leaving her alone for a few minutes. For the first time since they¡¯d gathered to start this operation, she was left to her own devices. Not even her Court was with her now. Since they were traveling in such a large group, she avoided calling them to avoid putting others on edge. For the first time, she had a moment to consider what she was about to do. The insanity of the plan. The weight of the actions expected of her. A realization dawned on her, something that made this already intense situation even more so. She wasn¡¯t here simply as Hera Quetzaveth, an explorer who had a legacy. She was also here as the Ophidianite Empress, the ruler of her people and an aspirant hero. She had hundreds, if not thousands, of reasons why she wanted this operation to succeed. And there wasn¡¯t a single moment when she doubted her actions so far. Every fiber of her being wanted this to work. Even with this new thought in mind, that didn¡¯t change. She wanted the war to be over. She wanted to save those people. Even if, by doing so, she would likely cement her place as not just the 10th hero, but also the 1st Ophidianite hero. 974 - The Ashen Guide
Hera went into a spiral for a few minutes, worrying about the ramifications of her presence in this operation. She got so distracted that she didn¡¯t even notice when Vyra crossed back through the doorway from the other side. "Hera?" the harpy asked. "What?" The Empress snapped to the side, surprised by the sudden appearance. "You''re up. Here¡¯s the tablet with the questions," Vyra explained. "Right. Right," Hera replied but missed Vyra¡¯s attempt to hand her the tablet. "Are you okay?" Vyra asked. "I¡¯ll be right there," the Empress said, still in a daze. "Hera? Are you still with us? Do I need to call a healer?" Vyra tapped Hera¡¯s shoulder. "What?" Hera blinked, finally understanding what was going on. "Sorry, can you say that again?" "Are you okay? What just happened?" "I got too much into my head. The ramifications of what we¡¯re doing here finally hit me. That kind of freaked me out a little bit," Hera admitted. She also felt it was strange to be this open with someone she barely knew. "Oh, tell me about it. I was already freaking out when they called us for this operation. Now that we know the stakes, it¡¯s a lot of pressure. I can only imagine how you¡¯re feeling about this. I mean, you¡¯re the aspirant hero. The Bladed Hydra. The One-Woman Army. The Scaled Dominatrix," Vyra nodded. "The what now?" Hera asked with a blank stare. "The One-Woman Army. Because of your legacy. Not everybody knows it¡¯s a legacy, but people know you can summon a bunch of weapons. Another version of the nickname is the Armory Woman, but I¡¯m not sure if that works," Vyra paused. "I mean, it kind of does." "Yeah, it does work. But I¡¯m not talking about that one. What was the last nickname you said?" Hera pressed. "Did you not know about that one?" Vyra asked. "No. I did not. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m fond of it," Hera¡¯s voice was cold and full of venom. "You know how people are. They¡¯ll come up with stories about famous people. You don¡¯t have to worry about that kind of thing. Sure, most rumors have some truth to them, but that¡¯s not always the case," Vyra gave an awkward chuckle. "Yeah. Rumors are common. But it¡¯s kind of funny how a few of them didn¡¯t get enough traction," Hera said. "Really? Like which ones?" Vyra¡¯s eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Like the one that I melted someone¡¯s face because they called me something I didn¡¯t like," the Ophidianite replied bluntly. Vyra blinked slowly, taking a step back. "C-can you do that?" Hera nodded. "It is possible. Either by changing the poison to become so acidic that it would burn someone¡¯s face off or making the poison react with their sweat to do a similar effect. But you know, rumors. Not all of them are based in truth, right?" Vyra took another step back. "R-right. Anyway, you should get going. I¡¯ll catch up with my team, and we¡¯ll talk later. Bye," the harpy quickly flew away, not wanting to discover if what the Empress said was true or not. "I guess I should have expected it. After all, Neria isn¡¯t the only one with that specific kind of kink. But calling me a dominatrix is a bit much," Hera grumbled as she walked toward the doorway. It was located right at the entrance of a cave, and on the very top was the image of some roots wrapping around a rock. Hera quickly touched it, making a notification appear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Would you like to be transported to: The Ashen Root - 12th Layer [Yes] [No] Or press the button below for your private room: [Enter your Private Room] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing yes, the feeling of being dipped into warm water flooded her body before the Empress appeared in the next room. It was dark and long, with only a single light source coming from an orb above Sirlo. "Hey. Did something happen? You took a while to get here," the Triton asked. "Don¡¯t worry about it. I was just dealing with a rumor I didn¡¯t like," Hera replied as she walked forward. Sirlo frowned but didn¡¯t say anything about it. "Did Vyra tell you about the question he asked?" "Actually, no. Was it a good one?" "It had the same result. I did put the questions on the tablet. Did you get a chance to read them?" "Not the new ones. Give me a minute." They stayed in silence for a few moments while Hera went over the questions. They were mostly about the behavior of various monsters inside a specific area. The area where the lab should be located. Among the questions was a list of all the species of monsters and other animals that existed in the room. She had already suspected it, but once the Empress read the last question, she confirmed her suspicions. "Hey, I understand that we¡¯re asking about the current patterns of the animals, but can¡¯t we just ask which ones had any behavioral changes caused by an outside source?" "We tried that, or at least a different phrasing of it. The guide can¡¯t answer that because it involves people."Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "What if I use the time frame? Ask about recent changes? Do we have any idea how long it¡¯s been since the humans got here?" Hera asked. "We don¡¯t. We did try going for a specific time frame, but that didn¡¯t work. We¡¯re assuming that because of the human presence, the changes are still going on." The Ophidianite nodded. "Just so I understand, what are we really looking for here?" "We¡¯re trying to see if we have any patterns on the behavior of the humans who patrol the area. Since we weren¡¯t able to conduct a proper scouting mission, we¡¯re running a bit blind here." "I have an idea, then. At what time will we start the operation?" Sirlo pulled out the tablet and wrote down a message to answer. He was being overly cautious, but it was understandable. They were technically in enemy territory, and the Triton didn¡¯t want to make the entire plan go to waste just by being careless. ¡®We are starting at 1800 hours. That¡¯s 6:00 p.m. According to the information we got, this should be when the guards that took the prototype away are crossing their third doorway of the day.¡¯ Hera nodded. "Okay. Give me a moment." She looked around and noticed a small stone structure. It was very similar to the bunkers she would occasionally make when calling the guides. The Ophidianite pointed to the building and gave Sirlo a questioning look. "Yep. Feel free to use that. Once you¡¯re inside, I¡¯ll make it soundproof." "No need. I can handle that part. Also, don¡¯t feel upset about this, but I¡¯m going to have another group keeping an eye out," Hera said as she called her Court while walking toward the structure. Everyone stayed outside, but Viper followed her inside. The Empress sat down on the ground and activated her soundproof bubble. She added a couple of extra walls to the small stone bunker and said, "I call upon the guide of the Ashen Root. As an Explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure." There was a slow rumbling sound, almost like a stampede happening far away. The rumbling grew louder and louder until a tiny speck of gray appeared on the wall in front of Hera. That speck grew larger, as if it were something coming from the horizon, until a small skeletal boar skidded to a stop in front of her. The guide rose to his hind legs, revealing some black fur with streaks of white that resembled bones. It looked a lot like a boar wearing one of those skeleton outfits. "Hi there," the guide said, shifting to look at Viper. "Oh, and hello to you too, and to you!" he said, looking at Daskka. "Wow. It''s been a long time since I talked to three people at once. Well, in this setting. I''m Al. Nice to meetcha!" "Hi Al. It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Hera, and these are Viper and Daskka. They¡¯re part of me, so it¡¯s not breaking any rules." "Oh, I know, I know. The others told me all about this. It''s all good." "I''m glad. Al, do you mind if I ask you a couple of personal questions before we start?" Hera asked. Al opened a smile and put one hoof over his chest while slightly turning away. "You¡¯re interested in little old me?" he laughed. "I might not be able to answer everything, but sure." "Do you know what''s happening with the Strength Spirits?" "That you save them? Well, the ones that are still in their homes. Yeah, I know." "And about the ones that I didn¡¯t save?" Hera asked. Al''s face turned somber, some of the happy-go-lucky attitude vanishing. "Yeah. I know about them too." "And how do you feel about that?" "Oh, I hate it. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a single guide who likes what¡¯s happening to them. Spirits are one of the few creatures that can live as long as we do. And they always come back in one form or another, unless they turn into demons. So, yeah. I hate that." Hera nodded. "Okay then. I assume you know what we are doing here, but I¡¯m going to tell you. We have a plan to go into a lab that we believe is in this room and destroy the means the humans have to make more Soldiers of Strength. We have good intel that the lab is here, but I¡¯m not asking you to confirm that." Al frowned, his eyes analyzing the Ophidianite. "Ok¡­." "Now, we believe that the entrance to the laboratory is here," Hera pointed at a specific part of the map, "and I¡¯m not going to look at you right now because I don¡¯t want your face to give anything away. Are you with me so far?" "I am. I¡¯m still not sure what you¡¯re doing here, but I¡¯m curious." "Another thing. Even if we are unable to ask about other people who are inside your room, you know they¡¯re there and what they are doing. So, if there is a circus passing by, you would know their schedule, their location, and any tricks the games in the carnival could be pulling on the customers, correct?" Hera was very careful not to mention the lab directly, ensuring it wouldn¡¯t overlap with information they already knew, allowing the guide to answer the question. Al frowned. "In a hypothetical scenario where a circus is passing by, then yes, I would know all those details." "Now comes the question. And you might need to start a timer now. I really hate to not get to know you properly, but we are kind of on a schedule here, and I think you can agree with me that freeing the Spirits is a bit more important than meeting new people." Al nodded. "Okay. I¡¯m following so far. Here¡¯s the timer." He tapped his hoof on the ground, and a small flower appeared. "When the flower turns to ash, the time is over. It¡¯s going to slowly turn gray and then crumble away. I can give you a natural clock if you prefer, but this is just fun." Hera smiled. "That¡¯s perfect. I have a feeling I¡¯m not going to actually spend five minutes asking questions. Either way, the first question is¡ªconsidering that we want to find the best way to reach this spot," she pointed at the map where they knew the laboratory was located, her finger touching the exact point where the entrance was supposed to be, "we would be in a group of 20 people and we are going to leave from this doorway at exactly 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. Taking all that into consideration, what is the best question I could ask in order to know the best path we should take without encountering any monsters or anything else that might be on our way to get there?" Al¡¯s eyes sparkled as he heard the question. "Girl, that¡¯s a nasty question. I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s phrased things like that before. I am kind of flabbergasted right now." "Thank you," Hera smiled with a smug expression. "But that¡¯s also very risky. We don¡¯t have another Explorer here. If that question takes up all the time, we won¡¯t have a way to ask the question you figure out," Viper spoke up. Hera slumped back. "Shit, you¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t think about that." This time, Al was the one with a smug expression. "Lucky for you, this question is going to take about half the time you have left, leaving just enough for one more question," he winked and paused for a moment. "I believe the best question for that scenario would be asking me to show the path taken by the pack of Brutehorned Lizards during the spring of 1584 and translating their movements into what someone could do in a single day." Hera, Viper, and Daskka broke into big smiles. "Then, Al, could you show me the path taken by the pack of Brutehorned Lizards during the spring of 1584 and translate the movements into something that I could do in the span of a single day?" Al tapped the tablet in her hand as the information appeared, including timestamps of how long the pack waited in specific areas before moving, with the actual time translated from days or weeks to minutes and hours. The skeletal boar watched the flower turn to ash before turning to Hera. "I have to say, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re on our side. If you were using your powers for evil, we¡¯d be fucked." The Empress chuckled. "I promise I¡¯ll do my best to remain pure and always be kind¡­ to the guides at least." Al laughed. "I¡¯ll hold you to it. And if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll send you a message once this is all over." "Of course not. I would love to talk later." "Well, it was short, but I have to go," Al said, turning around and starting to walk away but stopping before crossing over the wall. "Hera?" "Yeah?" the Empress looked up from the tablet. "If there is a laboratory here turning Spirits into demons, give those scientists hell." Hera tilted her head. "I didn¡¯t expect you to be so kind. I had something much worse planned than hell," being so close to the people who created the Soldiers of Strength made her blood boil. All the rage she felt when she saw Silah rushing back. Al smiled as he dropped to all fours and started running. The Empress waited until the gray speck was completely gone before dropping the soundproof bubble and walking out. Thanks to her question, the operation was going to start on the right foot.
975 - Last night of rest "I still can''t believe you figured that out," Sirlo gasped as they walked back to the camp. "Honestly? Me neither. But I felt it was a good idea when it crossed my mind," Hera smiled. "It really was. I just hope Al won¡¯t feel bad about this." "Why would he?" "You have to admit, this is a bit manipulative." Hera frowned. "How so?" "Are you serious? Look at the question. You¡¯re basically asking him to do your job for you and doing it in a way that makes him come close to breaking the rules. Not to mention the blatant emotional manipulation," Sirlo explained. Hera stopped walking and snapped her fingers. A soundproof bubble appeared around them just as Daskka turned into her mist form, covering the Empress''s mouth. Sirlo noticed the change and also stopped walking. "That is 100% on him. And I''m not saying I don¡¯t care. The guides are beings that have existed for as long as the MAZE has been around. Which, according to everything we know, is basically forever. I really doubt any person would be able to manipulate them like that. Especially after all the bullshit we¡¯ve already put them through. Al was in full control of our conversation. If I asked something he didn¡¯t want to answer, that¡¯s exactly what he would do. Not answer. The only thing I did differently was treat him like a person, not a tool." Sirlo frowned. "What do you mean by that?" Hera let out a small huff of air through her nose as Daskka was a bit too close. "Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but everyone who asks questions from the guides is only thinking about how to get the best answer, right?" "That seems rather obvious. Yes, this is what everyone tries to do." "And that¡¯s what doesn¡¯t make sense. I¡¯m going to risk one thing here. Can you talk to the guides in a different setting? In your private room, for instance?" Sirlo nodded. "I had a feeling you could do that, too." "And how do they interact with you when you¡¯re there?" "Like friends. We talk, have fun, play around. Things like that." "Exactly. You treat them like people. Because that¡¯s what they are. People. But then, when it¡¯s time to actually ask the questions, you don¡¯t consider their feelings. Do you know if they like what¡¯s happening in the MAZE? I do." Sirlo frowned. "I tend to avoid talking about big things with them. They can¡¯t tell us much about the inner workings of the MAZE. And the one time I pressed, they told me they would have to stop talking to me." "I mean, yeah. In that case, you were asking them about their jobs. That''s something they can¡¯t talk about. It¡¯s like knowing someone who works on television and asking them how the ending of a show would go. But that only means you can¡¯t talk about some specific things with them. That doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t ask them if they like the show or if they¡¯re curious about a character or another." "What if they knew that character was going to die? They wouldn¡¯t tell me," Sirlo protested. "Yeah, and that¡¯s up to them, not you. Unlike regular people, they won¡¯t be able to say anything the system wouldn¡¯t allow. In other words, if you try to make them break their NDA, they¡¯re just going to stop talking to you. It¡¯s as simple as that." Sirlo paused to think for a moment. "And if there¡¯s something horrible happening on set, they might be able to answer the questions we have about that." Hera nodded. "Especially if they¡¯re in a setting where they have to answer questions. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to get that answer if I was just talking in my private room." "That makes a lot of sense. I don¡¯t know why I never thought about it that way." "Probably because you were always worried about not overstepping. I get that. I used to do the same thing. I only stopped when they started bending the rules a little bit to help me with one thing or another." Sirlo turned to face Hera. "Do they help you often?" "Not really. There were a couple of situations where I really needed their help. And it was something important to them, too. Can¡¯t say more about that, sorry." "Don¡¯t be. You¡¯ve given me a lot to think about, and I appreciate the advice." Sirlo smiled before they started walking again. Just a few moments later, the pair arrived at the camp. Hera had made a point of calling her entire Court out. During the operation, her blades would be out, and so would the titled blades in their weapon forms. It would be better if the other members of the teams were more comfortable with the group. If not, one of them might get spooked by the floating weapons, which could cause problems.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. There were a couple of people who were surprised by the sudden appearance of floating weapons. Most of them just ignored it, and the few who actually went to talk to Hera listened to her explanation and left satisfied with the answer. Soon, the Empress found her team. All of them were resting inside their tent, the same one they were using before this operation. Flint greeted her, but Roan was the one who had something to say. "Quick question. Did you ever melt someone¡¯s face off?" Hera chuckled and triggered a soundproof barrier around them, just in case a certain harpy was listening. "Never. Unless you count spraying someone with fire as melting their face. But in that case, I was actually fighting for my life and not just doing it for the kicks." "Yeah, I figured. Just wanted to make sure." "Why did you tell him that, then? Vyra was freaking out," Vash asked. "Because there are some rumors about me going on that I really don¡¯t like. It¡¯s one thing to talk about my abilities, my legacy, or just who I am. Another is to keep making innuendos about my sex life." "He was talking about your sex life? I hope it¡¯s not because of me," Neria gasped. "Don¡¯t worry. I think people just like being weird. Especially when it comes to sex. Apparently, some are calling me ¡®Scaled Dominatrix,¡¯ and I really didn¡¯t like it. Even if it was true, who the hell do they think they are to be talking about me like that?" Hera frowned. "People will always be weird about sex. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s right, but that¡¯s what happens. And it sucks," Skyler sighed. "Yeah," Hera sighed. "Still, melting people¡¯s faces off? That feels excessive. Are you doing okay?" Neria asked. "I don¡¯t think anyone is doing okay lately. But I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just angry," Hera said as she walked over to their kitchen, where there were a few drinks waiting for them. One of the other teams had brought a small stone that could turn any drink fizzy. Adding that to the juice people had gathered, they now had sodas as refreshments. "Angry about anything specific? Vyra mentioned you were very specific about the melting-people¡¯s-face-off thing," Neria pressed. "The humans. What they¡¯re doing. What they did with the soldiers of strength. All that kind of shit. It¡¯s hitting me now how close we are to the source of all that bullshit. I keep thinking about everything they put me through. How they killed Silah. How I became an Ophidianite because of them. And all the pain and suffering they¡¯re causing." "Silah, she was your ex, right?" the Triton asked. "Yeah. We had broken up for a few months already. It¡¯s kind of weird. The reason she said she didn¡¯t want to stay together was the difference in our lifespan. She was a dwarf, so with me being a human back then, it meant she would only spend a third of her life with me. Maybe even less. Now I have the same lifespan as her. Around 300 years or so. Or at least that''s what we think. It''s not something we can be sure until I reach that age," Hera let out a long sigh. "But in reality, that was just her excuse. We both knew that. We were too different. She came from a society that didn¡¯t know about the MAZE as a whole, and I wanted to explore, to travel, to see everything. It would never work. Once I got stuck in the MAZE because of an assortment of random bullshit, she decided to travel a bit more. Got into an exchange program so she could learn how other civilizations forged things. That¡¯s when the Guild captured her," the Empress finished the story. Neria nodded. "And she was one of the first victims of those experiments. You even went all the way to where she was located to try to save her, but you didn¡¯t get there in time." "More or less. She died in my arms. I was able to take her out of that place, but I couldn¡¯t save her life. She was the only one who died on that operation. At least on our side. Then, we had to risk going through a few doorways, and I got stuck in a room for a few months. To make matters worse, I had to stay inside a dungeon the entire time while trying to process her death. It took me a while, but I was able to handle that. The problem is, now I¡¯m getting angry again. So, yeah, I¡¯ve thought about melting people¡¯s faces off during this operation. I¡¯m not going to do it. This is just like thinking about smashing your boss¡¯s car with a baseball bat or pushing someone really annoying off the train." "So we don¡¯t run the risk of you going full supervillain mode on this?" Neria asked. "No. I don¡¯t want to be like them. Even if there¡¯s someone who would deserve to be tortured, I¡¯d just kill them. It¡¯s less effort," Hera shrugged. "I honestly didn¡¯t expect you to be so resolute about this." "What? Just because I said I didn¡¯t want to fight in the actual battles doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not willing to kill? I don¡¯t like this, I really don¡¯t. I don¡¯t think killing is a good thing, but I¡¯m not a hypocrite. I¡¯m not going to say that we should save all lives, even if some of them are doing horrible things to other people," Hera took a sip of an orange soda that tasted like mango and lime before continuing. "But the Guild crossed a line. And once you cross this line, you kind of lose the right to kindness and mercy. If someone tries to give up or surrender themselves, I¡¯m not going to kill them. I¡¯m going to toss them in one of the cells or trap them somehow. But if they try to escape or something, then I¡¯ll just get rid of them. I get that this is a war, and that¡¯s what we have to do. But at the same time, I¡¯m only doing this now. Once this is over, I have no intention of killing people again." Neria nodded. "Yeah. I get that feeling. I never expected to kill anyone. Not intentionally, at least. But I was supposed to be better equipped to deal with this kind of thing. Healers have to learn how to deal with death. It¡¯s basically the same thing with doctors. We need to understand that there are times when nothing we do can save our patient. And that¡¯s just life," she glanced outside. "That feels like a very different thing from what we¡¯re doing. What healers and doctors do is learn how to not blame yourself when something goes wrong. We are actively looking for people to kill. Like, sure, it¡¯s not the main point of what we¡¯re doing, but it¡¯s closer than what you¡¯re talking about," Hera frowned. "I agree with you on that point. A lot of people keep telling me that I should be used to killing and being near death. Honestly, I just can¡¯t get used to it. No matter how awful the people we are fighting are, a part of me still wants to save them. Maybe not save, but just¡­ not kill," Neria sighed. "Don¡¯t think about that. Think about all the people you¡¯re saving by stopping the people you are killing. I know it¡¯s a cop-out, but it¡¯s the best we¡¯ve got," Hera patted the Triton¡¯s shoulder. "Once all this is over, we can go look for a good psychiatrist. But for now, let¡¯s not focus on that. We need to be on our A-game for when this all starts." Neria nodded, and so did the rest of the team, who were listening to the conversation. They knew they had to do their best to rest now because tomorrow would be a very long day. 976 - In the cover of dark Sirlo walked to the center of the camp. Everyone who was taking part in the operation was already waiting for him. He took a look around, making sure no one was missing before he started. "Everyone, listen up. We are starting the operation in one hour. You have this time to prepare yourselves. Thanks to Hera, we were able to find a good route through the woods. I have given the information about the path you are going to take to the explorers in each team. Everyone is to leave their tablets behind. We cannot afford to have that kind of electronic signal showing up on their scanners. If the explorer in your team is out of commission, look for another. Keep in mind that even after we are done with the lab, things are not over. We should head north for the escape plan. We will be going through Xacare Valley, then Yotar Plains, and finally Remist Jungle. There, we will assess the situation and decide whether we risk going for another crossing or not," he said, pausing to give people a chance to ask questions. "Just as a reminder. If we get separated, what do we do?" Brok, another of the dwarves from the Wandering Scale, asked. He was an engineer specializing in security panels and opening locked doors, in contrast to Grimm, who could also open doors but preferred a more forceful approach. "That depends on when you get separated. If it is during our initial infiltration, you should wait outside until there is an alarm or something that proves the humans know we are invading. Then you join the others to protect the entrance so they cannot send reinforcements or trap us inside. If it is inside the lab, figure out a way to find the rest of the team. I do not have a better solution for that one. The entire structure is built like a labyrinth, so try not to get lost. If it is when we are escaping, there are a few checkpoints you need to look out for. They have the same symbols as the ones you saw when we were getting here. If you cannot find anything, just try to reach an alliance-controlled room." "What about if we are captured?" Mariana, the Triton healer from the Stormcrest Company, asked. She carried a staff similar to Neria¡¯s that could create various types of liquid on command, something very common for the Tritons, who had a natural affinity for water. "That is up to you and your team. This operation is not focused on saving people, even though that is part of the strategy. If you get captured and there is no way of getting you out quickly, we might need to leave you behind. With some luck, this operation will do what we hope it will, and you will not suffer too much. If you have bad luck, then I do not know," Sirlo admitted. "So do not get captured. Got it," Koros, the beastman with gray fur also from the Stormcrest Company, nodded. "After we reach the lab, we are going to split into three teams. Stormcrest Company will be in charge of finding the key locations in the lab and taking control of them. I am talking about the security room, control room, communications room, all that stuff. The Harmony Guardians are in charge of locating the cells and filming them. You are also supposed to fight any Soldier of Strength that you come across, but let us hope there are not too many. Lastly, the Wandering Scale will be working as a backup for both other teams. Grimm and Brok, the two of you will split between the teams. We honestly have no idea where each of your skill sets will work better, so it is up to you," Sirlo turned to Hera. "The fourth team will be Hera by herself, but not really. As soon as we enter the lab, you are going to take a corridor to the left and use a vent to reach the sister facility. You are going to be on your own, and it will take a lot of time for anyone to be able to help you. I hope you can manage that." Hera¡¯s court appeared behind her, with Livy, Lurize, Nimbus, Viper, Crimson, and Vulcan taking their titled forms. "We got this. Technically, all teams will have roughly the same number of members." There were some mumbles around, small gasps from those who had not yet seen the display, and a couple of people commenting on how impressive her legacy was. "Okay then. Remember, the goal is to record everything that we are seeing. If possible, we are going to rescue the people who are there, but that is, unfortunately, a secondary objective. The primary is the recording. However, if anyone finds Frostbite or whoever has that tattoo legacy, kill them. Any more questions?" Sirlo gave everyone a moment, but this time, no one spoke up. "Great. One last thing. Each team will have a few snakes following along. They will act as the cameramen. Hera is the one controlling those snakes. You can just point to where you want them to film, and they will capture it. If they cannot get a good angle, just grab them and point their heads at the area. Hera, as soon as you are finished getting ready, meet me at the doorway. We are going to cross over first and start prepping them." Hera nodded, and everyone split off. There was not much she needed to do to get ready, mostly just taking their tents down and confirming they were not forgetting anything. In just a few moments, the Empress was standing in front of the doorway, together with the rest of the Harmony Guardians. "Ready?" Sirlo asked. "We are," Hera nodded.Stolen novel; please report. "Then everybody grabbed one of those boxes and cross over with me," Sirlo pointed to the side, where a few boxes were resting. "What''s inside of those?" Flint asked. "A couple of them have the cloaks they''re going to wear, and the others have the cameras for the snakes," Sirlo explained as he picked one up. There were another five boxes, but that also meant there were more than enough people to carry them to the other side. Back in the Ashen Root, the first thing Hera did was call all of her snakes. They started preparing them for the mission, picking the cameras and connecting them up over their bodies. All the while, the Empress was just staring down at the snakes, giving them individual numbers and commands. The device is worth a small black box with a tiny lens in the front and a microphone attached at the top. Underneath it, there was a small clamp that could glue itself to the snakes. The agency had already made all the tests necessary to make sure no amount of movement would make the cameras fall. It took them a good 20 minutes to finish setting everything up. By the end of it, a few of the snakes were left behind, the ones that would accompany the teams in the lab, while the rest of them already left the cave. Most of those cameras also had a cable attached to another, forming a pair. Those pairs were supposed to be in different snakes. And Hera commanded the snakes to act natural and not always move together while also making sure that they wouldn''t be too far apart for the cable. In addition, each of those snakes in a pair was required to be on a different side of the barriers. That way, the transmission could go through the blocking spells without a problem. "Hang on. How exactly are we going to take the snakes?" Vash asked. "On our bodies? They can just wrap around people''s legs, arms, whatever people are more comfortable," Hera replied. "But what about the cloaks? Wasn''t there a whole thing about how we couldn''t put one cloak inside another or the invisibility effect would go kaput?" Vash asked. "You really didn''t pay attention to the explanation, did you?" Skyler shook her head. "The snakes that are coming with us to the lab don''t have an invisibility effect on their cameras. They will be invisible only because they are under the cloaks. When we get there, Flint and the other Crafters will finish the spell circle for their invisibility effect." "And the ones that are on the snakes that already left are also different. They only make the cameras invisible. The snakes are still full view," Hera added. Vash nodded, "Right, I remember that part." People will slowly start to come out of the doorway as the Harmony Guardians helped everybody get set up. The Ophidianite told everyone about the snakes again and how they would be wrapped around their bodies during the infiltration. Once the entire 20 people team was ready, they put on the cloaks and covered their heads with the hood, triggering the invisibility effect and started to move. The Explorers took charge of guiding everyone by using small spells that would create a drawing or a symbol in the air. It helped that each Explorer could use their own map to make sure they were following the correct path. They also had their displays set up in a way that they could track the position of all members of the operation, even if they were invisible to everything else. This only worked thanks to a small trinket that they gave everybody. Hera wasn''t even aware that was a possibility. But apparently, if she imbued an item with her mana and gave it to someone else, this other person would also appear on her map in real time. Usually, if she had a short-range communicator, the effect would be the same, and that''s likely why she never worried about finding something else to simulate that same result. But it was still good to know that this was a possibility. Without saying a word, the group rushed across the jungle. They were being very careful not to make too much noise, but there were some time frames that they needed to keep. Along the route given by Al, there were moments when the Brutehorned Lizards move quickly across a specific area. Sure, their actual time frame was much longer than what they were using, but the guy had to give them precise directions. If they were to waste that, or go against what was said, there was a good chance the humans would notice the group. Thankfully, it seemed like the path they were following also made sure that no monsters would get close. They only noticed tracks or distance sounds of the creatures that inhabited this room. That was one of the reasons for this strange movement they had to follow. After 1 hour, the group reached the first barrier. There were a couple of Hera''s snakes around, and so far they had sent no signals to the Empress that something was going wrong. Still, the group had to cross the threshold and walk around it, staying close to the edge for a few minutes before they could towards the inside layer. Everyone froze as they watched a pair of humans approach. Both of them carrying heavy weapons and looking around with serious expressions. According to the route they were supposed to take, they had to stop on this specific location for 5 minutes before continuing. The tension grew as those guards approached. Every single member of the team was worried that someone would decide to go against the plan. Someone would get cold feet and figure they should attack first before getting noticed. Yet, that did not happen. Everyone was able to keep their cool and not mess everything up with a rash decision. After moving to the next spot where they had to wait, there was another close call. This time, a drone was flying overhead, but the group was near a cluster of trees and after passing by the first without any issues, they all felt more confident about the plan. The same thing happened for another 20 minutes. They would move in strange directions but stop just at the right moment before a patrol would pass by. Eventually, they reached a tall, ashen rock protruding from the ground. Brok approached it and unveiled a small keypad on the side. And after about a minute, the rock shifted, revealing an entrance. It opened directly into an elevator, and everybody rushed inside. They all waited, still covered by the invisible cloaks, until the door closed and they started the descent. Once that part was clear, they all took off the hood so they could talk to each other properly. This was the last moment of reprieve they would have until this operation was over. 977 - Entering the lab The entire group was waiting in the elevator. No one had been left behind, and no one had noticed them getting there. Or at least, there were no signs that the humans had noticed them. Whether they had been seen or not was still a toss-up. They would only come to know once the elevator doors opened. Flint and the other crafters were all placing the final lines on the cameras to activate their invisibility effect. Thankfully, the ride was long, allowing them ample time to set everything up. Thorgrim, the controller from the Stormcrest Company, walked in front of the group. ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s waiting for us on the other side of the door, so let¡¯s form a defensive position.¡± Everyone agreed with the idea and quickly arranged themselves into a simple formation. There was a lot of noise and movement for a moment, but when it stopped, all members of the group noticed the faint sound of elevator music playing in the background. ¡°Really? Even in a secret lab, they have elevator music?¡± Selene, an elf also from the Stormcrest Company, groaned. ¡°Oh, my bad. Do you want me to stop?¡± Vash asked. He was using his maracas to play a soothing song to help calm everyone down. ¡°If you¡¯re going to play something, can you at least go for something lo-fi? Something that doesn¡¯t echo as much,¡± Marina asked. ¡°Sure,¡± Vash said as he shifted his grip, and the music changed. No longer classical, now it was bossa nova. The smooth rhythm helped ease the tension a little and allowed the group to use the ride as a moment to properly rest before what they were about to face. About halfway down, they finished preparing all the cameras, and Hera¡¯s snakes were already invisible and positioned around them. The cameras accompanying the group had an additional spell connected to them: one that allowed whoever carried them to walk on walls. Unfortunately, this only worked if the carrier weighed less than 2 kilograms. It wasn¡¯t useful for humans, but Hera¡¯s snakes were under that weight. To ensure people knew where the snakes were when needed, Hera gave them an order to cover their faces with mist once called upon. A few minutes passed as the group cast their buffs and prepared spells or skills that could be activated ahead of time. As the elevator slowed, the team collectively pulled their hoods up, extending the invisibility effect of their cloaks for as long as possible. The elevator doors finally opened with a ding, revealing an empty hallway. Hera¡¯s snakes quickly slithered out. Since they were invisible, they could also act as an advanced scouting party for this first critical moment. It was too risky to keep them scouting all the time, but now, at least, it was the best option. There wasn¡¯t even time for the snakes to signal Hera before a voice called out from the side. ¡°Marcus? Is that you? I told you that tuna sandwich wasn¡¯t smelling right, man.¡± A human appeared, wearing New Dawn-branded armor with a communicator on his shoulder. He stepped in front of the elevator doors and frowned. He was reaching for the radio on his shoulder when something struck his face, and a heavy weight slammed into his chest, caving it inward. Two figures materialized. The first was Thorgrim, holding his tower shield over the human¡¯s torso, and the second was Koros, the beastman. If a cloaked person attacked anything, the invisibility effect would temporarily vanish, which was what happened between the two of them. Thorgrim motioned to the side, toward where the human had come from. The group quickly exited the elevator as muffled combat sounds echoed from the nearby guard room. The Stormcrest Company was clearing out this first area just beyond the elevator. ¡°All clear,¡± Selene whispered. ¡°Let¡¯s not waste time, then,¡± Thorgrim said, gesturing for the rest of the team to follow. Vyra, Selene, and Ziltan stayed behind to guard their escape route and intercept any communications from the guardroom. If the humans managed to take control of the elevator, they could trap everyone inside. This was why one of the operation¡¯s strongest members had to remain behind. Ziltan wasn¡¯t thrilled about it, but he understood the necessity of his role. The group moved quickly, passing through a zigzagging corridor created to navigate around a particularly tough root. They soon reached the point where Hera was meant to split off. According to the floor plans Blade had retrieved, there should have been a large vent against this wall. The vent would have led to the sister facility a couple hundred meters to the right. Instead, they found a hallway. A fully constructed and reinforced corridor leading to another section of the facility. ¡°Shit¡­ what now? Should I go alone, or do we split off and have another team follow me?¡± Hera asked, turning to the group. Thorgrim looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Blade, you¡¯re the strongest person here. It¡¯s up to you.¡± ¡°Why am I the one in charge?¡± Blade asked, frowning. ¡°Because you¡¯re the only one here with any semblance of experience dealing with these people. You found the blueprint, and you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s entered one of their larger facilities. No one else has a better idea of what¡¯s waiting on the other side,¡± the dwarf explained.Stolen novel; please report. Blade hesitated for a moment before turning to Hera. ¡°Can you tell your snakes to do something specific? Like, could you order one of them to pull my arm or something?¡± ¡°I can. It might take a little effort. The farther away they are, the harder it is to control individual snakes,¡± Hera explained. ¡°In that case, we stick to the plan. If you find something big, let us know through the snakes. We just need to figure out a signal.¡± ¡°How about this?¡± Hera commanded one of her snakes to cover itself in blue mist and form a large circle. ¡°This one means I found something. And this one,¡± she had the snake stand upright and flash lights through its mouth, ¡°means shit hit the fan, and I need help now.¡± ¡°That works,¡± Blade nodded. ¡°Got it. And if you need something, grab a snake and tell it to call me. Once I get the chance, I can look through their eyes and share their senses,¡± Hera added. ¡°How the hell can you do all that?¡± Blade asked, frowning. Hera blinked. ¡°Are you seriously asking me that now?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Never mind. Later. Let¡¯s move!¡± Blade turned around and started heading down the corridor. Hera took a deep breath as she stepped deeper into the corridor. Her court manifested beside her, all of them in their weapon forms, floating silently at her side. Since she was alone, it was better to focus on survival rather than pure stealth. There was a good chance cameras were scattered throughout the area, but this corridor was new, and they had no way to know for sure. Still, Hera felt more at ease knowing one of her snakes was slithering along the ceiling corner, keeping watch. ''Keep an eye out, everyone. The last thing we need is to get trapped in here,'' the Empress instructed through their mental link. ''Will do. If we see anything suspicious, you¡¯ll be the first to know,'' Nimbus replied. ''This feels... different,'' Vulcan added, his tone uneasy as he floated along the hallway. Unlike the other labs and facilities they''d infiltrated, there was no oppressive atmosphere here¡ªno red-glowing pipes or strange mechanical noises echoing through the corridors. This space felt unsettlingly ordinary, almost sterile. The walls were pristine white and charcoal gray, minimalist in design. Even the doors had a sleek appearance, like something from an upscale office building. Back near the elevator, Hera had noticed the odd design of the security door they had passed. Instead of a standard metallic door, it was made of four segmented panels that slid inward from the corners, meeting at the center. The middle of the door was marked with the emblem of the New Dawn: a rising sun peeking over the edge of a dark horizon. That same symbol was repeated on the walls of the hallway at regular intervals, making it clear who owned this place. The New Dawn wasn¡¯t hiding their involvement here anymore. Hera walked cautiously down the corridor until she came to another door, this one to her left. It wasn¡¯t blocking the hallway, but seemed to lead to a separate room. She approached it slowly, resting her hand on the nearby panel. Since they had no idea what kind of security measures were in place, her team had prepared a small "master key" of sorts¡ªa ring-like device that could bypass basic locks. It was far from infallible; the key could only open doors that didn¡¯t require specific keycards or advanced biometrics. If she encountered anything more complex, the ring would be useless. Still, she gave it a try, expecting nothing. To her surprise, the door clicked open with a soft hiss, revealing what looked like a waiting room. The room was surreal in its normalcy. A coffee table sat in the center, surrounded by an arrangement of plush, modern-looking couches. In one corner, there was a coffee machine next to a water cooler. A projector was mounted on the ceiling, with a screen rolled up neatly on one wall. The entire space felt strangely comfortable. Like a breakroom for employees or a lounge for potential clients. ''Are they seriously having meetings here?'' Hera frowned as she scanned the room. ''Do you think this is an investor room?'' Viper suggested, hovering near the coffee machine. ''You know, where they bring in potential buyers for... whatever this is?'' ''Are you saying the New Dawn isn¡¯t just using the Soldiers of Strength for the war?'' Livy asked, her voice tinged with concern. ''You think they¡¯re planning to sell them?'' ''Why not?'' Viper replied. ''If they¡¯ve perfected a formula for creating soldiers like that, they¡¯d make a killing selling them. And it¡¯s not like they care if their clients are "good people" or not.'' Hera sighed, the weight of the thought pressing down on her. ''I really hope that¡¯s not the case. Things are already bad enough with just one faction using them. Imagine if anyone with enough money could have their own private army of soldiers of strength.'' ''Is there anything here that can give us more answers about their plans?'' Forge asked, floating closer to one of the couches. ''What¡¯s this?'' Eira spoke up from behind one of the couches. She had spotted a small side table with a few pamphlets laid neatly on top. Picking one up, she flipped through it and held it up for the others to see. The cover of the pamphlet read, "Your Own Private Army: Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Unquestioning." The cover image depicted a group of Soldiers of Strength in full armor, standing in an intimidating formation like something out of a dystopian propaganda poster. Hera grabbed the pamphlet and opened it, only to find that the inside pages were blank, clearly a mock-up that wasn¡¯t fully completed yet. ''They have to see how bad this looks, right?'' Livy asked incredulously. ''Yeah, this is textbook "I¡¯m the villain" material,'' Twiggy chimed in. Hera shook her head, exasperated. ''I don¡¯t know. This looks awful to us, but I bet the kind of people who¡¯d buy something like this would eat it up. What I¡¯m finding strange, though, is their color.'' She frowned, staring at the image of the soldiers. The Soldiers of Strength on the pamphlet had skin that was a dull, pale red, not the deep crimson shade she¡¯d seen on the ones she¡¯d fought before. It could mean one of two things: either this was a weaker, more diluted version of the soldiers, or the New Dawn had made improvements to the process. Both options sounded like they meant something bad. On one side, they might be able to make even more of those soldiers using the resources they still had. On the other, a better version would be tougher to deal with. ''Let¡¯s keep moving,'' the Empress said, after making sure the snake got a good look at the pamphlet. This second location might not have prisoners or active experiments, but it could hold valuable information about the New Dawn¡¯s plans. Even if it wasn¡¯t their primary objective, she couldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to figure out what they were doing. 978 - Behind Door number 1 Blade guided the bulk of the group deeper into the facility. The hallway they were taking was very long, much longer than any sensible person would create for a place like this. Maybe it had something to do with how the roots would spread around the room or something else they weren''t aware of, but it was still strange. After a couple hundred meters, they saw the first change from the black and gray walls in the corridor. It started with a shift in the colors, or more specifically, in how well the walls were painted. There were slashes and marks across the white areas, and the gray stone was clearly damaged. It seemed like the production of Soldiers of Strength was not all sunshine and rainbows. The deeper they went, the more marks of wear and tear appeared. The group reached a massive door full of scratches and dents, as if something had been trying to break in. No one could really understand what was going on there. But why would the Soldiers of Strength try to get inside the facility instead of breaking out? That was something no one truly understood. Despite noticing the odd behavior, they only made a mental note of the oddity. Instead, they turned to their infiltration specialists. "Is it my time, boss?" Grim said with a massive smile. Blade shook her head. "Not yet. Let''s see if Brok can handle this." Grim stepped back but started to grumble some complaints. However, Blade tapped him on the shoulder. "Don''t worry. Right now, we need to be stealthy. Your time will come." With that, the dwarf smiled again, though he wasn¡¯t as excited as before. Blade called to Brok, and the engineer started to work his magic on the control panel by the side. He gave a few taps on the panel with the device he carried. In just a few seconds, the massive door, emblazoned with the New Dawn symbol, a rising sun over some hills, started to open. Everyone moved to the corners of the corridor, waiting to meet whatever was on the other side. But instead of a laboratory, a training area, or anything that could be described as dangerous, they found the reception. A few couches with a center table sat atop a plain white rug on both sides. There was a coffee machine in the corner, with some teacups scattered around it. In the center was a large circular table with a hole in the middle. A woman was leaning over the table with a cup of coffee in hand. She had red hair tied in a tight bun and wore a black blazer with a pencil skirt and high heels. She also had headphones on, which prevented her from noticing the noise caused by the door. Once she turned around, the woman quickly removed the headphones and set the cup aside before walking toward the door with a worried expression. No one in the group said a thing. They were all still hidden by their cloaks. The last thing they needed was for some random person to figure out what was going on. The woman got closer to the door and looked around, trying to see if anyone was approaching. With a frown, she stepped over the threshold and started walking toward the elevator, her heels echoing across the hallway. "Hello?" she asked loudly. There was no response. She waited for a few moments before turning toward the wall and shaking her head. "I keep telling them this door is weird, but maintenance does nothing about it. Just like they don¡¯t give two shits about how bad this place looks." She let out a sigh and took a step forward. "And why would they? I¡¯m the only one who gets the pleasure of talking to the boss about this." From deeper in the facility, a scream could be heard. It was very far away and barely audible, but to those with keener senses, or those who had become used to that kind of thing, it was present. The woman shivered. "And they¡¯re starting again. Sometimes I just wish this place got shut down." Iris, one of the twins, approached the woman and slammed the back of her head with the butt of her sword. She added a couple of spells to the attack that would render someone unconscious, an effect further enhanced by the sneak attack. She caught the woman before she fell to the ground, and Ivy joined in with a couple of other spells and a skill to make sure the woman wouldn¡¯t wake up anytime soon. "Your wish is our command," the twins said in a whisper. They also took a few seconds to remove all the equipment the woman had on her. They found a couple of pieces of jewelry with communication spells, and her shoes had a robust tracking system. From what they could tell, it was designed so she would always know where the shoes were, rather than someone else trying to track her. The plan was not to carry the woman around, so they checked the small cabinets under the coffee machine and removed a couple of shelves, placing them on the bottom of the furniture. Then they shoved the woman inside and cast a few spells to lock her in place.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Echo, the triton scout, quickly headed to the computer at the central table and started working. He was, among other things, the best hacker of the group. It was one thing to open a mechanical door; it was another to understand the intricacies of bypassing passwords on a computer. Even if those two skills had some overlap, people generally worked better when they could specialize individually. "So, I found a couple of very interesting emails. They say that the security personnel must avoid going to the cells and the lab, since they were disturbing the subjects. Because of that, they reorganized the passageways so that everyone who''s a part of security needs to head left from the entrance, and everybody who''s going to the labs should go right," Echo said after a couple of minutes. "Doesn''t that sound too good to be true?" Marina, the Triton healer, asked. "A little bit. But this email chain goes weeks back. There were a bunch of meetings about it and a bunch of attempts to make this work. In the end, they chose this option since it was the easiest, at least until they come up with something better," Echo explained. "Then, here we split again," Blade announced. "Stormcrest Company, take Brok with you and go to the security area. The rest of us are heading to the labs." "Actually, I think some of us should go with them," Raxus, the leader of the Wandering Scale, spoke up. "Even if there are some Soldiers of Strength being produced in the labs, we know for a fact that there are a few as part of the security team. And the Stormcrest Company is already a couple members short of their full lineup. The lab team has more than double the number of of members they will have. We should balance this." Blade nodded. "Good call. Who do you want to send?" "I think me, Echo, and Zephyr. The twins and Grim can go with you." Blade turned to the Harmony Guardians. "Are you okay with that?" "Yeah. If we lose control of the security system, we¡¯ll have more problems," Skyler replied. "Okay then. Let¡¯s move," Blade said as the two groups separated. At the same time, in a different part of the facility, Hera had just left the investor room, taking one of the pamphlets with her. She had no idea if it would help her or not, but carrying it wasn¡¯t too much trouble. The Empress walked quickly but quietly through the next hallway. She passed by a glass wall with what could only be described as a training ground on the other side. There were several pieces of equipment one would find in a gym and a few open areas to showcase larger skills, but the place was completely empty and pristine. It looked like it had never been used before. That made her a bit more comfortable with the situation. If this was something actively being utilized by the people in the facility, she could find trouble. But if it was something still in development, it was likely that she wouldn¡¯t find anyone. After turning a corner, she saw another room to the side, but this one was much smaller and didn¡¯t have any sort of flair to it. If anyone was coming here to see a presentation, they would likely not check this particular entrance. Which also meant this could be something related to the infrastructure of the place. Hera thought she heard something coming from the left and rushed inside the door. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t locked, but as soon as she stepped inside, she came face to face with a human man. He had black hair and was wearing a button-down shirt with some jeans. It was very much an office look. The man paused, surprised by the sudden entrance of this snake woman, and asked, still shell-shocked, "What¡¯s going on? What the hell are you?" "Would you believe me if I said it¡¯s for the office costume party?" Hera smiled. The man glanced at her, then at her coiled tail, before shifting to the side, clearly about to reach for something. Before that could happen, the Empress burst into motion. She grabbed his leg with her tail and pulled it up, causing the man to fall back to the ground before punching him with all her strength. She knew this wasn¡¯t the best idea. The right thing to do now was to just kill him and get it over with. But it was one thing to kill someone who was trying to kill her; it was another to invade someone¡¯s office and kill them just for being there, even if the man was working with a bunch of monsters. He wasn¡¯t knocked out in a single punch, but a couple more hits and he was no longer conscious. To make sure this wouldn¡¯t come back to bite her, the Empress also used a Poison Fang, with the intention of making him sleep for a day or so with a specific type of poison. The last part of her attack was very similar to what the other team had done a few minutes prior. She used her crafting skill to create some rope, tied the man down, and shoved him inside a locker. As she finished making sure the man was properly locked in, she paused and turned to her Court, "I¡¯m not a bully, am I?" "Right now? A little bit," Viper said as he returned to his coiled form. Only after the man was neutralized did they stop to check the area properly. This looked very much like a server room. There were a few rows of servers and one computer in the corner, with a small manual to the side. Hera quickly went over and, as luck would have it, the computer was unlocked. It seemed the man had left his login active before he was about to leave. She went through a few of the files and software, while Viper read through the manual, telling her what he was seeing. Not long after, they noticed a master control for the communications array of the lab. The Ophidianite wasn¡¯t the most tech-savvy person out there, but from what she could understand, this room controlled all the messages sent by the people who worked in the lab. And that wasn¡¯t just digital messages like emails or texts, but also their communicators. There was a quick explanation in one of the programs that said the barriers were responsible for this setup. Because the barriers blocked everything, they had to create one single exception and route every single form of communication through this server to allow people to talk with each other while in different layers of the barrier. Even better, the manual had a full section about the Emergency Maintenance Mode. It was something only to be used if the entire network was collapsing. It would block all messages from the various people in the labs for a period until the problem was fixed. Following the instructions in the manual, Hera triggered the Emergency Maintenance Mode and set it up so that it would last five hours. Emails and any form of internet connection would be delayed, and any voice communication through a communicator or walkie-talkie would receive a message letting them know that the Emergency Maintenance Mode was currently active. If everything worked out well, she had just gained a lot of time for the operation. 979 - The new version
Thorgrim and the rest of his team rushed along the hallway. Just like Echo had told them, the path they were taking was a bit strange. Instead of going in a straight line, they had to sneak around a bit, even to the point where the passage dipped down like a tunnel going beneath a road. They could see some windows, but even those were blocked by more metal walls. It seemed like the presence of the guards near the experiments or the people who worked in the lab was truly an issue. But that didn¡¯t last long. After turning a corner, they left the long, seemingly endless hallways. Instead, they found themselves in a large cafeteria-like structure, or maybe a rest area for all the guards. There were large communal tables and a few snack machines on the side, along with some couches and even a television. There was no one around. After a quick scan, they found a small sign pointing in different directions. One side was marked as Locker Room, and the other was labeled Control Room. "We should hit the locker room first," Raxus, the leader of the Wandering Scale, said. "What if they have cameras there? We might end up revealing our position," Thorgrim replied. "It¡¯s a locker room. The humans might be fucking monsters, but they¡¯re also the ones who keep complaining about privacy the most. I doubt people would be okay working in a place where they were recorded naked. Besides, if there¡¯s some sort of specific key to enter the command room, we might find one in the locker room," Raxus paused. "But it¡¯s your call. You are the leader of this team." There was another pause. No one could really see each other. Echo was one of the few explorers in the group, and he was the only one with the map showing everyone¡¯s position. That meant they were essentially talking to the air, only knowing where each other was after hearing their voices. "I agree. Let¡¯s go to the locker room first," Thorgrim finally said. They started moving quickly, passing through this new corridor, which was much less oppressive than the one they had taken to get there. The symbol for the New Dawn could still be seen everywhere, but the walls were no longer massive steel barriers, almost six meters tall. Instead, they were closer to a more common size of just over two meters. The actual locker room was at the end of the hallway, and it was the only thing on this path. The group walked slowly toward it, with Echo using a spell to ensure there was no one waiting inside. As soon as they got the confirmation, they entered the locker room and closed the door behind them. Brok used one of his devices to double-check for any electronic signals in the area. Thankfully, there were none, meaning that this place didn¡¯t have any cameras or microphones, or at least none that were turned on. That happened just in time, as their cloaks finally lost the last of their magic and burned away in a wisp of smoke. Thorgrim turned to the seven people behind him. "Spread out and look for anything that could help us in the lockers. If you find something that looks suspicious, leave it alone." They all nodded and started their search. The locker room was bigger than expected, and the reason was simple: the people from the lab also used this place. Some sections of the lockers were split between security and scientists, but the ones for security were considerably bigger, since they also stored armor. Raxus was breaking open one of the locker doors with his bare hands, while Thorgrim did the same nearby. As the dwarf worked, he spoke. "I know this isn¡¯t the best moment, but can I ask you a question?" "Sure," the beastman replied, tossing the contents of one locker aside and moving to the next when he didn¡¯t find anything useful. "You¡¯re the leader of the Wandering Scale, correct?" "In a way, yes. Why?" "Was it a good idea to leave your team without a leader, then?" Raxus paused. "What are you talking about?" "I mean, you let most of your team go with Blade. Wouldn¡¯t they need a leader?" Thorgrim asked, finishing his search of a locker. "Each member of my team is a capable warrior in their own right. They don¡¯t need someone to hold their hand during a mission. Every single one of us is capable of fighting against insurmountable odds and overcoming them. I have my utmost trust in every single member of my team. And we¡¯re also more than capable of working with our brethren. I see absolutely no reason why they wouldn¡¯t be able to perform their duties during this mission, even without my presence. How is that any different from what you did? Leaving parts of your team back in the elevator. We all have a part to play in this operation, and we must trust that each of us is able to perform our duties. Otherwise, this will all fail," Raxus replied. "Right¡­ Don¡¯t know why I thought it was weird. When you say it like that, it makes complete sense," Thorgrim nodded. Raxus stepped closer and whispered, "Besides, I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but most of my team is actually here. The only ones that went with Blade were the twins and Grim." "Fuck. You¡¯re right." Before they could say anything else, everyone heard voices coming from the corridor. "I Can¡¯t fucking believe that dipshit. I told him we couldn¡¯t afford to have another emergency maintenance today, not when we¡¯re understaffed," a man was yelling loudly as he approached.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Maybe this time it really was an emergency. Something to do with their servers. Maybe there¡¯s a weakness he just figured out, and he¡¯s trying to patch it before anything happens," a female voice replied. The man scoffed. "Yeah, right. As if that asshole would do any actual work. Ever since we got here, all he does is mess with the computers, trying to upgrade things that are working perfectly fine. He didn¡¯t even need to be here. His daddy has a seat on the board, you know. That¡¯s the only reason he ended up working here. No one in their right mind would hire that fucking moron." Inside, everybody scrambled to hide behind the lockers and close the ones that were open. They knew they only had one chance to stop those two people from calling for reinforcements. "You really need to stop saying that. People are going to start reliving in you," the woman replied. "And they should. That¡¯s the only way someone as useless as that sack of shit can get a job here." "Just because you don¡¯t understand technology doesn¡¯t mean anyone who works with it is lying." "Oh, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re defending that prick," the man grumbled as he opened the door. "Yes, I am. You not understanding what he¡¯s doing is not the same as him not doing anything. And I¡¯m honestly tired of you complaining all the time. I don¡¯t get paid enough to have to deal with that," the woman said as she walked after him, stopping just after closing the door. "Honestly, young people these days have no respect. Neither you nor that jackass. We could have stayed at our post instead of coming here just to grab the password that he changed yesterday so we can override that stupid maintenance." "Quiet," the woman said, looking down at the floor. "Seriously? Is that how little you respect me?" the man growled, his red skin flaring up. "Shut up for a second. There¡¯s something wrong." She slowly walked toward the back of the room, noticing a smell that wasn''t quite right. At the same time, Thorgrim was moving around the lockers to position himself between the humans and the door. He finally caught a glimpse of the woman. She had black hair in a short wolf cut, and her skin was a strange shade of pink, which made him think of bubblegum. She was probably part of the new version of the Soldiers of Strength, while the man was an older iteration of that "product." Thorgrim waited until the woman was far enough from the door before rushing out of his hiding spot and slamming his tower shield into her back. That was the signal for everyone else to burst into action. Raxus brandished his longsword, going for a stab at the man¡¯s chest, while Kros, the beastman from the Stormcrest Company, jumped between the two humans. He used his skill to block their mana for a few moments before they could even start casting. From behind him, Brok threw a pair of small circular devices that unraveled into electrified nets. The woman didn¡¯t react in time, and between the interrupting skill, Thorgrim¡¯s tackle, and the net, she became trapped. The edges of the metal wire covering her body embedded themselves into the wall behind her. But the human man had more time to respond. He pushed the net away with his arm, so only the limb was covered by the electrified wire. With his other hand, he reached out for Raxus, grabbing the sword by the blade and pulling the small beastman toward him for a headbutt. Marina acted swiftly, creating a layer of protective water between the human and her teammate. The man¡¯s head barely registered the protection and crashed into it, making the liquid shatter like ice. The impact sent Raxus flying back, slamming into one of the lockers, which bent around him. Zephyr appeared from above. The ceiling here wasn¡¯t as tall as in the initial hallway, but it was still more than enough for the diminutive harpy to fly. His talons went straight for the human¡¯s exposed neck, followed by a row of bladed feathers with a spin. A low hum filled the room as Zephyr triggered a skill. He was a strange one that could only fight properly if he was listening to classical music, but to offset that, the harpy developed a skill to buff his allies as he hummed the tune. Yet, despite the boost, his attacks weren¡¯t enough to pierce the man¡¯s skin. Being a Soldier of Strength allowed people to enhance various aspects of their bodies. Some chose raw power, others speed, and some focused on endurance, making an already hard-to-kill enemy nearly unstoppable. The man reached out to grab Zephyr, but the harpy pulled away in time. Thorgrim tried to rejoin the assault, but the woman¡¯s skin flared up, casting the area in a pink hue as she broke free from her restraints. The metal wire still encased her body, but she pushed against the spikes embedded in the wall, tearing out small chunks of the surface along with them. She slammed her fist against the dwarf¡¯s shield, sending a wave of pink energy toward him. The shield absorbed the blast, converting it into green energy, and reflected the blow back at her with double the power. The counterattack sent the woman flying into the man, who had just swung at Zephyr. She collapsed on top of him, and due to his poor footing, they both fell to the ground. Echo finally made his move, emerging from stealth and striking both their legs, triggering a skill that paralyzed their lower bodies for a few moments. But his attack wasn¡¯t without consequence. Both Soldiers of Strength punched the triton, sending him crashing into the side of a row of lockers. The blow forced him through five of the metal cabinets. Raxus jumped back into the fight, using his sword to pin the man¡¯s arms to the floor, while Thorgrim did the same to the woman with his shield. Kros joined in, pinning the man¡¯s arm against the woman in such a way that he would obstruct her as well. Brok quickly approached with a pair of circular disks in his hands and slammed them onto the human¡¯s forehead. The devices came to life, unraveling to clamp onto their faces. Mechanical tendrils grabbed their mouths, nostrils, eyelids, and ears, forcing them open. Some appendages even extended into their throats. "Marina, now!" Thorgrim shouted. Marina created two orbs of water and flung them at the humans, covering their faces with the spell. Brok¡¯s devices captured the water and forced it into their bodies through every exposed orifice. The two Soldiers of Strength fought back, doing everything they could to break free. But between the three people holding them, the spell interruption still in effect, and their paralyzed legs, they couldn¡¯t escape. It took a minute for the humans to lose consciousness, but the group continued holding them for another ten minutes to make sure they were truly dead. Only when their skin lost its strange color did the team let them go and finally check on Echo. The triton was in bad shape, covered in bruises with several pieces of metal lodged in his body. Marina quickly began healing him, which took another ten minutes before the man could move again. And he wasn''t the only one. All of those who held the humans down were covered in bruises and burns. The skin of a Soldier of Strength was incredibly tough, and holding on to it was like holding a hot piece of metal. "How are you feeling? Do you need to retreat?" Thorgrim asked. "I¡¯m fine, boss. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll keep to the shadows and take care of the tech part," Echo said with a smile, holding the side of his stomach. But it was clear he wouldn¡¯t be much help in a fight. Thorgrim nodded and told Marina to continue healing Echo while they finished checking the locker room. He didn¡¯t say it out loud, but he hoped the other teams were faring better than his. 980 - Paintings Hera left the server room, leaving the man stuck inside a locker. She continued walking through the passage. There was a lot of empty space before she reached another door, one that turned the tunnel into a smaller hallway. No longer were there towering walls around her, but now a corridor that seemed very much like something you would see in an office building. The first couple of paintings were just basic, the type of thing you would expect to see from someone trying to add some art to a building. Rolling hills of green with some trees and flowers. A forest filled with small critters roaming around, with the silhouette of a massive stag bathed in sunlight. The next one depicted a large battle. One fought purely with weapons and armor, not with any spells or magic. All the people in this particular painting were humans, which wasn''t exactly a surprise, but it also made Hera somewhat confused. Why would they display something showing humans fighting against each other if they were at war with the Alliance? The following painting showed a single person on top of a hill overlooking the survivors of a battle. They were holding a flag as if they were claiming the land for themselves. It was very obvious that the painter tried to mirror the feeling of seeing Cyrus, but didn''t quite hit the mark. In the best-case scenario, it was someone playing a similar role, and in the worst-case, a bad copycat. Next came one with a city, a very beautiful and large city with a castle or a keep in the middle. Hera continued walking, seeing a couple of other similar paintings, like the last three. Each of them followed the same pattern: a group of humans fighting, one of them reaching a hill and lifting a banner, followed by a city in a different style and architecture. This sequence repeated about five times, each set taking up one side of the wall. Finally, the theme changed to something different. It was a picture of six people, the six who were holding the banners, but this time, their symbols were in their capes. All connected together, they created the logo for the New Dawn. "This has to be the most egotistical thing I¡¯ve ever seen," Livy shook her head. "I know, right? Are they really trying to say that the New Dawn was created by a bunch of heroes?" Crimson scoffed. "I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that was the case, or at least that¡¯s part of their pitch," Forge grumbled. "What do you mean?" Hera turned to Vulcan. "Think about it. Once this war is over, they won¡¯t keep the Soldiers of Strength as just glorified bodyguards. They¡¯re probably trying to market it as your own personal army worthy of a hero. This is just art to help sell the point," the kangaroo explained. "Holy shit. You¡¯re right. That would be a good way to sell it," Hera gasped. The next few pictures showed exactly that: an army with red skin wearing clothes with the emblem of the New Dawn. This time, they were fighting members of the Alliance and killing everyone without suffering any casualties or injuries. The very last painting showed a silhouette sitting on a throne with the Soldiers of Strength kneeling in front of them. "This is frankly disgusting," Nimbus frowned. "I agree," Lurize stared daggers at the painting. They were at the end of this hallway, and there was a turn to the left. From that direction, they heard footsteps approaching. Hera quickly looked around and found a bathroom in the corner. She rushed inside, dismissing her entire court. It was a men¡¯s bathroom. But at least the stalls went all the way to the ground instead of having a part open, showing everyone¡¯s feet. The Empress quickly checked and found out that one of the stalls was locked, with an "Under Maintenance" sign on it. This meant the person who was walking here could be the one who needed to fix that, or it was someone else, and they wouldn¡¯t go inside the broken stall. Going for a gamble, she summoned Shadow inside the stall with Daskka¡¯s help and used [Shadowstep Strike] to get inside without actually opening the door. This was a very private bathroom, not the kind you would see in an office or public space. Every stall was completely closed off from each other, which would ensure no one saw her inside, as long as they didn¡¯t try to enter the same stall she was using. It didn¡¯t take long before the door of the bathroom opened, but Hera was still safely hidden. "This is going to sound weird, but it¡¯s kind of nice to have the whole place to ourselves," a voice said. A couple of steps followed before they stopped. "Enjoy it while it lasts. The boss said we should be getting some work later today," a second voice replied, followed by the sound of a jet of water hitting ceramic. "What? Didn¡¯t they send the prototypes away? What else would we have to do?" "I don¡¯t know. The boss, and I mean the big boss, said that he was going to need some help with his new personal project," the second man replied. "Personal project? So, if you call the shots, you can use this entire thing for something you want to do? Man, being rich sounds great."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The noise continued. Hera had to admit that it was kind of amazing that it was lasting this long. "It¡¯s not just about money. It¡¯s about power. And not just physical power. Mr. Wabeeri can pretty much do whatever he wants. He controls a massive company, the Soldiers of Strength, and the dude is strong enough in his own right. I saw him practicing with a few soldiers. He wasn¡¯t wiping the floor with them, but he was holding his own pretty well." "Really?" The noise finally stopped, and footsteps walked to the other wall. "Not going to lie. I didn¡¯t expect him to be good at fighting." "If you have enough money, you can probably hire someone to train you, or just get a bunch of skill compendiums," the second man replied. His footsteps went directly to the exit. "But do we know what he¡¯s going to ask us to do?" "It had something to do with some subjects that are not being cooperative. Probably just scare them off, but there¡¯s a chance its something more. By the way, did you see the game last night?" Their voices slowly faded away as the two men walked off. "I¡¯m pretty sure one of them didn¡¯t wash their hands," Shadow grumbled in Hera¡¯s mind. "Yeah. I think so too." "The people working here are truly monsters," the Alabaster Duke huffed. Hera held back a chuckle and continued to wait. At least the toilet in her stall wasn¡¯t dirty. She wasn¡¯t just giving time for the two people to leave the area but also waiting for Shadow¡¯s [Shadowstep Strike] to finish its cooldown. But it seemed like there was a problem she would have to deal with. Mr. Wabeeri, whoever he was, was calling the shots. He was also someone strong enough to face one of the Soldiers of Strength on his own. It was a good thing she wasn¡¯t going to face him by herself. On the other end of the laboratory, the Harmony Guardians had just arrived at another set of doors, this one clearly indicating the entrance to the actual laboratory part of the facility. Blade moved to the side, trying to find a way to open it without having Grimm blow everything up. While she was searching for the control panel, Vash simply walked closer to the door and pressed a button in the middle of it. The entire door shifted and opened, revealing a wide-open space with a cluster of cages dangling from the ceiling, various red pipes pumping a liquid back and forth, and a few operation theaters scattered around the area. The moment the door started to move, everyone rushed away to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be seen. After all, their cloaks were already gone. "How did you do that?" Blade asked in a whisper. "There was a button in the middle of the door. I figured that since this doesn¡¯t have an actual handle, that would be it," Vash replied. "Good call. But next time, let us know beforehand," the human said, getting a nod in response. Once the door was completely open, they quickly moved inside. The place seemed empty, with no one being experimented on and no scientists walking around. The only living beings they could see were a couple of Strength Spirits in each corner of the room, but they were trapped inside large vats of red liquid and attached to the walls. They were on the second or third floor, with the gurneys and all the tools used for the experiments on the bottom floor. This was likely a way for the people in charge to observe what was going on without having to be too close to the experiments themselves. Looking around was a harrowing sight. There was so much dried blood on the floor that it seemed like they never even bothered cleaning the place up. Yet, there was a corner to the left that was completely spotless, with a maintenance cart by the side and a small plaque reading "On a Break" sitting on top of it. That clearly meant they did clean this place, but this was just how much blood was produced between the regularly scheduled visits from the janitor. Vash flew around a bit until he found a passage directly underneath the entrance they had taken. Going to the staircase on the right was a possibility, but no one bothered with it. Everyone just jumped down from the second floor and started moving through this new passage. The environment shifted again, now looking more like a hospital than an office or a large cargo area. They could also hear some moans coming from deeper into the facility. Imagining that it was someone actively turning into a Soldier of Strength, they picked up the pace. Without the cloaks, their stealth ability was much weaker, and right now, the consideration of not being seen was almost out the window. It didn¡¯t take long for the group to find the source of the moans. It was an elf inside one of the rooms, currently being forcibly tattooed. The person doing it was a human wearing glasses and a lab coat, holding a needle that was connected to something in the ceiling. The scientist quickly noticed the intruders and stood up. "Who are you?" Before he could do anything else, Iris and Ivy jumped forward and struck him repeatedly with their daggers. The attacks were so numerous and quick that the human died before even hitting the ground. They turned to the elf to see what they could do to help, but it was too late. The tattoo had already been finished. Now, the human had just been making the black band that would cover the tattoo itself. The elf was in a delirious state, unable to form any sentences, much less understand what was happening. All this was because the Strength Daemon was already influencing his mind. "Shit¡­ there¡¯s nothing we can do for him. Let¡¯s keep going, and we¡¯ll try to save him when we¡¯re leaving," Blade said. "Hang on. Let me try one thing," Neria stepped forward. She had spent the last few days trying to come up with Strength Healing, a way to offset the daemonic influence that came from the tattoos. According to Vulcan, she was somewhat successful, even if she lacked consistency. As the Triton prepared her healing, a small ball of red water appeared in her hand. Trying to maintain the specific wavelength of the Strength Mana that would fight off the energy given by the daemon, she placed the liquid on top of the elf. The man stopped groaning, and his breathing became more stable. But more than that, the tattoo around his neck slowly started to degrade, not the black line, but the one connecting him to the Strength Daemon. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t able to hold on for long, which caused the man to return to his suffering. However, the tattoo was still damaged, meaning that the connection was now much weaker. Neria wanted to continue. She wanted to try again and make sure that this man was saved, but they had already wasted too much time in this area. Blade was kind enough not to say anything while she worked. "Sorry. I thought I had it," Neria sighed. "Don¡¯t be. I don¡¯t think anyone would have gotten so close. When we¡¯re coming back, you can try again. But we really can¡¯t afford to waste more time here. We need to find where the Strength Daemons are, not just the ones that are yet to be linked to the Soldiers of Strength," Blade replied. Everyone nodded, and they rushed out of the room, leaving behind the wounded elf and the corpse of a scientist. But in their hearts, they all promised to return. 981 - Captive The Harmony Guardians continued rushing through the laboratory. They only saw one other experiment currently ongoing, but this one was very different from the first. Instead of a subject that was already delirious with the tattoo on its neck, they found someone who had yet to be branded by the Human experiment. The Triton they saved was still in awful shape. He was battered and bruised, malnourished, and struggling just to move, but he was still able to do so. Unfortunately, the group was unable to bring him along. Instead, they found a small storage room and let him stay there with a bottle of water. The man thanked them and found a corner to hide in until they could return to bring him outside. It very much looked like there was no one around, only the two people they had fought while working on the experiments. It was strange to think that people had their individual labs, even when they had that massive open surgery theater. But no one was truly interested in understanding why these monsters were acting the way they were. Any hope of finding common ground with the people involved in the Soldier of Strength project was long gone. The mere sight of the operation rooms they left behind only made their blood boil even more. Nothing could prepare them for how cruel the procedures actually were. Everyone had a loose understanding of it, and they had all seen the victims who were able to survive. But just looking at the implements used to brand people with the tattoo, and the amount of blood that covered every single surgery room, almost made even the strongest among them throw up. It was, frankly, amazing. Every time they believed the humans couldn¡¯t get any worse, couldn¡¯t do something even more cruel, they were surprised by their creativity. And the room they had just entered was no different. It wasn¡¯t a surgery room or a place where the experiments actually happened. Instead, it was a meeting room with a large whiteboard and a table, where people could write down notes and discuss whatever they needed to. But what was written on that whiteboard was the most horrifying notion they had ever seen. There were a few options for what would be the next step in the Soldier of Strength program. Ideas ranged from creating animals and monsters that could be controlled by a specific person to the development of weapons bound to the daemons. That idea was even marked as ¡°promising¡± and had some resources allocated to it. However, it wasn¡¯t the project with the most resources available. That honor went to Stage 2 of the Soldiers of Strength, ominously called Children of Strength. It was hard to understand the specifics, as the whiteboard only had bullet points. But it seemed the humans intended to make the new version truly new. The plans were split between two options: orphans and fetuses. For orphans, which was the option crossed out, the benefits were listed as: quantity, less prone to escape, no one will miss them, and easily manipulated. The cons included: poor quality of product, subpar genetic origin, and tendency to become attached to its creator. On the side of the fetuses, the cons were listed as: dealing with the mother, resource-intensive, screening required, and ¡°18-year plan.¡± That last con was crossed out and replaced by ¡°accelerated aging, reduced to 6 years.¡± On the pro list for fetuses were: genetic manipulation, better adaptability, can be psychologically programmed, in-house production, and harder to track. Apparently, they had chosen the second option: creating the Soldiers of Strength out of unborn children. They were even discussing the methods they could use to make those children. The words ¡°breeding facility¡± and ¡°artificial womb¡± were scrawled to the side of the list. No one said a thing as they stared at the whiteboard. They all just hoped that if they stared long enough, the words would somehow change and prove that things were not as bad as they seemed. But reality wasn¡¯t so kind. After what felt like a lifetime for every single member of the team, Blade called over one of Hera¡¯s snakes and made sure to record every single sentence that was written on the board. "This is crossing a line," Flint shook his head. "I know they already crossed many, but this¡­ this is¡­" He couldn¡¯t find the words. "Sickening," Iris replied. "That feels like an understatement, but it¡¯s as good a word as any," the dwarf sighed. "I don¡¯t even want to think about what this means," Neria gestured toward the words under the fetus column. "Me neither," Skyler shook her head. "This should be all. Let¡¯s keep going," Blade said as she turned around and left the room. She didn¡¯t have to say it twice for the rest of the group to follow. No one wanted to stay there any longer. Not long after, they arrived at another massive door. According to the layout of the facility, behind the door would be the cells. They tried to open it with the control panel or by pressing the button in the middle, but nothing worked. Without wasting any more time, Blade turned to Grimm. "Want to blow something up?"Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The dwarf grinned from ear to ear. "Always." He quickly pulled something from his pouch that looked very much like putty¡ªa strange blue mixture he could mold with his hands. Using some manner of tool, he crafted another component and placed it in the middle. It was essentially a mix between a gummy worm and a dynamite stick. "Door, meet Beatrice," Grimm smiled. "Beatrice is a long, soft red thing?" Vash asked. "It was her drag name. And trust me, the original could do much more damage when she wanted to," Grimm replied, placing the compound along the edge of the door. Since it was such a large structure, he was only able to form a small L-shape in the bottom-left corner. They picked that specific location because the closest cell was supposed to be on the other side of the wall. Once the explosive was set up, everybody rushed back to a nearby room and took cover. Grimm held onto a small line he had connected to the explosive. "On your mark, boss." Blade glanced back, making sure everybody was in position before saying, "Do it." "Now spank me and call me your little soldier," Grimm said. "What?" Blade blinked, hoping she had heard it wrong. "Wasn¡¯t talking to you," Grimm replied just before he pulled the line. "He was talking to the explosive," Iris and Ivy added, but their voices were drowned out by the sound of a large explosion. Smoke and ash rushed through the hallway as an immense pressure surged in all directions. Blade quickly closed the door to make sure they wouldn¡¯t be dragged by the air current. "Did you mess something up?" she gasped. "No, my explosion didn¡¯t do that," Grimm protested. "Then what did?" Blade asked. "The only thing that could make something like that happen is if the ambient pressure was different between here and the cells," Skyler said with a frown. "Are you saying the humans are keeping our people in a low-atmosphere environment?" Iris asked. "Maybe. For the air to rush like that, that¡¯s what makes sense. And that would explain why people don¡¯t rebel. I mean, they¡¯re not grabbing just random people off the street. As far as everybody knows, the humans are targeting people who are somewhat strong. It¡¯s strange that we haven¡¯t heard anything about people escaping or fighting back. But if they¡¯re being kept in a jail that forces them to use everything they have just to survive, that explains it," Skyler added. Everyone paused, and Roan turned back to the door. "At this point, I¡¯m not even surprised anymore. Let¡¯s go help our people." He opened the door with confidence, as his hearing told him that the rush of wind had stopped. The corridor beyond was now empty, without any debris or smoke, all of it had been dragged inside the jail. Inside, they saw over a hundred different cells, each holding at least three people. Everyone looked tired, beaten, and malnourished. But there were people from all different species of the Alliance: Tritons, dwarves, harpies, elves, beastmen, and more. Most of them didn¡¯t even look up as the group walked through the jail. It was as if they were so numb that it didn¡¯t matter who appeared, they simply didn¡¯t care. But a few reached out, a glimmer of hope crossing their eyes, only to retreat when they realized this new group of people was not going to take them out of there. The Harmony Guardians wanted to stop and start opening the cells, but they knew this was not their goal, not right now. First, they had to record everything. It hurt, but that was the plan. In this war, evidence was more important than the lives of anyone. Even so, everybody silently vowed to come back soon to help these people. According to the blueprints, the last cell was different. It was wider and had extra protections inside, which made them imagine that something important was held there. The actual cell was closed off from the rest of the facility. You couldn¡¯t even see what was happening inside. As a result, Grimm had to use another explosive to open the door. This time, he went with a weaker one, something he called "Jessy," which was apparently named after an old high school crush that never came to be. Once the door was open, the entire group walked inside, just in case the cell contained some sort of experiment gone wrong. Which, in a way, it did. Trapped inside the cell was a rotting centaur, missing its legs and arms. It was suspended by various chains that weren¡¯t simply wrapped around its body but hooked into its very skin. The centaur¡¯s entire body was covered in tattoos, many of them early versions of the ones used by the Soldiers of Strength. But there were others, too. It seemed this centaur was patient zero, the first experiment that suffered at the hands of the humans. "What the¡ª?" Before Neria could finish her sentence, the centaur moved, causing everyone to jump back. This rotting corpse in front of them was actually alive. It was a living creature, mid-decomposition. It had no eyes, no tongue, and maggots crawled over its head. Yet something was keeping it alive. They watched as it opened its mouth, trying to speak, but there was nothing, only an empty void where its tongue should have been. "The fuck is the matter with these people?" Flint gasped. "Beautiful, is it not?" a voice came from behind them, making the entire group spin on their heels. Outside the cell stood a very muscular woman with short blue hair and armor with a black-and-white motif. "Frostbite!" Blade¡¯s voice was full of venom. "Hi, traitor. I¡¯m not going to give you the satisfaction of hearing your name from my voice." "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m going to make sure you never say anything ever again," Blade snarled, pulling her sword. "Why are you doing this?" Neria asked, gesturing toward the centaur. "That? Oh, that was an advanced scout, the first centaur that came into contact with us. Since no one had ever seen anything like it in the MAZE, we needed to understand how it ticked. What was the best way to kill it? Things like that. After we figured that part out, we couldn¡¯t exactly let him go back, you know? It would¡¯ve been very hard to explain to his people why he went through so much. So, we decided to recycle him into a new project. One that I assume you¡¯re all too familiar with," Frostbite said with a smile, her gloves already glistening with ice. "I don¡¯t care about whatever fucking story you have to tell. I¡¯m ending this, and I¡¯m ending you!" Blade lunged forward. The entire team jumped out of the cell, only to find a group of Soldiers of Strength already waiting for them. But no one cared about the danger. As long as they could kill Frostbite, destroy this laboratory, and end the horrors it had created, nothing else mattered. 982 - Contact Blade, the Harmony Guardians, and the three members of the Wandering Scale all had their weapons in hand. They were cornered at the end of the jail. To reach the exit, they would need to fight against the Soldiers of Strength standing in front of them. At the very least, these appeared to be the old models, as their skin was a bright shade of red instead of the muted pastel colors of the Version 2.0 soldiers. It was a team of nine versus a team of five, with the humans having the lower numbers. But that didn¡¯t mean much when they were fighting people bound to daemons. The human team consisted of three men and two women, one of whom was Frostbite. Strangely enough, the controller didn¡¯t seem to have gone through the procedure. Her skin was a regular color, and there was no strange energy emanating from her. The one thing Blade took issue with was the tattoos around Frostbite¡¯s arm. They hadn¡¯t been there the last time the two of them had seen each other. There was a good chance that the legacy had improved. It might have evolved, allowing her to cover herself with even more tattoos. Blade wasn¡¯t sure about the specifics of that legacy. All she could remember was that it allowed Frostbite to use skills from the previous holders. Maybe those markings were just that old skills Frostbite was now able to use. Before Blade could take more time to assess her opponent¡¯s capabilities, Frostbite lunged toward her, large ice spikes growing from her hands. Both women had been part of the assault on the centaur homeland, and they knew the truth: the only one who could stop either of them was the other. The Soldiers of Strength wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to face off against Blade, and the Harmony Guardians wouldn¡¯t be able to handle Frostbite. They all understood this. But there was something else everybody knew: Frostbite didn¡¯t care about her teammates. The Soldiers of Strength were durable enough to recover even if they were hit by her attacks by accident. And the surrounding prisoners? They could always get more. Blade, on the other hand, cared deeply about ensuring her team and the prisoners didn¡¯t become collateral damage. She knew that if things went south, her teammates or the prisoners could be seriously injured. All those factors left only one viable first move: Blade charging at Frostbite with all her strength and forcing her into the hallway outside the jail. Blade activated a skill that turned her body into a ray of light and met Frostbite mid air, the impact too strong even for the controller, who focused on defense. In that single burst of light, they were gone, leaving behind the Alliance team and the four Soldiers of Strength. Not missing a beat, Vash created a thin ten between the two groups. Using his legacy, he cast a buff that granted everyone a strength boost, similar to the one Vulcan could use as long as they passed by the stage he set. While it wasn¡¯t as potent as the Title Blade, it was already enough to cause problems for the enemy. The Soldiers of Strength didn¡¯t realize what was happening and simply prepared to defend themselves, giving the Alliance team just enough time to get their buffs. Everyone¡¯s clothing shifted to a shade of red, similar to that of their enemies. Grimm began throwing small bombs that packed a strong punch in a very small area. He called these mini-explosives ¡°Drunken Sirens¡± in homage to the many drunken hookups he¡¯d had where he couldn¡¯t even remember the names of the people involved. Each blast barely inconvenienced the Soldiers of Strength, but the bright flashes of light were enough to distract them so the rest of the team could close the distance. Iris and Ivy went for their usual combo, attacking one of the men with a flurry of rapid strikes. Each blow dealt minimal damage, but the speed and frequency of their attacks began chipping away at the connection between this particular Soldier of Strength and his daemon. The man tried to fight back, using a pair of daggers to block their attacks, but the weakened connection made it impossible for him to utilize the same level of power he¡¯d wielded before. While the twins distracted him, Vash hovered overhead, beating his wings faster and faster. The sound of his maracas grew to a crescendo, flooding the entire jail. Moments later, the humans began to feel as though the wind was physically pushing them back. It wasn¡¯t real wind, but instead the auditory illusion created by Vash¡¯s maracas, which sounded like tarps whipping wildly in a hurricane. This was thanks to Vash¡¯s performer skills, combined with a legacy ability called Ringmaster¡¯s Wonderland. The skill allowed him to take small sensory effects and turn them into full physical manifestations, without requiring the actual elements to be present. Meanwhile, Roan charged another soldier, a woman, head-on. He activated his Bestial Armor immediately, the image of a prehistoric honey badger manifesting around his body. It was much larger and considerably more vicious than its modern counterpart. His dual hatchets transformed into massive claws as he attacked his target with relentless ferocity. However, with only one opponent to deal with, the Soldier of Strength managed to fight back more effectively. She took a boxing stance and used her gauntlets to block his attacks, countering with punches that sent Roan flying several meters back with each hit. Thanks to his Bestial Armor, he wasn¡¯t taking much damage, but it was clear that if she used anything more than a simple punch, he¡¯d be in trouble.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Thankfully, Roan wasn¡¯t completely alone. Skyler supported him from a distance, throwing a series of wind and sound-based spells at the soldier. These forced the woman to pull back some of her punches, so she wouldn¡¯t take too much damage from the projectiles. The fact that Vash¡¯s buffs were disrupting the Soldiers of Strength¡¯s connections to their daemons was putting the humans on the back foot. Even then, Flint was in trouble. He was the only one fighting against the Soldier of Strength, essentially by himself. His power armor could bridge the gap between their power, but still, he was the weaker one. The dwarf went in for a punch, the pistons in his arm triggering to make the attack even more deadly, but the man he was fighting simply blocked the attack completely before bringing his mace down toward Flint''s head. The attack had left him too exposed, and the dwarf had no chance of dodging it completely. He shifted just enough so that the blow scraped along his shoulder, which was somewhat protected by his power armor. Neria, being the only healer in this group, was making sure blows the team received were quickly healed, but that also meant she failed to notice the attack aimed at Flint. At the very last second, she tried to create a barrier to increase his defenses, but it was not fast enough. Still, between the two, they were able to turn a deadly strike into something that just hit the dwarf''s shoulder and made it pop out of its socket. His power armor instantly triggered and, with a painful crack, put the limb back in place, as it was one of its functions. Vash spread the smell of popcorn and cotton candy through the area, both of which affected their speed, one as a buff and the other as a debuff. That was another use of Ringmaster¡¯s Wonderland, and being a performer, he could combine his own skills with those special effects. Even then, the Soldiers of Strength had recovered from their initial surprise. Now they were able to fight back properly. The man facing the twins ignored some of their attacks, taking the damage in order to get an opening to strike at the elves. The two of them were able to respond in time to a few of the attacks, but not all. The man¡¯s dagger cut their arms, and Ivy was stabbed in the stomach. It was not a deep wound, but it was enough to slow her down, making the synchronization with her twin less effective. With Iris slowing down, Grimm had to double his efforts with his explosives. But the main problem was that he could only do so much without harming his teammates. He did try to attack the other Soldiers of Strength, but from his angle, it was too risky to do that. The woman fighting Roan noticed how her attacks were not doing as much as she hoped and started speeding things up, even if she had to attack at the lower height that she was used to. But she was fast enough to deliver a flurry of jabs and hooks that bounced off Roan¡¯s armor, causing it to flicker. Skyler continued to try to help by using some spells from the back. Unfortunately, all her magic was doing was interrupting the connection of the Soldier of Strength. There was no damage being done, and the attacks moved too quickly for her to be able to change the trajectory in any significant way. As for Neria, she had chosen to keep Flint out of the battle for a while, or at least her priority was in keeping him from taking any more damage. Other than that, most of her attention was still on the others. At this point, the fight was not exactly a difficult one, but it was not exactly an easy one either. What was most important right now was staying alive. Her gaze flickered quickly between Flint and Iris, sending barriers to one and healing to the other. Unfortunately, this meant the rest of the team was left hanging out to dry. In the corridor, Blade and Frostbite were facing each other, but their battle was much less intense so far. In fact, they were just staring at each other, measuring their movements and trying to figure out a way to start the battle with an edge. High-level battles would generally happen like that. The two adversaries stared at each other until they found an opening to strike. It would be different if they were facing a monster or a large group, but in a one-on-one duel, patience and experience were king. "I do have to thank you. If it wasn''t for the legacy you gave me, none of this would have worked," Frostbite tried to get into Blade''s head. "I''m not surprised. You are not intelligent enough to do something like this without it falling into your lap," Blade replied, her hand already on the hilt of her sword, but it was still sheathed. "Name-calling? Really? I thought you were better than that." "And I thought you were not a monster. Guess that is why you did not care about getting a skill from a wendigo." "It is just a skill. It does not matter where it came from. It matters how you use it," Frostbite replied. "Is it not the same for the centaur that is back there? You were just using them because it helps?" Frostbite shrugged. "He had his use. I will admit that I am not that fond of his current state. We should have just gotten rid of it a long time ago." "Then why don''t you? Why do you keep that thing alive?" "It is not up to me, and apparently there are still some things we can learn from it. I just do not know what," Frostbite''s eyes shifted to the back of the jail. In that brief moment of distraction, Blade unsheathed her weapon and triggered a powerful radiant slash aimed at the woman in front of her. Before the energy blades even reached the target, the human was already moving forward, almost colliding with the skill. Even then, Frostbite was able to respond. Her fists grew as ice formed around her hands, and she slammed them both against the incoming attack. Once Frostbite and Blade clashed, the entire facility started to shake. 983 - The Dawn of Ice Frostbite created a shield to block the incoming attack, a shield made of pure deep blue ice. If the attack had come from anyone else, it would have worked. Fire would just melt the frozen water, giving enough time for her to move away, and any other type of element would be halted by the chilling ability of her skill. But she was fighting the Blade of Dawn, one of the few people in the upper echelons of the MAZE who used a source of heat that was not simply a flame. The sword, imbued with radiance, heated up to a dangerous level and cut through the wall of ice. But that was not without effort. There was a lot of energy being wasted in the attack, and thanks to that, Frostbite was able to create another layer of protection around her. Instead of a full wall, it was simply a large ice shield. Even then, it was not enough to nullify the attack completely. Frostbite was sent flying back, crossing a few meters. This served to prove that Blade was not powerful just because of her skills. She also had the strength to support her fame. The controller sent a few shards of ice flying midair at the fighter, but the spell was not able to overcome the searing heat coming from Blade. That was another issue Frostbite was dealing with. Because of the constant and permanent high temperature coming from her opponent, any ice-based attack was considerably weakened, which also meant she had no way to apply a chill or frostbite effects. Both ailments that she needed to trigger some of her more powerful skills. Blade did not have to put too much effort into evading the flying ice shards. Most of them melted before they reached her, and the parts that could do anything of substance were far enough away that she could simply twist sideways to evade the attack completely. Not letting up, Blade rushed toward Frostbite with an overhead swing of her longsword. The tattooed woman sidestepped the attack and tried to punch the fighter, her fist covered in a skill called [Glacial Hammer]. Blade quickly twisted her wrist and spun her weapon to block the blow with the sword, using her free hand to pull the handle like a lever so the two of them would step away from each other. Having gotten some distance between them, Blade took a thrusting stance and activated the skill [Sun Ray]. From the tip of her sword, a single beam of concentrated light shot out toward Frostbite. But before it could hit, a large chunk of ice appeared in the attack''s path. The uneven pattern of the frozen crystal diffused the light enough that all the destructive power behind it was gone. Blade continued her assault, moving right after her spell. This time, she went for a horizontal attack, going under the block of ice. But yet again, Frostbite saw the attack coming. She created another barrier to the side. Blade''s longsword started cutting through the ice, but it was not enough to completely destroy it. Forcing the fighter to pull back and get her footing again. That was an issue as the grounds as constantly shifting between being frozen and having that water melt. Frostbite was not the only one struggling in this matchup. A good part of Blade''s power came from the fact that her attacks were imbued with extreme heat. That caused the ice to melt, and the power behind each blow weakened considerably instead of just cutting through. Her light-based spells and skills also got blocked by the ice. Every single frozen chunk was able to disperse the light, which required a high concentration to deal damage. This time, Frostbite was the one who charged. She dashed with a shoulder charge, crashing through her own ice. The initial impact sent a spray of shards toward Blade. But once again, most of them melted before they could do any damage. Still, the tackle forced the fighter to step away. In response, Frostbite swung her arm in a backhand that slammed against Blade''s face. The impact hurt, but not because of the ice that appeared around the fist. It was just the raw power behind the punch. But Blade took advantage of that. She spun around, using the momentum to deliver a radiant slash at Frostbite''s stomach. The attack hit, but once again, there was an ice barrier around the controller. However, this time it was not as strong as it should have been. The blade of radiant mana was slowed down, but not stopped, leaving a sizeable cut on its target. Frostbite''s feet were covered in a layer of snow as she triggered [Abominable Stomp] and went for a kick. But Blade twisted her body and the sword to intercept the attack, once again blocking with her weapon. This time, however, the strength behind the attack was too much. The fighter was sent flying back and slammed her back against a wall of ice that had appeared suddenly. The sharp spikes were unable to maintain their jagged shape, but were still strong enough to knock the air out of her lungs. Blade glanced up, seeing how they had already destroyed most of the hallway. The area was covered in large chunks of ice, holes along the metal walls, melted pieces of steel created from her attacks, and even the ground was starting to slowly turn a shade of orange due to the intense heat her aura created. But she barely had time to assess her surroundings before Frostbite jumped toward her, trying to hit the fighter with her knee. Instead of looking away, Blade pretended to be stunned and, at the very last second, used her sword to block the incoming attack, moving her head away from danger.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Frostbite did not notice the change in time, and her knee slammed directly into the edge of the sword. The woman let out a pained growl as Blade took advantage of it to get up and swipe two more times, aiming at the controller''s chest. The first attack struck true, lacerating part of Frostbite''s armor and skin, but the second was not fast enough to do the same. Quickly stepping away, the controller activated a couple of her healing abilities over the sizzling flesh. "You bitch!" Frostbite groaned. Blade took the chance to steady her footing once more. "What is the matter? Can''t take the heat?" "Says the one who can barely stand after taking a single punch. I expected more of you," Frostbite scoffed as a layer of ice covered her knee. The wound was not deep, but it was not something she could fix with just her own healing abilities. "Don''t flatter yourself. If it wasn''t for the Frozen Ground, I wouldn''t even need to step away. But come on now, you better start using that legacy I gave you before you lose the chance to do that. Or are you so disgusted with the fact that you are part wendigo now that you cannot use it?" Frostbite belched out some laughter. "Don''t worry, sweetheart. I don''t need to waste something like that with you." She did her best to pretend everything was fine, but the burning in her chest was worse than she was expecting. The radiant energy was eating away at her flesh even now, after the attack was over. She instantly understood what was happening. Blade of Dawn was famous because of one specific attack, but the only reason for that was that her second most powerful skill was not as flashy. During the assault on the centaur village, she learned about the real danger that Blade posed. It was a skill called [Ever Light], and once triggered, the target would keep burning until they were gone or were able to escape Blade''s range. The problem was, Frostbite had no idea what the actual range of the skill was. "You are going to regret that decision," Blade prepared another attack, the same one that earned her her name. "I doubt it. Especially since it is clear, you do not even know the first rule of fighting," Frostbite said. "And what is that?" Blade asked, charging her skill so it would get even stronger. "Be aware of your surroundings," Frostbite said with a smirk before dropping her fighting stance. Blade had less than a second to be confused before two forms slammed against her. They continued pushing until they reached the broken door to the jail, only stopping after she crashed through the metal and landed close to where the rest of her team was fighting the Soldiers of Strength. Back in the hallway, Frostbite was smiling while two Soldiers of Strength slowly walked in Blade''s direction. These were the new versions of them: a man with light pink skin and a woman with a deeper red, almost like the color of a wine stain, pulling toward purple. "Have fun, children. Mommy has work to do," Frostbite said before she dashed to the opposite side of the hallway. She had come here just to see who the invaders were, and hopefully deal with them. Now that they were proving to be more troublesome than expected, her job was to ask for backup and warn the rest of the facility about what was going on. More specifically, she had to go to the security room. After all, if no alarms were active despite people having invaded the prison, there had to be something wrong. "Get back here!" Blade shouted and rushed forward, but she was blocked by the two Soldiers of Strength who moved to intercept her. One of them used a broadsword in an overhead slash, while the man tried to hit her with the thrust of his spear. The version 2.0 Soldiers of Strength were more powerful than what Blade expected. She could not simply take the hits and go after Frostbite. She was forced to block the spear and dodge the sword. The wine-colored soldier went in for another attack, as her sword glowed an ominous shade of red. At the same time, the pink one slammed the butt of his spear on the ground, letting red vines emerge and try to capture Blade and the other members of the Alliance. Realizing that if she went after Frostbite, her team would be left alone with two Soldiers of Strength who were able to stop her, she had to let her target go, at least for now. But the rest of the team did not agree with that. Iris broke off from her fight and jumped at the pink Soldier of Strength, her daggers flashing wildly around him as small cuts started to appear on his skin, which slowly returned to a normal color. Right after that, Flint tackled the wine-colored Soldier of Strength while still carrying his first opponent in a headlock. "Go after her!" the dwarf shouted as the broadsword slammed against his back. Part of the damage was blocked by his power armor, but the energy rippled across his body, creating several cuts along his limbs. Cuts that were instantly healed by Neria who was providing support. Blade thought about protesting for a second, but she remembered that getting rid of the legacy was the priority. If they were able to do that, all the Soldiers of Strength would be gone. Clenching her fist, Blade ignited her armor, becoming a beacon of sunlight. She dashed into the hallway, crashing through the Soldiers of Strength now engaged with her team and the remains of the broken door. It took Frostbite a couple of seconds to reach the end of the hallway and make the turn, but for Blade, that took less than a second. Her turns were much slower, however, as she had to stop before changing directions. She ignored the shouts and screams coming from behind her. Her team would have to deal with those soldiers themselves. She had to find Frostbite. She had to kill her to put an end to this once and for all. On a different part of the facility, Hera moved through the corridors, unaware of the danger the Harmony Guardians were in. She had just sneaked past a couple of guards thanks to Shadow''s help and was now looking inside an operation theater through a one-way mirror. Inside was a person strapped to a chair with various tubes connected to their limbs. It was a person she recognized. Someone she would never have imagined would be in a place like this¡ªnot even in her wildest dreams. "Blue?!" 984 - Theater Hera kept staring at Blue through the glass. Her friend was right there, covered in wires and wearing a hospital gown that seemed to be stained with blood. There was also something around her neck, but between the dim light and the amount of cables in the way, it was hard to tell what it was. It could be just a shadow, or it could be a tattoo of a Soldier of Strength. The Empress didn''t like that, but she knew that if the guild had threatened Blue''s family, her friend would do anything to protect them. Even this. Raising her fist, the Ophidianite was about to start pounding on the glass before she stopped herself. Quickly casting a soundproof barrier at the ends of the corridor, silencing the area before actually doing so. "Blue! Blue! Can you hear me?!" Hera slammed her fist on the glass over and over again, trying to get her friend to hear. In her frenzy, she failed to notice the chromatic aberration caused by her fist, and only once Twiggy pointed that out did the Empress understand. This was not glass, but a monitor. One that was the right size and the right perspective to make people think they were actually seeing inside one of the operating rooms. Despite that, Hera was sure the image was real. Her friend was somewhere nearby. If they were trying to keep all the information contained to this facility, there was no reason for them to send a file or have a live transmission from anywhere that was not inside the lab. She dropped the soundproof barriers and told the snake holding the camera to continue moving. The moment she saw Blue, the Empress had told her companion snake not to record her friend. It might have been a bad idea, but she didn''t want to expose Blue to something like that. Not before she could truly understand what was going on. She turned around and continued heading down the hallway in hopes of finding Blue or something else. Not long after leaving that monitor, she reached another area with more similar screens. But instead of just one, there were a couple of dozen. Each of them showed a different person. However, none of them were in an operating room. They were all inside cells, bound with several chains and other restraints to make sure they couldn''t move. It took the Empress a moment, but she started to recognize some of the people she was seeing. They were all people who had participated in the attack on the centaur homeland. But every single one of them was in a horrible state. Malnourished, wounded, and covered in blood, sweat, and dirt. On the biggest screen, the one directly opposite the entrance of this large theater-like room, was the one human that pretty much everybody in the MAZE recognized: the strongest person in the world, Insomniac. He was not just bound by chains but also metal plates, and there was an IV connected to his neck with a pastel purple liquid dripping slowly. "What the hell is this?" Hera gasped. "What happens with traitors," a voice came from the side of the stage. A man came out. He was completely bald, with dark skin and a well-kept gray beard. He wore a beige suit with a dark blue shirt and a white tie. "Traitors, you say? Let me guess, those are the people who didn''t agree with what you are doing." "In the larger sense of things, yes. They were not even aware of the projects present in this lab. They refused to understand that, as humans, the entire MAZE is our birthright." Hera rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I heard that before. And since you are in the mood to talk, who are you? Why are you part of this?" The man chuckled. "You truly do not know who I am?" "Oh, so you are one of those? People who have their ego so far up their own asses, they think everybody should know who you are?" The man shook his head, walking to the center of the stage and standing between Hera and the screen where Insomniac was. "I am Morgan Wabeeri, CEO of the New Dawn. And this is my lab. My pet project. It seems it was silly of me to expect any sort of knowledge from the Ophidianite Empress. You are clearly nothing but another monster created by the MAZE." Back in the jail, the Harmony Guardians were still fighting the Soldiers of Strength. Flint had tackled the wine-colored woman while a Version 1.0 man was being held in a headlock. Blade had just disappeared in a flash of light, sending the three people tumbling to the side. Yet, the dwarf refused to let his targets go. His power armor activated a spring lock that held the man in place while Flint started to punch the woman repeatedly with his free hand, even as everyone struggled to get back up. Each blow left metal dust that slowly started to interfere with her connection with a Daemon. But he was not alone in the fight. Skyler did not let up, sending various types of sonic spells toward the two Soldiers of Strength. No one else could hear, but the man and the woman had a constant ringing in their heads as the sound waves bounced inside their skulls. The man pushed himself up, spinning around and swinging his mace at Flint. The dwarf did his best to block but was too busy holding down the woman to parry the incoming attack. But the impact was not the only problem. The man also created numerous sharp spikes around his mace that exploded in all directions once the attack connected. The shards pierced Flint''s skin, and some of them hit the exposed cogs of his power armor, causing it get stuck in some movements. Others hit the woman that was entangled with him. A few even went as far as getting close to Skyler, but the elf was able to dodge in time.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The wine-colored soldier screamed and let out a wave of energy that pushed Flint backward, finally getting free from the dwarf and taking a fighting stance. Before anyone could react, she lunged at Flint, trying to stab him with her sword. He ducked under the attack and quickly came up with an uppercut. Thanks to the pistons of his power armor, the blow landed straight on the woman''s jaw. But his recklessness was not unpunished. The man slammed his mace on the dwarf''s back once more, sending out another spray of metal shards. Neria tried to heal and help, but the woman with the wine-colored skin had a strange aura around her that blocked all the heals and barriers she was trying to send. To make matters worse, Iris, Ivy, and Roan were also struggling against their opponents, forcing the healer to spread her abilities around. But that also meant she couldn¡¯t focus on someone, even if they truly needed her assistance. Behind them, Vash also tried to help his team, but maintaining the buff that allowed everyone to interrupt the power of the Soldiers of Strength was taking its toll. He hadn¡¯t expected that this skill would cause such a mental strain, not to mention the high mana cost. This made his few attacks barely able to do anything, much less properly disrupt one of the spells the Soldiers of Strength were using. The wine-colored woman saw Flint going for another punch and moved to the side, using her broadsword to block and pull the dwarf closer by grabbing the metal from his armor. The woman grappled him, making Flint unable to get away. As a follow-up, the male Soldier of Strength brandished his mace and went for a strike aimed directly at the dwarf''s head. The mace became covered in blood-red metal spikes filled with hooks, but before it could connect with the target, Skyler tackled the man. She used a wind spell to propel herself forward, so she¡¯d be able to make the Soldier of Strength miss his attack. Considering the Soldier of Strength''s raw power, that wasn¡¯t the smartest move. He didn¡¯t fall back, and she bounced off him like she¡¯d just hit a brick wall. Still, stopping the attack worked, as the man was no longer aiming at Flint but now at Skyler herself. She didn''t have enough time to dodge, but suddenly a small white ball with green kiss mark appeared between them. The ball, courtesy of Grimm, exploded, sending the elf flying back before she could be struck. But the movement wasn¡¯t fast enough. The human swung his mace, triggering a skill that sent the shards flying off. They showered over Skyler, embedding themselves in her skin. One specific shard hit the corner of her face, ripping her left eyeball out of its socket and cutting the side of her head. The explosion created enough cover for Flint to escape the grapple as the flames caused the woman to cover her face. Moving quickly, the dwarf detached the left arm and chest piece of his power armor, since they were already malfunctioning, and tossed it at the man who¡¯d just attacked Skyler, staying only with the legs, right arm, and spine of the suit. The metal wrapped itself over the man''s head, which had lost the red hue thanks to the combination of the explosion and Vash''s buff, and clamped like a bear trap, crushing his skull in a quick move. With the Soldier of Strength dead, Flint turned back to the wine-skinned woman only to feel the broadsword, covered in ominous red energy, sinking into his chest. The dwarf tried to take a breath, but his lungs had collapsed, and his blood started to pour out of the wound. He grabbed the woman''s hand that was still holding the sword and started to move forward. The metal legs let out some steam as they were put into overdrive. The woman wasn¡¯t expecting the sudden increase in strength and was lifted from the ground before being slammed against the wall between two cells. With his right arm, the one that still had his power armor, Flint started punching the woman over and over again. Each impact was as powerful as the ones Blade and Frostbite were exchanging. Each strike leaving more and more metal dust that removed the connection between the woman and the Daemon. However, every punch not only started to bend the metal but also broke the bones trapped inside the machinery. The rest of the team finally got enough breathing room in their fights for Neria to change her focus. But once the healer approached her friend, she could tell he was no longer there. Even then, the power armor continued to punch the woman, who¡¯d also lost all the strange color from her skin, leaving the two corpses on top of each other. Rushing across the laboratory, Blade was simply a beam of light. She paused for less than a second at every turn before continuing. Unfortunately, as Frostbite passed through, she changed the layout of the hallways, likely to make it easier for her to get to the security room. But the passages returned to their previous state right after. This forced Blade to take the long way around. She had to go all the way back to the reception area and then make the turn toward the security room. Still, thanks to her movement skill and the fact that her fury was maxed out, it wouldn¡¯t take long for her to arrive. As she was passing the entrance once more, a few guards were rushing inside. Most of them were regular guards, but one was a Soldier of Strength. Without even batting an eye, she simply sent a radiant slash aimed at their necks, decapitating most of them in a single quick motion. With the exception of one unlucky member of the guard who tripped just by the entrance, all of those humans died before even registering the flash of light. It took Blade just another fifteen seconds to reach the hallway, where she could see the security room. From the moment Frostbite got help from the Soldiers of Strength to the moment Blade got here, it had been less than two minutes. But the scene was already a mess. Thorgrim, Koros, and Raxus were on the ground, being healed by Marina, who was behind them, while Zephyr let out a flurry of slashes. Each of them stopped by an ice barrier. Brok was nowhere to be seen, and Echo was being held by his neck by the human. "It was fun, but I¡¯m bored," Frostbite said as she punched Echo''s chest, causing her hand to go completely through the triton, the ice that covered her fist now soaked in blood coming out of the other side of the triton. Blade tightened her grip and triggered two more skills, one that made her faster than the speed of sound for barely a second. Frostbite noticed the light, but as she turned, she felt the radiant energy crashing on top of her. The entire corridor was illuminated by an orange light, forcing everyone to close their eyes. To everyone around, it was as if they¡¯d just witnessed the sunrise. Only after the attack was over did Blade''s voice reach the group. The one skill she had to say out loud in order to use. "New Dawn!" There was no ice protecting the controller as the attack cut her in two, from the left side of her waist to her right shoulder. The two pieces of Frostbite fell to the ground. The human was finally dead. There was no one who could survive something like this. Blade took a few deep breaths and turned to Echo before shaking her head. "I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t make it in time. I¡­" She trailed off, realizing something. "There was nothing you could¡¯ve done. She was toying with us the entire time," Koros stepped forward despite his injuries. He was about to check Echo, his dead teammate, when he noticed Blade''s expression. "What¡¯s wrong?" "The legacy¡­ She didn¡¯t have it," Blade yelled and stabbed Frostbite''s head out of anger. "That bitch gave it to someone else!" 985 - Morgan Wabeeri Morgan Wabeeri. That was the name of the person standing in front of Hera. She knew the name but didn¡¯t know the man. Everyone assumed he was deeply involved in the Soldier of Strength project. After all, all the intel they had revealed that the New Dawn was the one paying the bills for the various facilities working with the Strength Spirits. The Empress had expected the CEO to be involved somehow, but meeting him here wasn¡¯t something she had on her bingo card. And his presence was unsettling. He was too calm about her being there, almost as if she wasn¡¯t a threat to him. But as far as she knew, the man was barely level 40, although he might have increased that since the last time that information became public. Even then, he shouldn¡¯t be above level 50. Unless he¡¯d been power-leveled, in which case his attributes shouldn¡¯t be as high. But there was one good part to this. The man was clearly willing to talk, and having someone live-stream this conversation could help with the plan. Without saying anything, the Ophidianite sent her snake to get closer to the CEO of the New Dawn. She told the construct to try to get a shot that included both him and Insomniac on the monitor behind him. And to try to keep the trapped humans on the shot whenever she could. "I know your name, but this is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen how you look. You¡¯re exactly what I expected," Hera said. "And what were you expecting?" "Just the stereotypical CEO who only sits behind a desk and never actually does any work. The type of person who thinks wearing a suit makes them better than everybody else," Hera replied. Morgan chuckled. "It¡¯s not my position that makes me better. It¡¯s the fact that I got here. Although, even a criminal, a human criminal, is better than you." "You already said that. I guess you¡¯re starting to go senile and forget things, right?" Hera scoffed as she summoned Viper and Crimson directly behind her. The twins were in their weapon forms and used [Hidden Frontal Screen] to approach the man without being noticed. Hera wasn¡¯t entirely sure if this was going to devolve into a fight, but she wanted to be ready for anything, which also meant it was better to distract him. "But if humans are so much better than the rest of us, what are you doing with them? Shouldn¡¯t they have better rights than us? To me, it seems like you¡¯re treating them worse than you¡¯re treating my people." "They are traitors to our cause. But even then, they are more than the cattle that you are," Morgan replied. Hera gestured to the screens. "I hate to break it to you, but they¡¯re trapped like cattle. In one of those farms that keeps animals penned up and overfeeds them just to get more meat. The people I saw in the other facilities were in cells, free to do whatever they wanted when they weren¡¯t being used as guinea pigs." "That proves how short-sighted you are," Morgan waved his hand toward all the monitors. "These people, despite being traitors, are the future of our little program. You see, your kind is too weak to hold on to the power of a daemon for too long. Eventually, they break, which forces us to recreate the connection with another battery. The pile of corpses was starting to become a problem. There¡¯s only so much we can do to get rid of them, and the smell is frankly disgusting. That¡¯s why I came up with a new way of dealing with this." Morgan stepped forward, removing his suit jacket. It was clear he was bulky underneath it. His shirt clung tightly, and his muscles could be seen even through the dark blue cloth. He slowly started to roll up his sleeves, revealing various tattoos covering his arms. Some were pitch black, others more colorful, and one on his right forearm was red like a ruby. Almost all the tattoos were very complex and depicted detailed pictures Hera couldn¡¯t make out from this distance. But that one was different. It was a set of red teeth, as if they were about to bite and devour something. "We, actually, I, was able to create a new way of connecting my soldiers with the daemons. Instead of having one daemon filtered by one of you monsters and its power diluted to a group of warriors, I¡¯ve now connected them all. All Strength Spirits are now linked by the same tattoo. Of course, we¡¯ve just completed this experiment, so mass production will have to wait." "You connected all the Strength Spirits together? Into one person? Do you really expect them to survive that?" Hera frowned, unable to believe what she was hearing. Everything about the Soldiers of Strength was already utterly insane, but this sounded even more deranged. "A human is more than capable of surviving that. In the future, we¡¯ll have a network of people who can handle that kind of power, filtering it to our soldiers. It means every single Soldier of Strength will be able to hold much more power from the spirits. Of course, this strain will be much higher for the filter, which is why, unfortunately, I had to use a human. Since we are clearly superior to you, it¡¯s only fitting. It¡¯s a real shame that some humans insist on treating you like people. But this is a punishment that fits such a horrible thought." Hera felt her heart pounding in her chest, the memory of Silah creeping into her mind. All those people were still trapped, they were still in cells. But there was one person who was in a different state. Blue was the only one who looked like she¡¯d been part of any experiment. And right now, Morgan was saying that he¡¯d done something to her even worse than what had been done to Silah. "How many?" The Empress held back, trying not to spit the words. "What?" "How many spirits did you put on Blue?" "You know her? How funny. I remember she had a friend who shared your name. Of course, that traitor died after betraying us."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "How many?!" Hera shouted, her anger boiling over. She didn¡¯t care if it was coming from her or partially from her court. "And why would I tell you anything?" "Because she¡¯s my best friend! You did the same thing to my girlfriend, and I¡¯m not letting you take someone from me again!" Hera snapped. She didn¡¯t care if the secret came out. She wasn¡¯t losing someone she loved to the New Dawn again. "You¡­ Are you that Hera? I must say, that¡¯s a very convincing costume." "Answer me!" Hera shouted and whipped her tail, cracking the ground underneath her. "That¡­ it¡¯s not a costume, is it? What have you done to yourself?" Morgan frowned, staring at Hera properly for the first time since he appeared. "If you want to know, tell me what you¡¯ve done to Blue," Hera replied. Morgan chuckled. "I can appreciate a transaction. Blue is currently filtering all Strength Spirits we have available. And All that power is going to a single soldier. The spirits are also still being used by the old models, which lowers the output a bit, but that will change soon. It is quite painful for her when the soldier uses their power, but she¡¯s a human. She can take it. Now, how did you become¡­ this?" The man gestured to Hera. The Ophidianite wanted to attack him right now, but Viper and Crimson were still approaching. She also felt that she didn¡¯t have enough. She had to make him say something truly awful so the people watching the live stream would break free from the mind control. That meant, unfortunately, she had to keep him talking. "I got an offer from the MAZE. Stay human or become the descendant of a long-lost species that is now extinct. I refused at first, but once people started accusing me of being a terrorist for saving a bunch of people you trapped, Hera Kingsley had to die to protect those I care about." Morgan scoffed. "You expect me to believe that? The MAZE wouldn¡¯t create something like that. It gives you one or two quests at most and then you are on your own." "That might be your experience, but it was far from mine. I got several quests from the MAZE, and I don¡¯t mean just the ones in the dungeon." Morgan rolled his eyes, "Of course, because you are special. The system pays attention to you and no one else. A god complex doesn¡¯t suit a creature like you." "I¡¯m just saying that my interests align with the system¡¯s, so we help each other. But I suppose I should take your advice. You seem an expert on having a god complex." Morgan smirked, but his eyes were full of anger. "I am no god. I am simply someone who¡¯s understood how things really are. How vicious and heinous your kind can be." "Why? Why do you hate us so much?" Hera forced herself not to glance in the twins¡¯ direction, especially since they were getting so close to him. They had to move slowly to make sure the man didn¡¯t notice anything wrong. Morgan slowly removed his tie as he started to speak. "I suppose I could tell you my story. A final courtesy since you¡¯re not leaving this room. You see, my great-grandfather founded the New Dawn. Back in his time, things were much simpler. A merchant only had to purchase goods from one place, travel to another, and sell them. My grandfather was the person who started expanding our business. " "Later, he had a son who slowly started to follow in his footsteps. Eventually, my father met my mother inside the MAZE. They fell in love and had me, as an unplanned pregnancy. Which also meant they were stuck in the room they met until I turned eighteen and could cross to a different place. The room itself was the size of a small African country. My father could only talk to my grandfather through letters that took several weeks to reach their destination." He folded the tie very carefully and placed it on the ground of the stage before walking toward the Empress. "That wasn¡¯t much of an issue. After all, my grandfather was a very pragmatic person. He believed that for you to truly understand your line of work, you needed experience in all aspects of it. My father agreed with that, and during the years we lived there, he did his best to work all manner of jobs in the company." "Eventually, the time came for him to lead a caravan traveling across the room to a different city and sell his products. He believed it was a good idea to bring me and my mother, even though I was just a child. Not even thirteen at the time. During our journey, we were attacked by a group of bandits who killed everyone and took me captive. Apparently, they had a buyer for a human child." Morgan stepped down from the stage, now standing on the ground about ten meters away from Hera. He removed his watch and emptied his pockets, placing everything on the stage beside his tie. "Before they could reach their buyer, their hideout was raided by guards from a nearby city. It wasn¡¯t the one my father was traveling to. It was a backwater, run-down place that didn¡¯t have a single human inhabitant. Those guards took me from the bandits and dropped me off at an orphanage. There, I lived for the next five years, if you can call that living. I was treated like a slave." "Every morning, I had to clean the beds, wash clothes or dishes, and even cut potatoes and serve the other children food. In the afternoon, I was forced to walk the streets of that city begging for money. They gave me flowers from random gardens, trinkets they¡¯d found or made, and food I wasn¡¯t allowed to eat. All that so I could sell to the people of the city. Every day when I got back, they took almost all the money away." "Can you imagine what that¡¯s like? Being forced to toil for hours on end, earning a pitiful amount of money, only for someone to take most of it away, leaving you with scraps? It was torture." "And I wasn¡¯t the only one suffering. Every other child had to do the same, but they didn¡¯t have to do as much. They could play around and relax. I was the only one who had to work myself to the bone. It was the only way to get enough money to buy passage back to my home." "Only when I turned eighteen did I manage to go back and found my grandfather waiting for me. During all those years, he never gave up hope. But no matter how much time passed, that memory never faded. I knew your kind were nothing but monsters, and I swore on my father¡¯s soul that I would rid the MAZE of all of you." Hera did her best not to get even angrier, but hearing that story, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. "Retail? You started a war, killed thousands, if not millions, because you had to work retail when you were a kid? Part-time at that?" Morgan shook his head. "I knew you wouldn¡¯t understand. You killed my parents." "Oh, I know. And you¡¯re clearly upset about that. After all, you spent a grand total of two sentences talking about it before rambling about how awful it was to work part-time during the afternoon. According to you, the only reason you worked so hard was that you wanted to buy a ticket out of there. No one was mistreating you. No one was physically torturing you. No one did anything except treat you like a regular kid who just wasn¡¯t rich. Five years of living like someone working for minimum wage was enough to get you this angry? Angry enough to do these horrible things to everybody?" Morgan sighed. "I knew it was a waste of time to try to make you understand." "My thoughts exactly," the Empress replied as she summoned the entire court. 987 - Legacy Holder As soon as the Empress called her court, Viper and Crimson lunged to attack. The twins went for a pincer maneuver aimed at Morgan, their daggers striking the sides of the man''s stomach. But instead of piercing like they should have, they just bounced off harmlessly. The CEO of the New Dawn laughed. "Did you really expect that to work?" He then tried to swat away the twins, who quickly retreated back toward the Ophidianite, taking their titled forms. Hera frowned as she approached. She noticed how the twins had been able to cut through his shirt, but the skin underneath was strange. It wasn¡¯t the fleshy black color of a person but an actual black, the type you¡¯d see in metal or plastic. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was another set of armor or some skill he was using, but that didn¡¯t matter. Rushing forward, Hera summoned a pair of rare venomous handaxes to attack. At the same time, her jaw unhinged, and a Poison Fang spell flew from her mouth. The spell became more powerful when it came from a place that could naturally create poison. Between everything that was going on, the sudden appearance of two more snake people, a kangaroo in a leather apron, a giant lizard, a birdman, a heavily armored warrior, and eight flying weapons, Morgan didn¡¯t notice the incoming attack. The Poison Fang slammed against his chest, causing him to step back, almost losing his balance. Right after, he waved his hand toward the court. Metal flew out to intercept the blades, but nothing happened. The weapons continued their motion and were about to strike him. With a frown, Morgan reached back and pulled at the air. Countless pipes, wires, and loose pieces of metal came flying out to intercept the court. Unlike the blades, the metal couldn¡¯t maneuver. It was all controlled by Morgan, as if it were part of the same thing, a constant stream of metal following orders to spin, charge, or rotate. "So your weapons aren¡¯t metal? Not even the armor? Interesting," the CEO said, using the torrent of scraps as cover while he tried to get back onto the stage. But Hera wasn¡¯t about to let him do what he wanted. She dashed through the swirling metal. Nimbus quickly created barriers around her to stop any harm from coming her way. To follow her lead, the entire court shifted into their weapon forms so they could cut through the metal without much issue. The Empress jumped onto the stage just as Morgan got back up. With her tail, she swiped at his leg, letting Pyro attempt to cut the man¡¯s ankles. But once again, the skin was too sturdy to be damaged by the attack. Even so, the strength behind the blow was enough to make the man fall to the ground, landing back-first on the wooden floor. Without hesitation, the Ophidianite brought down the handaxe, aiming directly at Morgan¡¯s head. There was too much at stake for her to hold back in this fight. Unfortunately, the attack didn¡¯t land. Just before the blade could hit, a blue chain appeared out of nowhere, trapping Hera¡¯s arm and stopping her strike. Morgan laughed. "I¡¯m still not used to that one. This, on the other hand..." A flash of red came from his forearm as the ruby tattoo glowed. The human reached out and bit Hera¡¯s venomous handaxe. Instead of anything else happening, the blade of her weapon shattered. Even more strangely, Morgan started to chew before swallowing the magic. The chains whipped toward the Ophidianite. But she had already pulled back, dismissing the broken weapon and summoning another. Morgan kicked off the ground, tumbling backward and evading several court members who tried to stab him. When he landed and turned toward Hera again, she saw his eyes flicker red. But it wasn¡¯t the red of the Strength Spirits. It was something different, something more vicious. He opened and closed his hands a few times before they flashed orange, the same color as the Ophidianite¡¯s weapons. The surrounding blue chains started floating and wrapped themselves around his arms. Morgan grabbed them and cracked them like whips, aiming at the Empress. But Lurize stepped forward and grabbed the chain with his hands. With a smile, Morgan sent a flash of orange energy toward the Royal Tutor. The moment the magic hit Lurize, he smiled, though no one could see it under his helmet. The CEO had just tried to attack him with Ophidianite poison. Being a half-Venom Spirit was already enough to make him nearly invulnerable to poison or venom. But being hit by the very same venom his Empress used was like receiving a free mana potion. Lurize pretended to struggle with the attack, pulling Morgan closer. The man fell for it and jumped forward, sending another venom shock. His spell turned into more mana for the Royal Tutor, who used another Poison Fang, or more specifically, a Poison Horn, slamming the tip of his helmet into the human while it was coated in venom. Morgan felt the air rush out of his lungs from the impact, and before he fell, Livy was already there. The Leviathan grabbed his head and slammed it against the side of her war axe. She dropped him and brought the weapon down, aiming for his neck. Vulcan was right behind her, about to strike Livy¡¯s true form with his hammer to amplify the power of her attack.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sun, Eira, and Storm dropped from the ceiling at full speed, aiming at Morgan¡¯s body. If one of them missed, the rest would still hit. There was no doubt about that. Before they could connect, a barrier appeared out of nowhere, growing from Morgan and pushing everyone away. Even Livy, the strongest member of the court, couldn¡¯t fight back against the pressure and was flung backward, landing in the audience area of the chamber. Once they steadied their footing again, everybody took a moment to understand what had just happened. In front of them, where Morgan was supposed to be, was a swirling mass of red mist. Hera recognized that red well. It was the same red that emanated from the Soldiers of Strength. But the mass was also strangely familiar. Nimbus was the first to realize what it was. "Is that¡­ a stormcloud?" Hera''s eyes went wide. It couldn¡¯t be, could it? Blue would never give her legacy to someone else. But at the same time, Nimbus was quite literally made out of the same thing that the Legacy could control. "So you speak?" Morgan asked as the barrier slowed down and parted to let him see the group. "Is that the Stormcloud Legacy?" Hera asked. "I suppose you truly are the same Hera if you even know its name." "How did you steal it? That¡¯s not supposed to be possible," Hera said, tightening her grip on her weapons. "Do you take me for a thief? I haven¡¯t stolen a thing. Your friend gave it to me willingly." "Bullshit!" Nimbus gasped. "Blue would never do that." Morgan chuckled. "Of course she would, especially when she knew what would happen to her family if she didn¡¯t. People keep saying that money can¡¯t buy everything. That is simply because they are not willing to spend on what they actually need to get what they want. By simply paying the right people, it was easy to find out what it would take to make her give the legacy to me." "You are giving it back!" Hera snarled. "I couldn¡¯t even if I wanted to. Her legacy joined with my own. Only a couple of skills still remain. Unfortunately, that happened not too long ago, so I¡¯m still figuring out how to use this new ability properly. It can be quite destructive. Especially if Strength mana is added to it. Then again, that¡¯s exactly what I want from it." Morgan waved his hands, making the storm return to a sphere as it started to grow. The entire cloud was pulsating red and spinning rapidly, like a hurricane. Hera tried to step back, but the door was locked, and she couldn¡¯t even tell when that had happened. They tried to send in some spells, but to no avail. Even without touching the actual cloud, everyone was already struggling not to be swept away. Livy slammed her war axe on the ground and used it as a foothold as the rest of the court gathered around. But that wouldn¡¯t last long. The storm was growing with every second and would soon envelop the entire theater. The power being pulled from the Strength Spirits made it too strong for them to deal with, no matter the difference in levels. Reaching out to anything she could think of, Hera realized that her snake was in the eye of the storm, and she could cast spells through the snake. But nothing came to mind that could solve this, except the cloak pin she had gotten from Yulan''s dungeon. She quickly triggered the Sphinx skill [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You], targeting Morgan through the snake. It was a shot in the dark, since she honestly had no idea if it would work. But luckily, it did. The cloak pin''s eyes shone, and a small bead of light fired toward the barrier, ignoring the clouds completely. Hera could tell that Morgan had been trapped by the skill, but that did nothing to stop the storm cloud that continued spinning around him. ''Shit!'' Hera grumbled in her own mind. The winds were too strong for her voice to cut through. ''Hera! The talisman!'' Twiggy called. ''What talisman?'' Hera asked. ''The one from Yulan''s dungeon. The one that stopped the storm.'' Hera had a confused expression on her face before realizing what the tiara was talking about. She had gotten another reward from Yulan''s dungeon. Something that could either help her complete the dungeon itself or stop a storm. Helena had mentioned that spells were likely not affected by this kind of thing since they were not true storms but just fake creations made by someone. But legacies had different rules, and Blue could create actual storms. Helena and Hera had even talked about how that would be a perfect counter for the controller. The Empress quickly rummaged through her pouch, hoping she hadn¡¯t taken the talisman out at some point. Luckily, she hadn¡¯t. The simple piece of yellow paper with red markings was still there. Quickly putting some mana into the talisman, she watched as it turned to sand and was swept away by the storm. Instantly, the giant red cloud vanished, and all the wind swirling around stopped. In the place where Morgan stood was a large box filled with the night sky and stars. The prison created by the cloak pin. But no one expected him to be truly stuck there. The Empress had no doubts that the CEO was also a Soldier of Strength, and considering the sheer power of his skills, he was likely the one connected to all the Strength Spirits at once. That was the only explanation for his seemingly unbreakable skin and the wild strength he was showing. A Legacy could be strong, but not even Blue could create a storm that powerful. It was clear the man barely understood how to fight, yet he was giving not just the Empress but her entire court a run for their money. Without saying anything, everyone understood the idea and rushed to surround the barrier. Even if the riddle was too much for him, they expected Morgan to be able to break free from that prison. But they weren¡¯t just waiting around. Instead, Hera activated Shroud of Tartarus with Daskka''s help, covering the entire room. In addition, they all triggered every weapon buff and armor spell they had. No matter how much mana it cost, everyone contributed with their cores. [Blade Graveyard] was activated, and Twiggy was ready to trigger all her buffs. The last piece of the puzzle was Eira, who was standing by Forge, waiting to be awakened. She was the best option they had against someone with so much defense. The moment Morgan managed to break free from the prison, he would feel the full power of Hera and her court.